Chapter 8. Accidental Discoveries.

Ashton parried his opponents weapon, a silver tiger claw. It had been a week since the Forever Fall expedition and combat trials were becoming increasingly frequent. His opponent was one of the more exotic fighters. His caramel tan gave wind of warmer climates and his claw fighting style definitely felt foreign. In fact he wasn't quite sure where this fighter was from. The fighter had shoulder length black hair but the bangs seemed much longer. His orange vest was open, he didn't really wear anything underneath that. His violet shorts seemed to contrast with the rest of his look. He might have been from Vacuo.

He continued to swing aggressively at him. Ashton parried, the man simply swung his other claw low. Ash hopped backwards, barely dodging. His opponent continued to fight in this pattern, high strikes followed by lows. Occasionally switching which arm swung where. Ash was getting a little better at blocking them, they were a little too predictable. He saw an opening, if he can block on of his attacks he can get a punch in. His opponent swung high, Ash parried. He punched his opponent square in the chest. He felt pain, as if he broke his hand.

The opponent chest glistened like a diamond before fading back to normal. He staggered back and continued to parry the onslaught one handed. He felt himself dropping to a knee, barely blocking the constant barrage. His hand burned and he felt his head going dizzy. He figured he'll just wait for Glynda to end the fight. He leaned back. His vision continued to blur until he felt himself flipping into the air and slamming against the ground. His opponent raised his claws. Ash stared him straight in the eyes. The man started panicking. He started swinging his claws at invisible opponents. His expression was that of absolute terror. The man continued swinging frantically. Glynda stepped close to him and started yelling.

"Snap out of it!" She shouted, the student continued to panic. He turned around and ran head first into a wall. His skull glittered like a diamond and his head passed straight through, he continued panicking and punching at the wall. Several older students rushed in and pulled him out of the wall and held him down. He continued to try to fight something that wasn't there, the students were struggling. Lyra started playing her music. He overpowered the tired students and jumped to his feet. He slowed considerably, one of the older students punched him straight in the jaw, knocking him down. Glynda turned to Ash, fuming.

"What did you do?" She screamed. Ash swallowed hard. She stepped right up to him, eyes staring him ruthlessly.

"I don't know, he won and..." Ash tried to explain. She glared at him. For a second he thought she was going to slap him.

"Ozpin's office! Now!" She screamed. Ash winced and backed up slowly. His heart was racing in his throat and his body felt light. He nervously walked out of the class. He had no idea what just happened.

He breathed heavily, Ozpin's office wasn't too far and he reached the door faster than he expected. He knocked on the door cautiously. He had no idea what he'd expect to find. The door opened and Ozpin stepped out, shutting the door before Ash could get a look. Ozpin looked at him with a slight smile. He felt like he was about to get scolded but now he was unsure.

"Ashton, Glynda tells me you may have hurt another student?" He said, eyes carefully studying Ash's very being.

"I don't know what happened." Ash blurted out, he was getting pretty anxious. "One minute I'm on the ground, next the kid is running and screaming. Tearing apart the walls."

"You may not realize it, but I believe you might have discovered part of your semblance." Ozpin said. His eyes continued to study Ash for reactions. "It seems you might be more dangerous than even the jail wardens believed."

"What does that mean?" Ash asked. More dangerous, he was starting to get worried about where this conversation was heading.

"It means, with the proper training, you might become one hell of a huntsman." Ozpin said, he was beaming. Ash blinked repeatedly, he really didn't expect that.

"You aren't mad?" Ashton asked. "What about the other student?"

"He'll be fine, this school is a fairly dangerous place and where he's from, it's no different." Ozpin said calmly. "He will think twice before facing you in battle. That is something many fighters aspire."

"I don't even understand my semblance." Ash anxiously replied. "It just happened."

"Semblance comes from instinct. It is the very manifestation of who you are, exposed by danger." Ozpin said with a nod. "You will learn to understand it and control it. The first time is always a complicated affair. It could even take years before you understand even the basics of it. You'll grow better. You should run along back to your team."

"What about Glynda, she seemed pretty angry with me." Ashton asked. Ozpin smiled more.

"Glynda will be fine, I'll talk with her about my decision." Ozpin replied. He patted Ash on the shoulder and stepped back into his office. The door slammed shut.

"So your semblance sent him into a screaming fit?" Morgana asked. Ash was sitting on his bed, slumped against the wall. His mind had been racing on the mornings surprise. She sat on the dresser near her bed, kicking her legs playfully. "Seems pretty useful."

"I don't know, I don't like that I can't control it." Ash said pensively. He gave a half shrug. She smirked.

"Then you just need practice." She said, he was getting a little worried just by her tone alone.

"How would I practice it, I'd need to use it on someone." Ash contemplated. She had a wider grin. He wasn't sure if he should be worried or excited.

"You have plenty of enemies so far, plenty of targets." She continued to smile, it was a devilish grin. Plenty of targets. She might have had a point.

"Well there's Cardin and his lackeys, and there is always Weiss." Ash pondered. Cardin's gang would be fun to mess around with, Weiss would be perfect, though she seems the type that would run to Glynda.

"Why not both?" She asked nonchalantly. He paused. A smile grew across his face. The next thing he knew, they were running out the door.

They found Cardin and his team lounging out by the forest edge. They were sparring with one another. Perfect targets. Now came the flaw in the plan. Ash didn't know how to use his semblance, last time it was a fluke.

"Alright, what do I do?" Ash asked. Morgana looked confused. "I've never intentionally done it before."

"Well it's different with everyone. Usually you just get really emotional." She answered. He hesitated.

"Emotional?" He asked. "What do you mean emotional?"

"You know, get mad, get sad, get over excited." She replied. He scratched his head. "By all means, do something. Don't scratch your head, our window is fading."

"Alright." He said. Get mad, get mad. He thought of things that brought him anger. He remembered Cardin's ambush in the locker room. He remembered encountering Weiss. He remembered getting ambushed at the warehouse. The family yacht getting repossessed, the manor falling into disrepair, his sparring sessions with his father becoming less and less frequent until they stopped altogether. He was mad, he was fuming, he wasn't doing it. "This isn't working."

"If only we knew what your semblance did." She pondered aloud. "Maybe if we found out exactly what happened to that guy, what made him scream, we could find out how to tap into your power."

"I imagine I'm the last guy he wants to see." Ash pointed out. She pursed her lips, eyes darting from side to side.

"We'll just have to take that risk." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back to the nearest door.

They headed to the medical wing, resting near a window was the kid from earlier. His experience apparently was bad enough they wanted to keep him overnight. Whatever happened was more serious than Ozpin let him believe. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of him but after a couple of deep breaths he seemed to relax.

"Hey, so I feel bad about earlier." Ash opened. "I'm Ash, by the way. This is Morgana"

"Leon." He replied. He scratched his head nervously. "Don't worry about earlier, just got me by surprise."

"I honestly don't know what happened." Ash said with a shrug. "Ozpin told me that I used my semblance but I've never done anything like that before."

"That was your first time?" Leon asked. He bobbed his head slightly. "That would make sense."

"So I'm supposed to learn how to control it, I don't even know what I did. So how can I learn to use something I don't understand." Ash asked. Leon stared for a moment, he tensed up.

"Alright well, all I remember was me kicking your ass." Leon began, Ash tried to interrupt him but Morgana shushed him. "Next thing I know I'm hallucinating or something. I saw my father."

"That's it?" Ash asked. He saw his father and started screaming. He made him see his father?

"Well, my father had been dead for six years. Ripped apart by an beowolves. I witnessed it. I witnessed it again this morning." Leon spoke a lot quieter. Sound seemed to drain from the room. Ash coughed uncomfortably. "I remember them jumping on me, I couldn't get them off. Then my semblance kicked in. Too little too late."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Ash said, scratching his head.

"So what you're saying is he forced you to relive your worst nightmare?" Morgana asked. "How is that possible?"

"I don't really think so, it wasn't like a nightmare. It was like it was around me, but I was still here. Like wolves somehow got into the school." Leon said with a shrug. "I don't know, I just happened to be on the receiving end."

"What are you doing here?" An unpleasant voice called out from behind them. Glynda. "Haven't you caused this student enough duress for the evening."

"I was trying to apologize." Ash replied. She glared at him.

"Back to your dorm! You too miss!" She snapped. Leon gave them a confused nod. They were escorted out of the medical wing and back to their dorm.

So he made someone relive a nightmare, in the middle of a fight. Was it limited to nightmares, was it hallucination itself that was his semblance. Could he make someone hallucinate anything? He had a mountain of questions forming, not enough answers.

"So, you make people hallucinate things, did you remember doing anything during the fight?" Morgana asked. Ash scratched his head, replaying the fight in his head.

"I was on the ground, I panicked, I looked him in the eyes." He explained. She skipped in front of him. "What?'

"That's it, eye contact." She said enthusiastically. "You need to maintain eye contact. Now we just need a practice target."

"I'd rather not start up a hornets nest over practice, let's save Cardin and Weiss for when I know I can do it." Ash said, sitting down on a windowsill. "If I start a fight with Cardin and his friends and can't do it, I get ganged up on."

"Alright, you can practice on me!" She said, a big smile on her face. He scratched his head.

"You want me to use my nightmare powers on you?" He asked. If the roles were reversed, he wouldn't let her anywhere near him. "Why?"

"Because, unless we can find out how to use this, you're sort of the weak link in our team." She replied bluntly. He coughed.

"Weak link? Even weaker than Lyra?" He asked. She rolled her eyes.

"She might not be able to fight but she at least can use her semblance right." She said, sharply prodding his sides with her finger. "Now I need you to use your semblance."

"Alright fine, one panic attack coming up!" He stared her directly in the eyes. He focused on pain, misery, anger, fear. It wasn't working.

She raised her eyebrows. He continued to try to tap into something. His mind went back to that fight. Leon was winning, what did he do? He remembered losing, he was facing defeat. Perhaps that was it, fear of defeat. He wasn't sure how to replicate those feelings when they were casually standing in a hallway. She had this smug look on her face, he knew she was laughing at him in her head. He must have looked pretty stupid. Then again, how would she look if he was to succeed at this. He felt himself smiling, the look on her face would be priceless.

She stepped back, he raised an eyebrow. The next thing he knew, she was stumbling over. Panic had spread across her face, he could see her eyes watering. She stared up, not at him but at a vase to his left. Tears were beginning to streak down the sides of her face and suddenly she was bolting down the hallway. He looked around the room. He figured it worked.

He found her back at the dorm room, she was lying in bed with her back to him. He sat down at the foot of her bed and let out a sigh. He wasn't sure what he did or how he did it.

"I'm fine." She said quietly. He could hear a quiver in her voice. She didn't sound fine.

"Did it work?" Ash asked. She rolled over. Her face was red and puffy. She was glaring at him.

"It worked." She said, rolling over again. He turned away.

"I'm sorry." He replied. His mind was busy trying to figure out how he did it. What did he do. None of this made any sense. He looked back at her, he felt a pang of guilt. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me." She replied. "I just saw some things I didn't want to see."

"How am I supposed to control this?" Ash asked, he collapsed onto his own bed. The sun was setting and his eyelids grew heavy. He wished he had an answer.