Chapter 14: Well this makes things more complicated
-Three Days Earlier-
Ozpin sat in his office in deafening silence, the stillness of the room was permeated only by the ticking of the sole clock that hung on the eastern wall, its noise being the only thing that kept the atmosphere from being a practical time stop. His coffee mug lying neatly on the corner of his oddly shaped clockwork desk, the cogs and gears around the room turning at the constant speed they always were, even Ozpin wasn't sure if they served any other purpose than decoration. It was solitary moments like these he would sit back and wonder how his entire aesthetic ever become steampunk and clockwork. Shrugging mentally, he moved to pick up a sheet of paper on his desk, looking over some of the plans for the festival, when the entire table rattled violently, a loud banging heard in the distance and the unmistakable sound of a violently shouting Yang Xialong.
He clasped his hands around his chin, so... they've returned... any moment now...
Not more than ten minutes later the elevator up to his office dinged, and his doors burst open to reveal a rather serious looking tall Faunus with silver hair, his white coat still covered in the remains of the battle, a rather furious looking Glynda following closely behind him. The blonde teacher rushed up the headmaster, "Sir, I did try to stop him but this ruffian blew past me and was making a b-line for your office." She said stiffly, instantly turning a one-eighty, "AND YOU! Who the hell do you think you are barging in here, galavanting around our campus without permission?! I have half a mind to call security right now!" She directed at Randolf.
The grey wolf smirked, "You could call them... doesn't mean they'd be able to stop me." He answered, a sly smirk gracing his features as he folded his arms, contesting the professor. Her face was purely baffled, "Are you challenging me?" She glowered. His response was to let out a throaty chortle.
"Ozpin, we need to talk." He addressed the headmaster, no formalities as if they were familiar with each other.
"What gives you the right to just directly-"
"Glynda, please. He's an old friend." Ozpin interrupted the furious blonde, her anger simmering down almost instantly, still, she stiffly persisted, "Well if he'd said that before..."
"Would you have believed him?"
"Probably not..."
"Mr. Wulf, glad to see you're unharmed," Ozpin said getting up from his chair to greet the man, sticking out his hand for a handshake. He'd expected the Faunus to show up eventually, he just wasn't sure when that would be, given the urgency he rushed in here with, he could only assume that the situation was grave.
Randolf just quirked his eyebrow, "Really Oz? We haven't seen each other in thirteen years and the first thing you do when you see me is greet me as 'Mr. Wulf' and a handshake?"
Ozpin just blinked incredulously, as if confused as to what he was implying. Randolf just shook his head with a smile, walked up and wrapped the man in a tight hug, "It's good to see you to Oz, you never change." Ozpin blinked incredulously before awkwardly returning the hug, physical displays of affection were never his 'thing'. Once they released, Randolf's light expression had turned very serious, Ozpin knew that look.
"Tell me everything." He said sitting back down at his desk, awaiting the full brunt of the news.
"He's found it... The Lunar Shard of Remnant... and he's managed to harness it..." Randolf explained. Ozpin's eyes went unceremoniously wide, expressions of deep worry were rare on the old man's face. "My thoughts exactly Oz, this is borderline worst-case scenario. I'm not sure how he's managed to find it after all these years, I thought the pieces of the gods were split into only natural elements, that the Shards of Lunar and Solar were just myths... the fact that he's found one just put everything we know into question."
"And what of the fragment? What has he done with it?" Ozpin's face was scrunched up in thought, Glynda had never seen the older headmaster like this before, the fact that something had managed to rattle his usually stoic exterior was unheard of.
"He's given it to the boy, young Taurus. The boy has somehow resonated with the gem, he's able to harness its power to make himself something just shy of a demigod."
Ozpin was quiet, contemplating, "How? If my knowledge about this subject is correct, fragments, they only resonate with a person who possesses the corresponding Aegis gene, nothing short of an Aspect should be able to activate the gem. Are we sure that Adam Taurus was not an Aspect by birth?"
"He's not displayed any signs of being one in the entire time he's been active, nothing on his records indicate the birthmark symbol and his family's lineage holds no connection to the original bloodlines either. I'm not sure why it's resonated with him but we can't simply play passive to Onyx's actions anymore."
"I agree... it's about time we start taking initiative, no more skulking about in the shadows, no more espionage, and observance. It's gotten out of hand..."Ozpin said now sitting up in his chair. "But the problem is we don't even know where to begin looking... how do we even go about tracking him?"
"We could start by scouting out potential hotspots of White fang activity in Vale, then move outward. It's time to finish what we started all those years ago..." the wolf finished. The two older men played off each other's thoughts like they'd been in sync for years, answering any lingering and unspoken questions, saying only the relevant information. A theme that seemed to perfectly suit the two individuals.
"AHEM!" A came the loud voice of Glynda Goodwitch, who, until this moment, had her existence forgotten by the two males. "Care to explain what's going on here?"
Ozpin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "My apologies Glynda, this is Randolf Wulf, my old partner from when I was a huntsman. You already know the situation so I'll skip the most of it. Mr. Wulf here has brought us news that High Commander Onyx of the White Fang has harnessed the power of a Shard of Remnant that was thought to be a myth. It is currently in the possession of his apprentice Adam Taurus and if what Wulf says is true... we may be looking at an artificial Aegis gene, a false Aspect of Remnant." Ozpin explained to the professor who's brain seemed to have shut down after hearing this.
"But that's..."
"Impossible? It was supposed to be... now I'm not so sure..." Ozpin finished for her.
"Is there anything good that's come out of our expedition then? Other than information?" Glynda asked turning to Randolf.
"Well there... IS a silver lining... but it's complicated... I... promised team ASHNRWBY to explain everything once Nova wakes up... they've gotten themselves this far deep into it... they deserve to know what they're going to be facing." he explained causing Ozpin to look thoughtful.
"Are you sure it's wise to do this? And what's this about Nova not being awake?"
"Wise or not, we no longer have a choice. And my apprentice may have sustained heavy injuries and is currently in critical condition in the infirmary."
"I'm liking this less and less..." Glynda said looking up at the ceiling.
-Present Day-
It was a bit after eleven in the night when Ruby snuck out of her dorm, creeping her way into the infirmary. She had spent the day with Yang and the rest of the girls so she hadn't gotten time to check up on Nova. She had to see him at least once before she fell asleep, otherwise, she would never be able to. Thoughts of him waking up when she wasn't there and forgetting all about her plagued her mind.
The night air was crisp and clean, the open window in the dark infirmary draped a veil of silver moonlight over the room. Nova lay sound asleep in his bed. Ruby sat down in her usual chair at the side of his bed, looking longingly over his sleeping form. How she wanted him to wake up and tell her he was okay, and hold her in his arms. She almost fell asleep there when a shift in the bed stirred her wide awake. It couldn't be….
A low rumbling like a gurgling sound came quietly from the person laying on the bed. She glanced at him, his eyes were moving below the lids... his breathing no longer slow and shallow but deep and normal. Her eyes went wide in surprise and excitement.
No way…but the flames? Ruby glanced around him but the golden flames that once encircled his body were no longer there. Slowly, the sleeping form of the boy rose and shifted, so he sat up on his arms. Ruby sat stock-still the entire time, her eyes barely registering the reality before her.
"Ugh what time is it…" a deep quiet voice said aloud. Nova eased himself up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He glanced around the room, it was dark except for a young girl sitting at his bedside, she had black hair with red streaks around the edges, clad in a short black top with a cat on it and polka-dotted long pants. It wasn't until he saw the light of her eyes that he registered who he was looking at, which was weird because usually, he could only see a limited view.
Since when was my field of vision so wide... he thought as he raised himself to a sitting position.
"Ruby…?" he began but was cut off when the girl in question almost body-slammed him in a hug, the warm softness of her body was a welcome comfort as she held onto him, it felt so... right... to be in her arms. Not knowing what else to do he just reciprocated the hug, closing his eyes and just enjoying the feeling of her around him, she still smelled like roses and freshly baked cookies. A quiet sniffle could be heard from her as he held her.
"Red you okay? How long was I out for, last thing I remember was being in excruciating pain and being injected with something that made that pain worse..." Nova said rubbing her back. She relinquished the embrace and sat back in her chair facing him, wiping her eyes.
"Me okay? You idiot, you're the one who's been in a coma for like three days." She was smiling, genuinely smiling out of happiness. The sight warmed his heart to no end.
Nova's eyes went wide when he realized he didn't feel the familiar weight of a mask pressed against his mouth, gingerly he reached up and touched the top of his head and felt his horns, this whole time Ruby had been seeing him without his disguise.
He was quiet, contemplating his next actions carefully, the fact that Ruby had hugged him was a good sign, she didn't hate him. "So... is this weird for you?" He asked nervously, gesturing to his face that was completely exposed.
Ruby stared at him, giving his face a good long look, analyzing every inch of his face, "Nope!" she said with a familiar popping of the p.
He just blinked, "What?! Aren't you mad that I lied to you this whole time? Are you not freaked out by the fact that I'm... a dragon?!"
"To say I wasn't surprised would be a lie... but... I don't really care if this is what you really look like... besides..." She said smiling warmly, she reached out and touched his face, tracing the scar on his left eye, "I like this version better..."
Nova instantly turned beet red, her words were like being struck by cupids arrow in the heart nine times over, it made all the warm and happy feelings inside him gush forth like a broken dam. When Ruby retracted her arm, blushing herself, they sat for a moment. Then it hit Nova like a truck, he'd been asleep for days.
"Ah shit, did I miss the dance?" he asked slightly nervous. He had no obligation to go it's just that he'd hoped to at least still be able to hang out with her, perhaps if he was lucky, even dance with her.
Ruby stifled a giggle trying not to wake the building. "The dance is Friday, it's Wednesday…err well Thursday I guess, it's midnight."
"Seriously?! Well provided I can uh..leave here..." he began sheepishly, thanking the night covered this blush, he trailed the end of his sentence.
Ruby turned red as well, "Y-yeah if they would let you…" she twiddled her fingers together.
"What I mean is..." Shit Nova you've come this far, so just do it. "... Provided they let me out... would you go to the dance with me?"
"Yes." She answered so quickly she almost got whiplash, "What I mean to say is... if you'd be happy with me... then I'd be glad to go with you..." she amended.
Nova almost blacked out from excitement, "Happy with you?! I've wanted to ask you for a while but... well you know what happened." She just blushed in silence, there was so much she wanted to say, but where would she begin? Telling him how she felt was a much harder task than expected now that she was confronted with the reality.
A nervous silence fell between them until Ruby spoke.
"Hey um… Randolf said you were gonna get some mutations or anything, are you feeling okay? Any extra limbs?" she asked half-joking half-serious.
He laughed, "None that I know of, I woke up this... err well yesterday afternoon,I may have been knocked out but for some reason, I remember everything that people said as if I was awake. I just wish I had an explanation for what was going on..." he said holding out his hand for Ruby to see, he tried generating some heat. As he channeled his power the strangest thing happened, his arm instantly became covered in fiery red scales, like a second layer of skin, and a small ball of flame erupted from his hand startling the both of them.
"WOAH SO COOL!" she almost yelled. "So you can like shoot fire and stuff now?" she asked with a cute head tilt.
" I have... no idea... this is new to me... I could always create heat, when I fought Adam, it was the first time I used actual fire, but it took everything I had. I feel like I can handle a lot more now though. My body feels like it's been upgraded?" he said extinguishing the flame.
"So what else is new?" she asked him, curiously scanning his face, there was something different about him...
"I have... an idea... you know... it's been a lot easier focusing on you even though you've been sitting on my left this whole time."
She raised her eyebrow at him but he just pointed to his left eye with the black iris. Her eyes bulged, "You're kidding…" she mouthed.
"Nope, I don't know what happened but…my fake eye is well…real," Nova said happily, grinning like an idiot. Ruby squeezed his arm tightly, "I'm so happy for you," she said wiping away a tear of happiness. "Thanks Ruby, I feel like you're happier about this than me."
"Of course I'm happy, you went so long without your eye, you probably suffered a lot because of it, now you're…well…whole." she relinquished her hold on him.
"Yeah it's amazing, I feel like a completely new person," he said flexing his arms outward and rolling his eyes to test rotations.
"OHHHH! Well that's neat," she said, she was trying to work up the courage to tell him her true feelings, that she was, in fact crushing on him to the point where she thinks she might be in love.
"Sooo…dragon, as in actual fire breathing dragon..." She started nervously.
"Yup, that's what I am." He emphasized the p sound.
"How come you're skin is like well…" she wasn't sure how to phrase it.
"Like skin?" he raised an eyebrow. "Well, the truth is, it's like my skin is actually made up of layers of scales, it looks like skin but if I concentrate really hard, like what I did before, I can manifest these scales. These are new." He explained
"I read in stories that Dragon scales are as tough as chainmail? Do you think yours is too?" She asked curiously.
"I wouldn't doubt it." he smiled.
The gleam in her eyes was ever-present. The two chattered way into the hours of the morning until both of them fell asleep, neither of them sure as to when exactly that was.
The next morning Ruby awoke unsure of her surroundings, she'd not have moved had the sunlight streaming through the open window pierce through her eyelids. Her pillow was warm but kind of hard, a very familiar feeling. It also moved. Wait…. Moving pillow? Does that mean…
And so, the memories of last night surged back into memory as she sat up with a jolt. Looking down at the sleeping form of Nova she couldn't help but smile happily. She would've stayed a while admiring his adorable sleeping form, the way his chest rose softly or the way his silver hair was messed up around his head, if not for the sudden coughing behind her.
Her eyes went wide and she froze, slowly turning around she saw a suspiciously smiling Yang and Luna who held unbelievably smug looks.
"I wake up this morning to find my baby sister, not in her bead, would you believe my surprise when I come down here to find you sleeping with a boy!" Yang said in fake shock.
"Pfft come on Yang you totally knew, give the girl a break, from the looks of things bro woke up last night, right?" Luna asked laughing, the sheer relief on her face was hard to miss.
Ruby deciding it best to get off Nova to avoid further embarrassment, gently climbed off him and sat back in her chair. "Yeah I couldn't sleep so I came to see him and he was awake, don't worry though he is pretty normal, err as normal as he gets." She said trying to leave out the events of last night.
"Oh, so you sleeping on him was just because you got so excited, he was awake you fainted on him?" the blue dragon asked smugly.
"Err…. Well you see…." Ruby started but was interrupted when the rest of their teams, Ozpin and Randolf walked in, rather loudly.
Randolf looked at the sleeping Nova, "OI HOW LONG ARE YOU GONNA SLEEP YOU LAZY LIZARD!" he yelled immediately waking up the boy. With a jolt he sat upright alert to his surroundings.
"Holy shit old man! Could you have been a bit louder? I think the people living on the moon didn't hear you," he said glancing around at his team and friends piling in, the grins on all of their faces could be anything short of face splitting.
"Yo guys! Wassup?" he grinned a big toothy grin. Hex just shook her head with a smile and Nitro walked up and clapped his back, while Luna came and gave her brother a hug. He returned it, softly petting her hair, "I'm fine, nothing wrong in the slightest." he smiled comforting her.
"Good seeing you up my man," Nitro smiled.
"We missed you!" Luna chirped burying her head in her brother's arm. A comfortable and warm atmosphere enveloped the room, the smiling faces of his friends beaming toward him like a radiant light. He missed this peace.
"Yes, yes reunions are nice but we must get down to business. Randolf, if you would kindly explain the situation as promised. I need to hear this to after all." Ozpin said with zeal. Everyone in the room especially Weiss and Ruby listened to the old wolf as he began.
"Alright, listen up what I'm about to tell you is a brief summary of what I know or have discovered. Blake, you may know some of this already if you are familiar with Faunus history." He said looking to the black cat.
She just nodded silently and urged him to continue.
"Nova and Luna are Dragon Faunus as you've figured already. What you probably don't know is that they are the last two heirs of the White Dragon Clan, one of the four Royal Families of Gaia, the ancient homeland of the Faunus, I believe you humans referred to it as Pandora, but those who still remember the name are few and far between. The White Dragons, Gold Lions, Black Cats and Grey Wolves, composed the four royal families that ruled over our kind." the wolf began.
"Wait the Faunus had royal families? Where? When? All I know is that the Faunus were oppressed until they fought back and gained Menagerie," Weiss interrupted much more interested now.
Blake was confused, "I mean I knew we had royal families but then we adopted democracy but the books make no mention of what happened to the families. They were said to have been lost in the great war." The car girl spoke up.
"You know that Dragon shaped continent on the map that no one ever makes reference to? Yeah, that's Pandora. We abandoned the land after it became overrun by Grimm from the war. After the great war the four families agreed to change from a centralized monarchy to a more democratic rule. Anyway, politics aside the four families had a deeper task, to protect the shards, the Fragments of Remnant, four gems with each with enough energy to power a country for thousands of years." He took a moment to breathe, the story was getting deeper and no one dared interrupt now. Ozpin's hands were clasped together over his cane near his mouth in deep thought. Everyone else in the room had to slowly process what was being told to them.
"So you mean to tell me there's an entire chapter of history that we humans don't even have record off?" Weiss asked placing her hand on her chin, this was news to Hex as well, she was... apparently taking notes.
"That's right Ice princess," A rough voice said, entering the room. Standing in the doorway was a rather chipper looking Qrow. He was looking much better than he did a few days ago.
"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby and Luna both tackled their uncle. "Are you okay?" they both simultaneously asked. The older huntsman just laughed, "It'll take a lot more than that to take me down kids." he said before turning to the other two adults in the room, "What's the situation?"
"Good Morning to you to Qrow." Randolf said rolling his eyes, "You're just in time, I was just explaining everything. Grab a chair. this'll be a doozy."
"Well don't let me keep you back..." Qrow said taking a sip from his flask before sitting down next to Ozpin.
"The gems were created long before humans existed by the original gods of Death and Creation. The gems served as a power conduit for the manifestation of life as we know it. Humans were created by the gods, but animals and Grimm were created from the gems. Each gem changed over time garnering a symbol of an animal, a Lion, Dragon, Cat, and Wolf. From these, the original families of the Faunus were born. Of course, over time and evolution, we have the diverse society we know today." He paused to let everyone drink in the information before continuing. Once the all looked well acquainted he continued.
"Not much was known about the gems other than they possessed enormous energy, as no one could properly use them, except for a select race of warriors within the original families known as Aspects of Remnant. Children of Royal Blood who were born with the gift of the Aegis gene were able to wield the gems, though the effects varied depending on the user. After the great war, most knowledge about the gems were lost except for the one that belonged to the family of Dragons. Each family hid away their gems, except the Dragon clan, they chose to study it, research it, and for years they produced scientists and blacksmiths and researchers who devoted their lives to the study of the gem." He looked around for a reaction on Blake, it seems she didn't know, well it wasn't his place to tell her after all.
"However, as a result of constant contact, the gift of the Aegis gene occurred less and less. The last two Aspects I know about are Nova and Luna, however, a man known as Onyx Ursur discovered something many years ago that he believed was the key to using the gems to their full potential. The problem is that Onyx didn't want to use the power for good, his hatred for humanity ran deep, he seeks to destroy all of humanity leaving only the Faunus to rule. I had been tracking the whereabouts of the gem that belonged to the Dragon family for the last four years and I finally tracked it to that facility." Randolf finished.
It was a lot to take in truly, most of it was quite difficult to believe.
"So assuming everything you said is true, what happened to the other clans? What makes Nova and Luna so special?".
Randolf inhaled sharply thinking about his next words carefully. "The Black Cats, are currently the ones governing Menagerie, though they have opted to stay away from anything involving Gaia or the Aegis, their crystal believed to be destroyed."
Blake went cold, her entire body rigid, all eyes fell onto her. "By Black Cats, you don't mean…." Yang started but Blake's eyes were unreadable as her ears and head bent low. "Blake are…"
"NO! As far as I know, my mom made no mention of anything like it," she said rubbing her left arm raw.
Randolf just breathed, "You'll have to ask her for sure."
Blake knew she would have to confront her parents eventually but she had no idea how to see them again, given their parting.
"Randolf, what of the Grey Wolves and Gold Lions you speak of?" Ozpin asked his face still broody.
"Ah yes well, I am a Grey Wolf but I am not a pureblood, I do possess some of their power but I can't conjure fire like Nova or distort space like Luna, I can just, move really fast. My body can't handle the nanomachines." He said trying not to good into detail, a pained look crossed his features. "Our crystal is hidden back at our temple on Menagerie. Heavily guarded."
"Speaking of nanomachines, is that what you injected me with?" Nova asked curiously, eyeing the older man, he wanted to ask about the connection between the serum and his mother, but that was another load to drop.
"The Lions disappeared one day, an entire clan of people seemingly vanished into thin air. Rumour has it they ventured back into Pandora to reclaim their homeland but no one who ventured into those lands ever came back alive to tell the tale." He flexed his arms outwards to stretch.
"And…what happened to the Dragons?.." Ruby asked nervously, looking to Nova hesitant at what the answer might be. Just as she thought the mention of it Nova's eyes grew dark and she could feel the fire dying inside him.
"Th-" Randolf stopped himself when he looked at Nova. "I think it best you tell them boy, sooner or later you were gonna have to tell someone." Luna joined her brother and held his hand for support. All eyes turned to Nova curiously and filled with concern, Hex and Nitro especially since even they didn't know the whole story, just fragments.
"I was barely eight years old at the time it happened. Honestly, people say cherish what you have because you don't know when it will be gone." His expression was pained and his eyes were shattered. Ruby gripped his left arm, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Yang and Weiss. "You don't have to if it's too hard," Ruby said her eyes filled with worry.
Nova felt his heart warm at the young girl's care for him. He just shook his head sadly, "No I, we need to tell you though Luna was too young to remember." He said with more determination.
"That night, the White Fang came into our house, armed with weapons. I was in the living room at the time, they approached my father in his study which was the room on the other side of the wall. I heard them, loud yelling, screaming, some gunshots. I was too terrified to move. It wasn't until my father came running in telling me to get my sister and run. My uncle Quartz helped us to escape as the White Fang set fire to our home. Everything was burning, the pictures, the furniture, our family legacy. It was all going up in smoke. I remember as we were leaving the house, flaming beams came crashing down onto Luna trapping her under debris." He paused shuddering at the memory.
Luna also looked shaken up by the memory, the physical grimace on her face as she held her arms around herself, Ruby hugged the small girl. "They say your semblance awakens when you need it. My semblance adapted my strength to move the beams but the fire was still there blocking the entrance. It was then my powers started to awaken as well, I didn't know it at the time but I controlled the fire to allow us to pass. We escaped within a hair of our lives. A toddler and a child wandering the outskirts of Menagerie, stowing away on a ship to Mistral with his injured sister, boy, was I a fool. We would have died if Randolf hadn't found us and took us in. It was, later on, we found out the White Fang lead by Onyx burned our family to the ground, covering it up as a freak accident caused by my parent's experiments. We were forced out of house and home, always on the run hiding our identities and race to survive." Nova said tears forming in his eyes remembering the pain.
Ruby just squeezed his hand and his sister held him looking quite shaken. "We have no idea what happened to our parents but we assumed they were dead."
Blake chose then to interrupt. "I remember the fire; it was late in the night when I woke up to commotion outside. I remember seeing the great mansion in a blaze and later on I heard the story. They said there were no survivors though no one mourned the dead except for the ones who were close. Hearing this from you, and knowing the extent the White Fang would go to achieve their goals, I…I believe you Nova, Luna." Blake smiled sadly at them.
Nitro and Hex had heard this story before, it didn't mean it got easier to listen to it the second time around... The fact that everyone here was supporting the dragons made them immeasurably relieved.
Nova's heart swelled with happiness. He was afraid he would be rejected by his friends for who he really was but it seems his fears were unjustified. Tears welled in his eyes, for the first time in a long time, he truly had friends, a real family.
"You said the Aegis gene and the gems were connected, how?" Ozpin asked Randolf. The old wolf looked at him, "Think of it like this, the gem is a specified battery loaded to the brim with energy. Sure you can put the battery in another device and draw power, but you will never use its full potential unless it is paired with the device made for it, in other words, its respective Aspect. The same goes for the Aspect, they have their own powers but without their gems, they can't use their own full potential."
"This is a lot to take in," Ozpin finally said, getting up from his seat and walking to the door. "I'll go over the information we have, for now, take a break, you deserve it." With that, he walked out the door, his cane in full swing behind him.
"This is way too much for me to take in and I'm not nearly drunk enough for this." Qrow who'd been silently mulling over the information this entire time finally spoke up. They all just watched curiously as he stumbled out of the door, it was amazing how someone could intake alcohol as the first thing in the morning and last thing at night every day of their lives.
"Yo flame boy, so sorry if I'm being blunt here but, your parents are gone? Like …" she made a decapitating sign with her finger and neck. Yang swatter her over the head, "Yang! That's insensitive!" she reprimanded.
"No Weiss, it's quite alright. Well, we don't know for sure; I spent a long time thinking they were dead; I was prepared to live my life as if they were." Nova began, the way he said it, hinted at there being contrasting information, something that filled his sister with a shocking amount of wishfulness.
"But?..." Luna was staring at him with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. It broke his heart to know his sister who had grown up without a mother or father believed they were dead.
"But, while I was down in the facility, I found this," he reached tenderly into his pocket and felt around hoping they hadn't removed his belongings. Sure enough, a folded piece of paper lay at the base of his back pocket. He handed it to Luna who then read it aloud.
"This is…. Unbelievable!" she practically jumped for joy. "Mom is alive! At least there's a chance!" the young girl was ecstatic. Everyone in the room broke into a smile seeing the small girl happy.
Nova ruffled her hair. "Told you there was always a chance. They weren't killed, they were kidnapped... err adultnapped."
"Elain was the only person who was researching the Aegis gene, I know for a fact the White Fang would never throw away such a valuable asset. Your mother is definitely alive." Randolf said pushing up his glasses.
"Old man, you mind explaining to me why my mother said you'd know what to do? How long had this been going on?" Nova asked gesturing to the paper in Luna's hand. The wolf sighed heavily.
"After I left you to go on my mission I found your mother when I infiltrated a White Fang research facility, the very one that you got the serum from. I was working as a guard, my goal was to gather information but imagine my surprise when Elain showed up. My entire plan went from, get information to rescue her, the only problem is that everything went south. She was being forced to work on a serum that would create an artificial Aegis gene, to turn the average Faunus into a super-soldier of sorts. Despite our best efforts to sabotage it, they eventually succeeded... so we compromised the facility and rigged its systems, she hid the prototype serums and stayed behind to delay their progress from the inside. They also still have your father, Flint." Wulf explained.
"What do you mean they have him? Wasn't he with mom?" Luna asked now worried.
"No... they were separated, she's currently somewhere in another part of Remnant working on the Aegis gene while I believe your father is being forced to engineer weapons for Onyx at another location. As of right now, both of their whereabouts are unknown."
"And what of... the fragment that she left me..." Nova spoke up. He was curious now, why did she leave him such a valuable item, why not entrust it to Randolf, or destroy it.
"She left you the Fragment?! This is incredible... where is it?!" Randolf asked frantically, apparently, he was not aware she managed to hide it.
"It attached itself to Asura... my weapon, I'm not sure why. When it did, it changed the blade, and began resonating with me," he explained gesturing to Asura which was perched neatly against his bedside.
Wulf took up the sword and examined it, sure enough, embedded in the left eye of the golden dragon was a shining gem, like red jade.
"I believe the gem's chosen you to be its wielder. I won't be able to remove it, I don't think anyone will, it's resonated with the Incindium in your weapon, that's probably why it changed. Incindium is a rare metal that was created by exposure to the Fire Fragment after all." The old wolf was now regaining his composure.
"Wait how does Adam have the gift of Aegis, he isn't a noble-born," Nova questioned, trying to understand his last battle.
The older man just sighed, "Yes, even more mysteries, well enough, for now, I'm sure your team and friends are dying to catch you up on the things you missed. If you need me, I'll be wherever Qrow is or Ozpin." With that he left.
The room was silent for a bit, there was a lot of information to process and everyone had questions.
"Now that he's gone...lookin good smokey, I'd say that week-long beauty nap went really well for you," Nitro said folding his arms in laughter.
"You're one huge idiot making us worry this whole time," Weiss said with a slight smile which was rare for her. Nova felt warmed to know she cared.
The teams played catch up for a little while before everyone left to prepare for the upcoming dance.
This left Ruby and Nova alone again.
"So…. Now that everyone has left, what are we gonna do?" he asked getting himself off the bed and stretching his shirtless torso. His exposed muscles gleaming in the golden sunshine, enhanced by the semi-reflective scales. Ruby felt the room rise in temperature a few degrees.
"First of all you should put on a shirt," she muttered trying not to stare. Nova just turned to her and smirked, fully facing his toned abs and chest to her, though some of it was covered by bandages.
"Like what you see?" he said with a smug look, trying to take a page out of Yang's book and be openly flirty.
Ruby felt steam coming out of her ears, "S-shut up. Stop distracting me."
"You sure about that?" he asked mockingly walking up to her, she was on her feet facing him, he was so close she could feel the temperature radiating from his unnatural heat.
"Maybe not…" she leaned forward unconsciously, the warmth his body generated beckoning her closer, her arms snaked up his forearms, latching onto his shoulders, his arms rested holding hers. Both of them instinctively drawing closer until they could practically feel each other's breath on their faces.
She could see his face so close to hers, the three-clawed scar on his left orange eye curving diagonally down his face to his upper cheek. The way the light seemed to enhance his already gorgeous skin. Her eyes drifted to his lips that were just staring her in the face, how soft they looked, she wondered how they would taste. They weren't together and by god he wished they were,
He was having similar thoughts, about the way her dark hair and silver eyes made for a striking combination up close. Her round face, coupled with those beautiful eyes and adorable nose, and those pink lips that were just begging him to touch them.
They were both absorbed in each other, their thoughts consumed mirroring the other, how they wanted nothing more than to close that remaining hair strand of a distance between them.
"Hey, I forgot my…" Luna walked in startling the two. They jumped back as if they'd just been sprayed with water, pulled out of whatever trance they were in both beet red.
"Scroll… OH GOD I'M SO SORRY EEP!" she squealed grabbing the item from the table and bolting out the door, her face in the same state as theirs.
Nova mentally cursed his sister's awful timing. Turning back to Ruby he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I-I should go get dressed…" he spoke and his stomach made the loudest grumble.
"And some food by the looks of it," Ruby laughed the embarrassment fading.
"Yeah, I guess I haven't eaten in what? A week?" he asked grabbing his jacket which had been conveniently placed on the table next to the bed folded.
"Dunno… you should go find him." She said still trying to shake herself. The temptation she felt just now was incredible, how she so much wanted to take his lips right then and there but she wasn't mentally prepared to try.
"W-wanna meet me at the café in like thirty minutes? I gotta shower and stuff." He said sniffing his right armpit to see how bad he stunk. Surprisingly he didn't, the staff must've at least deodorized him during his week-long sleep. Still, he felt the compelling urge to be properly clean around Ruby.
"Sure thing, gotta make it past Yang though, she'll probably try to chew me out once I get back to the dorm, your sister probably spread the word by now." She laughed, Nova felt his heart skip at the sight, even the brightest stars in the sky couldn't compare to the way her smile radiated to him.
Ruby waited at the cafeteria patiently her friend, she sat at one of the window tables feeling slightly awkward she was alone. He said thirty minutes but she had to get there early, having feelings for someone made you do strange things. Was she acting strangely? Did he think she was being strange? What if he didn't like her weirdness, she needed to be cool, normal, otherwise, she may never be able to speak her mind.
Normal knees... she mentally chanted a familiar mantra from her initiation ceremony. She was torn from her thoughts when a familiar male voice called out to her.
"Hey Red what's good?" A cheery voice came from behind, she turned to see the smiling face of Sun Wukong and Neptune.
The former sported his traditional unbuttoned white jacket with exposed torso and jeans, Neptune was in his classic garb, his blue hair defying gravity as usual. They both sat on the opposite end of the table to her, "Whatcha doin here alone?" Neptune asked a hint of bravado in his voice.
Sun smacked him, "Come on dude, are you gonna hit on every girl you see? Even Ruby isn't safe…" he feigned shock.
Neptune just looked at him as if he was just asked to eat rotten food, "Dude... chill that's just how I am. Besides, I know Red's already spoken for, by that Alexandrite dude."
Ruby was shocked, "Wait how do you know I have a crush on him? And he's not my boyfriend... yet..."
"It's pretty obvious dude, the only one who probably doesn't know is Alex himself." Neptune rolled his eyes.
"Seriously though, where's the gang? Did ya get hungry and decide to come here by yourself?" Sun asked his eyebrow raising inquisitively.
A few tables across from them a loud bang could be heard, like a fist colliding with wood.
The trio turned their heads to see the infamous tall boy with short dark brown hair and rich looking clothes glaring at them. "Hey, monkey boy you wanna piss off? You're stinking up the place with your monkey smell." the one and only Cardin Winchester sneered, it was like this boy existed just to be a generic bully that made aggravating situations.
Sun was quite furious before he could say something Ruby piped in, "Cardin can you, for one-second control yourself?" Ruby was emanating an aura of anger that would've made Yang proud.
"I'm sorry, didn't realize the zoo was allowing their animals to roam free, must've missed the memo!" he cackled evilly standing up and walking toward them, one had to wonder what crawled up his pants. Ruby, seething with fury got up and walked up to him as well, the stood squaring off in the middle of the cafeteria, she was undeniably short in comparison to him, her head barely reaching his torso.
"You say one more thing about my friend and I swear to god…" she stared him directly in the eye not even flinching.
Cardin was quite pissed at how she was outright challenging him.
"Or what? You're gonna let the jungle patrol beat me up? Hey, monkey boy why don't you go eat some bugs or something, that's all you Faunus are good for anyway," his racism was starting to reach its limit and so was Ruby's patience.
Ruby was about to let a fist fly toward his face when a warm hand stopped her.
"Yo Winchester, you wanna take the nasty attitude of yours and jump off a cliff?" a voice that had an underlying tone of vibrating fury said. Ruby looked to her right to see Nova standing next to her holding her fist, he was clad in his red jacket and a black undershirt with the number four in roman numerals on it, his white and orange hair was in full display, his mask completely gone, much to Ruby's pleasure. At the sight she simmered down, relaxing her hand into his.
Nova didn't look to her just yet, his eyes were now locked with Cardin's.
"Or what you freak? What are you some kind of goat? I've never seen you around before..." he asked trying to size up to Nova.
The boy in question shot him a mismatched glare, the air around him heating up to an uncomfortable level, familiar eyes that reverberated fear in him. Cardin unconsciously stepped back, "Come on Winchester, have you already forgotten who I am?" he said, his smile turning wicked and Cardon could swear he saw the aura of death behind the white-haired teen. It took a moment for Cardin to piece together that all too familiar feeling, realizing this was the exact same man who fought toe to toe with Pyrrah Nikos, he saw them duel and he knew he was no match.
"You're not worth my time," Cardin sneered walking off, trying to mask the fear on his face, but he could not hide the fact that his legs were shaking.
The temperature dropped back to normal and Nova turned to look at Ruby who just gripped his hand tighter smiling.
"If you hadn't come, I'd have punched him out the door," Ruby said calming down, the light smile on her face not going away. Nova just ruffled her hair, "I know Red, I came to save him from ending up with permanent spinal injury, though he deserves worse… Anyone who wears that outfit with those shoes needs to be arrested." he said with an evil glint in his eyes.
Ruby giggled squeezing his hand they would have gotten lost in their own world if not for a sudden AHEM! From Sun.
The two turned to see Sun looking at them with his arms folded. "Yo, Red long time no see! Who's this guy? Have you moved on from Alexandrite?" he asked, putting an arm on the girl's shoulder.
"Sun, it's me, Alex... um.. well my real name's Nova." the dragon said with a straight face.
"Oh okay, nice to meet you Nova..." his voice trailed off when the news dawned on him, his face morphing into one of shock, he blinked incredulously, "Huh?! Spill now!".
"It's a doozy of a story…most of it is classified courtesy of Ozpin, sorry I can't give you details but long story short, I got really hurt in a fight with an old enemy and I ended up comatose for a week." He lifted his shirt a little to show his scar, "I got this sweet scar to show for it, and I decided to stop wearing my mask, and the hair was fake the whole time" he showed it off like a trophy to which Sun and Neptune both ogled.
"Wait so you were a Faunus this whole time... totally called it." Neptune said smirking causing Sun to give him five Lien. Nova just watched the exchange in amusement.
Sun looked at Nova, then back at Ruby, the two were alone, and he knew Red had a crush on Alex, so if Nova was Alexandrite then... "Well Neptune and I have some..things to do…carry on!" he coughed into his fist awkwardly grabbing Neptune, leaving the two alone again.
"That was weird..." They both said simultaneously.
They were well into their meal, Ruby scarfing down actual food instead of sugary sweets for once and Nova was eating what appeared to be fried tofu.
"Mfft Mmm Mmo," Ruby started speaking with her mouthful but Nova shook his head, "Rubes, swallow before you choke," he smiled, she was adorable.
"Why're you eating tofu, I thought you ate fish like Blake. Or do you just not eat meat?" She asked pointing to the stuff on his plate. He just looked at her curiously, did she think dragons were like cats? "What makes you think I don't eat meat. What if I actually like tofu?" He countered
"Maybe... but you don't look to happy with that," Ruby said again pointing to his tofu.
"Honestly? The tofu here isn't bad but, I would much rather have a nice slab of salmon or a whole tuna. And you're right I don't eat meat, but that's just a personal preference. It's not that I can't eat the stuff, nor do I abscorn the idea of it, it's just that...because well, when I was a kid, I had a friend who was a bird Faunus, when I found out where chicken meat came from, I felt so grossed out, like I was eating my own species." He said taking a mouthful of rice.
Ruby raised her eyebrow inquisitively, he noticed she wanted more explanation, "Dragons can eat anything, we just have an extreme preference to fish. So just eating fish as my primary meat wasn't odd. That being said if I had to, I'd still eat other meats., doesn't mean I won't feel sick though, but at that point, it's just a mental thing." he shrugged.
She just gawked at his roundabout reasoning.
"I know I'm weird, yeesh girl," he said waving his fork around. She just giggled, "No not like that I just think it's cute that you felt bad about eating meat when you realized your friend was a bird, who is he anyway?" she asked referring to the friend.
"Terrance, haven't seen him since I left Menagerie," he grimaced at the memory.
It wasn't long before Nova thoroughly devoured three plates of food and was walking back to the dorm with Ruby. Upon their arrival, they were met with the six faces of the remaining members of team ASHNRWBY, all huddled together in RWBY's dorm.
"Uhh, guys... what're you doing here?" Nova asked as he and Ruby stepped inside.
"We were promised a story," Yang said as she folded her arms, staring at the two.
Nova just looked baffled, "What are you talking about?"
"What she means is, we want to hear the full story, what happened to you nine years ago. We want details." She said pressing the matter, a few months ago it'd have been insensitive to ask this of them, but since they were like a little family, and the information was already out in the open, it made sense for him to just give his story.
He sighed heavily, knowing he really couldn't avoid this any longer.
"When I was a kid, my parents sent me for training at Menagerie Junior Combat school, they trained me, Blake, Adam and the rest of kids there how to fight, a traditional Faunus style of swordsmanship based primarily on sword drawing techniques. Normally I wouldn't have to train until I was ten years old but my parents started training me at age seven. I was told it was because they wanted to hone my raw talent.
Anyway, I was told I was a prodigy of sorts, the only person I couldn't match outside of the teachers was Adam, he was two years above me in training and had a much stronger physique. Weirdly enough I found out later that I wasn't a super genius I was just slightly talented at this stuff.
Of course, that didn't stop me from training my ass off every day, I had to uphold our family's name after all."
Ruby shot him a questionable look, "What do you mean?"
"Well you know how I'm kinda royalty?" he asked to see if she was paying attention, to which she nodded.
"Well the Faunus do work under democracy, so we're a royal family only in name, people treated us like a prestigious family but we had no real political power. My parents were scientists not Kings and Queens. That being said we still were quite popular so it made sense I still upheld our family honour. It was strange that we had that much respect, most Faunus don't even remember that the dragons were royalty, they just knew us as 'high class' like the Schnees.
Everything changed that one fateful night..."
Next chapter, full backstory on Nova and Luna, what exactly happened that night. I do apologize again for how long these are going to take, there's just no way around my class schedules, coming next week I'll probably be doing one chapter a week at least.
