A Semblance of Sanity
A.N. Hi guys, Sorry I took so long to update again, I wanted to wait until Volume 3 was finished and I must say… I am split between elation that the story has finally kicked off, but I am also sobbing, my heart feels like it was dug out with a dull chisel, torn out, stomped on, pulverized by Yang, mashed by Nora, put in a blender, frozen by Weiss, then slashed and shot into oblivion by Ruby. (SPOILERS INCOMING) I mean Dismembered, Disarmed, and Deceased. Penny was cut to bits, she was too good for this world, I hope that Ruby does a Lollipop Chainsaw- type thing with Penny's head. Angsty Yang is Angsty, I hope that we see her get a new arm and that someone calls it Automail as a FMA/B reference, like the Truth record in the first scene of V1 E1, that would be awesome. I'll bet that Pyrrha disconnecting from the transfer device got a bit of her aura stuck in it, likely allowing for one of three things: 1: We get an Epsilon type return for Pyrrha, like for Church in RvB, 2: We get an android that Penny's father based off of Pyrrha, kinda like a sister or clone, or 3: Jaune somehow absorbed it, allowing him to summon a Pyrrha ghost/avatar/shade/wraith using his semblance. All of that would be awesome. (SPOILERS DONE) I took so long even after the finale because I completely overhauled my character because he had become OP with a Semblance that made him an extremely agile, fast hitting, heavy hitting, highly armored Battle-God wielding a sword&shield/greatsword/claws/shotgun/sniper-rifle/gatling-gun/death-beam-of-the-apocalypse weapon combo. Now… well… you'll see…
LET THE STORY BEGIN!
Chapter 4: Meeting Her Father
I was having a miserable day. It was the second-to-last day before the beginning of Beacon's one-month-long summer break. Ruby was going home to Patch with Yang to spend time with her Dad and Uncle. I was happy for her, she was going to hang out, have fun, catch up with her friends from Signal, all of those little things that most take for granted. I was happy as long as she was happy, even though I was going to be staying here at Beacon with Blake, Nora, Ren, and all of the other students that couldn't go back home due to a lack of one, family not having enough money, sold out flights, family trouble, etc.. One of the people that you would never expect to be staying here was Cardin Winchester. He wasn't an orphan like most of the rest of us, but he no longer was a Winchester, legally speaking that is.
As it turned out, a large part of why he was such a bully to the people that he perceived as weak and appeared to be such a racist was his father. He had beat it into Cardin's head that the weak were trash and were to be treated as such. Cardin was shown the error of those beliefs during the incident in Forever Fall forest. After that he shaped up, managing to make his way into our circle of friends, along with his team. His hostility towards Velvet was an act, just like her pain. They were actually in love, the elaborate act was because Cardin was afraid of what his father would do if he found out, so they acted like bully and victim in public, meeting up in out of the way corners of the school for their intimate moments. I had been in the top floor of the library, which was almost always empty since it was the Miscellaneous section, when I overheard their tryst. They made me swear not to tell anyone, but I encouraged them to come out in the open about it, and eventually they did, and we were all happy for them. The joy did not last long because the next day his father visited with an ultimatum: Dump Velvet or be disowned. Cardin chose Velvet. But I digress.
I spent the last few months since the docks incident getting used to my new arm, and adapting to the changes that had occurred. When I was in the hospital I had asked Ozpin to have the doctors remove the various dust mixtures and Nano-machines that my former employer had injected me with. My semblance had originally been an absorb-type semblance, based around absorbing the energy from enemy attacks like Yang's, but while it did increase my strength, it did not do so anywhere nearly as quickly, but it did enhance other things. It used that absorbed energy to make my senses more acute to a certain point, as well as decreasing the lag between me hearing a noise and me perceiving it, stuff like that. It also improved my reaction speed, and the processing speed of my brain. The bestial traits becoming much more pronounced was simply a sign that I was using my semblance, like Ruby's rose petals, or Yang's eyes going red, and it never got to the point where I looked like a beowolf without the tell-tale grimm traits. The alterations that my former employer activated the semblance and "overcharged" it whenever it was used, so now with those gone I could fight with out fearing that my other side would just randomly burst out, for the most part at least. I could still use that overcharge form if I let my other side take over, but I didn't want to use that unless absolutely necessary.
The two coolest things were my New arm and Weapon. My new arm was built by me and Ruby since the one that they gave me was civilian-spec and did not channel Aura, and that just wouldn't do. The one that we had built had Okami built in to it, and it had compartments to store small items safely. It also had a length of Dust-reinforced steel cable attached to the main arm and wrist at either end, allowing me to use it as a grappling hook if necessary, but that was just to see if we could. It was black, polished metal that gleamed faintly, the seams glowing dark blue, making an awesome tribal pattern. It had taken some time to get used to it, and I had taken up knitting and sewing to work on improving dexterity in my metal right hand. I had already made Ruby an awesome knit hat with a pair of dog ears, ear flaps, and tassels. When she wore it, the dog ears somehow moved like real dog ears, and it was f%#$ing cute. My new weapon, named Sunder (like tear, split, devastate) was made because Professor Goodwitch noticed my massive performance drop(due to me no longer having any of my former employer's "enhancements", as well as Okami being destroyed beyond repair) and asked me if there were any weapons that I was actually trained to use, and there was one. The Longsword. I had trained in it when I was still a member of the White Fang, but when I fell under her employ she asked that I use a less conspicuous weapon, so I built Okami and Riyu, even though hand to hand was not my forte.
When I told Goodwitch this she insisted that I switch to that, because I could no longer use overwhelming strength to cover up my lack of skill with the claws. That night I went to the weapons forge with an idea, a plan in my head, carrying some provisions, as I had obtained permission from Ozpin to be excused from classes until my weapon was complete. I spent a week in there, barely sleeping or eating, focused completely on what I was making. I'm not sure that I was even fully aware of what was happening as I forged my weapon. First came the blade, 4 feet long and 4 inches wide, made of Dust-infused alloys, with two razor-sharp edges able to be charged with dust for that extra special something, even though it could only be used in small amounts, to conserve energy. The hilt was wrapped in blue silk accented with black, and long enough that I could use two hands to put extra force behind a swing if I needed to. The hilt also had a built-in locator chip, so I could always find it after a fight, and if I got kidnapped or lost, I could be found easily. The sheath magnetized to a carry strap that went in a diagonal from my right shoulder to the left side of my waist.
It was an amazing piece of weaponry, like an extension of my soul, th-
"James!" Ruby yells, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah Ruby what is it?" I ask, giving my signature toothy grin. We're in the dorm, all five of us, those of us that are going to visit home, ie. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, are packing up for the trip. Me and Blake aren't because, you know, orphans.
"Well… I called Dad and asked him if you could stay at our place during the break," she said, sounding sheepish. She took a breath before continuing. "And he sais that you could. He said that he really wants to meet you," she finished, grinning.
Yang began cackling like a madwoman before saying "You are soooo screwed!"
"Surely he cannot be that bad. You always describe him as kind and caring, how could he mean James any harm, he most likely wants to meet him to find out what type of person he is." Weiss said, a tone of disbelief in her voice, always the calm, rational one.
"Think how protective I am of Ruby. You got that image? Increase it by the power of 10. That is how bad it is when he feels that she is threatened," she said with a gravely serious tone.
Blake just looked amused by the whole thing, reading "Ninjas of Love" like we didn't know what it was that she was she was reading. She had already met him, since Yang had been very public about their relationship.
I was already planning out my will, praying to Oum that I would survive the summer.
IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN! TIME-SKIP
Patch, the island that Ruby grew up on, is absolutely beautiful. There is no other way that I can describe it. The buildings remind me of the ones in Vale, just spread out more. The people were friendly, welcoming and warm, towards me. It was obvious that everyone knew everyone there, despite it being a good-sized town. Once people found out that I was Ruby's boyfriend, however, I stared getting stares of pity and despondent messages of "good luck".
Ruby, Yang, and I are walking down the street, talking and laughing about what we are going to do in the month that we have off, enjoying the nice weather, you know normal teenager stuff being done by far from normal teenagers.
Suddenly, I hear the sound of a blade whistling through the air towards me. I leap to the side, the blade scything through the air where I had just been standing. When I looked up I saw a man with black hair and red eyes. He had on a gray shirt and a red cape, and holding a large single-edged sword with a circular device with gears in it where the blade met the hilt and another blade coming down over the hilt to act as a hand-guard.
"Hi Uncle Qrow," Ruby said, unconcerned about the whole him pointing a sword at me thing.
'How've you been?" Yang asked, clearly amused at my predicament.
"You must be James, Ruby's told me all about you," he says in a voice that called up thoughts of a short blond teen pissed off about being short for some reason.
"You're Ruby's Uncle Qrow? Don't you wield a scythe?" I ask him, trying not to give away just how much he terrifies me. Ruby and Yang were standing on the sidelines, Yang grinning and holding a hand over Ruby's mouth. She obviously thought that this whole thing would end badly, but for whom, I couldn't tell.
"Yes I am the pipsqueak's uncle, and yes I do," he told me, grinning at a chance to show off. He twirled the sword, the blade separating into segments and forming a curve with the blunt edge on the inside, a dark red blade emerging from the inside, the hilt forming a smaller angle with the blade and extending into a shaft, the end stage being, lo and behold, a scythe.
I stare for a few seconds, taking in this weapon created purely for cutting and killing, looking beautiful and elegant, yet deadly all at the same time. I then fanboyed. Hard. "Oh my Oum! That is awesome! Not as awesome as Crescent Rose, but it still ranks in the top 5!" I said, eyes wide and sparkling, wonder in my tone.
"Hah! Take that! Crescent Rose is better!" Ruby exclaimed triumphantly, fondling Crescent Rose. It is so cute when she does that.
"As if, pipsqueak. Mine is obviously the superior model" Qrow retorted, rising to the challenge set forth by Ruby
"You don't know what you've done, James. They can keep going for days if their argument isn't cut short" Yang said, sighing and shaking her head. "For that you can carry the luggage." She said, a devilish grin splitting her face.
Dammit.
TIMESKIPTIME
The house was rather nice-looking on the outside. It was had wood siding, and felt like a log cabin, despite it's size. It was around five o' clock and I could smell food within due to my superb sense of smell. Ruby opened the front door and was immediately knocked over by a ball of fur that flew straight at her chest.
"Zwei! Hey boy! Have you been good while I was away?" Ruby asked the corgi, now known to me as Zwei, laughing and smiling.
Ruby then stood up and pointed Zwei at me and told him: "Zwei, this is James, my boyfriend and he's gonna be staying with us for a month. I like him a lot, please be nice to him, Zwei." She said all of this with a smile, cuddling Zwei.
After that she lead me inside, through the cozy front room, where I deposited all of our luggage, which I had been carrying this whole time and dining room and into the kitchen. Standing with his back to us was a tall, blonde man wearing a brown vest and shorts, with a piece of metal strapped to one shoulder. He turned around and I saw that he had some stubble and eyes the same color as Yang's. I could only assume that this was Taiyang Xiao Long, father of Ruby and Yang
"You must be James! I've heard all about you from Yang," he told me, smiling genuinely.
He seemed nice, I didn't expect that, from the way that Yang described him I expected him to be rather scary towards me, perhaps even hostile. As it was he seemed rather… Wait, did he say that he's heard all about me from Yang?! I paled, terrified of the implications.
"Don't worry, she only had good things to say about you. She's been keeping me up to date on all of the major developments since your first date," he said, obviously amused at my panic.
"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, sir," I said to him smiling and holding out my hand.
He took my hand and shook it. "Likewise, James," he told me, smiling, "Let me show you to your room."
"My room? You mean the Guest Room, right?" I asked him, confused because of how he phrased the statement.
"No, I mean your room. I can't just let Ruby date a homeless vagabond, now can I?" he told me, as if it was obvious.
I just stood there shocked. He took advantage of that and led me through the house, up the stairs, and stopped at the first door on the right. The room was rather plain and unadorned, but it was nice. There was a wood desk/bookshelf combo with a plain wood chair, both well made, on the wall to my right, a dresser against the right wall, a bed in the far left corner with blue blankets on it and a a storage chest at the foot, a work bench on the right wall, and windows on the left wall and the far wall. I walked in and set my backpack on the bed.
"Thank you, I don't know what to say, sir. No one has ever gone out of their way like this for me before," I told him, tearing up slightly. It was true, no one had ever just done something like this for me, with no ulterior motive or plan for me before.
"One: stop with the sir, it's bothering me. Call me Taiyang, please. And two: Ruby loves you, and so that makes you family in my book. I won't let family sleep out in the cold if I can help it. Dinner is in an hour, Ruby and Yang's room is next door, and I hope that you like it here, I really do." He told me. After that he walked off, leaving me to unpack.
A.N. Hi y'all! I'm sorry this took so long to get written, but now it is, and so I am posting it! I did an extra long chapter to make up for it. Also, the fluff will not last. I'm gonna follow the same pattern as the show, and it will get dark around the same point that the show did. This is just the calm before the storm, I promise.