Well, my acid reflux kept me up late. It's been kicking my butt this past month or so. Since I'm up so late, I decided I may as well upload the next chapter since it's technically Tuesday where I am. I've got more to say, but since it's spoiler related, I'm gonna leave it at the bottom. See ya there.
Umbra Hart
"And that's the match." Walking past an exhausted student, Glynda Goodwitch called the fight between Pyrrha from Team JNPR and a whole team. Umbra couldn't remember their name, but knew it started with a C at least. Normally the fights that happened during Glynda's class left Umbra bored to tears. However, whenever Pyrrha was up, Umbra couldn't help but watch. She won each fight she was in without a single scratch. It was like she was invincible or something. "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers? Glynda was about to call someone out, when someone finally volunteered.
"I'm game." Looking over, Umbra saw that it was someone from one of the other schools that was visiting for the tournament. Looking down at her device, Glynda was looking for the students name.
"Zaffre was it? Is there anyone in particular you'd like to spar with?" Not needing anytime to think on his answer, Zaffre looked directly over to Umbra.
"I wanna fight Umbra Hart." The smug look on his face told Umbra everything he needed to know. The guy probably heard about Umbra during his time here and wanted to see if he could put Umbra in his place. Looking over at Umbra as well, Glynda had a look of uncertainty on her face.
"Are you sure?" Nodding his head, Zaffre kept his gaze fixed on Umbra. "Very well, the two of you can get ready then." With a sigh, Umbra got up and started walking towards the locker room.
After making his way to his locker, Umbra opened it up. Since his only change of clothes were in his room, Umbra would have to pretend like he was getting one of his weapons. Without his main weapon, his only real choice was Solar Eclipse. As much as he hated using either of Carmine's weapons, he had no choice at the moment. Taking Solar Eclipse out from underneath his blazer, Umbra was ready to fight. As he was going to close his locker, Zaffre leaned onto the one next to his.
"Yo Umbra, how's Beacon been treatin' ya?" Keeping his eyes forward, Umbra didn't feel like interacting with someone who reminded him of Silver.
"Whatever you have to say, why don't you save it for someone who cares? Like yourself." Closing his locker, Umbra was ready to get their fight over with. As he was starting to leave, Zaffre grabbed Umbra by the arm and stopped him.
"Hold it tough guy. I just wanted to tell you something. It's pretty important." Having to hold himself back, Umbra was tempted to start their fight in the locker room. "I've heard a lot about you. Including what you plan on doing when you get out of here." Shaking Zaffre off of him, Umbra glared at the man.
"You and everyone else in Vale. Possibly even Remnant at this point." Laughing, Zaffre pat Umbra on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I suppose that would be obvious to most at this point." Taking on a more serious tone, Zaffre's smile loosened. "Then how about this. I know that at one point in your life, you wanted to be one of the good guys. You used to look up to Hunters." Feeling his blood begin to run cold, Umbra froze. "That's right, I know more about you than all those assholes out there. I can tell you exactly what happened in the Forever Falls all those years ago. What happened that day wasn't your fault. It was all Hazelmere's fault. If that sorry excuse of a Huntsman had just stuck around, things might've gone down differently. You get it yet Umbra? I'm not an enemy, I'm a friend." Having to remind himself to breathe, Umbra took a step away from Zaffre.
"Who are you? How do you know all that about me?" Walking past Umbra, Zaffre waved.
"If you wanna know, meet me after class. I'll tell you everything then." Stopping at the exit, Zaffre looked over his shoulder at Umbra. "Though… I guess I can at least tell you one thing for now. Ever since you left Mt. Glenn, an old friend of yours has been keeping an eye on you Umbra. Don't disappoint them now." Old friend? He couldn't mean…
Shaking, Umbra couldn't control his breathing. Clutching at his chest, Umbra closed his eyes. After taking a few shaky breaths, Umbra was eventually able to calm down enough to exit the locker room.
Waiting in the arena for him was Zaffre. Slung over his shoulder was a Longsword. Only having access to a Tantō meant that Umbra was at the disadvantage.
Umbra didn't realize it until he had taken his stance, but he was still shaking ever so slightly. Tightening his grip on Solar Eclipse, Umbra attempted to steady himself. Hearing Glynda begin her countdown, Umbra slightly lowered himself. If he was going to win this fight, then he needed to outmaneuver he enemy.
As soon as Glynda finished counting down, Umbra was on the attack. Flipping Solar Eclipse into a normal grip, Umbra slid under Zaffre's attack and slashed at his legs. Getting back to his feet Umbra flipped Solar Eclipse back into its reverse grip. Spinning around Umbra blocked a downward slash from Zaffre.
Kicking Zaffre away Umbra closed the distance and slashed at his arms. Since this was about whittling down your opponents Aura and not about killing, attacks like that were all Umbra needed. Laughing, Zaffre sent an upwards slash Umbra's way. Blocking the attack, Umbra was surprised by how much strength Zaffre had used. Nearly getting knocked off his feet, Umbra caught himself. Resting his Longsword on his shoulder, Zaffre used his free hand to motion for Umbra to come at him.
"I think I got a feel for ya now. So…" Flourishing his sword, Zaffre put on his serious face. "…How about we take this seriously now, eh?" Not falling for the bait, Umbra remained unfazed. Zaffre was only trying to get in Umbra's head.
Rushing forward Umbra faked a low attack with Solar Eclipse and punched Zaffre in the face. Bringing his sword back Zaffre managed to hit Umbra's arm. Going low for real this time, Umbra did a spin slash and managed to hit Zaffre's stomach. Taking a hit to the face by the pommel of Zaffre's sword, Umbra stumbled backwards.
Not liking that he was being forced to go on the defense, Zaffre was able to quickly switch the tides and go on the attack himself. As Umbra blocked each attack Zaffre threw at him, he was surprised at how fast a first year like Zaffre was able to move. Other than Team RWBY and Team JNPR, most first years weren't that good. Does he have a Semblance that boosts his speed like Ruby's?
Choosing to fall to the ground, Umbra kicked Zaffre in the stomach and grabbed onto his hands. Throwing Zaffre backwards, Umbra shot back up to his feet. Jumping up and over to Zaffre, Umbra stabbed down. Zaffre rolled away from Umbra's attack and kicked Umbra's feet out from underneath him. Clashing weapons as they both got up, Umbra saw a smile begin to creep up onto Zaffre's face.
"Isn't this just the best Umbra?" Due to the speed and strength Umbra and Zaffre were using, sparks began to fly from their weapons. "Two power houses fighting at their best. Seeing as how both our father's were Huntsmen, fighting is in our blood." Umbra nearly took a slash to the face as Zaffre managed to slip past his guard. "Forget upper and lower class. We should be judging people based off how strong they are. Not if they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth." Slashing towards each other, the two locked blades. "Wouldn't you agree?" Their blades shook as neither wanted to give up the power struggle.
Deciding it wasn't worth it, Umbra dropped low and pushed Zaffre's weapon up. Shoulder charging into Zaffre, Umbra made him drop his sword. Now that he was defenseless, Umbra landed a few slashes onto Zaffre. Putting a stop to Umbra's assault, Zaffre grabbed onto Umbra's wrist and twisted. Due to the pain, Umbra dropped Solar Eclipse. Catching the blade midair, Zaffre used Umbra's own weapon against him.
Kicking Umbra's legs out from under him for the second time, Zaffre stabbed downward. Catching the blade with both his hands, Umbra watched as it slowly descended towards his eye. This totally feels like it's against the rules somewhere!
Just as Umbra thought he was going to lose an eye, the bell rang. Backing off, Zaffre laughed. Standing over Umbra, Zaffre offered him a hand up. Declining his offer, Umbra got up on his own. Flipping Solar Eclipse up into the air and catching it by the blade, Zaffre handed Umbra Solar Eclipse back. Walking up to the two, Glynda didn't look too happy.
"While no one was seriously hurt, I must say that that didn't look like a spar to me." Since Glynda was a trained and seasoned Huntress, it made sense for her to be able to tell when a fight went farther than just a light sparring session. Most likely Zaffre was testing Umbra. For whatever reason that may be, Umbra didn't know. "As for the results, the two of you tied. That was quite the even match." Rubbing the back of his head, Zaffre laughed.
"Sorry about that. Umbra was just such a tough opponent, I felt like I needed to go all out." Looking back at Umbra, Zaffre smiled. "Maybe if I had a Semblance more geared for combat instead of support, things would've ended differently." He doesn't see his Semblance as one geared towards offense? Unless… his Semblance doesn't give him a speed boost. If that's the case, then he was using his weapon better than a regular first year student would. With the way he had been talking earlier, and the way that he fought, something's telling me that Zaffre isn't quite whoever he's pretending to be. "Yo, Umbra, you good? Glynda told us to get changed and get lost, class is over. Everyone else left without us for cryin' out loud!" Returning to reality, Umbra shook his head.
"Yeah… Sure…" Heading back to his locker, Umbra once again had to play pretend. Hiding Solar Eclipse under the blazer of his uniform, Umbra felt that now more than ever he should keep a weapon on himself. When he was done hiding his weapon, Umbra met back up with Zaffre outside the locker room. Together, the two left Glynda's class.
As Umbra followed Zaffre, he thought about the possibility that he was being set up. Zaffre was obviously here with a team. So if Umbra had to fight him and his team, Umbra wouldn't stand a chance.
Arriving at their destination, Zaffre opened the door to his teams dorm. Inside, the other members of his team were all waiting for them. Holding his arm out, Zaffre began to introduce the rest of his team.
"Well Umbra, this is us. The one messaging girls on his phone is my older brother Ice…" Shooting his brother an annoyed look, Ice quickly went back to what he was doing. "The angry looking girl is Dawn…" Before Dawn could say whatever it was she was about to, Zaffre continued with his introduction. "And the emo wearing the mask is our leader Aero. Together we make Team Acid." Unlike the previous two, Aero didn't let what Zaffre say get to him.
Feeling uneasy about the whole situation, Umbra positioned himself so that he was facing all four people present. The last thing he wanted to do was turn his back on any of them.
"Seeing as how everyone here most likely already knows me, I'll skip the introduction. Now… what do you want?" Crossing his arms, Umbra subtly moved his hand to be closer to his blade if he needed it. Sitting down next to his brother, Zaffre smiled.
"Like I told you earlier Umbra, our team is well aware of what you have planned. You want to escape Beacon so you can kill someone named Eliza Dubos. Correct?" Not bothering to answer, Umbra kept quiet. "Well, that was the original plan anyway. Eliza is here. At Beacon. Why bother escaping when you can end things here and now, am I right?" Growing annoyed at the game Zaffre was playing, Umbra sneered.
"What. Do. You. Want." Standing back up, Zaffre made his way to the center of the room.
"We want to help you, and in return, all we're asking for is a little help ourselves." Umbra didn't fully trust these people, but if they were offering to help, he was willing to at least listen to what they had to say. "You see, during this years Vytal Festival, we plan on making this world a better place. Well, start to make it a better place. Like I told you during our spar, wouldn't things be better if we judged others based off strength instead of class? Who can fight better instead of who's got the most lien?" Easing up a little, Umbra had to admit that he agreed with what Zaffre was saying. The fact that someone like Weiss was better than others simply because of her families wealth annoyed Umbra.
"How do you plan on doing that? Do you somehow plan on using the Vytal Festival as a means to get elected into a position of power?" Laughing, Zaffre bent over.
"That's a good one Umbra! Really!" Standing back up straight, Zaffre pretended to wipe away a tear. "No, neither I or anyone on my team has any intentions of getting involved with any political shit. We intend to change things by force. We're gonna drag everyone kicking and screaming with us into a better world whether they like it or not. In the end, they'll thank us for it." Scoffing, Umbra found it hard to take them serious anymore.
"You sound like a damn cult. The way you think you can change the whole world by force seems a little more than egotistical to me. Do you really think that the four of you, or five of us if I decided to join you, would be enough to take on the whole world?" Shrugging, Zaffre kept the smile that was on his face.
"You'll see when the tournament comes. On that day, everyone who shows up is gonna get put to the ultimate test. If they aren't up to snuff, then they'll die. You'll need to be strong to survive in the new world, so if anything, it'll just be the world sorting the trash from everyone else." Just like that, Umbra's feeling about the whole situation went from bad to worse. If Umbra heard him right, Zaffre and his team were essentially planning to repeat history.
"You realize that more than Hunters will be at the Amity Colosseum, don't you? Citizens will be there as well." Sighing, Zaffre shook his head.
"Did you hear anything I just said Umbra? It's just the way things have to be. If they die, then that means they were trash. There won't be room for any trash in the future, so it's better to take it out now. If it makes you feel any better, it's not like you'll be killing anyone yourself. So? Whaddya say?" Finished speaking, Zaffre held his hand out towards Umbra. Slowly starting to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, Umbra had a vague idea of what was going to happen. It truly would be a recreation of Mt. Glenn. What was worse is that these people were asking him to play the part of his father. Tensing up further, Umbra grit his teeth.
"You can take your offer and shove it up your ass." Suddenly, all eyes were on Umbra. Feeling sick to his stomach, he was ready for a fight. "If you know so much about me, then you already knew how I was going to answer." Retracting his hand, Zaffre crossed his own arms. "I'm starting to think that whole thing about a friend from my past following me around is nothing but pure shit. If by the slimmest of margins the person I thought you were talking about is still alive, then they'd never side with the likes of you." The smile that Zaffre was wearing began to slip into a smug one. Getting up from where she was sitting, Dawn huffed.
"You moron, I told you this would never work. Now we have to kill him before he goes and blabs to someone." Ever so slowly reaching for Solar Eclipse, Umbra felt his adrenaline begin to rush through his body. However, before anything could happen, Aero spoke up.
"That's enough. I don't need to tell anyone that killing Umbra here would be quite the annoyance. Does anyone here volunteer to wash his blood out of the carpet? Or how about moving his body without being seen by either another person or a camera?" When no one said anything, Aero huffed. "That's what I thought… Umbra, you're free to go." Feeling his heart beat a mile a minute, Umbra couldn't believe his luck. "Do know that if you even think about telling someone what was said in private today, I'll personally see to your death… Once I take care of you, there won't be a body for anyone to find." Feeling a chill run up his spine, Umbra had been struck by true fear. Shakily, Umbra reached for the door. As Umbra was leaving, Zaffre called out to him.
"You probably just need some time to think. We get that. Once you've thought on it Umbra, I trust you'll come back to us with the right decision. You wouldn't want to let your friend down, would you?" The last thing Umbra saw before shutting the door was Zaffre smiling as he waved goodbye.
In order to stay standing, Umbra had to lean against the wall. If someone were to walk by and see the state he was currently in, they would think that Umbra was either high or freezing with how bad he was shaking.
The way they spoke, Zaffre and Aero left no doubt in Umbra's mind that he was in trouble. If he were to try and stop them by himself, it would basically be suicide. Zaffre and Umbra were pretty evenly matched. In a one on one fight, it could go either way. If Umbra was able to use his Semblance, things might even start to lean more in his favor. However, Umbra wouldn't be fighting just Zaffre, he would be up against his whole team. So if he was barely able to keep up with just one of them, what hope did he have against all four of them?
Wandering the halls of Beacon, Umbra hit his own head a few times trying to think of something. Whatever happened, he couldn't let another Mt. Glenn incident happen. He couldn't become his father and aid in a whole city falling. In his eyes, sitting idly by with the information he had was the same exact thing.
It was obvious that Umbra needed help, but who could he even go to? Damian and his friends? But what if they were in on it as well? Damian was talking about fate, and how they were brought together to do good. Zaffre believed that what they were doing was good. What if by the smallest chances that was what Damian was talking about? As for anyone at Beacon, Umbra could forget about being taken seriously.
They also talked about a friend from his past following him around. Could that really be who he thought it was? What about Coco and Velvet? They could've been considered friends at some point in time. Maybe it wasn't really a friend and that was just Zaffre trying to trick Umbra. If that was the case, it could literally be anyone or even multiple people.
Leaning up against a wall, Umbra wasn't able to stay standing anymore. Sliding down to the ground, it was as if the weight of the situation was pushing Umbra down. Looking down, Umbra could feel nothing but dread. This is so stupid! Why should I care!? Once I kill Eliza, I'm as good as dead anyway! Nothing else should matter! But if I do exactly what my father did, then what was the point of anything I've done up until now!?
After sitting on the ground with his gaze to the floor for what felt like hours, Umbra finally got back up. Checking the time, he quickly realized that it had only been half an hour at most. Pocketing his scroll, Umbra made his way back to his dorm. Along the way, he thought of the only person he could go to in his current situation. Going to them would be risky, but right now, anything he did was ri-
"Umbra, I've been looking for you!" Hearing an all too familiar voice call out to him, Umbra was broken out of his thoughts. Looking up, Umbra saw Ruby waving at him. In her other hand, she was holding on to something. Running up to him, Ruby held out what she was holding with a smile. "I finally finished that sword you asked me to make, so I thought I'd bring it to you." Taking the weapon from her, Umbra unsheathed it.
Looking over the blade, Umbra noticed that it was about the same size as his last one. The biggest changes he could see were that the blade was black now, and there was a trigger on the grip instead of a switch. On top of that, the sword felt a bit heavier than his last one. Because of that, Umbra knew he would have to adjust himself to the new weight. Considering what little work he did in finding Blake, Umbra was impressed that Ruby would go so far in making a weapon for him.
"I suppose we're even now. Though you do know that you didn't have to put so much effort into making this, right?" Fidgeting, Ruby slightly tilted her head.
"Well, you did say you wanted it to be like your last one. I figured that while I was at it, I might as well improve on it a little." Thinking that she just insulted Umbra, Ruby panicked. "Ah! Not to say your version was bad or anything! I just meant that I'd, uh, you know…" Rolling his eyes, Umbra sheathed the sword and put it on his back.
"The previous version was trash. Otherwise it wouldn't have broken, now would it?" While she relaxed, Ruby still looked embarrassed.
"If you say so… By the way, I know you told me to leave it, but I kinda used parts of your broken sword in your new one. It's how I was able to understand how it worked." That would explain the whole improvement thing. She saw just how crappy it was built herself. "I changed the blades color to black in order to hide any scorch marks. I also changed the switch you had to a trigger. That way you can control how much Fire Dust you use. There's a tiny hidden button on the underside of the guard you can press to hide the trigger if it gets in your way. Oh! If you hold the button, you can also turn your sword into a shotgun." Scratching the back of his head, Umbra was starting to worry about any other hidden buttons Ruby might have installed. Like a self destruct switch or something along those lines. "Everything else I changed was internal. The previous version looked like it was prone to overheating, so I added something to help with cooling." With how much work Ruby had put into making Umbra's new sword, he couldn't help but feel slightly bad. Keyword being slightly.
"That's… a lot. Like I said, a simple sword would have done." Smiling, Ruby put her hands behind her back.
"It's fine! I actually had a lot of fun!" Ruby peaked over Umbra's shoulder to look at the sword she just gave him. "So… What are you going to name it? Now that I think about it, you never told me your previous swords name." Crossing his arms, Umbra shook his head.
"I'm not going to. That's something Hunters mainly do. If I named my sword, then that would make me like you." Disappointed, Ruby slumped over.
"That's too bad… Oh! I have an idea! What if I name it!?" Scoffing, Umbra shrugged.
"Go ahead. Just know I won't ever call it anything you name it." Putting a finger to her chin, Ruby thought up a name. When she finally had one, Ruby practically jumped.
"How about Shadow Rose!? You know, since your whole thing is shadows and mine is roses? It combines them both. It's like how I made the sword, but you use it." Having better things to do, Umbra went with it.
"If that's what you want… But correct me if I'm wrong, isn't your weapon called Crescent Rose? If you ask me, Shadow Rose doesn't sound all that original." Faltering, Ruby couldn't come up with a response. "Whatever. It's like I said, I won't bother calling it whatever you named it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to put this away before I get yelled at." Changing course, Umbra made his way towards the locker room. From behind him, he heard as Ruby said her goodbye.
"Bye Umbra, I'll see you tomorrow then! I'll try and think up a better name by then!" While he highly doubted that, Umbra wasn't going to tell her so.
Putting his hands in his pockets, Umbra went back to thinking about how he was going to save Vale and possibly all of Remnant. With his new and improved sword, Umbra was feeling slightly better. Even if he was all alone, Umbra was going to do everything in his power to avoid going down his fathers path. After killing Eliza, Umbra was going after the members of Team AZID next…
So I've been a little bit nervous about this chapter and I guess to an extent the previous one... And a few that come after. As you can probably guess from what you just read, I'm taking a dramatically different approach to Umbral Shadow this time around. The original idea behind Umbra Shadow was to have someone in the world of RWBY going off on their own story with their own objectives. His path might've crossed with Ruby and company, but they had two completely different objectives from each other. This time around, I decided to take a big risk and sort of merge the two. That's not to say Umbra and Ruby are gonna team up for the rest of the fic, as I don't really want that. I still want to maintain the whole two separate campaigns feel. I'll use Resident Evil 6 as an example. Even though Resi 6 isn't really my most liked entry in the series, my favorite thing about it (other than Mercenaries No Hope mode) was when two separate campaigns crossed into each other and you were able to play 4 player co-op for a bit. Really wish that feature was used more seeing as how action heavy that game already was. (Okay somewhat off topic but can you imagine a non-cannon RWBY game based off Umbral Shadow that had 2 player co-op/versus with that feature? No? Just me?) To finish what I was getting at, this chapter is basically saying Salem and her group won't be showing up. If you read the previous version of Umbral Shadow and liked how things played out in those, I can't apologize enough for how I'm going to change things. Umbra won't be losing his edgelord status. Can't remember if I've said it before or not, but the main inspiration I had for Umbra was Vergil from the DMC series. NOT the fedora wearing one from the spinoff. I mean, even his Semblance works like Vergil's Dark Slayer Style to an extent. As for his anger issues, yes, he'll obviously cool off a bit when he's gone through some growth. Alright, I doubt anyone's read this gigantic wall of text, so I'll stop rambling now. If you did make it this far, until next time have a good one and stay safe.