Yay for Knives, getting to work with Oobleck and make contributions to the Historical Society! And with this he has now become a target, I mean seriously if you publish a book with his name and picture on it, it'll just make it easier for them to find and kill him! And...omg...okay, no more spoilers, read now I must write more.
RWBY: The Darkness Within
Season 2- Chapter 6
Animum Sanguinis
Under Great Strain the Mind can either Prosper, or Break, one's Sanity is such a Fragile Thing.
"So the red marks are actually blood from the Blut clan?" Oobleck asked as he read over the documents at lightning speed stopping only for a sip of his coffee.
"Yes, and they indicate the Cipher for solving all of it; the history, the manuscripts, everything!" Knives declared excitedly as they both went about cracking the code and compiling the documents into a final manuscript.
"I'm thinking of calling it, History of the Bluts: A Saga Written in Blood. As portrayed by Alexander Blut. What do you think?" Oobleck said as he bound the final copy.
"You left out the pages of Blut techniques." Knives said as he lifted the stack of pages.
"I think it best that knowledge is left in the hand of the descendants of the clan." Oobleck said, "Besides, people will be far more interested in Alexei's rise to power, the longstanding feud between the Moonstreams and the Bluts, and of course their participation in the great war." He finished as he cinched it tight. "There I've taken the liberty of compiling an additional copy for you to read, it'd be good to understand your clans history."
Knives looked down at the manuscript as the professor bolted from the room, "Tragic isn't it, I was remembered as a conqueror and a blood hungry savage rather than the patriot and noble leader that I was."
"Amen to that sir!"
Knives turned around to see Alexei Blut, who looked far different than his portraits, he had raven colored hair and crimson eyes, with dark bags beneath them. He wore full gold armor over his red tunic, and had black trousers with golden boots. At his side was the kilij, and in his hand a round red war shield with a red sun with a black corona, no doubt their clan's symbol. Johann tossed a bright red apple in the air. "They just don't get it." Johann said taking a bite.
"Well you did lead a crusade across the kingdom killing thousands of innocents. You abused your men and your prisoners, and on top of that you burned whole villages to the ground!" Knives yelled at his horrid predecessor.
"No, the Moonstream attacked us in their war, they invaded our territory and slaughtered our brethren. I wanted to remain neutral in the conflict, because I saw the plight of the Faunus, but I also saw what their unchecked aggression would lead to in the eyes of their enemies. The Moonstream sided with the Faunus and attacked us, and so I retaliated. I gave large shows of power to discourage people from attacking or continuing the fight. I publically executed the generals of the enemy and the ringleaders of any resistance movements to save the others who would die for their corruption. I broke them!" He cried with conviction.
"You made them martyrs! And solidified your image as a tyrant!" Knives yelled back.
"I did what I must, I played the tyrant to keep order. My men wished ill for the citizens as well as the soldiers, and so I broke their spirit and kept my clansmen in line. But I was betrayed by the men I thought served me, the noble of the region whose army I commanded brokered a deal with the Moonstream after we crushed their strongholds and slaughtered their kind like vermin, and so on the way to the next battle, my final battle, where afterward I would surrender to the Faunus and face my trial, we were killed in an ambush. What I did in life was regrettable, but I would only change my haste to go to war; if instead I had brokered a treaty rather than seek vengeance maybe things would be different." The old man lectured.
"You made your choices, and I don't need life lessons from a mass murderer. Cain has to die, and I will see it happen, there is no forgiveness for his crimes." Knives said gritting his teeth.
"You think that way, but a soldier and an assassin are no different. You will kill him in time, but if you strike him in murderous hate all you will do is continue the cycle." The man said as he walked towards the door and began to fade as his red cape flapped, "Strike him down for the right reasons, not your own personal vendetta. I'm not asking you to forgive him, but rather turn what he did into anger for the victims and not the anger for your own fate." With that he was gone and Knives was alone once more.
I will Always be Yours, even if You Don't Want Me
"I feel as if Lady Weiss is drifting more towards her team and less towards me." Deverou said as he sipped his tea, Edan and Mary looking at him as they enjoyed tea as well.
"Well isn't that a good thing, I mean you disappeared for a really long time so without you, she had to rely on her team for more support." Mary said, "You were close last semester, and during the break you all grew apart. It's just natural for two people who were close to drift apart as they grow and mature."
"Yeah, just look at Mary and I." Edan said, "We used to be inseparable, now I can't get far enough away from her."
She punched him in the shoulder and laughed, "The point is, you just need to let her do her own thing and focus on your own growth. I'm sure she will not forget about you and call on you when the time comes."
He smiled gently, "I'm sure of it too."
"But enough about that, have you heard about Neptune and Weiss?" Mary asked with a sly smile.
"I have not," Deverou said without emotion, "Will you fill me in?"
"Well in the library the other day Sun introduced him to Weiss and apparently she showed interest in him, and he showed interest in her." She said with joy.
"I see," Deverou said, "Well I must be going, I was planning on meeting Luxus to read up on the material."
"Later!" Mary shouted as he left.
Edan met her with a serious gaze, "You shouldn't have told him that."
"Why?" She said leaning back without concern.
"Because when you brought it up, he had the eyes of a killer." Edan added with a serious tone.
Projection makes Perception
Caradin finished in the gym as he waved to Rory and Ragnar and continued on his way back to his dorm. He saw Deverou, and called out to him, "Yo, Dev!"
His teammate ignored him and continued down the hallway with a blank expression as he muttered to himself. Caradin followed him at a closer distance and could hear the words his friend was muttering, "Objective, protect the high-priority target. Scan the crowd, look for the slightest bit of hostile intent, the attack could come from anywhere."
They rounded the corner and started climbing the stairs as the proceeded towards the library, "Ascend the skyscraper via stairwell access, we need eyes on the target from every vantage." They ascended the stairs as Deverou continued to mutter to himself, "We have eyes on a potential threat, Male, Human, Caucasian, Notable traits are bright blue hair and yellow goggles. In possession of a level 4 high powered weapon, proceed with caution."
They entered the library and quickly ascended the stairs to the study nook where Ruby and the others usually gather. Weiss was instead on the first floor reading the required course material as well as a small journal she was jotting notes into. Deverou spotted Neptune and ducked behind a bookshelf, "Threat analyzed, proceeding with assassination." He said as he drew his weapon from his waist.
"Woah!" Caradin cried as he grabbed his friend's wrist.
"Assailant has accomplice! Requesting backup!" He said as he tried to break free of Caradin. Caradin held on tightly and put himself in front of his teammate locking eyes.
"Deverou, Deverou it's me Caradin. Your teammate Caradin Cross, lovable rogue?" He said with a smile.
Deverou blinked for a minute, "Caradin, why are you," He tried to clear his thoughts, "I was," It dawned on him, "Oh my god, did I hurt anyone?"
"Thankfully no," Caradin said, "but I think you owe me an explanation."
"I," He started until he shook his head, "I have to go find Xich."
"Wait!" Caradin cried, as his friend ran away in a panic, "Dammit!" He cried in frustration, Xich had some questions to answer.
Weak people seek Revenge, Strong people Forgive, Intelligent people Ignore.
"So Luna," Runa said, "You seem to be getting along better with everyone, especially Alex. I remember you said when you got here it was your mission to kill him."
Luna gave a half-hearted smile, "Ah yes, that. My family sought vengeance on the Bluts for our eradication during the Faunus War, but," She said as she thought back to it, "The feud had been going on longer than that. It was always a battle for territory and control between the two houses, dating back to their founding and the war was sort of an excuse for my clan to take what they felt was rightfully theirs." She said thinking back to the history lessons from her father, "My father told me that the land the Bluts owned was that of our forefathers, and that the Bluts took it in a raid many years back. They took over the land and purged the Bluts and although the Bluts had a neutral stance in the war, they quickly sided with the opposition and led many powerful attacks against the Faunus Forces." She finished.
"Sounds to me like the Bluts were defending themselves." Runa said.
"Yes, well our clan didn't see it that way, they saw an enemy that was committing atrocities in the name of their own mad power lust. But in truth the Bluts minimized the damage to the regions under their control and suppressed all rebellion by native forces. Alexei was a genius, if not brutal, and so after the eradication of my clan they swore to seek vengeance on the Bluts and to never rest until all of them were dead." Luna finished, "My father still believes they are a threat to the peace of Vale, and that they will rise up and kill everyone in retaliation to their shaming and desecration during the war."
"Well why wouldn't they?" Runa said, "They have every right to be angry for what people did to them."
"Yes, but Alex doesn't see it that way." Luna said, "I haven't met many other Bluts, but those who are still alive are in hiding from my family, but Alex believes that we have both fallen on hard times, and it is better to heal the wounds then open new ones."
"Sounds pretty smart." Runa said with a smile.
"It's not a bad idea." Luna said, "The only problem is the generations of stubborn people who only see blood and damage." Runa frowned, but she then smiled again.
"It truly takes a strong person to forgive than to fight." Runa said, to which Luna smiled and they continued to drink their tea.
One must reach the Edge of Exhaustion, before Pushing Forward to reach the Peak.
"We shall now begin your training Mr. Rayfor. Though I will warn you, I have limited time, so you will give me your all or I will drop you." Glynda began.
"Very well, what is my first test." He said bracing himself for anything.
"You've shown aptitude at controlling multiple objects of low weight at high velocity, so we will up the ante." She said as she raised sixteen balls that weighed twenty pounds each. She hurled them at him, "Take control!"
He used his kinesis to slow them down, but it wasn't enough, as he stopped a few, he had to deflect others, he got through most of them, but the last three slammed into him faster than he could account for and hit the ground hard.
"Get up!" She cried as she readied five benches and he struggled to his feet, she lobbed them and he only stopped two before they fell on top of him. "Mr. Rayfor, you wanted to get stronger quickly, now get up."
He struggled once more to his feet as she raised the benches once more with a few weighted balls and threw them at him, though his aura was weak, he focused the kinesis on his palms to deflect the balls and as the benches closed in he grew panicked, "Stop!" He cried exerting his kinesis over them and they slowed to a halt. "I did it!" He cried right before more balls collided with him and he dropped to the floor.
"We have a whole 30 minutes Mr. Rayfor, I suggest you get back up." She said, as she readied more furniture to throw. It would be a painful training session.
The Mind of a Killer, is one full of Passion or Planning, sometimes Both.
"What did you do to me!?" Deverou screamed at Xich.
"Whoa, take it easy cousin, you asked for the Trial of Hell." Xich said as he backed away slowly.
"What did it do!?" He screamed.
"It removes fear and pain from our operatives, makes them far more efficient and deadly." Xich said, "It simply put you into the mindset of your initial orders. Protect Weiss."
"Well then why didn't I go berserk at the food fight, or kill her teammates?" Deverou asked.
"You've already prioritized them as friendly targets, so you won't attack, and although you are ordered to protect Weiss, you realize that her team will probably be better at doing that. It's just people you don't recognize who are threats." Xich finished.
"So how do I repress it?" Deverou asked.
"You don't; what's done is done. All that's left to do now is compartmentalize your orders and objectives with your list of friends and foes." Xich said, "Just be careful you don't start seeing your buddies as potential threats."
Deverou left the room disheartened, wondering when and if he would cross that line and hurt someone he considered his friend.
Yay, Deverou's crazy, Knives is seeing more people in his hallucinations, and Bruce Willis was a ghost in Sixth Sense. Goddammit...well...shit okay, so that's out there and I'm going to go back to writing now...so sorry... T^T