Ruby's POV
It was the day after Team ATHR had started at Beacon, and I could already tell that they weren't adjusting well. Hugh was always being avoided for his size, Reyna was sort of the Nora of their group, but not people didn't seem to like having two, Tris was always too quiet and people avoided her because they thought she was creepy, and Arian was apparently marked as "Pick on this guy for no reason," although having no reason gave them very little ammo. The only people who didn't act like this to them were the teachers, Team RWBY, and Team JNPR.
Another thing that I noticed was that Hugh seemed like he was suspicious of Arian. He would look over at him every few minutes like he no longer trusted him. Ren had asked about it at breakfast, but he had been very vague, saying that he had found a reason not to trust him. I didn't know what that reason was, but I decided we should let them work it out for now.
On to the present, I was in Professor Oobleck's class with the others, half-listening, when Weiss suddenly asked an almost random question. "Professor, you know how you've asked almost everyone here why they wanted to be a Huntsman or Huntress?"
The prrofessor was a little exasperated. "Highly off topic, but yes, Miss Schnee."
"I was just wondering why you haven't asked that of Team ATHR."
He stood silent for a seccond, then scratched his head. "Hmm, I guess it just slipped my mind. How about it, ATHR?"
Reyna started."I just wanted to be an awsome bad a-"
Hugh cut her off. "I came to make my family proud, like my father did."
It took a bit of encouragement, but Tris eventually went next. "My family is going through a tough time, and I hoped being a Huntress would help."
After she had shared, everyone turned to their leader. Arian looked around, uncharacteristically hesitant. He relented, though. "My reason is more... specific than the others." He looked down at the desk, seeming to have a dark flashback. "My village is to the northeast, just outside the kingdom, so it has almost no protection from the creatures of Grimm. Four in particular; the four that proved that Grimm breed and can develope their brains to our level. The Mimics." A chill went up my spine; the Mimics were a terrifying subspecies of Grimm that had human intelligence and could change change their physical appearance, albeit always keeping the mask. The two offspring of the older ones had been killed almost ten years ago, but that still left their parents. "My uncle is the only one who can keep them from breaking through the walls he and I built after he killed the younger two, while the parents grieved. But he's getting old, and we can't just hold them back forever." He clenched his fist. "I'm training to be a Huntsman to become strong enough to finish them once and for all." His layed-back attitude was far out the window, replaced by burning, beastial rage.
The professor tried to calm him before we had a situation occur. "Please, Arian, calm yourself. I promise, by the time you graduate from this school, you'll be powerful enough to defeat your adversaries. But for now, I'm sure your uncle can-'
"He's seventy-eight."
Our teacher stopped himself. "Well, let's just hope for the best."
Arian's confession had shaken everyone to the core. One man taking on two shape-shifting Grimm with human intelect? There was no way he'd survive. By the next class, Ms. Goodwitch's, the whole school knew.
I, however, wasn't going to call him out just yet. Not before I saw what he could do on the battlefield. Luckly, today was a sparring day.
Ms. Goodwitch looked around the class, deciding on who to choose. I caught her eyes and made it clear that I wanted- no, needed- to go. "Ruby Rose, you can go first. Choose your opponent."
"Arian Silver," I said without a second thought. He looked up in surprise, and I made eye contact, making sure he knew I had to see him in action.
We stepped into the arena and readied ourselves. I unfolded my scythe, while two seemingly ordinary silver swords slid from under his sleeves and into his hands. He crouched, swords gripped tightly in his hands. Ms. Goodwitch raised a hand. "Start!"
He lunged at me, his blades making contact with my scythe faster than what I originally thought was possible with metal that sturdy. Speed? I wondered, trying to deduce his Semblence. He flipped over my head while I was recovering and slashed both swords across my back, lowering my Aura meter greatly. I spun around and retaliated with a swipe across his chest. His meter decreased, but he still held the lead. He slashed again with one sword, which I caught with my scythe and prepared to hit him with a hard punch, but his other sword flipped forward suddenly and a tube appeared in it, making it resemble a long-barreled gun. It fired, hitting me in the forehead with a silver bullet and knocking me back. I was close to losing and I still hadn't figured out his Semblence! I had to step it up.
He flipped his gun back to a sword, and I saw a perfect chance as he did so. I dug my scythe blade into the floor and started firing a barrage of bullets at him, catching him off guard. Nearly all met their marks, causing his meter to fall below mine. He gritted his teeth and lunged once I was out of ammo. He swung his swords each in an arc toward my, but I caught them with my scythe at the perfect time and ripped them from his grip and into the air. He fell back, one hand on the ground to steady himself, but completely helpless. I looked at the screen and figured that a few slashes would get him into the red, and I would win. I slashed in an arc, right toward his open mid-section, then-
CLANG! A third blade had blocked my attack, surprising me, but the source was what scared me. His right leg was completely gone, replaced by a thick silver blade. He kicked upward knocking me back. "Thanks a lot. Now I'll have to explain my Semblence." he said in mock annoyance. His swords flew back to him, pulled by extremely thin wires that only now glinted in the light. They melted and retreated into his skin before a silver broadsword ripped through his shirt and into his now also silver hands. Make that a completely silver body. "Shape-shifting," he announced. "Still think I can't take the Mimics?" He looked himself over, then seemed to decide that he'd overdone it and retracted the silver covering his body. He gripped the sword with both hands and raised it so that the blade was almost touching his cheek.
Arian's POV
I rushed at her with this new weapon, looking at the meter to be sure she'd survive my intentions. Taking advantage of her having to re-evaluate the situation, I thrust the blade right toward her face. And right through it.
My eyes widened in horror as my sword stabbed right through her face, and the once roaring room went silent. I withdrew the sword and dropped to my knees to catch her. "Wh-what happ-?!" Her body suddenly vanishd into rose petals and I felt a sharp edge hook around my torso. I was lifted off my knees as Ruby started spinning me around with her scythe.
Ruby's POV
I spun around as fast as I could, rose petals flying off my body as I boosted myself with my Semblence. I kept catching glimpses of his meter, falling quickly until it finally hit red and an alarm sounded. I stopped and let him fly into the wall, nearly breaking through.
"Th-the match goes to Ruby," Goodwitch stated, awe-struck.
My team and Team JNPR ran over and hoisted me up into the air, but I immediately jumped down and ran to check on Arian. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked. He tried to push himself up, but suddenly blood started to drip from his face, quickly growing into a stream. "Hey, he needs help!" I flipped him over onto his back, and was terrified to see his scar completely torn open. More rips had even branched off of it, horrificly claiming his left eye. His other eye was still open, but clouded over. He was conscious, but only just.
Hugh lifted him up. "He must have pushed himself too hard."
Jaun was surprised. "So you've never seen him fight like that?" he asked.
Hugh shook his head. "We've never seen him fight, period." He took off outside while Goodwitch called an ambulance.
Yang put an hand on my shoulder."He'll be okay. So, anyway, what happened back there? I thought you were a goner!"
Blake answered. "We figured out a way that she could imitate my Semblence using her speed and petals. What you saw was a kind of afterimage." I demonstrated it, speeding behind Yang and leaving a rose copy behind that quickly fell apart.
I was still worried. "Okay, you've seen it, now can we please go after them? I want to make sure I didn't kill Arian."
Weiss nodded in agreement. "That scar looked deep. If it opened up like that, it must have ripped all the way down, maybe even further down than the original." Blake shot her a death glare. "What? It's just an observation." We hurried after them, but couldn't catch up to the ambulance in time.
How would you rate my fight scene? What about the scar opening? Whatever you think, feel free to review it to me. It really makes my day when I open my email and find a new follower or review. I'll probably be uploading this the Friday after I finished it, so Chapter 3 should come a little sooner. I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far. If not, sorry. Well, see ya in Chapter 3!