February 20th So I didn't update yesterday, sorry about that. I was a bit busy. To sum it up, yesterday was a pretty eventful day. Let me tell you. To start things off, I managed to kill a Grimm with nothing but my bare hands and a dagger. It was my first training mission with Qrow. Said he wanted me to prove myself before he unlocked my Aura. So I went out to the Emerald Forest, killed a Grimm, and brought back an entire Beowolf arm, bone armor and everything. It's currently sitting in a freezer in the bar's storage room, I need to find out what to do with it. So I proved myself to Qrow, and he unlocked my Aura. My cuts disappeared, both the ones from the bottles when I first got here and ones I obtained from fighting four Grimm in one day. Then I got yelled at by Credence for trying to fight a Grimm with no Aura, which I understand.
Day 3, Year 1
Current Location: Antlers in the Moonlight Bar
But everything was fine in the end. I apologized and things went back to normal, the guy can't seem to hold a grudge for too long. So then I started working for Credence in the bar, as a way to earn my keep for staying in their home and to get some Lien as well. It was stressful at first, but I slowly got the hang of things. I was really just the guy who took people's orders and I rarely served. I wouldn't trust me with too much glass either, honestly. Rain worked as well, so she showed me the ropes the best she could. She's a good teacher, even if it was just how I should greet the customers and how to act. Apparently the bar already has a bad reputation for being run by Faunus, they don't need to support the rumors. When all that was over, I was payed ten Lien, which is basically ten dollars on Earth. Not a lot, but money was money, so I took it. Hopefully I can get a raise while I work there. I need to save up the Lien for if and/or when I go to Beacon.
The next day I met Qrow back in the bar and we went out into the city, testing various things that were known to sometimes unlock people's Semblances. He tried throwing me off a three-story building to try to instill a sense of danger, which didn't work but thankfully I didn't die because my Aura protected me from the fall. He had me touch various objects, as some were known to find their Semblances when activated by physical touch with a certain element. I burned my hand twice in the span of two hours.
And then the mad man had me get purposefully blasted by one of Atlas' Security Robots. I have to say, those energy blasts hurt like hell, so don't make A.I. mad, I suppose. But whatever is in those blasts made something happen, because when I got up from a pain that felt being electrocuted and punched at the same time, I saw that my wrists had small little orbs of some light blue energy, ten for both wrists, floating in a circle that was slowly rotating.
Qrow noticed them too and stopped the robot from attacking further, showing it his Signal Academy teacher I.D., which caused it to back down immediately. He come over and offered his hand to help me up, which the littles orbs of energy from right hand immediately flew towards and sort of possessed his hand, causing me to get pulled from the ground easier than it should have been. I pulled my hand back and the orbs followed. So I had some idea of what the orbs could do, but not fully. That was when Qrow said that it was time to train.
Semblances are like muscles, they explain in the show. The more you practice using them the easier they become to use and the stronger they become. But I don't remember anything about physical fatigue. Qrow had me concentrate on commanding the energy orbs - Helper Buds, I've begun calling them - to see how far away they could move from me, to see what they could and couldn't "possess" and how much they could lift. By the end of the day they were a few things we could figure out. First is that they operate much like twenty extra arms, in that they're similar to appendages. I just think of what I want them to do and they do it. Second is that there doesn't yet seem to be anything that they can't possess, but we're still running tests. Third is that each Helper Bud can lift a maximum of ten pounds each. So if all twenty come together, they can lift, at most, two hundred pounds. And I was sweating so much afterwards, I just need to get used to the Helper Buds. I already have a few ideas as to what my weapon can be, but my main one is what I'm going to pitch to Qrow. To give you a hint, think of Penny Polendina's weapon.
Speaking of Qrow, he just came into the bar. Update you later!br
"Hey, kid." Qrow greeted Sam, plopping down onto a stool at the bar. Sam returned the greeting as he closed the notebook and put the pencil down. Sam had been assigned bar duty that day and was updating the notebook between orders from customers and serving the drinks. "You ready for today? Now that we know the basics of what your Semblance is, we can finally get you a weapon and start actually training you."
"You mean more than the massive amount of push-ups you had me do yesterday? Or when we did all that parkour between roofs? Or just testing out said Semblance in general?" Sam jokingly asked, making it seem like he was annoyed. Qrow gave a laugh at that, putting his hands up in defense.
"Alright, alright, I see what you mean. But I had to do that. When I trained my nieces, they had years to fine tune their bodies before they even thought about using weapons. If you're willing to go to Beacon enough so that you get tangled up in this whole mess with the White Witch, I gotta get you ready in five months." Qrow put his hands behind his head, leaning back a bit in the stool. "And training you in combat, both with your weapon and without, is gonna take longer than just unlocking your Aura and activating your Semblance. We gotta get you into shape, and take whatever chances we can to help that. That being said, any ideas?" Sam's eyes lit up at this.
"Of course I do. I could barely sleep last night, I was so excited. I spent hours drawing up sketches and designing weapon possibilities that can pair with my Semblance. Take a look." Sam flipped open the notebook, turning to one of many pages of weapon ideas and designs. The one it was open to was a design for various gauntlets around his body, each showing a knife strapped onto them. "Back before I came to… Vale, knife throwing was a hobby of mine. So my idea is to have my little Helper Buds…" Sam held up his wrists, the Helper Buds floating around them. "...possess the knives when I need to use them. I could use them as projectiles, or I could use them in a melee fashion, having them slash at my opponents. Or, if we can make them right, all twenty could assemble together to make the blade of a longsword, or even… a scythe?" Sam arched an eyebrow at Qrow, who was nodding impressed at the designs and sketches.
"You might not be able to draw up blueprints all that well…" Qrow began, closing the notebook. "...but your measurements seem to be on point, and you managed to come up with quite the weapon. It took me days to come up with Harbinger, and then even longer to draw up blueprints, and I swear, don't even get me started on building the thing." Sam took the notebook back, setting it back behind the bar. "But kid, I don't know if I can teach you to use a scythe in the time we have. A longsword is easy enough, but learning to use a scythe is one of the hardest things to do. At most there are five known Huntsman who use scythes, myself included. It's the hardest weapon to master." Sam furrowed his eyebrows at Qrow's statement, going into deep thought. A scythe was one of Sam's all time favorite weapons, and that was his first weapon idea. Then Sam had an idea.
"Then have someone teach me after getting into Beacon. For example, your niece, Ruby Rose." Sam smiled at his idea and the look of shock that came onto Qrow's face. Qrow narrowed his eyes, glaring at the teenage bartender.
"How do you know my niece? I never said her name, or what weapon she uses." Qrow stood to match Sam's level. Sam looked back at his teacher, unimpressed and unintimidated. The amount of things Sam could tell this man right now, how Sam knew all about Qrow's semblance, and all of the secrets of the characters who were in the show. But he had to reel the situation back in. It was enough that he already knew about Salem and her plans, knowing about the personal lives of Qrow's family and people he had never met before was going to cross a line he couldn't cross just yet.
"Calm down. I heard about Ruby through some friends of mine who went to Signal with her. How she was like everyone's little sister, the sweetest and most innocent girl they've ever met. And how her uncle always managed to put up with her during class, despite her antics." Sam lied. Qrow returned seated, Sam having successfully calmed the Huntsman down. "Here's what I propose. Give me a budget of one-thousand Lien - which I know you have, don't act like you don't - and I'll spend today going around to shops in Vale and getting the parts for the weapon. Odds are we'll have to wait a few days for the knives to get specially made so they can assemble the way I plan for them to. In that time I can create the rest of the components needed for the weapon, and you can start to train me in using a longsword and scythe. Then, when the rest of the weapon comes in, I can start training to use it and get a feel for it." Qrow was nodding as Sam went, his arms crossed. This was a sign that the Huntsman was taking him seriously. "Then, if and/or when I'm in Beacon, I can get Ruby to train me to use my scythe better. Sound good?" Sam asked as some of his Helper Buds returned from serving drinks to patrons. Qrow simply sighed in frustration and nodded, and asked for some whiskey.
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Sam and Rain stepped out of the bar, now dressed in regular clothing, instead of what they wore for helping Credence in the bar. In Sam's hand he held two Lien cards, both of which had five-hundred Lien on them. Sam knew that weapon parts couldn't be cheap in Remnant, which was confirmed when Qrow recommended Sam the best weapon parts stores and blacksmiths in the city and mapped out the prices of what Sam would need to build the weapon he had come up with. The final estimated price came to about seven-hundred Lien, and the last three-hundred were for any last minute ideas Sam were to come up with. Qrow grumbled a bit when he handed Sam the money, but Sam ignored him. Qrow was a Huntsman, a teacher at Signal, and he had help from Ironwood. He had enough money, a thousand Lien wouldn't hurt anything.
"I have to say, those little orbs of yours are really cool!" Rain complimented Sam when they stepped into the first of the shops they would be visiting throughout the day. It was a regular weapons shop that sold both premade weapons and parts for working on and making your own. "Think of all the uses they have! You can help clean up around the bar, and you can lift heavy objects without even touching them, and don't have to worry about carrying a bunch of stuff anymore…" Rain continued on, listing off possibilities for Sam's Helper Buds. The deer Faunus already seemed to know more about Sam's Semblance than Sam did. He had to admit, some of the ideas she had were ones even he hadn't thought of.
"Hey there, you two! Nice to see you again!" A voice greeted the pair, a familiar, bushy red bearded man coming from a back room. Al was now donned in a black apron worn over a t-shirt and jeans, and he was carrying a box that seemed to be full of metal parts based on the sounds it made when it moved around. "So you found my main business, I see! Tell me, what can I get for you two today?" Al plopped the box down behind the counter, a loud thunk coming when it hit the ground. Sam handed Al a list of things needed for his weapon, stating that he was going to get the knives custom made at a blacksmith's. "Let's see… well, I have premade weapon handles that you could look through, and it wouldn't take too long to add anything onto it, like a special design or your emblem, as I'm assuming you're going to be a Huntsman if you're looking for a weapon." Sam internally face-palmed. He completely forgot about an emblem. "As for this gauntlet design, I have plenty of gauntlets like this that are designed to hold projectiles. Kind of reminds me of a pair of gauntlets I made for this blonde girl a few years ago, the basic shapes are pretty similar."
"So can you get them made?" Sam quickly asked, prompting to change the subject. He didn't want anyone to make connections. Geez, sometimes Sam forgot he was from another world. The design of his gauntlets were super inspired by Yang's Ember Celica, in that they were able to constrict to look more like bracelets and that they held the ammunition inside, along with the way they looked when they extended. Other than that, Sam hoped they didn't look too similar. Rather than being black and yellow, the gauntlets were a dark grey with light blue accents. The extended form was a bit bulkier, since it extended to cover his entire arm in a relatively thin layer of armor, and rather than fingerless gloves Sam opted for armor to cover his fingers.
"Of course I can. The modifications you want for the gauntlets are easy enough, and I have access to armor. Let me go and grab those handles I mentioned. Be right back!" Al replied to Sam's question, walking to the back room of the shop he had emerged from. Rain had joined Sam at the counter by now, her head set in her hands. Sam had a question he had been wanting to ask Rain, so it was now or never.
"Hey, we haven't gotten too much of a chance to really get to know each other, and I've had a question or two to ask you. Wanna play '20 Questions?' " Sam turned to Rain, who turned her head to face the boy. She responded with a "Sure" and straightened up to concentrate on the game. "So, question one: Have you ever wanted to become a Huntress?" Sam started off with a simple one to lead up to what he wanted to ask.
"I did when I was little. I mean, the chance to go out and fight monsters? That sounds like the best job ever." Rain answered, smiling a bit before it turned sad. "But then something happened that made me realize that it wasn't the life for me." Rain cast a glance down. "So let me ask you something now. Do you really expect to be eligible for Beacon in five months?" Sam laughed, cut abruptly when they heard a grunt of pain from Al.
"It's a mixed bag. I want to be a Huntsman, but it's not just a matter of want. I need to get into Beacon. If I don't, some important people might be hurt… or worse." Sam answered, his tone turning dark. The next few questions were simple things like their favorite colors - Blue for Sam, orange for Rain - or their favorite foods - Both of them agreed that pizza was a gift from the gods - until Sam decided to ask the question he most wanted to know. "Is your mom dead? And, if so, how did she die?" Rain frowned at this question, a small smile turning to a frown.
"You don't just ask someone that." Rain said, her voice monotone as could be. She sighed and propper her arms on the counter. "She was a Huntress, actually. One of my main inspirations for wanting to be one." Sam could see no tears, but heard the sadness in Rain's voice. "She had just come back from a mission. It was winter, and the snow was beautiful. We were playing in the snow, out in the forest, when we suddenly began getting shot at by guns. 'The thicket, Rain! Into the thicket!' my mom had cried, prompting me to run back towards the city. I made it out, but mom never did." Rain raised from the counter when she saw Al coming back from the back room. "The murderers were caught and arrested. They were a group of Faunus-haters who saw us and didn't like that my mom had a weapon with her. They tried to say it was self-defense, but it was obvious they were lying." Rain stepped away from the counter, leaving Sam there with Al. "I'll be outside."
"Alright, it took awhile, but I finally managed to find the box that had the handles you requested. They can all extend longer, just like the design asked." Al opened the box to reveal a multitude of weapon handles. "Your friend leave?" Al asked, seeing that Rain had left his store.
"She's outside." Sam answered, taking a look into the box. He probably just messed up big time.
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The rest of Sam and Rain's trip was spent in silence. Al had told Sam to return to the shop in a few hours, so the pair went to the blacksmith to get Sam's throwing knives ordered. Sam had been correct in assuming it would take a week to be made, so he placed his order and left, now stuck in the city with a girl who he was sure now hated him.
"Uh, hey, do you maybe want to go and get something to eat? I know a pretty good cafe nearby." Sam asked Rain when the silence became too much for him to bear. The deer Faunus gave a wordless nod. Sam led her to a cafe he had just passed by, hoping that it was a decent place. Sam sighed in relief when they approached and realized that this was the same cafe Sun and Blake visited after Blake revealed she was a Faunus. Sam held the door open for Rain and the two entered.
The cafe was a nice little place, but it was definitely the kind of cafe you would go to when you just needed some quiet time. Only one table had people at it who were conversing with each other, and even then they were whispering. The others were all reading books, or writing, or drawing, or just sitting there sipping their drinks or eating their pastries. Sam ordered a simple black coffee and Rain ordered a cinnamon roll with a hot chocolate. They were given their orders, Sam payed - or rather, Qrow paid - and they took an empty booth and began to consume their foods.
"Look, Rain, about earlier…" Sam finally said after they had gone through about half their drinks. "I wanted to say sorry, for just asking you about your mom. It wasn't my place to do that and I'm just super sorry." Sam went back to his coffee, staring into the cup. He could feel Rain's gaze on him for a moment before she spoke.
"It's fine. You're forgiven." Sam held out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Then Rain gained a scowl on her face, directed towards Sam. "But if you ever do something so stupid like that again, I might not forgive you again." Sam could tell she was teasing, but it was possible she wasn't. So he just nodded as a reply, in order to convey that he understood. "And I would hate to do that. You've been a cool guy so far." Rain smiled at Sam, who gave a smile back. So had she, honestly. He hadn't properly hung out with a friend in quite a while. It was refreshing to do that again.