-Kaze-07-: And now, I bring you chapter 6. It's a bit late, even though I've already prepared this and written it in my notebook, I've added a few things in. Plus what I've written in my notebook wasn't even near half of the length of this chapter will be. Before you continue, though, I want you guys to know that this chapter was heavily influenced by two of my favorite RWBY fanfics here, Hero of Vytal by andy2396 and Of Another D'Arc by KSLCross. Check them out if you haven't already. They're both awesome reads. Don't forget to leave them a review to show them your feedback. On with this story, then.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters. Monty Oum, Rooster Teeth, and their staff does. I only own this plot and it's OCs.
Chapter 6: Players and Pieces
"Not if I can help it!" Ruby exclaimed, charging for the Death Stalker.
'Damn it, Ruby!' I though, drawing my broadsword. 'This kid'll be the death of my, I swear!'
I saw her slash at the giant scorpion's armor to no avail, her scythe bouncing off. She then shot at it and ran back to us. Yang ran for her, but to our surprise, the Nevermore came back and shot out feathers, pinning Ruby by her cloak and imprisoning Yang. I saw the Death Stalker crawl its way closer to Ruby as Yang pleadingly shouted her name, reaching for her helplessly. At that, I saw Weiss ready her weapon to charge to the rescue of her partner.
'She's gonna freeze the Death Stalker using ice dust. I know she can do it, but that Nevermore's going to be a problem.'
Deciding it was for the best, I held the white-clad heiress' shoulder and pushed it down gently, breaking her balance and concentration. Using the chance, I sprinted to Ruby with lightning-like speed as the scorpion-like Grimm's stinger came down at her. With time to spare, I caught the golden stinger with my left hand and held on to it. Tight. I slashed the giant armored Grimm in the eyes, blinding it. Using its current weakness, I lifted it up by its tail, spun it around whilst pivoting on my heels, and threw it up, aiming at the Nevermore that was going to shoot at us again, incapacitating the two Grimm in the mean time. I replaced Belial on my back and turned to Ruby's shocked face. I grabbed the giant feather pinning her down with my right hand and dislodged it off of the ground with ease, throwing it away and freeing the red cloaked girl. I grabbed her by the hood and dragged her back to the group, looking casually as if nothing big happened. I glanced at the other teens' faces expressing shock, amazement, shock, concern, and shock. Did I mention shock?
"If you do that again, I swear, I'll pin you to a wall." I muttered rather darkly, letting her go in front of Weiss. I didn't really mean it, to be honest. What she did just... irked me, to say the least. Pissed me off, if you will. Anyway, I then turned to said heiress and added, "She's all yours," walking past her and the others to sit on my previous pedestal. Snapping out of her trance, Weiss began lecturing Ruby.
"You are so childish!" she began, "And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style!" she continued, staring down at the shaking red-cloaked girl. "You are such a complete show-off!"
"I'm not trying to show-off, okay!" Ruby replied, shouting back. She was still shaking, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
"Then what was that, huh?" the white-clad heiress asked, hands on her hips.
"I'm just trying to prove something!"
"Prove what-"
"THAT I CAN DO THIS!" red riding-hood screamed, tears falling down from her tightly closed eyes. Weiss, including the other kids, quieted down. "Ever since I arrived at Beacon, all I keep hearing is how I'm so childish! How I'm not capable of handling myself! Ever since I met you, all you've been saying is that I'm weak! That I can't handle being at Beacon! That I'm so stupid! You don't even know me!"
'This is good. This is what I was hoping for.' I thought, observing the shocked expressions the young hunters and huntresses-in-training were giving off. Even though I don't think about it, nor say anything about it, I noticed the way everyone around Ruby treated her like a child. I didn't bother her about it, thinking that she'd be fine, but.. Clearly, I overestimated her. She's still young, after all. I then turned to Weiss. 'Now then. How will you respond to your teammate?'
Said heiress, after a few seconds of silence, heaved a long, tired sigh, crouching down to Ruby's collapsed form. She then placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, looking her in the eyes. She smiled lightly.
"Look," the white-clad girl began, "I suppose I can be a bit.. difficult.. But that's because I'm me.." she trailed off, looking at the ground. "Ever since I was a child, the pressure of being the heiress to the larges dust company in all of Vytal, and possibly Remnant, was placed on my shoulders. Life had been.. unfair for me. But that doesn't give me the right to treat you the way I did."
"Weiss.." Ruby murmured, looking at Weiss in a different light.
"And for that, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have judged you like that without really knowing you."
"I'm..- I'm sorry too, Weiss!" the red-cloaked girl stuttered, finally going back to her normal quirky self. "I'll try to act more mature this time!"
"And I'll try to be.. a bit nicer." the white-themed girl replied, standing up. She stretched her hand for Ruby to grab, who took it gratefully. "Deal, partner?"
Now standing up, Ruby smiled, "Deal!"
"Great." I cut the moment off, also standing up to walk towards the still downed Yang. Stretching my hand for her to grab, I helped her up, and we made our way back to her red-cloaked sister. When we were close enough, I lightly pushed the blond brawler towards said sister. "Your turn." I said.
Yang looked at her sister like she was looking at a ghost. Then slowly, she raised her shaking hands to hold Ruby's cheeks. In reply, the younger sister held the shaking limbs, guiding them in place.
"I-I thought you were d-dead.." the older sister stuttered out, tears now falling from her eyes.
"Sis, I-I'm really-" Ruby was about to apologize, but was cut off by her sister pulling her to an embrace.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was?! If you died, what would I tell dad, huh?!" the blond exclaimed, sobbing in her sister's head. "That mom's only remnant got killed by a stupid, giant scorpion?!"
At this point, Ruby began sobbing like a child, hugging her older sister back. "I'b sowwy!" the young teen stuttered out over and over again. Yang would continuously stroke her little sister's hair when she would.
I could see the others from behind them. Nora buried her face in Ren's chest, clearly sobbing as well whilst the eastern boy whispered comforting words in her ear. Jaune lent Pyrrha his shoulder for the red-head to cry on to, all the while supporting his teammate by holding her own shoulder, gently stroking it now and then. Blake stared at the two sisters sadly, letting a tear slide down her cheek. The look in her eyes changed, the once sad gaze turned to longing ones. 'She's lost someone, huh..' Weiss looked at the two with tears on the corners of her eyes and her lips forming a small smile. She saw me staring at her, resulting in my flashing her my own small smile, and making hers slightly grow.
I then walked towards the sisters, and when I was right by their sides, I held Yang's head with my left arm and kissed her on the side of her forehead, just above the middle of her ear and eye (A/N: I was told that this part was the 'temple.'.. I have no idea what that is.), and caressed the back of her hair lightly. I then held Ruby's head with my right hand, kissed her on the crown of her head and ruffled her hair. "Great job." I told them, and walked to where the surprised Weiss was. When I was in front of her, I kissed her above her forehead, on her hairline, and patted it once. I turned to everyone, who looked at me confused, and smiled at them.
"What you've learned today is the ever-so-important fact that every hunter and huntress, whether professional or in training, should know:" I began, looking at each of them in the eyes. "The world we live in is cruel and vicious. There is no telling whether today will be your last day alive. If tomorrow will be your last day alive. Or if next week is your last day alive." I trailed off, seeing the realization dawning in their eyes. Except for a few like Blake, Jaune, and Ren, the look of fear in their eyes made me smile.
'That's it. Realize. I'll teach you that fear can be tamed.'
"But," I stopped myself, earning their attention. "There's the second, just-as-important-as-the-first, fact." I turned to the now puffy-eyed Ruby, "Do you know what that is?" my smile grew visible at her confused stare.
"N-.. No.." she managed to stutter out, making my smile turn into a full-on grin, confusing everyone even more.
"Oh?" I asked, faking my surprise horribly. "I distinctly remember you saying it just last night." I turned to everyone, particularly at Jaune. I saw his eyes widen with realization. Seeing it and taking the chance, I called out to him, pointing at Will's grandson in the process. "Jaune! Looks like you remember!" I grinned at the blond boy, who by the way, was still holding Pyrrha. He grinned back.
"Ruby, you don't remember what you told us just last night before we've gone to bed?" he asked, gaze traveling from me, to the red-cloaked girl, to the red-head he was comforting, who was looking up at him.
Realizing what we meant, the scythe-wielder's eyes grew. Slowly, her bright smile came back, making mine and Jaune's grow even bigger. I saw Blake begin to understand, too, smiling as well whilst wiping the tears that formed on the corners of her eyes.
"Fact number one is that this world is unforgiving, dangerous, and evil." I began, raising one finger in the air. I then turned to Jaune, and then Ruby. "Jaune? Ruby? Mind telling us what fact number two is?" I continued, noting the bright, familiar grins they flashed me.
'William Arc's grandson and Summer Rose's daughter. These two will be legendary one day.'
"That's why we're here!" they answered me enthusiastically, giving back the grin I was giving them. "To make it better."
Realization dawned again on the others, their fears replaced with hope and determination.
Yang's eyes hardened with determination and new-found strength, a smirk replacing her earlier frown.
Weiss and Ren as well, an understanding smile on their lips.
Nora, the hyperactive, talking condensed energy I knew, surprised me with her serious look whilst smiling and clinging on to her eastern friend's arm.
Blake looked as if she'd be willing to do everything she can in her power to make that purpose come true.
And Pyrrha, as she gazed up at the blond knight beside here, decided that she would follow this man to the ends of Remnant.
"That's right," I caught everybody's attention, "The true purpose of hunters and huntresses is to make. things. better. To carry the burden which is reality. To be strong for those who can't afford to. To protect those who can't protect themselves." I trailed off, gazing into their eyes with pride.
"To be the light that guides others through the darkness." I finished, smiling at them.
'They'll be okay,' I decided. Judging from their eyes, I knew they'll make it big out there in the world.
Just as I timed, the Nevermore screeched, getting the teens alert. I couldn't find a trace of fear in their eyes.
"So," I began, "What's the plan?" I stood nonchalantly, my hands in my pockets, as if I didn't give them a life lesson just now.
"We go." Ruby spoke.
"Right." Weiss spoke as well, eyeing her partner with a smile. "Our mission is to secure an artifact and go. We have no reason to fight these beasts."
"Our objective is right in front of us. No sense in staying." the red-cloaked girl added. Red and White smiled at each other.
"Run and live. That's an idea I can get behind." Jaune joked, lightening the tense atmosphere.
'This kid's charisma never ceases to amaze me.'
At that, said red-cloaked girl and the blond knight took their own relics: the golden knight piece and the golden rook piece respectively. They nodded at each other and turned to their teammates.
"Time we left!" Ren exclaimed, finding the Death Stalker up and on its way to us.
I watched them run towards the cliff, their determination practically seeping out. I then followed them with a small, proud smile on my face.
We somehow made it to the clearing in front of the cliff side. The only thing between us and our destination is a bridge leading to an abandoned altar of some sort.
I heard the Nevermore screech again, 'And that.' I thought.
Before I could even say something witty and sarcastic, the Death Stalker crawled out of the forest from where we came out of seconds ago. 'And that.'
"Run!" I heard Jaune order. As I came out of my hiding spot, I saw the giant bird-Grimm, which was perched on top of the altar, fly towards us threateningly.
"Nora, distract it!" Ren told his best friend, in which said orange-haired girl grinned, pulling out her grenade launcher. 'Her weapon choice suits her. I'm guessing a mace or a war hammer for melee?'
The giant black bird then shot out feathers aimed at Nora, who dodged them skillfully and began unloading her rounds.
Busy fighting off the bird, she didn't notice the scorpion-Grimm stalking towards her from behind. Luckily, Ren and Blake intercepted it, while Weiss grabbed the orange-haired girl out of harm's way.
"Move it!" I barked, firing regular Deagle rounds in three-burst mode. Blake and Ren made a run for it.
We were at the bridge when Pyrrha took her rifle out and began to distract the Death Stalker with it, yelling "Go, go!"
When Weiss, Nora, and Ren passed her, the eastern boy unloaded some bullets of his own until Blake was with them. They then began to run with us, after closely dodging a giant pincer courtesy of the Grimm.
Escaping the giant armored Grimm, which was too big to cross the bridge to chase us, we thought we were safe. But then I saw the Nevermore rounding up the corner, flying towards us. 'Of course we're not safe yet.'
"It's aiming for the bridge! Run faster!" I ordered, making the teens obey. The Nevermore was too fast though, managing to crash and split the bridge, dividing us. Pyrrha, Ren, and Blake were on the side where the Death Stalker lie in wait, leaving the rest of the teens, including me, on the other side.
"Ren!" Nora exclaimed, worry evident through her eyes. Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder, making her turn to him.
"Let's go." he told her, moving back and poised a readying stance. Understanding him, Nora nodded and mecha-shifted her grenade launcher into a war hammer, 'Called it.' ran towards the broken edge of the bridge, jumped with her hammer raised over her head, turned around mid-air, and finally slammed her dangerous-looking weapon onto the bridge, effectively forcing the part of the bridge which Jaune readily stood in wait to rise, launching the blond boy to the other side of the split bridge. She followed by firing one of her explosive grenade cylinders onto the even-more-broken bridge, whilst standing on the head of her war hammer, successfully propelling herself to the other side.
I saw the black bird turn back to us, 'Does this thing have a crush on me or something?' I turned to the three girls behind me whilst pointing at the flying Grimm. "Keep that thing busy!" I told them. Nodding, they ran off towards the altar, firing at the giant avian to grab its attention. From the corner of my eye, I saw Blake fall off of the bridge. I jumped off, following after her. I managed to catch up with time to spare, grabbing her in a hug and told her, "Help Ruby and the others." I then shot my chains into the bridge, swung under it, and when I was at a certain height and angle, I loosened the chain and spun my body around. Using the momentum, I threw Blake, aiming at the Nevermore. Meeting its face, I saw her slash at it multiple times. Then moved to the top of the head, then continued to hack across its back. Finishing, she jumped away and landed next to the other girls.
I safely landed next to Jaune, who then charged to block the on-coming white-armored pincer directed towards his red-headed partner. I fired a few shots at the giant armored scorpion in front of us, distracting it long enough for Ren to grab its stinger. I felt the bridge underneath us shift a little.
'Shit.' "We gotta hurry!" I yelled.
Hearing my order, Ren unloaded on the scorpion's tail, placing his green guns' muzzles directly on the joint where said tail and stinger connected, making it screech in pain. The giant monster threw Ren off by flicking its tail, said boy thankfully landing safely on the clearing. I saw the Death Stalker's stinger hanging limply by a strand of flesh. Jaune noticed as well.
"Pyrrha!" he exclaimed. With a confirming "Done!", Pyrrha threw her shield like a disk towards the white armored Grimm's tail, hitting its golden stinger by the appendage it hung from, successfully cutting it off and making it fall on to the scorpion's back, impaling itself.
I saw Pyrrha catch her shield as Jaune barked again, "Nora, nail it!" whilst eyeing his partner, crouching down in the process with his shield over his head. Understanding, the red-head jumped and stood on the blond's shield-turned-flat form with her own shield over her head as well. With a nod and a "Heads up!", Nora immediately followed, using Pyrrha's shield as her own flat form.
In a rocket-like effect, Jaune poured all of his strength in to his legs and jumped, followed by Pyrrha doing the same thing. Finally, using the built-up momentum plus some added power courtesy of a grenade cylinder from her grenade launcher/war hammer, Nora flew up in the air in a straight line.
As she the orange-haired girl made her way back down to earth, I yelled her. "Nora, grab on!" I told her as I shot my chains towards her. When she caught it, I pulled it down with both hands to speed up her descent. Adding a few shots from her grenade launcher, her trek back to solid ground sped up tremendously. And finally flipping forward a couple of times, I just knew what the best position for her in her future team would be. 'Great. Found me a hitter. Death Stalker's gonna feel that.'
And I was right.
The plan was to nail the giant scorpion to the bridge with its stinger. Instead, she managed to make the golden stinger penetrate the giant monster and the bridge.
'Impressive.' I thought. But then, I felt the bridge shift again. This time, worse.
"Move it!" I barked. Jaune and Pyrrha complied, running and jumping over the dead Grimm, I followed their lead. Nora, instead, used the explosion from her grenade launcher to propel herself forward, landing in Ren's welcoming arms. Just in time, because the bridge behind us crumbled immediately, taking the deceased Death Stalker with it in its descent in the rather deep ravine. I saw the orange-haired hammer-user visibly blush a shade of pink as the eastern boy set her down with a smile, telling her "Great job." I mentally noted to tease them about it later. I turned around to check on the other girls. I saw Yang shooting a barrage of bullets at the flying Grimm.
'Oh, I've gotta have some of this.' "Nora, hit me!" I grinned at my pancake buddy. Grinning at me as well, she raised her war hammer like a baseball bat.
"Batter up!" she chirped rather cheerfully.
I drew Belial in a backhand grip. I ran towards the orange-haired-ball-of-condensed-energy and jumped, positioning the flat of my blades in front of me and placing my feet on its surface. Nora spun on her heels twice, and all I though was, 'This is gonna hurt.' She hit the flat of my blades and fired a round of her grenade launcher, successfully launching me towards the Nevermore, who had Yang holding its beak wide open. Said blond brawler firing a few rounds whilst saying, "I hope you're hungry!" I grinned, landing on top of the giant bird's head. Reaching for the secret pocket under the back of my coat, I pulled out a burn dust crystal, coating it with a thin layer of aura.
"I hope you're still hungry!" I exclaimed, throwing it inside its open mouth, right inside its throat. I grabbed Yang's hand and jumped, landing on the floor below us. When I looked up, Weiss was gliding towards us, clearly aiming for the Nevermore which hit the side of the cliff after having its throat severely burned, literally. I looked back and saw that Yang wasn't beside me anymore. She was now on top of a pillar holding the other end of Blake's cloth-chain, forming what seems to be a slingshot. Weiss was, in no time, back with them after freezing the giant bird-Grimm's tail to pin it on the altar. I saw Ruby then jump into the air, stand on her scythe, and land on the makeshift slingshot, retracting it, and finally had Weiss hold it in place with her glyphs.
"Whatever this is, I want in!" I told them, grinning.
Immediately after Ruby shot through the air, I used Belial to launch a nearby debris up in the air and ran towards the three girls. Doing the same thing Ruby did before, I jumped, placed my feet on the flat of my blades, and landed on the makeshift slingshot as well, but only on a higher angle than the red-cloaked girl. Weiss immediately shot me. When I was up in the air, I used the debris I launched earlier as a stepping stone to go even higher. When I was directly above Ruby and the Nevermore she was holding by the neck with her scythe, I quickly aimed at the handle of her Crescent Rose and fired my Astaroth. It's chains wrapped around the red-tinted metal, tightening around it just as fast as it was aimed. When I saw Weiss' glyphs form up the side of the cliff in a line, I pulled the chains with a quarter of my strength, careful not to stress Ruby too much. Her semblance, plus Crescent Rose's recoil from its bullets being fired, plus Weiss' glyphs, plus a boost from me, Ruby easily dragged the Nevermore up the cliff. Reaching the edge, the enormous bird's head was snagged. One final push from Ruby and one final pull from me, and the black bird's head was decapitated courtesy of Ruby's beloved red scythe. Said red-cloaked girl landed safely right beside the flying Grimm's severed head on the cliff's edge.
"That was sooooo awesome!" Nora exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air over her head. "We were all like 'Wachaaaaa!' and like 'Hyaaa!' and then Ruby was all like 'Yaaaaaah!' and then Kaiser was all like 'Haaaarghh!' And then everything exploded!" she continued, getting overboard.
"I don't remember any explosions in the end." I looked at her incredulously whilst adjusting my glasses. Fake, obviously, I was just riding with her.
"Nora likes to exaggerate thing when she's narrating them.." Ren explained, smiling. All of the teens walking with me were smiling. Clearly happy with their success.
We were currently making our way back to Ozpin to turn in the relics we've obtained. The girls were all happily chatting with each other, congratulating one another for their amazing display of skills, giggling as they blushed in embarrassment from their own praises. Jaune, Ren, and I walked side by side with me in the middle, my hands on their shoulders. I was congratulating them for their superb performance in the battlefield.
"No, Kaiser. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have even made it!" Jaune argued with me, a wide smile on his face.
"That's right! Everything's all thanks to you, Kaiser! You're the one who deserves most of the praise!" Ruby, who heard what Jaune said, added, beaming a bright grin at me.
Everyone else, surprisingly including Weiss and Blake though only minor, praised me. I was actually embarrassed, though only slightly. Who would've thought?
"No, guys. It wasn't just me." I cut them off, smiling back. "I just.. acted like a.. stepping stone for you guys." I said slowly, looking for the right words to say. "I wasn't the only one fighting those things, mind you. Each and every one of you guys did. Your strength, determination, courage, and most of all, teamwork, lead to our victory. I'm really proud of you guys." I ended, grinning at them. I saw them smile back at me, joy being the only thing in their eyes as of now.
"We still have you to thank, Kaiser. If it weren't for you, we would've broken down from despair and hopelessness. You gave us a reason to stand up and fight back. That's more that a little help, don't you think?" Weiss, the cold, arrogant, pain-in-the-ass heiress as most people would think she is, said. I was genuinely surprised, and I began to look at her in a more different, refined light than before. 'She's kind-hearted inside. She just covers it up to protect herself. That won't be needed here, though, I'll make sure of it.'
"So that being said, let's thank our dark hero all together!" Yang exclaimed, grinning from ear-to-ear. "One, two, three!"
"Thank you, Kai-..!"
SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!
We turned around to see what cut off the teens' exclaim of gratitude and widened our eyes. We weren't even at a good distance away from the cliff, and we see another Nevermore flying towards us? The kids shrugged it off at first, but I kept staring at it. Its wings, specifically. From afar, it looked quite like a normal Nevermore, but as I looked at it more and as it flew towards us a bit closer, I noticed that it had more white armor on its body, some were even on its wings. Its headpiece-like armor covering its head now ran down on to its neck, continuing across its back and spreading to its wings like real armor. Its tarsi (A/N: Or legs. I like to be fancy and smart-like once in a while.) were also covered with the white armor, ending just before the tips of its giant toes. Its talons look sharper than a normal Nevermore's, even from this far, I can see it glint dangerously. What made it stood out, though, were two very obvious qualities:
It had two sets of wings.
And it was big. Very big. Like.. three times as big as the normal Nevermore.
"I-is that.." I heard Blake stutter, her happy tone from before replaced with shock, and to my annoyance of the titanic Grimm, fear.
They were all scared. None of them expected something like this to appear in the Emerald Forest, not even me. However, contrary to their expressions, I was feeling something else. Something quite the opposite:
Excitement.
I quickly pulled out my scroll from my secret back pocket, making a call just as fast. When the call connected, Ozpin's face appeared on the screen with a knowing smile.
"You didn't." I asked him with wide eyes, my question sounding a statement.
"You've seen it?" he asked back, smile growing into a playful grin. 'He didn't!'
"You didn't!" I pressed on, louder this time. I saw Jaune and the others look at me rather worriedly. I wonder why?
"Oh, yes I did." his grin grew even bigger, almost insane-like. I began to feel my jaw hurt.
"You got me a present?!" I exclaimed, genuinely surprised that I was grinning as well. From the beginning, actually, from when I saw the rare SSS-class Grimm flying towards us. Combined with my wide eyes, I must've looked like a mad man. Maybe that's why the teens were looking at me worriedly.
"Is that Professor Ozpin, Kaiser?" Pyrrha pointed out, walking towards me cautiously. Maybe I should tone down my excitement. "Why do you have him in your contacts?"
"Ah, miss Nikos. If he told you right now, where would the fun in that be?" we turned to see Ozpin behind us, with Professor Glynda right beside him donning a worried look as well. He walked his way towards us and stopped midway. "You'll learn all about our relationship once the initiation is officially closed. If you may, K?" he turned to me with a smirk, adjusting his glasses.
I sprinted towards him, and when I was directly in front of him, I grabbed his shoulders with both of my hands. I began shaking him, whilst saying "Thank you so much, Oz! You're the best!" to which he grinned again.
"Go now, before it begins to destroy the entire forest." the blond-haired Professor Glynda told me, rather forced. She was scared as well, huh? Well, that's understandable. I turned to her and nodded, turning around after. I was faced with the confused, and to my surprise, worried stares of the teens I fought together with earlier.
"Kaiser.. What's going on?" Jaune began. "You can't possibly be thinking of fight that.. That thing, right?" he continued, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes, to be honest. I plan on fighting that thing." I replied, smiling lightly at him.
"Don't be stupid, Kaiser!" Ruby yelled, shifting towards me. "That's the legendary SSS-Class Grimm, the King Nevermore! That's the king of all Nevermores! Not even veteran S-class hunters go after that! You'll be marching towards your own death!" she continued, the air of hopelessness around her earlier back again. Tears were forming on the corners of her eyes.
My smile only widened, walking towards the two of them. I saw them visibly flinch, but I continued my trek. When I was directly parallel to them, I raised both of my hands, making them close their eyes in preparation, and smiled, perching said limbs on their heads. When they opened their eyes, I made sure that my warm smile was the first thing they see to calm them down. When I saw their eyes soften, I gently stroked their hair a few times and let my hands drop down to their shoulders.
"Calm down and let me explain first, okay?" I told them, and was replied by hesitant nods. I smiled, "I'm really strong. In fact, stronger than your great-great grandfather," I turned to Jaune, whose eyes widened, "and your mother." and finally turned to Ruby, whose dazed face turned into a shocked one. From behind them, I saw Yang's eyes visibly widen as well, her jaw dropping as she gasped. I continued.
"I'll tell you everything you want to know later. But right now, you've got to trust me. I won't die that easily, I promise." I flashed them a warm smile again. I saw that Ruby's shocked face turned pale, fear consuming her wide eyes. She immediately clutched onto my arm, holding it in place, which surprised me.
"Don't go!" she exclaimed, shutting her eyes tight. "Now that you've said that, I definitely won't let you go!" she began to shake.
Recovering from my surprised state, I crouched to level Ruby, and smiled at her again. "And why's that?" I asked.
"Because..." she started, tears now falling from he tightly close eyes. "B-Because that's exactly what mom said before she left me and Yang and Dad..!"
My eyes widened, understanding what I've done. I sighed, giving Jaune a knowing look. Said blond boy nodded, and placed a hand on the red-cloaked girl's free shoulder, making her look up. She was met by my sad smile.
"I'm sorry if I made you remember something like that, Ruby." I began, stroking her head again with my free hand. "But, believe it or not, I made Summer a promise before she passed away." at that, I saw the young girl in front of me and her older sister gasp. I replaced my sad smile with a warm one.
"Yeah. I promised that I'll train you and Yang the way I trained her. Into a fine, strong, ninja-like huntresses!"
At that, I saw Yang by my side in a flash and hugged me, crouching down and burying her face into my chest. I heard her faintly say, "You better keep that promise." which made me smile, moving my free hand to stroke her hair as well.
"I will. But before I could, I need to kick that bird's ass first. So you guys gotta let me go." I grinned, turning to the other teens as well.
Sniffling, I heard Ruby murmur a light "Okay.." whilst letting my arm go and wiping the tears on her cheeks dry. Jaune nodded, not hesitating this time. Though I could still see worry in his eyes, which I tried to push away with a smile. Yang pulled away from me, moving her hands to rub her eyes, nodding at the process.
I turned to the others, "How about you guys?" I asked, noticing them flinch.
"I-it's okay, guys." Ruby stuttered, still wiping her tears away, "I.. feel like he can really kick that things butt." she continued, moving her hands from her face showing that she now donned a small smile.
"Me, too." Jaune followed, turning to the others as well. He then turned to me, a small grin with a hint of worry on his face. "He's hard to kill." I smiled back.
"If.. If Jaune's okay with it, then I have no objections." Pyrrha spoke, still looking worried. I glanced at the others, getting confirming nods from a serious looking Nora and Ren. Blake and Weiss just stared at me worriedly, but nodded as well after a few seconds of thinking. My smile widened, forgetting my previous excitement.
I better show these kids what it means to be a true hunter.
I turned to Ozpin, who had an amused, but sad smile on his lips, and smiled at him. "Can you take them somewhere safe? I plan on using 25% this time. You know how dangerous that is."
"Sure," he said, walking towards us. "You don't need to remind me about that."
I then turned back towards the teens, "You better go with Oz. It's gonna be dangerous around here. You'll be safe with him." I told them, to which they nodded hesitantly. I then moved past them, but not before Ruby held me back again.
"Be careful.., okay?" she told me, looking at me pleadingly. She didn't have to, as I smiled at her. I patted her head lovingly.
"I will. You be careful, too. You should hurry, and listen to whatever Oz tells you to do, alright?" I replied to her, in which she nodded and turned around to be with the others. One final look at me, and I just had to show them the part of me Grimm of all kinds feared.
I smiled at them playfully, smirked, even, as I pulled Belial slowly in a backhanded grip. I moved it to my front, still pointing it to the ground, and charged it with my aura. In a few seconds, its 6 'branch' swords, consisting of the front blade, two main side blades, two secondary side blades, and the spine blade, split from the main blade, hovering in the air around the main sword. In no time, they moved to hover around me, circling me in after they positioned themselves. They were coated with my red aura, and outline by my black one. What I did with Belial surprised the teen spectators, but my two sets of aura surprised them even more. I wasn't done yet, however. I let go of the main blade as it joined the others to hover around me. I then moved my hand and dismounted the cylindrical part of Astaroth which contained its chains. Moving it in front of me, I held it with both of my hands away from my body, and pulled at it on opposite sides, freeing the chains, and I then let go, letting it hover around me as well. My red and black aura covered it as well in no time. I next pulled out Lucifer, and triggered a switch, causing it to split into two guns for me to dual-wield. Finally, as my last trick, I concentrated some of my aura, and in no time, wings with black feathers and red stems sprout out and materialized on my back. I grinned at everyone, excluding Ozpin, as their worried expressions was replaced by shocked and amazed faces.
"Now do you think I can wipe the floor with that thing?" I asked rhetorically, turning around to face the giant SSS-Class Grimm on our way. "I'll be back in a flash." I said as I flapped my wings hard, and I shot through the air.
-3rd POV-
"T-Two different sets of.. aura..?" a surprised Glynda Goodwitch stuttered, eyes wide at what the now flying man-in-boy's-skin showed them.
It wasn't only her that was surprised. The hunters and huntresses-in-training as well were. In that moment, the boy they fought together with just minutes ago looked like the most powerful being on the face of the planet. Scary powerful. God-like, even. There was no doubt in their minds that, even without their help, he could've taken care of the two strong Grimm they've just faced. Three of them, however, were thinking something different.
His eyes.
Red light trailed from his eyes when he turned his back to them. They.. felt something when they saw that.. Something like.. familiarity..
"You've seen his eyes, I presume?" Ozpin, who was now behind the three, spoke, donning a soft, knowing smile.
Surprised, Jaune, Ruby, and Yang turned around simultaneously, facing the headmaster of Beacon Academy. They then turned to look at each other with questioning looks.
"You guys.. noticed it, too?" Jaune began, furrowing his eyebrows again.
Nodding, the sisters furrowed their eyebrows in suspicion as well. "Have you.. heard of the story as well, Jaune? .. The 'true' version?" Ruby asked.
".. From my grandpa, yeah. You?"
"From.. From our mom. She used to tell us stories before bed. That was.. our favorite story.." Yang answered, looking at the ground. Confusion was evident in her eyes as she kept thinking. Was it really possible for the bespectacled boy to be that man? That legend?
"What are you guys talking about?" Weiss intruded, raising an eyebrow. They seemed to know something about the bloody black-clad boy that, though they're still trying to believe it, flew away earlier.
Eyeing her, the blond swordsman answered, "It's.. It's a story. One that every kid in Remnant knows of."
"In the story, the hero was known as one of the founding fathers of the hunters. The strongest hunter who ever lived. He killed Grimm from every direction, from every continent, from every known and unknown area in Remnant. He's saved countless lives, a legendary hero. That's what other kids were told." Yang added, still looking at the ground.
"'Other kids'? What are you talking about? What were you told?" Pyrrha inquired this time, also wanting to know what the three knew.
"... The odd thing about this story is that the hero's appearance wasn't mentioned. Putting aside hints from his many names, no one knew what he looked like." Ruby answered this time, looking just as confused as the other teens around them. "That's what other kids say. But mom told me and Yang what he looked like.. He-"
"A clean, black canvass as he leaves, but when he returns, he is painted by the red blood of his victims, looking like a piece of monochromatic art." Ozpin cut the teens' conversation off, eyes closed with the same, knowing smile on his face. "He is known by many names: The Hero of Remnant, The Angel of Salvation, The Emperor(1)," the gray-haired man trailed off, walking towards the edge of the cliff to get a better view of his best friend's fight. "The Red Flash, as many know him as." he continued, turning around to look at the teen's faces as realization dawned them. "What many did not know was the title his friends and enemies alike gave him." the man ended, turning around again to watch the man-in-boy's-skin ram his feet into the gigantic flying Grimm's exposed chest, smiling. "We wouldn't need to move, it won't get to us. Jaune? Please finish for me. I wouldn't want to miss this."
Quick to recover from his shock of the headmaster's knowledge, the blond boy nodded. "He.. He's traveled around Remnant, not only to fight monsters, but also to train young individuals who he's deemed worthy to be hunters and huntresses." he began, also looking at the boy fighting the King Nevermore, clearly enjoying himself. He didn't see the shocked expressions his fellow students gave off, even Professor Goodwitch, of course excluding Ruby and Yang. His eyes widened when he saw Kaiser's long chains circle around the King Nevermore, slowly closing the gap between the linked metals and the Grimm. His swords left his side, not including what looks like the main sword in his hand, and followed the chains to circle the giant monster as well. "He was known by many names, just like professor Ozpin said. But not many know the only title he himself acknowledged and used:" Jaune trailed off, amazed as he realized that the legend was still alive and befriended him, and worried at how he acted so disrespectfully at the hero's presence.
"The Bloody Raven."
-3rd POV End-
I charged towards the titanic Grimm I haven't seen in 75 years, a big, almost insane-like grin on my face. I haven't been this excited in a long time! This is a rare moment, so I should savor it.
But then I remembered that the kids were watching. If it were only Ozpin, then I could take my time. But there are kids in the area. And I did promised that I'll be careful and return quickly. I guess it can't be helped.
I flapped my wings harder to increase my speed. I then shifted my body so that my feet were first to hit the Grimm, and when I made contact, I rammed myself into its chest. Hard. It backed away very visibly, clear to me that my initial attack was a success. I followed by pushing away from the avian-Grimm, back flipping, aiming and shooting at its head with my two guns which were loaded with aura instead of the normal bullets. My red aura outlined with black aura-turned-bullets did tremendous damage, cracking its headpiece-like armor, sometimes even shattering a piece of it away. I charged at it again, this time with my blades pointing at it. I commanded my blades to move in front of me and point in the same area. Making them circle around faster and coating them with more of my aura, I created a drill. I slammed the blades, including myself, on the flying monster's back directly in the middle of its wings, effectively breaking through its armor and dealing damage to it.
The King Nevermore retaliated, doing a barrel roll to throw me off of its back. It worked, however, I wasn't done yet. In fact, I though that it was about time I finished this. I'm no saint, but even I can feel pity for such a creature. And I could practically smell the kids' worry from here. I'm not sure if it's for me or for the Nevermore, though.
I dismounted from the avian-Grimm's back, flying above it, leaving my chains behind to hover over its back. Catching the gigantic bird's attention, it didn't notice that my chains expanded in diameter, now surrounding its whole body. I kept it distracted by shooting four of my blades towards its wings, one sword each. I sent two more to surround its body as the other four did after they went through the monstrous bird's limbs. My aura covered blades pointed dangerously towards the black beast readily as the chains circling said monster slowly closed in on it. I kept its attention on me by firing at it with my guns whilst flying upwards, urging it to follow me. When the linked-metals finally closed the gap between the Nevermore and itself and wrapped around it, securing its wings and legs, I took it as my cue to reconnect my guns together, holster it, grab the remaining main blade by my side, and charge at the gigantic Nevermore one last time, timing my speed just right. At my command, my six blades surrounding it shot through the air at the same time, aimed at its vitals: the head, the neck, the lungs, the spine, the heart, and the stomach. When they penetrated their targets, the now-dead and unchained Grimm began its descent towards the forest, head first. At that point, I sped up my pursue of it. I readied myself, sword over my head, and when the time was right, I forced said blade down into the King Nevermore's flesh, going even deeper and further until it made it to the even-dead Grimm's head. The sheer force I used to bring down my blade created a sonic wave, following the huge gnash I created, and divided the black bird into two. I kept my speed as I closed the distance between myself and the tree-infested earth below me. Timing it just right, I stopped myself by before hitting the ground, and landed safely on my feet. I raised my right hand, which held my main blade, pointed it towards the free-falling Nevermore, and summoned my other blades in front of me. I divided them into two groups, three blades each, and commanded them to point towards the deceased Grimm. I was a few meters away from its landing area, so I had a clear shot. I ordered my blades to start spinning individually and circle at the same time, whilst giving them a fair amount of condensed aura. When I was content with the destruction I was sure it would create, I fired two laser-like beams made of my aura from the two groups of blades, quickly flying towards the divided body of the dead Grimm.
What happened next was quite obvious, yet fun.
The split body of the King Nevermore disintegrated into tiny particles due to the sheer intensity of the beams it collided with, leaving no trace of its existence in the area.
I reassembled my weapons and eased my aura off of them, reverting them back to their normal, cut-and-slash shoot-and-bash grab-and-lash ways I made them to be. I flew back into the air, glided towards the cliff edge I knew the teens, professor Glynda, and Oz were. When I saw them, I eased my aura on my back, slowly tucking my wings back in and landing beside my gray-haired best friend. I was met with the surprised, amazed, shocked, and awe-struck faces of the young hunters and huntresses-in-training in front of me. I grinned at them happily, "I'm back!"
"That was rather quick, wouldn't you say so, K?" Oz asked me, placing a hand on my shoulder with a small smile on his face.
"Eh. I know. It's not as fun as it used to be when I wasn't serious. I didn't even let it fight back once. This is the last time I fight seriously, what a waste." I replied, crossing my arms over my chest whilst pouting playfully. I then saw the still-wide-eyed-jaw-dropped Ruby and gave my best friend a knowing glance. Understanding, Oz let me go as I began to walk towards the red-cloaked girl. When I was just two feet away from her, I crouched down to her height and smiled at her.
"Told you I'd kick that thing's ass."
At that, she slowly recovered her smile, which then turned into a full-on grin, her shock-filled wide eyes were replaced by awe-filled ones. "That was awesome!" she exclaimed, jumping me and hugging my torso. I chuckled and patted her head, saying, "I know, I know." every time she squealed an excited praise. Jaune then moved behind me and placed his hands over my shoulders. Hard. He then began shaking me along with Ruby.
"THAT WAS AMAZING, KAISER! I can't believe you did that! It looked like you didn't even- Wait, YOU REALLY DIDN'T EVEN SWEAT!" the blond boy cheered excitedly, grinning from ear to ear, before suddenly letting me go. I turned to look at him and was surprised when I saw him standing straight, chin-up, chest-out, stomach-in like a soldier. "I-I-I'm sorry for my disrespect, sir!" he stuttered. I looked at him incredulously with an eyebrow raised.
"Jaune, what're you doing?" I asked him, turning around with Ruby still hugging me to face him.
"I-I've been in the presence of the Bloody Raven this whole time, and I acted immaturely, sir!" flinching, the white armored swordsman answered me. Ruby must've heard him because she immediately let go of me and stood next to Jaune, positioned like a soldier as well. I looked at them with my eyebrows raised before turning to the others, slightly surprised that they're in a similar state. Even professor Glynda! I saw Oz grinning playfully, making me smile back.
"I'm truly sorry, s- OW!"
Retracting the hand I used to smack Jaune's head lightly, I smiled as I got his attention. "Listen," I began, getting everyone else's, "I may be what you'd call a hero, but I'm still your friend. I don't like being shown too much respect, especially if it's by a friend, so you can drop the 'sir', kids." I told them, crossing my arms over my chest again, "You guys better stop acting like that, lest I smack some senses back into your heads. Got it?"
I was met by hesitant nods, but that was good enough for the mean time. I smiled at them warmly, "Great job today, guys. I'm really proud of everyone." I told them, resulting in their blushing. I chuckled, turning to professor Goodwitch. "Professor Glynda? Would you please show them back? Oz and I still have somethings to talk about, and they deserve some well-needed rest." I asked her.
"Yes, uhm.. s-sir." she replied, making my smile widen.
I then turned back to the two teens in front of me, standing more relaxed. I placed my hand on the blond boy's shoulder and my other hand on the red-cloaked girl's head. "Go get some rest. I'll tell you everything you want to know tomorrow." I told them, smiling. They smiled back and left, leaving me and Oz the only ones in the area.
"Well, today must've been and eventful one for you, hasn't it, K?" my gray-haired best friend began.
"Yeah, I guess.. I'm glad to know that all of them are in the same teams together. It'll make things easier."
"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Oz asked smirking. I smirked back, adjusting my glasses.
"Remember that thing I said I wanted to talk to you about?"
-3rd POV-
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you have retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team CRDL, lead by Cardin Winchester." Headmaster Ozpin declared another new team, congratulating them for their efforts.
It was around 10 in the evening. The Initiation Ceremony began a few hours ago, starting with a speech from the headmaster, some entertainment, intermissions, a buffet, and it was finally time to announce the formation of teams. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora moved towards stage, happily knowing that they're next to be called.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie," the gray-haired headmaster began, smiling at them contrary to the other teams he's called out before. The teens lined themselves in front of him before he continued, "The four of you have retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR." the four of them smiled at each other, happy with their assignment. Nora even went ahead and tackled Ren into a hug. Jaune and Pyrrha, however, continued to listen to the gray-haired headmaster. "Lead by.. Jaune Arc!" The announcement surprised Jaune, to say the least. His eyes widened, though the big grin on his face says otherwise. Pyrrha placed a hand on her new leader's shoulder, congratulating him. "Now, before you go, please step aside first. We're not finished yet." Ozpin gave them a knowing, playful smile, making them comply. He then called on to the final team for this years freshmen.
"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Wiess Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long," the man continued, urging the four girls he mentioned to come up the stage. When said girls were lined up in front of him, he continued, "The four of you have retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY." he said, pausing for a moment to see their happy faces, before going on. "Lead by.. Ruby Rose." he continued, visibly showing his amusement when the blond-haired brawler tackled the red-cloaked girl into a hug, exclaiming "I'm so proud of you!" Clearing his throat to get their attention, he turned to Team JNPR. "Please join Team JNPR for a moment, we're not done yet."
Complying, Ruby and her new team walked to stand next to Jaune and the others, congratulating each other.
"I'd like to use this moment to introduce a new member of Beacon's staff." Ozpin began, adjusting his glasses. "Most of you have probably seen him earlier, for he took the initiation test along with you." he continued. Looking behind him, he motioned for someone to come up the stage. Someone did. A boy with gravity defying, jet black, spikey but soft and fluffy hair with red streaks, blood-red bespectacled eyes, and wore black-and-red-themed clothing stood beside the gray-haired man.
"He will be Beacon's newest professor. Please welcome Mr. Kaiser Arcs." the man turned to said bloody-raven haired boy, urging him to speak.
"My name is Kaiser Arcs. I'm going to be teaching here at Beacon starting tomorrow." the boy introduced himself, his facial expression nonchalant. That is.. until he turned around to look at Team JNPR and Team RWBY's shocked and surprised faces. Jaune and Ruby were pointing at him incredulously, Weiss and Blake were gaping, Pyrrha and Yang rubbed their eyes in disbelief, and Ren and Nora's eyes were wide open, jaws dropped. He began to smirk and chuckle, clearly amused. He saw that they were about to say something, but cut them off before they could speak. "Don't say anything just yet. We're not done."
"Indeed." Ozpin agreed, smirking at the teens as well. "Mr. Arcs here will be a bit.. different from the other instructors." the gray-haired man began, "We have come to an agreement that he will not be bound by the academy's curriculum, and will be able to teach whatever he wants, and to do whatever he wants. Further more, he will not be teaching a class. If you may, K?" now grinning, the headmaster turned to his bloody-black-clad best friend, who was also grinning.
"Instead of teaching a class, I'll be teaching specific teams. As an experiment, I've chosen to teach Team RWBY and Team JNPR for the next four years to see if this method will be.. effective." Kaiser added, his grin only getting bigger at his new charges' expressions, showing a mixture of shock, joy, and excitement. He was then tackled by the leader of Team RWBY into a hug, followed by a light tackle from the leader of Team JNPR. Their teammates followed their lead and circled the bloody-raven haired boy, expressing their joy at being taught by the legend himself.
"The next four years are looking to be quite interesting. Wouldn't you agree, K?" under the teen's exclaims of excitement, the newly-appointed professor heard his best friend say, grinning at him. He grinned back.
"That would be an understatement, Oz." he replied, beaming the man a knowing smirk.
'Because these four years will be written down in history.'
-3rd POV End-
-Chapter 6 End-
(1) - The Emperor - This is made to be a pun on his name. Kaiser, in German, means Emperor. I honestly had no idea that it meant something when I thought up of his name. I swear.
... I finished in one sitting. My back kinda hurts, I can't feel my ass and my legs, my fingers are numb, and my heads blank. And it's about 3:30 in the morning here. ... Anyway, I'm sorry if this chapter took a bit too long. As you can see, this is stupidly longer than any of the chapters so far, so I had to take my time. My brain is a mush, but anything for you guys. On to the reviews.
crossargon - 'Damn strong' is an understatement. Even I'm scared of him, to be honest. I have no idea what overcame me to make him this.. scary.. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you liked this chapter as well, though it's stupidly long and probably sucks. My brain's practically melted right now, so.. yeah. Thanks.
guisniperman - I'm glad that it was to your liking. I actually thought up of that scene a little longer that expected, but I'm glad it did the job. Thank you for the compliment, though I'm not sure if it's worthy of the term 'epic' e he he he.
A yellow snowball - That so? Well here's an extra, stupidly long chapter, just for you! I probably wouldn't wake up till noon tomorrow, but hey. Whatever makes my readers happy. destinyTail0 has given me some pointers to work with if I plan on going with the harem, so I think I'm good. Also, it won't be like the hardcore-types I mostly see here, like his JAUN. I plan on only hinting, so as to please every shipper as much as I can. I don't really know if I'll succeed with that plan, but it's worth a shot, isn't it? About the semblance, well.. you're a bit off from my idea xD That's a really great theory though, I think you're on to something there. Now, tell me what you thought of that revelation? I'm kinda disappointed, because I know I can exploit that scene a lot more. Tell me what you think? And to answer your final question.. Wait for the next chapter! Most of its contents will give you a clear answer. If you're still not content with those, then ask me directly and I'll explain further. And don't worry, it's meant to give you a headache. I like to do that to people ha ha. Thanks for sticking with me this far. Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you liked this chapter. I'm a bit.. discontent about it, though.
AstridClaire - T-Thank you for the praise. Though I wouldn't say this is the 'best'. I'm still far from You are right . . . NOT's level. If it's 'best', then there's no doubt in my mind that it is Jaune Arc's Pain. Thank you for the praise though, it.. it made me blush. And I'm a guy. Who doesn't really even smile that much. That's saying something. Anyway, about your questions, well.. Yes. I did make up everything. Well.. Not 'everything' everything. Just the characters' history and their relationships. There are probably some canon mixed up in there, but I'm not too sure. I don't really understand the series any better than anyone else. It's understandable, though, because its young. It's only on its 1st season, so it has plenty of time to mature and develop, much like RvB. And that's exactly what I'm trying to incorporate in this story. Thank you so much for saying that, it means a lot. I try to follow canon as much as I could, while adding my own flare in to it. Thank you for reading and reviewing, it means a lot to me. I hope you liked this chapter as well.
Mae Ride - Yeeaaaaaah, that.. That made you laugh? Oh, wow. It worked. I'm a comedian. I'm an introvert, so I don't really have someone to try my sarcastic jokes and witty remarks on, but I'm glad that it's working fine. Thank you for that big confidence boost. I really needed that. Thank you so much for sticking with me this far, it means a lot. Thanks for reviewing and telling me what you thought, that really helped. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Tell me what you think, okay?
Hostis - Wow. Uhm.. This is gonna be long he he. First off, Kaiser and his team are immortal to both time and something else. How? It'll be revealed next chapter. It does have something to do with their aura, something big, even. Second, yes. He's OP. More than that, actually, he's God-like. But that won't make any significance to the story. He's already said it in this chapter, though: "I just... acted like a.. stepping stone for you guys." Think about that phrase a little more, and you'll find out what I mean. Also, BAM WHOLE STORY'S PLOT COMPROMISED! I have no idea what the Sturgeon's law is, but thanks *serious face*. The monologues are meant for us to take a little peak inside his head, because there are things that he won't say or show physically. I'm glad you like them.
Now then, about Team CRDL, well.. You're right. I might've been a little hard on them, but like you said, this story is young and still forming. I could make use of brushing them off, and turn that around, much like what destinyTail0 did to them in his story JAUN. Might as well say this now: They'll be good guys later on. I'm just planning on using them as villains until someone more powerful and evil comes the main characters' way. About the harem, like I told A yellow snowball, won't be hardcore. I'm only planning on mild hints. I kinda agree with you that harem is an overused shtick here on the RWBY part of FanFiction, but hey. It's funny xD
Thank you so much for commenting about how I write action scenes. Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing whilst writing this chapter. I think I did a pretty good job in the beginning, but near the end, especially Kaiser's fight against the King Nevermore, I felt that it was... weak. What do you think?
Anyway, some of your answers, maybe even more, will be answered next chapter. Thank you for reviewing. Your feedback really helped me a lot, you don't even know. I hope you liked this chapter. Give me some feedback and tell me what you thought.
foggraven - Thank you for that compliment. I try very hard to follow canon as much as I can. Here's another, stupidly long if you ask me, chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading. Tell me what you thought by reviewing.
That's it. Nothing needs to be said anymore. Well... Maybe another shout out to andy2396 and his/her Hero of Vytal, and KSLCross and his Of Another D'Arc! Check them out, they're great reads.
And with that, I'm off to bed. I won't wake up any time soon. What do you guys think of this chapter? Did you like it? Were the action scenes okay? Were the fluff okay as well? Did it at least make you feel something? Anything? Any suggestions as to how I can improve my writing style? Am I doing okay with this story so far? Any suggestions in general? Corrections and/or comments? Please let me know by reviewing. I welcome all constructive criticism.
Look at this, alright?
Word count: 9,826
See that? That's only for the actually content. This is when the Author's Note is included:
Word count: 11,354
Now let me sleep. Have a great day.
-Kaze-07-