Chapter 4: I Begin my Training


Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum

I also own nothing else mentioned in this Chapter but myself.


Thank god my writer's block is gone.

Hey There Guys and Gals! TheTriforceofAwesomeness here with the newest Chapter.

Let's get to it!


One last thing. The entire action-sequence as well as the bulk of this Chapter was thought of while taking a dump on the toilet, so if this Chapter is shit you now know why XP.


"Speech"

Thought

** Actions within dialogue

'Air quotes'

Emphasis

Narration/Log

[#] Author's Comments which will be shown at the official end of the Chapter and before the ending A/N.

X-X-X Scene change


Last time on RWBY: The Hunter from Earth

Opallios began the journey to meet the person who will train him for the next two years. He was about halfway there when he decided to rest. It wasn't long before a small pack of Beowolves show up. With four surrounding him and an Alpha circling, Opallios readied himself for his first battle against the Creatures of Grimm...


"Who's first?" I said with a surprising amount of calmness in my voice.

If it wasn't clear enough, I am fucking terrified at the moment. Here I am about to take on the some Grimm, and I have the nerve to try to sound tough? But none the less, I was confident that I could somehow pull this off. I placed my worries to the back of my mind and paid attention to my motion tracker on my HUD to see which Beowolf will attack first. I heard a low growl come from my left side as the first of the Beowolves charged me. Seeing it, I pivoted my body so I faced it, but then my motion tracker caught one from the exposed right side of my blind-spot be coming at me. The one I faced swung a claw at me, which I caught with my shield, but I noticed the one in my blind-spot approaching me, so I took my current shield-arm and covered the right side of me. I put some of my weight into pushing the Grimm back; following through the motion to turn to it and I swung Black Lightning along the side of its face while still keeping my shield relatively close to my body to protect myself. Hitting the Grimm in its face, it went back a few meters, but it was only stunned. I think my Semblance works on Grimm. Good to know. My thoughts refocused. The one that attacked me first was above, I quickly rolled out of the way and brought my mace down on its head, using a bit of my aura to strengthen the attack. There was a bone cracking sound as the Grimm hit the ground with a thud. I saw the first the one I hit approaching me with the third one on my top left coming as well. I blocked the one I hit with my shield and thrust my mace into an exposed area on its body. The Beowolf drew back, but I was quickly upon it and brought my mace along its face as well. It too fell with a thud. It was just then the third one came up to me jaws open. I was able to turn around just in time to block its attack and in order to give me some distance, I used an aura-powered kick to send it flying into a tree. I quickly went after it and used even more of my aura to hit the Beowolf before it had time to counter. With the third dead, I saw the last of the normal Beowolves come at me with a right paw. I was somehow able to parry it with my mace. I then bashed my shield against it and brought it down with another strike from my mace. Four down, one Alpha to go. Aura is around the high yellow. I need to finish this quickly. I turned to the Alpha to see it roar in anger. It stood over me and brought down both of its claws on me. I somehow was able to block it with extra support of my mace against it, but it surprised me by taking its right claw and sending me into a nearby tree. I slowly got up and found out my aura was in the low yellow almost orange. The Alpha was standing there; taunting me as if to say "bring it!"

Damn it! I need a plan! Thinking for a bit, I came up with something. I hope to God all of times I played Ocarina of Time will pay off. With a battle-cry, I brought my shield up and charged the Alpha, hoping that it doesn't move. I peeked over my shield to see it raise its left claw at me. As if time was slowing down, I started to slide beneath it, successfully blocking the attack with my shield, and came up behind it. Quickly getting up from being behind the startled Alpha, I brought my mace up.

Quoting an attack from one of my favorite characters from Xenoblade Chronicles I yelled, "SUMMON BOLT!" I brought my mace down and as soon as I made impact with the Alpha's skull, a bolt of lightning appeared. What was left of the Alpha was a charred form as it hit the ground. Breathing heavily, "Holy *pant* shit *pant*. I can't *pant* believe *pant* that worked." I looked around and saw that the Beowolves were beginning to dissolve. I glanced at my aura and found it to be border-lining red. Fuck. That took a lot out of me. I smiled. If I lose that much aura when it was only five Beowolves, I won't be able to survive for much longer. I slowly made my way over to where I placed my backpack with all of my clothes, which wasn't damaged at all surprisingly, and glanced at my mini map to see where I needed to go. I left as quickly as I could so no more Grimm would show up. Damn it! I'm not going to make it at this rate. I feel myself losing consciousness. I was only able to travel a short distance, but before I went ahead and blacked out, I used the Lightning Dust inside of me to encase myself and my belongings to electrocute looters or other creatures coming to my soon-to-be unconscious body. It was then I fell to the ground and darkness overtook me.

X-X-X

Unknown Location

I slowly opened my eyes and I immediately noticed I wasn't where I was when I lost consciousness. I tried to get up, but I could barely move. Seems like my aura is still low. But where am I? Who or what found me?

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up. I'm surprised you held on for so long." an unknown, but clearly masculine voice spoke to me.

I looked around, and I heard the owner of the voice approaching me from around the corner. The man that stood in the doorway was, once again, someone I would see in an RPG. His attire reminded me of Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings (specifically Fellowship of the Ring); complete with a ranger hood, a bastard sword [1], and the classic middle-aged stubble. His physique was very muscular, but not so much that he looked brutish, more of someone who has seen lots of combat. I sighed. Here is another person who I don't want to cross.

He said, "Now that you are awake, mind telling me what someone like you is doing all the way out here?"

I looked up at him, "I'm supposed to meet someone here to train me. His location was only given to me by Sathrall the Blacksmith."

The man raised his eyebrows, "Sathrall sent you? I haven't heard his name in a while. How is he doing these days?"

"He's doing fine. He was the one who created my armor and my weapons. He even unlocked my aura."

"Well then, you have come to the right place. Not many people come out here so far into Grimm territory." He smiled. "I also saw your battle with those Beowolves. Do you have any combat experience?"

I shook my head. "I was only very lucky; and I think my semblance had something to do with it. I was lucky to make it out of there alive. This is why I am looking for training. If I struggle so much against five Beowolves, I need to get stronger if I am going to continue to go into this line of work as a Huntsman."

He nodded. "Forgive me for my lack of manners; my name is Arthur Quill, but you will refer to me as Master or Sir." He then made a ghost of a smile. "What do you think your training is going to be like?"

"Well Sir, if you want my honest opinion, I don't think you are going to immediately start the training with combat. I imagine it to be mostly about survival tactics such as tracking, building shelters, things like that. I think you will make me do tasks around the cabin as well as tasks in the city, stuff that may seem meaningless to those who are really naive, but do have a hidden meaning behind them. After however long that takes, I think having some training in aura would be the next logical step since aura is the very thing that is keeping me alive, so I also think I am going to be training without my armor so I can be able to fight without it. I would imagine I would need to make a secondary weapon in such a case. After grilling me about aura, it would be in towards the end of the two years that you will actually teach me combat training." I finished.

There were five minutes of pure silence, and the look on my Master's face was priceless. "Well, that leaves a lot less explaining on my part. You're the first one to come up with an actually reasonable training method. You are certainly smarter than I thought you were. This actually might be enjoyable for once."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I watched a lot of TV and read a lot of books."

"You don't look like someone who would enjoy a good book."

I smirked. "You wouldn't be the first one to tell me that Master. But I do a lot of reading. I only watch TV on occasion. I actually plan on going to the bookstore back in Vale to buy some whenever I will have the time."

"People these days have a lesser appreciation for reading. It's sad really. I wish more people did read. You can learn a lot from a good book." my Master sighed with a solemn expression.

I nodded. "I totally agree Master. I've seen too many similar cases back home."

"I guess now you should get something to eat. I made some rabbit stew in the kitchen. Help yourself to as much as you want. Then I want you to get some rest. You'll going to need to be at full strength when we start." he told me.

I had a huge grin on my face. "Thanks Master, I will accept your hospitality." I then proceeded to the kitchen. I knew where it was due to its incredible aroma.

As I took some of the stew in a wooden bowl, I looked at it. I never had rabbit before. This should be interesting. I took a spoonful, blew on it for a bit, and took a bite. I could instantly taste the flavors. The meat was amazing; the various chopped vegetables were to my liking, and I don't even like vegetables all that much; I was practically inhaling the rest of the stew. Oh My God this is AMAZING! I squealed internally as to how good the food tasted.

Master walked in and he saw the sight before him. He chuckled. "I knew you would be hungry, but I didn't think you were that hungry."

In-between mouthfuls, I managed to say, "It's true I'm hungry, but I also haven't eaten anything in a long time. One thing to know about me is that if there is something I like, I practically inhale it. You got to teach me how to make this."

"I'll be happy to teach you. It's good to see someone enjoys my cooking." He looks at my empty bowl. "Are you done now?"

*BBUURRRRRRRP* "Yeah, I think I'm done. That was great."

"Alright then. Head upstairs and get some sleep. Your room is the second one on the right."

I yawned. "I think I will Master."

I then proceeded to head upstairs to get some sleep, but only after my usual journal entry.

X-X-X

Day One of Training

I woke up when a tiny sliver of light entered the room. I check my Scroll and saw it was about 5 A.M. I sighed as I got up to go ahead and get ready for the first day of training. Now don't get me wrong, I am actually a morning person, I just don't like every morning. After I did my daily routine, I got my stuff that what I would think I would need. My Master got downstairs about 15 minutes after I was already downstairs.

"Well I'll be, I didn't expect you to be up this early." he said genuinely surprised.

I looked up at him as I rubbed some of the sleep out of my eyes, "Yeah, I'm actually am a morning person. My family always found it weird that I can wake up so early despite the fact that I am also an incredibly deep sleeper." I paused as I looked around the kitchen, "Do you drink coffee? I was hoping to make a cup."

"Yeah, I make coffee. Didn't expect you to like that either." He started to brew up some, "I'm learning more and more about you with every conversation, and it's only the first day."

He handed me a cup, I took in the sweet aroma of coffee. Taking a sip as the warmness filled my body and woke me up, "Going back to me being a deep sleeper, there have been times when I am in such a deep sleep that people around me thought I had passed out."

"Then you must really be a deep sleeper; but you are also a morning person. You're like a walking oxymoron." Master said with a chuckle as he took a sip of his own cup.

Finishing off the rest of my coffee, I placed my cup in the sink. "So then, what would you like me to take care of first Sir?"

He thought about it for a bit before answering, "I want you to go ahead and clean up the dishes, then I want you to sweep up the dust in the cabin – you'll find the broom in the closest left of the bathroom – then I want you to go out in the back and chop some logs for firewood. Come back by noon for your next set of tasks."

I nodded and began to work. To make a long story short [2], I did the first two tasks in roughly an hour and the task that took up most of my time was getting the firewood. Being someone who has done very little manual labor despite not actually minding it at all, it took some time to create enough firewood. I was able to stack some of it to a reasonable height. I actually had to take off my shirt because I would've overheated. I looked up at the sun's position and noticed it was nearly noon. I decided to cut a few more pieces of wood before heading inside. I looked down at my shirtless body not really impressed with how I looked. I'm generally not someone who likes strutting about having people check me out. There even isn't anything of interest about my body, unless the thing you would count would be I don't eat much so you could see my rib-cage. I can't believe I'm going to agree with what my Mom was always telling me; I need to eat more. I also need to take Dad's advice about working out. I chuckled. Even across dimensions, their wisdom lives on. I started to head back inside. Maybe I can get Master to give me some more tasks for me to do, maybe head into town to fetch some things.

Inside the cabin, I found Master looking over some books. "Would you like me to dust off the books? They look like they are worth a lot, both in money and in sentimental value."

He looked at me, "I would appreciate that. Thanks. After you are done, I would like you to go ahead and head into Vale and get me some ingredients from the food market."

"You got it Master. Do you have any preferences for the kinds of food you want me to get?" I asked as I began to carefully clean the books.

He nodded, "I'll have a list ready for you when you're done dusting. Once again, thanks a lot for cleaning my books. I'll let you read a few of them. I honestly think you do have an appreciation for reading. I'll be more than happy to share my collection with a fellow reader."

I spent about half an hour cleaning and dusting off the books before I was satisfied with my results. I walked back into the kitchen and noticed that Master was gone. Most likely doing stuff. I saw the list he left for me on the table. There was also some Lien next to the list. Doesn't seem like much for me to get. There seems to be enough Lien to pay for it as well. "I guess I better get going," I said to myself. I put my hoodie on, placed the Lien in my pocket, and slung my backpack over my shoulder as I headed out. Fuck, I got to make that five mile trek again. I hope I don't get lost this time.

X-X-X

Back in Vale

Jesus Christ that was a long way; I need to get some food. But, am I going to have enough Lien to pay for something to eat as well as the list? Maybe there is a cafe I can head over to. Remembering the one I went to when I first came to this world, I headed over there. I walked inside and found my previous spot was open, so I sat there. A few minutes later, someone came by and asked for my order. I glanced up at who it was and smiled.

"Hey Catlin! It sure has been awhile, how are you?" I asked as I put my hood down so she could see my face.

"Oh hi Opallios! I'm doing great! It's so good to see a familiar face." She said with a smile. "I was thinking you forgot about me."

"I couldn't forget about you. Who else is going to brighten up my day?"

We shared a laugh. "So, the usual then?"

"You got it."

"Alright, I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

I nodded and she went to go fill in my order.

She's really nice. I hope her days are getting better. I smiled to myself. I still need to get the food for Master. I think I'll be back before dark. Man, making that trek is going to be a pain. I hope I don't encounter anything too dangerous.

Catlin came back with my order and I happily munched on my sandwich. She actually sat across from me. I was a bit surprised by this. Swallowing my food, "Are you on break right now?"

"Yeah, I am. I got a few minutes before I need to go back. I wanted to ask you something."

"What's up?"

"What brings you back in Vale?"

"I'm doing some training before I go ahead and attend Beacon. My Master wanted me to get some food, and I have to make a five mile walk there and back every time. It's not too bad, but as I continue to train, five miles won't feel like much."

She nodded. "I hope your training goes well. I have a more personal question though," she asked as if she was going to regret it.

I looked at her, "I don't mind it. If you are uncomfortable with asking it I understand."

She looked at me, and I noticed her face was starting to turn red. "H-How old are you?"

"I'm 19. I'll be 20 within a few months."

"R-Really? You don't look like your 19. You look to be 21."

I was actually surprised by that. "I haven't started shaving, so I guess I look a bit older. My mom always said I had a baby-face despite my age." I said with a chuckle.

She smiled. "I didn't think you would look to be that young." She frowned, "Wait a minute, you haven't attended Beacon yet?"

"Not yet, but I plan to in a couple of years."

"You'll be 21 when you attend. You are okay with being that old as a first-year student?"

"I'm perfectly okay with it. Yes it will be weird and I know I will stick out like a sore thumb, but it is something I will deal with. I haven't actually had any proper training before I started, and I would rather be a 21 year-old first-year with a bit of training than attend now with no training at all." I took a sip of my water. "The one thing that will be weird for me is making friends being that I will be a 21 year-old with a bunch of 17 year-olds. I'll deal with it somehow."

"Okay then. Thanks for answering my questions. Can I get anything else for you?"

"Nah. That will be all. I should probably go and get the food for my Master. I'll be sure to come by here again when I am able."

She smiled. "Thanks. You're always welcome here."

I smiled. I paid for the food and checked my Scroll to see where the food market was so I could get the list complete. Doesn't seem to be too far. Hey, I'll pass by Jason on the way there! I should go ahead and say hi. I made my way over to the food market, but not before stopping at The Wolf of the Moon. I walked inside and I saw Jason behind the counter. He turned around and looked at me.

"Dude! It's been awhile! How are things going?"

"Things are going pretty well. I just came by to say hi since I am on an errand at the moment."

"What are you doing if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm just going to the food market to get, well food, for my Master. I started my training today. I'm just doing simple tasks. I'm pretty sure the real training will begin soon though. How's the shop doing?"

"It's going well. I've been keeping it clean as much as I can. I do hope you come back working here though. It gets lonely sometimes."

"I'll try to come back here when I can, but between training and attending Beacon in the future, I might not be able to. I'll try to see when I start Beacon if I can get Ozpin to be flexible with my schedule so I can work here."

"That would be nice. Well, I don't want to keep you. Thanks again for stopping by!"

"No problem. I'll visit again sometime." I left the store and headed over to the food market.

One food market trip later

Looks like I had just enough money to pay for the food. I even got everything on the list. Carefully placing the stuff in my backpack, I checked my Scroll and saw that it was about a quarter after three. I wanted to stop by the bookstore as well as the record store, but I should probably head back 'home' before it gets dark. Can't keep my Master waiting for me. I went ahead and started to make the trek back to his cabin.

A few hours and one eight kilometer walk later

I walked inside and carefully set my backpack on the table as I went ahead and pulled out the groceries. Master walked in and helped me out as we stacked the shelves and filled up the fridge.

"You're a bit late. Any reason why?"

"Had to get some food when I went to Vale. Was too tired to go and head back. Met up with some people I knew. After I did that, I got everything on the list. Sorry about that Master."

"It's fine. At least you are back in one piece. I'm going to teach you how to cook. If there is still some light outside, I will teach you about tracking animals as well as a bit of alchemy. We will continue that How does that sound?"

"I didn't think alchemy was a thing in the work of a Huntsman, although I am sure there is some value to it. With aura being a main source of healing, I'm going to guess alchemy kind of went away. I think it'll be cool to practice a forgotten art."

"Glad to see you agree." We finished putting everything up. "Now then, let me teach you how to cook."

Imagine a cooking training session

After about an hour or so, we tried out how I made the meal. Taking a bite of it, "I'm impressed, you did pretty well for your first time. The only thing wrong with it is that your meat is a tiny bit overcooked, but it is nothing too major. Well done."

I scratched the back if my head, "I'm happy I did well on the first try." Sitting down and eating a bit of my stew. Huh, I guess it is a bit overcooked. Not bad at all. We ate in silence as the meal was good enough so we didn't have to talk. After we both finished, I gathered up the dishes and went over to the sink to wash them.

Master then told me, "It's still light outside, so after you are done with the dishes we'll head out and I'll teach you how to track and a bit about alchemy."

I nodded. It took me about ten minutes to finish up the dishes. I then followed Master to where he wanted me to go. I wasn't sure how long we walked, but he signaled for me to halt my walk. He motioned for me to come near him as he crouched to the ground. I slowly walked over to him and crouched down as well.

"What do you notice here?"

I looked closely at the ground, "It looks like something went through here. There are multiple tracks going eastward. Although the type of animal that went through here is unclear to me, I am going to assume from the amount of visible prints and the space between the prints that it is a pack of Beowolves."

"You are correct. These are Beowolf tracks. As far as the amount of them in this pack, I can tell that there are about 15 of them and three of them are Alphas. We will follow them until the trail runs cold, but not engage them. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal Sir."

"Very well. Let's move."

I nodded and we headed in the direction of the Beowolves.

Sometime later

We followed the trail for awhile and we actually were able to locate a den where they were most likely staying at. We stayed a safe distance away from the den. Master handed me a knife and instructed me to mark where this is. I decided to mark a nearby tree, careful not to make a lot of noise so we didn't alert them, and handed him back the knife. With both of us satisfied, we made our way back.

On our way back, I mumbled to myself, "This would be a good time to master Tree Climbing."

Master looked at me, "What was that? Did you say something?"

I looked back at him. "Yeah, I want to master Tree Climbing. It's a technique where I would use my aura to walk up trees. If I were to master it, I could travel by tree tops as well as stand on any solid surface. With enough training I can take it a few steps further and use my aura to walk on water and even on air."

He was silent for a few minutes. "That's actually an interesting idea. I never though of using aura like that. I would be more than happy to help you control your aura if you think you can master it. I also have a few books that I want you to read tomorrow. I have multiple copies of them, so you can keep them."

"Thanks! I'll be sure to read those when I have time." I paused, "I will have time to read, right Master?"

He had a small smile, "I think I can squeeze in a few hours to be spent reading. I think it will do us both some good. I also think one of the books you'll be keeping will be better for you to learn about alchemy."

I smiled as well. At last! I'll be able to read again!

"But, you need to get some sleep. I'll let you read the books tomorrow."

We made it back to the cabin at around 9 P.M. I was exhausted, so I made my way to my room and made my usual journal entry before drifting off to sleep.


[Author's Comments]

[1] A type of sword that can be used with one hand or two.

[2] Oh the irony of that statement.


Well then. There goes another Chapter.

I changed the format slightly to try and make this easier on the eyes for you to read. If this format is okay, I will change all of the previous Chapters and make it how I will write my stories. Let me know what you think of it.

I am absolutely terrible with writing OCs; especially with coming up with a detailed appearance and weapons and personalities.

I am always upset with myself when I can't think of how I want an OC to be or what they look like. Most of them would be from things I would recognize such as a movie or video game character; in other words, not a very original character.

It is always so upsetting for me to see people come up with so many things that make me go "I wish I thought of something like that" or "What an awesome idea"

I hope my current OCs, although they are mostly minor characters, are at least passable.


This has been TheTriforceofAwesomeness, and I will see you in Chapter 5. Someday.

Peace!