RRC: If any of you somehow managed to review in the few seconds between the previous chapter and this one, kudos, I'll mention it next chapter. As is, I doubt it. On with the story!
So… Credit where it's due. My conversation with Ruby this chapter and some of the talk about Aura with Qrow is inspired, a lot, by xT-Zealot's "Soul" fics. The weapon's talk is entirely based off his ideas in "Soulforged", and the things about Aura I'll be bringing up this time around will be based a little bit on "Soulbound" and "Soul's Reflection" and the ideas of bonding there, though on less of a deep connection. You'll see the differences, if you go read his fics. Which you should, because they're great works. And before any of you bitch at me for using some of his ideas, I have full permission to do so from him, and I'm also accrediting it here now right at the start. Got it? Good.
… Of a Man Lost in Another Realm
"Well, you don't seem harmed by it… It might be a manifestation of another aspect of Aura, though not one you see in someone so young and inexperienced." After a minor panic attack, Qrow and I had moved into the kitchen where I could sit and he could carefully inspect me. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"And that would be?" Qrow walked away from me and sat down in his own chair, steepling his fingers as he leaned on the table. He seemed to be contemplating something.
"I hadn't planned on mentioning this until later, if at all, since you seem quite serious about not becoming a Hunter, however your unusual circumstances must have affected something. We have told you that Aura is the manifestation of the soul, yes?" Kind of stressed a lot, but right now wasn't the time to be a smartass, so I merely nodded. "Aside from the Grimm, everything has it, though faunus and humans have far more than the plants and most animals, the reason for that being unknown but highly speculated. Unimportant to this conversation, however. Spending enough time around something or someone with sufficient aura capacity can… for a lack of a better word, link you to them."
I blinked. "Wait, link? Like linking the souls? That sounds really deep and complicated…"
Qrow shook his head. "Only at a very minor level. It is seen most often in weapons, something that is kept with Hunters and Huntresses daily and used daily, which is how they become so adept in manipulating them. This is built upon on why we work in pairs, and teams built of pairs. Spend enough time around your team, and you can work better with them in battle or daily affairs, the same thing for partners. Normally, all it is a sense of general location and intentions. With partners, it is to a somewhat deeper level, allowing them to tell what their surface emotions are when they're close enough. The farther away you are from something or someone you've connected with, the less powerful the effect." I slowly nodded.
"Ok… that makes sense for as much understanding as I have on the subject… but I've only been near you guys for a week, barely at that." Qrow gave a deep sigh, rubbing his forehead in thought.
"Yes… which is what is worrisome and very odd. It would make sense, somewhat, if it was just Yang, due to what happened earlier this week. Ruby to a lesser extent, as she did participate, but even then it would be stretching the limit. But you have very little connection to me, and can sense me." I concentrated for a moment.
"And Zwei." Qrow blinked, before looking up at me. "What? I can feel him too. He's only a few feet from Ruby. He feels pretty sturdy actually, what is that dog made of?" Before I could continue on that tangent, Qrow slowly leaned forward, scrutinizing my face.
"Really now? Exactly how do you perceive us then?" I blinked, before shrugging.
"Some very vague outlines in my sight, and a general sense of touch or feeling, like my instincts. Yang feels like a fire, a powerful raging one, and has a yellow outline around her. Ruby feels incredibly energetic, and is red. You… quite honestly terrify me, you feel like death, and you're outlined in a silver-black melding of color." Qrow sat down heavily.
"Well, there went that theory." At my confused look, he explained. "That's far too detailed for any bonding of any sort. It seems like you've somehow developed an extra sense." Well… maybe…
"There were..,. a lot of stories about a sixth sense of sorts." Qrow tilted his head, motioning for me to continue. "It was really just something that hinted at the tips of our minds. Somehow able to perceive danger when it wasn't there, or just get a feeling of wrongness from a situation. And a lot of others different uses, depending. Maybe because my body and mental awareness was never exposed to Aura, it adapted with a way to tell of where it is due to the sudden rush into my mind? A way of coping with all of this?" Qrow slowly nodded, considering.
"That… might make sense. You're not feeling emotions, are you?" I started to shake my head, but then considered.
"Only when I'm actually talking to you… and you're responding. I can't feel Yang's, or Ruby's. I'd say this is more of a new type of perception then an actual bonding, as I barely know you." Qrow seemed to be thinking hard about this.
"Hmmm… maybe it's something different about you, as you said. I'll ask around with some of my co-workers tomorrow. For now, you should get some sleep." I nodded, standing and heading on back to my room. It was… disconcerting, feeling everything around me. I could feel what my mind somehow automatically associates as Yang and Ruby in their rooms, and to a lesser extent Qrow in the kitchen, and Zwei in the bedroom. At the very edges I could feel the plants, but that felt like background noise, in a way, then any actual understanding of what's there. This was going to suck, trying to sleep against all of this, I know it…
"Hey Ruby." The next morning, Qrow and I had sat down for breakfast. Ruby was in her room, working again as she had apparently woken up earlier and eaten, and Yang had already left to spend time with her friends. We discussed it, and Qrow had said he would look into what he had available, to find any similar incidents. In the meantime, I'd experiment with my new sense and see what it could do. After Qrow had left, I decided to go and talk to Ruby about something I had read.
"Oh! Hey Orion. Decided to stay home today?" She was cheerful as ever. Zwei was snoozing on her bed, docile around me as always, and I plopped down next to him and allowed him to shift and cuddle up against me. Ruby felt… odd. Like I told Qrow, she felt energetic, and almost like a flower. I could barely feel Yang at this point, though if I really wanted to I could probably track her, and I couldn't feel Qrow at all since he left, so it seemed like there was a limit if I didn't know someone well.
"Yeah, wanted to ask you a few things about my weapon." Ruby perked up at this, almost bouncing in her seat. "Such as when exactly you were going to tell me I would have to build it myself?" And almost immediately she froze, and began to pale.
"Uuuuh… how did you find that out?" I snorted. Really? You're not getting out of this one, Ruby.
"I work in a bookstore. A bookstore with a catchphrase of 'Home to every book under the sun.' I have little else to do most days but read books. Books such as ones on Dust and weapon design, because I was curious. And I happened across a paragraph that stated that for the best results, you would have to infuse your Aura into a weapon while you were in the process of building it. Now then. Explain?" Ruby just sighed and leaned back in her chair a bit.
"I had been hoping to wait until we were closer to completion of the design." At my frown, Ruby continued. "Alright, alright! Yes, you have to make it yourself, everyone makes their own, though they may have help. You can use one that someone made for you, a lot of normal folk do, but it isn't as effective. A weapon that you built, that you put your soul and time into… it's connected on a very deep level, like adding to yourself. It's part of what allows us to combat the Grimm so effectively, because our weapons are truly extensions of ourselves. We know everything about it, down to every last screw." I continued to frown.
"And you didn't see it necessary to mention this earlier because…?" Ruby pouted.
"Because I thought if I did you wouldn't do it! I figured that you wouldn't just walk away if I dragged you to do it when it was all set-up, as you'd feel bad to get that far along and then just drop it." I blinked. For someone who was apparently socially awkward, she was scarily perceptive at times. Guilt tripping me? Really? Not saying it wouldn't've worked, it would have, which is impressive, but I never figured she'd be that devious. I sighed, slumping.
"Ruby…" I could feel her tense. "It's fine. I'll build the weapon, since you seem to be pushing so hard for me to have one." And she relaxed almost instantly and blurred in front of me.
"Really?!" I couldn't help it; I laughed at her exuberance, waking up the dog next to me who barked as well.
"Yes, really. You're putting in this much effort, and it would be nice to have something to depend on in case of an emergency. But that leads to my second question." Ruby paused in her bouncing, her head tilted questioningly. "Why are you going so far for me? You've already done more than enough, both in saving me and giving me a place to stay." She looked away, suddenly nervous.
"Well, it's because you're my friend of course!" Nope. Not buying that. I gave her a stern look as I crossed my arms.
"According to Yang, you haven't personally designed anyone else's weapons at all." She blushed brightly.
"Yang, you sell-out!" At my expectant look, her blush went a little deeper as she turned away. "Well, you don't know the first thing about it! And you keep stumbling into bad situations! Like I'd leave my friend to fend for himself, especially when he's an idiot like you are!" I just threw my head back and laughed uproariously.
"Jeez, Ruby, chill, no need to get upset over a simple question." I gave her a sincere smile as she pouted over her shoulder at me. "Seriously, I appreciate it, honestly. I actually had a bunch more ideas yesterday I wanted to talk to you about. I'm not really one to rely on just one trick, so I was wondering if you would be willing to help me design a few more weapons." And suddenly all of her embarrassment was gone as a blur of rose petals brought her back to right next to me.
"Ooh, ooh, really?" I shook my head. I'll let Yang tease her about her reactions later.
"Yeah, quite a few actually. Some of it is a bit inspired by Ember Celica, but I was wondering if a few of my ideas may be feasible…"
Multiple hours were spent with Ruby. Qrow returned a few hours later to find me and Ruby on the ground in her room with several pieces of paper scattered everywhere. When I said I had a few ideas, I meant quite a few, and Ruby was actually unable to answer a few of my questions. Qrow was dragged into it and was later found by Yang sitting in Ruby's chair poring over some other designs and several reference materials from his personal library, with Ruby comparing multiple designs on the Dustnet to our written ideas. I myself was carefully sketching another idea. She was about to laugh, until I noticed her and immediately dragged her to the bed where another few sketches sat, as she had experience with a part of that particular idea. Soon she was drawn into it, and we spent into late afternoon all just sitting around Ruby's room designing all sorts of things and contemplating various theoretical ideas. Not just for me; it branched out into ideas for future students that Qrow wrote down to bring up with his co-workers later. Ruby was excited by all of it, and Yang herself was a little interested by the sheer variety of things I came up with it. She brought up a question as we began to pack everything together.
"Hey Orion… this is cool and all, but how much of this do you actually plan on making?" I took a glance at her. "I mean, there's a lot of stuff here." I hummed, and shuffled a few papers.
"Well, the main weapon would be the halberd that Ruby started on, with this idea integrated into it." I took a few sheets and laid them next to each other. That was actually the trickiest idea, but it seemed like it'd work in theory. I took another few sketches. "These ones aren't really in the way, and can be used in tandem with everything else." A few more. "Multiple copies of this one, as it's rather small and I may need to replace them." And a final few. "And… these two." Yang blinked, taking them all in as Qrow finished writing down a few notes. Ruby pouted at me, however.
"Almost none of those are any good at a range." I just raised an eyebrow.
"Should they be? I'm not that accurate; I can hit a target, but anywhere specific on that target? No dice. For emergencies, aside from the second form of the halberd…" I quickly skimmed through the stack before pulling out one final set of sketches. "Two copies of this." Ruby blinked.
"A little overkill for someone not willing to fight Grimm, don't you think? I mean everything else could be explained by your bad luck with people who know to fight, but that thing is kinda destructive isn't it?" I just deadpanned at her, pointing at Yang.
"And she isn't?" Ignoring her squawk of indignation at being called out, I continued. "And I don't plan on carrying those with me; I'll keep those locked up in my room. I'd rather have them and not need them then then need them and not have them." Qrow looked up from his final notes.
"Well said. Were you planning on staying for dinner, Orion?" I carefully stacked together my 'final' ideas in a separate stack from everything else and set it aside to be moved to my room later, contemplating his question.
"Actually… if you don't mind, I'll be heading out to The Club again." Qrow raised an eyebrow, while Yang began bouncing in her seat and Ruby tilted her head curiously.
"And why do you know where that is?" I shrugged.
"Tukson had me do a delivery run. I met the owner, and he's not really a bad guy. Good conversation at least. I had an idea I'd like to talk to him about." Yang immediately jumped up from her seat.
"I could give you a ride!" At mine and Qrow's deadpan look, she just grinned smugly. "Do you honestly trust him to go out this late by himself and not get into trouble?" Shit, she won that one. Ruby piped up, distracting Qrow.
"What's The Club?" Qrow was distracted at figuring out the best way to answer the 14 year old with a scythe, and with a quick jerk of my head Yang and I slipped out of the room, leaving Qrow to Ruby's tender mercies.
"So you'll drive, huh? With what? I didn't see a second car anywhere, and I really doubt Qrow would appreciate you taking his." She excitedly shook her head, hair flying everywhere.
"Nope, I got something better!" At that she opened up the garage, clicking on the lights. "Orion, meet Bumblebee!" I looked down at what was unveiled and let a small smirk come on my face.
"Oh... this could be fun."
Yang… is not the greatest driver in the world. Not the worst… but she treats speed limits like suggestions. Which was kind of fun at least. We pulled up to The Club, and she turned off the bike, her keys disappearing inside of her chest. At my deadpan at seeing that, she shrugged.
"Anyone close enough to reach in there will get decked for trying." I considered that, opened my mouth to argue, then deflated.
"You know what? I'm just gonna go with it. Ah, by the way. The people here know me as Opal, so could you refer to me like that while we're here?" Yang looked like she was about to laugh. "Shush you, I know for a fact that not everything Junior does is legal, like hell I'll give him my… kind of real name. Not a word. Just call me Opal while we're in there, alright?" Yang nodded, and we both wandered up to Tony, who was covering the door again. I gave him a friendly wave.
"Tony! How's it going?" Tony looked up at my voice, and greeted me respectfully.
"Opal. It's been well." He turned his eyes towards Yang. "ID?" As Yang fished in her pocket for it, I quirked an eyebrow.
"And you didn't ask for mine because?" He shrugged, inspecting Yang's wallet as she pulled out her ID.
"You knew the boss." A gesture had Yang pocketing her wallet again. "You're good to enter, just don't touch anything alcoholic. If you do, we didn't give it to you." I deadpanned at him as Yang perked up.
"Really? Not even trying?" He shrugged uncomfortably.
"Lady has shotguns on her wrists." Ok, fair point. A quick arm clasping and we went on by and through the doors guarded by another two men, who gave a polite nod that I returned. Instantly we were blasted by the music that the DJ, who's name I picked up as Kuma, was playing.
(-Play I burn – Yellow trailer-)
Yang disappeared rapidly into the crowd, and I shook my head, knowing that I'd easily find her if I wanted to leave, and so wandered over to the bar. Taking a seat, I gestured at the bartender, who's name I still have yet to get, but was ignored as Junior popped up around him.
"Opal! Good to see you!" A handshake and Junior leaned on the counter. "Just came by to chat? Or for a drink?" Thankfully, I had some money from Qrow from earlier in the week, as he had ended up giving me more than I spent for food each day.
"A bit of both. I'll leave the drink to you, just don't clean out my wallet." Junior nodded and turned, glancing through several drinks. As he did so, I almost instantly felt a small chill at my back, along with a small warmth. I didn't bother turning as I found myself surrounded on both sides by the twins. Soooo lucky I could sense now, otherwise I'd be a little terrified that they had managed to sneak up on me.
"And what are you doing back here?" That was from the chill, Melanie, meaning Miltia had the warmth. Good to know. I shifted my eyes to the twin in white, who was glaring at me while leaning on the counter.
"Getting a drink with a friend. As a paying customer. Someone that, you know, you don't attack because they're on you're boss's good side?" A 'hmph' came from her as she stalked away, leaving the area to just me and Junior. And apparently Miltia, as she took the seat next to me. I shifted my eyes over the twin clad in red.
"Not going to follow your sister?" She shook her head. "Thought you both wanted to spill my guts." A quicker shake of the head. "Ah. Well, as you're at least willing to listen, I do apologize. I didn't mean to see everything I did that day, but to be fair your sister wasn't exactly polite to me." A short nod was all I got as acknowledgement for my apology, so I guessed I was forgiven by the red half? At that point Junior had finished making my drink.
"80 lien." Fishing that out of my wallet, I passed the required money to him and he slid me the drink, which I carefully sipped. Hm, not bad. "Said you wanted to chat?" I nodded, as Miltia took an apparent interest, though she masked it with her apathy. I could see it in her eyes, though, a dull glimmer. And I was cheating, because I could feel the interest from her and from the burly Aura in front of me. Tuning out everyone else was actually kind of easy, as I just focused on only detecting Auras to a certain amount. Melanie and Miltia easily outclassed the majority of the people here, as did Yang who I could find in the crowd without looking. Surprisingly, Junior did too, though I guessed he had that bat and knew how to use it for a reason.
"Yeah, just a thought I had yesterday that I decided to bring up with you. This place doesn't have an official name, does it?" At Junior's head shake, I continued. "I looked up your name. Hei Xiong means 'black bear', doesn't it?" A nod. I finished my thought. "Soo… why don't you name this place 'The Bear's Den'? You already have a bear theme." Junior thought for a second, then groaned and slammed his head on his forearms on the counter. Miltia just smirked at her boss.
"Why didn't I think of that?" I shrugged as he looked back up. "Right, I got a few things to do. You. You get free drinks up to a certain amount of lien each night. You need a favor or something, feel free to ask. I think you and I are going to be good friends. If you'll excuse me." I shrugged as he walked away, gesturing to a few of his men. I tilted my head to look at Miltia.
"You're rather quiet, aren't you? I know you do talk, I've heard stories." Miltia just shrugged. I quirked an eyebrow.
"Alright then, here's a question: who taught you?" At her perplexed look, I continued. "I can feel how much Aura you have, it's not a bad amount. And you serve at a high rank for Junior's business, so obviously you and your twin are a cut above everyone else aside from him." She shrugged again.
"Self-taught." I blinked. Really? That… was kind of impressive.
"Both of you?" A nod from the quiet girl. "And you unlocked your Auras yourselves?" Another nod. "That's… actually awesome. Like, damn. I think you could probably match some of the students at Beacon, and you're both self-taught? Nice." She blushed a little at the praise. I chuckled, turning back to my drink. As I slowly finished it, I could feel Yang approaching me. I spun in my chair to see the blond with a wide smile on her face.
"There you are Opal! And you got a girlfriend while I wasn't looking? I feel betrayed." Miltia began to glare at her and I sighed.
"Now Yang, what have I told you about this unreasonable jealousy you feel when you see me talking to other girls?" Miltia gave me a look as Yang just gaped at me. I laughed. "Relax, both of you. Yang, this is Miltiades, an executive worker here. Mil, this is Yang my roommate." Both relaxed at that, before Miltia tilted her head at me.
"Mil?" I shrugged, sliding the glass back as I stood.
"Quicker to say. You don't mind, do you?" Another shrug. Ah well. "I'll see you around. Come on Yang, you're driving." With that I followed the blond woman out, waving over my shoulder at Miltia. As we walked past, I could see Melanie was wandering around the dance floor, dancing in tune. Meh, she'll get over her grudge eventually. Yang and I walked outside and got onto her bike, her pulling out the keys as I settled in behind her.
"You make friends with some odd people, 'Opal'." I glowered at her back.
"You have no room to talk, miss 'Hair-Trigger Temper'." Before she could start the motorcycle she whirled to face me, stunned.
"Did you just-?" I cut her off.
"Don't we need to head back before Qrow takes your head off since you have school tomorrow?" A quick check of her scroll had her blanching.
"Oh crap, I completely forgot when I brought you out here!" I laughed as she rapidly turned back and revved the bike. It didn't surprise me at all that she blanked about that, but I decided it'd be funnier if she did bring me out here. I'd keep her from the drinks, so she could realize how she messed up. Yang turned rapidly and we were off down the street, the only sound being that of the bike underneath us.
I can always use more friends. And at least Miltia is willing to talk. Kind of. Meh, Junior's at least somewhat nice. And hey, now it actually has a damn name.
AN: We'll end there. So, my double update for you folks! Some thoughts before you go:
Weaponry: As said, I have multiple ideas. Like, a lot. Some of them I'll use, everything else is being tossed aside. Yeah I'll have multiple weapons, but only one really big one, the rest are small arms I can carry on my person. I don't have the time or mindset to focus on just one weapon, I prefer having options.
The Bear's Den: Credit to Interested Guest, who I responded to last chapter, for this idea name. It sounds perfect, and it fits, so I'm using, with credit given to him/her/them. Thank you so much!
Sensory Capabilites: A lot of you may get pissed at this. But I'll just point out what it is here. It's essentially an overlay of my normal ones. Aside from feeling people around in a set area, people I'm close to I can get a vague location on. I can also decipher surface emotions from that sense, and a vague idea on what type of person they are and maybe their semblance. The Grimm are capable of being sensed, they feel like voids in the world to me, rather jarring that will be when it pops up. Not much use in combat aside from vague intentions from my allies, as I am completely unable to sense the intentions of the Grimm, but I'll see some other uses of it later.
Soul binding: Yeah… go read "Soulbound" by Zealot. Once again, credit to him for the original idea. My twist on it is a bit less deep then his, and a bit more spread out. Orion's odd sensing is abnormal entirely from the normal binding process, so he feels things differently. So yeah, enjoy.
"Hair Trigger Temper": If I'm the first person who thought of it, shame on you. That was an easy one.
Next time! More tales of the book store, and more time spent at The Bear's Den! And maybe we'll see another character appear! I'm stuck between a brunette, a redhead, or a heterochromatic character, what do you folks think? Please review!