Around the world
Vinaceous woke up from probably one or two hours worth of unconsciousness.
Assessing his environment while his brain was actively trying to make him pass in high alert he noticed that he was in the same room where he passed out.
Using his right arm and a near nightstand, he tried to get up but the soreness and pain in his body finally catched up to him and he promptly fell onward.
"Urgh…" His voice was weak, his mouth and throat were dry and his left arm…
Oh god, his left arm. He had forgotten that it was dislocated.
He was no stranger to injury. Bites, broken fingers, damaged ligaments, sprained ankles, broken noses and much more.
However the feeling of a bone not being in the right spot was still displeasing. Adding the pain of the fall and it almost screamed in pain.
"Need…medical…" At this point his mind was trying his hardest to let him focus on the task at hand.
He managed to sit again, looking at his injuries.
Huh…strangely enough, his forearms had entirely stopped bleeding…no, his entire body had stopped bleeding. It shouldn't be normal, the injuries he had sustained shouldn't have closed already, especially the one near the liver.
He could still see the cut, the flesh and the pain was still there but nothing was actively bleeding. Perhaps this was why he didn't feel light-headed or delirious?
"What…the hell?" His head was getting less and less numb by every second and his body finally allowed him to get back up.
Leaving the room, he could barely walk straight and he tried looking for either a toilet or something like that to find a medicine cabinet or something like that.
And after a few minutes he finally found it. Luckily enough it was still full. Looks like the old resident of the house left in a hurry.
He searched through the cabinet with his single arm. Finding a thing to treat his wound, alcohol, ointment, cotton ball or a swab, bandages or gauze. Looking around a bit more he tried to find a belt but only found an old bandana lying around.
He considered taking it, but he knew even while chewing on it, he couldn't muffle the pain but he needed it for another thing.
Biting his lips, he poured the alcohol on a cotton ball and grabbing it he prepared himself mentally. He rubbed it thoroughly on every cut his body had sustained during his battle against Winter. His arms, - well except his right arm since it was the only one functional right now - his abdomen and external abdominals and of course the deep cut on his right side. It was burning and the pain he felt was comparable to the one of the dislocated arm he had. However in a matter of minutes, his wounds were disinfected and he had wiped the gore away.
He threw the cotton ball in the nearby bin and poured alcohol onto another one, this time rubbing his right arm on it. It was dumb yes, but he couldn't really do much with only one arm.
"And it was the easiest part…" He muttered with a slightly more energetic tone.
Vinaceous looked at his arm then at the bandana as he tried to come up with something. This thing was tightly knotted and could probably resist the weight of his arm. He still needed something to bite on for what's to come though…
"Oh right." He suddenly said, looking at his waist. The holster belt where he put his gun in, guns he had not used against another human being…he really didn't want to do it.
With his only arm, he took both guns and placed them beside the sink before taking his belt from his pants and bringing it to his mouth. After that, he sat against a wall.
'Alright…you can do this…' He tried to cheer himself up but to no avail.
His right hand was on his left wrist and he knew what he had to do.
He needed to put his bones back in their spots or else he would lose motion in his left arm or even worse if it was never treated.
Mentally preparing himself, he started pulling - with a certain degree of force - his left wrist towards his right ribs. The first fews seconds were only grunts of pain and hesitation plastered onto his face. After this he started pulling his arm and wrist with even more strength, it was painful, really, really painful. He couldn't honestly describe the-
CRACK
His bones made this horrible sound of being put back into their socket. He screamed of pain while biting his belt with a force he couldn't even imagine he had. Then a sigh of relief came…he had done it. His mouth released the belt he was biting on, a mark of his teeth visible.
"Never again…" He softly said while laying against the wall.
But even if it was done he still needed to use the gauze and ointment he had found to treat the other wounds his body had.
For the ointment, it wasn't really that much trouble, applying on the left side of his body and on his back, - which he could not properly apply it on - he considered also doing his right side…but with the wound he didn't want to try it. He wasn't a medic, but having a part of the family being doctors and nurses helped him at least in some aspects.
It was just some knowledge he picked up on…which was weird. Why did he remember such things? It was the same feeling when he was putting his bone into place. This feeling of…knowing something but without remembering when you saw it. It was almost…like his body could do what he learned whether it was now or years ago.
He shrugged off the idea, chalking it up to his mind trying to heal the body or some shit.
"Alright…now the gauze…" He said with a more confident tone, almost relieved he had passed the ointment treatment.
First, his arms, doing softly his left arm trying to not put any weight or strength on it. He could bend his left arm at a 90° angle, which was what he needed to treat his other arm before finally placing the white bandana he had picked up. A sort of makeshift sling with a piece of cloth lying around.
He would have liked a scarf but doing a sling with a single hand would have been difficult, especially with the pain he still had in his forearms and right side. Add the soreness he was feeling and he was more than glad to have found the bandana.
The…bandaging? With the gauze continued for a little while longer. The longest part was heavily his torso, needing to bandage most of his upper body with his right arm only.
"How long has it been?" Vinaceous asked, not bothering to hide his thoughts. He looked up and tried to find something. "There's no clock here…" His right hand went to every pocket his tattered jacket had but nothing. "And of course my phone and…oh shit my bag! They are in Xanth's shop!" He panicked.
Both belongings had things about his old identity and even though he had burned most things back in April he still had some copybooks. Which was strange considering it was mostly about physics and maths but it was the only thing he had close to home.
Right now the most important part was his true name written on it. Not Quantuum, not Vinaceous Kobalt. His true identity.
"Fuck! I can't go there right now because of my arm but I can't go there tomorrow or they'll find those!" He was livid. Once again his unluckiness and lack of anticipation had caught up to him.
He punched the wall out of sheer anger, leaving a dent in it. He'd lost his composure and he quickly realised it. Vinaceous immediately calmed down before seating back again, not even realising that his fist hadn't sustained any damage.
Vinaceous was tired, he was injured, he was sore and hungry. He hadn't eat in almost a day, he almost died and he was on the verge of doing something stupid.
However he managed to compose himself and he decided to stay where he was. The room had a window and considering he almost died, he would probably enter a 'first night effect mode' or FNE.
"Hope I can at least catch four or five hours of sleep…like always." He shutted his eyelids. He didn't want to take any painkillers, because the sooner he could wake up…the sooner he could get his stuff back.
On the other side of the world, the vigilante of the wasteland - as some people called him - was sitting beside a bonfire.
He didn't need the warmth of the fire, just the light. The tiger faunus couldn't feel the heat of the desert since he had his Aura unlocked, even in winter, he could not feel the difference in temperature.
Looking behind him, Likor saw the bandits camp he had just dismantled. How many times had he done it since he found the power of his Semblance?
Drawing his scimitar from his left side, he inspected the weapon. It was still sharp but he could see the effect on time on the weapons. Maybe the strong heat during the day and cold temperatures at night also affected it?
His line of thought was interrupted when he heard an all too familiar voice on his right.
"Sup tiger boy!" The cheerful voice said, making Likor sigh in boredomness.
"Oh great it's you again." Likor plainly answered.
"Right! Happy to see you too, men!" Sun approached him with the same shitty smile he had, making Likor sigh once again in irritation.
"It was sarcasm, you absolute moron." He got back up, putting the sword on his side once more. "What are you even doing here? Haven't you left to see your friends or some shit?"
"Jealous a bit?" The teasing tone in this remark was simply met with a threatening grunt coming from Likor. "Okay! okay! I was just kidding! No need to be so serious about it!" Sun said while placing his hand defensively.
"While you answer the goddamn question instead of monkeying around like the idiot you are?"
"Was the joke intention-"
"Yes! Now answer the question!" The tiger faunus snapped.
"Geez calm down men!" Sun answered with a growing anxiety. "Look, I know we've known each other for a few months and you definitely helped me a lot in Vacuo, so I needed to tell you this."
"...okay?" Likor said with a slight confusion in his voice. "You better not try and confess to me, other mens have tried before and I'm not swinging that way."
"What? No! I'm not here to do that!" Sun shouted, making Likor laugh. "Urgh…way to ruin the mood I was setting up…"
Sun looked at Likor once again, the tiger faunus was still laughing his ass off making Sun facepalm with a newfound irritation.
"Anyway…" The monkey faunus finally started. "I…I will not live in Vacuo anymore." This earned a single look from Likor. "You know that both my parents had died when I was young right? And that the only person I knew from my family was Starr."
"You've said it to me a while ago, yeah."
"Well…apparently I have an uncle living in Mistral…the brother of my father. They weren't in the best of relationship but they were close enough to the point he managed to contact me and Starr not long ago."
Family trouble huh…Likor had its share too. He could empathise with Sun.
"I'll throw a ball in the dark and assume it was why you haven't been bothering me lately and use this flimsy excuse of being with friends?" Likor asked with a light mocking tone.
"Yeah…wait what do you mean flimsy?" Sun asked with confusion.
"Sun, you and I both know you don't have any friends." Likor simply stated.
"...You don't either…" The monkey faunus weakly replied at that.
"That's true, but I don't need to pretend I do." He stated again. "But go on, wouldn't want to cut your story like that."
Sun quickly took that up. "As I was saying, yeah this was why." He continued. "I…didn't know if I wanted to meet him or not, a stranger that offered me a house for some time? Even if he is related to me?"
"I suppose it would make sense why you needed time to come back here. I took it, you've made your decision then?" Likor answered with a surprising understanding tone in his voice.
"Starr and I have decided yeah…she won't go, but I will." He truthfully replied. "This is maybe the last chance I have to meet someone blood related to me who knows my parents…but there's also another reason."
Likor looked at him once again with a puzzled look on his face. "Another one?"
"...This won't be a trip where I go for a month or two and then come back to Vacuo." Sun started. "He lives in the city of Mistral and…well he offered me to go to Haven in two years. He will be my tutor and 'teacher' as a professional Huntsman until I'm old enough for the academy." Sun added.
"I see." Likor replied with the same monotone voice. "Why wouldn't you pick up that after all? You get the chance of leaving this godforsaken wasteland while also getting an education and a path to a paying job?"
"Are you…hum…joking or not?" Sun asked anxiously. "Because sometimes it's really hard to tell with you…"
"This time I'm not. Why wouldn't you pick that offer? You only get positives from it."
"Yeah but…it doesn't feel right to leave you alone in Vacuo."
"...isn't that a positive too?" Likor asked jokingly.
"No? Leaving someone my age alone in the wasteland is really not cool, and I feel bad to do that y'know?" Sun shot back with a more mature and serious tone in his voice.
"You really shouldn't worry about me. I'm more than enough to handle myself and the shitty assholes roaming around." Likor simply shrugged off the worry of Sun.
"But-"
"No, but. Go see your uncle, if the dude found you after that long he definitely wants to see you." The tiger faunus added with irritation. "Stop trying to be a goddamn mental support for me. Sun, we've known each other for at best a year. Go see your family, we are not sworn brothers. Friends at best." He bluntly said.
Back where he came from, Likor didn't really have that many friends. He was blunt, he didn't hide what he thought and he certainly was the hot-headed teenager from the band.
However, despite those 'flaws', he still had his two best friends. Maybe Sun thought that he was a close person to him. Yeah, he didn't even approach the level of friendship and trust the other two had earned.
It was a dumb and frankly egotistic mindset, but with what he went through at a younger age, Likor felt that it was justified.
"Oh…Yeah I guess that makes sense…" He replied with a downcast voice.
"If you want some comfort. I don't hate you. I just don't trust someone I've known for less than a few years. Betrayal and all that jazz from the wasteland." A lie. The most believable were the ones that contained a part of truth.
"And I reiterate. Go see your family. I know what it's like to lose people who share my blood, but unlike you I didn't have the luxury to meet another one. Take it and who knows? Maybe someday you'll see me again if you come back to Vacuo."
Sun looked at the tiger faunus. It didn't take a genius to see that Likor had some issues going on but he didn't want to press on and know more about it. He was mature enough to keep his distance and restrain himself.
With a single look, Sun spoke again. "Then…I suppose we'll see each other one day huh?"
"Possibly. I could be in four, ten or twenty years but we probably will." Likor replied absentminded by the feeling of exhaustion hitting him.
"Alright then!" The monkey faunus suddenly said with a newfound cheerfulness. "You'll keep Vacuo safe while I become a badass Huntsman and in a few years you'll see me rise!"
"Yeah sure whatever." He waved his hand to tell him to go away. "If you don't mind, I need to go to sleep."
Sun probably responded something witty or unfunny per usual but Likor didn't even hear it. His mind was focused on the crackling of the fire he had lit.
And in a few seconds he was out like a light. The fire however could sustain itself until the rise of morning.
In Mantle, night had fallen over the well-off district of the city.
Well…well-off was kind of a stretch, but compare this side of the city with the slums or the disaffected part?
Lights everywhere, commercials billboards, people flooding the street and going in shops for gifts for what Vinaceous assumed was the equivalent of Christmas on Remnant.
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, his black clothes and dark colored backpack allowed him to stay mostly hidden by the darkened sky. One of the reasons this part of the city was thriving. The sky was not - or at least way less - polluted, you could see clouds and the dark of the sky and not a constant orange blinding your eyes.
In a matter of minutes, Vinaceous arrived at the place described by Xanthic two months ago.
It wasn't an airport but it was clear that it was designed for an airplane or a VTOL to take off.
'Well well…thinking of airplanes…' Vinaceous thought in his crawling position.
From the rooftop he was on, he could see what was happening. The airplane was rather large, larger than the normal ones made for tourists. It seemed a bit larger.
'If they also use this airplane to export merchandise or stock luggages in a cargo hold, then it's the best late Christmas gift I could have.'
And he was right, looking around a bit more, he could see the ramp allowing passengers to go onboard but the most interesting was the open cargo hold of the plane. Two guards were guarding it while some mens were actively bringing boxes, luggages, briefcases and other things in it.
'Alright…since the Persian Folly have made non-stop moves in the lower district of the city, the security here is less tightened because everyone is focused on catching 'Jetstream' there but not here.' Vinaceous put himself in a crouching position to gain a better view of the airplanes.
'Two guards to put to sleep in a short window of time and until they wake up, I'm free to ride on the airplane…I'll need to hope that I'll make it to Vytal before they wake up.' Jumping from the rooftop, he landed softly on an alleyway nearby. Operation "Vol de Nuit" began.
The first thing Vinaceous noticed was that the right side of the airplane was mostly concealed by the darkness and lack of light. No security guards, no camera and no workers bringing luggages from that side. It was almost like a dark alleyway leading to the city of Mantle. They could not really afford an airport after all, simply a place to welcome an airplane.
'Seriously, how is this city even alive at this point is beyond me…who in his mind decided to build a departure and landing runway in the middle of a city?' The teenager jumped from the rooftop he was on, landing on a light layer of snow, muffling the sound of his trainers.
Moving quickly, he concealed his presence from the guards, moving in the darkness of the city, before rapidly reaching the alleyway he had spotted. Leaving a simple footprint behind him.
"Wait, what was that?" One of the two said.
'Well…let's hope it works.' Vinaceous thought.
"Footprints?" The other one cocked his weapon in response.
The both of them were definitely alarmed now. He just needed to make a plan to at least knock one of them out before sneaking on the airplane.
The alleyway in front of him splitted into three different ones, but he just couldn't lure them by staying on the ground, they would just have to follow his footsteps.
However Mantle…special architecture made it quite easy to climb on top of a building if you were nimble enough. The number of pipes this city had was truly frightening. Climbing on the ones before the split of alleyway, Vinaceous quickly made his way towards the rooftop, hearing the sound of footsteps and metal buckles rubbing against clothes approaching.
Thankfully, he was already out of their sight.
He kept silent, as they were. The two mens looked at the floor, then at the alleyways. The first one made a gesture and the other one went for the right alleyway.
'They splitted but one went straight and the other to the right…if one of them heard a suspicious sound they could quickly come for me.' While he was plotting the rest of his plan, he realised something. 'Wait…haven't they left the cargo hold without surveillance?'
There were only two watching over it after all…
'Well here goes my scenarios thrown out of the windows.' Vinaceous jumped from the other side of the rooftop, and in a few seconds, he was already beside the airplane.
"H-huh?" It was a simple sound made by someone.
Vinaceous whole body tensed at this simple sound. Who, when, what?!
The teenager turned around faster than he had ever done before, seeing the origin of the sound. A man in his late thirties, bag under his eyes, and a white and blue uniform. This worker was holding a simple briefcase in his hand.
"Y-you're Jets-!"
Before the man could finish his sentence, the now discovered Vinaceous - maybe this idiot should have put his balaclava on - sprinted toward the man, before launching an uppercut to the poor worker.
If he had another choice, he would have taken it, knocking out an innocent man and maybe causing him a concussion or worse some brain damage really didn't sit well with him.
"Shit what do I do now?" He panicked a bit, trying to regain his composure.
Picking up the man before he could fall on the snow, Vinaceous looked around, trying to find something…somewhere to hide him.
His foot made a metallic sound, looking beneath him, he saw his saving grace. A manhole cover, large enough to put someone through it.
'Never before would I have thanked the sewer for saving me a few hours.' Vinaceous said while opening it with his left hand, pulling the manhole cover without trying to make too much noise. He then gently put the man in the sewer.
'Forgive me for that…' He added inwardly while putting the manhole cover back on, covering it with snow while hiding his footsteps using the snow and his feet.
"That's that covered…" He picked up the briefcase before entering the cargo hold. Throwing the luggage in a corner, the teenager tried to squeeze himself between some boxes here and there. If someone ever tried to come in the cargo hold, je wouldn't be visible…at least if they don't try to search around for something.
He truly hoped so.
For Shade, this end of the year wasn't quite what he expected.
For starters, this word - contrary to ours - didn't have Christmas…well more like something similar but the charm wasn't the same. It was called the 'Winter Holiday Season' and was celebrated every year for who knows why. Even Taiyang didn't know. He just assumed it was a tradition lost after the Great War but who managed to spread in the mind of everyone thanks to word-of-mouth.
But he digressed, what was he thinking about? How yeah-?!
"Ah Gotcha!" A snowball suddenly collided with his face, with such strength that Shade had met the snowy ground.
"Mhhph-mhhhph!" Was all he could muffle through the powdery snow.
"Didn't expect that! Ah!" Blondie said with a prideful voice.
Shade finally got his head out of the snow, groaning in irritation. He was finally able to go out without Ruby asking for a snowman or a snowball fight and now SHE was trying to rope in him.
"Arh Arh, very funny Yang." He replied with a straight face, he won't respond to such childish behaviour. He was an adult…technically?
"Ooooh~. Is someone angry~?" She teased in hope to have a reaction.
But of course, Shade did not break. He has lived with siblings before…
Which is exactly the reason why he was already making a snowball of his own.
"I'll go easy on you sunshine, don't worry." A threatening aura could be felt seeping out of his smile.
"Bring it Shady! I'm gonna show you-!"
Two snowballs suddenly went for Yang and Shade simultaneously. They both looked around to find red petals all over the ground, delicately put over the snow.
"Hehe~! The reaper of Justice strikes again!" Ruby had chimed in at the start of their altercation.
'That little! She's even using the nickname I've given her!' Shade was pissed. Second time he got his head covered in snow in the span of two minutes.
Yang was also very pissed. Her hair. She had received the snowball in her hair. "RUUBYYYY~!" She strained her voice.
Yang looked at Shade. Shade looked at Yang. When their gaze met, an alliance was signed, and war on the Red Reaper was declared.
Ruby, seeing this, suddenly felt an immense amount of dread. "Hum…Y-Yang? S-Shade?"
The two 'siblings' suddenly started to throw snowballs with the force of a thousand suns towards Ruby.
With a small yelp - a faint "Eep!" - Ruby used her Semblance to dodge the incoming snowballs.
And the rest of that day was spent on a cat and mouse game where Ruby was chased by two very angry brothers and sisters.
Needless to say, it was one of the reasons she became so nimble…
A deafening ringing - something like an alarm? - woke up the sleeping Vinaceous.
His eyes met the strange reddish lighting that the room gave. An eerie atmosphere. His heart started to beat faster, way faster than normal.
That's when his brain finally decided to make sense of the noises around him.
"-This is not an exercise! All passengers must remain seated! Atlas personal and AK-130 models will take care of this threat while we fly above Vytal!"
…Oh shit. Was all he could think. Was he the threat?! Maybe the Grimms were attacking the airplane?! No…no…he couldn't think like that.
'I can't gamble on a Grimm attack…shit! If only I've stayed awake, I would have known if they were talking about me or not!' He cursed himself, clicking his tongue on his carelessness.
Taking his Jian sword out of his sheath, he manifested his greyish silver-like Aura in it before raising his weapon. He was gonna open the cargo hold with brute force and jump.
'The blade is gonna break even with my Aura…guess that's a part of the past I left behind again.' In a simple cut, he had severed it.
A few luggages, his broken sword and other things fell. Thankfully he had strapped his bag to his back. He had kept it after all…it was the only thing that connected him to Earth.
Where had everything fallen? He could not tell. He couldn't see beneath the clouds.
'Holy fuck…Can I even survive this?' The white ash haired boy questioned himself about his sanity but was quickly interrupted.
"Freeze!" A feminine voice said behind him, the sound of a gun cocking made him guess who he was dealing with.
"Eight months huh? It took Atlas eight months to finally get to me." He chuckled slightly.
"Turn around! No sudden movement and hands behind your head!" She commanded, earning another chuckle from Vinaceous.
'Well thanks my luck again…It's either I'm arrested and I'm sentenced to death, or I jump here and have a chance to live…' He sighed, he really had enough of putting his life on the line over and over again.
The woman approached him cautiously, and Vinaceous, still on the verge of the hole he had made, finally started to talk again.
"I'll take this gambit officer." He finally answered her.
"What?" She simply asked back, confused.
He let his body fall forward, surprising the Atlas officer. She probably was either a rookie, or did not expect this dumb action from Jetstream.
But anyhow…he was still falling. Fast. And he had no idea where he was over Vytal.
Panic, stress, anxiety. It was a natural fear for humans. Well…Auraless human anyway. His brain still perceived this fall as deadly and he had trouble keeping himself awake.
It was a natural reaction but the intense surge of adrenaline he was feeling did well in keeping his eyes open.
'It's all white…I can barely see a thing with all this snow!' He had less than a minute to act and prepare himself for the impact.
By every second, his fear gradually dissipated, he was feeling ecstatic. His body started to slow down, albeit not by much, and his eyes could finally decipher the tree from the snow.
His legs were the first part of his body to feel the impact. Crashing into multiple tree branches to slow down and break a part of the fall, he finally hit the ground. The snow softened the ground enough to make it less painful.
However, it was still an agonising pain. Not only did his body crash into multiple trees, his Aura had broken when his legs hit the ground, absorbing a huge part of the impact but letting his legs sustain the other part.
"Argh!" He let out a scream of pain, rolling on his shoulder after losing most of his momentum. "Even with this reinforced body and my Aura, I almost broke my legs." He could still feel the pain, but his Aura was already replenishing itself.
Looking over his injuries, Vinaceous felt the adrenaline rush he had dissipating. His nerves acted and he could feel the pain even more than before. Yet he was glad that nothing was broken or sprained. Which was strange.
Months ago he asked himself this. 'Why am I so much stronger than before?' That's when he realised this. His body had maintained his previous strength…while adding the one he got from a second puberty and training.
His body had stronger bones and muscles than any person from his own world…it was like two people had merged into a single being…a sort of myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy - if he recalled correctly - that affected even his bones.
"Shit…can't even call myself unlucky when I have Aura and my amped up body huh?" He chuckled humorlessly. "It should be fine for me to walk in a few minutes…simply just great." He thought aloud.
"I almost feel naked with the few things I took." He searched through his backpack but he had only a few clothes in it. "Great…a man thrown from an airplane, crashing in a dense forest, having only a knife, a gun and clothes on him and whose mission is to survive and find someone…now where have I heard this before?"
And so the journey of Vinaceous in the dense forest of Vytal finally began that day…for over an entire year.
Shade had it rough last night. Having trained with Taiyang extensively, the teenager felt exhaustion and soreness crippling his body.
Even with the fresh spring air arriving, he couldn't find the strength to wake up earlier than 11AM. Not that it was a habit he inherited from his old lifestyle…
But anyway, groaning, the teenager finally got out of bed and went straight to the bathroom. He took a shower and put his regular clothing on before coming downstairs.
"Good morning everyone…" He threw in the air, still half-asleep.
The moment he stepped in the living room, a red bundle of rose petals tackled him to the ground.
"Hurgh-! What the-!"
"HAPPYBIRTHDAYSHADE!" Ruby hastily said.
His brain, still trying to process what just happened, simply let out a : "...what?"
Yang came out from behind him, a cheery expression plastered on her face. "Don't mind Ruby, she's just happy it's your birthday."
Shade brain finally kicked off into a working mode. Seeing the date on the calendar nearby, it said…12th March Year 78. "Oh…Oh!"
"You didn't know?" Yang mocked him slightly, being used to Ruby excitement every Grimm Day of the year.
"Well…it's just not been on my mind these past days." He admitted.
"With how dad has put you through the wringer I can understand you bro'." She left the room right after.
Well…that was new? He couldn't deny that the relationship he had with those girls were close that of a relative, but be called brother by Yang and not Shade, Shady or any stupid pun from her was strange.
"Ohoh!ComeonShadedadbeencookingdinnersince-!"
Shade put his hand on her mouth. "Still need to calm down from time to time you bundle of energy."
"Yeah~...Sorry!" She giggled slightly at that.
"So what were you saying? Something about Tai doing the cooking?"
"Yuuup! Dad wanted to make it instead of Yang…"
Their faces fell down at that…Tai was a great father, an incredible teacher, sometimes a great jester…but he was not the best cook. He was not even a great cook at that.
Shade sighed. He could not complain since the man decided to make his birthday dinner out of goodwill. "Let's just hope Yang left to help him…"
Ruby nodded at that. Shade was walking towards the kitchen when an adorable corgi blocked his way.
"Hey Zwei!" He crouched down, scratching the ears of the dog. "Did Tai let you stay in the house for today?"
"Woof!"
"Neat!"
Ruby looked at Shade then Zwei. "You…understand him?" She asked.
"Of course not. I'm just assuming things."
"Woof!"
"Hey don't look at me like that Zwei! It's not because you can understand me that I can understand you!"
"Can you stop arguing with the dog!" A voice suddenly said.
Shade recognized this harsh voice that could only come from a father.
He looked Zwei dead in the eyes. "You're one lucky dog Zwei."
It almost seemed like the corgi was mocking Shade with a smirk…but it was probably just an impression. Dogs couldn't do that.
Could they?
Finally arriving in the kitchen - and seeing the dressed table in the room nearby - Shade almost let out a sigh of relief seeing Yang helping her dad.
She was almost the mom of the family. Well to Ruby at least. She was doing a lot outside of school and Shade respected her deeply for that.
"This ought to be good!"
It was indeed pretty goddamn good.
For Shade anyway. He wondered how they figured out his love for chicken…
After the usual talks and birthday dinner, Taiyang left for a bit - Shade assumed it was to get his gifts - to gods know where.
One time he needed to give them credit for where they're hiding spots and how good they were at keeping gifts secrets. Usually he always knew what he had before opening it.
"Come on! Can I at least get a hint? Even Ruby won't tell me a thing!"
Shade was pestering Yang about it. He could be very patient but…hey it was his birthday, cut him some slack.
"You'll see big bro! This is gonna be the best birthday gift you ever had."
"That's not a hint…"
She simply shrugged at that, still keeping this smug smirk on her face which pissed Shade off.
"Whatever…Tai and Ruby won't be gone long…I hope."
They both waited for another five minutes. Shade looked at the clock ticking across the room while Yang was busy playing some games on her Scroll.
He almost hesitated to pull out his own but before he could even reach his pocket, he heard some footsteps behind him.
"Oh you guys are back. Well then-"
His jaw dropped when he saw the size of the gift Tai was holding. It wasn't some chocolate or books, that's for sure…
"Woah that's-"
"Your presents. Happy birthday Shade!" Tai said with the warmest smile he has ever seen.
Picking the gift in his hands he could feel a certain weight. What was it?
He removed the colourful wraps around the box before opening it. Revealing something he wasn't quite expecting.
Ruby stood beside him and when he looked at her, she hugged him. "Happy birthday Shade!"
"Ruby that's! That's what we've been imagining for the past year?!" He hugged her back.
"Yup! I hope you'll like it!" The smile on her face was beaming.
Shade took the gift. It was an axe. But not something you expect for chopping wood, rather one for combat.
It was an axe with a black red and greyish colour scheme that you could use with one or two arms depending on the situation. The handle of the axe was made of stainless steel with a reinforced belly made of ceramic and covered with leather. The head of the weapon as well as the eye and the poll were made of alloy steel. Finally the toe, bit and heel were made of high carbon steel.
Of course this was only the material aspect of the weapon, but it went even deeper than that. First off, the poll - which is the back of the metal part of the axe - was split into two parts with extremely sharp edges, allowing some combinations a normal couldn't allow. The heel of the axe - which is the sharp edge of a normal axe - extends itself in a curvilinear way to the handle, creating a small gap in-between who Shade assumed was to trick and disarm people. The weirdest part of the weapons was the knob. It was shaped like something you would see on a cane. Inspected it further he found a small button he pushed and the weapon revealed things he himself didn't know.
A small trigger appeared from the knob, a handguard came from the reinforced belly and the end of the weapon morphed in such a way that the sharp edges became a rudimentary sight. Since it had no visible magazine, Shade assumed it was a powerful calibre that would be ejected from the other side of the belly.
He pushed the button back, making the weapon turn normal again. "That's…that's so cool!" He hugged Ruby once again.
"H-urgh! C-can't! B-breath!"
Thankfully her plea for help was heard. "Come on Shade, don't go killing your little sister for joy." Tai chimed in, teasing him.
"O-oh sorry!" He let her go out of embarrassment.
To say he was shocked was really underselling it. To think they…well rather she, would go so far for him? He was going to cherish this weapon.
"So…" Ruby started after regaining her breath. "How are you going to call her?"
"Huh?"
"Well…your weapon? What's gonna be her name?" She innocently asked.
That's when he remembered that weapons were named in this world. He couldn't just call it 'Axe' or 'Weapon'.
He tried to remember something…what could he call it?
He pondered for a bit before coming to a name. "Nitens Forseti."
"Ooooh~!" Ruby said with stars in her eyes. "That's a cool name!"
"Glad you like it."
He felt a hand on his left shoulder, turning his head slightly, he noticed Yang, a bag in her hand.
"Guess that's my turn." She handed him the bag.
Shade quickly thanked her and opening it reveals another great thing.
It was clothes. But not any types of clothes. The first thing he had noticed was the long, red, hooded cloak held in place by three silver buckles. Then a black shirt with full-length sleeves surely to put underneath, and pants with the same colour. Finally, grey gloves and grey boots with black soles and silver tips.
"W-wow…" Shade couldn't even respond properly. Those clothes really looked good.
"We have matching clothes!" Ruby chimed in with excitement.
"You're not wrong. Mine's a cloak and not a hood though…"
"Bleh~! Same thing!"
"I guess so." He answered while putting the cloak on.
It was perfect. Short enough to not hinder his movement and easy to remove thanks to the buckles around his torso.
"It's perfect…where did you even get this Yang?"
"That's a girl's secret~!" She teased him again.
"I won't even ask anymore…" Shade finally resigned himself.
Shade felt a hand land on his left shoulder, turning his head slightly, it revealed that it was Tai's hand.
"And this is my gift to you, Shade." The man chimed in the kids conversation with a…strange grin on his face.
It weirded Shade out slightly. No pun? Just a…bizarre smile? Whatever, he told himself, taking the gift with both hands.
It was a thin and rectangular gift wrap, soft at touch. At first he thought it was a gift joke, a t-shirt, a book or something…but it felt close to…paper? There was a hard part on the centre which was strange since it seemed to be a thing apart from the paper-like thing inside of the wrap.
Intrigued, he opened the gift wrap and sure enough, it was paper and…an ID card?
"Wait…what is this?" He asked confusedly.
"You should read the papers, Shade…" Tai sighed.
Behind him, he could hear Yang snickering and Ruby giggling a little. Those two know what's happening, he told himself.
He started reading, and reading every single line of those papers. And as he was reading, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "Wait but…those are…adoption papers and the card says 'Shade Xiao Long'...you don't mean?" The teenager was flabbergasted.
"Well it was a hassle to do it since you had no prior records in the entirety of Remnant…but with a bit of help from a few people, we managed to make you exist. You're now the eldest brother of Xiao Long Shade!"
Still unable to respond, he felt an arm around the base of his neck, it was Yang, with a smug smile on her face. "Welcome to the family big bro!"
"Wait…is this why you were calling me 'bro' all this time?!"
"Yuuup~." He could feel her mocking tone in her voice.
Before he could even reply, his right side was taken by the hugging Ruby which he could not shake off…and truthfully, he didn't really want to shake her off.
"Yeah! Now we're matching siblings!"
"Wait you're still on about that?" He asked with a soft laugh.
The rest of the evening quickly flew by…as were the tears of joy whom Shade let out right after the warm embrace of the love offered by his newfound family.
For Vinaceous…the past year really didn't go well.
That was an understatement. It was absolute hell.
He came here during winter, and he finally found civilization when it came again. Almost an entire year worth of surviving in the dense forest that covered almost all of Vytal.
It made sense since this island had been barely inhabited over the last eighty years. Nature came back and claimed once again this land.
From his position, he could see the outskirts of a small village by the ocean. A port village.
From the snow covered trees, he leaped and landed on the snow covered ground. His arms absorbing the impact, a slight sting of pain came upon his left arm.
"Still painful after all those months huh?" He looked at his torn and tattered clothes, seeing a nasty scar made by a sniper bullet, a .50 cal…well the Dust equivalent to that.
It really wasn't a pretty sight. Even with Aura, the grazing made by the bullet had torn everything except a bit of flesh and his muscles.
He still remembered when it happened. Clutching his scar with his right hand, he started to recall the scene.
It had been around three weeks since he had landed. Surviving on wild animals, plants and other things he could find. He even was surprised when he learned that some animals he hadn't seen in the show existed here. Pigs for exemple.
The more surprising? He remembered a piece of information he had found some days in the past which he also forgot but seemingly came back the moment he needed it the most. Pigs and humans have similar digestive systems.
And by using this, he could determine whether or not he could eat something. This made his life easier for the first few weeks…until something happened.
It was probably around the end of January, perhaps beginning of February when Atlas had sent a squad of three soldiers to hunt him down. Probably above the average joe you'll find on the streets of Mantle.
Compared to Winter they were nothing but to him? They were still dangerous.
He still can taste the roasted squirrel he was eating, the number of times he almost puked after each bite.
Then a loud sound of tree branches cracking behind him, the sound of heavy breathing, loud footsteps on the snow.
He turned around, meeting the face of a human-size hammer hitting his chest like a truck. There was enough force in this single swing to make him fly towards the opposite tree. And when he crashed, his Aura was already flickering.
He took a single glance at his assailant and when he noticed the burly man, he knew he had to play smart. He faked signs of struggles getting up and even fell on his knees on purpose.
"So that's the 'legendary' Jetstream ?" The man spat with venom. "Hope you'll go to hell bastard."
When he saw the hammer being brought down, Vinaceous got up in a swift move. Dodging incoming death, he elbowed the man in the nose, grabbing his right arm before kicking his genitals with his knee. He grabbed the man's collar and swept his legs with an O-Soto Gake, pushing the man's collar forward to add momentum.
The man landed on the ground, groaning in pain. Vinaceous did not hesitate and stomped on his head with enough force to knock him out cold.
Turning around, his face met the fist of a woman. A left jab followed by a right jab and a left hook.
Vinaceous had just enough time to avoid a concussion by turning in the direction of the left hook. His Aura was flickering even more, and he knew that one or two direct hits would break it.
"You killed our daughter, you bastard!" She screamed with a rage he couldn't even describe.
And in this one moment, his heart also broke. So many people suffered from him. Even himself. Scapegoat of an unknown criminal organisation he couldn't even unravel to the media or the military. He prayed that Winter had listened to him…but even that was a stretch.
She once again went for a one-two jab, jab. Preparing himself to dodge another hook, he recoiled when he felt a surge of pain going through his diaphragm.
She went for an uppercut, directly for his respiratory muscle. Vinaceous backpedalled to gain distance but she went directly after him. Launching a straight punch toward his face, he grabbed her wrist with his right hand and pushed her elbow down with his left in a circular motion, throwing her on the ground while still keeping an elbow and wrist lock on her.
She struggled relentlessly, and he knew it was a matter of time before she broke free. And at that moment, he remembered Winter and how he lost…
Perhaps that's when he started to stop caring. About a dead reputation, about morals and such.
In an instant, he snapped her joint. Dislocating her elbow. He prepared his right fist and punched the back of her head, also knocking her out. A sort of 'finisher' he learned in Jiu-Jitsu.
He panted and held his torso with his right hand. Even though he was acquainted with pain, it still hurts like hell. His Aura recovery was impressive but it didn't help easing the pain.
Looking around, he saw something in the distance. A reflection of light, a small glint of what seemed like a mirror in a forest.
He knew what that was in this damn world. A sniper. At least the scope of a sniper reflecting the light of the sun. And in a second he jumped to the right.
The sound of the bullet leaving the chamber echoed through the forest. The sensation of his Aura breaking itself apart. The feeling of hot metal tearing his left shoulder skin and muscles. And finally the agonising pain washing over his entire body.
Vinaceous let out a scream of sheer pain. His flesh and muscles were exposed and burned. He hears the footsteps of the person who had shot him approaching quickly.
"SHOW YOURSELF ASSHOLE!" It was…what was it? This entire moment felt like a blur to him. Was it a man? A teenage girl? He couldn't remember for god's sake…
He faintly recalls grabbing his loaded gun, waiting for the person to come closer before revealing himself and shooting five or six times.
He didn't know when the person's Aura had broken, if they were even alive, how he left the camp he had set up or even how he treated his wound.
He just remember the scar and what probably happened to the person he shot.
Resisting the urge to throw up, he could feel a headache creeping up on him. And before he knew it, he started moving towards the welcome sign of the village.
"Welcome to Heath huh? Let's hope things will change this time…" He thought aloud.
This time…he needed to find Copper Himst. But first off he needed to 'disappear' from the Bounty Hunters and Huntsman that were chasing him.
For Likor, this winter season was…really boring.
He didn't want to admit it, but since Sun left for Mistral a year ago, he didn't have someone to talk to. Well…maybe one or two bandits from the wasteland but they were even more crazy than him.
"Shit…I can't believe I would actually miss someone like him." He sighed.
The sound of the crackling fire was the only thing he could hear from several miles away. No Grimms. No Dromedons to slay.
Even his gear was lacklustre. His sword had broken months ago and he only had stolen weapons from raiders.
"There's nothing to do here god fucking damnit!"
Cursing, he threw his stolen firearm in the fire. A stupid idea but Dust wasn't flammable like gunpowder so who cared?
"I don't have a damn Scroll, no papers, no Identity and of course I became an animal when I woke up in this shitty world!"
He vented to the wind and surprisingly, shouting and cursing in rage made everything more bearable.
"You know what?! Screw this wasteland!" He grabbed his backpack, guns, canned food, water and some clothes. "Screw Vacuo and his people!"
Yes, even if he was recognised as a vigilante…let's just say that the 'police' of Vacuo - as well as other Huntsman - were not fond of him. He was just another bandit taking care of people like him to gain some quick bucks.
His mark teleporting Semblance also made him a perfect candidate for hunting down people. He would just have to mark a raider he saw in Vacuo, just stumbling on them by 'mistake' to mark them. Then he created another mark in Vacuo and he could teleport to the bandit before crashing their camp and teleports back to Vacuo in the matter of a single night.
He single-handedly shortened the time it took to take care of raiders and criminals by two. And that alone.
So yes. Huntsman and the police were not fond of the man taking all the glory.
"And fuck those guys!" He finally ended his monologue.
He extinguished the fire and looked around. Seeing some constellations in the sky.
"Mistral is that way right? Then I'll follow this damn path."
In hindsight, it really wasn't a clever idea to try and follow some random constellations who didn't even exist on Earth. Not only that…but he should really have looked at a map.
Because Mistral and Vacuo were separated by Vale and by an ocean.
At least he did get the direction right…or so he hoped after an entire year of travel.
Shade was breathing heavily. Today was another intense training session from his adoptive father.
Intensive in such a way that even Yang sometimes backed down from the challenge…and oh boy you needed a lot to make her question her decisions.
Worst part being? He couldn't even use his weapons! He trained for almost an entire year with it and Tai used this as an excuse to fight. He still remembers his line, to 'not let your hand-to-hand get rusty'. Shade deeply believed it was just an excuse to have his ass kicked by his father.
His thoughts were quickly interrupted when Taiyang launched a straight right punch towards. Barely deflecting it with his left palm, - a Pak Sao in Wing Chun - he felt another punch coming from his right side, also deflecting this one with the posterior of the forearm - A Bong Sao -, then he grabbed Tai's left wrist, trying to hit in the temple with a right backhand.
But before it could even land, Tai simply grabbed the fist with his free hand, pulling his left hand from the grip while sweeping the feet of Shade.
"Agh!" Shade tried to get backup, but his face almost met the fist of Tai who stopped right before hitting him.
"You're becoming sloppy Shade. Still better than Ruby. But still way under Yang or me."
He almost swore that there was pride hidden beneath that little scolding of him.
"That's why I prefer using my weapon! Why am I always the one getting the hand-to-hand treatment?"
"Because you are still two years older than Ruby. And unlike her, you have some of the basics." Tai genuinely answered.
"I get that alright…but shouldn't I be practising my weapons more often? If I know the basics it should be enough."
"You still don't get it…" Tai scratched the back of his head. "Even if Ruby doesn't know a thing about hand-to-hand, she can still get away from grimms with her Semblance. For Yang, well… you still remember that day right?"
Shade chuckled. "Yeah…it was really funny to see from the porch." He replied, remembering the day Yang unlocked her Semblance and punched Tai so hard, he went through a tree.
"Her entire fighting style is centred around hand-to-hand, and she compensates for the distance disadvantage with Ember Celica."
"Alright…but I do the same with Nitens Forseti? And most of my fighting style is centred around that too."
"While that's true, you still need your weapons and a bit of time to switch between long-range and short-range." He explained. "Let's say one day, you're fighting someone at Signal, and he or she can close the gap between you before you can switch your weapon range. How will you respond?"
Shade tried to come up with something but couldn't…even if he said 'just get more distance.' that would still come back to closing the gap.
Now that he thought about it…what if him and Ruby sparred? Would he have time to switch from a mode to another before she could reach him? "I…see what you're trying to say."
"If you want to perform as well as the other two at Signal, you're going to need hand-to-hand. But don't worry! You still haven't unlocked your Semblance! Maybe it will help to overcome your weaknesses?"
"Very reassuring dad…" Shade finally got back up, dusting off his back. "But I still perform above average."
"Yeah. But don't let this go to your head…We already have Yang for that." The man sighed at that.
"Heh I won't! It's not my style." He blushed a bit at that. He really didn't like to be put on a pedestal and at least the above average was just good enough to not let people make him look like a genius or something.
"I'm glad someone is learning other things than my techniques." Taiyang glared at Yang through the window. "But let's cut to the Shades, we still have your training session to finish." A smile broke on his face.
"...I'm doing this training twice if you promise me to not make jokes again." A tired, almost dead look was plastered on Shade's face.
"I won't promise anything!" Taiyange went for two right jabs to the face, and a left cross.
Shade blocked the jabs with his left forearm and narrowingly dodged the cross by ducking underneath…
And the two of them went at it for another good hour…
Author's Note :
As promised the fifth chapter of The Butterfly Effect is published this 30th of June.
Exams are finally over and I can finally write chapters again while watching the show once more.
As said before in Chapter IV, a lot more slice of life scenes are implemented in the recent chapters. Of course more of those scenes means more Shade and deeper relationship with the main cast. It also serves as a way to separate the tension in Vinaceous scenes all over the chapters and not have a single block paragraph with actions then just another part with more cheerful stuff.
And of course it creates three very different characters with a common initial situation but with different outcomes.
This chapter took about an entire month of planning, researching and writing to make, especially with all of Remnant Lore, medical research, fighting scenes and lack of time. So I hope you will all enjoy it!
Next chapter will be the last of Volume 0. The final chapter will be more packed than any other chapters, a lot of action scenes and the final character development for Vinaceous, Shade and Likor before the start of canon. Finally, we will enter Volume I right when Volume 0 Ends
A little side question. Would you guys and gals want to have the glossary of what I use for the fighting scenes?
Finally, if someone reads the Author's Notes, I would like to have your opinion about the story as it is now and what could change (on the creative and writing stuff) to make it better.
Some explanation :
There are some video game references that I hope you will get!
Nitens is the latin nominative derived from niteo, which means "shine", or "thrive".
Forseti is the (old) Norse god of Justice and reconciliation.
Himst is an anagram from Smith which is a pun for Copper's job. Copper is of course a metal and one that was used during the Bronze Age, which is yet another reference for the job the man does.
RWBY's village is named after flowers and the language of flowers (mostly japanese one). Heath is the equivalent of "Solitude".