A/N: So I screwed up. I completely forgot that the Great War in remnant ended 80 years ago, meaning with the exception of Ozpin and the elderly, most everyone would have color based names. With that, Penelope is now Amber and Ray is now Brun (Danish for Brown. If it's wrong, I blame google translate). Now onto the story!
Chapter 4
Offer
Howls eerily reverberated the forest. The broken remnant moon was high above the sky this night. Not a cloud in sight to be found. It was peaceful even. Just being able to relax and breathe in the fresh air. Nothing could disturb this –
Shlick.
The sound of metal tearing through flesh broke the still night air. The beowolf lasted only a moment later as it began dispersing into black ash. Leaving only a solid black orb where it once stood. A cloaked figure stood there, sword outstretched. Letting the black blood of its prey dissipate, he silently sheathed his weapon. The figure crouched down and picked up the orb that had fallen, placing it somewhere on his person, obscured by the cloak.
This was one of many creatures of grimm that the figure had slain tonight. The person was a man. As expressed by his attire and broader stature. On his hip, two swords, katanas could be seen, one over the other. On the other hip, a glint of metal. A pistol. His visage was hidden behind the cowl that he wore his body hiding behind the cloak. Standing at a respectable 5' 10", the man shifted his weight and began walking. He had completed his objective here.
With an odd sort of grace, he moved himself with ease through the forest. Each step calculated. As if he had taken this trail many times before.
After a couple hours of traveling, the man came across a cave. Taking something off his person, and cupping it in his hand, he entered. The cave was deep, but wide. He navigated it using hands and taking careful steps. It only took a minute before he reached saw light bending around corner. Making his final steps, he was treated to a room.
This room was quite homely despite its peculiar location. Off to his left was a burner, along with pots, pans and the like. Near the center was a brown leather couch, a low mahogany table and an end table. The end table housed the dust powered lamp, currently the only source of light for this abode. Across the table were newspapers, magazines. All that pertained to world events and the like. Further back was a mattress with blankets piled on top and a dark grey blob beside said mattress.
The man sighed. "No place like home after killing all ta grimm."
The man removed the hood revealing a shock of white hair going slightly past his shoulders. It was tied into a pony tail. Emerald eyes surveyed his home again, before the eyes landed on the dark grey mound in the back. Digging into his cloak, the man pulled at that black orb he picked up from earlier.
"Ryo." The man called.
The dark grey mound shifted and a dog, well what first appeared to be a dog, looked up. Its bone mask that it was wearing on its maw as well as the bone plating along its joints was uncannily familiar to that of a grimm. Getting up, it trotted over to the man and looked at him with what appeared to be expectancy as a long tail wagged behind the grimm looking dog. The mean tossed the black orb up and towards the now designated as Ryo. Ryo jumped into the air, snatching the orb out of the air, into its awaiting mouth. Content Ryo lazily began to trod back to his spot and lie down.
"Lazy mutt," the man said.
This man was Zelle. Former engineering major and friendly IT person at his university. After being reborn he had many adventures in his short time in a new world. Now two years had passed since his arrival. He had learned a lot of things and had become independent. Living about 10 miles out from Kirya.
Zelle moved over to the couch and slowly sat down on its comfortable surface. This thing was a pain in the ass to move all the way out here. A 10 mile trek through grimm infested forest. While it wasn't heavy (Thank Oum for his semblance), it was a pain to maneuver. He was pleased that there was little to no damage on its surface though. Thinking about how he got the couch got Zelle all nostalgic and couldn't help but reminisce on how he got to where he was now.
*2 years ago*
The village had given him the ultimatum yesterday. Get rid of Ryo, or leave with him. So he made his decision and left. However he wasn't about to leave without some proper equipment. Zelle used the last remaining lien he had to purchase a tent and bedroll.
Returning to his hut, he grabbed the remaining items he owned. A few pots and pans, the bow and arrows, and finally his most prized possession. A gold and silver metal necklace with a pendant. It was given to him by his father on his 18th birthday. Sadly, it became apparent that Zelle had a very strange allergy. His skin was very susceptible to the element Silver. This disappointed Zelle, but he always carried it with him.
The necklace itself was simple. A golden band intertwined with a silver band as they very closely wrapped around one another tightly. It looked like gold and silver rope. What was truly interesting the pendant. The pendant itself was made of silver. The background to the pendant being a big emerald. Finally the most important detail, the design. On it was a Silver European dragon. Breathing fire in defiance, with the fire being made of rubies. It was very archaic, said to have been passed down from father to first son since the mid 1500's.
Now it was his only possession from his old world. Staring at the necklace for a few more moments, he placed it in his pocket and began packing the rest of his meager things and left, Ryo right behind him. He didn't look back.
*End Flashback*
Zelle pulled that same old necklace out of his pocket gazing at it. Gazing at it, he felt a strange sense of pride well up in him. Hopefully his ancestors would be smiling down at him. Especially if they were warriors or soldiers. That would be awesome. Though he wasn't sure if they could since you know, he was in a different world.
Putting away the necklace, he remembered fighting tooth and nail with hunger and thirst those first couple of weeks. He was being stubborn and refused to resupply food and water back at the village.
He eventually got out of that stubborn streak after three days of not finding any game and had gone back to the village, without Ryo of course, and purchased vegetables and a rabbit. He greedily ate the vegetables and had given the rabbit to a very aggressive Ryo.
Zelle chuckled at his own stupidity. He was willing to starve and dehydrate over his own bitterness. Over a grimm. Now, he didn't blame the villagers. He had seen firsthand what Ryo was capable of.
*Flashback: ~1 ½ years ago*
Zelle was hunting. Surprisingly enough, the hunting he was doing was making him quite wealthy. Since he didn't have any payments, living off the land and such, he was able to keep all the profits from selling the skins off of his prey. It was quite profitable really. He had almost three thousand lien saved up over the past six months. He just had to make sure he didn't get hurt again. Seeing Amber was expensive. Each visit and treatment had cost him five hundred lien at least. Apparently doctors weren't cheap in this world either.
He had continued to grow. He now stood between 5'4" and 5'5". Growth spurt for the win. He had put on quite a bit of muscle during this time. He learned early on that he was relying on his semblance way to heavily. He would always come back drained after a long day, but it wasn't physically it was always that feeling of exhaustion after intense running. He couldn't gain any muscle either due to his semblance being in a state of constant activation, not allowing his muscles to tear.
That issue took about a month to figure out. He had to essentially 'lock' his aura. By using key phrases and taking a specific stance he would be able unlock it. He had gotten the idea from a retired huntsman back in the village. Apparently locking someone's aura was considered a capital punishment for huntsman and huntresses and the lowest of criminals. However with a bit of tweaking to the ritual and creativity on his part as well as asking lots of questions, he had created a different 'lock'. This one would lock the semblance, but also bring down the users aura to a whopping 40% at all times. Opening it hurt like a bitch though. That was still a work in progress. Finally the fruits of his study had finally begun to pay off though, as slim muscle had begun to develop on his arms and legs.
Getting his mind focused again, Zelle crouched down. He was hunting deer today. Ryo had left not too long ago to do… Well whatever it was that Ryo did on his own. The deer had begun leading him through some hilly terrain. He had to watch his step or else he would make too much noise and risk scaring off his prey.
Carefully he kept tracking this herd. There was one especially big one. A buck most likely, but still larger than the norm. It took him another twenty minutes but his search was not in vain. Atop of one of these hills he found the herd. There amongst the herd, was the biggest buck he had ever seen. The tracks did not do this animal justice. Zelle marveled at this beast. He wanted to eat it so bad. His mouth had almost begun watering at the thought of the meat this thing would have.
Breaking himself out of his funk, Zelle drew his bow silently. Kill it first, then eat. His impatience had costed him many dinners and a very irritable Ryo. Taking an arrow out of the quicver he nocked it. He would have to be quick about this. His bow made too much sound when drawn back. So he waited. And waited some more. After ten minutes the opportunity presented itself. The buck moved to a different grass patch exposing its side to Zelle. He reacted.
One second past and Zelle was now standing and the bow was drawn back, creaking as it did so. All of the herd's heads went up.
Two seconds, Zelle release the arrow. It sailed straight and true. Sailing straight for its heart. The deer had begun to react but it was too late for the buck.
Three seconds, the deer had shifted very slight causing it to lodge itself closer to its shoulder than the heart. The other deer had begun to scatter.
Four seconds, the buck fell unable to support its weight on the now dead leg. The other deer had begun their escape.
In a matter of four seconds, Zelle had felled the biggest deer that he had come across. Jumping up and giving a cry of success, he unhooked the dagger in his boot and began to approach his prize. It was lying there, bleeding out. He was halfway there when suddenly, the ground caved in on him. Surprised, Zelle had no time to brace himself or react. He fell through the hole his foot had stepped on.
The space he had fallen through had barely enough room for his body to fall through. As a result, he smashed up against rocks time and time again on his way down. Luckily, his aura was at full capacity, and so he took only minimal physical damage from the rocks. Finally he reached the bottom. He landed with as much grace as possible, but still felt the impact race up his legs. He had gotten used to measuring his aura, with the help of Amber. He was at 40% when he fell, he was at around 25% now.
He was what hunters and huntresses called the red zone. This was considered a highly dangerous area to be in when considering aura. When a person hit 10% they would begin have trouble moving, not to mention fighting. At 0, there was a very good chance that a person could die. This was one's soul were talking about. When you run out of 'soul power' it's to be expected that death would become a factor somewhere in there. Tournaments and spars at academies and tournaments would end once a hunter/huntress got to 15%.
With these facts in mind, Zelle contemplated unlocking his semblance. However, he wasn't sure how much pain it would cause. Being conscious was much better than being unconscious. He knew that first hand.
Glancing around this room he had fallen down, he couldn't see much really. The only source of light coming from above in a small beam. It didn't help at all really to see further out.
Suddenly, Zelle got the feeling he should move and fast. With this he ran, jumped into a dive as there was a loud 'thump' behind him, then a growl. Tucking and rolling Zelle quickly turned around.
Zelle will be honest, he had been lucky so far. He had only encountered one other grimm and that was a beowolf that he managed to shoot down with his bow. Beowolves were the bottom of the food chain when it came to grimm though. Unintelligent, they often found themselves getting mowed down by hunters and huntresses. Hell, beowolves were considered training practice for schools like beacon and haven academy. What made them dangerous was they often roamed in packs. So taking out a single beowolf? No problem. But that wasn't what Zelle was facing, not at all.
Behind him was a bear. Grimm to be more specific. Ursa to be technically correct. Though he had never heard about an ursa being what he saw. The ursa had the generic grimm bone mask. It looked like a bear, giving away its archetype, but the biggest thing were its size and protruding spikes. The things stood at least 8 feet tall on all fours. Possibly 10 or 11 feet total. This thing was much larger than any bear Zelle had ever seen. If that wasn't bad enough it had that bone plating, but with spikes. Kidd you not, there were spikes going out where the spine should be. As well as its neck region and part of its shoulders.
I have the worst luck in all of remnant, Zelle thought as he stared at this abomination. Taking a wider stance so he could dodge in any direction Zelle prepared himself for the Grimm's onslaught. He didn't have to wait long.
The beast charged him again. Zelle could feel small vibrations from the cave as the Ursa Major ran towards him. It slammed its paw down, but Zelle jumped left just in time to avoid it. It shifted its body and swiped at him, Zelle didn't cover enough distance. Zelle hit the deck fast, only to immediately roll away as the things massive claw slammed own again. The Ursa was deceptively fast it seemed. Zelle tried to get up only to be forced to roll again on the rocky ground of the cave, as it pounced at him.
"Quick, what was an ursa's weakness?" Zelle thought desperately. Continuing to roll, and dodge the swipes and pounces for another twenty seconds, Zelle managed to pull himself up finally. "Shit, this is bad."
The ursa major had led him to a darker part of the cave he was in. The light that had previously allowed him to see, was now on the far side of the room, leaving Zelle to the darkness of the cave. Leaving only the glowing orange eyes to stare at him. Leaving Zelle no time to react to his innate danger sense.
Like a freight truck, the creature's claw slammed into him from the side, hitting everything from the waist up. Zelle coughed up blood before he went sprawling, rolling as we went to the other side of the room. He came to a stop as his back slammed against the wall. He was right beside the light again. Faintly he noticed that his aura was basically gone. The orange eyes approached quickly to the fallen human. It wasn't playing around like those beowolves were.
"Well, I'm curious what it feels like to die again." Zelle thought idly as in slow motion he saw the grimm stand up on its hind legs. "I never did remember how I died in my previous life." The beast had gotten to the peak of its ascent. "I wonder how my family is doing? Do they miss me? Are they still mourning?" It released a victorious roar down at its fallen enemy. "I need to move." He tried, he did. But he could not move.
The thing began to descend. Zelle closed his eyes waiting for his impending doom. It never came. He heard a crash, but didn't feel his body being crushed. He waited for a moment longer only to open his eyes at the sound of tearing flesh, and growls. There on all fours was Ryo in his beowolf form, standing between Zelle and the ursa. His distinctive bone plating seeming to glow as he stood against the much larger and more powerful grimm. Zelle could faintly make out that black ooze was seeping out of the ursa somewhere. The two creatures of grimm faced off against each other, then Ryo leaped.
Ryo attempted to tear at the ursa's lower neck, where no bone covered its form. The ursa stepped back, causing Ryo to chomp on air. The Ursa leaned back before bodily running at Ryo, slamming into his shoulder. The ursa didn't stop there though. He kept going, into the darkness. A resounding crunch and whimper could be heard.
Zelle was flipping his shit right now. Ryo just saved him. Well attempted to. He was unsure if Ryo would be able to survive a charging wall smash from the ursa. Zelle knew what he needed to do, he just needed Ryo to buy him another two minutes. Reaching deep within himself Zelle began to search for the lock placed on his semblance.
In the meantime, the two creatures of grimm were not idle. While Zelle's eyes could not penetrate the darkness. The two had no such qualms. The shoulder charge did in fact not kill Ryo. It severely damaged him and one of his arms appeared to be leaking black ooze in the darkness. Overall Ryo was infuriated, his blue eyes now had a red ring around edge. Growling he leaped out of the way of a claw swipe from the much larger grimm. Ryo retaliated as he swiped at the claw rushing past him. Managing to score a scratch on the much larger grimm Ryo began to circle the ursa, awkwardly using its two legs. The ursa charged again, its injuries only serving the want to kill. It swiped, intending to kill this traitor of its race. Only, its hand was stopped. Looking down it saw the man it was about to kill earlier. Surrounding the man was a faint silvery aura. It never noticed the open hand one inch away from its exposed chest.
Zelle did it! He managed to unlock his semblance though he didn't get back nearly as much as he wanted, he was only around 40% filled. Back to square one he supposed. He saw Ryo emerge back into the light and faintly made out the figure of the ursa charging. Wasting no time he picked himself up, struggling with the immense pain from unlocking his aura caused and charged. He made it with plenty of time. Making his strength 6 times greater than normal he stopped the claw that would have probably killed Ryo with one hand. Seeing Ryo's left arm was oozing that black liquid (he guessed that was the equivalent of grimm blood) and dangling. There was a good chance that Ryo wouldn't have been able to dodge. With his other hand he had placed the hand about an inch away from the ursa's chest. The ursa never realized what was about to happen.
Closing his fist and multiplying his strength by 9 times he performed a one inch punch that would've made Bruce Lee proud. He felt his fist strike the ursa and what happens next was brutally awesome. The entire body of the ursa rippled from the force of the impact. It's body convulsed before being thrown back with so much force that, although Zelle couldn't see the Ursa, he heard sounds of breaking then a splat, as if someone had thrown silly putty at a wall. Bringing his hand down Zelle waited. Ryo standing just behind him. Then Ryo walked into the darkness.
Zelle would've loved to follow, really he would. But not being able to see was a massive disadvantage if the creature were to still be alive. So with bated breath, Zelle waited. After two minutes he made out the silhouette of Ryo. He was back in dog form and appeared to have something in his mouth. Squatting down, Zelle watched as Ryo approached him and dropped something at his feet. It was a black ball with white plates over half it. It had red lines on the plates. Flipping it over, curiously the other half was just a black ball. It felt solid, like stone.
"So, Ryo. Care to explain what this is?" Zelle looked at his grimm dog thing as he asked the question. Ryo simply sat on his haunches and stared at Zelle with those blue eyes of his. Sighing, Zelle pocketed the ball.
"Well come on you mutt. We need to get back to the village and get treated." He looked over at Ryo's leg (arm?) noticing that the black ooze had already begun to slow its descent off it. "Correction, while I get treated." Zelle stated bitterly. He wish he could heal that fast.
*Flashback End*
That was how he first learned of the cave that was later to become his new home and the orbs that drop from grimm. Zelle stood up from the couch and over to the burner. Putting some fresh water into a pot, he began to heat it up. Looking over at the night stand, he looked at his prizes. Sitting there were six black orbs. Each from a different species of grimm he had killed.
The first one was a straight black ball; beowolf. The second, a black bell that was half covered in white plates; ursa minor. The third, a black ball with small, curved, white horns coming out of one end; boarbatusk. Fourth, a black ball with red lines running through it; alpha beowolf. Fifth, a soft black ball that had, what appeared to be wings, coming out of the sides; giffon. Lastly, his proudest achievement. The orb he got from the ursa major. These are the 6 grimm he managed to kill in the past two years. While it was mostly beowolves and boarbatusks, he managed to kill a few gryphons as well as one of each for the alpha spheres. Apparently the red lines marked alpha creatures. Idly he wondered what a nevermore or goliath orb looked like.
His thoughts were taken from him as the water had begun to boil. Going over toward the wall Zelle placed his hand on an indent and pushed. Inside was a small refrigerator filled with meats and vegetables. It was powered by using ice dust crystals lightning crystals and copper. Dust crystals typically need an 'activator' per say. For the lightning crystals, anything conductive worked. By running copper tubes through and into the ice crystals, the ice crytals would passively give off cold. The first time he tried setting this up he ended up causing the room to become a winter wonderland. Too much electricity set the ice crystals off. A one to four ratio was found and now he had a work fridge. The crystals lasted about 6 months being used this way. The real problem was excavating the rock and getting it to be sealed tight enough to not let the cold air out. With enough duct tape anything was possible (apparently that was something they had here too).
Pulling out some rabbit meat he caught yesterday and carrots and potatoes, Zelle went back to preparing his stew.
Zelle remembered after having nearly gotten killed by the ursa major, he decided he needed weapons for himself. So using his funds he armed himself to the teeth. On his hip he had the two swords Masa and Mune with one being over the other respectively. He thought it was clever. Then his ever trusty machine pistol, Raiden. Named due to Zelle's preferred use of lightning dust ammunition to paralyze foes before going in for the kill. He also bought another replacement for Raiden that he named Ignis. Lastly, an LMG that was still unnamed. He had to call in a few favors from Coco to get his hands on this bad boy just last month. He had belts of dust ammunition that fired multiple types of dust. It was his new baby. He got to test it on a gryphon just a few days ago. Let's just say he was not disappointed with the results.
He also had enough ammunition to last him a month. All of this was stored in a secret compartment under where Ryo was sleeping. Wouldn't want someone to find his hidden cache.
Now how was he able to afford all of this you ask, when he was scraping to pay for his doctor visits not too long before that? Well to answer that we need to go back a little over a year ago.
*Flashback: 13 Months ago*
Zelle cut down the last of the group of beowolves that had attacked him while hunting. There were 5 orbs in total that he collected after everything was over and done with. Why he was still picking up the orbs Zelle had no idea. He liked collecting things. A lot. It was a serious problem. In his previous life he had over three thousand Gathering of the Magic cards. With a lot of them being super rare and worth quite a bit of money. He never actually played the game to much or sold any of the cards. It was just something he liked to do.
Lucky for Zelle, he had managed to snag a doe right before these stupid beowolves showed up and he wouldn't have to go all the way back home in order to resupply the arrows that had gotten destroyed during the fight. With that in mind he figured he would take it to town to skin. Where he was at now, going home would be back tracking. So his destination set Zelle headed toward town.
When Zelle arrived there was quite the commotion in the town square. Curious, he decided to go find out what was going on. As he pushed through he heard some interesting conversations.
"Grimm haven't been seen in a couple weeks, it's quite worrisome." Zelle heard one villager say off to his right.
"Do you think their amassing in a group? Under the lead of an Alpha?" Zelle heard another villager say as he moved past.
Murmurs were heard all around. Zelle frowned. This much negativity would cause a stir with the nearby grimm population. It needed to stop. Zelle opened his mouth to try and yell to calm the crowd but was beaten to the punch.
Brun hopped up… Something. Zelle wasn't sure, he wasn't in a very good spot to see.
"SSHHHUUUTTTUPPPPPP!" Came the booming yell of Brun. Everyone quickly became silent as they looked up at the retired huntsman.
"Now, I know that the lack of grimm is worrying. But we need to stay calm. All of the negative emotions about this is just going to get us attacked." Many people nodded at this. "So to calm tense nerves, I'm going to do a ten mile search of the surrounding area." People began to hoot and cheer as the bulk of a muscle of a man looked down at them. One man shouted, "I will assist you in the hunt Brun!" However the response the man got wasn't one he was expecting. No one was really.
"I will be taking the boy Zelle with me, and his pet grimm to assist me." People quieted down really quick with that piece of news. Zelle grimaced. While his reputation as a hunter (the kind that hunts deer and the like, not grimm) was well known in the village, he was still looked at with disdain and sometimes fear for letting Ryo roam around freely and often protect or defend him. So when this information was delivered, people were understandably not the most receiving. But no one argued, Brun was the most veteran among them and, in Zelle's opinion, a total badass when it came to using his halberd-rifle, Targon. They would respect his decision.
Zelle was feeling sick, he could practically feel the resentment and disgust rolling off the crowd in troves. Zelle attempted to sneak away, but he wasn't in the forest and his white hair stuck out like a sore thumb amongst all the darker color hair.
"Zelle!" Zelle stopped and mechanically turned back towards the stand where Brun was standing with a shit eating smile on his face. "Meet me back here at 8 a.m. sharp" Zelle's eye twitched. "Yes, sir." He droned as he felt the crowd staring at him. He put his head down and began walking away as the crowd made a berth for the "grimm lover" to leave. Brun frowned at the treatment but didn't say anything.
The next day came quickly enough for Zelle. Getting up, strapping on protoblade number 4, his machine pistol Raiden. The protoblades were test swords that he made, it was a longsword but the problem was that his immense strength would end up snapping the other three. He needed to figure out a way to resolve that. Regardless, Zelle made the hour long treck to the village, finding Brun waiting for him. With a smile and a wave Zelle approached the burly man and they headed off.
It was now one and they had yet to find anything. Albeit they had only searched about a fifth of the land, that was really no surprise. They were having roasted chicken sandwiches made by Coco. She had this secret sauce that reminded Zelle of mayonnaise. Every time he attempted to get the recipe off her, she would just wink and say family secret. Which was a lie, cause not even Brun knew what was in the delectable sauce. Zelle began grumbling about selfish women keeping their sauce from him.
Brun was eyeing Zelle. He noted the amount of muscle mass Zelle had gained. His muscles being much more lean than Brun's own. He also noticed that despite them taking a break and resting, his body was tense. On edge. Like prey ready to spring away from the predator. Brun had to give it to the kid, he would make a good hunter. Perhaps he should try to conivince him later to attend Beacon. Then he grimaced.
Zelle could not read. This may be due to the amnesia that he apparently had, but Remian, the language that they use to write, was completely foreign to Zelle. That would be a massive obstacle to overcome, if he ever to convince Zelle. So lost in thought was Brun, that he didn't notice Zelle attempting to get his attention. Until he threw a good sized rock at Brun, which was caught by said man.
"Yes Zelle." Brun said, not even acknowledging the rock that was just chucked his way. Zelle gave him a look of bewilderment that made Brun want to chuckle but refrained for the moment.
"So you know the sword and pistol I bought in town right." Brun just motioned to said weapons on Zelle's person. Zelle had the decency to blush slightly.
"Well, I had come across a few grimm and they've been dropping these orb things." Brun raised an eyebrow at this. Of course he knew that grimm dropped them, but he wasn't aware that Zelle had actively been slaying grimm.
"Well, I was wondering if me killing them had led to any of this." Zelle said motioning to the surrounding forest. There was a short pause. Then Brun broke into a hearty laugh. Seriously this kid would have to be actively killing at least five to ten grimm a day for none to be found in this large of a radius.
"Oi what the hell Brun? What's so funny?" Brun finally settled himself.
"I just find it funny that you think that you were impacting the grimm population. They are as numerous as maggots and just as bad. You would have to be killing at least five to ten a day in order for an event like this to happen."
Zelle was pouting. He did not like being called out on. But he was killing about that many a day! Well in the past few weeks. Zelle began mumbling about how adults never believe him.
Brun still smiling and seeing Zelle's downtrodden position decided to try and lift his spirits a bit. "Well hey, tell you what." Zelle looked up. "Show me how many orbs you got and I can make a conclusion based off that. You have been keeping them right?" Zelle nodded.
Standing up and stretching his back till a loud pop was heard, Brun said, "All right in that case I think lunch break is over. Now lead the way to your secret base, oh mighty great one." He enjoyed teasing Zelle about his cave, now home. Glaring at Brun, Zelle got up and they began to make his way to his home with Brun following close behind.
It took them a couple hours but eventually they arrived. Brun whistled. He had never actually been to Zelle's new home. Only being told that he lived in a cave now. But Brun had to admit that what he saw impressed him. There was a couch in the center against the right wall of the cave, a mattress in the corner following that, a few crates, and the burner to his left upon walking in. Zelle began walking towards the back, in the direction of one of the crates. It was quite sizable. Brun raised an eyebrow and Zelle lifted said crate and sat in front of the couch and sat down. He then patted the seat beside him looking at Brun expectantly. Brun strolled over and sat in the seat and peered into the crate.
Grimm orbs, better known among the hunter community as GOI's (pronounced joy) or Grimm Orb Indicators. There were a lot, nearly a hundred if Brun had to guess. Brun was shocked, here was this boy, only a year younger than Coco, with more than one hundred grimm to his name. Albeit they were beowolves, the quantity more than made up for it. Brun decided he would make some calls later. He be damned if such talent went to waste. But for now, back to the issue at hand.
"Zelle, have you ever of a GOI before?" Brun asked.
Zelle nodded his head. "I mean, yeah. Everyone has. Joy is to be happy." Brun shook his head.
"Not joy, but GOI. G-O-I. It stands for Grimm Orb Indicator."
"No, I can't believe I have." Brun stared at him for a moment. All the while internally grinning about what he was about to tell the boy next. He paused for a second, no not boy. A man.
"Well, as they sound GOI's are indicators for certain types of grimm. As you've probably figured out a straight black orb is a beowolves." Zelle nodded. "Well, there are other types as well." Boarbatusks drop one with small horns and ursas drop one with half segmented bone plating." Zelle nodded again. But then Zelle pondered something.
"What happens if they drop one that has red lines on it? Like their masks," he said, gesturing towards the entrance where Ryo could be seen entering in his full beowolf form. Brun had been around Ryo long enough to know that as long as he was being fed, Ryo wouldn't do anything. Even if he wasn't fed he would just snap at you and growl. However he was more curious of how this question came up.
"Well red lines indicate alpha or major variants of grimm. Much stronger and tougher than their counterparts. They also have above average intelligence, often planning moves and gathering other grimm." Zelle was shocked, he was aware of the existence of Goliaths, the only other intelligent grimm he had been aware of till now, but they were rare and hardly ever came near civilization. But that means he also killed an alpha variant, with one punch mind you.
Zelle nodded his head, but didn't seem keen on explaining of why he asked the question.
"So." Brun said. "What do you plan on doing with the GOI's? Zelle just shrugged.
I've just been keeping them whenever I kill a grimm. Collecting them, I guess. Their pretty neat and fun to amuse myself with sometimes."
"Well, here's a suggestion." Zelle looked at Brun. "Why don't you sell them?" Zelle's eyes got wide.
"You can do that!?" Zelle yelled. Brun nodded his head.
"And I am going to tell you prices for them. Don't tell me you don't see the way the village treats you Zelle. Don't let yourself get pushed around, ok?" Brun placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're strong, not just physically but mentally. You survived out in the wilds for months and technically still are. Just be strong." Brun squeezed. Zelle looked up with a small smile and nodded.
Brun got up and stretched it was only 5. "Well I'm headed back, you're welcome to come back for dinner if you'd like." Zelle nodded, that small smile still on his face.
They both took off.
It would be a week later when Zelle would gain his first title. The Warden of Kirya. Apparently Brun had talked to the village elder and after a week of battling against the old man, Brun had passed his title of Warden onto Zelle. Zelle was happy. With his new title, people began to finally accept him. Things were finally looking up.
*End Flashback*
Zelle had gained a title, and along with it friends, strength and confidence. He was now a full time hunter. Spending most of his days patrolling the village and eliminating grimm. It was grueling somedays. He probably saw Amber at least once every other week. But Zelle didn't complain. This allowed him to train, build up more strength. He probably wouldn't be here today without the Adels and he would be infinitely grateful for as long as he lived.
As a side note, he learned that Ryo liked eating the GOI's, and that has saved him a lot money. Seriously one GOI for a deer? Give that dog a GOI.
Glancing at his arsenal of weapons he sighed. He really wanted a hunter weapon. He by no means needed one. His katanas were forged by him using the Japanese technique of folding the hot steel again and again to make the blades very durable. But hunter weapons were highly diverse and extremely useful.
He had seen a few of the transforming hunter weapons from a few of the retired huntsman and huntresses back in Kirya. However there was no way he would be able to get his hands on one. Hunter weapons were fashioned early on in the career. So even if he went to Beacon now, there was a good chance he may not be able to make one. Even if that wasn't the case and he wanted to replicate of the older huntsman weapons that was in Kirya, he would need to ask to disassemble it in order to figure out how it functioned as well as have the necessary materials on hand. Neither of which would work out, seeing as huntsmen weren't willing to part with their weapons, let alone, someone dismantle it. And the blacksmith had a limited amount of metal, which was mostly used to make nails and repairs to weapons. So for now, Zelle was just shit out of luck. Though from what he had seen, he had a few ideas. You know, just in case. Seriously, you can't blame him. Playing a lot of final fantasy and the epic gun-blades in there was awesome. And now they exist. It was very, very tempting.
The stew was ready. Picking it up off the burner he poured himself some into a bowl and began to blow on it as he ate. Over the past year he had gotten really close to the Adel family. Mostly due to him being over often due to him over exerting his aura all the time (totally worth, his aura levels were almost double what they were a couple years ago). But during that time he had come to get know Coco really well. She was a sweet girl. She had gotten into beacon just like she wanted and was even team captain! He could barely imagine the sweet, shy girl he knew to be a team captain. His imagination wandered to see her holding onto her minigun, her weapon of choice, firing, yelling commands, all the while she was laughing maniacally. Then he thought of her in her stylish dress as she shyly asked if he wanted to stay for dinner. Nope couldn't see it.
She was currently at Beacon still, first years weren't allowed to return home during their transfer from first to second year. Something which saddened Zelle, but he would get over it. Just like with Amber and Brun, he had gotten very close to the only daughter of the Adel family. They often talked about her school, friends, and what not. Zelle talked about his 'hunts' as he fondly referred to them as. They got along very well. Their love for heavy weaponry all but cemented that bond.
When Zelle turned 16, which was a couple months ago, he received his still unnamed LMG from Coco, he wanted to hug the girl right then and there. However first years had to stay at Beacon going into their second year, so he had to deal with a thank you over the phone. Seriously, long distances sucked.
Zelle finished his stew and went to lay down. All this reminiscing had made him tired. He would get started early he figured and go hunt some beowolves. Oh, or maybe some ursas. He hadn't had an encounter with one in at least a couple weeks. With those thoughts he laid his head down with a smile. Yea, he was gonna stab those Ursas. Right through their big fat heads. Just as the kiss of sleep was to touch him, the whirring of a Bullhead could be heard.
Zelle groaned. Occasionally Bullheads would fly overhead to take hunters and huntresses to other villages to assist. Well, the active duty ones. All villages had some retired ones to act as a buffer. Those that didn't have any hunters or huntresses, well. They didn't last very long.
Zelle waited for the thing to pass, only to hear it get closer. Zelle sat up now. Ok, now it was ridiculously close. Zelle slowly got up out his bed. He grabbed his cloak and threw it on, placing the cowl over his head. He grabbed Masa and Raiden. With masa being in his right hand and Raiden in his left. The engine now sounded like it was at the entrance to the cave. These people knew where to find him. He took the sheath off Masa and moved himself silently until he was at the center of the cave room. He waited. The engine turned off.
Then he heard the footsteps, but it sounded wrong. Like there was an occasional third click as if the person or thing that was coming in here kept tapping something against the ground. Zelle leveled Raiden at the entrance. He had a right to be cautious. He knew about the white fang. They were notorious for their violence, he didn't hate faunus. He actually found most of them adorable, even the males. But in recent months they had been attacking villages and hanging their wardens.
The footsteps came closer and closer. Then they stopped right before the end to the entrance. Over the years, Zelle had gotten pretty good night vision. Not as good as a faunus but still pretty damn good. Then the man stepped into the light and he was quite surprised. Mostly due to the hair of the man though. He wouldn't let it show. Firing a shot right past the man's head, the shot ignited an electrical torch right behind him. Revealing his figure.
In front of him was a tall lanky man. Standing at what he guessed to be around 6'6". The man had on a green turtleneck with a black button up vest and over that a black jacket. He had on black pants as with black shoes. The man wore small spectacles with brown eyes staring at him from behind. And in front of him, a cane. Though the silver hair was what truly captured Zelle's attention. He thought he had been special having such distinctive hair. It was a bit of a letdown that there was at least another with similar features.
The man simply raised an eyebrow and put his hands up, left hand still holding the cane in his left hand. "Now, now. No need for that. I just came here to talk."
Zelle didn't believe that for a second. "State your name and business here or you may find the next fourty shots attempting to paralyze you for life."
"My name is Professor Ozpin. Beacon's headmaster I came here looking for a boy by the name of Zelle. That's you I'm assuming?"
Zelle contemplated his situation. Despite him leveling a gun at this man's head, the man didn't look remotely concerned. So, either this man was so strong that he didn't consider him a threat or he was suicidal. Zelle obligated to assume the former. Then there was what he said. He knew exactly where to find him and who he was. "I would really like to find another solution but I guess I will have to use 'that'.
Zelle fluctuated his aura causing a pulse once twice and thrice then a fourth after a long pause. Ryo bound over all the while shifting into his beowolf form. But the change continued. Spikes grew out his back, he got larger, and more plating appeared along it's body. Yup, Ryo could change into an alpha, super badass. It stood by Zelle and growled at Ozpin. Feeling at least partially safe he dropped his gun.
Zelle was impressed though, the only reaction Ozpin had to Ryo's transformation was furrowed eyebrows and a slight tilt of the head. Typically, people freak out. Yeah, if this man wanted to, Zelle would be dead.
"Peculiar, well it seems that you at least trust me enough to lower weapon but it appears your…" Ozpin paused for a long moment as he tried to find the right word for Ryo. "Pet, is quite aggressive to me." Zelle would love to scoff, but he needed to get down to the bottom of what the hell was going on.
"What are you doing here 'professor'. Zelle made air quotes as he said professor.
Ozpin dropped his arms causing Zelle's hand to twitch as he refrained from opening fire at the silver-grey haired man. "I would like to invite you to Beacon
"Bluntly, I would like to invite you to Beacon academy. When I received word from Brun that he had passed his title to a young man. Well, I just had to meet this young man."
Zelle cursed Brun. Seriously, he just had to tell literally everyone that he was now a warden. Including the headmaster of Beacon. He planned to tear that man a new one. First thing, deal with… this.
"Sure, but on three conditions."
"Ask away."
"First thing, I want to be transferred immediately to work on my own weapon. I have the money if you all can provide the materials."
"That can be arranged."
"Second, I want to bring Ryo."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow quizzically. "And Ryo is, who?"
Zelle gestured torward Ryo.
"You are asking me for a lot Mr." He paused and waited for a response.
"Sorry, I don't have a last name. Apparently, you didn't talk to Brun too much. I have a severe case of amnesia. I can't remember anything further than a couple years ago."
"Well I apologize for my rudeness." He paused for a moment. "Zelle." He sounded uncomfortable using his first name. "However, you are asking me to allow you to bring a grimm into a school, that kills grimm correct? Zelle nods his head. Ozpin shook his head. "While I may have to pull a few strings" A lot. "I'm sure we can arrange that."
Ozpin could practically see the potential rolling off this boy, no man. He needed all available huntsman he could get his hands on. The grimm inhabiting the forest would not allow Zelle to grow. He was sure that he could have him grow. The strings that needed to be pulled was well worth. Or so he hoped.
"And the last thing you need."
Zelle mumbled his head down.
"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that.
"I need someone to tech me too read."
"You, can't read?" A smirk was starting to appear at the edge of his lips.
"No, I can't. Zelle glared at Ozpin. "And if I'm going to go to school, then I should be able to read."
"Obviously. That should be able to arrange you a tutor. Well if that is it, then I assume you agree on attending?"
"Yes, when should I get ready?"
"In the next hour. Can that be done?"
"Yup I'll be out in the next twenty minutes."
"Well, things had taken quite an interesting turn." Gathering his things, Zelle headed out. There standing on the entrance to the bullhead was Ozpin and a blonde haired, busty woman with emerald eyes." I wonder how Coco is doing."
A/N: Done. So next chapter will be the start of where Volume one begins for the actual RWBY series. I'm thinking I'll have the next chapter out by next Sunday but we will see. So till next time!
