Chapter 17: Our Initiation is WHAT?
(November 18th, 2021) We back at it again.
So here I was, waiting on the docking platform for the Bullhead or whatever it was called to arrive. I had my music blasting in my ears to drown out my inherit nervousness. My day wasn't off to a great start because Master, or I guess my former Master, had something of greater importance to attend to because he was already gone by the time I woke up. Cinder also had some personal matters to attend so she was not able to see me off. I sighed.
At least we got our feelings sorted out when we did.
I flinched as I felt someone tap my shoulder, yanking my earbuds out. My heart was put at ease at the sight, or rather smell of, a familiar friend.
"Can you not do that?! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Well, it's good to see you too." Saga tried to contain his laughter. "So how have you been?"
"I've been good. Cinder and I got together."
Saga's eyes widened. "Like, together together? Dating and such?"
I could feel myself getting flustered. "Well, we technically haven't started to officially date, but we are that kind of together."
"Well, it's about time! Congrats, man!" He gave me a firm handshake and it was only then that I could hear the Bullhead approaching. We boarded on and it only just dawned on me that it wasn't as crowed as I thought it was going to be. Saga and I were able to quickly find a couple of seats by a window. "So how do you feel about flying?"
"While I have technically flown before, I haven't flown in something like this before. It might take some getting used to." I waved it off. It wasn't long until we took off.
Normally, I would be listening to my music; but with Saga here, the ride was bearable. There were several questions burning through my mind in regard to my future here and with Cinder, but I kept those to myself. I was scanning the area, and there was a decent amount of both humans and faunas, so that was a good sign.
"Yo!"
"Huh?"
"You spaced out on me again!" he told me.
"Oh, my bad. Did you ask me something?"
He sighed. "Yes, I wanted to ask you about how you think the initiation is going to happen?"
"I mean, it could be literally anything. I haven't really considered it." I shrugged. Saga nodded. He pulled out a bag of chips from his coat pocket. "How can you eat all that junk food, smoke, and still look the way you do?" Saga simply laughed. You know, they'll probably not allow you to smoke on campus.
"They can try to confiscate it all they want, but they won't. Have you forgotten what my Semblance is?"
"Oh right, pocket dimension." He had a smug look on his face. Something caught his attention, and he got up to leave. I followed his gaze to see him looking at a girl with blue hair. She wasn't talking to anyone. Oh god, this won't end well. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he did come back hanging his head low. "Another rejection?"
"Not now." I could tell that he couldn't hold back his smile.
"You'll get your chance. If I can get a girlfriend, then so can you."
"That's seems like a low bar to cross." I punched his shoulder, and we had a good laugh. Some kind of notification pinged throughout the aircraft. I turned to see a hologram of Professor Glynda. Probably some kind of orientation thing. It also means that we are close to our destination.
"You know, Saga, I hope that you and I get to hang out for the next four years."
"We'll be fine. You and I can take care of whatever this place has to throw at us." He placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and saw the reassurance in his eyes. "You. Will. Be. Fine."
"Am I that nervous?"
"Your left leg hasn't stopped bouncing since we sat down." I glanced down at myself, suddenly having the urge to stop moving. "I'll look for you during the big test. But I have some things to take care of." The Bullhead landed and he was among the first people to leave.
I sighed. I returned to my comfort-zone of loud music and making myself smaller. Pulling my hood while doing everything I could to avoid contact with others. My heart was racing as I tried to make my way over to the auditorium, fully realizing that this is really it. This is where it all begins. So, of course the place is crowded, and I wanted to find a corner, but all of them were already taken.
I don't want to be here right now.
I quickly glanced around for a spot to find, only to bump into someone. They excused themselves and I looked to see that it was the girl that rejected Saga earlier, or at least I thought it was. I didn't see her face after all. She had dark blue hair with bright orange eyes. She looked at me like I had seen a ghost.
"You good?"
I tried to form words.
"You look like you could use some company. I know of a spot where there're less people. Follow me." I did just so. She was right after all, there were a lot less people over here. "You feel better?" I nodded. "Good. You had that nervous aura about you. We all get that. I'm Kattie by the way. But most people just call me KB."
"Just call me Opals."
"You don't look like a first year." She commented.
"What makes you say that?"
"You got too much facial hair for starters. You look like a 4th year, or at least you should've graduated. But then again, I'm one to talk." She laughed. Her cheery attitude couldn't help but make me feel at ease. We both heard microphone feedback and turned to see Ozpin up on stage. I didn't really pay any attention to the speech because it was mostly about how we're all here for a reason and this will test out skills and trust and stuff. "You think he ever gets tired of this?" Kattie whispered to me.
"I think the faster he gets to the point, the easier it gets." The important thing I got out of it was how we would be staying overnight. "Ah shit. I forgot to pack my stuff."
Kattie raised a single eyebrow, "How can you forget to pack clothes?"
"Look, this is my first time being away from home like this, I didn't really think it over."
"Did you not have time?"
"Life got in the way. Look, point is that I'll figure something out."
"Assuming you can last until tomorrow."
"I'll be fine, thanks."
"We'll wait and see." She got up to stretch. "You take care of yourself, Opals."
"Yeh-huh." I rolled my eyes. I got up only to hear my knees pop.
"Damn, I knew you were old, but I didn't think you'd be a grandpa." I heard Saga come up from the crowd.
"Shut up, we gotta—" I felt my Scroll vibrate. I pulled it out to see a message. It was from Ozpin, and he wanted to speak to me in his office.
"What is it, your girlfriend?" Saga teased.
"I'll be in the ballroom later. I gotta take this right now." Without another word, I weaved my way through the crowd and lightly jogged towards the elevator. I didn't know what Ozpin wanted with me, but I'd figured it must be important for him to message me like this.
I wasn't sure why I was nervous, but something was telling me that all of this wasn't going to be that bad. I remember something my dad once said. How I need to not worry about the small things and that I tend to worry about over nothing. He was waiting for me and had a large duffel bag at the foot of the desk.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?"
"Ah, yes. I had an old friend of mine stop by. He left this for you." I cautiously reached for the bag, and I realized that it was relatively light. I opened it up, and saw it was full of clothes, and a note.
[Hey, kid.
Congrats on making through two years with me. I wish I could've been there to see you off, but I'd figured that this was the least I could do. You did forget to pack your things after all.
I expect great things from you. Perhaps when you graduate, you and I can catch up. Stay Vigilant and be wary of who you trust.
Kind regards,
Arthur Quill]
It was nice to know Master was still looking out for me after all this time. I thanked Ozpin and made my way back downstairs. As I headed back down, I noticed that there was a strange incision within the elevator's panel. I looked through my Scroll to see where my locker was going to be at. I was able to place a surprisingly large amount of stuff in it. "I kinda hate how big these are. Better than my locker back in high school." I found a spot to get dressed and made my way over to the ballroom. Needless to say, it was packed. Most people had their small groups, some guys were flexing their muscles, some people where reading. There was even a card game going on in the center. While I couldn't find either Saga or Kattie, I was able to find a spot to rest. Thankfully, I'm a heavy sleeper.
The following morning started out relatively ok. I had woken up pretty early and was able to get a good breakfast. I regret not paying attention to yesterday's speech, as I couldn't remember where we had to go. The cafeteria was pretty packed with the chatter of other students. Suddenly, an alarm began to blare, startling me. The windows also started to become barred. I could see the confusion happening in here. It was then a voice could be heard over the intercom.
"Greetings newbies! Your precious Beacon Academy is currently being held hostage by yours truly. The teachers and several upperclassmen are being held captive in a secret location. And I have planted several bombs in various locations around the school. You won't be able to leave, nor contact anyone from the outside. All you have to do is find and disarm my bombs. If you don't, then Beacon will fall! You have 5 hours to find them all~" The call ended with a malicious laughter. It was then that the doors suddenly opened.
I could tell that some of the first years were thinking that this had to be a joke, or that this was just our initiation and that there was no way that they would blow up the school. But considering this was a voice I didn't recognize due to a filter, plus several unfortunate experiences back home, I ran off. The first place I went to was the statue, and sure enough, a bomb was there. The bomb itself was relatively small, but it looked like it could do some serious damage. I had never disarmed a bomb before, and I had no idea where to even start. I heard a voice shouting behind me. I turned around to see it was Saga.
"Thank god, you're here. Can you believe this is what we have to deal with?"
"Crazy, I know. Do you have any idea how to deal with this?"
I shook my head. "If I knew, I would've already dealt with it. I don't want to take any chances with this. But I have a few ideas that I could try out." I called my locker over to me and shortly after it showed up. I pulled out my power armor hoodie, my mace, crossbow, some ammo, and a few poisons. I activated my armor and began analyzing the bomb. The timer had 30 minutes left to go, which was strangely generous.
"Any luck?"
"Yeah, these bombs can de destroyed if we either cut a specific wire or if we can detonate it from a distance. Their radius is relatively large, so a detonation would have to occur in an area where we won't harm any people or the building itself. I can try to remove it, but I need to do this carefully." I pulled out one of my cleaned crossbow bolts, and slowly began to move along the edges of the bomb."
"Well while you do that, I can go look for others."
"I actually need you here, and I'm not risking you carrying the bomb with your Semblance."
"I'm pretty sure I can carry at least one or two."
"Out of the question. What if there is a time difference with your Semblance? What if it goes off within the space? There are too many risks. I trust you, but I refuse to have your life be in danger like that. Once we figure out how these work, we can go from there."
"For the record, there is no time difference because I tested it with a watch that I placed in there and then timed myself. But I see your point." I was able to get the bomb off of the statue, and I gently removed the casing of the bomb. I noticed that there were five symbols, four colored wires (red, white, green, and yellow), and big red button saying PUSH.
"What kind of bomb even is this?" Saga muttered. I began to scan the inner workings of the bomb and determined that the symbols were pictures of glyphs. I noticed that each glyph also had a corresponding-colored wire associated to it."
"Ok, so these are glyphs, and we need to press these buttons in the right order in order to cut the right wire." I explained. I noticed that three minutes have passed.
"But how do we determine what symbol goes with what wire? Which one do we cut?"
I thought about it for a little bit. "What do you know about glyphs?"
"Not a whole lot, I did some small reading, but I don't think it'll help." He spoke.
"Each glyph also has a corresponding element, and there are five symbols, yet only four wires. I think these are in reference to the four basic Dust Elements. All we need to do is determine what glyph goes with what symbol. I can quickly head over to the library and try to find the solution." Saga nodded in understanding.
"What do you want me to do?" Saga asked.
"I need you to guard this bomb. I don't know if anyone here is under some kind of mind control or working for the mysterious voice. we can't risk leaving this unguarded. There is five minutes left on this bomb, I can be back in two minutes tops." Saga gave me a thumbs up and without a word, I used my various abilities to quickly enact the plan.
By the time I got to the library, I looked through the catalog to find the section that mentions glyphs. Thankfully, it didn't take long to do so. Flash Stepping my way over to where the general area was, I was just about to do a more thorough search when I felt something hit my back. I couldn't bring out my shield due to the narrow corridors, but I tried to figure out just where I was attacked. I reached around to find…playing cards?
"What the fuck?"
I felt a boot hit my back and landed face first. I tried to move my neck, but I felt a blade against the back, so it somehow got in between the gaps of the armor.
"Ok, whoever you are, I am trying to get rid of all the bombs here! If you are an enemy, then I strongly recommend you get out of my way."
"Maro, please get off of my friend." I heard a familiar voice above me. The person I now knew as Maro removed their knife and I got up only to have Kattie's smug grin looking down at me. "To be fair, Ops, I didn't recognize you in that armor. Had to make sure."
"At least I am among friends."
"Oh, so this is Maro Chester. I call him MC." I turned around to see that he was in fact a Red Panda Faunas. He was fiddling with a floating deck of cards, his knife was sheathed, and his Faunas ears occasionally twitched.
"Sorry about that. Had to be sure." Maro said. I waved it off.
"So, was there a bomb in here?" I asked as I continued to look for the glyph book.
"Sure was. We already got rid of it." Kattie told me.
"How?" I asked without looking at her.
"My Semblance played a part in it." She said with a bit of smugness. I finally found the one I was looking for.
"Trust her." Maro said from behind. "I wasn't sure of it at first but seeing it in action convinced me." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Okay, I still have a bomb of my own to deal with. Good luck finding more." They nodded and I left.
By the time I got back to the statue, Saga had his gun pointed at me, but lowered it upon seeing me. "Found what I was looking for!" There were 5 minutes left on the bomb, and we were able to match the glyphs with their corresponding color. After a few moments, the bomb's time froze at 4:13 I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing that worked. We need to go find some more. My guess is the locker room, as it's basically our armory."
"You're the boss."
When we got there, I could hear the loud ticking of it. I looked around to see that it was attached to a locker. "Hey, Saga! Whose locker is this?"
"The hell? This is mine!" The timer only had two minutes.
"Well, shit. There isn't a whole lot of time, but I have an idea." I said as I carefully removed the bomb from the tape.
"What's your idea?"
"I want to head to the Headmaster's office."
"Why?"
"I have been replaying the initial message through my armor and I could hear the turning of gears. I think our foe is there."
"What makes you say that? They could be long gone by now!"
"Which is why I need you to head over to the communication tower. We might need to get the message out that Beacon is in danger. Try to evacuate both the school and the Vale as a whole, if necessary. I'm going to see if my armor can find anything of use up there, I can also figure out what happened there. It doesn't hurt to check. If I can access some of the more secure channels, I might be able to do something. If I can't, then I'll just bail or something."
"But are you going to take the elevator?"
"Nope. I feel like that will be swarming with enemies if it's not completely disabled. I need you to set the coordinates on your locker to shoot up high enough to go above beacon and to allow me to blow up the bomb. I'll shoot it and use the blast to hit the office. I won't miss."
"That's insane!"
"No time to argue!" Saga hesitated.
"Fine! Just don't die on me!" He punched the coordinates and he left.
I gripped my locker as tightly as I could, and we shot through the roof. We shot past the highest point of beacon, and I threw the bomb as high I as I could before shooting it with my crossbow. The bomb went off and sure enough the shockwave sent me flying. I angled myself to crash through the Headmaster's window and had both my shields activated. I crashed through the window felt my body bounce for a bit before crashing into the desk. My eyes fluttered open, and I could see that my aura was low orange. Not one of my better ideas, but it got results. I slowly got up only for danger to flash in my HUD I had just enough cognitive function to raise my shield. Now with the adrenaline pumping as I looked beyond my shield and to my shock and horror.
"Master?!"
He swung his sword at me, and I dodged it as best I could. He had a serious look once his face and a killing intent in his eyes. I didn't know why he was here, but I had to assume the worst happened. I would do my best to disable him. He was not speaking at all as we continued to trade blows. I was able to land a few on him thanks to my Semblance being active, but even then, the difference in skill was still wide. I had to find a way to end this quickly and buy me some time to analyze the situation. So, I did something completely untested and extremely reckless. As I parried another sword strike, I bashed my shield into his face and chest repeatedly before sweeping his legs and slamming my mace into his sword hand. He cried out in pain as the sword flung from his hand and embedded into the ceiling. I retracted my left shield I then charged up what remaining aura I had into a small ball in said left hand.
"RASENGAN!"
I slammed it into his chest and watched as his body contorted before being flung into a bookshelf. His aura was gone, and he slumped to the floor. I shrieked in pain as I felt my arm burn. I clutched it and I could feel the blood flowing outward. I glanced over at Master, and I could see that he was still alive. I slumped towards the floor and rolled over onto my back. I could feel my armor removing itself as used what remaining willpower I had to roll onto my stomach. I used my right arm to claw my way towards the desk, silently begging that something, anything was located here. I somehow was able to prop myself onto Ozpin's desk, to which I found a holographic control interface. I couldn't activate my armor to properly scan anything, but I managed to pull out my Scroll, and placed it onto the console before passing out.
I felt myself open my eyes as I tried my best to get my bearings. It turned out I was in a hospital room. To my left was an IV dripping and the rhythmic beat of a heart monitor. I could barely move, and I had no idea how long I was out, or even where I exactly was. I heard the door open, and I turned towards the sound and, though hazy, my heart dropped. Master was there, but then Ozpin appeared along with Saga. I was confused.
"What happened? Why are you here, Master? Where am I? Did we win? Did I fail?"
"We did it man! We won!" Saga told me.
"I am proud of you, Opallios. You fought well." Master commented.
"Congratulations on completing your initiation, Mr. Stone." Ozpin finished. I tried to form words, but I could barely move as it were. "Allow me to explain. Your initiation was to determine how you would handle an intense situation, working with strangers, and finding your way around the premises. I had the 3rd and 4th years both make the bombs and set them up. We all made it sure that they were not lethal enough to cause serious damage but convincingly enough to allow for you find. We made them simple to disable and gave you a generous time limit. I had Mr. Quill participate as a final challenge for anyone who was able to make it to the top. Professor Goodwitch and I were watching from the communications tower to which Mr. Cilario showed up. After explaining the situation, he made a beeline towards you. We were able to witness your battle, but we noticed that you were not going make it after your last attack. I had shut down the project and we proceeded to take you to the infirmary." Ozpin finally finished.
Master began his story, "As I said before, you fought well. That last struggle was impressive, if reckless. I certainly wasn't expecting it. If you were wondering why I wasn't able to see you off, it was for this reason. I wanted the opportunity to see what the next generation had to offer. I did not expect to fight you, but I'm glad I did. I apologize for the deception, and I understand if you are upset at myself or Ozpin."
Saga then began his experience. "By the time I got up to you, you were already passed out and you were bleeding out. I was seriously worried if you were going to die, but then your teacher pulled out a couple of your potions and used them on you. You stopped bleeding and your Aura was coming back to ya. But I still took you to the infirmary cause I wasn't sure. You have only been out for a few hours."
"I see."
"The commencement ceremony as well as the team announcement will be done in a few days. We need time to rebuild, and you need time to heal. Do your best to rest and we'll talk later. Good day gentlemen." Ozpin left.
Master stretched. "Well, I will be heading out. Your potions seriously come in handy. Good thing I grabbed a few. You and I should catch up when you're free." I grunted in response. I heard his footsteps leave the room.
"You worried me sick with that stunt you pulled. Both of them! The hell were you thinking?!" Saga paused before sighing. "You are so incredibly stubborn that I can't be mad at you." I couldn't help but smile a bit at it. "There's that humor I was missing." He rolled his neck. "At least you made it out alive and are still alive to boot. I'll see you in a few days." He closed the door behind him. I was left alone with my thoughts, but even then, I decided the best course of action was to rest.
(December 31st, 2021) Well here we are. 2021 was certainly a year in my personal life. Lots of things happened, but I am happy to have been able to get this out before the end of the year
I feel like by the time I'm done with this no one will be giving a shit about RWBY as a whole. But I digress.
For those who have stuck around for this long, thank you. You guys are the real ones. This is a hobby for me, and I wasn't sure this whole thing was even worth doing. But on the occasion when I do come back here, and my depression doesn't prevent me from writing, it's honestly pretty fun.
I feel bad because my ADHD brain, or whatever my mental illness is called because it has gone through so many different names that I don't even know what I have anymore, makes me feel that I am not doing good enough for myself or that my writing is incredibly infrequent or something else will be an issue. I will do what I can in 2022 to be more active on this site.
Thank you, guys, for being a part of this for so long. Here's to next year.
This has been TheTriforceofAwesomeness, and I will see you guys next time.
Peace!
