Metal like Roses
By ReaderWarrior
I do not own Mistborn or RWBY.
Lessons Learned
Beta'd by: Icarus720
As always, please comment! It honestly makes my day to read your thoughts and opinions.
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Vin awoke to someone knocking on their door. She easily gets out of bed, mentally kicking herself for not hearing the footsteps approaching like she should have, and spits out a couple of feathers.
Remembering last night's pillow fight' brings a small smile to Vin's face. It was good to have fun.
Fun. What a strange concept, Vin thought to herself. She never thought that she would ever be able to relax or to have fun. But these last few days with her teammates, Vin could only describe the time as 'fun'.
Vin looked through the peephole as her teammates began to stir. In purple Atlas armor, she saw a familiar face. Someone who was struggling to hold up a cardboard box.
"Who is that?" Blake asked groggily.
"I think his name was Private DuFresne," Vin responded, unlocking the door.
"Oooh," Yang moans. "Has my new sister already started asking boys into her room? I'm gonna have to tell mommy."
Vin rolls her eyes and opens the door. DuFresne salutes and holds out a fairly large box.
"Hello again! Private First Class DuFresne reporting. General Ironwood told me you wanted a few things to help with your semblance. I volunteered to bring them to you." He holds out the box full of the metals Vin asked Ironwood about last night.
Vin eagerly takes the box. "Thank you." She flares pewter and easily lifts it onto her shoulder.
Behind DuFresne, another soldier, this one in bright red armor, laughs. "Looks like this girl is stronger than you are, Doc!"
DuFresne's head snaps over to his fellow soldier. "Shut it, you fool!" He turns back to Vin, "sorry about Sarge. He's a little… gruff."
"At least I ain't Griff! Heh heh," Sarge chuckles. "Doc told us about you and he needed some help with that big ol' box. So instead of letting one of my mangy blue-bellied teammates carry it up, I permitted myself to join Doc."
Yang walks up behind Vin, yawning. "Do you mean 'yellow-bellied'?"
"I meant what I said."
Vin studies the armored soldier for a moment, then shakes her head in confusion. "Thank you both, then."
Both soldiers salute, Dufresne with his hand, and Sarge with his abnormally large shotgun. Vin turns back into the room and Yang shuts the door. With her teammates now awake, Vin sets the box on her bed and pulls out the contents.
Ruby, now dressed, leans down over Vin's shoulder. "Whatcha doin'?"
Vin pulls out a large metal bar with a tag labeled 'cadmium'. "Ironwood sent the metals I asked for. I'm going to test some of them out later."
Blake walks over, pulling her bow tight over her cat-ears, "later as in after the next round of fighting blocks are picked, or later as in when I can most quickly sneak out?"
Vin blushes. "After the fighting blocks."
Placing her arm around Vin, Yang pulls Vin into a noogie. "Vin wouldn't leave us this late in the game. She's come a long way." Vin squirms herself out of Yang's grip and brushes her hair back into place with her hand.
Weiss turns to her team leader. "What is expected for us today?"
Ruby ponders for a moment then pulls out her scroll. "Depending on how well the randomizing goes, either Yang and Vin fight, or we can spend the day training. Why?"
"I was thinking," Weiss brushes her combat skirt, "that I can spend some time with Winter."
Yang fakes a sniffle and rubs some fake tears. "Blaaaaake! Weiss doesn't want to spend time with us anymore!"
Blake rolls her eyes and Ruby giggles. Even Vin smiles before pulling out a large metal file and rubbing off some flakes from the metal into a vial. She then grabs her breastplate and places the vial in one of the secret compartments.
As Vin begins putting on her armor, Ruby turns to Yang. "If Weiss is spending time with her sister, why don't we ask Uncle Qrow to come over?"
"Yeah!" Yang raises an arm, "I still owe him for last time. I'm going to beat this time for sure!"
Blake checks her scroll, "we still have a few minutes until the selection process begins. Should we get there early or…?"
"If you're not early, you're late," Weiss quotes.
Vin nods, pulling on the last bit of armor and refreshing her metals. "I'm ready."
"Okay!" Ruby smiles. "Let's go!"
Ruby eagerly sat down in one of the large red chairs that encircled the stadium. She still couldn't believe that there were such good seats available to the huntsmen and huntresses participating in the festival.
The rest of her team followed suit, sitting down in their own respected chairs. Ruby squealed loudly. "I can't wait to see who's on first!"
"What's on second?" A voice asked to the right of Ruby. Turning, she sees team CFVY sitting down next to her, with Velvet in the lead.
"Not what's on second, who's on first." Ruby clarified.
"I don't know," Velvet responded.
A few rows back, a strange man in a red jacket called out "third base!"
Ruby ignores this and smiles at her senior. "How did your match go, Velvet?"
"Pretty well," she responds, her ears twitching slightly. "We won and we're going to send Coco and Yatsuhashi to the doubles. How about you guys?"
Ruby nods to her side. "Yang and Vin for us. Hey! Maybe it'll be CFVY and RWVBY to fight today."
"Maybe," Velvet smiles softly.
"If that happens, you can be sure we're going to win," Coco comments over Velvet's shoulder.
Yang leans behind Ruby, "bring it on sister!"
Before they could start really fighting, the loudspeaker crackles and Port's voice echoes throughout the stadium.
"Good morning everyone! Welcome to today's matchup of the Vytal Tournament."
"Yes!" Boomed the voice of Professor, Doctor, Oobleck. "I am sure today's matches are going to be exciting and very entertaining for all those who are watching."
"Right you are my friend!" Port responded.
"In fact, today's matches might be some of the most entertaining ones yet!"
Professor Port guffaws. "Ho ho ho, yes indeed! Today's and tomorrow's matches will be focusing on the doubles rounds. Each team that moved on from the team matches gets to send two of their teammates to test their fighting prowess today."
"And today, we will see them work together in a two-v-two fight of skill and cunning."
Around the stadium, the holo screens blink to life, this time showing the faces of all the contestants that are taking place in the doubles match. The faces then begin to scroll downwards, slowly at first but they quickly pick up the pace.
Vin had never heard so many cheering voices. Far too used was she to screams of terror, but this… felt right in her ears. New, but right.
The crowd cheers loudly, as well as many other teams in the VIP seats. Ruby and Yang woo and raise their arms. Vin spots most of JNPR clapping, with Nora standing and screaming 'yeah!' Further down the line, team SSSN, who Vin researched about the night before, waved their hands in the air, the blue-haired one most excited. Even the time next to them, CFVY Vin reminded herself, seemed energized with their more stoic and nervous teammates even clapping slightly.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Around them, the images began to slow with a small noise. The first two images crawled and fixed themselves on their first two selections. 'Coco Adel' and 'Yatsuhashi Daichi' could be read on the left side of the screen underneath a picture of each.
As soon as the first two names were selected, the second set began to slow.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
"The randomization process is complete," Port declared as two images of members from team JNPR flash on the screen. 'Pyrrha Nikos' and 'Nora Valkyrie' read the screen as the last two images slotted into place.
"Ladies and gentlemen, your doubles tournament line-up!"
Next to them, on both sides, the huntresses (and huntsman) stood up and began walking to the underground locker-rooms below.
"Good luck!"s were passed around as the four contestants left their seats. Even Vin gave a comforting nod to them.
Good luck, she wishes her protege.
The stadium rises separately, with Coco and Yatsuhashi on one end, Pyrrha and Nora on the other. Pyrrha students her seniors as she slides her shield, Akoúo̱, onto her arm and raises her sword, Miló.
Coco is a teenage girl with fair skin, short dark-brown hair, and dark-brown eyes. She has wavy locks on one side of her face, dyed with a gradient that starts as dark brown and transitions to caramel. Her clothes consist of a long, cocoa-colored shirt with an upturned layered frill collar with a black single strapped waist cincher. She wears black trousers that have golden lining around the pocket and ribbons attached to the back of a golden zipper seam around her knees. A black golden studded belt is normally hidden by a large cocoa-colored belt with gun cartridges on the left side and a large golden crosshair buckle. A large piece of black fabric is attached to her belt hanging down on her right side. She wears a pair of dark black, high-heeled leather calf-high boots with golden buckles.
She also dons a number of accessories, such as a bracelet with black roses as decoration; these are accompanied by black gloves and three beaded necklaces alongside a black scarf tied around her collar. She wears a black beret with a cocoa brown trim and a pair of black, wire-rimmed aviator sunglasses. On her shoulder is a bag with gold studs, which is held by a bandolier strap; the bag is her weapon, Gianduja, transforming into an oversized black and gold minigun.
As difficult as Coco's strength and firepower was, she was more concerned with Yatsuhashi.
Meditating cross-legged, Yatsuhashi is a tall and athletic-looking young man with shaved-short black hair and tanned skin, who wears mostly pale-green and brown attire.
He has a long short-sleeved robe, which he wears on one shoulder over a black muscle shirt. The robe is fastened at the waist by a leather armored belt with two pouches on it. He also wears brown pants and black-and-green boots. His left arm bears a 5-layer sode which extends up past his shoulder.
His weapon, a large sword called Fulcrum, is affixed to his back with a padded brown strap slung over his shoulder. He also wears a pair of bracers as well as a pair of black gloves with green plates on the backs.
As a swordswoman, she instantly recognized the talent, skill, and danger in the samurai. It took great strength to swing and even more to repeatedly do so. Back at the Breach, she saw him destroy cement squares and launch Grimm into the air with a single swipe of his blade.
But I'm faster, Pyrrha thought to herself. Next to her, Nora unfolds her weapon into its hammer form, resting it on her shoulder.
"Which one do ya want?" Nora asks.
Pyrrha nods to the cross-legged giant.
Smiling wickedly, Nora grins. "Great."
Around them, the holo screens appear once more, flickering between the different biome options.
"Coco and Yatsuhashi of Beacon!" Port calls out, "versus! Pyrrha and Nora of Beacon!"
Slowly, Yatsuhashi opens his eyes, finishing his meditation.
Instead of two biomes, four different selections were chosen. A grassy Savanna, an abandoned city block, a geyser valley, and a forest outcropping.
Nora calls out to Coco, "if we win, you've got to let me pick your outfits for the week after the festival!"
Coco scoffs, tossing back her hair. "If you win."
Standing, Yatsuhashi unsheathes his blade from his back, "I cannot promise that you'll leave without a scratch."
"Nor can I," responds Pyrrha.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Begin!"
Nora yelled and charged at Coco, hammer raised above her head. As she brings it down, Coco sidesteps and swipes her handbag across the hammer's side, knocking it away from her. The hammer smashes into the ground, causing a crater to form. Grinning, Nora stands up and gets hit by Coco's handbag into the Savanna.
While Nora kept CFVY's leader occupied, Pyrrha focused on Yatsuhashi. Folding Miló into its rifle form, she fires a few quick shots at the swordsman. He swings his blade in front of him in a circle, blocking and deflecting the bullets. Rushing forward, Yatsuhashi raises his blade to attack.
Taking a page out of Vin's book, Pyrrha uses her semblance and mentally grabs her stray bullets. A dull black shadow pulses around them as she swings them back towards Yatsuhashi.
Yatsuhashi is hit briefly, shaving off a few inches of his aura's meter, but he swings his sword back behind him, this time slicing each bullet in half and halves. This gives Pyrrha enough time to fold Miló back into a sword and charges at the distracted samurai.
As he slashes the last bullet, Yatsuhashi turns back to his opponent. Blinking in confusion, he looks around and sees no one. A shadow crosses his face and he looks up, holding his sword to shield his eyes from the sun.
Pyrrha slashes downward, slashing her blade against his. Yatsuhashi grunts and falls down to a knee under the weight of her blow. Pushing upward, he forces the redheaded champion back into the air. This time, as Pyrrha fell back down to the stadium floor, Yatsuhashi sliced upwards at her.
Barely pulling out her shield in time, Pyrrha narrowly deflects the strike and uses her semblance to continually push Yatsuhashi's blade down into the ground. She somersaults as she lands, rolling a few feet away into the city landscape. Pyrrha turns and runs into the half-collapsed building, a plan already forming.
Coco was pissed. When Nora landed in the Savanna, she used the tall grass as cover. Using her machine gun purse, Gianduja, she sprayed the grass in a horizontal pattern, trimming the blades of grass and leaving no room for cover. But somehow, the musclehead thunderer escaped.
When Coco finished her landscaping, her gun's rotary loaded to a stop and she studied the grass.
Where did she-
"Hiiiiiiya!" Nora screamed as she popped up with her grenade launcher. Reacting quickly, Coco folded Gianduja back into its purse-form and darted into the forest as the grenades Nora launched landed where Coco once stood.
Coco leaped around a tree. She frantically unfolded her gun as she walked backward, facing the way she came in as she stepped deeper into the biome. Every leaf rustle seemed to hide Nora beneath its soothing sound.
Luckily, Nora wasn't one for stealth. She nonchalantly walked through one of the tree's gaps, hammer resting on her shoulder. Coco raised her minigun and prepared to fire.
Crack.
Both Nora and Coco stopped, confused by what they had just heard. Both huntresses looked down, realizing Nora stepped on something metallic and black.
Coco, realizing she must have dropped her sunglasses, raised her weapon in anger and saw red.
"Those… Were… VINTAGE!" She yelled as she squeezed the trigger.
Pyrrha's plan was not going to work as well as she hoped. When she first ran into the building, she had expected Yatsuhashi to chase after her. In the tight corners and low ceiling, his mobility would be minimized.
However, Yatsuhashi wasn't that foolish.
Instead of rushing in blindly, Yatsuhashi raised his blade and lept upward, much like Pyrrha did before. With the weight of his blow, he smashed the rooftop into smithereens and even forced the walls to fall over.
Pyrrha struggled to hold her shield above her as the rubble rained down. Grunting, she holds the shield with both hands, dropping her blade, as she avoided getting squashed by cement.
When the dust started to settle, Pyrrha gasped. Without aura, she wouldn't have been able to hold up her shield. With a brief glimpse at one of the holoboards, she noticed a small dent impacted her reserves.
Before she could pick up Miló, Yatsuhashi's blade cut across her front. Pyrrha gasps as she was sent hurtling through a wall and into the next biome over.
A large gasp cut through the stands.
"Well now, I cannot believe what I am seeing. It would appear that the Invincible Girl was just tossed head over heels into next week!" Port exclaimed.
Pyrrha groaned and looked up, realizing her aura levels had dropped lower than they had ever been before.
Yellow! I'm in the yellow! Something new emerged from Pyrrha's mouth. A growl.
Raising her hands, she activated her semblance and mentally grabbed hold of Yatsuhashi. Or, more exactly, his blade.
Yatsuhashi wasn't expecting his blade to lunge out of his hands, especially when it flew straight into the hand of his opponent. As Pyrrha stood, she raised the blade above her head and gave it a small slice, testing its weight and balance.
It's… not bad. Certainly no Miló, but not too bad.
Pyrrha smiled and rushed at Yatsuhashi who still seemed confused by what had just occurred. The ground, now riddled with holes and steam, began to rumble. As she looked down, she noticed one of the geysers beginning to burst.
Reacting quickly, she swings Fulcrum underneath her, shielding her body from the boiling water and launching her into the air.
Into the air towards Yatsuhashi.
Nora was retreating, which was like running away, but manlier.
Or is it womanlier? She wondered as she jumped over another burst of bullets.
"DIE!" Coco yelled as she shot at Nora. Nora jumped behind another tree trunk. Catching her breath, she grips her hammer, Magnhild, tightly and waits for the rain of bullets to stop.
"Yatsuhashi Daichi has been eliminated due to aura depletion!" Oobleck announced.
The sound of bullets hitting wood pauses for a moment, but resumes almost as quickly as it stopped.
"This… is for… my shades!" Nora hears Coco yell. Turning around and folding her hammer into its gun mode, she takes a few steps back and aims straight at the trunk.
"And this!" Nora shouts as the sound of bullets gets closer. "Is for," she now sees a few warps in the wood. "PANCAKES!"
As soon as the tree begins to topple, Nora fires her grenade launcher.
Coco never saw it coming.
As the grenade hits her chest, a large pink explosion occurs and knocks the fashionista backward, right into the force field surrounding the stage.
"Coco Adel has been forced out of bounds! Team CFVY has been eliminated. Team JNPR of Beacon wins!"
Vin applauded. None of the matches she had seen thus far came close to displaying the skill that was shown in this one. When Pyrrha was being trapped under the falling building, Vin noticed she was using her semblance on the shield. This helped the redhead hold it up with both the strength of her ability and the strength of her arms.
Incredible, Vin thought. She never thought to use Allomancy in such a way before, but she certainly would now.
"That was amazing!" Ruby cheered. She then turns to the rabbit-eared girl, Velvet, "sorry about your team's loss."
"It's alright," she comments in that strange accent of hers. "I think Coco's going to be more upset about her clothes."
"What do you-? Oh. OOOOH! Hahahahahhaha!" Ruby falls into giggles as team CFVY's team leader steps back onto the center stage, her entire outfit now covered in pink glitter and powder.
Yang snorts. "I hope Nora sleeps with one eye open tonight."
Even Blake chuckles. "In a bunker too, I hope."
Weiss opens up her scroll. "I'm going to go and see if I can meet up with Winter. I shall see you all later!" She then rushes off out of the stands.
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna ditch too!" Yang smiles. "Qrow owes me a rematch on a video game." Yang also rises and walks away.
Ruby stands up and chases after her sister. "Wait for me!"
As Vin watches her team leader leave, she notices someone watching them. Flaring tin, she looks closer at the hooded man studying her. Beneath the hood, Vin recognizes the bushy eyebrows of a certain shopkeeper.
The man seems to realize he has been noticed and smiles. He then nods at Vin before walking out.
"He's here," Vin tells her last remaining teammate.
Blake frowns and looks at where Vin has been staring at. "Who?"
Vin stands up, "that shopkeeper. He was watching us. I think it's time we get some answers."
Blake sighs and stands up, "lead the way."
Vin nods in thanks, grateful for the backup. She then begins chasing after the balding man, Blake running close behind her.
The ninja-like duo stepped out onto the fairgrounds. Vin didn't let the beautiful background distract her this time. Flaring pewter, she drops a few metallic discs and grabs Blake's hand.
"What are you- WOAH!" Blake cried as Vin pushed off on the discs, causing the two girls to be flung into the air. After a few moments of rushing upwards, they slowed and then stopped.
"A little warning next time would be useful!" Blake cried.
"Do you see him anywhere?" Vin asked, ignoring the comment.
Blake looks around for a moment. She points over to where Vin remembered his ramen stall was. "There!"
Vin nods and mentally grabs a hold of one of the iron-lines connecting her chest to a metallic pole. "Hold on."
"To what!?"
Vin tugs on the line, forcing Blake and Vin to be shot downward towards where Blake had pointed. As they near the ground, Vin lets stop pulling and drops Blake. Vin drops and rolls forward, landing in a crouch while Blake lands on her feet.
They slowly sneak past one of the adjacent tents and peer into the ramen store's kitchen. However, they see no man inside.
"Where did he-?" Blake asks as Vin jumps over the counter. Vin looks around and stomps on the ground. A hard wooden, hollow sound bangs into their ears.
"He went down," Vin explains, pulling off the rug, revealing a wooden trapdoor. Blake follows Vin into the kitchen and helps lift off the wooden panel.
The trapdoor reveals a small flight of stairs. Vin pulls out her scroll and activates the torch function, shining a light into the dark depths.
Handy, she thinks as she takes a few steps down. Blake follows slowly behind, not needing a light source.
A few feet down, Vin comes to another door and freezes.
"What's wrong?" Blake asks.
"It's the door," Vin responds. "It's metal… but I can't see it Allomantically."
Blake frowns. "Is that possible?"
Vin shakes her head. "No… unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless it's made out of aluminum," Vin remembers before tapping on the door.
"Doesn't that negate your Allomancy?"
Vin shakes her head. "Not unless I burn it. But it still means he's aware of the Allomancy's weakness."
Blake nods and reaches for her gun, only to realize it's not there. She growls, realizing how stupid she was to leave her weapon behind.
Vin places a hand on her shoulder. "You won't need your weapon. It's just one old man."
Blake nods and reaches for the door.
One old man who I recognize. Vin reminds herself. One old man who knows about Allomancy.
As they swing open the door, the two girls find themselves shoved inside. Before either could relax, the door slams behind them, pitching them into darkness.
Weiss sets down her teacup. "You're… leaving?"
"Yes," Winter replies after taking a sip out of hers. She sets it down gingerly. "I was merely needed to oversee the transport of additional units to Vale. Our last shipment was lost to an ambush. I believe you had a run-in with its cargo, actually. It's fortunate those Paladins were still in the prototype stage. Otherwise, your team may not have fared so well."
Weiss frowns and looks down at her plate. Winter places a gloved hand on her sister's.
"Weiss... " She whispers, causing the young heiress to look back up. "You've done… well… out here on your own. You should be proud."
A small smile grows on Weiss' face as she hears words of encouragement from her cold sister.
Winter lets go of Weiss' hand and leans back into her seat, perfect posture of course. "I'll be honest. It was quite amusing seeing Father's face the day you left for Beacon."
Weiss smiles and crosses her arms. "I can't wait to show him what I've learned."
"Oh?" Winter smirks and places her hands above the other, resting her chin on them. "And what do you think you've learned?"
Dropping her hands onto the table, Weiss asks, "what do you mean? I'm getting better and better with my glyphs. I've even started time dilation." Once, she reminded herself.
Winter raises an eyebrow, "and what of your Summoning?"
Weiss pauses for a moment. "I…" She sighs and looks to the side. "You know I can't."
"Don't be ridiculous," Winter interjects, dropping her hands. "Every Schnee has the ability to Summon. We have for generations."
"I've tried!" Weiss cries. "It's just… It's the one thing I'm having trouble with!"
Winter sighs. "We Schnees are unique. Unlike many, our Semblance is hereditary. But that doesn't mean it will come easy." She holds out a hand and a small glyph begins to form and spin. "Your semblance is like a muscle. The more you practice with it, the stronger it will become." The glyph grows almost to the size of her palm, "but if you only focus on one aspect of it… If you fail to test the limits of what you think is possible…"
The glyph grows rapidly and flashes, causing Weiss to cover her eyes and look away. When the light fades, she drops her hand and looks back up in awe at her sister and the large creature now standing behind her. A snow-white and icy-blue Beowolf stands on its hind legs, tentatively waiting for orders from its summoner.
"Then you'll never truly grow." Winter finishes as she reaches up and scratches her pet behind the ears.
"You'll never beat me, old man!" Ruby exclaims.
Qrow chuckles, "heh. You're nothin' but talk, kid.
"You can do it, Ruby!" Yang shouts as she raises a fist in excitement.
On the screen, a black-clad ninja with blue accents slices off the neck of a red-themed ninja. The blue ninja sheathes his blade before the words 'Soaring Ninja, WINS' flashes on the screen.
"Total annihilation," the game declares as Ruby's head droops. Qrow chuckles and smiles.
"Ouch," Yang winces.
Qrow turns to look at his youngest niece, "By the way, don't ever call me 'old'."
Yang quickly jumps down from Weiss' bed and knocks Ruby to the side, picking up her controller. "My turn!"
"New challenger approaches!" The game announcer… announces.
Qrow turns back to the screen, "now, where were you? Oh yes… The new girl, Vin, came back from her training with the Invincible Girl?"
Ruby pokes up behind the two gamers, "Mhmm! She came back and told us she was in trouble with this other girl, Cinder, who turns out is one of the four maidens! You know? Like the story?"
Qrow's eye twitches, but he remains focused on his fight. "I've heard of it."
"Well, it turns out that Cinder told Mistral that Vin attacked her, and then the military came to arrest her. Vin ran away and met up with Professor Ozpin, Jaune, and Weiss where they learned about magic. Real magic!
Qrow coughs sharply. "That sounds a bit hard to believe."
"It's true! Meanwhile, Blake took Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora to the Mistral Embassy to see if they could find out what had happened, When they snuck in, they found-"
"You kids managed to sneak into a heavily fortified, foreign embassy?" Qrow asked.
"Ummm… Maybe?" Ruby responds.
Qrow chuckles. "Nice one kid, just be lucky they didn't catch you."
"You say that like you've done it before," Yang comments, squinting at the screen.
"You don't know everything about me," came his snark reply.
Yang tosses a pillow at her uncle's face as the game once again declares "Soaring Ninja, wins! Total annihilation!"
Ruby giggles. "Anyways, they found out that Cinder and her team, well we never found out about that one goth girl, are all evil, and that they were trying to do something bad at the Vytal Festival."
Qrow chuckles and leans back. "So you stopped them?"
Yang smiles and punches the air, "and so we stopped them!"
"But we weren't even there, Yang," Ruby whispers into her sister's ear.
"The general 'we'," Yang whispers back.
"Ooooh."
"Sounds like you guys have had an eventful semester," Qrow smirks. "Almost as much as we did."
"We?" Both girls ask.
"Yeah, my ol' team." He pulls out a photo from his pocket and holds it up to his nieces. It shows a small four-person team of huntsmen and huntresses. From left to right, a white-robed woman who Ruby recognizes as her mother, Summer Rose, her dad, some lady in red armor and long disheveled hair, Qrow.
Yang leans down to get a better look at the third person, but Qrow quickly covers her face with his thumb.
"Team STRQ (Stark)," Qrow sighs. "That's when I met your parents. We were pretty well known back in the day."
"Well known for crummy fashion sense," Ruby interjects.
Qrow laughs, "hey, we looked good. And I have a number of inappropriate stories that will back that up." Qrow notices Yang's unwavering stare at the photo's third member and quickly pockets the image once again. "But I'll save those for when you're older. "
"Ew, gross!" Ruby comments, shaking her head. "Did your team ever defeat a mob boss? Or stop a Grimm invasion?"
"Yeah, read the news some time. We totally saved Vale while you were gone," Yang adds.
"Funny. I heard Vale suffered the Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train. And they don't give medals for 'almost'."
"They do and it's called 'second'!" Ruby corrects.
Qrow chuckles. "And as for your 'mob boss', violence hasn't dropped since Roman got nabbed. It's stopped. Completely. No White Fang anywhere around the city. You cut off the head of a King Taijitu, but now the second head is calling the shots." He grumbles and continues, "that's what Ironwood can't get through that thick, metal head of his."
"You… know the General?" Yang asks.
Qrow smirks. "Hey, I know everybody to some extent."
Except Vin, Ruby thinks.
Qrow sighs and stands up. "Anyway, I'm too old to be hanging out with a bunch of kids. You're gonna cramp my style." He starts walking towards the door but stops halfway there. "Look, just remember that you've got a long way to go. And don't think for a second that graduation means you're done," he adds, holding up a finger. "Every day out there is worth a week in this place.
"You two," he continues, "you're gonna go far… But only if you keep learning. If you never stop moving forward." With that, the raven-haired huntsmen left.
Blake couldn't believe she was snuck upon. She prided herself on being silent and stealth-like, but to be outsmarted like this punched a hole in the Faunus' pride. With her night vision, she sees the shopkeep sitting down in a chair in front of them, with Vin already in a crouch.
"Oh, please. If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it when you first arrived." He comments.
"Who are you!?" Vin yelled, turning as she pinpoints where he sits. "What do you know about me?" Blake grabs Vin's shoulder and turns her towards the shopkeep.
"I know more than you realize, Vin Venture. Granted, you made it easy when you declared 'I am the Heir to the Survivor, Lord Ruler's executioner'. I mean seriously, that was just too funny."
"Who are you?" Blake asks.
"I've gone by many names. Kings and Princes call me a wit, gods call me a historian, but I think Kelsier knew me as an informant."
Blake feels Vin freeze. She turns to her and sees the young Mistborn's face going pale in the darkness. "How… do you know that name?"
Blake watches as the shopkeep flips a switch, flooding the room in light. "Simple," he states as Vin rubs her eyes, "I'm the one who told him everything he asked for in the Final Empire."
Is that… Where Vin is from? Blake wonders.
Vin screams and grabs the shopkeep.
"You know, I was surprised to see you here, oh Ascended Warrior," he rattles on. "I thought you would have seen through my disguise when you first saw me. Was it the teeth? I had to cut in front of a man in line to lose them."
Vin shakes the man, "why are you here?!"
Something changed in the man's eyes. The shopkeep breathes in and Blake swears his body glows. Almost like he woke up from a stupor, he grabs Vin's arm and twists it away. "I do as I please, Valette. I do what I do when I want it. So try not to make me angry."
Valette? But her name is-
Vin gasps and steps back. "How do you know that name?"
He laughs and pulls out a flute, polishing it. "I know many names. Tanavast, Dockson, Kaladin, even your long lost love, Elend. Shame what happened to him."
This time, Blake holds Vin back. "Don't you dare-"
"Oh, I dare. In fact, it'll be hard to find anything I can't be dared not to do. Once, I jumped into the mouth of a greatshell."
"Great... Shell?" Blake asks.
The man nods, "Yes, Blake Belladonna, a greatshell. Do you not have those here?"
Blake shakes her head slowly.
"They are repulsive."
"Why did you give me that Allomantic chart? Vin asks voice almost at a whisper.
The shopkeep rolls his eyes, "because you're just so boooooring with your 'basic ten'. I mean come on! Ten?! This isn't Roshar," he laughs, like that was a great joke.
Vin and Blake didn't think so.
"Fine. I gave you the table so that you can be prepared for what is to come."
"What does that mean?" Blake asks.
The man sighs. "When Ati and Leras left this dingy little hole, they cursed the planet to lifetimes of war and destruction. It also doesn't help that Ati left behind his monster-making pits."
Vin frowns, "who?"
Shopkeep rolls his eyes, "it doesn't matter anyway, ancient history for your planet anyway.
"Our… history?"
He places a finger against Blake's mouth and silences her. "I'm telling the story here." Blake hushes and he raises the flute he held to his lips. He blows a small tune that echoes throughout the small room. Slowly, the tune shifts sharply and the shopkeep blows a small puff of sand around them.
"Long ago, two gods came to this planet. These gods used this planet to test their powers. Leras, Preservation, created life in plants, animals, and nature." In the sand, Blake sees a large figure wave his hand and flowers bloomed to life in the grains. "Ati, Ruin, would destroy this life, as such was in his nature. He created fire, famine, and the monsters you now know as the Grimm." The sand swirls as the shopkeep spins around them, his flute now playing a deep and slow tune. The sand swirls once again and monstrous shapes of Grimm flash across the sand.
"One day, Preservation turned to Ruin and asked to do something new. To create a life with purpose. Instead of animals with their instincts, the god wished to create an animal with thought." The sand shows an image of two silhouettes standing together. "And so, they did. With the powers of Safety and Destruction, the gods created life. Human life.
"These humans were given four gifts. Choice, Creation, Destruction, and Knowledge." Four shapes swirl quickly: a crown, a lamp, a spear, and a sword. "These gifts were given physical form and became known as Relics.
"Centuries passed, and humanities spread all across this world. They called it… Vax."
Weiss kneels and places a hand on the ground. Closing her eyes, she focuses on her task. A large glyph spins into creation in front of her.
"Now think of your fallen foes," Winter teaches from behind Weiss. "The ones that force you to push yourself past who you were and become who you are now." Weiss closes her eyes and remembers the Grimm she has defeated. Her memories return to the strongest Grimm she faced, a Ghoul that possessed one of the armors at her father's mansion. The one that gave her the scar over her left eye.
The glyph flickers brightly. "Think of them, and watch as they come to your side."
Weiss frowns as she focuses more intently. As the glyph spins faster but shrinks and flickers. She growls and punches the ground, "I can't!"
Winter smacks her sister upside the head. "Stop doubting yourself!"
The younger sibling turns and stands up, facing her elder, "I'm trying!"
"If this is what you call trying, then you have no hope of succeeding as an actual huntress." Winter turns her head and smiles, "Why don't you just move back home? I'm sure Father will give you a nice job as a receptionist"
"I don't need his charity," Weiss growls.
Winter leans and puts herself at eye level with her sister. "But you do need his money, don't you?"
Weiss' eyes go wide. "What!? How did you know about that?!"
"Lucky guess," Winter smirks. "I may have been in a similar situation when I joined the military… So what have you done this time?"
"Well, that's the thing," Weiss starts as Winter circles around her. "I'm really not sure. I went to pay for lunch the other day, but my card didn't work."
"How embarrassing."
"I know!"
Winter shakes her head and Weiss pouts.
"Well, it was! Why would he cut me off like that?!"
Raising an eyebrow, she answers, "perhaps do you'd stop avoiding him and call home."
Weiss growls and kneels back down, another glyph forming beneath her.
Winter places a hand on Weiss' shoulder, "emotions can grant you strength, but you must never let them overpower you."
The young heiress turns to her sister and the glyph slowly shrinks.
"It sounds to me like you have two choices in front of you," Winter continues. "You can either call him, beg for his money back, and explain once more why you want to study at Beacon over Atlas."
"Or… you could continue to explore Remnant, discovering more about the world, and, honestly, more about yourself." A moment passes between the two sisters and Weiss turns to Winter. The elder sister places both hands on Weiss' shoulders. "It's time for me to go."
Winter pulls Weiss into a hug, which she graciously returns.
"It was really good to see you, Winter."
Winter smiles. "Until next time, sister."
As the two sisters left, one to find her team and the other to return to her ship, a small sword of ice formed in the ground, no bigger than a caterpillar.
Right where Weiss was practicing her Summoning.
"Vax? But this world is called Remnant," Vin counters.
The shopkeeper's flute plays a sharp tune, silencing the Mistborn.
"Years passed," he continues, "and a young witch turned against the gods." The sands swirl and reveal a ghostly image of a young woman. "This witch turned humanity against the gods. When the gods found out about their treason, they cursed her and this world. They then left this world, leaving behind their Relics and creations on a world half-destroyed." An image of the moon is shown, blowing it into dozens of pieces.
Blake gasped, never before wondering why their world was like this.
"From there, Preservation and Ruin went to a new planet. A dead rock where they once again tested their powers. This time, the world was named Scadrial." Once again, the two gods spread their hands and create life. "A world very different from this one. A world with no Grimm, a world teeming with life, a world Preservation promised could be destroyed by Ruin."
"Ruin agreed to create human life once more, this time demanding that he would be allowed to destroy it when he felt humans had reached their potential." The new world cracks and turns dark. "But Preservation lied, he conducted a plan to entrap the god. But doing so was not so simple." Dark and bright shades of sand class violently, like lightning striking itself. "While Leras may have won, imprisoning his fellow god, but doing so cost him his mind. Over the centuries, Leras prepared for the possible return of Ati."
"But imprisoning a god is not the same as imprisoning a man. To capture him, Preservation stored all of the god's power in a mountain. This mountain became the ancient homeland of the Terris people. Over time, the power returned and a new threat emerged." This time, Vin sees a wispy black smoke cover the sands. "The deepness threatened everything. So a hero came to the mountain and found the Well of Ascension, a pool of the god's power. But, he was betrayed by a young Terris man. This man took the power for himself, and pushed the deepness away." The sands show a man cutting down another, before shining brightly and causing all of the smoke to blow away. "This man became a thousand-year tyrant."
"The Lord Ruler," Vin growled.
The flute whistled in agreement and the sands showed the man rising above others. "After a thousand years, a small group of criminals and thieves stood up and killed the Lord Ruler."
"Wasn't that… you?" Blake asks.
Vin nods as the sands show a lone woman raising her daggers towards the Lord Ruler. "This group of thieves killed the god-like being. But this came right before the power of at the Well of Ascension refilled, for the powers of godhood always return. The young woman who killed the Lord Ruler felt the power call out to her. When the deepness returned, she went to the well, much like the tyrant had so long ago, but she gave up the power instead." The vision of sand begins to fall, showing one last image of the girl releasing a bright light.
"And thus, as she was sent to the old home of the gods, their new home is ravaged by Ruin, destined to fulfill his promise."
"NO!" Vin yells, grabbing at the sand particles. "I didn't…. I didn't know." What have I done?
Blake reaches out and places a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."
Vin turns to her teammate, tears streaming down her face. "Kill me… Please."
Wow. I didn't think I could get emotional writing a fanfic, but here I am. This chapter was a BLAST to write.
I enjoyed writing JNPR's fight so much, especially since it was a completely original scene. Since Cinder isn't controlling the matches anymore, this shows how random the fights will be.
Most of the side conversations are usual, except for Qrow's and the sisters. But Vin and Blake running into Hoid was completely original and something I had in mind since the start.
Also, Remnant is Vax! For those of you who are not cosmerically aware, it's something fan's have been speculating a lot about.
This chapter is probably my longest yet, and will probably remain that way for a while.
School has started back up, so chapters might be delayed now. However, I will do my best to keep up with my updates.
I now have 3 stories, check out the other two. Currently, I will be doing one chapter for each week, so this one won't be updated for two-three more weeks. I'm sorry.
xFel: There's a reason for that. Find out later. The E.H metals will definitely be fun to mess with, me and my editor are already going over Semblances, Dust, and aura and its effects.
Guest1: I'm sorry that's how it was read. I merely meant that she didn't know about the others.
Guest2: Maybe I might. RAFO.
Pa tr eon (slash) readerwarrior