Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine.
Road to the End
By: athrunzala
04: Dante
Was their bond that fragile? Or had it been that moment, when they were still in school? That one instant when their whole world came crashing down. In that instant, four had become three. And one of the three was more broken than the rest.
The human looked at his scroll, the device flashing a warning that the inbox was almost full. He hadn't bothered to look at any of the messages. He knew who they were from. They were from them. The very people he didn't want to talk to.
After the fall of Beacon, they had argued. His former partner had begged him to come back. Pleaded with him to stay and help. And he ran. After all these years, he still hated that about himself. Many would bury themselves in work. He couldn't do that. His job was gone with the destruction of the academy. Others would drown the pain with alcohol. He couldn't bring himself to do that either. So he buried the pain and ran.
He was just like one of his former students. Her name escaped him at the moment, but he knew he would have to face the hellish nightmare that was Vale again at some point. But not right now.
He could hear the crowd cheering. He knew it was time for the show. Reaching out, he picked up his sword, the Red and Brass tones of the blades shimmering in the fluorescent lighting. Every time, he swore it would be his last fight. But the money was good, so he continued to go along with it. Besides, no one judged him here. No one would inquire as to his past.
Stepping out into the harsher lights of the arena, he squinted momentarily. He could see his opponent: A Bat Faunus who stood around 9'2". On his arms were a pair of blades, which he guessed would flip out to act as stabbing instruments, as well as provide shielding against attacks.
Pushing his one, loose bit of hair back onto his head, the dark brown protrusion staying where it was, Dante raised his weapon, eliciting a cheer from the spectators. He knew why they were here. After all, underground fights between Huntsmen and Huntresses were becoming a popular sport in the aftermath of what was becoming known as the Beacon Incident.
The two fighters stepped towards each other and shook hands before backing off to their respective corners, awaiting the signal to start their fight.
The buzzer sounded, and they were in the middle of it, trading blows that would have once only been reserved for Grimm.
The matches were far from uncivilized, as they had taken the rules of the Vytal Festival Tournament in that their Aura levels were monitored, but there were still deaths. It was unavoidable that the occasional competitor would go too far. Still, it was a risk that they all knew. And here was Dante, with a nearly perfect record in the ring: 97 matches, with 89 ending in Victory, 5 ending in a draw, and 1 loss. The remaining two were ones where he had been the odd-man-out, so he couldn't compete.
Across the town, Ruby was holding on to Crocea Mors for a bit while Jaune regained control of his stomach. The crossing had been rougher than they had planned, as they had chosen to travel from Mistral via boat to save time. Of course, this meant slightly rough travel, despite it being quicker. Nora had voted for traveling via Airship, but Qrow shot it down, citing that their route would have taken them across Vale's airspace, which Ironwood has listed as a designated "no fly zone" as soon as they had finished the evacuation.
So, here they were. Four people who were completely fine, and a vomiting blonde.
"Uncle Qrow, are you sure he's here?"
"He should be. But there is also something you and I need to do."
The older Huntsman then turned to Ren.
"Take Upchuck Junior with you guys. Ruby and I will meet you at the theater around 5."
The martial artist nodded and accepted Jaune's weapon from Ruby, as the two scythe wielders headed off into town.
Back in the arena, a louder buzzer sounded as another fighter hit the floor, the impact sending their Aura into the red zone.
~"And that's the match! The winner is... Dante!"~
As the crowd cheered, the former teacher put his weapon away at his waist, the blade sitting idly as the sweat poured off of him. He hadn't expected the fight to drag out like it had. He was more tired from this than he normally would be, but it was paying the bills. He left the highly illuminated arena and headed to the lockers, where he pushed his finger back into place, the appendage having been slightly disjointed during his skirmish. He would heal.
The brunette opened his locker, collected his duffle bag, which contained an extra set of clothes, and marched over to the payment window.
"That was a damn fine match tonight, son."
"He was good, I'll give you that. Next set is in two weeks, right?"
"You betcha! Between you and me, I don't think you should return. Something isn't right about this any more. Seen too many people in white masks showing up."
"The White Fang is here?"
"Don't look at me," the bookie said, waving his hands. "Just know that, if it is, they are going to recognize anybody who was in Vale last year."
"Thanks for the warning. Hey. This is less than last time."
"Again, not my fault. That match wasn't close enough for them. You took too few hits. I told you: If you wanna make the big bucks, you need to make it more exciting."
"Yeah. And that is how I got all these." The former teacher leaned into the light a little more, revealing scars on his face, the longest of which ran almost completely up his face diagonally.
"How was I to know that guy would have a second weapon!"
"Fair enough. Appreciate it. See you then!"
"Whatever. Have fun at that concert tonight!"
Dante waved and, opening the door, stepped out into the cool evening air. He hated being back in Atlas, but it was better than trying to follow military commands in Vale. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his ticket. He wasn't going to miss this one. Not for the world.
The opening number out of the way, and the event was going exactly as planned. Still, he couldn't shake the fact that he was essentially looking at a reminder of the past. But he enjoyed her singing.
"We have to talk to her!"
"Chill out, kiddo. You have 1/2 of the things needed."
"Yeah... I know. I need to find somebody who used to attend the academy."
Dante glanced over at the two having the conversation and nearly fainted. After the initial shock, he cleared his throat.
"I can help with that."
"This is so cool! I've never been to one of her concerts! I've only ever heard her sing on the radio. Or in the shower... But that was through closed doors and I didn't want to see her in there like that... Honest."
"Kiddo, it's fine. I'm not about to tell your dad about your little secret. Truth be told, he knows of mine."
"And that is?"
"Too mature for your ears. Maybe I'll tell you all the dirty details later though."
"UNCLE QROW! GROSS!"
The older scythe-master chuckled a little as they approached the theater. When he had found out about Weiss holding a concert, he had made sure to snag tickets, not wanting Ruby to miss out, but also understanding that she was going to try to re-unite her team, in an effort to cheer up her older sister.
They approached the front, Qrow surrendered the tickets, and they entered the venue. Back wall, standing room only wasn't his first choice, but he knew it would allow them to reach the heiress faster in the event of an emergency. So he wasn't about to complain.
As the event was nearing the end, he handed his niece a piece of paper.
"Uncle Qrow?"
"Back stage pass, kiddo. Surprise."
As she turned the document over in her hands, one line of text changed her mood.
"It says I need to be with somebody who used to attend the academy."
"Yeah. I was working on that. Which was why I was hunting for your former instructor. He went here."
Ruby had seen somebody who vaguely looked like her old teacher, but she wasn't sure about it.
"We have to talk to her!"
"Chill out, kiddo. You have 1/2 of the things needed."
"Yeah... I know. I need to find somebody who used to attend the academy."
It was then that the man she had seen earlier approached her.
"I can help with that."
"Do... I... know you?"
"It's been a while, Ruby."
He lifted his face, and his features became clear to her.
"Professor!"
"Shh... It's been a while, yes, but if you could not shout that out, I would really appreciate it."
"So you went to school here?"
"You bet! We graduated at the top of our class!"
Dante took pride in his former team's accomplishment, which was been no small feat, as they had been short-handed for a year.
"Come on. Let's get you in."
"You take care of her, got it?"
"You have my word, Qrow."