Roy was slumbering peacefully when he was awakened by a brisk knock at the door. Grumbling sleepily, he rolled out of bed, landing with a thump on the floor of the room. He slowly moved to the door,
"Who is it?" he asked groggily
"It's Prof. Mignonette, I thought I should wake you and bring you some breakfast!"
Roy came awake immediately at the mention of food and opened the door. There stood Lance, beaming and carrying a tray of food, "You've been sleeping for quite a bit, I thought you should eat something."
Roy nodded in thanks and, taking the tray began to dig in to the food. It was a modest breakfast of eggs and toast with a few slabs of beacon, but it tasted so good that Roy finished it in short order and sat back with a content sigh.
"That was delicious, my compliments to the chef" he said.
Lance chuckled and nodded. "Well thank you."
Roy stretched and yawned, "How long have I been asleep?"
Lance stroked his chin, "I'd reckon about 3 days."
Roy's eyes widened. "3 days?! I have to get going!"
he began rushing around the room collecting his belongings. He made a beeline for the door, but Lance stretched his arm out and blocked Roy's path.
"Whoa there! You can't go out into the wilds of Remnant in your state," his tone was suddenly dead serious, "It's suicide going out there with the amount of hours you stayed up and the meals you've skipped, you need to stay and get your strength back."
Roy began to protest, but Lance cut him off, "Kid, look at yourself in the mirror."
Roy turned to the small mirror hanging above the bedside table and was startled by his reflection. His faunus ears were bent backwards in protest and his hair was tousled every which way. His eye was still bloodshot and the circle under it was almost a dark blue.
He rubbed his eye to clear the sleep from it.
"I'm sorry sir," he said softly, "I have to go."
Lance looked him up and down as if measuring him up, he sighed and stood aside and let Roy by, "I just don't want to see another young huntsmen swallowed up by a mission."
Roy paused and looked back at Lance "I don't either" he said.
He meant it.
Roy closed the door to Signal academy behind him, Μόνος hanging at his waist and his knapsack on his back. He took in a breath of brisk morning air and started walking.
Soon he'd made his way to the edge of vale and stood at the city limits staring at the edge of foreverfall forest ahead of him. The black trunks and crimson leaves seemed to beckon him, the way the sun played across the blood red leaves taking his breath away.
He stepped off the paved road of vale onto the dirt track of the wild. His heart leapt and he broke into a walk, then a jog, then a full-fledged run. The wind whipped through his hair and his eye watered at the sudden cold of the air. He swept into the forest and tore down the dirt road for who knows how long.
He finally stopped for air, leaning against a tree and breathing in great gulps of air. He ran his hands up and down the rough black bark, reveling in the peace of the forest. once he'd regained his breath and stamina, Roy started to walk north.
As he rounded a large tree a couple of minutes later, he heard the rustling of leaves and the crack of a dried stick coming from behind him. He didn't turn around but swiveled his ears in that direction.
Reaching down he loosened Μόνος in her sheath, his grip tightening on the handle as he heard the sound again directly behind him.
Suddenly, He drew Μόνος with a lightning fast flick, whirling around he slashed once.
The severed head of a beowulf fell to the forest floor with a thud, followed by its body a second later.
Roy quickly returned Μόνος to her sheath with a brief twirl. He regarded the severed head of the Beowulf with a kind of morbid fascination. It lay staring at him sightlessly with it's dead red eyes, the mouth lolling open as it began to dissolve into a thick black mist. Roy shivered slightly and continued heading north.
He walked north for several days. along the way he had several close call with the creatures of grimm and many a night was spent tied to a tree branch, hoping the roving packs of beowolves and ursai wouldn't notice him.
He eventually reached his destination, a small smuggling port on the coast of Sanus, just as spring really began in earnest. When he arrived, he talked to the keeper of the local bar about where he could find a smuggling vessel headed for Atlas. The man had been willing to say for a few lien,
"Well there is one crazy enough to try it, try looking at dock C" the man said gruffly.
After thanking the barkeep and paying the him, Roy headed down to the docks where he found a small airship parked in the C docking bay.
It was a quaint vessel with a copper hull and large, wing like sails fanning out behind the vessel. Near the back between the sails, Roy could see a door that led to the small cockpit.
"She's a right beauty isn't she" a voice spoke from behind him.
Turning around Roy had to gaze upwards to look the tall woman behind him in the eyes.
"Hello," he said, "I take it you're the captain?"
The woman grinned. "Sure am!" she replied.
The woman stood about six feet in height and had vibrant purple hair that was pulled up in a thick ponytail that fell almost to the ground. Her eyes were pink and sparkled with a fierce light.
"So," the captain began, "What can I do you for?"
Roy smiled, "I need passage to Atlas."
The gleam in the woman's eye grew brighter.
"Ooh that's a fun one" she said. "It's not easy though and it'll cost you a bit more."
Roy raised an eyebrow "How much?"
The woman played with her ponytail, "Hhmmmm, well given the time for the voyage and the fuel….500 lien."
Roy winced inwardly, that was basically half of what he had. He nodded, "Sounds reasonable."
The woman's face lit up, "Well alright then, when would you want to leave?"
Roy grinned sheepishly "Now?" he said tentatively.
The captain guffawed, "I'm good with that! All aboard that's going aboard!"
Roy walked onto the airship and felt the engines roar to life beneath him as the captain walked up behind him. "Didn't catch your name, I like to know my passengers before I leave."
Roy laughed, "Understandable, my name is Shiroi Arashi but you can just call me Roy."
The woman shook Roy's hand fiercely, "Nice to make your acquaintance Roy, you can call me Aster" With all affairs in order, the small vessel The Dusty Daydream set out for Atlas.
Look there! In the darkness! is THAT A SHORT CHAPTER!?
A bit yes, apologies for the shorter ones, view them as set up for more adventures to come! As always, if you something that you didn't like or something that needs to be fixed, let me know in a review! thank you for your support!
Until next we meet!