Chapter 13

(AN: Happy New Year! It is now 2022 and here's hoping to a brand new year that fares better than the other years. Upload schedule will be fairly slower due to new semester stuff, as well as additional work duties coming up. And with the release of Volume 9 coming up ever so slowly, my plans for RWBY and for this story won't be going away anytime soon.)

It was a few weeks since my spar with Yang, and since I learned what my new semblance was. I had the ability to completely copy semblances. Yang was extremely apologetic for about a day after that happened, despite unlocking my semblance being a good thing. And she would get extra flustered whenever she saw me for the few days after the...incident.

Apparently, Nora and Ren had walked in on Yang trying to carry my 80% naked ass out of the training area towards the locker rooms, and nearly began rumors of Yang being some kind of dominatrix towards me, until Ren managed to successfully shut her up with promises of pancakes and syrup. It was...awkward, when i woke up in my room with a snickering Liya and blushing Yang. Though, that memory was simply something we all laughed over at the end of the day.

Professor Goodwitch assisted me in figuring out what my semblance limits were that day, as well as tips and recommendations when it came to activation and usage of this newfound power. During that week, I'd learned how to summon my semblance at will, as unrefined and messy as the process is. Goodwitch promised to tutor me some more later on once I'd gotten that part down.

I ended up also being tutored by Velvet Scarlatina, whose semblance was similar to mine: mimicking fighting styles she sees and remembers. She'd been very helpful all the while, pointing out her methods for controlling her semblance, and helping gain a handle on how to get my semblance under control. Right now, she was teaching me the basics of meditation, which she used to maintain a cool head in order to maximize efficiency for use of her semblance as much as possible.

Ren often joined for obvious reasons, and Jaune on rare occasions when he needed to just have some time off from training and schoolwork. With that, Ren also gave some pointers on how to keep a cool head in a fight, such as maintaining a degree of awareness of my surroundings, as well as always planning ahead, figuring out my next move as soon as I make my previous one.

I was getting better at sparring as well, mainly because I could match them the moment they used their semblance, or they had to fight without it in fear of me using it against them. They didn't know just how taxing it was to use it for more than a few seconds, but they didn't need to know that. With enough training and meditation on my semblance, handling it was slowly becoming easier and easier the more I trained with it - even if it took a long time to get my aura back at a reserve level high enough for me to use it even once again.

Nor did they need to know I could recall and activate copied semblances from memory. Liya especially was wary of this whenever we sparred, since her semblance was pretty powerful. However, working together made us some of the most efficient Grimm killers whenever we went out on trips to the Emerald Forest with Port or Goodwitch.

Team CFVY was leaving for their big mission tomorrow, Velvet told me, so she talked about a long term meditation plan. As she did so, I thought about warning her about the future of her mission, but in the end I decided to keep silent in order to keep my cover as well as focus on changes for the Vytal Festival. Despite that reasoning, it hurt a lot to leave those villagers to their fate, especially since I forgot most of the events in the books.

"Markus?" I was shaken out of my thoughts to a concerned Velvet with her hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked. We were in the dorms - specifically, Liya's and my room. Liya was at her desk as Velvet and I sat on the floor.

"Huh? Y-yeah. Just thinking," I mumbled. "About your mission. Just...be careful, alright?"

"I will,' Velvet said, smiling. "Our team will be going through some long term preparation so I don't think we'll be able to do more training like this. My suggestion is to try meditation with Yang or do some more mind calming exercises."

"Got it," I said. "You know, you're good at this. You could become a teacher."

Velvet blushed. "Well, I guess I could," she admitted. "Coco always said I could be a good leader if I were just a bit more bossy. Not sure I could do that."

"You're doing fine with me," I said, shrugging. "Coco's probably more assertive, is all."

"Well this is where you've been, Bun bun," Coco said, strolling up to me and Velvet. "Having a sweaty rendezvous with Yang's boyfriend? Risky stuff."

"Speak of the devil, and she shall appear," I said as Velvet's pink face exploded into a bright red shade as she stuttered. Coco simply laughed loudly as she plopped down on her butt between me and Velvet. "So, whatcha up to?"

"Just more practice for my semblance," I said as I coughed awkwardly. "So, I heard about the big mission."

"Yep," Coco said. "Can't tell you anything but-"

"Lemme guess. Killing Grimm or saving people," I said. Coco just smiled and took off her sunglasses to wipe them. "Well, I guess it is simple enough to figure out. Huntsmen and huntresses rarely do much else."

"Just be careful, OK?" I asked. "The Grimm is pretty rough."

"We always are," Coco remarked, though the look she gave me portrayed a "thanks" in silence before she put her sunglasses back on. "Well, guess I shouldn't take too much of your time. Mission debriefing called us. We have some updates before we head out tomorrow."

"Oh, OK," Velvet said as she and her team leader got back up. "Remember, Markus-"

"I got it!" I said, waving as they left the room, Velvet waving back at me and Coco smiling at Velvet in a smirking manner. "Good luck!"

Liya picked up one of my pictures from my desk, which was of the Serrio Mal and the Rocinante, both from the Expanse TV series. "Huh...you know, I never realized you drew spaceships," she said. "I mostly ever see you "

"Y-yep," I said as she set that down and picked up a sketch of a Truman Class Dreadnought, also from the Expanse. On the back of that paper was the U.N.N. Zenobia, you guessed it, from the Expanse. I had a few ship arts from Babylon V and Star Wars, but those were few and far in between.

Art like this was what kept me in touch with my home. I loved science fiction and fantasy movies and fandoms, so the mental images of ships I liked were my way of remembering my previous life. "Have you ever thought of putting these online?" Liya asked, distracting me from my thoughts.

"Oh...pffft, no," I said. "Just something for me to do, that's all. So, anything you wanted to talk to me about?"

"About your semblance," Liya said. "More specifically, how did you unlock it?"

"Like...if I know how my body managed to manifest it?" I asked.

"No, like...what happened for you to get your semblance? Stress, excitement, a will to unlock it, etcetera, etcetera," Liya asked, waving a hand.

"Oh. Umm...fear of nearly dying," I said. Liya raised an eyebrow and I explained. "I thought Yang was literally going to kill me. Which I know she wouldn't but...instincts. Fight or flight, that kind of stuff."

"So...you were scared shitless and exploded after copying Yang's semblance," Liya said. She seemed to be deep in thought before eventually shrugging. "I mean, semblances have popped up in worse ways."

"How did yours appear?" I asked, suddenly curious about that subject.

"It's pretty awkward," Liya said nervously. "Mine came completely out of nowhere during training. I was blocking my opponent and I accidentally sent his sword into the ceiling. It took us 4 hours to pull it out."

"Oof," I said. "Still, I bet it was exciting to see you get your semblance for the first time."

"Kinda," Liya said. "Though, I was kinda nervous about it. I had no idea how to use it at the time, and yours is still much better."

"Nah. Semblances are useful in some things and useless in others. Mine is good for a bunch of things, but eats up aura really fast," I said, sighing to myself. "I can't use more than one or two semblances, and it's usually for...what, less than 20 seconds. Maybe 30 if I only focus on using one."

"That's still a lot of time in a battle. But I get it, one to two time usage only," Liya said, shrugging. "Guess it's a last resort thing, huh?"

"Yep," I said, feeling a bit awkward now. "Semblances are more complicated than I though they'd be."

"Well, it's a part of you. Your aura is a manifestation of your soul. The reason why you're not getting too much help other than basic aura training and meditation is because aura is something only you can master. Everyone's aura operates on a different level, and everyone can bring it up in a different way," Liya said. "Though, basic aura usage and training is pretty much the same."

"I see...thanks. If only my new semblance helped me master my Dust belt in actual combat without slowing me down," I said, thinking to myself before blinking. "Wanna train? I could always get better. And the festival is coming up."

"Sorry, I have plans," Liya said. "And...I'm not sure we can even participate. Last I heard, the festival's tournaments require full four person teams."

"Right, right," I muttered. "Sorry."

"Not your fault we were some lucky exceptions at initiation. Or unlucky, I don't think I can tell at this part. I'll take being sidelined at the festival rather than not being here at all," Liya reassured me. "I'm gonna go now, I don't wanna be late."

"Alright," I said, waving a hand lazily. "See you around." As Liya left the room, I lay in my bed and got to typing on my scroll. I may have been two chapters ahead, but it didn't mean I should start being lazy about it.

*crack*

"Ow!"

"Shh!"

I raised one of my caracal ears and I turned to the window. Some leaves fell outside from the tree next to the building. Peeking over, I opened the window and looked up. "Hello?"

"Yo, dude!" Sun said, dropping to a lower branch and hanging upside down to my eye level by his monkey tail. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good. Uhh, what're you doing?" I asked, looking around. Above me was a familiar Volume 3 girl in a large purple hoodie and mauve sweater, as well as shorts, kneepads, and boots. "Pssst, Sun! Can we not?" she hissed. Her voice sounded relatively high pitched and rough at the same time.

"Come on, Reese. Live a little!" Sun said as he waved her down. Reese Chloris herself clambered down the branches, attempting to be stealthy but squeaking whenever a small piece of branch snapped until she finally landed on an adjacent branch next to me and Sun. Luckily, nobody else had their window blinds pulled open.

"...hi...skater girl," I said awkwardly.

"Reese Chloris," the green haired girl introduced peppily. "So, who're you kitty cat?"

"Markus," I said as I looked over at Sun, who seemed to be pretty nonchalant about this whole thing. "She from Haven too?"

"Yep. She came here yesterday," Sun said proudly. "We beat our teams here ahead of time."

"Lemme guess. She played stowaway like you?" I asked sarcastically.

"Wait, you were snuck on a ship?" Reese snapped at Sun. "You should've brought me too! Instead, you left me to spend weeks waiting for a bullhead to bribe!"

"I mean...you're not very sneaky," Sun admitted. Reese pouted before I cleared my throat once again. "Why are you two here?"

"We were gonna hang out at Vale for a bit, but I wanted to say hi to Blake before we left," Sun said.

"So...you couldn't ask where her room was and walk up there like a normal person?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope," Sun said. "I'd get in trouble for trespassing at another school, and climbing is my thing! Hello, monkey Faunus here?"

I snorted before turning to Reese, still not really comprehending her presence. "And you?"

"Same. Well, I dunno who Blake is, but I don't exactly wanna leave him alone out here," Reese said.

"You mean be left alone," Sun teased, and Reese punched his side half-heartedly in retaliation. "Speaking of which, wanna head to Vale with us?" Sun asked, turning his attention back to me.

"No thanks," I said. "By the way, I think it's better for you to come in here. Don't want you looking like creeps or voyeurs or something."

Reese flushed and Sun laughed loudly. "Alright then," Sun said. "Heads up!" Instinctively, I ducked as Sun vaulted over me and slipped into the window, landing perfectly on the floor.

"Hey, why is it called heads up if we're meant to duck?" I asked, suddenly realizing the saying.

"Heck if I know," Sun said. "Yo, Reese! Coming?"

Reese gulped as she looked down. I looked down as well, and I just realized how high up we were. "Umm, can you jump?" I asked awkwardly, despite a two meter distance between her and me.

"N-no, I'm not Sun!" Reese said, attempting to inch forward on the branch slowly until the distance between us was about a meter and twenty centimeters. "Umm...wow," she said nervously.

"Just reach me," I said, holding out my hand. "Then I'll pull you in." Reese reluctantly did so, and her gloved hands grasped over mine. As she was about to slowly inch forward again, the branch broke.

Before I knew it, about 60% of me was outside the window with Reese dangling below by my hand. "Pull me pull me pull me!" Reese cried. Luckily, Sun was nearby and grabbed one of Reese's wrists, pulling us both up.

The three of us plopped on the floor, Reese sitting atop Sun and me. "Phew, that was close- OOMPH!" Sun croaked as Reese punched his gut, hard.

"That's what you get for making me climb up there!" Reese shouted.

"Hey, I didn't make you do that!" Sun protested before I waved my hands, preventing any more argument. "Right. Blake," Sun muttered. "Where's her room?"

"It's five doors to the left of ours," I said.

"Thanks, bro!" Sun exclaimed before leaving the room, leaving Reese and me on the floor.

"Do you not wanna go after him or-" I said before realizing Reese's hand was literally a centimeter above my face.

"Can I pet your ears?" she asked out of nowhere. Before even waiting for me to answer with a "I don't know", she started stroking one of my ears. At once, I immediately went limp from cat behavior, and she just started petting my ears even more. "So cute!" she squealed.

"T-thanks...I think..." I purred as she rubbed my fur between her fingers. Was Reese always like this? I don't think the ABRN match showed anything particular about her. She was acting like a kid in a birthday party or something along those lines.

The door opened before I could hear any footsteps outside mere seconds later. "Hey Markus, any reason why Sun is here-" Yang asked as she walked into my room, seeing this completely unknown green haired girl on top of me with her hands over my ears. "Who is this?"

"This is Reese. She snuck into Beacon with Sun earlier," I said awkwardly. Reese just gave a two fingered salute. "Reese, this is Yang. My girlfriend."

"Yo," Reese said before Yang pulled me out from under the skater girl. "My ears," Yang said without any real heat as she pressed the back of my head against her chest to start petting my ears.

"Nooo, I wasn't done yet..." Reese whined, feebly reaching back towards my ears.

"Too bad," Yang said, sticking her tongue out.

"You're from Mistral, right? I thought Haven students won't arrive until much later. Unless you snuck on a ship too?" Yang asked.

"Sorta," Reese said, shrugging. "Sun made a bet that I wouldn't do something as 'cool' as he did. He owes me fifty Lien now."

"Cool," Yang said, and I looked up to see her not really in the conversation. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Blake. She's ignoring us now. She doesn't really speak during class, and she rushes off to the library right afterwards. Ruby's getting upset since we can't do any team exercises in practice anymore."

"Obsession?" I asked, not willing to say 'White Fang' with Reese here. I didn't feel like having to explain the context, and thankfully Yang didn't either.

"Just a partner thing," Yang said. "Also, shouldn't you be...not here?"

"Yeah," she said. Reese raised an eyebrow, and I just shook my head. "Don't worry about it," I told her.

"Well, where's Sun at now?" Reese asked. "I hope he isn't just gonna ditch me here."

"I dunno. Probably the library. Or he ran off when he saw Goodwitch coming down the hall," Yang said, thoughtfully tapping her chin. "Speaking of which, she should probably be near."

"Crap!" Reese gulped before leaping out the window much to our shock. The sounds of branches cracking and "oofs" here and there made us both wince occasionally. The sound of boots pattering away on the grass told us she was running.

"Goodwitch isn't in the hall, is she?" I asked.

"Maybe. Maybe not," Yang said with a tiny smile.

"You're not very subtle," I mumbled as I leaned back into Blake.

"Yeah," Yang said. I looked back to Yang and sighed. "Alright, what's really bothering you?"

"What do you mean?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do I look bothered to you?"

"Come on, Yang. You're quirky, you're super peppy, you have terrible puns. Where's the Yang we know and love?" I asked as I leaned against her. "You look pretty upset over something. I'm pretty sure you'd slug Reese if she touched my ears without your permission."

"Heh, I'm not really like that," Yang chuckled before sighing, beginning to open up. "I feel like...things will get harder from now on. Blake and the White Fang...everyone suddenly preparing for the Vytal Festival. School is speeding up everything. Not to mention secrets coming out left and right."

"Overwhelmed?" I asked, and Yang nodded. "Sorry..."

"Don't be. Might as well be fate," Yang said. "I mean, Beacon was bound to be hard. And it's not like I'll be overwhelmed forever. Soon, things will calm down, and I'll bounce back."

My head flashed with images of the highway chase, the first year mission on Mountain Glenn, the fall of Beacon, pics of Pyrrha dying, as well as Penny's dismemberment, and the deaths of countless bystanders of Cinder's plan.

"I really wish I could tell you..." I thought nervously. "Then all of this wouldn't hurt so much. Is this how Ozpin felt? At least he could trust some people per life, I'm alone here!"

"Yo, Markus?" Yang asked. "You OK?"

"Huh...yeah. Just thinking about the future," I said before I immediately blushed at the implications.

"Future, huh? Already planning ahead? Maybe...including a certain girlfriend of yours?" Yang said as she squeezed her arms around me.

"I-I dunno! Maybe?" I said.

"Oooh, thinking of long term relationships? Maybe even marriage?" Yang teased.

"Yang!" I whined. And for a moment, I forgot all about my plans for later on. After all, the choices made now are what changes what our future holds.

I only hope I'd be able to see it the way I was currently hoping.