Alright, so there's really no excuse this time other than that I've been doing a lot more reading on this site than writing. But hey, this is where the real fun starts. Also, I almost had a conniption when I looked back and saw all the grammatical errors I'd made in the last chapter so I'll probably go back and fix it at a later date. That'll teach me to add a chapter without letting my beta reader (who is also the person who Orion is based off of) check it over.
Slayers: Chapter 3
Fuck my life, Aldric thought, as he stood at the edge of Beacon's cliffs popping his neck and massaging his sore muscles. He'd ended up falling asleep around one only to have to wake up four or five hours later (he didn't care enough to check) at the ass crack of dawn. He'd only had enough time to change into his black combat pants, a red shirt, and throw his coat on before he was out the door. On another note, he was gonna need a new scroll, seeing as he'd incinerated his the moment the alarm went off.
He sighed, finally tuning back into whatever Ozpin was lecturing about, "-the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."
Wait, what? Is he serious? Aldric looked at Ozpin quizzically. What are you thinking?
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."
Aldric looked to his left to see Orion grin and grab the shaft if his weapon at Ozpin's words. Someone's looking forward to this.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene unless they deem it absolutely necessary-" Ozpin continued to lecture as Aldric started taking inventory of his equipment.
Four collapsible blades, a few knives, two of my larger handguns, more than enough ammunition, and a long and short spear. Should definitely be enough to last me through this thing, he thought to himself.
"Good, now take your positions," rang out among those there.
Aldric readied himself while the blond guy to Orion's left, who he recognized as the same guy who threw up the day they arrived, raised his hand. "Uh, sir... I've got a-"
"NO TIME FOR TALK, SCRUB!" Orion shouted, before drawing his weapon and pointing at Ozpin. "HIT IT!"
Ozpin smirked, pressing a button that launched them all into the air simultaneously.
Orion was having the time of his life as he flew through the air. Too bad Aldric and I can't take partners of our own. Wouldn't mind being paired up with that faunus girl from earlier...
Orion shook his head to clear it before any lecherous thoughts could make there way into his head. Focus! He looked around there forest quickly passing by beneath him. There!
As the forest floor flew by below him, he saw a large Ursa making its way through the underbrush. Shifting midair, he blasted his aura out of his feet, not unlike a shotgun, and launched himself towards the offending creature. A single swing pulverized the Grimm. Orion rolled and then dug his heels in, skidding about ten or so feet before coming to a stop.
Hefting his weapon over his shoulder, he looked back at his handiwork, appreciating the rapidly evaporating remains of splattered monster. He then allowed a tiny bit of his aura to flow into the weapon causing it to mecha-shift from an apparent block of metal with a handle to a massive double-edged axe that was larger than he was. Occasionally a crackle of electricity would dance across the two glowing blue blades, leaving the smell of ozone in its wake. Most people would say that it was a weapon built for slaughter rather than any sort of technique or finesse. Most people would be right. However, most people haven't seen what one such as Orion could do with aforementioned weapon. Because most of those people that had were dead.
Orion lifted his head and sniffed the air. Instantly he found Aldric's scent about half a mile east of where he was. But then he caught another scent a bit farther north of him. One that, while he wasn't very familiar with, he found he liked. So he made a split second decision.
Aldric can handle himself. Hot cat-girl takes priority.
And with that Orion took off north, hacking and slashing through everything else on his way there.
Aldric sighed as he felt Orion's aura start heading north. Right towards the Faunus girl, who's name he'd learned last night was Blake. Well, this will end one of two ways. Good luck, my booty-struck brother.
"You're gonna need it," he mutter aloud. His brother was a rather extreme character and his initial impression of Blake didn't seem to fit with that. Blake was an introvert at heart, so Orion's gung-ho personality had a very good chance of conflicting with that. However, his brother was nothing if not dedicated. He'd stop at nothing to protect those he cares about. It was just a matter of whether Blake would become one of those people.
"I suppose we'll see either way," he said. Aldric would just have to make sure his brother doesn't come off to strong.
I'll worry about that later. Now for the task at hand, he thought, sensing Grimm quickly approaching. He began humming a tune (Dance with the Devil- Breaking Benjamin) as crimson aura flared along his arm. He turned just in time to sever the arm of an ursa with a quick chopping motion, burning through it like a hot knife through butter.
The monster's roar of pain was quickly silenced after Aldric placed his hand on its face and incinerated the entirety of the beast. As the fire-like aura faded, he reached into his coat and pulled out a small sword handle. At the press of a button, a two and a half foot long blade extended faster than a human could blink.
Just as he did this, three more ursa made their way through the underbrush. Before they had the chance to make any offensive move toward him, the blade was already imbedded in the first one's throat.
Aldric once again reached into his coat, pulling out a massive revolver, .500 Magnum cartridges, and blowing the brains out of the ursa to his left. That would've hurt without his massive aura to absorb the recoil. As it was, he felt almost nothing.
He moved on to the last one, leaving the sword in the throat of the first one. He simply, effortlessly, ducked its slash and slammed an open-palmed strike into its stomach. The strike didn't appear to be particularly strong, yet the Grimm immediately hacked up an enormous amount of blood and fell down dead.
Aldric grinned and moved to collect the sword from the corpse. After retrieving the blade, he decided to address the two people trying poorly to hide themselves in the bushes behind him.
"How's it going, Little Red? Heiress?" he said over his shoulder. A small (and adorable) squeak of surprise sounded in response.
In the blink of an eye, an excited Ruby Rose was standing in front of him, Weiss still trying to make her way through the brush. "That was so cool! How'd you do that?"
The corner of his mouth curled, amused my the young girl's enthusiasm. "Which part?"
"All of it! How'd you-"
Aldric put his hand up. "Let me stop you right there. I can sense waves upon waves of questions coming, and we don't have all the time in the world right now, so I'll tell you what. Since you made my job as your handler a little easier by coming to me, I'll give you three questions answered right now."
Ruby frowned at that. She pondered a moment, giving Weiss enough time to catch up. "What are two doing just standing around!? We should be moving."
"Hold on a minute," he said, halting her with a voice of authority that stopped the heiress in her tracks.
Whoa. How'd he do that?" Ruby wondered, before he continued, "We may not have all the time in the world, but we can afford a minute or two to answer a few questions."
Weiss looked annoyed, but stayed silent.
Ruby finally spoke up, "Okay, how'd you cut its arm off? Was that your semblance?"
Aldric responded by raising his hand and flaring his aura over it. It was abnormal for an aura, dancing across his hand as if it were engulfed in a crimson flame. "This? No, my aura is just extremely volatile and corrosive to anything that isn't me."
He emphasized his point by walking up to a tree and pressing his hand into it, leaving a perfect imprint of his hand several inches deep.
Ruby looked at the scorched handprint in awe. Weiss donned a confusedly conflicting expression as Aldric continued, "It even destroys my weapons after too long. Hence why I really don't feel a need to name them like most Huntsmen do. My clothes are an aura resistant, very durable material, plus I don't focus the aura straight into it like I do my weapons, but even it has a breaking point. Now, next question."
Ruby was ready for that, "Alright, what about how you killed that last ursa? You barely hit it but it was dead before it hit the ground. You didn't even hit it with aura."
Both Aldric and Weiss looked at her, impressed (though the latter begrudgingly so). "Saw that, did you? Well, you're mostly right. It's called pressure-burst. It's a technique that uses aura to, as the name implies, release a powerful focused burst of pressure without using aura itself. It's specifically designed to turn internal organs into mush."
Aldric chuckled, noting how Ruby was completely immersed in his explanation whereas Weiss looked a little uncomfortable, as if she were remembering something unpleasant. I wonder if she's finally remembering that. Of course, I don't blame her for forgetting. I didn't even remember her when I first saw her. I bet she tried to block it out.
Putting those thoughts aside, though, he continued, "There are various benefits to such a technique. For example, I've developed mine to completely ignore aura. Hits like the aura isn't even there. That said, it's dangerous since even a slight miscalculation in the amount of pressure or where it's released could very easily blow your hand apart. Only Slayers and Headmasters are allowed to learn the technique in its entirety. Now, last question."
This time the young girl stopped to think for a second before saying, "You've mentioned Slayers a bunch of times now. What are they?"
"There it is, I was waiting for that," Aldric exclaimed to Ruby's surprise. "However, explaining all of that would take up more time than we have, so I'll give you the basic rundown."
Ruby nodded and he continued, "The Slayers are an organization run both by and yet independent of any of the kingdoms. We are the nine people considered to be the most powerful in the entire world. Our primary job is to defend the kingdoms from outside forces seeking to destroy them. The White Fang, for example, have been a slight issue, but not enough for the kingdoms to focus the entirety of the Slayers onto them."
"However, similar to Huntsmen, in times of relative peace they aren't bound to any specific code and are allowed to do and take jobs as they please. Which is how Orion and I wound up here. Speaking of him, whenever one becomes a Slayer they are given a number from two through nine and recognized by that number. For example, I'm Slayer 6. Orion is Slayer 8."
"Is that like a ranking system?" Ruby asked.
Aldric smirked, "I believe I said you only get three questions, Little Red."
As she began to pout, Weiss spoke up, "Is it like a ranking system?"
Aldric raised his one visible eyebrow, but she continued, "You said she gets three questions. I should at the very least get one."
Aldric looked stumped before he busted out laughing.
Meanwhile, Ruby looked over at Weiss in surprise. "What? I was curious too. Don't think it has anything to do with you," Weiss said standoffishly.
Ruby simply smiled and shook her head just as Aldric recovered from his laughing fit.
"Your warped logic amuses me, so I'll humor you," he said, taking a deep breath to regain his composure before continuing, "To answer that, no. The numbers are just for identification. None of the numbers except number 1 are ranked by actual power. 1 is the title given to the strongest of us," he said, his expression turning grim, "but he's been missing for years. We don't even know if he's still alive."
"Then why hasn't anyone taken his place? Why let the spot remain vacant? Wouldn't it be best-" Weiss asked, before stopping mid-sentence, her breath hitching and her blood going cold.
For a split second, Aldric's face looked absolutely murderous. The look in his eyes made them both feel as if they were a second away from death. Their fight-or-flight instincts were screaming 'RUN' and yet still they remained like statues. Time froze as Ruby and Weiss felt an oppressive aura engulf them, sending adrenaline rushing through their bodies. What was, in reality, only a second, felt like minutes of standing there wondering when he would move and they would die.
Suddenly a light-hearted laughter filled the air and as quickly as it started, it ended. Aldric had the same calm expression they had known him to wear that almost made them relax. Almost.
"I think that's enough questions for now," he said as if nothing had happened. "Come on, you two should get moving."
As Aldric turned and walked away, Weiss and Ruby let out breaths they didn't know they'd been holding in.
Weiss managed to completely regain her composure rather quickly compared to Ruby and began walking after him, while the younger girl stood there for a few seconds longer before running to catch up to her.
Aldric meanwhile was internally berating himself. That was almost bad. I let anger get the better of me. I'm going to have to keep myself reigned in more. Control my temper. Don't let it take over.
Ruby wore a worried expression that Weiss shrugged off as leftover fear. Ruby had noticed two things that Weiss had not, however. One being that his anger, powerful though it was, had not been directed at them, and the second being the faint red glow almost indiscernibly burning from underneath the thick black eye-patch he wore.
Elsewhere, a few moments earlier, a black-haired cat-girl and a blonde brawler were fighting through a hoard of Grimm when they suddenly felt a heavy, almost suffocating, aura filled with a powerful killing intent, sending a flood of fear through them. Even the Grimm around them hesitated, but not for long. It was only a second, but it was enough for a Grimm to get through Blake's guard.
Panic went through her for a second time as she attempted to get Gambol Shroud up in time to block the monster's blow. This proved to be unnecessary, as before she even had her sword raised, what appeared to be a massive axe flew past her and bisected the beast. It kept flying, smashing through trees, tearing through the remaining Grimm, and razing the earth as it went until it finally came to a stop about thirty yards away.
"Damn. Put at little bit too much into that throw," a voice behind her said, with a surprising lack of sarcasm laced into it.
Blake and Yang both turned to see a white-haired faunus perched on a particularly thick tree branch. "I just meant to get the one, but oh well."
How do you misjudge something by that much? And he threw it? Just how monstrous is his strength? Blake thought to herself, wondering if it had to do with his semblance and how to get past it should the need arise.
Yang meanwhile was thinking that he looked vaguely familiar... Oh!
"You were that cat faunus with Aldric the other day, right?"
Orion scowled before punching the branch he sat crouched on, effortlessly shattering it into pieces, and landing smoothly on the ground beneath it.
"I'm a white tiger faunus, and yes, Aldric is my brother. My name's Orion," he said.
Both Yang and Blake gave him a questioning look, before the former spoke up again, "Um, I'm not really an expert, but Aldric doesn't really look like a faunus."
"I'm adopted," he replied dryly.
Blake decided to finally step into the conversation, "Well, do you know what that was we felt just now?"
He turned to her with a strangely amused look. "Someone, either her sister," he pointed at Yang, "or the Ice Queen said or did something to hit a nerve or two on Aldric. He usually keeps a level head, but there are a few things will set him off."
Yang's eyes widened. "What!? Ruby was near that!? Where is she?" she yelled, her eyes burning red suddenly.
Orion chuckled at that and said sarcastically, "Scary. Calm down, your sister's fine. Aldric wouldn't hurt her. He likes her too much. I think she reminds him of himself when he was her age. Besides, they're about a mile away right now. It would be best for you two to keep moving."
Blake nodded, saying, "He's right. Aldric seemed to be very collected. You're sister will be fine. We should concentrate on the task at hand."
Yang looked back and forth between the two of them. Then she sighed and her eyes returned to normal. "I guess you're right. But if anything happens to my sis-"
"Yeah, Hell's fury, broken bones, death threats, I get it. She'll be fine," Orion said, waving it off. Yang narrowed her eyes but nodded all the same.
Blake sighed, apparently happy it was all over with. Inwardly though, Blake was conflicted. She knew what Slayers were from her time with the Fang, but she'd only heard rumors and had no understanding of the true scope of their power.
To be able to feel that kind of power from a mile away... Just what are these people? She looked at Orion, noting the intricately designed 'S' on the back of his coat, the signature of the organization. He's one too.
She scanned her eyes over him, trying to see anything specifically unique about him. He wasn't the physical monolith one might expect of one of the most powerful people in the world, only a few inches taller than her. He had a visibly exceptional musculature, but that was to be expected with the profession.
No, what made him and Aldric stand out wasn't some outstanding physical trait. It was their very presence. They seemed ordinary to the untrained eye, but to those with experience in judging enemy strength, they radiated power. It flowed from them in waves.
Blake had met people with power, be it monetary, political, or physical. They normally came with a commanding, authoritative presence and/or personality. But these people, the Slayers, were something else. Almost inhuman. As if air changed in accordance with their presence. It wasn't so much a physical thing she could sense so much as it was an effect they involuntarily had on everything around them.
Aldric's power was a fire, a torch surrounded by red dust. Restrained and suppressed, but capable of becoming a raging inferno with the slightest slip, the smallest disturbance, and destroying everything in it's path, indiscriminately. It seemed... unhealthy. Like it should almost be causing him physical pain to keep it down, yet he did.
Orion's on the other hand was unrestrained and wild. His presence was like that of a storm, blowing over and tearing through anything in it's way. He wore his emotions on his sleeve and let everyone know what he was thinking. A free spirit.
"Ahem."
The clearing of a throat pulled her from her thoughts. Orion was looking at her with an amused grin, and she realized she'd been staring.
"See something you like?" he asked teasingly.
Blake quickly averted her gaze, attempting to hide the embarrassed involuntary blush that made its way to her cheeks. His grin widened, but he turned away.
"You two should get moving. Aldric and I can't guide you since we're supposed to just be here for observation."
Yang looked back and forth between her and Orion, then grinned slyly and winked at Blake as if to say 'go for it'. The cat faunus simply shook her head and began walking northward. Yang quickly caught up with her and matched pace.
Orion grinned, hefted his axe over his shoulder, and walked after them. Aldric was right. These kids aren't that bad.
But they're still little shits to me, he thought, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. Then his gaze shifted to Blake, watching the slight sway in her hips as she walked.
"Well, most of them," he muttered under his breath.
So yeah. Now they know who and what the Slayers are. For future reference, some of the canon stuff will be skimmed over or skipped entirely. Otherwise, one of two things will happen. I'll either end up droning on about pointless stuff only for it to wind up ending the same way as the show. Or I'll end up losing inspiration and take forever and a day. Again.
Also I'm going to say right now that my OCs will be what one might consider overpowered, HOWEVER the enemies will be equally if not more so at some points, so it'll even out.
So I'm going to jump right into the next chapter in hopes of not taking four months to upload again.
