And it's done! Kind of, I still need to get the final edit from sagitarius. But the wait has been long enough so here's the first draft.
The reason for the long time the story has been taking; it's very simple, my old computer basically failed on me, it wouldn't work right and it became extremely difficult to wright, but I've got a new computer so hopefully I'll be able to update more often in the future.
I've seen the first episode of volume three, I can't wait to see more.
Also, I'll be doing some revision soon as the sagitarius has edited the previous chapters that they had not been able to edit. Also for the earlier chapters I have gotten some editing help from Recycler.
Also I'd like to thank TheMischieviousPuppyDog whom looked over the chapter and gave me some notes and a little bit of editing help.
Everyone knows who owns what.
Chapter 10: It's a start
Prof. Ozpin sat at his desk with a contemplative look on his face. The computer monitor before him showing several recorded clips of Ash the aura using grimm; in combat against his own kind-or at least what appeared to be his own kind.
The professor took a sip from his coffee mug before opening up another widow, he sighed as the search for this 'Pallet town' and 'Kanto region' was turning out to be futile-and he was pretty sure he knew why. He had already been almost certain of it before but he wasn't sure he wanted to believe it.
"Prof. Ozpin," The headmaster of Beacon looked over to see Glynda entering his office, her face as neutral as usual. She did not say anything when he looked at her but he knew what information she desired.
"Then the most likely scenario here would be, that perhaps the legends of the previous world are perhaps more truth than fiction," The man's voice held a slightly solemn tone, as the idea of what the true nature of the child in the body of a grimm might be sunk in. Glynda looked to be carefully considering what to say as she thought about his words.
"Something like this…is unheard of," Glynda looked a little pale as she tried to process what was happening.
"No it's not. It's just never been properly recorded," Ozpin admitted as he stood up from his desk. "People have seen things like this before…or at least some have claimed to. But there was never any documented evidence. The truth being that grimm are just generally considered too much of a threat to allow such beings time to try and get any humans to understand, before they are killed."
"Then our new friend must have been very lucky," The woman nodded to herself as she thought about how the blue-eyed beowolf had ended up at Beacon.
"Very. Whatever force that has caused Ruby and Ash to bond so quickly was indeed a godsend for the child," Ozpin said while walking over to the window.
"Do you suppose that that strange being that has been reported has anything to do with him?" The blonde woman asked as she looked to be in deep contemplation. The headmaster thought about that question for a moment before shaking his head.
"I don't think so. Unless it can conceal its aura; the reports stated none could be detected from it-that is why it was assumed to be a grimm," Ozpin looked over at Glynda with a visible frown. "It is a very uncomfortable situation," After Ozpin finished speaking the two adults stood in silence for a moment.
Glynda stood in silent thought as she eyed the headmaster of Beacon. "Do we tell him about this? The truth of what he is?"
"I…honestly don't know," Ozpin spoke calmly, but he seemed uncomfortable as he made his way back to his desk. "The prospect of all of this is only theoretical after all, the old stories aside. The idea that the creatures of grimm are the deceased of another world has never been proven, it might be best not to inform them of this for now, as not to destroy whatever hope he may have of returning to his home."
"If that is what you believe is best," Glynda agreed with a nod.
"Ok, so how exactly are we going to do this?" Yang questioned as she, along with the other members of team RWBY stood in the training room that they were given access to; the same one that Ash's false initiation test had taken place in. Classes had ended for the day and as they had agreed it was time to train Ash. Teams RWBY and JNPR had agreed to try training the aura-wielding beowolf on alternating days, and it was decided that RWBY would take the first day. Unfortunately while they had come up with this somewhat of a schedule, nobody had actually thought of exactly how to go about training Ash.
"I…don't really know," Ruby admitted after a moment, she looked over at Ash who was sitting in the corner of the room, looking down with an air of depression. She was worried about him; he had been in this sad mood ever since Prof. Port's class earlier. Ash had not attended any other classes after that, instead opting to wait for Ruby and her team outside the doors of each one for the rest of the day.
"Well, since his primary weapon is a sword it might be best if Weiss…" Blake seemed to trail off as Weiss acknowledged her with an annoyed expression.
"If you expect me to be that things teacher, you have got another thing coming," Weiss spoke firmly as she crossed her arms and turned away from her teammates. Ruby looked angry at Weiss' statement, rather noticeably so. But Yang had an idea on how to diffuse this situation before anything really came from it.
"Fine, it's not like we need you to teach him," Yang cut in, walking between her sister and friend. "I mean, you're not the only swordfighter around. We could just have Jaune teach him a thing or two instead," Yang smirked as she saw Weiss' eyes widen. Blake quickly noticed what Yang was doing and decided to join in.
"Not a bad idea Yang, but we did agree to alternate each day," Blake noted, sounding completely serious despite the fact she was hiding a smirk.
"Ah, I'm sure Jauney-boy won't mind, I mean sword fighting's in his blood, it probably won't take him more than a few hours to-"
"Enough!" Weiss interrupted Yang's speech and glared at her. "I know exactly what you are doing! I'll do it so just shut up!" Weiss growled and started storming towards the depressed Ash. "To even suggest that that blonde bozo could possibly-grrr!"
"She says she knew what we were doing, yet she does this anyway," Blake commented in observation.
"I think it's mostly a pride thing," Yang responded with a chuckle. Ruby watched worriedly as her white haired teammate stomped over to her adoptive little brother.
"Ok to your feet!" Weiss ordered the depressed looking grimm. Ash looked up at Weiss who grew slightly frustrated when she was unable to read his expression. A few moments of silence passed and Ash did nothing. "I said to your feet!" Weiss snapped, growing more impatient and frustrated the longer her order was ignored.
"Weiss, don't yell at him!" Ruby's sudden outburst caused a moment of silence before her white haired teammate glared at her.
"Look Ruby, I still don't know what this thing is and for the record, I don't even want to be involved with it!" Ash couldn't help but look up as Weiss began yelling at Ruby, her words only further lowering his spirits. "But, Prof. Ozpin has asked that I assist in its training and though you might be content to baby the beast as if it were a newborn pup, I for one take my assignments seriously. Now then, stand up!" Weiss turned her attention back to Ash with that order. Despite the fact that he was now staring at her, he still refused to move from his position, much to Weiss' infuriation.
"Is he tired?" Yang decided to question her little sister, since she seemed to have the strange ability to tell what their beowolf friend was feeling at times. Ruby looked from Yang, to Weiss and then to Ash with a look of worry on her face.
"He's…distraught," The young huntress said after a moment of thought before she quickly moved to get between the silent Ash, and Weiss whom looked like she was about to explode.
"What's wrong with you, don't you want to learn to fight!?" Weiss yelled at the beowolf, even as Ruby came to stand between them. Ash stared blankly at her as he processed the question.
'Do I want to learn to fight?...No, not like this…this isn't for pokémon battles or anything like it. They want me to kill, I can't kill!' Ash thought to himself as he curled into a whimpering ball. Ruby pulled him into her arms to comfort him while Weiss seemed to simmer down a bit as she watched the scene with an unreadable expression.
"…I think Ash is done training for today," Blake commented as she and Yang exchanged a short, concerned glance before they both walked over to their teammates and trainee.
"We didn't do any training at all," Weiss muttered as she glared at the scene of Ruby helping Ash to his feet and patting his back in a comforting way.
"I know it was unproductive Weiss, but I think it would be best if we called it a day," Blake said, noticing her teammate's frustration.
"Unproductive? This was a complete waste of time!" Weiss nearly shouted. "I've said I don't trust this thing, and I don't think any of us should-none of us can really be sure what it is. But if it really is a kid in the body of a beowolf, then he better grow up fast! The world is not a kind place, and his form makes him a walking target for most hunters-no-most people!" Weiss turned her attention to Ruby whom had stopped holding Ash and allowed him to stand on his own. "And a lot of them who know of his aura powers are going to be suspicions, however unlike me, a lot of them are probably not just going to sit back and allow the possible threat to continue to exist!" Weiss huffed before she stomped out of the room.
Ash stared as the white haired girl left, unsure of how to react towards her statements. He supposed what she said was true, he didn't really know too much about this place so far. But he had gathered that these none-pokémon creatures; grimm were not exactly liked. The looks a large number of the students gave him were pretty clear after all.
"Ash, are you ok?" Ruby's concerned voice snapped Ash out of his thoughts; he stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding. Ash pulled up his scroll and quickly scrawled down a message with his claw before passing it to his adoptive sister.
"Does Weiss hate me?" Ruby read the message aloud as her two other team members approached her from behind to see it. Ruby looked at the child in the body of a grimm for a moment as he looked down nervously. "No, Ash. Weiss doesn't hate you, she's just…" the leader of team RWBY trailed off as she tried to come up with the right words.
"Weiss is a stick in the mud," Yang suddenly interjected, Ruby looked surprised by her sister's intrusion and looked like she wanted to argue, but couldn't figure out what to say. Blake watched with a bit of interest as her blond partner faced the beowolf. "You two go on ahead, I'd like to have a little one-on-one time with my little bro here," Yang requested cheerfully.
"What..? But…" Ruby looked like she wanted to protest, Yang noted the worried look her little sister eyed Ash with and almost felt a little bitter at the idea that her own sister didn't trust her to look after him.
Ash looked between the two sisters for a moment while thinking; it was true that both sisters had technically adopted him, but he and Yang had not really bonded to the extent him and Ruby had, if at all.
"Come on little bro, I'd really like to have a talk with you…well, I'd like to talk to you," Yang chuckled as she took hold of the surprised Beowolf's arm.
"Bye…" Ruby unenthusiastically waved as her sister dragged their surrogate brother out of the training room. She let out a sigh once they were gone and looked to the ground.
"Ruby?" Blake's voice interjected and the leader of team RWBY found herself looking at her teammate who had a look of concern in her eyes. "I know you're…protective of Ash, you feel responsible for him. But surely you can trust Yang with-"
"I know," Ruby cut her teammate of as she turned away from her and hung her head low. "I don't know why I'm so reluctant to leave him alone with her. Not just her even, I'm reluctant to leave Ash's side at all," she glanced back over at Blake and sighed again. "Of all people I should trust my own sister to look after him, but I can't help but feel like I need to be with him at all times."
"Ruby, you're protective of him, I know. It was scary what happened the day he came; he almost got killed," Blake spoke sympathetically.
"It's not just that," Ruby spoke up and rubbed her head as if she was getting a headache. "Ever since I ran into him, after that night we fought together; I've felt some kind of connection with him. I can't exactly explain it but I just have this need to be near and protect him," Ruby finished as she looked Blake straight in the eyes. Blake stared at her leader for a few seconds and noticed something.
"Ruby, you have bags under your eyes," the red cloaked girl reached for her eyes in confusion at her teammate's words. "Ruby, have you been…sleeping well?"
"Um…yes, I think so," Ruby muttered, before she let out a yawn. She covered her mouth as if she was startled by her own action.
Ash followed Yang through the halls, occasionally glancing around incase another student was nearby. Classes had ended so there was a fairly good chance of running into any number of students that might have negative opinions of him, and they might choose to express them…violently.
"Here should be good," Yang said after she stopped and rested her back against a wall. Ash stared at her blankly for a moment before looking around at where they were…they were just in an empty hall. "So…not much progress in the training room today, huh?" the blonde's sudden inquiry brought the young trainer's attention back towards her, despite his feelings of uncertainty he almost snorted in indignation.
'Admittedly I probably could have handled that a little better,' despite the fact that he felt a little offended by the huntress' words, he had to admit that she had lightened his mood a little, if only by how bluntly she had spoken.
Yang watched as her surrogate little brother pulled his scroll out from its holder next to his sword and swiped his claw across the screen a few times. He held up the device so Yang could read his message.
"I can't fight..?" Yang read, she blinked as she momentarily stared at the crude writing, as if she was trying to formulate a response. Finally deciding to try a little humor and encouragement Yang smiled and spoke "Well…from what Ruby's told me, you could've fooled me," this was apparently the wrong thing to say. Ash looked away, if he were human Yang would have been able to see a look of shame on his face. Though his feelings were not visible to her, Yang could tell her words had upset the beowolf.
"So, you don't like fighting. Do you?" it was more of a statement than a question, but Ash still took some time to think about an answer.
Ash couldn't truly say he hated fighting, what were pokémon battles if not some form of fighting? But that was different, the thing was pokémon enjoyed battling, it was more a sport than true fighting. Though pokémon did hunt and kill each other in the wild, the battles he and his pokémon participated in were never to the death.
After this train of thought the young trainer turned beowolf managed to think of an appropriate response and quickly began swiping his claw across his scroll's screen.
"…I can't kill," Yang read the new message, her smile seemed to shake for a moment before she sighed and looked at Ash with a serious, and worried expression on her face. "I have to be honest with you little bro, you don't belong here. And I don't just mean that your lost and in the wrong body," Yang seemed to be trying to find the right words as Ash eyed her curiously.
"You're just a kid…more so then Ruby, and she trained her whole life to be here-to do this. I can tell you have very little combat experience Ash, if any at all. That's why you really shouldn't be here," Ash couldn't help but lower his head at Yang's statement. It was true; he shouldn't be here-and, despite how welcome Ruby tried to make him feel, he didn't want to be here. He swiped his claw across the scroll again and wrote a simple sentence; 'I know' and showed it to Yang, whom nodded. "In a fair world you wouldn't be in this situation little bro. But the world isn't fair, or nice. What Weiss said before wasn't wrong, a lot of people will probably want to hurt you, and the best way for you to not end up dead before you can find your way home is to learn how to fight more effectively. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
'I…understand what she means…but still, this is so confusing…' Ash thought, his mindset in conflict, he didn't want to fight in the kind of battles they wanted to train him for. He didn't want to kill anyone, not even the grimm despite what he was told of them being soulless. But, he couldn't just do nothing, how was he supposed to find his way home if he got killed? Could he just run? That really didn't seem like a good idea, but what was he supposed to do?
"Ash," Yang spoke again and the beowolf's attention went to her once more. "I wanted to speak to you without Ruby present because, despite what she's trying to do, her protectiveness of you is going to do more harm than good. Ruby would deny what I'm saying to you now, but you can't hide behind her the whole time you're here. You need to stand on your own two feet-er-paws? I'm not going to force you to do anything, I just want you to understand that this is serious."
Ash nodded, he didn't write anything on his scroll; he didn't know what he could really tell Yang. He appreciated her showing concern for him and now he had much to think about…
"Hey," Yang spoke again, placing a hand on his furry shoulder. "Just know that even though I want you to stand on your own, doesn't mean I won't do whatever I can to protect you. Ruby may have been the one to find you and declare herself your big sister, but you're my little bro now. I swear I will protect you and do everything in my power to get you home safely," Ash felt a certain amount of comfort from Yang as she placed her arm around his shoulders. "Even if I have absolutely no idea how we're going to do that!"…Ok, so maybe that was less comforting, but it was the thought that counted.
"PILLOW FIGHT!" Nora exclaimed before throwing a pillow at an unsuspecting Ren reading in a sleeping bag. Ruby jumped over the black haired boy's sleeping bag and held a pillow up in a defensive manner.
"Don't worry Ren, you may be out, but I shall avenge you!" Ruby exclaimed, Ren briefly glanced up from the book he was reading before going back to it without a word.
"Do you guys really need to do that?" Weiss questioned from her position on the top of her, Ruby, and Ash's triple bunk bed. She held a pillow over her head to block out the noise, but it was not working.
"Silly Weiss, this is the stuff you do at sleepovers!" Nora exclaimed. After the training session, where no real training actually got done was finished, Nora had somehow managed to convince team RWBY to let team JNPR sleep over in their new room. So now the floor of the room was occupied by the four sleeping bags of said team's members.
"Yeah, don't be a party pooper Weiss," Yang laughed while sitting on the top of her and Blake's bunkbed. Weiss sighed, but accepted she likely wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. A low grunt came from the bottom of the triple-bunkbed, causing Ruby to curiously look over at the beowolf who was curled up in a blanket on said bed.
"Hey Ash, do you want to join in?" Ruby questioned gently.
"It's a blast!" Nora cheered, running over to Jaune's sleeping bag where the leader of team JNPR was invested in a rather thick book and hitting him in the head with her pillow.
"Hey! That hurt!" The blond boy's protests were easily discarded by his hyper teammate.
"You snooze you lose oh fearless leader!" Nora said playfully. Jaune huffed before going back to his book.
Ash made another grunting sound but other than that did not respond to Ruby's invitation to join in the fun of pillow fighting.
"Ash?" Ruby tapped his side in concern.
"He hasn't had the best day little sis, it might be best to let him sleep…and you need to sleep too, you were looking pretty exhausted earlier," Yang chided her little sister who huffed in response.
"I told you already, I've been sleeping fine," She insisted, though nobody that was paying attention really looked convinced at her words, they did have to admit she looked to have much more energy now.
"I'm honestly surprised you guys allowed our whole team to stay here tonight," Pyrrha said from her sleeping bag that lay on the opposite corner of the room to Jaune's.
"It's fine, Nora wanted it so Nora got it," Yang chuckled as she looked over the room for a moment, "But Ren, Jaune, don't think that just because your sleeping in a room with a bunch of girls means you can try something," Yang laughed at her own suggestive statement.
"I assure you, nothing will happen," Ren said in his typical uninterested way. Jaune was too engrossed in his book to respond to Yang, if he even heard her.
"Ash?" Ruby tried to get the beowolf's attention again, but it seemed that he was fast asleep. Decided to let him rest for now she set her sights on whatever it was that was distracting her friend from frantically denying Yang's joking accusations. "Jaune, what are you reading?"
"Yeah, what's got you so distracted?" Yang questioned, looking a little miffed that she didn't get a reaction out of him. Jaune made a vague 'a-huh' sound as he continued to read the book.
"Jaune?" Blake questioned, now feeling curious herself over what book had so caught the blond leader's attention.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha called over softly, feeling a little concerned over her friend's current disconnection with reality.
"…Huh?" Jaune finally looked up from the book to see all the stares he was getting. "Um…I-"
"JAUNEY WHAT ARE YOU READING!?" Nora shouted extremely loudly at just the moment when Jaune had finally looked up from his book. The other occupants of the room other than the sleeping(?) Ash and startled Jaune winced as there was no doubt that Nora had just woken up a few of the other residents of Beacon.
"Nora," Ren scolded quietly.
"Oh, sorry," Nora giggled and covered her mouth. Jaune groaned as he glared at his orange haired teammate for a moment. Ruby looked at Ash curiously, could he have really slept through that?
"Well, I'm definitely not getting any sleep now," Weiss stated with a scowl on her face as she sat up in her bed. "So, for the sake of understanding exactly why I will not be getting any sleep I have to ask; Arc! What are you reading that has got everyone so interested in you!?"
"Does that include you?" Jaune asked with a hopeful look on his face.
"No." Weiss stated bluntly before throwing her head on her pillow and turning away from him.
"So what is that book Vomit-boy, you don't exactly seem the reading type," Yang chimed in. Jaune frowned at that comment, not helping that he had also just gotten spurned by Weiss. But decided to just answer the question.
"I'm just…looking through this book of old fairy tales," Jaune admitted, sounding a little embarrassed about what he had admitted as he held the thick book up.
"Fairy tales of Vale," Blake read the cover of the book aloud.
"Very descriptive, one of yours Blake?" Yang questioned with a chuckle, Blake looked up at her partner with deadpan expression on her face.
"Jaune is reading a book about fairy tales and you automatically assume that he got it from me?" Blake said blankly as she stared at Yang.
"Oh right, the books you tend to read are of the more exotic variety," Yang couldn't help but laugh as Blake scowled at her while her face turned red.
"I got it from the library," Jaune groaned, ending whatever dispute Yang and Blake were about to have.
"Jaune, why did you get a book of old fairy tales from the library?" Pyrrha questioned, she looked away embarrassedly once she thought about what she said. "Not that there is anything wrong with that, you can read whatever you want…"
"Look, this isn't about me, it's about Ash," Jaune said firmly, still holding the book up.
"Wait, what about Ash?" Ruby asked curiously, now staring at the book as if she was trying to decipher what it could have to do with her surrogate little brother.
"Well…it's just, there's something about Ash; a grimm with blue eyes…who doesn't attack people. I can't exactly put my finger on it but there's this story that my mom used to tell me, and I'm absolutely sure that it was about the same thing," after speaking Jaune looked back at the book and continued to flip through the pages. "I haven't found it but I want to help him out, and if that story has anything to do with him maybe there's something in it that could help us figure out where he came from."
"I'm sure he'd appreciate you trying to help him Jaune, but I don't think reading fairy tales will give you any relevant information," Blake said in a polite, but somewhat blunt manner. After a moment of continued page flipping it was obvious Jaune wasn't going to listen to her, she let out a defeated sigh. "Do you remember what the story was called?"
"No, and that's what's so frustrating. I know it wasn't just something my mom made up, but I can't seem to find it," Jaune growled as he finished going through the pages before closing the book and putting it down.
"I appreciate anything you try to do to help Ash, Jaune," Ruby encouraged her friend, while climbing up to her bunk, not so much feeling like having a pillow fight anymore.
"Get some sleep tonight, Ruby," Yang called over softly, but firmly.
"I told you I haven't had trouble sleeping," Ruby grumbled, but couldn't help but let out a yawn before setting her head on her pillow.
"So the pillow fights over? How boring," Nora said in disappointment.
"Nora, go to sleep," Ren stated blandly.
"Ok Renny!" Nora agreed without hesitation before zooming back over to and into her sleeping bag in the blink of an eye. Ruby took a moment to look down at the sleeping lump on the bed under hers, she pat his back before she curled herself up in her own blankets and set her head on her pillow.
"Good night little bro," She spoke softly before closing her eyes.
The soft sounds of snoring were all that filled the room when Ash finally pulled himself out from under his covers.
'They're all asleep,' he thought to himself with a quick nod; he didn't want any of the others to interrupt him. He had been thinking a lot about what Yang had told him and Weiss' attempt to train him, and he had come to one firm decision.
Ash carefully gripped the railings of his bed and looked up to see Ruby sleeping soundly.
'Ruby…I wish I could ask you for help on this…but Yang was right, I can't hide behind you. You would go easy on me and I'm afraid I can't have that,' he gave her a soft pat on the head, careful not to wake her, before turning his attention to the top of the makeshift triple bunk bed.
'I don't want to die,' the young trainer thought firmly as he climbed his way up to the top bunk and looked at the sleeping form of Weiss. Out of team RWBY Weiss was the only one he hadn't really been able to get along with, Ruby and Yang considered him their brother, and Blake…he admittedly hadn't interacted that much with Blake. But Weiss was the only one of them to be openly hostile towards him after it was found he had an 'aura.' Which made what he was going to do a bit more difficult.
'You've faced much harder challenges and come out on top, you can do this!' he thought to himself before he reached forward and gently began to shake the heiress.
"Um…wha? Ruby, it's still dark," Weiss muttered sleepily as she opened her eyes halfway, she glanced around until her eyes met with a pair of blue glowing ones. She found her mouth covered before she could scream, she started to thrash about, but without her weapon she was unable to escape from the beowolf's hold.
'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!' Ash screamed in his mind, wishing the white haired girl could read his thoughts, he used his other hand to pull out his scroll from its holder on his sash and held it in front of her, hoping she would get the message that he wanted to talk and, to his relief she stopped thrashing. The aura-wielding grimm carefully removed his hand from the girl's mouth and she scowled at him.
"Ok, what do you want and why shouldn't I grab Myrtenaster and skewer you?" Weiss growled quietly, Ash nodded quickly, happy that at least she was giving him a chance, he opened his scroll and quickly wrote down his message and showed it to her. Weiss stared at the short sentence; 'Train me.' "Train you?" Weiss questioned the beowolf, he nodded slowly as he stared her directly in the eye, and Weiss briefly glanced around the dark room and the sleeping forms of her teammates and team JNPR, she looked back at Ash's scroll that he was still holding in front of her and took a look at the clock in the corner of the screen, that read 3:12 A.M. "…Now!?"
Cinder tapped her foot impatiently as she eyed both Emerald and Mercury. The White Fang members that had been helping to fight the king taijitu that had somehow made its way past their barriers had evacuated from the premises. Cinder had wished to have a word with her two 'friends' alone.
"I don't understand why I'm here. Emerald was the one who-" Mercury was cut off by a very irate Cinder holding up her hand in a silencing gesture.
"Your job was to secure the barriers," Cinder's firm tone left no room for any argument from the gray haired man. Cinder turned her attention to the green haired woman whom nearly flinched at her glare. "Do you realize how much of our plans you could have jeopardized with that stunt you tried to pull?"
"But Cinder, Anomaly is-" Emerald tried to justify herself but Cinder was having none of it.
"Anomaly is a vital component in our operations!" Cinder began pacing in front of her two cooperators.
"Cinder, all Anomaly does is capture grimm and bring them to that chamber that it is so secretive about. We don't know its intentions. We don't even know what it is!" Emerald tried to reason with her superior, but the attempt only seemed to make Cinder angrier.
"Look! I don't trust Anomaly either. But the only reason we're all still alive is because right now he sees us as useful at best and annoying at worst," The dark haired woman spoke as calmly as she could of this matter.
"Wow, it almost sounds like you're scared of him," Mercury commented. Cinder shot him a glare at that remark.
"I am! And if you two knew what he was capable of you would be too!" Cinder spoke in a serious tone. Emerald scoffed at what her superior was saying.
"Cinder, really? I find it hard to believe he's as dangerous as you're trying to say he is. As far as I can see he makes things float and can paralyze us for a bit. He doesn't seem any more dangerous than a skilled hunter," Emerald seemed to wave of Anomaly's abilities as nothing to fear. But Cinder's glare only intensified and sent a shiver down both her and Mercury's spines.
"You two were not there on that day. When I first encountered…that thing," Cinder seemed to be in a trance for a moment before she managed to shake herself out of it and reaffirm her strong stance. "If our plans are to proceed properly Anomaly must see us as allies, or at least as no threat to his own plans."
"And you are no threat. Are you?" The voice that cut Cinder off nearly made her shiver in contempt and fear. Anomaly approached, floating only a few inches above the ground. "The salamence is secure; I shall begin processing it soon. The blastoise, venusaur and charizard will soon be ready for a field test."
"It's still using made up words," Mercury spoke to Emerald in a hushed voice, but Anomaly seemed to hear him, as the quick twitch of his head would indicate.
"Do not tempt me human," Anomaly hissed slowly. Mercury and Emerald both looked surprised that the cloaked being had heard Mercury. But Cinder approached Anomaly with the intent of quickly diffusing the situation.
"Never mind him. You have full control over the processed grimm. Correct?" Cinder questioned; leading the conversation away from anything that would cause Anomaly to get…violent. Anomaly's piercing red eyes met Cinder's own amber eyes.
"I can control any grimm…the processed ones are just the ones I'm using because they have far more capabilities than those that formed naturally," Anomaly said calmly.
"What do you mean by processing anyway?" Mercury questioned-Cinder silently cursed the boy for entering the conversation once more.
"It is the word I have chosen to use for retrieving a grimm's lost power," Anomaly spoke coldly. Mercury and Emerald unsurely glanced at one another.
"Um…lost power?" Emerald questioned. When Anomaly looked at the green haired girl his eyes narrowed and she suddenly felt very small compared to the cloaked being.
"You're the one who tried to threaten me," Anomaly said in a voice that carried an air of malice. Emerald found herself at a loss for words at the voice of this intimidating creature. Anomaly glared at Emerald for a moment before she suddenly found one of her revolvers floating out of its holster, and pointed at her. "You tried to use this…tool on me," Anomaly words were calm, but the look in his eyes promised nothing but pain.
"She was out of line, it won't happen again," Cinder cut in, she looked from Anomaly to Emerald. "Will it, Emerald?"
Emerald nodded slowly as she stared at her own weapon that was being pointed at her. Anomaly stared at her for a few more moments before the floating weapon made a cracking sound. Emerald almost gasped when the revolver shattered right before her eyes and the pieces fell to the ground.
"Pick your fights wisely, human," Anomaly hissed before turning and floating back in the direction of their base of operation.
"I hope you're happy. You're callous actions nearly killed us all," Cinder hissed at Emerald, anger clear in her eyes, as Anomaly left it glanced over at the fuming Cinder-its eyes glowing red.
Well it's done, tell me what you think in your reviews, if you even want to make one, I'll continue the story anyway.
If you spot anything like spelling or grammar problems, or any character being OOC or anything wrong with how the chapter is structured tell me, to both make my beta reader's job easier and to help this story be the best that it can be.
Next chapter I hope to be a bit longer, and I hope not to take as long to make it so…we'll see. New computer so it should not take as long.
Next chapter maybe I'll try to show some interaction between Ash and the rest of the students, it's a bit hard since we don't know that many of the students but we'll see, maybe he'll at least meet Velvet. Also we'll probably be getting into the events of the episode 'The Stray.'
Until next time, which hopefully won't be too long.