Shattered Petals...Searing White...Seething Red…
Burning Sorrow…Scalding Hatred…
Cloaked in Moonlight… Drowning in Darkness...
"Use it against her... stay hidden... stay strong..."
Silver eyes...a soft hand... pulling me forward…
"Use the gift…Keep them safe…"
Cold dirt rushed into my mouth as I woke with a start, feeling the adrenaline force my mind awake and my heart race. Every part of my body hurt, too much to try and move it, as even breathing and coughing out earth hurt. Then again, I wasn't sure if I could call it "earth" anymore. I still felt the ground beneath me as I tried to remember where I was, something to clue me in to my situation. All I could see in my mind's eye, though, was the silver-eyed figure from my dreams. She spoke to me softly, almost begging me as she did. Who was I to keep safe? What was this "gift" she talked about? Then there was that voice in the void that spoke to me... I wondered just how much my journey had messed with me for me to be having such dreams, and if I would ever sleep soundly again after that.
With my body too weak to do much else, I sat with these thoughts for a while as I listened to this new place. The forest I was in was alive and well, with crickets and wildlife roaring in what I assumed were trees. Owls, insects, and other animals were all around me, doing whatever it was they were. It was strange though, I could've sworn that my hearing had improved, and every time that I heard a new sound, the top of my head seemed to twitch instinctively….
Then it all went blank.
No noises at all, no animals, not even the maggots below dared to make a sound. Straining my ears to open wider, to make sense of it, I did not need to wonder for long. A guttural growl soon rang through the ground, and heavy footsteps beside them pounded through the soil. I laid as still as I could, hoping to God that it wouldn't be smart enough to know if I was playing dead. Inch by inch, the beast continued closer to me, until I began to hear its nose sniffing in my direction. With a low hiss, it headed straight in my direction until it was looming over me. Poking and prodding me, I felt some kind of sharp claw on my back and legs, until it took its inspection a step further and threw me with force onto my back.
Unable to keep quiet I yelped in surprise. Finally opening my eyes, I still had no clue what it was. Before me was a blurred mass of something dark and brown, massive in size and very, very close to me. Worst of all, I could just make out some kind of red dots where its eyes would likely have been... and I could only guess they were looking right at me.
There was little else I could do but try and scream, but my voice did not have the power, I was too weak to even give a whisper. I was alone with this thing, in no shape to make some poor excuse for a fight or even attempt to run. When I tried to move my legs there was simply nothing in response. Roaring over me, the thing threw its weight onto my legs with one of its limbs. I felt bones turn to powder in an instant, crying out in pain in between the tears. The thing's maw crept closer and closer towards my face like it was going to rub in the fact that I was going to die. Maybe it enjoyed looking a meal in the eyes, who knew. All that I knew was that this was the end, and I began every single prayer that could think of to save my soul. It was all I could do.
"Lord, I am sorry for my sins…" I rasped, closing my eyes as it grew closer, feeling its breath on my face as it closed in.
So, this is how it would end...
"Oh no you don't!"
Gunfire exploded all around me, sounding like anything from artillery shells to pistols. Before long I felt it remove itself from me, releasing my crushed legs and slicing across my chest in one final move. The gunfire continued while the thing roared, eventually falling to my side, and crashing to the ground as the weapons fell silent.
"Got 'em'", a small and perky voice cried out in victory.
"Good work little sis! This is where we saw that flash, it wasn't any surprise that we-" one person remarked, before stopping mid-sentence and running closer to me, cursing under her breath.
"Quickly, get a trauma kit!" cried a commanding and shrill voice.
Different noises churned around me, only barely audible through the pain and the tears. Flashes of colors came to my side, doting on my injuries and chanting supplications to try and keep me awake amidst the agony.
"Hey, stay with us, you're going to be okay!"
"There's too much bleeding! We don't have the supplies…"
"Do something! Anything!"
"Call the dropship, we need to go back to Beacon."
"We don't have time!"
"Stay alive, damn you! Stay Alive, fight it, don't go into the light!"
Their voices sounded panicked, fearful of what they saw. I knew that if I looked I would only make it worse, so I closed my eyes and just let out the pain through the gurgles and yells that I could muster, tainted with the taste of blood in my throat.
"It's not stopping!
"Wait a minute, Weiss, I have an idea."
"What, we don't have time for-"
"She doesn't have an Aura, Weiss!"
They spoke nothing for a moment, someone still trying their best to wrap my crushed body into a better state.
"Yang, what makes you think that would work?"
"Do you have a better option? If we don't do it now She could be dead by the time the dropship gets here."
She?
"Don't worry, you're gonna be okay. WEISS!" Screamed the one voice.
"Alright, alright, fine. Get out of the way."
My breathing was turning more ragged by the second, my limbs feeling ice cold and my chest losing warmth. I was so tired, almost like I had taken a sleeping pill…
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality… Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death…"
The words I heard rang a bell, but the oddest thing was the warmth I was suddenly feeling, fighting off the cold that was surging from my broken limbs. Almost like my blood was rushing back into my body.
"I release your soul and by my shoulder…protect thee!"
With the last words of the chant, I felt a switch in the back of my mind flip on. My vision sharpened and every muscle in my body tensed at once. Everything burned...
"Hey, it worked! The bleeding is slowing down!"
Suddenly enveloped in a seething rage, I screamed and began to thrash about. I was warm, yet cold, feeling myself sweat while the hairs on my body stood on end. I was so fucking angry, and I had no idea what about. Many hands tried to hold me down, but they didn't matter. So much anger, so much suffering, so much pain… someone needed to answer for it. I didn't want any of this, I was torn away from my family, and now my legs were broken beyond repair. I was going to be an invalid… and this was all Ozpin's fault.
"Oz…pin…" I growled in a whisper.
"Hold her down, hold her down! She's not ready yet!"
Yes… it was his fault I was in this pain. He brought me here to die, didn't he? He made me leave everything I loved, only to die.
"I'm going to fucking KILL HIM. WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS THAT SON OF A BITCH?"
This anger was new, it held power,… it felt good. I wanted to use it to burn Ozpin alive, to make him suffer… no, to make ANYONE suffer. It didn't matter if they so much as looked at me the wrong way…
"Holy shit, calm down!"
"What's wrong, what happened?"
Those voices above me, the mere perception of them annoyed me to the core. It would be nice if they just stopped and never spoke again.
"…Die."
I felt a force explode from my chest, a wall to separate me from everyone around me. I willed it forward, wanting it to make everyone just go away. I felt my eyes open, finally able to make out details, but only to see shades of darkness cover everything. Looking around me, those who were my saviors were but monochrome. It was a shame, really, that I wouldn't get to see their blood run when I was done killing them.
I sat up, throwing a hand forward and watching as my shield threw all four of them back onto their asses. I recognized them, the members of a team I knew very well. I smiled coyly, not daring to say a word to them. I didn't need words to shred them to pieces. But it would be fun, wouldn't it?
"Wonderful! I can make a little color wheel with your bodies!" I cackled.
"That is far enough!"
I turned to face the voice that had the fucking nerve to interrupt me. Ozpin stood not far behind me, cocoa mug in hand, looking at me disappointedly. He appeared even more disheveled and unkempt than before, and out of breath. This was good, it would be easy to kill him.
"You…"
"Yes, me. You do not want this. Come with us, let us help you. The rift has affected you."
A small chuckle was my only response as I lifted a hand and willed my energy forward. Channeling all my power into it, I had hoped to smash his skeleton with one clean thrust. Sorry to say, he had more reflex than that and dodged it cleanly. I laughed with mad joy as I continued, throwing more and more towards him. He jumped to and fro like a little pansy, but it brought me such happiness to see him squirm before I crushed him.
"Die… Die… Die… DIE… DIE…D-"
"Shut Up!" a voice screamed at me.
A mass of hair flew into me, pain erupting from my stomach and throwing me into the ground, knocking me onto my back again. I was knocked out before I hit the ground, the only thing in my mind being the anger… that hatred… the desire to kill. It didn't matter if I had lost this time...
I would kill them all.
When I woke again, I dizzily groaned and tried to reach up to my head, only to feel the cold leather of a restraint preventing me from moving my arms. Resisting against the cuffs tied to the frame of the bed, I shook my head to clear my vision but summarily regretted my decision after inducing a splitting headache. I did not have to wonder where I was for long, as it was obviously a hospital room. Bland, inoffensive, and smelling faintly of bleach and steamed sheets. A curtain separated me from the rest of the room, heart monitors and other machinery humming to my right. A faint light from the hallway bled through the curtains, casting an eerie glow on the bed. It was dark like I had been here for some time.
What the fuck had I done to warrant this all, I wondered? A safety precaution, maybe? A quarantine measure, perhaps? I struggled to make sense of it until it all came blasting back into my head. The anger that I had felt, the power I had projected from my body, the desire to kill everyone around me… then it all came back to me.
"Jesus Christ, what did I do?" I asked into the air, realizing that my voice was nothing like what it once had been. Raspy and cold, but in an even higher pitch than I could have ever remembered it being.
"Nothing too serious, luckily."
I jumped slightly at the unseen voice in front of me, before having Ozpin appear from behind the curtain, pulling it open with a frown on his face. For the first time since meeting him, he was without his trademark mug, it was kind of off-putting to be honest.
"I've been waiting with you since we returned to Beacon. The girls were waiting to hear a report on your health, but I sent them to bed not long ago. They are unharmed, but I could not say the same for you. At least… at first" he trailed off, before removing the covers on my body to reveal my lower half. Looking down, I saw my normal legs, covered in bandages but intact, nonetheless. What was so important about…
"I…how did I do that? Did I do that? I thought that they... and what's wrong with my voice!?" I asked, pointing skeptically at my legs while rubbing my throat.
"Well, to answer the first question at least, Yes, you did do that. Before we even made it back to the school, as a matter of fact. Within ten minutes of having two of your limbs crushed beyond repair, they were returned to fully functioning order with no signs of damage ever having occurred in the first place. It was remarkable… almost as remarkable as the power you wielded."
"Ozpin, I… I don't know what happened, I couldn't control myself, I'm so sorry I-"
Holding a hand up to stop me, he looked right into my eyes and continued.
"I do not hold it against you. It was obvious that something happened to you in the void, but we are clueless as to what" He admitted, before leaning down to remove the leather restraints on my limbs. "Your every vital sign is normal, your body remains intact, and even your newly awakened aura is stable. From a clinical standpoint, you are fine."
When he was finished I rubbed my wrists pensively while he moved around me in a circle, opening all of the curtains around me and taking a seat in the now revealed cloth chair to my left. He looked me over for a time, just staring at me. I had many words to say, but I was loath to try and cut in on whatever agenda he had. With a sigh, he looked down at the floor and spoke at last.
"But I fear that a clinical analysis will not avail us. The portal worked, and you are here, but I remain concerned about what side effects remain for us both. From what we saw in the forest, it would seem that we do not know the half of it. Regardless, we are lucky that there is nothing to... obvious about it."
"Well, I wouldn't call having a higher pitched voice or going into a murderous rampage fucking discreet, Professor."
"That is not what I am referring to, Mr. Cortes. Or, rather, should I say… Miss Cortes."
I balked at him, considering him crazy, but all he did in response was to point at my torso. I pulled down the blankets over me, wondering what the hell had him so concerned until I saw exactly what he meant.
"Well... that would explain a few things... Ozpin?."
"Yes?"
"Why am I a fucking woman?!"
Sure enough, below my robe was a pair of unmistakable mounds where my flat chest normally sat. Unbuttoning the robe, I had to make sure they were real. Again, I was proven right, and there sat two distinctly female breasts, just sitting there super casual-like. Feeling my face, the small stubble I had was no longer there, while my hair felt significantly longer along my neck. Looking further down, I panicked and wondered…
"Uh, before you try and do anything else, I… would like to continue our conversation, if you would be so kind, Miss Cortes?"
Fuck me, I had forgotten about Ozpin. He was turned away, blatantly embarrassed and trying to pretend I hadn't just started to strip in front of him. I could feel my cheeks turning red as I replaced my gown, also noticing that my hands had shrunk quite a bit and seemed much more… dainty.
"Hehe, sorry Ozpin, I just kind of… got carried away, it seems."
"This wouldn't be the first time, now would it?"
"No… *sigh* it wouldn't. Ozpin, I'm so, so, so sorry for it, I couldn't control myself!" I tried to say before he held up a hand and looked at me.
"I know that you did not mean it, but before we discuss anything else, I have to know… what did you experience in the rift?"
And so, I told him everything, my visions of darkness and the woman from my dreams, the anger and the rage that piled up inside me, and everything in between. He sat in silence and listened, and looked positively intrigued, in a very Ozpin way, but did not interrupt. Once I finished, he groaned affirmatively and stood.
"You have told me much, Miss Cortes… and at the same time, nothing at all. We need more to go on if we are to understand your condition."
"So what the fuck is that supposed to mean, then? What do I do if this happens again?" I asked, feeling the annoyance that only one who deals with Ozpin could.
"I have my theories, but to go through all of them would require more time and energy than I doubt either of us have at this moment. All we know, for the moment, is that you are safe, and here. The rest… we can figure out later, so long as no one upsets you too much. If this rage is tied to your emotions, we should do our best to avoid upsetting you, as best we can."
He stood from his seat, moving to me and resting a hand on my shoulder.
"I know that this is already a messy situation, Miss Cortes, but I must warn you; this is likely to get messier with time. Take this time to rest and adjust to your new form. Feel what you need to, do what you must, and prepare for the trials to come... and thank you."
Leaving me with that bit of foreboding exposition, he turned and left, closing the door gently behind him and leaving me alone with my thoughts and my tits.
"Yeah... did a real good job of not upsetting me there, Oz."