Fae and Hev walked on in silence. She was unhappy. The first thing her "partner" told her was a lie in the form of a nickname. Not a great start to a fruitful relationship when it came down to it. She would glance behind herself at him every few minutes, expecting him to be scowling at her. Every time he was just wearing a neutral expression. His glasses were gone, most likely filed away in one of his pouches. "Fae. Do you know where we are going?" His usual speak was changed in favor of a rough and straightforward tone.
"Yeah, towards the object." She said, annoyed.
"I'm sorry, do we have a problem?" Now he was annoyed. She whipped around and pinned him to a tree. She placed her forearm on his neck.
"My problem is that I don't know or trust you! You won't even tell me your name!" He narrowed his eyes. Before she could even continue speaking he grabbed her by the back of the head, moved the arm that pinned him, and head butted her into next week. She fell onto her back in the mud grabbing at her head. She was disoriented and dizzy. She flipped onto her stomach and tried to get up. After failing twice she decided that laying down was better. Hev had a different opinion. She was grabbed by the back of her neck. Rex brought his mouth to her ear.
"I don't know about you, but where I come from assault is illegal. From now on you respect me, I respect you. If you violate this agreement, next time it won't be a head butt." With that he dropped her back into the mud. "Now get up. This rain isn't going to stop anytime soon and we have to hump another mile to the temple." She looked up as he walked away through the rain. Tears formed in her eyes.
Over the rain she whispered, "I found you." After she ran after him after digging herself out of the mud.
X
Rex stepped out into the temple clearing. The first thing he spotted was the blonde girl from the cliff. Much to her distaste, she also spotted him. With a step back she yelled, "You!" Rex, however, walked past her as he did not remember her in the slightest. Looking over the chess pieces, he choose the yellow queen.
"Fae!" She appered by his side. He handed her another queen and turned toward the blonde. "Do I know you?"
She took another step back, "We... fought... at the club." With each word she got smaller and her voice became meeker.
"Don't remember, must've not been important." She looked stunned, he still didn't know why.
"All I'm saying is that we could killed more."
"And all I'm saying is that I won the competition!"
"You made me leave before I could beat your count!"
"No you just suck!" There was a commotion in the bushes behind the blonde. Suddenly two very similar teen tumbled out of the bushes fighting. They were both gingers and had green eyes. Their clothes were also very similar. The only difference was the color, as the boy wore a blue hoodie and the girl wore a red one. Matter of fact, they were the same size too. They rolled over on the wet ground to Rex's feet. He tried waiting for them to shut up, but his reserve of patience was only so large.
"Quiet!" The twins became confused, until they looked up at Rex's annoyed face.
"She did it!"
"He did it!" The both shouted at the same time. Rex narrowed his eyes at the two.
"On your feet." They both stood and faced him.
"Sorry about him. I'm Luka Lexic."
"Your sorry about me? Siblings can be so obnoxious sometimes am I right? I'm Yossif Lexic." Yossif stuck out his hand to shake Rex up. His sister swatted it away.
"Excuse me? Your the obnoxious one. He should shake my hand!" Luka stick out her hand. Yossif took offense to this.
"No one likes you, people only talk to you so they can talk to me!"
"Shut up Ursa MINOR."
"SERVANT Taijitu"
"Enough!" Rex yelled, finally all out of patience. The twins immediately turned to face him. "You're twins?" They nodded. "Are you partners?" Another nod. "Fae! Get these two queens. You guys are with us. Now if you two get anywhere near each other's throats again during the rest of this mission I'll personally feed you to Beowolves. Copy?" The twins nodded and started cleaning off the mud from each other.
"Heads upppp!" Rex looked up only to see the yellow haired boy crash into Ruby. They landed in a tree, much to the twins amusement. He could hear mumbling in the tree, most likely from the two teens.
"Ruby?" The yellow haired girl looked at him in shock.
"You know my sister?" Rex didn't pay her much mind, looking for any sign that she was ok.
"Hev?" Her head popped out of the branches of the tree. Rex allowed himself to smile.
"Did your sister just fall from the sky?"
"I...". Some commotion was heard from the right. A ursa had stumbled out of the woods in clear distress. Fae brought up her weapon, but Rex put his hand on its barrel.
"Wait." A pink explosion could be seen through the rain. The ursa gave one last roar before it fell.
"Yeeeeee-haaaaaw." A girl rolled off its back. She wore a pink raincoat with a grenade launcher strapped to it. "Awww... it's broken." Saddened by her mode of transportations breakdown, she jumped onto its neck to look at it more closely. A barley audible... eww could be heard? Rex was having a hard time believing these children were going to be hunters. A boy in a green coat walked up behind the energetic girl
"Nora! Please... don't ever do that again." Nora however, had already took off again. Now she was staring at a rook piece. Rex looked back to the twins. Looks of confusion plastered their faces. Nora started to sing about being queen of the castle. Ren was quick to shut her down. Rex turned to look at the yellow and black haired girls.
Black hair spoke first, "Did that girl just ride a ursa?"
"I...". More commotion from the woods. This time a red and gold girl was being chased out of the woods by a big scorpion.
This amused the twins, "That's a big bug."
"Yep."
The gold red girl called out, "Jaune!"
The yellow haired boy called back, "Pyrrha!" Ruby landed next to the yellow hair girl.
"Ruby!" The yellow haired girl went to give her a hug.
"Yang!" Ruby attempted to reciprocate the hug, but Nora blocked them.
"Nora!"
The black haired girl added, "Did she just run all the way here with a death stalker on her tail." Yang had just been getting angrier and angrier through the entire debacle. This proved enough to tip her over her breaking point.
"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?" After this fit of rage where literal fire came off Yang even the rain seemed to halt. Rex moved to her side with his weapons brought to bear, ready to halt the advancing death stalker. After a few seconds of calm Ruby pulled on her sister's sleeve and pointed up.
"Umm... Yang?" The Schnee was hanging onto the talon of a nevermore.
Weiss called down just loud enough through the rain to be heard, "How could you leave me?"
Ruby shouted up, "I said 'jump'!"
"She's gonna fall."
"She'll be fine."
"She's falling." Jaune, sensing a moment of redemption, jumped to catch the Heiress. Rex watched as he heroically... fell into the mud.
Weiss mocked, "My hero."
Jaune complained, "My back." Pyhrra, who had seemingly taken a tea break with the monster, jumped to their feet.
Yang's sarcasm wasn't entertaining to anyone but Rex, "Great! The gangs all here! Now we can die together."
"Not if I can help it!" Ruby sounded a battle cry and rushed forward. While the attempt was valiant, it was immature and unnecessary. She was immediately swatted to the side by the monster.
She got up saying, "Don't worry! Totally fine."
Rex called out, "Ruby! Fall back!" Both yang and Rex rushed towards her. The nevermore waved its wings and a torrent of sharp feathers dug into the ground, trapping Ruby by her cape and barring Yang from reaching her sister. All seemed lost as the elder called out to the younger telling her to break free. The death stalker pulled its stinger back, ready to strike. It didn't take into acount one thing, Rex. He stood infront of Ruby and brought his left arm up. A large shield shot down and up from the gauntle, covering Ruby and him entirely. The scorpion struck the shield and its stinger bounced off. With the immediate danger stopped Rex looked back at Ruby. He cut the feather with his gauntlet blade so she could pull her cloak free.
"You had best unfuck yourself Ruby!" She looked at him shocked. "Stop staring and MOVE!" Getting herself free she ran just as the stalker got its stinger ready. Rex braced for another strike, but Weiss froze it in place. They exchanged a nod and ran back to the group. Some people went to get in a huddle, but Rex stopped them. "We don't have time to take a break! Everyone who hasn't taken a piece get one so we can go!" A howl echoed out through the forest. "They have reinforcements on the way, and that ice holding the bug won't stop it forever." On queue the ice started to weaken.
Ren walked over to Rex, "He's right, it's time we left.
Ruby nodded at them, "Let's go." Ruby took off and most of the group followed. All that was left was Yang, Blake, and Rex. Yang looked at Ruby with a proud expression.
"What is it?
"Nothing."
"Enough standing around. We need to move!" As he said that a group of Beowolves entered the other side of the clearing. "Here they come." The three then took off towards the rest of the group.
X
They reached the bridge, but the nevermore trapped them on the other side and away from the rest of the group. Pyhrra, Ren, Blake, Fae, and Rex. It hadn't destroyed the bridge, it just cut them off with feathers. The death stalker hadn't let up its assault either. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Rex yelled over the rain, "We need to push this thing back! Blake! Stay and try to cut through these feathers! Everyone else, support me and help kill this bug!" Blake went to work on chopping the feathers down. Everyone else opened up on the bug. The shots took its attention off of Rex long enough to deliver a strong kick to it's face plate. It shattered and the beast was pushed back. Pyhrra and Ren continued their assault while Fae and Rex got onto a higher platform. The combined attack forced the stalker back and right below Rex and Fae. Fae's weapon, an M249, transformed into a large chainSAW(dO yOu GEt iT?). With a cry she jumped down onto the Grimm. As she fell she cut the stinger off. Rex saw his opportunity and jumped down, kicking the loose stinger into the monster. It's armored plating gave and the stinger penetrated the death stalker. The sharp implement stopped just short of going all the way through. Even without shooting all the way through, the damage proved too much for it. With one last hiss it fell. Pyhrra, Ren, and Fae were about to congratulate each other, until they heard the howls.
X
"Everyone! Fall back to me!" Hev had already fallen back to a raised platform. The three moved back and got onto the ruins of a floor. Hev got down and deployed his shield.
Fae called out, "Blake! How much longer?"
"A minute!" The wall of Grimm approached. Made up of mostly Beowolves and a few ursa. They must've numbered in the hundreds.
"We don't have minute!"
"I'm trying!" Fae turned back to the horde of Grimm and set up her bipod. Hev was slamming his sword into his shield. She was confused at first, until she heard him.
"...ill, fight, die, kill, fight, die, KILL, FIGHT, DIE, KILL, FIGHT, DIE!" He chanted like a madman. Pyhrra and Ren looked at each other confused. Fae, however, smiled.
"You bastard." The horde approached. They readied their weapons. Hev went silent.
Just before they got 50 yards away Hev cried, "Know no fear!"
Fae called out, "Fire!" A torrent of brass rocked the black wave. The Grimm pushed through the firestorm and reached Hev. Fae watched as the bullets and Hev's sword stalled the monsters. She heard Blake call out to Nora, but missed what she said. Her weapon clicked. Fae moved to reload, but stopped. Thunk, thunk, thunk. Moving out of pure instinct, she ducked behind cover. Nora's grenades landed a second later. Hev jumped over her and into cover.
Blake yelled, "The feathers are cleared, let's go!" Fae watched as Hev poked his head over the cover.
"You guys go. I'll hold them a bit longer. Get into a position to help cover me." Fae set her gun back up.
"I'll help." Ren and Pyhrra nodded and fell back. Hev readied his blades and Fae pulled the charging handle of her weapon back. The Grimm had regained there senses by then and had started charging again. Nora had continued her bombardment, but the Grimm were undeterred. Fae layed a wall of bullets down while Hev cut up anything close. She'd put a bullet into one's head and then find another and repeat. Hev slashed and kicked at anything that slinked past her sights. Together they made a amazing wall.
"SCREEE." Fae looked up at the recently remembered nevermore only to see a feather fly at her with her name on it.
"Watch out." Hev pushed her to the ground.
X
The feather imbedded itself in Rex's torso. At least he saved Fae. He looked up from his spot in a pool of blood only to see that Fae had caught one in the leg. Well... he kinda saved her. The rain mixed his blood and mud to create a maroon sludge. Was this it? After all he had been through he would die in the hunter initiation?
"No." With that one word he reached behind him and sheared off a bit of the feather so it would weigh him down. After cutting off a little from the front he turned to Fae. She was struggling on the floor and gripping her thigh. He slashed the feather apart. After reducing its size he picked her up fireman style. "Come on Fae, we're not dead yet!" If not for Nora's bombardment of area then they would have been overrun by the black horde. Rex ran towards the bridge with the Grimm hot on his tail, snatching Fae's weapon from the mud on the way. At that point everyone fired on the Grimm to aid in their retreat. The twins and Yang held their fire as they had shotgun type weapons and didn't want to risk friendly fire. Rex moved over the bridge as fast as he could. It wasn't fast enough it seemed, as the nevermore had gotten tired of not getting a kill and attempted to smash the bridge and get two in one. Rex mustered all off his strength and threw Fae halfway across the bridge and onto land. He wasn't so lucky. The big bird smashed into the columns holding the bridge up and brought it and Rex down. The bird had underestimated the weight of the stone construct however, and went crashing down into the misty depths with it. Rex fell and accepted his fate. At least he had saved another.
"Should you be satisfied with saving only one... I've chosen the wrong heir." What? He looked around as he fell to find the source of the voice. No one was falling with him. "Pay no mind right now. I'll reveal myself later. Survive." Rex felt a weight in his right hand. A sword had appeared. As soon as he gripped it he felt energized. Kicking off of a piece of the falling bridge he rocketed into the walls of the pit. He drove his blade and feet into the stone cavern wall Slid to a stop. Taking a breath he popped out his wrist blade on his left hand and started to climb. The climb up was brutal. The rain beat down on his face and the wind threatened to knock him down the hole, but he climbed up with a zealous devotion. Upon his approach to the top he heard cries. People were screaming his name, but all he could hear was Ruby. Ruby was yelling for him the most ferociously. Her voice threatened to break and she called for him. Eventually, if what he could hear was accurate, Ruby fell to her knees and wept. She then started crying about losing her first friend at Beacon. The cries served to fuel his want to survive. He could hear Yang try to comfort her sister, and fail. Eventually the two got up and moved away from the cliff edge. Rex reached the top and drove his new sword into the hard ground where Ruby sat at a while before. Standing he surveyed the scene. Everyone was focused on a barley conscious Fae. He laughed, gaining everyone's attention.
"We aren't dead yet." With that he promptly fell face first into the mud and blood. The last thing he saw was Ruby rushing towards him.
X
"Would Fae Norden, Luka Lexic, and Yossif Lexic come to the stage." Fae looked up at Ozpin and climbed onto the stage. "You three, along with your comrade, gathered the queen pieces. From this day forward, Fae Norden, Luka Lexic, Yossif Lexic, and Rex Goodwitch shall be team FLYR(flare), led by Fae Norden!" Applause, along with some murmuring could be heard. His name was Rex? But that was her old friend's name. She had to go find out what was going on.
X
Rex woke up with pain in his abdomen. It was a dull roar, but noticeable. He was sitting in a white room and on a white bed. "The infirmary? What happened."
"We got stabbed." Rex looked towards the new voice. "I took a feather to the leg, you took one to the stomach." She had a bandage wrapped around her leg.
"I'm relieved your not permanently hurt. I apologize for throwing you on hard concrete but I believed it to be my only chance to save you." She sat in a chair next to his bed. Rex put on a wide smile.
"I'm glad your alive. I saw you fall, but you just climbed back up." She scowled, "Just like my dear friend. Now I come to find that you both share the name Rex, have a Aura that turns even the most un-mature kids into disciplined soldiers, and can take someone down in a second. If I didn't know better, I would think you were Colonel Rex 'Hev' Thomas. Assigned to the 82nd Sentinel Infantry Division, Second Squad. You answered directly to General Lions 'Godfather' Odin. Do you remember?" She reached over and tried to grab his shoulder. By now Rex's smile had disappeared, replaced by a look of indifference. His hand shot out and grabbed her fingers. They threatened to break as he twisted them downward. He produced his sword from under the covers and placed it against her neck.
"Who are you, Fae?"
She laughed, "You had a certain Fae Johnson under your command. A new recruit that was greener then grass and as tender footed as a newborn. She quickly rose to be lieutenant corporal, your second."
He was shocked, "Fae?" He allowed his grip on her fingers to slip and pulled away his blade. She seized the moment and head butted him back. Disoriented, he laid back on his bed.
"Your rusty Colonel, it's good I'm your new CO. Tell me, why did you go AWOL?"
"Your not Fae, your too young."
"Yes, but your too old to be the 47 year old colonel, yet here you are." Rex shook his head. There was no way she was that Fae.
"No, your not her. Your lying!"
"I'm being truthful. But I'll give you some proof. I remember my first battle with you. The battle for Hill 728 on Bollant. You told me that, 'All cowards can retreat a stain upon the empire.'" Rex stared at the ceiling. He touched his forehead and felt blood. He brought his finger into view and stared at them. At once he was brought back to that battle.
X
Old mud and blood hill, that's what the locals called it. It had been the site of many brutal battles over the centuries. None as brutal as the one currently raging. There hadn't been rain in a month, but there was mud. Blood mixed with dirt and created a river of mahogany sludge. Tanks and soldiers alike sunk in it, drowning in their brothers life force. Millions had been sent to attack this hill, millions had died. Teams would assault up the side of the small mountain only to be exterminated by the sheer volume of fire. The assaulting force had desperately stacked their dead to create makeshift sandbags for cover. One hundred sat behind one such stack. The artillery sprayed dirt and blood on them, yet they held their ground. Bullets whizzed past them, yet they stood undaunted. Their commander stood In front of them.
"Listen up! We are to assault up this hill and take it for the glory of the Empire of Sentinel! Any coward who doesn't have the stomach for this can go back down the hill as a stain upon your empire! Any takers?" He screamed over the sounds of death. No soldier moved to leave, the prestigest 82nd wouldn't be tainted.
"NO SIR!" Them men's voices rang out like thunder.
"Good!" The Commander looked over his troops. Content with his force he held his rifle over his head. "For honor! For glory. FOR SENTINEL!"
At once all of the men gave a furious war cry, "OOOORRRRAAAHHHH!" Like dominos the cry rolled down the mountain and reached every troop assaulting Hill 728. With a wave of force they flew from their cover and charged the top. They trudged through blood and bullets all the way up. Legend says that the commander and his soldiers were covered in so much blood that they became too heavy to move. They say that the 82nd had to take off their gear and fight up the last few hundred feet of the mountain in only their fatigues. That day the 82nd received a new name, "The Bloodied"
X
"Why did you leave? Why did you go AWOL." Rex looked at her and saw the pleading in her eyes. She wanted answer, yet he couldn't give them.
"I can't tell you." She looked at him in shock.
"Really? You can't tell me? Let me guess, you were ordered not to." Rex looked down at his hands. "Of course you were. You were always on a special mission of some kind. Listen, it's just us here. You can tell me!"
"How long was it?"
"How long was what?"
"After I left, how long did you survive?"
She scoffed, "I'm still alive."
"Perhaps you are here, but we're dead from where we came from."
She sat and crossed her arms, "19 years."
Rex smiled, "You'll have to live through one more year. I was ordered to not speak about it until 20 years later." Fae threw up her arms and stormed out of the white room, leaving Rex in silence. It was short lived however.
"I never knew you were a colonel." Rex looked at the door only to see Ozpin.
"Oh, hello Headmaster."
"How are you feeling Rex."
He placed a hand on his stomach bandages. "I'll live."
"I'm referring to your talk with Fae."
"Oh."
"Should you need to speak about anything, including that sword, I'm all ears."
"Sword?" Rex held up his right hand only to see a fantom sword in it.
"That's a special weapon. As I said any training you would need is free of charge. Now get some rest." He disappeared from the door for a brief second before coming back, "Oh, and don't cut yourself." With that the Headmaster left a final time. Rex paid no attention to him and continued staring at the sword. There was strange symbols on it. He had never seen a fraction of them, but there was one he could tell. It was what some would call old eastern Atlesian, or to him, Russian. From this Rex believed that the sword had many languages scrawled onto it.
"Rex!" A red blur crashed into him.
"Ruby?" She squeezed his abdomen tight.
"I thought I lost my first friend at Beacon!" She was on the verge of losing it. Rex gently patted her head.
"It's ok Ruby. You can't get rid of me that easily." Yang strolled through the door and glared at Rex
"What are you doing?"
"Whatever do you mean Yang?"
"Ruby, could you leave for a second?"
"Yang?"
"Please Ruby." Reluctantly she left her spot next to Rex and walked out. Yang closed the door and locked it. "What are you trying to do to my sister?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"You fought me at juniors club that night! Your a criminal!"
Rex smiled, "If I remember correctly, you were the initial fighter in both of the engagements. You probably caused thousands in property damages."
"Whatever! What are you trying to do to my sister?"
"I have no interest in doing anything to her. We are friends."
"Bullshit, you want to corrupt her. You want to hurt Ruby! And if you do I will make your life living hell!"
"I do not wish to hurt her. I would be heartbroken if I did. But if you want to make my life hell, you can try. You will not succeed." With that the door was opened. Glynda wore a annoyed look.
"Whoever locked this door, don't do it again." With that she walked away. A certain Rose re-entered the room.
"Yang, please don't scare him."
"Ruby, I..."
"Please!"
"...Fine." Ruby walked over and sat in the seat next to his bed.
"Your forehead is bleeding!"
"Oh," Rex reached up in pretend concern, "So it is, could I get a paper towel?" Yang handed him one with rage clear on her face.
"Rex?"
"Yes Ruby?"
"Were you the one who beat up Yang that night."
Rex sighed, "Yes."
"Do you regret it?"
"I regret hurting her that badly, but I don't regret the fight. If anything, I believe a rematch is in order. Yang?"
"Anytime, anyplace."
"I'll leave the time and place to your discretion."
"You better prepare."
"I would tell you the same thing."
X
Well, I just set up a fight, and a backstory. I enjoyed writing this chapter for you guys. As always any criticism you can give me is appreciated. I hope you have a good rest of your day. Don't die!!!