I apologize for the delay, but sleep has not been kind to me as of late. That, and my primary writing device has way too many apps for me to stay consistent, and I have the attention span of a gn-Ooh, StreetPass has been updated!
Anyway, jokes aside, I know that some people would like these chapters to come sooner, but I'm working my ass off trying to write these for your enjoyment.
Anyway, Chapter 13. Enjoy!
Chapter 13: Ruh-Roh...
*PHOOOOOOT*
"What the Grimm?!"
Before I knew what was happening, a blue flash exploded outwards from my sleeping bag, and I was rocketing up to the high ceiling like a bullet. Before I could get my bearings, I cracked my head against the high ceiling, with little Beowolves and stars now dotting my vision. As I fell, my flailing arm caught hold of a rafter, halting my descent, and leaving me some meters above Ruby, Weiss and Blake. Looking down at the three girls, all of whom were clothed in maroon blazers and tartan skirts, the uniform of Beacon Academy, I wrapped my other arm and legs around the beam, terrified of what they might do to me once I found a way down. If I was lucky, they'd probably forgive me. After they had lynched me, thrown my corpse into a lake and freeze it over, that is.
"Morning, Darrel!" Ruby waved, as if this was a normal occurrence to her. I gingerly removed a hand from my anchor, and waved back. Even if my heart was racing at a million miles an hour, it still was nice to see a face which wasn't twisted in anger, like Weiss's was. If looks could kill, I'd be dead for the twenty seventh time in the past 20 seconds.
"Would you care to explain why you were sleeping in our dormitory, Conway?!" Weiss was furious, and I knew why for a very good reason. No one, aside from Professors Ozpin, Goodwitch, Kor and I, knew that I was now a member of Team RWBY. Given the implications, she probably thought I was a depraved pervert. Obviously, this wasn't the case, but given the circumstances, I couldn't blame her for jumping to that conclusion.
"OK, Weiss, I know this looks bad, but long story short, I'm on your team for the next four years!" I explained, trying to feign happiness. Blake smiled, Ruby whooped, while Weiss looked at me in confusion.
"Wait, you're on our team? I thought teams were composed of 4. Why in the world would Ozpin let a vagrant like you onto our team? Even after you were injured like that?" The heiress asked. I shrugged, getting a splinter in my shoulder.
"Well, I didn't get a partner during initiation, so I had to pick a team. And I picked this one." I simply explained. Weiss blinked, and stomped her foot.
"This is outrageous! He let you join us without consulting us first?! Without thinking about how we felt?!" Weiss ranted.
"Hey, I've been with you guys long enough! I'm not just some fifth wheel here! I helped fight that giant bird!"
"Need I remind you that you got hurt doing so?!"
*BANG*
Weiss jumped at the gunshot, whilst my arms came loose from the rafter, forcing me to hang upside down. Looking at the noise, Blake stood there, with Gambol Shroud in its pistol mode, aiming it in the air. Slipping it away, she spoke.
"Now that I have your attention, I'd like to point out that Yang is stuck in the wall, you're hanging from the ceiling, and we are starting to run late for class." Blake explained calmly. I scratched my head, confused.
"Wait, what? Yang's in the wall?" I asked. Blake said nothing, just jerked her head back behind her. Looking, I saw what she had meant. Yang's head was embedded in the wall, just above one of the beds. Even though all I could hear was muffles, I immediately assumed that she may have been cursing angrily.
"She tried to wake you with an air horn, but your Aura kind of..." Ruby trailed off, looking for the right word.
"Exploded. She was thrown into the wall, and you jumped up into the ceiling." She continued.
"Wait. So I did that?" I asked. Ruby nodded.
"Yep." She said simply. Then she turned to Weiss.
"Weiss, you should help Darrel down, Blake and I'll get Yang out of the wall." She ordered. With Blake and Ruby traipsing off to pull Yang's head out of the wall, Weiss looked up at me contemptuously. She half-heartedly conjured a glyph for me to land on. I let go of the beam, and fell a short ways towards the convenient landing platform. Although as I was about to hit it, Weiss turned to check on Ruby and Blake pulling Yang out of the wall. The glyph disappeared, and my descent continued to the floor. Yelling in terror, I impacted the carpet stomach first, spreading a dull pain through my abdomen.
Blake looked over at where I had fallen, and shot Weiss a dirty look. She looked at me, turned back to Blake, and shrugged unapologetically. Groaning weakly, I hauled myself to the bathroom, whilst Ruby yelled out something about resuming their objective, as Yang was finally freed, shaking bits of plaster from her scalp, and gagging violently. After her mouth was free of mortar, she turned to me.
"That. Was. AWESOME!" She yelled, pumping a fist. I shook my head, and shut the door behind me.
Entering the bathroom, I began to strip out of my pajamas. Throwing the Ursa print tank top into a nearby chute, which I assumed was for laundry, I stopped when I felt the medical gel, still adhered to my skin, though while fingering it, I felt part of the edge had come loose, like a Band-Aid. Pinching between forefinger and thumb, I began to pull. Peeling it loose, a stinging sensation fired in my hip, like an itch inside the skin, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut and grit my teeth. Looking at the now loose bandage in my hands, and watching as it literally disintegrated between my fingers, I glanced at the injury it had once covered.
A large scar circled halfway around my midsection. It wasn't painful, but to a casual observer, they would potentially think that I'd had a bad run-in with a chainsaw. Dotting the path was a series of bruises and cuts, which I assumed was from when I was being treated in the medical wing. But the most shocking thing of all was how... normal it looked. The Nevermore may have only caused minor damage, but my side had been ripped open like an old stuffed toy. Here, it was just a faint line, which would be there for a long while.
Stepping into the shower, letting the cool water pound on my back and slowly causing my fatigue to wash away, I thought about the events of the past three days. I was just an everyday teenager, with no first kiss, no real girlfriend, and no real friends to speak of. But being in the world of RWBY... Something had changed. No longer was I the awkward teenager incapable of fitting in. With a Nightmare Maw's tooth as a trophy and a massive scar stamped onto my stomach... I began to question if I really did want to go home. I mean, I'd made some good friends with Ruby, Jaune and Blake, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to Yang. God help me if I had to lose any of them.
Turning off the water, I proceeded to change into the Beacon uniform which had been conveniently provided for me. To be honest, compared with my battle gear, it looked a little silly. Blue vest with tie, white shirt and maroon blazer and pants. I never really liked this kind of clothing: the pants clung uncomfortably to my legs and the tie felt a little short of a hangman's noose. Stepping out of the bathroom, I was awestruck at the décor the girls had put up in the room.
Ruby was hanging up curtains with the end of Crescent Rose, Weiss had placed a painting of a forest on display, Blake was stacking a bookshelf with various reading materials, one of which I assumed would be the infamous Ninjas of Love, and Yang had covered the glory hole with a poster of the Achieve Men. I snorted to myself, which Yang noticed.
"What's funny?" She asked.
"I'll explain some other time." I snickered. Stepping forward, I began to help out with decorating the room.
Standing at the door, admiring our handiwork, I had to admit, I was a little impressed at our efforts. The walls had been covered up by a multitude of posters and paintings, a couple of bookcases were loaded to the brim with books of various topics, four desks were laid in the corners of the room, and a sitting area comprised of couches 'donated' from the medical wing, cushions of various shapes and sizes, and a low table placed in the centre. But there was a problem.
The beds had been laid in the centre of the room, haphazardly balanced in a lofty pile. Now this would bee an issue.
"This isn't going to work." Weiss concluded, studying the mess with her hands on her hips.
"It is a bit cramped." Blake agreed. I had to agree: even if we hadn't sto-received that 'donation' from the medical wing, there was barely any room for the beds
"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff." Yang shrugged.
"Ooorrr, we could ditch the beds, and replace them with bunk beds!" Ruby cheered. Weiss looked uncomfortably at her partner.
"Um, that sounds incredibly dangerous." She pointed out, before Yang jumped in.
"And super awesome!"
"It does seem efficient." Blake agreed. I nodded.
"2 beds in one space. You can't argue with that." I shrugged. Weiss shot me a dirty look, then looked back to the beds.
"Well, we should at least put it to a vote."
"I think we just did." Ruby chuckled. Looking down the line, I saw Blake smile and raise her hand in a thumbs-up. Yang threw her hands up as double horns and flashed a wide grin, while Weiss stuck her tongue out, and put her hands to her sides. As for me, I just pumped my fist into the air. Having agreed, the four girls rushed forwards, and a cloud of dust rose up, obscuring them from my view. A few seconds later, the four rushed back to their positions, and glanced at their work.
"Objective, complete!" Ruby smiled. Looking at the bunk beds, I seriously began to question safety. The one on the right, true to form, was propped up using some spare notebooks, whilst the left was held up via ropes and had a privacy blanket draped over it. Though while I was glancing at the shoddy construction, I noticed something was missing.
"Wait a minute, where am I gonna sleep?" I asked nervously, wringing my hands together. Yang smiled.
"Well, there's always the floor." She shrugged. I just held up my hand and shook my head.
"Nice try, but the room already has more than enough glory holes, Yang." I deadpanned. Blake just pointed up. I looked up to see a small hammock hanging from the rafter I had grabbed onto when Yang woke me up. It wasn't much — well, it was barely anything at all — but the fact that they had put it up for me was a moment in and of itself. A warm feeling in my heart resounded softly; I had made the right choice.
"Alright, our second order of business iiiiiiiiiiiis... classes." Ruby cheered halfheartedly. Opening up one of the books and grabbing a pencil, she jumped up to the top left bunk, the one with the security blanket.
"Now, we have a few classes together today. At nine, we've got—"
"What?! Did you say 9 o'clock?!" Weiss loudly interrupted. Ruby looked up in confusion.
"It's 8:55, you dunce!" Weiss cried, then turned and dashed out the door. Ruby, Blake, Yang and I followed, glancing out the door. Glancing across the hall, Team JNPR were doing the same, only they were somehow stacked on top of one another. Ruby was the first to react, running after Weiss.
"Uhh... To-to class!" She stammered, sprinting after the heiress. Yang and Blake followed suit, while I watched, as the team next door collapsed in a pile. Jaune dug his way out of the mass, and sprinted after Team RWBY.
"We're gonna be late!" Jaune cried, as he ran off. I decided now would be a good time to go. As long as I followed RWBY, I would be fine. I hoped.
As it turned out, Professor Port's lecture hall wasn't that far away, just across a courtyard, and down a hallway. Dashing in, and grabbing a spare seat next to Blake, I had a look at what the Professor had displayed. Pictures of various Creatures of Grimm we had encountered during initiation, along with drawings, notes, and diagrams of Beowolves, Ursi, Nevermore, Deathstalker, and a King Taijitu, one I hadn't seen, and hoped I never would. I never liked reptiles: they freaked me out, along with spiders.
Looking up, a battle-ax was mounted on a plaque high above the desk. Thinking back, Port initially came across as an arrogant old bore who loved to recount tales of his exploits as a Huntsman, and capture Creatures of Grimm, much like the character that portrayed him. Before I could think any further, the door at the front of the room banged open, showing Professor Peter Port in all of his self-inflated glory.
Greying hair, styled in a way which would look very out of place back home on Earth, his eyes were obscured by his massive eyebrows, much like his mouth, which was covered by his ridiculously large moustache. Wearing a burgundy suit with gold trimming, and a similarly coloured ascot, his belly bounced slightly as he walked, giving me the impression that he took pride in his appearance, even though he hadn't kept in shape.
"Welcome! Welcome, one and all! Might I welcome you heartily to this class! My name is Professor Peter Port, and I will be teaching you about the very beasts that threaten our short-lived time on this planet!"
Okay, Professor Kor was sort of bombastic, but this was a whole new level. Already, he had bored some of the students into a deep sleep. I tried to stay awake, but it was difficult; I didn't get much rest last night, and with the rude awakening I had received this morning, all I wanted to do was go back to my supposedly comfy hammock, and catch some much needed z's.
"Monsters. Deeemons. Prowlers of the night. Yes, the Creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey!" Professor Port exclaimed, laughing at his own joke. No one laughed, but that joke was lame, stupid, and given what I had been through, highly inappropriate. Nevertheless, Professor Port continued on.
"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces!"
"Believe me; I have experience in that last part…" I muttered to myself, an angry look on my face. Blake just reached over, and rubbed my shoulder, in an attempt to calm me.
"And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." At this, the professor flashed a wink at Yang, who groaned uncomfortably. Ignoring this, he continued on.
"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"
A silence, which was quickly broken by a teen in one of the back rows yelling an affirmative cheer, much to everyone's confusion. Looking at the puzzled expressions glaring at him, he sat back down, and tried to look invisible.
"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."
Well, this was my cue to stop paying attention. But before I could pull out a page and begin doodling, I heard a scratching noise, and saw Ruby doing the exact same thing. I decided to try and make the effort to listen to Professor Port's story. After all, it could have an interesting detail that would help me fight the Grimm.
"Despite smelling of cabbages, my uncle was a wise man. 'Peter,' he told me…"
Or maybe not. Looking back at Ruby, she was still doodling on her paper. Finally, she finished, and held it up for us to see. To put it mildly, it was Professor Port as a ball with stick figure limbs and stink lines coming off of him. Blake and Yang snickered, whilst I grinned. She had no idea how appropriate that drawing was right now. Professor Port was spewing out a pile of sh-
"Ah-he-hem!"
Not even bothering to finish the thought, in case someone in the room had the Semblance of telepathy, I brought my attention to the paper in front of me. I had no idea what sprouted in my mind, but I thought of drawing the woman who had contacted me my first night here. Now was as good a time as any to try and remember, I guess. Resting my head in my left hand, I began to draw what I could remember about that woman in the crimson dress. But to be honest, that was all I really could remember. Throwing my pencil down, I sat back, and listened to Professor Port once again, praying that his long-winded story had drawn to a close.
"The moral of the story? A true Huntsman must be honourable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!" He concluded. Listening to his moral, I was suddenly very grateful not to be a leader. Well-educated, wise strategic, and dependable, I most certainly ain't.
"So, who among you believes that you are the embodiment of these traits?" He asked the class. But before anyone could move a muscle, Weiss's hand shot up in the air faster than I could blink.
"I do, sir!" She yelled out, perhaps a little too aggressively. And then I remembered: Weiss was angry at Ruby for not taking her responsibilities seriously. Professor Port chuckled at this.
"Well then, let's find out! Step forward, and face your opponent!" He cried, gesturing to a cage that had somehow gone unnoticed until now. How I missed it was beyond me: a pair of furious red eyes shone like rubies out of the shadows of the cage, and it appeared to be shaking angrily. Weiss stood up, and left the theatre, presumably to change into her combat clothes. Turning back to Professor Port, I raised a hand.
"Yes, Mr. Conway? Do you have a question? Or do you also wish to partake in this exercise?" He asked me. Thinking very hard about my actions, it was tempting to accept his offer to fight this creature. I felt that I owed the Grimm something painful, after what that Nevermore had done to me. But I repressed this desire, and simply let the question on my mind loose.
"Professor, how on Remnant did you manage to capture a Boarbatusk?" I asked, being very careful not to say the Earth equivalent. Professor Port looked at me curiously and then laughed.
"Ah, my boy, this is one of my most prized creatures in captivity. I have an entire menagerie dedicated to researching the Creatures of Grimm! Unfortunately, this one in particular got a bit… unruly in his space." He explained. As if angered by his captor's choice of words, the cage began to shake even more violently. The padlock holding it closed rattled noisily against the cage. I winced; a little worried about what this Boarbatusk would do should it get loose before Weiss returned.
"So, to my great regret, I've been forced to deal my hand: this will be... 'his last hurrah', as it were. But I wouldn't worry. I've been using this method for years. I know what I'm doing." He finished.
At that, the cage rattled more violently than ever, as if furiously trying to break free. The padlock snapped under pressure, and the cage door fell forwards, revealing the armour plated body of a black, snarling, very pissed off wild boar. It charged forwards, snorting angrily, until its bloodshot eyes somehow laid on me. Professor Port yelled out something, but it was drowned out by one thought rolling through my head.
Oh ****.
Uh-oh.
Seeing as this is a self-insertion, I'm going to be straying away from canon for short periods of time, where I can establish Darrel's competency, as well as have him work with his team to control situations that aren't following canon at the time.
Like Darrel stated, if he's trapped in RWBY, he may as well try and keep it consistent.