A Cosmic Journey

by Sleepless Elite

One minute asleep in an apartment, the next clearly not. This is no quest with a goal, no adventure voluntarily undertaken. This is a journey without acquiescence, a constant fight for survival, with the creatures of Grimm being just one problem. This is a story, now woven into that of many others, that better not end anytime soon. (SI/OC) (OC/?)

30. Chapter 27: Give Them An Inch

A Cosmic Journey

Chapter 27: Give Them An Inch

Chapter Date: 03/23/2020

A/N: Yeaaaah, this might be unnecessary, but as a word of caution to all readers, make sure that your internet router is fully functional during times of quarantine. If it, say, happens to malfunction while your entire city is pretty much on lockdown, leaving you without internet for your writing, classes and work…that would be bad. As you can guess, this happened to me, and all I'll say on that is the past week has been long, stressful and at points downright surreal. I might as well do my part and just caution to all, stay inside and practice healthy hygiene. Even if non-senior citizens aren't necessarily impacted by the virus, and there's no indication that factoid is true just yet, better to stay safe for any friends or family who could be adversely affected. Hopefully this does a little bit to help make the social distancing and quarantine better.

This was not good.

CRASH

I mean, between initiation, Junior getting the drop on me, team RWBY having it out for me, etc., I've had that thought more than a few times in the past few weeks. But this?

"HOLD STILL!"

Yeah, this had prime 'Fuck you, Kouzai' material written all over it.

Guarding against a slash Vernal's blades with my armored arm, I deflected her other blade with Luna before raising Corona to fire off a shot of Lightning Dust. Vernal wisely ducked under the bullet instead of deflecting it and backed up a few feet. I took the time to glance at an amused Taiyang lounging off to the side. "OI! Wanna intervene and not be witness to a murder here?!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry," Tai chuckled, but made no move towards Vernal or I. "It's just, it reminds me of the old days, where Qrow or Raven or I would get into a scuffle like this, before Summer would come along to whoop all our asses."

SLASH

"NOT HELPING, TAI!"

"Hey, I said that I wouldn't be putting any hurt on you. Her on the other hand…" Tai gave a thumbs up, and for sanity's sake I didn't try and guess who it was for.

'Well, that was the opposite of helpful…' I tried a different tactic and faced the smirking bandit instead. "C'mon Vernal! We're kind of in the middle of Beacon Academy right not, with innocent people around and a very strict headmistress…let's just put a pause on this until a better time."

"I don't see any innocents around here," Vernal replied, and I had to glance around to confirm that, somehow, Beacon's garden and main courtyard were nearly empty of civilians and students.

'How in the…' I trailed off mentally as my eye caught and focused on something towards the school, and I slapped my face with Mortem. 'You have got to be kidding me…'

"Come one, come all! Place your bets for the beatdown-I mean, match of the century between two heels! We have Kouzai, the guy that everyone loves to hate, and Vernal, the pissed-off fighter with a chip on her shoulder from their last match!"

"I DO NOT!"

"QROW!" Vernal and I both paused in our outbursts, before mutually clearing our throats.

"Twenty lien on Miss Tattoos!" Yang crowed, slapping the card into Qrow's hand. She was followed by a subtly malicious Blake and seemingly indifferent Weiss.

"Well then, forty on Kouzai!" Nora shouted, glaring at Yang as JNPR, the twins and Ilia stood off to the other side. The blonde brawler narrowed her eyes.

"I change my bet to fifty!"

"Sixty!"

"Se-ow, Ruby!"

"So, this is the kind of environment that you've been languishing in," Vernal commented, glancing at the peanut gallery before turning back to me. "Small wonder that you were caught without your main weapon."

"Well, you know, I'm sure a steady diet of banditry, thievery and extortion make for strong warriors, but I'm a more conventional fighter." My comment had Vernal frowning.

"We haven't been like that for a while now, not that you'd know anything about that." Her hands tightened on her weapons. "Still, training under Raven the past three years has made me far superior to what you were."

"Great, sure, yep, you got me. Congratulations, you win, I'm free to go, right?"

"Nope." Nuts, did everyone saying that word sound like Ruby?

I sighed, swapping Luna over to my left hand and Corona over to my right. "Figures." Then I dashed forward, left arm guarding the front of my body. As Vernal threw her wind and fire blades, I used Chronometry to duck under one before deflecting the other. As I closed in on Vernal, I lashed with Luna while channeling Aura to the knife.

THUNK

As Vernal parried with one of her blades, she turned to see the other buried in a tree on its return flight.

'Weakness 1: Boomerangs aren't much use if they can't return to you.' Really, that was the only difference between Vernal's weapons and Tyrian's. Now down to one weapon, Vernal thrusted the blade forward, but I stabbed Luna down into the large opening of the weapon's grip, using Burst to halt all momentum. Kicking out, I wrenched the other blade out of Vernal's hand and threw it at a separate tree. Turning back, I watched Vernal charge towards me. 'Weakness 2: Her fighting style primarily relies on-UGH!'

Blocking a kick with my left arm, I watched as Vernal yanked on my right arm to land a hook into my body, before dragging Corona out of my loosened hand.

"Don't think I'm anything like I was back then," Vernal growled, weighing Corona in her hand before levelling my own weapon at me. "Looks like you're still carrying the weapon Raven gave you. I didn't peg you for the sentimental type."

"Yes, because I'm nostalgic of the time I got the snot beat out of me by her," I panted harshly, switching Luna to my free hand. "Never hurts to be prepared, and I've made a few modifications along the way."

"Well thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to use them on you!" Dashing forward, Vernal covered her approach with a few well-placed shots, forcing me to cover with my armored limb before she jumped out and double-kicked my arm away. Activating Mortem, I channeled the Dust barrier around me for a moment to block the bullets she fired.

'Okay, her hand-to-hand is clearly a lot better, I can't hold Mortem forever, and I've got no ranged options right now. Well, I've got one, but…' I glanced down at Luna, before shaking my head. "Can't bust out an Aura strike with it, otherwise someone around is bound to put two and two together…alright, in that case!'

Jumping back, I deactivated Mortem as I channeled Aura to use Chronometry. Across from me, Vernal bared her teeth in a feral grin, crouched with Corona in her hand. Tensing, I rocketed forward as she did the same.

"Enough." Both Vernal and I smashed into barriers of invisible force, before our limbs were bound to our sides. Closing my eyes, I concentrated and saw the lavender Aura encircling us as the blood drained from my face. Opening my eyes, I saw Goodwitch stalking past Qrow and the others over to Vernal and I. Coming to a stop in front of us, she glared at us with nuclear intensity. "Taiyang, would you care to explain what is happening here? Now."

'Huh?' I was barely able to turn my head and glance sideways. In the middle of trying to sneak away, and doing a fantastically poor job of it, was Tai. Somehow the father of two looked surprised at the fact that he'd been spotted, doing a bashful pose as he faced Goodwitch.

"H-hey, Glynda, great to see you! Sooooo…this was just a friendly spar between Kouzai and Vernal here! They've known each other for years and haven't been in touch for a while, so they figured it was just a way to blow off steam! It's not like there was any danger or big damage…" Tai trailed off as Goodwitch glanced around at the trampled flowers, gouged tree and generally torn-up sod. Emerald eyes glared at cowering blue as an eyebrow was raised. Tai lasted maybe five seconds before pointing a finger. "It was Qrow's idea!"

"In the event of a draw, the procee-huh? You sonofabitch!" Faced with the prospect of an annoyed Goodwitch, Qrow's legendary survival instincts kicked in, and the veteran huntsman dashed into the school.

"QROW! Grr…I'll give him a lashing so thorough he won't have any feathers left to fly…" Goodwitch growled before turning back to Tai, Vernal and I. "Tai…out of respect of the fact that it is parents' weekend at Beacon, I will allow you to return to your children, so long as no further trouble occurs either directly or indirectly due to a Xiao Long, Branwen or Rose."

"Yup, sounds good, thanks again Glynda!" Tai streaked away with speed showing the familial resemblance between him and Ruby, leaving Vernal and I attempting to burn holes into his back.

"As for you two…" Goodwitch sighed and faced us. "You both will be seeing headmaster Ozpin about this incident. Now, I trust that you are both capable of walking to his office without coming to blows once more? If no, I will be happy to bind you and carry you there myself." At our frantic nods, Glynda waved her crop and the almighty full-body bind vanished, letting Vernal and I hit the ground on our feet.

As Goodwitch waved for us to follow, I glanced at an unnaturally pale Vernal. Chuckling, I commented, "Yeah, I tried to warn you what would happen if we fought…I'm sure Raven's shown you some scarier sights though, likely downright magical…"

"Wha?...Uh-huh, yeah…" Vernal replied distractedly, still keeping a wary eye on Goodwitch. I narrowed my eyes at the lack of a biting quip, but followed Goodwitch towards Ozpin's office.

CAWW CAWW

'Yeah yeah, laugh it up Raven…'

… … …

"So, quite the interesting circumstances that you find yourself in, Mr. Higure." Ozpin sipped at his cup of cocoa, as my eye twitched at both the retcon and the situation.

As my first time inside Ozpin's office at the top of the tower, and as an individual trying very hard to get over their fear of heights, my presence here was stressful enough as it was. Add in the fact that I was seated beside an irate Vernal, with a similarly annoyed Goodwitch to Ozpin's right, and in Ozpin's office in the first place to explain an unsanctioned fight between a student and a non-student? Yeah.

"If I am to reconcile the accounts given to me by you and this lovely young woman here, you were both having a spar on Beacon's ground, with weapons, without any protective measures?" I nodded, and Ozpin took another dramatic sip. "Furthermore, you believe this to be the work of Misters Xiao Long and Branwen?"

"They had nothing to do with it! I'm my own person, and I'll be-" Vernal was silenced with a firm glare by Goodwitch, but crossed her arms.

"Let's…just say that a rematch between Vernal and I was likely long past due," I hedged evasively as Vernal scoffed. "That being said, I don't think it would've been nearly as easy to occur if Qrow, Tai…and Raven didn't push things along a little, so to speak."

Ozpin merely raised an eyebrow at the mention of Raven's name, and Vernal looked none too happy with my mention of her name. "So, am I to believe, given your demeanor, appearance and skills, that you are affiliated with Miss Branwen?"

"…I'm an employee of hers, from her business. So to speak." Vernal begrudgingly supplied, and Ozpin nodded, confirmation all over his face.

"That would explain the confidence and abilities you displayed earlier. Raven appears to be an apt instructor." A note of almost-pride hung in the air, before Ozpin frowned and lowered his mug. "However, this was still a violation of Beacon's regulations, and could have ended in injuries or far worse due to such a lack of caution. As such, there must be consequences for such behavior."

'Ahh great, this is gonna suck.' I tried mentally running through every task Ozpin could have me do that would end up sinking me deeper into his circle, but was coming up empty.

"Your team's recent excursions into Vale, accompanying Professor Autumn, will be postponed until further notice. Individual or partner trips can be arranged on a case-by-case basis, but such outings are considered as a luxury, one that may be rescinded." I thought about informing the twins, or god forbid Amber of the news. "Furthermore, I have been told by Professor Goodwitch that your performance in her sparring class, while strategic, is far from efficient and falls short of your supposed best. Consequently, Professor Goodwitch will have the ability to dictate your opponents and equipment, with such measures to be taken as formal rules of the match."

"As for you, young lady," Ozpin turned to Vernal now, "Despite your skill on a battlefield, your actions were still reckless and could have potentially endangered lives. Due to the apparent preparation of Taiyang and Qrow, no such incident occurred, but such results should be seen as the rare exception, and not the norm. I will not be tolerating further unsanctioned action on Beacon's grounds. Is that clear?"

Something ancient stirred in Ozpin's eyes, noticeable to all in the room as Vernal struggled to maintain eye contact. "…Yes…" At her word, the feeling vanished.

"Wonderful. I believe that concludes our business then, and you both may return to the festivities of the weekend." Ozpin cheerfully rose from his desk, grabbed his mug and went to stand by the window, for all intents and purposes like the talk had never happened. As Vernal and I left our seats and entered the elevator down, I took a deep breath.

"So…I'm thinking that this, all of this, was probably not what you expected."

Sullen blue eyes glanced over. "…No…I envisioned a better fight, a more satisfying win."

Ouch. "Well, sorry to disappoint if you weren't able to 'claim victory' over me or what have you."

Boots shuffled. "That's not what I meant…"

"Huh?" Before I could question the former bandit, we reached the ground floor, and Vernal exited as the doors opened. Sighing, I slapped a hand onto my face, knowing what was gonna come next. "Well, this is gonna be great…"

… … …

"Ha-ha! Mama's got some lien to spend on Bumblebee thanks to Kouzai getting his ass handed to him!"

"Like! Hell! Kouzai had her on the ropes there, if anything that lien is going to me!"

"Uncle Qrow! Why did you create a betting ring on Kouzai?"

"It was just a bit of fun, pipsqueak, nothing harmful…"

"Is this your new hobby now that you've put down the flask, Qrow?" I asked dryly, drawing all assembled eyes over to Vernal and I. "I wonder if I should let Winter know that you've switched out drinking for gambling on unsanctioned fights."

"ERK! Listen kid," Qrow cajoled, knowing that I had him by the balls. Nearby, Weiss was simmering, either at Qrow or at me. Or both. "We both know the fight would've happened one way or another. I was just making it more of a spectacle if anything…and hey, Tai and I made sure to clear the area a bit so no one would get hurt…"

"And I'm so glad that licensed Huntsmen were enjoying the prospect of watching the stuffing get beat out of me." A majority of the eyes in the room were pointedly glaring at Qrow and Tai, while Vernal was strangely preening at my comment. "Speaking of which, what exactly is Vernal doing here? It's a bit of a ways from home."

"We'd be happy to send her back," Nora muttered darkly, her and Ren both appearing to remember the last encounter they'd had with her.

"Actually…Vernal is a…friend of the family, and she'll be staying on Patch with me for a while." Tai clapped his hands on a very surprised Vernal's shoulders. The smile slowly slid off his face. "Erm…you were told about that bit, right?"

"Absolutely…" Vernal was a terrible liar, it appeared. Luckily though, the cavalry rode in to smooth things over.

"OhmygodthisisamazingIcantwaitforyoutoseeourhousewaithaveyouseenityet…" Ruby's word babble had everyone laughing, and it appeared that Vernal's 'stay' wouldn't cause any issues. In the meantime however, I proceeded to drag Qrow over to the side.

"Would someone, namely you, explain exactly what the hell's going on here? Fine, I apparently helped you get with Winter, somehow, and fine, I played a part in having your sister come back to her family. But how exactly, does any of that relate to why Vernal is here, and not in Mistral?" Though this was far from the worst change that could've occurred, the fact of the matter is that I had little to no understanding of what events had lead to this particular shift.

Qrow winced, running a hand through his feather-like hair. "That's a bit of a tough one to explain-"

"Give it your best shot."

"-but I figure you should probably get that much, for all the, you know, attempted stabbing. The short of it is that firstly, Vernal had a bone to pick with you anyway ever since you apparently handed her ass to her years back in front of the whole tribe. Now, I'll be the first to congratulate you for that, but I'll also be the first to tell you, from experience, that Branwen Tribe women are nuts. Case in point, my sister."

"CAWW!"

"…Anyways, a grudge match was a long time coming, but could've been staved off, what with Vernal having a hand in Raven's new business and you being a continent away an' all. Therein lies the second head of the Taijitu though; Raven. Seem's her reunion with Yang an' Tai did a little more to her than she's let on, cause she's gung-ho about giving Vernal a chance to experience the 'soft life'. So for the time being, she'll be staying with Tai on Patch and help out with some of the Grimm extermination, experience a life outside of the tribe."

"…And you thought the best way to integrate Vernal into a normal life was to have her fight a Beacon student on Beacon grounds?"

"…"

"…"

"…Look, like I said, Branwen's have a different way of handling things. That includes Raven, Vernal, and apparently me. Well, it's not like you look any worse for the wear."

My fingers twitched towards Luna and Corona. "Except for the part where my visits to Vale are regulated for the time being and my spars will be dictated by Goodwitch instead of the randomizer, you mean?"

Qrow did a double take. "Shit, really? Damn, you have a way with women, don't you?"

My deadpan would've made Goodwitch proud. "As in, pissing all of them off?"

Qrow rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. "Oblivious…sure, let's go with that. Can't say I'm surprised though, you were bound to catch her wrath eventually. The fact that you stand out doesn't help things."

I gawked at him. "Stand out? Qrow, I'm dressed in black specifically to not draw attention to myself!"

"Hehe…hahahahaha!" Qrow bent over and wheezed. "Oh…kid, you've got it backwards. Sure, if you were a criminal, or military maybe, you wouldn't look too out of place. Here though? In the middle of a Huntsmen academy, packed to the gills with hyperactive, colorful teenagers? Someone dressed in all black sticks out like a sore thumb here, not to mention you carry enough weapons for two huntsmen. Doing great on the surviving part, not so great on being a conventional huntsman."

"Haaaaaaaah…You know what, screw it. Just throw me a bigger heads-up next time you throw something my way."

"Heh…no promises…"

… … …

The week passed by in a mostly sleepless blur, mostly due to the realization that the semester's break was fast approaching, and that whatever plan Cinder had newly cooked up would likely come into play soon. However, nights of sneaking past my team to plan in corners of the library had been fruitless, and I couldn't reach out to Junior by scroll, or tell the twins about it. So I ended up having little of an idea of what Cinder might be planning, save for the fact that it might involve the SDC dust freighter, but even that was tenuous. To help matters, a certain goddess' reminders weren't helping.

"You know, for a guy who loves planning things ahead of time, you're pretty bad at dealing with not knowing what comes next." Prim lounged with her back pressed against the wall of the fire escape, conveniently basking in the shadows provided. "Though, I am impressed that you're able to operate on such little sleep."

"Clearly, you haven't been to graduate school," I growled, rubbing some of the sand out of my eyes. Though even my ingrained ability gained from all-nighters of studying couldn't stave off inevitable sleep deprivation. "Couldn't your all-powerful skirted ass just give me some sort of hint? Kind of trying to keep an entire kingdom out of Cinder's clutches here."

"I've already given you hints before, not that they stuck, given how Junior Xiong got the drop on you. I can imagine the expression on your face if Cinder and hers do the same." Prim's face scrunched up in mock concentration for a second, ignoring my twitching fingers and gritted teeth. "Hmm, now that I think about it, that doesn't sound that fun. Fine, I'll say one thing, but again, I can only give you so much help before the brothers get pouty and rant about things like 'interference.' What I'll say, is that you're still relying on the events of the show, when you should be considering the present."

Near-anyone could've seen the cogs running in my head. "But…the events that happen now are entirely based on the things that came before. If I can't use show as a reference, how am I supposed to outplan Cinder?"

Prim sighed, rising to her feet and re-aligning her electric blue hair. "I told you that you weren't listening. One way or another though, either you or someone else will smack the lesson into you. Hopefully it reaches you in time though." I blinked, and the goddess was gone once more, letting me groan in open frustration. As I did, my scroll rang out once, but before I could check, Ilia appeared in the rooftop doorway.

"Figured I might find you up here. Y'know, we joke about you being broody and edgy, but you've been spending a lot more time all by your lonesome lately." Ilia's eyes searched my face, noting the more pronounced shadows under my eyes. "Everything alright? We wouldn't want you to be in subpar shape for Sparring Class after all."

"I'll be fine." I shrugged off my partner's concern, walking forward to rest a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Let's get going, I shudder to think of what'll happen if we keep Goodwitch waiting." As I began descending the stairs, I pulled out my scroll and found a singular text by Prim.

Good luck.

… … …

'Never let it be said that Glynda Goodwitch can't be dramatic…' It had taken a full six days since Ozpin had handed the expanded directives to Goodwitch, but I hadn't been called for a single spar in her class. Until now.

"Kouzai Higure, against Cardin Winchester. Will both students make their way to the arena, with all armaments." Various pairs of eyes swung to me at her last point.

"It's about time!" Melanie exclaimed.

"Fight well," Miltia smiled.

"Kick his ass for me." Ilia was baring a few too many teeth. JNPR was on the 'smash Cardin' bandwagon as well, with even some of RWBY joining as well.

As I made my way over to the locker room, I saw Cardin strapping on the rest of his armor as he saw me and sneered. "Guess everyone's gonna find out who's really stronger. No little tricks, no teammates to hide behind."

I sighed, making my way over to my locker. "Cardin, can we just skip the banter and focus on the fight? I'm not in the mood for the games."

If Cardin heard me, he steadfastly ignored my request. "As the only guy on a team full of girls, it's even more pathetic that you're letting them rope you around. I mean, if you were shacking up with any of them, maybe you could explain why you're so whipped-"

"Cardin, enough-"

"I mean, they look kind of trashy, but damn if you haven't had a twins fantasy about-"

BANG

Cardin finally stopped talking, looking my way and glimpsing me in full gear. I removed my hand from the locker I'd just slammed shut and made my way past him towards the arena.

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get."

A/N: Not my best work, but these are trying times, and that's while I'm still healthy. Hopefully next week looks better, in all aspects. Stay safe and healthy, all. I'll see everyone next week.

-SE