"Hyaa"
"Umph!"
"Ekiyo Tokugawa is the winner of this match."
Ekiyo reached out to his opponent who was trying to catch his breath on the floor. He swatted his hand. Ekiyo just shrugged and walked out of the ring.
"That was some good fighting."
Ekiyo looked at who was talking. It was a tall man with white hair and circular glasses, holding a coffee mug. "That was a good show you put on. It takes extreme talent to put down a foe bigger than yourself. How do you do it?"
"I just focus on his weak points and exploit them. It's really easy actually."
"Hmm," the man said. "You wouldn't happen to want to go to Shade Academy, would you?"
"Perhaps. Why?"
"The headmaster is a good friend of mine. I'm sure I could get you in this year if you're interested."
"I'll need to think about it. That is a big decision."
"I understand. I'll be in town for a few weeks. When you decide, it shouldn't be too hard to find me."
"Alright, thank you."
"Of course."
As the man walked away, he thought to himself. Well, there's clue number one...
"So, Newyn, what are we going to do now?" Dygmann asked, still lying in bed. "It's obvious we can't stay here, and I have no left in Atlas. I'm sure the Schnee's hate me. The police will try to detain for questioning after the death of my aunt. I have nothing left."
"I know a place in Vacuo. I have an old friend. We can go there."
"What about transportation? And self-defense? You might be good at fighting, but I still haven't gotten weapons I'm good with."
"You could learn how to use those shotguns." Newyn pointed to the two shotguns on the floor. "I think that's our best bet. Plus," he hesitated to make sure he said the right thing. "There has to be a reason your father wanted me to give these to you."
"Yeah, maybe you're right." Dygmann looked at the ground. "But, my father said that they only worked for him. There was something that was passed down in our family that held the secret to the shotguns."
"Well," Newyn replied. "There might be some clues on the shotguns. Or at your house. It wouldn't hurt to check."
"Maybe it wouldn't, but I don't want to go back home. I just want to leave this place forever."
"Well… there may be another option."
Dygmann looked at Newyn, confused. "I just said that only my father knew how to get these to work. How could there possibly be another way?"
"Well, I have another friend in Vale who is a bit of a weapon nut. Well, his niece is. I meet him one time, about a year ago, when he was passing through town. He asked for directions to the local tavern, so I showed him the way. In return, he lied to get me in and paid for drinks. He told me he was from Vale and that he was on a mission for an old friend. He had two nieces who lived in Patch, and that he taught a school called "Signal" and he taught his niece everything he knew of weapons. So, I bet we can find him and ask him for help, and if not, we ask around for his niece."
"Hmm. That could work. Do you have a way for us to get to Vale?"
"Look on the shotguns."
Dygmann looked back at the shotguns. On top of them were two tickets. They both had the Vale kingdom crest on them.
Newyn smiled. "I'd start packing. The airship leaves in a few hours."
It was a stormy night in Vale. It had been storming the last few nights, which the people of the city quickly grew accustomed to. Most stayed outside, while there were still those who ran errands, trying not to get too wet and not be blown away by the hazardous winds.
A man slammed his glass down on a counter in a bar in a run-down part of the city. The bartender looked at him.
"I need another one," he told the bartender.
"But sir, that's your twentieth one. I believe you've had enough."
The man leaned over the bar. "Look bub, you know the deal. I give you Lien, you give me drinks."
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Now."
"Fine. I'll go now." The man stumbled off of the stool and almost fell onto the table behind him. He straightened up and managed to get out of the door. Once outside, he fell onto the wet sidewalk and fell unconscious.
Two teenagers walked up to him. One nudged him with their foot, turning his body over. "Yup, that's him," they said to the other.
The other one nudged him, slowly waking him up. "What do you want?" He slurred.
"Are you Qrow? Qrow Branwen?"
"I might be. What *hic* does it matter to you?"
"My name is Newyn Rees. I believe you owe me a favor."
"Sir, they're finished."
Dranik had nodded off. He was quickly awoken by the weapon smith. He stood up as he walked over to him, holding something covered in a cloth wrap.
"Here they are. Two fully functional bladed gauntlets with all the modifications you asked for. I'll tell you though, that last paper, the schematics were a bit singed, so I did the best with what I had."
Dranik looked over the weapons. "Don't worry," he said. "They're perfect. May I test them?"
The smith smirked. "Of course. There are holographic dummies in the back."
"Thanks," Dranik replied as he grabbed his weapons and walked towards the direction. He put the gauntlets on. When he approached the first dummy, he quickly brought his blades out of sheathed position, which meant the blade segmentally wrapped around the gauntlet, and swiped at the neck of the first dummy, causing the whole neck to light up red, showing that significant damage had been dealt. He continued, swipe after swipe, light after light until he was sweating and panting from exhaustion. He went and sat down on the bench in the corner.
Eventually, he regained his energy, his Aura doing most of the work in that area. When he stood back up, he decided it was time to try something new. He took the blades off the gauntlet and pressed a button on the handles of the swords. Hissing sounds were heard as the blade started to segment itself, curving into a sickle shape. He smirked.
Interesting choice in weaponry, I must say. Did you design these yourself?
Oh great, you again. How many times have I told you I don't want to hear you in my head?
You can't get rid of me. You know that. I would've thought you had learned that by now.
Ugh. Why do find my weapons interesting anyway? They're just standard weaponry according to my grandfather.
Isn't it peculiar that you choose to wield a scythe and yet everyone around you seems to die?
What does that have to do with anything?
Never mind. So, where do you plan to go, Dranik? Obviously, there's nothing left for you here in Mistral.
That doesn't mean I can't stay here. That doesn't mean anything.
You forget, Dranik. I live in your head. I know you want to learn what your grandfather knew. You want to learn his skills. You want to become a huntsman.
So? I can become a huntsman at Haven Academy.
Yet, you want to go where your grandfather went. You want to go to Vacuo. You want to train at Shade Academy because you believe that there will be nobody left that you can hurt.
See, this why I want you out of my head. So that you can't bring up things that I haven't fully decided on yet. So that sometimes I just forget things.
You know you don't want me to leave. You like that I know you better than anyone else.
"SHUDDUP!" Dranik quickly combined his weapon together, causing them to click and hiss as the two weapons locked to each other, growing in size. Eventually, he was holding a giant scythe. "Nyaa!" He struck heavily at the dummy, breaking the holographic projector.
The weapon smith rushed into the room. "What just happened?!"
"Nothing. Just… got a little bit mad. That's all."
"That," he replied, pointing towards the broken projector, "doesn't look 'little'."
Dranik glared at him. "Nothing happened," he growled. "I'll take my leave now."
As he was walking out, the weapon smith stuck out his arm. "Look," he said. "I know someone who may be able to help you with whatever is going on. She lives in Vacuo if you're interested." The weapon smith pulled a card out of his pocket. "Here's her address. Tell her I sent you and that I said 'Hey'."
"Fine. I'll look into it." Dranik quickly left the store. The weapon smith watched as he walked out of the store and paused. He looked left, then looked right, then down at the card in his hands. Eventually, he began to walk to the right, towards the airship dock.
"So, what do you want?" Qrow slurred. "You obviously didn't come here just to catch up on *hic* life."
"Look, Qrow, we need some help," Newyn said. "His weapons, they won't function for him. So, I was thinking, since you know so much about weapons, that you could help him."
"Let me *hic* see one."
"I don't know about that, sir," Dygmann said, a little squeakily. "I don't know if I exactly trust a drunk man with a shotgun."
"You *hic* idiot. If they don't work, how the heck will they *hic* work for me? Just let me see one." Reluctantly, Dygmann hand Qrow one of his shotguns. "Ah. I see now. Wait, you wouldn't happen to be Raymond Aquino's boy, would you? 'Cuz he's only one I knew to ever own these."
"Yeah, I am. Wait, how do you know my father?"
"Kid, your father was a renowned huntsman in Mantle. Of course, I knew him. He actually taught me how to use these. See these symbols?" He pointed towards a symbol on the side of the shotgun. "This is your family's crest. It's the Dark Omega. When a weapon is branded with the Dark Omega, only the last living male of the family can wield the weapon. Said male must sacrifice some of their blood to the weapons for them to function."
"What?" Dygmann exclaimed. "That can't be right."
"It is. Look, it only takes a few drops. I was with your father when he first used these shotguns."
Dygmann looked at Newyn. He nodded at him. Dygmann sighed. "Fine. I'll do it then. Give me one your daggers, Newyn."
Newyn handed him a dagger. He ran the tip of the blade across his palm, creating a decent sized cut. He held his bleeding hand over the shotguns, dripping blood onto them. They began to glow a dark red.
"See kid? I was right. And I thought you didn't trust a *hic* drunk?"
"It's not that I didn't trust you, Qrow. I was just... slightly skeptical. Maybe I just didn't want to... maybe..."
"Come on, kid. I'm not in the mood for a sob story. Just spit it out."
"Well, maybe I just didn't want to think that I'm the last living male in my family. Maybe, I didn't want to believe that my father was actually dead!"
The room fell silent. Qrow and Dygmann looked at each other. "Look, kid, I get that. I really do. But now you just have to accept it. You have been left a great task. You have to become a huntsman."
Dygmann looked at Qrow. He stared intently into his eyes. "I'll do it. Teach me."
"I can't kid. You need proper training. I'll take you to a friend of mine in Vacuo. She has a boy who's joining Shade at the start of the year. He got in early. I'm sure we could find ways of getting you two in as well."
Newyn and Dygmann huddled together and started whispering. Finally, they both turned to Qrow. "Alright, Qrow. We'll do it. Take us to Vacuo."
Ekiyo was sitting in the living room of his house when he heard a knock at the door.
"Mom!" he yelled. "Someone's at the door!"
"I'll be there in a second!" she replied. She came down the stairs and walked to the door, opening it. Standing outside was a tall-ish man in an Atlas military uniform with black hair with what looked like a metal plate on the right side of his forehead. "Oh, James! What are you doing here?"
"Well, Mrs. Akigawa, I was informed that Ekiyo won the fight and will hopefully be attending Shade Academy this year," James replied. "I was in the area, so I came to congratulate him"
"Forget the formalities, James. You know you can call me by my first name. And what's this about Ekiyo attending Shade?"
"He didn't tell you, Alice? He won the qualifier fight for the regional tournament today and was offered a chance to go to Shade Academy and become a huntsman."
Mrs. Akigawa looked at Ekiyo. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"I hadn't made a decision yet. I didn't want to get your hopes up Mom. Anyways, who is this guy?"
James stepped forwards. "My name is General James Ironwood, Atlas military." He stuck out his hand. "I'm also headmaster of Atlas Academy."
Ekiyo shook his hand hesitantly. "Is that the only reason you're here, General?"
James shook his head. "No. I have to speak with your mother privately, if you would be so kind."
Ekiyo nodded in understanding. "Of course." He left the room.
Mrs. Akigawa looked at James. "What do you need to talk to me about James? Is everything okay?"
"Of course, Alice," he said sitting down. "It's about Qrow."
"What about him?"
"He sent forth a message. He's sending two boys to come stay with you. Says that they have potential and that they should train with Ekiyo."
"But why Ekiyo of all people? Couldn't there be anyone else?"
"Well, Alice, I'm sure our mutual friend informed you about the situation, correct?"
"Yes."
At this point, Ekiyo was sitting in the hallway outside of the sitting room, out of sight, listening.
"Well, then I should inform you that he believes that Ekiyo is related to this. Qrow believes the same about these two boys. This cannot be coincidence. There's more to this than we think, Alice. Dark times are coming. I want to make sure that we have a chance."
"Of course, James. Okay, I'll take these two boys in."
"Three, actually."
Alice paused for a minute. "Three?"
"Yes. One of my operatives in Mistral is sending one your way as well. You will house all three boys, along with Ekiyo. Sorry, will you?"
"Yes, of course James."
"Thank you, Alice. I should be on my way now. One of my scientists is working on an important project, and would like me to see his new developments to he- it."
"I understand, James. Thank you for stopping by."
Alice lead James to the door, with Ekiyo scrambling down the hallway. After James left, Mrs. Akigawa retreated to her room. Ekiyo decided to go to bed.
A few hours later, Ekiyo was suddenly woken up by sounds in the kitchen. He got up to investigate. In the kitchen, he saw a familiar form, but unfamiliar features. The figure was a woman in a red dress with short black hair and orange-yellow eyes. "Hello?" he said.
"Oh Ekiyo, sorry for waking you," the lady said. "I was just coming home."
"Mom?"
"Yes dear. Sorry, I went out to a party tonight. I just got home."
"Oh no, it's fine Mom. Hope you had fun. Good night."
"Good night dear."
When he went up to his room, Mrs. Akigawa pulled out her scroll and check her new message. It read:
Execute the plan immediately. Afterwards, you're to start your search for her.
Do not fail me.
Mrs. Akigawa smiled, her eyes glistening. She wrote back:
With pleasure.
When Qrow got off the airship, he looked around. Vacuo was pretty much the same as when he had left: bleak, boring, and, oh yeah, sandy. Very sandy. Then again, what else was to be expected of the desert kingdom.
He looked back to Newyn and Dygmann. "Well, kids, here it is. Vacuo, in all of its glory." He pointed to a giant building in the distance. "That building over there, that's Shade Academy."
He led down into the residential area. They all stopped in front of a decent sized house. It was two stories tall, and looked to have about six bedrooms. Qrow knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again. Again, no answer.
He turned to the boys. "Well, guys, looks like…"
"Qrow, is that you?"
He quickly turned around. The door had opened, and a woman was standing in the doorway. "Is that the old drunkard I remember from my cousin's wedding?"
"Alice. Yeah, it's been a while, but I'm not here for catch-up. I'm here to drop off these two boys."
"Don't you mean three?"
"No…," he turned around. "I said thr…"
Standing next to Newyn and Dygmann was a robed figure in all black. He looked at Qrow. "I was told to come to this address." He held up a card with the address scribbled on it.
"Oh, you must be the one that Ironwood told me about. Come right in." Alice looked at Qrow. "Are you coming in?"
"No," he replied. "I'll be leaving now." He looked at Newyn and Dygmann. "You two behave yourselves now." With that, he walked off.
Alice looked at the three of them. "So…" she paused. "Who wants cake?"
There was a knock at the door. Alice woke up. She heard the knock again. She looked down at her clothes. She was in the same clothes as the night before. Pulling out a Dust vial, she quickly changed clothes, put on her wig and her contacts. She ran and opened the door.
"Qrow is that you?"
Glynda briskly walked down the hallway. Pushing a button on the elevator, she tapped her foot as it went up. Finally, the elevator stopped and the doors opened to a large office. Sitting at the desk was the tall white-haired man.
"Ozpin?" she asked.
Ozpin swiveled his chair around. "Yes, Glynda?" he replied.
She pulled a piece of paper out of the folder that she was holding, handing it to him. "Here's the full reports of the four boys, just like you asked. Why do you want them anyway?"
Ozpin looked over the paper. After reading it all, he looked at her. "All in due time. First, tell me. What do you know of the creatures of Grimm?"
Shocked, she replied, "Only what anyone knows. They are creatures of darkness that sense our negative emotions. The ones that survive evolve, or well, just become stronger."
"Yes. Good. What if I told you there was more? That they may actually ev…"
The elevator dinged and opened. "Ozpin…"
Ozpin and Glynda looked over. In the doorway stood General Ironwood. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I can step out…"
Ozpin waved his hand. "No, James, it's fine." He looked at Glynda. "We'll talk more about this later. Now, sit down James, what do you want to talk about?"
Ironwood waited until Glynda left. "I met with the boy."
"The Vacuo boy?"
"Yes. And Alice was there."
"Of course, she was. She's been the boy's foster mother for some time now. What is the point of this James?"
"Oz, Alice wasn't herself. She always kept everything strictly professional, yet when I met her this time, she said t forget the formalities. She was way more laidback than before. Oz, I don't think this was actually Alice."
Ozpin took a minute to think about what James had said. Finally, he turned back to Ironwood. "James, I believe that we should wait and see. If anyone of the boys end up in danger, then we intervene. But until we're sure that our Alice is an imposter, we can't do anything."
Ironwood slammed his fist on the desk. "Dammit Oz! How many times do I have to tell you? We have to act before bad things happen. Bad things like the Great War!"
There was silence as Ozpin recollected himself. "James. Jumping on things such as this causes events such as the Great War. Waiting to see what develops is a better tactic. If we want to avoid conflict, we use it."
Ironwood shook his head. "Alright, Oz. Do what you will. But, when your plan fails, and it will, we use MY tactic. Goodbye Oz."
As Ironwood left, Ozpin shook his head, and muttered to himself, "Oh, these are dark times indeed."
A man sat in his office, miles and miles away from where Ozpin sat. He shuffled through all his papers, looking for something. Suddenly, someone burst into his office, out of breath.
"Professor Korvac!" *pant* *pant* "The Grimm. They're attacking a town just a few miles out of the city."
Korvac stood up. "Well, then we'd better help them, now shouldn't we?"
Alice Akigawa stood in the woods near a town in Vacuo, calmly watching. She looked at the herd of Beowulves and Ursai behind her.
"Let's get this started, shall we?"
