Chapter 4

The Unicorn and the Raven

In an alley near the outskirts of Mistral there was a flash, energy crackled through the air a hole opened in the air and something was launched from the strange gate. A young man and his weapon was thrown, he bounced along the ground. Grunting in surprise and pain from the impact, he almost landed on the blade of his weapon. "Ouch! Damn it! Oof!" He ended up rolling to a stop looking pretty dazed. He managed to struggle to his feet. He looked around, not recognizing the location. He found his shield with the sword blade sticking out of the side of it. He tried to remember how he got to this place. But his memory was foggy, he recalled a world in ruin monsters roaming the surface and the humans in hiding, but there was nowhere safe. I guess I just got sent back in time, I don't know how far though. Or even if the events of the reality I experienced are going to happen again. He shook his head regretfully. No, my semblance only sends me to the time and place I'm needed. He traveled around the outskirts of Mistral looking for a newspaper. He found one, and glared at it suspiciously. The date is twenty years before where I was before… I think. But there's no indication of the events that occurred then happening now. Maybe I've been sent to a different Remnant, one without those creatures? My semblance has sent me to other worlds before. But I need to know. He cast the newspaper aside and continued roaming about he realized that he was missing something. He had forgotten his name. Quickly he pulled out his Scroll, he sighed with relief that it still worked. His name was Bastille Unia, his body's age was only twelve, every time his semblance Hand of Fate triggered his body's age reverted to how old he was when his aura got unlocked. He wandered about for evidence. He found his way to a gate and roamed outside. There was a black mass of creatures in the distance. Countless grimm swarming over a town in the distance. He rolled the dice with his other ability to see what it landed on. He smirked satisfied at the result. So reliable! He lobbed a blast of energy. It was really light but carried some mass so it traveled a substantial distance as the boy hurled it. It impacted the ground and it instantly teleported him.

He pulled out a small pair of binoculars and put them up to his face. Okay, this Remnant has grimm too. I saw humans moving about earlier. So the rules seem about the same as before, but it's going to be an awkward first few days. I haven't been to this era on any of my previous jumps. So I need to grow accustomed to this place. Do they have those creatures though? He looked up at the swarm of Griffins and Nevermores circling and swooping over the town. Bastille glared at the creatures and started to get moving. He was tired of spectating. He rolled his power once more. Teleportation again, he mentally thanked his abnormal ability. He hurled the sphere of energy as far as he could. It landed over top of the wall and he found himself teleported inside. People were running about everywhere being chased by all manner of grimm. He growled as he tried to roll for his magic again. It didn't work; he had to wait another minute. Gold Horn came off his back and onto his arm. A bracer with a wrist-mounted dust energy launcher also came up. He didn't want to be vulnerable to ranged attacks.

He noticed a few Beowolves starting to stalk him. His power came online as a trio of the monsters rushed at him. Ability online: Shockwave. The three creatures leaped at him. The strange boy raised his hand and a ripple of energy burst from it. It didn't kill them; it just stunned and knocked them down. Bastille's aura gathered around his feet. He exploded forward and was among the downed trio. He skewered one with the blade coming out of his round shield. One tried to lunge at him from the ground, but he stopped it with his shield and blew its head off with his energy bracer sending black blood flying from the stump as the creature began to disappear. He blew a hole in the third grimm that had attempted to attack him before the creature could scramble to its feet.

He heard a screech of a Nevermore. He raised his shield and crouched down as a flurry of feather quills rained from the sky. A blast from his wrist cannon was avoided as the grimm raven wheeled and began to circle high overhead. Go after the bird, or help out on the ground? Another two minutes had passed as the fight had progressed. He rolled his power to decide what to do next. Ability online: Grappling tether. He nodded at the reply of his power. If he cleared the air the Nevermores would be unable to mow down bunches of people with their quills. He took careful aim with the arm Golden Horn wasn't attached to. A wispy tether began to manifest itself he locked onto the bird that was circling him.

The tether launched out, coiling around the leg of the bird-like grimm. The boy heaved on the tether, but suddenly realized that wasn't how this power worked. "Oh damn it!" He found himself yanked off his feet as the tether began to draw him to the aerial menace. He had to not fall to his death for the next two minutes until he could use his power again. He landed on the back of the Nevermore he dug the blade on his shield in firmly to make a fixed point as the bird began trying to buck him off mid-air.

He noticed a smaller version of the bird monster spot him and come sailing in to knock him off the back of the giant bird. He dislodged the blade of his weapon and rolled forward to avoid being caught in the charging attack. His used his wrist blaster to fend off the smaller bird as he mentally counted down the seconds. Eighty seconds remaining. A blast ripped through the wing of the smaller Nevermore, sending it spiraling towards the ground as it began to disappear. He managed to keep his balance as the bird he was riding went into a sharp bank. It leveled out, he could feel his power come back online but didn't roll it yet. He checked the situation around him. Do I really need to use it right now? There were still quite a few airborne grimm. There were less Nevermores than he had expected only about three of the big ones, and he had just killed one of the two smaller ones. The rest were griffins that were in position in the air as well as on the ground. He decided to stay in the air a little longer.

He leveled his blaster at the base of the Nevermore's skull as he waited for another of the giant birds to pass close by. Timing it carefully he blew off the head of the Nevermore and dropped down. The blade attached to his shield sparked off the hard feathers on the back of the second Nevermore. He stumbled and had to grab onto the tail of the bird to avoid being thrown off. Damn it! I remember now, they're tougher than they look. He would have to blast his way through the steel-like feathers along the back of the grimm. It looped and bent around trying to grab his legs with its beak trying to preen him out of its tail it gave up and started to swoop low to the ground and glide. Bastille felt them start to descend but couldn't react until the ground grabbed onto his legs and pulled him from the tail of the Nevermore. He pulled out his shield and used it like a sled to avoid being demolished by skidding against the ground.

He heard a screech come from above him. Instinctively he jumped off his shield into a roll to avoid a series of feather quills slammed into the ground near him. He looked back and noticed there weren't just quills fired at him. There were a few arrows too, black shafts of arrows with dark feather flights. He heard a screech that sounded oddly like a mix between the Nevermore and a person screaming. He saw a horrifying figure swooping towards him. Talons dug into him and grabbed him by his jacket. The figure flipped and slammed him into the ground before he could react. "Oof!" He grunted. Internally he snarled at himself as the memories of where he was before flashed through him. I guess I did fail then… there are those creatures here. Just like before.

An image of humanity's twilight dug through his mind like a blade. Despair and fear of the few remaining humans drew grimm as they realized they are witnessing the extinction of their own race. All the strongest warriors had been killed off by one of thousands of grimm with aura, or converted into monsters by those black pools. The negativity feeding into the power of Salem, his last memory of that time consisted of the pale moon in a late phase. The pieces of the moon reassembled itself to full. Then a deep red hue came over the surface of the moon and with a final scream a beam of energy traced the surface of Remnant, destroying everything in its path. Bastille remembered closing his eyes as the beam rushed towards him. Hoping his end would be painless.

His eyes hardened with resolve. I didn't know what my objective was then… but now I've got it. Killing these abominations! He spun his ability with furious intent. Ability Online: Teleportation. He was surprised as he noticed the selection of ability. My power wants me to run away?! Screw that, I'll leave when I kill this thing! He and the human-nevermore circled each other as they postured for proper striking position. He noticed that the feathery form had the proportions of a female body. Kind of like a harpy he had come across on a different Remnant. Except this versions torso and lower body was completely covered in feathers. She had wings sprouting from her shoulder blades and her human-like hands had nails like talons. She had a bow in her hands; it appeared to be made from solid metal. Her hand flashed back and drew an arrow. Bastille's gauntlet discharged a shot. The blast of energy met an arrow mid-flight and dispersed with a small explosion in a cloud of dust. She swept through the cloud of dust, the bow folded into a one-handed sword, the string retracted and the center grip of the bow turned into a hilt. The sword clashed against Golden Horn as her long legs stepped in to pin his foot beneath one of her talons. He moved his foot clear, bracing back on it like a spring, he darted forward slamming the shield into the half-grimm.

He leveled his gauntlet at the bird-woman as she swung in with a talon on her leg. She kicked his hand as the weapon discharged a blast off target. The sword blade of Golden Horn came in for a stab but the harpy's sword came around and deflected the seeking point. He used the momentum of the counter in addition to some of his own to power a spinning kick into the beak of the harpy. He had to restrain a snort of laughter at the sound of the squawk of pain from the half-grimm. One of the wings darted forward and slammed into the stomach of the traveler. He felt the strength of the attack drain on his aura as the barb on the front of the wing tried to pierce his flesh. His blaster gauntlet closed over his hand, turning his arm into a club. He swung a downward strike. The impact sent the harpy to one knee, he backhanded her beak sending her stumbling backwards. He saw several other figures rushing towards him. Other half-grimm, he snarled out a chain of swears as he realized that he was outnumbered, he couldn't take on four at once. He hurled the teleportation blast and charged the group as the ability was mid-flight. He took this moment to contribute all his opponents' weapons and abilities to memory. The draconic grimm's large twin blade turned into a giant great sword. He slid on his knees to avoid being decapitated by the giant weapon. A scorpioness lunged on pointed legs and tried to skewer him with a long spear. A pair of giant King Taijitu heads, he couldn't make out much of the human form besides a strong pair of legs. The snake heads opened and a pair of weights on wires. Black and white to match the grimm portion of the monster. He blocked one with his shield and narrowly avoided being entangled by the thread of the second one. The yoyo-like weapons seemed to be replacing the forked tongues of the snake heads. He was almost surrounded when suddenly he was teleported outside of the town.

Aura swirled around the boy as he took a running stance, the aura gathered in his legs as he kicked off the ground. A chunk of earth was knocked loose as he charged for the city. He had to put as much distance between him and the town as fast as possible. The traveler wouldn't be surprised if he had a shockwave cone forming behind him. He came sprinting up to the main gate and slipped inside just before it closed. As he recovered his breath he noticed a small family being comforted by a huntress. One of the guards stopped him and started asking questions.

"What the hell? Who are you, kid? You're too young to be a huntsman."

"Town… destroyed… too… too many grimm. Had to get out, I'm sorry." The two guards looked at each other, one of them shrugged nonplussed at the situation before responding.

"Okay… but why were you there? And you haven't answered who you are yet." Bastille found no reason to lie to the guards.

"I was passing by, saw some trouble, and thought I could help. I'm a traveler by the name Bastille Unia." The guard who was doing most of the talking circled the boy doubtfully.

"Seriously? You're a little young to be traveling on your own, where are your parents?" The boy shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't know, we were headed here to get me into Sanctum academy but we got caught up in a grimm attack. They might be dead, I seriously hope not." I actually have no memory of any parental figures in my life, so this isn't far from the truth. He went about talking his way into the city. Luckily he was familiar with this style of culture. A good portion of his memory relating to his previous attempt was present.

He managed to talk his way past the guards and set to work using a mix of guile and his power to sign up for Sanctum academy. Those things are devastating. I can't take them all on myself, even with my power. Luckily I know exactly where I need to go to form a team to help me. He was glad he had a substantial amount of time before the end would happen and he would have failed again. As long as I remember I have never failed a mission twice. I would rather suffer a thousand deaths than let those horrors happen again.

Hi guys, so you've met the team of new heroes. But they have a long way to go don't they? You've met the monsters that hey must defeat in order to save the world. The next chapter begins with the group participating in Sanctum Academy. Then they will finally meet at Haven Academy itself!