Notes at the end.
Chapter 2: Highwayman
Funny how it works, honestly. One day, you're planning on going back to Combat school, and the next, you're on your way to Beacon academy! The most prestigious huntsman academy on the Face of Remnant, by a complete slip of fate!
Of course, getting there when you're fifteen isn't easy. Scratch that, getting there at all isn't easy. Since for Ruby, she had to take on Roman Torchwick, a well-known thief around Vale, considered highly dangerous.
Then again, she was saved by a Huntress, and not just any huntress at that, but a Professor at beacon. Who knew she'd arrest someone just trying to do some good? But of course, she was congratulated, and her efforts got her a talk with Ozpin, who offered her a place in beacon, and bada bing bada boom, here she was on a transport bullhead to beacon.
There should be emotions flying everywhere, happy, nervous, concentrated, determined.
One would not expect Ruby Rose to be completely blank, however. The elation of going to beacon, was the first stage, her excitement. Then came the second thoughts. "Oh gods, what am I going to do, This is actually happening!" And after that, The realization. "My friends are all at signal! What am I going to do? I can't make friends easily when they're all two years older than me!" At least she had her sister, right?
Speaking of her sister, she completely skipped over everything, and remained elated at the fact that her sister would be attending beacon with her.
But after praising her for a solid five minutes, some vomit on boots, and disembarking the Bullhead, she straight-up ditches her for her hollow friends! And what does that leave you with? A white haired Princess, or rather, an Heiress screaming at you for tripping on her quite massive cart of luggage. But her troubles didn't end there, as the Heiress proceeded to toss dust at her face, and expected her not to blow up!
Well, At least Jaune Showed up. Speaking of which, he did not look like the type of person who would be fighting grimm for the rest of their natural life. But then again, looks are deceiving. Just Look at Her for Gods' sake! Fifteen and underestimated.
And just as she was running out of things to talk to Jaune about, she spotted something else to talk about.
"Is he okay?" She asks, looking at the sleeping, or possibly dead figure on the bench beside them.
"Ahhm, I don't know." Jaune states, not getting closer. The person in question, doesn't move, with their head down slightly, concealing their face. Their arms are crossed, and their leg is on their knee. The Hat, is tan, but looks dusty. Scratch that, all of him looks dusty, like he just walked out of Vacuo. But it has a gold trim, a small pin of a sakura on the upper portion, as well as a beautiful feather sticking out of the small band on the base.
"Huh. We should just leave him." Jaune says, taking a step away. Ruby tilts her head at the person, and sticks her hand out to tilt the hat up a little.
Out of pure instinct, she retracts her hand using her semblance, and narrowly misses her finger from being grabbed.
The sleeping person woke up instantly, as his eyes darted around, holding his fist up in the air in front of him. He stayed Silent, however, as he looked Ruby and Jaune up and down. He took a very long pause when sizing up Jaune, and even a look of mild confusion. He lowered his arm and coughed a little.
"Ahh, Don't touch my hat."
"Oh.. Ahh, sorry about that! I was just trying to see if you were okay, you weren't really moving and-"
"Jesus girly, you didn't know." The boy says, pulling back the sleeve on his left arm a little, looking at a small watch on the back of his wrist.
"Almost time." He mutters, pulling his sleeve back up, and standing. Both Ruby and Jaune are sightly surprised to see that he's no taller than Ruby, and might be shorter, considering he's in boots. While she's inspecting him, her eyes drift downwards towards his hips, where his revolvers are on clear display for anyone to see.
"Ooh, What are those?" She asks, staring at the revolvers. Ryder raises an eyebrow, and asks:
"What?" Jaune stands there awkwardly, as he chimes in.
"What are you talking about, Ruby?" Ruby opens her mouth and thinks for a second, before just saying:
"Oh, well, Our weapons, of course." As she says this, she reaches behind her, as Ryder's Hands twitch quickly. He watches as the girl his size pulls out a Fucking scythe the twice the size of her.
"Woah.."
"Huh." Jaune and Ryder say at the same time.
"This is Crescent Rose, she's a battle scythe and a customizable High-Impact sniper rifle!" She states proudly.
"A wha?"
"So you're nuts." Ruby looks at Ryder, completely defeated. Jaune looks between the two, and almost says something when:
"Just looking at it, I can see you can shoot massive rounds, but depending on what type of dust it is… I just hope to God you don't use Gravity dust."
"I… Do." Ryder looks bewildered for a second, and says:
"The recoil alone would send you flying. I used gravity dust once, and I broke both my wrists." Ruby went from defeated to confused, to trying to stifle a laugh in just a few seconds.
"I.. I kinda use it as my fighting style. Ya know, flying to some Grimm and slicing them in half." She swings it effortlessly, making Jaune jump back a little. Ryder simply nods blankly and says:
"That's expensive as shit." Ruby opens her mouth, and looks down.
"It is." He nods and looks over to Jaune. Despite the fact that he was looking up to him, Jaune couldn't help but be mildly intimidated at the person in front of him. There was this look in those dull gray eyes that made him very uncomfortable.
"How bout you, Boy?" Jaune just opened his mouth and said:
"Ahh, Yeah, I have these." He held up a sword and shield. Quite simple, but effective all the same.
"Hmm." He studied them for a second before shrugging.
"Cool! What does it do?" Ruby asks, recovering from her expense crisis.
"Oh, its a sword, and shield. The shield collapses into a.. Uh sheath if I ever get tired of carrying it."
"Wouldn't it weigh the same?"
"The Mass Don't change." Again, Ruby and Ryder say simultaneously.
"Yeah… It does." Jaune and Ruby nod, while they slowly look at Ryder, who is standing there awkwardly, arms crossed.
"What?" He asks, genuinely oblivious.
"Your weapons! I was curious about them." Ryder nods lightly before hesitating for a moment. He waits for a second, and looks at Ruby's excited look and Jaune's seemingly relaxed body form. He sighs, and draws them out slowly. For him, at least.
The barrels were silver, along with everything up until the hammer, and grips, which are black. Holding them with his thumbs and index fingers, with the hammers completely back. He quickly holds the hammers, and pulls the trigger, slowly pulling the hammer down. Once they are, he spins them a couple times, too quickly for Jaune to process, and shows off the grips. On the insides, are an embroidered:
"Danny Wesson. Wyatt Nightshade."
"You see, these two here are StarLite-" He holds up the left one.
"And StarBrite." He holds up the right one. He spins them imperceptibly fast again, and crosses his arms.
"Model .357 Danny Wesson. They fire .357 Mag, any type of round, from regular to APIT."
"Huh?"
"Bullets that will fuck your day up." He continues. Ruby's eyes widen as she inches closer to StarLite and StarBrite. Ryder spins them again, and eyes Ruby.
"S-Sorry, I have a thing for weapons." Ryder looks away for a second, and says:
"The barrels and cylinders were forged with Ice dust, so they don't overheat." Ruby raises an eyebrow and states:
"I can't imagine you'd shoot that much and that often. Is it really that much of a problem?" Ryder gives the red girl a mean glare and says:
"Would they have Ice dust in them if it wasn't a problem?" Ruby's mouth opens, and her face and body posture falls.
"I-I suppose not." Ryder sighs and spins them once more, and holsters them. Jaune Purses his lips, and says:
"Pretty neat, I guess." Ryder regards him for a second, then scratches the back of his head.
"I also got a ten gauge lever action. StarBurst." Ruby's attention is regained, as she inches a little closer to Jaune.
"Really? I don't see it on you." Ryder just shrugs and says:
"It's with my horse."
"You have a horse?!" Jaune and Ruby pipe in at the same time. Ryder freezes for a second, before taking a few steps away, facing away from the other two, and takes out his flask. He takes a noticeably longer swig, of about three seconds, before putting the flask back in his poncho. He coughs a few times and wipes his mouth.
"TMI, Ryder, TMI." He mutters under his breath, briskly walking away. The two don't attempt to catch up with him, as he walks away.
"Huh… Weird guy." Jaune states, crossing his arms. Ruby just scratched her head, and looked around.
"Hey, where are we?"
-..
-..
"Allow me to keep this Brief-" Ozpin started. Ryder Nightshade leaned against the back wall, away from most other people. There was of course the occasional person who leaned next to him, but eventually shuffled off, obviously seeing that he didn't want to be spoken to or bothered at all. Honestly, he wasn't giving any attention to anybody but two people. One, was Ozpin, and the other, was a faunus he was semi-familiar with.
Blake Belladonna.
He was surprised to say the least, that the Belladonna girl was here, at Beacon with the people who are looking to do good in their lives. It was a place where people could train to become semi-decent people. Most of the time, at least.
So why of all people, and why of all places was Blake Belladonna here.
Ryder was going to find out, and he was going to find out today. Since for once, Fate threw him a bone.
"You assume Knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only bring you so far." Ryder snapped back to Ozpin, still eyeing the faunus.
"It is up to you to take the first step." Ryder grits his teeth, annoyed at such a short introduction. He glances around, and covers his mouth, saying in a low voice:
"I know what you are, Blake. I hope you know what I am as well." He spots the Faunus' bow twitch a little, as she looks in his general direction, as people flood out of the building slowly. He shoots a glare back, which she misses.
"We'll speak later." he mutters again. Blake struggles to pinpoint who is talking, scanning the area.
Ryder shakes his head, and heads over to the opposite side of the room as everyone else, approaching a door leading to the ballroom. He enters and closes the door behind him, heading out to the opposite side of beacon.
He's about to walk out of the front doors, when he hears a click of heels behind him. Ryder freezes in place and turns around, finding Goodwitch approaching him.
"You will not be staying in here with the rest of the initiates." She states, looking down on him.
"I figured that out an hour ago. Tell me blondie, where am I supposed to go?"
"It's Ms. Goodwitch to you." She firmly states, squeezing her riding crop tighter.
"Goodwitch… AIn't gonna stick. Besides-" He looks up to Goodwitch and glares.
"I don't have much respect for teachers." Glynda is undeterred and simply scoffs.
"You are to speak with Headmaster Ozpin at this time. I trust you know where his office is." He clicks his tongue and starts walking back, past Glynda.
"Yeah. I memorized the layout when I got here." Glynda waits for a second and rolls her eyes, beginning to follow behind Ryder. The two walk in silence, until they come across an elevator. Glynda walks right in, While Ryder just stands on the outside, looking at the elevator warily.
Holding the elevator door open, Glynda waits impatiently as she taps her foot on the floor.
"What are you waiting for?" Ryder shoots a mean look and says:
"Elevators are a good place to ambush somebody." Glynda's eyes widen as she flicks her riding crop, forcing a gust of wind to throw him into the elevator. Ryder's stature barely moves, as he slides into the elevator, and grunts. Glynda pushes a button, and the doors close. The two sit in uncomfortable silence before the elevator dings showing Ozpin at his desk, with a cup of what Ryder assumes is coffee. Ryder eyes the place suspiciously, before stepping in.
"Take a seat, Mr. Nightshade, we have a few things to discuss here." Ozpin takes a sip and gestures towards the chair in front of him. Ryder looks at the clockwork as he walks towards the chair, noticing the gear theme. Taking a seat, the elevator dings again, as Glynda descends back down.
"So, did you look around the school during your time here?" Ryder gives him a glare and leans forward a little.
"Before we got here, you told me I'd have a few minutes. Sir, I've been here for three hours, I could do nothing but memorize the layout." Ozpin nods a little, and says:
"I severely misjudged how long we had. Besides, the bullheads were late." Ryder gives a glare, and sighs.
"Either way, Mr. Nightshade, I called you here to discuss the… Conditions of your stay here." Ryder just nods as Ozpin takes out a few papers, and lays them out in front of him.
"So, your file here… Applied to Shade at sixteen, and were accepted, After a grimm attack on the school and surrounding settlements, you were appointed leader of Team NSHD (Nightshade). You lead them for about a year, before you and your team were dispatched east, to the very town we found you today. After an unfortunate incident, you and Professor… Henry Pat-"
"Henry Patrisnip." Ryder interrupts, crossing his arms. Ozpin nods, and takes out another mug from under his desk, and pours some liquid from the coffee pot. He pushes it over to Ryder, who eyes it, and opts not to drink any. Continuing, Ozpin says:
"Right. You and your professor were the only survivors of the incident. Two weeks after your return, you walked into class, and immediately shot your professor through the back of the head, as well as killing two of the other faunus students in the room. After this you ran and completely disappeared off the radar." Ozpin finishes, turning to a new page. He's silent, for a moment, before looking up at Ryder, who just nods and mutters:
"A very abridged version, but yea." Ozpin reads through the file and takes a deep breath out.
"Superior battle prowess, as well as diligence and an ability to keep calm under pressure. You never finished your first year."
"Right, but I was damn near close." Ryder abruptly says, crossing his arms. Ozpin puts a hand up and continues.
"We'll have to give you a couple tests, both physical and on paper to discern where to put you. We'll do that tomorrow. Now-" Ozpin closes the file, and leans back a little.
"About your conditions of staying here."
"I want to be armed at all times." He states immediately, without even a second of thought. Ozpin sighs and rubs his forehead.
"We can't do that. Not even the regular students are given that privilege." Ryder tuts and nods his head softly. 'Damn' could be heard escape his lips as Ozpin continued.
"You are to follow all the basic rules that students must. Get to class on time, do your work, and wear the uniform." Ryder gives a quick glance at Ozpin before he says:
"We are not tyrants with how you wear your uniform, so if you please, you can wear your hats and boots." Ryder nods slowly, as Ozpin pushes over a piece of paper towards him.
"Your special conditions are honestly much the same as any students here, only with more extreme punishments. You must also wear this." Ozpin pulls out a bracelet that looks like it would fit around Ryder's ankle.
"Shit." Ryder says softly.
"This is a tracking anklet. Your limits are the Emerald forest and here at Beacon. With permission, however, you may enter specific parts of Vale, as well as if you are accompanied by Staff or Students in a greater year than you." Ryder silently looks over the document, reading each part. Ozpin places the anklet on his desk, waiting for Ryder's input.
About two minutes later, Ryder pushes it away and says:
"So what about the minor issue with teams?" Its slightly sarcastic, but Ozpin waves it off immediately.
"That won't be a problem. You'll simply be on your own." Ryder leans back a little and scowls a little.
"Then what would I do for dispatch missions?" Ozpin simply takes a sip from his mug and says:
"Simple. You'll accompany another team for more difficult missions."
"That's a little… Dangerous." Ozpin nods his head and states one thing:
"It wasn't my decision to do so, it was the council that agreed that it should come to this. They agreed that if you died on a dispatch mission along with a team you've never properly trained with, it wouldn't be anybody's fault." He said it in a soft tone, as if to calm the Rider. Ozpin closed his eyes, and heard a light, dry chuckle. Opening his eyes again, he looked to see Ryder signing his name on the document. While his mouth was open, it wasn't in a smile, but in the form of his dry laugh. Ignoring the blank laugh, Ozpin says:
"So, you're with us?" Ryder nods his head, and accepts the mug on Ozpin's desk, still hot. He inspects it, as Ozpin states:
"I hope that once you're integrated, you won't go about defiling the name of the school." Ryder shakes his head, and tells him:
"Doubtful. For I have not yet begun to defile myself." He takes a sip of the mug, and immediately spits it out, spraying on the floor.
"That ain't coffee."
"It's not coffee." The two say at the same time. Ryder puts the mug back on the desk and Ozpin takes out a scroll.
"Here is your scroll, use it to call your locker and get into your room." Ozpin takes another sip, leaving the mug to his lips. Ryder takes the device, looking at it intently.
"How the hell did you get this?" He asks, looking the small device over.
"It was crucial evidence in your case, and arrest. I was just able to get it back for you." The Headmaster hides a small smirk under his mug, and puts it down, holding his hands together.
"Glynda will be downstairs to give you the run of the school. By the way, Mr. Nightshade, I would suggest you put on your monitoring anklet at this time. Don't worry, its waterproof, and works well with your aura." Ryder nods, and grabs the monitor. Its sleek, at least, and isn't really a bother at all. Putting it on just above his boot, he puts his pant leg down, covering it as he stands up, kicking the air with it on, satisfied, he puts his foot back down, as Ozpin says:
"I hope you enjoy-"
"Cut it. Just tell me if I'll be staying with the initiates downstairs." Ozpin sighs and says:
"No, you'll be having your own room starting tonight." Ryder nods and walks out of the room. He almost steps in the elevator, before he asks:
"Do you have stairs leading up here?"
"Why… Yes, but those are only to be used in emergencies." Ozpin answers, as Ryder slowly nods, stepping into the elevator fully, the doors closing as the two stare into one another's eyes, gray on brown. As the doors closed, and the elevator descended, Ozpin let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Leaning back in his chair, he turns around to look a;t the sunset and school grounds.
"Theodore… I thought you said this boy had silver eyes."
Later
Ryder opened up a locker, number 635, to be exact, and stares at the empty contents. Revolvers in hand, the cylinders were open, and unloaded. With shaky hands, he placed them on small hooks by the trigger guards. He removed his hands, and held onto the locker door, staring at the pistols hanging in the locker. Gripping the door tightly, he slowly shut it, hearing the mechanical lock start. Letting his hand go, he stood there, staring at the locker.
"Excuse me." Ryder hears from his right, seeing out of his peripherals the blonde guy from earlier, placing some of his things in the locker, including the armor he was wearing.
He was about to walk away when the blonde said:
"Hey, Wyatt, do you-"
"The fuck?" Ryder said, looking at the boy.
"Ahh, What?"
"The fuck did you call me?" He asks again, getting a little closer, having to look up at him.
"Wya-" In that instant, Ryder grabbed onto the boy's collar, and brought him down to his level.
"Listen here, civvie, I don't know where the hell you learned that name, or why the fuck you called me that, but let me tell you, If you call me Wyatt again you will find several pounds of lead in you. You will call me Ryder. Nothing more, nothing less." Ryder lets go of "Civvie" and walks off, not looking back. There was somehow less friendliness in his voice, leaving Jaune nearly petrified.
'C-Civvie?'
2nd year dorms
Standing in the middle of the room, there is clearly room for four beds, but there's only one. The room was on the top floor and at the end of the hall, most isolated, and mostly unseen. There were even cobwebs in the room. Rummaging around a little, the room was mostly picked clean.. Mostly. From under the nightstand, Ryder pulled out what must have been an extremely faded photo, from decades in the past. Looking at the photo, Ryder can't make out anything apart from four somewhat human shapes. On the back, is written in very faded pen:
'Go team STRQ!'
'Wow. Just the writing made them seem so.. Lively.' Ryder thinks to himself, as he places the photo on the nightstand. Looking out the window, he sees its become dark, and the Ballroom is currently lit up. Looking at the window, he affixes his vision to one particular person, who is talking to a different blonde and the smaller redhead from earlier. Openly scowling, he turns around, heading out of the dorm rooms. Through the hallway from empty rooms, he descends down two flights of stairs, and crosses a courtyard, before happening upon the exterior of the ballroom. He kneels down, on the opposite side as Blake is. Tapping in morse on the glass, he spells out:
"B-L-A-K-E. C-O-U-R-T-Y-A-R-D. 5-M-I-N-U-T-E-S." Taking his finger off the glass, he walks away, right past the courtyard. He heads to a slightly more Isolated portion of the school. A garage. Opening up the door, it slides up, as he sees his horse inside, Laying on the ground. Walking over to it, he kneels at its head, and rubs its snout.
"Hey, Starstreak, C'mon girl." The red eyes of the Mechanical horse light up, as it rises to its hooves, snorting a bit of steam as well as scraping the ground.
"I know girl. I missed ya too." Taking his mask out of his poncho, he puts it back on, and leads his horse out, walking back to the courtyard.
-..
Blake became more nervous by the second.
Not scared, not curious, just… Nervous. Her Cat ears picked up on the messages from earlier, all of them. Even the morse that she learned during her time in the white fang. Whoever was trying to get her attention, was succeeding. She stood in the courtyard under the single lamp, right next to the huntsman statue. Her attention was truly caught when she heard footsteps- or rather, the steps of hooves on concrete. Turning around, she saw nothing but the darkness and two bright, red eyes about six and a half feet in the air. Despite her faunus heritage, her eyes were betraying her at the moment, in the slight light and slight darkness around her, her eyes couldn't decide if they wanted to adjust or not. Hearing the low hum of machinery didn't scare her, but she took a step back trying to analyze it.
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" She calls out and asks, finding that the red eyes stopped moving towards her, as well as the clopping sound.
"Interestin'. You asked two questions that you ought to know the answers to." A voice says, the same one as before, only less restrained. She kept her eyes focused, as the figure in front of her stepped into the light, revealing an outfit she hoped never to see in person, along with a respirator on the face. Blake wanted to scream, but knew she'd only draw attention. She froze completely, unable to move even a finger.
Coming to Beacon, it was the last place she ever expected to meet him. The last place she expected him to be.
She was face to face with a Serial Killer. A killer that not only targeted, but specialized in Killing the Faunus.
'The revolving Faunus Slayer.'
..
So, this came out earlier than it should have. Cliffhanger!
I really don't have much to say here, apart from giving me some criticism.
Quote of the chapter:
"A man who desires revenge should dig two graves." -Unknown