"That was amazing!" Nora yelled as her team and RWBY walked back to their rooms. "He was all like, 'Draw your weapon,'" she mocked in a very bad attempt at Cardin's voice, "but then Markus was all like "I don't need one to bring you down!' And then he was all like 'Wacha!' and 'Brrrrrtttzzzz!' and he was glowing and it was awesome!"
"Yes, Nora, we were there," Ren said, not sharing the same enthusiasm. "But I must admit, it was quite a spectacle."
"I have never seen someone springboard off a weapon like that," Phyrra said. "Do you think that is part of his Semblance?"
"It must be," Weiss said as she caught up to the group. "How else can you explain his precise strikes, and his glowing trail when he moved?"
"Dust user?" Ruby suggested.
"Maybe, but I've never seen anything like that before."
"Maybe it's a new type," Yang said.
"If that's the case, the Schnee Dust Company needs to know right away."
A black boot stepped around a corner. "It isn't Dust," Markus said as he came into full view. "Years of exposure to a Dust laden and isolated island has led to a… an immunity?" He brought his hand to his chin. "No, that's not the right word…" He tapped his chin, trying to think of a suitable way of phrasing. "Bah, it'll come to me later. Anyway, I couldn't use Dust if I tried." He stopped his walk. "But there is a trade-off. Camadens do have an inborn resistance to Dust-based attacks."
Weiss put a hand on her weapon. "Does Dust exposure decrease effectiveness of use?"
"That's the theory, in case of a Camaden, anyway," Markus said with a shrug. "Though, if you think about it, you shouldn't be surprised. My ancestors worked in the Dust mines when the Dust was plentiful, and worked it day in and day out for most of their adult lives. It could be argued that, due to the constant exposure to Dust, and the adaptability of human physiology, a mutation occurred. Or we just simply built a tolerance to its effects."
Ren gave a nod in agreement. "It is possible."
Markus eyed Weiss's weapon. "We could test this theory."
Weiss looked around, confused. "Now?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Markus said with a chuckle. "It's almost quiet hours. But soon, especially since we will eventually be writing a research paper for Professor Port. Why not conduct a little research of our own?"
"Perhaps starting tomorrow?" Weiss asked. "You have aroused my curiosity, a feat only few have done."
Markus's schedule flashed by in his mind. "Yes, I believe we can make this work. I have only one class tomorrow."
"One?" Ruby said in bewilderment. "How did you get to have so few?"
Markus opened his mouth to begin to speak, but fought for words, before simply smiling and holding out a reassuring hand. "There's… a lot I'm not supposed to discuss right now, and there's even more I'm not to discuss ever." This earned him a few eyes of suspicion. "But, I don't see why I couldn't let a few bits of information go. I've already taken a particular liking to this little group. We seem to be at the same places at the same times." Markus placed his hands behind his back. "Or, our destinies have become intertwined in some bizarre cosmic coincidence, and that's why we've been seeing each other so much, and meshing so well."
A laugh stirred from the ensemble. "A believer in destiny, are you?" Phyrra asked.
Markus shrugged. "Honestly, I could take it or leave it. I don't like to think my destiny is something I cannot control. I also like to think that my accomplishments have been my own, and not because of some invisible force."
Markus's words didn't sit well with Phyrra, and it visibly showed. "Could it be that our actions lead us to a destiny, but not one that is known?"
"Funny you should mention it like that," Markus began with a finger raised. "There's actually an old Camaden phrase for that exact sentiment. It was known as 'the undiscovered country.'" Markus pulled out his Scroll and checked the time. "But the hour grows late, I'm tired, and I was just over here to see how Velvet was fairing." He put his Scroll away. "I'm sure you didn't want to have a philosophical debate this late."
Blake stepped forward. "How is she doing?"
Markus gave an exhausted sigh. "She's shaken, but resting. She had just fallen asleep when I left, and her team is with her." Markus put a hand on Blake's shoulder. "She's gonna be fine. She's stronger than she knows." He gave her shoulder a pat before resuming his walk. "Goodnight, everyone."
Markus heard the exchanges of "Goodnight" between the others and himself, before hearing the clicks of doors shutting. "Yes… 'the undiscovered country.' A place from which no visitor has ever returned."
"So!" an energetic Professor Oobleck announced to the classroom, jerking everyone back to consciousness, albeit temporarily. "Who can tell me what many scholars believe was the turning point in the third year of the war?"
Weiss raised her hand. "The Battle at Fort Castle."
"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagoon's forces?" he asked, appearing to slide in front of Jaune.
Good Mother, Markus thought from his seat. He's exhausting me just by watching him.
"Mister Arc!" Professor Oobleck half said/shouted to Jaune. "Care to contribute to the discussion?"
"Uh… wha?" Jaune said in a sleepy stupor.
"The advantage the Faunus had at the Battle of Fort Castle. What was it?"
"Oh, uh… it was…" he drew out to buy time. He began to frantically search the faces of others for the answer. Phyrra pointed to her eyes, while being her, Markus attempted to silently mouth out "night vision." "Night… eyes?" Jaune finally answered.
The lecture hall echoed as students laughed. "Well, technically, you are not wrong," Oobleck said, taking another sip of his coffee, "though that's certainly a unique way of putting it."
Markus decided to bail him out. "It has been known that those of Faunus heritage will inherit the attributes of their physical extremities." He glanced at Velvet "Those with ears have superior hearing, those with tails have better balance, some possess higher strength, or have a more sensitive nose, but most possess at least some scotopic vision."
"General Lagoon either thought it wasn't a factor, or was ignorant of it," Blake added in, "so he tried to attack the Faunus in their sleep. Using their night vision, they were able to outflank and capture the General."
"Exactly!" Oobleck said in surprised elation. "So, what, dear students, can we take away from this tactical blunder?"
"'Know your enemy, and you will have already defeated them, before a weapon is raised,'" Markus quoted from one of his books from Camaden.
"An astute observation," Oobleck said.
"Credit should also be given to the Revolutionary forces to be so quick to capitalize on the opportunity when it has been realized."
Oobleck sipped his coffee. "I suppose that is true, however -" a bell interrupted him, "- it will have to wait until next time. Assigned readings are due then!" And in a blink, he was out the door.
Markus could do nothing but shake his head with mild amusement, and collect his things. As he stood, a glimpse of Cardin caught the corner of his eye. Markus waited until Cardin exited the hall to speak with him.
"Hey, you two!" Yang said as she came up to Blake and Weiss. "How was class?"
"Uneventful," Blake boredly remarked.
"Oh, c'mon! There has to have been one interesting thing that happened."
"Well," Weiss began, putting a balled hand on her hip, "I, for one, was surprised at Markus's understanding of Faunus history and physiology."
"Why is that?" Blake asked.
"Faunus are rare in Atlas. I can only assume they're even more so in Camaden."
"Oh, that makes sense."
"Speaking of him," Weiss searched around, "where is he? We were supposed to do Dust combat testing."
Yang assisted in Weiss's search, laying eyes on and finding him. "He's over there, talking to -" she squinted, "- Cardin."
"Is he going to give him another beating?" Blake asked with unusual enthusiasm.
"It doesn't look like it. He seems rather calm. Cardin looks surprised to see him, though." The three of them watched as Markus made several gestures to Cardin, then giving one of his shoulders a friendly tap, and a warm smile. They all saw Cardin tense as Velvet walked by, before Markus said something that made Cardin go jogging after her.
Markus then spotted the trio and quickly stride towards them. "Good morning, ladies."
"You and Cardin have a nice chat?" Yang jokingly asked.
"We actually did, yes," Markus answered, matter-of-factly. "I believe he's on the redeeming path."
"Is he?" Blake asked, highly suspicious.
"I didn't sense any deception from him."
"Wait," Yang interjected. "You can tell when people are lying?"
Markus affirmed with a nod and an audible "Mmhmm."
"Is… that your Semblance?"
"Professor Ozpin seems to think so, but Verde wasn't convinced." Markus took a quick glance back to see Velvet and Cardin still talking. "She seemed to think that Truthsense could be a teachable skill, since she possessed some ability of it herself. She theorized some of us are more responsive and sensitive to it."
"So what's this redeeming path you were talking about?" Weiss asked.
"Hang on," Markus said as Cardin approached. "What'd she say?"
Cardin hung his head. "She can't forgive me, at least not right now. In time, though, she might."
"But this is a good first step."
"And I also said if anyone else gave her problems, and I was in the area, to let me know."
"You seek to convert your transgression directly. The more direct, yet harder, path."
Cardin nodded, and gave the group a wave. "Anyway, I need to get going."
"Of course," Markus said with a bow. "Earth Mother bless your day." He turned back to Weiss. "I believe we have some tests to do."
"Sure, but…" Weiss stopped, giving time for thought. "What was all that?"
"Oh, I merely suggested it would be in their mutual interests to apologize."
"'Suggested?'" Yang asked. "Not 'demanded?'"
Markus grinned. "I can only point in the general direction." He looked to Blake. "It is up to the person whether or not they will walk the redeeming path."
"You do seem to have quite the attachment to Velvet," Blake said. "I would have thought you would gone after him again."
Markus's face scrunched. "Why would I? Justice has already been dispensed. And there are no souls that are beyond redemption."
"It looked to have hurt you just as much when you saw Cardin do what he did."
"Believe me, it did," Markus said as his skin crawled with the memory. He sighed. "I suppose I do have a certain… affinity for Team CFVY."
"The 'V' specificity, am I right?" Yang edged on with a nudge from her elbow. "Eh? Eh?"
Markus tried, but failed, to keep back a face flushing. "Perhaps."
The four shared a laugh. "Your… what is it? Truthsense? Does it make you not able to lie?"
"Not quite. It just makes us bad at it." He turned to leave. "I'm going to change. Shall I meet you in the courtyard in an hour or so to begin tests?"
"Shouldn't we let someone know that we're doing Dust experiments?" Weiss asked.
"I'll let Glynda know," Markus said. "I usually pass her on my way back at this time of day."
"Okay," Weiss said. "We will see you then."
They turned to go their separate ways. Shortly thereafter, Blake's Scroll sounded off work an alert. She opened it to see a surprising message from Markus:
"Speaking of, may I talk with you tonight?"
"Who's that?" Weiss inquired.
"It's just Ruby," Blake answered in a lie, "wondering where we are." She paused to send her answer:
"Sure. When and where?"
Markus immediately replied:
"Sundown. My room. Staff wing, room 47. Door will be open."
"Well, have you tried it?" Markus asked Weiss.
"Not exactly, no," she answered, looking down the impromptu target range.
"It should work, then. Or, at least I wouldn't understand why it wouldn't." He shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"We blow up the school," Blake said.
Markus threw out a dismissive hand. "I assure you, it's more resilient than you think."
Ruby extended Crescent Rose, putting its point into the ground. "Okay, if you're so sure."
"Why don't we start with something not so explosive at first, so you can get a feel for it," Markus suggested, looking down range. "But first, before that, a shot at the first dummy that will act as our control."
Ruby took aim at the leftmost Beowolf target dummy that had been set out, and fired. The round hit its mark, leaving a sizeable hole in the chestpiece.
"Okay, now that is established, go ahead with ice."
Weiss drew Myrtenaster, forming an ice glyph in front of Ruby. "Whenever you're ready."
Ruby took a moment to readjust, finding it difficult to see the next target through the glyph. "Firing!" she called out, sending the next shot down range.
The projectile hit, but did not leave a gaping hole like the first. Instead, the shot stuck to the dummy, hitting with enough force to make the pole on which it was behind held lean backward. Icicles formed around the dummy's midsection, pointing parallel with the ground.
"Huh," Markus said in surprise. "I didn't expect that."
"Neither did I," Weiss remarked.
"I mean, it looks like it would still hurt if something was hit by it, but it might be a less lethal method of subduing a target."
"It's hard to aim through the glyph, though," Ruby said, loading another round. "It'll have to be big and slow in order to be effective."
"We'll work on moving targets later," Markus said. "This is more of a proof-of-concept test." Markus turned back to the other targets. "Dare we try fire next?"
"What else would we try?" Weiss asked.
"Isn't there a Dust that can do time manipulation?"
Weiss spun the chambers of Myrtenaster to the appropriate vial, then set forth the glyph, this time in the shape of a cog wheel. "Firing!" Ruby called out again.
To everyone's surprise, the dummy just sat on its post, with no hole or movement of any kind.
"Hmmm, interesting," Markus said with an extended finger on his chin. "There's no ballistic damage on it."
"Did you miss?" Weiss directed to Ruby.
"No!" Ruby defensively said. "I was dead on!"
Markus held up a finger with an idea. "We may have to take more drastic measures on this one." He stepped out onto the range.
Ruby's face flashed to worry. "Markus?"
He only smiled. "Shoot me," he calmly said.
Weiss's mouth dropped. "Ummm… what?"
"Shoot me," Markus repeated, more insistent.
"Markus, we're not gonna -"
"Shoot me!" he yelled. His sudden outburst surprised everyone, even himself. "Sorry," he said cooly. "I'm just thinking that, since there was no ballistic damage on the dummy, there's an effect that it will take an observer to see. Like -" he paused, forming his thought into words, "- I dunno. Maybe the round fragmented and formed a field that creates a bubble of time."
"How would it know to form around you?" Ruby asked, still visibly scared.
"Things in the universe with mass bend time and space," Markus reasoned, mainly to convince himself. "Hopefully it'll warp around me." He took a readied stance. "If not, be prepared to rush me to the medical wing." Markus glanced to Blake and Yang. "You ready to take notes over there?" They both held up notepads and pens. "Good. Then it won't be for naught if things go wrong." He went back to Ruby and Weiss. "Form the glyph."
The temporal glyph reformed in front of Ruby. "What about your Dust resistance?" Weiss asked at the last second.
"Oh, shoot -" Markus began to say, but before he could add any more, Ruby pressed up on her trigger. At first, Markus heard the sound of the shot, but then it deepened, and as he looked up, he saw the smoke coming from the barrel slow.
He moved his hands in front of his face. He, at least, seemed to be moving in real time. As he started to take a step, the world caught up, and the full volume of the shot washed over him.
"Markus!" Ruby yelled. "I'm so sorry! You said 'shoot,' and I thought you meant -"
"Shoot me again!" Markus excitedly yelled back.
"Are you crazy!?"
"No! I think I'm right! Again!"
Ruby loaded another round into the chamber and fired again, but this time Markus was prepared. As soon as he saw the muzzle smoke slow, he sprinted toward Ruby and Weiss. He had just reached them when his theoretical field collasped.
"Boo!" he said from behind them.
Both girls shrieked. "Where the heck did you come from?" Ruby asked, still trying to catch her breath.
"You were just over there not even a second ago!" Weiss exclaimed.
Markus spun around. "And not a hole to be found." He put his hands on his hips in triumph. "A successful test, I think."
"Did either of you two see what happened?" Weiss directed to Blake and Yang.
"Nope!" Yang said. "Too fast for me."
"I only saw a green blur," Blake answered.
"Imagine what it could do on a non-resistant target," Markus wondered aloud.
His thought was quickly cut off by the sudden appearance of Team JNPR. "We heard screams," Phyrra said. "Is everything alright?"
"Oh, yes," Weiss replied. "Markus just gave us a startle."
Nora came up from below Markus. "Didn't anyone tell you that's not nice?" she said, booping Markus on the nose.
"I had to test my theory, and they just happened to be close enough," Markus explained.
"What theory?" Ren asked.
Markus spun to face Ruby and Weiss. "Again."
Weiss formed the rune, nodding to Ruby when it stabilized. Ruby shot, forming Markus's field. He sprinted down the target range, climbing atop one of the undamaged dummies. He heard the field collapse, and whistled to get JNPR's attention.
"Amazing!" Phyrra said in awe. "Time manipulation?"
"That's what it looks like. 'Localized time distortion,' I think is a good name for it. More tests need to be done." He looked to the afternoon Sun. 'But I think that's enough for our minds to chew on for one day."
A knock on Markus's door broke his meditation concentration. "Come in." He heard the door open, then close, but nothing else. "Would it offend you if I said you have a feline grace?"
"Is that a cat joke?" Blake asked, reaching for her bow.
Markus heard the bow begin to unravel, causing him to turn and face Blake. "I meant no disrespect or offense." He looked to her extra set of ears. "Why do you hide them?"
Blake bashfully looked away. "I don't want people to know."
The skin behind Markus's ears gave a slight tingle, letting him know she wasn't telling the entire truth. "You mean you don't want any non-Faunus to know."
The tingling sensation stopped when Blake nodded. "I forgot about your Semblance."
"Many do," Markus reassured. "I've managed to catch Professor Ozpin in a few half-truths, so you're in good company."
He saw Blake relax, albeit slightly. He pointed to one of his chairs, which she took. "I don't want people to know of my previous association, either."
Markus seated himself on his bed. "Do you think a couple of extra ears will arouse that kind of suspicion?"
"Most humans are untrusting of Faunus, anyway."
"I was never untrusting of Faunus. Then again, the first time I saw one was a couple of years ago, and I didn't learn of the White Fang until six months after that."
Blake's head shook. "You never had to face them. Never saw their ferocity."
"I believe I saw their ferocity first hand," Markus said, louder. He traced his facial scar. "Did you forget about what you did?"
"Oh," she shamefully said. "I did. I try to forget most of what happened then."
"Why?" he asked, moving closer. "To deny it is to deny part of yourself."
"It's part of my life I want to forget."
Markus held up his head in realization. "Ahhh, now I see why you wear the bow. You are hiding your Faunus heritage… from yourself." Markus gently put a hand on her shoulder. "You won't be able to. I won't pretend that I know of the White Fang's true furiousness, but something like that is going to stay with you for the rest of your days. You can't deny it, run from it, or hide it, not for very long, anyway."
Blake's head hung as she looked down. He heard a sniff after a moment's silence, and saw a tear fall on her leg. "The sooner you can forgive and trust yourself again, and accept that you are not your past, the easier time you will have." He stood. "Your past will then only be the past. Nothing more."
Blake let out a shaky breath, and stood with him. She first took a hand and wiped away an errant tear, then took a finger and gently ran it along the scar she made. "I was surprised, you know… when you talked to me on the first day. Or even now, for that matter."
Markus took her tracing hand in his. "No soul is beyond redeeming." And for the briefest of moments, Markus spotted a smile on her face. He let her and go. "Anyway, it's late."
Blake started to retie her bow. "I assume you'll keep this between us?"
Markus nodded. "Only until you're ready to accept who you are."
She rolled her eyes. "That could be years from now."
"I have a feeling you'll accidently let it slip before then, but yes." He mimicked his mouth being zipped closed, and locked.
Blake grabbed the door handle before stopping. "Who else knows?"
"Just Professor Ozpin and myself."
She sighed in relief. "Thank you," she quietly said, and departed the room.
Markus breathed a happy sigh for himself. Still on the redeeming path, he thought. Earth Mother, watch over you, Blake Belladonna.
