A/N: Still making a comeback folks, and this was another one long overdue. Even though this chapter didn't end up nearly as long as I hoped it would be, I intend on making the ones to follow at least double or triple the word count. With the changes already in place, and the many more to come later, it'll all come together soon enough.
For now, let's get back to what you have been waiting for.
X
Rios stood in the locker room where all of the student's weapons and armor were located. Pulling on a tight black sleeveless thermal shirt and his lightly damaged cargo shorts, he made a mental note to look into an actual set of armor in the near future for combat as he fixed Leviathan and Artemis to his back with his arrows on his waist.
The Blades of Chaos were still safely tucked away in his teams dorm room. As much as he wanted to bring out the ancient blades for this class, the warning given to him by Kratos would echo in the back of his mind;
"The Blades of Chaos are never to be taken lightly, boy. They are indeed powerful, but as I have said before, power always comes with a price. With the blades, it is blood."
"The flames enchanted into their metal allow them to cut through almost anything, including the aura warriors shroud themselves with. Never use them against an ally, unless you intend to strike them down like an enemy."
Rios closed his locker and took a deep breath. He may have issued with the Schnee name, and Weiss had been doing nothing to disprove his avarice, but he didn't want to maim or kill the heiress.
Prepared, the wolf-Faunus left the locker room and entered the arena where his opponent and Professor Goodwitch were waiting.
X
On the elevated balconies above, teams RWBY and SPRN looked on with the rest of the class as the two combatants stood across from each other and waited to begin.
"Hey, Rios didn't bring his swords." Yang commented, noticing the hunter only had his axe and bow.
"He probably thought they would be overkill for a simple spar." offered Ren while Nora cheered for their leader.
Pyrrha and Ruby remained silent, both silently cheering on their respected partners while also wishing best for their opponents
Blake's sharp gaze remained locked on the wolf-Faunus, her bow subtly twitching every other second thanks to her hidden ears. She'd been around canine-like Faunus in the past, despite her natural aversion given her heritage as a cat-Faunus. But something about Rios put her on edge.
The presence he gave off was that of an alpha, one that was both strong and imposing. Whether he realized he was giving off such a feeling was unknown, but the moment he acquired those deadly blades back in the Emerald forest that feeling multiplied greatly.
More so, she wasn't the only Faunus in the school to notice. She'd seen others giving Rios a wide berth when he was near and watching him out of the corner of their eyes. Even now, she wasn't the only one watching him with rapt attention at the moment.
X
"Miss. Schnee, Soterios, are you ready?" asked Professor Goodwitch, looking between the two students.
Weiss pulled out Myrtenaster and held it at the ready while Rios simply crossed his arms over his chest, the chains wrapped around his forearms rattling softly as he did so.
The blonde huntress hit a few keys on her scroll and the scoreboard at the back of the arena lit up with the combatants' aura levels as she stepped off to the side. "You may begin!" she called out, officially starting the match.
The heiress dropped into a fencer's stance, her body tense, ready for anything to come her way...but her opponent hadn't moved.
Rios remained where he was, arms still crossed and his eyes locked onto the heiress. Reading her like a hunter stalking its prey.
After a minute of waiting, Weiss decided to make the first move. The dust chamber of her weapon rotated, selecting the dust she needed before launching herself forward. Her feet gliding across the arena as though it were ice with her rapier poised to strike her opponent down.
Hazel eyes tracked the heiress' movements sharply, watching as she drew closer as Rios dropped his arms and spun to the left as Weiss flew past him. He immediately dropped to a kneeling position, keeping the momentum of his spin as the thin blade of his opponent passed just above his wolf-ears, swinging outward and connecting hard with the heiress' midsection with his chain-covered right arm.
The power behind the blow sent Weiss to the floor and rolling back several feet, her aura taking a noticeable hit on the monitor.
"Whoa!" Nora said, stunned like everyone else at the sudden maneuver Rios had done.
"How did he know Weiss was going to attack him when she went by?" wondered Ruby.
"Look at his eyes." Blake said, the others doing just that and found Rios standing with his arms crossed again with his eyes still zeroed in on Weiss as she got back to her feet. "He hasn't taken them off of Weiss since the match began."
Ren nodded, seeing it too. "He's reading her movements, every step she makes and predicting what she'll do next."
"And she's telegraphing her self very clearly." added Pyrrha.
When the heiress got back to her feet, she put Myrtenaster infront of her. "It'll take more than a lucky shot to beat me!" she called to her opponent.
Rios remained silent, his piercing gaze making a chill go up Weiss' spine. The heiress rotated her dust chamber, her blade glowing a bright red as she spun around and stabbed it into the floor. A line of flames shooting across the arena toward the Faunus a moment later.
Grabbing Leviathan, Rios charged his aura into the axe before slamming it into the floor and cutting upward. A line of ice-spikes shooting up from the ground in a straight line that connected with the flames shot by the heiress, an explosion echoing through the arena when the two elements connected sending chunks of ice in all directions.
Covering her face with her arms from the blast, Weiss lowered them and blinked when she saw a small bank of fog filling the arena making it hard for her to see more than a couple of meters in any direction.
Weapon held ready, the heiress' blue eyes scanned all around her. Hoping to catch some sort of sign from her opponent. The fog began to clear, but she still couldn't find Rios anywhere...
Then she heard heavy footsteps coming up behind her at running speed.
Smirking, Weiss spun around. Myrtenaster's dust chamber spinning as well as she launched a volley of lightning bolts. The attack cutting through what was left of the fog and hitting only open air which surprised her. Movement above had her gaze snap upward where Rios was coming down on her with his axe poised to cut her down.
With only a split second to think, the heiress activated a glyph under her that catapulted her backwards as his weapon slammed the ground where she had been standing with an explosion of ice going in every direction.
Not giving her a chance to regroup, Rios launched himself after her. Throwing Leviathan ahead of him that Weiss deflected with her own weapon and tried to stab forward only to have her rapier caught in a steel vice grip. The Faunus headbutted the heiress, snapping her head back and making her see stars despite her aura still being active, leaving her wide open for the hard kick to the chest that sent her crashing against the nearest wall.
The wolf-Faunus lowered his leg, Myrtenaster held in his hand as he began to advance on the downed heiress. Standing over her as she struggled to get back up.
"A Schnee, defeated by a mere mongrel. That must hurt your pride more than a little." Rios spoke for the first time since the match began. "It's that same pride and arrogance that will lead to your own downfall."
Weiss raised her head and glared at him, not saying a word.
"One thing you will come to realize is that, on the battlefield, no one gives a damn about your name, your wealth, or your social status. All they'll care about is your blood being spilled on the ground." the Faunus continued, "You act superior to everyone else simply because you supposedly got the best training, the best tutors, the best weapons." he tossed Myrtenaster to the floor beside her.
"Yet I was trained by my parents in the Northern Frontier, and defeated you today without those privileges. Perhaps instead of seeing others, including your own team mates, as inferior, maybe you should take the time to learn what those private lessons never taught you."
Holding his hand out, Leviathan flew into his grasp before turning on his heel and walking away.
Gritting her teeth, Weiss reached out and grabbed Myrtenaster. Using the weapon to help her stand.
"I'm not...finished yet." she said, bringing Myrtenaster to bare and launching herself at her opponent's back.
Rios' left wolf-ear twitched. The hunter spun around and snapped a hand out, the rest of the class could only watch in shocked horror as the rapier's blade stabbed into his palm. The tip piercing all the way through and stopping an inch from his face.
The silence that filled the arena was suffocating, Weiss stood wide-eyed and pale as she watched a stream of blood trail down the Faunus' arm from where he had been impaled. But what chilled her to the core wasn't the wound she inflicted, or the fact that he didn't use his aura to take the blow.
No, it was the emotionless expression and piercing gaze Rios pinned on her. Infact, he showed no sign of even feeling the weapon go through his hand.
"You have much to learn." he said, gently removing Myrtenaster from the heiress' limp grasp. Pulling the blade free with a soft spray of crimson before his aura went to work at healing the wound. "It's obvious you're trying to prove something. Whether to yourself or someone else. Either way, at the end of it all, your goals are your own. However, allow me to offer words from my ancestors."
Rios held Myrtenaster out sideways to the heiress;
"Forget every concept, however noble, that you imagine you fight for here today. Act for this alone: for the ones who stand at your shoulder. They are everything, and everything is contained within them."
Weiss blinked, the message was cryptic, but deep down she had a feeling she knew the meaning behind it. Accepting her weapon back, the Faunus turned once again and began to leave the arena.
"I look forward to our next spar, Weiss." he said over his shoulder at the heiress before he disappeared from sight, leaving a stunned class in his wake.
Overcoming her own stupor at what she had heard and witnessed, Professor Goodwitch declared Rios the winner of the match. All the while her eyes never leaving where the hunter had gone.
X
Given that Combat Class was the last lesson of the day, Rios decided to take the time to walk around one of the campus' many courtyards. Taking in the sights and sounds around him as the thought back to his recent spar.
Despite her arrogance and upbringing, he could see in Weiss' eyes the drive to prove herself. It also showed in her actions as well, though her reasons are her own, he could tell there was much more to the heiress beneath the surface.
As such, he held back. Hoping to reach her through his words and her defeat in the arena. Perhaps she would change for the better, if not it'll be a lesson she'll have to learn a much harder way.
"You certainly know how to inspire others."
Rios perked up and saw Professor Ozpin standing infront of him, cane in one hand and coffee mug in the other.
"I take it you saw and heard everything?" asked the Faunus.
The headmaster nodded, "Your words to Miss. Rose and Miss. Schnee will no doubt have a lasting impact on them. Your parents certainly taught you much more than how to defend yourself and survive. I knew offering you a place in Beacon would be a wise choice."
A brief moment of silence passed between the two, "Is there something you needed, headmaster?" asked the hunter.
"No. Just to say keep up the good work. We can all expect great things from you, Soterios." Ozpin turned and slowly walked away, leaving Rios to wonder what he had meant.
"Be weary of who you trust, boy. Those with agendas of their own will do whatever is needed to achieve their goals. Do not become their pawn. Because pawns, in the end, are always sacrificed."
Kratos' words from the night before rang through his head, causing a small feeling of paranoia to creep up his spine. But the question was why he felt this way around Ozpin all of a sudden, and only after he began learning about his ancestor's past?
Shaking his head, Rios decided to head back into the school, no doubt the others would be looking for him. Pushing the feeling to the farthest reaches of his mind...for now anyway.
X
A/N: As previously stated, a short chapter, but one that will keep things alive long enough for me to get the next one typed up and ready.
And Rios has so much more to learn about his ancestor's past, and the power that will soon come with it in the end.
Read, review and kickass everybody! And I'll be back with the next update before you know it!