AN:I am so sorry this took so long! I've been very busy lately and only recently got to writing. On the bright side, I should have more time to do so now.
Without further adieu (hope I'm using that word right), the next chapter!
'Grimm' Verdax thinking.
'Grimm' Voice talking.
Through the Window!
Vale was burning. Grimm were roaming the city and anyone unlucky enough to be on the streets was either dead, dying, or lunch. Buildings collapsed as I walked down the street. I tried to reach out, to help those I saw, but my body wouldn't respond, so I walked.
Every step I took, I heard a new voice begging for help, each street showed a new death. I focused on the ground in front of me, but I couldn't block out the chaos. Reaching an open square, what was probably once a park before being razed and filled with piles of rotting corpses, I stopped and looked around, trying to spot any survivors, only to see the occasional Grimm.
A black blur race in front of me, then behind me, and then it appeared everywhere all at once. I looked around frantically, trying to get a better look at this thing I knew was responsible for this Hell. I unsheathed Grimmsbane only for the arm holding it to be ripped off by the blur. I yelled in agony as I clutched the stump where my right arm was, black blood trickling through the gaps of my fingers. I lost focus on that spot as a new source of pain appeared in the form of a forearm piercing my chest and heart.
I looked up wide-eyed as I coughed up blood and saw a pair of glowing; blood-red eyes stare back at me with sadistic glee.
'You'll never be free of me, partner.'
0-0-0-0-0
I sat up immediately. My breathing was heavy and my heart pounding like a drum in my ears. I shook my head and tried to calm down, which took a few minutes. Putting my hand on my head I thought back to the dream.
'What was the point of that?' I thought. 'Why show me something like that.'
I looked up to the sky. "Don't suppose you'd be willing to explain?"
Nothing.
I sighed. "Of course."
I stood up and put on my trench coat, after giving it the usual is-it-clean sniff. Could be better, but still good. I looked over the side of the building, watching people go about their morning business as I thought about last night. Starting today I would be going to Beacon, me of all people.
I thought back to what Ozpin said about knowing my parents. Even if they mentioned him once or twice, I never saw him in that five-year period, which is what got me suspicious. I'll trust him for now, but I won't lower my guard around him or his associates.
'You shouldn't have trusted him to begin with.' The Voice said, making me wince at its presence.
"It speaks!" I growled sarcastically. "You were the one who said to tell him about you."
'I was hoping to provoke a fight, get some entertainment from him. I did not expect for you to join him.'
"Is that fear I'm detecting in your voice, oh mighty Beowolf? If I didn't know better, I'd think you were afraid Ozpin actually has a way for me to be rid of you."
I clutched my head as the Voice presses forwards. 'Do not make such light assumptions, boy. Whatever tricks this Ozpin has, he cannot undo our bond. Do well to remember that.' And it was gone.
"Always a pleasure." I grumble.
I felt a vibration in my pocket. I reached in and pulled out the scroll that Ozpin had given me last night. I pulled it apart, revealing a glass screen with a picture of Ozpin and a green button below it. Curious, I pushed it.
"Hello Verdax." Ozpin's voice said. "I'm sending this message to your scroll because I wanted to remind you that the airships to Beacon leave at Nine A.M. and will not make return trips for left-behinds. I'll see you on campus."
The message ended. I put the tablet in my pocket again and looked at the clock tower across the street.
Eight fifty-five.
"Well, I guess I missed it." I said in mock disappointment. "A real shame."
The scroll buzzed again as I was about to lie down. Pulling it out, I saw it had another message from Ozpin. I hit the green button again as his voice came on once again.
"In case your deciding to skip going to Beacon, I thought I'd tell you that your scroll has a tracking device in it and I'm prepared to inform the military along with any nearby huntsmen and huntresses of your location and activities. See you at school Mr. Ashen."
"..."
"You son of a bitch."
I grabbed Grimmsbane and slung it on my back as I crushed the scroll in one had. I leapt to the street, startling the pedestrians and took off. I used my Rose semblance to increase my speed at the cost of knocking down pedestrians in my way and leaping over cars as I passed. I snatched a bagel from a coffee shop for breakfast, much to the annoyance of the customer.
Reaching the airship docks, I ran through the crowds, gates, security guards, and families. It was a straightaway to the airship and the doors were closing, so I picked up the speed. Of course one kid had to be an asshole and stand in my path, forcing me to jump over him. I managed to clear his head with two feet to spare.
The landing was not as graceful.
Word of advice: somersaults at 60 miles an hour with a greatsword strapped to your back fucking hurts. I barreled through the airship terminal until I went through the door, which startled one of the crew members, and finally stopped when my back slammed into the railing on the other side of the airship, coming up upside down with enough force to make the whole railing lean back.
"Ah, damnit." I hissed as my healing factor fused my fractured spine together.
I got up and dusted myself off, noticing the other occupants of the ship were staring at me. If I had to guess, a fifth were actually concerned, a third thought I was just another weirdo, and the remaining ones glared hatefully at my wolf ears, as usual. I found myself a corner away from everyone's prying eyes and sat down, deciding to think out how I would handle my time at Beacon.
With any luck I might get some peace and-
"Hey Verdax!"
Oh Oum damnit.
I opened my eyes to see the girl from last night... Ruby, that was it. She was approaching me with another girl behind her.
The other girl was half a head taller than Ruby, with blonde hair that reached her lower back and lilac eyes. She wore a brown jacket with proofed shoulders over a yellow tank top, showing both a bit of cleavage and midriff, as well as black short shorts under a sort of lilac cape attached at the waist. On her black fingerless gloves and a gold bracelet on each wrist while her feet had brown, knee-high boots with orange and purple fabric sticking out the tops.
"Oh it's you." I greeted her unenthusiastically.
"You're going to Beacon too?" Ruby asked.
"For now. Whether I decide it's worth staying depends on what I find there."
Ruby nodded in understanding. "This is my sister, Yang." She introduced the blonde girl.
"What's with all black clothes? You trying to go for an emo look?" Yang asked.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted.
"What's emo?" Both girls looked at me, apparently caught off guard by the question.
"Well-"
"It's nothing!" Ruby exclaimed, cutting off her sister's answer.
Deciding the topic wasn't worth pursuing, I got straight to the point. "What do you want?"
Ruby sat next to me. "Well Yang keeps telling me to make friends and I saw you sitting in the corner. So I thought you could use some company."
"You thought wrong." I said. "If I wanted friends I would have gone to literally any of the other dozens of people who belong on this airship."
"What do you-"
"You're not ready to go to Beacon."
Ruby looked down and I felt pressure on my foot. I looked up to see Yang giving me a warning glare. I decided to ignore it as I continued my point.
"You have skill, I won't deny that, but that skill means nothing when you've only revived half as much training as the average student. The lack of experience is a major problem and is likely to get you killed."
"I won't let that-" Yang started.
"You won't let that happen. That doesn't mean it never will." I told her, noticing how she grit her teeth and put more pressure on my foot. "Grimm travel in large packs and the ones that don't are smart and strong enough to kill veteran huntsmen. You can't fight all of them off and expect Ruby to be unscathed."
I stood up. "She's not ready. And one day that will get herself or someone else killed."
Yang just glared at me and I let Aura leak of my body as a warning. Taking the hint, she kneeled in front of Ruby.
"Don't listen to him Rubes." She said gently, putting a hand on the young girl's shoulder. "You'll do great."
I was about to retort when the holographic televisions were suddenly replaced by an image of Goodwitch.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon." She said in an oddly kind tone. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have revived the honor of being admitted to this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your job to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for the task, and it is our turn to provide the knowledge and training to protect our world."
I rolled my eyes as her image vanished. That was clearly a fluff piece meant to boost the self-esteem of the other students. The only upside was that it gave me an idea about what kind of people these idiots were.
As far as I was concerned, the airship contained three types of people, those who solidified their confidence from the announcement and would be decent warriors, like Yang, those who lost some of their fear and would be a fifty-fifty of good and bad, like Ruby, and those who were still afraid and not make it past initiation, like the blonde currently emptying his stomach into a trash can.
Deciding I'd had enough of everyone on this airship, I walked over to the doors we would disembark from. Everyone occasionally glanced at me as I stood in front of them before I backed up to the railing. I took a few deep breaths as I braced myself, eyes locked on the door. I broke out into a sprint, charging my Aura as I ran, letting it build until I came to a stop and kicked the doors with all my might.
I felt them cave in until they snapped away completely, spinning in the air as they fell to the ground bellow. I laid a hand on the doorframe to steady myself and piped my ears as air began tearing through the cabin to equalize the pressure, causing people scream in panic and grab anything secure.
Looking down I saw the rooftops of a massive compound built like a castle. There was a courtyard and a landing strip to the south, a forest at the base of a cliff to the east, and a massive tower in the center. Luckily, said tower was in our current flight path. I waited until it was in position and let go, falling feet first towards the structure.
As I hit the sloped roof, I unsheathed Grimmsbane and planted its blade into the building, preventing myself from falling off the tower. I slid down to the ledge and jumped, using Grimmsbane as an anchor and pivot to swing around and crashed through the window that awaited me. Landing in a field of broken glass, I stood and sheathed Grimmsbane looking around to find myself in an office with several turning gears in the ceiling and in the desk, giving the room a clockwork feel to it.
A short cough revealed I wasn't alone. I whirled around, hand on my weapon to find Ozpin sitting at the desk, leaning on his hands and staring at me. To his right was Glynda, who looked shocked at my appearance, holding a tablet, which she almost dropped.
"Well Mr. Ashen," He said. "I'm assuming there's a reason you came crashing through my window."
I shrugged. "The airship was too much trouble, so I took the express elevator."
"You jumped off the airship!?" Glynda demanded.
"Yeah, had to break the doors off first." I responded before turning to Ozpin. "Your future students panic easy by the way. The doors were gone for two seconds and they all just started screaming bloody murder."
Ozpin sighed. "Glynda, go make sure the school psychologist is ready to meet with the students on the airship, I will stay and have a word with Mr. Ashen."
Glynda looked as if she wanted to protest, but after a glare from Ozpin she walked to the back of the room into a waiting elevator, shooting me a death glare as the doors shut. Once she was gone I turned back to Ozpin.
"Mr. Ashen." He said calmly, but I could tell he was holding back some irritation. "Would you mind telling me what possessed you to leap from the airship, endangering yourself and the other students?"
"Well for starters," I began. "I don't like cramped spaces, the people were annoying, and I'm still pissed from breaking my spine getting on that damned thing."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Did you..."
"Yes, I literally shattered my spinal cord getting on that airship."
I raised my hand, stopping Ozpin from saying more. "Don't worry, I have a healing factor. Benefits of being half monster."
Ozpin sighed. "On to the topic at hand, there are some matters we need to discuss." He paused and I gestured for him to continue as I crossed my arms. "I would appreciate if you avoided destroying school property in the future."
"Noted, but no promises."
"I suppose that's the best I'll get." He said. "Secondly, because of your past I feel the need to say this: I will not tolerate the death or injury of a student on campus outside of combat classes."
"Unless they piss me off or have it coming, then fine."
"No Verdax." Ozpin spoke sternly and with authority, making me raise an eyebrow. "You will not fight another student unless it is in combat classes. Am I understood?"
I growled. "Let's get one thing straight Ozzie." I put both hands on his desk and leaned forwards until I looked him in the eye. "I have no obligation to follow your orders. I have done so to this point because you were nice enough to give me a roof over my head and apparently knew my parents. In fact, the only reason I told you my past was because you had a right to know what happened."
I raised my right hand, gathering Aura in my palm. "I will work with you but that does not give you the right to order me around like I work for you, or that you can try to act like my parents."
I stood back up and cut the stream of Aura. "I'm only here until my Beowolf problem is solved. After that, I'm gone. Am I understood?"
We stared each other down, neither one giving ground. After a few minutes Ozpin relented.
"Very well, if that's how you wish to play this. As long as you are a student here, I will do all I can to assist with your 'inner Grimm' problem. However, until we have a solution, it would be best if you behave like a student, rather than a former terrorist."
I considered what he said and decided that it was the best course of action for now. What worried me was that the Beowolf had been silent for the conversation so far. It usually took times like this, when I was frustrated or angry, and edge me on, but this time there was nothing. If nothing else it should have commented about me getting rid of it.
"Fine by me." I responded, deciding to investigate the Grimm's absence later. "Anything else?"
Ozpin stood and walked around the desk, cane in hand. "There is the matter of teams. With your arrival we now have an odd number of students, meaning that someone will be without a partner." He raised his hand as I was about to speak. "Now I know that you want to be alone, but we can't just have a team of one; that defeats the purpose of teams in the first place."
"I'm guessing you have a solution." I said.
Ozpin smirked. "After I address the first years, you will undergo the initiation trial by yourself. There will be a time limit, and your objective is to kill as many Grimm as possible. In doing so, you will be given points based on how many and what kind of Grimm you kill. Once time is up your score will be tallied and set as a goal. Then, once the other teams have completed initiation, we will use a similar point system with them to determine who's team you'll be on."
I thought about what he said. I would rather be alone, but this might be better. If I was to be on a team, I would rather it be full of competent people.
"Alright we'll try it your way." I told him. "Also, I need a new scroll. Without a tracking device."
"I'll make sure to get you one." Ozpin checked his watch. "It's time for the address. Follow me to the auditorium."
We walked to the elevator and got in. It jolted a bit as it began moving down. I started thinking of strategies when my head began pounding.
'He's hiding something.' The Voice growled.
I clutched my head and grunted. 'Now you speak up. Where have you been?'
'Finding out what this man is hiding from us.'
'I'm sure Ozpin has a lot of secrets, now will you get out!?'
'You always say that. What am I supposed to do? Pack my things and leave?'
'That'd be great.' I responded, trying to not let Ozpin know about my conversation with the Beowolf.
'Our current disputes aside, there's something he's not telling you.'
'And what could be so important-'
'A source of Aura as large as yours a mile below us.'
That got me to freeze. I had always had a massive stockpile of Aura in my system that got bigger whenever I drained someone else's Aura. It's what let's me use it in fights so recklessly. To hear that there's another source just as big outside of the Grimmling project...
'Explain.' I told the Voice.
'As far as I can tell, the energy I'm feeling is shattered, broken. Half of it is missing.'
'What do you mean missing? You don't just lose half your Aura!'
'That's what has me concerned. This person somehow only has half their Aura and yet it's still as big as your own. What does that tell you?'
The Voice was right. If that source of Aura was enough to rival mine at half, it could be a problem. If Shiro were to learn about this... I didn't want to think about what the strongest Grimmling would do to get it.
The elevator doors opened and I followed Ozpin out. 'This requires some investigation, but not now. We'll wait until we get an opportunity.' I informed the Voice.
'Very well.'
AN: Okay two reasons I stopped there: First, I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible, and second I wanted to have all the initiation action in one chapter.
An announcement, I'm going to take a short break from this story, not long, a month at most, just to gather my thoughts about where this story is headed and make sure that it doesn't take this long to post another chapter. Until then, I will be working on 'Remnant's Heavenly Dragons', feel free to check it out if you haven't already.
Please leave a review and comment, I love feedback! No flames please.
Until next time!
