Sorry for the delay in the chapters. I was going through the last 9 and doing some corrections to them. Grammar, sentence structure and the like.
New Corridor of Time puzzle is pretty cool…hm.
Osiris charges Arc in his palm and brings it out in a devastating strike to the blonde-haired woman's face. His hand moves just in time, preventing him from being punched and his face from being caved in. The Arc energy goes right into her, pushing thousands of amps through her body. She seizes mid-air and her next movements are a series of still images of her body contorting into ridiculous positions. At the same time, her screams jitter in levels and pitch.
Her words culminate into unfinished stammers before she falls to the floor. A small, dark smoke rises from her body, fizzling out. The air smells burnt and the electrostatic charge makes a few of Osiris' body hairs stand on edge.
"Ow…" the woman groans into the mud.
"I will be honest, that was an interesting trap you all have devised," Osiris says as he turns around. He expects to see that disheveled man with the mechanical scythe.
"Osiris watch out!" Sagira says, flying away from his head.
"What is it-" He fully turns around and all he sees is a pink blur carrying a giant hammer headed straight to him.
The next thing he feels is something crashing against his face as his body is batted into a concrete wall.
All he hears is, "Whoa, that is a home run!" before falling unconscious.
/
"Nora!" Jaune Arc catches up with her spunky and hyperactive orange-haired partner. "Why would you do that!?" He bends over, his hands on his knees. His lungs feel like they've been lit on fire, typical when running after Nora but every time it gets worse.
"What, we had a trap going!" Nora shrugs her shoulders and points the head of her Magnhild at the collapsed man who she smashed into a wall. "He never would have expected it coming!"
"Guys, did I miss something on the way here!?" His head scans side-to-side, stopping when he sees Weiss being viciously assaulted by Ruby's hugs. "Oh, hi Weiss!"
"Um, I'm kind of busy right now, but hello Jaune!" Weiss manages to squeak out, her cheeks puffed as she gets crushed by her younger friend's embrace.
"It'sbeensolongiwithoutyouhowiseverything-" Ruby's voice skips over itself, only accelerating in words per minute. When she will ever run out of breath, no one will know.
Once the heat of overexertion wears off, Jaune pushes out a relaxed breath. His torso lifts itself back to a straight position.
A sudden voice next to his head makes him squeal in terror. "You guys cave my Guardian's face in with a hammer and all you're doing is playing catch up!? What's wrong with you all!?" The flying prism makes a fuss while the sharp shapes floating around her single eye vibrate.
"Technically, we didn't-" Qrow attempts to but in.
"Oh you shut your mouth, look at him!" The prism jerks its body towards the fallen man, then towards Weiss. "Weiss, you know these people!?"
The Schnee girl manages to free herself from Ruby's grasp and holds the excited teenager back with an outstretched palm. "Yes Sagira, they're my friends." She smiles and giggles once. "They're…unique."
"I can tell," Sagira says, then groans. "And you're sure we can trust them?"
"Yes, they are good people, despite how some of them look."
"Hey, I heard that!" Qrow yells out, irritation very present. "Look, if you'll stop yelling we can get your guy back in good shape and we'll talk some more."
Sagira rolls her single eye. "I'll deal with him." She floats over to the fallen man. "His name's Osiris and I'm Sagira, in case he doesn't introduce himself."
"I wouldn't blame him." A mellow voice speaks from out of the blue. The prism makes a little hop in the air.
"And who are you!?" She snaps her body in the direction of Lie Ren. "And how did I not hear you coming?"
"Lie Ren, good to meet you Sagira." Ren smiles at Sagira. "And sorry about Nora…she's…"
"A bit over the top?"
Ren takes a moment to think, cocking his head sideways and raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, we can go with that."
Sagira sighs again then starts blasting Osiris with sky-blue rays. Jaune is once again startled, this time by the groan coming from the body.
"Why does my face feel numb?"
"Nora!"
/
Mistral Safehouse.
"I really do have a hard time trusting you…Qrow," Osiris leans his back against a wall, scanning the very out-of-it man in the dirty gray dress shirt. The short stubble on his beard screams…alcoholic. "So, you have that orange-haired girl…Nora, hit me with her hammer, then you have the courage to ask for my help. To save the world, no less."
"Look, it's an important mission…I got Lien if you need it, tons of it," Qrow pats his pockets, presumably in search for whatever he mentioned. "Ah, damnit where did I…"
"Don't worry about it. Now Oscar," he turns to the boy holding the staff. Innocent looking, he shouldn't be hanging around with these people.
"Ozpin." Osiris raises an eyebrow when he hears the boy's voice change in pitch and tonality. It's a bit deeper now and enunciates more like a wise adult than a child.
"Wasn't your name Oscar a minute ago?" Sagira inquires, squinting her eye.
"Yes."
"…Does he suffer from dissociative identity disorder?" The Ghost looks to Qrow, who shakes his head.
"Not exactly…let's say there's an entire other spirit living in Oscar right now," the disheveled Huntsman says.
"You're only confirming that for me."
"Sagira, that's enough." Osiris crosses his arms. "So, what is this about a…Salem?"
"Ah yes, Salem." Ozpin looks to the floor, tapping his cane once. "She's our enemy. Humanity has been at war with her creatures since their creation. Our group is searching for a Maiden…the Spring Maiden."
The creaking of wood catches all their attentions. The red-haired girl is walking down the stairs.
"Oh—did I interrupt something important? I can leave if you guys are busy," she asks. "Did…Osiris forgive us yet?"
Qrow shakes his head. "You can come over, Ruby. About Osiris…not quite."
The first thing that comes to Osiris's mind about Ruby is…purity. She doesn't look like a Huntress. She contends for the status of youngest of them all but Oscar holds that title. He wonders if she knows what she's doing.
"Qrow, I didn't ask for you to speak for me," Osiris says, tracking Ruby. She walks down the steps and stands in front of the two seated men.
Qrow rolls his eyes. "Alright."
"Anyways…Ozpin, continue, you were at the Spring Maiden."
Ozpin hums. "Yes, the Spring Maiden. We have located her in a raiders' camp, Qrow if you will."
The taller one grumbles and takes out a flat device, a Scroll and expands the screen to project a map. A red dot pulsates on the more southern side of Anima, with the label "SPRING MAIDEN" accompanying it.
"Hold on, that's around where we crashed!" Sagira exclaims, flying over to the map and scanning the device with an invisible beam.
"…Crashed?"
"We've encountered bandits who attempted to…kidnap Weiss and me," Osiris says. "We fended them off after I had to…deal with a member in front of their leader."
Qrow leans forward. "You've met Raven?"
"Yes, we did," Osiris mumbles. "She retreated before fully engaging."
"No shit?" Qrow slams his lips shut after noticing Ruby still standing in front of him. "Sorry about the language, kiddo."
"You know Raven?" Osiris asks.
"She's my sister."
"Really? Now that I think about it, you two do seem alike," Osiris muses. "Anyways, I've talked enough, if you need my aid, then I will be there."
Ozpin smiles. "That's good to know, Osiris. From Weiss' descriptions of your abilities, you will be a valuable member of our party."
"So he's in?" Ruby's smile shines bright as she bounds in joy and happiness. Her voice is squeaky and quite frankly, adorable.
"Sounds like it," Qrow says, glancing to Osiris, who shrugs in response. "Anyways, is there anything you needed, kiddo?"
"Oh, yeah, I had a few questions."
Osiris spends the rest of his time in the living room listening to Ruby's various questions.
"You can't deny that saving the world is a bit exciting!" Sagira exclaims.
"I was never in it for the excitement, Sagira."
"Oh come on, lighten up a bit, you'll be traveling the world, saving innocent lives and being a hero!"
A vibration sounds from someone's pocket. Qrow grumbles and takes out a flat device, a Scroll and presses it to his ear.
"Mm…yeah?" He sighs. "Okay…yeah, we'll be there."
"Who was it?" Ruby asks.
"It was Leo, he said he had a breakthrough with the council," Qrow answers, unscrewing the cap of his flask. "He wants to meet up at the school tomorrow night to walk us through it."
Ruby gasps. "Really, oh that's great! I'll go get the others!"
Once the girl has disappeared from sight, Osiris chortles. "You don't sound too confident."
"The guy just made a full one-eighty from our original conversation," the Huntsman grumbles.
"We should be wary," Osiris suggests. "That is never a good sign."
"Leo is my good friend, I don't expect that he would betray us," Ozpin says, him at least sure of his answer.
"I will be the judge of that, I haven't met him yet."
"Is that the guy that electrocuted me!?" An angry female voice demands from around the kitchen area. Osiris turns his head to see the blonde-haired girl that he indeed did electrocute earlier staring at him with flared and intense eyes.
"Yang, come on, he's nice!" Ruby pleads, running all around the taller girl to get her to put her fists down.
"Would I have to worry about her?"
Qrow sighs and his head leans into his palm.
/
Menagerie, Remnant.
It has been a week since the White Fang's attempted coup on the Belladonnas. Kuo Kuana is still reeling from the consequences of the attack.
Saint-14 sits on a bench faced towards the ocean. It sits on a wooden pier and flexes under his weight. A tree that is as tall as his head stands atop, providing some nice shade from the scorching sun. A few pigeons gather around at his feet and he feeds them with the tiny seeds in his plastic bag. He tosses the food at a regular pace and observes the little creatures feed, filled with a content silence.
"Good birds," he murmurs. He starts humming a familiar tune. A traditional one from a pre-Golden Age country, where the Cosmodrome is situated.
"Hey, Saint." He looks up and to the side. Ilia stands there, using a crutch to hold the right half of her body up. It's still injured but seems to have healed well, judging from the smaller amounts of bandages compared to a few days ago. His face plates organize a smile.
"Hello, Ilia." He gestures with his free hand for her to approach him. "Come, sit."
She does so and ends up on the bench beside him.
"What are you doing?" Ilia asks, looking at the pigeons with a perplexed expression. "You feed birds?"
"I'm fond of pigeons," he says. "Here, you try." He hands her the bag of seeds.
"Oh, no, I don't think I can-"
"Nonsense, it's only throwing seeds to where they can reach." He keeps the bag outreached to her. "It's relaxing, I promise."
Ilia sighs, and takes it from him. She struggles with creating an opening in the bag but eventually gets there. She starts tossing seeds, flicking her hand in a gentle manner. The tiny yellow and white dots land on the floor and the pigeons start gravitating towards them.
"I didn't come here to feed birds, you know," Ilia says, her attention elsewhere.
"You can do both, can't you?" He says, bending over to pick a pigeon up. His hands move with a graceful slowness. He has to be gentle now, they get scared when squeezed too hard. He grasps one in his palms and scoops it away from the floor, handling the creature with utmost care. Once it's close to his body, he removes one hand and starts petting it. "Ask whatever you need."
"I forgot what I wanted to ask you…" Ilia says and her voice drops to silence for a moment. She stares at the avian creature in his hands. "You can pick up birds? I could never do that."
"When you hold bird, you must be soft, gentle. It's not gun or…whip, sword, whatever it is," he says, his fingers brushing down the back of the pigeon's neck. Its feathers flatten at his touch.
"I've been told to keep a slack grip when using my weapon." Ilia puts down the bag of seeds to her side.
"But when you defend, you have to hold like a wall, correct? You become tense, harsh." He brings the bird over to her. "Open your palms. I will hand you the bird."
"Um, I don't think-"
"Try it."
"Oh my—fine." Her injured hand moves with rigidity, her shoulder like a gear that hasn't been oiled properly. She winces when bringing it in front and opening her bandaged palm. Saint slowly descends the pigeon in his hands and leaves it in hers. "Okay…now what?"
"It hasn't flown away yet, that's good." He smiles and gives the pigeon one last pet before removing his hands. "Try wrapping one hand around its back, softly of course."
"Um…like this?" She moves one hand and brings it over the pigeon. "Alright…"
"Now slowly…"
Her hand closes on the bird too quickly and it slips from her grip, flying away.
"Damnit."
"We can practice later, now what is it that you need?" He turns to her. She sighs and her gaze falls to her knees.
"I'm sorry for last week," she says. "I-I'm sorry for being like that. You were right all this time. Blake was right, too."
Saint's hand makes its way to her back and he pats it a few times. "Do you know Anna?"
"Anna…the weaponsmith? I think so." She tilts her head to the side.
"Before I entered the house, she confronted me last week with a big gun," Saint says. "I spared her because she was scared."
"I was kind of scared too, going up against you," Ilia mumbles. "I knew it was lost when I heard your voice in the room."
"And you still fought," he says, looking over to her. "You have my respect, though you still lost." He chuckles, his phonetic machinery translating it into a low, hearty rumble.
She hits him on the shoulder. "Shut up," she grumbles, frowning. "I still haven't talked to Blake much about this whole thing."
Saint stands up and picks Blake Belladonna out of the crowds. "She's here, let me bring her to you." He stands up.
"Wait—no!" She grabs his hand and tries tugs him back, only making him stop. "I…I'm not ready."
"Were you ready to almost die because of me? No. I'm going to get her." Saint pulls his hand away and places hers on her lap. "Now sit still and feed the birds."
Ilia rolls her eyes and sighs, her hand moving over to the bag of seeds.
Saint enters the crowd of Faunus, doing his best to make his way through without running into someone.
Among the many conversations all around him, a child's voice manages to ring through to him.
"Can you carry me on your shoulder?" The little boy's eager voice is hard to say no to. Saint chuckles and crouches, bringing one arm wide so he can scoop them up.
"Of course," he says, wrapping his arm around the boy and using the other to push him on his shoulder. "Better?"
"Yep, thank you Saint-Fourteen!" The child excitedly says, his face enthralled.
"I don't carry children for free, you know…" He laughs and looks to the kid. "First, you must tell me your name."
"Um…"
"Saint," Blake's voice pulls him away.
"Huh?"
"You carry children?" She asks, a smirk on her face.
"If they sing me a song of their people." He looks over to the boy with an expectant face. "And if their parents are-"
"Young man what are you doing!?" An angry father pushes through a gathering of people, his face beet red in anger. "Why did you run off like that!?"
"Uh oh," Saint says to himself.
"Dad—I want to talk to Saint-Fourteen!" The boy pleads, leaning forward. "Look, I'm on his shoulder!"
"I see that but we promised your brother that we'd watch him train!"
"But-"
"No buts!"
"Aw…"
Saint can't help but chortle. "Sorry child, but you best listen to your father now." He grabs the boy by the sides and puts them on the floor.
The father pulls his son by the ear back into the never-ending abyss that are crowds of people. They disappear before his very eyes.
Saint turns his attention to Blake again, who is now doubled over laughing.
"What?" He asks.
"You looked so guilty there!" She answers between fits of laughter.
"I did?" He furrows his metal brows at her. "I did not."
"I disagree." She takes a deep breath to relax. "Anyways, I wanted to know if you saw Ilia around."
"Ilia? Yes, she wanted to talk to you actually, follow me." He turns around, back towards the bench with the pigeons. He slips between whatever cracks that he can find in the massive amounts of the people that are present. If not, he stays respectful and gives a gentle push for them to move aside.
He finds Ilia with her uninjured arm outstretched and a handful of pigeons on it. Her eyes are wide and from the look she's giving him, she isn't comfortable with this at all.
"Um, Saint, a little help here?" She asks, cocking her head to the birds on her.
"They like you!" He grins.
"I didn't say I liked them back!" She says, her voice rapid and somewhat panicked.
"Ilia? You feed birds?" Blake emerges from behind Saint, standing at his side
"No! I don't!" A fluster appears on the chameleon-Faunus' face. "Saint told me to while he went to get you!"
"He said you wanted to talk to me," Blake says, looking at the whole scene confused. "Saint?"
Saint picks off a pigeon from Ilia's arm and holds it close to him. From its weight, he can tell it's the same one he picked up earlier. "Hm? Oh, yes. Ilia wanted to say something." He moves the rest down to floor-level, allowing Ilia to drop her arm to her side.
She sighs, closes her eyes and inhales deeply. "Blake, sit over here, it'll make it a lot less embarrassing."
"Um, okay." The cat-Faunus makes her way beside Ilia and turns to her on the bench. "So, what is it?"
"I'm…I'm sorry about last week," Ilia says, sorrowful and low. "And…thank you for saving my life. I didn't think you would still care for me after-oh!"
Blake wraps her in a tight hug, holding her there for a good few minutes.
"Oh…this…this is nice, thanks, Blake," Ilia mumbles over Blake's shoulder.
Saint steps away to give them some space.
He looks to the sea and wonders what lay ahead.
/
Haven Academy.
Osiris strides into Haven Academy's grand hall while Sagira blabs on about the entire history of the school.
The main thing that interests him is the CCT tower outside, as it's powered by a mix of Vex and Atlas technology. It seems to be in a serial connection with the other towers. According to Qrow, one of them are down, which means all of them are too.
The place is grand, he has to admit.
"Why hello," professor Lionheart's meek voice barely reaches his ears. The headmaster stands on a podium above a statue of a woman holding it up that's joined together by two spiraling staircases at both sides.
"He's a bit nervous for someone who is supposed to be a great Huntsman," Osiris thinks.
"Something's off. Look on the top right corner of the room. On the railing—there's a raven." He glances to the indicated position and does indeed make out a black bird perched on top of a wooden railing.
"Is this supposed to be symbolizing something?" He asks.
"We haven't seen a single raven in Mistral."
"Interesting…"
"Thank you for, erm, coming. There…seems to be more of you than last time," Lionheart says, his voice wavering towards the end of the sentence.
"You know what they say, the more the merrier," Qrow says, stepping in front of Osiris. "So what's going with the council?"
"Why…did you bring your weapons?" The professor's question is very odd.
More like suspicious.
Qrow also seems to be confused. "What? Leo, we're Huntsmen, you okay?"
Osiris notices Yang Xiao Long trying to make something out.
"…You don't strike me as the type to have a pet raven, professor." Osiris looks to the sitting raven.
"…Mom?" Yang says. Qrow draws his weapon and a shotgun blast later, a woman in a osseous helmet is beside Lionheart.
"Raven," Sagira mumbles.
Osiris unslings the Monte Carlo and points it at her.
Raven takes off her helmet. "If you're going to shoot me, shoot me, that was insulting." She starts walking down one of the two stairways.
"What are you doing here!?" Qrow yells, disturbed.
"I could ask you the same thing, you've been scheming little brother."
"He's the little brother!?" Sagira says, flabbergasted.
"Planning to attack your own sister!"
"Leo, what have you done!?"
"I…" Lionheart tries to say something, but is cut off. The guilt on his face is visible.
"Leo did what any sane person would do in his position—he looked at all the information he had in front of him, assessed the situation, and made a choice." Raven says. The professor closes his eyes and looks away. "And it seems you all have too."
Her gaze points to Osiris. "You made your choice days ago by crossing my tribe and I expect to get payback."
"You seem awfully confident that you will get your payback," Osiris says. "Some debts should remain uncollected, Raven."
"Both of you, enough." Qrow steps in. "You have the Spring Maiden."
"I do." Raven glares at her brother.
"Then hand her over and let's work together! We can beat Salem!" Qrow exclaims, almost pleading.
"All that time spent spying for Ozpin and you still have no idea what you're dealing with. There is no beating Salem!"
"I would disagree," Osiris thinks.
"Yeah, Guardians pumped Oryx full of bullets and Light and he died, who's to say that she's any stronger?" Sagira ponders.
"You're wrong," Ruby Rose's high voice makes Raven turn. "We've done things that most people would call impossible, and I know the only reason we were able to do it because we didn't do it alone!"
"She's right, you know," Sagira comments. "You had her there."
"She only answered my pleas for help because she is gracious like that. Besides, my echoes count as other people."
"We had people to teach us, people to help us, we had each other. Work with us, at least I know we'll have a better chance if we try together, please." Ruby holds her hands out.
"She is optimistic, I'll give her that," Osiris mumbles, keeping his weapon trained on Raven.
"You sound just like your mother." Raven draws her own and he fires. She deflects the burst, and a swirling crimson portal opens to her side.
A fireball comes out of it and strikes Ruby in the chest, sending her flying back.
"Hello boys and girls," an insidious female voice says.
To reviewer MungoJerry: I'll pass your feedback to the team.
Just kidding. I appreciate you taking the time to highlight the issues in my writing in the last three chapters. I love listening to the praises people have about how I write Saint-14, or how the story is developing, but this type of constructive criticism is the most important for me. It helps me evolve as a writer and understand what a reader is seeing when reading my fiction.
So, thanks again.
To other reviewers: Don't let this discourage you from expressing that you like my story, I love reading those too.