Quick preface; this chapter references some events from Volume One of this story, titled 'RWBY BLAC', so if you haven't read that volume you may feel a little lost. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.
Chapter Nine: Silver Linings
As his teammates settled down in their dorm, Cyrus made his way to the roof of the building to get some fresh air and reflect on the night. The cold night air pushed its way through his jacket as he leaned on the low wall at the edge of the roof. He chuckled at Ebony's impeccable timing when he had almost kissed Bianca. He wasn't the least bit mad about it. As he reminisced, Cyrus heard something drop to the ground behind him, when he turned, he saw Jet and Nilah standing there, staring at him.
"You two," he raised his fists.
A short sword blade was pressed against his throat, it's edge yearning to bite into his flesh, "let's not get too hasty now."
Rouge walked from next to Cyrus to in front of him, adjusting her sword blade to where it's point was just barely contacting his throat. He lowered his fists, even if he wanted to fight, this woman's sword would pierce his neck before he could activate his aura.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Cyrus struggled to say with the sword pressed to his neck.
"The name's Rouge," she replied, "I wanted to talk."
"Well that's going to be a bit difficult for me," Cyrus replied.
Rouge pulled the blade away from Cyrus's neck and the blade retracted into the handle, she then hooked the weapon to her belt. Cyrus rubbed his neck as Jet and Nilah walked closer to Rouge, their weapons drawn and ready to strike.
"My friends here have been keeping a close eye on you and your team as you may already know," Rouge said, "they have deemed you and your brother irredeemable, but I see otherwise."
"If you kill me, you best be sure that my brother will hunt you down, you don't know what…" he was cut off.
"I'm fully aware of what the Gray Death and Black Beast are capable of, after all, you two were hitmen in the Vale underground," Rouge stated.
"How do you know about that?" Cyrus demanded.
"I also know that your teammates are the only one's you two have ever told about that," Rouge paused, "anyway, onto business."
Cyrus didn't say anything, he remained alert and sneered at Rouge.
"I've seen how you and your brother want to better yourselves and I find that commendable." Rouge began to pace. "We've come to the conclusion that there is a place for you and your brother's partners in my service, but due to recent events, I've decided that it'd be best if you joined us as well."
"So, you just want my brother and I so Bianca and Alyssa will join you then, well news flash, even if we did, they never would," Cyrus said.
Rouge chuckled, "no, I want you and your brother to join me because I deem you worthy of the redemption you two crave, if that results in your partners joining as well then that'd be wonderful. Besides, I believe they will nonetheless."
Rouge pulled out her scroll and played two videos. The first was from the night Alyssa and Lucas had fought off the gang of one of the Grey Brothers' old associates, Flynn Redman. Cyrus knew that fight had brought the two of them closer as partners and that they would follow each other into hell after that night. The second video was from earlier this very night, when Cyrus and Bianca very nearly had their first kiss before being interrupted. Rouge knew their team was close and she aimed to use that as leverage against them.
"The time will come for you and your teammates to make a choice," Rouge said as she pocketed her scroll, "you'll know when that time is."
"Oh, and if you tell anyone about this before its time, my lady has given permission for brother and I to cleanse you and your friends in whatever way we see fit," Nilah said psychotically.
Jet manifested a black mist around himself, Nilah, and Rouge, and the three disappeared into the shadows.
Cyrus stood there for a moment before collapsing to his knees, he had never felt so helpless in his entire life. They could have killed him right then and there, but instead they decide to toy with him. He felt conflicted, should he take up their offer in order to keep his friends safe, or should he risk denying them and put his friends in harm's way?
The next day quickly came and the students were back to the grind. Classes resumed at their normal times regardless of last night's activities, much to many a student's annoyance. Alyssa who was not a morning person whatsoever was certainly feeling it, especially after only getting six hours of sleep. The students could complain all they want, but in the end, they had to suck it up and move on with their day.
After classes ended that day, Bianca and Cyrus headed to the gardens to meet Sierra as she had requested the night before. Cyrus was uneasy because of the events on the roof last night and Bianca noticed.
"Hey, are you doing alright?" She asked, "you've been… off today."
"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied, "just tired is all."
"Are you sure, you know you can talk to me," she said.
"Yes, I'm sure, let's just get this over with so we can go back to the dorm and rest," Cyrus stated.
The entrance to Haven's gardens were lined with cherry blossom trees in full bloom. Some of the petals had begun to fall off and were dancing in the air as they floated to the ground, they reminded Bianca of her semblance's aftereffect. Along with the cherry blossoms, many other flowering plants were present on the walkway; Camellia, Morning Glories, and Cosmos just to name a few, although not all were in bloom.
Bianca and Cyrus rounded a corner, to their right was a small section of the garden made up of mostly bonsai trees. Within this section of the garden there were many people trimming and pruning the plants. To their left was a clearing with a Koi pond in the center, sitting on her knees at the edge of the pond was Sierra.
"Um… Sierra?" Bianca said.
She held up her hand, nonverbally asking them to wait a moment. She placed her hand back on her thigh and continued to face the pond, her eyes shut, and chest rising from deep focused breaths. She was meditating.
Cyrus and Bianca stood there for a bit and waited for Sierra to do or say something. They exchanged looks of confusion with one another as they waited. After a few awkwardly silent minutes, Sierra took one final breath and stood to face them.
"Sorry for keeping you," she said, "please, make yourselves comfortable."
Cyrus and Bianca looked around for a moment before noticing a stone bench, which they promptly sat down on.
"How much do you two know about your heritage?" Sierra asked.
An odd question, but the two of them decided to answer it nonetheless.
"Um… my family is supposedly descended from the rulers of the Kingdom of Helios, the nation that preceded Vale," Cyrus said.
"Ok," Sierra replied and then turned to Bianca, "what about you?"
"Uh… I had a great grandparent who fought in the Great War and another that founded the Schnee Dust Company, that's about as far back as I know," Bianca said.
"Ok," Sierra nodded, "not exactly what I meant, but you're on the right track."
Bianca and Cyrus looked at each other with confusion. What did she mean that wasn't what she meant? It sounded like a fairly straight forward question to both of them.
"Do you know how many people have been reported to have silver eyes, be it one or both irises?" Sierra asked.
Cyrus and Bianca shook their heads.
"Out of all two billion people who live on Remnant, less than five thousand have the trait," Sierra paused, "and until recently I thought I was the only one to have accessed their abilities."
"You know how to control your powers?" Bianca asked in disbelief.
"Yes, but we'll get to that later," Sierra replied, "for now you should know a little history."
Bianca and Cyrus sat up attentively as Sierra began to pace in front of them.
"Every culture, religion, and nation on Remnant has its own founding myths, I'm sure you two have heard at least a few in your lives or even believe one over the others." She paused, "but they all share a few common features, the creation of our peoples, either both, or just one, and the creation of the Grimm. However, these common features do vary. Some say our peoples were created, then dark forces conspired to destroy us by creating Grimm. Others say the Grimm were created first and we were created to stop their path of destruction."
"Ok… so, what does this have to do with us?" Cyrus asked, "I don't see how this has to do with the three of us sharing the same rare trait."
"I'm getting to that," Sierra replied.
"Sorry about my partner," Bianca gave Cyrus a look, "he can be a bit impatient sometimes."
"It's fine," Sierra replied, "anyway, back to what I was saying. Regardless of the order you put things, there has always been conflict between our peoples and the Grimm. And the Grimm have always had the advantage. Whenever we kill one, another takes its place, we were barely able to survive our earliest histories until…"
"Until the discovery of Dust," Bianca said.
"No, actually," Sierra stated.
This correction took both Bianca and Cyrus off guard. To them, it was common knowledge that the discovery of Dust was what saved humanity and the faunus from extinction at the hands of the Grimm. To have that belief torn down was shocking yet intriguing.
Sierra continued, "Dust wouldn't be discovered till shortly before the first civilizations sprouted up roughly five-thousand years ago, that's common knowledge. Before that however, was us. Most of those who know about the power of silver eyes believe it to be a gift from whatever god or gods they follow, others believe it to be an evolution in our species' DNA, but in reality, there isn't a definite answer. Regardless of how we came into being, we were the first to be able to fight the Grimm and the first to harness the world's energy to manifest semblances. Our power mixed with semblance allowed us to survive our earliest days."
"So, you're saying silver eyes emerged as a defensive adaptation?" Cyrus inquired.
"In a matter of speaking," Sierra replied.
"Then how come there aren't more of us?" Cyrus asked, "how come everyone doesn't have silver eyes?"
"There were once far more than there are now, but the gene that gives people silver eyes is recessive, so it's no guarantee that one's offspring will have them or even be a carrier for the trait," Sierra stated, "along with it being recessive, many lines have died or been bred out of existence over the millennia."
"Ok, so what lines of silver eyed warriors were there?" Bianca asked.
"They formed the ruling classes in many of the first civilizations. The city-states of the West Anima Civilization, also known as 'Civilization A' were the first nations founded by these 'Silver Kings'." Sierra sat down in front of them, "with the help of the newly discovered Dust, they forged further ahead than ever before. Rather than rely on small bands of semblance capable warriors led by a silver eyed warrior, more people were able to fight and thus we grew from tribes to civilizations… Nations that could amass armies to fight our greatest foe."
Bianca and Cyrus slid off the bench to the ground in order to be at eye level with Sierra. They could easily see this as plausible, even factual. Those who had power and the backing of the people were generally the ones who ruled throughout history.
"Many nations rose and fell between the first civilization and now. Not all were founded by silver eyed warriors and their followers, but early on, most were," Sierra said, "Some of the most famous were Sanctum, Helios…" she glanced at Cyrus, "Mantle, and the Southern Isles."
"Wait a minute," Bianca said, "we have a friend from the Southern Isles, she's a member of one of the royal families and she doesn't have silver eyes."
"Yea, and as far as we know, neither do any of her family members," Cyrus added.
"That's because the trait died out among their royal families centuries ago," Sierra stated, "I've studied the records of many nations and the Kingdoms, the last chieftain's children didn't inherit the trait and when he died, it died with him. Before however, their five Chiefdoms were founded by five silver eyed warriors."
"The Five Great Chiefs," Cyrus said, "our history professor talked about the legend, but he never said anything about them being silver eyed warriors."
"Why would he?" Sierra asked rhetorically, "As far as most people know silver is just another eye color, nothing special. But the three of us know the truth."
"I still have questions," Bianca stated, "if Helios and Sanctum were ruled by silver eyed warriors, how could Vale and Mistral have defeated them? Also, how could Mantle lose the Great War if their King and his heirs had silver eyes?"
"Simple," Sierra smiled confidently, "they forgot how to harness the power they possessed. Mantle could've conquered the world had their King and his sons knew how to use their power, instead, they all died in the Vacuo Desert. Helios would've crushed Vale's uprising if their Kings comprehended the power that they held. And Sanctum's legions would've never been broken by Yu Huangdi, the first Emperor of Mistral, had their Consuls focused on honing their abilities instead of drowning themselves in their own debauchery. Over time, the kingdoms and nations founded by us were over taken by others. The old made way for the new, as is the way of the world."
"So, was this just to give us a history lesson or something?" Cyrus asked, "if it was, it's interesting, but honestly, nothing but a waste of time."
Sierra chuckled, "no, it wasn't just for a history lesson, although that was part of it. This is about helping you two reach your highest potential."
"Highest potential?" Bianca and Cyrus asked simultaneously.
"Yes," Sierra said, "because I know one of you has accessed their powers."
Sierra and Cyrus both looked at Bianca.
She looked flustered, "what do you want me to say? That I can use my power whenever I want? Because I can't."
"That's ok, that's why I wanted to talk to the both of you," Sierra replied, "I want to help you… both of you, harness your powers."
Cyrus found it a bit suspicious that Sierra knew about Bianca accessing her power, considering she couldn't have been at the docks when it happened. With all that's happened he couldn't afford to let things like this go.
"How did you know her powers activated?" Cyrus had a serious look on his face, the same look he would get before a fight, "you weren't there when it happened."
"No," Sierra said, "but a good friend of mine was."
"Who per se, is this 'friend'?" Cyrus inquired.
Bianca got uneasy at this point as she noticed her partner's look on his face. When she looked to Sierra however, she was calm and unfazed. Bianca tried to get the attention of her partner, but to no avail.
"Your Combat Professor, Ember Haze," Sierra stated, "she and I grew up together and trained under Arslan Altan."
"And she knows you've harnessed your power?" Cyrus asked.
"Yes, she is aware," Sierra replied.
"I can't say I don't find it odd that our professor would talk about that with people other than us," Cyrus said, "but if she trusts you, I guess I can afford to."
"Thank you for your honesty," Sierra's gaze turned from Cyrus to Bianca, "however, Ember didn't tell me how you activated your powers."
Bianca looked to the ground and grasped her forearm with her hand nervously, "my… my mom sacrificed herself to save me, all I really remember was seeing her go unconscious and then… everything went white."
Cyrus put his arm around her to comfort her, so she could bawl out any tears she had onto his jacket, but there were none. He could sense her sadness, but she was keeping herself from crying.
"I'm sorry to here that," Sierra looked down for a moment as if a sad memory of her own came flooding back, "if it's any consolation, I too know what it's like to lose a loved one."
"The war?" Bianca asked.
Sierra nodded silently.
She looked to Cyrus, "have you ever accessed your powers?"
Cyrus didn't answer at first, as if a dark repressed memory was clawing its way back to him. He looked to Bianca, her eyes widened slightly.
"Once," he said, "when I killed my father."
It was silent, Bianca had heard this story once before, she still couldn't entirely comprehend it. Sierra didn't bat an eye however, she took it at face value.
"Do you remember anything of that time?" Sierra asked.
"No," Cyrus replied, "at least not from my own perspective. My brother filled in the gaps."
"You didn't mention that when you told me," Bianca said.
"Didn't think I had too, I thought I just blacked out," he said, "to be honest I thought my brother was going crazy when he told me what happened."
"Traumatic experiences can lead to the awakening of our powers, but its not the way to truly harness it," Sierra stated.
"How do we then?" Bianca asked.
Sierra smiled, "I will teach you."
She directed the two of them to sit as she had been when they arrived. After which, she set about fixing their posture. Sierra then sat in front of Bianca and Cyrus in the same fashion.
"I want you two to relax, take slow deep breaths and close your eyes," Sierra instructed.
"What's that supposed to accomplish?" Cyrus asked.
"No questions right now," Sierra replied, "relax and breathe."
They did as she asked and for a few moments all they could hear was the conglomerated noises of small animals in and around the pond.
"Are your minds clear?" Sierra asked.
"What?" Bianca and Cyrus replied in unison.
"Are your minds clear of any outside thoughts?" She asked, "you should only be focusing on yourselves right now."
"I guess," Bianca replied.
"It's as clear as it'll ever be," Cyrus stated.
"Good, now I want you to activate your auras, no semblances. Just let your aura flow through your body freely," Sierra said.
Bianca and Cyrus did as she asked, and their auras began to glow. Their color was the exact opposite to one another, white and black, a fact Sierra found intriguing.
"Do you feel it?" She asked.
"Feel what?" Cyrus replied.
"The energy around you," Sierra too activated her aura, it was a purple-gray color.
"I'm sorry, but I don't feel anything either," Bianca said.
"It's fine," Sierra replied, "now, redirect your concentration to the world around you, the sounds, the smells, the feeling of the wind upon your skin, then answer my question."
Bianca and Cyrus let their minds wander the world around them. Every little sound in the garden became distinct, the light croaking of frogs in and near the pond, the chirping of birds in the bushes and trees. Then, they felt something, a strange energy that although alien to their bodies, felt familiar.
Sierra felt it too, "there it is."
"What is it?" Bianca asked.
"What you're feeling is the aura of every living thing around you," Sierra said.
Cyrus opened his eyes, "how's that even possible?"
"All living things, with exception to the Grimm, possess aura," Sierra replied, "everything from the smallest animal, to the largest tree possesses it."
"So, a tree could use a semblance," Cyrus said sarcastically.
Sierra chuckled, "no, no, of course not. Just because all living things possess aura doesn't mean they can manifest a semblance or even activate their aura. You see aura is simply a force of nature, a 'life force' that binds us all together. As I told you earlier, the first of our kind found out how to use it. They then taught the rest of humanity and the faunus how to harness their auras, or 'qi' as it was known to the ancient peoples of this continent."
"So, there's something about aura that can help us access our powers then," Bianca stated.
"Exactly!" Sierra replied, "you see, those who can use their aura do so in a fairly crude way; Rather than simply let it flow naturally when it's active, they constrict it to themselves. If they were to let it flow freely, their aura would be significantly more powerful, and while not unlimited, it would deplete significantly slower. But us, we can link with the aura of the world around us and through that we can harness our powers."
"So, our powers are like a semblance then," Cyrus said.
"Essentially," Sierra stated, "there are a few differences, but you get the idea. However, by itself our bodies don't have enough aura to feed our powers safely and reliably."
"Safely and reliably?" Cyrus inquired.
Sierra leaned back into a more leisurely position, "you know how you become fatigued when your aura is depleted if you over use your semblance?"
"Yea," Cyrus said.
"Well, take those effects and multiply them by a hundred. Fainting after overusing your power is the least of your concerns," She paused, "if you don't let your aura flow freely while you use your powers, you could damage your body beyond repair. You may even die from the strain you'd put your bodies under."
This was a serious revelation for Bianca and Cyrus. They didn't comprehend the risks of using their newly discovered powers. Luckily for them however, their powers have each only been used once to this point.
After explaining more about their powers to them, Sierra had Bianca and Cyrus continue to meditate with her. It would take more than a single session for them to learn to fully harness their powers, but everything needs a start. She had them learn to connect with the world around them and even each other.
As they meditated, Bianca and Cyrus found the experience soothing. Even though their auras were active and slowly draining, they felt next to no fatigue as they would normally. Why more people didn't practice the use of aura this way, they didn't know. The sound of footsteps entered the area of the garden where they were meditating. Bianca and Cyrus felt Sierra quickly stand and they opened their eyes to see what was happening.
They saw Arslan standing in front of the three of them, and Sierra bowing respectfully. Bianca and Cyrus quickly jumped to their feet and stood up straight.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's getting late," Arslan said, "curfew is in half an hour."
"Of course," Sierra bowed once more, "apologies Sifu."
"There's no need to apologize my pupil," she replied, "I too have lost track of time while meditating."
"Thank you Sifu," Sierra said.
Arslan looked to Bianca and Cyrus. She looked directly into their eyes, noting their color, "I've seen you two before, the first day of the qualifiers. Tell me, what are your names?"
Sierra motioned to the two of them, "this is Bianca Rose and Cyrus Gray. They're like me Sifu."
"I can see that," Arslan walked closer to them, Bianca specifically, "Rose huh? Any relation to Ruby Rose?"
"She's my mom," Bianca replied.
Arslan nodded, "you have her eyes."
After that, Sierra said goodbye and promised to continue helping them in the future. She left with Arslan, leaving Bianca and Cyrus alone in the gardens. Soon however, they left as well. As they walked back to their dorm, they reflected on what Sierra had taught them today. It was like what Weiss had told them those few months ago in the hospital room, they certainly were special in this world.