Chapter 3
Giving up on getting more sleep I groggily get up to start my day.
When I climbed into bed last night I was exhausted from the events of the other day. Sadly, a good night's rest was not in store for me. Mostly because of the new addition of a pair of black wings as it made it impossible to lie comfortably on my back. Aaerith had mentioned before my journey that there would be some minor changes to my body when I arrived on Remnant. I fail to see how these pair of black wings on my back is just a minor change. Compounding the issue was that my Geostigma was beginning to flare up last night. The Geostigma symptoms wasn't as bad as before where it would ooze out black pus. Still, the feeling of the nerves in my body being electrocuted was still extremely painful. Aaerith said that Remnant could help me with my Geostigma issues when I arrived but so far I still didn't have a clue as to what she meant by that.
Another strange difference was that my mana was still barely recovering. Although I didn't have a great night's rest my mana should have recovered significantly by now. For now my augmented strength should still be adequate for defending myself if needed. Sighing to myself I started my morning stretches to work out the numbness and tiredness from the night.
Getting dressed I stop and took a look at the equipment that I'm pretty sure had belonged to Vincent. Staring at the golden claw gauntlet reminded me of how Vincent had been like an older wiser brother to me during our adventures together. He was a good friend for whenever I needed advice. I equipped my left arm with his golden claw gauntlet and put on Vincent's signature red tattered cape that wraps around my neck like a scarf, allowing me to cover up most of the visible symptoms of Geostigma before walking out to join everyone for breakfast.
Walking into the dining room I get treated to the chaos that is kids eating breakfast. As I take a seat at the table a smiling Elizabeth places a plate of breakfast in front of me.
"Good morning Cloud. How are you feeling this morning ?"
"I'm fine"
The doubtful look on her face tells me she thinks otherwise as she eyes the Geostigma symptoms that aren't quite covered underneath by my scrappy red cape or gauntlet on my left arm. I guess the exhaustion on my face is also fairly evident from my lack of quality sleep. Buttering a slice of bread and taking a bite I notice that I still don't have much of an appetite even though I didn't eat that much the day before. Taking a seat across from me, Elizabeth starts to eat her own breakfast as well.
"Cloud you haven't had a chance to tour the village. Garth will be coming this morning to pick you up and take you around so you can familiarize yourself.
That's great, I'm looking forward to touring the village and seeing how things are different from where I was from. Hearing the pitter patter of tiny feet, Carla runs into the room to join us for a late breakfast. Sitting down in the empty seat beside me Carla immediately grabs a slice of toast, slathers it with a heavy dose of strawberry jam and devours it messily. Chuckling at her manners I grab a napkin and wipe off the strawberry jam on Carla lips. In return for helping Carla with that, I get treated to a look of surprise on her face as she just notices that I'm sitting beside her.
Blushing at my action she whispers, "Good morning Cloud".
"Saving some strawberry jam for later Carla?"
Elizabeth laughs at the interaction between me and Carla. "The kids loved your magic trick last night Cloud. I wouldn't have guessed that you would be so good with kids. Do you have family or siblings that you remember?"
As I watch Carla eat her breakfast beside me her mannerism reminds me of my mornings with Marlene and Tifa. "No, I don't have any siblings that I'm aware of. My mother passed away when I was younger. However, I did live with and take care of an orphaned girl and boy that I considered my family, so I guess that's how I learned to get along with kids. "
"Oh, are you starting to get your memories back?"
Freezing as I realize my mistake, I quickly shake my head. "No, I only remember bits and pieces of my life before". As I finish my breakfast and wait for Garth to arrive, I decide to get up and help clean the dishes. Elizabeth joins me by my side after she finishes her breakfast to help me quietly clean up the breakfast aftermath.
I decide to ask Elizabeth about how she met Garth.
While we are rinsing and drying plates together, " I met Garth when my mother brought him to our clinic a few years ago. My mother was a healer and found Garth out in the woods seriously injured while she was on a trip to gather supplies for the village. Since then Garth has stayed and helped protect our village. Being so far away from the Kingdom we are lucky to have a Huntsman like Garth. Grim attacks are common enough that Huntsman are in high demand and to be honest it would be easy for Garth to find someplace that could give him more".
I start wondering if there is more to the story and why Garth decided to stay here. Putting the last dish on the drying rack and turning off the tap I start thinking about my own future. As a starting point I should begin by familiarizing myself with the basics of Remnant so I ask Elizabeth whether the village has a bookstore or library I can visit.
"Actually, I'm about to start class and teach the few kids here in the village. If you'd like I can show you our small library of books that you can take a look at. Maybe reading through some of them might help with recovering your memory."
Perfect. Agreeing to her suggestion she leads me to a room that has shelves stocked with books. Grabbing a book to take a look I quickly come to realize a sad truth. Seeing my expression Elizabeth ask me, "What's wrong Cloud?".
Feeling a bit embarrassed, "Err.. I can't actually read any of this.".
Smiling back at me, " Well I guess you'll be joining me and the kids in the future in class then. I'm sure you'll make class more exciting for everyone".
Hearing a few knocks on the door Garth finally arrives.
"Get your stuff boy I'm going to take you on a tour of the village". Nodding my head I say goodbye to Elizabeth before I go to grab my sword so we can set off.
Walking through the village I find that it's about the same size as Nibelheim except it has a wooden wall that encompasses the entirety of the village for protection. Garth leads us at a casual pace towards the part of the wall where the breach that allowed the Grim to come in had occurred.
"Tell me Cloud who taught you how to use a sword?"
Thinking about what I could share with him, " I remember going to combat school for the basics. Most of my skills have been self-taught but I've been fortunate enough to be given advice and mentored by people who had entered a military solider program."
"Just to be sure, did they teach you about using your Aura? What about Semblance?"
Seeing my questioning face, he sighs before explaining Aura and Semblance to me and how all Huntsman have it as well as its importance when it comes to protection in a fight.
As he explains what Aura is, I begin to understand how combat is different in Remnant. Back in my world there really wasn't any equivalent to the defensive power of Aura. Here Aura could be used to block damage of all types as long as you had it. Aura existed back on Planet Gaia as well but it was much weaker. Every warrior who learn to fight developed a small aura that worked to protect you and minimize damage. It was why guns weren't the ultimate weapon and you had swordsman like myself and Sephiroth who weren't afraid to rush down gun users or take a few gunshots. Unlike in Remnant though, the basic aura from my world only stopped the damage from being immediately fatal. A gunshot or slash from a sword could still pierce or hurt you unlike Remnant's Aura where you wouldn't be wounded until you ran out of it. I'll have to be more careful avoiding and defending against attacks.
Semblance is interesting with the closest equivalent from my world being the attacks and abilities granted through Limit breaks. However once again there is a significant difference where Limit breaks required that you slowly charge and build it up during battle whereas Semblance could be freely used.
"I didn't see you fight yesterday kid but I did feel your aura. If you feel up for it later this afternoon we should have a short spar so I can see what you can do and whether you qualify to be a hired as paid mercenary in our village militia."
A sparing match would be a good way to gauge how my skills compare against others in Remnant. However I'll decide on that later in the afternoon as I was still feeling tired and had yet to feel comfortable with my younger body.
"Tell me more about Nibelheim where you grew up in Cloud"
"I remember that Nibelheim is actually pretty similar to this Village. I still can't point out where it existed on a map but it doesn't really matter. Nibelheim was burned down to the ground because of an accident so it's probably why you've never heard of it."
"Damn you have my sympathy kid. It's a sad world we live in and unfortunately villages getting destroyed is always a possibility out here".
Turning the corner on the street I can see the breach in the wall.
"Garth can you tell me more about the Grim and Huntsman?"
Unfortunately, Garth couldn't share any real meaningful information regarding the Grim beside the fact that they had been around for as long as civilization could remember. However, I do find the fact that Grim are attracted to negative emotions as strange and unexpected for beasts. Otherwise, monsters existed back in my world as well and villages had to be wary of attacks too.
Hearing how society views Huntsman and Huntresses as heroes and the fact that they go to combat school makes me realize that they must be the equivalent of Planet Gaia's Elite SOLDIERS program. Huntsman are meant to protect and defend civilization.
"I guess I should also explain dust and it's usage to you as well."
Listening to his explanation on dust, I begin to understand why Garth was so suspicious of me when I had said I didn't know what the Grim, Dust or Huntsman were. Turns out the world of Remnant is run on Dust usage and as a result Dust is in constant demand. The demand for Dust is what allows the village here to prosper and attracts temporary mine workers who want to earn more. Some of these temporary workers end up deciding to stay and over time this is how the village had been created. It's also the reason why this village is called Lightning keep because of the lightning dust mine.
"The dust mine here is fairly old as well as small but that is what keeps the government and larger businesses from coming to claim the mine and take it over. Not worth their effort. Still, even if it is a small mine there is enough opportunity for those here in the village to make a living out of it."
Hearing a commotion on the other side of the street I notice a man that has what looks like deer antlers on his head running a produce stall. He is being yelled at by another man and causing a scene. I see Garth frown before quickly changing direction and moving towards them.
"What kind of price is this?! For food of this quality I'm paying you enough already."
"I'm not overcharging you sir. This is the standard market price that everyone charges"
Scowling at the man with deer antlers reply, "And I'm telling you that what I'm paying you is better than what a Faunas like you deserves."
I watch as the man with deer antlers tries not to escalate the situation further but fails to get through to the other man. Interrupting the both of them, Garth walks in between the two. Standing beside the man with deer antlers Garth stares down the other man, "What's going on here?".
Listening to the explanation of the man with deer antlers, Garth quickly settles the issue and confirms that the price charged is fair. Clearly unhappy with the situation the man pays for the produce and leaves in a huff. With the situation taken care of, me and Garth resume our journey.
"Cloud you need to remember that sometimes being different leads to situations like that. Not all humans will treat a faunas like you fairly because of your more animal traits. This is because previously there was a war between humans and faunas that really put a strain on relations. By law everyone should be treated equally but not everyone has let go of their hate. Lightning keep usually doesn't have any issues dealing with discrimination, but we get new mine workers all the time who are exactly like that guy you saw before".
I can see that the whole affair had really ruined Garth's mood so the rest of our journey was silent without conversation. Arriving at the breach a man quickly comes up to greet Garth.
"Hey Garth, we are in the process of patching up the hole in the wall." Noticing me standing beside Garth he turns to look at me curiously.
"Garth is this the vampire from the lightning dust mine ? I thought vampires can't stand outside in the sun."
I know I'm pretty pale but this is the first time someone has called me a vampire to my face. Garth chuckles beside me, "Lawrence the kid ain't a vampire. His name is Cloud Strife and he might be a probationary member on our village militia. Cloud this is Lawrence and he helps me with running the defenses around here."
Seeing Lawrence reach out an open hand, I cautiously shake his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you Cloud and see that your not a vampire or monster. Odd choice of a place to take a nap. Not sure I would choose to sleep in a coffin in a dust mine of all places. Let me know if you ever have any questions about the village."
Nodding at what he has to say Lawrence quickly informs us that he wants to get back to directing the crew of villagers in fixing the wall. Some guards had notice Grim activity outside.
Garth begins to share more about the village defense and the people in the militia. I quickly realize that Garth is the only huntsman in the village and warrior who has received any sort of combat training. Everyone else in the militia had been trained by Garth on the rudimentary basics and little to no experience fighting. The conversation is interrupted by screaming at the wall breach.
"WATCH OUT! WE GOT SOME BEOWOLVES RUSHING IN!"
Standing up we both look over to see some of the black wolves rush through and dash into the village. Reacting quickly, the militia members around the breach form up a line to stop anymore monsters from coming through. Lawrence turns to look at us and yell that they can maintain the defense at the wall but Garth and myself should take care of the three that were able to get into the village. Garth nods in agreement with the decision, "Follow me kid, those Beowolves are heading to where we store the lightning dust crystals."
As we arrive in the area and see the three Beowolves, Garth suddenly takes a step back to stand behind me.
"Kid I want to see what you can do. I'll watch your back and step-in if I feel that you're in danger but otherwise I want you to take care of the three of them".
Taking stock of the situation I can feel that my mana is still too low for me to use any spells. Based on my experiences fighting grim yesterday, my enhanced strength should be more than enough. Besides, I've been in more difficult monster fighting situations in the past so these Beowolves should actually be pretty good practice and help me in getting comfortable with my body again.
I unlatch my fusion sword from my back and hold it in front of me with two hands. As I slowly advance I can feel my adrenaline pumping and I fall into a familiar state of mind as I begin to analyze the combat situation. Taking in the battlefield I identify that there is a black wolf to my left, front and to the right. Letting the three of them surround me would be completely disadvantageous as it allows them to potentially attack me from outside my field of view. In this situation I decide the best course of action is to take the initiative and avoid the potential for encirclement. Taking a deep breath to oxygenate my body and muscles as much as possible, I immediately dash to the black wolf on my right as I exhale.
Exploding forward I move into range and swing down my fusion sword towards the head of the black wolf. Reacting and moving faster than I expected, the monster leaps to the side to avoid my strike. Lifting my sword up I adjust my grip and dash towards the black wolf again. This time as I swing down, I watch the monster closely to see it tense up right before it leaps to the side in order to avoid my overhead strike again. Reacting quickly, I take a quick step in the same direction the wolf leaped in and adjust the direction of my swing. The change in my swing results in a solid connection as I feel the impact of my blade as it smashes the wolf into the ground and crushing it.
Quickly I dash to the right to create some space between me and the other two remaining wolves that I had ignored. I see them both running towards me as I expected. Seems like they are trying to take advantage of me through attacking me at the same time. Using the same tactic from yesterday I eject one of the larger blades in my fusion sword so that I can hurl it at the black wolf to my left. The thrown sword doesn't pierce through the wolf but successful achieves my goal of staggering it so that I am still just fighting one beast at a time.
Learning from my previous experience with the first wolf I just killed, I eject out a smaller blade from my fusion sword and switch to a dual wielding stance. I wait for the first wolf to reach me and let it leap towards me to bite me. As soon as the monster launches itself into the air I dodge to my left and swing a counter strike that slices it in half. Not stopping my movement I immediately step to the right just as I see the last wolf do the same leap attack and slice it in half using the sword in my other hand.
I take one last look around the area before I put my fusion sword back together and let myself catch my breath. Taking a look at Garth I can see that he looks quite surprised.
"Pretty good kid. I have to say I've never seen a sword like yours where it becomes a bunch of smaller swords. I guess it won't be a problem for you to be a part of our militia. Since we are here let me show you what Lightning dust crystals look like and you can also take a look at the Coffin that we found you in".
Putting back together the fusion sword I attached it to my back as we walk into the dust storage buildings.
At the very entrance of the building is the familiar sight of Vincent's Coffin. Taking a closer look at it I don't see the Time, Lightning and Cure materia that was supposed to be embedded into it so that I could travel to Remnant.
"Kid we also found this inside the coffin. I thought I'd hold onto it as I wasn't sure you would know how to use it but seeing how you dealt with the Beowolves I think you'll be fine."
Placing the object into my hand I discover that it's Vincent's gun, Cerberus. A beautifully crafted triple barreled handgun that packs a very mean punch. Holding it in my hand I'm touched that Vincent would gift this to me as I know how much he valued it. Holstering it for now we move on further into the building.
Looking around the building I can see that most of the dust crystals is packed away securely in crates.
"Dust can be highly volatile so we don't keep any out in the open. Be careful with it." Cracking open a case he grabs a lightning dust crystal and passes it to me.
Taking a closer examination of the yellow crystal a strange feeling goes over me. As I hold it in my hand, I can't help but feel that it seems similar to materia but it also reminds me of the lifestream. Perhaps dust is just another form of materia or physical form of the Lifestream? I then feel a sudden craving and a haze go over my mind.
Seeing the expression on my face Garth yells out, "Cloud stop ! What are you -"
Before Garth can stop me I put the lightning dust crystal in my mouth and swallow it. It causes an immediate reaction in my body as I feel the energy contained in the lightning dust crystal disperse. A very comfortable warmth develops in my core and starts to spreads outwards throughout my body. Feeling the haze on my mind lift I check my body once over to see if anything has changed. The first thing I notice right away is that I feel rejuvenated, as if someone had just cast a full power cure on my body.
"Kid are you feeling okay?! I'm surprised you're not dead. You're not supposed to eat dust crystals !"
"I'm not sure what happen to me Garth. I couldn't stop myself but I don't feel anything wrong at the moment. In fact.. I feel a lot better than before."
Garth quickly grabs me to do his own check and while doing so he all of a sudden stop when he looks at my left arm. Lifting my red cape covering my left arm I'm shocked that the Geostigma blemishes have lighten and mostly disappeared. As our eyes connect, he also suddenly pauses once again.
"Kid your eyes are practically glowing green… I'm taking you back to Elizabeth's for a check up. This isn't normal".
As we rush back to the clinic at Elizabeth I think back to what Aertih had said. She told me that the Lifestream would take me to where I would find help for my Geostigma. Pondering it for a bit and thinking about how I was found embedded in a stash of Lightning dust crystals, I realize then that Aaerith might have meant it quite literally.
Arriving back at the clinic Elizabeth gives me a full check-up immediately after hearing what happen. She concludes that nothing is significantly wrong with me after eating the Lightning dust crystal.
Elizabeth looks at me with a disbelieving face, "Are you sure you don't feel as if anything is wrong Cloud?"
Nodding my head back at her, "I feel great actually. Nothing is wrong at all and I can feel the pain from Geostigma is a lot less now." For the first time since I've arrived in Remnant I also feel that mana is close to being fully recovered. Standing up I start to stretch my body after being forced to lie down all this time so that Elizabeth can check me over. Walking over to the mirror on the wall as I stretch, I see that my eyes really do look like they are glowing. I'm not bothered by my glowing eyes too much. I've had glowing eyes as a result of mako infusion experimentation done by Hojo for years.
At that moment, I notice one new difference as I stretch. It's that my wings feel a lot more responsive. Stretching them out to their full length I find that moving them doesn't have the same sluggishness that was there before. Concentrating on my wings for a bit I inject some of my mana into them. As I fold my wings to everyone's shock, they disappear completely and dissolve into ash like substance. Pausing for a moment I concentrate on injecting mana into my wings again and they reappear by bursting out of my back.
Looking at both Elizabeth and Garth I can tell they have no idea what to say.
Author notes
I'm not looking to make Cloud overpowered. I'm also planning on not giving Cloud Aura like all the other characters in RWBY. Cloud will be more easily hurt but he has his larger variety of skills and magic to keep him dangerous. Regardless, watching the fight scenes in Advent children and Crisis core show that that Final Fantasy characters fight as if they have Aura anyways.
I know that most faunas can't hide their animal traits. However Sephiroth, Angeal and Gensis all have the ability to hide and open up their wings. I thought I might as well give Cloud the same ability as I'm sure they get in the way. Besides I think it'll make for more interesting situations as people mistaken believe that he is pure human.
Next chapter will have more actions as it'll be Garth testing Cloud's combat capabilities.
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