DISCLAIMER
The following is a fan-based
FICTION
RWBY are all owned by Rooster Teeth and by Monyreak 'Monty' Oum (R.I.P.)
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CHAPTER 3: Lonely Weekend, Plentiful Plans
"I.. don't understand?"
Saturday came and I was stumped by what I just heard from the mouth of Professor Goodwitch.
"As per collective decision between my colleagues, we have decided to give you peace for the weekend." She had started calmly and uncaring of the growing surprise in my face. "You are already a diligent student during school days, I don't think I need to describe you how important is for teens your age to enjoy some rest once in a while, especially since you are on the path to become an huntsman."
I don't know what shocked me the most, the fact that the plans of the day had been erased in a single moment and without notice or that it had been Professor Goodwitch to tell this to me.
Honestly I was mostly bitter that I was denied something that brought something to do in the free time I had and now... I was left with pretty much nothing to do. I was quite sure that this wasn't something that I could protest since it was the responsibility of teachers to decide or not if a student should do extra work during schooltime and trying to repeal such notion would just warrant further punishment.
So I was there by Beacon's hangar, waiting for a free Bullhead that could get me on the main city and going there possibly find something to do.
If I had to be blunt, I had planned to go to the city in the near future but it was mostly related to my current situation out of school.
While there wasn't truly a tuition to pay for the education at Beacon since it was a funded by the Council of Vale, I had already checked the fact I couldn't stay there during summer time.
That is why a part-time job had turned into a must for my survival.
I nodded at the pilot waving my direction and we boarded the aircraft, leaving me to think more about possible solutions that I could pick.
Three options I knew about but... maybe I could find something else if I was refused for a reason to another.
The flight was uneventful and it lasted about half an hour, giving the time for me to think of two places I could go now and.. I decided to see if a certain shopkeep could need some manpower with his numerous storefronts.
Thanking the pilots for the ride, I jumped off the Bullhead and started to leave the open hangar to start my little search for the old man.
The streets of the capital were busy with people either chatting or moving coherently in a steady flow that led them where they needed or wanted to be.
It was during that aimless walk that I happened to glance to the bookshop Tukson's Book Trade and I partly grimaced as I could remember perfectly that the owner was going to be killed by Cinder's protégés.
I was about to enter the shop when I noticed the current clients there, a familiar blonde and Cat faunus. I scowled and walked away, my mind forcefully push the date of that encounter further in my schedule as I returned to my search and... I found him.
Working in his street-side noodle bar, the Shopkeep was waiting patiently for the first clients of the day but.. sadly it wasn't common for people to eat noodles so early in the morning and nobody was there yet.
I approached the stand and he noticed me quickly, nodding my direction. "Good morning."
"Good morning." He replied quickly and blankly, making me a little nervous at his no-nonsense tone. "How may I help you, young man?"
I sighed, praying that the old man wasn't going to bash me away for not being there to buy anything of his. "I... heard that you own several workplaces and-" His hand slammed loudly on the counter as he looked left and right before gesturing me to come closer to... throw a mop and a bucket filled of water at me.
The bucket I catched quickly but the mop slammed painfully on my forehead, making me almost stumble at the impact. "H-Hey-" "Clean the ground."
I blinked at the order, the shopkeep gesturing the several leftovers there on the floor. For a moment I wanted to protest but I decided to roll with it, knowing that this was a test of sort. I nodded slowly and started to clean the stains of the proximity of the noodle bar, finding quite irking when someone in the crowd started to throw new trash on the ground I had just finished to clean.
An hour became two and I stared at the results of my effort, the ground restored to a pristine state and I had asked for help just once to change the filthy water on the bucket.
"Good." I frowned at the lacking comment over my hardwork but I was interrupted in my musings when the owner pointed at the.. wall by the side. "Uh?"
I walked calmly with the mop to the corner and...
...
WHO DID THIS?!
I have seen multiple walls stained by graffiti but the one I was staring at had been horribly scarred for life. There were so many pictures on it that it felt like I had just found a new shade of cancer in the world.
The mop almost fell off from my hold but I renewed my grasp then moment I realised I had to... clean this too.
Groaning quietly, I marched submitted to my fate while ignoring the quick nods from the old man.
At first my efforts were slim, considering that the previous task had been quite dull but soon I found out that I had to put more strength for the cleanup since the substance used to create this hellish abomination in art's history was stubborn to come off from the texture of the barrier.
Three hours passed once again and morning had now passed, lunchtime being imminent as some clients had started to approach the bar.
I was about to sigh as I placed the mop in the bucket, the second task accomplished, when I was suddenly yanked inside the bar by the owner of the store.
"Stir the mix." He pointed at the large pot that contained water and the noodles mix. I just gave a nod and picked the large wooden spoon lying near the container, plunging it carefully to not break the compound as I started to stir steadily the content. After a while I was sweating a little, the heat coming from the boiling pot was quite new to me, being someone that barely worked in a kitchen before being thrown in RWBY.
"Stop." The order was met by a quick interruption of my actions, the old man approaching and nodding at the results of my work. "Move to the vegetables, cut two carrots and three tomatoes."
I blinked at the precise request but complied without hesitation, my hands meticulously cutting the demanded igredients as quickly as I could safely do. Once I was done with the task, I turned to voice that I was done when.. the cut ingredients vanished before my eyes, the old man taking them and placing on some of the waiting dishes before serving them.
Pausing for a moment, I glanced in utter shock at the speed the elder had in the rest of the work there, quickly delivering several plates in mere seconds and I was almost forgetting what I was supposed to do.. at least until the Shopkeep slammed his foot on one of mine, making me jump back in the real world. "Return to the mix, no dreaming."
At this point I had realised it was useless to try to talk amidst this chaos and decided to focus back on my work, alternating between cutting ingredients and stirring the large pot.
Lunch ended few hours later and... my hands were hurting like hell as I watched the old man closing down the bar. He turned to stare at me and nodded. "You are hired." I smiled at those words, knowing that this activity had to have a mad income when- "Follow me."
..."Uh?" He didn't deign me an explanation as he started to walk with a quick pace in the less crowded streets, people starting to retreat in their houses to rest after a long day outside.
I was confused, but that is something that has been since I had been working the insane shift at the noodle shop, as felt the need to follow the lead of the elder as he took me in a.. dojo?
The place looked like one of those old-style Karate dojos back home, yet this one looked quite old, unused, as if it's been a long time since I have seen. While I knew the old, asian man had to have had some special training to be this active at his age, I hadn't truly considered the whole 'Karate Kid' skit.
But now? Now that sounded quite the cliche coming out to be true- *TWHACK!* "GAH!"
Wood whipped at my arm, dealing quite the painful reminder that this man was utterly crazy.
In his hands was one of those practice sword I have seen once in a while in some Kendo's fights. "Pick a Shinai." I blinked and- "Now!" He prepared to attack once more but I rolled away towards the stash of other practice katanas and picked a muramasa version.
My small glee was whipped away as the man quickly slashed my direction, landing a painful hit on my back and forcing me on my knees. "Move!" His voice was authorative and I jumped out of the range of the psycopath, trying to recover something similar to a fighting stance.
The tatami under my shoes creaked a little, as my sword shielded my head from another strike of the aggressive assault but I flinched as I could feel some might behind his attack. "You fool."
"Uh-UGH!" One of my hands went to grasp my pained side as I had forgotten how quick he was. "You are unfocused. A bad huntsman."
U-Uh?
"Terrible, truly unacceptable."
What?
"Your friends will die because of you."
Something stirred within my chest at those last words. Maybe it was because I was getting some frequent nightmares of messing up in a fight and getting someone killed because I was not willing myself enough or maybe I just disliked the very notion of thinking of that... BUT I WAS PISSED NOW!
The Shopkeep thrusted the shinai towards my torso but I stretched my body to let it calmly graze my untouched flank, giving quite the opening to exploit as I put much of my strength behind the first hit, a pleasant 'uff' leaving the bastard's mouth as his bones weren't strong enough to keep up with the pressure.
That is when I noticed his weakness. There was no true power behind his attacks, it was all speed. He was so quick that he let the kinetic energy that he got from his attacks to add up with his own, making it quite the horrible sting to deal with.
"Good!" He barked loudly. "Keep up!"
I tried to quickly get another opportunity, to try and get a clean hit on his body but.. he eluded every attempts, distancing himself from the close encounter when he couldn't truly parry or counter my strikes.
But it was in that angry/mindless offensive of mine that I ended up messing up. My blade was deflected and I could see the practice sword approaching right towards my face and it... stopped.
Was I having one of those 'I saw my life passing in a moment' kind of thing? Hardly as I couldn't see anything about the past but I felt time getting slower, a slow crescendo, primal and desperate starting to scream in my mind.
Dodge!
DODGE!
DODGE!
And I dodged but not how I had expected in my head. A moment I was staring at the incoming piece of wood, then I was flexing away from the attack, my blade readied to strike to the unprotected chest of the elder, now looking surprised at the development as lightning particles left my body in that instant.
My shinai slammed mercilessly on the exposed stomach of the old man, making him fall on his knees at how much power I had put behind it.
I collapsed on the tatami, lying on it for a moment before getting up quickly, staring carefully at the groaning elder, disarmed and in pain.
...Did I went too far there? Slowly all the anger that had fueled my tired body vanished, replaced by regret and guilt as I approached the man, crouching to see if I could help him- *SBAM!*
The punch was a new taste of pain as my head slammed backwards on the floor, my hands on my face as I tried to soothe the subtle attack.
A chuckle started to reach my ears through the pain and I saw the Shopkeep getting off the floor, dusting himself and looking quite untouched from my current sight. "That was an interesting trick, young man." He offered help in the form of an extended harm, which I picked quietly as I pulled myself up from the floor. "W-What?"
"Your semblance, truly a fascinating and powerful one to see in action."
I paused for a moment, blinking twice as I realised what he was trying to say. I admit that I had been thinking about ways to unlock my 'superpower' early on, knowing that whatever it would have been it would be useful to have in my arsenal.
I had thought to go to Emerald Forest alone but it was something forbidden for First Years soI was pretty clueless how to get it unlocked... until now.
I could still remember the sensation I had, the rush I could feel in my bloodstream as electricity boosted my speed and reflexes and.. I stared at my hands.
Small electrical surges dangerous in my fingertips and I was momentarely mesmerized by the sight when- "Your tea." I blinked and looked below my hands, a cup of warm tea lying on the floor in front of me as the old man was sitting peacefully with his own cup of warm tea.
"Sit." I complied and took the cup in my hands, somehow pleased with the heat coming out of it. "You are troubled, young man."
I kept quiet as the elder took a sip from the cup and I followed closely. "You have a good control of your Aura, good intentions but... you lack the willpower."
"What?" He nodded and sighed to himself. "You tend to forget that there is a reason to fight, a reason why you bring yourself in the most dangerous places in Remnant, a reason to be unbroken."
...
"When your friends were brought up." He said softly as he looked at a small urn in the corner of the big room. "You found strength, that very power that you forget its use because of the sorrow that tries to drow you everyday."
I glanced at the floor, a small frown in my face as he snorted. "You try to appear tough, tougher than you are but until you continue to keep that burden away from killing your soul alone and silently, you will never experience victory nor happiness."
I nodded and the owner sighed as he decided to keep quiet for the rest of the whole tea-drinking. Once I had finished to drink the delicious content from the white cup, the elder picked everything up and walked to settle it in the small kitched that was visible from the brink of the sight.
"It's going to turn late soon." He said with a calm voice. "If you don't go now, you may miss the last Bullheads."
I blinked at those words and I glanced quickly at the watch in my wrist.
17:30
SHIT! "I-I am going late and!" I bowed quickly at the man. "It has been an honor, sir."
He waved at the respectfulness I tried to put in my bow but spoke one last time as I walked out of the doorstep. "Tomorrow, same time."
I nodded towards him as I started to run towards the hangar, hopeful that I would be able to reach it before it truly closed up.
Still, as I run madly towards the aircraft pads, I felt like I had obtained much more than a job that day and... I smiled at the mere thought that today I did something good out of some hardwork!
AN
AHHHHH! Another chapter! And it has another fight!
What is happening to me?! (Probably good ideas but... yeah, I feel inspired nowadays with my recent uploads.)
Why didn't you gave Shaun to Junior or Tukson? Because I have seen multiple stories about that and I don't wish to sound like I am copying from them. Plus I always imagined that the Shopkeep (he has no official name, maybe I shall give him one myself in future chapter) is some sort of Miyagi-sensei kind of character, humble but incredibly good in martial/swordmanship arts.
What is his semblance and what does it mean to the world? Pure, zapping electricity. I have plans to have Shaun develop his semblance to integrate some abilities from Anime and Games, so expect some familiar skills being used in this story!
Lastly! While I had picked a simple cover for the story, I wouldn't be unhappy if someone wished to draw some art for the story (Sure, the story is still in its first few chapters but I noticed that not many people draw stuff without the author allowing it and.. I allow it), so if you wish to draw something out of this fanfic, be free to do that on the sole condition to bring up the origin of the drawing (aka this story).
Review Q&A!
merendinoemiliano: Thank you. The army under General Lagune was a large contingent formed by several divisions from all the Kingdoms and while I cannot say it was the largest army, not knowing the size of previous armies, I can say for sure it is in the Top Ten largest armies in Remnant. Your point about RWBY is.. partly right. While they might be willing to study to become huntresses, it is likely that they could be unfocused the first few weeks of their first year. I mean, taking inspiration from my sister initially being quite lazy in her efforts during her first few years to get good grades and study to become an artist, I can say it isn't wrong to say students can be quite slow to pick up a proper pace during their first year.
Perran Onh: Thank you!