Yay! A chapter that hasn't been delayed for a month! I managed to construct additional pylons.
Chapter 16: Admiratio
Joshua Graham had thought little to nothing of the inhabitants of Remnant, preferring instead to focus more intently on his own advancement in these new lands; but he found himself growing slightly more interested in just what types of people and personalities there were to discover on Remnant as he watch Ruby fondle and drool about the arrangement of weapons he had laid out for the girl to discover. He found himself questioning how one's mind could be so focused on weaponry rather than survival or loss, perhaps even the advancement of humanity would be a more valid subject than gawking over a pile of weapons. Joshua Graham knew of nobody in the wastes that would obsess themselves so much with weaponry.
Ruby sounded disappointed when Joshua told her she couldn't see the plasma rifle the Courier carried throughout the initiation sequence. She pouted and asked, "Why?"
Graham simply responded, "Because he is now an enemy." He was sure Ruby was about to question him further about the Courier (or the plasma rifle) but something seemed to catch her eye. Red Glare was laid out on a table on the far side of the room. Ruby was accompanying it in an instant, the girl immediately recognising it as one of the 'cool guns' (as she referred to them) that the Wastelanders had used during the initiation sequence.
Ruby had, upon Joshua's suggestion, brought her team along to 'browse' the fancy weapons with her. They all seemed eager and keen to get hands on the foreign weaponry, but Joshua prohibited firing of the guns. That didn't mean they didn't try. Each time the white-haired girl, Weiss, would question the mechanisms of the various weaponry, her hand would slip down to the weapon's trigger. Joshua would calmly move her hand away each time and then she would question how each of them were so devastating without having to use dust.
"How do you know they don't use dust?" Joshua had questioned.
"Well, the ammunition…" Weiss had then continued to rant about how the ammunition for each weapon had no traces of dust and how some of the weapons' firing mechanisms were inoperable without the use of dust as a propellant or some other fancy thing. Joshua was far from interested in the subject as he already had a fundamental understanding on the properties and uses of dust, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt and listened to her detailed lecture for the sake of being kind.
Yang was, thankfully, not so eager to be firing weapons indoors. It seemed she was possibly afraid of the outcomes, as if she had tried something similar before. Unlike her sister, Yang was not so much indulged in the mechanisms and workings of each weapon but instead more keen to see them in action once again. Whilst she may not have been a weapons freak like her sister, Yang wouldn't deny that the guns were foreign to her and made extremely cool explosions and sounds.
Blake seemed to be more interested in the Burned man – more interested in the wielder of the weaponry rather than the weaponry itself. Each time Joshua glanced over to ensure she wasn't doing anything out of question, he would catch her glaring at him, only for her to quickly avert her gaze to either her teammates or the scenery laid out by the Wastelanders' room. To the average eye, Blake would be seen as doing similar things to her teammates, interesting herself in the technology or other; but to Joshua's above average perceptive skills she was most likely examining him.
Why was she examining him though? Was it the bandages? Was she suspicious? Was she questioning the whereabouts of the Courier? It could've been many things.
Whatever question dominated her mind to examine the Burned man so intently was unclear to him, but whatever it was, it was clearly bothering her to a great extent. Being affiliated with the Courier, considering the violent and misunderstood events that had transpired in the recent past, probably had a great deal to do with the girl's obvious scepticism. The man had come close to killing her friends, and he probably would've if there was nobody else there to stop him from doing it.
Ruby suddenly piped up with a question. "How many Grimm can this kill?" She squealed. Joshua Graham flinched slightly. Blake noticed.
The word 'kill' was something Joshua almost despised. He lived in a world where the one and only law was 'kill or be killed' and he still hated the word. Joshua never enjoyed killing, but he knew it was an action he had to do in order to live and a mission that would be appointed by God someday. As he once said to the Courier, "I don't enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it's just a chore, like any other."
"Enough." Was Joshua's simple reply. He was silent before continuing, "I have to talk with someone, please don't fire off any guns whilst I'm gone." The Burned man took one last quick glance at Blake before he left the room. Blake didn't bother to look as if she was focused elsewhere, instead she focused her stare on him as he left the room.
Blake couldn't read that man. His eyes told nothing, no warmth or cold to be exposed. The bandages didn't help with determining his person either. She didn't even know what the bandages hid.
From what the Burned man had exhibited so far, Blake could deduce that he was a kind and caring man, religious and friendly to others, not judgemental and accepting, a calm and collected person; but what if it was all a ruse? He seemed perfectly capable of creating such a façade, considering his collected demeanour towards others. She also noticed that he seemed to have held a conversation with Professor Goodwitch earlier that day in the arena, which was, as far as Blake knew, uncommon for anyone.
His companion, Courier Six, was a nutcase in Blake's mind; random outbursts of violence and anger whilst being fairly friendly and collected at other times. His violent actions gave him a harsh reputation among the Beacon Academy students.
Blake had questioned why Joshua Graham had answered 'Because he is now an enemy' when Ruby asked about the Courier. Was this related to the 'future events' that he had spoken about in his speech earlier? Probably not.
As for the other late arrival – Ulysses, Blake believed his name was – he was practically impossible to read. She didn't have many opportunities to analyse him either.
Blake let out an inward sigh and decided to use the time to study their weaponry. There had to be something out of place that she could use.
"So I believe this is the best was to properly gauge and assess your students' performance." Joshua wrapped up his explanation to Goodwitch. The woman stood up from behind her desk.
"Mister Graham, I'm afraid that scenario is rather out of the question." She held a blank look on her face.
Joshua retorted, "I have already gained consensus from your superior, he agrees with this setup and, apparently, was thinking about proposing a similar scenario to be put into action."
Goodwitch sighed, "Then I suppose I should take this up with Ozpin."
"Maybe I overreacted a little…" The Courier mused as his legs hung off the ragged stone edge off into the blackened abyss below. He idly swung them back and forth over the darkness as he recounted several 'choices' he had made.
"Nah." The Courier concluded.
He began the painful journey back to the outside world, through the several tightly compacted tunnels. When he made it out, the light of the sunny day had been replaced by a haunting moonlight hanging over the forest. The forest floor was nearly pitch black save several small openings in the canopy and the odd large clearings dotted about the immense forest.
The Courier flicked on his helmet's night vision and trekked forth into the forest, slipping his plasma rifle from his back.
The night brought a much more intense darkness to the forest than it did to the Mojave, the trees offering shelter from most moonlight. Otherwise, the casual night time glow was significantly more illuminating than that of the Mojave, probably because the moon looked a great deal larger than it usually did back in the Wastes.
The night also brought along an odd aura of danger with the wind, the Courier feeling as if something could jump and kill him effortlessly at any given moment. His senses heightened and Six became more alert, responding to each crack or rustle about him. Mostly, they were simple misconceptions; a squirrel or bird, but every ten minutes, a Beowolf would unexpectedly sprout up from the undergrowth like some sort of horny radioactive plant.
Each Grimm that popped up unexpectedly was quickly liquidated by the Courier's plasma rifle; an effortless dispatch.
A high-pitched squeal broke the forest canopy and the Courier instantly dropped to his knees, backed against a tree. He looked for an opening in the canopy where he could spot the sky.
Spotting one in the near distance, the Courier cautiously stalked towards it, using each tree as cover just in case whatever had made the sound was able to spot him.
Looking out through the opening, a black silhouette circled his head in the moonlit sky. The thing was giant – it had to have at least a thirty foot wingspan. It looked to be a bird, save the odd protrusions from each wing and the lacking tail feathers.
"That's a new one…" The Courier grumbled, "The books must've missed one."
Six holstered his plasma rifle and removed the microfusion cell from it to dissipate the luminous green substance that formed at the front of the gun. Fortunately, the airborne creature seemed to take no notice of the Courier as he stalked through the forest undergrowth, Mysterious Magnum in hand and eyes sharp.
His attention directed on the large bird-like creature hovering circles above, Six barely managed to avoid a swipe from a bellowing Ursa as it came bounding through the trees. He rolled left, unloading a pair of bullets into the Grimm's face and releasing a sickly crimson onto the trees behind it. The creature persisted and lunged forward, the Courier sidestepping and firing a round into the Ursa's leg, toppling the bear-like creature.
An aching screech dominated the sky and the Courier quickly unloaded the remainder of his loaded bullets into the Ursa before holstering the Mysterious Magnum and unslinging the plasma rifle from his back, hastily loading a microfusion cell back into the gun.
His back hit a tree and his head tilted up to gather a visual of the bird. Nothing.
Before the Courier could react, a pair of trees were ripped from the earth beside him and a swarm of talons filled his vision, tearing clean through his Riot Gear and creating a withered waterfall of red from his chest. The Courier groaned in pain and fired off a rogue shot, hoping to hit his adversary.
He couldn't tell the outcome as another screech filed the air.
The Courier took off running, sticking to the thicker gatherings of plant life and hoping to go unnoticed.
Six broke through the shrubbery into a large opening, gasping to refresh the air in his lungs. His eyes blurred, but quickly refocused on the stone gathering ahead of him. He recognised it as the initiation zone.
"Fuck." The Courier rasped. He had managed to wander back into Ozpin's playpen.
He hissed as pain rifled through his chest, the cuts inflicted by the creature's claws creating an immense pain that felt as if it were coming from inside him.
Averting his tired eyes to the sky, the Courier spotted the black-tinted creature, illuminated by his helmet's night-vision capabilities. It circled like a hawk about its prey, beaded eyes staring intently at the Courier. He grasped at his chest as the pain began to spread from his wounds.
"Oh…" realisation dawned on the Courier.
"That's not a fucking bird."