Welcome to Chapter 33.
Nothing to really say. RWBY started back up and the current episode could be... BETTER for lack of a better word...
For a lack of a better PHRASE because 'MUCH BETTER' comes to mind, holy shit I had problems with it.
Finishing up stage 3 and adding some more words than usual.
See ya at the end.
~NRK~
Kakashi considered it. "You believe that will work?" he asked, getting a frown from Weiss.
"I don't believe any of our plans will work, not completely," she said with a hand gripping her chin. "The thing is, we need to use moves that do their jobs. Not ones that will really end a fight."
"It's all a machine blueprint, basically," Winter said and Kakashi nodded.
"I get that," he said. "But do you think this entrapment move will get what we need on its own?" Kakashi asked with a narrowed expression. "It's a good move but we need 'insurance' if you will."
That's where Whitley said something that got their minds working.
"What if…" the boy began. "What if you…"
Far away, Obito dulled his senses to the best of his ability, not trying to listen in on the Schnees' planning.
He was thankful that his hearing hadn't been enhanced by his new traits yet. He wanted this test to be as open as possible for results.
He thought over his choices for this fight before he felt a presence at his side.
"Hello!" A voice before him said, getting his eyes to open to see salt and pepper speckled hair, good skin, and green eyes. "Nice to meet you, young man. Name's Spruce."
Obito blinked at the man. "Akame," he said simply, giving the man a raised brow. "Can I help you, Mr. Spruce?"
"No, no, no, Spruce is just fine," the man waved off the politeness in the boy's tone. "My last name's unimportant. What is important, though," he grinned, perfect whites showing in the light. "Is that I want to talk to you."
"Any of my rudeness aside, I'm soon to be fighting at any time," he said, tilting his head in the directions of the Schnee siblings. "I don't exactly have as much time to speak and chat."
"I see, I see," the man observed him and Obito meant really observed him.
He watched the brunette's stature and resting position. His eyes seemed to eat up everything before him before he tapped his chin while nodding his head.
"You seem familiar with observing people," Obito said, getting a smirk out of the man as he turned his eyes up and saw something. "Yes?" the younger male asked, concerned.
Spruce brought out a notepad and seemed to blur his hand over the pages, long strokes, small circles, and gentle curving were the normal pattern.
He grinned. "You, my well-muscled friend, have great presence, especially when the light hits you just right, right where you stand," Obito's curious raise of a brow told him everything he needed to know. "You're right, though, unfortunately. You've a fight coming up soon. So how about we take this to the hot springs in the third cart?"
Obito considered the man before him, his tan cargo pants and floral shirt might have said he was a casual passenger but Obito noted the difference in the man's feet.
"I get the feeling you dodge people a lot," instead of being surprised like he expected the man to be, he grinned. "You're an odd one," Obito said with a sigh before shrugging. "I may be taking a shot at the hot springs tonight, maybe we'll meet."
"Gotcha," the man pointed his pen at the younger man before smirking. "Nothing shows one's true colors like an open bath."
"I get the feeling you say that, a lot."
"Your intuition would be correct!" Spruce said before he looked over Obito's shoulders. "And very potent, they're coming."
Obito nodded as he turned to his to-be students, noting that Winter was speaking with Rowen while Whitley stood off to the side of the battlefield, a nervous swallowing being followed by a firm frown from the boy.
"It seems like you guys took my advice correctly," Obito said with a slight smirk. "Good, it means that you guys will be a rather good couple of students, logically."
Weiss preened while Kakashi chuckled.
As they came to the center of the battlefield, Obito raised a brow at Winter standing in the referee box.
'So that's how it is, huh?' he smirked a bit more. "Guess Rowen's not our referee this time."
"He is not," Winter nodded. "Is there an issue?"
"No, I'm perfectly fine with this set-up," Obito said with a shrug and a nod. "Are you two ready to begin?"
Weiss held her rapier aloft as she moved behind Kakashi, the distance between the two of them about three meters.
Winter held an arm behind her back while her other raised.
"This final fight will be between Schnee siblings, Alabaster and Weiss Schnee and their mentor, Akame," she said, projecting her voice. "This will be Stage 3, a no hold-bars match in which either side may use what is at their disposal for their advantage! The rules of the field will be the regular besides those new additions."
Obito nodded at that as he Tempered his arms, Kakashi and Weiss at the ready as the former got into stance while the latter's eyes narrowed.
"All sides ready?" Winter asked. "BEGIN!"
Her hand came down.
Obito jumped back as Kakashi's lightning dog came flashing across the battlefield.
The brunette barely had the time to land before he was down on his hands and feet, the Raiken zipping past him once more.
'It's faster than before!' he realized as he side-stepped it before flipping up and over it as it seemed to just instantly shoot back. 'Is it Weiss's glyphs? Has she learned how to make them small for pure use?' he wondered as he continued dodging, not feeling nearly as much Aura as he did before when she made unnecessarily large.
He swung his hand out to dispel it only to find his arm blocked by Kakashi.
Obito tossed their bodies to the side as the Schnee's lightning attack on him curled around his friend and came for Obito's head.
He kicked Kakashi off before windmill-kicking the electric hound out of existence, foot coming down onto the floor to crack it.
His eyes widened as he saw Kakashi kneeling with his hand out, a glyph beneath Obito's foot pulling him down.
Weiss surged forward, stabs with her rapier coming towards Obito's torso.
Despite the gravity laid upon his foot, Obito's hand came up to bat aside the strikes, the girl's weapon came up in a slash that Obito allowed to greet the back of his forearm.
Weiss's eyes widened as a pulse of Aura set her weapon flying.
Obito raised a brow as her gaze refocused and her hand shot out towards him, a glyph forming on his body before he was sent flying back by it, Kakashi's grip on his foot disappearing as soon as he did.
Obito smirked at that, flipping over mid-flight before bringing his feet down towards the floor.
His form was shadowed by the light of a glyph below him and he crossed his arms as light shot into his eyes.
Disorientated, Obito had enough senses about him to roundhouse kick an object of lightning, eyes closed as he bled off his spinning momentum with a little slide.
Weiss nodded at that, the man she'd chosen as her mentor was spectacular in so many ways, she felt proud she was able to pull this off as she jumped back towards her weapon, flicking her hand in front of her to form a glyph that granted her protection as she reclaimed Myrtenaster.
Obito surged Aura to his eyes and they opened in an instant, little problem with eyesight as he raised an arm to block Kakashi's ax kick.
He threw him off and jumped back as an ice spire shot up between him and his old comrade.
'She's learning to cover both her retreat and partner's defenses,' Obito noted with some pride as he landed, arm reared back. 'Good!'
He shot it forward and Kakashi barely had enough time to see it before he was grabbed by an oddly-clawed Aura hand Extension.
Weiss's eyes widened as her oldest sibling was thrown into her glyph before shattering it and slamming Kakashi's body into her own.
"Not bad," Obito said as he walked towards the two, Extension receding back to his Aura. "With Kakashi handling up-close tactics and on-the-fly planning, Weiss can handle range and strategy. I'm impressed," the to-be dragon said with a pair of claps.
Kakashi got up while also helping Weiss to her feet, the girl grimacing before nodding. "Thank you," she said as she held her hand out.
The area around Obito cratered, purple energy pushing down on the young man…
Who kept walking towards the two Schnee's with nary a slip in his step.
~NRK~
"Okay," Yang said with awe. "Now that's badass!"
Qrow nodded with a smirk while Taiyang chuckled.
"Gods, he's like a DF character!" the man said and Yang and Ruby gasped.
"He is!"
~NRK~
"Never thought I'd see a Broly move in real life," Marrone said, long since done with paperwork and stunned. "Gods, that's just so freaking cool!"
Larry nodded furiously, eyes shining.
"Ya think he could pull off going through a blast?!" the awed man said.
"I hope!"
Ochre and Liza watched the TV with shakes of the head.
Boys.
~NRK~
With how things had been going, half the class had chosen to go home while the rest chose to do so before coming back for the largest sleepover many of them had ever had.
Coco was thankful for the fact that Ochre was also watching this broadcast, having called her sibling to let her know what was happening.
So she was there for it all, the crinkling of chips and snaps of soda filling the room moments before these fights began.
"I'm sensing an immediate, painful, counterattack," Caesar said with a grin as Obito walked through gravity.
"No diff!" Coco shouted, much to the cackling of the blond teen. "My guess is on a ninja vanish!"
"I'm calling instant transmission!" someone said.
"He's gonna pull a Cobra!"
"Nope! Time skip!"
Velvet barely could make heads or tails of whatever the hell everyone was saying.
'Honestly, you guys watch too many cartoons,' she thought with a roll of the eyes.
~NRK~
Obito rolled his shoulders before nodding to his hand.
Kakashi only had a scant few moments of consideration before Obito's hand gripped the back of his head, the one in front of them disappearing into wisps of black.
"... Mercy?"
"No."
That grab was released and a palm strike was sent to the middle of his back, sending the former heir sailing.
Weiss squawked as Obito turned his gaze on her.
"N-Now," she swallowed as she took several steps back. "We can tal-"
He was in her guard and gripped her by the shoulder.
Kakashi's flight turned into a roll that he recovered from just in time to see Weiss flying at him.
Jumping up, he let out an 'oof!' as he caught her and his feet dug into the battlefield before coming to a stop three meters after.
Weiss's head lulled a bit and Kakashi chuckled nervously as Obito walked towards them once more, eyes on the prize.
"Oh he's seriously not going to let us have another easy go at him," he said as he set Weiss on her feet, settling her a bit. "Weiss, we've gotta use plan S."
The heiress shook her head some before looking at him. "... Alright," she said as her eyes trailed to the side before back on Obito. "You need to keep his attention."
Kakashi nodded before glyphs appeared over his hands.
Fire raged in one while wind swirled in the other. The glyphs beneath the elements moved down Weiss's oldest sibling's hands to his wrist before choosing to stay there.
Kakashi clenched his fists and the elements raged tighter.
"I got this," he said as blurred towards Obito, trails of glyphs beneath his feet.
Obito looked at him before sending a kick at his comrade, Kakashi's wind-covered hand swung out and the two forces collided.
Weiss grit her teeth and raised a hand in front of her eyes, the harsh blowback of the collision obstructing her view.
'Focus!' she thought as her hand came forward and a glyph appeared over it. 'We've got to do this now.'
Her blue eyes glowed brightly as she brought that hand around, glyphs trailing in its wake.
Back in the middle of the battlefield, Obito and Kakashi engaged in ferocious taijutsu.
The brunette dodged under a haymaker before batting aside a flaming palm strike. Obito's knife hand was gripped by wind and he leaped over Kakashi as his flaming fist came at his face.
Their forearms crashed together when Obito landed and the younger man noted how little struggle Kakashi had had. The man's wind-covered fist came down and straightened in front of Obito's face.
The younger man stepped forward and sidestepped before Tempered hands gripped a flame-covered one.
Kakashi grimaced at the fist that found itself in his gut before he was swept off his feet and drop-kicked backward.
Weiss held a hand out and a glyph appeared in front of her, catching Kakashi's third flight of their match.
"I get the feeling he's gonna throw us as much as he wants," he said as he raised a hand in thanks towards Weiss. "Thanks, everything ready?"
Weiss's eyes trailed to the side once more before nodding as she turned her gaze back at her sibling, a large number of glyphs orbiting her.
"I…" she winced at the drain on her reserves. "I've never done this before and I'm feeling slightly faint already."
She'd never considered having glyphs on stand-by before. This was a hard-to-grasp concept but she'd seen Alabaster do it too many times to not try at least once while resting.
"And yes, everything's in place," she said as they watched Obito stretch his neck once more. "... I want to make him take us more seriously," she said with a glare.
"... Weiss…"
"..." she pouted some. "I-I know how that sounds but I want to impress him some more!" she whined a bit, getting a nervous gesture from her brother for all her troubles.
"Well, I would say you don't need to try that much more," Kakashi said before a large glyph appeared beneath their feet. "But getting extra credit sounds like something you'd do."
"Hmph," Weiss smirked. "Of course."
The glyph rotated before glowing brighter. A second one overlaid over it, a Kakashi's personal symbol rotating over the normal Schnee one.
The forces on her body made Weiss's eyes widen. "T-This enhancement?" she looked at her hand as electricity sparked around it. "... Hmph!" she cracked a grin.
Kakashi chuckled as an orb of water appeared in his hands.
They disappeared from their spot, two pairs of lightning bolts shooting out towards Obito.
His eyes narrowed and his hand was held out as a pulse of Aura, twice his size in diameter came to life in front of him.
The raucous cracks of lightning slammed into it as two figures revealed themselves.
Dark silver orbs caught sight of Kakashi and Weiss before a harsh swipe of the arm rebuffed the two from his position.
Dark purple shot the two figures to the floor and they became lightning once more.
Obito kicked out and the two bolts flared up and over, Kakashi and Weiss coming back into view with their hands held out.
Obito breathed in before sending out two sweeping kicks.
Light blue lightning slammed into two arcs of Aura, exploding on contact and sending light into Obito's eyes.
He was pushed back and clenched his eyes closed as the sounds of electric slides reached his ears.
'Space,' he thought as brought his foot up and stomped.
Aura spread out and the sounds of yelps, shouts and falls greeted Obito's ears.
His Aura surged to his eyeballs and he was seeing once more, Weiss and a pile of dirt in front of-
He jumped back as Kakashi's electrified ax kick destroyed the floor where he'd stood moments before.
Obito slid to a stop as Weiss got up.
"I-I didn't know you could do that," she said as she got to her feet with a slight blush of embarrassment. "That seems useful."
"Somewhat," Kakashi said with a chuckle. "Unfortunately, we didn't get him."
"We didn't," Weiss said with a smirk as Obito felt a glyph appear at his back.
His eyes went to Winter, the Schnee's hand out before she turned it towards her pair of siblings.
He dug his feet into the floor as the glyph pulsed, the ground rupturing beneath his body as the glyph tried to push him forward.
Kakashi was already running forward, lightning in his hands. "Weiss!"
Those orbiting glyphs came to a stop and she threw her hand forward, half of them shooting out towards Obito.
He gave up on this stabilizing battle of his and let the glyph shoot him at Kakashi. The white-haired man brought his Raikiri around before Obito's feet hit the floor and he was flipping over the attack.
"Shit!"
Obito didn't stop, rushing Weiss before he jumped and came down on her with a Tempered karate chop.
Said chop didn't land, a small white glyph sliding from one of Weiss's orbiters to cut the blow's momentum. There was still an explosion of air that caused Weiss to stumble but she steadied herself in record time.
The heiress looked as surprised as Obito did and the attacker caught sight of Winter's raised hand out the corner of his peripheral.
'So they can also manipulate each other's glyphs?'
It made sense, especially how, at the very base, all of their powers were the exact same. And that had to mean their souls were similar in some fashion.
Obito thought of the Sharingan of the Uchiha and how one gained the higher levels as he broke that sole small glyph.
Weiss had already retreated, though, leaving the brunette in a triangulation of the siblings… No, it was a four-way lock, wasn't it?"
Obito's eyes turned to see Whitley behind him, by the glyph Winter had most likely made at the beginning of the battle.
The boy jumped before nervously waving at him, something Obito rolled his eyes at.
He stood to his full height and crossed his arms.
"I'm glad you guys took my advice when I left you to plan," he said, getting a grin from Weiss as Kakashi chuckled and Winter nodded.
Whitley let out a slight sigh of relief.
"As I said," Obito began once more. "As soon as you guys are ready to face me, enter the field," he pointed to Winter. "But that I hadn't expected."
Weiss beamed. "We had to make sure in the end, though," she said.
"... Ah, you mean when Winter was saying the battlefield's rules are normal besides what I added, yes?" Weiss nodded. "Hm, hm, yes, I get that me attacking the referee would be in bad taste."
~NRK~
Adam snorted at that, the plan revealing itself at that.
"Leave it to a Schnee to be so crafty," one of their members said, a large, towering, man whose shoulder bore a complex tattoo and face held onto an angular mask. "And he's encouraging such behavior."
Many grimaced while others cursed.
Sienna simply observed the scenes before her, noting down as many of these lessons that this young man would depart onto the screen.
Carmilla cupped her chin. "I get the feeling he knows we're watching," she said, getting widened eyes from those in her immediate area. "Think about it, he's already said he has secret techniques for the heiress that he wouldn't divulge. While we may be getting these little bits of lessons, he's not going to give them anything we can understand from the offset."
Blake winced at that, eying the human in between all the Schnees. "How can you be so sure?"
"Well," Carmilla shrugged. "He hasn't shown us his Semblance hasn't it?" Many blinked. "We've no idea what he can do besides all the basic stuff one could learn from watching the Vytal tournament. He's creative, for sure, but he's not showing his all."
Sienna leaned back in her throne, eyes narrowing as she drummed her fingers against the armrest.
He wasn't, was he? Sienna Khan wondered if that was truly on purpose or was it that the Schnees hadn't pushed him enough.
He was a rough variable to place and that made her blood boil.
Had he been a Faunus, Sienna wouldn't have even tried to fight it. She'd have sent the first available personnel to find him and invite him to the White Fang headquarters.
As he was now? She had to measure her options and see what the best route to take with this young man was.
~NRK~
"Real complex thinking he's showing," Caesar said, cupping his chin with a look of curiosity. "I guess he's pretty good to be teaching them that as well. I doubt there are a lot of people in this room who paid that much attention, me included."
"Huh," Coco tapped her cheek. "I didn't either," she said with crossed arms. "He's gotta be less cryptic."
"There'd be no purpose if he was."
All the while, Velvet looked at her classmates with confusion.
Hadn't what he said been obvious? Surely, he would have said 'you two' or something similar when referring to Kakashi and Weiss, yes?
Velvet didn't fashion herself an above-average thinker but even she could tell how big of a tell that was.
~NRK~
Junior let out a curious noise.
"He's going all-in on these lessons, huh?" he said, getting a shrug of the shoulders from Roman who grimaced.
"I ain't no low-level mook thinker but I'm annoyed by his wordiness," the redhead said with a sigh. "As a thief, you'd think I'd have caught on to that kind of stuff."
"Well, Red-Eye's just good like that," Miltia said, nursing a non-alcoholic drink whole Hirana had a regular only beer. "I hope he tries to dumb it down some for us normal peeps."
"He's assessing them," the Hyuga said, peering over her drink to look at the young man. "That said, I think he's done now," she added, getting looks of confusion from the others.
"What makes ya say that?" Junior asked and Hirana chuckled.
"No person who's seen any television is going to tell me that him saying all that stuff isn't suspect."
~NRK~
"He's gonna finish this quickly," Qrow said as he grinned. "This is gonna be fast, kiddies. So pay attention."
Tai nodded. "Yang, just try to watch it all," his daughter blinked before nodding slowly.
"Alright, dad," the teen said with curiosity.
"And Ruby?" said girl's head perked up. "Don't take your eyes off Obito and Obito only."
"H-Huh?" She looked at the screen and then back to her father. "Why?"
"Because chances are, you'll be one of the few to truly see it coming."
~NRK~
Let it be known that the Arc family children were well-behaved kids.
They did their chores, played nice with each other, while doing extra for their sole male sibling, and had good morals and confidence… for the most part.
That aside, they all huddled in Jaune's room, the one at the farthest end of their large home.
They couldn't use the TV, it'd be too loud, so they used their Scrolls while hanging around on their brother's large bed that fit all who were at the house.
"I'm sensing a thrashing," the ascot-wearer said, her freckles shifting as she cupped her chin and made a thinking expression. "I'm thinking… too fast to see."
"Sarcelle?" Cera asked and the poindexter of their group groaned a bit before she pressed something on her Scroll and there were beeps aplenty. "Thanks, sis."
"Hmph."
"Shh," Jaune said as he held their youngest sibling in his lap, sitting against his pillow against the wall.
~NRK~
Vernal could feel it in her bones.
He was done playing with them. He was gonna end this fight with his next set of actions.
"What's his last move gonna be?" she asked herself, tapping her noggin. "It's gonna be efficient, right, Raven?"
"Oh, definitely," the Maiden didn't hesitate to say. "What I know for sure is that he's gonna use everything he's done up to now."
~NRK~
Neo was on the edge of her seat with Fiona, Milli, and Muffet, whose eyes glowed in interest.
Robyn frowned as she watched it all.
Finally, back with Obito, he clapped for them, three simple collides of his hands for their good thinking.
And so, he decided to end this whole situation properly.
"Weiss," the girl's head perked up. "Tell me, what do you think of fighting, in general?"
The heiress blinked, frowning a bit. "Well… I don't hate it," she said for a moment. "I see it as necessary. It's for the sake of protecting the world in which we live. To harbour good relations and to better ourselves."
Obito nodded. "Good, get some rest," he said and his entire being spasmed.
Weiss Schnee fell to the floor and didn't get up.
The room was silent as Obito cricked his neck, shaking his hand a bit as he turned to Kakashi who's entire being was coated in lightning, eyes included.
"Show me," he said, hands alight with lightning.
Obito heeded his plea and tightened his glove on his right hand.
Black flared out in the arena, wisps of dark energy that curled around those in the arena.
Obito removed his fingers from Kakashi's forehead, looking at him as he fell.
"You did well as well, Alabaster Schnee," he said as his comrade fell to the floor, unconscious.
The silence spoke volumes that couldn't be described.
Power… Absolute power was displayed across the world and few would ever truly notice.
Neo damn near came from what she'd been able to barely see.
Fiona stared in complete and total confusion at the downed Schnees, wondering why her heart thumped in her chest.
Robyn Hill felt… helpless for the first time of the trip.
This… She clenched her hands tight.
Milli blinked, head tilting some. "W-What happened?" she asked her sister who's eyes glowed.
"..." Muffet closed her fan with a smile. "A very valuable performance, Milli."
~NRK~
Yang and Ruby's mouths dropped as the combatting Schnees just seemed to fall unconscious… And yet…
Ruby stared. She'd not fully seen it, she simply wasn't that good at doing so yet, but she saw some of it.
Aura. An Aura that was so focused, so condensed, so powerful that it'd barely touched the foreheads of the Schnee siblings.
It knocked Weiss out with such ease, Ruby almost mistook the heiress's fall for loss of energy.
It was with Mr. Kakashi that she saw more.
He'd barely been a shadow that just seemed to tap the older Schnee's head thrice before the world caught up. Obito had given enough hits in such fast succession that it'd looked like he was just placing his fingers against the former heir's forehead.
Ruby knew one thing about all this.
… It was a bit on par with weapons.
~NRK~
"Whelp," Perry smacked his lips. "We're screwed."
The throne room was silent as the cameras didn't catch… anything.
It was like the heiress just fell unconscious. Just standing one moment and down the next all at the call of this… human.
Adam's grip on his sheathed blade went slack, mouth dropped as he just… watched. He'd only saw the beginning momentum, the raise of that young guy's arm that pointed at the heiress.
Blake watched her comrade just… slacken. It was an unnerving sight and she had a feeling it was due to things she simply couldn't see. She'd not seen a thing on that screen other than fallen Schnees.
Carmilla's mouth was just a small 'o' at this point.
Sienna Khan's eyes flickered with lightning and she absorbed it all.
Every part of the technique apparently used all the principles of Aura techniques that he'd displayed since the beginning of these lessons.
A spring around the finger with Aura Extension, all Tempered along the way.
His slightest shift in weight to his front foot before he returned to normal position.
And the small Aura Shot, Expulsion, that left his fingertips at such speeds he'd denied many the sight of it.
If she had such a technique… Her body felt full of energy.
She got up and left, giving Carmilla a single command.
"Make sure to record all of it."
~NRK~
"I'm probably on his shit list," Roman said with a monotone voice and a stone-like expression. "... Fuck my life, Neo is on that train," he said with so little emotion, Junior actually felt worried.
"... He's a good guy," the bartender said. "Far as I know him? He'd probably forgive you if you do him a favor."
"Not what I meant but done."
Miltia just blinked, tilting her head to the side as Hirana cupped her chin.
"It's a rather simple but complex technique," she said to the girl. "I get the feeling you don't know Tempering, Extension, or Aura Shot?"
"The hell are all those?"
"Gotcha."
~NRK~
"HOLY SHIT!"
Coco spouted with such disbelief, she felt like she was about to fall over.
"What the hell was that?!" she exclaimed once more. "W-What?! That's not his Semblance, right?"
Caesar was completely and truly impressed, no other emotion could rival that one at that moment.
"... Ya think he takes apprentices?" he asked the room.
Velvet wanted to say yes but wasn't really in the right headspace for that.
She wanted that. Every part of it! She wanted his training so badly right now and she had to wait more days in between.
Velvet Scarlatina wasn't a person who liked violence but she loved presence despite not having any.
And that's what Obito exuded at that moment, pure, unadulterated, presence. It was his stage.
And they were the audience.
~NRK~
Marrone and Larry choked on their coffee while Liza's fingers pressed hard against her desk.
Ochre's eyes glowed slightly, watching every moment of the end.
She'd take what she could from him and use it for Coco's development.
Such power and skill on display were to be admired.
~NRK~
Thetis grasped her hands in front of her mouth as the fighting came to an end.
A pure, total, end if she'd ever seen one.
Yes… She'd find a way to him if Spruce couldn't. At this point?
It was a necessity.
~NRK~
Vernal's excitement had peaked. Her love for everything violence was satisfied in ways she only got with Raven.
Her formed glowed dark grey, eyes gleaming with her soul as she devoured the example before her.
Raven nodded out the corner of her eye, this was the next limit.
Vernal's Potential Limiter was running on all cylinders as they watched Obito finish up.
Remembering all the fights she'd observed, she twirled a finger at her side, a green ball of light appearing.
She'd need to either get Obito back here for a fight or fight him herself to set-up a 'fade' for Vernal to study and fight against.
~NRK~
Obito observed his defeated opponents before cracking his neck with a stretch.
His biology was changing more now, he could feel it.
It was the battle that filled his being with more strength than he'd ever felt. Made him lighter in body and more imposing in Aura.
He was becoming something beyond his normal understanding save for few things and he welcomed it.
Winter's eyes were glaciers.
She'd seen it all, a quick, more specialized, use of her Semblance keeping her in the know. She'd noted that Alabaster had also done so to watch it all.
A grand mixing of techniques to emphasize each one's aspects.
Yes, Winter was impressed beyond words and that's why she glared. For he was an anomaly and she had the feeling that'd not change for a good part of her life.
Obito sighed as he held a hand out towards Weiss and an Aura arm extended out before picking up the heiress and bringing her over to them.
Whitley came running moments later. "Alabaster!" he exclaimed as he looked at his sibling.
"He's knocked out," Obito said as he gently placed Weiss down, the darkening of his Aura arm letting him know he'd held it for too long. "The exercise is over. You should be proud of them."
Whitley swallowed before he nodded, patting his sibling's back while his eyes went to Weiss's own unconscious form.
There was a trail of claps from his side and Obito noted Rowen's entrance.
"I've no words for your display," the man said with a grandfatherly smile that Obito crossed his arms at. "I'd been expecting your abilities to dampen for these trials but it seems you know how to give your students a goal to aim for."
"I'll likely be demonstrating for them down the line," Obito said as the rest of the VIPs came up to them. "Being perfectly honest, that's likely the first time I've used them all concurrently. Mashing together techniques like that took far more Aura than I could have imagined," he said with a grimace.
Using Aura Shot, Tempering and Extension brought about mixed signals in his Aura. Like tangling up electric wires.
He'd lost a literal 30% of his Aura with that move and would not be using that ever again outside of training purposes. It was simply not worth it.
Jacques came up to his children and their mentor with his eyes locked with Obito's.
They stared at one another, dark silver to bright blue.
Jacques hummed for moments before he came down to his unconscious children's levels with concern.
Whitley saw his father place a hand on Alabaster's back with a look of conflict before he sighed.
"James-"
"The medical bots are already here," the general said as four pairs of round metallic spheres floated over before the group moved away from Weiss and Kakashi.
Hard Light Dust shot between pairs of orbs and Obito watched as the two were locked into a see-through box of Dust.
"They'll be taken upstairs," James said with a nod as the robots took off. "They're also built with slight protection features so worry not for trouble."
Obito nodded. "I'm glad even if I was going to follow them regardless," he said with a nod before shrugging. "I'll be returning to the first cart," he said a second later, leaving the entire second cart in silence.
He was the Absolute and many were hard-pressed to say otherwise.
~NRK~
The rest of the day had come and gone for Obito, the noises in the VIP lobby were zero and the young man was grateful for that fact.
He'd awoken sometime in the night and decided to make the most of it.
He went into the Schnee mini-lobby and gave gentle knocks to Kakashi and Whitley's door.
A soft 'come in' was his answer and he entered while dampening the hinges of the door with Aura.
Kakashi sat up against his headboard, sitting upright, and Obito noted that Whitley was asleep and laid out straight on the bed.
Kakashi raised a brow.
"Where you heading?"
They closed the door behind them and slipped out of the Schnee mini-lobby.
In both men's arms were towels and bathrobes, the items held in baskets that Obito had procured from the Kamui dimension.
They'd worn some normal sandals this time, not wanting to ruin their ninja ones potentially by some random water or uncaring passengers.
They made it to the main lobby when they noticed another person leaving the general's room and one sitting at the recliner in front of said room.
Vine seemed like he had the same ideas as they, him having his own bathrobe, mini-basket, and towel as he closed the door behind him.
Finally, Obito raised a brow at the sight of Winter Schnee, the young woman having been sitting in front of the general's mini-lobby the entire time.
Obito simply hadn't noticed her in his groggy awakening.
She looked at all three of them, eyebrows raised in the waning moonlight from the window in the lobby.
She nodded to them all before closing her eyes and letting her breathing slow but stay consistent.
The three males nodded back and left, the lobby in Winter's reliable hands.
They made it down to the second cart and Obito was thankful for zero people being on the gallery, the trio moving around it to get to the third cart in anonymity, completely ignorant to a small camera floating above.
They made it to the second floor of the third cart before Vine took them down a pair of flights.
Obito noted how quiet the halls were before the temperature went up some, the air becoming more moist as they got closer to the middle of the third cart.
They found their destination and Obito noted just how authentic-looking the whole thing was. The outside flaps were longer than he was used to but it held the old Mistral language for 'onsen' or 'spas' for more Common speaking folk.
The only real people they'd seen or passed were the staff who looked at the three in shock as they did.
"Let's go in, gentlemen," Vine gestured to the hot springs and Kakashi took the invitation with gusto, Obito following after him with Vine pulling up the rear. "I'm unsure if you're used to this, Mr. Schnee."
"Please, call me Alabaster or Kakashi if you'd like," Kakashi said as they all found cubbies two spaces next to one another. "And, yeah, I was actually pretty interested in hot springs. I've gone to Mistral and enjoyed a couple myself."
Which was actually true! He'd visited Mistral the most out of the other continents. It was just its culture calling to him.
They went through the ritual, disrobing with nary a stare, care, or dare. They entered the washing section of the onsen, the steam already relaxing the trio as they went to work washing their bodies, passing the male attendant at the in-between of the cubby chamber and spa.
Obito couldn't help but stare at the hot springs with surprise.
"It's almost a complete replica," he said to the other two, getting nods from Vine as Kakashi leaned back to see that it was true. "That's impressive."
"It was mostly for our Mistral-native guests," Vine said, looking at the fogging steam with a smile. "Though I should warn you, we're in a mixed bath section."
Both Obito and Kakashi stared at him as the former monk chuckled.
"Unfortunately, many Atlas citizens have a rather… ignorant view on how bathhouses and hot springs work," Vine shook his head with a shaky smile. "They believe that all hot springs are unisex. That said, we entered through the men's pathway, the women's is on the opposite side in the hall."
Obito breathed in before throwing a bucket of water over his head.
"What happens, happens," he said, getting looks of understanding from the others.
At this point, there wasn't anything they could really do about it.
There was the sound of steps in the cubby chamber and Obito's group turned to see none other than Spruce along with a little girl holding his hand.
She looked like she was ten, what with the baby fat on her cheeks and her awed expressions being rather animated.
Her hair was long and blonde, which ended at the middle of her back, and her eyes were blue. Around her forehead was a single cowlick that came out over her face.
Her skin was fair, not unlike Spruce's, and she was wearing a red. One-piece, swimsuit.
"Well, well, well," Spruce grinned as he followed customs, talking as he did. "I guess my intuition is also rather good."
Obito raised a brow at that. "Welcome Spruce," his gaze went to the now grinning girl at the man's side. "And this is…?"
"Ah, this is my daughter," he pat the girl's head. "Charlotte."
"Hello, sirs!" she said with politeness, a close-eyed smile and her chest puffed out with her hands on her hips. "I hope we're not intruding."
Obito, Kakashi, and Vine looked at one another, towels, thankfully, already tied around their waists.
"As long as your father is fine with it, we will not intrude on your time," Vine said with a nod towards Spruce. "Though I'm surprised to see the Spruce Willis here," he said, an eyebrow raised. "I'd thought you were in Vacuo."
"Ah, that," Spruce said as he urged Charlotte forward, the girl running towards the water as Spruce took the small shower next to Obito's. "I was about to go on that trip but I got this invite at the last moment. I thought, why not?" he said as he scrubbed at his skin with a soft brush, the sound of splashing going on in the background.
"Isn't your next film to use Vacuo-culture?"
"Not exactly, no," Spruce said with a smile as he rubbed the bottoms of his feet. "I wanted to make use of Vacuo's desert landscape for brainstorming."
"I'm assuming rolling tumbleweeds and cactus are your muse?" Kakashi asked with a grin as Spruce chuckled. "They say there's beauty in all things, after all."
"That is fair," Vine said as he got up followed by Obito, Kakashi, and Spruce. "That said, we can find beauty in the hot springs."
Spruce chuckled as they took to the baths.
"Hm?" Charlotte's voice came out of the fog as the group got in. "Who're you?"
Obito, Vine, and Kakashi froze as Charlotte's pattling came to an end.
"Huh?" the girl's voice came from the steam as it cleared to reveal… "Why're you waving your hands?"
Obito let out a sigh as he saw her. "Nea?" he said, getting a raised brow from Neo who grinned at him, raising a hand out of the water slightly to wave at him. "... I guess we've hit the 'mixed' bath issue earlier than expected."
The quartet of men looked at one another before shrugging and letting their bodies fall into the hot water.
Neo grinned at the show of muscles and scars on display on all four, her surprising rising with the Spruce person.
He'd sported a large scar over his left shoulder, a cross-shaped one, and had one at his neck.
The really tall, thin, one had several around his biceps, neck, and torso. His were older than the others and probably the second-most in numbers.
She was also surprised to see the Schnee's but she'd known about him ahead of time. The large burn mark across his shoulder was a very enticing view, emphasizing his white, slowly reddening from the hot spring, skin.
Finally, the prime of the crop, Red-Eye. He looked like someone went ham on his body at large with only his arms being the least attacked. She noted that he had a rather large scar across his pectorals and smirked.
All four certainly weren't hard on the eyes, nope! If she had to guess… Roman's own body matched that of the Schnees.
Lithe and lightly shown muscles but with more scars. Looking like wildlife but just the barest hints of softness.
She giggled silently to herself, gliding over before sitting right next to Obito who sat at the beginning of this little quartet.
Obito rolled his eyes at her, crossing his legs and leaning back, the picture of a man who'd had a long day of fighting.
Her eyes danced across pectorals and wondered if she couldn't get Miltia's idea to work out.
"And who is this?" Spruce asked in shock at Neo's nonchalance in coming over to them, Obito specifically. "Akame, you want to fill us in on your lady friend?" the man asked, eyes wide.
Neo smirked as she leaned into Obito's side, the young man's face impassive.
"Don't take anything of this sort seriously," he said without moving. "She's a trickster at her best and a tease at her worst. I'm pretty sure she's taken."
Neo made a faux sadness, hand over her heart as she pat one of Obito's well-built arms.
She reddened some. 'Can I get them to do it?' she wondered with only slight embarrassment.
Neo was many things, a risk-taker and opportunist being two of them. Perhaps she could convince Obito to join her and Roman sometime.
Ideas for later.
She smiled and leaned back, slightly, on her own. Obito's hand made a good spot for her to rest her small back.
The younger man looked about as impassive as a stone wall before he just sighed, wiping his unoccupied hand down his face. "Please, don't," he pleaded from the amused others, Charlotte giggling to herself.
The group spent the next five minutes in silence, the only thing disturbing it was Spruce's child's mild pattling.
She was also the one who broke the silence in general.
"Hey, hey, Mr. Akame," Obito opened his eyes at the call of the girl. "You teach Huntresses, right?"
Obito's eyes turned to Kakashi who looked at him and grinned.
"Yes," the man fake choked, hand coming over his eyes in despair. "I do. Most of them are drama queens though," he said, smirking at Kakashi's grin.
"Hehe~" the tiny child chuckled before bright blue eyes locked onto dark silver ones. "Ya wanna train me?" she asked, getting the oddest look from Obito and Neo as Kakashi, Vine, and Spruce laughed.
"It's just one after the other," Kakashi said with a snort. "Soon, you'll have your own school in enough time."
"He certainly seems apt enough," Vine added, getting a glower from Obito. "I've yet to see your teaching methods but your skills and confidence leave me with little worry. I'm actually seeing if I can't improve on my own teachings with Marrow."
"Marrow?" the girl asked, getting a nod from Vine.
"He's my student and apprentice, for about as long as I've known him," the second-oldest there said wistfully. "I was assigned to him when he was in the Academy. Every student, or pair, gets their own fellow alumni to help them along."
"How old are you, Vine?" Kakashi asked. "No offense but I can't get a read on you."
Vine chuckled. "I'm in my thirties, 32, to be exact," he said. "I may not look like it but I've gone through my own shares of horrors and adventures to make me who I am," he said as he raised one of his long arms.
The scars across both got a nod out of Neo, Kakashi, and Obito as Spruce observed them some more.
"These seem…" the man grimaced. "Ahem, purposely given," he said with a huff that Vine smiled at.
"Yes, it was a mission in Vacuo," the military man said as he leaned back. "I was actually on vacation and I caught wind of some..." blue eyes went to Charlotte. "Traffic-people if you will."
Eyes narrowed in the hot springs as Charlotte blink.
"What, like cone-heads?" she asked, getting a chuckle from Vine. "I've seen cones before and those guys that wear the vests that look like cones, too!"
Spruce smiled at his progeny. "It's… well, these are different 'cone'," he twitched his fingers out of the water. "People, these are the bad kinds," he said, getting raised brows from the others. "Hm," he smiled.
"I subscribe to the way of parenting that allows her to understand piece by piece," he said, shrugging. "Charlotte's smart. Better she understand by me explaining it, right?"s
"I agree," Vine said before continuing. "I'd followed the trail and they'd been doing more than trafficking, they'd also gathered a lot of Dust," he stretched his neck a bit. "Ahhh… I fought them in a high cliffside. There were few of them, and they weren't exactly Hunter dropouts, so I foolishly assumed the issue would be dealt with easily," his eyes glowed.
"It wasn't."
"... I'm assuming it has to do with the environment, right?" Kakashi asked, getting a nod. "Question, can you sense people, Vine?"
"Yes, though I can sense them only ahead of time," he said, waving off their questioning stares. "Semblance-related. I didn't sense anything that would imply they had any of such members among their ranks. What happened was a hostage situation in a hostage situation," he said with a wince. "It wasn't favorable but I lowered my Aura as they asked…" he said, letting that hang.
Obito let out a small breath. "I see."
"Indeed," Kakashi said as he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess we've all got our own stories to tell," he said as he looked at Spruce who chuckled.
"Well, my story is that I tried to be a Huntsman," he said with a shrug before jabbing a thumb at his left shoulder. "I used to be left handed, you see."
Neo's eyes widened as she nodded.
"I guess you're mute, yes?" she nodded again. "Yeah, it kind of messed me up good. I was doing my second-year quests at Mistral," they looked surprised. "Eh… I'm mixed blood, pop's from Vale and mother Mistral. Anyway, I was going through the Haven curriculum. One day we went on a mission that had quite a few more Grimm than we were expecting."
"Yikes," Kakashi said with a wince. "Sounds unpretty."
"Oh it was," he grimaced. "Nothing uglier than a Grimm that's got its touring group. It was a pack of Beowolves, real small-fry, ya know… And then there were an assortment of Alphas," he said with a frown. "Which is odd, ya know?"
Neo tilted her head at Obito.
"Grimm that mature go through the 'Alpha' phase," he explained. "That means they become the leader of their group. Think of it like lions, there's barely more than one Alpha at a time," Obito said with a frown. "Which makes this whole situation odd."
"Yeah, we didn't know what was happening," Spruce said. "One moment, we're mowing through the small-fries, thinking about dinner and games, then we're hit hard by Alphas. Real mess," he sighed. "What comes next is the confusing part. Ya see, when I said that there were many Alphas, I was being honest… but one of them was… different," he said, a hand coming up and glowing.
They all watched as he wrote into the air, an outline and 3-D visual of what he'd seen placed before them.
Obito, Kakashi, and Vine's eyes narrowed at the rather slender-looking Beowulf Alpha.
On its shoulders were larger spikes than average and Obito noted that the spikes on its back were oddly-shaped…
He frowned.
"It looks like a cape," Kakashi said in shock, getting similar looks from the others. "Pauldrons, mantle… Spruce, did this thing have anything else going on with its back?"
"Yeah, actually," Spruce said as he drew an add-on. "It's dark cloak was coming straight down its back."
The image began to come together more as the flowing darkness from the Grimm did make a cape-esque extension.
"It looks like a royal, doesn't it?" Vine asked.
"It's a commander, no?" Kakashi offered, getting a wide-eyed look from Vine. "If what Spruce said is right, it likely… Brought these Alphas under its banner of some sort."
The springs were silent at that, looks of worry of all kinds on their faces.
"Well, maybe," Spruce said with a frown and a hum. "That thing gave me my scar but I don't think it was that tough," he said. "It had to use a makeshift weapon, a rock to fight me. I got a few good hits in and they were pretty effective. That said, one of its cohorts blindsided me and it came in for the kill."
"I'm assuming reinforcements came," Vine said.
"Yup!" Spruce smirked. "The Grimm were blown away by some nearby bullhead forces. I got to give it the mark it gave me across its chest. Didn't kill it, unfortunately," he frowned some more. "The Grimm seemed to just… run, I guess. They picked up their 'commander' and were hunted down. I don't know what happened after that as I blacked out and they say that the group following the Grimm came back with no more sightings of them."
"That sounds ominous," Kakashi said, Neo nodding along. "Hopefully you've killed it via wounding."
"It's not a human, last I checked," Spruce said with a shrug. "But that's my story, what's yours, Akame?"
"Hmph, simply the legend of a misspent youth in Anima," he said, getting a nod of understanding from Spruce. "I had no family to speak of and just traveled around when I was about eight. I worked as a cook and bodyguard for many caravans."
"Hm, hm, don't I know that first one!" Spruce grinned. "Which one was yours at lunch?"
"The pork or beef dish."
"I knew it!" Spruce pat his stomach, summarily splashing his daughter.
"H-Hey, dad!" she pouted before splashing him back. "H-Ha-Ah!" she made to laugh only to be splashed back without fail. "Y-Yield!"
"Hm…?" Spruce considered it before leaning back. "Don't mess with daddy, honey. He's been through these trails longer than you."
He got a raspberry for his efforts.
"Yes, mm. Your food is rather good. Learning that Jouichirou Yukihira had a protege was a shock that got my attention," he said. "But that's not all," he said, getting a raised brow from Obito.
"... Someone's looking for me, I'm assuming?"
"Your intuition is spot-on," Spruce looked impressed. "Maybe we should hit the casinos in Atlas?"
"I don't play games I know I'll lose in the end."
"Spoken like a true casino player!" Spruce rubbed the back of his head with a grin. "Well, the person who wanted to speak to you was another rather legendary Hunter, a Huntress at that," he said, grinning as he saw Obito's eyebrow raised.
Attention grabbed!
"She's from Mistral," Obito nodded. "Does the name Nikos mean anything to you all?"
"Hmmm, ah," Obito nodded. "As in Pyrrha Nikos, yes?"
"Got it!" Spruce nodded. "Her mother is the one who wants to speak to you, actually. Thetis Nikos is her name."
Vine's eyes widened. "The Aquarius?" he asked, getting a grin from the other train passenger. "... To think that you'd attract so many powerful people to you, Akame," Vine said as he grinned a little.
"You know her?" Kakashi asked as Charlotte drifted lazily in front of the Schnee, the man grinning as she did. "You sound impressed."
"Hmmm, how to explain this," Vine thought it over before grinning. "Well, for the sake of full understanding, are you all aware of Aura Frequency?"
"No," Obito said with a frown as Neo shook her head in time with his answer. "This is the first I've ever heard of it."
"I believe I have," Spruce tapped his noggin. "That said, believing I did is different in comparison to knowing what it is."
"Nope," Kakashi and Charlotte said in unison.
"Aura Frequency is an interesting Vacuan Aura technique," Vine said as he pressed his hand in front of him, on the surface of the water.
The others watched as the sound of fizzing reached their ears, the water bubbled by his hand before a hole began to form where it had been.
Obito's Sharingan came to life for the few seconds he'd seen him do it and found his eyes widening as he turned them off.
'The Aura's… trembling?' he thought in confusion as Vine removed his hand, that hole in the hot spring still there. 'I have to assume there's still Aura there and causing the effects.'
"Aura Frequency is a form of shape-manipulation," Vine said, getting wide eyes from Obito and Kakashi. "You're altering the 'rhythm' of your Aura, so to speak, to defend against the elements," he said as he repeated the process but with his whole arm, the hole being deeper and wider after he used his technique. "Most Vacuan citizens, with Aura, are taught to use this as soon as they enter combat school from what I know. Despite its tribal nature, Vacuo has a rather wide-spread traditional aspect to it."
"What are you doing with your Aura?" Kakashi asked with an interested gleam in his eyes. "And how hard is it to learn?"
"Hm, hm, you may want to work on your Aura control first," Vine said with some interest. "Though I wouldn't turn you away. Akame, would you all prefer a demonstration tomorrow?"
"Of course," Obito said in an instant, eyes gleaming through the fog. "There's no way I'd turn down such an opportunity."
He'd never heard of this ability before. Not from Qrow, Raven, or… Did that mean… Did Kojiro not know about it?
His blood made the hot spring feel cold.
He needed to learn it!
"Alright, nice!" Kakashi said with a grin and a thumbs-up. "I'm loving this trip more by the second!" he said, skin redder. "Whew, I'm glad we came."
"Speaking of, where did you come from Alabaster?" Spruce asked, interest in his eyes as he turned them to Obito. "I'd thought it was from Mistral, what with your bodyguard and all, but I get the feeling that's not correct."
"..." Kakashi considered it for a moment before shrugging. "Me and Akame came from Vale," he said honestly, Obito's shrug as he leaned back the result. "I know Akame's from Mistral, though."
"Interesting but I guess it makes sense you don't know Aquarius," Vine said, observing Obito. "You did tell us you left Mistral a long time ago."
"... I did," Obito said with a nod as Neo shimmied her back on the back of his hand, a slight crick reaching the room's ears. "So that means that this Thetis Nikos came around that time?"
"She arose around seven years ago," Vine said, Obito nodding as he did. "She was just a gladiatorial fighter back then. She'd dazzled the audiences with her water techniques and sharp precisive blows."
"She'd actually never been to Hunter school, formally," Spruce added on, getting a look of surprise from Vine. "Hm, hm, surprised? Thetis, back in the day, was a totally different woman compared to who she is now. She was a violent storm with no calm seasons. She'd rushed everything that came her way and swept them aside," he rubbed the back of his head as his daughter came up to him. "She was actually pretty adamant on people who'd court her," he said with a nervous grin at his child's gobsmacked expression.
"I see, you tried to court her, yes?" Vine asked, getting a nod for his answer. "Fascinating. I always admired her deeds in Mistral, I'm guessing there was a change in her about seven or so years ago?"
"It wasn't that," Spruce crossed his legs with a sigh. "It was around the time of her… For lack of better words, let's just say, with good fortune, she'd have had seven kids by now," he winced at the memory.
The group was floored, Neo's mouth dropped as Obito's own set in a frown. Kakashi's eyes lowered as Vine let his head fall. Charlotte pouted before swimming over to her father's side and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Six stillborns," the group's collective mouths dropped. "It wasn't… a pretty year to see her… I should preface this by saying that Thetis was rather… old-fashioned, back then. She'd dated and gotten into a relationship young. We're talking, I didn't know she was sixteen young when we fought," Spruce grimaced at his daughter's gasp. "Trust me, honey. Had I have known, I'd have disappeared Mistral faster than you could say, Kuroyuri."
"... Hmph," the girl pouted some and her father chuckled weakly, regaining her attention.
"It was around that time that they called her… They called her 'Filicider'," he sneered at the water. "That… When I say that Thetis was old-fashioned, she was kind of a mix of cultures due to how many types of people she fought," Spruce wiped his hands down his face. "She loved the tournament scene but family life made her brighten like a Vacuan solar flare. She had a deep history of family legacies. She's a descendent of old royalty at that, so her emphasis on family might as well have been her soul itself."
"To be called such a thing for things out of her control," Vine shook his head, eyes cold. "Such people do not deserve consideration."
"It's just wrong," Kakashi said as Neo nodded, a frown on her face. "That goes beyond lack of human decency, that's disgusting."
Obito's eyes peered into the water. '... There are truly some horrid people around the world,' he thought, remembering how he came from a tribe of murderers, pillagers, and bandits. 'I get the feeling the bandits would have more tact than that.'
He knew for damn sure Raven and Qrow would have. And, as much as it pained him to admit it, his father would have likely cut those people down where they stood had he been with this Thetis woman.
So, yeah, the room wasn't digging these naysayers all that well.
"I'm sure she'd be thankful for your words," Spruce said with a nod of thanks. "That said, she did successfully have a seventh child, the one known as 'Pyrrha Nikos'," the man said with a grin. "Someone that she's poured her very life and soul into, her only daughter who also wields a set of weapons in remembrance of her siblings."
"I understand," Obito said. "That said, what was the origin of her title, Vine?"
"... As I said, her abilities with her Semblance alongside her specialty Water Dust gauntlet, Nereides, made her known as Aquarius but it never truly stuck until a full fishing voyage on a boat her family was on," Vine said with a faraway look in his eyes. "It's said that a horrid storm was coming their ways… and an odd, outrageous, woman was the reason for it."
Obito and Kakashi's eyes narrowed at that detail. 'Does he mean-'
"They never got this woman's name, she was simply causing trouble, from what I know," Vine frowned as he cupped his chin. "They say her appearance was odd, made of slight blacks and whites, bearing the sea upon her form in such a way that she shined throughout the ocean, the tale is rather specific."
"This was before me and Thetis became friends so this is all news to me," Spruce said. "But I know she told me about this. The others said it was a woman but Thetis… She thought this woman was a Grimm."
Neo blinked at the feeling of Obito's hand flinching, looking up at the young man in question, his face was impassive… to many but to her, she could see the shock in his eyes.
She turned and saw it in the Schnee as well before shrugging.
Some people took these kinds of things more seriously than she did.
"Says that this thing had the shape of a woman but one shouldn't be fooled," Spruce said with a cross of the arms, tilting his head to the side.
"I see, the stories say that it was a human," Vine said. "If that's how I heard, I'm assuming that it got away like the stories said. Thetis drove off the storms, the waves, and even the sky itself, they say."
"Thetis's Semblance allows her to control wind currents," Spruce said. "She can tell you where the wind will blow tomorrow, let you know if rain will come next week, and use those wind currents to alter the temperature. She increases her power by using her Aqua gauntlet as a medium like how Weiss uses her rapier and hands. People don't really think about it but the medium you use for your Semblances can also add effects and Thetis made full use of that," he smirked. "That gauntlet's got another secret but I've been held to secrecy."
Kakashi tilted his head, looking at his hands as he clenched them, the slightest of burn scars on the sides.
"Interesting," he said.
"I hope that gives ya ideas if you choose to go into the Hunter forces," Spruce said before turning to Obito. "So, the deal is, she wants you to come on in and talk with her and her daughter. I get the feeling you'll also be sparring."
"Her daughter?" Obito asked with a raised brow.
"Both of them," Spruce said with a shake of the head, getting blinks across the room. "Thetis may have stepped down but she's still that hot-blooded woman underneath all that motherly attitude. Hell if her husband wasn't on a long voyage, I'd bet the whole damn family would want a piece of you."
Kakashi and Vine chuckled at that. "I get the feeling a lot of people already do," Kakashi said as he turned to Obito who had cupped his chin with his unoccupied hand. "So?"
"... It'd have to be two months from now," Obito said, getting a grin out of Spruce. "I can't promise anything before that. I've got skills to assess, people to meet, jobs to do, and a job. I'm going to be swamped for time."
"Wait…" Spruce raised a finger in confusion. "Aren't you training the Schnees?"
"I am."
"... Boy, no innuendo intended, you get around by the gods," Spruce said in disbelief.
"Hmph," Obito smirked at that. "So tell her that my schedule is kind of full but I'll see her as soon as possible from Vale."
"... Vale, huh?" Spruce seemed to consider something. "And I'm guessing that you'll be training there as well as in Atlas, right?" Obito nodded. "... Hm, it's a thought," the man said.
"Gentlemen, this has been one of the best hot spring talks I've ever had."
"Hm."
"I agree."
"Hm, hm, it ranks up there."
"... Similar sentiments, Spruce."
"...!" Neo threw a peace sign the film maker's way.
The group began to relax some more before the sound of splashing and squeaking reached their ear.
"... Men," Spruce's visage became determined. "That wasn't from the men's doorway, was it?"
"No," Vine said as he closed his eyes. "I don't believe it did."
"Thank you, Vine," Spruce said as he leaned back. "I love my wife but thank god she wasn't on this trip, she'd have killed someone."
"H-Hey, wait!" there was a shout before another splash and tremor of water towards the group as the steam dispersed. "M-Miss Ma-… EEEEEEEEEHHHH!" the sight of a familiar sheep Faunus reached the group.
Fiona Thyme hid in the water as soon as she could upon sight as Muffet Malachite sat there in the springs, water up to her chest.
Obito's face was impassive as Neo waved at her employer. "I get the feeling this wasn't the type of meeting you were expecting," he said with an aloof tone as Muffett laughed.
"Gods, no!" she said with nary a care in the world, folding her legs in the water as her hands rested on a raised knee.
It should be said that her laugh certainly caused a reaction from her end of the springs that, even if the springs were about half the size of the VIP lobby, made sure two presences weren't forgotten.
"... This trip was a good idea," Spruce said as he leaned back, daughter splashing water on him with reckless abandon. "Love ya too, honey."
"Dad, ew!"
~NRK~
And that's a wrap on this one.
My god, I didn't know it'd been about a week already! The time just flew by!
So, a lot to talk about here.
Let's get the first of two main scenes out of the way.
Of course the Obito vs Schnee duel is a stomp. Even if he's limited from using his Sharingan, Obito's simply faster, stronger, more durable, a similarly intelligent individual to Kakashi, as an adult, a damn near Aura master and strategist.
The odds were especially stacked against the two because Obito knew of all the Aura techniques, sans one we've learned more about this chapter, and has an amazing reaction time comparable to EOS KCM2 Naruto and Minato's.
And this was for training purposes, anyway, so it's to be expected he wasn't giving them his all. That said, we've already got Weiss thinking about so many new ideas.
Speaking on that, it's not just Weiss. Sienna Khan, Winter, Ironwood, Qrow & Tai, Vine, and even Obito have gotten new ideas for either their own training or students'/nieces', soldiers', etc.
This one broadcast has changed a large track on RWBY's canon power levels and I'm glad for how, in the grand scheme of it all, simple that was.
Next up, damn does Obito have a full schedule, geez! It's honestly like Obito in my other fic, he's just setting up contracts/employers all over the world right now. It's kind of crazy how aligned I am on my stories but I did take a while to catch up Kamui Candy, to be fair.
The second main scene, hot springs! This place is going to come up again with far more… ahem, amusing results, I promise you all.
So we get more of Vine, it just happened to be that way. He is the one who knew about the springs in the first place, after all.
We get some backstory, his age, and a look at his abilities. We also learn of Spruce, Thetis, and a little bit of Pyrrha's own histories.
But, more notably, we're doing some foreshadowing for the Grimm I've got plans for in the future. This makes… five now, I think. I've got a couple more of 'em to get out before they affect the plot anytime soon. Notably, a bit past the beginning of canon.
And at the obligatory bathhouse scene, we have the totally adult reactions of two groups of differing genders understanding they're in a fucking bathhouse/hot springs.
We learn a bit more about different kinds of Semblances from Spruce in the story about Thetis.
That's it for now, folks. I'll be doing a Kamui Candy chapter, now.
Words: 12.2k+.
~NRK Out~
