Chapter revised 31/12/2017; please see chapter 11.
/
Howdy, folks. I hope you all had a merry Christmas, or any other holiday you celebrate.
Before anything else, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, and in particular those who pointed out my mistakes. I admit, they went from stupid to downright embarrassing. This chapter should have a lot less of them, and by the next update I'll also be posting revised versions of the other chapters. And that leads me to not so great news.
I'll be having exams for the next few weeks. At best I'll be done by mid-January, and at worst by mid-February. So during this period there will be no updates.
But the first few updates of 2015 will be to my other story, An End to Corrosion, as I finally begin the Lullaby Arc, so look forward to that.
Now to answer some reviews.
Xbox432: You like the dialogue... really? I actually thought it was one of the weakest parts, but I guess I'm doing something right after all.
Utcoop: Yeah, I'm well aware that my descriptions are somewhat lacking, but that is something I'm hoping will improve as I write.
Guest: Thanks for the ideas, m8. I have to admit that when I was writing the scene at the ruins, I was torn between having him use Storm Call or having a younger goliath show up for him to use Bend Will, and I went for Storm Call because it seemed like the best opportunity to use it. There's not much I can answer because of spoilers, but I can tell you that no, Tristard's not married. Not yet at least ;).
Dario Soto: I'll be writing every season in one story. Also, damn, you're good. Those were indeed the two I am considering, what gave it away?
Necrofantasia and Fire of the Void: I'm glad you're liking it so far. And I hope the events of this chapter live up to your expectations.
Weismax33: Animal allegiance won't work on the Grimm, but there are other shouts that will.
MrCracken: I play Skyrim on the Ps3, so I don't really know all that much about what mods exist. I like your idea and I might write an Omake about it, but Sheogorath running rampant in Remnant is one of the last things Tristard wants.
Demetori: I see were you're coming from, but I have to admit that when playing Skyrim, I generally go for a hack and slash approach myself. Tristard is somewhat of a composite character, with elements from my Argonian warrior, Breton mage, and Dark elf vampire lord, with the mage facet being stronger because I thought it was the best way to make him capable of going toe to toe with Remnant's best. His magic will be and essencial part of his fighting style, and others will want to analyse it. As for the enchanting, he's lacking the proper materials to do that, but there are other ways he can boost his allies.
Silent Soviet: Rest assured, Durnehviir will make an appearance. As for the daedric princes, Tristard's trying to avoid drawing their attention, and I haven't decided yet if they'll show up, but I do like your idea.
Eternalking: Odahviing wouldn't be able to answer the call, but there's another that can ;).
And with that out of the way, enjoy the last update of 2014.
/
It came out of nowhere. Like a beast waiting in ambush it fell on them.
Clouds, black and thick, suddenly darkened the bright blue skies. A breeze picked up.
It was only the beginning.
It kept growing. Soon, the breeze became a violent gale that threatened to rip them from the ground and send them crashing into the woods. Without warning, a full-blown deluge began, a torrential downpour that turned the soil to mud and hindered their movements.
And then, with a resounding, thunderous roar, a bolt of lightning fell, smiting a small cluster of beowolves. Many more followed.
The Nevermores, despite their best, desperate efforts, found themselves completely at the mercy of the heavens. The gale winds tossed them around like rag dolls and lightning struck them mercilessly, relentlessly. Exhausted, one of the creatures collapsed and crashed into the clearing, crushing a fair number of its unlucky, earthbound kin, while the other was speared trough by one of the bolts and fell off in the distance, somewhere in the woods.
At this point, a panicked, confused frenzy had settled over the creatures of Grimm.
But even when faced with the rage of the wind, the fury of the rain and the wrath of lightning, the doubt creeping into their minds wasn't enough to override their primal instincts, and so they attacked.
Only to learn that at the heart of the maelstrom, another was taking place. A maelstrom of steel and magic, smaller, but far more dangerous.
/
Tristard dodged a beowolf trying to tear off his throat, more out of reflex than actual need, and as the beast made another attempt, he grabbed its own to hold it at bay, letting a Lightning Bolt spell surge through it, and then silencing its pained howls with a swing of his weapon, the jagged edge of Gurahyol burning strong despite the heavy rain, a large cloud of vapour surrounding it. Another tried to strike at his back, but the daedric battleaxe flashed, and the offending monster found itself without a head, after which the Archmage turned his attention towards an incoming wave of creatures:
"FO KRAH DIIN!"
A breath of sheer cold followed the shout, turning every Grimm, every blade of grass, every drop of rain in its path into hoarfrost statues. Unlike the Ice Form shout, the purpose of which was to incapacitate, the freezing Frost Breath would be quite fatal. The Dragonborn contemplated for a moment the ethereal beauty of his handiwork. Unfortunately, this distraction allowed one of the beasts to sneak up on him and bite into his shoulder. Or at least it tried to, because no matter how much pressure it applied, it couldn't pierce through the human's skin, the only thing it managed to break where its own teeth. Still, the mage struggled to break free, and as if instinctively feeling that their foe was trapped, more beowolves joined the first, the sheer weight of the unintentional dog pile threatening to do what their frenzied attacks failed to accomplish.
Only for them to be violently pushed away, as a circle of massive green tentacles erupted from the mage's robes, throwing Grimm in every direction. Their master protected for the time being, the eldritch appendages receded, and Tristard got to his feet, his golden mask hiding his annoyed expression. These bastards just wouldn't take the bloody hint. Perhaps he needed to use a more... persuasive argument.
With the creatures incapacitated for a precious few seconds, he called upon the magicka, willed it into taking a particular form. Lightning once more crackled in his arms, but it was different, more intense, more potent. Like moths to a flame, stray bolts fell on him, but did nothing more than help power the spell. After a few more moments of gathering power, the Archmage unleashed it all. With a mighty, blinding flash, the beam of concentrated lightning that was the Lightning Storm spell shot from his hands, moving in a wide arc in front of him, disintegrating each and every Grimm it touched, leaving only ashes and devastation in its wake. The clearing suddenly became much emptier, and this swift annihilation of most of their numbers broke the remaining Grimm. Self-preservation finally speaking louder, these few survivors ran into the woods, seeking to escape from this opponent, this predator who posed as prey.
With the battle won, Tristard lifted Gurahyol to the skies and let loose a wordless, victorious shout. If any of the creatures had remained, they would have seen an enormous, winged reptilian beast roaring its victory to the heavens.
Thunder was the storm's response, as if it was celebrating as well.
Yeah, he should probably do something about that before he ended up accidentally destroying the world.
"LOK VAH KOOR!"
It obeyed his will, and with one last boom of thunder, the storm vanished as suddenly as it appeared, the muddy soil and broken trees the only proof that it had actually happened.
'Well, I guess that answers that question.' The Dragonborn mused as he gazed around him, watching the corpses decomposing with abnormal speeds, releasing clouds of black smoke, seeing the destruction that Storm Call had wrought. Perhaps it had been a bit of an Overkill on his part, but he had wanted those damn birds out of the sky, and unlike his usual encounters with aerial enemies, Dragonrend wasn't an option. Plus, he was alone in this test, or else he wouldn't even consider using it.
That being said, he had accomplished what had been asked of him, so he should probably start the long and tedious trek back to Beacon...
Wait...
The Archmage facepalmed. Why in Oblivion hadn't he thought of this earlier?
Powered gathered once more in his hands, this time in the form of an ethereal purple glow, and soon after Arvak joined him in the clearing. The first thing the spectral horse did was trot to his master and rub its head on his shoulder, making Tristard chuckle.
"Aye, I'm glad to see you're safe as well, Arvak. I'm sorry I didn't check up on you sooner, but I've been somewhat occupied." The specter neighed in response, indicating that there was no problem, which made Tristard chuckle again. Such a good horse.
"Well, then..." He mounted the phantom steed, and spared one last glance at the battlefield. "Let us ride."
As they did just that, he couldn't help but wonder how would his meeting with his new associates go.
/
The Beacon Cliffs
Weiss Schnee liked to think that she wasn't easily surprised, but these lasts few days seemed to be trying their hardest to prove her wrong.
First was the... explosive first encounter with her partner and team leader, Ruby Rose. She couldn't deny that they had started off on the wrong foot, what with the Dunce's clumsiness and her own... difficult behaviour (she was perfectly aware that others would've said she had been a bitch, but she would never admit it out loud), but the events of their initiation had surprised her, for she realized that the younger girl, for all her childishness and recklessness, had her heart in the right place, and the will and potential to be a great huntress someday. And so she decided that she would at least make an effort to try to make this partnership work.
And now this.
When the Headmaster had explained that one of the teams would be getting an extra member, she had honestly hoped it wouldn't be hers, because she felt it would be hard enough to deal with as it was. When the guy first appeared on the screen, she hadn't thought much of him, other than the fact that his mask reminded her of... unpleasant memories, but she rationalized that the mask alone wasn't enough to suggest he had any connection to the White Fang, and that it would be unfair to dislike him just for that. She decided that if Ruby deserved a chance, then so did this guy.
And then he had started doing the impossible, and doing it again and again.
Using words to become intangible, and breathe fire and frost was by itself weird to say the least, but it had been explained by Ozpin as being his semblance, and while unusual, was something she could understand.
But then there was the lightning and ice he used, and the strange flames of his axe, which had thoroughly confused her. She had payed close attention, inspected every detail, and she could safely say that at no point had this Soverick guy used dust. Where they another aspect of his semblance then, or something else entirely?
And then to add to the mystery, the Grimm were afraid of him. Well, not at first, but the longer he fought them, the more hesitant the monster seemed to be, until an Ursa Alpha of all things refused to face him, and the few beowolves to survive his rampage, against everything humanity thought they knew about the Grimm, fled with their tails between their legs.
Oh, and had she mentioned he had conjured up a freaking storm like a cheap trick, which had reached the academy itself judging by the rain on the windows and the thunder in the distance, and caused it to disperse just as easily? The creepy tentacles that burst from his body, when she and the others had started to fear they would lose their new teammate before they had a chance to meet him? The massive beam of lightning that annihilated nearly the entire horde? And how when all was said and done, he had made a skeleton horse appear out of thin air?
In other words, she didn't know what to think. On one hand, it was good to know that they had this kind of firepower on their side. On the other, how the heck did the guy manage to do that? Just who was he?
As they neared the initiation cliff, following Headmaster Ozpin, who had prompted them to come and meet their new colleague, Weiss glanced back at the others.
Ruby looked positively giddy, in fact, the younger girl was damn near skipping in excitement. Weiss suspected that had something to do with that obscenely sharp-looking flaming axe. Had it been anyone else, she would have thought such an obsession with weapons to be disturbing. To her credit, the red-hooded girl actually made it an endearing trait.
Not for the first time she wondered how the heck could Ruby be related to their other teammate. Yang had been the first to break the utter, utter, silence in the amphitheatre, when everyone was still trying to process what they just saw.
"Well... I guess you could say that he... took them by storm."
And queue a perfectly synchronized groan of annoyance from everybody within earshot.
Now, the buxom blonde (She was NOT jealous, not at all) was walking alongside her sister, and while she didn't act any different from normal, there was a glint in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Weiss wasn't sure what to make of it.
And then there was Blake. The last member of their team was quietly following the siblings, a contemplative expression on her face. If Weiss had to guess, she'd say the ebon-haired girl was trying to understand what they had witnessed, without much success.
Soon they reached the cliff... where someone else was already waiting for their new teammate's arrival...
/
Professor Goodwitch had been caught by surprise by the sudden storm, and while she was safe from the lightning at this distance, her waterlogged clothes and soaked hair showed that she hadn't escaped unscathed. The woman was now twisting her cloak in effort to rid it of excess water, and doing her best to suppress the shivering from the cold. The girls and the Headmaster hid their surprise (and in some cases amusement) at the woman's state, mostly because of the way she was murderously glaring in the general direction where the storm had come from.
"Glynda..." Ozpin ventured cautiously, he did not wish to incur the woman's wrath. "Why are you...?"
"I created a barrier to shelter myself from the rain." The woman interrupted in a calm, collected, slightly shivering tone, but the Headmaster knew her well enough to recognize the cold fury underneath. "But that small period of time was enough to leave me in this state." Her glare never left the forest. Ozpin couldn't help but grow a bit concerned for Tristard's safety.
For a few minutes, the group stood there in silence, until Ruby finally dared to ask.
"So... how long do you think it will take him...?"
An axe lodged itself in the Cliff's edge, causing her to "Eeep!" in fright. A gloved hand followed, and soon the rest of the Archmage, dusting off his robes, and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like a promise that he'd one day find a way to murder the foul cliff.
"That was quite an... impressive performance, Mr. Soverick." The Headmaster stated praisingly.
"No thanks to you." Tristard replied bluntly. "It would have been nice to know that I was meant to be catapulted off the sodded cliff before it happened."
"Perhaps." The Headmaster stated. "But that would defeat the purpose of a test, wouldn't it?"
Grudgingly the Dragonborn conceded to that particular point, and then he noticed that someone was glaring at him. One look at the source was more than enough to understand what had happened. Realizing the danger he was in, the mage immediately tried to diplomatically defuse the situation.
"Forgive me, Lady Goodwitch." He said sincerely, bowing his head but at the same time doing his damn best to keep looking her in the eyes, because all that water was having some very... interesting effects on her white shirt, and he had a feeling that she'd know if he stared, mask or no mask. "I wasn't aware that you would remain here for the duration of the initiation, otherwise I wouldn't have resorted to such methods to deal with the Grimm. Here." He reached into his robes, pulling out a small red phial and held it out for her to grab. "Take this, with my apologies."
Surprised by the honest, heartfelt apology, most of Glynda's anger turned to curiosity, as she took the object and looked at it questioningly.
"And what is this?"
"A potion. That one in particular is used to cure disease. It should be able to handle any cold or fever you might suffer."
Eyebrow raised, Glynda once again looked at the contents of the phial. This would require some analysis. But for now, she did the only thing she could think of.
"Apologies accepted, just make sure it doesn't happen again."
Now Ozpin was thoroughly impressed. Fully capable of holding his own against overwhelming odds, willing to go for a diplomatic approach in more delicate situations, and he just managed to calm Glynda down to boot!
Truly Tristard would make a fine addiction to Beacon Academy, and to Team RWBY in particular.
The Dragonborn for his part, just chuckled. "Duly noted, Lady Goodwitch."
Then he finally noticed the other people present, staring at him with expressions ranging from surprised to curious.
"My new teammates, I assume?" He had seen them before, but now he took the opportunity to examine them in greater detail. Strange garments, but then again, his own probably looked strange to them as well. And what was it with this world and attractive women? Any one of them put anything he had seen back home to shame, with the possible exception of Serana. Not that he saw the vampire in that light. Despite her being Gods know how many millennia older than him, during the whole "Vampire Doomsday Prophecy" situation they had somehow developed a strong "Older Brother/Younger Sister" relationship, with all the teasing and overprotectiveness that entailed. Anyone who so much as thought to harm or woo her would have to answer to him, and proceed to get a face full of axe. And exploding fireballs. And then he'd sic Odahviing and Durnehviir on them.
But he digressed. Now it was time to finally meet the Maidens of Red, White, Black and Yellow.
"Oh, where are my manners?" He removed his mask, which disappeared into his robes, and did a polite bow, hoping for a good first impression. "Tristard Soverick, at your service."
The girls hadn't expected that. Contrary to what each of them envisioned, behind that mask was a guy not much older than they were. With that wavy brown hair, short-trimmed beard, and tattoo over his eye, he was quite good-looking, handsome even, in a rugged sort of way. Yang threw Weiss a smug look that said, "told you so". They were also somewhat confused by the overly polite way he addressed them, and it was Weiss, more used to such behaviours, that reacted first, approaching him as he rose and holding out her hand.
"Weiss Schnee, pleased to meet you."
The white one, Tristard mused as he shook it, and indeed white seemed to define her, from hair to clothing. The scar over her left eye did not detract from her beauty at all, and much like his own mark, he suspected there was quite a story behind it. From what he'd seen in the "footage" and what Ozpin had explained to him, she was the closest thing the team had to a mage, using her semblance of glyphs to boost herself and her allies, and the substance, "Dust", to produce many effects similar to his spells, which made her a prime candidate for attaining information on the subject. Her icy blue eyes showed some reservations, likely she wasn't quite sure what to make of him, but also a measure of respect, he guessed he could work with that.
"The pleasure is mine, Lady Schnee." He answered, and the sincerity behind it seemed to catch the girl slightly off guard, but by then another of the girls approached.
"Hi there!" The smaller girl said excitedly, a bright smile on her face. "Name's Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you."
The red one, strangely the only one whose hair did not totally match the color. With a red hood, over-sized cape and cheerful silver eyes, the girl was a picture of childish optimism and innocence, it reminded him so much of... Well, anyway, she was the leader, and yet the youngest out of all of them. He had to admit, he had been somewhat uncertain about those particular pieces of information, but he witnessed the feats she could accomplish, some bordering on the insane, which he strongly suspected might be due to structural and biological differences between the humans of Remnant and Nirn, it was the best explanation he could come with for how in Sheor's name was a small, thin girl like her able to so easily wield a scythe bigger than she was, when most orcs he'd met would hesitate to even lift the damn thing. That aside, the girl was quick, both on her feet, what with her semblance being speed, and in her mind, and now that he was standing before her, he could see what Ozpin had been thinking. She definitely had a potential for greatness. Aye, he would follow this one, and help along the way.
"Likewise, Lady Rose." He replied with a grin as they shook hands, while another new face approached.
"Well, good to see you getting along so well with someone right off the bat, Rubs." She said in a teasing yet caring tone, before shifting her attention to him, while the red-hooded girl stuttered embarrassedly. "Yo, I'm Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister, nice meeting you."
Tristard blinked, looked at one girl, then the other, then spoke his mind.
"You two look nothing alike."
The blonde just chuckled at that. "Yeah, we get that a lot."
The yellow one. With long, wild hair of a shade that put gold to shame, and bright lilac eyes, this one showed a confident, energetic and very carefree demeanour. She was also quite... well endowed, which wasn't helped by her... revealing outfit. As they shook hands, he fought down the urge to wince. The girl had one hell of a grip, but that was to be expected, she was a brawler after all, with a level of strength unheard of in Skyrim, which coupled with a deceiving amount of agility, made her a brutal, devastating fighter. They would have loved her back in Jorrvaskr.
"I believe we will get along well..." Lady Xiao? Lady Long? Lady Xiao Long? Ah, sod it."... Milady."
And then there was one.
She approached quietly, and for some reason he was reminded of a cat, sizing him up, trying to decide if he was friend or threat.
"I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna."
The black one. Hair dark as midnight and feline, amber eyes, and with what was perhaps the strangest outfit he'd seen so far, she seemed to be the quiet one of the group, and more than any of the others she had the bearing of an experienced fighter, and with a fighting style based on stealth and subterfuge, she would have been quite successful in the Dark Brotherhood, if he hadn't finished those bastards off himself, there were only so many assassination attempts he could put up with, and their "attempt" to recruit him for "stealing the clientele " had been the last straw, he had done the world a favour getting rid of that old hag, and another getting rid of them.
But once again he digressed.
The girl seemed quiet and collected, yes, and a bit withdrawn, perhaps, but there was something underneath, to him those eyes seemed... haunted, for a lack of a better term. But he would not ask, nor would he judge, it was not his place. Gods knew he had his own closet full of skeletons.
Also, that strange ornament on her head really did remind him of a Khajiit...
By the Gods, did those things just twitch?
Nah, he must've been seeing things.
"Delighted to make you acquaintance, Lady Belladonna." She nodded, they shook hands, and then she retreated once more, truly a quiet girl.
"Now that you have all been introduced." Ozpin rejoined the conversation. "I believe it is time to make this official."
The girls stepped back, as one Headmaster stood before another, the latter of the two removing the chess piece from within his robes and handing it to the former, who nodded approvingly.
"Tristard Soverick, you have braved the Emerald Forest alone, showing great skill and power, and collected the White Knight piece. Thus, you will be joining Team RWBY, under the leadership of Ruby Rose. Welcome to Beacon Academy."
"T'is a position I will fulfil to the best of my ability." The Archmage replied, then turned to the younger girl, and put his fist to his chest in a show of respect. "My axe is yours, Lady Rose."
Flustered by such respectful behaviour from a guy she had just met, the blushing Ruby could only stutter.
"W-well... hhhm... yeah, welcome t-to the team."
Yang nodded at that, Weiss and Blake just smiled.
"Now, I believe it is time for the girls to pack their bags." Ozpin stated.
"I'm sorry, what?" A bewildered Weiss asked.
It was Glynda who replied. "Girls, the room you are occupying right now is too small to house a fifth person. Fortunately, situations like these, while uncommon, are not unheard of, and we have a couple of rooms on campus for just this purpose. You will be moving to one of them."
Tristard didn't miss Ruby dejectedly mumbling. "But we just set up the bunk beds..."
He'd have to ask about that latter.
"I trust there will be no issue with this, Mr. Soverick?" The teacher asked him with a pointed look.
He fought down the urge to snort. During his tenure with the Companions, he had shared quarters with Aela the Huntress, and the woman fought, ate and snored like a beast. This couldn't be much worse.
"I have no issue with it if they don't, Lady Goodwitch. Besides, I travel light, so I will not be taking up much space."
"Well, then." Ozpin said. "I believe we should return, you look like you could use a rest."
No one noticed that, during these conversations, Tristard had been moving, subtly positioning himself, waiting for just the right moment.
"Aye, a warm meal, a bath, and a good night's sleep to sound lovely right now. Oh, and Ozpin...?"
"Yes?"
"FUS!"
The Headmaster of Beacon Academy was promptly blown off the cliff.
The girls gawked.
Glynda once more glared at him.
"Was that really necessary?"
Tristard just shrugged.
"A bit petty on my part perhaps, but nobody tricks me into being catapulted off a cliff and gets away with it."
And done.
It took me 3 days to write the scene where Tristard and the girls finally meet. I hope I got their personalities right. Hopefully you guys enjoy it.
And with that done, I wish all a happy new year, and leave you with a small sneak peek of something that's gonna happen next chapter.
Preview:
"Alright, for the final match of the day..." Professor Goodwitch looked into her scroll for a few moments, then announced:
"Pyrrha Nikos... against Tristard Soverick."
Preview end.
See ya all in 2015!