XXVIII - Salvage Cut

Who's ready for some angst?

~~~(XXVIII)~~~

Their pilot made a hot entrance into the central Vale plaza. Not a moment too soon, Grimm and white fang were pouring out of a hole in the street. For a moment, the White Fang prioritized attacking the citizens and huntsmen, but that ended when they were attacked by the Grimm.

With the bay doors open and as low as he safely could, their pilot greenlit their hot drop. The four did not need anything else and jumped down onto the street near the chaos. Oxon could hear gunshots, roars, screams, and explosions all around him.

Cinder motioned her head for them to move in. And for once, he gladly followed her command. Oxon idly realized that these were the first Grimm he had seen since picked up by that huntsman last spring. He couldn't wait to see how much he'd improved.

His first foes were a pack of Beowolves that stood at least a foot taller than he did. Once, long ago, he would have dispatched them along with his trusty bovine partner for interrupting his daily logging as a nuisance. Now, after all the trials he had overcome on his pilgrimage to safety, he saw them as a threat that must be eradicated with extreme prejudice.

Sliding Bulls Breath off his back, he gripped the wood tightly, fingers tracing over every name carved into the wood.

"This is for my father!" With one swing, the head of the closest creature was separated from its neck. The reforged blade had passed through with little resistance.

"For my Brother!" The next monster tried leaping on top of him from behind, but the sudden ax embedded in its skull halted its progress, slamming it into the ground. Spinning around he saw another running at him.

"For PRISM!" He launched his ax into the chest of the final beowolf before pulling out his twin revolvers. Some smaller Grimm decided that they wanted his soul, instead he gave them dust. He snarled at their audacity.

Blast after blast, the creeps that rushed him were reduced to smoke. With each trigger pill, a name was avenged, with each kill, he felt bolder. Once there were no Grimm in his immediate area, a quick reload of his weapons was crucial.

Moving closer to the epicenter, he saw teams JNPR and RWBY in fierce combat with a large horde still pouring from the breach. With a surge of anger, he made his way to the teams, intent on aiding them. Round after round, swing after swing, he slowly made his way through the black and white demons towards them.

He'd taken a few hits here and there, one particularly troublesome Ursa put a gash on his right shoulder, tearing the metal and leather. It hurt something fierce, but his aura held. He would need to send it in for repairs, but for now, he had to keep pushing onwards.

He wasn't far when he heard a scream. A small flower shop at the edge of the plaza was being besieged by a duo of boarbatusks. Oxon glanced at the teams he intended to reinforce, but he knew his duty and rushed towards the small building. He had to have faith in their fortitude.

One of the Grimm got inside the door before he reached it, and the second was about to follow. Before it could, he fired a few shots to shift its attention.

"You want a meal you moldy porkchop?" He slammed his blade on his left arm, creating a loud clang. "Well I'm right here!"

The Grimm boar snorted in rage before it attacked with its spin move. Oxon put away Bulls Breath and readied himself. With a mighty roar, he caught the beast by its massive tusks. The impact shattered the ground he stood firmly on, and would have shattered his legs if not for his aura.

"Babe hit harder than you when he was a calf!"

Using an application of aura to his muscles, Oxon slammed the beast back down into the concrete. The face plate and tusks fractured, letting Oxon spear its eyes with the protrusions

In the back of his mind, he knew he was burning through a lot of aura with his actions. But he was more focused on his own tactics. His belief was that something can't kill you if you obliterate it first, but overwhelming power came at a cost.

A fresh scream sounded out from the flower shop. Panting slightly, he rushed into the store to see a group of people that had taken shelter when this nightmare began. He was too late for some, the bodies of a mother and her son laid still under the boarbatusk. Another adult laid dead protecting a group of children, one of which was gravely injured.

The boarbatusk shifted its attention from the civilians to Oxon the moment he stepped inside. There was a visible glow surrounding Oxon, his semblance created armor that fed off kinetic attacks on foes. He had amassed a good bit of charge on his way in. Compared to the auraless children, he was a beacon of soul, one the Grimm wanted.

The cluttered debris of the shop gave Oxon little room to maneuver. The boar slammed into his armored guard, causing the ethereal armor to fade away. The relatively small surface area caused the beast to slide past Oxon, and now he stood between the kids and the beast.

The creature began to spin in place, Oxon slid a foot back, and held his weapon next to himself. The blade was angled towards the ground in preparation for his next move. The boarbatusk charged, and Oxon waited for the Grimm to get close before swinging his trusty ax. The blade scraped the floor as the upward swing hit the boar like it was an oversized golf ball. Using as much strength as possible, he powered through the shadow boar's attack, and sliced through the creature's spinning form. With the last threat dealt with, he turned to the survivors.

"Is everyone ok? Is there anyone in the back?" The terrified group shook their heads. One kid, though, voiced a plea to him.

"It's Clementine! She got hurt by the Grimm!" That must be the name for the injured child that he saw once he arrived. The young girl had a nasty gash on her abdomen that was bleeding heavily.

He didn't have any medical supplies on him, and didn't think it was necessary for today's mission. That would change in the future, but first, he had to save her.

He remembered what his father had said to him years ago. That aura could be unlocked to help an injured person, that a freshly awakened soul had more healing properties, if only for a short time. His father's chant came to mind, but Oxon had a feeling it wouldn't work for him.

Oxon laid his hands on the girl's stomach, both to stop the bleeding, but to also establish a connection for the unlocking. "For it is in guilt that we find our resolve. Uncountable our sins, through atonement we become the shield for the just, a bulwark to protect their light. Liberated by this defiance of fear, I sow the seeds of hope, and under my boughs I shelter thee."

The two of them were enveloped by a flash of light before Oxon's faded, and the girl glowed a faint orange hue. Lifting his hands, he saw the wound sealing itself. Oxon didn't realize how much energy that would take out of him. He was beginning to sweat, even with the ice dust underlayer. Looking outside, it seemed that the Atlesian bots combined with the students of Beacon were close to eradicating the Grimm threat. There was still a concentration near the open hole in the street, with more pouring out.

"Stay here, don't leave until someone comes for you." With the area cleared, he moved back to where the fighting was still thick. He saw many new faces all working together with a wide variety of weaponry.

Some of those are pretty cool. Maybe that old coot was right… Maybe my "coolness" is too low.

Making his way through as many Grimm as he could, he found a welcome sight. Clusters of ice sprouted from the ground sporadically, only one person he knew used that much ice dust. Following the trail, he saw her, Weiss Schnee was dancing between multiple does with deadly precision.

A beowolf tried to claw her in the back, but a quick dust round through the skull ended the threat. "Why is it that whenever your team is in Vale, something always blows up?"

She looked back at him with a smile as he slid in behind her, covering her back. "It really is a common theme, isn't it?"

The two moved together, Oxon crouched down firing his guns while Weiss utilized glyphs and dust to vaporize anything that came close. Any creep agile enough to get through was met by an ax or rapier.

"If I were the council, I would ban you all from entering, for public safety reasons of course."

"It's hardly my fault, Yang is far too trigger happy, Ruby is constantly stumbling into something, and don't get me started on Belladonna."

An Ursa charged the duo, knocking some smaller Grimm out of its way. He rushed forward to end the creature before it had a chance to hurt them. As he got close, a spinning glyph sprung to life in front of him. He'd seen this same one when she had powered up Blake against Roman.

"Stand on it!" As he thought, he stood still and let the power course through him, as it took hold, he noticed the Ursa become incredibly slow. With a grin, he rushed the large creature and began delivering as many blows as possible.

Anyone on the outside would see a gray and brown blur instead of arms and a weapon. Oxon's glyph enhanced speed along with his strength cause blades of air to form from his swings. In a matter of seconds, the monstrous bear was nothing but ribbons. Looking down at the evaporating corpse, he could only think of what the reason for this had said.

After the power faded, he noticed there were a few Grimm around him. "So are you saying you're the only normal one?" One speedy asshole got in too close and scored a hit on his thigh, his aura flared to protect him, but it was beginning to flicker. "What will the others think?"

"That it should be obvious!" Sure, whatever she said. He grabbed a small nevermore out of its dive, crushing it in his grip.

While they fought, chunks of stone had begun to levitate and gather around the breach. As soon as the spectacular display of power began, it was over, and the hole was shut, and the swarm was over. Sighing in relief, the two put away their weapons and tried to catch their breaths.

"Well, if you're not as unconsciously destructive as the rest of them, then maybe you should try and visit without them." He didn't know how much aura he had left, but he was glad the battle was over. "I know I'm gonna need to come back here later, armor is a bit out of sorts."

"You do look a little ratty."

"Your dress isn't exactly fit for a formal event either." There was soot and dirt covering her in a few places and she had been in some tough fights, if the occasional tear in her outfit meant anything.

"Well, then maybe I could accompany you? Without my hazardous teammates." While she continued to talk, Oxon noticed a slight shifting coming from the dilapidated building they were standing next to. He looked into the dark building, trying to see if there was someone trapped in the rubble. Cautiously, he put his right hand on Patris and pulled the hammer back. "Oxon, are you listening to me? If you're worried about money, then I can cover it."

She stepped into his vision with a curious look on her face as she gazed into his eyes. "Ox?" He took his eyes off the sounds to look down at the girl. And in that moment of critical inattention, something sprung forth from the building. His eyes widened as he saw a boarbatusk leaping at them. In slow motion, he saw it get closer to them, to an unaware Weiss.

Fingers and body moving as one, his left hand pulled a hidden trigger in his gauntlet. With a whirr of gears, the segments of steel that ran from his knuckles to all the way past his shoulder began to shift. The many pieces detached from their positions on his arm and linked together, becoming a rigid sheet. The whole configuration rotated and expanded outward, creating a great shield nearly as tall as he was.

While it was forming, he surged forward to get between it and the smaller girl. His protective instincts had him place the grand barrier in front of the unaware girl, who looked up at him in surprise. He barely got his arm around her before the beast struck them. The beast struck him with great force, one tusk struck the shield, and was unable to hit the girl behind it. The other struck him in his right shoulder. The weakened armor gave little resistance to the boney spear, his aura flared brightly in defense of his body, before the pale green soul barrier shattered.

Oxon stumbled back from the force as the boarbatusk pierced into and through his upper chest. His hands slackened, causing his revolver to clatter to the ground. He'd been too slow.

"Hurk!" His pupils became pinpricks as he coughed up a bit of blood on the monster, the pain he felt in that moment was excruciating. Not even Cinder's opening demonstration of her powers had been as bad as the tusk skewering him. Thankfully, the beast couldn't get any leverage in its position so it couldn't fling him away. That didn't stop it from thrashing around, causing him to cry out in pain as he felt his flesh tear.

It quickly came to an end when a massive spike of ice erupted beneath it, completely obliterating its head. Once the creature dissolved into smoke, he fell down onto his knees, shield barely propping him up. Dark spots danced in his vision as the sounds around him became muted. He could vaguely hear someone calling his name. Probably his mother or brother, they were always on him for causing issues.

His vision began to become blurry as his consciousness faded. He was cold, cold like his home was for the majority of the year. Where was he again? Finally he collapsed backwards, arms splayed outward, face to the sky. Before the darkness took him, he felt some small drops of water land on his face as a white blob took up his field of view. Likely just a cloud.

Strange, it doesn't usually rain in Prism… It mostly… Snows…

~~~(XXVIII)~~~

When Oxon had pulled her into his chest, she had been shocked, happy, and excited. But not a fraction of a second later, that joy morphed into horror when she watched the protective northerner stabbed through his chest. She had been frozen in shock as she watched his confused and pained face twist. His screams had brought her out of her petrified state, and she used as much energy and dust as possible to kill the monster before it could cause more pain.

"Oxon?" He wasn't responding. He didn't even flinch as she yelled right in his ears. After he collapsed, she tried to keep him upright, but she wasn't strong enough to hold him up. "Oxon! You're okay, right!? You're going to be fine!"

She put her hands on his chest in an attempt to slow the blood flowing out and into the ground. Her once pristine, if a little dirty, hands and sleeves became covered in a red fluid as crimson as her partner's cloak. She kept calling out to him, but his breaths were beginning to slow.

The worst part was the content smile on his face.

Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she became more and more afraid of losing him. Her hysterical yells had thankfully gotten the attention of others near her. She looked up as Professor Goodwitch ran with incredible speed towards them.

"Professor! Oxon's! A boarbatusk… Please…" Her words came out a garbled mess but the teacher wordlessly levitated him with her semblance and whisked him away. It broke her soul watching his motionless form disappear into a waiting bullhead. She prayed that he would be fine, that he would be looked at immediately.

Wiess stayed on the ground, a small red puddle occupying the spot Oxon had been. Looked next to it, she saw a discarded gun. Myrtenaster laid on the ground beside her as she reached for the dark gun. The weapon's black steel shined from proper maintenance, and the most unique features were a carving seal holding an arrow in its mouth and a name engraved on the barrel. Taxus, Selkie of Prism She clutched the revolver tightly against her chest, unconsciously staining her front in blood.

She was in that state when the rest of her team found her.

"Weiss, we saw Oxon being airlifted out! What happened!?" She looked up at Ruby with red, tearstained eyes. It was all because of her.

"I, it was all my fault… I let my guard down, I tried to make some plans for later…" Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the teen's fallen weapon. "He took a blow meant for me, but his aura… His aura was too low."

"Woah, woah, what!? How did he get that low?" Ruby seemed shocked at the news. Weiss felt a flash of anger for a moment, but it dissipated instantly. Her leader must not have been able to clearly see what state he was in.

Yang fell to her knees besides Weiss to try and comfort the catatonic girl by wrapping an arm over her shoulders. "Hey, Ox is a tough guy, I'm sure something like this is nothing for him." Weiss let the blonde slowly uncurl her fingers and gently took the gun out of her hands as Blake silently picked up her rapier

She immediately missed its presence. She needed something to hold onto, something that could calm her. Ruby and her sister helped her stand and guided her to the bullheads that were bound for Beacon. Suddenly she realized there was something that she could use for comfort reaching for her dust pouch, she found the metal charm affixed to its side.

Unclasping it, she stared at as she sat down in one of the empty seats. Her reddened thumbs ghosted over the surface. More tears leaked out as she thought about her first interaction with the tall teen. Without knowing who she was, he came to her side without a second thought.

The next time they met, she had been trying to get whatever information she could about him and his team in order to prepare for the tournament. He'd told her about himself with not a care about the tactical advantage of secrecy. He had treated her like her beloved teammates had, like a normal person, even after he'd realized just what the Schnee name stood for.

Over the semester he'd gone from a grumpy and guarded mystery, who only spoke when absolutely required, to someone that helped whenever needed and even cracked a few jokes with them. They slowly learned about his past, about the home and family he had lost. And most recently of all, she realized she came to see him in a new way.

Which is why the way he got injured hurt her so. She'd been too focused on her feelings to even imagine there were still more Grimm. Even after she said he didn't need to accept her feelings, she still tried, and because of that, he had to save her from a blow that she should have been fast enough to dodge. He covered her entire body with a shield, and paid the price for not covering himself.

"Weiss, it's going to be ok." A hand was placed on hers, covering the wheel engraving. She looked up to see Ruby with a confident smile on her face. Weiss wished she could feel confident as well.

"But he-" Ruby just shook her head.

"He's tough, and you know that. And besides, he survived months out in the wilds, he can survive this." She didn't see his face pale or the vacant look in his open eyes. If her own failure led to someone else losing their life, then she wouldn't know what to do. He had to live, and if he did, she would do all she could to make up for it.

I swear it.

~~~(XXVIII)~~~

Custom aura activation chants are my favorite thing ever. It's best when they resonate with the chanter and their character/ personality.