Chapter 8: What Suits You.

In Emerald Forest, various colorful streaks zipped through the treeline and foliage. Sirius steady his breathing and kept sprinting, the world around him blurring as he moved at superspeeds. Onyx orbs flicked across the scenery as he took a bold leap and landed on a sturdy tree branch, surveying the area with narrowed eyes.

I should have lost them by now.

He perked up at the sound of rustling leaves and hie instincts screamed. Swiftly, he leaped to the next branch to see the one he previously sat on be sliced clean in half. Yet the perpertrator vanished as soon as he looked their way. He clicked his tongue and started sprinting again.

His ear twitched and he flipped through the air, watching as Blake sailed past him. Her amber irises looked onto him as she nimbly flipped through the air and used the base of a tree as a perch, pumping Aura into her legs and launched at him with a burst of speed. He twisted his body mid-air and grabbed her by the wrist, shoving his knee against her stomach, and with a twirl and push of his leg, sent her flying into the shadows of the forest.

He dropped down to the floor and quickly started moving the ground was peppered with Energy Dust blasts. He grimaced and dug his feet into the ground before blasting off, forming a small crater from his launch.

He shifted and dodged from side to side from the onslaught. Flipping over a stray branch and grabbing onto another, nimbly swinging off the side to avoid a lightning strike. He grinned in triumph, only for his eyes to widen when a white glyph spawned and redirected the bolt's trajectory, sending it flying right back at him.

"Fuck-!" He raised his arms to block the hit with no time to dodge. Grunting in pain at the shock through his systems and the shockwave produced, he crashed through several trees and wasted no time righting himself again. Ducking low to avoid a flying kick from Blake. "Do you guys not let up?!"

"That'd defeat the purpose of training if we went easy on you." Blake responded cooly, as a dark purple veil of Aura shimmered around her legs. Utilizing Augmentation to amp her speed, she rushed at Sirius again, lashing out with a spin-kick and forcing him to block. "You're doing good, though."

Sirius grunted and shoved Blake's leg to the side. Retaliating with a quick right jab and follow up high-kick. Blake back-flipped away to avoid his attacks, and leaped back into the shadows. His brows furrowed, only for his eyes to widen as a black glyph spun to life beneath his feet. He felt his gravity shift.

"... Sonova--BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-" Sirius screamed as he was launched through the treeline and into the sky. He felt his octaves pitch as he reached a high point. Gravity soon took hold and he began to fall again. "AHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHA-"

Energy Dust blasts came at him in a volley, he flailed his arms and twisted his body and several angles to avoid getting hit. He sighed in relief as he managed to avoid then all, only to feel pain as a knee was suddenly driven into his stomach. He gagged and wheezed, glancing down to witness Blake be the attacker, her body shrouded in a yellow aura.

He grunted, his face scrunching up in pain. Yet he persevered and grabbed onto Blake's arm tightly. Her eyes widened in surprise as he began to tug and spun them both around mid-air. As he reached the peak of his momentum, he let out a roar of effort and threw Blake back down to earth. Her body crashed against the ground and kicked up a large plume of dirt and debris.

Sirius landed a little ways away and cradled his stomach and winced. Eyeing the crater Blake sat in. He panted softly and made sure she wasn't getting up, before snapping to attention as a wave of heat sailed towards him. He yelped and rolled to the side to avoid getting burned, only to see shards of ice flying towards him.

Reacting fast, Sirius quickly grabbed a tree and ripped it from the ground with one clean tug, using it as a shield to block the shards. His heart pounded in his ears as he stood there in silence, his eyes narrowed and his eyes glided to the side to see lightning fly towards him. He blocked it with the tree in his hand, and with a heave, threw the entire thing in the direction of where the bolt came from.

There was a loud, thunderous BOOM! And Sirius waited in anticipation. His instincts screamed at him to move again and he shifted to the side as Mystrenaster flew pasted him. He stuck a foot out and tripped Weiss, who stumbled and broke out into a flip, summoning a glyph to land on and went right back onto the offensive, launching herself at the boy with a fierce jab that he quickly dodged again.

"Try and keep up!" Sirius quipped and blasted off deeper into the forest. Weiss clicked her tongue in frustration and called upon her Semblance, gliding along her glyphs and smoothly building up momentum and speed as she gave chase.

Blake groaned softly and pushed herself out of the crater, cradling her head.

Up on the cliffside, with Ruby and Yang...

"They're really going at it, huh?" Yang hummed, placing her hands on her hips.

"I think the explosions are a good indication." Ruby quipped back, sitting on the edge of the cliff and kicking her legs back and forth.

"Think they'll burn the forest down?"

"Eh. 50/50."

Back with Sirius...

Sirius leaped over a fallen tree as Weiss gained on him. He peered over his shoulder and swerved to the side as she lunged at him with a swift slash from her blade. A wave of fire shot out from the tip and left a deep smoldering trench in the earth. She whirled around and summoned glyphs, bolstering her speed with Augmentation, and began to bounce off of them, attacking Sirius at different angles at blistering speeds and forcing him to stay on the defensive.

He grunted and ducked. Weiss flew overhead. He shuffled back and tore another tree out of the ground and swung it at her like a bat. She was quick to retaliate, charging Aura into her rapier and slicing the tree down the middle. Sirius dropped his makeshift weapon and flipped back as she went for another Aura enhanced jab. The moment he landed on the ground, he pushed himself forward and drove his palm into her sternum.

Weiss gasped in pain as she was sent sliding back a couple dozen feet. She stabbed Mystrenaster into the ground to stop herself from skidding back farther and grit her teeth in pain. Sirius whooped, thrusting his fist into the air.

"WHOO! That was awesome! Did you see that?"

As the boy continued to whoop and holler, Weiss' brow began to twitch. Before long, she was growling in irritation. She twisted the revolver chamber on Mystenaster and charged her Ice Dust with her Aura. Frost filtered the air and suddenly, a large glacier of ice erupted from the earth and rocketing straight towards Sirius.

"Oh, SHIT!"

Jumping out the way, Sirius ducked, avoiding a flying kick from Blake by a hair's breath. Weiss lunged forward, using Augmentation to enhance the speed of her rush. Her muscles ached and throbbed at the amount of power being pushed into them, but she trudged on and lashed out with lightning fast jabs. Sirius was forced to dodge again, and grunted as he had to swerve to avoid a spin-kick from Blake.

Skidding back, Sirius raised his arms in one swift motion, catching the blade of Mystrenaster with one hand and blocking an axe-kick from Blake with the other. The impact caused his bones to rattle and a shockwave to ripple through his very core. He grunted as the two began focusing Augmentation into their weapons and legs respectively, adding more strength and increasing the weight.

As he strained against the two, he shifted his feet and he glared into their eyes. Blake's eyes squinted as she began to peer into Sirius' dark irises. There was something faint, the briefest of sparks flashing in those eyes, which gave her pause, before the white-haired otherworlder found a surge of strength and roared, shoving them back with a mighty shove of his arms that sent them sailing through the air.

Flipping through the air to correct herself, Blake's ears twitched underneath her bow and her instincts forced her to raise her arms to block just as Sirius' fist crashed against her and sent her through several trees. Sirius twisted his body just as Weiss attacked again, lightning arching around her blade. He retaliated with a swift elbow strike to the gut, knocking the wind out of her sails and sending her crashing into the dirt.

Flexing his hands and falling into a combat stance just as Blake and Weiss rose to their feet. The three stood in tense silence, poised to strike again, but it was interrupted by the buzzing of their scrolls. Blinking, they all relaxed and sighed tiredly. As Weiss took out her scroll, Ruby's voice blared out of it loudly, causing the three to wince.

["Alright, gang! That's time! We got a couple minutes before lunch period starts, so let's freshen up."]

Sirius nearly collapsed as relief flooded him.

[HUNTER]

"You're getting a lot better, Sirius!"

"Really? I dunno..."

As he and Team RWBY walked through the halls of Beacon, Sirius rubbed his wrist with uncertainty. As they reached the cafeteria. Weiss rolled her eyes and pushed the doors open with a huff.

"We've only been at this for a few weeks. The improvement you've shown in that time is... unnatural." Weiss' nose scrunched up into a grimace. "It's frightening how fast you're progressing."

"Maybe it has something to do with his biology." Blake surmised with a shrug, her amber-colored eyes honing on Sirius with a focused squint. "He's not a Remnant native, he's an alien."

"Sooooooo, what? His body is finally adjusting to the planet or something?" Yang raised a brow in confusion, with Sirius nodding along with a look of curiosity.

"It's safe to assume his body and mind are swiftly adapting and assimilating to the environment. Just a few weeks ago, he'd never had to fight like us, but has strength and speed on par with some of the strongest students of out year." Weiss crossed her arms as they got in line to get their food. "I suppose all he needed was decent teachings to become more competent in battle."

"Like getting thrashed around for the first week and a half wasn't enough." Sirius grumbled under his breath with a creased brow.

Ruby beamed, slapping the white-haired boy on the shoulder playfully. "D'awh, don't worry about it too much! You're loads better than you were before? Isn't that what matters?"

"I guess so." Sirius hummed as he grabbed a tray and began eyeing the vast assortment of food being stored.

As the group got their food, Yang's eyes drifted over to Ruby, who was grabbing all the nearest cookies and dumping them on her plate. She sighed and shook her head before bonking the reddette on the head lightly, much to the smaller girl's chagrin.

"Owwww! Yaaaaang..." Ruby whined, pouting up at her sister.

"Ruby, we've been over this. You can't just have cookies for breakfast." Yang lightly chided, tray in on hand, and the other rested on her hip.

"But it's so good..."

"And hardly healthy." Weiss snarked, lips peeling back into a frown. "You need something far more nutritional."

Ruby gave her partner as gave her partner a look of betrayal. Blake swiftly chimed in. "You're a growing girl after all. Besides, you don't want to get cavities."

Ruby stamped her foot and whirled around, locking onto Sirius. The boy blinked in confusion as she started giving him puppy dog eyes. The sheer volume of cuteness was so blinding, he feared he'd have gone blind from stares alone. His eye twitched and Yang cursed under her breath.

"Sirius~ tell them that cookies are amazing and that it's okay for me to eat them! Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!" Ruby bounced in her spot. And as if to make things worse, her stare intensified.

Sirius visibly strained under her stare, grimacing as he felt his will begin to crumble before his very eyes. He could feel Yang, Weiss, and Blake boring holes into his skull, and the moment he glanced towards them, the three began shaking their heads hard enough to give themselves whiplash. He peered over at Ruby, only to see her begin to whimper and pout her lip. He hissed and closed eyes, a groan of despair rumbling at the back of his throat.

Cracking one eye open, Sirius winced. "Maybe you should... l-lean back on the cookies."

As the yellow, white, and black of Team RWBY let out collective sighs of relief, Ruby turned as white as chalk and comedically crumbled to the floor, a depressive cloud hanging over head as she slammed her fist against the ground.

"Betrayed... by my own friends!" Ruby whined out, pouting.

"Only doing it for your well-being, Rubes." Yang pat the girl on the back with a small smirk.

"I will not forget this transgression!"

"Whatever you say~"

"Hey, guys!"

The group turned to see Team JNPR making their way over to them with their own trays in hand. Stepping into line, Jaune offered a smile to his friends and waved.

"You all are here pretty early." Jaune greeted with a curious tone.

"We're all pretty exhausted. Needed the energy." Sirius answered for the blonde, grabbing a nearby apple and placing it on his tray.

"Exhausted? What were you guys doing?" Nora commented absentmindedly and licked her lips as she began snagging stacks of pancakes and plopping them on her tray at lightning fast speeds.

"Been helping Shorty over here train." Yang jabbed a thumb at Sirius, who sheepishly grinned. "He's making a lot of progress!"

"Training?" Pyrrha's brows rose, and a gleam flashed in her eyes.

"Explains as to why you've all looked like shambling corpses in the mornings." Ren stated dryly, filling a bowl up with salad and putting it on his tray.

"Well, Sirius needed help! And we just so happened to be the ones to offer our services. 'Sides, I'm pretty sure a lot of us want to see Cardin get his butt-kicked." Ruby grinned as they all made there way out of line and to their tables, food in hand.

"You have no idea." Sirius and Jaune grumbled darkly with a grimace of frustration.

"Ooh!" Ruby suddenly beamed and grinned brightly at JNPR. "Maybe you guys could join in the on the training! That'd be fun. What do you guys think?"

"... I suppose it'd be beneficial." Weiss begrudgingly surmised, shrugging her shoulders calmly.

"I don't see a problem." Blake agreed, with the briefest of nods.

"Aw, HELL yeah!" Yang pumped her fists with a competitive grin, and pointed at Pyrrha. "That spar is coming sooner than you think, P-Money!"

"That sounds grand!" Pyrrha smiled politely, her gaze shifting towards Jaune. "What do you think, Jaune?"

"Huh? Oh--" Jaune stammered, blinking owlishly and glancing around sheepishly. "I uh, wouldn't mind. We'd have to think of an an appropriate schedule to meet up."

"Mmpfjhnn, shmfh!" Nora piped up with an enthusiastic pump of her fist, a pancake flopping between her lips.

The group slowly craned their heads towards the girl with a look of confusion. Nora tilted her head and stared back with an equally befuddled look. Ren, sighing, glanced at the ginger with a raised brow.

"Swallow your food before speaking, Nora."

Nora blinked and slurped up her pancake within an instant. Weiss' face twisted into a mild look of disgust, while Blake looked only mildly disturbed. Nora grinned fiercely.

"I said that I'm gonna enjoy pummeling you all into the dirt during training!"

...

"That tracks."

"OH! Before I forget." Ruby blinked and nodded her head as they sat down at the table. She turned towards Sirius and pointed her fork at him. "I'm gonna need you to come up with ideas for your weapon."

"Me?" Sirius blinked in confusion, poking a straw into a carton of chocolate milk and sipping it slowly. "I thought that was what you were gonna do?"

"Yeah~ but I'm having trouble coming up with designs. But then I had an epiphany!" Ruby smirked proudly, crossing her arms under her chest and humming. "The person that will wield the weapon should be the one to come up with the design. For weapons are apart of you, and represent who you are as both a person and huntsman! When you create a weapon, you pour your heart and soul into it."

Frowning, Ruby pointed at Sirius lightly. "It requires up most care and focus. Only you can make a weapon that suits you. Nobody else."

Sirius stared at Ruby, dumbfounded. The entire table was silent as Ruby's words slowly sunk in. Jaune was the first to speak up, rather awkwardly, with astonished eyes.

"That... was pretty deep, Ruby." Jaune murmured, blinking.

"... I concur." Weiss raised a brow, her stunned face soon morphing into one of incredulity. "If only that kind of thought process went into her studies."

"Hey!" Ruby pouted, huffing haughtily and crossing her arms. "We all have our strengths! I'll have you know, mine just so happens to be weapons."

"You've made that abundantly clear..."

"That's an understatement." Yang grinned cheekily, biting into an apple. "Did you know that Ruby used to sleep with Crescent Rose?"

Ruby let out a squawk of indignation, her face burning red with embarrassment as various snickers came from around the table. Weiss' incredulous stare turned harder and the reddette began to wilt under it before turning her frustrations towards her sister. She lunged at the blonde.

"YANG! WHY WOULD YOU TELL THEM THAT!"

"Oh! And there was this one time where-"

"NO!"

As the sisters began to bicker, with Ruby tackling Yang to the ground, with the older sister trying to wrangle the younger one off, the group could only watch the hilarity of it all. Sirius however, sat there in silence, as Ruby's words vibrated through his mind. He frowned in thought and took another sip of his milk, humming softly to himself.

A weapon that suits me... that only I can make. Sirius thought, brows furrowing.

[HUNTER]

Sitting alone at his desk in his dorm, Sirius worked tirelessly at sketching out designs for a potential weapon that he could make. Most were rough with minor details, and all of them had a consistent quality. They were professionally drawn, but most remained unfinished, as he didn't like how they were turning out. So he'd go back to the drawing board, and sketch out more concepts and designs to no avail. Several papers were strewn about messily on his desk, depicting weapons that ranged from swords, to guns, shields, spears, tonfas, gauntlets. He was still having trouble coming up with something that would suit him. A blade that he could call his own.

"This is harder than I thought it'd be." Sirius grumbled. Normally he liked to draw. He hadn't had much time to, with training to catch up, followed by studies, and overall adjusting to Beacon and Remnant as a whole. But when he did, it was a relaxing pasttime. Now however, he was frustrated to no end. "A weapon that suits me..."

Sirius set his pencil down and rubbed at his face, muffling a groan as he slumped in his chair. His eyes shifted towards the ceiling as the clock ticked by, and the whitette found himself no closer to figuring out what to do. Or what to make work. Everytime he thought he found something, he always drea a blank. What could work for him...?

When you create a weapon, you pour your heart and soul into it.

Ruby's words flashed in his mind, and Sirius found himself slowly sitting up straight. He frowned, raising a hand towards his chest. "My heart and soul, huh...?"

Closing his eyes, Sirius began to close his eyes and took in a deep breath. He began to imagine, and visualize. A weapon suited for him. Something only he could make. Something that only he could wield. Sirius delved deeper into his mind, and a visual began to form. It was faint, and blurry, at first... unindentifiable, and barely anything.

Something that accomodates my strength. Sirius thought, creasing his brows. Something that I can swing around for heavy blows, but not heavy enough to hinder any movements. I need a weapon that can compliment and withstand my super-strength, but accentuate my speed.

The image began to become clearer as his thoughts gave it form. A large weapon with considerable weight, strength, and durability. A weapon that still allowed for speed, and tailored to a style of ferocity and power. A heavy hitter. And as Sirius' thoughts began to take form, he suddenly found his mind drifting to something. A character--a man, of inspiration. With stark white hair, garbed in red, wielding a mighty sword.

A gasp left his lips, and a weapon came to mind. One that could suit him. His eyes snapped open as he was suddenly inspired, and a grin stretched across his face as he grabbed his pencil and began to draw and sketch out a design for what he had in mind. His onyx-colored irises shining with a sense of thrill and confidence.

And I think I got just the thing!

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack! Crash is ba--nah, I'm fucking with ya.

In the wise words of Pyrrha... hello again! Haven't updated in a while. There's a reason for that! See...

This chapter was a pain.

I went ahead and rewrote this thing like five separate times because I wasn't satisfied with the direction and I still am not satisfied with the current result. But this is the best I've got. Unfortunately it's on the shorter side. Sorry~

With training underway and JNPR potentially joining the fray - that rhymed - we now delve into the creation of Sirius' weapon! Nothing too plot heavy yet though. I think after the next chapter and maybe the one after that, we'll drift from slice of life for a bit and go straight into more story bits. Get the plot rolling, y'know. Slow-burn's all well and good, but we don't want to drag things along, now do we?

I'll likely be going back to edit some previous chapters while working on Chapter 9 once I finish the Going Hero reboot chapter and get some Uncharted Frontiers done. Just touching up on some grammar, adding more dialogue and context. That kinda thing. So stay tuned for that!

Sorry for the long wait! No, the story isn't dead. IRL's just been taking up time and energy, and I've been struggling with pumping out chapters 'cuz of it. lol.

Hope you enjoyed what we got - even if I'm still not quite satisfied with the result - and see ya next time!