Author's Note:
You know what? I need a beta! Unfortunately, right now, I don't have the time to look through people. Anyone interested and who's qualified to be a official beta, feel free to PM me.
After my speech, I walk into the dorm and pretty much collapse. Obviously, I took all appropriate measures to make sure I don't get identified as Eli/The Courier.
…
Poke.
Poke.
Uuugh, go away...public speaking is exhauuuuustiiiiiing….
Sharp-poke-AIIEE!
"W-what the fuck, Blake?!" I grind out as I roll over, glaring at the girl who just poked me with Gambol.
"Tell me why you pretended to be a faunus." Oh yeah, they figured out that the Courier was me. She pauses. "Also, you just collapsed onto my bunk."
"...That explains why the sheets smelled like perfume. I don't get how you can wear the stuff-your nose is a ton more sensitive than a human's, right?"
"Explanation. Now."
"...Who says I was pretending?" I bare my teeth and activate Wolf's Fang. "These 'ere choppers are a hunnred pahcent leegeeteemate, lass." I drawl. "I jes' don't always 'ave them." I continue in the same drawl.
"Keep that up, and I'll knock them out." She growled. "And what the fuck even are you doing? How are you doing that?"
"One of my skills gives me the opportunity to become a wolf faunus with my teeth being from a wolf. Now, how did you find out?"
"I was at your speech tonight. It was...enlightening, to say the least." She scowls. "You're just taking advantage of them, aren't you?!"
"I should hope you think better of me than that." I say, drawing a wince from her. "And no, no I'm not. I genuinely believe that even if the actual treatment was worse, the opinion of faunus would be higher without the White Fang as it is now. I also believe that a highly visible group of Faunus going out and doing Huntsman work would be a PR dream, leading to better opinions over time."
"...Why haven't you told anyone about this skill?" She asked.
"Weiss." I say bluntly. "Weiss is why. I accidentally left it on a few days ago, so Coco's started calling me Cani-Nova."
"...Who's Coco?"
"Oh, right. Leader of team CFVY, one of the people I ended up recruiting for your rescue." I scratch my head. "...Not that it worked…" I grumble.
"...If you're going to try to hide what you are, you should remember one thing… Nothing lasts forever. I forgot and it led only to strife." Blake tells me seriously. "Now, why did you use that disguise?"
"Can you honestly tell me that the Faunus would be as receptive to a 17 year old human huntsman trainees telling them they can be like Huntsmen, and all they have to do is join, train, beat up the White Fang and defend against the Grimm?" She winces. "Yeah, you get my point. It's far more reasonable for someone in their late 20s who's a faunus and also supposedly not a huntsman to get that message across." I pause. "I doubt I would have recieved 20 applications to join, much less 160. Only 100 military, but still, that's a lot."
She takes a breath. "While you're not wrong...maybe there's a reason they wouldn't?" She asks pointedly. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"...So do I, Blake. So do I. Now, no more talking. Sleep awaits."
"I thought you didn't need to sleep!"
"...Zzzzz…" I pretend to snore before sitting up when Blake pokes me again. "Bwuh?" I act as if suddenly awoken. "Blake? When did you get here?" I joke feebly. She glares at me before huffing softly.
"You're going to get people killed!"
"...I know." I say. "You know what else I know? I'm going to get other people to keep living." I pause. "And the people who'll die… they all know the risks, Blake. Just like those of us attending Beacon." I shake my head. "Is it right to prioritize them over future civilians?"
"You're not a great general! You're not some legendary officer who can guarantee that most or all of your men will come home at the end of the day! You're just-" I set a hand on her shoulder to interrupt her.
"Just some guy. I know. I'm just a meddlesome jackass who decided he doesn't like the way things are. And you know what? I'm proud of it." I grin ruefully. "The wheel was probably invented by someone who was too lazy or weak to pick shit up and saw a stone rolling." I point out. "Me being meddling could be the key to me starting a organization that saves thousands or millions of lives."
"Yeah right. There's only, like, 30 million people on Remnant." She points out.
"Yes. Millions. Millions of lives."
"...Do you know something I don't?" She asks archly.
"Suspect only, know not." I reply mysteriously. "Tell me, Blake, you read, no? How often is someone touted as unbeatable or something touted as unbreakable beaten or destroyed?" I make eye contact with her, my face grim. "A wise man once said, 'A one in ten chance? That's pretty unlikely. But a million to one chance? Now that's a sure thing.'"
"Who said that?"
"Some guy in a webcomic. Another saying: 'Once you prepare for the impossible, all that can defeat you is the inconceivable.'"
"...And who said that?"
"Me!" I smirk.
Ah, here we are again.
The crafting room.
How you have eluded me, O knives of actual beauty and strength!
I glare at the direwolf fang in front of me. It's almost like bone ISN'T the optimal material for creating knives!
Fortunately, I have a new technique I'm trying.
Trope abuse or not, it might actually work.
After all, this trope has been confirmed…
I dip my corrosion-proofed brush carefully into a mixture and slather it over the knife-to-be in careful patterns, and a larger part where the blade will be.
The bone begins to soften, melt and flow in those spots.
I apply my stainless steel knife to scrape away the edge, letting the acid leave it's mark elsewhere.
After a minute, I leave it to work itself down naturally and move on to whittling another normally. However, I wrap the handle in Sticky Strands(which were a biiiiiiitch to peel off the bolt) and then non-sticky strands.
I observe it.
[Acid Etched Bone Knife (85% complete)
400% Strength+Dex damage
?]
Huh.
I observe it again a few minutes later.
[Venomous Knife of the Wolf Spiderpion]
…
Holy fuck.
[Venomous Knife of the Wolf Spiderpion
Quality:Elite
600% Str+Dex Damage
Inflicts 7% Poison(Queen Arachne)
+20% Strength
+50% Dexterity
+40% Wisdom
With Dust:
Spins the dust into webbing that contains the effects of the Dust (Error:Requires Arachne souls to activate this effect)
Requires POWDERED dust to function.]
I pause, and then suddenly the notifications stream in.
[Bonecrafting has gained some levels! Now level 15
Auto-junctioned skill Chemical Smithing by performing a basic action
Learned skill Chemical Smithing
Chemical Smithing has gained some levels! Now level 5
Blacksmithing has gained some levels! Now level 15
Smithing Flair has been learned!
Smithing Flair has reached level 3!
Chemical Smithing level 5, 45% experience
+25% effectiveness of chemicals used in the process of creating a weapon or armor
+25% quality of weapons and armor created using chemicals
+2.5% chance of weapons or armor created having special properties based on special chemicals used
Smithing Flair level 3 12% experience
Decorating a weapon or armor grants +3% chance of special properties
Adding a word to a weapon or armor causes all properties to better reflect that word by 30%]
Those are...interesting skills to say the least!
I twirl the knife carefully.
Ooh, yeaaaah…. That balance is… perfect~
…
Okay, what the hell, why am I fetishizing over this weapon?
[Apparently, Ruby is a bad influence on you.]
Fuck off, Death.
[Fuck off, Dead.]
As much as I'm sure Ruby would love this, I already gave her the Talisman of the Rouge. I could give this to Weiss or Blake. Yang doesn't really need a knife(see also her fists), so I'm less worried about her.
….
As much as I like Blake, I feel like I should give Weiss first crack at this. She has more access to Dust anyway.
Ah! But first…
I focus, then imbue 5 Arachne souls into the knife, activating the passive trait and apparently increasing the stat bonuses. Nevermind the 3000 experience that cost me.
[Anansi's Fang
Quality:Unique
650% Str+Dex Damage
Inflicts 8% Poison(Queen Arachne)
+25% Strength
+75% Dexterity
+60% Wisdom
With Dust:
Spins the dust into webbing that contains the effects of the Dust!
Requires POWDERED dust to function.]
Okay, admittedly, it's kind of tempting to keep this.
Still! Weiss could even use this as her default. After all, the girl has two hands, and rapier/knife is a pretty standard combo.
Even if she didn't, it'd be a potent fallback option if she was disarmed or forced into a low-weapon environment. The bone composition meant it wouldn't be triggering any metal detectors anytime soon, which made it perfect for the latter.
I set it aside and begin working on trying to etch another knife the same way.
I'm sure that Anansi's Fang is almost impossible to replicate, but at least I can give Blake and Ruby matching knives.
-=-=-=-=Blake's POV=-=-=-=-
"I'm telling you, he's no good." Ren said.
I narrow my eyes at him. "And I'm telling you you're wrong." I say bluntly. Yes, I was wrong about Adam, but I remembered the signs he'd shown, and I haven't actually seen any of them from Hart. "He isn't a monster just because he used excessive force."
"He literally poisoned himself! In front of all of us. What if someone else decided to have a taste of his drink?"
"Then they'd deserve everything they had coming to them for ignoring the warning labels." I respond sardonically. "Just about the only label missing was a radioactive hazard sign on his cup. In order for it to be any stupider to steal his drink, his cup would have had to be possessed by a Geist or bleeding."
"He watched Roman Torchwick set his own crotch on fire and cracked a joke about it…"
"...Since my partner isn't here, it falls to me to say, 'Don't you mean Roman Torchdick?'." I smirk evilly as Ren blanches slightly.
"...I'm pretty sure he very, very slightly poisoned Nora earlier this year." I blink in shock at this one.
"...What."
"He said he needed something taste tested and offered her maple syrup in exchange. When I questioned him later about Nora acting oddly, he told me that prying on the subject could have disastrous consequences. Then later he actively poisons himself? Pretty obvious."
"...Again, what? I mean, she's obviously okay, so it's not like she could have been THAT poisoned. No harm's done, right?" Blake asked, head tilted. Fugu's poisonous, but people still eat it(albeit very carefully).
"...I don't like it. Why would he need to know what a poison tastes like? Why would me knowing he was working with poison put people at risk?"
"I mean, if someone snuck into Beacon and he poisoned them, that could save lives, right?" I offer feebly. Ren just looks at me. "...I didn't say it was LIKELY someone could sneak into Beacon."
"I don't like it." Ren repeats firmly. "I don't like it, and he isn't a good person. He practically declared that when we were in that warehouse! 'I'm not a hero, I'm an executioner,' he said."
I frown a little before shaking my head slowly. "...No."
"...What do you mean, no?"
"No. I trust him." I say firmly. "He's nothing like A-Nothing like that. Stop." I shake my head again. "Just stop and look at what he actually did. He didn't randomly lash out at the White Fang, even if there are plenty who would. He simply took every action within his power to rescue me. The only things I think he's guilty of are poor judgement and poor impulse control."
"...Perhaps you're right." Ren admits. "But in that case, I have to ask...what made him come to the decisions he did?"
I pause and cock my head. "...Desperation. No, more than desperation…. Desperation only effected this one instance. I'd say...stubbornness. More specifically, a stubborn will to live and a will to have those around him live." I say. "He's firmly convinced that he's at a disadvantage and thus seeks to make use of anything, and I do mean anything, that can give him the slightest edge."
"That sounds...concerning."
"At the moment, he's right… But what happens when he catches up?" I suddenly feel concerned. "Will he have convinced himself that he still needs every scrap that comes his way? Will he be able to see when he has enough?"
"...That's why he has you."
"What?"
"When the time comes, the four of you can put your feet down and tell him he's going too far, or that he doesn't need to do it anymore." He smiles lightly. "And hopefully that's soon. No offense, but frankly, even though I know I could beat him in a straightforward fight, after….that day… I find him a liiiiittle bit terrifying."
"Funny thing. After that day, I feel...safer around him." I say, looking off into the distance. "...I don't want to be friends with someone who's willing to die to protect me." The thought broke my heart a little. "But someone who's willing to kill to protect me?"
I pause.
"I think I can kind of live with that."
I have to abandon work on the third decent knife made with my oh-so-awesome new skills because of the time.
Specifically, it's morning. I have to meet with the others and grab breakfast. Even if I don't technically have to eat, I've always been a bit of a eater. Especially a stress eater.
As I enter the cafeteria, I see Ren and Blake speaking in a corner. They jump when they spot me. I swear to god, if they jumped any higher, their heads would have brushed the ceiling.
"Hey, Blake!" I wave. "I made you something."
[Venomous Fang of the Wolfspider
550% Str+Dex damage
+15% Strength
+45% Dexterity
+35% Wisdom
Inflicts Arachne Poison(5%)]
"Careful, this thing is poisoned."
"What is it with you and poison, anyway?!" Ren exclaims.
…"I'm sorry?" I ask.
"First you poison Nora-"
"That was one time! And I cut the dose to such a small amount that it couldn't hurt a CHILD! A aura-less child!" I protest
"Then you drink poison in the middle of our HISTORY class-"
"For the purposes of building a fucking immunity to it!" I respond heatedly.
"And then you hand one of your teammates a poisoned knife."
"...Two, actually."
"What."
"I have another for Weiss. It's...better, since I figured she could actually wield it with Myrtenaster rather than only have it as a backup."
"...Words fail me."
"What?!" I respond. "A knife is a perfectly good backup weapon! And as long as you don't accidentally cut yourself or use it in training, adding poison to your weapons is always helpful!"
"...And how do you expect Weiss to train with hers?" Blake cuts in archly.
"...Uhhhh…"
"I mean, this is similar enough to Gambol Shroud that I can use it, but… d'ya think that maybe Weiss would need to learn how to use a knife?"
"...I can give her one of the crappier ones to use during practice in it's place."
"You do that." Blake nods sagely. "And make them distinct, both by eye and touch." She pauses before tilting her head. "...Did you make sheathes for these?"
"...Uhhhhhh…."
"I'll take it that's a no." She grimaces before passing the knife back. "Make me a sheathe first. I'm NOT carrying around a poisoned knife with a naked blade."
"Aww, but Blakey!" I hear Yang say teasingly from behind me. "I thought you LIKED naked blades!~"
Blake blushes hard and forces the knife into my hands, making me wince as it scratches me. I place it in my inventory quickly.
"Aww, I guess Blakey doesn't want your blade. No more training for Greyhart~" Yang teases mercilessly.
"The fuck are you doing, Yang?" I ask, deadpan and trying to ignore the innuendo.
"I feel like things have been a little too serious around here. I just thought I'd...tighten the mood." I groan and I hear at least two other people nearby do the same.
Before the conversation can continue, I hear a rattle of glassware and look over my shoulder only to have to make my deadpan more intense.
"Right. Either the last remnants of my sanity have up and abandoned me, or Cardin's pushing a cart " I her r '"Jay. We can't tell ANYONE about this."
" 'We're all mad here'." Blake responds idly. "But that's definitely Cardin pushing a snack cart."
What in the actual hell.
Like, seriously, of all the things I didn't expect, this one was pretty high on the list.
About equal to the odds of meeting Nyan Cat. A little under the odds of punching a god in the face while having dinner with my wife.
No, wait, wrong thing. A little under the odds of me ever successfully obtaining a wife.
…
Creepy sadist ice cream girls are okay GF material, but not exactly good for ~ATH.
Murmurs go up among everyone in the cafeteria as Cardin begins offering them to people. He starts with CFVY, head bowed and muttering something unintelligible, then moves on to where Jaune, Nora and Pyrrha are currently sitting some distance from us and once again muttering something I can't quite make out.
Then he comes to us.
"I am incredibly sorry for the way I have behaved until now," He mutters. "It was unbecoming of me, especially the bigoted comments and actions I made and performed. Please accept these by way of apology. The tea is a catnip-peppermint blend." I blink at that before running some mental math.
…
She'll be fine. She weighs, like, 20-30 times as much as most cats, and catnip tea should contain little enough catnip to only buzz her.
Sure enough, she regards the cup with mild suspicion, shrugs, and drinks it. All that happens is she perks up a bit afterwards, as if it was a particularly strong coffee.
I glance over at Ruby and see her biscuits(or cookies, when not served with tea) to be gone. As expected from the Cookie Monster.
Things were looking up.
"You want me to what?" Weiss asked.
"Tell me your story." I replied. We were at a clearing not far from the grounds of the school, where I studied one of the trees I had felled, a diamond tipped knife in hand.
"Why?"
"Totems are not just symbolic." I state. "They are meant to convey a story. I want to tell your story."
Weiss freezes, then looks thoughtful. "What will you do with the leftover space?"
"Your story isn't over yet." I grin. "I'll simply update the totem whenever something happens worthy of it."
She smiles, then begins to speak. I let her words guide my knife, not thinking about the fact that what I'm about to do constitutes art.
-=-=-=Weiss's Story=-=-=-
I'll start with my parents.
Once, there was a man named Jacques, and a woman named Willow. Jacques was from a middle class family, and seemed to be a perfect gentleman with good business sense, having made enough successful investments to gather a few million Lien. So Willow's and Jacques' parents agreed that their children should date a few times.
Jacques was as sly as a fox, and not only managed to cause Willow to become infatuated with her, but charm her father into writing him and not her into the will. Shortly after the will was changed, my grandfather died.
By now it was of course too late for Willow, and she was stuck. Even if she divorced him, Jacques could afford to hire the best divorce lawyers. But he was still acting charming.
When my older sister, Winter was born, they were still on very good terms. As I was born, they began to grow distant.
By the time my little brother Whitley was born, the house was practically a social minefield.
In a way, I feel sorry for him. He's had to learn how to be as sly as Father just to get a moment's peace in the house.
Anyway, this story is about Weiss Schnee, and not the Schnees.(Gesundheit)(Hey!)
As I grew up, I became more and more frustrated by my family name. Not because I hated it, but because I wanted both to be more than the name and yet respected for the name.
So I learned to sing, in hopes of having my own accomplishments that nobody could take away from me.
Any instrument could theoretically be blamed on me having a better instrument because I was rich. My voice could not.
And...that's all that's worth speaking of.
(What about that scar?) (What ABOUT the scar?) (Seems kind of important to leave out.) (Oh, fine.)
When I was 16, after several years of training to become a huntsman. My father insisted on testing me. He had a massive, possessed suit of armor brought in. There was a team of paramedics and Semblance-based healers on standby while I fought it. It scored on me with it's blade after i lost aura, but before anyone could step in, I finished it.
I…
I barely passed. If I'd taken a second longer to beat it, they would have stepped in and Father would have forbidden me from attending Beacon.
I refused to have anyone heal this. As...as a reminder, and a memoir.
[line]
I nod as she finishes, eyeing my totem.
At the top was a carving of a woman not unlike Weiss standing next to a charming man who also resembled her somewhat. I had managed to carve in a snake coiled around the arm he was offering the smiling young lady.
The next image was one of Jacques and Weiss's imagined grandfather leaning over a desk. The same arm is patting her gramps on the back as the snake sinks it's teeth in and the grandfather has pen to paper.
There were three similar images. The first with a young child in Willow's arms, and Jacques hugging her. The second with him smiling down at Baby Weiss.
The third has him scowling and standing as far as I can carve him while Willow protectively clings to the baby Whitley.
The next carving has Weiss curling her hair almost shyly around a finger as her other hand holds a microphone
The final carving based on what she told me shows a tiny Weiss with blade raised against a massive knight with a sword.
I was careful to carve each image no bigger than 1.5 feet, so there's room for over a dozen more. I add in one for the Deathstalker, then one depicting her being chosen as team leader.
I consider adding something to depict our latest excursion, but it feels so WRONG that I instantly pull the knife away from the totem while I think about that.
[Fetishism has gained multiple levels! Now level 22
Woodworking has gained multiple levels! Now level 13]
I Observe the results.
[Tribute to Weiss Schnee:A Soul's Mirror
Carver bonus:
+50% Relationship gains with all Schnees-By-Birth
-50% Relationship gains with Jacques Schnee
-50% Relationship losses with all Schnees-By-Birth
+50% relationship losses with Jacques Schnee
Fulfills a Perk prerequisite
Gained Perk:[Reflections of the Soul]
+1 max level to Aura
Carvee Bonus:
Perm. +10 Wisdom
Perm. +10 Intelligence
Perm. +5 Charisma
Gained Perk:[Reflection of Myself]
Flaw Partially Mitigated:Hubris
Gained Skill:[Willpower]]
"It's...Humbling and inspiring all at once." Weiss breathes.
"By the way, I made you this." I offer her a (sheathed) knife and she takes it with a quirked eye.
"Ah, yes. The, uh, 'backup' you mentioned a while ago?"
"Yeah, though I recommend that one for a offhand. When you're up close, you only really need one hand for Myrtenaster. Besides that, if you modify Myrtenaster you should be able to use it with only one hand, even when adjusting what kind of dust it uses."
She bites her lips thoughtfully. "Uh, well…"
"Oh, and here's another knife to train with. DON'T confuse them. The one I recommend fighting with is poisoned."
"...You like your poison these days." She comments.
I grin and pretend to snap in remembering something. "Speaking of poison… I got you these chocolates!" I pull out the exquisite chocolates.
"...Really?" She glares at me, not sure if I'm serious.
"Do you have any idea how bad sugar is for you?" She rolls her eyes before grabbing a chocolate. I wait until she's eaten it to let out a horrified gasp. "Wait! The ones with caramel contain cyanide!"
She glares at me. "You're… a jackass." She deadpans.
"And you're a ice princess." I respond, making her roll her eyes.
"SHUT UP AND KISS ALREADY!"
"...YANG?!" We both exclaim.
"The one and only! I see you two are getting along better."
"You know," I drawl casually, "I never did repay you for calling us toddlers."
"Now, now, there's a perfe-"
"I wonder if something might happen to your hair care products."
"...You wouldn't have the guts."
"What would happen if a little bit of itching powder made its way into your conditioner?" I muse idly, and Weiss gets it and joins in.
"Or maybe a pack of glitter?"
"Some blue dye in your shampoo? I bet you'd look STUNNING with green hair."
"Or maybe some Ice Dust so it freezes your hair in place?"
"I-I get it! I'm sorry!" She yelps, wide eyed as we smirk, glancing at each other from the corners of our eyes before folding our arms at the same time.
"But Yang!" I cry, and Weiss joins in on the rest of my sentence. "All's hair in love and war!"
There's a moment of shocked silence.
Yang's jaw has dropped.
After a few seconds, she starts laughing her ass off and applauds.. "Alright, hair enough!" She yells between guffaws.
Me and Weiss both keep our casually smug expressions and body language, though our smirks grow. After five seconds of applause, I hold out a hand for a high five and receive it from Weiss.
"Okay. You're forgiven for calling us toddlers now."
She lets out a breath of relief.
"Now I have to punish you for calling me a bastard, and Weiss has to do something for you calling her a bitch."
Yang stiffens and I smirk as Bait And Switch reaches level 10.
After a few seconds of her panicking I take mercy. "You know what, nevermind. I needed to hear that. I'm off to grind, later!" I decide to try out the Spider Dungeon.
Author's Note:I admit...I wrote another another thing. It's a crossover with a book series that a good chunk of you have never heard of.
Be ready for a crossover with Callahan's Saloon.
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