Author's Note:
Wow, it just keeps getting longer, and also, morning updates phew. This would've been up at about 3 in the morning on my end but I needed to sleep.
Anyways enjoy, and as usual please leave a review.
- Lor
Chapter 8: Time Away
I woke up today to Ruby's whistle instead of waking up early. She blew everybody awake; I drowsily got up and sat on the couch I was sleeping on. My eyes were hazy as I rubbed them to clear them up. When I did, I noticed everybody else groaning as they all sat up on their beds.
"Good morning!" Ruby greeted cheerfully, "Up and at 'em, the early bird gets the worm!" Ruby seemed to say. Everybody wasn't dressed yet, not even Ruby.
She was rather enthusiastic even after falling dead asleep last night. Yang who was sprawled with half her body on the bed before waking got up and stretched her back. Blake on the other hand was fiddling with her bow, which I assumed hid her feline features. Weiss just got up and yawned as everybody else began to get changed.
I realized that everyone else was already getting ready to change; Yang was even beginning to take off her night clothes when she noticed me still in the room. "Oh, you naughty boy Allie," Yang said as she noticed me still in the room.
Everyone's eyes flew straight open, "Ah!" Weiss screamed. Blake remained motionless but she never made another move to change.
Ruby was blushing so nervously that her face almost became completely red. I felt myself being picked up by Yang over the shoulders; I then realized what was happening and awoke from my drowsy state. "Whoa what's happening?" I questioned.
"Oh you naughty boy, pretending that you don't know what's happening," Yang teased again.
"Get him out!" Weiss shrieked.
"Alright princess, I'm taking him out," Yang turned back to tell Weiss. "Now out you go, you can see Ruby like this another time." Yang continued teasing me.
"What? What are you talking about? I don't want to," I began to deny before being tossed out the room. I landed on my back side, before I had time to groan or complain my bag was tossed out with my clothes in it.
"Don't come back for half an hour!" Weiss shouted.
"I bet he'll come back before then," Yang teased from inside.
"You pervert!" Weiss scowled.
"I'm sorry!" I said in retaliation.
"Go away!" I heard the heiress screech.
The least they could have done was warn me, then again, I was half-asleep when Ruby woke us up. As I was walking through the hallways with my bag in my arms I bumped into Professor Goodwitch. She was walking down the hall with her scroll in her hands. She was dressed in her usual outfit with a dark dress and white blouse; her half rimmed glasses housed her emerald eyes as she looked at me.
"Ah, Mr. Rho, I was just heading down the hall to get you," She stated.
"To get me? What for?" I asked regaining my composure.
"Come see me and Professor Ozpin in his office after you've changed," She stated before leaving.
"Am I in trouble?" I asked.
"Far from it," She told me.
Far from it? What does that mean? I thought as I continued down towards the change room. Today I decided to get wear a black dress shirt, dress pants and a dark blue blazer. I then put my night clothes into the bag and left the change room. Walking down the hallway I wondered what the headmaster wanted, I've done nothing wrong, so what could it be?As I walked down the halls I noticed the early morning sunrise, jeez is it this early? I decided to look at the sunrise for a moment and the beauty of it basked into my eyes as the canvas was slowly lit by the orange colour from the sun.
I returned to walking down to Professor Ozpin's office, it was situated in the main building so I had to walk halfway across the campus in order to get there. When I arrived, I knocked on the door, I heard Professor Ozpin's voice from inside, "Come in!"
I walked in and saw Professor Ozpin sitting in his large wooden desk. Professor Goodwitch was studying her scroll while she was standing next to Professor Ozpin. There were two shelves to the left and right walls with large books and binders in them. Nearer to the door was a hanger for coats and such along with a weapon rack featuring Professor Ozpin's sword. There were also large filing cabinets along the walls of the room to fill the gaps.
Professor Ozpin was dressed in his usual black suit with a green puff at his neck; his hair was the usual short ruffled cut that it always was. He noticed me walk in and greeted me, "Good morning Allen, come, have a seat." Professor Goodwitch noticed me and closed her tablet focusing on me. "Now, I bet you're wondering why I called you here."
"Yes, I am sir, am I in trouble?" I asked.
"Far from it, in fact you're exemplary," He told me.
"So why am I here?" I questioned.
Professor Ozpin got up, he was holding a cup of coffee while he looked outside towards the canvas as if he was engrossed in a thought. "You understand that a Hunter's job is to fight the Grimm and secure peace," He began.
"Yes, but how does that explain why I'm here?" I questioned even more curious.
"I'm assigning you onto a mission," He said bluntly.
"Excuse me, could you repeat that?"
"I'm assigning you onto a mission," He began before I stopped him.
"Sir, do you realize how ridiculous that is? I mean I haven't even begun my training here and it's only the first week," I told him in disbelief.
"I realize that, but I trust in your skills. Professor Goodwitch will explain to you the details regarding the mission." He told me before continuing to look at his paper work.
"Your mission will be to clear several Grimm nests in a forest north of Vale. This is a solo mission and I suggest that you prepare thoroughly, I expect you tonight in front of the courtyard ready to depart at nine o'clock sharp, and you are excused from classes today for preparation if you wish," Glynda stated before taking a pause and continuing, "More details will follow the ride."
I was in complete disbelief; I was to go alone and to take out several Grimm along with their nests. I was going to be left to my devices for a day, maybe even more. I didn't doubt my skills surely but I was in utter shock, not only was it my first week but that this was my first mission. Most students wouldn't even get their first mission until their third week if their lucky, but I got my first mission on my first week.
"You're telling me that I'm going in there alone sir?" I questioned in utter shock.
"We'll be dropping you off alone," Professor Ozpin stated bluntly. "Your team will not be there to support you."
"No offense sir, but, why me?" I asked. "I'm sure that there are more experienced students here that could do the job."
"It's simple, you need the experience for what is to come," He told me as if he knew my future. "You are one of my most prized students in the first year, you and Miss Rose. So don't let me down."
He didn't seem to be letting the mission slide so I completely agreed with him, "Understood."
"Very well, see you tonight at nine," He responded turning to look back out the giant windows.
"Please use your time to get ready for the mission," Professor Goodwitch said waving me out the door.
Professor Goodwitch waited until Allen left the office until she resumed conversation with Professor Ozpin.
"Sir, are you sure?" Professor Goodwitch asked.
"Positively, we both know a storm is brewing and Allen is the best shot we've got at taking down the White Fang," He replied pausing for a brief moment. He then looked at Glynda and took a sip of his steaming cup of coffee in his right hand, "We'll just have to wait and see, but I have full trust in his capabilities. He did beat you after all."
"To be fair I was only using a fraction of my strength," she stated in return.
"That fraction is enough to crush the Grimm with a back hand," he stated. "He's one of the best students we have."
Leaving the room I walked down back to the dorm. I decided to break the news to the team as they deserve to know, after all, these guys are my friends. The morning sun had risen showing a bright yellow colour on the canvas, however, it was still fairly early, the large shadows of the building were still covering much of the forest and surrounding areas, blanketing the campus with a cool shade. The halls began to get busier as people began to come out of the dorms for breakfast; the team was waiting for me so I hurried back picking up the pace. As I was hurrying back I noticed many people looking at me with interest, they seemed to be whispering amongst each other but I pushed it against me. They're probably just talking about yesterday's combat class, news does travel fast.
I pushed the door open and found everybody dressed up and ready, Weiss was the first to notice me and looked away immediately. Talk about a cold shoulder, I thought as I greeted them. "Good morning."
"Morning Allie, you naughty boy," Yang teased.
"Please stop with that," I replied embarrassed.
"Then why you blushing?" Yang teased yet again.
"I said drop it!" I replied raising my voice.
"Well good morning," she responded wittily.
"Good morning Al," Ruby said as she was straightening up her bed.
"Morning Allen," Blake greeted putting down the book she was reading.
"Want to go grab breakfast? I've got some news to tell you," I asked them glancing around the room.
Everybody agreed and we walked down, as we arrived I noticed the cafeteria was busy. I guess that we'd arrived right at the morning rush; I grabbed a simple egg and sausage plate with a side of toast. Paying for my meal Jaune asked for us to join them. He was waving his hands trying to grab our attention. I happily obliged and sat right next to him.
"What up, puke head?" I teased smiling.
"You aren't going to let that go," Jaune replied depressed.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Pyrrha was going to say something in protest. What that was I never found out as I cut her off before that, "Oh, I'm only teasing. I saw how you lead your team; that was admirable." I complemented digging into my plate.
"Really you think so?" Jaune said looking at me with so much enthusiasm it was almost enough to push me over the edge.
"Yeah, completely, it was like you guys knew exactly what each other were thinking," I said, continuing to complement him.
"You don't know how much that means to me," Jaune said relieved.
"Why?"
"Cause you're the best fighter in this school," He replied complementing me this time.
"Well, I wouldn't say the best, I mean I probably couldn't beat Pyrrha," I said a bit embarrassed at the complement as I rubbed my neck.
"Well, then that makes you the second best fighter," Jaune continued.
"Well what about you?" I asked taking a bite of a piece of bread. "I'm sure that you fit along the top somewhere."
"Nah, don't kid yourself," Jaune said.
"Why would I be kidding? No, I'm serious, you could probably best Pyrrha!" I boasted.
"Stop it," Jaune said laughing at the ridiculous statement.
We both began to laugh and I felt alive to be in this moment, I put my hand on his shoulder, "What a guy!"
The rest of my team joined me, "Getting along?" Ruby asked sitting down in front of me.
"Oh yeah totally, you know Jaune, you're cool," I stated.
"Really?"
I put my hand on his shoulder, "Really."
"Wow," Jaune said amazed.
Everybody laughed as we shared a guy moment together. What came next were a whole bunch of jokes and many of Nora's stories. The first of which was how Nora and Ren first met. She exaggerated so many details that the story was ludicrous. I couldn't help but laugh and occasionally chime in with a comment. I noticed that Ren seemed to be the calm point in the group; he would always be the one to calm down Nora's ridiculous statements and tell us what really happened. But I could tell that he found the stories amusing still as he would occasionally smile at the ridiculous facts. That only added to the character of Nora's stories as they would always go to a ridiculous note then to a realistic note giving it its hilarious flavour. Don't get me wrong, her stories were hilarious but it was even more so with Ren.
Pyrrha was relaxed and friendly throughout the conversation; she seemed to be smiling despite her professional status. From what I'd heard about her I would never have expected somebody so relaxed that it would seem like she was a regular person.
The rest of us continued to talk about our day and about our next classes. Everybody made jokes about Professor Port from his moustache, to his eyes. I didn't really participate in the jokes same as Weiss but I did appreciate the teasing gesture. Afterwards we finished the meal and we broke off into two conversations, I wanted to talk about my mission.
"So, I'm going to be away for a few days," I stated to the group.
"Wow that was rather blunt," Yang said.
"Why?" Ruby asked concerned.
"Oh they're sending me on a mission, they told me it was a solo mission," I answered.
"What?" Ruby asked shocked and surprised, she seemed to be concerned for me, Yang and me noticed and Yang moved to say something to Ruby.
"Ruby, it's no big deal, I'm sure he'll come back," Yang said trying to calm down her sister.
"He'll come back," Blake stated.
"A stubborn guy like that will always come back," Weiss stated.
"A stubborn guy? Who me?" I said feigning a look of shock. Yang made a small chuckle as she noticed my teasing towards Weiss. "My mom once said."
"Enough with your mom," Weiss said slightly annoyed.
I didn't stop and merely continued, "A stubborn person will always come back to those he holds dear."
Yang noticed my cheesy behaviour and couldn't help but grin, "Oh Allie, you big softie, come here." She said grabbing my head from across the table and locking it.
"Ah, Yang, stop it," I groaned as I was being knuckled on the head. "I'll definitely come back, what can get better than hanging around you guys?" I continued.
"How sweet," Weiss said rolling her eyes.
I pulled a smirk, "Oh lighten up princess, we are going to be stuck together for the next four years after all."
"Hmph," She responded.
Yang let go and I returned to my seat, I sat down and dusted myself off, fixing the mess that Yang created on the table slightly. I decided to leave the group so that I can prepare for the mission, "Well, I'll see you guys later," I said before getting up. "Hey Ruby, have any penetrator rounds for a 9mm chamber?" I decided that I might need those in case tougher Grimm show up.
"Sure here," She said to me tossing me a clip full of that type of ammo, apparently she hid it in one of her pockets somewhere.
"Thanks," I began to say before realizing where she got that from. "Wait, did you just take that out of your pocket?"
"Yes," She said a little embarrassed. She was looking at her food, her face becoming slightly red.
"Uh, Rubes?" Yang said to her sister waving her hand in front of her.
"Oh, sorry, I blanked out for a sec," Ruby responded, her face becoming a deeper shade of red.
"Well, anyways, thanks," I thanked while waving the cartridge.
I left to go back to the locker room, out of the corner of my eye I saw them go into a heated conversation about something. What it was I never knew, probably about classes, I thought as I walked on. I took a peek out of the windows; I was on the east side of the main building so I could see the luscious red Forever Fall Forest. The sun was shining beautifully, I noticed clouds coming ahead.
As I arrived I heard a girl being picked on along with team CRDL. Seriously, What a bunch of cowards, picking on a girl, I walked over to the sound and found them poking at Velvet's ears again. They were all dressed in their combat uniforms; Cardin was in his set of armour along with the rest of his team. This time they seemed to have the intent of harming her so I stepped in, "Seriously, how much does it take for you guys to leave people alone?" I asked.
Cardin turned toward me and he had an enraged look on his face. The rest of his team turned afterwards and Velvet slumped onto the floor. "You again?" He scowled.
"Literally, I'll pay you to leave her alone," I said with my two hands clasped together at my mouth. "Listen, I don't have the time to play with you guys right now so I'd rather you left her alone."
"Ha, tough guy," Cardin said.
"Really, here's my name, it's Allen Rho, let's not do this again. I would hate to see your pretty face all bruised up," I mocked.
As I said the statement his team was already looking around nervously. They seemed to fear what would happen. One of them tugged at Cardin, he seemed to want to live. I don't blame him, it didn't go well last time and the time before that, and honestly I'd prefer not to make a scene.
"What?" Cardin turned looking over at the guy dressed in blue armour.
"Let's not, I'd rather not be sent to the nurses again," the blue guy complained.
"No, you are not leaving," Cardin ordered.
I noticed all of them leave, tucking their tail and running. "So, are you sure you want to fight me again?" He turned around and saw all of his friends missing, "Honestly, just leave the poor girl alone." I continued to plead.
"I won't forget this," He said grumbling as he ran away from the scene.
I headed over to where Velvet was slumped onto the ground. Her head was down and she seemed to be crying. I kneeled down in front of her and faced her, "Velvet are you okay?" I asked.
I tilted her head upwards to face me, she was crying as she closed her eyes. She was holding something in her right hand; it seemed to be a broken pendant with a picture inside of it. The picture inside was a female rabbit Faunus with brown ears like Velvet's, only her eyes were a dark blue colour rather than Velvet's black coloured eyes. Also the Faunus was considerably older, most likely in her 70s.
I moved next to her and pulled her into a hug, I felt sorry for this girl, I mean, it was terrible being a Faunus. I've been there; I've been made a mockery of because of my shining scales. The kids used to call me glitter boy and make fun of me saying that I would blind them. It's part of the reason why I wore long shirts after elementary school. I mean, they were jerks, most of the kids would group up the Faunus together, whenever we played any kind of sport in school it would always be Faunus against Humans.
Eventually she slowly stopped crying and looked at me with red eyes. I noticed that her ears were bruised and there were even several cuts on her face. Some of them had fresh blood seeping out of them as she was too distracted to conjure her aura. I wiped the blood off of her face and asked, "What happened?"
"T-They picked on me again, t-this time they made sure t-that you weren't around. T-They," She said beginning to sob yet again.
I held her again patting her back, "There, there, so, who was in the picture?"
"S-She was my grandma, s-she passed away only recently," Velvet answered through sobs.
"That, that must be horrible," I said trying to place my words carefully.
"T-They broke the pendant," Velvet said sobbing again, this time into her hands. "It was her last gift to me before she died."
"So she must've been really special huh?"
"Y-Yeah," She stuttered.
"Well, you know Velvet, your Grandma will never leave you, the gift is only an item," I began to say before being cut off.
"How could you say that?" She said in a mix of sobs and slight anger.
"I mean, what is truly important is what she gave you as a person. The memories that you shared together, not just the trinket, sure it's important, but the most important part is what she left in your heart," I continued pointing at her chest.
She had to contemplate what I was saying before saying an answer, "I-I know but it's so hard. How can I?"
"By taking it one step at a time," I told her.
"T-Thanks Allen, for everything," Velvet said sniffling.
"No problem, it's the least I could do for a friend," I said standing up and giving her a hand. I helped her up and noticed even more damage on her, her wrist seemed to be bruised heavily turning, turning a heavy blue colour. As well she seemed to limp as she got up, "Easy now, let's get you to the nurses office."
I supported Velvet while we walked over to the Nurse's office. "Thanks for being a great friend Allen."
"No problem, what are friends for?" I said trying to lighten up the mood.
Velvet made a small smile, "You know when my team finds out about this they'll want to kill Cardin."
"Really, why's that?" I ask.
"Well, we're kind of like a family now; we look out for each other. They're all really nice people," Velvet said.
"That sounds great, seems like they really care about you," I told her.
"Yeah, I love them so much," Velvet responded with a smile.
We arrived at the nurses office, the room was set up with a set of two chairs to the left of the receptionist. There was a hallway leading down to the room beside the receptionist who was tucked in the corner. Along the left and right walls were paintings with a potted plant in the corners. The walls were coloured white while the floor had plastic tiles and a black edging. I took Velvet to the receptionist and she immediately piped up, springing into action. She took Velvet off of my arms and brought her into the room to lie down and get bandaged up.
I waited for the nurse to return and tell me that Velvet was alright. I mean, her recovery was a guarantee; the damage wasn't too severe. But still, I decided to wait for the okay. When the nurse did come out an hour later she was at the phone, she seemed to be talking to Professor Ozpin.
I stood up and went over to the desk. Looking down at where she was; there was mess of sprawled papers and book work on her table along with a few pens and pencils lying all over the place. The nurse noticed me; she was dressed in a white uniform, and had brown hair that was cut short and neatly. She noticed me and looked up, "She's going to be fine. Now can you explain to me what happened?"
She looked directly into my eyes and I had no choice but to tell the truth, anything else would make me seem her and me guilty of some kind of cause warranting a meeting with Professor Ozpin. "She was ganged up on by a group of guys, specifically team CRDL, they seemed to make fun of her for being a Faunus," I stated.
"That's terrible," She said looking at the room which held Velvet. She seemed to sympathize for her, "Thank you for bringing her in."
"No problem, now I must be off miss," I said tipping my hat.
"Good bye."
Now after that was taken care of I walked back to the locker room. I saw three other students walk by as I was in an intersection. I didn't really pay attention to where they were going so I continued onward. Arriving at the dorm I checked my watch, it was now approximately noon, which meant that lunch was being served. I decided to check on my armour before I went to get food. I checked the aura and dust based reactor, the dust was empty from the leakage in my fight yesterday with Professor Goodwitch.
I tapped my watch and I teleported a small vial from my bag in the dorm. I brought several recharges of rainbow dust, this dust was my own creation and it was incredibly potent. Given the fact that I had to synthesize it by slowly mixing white, red, brown, and green dust while powering it with trickles of aura it was incredibly difficult to make. As such I tended to only ever have one bottle of spare waiting in the case that my armour would ever be pierced. The dust was so potent that it would never run out of charges with aura unlike how most types of dust. Most types of dust after being used a certain amount of times the dust would disintegrate into nothing, but not this type. This synthesized dust was so pure and strong that it would last a life time, now I didn't give the secret to any other company as they were sure to exploit the creation of it. I mean, this dust would be able to change its colour and along with it it's element. It would simply be too dangerous in the wrong hands, for example the White Fang.
I took out the chest plate reactor, holding the cylindrical device in my hand I flipped open a small compartment to the right side of it. The compartment was used to store dust; it was completely empty until I filled it with the brightly coloured dust. I placed the reactor back in making sure to carefully place the wires in place. The rest of my suit didn't need inspection so I placed the chest plate back and looked up. There was a box I designed for reloading, it was the signal that teleported the ammo for my revolver in my hands.
I took out the metallic box and I opened it from the top, this box wasn't just a storage box for ammo but it also served as a reloading device as well. I opened it to find everything in its place and undamaged, there were two sides to the box, one of them held an already loaded ammo magazine for the revolver while the other was the reloading contraption. The reloading contraption worked by using a magnetic attraction, attracting the bullets into the holster then moving it to the left. The Bullets were all lined up straight so that when one full clip was loaded a pressurized spring would push the bullets along until they reached the end. This was not powered by its own reactor but was powered by induction, or wirelessly, whenever I turned on my armour.
The bottom of the box was where all the ammo was held, I slid the penetrator rounds that Ruby gave me this morning into a long rectangular section, while pushing the spring back. Letting the spring slide back slowly I closed the bottom of the box and placed it back on the top shelf.
I closed my locker and left the room heading back to the cafeteria for lunch, I decided to pick up something light as I wanted to sleep back in the dorm. Arriving in the lunch room Ruby waved for me to join them, I joined them as I sat across Ruby. It seemed like they were saving me a spot as I was also beside Yang and Blake.
"Hey guys," I greeted.
"Hey naughty boy," Yang teased.
"Again with that?" I asked with a disappointed tone.
"She does like to tease people," Blake stated.
"Yeah, tell me about it," I groaned. "So anyways, I'm going to grab lunch real quick and take a nap. I need the energy for tonight," I continued leaving them.
"See you later Al," Ruby said to me.
"See you guys later," I said going to grab a sandwich.
Walking back to the dorm I felt my hands sweat and then my face. I looked at my hands and saw circular wholes and red meat as if it was corroded by some kind of acid. What? What is this! I thought as I felt my face, there were distinct holes on my face that seemed to be growing bigger I then felt a trickle of blood that seemed to ooze out of my face; I worried in haste trying to decide what to do.
I bolted for the dorm.
Locking myself in I took deep breaths as I sat on the couch, I activated my aura in an attempt to heal the damage that was happening to me. I expected to heal my injuries slightly and stop the pain, but what happened next was shocking. Instead I felt something grow in my right hand, holding it in front of my face I saw a yellow watery substance form into a ball like form.
I was intrigued at what formed; it was watery in substance and yellow, as if an acid was mixed with another liquid. I touched it and felt a sting in my hand; thankfully my aura was so strong in this moment that it healed quickly. Acid? Is this a new power? I thought as I held the ball of yellow liquid in my hand. The scars and holes on my hand were gone along with my face, was that an illusion? Warning me of a new power? No, it can't be a new power, but, a development of my elemental semblance, of course!
I felt myself slip unconscious due to my extensive use of aura, I let the ball die before going to sleep. I decided to pursue the subject later, possibly designing an upgrade to my armour for an acid element.
I woke up to the sound of thunderstorms and Yang looking out of the window over me. Blake was out somewhere, most likely at the library and Weiss was off doing something else. The view however, was less than pleasant for my masculine drive. Her chest was right over mine her blond hair dangling over her shirt. "Er, Yang? What are you doing?"
"Oh, you bad boy," Yang teased.
"Yang! Jeez, it's hard to look anywhere else since I'm literally trapped! By the way what time is it?"
"It's 8:30," Yang replied checking her scroll.
"Oh shoot, I should be getting ready!" I said scrambling up. As I was tidying myself up Yang was still looking outside of the window. "So why, are you, looking, outside of the window?" I said changing my outer clothes.
She continued to look outside thankfully as I didn't have the time to get changed in a different room. "Ruby went outside and she hasn't come back yet. I hope she's okay," Yang said in a serious tone.
"Want me to get her?" I asked her, "I'm going out anyways."
"Really, would you?" Yang said turning to me.
"Yeah, what are friends for?" I told her.
"Oh thank you Allie!" Yang said running to hug me.
I didn't have time to dodge so I had to take the hug and I felt myself being crushed. "Yangg …" I groaned. She let go and I gasped for hair holding onto part of the wall near the door. "Gah."
"Thanks Allie," Yang said smiling.
I was still gasping for air, "No problem, see, you later," I replied grabbing an umbrella before running out.
Running into the courtyard I found Ruby under a tree covering from the rain. I heard a lightning off from the distance, as I went over to where she was. She was sitting with a book in her lap as she was curled up, most likely from the cold wet feeling of the rain.
Getting closer I could see more details, her combat uniform was soaking wet and her face was wet. I stood next to her holding an umbrella over her head, blocking falling rain from the branches. She looked up and saw me,; she made a small smile as I leaned down to sit next to her. I checked my watch to make sure that I wasn't late or running out of time, 15 minutes were left. I've still got time; I thought as Ruby leaned closer to me, she was shivering from the cold. I took off my blazer and gave it to her in an attempt to give her some warmth.
"Ruby! What were you doing out here? You're shivering!" I scolded her.
She merely continued to shiver, chattering her teeth before speaking, "S-Sorry, I-I was j-just out here w-writing before it started pouring."
"Here, let me keep you warm," I said creating a small flame in the palm of my hand.
Bringing it closer to her I attempted to bring heat to her; she moved her hands to where the heat was and tried to warm her hands. She slowly shivered less but continued on shivering. "T-Thanks A-Al."
"You're welcome," I told her while still sharing my body heat with her.
"Al, I-I don't t-think that y-you s-should g-go on this mission," Ruby stuttered.
"Why?" I questioned merely puzzled.
"Y-You're going to b-be alone against h-hundreds o-of Grimm," Ruby answered.
"It'll be okay, I'll come back. Remember what I said? Well you're one of my cherished ones," I told her.
"R-Really?"
"Yeah, you and the rest of the team," I answered.
"B-But it's d-dangerous."
"If I don't do it, then who will?"
"But, But."
"No more buts, it's my duty, our duty to uphold and protect people. You said it yourself once, we're here to make it a better day. I can take care of myself Ruby," I saw her begin to say something, I interjected, "Tell you what, when I get back, you and me will have cookies together."
Her face lit up slightly, she smiled, "T-That would be nice, t-thank you."
"You're welcome."
Ruby stopped shivering and got up, her teeth still chattered so I left my blazer with her. I gave her the umbrella to go back to the dorm. We both turned our separate paths, me to the helicopter that waited me further down and her back to the dorm.
The courtyard was lit as a rectangular landing pad was raised; Professor Goodwitch was waiting for me along with the drop ship that slowly descended. I held onto my hat in fear of it being blown off from the wind, Professor Goodwitch's cape was also waving in the wind. The ship was a small ship with four circular pods in the corners which were currently pointed towards the ground at this moment. The carrying part of the ship was rectangular and had a domed like glass frame for a cockpit. I checked my watch and it was exactly 8:59, one minute until I would be leaving.
The ship slowly descended, it opened up the door, the ramp extended and Professor Goodwitch addressed me, "Evening Mr. Rho, I shall be accompanying you for the trip. Did you have any troubles today?"
"Not at all, let's get the show on the road," I replied.
As I was on the plane I activated my suit of armour, chances were was that the location would be too remote to send a signal to. The suit of armour assembled itself and I deactivated my helmet, compressing it to the back of my head to let oxygen come in naturally and easily. In the drop ship there were benches along the walls with the pilot section in the front, the drop ship was lit with a red light coming from the ceiling. Professor Goodwitch stood up as she told me the details.
"You will be arriving at the heart of the forest on your own; you will be dropped off from the air as we cannot land. As I've said before you will be exterminating Grimm within a section and destroying their nests, I've up loaded the location into your watch," She told me while tapping her scroll.
I was phased out for a moment as I cleared my head; we were moving rather fast and had almost arrived at the site. "Mr. Rho, do you understand?"
I phased back in, "Roger." I responded.
"We're here," Professor Goodwitch stated.
We stopped and hovered above the ground, the ground of the drop ship opened up and I stood up, ready to take a plunge into the pitch black forest. "Good luck Mr. Rho," Professor Goodwitch wished.
"I don't need luck," I responded, falling into the forest.
Post Author's note:
A direct statement about Allen's power, a mission, some moments with Velvet and Ruby. And that's about it, I'm going to work on the design for the "upgrade" and I'm thinking of something along the lines of a divingish helmet complete with oxygen tubes to the helmet. As well something more mecha like, i.e. back mortars to launch barrages of acid at enemies, complete with a hand canon for extra fire power, as well as becoming a full metal suit.
