Continuing on directly from where we left off, Chapter 16 is a bit of an important chapter. This time, I've finally figured out the Semblance for Darrel! It may be OP, but since when do I care?! It's my story, dammit!
Chapter 16: Starting to Lose Semblance...
It was a few hours after classes had ended for the day, and Weiss had disappeared with some friends of hers. Stuffy, self-righteous stuck up snobs who looked down on us from a massive stone pedestal constructed by ego alone. Everyone else, including me, headed to the library for some quiet time, where we began to discuss what we had experienced.
"What do you think's up with Snowflake?" Yang wondered aloud. Of course, I knew the answer to that question long before it was even asked: Weiss was angry at Ruby for not taking her new position seriously, and jealous over the fact that she wasn't nominated for leader.
"Who knows? But the way she wielded that mace... I really want to try that class again!" Jaune was ecstatic at what he had seen, and for good reason. At least, in his eyes, he'd get to use cooler weapons that his sword and shield. But in my opinion, he didn't give them enough credit: the shield could block a Deathstalker's pincers, and his sword could at least decapitate an Ursa.
"I dunno... I'd rather get some real world practice in, myself. Besides, the Grimm owe me something." I said, patting my side which had been scarred by that Nevermore a million years ago.
"You may get your chance sooner than you think, Mr. Conway." A familiar voice rang out. Turning, I saw Professor Ozpin holding his scroll out to Ruby, as if telling her to take it. She did so, and had a look at the screen. Everyone else, including me, looked over her shoulder at the screen.
"We've taken inventory of medical supplies, and for some strange reason, we are running low on medical gel. I would like teams RWBY and JNPR to go out and retrieve some supplies for another batch." He explained. Looking at the scroll, it contained a list of ingredients, which could all be found in a place called the Blossom Woods. I rolled my eyes: Summer, Autumn, and Winter were all seasonal forests, so one that represented Spring came as little surprise to me.
"Aww, we have to do a supply run? I was hoping for a real challenge." Nora whined. Immediately after, I heard a short grunt, as if someone had elbowed her in the gut. Ruby looked up.
"Yes, sir. When do we leave?" She asked. Ozpin turned to her.
"First thing in the morning. As such, I recommend you all get some rest." He said simply. Taking his scroll back, he flicked it shut, and began to walk off. As he disappeared down around a corner, Yang turned to us, an excited smile on her face.
"Oh yeah, our first mission! You guys feel it?! The start of something new!" She yelled. Blake placed a hand on her shoulder, alerting her partner to the contemptuous glares that now shot in her direction.
"Take it easy,Yang. We're just getting supplies, not slaying monsters." She said. Yang turned to her.
"Don't ruin this for me, Blakey. A mission's a mission." She whispered.
"Regardless of whatever it is, he did say get some rest, so should we do that?" I pointed out. Pyrrha nodded.
"Darrel's right. Let's go get dinner, and then head back to our dorms." She said, standing up and striding off. Jaune watched her go, then closed the book he had retrieved from a nearby shelf, slipping it back into it's rightful home.
"See ya, guys." He said, before following off after with Ren and a giddy Nora in tow. Now it was just Yang, Blake, Ruby and I at the table. Ruby looked to the floor, her eyes showing some kind of emotion.
"Sis, you okay?" Yang asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Ruby took a second to respond, before looking into Yang's eyes.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I-I'm fine. Anyone wanna get some grub?" She said hurriedly, before dashing away after Team JNPR. Yang turned to me, a confused look on her face.
"It's probably nothing. We should give her some space." I explained, brushing off the problem. If I was lucky, it could potentially sort itself out. Blake and Yang exchanged glances, then looked back to me.
"I don't think she'd get upset over nothing, Darrel. I'll try to talk to her." Yang said. Blake grabbed her shoulder.
"I might have better luck, Yang. She might give a biased opinion to you, being your sister and all." Blake reasoned. Before Yang could respond, Blake had disappeared down the hallway. Now that Yang and I were the only ones left, I decided to make a move.
"So, uh, I'm not feeling hungry right now, so I was thinking, if you want, you could help me out, give me a few spars?" I offered. Yang sighed.
"Yeah, I dunno... I'm worried about Ruby." She shrugged, standing up and letting her eyes swivel in the general direction of the hallway. I stood up, placed a hand on her shoulder, and she looked back at me.
"C'mon, it'll take your mind off of things." I suggested. Yang thought things over for a few minutes, then gave me a smile.
"Yeah, okay. Whaddya wanna work on?" She asked. Thinking back to previous fights, all I had really used were the crossbows and swords. Now was the time to think about something else.
"How about my Semblance? I'm still not sure what mine would be." I shrugged. Yang nodded.
"Fine by me. But we'll leave weapons out for now, don't wanna kill you." She said, before leaning forwards, and whispering in my ear.
"Though you touch my hair, I'm not gonna be responsible for any injuries you suffer. Capiche?"
I nodded, feeling that sensitive area grow numb once more.
"Okay, Semblances are different from Hunter to Hunter. Ruby has speed, Weiss uses glyphs, Blake has a shadow dodge, and as for me, I unleash fire. So, until we find something that sticks, we're going to run you through a series of challenges. For a start, I'm going to test your reaction times." Yang explained, jumping up onto the arena in Professor Kor's classroom. I followed suit, and walked to one edge of the arena, while Yang headed to the other.
"OK, Yang, so when do w–" I tried to speak, but a freight train plowed into my left jaw, sending me flying into the wall, deepening the crater that Cardin had made earlier that day.
"Hmm, no good. Not super reactive or capable of taking hits..." Yang muttered, taking out her scroll and making notes. I just tried to move, but I was impacted so far in, my efforts were fruitless. Now where had I seen that situation before?
"Come on, Darrel! No lying about, we've got work to do!" Yang waved, failing to notice that I was trapped.
"It's gonna be a while..." I muttered.
"Uhh, Yang, are you sure this is safe?" I yelled from a gantry positioned high in the roof, at least three times the height of our dorm room. Yang just waved at me.
"I'll catch you, don't worry." She yelled. I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, yeah, that makes me feel SO much better, Yang!" I yelled, the statement coated in sarcasm. And without another word, I reached for the ceiling. Yang had suggested wall crawling would be an option. One that was quickly eliminated as I overbalanced, and began the long fall to the ground. Yang leapt up, looking to catch me. But she was horribly off target: I hit the padded floor, while Yang managed to grip my jacket. She stared at it.
"Oh cool! Is it invisibility?" She cried gleefully. I raised my arm, and gave a tired moan. Yang turned to me.
"Hey, since when was a dummy hiding up there?" She asked innocently. I just shot her a dirty look.
"Shut. Up."
"Maybe regeneration? I know one way we could test it..." Yang grinned evilly, wielding a small pair of gardening shears. I just screamed and ran for my life.
"Wimp."
"Okay, the results are in. Either you're being very uncooperative, or I can't seem to get your Semblance down, because all data so far has been inconclusive." Yang stood above me, scrolling through her phone, looking at the long list of Semblances she had dolled up. I was splayed out on the floor, my battered body screaming in agony. My muscles ached, my bones were sore, and I'm pretty sure that one of my balls had retreated to safety in my body and left a note saying 'Will be back on New Years'.
"Does Semblance training usually involve this kind of torture?" I panted. Yang flashed me a wink.
"Oh no, Darrel. We still have the Dreadmill, the Tank Tug-o-war, and my personal favourite, The One-Oh-One."
Well, that last one seemed to be okay. But then I remembered: people had said similar things about misleading names before, and it never turned out well. I banished the thought of the One-Oh-One before I could think of anything else about it.
"Yang, must this continue? I'm blasted." I groaned. She just shook her head, and turned away. I got to my knees, and felt an urge to attack her, or at least lash out at her for all the pain. And that was the moment everything changed.
As if overtaken by some primal instinct, I leapt into the air, curled up into a ball, and began to tumble head over heels. Spinning faster and faster, as soon as I hit the ground, I took off like a wheel, barreling straight towards Yang. As soon as she turned and saw me, her eyes went wide, and she tried to get out of the way, with no success. As I rolled over her, I heard a squashed muffle, before I finally came to a stop, crashing into the wall. Unfurling, I looked dazedly around. Yang was as flat as a pancake, laying spreadeagled on the floor.
"YANG! You okay?" Ruby's voice rang out from everywhere and nowhere, as she suddenly appeared by Yang's side, hoisting her up in a sitting position.
"I seem to do quite well for a stretch and then at the end of the sentence I say the wrong cranberry." Yang gibbered deliriously, before passing out, flopping back on the floor, with a silly grin on her face. Ruby just hoisted the unconscious blonde onto her shoulders.
"Come on, let's get her to the medical wing." Ruby looked up at me, as I shook my head.
"Eh, she sounds fine to me." I shrugged. Ruby just gave me a glare.
"What?!"
As it turned out, Yang's damage was minor, barely even a concussion, and she was back on her feet in a second, to Ruby's delight. Sitting back in the training arena, Ruby had joined us, and was participating in our conversation.
"Yang, I am so, so sorry for bowling you over like that! I mean, we'd been doing the training for hours, and you'd put me through so much, and I was angry, and..." I couldn't stop apologizing for what had happened back in the arena. But when Yang held up a finger to my lips, I trailed off. She then began to speak.
"While I don't appreciate you running me over like that, I think we've finally found your Semblance." She said. Ruby looked at her curiously.
"What do you mean, sis?" She asked. Yang gave her a small smile.
"It means he can roll like a hedgehog. Could you do it again, Darrel?" She asked. I walked to one side of the arena, and tried to recall what I had done to initiate the attack. But even with all my efforts, for some reason, I couldn't seem to roll very far. To be honest, the attempts were feeble this time around. After the fifth attempt, I just looked up at the two sisters.
"I can't do it. Why can't I do it? It doesn't make sense!"
Because that is not your Semblance.
What?! That's ridiculous!
Is it? Think back to your fights with the Grimm. What creature has this capability?
A-a Boarbatusk. Why?
Think about what happened when you punched it.
There-there was this flash and... and... Oh my god.
Do you understand now?
I looked up, and turned to Ruby.
"Hey, Ruby, could you give me your hand for a second?" I asked. Ruby looked at at her sister oddly, but stood up, and walked over.
"What for, Darrel?" She asked quizzically. I just gestured to her hand, and she held it out. Focussing on my core, I took her hand, and entwined our fingers together. My arm glowed with a blue hue, and I felt a new power flowing into my body, as if I had taken a large swig of an energy drink. Releasing my hand from Ruby's, I walked to the centre of the platform, and took a crouch. Yang watched with bated breath, wondering what could happen next. I let my power loose, I began to sprint, faster and faster, until everything was a blur, just a swarm of colour rushing past, as my legs flew faster than humanly possible.
"I AM THE GOD OF THE TYPHOON!" I screamed out, insanely rushed with adrenaline at my newfound speed. Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when I tripped over a badly lain mat, sprawling flat on my face, tumbling ungainly into a wall. I lay there, dazed, while Yang walked up to me, and crouched down so her face was level with mine.
"Wait, couldn't you tumble like a Boarbatusk earlier? Why the sudden burst of speed? Isn't that Ruby's thing?" She asked. I shook my head, as it swam with vivid images.
"That may be, but I propose that Mr. Conway has a different ability entirely." Looking up, Professor Ozpin stood at the door, his signature coffee mug in his hands, and a smile on his face. Ruby, Yang and I looked up.
"What do you mean, sir?" Ruby asked. Ozpin turned to her.
"If you recall, Mr. Conway's tumbling ability looked very similar to a Boarbatusk's capability to do the same thing. If I may ask, the rumours about him punching a Grimm in Peter Port's class are most likely true, yes?" He asked Ruby. She said nothing, only nodded. Ozpin smiled.
"Then that merely confirms my theory. Mr. Conway, you have a very unique power: the semblance of Adaptation. By touching a Creature of Grimm, or a fellow Hunter, you can copy their ability to survive, and utilize it to your own needs." Professor Ozpin explained to me. Yang then gave a small cough, drawing attention to her.
"But Professor, I asked Darrel to try and do the Boarbatusk's maneuver again, and he couldn't do it. Why would that be?" She asked. Ozpin chuckled.
"It may just be that for every ability copied, he can only use them once. But this will require further observation. Another reason to be rested up for your mission tomorrow." He said, turning heel, and walking out the door. Yang turned to Ruby.
"Well, I'm gonna get some chow. I hope some good food is still left." She said, skipping out the door. Ruby didn't move, only just watched her go. Then she turned back to me, and hoisted me up on her shoulder.
"C'mon, Darrel. Let's go to our dorm."she said tenderly. I looked at her, confused.
"But what about dinner?" I asked. Ruby shot me a smirk.
"Dinner ended two hours ago. But don't worry, Blake and I managed to sneak some food back to our dorm for you." She chuckled. I gave her another look.
"But... what about Yang?" I asked.
"She'll get some food. Although whether it's tonight or tomorrow, that's up to us." She explained, beginning the walk back to our dorm. As we walked, I heard a voice. One that just screamed out a single word that echoed endlessly through the halls and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"You hear that, Ruby?" I asked.
"You mean the disembodied despondent scream that could only be my sister finding out that all the food has gone for the night?"
"Yeah."
"Nope, I didn't hear anything." She finished. I just rolled my eyes, making a mental note to nail the door shut before I fell asleep that night.
For those curious about Ruby and Weiss's little spat, it's coming. I just need a way to make it different and unique than what was shown in RWBY, because I adapted that scene already. I have the layout planned, I just need to write it up in a way I'm happy with.
And whoever thought Yang was a little cruel... well, consider it payback for walking in on her in the last chapter. This kind of vengeance would be something she would do, in my eyes anyway.