I'm terribly sorry for the wait. I have only recently finished a school project that i've been working on. Until the Christmas break, you can probably expect one, maybe two chapters. If I'm feeling real bored, you might get one during the break. If you like the chapter, please leave a PM or review with your comments or suggestions. And until next time, enjoy.
As I said before, Beacon is an incredibly boring place outside of combat class and the scarce team exercises I kept hearing about from Second and Third years. I wasn't looking forward to being anchored to a group of teenagers in a forest for hours at a time. The thought of it made me groan inwardly and made me contemplate just ending my team now to save me the trouble.
I decided against it, focusing my attention elsewhere. The Beacon Armory was in this school somewhere, and I didn't mean the training one. You see, I had taken the soul of a high ranking staff of the schools at one point by chance, and had learned of the Lock-Boxes. The Lock-Boxes were impenetrable rooms holding a large amount of food and water as well as weaponry. It was meant to act a stronghold in the event of the school falling, and was to hold until another school could drive away the threat.
I didn't care about the rations or ammo, I was after something more fun. You see, the Lock-Boxes are also home to the most experimental weaponry in the school's home kingdom. Massively destructive missiles or rail-guns were stored there, deemed to dangerous for storage anywhere else. While I might be able to bring this school down myself, those weapons would certainly make more impressive fireworks.
All of that was well and good, but finding it was hard. Only the most prestigious staff within the school knew the locations of the Lock-Boxes, and even the high ranking staff only knew of its existence, not the location. I would have been able to find the Lock-Box with ease by following the trail of aura that all creatures passively leave behind. Key-word, 'Passively'.
The staff that enter the Lock-Box know how to suppress their aura, leading me to many dead-ends of aura trails that could have been miles of maze walking before they got to the Lock-Box. The only other option I had was to take the knowledge. But again, these people were elite in their aura use. Oh how I yearned to waltz into the Staff Quarters and start slashing until I got the information I wanted, but that would ruin my cover.
Because of their aura use, I couldn't passively take the info either. The one time I tried on Glynda, her aura frilled into spikes of defense the moment I touched it. I swore she looked right at me for a moment. I stayed cloaked before slipping out slowly. That was also out of question.
This issue is what brought me to the roof of the Dormitories in the middle of the night, meditating and thinking hard on how to resolve this issue. In the back of my mind, I also continuously reviewed the aberration that was Headmaster Ozpin's soul. It still troubled me that the miasma of death and the light of life both shrouded this man. I hated it.
"Hey there, you awake?" A light voice asked me, pulling me from my meditation and making me aware of the light behind my eyelids. Daylight? I had to find out, and with determination and minimal effort, I opened my eyes to see the stupidly grinning face of Ruby Rose blocking the sunrise. "What are you doing here?" I asked her, slightly annoyed with how close she was.
"Oh, well, it's Saturday and I just got my cast off. The doctors told me to go easy on it for a bit, but I figured we could at least start training now." I had promised that, hadn't I? Maybe this was the type of distraction I needed for the time being. Yes, this would be fun. "Meet me in the training room in ten minutes. I have to prepare the first lesson."
"Alright." She said, and climbed down the building and back through the window. I followed, swinging from a nearby tree branch and into the room, landing with a roll. "Hey there buddy. Haven't had a chance to talk to you yet. Where you headed?" Yang asked me, standing in my way. "I'm going to train your sister. You're welcome to come. It's gonna be fun."
I could almost see the skeptical look at how I said 'fun' but I could care less. I lightly moved the girl out of my way before exiting the room and beginning a low jog down the hall. A door next to me opened and I saw Pyrrha for a moment before she slammed it shut again when she saw me. I laughed knowing the effect I had on her. One down I supposed.
I entered the training room and walked past the few students that were spending their time here rather than in the city or with another doing something else. Most of them barely spared a glance in my direction before continuing their exercises. That was fine by me, less interruptions. I was about to be able to hit someone and then yell at them about it. No one was going to interrupt my fun.
My destination was somewhere towards the back of the room behind a heavy metal door. I pushed it open and made sure no one was inside before examining the hexagonal pattern on every inch of this place that glowed faintly blue in contrast to the silvery steel. This would suit all of the needs to rigorously and creatively torture the red clad girl.
Three dials resided in the corner of the room and I turned them to Rock Plains at Mid-day with no enemy. With everything set, I stepped outside the door again and waited for Ruby and possibly her sister to show up.
I only had to wait a few more minutes before the sliding metal door opened with an excited Ruby and smiling Yang walked in. I silently waved at them to follow me into the room. They looked at me questioningly before entering and I shut the door. "So what are we doing first. Are you gonna show me how to do that After-Image thing? Ooh, or maybe how to make a tornado by running fast." She said, nearly jumping in excitement.
"Take off your weapons and stand in the middle of the room. You too Blondie." I said. Yang looked at me questioningly. "Why me? I'm not being trained." I laughed slightly. "Yes you are. Now weapons, off." I commanded. She glared at me momentarily. They both removed their respective weapons and stood in the center of the room. "What now?" Yang asked me. I held up a hand and spoke. "Start Simulation indefinitely." I commanded. With ripples on every inch the scenery changed to a high rocky plains in mid-day without a cloud in the sky. I could feel the rocks beneath my feet.
I held up my fist with two sets of long needles appearing in between each of my fingers, numbering six all together. "It's quite simple really. I'm going to train Ruby's speed outside of running by deflecting any attacks and periodically sticking these into her. When she's got six in her, she loses. You're there for distraction support." I let them take that in for a second.
"Well, how do I win?" Ruby asked me. I smiled wickedly, something Ruby and Yang were about to attribute to being a bad thing. "Hit me. Once." And with that, I put my left arm behind my back and charged in for the surprise. It may have worked for Ruby, but Yang had the exact same idea, coming at me with her fist pulled back. I raised by right arm to catch the blow, feinting and letting my arm fall away as her fist came in contact with my palm.
I spun and threw one of my needles into the back of her neck below the spinal-cord and she paused for a second. "Gotta be quicker than that Yang." I mocked as she dug the needle out and threw it on the ground, the object dispersing as another appeared in my fist. "Yah!" I heard from behind me, and bent at a 90 degree angle forwards. Ruby's kick sailed over my head and I straightened up.
"Surprise attacks only work if you're quiet." I said. She landed before reeling around and trying her luck at punching me. She had some of the poorest form I had ever seen and I easily brushed aside her blows with my one arm before stepping under one of her punches and planting a needle in her shoulder. "Ow!" She yelped from the pinprick, entirely expecting it to have been stopped by her aura. She tried too pull it out, but I made this one barbed and it was stuck.
"Faster Ruby." I said as I kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying a few feet and sprawling onto her back against the rough rocks. I then knowingly jumped, feeling that Yang was behind me again. With her target suddenly gone her momentum carried her forwards, almost tripping. I landed softly on the rocks and waited as Ruby got back up and sprinted at me, petals flying off her form.
I increased my own reaction time in kind, mentally placing a reasonable limit for training purposes. She came at me arms raised in a double hay-maker, but I juked around her punching her in her back once before she spun around readily attacking again in a flurry of fists. I was aware that Yang was in front of me, waiting. "I told you that we were practicing speed outside of running. So that isn't going to work." I slapped aside another of her fists before planting a second needle in her wrist. Once again she tried to tug it out, but it was stuck. I shook my head before punching upwards into her chin and sending her a few feet into the air.
Under her, Yang charged me again, her form much better than her sister's. She was slow, but I found myself having to put more effort into blocking and deflecting the blows she used as there was more force behind them. "Good use of force, but it is all over the place. You cannot pelt a brick wall. You must pierce it. Like so." I used both arms and punched her in the gut three times in rapid succession, seeing the look of pain spread as each blow weakened the aura in that area and hurt more.
Her hair caught ablaze lightly and her eyes began to shift into a red, her semblance activating. She threw a strong hook at me, but I held a needle outwards and it stuck between her knuckled as she hit my hand. "Agh!" She yelled, having the needle hit such a sensitive spot. I kicked her before ducking under another punch that Ruby had thrown.
"Activate your semblance Ruby, but not in your legs. Use it to move in place." She grunted with effort as she threw more sloppy punches my way and I stuck the third needle into the crook of her left elbow. She didn't bother trying to dig it out, and kept attacking. Yang joined in, forcing me to stretch to the edges of my self-placed limitations in order to keep up.
"I don't know how!" She yelled at me, lashing out with a wild kick that I spun around and used the momentum to slam Yang in the face, knocking her back a bit. "That is because you have never tried. Plant your legs, feel your aura, and make it move!" I yelled, switching my limits to speed alone to more than match the speeds I had seen her move.
She didn't react fast enough and I shoulder-blasted her into the rock ground again and she let out a groan, ignoring the fourth needle I threw into her shin muscle. This time I didn't give her a chance to get up, gliding forwards and kicking her in the side, throwing her roughly to the left a few feet. She landed with a groan, rolling over to push herself on her feet.
"Go easy on her!" Yang yelled, jumping in front of me and throwing punches that any professional would be proud of. "Maybe you should be harder on her." I countered, catching the fiery blonde's fist and twisting until she screamed, and then throwing her. She landed on her feet unsteadily, holding her wrist. Ruby had gotten up at this point and rushed me.
I caught one of her hands as she threw a punch, catching the second just a moment later. We stood with our faces a foot apart, and I saw anger on her face. Good. "How can you expect to save someone if you can't even hit me once?" I said in a condescending voice. This only served to fan the flame of her anger, and ignite something more. Determination.
I had found that the memories of the souls I had taken had one memory in common with their training. You could not unlock your semblance unless you needed to. Power was born of determination and need. You could not run faster without a destination, or hit harder without a target. You needed a reason to become stronger, faster, smarter.
I had sparked Ruby's determination, and given her the destination, target, and need to become all those things. I simply knew the right buttons to push. I knew she wanted to help people who couldn't help themselves, just like in the stories. Childish, but useful. She jerked out of my grip and threw another punch, this one sailing faster than before, and coming close to landing on my cheek.
Luckily I moved my head to the side in time, and planted my fifth needle in her other side. She growled at me, throwing more attacks. I block or dodged them, sneering all the while. "How can you claim to make the world better like the stories if you can't even write your own. Fight!" I yelled, feeling the pressure on my palms grow greater a she continued attacking me.
"Who are you to say that I can't!" She yelled back at me, and I saw it. The glint in her eyes, that inner flame. I pushed far enough and hard enough, and I brought something to the surface. The change was both immediate and drastic.
Her silver eyes glowed slightly as eyes tend to do when reaching the extremes of one's semblance. Her attacks became faster and stronger, and so much more advanced. Her soft punches had turned to hammer blows strengthened not by muscle, but velocity. I pushed to the ends of my self-set limits of my reaction speed and saw her movements.
She would punch twice in rapid succession at me and I would try to counter, only to see her side-step and duck before tilting on her hand and lashing out with her legs. When I jumped away from the attack she would plant her legs and be right next to me again, myself feeling the wind off her attacks. On top of that, each of her movements were wreathed in rose petals that exploded off of her with each muscle movement.
She punched me again from below and I grabbed her fist, my mistake. With newfound acrobatics she pulled her smaller frame with that arm, charging in for another punch at my nose that I barely blocked. I still held a needle, but I wanted to see how far this could be pushed before she passed out.
"That's it. You feel that power?" I asked. She stood still in a position with her palm at me and a fist pulled back as she breathed heavily, rose petals still drifting off of her. Without answering, her eyes glinted again and she was in front of me again, much faster this time. I even saw the beginnings of an After-Image left behind her, and smiled. When I finally brought this school down, she might actually be fun to fight.
She threw a punch that moved the air with a crack like a whip, and I broke my limits to move out of the way. I turned to the offensive, throwing a flurry of punches with an added 2% of what I was just fighting with. She still kept up in spite of me just adding the power of another hunter into myself. Every punch and every kick I threw was dodged and countered upon.
I caught her fist, knowing of the new force put behind them via velocity, and threw her into the air, taking speed out of the equation. I tossed my final needle at her with high speeds, but it never impacted. Instead she caught it, and snapped the false metal in her fingers when she landed. I saw a glare in her eyes that screamed danger to lesser things. I was not lesser, but I put my guard up in my limited state.
She came forwards, faster yet again and threw a final punch, the barest hints of a pressure cone forming. I didn't have the time to allocate more speed and barely moved out of the way. Barely.
After the punch was thrown, she stuck in that position, heaving for breath and glaring at me as I reached up and touched my cheek. Blood. That punch moved at high enough speeds that the barest of contact split my skin like a knife. I grinned. Oh yes, she would become entertaining indeed. "I win... Right?" She asked, words pausing between heaving breaths as her form dropped and her eyes lost their glow. She swayed in place slightly.
"Yes, you win. I am surprised you managed to unlock that layer of your semblance to such a degree in so little time." I told her, and she smiled as her swaying became slowly more pronounced. "I may have gotten a little angry." She said, sounding slightly embarrassed. I saw one of her knees buckle for a split second. "Anger is by far one of the best motivators. Also Yang, catch your sister." I said as Ruby fell backwards and Yang leaped forwards to catch her.
"Whoa there. I got ya sis." She said, but Ruby was already out cold. She looked back up at me. "You think you can get these needles out?" She asked. I looked into open air. "End Simulation." I said loudly, seeing the sky fall away and feeling the rocks under my feet turn to smooth metal. I then snapped my fingers and the barbed pins stuck in Ruby dissipated, leaving five, slightly bleeding pinpricks that were left unhealed by her lack of aura.
Yang slung her unconscious sister over her shoulder and we walked out of the training room and back to the dorms, a slower pace for Ruby's sake, as Yang seemed to think that Ruby deserved some semblance of rest after that. She would probably wake up soon. Her aura wasn't at zero, just very close by my measurements. I have to thank you for that. I never dreamed that Ruby would be able to manage something like that. At least, not for a long time." She said.
"Dreaming tends to be..." My words ran off as an idea finally clicked into my head. Dreams. DREAMS. That was the answer to my problem. "Think you can get Ruby back by yourself?" I asked. She nodded. "Where are you headed off to? You haven't spoken to any of us since the year started, aside from the few words when we pass you by."
"I just figured out a problem and I need to do some work." I said, starting to walk faster and leave before I felt a hand on my shoulder. "I don't know why you seem to want to avoid us, but after this problem of yours, we're all gonna get a team dinner or something, get some time together. "Her eyes had an edge to them and I knew this wasn't and argument you could normally win. Teenagers.
"Tomorrow night, deal?" I said, and she nodded again. "Alright, but I'm picking the place. Need to get me another strawberry sunrise anyways." She said and i chuckled a bit. She glared at me. "What, gonna say that I'm too young?" I chuckled more.
"No. I was going to say that your drink is weak. I prefer Good ol' Sailor Vodka." She looked at me strangely and laughed. "I'll have to try it sometime." I nodded and ran off, making a hat-tip gesture behind me. The training room was pretty far from any exits to the building, but I liked a good run. It made me appreciate just how much fun the wind in your face is when you have a body to feel it.
After about five minutes of a steady jog, I finally managed to find my way to an acceptable window, opened it, and took a swan dive out of it. I once again caught the edge of the window and flung myself up, digging my fingers into the brick. I hauled myself up the side of the building in a hundred-foot climb. At the top, I noticed that the sun was still halfway in the sky, a good few hours before sunset, and probably more before my opportunity arose.
I had some time to kill, and I supposed I was thirsty after talking about my favorite drink. Yeah, a drink would be nice, although I would need to consume enough alcohol to kill a small god before I got drunk. Nevertheless, it tasted good.
I looked down from the rooftop I was on and unfurled my jacket, hardening it once again into a wing-suit before jumping, propelled by a purple wave of force. Ah, the wind in my face once again. I knew that if I was human that I would be an adrenaline junky. With a grin on my face, I began flying in the general direction of Vale, a far trip just to get a good drink.
After a good thirty minute flight and another thirty minutes wandering the streets and discreetly breaking something, I found my way into a bar name, 'Lion's Den'. When I entered, I saw why. The beast of a man, and I mean that literally because of him being a faunus. stood behind the bar with a mane around his neck. He was also at least 6'7 and 300 pounds of walking muscle with arms like a stake-driver and green eyes that looked like they could cut down a gang leader with a glance.
The building itself was nice, an old wood and stone look with wall lights that were made to look like fire. Quite accurate if I must say. They even had speakers to broadcast the crackling sound. There was an actual fireplace on one wall as well.
The bar had bark over it like it was the side of a massive tree and the seats were made mostly of stumps. A pool table sat in one corner and a cards table in the other. An assortment of bottles sat on wooden shelves behind the man.
"Nice place you have here." I said, knowing he would be hospitable if I was. He grunted and spoke in a growling voice. "It better be. Fought tooth an nail to get this place up and running good. Not many people like a faunus-run establishment." I nodded as if I understood his troubles. "Well hopefully you don't mind a human in your bar."
He laughed a bit. "Human, faunus. Hell, I'd serve a Beowolf a cup of ale if he was paying." I liked this guy's attitude. "Well, I'm looking for something strong. You got Good ol' Sailor Vodka?" He got a look in his eyes. "You sure you want that, I've seen some champion drinkers get shitfaced after just a cup of that." I nodded. "It's my favorite, and I'm certain I could drink any five of them under the table and then finish their drinks." He chuckled at me, but it wasn't out of comedic value.
Alright. Have yourself a seat and I'll pour you a glass. Rocks or no?" He said. "Rocks of course." I told him as I sat down, taking out a crumple of paper and absentmindedly flattening it. An edged glass thunked in front of me with a dangerously clear liquid that had a few ice cubes floating in it. "Twelve Lien." He stated. I nodded, taking out the bills and handing them to him.
Where did I get the money, you ask? Well that thing I broke, you might know it as an ATM. That about sums up the story.
I took a long, slow drink from my glass and chewed the ice I had, relishing the burn of the liquid as it went down my throat. "That's the stuff." I said quietly as I sipped slowly after that, simply watching and enjoying the fire. I think that it is bred into existence that the sound of a nice fire calms you.\
The man watched me with an open jaw as the drink seemed to not affect me in the slightest.
After an hour, another glass, and a refueling of the fire, I left Leon's bar under the promise that I would come back again. He watched me leave, cleaning a glass and saying that he had a bit of a story to tell and more than a few bets to win. It amused me.
What didn't amuse me was getting back to Beacon. I didn't fancy the idea of propelling myself upwards for half an hour to get back, nor did I like the thought of walking back. Instead I looked to hitch a ride on ship. Fortunately, there is usually a Bullhead drop-off on the edges of town.
I made it to the right area, slipping the driver 20 Lien and grabbing hold of the roof, slapping it twice to tell him to take off. With a faint grumble of 'Psychopath' the engines fired on and took me over the Red and Emerald Forests. The sun was now starting to set lightly, but that was fine. I had some heavy meditation to slip into in order to accomplish my goal.
Ten minutes later I was over the edge of Beacon Cliffs and slapping the top of my aircraft, signalling my jump. With strength in my legs, I pushed off and spread my jacket, beginning a glide to the Dormitory building. I only hoped the pilot wouldn't be mad about the boot-shaped imprints on his hull. They liked that kind of thing, right?
Another two minutes and me and the roof were about to become very close friends. Not wanting to explain the broken building, I expanded my jacket to create drag and slow me down to a reasonable speed. Just below break-neck speeds.
I slammed into the roof, rolling and forcing myself to stop before rolling right off the edge. Then I would have to climb back up. By forcing myself, I meant digging my fingers enough to leave trenches in the gravel while my ankles dangled off the roof. Just a bit too much velocity.
What, just because I'm good doesn't mean I'm good at free-falling.
Sighing, I hauled the rest of myself over the edge and stood up, getting my bearings. I didn't exactly need to be on the dorm building, but it would help if I became caught up in meditation and one of my team needed to wake me up. So I went on another roof hopping adventure to find my way back.
Ah, same old roof. I had a clear view of Ozpin's tower from here, which was exactly what I needed. After finding myself in my usual meditative spot, I began to draw. In the gravel, and partially into the cement, I carved a seven-point lotus star, and surrounded it by another circle. Inside the heptagon created, I used the sides to layer it twice more into the center, all the while the lines glowed a purple grey with my energy.
After I completed my work, I took a seat in the center, and started relaxing. My eyes closed and my muscles unwound. I soon began to feel detached from my body as the darkness surrounded me. The only difference was that I could see my drawing, curving upwards into the third dimension and evolving. surrounding me.
I let the energy overtake me, and fully detached from my body, leaving no traces except the body itself. When I looked upon the world and saw souls, I still remained semi-human in nature. Now though, I returned to to a state closer to that of when I was a force, and not a consciousness. My mind expanded, and i began to see... Things...
It is impossible to describe most of what I saw, but there were the marks left behind where a souls had died. There was an impressive amount in this school ground, but the mountain absolutely glowed, but it was also dark. Something was in there, but I would leave it for now.
This was only with my eyes closed, but I opened them. The world came into a focus that would burn the mind of any mortal within minutes, but it provided truth beyond that of what I could normally see. In this state, I could look upon a soul and see who they were, who they would become, what they were like, who they had met. I could see when they were born. I could not however, see how they would die. I got an inkling about it, but only that.
In front of me was my own body, eyes closed and marks burning brightly. I looked down, and what I was had shape. I was a black that somehow radiated the deepest of violets. My body was tall, yet lean. My hands were skeletal, and my body covered in rags that hid my form and swayed in a non-existent breeze, making one unsure of where they ended and my body began.
My face I knew, didn't exist. One might see nothing, no features whatsoever. One more connected to the world would see different. They would see emptiness that was conscious and malicious.
I turned away from my body and towards the tower. Ozpin was in there, awake, for now. Once again, his soul bothered me. I could see flashes of who he might be and who he might have been, but they were all different people. Different faces and names and places. Different... Times?
Unperturbed, I began my walk towards his tower. With striding, gliding steps, I strolled off of the edge, and continued over thin air. My footsteps hollow, and this form unseen. Sweet dreams Ozpin.