AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Well, you know what they say, better late than never, right? Ughh. The reason this is late is a lot of family stuff came up, and also the holidays. Unfortunately, a lot of time from here on out until at least the end of December will be spent with my family, and that means less time to work. So until then, I won't have an upload schedule, and will post new chapters as they are done. Sorry for those who read this and expect consistency, it won't have that for a bit.

A Change in Perspective

Chapter 10: Song and Dance

I sat with my head hung low in my chair, waiting for the teacher to be done writing on the board. I was in Dust 101, a class that every first year student at Beacon had to take. Professor Peach was teaching us about the volatility of dust and how they interacted, things that I already knew from my testing.

Professor Peach, ironically, had orange colored hair that seemed eternally static, with small fringes popping out of place. She also wore big, thick glasses with a black rim. Her attire consisted of a pink colored shirt and khaki pants, all covered by a lab coat.

"And this shows us that the most volatile dust type is in fact gravity, not burn like many think," Professor Peach said, after putting her chalk down and turning to face the class. On the board was an equation for measuring the combustion and energy released by an explosion. Looking over it would show that because more energy is contained in a gravity dust explosion, it is considered more volatile.

I yawned lowly, still tired from my sleepless nights prior to today. Another factor in my insomnia were my faunus senses. I was still having trouble adjusting to my new surroundings, and the sounds and smells that came with them.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ash, am I boring you? Would you like to teach instead?" Professor Peach asked me, looking rather annoyed at my sleepiness. I raised my head and stared blankly at her, quenching my unneeded anger at her calling me out. "I'm good," I said in reply, and turned to look at the blackboard instead. "Well then, pay attention. This class will save your life someday, so do not dismiss the importance of dust in combat, even if you don't use it," Peach said, before turning to face the blackboard again.

"Haha. What an idiot."

"Who does he think he is, sleeping in class like that?"

"He'll probably be the one who dies from a dust explosion on a mission."

I could hear people behind me saying these things, and it made my anger boil even more. I clenched my fists, and breathed through my nose, held for three seconds, and blew out my mouth. I shook in place, and simmered in anger as I had no outlet for it. I turned out the lecture that Peach gave and focused on letting go of my anger. I meditated in place, trying to relieve myself of my anger. While I was doing this, I felt the tug of sleep pull me, and I didn't resist it. The world around me melted into blackness and I rested my eyes.

SMASH

My head jumped up and I opened my eyes. I saw Peach looming over me, holding a thick book and looking angry. "MR. ASH! Didn't I already talk to you once today?" Peach asked me, and I blinked to remove the haziness from my vision. I must have fallen asleep some time while trying to calm down. I removed my left hand that had automatically shot to my weapon, and responded, "Yes, I just don't care to listen to things I already know," I said snarkily, my anger overriding common sense. Peach looked offended for a moment, before smirking. "Well then, how about you answer some of my questions. However, if you miss a single one, you will spend the next week in detention, understood?" Peach asked calmly, and I knew I would be fine with this challenge. "Whatever you say, teach."

"Pay attention class, and you'll learn something." Peach grabbed a piece of chalk, and began to write on the board again. "Now, a dust explosion happens with both burn and shock dust respectively. Which dust will have a more powerful reaction?" Peach asked as she turned to face me, showing the quantities and conditions of each dust. I studied the parameters, and decided on my answer. "The shock dust will, as the conditions of its explosion is a flat, dry area, allowing for it to explode without much resistance from wind or environmental disturbances. Also, the burn dust's condition is a humid area, meaning that the moisture in the air will slow its combustion, therefore limiting its explosive capabilities," I told her, and she looked shocked for a moment, before she settled back into a thin smile.

"Well then, let's see how you do with this. A dust miner is moving a box of unmarked dust, and he drops it from a height of four feet. He doesn't know what kind of dust in in there, nor the state of it. What should he do to both move the dust to a safe location, and leave the area safely himself?" Peach asked me, and I knew that this was more than a test. It was a wake up call for everyone in class. There was no way that a first year would be expected to know this, but the story would show the other students in class the importance of dust safety in a real life situation.

My mind whirled for the correct response, my eyes closed as I did mental math. There was no possible way to know the kind of dust without opening it, and that could be all it needed to cause the dust to explode. Even just moving some agitated dust can cause them to ignite. After going through every possible scenario I could think of, I gave my response. "He can't, so he should just leave the area and warn his co-workers and boss of the situation, and be thankful that he still has his life," I said, my response lacking any anger, and instead having a resolute tone in it, showing that I solved her trick question.

"Hmmm. Very good. Here's my final question. What is the best type of dust to use in a reaction where the explosion is needed to be less than thirty meters wide and no larger than fifty meters tall? Also, the explosion must have a dust ratio of fifty-five percent quake dust," Professor Peach said, and I was stumped for a moment.

Quake? I had never heard of that dust type before, and I knew that I couldn't ask her what element it was. I picked my brain for even a shred of information that could give me even an idea as to the answer, but I just came to the conclusion, that I had lost. "I'm sorry, but I can't answer that," I said, my anger returning at being fooled at the area I thought I knew best.

Peach smiled lightly, without a hint of smugness, just an honest smile. "It is good to see that some of the next generation is willing to accept defeat with pride. However, don't feel bad at all, there was no way for you to know about that kind of dust. It is only a theorized dust combination of ground and shock dust. You pass. Although, I want you to stay after class for this week to talk about your dust knowledge and its applications. Anyways, back to the lesson," Peach told me. She turned back to face the board when the bell rang, signaling the end of the class period.

Everyone stood up to leave, but I stayed seated. "Go and study for Oobleck's test. I'll come when I'm done here," I told the rest of team ASHN, and they bid me goodbye and left for their studies. "Now, why don't we talk about the extent of your dust knowledge," Peach said. She grabbed a small notebook and pencil, and she wrote down a few dust formulas. This was definitely the way I likes to spend my time, learning.

Silence was an interesting concept. Most used it as a way to explain near total lack of sound. However, there is no natural way to experience it in the world. There will always be wind or animals to make even the slightest noise to keep silence at bay, and for good reason. Complete lack of sound is a terrifying concept, one that few wish to experience. After all, sound is one of the five big senses, and without it one is left without their best survival tool. This lack of sense was what I felt when I was alone in my own mind.

Shukaku had spoke to me, and directed me here so we could talk face to face. Once we were done discussing things, those things consisting of meditation and how to better understand my own emotions, I had gone as far away as I could, and just sat. I pushed away all my feelings, and I felt a familiar hollow pit, but this time I also felt cold, like a warmth I never noticed had left as well.

I sat down on the sands, and without a thing to interrupt me, began to experiment with the power I gained from Shukaku. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and willed his power to come to the surface of my being. I could feel a power move and stir, but it remained far from my grasp. I mentally tugged at the feeling, and felt it give way after some prodding. My body was filled with a bright red, corrosive energy. The energy began to eat away at my body, but I paid it no mind. I opened my eyes slowly, and looked at myself.

My entire body was shrouded in a red energy. It twisted and bubbled, but never quite became solid. It was like putting on a warm coat in spring. Just a little too hot to be comfortable, and just under the energy, I could see my skin turning a red color. However, it wasn't what I was expecting. This wasn't the jinchuuriki cloak that I thought it would be. It didn't touch me, but rather was around my body, sizzling and floating in the air. I moved my arm, and the energy slowly followed behind.

"This is an incomplete cloak. You have nowhere near enough control of my power to achieve that form," Shukaku said, suddenly appearing behind me. I turned to face him, and responded. "Then what do you call this? And how does it help me?" I asked Shukaku. He raised his front left paw and it shot out towards me. I crossed my arms in a defensive move, but the hit didn't connect. Instead, it was stopped by the energy surrounding me. Right where Shukaku's paw would have hit, the energy turned into a crystalline structure, and halted the attack. He retracted his leg and moved it back into place.

"It does that. Also, it doesn't have a name, as no other container had as bad of control over my chakra as you. This is because you have never interacted with chakra before, but also because you are still new to your own energy, and adding another source so soon is not an optimal way to learn control," Shukaku informed me. I began to try to force the chakra to follow my orders, but it refused. As I was about to release my hold on it, Shukaku spoke again.

"My chakra, no matter the form, is always an automatic defense first, and a method of attack second. You will need to practice with this form extensively before you try to move on to the later stage of the full cloak. Now then, since you have unlocked a small portion of the power I gave you, you need to leave here and practice in the real world," he said. I looked to him questioningly and replied, "Why do I need to train in the real world? Why not here?" I asked him. Shukaku then explained that because this was my mind, that anything I wanted to happen would, rendering any training worthless. "Before you go, you need to be careful. This form of my chakra is unfiltered and raw. It is as corrosive as it can be, so do not use it for longer than five minutes until you can control it better."

As I was about to ask for clarification on the perks and limitations of this new power, a voice rang throughout the world around us. "Devin!" it screamed. "Devin you need to get up!" I recognized that voice. It was Ruby. "I need to go Shukaku I'll speak to you later," I said and willed myself to leave my mind.

I came to in the training area I had meditated in, but now Ruby was shaking me. She looked afraid, terrified even. Her eyes lit up when mine opened and she yelled, "Devin, you're in danger!" She screamed at me. Hearing that, I jumped up and away from her. "Where? What's coming?" I asked her hastily. Whatever was so urgent that Ruby was scare needed to be dealt with soon. "Nothing's coming. It's you. There's something on you," she said, pointing to my right hand. I looked to my hand and saw the same red chakra from my mind there. I shook my hand, and it faded away, leaving behind red and irritated skin. I rubbed it slowly, trying to get feeling back into it.

"Devin, what was that?" Ruby asked me. Panic swarmed me. I didn't know how to explain it. I definitely couldn't tell her about Shukaku, but I also couldn't say I didn't know. That was when Shukaku gave me an idea. "It's fine, Ruby. It was just an advanced aura exercise. It uses one's emotions to control their aura. I was channeling anger, therefore red aura was created," I said, and I said it in a way that seemed I had done this before. "Oh, well that's a relief. You really had me worried, Devin. I'm glad that you're ok!" Ruby exclaimed, back to her usual peppy self. "Well, we should probably get to combat class. You know how Goodwitch is when you're late," she said, and led the way to class.

Combat class was my least favorite class at Beacon so far. Now, that's not to say that it was slow or boring, just that a lot of the students had very similar fighting styles. Those with swords had large sweeping and overhead arcing attacks, those with weapons such as maces had long wound up attacks that hit heavy when they connected, and those with shorter blades such as daggers used hit and run tactics to win. It was much of the same for me, except when team RWBY or JNPR fought. They all used unconventional tactics and styles, and that led to interesting fights.

Also, in the week I had been back, I hadn't once been in a fight. So I sat back and watched, seeing the same styles over and over again. "Would Mr. Lark and Mr. Ash please come to the stage?" My half-lidded and tired eyes widened by a margin when I heard my name called. "Go get him Devin! You got this!" Ruby shouted, and Yang and my team soon joined her. I walked to the stage with that as my background noise, and stood on my side, waiting for Sky's return. He came back, changed from his school attire into his combat outfit. That was something my team neglected to do. We always wore our combat outfits, mostly because we were most comfortable in them.

Once Sky was back, we were given Goodwitch's routine speech, and we both agreed. We moved to the aura tracker, and placed our hands there. Sky's went without a hitch, but mine began to flash, and a robotic voice spoke, "Warning. Aura inflation detected. Warning." and it repeated once again, before Goodwitch came over. She pressed a few buttons, and then addressed the class. "There is no need to worry. The program has a limit set for first years and what it believes their maximum aura levels should be. You just happen to exceed that, Devin. I have set new calibrations for you, so that won't happen again. With that out of the way, let's continue," Goodwitch said, and we retook our spots. "More aura than normal?" I thought to myself.

"Are both combatants ready?" Goodwitch asked. We both nodded in affirmation, and she did so in return. "Ready, set," I reached into my hood, and lifted my headphones onto my ears. I had set my phone to shuffle, so let's see what song I get. "begin," Goodwitch finished, and I pressed play.

(Begin playing Carnivore by Starset)

Sky started out by charging me with his halberd held in his right hand, the head of which slightly trailed behind him. He had a look of determination etched into his face, and he was concentrating fully on me. His weapon was a mostly black color, with grey outlining the halberd blade.

I didn't meet his charge, and instead stood my ground. When he was in range, he swung at me, and I angled my sword in a reverse grip. As his swing was at the apex of its arc, I retaliated by bringing my sword to my chest, and swung diagonally up and to the left, catching his blade and pushing it away. I parried with my left sword, and he was staggered as the force from his blow was turned against him. Once he was off balance, I capitalized. I got one hit on his unprotected front, and before he could recover, another hit that slashed him from his left shoulder to his right hip. While he moved his weapon to a ready position, and, even though I had time for another attack, I disengaged.

I raised my swords in a cross fashion, and waited for him, hoping to bait an attack from him. He swung again, this time for an overhead strike, reading my move as an attempted block. I, however, dodged to the left, and got the side of him. Once I was at his side, I began to wail on him. The first strike came from my left sword, and it struck his right arm. The next was with my right and I swung at his neck, and his my target. He stumbled forwards, and I readied both my swords. I charged at his back and hit him with both of them simultaneously in a thrust attack. He fell over this time, and before he could move, I placed my swords in the small of his back, and pressed down lightly. "Surrender," I told him, and pushed down harder. He tried to move, and I put my knee in his back and repeated myself, "Surrender." He stopped moving and finally replied, "I surrender," Sky said sadly, knowing that the fight was one sided. "I didn't even finish the song," I thought to myself, and turned off my headphones. "Winner by surrender, Devin Ash," the computer said.

After the fight was over, Goodwitch came over to us and told us her thoughts on the match. "Mr. Lark. That was unsatisfactory to say the least. Although you read your opponent's moves, you forgot to anticipate deviations from their plan, and if the risk of engaging was with it. That being said, you made good use of your swings and momentum, and your attacks were thought out well. I'm giving you an eighty-three percent on that fight. Learn from this fight and better yourself," Goodwitch told him, and he thanked her and left for his seat.

"As for you, Mr. Ash, you did exceptionally well for your first fight. You not only correctly anticipated your opponent's moves, you also controlled the pace of the fight. However, there were a few openings that I saw and you did not take. You must use every opening and pause in a fight to gain advantage. For this fight, I'm giving you a ninety-three percent. Learn from this fight and better yourself," she told me, and I nodded my head and left for my seat. As I walked down, I could hear my team, Ruby, and Yang giving me congratulations. Once I got there, Ruby and Yang bombarded me with questions, and I answered what I could. Through all of the questions, a warm feeling was in my chest, and while weird, was not wholly unpleasant.

Yay, my second fight scene, and it's a full one this time! Let me know in the comments what you guys thought of it, and I'll be back with the next chapter as soon as I can. CanEvenCookEgg, out.