LOT'S OF IMPORTANT MESSAGES AT BOTTOM OF THIS CHAPTER!
We have reached chapter fifteen and it's a long one for ya. So now we begin the first mission of team RWBY.
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With that out of the way, let's get going….
I don't even know how much time has passed now. My desolate cell held nothing resembling comforts. Cold, gray concrete wall to wall with one single steel door with two small slides to allow my guards to look in and for them to slide in my meager daily portion of "food". I'm shackled to the center of the floor by a metal collar on a short chain that only allows me to move a foot in any direction on my knees. I'll spend every hour of my isolation curled up in a ball on the floor, hoping for sleep to give me an escape. I feel my eyes drooping, making the pain pulsing through my body that was a constant reminder of my imprisonment, nothing more than a dull ache. I sighed deeply as my eyes closed, taking comfort in- "SHRIIIIEEEEK!"
I clutched my head in agony as the cry of a banshee resounded so loud in my concrete cage that it felt like someone was driving a stake through my skull. After thirty seconds, the deafening sound ceased, giving me respite from the throbbing pain. I felt burning coming from my arm and tasted copper in my mouth. Clearing my fogged mind to the best of my ability, I found I had bitten down on my forearm to stop the howl of pain from erupting from my throat.
I curled back up into a ball and clutched my bloodied arm to my chest, trying to ebb the pain. I was trying my damndest to stay strong, but it all was catching up to me. They forced me to go a week without sleep only for them to allow me one day of rest. They brought me a meal once a day consisting of slop even pigs would turn their snouts up to, but I'd eat it one way or another. Either I ate it myself, or they forced it down my throat and received thirty lashes with a whip for "Not being fucking grateful!" It all just hurt so much. So I did the only thing I was allowed to do...I wept.
-][-
I slowly opened my eyes at the sound of the door connecting RWBY's dorm to mine being beat down. A few seconds later, I felt someone furiously shake my limp form where it lay on the floor. "-avian? Davian?!" Why did everything sound far away? My vision was tunneled and my ears were ringing.
I felt a sharp jab in my side, forcing a sharp intake of breath, flooding my body with the oxygen it had been lacking. My vision unnarrowed and transformed from a concrete room to Yang's anxious face as she held me head in her lap staring down wide-eyed as the others looked anxiously over her shoulder.
I tried to sit up, but Yang held me in place, "Davian, what's wrong?"
I tried waving her off, "Just a bad dream, can't do anything about it. I'm fine," I tacked on at the end, trying to lessen their worries.
I could immediately tell she didn't buy it as she looked at the others and nodded back at their dorm but stayed were she was. Once the others had left and closed the door (Or what was left of it) Yang turned back towards me and spoke softly, "What happened?"
I sighed deeply, "Nightmares are completely common for me Yang, but they rarely ever get that bad. I guess I'm just nervous due to first mission jitters or something.
As soon as I finished, I knew I should've worded that better. Her eyes narrowed, "You never told me you had nightmares that often."
I smiled weakly at her, "Can I re-say that?" She shook her head and continued glaring, "I thought so."
"How often do you have them?" She asked as she ran her fingers through hair.
I wiped my face, "You know my sleeping scheduled now, take a guess." I guess that came out harsher then I meant it to be. Yang's hand came to a stop as she looked to the side, clearly upset. I sighed as I nudged her face back towards me, "I'm sorry, that came out sharper than I meant. They're just not pleasant memories."
She smiled softly, "I know, just thinking that maybe you shou-"
Before she could finish her sentence, our door was pushed open and black and white blur shot into my room only to begin licking my face. I sputtered as I quickly sat up, wiping the slobber off my face. Turning back towards Yang, I found her giggling while Zwei licked her face, "When did Zwei get here?"
Yang dropped him as she wiped her face as well, "Dad sent him over while he's away from the island for a few days."
I stared at her, "He mailed him in that tube again didn't he." When she laughed and nodded her head, I got up and grabbed it out of RWBY's dorm. Turning it over in my hands, I looked over it from top to bottom muttering to myself, "How does he do it? It's just a normal tube, it shouldn't be able to hold that much stuff."
While I was doing my research, Ruby tapped my shoulder, "We need to go to the amphitheater to sign up for our first mission." I wordlessly walk into my bathroom with my uniform and quickly changing before walking out with the girls, mailing tube in hand as I continued to try to unravel its mysteries. By the time we arrived, I was completely stumped. We walked over to the Beacon section of the room and set our stuff against the wall. As the others walked over to grab a place to stand, I watched Ruby set down a backpack I had never seen her with before. Before walking away, I saw her reach in to pat something, prompting me to what it was. Ruby stood back up and turned around only to stop when she saw me standing there with my arms crossed and eyebrow raised. She folded her hands to her chest and gave me the puppy eyes, "Please."
I stared at her for a few seconds before I sighed and wiped my hand down my face, "Fine, if he's durable enough to survive a rough-housing child Yang, then I guess the Grimm's attacks will feel soft." Ruby smiled widely as we joined back up with the others for Ozpin's speech.
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After the speech, everyone broke off with their teams and headed for the mission sign-ups, "What do you know, he actually can give encouraging speeches." Yang just grunted, still upset that I didn't tell her about my chronic nightmare problem. I sighed as I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her and nodded the others ahead. Once they were out of earshot I turned back to find Yang wasn't looking at me and had her arms crossed, "Yan-"
"You don't trust me," she said, still not looking at me.
I furrowed my brow, "What are you talking about, of course I do."
She turned her head back to look at me letting me see her eyes taking on a pink hue, showing her slight anger, "If you completely trusted me, then you wouldn't have to hide anything from me."
My shoulders sagged, "Yang, it's not that I don't trust you, it's nothing like that. This just isn't a problem I can spill everything all at once. I need time, and I just didn't think it was prudent because you wouldn't of been able to help me with something like that. I'm going to have those nightmares for the many many years, if not my entire life. It's just something I'm going to have to live with."
She scowled, "I don't care if you think think I couldn't help, I'm the only one that can answer that question, not you." She put a hand on her hip and pointed in my face with the other, "I'm going to let this go until after the mission, but afterwards you're WILL tell me everything whether you like it or not. Okay?"
I stare at her for a few seconds before nodding my head numbly. Accepting my answer, Yang and I walk over to join the rest of the team as Ruby started talking excitedly, "This is perfect, all we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the Southeast."
Yang pumped her fist excitedly, already making good on her promise to forget about our fight for now, "Yeah, we'll follow them around by day and give them the slip at night."
Weiss motioned towards the board, "Let's check search and destroy."
I raised an eyebrow, "Okay, two things. Once, why do we need to go to the Southeast? And two, if I didn't know the four the four of you, I never would've expected those words to come out of your mouth Weiss."
She huffed, "What's that supposed to mean?"
I pointed at her fancy clothes, "It means you don't look like the kind of Huntress who likes to destroy things. Rather one who'd rather be doing the paperwork."
Weiss just grumbled as Ruby pointed at the board, "Here we go. Quadrant Five needs Grimm cleared out."
Blake shrugged, "Well it's in the Southeast."
Yang nodded her head in agreement, "Sounds perfect."
Ruby reached up and selected the mission but received an error message saying that we weren't eligible for it. Weiss rolled her eyes, "Wonderful."
Blake sighed, "Any other ideas."
I held up the postal tube, smiling widely along with Ruby as she held her arms wide, "We mail ourselves there!"
"Well, that's one option," a voice said behind the screen. We all turned around and saw Ozpin walking out from behind the board with a tablet in his hand, "Unfortunately we determined the concentration of Grimm was to extreme for first year students." He then smirked as he continued, "It seems that particular region is rather popular." He then looked specifically at Ruby, "In fact I have the sneaking suspicion that the five of you will make your way there no matter what job you choose."
I raised an eyebrow again as Ruby rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, "Whatever makes you say that?"
Ozpin shrugged, "I'm still curious as to how you five of you found yourselves at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a 'hideout' in the Southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported robots and rose-petals in a dance club some time ago."
Ruby started fidgeting, "Well-uh-ya seeee-"
Ozpin just smirked as he shrugged dismissively, "I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. So how about this. Instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just bend them," he finished leaning towards us a bit.
The girls smiled between each-other while I just frowned. It wasn't that I was worried that we couldn't take the Grimm, but the girls have seemed to have had left me out of the loop on their current plan once again. And that means they plan to fight the Fang, and that means people, not Grimm. And that's what worries me. Grimm are dumb and predictable as long as they're not ancient. But people are unpredictable, smarter, and much more skilled.
Apparently not thinking about any of those things, the girls turned back towards Ozpin eagerly. Ruby smiled brightly, "We won't let you down, thank you professor."
Ozpin's face hardened a bit, "Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far, but you must understand. The things that await you beyond the protection of the kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission and he can have you sent back to Beacon if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory." He started walking away but leaned back and gave a final piece of advice, "Good luck." As he passed by me he whispered, "The coffee machine was broken the morning you all arrived."
I "ahhed" as he walked away, leaving us to process the information. Silently, we all grabbed our gear and walked towards the Bullheads. When we were outside, Yang voiced what we all were thinking, "That wasn't exactly uplifting."
I shook my head, "No, but it shouldn't of been. He's giving a team of first years a mission that can barely be considered a second year mission. We needed to hear it."
Blake nodded, "It's the truth."
Ruby suddenly went from 'Adorable little sister' to 'Leader' right next to us, "I know it's going to be tough, but I know we can do it."
Right as she finished, some other Beacon student jogged past us pointing, "Hey, Team CFVY's back!"
We all turned and saw a exhausted Team CFVY walking away from the landing pads. Blake jogged to catch up with her fellow faunus and her team before they got too far, "Velvet, are you okay?"
The rabbit faunus smiled when she saw us and nodded before motioned at her partner, "I'm fine, I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me."
Weiss looked at their torn, dirty clothes and exhausted eyes, "Your mission was supposed to end a week ago, what happened?"
Velvet just slumped where she stood, "Nothing happened, it was just, their were just so many." She shook her head and looked back up at us smiling softly, "Oh but don't worry. You first years are just shadowing Huntsman so you should be fine."
Yang slowly nodded her head, "Rrrriiiiight…."
I sighed, "You really shouldn't say 'should be fine' Velv. With with the amount of trouble these four girls attract you'll just end up jinxing us."
She shrugged apologetically, "I should go, be safe okay." With that she waved goodbye and ran to catch up with her team.
We all looked between ourselves while I suddenly didn't feel so confident in my 'we should worry about people over Grimm' theory. Ruby shook her head defiantly, "We can do this. We've never backed down before and we're not going to start now." We all nodded our heads before Ruby smiled a little, "Besides, it won't only be us out there. We'll be fighting alongside a genuine Huntsman!" She finished excitedly. Oh if only they knew what we were in for.
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The four of them just stood there in horror as they saw who we were going to be shadowing, "Why hello students. Who's ready to fight for their lives?!" Professor... Bartholomew...freaken...Oobleck. This. Is. Going. To. Be. Awesome.
-][-
Needlessly to say, it was pretty humorous to watch the girls try to process the fact that we were stuck with a teacher that sucked more coffee than Ozpin and so hyperactive that he could give Ruby or Nora a run for their money. "Professor Oobleck?" Weiss asked, as if she hoped she was seeing things.
The professor started pacing in front of us like a military officer, "Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary girls, and Mr. Kadar. Seeing as you've opted to shadow a now what is essentially a reconnaissance mission - zip - I can assure you we will not be establishing a single base of operations, rather we will be traversing - zip - several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp at any defendable locations we should happen to stumble upon I pack all our essentials - zip - myself, plotted the air course, and readied the airship AND," he got right up in Weiss' face, "it's DOCTOR Oobleck. I didn't earn the PhD for fun thank-you very much!"
Weiss and Blake just glanced at each other, "Uhhhhh-"
Oobleck pointed up into the air, "Come now children! According to my schedule we are already three minutes behind…schedule!" With that he disappeared with a speed that could rival Ruby and reappeared by the Bullhead.
We all just stared at the ship, wondering how he could say on that with so few breaths. Ruby tried to salvage the situation buuuuuut, "Well all right then! Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oobleck-okay yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse." It wasn't very successful.
"Save the world!" We heard a familiar ball of ADHD yell from behind us. JNPR walked up and joined us while Nora continued ranting, "You're going on world saving mission without us! I'm hurt, sad, maybe a little hungry. That last one's not your fault though. Reeeeen!"
The subject of her attention just crossed his arms and looked away. Jaune chuckled, "Sounds exciting, where ya goen?"
Ruby shrugged, "Oh, just outside the kingdom."
Nora jumped with joy, "Hey so are we!"
Pyrrha shook her head smiling, "Ren and Nora wanted to shadow a sheriff from a nearby village."
Ren nodded, "We set out tomorrow."
Suddenly Sun and Neptune popped up out of nowhere, "Then you can party with us tonight. We're shadowing a crime specialist, all inner city detective stuff." He leaned in a bit, "We get junior badges."
Jaune had a fangirl moment, and I swear I saw and heard sparkly stars all around him. Sun shrugged, "We normally go to the city with you guys, whiiiiich means stuff is always exploding and junk." He then turned and looked at RWBY specifically, "So we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, you know, no offense to you guys but, normal."
I shrugged before pointing at the girls, "None taken, if these four could find less trouble, then I'd be able to rest A LOT easier."
Yang punched my arm, "Oh come on, do you know how boring last semester would of been if we hadn't of done any of that stuff."
I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Do you remember how much property damage we caused and how much detention we got?"
Yang pursed her lips for a second, "Touché."
By know Ruby was bouncing from one foot to the other, wanting to get our first mission underway, "Well wis-"
"FOUR MINUTES LADIES, and Mr. Kadar!" Oobleck yelled over from the airship, causing us all to cringe a bit.
Putting on a strained smile, Ruby tried to sound enthusiastic, "Well uh, wish us luck."
With that we all parted ways and we made our way to the Bullhead. Once we were on board, the ship took off quickly, forcing us all to grab onto the nearest support. I stood by the door with Weiss across from me while Yang opted to use me as her lifeline. After a few minutes Yang spoke up, "I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter."
Oobleck fixed his glasses a bit, "I admit I fancy myself more of an…intellectual, but I assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles."
Ruby scratched her head in confusion, "Like the mushrooms?"
"Those are truffles." Blake said.
"Like the sprout?" Ruby asked even more confused.
Yang leaned over, "Those are brussels."
"Wha? Like the…sea food?" She asked again, completely befuddled.
I laughed, "Those are mussels Rubes."
Oobleck continued in spite of Ruby's complete and utter confusion, "Besides, given my area of expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular…assignment."
Now Weiss looked half as confused as Ruby, "What does history have to do with this?"
Oobleck's head snapped in her direction with wide eyes, as if she'd just admitted to advocate dog fighting, "Why what a preposterous question you silly girl! Why history is the very backbone of our very society," Oobleck was just getting closer and closer to Weiss, "and the liver! And probably the kidneys if I were to wager."
Weiss took a small step forward because Oobleck had almost forced her out of the ship, "And that means…?
Oobleck suddenly turned back towards her pointed a finger in the air, "The Southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forest and deep caves, but it is also the location of one of the kingdom's greatest failures."
"Mountain Glenn." Ruby said, showing that she's been paying at least somewhat attention in class.
"Oh that's right," Yang said now remembering, "it was an expansion of Vale. But in the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."
Oobleck nodded his head, happy his students were paying attention, "Correct, and now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder."
Blake had been in deep thought ever since we began talking, "And a likely place for a hideout."
Oobleck fixed his glasses again and grinned creepily, "Precisely!" As Mountain Glenn came into view, Oobleck turned to me, "Mr. Kadar, I want you to drop to the ground and be our forward reconnaissance! Do not engage with the Grimm unless absolutely necessary, but do alert us to any you come across so we can clear the area!"
I nodded my head and untangled myself from Yang who was hugging me tightly. As I stepped away from her she yelled over the sound the the wind, "Are you sure it's a good idea for him to go alone profes-" he slightly glared at her, "uh, I mean doctor Oobleck?"
I waved her off before Oobleck could respond, "Don't worry about me Yang, I won't be engaging the Grimm, just spotting them for you." With that I turned to face them from the edge of the ship, gave them a two fingered salute, and fell backwards. The last thing I heard before getting out of earshot was Yang yelling humorously, "YOU COCKY BASTARD!"
-][-
"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be." I thought to myself. We've spent the past several hours clearing a large area of the quadrant of Grimm. And while the girls were soldiering on, they didn't have the stamina Oobleck or I had. I could see them starting to tiring. Heaving chests, red faces, less fancy moves and more simple attacks. Finally I heard Oobleck talk through my earpiece I'd been given at the start of the mission, "Mr. Kadar, you can make your way back to us and help us clear this last group."
I put a finger to my ear, "Acknowledged."
I looked out from where I was currently hiding on top of one of the multi-story buildings lining the streets, my new combat outfit perfectly blending with the shadows and dirt of the city. Listening for anything that could lead me to my team, I was rewarded after a few seconds when I heard the familiar sounds of Crescent Rose and Ember Celica blasting away. Pulling my new bow off my back, I selected one of the many types of arrows that filled my quiver. Pulling it out, I notched it and pulled the string back while taking aim at a lower building across the street from me. Letting the arrow fly, it shot across the hundred foot expanse and thudded into an empty water tower leaving a rope in its wake. Pulling the rope taunt from my side and tieing it off securely, I zip-lined across and landed in a role on the other side. Looking over the edge of the building, I saw Yang and the others amongst a pack of dissipating Beowulf corpse.
As I began making my way down, I heard Yang sigh, "Hey doc ya know, I was actually looking forward to seeing a pro Huntsman in action. Like fighting or at least helping us fight!"
I landed in a crouch silently behind them as Oobleck turned his head from where he was walking, "Ah but I am in action, scouring the ruins of this once great city for any signs of irregularity." He then turned back to us and became serious, "Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism girls, and Mr. Kadar," the others quickly turned around, now just realizing I had been behind them, "sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination. Remember this is a job, and you all signed up for it, I do hope you understand that."
Yang just looked annoyed beyond all hell, "Well ye-yeah…of course!"
Oobleck stopped to think, "Hmmm, very well." With that, we all began moving towards the center of town now that the perimeter had been cleared. When we had moved several blocks without incident, Oobleck fell back to where I was watching our six. "Tell me Mr. Kadar, why do you want to become a Huntsman? After everything you've been through, surely you of all people deserve to take it easy."
I sighed, "I've been told that many times, but I don't care." I then shrugged while still watching our backs, "Do you want to noble answer, or the honest one?"
He fixed his glasses, "I'd like to hear both if it pleases you."
Still not turning towards him, I pointed at the skeletal remains trapped under a collapsed wall, "The noble answer will be to stop anything like that from happening again. But that's the answer almost any Huntsman in training will give you."
He pondered that for a second, "And what's the honest answer?"
I jerked my head in the direction of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, "I'll do damn near anything to keep those four safe. At first it was only Ruby and Yang, but now I care for Weiss to and remembered that Blake is practically my little sister. But the problem is that there are people who will use them against me." I glanced at Oobleck out of the corner of my eye, "I'm a cold, calculating bastard professor. If someone doesn't deserve mercy, then I won't be the one giving it to them."
Oobleck took a sip from his thermos, "Just because you don't socialize with anyone outside your group of friends doesn't make you cold Mr. Kadar."
I shook my head, "It's not that. As a faunus, you learn to stay away from people you don't know and stick close to the ones you do. What I'm talking about is what I'm willing to do, and have done to keep them safe."
Oobleck tilted his head to the side, "Are you talking about killing Mr. Kadar?"
I chuckled silently a bit, "We're training to become Huntsmen and Huntresses Doctor. Something that new students never think of is that we won't always be hunting beasts. From my experience, the Grimm aren't the monsters they're made out to be. It's people that are the demons, I know that damn well." Oobleck didn't answer, and after a minute or two, he made his way back up to the front of the group. Though unknown to both of us, a certain cat faunus had heard every word of the conversation, and she started to wonder what I had done. Eventually we arrived in the center plaza and were met by several dozen Grimm all to happy to try to gut us. I signed as I rolled my neck, cracking the joints, "Time get to work." I glanced back at my exhausted team, "Watch each-others backs, you four are too weak to go off on your own." Normally Yang and Weiss would of taken offense to that, but like I had said, they were exhausted. Getting a tired nod in response, Ruby and Yang went to the right while Blake and Weiss went left.
Oobleck stepped back and leaned against the wall, "Why don't you show me what you can do Mr. Kadar, I haven't the opportunity yet."
I nodded my head as I drew my blade from its sheath, "Keep an eye on the girls for me will you." With that I charged the center of the plaza that had less Grimm than the flanks, but they were bigger. Beowulf's and Creep's charged first with Ursa bringing up the rear. The first Beowulf took a leaping slash at me, but I slid under and gutted him from neck to abdomen, showering me with Grimm blood that started to dissipate into black smoke almost immediately. As a Creeper charged, a pair of Beowulf's tried to flank me. I sheathed my sword and pulled it off make back, transforming it into its double bladed form. The Creep roared before lowering its head and charging with the Beowulf's coming from my left and right. Right before the Creep could spear me on its horn, I jumped over it and slashed both Beowulf's simultaneously in the throat. Landing behind the Creep, I quickly jumped forward and plunged my sword right where the bone left the base of the neck exposed, effectively severing the spine from the base of the head.
Yanking the sword out and giving it a flick, the blood running down the channel splattered to the broken concrete. Angered by the death of their fellows, the remaining Beowulf's and Creep's roared and charged me all at once. I put my sheath on my back and redrew my sword, preparing for the wave of Grimm to break upon it like water on rocks. And once we clashed, break they did. Limbs were severed, heads decapitated, and bodies cut in half. They didn't stand much of a chance. When the final Beowulf and Creep fell, I looked up and my eyes widened at the sight of the three Ursa majors on their hind legs surrounding me. Before I could even move, they roared as they threw their paws down right on top of me.
POV - Yang
As Ruby and I killed the last Grimm on our side, I stood up straight and arched backwards to stretched me back, causing several loud pops to be heard from it. Ruby sucked in air, "I hop-I hope those are the last of them."
I cracked my neck, "We've made a complete circle of the area and now we've cleared the center, so we should be goo-"
"ROOOOAAAARRR!"
Everyone in the plaza turned to see three Ursa majors as big as the ones we saw in Forever Fall smashing their fists down onto Davian. It was as if time moved in slow motion. Davian slowly looking up in surprise while pulling his sword out of a dead Beowulf. The six paws with thirty razor sharp claws closing down on him. Davian dodged the first set of paws, but it put him off balance. He dodged the second, only scarcely, but was thrown into the air by the shock of the blow. But the third smashed into his chest and slammed him into the ground with a sickening crack.
The world came to a grinding halt. Ruby wide-eyed in shock. Blake's hand cocked back to throw Gambol Shroud in its Kusarigama form. Weiss rolling the chamber of Myrtenaster to shoot a torrent of dust. Oobleck had his back to us, fighting off some Grimm that had come up behind us. Before anyone of them could move an inch, my eyes went red, my hair became a blazing inferno, and a piercing scream reverberated off the tall buildings lining the plaza. I fired two rounds behind me to launch myself at the Ursa. My fist smashed into the head of the first Ursa, completely shattering its mask and killing it instantly. I quickly jumped to the side to dodge the swing of the second and fired a blast of concussive force into the open mouth of the third, effectively shedding its throat and forcing it to choke on its own blood. Before I could turn back around, I felt a massive concussive blow behind me that threw me forward. I landed on my stomach, striking my forehead on a brick. Rolling onto my back, I glared at the Ursa through a haze. Before it could pierce its claws through me, a dark figure lept onto its back and drove a blade into its neck. Giving a wept roar, the Ursa tried to shake off the uninvited person riding on its back (Elsewhere, Nora sneezed in the middle of eating, spraying her food all over Ren). Hanging on, the figure pulled its sword out and quickly drew its blade across the Ursa's throat. Leaping off, the figure landed in a heap on the ground. The Ursa gave a wet gurgle before collapsing to the ground, twitching a few times, and died.
I somehow made it to my feet and stumbled over to the figure who I now saw was Davian. His was on his knees with his sword stabbed into the ground allowing him to use it to rest his head on while breathing heavily, but wincing with each breath. By now, the others along with Oobleck came running up to us. Ruby and Weiss caught me as I about face-planted into the ground. Ruby started checking over me frantically, "Yang, how badly are you hurt?!"
I shook my head, "I'm fine Rubes, aura took the brunt of it."
I looked to my left where Oobleck and Blake had Davian on his back. The professor held three fingers in front of Davian's face, "How many fingers do you see Mr. Kadar?"
He coughed painfully, "Few enough to know I don't have a concussion. Is Yang okay?"
I sat down next to his head, "I'm fine, are you sure you're not hurt badly?"
He waved me off, "Same as you. Aura took the hit."
I raised an eyebrow, "Oh really." I give his side a poke, causing him to breath in sharply. "It doesn't look like it did."
Oobleck had been looking at his scroll before looking back up confused, "Mr. Kadar, were you attacked while on reconnaissance?"
Davian turned towards the professor, "No sir. While there were a lot of them, it wasn't to difficult to sneak around."
He 'hmmed' before turning his scroll for all of us to see. On it was a picture of all of us with a bar underneath showing our aura levels, "Then care to explain how your aura is almost in the red?" We all glanced at the screen and found that while the we were tired, most of us still had at least half of their aura left while I had a bit more due to my larger stamina. But Davian's image showed a bar that was empty except for a little bit in the far left that showed a very dark orange. Oobleck closed his scroll and put it away, "In a tournament style match, that would still count as a loss, but you only took one hit."
Davian bit his inner cheek, "What can I say, that Ursa hit hard and I have at least two cracked ribs to prove it."
Oobleck shook his head, "While as tremendous as the hit was, even young Ruby's aura wouldn't of fell that far."
Davian shrugged, "Maybe my aura's just a little weak for some reason."
Oobleck just continued to stare intensely at Davian through his glasses before tossing his pack unexpectedly at me. I awkwardly caught the pack, but it hit me in the stomach causing me to 'oomph', "Ms. Belladonna, Schnee, Xiao-Long, take Mr. Kadar and set up camp in that building. Oh and do make sure there are no more of those…creatures." He then looked away from Davian and turned to face us, "Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter, come Ruby."
Ruby stood up from where she'd been checking Davian over and ran off after Oobleck with a wave. I sighed before looking back down at my idiot of a boyfriend, "This makes it twice you've been snuck up on by the loudest Grimm. What kind of wolf lets three giant Ursa sneak up on him."
"Haha-owowowow, don't make me laugh Goldilocks," he wheezed out."
I raised an eyebrow while smiling, "Goldilocks? How long has it been since you called me that?"
He shrugged while trying to sit up, but was having trouble, "Thought I'd bring it back, it suits you."
I pursed my lips as I slung his arm over my shoulder, "Always kinda liked it coming from you, but I also like babe, and sweety, and sexy, and-"
"I never called you that last one...," he said smirking, "at least out loud."
I shrugged innocently, "Maybe I'm hinting at something?"
Davian chuckled as Weiss threw her hands into the air, "I swear Xiao-Long, you have absolutely no filter!"
Blake laughed as she stuck flint against her blade to get a fire going, "You should be used to this by now Weiss."
I set Davian down on a cot I'd set up and continued to watch the show as Weiss put her hands on her hips, "And what happened to my quiet, book loving teammate that would get just as annoyed by this stuff as me?"
Blake shrugged, "I'm her partner. I guess she's rubbing off on me bit."
Weiss sighed as she held her hand to her brow, "Unbelievable," she then pointed a finger in my face, "Do you see what you've done! You've ruined a perfectly good teammate," she threw her hand at Blake who was reading Ninja's of Love on her cot, "look at her, she gone perverted!"
I cackled evilly before petting Zwei like a evil cat, "Yessss my plan is going beautifully. First my partner has fallen to the perverted side and next is you Ice Queen."
Weiss stomped her foot in frustration, "For Oum's sake Yang stop being so crude! Davian, your her boyfriend, get her under control!" Silence met her question, "Davian?"
"Zzzzzzz" was her only reply.
I turned my head, just now realizing Davian had fallen asleep with his arm wrapped around my waist. I smiled softly as I ran my fingers through his hair. Reaching over, I grabbed my cot and fixed it right up next to Davian's and lay down. Weiss looked like she was about to blow a gasket, "You two aren't even married and you're already sleeping together!"
I smirked from where I was lying, "It's called romance Weiss, you and Neptune should give it a shot. And it's not like we're having sex, calm down snowcone."
Weiss just rubbed her temples while muttering to herself. Not after too long Oobleck came zooming in with Ruby behind him, "Ah wonderful, a textbook campfire!"
Ruby rushed closer and knelt down in front of it, "Fire! Soooooo waaaarrrm."
Oobleck pointed up into the air, "Very good, eat your dinners and hurry to bed." He then noticed Davian and I, "I trust you're just keeping him warm Ms. Xiao-Long."
I nodded my head innocently as I wrapped my arms around him, "Of course professor."
He nodded, "Quite. Anyways, we have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?"
Ruby held her hand up, "Yo!"
As she stood up to go take watch, I grabbed her arm as she passed, "Hey, did Oobleck ask why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean…w-what did you tell him?"
Ruby thought for a second, "Hm…no he didn't. Weird. Oh well, goodnight guys."
After she walked away, we all quietly ate our meals and tried going to sleep. An hour slowly passed by, but I still couldn't sleep. Eventually I opened my eyes and tilted my head to look at my partner, "Blake, are you awake?"
"Yeah," she said, keeping her eyes closed.
"Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?"
She opened her eyes and shrugged, "Maybe he was just curious."
I raised an eyebrow, "Ya think?"
I sighed, "No, I don't."
I puckered my lips and thought. Eventually tilting my head to look at the other girl in the room, "Weiss, are you awake?"
"Of course I awake, you two are talking." I cringed at her sharp reply.
We all sighed before Weiss started talking about how she wanted to change her family's reputation, but wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. Blake told us about how she always ran from her problems, even after I tried to tell her she didn't, but she just refuted it. And I told them that I never wanted to be a Huntress to help people, but because I just wanted the adventure. We all stayed silent for several minutes, thinking about our problems until Blake spoke up, "Hey Yang, how much has Davian told you?"
I furrowed my brow, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, how much has he told you about what happened to him or what he's been forced to do?" She clarified.
"He told me about how he got some of his scars, but he's pretty closed off about it, and that's understandable. But what do you mean 'what he's been forced to do'?"
Blake bit her bottom lip before glancing over my shoulder to make sure Davian was asleep, "Oobleck asked Davian why he wanted to be a Huntsman first, but his answer…concerns me."
I leaned up on my elbow, "What do you mean?"
Blake breathed deeply before continuing, "He practically said he doesn't want to help people, and he's not in it for the adventure like you. He said his only reason was to keep us safe, bu-"
"And what's so concerning about that?" Weiss interrupted.
I paused, "From what he said, it sounds like he-he's killed people to keep us safe, but I don't want to believe that." That shut us up. Weiss stared, wide-eyed at Blake while I just felt confused.
I twisted in place so I was laying down face to face with Davian. He slept peacefully, no signs of nightmares plaguing his mind. I reached out and put my hand on his cheek to run my finger over the scar I was the cause of many years ago. I shook my head, "I don't care."
Weiss' head snapped in my direction to only find my back to her and Blake, "How can you just say that Yang? Davian very well may of killed people in our name!"
I calmly stared at the man I love, "Davian would never hurt an innocent person, I know that. He didn't flat out say he killed someone, but if he did, he did it to keep us from harm." I ignored anything else Blake or Weiss said as I snuggled closer to Davian and closed my eyes, content to wait for him to be ready to tell us everything.
-][-
(POV Davian)
"Arf!"
"Ugh Zwei, it's late, go back to beeed. 'Yawwwn' Zwei? Zwei!" I slowly opened my eyes at the sound of feet running away from us.
Glancing around, I saw Yang's cot empty next to me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw her taking her turn at watch while Oobleck, Weiss, Blake, and Ru- "Ruby?" She was missing!
Yang's head snapped in my direction at my voice. She rushed over to me and began yelling at me quietly, "That's it! No more going off on your own, you always seem to get hurt!" I pushed her arm away and tried to get to my feet but hissed in pain as I felt my cracked ribs shift. Yang forcefully pushed me back down onto the bed, "What's so important?" I pointed at Ruby's empty cot. Yang's eyes went wide as she looked around in circles. I started to get to my feet again, but Yang pushed me back down, "You stay here, I'll go find her."
I pushed against her hand, "What was that about going alone? We should at least tell Oobleck."
I shook her head, "One, that only applies to you. Two, she might get in trouble. If she's not within sight of the door, then I will. But she may just be going to the bathroom."
I sighed, "Fine, but if you two are gone for more than three minutes, then I'm coming to find you!"
She nodded her head, "That's fair. See ya in a few."
I relented and lay back on the cot and waited. And waited. And waited. I glanced at my scroll and saw that three minutes had passed. Quickly grabbing my weapon, I began strapping it on. I may of been too noisy as I ended waking up Oobleck and the others, "Mr. Kadar, where are you going? You're wounds haven't healed yet."
Before I could reply, a frantic Zwei came running in and began barking wildly. Without gracing Oobleck with an answer, I took off sprinting, following the scent of chocolate, strawberries, and conditioner. I ran at top speed, ignoring the burning pain emanating from my chest. After a minute or two of sprinting, I turned a corner only to find something I never wanted to see. Crescent Rose and the orange bow I had bought Yang to keep her hair tied back while in combat were lying on the ground in front of a large hole in the ground. Even though I heard Oobleck and my remaining teammates yelling my name behind me, I ignored them as I jumped into the black void without a second thought. We know the White Fang are in the area but I'm not going to waste a second. If you're going to jump into hell, you cannot hesitate and you can not fear. For if you're the most horrifying thing down there, what's there to be afraid of?
IMPORTANT 1 - First thing I'd like to mention is that I goofed badly. In the beginning of my story when Davian was making his weapons and gear, I said he had made a bow with his sword and armor. Then, during the Christmas arc, I wrote it like he didn't have a bow until he got one from RWBY. I'd like to set the record straight by saying that Davian didn't have a bow at the beginning of the story and got it during Christmas.
IMPORTANT 2 - This leads me up to my second important message. I'm going to be going back and revising earlier chapters. I won't be changing any plot points I have set, but I'll be cleaning up the grammar and any other mistakes I made. This means that the next chapter will have a delay. How long it'll be depends on how much I have to fix.
IMPORTANT 3 - I AM SO SORRY! Since I'm new to this site, I didn't know how the polls worked. I didn't realize it was set to "Don't Show On Profile". I'll tell you guys that the poll is now open on my profile, so go cast your vote. (If you left your vote in the review section, I've already taken note of it, so you don't have to recast it).
IMPORTANT 4 - Before I get going, I still would like you all to PM me any villain character bios (I still have none) and we're drawing near the point I need him/her. Please, I don't care what type of villain you send me. Insane, calculating, cold, chipper, I'll happily consider each one and how it'll effect the story later down the road. So don't be shy and give it a try, you never know, maybe you're a natural at making characters.
Don't' forget about the now open poll and I'll see you guys next time…
Archangel Out…..
