It's been a while since the last serious chapter. I would do NaNiWriMo, but….
Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
-Spirit
(If you want to get early access to the chapters/roast my writing skills, join discord . gg / 9t9MK3jHmV)
Looking up from my blueprints, I wiped sweat off of my brow. The project had gone underway, and some smugglers had gone ashore in Haven in order to acquire some of the electronic parts I needed. I had to give the rest of my two thousand lien to them in order to finance the part retrieval, though, which made my head ache for all of the stress to acquire food and shelter.
Luckily, the Belladonas were generous enough to give me lease over one of the less windier huts and food at mealtimes.
Unluckily, it was the Belladonas that were doing this. Which meant that during every meal, I had to finish as fast as possible and get out of the way before the situation between Blake and me got way too awkward.
I began shoving the rice into my mouth, getting a bit of fish from a patch of meat near the tail, dipping it in the oily soup that remained after the fish was steamed, and continued eating. After drinking a whole cup of tea, I sighed in satisfaction. Then, a faint blush crept up my cheeks for my utter disregard of table manners, before I bowed to them, whispered a thanks, and rapidly walked back to my shed to continue my work. Occasionally, some blacksmiths and somewhat experienced engineer workers (along with the one electrician on the island) would pop in to see what I was up to, and how the blueprints were going.
On the weekends, after they finished whatever work they had on hand, they all gathered in my cramped room and sat in corners and on the dirt floors while I used a heavily scratched white board to explain the science of the generator to them.
It was a busy life, but it was one that was oddly satisfying. My goal was in reach, and every day I worked not because I had to in the case of being a huntsman in training. I labored and pulled all nighters occasionally to create what was apparently revolutionary in this world: to create electricity without the use of dust.
Also, this may or may not be me supposedly inventing (or rather, rediscovering) electricity for Remnant, so to be a parallel to people like Tesla or Edison made me just a tiny bit proud, and inflated my battered and bruised ego just a little bit.
However, this perfect cycle of work, eat, work, sleep, and repeat couldn't last forever, because one day, Blake stopped me just as I was about to exit the door.
…
"I was wondering where you were." I said, smiling brittlely. Cold sweat began to make itself known on my head and back, making the wind uncomfortably chilly instead of temperate and tropical.
"Yun, just…."
"Who's Yun?" I said, reflexively. "You keep mentioning the guy, and I know that he's a champion in Mistral of some tournament, but you should know by now that I-"
"I know it's you." Blake said, a bit of exasperation in her voice. "You had a research project back in Beacon and you're continuing it here, aren't you?"
I sighed. I guess there was no hiding it forever.
"So, why are you here?" I asked, trying to shift the topic of conversation over to her.
"This is my home. I have a responsibility to be here, now that the White Fang is here."
"Stop lying to yourself." I said, waving lazily and pushing myself out of the door. "Like me, you're just hiding, right?"
"N-no I'm not!" Blake said indignantly.
"And out of all the places that you have a responsibility to be at, you had to choose Menagerie, the one place that probably doesn't have anything to do with the rest of Remnant."
Blake was silent for a while, and we walked in silence as she contemplated my words. Contrary to her usually frigid mask in Beacon to deter others from approaching her, this Blake was just a tad bit more expressive.
But why did I care? Other than a loose connection to her parents because they "funded" my project, other than my mistakes of going to Beacon and actually trying to be a… hero(I had no idea if that term applied for me trying to run away, going to save somebody on the top of a tower, failing, and ending up in a six month coma), we were barely acquaintances.
Even in Beacon, we didn't exactly talk.
"Just like me, you're stepping out of the weird conspiracies that rule the mainland of Remnant, and resort to little investigations into what is effectively the weird cult's cannon fodder to feel just a tiny bit better about yourself."
Blake almost looked like she was going to attack me. I, however, had no intention of laying down on the statements I had somewhat copied from some particularly good audio books.
"At least I'm honesty about my shortcomings. You, however? Don't even try to lecture me on running."
…
"This is bad… Really bad…" Jaune muttered, slightly shaking in his heavier armor. The joints on his armguards and the little pieces in his breastplate made small clanking noises as Ren and Nora were blown back from the madman that had just attacked them out of nowhere.
They had used most of their trump cards. Nora had taken a lightning dust bullet from Ruby, but the resulting attack didn't even phase the man, who had blocked the heavy hit with nothing but his tail. Ren had been kicked back about thirty seconds ago, and Nora was currently panicking over Ren. Ruby was on the ground, her scythe clattering away from her as the strange combatant swiped at her with his… hand axes?
This, however, was no time for hesitation. In the distance, he could hear wings beat furiously. He took a deep breath…
And did what Yun would do.
He analyzed the situation. The man had an incredibly reckless fighting style. Even if there were no obvious weaknesses, he still had to block Nora's blow with some amount of effort. This meant that there were limits to his seemingly invincible strength and durability.
However, Nora was currently occupied with Ren, who was in an unknown condition. This meant that Jaune…
Had to be the one to stall.
White aura flooded his legs. He guided it to the individual muscles like Yun described his Chi channeling process, before kicking off of the ground with uncharacteristic speed. He had raised his shield, intending to block the blow meant for Ruby, but…
His technique wasn't perfect. His aura-shelled form impacted the man like a small car would hit a great tree. Which was to say that it didn't move the man in the slightest. However, the heavy weight of his armor did finally prove itself useful for once instead of just being extra weight, sending the two into a pile on the ground.
Jaune immediately coated himself in aura, grabbed his sword that was about two feet away, and then prepared to hack down at the man's face. He punched the potential insane asylum escapee as hard as he could in the face, but with the aura sizzling over his body, it was rendered to just a dull thud to Jaune's nose as he slashed down with his sword regardless. The ground, additionally, gave the man no room to wind back his punches, thus making the attack weak in the first place.
A tail shot up from the ground to deflect the shot, and so Jaune dropped his sword instead, wound back his own fist, and punched. The appendage wrapped a round his wrist, straining to hold the aura-enhanced strength back, but Jaune just raised his other fist and punched again.
An arm had to be raised to block that attack, as the other extended the weird hand axe blades and slashed at Jaune.
It sliced harmlessly off of Jaune's armor. As the other hand was overextended, Jaune's fist fought past the arm's block and impacted the ground beside the man's face. Gritting his teeth, Jaune attempted a clumsy headbutt, only for the man to meet Jaune with one of his own. The impact, along with the tail wrapped around his wrist throwing him off, was enough to dislodge Jaune.
He groaned and ran his aura one last time through his body. It was still strong, but his reserves were dipping.
He cracked his knuckles and mimicked Yun's stance, hoping that it was intimidating.
(It wasn't.)
The man began to laugh.
"Ah ha ha ha, you're different from those other ones, aren't you?"
"Arguably, I'd say I'm worse than them. So you'd be correct."
"No, no! You aren't bound by the boxes of logic and reason! The way that you fight is much more exciting, exciting!"
Jaune didn't exactly enjoy being compared to an insane person, but if it stalled for time, then it stalled for time.
"You're not so bad yourself. Even comparable to my mentor."
"Oh?" the man tilted his head, interested. "Your mentor? The one who taught you to fight like this?"
"Yun actually tried to teach me technique. What I just did was what any three year old could do." Jaune thought, the seriousness of the situation suppressing the irony of the statement.
"It was something I came up with myself." Jaune said, subtly channeling aura into his legs and arms. If he could temporarily immobilize the man, Nora could hopefully at least concuss him. She probably had checked up on Ren by now, and was hopefully ready to rejoin the fray.
His opponent, however, was more aggressive and insane than he had even thought he was.
A tail hit his armor, and if it wasn't for the fact that he already had aura reinforcing it, the metal would probably have crumpled under the weight of that attack. Jaune punched blindly, before ducking down to avoid a particularly vicious swipe. As the man grinned crazily, Jaune instead tackled him.
"Nora! Hit him!"
"With pleasure!" Nora growled. Jaune could hear the ground shake as Nora leapt into the air. The man in his arms struggled, his tail stabbing into his back, but his armor and his aura reserves had saved him once more.
Then, the man grinned.
"Nora, stop!" Jaune shouted, eyes widening.
A cascade of bullets shot out from the man's gauntlets, hitting Nora in the chest and sending her smash off balance. Thankfully, aura was running in her upper body, so the blow wasn't too severe, but it had gotten rid of the one opportunity that they had to take him out.
Jaune pushed the maniac away, before fanning out his shield and peeking out from above it.
The man, however, was gone.
Then, a maniac laugh was heard where Ruby stood, who had just recovered from the hits she had taken.
"Ruby!" He shouted. He ran forward, but even he knew that he wasn't fast enough. Nora jumped into the air as well, hammer raised desperately. Even Ren, who was somewhat injured, lurched up from the ground, his last efforts to try to change the situation only enough to send him forward a couple of meters.
A tail was thrust at Ruby's prone form just as she attempted to rise from the ground to retaliate.
What met their ears wasn't… whatever the sound of a punctured human body would make.
Instead the sound of rasping metal met their ears.
"Hey." A man wearing an unfashionable huntsman outfit said to Ruby reassuringly.
…
Oscar had never seen a city as large as Mistral. It was grand and beautiful, just as the magazines portrayed.
It was especially beautiful from the view of a building up high, where the Pyrrha Nikos lived!
Xin and Pyrrha were currently in the training room, doing who knows what. From the sound of metal on metal, and the high pitched whirring of something cutting through the air, they were probably training.
"Hopefully, Miss Nikos has been keeping her combat skills sharp." Ozpin said. "There will be tough times ahead."
Oscar looked down at the meat-filled sandwich in his hand, filled with different kinds of ham and salamis. It certainly didn't feel that bad yet to him.
At last, something hit the padded walls with a thump, and Xin dragged Pyrrha out of the room unceremoniously, not even breaking a sweat.
Pyrrha was dazed. As she stood up, her arms were shaking.
"Is this… how you… trained Yun?" she wheezed, staggering towards a table. Xin did not give her a reply, choosing instead to stare at a wall.
Oscar, meanwhile, began to eat his sandwich. It was a really good sandwich.
He had no idea why he was so fixated on a sandwich.
"Maybe it is because of the fact that you now had to feed two souls instead of one." Ozpin said in Oscar's mind.
"Perhaps.", Oscar shrugged.
"I may or may not be acclimating to your body and suppressing your emotions subconsciously. I apologize."
"It's no problem." Oscar thought, his mind still slowly processing Ozpin's statement.
"Wait, what?" Oscar said, almost spitting out his last bite of sandwich. "Supressing my emotions?" Oscar thought to Ozpin, "What do you mean?"
"Is there a problem, Ozpin? Enemies?" Xin said, his head snapping to attention.
Oscar felt Ozpin take control once more, and, for once, he was annoyed of the possession.
"Nothing. It's just some issues me and Oscar ran into."
"Wait, so you're actually Ozpin reincarnated into… a child's body?" Pyrrha asked, overcoming the small bit of irritation she felt about being ignored. However, Oscar still felt trace amounts of frustration. Apparently he wasn't important enough to have his name remembered.
"Indeed. It may sound ridiculous or completely insane to you, but this is how my soul has… been designed."
"Been designed?" Pyrrha said, slightly confused.
"If I do say what I know, your view of the world, and most importantly, what comes with that knowledge… I'll just say that what you perceive as possible is somewhat incomplete."
"That honestly just makes me want to know more, Professor." Pyrrha said, after taking a drink of water.
Oscar felt his body turn. The grease on his fingers was starting to feel uncomfortable instead of being the result of luxurious eating, but he didn't know if it was Ozpin feeling it or himself feeling it.
Ozpin looked out of the window. Oscar watched his own eyes look out of the window. The sun was setting, and it cast a rather wide shadow on the room. The arched, slightly tinted windows and the black frames made the room itself seem like a cage, branded with black lines and orange squares.
Pyrrha, in the meanwhile, was talking to Xin.
"So, you're just fine with not knowing whatever it is you're doing while you're working for the Professor."
"I knew. I have forgotten." Xin said.
Pyrrha inhaled sharply, before speaking once again. "How do you forget something that 'may change the way you perceive the world'? It just doesn't make sense, sir."
The 'sir' sounded like it was hastily added on just to be polite.
"Xin has had an accident while working for me, and he has sustained a lot of damage to his brain."
"And you still make him work for you?"
"He does so out of his free will."
"That is what I remember. I shall follow your orders, and care for Yun." Xin's expression softened in the reflection of the glass. Along with the orange tint masking his almost inhuman paleness, he looked somewhat human. His broad shoulders slumped a bit, and his demeanor shifted to make him appear vulnerable.
"You raised Yun as well?" Pyrrha said, a look of concern on her eyes. "With your… uh… condition…. Yun could not have had it well."
"He was oddly intelligent as a child." Xin said, a fleeting smile crossing his expression. It was so brief that Oscar could have sworn it was a figment of his imagination if Ozpin hadn't caught it as well. A pang of regret seared through him, and he wanted to cry, to bawl, to-
A cold blanket fell over his thoughts, paralyzing and suffocating them. All that was left was… Numbness. His hand was raised habitually, and instead of the bittersweet taste of coffee, the nauseating greasiness of the sandwich met his mouth instead.
He chewed the gritty bread and the oily meat like it was sawdust.
Xin, however, just continued his monologue.
"He trapped a nevermore at four-or was it five? I don't remember. After that, he began to demand that I train him. I uh… what did I do again?"
Ozpin had retreated back into his consciousness once again, and Oscar reappeared, almost stumbling and leaning against the window. Feining calm, he gripped his sandwich with an iron fist. A piece of meat slid out of the once appetizing food, resulting in a wet slap and a grease stain on the expensive looking windowsill.
Xin, however, was not maintaining any masks at all.
"Where… What… When…" He knelt down and clutched his head. His brow wrinkled, even if one side was more wrinkled than the other. One of his hands reflexively went into his robes and grabbed a sheet of paper, handling it with dogged gentleness, barely even wrinkling the slightly yellow scrap of paper despite his emotional state.
After a minute, Xin's stature went limp, before he literally stood up and rebooted like a computer.
"I… apologize." He forced the words out like it was physically causing him pain. "My implants cannot handle emotions very well."
Ozpin took control once more, though Oscar could feel the reluctance and hesitation that Ozpin was feeling.
"I'm also sorry, old friend. I never should have sent you on that mission."
"What mission." Xin said monotonously, tilting his head slowly.
Pyrrha was now looking at Oscar-no, Ozpin with a slightly haunted expression on her face.
"D-does everybody who work for you… turn out… like…"
One of her legs were trembling underneath her. If Ozpin's thoughts were correct, it was the same one she was shot in.
"More individuals like Cinder interfered with a routine Grimm cleansing mission. Xin defeated them, but not before sustaining some injuries of his own."
"Well, being a huntsman definitely isn't just sunshine and rainbows." Oscar thought.
Thanks for reading! Hopefully, the characters weren't too off track. It's been a while since the last canon timeframe RWBY chapter I wrote, and I'm not sure if my depictions are accurate or not.
Still, I gave it my best effort. Xin is facing some memory troubles, Oscar is getting used to taking the backseat, and Pyrrha is slowly realizing that what happened on Beacon Tower isn't just going to be a one-time thing.
…Hurray for depressing chapters. Honestly, the RWBY series is just one big patch of sad after Vol 3.
On that note, see you next time!
-SpiritOfErebus