Bastion's Office
Cobalt entered the building and smiled when he saw that his grandfather has regained consciousness.
He ran over. "Grandpa!" Lloyd had sat up and Cobalt hugged him. "You're finally awake."
Lloyd hugged him back. "Cobalt, I'm so glad you're alright. If I were the Hunter I used to be, then you and that boy never would have had to fight."
Cobalt pulled away and sat down in the chair. "Of course, you're not that Hunter, but that doesn't change the fact that you fought. That's the man I will become." He looked at his grandfather fully determined. "No matter how long it takes."
Lloyd smiled. "You'll become a great man and stronger than I ever was. I just know it." The old Hunter laid back down. "Cobalt, I want you to tell me what happened after I passed out. That information is critical."
Cobalt nodded. "Right…"
Kingdom Grimm: City
Reaper had made it home and was walking through the city as the people gawked at her lack of men and armor. Not to mention the stain left by her own blood.
"That's Reaper."
"You mean the Paladin sent after Lord Cobalt!?"
"Look at her suit."
"Yeah, she was wounded."
"What do you think Paladin Silver and Queen Crimson will do with her?"
Reaper clenched her fist but kept walking towards the castle.
Castle, Throne Room
Reaper came to kneel before her Queen and head Paladin who stood beside the throne. The Head Paladin, Silver, was on the cusp of turning seventeen. He had short, smooth silver hair and wore black armor underneath a silver overcoat with white trim.
Underneath said cape, you'd find a battle staff. The Queen was an intimidating woman. She had long red hair, the color of her fur when she used her Grimm side, and wore purple armor with a Kitsune Grimm's face painted on the front. Her eyes were bright green.
"Queen Crimson, I failed you." Reaper stated.
"I am aware. I gave you this job because I thought you could handle it. Now I see that I should have sent Silver." Crimson angrily stated.
Reaper bowed her head. "Please my liege, be merciful."
"I may have considered it if you were not cocky enough to give so much information to our enemies. Silver, you know what must be done." Crimson stated dangerously.
Silver nodded before vanishing from Reaper's sights. A moment later, he appeared behind her. His staff was out and one of the blades was covered in blood. Reaper was shocked as her head came away from her body. Blood came from both her neck and body.
Crimson reached out her left arm. Both it and the ex-Paladin's body glowed black. Soon a small sphere, of the same color, left Reaper's body. Inside there was a dormant Griffon Grimm. Silver produced an opened bottle that Crimson put the sphere in. The Head Paladin then sealed it.
"Silver, start looking for Reaper's replacement. I'll get the maids to clean this mess." Crimson ordered.
Silver bowed. "As you wish my queen."
The Paladin left, and Crimson soon followed.
Hallway
Crimson was about to attend to her other duties when a young woman, barely 15, ran over to her. She had long, pink hair, bright yellow eyes, and was wearing red armor with a Kitsune, fox, Grimm face painted on it. A pink trident was strapped to her back.
"Mother, where is Cobalt." Sakura asked hopeful.
Crimson closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry Sakura, but it appears as though it will be some time before your big brother joins us."
"What about Reaper?" Sakura asked.
Crimson, with no emotion, replied, "She would have lived if she hadn't revealed sensitive information to our enemies. Now hurry along to your training. I understand that you are close to mastering your Grimm, and I'd hate for that day to be put off any longer."
Sakura began. "Mom, did…"
"Sakura, you must understand that ruling requires a soft touch and an iron fist. As I said, Reaper would have been forgiven if she hadn't given up Kingdom intel." Crimson stated before walking off. "Now, attend to your training."
Sakura closed her eyes and sighed before walking back the way she came.
Star Village, Bastion's Office
"…I reentered the second chamber, with the children and Mars, where I found a trail of blood leading to the wall. It's highly likely that's an escape route; however, I am not sure how she survived considering I put a hole through her heart. I didn't have time to worry about that. I had to get everyone back here." Cobalt finished.
Lloyd was looking at the ceiling. "Ozpin needs to be informed of this."
"Grampa." Lloyd looked at Cobalt. "I need to know if there is anything more I can do to get stronger because fighting that lady was exactly like fighting Adam. I think the only reason I didn't try to run was because there was a lot of anger."
Lloyd chuckled. "No, it wasn't like that time. You knew you were outmatched, yet you stood your ground. You have grown. As for your training, there is something you can do." He reached into his pocket and brought out a piece of paper. "Go to the location on the paper."
Cobalt took the paper. "You mean now?"
Lloyd nodded, "Trust me, everything you need will be there. I'll pick you up a week before Beacon's Initiation Exam."
The apprentice nodded. "Thanks, Grandpa."
Cobalt was about to leave until Lloyd stopped him. "One more thing." He turned. "This next stage of your training will see a return dependent on how much effort you put in. Work hard."
Cobalt nodded. "I will."
He walked out of the office leaving his grandfather alone.
Once he was gone, Lloyd got out of the bed. "Cobalt's training is handled, so I'll use these next six months to handle certain affairs."
Lab: Lloyd's Room, Some Time Later…
The large room was sparsely decorated with a bed, chair, end table, dresser, and T.V. that could also function as a scroll. Lloyd sat in his chair and grabbed one of the remotes that was sitting on the end table. He punched in a number causing the T.V. to turn on and ring.
Soon, a middle age looking man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes appeared on screen. He also wore shaded spectacles, and an unzipped, black suit over a buttoned vest with a green shirt, black shoes, and dark green pants.
"Lloyd, it has been a while since we last spoke." The man stated.
Lloyd nodded. "Time flies when you have a child to look after, and unfortunately I'm not calling to catch up either. I'm calling because my village was attacked by a group calling themselves the Order of Grimm, and they were after Cobalt."
"The Order of Grimm. Yes, there have been incidents concerning them the last few months. Hunters have fallen, and people have been vanishing from the kingdoms." Ozpin was thoughtful. "Now you're tell me that they want him?"
Lloyd nodded. "I know what you're thinking, but this operation they carried out was meant to capture Cobalt not kill him."
"It would not be impossible to consider that she has figured out what Cobalt is my friend. At that point it would be better to capture him, and either keep him detained or have him come to their side." Ozpin stated.
Lloyd sighed sadly. "Honestly, that thought had crossed my mind, but it is a thought that I was trying to suppress."
Ozpin took a drink from his mug. "I want you to tell me everything of your encounter. Afterwards, I will see about getting Qrow here to train the boy, but that likely won't happen for some time."
Lloyd nodded and began recounting the events.
With Cobalt
Cobalt had been walking through the forest for a while now, along an established path that had many turns and twist, and he came to realize that he was far from either village on Patch. He was unsure he could even return home if he followed the directions back.
The road eventually came to an end, and the apprentice came to a clearing that contained a smaller version of his home. The left side was tall much like the exercise room the original lab had. Cobalt approached the front door.
There was a hand scanner at the side of it, so he pressed his right hand to it. The pad lit up and the door opened. He entered the building coming to a living room with a couch and book shelves loaded with books from the legends and myths to history books.
"Welcome to the Training Lab." Cobalt turned to the center of the room and found a hologram of Lloyd. "Please, have a seat." The apprentice sat on the sofa before the hologram." Cobalt, you are here for three months training."
"But now it's been extended to about six months of training." Cobalt thought remembering his grandfather's words.
The hologram continued. "This training is simple. You have an exercise room, but it shouldn't be all you use if you wish to grow. There is much you can do with what's around you. On top of that, there is a room with training weights and extra metal disc for Elemental.
The couch you're sitting on is a futon, so it will function as your bed. This will function as your room. There's also a bathroom. You'll find it off the kitchen; however, you must gather and hunt for yourself. You also have no way to preserve food in said kitchen. Good luck."
The hologram vanished.
Cobalt closed his eyes and smiled. "Alright, this is training I can get behind. First, I need to find this room and get another disc. I also need to find the right weights to start with."
Storage Closet
Cobalt had to take an elevator below ground. When he stepped out, he was looking at the largest walk in closet he'd ever seen. On the left-hand side there were shelves that contained boxes with 5 dots instead of the usual 4.
On the right, there were clothes lined up. There was a shirt, vest, boots, and wrist bands. Above each set there was a paper listing out what each piece of clothing weighed and what the set weighed altogether. Though they all looked the same.
"They aren't exactly my style, but I can work with them until training is over." Cobalt thought.
The apprentice grabbed the first shirt, 10 pounds if the paper was to be believed, and noticed that it weighed something. He put the shirt back and began looking at the papers. The first few had 5 pounds recorded for their arm bands and boots. It then moved up to 10 pounds.
He'd settled in front of a shirt, vest, and pants at, 60 pounds each, and boots and wrist bands at 10 pounds each. He changed with each article of clothing fitting to his body. Once every piece had been removed, another set had taken its place.
Cobalt nodded. "Just right. Enough of a challenge for training but won't hold me back to much if a fight breaks out." Cobalt then walked to the first box and looked at the paper above. "400 units of fire, water, earth, air, and lightning dust."
Cobalt passed his hand in front of the box. It beeped, and a disc shot out. Cobalt caught it before removing the empty disc from his back. He then put the new disc in before leaving the room as the red dot went dull.
Outside the Small Lab
Cobalt was walking back towards the path as the sun showed that it was midday leaving plenty of time to get started. "Let's see, I'm going to need water and something to contain a lot of it, reliable sources of food, and stumps to train my hand to hand and weapon skills.
I'll also need to work on mastering Reinforcement, and there are a few ideas I have for new weapons. I should also work on combining my dust like that steam bullet I used. What else should I do…"
Cobalt was going to be busy perfecting and learning both old and new skills. This thought, coupled with the list he was making, excited him. He was not going to waist this opportunity to exceed what he could do before.
Lab
Lloyd had finished explaining everything to Ozpin and was now on his way to one of his many Experiment Rooms.
His fight against the Paladin, Reaper, had given him much to think about. "The world is changing. Enemies are popping up and they're only getting stronger. At this rate, my days are numbered. I know it; however, that doesn't have to be the case."