I'm glad about the immediate reviews, which is my favorite part of writing. That and the ability to jump into another universe. Both of those together is just plane fun.
As the story progresses and you get ideas about how things will come to pass, please feel free to inform me of them. You never know if I might use one.
Other than that, Let's continue.
Darren P.O.V
Stepping off of the aircraft, I vaguely noted a boy in white armor clutching his mouth in one hand and stomach in the other. I say vaguely because I was much more interested in the air around me. Beacon and its grounds held a power to them. I knelt to the ground and placed my hand upon the cemented path, letting my mind expand.
Past the haze of control and security that Beacon was, brief images flashed through my mind, letting me understand some of its history. Towers being built just as the dust of war settled, hunters closing and guarding old gates, the activation of the worldwide CCT. Above it all though, was a man. One man, with just a few thousand too many souls.
I opened my eyes and stood up, not caring if I was just in someone's way or not. Looking forwards I saw the main building of Beacon, which every other student who knew their way was going. It was as good a place as any to start, and so I followed the tide of bodies, ignoring the small explosion that rumbled the ground. I assumed it was simply a commodity at Beacon.
The walk to the main building was a longer one, but full of sights. The large aqueducts and archways that spanned the entirety of the grounds were truly monuments of engineering. The large spires of Beacon itself jutted into the sky nicely, all overlooked by a large tower that wasn't the CCT.
One could only wonder who lived up there. Except me. I knew it was the Headmaster of this school. Who else would have that position? I liked the height of it though. It would give me a good lay of the land and a hiding place if I wanted. Mentally I bookmarked that.
In just under twenty minutes of walking, I and everyone else were standing inside the building. Most of the students were looking up at the stage expectantly. I was simply looking for a quiet place to stand, or perhaps lean against a wall, when I heard a shrill and angry voice yelling.
"YOU!"
"Oh god, it's happening again!" A second voice said in slight despair, and I caught a fast motion in that direction. Looking over I saw the red girl from the plane laying in her sister's arms, both looking at none other than a Schnee. I thought this might be entertaining, and I walked over.
"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff." She said angrily. Just after, the one with yellow hair looked down at her sister in shock.
"Oh my god you really exploded." She said in a monotone voice. I simply leaned against a nearby wall, listening to the three bicker for a bit. Facts, poorly hidden insults, and apologies were thrown around. As well as a large amount of sarcasm. I did however learn that the Schnee was Weiss, and the one in red was Ruby. Names were important in a way.
(Insert painful microphone noise)
"I'll... Keep this brief." The man on the stage kept his promise, talking only for a minute or two. I didn't listen, focused more on the fact that the air around him matched the feeling of the man that had many souls. Mentally bookmarking that with a higher importance, I tuned in to the blonde now speaking after the older man, who I could assume was Headmaster Ozpin.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." I clapped three times in appreciation of someone who could keep something so important so brief. Anyone else would have drawn that out for ten minutes or more. I got a strange look or two.
"He seemed... Kind of off." I heard the yellow one say, voicing everyone's thoughts.
"It's almost like he wasn't even there." Ruby said. Annoyingly then, the blonde boy in white armor butted in, saying something about his hair. I took that as the universe saying there was nothing else important to happen, and left. It appeared we had until tonight to gather, and so I had some time to waste. Unlike any other teenager however, I had no people here to talk with, and no want to see any parts of the building.
The entire building was built upon incredibly large cliffs that overlooked a large forest. The Emerald Forest to be precise. I knew the forest was infested with Grimm, that much was sure. By common sense, I could assume the forest was kept at a reasonable Grimm population, and that the older creatures were hunted down for safety reasons.
That didn't matter to me though, it was still a way to pass the time. I looked around to make sure nobody was looking, and took a flying leap off the side of the cliff. And I began falling, fast. Using some of my power, I expanded my leather cloak and stiffened it, turning my fall into a steep glide. Flying was fun, especially when you see a small Nevermore just asking to have its head removed.
Another bit of my power and a summoned blade later, the head of the Grimm bird was now in one of my hands, and the sword in the other. Now the question was, What can I do with this?
Still falling/gliding down at a semi-dangerous speed, I looked around for a Grimm with a reasonable size. My eyes laid upon the lumbering forms of multiple Ursai. How fun. I moved my arms and turned into their area, flattening out my curve until I was horizontal in flight and about ten feet off the ground.
I would like to think the Ursa had a moment to think about its life and what it had done before I barreled into it at an easy 80mph with my shoulder covered in a metal hard shield of power. My momentum carried it with me into a nearby tree and broke its spine. I know this from the audible *Crack* I heard.
The rest of the Ursai looked over at me in mild confusion as I climbed out of the corpse of the Ursa I killed. Quickly they shook off their confusion and charged me. Three of them in a semi-circle cornering me. This was gonna be good.
I summoned a dark-black and slightly translucent short-sword in my right hand and back-flipped, planting my feet onto the tree behind me and pushing off of its trunk. I blew past the group of Ursai between number 2 and 3's heads and rolling to a stop, smiling. Ursa 1 and 3 turned to me, while Ursa 2's head fell off and its body collapsed into the soil, bleeding black into the green grass.
Before they could even begin to advance on me, two throwing knives appeared inside Ursa 1's neck, just missing the windpipe. On purpose of course. It was meant as a distraction. And a distraction it was as the bear struggled to remove the knives as I charged at Ursa 2 wickedly.
With whatever instincts the creature had, its raised its arms. I'm still not sure if that is a good or bad thing, as it didn't die instantly. It was however, disarmed in the most literal of sense of the word. Then I buried my blade into its sternum, before turning and ripping it out sideways.
I turned back the the last Ursa, switching my sword into a hammer with a long handle, but a smaller head. It appeared that the Ursa had managed to claw the knifes away from its throat, judging by the two bleeding holes in its neck. Red eyes glowing with anger, the beast charged me. I let it.
When the Ursa was just a few feet away from me, I raised my hammer and swung sideways, putting some actual force into it. The head of the hammer connected with the Ursa's side, sending it twenty feet to the right and into a tree, felling the large oak. I was on it in an instant, raising my hammer once more, and crushing its skull like a watermelon.
I continued hunting Grimm with ease for the next few hours, before the sun began to set. I had to return and get to the Ballroom or people would start to look for me. It would be easier to just follow rules, for now.
The cliff wasn't a problem as I summoned pickaxes to pull me up the cliff-face and onto school grounds. It took me an hour of climbing, but only because I took my time with it. The Ballroom was easy to find thanks to the many maps posted around the grounds. As the sun finally fell, I walked into the Ballroom.
There was nobody awake and everything was dark, except for one candle. While I could see well in the dark, the candle illuminated the figure of a cat faunus, her heritage poorly hidden by a bow, and she was reading a book. "Twin Humanity", one of my personal favorites.
Deciding to do a bit of information searching, I forced light to bend around me, cloaking me inside a pitch black aura. I strode forwards, my footsteps silenced by night, and came closer to the faunus girl. Her amber eyes were punctuated heavily by her pale skin and dark hair, but it was a good contrast. Other than her appearance though, I knew nothing about her.
Using one of my older tricks, I knelt down next to her without her noticing. The only indication she gave was looking at her candle odd when it dimmed some. Closing my eyes again, I raised my hand towards her, feeling for her aura. If one could see it, they would find dark tendrils spread into her aura until they reached her, and she shivered as if cold.
ignoring any parts about her identity, I reached for her name as she rubbed her arms, trying to warm up because her aura thought she was cold. It didn't take long for me to pull her name into my own mind, and retract my own ice cold, black power from her aura. "Blake Belladonna"
I did the same thing to the yellow girl who was Ruby's sister, as well as Ruby herself. The blonde boy also deserved my interest. Each of them shivered, that is, accept the blonde one. Yang Xiao Long was her name. This confused me as I found Ruby's last name to be Rose. And the boy, why I didn't know I'd have the chance to torment and Arc.
Satisfied that I had grabbed the names of everyone important I sat down next to the Blake, and allowed myself to come into visibility. She didn't notice me at first, and so I left it that way, seeing how long it would take.
There were a few thick strips of leather across my body that held some of my meager belongings. Seven throwing knives, which I quietly set on the floor, a vial of Grimm Blood, which is worth a fortune to any scientist. A vial of Human blood, though this time in an iron container. Some inch-thick whetstone sharpening blocks that were small enough to carry six of them with ease.
The final straw for Blake to notice me was my taking off my true sword, and laying it on the ground. I chuckled at the silent gasp she gave upon realizing I was there.
"How long have you been sitting here?" She whispered to me. I looked at her, smiling wickedly.
"I've only been sitting here for a bit, but I've been walking around for about twenty minutes." She glared at me, obviously not believing me.
"I doubt that. I have very good sight and hearing." I nodded, about to have a little more fun.
"I'm sure you do, being a cat faunus." Her calm eyes immediately widened in slight fear and her voice became apprehensive.
"How... Do you know that?" She asked me.
"One, you just told me," to that she slapped her own forehead.
"Second, you might want to pick something that doesn't literally look like a cat." She actually chuckled a bit to that.
"You've got me there, but it isn't as easy as that. Any hat I wear would fall off. Not to mention the fact that this bow is the only thing that isn't unbearably uncomfortable. Imagine constantly having your ears folded and taped down."
I nodded again. Most people would call me talking with her being nice, but I was simply making myself seem less suspicious. The more people that liked me, the less fingers would point at me when something strange happened. Therefore, I could enjoy this longer.
"Hey, if you would, keep my being a faunus between us." She said.
"Why not. I haven't got anything to gain from telling your secret around. So I won't."
"Thanks." She told me, smiling a little easier now. But her being calm was boring. Time for a trick! I stood up, leaving my items where they were. I doubt anyone would be able to take the sword without making a lot of noise, and who was gonna steal a whetstone?
"Well Blake, if you don't mind, that window over there is just begging to be jumped out of, and I'm a good sport. So I'll see you in initiation." I started walking towards the window and slowly gaining speed, listening to her stutter out an answer.
"I never told yo- Wait, what?" She asked as I began full out running at the window, stepping over sleeping bodies as to leave everything silent. When I reached the window I jumped feet going first. My body then phased through the glass, while my fingertips caught the edge of the windowsill outside, catapulting me upwards and onto the roof with a perfect back-flip.
Then I laughed, thinking about the kind of confusion I just left her with. And this was only the beginning!
Hey there. I just wanted to clear something up before someone calls me lazy by giving Darren/Death powers to fit the situation.
I want you to notice that when talking about Darren, I say "Power" and anyone else, I say "Aura", save for when aura - lowercase "a" - is the correct word.
I do this for a reason. Darren is not a human, but he has been around long enough to easily copy aura itself, and the semblances of many hunters. He has an armory of different semblances at his disposal, mostly because he likes being "Creative" in the way he kills people.
As always, any questions or ideas you have for the story so far, review or PM them to me and I'll respond any way I can without spoiling it.