Introductions and Justice
AN:Whelp. Since I was requested, I will put more chapters into this. Honestly, I didn't expect to write it this long, but I felt like I had to add some details.
When Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, woke up this morning. He did not expect the nurse to inform him of a strange young man being in the infirmary with one of his students. However, here he was staring at the very sight with a contemplative look. Several questions ran through his head. How did this man get into the Academy? Why is he sitting next to one of his students? Why is the said student sleeping in an infirmary bed.
The only thing that stops the headmaster from worrying is the fact that the strange man was asleep in his chair. Although he also finds it strange that the man seems to have a thing for roses, if his apparel is any indication. That, and the fact that one of the person's hands was in the sleeping student's grasp. But the oddest thing the headmaster found was the similarities between the man and Ruby. As far as Ozpin was aware, Summer Rose had only one child, and she had no other relatives. So many questions, so few answers.
"I suppose there's only one way to find out," Ozpin thought as he brought his cane on the foot of the metal bed.
*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!* That was the noise that awoke both Ruby and the strange man with a start.
"I'M UP! I'M UP!" Ruby cried out like she was caught napping in the class.
The strange man however, had pulled a baton out of a holster on his back which unfolded into a gun. With the headmaster staring down the barrel that came out of a blooming rose of all things. "Who are you," the stranger demanded.
"Whuh? Professor Ozpin," Ruby exclaimed before turning her attention to the weapon that was threatening the said man. Then the said weapon led her to the wielder. All the way to the milky white eyes of the strange man, who Ruby could swear looked familiar, but couldn't put her finger on it.
"You know this man," the stranger asked Ruby, still keeping his weapon pointed at Ozpin's face. All the while the headmaster looked calm like nothing was wrong.
It took Ruby a few seconds to find her voice, "He's professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy."
"Beacon Academy?"
That surprised both Ruby and Ozpin, though the latter didn't show it. This man didn't know about Beacon? Or was he just disoriented from just waking up.
"It's... where we are," Ruby said unsurely, not sure what else to say right now to a man that was threatening the professor.
At that moment Ozpin decided to clear his throat, "Yes, and I would like to know why a stranger is in my school's infirmary with one of my students." The inquiry was polite and neutral, just so that this man wouldn't get violent.
"...My apologies," the man said as he retracted his weapon and reholstered it,"I thought my Driver was threatened."
"Driver," Ruby repeated with a head tilt.
The man turned his empty eyes towards Ruby, "You."
"M-me," Ruby asked, getting a little flustered, "I don't- I mean- What I- Why?"
"Why what," the stranger asked, clearly not understanding Ruby's plight.
"Why am I your... driver," Ruby asked, not sure why this weird man called her that.
The man stared at Ruby like she was the weird one, "Because you resonated with my Core Crystal.". Then the man's eyes widened as he remembered something. "Oh, right. My name is Roze. And from here on out, I will be by your side until death do us apart," the now named Roze said with his hand over the crystal that was now covered by his cloak.
Ruby stared blankly at the now named Roze, before blushing furiously, "WHAT!?" And then she hid under the blanket. "OhmygodwhatisthiswhydidhesaythatdidheproposewhydidheproposeI'mnotreadyforthis..." From there on Ruby's overly fast rambling became incoherent as Ozpin stared at Roze with a raised eyebrow, while the red cloaked man stared at the hiding girl.
"What is she doing," the white-eyed young man wondered aloud.
Ozpin was about to answer when the door to the infirmary was slammed open. "RUBY! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Screamed a highly distressed Yang, who eyed the room to locate her sister who was supposed to be here.
That was when Ruby took peek from under her blanket cocoon, before dashing to Yang in a flurry of rose petals. "YanghelpmethatguyproposedtomeIdon'tknowwhattodowhatshouldIdo! HELP ME!" Ruby rambled into her sister's back which she decided was the perfect place to hide from the guy who turned her into a rambling blushing mess.
Yang only caught bits and pieces of the ramblings... However, he caught just enough to, "What guy did WHAT!?" And now Yang stared at the most likely culprit in the room with furious red eyes. "What the hell did you do to Ruby, you pedophile," Yang roared angrily, with Roze tilting his head in confusion acting like there was no threat.
"...What's a pedophile," Roze asked unfamiliar with the word.
"Don't play dumb with me!" Yang did not buy what this guy was selling.
Before Roze could open his mouth to speak, the WB of team RWBY arrived. Clearly out breath.
"Yang, what were you shouting about," Blake managed to ask, before her eyes fell on Ozpin and a man that had a scary resemblance to Ruby.
"This creep was perving on Ruby," Yang said, readying her fists.
"WHAT!?" Weiss screeched, wishing she had Myrtenaster right now.
"Who are you people," Roze asked defensively, reaching for his weapon, fully expecting a fight.
Only... *CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!* for everyone to be startled by the noise that previously woke up Ruby and Roze. "Ladies, Mr. Roze," Ozpin adressed everyone, "I'm sure everyone wants to know what is going on, but fighting isn't going to give answers."
Yang did not agree with the sentiment, "Professor, this guy was perving on Ruby, what else is there!?"
"Miss Xiao Long," Ozpin said sternly, "I was here the whole time, and at no point did this man do anything improper with miss Rose.". Then the headmaster turned back to Roze, "Which reminds me, you said miss Rose resonated with your Core Crystal, could you explain that."
That question earned a questioning look from Weiss and Blake, with Yang still keeping her guard up. "This is my Core Crystal," Roze said as he lifted his cloak enough to reveal the blue glowing stone in the shape of a blooming rose on his chest. "When...," the man trailed off like he was searching for a word.
"Ruby," Ozpin supplied, figuring he was looking for a name.
"Yes, Ruby." And he was right. "When she touched my dormant Crystal I resonated with her and awakened."
"B-but I never touched a crystal looking like that," Ruby piped up meekly from behind Yang, still not able to look Roze in the eye. "I only touched...," Ruby trailed off as memories of last night came back to her, "Oh no, that's right! Cardin tried to kill me!"
"WHAT!?" Was the universal reaction from WBY and Roze. Ozpin, to his credit, only widened his eyes.
"Ruby!? When!? What did he do," Yang asked frantically while turning to Ruby and grabbed her shoulders before shaking her harder than was probably healthy.
"Y-Yang, I'm gonna be sick," Ruby whined as the vertigo was getting to her.
But all activity ceased when they heard a weapon being cocked. Roze had pulled his weapon and pointed the barrel at Yangs head at point blank range. "Let go of my Driver," Roze said in a cold tone.
"Mr. Roze," Ozpin said sternly, "Miss Xiao Long is Miss Rose's older sister. She has right to be worried about what happened."
Roze didn't seem to acknowledge Ozpin, instead turning to Ruby, "Is this true?" A simple question.
"Y-yes," Ruby said, feeling worried about her sister.
Few more seconds passed with Roze looking into Ruby's eyes as if trying to see her very soul. Then he put his weapon away, "My apologies." This action earned blanched looks from Weiss and Blake. This weirdo acted like he wasn't ready to blow Yang's brains out, and not in a fun way. "Now, who is this Cardin that tried to kill you. And how," Roze then asked Ruby, who still felt apprehensive of the guy that claimed to stay by her side until death did them apart.
"H-he made me touch the Death Dust," Ruby said meekly, earning horrified looks from her team and Ozpin, and a confused look from Roze.
"What is this 'Death Dust'," Roze asked. This time, no one was surprised.
"Death Dust is a recently discovered Dust that kills anyone who touches it," Yang replied while lifting Ruby's pajama top to see the damage.
"YANG!" Ruby did not like it as she was trying to keep her shirt down. After all, there was a guy less than a meter away.
"Not kill," Ozping corrected, "But inflicts damage on anyone who touches it, which makes me wonder..." Ozpin trailed off as he took his personal Scroll out and tapped something on it. "Have you seen anything like this before," Ozpin asked as he showed a picture of Death Dust on his scroll to Roze.
The rose themed man frowned at the image. "That's a Core Crystal," Roze said simply.
"WHAT!?" Came out of the girl's including Ruby.
"A Core Crystal, a dormant one," Roze explained, thinking they didn't hear him. Then the man's eyes widened. "Ruby, did you touch something like this last night," Roze asked showing the image to Ruby.
"Y-yes," Ruby said getting bad memories from the Crystal.
At that, Roze had gone into thinking for a few seconds, before he started laughing.
"What's so funny," Weiss asked, not liking someone laughing at her partner's near death.
"This Cardin thought he could kill Ruby with a rejection, but instead she awakened me," Roze explained before laughing harder, "Who would've thought that I would gain a Driver through a failed assasination attempt."
"What do you mean Ruby awakened you," Blake asked not being able to wrap her head around this.
"I meant that instead of being rejected by my Crystal, Ruby awakened me as her Blade," Roze explained like it was obvious.
"What is a Blade," Ozpin asked out of curiosity.
"It's what I am," Roze replied simply.
"Are you telling me," Weiss started, pointing at the picture on the Scroll that Roze was still holding, "That this became you, because Ruby touched it?" And then the white haired girl pointed between Roze and the picture.
"Yes." The dead pan answer irritated Weiss.
"NO! NO! THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE! You're insane," Weiss denied, before turning to Ozpin, "Headmaster, we have to arrest this dangerous lunatic."
"I believe him," Ozpin said simply, earning blanched looks from everyone except Ruby and Roze. "Or at least, the fact that he's not dangerous."
"You can't be serious," Yang said, still not trusting this guy who appeared out of nowhere and apparently wants to spend the rest of his life with Ruby. She's too young to be dating. That, and moments before pointed a gun at her head.
"I am. But that is not important right now," Ozpin said before extending his hand to Roze, "May I have my Scroll back?"
"Of course," Roze replied and handed the device over.
"Let's see," Ozpin muttered as he pulled up a student register and started searching. "Do you recognize this young man," Ozpin asked as he showed a picture of Cardin.
"Yes, he attacked me last night," Roze replied with a scowl, "Who is he?"
"That's Cardin," Ruby said, shivering at the memory from last night, "He's a bully and a mean jerk."
"And I'm gonna beat the crap outta him," Yang said, cracking her knuckles, as her attention was refocused on the fact that this asshole tried to kill Ruby.
"May I join you," Roze asked in a tone that could probably cut through Grimm.
"That won't be necessary," Ozpin said, earning outraged looks from WBY and a death glare from Roze. "Because we already have enough evidence to not only expel Mr Winchester, but also to throw him in jail for a long time," the headmaster quickly clarified.
That calmed the girls down somewhat. "Good riddance I say," Weiss huffed.
"That's not good enough," Roze said, earning a worried look from Ozpin.
"We need to let the authorities-" "Not that," Roze interrupted with a white hot fire in his eyes,"Ruby needs to beat him."
"Whuh? Why," Ruby stammered, clutching her sister's back tighter.
"To make him pay for hurting you," Roze said sternly, before shifting for a smile, "And to give you closure."
"But... I don't have a weapon anymore," Ruby said with a hiccup.
"Yes you do," Roze said as he took his own weapon in it's compact form and offered it to Ruby.
"I... I can't. It's your weapon," Ruby said, even though part of her wanted to at least check it out.
"Yes, and I am your Blade," Roze said as if that should explain everything.
"What does that mean," Blake asked in suspicion.
Roze sighed, "It means, I belong to Ruby."
"Okay, buster. That's too close," Yang said as she backed up with Ruby. She seriously couldn't help but have less than innocent thoughts about that statement. "Ruby's not that kind of girl," the busty blonde said in a warning tone.
"YAAANG!" Ruby whined with a blush.
"What do you mean by, that kind of girl," Roze said clearly not liking Ruby's reaction to the term.
"What Miss Xiao long is trying to say is...," Ozpin interjected, before further misunderstandings could happen, "... that, Miss Rose wields a scythe that is also a sniper rifle."
Roze turned towards Ozpin with a questioning look. Then he let out a chuckle, "What a coincidense." And with that, the weapon turned into it's scythe form, surprising everyone. "That's exactly what my weapon is," Roze added in, before he felt his weapon leave his hand. A quick glance and everyone saw the scythe at the hands of a starry eyed Ruby.
"How did you build it? Where does the blade retractto? Whatkindofammodoesituse-" Ruby's high speed ramble was interrupted by Roze's finger on her lip.
"...That weapon is as much part of me as your arm is to you. But as my Driver, you, and only you have the right to wield it," Roze explained, completely ignoring Ruby's questions.
Though that doesn't seem to matter, as Ruby jumped to hug the much taller man. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"It's my duty as your Blade," Roze said while patting Ruby's head. An action Yang did not like.
"Okay, that's enough of that," Yang said as she peeled her overly grateful sister off of this creepy empty eyed guy that was probably in his twenties at least.
"Yaang, he was being nice," Ruby complained, still holding the new scythe. It's not Crescent Rose but it's still beautiful and cool.
"Shouldn't you four be at Professor Port's class by now," Ozpin asked off handedly, earning shocked looks from others, "And I suggest Miss Rose goes to change into her uniform." That reminded everyone, especially Ruby that she had been in her pajamas since last night.
"I'll be right back," Ruby shouted before vanishing in a flurry of rose petals.
"To class now," Weiss shouted even as she started running, with the rest of the team following suit.
"Except you Mr. Roze," Ozpin said before the rose themed Blade could move.
"What is it, I need to be with Ruby," Roze said, sounding a little annoyed.
"You sound rather obsessed about Miss Rose," Ozpin said dryly while fixing his glasses.
Roze crossed his arms across his chest. "If that Cardin is after Ruby, I need to be there to-" "That's what her team is for. Also, Miss Rose has one of the finest performance records in combat classes," Ozpin interrupted, recognizing the Blade's behaviour as overprotectiveness.
"And compared to Cardin," Roze asked sternly.
"It is against my policy to compare students to each other," Ozpin said neutrally, earning a dissatisfied scowl, "But let's just say that... if Mr. Winchester focused on his training he might have actually had a chance."
Roze smiled at the answer, happy to know that his Driver is anything but a pushover. "All the more reason she should practice being a Driver if Cardin is just a punching bag," the rose themed Blade said with a twinkle in his white eyes.
"Very well," Ozpin conceded, "There will be combat class later today. Do you need anything... special for this practice."
"No. Just make sure I get to fight alongside Ruby," Roze said having a forlorn look, "Anyway, was there anything else."
"No that is all for now," Ozpin said simply.
"Great, I'll head to where Ruby is," Roze then said before moving out. Ignoring Glynda Goodwitch who had been behind the said door for some time now.
"Ozpin, are you sure he isn't simply a mad man," Glynda asked in exasperation. The things she puts up with Ozpin... "I mean, being born from a crystal? That sounds like a fairy tale," the disciplinarian said in annoyance.
Ozpin gave his assistant a meaningful look," That is true, Glynda. But some fairy tales have a grain of truth to them. You know this as well as I do."
"This is completely different from that," Glynda said in annoyance, "What if he proves a threat to the students?"
"Then we deal with him accordingly," Ozpin replied with a note of seriousness, "But for now, we observe and see if he really is a threat. I trust you heard what he wished for today's combat class."
Glynda let out a tired sigh, knowing that further discussion is useless. "Yes, though I have to ask, why not simply have Mr. Winchester arrested instead of going through with this non-sense?"
Ozpin, began to walk out of the infirmary before answering, "...Part of me agrees with Miss Rose needing a closure. And I am curious to see how our mysterious young man plans to fight without his weapon."
With one last sigh, Goodwitch fished out her own personal scroll to make the necessary arrangements. Though mostly, just to have the police arrive at the exact moment of what could be described as "public execution". Not that she minded. If it were up to her, Team CRDL would've been expelled a long time ago. Sadly, Ozpin believed in giving everyone a chance, not a bad mentality in itself, but sometimes rotten apples just appear.
(Lunch hour)
Yang tried, really she did. But she just can't shake Roze off of Ruby. Seriously, whenever the next class started the busty blonde of Team RWBY had grabbed her sister and took roundabout ways to the next class, much to Ruby's and Weiss' annoyance. For Ruby, because she started to like her Blade, even though she still has no idea what that means. For Weiss, because as much as she was freaked out by a person who had white eyes and still had vision, she felt like going out of their way to lose him was pointless. Anyway, that wasn't the problem. Because at the end of each class Roze was always waiting outside the classroom. Even when Yang managed to sneak Ruby out of class among the crowd, the guy was hot on their heels.
"Sooo... who is this," Jaune, leader of Team JNPR asked from the opposite seat in the cafeteria.
"Someone who won't leave us alone," Yang grumbled from her seat next to Ruby who was eating a plateful of cookies. Speaking of which, on the other side of Ruby was Roze, who had been impassively sitting while observing the new people that was Team JNPR.
"What, like a stalker," Nora, the infinite well of energy of team JNPER inquired with a savage grin, "Need me to break his legs?"
"Nora, no," Ren, the gunner of Team JNPR and Nora's childhood friend, said in monotone. He's also the only person capable of keeping Nora in line.
"Okay, Ren," Nora said before returning to inhaling her food with surprising ease.
"Soo, where are you from," Pyrrha, the four time Mistralian champion, also known as the 'Invincible Girl', decided to ask from Roze.
The rose themed Blade gave Pyrrha one look before answering, "...I don't understand the question."
That answer earned weird looks from Team JNPR. "Which Kingdom are you from," Pyrrha tried again.
"...What do you mean by Kingdom," Roze asked, causing Weiss to face-palm, Blake to give an incredulous look, and Yang to plant her face on the table. All the while Team JNPR shared a look with each other.
"Umm... Vale, Atlas, Vacuo and Mistral," Pyrrha said, now getting unnerved by the level of ignorance a twenty-something man had about the world.
"...I have never heard of them," Roze said, sounding completely serious.
"Okay, now you're just messing with us," Nora said, getting too close to his face, which surprisingly didn't phaze the white eyed man.
"He's insane," Weiss said, not wanting to deal with this, "Just don't talk to him."
"Aiff! Haht een," Ruby said through a mouthful of cookies.
"Ruby, don't talk with your mouth full," Weiss scolded getting more annoyed by the second.
While this happened, Yang had lifted her head. "Just do as Weiss says, he's a weirdo," Yang said, still suspicious of Roze. But her priorities still lied in keeping Cardin away from her baby sister.
Speaking of which, the said bully was few tables away, glancing at their direction nervously. Though only Roze noticed it, and couldn't help smiling savagely at a chance to get his hands on the bastard. Only... that honor belongs to Ruby, but that's okay. At least he will be there to support her.
During the Blade's musings, Team JNPR was shocked that Yang agrees with something Weiss says.
"Uhh...Okay," Jaune said as he returned to his food, not questioning anything. After all, that was one of the pre-requisites for living with Nora without losing your mind.
The rest of the gang, including Nora, may have stopped paying attention to Roze, but unfortunately the rest of the cafeteria hasn't. After all, everyone was talking about the "White eyed Rose hunter". The "Rose hunter" part is a joke on the fact that it looks like this guy always goes near Ruby.
Which makes people wonder, is he Ruby's father? Her brother? Or just a crazy stalker?
"Soo... how do you know RWBY," Jaune decided to ask one more time earning the rose themed man's attention.
"...I belong to Ruby," Roze said like nothing was wrong with that statement.
That earned blanched looks from Ren. A furious blush from Pyrrha. And Nora choked on her food.
"DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT!" Ruby cried out with a blush that rivaled her own cloak in color.
"Why not? It's the truth," Roze asked Ruby, utterly confused about the reaction.
"Soo," Nora said in a sing song voice, "You two are together-together huh?"
"NO THEY'RE NOT!" Yang shouted while forcibly switching seats with Ruby, before getting into Roze's face. "Now listen here, you creep. I don't care what you think you are, but don't you dare drag my baby sister into your weird fantasies," Yang said through gritted teeth, with her eyes going red.
To everyone's utter shock, Roze looked less than impressed, "...I don't understand what you're trying to say."
That was the last straw for Yang, "Then understand this!" And went to introduce this freaky creep to her fist.
(Some time later)
"One day... One day I'll show him," Yang grumbled, still angry about not being able to land a single hit on the guy. Right now they were in combat class. With Roze sitting away from them by Ruby's request.
"I doubt it," Weiss said almost sounding regretful. Even though she was unnerved by the guy possibly having less than innocent thoughts about Ruby, she had to acknowledge his ability to at least dodge all of Yang's attacks like it was nobody's business. Though they had to consider themselves lucky when Glynda appeared to stop the fight before it could become destructive.
"Yeah, he's definitely better than an average student," Blake added in. Though what scared her a little was the fact that Roze seemed more... annoyed than worried about Yang's attacks during the fight.
Ruby just sat quietly as Yang was fuming. While Roze clearly didn't mean anything Yang was most likely thinking, the red reaper doesn't know what to do. He has seemed nice, and even allows her to wield his weapon. Although... Ruby doesn't like the idea of replacing Crescent Rose. That weapon is still her treasure, even when it's in pieces now.
Meanwhile Team JNPR as well as other students were staring at the man who was sitting comfortably like he didn't cause a commotion earlier.
Roze himself was getting annoyed at the stares he was getting. Why were these people acting like they've never seen a Blade before? What did they teach in this school? Then again, it seemed like the so called headmaster was ignorant about Core Crystals so he can only assume the staff to be just as incompetent. However, what he was curious about right now, was his Driver. Ozpin said she was good, but considering his ignorance... Well, seeing is believing as they say.
"Alright students, settle down," Glynda called out to the class from the small arena where the fights for combat class would be taken. "I'm sure everyone has noticed that we have a... guest among us," Glynda said referring to Roze. "Mr. Roze here is a visiting huntsman. He wishes to see how capable our school's future huntsmen and huntresses are," the professor explained the little cover story. After all, no one would believe someone being born from a crystal.
That caused some murmurs among the students. And confusion among team RWBY.
"Now, we will start by randomly picking three students. One to fight with Mr. Roze, the other two against him and his partner," Glynda explained as a large screen that was used to monitor the students' aura in matches. "Any questions," the professor asked her students as the monitor started randomizing the students that would take part in this. Except the result is rigged to give Roze what he apparently wants.
"Why is a student teaming up with an experienced huntsman," one student asked.
"Because Mr. Roze wishes to test your ability to work with someone you have just met," Glynda explained easily. During all of this, the Blade himself had no idea why the professor wasn't telling the truth.
"Blades and Drivers are supposed to be common knowledge. Why isn't she telling the truth," Roze thought with bitterness. How can these people be so ignorant?
Then the "randomization" was complete. It showed Ruby and Roze vs Cardin and Russel.
"It looks like we have our fighters," Glynda said with a faint smile. A rare occurrence, if anyone could even tell she was doing it, "Now, Mr. Winchester, Mr. Thrush, Miss Rose, and Mr Roze, would you step to the arena."
Ruby bounced off her seat at being called... Before gasping, "I forgot the weapon in our room." When she returned to the dorm to switch to her school uniform, she had left the weapon there. Because after what happened to Crescent Rose, she didn't trust the lockers.
"Oh, great," Weiss sighed while holding her forehead.
"I'll be right back," Ruby shouted before dashing off to get the said weapon. Meanwhile, Roze made his way to the arena while chuckling at Ruby's antics.
After waiting for Ruby to come back with Roze's scythe. The combatants were in the arena.
Ruby was nervous. Sure, she has beaten Cardin before, but him trying to kill her still made her scared. Seeing Roze's weapon and being with her team the whole day had made her keep the whole thing out of her mind, but now... She couldn't help but tremble a little.
"What's the matter brat. Scared," Cardin mocked openly. Though the bully was still worried about being found out about his attempted murder as well as theft.
Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to see that it was Roze who was giving a confident smile, "It's going to be alright. Remember, I'll help too." The words were emphasized with a light pat on Ruby's back.
That eased Ruby's fear a lot. "Let's do this," Ruby said as she prepared the rose themed scythe.
"Ready. Begin," Goodwitch announced.
And no sooner had the announcement sounded, did Ruby dash off to face Cardin and Russel, the both bullies having a surprised look for some reason.
"What's going on!?" A random student yelled.
"What is that light!?" Another questioned.
Ruby didn't notice it herself, but right before she dashed, Roze had pointed his arms at Ruby and some kind of energy cord came out of his body and attached itself to Ruby. Though what Goodwitch was able to note despite her own surprise, was that it was less of a cord being attache, and more of energy being transferred to Ruby. If the flowing movement was any indication.
Though right now, Cardin was barely blocking Ruby's furious attacks with his mace. He hated the fact that this twerp was putting him on defense, despite being just an annoying brat. "Russel! Don't just stand there, help me!" the brown haired asshole yelled to his partner.
Russel was still shaken by their attempt on Ruby's life so he wasn't exactly... thrilled to fight her now. However, his leader's order snapped him into action. Closing in to strike Ruby with his daggers.
It would've been a perfect sneak attack, what with Ruby focusing on Cardin. That is, if Roze hadn't come in front of Russel and blocking him with a barrier of some kind. Which was soon followed by Ruby spinning in a circle with the scythe, hitting both Cardin, and Russel. While Roze ducked under it with a smirk at Russel who was flung away.
Cardin to his credit was merely knocked back, before receiving a hit from the smaller scythe blade in the face. Would've been ugly without his aura to protect him. Speaking of which, the the bully's aura has already dipped down to 75 percent thanks to that combo attack.
Although, some of the audience was still questioning why Roze's aura isn't shown on the screen. Including WBY.
"How is he doing that," Weiss asked in astonishment. "Was that his semblance," Weiss asked referring to the barrier Roze made.
"If that's his semblance, then what's with that... link," Blake questioned seeing that the energy link that connected Ruby to Roze was still active.
Pyrrha had a contemplative look at the question. "I have heard of people sharing aura with their allies to strengthen themselves, but they need to touch each other for it to work," the Mistral champion explained. During which the arena burst into a chorus of laughter and wincing. Unfortunately, the gang missed the reason as they focused on Pyrrha's explanation. All they saw was Russel being flung upwards, before landing into an awkward position.
"Maybe the barrier is like how Ren focuses aura to his palms," Nora gave a surprisingly smart answer, though she was miffed at missing something funny.
"Unlikely," Ren said with a serious look, "I can only use aura manipulation to focus aura on parts of my body to increase my defense. What he used, looked too much detailed barrier semblance to be simple aura manipulation." Indeed the barrier had a hexagonal pattern on it. Like multiple pieces forming a shield.
"That's not even counting how he's moving with Ruby so well," Yang said, not sounding hostile for a change," I mean, did you see how he ducked under Ruby's swing without even looking?"
"Guys... is it just me or is Ruby moving faster," Jaune then asked.
Back in the arena, Cardin was getting overwhelmed. He could swear that Roze guy mumbled something and Ruby's strikes became faster. Unfortunately even if that was true, it wouldn't mean a thing when he can barely block one and two out of a hundred strikes. Or that's how it felt. Not to mention his useless team-mate was knocked away with a well placed strike in the crotch from the smaller blade of the scythe. Honestly, Cardin should consider himself lucky that it wasn't him that got the hit. "ENOUGH ALREADY!" Cardin shouted while giving a good sucker punch into Ruby's face. Her aura took the brunt of it, but she still stumbled enough for Cardin to get an opening. "JUST DIE ALREADY!" Cardin roared as he brought down his mace with all the might he could muster.
"RUBY!" Yang cried out in horror. Ruby's aura was still almost untouched since she hadn't used her semblance in this fight, but that didn't stop Yang from fearing for Ruby's life as the mace came down.
"THORN BARRIER!" Was heard from the arena before Cardin's mace connected, releasing an explosion from the Dust Crystal in it in the process.
"RUBY! NO!" Yang shouted again in concern, feeling her heart twist, partly from the massive explosion, partly from Cardin's declaration. But no one could see what happened to Ruby from the dust that kicked up from the explosion.
All they saw was Roze, who was still connected to Ruby with that energy cord. "I made it," the Rose themed Blade sighed in relief as the dust was clearing.
When the dust cleared, everyone saw Cardin on one knee while panting. And Ruby... she was on her butt on the floor surrounded by several rings of silvery energy that was in the shape of thorny vines.
"WHAT IS THAT!?" Nora screamed while pointing at the screen.
That made everyone else to look at the screen at the impossibility that made Nora scream. Ruby's aura was untouched, while Cardin's aura had plummeted even more. The Beacon bully had less than 25 percent of his aura left.
"Thorn barrier," Roze said to the audience, "My second skill. It blocks one attack and reflects a portion of the damage it would've caused at the attacker." As soon as the explanation finished, the thorns around Ruby vanished. "I wasn't sure if I had a need to use it, but judging by the damage it did to you, I was glad I did," the rose themed Blade said to Cardin as the blue energy that coursed through his embroideries had become much more prominent. That, and his cloak had moved in a way that revealed his glowing Core Crystal to the world. "Well then," Roze said as he glanced at Russel who was getting up,"I think it's time to finish this." The mohawked member of team CRDL whimpered at the sight of Roze's white eyes that seemed to thirst for his blood. "Ruby," Roze called for to the fellow red caped reaper with an extended hand.
"Okay," Ruby shouted before bouncing up and almost comically throwing the scythe at Roze who easily caught it.
Meanwhile Russel dashed at the rose themed Blade in terror. His aura was still at around 40 percent, but that didn't do anything to ease the growing fear of this guy's insane abilities.
Roze twirled the scythe around expertly while giving Russel a savage grin. "Now then." Was the last thing Russel heard before Roze disappeared from view. But before Russel could even think about what was going on, the first strike connected to him. And then another... And another... And another...
From the audiences perspective, Roze was practically teleporting around Russel with each strike that connected. Spreading fear and awe among the audience, especially Cardin, who had frozen at the display. And Ruby had her mouth wide open.
Then at the end of what looked like thousands of strikes, Roze returned to where he started from. Then, two words left his lips. Words that echoed in the now silent arena louder than a mega phone, "Ravaging Rose." And then an explosion of rose petals came out of every spot on Russel's body that was struck as if countless wounds opening up in his body. And then mohawked first year collapsed into the field of rose petals that somehow had landed into a pattern of a large blooming rose.
Aside from gasps that came from the torrent of petals, the arena had gone silent at the macabre, yet artistic display.
"That... was... AWESOME!" Screamed none other than Ruby, who instantly dashed to Roze's side with a light of a thousand stars in her eyes. "Howdidyoudothathowdidyoumovesofastwheredidtherose-" Ruby was interrupted by a cookie being shoved into his mouth, which the girl stopped to chew.
"The fight's not over Ruby," Roze said seriously while pointing the scythe at Cardin who looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown, "You still need to finish him." At those words, Roze offered the weapon to Ruby who took it with a grim determination.
As Ruby prepared herself once again to fight Cardin, the bully in question had tears in his eyes. "THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!" Cardin roared, "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE FROM DEATH DUST NOT COME BACK TO FURHTER MOCK OUR EXISTENCE!"
"What did he say?" A student exclaimed at Cardin's words about dying from Death Dust, earning similar shouts from everyone else.
"THE HUNTSMEN ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HUMANITY AND ELIMINATE ANY AND ALL FREAKS THAT HAVE NO RIGHT TO LIVE AND PUT THOSE RABID ANIMALS IN THE KENNELS WHERE THEY BELONG! WHAT'S SO WRONG WITH THAT!? WHY THE HELL-" Cardin's increasingly tearful mad rant was interrupted by a shot from the blooming rose that revealed the gun barrel.
"Shut up," Ruby said, sounding sad instead of angry. "Faunus are people just as much as you or me. As a huntress in training, it's my duty to defend those that can't defend themselves," the 15 year old reaper said with a lone tear, "What I can't understand is how anyone can be such a...meanie that hurts others for fun."
"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU DUMB-" Another shot cut Cardin off, this one aimed at his shoulder, which took a large chunk out of his aura.
"Stop! Just stop," Ruby said with tears flowing freely, "You were ready to kill me just because you didn't like me." Another shot which took more of Cardin's aura, followed by gasps at Ruby's words. "You. Threatened. To kill my team." Three shots that finally broke Cardin's aura and more gasps. "You... You...," Ruby wanted to say more but instead, broke into tears. Before Ruby could fall down, she was wrapped into pair of arms that pulled her into a comforting hug.
By now, Glynda had finally let the Vale police into the arena to arrest Cardin. "Cardin Winchester, you are under arrest for stealing highly volatile substance and attempted murder," one of the officers said as they put weakened Cardin into handcuffs.
"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Cardin shouted as he struggled against the officers, "MY FATHER WILL GET YOU ALL FIRED! YOU HEAR ME!" The officers rolled their eyes at the statement. Cardin's father was one of the richest people in Vale, and a member of the Council. Unfortunately for Cardin, his father is currently walking on thin ice with the law. Meaning that if one more rumor stained his reputation, the man might lose his seat. Although a Councilman's son attempting a murder and stealing highly dangerous substance won't be a rumor. It will be a fact.
As Cardin was dragged away, Russle, who was regaining conciousness was arrested for helping Cardin. However, he didn't struggle. He just allowed himself to be arrested quietly.
"That Russel at least regrets his actions," Roze whispered to a crying Ruby, "Perhaps if a different person was his leader, he could've been a better person."
Ruby didn't answer, but she just hugged harder. Even as her team approached them to support their leader.
AN: So. Here it is. The second chapter. Where Cardin was trounced, arrested, and his father is about to lose his position. I believe Cardin is the way he is, because of how he was raised, but his father forgot to teach him one crucial fact: Actions have consequences.
Finally, the fight. I decided to incorporate Blade skills. Buffs that activate randomly during a battle in Xenoblade 2. However, for this I made it so that once a skill is used, it can't be activated again immediately. Next, in the game there are special moves that you can charge up as you activate arts. But in this case... I went with something along the lines of, the more comfortable they are with each other the more of their power the Blade can use. When considering how the Blade special animation usually goes, I'd say Ravaging Rose is... lvl 3. Lvl 4 being the highest, but that isn't as simple as the first three levels.