Chapter 4: Think No Evil
Arc 1: Lights In The Sky
"Kai…"
"Kai. You know why I'm here, don't you? Strange being here again, so many nights of isolation..."
"Kai!"
Sky, sat up almost instantly as he looked around the room frantically, awaiting the cold-hearted voice to seep its way back from wherever it crawled from, slowly though, he calmed down and remembered where he was, his room, his team was asleep. Then he sighed, resting his hand on his head.
"Just another nightmare…" he whispered, then heard an alarm go off in the room, waking the others up. Sky yawned as he rubbed the bags under his eyes, every night had been the same, he'd go to sleep late and wake up early. This was the third time. Even if it's been a few weeks since his arrival, it still felt like days to him, in a way, it was a nice feeling
"Morning guys," Sky greeted as they all slowly and groggily got up as he yawned again, but grinned with a devilish glint in his eyes, holding a small alarm clock in his hand. "I regret nothing."
*Beep-Beep-Beep*
Sky almost burst into a laughing fit, if not for the four pillows colliding with his face.
A Few Hours Later…
It was lunch and once again, Nora was off on a tangent, to which half of them listened intently to, Sky being one of them, a note-pad in his hands with a pencil hovering over the lines he had already drawn. Sky was not crazy when it came to art, but he enjoyed drawing out anime characters he knew, or weaponry he's seen, so far he's built a collection on most students' weaponry.
"So… there we were… in the middle of the night," Nora began with a dramatic tone
"It was day," Ren corrected in a blank tone, but Nora persisted
"We were surrounded by Ursai," Nora continued, both Sky and Yang looking at her with excitement, but Sky's eyes still drooped due to his restless night
"They were Beowolves," Ren corrected again
"DOZENS OF THEM!" Nora blurted out as she stood up in enthusiasm
"Two of 'em," Ren corrected once more, sighing in the process
"But they were no match," Nora continued. "And in the end… Ren and I took them down, and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"
"She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now…" Ren sighed as Sky noticed Ruby looking at Jaune for quite a while now
"Ok, someone mind telling me why 'he's' been acting more like a zombie than me?" Sky asked as he pointed at Jaune, thankfully Pyrrha spoke up
"Are you ok?" She asked as he kept messing with his food, but quickly jumped out of his trance
"Huh? Oh, yeah, why?" He asked as he turned to face us
"It's just that you seem a little… not ok," Ruby answered as Sky nodded
"Something's bothering you, and don't act like there isn't," Sky added with a questioning look
"Wh, guys, I'm fine… seriously, look!" Jaune responded as he faked a smile to the best of his ability
"Wow, you're as convincing as a person who uses Photoshop to make themselves look better," Sky retorted with a blunt gaze
"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school," Pyrrha pointed out as the rest of the group nodded
"Who? Cardin Winchester?" Jaune asked skeptically with Sky snorting at his retort
"No, Sherlock Homes," Sky answered sarcastically, then sighed as he saw looks the rest gave him, but he simply shrugged at their stares. "I'm not apologizing."
"It's fine, he just likes to mess around, practical jokes!" Jaune waved off, but saw that no one was convinced
"He's a bully," Ruby corrected with a glare as Sky grunted at the word
"Yeah, just like all the rest," He spat as he just looked at Cardin with a massive amount of anger and disgust. Funny story, since there were two people named 'Sky', most students call Sky by his name, with the 'Sky' from Cardin's team being referred by others with his second name, suffice to say, he grew more irritated by that everyday
"Oh please, name one time he's 'Bullied me'…" Jaune asked with air quotes as Yang looked at him with a sly look
"Do you really want us to answer that?" She asked as he sighed
"Jaune you know if you need any help, you can just ask," Pyrrha suggested as Nora jumped from her seat with an evil look in her eyes
"OH! WE'LL BREAK HIS LEGS!" Nora shouted with glee as Sky smiled sinisterly at that
"That's being too kind if you ask me…" Sky murmured as Jaune got up from his seat
"Guys, really, its fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone!" Jaune pointed out as a Faunus girl stormed past them, looking really upset
"Atrocious, I can't stand people like him!" Pyrrha spoke with venom as Sky felt his blood boil
"The nerve of that pest!" Sky's thoughts spat
"He's not the only one," Blake added with a glare as Yang frowned
"It must be hard to be a Faunus," She spoke sadly as some watched Jaune walk away, looking very unconvinced himself
"Why would anyone talk to you!?" A girl spat among the countless shadows that danced in Sky's vision
"Nothing but a weirdo!" A boy spoke as a group laughed, their voice echoing around the void. But Sky wasn't upset, instead, a scowl took its place, his hazel eyes a hardened ice-white among their fiery gazes
"Funny, the last group said similar points of interest too, guess where they are now? Oh, that's right, currently stuck in medical wards with broken bones! Now...lets see how well you fair paying over sticks and stones?" Sky bitterly laughed
"Sky!?" Ruby spoke up as Sky awoke from another dream, he looked around and saw that he had drifted off outside. The sun beating down on his face with a warm embrace, meanwhile, Ruby stared from above, shading his gaze with her head. Sky only moved up against the wall again, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck
"Oh…sorry, Ruby…" He apologised as Ruby frowned at him
"Are you ok? You looked… scared?" She asked as he smiled and shook his head
"Na, just really need to sleep later," His lie paid off, yet a trace of worry still remained on Ruby's face. "I didn't get enough sleep last night."
"Was it a bad dream?" Ruby asked with curiosity as Sky felt his mind race with the voices again, all wanting him to...lash out? Why?
"No…just…couldn't sleep," Sky lied again, but saw that Ruby was still slightly concerned. "Look, really I'm fine! Don't need you blowing a fuse on me!"
He then looked at the clear sky above him, making him feel at home, only it wasn't really his home. His thoughts halted in place then, feeling Ruby's side press against his right arm, causing his attitude to become flustered by her close proximity. Ultimately shrugging, Sky went back to his work on his gauntlet, now named 'Cognitum'
"Oh! Are you working on your weapon!?" Ruby's biggest hobby, and Sky thought it was a good idea to do it 'in-front' of her, brilliant
"Well, I don't know much about it…so I figured that I might as well see what I can do." Sky answered as Ruby got a shiny look in her eye
"Can you show me!? Please-please-please!?" She begged as she seemed to act like a dog, causing Sky to just raise a brow at her
"Why? You've already seen what it can do?" He retorted with Ruby just giving him a very cute look, so he smiled and shook his head at her insistence. "You are too damn persistent, you know?"
"Well then, as your awesome leader! I command you to showcase your beautiful weapon to me!" She ordered with a very cute/serious look and Sky saluted with a laugh
"Yes, ma'am!" He shouted as he got up and walked into the open plains. "Ok, first of all, I named it, 'Cognitum', so you don't need to keep saying 'weapon'."
She nodded as Sky hit one of the buttons on the watch and soon he was coated in the midnight armour. He then deployed his blades as they glowed, their shiny surface reflecting the rays of sun upon a certain angle
"First off, these are my basic blades or longswords by default, which are handy for attack and defence, due to their size." Sky pointed out as Ruby nodded
Sky then took a stance and swung his arms with a few thrust and swipe actions, then he spun on his heel, leaving a small light trail, then finished off with a heavy 'X' motion. This earned a clap from Ruby as he they flashed under the light of day.
"Now, in combat I can digistruct any weapon that is stored in my data banks, and reconstruct my armour to match, as long as it's not too big. For instance," Sky explained in detail as the blades shortened and had chains hanging from the arms
He then thrusted one arm forward as it shot the blade towards a nearby tree, then with a mighty pull, Sky swung around the tree, then the blade detached and the other shot out, nailing itself to the dirt and pulling him to a halt as he skidded. The grapple hooks then disappeared as Sky held his hands together, Ruby waiting in anticipation, then he pulled them apart, revealing all his fingers with sharp, four inch claws, their gleaming blue trails of light flickering slightly.
"These I picked up from that Beowolf Alpha a fought." Sky explained as his speed increased as he hacked away at the air, leaving multiple light trails as he did, then he stopped and they vanished, Ruby then cheered for more as he smiled under the helm
"Ok, this one is still a work in progress, but I'll give it a shot," Sky spoke with a hint of glee at his next trick, slapping his hands together, he clenched his fists, before pulling his hands apart, revealing the construction of a large, black polearm
It then formed a magazine clip and a trigger, and even a scope as it continued to grow, soon it started to form a curved spine of sorts as he felt his body shake, his vision vibrated for a moment, with his armour's lights flickering an ice-white for a moment under the strain.
"Sky!" Ruby called out as she moved towards him, his armour self-deactivating as she saw the sweat on his face, his breathing ragged and unorthodox. Coming down to rest a hand on his shoulder, Ruby steadily rose him to his feet. "Are you ok?"
"I'll…be...fine…just took too much…energy." He spoke between pants, with Ruby lightly punching his arm, though she was still worried for him
"Well… that was still really, really cool, just…don't blow a fuse on me," Her funny remark earned a chuckle from Sky, much to his body's resistance to do so
"Ha. Ha. Very comical, Red." Sky sneered, but in reality, something within him felt...cold, not from the lack of energy in his body, but there was something creeping in the back of his mind
Later That Night…
It was nightfall, the sky was beginning to turn into an amazing spectacle of reds, yellows, and oranges, the moon slowly appearing into the sky. But Ruby slowly walked around the outside of the doom complex as she looked around.
"Where, where, where…?" She thought to herself as she walked along the cobblestone path, then she heard what sounded like a sword swings, a vibrating swoosh to each thrust of the blade too. "Huh?"
When she jogged along the path, she saw in a small field that was filled with fireflies as their green light danced around the armoured huntsman. His strikes exact and swift, his silent breaths falling on death's ears.
He stopped as he panted, feeling himself loosing strength, but he shook it off and continued. Ruby was about to intervene, but then another voice called out.
"Lovely night, wouldn't you say?" Ozpin spoke calmly as Sky stopped and looked at him, lowering his arms
"Professor Ozpin?…I…yeah it is…" Sky stuttered as he looked at the now near black void above him, a few stars scraping through the clouds. "Well, as far as you can see from here."
"Then tell me, why are you busy, slaving away your time, when you could be enjoying this breath-taking night, maybe even with your team?" Ozpin inquired as Ruby stood a fair distance away, listening intently
"It's…personal…I don't really want to talk about it," Sky sighed as he looked away for a moment. "I just don't want them to get involved, this is my problem to deal with, not theirs. And...there's things a person can't rely on others to understand."
"Hmm, well I won't stop you, but don't push people who want to help you away, it's not that they think you are weak, it's that they want to support you thought your dark times… but take a fair amount of warning, because if you push the people who care away, what reason do you give them to keep trying?" Ozpin finished as Sky stood there for a few seconds, not knowing what to say
"But, if at any point you wish to speak to me…my door is always open." Ozpin finished as he walked away, leaving Sky to ponder on his words
He then looked at his hands, lost in their blackened form for a moment, that was until he clenched them tightly, his glare hardening under his mask, completely unaware of Ruby's eyes watching him warily.
"Nor do I expect them to understand." He spat in anger as his blades deployed again, and once more he continued his training alone, his strikes chasing phantoms away in his head, as if he hoped for each swing to cut them down, rid their voices from his head
But he was unaware of Ruby, who was just watching him with a sad expression, she felt sorry for him, if only she could convince him to tell her what was wrong, why he would avoid her questions when asked. But she couldn't bring herself to ever push for answers. So instead, she turned and walked away, brushing something stray in her eye.
"I'm sorry..."
To Be Continued…
Another week, another chapter, but I happy to see quite a few people enjoy this story, so thanks a bunch. Hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Fractured Armour
Growing more worried with Sky's behavior, the team ask one of his other friends who had been the one aiding his training for answers, what they find out will finally bring Ruby to act on her heart.