It's been a while, but this chapter is done! It's time for the gang to go to Mistral, and see what's going on there with the… Lionheart situation or something.
Quick shameless ad: I wrote a new RWBY fic! It's hopefully ok, and a lot more serious than this fic, though I still think it's a fun read.
-SpiritOfErebus
"No, Neo!" Kojiro shouted, sitting on the plastic chair on the cargo ship deck. Besides him, a storage container containing his truck sat amongst the other exports (and, frankly, an obscene amount of physical mail now that the CCT towers were down) that Vale was supposed to send to Mistral.
Neo glared back at Kojiro from on top of a dragon's head.
Sadly, it wasn't another western dragon. Kojiro would have liked a rematch, then. He really didn't like how he won, considering he broke three swords, and almost died because of a random sniper taking a shot at him.
"Who was the sniper, anyways?" Kojiro thought. "Probably nobody significant."
"You have to understand, this is an eastern dragon!"
Neo didn't respond, presumably because she was currently desperately trying to hold onto the gaps in the scales of the dragon. The dragon, meanwhile, began to spin in the air, performing elaborate aerial aces and loop-de-loops, trying to shake the ice cream colored midget off.
Kojiro, meanwhile. could almost hear Neo shout "So What?" if she could actually shout.
"Use your sword and shave off the scales, before attacking the middle!" Kojiro said. "I've seen people do this before."
Neo flailed her sword about, trying to stick it into the dragon's armor,
"Think of it like an oyster shell!"
"Uh… Kojiro, sir…" the captain said, looking at the famed huntsman with a little concern in his eyes. "I understand that you and your… apprentice?"
"Partner." Kojiro said.
"You and your partner have the situation handled, but we do have cannons, you know. We can just shoot the beast, now that it's preoccupied with her." the captain mumbled meekly.
"This is all just a learning experience." Kojiro said, sighing wistfully. "She needs to be able to kill a large grimm on her own. Do you have a megaphone, by the way?"
"Oh, uh, here." The captain said, handing a microphone to him, before running to the helm of the ship and turning on the intercom. Kojiro paced idly on the deck, and the sound of his wooden sandals slapping against the wood of the deck echoed across the ship.
"I suppose this is loud enough…" Kojiro muttered. That same sentence was blared everywhere on the ship.
"Okay, slaying this dragon is like shucking an oyster!" Kojiro shouted. "Get your blade in that gap and twist that blade, creating a larger crack between flesh and scale!"
Kojiro himself winced at the intercom's volume. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to shout in a ship's PA system.
Neo's arm glowed pink, before she sank her katana into the gap, and twisted the blade. The dragon roared in pain and turned its head on Neo, attempting to breath fire.
"Run up the dragon's body length." Kojiro said calmly. "Just get on the dragon's neck, considering the body ratios of dragons and snakes. The safe zone should be… about two scales from the head."
"Should we be taking notes?" a crewmate whispered.
"Nah." another said. "Can you run around on a dragon like that? No? Yeah. Your fat ass definitely can't."
"I'll have you know I'm only two hundred and forty pounds!"
The firestorm was unleashed, and for a moment, everybody averted their eyes from the bright spectacle. Neo, however, continued clinging to the third scale group to the head, slowly making her way to the second.
"Now, the dragon will probably plunge back into the sea." Kojiro said. "So prepare to hold your breath."
Neo looked up from her position faceflat to the dragon in surprise.
The dragon dove down into the sea, trying to cool down the heated scales near its midsection. Neo immediately abandoned her position near the head of the dragon and began to run up the dragon's body. Reaching the tail, she jumped into the air and extended her parasol, slowing down her descent to the ocean.
"If you hit the water, your movements will be slowed." Kojiro said. "That was a good choice, though, personally, I would have-"
Great, pink letters flashed across the empty horizon. With the glittering glow of the calming sea and the warm light of the sunrise, they almost seemed transparent.
Shut up! Don't tell me what to do!
Those words spoiled the serene scenery. What spoiled the scene more was the dragon flying out into the sky and preparing to bite down on Neo's "parachuting" form. Neo retracted her parasol, stuffing it back into a loop on the belt of her kimono, and flipped over the dragon's snapping jaw.
"Now, pry open the scales on the dragon's neck and-"
I know what I'm doing!
Pink letters once again flashed among the clouds as Neo shaved off a scale near the dragon's neck, the white, bony plate flapping in the air as the dragon flew. Then, with a murderous grin, she stabbed her sword into the dragon.
The dragon roared, and thrashed. As it flew towards the water again, Neo channeled her aura into the sword, and began to carve section after section of vulnerable, scale-less flesh out of the exposed neck of the grimm dragon.
"You see?" Kojiro said, microphone still held up to his lips. "That's why… Eastern dragons are just bigger oysters. Hmm, that doesn't sound as good as the other one."
The crewmates laughed and hollered as Neo floated back to the ship, the grimm dragon slowly dissolving, twitching defiantly as its life was taken by an ice cream colored midget. It could have terrorized the seven seas, or done something that made it relevant in canon to a black haired catgirl or a Sun Wukong ripoff also called Sun Wukong, but, but now…
It was dead.
Neo landed on the deck, her clothes still pristine, even though it probably could have been coated in grimm blood. Her face was still grumpy, however.
"What's wrong?" Kojrio said, sitting back on the plastic chair and flipping on the mic. "Did your parasol get dirty?"
Neo glumly nodded.
"And we don't have enough fresh water on the ship to clean it?"
Neo nodded again.
"Just take some ice dust and melt it. Then you'll get your fresh water. Why can't you use the seawater, anyways?"
What followed was a long, written lecture on fabric colors and how saltwater ruined silk.
…
Two Weeks Later
…
"I can't thank you enough for protecting the ship!" the captain said, looking at the pristine hull of the cargo ship, and the crane gently lowering the cargo container with Kojiro's truck.
"Don't worry about it." Kojiro said, sighing and scratching his shoulder. "Neo took care of most of the beasts."
Neo looked at the city, her outfit slightly stained in grimm blood from all of the chinese dragons, nevermore, sea worms, and even a kraken that had attacked the boat.
Kojiro had taken one look at the opponents and told Neo their weakness, before Neo took them down in about ten to fifteen minutes.
"Do we have to pay for the cargo box, by the way?" Kojiro asked, pointing at the truck finally being released from its metal prison.
"Nah, don't worry about it." the captain said, smiling. "We saved a record amount on cannonballs and dust, so you all can have the transport fee waived. In fact, here's a little extra for defeating that Kraken. I've never even seen one in all my years on sea."
"Yeah." Kojiro said, yawning. "It was pretty boring. All you really had to do was remove the eyes and go in from there. It doesn't really even have protection other than being really slimy."
Neo looked at the stains on her left sleeve, and glared at Kojiro.
"Hey, it was your fault for not wanting to wash your clothes."
We left Vale with only one set.
Those words appeared in the docks, and many, many people stopped to stare at the strange girl glare at the huntsman with a katana on his back.
"Wait…" somebody muttered. "Isn't that… Sasaki Kojiro?"
"Yeah, it is!" a worker said, putting down the bag of traffic safety charms he was loading into a cargo bay. "That's the huntsmen guy, from Vale!"
"This means that Vale is fine!"
"I knew that Sasaki Kojiro could kill the dragon! Did you see the clip of him decimating that giant nevermore?"
"Yeah! And the way that-"
Kojiro sighed and waved at the crowd. "Yes, Vale is indeed fine, and me and my partner are here for vacation. Now, can we leave the docks? We kind of need to reserve a hotel."
The crowd parted, though pictures were taken and calls were made to reassure worried family.
Kojrio got into the truck, while Neo stopped considering stealing from a bag of dresses. They drove off into the streets, surrounded by a crowd of dock workers and sailors.
Maintaining his unflappable expression, Kojiro looked from street to street, from shop to shop, but nothing really interested him.
Neo, on the other hand, began to eye several of the Kimonos on display. She pointed at the clothes, before tapping Kojiro on the shoulder.
Kojiro shut off the radio just as a Mistralian song about a gangster was about to reach its chorus, before nodding. He supposed Neo did need some new clothes. Looking down on his own clothes, he did think that it was time to… maybe reconsider choices.
…
…
Kojiro looked at himself in the mirror, a hoodie on his torso and a pair of casual shorts on his legs. For some reason, he felt cold.
"This just… doesn't feel right." Kojiro muttered.
Neo grinned, before pulling out a suit.
…
"Nope." Kojiro sighed. "Orange isn't my color."
Neo looked at Kojiro's orange hair, and sighed.
…
"What even is this?" Kojiro said, looking at the toga Neo had found somewhere in the clothing store that apparently had clothing from all cultures, and all ages.
"I think I'll just get a new set of robes. What's the price tag on those?" Kojiro said, pointing to a purple robe that looked suspiciously like his own.
"Oh, the Sasaki Kojiro robes?" the teller said. "You've already dyed your hair to look the part, haven't you, sir?"
"..."
Neo began to snicker.
…
Kojiro lay on the hotel robe, the slightly itchy cosplay robes on him not feeling as smooth as his old set. Maybe it was worn silk that contrasted the artificial feeling that nylon gave him. The colors were certainly brighter, though.
Neo, meanwhile, was vigorously washing the parasol in the hotel bathroom, the skeleton of the parasol being gingerly set on the ground.
Now, Kojiro felt so… empty. Staring up into the pasty yellow ceiling and lying on a much too comfortable bed, he realized that he preferred futons.
But more importantly, there was nothing left for him to do.
He had read every book about grimm, and he had thrown away every book about grimm. He had won every fight, and he had… hadn't really lost a fight in this world. He felt like he had faced everything there was to face in this world, and in the end… he was left with a feeling like…
That was it?
Surely, there was something that was challenging in this world that wasn't just trying to steal a temple without being caught, but something more… attuned to his skillset.
Something that he could… use his blade on.
Sitting up, he turned on the television.
"With the arrival of Sasaki Kojiro in Mistral, confirming that Vale is still standing after the last transmission of a horrific scene of the destruction of the Vale CCT tower, positivity is at an all new high. Grimm invasions have hit a record low, and-"
Kojiro shut off the television.
He looked into the glassy screen of the television, and clenched his fist.
If there wasn't trouble, he was going to have to go look for trouble.
…
"Welcome to Haven Academy, Mr. Kojiro." a nervous headmaster stammered, his lion tail swishing. "W-what have you come here for?"
Around the halls, huntsmen students congregated in order to take a peek at the famous huntsman. Teachers came up and wanted to shake his hand, and Kojiro obliged.
"I've come here to spar." Kojiro said.
"To… spar?" Lionheart said, before nodding "Certainly! Would any teams like to take on Mr. Kojiro in a battle?"
A forest of hands came up.
…
"In the arena, a student quivered, slowly backing away. The naginata in his hand was trembling, though it was still vaguely held in a defensive stance.
"You did well." Kojiro mumbled. "Your teamwork was coordinated, and your initial plan did make me have to start using aspects of my more mediocre techniques. But… not good enough."
With a last swing and a twist, the Naginata was forced out of the boy's hands, and with a casual kick, he was punted out of the arena.
"...And at ninety nine percent aura, Sasaki Kojiro is still in the ring… after defeating eight teams…" a teacher said, her hand shaking on the control pad of the force field. "Mr. Kojiro, are you still able to, uh, continue battling?"
"Yeah." Kojiro mumbled. "I'm honestly still pretty bored."
There was silence as the sheer insolence of that statement spread across the classroom. The students began to boil in the auditorium, muttering and whispering to each other, each urging the other's team to go up. The team sitting next to Neo looked at her, confused.
"Was she ever a student here?"
Neo, in her illusionary Haven Academy uniform, nodded.
The hubbub continued until somebody brought up a suggestion.
"I think it's time for her to go up."
"Yeah, Invincible Girl! Show him what you're made of!"
Slowly, a student with flowing red hair stood up and smiled gently, though her eyes really told the message of I-Really-Wish-I-Weren't-Here-Right-Now.
"Ms. Nikos." the teacher said. "Two weeks ago, you were able to defeat me in combat. I think you would benefit greatly from having the opportunity to challenge Mr. Kojiro.
"Yes, ma'am." she said, before walking off to the changing rooms.
…
Pyrrha was honestly tired of being here, in Mistral. After having her flight to Beacon canceled because of the dragon, which attacked two weeks before the start of the term, Pyrrha had to go to Haven in order to continue her huntsman education.
And now that she was enrolled, and not put in a team because of her rather… special status, she spent the days smiling emptily, waving to fans, writing autographs for starstruck first years, and even older students. She could just use her semblance to wave the weapons of her opponents out of the arena, but she still had to keep up the facade of the invincible girl by putting on a show like a show pony being led around a circus, doing tricks and jumping through rings of fire.
Tugging on her breastplate and dusting off her spear one last time, she sighed.
"Sasaki Kojiro…" she muttered the name to herself. With her childhood being filled with harsh training and meditation for her semblance, she wasn't allowed to be exposed to various distractions. Thus, she wasn't that familiar with the name until the news report about the dragon came out.
Perhaps… she could finally lose. Break her reputation as the Invincible girl. Would losing to him be an adequate excuse to finally lose, for once?
As she stepped onto the stage, however, everything changed.
The orange-haired man was sitting cross-legged, his sword right in front of him. She first noticed that unlike the standard katana, it was an odachi. A long katana wielded by the people that were either unskilled or compensating for something, or from the old dojos that sometimes stopped by to send disciples to spar during her training years.
Judging by his reputation, however, this man definitely had skills.
But it wasn't just the odd weapon choice or the strange combination of colors that his hair and robes were.
It felt… like he was bored. Thoroughly, utterly bored. It wasn't just a statement to anger the students and encourage self improvement, like a motivational huntsman speaker tried to do during Haven initiation.
He felt as she did. But instead of being tired of the attention, he was simply… seeking a challenge.
Pyrrha grinned, before getting into a ready stance. Hopefully, this fight wouldn't be like the others.
At that moment, Kojiro sat up, before slinging his sword over his back. He stood there, hands in his sleeves, and nodded at Pyrrha.
"Match… start!"
Pyrrha laced her legs with aura, and pounced forwards, spear lancing towards Kojiro's chest.
A quick sidestep resulted in a dodge, but Pyrrha was anything if not persistent, she threw her shield at an angle towards Kojiro, who jumped out of the way once more, a small glint appearing in his eyes. The shield bounced up from the ground, and with a little bit of assistance from her semblance, latched back onto her arm.
Kojiro finally unsheathed his sword, and Pyrrha instantly narrowed her eyes.
Then, she could barely react as Kojiro swung his sword straight towards her shoulders. Her shield came up to block the strike as her spear struck out reflexively. With a quick twist of his wrist, Kojiro deflected the thrust and returned to a neutral stance.
"Interesting…" Kojiro muttered. "You can actually react to my attacks."
"I would hope that I am a more difficult opponent than the others."
"You were sent up here alone." Kojiro noted, looking her from up to down. "Are you… special in some way? A graduate student? A Prodigy?"
"Do the Mistral Regionals mean anything to you?"
"The… what?"
For the first time in a while, Pyrrha grinned genuinely. It was on the most unlikely spot she could think of. It was in the arena, some place that used to earn her scorn and boredom many years in a row.
On a whim, Pyrrha flexed her semblance. Kojiro's sword struggled out of his grasp, and jerked to the right as Kojiro struggled to maintain control.
"So, you can control my weapon?" Kojiro said, looking at his quivering sword.
The crowd below was alight with mutters. Pyrrha knew her semblance was out now, but she didn't care.
"Yes. That is my semblance."
"I usually dislike fighting casters. I dislike their powers and their trickery." Kojiro said, a rather… intense glint returning to his eyes. "But I might make an exception for you."
"I usually don't show my semblance in fights, either." Pyrrha said.
Like it was synchronized, they stepped towards each other. A spear was thrust. A blow was overturned as Kojiro spun, his sword vibrating violently in his grasp. Pyrrha's shield broke free of her arm and sailed up to try and hit Kojiro in the chin while Pyrrha threw her arm left, wrapping the sword in her semblance and trying to wrench it out of Kojiro's grasp.
Kojiro, however, used the force to dodge the attack and used the length of his sword to his advantage, incorporating the force of the semblance into a spin that Pyrrha was forced to block.
"I normally would be using my semblance to disable yours." Kojiro said, "But it has been a while since I've encountered a somewhat challenging foe. I could even use some of my mediocre techniques on you, without you capitulating."
"I was using my semblance at full strength, yet you still have your weapon." Pyrrha said dramatically, her shield rotating around her like an electron orbiting an atom nucleus.
"Very well, then." Kojiro said, smiling. "Then, can you handle this? It isn't my semblance, by the way."
Kojiro settled into a strange stance, pointing his sword straight at her.
"Minimal force release… Tsubame gaeshi."
As three swords spiraled towards her, for the first time in several years, Pyrrha Nikos felt a sense of uncertainty, and a strange excited nervousness tingled in her spine.
Was this the exhilaration… of a real fight?
AN
I'm leaving the fight there for now because I'm going to spend more words on this thing. Don't worry.
As for the Musashi situation, she won't be the focus, obviously, but maybe there will be a duel in this fic between Kojiro and her. Maybe. No spoilers.
(Again, quick shameless ad about the RWBY OC fic I'm writing… If you're bored, check it out! Discord link: discord . gg / 9t9MK3jHmV)
-SpiritOfErebus