Metal like Roses
By ReaderWarrior
I do not own Mistborn or RWBY.
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Beta'd by: Icarus720
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Blake didn't know what to think, do, or feel. The strange man's story was… incredulous to say the least. Gods? Witches? Genocide?
But what she was worried about was the girl sobbing in front of her. In all the time Blake has known Vin, she was never one for extreme emotion. In fact, she's only seen Vin act out once, and that was when she thought Blake and her teammates were trying to trick her into something.
Being told you released an evil god onto your homeworld after thinking you saved everyone you cared about, that is a fate she would never wish on anyone, not even Cinder and her 'friends'.
"Kill me… Please," the usually stoic Mistborn begged, tears running down her face.
Blake kneeled down in front of Vin and placed a hand on her shoulder. The Faunus looked up at the shopkeep and growled. "Why are you doing this?" She asked softly, trying not to jump at him and claw his face off.
The shopkeep's smile didn't fade, but something in his eyes changed. He laughed in a hushed tone. "What's the reason for any story? To spread a message. Of warning," he looked at the small pile of sand. "Of teaching," the shopkeep continued, holding up the crumbled receipt with the Allomantic chart on it, "and to inspire hope."
Vin looked up at the man, "what hope? Was I not the Hero? Did I not fail? Has Ruin destroyed my home? Did Elend-" her breathing hitched and the shopkeep grabbed Vin's hand.
"Hope is always there. Yes, you were part of the Hero, but not all of it." He pulls out another handful of sand from a pouch and blows it into the air. The sand floats over their heads and shifts, showing an image of a bright pool.
"Yes, you did fail," he says as the pool's bright volume disappears, releasing a blake smoke from inside. "But Ruin has not yet destroyed Scadrial. It will take time for him to become strong enough to do so. And in that time," the sands swirl showing the grainy image of a dying man, coughing blood, "a young emperor will find powers akin to the woman he loves."
"Elend," Vin breathes, her eyes full of sorrow and love. Blake had always read stories of 'true love', but it wasn't until she saw Vin's face that she truly understood what it was. Undying and forever. A love that spans worlds.
In the grains, a hand lifts up the man's head. Another hand, holding a shining white bead, grabs him by the mouth and slides it in. Elend, Blake assumed, swallowed the bead and after a few moments, his eyes opened sharply.
Vin's body froze and she covered her ears. Blake leans down, "what's wrong?"
"I heard it," she whispered, her eyes looking up at his face with fresh, virgin tears forming.
Blake frowns, "heard what?"
"An Allomantic pulse," the shopkeep answers, "the first pulse."
Vin chuckles softly, then laughs. "The Lord Ruler… Of course, he left one."
"Left what?" Blake asks
Vin turns to the Faunus, her eyes sparkling through her tears, "it's said that he gifted his first followers with Allomancy." She looks at the shopkeep, "it's a metal, isn't it."
The shopkeep smiles and laughs. "He did say you were a smart one! Yes, Mistborn, Rashek used Lerasium to gift some with Allomancy, and just so happened to keep a few beads leftover."
Back in the sands, the hidden figure places a vial to Elend's lips. Blake easily recognizes it as one similar to what Vin had around her body. Elend swallows the liquid and after a few moments, begins to rise. The unknown helper pulls him to his feet and helps walk Elend out of the chamber.
"Who… is that?" Blake asks.
The grains spin one last time, focusing on the helper who turns around for a brief moment, glancing behind his back.
"Kelsier," Vin gasps.
Ruby and Yang were busy practicing, playing, video games when Weiss returned.
"Hi, Weiss!" Ruby greets, not taking her eyes off the screen.
Weiss, walking over to her desk and pulling out a piece of paper and a pen, mumbles a greeting at the duo. She frantically starts scribbling down notations, recounting all the lessons Winter taught her about summoning.
"Whoa," Yang comments as the game's screen returns to the main menu. "Is there an assignment due later today that I don't know about?"
Weiss rolls her eyes and turns to the blonde, "you of all people know there aren't any assignments until the festival is over."
Yang giggles. "Yeah. Easiest time of my life. No more tests, assignments, or classes. Just me and an opponent to beat into a pulp."
"Too bad nobody has any real chance of beating us," Ruby smiles. "We're the only team to deal with three terrorist activities."
"Sun and Neptune helped us," Weiss corrects as she sets down her pen. "And a lot of people helped with the rupture."
Yang sighs, "I guess…"
Ruby checks her scroll and notices the time. "Has anyone seen Blake or Vin?" Her two remaining teammates both shake their heads.
"It's getting late," Weiss comments, looking out of the window at the sunsetting sky. "Did either of them message where they were going?"
The hooded huntress shakes her head. "Do you think they went after that shopkeep?"
Yang shrugs her shoulders, "who knows. Can't we just track their scrolls?"
"That would be rude and an invasion of privacy," Weiss scolds as she pulls out her own scroll. "But… we could. And considering our record of falling, sometimes literally," she turns to Ruby, "into trouble, it would probably be smart to err on the side of caution."
Yang grabs one of her gauntlets and wraps it around her wrist. "What are we waiting for then?"
Ruby smiles and slides her scythe onto the magnetic strip on her belt. "Let's go save our friends!"
"They could just be having dinner," Weiss adds but grabs her blade.
"Then," Ruby corrects, "we will save our friends from full stomachs!"
Vin couldn't believe it. Believe him.
Kelsier. Alive. Vin would have hugged him if she didn't want to stab him.
How dare he? How dare he leave us?! Vin had long since forgiven Kelsier for his foolish, albeit successful pan, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less. Especially learning he somehow survived.
"Like always," the shopkeep narrates, "he survives." The sands fall once more, draping onto Blake and Vin's shoulders.
"Who is he?" Blake asks.
Before Vin can respond, laughter erupts from the shopkeep's mouth. "You never told them? About Kelsier? The Lord Ruler? About your emperor?"
Vin growls, "I told them what they wanted to know."
Blake grabs Vin's hand and pulls her up, "she told us what she was comfortable telling. And we were perfectly fine with that."
He raises an eyebrow, "comfortable? I don't think a Mistborn has ever known the meaning of that word."
Vin reaches for one of the various hidden daggers in her armor and steps towards the shopkeep. However, the dagger was pushed out of Vin's hand.
Pushed. With Allomancy, Vin realized. "You stole some," she accused.
The shopkeep smiles and nods. "Among other things, yes." He pulls out a small metallic orb, its surface shining in the pale light. "The last bead of Lerasium, containing the gift of Allomancy."
"Or curse," Vin mumbles.
"A gift is always a curse," the shopkeep responds. "But that doesn't mean you can't make the most out of it." The shopkeep turns back to the door and places a hand on it. "I make an exemption just for you, young Mistborn, and just this once. I gift you your true powers," he places the receipt with the Allomantic chart next to him.
"And I curse you with a choice." The shopkeep places the bead of Lerasium on the paper. "But know, this is the last time you and I shall meet and that once I open this door, I will answer no questions and you shall never find me. If there is anything you wish to know, ask it now."
Vin pauses. "What," she begins, "is your name?"
The strange visitor turns around for one last time and raises an eyebrow. "Why would you like to know that? Wouldn't you like to know how your husband is doing?"
The Mistborn shakes her head. "I know Elend and Kelsier. Sazed, Dockson, Ham, and Breeze will keep them safe. But you… you are an unknown." She steps towards the shopkeep. "Names have power. And I want yours."
"My name," the shopkeep asks, "or my power?"
"Yes."
The shopkeep chuckles. "Call me… Hoid."
"This is where they went, right?"
Weiss rolls her eyes, "this is where their scrolls last pinged, yes."
"And it's where we had that ramen," Ruby adds as she checks the shop's perimeter. "Nothing around back," she announces.
Yang and Weiss turn around separate corners and walk up to their team leader. After sneaking into the fairgrounds, the trio spent the last few minutes locating the ramen stall and checking to see if they could find their teammates.
Yang crosses her arms and looks at the booth. "I knew this guy's noodles were too good to be true."
Before Weiss could comment on Yang's unknown euphemism, a loud creaking sound was heard from within the stall. All three girls quickly drop into stances at the sound and pull out their weapons.
From inside the stall, footsteps are heard, rising in volume.
Any underground hideout, Weiss realizes as she raises her blade. As the steps draw nearer, Weiss hears a second set of feet. Then a third.
From behind the counter, the shopkeep pops up and notices the three armed warriors.
"Hey, eyebrows," Yang mocks, "what did you do to our friends?"
The man remains silent.
Ruby cocks her rifle, Yang clenches her fists, and Weiss summons a gravity glyph behind her. However, before they could attack, the footsteps stop and Blake's head pops up.
"Blake!" Yang cries out and steps forward. As she does, the shopkeep spins around and disappears through a back door.
Ruby immediately rushes forward, twirling into rose petals and being followed quickly by Weiss. Before they could get too far, a voice calls out to them.
"Let him go," came Vin's soft order. Weiss stops and turns, noticing the off-worlder for the first time since earlier that day.
Ruby doesn't stop. Her spinning semblance bursts through the doors as chases after the strange man.
Weiss kneels down in front of Vin and notices the redness in her eyes. "Are you okay?"
Vin sniffles and nods, rising from the secret staircase. "We need to talk?"
"Why?" Yang asks, "what happened?"
"A story," Blake answers softly. "And a burden."
Before Weiss or Yang could ask what that meant, Vin pulls out a small metallic bead that shines in the moonlight. "Elend," she whispers, "I'll save it all this time."
Back in the room, Yang and Weiss sat across from Vin and Blake. They had returned there quickly, and Blake told them everything that had happened.
She could barely believe the words coming out of her own mouth. Gods, witches, and heroes, she thought, like something from a story.
But this was no story, this was the truth. As Blake finished her story, she felt her own tears fall. "Then," she finished, "he gave her one of the leftover beads that created Allomancy, saying she could use it however she wanted… He called it a gift and a curse."
"How is it a curse?" Yang asks. "It's like being given a potion that gives you superpowers! Who wouldn't take that?"
"Anyone who knows what the life of an Allomancer is like," Vin whispers.
The three girls turn to their newest teammate. "What do you mean?" Yang asks. "Kicking ass, killing Grimm, and saving the world, duh!"
Vin shakes her head. "This isn't the life of an Allomancer. This is the life of a huntress. Of heroes." She opens her palm, staring at the bead, "an Allomancer is a tool. An assassin. A knife. We are weapons to kill people. Not to save."
Blake places a hand on Vin's shoulder. "It saved that boy in the sands."
"It didn't save him," Vin sighed. "It only slowed his death. Pewter doesn't heal wounds, just makes them forgettable. Allomancy won't keep him alive, just keep his soul burning until it flares out."
"Are you sure?" Weiss asks. "For all we know, that Kelsier guy could have helped him."
Vin chuckles, "helping a noble? That'll be the day."
Yang shakes her head, "that still doesn't mean Allomancy is bad. Heck, I'll take it. What do you have to do, snort it?"
Weiss groans and Vin shakes her head. "No… I think… I'll hold onto it. Just in case."
As the Mistborn slides the small bead of Lerasium into one of the many secret slots in her armor, the door opens and Ruby steps out.
"Did you get him?" Yang asks with a grin.
"No," Ruby sighs, "it was like he vanished into thin air." She jumps onto her bed and stuffs her face into the pillow. "Glad to see you're okay!" She mumbles into the pillow.
"Thank you for checking up on us," Blake replies.
However, she needn't have bothered, as the red-cloaked huntress had already closed her eyes, remembering what had happened only moments earlier.
Ruby stopped in a small clearing, pausing to cheek her surroundings. As she looked around, she saw no sight of the strange, bushy-eyed man.
"Fudge nuggets," she mumbles as she turns around, straight into the shopkeep's chest.
Ruby quickly jumps back and reaches for her weapon, pausing only when the strange man raises a finger to his lips. He pulls out a small copper coin and flicks it at her. Ruby instinctively grabs it and as her hand touches its cold surface, has her mind filled with a vision.
When it ends, the shopkeep is gone, and Ruby has tears streaming down her eyes.
"Mom," Ruby whispered, her voice vanishing into the woods.
Okay, play, I know. I'm late. I've been busy. I had to write 5 essays this week and last (seriously, 5!) and I got a new job.
This chapter wasn't supposed to be like this, but me and my Beta decided it would be best. The next episode is mainly just RWBY's doubles fight, and I felt that would have been too much.
Let's see… Hoid! Effing Hoid! Elend's alive, and so is Kelsier, maybe. I'm still debating on whether or not to write a story on what happened after Vin left. Let me know if you guys want it.
Also, Lerasium has entered the field. Who shall be given the gift/curse of Allomancy? Yang? Blake? Jaune? NOBODY?! RAFOOOOOOOOO!
I wonder what Ruby saw… I guess you'll have to find out later.
Btw, WE REACHED 3K VIEWS! Holy cow! I never, ever, ever thought that a story I wrote would reach double digits, but here we are in the thousands! Seriously, thanks everyone. You are all the best readers an author could ask for.
One last thing I wanted to comment on, just a funny thing is that the last chapter, 17, was 16 pages. Just a fun tidbit for all the Cosmerenauts.
Edward4555: I'm sorry you feel that way. But please note, this is Hoid telling a story, not Khriss giving an explanation. Yes, technically, they are not, but to the people of Remnant and Vin, they are.
iChaos: Dude, above and beyond. Thank you for all of the reviews. Depending on when this is posted, I'll reply to you personally. Thank you so much for all the comments, thoughts, and predictions
Pa tr eon
(slash)
readerwarrior