Man, my fingers hurt.
Anyway, Darrel wakes up in Remnant. At long last, the real story begins!
Chapter 5: A Dust-y Meeting
"Ugh… how much did I drink?"
As my eyes slowly opened, I rubbed my head in a vain attempt to stave off the migraine that was tiny demons stabbing miniscule pitchforks into my cerebellum. As my tiredness began to drain, looking at the hands that were cradling my aching head, I noticed that they seemed to have… fingerless combat gloves? Looking at my arms, a pair of gauntlets was attached to them. As my eyes drew attention to my body, I saw that I was no longer wearing my hoodie and jeans, but a yellow tunic, blue jacket, blue greaves and a bandanna! What the hell kind of party was I at?!
Wait. The last thing I remember is being underwater, and being pulled into some kind of portal. Anything else is a blank, but whoever pulled this prank on me is going to get their ass kicked. I threw myself up, and walked to the window. But when I got there, I nearly fainted.
I appeared to be flying in a plane of some kind, soaring high above a large town, unlike anything I had ever seen. The streets were populated, yet there were no skyscrapers like back home. Continuing to study the landscape before me, I was distracted by a blonde haired boy who was retching, as if trying to suppress vomiting and clearly failing. Looking at his style of clothing, he wore a black hoodie, damaged blue jeans, and white armor. He also had a sheathed longsword strapped to his belt. Looking back to the view, I tried to find a landmark telling me wher…
Hang on.
White armor, black hoodie, sword, blonde hair, retching…
Jaune Arc?!
What in the name of God is going on?! I wake up in a strange plane, above an unfamiliar town, and I end up standing next to a fictional character?! If this was some kind of prank… I barely had the chance to finish my thought, as a news report was projected as a hologram directly through me, giving me a shock and causing me to fall back onto my rear. Projected on the window was a man posing in a police mug shot. Without even looking at the slab he was holding, I recognized him immediately as Roman Torchwick. I didn't listen to the news reports: I was still trying to piece together everything that was happening.
Okay, from what I remember, my dad and I had a falling out, I ran to the beach, and some woman gave me a crystal. Then… then… what? It was a feeling. Cold, dark, and wet. Like I was being held underwater. And then, I wake up here, in the world of RWBY. Either I'm having some crazy ass dream, or…
No. No, it wasn't possible. People couldn't just jump dimensions like that. It broke every law of physics I knew. Clearly, this was a dream. Hopping to my feet, I decided to try and wake up. Holding my gloved hand up beside my face, I prepared to slap myself silly when I noticed something else on the vambraces tied to my arms.
A pair of thin blades, as long as my forearm, folded into gaps in my gauntlet. At the joint of my elbow, was a circular device, though I had no idea what it was for. Pumping my arm, I saw the two blades unfold into an oval shape, and a third knife, larger and more imposing than the two I had seen, emerged from the gauntlet, creating a sword. A blade on my wrists?!
Flicking my weapon again, I saw the massive knife-edge retreat, but the two skinnier blades had unfolded slightly. As if overcome by a strange feeling, I clenched my hand into a fist. The blades were brought together, like a set of pincers. Releasing my fist, the blades retreated from each other. A sword and a pincer. But then I remembered: every weapon in RWBY (well, aside from Jaune's sword) had a firearm build into it. I couldn't see a barrel anywhere.
"All students, we are now docking with Beacon Academy. Please do not exit the airlock until the docking ramp has been safely secured. Do not worry about your luggage for the time being. It will be brought to you at a later time. Thank you."
With a jolt, I saw people moving outside to get a glance at Beacon Academy. As I stood up, I was jostled with the crowd, moving off the airship. I think I saw Jaune run to the trash can, and heave what were the contents of his weak stomach into the waiting receptacle. I continued to move with the crowd, against my will: people just kept pushing and shoving, and soon, I found myself alone and afraid.
I sat down, and decided to grab a look at the contents of my backpack, which had gone unnoticed until now. Inside was what appeared to be a scroll, a sleeping bag, a change of clothes, which I assumed was sleepwear, and that crystal that that mysterious woman had given me. I immediately decided to keep that in the bottom of my bag, and never look at it again.
Zipping up the backpack, I got to my feet, and began to look around the campus. Not much was around as a notable landmark, and Monty Oum had never posted a map of the place. Guess I'll…
*ACHBOOM!*
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!
Oh wait, hang on, that's just Ruby, her Dust powered sneeze, and Weiss. Looking over, both girls were covered in grey soot, and if my memory served, Weiss was more than prepared to give her a chewing out over the incident. Now I figured was as good a time as any to try and change things for the better. As I marched over, Weiss shook the soot off of her body and began to launch into her tirade.
"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"
What should I say? That it was her fault that Ruby sneezed? That she shouldn't have kept the Dust in unmarked cases? I mean, she did keep shaking that vial in Ruby's face. I'm really…
"…really sorry!"
Though knowing how haughty she can be, she'd probably give me the same lecture. Dust is explosive after all. It's not exactly something you should manage lightly. Ugh, why am I arguing with myself?! I am a complete…
"…DOLT! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"
"Yes. Yes she is." I interrupted her rant, and both girls turned to me. Weiss's ice blue eyes bored a hole in me, but I had to stay strong.
"You know, Snow Angel, if Dust is so volatile, why are you carrying it in unmarked cases? Isn't that a complete breach of safety?"
Weiss said nothing, merely blinked.
"Also, the reason Red Riding Hood here sneezed an explosion was because YOU kept shaking that vial in her face. Another breach of safety. I'd say that you should spend less time scolding nervous girls on their first day at somewhere new, and more time taking proper care of your belongings."
Ruby was silently giggling at my damning words to the ice queen, though Weiss had a furious look in her eyes, almost as if she was trying to kill me on the spot. In a millisecond, she had pulled Myrtenaster from her hip, and thrust the point at my chin. It took all of my mettle to not flinch. Admittedly, I blinked at the maneuver, and tilted my head back to avoid the blade, but that was all.
"You dare suggest that this is my fault?! You think you can just waltz on up and say that sort of thing to me?! You're lucky you're also a Beacon student, or I would cut you down where you stand!" she yelled. I unfolded my arms, and flicked my wrists, unsheathing the dual swords of my gauntlets and holding them up in an intimidating way, doing my best not to look scared, and impossibly succeeding.
"Try it, princess." I sneered. But at those words, a soft *ahem* silenced us both. With both of our heads turning at once to the offending interrupter, we found her to be a black-haired girl, taller that Weiss by a fair margin, and only a few centimeters on me, though her black heels assisted in her height. Wearing a black waistcoat and a white undershirt, what struck us was the black bow. After a few seconds, a soundless word escaped my lips.
Blake…
"It's heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." Blake explained to the three of us. Weiss, putting Myrtenaster away, replaced the furious look on her face with one of smugness. Clearly, one of Weiss's hobbies was having her enormous ego stroked.
"Finally, some recognition!"
You'd get more of it, if you'd stop acting like you're so superior, I thought to myself.
"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Blake finished. Weiss's face changed again, back to the furious. I swear, the girl was an emotional revolving door. As she sputtered to the recent arrival, she snatched the vial of Dust from her hand and stormed off.
"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby called after the departing heiress, forgotten until now. As I watched her depart, Blake slapped me on the head.
"You can't just unveil weapons around the school like that. You'll end up causing trouble." I rubbed my stinging head, right underneath the bandanna I was wearing. As I turned to her, she was already departing. Ruby came up to me, and grabbed my hand, shaking it.
"Thanks. You didn't have to do that." She said warmly. I just shrugged.
"Eh, it just felt like the right thing to do." I looked back at where the heiress had departed, then turned back to Ruby.
"My name's Darrel. Darrel Conway."
"Ruby."
As we turned to walk, I literally bumped into Jaune, who was still looking a little green around the gills.
"Hey, aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" Ruby asked. Jaune looked down at his sneakers, embarrassed.
"Hey, all I'm saying is, motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!"
Since Jaune had joined Ruby and I, we had to ask why he had puked on the ship. Apparently, Jaune suffered from minor motion sickness, and it was worse when he was in a plane. I sympathized: my brother had delayed a flight because he had been through a panic attack about 15 minutes before takeoff.
"I'm sorry, Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind!" Ruby said.
"Oh, yeah? Well, what if I called you 'Crater Face'?" Jaune retorted, a look of faux annoyance on his face.
"Hey, that explosion wasn't her fault!" I defended.
"Well, anyway, the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."
I snickered.
"Do they?" Ruby asked skeptically.
"They will! Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always said…" He trailed off, and then let out a sigh.
"Never mind."
Ruby giggled at Jaune's awkwardness, and reached for Crescent Rose.
"So yeah. I got this." She offered, unfolding her massive scythe and planting the blade into the ground, millimeters from my foot. I jumped away, and clutched at it in shock.
"Woah! Is that a scythe?!" Jaune asked, awestruck. I, in the meantime, was checking to see if any of my toes had survived the inadvertent attack. Thankfully, they had.
"It's also a customizable, high-impact, sniper rifle!" Ruby hoisted the scythe into her hands.
"A-wha?" Jaune looked confused. I tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked at me.
"It's also a gun, dipstick." I said, a smile on my face.
"Oh." He said, then turning back to Ruby, he flashed a thumbs up.
"That's cool!"
"So what do you two have?"
I motioned to Jaune deciding to let him go first. After seeing our weapons, he'd probably feel bad that his wasn't as cool. He pulled out his longsword, and grasped his sheath.
"I got this sword!"
Ruby looked at it with interest, curious as to what it could do. Jaune smirked.
"Yeah, and I got a shield too!" Jaune's scabbard unfolded, transforming into a heater shield, emblazoned with two crescents. I could tell Ruby was excited to see more weapons.
"So… what do they do?" Ruby asked, touching the shield in curiosity, causing it to spring shut, to Jaune's surprise. As he fumbled with his weapon, trying to get a good grip on it, I stepped back, not wanting to make the problem worse. Finally, Jaune managed to get the malfunctioning weapon under control, and attached it to his belt, along with his sword stashed inside.
"Well, you could probably guess, but the shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just... put it away..." He trailed off, clearly thinking that it wasn't that impressive in comparison.
"But wouldn't it weigh the same?" Ruby asked. Jaune looked to the shield sadly.
"Yeah..." he answered. Jaune gave me a sad pleading look, desperate for somebody to take the spotlight away from him. I stepped forwards, and Ruby turned to me.
"So, Darrel. What do you got?" she asked a smile on my face. I shrugged, and flicked my wrists for the third time that day, unsheathing the dual swords.
"I got this. It's not much, but it's something." I explained. Flicking my wrists again, they formed into pincers. Ruby's face lit up, recognizing the weapon.
"Wait, I've heard of that! That's an Iridescent Basilisk! They're really rare. How'd you get that?" she asked curiously.
Uh-oh. I was afraid of this. The backstory. I began to panic internally.
Calm down, calm down. You can do this. I reassured myself. Then I opened my mouth, and began to spin a tale. Dad had given me this weapon soon after I'd applied for Beacon, and told me to train with it.
"Wow. Where'd he get that?" Jaune asked.
"Sometimes, I've found it best not to ask." I stated.
"You know, there's a third function to them. Here, let me show you." Ruby then grabbed my arm, and pulled the protruding device back. Immediately, the pincers folded back a little bit, and a beam of energy encompassed the ends of the blades, forming a string of light leading to the gauntlet. A beam of energy shone from a groove in the center of the weapon, leading up to an arrowhead nestled at the top of the groove.
Apparently, I had swords, pincers, and crossbows. This, I liked. I smiled at Ruby.
"How did you know that? I didn't know that was possible." I had to know.
"Hehe, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard in making mine."
"Wait, you MADE that?!" Jaune asked incredulously. Ruby nodded.
"Of course! All Signal students forge their own weapons. Didn't you guys make yours?" She asked us. Jaune sighed, whilst I looked over my weapons.
"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune sounded depressed. Probably because his weapons, compared to ours were… well, not the coolest.
"Like I said, Dad just gave me these. I don't know if he made them or not." I shrugged, still building up on the lie.
"Yours sounds more like a family heirloom to me, Jaune! Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days." Ruby said, honestly. Not just to cheer Jaune up, but because she actually seemed to like Crocea Mors. The blonde warrior, however, wasn't so convinced.
"Yeah, the classics…"
Ruby turned to me, and gestured to my gauntlets.
"And I gotta say, you're really lucky, getting such a cool weapon like that! Your Dad seems like a nice person!" Ruby said.
At that, I felt a pang in my heart. I remembered the argument we had had, right before I was forced into this world. For all I knew, time could be passing faster, and he would have died before I even made it back to apologize. A tear threatened to escape my eyeball, but I managed to blink it away before Ruby noticed.
"…help me out?"
I shook my head, releasing myself from my daydream.
"Sorry?"
"I said, why'd you help me out back there?"
"Well, why not? My dad always says 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'" I shrugged. Jaune gasped at my words.
"You too?! My mom says the same thing!" Jaune raised his hand, and I slapped it for a high-five.
"Hey, where are we going?" Ruby asked.
"Uhh, I dunno. I was following you!" Jaune replied. Both of them turned to me, and I raised my arms defensively.
"Hey, don't look at me! I just got here!" I blurted out.
"Oh. Do you think there's a directory? Maybe a food court? Something like that?"
As Jaune and Ruby continued to talk, I lolled behind, looking at the rippling water, and seeing my reflection. A part of me wanted to go home, but I kept thinking about how quickly I had made friends here. In the end, I really didn't know what to do anymore. But I was certain of one thing.
"I think I'm going to like it here…"
Yeah, one of the things that irked me was Weiss not getting a proper punishment for her chewing out Ruby when the sneeze WAS ENTIRELY HER FAULT TO BEGIN WITH!
Anyway, for those curious about what Darrel's weapon looks like, go and search deviantART, type in Iridescent Basilisk, and you'll see it as the first result.
Someday I hope to have a cosplay of Darrel Conway up, but for now, I'll let you just work out the weapon.