Chapter 4
At the Clinic in Lightning Keep
"Most Faunus can't hide their animal traits..."
As I experiment with my new ability to hide my black wings and watch them disappear into black ash I finally hear Garth break the silence that had come over our little group when I shocked everyone with the reveal of this new ability.
"Well there are faunas with retractable claws which isn't too uncommon. Perhaps Cloud's wings function in a similar way?", Elizabeth adds to conversation in response to Garth's statement. "Though the way in which your wings seems to disintegrate is highly unusual..."
I could hear Elizabeth voice ooze with uncertainty and confusion. Thinking to myself for a moment on how to explain it I decide it's better to maintain silence and let them speculate to themselves. I leave my wings out since everyone knows me for having them.
"Well Cloud seems to be completely fine for now. We can have another check-in tonight or tomorrow to see if there any issues. However, I need to go check up on the militia members who were injured during this afternoon's small Grim attack."
Grimacing at hearing there were militia members who were injured Garth asked Elizabeth, "How many of those fools were injured?".
"Only two of them received injuries. One of them should recover with no problems but the other got a nasty bite. His time in the militia might be over at this point".
As I look at the somber expression both Garth and Elizabeth have, I think about how they've helped me since I got here. The two of them are good people in my eyes. This could be an opportunity for me to give back to them and show that I can contribute. Turning to face them both I tell them, "I can help heal them".
Looking at me questioningly I think about how to explain that I've recovered enough mana to use the cure spell.
"Since eating the Lightning Dust Crystal, I can feel that my ... Aura has recovered quite a bit. I have a skill that I could use to provide some healing".
Elizabeth smiles back in surprise, "That's interesting! We'll let's see what you can do".
Following Elizabeth into the larger clinic room I see the two injured militia members. One man looks to have broken an arm while the other has his torso heavily bandaged with red dying the white cloth. Walking with Elizabeth we go to one with the heavy injury. As I examine the person in front of me, I see that it's a teenage boy who is ghastly pale and in heavy pain. Feeling both Elizabeth and my presence the teenage boy open's his eyes.
Elizabeth looks into his eyes with a kind smile, " I'd like to introduce you to Cloud. He said he has an ability that could help you with your injury. Would it be alright if he tries?".
I watch as the teenage boy closes his eyes and nods his head slowly.
Reaching out my hand to hover over his injury I close my eyes and focus. Yesterday I was able to cast the spell without the aid of materia. Cure was a spell that I was sadly extremely familiar with as a result of being a close-up fighter. I should be able to cast cure without materia aid. Focusing my mana based on how I used to cast cure I can feel a familiar sensation and open my eyes to see my hand coated with green energy. Trying not to let the cure spell disperse I press my hand on his wound and start funneling my mana into the teenager.
Elizabeth and Garth closely observe the process and watch as color returns to the injured boys face and his expression relaxes as he falls asleep. A few moments later I'm done casting the cure spell and feel the exhaustion of having a quarter of my mana drained away to cast cure.
Casting cure was more difficult than I remember. Without the aid of materia it was far more inefficient and I could tell that the restorative power wasn't as strong. Still I can see that it was helping him recover.
Elizabeth looked at the teenage boy lost in thought, "That's an amazing ability Cloud... We don't have a proper hospital or good equipment here so your healing ability could make a big difference here at Lightning Keep and for the militia. How many times can you use that ability?".
Dropping down into a chair before responding, "I think only one or two more times at most. Using that ability takes a lot out of me."
Garth than threw in his opinion, "We'll take what we can get kid. Sounds like you'll be a valuable part of helping keep the idiots in the militia stay alive. Would smaller injuries take less out of you?"
Shaking my head, "No, it'll cost the same regardless of what kind of injury it is".
"That's fine, a life saved is a life saved. If their dumb enough to get hurt than they can let it heal naturally to learn from their mistake unless it's fatal. I know I mentioned it earlier that we would spar today. Are you still feeling up for it? You could rest for now and I'll come get you later. "
Nodding my head, "Yea I should be good for sparing if I get to rest for a bit". Getting up I exit the room to walk towards my room.
As I walk down the hall back to my room I feel a slight tug on my red cape. Looking down I see Carla looking back up at me. I can see that she is nervous so I smile back at her and can see her tension ease a little bit. A few moments pass by as I watch her build up her courage to ask me her question.
"Can you... show me that magic from last night again?"
Seeing her hopeful eyes, I find myself unable to deny her request, "Sure but we should do it somewhere private".
Beaming from hearing that I've agreed to her request she grabs my hand before tugging me away, "I'll take you to my favorite place. Come with me!".
We leave the building and she leads me to a forest that is within the walls of the Village. Walking through the clearing past the tree's I get treated to the sight of a small beautiful flower garden. Carla tugs on my hand and eventually we take a seat on the grass. Taking in the area and the cascade of colors from the flowers I instantly think of when I found myself in a similar flower bed when I initially met Aaerith.
As I end my happy reminiscing I turn to see Carla patiently waiting beside me to show her some magic. Looking at her I see that she can't hide any of the excitement from appearing on her face. I chuckle at myself and wonder if that was what I looked like as a boy when I was about to see magic for the first time. Opening up my hands I cast the small Bolt spell from yesterday to create a ball of electric light for her to see. I let her stare at it for a few moments before cancelling it. Frowning a bit when she see's me cancel the spell, she falls back to sprawl out on the grass and look up at the blue sky.
Carla is wearing the same outfit I saw during Grim Attack, a well worn blue dress. Looking down I see that one of her knees are bandaged. "Carla what happen to your knee?".
Freezing up at the question she stay's silent for a moment before quietly voicing, "I fell down when the Grim was chasing me".
I take a moment to consider what I'm about to do before I focus my mana to cast cure and heal Carla's injured knee. She squeaks out in surprise when she sees my hand glowing green. Reaching out I press my hand on her injured knee and funnel my mana into her wound. As the cure spell works on healing Carla's knees she starts giggling, "That really tickles!".
Putting some authority into my voice I tell her to hold still. Releasing the spell, I feel another quarter of my mana drain. To be honest I used a lot of mana to heal a rather minor injury. Looking at the flowers though I feel that it was the right thing to do. I'm confident that it would be what both Aerith and Tifa would have chosen to do. I flop onto my back to relax like Carla is and as we lay there together I feel my stress melt away.
Since I've gotten Geostigma I've been trying my best to avoid thinking about my future. After all, all those who had Geostigma when there was no cure didn't have a pleasant ending. Their body would fall apart from the inside leading to an agonizing and painful death. The stress on my mind from Geostigma was only exacerbated when I arrived in Remnant and I heard that Elizabeth has never heard of Geostigma. Especially when I felt the symptoms worsen during the night. Now however it turns out that the Lightning Dust Crystals may be the solution to managing Geostigma and I was hoping that maybe it could get rid of it.
For the first time in a long time I find that I can relax a bit. There isn't any immediate threat that is going to end the world. I have no known enemies in Remnant after me. I can live without any worries.
Breaking me out of my thoughts, Carla suddenly pokes me and ask, "Are you an angel?".
Bewildered by her sudden question I realize after a moment that it's probably because of my wings. "No Carla, I'm just a regular person".
Pausing for a moment from my answer I see her look away before asking me again, "Does the goddess exist?".
Clearly there is something on Carla's mind causing her to ask these questions. Maybe it's just her way of dealing with yesterdays Grim attack? To be honest I'm at a bit of lost for what to say to her since comforting people with words has never been my strong point. That and the fact that I have no idea what the Goddesses she referring to are and any of the religions or beliefs of the people in Remnant.
Venturing into unknown territory, "What makes you ask Carla ?".
Carla sat up a bit and wrapped her arms around her knees, "I'm here because my mom died... One time when me and my mom were praying to the goddesses I ask her what she was praying for. My mom told me that she was praying to the Goddesses for them protect me. During that Grim attack you came in and saved me."
Hearing that Carla's mom has passed on I feel myself sympathizing with her situation. I remember how devastated I was when I discovered that my own mother had been killed by Sephiroth. I stay silent as I let Carla gather herself to continue her story.
"My mom died protecting me from bad men who wanted to take me away. If you were an angel that would mean that the goddesses exist. I was going to pray to the goddess for them to give me my mom back".
As she starts to cry, I start thinking about what to do in this situation. What would Aerith or Tifa do? Those two were the best people I knew when it comes to handling children. I only contemplate for a moment more before I reach out and wrap Carla in an awkward hug. Feeling her wrap her tiny arms around me in response, I rub her back as she begins to calm down.
Mumbling into my chest quietly, "Cloud... If I'm in trouble in the future. Could you come save me again?".
Hearing Carla speak those words, for a moment what I see isn't Carla but a memory of Tifa during my childhood. Remembering the moment in my past where both me and Tifa were just two kids living in a small village called Nibelheim. As me and Tifa both stared up at the starry sky that night I bragged and tried to impress Tifa on how I was going to be a hero. Tifa who was my crush at the time and looking beautiful in in her blue dress turned to look at me before asking,
"Cloud... If I'm ever in a bind. Will you come save me ?".
Looking back down at Carla's teary face I give her the assurance she needs at the moment with confidence,
"I will".
*Ahem*
Turning around towards the source of the sound I see Garth and Elizabeth looking at the both of us with amusement. "Sorry to interrupt kid, but you feeling good enough for our spar?".
In the forest
Changing location for our spar, we move into the forest to avoid damaging anything in the village and to keep out of sight. We were in a fairly flat clearing with tree's spread randomly throughout the area as obstacles. Carla had returned home and now there was only myself, Garth and Elizabeth with a first aid kit.
Garth walks towards the center of the field, "Hope your ready kid. Elizabeth will be here to help with any injuries and she'll call a stop to the match if she thinks things are getting out of hand. I'm ready whenever you are".
I unlatch my fusion sword from my back and channel mana to remove the wings on my back so that I can have the mobility that I'm most familiar with. I only have half of my mana but since this is a spar it should be enough.
Taking a deep breath I start focusing on the fight and feel my mind settle into a combat state. I also start the process of preparing to use a Limit break later and begin the process of accumulating the needed mana.
As Garth and I both scrutinize each other I examine his katana. I remind myself that I need to be cautious because of the difference in defensive capabilities of Aura users in Remnant and my world. I tighten my grip on my large fusion sword as I think about the difference between the both of our weapons.
Giant swords like the one I prefer to use are fantastic monster slaying weapons. It's not uncommon for me to fight against large beasts, monsters with hard scales or thick leather like skin that's difficult for normal blades to penetrate through. The weight, size and length of giant swords allow for a much easier time dealing damaging wounds to monsters. However in duels like this they have obvious weaknesses.
The size of giant swords makes it easy for the opponent to predict the trajectory of the blade. Furthermore, the weight of the blade makes it difficult to reset back to an optimal ready position. Having fought with giant swords all my life I've developed a style that allows me to fight effectively against others, focusing on brute strength and speed. The longer length of my fusion sword compared to Garth's katana should allow me to be able to strike safely outside of his range. However, if he is able to close into his striking range for his katana I'll be at a disadvantage as I'll lose power from not being able to fully swing my sword.
Seeing as he said he was ready whenever I dash forward to make the first strike. I stop just at the edge of my sword range, raise up my sword before swinging it down in an overhead strike. Garth is prepared for my attack, side-stepping to avoid it before taking a step forward to get in range for his own attack. Knowing that my first attack should be easy to dodge, I take an immediate step away from Garth before my Sword even hits the ground. Swinging my sword horizontally I force Garth to abort his attempt to close in and he moves back to safely avoid my attack. Dashing forward again I use a thrust this time to try and pierce through Garth.
Moving faster than before, Garth twirls away while unsheathing his katana and striking out at the side of my sword with it. I feel the strength of his sword strike as it is strong enough redirect my sword and I'm left unbalanced. Seeing an opportunity, he thrust his blade at my chest. Twisting my body, I awkwardly avoid the pointed strike. Not letting up his attack Garth throws a series of thrusts at me as I bob and weave out of the way.
To disrupt his attack I lift up the fusion sword in front of me. Covering most of my body with the sword width, it acts as a sheild for me and I charge at him.
*CLANG*
I hear the sound and feel the hit of his katana as it clashes with the flat side of the fusion sword. I power through it and bash Garth and send him several steps back. Switching back into my normal two handed grip, Garth and me are both back to the same ready position we had during the start of the duel.
"Not too bad kid. You got some strength to be able to swing that hard and move that fast with the blade you have. Let's get a bit more serious".
Fast! With a blur of moment Garth appears in front of me and swings his sword down in a diagonal cut. I shift my sword to block his attack only to feel myself stagger from the strength he put behind the attack. For a few moments I'm forced to constantly play defensive as he pushes me back with his strength swing after swing. Taking a deeper step back to make some space, I channel mana to my eyes to improve my sight and quickly attack with a horizontal swing. Once again, I see Garth avoid the swing by stepping back and I can now clearly see him blur into movement and appear at my side swinging a strike down targeting my head. This time not caught unprepared I raise my blade up to block it and throw out a fast low kick into Garth's chest to push him back.
While Garth tumbles backwards and recovers I take the time to prepare a support spell for myself. Garth must be somehow increasing his speed with Aura and it's making it hard to deal with him as he is easily closing the distance gap between us. Just as Garth is about to dash forward at me again, I finish casting Haste on myself. I feel my heart rate instantly double and I dash forward at the same time as Garth. Not expecting my increase in speed Garth is caught off guard by my horizontal swing. With no time to doge the attack, Garth raises his blade to block my strike directly. As a result of me putting all my strength into that swing Garth is sent flying across the field. Recovering quickly Garth stands up and analyzes me seriously for a moment.
"That was unexpected kid. I hope you're ready for what's next.".
Haste is a great ability that improves my combat capabilities but also has the problem of putting significant stress on my body. It also won't last forever. As I move in to begin our next duel I notice that Garth's sword has begun to glow. Ignoring the glow for the moment I test his blade by swinging down a strike only to see Garth raise his katana up to block directly. I'm shocked that he would directly block and the fact that his katana looks like it took no damage from my heavy blade. I then realize that he must be using his Aura to reinforce his blade somehow.
No longer focusing on completely dodging my attacks, Garth begins to mix in counters and blocks into his strikes. The next few moments the air is filled with the sound of our blades as they are swung and clash directly with one another. We never stay in one spot for too long as I constantly try to re-position to where I can attack out of his range and he tries to get in close to nullify my advantage. As we are missed strikes slowly tear up the area fighting in, I can feel that I'm slowly losing our exchange. Small cuts appear on my body as pierces through my defense. On the reverse, my glancing strikes on Garth show no physical wounds as his Aura defends him completely.
Suddenly I find myself backed into a tree. Garth's recent series of attacks took all of my awareness to defend against and he had successfully re-positioned me to limit my movement options. I see him smirk at me thinking that he has me trapped.
Waiting for him to close the distance I enact my plan to end the spar. Having slowly built up my limit break since the start of the battle I choose this moment to unleash Finishing Touch. A limit break strike that uses concussive energy to blow the opponent away.
Seeing that Garth has committed to his attack I activate my limit break and channel the mana into my fusion sword. Stepping forward towards Garth with determination I swing my sword to clash directly with him. Let's see if Garth will still be smiling after this.
Immediately to his surprise, erupting along with my sword swing is the concussive energy from my Limit break. It smashes into Garth and sends him flying back once again and gives me space to implement the next steps of my plan. Attaching the fusion sword back onto my back I grab my triple barreled handgun Cerberus and target Garth as I run towards him. Channeling mana into the gun I feel the click signifying that its ready and pull the trigger repeatedly to hear several explosions. Watching Garth closely I see that he is skilled enough to deflect several of the gun shots by Cerberus but witness his Aura defense tank the last shot disorienting Garth.
Holstering my gun, I follow up by channeling my mana into my favorite offense magic spell Bolt. Pointing my open palm at Garth I feel electrical energy built up before being its launched out as a magical lightning bolt strike. An explosion of dust appears when the Bolt reaches Garth. My goal was to stun him with the electrical attack and create an opportunity to deliver the winning blow. Only for my plan to fall apart as I find myself falling down half-way to Garth.
Landing on the ground on my hands my body erupts in crippling pain and exhaustion while my two black wings unfurl themselves on my back. Once the pain eases I look up to see Garth standing unharmed from my bolt spell.
Seeing me down on the ground, "Kid I think we can call an end to the spar for now.".
Elizabeth rushes over to me to check my condition followed by Garth, "Cloud let me check you over".
As I sit there and let Elizabeth check up on me I notice that I've almost bottomed out on mana. I guess I used too many spells today. "Cloud your arm...".
Feeling the pain in my left arm I look at what Elizabeth is staring at to see that my Geostigma is acting up. The main difference this time is that it is much worse and I can see black ooze coming out of the edges of the gauntlet covering my arm.
Frowning at the dark splotches on my skin, "Garth can you or someone go get us a Lightning dust crystal ?If it helped Cloud before maybe it'll help again. This is enough fighting for one day so let's head back".
Back at the Clinic
Eating another Lightning Dust Crystal I feel the energy disperse and a comfortable warmth spread throughout my body as my mana begins to recover. Watching me closely during the whole process is Elizabeth and Garth.
"How do you feel Cloud ?"
Raising my red cape up and looking at my left arm I see the Geostigma lighten and recede. "I feel a lot better actually. Seems like running out of ... Aura causes my Geostigma to grow worse."
Elizabeth looking exasperated, "Well you better be careful with your abilities then and avoid using up all your Aura. Jeez, hearing that you eat Dust Crystals and seeing you actually do it are two different things. Well I'm glad we sort of have a solution for your Geostigma though I'm not sure eating more Lightning Dust Crystals will cure you of it".
"Kid you are one of the strangest people I have ever met." Staring at me after watching me eat another Lightning Dust crystal without blowing up. A few moments later Garth follows up with "So is your Semblance something that has to do with electricity? Originally, I thought your Semblance was healing. What was that attack you used to blow me away?"
Running some possible answers through my mind, "I don't really know what my Semblance is. I just knew how to do those attacks when I needed it". Best to play dumb as the amnesiac.
"Perhaps your Semblance has something to do with electricity? I mean you eat Lightning Dust Crystals after all. Maybe your healing ability is just creating a static field that promotes recovery?", Elizabeth remarked and speculated.
Observing Garth, I see him narrowing his eyes in contemplation, "Well maybe you'll figure it out later. Regardless, it's highly unusually for anyone to have more than one Semblance. Kid, I suggest you don't broadcast your abilities unless you want to attract the wrong kind of attention.".
At this moment I'm truly grateful that we had our spar somewhere hidden from sight as I realize how my abilities might be too different. After spending four years in a dungeon being experimented on, I did not need people to get interested in dissecting me for why I'm capable of what I'm doing.
"Thanks for the tip Garth. Could you and Elizabeth keep my abilities a secret then?".
Feeling the warmth of Elizabeth reassuring hand on my shoulder, "Of course Cloud! You can trust me and Garth not to share your abilities with people who would seek to harm you.".
Smiling back gratefully at both of them I tell them that I'd like to rest and return to my room for some sleep.
Garth and Elizabeth
As I watch the kid leave to go rest, I signal to Elizabeth that we need to talk. I close the door after Cloud leaves so that no one can listen in.
"Cloud is extremely strange", are the first words out of Elizabeth's mouth.
Snorting at her blunt and short statement, " No kidding, he eats Lightning Dust Crystals after all."
"Still I'm glad Cloud is here if he is going to help us. His ability to heal is going to be great for Lightning Keep. It'll help boost morale and that will keep people from attracting Grim with their negative feelings".
If the kid really decides to help, I can see that coming true. However, there was just too many suspicious mysterious around the boy.
Seeing my expression, "Garth I think we can trust Cloud. He's a nice guy and he showed it with how he saved Carla the other day and you heard what he said to her in the flower field".
"The kid has a heart, I won't disagree with you on that Elizabeth. However, he's amnesiac. What if he regains his memories and turns out to be a completely different from what we know now? Either way I'm going to keep a close eye on him. I have someone at Beacon academy I can ask to investigate Cloud's situation more".
I watch as Elizabeth sighs at how I remain highly suspicious of Cloud. "Sure, sounds good.". She moves to the side of the room to look out the window. Taking position beside her I look out to see some of the kids playing out in the field.
"Garth I think we are lucky that we were the first ones to find Cloud. It would be easy for someone to take advantage of him with his lack of understanding regarding Remnant.".
As I run the possibilities through my mind, I think of one of the worst ones.
"Yea I agree with you Elizabeth... The kid mentioned that he wasn't familiar with the White Fang. I could imagine the White Fang finding Cloud and hiring him as a mercenary to do terrible things when they figure out the abilities that he has".
As I let the terrible thought settle into our minds I realize that it was a smart idea to tie Cloud to our militia by hiring him as our mercenary.
Breaking the dark mood Elizabeth smiles at me before saying, "Well now that we know Cloud eats Lightning Dust Crystals like candy there isn't any way he'll leave us now".
Garth by himself
Later that night I pick up my scroll to make a private call to the headmaster at Beacon Academy.
"Good evening Garth. It's unexpected to hear you give me a call after all these years since your retirement as a hunter"
Grunting at back at his comment. "Ozpin, I found someone strange that I need you to look into for me".
Slowly I go over the strange mysterious around Cloud. How we found him in a dust coffin in the lightning dust mine, his Geostigma sickness, his need to eat Lightning dust crystal and his ability to hide his Faunas traits. However, it's when I mention his abilities to shoot lightning and heal that makes Ozpin pause.
"Are you sure that those abilities are not the result of his Semblance?"
"I'm not completely sure that it's not his Semblance but having experienced and seen him use those abilities myself I can't say with confidence that they are".
Thinking quietly to myself about my past experiences fighting other Huntsman, I can say confidently that Cloud's abilities feel like it is something other than Aura.
"There is also the kids combat skills. Based on his appearance, Cloud must be in his mid-teenage years. However, he doesn't fight anything like someone his age would. He's disciplined, calm and fights like someone who has been in the military for years."
"That is disturbing to hear that a child so young has so much experience with fighting... Do you think he is part of the White Fang ?"
"No I don't think he is a part of the White Fang. I've seen him interact with both Humans and Faunus and he has yet to show any hostility towards Humans.".
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention and I'll certainly be looking into this. I may get Qrow to investigate just so you know".
Groaning at the mention of that man. "Whatever just make sure Qrow stays out of my sight". I hang up on Ozpin and get ready to turn in for the night. Hopefully Ozpin doesn't find anything wrong with Cloud as he investigates. I hate to admit it, but I do like the kid.
Author notes
I hope you didn't find the interaction between Cloud and Carla to be too cringe worthy. I wanted the two to bond over the past and help Cloud start building connections to the people of Remnant.
The spar between Garth and Cloud is also my first serious attempt at creating an engaging action sequence. Let me know if you found it hard to follow.