Nigel's least favorite class was "The Legends of Remnant" by a wide margin. It was just two hours of listening to Oobleck tell the class about famous huntsmen. It was nothing more than propaganda as far as Nigel was concerned. Anything to sell the image of huntsmen to the public. Just listening to these people being glorified grated on his nerves. Not enough people knew the truth about Hunters or the savagery they were capable of. The scar on his chest ached, the pain growing every second.
Still, it wasn't all bad. As he looked at Ruby, eyes wide and excitedly taking notes, he felt a little happy. She was just like her in so many ways. Just seeing her put Nigel at ease.
"Dude, I know she's cute but you gotta stop staring. She's gonna think you're a creep," Rock whispered. Nigel looked over at Rock. His arm was still in a cast and his face was covered in bandages.
"I wasn't staring," Nigel replied.
"Why don't you just ask her out if you're into her like that? All that pining from afar shit is for the birds."
"I told you it's not like that. It's something else. I just want to-"
The professor loudly cleared his throat. "My apologies if my class is boring you. Perhaps you could suggest a more interesting topic."
Nigel stiffened, but he noticed that Oobleck was addressing another student.
Lotus lifted her head off of the table, a line of drool clinging to her lips.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. This class is really boring so I fell asleep."
Oobleck frowned slightly. "I understand you'd rather be engaged in more physical activities, but this is important as well. To know the past is to know the future. Researching the warriors of the past, how they fought, how they died, will give us greater insights on how to fight in the present."
Lotus yawned. "All due respect, I've got nothing to learn from a bunch of dead guys. They fought, then they died, same as everyone else in history."
"These men and women weren't just warriors, they were heroes. Their actions cleared the path that all of us follow to this day."
Lotus snorted with laughter. "Heroes? That's a good joke. A hero is something the people wipe their ass with. They spend their entire lives fighting with nothing to show for it, sacrificing everything for some ungrateful bitches too weak to fight their own battles, and then they die. No way is there anything I can learn from them. Fighting for others is a waste of time. They'll use you up and spit you out as soon as they don't need you anymore. You'd have to be a fucking idiot to want to be like them."
The professor's eyebrows raised slightly. "That is certainly an interesting perspective. Perhaps you and I could discuss it during detention. The classroom is no place for profanity, Miss Chana."
Lotus groaned. "Are you kidding me?"
After class ended, Nigel listened to Ruby jabber on excitedly about class. There was no stopping her once she got going.
"I see you enjoyed it," Nigel said.
"Yeah I did." Her face curled into a frown when she saw Lotus ahead of her. She was dragging Iris along by her nose with a vicious scowl on her face.
"What is that girl's problem?"
Rock shrugged. "Some people are just like that. I've known a few like her myself. Still, I can't really say I disagree with what she was saying."
"Meaning?" Yang said.
"I mean that even if you want to be a good person, this isn't a good place. This world will grind you down into nothing if you let it. It's a cold world, and you've gotta be cold to survive."
Nigel felt a throbbing pain in his chest. "I wish I could say you were wrong. If you're weak, then you live and die at the whims of the strong."
"But isn't that why we're here?" Ruby interjected. "I know how hard the world can be, that's why I wanted to become a huntress, to make it better, even a little."
Nigel planted a hand on Ruby's head. "You're a good kid, Ruby."
Yang grinned. "Oh? Is this the blossoming of romance I see?"
Nigel yanked his hand away. "No, it's not like that. I just..."
Nigel's face fell. The others could see the way his jaw tightened. Ruby and Yang backed away.
Yang put her hands up. "Forget I said anything."
Rock yawned. "My arm is acting up. I'm gonna take the rest of the day off. You guys take notes for me, ok?"
After class ended, Nigel went by himself to train. It was the only way to take his mind off of earlier. He knew what he was signing up for, but it still grated on him. How much longer would he have to listen to these people being venerated.
"Come on, you can't tell me you're not curious," Brooke teased. "You think maybe he has his own chapter? Maybe the whole class will learn what happened. That would be interesting, wouldn't it? All your friends and classmates learning what a failure you are. I bet none of them will ever talk to you again. They'd never want to be friends with someone like you."
Nigel punched the heavy bag. "Be quiet."
"Oh, don't be like that. It'd be such a relief to get something like that off your chest. Be proud of it, most people wouldn't have the guts to keep living after screwing up as bad as you did."
"I didn't screw up. I made things right."
"After it was already too late."
Nigel ground his teeth and kicked the bag. He attacked more and more until all he could hear was the sounds of his hands and feet striking leather. He felt himself getting into a groove. A groove that he was yanked out of when he saw a flash of light around him. He stopped and turned around and saw a girl pointing a camera at him. He recognized the girl from before.
Velvet let out a nervous chuckle. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"It's alright," Nigel replied. "Why did you take a picture of me?"
"It's a hobby of mine. I like taking pictures of people." Her eyes went to the still smoking heavy bag. "You were really going at it. How long have you been doing karate?"
Nigel rubbed the back of his head. "Most of my life. I got started when I was about eleven, and I got my black belt a few years ago. It's a lot of fun. I could teach you a couple things if you're interested."
Velvet took an identical stance to to the one Nigel had before. "I've always wanted to learn how to fight hand to hand."
She punched at the bag. Her eyes widened as her hand throbbed with pain.
"Owww. What's in that bag?"
"Rocks," Nigel answered casually.
Velvet did a double take. "Rocks? You've been punching a bag full of rocks? Doesn't that hurt?"
Nigel shrugged. "It's not so bad. You get used to it after a while. If you're serious about karate you're gonna really mess up your hands. I've broken all my fingers before, lost all my fingernails, had the skin on my hands stripped off, and one time my hands swelled up so much I couldn't even make a fist."
Velvet felt like throwing up. "That's horrible."
"It's really not that bad, and if you just want to learn the basics then you don't have to do all that. To be honest, there aren't that many people that serious about hand to hand combat these days. If you're looking for something to fall back on then all you really need is the basics. If you want to learn, I'd be more than happy to teach you."
Velvet smiled. "I'd love to learn from you."
Nigel smiled. "Great, let's get started... as soon as the feeling in my hands comes back."
XxX
Rock walked away and went to his room. His arm throbbed painfully. He knew that with his aura he'd be able to repair the fracture in seconds, but the technique was beyond him. Besides, who would he be if he didn't take an excuse to cut class.
He took two painkillers and flopped onto the bed. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him.
XxX
Rock didn't know if that cracking sound filling his ears was the floor breaking or his skull shattering. Either way, getting slammed into the floor made the wood feel like concrete.
"Ow! That hurt!" Rock shouted.
The old man stepped over the boy and grabbed a bottle off of a table. He drank deep and grimaced at the child writhing in pain on the floor.
"Course it hurts, yer lucky I didn't break yer neck. Fuck were you thinkin' breakin' into my house tryin' to steal from me?"
Rock gripped the knife in his hand and jumped up. He stabbed at the old man, but the blade seemed to bounce off of his skin. A strange light came off of the man's body.
The old man laughed "Keep going as long as you like, that ain't doin shit to me. Didn't yer parents teach you any common sense?"
Rock spat out a glob of blood. "Don't got any parents."
The old man took a closer look at Rock. "Yeah, I sorta figured. No shortage 'a orphans in this part of town. I can tell ya got heart, but ya got no skill. That'll get ya killed out here. The next guy you point that knife at'll just snap yer neck and keep moving. If you like, I could teach ya a couple things."
Rock relaxed slightly. "Okay. Tell me how to get stronger."
The old man grinned, then kicked the small child square in the face.
"Time fer yer first lesson, boy."
XxX
Rock grumbled as he woke up. He hated begin reminded of his childhood. That was the strangest dream he had ever had. It couldn't even be called a dream. It was like he was looking through a window into his own past. Pushing the dream out of his mind, he dragged himself out of bed.
He could hear people shouting outside his door. Looking at the clock he saw that classes ended two hours ago. Yawning, he climbed out of bed and went into the hall.
Outside he saw Yasmin and Weiss staring daggers at each other. Both of them looked angry about something. Well, angrier than usual.
"Why won't you let me see her?" Weiss demanded.
"Because I don't want to," Yasmin replied.
"Why not? I'm her friend."
Yasmin's eyebrow raised. "Is that right? I visited Lala in that place every day. I never saw you once. Some friend you are."
Weiss ground her teeth. "I thought she was dead, we all did."
"What do you even want with her? Some photo op for your father with the miraculous survivor of the Lamb family? You Schnees are all the same, you just use people and toss them aside like trash."
Weiss recoiled like she'd been struck. "It's not like that. I just want to talk to her."
"Stay the hell away from Lala. I took it easy on you last time, there won't be another."
"What the fuck is all this?" Rock interrupted.
"What do you want?" Yasmin asked.
"I wanna know who is making all this noise outside my door when I'm trying to sleep. What is all this about anyway?"
"It's none of your concern. Weiss was just leaving, actually."
Weiss made a noise of disapproval and turned to leave.
Rock ran a hand through his hair. "Listen, whatever is going on between you and the Schnee girl, could you keep it down, or at least away from my door?"
Yasmin sighed. "I apologize. I did not mean to be a nuisance."
"It's alright." Rock's stomach started growling. "Man, I'm hungry. I hope they're still serving dinner."
"I see. What would you like to eat?"
"What?"
"I believe in paying my debts. The one I owe to you is minor, easily repaid by procuring food for you. Besides, I doubt you could gather as much food as you like with only one arm."
Rock shrugged. "Alright. I'm not gonna say no. Just get me some meat and rice, okay?"
Yasmin nodded. "Very well. I will be back shortly."
Yasmin ran down the hall and disappeared. Rock shrugged and stood by the door to his room. After a few moments he grew bored. He noticed that Team LILY's dorm was right across the hall, and the door was opened slightly. Curiosity overtook him. He crossed the hall and pried the door open. The room was empty, save for one girl asleep in bed. He recalled that the one with green hair was called Lala. Rock suddenly started shivering. The room was freezing cold, like there was a blizzard.
"nnng"
He noticed that Lala was shivering as well. Even under those heavy looking blankets she was still cold. Rock ignored numbness in his face and went over to the bed.
"You alright?" he asked. He placed a hand on her shoulder and felt the floor fall out from under him. The dorm room disappeared, and he was suddenly surrounded by skyscrapers staring up at the night sky. Snow fell all around him as crowds of people walked the streets. Rock found himself standing next to a young girl wearing an expensive looking coat with fur trimming. She skipped happily up the sidewalk with two people who looked like her parents following close behind.
Suddenly, the girl stopped and darted down an alley. Her parents hurried behind her and found her standing over another girl. It was clear that the girl was homeless. Her clothes were torn and filthy, her body was thin and malnourished, and her hair was long and unkempt. The girl in the coat knelt down and reached a hand out, brushing her fingers against the round, fuzzy ears atop the unconscious girl's head.
"Lala! Get away from that thing!" the girl's father shouted.
"Look at this girl, father, she looks like she hasn't eaten in days," Lala pleaded.
"That is none of our concern. Let Public Safety handle this."
"Public Safety will just send her to an orphanage, and then she'll end up back on the street. Father, please let me take her home."
Lala's father puffed up with anger. "I have little patience for another one of your flights of fancy. You have more than enough to entertain yourself with at home without bringing that vagrant with you."
"What if she's diseased, or a thief?" Lala's mother asked. "This could just all be part of some scheme."
Lala shook her head. "I don't care. You both taught me to be an upstanding citizen, how could I do that if I ignored someone who needs help? If I lose some things, then that's fine."
Rock felt a hand on his shoulder pulling him from the vision. In the next moment, he was back in the room with Yasmin standing behind him. She had gotten him dinner like she said, balancing the plate with one hand while the other gripped his shoulder hard enough to break it.
"What are you doing in here?" Yasmin said through gritted teeth.
"What am I doing? What the fuck was that?" He gestured towards Lala. "Is she why I've been having all those fucked up dreams lately?"
"Yes, Lala's semblance is active even when she sleeps. I would advise you to keep your distance. If she were to lose control of it in the future, it may kill you." She shoved the plate into Rock's hand. "There, I have repaid my debt to you, now leave."
"Fine, whatever." As he left, something occurred to him.
"That girl in the alley, that was you, right?"
Yasmin's face flashed with anger, but it faded just as quickly. She clenched her fist as her teeth dug into her lower lip.
"I do not wish to talk about it."
Rock sighed. "Sorry, I guess that's a sore spot." He looked up at the peaked cap Yasmin always wore. "It's a shame you're covering up your ears with that hat of yours. They're really cute."
Yasmin's face was blank. "I see. It seems you don't understand."
Slowly, Yasmin removed her hat. Rock let out a low whistle when he saw what was underneath.
Yasmin's ears were gone.