Alright. Here is chapter 4. Sorry I missed the update last week. Didn't have much written and had a lot of work to do. Read on!
Light. Bleary, unfocused light.
"Open your eyes all the way, please."
Where the hell was he?
"Come on! Open your eyes!
Shit. Was he going to die? Were they going to execute him?
"Sir, would you please open your eyes."
The man slowly opened his eyes all the way. A blinding white light was shining in his eyes.
"Pupillary responses are normal..."
The light clicked off, and suddenly he could see the whole room.
He was laying in a hospital bed surrounded by medical instruments. White sheets covered his body. The stench of cleaning chemicals reached his nose.
"Do you know where you are, sir?" The nurse asked, bringing him out of his stupor.
He struggled to find words for a few moments.
"N...No..." He finally said, his voice raspy with thirst.
The nurse nodded.
"You are at the Beacon Academy Infirmary. You were recovered from the Emerald Forest. Do you know how you got there?"
The Emerald Forest? Where the hell was that?
"No..."
The nurse nodded.
"Very well. A doctor will be with you shortly." The nurse said quickly. She scribbled something down on a data scroll and spun to walk out of the room.
"Could I get some water, please?" The man asked.
The nurse glanced back over her shoulder and smiled.
"I'll grab you a glass, sir."
"Thanks."
The room was suddenly dead quiet. His head felt like it was full of cotton and all of his thoughts seemed hazy. What was he doing here? Why was he recovered from the Emerald Forest? Where the hell was Beacon?
Questions shot through his mind. It almost hurt to think. He wracked his mind, trying as hard as he could to remember where he was before the hospital, but couldn't quite get it. The memoires seemed just out of reach, as if they were in a deep fog.
He really wanted that glass of water.
The room was slowly growing more and more uncomfortable. There were almost no sounds other than his own breathing. The machines didn't beep, the airflow was quiet, and there didn't seem to be anyone walking the halls outside.
"What is going on?" He muttered under his breath
Finally, a doctor walked into the room. He was dressed in the stereotypical white lab coat and had a slight grey beard. In his hands was a large scroll, which he tapped on for a few moments before speaking.
"Alright, how are you doing sir?"
The man glanced up at the doctor and was silent for a moment.
"I don't know..." He said finally.
The doctor sighed and sat down in one of the few rolling chairs in the room.
"Well, what you are experiencing now is something we hoped we wouldn't have to deal with."
The man raised an eyebrow.
"And what would that be?"
The doctor leaned back in his chair and took a sip from a thermos he had carried in with him. The nurse walked into the room and placed a glass of water down in front of the man in the bed, quietly walking out after a small nod.
"I want you to try and remember your name."
The man in the bed snorted.
"Oh, please! It's..."
The man's eyes went wide. He let out a nervous laugh.
"Well, It's..." The man stuttered for another moment before the doctor cut him off.
"We ran some scans on you while you were out. A bit of a brain injury common in accidents like yours. Your memory will come back, but how long that takes is rather random. You weren't too badly injured, so it will probably be back in a days or weeks. You're lucky. It takes months in some people. Blood flow to all parts of your brain seems normal, so there shouldn't be a danger of permanent loss of memory."
The man merely stared on, dumbfounded. He couldn't remember anything.
"Anyway, other than the slight bit of swelling in your brain, your arm was burned slightly. That should heal up nicely. You had a few fractured ribs, which should heal up pretty quickly as well. Beacon has one of the finest medical centers in Vale. We cut your healing time down by months. You will be fit for more training in maybe a week."
The man's eyes shot to the doctors face.
"Training?"
The doctor laughed.
"Ah, yes. You have forgotten! You are training to become a Huntsman!"
The man glared at the professor.
"I think I would remember something like that..."
The doctor shrugged.
"You very well could. Memory loss associated with brain injury is a strange thing. Some things are forgotten while others are remembered. You remember how to speak yet cannot remember your own name. You know what a huntsman is, but not where you are, how you got here, or what you are doing here. You will probably be in here for a few more days, but then you will be released." The doctor said quickly.
"Where will I go?"
The doctor shrugged.
"That is for you and Ozpin to decide."
"Ozpin?" Just as the man spoke, yet another strange man walked in. He was wearing a pair of round glasses and a green scarf.
He walked over to the bed and looked down at the prone man.
He reached up and adjusted his glasses for a moment before opening his mouth.
"Yes. I am the headmaster at this academy. You landed in our backyard and I had you retrieved..." Ozpin said.
The man in the bed shook his head.
"What do you mean landed? Retrieved? Who retrieved me?"
Ozpin adjusted his glasses and leaned in slightly over the bed.
"Ah yes. You must forgive me, I forgot about your amnesia. You were in a hovercraft during a storm. It crashed for some unknown reason and you barely made it out alive. You were being hunted by Grimm after you landed, and that's when team RWBY recovered you."
The young man in the bed glanced from Ozpin to the doctor, who was still reclined in the rolling chair next to his bed.
Ozpin leaned in even closer.
"Tell me... Do you remember anything about your journey before now? Do you know why you were flying through that storm? Hmm?" Ozpin asked in his strangely smooth voice.
The young man shook his head.
Ozpin stared at him passively for a few moments. He stood straight again and took a few steps away from the bed, staring at a chart on the wall.
"Very well. I have an offer for you. A pair of weapons were recovered from the crash by team RWBY. They were the weapons, albeit a bit damaged, of a huntsman. For you to survive long enough for team RWBY to find you tells me that you are a bit more well versed in combat than the average hovercraft crewman."
The young man watched Ozpin blankly, sipping his water slowly.
"I want to offer you a place at my school." The headmaster said, finally turning around and facing him.
The young man nearly choked on his water.
"What do you mean? I'm injured! You don't even know me!"
Ozpin laughed and turned away again.
"Oh, your injury is of no concern. Classes will be starting soon, and you will be able to start on schedule if you are out of here within the week."
The young man continued to stare at Ozpin.
"You will be taught to defeat Grimm and protect humanity. You will have to give up your life to protect those who cannot protect themselves."
"You were suppose to be a servant of humanity. You were a good man."
The young man's eyes shot up.
"What did you say?"
Ozpin frowned.
"You will be taught to defeat Grimm and protect humanity."
"After that."
You will have to give up your life to protect those who cannot protect themselves."
"After that."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing."
The young man's face scrunched up in confusion for a moment. Finally, he let out a sigh.
"Sorry. Just a little confused."
Ozpin waved him off.
"No, no. Really. Just get some rest and think about my offer. I am not this generous that often."
"I'll do it."
Ozpin glanced back at him.
"What?"
"I said I'll do it. I don't need to think about this."
Ozpin laughed.
"Alright. You will start in a few days."
The young man nodded as Ozpin started to walk out the door.
"Oh, by the way. You wore a coat when team RWBY found you. Here it is."
Ozpin reached around the door and tossed a freshly cleaned grey coat onto his the young man's lap.
"Check the right breast pocket. There's something in there that might help you."
The young man glanced up at Ozpin and quickly undid the small metal button on the pocket of the coat.
A small slip of paper was inside.
"What's this?"
"Open it."
The young man slowly unfolded the piece of paper.
A few words were scrawled out on it.
Vox, you're done. -
An incredibly elaborate drawing followed the sloppy writing. It depicted a skull with dozens of curving and arcing vines surrounding it. Its jaw was hung open in a perpetual scream, and a dagger was emerging from its throat.
The young man dropped the piece of paper, utterly confused.
"What is that? Some kind of joke?"
"I'd keep that with you if I were you, Vox."
The young man glared at Ozpin.
"You think that's my name? Vox?"
Ozpin shrugged.
"I think that it doesn't matter at this point."
Vox held Ozpin's gaze for a few more moments.
"Get some more rest. You are going to wish you had this much free time once training starts."
Vox watched the strange Headmaster for a moment before finally nodding and slowly sinking back into his bed, chugging down the rest of the glass of water that the nurse had brought him.
Vox opened his eyes before quickly shutting them and scratching the back of his head. The light still hurt too look at directly.
"Ohhh! He's awake! He's awake! A strangely childish voice shouted. He had to stop himself from clapping his hands over his ears in pain.
"Ruby! Quiet! I've seen that look before. He really doesn't want any noise right now. Or light for that matter." A much older sounding voice said.
The lights flicked off and Vox slowly opened his eyes.
Where the hell was he.
He sat still for a moment.
Ah, yes. He was in the hospital. At Beacon. Wherever the hell that was.
Finally, he looked at the two girls standing at the foot of his bed. One was a rather large breasted blond while the other was a slightly smaller girl with black hair.
"Who are you." Vox asked, still rubbing his eyes.
Ruby's jaw dropped.
"What do you mean who are we? We saved you!" Ruby shouted.
Yang playfully knocked Ruby's head.
"Calm down, sis'"
Ruby slapped both of her hands over her mouth.
"Sorry..." She whispered.
"It's fine. Just keep it down a bit."
Ruby nodded quickly and brought her hands back down to her waist.
"Well I'm Ruby. This is my sister, Yang."
"Hey!" Yang said with a laugh.
Vox nodded and stretched, sitting up tall in the bed.
"Why are you here?" He asked finally.
Vox glanced at Yang again, who suddenly seemed to be looking right through him. She was staring at something.
At that point, Vox realized that he wasn't really wearing any clothes.
He quickly pulled the sheet up a bit higher in a vain attempt to preserve some modesty.
Ruby punched her sister in the arm.
"Jeeze, Yang. Give the guy a break. He's still injured."
Yang laughed awkwardly and started to stroke her hair, glancing over at a far corner of the room, her gaze flicking back to him every once and awhile.
"He he. Sorry."
Ruby nudged her sister behind her.
"We are here because Ozpin said it is our duty to help you adjust to and succeed at life at Beacon!" Ruby said in a commanding voice, raising a fist in mock triumph.
Vox let out a slight laugh and reached for the glass of water next to his bed.
The young girl began to outline what his entire life at Beacon was going to be like. She spoke of the uniforms, the classes, the various people and teachers, and finally the sleeping arrangements.
"So Ozpin told us that you were going to be rooming with us! Isn't that awesome! We are going to be the only team with five members!" Yang said, finally cutting Ruby off. Ruby, however, was having none of it.
"Yah, you are going to be part of the team. We aren't going to change the name though. I mean, Team RWBY! It's Ruby! How are we going to work a V in there and keep it that perfect?" Ruby cried.
"Ozpin said it would be too much of a pain to change all the books just for a team name change, so all of that is going to stay the same."
Vox nodded absentmindedly. He was truly only hearing a quarter of what they were saying.
"Anyway, you will be rooming with us." Ruby said plainly, deep in thought about what else she could talk about.
That caught Vox's attention.
"What do you mean?"
Ruby glanced up at him.
"Oh, all teams room together. That's standard procedure."
Rooming a single random male student with a room full of girls? Was Ozpin crazy? He must really trust people to make decisions like that.
"Ah. Ok."
After more random chatter about the origins of the team name, the girls finally started to quiet down. They were getting ready to leave when Ruby pulled something out of a small sack she had been carrying with her.
"Oh, and I wanted to bring you these!" Ruby said quickly, her voice suddenly quivering with excitement.
Vox glanced at her as she produced two fighting picks.
"So... I may or may not have taken these apart while you were here..."
Yang suddenly elbowed past her sister.
"I tried to stop her I swear..." Yang said quickly, but was cut off abruptly as Ruby yanked her back behind her.
"No more gawking for you! Back! Back!"
Yang retreated slightly.
"As I was saying. I Took these apart while you were here just to snoop a little and repair some of the damage from the crash. They are amazing! I mean, lever action revolvers? Who has those? Weiss, of course, has a revolver in Myrtenaster, but nothing like this! And the blades! What are these made out of? They are so pretty! How fast can you shoot them? Do they work with dust cartridges? How does it cover the blade? How fast does it kill Grimm?"
Ruby's mouth slowly started to just look like a blur. Was she even talking at this point? Vox couldn't really tell. Her words just sounded like a buzz.
Vox finally broke down.
"Okay, okay! I'll tell you about them later. Jeeze. Can I get some clothes? Please?" Vox asked.
Ruby finally stopped and took a breath.
"I'm sorry, am I talking too much?"
Vox laughed to himself quietly.
"No, no. I just need some time to think. My head is killing me right now. Give me a few days and I'll be fine."
Ruby sighed.
"Fine. We'll be back tomorrow. You better be ready for us then. See you later!"
Vox nodded dumbly and fell back onto his bed. Ruby gently placed the pair of blades on the chair in the corner of the room.
Vox waved slightly as they walked out of the room. Yang shot a grin at him before the pair disappeared down the hall.
The room was uncomfortably quiet after the duo left. As much as Vox disliked the noise they made, it was nice to have two of his future classmates come to visit him. It made this whole situation seem a bit more bearable.
He sat in silence for a few minutes.
Vox glanced over at the wall of his room for the first time. He finally realized that it was a window. The thick blinds were drawn tightly shut, but a small amount of light poured in around them.
He spotted the small cord for opening the blinds. If he leaned as far as he could out of the bed, his fingers could just reach it.
With a huff and far more energy than should of been required of such a small task, Vox flopped back into the center of the bed, the large blinds now pulled aside. The view took his breath away.
He was up in a massive tower, or so it seemed. From his room he could see practically everything.
The sun was setting in the distance, casting an orange glow into the clouds above. Vale stretched out into the distance, the glimmering lights of the city night life just starting to flick on amid the glow of the setting sun. The ocean in the distance glimmered orange.
Vox quickly leaned forward and opened the massive window. A gentle, warm breeze poured into the room, filling the place with the smell of trees and the distant ocean.
Vox tugged the top blanket off of the bed and threw it onto the floor. He had slept nearly the entire day away. It was already night again, yet he was still tired.
He slowly drifted off to sleep, the smells of Vale calming his nerves.
Vox pulled himself out of bed dressed only in a pair of shorts. The early morning sun streamed in through his windows, casting a yellow glow over everything. A cool morning breeze flew in through the open window.
He hadn't set an alarm and no one had disturbed him, yet he had still gotten up at a strange hour.
Perhaps it was his body still on its previous schedule. No memories had returned, however, so he had no way of truly telling.
The tile floor was cool, but not unpleasantly so. He was a bit unsteady on his feet, but far from the spinning nauseous wreck he was the day before. He could actually stand without the room spinning like a circus ride.
It was strange. His entire life seemed like it had occurred in the last three days. He could remember nothing specific about his life, yet he could remember some of the buildings on Vale's skyline. Bits of words and letter seemed to jump in his mind as he looked a certain things. Random scenes flashed though his mind every once and a while. People playing in a beautiful park, the wind blowing though the massive trees. A long road at night, yellow lights lining the sidewalks and hundreds of people milling about the lines of restaurants.
He would see them, and then they would be gone. He couldn't retrieve them after they had passed. All he could grasp was the memory of a memory.
Vox groaned, running his hands through his rather long hair before finally turning away from the window. The sun was above the horizon at this point.
He walked mindlessly over to his coat and the two weapons resting on a chair. That girl, Ruby, had tampered with the weapons.
He slowly reached out and grabbed one of the picks, running his hands over the smooth, dark metal before hefting the weapon. The weight surprised him. The weapon's handle looked so thin and twig-like yet it weighed quite a bit.
He turned away from the chair, giving the weapon a few practice swings. The cool metal felt at home in his hands, almost like it was meant to be there. The lever on the handle seemed to sink into his hands as if he had held it for years.
His swings slowly progressed, each strike on his invisible enemy growing quicker and more precise. Soon he was adding flourishes, twirling the pick on either side of his hand. Finally, he ended with a incredibly fast strike, the pick whipping around his hand in a blur, the lever action clacking loudly.
They were definitely part of his history. He knew their feeling like he knew his own body. Simply holding them made him feel a little more comfortable.
Vox stared down at the weapon, slowly opening his grip to let the pick slide through his hands.
Blood welled from beneath his clenched fist, quickly coating his hands and dripping down the dark metal shaft of the weapon.
He thrust the weapon out in front of him in fear. To his horror, the blood continued to run up the handle, reaching the hooked blade before dripping off and flying to the ceiling.
Vox's arm shook violently.
"Huh. You are up early..."
The pick clattered to the ground as Vox whipped around.
Yang was standing in the doorway.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. We went out and bought you some stuff for today. Figured you might not be up to shopping for some stuff on your own..."
Vox glanced numbly down at his hands. They were perfectly clean.
Finally, he spoke.
"Huh. Thanks. I can finally get a pair of real pants on."
Yang smirked.
"I mean, you don't really need to, but I figured it would be nice..." She said, voice laced with a bit of sarcasm.
Vox merely smirked and shook his head as he walked across the room.
"We are going out for some breakfast after this. You sure look like you need it." Yang said, taking note of his clearly visible ribs.
Vox glanced down at himself.
"I think you may be right. Now that you mention it, I'm starving."
"It looks like it..." Yang said with a snort.
Yang finally pulled a fairly large bag out from behind her back and tossed it to him. He caught it and quickly pulled the contents out.
A simple maroon t-shirt and a pair of olive drab jeans with a few stretchy panels on them were tossed onto his bed.
"How do you know they are going to fit?" Vox asked, looking down at the outfit Yang had picked out.
Yang glanced over her shoulder as she walked out the door.
"Eh, I have a feeling they will..."
Vox merely nodded.
"When you are ready, meet us outside."
Vox nodded again and Yang left the room.
Well that was chapter 4. Spring hit hard and I got all naturey while writing this. It was beautiful outside.
Anyway. Criticism, tips, tricks, and love are all appreciated. Leave a review and tell me how to improve!