So I'm not dead and this took a lot longer than I thought. I ended up writing this in a notebook in school and came up to 45+ pages! So I basically wrote this twice... Yep. Enjoy.
Side note: These chapters will hopefully come up more quickly and wont take forever to pop up. I'll keep it alive!
Side side note: I fixed some typos but I'm not sure if I got it all...
Chapter 9: The cold truth/ How long can friends last?
I stayed at her grave for a few more minutes before standing back up and made my way towards my house. Upon opening the door, I was completely baffled when I saw and felt both of my parents, charging me and proceeding to pull me into a death hug.
The air in my lungs were immediately squeezed out and escaped my lips.
"Oh my God! My Baby! I thought we lost you again!" Mom cried out and squeezed tighter.
"Cant breath! Cant breath!" I managed to spurt out with bone crushing grips against my ribs and wings.
My parents realized what they were doing and released me.
"Are you okay, Mason?" Dad asked while I was drawing hard breaths into my lungs.
"Just peachy." I sarcastically joked before hugging both of them lighter than what they did to me.
Afterward Dad became silent and his face showed that he was worried.
"How ware you feeling about Beacon?" His voice became serious, still worried.
I took a deep breath before speaking again.
"After initiation, I was put in as a leader of two teams; Team RWBY and Team JNPR with two co-leaders, Ruby and Jaune." I stated as I pulled out my scroll and showed them my team-mates pictures.
"That's a lot of girls… You fancy any of them?" Mom teased me while nudging me in the side.
"W-What?! I mean maybe but!" I stuttered, trying to hide my embarrassment.
"How about classes?" My Father sternly changed the subject.
"The classes are fairly easy from how you taught me Mom… I have Professor Portman teaching me Grimm Studies." I scratched my cheek sheepishly.
"He said something about 'Drinking you under the table'." I added in.
"Hm, is that so? Maybe we should take him up on that offer." Dad mused before walking away into a different room.
My mind wondered of my Fathers actions until Mom pulled me into another hug.
"We were so worried about you. When Ozpin told us, we were devastated. Your Father nearly destroyed the house in a rage but you're here and more importantly, you're alive." Small tears started to swell up and gently fell down her cheeks but I brushed most of them away carefully.
Well I was right. They didn't take it well.
Soon after the hug, Mom and I went into the room where Dad was. He was brewing tea and writing something.
All three of us sat down and sipped on our tears in silence until Dad finally spoke up.
"If you don't mind, Champ. I would like to hear the full story on your side. I would also like to know how you have wings." He asked me with his lips in his mug still.
Okay, this shouldn't be so hard…
I took a deep breath before explaining most of what happened with Rose and Beacon-excluding certain romantic things and the Grimm thing-.
"I see, so it was a part of you…" Dad concluded about my wings in a serious tone.
He looked towards the ground and then to me before letting out a stressed sigh.
"Okay, there's no point in moping around. We should be happy." He cheered at the end and his wolf ears pointed straight up.
Mom had gotten up to go retrieve something and while I was looking at her, I was nailed in the face with something as it flopped towards the ground.
My eyes quickly narrowed towards the object that seemed to be a leather wallet and slowly picked it up.
"Think of it as a award for entering Beacon." Dad congratulated with a grin like a child.
Opening the wallet, I saw that it had one lien card with who knows how much is on it but the rest was empty, except for a photograph.
I stared at it mesmerized at the photo as the memories seeped back into my mind.
The photograph was both of my parents posing together. They both looked so much younger. Beside my Father was Violet and I. I remember that this was taken around when we were nine or ten. Violet had been sitting on my shoulders so that we were at the same height as Dad. She always had short, light-brown hair with a light shade of purple streaking her hair above her sky blue eyes. Unlike me, Violet had a pair of large wolf ears with one being dyed purple, they rested on her head downward.
We were so happy back then…
"You know, she would have been proud of you entering Beacon and becoming a Hunter-I mean. Twins like you were usually the same-dreaming about being a hunter. If she was still here I bet she would be right there in Beacon with you." Dad quietly spoke but I head him. Clear as day.
"Y-yea." Was all I could muster into a whisper.
I continued to stare at the photograph until Dad gently took it away along with my wallet and began to fidget with it.
"Now seeing how you have quite a lot of women on your teams, I think you might appreciate this but where is it-oh here it is!" He chimed loudly before pulling something out of the wallet, where I haven't checked.
He pulled out two blue squares with a circle bulging through the wrapper and quickly stored it away into the wallet.
I was confused at first but I immediately realized what it was and entered a embarrassed fit.
"What the hell Dad!? I'm only sixteen!" I yelled at him, red faced.
"You never know Mason~!" He teased with a touchy grin and tossed the wallet back.
I fumbled the wallet until I got a firm grip on it stowed it in my front pocket.
He sure restored the moment.
My Father was still laughing to his hearts content when Mom walked in, holding a pile of clothing.
"What are those?" I asked curiously as she handed them to me.
"Well, seeing how you sort of 'out grew' your old clothes. We got you some new ones, that would fit." She cheerfully spoke as I stared at the pile awkwardly.
"You're smothering me again… How much was this?" I deadpanned and reached into my pocket for my lien coins when Dad stopped me.
I sighed, quickly defeated before looking at the pile.
There was two simple t-shirts coloured black and red, a red flannel shirt with a hood and buttoned. There was also a incredibly long fabric.
It looked like it was knitted and was coloured pure green with a few lines of a lighter shade of green.
It was about two or three times longer than my scarf but felt just as soft.
"What's this?" I asked while I put my new shirts into my bag.
"We received this from Ozpin when we got the news about your 'condition'. It's really long so maybe you could use it for two people." She stated as a question popped into my head.
"Professor Ozpin seems to like giving presents… What's his relationship with us?" I inquired while I stuffed the unusually long scarf into my rucksack.
My parents stared towards each other, each looking to phrase their answer before Dad spoke up.
"Think of it like this… After the incident with Violet and you, he likes to keep an eye on you. When you were little he and Port would visit and see how you were doing." Dad concluded and dragged out a long sip from his mug for me to process this.
That explains who took the photos before but why would someone as important as Ozpin look after me?
"So… He's like my Godfather then?" I bluntly asked them and both of them stared towards each other again.
"Sure, of you want to think of it like that. Ozpin is your Godfather but onto more 'important matters"." Dad mused and went into a sort of dark state.
"Did you reveal or tell your team mates about your origins?" He coldly asked me in a serious tone before speaking again.
"Can you trust them with something this important?"
Can I trust them?
I took a deep breath while I thought of Team RWBY and Team JNPR.
"I honestly don't know… Maybe some of them but I don't know them that much. There is a girl on one of my teams, she's a faunus but she hides it- and I wasn't supposed to say that…" I nervously said before I felt a sudden vibration from my pocket.
Quickly retrieving my scroll, I saw an incoming call from team RWBY.
Instead of accepting with a holographic call, I accepted by placing the scroll to my ear as my parents stared intrigued.
"Um…Hello?" Was all I could say before being bombarded by screams and calls for help. I darted straight up and tried to get them to speak clearly.
"H-Hello!? Ruby!? Yang?!" I began to become frightened and anxious when it soon turned to silence.
"Help, Mason! Something's happening at Beacon!" It sounded like Ruby.
"Hold on! I'll be there soon!" I tried to reassure them and hastily turned off my scroll and shoved it in my pocket.
"Sorry Mom, Dad but I have to go." I began to rush towards the door but Mom grabbed me by my right arm before hugging me with all our might.
"Before you go, we just want to know that no matter what, we will still love you the same." She announced sadly as Dad joined in also.
"A hunters life isn't always long, so try to enjoy it while you still can. You'll always be our little angel but I guess you're literally a angel." He amusingly joked and killed the moment at the same time.
We broke the from the hug with different facial expressions, mine being un-amused at his joke.
"You did not just say that." Mom deadpanned before slugging Dad in the shoulder forcefully.
"That was terrible but you guys are family so I'll have to live with it. Anyway I love you both." I kissed them both on the cheek before sprinting out of the house and into the forest before I stopped myself.
I slowly looked towards the and the tree where the grave was one last time before going into a full-tailed sprint with my aura.
With the speed I was running at, I leaped into the air with my wings and flew the rest of the way.
When reaching Beacon, the sun had already set and the shattered moon was rising.
A trip that would have taken four hours, took a mere forty five minutes instead.
Everything seemed normal until I made it into my teams dorm hallway.
I was panting for breath as I stared blatantly confused at the scene.
The hallways were caked in various colours splattering the walls, ceiling, and doors.
I knelt down towards a teal blue puddle and dipped to of my fingers into it before smelling it.
It reeked of paint and something else.
Quickly rubbing the paint together, it soon blended into my skin.
Great… So where's everyone?"
I carefully sneaked through the quiet halls until I reached my room.
The door looked like it was kicked outward towards the hallway with pink splatters over it but was still functional.
Entering my room, I was shocked to see that the wall connecting my room to Team RWBY's was blown out along with my dresser.
I stared at the scattered clothes until I saw my framed picture of my family, broken on the floor.
Picking the frame up, it was covered in a rainbow paint.
It had looked like a freaking leprechaun vomited everywhere.
I turned towards the picture in my frame and my face turned into a scowl.
The photo of me and my parents were covered in red paint from the top to where our faces were.
The smell of paint was disgustingly intoxicating.
I looked towards my clothes that were scattered across the floor and tenderly began to pick them up one by one, inspective for paint.
Luckily none of them had paint on them and that I have a second dresser.
I managed to neatly fold my scattered clothes onto one of the beds before a crimson red paint dripped from the ceiling and into my hair.
Perfect.
I began to scrap as much paint out of my hair but I just got it to blend in with it more.
Now my hands were both red with one having a small shade of blue.
This feels and smells somewhat familiar.
All of a sudden I heard loud footsteps with a clicking of heels when Professor Goodwitch stomped into the room, covered with paint but you could still see the raging anger in her eyes.
"Mason Scyther! What do you think you are doing?!" She yelled at me before grabbing my wrist before I could explain myself.
Her hand was covered in paint and painted my wrist as well as the paint still dripping off of her and hitting my jeans and sweater.
A few minutes of me being dragged by a extremely pissed off woman and being covered in the paint until I was almost literally thrown into what looked to be Ozpin's office.
Why am I here? I didn't do anything wro- Oh…
I deadpanned at the sight of Team RWBY and JNPR in mid-lecture by Professor Ozpin.
Team JNPR from what I've seen were barely covered in paint except for Nora who was covered in paint, head to toe.
Team RWBY on the other hand were all covered in paint, head to toe.
I had also noticed that Yang's eyes were glowing red when Goodwitch continued to drag me to my team and Ozpin stopped his lecture.
"Glad to see you arrive, Mason." He stoically greeted.
Everyone looked at me embarrassed and tried to make light of the situation but I knew what happened.
"H-Hey Mason. How was going to your parents?" Jaune cowardly spoke and I only glanced around the room once more.
"Just. Peachy…" I sarcastically stated as Glynda began her attack.
"I cannot believe how inappropriate and irresponsible you can be! Do you know how much property damage you nine have cause!?" She started angrily as paint dripped off her body and onto the office floor.
So I'm responsible for this?
'The leader is responsible for their subordinates' I guess.
The paint seems familiar.
I felt the paint on my sweater and my jeans harden and soon chip off onto the floor.
"Do you have any idea how hard it will be to remove all this paint?! It doesn't even wash out!" She yelled again as she tried to scratch the paint on her forearm.
While everyone was listening to her rant, I could only focus on the paint.
Why does it seem so familiar?
I reached around to pull my rucksack in front of me and began to make sure none of my clothes weren't covered in paint.
On the very top of the pile were three letters addressed to Professor Ozpin, Goodwitch and Port in a white casing.
When Did these get in here?
Maybe when Dad hugged me.
Clever Bastard.
The rest of my clothes were perfectly clean and slung my bag back around as I held out Ozpins letter.
Ms. Goodwitch was still lecturing us when I glared towards one of my pockets that had my wallet and the pocket was covered in a bluish/purple paint.
I struggled to grasp my wallet until I finally pulled it out.
The brown leathery wallet had spots of paint over it, inside and out.
The splatters of paint started to freak me out and quickly drawed out the picture.
MY FAMILY PICTURE.
I was heartbroken when I saw a paint splatter across it.
Mom. Dad. Violet.
All of their faces. Paint all over their faces.
Unrecognizable.
Just my face.
Happy.
And then I realized it.
I snapped back to reality and I think my team mates were giving a counter argument.
"It wasn't our fault though! It was Nora!" Ruby exclaimed.
"NO, it was you guys!" Nora shot back.
"I don't care who started it. I just care of how you're going to fix this." Ozpin asked us and both teams looked confused about solutions.
"Class B. Rosemary paint…" I muttered to myself while looking at the photo but Ozpin heard me.
"If you have a idea, Mr. Scyther. We would like to hear it." Ozpin showed a small grin as I panicked and shoved the photo and wallet into my pocket.
Now everyone was looking.
Okay. Breath.
"Class B Rosemary paint. It's a special type of paint. Mainly used for hair dye..." I began but was cut off by Yang.
"Hair dye?!" I'll get you back for this!" Yang screamed towards the other team while her team was holding her back and vice versa with Nora and her team.
They began to shout curse words towards each other until I cleared my throat, silencing all of them at once.
"This kind of paint cant stick to certain surfaces so it will just flake and you can move it. However it permanently sticks to the skin, hair, and… other things…" I darkly stated, twirling the letter in my hand.
"What do you suggest then?" Ozpin stoically asked before taking a sip from his mug.
"Well, the normal way to remove it extremely painful with a lot of force but I know of another way." I told them while I stared towards my coloured hands.
"And how do you know this?" Weiss asked harshly.
What's her deal? Maybe she's mad about the paint.
"I knew someone who liked to experiment with her hair." I answered sadly and looked towards the ground now.
"What about the paint in the hallways and Team RWBY's dorm?" Ozpin asked, changing the subject.
It seemed that Ozpin noticed my uncomfortable weariness.
"The paint will eventually chip away and we can just sweep it away." I brightened up a bit.
"I see… You're all excused now." Ozpin stated and all of my team mates bolted out of the room, leaving dust clouds in their place.
What no punishment?
Both Goodwitch and I were both befuddled with the circumstances.
I was the first to snap back and carefully walked towards Ozpin and handed him the letter.
"I think my Dad wrote this for you. If you can notify Professor Goodwitch to come to the leisure area closest to my dorm when she comes back." I turned around and began to walk out.
"Ill be sure to do that. Good night Mason." I could hear tell that he let out a small wave from behind me.
The thoughts of the photograph blurred into my head as I trudged towards the leisure area to get rid of the paint.
A grabbed two bowls, one large and the other quite small and began to add ingredients to the larger bowl.
A few minutes later and the formula was finished.
It needs something else… Lemon juice? Sure.
After adding the lemon juice the solution looked like a hair conditioner which was amazing but I still need to test it.
I went to the nearby sink with the solution before washing my hands with it.
The paint soon dissolved from my hands with the fresh scent of lemon.
Nice. One problem down now.
A few seconds later, Professor Goodwitch stepped into the room still mad and covered in paint.
"Ozpin said you wanted to meet here?" She said with annoyance in her voice.
Her voice caused me to jump and fumble with the large bowl into my hands until I firmly grasped it.
"Umm… I prepared something to take the paint away." I nervously poured a small portion into the smaller bowl and handed it to her.
She looked to the concoction confused for a second before giving me the exact same look.
"It's completely safe. You just have to apply to where you have paint. It will also get the paint out of your hair." I stated.
"I see… Well next time, think before you and your friends do something unfathomably stupid." She monotony spoke before leaving with the bowl.
Well that was terrible.
I made my way towards team JNPR's room first with the large bowl and a small frown.
Cant have one day without something horrible happening.
I balanced the rather large bowl in one hand and forcefully knocked on the door.
When the door opened a few seconds later, it was Ren who had only paint all over his long hair.
There was quite a argument going on in the room.
I guess team RWBY was in there too.
"Hello, Mason. What are you holding?" Ren asked tiredly.
"Something for you guys, Seeing how all of you are covered in paint, I got you this. Just take it with you in the shower and wash off with it and the paint will dissolve." I explained to him as I handed the bowl to him.
"I see. Thank you but aren't you going to use it first?" He stoically asked and pointed towards my hair.
"I have some stuff to unpack and I'm also really tired from sprinting to Beacon. Who knows, maybe it looks cool." I merely shook my head and showed him my rucksack.
Ren thanked me again before apologizing about today and wishing me goodnight.
I turned away from the door and immediately heard cheering and stamping feet away from me.
Sounds like their happy.
Making my way into my broken dorm room, I closed the door before beginning to pack away my clothes that was left on my bed and the clothes in my bag.
Finishing my task, I turned towards the wreckage that was once my dresser.
I sort of solved that problem by putting the various shards into one of the corners before looking at the picture frame.
I stared blankly at it as if it was going to speak before tossing it into the corner also.
I can deal with that tomorrow…
Suddenly my scroll began to vibrate and I answered it and put it to my ear.
"Hello?" I curiously asked.
"Hey, Champ." The voice said as if he had just woken up.
"Oh, hey Dad." I brightened up a little bit as I took a seat on my bed.
"So what happened? You guys alright?" He asked nervously.
In the other room, I could hear the door opening followed by very quiet swears and then the door closing.
"Everything and everyone is fine, just some paint. There's no need to worry, I can reasonably take care of myself and everything is just-" I was about to explain the whole situation when the door to my dorm was knocked upon and opened.
In the doorway was Team RWBY, clad in white towels covering their bodies and another one attached to their hair while holding their painted clothes and shoes in their hands.
"Peachy." I blandly finished and looked away from the girls.
"Sorry Moptop but since our room is still a war zone, would it be cool if we stayed in here till tomorrow?" Yang asked and laughed when she saw her team mates uncomfortable looks.
"Moptop eh? That's a new one. Can't believe I didn't think of that. Gotta use that next time." Dad added in with a hearty laugh.
Son of a bitch. Really?
I got up from my seat and proceeded to go to the doorway without looking at the girls and gestured them with my free hand for them to enter.
When I heard the four girls enter, I walked out before releasing a groan.
"Don't you dare. I was about to witness great." I warned Dad with a seriousness in my voice and sat down beside the doorframe.
"Ease up will you? You're a real killjoy when people call you names you know that?" He whined.
"And you just love to make fun of you son don't you?" I countered with sarcasm.
"You betcha." He laughed loudly again.
I started to run my hand through my hair as a few minutes went by until a sour thought came into my head.
"Hey Dad before I go can you promise me something?" I mused
"Sure thing, Mason. What is it?" He answered happily.
"Both photos were ruined today so maybe it's a sign. I'm asking you to not give me another photo." My tone became depressed.
"Alright Mason. I love you." Dad grew quiet.
"Thank you. I love you too. Goodnight." I ended the call and began to stand up.
I let out a deep sigh and put my scroll back into my pocket.
Stretching out my arms and legs, I knocked on the doorframe a couple time before speaking.
"Is it safe to come in?" I nervously asked and waved my hand in the door way.
"Sure. Come in!" One of the girls yelled out.
I carefully walked into the doorway and was blasted from the intense smell of lemon.
Quickly wrapping my scarf around my nose and saw that each team mate was already in a separate bed, with the sheets covering them from the neck down.
"I see you guys made yourselves at home…" I let out a small laugh.
"S-Sorry Mason, for this inconvenience." Blake muttered and pulled the covers over her head.
I chuckled lightly as I stood in the doorway.
"What was that about 'witnessing something great'?" Yang teased at full force.
"N-Nothing!" I stuttered back and Yang began laughing as hard as she could before stopping immediately.
"Um, I think we've run into a problem…" Yang deadpanned and I cocked my head as she answered.
"Where are you going to sleep?" She asked with a slight blush striking her face.
It took me a second to pull that information and started to blush as well.
"You're sure as hell not sleeping with one of us!" Weiss demanded.
"Smooth, Ice Queen." Yang sighed and rolled over in her bed.
"I wasn't going to ask Weiss- well, maybe if I bought you dinner first- but no. I can just find somewhere else to crash." I playfully suggested and heard a faint snoring coming from Ruby who was in my bed.
U grabbed the doorknob and began to close it before I say one last thing.
"Good night ladies. One more thing before I go. DON'T touch my stuff." I slowly closed the door and began my search for a place to sleep.
I never did find a place to, instead I spent my time in the training facility.
During that time, I let my Grimm form free and felt the rush. In time the bony plates began to grow and covered both my arms and back.
When the sun was just rising, I stopped and started to easily clean my dorm hallway.
The paint had hardened to the point where the smallest force chipped it away.
Finishing my task, I soon ate a early breakfast before my scroll started to vibrate.
I answered my scroll and heard it was John.
"Hey Mason, I'm surprised you're up so early! Anyway you can come to Vanilla Pure and we'll get started." He hastily blurted out before ending the call.
He must be in a hurry. Time to head out.
The winds this morning were strong and set out towards the city.
Riding the wind huh? Cool.
It was still intensely early in the morning so there was barely a soul on the streets.
I slow but surely made my way to the coffee shop and saw John.
He was wearing a bright blue muscle shirt that sagged down to his waist accompanied by blue jeans and his signature blue Mohawk.
How old exactly is John? He seems a lot younger that I first thought.
"Hey!" He called out and waved.
"Good morning." I tiredly said and sluggishly waved my arm.
"You look different? New sweater?" He joked gesturing to my hair.
"Very funny…" I deadpanned and re fitted my scarf.
"What even happened" He curiously asked.
"My teams played with paint. I'm the victim." I dully mused.
"Well, I think it looks pretty bad ass if you ask me." He complimented me as we stated our walk.
As we walked, we talked about various things like weapon designs to some angst remarks about Yang and Weiss.
Time flew by, just talking to him but something crept into my mind again.
John was in the middle of talking about some racist customer he had and was explaining how he kicked his ass.
"Hey John… Exactly how old are you?" I tried to innocently asked before he cocked his head towards me.
"I am shocked, Mason. Some who I consider my best friend, doesn't even know how old I am?! He mocked me with sarcasm and received a very weak punch which he laughed it off.
"Eighteen." He stated as we finally entered his arms shop.
He pulled me into the back of the room which held various repair tools and dust cases.
"Now wait here, a second. I have to find where I left your stuff." He said and began to search through containers of weapons and armour.
At least he takes something's seriously.
He surely took his time searching through the crates and had woken me up after I supposedly fell asleep.
I had apologies and stated how I didn't sleep last night and John continued his search again until he found it under a mountain of containers.
He brought me back to the front of the shop.
John then put the case onto the shop counter and began to open it a third of the way.
"Now before I give this to you, I just want you to know that the damages were too severe to keep it the same way. Ozpin suggested that I try to keep it as close to the original as possible." John sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
"He also suggested a few upgrades including a built in gun but I thought of something better." He boasted and opened the case.
Instead of handing me Rose, he first handed me a belt.
"What's this?" I asked as I closely examined it.
The belt itself was made of a black component with a clip to hold it. On the right side were five, small holsters containing empty glass vials. On the left were three large poaches, one having a equally large whetstone. There was also a long tube that ran to the back with some sort of port in the in the middle.
"Seeing how you don't have one yet, I made you a combat belt that will go with your new weapon." He gestured for me to wear it.
I slowly equipped the belt and it fit like a charm.
"Okay, next up I need you to close your eyes and stick out the hand you write with." He asked me and stuck his hand out as well.
"What?" I asked confused as I followed his command.
I stuck out my right hand and closed my eyes.
I felt his hand gently grab my wrist and twisted it so my palm faced the ceiling.
I could here John fumbling with something until I felt cold metal against my wrist.
Before I could open my eyes to see what he was doing I felt a sharp piercing feeling in my wrist.
Instinctively I pulled my hand out of Johns grasp and opened my eyes.
Opening my eyes I saw John holding some sort of injecting device.
"What was that!?" I panicked and asked John who raised his hand defensively.
"N-now just hold on." He calmed me down and put the device down.
"Look at your wrist." He quietly commanded me and I did.
On my wrist-almost on the palm of my hand- was a mini metallic square. It looked almost unnoticeable.
I pressed down on it and it glowed a faint orange before fading.
"It's part of the upgrade." John insisted and began to rummage through the container until he finally brought it out.
The Roses Thorn.
He held it in both arms and put it into mine.
Upon contact with it, I felt the pulsating energy coming from it.
It's good to see you again even in this form.
Examining Rose, I noticed a few new things.
The frame itself was noticeably bigger and even felt a bit heavier than last time I wielded her. The colour scheme was the same but when I unfolded, I was excitedly appalled. The frame unfolded into a staff type form with a large box on each end. Both boxes unfolded as well revealing a curved blade going in separate directions. The blades were as easily as long as my whole arm and the scythes full length was a few feet taller than me. Along the pole was two separate triggers with some sort of gauge in the middle with a red substance in it and a port in the middle.
"It uses red dust now. The two triggers on the staff expel that are connected with a wire. I don't have much dust here, so you're going to have to go to the Dust Till Dawn shop a few blocks away from here. I already put in a order for those vials on your belt. If you haven't noticed, on your belt is a empty chamber. You can refill your scythe as well by holstering it if there's dust in your belt." John explained while I stared in awe of my new weapon.
John DID stop me a few times from pulling the trigger until I said I would test it later.
"You can give it few swings but don't snap your fingers." He coldly warned but also sparked my curiosity.
"Why not?" I innocently asked and stared at my hands.
"Thanks to the technology we have, I made a personal modification for you and your weapon. The chop I implanted you with contains a signal that can be transmitted through the snapping of your fingers. The signal you transmit goes to the Roses Thorn and it will literally ply to your hand." He gestured to the chop on my hand and turned it off by pressing it again.
Now you're full of all kinds of tricks, Rose.
I just hope you're not made about the changes.
John said he needed to grab a few things from the back and also asked if I wanted him to hold onto mid my scarf while I get a better look at Rose. I obviously and gratefully handed it to him to hold onto.
I began to twirl and spin it around my body as time passed.
It was almost like I was in a trance.
Truly peaceful.
When John had came back he had sly grin on his face.
He handed back my scarf and began to giggle like how Nora would.
I folded up the Thorn and clipped it to my belt behind me, before wrapping my scarf around my neck.
"What's so funny?" I curiously asked him as I tied the scarf over my mouth area.
"Just thinking of how much praise you're going to give me when I tell you of what I did to your scarf." He boasted and sent a sense of panic into me.
"What did you do?!" I ripped the soft fabric off of my face and let it rest on my neck. John had seen my panic and waved his hands frantically.
"Nothing bad! I swear!" He pleaded.
"I sowed dust into your scarf, though clothing infused with dust doesn't really do anything- combat wise but it makes it more durable and when you use your aura, something cool will happen." John explained again and struggled to hold something behind him.
So something happens to my scarf if I use my aura now?
I decided to test this by sending a pulse of aura throughout my body and the scarf reacted like John had said.
My scarf had turned into a ring of green fire around my neck and emitted a green smoke that could barely be seen that dropped down and faded away.
Okay. That was pretty cool.
"That was amazing! Thank you!" I praised him and even saw a faint blush on his face.
"It was n-nothing really…" He stuttered and something crossed his mind.
"Hey, Mason…" His tone grew serious.
"Yea?"
"I'm going to my home town for a week and its outside the four kingdoms, so I don't know if I'm coming back." His face looked saddening and distraught.
"You'll be fine John. If anyone can make that trip then its got to be you." I reassured him.
"And if anyone can take a punch from Yang and still manage to straight and still complain about it can do anything." I added in and John let out a short but happy laugh.
"I have something for you-just in case." John pulled something behind him and handed me two things.
The first thing was a small silver lighter with Johns initials that flicked on when you remove the cover.
The second thing I had no idea what it was.
"Hey thanks John but what's this?" I stowed the lighter away into one of my poaches and carefully studied the second item.
The item looked like two rectangular boxes made of a faint blue steel that connected at the top.
Experimenting with it for a second and the tow boxes unfolded to the other side and revealed a jagged blade.
"What? Never seen a butterfly knife before?" He asked and I shook my head.
John took the knife out of my hand and began to do tricks with it by bouncing the handeles against his knuckles and twirling it around.
"Wow." Was all I said, mesmerized by Johns skills.
A weapons a weapon no matter how small.
John let out another laugh before concealing the blade and gently handed it back to me.
"Does it have a name?" I curiously asked.
"Hmmm…. I suppose not." John cupped his chin and thought hard before sighing in defeat.
I unfolded the knife and examined it before a silly name popped into mind.
"How about 'Splicer'?" I suggested and John excitedly agreed also.
"Splice it is!" John boomed while he reached into pocket and pulled out a orange paper before handing it to me.
"Here's the order sheet for the dust. Just hand it to the owner and everything should be fine. I still have some packing left to do so I'll be seeing you." John finished with a small choke at the end as we shook hands and bumped fists.
"When we see each other again, we should celebrate." I suggested to him.
"We should. You think you can make it without me bailing you out." John teased.
"I think it's the other way around." I countered as we both shared laughs that turned into silence.
"Everything will be fine. I'll see you in a week." I reassured him again before saying our goodbyes.
I stepped out of the shop and began making my way to the dust shop 'Dust Till Dawn.'
It was still incredibly early in the morning so luckily only a few people roamed the empty streets. After a few minutes of walking I arrived to the dust store that had just opened.
The store had a square counter in the center of the room, surrounded by crystal dust displays and fine dust dispensers.
I approached the counter and saw a elderly man with a apron showing the name of the shop.
"U-um, hello. Sorry to bother you sir but I have a order here." I politely greeted the store owner and he seemed a little bit startled at first but calmed down quickly.
I handed him the orange paper and as he looked at it, he said I could browse the shop while he grabs the containers.
As the time blended and meshed together.
I felt my mind as well drift off.
I can just close my eyes for a minute maybe.
I was rudely awoken by someone that wasn't the store owner.
A man with short black hair and wore a full black suit with sunglasses began to shake me with his hand and in the other held a large sword painted red.
"Hey are you listening?!" He yelled at me.
"H-huh what's happening?" I stuttered and he shook me again.
"This is a robbery! Hand over all of your dust. Now!" The man demanded.
I looked at the smaller man and then turned towards the rest of the store and saw five more men loading all of the dust into bags.
I'm sure as hell not letting this happen.
"Alright, alright lay off will ya? Got it right here." I knocked his hand off of my shoulder and slugged him in the face, sending him into another thug.
The other men took notice to this and readied themselves for combat.
I pulled out my weapon and unfolded it into it's combat form to face the now intimidated men.
Twirling the dual bladed scythe, I also flourished my aura with my scarf.
"Just to let you guys know… I've never used this yet. So let's find out together shall we?" I sadistically stated and sprinted out the door and waited.
The six men sprinted out after me and soon surrounded me with their swords drawn.
I slowly turned myself and focused on each individual man.
A standoff in the streets. Completely silent.
Silence never lasts as the man behind me let out a war cry and began to charge.
Even though they're robbers, they're still people with lives…
I instinctively pivoted on the spot and locked weapons with the man.
He wasn't that strong but he had others.
The men who were by standing began to all make their charge now.
I forcibly shoved the man who I had locked weapons with, knocking him off balance before using Rose as a club and bashing him into a wall using the blunt side.
Before all the rest of the henchmen could get me, I leaped over one and placed myself away from the group.
Now let's see what this does.
I stated to twirl the scythe and pulled the trigger, sending one of the blades soaring towards the ground in front of them, sending concrete into them, and taking out three.
What I didn't know was the force of the scythe pulling the blade back and the scythe was ripped from my hands and rested before the last two men standing.
"Aw little birdie lost his claws!" One of them joked and nudged the other, laughing as they made their way closer.
I started to back away and wave my hand frantically.
"H-Hey guys, I was only playing." I pleaded, panicking until I remembered the other new upgrade.
I raised my right hand to my face as the other two men flinched before I snapped my fingers.
Nothing happened.
The other two men laughed and began walking again.
Why didn't anything happen?! John said if I turned on the chip that I can-
I twisted my wrist and sighed as I turned the chip back on.
I snapped my fingers again and I couldn't believe what I saw.
It sounded like a small explosion but was Rose, hitting both goons and soared right into my hands.
Now that was cool.
The men who 'fought' me now laid on the cold, hard ground.
I holstered Rose for a recharge I entered the dust shop where the old man was hiding under the counter.
I explained that they aren't a problem anymore and paid for any damages caused despite him saying it was alright.
I also suggested to him that he should probably notify the police about the robbers.
The elder shop keeper headed my advice and called the police and soon handed me two silver cases full of a fine, red dust.
I thanked the man and bid him farewell, stepping out of the shop and facing two police officers.
That was fast.
They both wore a blue and white outfit with one wearing sun glasses and the other wearing a police hat.
I took a few steps before one of them called out to me.
"Stay where you are and put your weapons down!" The officer with sunglasses commanded.
Wait, what?
I stared confused at the two cops until the one with a hat pulled out a revolver and held it nervously.
"P-Put your weapons down!" He commanded too as his revolver began to shake violently.
Are you serious.
My parents always said that the worst kind of cops are scared cops.
I slowly and carefully set down the cases of dust, the Roses Thorn and my combat belt onto the ground and slowly raised my hands in the air.
"This is all just a misundersta-" I tried to explain to them but the shakey one cut me off.
"Take off that costume!" He demanded.
Costume? My wings?
"I can't do that officer."
"What!? W-Why not!?"
"They're kind of 'attached' to me." I stupidly demonstrated by moving them too quickly, resulting in that moron of a cop lodging a revolver round into my left shoulder.
I collapsed to one knee and held my right hand over the wound.
"What the hell was that for?!" I yelled at the two cops.
I could heal the wound with my aura but I would also seal the bullet inside me.
The cop with sunglasses walked over to me and forcibly picked me up from my left arm which caused me to wince.
He began dragging me somewhere while the other carried my stuff.
A police station. Figures.
They removed the bullet and me into a dark room after taking a mug shot that similar to the one Ruby and I were put into.
Both my shirt and sweater were confiscated for 'evidence' and left me shirtless with a new scar.
Unfortunately, adrenaline can only keep someone as sleep deprived as me and I ended drifting off again.
When I awoke again, this time I was awoken by a engine starting.
I was laying on my back and when I sat up, I notice many things.
The first thing was how sleep deprived I am but besides that I was in a different location.
It looked around more from my seat and noticed that my belt, weapon, and dust cases laid where my head rested and saw I was wearing my sweater that still had the bullet hole and luckily didn't have any blood on it but it was strange not having my wool shirt with me.
Where is it?
I started to slowly bit surely re equip myself before I head footsteps and saw it was Ozpin with his coffee mug, making his way towards me.
"Headmaster Ozpin!" I perked up as he sat beside me.
"I heard you had quite the scene in the city today."
He stoically announced and pulled out a scroll, showing me a video of me beating up the things and the cop shooting me. He then showed me the mug shot of myself.
"In my defence, those guys started it and I also did what the cops said to the best of my abilities." I complained as I rolled my shoulder and felt it was still sore.
"The video feed shows your innocence and the police's brutality." Ozpin started before taking a sip from his mug.
"With this evidence, you could sue but the police force thought of a deal." Ozpin then put away the scroll and pulled out a lien card.
"A bribe?" I took the lien card and examined it.
"Two thousand lien to be precise. Quite the amount for a teen." He corrected me.
"Sure is. So, I just have to keep my mouth shut?" I asked him.
"It looks like it. They also promised to return your shirt tomorrow." Ozpin answered as I stuffed the lien card into my wallet.
"I'm gonna have too much money to know what to do with.
"How did you know here I was?" I inquired before Ozpin began to stand up and take a long sip from his mug.
"As the Headmaster of Beacon, I like to know if my students are up to something, or being put in jail." He trailed off and caught me fiddling with the hole in my sweater. Ozpin then handed me a minature metal box that contained a sewing needle with white thread.
I was going to thank him but he was already gone.
Among minimal combat skills and cooking skills that my parents taught me, they also taught me how to do patch jobs on clothing and sewing wounds shut.
The rest of the flight was obnoxious because it was too loud for me to sleep and too bumpy for me to patch up my sweater.
When the carrier landed, I was way beyond tired and felt like I couldn't make it to my dorm, so I made my walk towards the tree I always sit by.
The stroll through the grounds were tranquil even though I was extremely drowsy.
I sat down by the big oak tree and proceeded to take my sweater off, examining the gaping hole and pulled out the thread and needle.
Okay, let's see if I remember.
The first few time I 'attempted' were less than desire so I had to restart from scratch a few times.
After I finished patching it, I immediately checked my scroll for the time.
Nine-thirty AM.
It's still that early? Maybe I can squeeze in a few hours of sleep before heading off for my mission.
I wonder if anyone's awake yet?
"Hey, Mason!" I head a voice call to me and I turned my head to see Yang.
Well that answers my question.
"What happened? You didn't call me Moptop. I think you're losing your game, Long." I teased as she leaned against the tree.
"Not fully awake yet, how about you?" She asked before she drew out a yawn that infected me.
"I'm about to clock out. Had a rough morning." I mused as I took one last look at my sweater before putting it back on but Yang forcibly stopped me.
"What's that?" She softly asked me and pointed towards my shoulder weakly.
"My shoulder?" I counter asked her.
"That's not what I'm talking about." Yang worriedly said and pulled out her scroll, showing me a photo of myself.
"You didn't have a scar there before. What happened?" She hesitantly mover her two fingers over the scar.
I guess I could tell her.
"After I let you guys stay in my room, I trained for the rest of the night until I head into the city. I even got new gear." I started to explain and tapped the two dust containers.
"That still doesn't explain why you have another scar."
"I'm getting to that. After I got my gear, I had to grab these dust containers and fell asleep at one point and when I came back to, the store was being robbed." I explained and Yang gripped my shoulder harder.
"What happened?" Yang's voice grew more sincere and even more worried.
"Well, I beat the bad guys-pretty easily too I might add. After the fight- well that's how I kind of got this." I moved Yang's hand away and fully zipped up my sweater.
"What?" Yang asked confused.
"After the fight, two cops showed up and told me to put my weapons down. I naturally followed along until they told me to 'take my costume off' and then one of them shot me and jailed me." I finished with a long yawn.
"If what you said is true, how are you here?"
"Headmaster Ozpin brought me back and it's also illegal to shoot a innocent citizen so they bribed me to keep my mouth shut.
Yang thought over all the information I've given her and a new thought popped into her head.
"Oh! I forgot to thank you for letting us stay in your room. We also fixed the wall and Ruby and I built a door- though Weiss put a lock on our side…" Yang told and instantly brightened up.
"Is that so? That's very sweet, Yang." I lightly bumped Yang's shoulder with my head.
"W-Well, it was a t-team effort! Really!" Yang stuttered and caused me to do a very weak laugh.
"Yang Xiao Long, defeated by a compliment. Well the more you know~." I joked innocently.
"That's it Moptop! Let's throw down right now!" Yang shot up with a motivated 'time to beat some up' look.
"Um, what?" I confusingly asked her as she picked me up to my feet.
"Let's have a friendly punching match!" She enthusiastically suggest but sounded more like a demand.
Doesn't seem like I have a choice, huh.
I laid down my combat belt and scythe before I asked Yang.
"Just a friendly match right?" I hesitantly asked as she got into a boxing stance.
"Yap but since it's a friendly match let's have a bet. If I win, I get to wear your scarf for the rest of the day and vice versa." Yang explained to me and gesture to both my green scarf and her small, orange one.
"Why?"
"I have my reasons."
"Okay hen but then no low blows or aura." I countered with and Yang agreed.
When the fight started, a few things popped into my head
Why was I fighting Yang when I'm clearly exhausted and how hard her punches were.
Yang and I were almost equally matched but I fought more sluggishly and the match ended with both of us nailing each other in the face, causing us both to lay on the ground, panting with new bruises.
I'd say it was a draw.
"Good match." Yang weakly reached across and delivered a light tap onto my shoulder.
I flourished aura through my body and almost ran out but I manage to heal my bruises but not my fatigue.
I groaned and grunted as I stood up and began to grab my stuff.
"Hey, not fair…" Yang whined on the ground.
After collecting my items I went over to where the blonde brawler laid and set my items down.
"Where does it hurt? I asked her and she slowly moved her limbs to signify where it hurt the most.
"I expected some sort of struggle, Yang." I deadpanned as I tended to her more serious wounds that her aura couldn't heal.
"What can I say. You're a people person." Yang laughed and winced as both of our aura intertwined.
"Aaaaand, done! Here." I had finished most of the healing, standing up, I stuck my hand out for Yang.
The blonde gratefully grabbed my hand and pulled herself up.
Now not only am I exhausted from all the strain put on my body but now a light numbing feeling pulses through my body from head to toe.
That's great… Dad always said to power through these things and by Monty I will try.
Yang's and I's heavy breathing regulated as I re picked up my dust cases.
"Well that was fun! We should take a shower-not together- I mean, we're sweaty so…Yea but before that, pay up." Yang shot out her cheery attitude, back at full power.
Avoiding the risk of another painful fight, I silently surrendered and let her swap our scarves.
A really pleasant sight was seeing Yang with my scarf around her neck and mouth.
We walked to our dorms while cracking jokes and cheesy one liners until we arrived at our dorms and swapped back scarves.
The wall that had been destroyed was replaced with a white shaded wall with a small wooden door in the center.
The door had a golden coloured handle and the signatures of the four girls above an impressing, well written version of my name.
Not only that but the beds that they used were neatly put back to the way it was.
It was really nice of them but I spotted-well heard- a major flaw.
The wall and door are too think and so I could hear the voices of the three girls and soon to be four vague voices.
I set my clothes, belt and Rose on one of the beds and placed the dust containers on the table.
I grabbed a towel and my scroll before a rather saddening thought occurred.
Even thought I consider team RWBY and JNPR my friends, I am ashamed that I don't have the faith to trust them.
The door that connected our rooms only has a lock from their side.
I turned back to my pile of clothes and grabbed my wallet just to be safe.
To have warm water run through and hold my aching muscles and new scar had felt amazing, soothing it.
I dried myself off, wrapped the towel around my waist and started to make my way into my room.
Caution: Mild swearing and more than usual!
Opening the door to the dorm room, I was completely shocked.
The once neat room looked like it got bombed again by someone or was ransacked by something.
The beds were flipped over along with all of my clothing, even from my drawers were missing too but the dust cases were still on the table.
What in the ever-loving fuck.
I would be at the very least pissed off but I was too tired to give a shit until I saw something that set off the last fuse.
The wooden door that connected my room to team RWBY's was open towards my room with Weiss ranting about something.
I placed my wallet and scroll on the table before appearing in the doorway.
"What the hell did you do to my stuff?" I annoyingly asked.
When I looked into the room I was only focused on the four girls, Yang who thankfully was already clothed was the first to notice and ran over to Ruby who held my belt and covered her eyes. Blake was trying to read one of her books while also examining John's butterfly knife before she let out a yelp at my outburst.
Worst of all, Weiss who was holding Rose was looking through her scroll, immediately saw me and grew furious.
"For dust sakes! Put some clothes on!" Weiss snapped and dropped Rose to cover her eyes.
"What the fuck did you do to my stuff?" My voice grew louder.
Tell me.
"H-Hey Mason. Let's just calm down and tone down the language a little. You see its all just a big misunderstanding." Yang tried to explain but those words were just empty excuses.
"Misunderstanding?! He's a criminal Yang!" Weiss snapped and flashed her scroll towards me.
It was mug shot I took today.
"This is the only evidence that shows you exist and it's a mug shot!" Weiss added in.
Maybe she searched under my false name. Most likely.
"You see Weiss that's also a misunderstanding." Yang attempted to calm the situation again but stopped herself when Ruby broke free from her grasp and stared idly at me.
The small girl then shyly handed back my belt and returned to her sister without saying a word before Blake did the same with John's knife.
"See? He has a knife that criminals have! Why do you even something like that!?" Weiss had snapped for the last time and I had cut her off before she yells again.
"First of all, I'm pretty sure at a Hunter Training School, you can carry any kind of weapon you want. Secondly it was given to me from the guy you people harassed and beat up." My blood was beginning to boil as I gripped onto my belt harder while I stored the Splicer into the belts pockets.
This anger feels familiar but I don't remember.
I turned from my belt and back to the girls, seeing that Blake was still quite close to me, looking at something.
"Where did you get that?" Blake worriedly asked without gesturing to anything so I didn't know what she meant.
"What?" I dully questioned her before taking a quick look back to the demolished room behind me.
"You have a new scar. You didn't have it… Before." The faunus stoically stated. Ruby and Weiss heard what she said and noticed the new scar on my shoulder.
"That's right! What happened?" Ruby quietly asked me as I covered it with my free hand.
"I can explain that Rubes. Mason fought the law and the law won." Yang sung the last part as a joke but the heiress ignored it and restarted her assault again.
"So not only are you a inhuman being with mythical body parts and unrealistic aura but your also a no good criminal." Weiss had finished her ant and my heart sank.
Is this what they really think of me?
"All this time. You thought of me like this? Was all of this you've done like following me, raiding my room, just to prove that I'm a monster?" I sadly asked the four girls.
They were silent.
"I see…" I looked towards my wrist before speaking again.
"These past few days I've known you four and team JNPR, I thought of you guys as my friends, something I never really had but I guess I misunderstood." These words slowly and softly flew from my mouth.
This feels familiar.
"I thought that at least one of you would understand what it's like to be alone and that you're finally not alone, only for that feeling to get ripped away from you." I let my free hand run through my hair while Blake and Ruby looked away.
I remember now.
"Mason, we didn't mean to hurt yo-" Yang took a step towards me, apologizing but cut herself off when she saw me laughing to myself silently.
I let out a quiet sigh and cracked a small smile.
"Six years and I'm still making the same mistakes.." I whispered in a almost inaudible volume.
"Mason?" The blonde asked worriedly as the two black haired girls turned back towards me.
You're not gonna let me live this down again huh Vi?
I managed to fake a sincere smile and struggled not to use the profound language that my Dad taught me.
"Well, whatever you get from this, congratulations. You girls have won. I'll try to convince Ozpin to replace me with someone else but until then we're just team mates." I informed the girls before I lightly snapped my fingers, causing Rose to let out a mini explosion on itself and brought it to me un-holstered.
"What was that?! Is that your weapon!?" Ruby beamed with excitement but immediately silenced herself given the situation.
I holstered Rose and tucked it under my arm as I reached for the doorknob.
"No more bullshit now. For the time being we're just team mates, nothing more and nothing less. I just wish if it comes down to anything you'll at least follow through with commands." I showed them one last look from my fading and fake smile as I closed the door.
For the few seconds after closing that flimsy door were completely silent in my broken down room- that is- until a dragged out of me and a dreaded sigh.
"I am such a fucking fool." I groaned to myself as I started to clean up.
The noise from team RWBY's room was still silent as a cold winters night.
I still have to retrieve the relics too.
I can fix the beds later.
After putting away most of my clothes, I started to hear voices from the girl's room.
"Well this is just great! Thanks a lot Weiss!" Someone yelled in the room.
"What!? How is this my fault!? You all helped too!" Another voice shot back as a angered discussion was rising and I managed to block out most of it.
I had placed the clothes that were ripped from their drawers and put on the clothes what I wore today.
Still without a shirt but I didn't mind, I just wanted to get out of here.
I looked towards where I had placed my scarf along with my belt and scythe and let out a deep sigh to myself.
I threw my scarf around my neck and tied it tightly before putting my belt around my waist.
Staring at the five empty vials I looked towards the low fuel meter on the belt.
I walked over to the cases of dust and opened them and carefully filled the vials with the fine red dust, topping them off.
For the last vial, I inserted it into the loading dock on my belt to refill it before leaving it empty on my belt.
The room is still a wreck. At least I didn't buy anything yet.
I focused back around my surrounding and noticed that the sound has completely died.
Instead of taking the stairs like a normal person, I stepped out of the window sill Instead after picking up my scroll and wallet.
I took one last deep breath before leaping out the window and gaining height and speed towards the Emerald forest.
I stopped gaining height as I reached the middle point between the ground level and cloud level.
My stomach growled loudly as I started to flip and barrel roll through the air.
I could get something to eat after I sleep and retrieve the chess pieces.
Maybe I can just say a grimm ate it. Maybe they'll believe me.
I wasn't even off school grounds before I sensed a small object flying towards me at a blinding speed.
I drew out Rose from my belt and sliced the object that rocketed from below in half with two separate explosions on each side of me.
I stared downward to pinpoint the origin of the missle and saw team JNPR with Nora frantically at me.
Just ignore it.
I managed to fly for a few seconds before more explosions surrounded me in the air.
Really!? I just have to get tot the forest.
The explosions had stopped thankfully but I was soon pelted with something bigger and heavier.
The object clanged to my body and gripped onto my right wing and face, preventing me from seeing and more importantly preventing from not falling a few hundred feet down but it was too late.
I spiralled out of control towards the ground with only my wings and aura to break my fall as AI hit the ground on my back.
Hard.
The air from my lungs escaped my mouth and a numbing sensation around my back and wings.
Nice landing strategy.
There was a deep pressure released from my chest and I was allowed to see again.
I opened my eyes in a almost a spasm and my expression depressed.
When I had opened my eyes, I witnessed the blond, Jaune Arc being pulled off of me by Pyrrha and Ren with Nora showing a extremely apologetic face towards me.
I kept gasping for air that wouldn't come.
I didn't feel pain nor exhaustion, just nothing except emptiness.
Struggling to get up, I stood up with a neutral face as I stared at my four friends-no-team mates.
"Why?" I blandly asked them after capturing my breath.
"We were calling you but you didn't hear us so I thought I could get your attention with something a little bigger." Nora gleefully explained and glanced towards Jaune.
Did she launch Jaune? Focus.
"And?" I dully asked her.
"We wanted to know if you wanted to have lunch with us soon after we finish training of coarse!" Nora boomed with enthusiasm that made my skull shiver.
"I appreciate the thought but…" I gazed back to my wings and noticed that both were still limp and numb.
"I still have to retrieve the relics." I stoically said and brushed off dust and dirt from my sweater.
"Maybe you should rest first. You don't look well." Pyrrha insisted but I waved it off with a fake smile.
"I'm fine. You guys should also talk to Team RWBY, I'm sure they would love to tell you what they learned today." I tightened my scarf around my neck and left Team JNPR looking towards each other confused.
Even though my wings laid numb and limp it was only a few more minutes until I reached the cliff to the Emerald forest.
Back here again?
I dropped down and sat on the Cliffside with my feet gently swaying in the wind.
I took a deep breath accompanied by a long dragged yawn before launching myself into the tree lines.
To avoid crashing and burning in my condition, I wielded out Rose.
Pressing onto one of the triggers, the blade rocketed towards a nearby tree and impacted into it.
I swung around the tree at a drastic rate until I reached the ground.
The blade above me, that was hooked to the tree, swirled around it and connected back to it's hilt of the scythe.
Now that's a landing strategy.
There was a pleasant atmosphere in the forest, birds chirping, the soft rustling of the leaves and the subtle lack of grimm but I held my guard up while I ran through the forest.
Where are the grimm? I mean I'm not complaining but this is strange. Do grimm sleep?
It felt more unnerving as I entered the clearing where the relics laid in the broken ruins.
The wind gently blew across my face and scarf while I walked into the ruins.
More moss had grown on the chipped and cracked stone than I last saw during the initiation
The day I died…
I carefully scanned the pedestals where the black and gold pieces once stood and found only one chess piece was left.
The black king's piece.
Grabbing the large chess piece, I stuffed it into one of my belts compartments before a large roar pierced the once tranquil atmosphere.
I sprinted out of the dusty ruins and jumped onto the top of the broken place to find where the noise originated from.
The sound came from the cliff where Ruby decapitated that nevermore.
The same cliff where I was impaled and fell to my death.
When I woke up 'being dead' didn't faze me at the time but now. It's starting to kick in.
Flashbacks.
I could see myself falling off that cliff.
More roars emanated from the direction of the cliff and two ursais with an ursa major approaching me at a sluggishly fast pace.
They aren't exactly designed for speed.
The ursa major with more bone plating and spikes was the first to show up under me and soon its two lackeys showed up on each of its sides.
They were just staring at me with orange dead eyes and emitting a low growling sound.
Well there's the grimm. I could finish this and go to sleep.
I let out a small yawn before jumping down to face the grimm.
The two smaller ursai began to charge at me while the larger one held his ground.
I still don't have access to my wings so I have to be a little creative,
Before the ursai could get the chance to attack, I backed off putting a large distance between me and the grimm.
I took a deep breath and readied myself for the battle to come.
I sprinted towards the closest ursa and as it swung at me but I managed to slide under it and sever its arm with a swing.
Fun fact about the ursa: They have two arms and this ursas second arm clubbed me with a back swing, knocking me into the other ursa.
Both of them then proceeded to juggle me around until one of them messed up but luckily I had lost most feeling after the fifth hit.
I crashed into a nearby tree.
On the plus side I didn't crash into the ruins so I got that going…
I struggled to stand from all the exhaustion and sleep deprivation put on me, only to see the two ursai only a few feet away now.
My body is numb, all I could feel was my cold hands and the cold sweat under the soles of my feet.
Maybe I should have rested before heading out here but it will take more than a few ursas to kill me.
A nevermore will di it though.
Standing back up now, I rushed the one armed grimm first as it struck down the ground in front of me.
I dashed up its arm and decapitated it's head from its body that fell limp to the ground.
The second ursa roared in anger, before raging towards me while the ursa major calmly watched.
I aimed my weapon towards the ursa and launched the blade into it's leg, cutting it off as the blade retracted and slashed the other leg.
Cant move anymore, huh?
I quickly put the ursa out of pain before the last ursa stepped into play.
It's roar was intensely louder than the other two, loud enough that the birds in the reaby trees left.
Last one.
It's bone plating was far less than the one I fought in the initiation.
Before I could make my move, both the ursa and I both stopped dead in our tracks as a rustling from the trees and old friend busted out of the tree line.
The white beowolf, Blizzard.
Blizzard looked towards me and then towards the ursa before charging towards the grimm.
Better not keep them waiting.
I sprinted into the fight to help Blizzard but in my condition, I could barely stand.
The ursa major was a great deal bigger with more bone plates but their necks are open and that didn't stop Blizzard from trying to rip it out but instead locked into a grapple style with the ursa.
Blizzard is bigger than most beowolfs from what I've seen and small than the ursa but it looked like a extremely close match up.
I ran up beside Blizzard and swiped my scythe at the ursas legs, giving the beowolf the upper hand.
Blizzard viciously tore off the ursas arm and threw it into the trees.
The ursa roared in pain and anguish and backhanded Blizzard and me.
Blizzard is much heavier than me so it was only pushed a few feet back.
Me on the other hand was powerfully knocked back and flew through the trees, blasting through them until I hit a large oak tree and knocked me unconscious.
The only thing I could feel was a pulsating pain from my left arm as I closed my eyes before seeing Blizzard rip the ursas head off.
Déjà vu.
Meanwhile in the Beacon Cafeteria:
Team RWBY were silently eating when team JNPR arrived and sat across from them.
"Hey guys..." Jaune sighed
"Hey..." Ruby was the only one to speak.
"We bumped into Mason a while ago and something seemed off. I wonder what happened." Pyrrha mused as she took a bite into a apple.
Team RWBY remained silent until Yang quietly explained to them of all the events they had with the winged man.
"I see..." Ren spoke to himself.
"Well we can talk to him about it when he comes back from the forest, he left a while go so he'll be back soon right?" Yang cheered up a bit.
"Right?"
So that took quite the while. If anyone one of you make it to these words, I'll say this: Thank you so much for reading this!
