AN: Okay, so um... I may have a bit of explaining to do. As you all know, with the pandemic going on, life hasn't exactly been going well for everyone. Not only am I in the process of trying to find a job, I also have been busy with drivers ed, and even that's been postponed by the pandemic. Writer's block, getting colds on occassion and general procrastination also attributed to ANP's 5 month hiatus, and for that, I apologize. Anyway, don't let me get in your way... I hope you enjoy this chapter. Just realized I haven't wrote this; I do not own BlazBlue, Devil May Cry or RWBY. Each are owned by their respective creators.
Prologue - ACT II
Mistral, Anima
The lush green forests of Mistral have always been the symbol of peace and tranquility. The fresh wind of spring blew across the forest, causing trees and shrubbery to let out the soothing sounds of rustling leaves.
On the beaten path, a lone young man dressed in red and black could be seen walking upon it. He possessed messy white hair and had a scowl on his face by default, but his most notable trait was easily his heterochromatic eyes; the left being green, the right a shade of red, and sheathed upon the small of his back was a colossal, cleaver-like blade.
"Hrmm…" The man grumbled to himself, placing a hand on his shoulder as he rolled his neck around and peered at the light mist coating the heavily green and wooded area around him. 'Not gonna lie, a night with a soft bed and a hot, premade meal sounds like one hell of a luxury right about now. Hell, I've picked up plenty of loot along the way, so I can definitely afford a single night to kick back my feet and unwind…'
Such an appealing thought enticed the man so much that his usual scowl lightened up slightly and caused him to gradually pick up the pace. 'If I'm remembering that map I saw right, then there's definitely gotta be a settlement nearby. I should be in the right-'
Unfortunately, the grousing swordsman's uncharacteristically relaxed thoughts came to an immediate halt when the familiar, acrid scent of smoke hit his nose. Coming to a stop mid-stride, his fist instinctively clenched in irritation at what that signified. 'God dammit. I already know I'm gonna hate whatever's causing that smell.'
With his stride now breaking into a steady sprint, this latest white-haired swordsman made his way through the forest, guiding himself by following wherever the smell of smoke got stronger.
Reaching the end of the path, the young man ran past the treeline and came to a sudden stop when he was greeted by a sight he really didn't want to see. Houses on fire, the screams of terrified civilians, and the sounds of clashing steel and gunfire… the tell-tale signs of a village being burned and pillaged.
'...Not your problem,' he thought to himself before turning on his heels and began walking back the way he came from. 'Don't get involved, don't get involved, don't get fucking involved...'
Silence dawned upon the reaper as the villagers' screams continued to echo through the night air—
"god DAMMIT!" he shouted, doing a complete 180 and before bolting in the direction of the raid.
-XxXxX-
Unnamed village,
As one would expect, the bandits did not leave a single house unscathed, pillaging the homes and killing the residents before burning them to the ground. Such was the way of life for Mistral's infamous bandit group; the Branwen tribe.
Known for their Darwinistic philosophy, this group of bandits are notorious for targeting isolated and remote villages while traveling across the continent of Anima, due to their nomadic lifestyle.
After setting fire to another home, a bandit took hold of a terrified woman and forcefully yanked her hair back to expose her throat. "Really is a shame to kill a pretty face like yours… but orders are orders, hehe. Can't have loudmouths like you attracting the Grimm now, can we?"
Pulling out a knife, the grunt gently caressed the blade along the woman's cheek, seemingly enjoying the way she quivered in fear. That was, until his eyes fell upon her ruby necklace.
"Pretty necklace you got there…" he complimented, before reaching out and harshly yanking the jewelry off of her. Despite her efforts to retrieve it, the bandit knocked her back down, eliciting mocking laughs from the crowd around them. "Bet the boss would love to have this—"
*SLASH*
The bandit didn't even have time to finish this jeering exclamation before something happened. Time seemed to slow down for everyone present when a large sword suddenly appeared and dismembered the bandit's arm, causing it and the necklace to fall lifelessly to the ground. "A-Ah…"
" A-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The bandit screamed, falling to his knees as the intense, agonizing pain completely overtook him. So caught up in the agony of losing his arm, the bandit only barely noticed a set of black-clad legs appearing out of the corner of his vision. Craning his neck upward, he was then greeted with the perpetrator behind his dismemberment: Ragna the Bloodedge… and to say he wasn't happy right now would be an understatement.
"Carnage…" Black flames erupted and engulfed the reaper's blade, and with a mighty swing, "...SCISSORS!" Ragna blasted the human excrement and his crowd to kingdom come without mercy.
Standing up, Ragna turned to face the woman. "If you don't want a front row seat to the shitshow that's about to go down, you better get outta here."
The woman didn't say anything, opting to pick up her necklace and immediately escape the burning village. "A-Alright… Thank you!"
BlazBlue OST - Rebellion I
"Okay…" With his eyes now set upon the ones responsible, the reaper twirled Bloodscythe several times with unnatural ease, kicking up dust in the process. "…Let's see you pillaging bunch of scumbags try and pick on someone your own size!"
The bandits surrounded Ragna, brandishing their weapons at him in the assumption that doing so would make him feel threatened. It's quite the opposite, really… In fact, the gesture just pissed him off even more than he already was.
Entering his battle stance, Ragna opted to make his lack of intimidation very clear to his opponents. " BRING IT ON, ASSHOLES!"
The first bandit recklessly charged at him with an overhead slash, which the reaper easily parried before delivering a roundhouse kick to the face.
"You bastard!" Another tried to flank him from behind, but their battlecry alerted Ragna of their position. Ducking from the slash, the reaper immediately delivered a jawbreaking uppercut, before reaching up to grab his opponent by their hair and planting his knee into their face.
Hearing someone charge him from behind, Ragna blocked the punch meant to blindside him with the first bandit's face, before slamming said face into the second bandit's face which knocked him out.
"It's not over yet, asshole!" Doubling his hold on the grunt's ponytail, Ragna hefted the bandit up and began using him as a makeshift human flail. With a wide swing of his new 'weapon', the silver haired reaper decimated a handful of the newest arrivals, much to the ponytailed bandit's agonizing dismay.
On the last swing *RIP!* , the grunt was sent crashing into a group of his own tribemates. Gripped in Ragna's hand was what remained of said bandit's ponytail before tossing it aside nonchalantly, brushing off his hand on his jacket as he did so.
*CRASH*
"Argh!" he cried out, righting himself as he was about to stumble forward. He went to grab his shoulder where he got hit, *crack, crack* only to find his entire left arm completely frozen in thick layers of ice.
Turning quickly, the silver haired swordsman was greeted by an airborne bandit. Unlike the rest of the bandits, who dressed like Vacuan rogues and thieves, this one was actually dressed in mostly Mistralian garb, minus the Grimm-mask. Their left shoulder was exposed and had their hair tied in a short ponytail.
Thinking on his feet, Ragna whipped his frozen arm just as the katana was about to connect, parrying the blow while simultaneously breaking the ice covering his arm. With his arm now free, the silver haired reaper dashes forward at the bandit that blindsided him with his fist engulfed in black flames. "Hell's—!"
However, despite his speed, the bandit swordsman was somehow able to avoid his fist at the last possible second, all while a teal-colored aura surrounded and trailed behind him as he rolled out of the way.
"Whoa!" Ragna exclaimed in shock, just barely shifting his body out of the way as the quiet swordsman unsheathed his katana and aimed a lightning-fast slice at his unguarded side. As he did so, the sharp sting of the katana nicking him and breaking through his aura told him that this particular member of this bandit tribe was clearly a cut above the rest of the goons he'd ended. He must've been a high-ranking member or perhaps even their leader. It would certainly explain the Grimm mask and its intricate red markings.
"You're pretty fast… But I've met people faster than you, asshole."
Once again, the swordsman said nothing in response, but that didn't mean he did nothing either. After taking a brief moment to sheathe his katana -which left Ragna wondering as to what exactly he was doing- he began to reach into his kimono for something. Figuring it was going to be some sort of guard, the red-clad man kept his guard up and his large blade ready to send whatever bullet he fired back his way, however, his confusion only increased when he instead pulled out a scroll. He tapped on the yellow button, reaching up to adjust the earbuds he had on the entire time before reentering his combat stance.
"So… that mean you're actually taking this seriously now?"
Once again -and to Ragna's utter lack of surprise at this point- the katana-wielding bandit said nothing in response, instead blitzing towards him at high-speeds with the intent to kill. However, the ill-tempered youth hadn't lowered his guard and as such was ready when that katana came out of his sheathe and slashed towards his waist with the clear intent to bisect him.
Throwing his entire body back, Ragna ensured that the blade missed him by several inches and countered with a swift swing of his oversized blade. However, to the bandit's credit, he was not only fast enough to bring his katana up in time to block, but he was able to maintain his stance even in the face of the reaper's overwhelming strength.
Their blades only remained locked for a split second before the kimono-clad bandit lept back for a brief moment of breathing room and subsequently dashed back towards Ragna. From there, the two clashed in a flurry of rapid swings from their blades, with neither party gaining any sort of leverage over the other as the moments passed by.
Opting to go on the offensive, the bandit shoved his opponent back to gain some breathing room. When Ragna went for another overhead slash, the same teal-colored Aura enveloped the swordsman being before dodging.
'This shit again?' Ragna thought to himself, scoffing at the familiar tactic his opponent utilized and not ever bothering to turn around before just as quickly bringing his sword up to his back to block the katana that had been flying towards his exposed neck. Despite the mask he wore covering his facial features, the subtle way the bandit swordsman recoiled slightly at Ragna's nonchalant block told the reaper that he clearly hadn't seen this coming.
Giving him no chance to respond, Ragna took advantage of his opponent's brief moment of surprise by hitting him with a swift spinning kick that sent him back several feet, providing the perfect window to follow up on.
" Now, like I said before…" With his left arm once again radiating a dark and malicious-looking aura, Ragna dashed towards the silent bandit once again and felt a satisfied smirk creep onto his face when he felt the powerful punch connect with his opponent's gut. "Hell's FANG!" With that mighty exclamation, the angry young man followed that initial hit up with an upward sweeping blow from his right hand that sent that swordsman flying and tumbling back, and if one looked closely at Ragna during all this, they'd notice that the dark aura that surrounded his arms briefly formed what looked to be a monstrous head with rows of shark-like teeth.
"So, had enough yet?" Ragna asked bluntly as he stretched both his arms casually, nonetheless keeping his narrowed gaze on the swordsman as he forced himself into a crouching position. To the reaper's satisfaction, it was clear to see that his attack did some good damage. With his smirk beginning to take on a mocking air, he continued. "Tell you what, since I can kinda respect that you don't bark and actually got some bite, I might actually consider letting you go if you drop the mute act and say you're very sorry. Not a bad offer, huh? "
The swordsman's only response to Ragna's taunt was to suddenly fling a stray potted plant nearby at him with the speed of a bullet. Instinctively, the red-clad young man brought his sword up to block the projectile, and was left genuinely taken aback when the force of a mere potted plant thrown at him was enough to send him skidding back several feet and with the buzzing sensation of recoil running down both his arms.
'DAMN! That's one hell of a throwing arm!' Ragna thought, eyes wide at the strength behind such a deceptively simple attack as the swordsman silently charged him once more.
"Zero!" a feminine voice called out, which caused the swordsman to stop in his tracks. Looking up, the two fighters saw a figure standing on one of the few non-burning houses. Between the way his opponent froze up completely at her presence and how her own Grimm mask -no, helmet- was even more intricate and detailed than his own, Ragna quickly realized that this was the true leader of these bandits.
Stepping off the building, the figure approached her subordinate with her hands on her blade. "That's enough. I'll deal with this one personally…" she ordered, unsheathing a yellow-bladed Nodachi.
The swordsman hesitated to comply, turning to look back at his opponent as his grip tightened on the hilt of his katana. However, whatever loyalty he had to this woman ultimately won out, as shown when his hand drifted away from his katana's hilt. Pulling off his earbuds, the swordsman -who apparently went by the alias of Zero- turned off the music on his scroll and gave Ragna one last lingering stare before sprinting off, likely to assist the rest of this bandit tribe.
"Just when things were getting interesting too. Talk about a mood killer…" the silver haired reaper muttered before facing the newest arrival. Fortunately for him, the masked woman wasted no time and charged at him head-on.
Acting fast, Ragna planted his feet and brought up his sword just in time to block the bandit leader's overhead strike.
*CLANG!*
Both fighters found themselves in a deadlock of blades, each standing their ground to overpower the other. "So you're the fucking bitch behind this…" he seethed, slowly overpowering the masked woman in their deadlock.
Before he could, however, a large surge of electricity traveled from his opponent's blade to Blood Scythe, shocking and eliciting a shocked yell of pain from the reaper.
The white-haired man couldn't even contemplate what just happened before the woman capitalized on his sudden lack of strength. Breaking the deadlock with a powerful shove forward, the woman proceeded to resheath her odachi before rushing forward and bombarding the stunned reaper with a flurry of swift, powerful, and electrically-charged slashes from her sword.
Finishing her iaijutsu-based combo, the leader of the raiders followed all this up by dashing to the staggered young man's side and hitting him in the waist with a powerful roundhouse kick. Skidding back several feet, the swordsman only had a second to react before he found the woman speeding towards him once more with her blade raised mid-swing.
"Dammit!" He grunted, quickly bringing up his right arm to block the yellow and lightning-infused blade just before it could hit him.
*CLANG!*
The young man gritted his teeth at the numbing, burning feeling of electricity coursing through his body, but held his ground nonetheless. However, his opponent merely responded by putting all her strength into the swing. The man could only widen his eyes at the staggering level of strength suddenly put into the blow before it sent him rocketing backwards… and right into the burning village house he'd landed a few feet behind.
Fortunately, Ragna was only forced to spend a split second in the inferno that was once a house before he came crashing and tumbling out of the other side. Eventually coming to a stop with his knees on the ground and one hand on the dirt to support himself, our wandering protagonist looked notably more scuffed up than he did when he came across this burning town. His jacket was singed and frayed by both the lightning and the heat, the black shirt he wore underneath his jacket was dyed red in several spots from the barrage of slashes he endured, and he just overall looked frayed at the edges after this entire exchange.
"...Alright, it's official: first town I find after this shitshow that's not on fire, I'm taking the rest of the week off…" As he voiced this annoyed thought, the wandering young man's hands were gripped tight in subdued fury before retrieving his blade and rising back onto his feet. With a swift wave of his hand, the steam that had been coming off Ragna's body dissipated and the soot parts of his face and outfit had been covered in flew off him. He certainly didn't look like he was in mint-condition anymore, but he was far from finished, and he'd make sure this pillaging bitch knew this firsthand.
Speaking of which…
"...You made a very foolish mistake sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and killing the members of my tribe, boy." The woman stated icily, and Ragna could tell that she was glaring at him through her mask. As she spoke, the leader of the bandits placed the hilt of her weapon -the yellow blade seemed to have shattered thanks to the force of that last attack- on top of the sheath at her side. Inserting the bladeless hilt, mechanical whirring could be heard from the large sheath.
"In fact, it'll be the last mistake you ever make." She stated before unsheathing a red blade, replacing the shattered yellow one.
'So she's got blades made of dust… good to know.' Ragna thought, keeping his newfound hatred for this woman in check with a tight clenching of his fist before rising back to his feet. "Real cocky thing to say for some bitch that only got a few licks in on me because she had a trick up her sleeve. Your luck's just run out though. I already got an idea of how that blade of yours works and you're not gonna catch me off-guard like that again now that I know it."
"Hmph, we'll see about that—" *BANG!* Her sheath suddenly let out a sound similar to a gunfire, shooting out a blue colored blade at the silver haired reaper. Noticing the color, Ragna was quick to react and blocked the dust blade with the broad side of his sword, causing the blue blade to ricochet above him into the air.
Seizing this chance, the woman swung her blade and sent out a fire wave at the airborne dust blade. Upon making contact, thick layers of steam erupted in front of the two, creating a large smokescreen.
"Dammit!" Ragna cursed before quickly blowing away the steam with a swing of his sword, only to reveal the woman's form already looming over him with her flaming nodachi poised in an overhead swing.
*TING!*
"!?" However, she was thrown off guard, both figuratively and very literally when the angry young man opted to hold his ground and deftly countered the incoming, flaming strike with one fluid swing from his large blade.
"That ain't gonna work twice, DUMBASS!" the reaper shouted, before charging back at the bandit leader with a large but telegraphed sword swing. The woman re-entered her stance and was ready to parry the slash, but her instincts screamed at her to move out of the way.
Moments before the slash connected, the bandit leader opted to trust her gut and jumped to the side. Her instincts were proven true, when Blood Scythe created large web-like fissures on the ground where it struck.
The display of his strength truly caught her off guard, but the bandit leader quickly shook off her surprise to focus on the battle at hand. She sent out several fire waves at her opponent, all while leaping back to gain some distance between them.
"I'm getting real tired of this shit…" he muttered to himself, now wielding his sword in reverse grip. Rearing back his sword, "DEAD SPIKE!" , a powerful upper swing caused a large black monstrous head to materialize and devour the flaming projectiles.
"!? W-What the hell is—" The woman didn't even have the time to finish that shocked exclamation, the head of the beast loomed over the bandit leader and attempted to devour her as well.
*CHOMP!*
As the beast's maw snapped shut, it dissipated out of existence just as quickly as it appeared. "Hmm…" Ragna hummed before slowly moving forward. The silver haired reaper knelt to the ground where the monstrous head disappeared, which was strangely enough devoid of blood or any severed limbs, before picking up a handful of black feathers.
At a nearby tree, a small raven can be seen perched on one of the branches looking somewhat winded. 'H-How… How is some punk that's at least two decades younger than me is overpowering me at base strength…!? Just who is this brat!?' the black-feathered avian thought to herself, genuinely shocked by Ragna's display of combat ability.
'More importantly, what was that attack just now? Did he just summon a Grimm head?!'
...A very ironic train of thought, given that the bandit leader's most notable abilities, such as her bird transformation, weren't exactly the products of a semblance either...
"There you are." Ragna growled, and the raven barely had any time to react before the white-haired swordsman leapt towards the tree with his blade drawn. Letting out an involuntary squawk of panic, the black bird flapped its wings and flew away from the branches just before Ragna effortlessly cleaved the spot she'd been perched on in twain. Refusing to let up in his onslaught, he placed a single foot on the half of the branch that was still attached to the tree and propelled himself towards the fluttering avian.
*Fwoom!*
With no time to fly out of the way, the only thing the Raven could do was quickly revert back to her human form just as the blade was upon her.
*CLANG!*
By doing so, she was able to partially unsheath her blade in mid-air to block the incoming blade. The downward force of the slash was strong enough to send both combatants instantly plummeting to the ground, their landing causing an explosion of dust. When it cleared, the sight was once again the two of them locked in another shaking deadlock, both trying to overpower one another.
"Rrrrrgh, damn you…!" The woman growled through gritted teeth, giving Ragna what was assuredly a murderous glare through her helmet, and the reaper was all too willing to return it before they separated in a small explosion of sparks and engaged. They both began to rapidly slash at one another in a contest of pure skill and reaction time.
*AROOOO!*
However, the distinct howl of Beowolves grabbed their attention, freezing them both mid-swing, their sword clash paused. Turning to the night sky, the two fighters could vaguely see the silhouette of several Nevermore flying in the direction of the village.
*SKRREEAAAAK!*
"Goddamnit, now of all times!?"
With the reaper distracted, the bandit leader took this chance to use all of her remaining strength to push off her opponent. 'This blade, as well as that power…!' the woman thought, channelling all of her remaining Aura into her sword that caused the green blade to glow brightly.
With a hard shove, the bandit leader followed up the action with an overhead slash, unleashing a torrent of wind that slammed into Ragna with the force of a hurricane. Reacting quickly, the reaper stabbed the ground to anchor himself from getting blown into another burning house.
But just when he felt the wind dying down, *CRASH!* a light blue Dust crystal shattered against Ragna's blade, which froze his entire being except for his head. "Dammit, this shit again?!"
With the reaper now incapacitated, the bandit leader let out a breath of relief before sheathing her blade and turning to address the one who threw the Dust crystal. "Good work, Zero…" She praised the possibly-mute swordsman before turning her gaze to Ragna. "Normally, I cut down those who stand in the way of my tribe…"
As she spoke, the bestial roars and shrieks of the Grimm could be heard gradually getting closer to the burning village. Upon hearing them, a bitterly satisfied smirk began to grow under her helmet. "But with the Grimm fast approaching, I suppose they'll save me the trouble. Zero, warn others and tell them to gather at the village square… Our business here is done."
With that said, the two masked sword-wielders turned their back on the silver haired reaper, which incensed him to no small amount. Struggling to break through the ice, Ragna angrily yelled out to them, bits of frost falling from his form as he did so. "Hey, get back here! I'm not done with you yet, you mask-wearing bi—!"
*SHIING!*
And before he knew it, Zero appeared right before him and aimed the tip of his katana at Ragna's throat. The swordsman apparently didn't take kindly to the reaper's insulting remark. Blinking in a brief instance of surprise, Ragna was quick to recover and return the glare Zero was likely giving him through his mask. "...Well? You actually gonna do anything, or is this just more posturing?"
From there, a tense moment of silence ensued as Ragna waited to see whether the mute swordsman would actually try to go for the jugular. Even the bandit leader didn't interfere with what was happening, instead watching things play out with clear curiosity in spite of her face being completely obscured by her helmet.
As this tense stand off occurred, both bandits were seemingly oblivious to how the red, shell-like objects on the back of Ragna's gloves were gradually beginning to glow underneath the layers of ice…
However, the mute swordsman ultimately decided to resheath his blade before returning to his leader's side. She didn't say anything in response, merely giving Ragna one last look before they withdrew from the area, leaving him by himself in the middle of the village, encased in ice and with hordes of Grimm steadily beginning to close in on where he was.
"... Damn. All I needed was another minute and I would've had them." Ragna groaned, dissatisfied that his ploy didn't pay off. While he was certainly pissed off that the two of them didn't even have the guts to try and finish him off personally, if he had managed to keep them here for just a moment longer, he would've been able to use his trump card on them.
Letting out an annoyed exhale, Ragna looked up at the horizon and saw the familiar shape of several Nevermores closing in on the area. "Pretty big horde too…" "Screw it. I'm already in the middle of starting it up, might as well use it."
And with a new set of targets decided upon, Ragna began his trump card's activation call.
" Restriction Number 666 Released! Dimensional Interference Field Deployed! "
The same malicious energy built up around the silver haired reaper, all of it concentrated into his right arm. " BlazBlue, activate...! " Ragna yelled out as his body exploded with black and purple flames, shattering his icy prison as his right eye began to glow bright red, activating the Azure Grimoire.
"Now we're talking…! This'll make things quick!" And with a vicious smirk now clear to see on his face, Ragna showed off the extent of the power-boost the Azure gave him when he leaped into the air with the speed of a lightning bolt, the black and purple flames leaving a brief trail behind him as he met the incoming elite Grimm head on.
Raising his right arm, a large black claw manifested behind it, copying his movements. "Gauntlet Hades…!" Swinging his arm in an arc, the black claw ripped through the avian Grimm's flesh, rending the creature into several pieces.
Completing the arc, the silver haired reaper took up his blade once more, lifting the large sword over his head. "Nightmare Edge!" Ragna roared, bringing down Blood Scythe as black flames enveloped its blade, cleaving the second giant avian Grimm in two!
His descent soon ended when he bisected an unfortunate Alpha Beowolf that got in his way, creating a massive crater and kicking up dust. All manner of Grimm native to this part of Anima converged at his location, sensing the malicious power Ragna had unleashed.
He lifted his head and aimed his glare at the Grimm horde before him, the blood red glow never fading from his right eye, as well as the remorseless grin he sported.
"Alright, assholes. You want this so badly?" he asked as he brought up his glowing right arm for emphasis, receiving threatening snarls and screeches all around him in response.
"Then I'll show you…" Ignoring his warning, one Beowolf lunged at him with the intent to catch him off guard. During that lunge, if one were to pay attention to Ragna's sword, they'd bear witness to it shifting into its alternate form. As he brought the weapon down, the large, cleaver-like blade suddenly shifted horizontally til one corner of it hung at the edge of the handle, essentially turning the giant sword into a giant scythe.
"The Power of the Azure!" the reaper yelled before charging at the black horde.
**O**
"..."
*Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhrk...*
"...This really wasn't how I wanted my night to go…" That was the only thing Ragna could think of at the moment, and he couldn't help but voice that thought as he walked on, trying to do anything but dwell on the dull ache all over his body and especially in his legs, or the sound of him lethargically dragging his blade against the ground.
"A nice night to just not worry about shit and relax, nothing big. That was all I wanted. But nope! Had to deal with a bunch of bandit fuckheads instead. Because the universe seems to get off from making me miserable. Yeah, in retrospect, I should've seen this coming."
After walking a bit more, the silver haired reaper stumbled upon a large tree and decided to rest there for the night. "Hell of a lot better than sleeping in ashes…" he muttered, stabbing Blood Scythe into the ground before settling down himself.
"Phew…" Letting out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, Ragna allowed himself to finally rest easy as he absent-mindedly took in his surroundings. Now that he wasn't focused on walking or his growing exhaustion, the gruff young man noticed that he wandered into an open field illuminated by the stars and moonlight. In the distance, he could see a treeline surrounding him, but with the exception of this great big tree.
Honestly, despite it being the middle of the night, the moonlight and unobscured starlight made seeing a nonissue, and it even came with the bonus of giving the entire area a rather peaceful, serene lighting, making the grassy field and the forest scape surrounding it appear deceptively calm. Between all this and the night sky being filled with stars and the ever-present shattered moon, it made for quite the idyllic camp site. The serene, ethereal landscape certainly made for quite the contrast with the dishevelled Ragna, who despite having mostly healed from his encounter in the village, still sported a soot and blood-stained outfit.
"Well… at least the view's decent enough." He pointed out, letting out a tired yawn as he spoke. Sitting back against the tree trunk, Ragna allowed the weariness to overtake him as he entered the realm of dreams.
.
.
.
.
.
.
*SLASH!*
"AUUGH! MY ARM! AUUUUUUUUGH!"
"OH, SHUT YOUR DAMN TRAP YOU LITTLE SHITSTAIN! YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE IN PAIN HERE!?" "Auugh… I swear on your life I'm gonna get you for this, you damn furball…"
*SHIING!* "Ashura: Horai BURENSHOU!"
.
"!" With his eyes shooting open, Ragna's head shot up quickly darted around his surroundings, his chest rising and falling as he took several deep breaths. However, his alarm soon faded away into weary annoyance when he realized he was still in that field and that he was still sitting back against that great oak. 'I can never catch a break with that damn dream, can I?'
Sitting back against the tree, Ragna took in his surroundings and subsequently noticed that morning had come, sunlight shining down from the bright blue sky. With nothing immediate to do on his schedule, and feeling a certain level of drowsiness return to him now that his shock faded away, the gruff young man merely remained in a sitting position as he took in the calm scenery, with only his thoughts and the faint sound of a breeze cutting through the field keeping him company.
That was, until the familiar scent of roses graced his sense of smell.
Heaving a sigh, Ragna rose up from his sitting position and turned to address his newfound company. The person in question was a young-looking girl that looked to be in her early teens, and was wearing a black and red, frilled, gothic-styled dress that -when combined with her notably pale skin tone and pretty face- gave her a rather doll-like look. It was also worth noting that the girl had an oddly… otherworldly air to her, which was only accentuated by a set of dark-red eyes, and her most notable features had to be how her long blonde hair was styled up in twintails that were held together by a set of black bows, which were done up in a manner that almost made her look like a…
"...What do you want, Rabbit?"
"Hmm, not even a greeting… I see that our time apart hasn't dampened your propensity for crudeness in the slightest." said the blonde young woman, making the reaper pinch the bridge of his nose.
"If you're here just to piss me off, save it. I'm not in the mood…" Ragna seethed, doing his best to suppress his anger.
"Is that so? Hmm, strange. I figured you facing an entire Grimm horde would have, at the very least, calmed that irritable temper of yours a small bit… It seems I've expected too much of you."
"And it looks like I'm in the same boat as you…" a gravelly voice agreed. Recognizing the voice, Ragna's head whipped to where the voice came from and was greeted with a bipedal cat wearing a familiar yellow hoodie. Strapped to it's back were several short-bladed katanas, resting within a crimson sheathe.
Despite how… comical such an image likely looks, Ragna's posture as soon as he spotted the talking cat indicated nothing but utter respect, a far cry from his usual disrespectful and irreverent attitude. This was because this cat had been Ragna's teacher, caretaker, and the closest thing he had to a parental figure while going through his adolescent years. He was Jubei, an aging beastkin swordsman that saved Ragna's life the night they met and one of the legendary Six Heroes that saved Remnant from a horrible catastrophe many decades ago.
"M… Master…!?" Ragna uttered, surprise written all over his posture and voice as he took in the old Beastkin Faunus. "I… wasn't expecting you to drop in like this so suddenly… I guess if you're here with the Rabbit, you guys must have some big news for me." He greeted slowly, his tone now filled with an uncharacteristic restraint and respect.
However, a moment after voicing his thought after that greeting, his eyes narrowed at the implications it provided. "Is this about Terumi? Did you guys find another one of his pet projects that needs demolishing? Or did you actually find where that snake bastard is hiding?"
"Lose the dead serious demeanor, Ragna. The news we got for you has nothing to do with Terumi." Jubei was quick to shoot this possibility down, however, and Ragna had to avoid letting any signs of disappointment show as a result. "Honestly, I was gonna just leave delivering the news we had for you to Rachel, but that changed when we felt what seemed like a second Black Beast suddenly appear in the middle of the continent."
It was then that Ragna noticed -with no small amount of trepidation- that the tone in his master's voice was distinctly unhappy. Indeed, his tone was instead filled with an irritation that he usually reserved for his student forgetting a basic lesson he taught him and to screw it back into his head extra-tight. "As you can imagine Ragna, I couldn't just ignore something so dangerous, so I went down to investigate, and what else do I find but my thick-skulled student treating a weapon of mass destruction like it's his personal toy to wave around?"
Much to the blonde girl's -Rachel, as Jubei had called her- amusement, the sight of his teacher making his dissatisfaction with Ragna clear caused him to stumble over himself in an attempt to explain. "I-! U-Uh…! Okay, when you word it all like that, it does admittedly sound pretty bad, but I was really just going to use it on-!"
"On what? Two bandit chumps that you couldn't stand were gonna pull a fast one on ya!? On a bunch of Grimm because you were already in the middle of activating it and couldn't be bothered to put in any more effort?" Jubei interrupted, making it clear he wasn't going to accept any excuses as he admonished his student. "Have you already forgotten your training? You've been using that right arm of yours so much, Grimm from as far as Atlas could sense it!"
"I haven't forgotten your training, master! I just-"
"Then stop acting like you've forgotten the very first lesson I hammered into your skull every morning: 'Don't mistake the power of the Azure Grimoire as your own!'" The cat beastkin exclaimed, making his irritation known before recomposing himself. Once he did, he took on a more gently admonishing tone before speaking once more."...Nothing good is going to come of you becoming too reliant on the power in that arm, kid. Its power doesn't come from you, so don't mistake it as your own."
"...Right. I understand, master." Ragna sighed, holding up both his hands in surrender before his gaze drifted to his right arm… or at least, what was taking the shape of a replacement arm. "It just felt like a shame to have all this power and never really try it out, at least just to get a feel for it."
"You already use it in your fighting style enough as is, kid. Save actually activating it for an actual emergency, where it's needed, not just when you need it." Jubei advised, having seemingly calmed down now that he made his grievances known to his student.
"Truly sage advice if I've ever heard it. I imagine there might actually be some semblance of hope for you if you actually keep your mentor's lessons in mind, Ragna." Rachel chimed in, clearly enjoying herself as she watched the teacher berate his student.
"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll lay off on the Azure use and save it for an actual emergency. Is there anything else, or did you both just come here to lecture me some more, drop cryptic hints about the future, or maybe a bit of both?" Ragna groaned, shooting the irritating girl an annoyed glare before leaning back against the great oak.
At this point, the white-haired swordsman was no stranger to this routine. It had more or less been standard-fare for Ragna since he completed his training under Jubei and had been given the order to wander the world to further hone his skills. Every month or so, Rachel, being the apparently omnipotent, blood-sucking pest that she was, would drop in usually just to irritate him and bombard him with critiques regarding his very existence. If Ragna was lucky, those critiques would come with something actually useful, like a mission to throw a wrench into whatever sadistic machinations Terumi had cooking, and if he was really lucky, then he actually got a clear explanation to go with it, and not just more cryptic bullshit.
"Hmph, so very demanding, and to those you owe your life to. Honestly Ragna, that irreverent attitude of yours will almost certainly put you in a miserable position one day" Rachel chided, a small smile on her face that complimented the mock-disappointment in her tone. "But very well then, instead of 'dropping a cryptic hint,' I'll instead ask you a very simple question."
"And that is?"
"Do you happen to know what time it is on the clock?"
...Ragna was very tempted to demand what the point of such a question was, but thought against it when he realized that would just get him another snide and condescending answer. Rather than checking the time on his scroll, the reaper instead got his answer by simply checking where the sun was positioned. Judging by how it was positioned right above the three of them, with shade being provided by the great oak, Ragna quickly realized that he slept till 12. "Uh… about noon, give or take. Why?"
"Close, but not quite. You're about a minute off. You'll know when it's noon once-" Rachel stopped herself when the three of them heard something buzzing in Ragna's coat pocket. "Ah, exactly that. My, I simply must commend that Goodwitch woman for being so punctual. Her efficiency is truly to be commended."
Quickly realizing that both Rachel and Jubei arranged for something to be sent to his scroll at around this time, Ragna was quick to fish it out and check what had been sent, curious to see what exactly they were getting at here.
"What the shit…?" And as Ragna stared at the files that had been sent over to him, his confusion only grew. Looking at Jubei and Rachel with a baffled expression, he asked, "Why the hell did I just get sent a bunch of huntsman academy forms with my name on them!?"
"Now Ragna, is your skull really so dense that I must explain everything to you? Because quite frankly, that wasn't my intention in coming here. I simply wanted to congratulate you on your acceptance into such a prestigious institution, affable mistress that I am."
It was then that what was going on here, the point of this entire visit from his teacher and Rachel, slowly began to dawn on the ill-tempered youth, and it was not a pleasant realization. Looking back over the documents on his scroll a second time, Ragna was quick to say something, a panicked dread creeping into his voice. "Y-You… You're seriously both telling me that after all that training, all that preparation to make sure I could take on Terumi when I find him… You're really both telling me that the first really major thing I'm gonna be doing now that my training's over with… is go to school!?"
"My, such a long-winded reiteration. Is there some sort of malfunction going on in that old, flickering light-bulb you call a brain? Yes, that is exactly what we are saying. And I think you should be a touch more grateful to us, you crude simpleton. The fact that we were able to ensure you a spot in Beacon Academy's initiations is something most youths your age would kill for."
Ragna, who had been rendered speechless during Rachel's lecturing, and whose skin-tone had since taken up a far more pale coloration as the reality of his situation began to set in, could only respond to his master and handler's new orders with a single word.
" WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" However, that single word did a fantastic job making Ragna's thoughts about the new order clear to Jubei and Rachel.
Bemused, both beastkin and vampire watched as Ragna began to vocalize more protests once he was able to properly speak once more. "T-This has gotta be a joke, right!? This is all just one big freaking ruse the two of you schemed up to mess with me cause lord knows the universe doesn't love fucking with me enough as is!"
"Sorry to say this, but we're serious Ragna. Terumi's trail went cold a few weeks back… It's like the bastard just disappeared without a trace." Jubei explained, his gravelly voice calm and firm. "We aren't exactly sure when we'll catch a whiff of him again, but havin' you just wander the countryside in the meantime picking fights would be pointless."
"I-I mean, I get that, but… SCHOOL!? Seriously!? You're both really telling me there's not a single other thing I could be doing while you guys try to pick Terumi's trail back up!?"
Seeing his outburst, Jubei couldn't help but release a defeated sigh. "I guess there's no better way to say this, so I'll ask ya instead. Tell me, Ragna. What's your plan after Terumi's gone and dealt with?" Jubei asked bluntly, eyeing his pupil inquisitively.
" ...What? What the hell does that-!? Ugh, forget it." Ragna began, only to cut himself off when he realized such a question would just get him another condescending answer courtesy of Rachel. Still, the young man couldn't deny that such a question was thought-provoking. Truth be told… he hadn't really put any thought into what he'd do with his life after making that snake bastard regret ever meeting him. Such a thing had honestly been his life goal ever since entering adolescence, to the point that he hadn't really put any thought into what he'd do after accomplishing such a thing.
After contemplating the question for a moment, Ragna answered, not sounding entirely confident in his answer. "Well… I don't know. I guess for starters, I'd probably use all these years of training to make some cash doing some huntsman jobs, then-"
"My my! How profound! I do believe this is the first time I've ever heard a somewhat sensible answer from you, Ragna. Congratulations, I'm honestly quite proud of you." "However, it's worth noting that there is a rather jarring flaw in this plan of yours: how exactly do you plan to build up any worthwhile funds without an official huntsman license?"
Blinking at her question, Ragna opened his mouth to respond… only to find that he had no answer for her. Indeed, Ragna was well-aware of the fact that huntsmen live off of killing the Grimm and defending the people because they were, under normal circumstances at least, officially endorsed by the four kingdoms, as their huntsman licenses would prove. Regardless of one's skill, if you couldn't provide a huntsman license, or any sort of proof that you were an official huntsman backed by the four kingdoms, then making an honest living out of fighting the Grimm just became much harder.
And Ragna, despite being more than qualified after being trained by one of Remnant's living legends, ultimately wasn't an official huntsman.
"I suppose you could put your services up for sale regardless, but without any sort of official verification, you'd be quite hard-pressed to find any reliable employers, let alone any that would properly pay you for your services." Rachel continued, and Ragna couldn't help glower at the clear satisfaction in her tone as she spoke. The young-looking vampire never made it a secret that she derived a certain satisfaction from pointing out any and all flaws in Ragna's logic when they interacted.
"Why don't you lay things on a bit thicker, bunny leech? I don't think I felt all the condescension in that sentence." Ragna groaned, at this point just burnt out and fed up with this entire conversation. Shooting his teacher one more pleading look, the gruff young man opted to try at least one more time to try and get out of this arrangement they made for him. "Look, do I really, honestly, gotta go and do this? Can we at least just put all this on hold till after I put that snake bastard down…!?"
" Yes, kid. You do gotta do this. And just to make myself extra-clear, consider going to Beacon and graduating an order from me to you, so don't go and try to half-ass things once you get there." Jubei said sternly, and Ragna couldn't help but groan in response. Jubei ordering to do something was a pretty clear sign that the aging cat was being dead-serious, and more to the point, the white-haired young man wasn't about to go against his master… no matter how much he was hating where this entire conversation had gone. "Look, kid, I know you're upset about this, but we're not doin' this to try'n get rid of you. Honestly, Rachel and I are both thinkin' this'll be a good experience for you in the long run."
"How in the hell is sitting around in some school for pretentious dipshits with a thumb up my ass gonna be good for me when Terumi's gonna be going around doing god knows what in the meantime…!?" Ragna questioned, a combination of frustration and exasperation in his tone.
"Well, to begin with, it would actually give you a chance to act your age and live your life out a bit." Rachel pointed out, and she wasn't wrong when she said such a thing either. Even before being taken in by Jubei, Ragna had lived a life that was mostly cut off from the humdrum of the four kingdoms and their cities. He had been to the cities of Mistral and Vale before during his travels, as well as the island of Patch, and he was certainly no stranger to the numerous villages scattered throughout the continent, but for the most part, Ragna had lived his life secluded from the rest of civilization. "Surely you don't wish to live the rest of your life in the wilderness after Terumi's death, do you?"
Ragna couldn't bring himself to say anything in response, looking away from them both as he scratched at his jaw. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't deny that Rachel and Jubei weren't saying anything that was wrong. Still, while he'd go if they were truly that insistent about it, the thought of taking classes at a school didn't sit well with Ragna for a variety of reasons. Not only could he just not see himself wearing some stuffy school uniform and taking notes on a bunch of monotonous bullshit, but it just felt wrong to do such a thing on a base level when he knew Terumi was out there, plotting something...
"Relax already, kid. We're not expecting you to just stay there if we pick Terumi's trail back up while you're taking classes. If we get something, you'll be the first to know." Jubei explained, correctly deducing the main issue that had Ragna so reluctant about going to Beacon Academy. "In the meantime though, just take this chance to get used to living with people, maybe even meet some people your own age. We both think that'll do you a lotta good instead of just wandering around picking fights with anything that looks at you funny."
Upon hearing this, Ragna's high-strong body language relaxed slightly. He was clearly still doubtful that taking classes would be a good use of his time, but having his biggest grievance on the whole matter addressed assuage his doubts greatly.
"...Got it. So, when do I gotta be there?" Ragna finally spoke, his exasperated expression slowly shifting to a neutral one.
"The academy's initiations will begin in a week's time, so I'd highly recommend finding an airship station sooner rather than later. And just to ensure that you have no excuses about being late and because I'm such a benevolent and caring mistress, here," Rachel spoke, reaching into her dress and offhandedly throwing something to Ragna, which he caught without a second thought. When he examined it, the reaper was taken aback to discover it was a container full of a hefty amount of lien. "That should be enough to purchase you an airship escort into the city of Vale, although I'll leave the matter of getting to the academy to you alone. Hopefully, you can handle such an undertaking."
"...Well, I'd appreciate it even more if you'd lay off the snide tone for once in your century-long life, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Thanks." Was all Ragna said after a moment's silence, initially tempted to respond with a biting remark, but ultimately deciding against it since this was one of those rare instances where Rachel was actually doing something nice for him.
Hearing Ragna's thanks caused a small smile to grace the girl's lips in response, and unlike the previous ones she displayed during this conversation, there was no trace of haughtiness or knowing written on it. "Hmhmhm~. Those crude manners of yours certainly need some work, but you actually showing gratitude tells me there might be some hope for your afterall, Ragna~."
"Whatever…" Ragna sighed, closing his eyes as he pressed the back of his head against the tree. "Alright, is there anything else, or can I actually get a moment to myself and think now?"
"Yes yes, that will be all, Ragna. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back home. Valkenhayn's preparing an absolutely exquisite dinner for me to enjoy." Rachel said airily, turning to Jubei as she spoke. "Would you like to come as well, Jubei? I'm certain Valkenhayn would be happy to prepare something for a guest, and he'll no doubt be thrilled to see an old friend of his again."
"It has been a while, hasn't it?... Sure, it'll be good to catch up with him." The aging beastkin mused, quickly deciding that it'd be good to see his old war buddy again. Nodding in affirmation at his choice, bats quickly and suddenly began to stir up and surround the both of them, and before they completely enshrouded them, Jubei looked back at his student. "Buck up kid. I know you're not liking the sound of this now, but I think you'll be singin' a different tune next time I see you. Till then, stay sharp."
And with the both of them having bid farewell to their red-clad associate, both Rachel and Jubei disappeared in a flurry of screeching and flying bats, leaving no evidence that they'd even been there in the first place and leaving Ragna in the field with only his thoughts to accompany him.
Letting out an exhausted groan, Ragna collapsed back into a sitting position, everything he'd learned during that conversation now rattling around in his head incessantly. "...Well! Guess I'm a highschool student now…!" He thought aloud, letting out a resigned chuckle before leaning further back into the tree, rubbing his forehead as his mock-grin was replaced with a grimace. "Ugh… this is gonna suck ass, I can already tell."
**O**
A week later, Beacon Academy
The boat Ragna boarded had just docked at Beacon's cliffside docking area. Grabbing his duffel bag, the silver haired Reaper hopped off the ferry along with the other passengers before turning towards his destination.
"Whoa…" When Jubei and Rachel said he was going to school, he imagined the place to be an average, everyday school building. He wasn't at all expecting to be greeted by a freaking castle on a cliff, with eight waterfalls coming down from it!
Shaking himself out of his mesmerized stupor, Ragna slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and began walking towards the stairs that lead up to the school grounds.
Halfway up the steps, Ragna took this opportunity to look out towards the River of Beacon, watching the many boats and airships arriving here.
"Definitely wasn't expecting this…" he muttered, still a bit caught off guard by Beacon Academy. "Then again, I probably wasn't giving one of the four best huntsmen academies in the world enough credit… not that I'm completely justified in still being bitter about this."
Before long, Ragna reached the top of the stairs and found himself staring down the long, expansive walkway that started from the airway and led all the way to the academy. From where he was standing, the heterochromatic swordsman was given a better view of the colossal castle that was Beacon Academy in the distance. 'Well… there are definitely worse places to be stuck in for the next four years, I guess.' He thought, brows furrowing briefly with what came to mind next. 'Not like I can just flunk out either. They'd both never let me hear the end of it if I did.'
Still, for all of Ragna's complaining, he knew life had thrown much worse at him in the past. Graduating from this school wouldn't be an issue, he just found it to be a pain in his ass and waste of valuable time.
From there, the gruff young man continued down the path at a steady pace, admiring the various sights around the campus. The towering stone archways, the crystal clear waters of the moat surrounding the archaic structure, which had koi fish and water lilies in them.
But what caught the reaper's attention the most was the large monument located at the campus' front. Intrigued by this, Ragna decided to take a closer look at it.
It depicted several unique figures, six to be precise, combating a nine-headed serpentine monster, every head bearing teeth that could tear an Atlesian Flagship to pieces like it was paper mache.
The Six Heroes and the Black Beast.
"Must cost them a fortune to maintain this place…" he muttered, realizing that this place would need at least several dozen teams of janitors to keep it looking so spick and span.
With his curiosity sated, the reaper continued on his path to find the school's amphitheater, passing the monument before entering the front building. However, his stride came to an immediate halt when he suddenly felt something slam into him from behind, causing him to stumble forward. "Hey! Watch it!" Ragna barked out instinctively, turning to face whoever bumped into him. However, any other insult he was about to hurl out was silenced upon seeing the perpetrator's face, or more specifically, her long head of golden blonde hair.
"Oh, sorry about that. Wasn't seeing where I was gooooooo… ing." Yang apologized, only for her words to trail off upon seeing Ragna's mug.
.
.
.
.
.
"...Oh god." Ragna groaned, a horrible wet blanket of realization enveloping him.
"YOU!"
It was as though a switch had been flipped. Instantly, Yang's shocked demeanor was replaced with a furious one, and her blonde hair and lavender eyes suddenly flared up brightly and were replaced with blood-red ones, respectively. Ragna's gut screamed at him to jump out of the way, and it proved to be a wise course of action since not a moment after this furious exclamation, the blonde's shotgun gauntlets were loaded and she immediately lunged at him with her right fist raised.
Grimacing in annoyance, Ragna's hand hovered over the handle of his blade as he watched Yang's fist slam into the stone path he'd been standing on just a moment ago, the force and power of the impact causing a small explosion of rubble and fire as a result.
Out of the corner of his eye, the reaper noticed, with no small amount of annoyance, how the rest of Yang's posse quickly backed away a safe distance so they could play audience to the imminent brawl, and to make matters even worse, they were already beginning to draw a crowd from any and all passers by.
'That's right… I forgot… this year would be about the time she could start taking classes here.' Ragna thought, getting up from his crouched position.
"So is this how you normally say hi to people you haven't seen in a while, Yang?" He began, his tone and expression making him appear more exasperated than anything, which only served to further infuriate the already irate blonde.
"It is when they're assholes who drop off the grid for months without even bothering to call and say ' Hey! Just so you know, I'm still alive!'" Yang fumed, furious at the reaper's snarky remark.
Ragna, on his part, ignored the blonde's angry rant to assess the current situation. 'This place is too small a space to fight in… And with how explosive her semblance is, we wouldn't even get that far into things before this place caves in on us.'
Heaving a sigh, the reaper leveled his gaze to his blonde opponent. "Alright, fine. Guess I'll just have to use that ultimate technique I came up with…"
"Ultimate- what are you talking about!?"
"I came up with it during my travels in Mistral. And every time I used it, it never failed… All I need is to use my sword for exactly 1 second. Then, my legs will do all the work for me…" the Grim Reaper explained as he held up an index finger as emphasis.
For her part, Yang assumed that Ragna discovered how she's not used to fighting opponents that specialize in kicks. So with great caution, the blonde adopted her combat stance, while Ragna grabbed Blood Scyhte's hilt with a menacing smirk.
Faster than the eye can track, Ragna unsheathed and swung the large blade with all his might, creating a strong gust of wind. In response, the blonde brawler brought up her arms in a defensive position.
"…Exactly 1 second." However, Yang soon panicked at the thought that this was merely a distraction, before immediately dropping her defensive stance and reared back a fist.
...Only to see the fleeting figure of Ragna the Bloodedge, running in the opposite direction. "RUN AWAY! OUTTA MY WAY, BASTARDS!" he shouted, shoving aside students that blocked his path before making a sharp left turn.
Her initial panicked state quickly melted to that of anger, her trembling clenched fists indicating said anger about to burst. Her blonde mane regained its fiery glow, as well as the crimson in her lilac eyes.
"GET BACK HERE!" she screamed as she chased him down, propelling herself using Ember Celica's hefty recoil.
After a full minute jog, Ragna found himself at the amphitheater foyer, with an enraged Yang hot on his heels. Now with enough space to move in, the heterochromatic swordsman skidded to a stop as he turned to face his flaming pursuer.
Grabbing his sword, "Inferno Divider!" Ragna roared as his blade clashed with Yang's gauntlets. The move threw her off, but she nonetheless managed to land in a crouch.
"Belial Edge!" Thinking on her feet, Yang leaped back when Ragna dived at her with Blood Scythe, stabbing the concrete ground where she had stood mere moments ago, but he didn't stop there.
Twisting his body, Ragna hefted the sword to deliver an overhead slash, only to be blocked by both Yang's gauntlets. The impact rattled her bones and caused a small fissure to form underneath Yang's feet, as sparks flew off the gauntlets. Struggling against the sword's unnatural weight and Ragna's own strength, Yang delivered a solid kick to the reaper's gut, pushing him away as well as putting some distance between them.
The reaper let out a frustrated groan, going down to his knee as he rubbed his abdomen. "Agh, son of a bitch…" Ragna winced, keeping his glare leveled on his opponent. Yang ejected the empty shells from her gauntlets before reloading them and putting up her arms, ready to engage the Grim Reaper at a moment's notice.
Seeing no other way out of this situation, Ragna twirled Blood Scythe in his hand before wielding the blade in reverse grip.
So much for first impressions…"
-XxXxX-
To be continued...
AN: Alright, I know what you're thinking… 'How come this prologue isn't song-based like Nero's?' Well, for starters, Nero's prologue works because that's how he was first introduced in the opening sequence of DMC4, combine that with his connection to Weiss and Winter and you got yourself the perfect fusion of both worlds. As for Ragna, well… he doesn't get introduced like that. In Calamity Trigger, we're treated to a small cutscene, Ragna's dream of his ruined childhood and his fight with Rachel. That's it.
So, me and lolrus decide to do our own take on how to introduce the Grim Reaper, and what better way to do that than to beat the ever living shit out of Raven's tribe members? Not only that, we've also included a guest character in this chapter; Zero from Katana Zero. The reason why we included him here is because of the Branwen tribe's lack of… threat. Seriously, for a tribe that believes in the survival of the fittest, you'd think the Branwens would have several members that are a cut above the rest. But no, the only capable tribe members are just Raven and her sidekick Vernal… By the by, Shay D. Mann died in this one, so we don't have to deal with him anymore in future volumes :D
Anyway, this'll be it for now. I just hope we can get the next chapter ready… Major credit to my beta-reader and proofreader, lolrus555 for helping me write this chapter and for just being the best companion I could have to write this fanfic! Couldn't have done it without him, so go check him out!