It felt good to have a change of pace, and to go back to my home roots in Fighting Fury, but now I need to venture away from going back to what I normally write and write something different. Growth in not easy, but it is needed. Anyways I hope that you all can enjoy this chapter and without further adieu.
Chapter 6: Adaptation and Beacon
Weeks have passed since Crayg learned that he was going to Beacon. All the while, he has been studying furiously and trained even harder. He grew slightly stronger and had to adjust his braces to consume more dust to keep him as normal as possible. He didn't want to disappoint the headmaster or his family. On one particular day he needed to go to a dust shop to buy more dust powder and crystals. He wanted to add an additional slot on his braces that would allow his attacks to have an elemental impact towards his foes.
"Hey Crayg, can we go to the dust shop together? I kind of need some for Crescent Rose." Ruby asked with a big smile on her face.
"Sure thing Ruby, Yang would you like to come join us?" Crayg asked Yang and she just waved.
"Nah, I'll pass this time. Have fun and tell me if anything interesting happens." She said before looking through her scroll for funny videos and puns.
"Okay we will." Ruby said as they headed out to go shopping.
They went to the ships and boarded one to go to Vale's main city. They made their way over to a dust shop called From Dust till Dawn. From there they began shopping, unaware of the time and who was coming. Ruby was focused on her music and her reading of a magazine while Crayg was inspecting the dust and how much he needed. He remembered each of the recipes for his nullifying and lightening dusts by heart. He heard the door open and heard a man talk to the shop keeper, and his fighting instincts kicked in when he heard that this wasn't a simple shopping trip for them.
"Grab the dust." The man with white coat said and people from Junior's Club started to put dust in vials.
Crayg ducked his head and began to sneak towards Ruby to make sure that she will be safe. He knew that she did bring her weapon, but just in case that the henchmen decide to attack without warning.
"Hey, hands where I can see them." Crayg heard a henchman say out loud and froze in place. He looked around but didn't see any so he knew that they were talking to Ruby. "I said put your hands in the air!"
"Are you robbing me?" Crayg heard Ruby say in a low tone. He shuffled over to the next isle to find the two.
"Yes!" The henchman shouted getting very frustrated at her innocence.
"Ahh…" she whispered before kicking him to the front of the store.
"Well that happened." Crayg whispered as another henchman rushed back and Ruby dropkicked him out the window. "Oh, come on Ruby, who's going to pay for that?!"
The rest of the eyes quickly looked at Ruby, then Crayg before turning back towards the man wearing white.
"Well… get them." He commanded and the henchmen split up into two groups. The men that went after Crayg soon found themselves outside after being thrown out by him. Ruby quickly knocked out all of the henchmen with ease. "Definitely worth every cent. Well red and strongarm, it's been wonderful, but this… is where we part ways."
"It's not a smart idea to take aim at my sister." Crayg said in a cold tone and grabbed the cane and pulled it upwards before it fired. The man slammed the back of his head into Crayg's face, grabbed his cane and shot at Ruby. She dodged and looked around the cloud of smoke to try and found him climbing up a ladder.
"Crayg he's going up the ladder!" Ruby said as he finished rubbing his nose.
"Alright he likes to play dirty." He said and climbed the ladder as fast as possible.
"Hey," Ruby shouted just as the man was about to board a plane of some sort.
"That's an airship correct?" Crayg asked quietly to Ruby who nodded. "Okay good, just wanted to be sure there."
"End of the line you two!" The man shouted before tossing a fire dust crystal at them and shot at it. Crayg stepped in front of Ruby to make sure she stays safe and planned to take the explosion on his back.
At least that was his plan, but he heard the explosion but felt no pain. He turned to find a woman with blonde hair behind him that he saw about a month ago. She began to use magic and tried to take down the airship. The man went inside the pilot seat and talked to the person and swapped with them. Crayg saw glowing amber eyes and black heels step into the light as fire began to form in her hand and shot it at the blonde. She flipped and used the destroyed pieces of the roof to attack the airship. After a while of stumbling around inside the airship the woman burned all of the incoming projectiles. Ruby began firing her weapon at the woman, who just deflected them as if they weren't anything harmful.
"Oh yeah, let's see how you handle this." Crayg said softly and grabbed a piece of rock before throwing it as hard as possible. Everyone's eyes widened at the force behind the rock, even Crayg was surprised, but his surprise went away when he checked his bands. "Oh, they're empty."
The woman was able to block it and held her hand as if it broke right there. The ship then turned and flew away fast. Everyone stood up straight and calmed down from the fight. Ruby turned towards the woman with bright eyes and a wide smile.
"Are you a huntress?" she said with admiration. "Can I have your autograph?"
The next thing that they knew was that they were in a dark room with a single light shining on Ruby and Crayg. Crayg stood at Ruby's right side after he crushed the chair beneath him when the woman commanded him to sit down with a shout. She turned red with anger before calming down and began her scolding.
"That was dangerous for the both of you," She stated pacing back and forth. "Do either of you realize how risky it was to go after that man?!"
"They started it!" Ruby said standing up quickly to receive a scowl before sitting down.
"Not a good time Ruby," Crayg whispered and was glared at.
"If it we're up to me you both would be sent home with a pat on the back," She said pausing to give them hope. "And a slap on the wrist."
She brought her crop down dear Ruby's hands with no intention of hitting her, but Crayg reflexively placed his hand out to protect Ruby's. A small red mark was left on his left hand, but didn't make a sound or showed any signs of pain. The woman became a little worried about injuring someone.
"Are you alright?" She asked Crayg in a slightly concerned tone.
"Yes, I'm fine, and I knew that you were going to miss your strike towards Ruby intentionally, but protective instincts kicked in and I just wanted to be certain." Crayg said with a smile. "Besides, I felt a little sting and nothing more."
"Well, there is someone who would like to talk to you both." She said before stepping aside to show a man with grey hair, a cane and a plate of cookies. He sat down and placed the cookies in front of Ruby, who handed one to Crayg before devouring the rest of them.
"Ruby Rose, you have silver eyes." He said before sitting down and pulled out his scroll and showed two videos, one of Ruby beating the henchmen with ease and the other of Crayg falling through the portal and being hit by Yang's motorcycle. "And I do believe that you called yourself Crayg Woods, as according to what your birth certificate said, was that true or not?"
"That's true, I didn't really have a good enough reason to go and change my name." Crayg admitted and was beginning to feel a little suffocated.
"Interesting, and I will let you know now that I know who that portal belongs to, the only question to you is what are you?" the man asked Crayg and leaned in a little closer.
"I am a human, just like you. I'm just from a different planet or dimension, but I think I'll call it safe and say that I'm in a different dimension." Crayg said nervous as the man in front of deleted the video in front of him. "Why did you do that?"
"To preserve peace and to show that I trust you." The man said before turning to Ruby. "And where did you learn to do this?"
Crayg tuned out the conversation out of shock about what he just saw. He didn't know what this man was thinking. He didn't know how to respond to him. 'Who just shows up out of nowhere and sends a personal invitation to someone to come to their school and then show they know that I am not normal later on? Why not confront me about it when they were at our house? What is this man thinking? He could be letting a dangerous criminal and has no clue about it, but then why is he so calm about it? Does he know that I have no reason to be violent or have no idea about this world? No, I see the cunning in his eyes. He knows that I am a threat if I go to the wrong people and wants to keep me close.
"I would like that more than anything." Ruby said as the man smiled.
"Well then as headmaster of Beacon, I, Professor Ozpin, personally invite you to attend Beacon this year. Initiation is in two days, so I hope that you are prepared Ruby." He said still smiling softly. "And Crayg, please be wary about your dust. That's all you're both free to go now."
"Dad is going to have so many questions for us." Ruby said as they were walking back to their house late at night. "I hope that he won't be upset with us."
"Well as long as we tell the truth, he can't get too mad at us." Crayg said still smiling before hugging Ruby. "After all, my little sister is going to Beacon with us."
"Ughh, please let go of mee." Ruby groaned from his strength as they made it home.
"Alright, now where have you two been all night?" Taiyang asked as he opened the door with his arms crossed and look on his face that showed he wasn't pleased with how late they are. "I thought that you were both going to the dust shop."
"And we did, however some guy in a weird looking hat and hairstyle and some of Junior's goons came in and disrupted the store. Then we laid the beat down on them before they ran away from a huntress who showed up a little later." Crayg explained as Taiyang's eyebrow rose up. "Which then she escorted us to meet the Headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin. And he invited Ruby to join this year."
"Wait, what?" Taiyang asked out loud to make sure he heard correctly. "Ruby has been invited to go to Beacon?"
"Yes, we're being completely serious about this." Crayg said with a smile, clearly excited that everyone would be going at the same time. "We're all going to Beacon together. I know that we're not going to be getting out of being home late, but I just wanted to let the news be known."
"Well, I should lecture you both about being home within a timely manner, but seeing your reasons, and the fact that Ruby is going to Beacon early, I guess that I can let you both off with a warning." Taiyang sighed and stood up straight and relaxed. "Well come on in and get some rest. I want to hear the full story in detail tomorrow morning."
"Okay dad," Ruby said before rushing to bed to get some sleep.
"Alright," Crayg said before Taiyang put a hand on his shoulder.
"Crayg, I know that this may be a little awkward at first, but I just want you to know that you are a part of this family." He said with a concerned look. "I just want you to know that, son."
Son, a word that Crayg thought he wouldn't hear again until he had a son of his own. It made him feel mixed emotions of sadness and joy at the same time. He smiled and hugged Taiyang. "Thanks, dad."
"Awww, that's adorable and heartwarming." Yang said in her choice of pajamas. "Father and son bonding together."
"Want to make it a family moment?" Crayg asked as Ruby came down dressed in her pajamas.
"Family moment!" Ruby shouted and pushed Yang down the stairs and into the open arms of Taiyang and Crayg. "Yay, I like moments like these."
"You and me both Ruby." Yang said smiling with everyone else. "Can't wait for Beacon to start."
"Yeah, just a few more days until we all go to Beacon. Then we can graduate at the same time and go on hunts as a family." Crayg said looking forward towards the future.
"OOoohh, I still can't believe that my baby sister is coming to Beacon with us." Yang said pulling Ruby into a hug as they were flying on the bullhead to Beacon. Crayg looked at them with a smile before turning to see the view and get lost into his thoughts.
'Wow, it's been about a month since I arrived on Remnant. So much has happened since I got here and learned a lot in a short amount of time. I still have a lot to learn about this world. I don't know much about any current events, except for that Torchwick guy that we fought last night. I know the Schnee Dust Company has… has… ehh… I really should focus on the celebrities of this world and the factions or groups or whatever this world calls its governments. Though it is a little like home, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I hope that Beacon will allow me to get a good time for free study.'
"Grossgrossgrossgrossgrossgross," Yang said as she and Ruby were panicking about some vomit that landed on Yang's shoe. "EWWW, get it off!"
"Calm down, I'll get it Yang." Crayg said before pulling out some tissues and wiped up Yang's boot and threw away the garbage. "There we go, cleaned up to a point."
"I'm washing these boots." Yang said looking at them with disgust.
"I do not blame you." Crayg said before turning to Ruby seeing that she seemed a little shyer than usual. "Hey, Ruby what's up? You were so excited about Beacon and now you've gone all quiet. Let me guess, you're a little nervous about meeting new people and the thought about being sent ahead two full years is a little intimidating?"
"Yes, how did you know?" She asked in slight wonder.
"Eh, I guess that I'm picking up the older sibling senses." He said before ruffling Ruby's hair. "It's a little like how I felt not knowing anyone when I got here, but just stay calm and keep a clear mind of what your goal is and you can't go wrong."
"Well, I just want to be treated normally." Ruby said looking down. "I just want to be accepted just like the others."
"Then just be yourself and don't worry about being sent ahead of the grade too much. And in no time, the new friends that we will make will know what makes us special." He said while Yang smiled and listened to the conversation.
"I think that I see what you mean." Ruby said as the bullhead came to a stop. "Well, time to take the first step."
They stepped off the bullhead as a boy rushed by and threw up into a trashcan. They looked at him with slight disgust and worry before moving forward to avoid smelling the vomit. Ruby saw all the weapons that others had and almost ran forward to ask about them as Yang held her back and chatted before catching a random crowd and vanishing into the school, leaving a dizzy Ruby and Crayg looking at the school with wonder. His wonder was quickly interrupted by an explosion. He quickly rushed to the smoke and found Ruby and a girl in white covered in soot.
"See what I mean?! You could have blown us off the cliff!" The girl with white hair shouted out loud clearly upset. "How did someone like you even get into Beacon?! You look and act like a child!"
"I said I was sorry." Ruby managed to whimper out with tears forming in her eyes.
"Yeah well sorry won't… cut… it." The girl began to slow her speech when she saw a shadow form above her. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, actually you can help me?" Crayg said with his eyes closed and a sickly sweet smile. "Could you please stop yelling at my sister and calm down?"
"You're related to each other, well I feel sorry for you then." She said and the shadow disappeared. She turned to find his arm resting on her cases. "Hey, get your arm off of those!"
"No, my arm has suddenly gotten heavy and I can't move it." Crayg said with a smile as the girl walked over and tried to lift his arm up from her cases, completely failing to even budge it a little and Ruby began to snicker a little.
"Do you know who I am?!" The girl shouted out loudly and Crayg removed his arm from the cases and walked over to Ruby.
"No, I don't. Sorry to disappoint you princess." Crayg said getting upset with how she was acting.
"It's heiress actually." A level headed voice said that Crayg recognized that it belonged to Blake. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."
"Finally some recognition!" Weiss said before Blake continued.
"The same company that has accused of unfair labor, dangerous work environments, and shady business deals." Blake said and crossed her arms. Weiss grumbled under her breath something incoherent to everyone there before huffing and walked away with her belongings.
"Well I'm glad that's over." Ruby said collapsing at the fountain with Crayg as a hand was held out to Ruby.
"Hey you look like you could use a friend. I overheard some of the conversation, sorry by the way." The boy wearing white armor and a black hoodie said while smiling. "Oh uh, my name is Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."
"Do they?" Ruby asked and held out her hand to be pulled up and Jaune was kind enough to do so.
"Th-They will, or at least, I hope they will." Jaune said rubbing the back of his neck after he pulled up Ruby. "That's what my mom told me at least. And my dad sad that confidence was key."
"Sounds like that you should use confidence in moderation." Ruby said as they both began to walk around and left Crayg behind smiling.
"I'll give Ruby some space and let her grow on her own and make her own friends." He said before realizing that what he said was Yang's intentions when she left. "Oh, that's what Yang was doing. She could have at least stuck around a little bit longer before leaving. Wait, wasn't he the one who threw up on the airship? Also where is the place that we need to go?"
Well, not going to lie but this week was a little rough for me. I need to get things back on track. I hope that you all enjoyed this week's small chapter and I need little horseshoe luck right now. Take care of yourselves.
SirArondight