The whole team were preparing for school today. Instead of wearing their usual school uniform, they had their combat outfits on. Because today was another of combat class session.
Ruby was doing regular weapon maintenance on her Crescent Rose. Weiss was polishing her Myrtenaster. Blake tested her Gambol Shroud by switching from gun form into blade. Yang threw some punches into the air to test her Ember Celica and made some adjustments; if needed. Lastly, Asarirn simply spun the blade, with the black writing, before placing into his sheath.
Once Ruby finished with her weapon, she decided to check on everyone's progress. She was pleased on what she saw until someone caught her attention. It was Asarirn.
Ruby watched as Asarirn inspected each of the individual knives he had before placing them under his coat. That made Ruby curious about Asarirn selection of tools.
"Hey, Arranis, I have been wanting to ask you about something," Ruby told Asarirn.
"What is it?" Asarirn asked as he continued to inspect the knives.
"Why do you use knives?" Ruby curiously asked, "I'm not doubting you skills or anything like that."
Asarirn finished inspecting and placed the last of his knives under his coat.
"If you haven't noticed already, I'm a close range sword fighter. Typically, I would use these knives, if my opponent are out of range," Asarirn explained.
"Would it be more efficient to use a gun instead?" Blake asked.
Asarirn took a moment to think about it. "I suppose," Asarirn responded.
By Asarirn's responds gave Ruby the best idea she had ever come up with. Ruby quickly ran in front of Asarirn with a smile that caused to be slightly concern.
"That is why you should make your custom weapon," Ruby proposed the idea.
Everyone else stopped what they were doing to look at Ruby with her idea. They were surprised for Ruby to suggest something like to Asarirn.
"What?" Asarirn sounded confuse.
Ruby stood next to Asarirn and wrapped her arm around Asarirn. "Think about it," Ruby moved her hand across in front of them, trying to portray a picture, "you get to have a weapon that is both close and long range."
Asarirn gazed at the other girls for their reaction. Weiss covered her face in disappointment. Yang looked at Ruby with a look, hoping she won't go overboard. However, Blake remained the same.
"Ruby, please don't go overboard," Yang pleaded.
"I won't do anything like," Ruby told her. She turned back to Asarirn with the intentions on continuing where she left off. "Since you use a sword, you could use the same pistol design as Blake. If you don't prefer using a pistol, there is the shotgun option. Or, you could use an assault rifle. Well, I don't think you want to use the spray and pray method."
Asarirn stood there as he listened to Ruby going on and on about her ideas. Asarirn started to believe Ruby might going a bit overboard with this.
"How about a rocket launcher?"
"Rocket launcher?!" Asarirn quickly questioned. "Maybe, she going overboard."
"Oh I know!" Ruby sounded extremely excited, "you could have a weapon that is both a sword and a sniper rifle. Then we can be sniping buddies."
Asarirn sighed as he had enough of this.
"No," Asarirn quickly declined. "I am find as it is." Everyone watched as Asarirn headed for the door. "If you excuses me, I would like to get some breakfast," Asarirn said as he left the room.
"Well, at least think about it," Ruby said as she chased after Asarirn.
The three girls watched as Ruby and Asarirn left the room. They all have concern for their team leader.
"Do you think your sister is going to stop?" Blake asked.
"As long he can say no to her about hundred times," Yang claimed.
"She always do this when it comes to weapons," Weiss stated.
The three decided to join their team leader and the hooded student for breakfast.
-*RWBY*-
In the cafeteria, the whole team had gathered their breakfast. They noticed Team JNPR had occupied a table and decided to join them.
"I don't see why you're fine with just a sword," Ruby continued on with discussion from before as she took her seat.
"No," Asarirn quickly declined again as he took his seat.
"What is Ruby on about?" Jaune asked curiously.
"She is trying to convince Arranis to forge a custom weapon," Yang quickly explained.
"Oh yeah!" Jaune now remembered. "I forgot Arranis had only a simple sword." He turned to Asarirn. "Hey Arranis, some people just don't appreciate the classics like us."
"I suppose," Asarirn responded.
"But don't you have a folding shield?" Pyrrha questioned.
"I was talking about our swords," Jaune explained. "While we are on the topic, by any chance you could let me take a look at your weapon. Pretty please?"
Asarirn took a moment to think about it. He believed there wasn't a chance they could be able to read the inscription on the blade. Without saying anything, Asarirn reached for his blade that was behind him. He pulled the blade from the sheath and passed the blade to Jaune.
Jaune took hold of the blade and examined the blade.
"Well, I don't want to brag," Jaune began to speak, "but I have to say that my sword is bigger. On the other hand, I do like the writings on it though. You should check this out, Pyrrha."
Jaune presented the blade to Pyrrha.
"Jaune, your sword was designed to use momentum to apply force to your attack," Pyrrha began to explain, "Arranis' blade design for a better control on his swings."
Pyrrha took hold of the blade and examined the blade herself. The moment Pyrrha peered on the inscription of the blade, her eyes widen in shook for a split second. She quickly changed her face expression before anyone noticed.
However, Asarirn managed to catch her reaction before Pyrrha could change it. Asarirn clenched his fist tightly in responds. "She knows!" Asarirn thought to himself. Now, the next thing Asarirn wanted to know, what Pyrrha was going to do next.
Jaune noticed Pyrrha was staring at the inscription in silence for a while. Even everyone noticed her behavior was different than normal.
"Pyrrha," Jaune tried to grab her attention, "Is there something wrong?"
Pyrrha snapped out of her trance. "Oh, nothing's wrong," Pyrrha returned to her usual behavior. "I just really admired the designs on the blade, that's all." Pyrrha presented the blade to Asarirn. Asarirn didn't say anything as he took hold of the blade once more.
"May I ask where did you get that blade?" Pyrrha causally asked, "Or did you forge it yourself?"
Everyone at the table froze as they knew Pyrrha was treading on Asarirn's personal life. They all dared to look at Asarirn for his reaction.
Asarirn didn't say anything or reacted to the question. Instead, Asarirn placed the blade back into the sheath. He picked up his cup, filled with orange juice, and held it up to his lips in attempt to drink it. But stopped as he was about to say something.
"It was a gift from someone," Asarirn responded as he took a sip from his cup.
Everyone were surprised to hear his answer and believed it was the end of it. On the other hand, Pyrrha wanted to push her luck with Asarirn.
"Gift from who?" Pyrrha questioned.
Asarirn nearly slammed the cup onto the table. "That is not your business," Asarirn said in a harsh tone.
Everyone felt the tension rising between Asarirn and Pyrrha. Everyone remained in seat in silent. Before the whole situation could get worse, everyone heard a loud slam. Everyone noticed there was a hand at the end of the table. They followed the hand to find it was Cardin Winchester, in his silver and gold armor and companied by his goons. Everyone immediately gave Cardin an unpleasant and angry looks.
"What do you want, Cardin?" Jaune questioned.
"I could of care less about you, peak squeak," Cardin replied, he turned to Asarirn. "I have unfinished business with you."
"I hope you don't make the same mistake twice," Asarirn said as he took a sip from his cup.
"I remember that. I also said I didn't have my weapon on me."
"And?"
Cardin pointed at his mace, he had over his shoulder, and then pointed at Asarirn's blade. "We both have our weapons," Cardin claimed, "We can settle this right now."
"I am not going to fight you," Asarirn stated.
Asarirn tried to take a drink from his cup, but Cardin swatted the cup out of his hand, spilling the juice onto the ground. Asarirn wouldn't even care, if Cardin knocked his food off the table. But if it was his orange juice, that is a whole different story. Cardin made a massive grin on his face as he thought he had accomplished something.
From where he sat, Asarirn immediately kicked out Cardin's leg, causing him to fall. Asarirn quickly grabbed Cardin's head and slammed it onto the table. Asarirn stood up from his seat and grabbed Cardin by the collar of his armor. Asarirn held up a fist as he was about to strike.
During that time, Yang noticed Dove, Russel and Sky was about to join in, but she decided to intercept them. Yang quickly got out of her seat and performed a leg sweep, causing both Dove and Sky to fall onto the ground. She stood up and quickly grabbed Russel by his shirt.
Both Yang and Asarirn were about to take their shot at their victims, but an unknown force prevented them to perform the deed.
"Everyone break it up now," everyone heard a voice from a distance.
Everyone watched as Glynda Goodwitch approached the table with her riding crop in her hand.
Yang let go of Russel's shirt. As for Asarirn, he simply pushed Cardin away. Cardin shoulder bumped Asarirn as he walked pass him. Everyone watched as Team CRDL walked away without saying anything.
Glynda turned to Asarirn. "Mr. Shadow, please reframe from using violence out of class."
"But they started it!" Ruby quickly defended Asarirn.
"If that's the case," Glynda continued, "I will let this slide once. Don't let this get out of hand. Understand?"
Asarirn simply bowed to Glynda as he understood what she was applying. Glynda gave quick glare before departing. Asarirn sighed before he took his seat.
"You're not having a great day, are you Arranis?" Jaune sounded concern.
"No," Asarirn replied. "I really wanted to drink my orange juice."
Everyone gave Asarirn a confuse look.
"That is your only concern?" Weiss questioned. Asarirn didn't say anything in responds.
Pyrrha took a moment to realize she had a cup of orange juice herself. She took the cup and placed it onto Asarirn's tray. Asarirn was confuse by her sudden action.
"What is this?" Asarirn questioned.
"I'm giving you my orange juice," Pyrrha explained.
"I don't drink other's drinks."
"This is, also, an apology for earlier. It felt I was interrogating you than asking."
Asarirn stared at the cup on his tray, and then sighed. "It's not your fault, you just didn't know." Asarirn took hold of the cup and happily drank from it. It was at the same time, everyone smiled by those two.
-*RWBY*-
Team RWBY and Team JNPR entered the arena style room. Asarirn was at the end of the group, following them to their seats. Before he could take his seat, Asarirn felt someone grabbed a hold of his shoulder and spun him around. It was Cardin again. Cardin took hold of Asarirn's coat and tried to bring him closer to him. Asarirn quickly pushed Cardin back to make some space.
The two team noticed what was going on behind them and tried to help Asarirn. Before they could intervene, everyone in the room could hear Glynda's voice echoed throughout the room. "Cardin and Arranis!" She sounded she was not in a good mood.
Asarirn and Cardin looked down onto the stage, where Glynda stood from.
"If you two insisted on fighting each, I have you be the first ones up for a match. There you could settle your differences."
"Fine by me," Cardin said. He walked by with a smile on his face.
The moment Ruby noticed Cardin's smile as he walked down to the stage, she realized what Cardin's plan was.
As Asarirn was about to walk pass the two team, Ruby quick grabbed a hold of Asarirn's sleeve. Asarirn looked at Ruby without saying anything.
"Listen Arranis, I think Cardin might going to…" Ruby tried to warn him.
"NOW!" Glynda interrupted Ruby before she could finish.
"I will be cautious," was the only thing Asarirn said to Ruby.
Ruby let go of Asarirn's sleeve. He proceed to walk to the stage.
Yang couldn't help but asked Ruby. "You don't think Cardin is going to do, what we are thinking?"
Ruby didn't say anything as she watched Asarirn head for the stage. That only raise concerns to the friends around her. This was also a perfect time to watch Asarirn style of fighting carefully. Ruby pulled out her scroll as she had the intentions to record the fight. But, she couldn't help but feel something bad was going to happen.
-*RWBY*-
Asarirn took the stage as he faced his opponent; Cardin Winchester. Cardin smiled at Asarirn in responds. Asarirn couldn't help but felt something was wrong.
"Ready your weapons," Glynda announced to the two fighters.
Cardin held up his mace and placed it over his shoulder. Asarirn pulled his blade from the sheath and held it to his side.
Asarirn took a moment to look at the inscription on the blade. In doing so, there was an image flashed into his mind. A woman with black hair smiled at Asarirn. Asarirn froze, the moment he saw the image. He felt there was extremely wrong.
Asarirn quickly looked over to Ruby as he remembered her warning. He looked back at Cardin, who still had the grin on his face. Asarirn had no choice but to end this as soon as he can.
"Begin," Glynda announced.
Asarirn and Cardin charged at each other. Cardin grabbed a hold of his mace like a baseball bat, as he came close to Asarirn, and swung it. Asarirn quickly swung his body low to dodge the incoming attack. Because of this, Cardin created an opening. Asarirn held up his right foot and struck it into Cardin's side. Cardin only staggered a bit by the kick.
Asarirn realized Cardin was a lot studier than he thought. Asarirn rushed at Cardin, so Cardin can't recover. Asarirn performed a series of attacks with the blade, forcing Cardin to be on the defensive.
"You think Arranis is being a bit aggressive?" Weiss asked as she watched the fight.
"Regardless, he is putting Cardin a lot of pressure," Pyrrha stated.
Cardin had a hard time keeping up with Asarirn's attack, due to Asarirn's speed. No matter how much Cardin tried to land a counterattack, Asarirn would either dodged the attack or parried. Cardin had enough of the struggles, he forced himself to spin around with the mace, creating momentum. Asarirn jumped back from incoming attack.
That was Cardin's chance to go on the offensive. Cardin rushed in and swung down his mace overhead at Asarirn. Asarirn quickly rolled to his side to dodge the attack. The mace smashed into the ground which caused a small explosion on impact. Cardin swept with the mace at Asarirn, but Asarirn simply vaulted over the mace. Cardin spun himself again, causing Asarirn to hold his blade to block. The mace managed to slap the blade away, creating an opening. This was Cardin chance. Cardin held back the mace and attempted to spear Asarirn with it.
Asarirn didn't have enough time to react. He had no choice but to use his magic. As the mace came close into contact with Asarirn, Asarirn disappeared into thin air. Cardin's expression told he wasn't expecting that. What Cardin didn't know, Asarirn reappeared behind him with his left hand formed into a fist. The fist glowed green for a split second before Asarirn swung his fist at Cardin. Asarirn managed to land the attack, but the impact caused Cardin fly into a wall and then fall onto the ground.
Cardin stood up from the ground as Asarirn watched from where he stood. Cardin believed this was the time to execute his plan. Cardin held his mace up and readied himself.
Cardin charged at Asarirn in attempt to end this. As he was close to Asarirn, Cardin swung his mace wildly and unpredictably at Asarirn. Asarirn had a hard time predicting the attack in order to parry them. The assault ended by Cardin trying to spear Asarirn with the mace once more. Asarirn quickly held up his blade to block.
The two weapons locked together, but Asarirn's blade was stuck in between the blades of the mace. By that result, Cardin smiled big.
"Time to say goodbye to that weapon of yours," Cardin claimed.
Asarirn realized that was his plan. Before he could react, a swift kick to the gut caused Asarirn to let go of the handle. Cardin swatted Asarirn away with the mace. Asarirn quickly rolled onto his feet and tried to get back at Cardin. But it was too late.
Asarirn watched as Cardin smashed the mace with his blade into the ground. There was a small explosion on impact. The explosion caused Asarirn's blade to shatter into pieces.
Everyone were horrified on what just happened, especially Asarirn. Asarirn couldn't believe this had happen. This blade was very special to Asarirn, but now it's destroy.
Asarirn began to slowly walk toward the shattered blade, ignoring the fight. Asarirn reached out for the handle as he was close to it. However, Cardin took this opportunity to kick him while he was down. Cardin charged at Asarirn and slammed his mace into Asarirn's chest, causing Asarirn to send flying. Asarirn crashed onto the ground, rolling a bit before stopping completely.
A voice echoed in his head. A voice he haven't heard from a long time. This was the only thing he said: "What is wrong Asarirn? This is your chance for revenge."
-*RWBY*-
Both teams watched as Asarirn stood back onto his feet and remained motionless. They all felt sorry for Asarirn for his loss of his weapon. But, they don't know what was going to happen next.
Blake's ear twitched a bit as she sense something dark was coming from Asarirn. But, she dared herself to watch as the events unfold.
-*RWBY*-
"It seems to me, I still have my weapon," Cardin claimed. "What about you Arranis?"
"Are you going to let this boy trample on your precious thing?" the voice continued.
It was that moment, Asarirn snapped. Asarirn clenched his fist in anger and his eye color changed to red. Asarirn noticed Cardin was still smiling, but he was going to change that real soon.
Without making any movement, Asarirn vanished into thin air and reappeared in front of Cardin. Cardin was caught off guard by the result. Before Cardin could move away from Asarirn, Asarirn grabbed Cardin by the throat with his left hand. Asarirn lifted Cardin up, by the throat, with unbounded strength.
Cardin struggled to break free of the hold. He felt the hand tightening around his neck. Cardin knew he made Asarirn mad, but he not going to lose against Asarirn. In a final attempt, Cardin raised his mace up in attempt to strike Asarirn down.
Asarirn realized what Cardin was planning to do. In responds, Asarirn swung Cardin, swinging Cardin's leg forward. Asarirn quickly slammed Cardin into the ground with great force. The ground cracked underneath Cardin's body on impact. Cardin accidently let his mace slip out of his hand.
Asarirn moved over Cardin, still keeping Cardin pinned by the neck.
"He took something important from you, Asarirn," The voice began talking again, "Might as well take something from him. I will say… His life?"
Cardin watched as Asarirn held up his right hand. Black smoke started to form around Asarirn's hand. Once Asarirn collected enough, the black smoke completely covered Asarirn's hand. The black smoke shaped into a pure black claw. Asarirn pointed the claw straight at Cardin.
It was at this point, Cardin knew he had fucked up, and now paying the ultimate price. His life. The only thing he could now was to close his eyes and wait.
-*RWBY*-
Everyone watched as the events between Asarirn and Cardin unfold. As Asarirn had Cardin pinned against the ground, they all watched as black smoke appeared Asarirn's back, forming a pair of black wings made from pure shadow. The wings spread out as it was completed.
As Asarirn held up the black claw at Cardin, Glynda realized Asarirn was going for the kill. Glynda quickly spring into action.
"Arranis stop," Glynda ordered, "That is enough!"
Asarirn didn't listen.
Glynda had no choice but to force him off. Glynda pulled out her riding crop and readied herself. She gave a quick flick of riding and tried to throw him off. However, the black pair of wings had a mind of its own. As the spell was about to land, the wings gave one single flap, feeling like it had deflected the spell. In the end, the spell failed.
"Impossible," Glynda could say by the result.
Ruby decided to help. Ruby handed her scroll, which was still recording the whole event, to her sister. Yang gave a concern look as she watched Ruby started to head down to the stage.
"What are you doing?" Weiss sounded confuse.
"I'm planning to help," Ruby quickly explained as she headed to the stage.
Ruby joined Glynda Goodwitch on the stage. Ruby pulled out her Crescent Rose and extended it out to its scythe form. Glynda noticed Ruby's intentions.
"It's too dangerous!" Glynda tried to stop her.
Glynda gave another flick of her riding crop and fired multiple purple beams. The beams shot out from all direction, but homed in at Asarirn. As the beams came close, Asarirn's wings spread wide once more. It gave another single flap and a powerful windstorm brewed up. The winds were strong enough to almost knock off her feet. The multiple beams dissipated into the air.
Everyone watched Asarirn held up the black claw, still pointing at Cardin. The way it looks, Asarirn was about to end this. In one swift motion, Asarirn struck at Cardin with the black claw. Everyone froze in place as they heard the impact.
-*RWBY*-
Cardin slowly opened his eyes, after the impact. He found himself not dead, so he decided to check what happened. Cardin followed the arm leading to the claw. The claw impaled into the ground, not only a couple of inches from Cardin's face.
Asarirn struggled to regain his composure, but the voice in his head roared in anger.
"What are you doing?!" the voice questioned angrily.
"This is not who am I," Asarirn responded.
Cardin looked at Asarirn with a confuse look. Before he could question it, Asarirn tossed Cardin aside with enough strength to cause Cardin to roll a bit.
Asarirn pulled the claw from the ground as he tried to contain this power. The wings on his back flapped uncontrollably as Asarirn struggled to regain control. Asarirn grasped his head with his left hand as the voice echoed in his head.
"KILL HIM! Become what you meant to be. Let the power flow through you."
"YOU'RE NOT THE ONE WHO'S IN CONTROL, I AM!" Asarirn roared.
Asarirn held out the clawed arm. Both the black claw and the wings vanished into black smoke. Asarirn collapsed onto his hands and knees. He breathed heavily as he made a lot of effort in containing the power. Asarirn felt a searing pain on the entirely of his right arm and his back. The only thing Asarirn could do was remained where he was.
Everyone watched everything that had happened. The students wanted to know what just happened. Glynda wanted answers. As for Ruby, she was only concerned for Asarirn's health.
Ruby collapsed her Crescent Rose as she watched Asarirn. It was long before the rest of the girls joined their leader. They have their hands inches from their weapons as they don't know what to expect next. Ruby, on the other hand, simply put her weapon away.
Ruby started to walk slowly towards Asarirn with saying anything. Blake, Weiss, Yang, and Glynda quickly gave worries and concerns looks by Ruby's action, but can't say anything. They believed if they raised their voices, something might happen.
Asarirn struggled a bit as he stood up to his feet. He wasn't aware what was happening around him. It wasn't until Ruby was close enough, Asarirn finally was aware someone was near him. Asarirn hastily turned his head to Ruby, causing Ruby stop dead in her tracks. Then, he looked around, in rapid sessions, to check what's going on around him. Asarirn froze as he now realized everyone had watched everything that had happened.
This was the one thing Asarirn was afraid of, for people to see him losing control. He noticed some of the student were afraid, some are surprised, and the rest simply watched. Asarirn started to panic, he started to breath heavily. He noticed the exit. That was his only option.
Asarirn started to head for the door without looking or saying to anyone. Ruby ran and intercepted Asarirn. Asarirn stopped for a moment but proceed to move on.
"Are you hurt?" Ruby quickly asked.
"I'm fine," Asarirn said as he moved on.
"But…" Ruby grabbed onto Asarirn's wrist to prevent from going anywhere. But, Asarirn groaned in pain. "You're hurt," Ruby realized, "You need treatment."
"I said I was fine," Asarirn responded in a harsh tone. Asarirn pulled his arm free from Ruby's grip and proceed to head for the exit.
The rest of the team quickly joined the two and tried to help.
"You need to stop," Yang sounded worried, "If you're hurt, seek help."
"I'm fine," Asarirn said it again. Asarirn doesn't like the situation he was in.
Asarirn managed to pass the four girls, but someone struck behind Asarirn's head. Asarirn stumbled a bit before looking back. Asarirn found Blake had her hand up like she was about to karate chop someone. He knew it was her. Asarirn collapsed onto the ground as he fell unconscious.
Ruby looked at Blake with a surprised look. She threw her hands up in the air as she wanted to know why. "Why did you it?!" Ruby questioned.
"I did stop him," Blake simply explained. Ruby sighed in responds.
Glynda stormed towards Team RWBY. As she approached the team, the girls moved out of her way, making a path to Asarirn. Glynda crouched low to get a closer look of Asarirn.
"What is wrong with him?" Glynda questioned.
"There is something wrong with his arm," Ruby explained.
Glynda held up her tablet over Asarirn. A red line moved over Asarirn's body, scanning for any damages. Once the result came in, she gave a quick glance on it. She widen her eyes in surprise by the result.
"Have him sit up against a wall," Glynda ordered.
Yang walked over to Asarirn. She picked him up and threw him over her shoulders. Yang then carried Asarirn over to the nearest wall. She placed him down and had him sat against the wall. In the end, Asarirn sat against the wall with his head down.
Glynda approached Asarirn once more and crouched low. She immediately grabbed a hold of Asarirn's right arm. Glynda paused a moment, she remembered the result from her tablet from Asarirn's diagnostic and was hesitated. Glynda pulled the glove off of Asarirn, revealing his hand.
All of the girls that was there, were horrified by the hand, after it was revealed. Glynda looked away from the hand. Weiss covered her mouth in disgust, she was like she was about to puke. The rest simply stared at the hand with disturbed faces. By the looks of it, Asarirn's hand appeared to be extremely burned. Over half of the skin was gone, showing red muscle and blood.
Glynda wanted to know how much damage does Asarirn had. Glynda, still holding onto Asarirn's arm, rolled up the sleeves of his coat to show his arm. The result was the same as the hand. Again, everyone were disgusted by the sight of it.
"How could he have an injuring like this?" Yang dared to ask.
"I believed it have to do with that black claw he had," Glynda claimed. "I need to know how much damage this was done to his body."
The girls of Team RWBY watched intensely as Glynda reached for Asarirn's coat. To them, this was the chance to see his face, but at the same time, they don't want to see a burned face. As Glynda's hand was close, a hand caught her by the wrist, stopping her.
It was Asarirn.
Asarirn shook his head as he tried to regain conscious. He still have a hold of Glynda by her wrist. After a short bit, Asarirn released his grip on Glynda.
Glynda pulled her hand away and simply watched Asarirn.
Asarirn looked up from where he stood. He noticed the girls of Team RWBY and Glynda were looking down at his arm and then straight at him. Asarirn looked down at his messed up arm. He slowly moved the arm up to give a better inspection. Asarirn decided to clench his hand into a fist. Immediately there was a sharp pain in his hand that caused to groan in pain. After he was done, he slowly placed his arm down.
"You need medical attention," Glynda told Asarirn.
Asarirn didn't say anything. But instead, he moved his left hand up to his mouth. Asarirn bit the tip of his glove in order to pull it off. Once he had the tip in between his teeth, he tried to pull the glove off, but the glove slipped from his teeth.
Asarirn tried again, but Weiss got impatient. Weiss grabbed Asarirn's arm and helped him pull his glove off. To their surprise, Asarirn's left hand was perfectly fine. They could only assumed there only damages to Asarirn's right arm.
Asarirn moved his left hand onto his right arm. Asarirn groaned in pain as he made contact of his arm. Asarirn took in a deep breath as he was about to chant a spell.
"My understanding of light and Darkness.
Darkness can't live without light, and light can't live without darkness.
For what darkness had done, light can undo it.
Light Magic: Healing Pulse."
Everyone watched as Asarirn's hand glowed brightly. A pulse of light spread across Asarirn's arm. To their surprise, the pulsing light healed the wounds, re-growing the skin and healing other damages. In the end, the arm was perfectly fine.
Asarirn rolled down his sleeve, covering his arm once again. Asarirn held out his hand to Weiss. Weiss was confuse for a moment, and then realized she had his gloves. Weiss quickly handed Asarirn his gloves without saying, and continued to watch him.
Asarirn put on his gloves and stood up from the ground. He turned towards the exit and began to walk towards it. Everyone was about to say something to stop him, but a voice said something first. A voice, Asarirn recognized very well.
"Asarirn," Asarirn stopped immediately as soon as he heard his true name.
"Asarirn? Who's Asarirn?" Ruby voice trailed off as she saw over what was over there.
One by one, the girls looked over where the voice's location and gave a surprised look. Finally, Asarirn dared to turn toward the voice's direction. Asarirn was surprised under his hood to find who it was.
There was a projection of a long black haired woman, standing near where the shattered blade was.
"Who's that woman?" Glynda questioned.
"Athena…" Asarirn said as he walked pass the girls toward the projected woman.
Asarirn approached the woman without saying anything.
"It's good to see you again, Asarirn," Athena spoke to Asarirn.
"It's been awhile, has it?" Asarirn responded.
"The way you dressed tell me you're not planning on staying," Athena continued.
Asarirn looked down at his black coat for a moment. After a bit, Asarirn realized this was only a memory. But the one thing Asarirn wanted to know, why this memory? Asarirn decided to go along with it.
"Yes," Asarirn confirmed, "I'm not saying for long. I'm here to say my goodbyes."
Athena immediately looked depressed by Asarirn's reasoning. "I don't understand why…"
"There is nothing for you to understand."
Athena clenched her hand in angered. "WHY?!" Athena snapped at Asarirn. Asarirn flinched by her responds. "Everyone thinks you're dead, Asarirn! This is your chance to start a new life; the life you always wanted."
Asarirn looked away as he didn't want to hear those words.
"You can stay with me…" Athena offered, "You don't have to fight anymore."
Asarirn shook his head in responds. "I can't…" Asarirn responded, which made Athena to look sad. "I can't, after all that had happened, I can't ignore this."
"There is nothing to change your mind, huh?"
"I'm sorry…" Asarirn tried to convince, but Athena held up her hand to stop him.
"You always been stubborn when it comes to these kind of things, Asarirn," Athena claimed. "That is why I'm going to give you this."
Athena slowly walked towards Asarirn as she reached for something behind her back. She pulled out a projection of a sheath blade, it looked like the same exact blade that was shattered just moments ago. Athena presented the projected blade to Asarirn.
"My master handed this sword when I was a student," Athena explained. "And now, I will pass it onto you."
Athena handed the weapon to Asarirn. Asarirn held the blade with both of his hands. After a moment, Asarirn pulled the blade a bit from the sheath, revealing the inscription on it. Asarirn turned to the shattered blade that was on the ground before looking back at Athena.
"The inscription on the blade will guide you to the proper path," Athena continued, "And, also, as long you have this blade with you, I will always be with you."
Asarirn placed the blade across his body and then bowed to Athena. "I will treasure this blade like it's my own life."
Asarirn stood back up. He made a hand motion of pulling up his hood, yet the hood was already over his head. Then, Asarirn took a step to his side. In his place was a projection of his past self, holding the blade. This Asarirn wore only a black robe with a hood.
Asarirn walked over to the shattered blade on the ground, finally ignoring the memory. He crouched down to pick up a piece of the blade with a piece of the inscription. The only thing that was said on the piece was, I fight…
"This is goodbye, Athena," The past Asarirn continued.
"You know I hate goodbyes…" She stated sadly.
"Then, I shall take my leave." The past Asarirn turned around and walked away without saying another word.
The projection of that memory ended from there. Both of the projection disappeared, dissipating into the air.
Everyone, who watched Asarirn's memory, were utterly speechless. They thought Asarirn was a mysterious person before, but now, this puts it over the top. Everyone wanted to comment or at least say something about this, but no one dared say anything; not even Glynda.
Ruby decided to take action. She slowly walked towards Asarirn, who was still crouching on the ground. It was until now, Ruby realized, to Asarirn, that blade was something special to him. The only thing she do now, was to comfort him.
"This is really goodbye," Ruby heard a faint whisper from Asarirn.
As Ruby came close to Asarirn, she stopped as soon as Asarirn dropped the piece of the blade. Ruby watched as Asarirn stood back up onto his feet. Asarirn simply walked pass Ruby without even acknowledging her. Ruby quickly turned around as she was about to say something, but in the end, Ruby was left without words. As she thought she understand Asarirn, now to her he was a complete stranger to her.
Asarirn walked pass Glynda without stopping. "I will be taking my leave," Asarirn said to Glynda as he headed towards the exit. Glynda tried to say something to Asarirn, but it was better to leave him be.
Asarirn left the room, leaving everyone in silence. Team RWBY felt bad for Asarirn.
Yang noticed Cardin tried to walk sneakily away without attracting any attentions. Yang immediately intercepted him and grabbed a hold of his armor. She lifted Cardin up into the air effortlessly.
"That blade was special to Asarirn," Yang shook Cardin, while he was still in the air, "yet you had to destroy it."
"I didn't know it was special," Cardin quickly pleaded, "I thought it was a simple stupid sword."
Glynda quickly approached the two in order to handle this situation. "Ms. Xiao-Long, put him down."
"Yang, stop it," Ruby ordered.
"But…"
"Doing anything now, won't change anything," Ruby sadly explained.
Yang done as she was told by rereleasing her grip. Cardin fell onto the ground. Cardin simply stood back onto his feet.
"I have determined Arranis Shadow as the winner of this match," Glynda announced to the class.
Cardin quickly turned to Glynda like he was in shock. "He won?!" Cardin sounded surprise, "Are you kidding me?"
"Considering you're still alive, is a miracle to all of us," Glynda explained. "Maybe you will understand now that every bad decision will always a repercussion."
"Whatever," Cardin said as he picked up his mace and left the stage.
Ruby approached the instructor as she was about to ask something. "I have a request," Ruby told Glynda.
"What is it?"
"By any chance, you could fix Arranis' blade with your magic?"
Glynda took a moment to think about it. Since this blade was special to Arranis, might as well fix the blade. "Very well."
Ruby smiled as there was some hope. Glynda walked over to the shattered blade on the ground. She pulled out her riding crop and held it at the pieces of the blade. Glynda gave a quick twirl of her riding crop. The pieces of the blade began to swirl around the handle. After a bit, the blade was put back together as it was before.
The whole team were relieved to see the recreation of the blade. But, not even five seconds it took for the blade to immediately shatter into pieces.
Glynda was shock by the result of her works. "Impossible…" was the only thing she could say.
"What happened?" Ruby dared to ask.
"There is an unknown force preventing me from fixing this blade," Glynda explained.
Before anyone could say anything, the projection of Asarirn and Athena appeared again. By the looks of it, the projection continued off from before. Asarirn was walking away from Athena.
"Wait!" Athena called out to Asarirn. Asarirn stopped dead in his track without even looking back. "Am I ever going to see you again?"
Asarirn turned his head ever so slightly to give an answer. "Do you want the honest answer or the answer you want to hear?"
"Honestly," Athena said straightforwardly.
"No." Asarirn's answer was firmed.
Athena looked down in sadness as Asarirn began to walk away. The projection of that memory ended from there. Both of the projection disappeared, dissipating into the air.
Again, the memory left everyone in confusion. Glynda sighed as this was getting anyone nowhere, and it was best to move on with the class. Glynda walked up to Ruby.
"I need you to pick up the broken pieces of Arranis' weapon," Glynda told Ruby, "I need to move on with the class."
"But, what about…"
"It's best to leave him be," Glynda quickly answered before Ruby could ask, "the more we question, the more we won't understand."
Ruby nodded to her like she understand. She walked over and began picking up the pieces of the blade. Soon enough, the rest of her team joined Ruby to pick up the mess, Asarirn had left.
-*RWBY*-
Later that day, Blaze sat in a chair in front of a bared wall, staring at the bared wall. You could say he had staring at the wall during most of the day. Blaze remained unchanged no matter what happen. Roman and Neo sat over at the lounge minding their own business. It wasn't until now, Roman finally found Blaze's behavior worrying.
Roman decided to ask Blaze. Roman stood up and walked over towards Blaze. He stopped next to Blaze. Blaze didn't acknowledge Roman's presence as he continued to stare at the wall.
"Heeeeey," Roman greeted. "I noticed you been sitting in that chair for a while now. Is something wrong?"
"Something's wrong," Blaze finally spoke.
"I know that is why I asked," Roman stated. Roman tap his forehead repeatedly, trying to figure out his next choice of words.
"It's Asarirn," Blaze clarified, "I sensed he's a lot stronger now."
"That brat? How?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe it have to do with what happened earlier," Everyone heard Mercury's voice from the distance. Everyone turned towards that direction. Mercury entered the room, accompanied by Emerald. Strangely enough for them, they had their school uniform on.
"What do you mean?" Blaze questioned as he stood up from his seat.
"Asarirn nearly killed another student after he lost control of himself," Emerald claimed.
"Explain," Blaze demanded.
"During our combat class today, Asarirn was match up against Cardin Winchester," Mercury began to tell the story, "The match went well for a while until Cardin decided to destroy Asarirn's blade."
"Whoa, whoa," Blaze quickly stopped him. "What blade?"
"The blade he had with him," Emerald stated.
Blaze gave an irritated look on his face as they are being smart with him. "What does the blade look like?" He corrected himself.
"I don't know. Some regular blade with some strange writing on it."
Blaze widen his eyes in shock as he heard the description. He didn't say anything, but instead he sat back on his chair and stank back on it. "Out of all the blade that Cardin guy decided to destroy, he destroy that one." Blaze looked back at Mercury and Emerald. "That is when he lost control, right?"
Emerald and Mercury nodded their heads.
"Okay," Blaze continued. "When Asarirn was about to kill Cardin, please tell me Asarirn didn't have any black wings."
"He did though."
Blaze sighed. "So the seal has been weaken greatly." Blaze was silent for a moment, while everyone continued to stare at Blaze. After a bit, Blaze spoke. "I have no choice but to halt my plans for a while."
"Are you serious?! Mercury sounded surprise. "Can't be postponing your plans like this!"
"What choice do I have?!" Blaze raised his voice as he shot up from his seat. "Asarirn is unstable. If I go along with my plan, I will surely die. If you two decided to attack Asarirn, you will die horribly because there is no way in hell I will save you this time."
Blaze ended the argument from there, causing everyone to be quiet. After a bit, Roman decided to say something.
"So…What now then?"
Blaze sighed again. "Knowing Asarirn, he would either suppress his power, which is extremely risking for him, or he would repair the seal, which takes a day. My best option would have to be wait for him to repair the seal. I believed he won't take that long to go with that plan."
"What does he have to do to repair the seal?"
"Asarirn have to sit in a magic circle and wait for the magic circle to slowly repair the seal. Like I said before it takes a day."
"Would it be better to kill him during the process?" Mercury asked.
"That would be everybody's first thought," Blaze stated. "The problem is during the process, Asarirn can cancel the spell at any time, if he feel he is in danger. If you failed to ambush him on the first try, you will die." Blaze looked at Mercury. "You should know that better than everybody."
Mercury bared his teeth in anger, knowing he was right.
"It's better to leave Asarirn be," Blaze continued, "There are too much at risk."
Roman shrugged as this conversation ended, "Whatever you say."
-*RWBY*-
Later that night, Asarirn jumped from rooftop to rooftop in Vale. After all that had happened earlier today, Asarirn wanted to be alone. Asarirn knew if he would stay in their room, the girls would ask questions, he doesn't want to answer.
Asarirn landed on the rooftop and jumped for the next rooftop. At the same moment, Asarirn felt a sharp pain in his right arm. He immediately grabbed a hold of his arm. In doing so, Asarirn couldn't focus on the landing portion for the next rooftop.
Asarirn crashed on the rooftop upon landing. Asarirn rolled a bit until making a complete stop. He felt a bit of pain after the impact, but the pain in his arm was worst. Asarirn stood on his knees as he took a look at his hand. His hand began to shake as his hand began to be engulf in black smoke.
"Damn... it... not now..." Asarirn struggled.
Asarirn held out the smoky hand and closed his eyes. Asarirn focused his mind. After a bit of focusing, Asarirn's body was covered in white light. Moments later, the white light purged the black shadow from his hand.
Asarirn gasped for air, like he was holding his breath. He quickly opened his eyes and took a look at his hand. The hand looked fine and wasn't shaking any more.
Once Asarirn believed he was okay, he decided to move forward. Asarirn stood up from the ground. The moment Asarirn took a single step, he felt a powerful heartbeat, like it was about burst out of his chest. Asarirn clenched his chest as he fell onto his knees once more. He quickly opened his coat and pulled down his shirt to look at his chest. There were blue glowing marking appeared across his chest.
"I used too much mana..."
Asarirn tried to stand up, but instead he collapsed onto the ground. He felt his body was extremely weak due to the lack of mana. There he laid on a rooftop in middle of the night. Asarirn's eyes slowly closed as he slipped into unconsciousness.
A/N: Sorry for the late update. There has been a lot going on lately that kind of postpone this chapter. A lot of family issues and such. I won't go into details. I could say the problem solved itself... for now. Enough of that, on with this chapter. I can say this was rather long to write considering this is a major point to the story. This was pretty serious chapter, but you know, the story have to move on. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.
