Chapter 6:
Bastian Harland.
Whether it was his name or not, he had claimed it. Not having a name seemed to be an unforgivable crime in the criminal underworld, and apparently, so did not having a criminal record.
Bastian Harland was no goody-two-shoes when it came to life. Bastian was, whilst bearing no criminal record, one of the most ingenious minds that ever had the privilege of walking on this fine world.
Many names were thrown about this mysterious man. Murderer, killer, defector, bastard and a long time ago, Prelate.
Simply put, Bastian Harland was a criminal. Very few people knew his name, in fact, only one person knew his name. The only person he saw potential in. The only person he could trust with his life.
Cinder Fall.
And now that she was under his power, he could do practically anything. Most of this was sitting back whilst Cinder sent worthless henchmen and pointless meatshields people feared as 'The White Fang' to their deaths, or more commonly, the last battle they would ever take part in due to extensive physical (and , in rare cases, mental) damage. Death must've been having it hard, the lack of deaths and all.
But all of that was about to change. Tonight.
A trickle of blood dripped down his lip.
He tasted it, and it tasted good.
Sleep felt almost… relaxing to Death, despite constantly treading on thin ice with all this 'souls' business and whatnot. When sleeping, Death would gather thoughts of the past, thoughts of a time he almost enjoyed. But that wasn't the point of sleep, not in Death's case anyway.
The Reaper rubbed his eyes as he sat up on his bed, pondering what to do for the next few minutes. Nourishment was not a problem, nor was cleanliness. Those things were not required, but only optional for Death, much like sleep. He did not need nourishment for souls would serve that purpose for him. He did not need to bathe for any dirt or grime would just cease to exist on his person, much like bacteria which would just die on contact with his skin.
Death just decided to get ready for class, slipping on his provided school uniform but keeping his hood and mask, organising the equipment and notebooks provided to him by the school and then heading out for his first class. His first class was Grimm studies.
If Death had studied Professor Peter Port well enough, the old man would likely set a Grimm loose In the classroom and then request that a student volunteer themselves to 'test their abilities' against said Grimm. Of course, this would be done after the casual story that the man blurted from his mouth. It was a shame that barely any students listened to these stories, most of them had quite a few hidden messages and lessons carefully weaved into them.
Anyway, if Death could get his hands on the Grimm corpse before it disappeared, that would sustain him for at least another day.
Death arrived in Port's classroom a full fifteen minutes before the lesson actually started. Port sat at his desk and paid Death no attention as Death wandered in and set his notebook and pen down on the desk as he sat down.
Death waited the full fifteen minutes for his classmates to file into the room, teams RWBY and JNPR arriving just a few seconds late, Port let them off the hook and told them to take their seats before beginning the 'lesson'. Ruby seated herself next to Death whilst Yang sat furthest away from him, Weiss next to Ruby and Blake next to her, closer to Yang. Team JNPR took their own row.
"Monsters! Deeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" The class attitude seemed negative at the time, but Death remained focus unlike most students who would've already lost interest in the rambling old man.
"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." Port gave Yang a wink, returned with an uncomfortable groan from the blonde. At least she was in a better mood than yesterday. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"
"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..." As Port began his story, every single student in the room zoned out and focused their attention elsewhere, mostly on inappropriate doodles and pointless, yet impressive, displays of boredom, one of which consisted of Ruby balancing an apple on a book with her pencil held only by her finger while pulling a silly face, Weiss practically fuming at the childish feat.
Surprisingly, even Death had slightly zoned out, turning to complete other things all while partly listening to Port's tale of brilliance. Death closed his notebook after writing down a random string of numbers and letters and taking one topic related note that read:
'Grimm = Prey'
Death then redirected his full attention towards the teacher as he concluded his story, summing up the morale that he had snuck into it.
"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honourable!"
Death hoisted his feet onto the table in front of him.
"A true Huntsman must be dependable!"
Death started to pack up any essentials.
"A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"
"I do sir!" Weiss shot her hand into the air as she volunteered herself for a demonstration, mostly out of anger and frustration, probably from Ruby's antics which Death had only caught a glimpse of.
"Ha!" A short, obnoxious laugh escaped Death's mouth as the heiress volunteered. His laugh earned a few short glares from a few students, but they subsided after Weiss returned in her combat attire, bearing her weapon.
The battle lasted a great deal longer than it should have but eventually ended, Weiss emerging the victor over the Grimm Borbatusk that Port had caged up in the corner of the room. After the battle, Weiss had stormed out of the room, leaving a sad looking Ruby in class. Death waited for the last student to leave before standing and extracting the Grimm's soul from its body. Surprisingly, Port raised no questions. Ozpin had probably run his mouth about an 'odd' student who may do some strange things in class.
10%
On his way to his next lesson, Death came across Ruby and Weiss arguing, the small girl having a look of shock and confusion on her face after the argument had ended.
"That didn't seem to go too well…" Death said, approaching Ruby from behind. Ruby's usually happy and joyful look was now replaced with doubt and she was on the verge of tears.
"Do you think he made a mistake too?" she questioned as she attempted to hold back her tears
"So far… no. I saw you during initiation. You led your future team to victory. Besides, it's only been one day and so far I don't believe that Ozpin has made a mistake regarding your appointment to leader. Do you?" Death said, leaning in slightly as he uttered his question. Ruby smiled
"Please remember that being a team leader isn't just a simple title you carry into battle, it is a title you carry everywhere, every minute."
A thoughtful look crossed Ruby's face as her smile grew slightly wider.
"Trust me when I say this… You have a lot to live for… and a lot to live up to. Your team will be the most valuable people you will ever have in your life. Trust your team as you do yourself, even if they aren't what they appear to be, be it good or bad, it can always be changed." Death turned to walk away but stopped when Ruby spoke up
"How do you know?" She asked. Death turned back to Ruby, a look of curiosity now masking her face. Death took a moment to answer the young girl.
"I speak from experience… Maybe I will say more in the future…" Death turned to walk away once more and saw Weiss standing on a balcony through a doorway nearby, Professor Port just leaving her side. Death headed to his next class.
The next few classes of the day went by smoothly as Death approached his final class for the day.
The final class was taught by Goodwitch, Combat Training.
Apparently, in this lesson, students would be pitted against each other in a tournament style duel. The combatants would fight until their aura reached the red zones or their weapon left the arena.
Jaune and Cardin had just fought, Jaune having lost against Cardin without even touching the taller, more muscular boy. Cardin had uttered a large amount of degrading comments to his weaker opponent during that match.
The computers determined the next combatants, the names of all the present students flashing on the screen. The names slowed and eventually came to a stop on…
D
His alias looked even dumber on the large screen. A few students snickered at the odd name, but they would eventually learn to shut up. That would be a few days though.
The names rolled again and the process repeated.
Cardin Winchester
Goodwitch asked if Winchester wanted to participate in another fight so soon after his liast, which he promptly responded, "Bring it on."
Death and Cardin stood opposing each other in the arena, a surprising lack of verbal assault oozing from Cardin's mouth. All he said was, "You're gonna wish I never accepted." Which didn't prompt any response from the Reaper. He didn't bother summoning his armor.
Goodwitch counted down to the start of the match.
"3, 2, 1, begin!"
Cardin kicked the fight off, charging Death with his mace raised over his head for a blatantly obvious (and foolish) attack. Death summoned Famine and Conquest as Cardin neared, hooking the curved blade of Famine around his opponent's mace as Cardin brought his weapon down full force, Death simultaneously hooking Conquest underneath his armor. Cardin was stopped dead in his tracks for no more than a second before Death sent him flying back with a boot, stripping Cardin of his weapon and upper body armor. Cardin's chestplate swung back and forth on the tip of Conquest as Cardin's mace fell to the floor beside Death, a distinctive clattering sound echoing through the room. Cardin looked around, shocked and confused whilst the other students looked intrigued.
Death saw no point in continuing the match, so he banished Famine and Conquest and scooped Cardin's mace off the floor, throwing it off to his side. The mace clattered and clanged as it hit the floor and continued to roll out of the arena.
Goodwitch called the match.
"Mister Winchester's weapon has left the arena, resulting in a loss."
It would've been so much easier to pronounce Death the winner rather than Cardin the loser, but Goodwitch had seemed hesitant to speak his name, let alone use his worthless alias. Goodwitch gestured for Death to leave and he did so, leaving Cardin Winchester still shocked and confused on the arena floor. No doubt he would seek this 'D' person out and teach him a lesson.
But all that would be for another day. For now, sleep awaits.
Tee hee. No full fight scene yet :)
