Chapter 13

The Vytal Festival. It was finally here.

Silver wasn't going to be representing Beacon. That was a guarantee. So he would be going against both Beacon and other teams from the different kingdoms.

There was also going to be a special round. He would be going against Atlas's military robots, to show his skill and endurance. Ironwood didn't really like the idea, but when revealed it gained positive responses and excitement.

As for his first opponents… well…

Team CRDL wasn't going to be let off easy.

"And now. Team CRDL will be facing off against a very special guest." Professor Port announced through the microphone. "He is the first of his kind to be taking part in the Festival since… well, forever!"

Cardin and his team all tensed up as Silver walked though. He was adorned in his armor, which did make him look menacing. He grinned. "What's up, Winchester?"

"Ready to get your ass kicked?" He replied, swinging his mace. Russel, Dove and Sky all levelled their weapons.

Silver put his legs apart and slammed a fist into an open palm. The impact made a small shockwave, and he cracked his neck. "Alright, who's first?"

"Silver, as he goes by, is a One Man Army, the first to participate in this event!" Oobleck was also an announcer and was taking over. "His skill alone in hand-to-hand combat is unmatched, even with those who have their weapons. And for team CRDL, which boasts it's close range combat abilities, this may be an issue. Now selecting the environments."

Holograms appeared, randomly generating the environments they would fight in. Half the arena turned into a flat grassy field with flowers and bushes, the other into a dusty canyon.

"The match starts in three. Two. One. BEGIN!"

Cardin immediately charged and swung his mace in a wide horizontal swipe, but Silver merely ducked. Cardin kept swinging, and each time Silver merely sidestepped or dodged. Soon, all four members of the team were swinging, striking, but again, and again, and again they kept missing. Silver would occasionally punch or kick them if they got too close, eating away at their Aura.

Cardin got so frustrated that he charged and went for an overswing. But Silver just grabbed the mace, wrenched it out of his grasp and flung it at Russel, who flew back and slammed into the far wall. Eliminated through knockout. The crowd cheered.

"And the first elimination! And Silver hasn't taken even a scratch!" Port announced.

Cardin got even more angry, and in rage he swung a fist. But Silver grabbed it, crushing his hand before pulling it into a painful angle. Cardin fell to one knee, and as Silver raised his fist his eyes widened. The fist made contact, and in a loud boom he hit the ground, creating a crater. He then saw Sky and Dove charge at the same time.

He kicked Cardin, who was getting up, at the two and he slammed into them, he grabbed Cardin's leg and proceeded to swing around, the momentum increasing with each spin. Dove dived to the side, and Silver let Cardin go, who hit Sky. They both flew out of the arena, but their Auras were in the red zone already.

"And now only Dove of team CRDL is remaining! It doesn't look good." Oobleck noted.

Dove grabbed his weapon, a sword, and brought it up. Silver realized what he was doing and ducked as he opened fire with the revolver in his gun. As Silver ducked down, he ran forward, firing the whole time, before bringing his arm back to stab.

Silver clapped his hands together, trapping the blade between them. Dove's eyes widened as he stood up to his full height.

What followed next was too fast for anyone to comprehend, but they watched as Dove was flung out - straight at the rest of team CRDL, who were picking themselves up. They all slammed into the wall again, cracking the wall with the force alone.

"And team CRDL is eliminated, all via Knockout! Seriously, though, can we get a medical team there to see if they're alright?"

Silver raised his arms in victory, to the cheers of the colosseum audience. It felt… wonderful. Wonderful to have these people see him not as scary, but as… a warrior, a protector, a Huntsman.

Silver left the arena and went to the locker rooms. His next fight was that afternoon, so he had plenty of time to meet up with the others. After he changed to his regular clothes, he made his way to the seats and was congratulated by several others, including teams CFVY and JNPR (Yatsuhashi nodded. He was still sore about his loss to Silver in training). By the time he found his seat, team RWBY was already almost done with their fight with team ABRN of Haven academy. He watched as Weiss created a large slide of sorts from ice. Yang then launched herself along the ice, Blake boosting her momentum with Gambol Shroud. Yang then launched herself at the three remaining members of ABRN and knocked them all with one punch.

"Damn." He noted, watching the three slide down the protective barrier before standing up.

"Now that… was AWESOME!" Ruby cheered. They were all walking from the arena to the festival.

"I am inclined to agree with Ruby. That move was a stroke of genius on my part." Weiss stated proudly. Blake and Yang rolled their eyes.

"Well, who threw the final punch?" Yang smirked. Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind and swung her around.

"I know! I know! THIS little Sunflower here!" Silver appeared, and they all laughed.

"Silver! I saw your fight, that move with Cardin was awesome! I felt that punch from the stands!" Ruby said. "We couldn't see the whole fight though, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I missed your fight in the beginning, but at least I got to see the ending!" He replied, an arm around Yang, who grinned. "So, what are we doing now? Next fight's not for another two hours."

Ruby slouched over. "Anyone suddenly feeling very hungry?"

"Well…" Blake started. "I know a little place…"

Jaune groaned. "I think I'm gonna barf…"

"Me too…." Silver replied, head on the table, same as Jaune. Teams RWBY, JNPR and SLVR all sat at the food stall, their enormous bowls empty.

"Ooh, ooh, aim it at the enemy!" Nora, of course, had to say.

"Nora, don't say that. But Jaune, if you ever feel the urge…" Ren looked at him.

"Got it." Jaune gave them a thumbs up.

"Does that refer to me too?" Silver asked. Yang punched him in the stomach, making him clutch his mouth. "Why...?!"

"Don't be disgusting. But that would be funny…"

"Ahem. Would team JNPR please head to the arena? Like they were supposed to FIVE MINUTES AGO!" the loudspeaker crackled to life.

Pyrrha sighed and stood up. "That's our cue. See you later guys."

RWBY and Silver all let their food digest a little more before they stood up and made their way to the arena.

"50 lien they win." Yang bantered with Silver. "They have Pyrrha, after all."

He shrugged. "How about this? If they win, I take you on a date."

Yang raised her eyebrows. "Ooh, since when did you become a lady-killer, eh?" She nudged him with her elbow, and a slight shade of red went to his cheeks.

"Well, now that we're… official…" he replied, making air quotes. "I figured that this is what boyfriends do with their girlfriends."

"You're taking this with gusto!" She laughed, before jumping on his back and hooking her legs around his waist. "Onward, boyfriend, to glory!"

They all laughed as Silver broke into a run with Yang on her back, with Ruby close behind. Blake gave Weiss a soft punch to the shoulder before breaking into a sprint. Weiss shook her head, but a smile escaped to her face. "Dunces. All of them." she muttered, before following them.

Tai looked on from behind a stall. He smiled. He'd been following them ever since they left the colosseum. He saw so many emotions on their faces - happiness, excitement, love.

"Maybe I was a little harsh to the man." He muttered.

"Hey Tai."

He turned around and saw Qrow Branwen. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

He shrugged and grabbed his flask. "I got here a bit early, decided to look around. Besides, I gotta see Oz later." He raised it to his lips. "So are we cool?"

"What?"

"Your wine. You seemed fine at the convention." He drank.

"What convention? What wine?"

Qrow choked on his flask. "Wait… that wasn't you? Wearing the silver armor?"

Tai pointed back. "No, that's a student here, goes by the name of Silver. Why?"

He paled. "N-nothing. Say, what time is it? I gotta go see Oz now."

"Are you talking about my sixteen year old Vacuo Wine?" Taiyang started emitting a dark aura. "The one that mysteriously went missing?" His voice rose with every word. "The one I was told by Yang and Ruby that it broke?" He started stepping towards him. "The one that I was SPECIFICALLY SAVING for a VERY SPECIAL OCCASION?!"

Qrow responded by turning and running. Taiyang chased after him, roaring. "GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD!"

Qrow cursed under his breath. "I'm gonna get you for this, Silver."

Meanwhile, Silver felt a shiver on his back, the same one that came when Tai was after him.

Tai was given a second warning by the Vale police after a two hour chase that ended with a destroyed construction site, an exploded gas station and a crashed airship in the ocean. It was a miracle no one was seriously harmed (except a bunch of White Fang members in said airship).