The Fall Project
Part 1: From Ashes
Opening Up
A young Nova sat happily in a dense forest. He was waiting, for what he couldn't remember. The midday sun shined through the canopy, and he breathed in the smells of the summer forest. A girl's laughter made him jump up with a smile, excited that his friend had arrived.
As he looked around to find her, he noticed the leaves. They lifted from the ground and drifted upward into the high branches, as if nature was attempting to rewind time. He cocked his head to the side, confused, but was distracted when the girl laughed again. "Where are you?" he called into the wilderness.
"You can't catch me!" the girl teased from somewhere behind him. He spun around to see her, but only caught the rustling bushes as she escaped. He plowed through the thicket, but hesitated as the other side came into view.
An old house stood, the wood rotten and long lost to the ravages of time. "Come on," the girl beckoned from within. He frowned, but pressed on. Each step closer to the house darkened the sky until the day had passed, only stopping deep into the night.
Quietly, he searched the empty house, to no avail. Ice seized his heart when he heard a scream from above. The boy scrambled into action and ran up the stairs, but when he reached the top, time froze. The room was shrouded in black mist, the only thing visible was a grenade, floating toward him in a slow arc.
He could only stand, frozen in place as the device exploded.
Metal shrapnel dug deep, and pain shocked through his body. He clutched the left side of his face, and pulled his hand away, now coated with hot red blood that flowed from his wounds. The world lit up in burning flames, and the pain became too much to bear...
Nova snapped up from his dream and leaped from his bed, shaking uncontrollably as the intensity of his dream threw him into a panic. The dark room was lit by a flickering glow from his sheets, which had caught fire in his episode. He quickly killed the flames with a wave of his hand before further checking the room.
It was pitch black, and he was in his Beacon dorm room, along with Cade, Mike, and Gabe. The only sounds were his thundering heartbeat and ragged breaths. He saw Cade sit up from his bed, and squint in the darkness to see the disturbance.
Nova ignored the team leader and walked over to the dorm's bathroom. He closed the door behind him and turned on the light, clenching his teeth and balling his fists. He forced himself to breathe more slowly, trying to calm his furiously beating heart. He looked up into the mirror, seeing the dark circles that had formed under his eyes, showing his exhaustion and lack of sleep. He leaned against the sink and rubbed his eyes, whispering to himself, "This has got to stop."
Eventually his hands stopped shaking and his heart rate slowed, and he reminded himself to thank Glynda for forcing him to learn how to control his breathing. He turned the light back off before opening the door, and checked to make sure none of his teammates had woken up.
Sure enough, the twins were snoring, and Cade had fallen back to sleep. He glanced at the digital clock at his desk, and cursed under his breath. At 1:20 AM, it was far too early to stay awake for the rest of the morning, and after his little 'episode' there was no way he would be sleeping anytime soon.
Deciding it was best to wear himself down a bit, he shuffled through his drawers and quietly put on some training clothes and a chest harness for his swords. He strapped on his mask before silently leaving the room.
The walk to Beacon's training gym was a calm one, the cool air quickly becoming colder day by day as autumn approached. Nova breathed deep as he looked up at the sky, hoping to see the gleaming stars, but the twinkling lights were shrouded by dark clouds that overcast all of Vale. He enjoyed the night's clean and quiet air, free of the clouded noise of the city.
As he neared the gym, he felt a twinge at the back of his mind. He'd felt the pinch before, ever since one training session with Glynda around a month ago, he noticed that he started to be able to sense people's auras from a distance.
Focusing hard on his surroundings, he visualized the energy within the building. Inside was an overwhelming radiance, not much different from a star.
Nova considered turning back around and going to the Emerald Forest instead, but dismissed the idea. Ozpin would complain far more about that than him going to train at outrageous hours of the night. Hoping for the best, he opened the gym's double doors.
Instantly he caught the wild, now glowing, blonde hair that flowed over the young brawler's shoulders. Her hands were wrapped with white tape to help protect them while she mercilessly pounded away at a punching bag. Why, in the wide world of Remnant, would Yang Xiao Long be awake and pissed at 1:30 in the morning?
He made his way to a bench a dozen feet away from Yang, and unbuckled his chest harness. Making sure to announce his presence by letting his swords clatter as he set them on the floor, he sat back and watched the young huntress.
Much to his chagrin, her clothes barely managed to protect her modesty, wearing just a sports bra and shorts that were way too short. It was a standard for most girls that went to the training room, and while the distraction was welcome to some, he couldn't help but wonder what girls expected from all the guys. If you wear next to nothing, you are going to get looks from someone you don't want looking, end of story.
Then again, Yang most likely didn't expect anyone else to go training at this hour.
She looked like she'd been at it for hours, with sweat glistening off her skin and her breathing heavy. The blonde boxer had a near-perfect athletic build, with a well-toned abdomen and strong legs and shoulders. It took a significant amount of willpower to keep himself from imagining the alluring image in a different light.
Of course, the swordsman couldn't help but admire Yang's physical prowess. After all, it wasn't every day that you could find a woman with that kind of power behind her swing. With every thunderous hit, the sandbag threatened to break from it's chain. It was honestly quite impressive.
Yang reared back and roared, unleashing a devastating punch that tore the fabric, throwing sand all over the gym floor. She immediately whirled around, giving Nova a red-eyed glare, "Stop staring at me, this time you're just being creepy! What are you doing up so late, anyway?" she snapped.
He shook his head and waved his hands, dismissing her accusations, "Firstly, I am just a spectator. Second, I woke up and the only way I'm going to get back to sleep is to wear myself down a bit first, and you got here first. Third, I think we can both agree that we need to relieve some stress, and I owe you a fight," he said, and stood, "Lets have a spar, then we can talk."
She pursed her lips, considering his offer. The corners of her lips slowly curled into a crooked smile as her eyes returned to their normal color. "Alright, but I won't go easy," she sneered.
He nodded in agreement and took a few steps forward, smirking under his mask, "Good. I've been looking for a challenge, think you can make me work up a sweat?"
The brawler gave a mischievous grin, "Oh trust me, I'll be the best you've had in years."
Nova laughed, "You and your innuendos." The blonde gave him a wink, and they both dropped into their combat stances, sizing each other up.
He stood a full head taller than Yang and had a longer reach, which gave him a bit of an advantage, but Yang was possibly the strongest fighter in team RWBY. Unfortunately due to the lack of sleep and his own negligence, he never payed much attention to her fighting style before, putting him at a pretty significant disadvantage.
But of course, a challenge makes the fight far more enjoyable.
Just as they were about to start, Yang interrupted, "Wait-wait, I have one rule; Do not touch my hair." she said, glaring daggers at the swordsman.
He shrugged, "Alright, I hadn't exactly planned on it."
"Yeah you better not- hey!" she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips, "What, is my hair not good enough for you?!"
Nova ignored her antics and took a step forward, "Let's go."
They started pretty slow, testing each others moves before pressing the advance with a new combination. The swordsman enjoyed the spar, but couldn't help but feel that she was a little slow. While he couldn't land any strong hits, he was able to connect with some lighter jabs and kicks. Sometimes it even felt like she was letting herself be hit. The blonde brawler suddenly unleashed a flurry of mixed martial arts moves that almost caught him off-guard, forcing him to step up his game.
More than half an hour in, Nova started to take the upper hand when he managed to dodge a right hook and landed a hard knee into her stomach, and followed up quickly with a crushing uppercut into her chin.
She flew back, but managed to regain her feet. He lunged forward to get in another punch before she could react, but to his astonishment, Yang caught his hand with an open palm. It was like punching a steel-reinforced concrete wall, end even then he could make that give way. She looked up at him with red eyes and an evil grin, and her hair lit up in bright yellow flames.
Feeling the twinge in the back of his mind again, he could sense the massive ocean of energy bursting from her, strengthening her. He tried to dash backward, but she had an astonishingly strong grip, and held him in place while rearing back for a massive right-handed punch.
All he could do at that point was put up an arm to shield his face.
The colossal punch to the ribs sent him flying across the gym, wildly crashing through a stack of wooden tables. He dizzily emerged from the wreckage, panting and exhausted. Yang put up her hands, ready to go on even longer, but he just laughed painfully and shook his head, "You got me. I might have a few cracked ribs."
Her semblance faded, and her brow furrowed in concern, "Oh, really? Should we go to the doctor?"
"No, no. I'll just sleep it off." He stood, holding a hand to his damaged abdomen. "That is one hell of a semblance you've got," he said with a chuckle.
Yang nodded, "Yeah, it comes in handy sometimes." The duo sat next to each other at a bench, and she passed him a bottle of water and a white towel to soak up some of the sweat.
Nova slipped his mask just above his mouth and sipped from the bottle, then readjusted it before he spoke, "So, what are you in for?"
Yang stared at him with a blank expression, "I think it's about time you started explaining things. You go first, then me."
Nova took a long, dejected sigh, "I don't think it's something you need to worry about."
She crossed her arms, "Well I don't think friends should keep secrets from each other. The more they know, the more they can help."
"I get that, but I don't want you to get entangled in my wide world of problems. You need to understand that so far, my life hasn't exactly been a happy story."
The blonde frowned, and looked down with a solemn expression, "In this day and age, a lot of people have sad stories. Sharing them can help with bearing the burden."
Nova didn't have anything to say against that, and paused for a few moments to collect his thoughts. "I'll tell you part of it. The rest might come later, but for now… I have amnesia. Anything before about two and a half years ago is a complete mystery to me. However, lately I have been getting dreams that are so real, the only logical explanation is that they are fragments of memory trying to come back."
He studied her, watching her expressions as he explained. She showed concern, but she also looked confused, like she didn't know how to respond. He continued, "That is why I woke up so early in the morning. I had…. A nightmare I guess? Similar to what happened with the tree a few weeks ago."
She took a moment to think before leaning closer to him, "Do you want to talk about the things in your dreams?" She looked to be waiting patiently for his answer, but internally she was begging for him to open up. It would be a monumental step for the swordsman, not to mention she could call it one of her crowning achievements to get someone like Nova to talk for once.
He started to fidget, clearly uncomfortable, "Well, I-I mean it's not the easiest thing to talk about. Most people from my past either show as shadows or I'm never able to directly see them, others are people that I've met since I woke up in Atlas. Tonight was a little different, though."
"Different how?" She asked, paying close attention to what he had to say.
"I was looking for someone, a girl. I never saw her, but instead found a house, an old run down thing that was basically empty. I get the feeling that it was my home. Anyway, inside there was a grenade that exploded in front of me and badly injured me. I think that is the cause for my scars, and it gives me a good explanation for why I need to wear a mask all the time."
Her brow furrowed, "I'm sure its not that bad, a lot of people see scars as experience. People might look up to you for it," she said, trying to reassure him, "Plus, lots of girls like scars," she shrugged with a teasing grin.
He burst out laughing, "No, its pretty bad. I might show you eventually but for now I'll just let you keep picturing Prince Charming."
She playfully punched his shoulder, "In your dreams, lover-boy."
He nudged back with an elbow, "Alright, your turn. I spilled my guts so this better be good."
"But there's so much more!" she huffed, "Come on, you can't say anything else?"
The swordsman grinned under his mask, "Maybe later, but right now it's your turn."
The blonde frowned, her eyes shifting away from his gaze, "Yeah, okay. Blake accidentally let some information from her past slip, and now she's run off. We looked for her all day but didn't manage to find her anywhere. I'm just really stressing about it, I guess."
Nova tapped his chin, "Do you know if she has any other friends outside of school?"
Yang shook her head, "I don't know. We checked half the city today, and we're going again tomorrow." He nodded and looked away, deep in thought. "Would you help us look for her?"
"I've got nothing better to do," he shrugged.
The blonde grinned, "Awesome, I'll come by your room tomorrow around four."
He gave a terse nod, "Okay. Good spar by the way, maybe we could train again sometime? We can show each other a few tricks if you'd like." They said their farewells and returned to their dorms, and for the first time in months, Nova had a dreamless sleep.
The next day was a slow one. Everyone on Team CMSN had decided to sleep in that Saturday for some much needed rest. Cadence got his team up before 10 a.m, and the twins left to aimlessly wander downtown Vale. Seemingly out of nowhere, Nova pulled out a black notebook and sat down cross-legged on his bed, with his back to the wall. Not long ago he had decided to take Blake's advice, and now scribbles in it almost every day.
Not so surprisingly, none of the team had ever seen where he hides it, however Cade did know that Nova didn't actually write in the notebook, but instead drew pictures. The only reason he knew that is because every once and a while he managed to catch a glimpse of a page or two out of the corner of his eye. Not enough to see what he was drawing, but enough to tell that it was more than just a sketch. Nova was pouring a lot of effort into those drawings.
Several hours passed, and Cade managed to completely clean and detail his armor, and still he scribbled away at the sketchbook. "You've been at that thing for half the day," he said.
Nova was very concentrated on his work, and only acknowledged his team leader with a simple nod. Cade frowned and glanced at the clock, "It's 3:45, and you didn't even eat lunch. Aren't you hungry?"
The swordsman looked up at Cade with a wide-eyed expression of surprise, "It's 3:45?" Moving with lightening speed, he picked up his mask off of his pillow and grabbed a towel and a pair of pants, then dashed into the bathroom.
Cade rolled his eyes. He could never understand his partner, no matter how hard he tried. Normally he takes a shower before anyone else, and is so quick that the team leader sometimes questions whether or not he actually is getting himself clean. Now that he thought about it, it's almost as if he simply hates everything to do with water.
A few minutes later he heard a knock, and was pleasantly surprised to see RWBY's blonde brawler at the door. "Hello Yang, how can I help you?"
She rested a hand on her hip, "Hey Cade, I'm actually looking for Nova. Any idea where he is?"
"Yeah, he's in the shower." he said, nodding in the direction of the bathroom door. "Come on inside."
She took a few steps inside and glanced around the room for a few moments, "I thought you guys would be at least a little bit messy. Everything looks practically new."
The team leader shrugged, "I try not to let them get carried away. Originally I wanted to go to Atlas, so keeping a military-approved level of cleanliness sort of became a standard for me."
"What do you mean you wanted to go to Atlas?" Nova asked as he opened the bathroom door. He only wore a pair of loose black pants, and had put on his mask inside so Yang wouldn't see his scars.
Cade noticed a subtle tension in his voice, as if he were genuinely upset to learn that bit of information. "Well, my original plan was to go to Atlas, but I didn't manage to pass the entrance exam."
He simply nodded at his team leader, not wanting to push the topic. Yang noticed the black sketchbook on Nova's bed and picked it up. Before she could turn a single page, he snatched it from her hands, "That is for my eyes only." He turned his back to her and shoved the notebook under his bed.
As he turned away his exposed back was revealed to her. A deep, faded scar ran from just under one shoulderblade, up to his spine a few inches below the nape of his neck, then mirrored it's way down on the other side of his back. She had to cover her mouth to silence a gasp. She managed to put her thoughts together before he turned back around, "Okay, well we're gonna give you a minute to get ready."
Nova nodded as the she walked swiftly over to Cade and grabbed him by the ear and dragged him outside. "What the hell was that?!" she hissed.
Cade shrugged, "What, the sketchbook? He's been writing in that thing for weeks."
Her eyes rolled at his lack of observation, "No, those scars on his back."
The team leader blinked a few times, "We never asked."
"You never asked?" Yang huffed, "Those look like child abuse!"
Cade frowned and gave her a stern look, "If his parents were responsible, they already got what was coming to them."
She cringed at hearing that, knowing exactly what it felt like to lose family. "Oh."
The door squeaked as Nova left the dorm room, donning his full combat gear and black cloak. "We better get going," he said as he walked past them.
Yang's face turned red from the embarrassment of talking behind his back, and she stayed silent until they jumped on an airship ride to downtown Vale. "Okay, so we've already looked in most of the downtown area, all that's left are the more shady sides of the city."
He chuckled, "I'm sure we'll be fine."
"Aaaaand here we are!" Yang said, waving a hand at her black and yellow motorcycle, Bumblebee.
"Nice, I didn't know you had a license."
"Oh yeah, I could hardly wait! I spent a huge amount of time saving up for this baby." After putting her helmet on, she swung a leg over the side and kicked up the stand, "Hop on. What are you waiting for, the Vytal Festival?"
Somehow, she always managed to make him chuckle. He sat on the rear section of the seat, respectfully giving her plenty of space. The blonde turned a key in the ignition and kicked the starter, the low rumble sending a chill up his spine.
Yang revved the engine, "You better hold on to something."
Nova glanced around, "Hold on to what?"
"You could hold on to me," she said, giving him a sly grin.
"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you?" He was thrown off balance as the engine screamed, and Yang popped a huge wheelie.
Just before the metal beast threw him from the seat, he managed to wrap his arms around Yang's waist as they took off down the road. After a few seconds she yelled over the engine, "If you feel me up I'll break your arms!"
His heart thundered in his chest from the adrenaline rush, and a smile grew wide on his face. "Sounds tempting!" he yelled, making her laugh.
They made it to the center of town before long, and Yang slowed down enough for them to be able to hear each other over the engine. Nova had an idea of where to find RWBY's mysterious faunus, and suggested they search the libraries.
They spent the entire evening searching through every library they could find, and even came across some guy named Tucson, who Nova knew was a Fang supporter. Unfortunately, he refused any truth to his affiliation, so they didn't get any help from the man.
Nighttime had approached before they knew it, and they were walking down a sidewalk when a few questions sparked in Yang's mind, "How do you know so much about the White Fang? Were you a member or something?"
"No, you have to be a faunus for that, remember?" he teased.
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah but no one asked you, and Blake managed to keep it a secret for most of a semester, so it could be a possibility."
"Well considering I don't have any extra 'appendages' I'm going to say no, I am not a faunus."
The conversation took a more serious turn when Yang decided to ask about Atlas. "Why do you hate Atlas so much? I remember you saying that's where you're from, but beyond that you haven't said anything."
"Atlas isn't all it's cut out to be," he growled, "You should be glad they didn't have the chance to indoctrinate you."
She stepped closer, speaking in a hushed voice so no one else walking the night could hear them, "There's more to it than that, isn't there? Whenever Atlas is mentioned, you look like you want to go slaughter a pack of Beowolves."
The swordsman thought for a moment. The truth was, he did want to talk about it. Keeping all these secrets were taking a toll on him, and he was starting to slip. At the same time, he didn't want people to be endangered by his past. Especially not Yang, who had been nothing but a good friend since the first day.
Nova looked her in the eyes, her shimmering lilacs, and could see the absolute attention she was giving him. She actually cared. Not only did she want to know his problems, but she wanted to help him.
He knew he could trust her.
"We should sit down for this." He said, gesturing at a nearby bench.
They sat and made themselves comfortable, and Nova started his tale. "I'm sure you've heard of James Ironwood. Most people know him as a military General and as a Headmaster, but few know what he's really all about. Every General has his secrets, and every military has its projects."
Yang watched as his pulled off his left glove and rolled his sleeve back, revealing a series of numbers tattooed to the underside of his wrist. "They called mine 'The Fall Project.' I was a damn lab rat for the better part of a year, after that they started sending me on missions with a watchdog."
"What kind of missions?" She sat and listened patiently, knowing that this was not something he was going to say again anytime soon.
"Hit missions on dangerous criminals, mostly. A few messages sent in secret, a new Grimm they needed dead, one mission where I needed to capture a few psychos that honestly would've been better off dead. I was basically his personal assassin, and it didn't take long for me to get good at it."
Yang seemed horrified. The look she gave him felt like someone had plunged a dagger through his heart.
Hoping to reassure her, he continued to the part that didn't make him feel like a monster, "I hated that I was good at it. I hated that I only knew what I was told. I abandoned the last mission because he ordered me to go after a few people in the White Fang, one of them being Blake. I thought it was horrible that he was trying to off a kid, so I ran away. Luckily, I ran into a few people who got me into Beacon so I can make my own choices, and live my own life."
Yang felt terrible for the poor boy. Taking an amnesiac child and forcing him to kill your enemies? It was downright disgusting. She wanted to hug him and reassure him, but she didn't dare touch him. Nova wasn't exactly the kind of person to take that very well. "I'm sorry all of that happened to you."
"Don't be," he said, "You weren't the one who did it."
"Are you sure you're okay? Even after doing those… missions?"
Nova nodded, "I'm fine. My take on it is that I was just the tool. I was the weapon used in someone else's hands. That's how I rationalize it."
She held on to the crook of his arm, trying to show a bit of compassion without being intrusive. She felt his arm twitch at her touch, but he didn't pull away. "You don't have to do things alone anymore. Your friends will back you up one-hundred percent."
They both heard a loud boom that echoed through buildings. Nova scanned the area and saw a plume of smoke rising in the distance. "Knowing Blake, that's probably her." They sprinted for Yang's bike and rode off to help her partner.
Yang and Nova didn't arrive until long after the fight. The blonde immediately tackled her younger sister, spewing out concerns and patting her down to make sure nothing was missing, then thanked Nova for helping track Blake. The faunus girl gave him a distrustful glare, which he simply shrugged off.
After getting his permission, Yang told her teammates his past with Atlas, although she gave a much more kid-friendly and summarized version, only saying that he went after wanted criminals. Suddenly Weiss' jaw dropped, and she pointed a finger at Nova, "You're Black Ice?!"
The entire group, including a monkey faunus named Sun, flipped their gaze between the two, wondering what in the world she was talking about. "I'm what?" The masked boy questioned.
Weiss waved her hands in exasperation, "Black Ice! The vigilante who's been taking down criminals in Atlas!"
"I guess that's me?" Nova laughed, "But that's a terrible name. Who in the world came up with that?"
The heiress sneered at him, and Yang's eyes went wide when she noticed the slightest tint of pink in the heiress' cheeks, "It was YOU! You came up with that name, didn't you!?"
Her blush deepened when her secret was discovered, and she placed her hands on her hips and gave them all an apathetic frown, "Perhaps."
Ruby snickered, "What did you have a crush on him or something?"
"What? N-no! T-the nerve of..." She gave up, biting her lip as her normally pale skin flushed deep red, and her stammering betrayed the bluff.
Yang burst out laughing, "You have a crush on Nova! And you didn't even know it was him!"
The heiress made a flustered attempt to defend herself, "No I don't! It doesn't mean anything!"
Nova didn't make a big deal of it, knowing that the heiress had no way of knowing who he was, "It's okay Weiss, everyone has something they look up to. Plus, it's not like you kept a poster on the bedroom ceiling back home or anything." Her bright blue eyes went wide, and she hid her face in shame.
"This is… the greatest day of my life!" Yang managed to say, cradling her stomach as she laughed so hard that tears began to stream down her face.
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
-Proverbs 18:24