A body left to drown while the soul wonders free. Sleeping beneath the ice it beckons thee. Drive your stakes and raise your picks for while it rests we'll pick it clean. Ordered by the faceless foreman we dig atop this frozen sea.
And I'm back after 4 weeks. Man does it feel good to be doing something creative again after so long. I've done grammar and punctuation fixes to ch.1-7 and an overhaul of ch.5 for those of you wondering.
While I was gone a lot happened like the RWBY panel at RTX revealing Qrow, Winter, an entire team, and the design for the tournament stage. To settle some possible questions I won't be trying to integrate any of this new information since I already have this story mostly planned out besides a few in between chapters. This is mostly for my own benefit since I don't want to have to rework future chapter ideas and plot points to fit in all this new information. If you want to check out the panel where this information was given look up 'RTX RWBY 2015' using YouTube and you should be able to find it.
With that done I hope that you enjoy the new chapter.
"You brought me to your academy in the middle of the night to give me a health exam?" Dunstan asked Goodwitch as they walked into the medical ward of the school. The gasless lamps were nice and would deem further study in the schools achieves once he finished whatever he had been called to do.
"If you're going to be working alongside the students we'll need to get a full work up including x-rays, measurements, up to date vaccinations, and a blood sample." Glynda said while going over the list on her scroll.
"Yeah you're not getting a blood sample from me." Dunstan said laughing it off as a suggestion from the professor.
"This isn't negotiable. We need to see if you're carrying any diseases or illnesses. This is for your safety too in case you are in fact already sick we might be able to cure whatever is afflicting you."
"If you need my records I can list them off to you. My blood type is AB, I have no allergies to speak of besides pollen, and my current illness prevents me from contracting any others. If you're worried about me spreading it don't worry it is only transmissible through my own blood."
"I cannot in good conscious let you go before I finish these tests now sit back down." Glynda practically ordered the Hunter.
"I'll play along with your tests, but you are not getting my blood. If you want that you're going to have to take it from me by force." Dunstan finished staring back at Goodwitch challenging her to do something.
"Fine then, we'll worry about the blood sample last then for now please follow me." Glynda said giving up on the prospect of blood for the moment as she led Dunstan to an inclined bed with a large device hanging over it.
"Not saying I don't trust you, but I don't trust you. That looks like a torture device hanging over that bed." Dunstan said while slowly backing away from the machine.
"Don't be a child it's just a full body x-ray. You'll be fine going through it a few times without a lead lined cover." Glynda said trying to get him to lie on the bed.
"What's an X-ray machine and why would I need a lead lined cover?" Dunstan asked while getting into the bed.
"Now stay still I don't want to have to run these scan more than I need to."
"I still don't know what's going on." Dunstan said as he continued to eye the machine as if it was going to come to life and attack him.
"Stop talking and I'll tell you." The moment the machine started to move Dunstan froze. "This machine will show us your skeletal structure using radiation, but since it uses so little you shouldn't get any poisoning. I'll have it run look over you two more times to get a look at you internal organs and muscles to see if there's any damage to them."
"All this from a single device your workshop has. That is some amazing medical technology." Dunstan said marveling at how much could be gained from such a medical miracle.
"While we do pride ourselves in having stat of the art equipment you could find this machine in a fair number of hospitals though some have separate machines for each scan. Now stop talking I'll need you to hold your breath for the lung scans." Dunstan inhaled holding his breath as the device passed over his chest before coming to a stop over his head.
"So how badly hurt am I?" A tone of actual curiosity filled his voice being curious how his body had changed over the Hunt.
Glynda stated looking over the numbers then back at Dunstan before raising her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "There are a few abnormalities I got from the scan that I want to talk to you about. Firstly it seems that your skin has the durability of leather."
"Yeah it just got tougher and tougher every time I improved though it did slow down after a certain point." Remembering that after while his own body had the durability of some of the armor he wore.
"Luckily this didn't interfere with the scans though and once the second scan ran over you it found your muscles much denser than the average person. In fact it seems that you could probably bench a little under a ton unassisted by aura."
"Is that unusual? I mean you do train warriors to fight beasts surely they can accomplish something similar." Dunstan suggested trying to remember just how heavy his equipment actually was.
"Some students would be capable with aura like I said, but for someone to have this much raw strength is more reminiscent of a Grimm. Not to mention your skeletal structure appears strong enough to shake off being hit by a speeding vehicle."
"So where does that rank me with the students in terms of durability?" Dunstan asked remembering how even after taking on JNPR and WY they were relatively unharmed.
"Average or just below" Glynda answered immediately while Dunstan stared at her with disbelief.
"I'm average? Where I come from I was the best of the best a slayer of beasts," he said beginning to monologue raising his hand towards the ceiling as he continued, "Killer of gods. I stood toe to toe with giants and came out on top. That's the average students are expected to hold here?"
"From a purely physical stand point you're above average. Well that and you have exceptional reflexes along with combat experience from what we've seen. Now if you'd stop suppressing your aura I can gauge your actual combat potential."
"I've been meaning to ask what is aura people keep throwing the word around like its common knowledge so I'd be grateful to know what it means."
"Well some villages outside of the kingdoms do call it different names although aura is the universal term used by the kingdoms. It's our soul manifest granting us both protection and strength from within along with unique abilities called semblances."
"Not ringing any bells. Don't get me wrong my power does come from within, but it's from blood and training not my 'soul'." Dunstan said in an almost mocking tone at the spiritual concept of self.
"I assure you that our souls are very much real and if you won't show me I'll have to pull it out with a little force." Glynda said put a hand on Dunstan's shoulder as she began to glow before the world around her vanished in a sea of Darkness.
Glynda looked around all she could see was darkness as far as the eye could see along with the pungent scent of copper filling the air. Taking a step forward she heard her footstep cause a splash as if she was stepping through a puddle. Getting tired of the darkness she reached for the holster atop her right boot pulling out her weapon. Focusing on her weapon a bright purple light sprung up letting her see a few feet in front of her before the darkness began eating away at the light.
Putting more aura into the light caused it to brighten again only this time a soft glow began to emanate from beneath her in response. Looking down she saw the ocean of blood she was stood upon along with something glowing far beneath the surface. The light was cold, almost draining even as she peered upon it feeling goosebumps beginning to form on her arms.
The ground began to shake as the light faded letting Glynda briefly see something large underneath the ice pass in front of the light. The serpent like shape was burned into her mind as her breath started to become ragged. A monster just below the surface looking for signs of prey as she froze in place out of fear.
As the shaking continued Glynda heard a rumble from above her and looked up to see the pitch black sky open to reveal a single large eye looking down upon her as a beam of light shone out of the pupil. The light pierced the darkness even illuminating the ocean beneath her letting her see the tail of the monster move out of the light.
Running out of the light the eye began following her like a spotlight trailing just behind her every step. The rumbling continued as one eye became two, became four, became eight. Continuing until the sky was no longer held any darkness and instead was a host to thousands of eyes shining light upon her. Out of fear Glynda looked down into the ocean seeing the beasts now fully illuminated. What she thought was a serpent was only a limb to something much larger what she could best describe as a squid. The beasts lacked any eyes and had something embedded on its head letting off the same light she saw before.
A loud screech filled the worlds as the beasts began moving towards her slowing rising from the depths. Cracking could be heard as the ground she was stood on began shifting either from the sudden displacement of blood or the noise which continued to grow in volume. A final crack was heard as Glynda fell through the ice and into the freezing depths.
Readying her weapon she prepared herself as the beast approached her. Looking at it up close it was easily the size of a mansion in body alone and the arms could crush entire streets. As the arm began to move towards her Glynda tried to bring up a barrier only to find that she couldn't use her aura. The last thing she saw before being grabbed by the arm was the soft glow of the chilling light that rested embedded in the monsters head.
Glynda saw Dunstan waving his right hand in front of her face trying to grab her attention. "You still there?"
"Yes I'm still here Mr. Arkwright, now would you stop waving your hand around as if I am some child who needs her attention focused." She chided as Dunstan brought his arm back down to his side.
"Sorry about that, you just froze up after you did the whole glow thing." He responded while motioning to her whole body.
Seeing that she still had her hand on his shoulder she pulled away noticing that she had broken out into a cold sweat. Looking at her weapon she found it still in her holster and her clothing lacked any of the stains it would have had she fallen into a sea of blood. Recollecting herself Glynda left the room briefly only to have Ozpin walk in through the entrance.
"You'll have to excuse Glynda she's apparently not feeling very well so I'll take over for your orientation." Ozpin said taking a sip from his coffee cup.
"You sure she's going to be okay she seemed a little pale after the whole aura thing."
"Glynda's tougher then she looks. As for your aura we'll just have to discuss that later. Now have you figured out what you'll be teaching while you're here?" Ozpin asked wondering what the Hunter could bring to his school.
"I'm thinking survival."
"And what would your class entail that isn't already being taught?"
"I'll be teaching them the things that your current curriculum fails to like how to fight while there are traitors among your ranks, operating different weaponry, anti-personal combat, surviving in the wilderness, and psychology."
"Psychology, I understand the others, but why psychology?"
"Because you're making soldiers that have no idea what they're going to be facing and doing. They're going to have to able to cope in the field and understand their opponents. Taking your first life is never easy and I don't expect anything to prepare them for that, but we can mitigate as much damage as possible."
"I can get your class set up although it will be difficult to find students willing to enroll when we're already a half way through the semester." Ozpin said while looking over the class schedule of all the other courses trying to find a free room for the new teacher.
"I can worry about getting that I just need a room and about a week for prep."
"Until you complete the physical examination I can't let you fight any of the students or use the arena for class. Until either Glynda or I sign you off you'll have to make do with the standard rooms at this school."
"And your library?"
"All students and faculty have access to the library as a resource however you'll have to use it on your own time since you'll be making a curriculum to follow for your class."
"I thank you for the opportunity to pass along my knowledge to the next generation Ozpin. The wealth of knowledge you possess is a good incentive too, but that's for another time, for now I need to prepare for my class." Dunstan said as he opened the doors of the infirmary to the dark halls of Beacon before turning back around and walking up to Ozpin.
"Take this scroll it has your room and classroom location already programmed into the directory just select it and follow the instruction to reach the room you want. If you need to contact any of the staff or students it also has a call function built in with the school registry downloaded." Ozpin explained while showing the functions to Dunstan who studied the device intently before taking it in hand.
"Thank you again Ozpin I promise to abide by your rules while I teach here and do everything in my power to keep your workshop safe." Dunstan gave a polite bow before exiting the room to find his destination.
As soon as Dunstan was out of earshot Glynda walked back into the room. "I still don't approve of you enlisting his aide here at Beacon as a teacher."
"He may not know it, but something is happening and he has the key to it all somewhere in his head. Eventually everything will come to light."
"I hope you know what you're doing. When I tried to reveal his aura wasn't blocked it was being suppressed by something. I'm still trying to figure out what happened to me it was like I was in a completely different world."
"Perhaps a semblance that affects others minds then?"
"I would have felt his aura surge while I was in contact. This is something else it wasn't under his control possibly a side effect of what he's been. Scars can form on the soul if they're severe enough in both mind and body."
"What were you experiencing you were only out of it for about 5 seconds before you noticed him waving his hand in front of you."
"The best way I could describe it felt like I was drowning no matter how much aura I tried to use it wouldn't leave my body. It was cold and the sky was lined with eyes following my every move. Unsettling would be putting it lightly."
"For now we let him teach if he is connected to what's going on he shows no signs of knowing it. He's likely as much a victim as anyone else he just happens to be at the center of this storm."
"I'll hold my tongue for now, but when he becomes a threat I'm holding you responsible for his actions."
"I wouldn't expect anything less."
A woman with black hair and glowing orange eyes walked through a White Fang base and into the planning room only to find someone dressed in all white already overlooking the table. The shape of the suit he wore along with a top hat almost screamed look at me. She would have found the man impressive if he hadn't been blatantly going over the files on the desk.
"I'm going to have to ask you to stop." She said causing the man to lift both his arms high as if a gun had been pressed to his back. "Who are you and how did you get inside here?"
"Just a wondering salesman who wants to offer you a deal." He responded slowly turning around so Cinder could see his face.
"And how does a salesman enter one of my most guarded basses of operation?"
"Why through the front door of course." He responded with a smile as Cinder snapped her fingers a bullet passed through his head throwing him away from the table as he landed with a thud.
"I thought he'd play it smart. He definitely didn't know who he was talking to." A girl with mint green hair and dark red eyes said as she stepped into the room her revolver still hot from the bullet it just fired.
"Emerald, I need a sweep of the base he couldn't have gotten in here unassisted I want the traitor found and brought to me. Also send someone to clean up this mess we'll need to identify what's left of his face." She almost smirked while looking at the man's face frozen in that dumb smile.
"Of course Cinder."
As Emerald left a white fang grunt walked into the room and began looking over the body. "You know that suit was custom tailored and now I'm going to have to get another one. I don't even know this person's measurements."
"So you decided to face me yourself then." Cinder said as her the outline of her clothes began to glow.
"No, I've come to offer you a deal and I suggest you stop killing these bodies because eventually I'm going to have to walk all the way here from uptown Vale and no one wants that." He said as he picked the top hat off the body and placed it atop his own head. "Clearly you're not a smile kind of person so I'll be serious for this dealing."
"What are you?" She asked cautious over how the man she just had killed was still talking to her.
"Like I said before a traveling salesman though I tend to go by Floes Cadges nowadays and I've come to offer you what you most desire."
"And what would that be?"
"A means to an ends in this case the power you need for your plan to work."
"What would you want in return for your services? Nothing is ever free and when dealing with a devil it pays to now the terms of agreement."
"Ever observant I see. All I need is for your plan to work and for Vale to fall. It would be quite the sight to see and without the Grimm your plan's odds of success have gone down, what I offer you is a way to readjust the scales so to say."
"If I refuse your deal?"
"Then you have no way to contain me and your years of planning will all go to waste along with all the contacts you've built up for this moment." He answered while fiddling with the gun on his belt.
"Really, you're threatening me now."
"I don't threaten and we both know what your response will be." He said while walking over to Cinder until he was standing right in front of her. "Don't worry, I'll be in touch." With those last words the gun he held under his own head went off painting the ceiling with blood as two bodies now littered the room.
"Send someone to the war room, there are two bodies that need to be disposed of and tell Emerald to cancel that lockdown." Cinder said finishing her call before looking out the window to the broken moon hanging overhead.
"We'll see you when we get back Ruby." Yang said while opening the dorm's door.
"I know. It's just tough being alone for so long. I got used to being around friends all the time." Ruby said while getting back onto her bed.
"You can visit us during lunch again. They can't bar you from the cafeteria." Weiss suggested seeing her leader starting to fall into a slump after being stuck in the room for so long.
"I know it's just that I wanted to go to that tournament training course for Beacon students with you." Ruby said as she buried her face in the pillow trying to get comfortable.
"Apparently there's an entrance test to weed out the students applying." Yang said slamming her fist into her palm with anticipation.
"I doubt it would be something so brutish as to just rely on combat scores. I've studied and feel fully prepared for anything this professor can throw at me." Weiss said while adjusting her uniform.
"It's training for the tournament Weiss, we aren't going to be writing essays on how well our techniques and moves can be used in hypothetical situations."
"Keep telling yourself that Yang while I get in and you're stuck taking regular courses."
"Like when you blew up the Dust lab trying to prove that you should be in the third year course."
"No one can prove that was me." Weiss said while her cheeks began to turn red. "Besides we're taking the class as a team to lessen the workload we'll take the advance courses eventually."
"Catch you later Ruby." Yang said as they walked out of the room to continue their conversation on the way to class.
With the door closed Ruby began slowly drifting off to sleep when her scroll began buzzing. Looking at the message she happily leaped out of bed and ran out of the room happy that she had an opportunity to leave her make shift jail.
"I swear Oobleck talks faster each class we have him. I barely managed to take down all the notes on the board before he erased them and filled it up again." Weiss complained going over the note book.
"Well Ruby will be happy to know you have the lecture notes for her." Blake said as they walked into the dimly lit lecture hall. Looking at the podium Blake could see the professor with his back to the class and could see that whoever it was had a flare for the dramatic since he was keeping the stage covered in darkness for his reveal.
"Looks like we made it just in time." Yang said as they grabbed some seats in the back of the class.
When they sat down the room was flooded with light temporarily blinding some students from the sudden shift in lighting. When their eyes finally adjusted to the light the class was greeted with the sight of a twisted mask in the shape of a human skull that had four eye slits. The mask wasn't white instead it was a charred black along with all the crinkled metal that made up his armor. A classic witch's hat adorned his head with a cloak surrounding his neck and shoulders giving the appearance of a short cape. As the students eyes wondered around the attire they saw the hands that had a metal jointed overlay on the fingers giving it sharpened claws at the end of each tip as a segmented guard reached up the arm.
The sight reminded them of burial armor used to pay respect to departed warriors only it seemed to have been incinerated. Whether the armor was deformed through combat or through the crafting process it seemed sturdy enough and offered complete protection.
With the shock of the professor's appearance out of the way they began to notice that the classrooms walls had been decorated with a multitude of weaponry they couldn't even identify. One of the more peculiar ones was even shaped like an oversized wheel.
When Weiss recognized one of the guns on the wall she slammed her head into the table before muttering under her breath. "Why'd it have to be him?"
Yang saw the weapon she clashed with hanging on the wall and gave a smile hopping to fight him again in the testing. "This is going to be fun."
"For all of you hoping to get into this class the examination is simple. All you have to do is show proficiency with one or more of the main weapons hanging on the wall, excluding three that I've deemed too dangerous for first time users. The ability to fire any of the side arms grants you immediate entrance while weapon proficiency will be judged by a one on one match." Looking over the students Dunstan began noticing that a few had extra appendages be it ears or a tail and rushed into the backroom only to come out a minute later.
"Sorry about that, there are 3 side arms each with a duplicate lying on the table at the front of the room. Each of you is going to try to operate one of the pistols, blunderbusses, or flame sprayers before we move onto the combat portion of the exam.
The students started to form lines going down to the front of the class with each of them aiming the firearms at the target dummies only for nothing to happen. They continued to file through with nothing happening until Ren and Weiss both stepped up each of them grabbing one of the canister shaped devices that looked like they were designed to spray pesticides. Pulling the triggers both devices began to spew forth a torrent of flames that engulfed the dummy and seared the floor leaving behind burn marks.
Most of the students watching were amazed that the devices even managed to function most thinking they were all defunct weapons. With a new sense of possibility the other students went at the task with vigor wondering if they could operate the devices.
"If you passed please move over to the stage while the others conclude their testing." Weiss and Ren began making their way onto the stage watching the other students try and fail to operate the weaponry.
"Well I'm going back to my seat." Yang said as she stepped out of line to sit back down.
"Not even going to try?" Dunstan asked as she walked past him.
"We both know I can't work them, I'll just fight my way in like I intended." Just before sitting down Yang put her hands around her mouth like a megaphone before cheering. "You got this Blake."
At her partner's sudden outcry focusing the room's attention on her she grabbed the pistol from the desk taking aim at Yang and pulling the trigger causing the gun to fire off a shot and leave a sizable hole in the desk next to Yang. Seeing what she just did Blake hurriedly placed the gun down before walking onto the stage next to Ren and Weiss.
By the end of the preliminary testing only 6 students out of the 80 had managed to fire off any of the sidearm. "With that out of the way I'd like to congratulate those of you who have passed. You may leave or stay and watch the bouts, but you can attend my class starting tomorrow. Everyone else you'll take turns to pick and practice with a weapon before fighting your opponent."
"I can't wait to pummel you." Yang said loud enough for the entire room to hear her.
"Oh, you won't be fighting me you'll be fighting my assistant." Just as he said that the lights turned off and a spotlight illuminated the door leading to the back room when a small girl in a mask and a red hooded cape walked in. "Masked Rose."
"Ruby you're supposed to be in the room. What are you even doing here?" Yang asked seeing her sister walk into the classroom.
"You must be mistaken. I'm not your adorable sister Ruby I'm Masked Rose." She said trying her best to disguise her voice to no avail.
"You didn't even bother changing your name that much all you changed was first name and put on a mask."
"She's not buying it." Ruby whispered to Dunstan as the class eyed their new challenge.
"Just keep going I don't want Goodwitch to realize I busted you out to get around the rules." Dunstan answered back as Ruby nodded in agreement.
"I already told you my name is Masked Rose and all of you will be facing me if you want to take this class." Ruby unfurled the scythe on her back revealing it to not be Crescent Rose, but instead a black metal scythe with a hinge at the center of the staff to collapse it.
"What happened to Crescent Rose?" Yang questioned wondering what could have happened to separate her sister from the beloved scythe.
"Well I'm not allowed access to my weapon locker at the moment so"- Catching herself Ruby began coughing into her hand- "I mean I've always used this weapon strange blonde haired woman who I've never met before."
"Okay now that introductions are out of the way who wants to go first?" Dunstan asked as several hands shot up around the room ready to fight for their spot in the class much to Yang's displeasure.
Not as long as my last chapter, but I feel that I packed this one with enough information to get the story rolling towards its next arc. For those of you curious as to why I killed an antagonist like Floes last chapter it's because these chapters weren't supposed to be spaced apart by 4 weeks thus giving the readers way too much time to read into the last chapter before he reappeared. I've always been a fan of characters that use bodies as tools to be used and thrown away. Live a life of zero consequence and be nigh immortal while playing the bigger game over god knows how many centuries.
As for editing old Chapters I added a Rhyme to the start of each chapter for new readers to foreshadow the chapter and future chapters. This is also a quick way to check if I've edited the chapter yet. The edit notes will be found at the bottom of each chapter if I changed anything to drastic. I do plan on fixing more as I have time for them.