Chapter 5: An unfamiliar world:
A/N: For those who can't handle cruel and unusual/sadistic deaths, it might be best to avoid the end of the chapter when it switches perspectives from Yang. Otherwise, enjoy this chapter!
"Sol…what are you looking at?" asked an inquisitive Yang, who was standing next to a baffled looking Solaris, gazing intently at the vast array of food as if he could not understand the fundamental basis of its existence nor purpose.
"It's just…all this food. I was not aware dessert could manifest in so many forms. I am aware…vaguely…of its existence, but…not like this…" He said, regarding the food in question. Solaris seemed particularly confused by ice cream.
"And what…exactly…is this?" he said, holding up a bowl of ice cream as if it might be lethal. Yang laughed at is naivety.
"Are you telling me you've never had ice cream before? Didn't you live in Vacuo? I would've thought that was ice cream central" She said, prodding him gently in the ribs. Solaris gave the ice cream a closer look, drawing odd glances from people nearby. Yang grabbed him by the arm and led him forcefully over to the toppings section.
"Well, I think I should immediately readjust your lifetime to ice cream eaten ratio Sol. So here-" she begun, in the manner of a great leader giving an inspiring speech, gesturing expansively over the buffet of toppings available
"-all of this is yours to choose from"
Solaris felt as if someone had told him to build something without giving him the plans. He had no idea on how to proceed.
"Uh…" he said, ineffectually, to Yang's eternal amusement. He looked at the bowl in hand, then to the buffet, then to Yang.
"Uh…?" he repeated, this time changing the inflection to make it sound like a question. Yang had never seen someone so befuddled by food, and she found it hilarious.
"Oh just chose one. Chose chocolate sprinkles, that's like the bread and butter of ice cream toppings. Step one." She explained, pointing to the sprinkles. Solaris decided to dive further down the hole at this point and go all out.
"Sprinkles it is then" He declared, placing a dusting of sprinkles over his ice cream. Before he could even blink, Yang had dragged him back to the table and was sitting next to him.
"Now eat" She commanded him, placing the spoon in his hand.
"Err…Yang?" Came Ruby's voice, looking at her sister like she was possessed. "Why are you trying to force feed ice cream to Sol?"
Solaris put the first spoonful in his mouth.
"Because he has never had any before" Yang said, failing to notice Blake's warning signs and Weiss's rapid head shaking before she finished the sentence, realising what she had just said. Ruby's face slowly morphed from confusion, to shock, to one of vindictive determination to rectify this supreme injustice.
"WHAT?" She yelled aloud, shaking the table and causing rose petals to fall from her cape. "NEVER? HAVE YOU EVER HAD CHOCOLATE? WHAT ABOUT FUDGE? OR COOKIES? YOU MUST'VE HAD COOKIES BEFORE? PLEASE TELL ME YOU'VE AT LEAST HAD COOKIES?!"
The rest of the team shook their heads whilst Solaris pondered if he could use his semblance to escape planetary orbit to avoid the inevitable path he saw being lay before him. Blake had her head in her hands and Weiss was pale(er). Yang meanwhile tried to salvage something from the situation before Ruby reeled in Nora to discover what other foods that Solaris had not eaten and probably didn't even know the name (or existence) of.
"Well, I am sure he has had them at some point. Right? Right, Sol?" she said, nudging him under the table so he would get the message. Solaris, however, decided to make things worse, just to see how big a flame he could get going.
"…Can't…" He begun, and time seemed to slow
"…Say…" Blake, with her heightened senses and reflexes, realised where this was going and began to sit up.
"…I…" Solaris continued, as Blake had cleared her seat and taken a step for the door. Weiss and Yang had only just begun to realise what he was doing.
"…Ha…" Blake had leapt over the table and was reaching out for Solaris.
"...V…" Blake tackled Solaris and put her hand on his mouth, knocking him over and pushing him to the floor, straddling him with both legs and raising her other hand to her mouth to make a gesture to be quiet. It seemed she had got him just before he had finished saying a sentence that could doom them all to endless nights of trying foods with Ruby and Nora force feeding him until he was neared the brink of death (or, failing that, severe issues in the digestive region).
"Don't finish that sentence" she uttered quietly. Blake suddenly became keenly aware of how quiet everything was. She looked up to see her team, and a significant portion of the dining hall, staring at her and Solaris, or, more specifically, her position on top of him.
"Blake…" Yang said, trying very, very hard to keep her voice level to what is considered normally acceptable and an appropriate response to such an action, without betraying any other feelings that may influence such a thing. Ruby was slightly red in the face and Weiss was not looking at such a "juvenile display". Solaris, however, was shocked at how fast it had happened, and, while not to anyone else's awareness, the fact that he had placed his hand on the hilt of his knife and was just about to draw it before he realised who it was that had tackled him.
Blake suddenly leapt up and, calmly, with a great deal of composure, promptly turned and left the hall for the gardens. Solaris released the grip in his hilt and thought how fast she had reacted…almost…catlike. He looked down and saw his armour had a stain of ice cream on it. That fun little moment turned sour rather fast. He had no idea what had just transpired, why Blake had reacted so. It seemed a bit odd for her. But if he was sure of something, it wasn't the tackle that made her alarmed, it was the speed at which she did it, the reflexes involved. No training could do that for someone. Something else was at play here.
Solaris, looking around at the hall, realised how many people were looking at him, some beginning to chuckle, others shouting out how he should go join his "girlfriend". Not wanting to stick around, but not wanting to follow Blake to the gardens, he, too, left the hall to return to the dorm room, leaving his team behind to finish their meal. He may as well go clean his armour while he was at it.
XXX
Yang looked at Ruby, who looked at Weiss and then back to her.
"What was all that about?" She asked, after they had processed the sequence of events. Yang couldn't offer any explanation. Blake had suddenly got really flighty and Solaris had left without a word. Not wanting to abandon her partner, she got up, concern plastered on her face, to find Blake. Ruby was about to follow when Weiss put her hand on her shoulder to restrain her. She knew this was something for Yang to do alone.
Where would they go? Yang thought. She had saw them go of in different directions, but it was Blake she had to go find first, being her partner and all. Solaris would be fine by himself. He always did seem to crave isolation at times.
Wandering around campus, she thought the best place to be to find Blake would be in the library, the main retreat of Blake outside of the dorm room. However, as Yang walked into the library, a tall figure bumped into her as she was entering.
"Hey! Mind where you're going!" Yang shouted, indignant. The figure, not in uniform, must've been a senior student. He was clad entirely in dark robes, a white, empty mask on his face with some intricate, yet unfamiliar, pattern marking out the presumed eye slits. He turned and looked at Yang, his height making him stand two full heads taller than her.
"Foolish child" he muttered, his robes swirling around him as he turned to leave. Yang, however, had different ideas and placed her arm over the doorway to stop him.
"Aren't you going to apologise?" She asked, pointing a finger at the guys mask. He regarded her balefully, the mask or stance of the figure betraying no emotion other than anger. Reaching out to grab her by the arm, he casually turned aside Yang's arm without any apparent difficulties.
"Walk away. I have no quarrel with you" He intoned, looking down upon her. Yang, however, was getting angrier by the moment. She pushed him in the chest, back into the library.
"I'm not going to let you pass until you apologise" She hissed, raising her arms.
"Your pride will not serve you well here. Leave. Now" He intoned again, his voice growing terse.
Yang decided that enough was enough. She punched him square in the chest, knocking him down enough so that she could pass.
"There. Now were even" She smiled sweetly, walking into the library, but before she could manage three paces, she felt someone grasping her neck and hurling her backwards into a wall so hard she slumped to the ground. She lifted her head and felt her fury build, readying herself to stand and strike.
"Not idly to I tolerate such transgressions." He said, revealing a large black staff from inside his robes, raising it above his head, ready to-
"STOP THIS AT ONCE!" Declared a voice, loud and surly.
Yang turned her head to see Professor Port striding confidently towards them both.
"I'll have none of that from you, young man" he said, pointing a finger at the tall, black robed figure. "And a little more patience in the future from you, Miss Xiao Long. Fights are for the battleground or the arena, not the library. I thought you would have learned after that other member of your team broke that wall earlier today!" He admonished them both, before turning to the other interloper.
"And you! Senior students should know better than to start pointless fights!" As Port begun lecturing said student by delivering a long and convoluted story about his own younger days (whether as a means of punishment or a lesson, no one knew) Blake stepped out from behind him.
"Are you ok?" she asked Yang, concerned. Yang nodded, smiling, as she got to her feet. Blake looked at her with her head tilted sideways.
"What was that about?"
Yang looked over at the figure who stood impassively before Port as he delivered his moral/story of the day. Yang gestured to him and told Blake about how he had bumped into her and the situation had escalated from there, with his "insufferable attitude" and "stubborn manner" giving Blake no small amount of internal comebacks at Yang's lack of irony. Yang then looked to Blake.
"And what about you, why did you charge off earlier?" She said, grabbing Blake by the arms so she couldn't run off. Blake looked downcast and tried to avoid eye contact.
"I…got carried away. I didn't want to…I didn't mean to knock him over, just stop him from finishing his sentence. I…I don't know what came over me. I couldn't help it." She said, and Yang sensed there was more to it than that, something deeper, something more secret. However, seeing Blake in clear discomfort she decided not to question it any further, and resolved to find Solaris. Leaving Blake to return to the dining hall to find the rest of her team, Yang went to their dorm room, barrelling inside to look for Solaris. As she entered, she saw Solaris was sitting in his hammock, his legs dangling over the side, in black shorts and a white t-shirt, the first time Yang had seen him in something other than his armour or uniform, not counting that time she saw him half naked in the bath room by accident.
Solaris was cleaning his chest plate, running over the armour with a delicate brush and rag, cleaning and shining and cleaning again. Without looking up from his engrossing work, he asked Yang what she wanted.
"Well, just wanted to find you really" she confessed, sitting down on Blake's bed so she was (somewhat) at eye level with him. Solaris put aside the chest piece carefully, placing it on a collapsible armour rack that Yang had not seen before. Solaris wiped his hands on his shorts and then turned to look at Yang.
"Any particular reason beyond that?" He said, tilting his head slowly. Yang felt as if he was getting at something. Maybe I should tell him…no…not know…not yet. However, Solaris seemed to guess her thoughts.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" He asked gently, edging her onwards. Yang felt as if she should tell him, tell him everything, right now…right at this point…how she felt…how she regarded him so affectionately, how she wanted to hold him to her and embrace him whenever and wherever she wanted to.
"I…" She begun, unsure how to go on, and then decided to try a different approach.
"Have you…ever had a girlfriend?" She asked, with no finesse whatsoever. Solaris, however, seemed entirely unmoved by this bold question. He smiled faintly in bemusement.
"A girlfriend? No. Never. Never really knew that many girls before, being in the wilds so long. There was Elena, after all, but she…she was really more of a friend, than anything. She never really swung that way anyhow" Solaris smiled at the memories of her distaste for such ventures, even in conversation.
"It wasn't until I came here that I really met many girls. Even then, I barely know any, outside of this team, of course, and JNPR, but…few else" He finished. Yang decided to do some information hunting.
"So…anyone caught your eye?" She said slyly, raising her eyebrows. Solaris didn't seem to understand the gesture, or the question, but caught its meaning.
"I…I don't really know. I haven't considered it." He said cautiously.
He's hiding something. I know it. Yang thought, daring to hope that she might be able to succeed in this idea of hers.
"Well…what's your type? What kind of girl do you like?" She elaborated, upon seeing his blank expression at this foreign expression. Solaris seemed to think about it for a long time.
"Really, honestly, I have no idea on any of this. I have no knowledge of how to proceed with this" He said in self-defence, keenly aware that this was one of the biggest pitfalls in both his knowledge and experience. Yang decided to nudge him further along.
"Well, when you consider our team and JNPR, who amongst them draws your eye the most. Except Ruby." She said hurriedly, while thinking "and everyone else but me"
Solaris pondered the matter, before saying "It doesn't really matter does it?" However, Yang would not take this for an answer. She needed something definite.
"Well c'mon, it not that hard. Just tell me who you think is good looking" She said insidiously, trying to discover the inner workings of his mind. Solaris looked unnerved.
"It isn't that simple. Are we talking about being beautiful, cute, pretty, hot…what? Each one has different meanings, for example, beauty is something that is cold, objective, something that everyone can see, like an art, or a good story, it all holds beauty, but, for example, hot, now that means desire. Lust. Undeniable wanting. It is personal and irrefutable. So, when you say good looking, be more specific, please" He said, content that his answer might deter Yang long enough that someone else could come in and save him from this nightmare.
"Well…what about hot? Who do you think is hot? I mean…I know Pyrrha's got suitors climbing over each other to get to her based purely on her looks, and, well, Blake seems to have taken quite the liking to you. After all, you do read to each other at night sometimes and have long, romantic discussions about…books" She said, aware than even as she said it those "discussions" as she called it, had no romantic value, and were merely an endless debate between Blake and Solaris as to which family house in "Dust and Fire" was going to claim the throne in the end, and who was really evil, and if this person was really who they said they were, and-well…you get the idea.
Solaris shook his head. "Blake doesn't look at me with any desire. Believe me, I would know if she did", to which Yang thought "Would you?"
"And anyway, this is a bit too personal for my liking. And besides, I don't really look at girls with any great lust" He said slowly, as if saying the wrong thing might cause something to break. Yang felt her heart drop. Could Solaris be-?
"Oh" She said quietly. "So…guys…then? Not that there is anything wrong with that" She said hastily, dreading the confirmation. Could she be that foolish? To like someone who didn't even look at her like that? However, this seemed to illicit laughter from Solaris, who was chuckling quietly to himself at Yang's tone of voice.
"No, nothing like that. I don't look at guys that way either. I'm…well…it may be hard to explain…but I only desire romantic involvement with girls. Nothing…physical. It really is just not me to do that. The term would be heteroromantic I suppose. I've never really thought about having relations of…the other kind…with a girl, or guy…before. It simply isn't me."
Yang felt so relieved at this moment she thought she might burst with happiness. She was so happy that she could not help but smile.
"That's…that's grea-I mean good. That's good. Fine and good." She said, breath coming out fast. So Solaris might like her after all.
"And…just so you know…Romantic relations of the type I prefer…well, that comes about quite naturally when you spend a few months together, I've found." He begun, seeming to struggle with the words.
Yang dared to hope where this was going, and sat up, looking at him intently. Her heart picked up in pace.
"And…well…over time…you find yourself looking at even your team in a different way. Well…one team member in specific" He whispered, looking Yang in the eye. She stood up. "And…it seems…only…only natural that I should…well…confess. Confess now to spare the pain if I miss the opportunity." He, too, stood up, and gently took Yang's hands in his own. He looked into her eyes. Yang felt elated beyond comprehension. Her heart seemed to be breaking out of her chest. She felt her skin flush. Could it really be?
"I love you Yang" he said, and Yang felt like she had ascended to a new plane of reality, a plane of bliss and joy, love and pleasure beyond compare or description. She felt as if she was dreaming, a wild, impossible, brilliant dream.
Yang slid her hands down to his elbows, pulling him by his wrists, pulling him closer. She leaned to him, looking up to meet his eyes. She wasn't aware that Solaris stood taller than her by this much.
"I love you too, Solaris" she said, and pulled him in to a deep, passionate kiss, her hands on his waist, his on hers. She felt overjoyed beyond compare. This was it. Everything in her life was good and perfect at this point in time. Solaris loved her. And she loved him. And they both knew it.
XXX
"…Solaris and his team have been identified…"
In a bullhead just landing in the industrial wasteland on the edge of Vale a figure disembarked, holding in his hand a jewel of solid blackness, a jewel from which no light could escape, nor reflect from. In the pitch blackness of the night the jewel seemed to drink in the darkness around it, creating a swirling maelstrom of shadows around the wielders hand. Clad in black robes inlayed with gold, the figure wore a white mask, entirely featureless, its smooth white surface covering his entire face. Yet one could tell where the figure was gazing from the subtle tilt of his neck, the movement of the torso. Right now, the figure was looking at the orb.
"…and what of them?..."
"…it seems they have a reputation for being quite the combo. They have friends as well, another team. They are within the school grounds at all times it seems. It is guarded, and access is prohibited. Thankfully, with a little help from my…unique skillset…I can walk around without question. I am literally a wraith in plain sight"
Beneath the featureless mask, the lone figure walking through the night smiled. They had no idea they were coming, it seemed.
"…and what of Solaris? What of him?"
"…he seems to have integrated with them well. He is one of them. It is as I said, he has forgotten who he is"
The first figure might have responded if it weren't for a bunch of opportunistic thugs who decided that someone walking alone, clad in the robes of some monk, would make an easy target for a mugging.
"Alright now, put your hands up, and has all the money you have" spat one of the youthful looking muggers, adorned in the uniform of the White Fang. "You humans don't deserve that money when the likes of us suffer in the darkness"
The figure stood there silently as four more figures moved out behind from crates and barrels, all holding guns or other implements.
"And hand over that jewel o' yours too. Roman will be pleased with this catch" The first mugger said to the assembled gang. Smiling once more under his mask, the figure spoke for the first time to the assembled criminals.
"…and why should I do that? Why should I? I think you fail to comprehend the nature of this situation. It would suit you well to leave…"
The White Fang members looked from one to another. His voice was so strange…it seemed not to have a physical sound to it, as if it were being thought in their heads, not spoken aloud. Nonetheless, they decided that they should take their reward by force if this figure didn't comply.
"Hand over all your stuff. Now. That's an order, and your last chance" shouted their leader, brandishing his short katana. The lone figure still remained unmoving.
"…if you leave now I shall spare you a death of unimaginable torment…"
Enraged by this person's arrogance and cockishness, they decided to charge forward, weapons raised. The leader reached the target first and brought his sword down savagely, to hit…nothing. The figure had vanished, leaving only a faint blue smoke in the air. He spun around wildly, to see that one of his fellow criminals had a blade protruding from his neck, blood gushing from the wound. The stricken criminal was writhing around, his limbs flailing, the mask fallen from his face, revealing his wild eyes, rolling around in panic. Blood seeped from his nose as the unfortunate cult member fell to the ground. The remaining few looked into the shadows to see…nothing. The blade had come from thin air. Literally. Suddenly, another criminal collapsed to the ground as a blade materialised from thin air, a bluish tinge coating the length of the sword as it appeared out of nowhere, sliced the hapless criminals legs off at the knees and then vanished back into thin air. Before any shots could be fired by the gun toting criminals, the figure emerged in a puff of flash of blue light to pull one of the gun wielding White Fang members into a blue portal which emerged behind him. He didn't even have time to scream as he was pulled to some nameless oblivion. The remaining two White Fang members looked around in panic. This foe…he could leap in and out of reality at will it seemed, without so much as raising a finger, and could phase his weapons in and out of this realm and whatever one he leapt between. The leader of the would-be robbers started swinging wildly in the air around him, in the hopes of hitting something…anything…
As he was doing this, the fourth unlucky criminal didn't even have time to blink as his head suddenly disconnected from his body. The thump made the leader turn around to see the figure standing behind him, his robes pushed aside to reveal deep crimson armour, graceful and elegant, with that accursed black jewel set in the middle of it. Two swords were in the figures hands, one black, one blue. That emotionless mask watched him without pity or contempt. Preferring to try and get a blow in, the leader charged forward, his katana swinging wildly, only to have it suddenly vanish as it neared the figure, disappearing in a flash of blue.
"…I did warn you…"
These were the last words he ever heard as the blue bladed sword drove its way into his heart like a knife through hot butter, and, as it did, he felt every single nerve burn with unimaginable pain, as if the every neuron in his body was alight. He felt his blood boil, literally boil, a fine red mist rising from all the pores in his body as his blood evaporated inside him as his nerves and neurons burnt out. His eyes darkened and his head slumped to one side and he lived no more. His flesh decayed and withered with the loss of all moisture and his internal organs melted down into shapeless goo.
The figure watched with disinterest as the White Fang Criminal collapsed to the ground, his flesh shrivelled and dead, his eyes lifeless, yet wide at the moment of his final breath, his body collapsing in on itself as the blades lethal design destroyed everything within his body.
Looking around, he regarded the broken and bloodied remains of four of the five gangsters, the fifth transported to a metre under the ground, into solid rock. I always have oh so much fun with this phasing of mine, thought the figure as he once more removed the jewel from his chest and looked into it, resuming the conversation as if nothing had happened.
"…as I was saying…"