You all have died.
No one remains by my side.
In here, you fought with me till the end... and perished.
I feel lonely as a dragon soaring in the air, my heart heavy with regret.
...
I only see darkness, I can't see a step ahead.
Where must I go? Where does the courage to put one's foot forward come from?
What did you believe in so firmly until your last moments?
Was it the hope that we will emerge victoriously... a strong leader... or the goal of earning the books...?
I sadly won't be able to hear your answers now.
However, as the breath of life momentarily rests inside us before it scatters to return to its source...
I will meet you again one day, and I may ask you my question then.
...
You again.
You're one persistent conversationalist, are you not?
…
I won't collapse or succumb to fear out of the despair I brought onto myself.
There's nothing that a human... that I cannot overcome.
I believe that I will reach the ideal outcome if I remain steadfast and proceed with perseverance...
I sincerely, ingenuously believe this.
...
No. There's no need to be disheartened in the face of such a thing.
Without despair, hope won't be needed either.
Fear is born for there is hope, but bravery is born because there is fear... Without all of these, there is no life.
And what is life without a reason to live...
So why would I not bask in this sensation of vitality?
I will still fight for my own sake.
Not to disregard the colleagues who gave their lives for me.
...
No. Rather, I would be disregarding their sacrifice if I gave up here because of what happened to them.
...
I don't see myself ever agreeing with your words.
A lone tree cannot form a forest on its own you say...
An interesting tale.
Yang woke up, her hand clasping her chest, trying to stop it from jumping out. She opened her eyes, they were still heavy thanks to her tiredness, the day before was spent searching for her teammate, Blake… Only to find her tired after a fight with the White Fang. Her heart was pounding fast… 'Did I just have a nightmare?' she thought 'I can't remember anything about it though…' She tried to catch her breath, as a sharp pain ran through her head, almost as if she was hungover. "Great, now I have a headache..."
She got up from her bed, just to almost fall face-first into the wooden floor, managing to hold onto the bed and safely landing. 'Right... Bunk beds... I forgot we made those.'
She opened the door to the bathroom, trying to make as little noise as possible, as to not wake up any of her teammates. Once inside the bathroom, she quietly closed the door and turned the lights on. 'I remember... Fire…' She thought, looking into the mirror. 'I wonder what was that dream about…' She washed her face "Not like it matters much... Just a dream after all. Plus, I gotta get rest for tomorrow! We got a test coming up!" She left the bathroom and went back to her bed to sleep.
"Students, your tests have been canceled until further notice." The eccentric green-haired teacher announced, his left hand raised towards the ceiling of the classroom while holding a chunk of papers neatly organized.
There was a collective sigh of relief and indignation from the students. Some looked up and began a prayer of sorts, as if in thanks for the canceling of the test. Others sent death glares to the Doctor, in rage for a few sleepless nights wasted on studying for the History Test. "As to why... Well, I'm sure some of you have realized it by now, but a strange structure made from charred brickwork has simply appeared out of thin air behind Beacon Academy."
The youngest student, Ruby, turned to her friends with a questioning look "What he's talking about guys?"
Jaune was quick to answer "Apparently, exactly as he said, some kind of wall appeared behind Beacon... Nora said that she heard some strange noises outside our dorms so we went to investigate. Once we got outside the building we noticed a big wall behind Beacon and went to tell a professor... However, Nora did want to investigate by herself... So Ren said that if she did, there would be no more pancakes for the rest of the month." his teammate pouted "WHAT IF THERE'S SOMETHING COOL THERE?!" before Nora could express herself, Ren was quick to karate chop her head to allow them to hear the professor's speech.
"So Ozpin's going to choose one team to go with him, and other staff to investigate whatever happened behind Beacon." Oobleck took a sip of coffee from his trusty atlesean canteen. "With that being said, you are all free to do whatever you desire for today, so long as you all don't poke your noses into our investigation, for all classes too, have been canceled. Have a good day students, and remember to study for the upcoming tests if you haven't already!" He once again took a sip of coffee, only to speed out of the classroom.
Yang breathed a sigh of relief "Well that was a thing. Just hope nothing too dangerous is found there." She said getting up from her seat as her team leader asked, "You don't wanna go and see what happened there?" asked Ruby, "Of course I do! I just don't think we're being selected by Ozpin to go there." declared Yang with a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice. "We are a first-year team after all."
Leaving the classroom and towards the halls, the students could have a clearer view of the mysterious construction. A towering wall, a bit smaller compared to Beacon tower, blocking the sun. Not much could be said about the thing, other than the brickwork being painted black due to some fenomena, it was just a wall seeing from afar. A few droids sent by the Atlesean General surveyed the area.
"Am I the only one wondering why Ozpin is doing this?" The heiress frowned, her teammates stared at her "It's not safe to involve a team of students to go there! He could just send a Bullhead and observe from above! And why has nothing been done about it until now?"
Ruby tried to answer "Well... Umm..." She could not find a way to respond to Weiss after that, but she did have a point... huh. "It would be way safer to just send a team of trained huntsmen there too..."
Blake was not concerned about it in the slightest. "Guess we'll have to wait and see. I'll be in the library." She said, leaving, not wanting to get involved in the issue. "And will go there too. Gotta get ready for the test now that I have time." Yang decided to follow, only for their decision to be out-ruled. The Headmaster's voice was heard all around the school grounds.
"Team RWBY, Please take your weapons and meet with professor Goodwitch near the Cliffs to Emerald forest entrance, immediately."
Welp, that settles it. "Guess we're going there anyways!" Yang exclaimed, already getting excited. "Let's go team! We have a… uh… Place to secure!...?" the leader said, unsure of their purpose.
Even if I am alone, the night will come.
And every night is followed by dawn...
A mere star that will fade cannot hope to best the light of the rising sun.
Be prepared; for today, a Star of the City shall be gone.
She was alone. All of her soldiers- her friends have perished at the hands of the librarians. But the library changed her somehow, it gave her a fitting body, one that can achieve victory, after all, there was nothing that she could not overcome. The Library's Floor of General Works, a floor without sky, a place with endless mountains of books of all sorts, even the ground she was standing on, made out of books. Below, a hole with seemingly no bottom, almost as if it was illusory, such was the battlefield of the library. So the illusion was bent to her will. A place to represent her current state of mind was created.
The scenery of endless books was replaced by the morning sun. The endless void below, replaced by the graves of her fellow associates. Their passion still burning. The battlefield, once made from battered books, now was a large wall, made to protect some sort of fortress, made from charred brickwork. The rising sun, shining through the battlefield.
On top of the great wall were five individuals. On one side, four 'librarians', all clad in different kinds of attire. The first one, wearing some sort of religious attire with gears rapidly gyrating on its back . The other one had a bamboo hat with a eastern vibe to him, the other, had his whole head covered in bandages while wearing a black red suit, a big '4' stripped to his arm, both had a katana in hand. The last one, wearing a black suit, had a cane in his hand. On the other side of the wall was a horned woman clad in Red and Golden armor, her four wings extended proudly to show their full size. Flames dancing around her.
"That… can't be good." Said the one with gears on his back.
"Wait. We've seen this before, with that Philip guy…?" The Bamboo Hatted one said.
"Yup, and he ran away. Thrice." Said the one with his face covered in bandages, expressing his discontent.
"Can we not do this right now?" The one with the Cane said, taking a step back.
"Be prepared; for today, a Star of the City shall be gone." The woman said, readying her Guandao, as a ear shattering roar escaped her lips, setting the whole battlefield on fire. Nine Children of the Dragon. Pu Lao.
The combat had once again started, the four librarians were already damaged by the previous 'Act' of the fight, the woman had found new strength within her, her wounds closing as her muscles flexed with power. Shimmering.
The librarian with the cane was the first to act, its eyes shone a bright yellow as a concentrated beam of light was shot, aiming for the woman as she tried to parry it with her eastern glaive. Reverse Scale. She couldn't parry it in time, the beam made impact with her armor but fortunately, stopped there. She tried to land a counter on the one with the cane, but she was knocked back by the beam of light.
Then, the bamboo hatted one clashed his blade against her, his blade being set ablaze by hers. "I Yield my flesh…" the bamboo hatted one muttered under his breath, as he got overpowered by his armored opponent. The woman pushed him back and tried to pierce him through his chest. The blow landed square on his chest, he wasn't punctured though, the suit he wore protected him, he was, instead, sent rolling backwards, his chest being set on fire. Force of a Wildfire.
Seeing the opportunity, the one covered in bandages rushed forward, his muscles clearly being strained in order to move at such speed. The woman pointed her Guandao towards him. He drew his red katana and sliced vertically at the woman, his attack was halted by an invisible barrier, barely visible, soft like hide but resistant like stone. The red blade cut through the barrier but lost most of its strength as it slightly cut the woman's left cheek.
The armored woman backhanded the next strike the man tried to send at her, his sword, though still in his hands, was thrown backwards, as his arms were wide open from the parry. She didn't wait another second, she reeled back her weapon, flames danced around the edge of the blade and she stabbed the man through the chest. Jìn Ní.
He tried to protect himself from the blow, but the backhanded parry left him too staggered to react in time. His chest was neatly impaled by the woman's Guandao, flames erupted from his back as his body tried to uselessly resist the woman's blow. Blood flew from the man's mouth, he could not speak a word.
The one with the gears tried to help, but he was badly damaged from the previous fight. With a single strike from her Guandao, with the man still impaled on it, she sliced the librarian in half, fire spewing from her weapon. Chì Wên. The bandaged man was thrown away from her weapon, rolling through the ground. "As high as a mountain may be, it ultimately rests beneath the sky." The woman declared, as her opponent's two halfs hit the ground . "Damm, so that's how this ends…" the Librarian with the the gears as his body turned into a cloud of golden pages.
"That was too soon, Caio…" The one wearing the bamboo hat lamented.
"Arhk!" The bandaged one coughed blood, his gaping chest wound completely cauterized as he struggled to stand up, his sword being used as a support to stand on.
"Can we not do this right now?!" The one with the cane yelled, fear showing through his words.
The woman turned to the bamboo hatted one, as she held her Guandao up, charging an attack. He just smirked, as he readied his sheathed katana standing completely still, waiting for her dash towards him. The one with the cane rushed to aid the bandaged one, even if nothing could be done to help him.
Once again, a roar echoed through the battlefield, the fire intensified. The air is getting warmer by the second. Coughs escaped the one with the cane's mouth. Fire's effect started kicking in very quickly. Breathing became a challenge, the fire would burn through the oxygen faster than it got replaced and the air burned the insides of those breathing near the woman.
"It could've been worse…" The bandaged one managed to speak, as he was being held by his companion.
The woman dashed forward using her wings to thrust her towards the bamboo hatted one, a trail of fire was all that was left in her wake. But he remained still, smirking, the average smug brazilian smile, like a bandit that prepared the best ambush he could've ever thought of, waiting for his foes to fall for it. And fall for it they did.
Before she even had the chance to deliver her blow, the bamboo hatted one spoke as he unsheathed his blade faster than the human eye could see. "...To Claim their bones."
At the top of Beacon tower, lies Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, watching over his academy and, by extension, all of Vale. Though his main priority wasn't watching over everything, sometimes, he had to stop his work to simply stare out the window.
Be it a group of students doing dumb things like articulating with their limbs while arguing about something he couldnt even hear or another group starting a fight for one reason or another. He would always send in someone to stop the fight, but, if it was something light
hearted he would always let them have their fun, even for a little bit. Anything to take him out of his busy schedule.
One thing he didn't expect this Monday morning however, was a giant structure to appear right behind his Academy, blocking the view to the cliffs, near emerald forest. And what he couldn't believe was the fact that there were people fighting on top of said wall, very fiercely too. 'What to do…' he pondered 'I don't think any of my students can stop that fight, and flying in with a bullhead would prove to be dangerous due to all the fire…' one thing that he noticed about the scenery, was that no smoke came from the fire, as if it weren't burning the wall. 'Quite magical, this scenery…'
Ozpin watched, from the very beginning he watched. Though he couldn't tell who was who, he could tell that one side was being badly beaten. He got up from his chair, an idea forming in his mind. 'If those people can be reasoned with… It could mean more resources against her.' he put his mind to work 'I can't help but wonder, why are they fighting so fiercely…' his eyes widened as his mouth opened agape. "That man got cut in half… and turned into a cloud of… gold?" most interesting, but, a man still got sliced in half. "Whomever those people are, they are stopping it this instant."
He pressed a button on his table, a microphone popping out of it as he began to speak. "Team RWBY, Please take your weapons and meet with professor Goodwitch near the Cliffs to Emerald forest entrance, immediately."
Once RWBY got to the foot of the wall, they were greeted by a heart clenching roar, one that could easily have belonged to a Grimm, small ashes falling from the skies. Catching up with Goodwitch who was near the wall, trying to use her powers to move the wall, or atleast, move a single brick from it, to no avail.
Before they had any time to react, a hot stream of fire came from the top of the wall, followed by a woman's yell "Tão Tiè" and another thundering roar. A second later, three burning silhouettes could be seen, falling from the top of the wall, as it started to disappear into a cloud of golden pages. Goodwitch reacted in time, using her semblance to break the fall of the three figures.
Upon closer inspection, what she saw terrified her. One of them, the one with the bamboo hat stripped to his back, had both his arms completely broken, smoke coming out of his mouth as his still burning sword, burned his hands, still clasped around the hilt. The other one, bloody and burned bandages covered his face, had a gaping hole through his chest, luckly, it hadn't punctured his heart. He was still breathing and subconsciously struggling against her semblance. And the last one, no visible injuries aside from the very obvious scorch marks all three of them shared. The only noticeable thing was a small flashing red light near his chest. All three of them were unconscious.
After a few seconds, nothing of the wall remained, only the three, badly beaten individuals.
"You four, take them to the medical wing now! I will contact Ozpin for further orders, now go." The professor exclaimed, shifting the team's attention from the wall's dissipation to the three, not very alive but not yet dead dudes being propelled by Goodwitch's semblance towards them.
"Make way! We got some people hurt here! Outtathaway!" Without time to call for the medical, team RWBY ran through Beacon's Campus. Yang went ahead, making way for them to pass through the concentration of curious spectators, running over any unsuspecting person who didn't hear her shouting from a mile away, as Ruby, Blake and Weiss carried the unconscious bodies of the people they didn't know anything about.
Ruby was struggling, carrying the one with the gaping hole through his chest, she was being constantly reminded of the fact that he was dying due to the constant pained moaning escaping his mouth with each step she took. He also didn't help her situation, periodically ripping his arm out of her grasp, making her almost drop him down every time. The fact that his gaping wound also rubbed against her cape, also didn't help the girl's situation. "Why can't you stay still for 5 seconds! You're already heavy enough- Ow, stop that!"
Weiss had her own internal problems. It didn't sit well with her, how they had to help questionably moral individuals. She didn't know how they got injured aside from the fire, she didn't know who injured them, she didn't know why they were injured and she also didn't know how the one she was carrying wasn't in the same state as the other two. Sure, he had scorch marks, but nothing else. He didn't moan and resist like the one with the bandages and didn't have his arms broken like the one with the peculiar hat. This one simply slept, without a care in the world. It might seem like a good thing, but it was infuriating her, something about this boy's personality infuriated her. "Stop complaining Ruby. You're the one who insisted on carrying him." the leader pouted "Yeah, because I thought I could use my semblance on him to carry him faster- Ow, Stop chewing my hair. But he's too heavy!"
Blake didn't have much to complain about. She had experience carrying those wounded in battle in order to have them patched up, even if the one she helped was a questionable individual. However, with these people, she felt something strange about them, like a primal instinct of hers, shouting to leave them alone, screaming at her that they shouldn't even exist, something that challenged her understanding of the world. But orders are orders, and she wouldn't leave other people to die, even if her instincts yelled at her to do so.
"Yikes. If he took a bite on my hair, he'd have a new wound to worry about." said the brawler, as she opened the door to Beacon's infirmary. Inside the room, only a single doctor was left on duty, a doctor that was currently taking a bite of a sandwich. When the door opened, at first his face was one filled with content when Yang opened the door, then, his face turned to confusion after Weiss came in carrying someone he'd never seen before. Then his face became one filled with desperation after seeing Blake and Ruby coming through the door. "Uh, Hi doc… Could you maybe help us?" Ruby said while the bandaged librarian chewed her hair while unconscious. The doctor threw his lunch in the nearest trash bin as quickly as possible "This way, now!"
At first, he saw fire engulfing his body. His technique didn't work, she proved to be too much for him to handle. His sword set ablaze, burning through his own flesh, a fire that burned brighter than all others, one that came from one's own soul. 'So, this is the power of a fully realized E.G.O huh? Atleast, it was a good run.'
Then he saw light, an unfamiliar ceiling, a familiar softness spread through his back and a very annoying beeping sound next to his head. Blinking a few times to recover from the sudden light, he realized where he was. "A hospital…?" it made no sense, how in the wing's name there was a hospital in the Library? Then, a very familiar voice came from his left.
"Hey you, you're finally awake." His vision was still a bit hazy, his sense of touch fully returning to him, he felt a sharp pain on his right arm as he tried to lift it up. "You've been trying to cross the border right?" The voice barely contained its laughter, slightly cracking on the end. "Walked right into that imperial ambush, same as us, and…" His vision returned to him, and the first thing he saw was a bearded baldy, his face all scarred, his chest was covered by bandages while his hand covered his mouth, trying to hide his laughter. "I couldn't man, the opportunity was right there. At Least you woke up, Bemaia." The bald one said, as he adopted a more serious posture.
"In case you're wondering, our stuff got nabbed from us, mister doctor said he didn't trust us with it. But, he left your hat near the bed." he motioned towards the side of his bed "Fred's still sleeping, you know how that emergency resuscitation protocol is, he's gonna need some more rest." both nodded in understanding.
Bemaia looked around, unsure of where 'here' is. Definitely not inside the library. "Where are we?" he asked the baldy, no one in sight but him and the still comatose Fred. "I'm not sure either, but the people here were nice enough to help us get back on our feet, considering it's been two weeks since they found us apparently." Bemaia raised his eyebrow "You're telling me that I was asleep for two whole weeks?" Before the baldy could respond, the door to their room opened, revealing a man in a white coat. Common sense said that this man was the doctor treating them.
The doctor was surprised when he saw Baldy, slightly annoyed too, but not so much when he saw Bemaia "How many times must I tell you to NOT take off the damned needles?" The balde one shrugged as the doctor sighed "And you, you're going to be difficult like him or you're going to tell me how you're feeling?" Bemaia glared at his companion, staring at the doctor "Yeah, I'm feeling a bit hazy, other then that, I feel fine." Even his arms were put back in place.
"Good. You three gave us quite the scare, appearing out of thin air like that, then, appearing completely beaten up just to have a group of teenagers to carry you here." Baldy and Bemaia stared at each other. "Speaking of which, I'd like for you to answer a few questions for me, I just hope that you're not like baldy over there who refused to answer." Bemaia threw a look towards the bald man but didn't say anything to him. He turned to the doctor and said "Ask away."
The doctor sighed with relief "Good! First, what's your name?" Bemaia didn't wait long to answer "Bernardo, but just call me Bemaia" the doctor nodded "That's not what I'd've picked for you, but if that's your name, that's your name." he took a pencil and started to write it on a piece of paper "The name's Doc. Johnson, Head of the medical staff here at Beacon. Now, how old are ye?" he answered "20 years old." and the doctor wrote it down.
The bald one joined in "Name's Francisco, call me whatever. 18." Doc. Johnson eyed the man, eyebrows raised. "Now you want to talk huh? Well, I'm not complaining." he wrote it down as well "What about your comatose friend there?" The pointed his pencil towards Fred "He's gotta recharge for a while after what happened, just wait a few days and he'll be up just fine. And no, he's not a machine." said the baldy as the doctor nodded in understanding.
"I'll be frank with you all. Your body doesn't make sense. Both your arms were completely broken, its bones smashed into tiny bits, then a week's worth of rest later, your arms are as good as new. If you had your aura unlocked it would've been normal, but you two don't." the doctor sighed "When we had to operate your chest to take off all of the burnt bits, your heart didn't stop beating not even for a second, even when there was not enough blood in your body to keep it beating. You even wake up in the middle of the surgery only to start wailing in pain, after we applied morphine."
"If it were up to me, I'd simply free you three, you've suffered enough." the doctor got up and opened the door "But, there is a slight issue." When the door opened, it revealed a new figure, a man, wearing a dark green suit and dark glasses, an empty coffee mug rested on his hands. "The issue being the fact that you gotta pay for the treatment you received." the doctor finished.
"And there is the catch." the baldy fell back on the bed, sighing with disappointment. "And let me guess, we've gotta sell our organs to pay the fucking hospital bills." the new figure chuckled "either that, or you could work to pay for your bills, or enroll in my academy so you gain the right to have free medical bills while within school grounds." In his face, a smile grew larger as the baldy sunk deeper into the bed.
Bemaia nodded and turned to the baldy, "So, enrolling in an academy eh?" he sighed "Not even the prescripts of the Index had such an asshole scheme…" Bemaia turned to the headmaster "What's this academy all about?" Bemaia asked, and the headmaster's smile doubled in size. "Thank you for asking."
Author notes:
Yes you have been JAPED, this is not a Xiao story!
Anyways, i will not explain myself as to why i've decided to do this the way i did.
I own nothing, unfortunately. I'll probably keep updating this one for a while, so look out for it if you enjoy it.
No, I shan't explain what the fuck kind of decks i brought to fight Xiao.
Something I thought would be cool:
Bamboo Hatted Kim's page
User: Bemaia;
Yujin's page;
User: Francisco
Nemo's page
User: Fred