Chapter 10

Weiss felt the breeze drift across her face as she looked over the edge of the ship, her eyes roaming across the waves, each pass looking for the sign of an attack from beneath the waves. It only served to unnerve her when she didn't find any.

"Master, we need to talk."

Knight didn't materialize, like he normally did when they had their talks. Whether that was because he was tired from fighting or because he wanted to keep himself secret, she didn't know. Honestly, it didn't matter. She remained in her position, looking over the railing for a sign of Grimm.

"Go ahead. I'm listening".

Weiss could feel Knight's indulgent exasperation as she remained in place, but Weiss elected to ignore the feeling, pushing her own exasperation across their bond. She examined the white foam forming beneath the ship, trying to look under it for anything that might signal danger.

It wasn't really productive. She couldn't make out any details beneath the swirling foam the boat churned up. Weiss had enough self-insight to admit that. Instead, her eyes flicked up to the glowing city in the distance, the red and yellow of countless fires burning across the city.

Weiss didn't want to sit in bed imagining what was happening in the city. At least from here, she could see the last embers of the once proud kingdom being snuffed out from the safety of the boat.

"You know Master that it isn't your fault."

Weiss wanted to disagree. She wanted to tell him that he could have saved the city if only she wasn't holding him back. If only she wasn't such a failure, and had managed to summon him earlier. If only…

Weiss shook her head. "I know that it isn't… but it still feels like I should have done more."

She felt Knight stand behind her, his formless body staring out across the water with her. Weiss felt the connection between them tense, as if it expected a wave of emotions to pass across the boundary.

"We all do master. We all do."

A trickle of emotion passed between them, a mix of regret, anger, helplessness, and exhaustion packed all in one. Weiss looked towards the space Knight was, feeling out their bond at the same time. Her eyes gazed across empty air, while her mind only felt that hazy and firm wall of calm that she always did.

Back in Beacon, that wall had been a comfort. A safe place to indulge in a world that was changing too fast to keep up with. Now, she suspected that Knight wasn't as put together as he seemed.

"You should get some rest. I'm not currently doing my best to moderate how much aura I am taking, but I doubt that we will need to fight before long, and we'll need to be at our best when that time comes."

Weiss turned back to face Vale, the bright lights slowly fading into the distance as the boat moved further away from the Grimm army and its queen.

"I know. It's just… I feel like I need to be doing something. What if a Grimm attacks us?"

With Knight and Lancer both run dry, the boat was relying on Huntsman to guard it. That meant her, the rest of her team, and team Juniper. With the way her team was running on no sleep, and Juniper had run from a servant battle with a single casualty in tow, none of them were really in peak condition either.

There was exactly one other huntsman aboard, but the veteran huntsman in question was nowhere in sight. The only ones watching for grimm were a few passengers, and a single black bird that hopped from railing to railing and occasionally peered across the water with her. Honestly, she expected the huntsman to fuss over Yang, she had gotten stabbed recently, but it would be nice to have the most capable hands on board to be ready.

Weiss felt a tinge of amusement from Knight as he seemed to draw closer to the bird, and the bird seemed to back off her servant's invisible presence.

"Don't worry too much. If a Grimm plans to hide and ambush us, my Presence Detection should be more than enough to sense it, and I still have enough strength to kill anything smaller than a Leviathan without going overboard."

"Presence Detection?" Weiss paused, her tired mind still present enough to catch the emphasis on those words, like they were important in some way.

"Ah… I suppose that you'll be unable to sleep if I leave off on that note…"

Weiss crossed her arms, turning in the direction of her invisible servant, raising an eyebrow. The bird, a corvid of some type upon closer inspection, squawked. It flapped its wings and took flight, leaving the railing bereft of anything else to disturb their conversation.

"I suppose you should get somewhere more comfortable. We'll be here for a while."

Weiss rolled her eyes. It wasn't like there were chairs strewn across the deck. This was a cargo ship, and the most comfort she would be getting would be sitting with her back pressed against a shipping container.

At any other time, she might protest the dirt that would smudge her vest and combat skirt. Right now however, she allowed herself to rest her legs and pressed her head against the cold metal.

"Well? I have found myself a seat. Are you planning to get on with your explanation now?" Weiss could feel Knight's fond exasperation at the comment, but the small trickle of foreign emotions was familiar now. Comforting even.

"Presence Detection is one of the skills that come with being a servant. It helps me locate things that are trying to hide."

Weiss rolled her eyes. With a name like Presence Detection, it would obviously detect the presence of people.

"So, you're just good at finding people who are hiding? That's a skill worth a specific name?"

Knight was the one who rolled his eyes. She could feel his faux exasperation, and his own choice to lower himself to be eye level with her. The air in front of her didn't suddenly pop out an armored figure, but nonetheless… she could feel it.

"It's a bit more than that. It's the prized skill when trying to avoid traps and ambushes. Still, it's only one of my skills."

Weiss nodded. It made sense. Someone as storied as the Rusted Knight was sure to have multiple Skills to his name. If his only Skill was one that helped him dodge danger, she would have… well, if she still had her account, she'd bet every lien she had against it.

"Are you planning to extrapolate on that comment? I would rather get some sleep tonight."

"If you insist, Master. I have some skills for being summoned as a Rider and others that are gifted to me because of my experiences. Presence Detection falls among one of the latter ones."

It made sense. She knew there was a system behind summoning servants. That there were specific skills associated with each class made sense. Still, one question popped up.

"Why did you gain Presence Detection? I haven't read the Girl Who Fell Through The World in a while, but I don't remember any traps or ambushes from the book."

Knight's mirthful exasperation faltered, the emotions hiding themselves away behind that cold wall of nothingness of forced calm. Weiss shuddered at the loss of that warm comfort, but its absence was only lost for a second before she felt the fledgling touch of his emotions coming back out.

"The Jabberwock got rather good at hiding and ambush tactics."

Weiss hesitated, the desire to learn more about her servant warring with her concern about pushing too far.

"I didn't realize…"

Weiss let her words fall off as she felt Knight's eyes roll and the exasperation of the moment passed between them.

"Don't worry about it. The story books left out some details. It's not such a surprise, is it?"

It wasn't. The Rusted Knight was not the focus of the Girl Who Fell Through The World, and Knight was more than a caricature from a bedtime story. It stood to reason that the Jabberwock was the same, and that there was more to the conflicts than those passed along by word of mouth.

"I see… and your other skills?"

"From being a Rider, I get Riding and Magic Resistance. Simply put, I know how to drive most things, and I can get hit with magic without being juiced."

That was an image she wanted to imagine. Given how little she actually knew about magic, she wasn't sure if Knight was exaggerating or not about being… juiced.

"How pleasant."

Knight chucked at that, a soft and rich sound that echoed its amusement across their shared bond.

"Given that most other Masters can casually throw around lightning bolts, I think so."

Another thing to worry about on an already extensive list of things to be wary of. That probably meant that Pyrrha could also throw around Lighting Bolts on top of being a championship fighter. It was a reason to avoid a head on head fight against another Master.

"My other skills are Self-Replenishment, which is the skill that allows me to generate my own mana, and Aura Mastery which is the base of my fighting style."

"I saw. During your fight, your control of your aura was immaculate. The things you did with it…"

"I'm rather good at it, yes. It helps to make up for other deficiencies."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at the space next to her, and she felt a tinge of embarrassment from their bond. Calling his skills with aura 'Good' was an under exaggeration so gross, it was ridiculous. Weiss may as well be calling Ruby slightly interested in cookies.

She was aware that Aura could be used in short bursts to increase a person's strength or coating a weapon with aura to launch an attack. Using aura to constantly bounce from one end of a battlefield to another, and leaving aura afterimages linger for seconds and still be sharp enough to cut? That was a level beyond what she had imagined possible.

The most impressive aura attack she had seen before that was… well during Winter's fight with her teammate's drunken uncle. He had managed to launch an aura infused strike to disperse Winter's summons, and she had thought it impressive at the time. Honestly, she doubted that the man was anywhere close to Knight's prowess, and his aura control was far above Weiss' own.

She probably shouldn't compare herself to a hero pulled directly from the greatest legends Remnant had ever seen. The comparison would never be complementary to her. It didn't stop the weight of inadequacy from coating her shoulders.

Weiss was broken out of her thoughts when an armored hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you can't sleep? We can always pick up this conversation later."

Knight's rusted helmet met her gaze, and her eyes trailed to the soft blue eyes hidden behind it. It was familiar, something that she had seen before she had ever summoned her servant, but her sleep-addled brain couldn't connect the wave of familiarity except to Knight himself.

Shaking her head clear of wayward thoughts, she glared at her servant with her harshest glare.

"Just stop trying to circumvent this and tell me so I can go to sleep."

This time, she saw Knight actually roll his eyes, and she tried to maintain her glare to minimal effect.

"I don't know Master. It's been pretty fun up until now…""Knight…"

Knight raised up his hands in mock surrender, even as Weiss felt the amusement emanating off of him.

"Fine. Fine. It's just a few more points anyway."

Knight pulled a sheathed blade from the air with his right hand holding the blade by the middle of the scabbard. She couldn't see the blade, but the hilt was a worn blue, while the crossguard was a faded gold. It was simplistic, lacking any buttons or levers that might indicate Mechashifting.

Knight hefted the weapon up, his arm extending over his body to give Weiss a better look.

"I have a few aces up my sleeve. All servants will have at least one. We call them Noble Phantasms."

"Noble Phantasms? Is there a reason for that name?"

Weiss felt her hand glide across the weapon, with her hand ultimately settling on the hilt, the fabric rough but comfortable, allowing for a firm grip. Unconsciously, she gave the sword a light tug, hoping to see the unsheathed steel hidden inside.

The sword didn't budge.

"Probably. I wouldn't know who named them or why it caught on. It's just what they're called." The blade in her hand burst into motes of blue light, leaving Weiss grasping at empty air. "I have three: Sword, Mount, and Armor. They take a lot of magic to show off, so forgive me for not demonstrating."

Weiss let her eyes fall to the armored figure beside her, eyebrow raised.

"I don't know if you deserve being forgiven."

He leaned back as if struck by her words, the overly-dramatic gasp of pain cementing the fact that her servant was enjoying her biting attitude a bit too much.

"Ouch. Harsh."

Weiss let herself lean back onto the shipping container behind her, closing her eyes and turning up her nose so as not to roll them with her servant's mock offense.

"Well, I might find myself more forgiving if you were faster on explaining things."

Knight's laughing was soft, but it filled the night air with a joyous noise, and a warm atmosphere, and Weiss felt his genuine amusement merge with her own.

"Then, I best get to the point. My armor is rather unique among Noble Phantasms, specifically how it interacts with you."

"How it- What do you mean? How does your armor interact with me?"

Knight, the traitor that he was, laughed. It was loud and boisterous this time, with a deep rich voice that was only slightly distorted by his armor. Weiss smacked her hand into his breastplate even as she felt heat creeping up her face. It didn't actually hurt him, but she doubted that she really could anyway.

It took a moment for her servant to gather himself, but when he did, he was speaking directly into her mind.

"You remember that you summoned me using command seals, correct?"

Weiss looked at her hand in question before responding to Knight in the same way.

"Of course. Why? Is there something wrong with them?"

Gently, Knight took her right hand with his left, and removed the thin leather glove she had been wearing, pale skin marred only by three red marks on the back of her hand.

"As you can see, they haven't changed in the slightest, which is abnormal. Normally, when you use a command seal, one of the marks fades away with barely a mark."

Weiss examined the broken sword imprinted onto her hand. All three remained a deep crimson despite having used one earlier in the evening.

"So, because of your armor, I can use more command seals?"

Knight shifted beside her, his still physical body slowly beginning to trickle at her aura reserves. Weiss found that she didn't mind too much, and didn't protest to the wasted aura.

"It's a bit more complicated than that. My armor allows you to summon me to your side. As long as that's what you are using the command seals for, you'll use my mana instead of burning a command seal."

Weiss let her sleep-addled mind wonder at the possibilities. She could always pull something similar to what happened tonight, allowing Knight to cover their escape and then pulling him out of danger after they had managed to get some distance. It could also be used to scout ahead, or even trigger traps and ambushes.

"That's rather useful."

Knight nodded beside her, his focus directed away from her and towards the distant speck of light that was Vale.

"A little bit of an understatement, but not inaccurate. It is rather useful. Still, it's an even more impressive tool given that every other master will assume that you are in a worse position than you are actually in. After all, Command Seals are a very versatile tool on their own."

Weiss stopped as she considered that. It had been obvious that Knight was still in the fight when he had been summoned to her side, so it made sense that the other masters would assume she was down to two command seals. Even if she was allowed only three instances where Knight could be summoned to her side, having more uses than anyone else in the war was something that could be exploited…

Weiss doubted that their only use was summoning Servants however.

"You mentioned them in Beacon, but you never explained what they were, or what they could do."

With a lazy movement, Knight lifted his left arm, and lightly ran his fingers between white locks, even as a wave of comfort washed across the bond between them. Weiss stiffened at the touch, unused to such things, but as quickly as it was initiated, the moment was over.

"Calm down, I'm getting there."

Weiss found herself missing that contact, before heat tingled across her cheeks. She tried to look at her servant but found herself unable to pull her eyes up from the deck.

"Hey. I'm not some child. I'd ask you not to mess with my hair."

She felt Knight's acknowledgement alongside a hint of shame pooling just barely in reach for her to feel it across their bond.

"Sorry about that. It's an old habit. Used to have younger siblings, and I just kinda… well." There was an awkward pause as Weiss cringed at the memory she had dredged up. She tried to ignore the negative emotions bubbling up in her stomach. "I'll try and keep myself in check moving forward."

She hadn't really minded in hindsight, but she had an image to maintain, and Knight had already extended an apology.

"Thank you."

There was another lull in the conversation as Weiss held herself stock still, unwilling to push Knight any more for the night. Surprisingly, Knight continued, reverting back to their mental connection.

"As I was saying, Command Seals can be used to command your servant to do anything, and I mean anything. Command me to commit suicide, and I will do so. Command me to slaughter the innocent, and my blade will be drenched soon after."

Weiss sat rigidly upright, her eyes seeking out the Crimson seals on her hand, and found herself repulsed by the idea.

"That's… barbaric."

"It is, and I trust that you won't use these precious tools in such a way." Knight was quick to agree, and Weiss felt herself relaxing. He didn't think she would steal his anatomy, and she was never going to.

"Of course not. Why would you even…"

Knight placed a hand on her hand, armored glove over command seals.

"It was a hypothetical, and one that we might find used against us, rather than one you may use. Still, they are a failsafe to ensure a servant doesn't rebel against their master."

Ah. That made sense. Not every master would be so lucky as to have a willing servant, and Weiss counted herself lucky to have such a compliant servant.

"Their other purpose is to give servants an advantage in battle. You know the other masters can use theirs to summon their servant to their side, but you could command me to kill someone, and I will be empowered to do so. Tell me to survive, and I will survive. Tell me to shield someone, and I will be able to defy physics and appear by their side to block the attack."

That sounded… Well, it sounded like a cheat. It was too open ended, and left her with too many things to consider.

"So, I could command you to regain all of your aura? Or enough mana to use another one of your… noble phantasms?"

Knight nodded beside her, and Weiss now knew exactly why using one to call Knight back to her would be noted by the other masters. Hell, Pyrrha was probably tracking her command seals now. They were that important.

"Their applications are more limited to what can't you command rather than what you could command. They're useful in the heat of the moment, so you should keep an open mind about what you want to use them for."

Certainly. They were valuable, and the fact that Weiss hadn't used one recklessly was a weight off her shoulders.

"I see. Thank you for the advice, but I think I still might bounce ideas off of you just to make sure that they aren't impossible."

Knight shrugged, and stood up. He spun around, hand outstretched towards Weiss. Her leather gloves met Knight's metal gauntlets. His grip didn't waver as she was lifted to her feet.

"As you wish. Still, I think that covers everything I can think of. Anything else you want to know?"

Weiss thought for a minute, before Yang's question filtered into her mind.

"I… How did I summon you? I didn't do anything to try and summon you in particular, and you said every other master in the war has Magic, so how are you here?"

Knight paused, and for a second he paused, placing a hand up towards the bottom of his helmet. He stood like that for a moment, and then two, before he finally spoke.

"...you kinda hijacked my legend. I made a promise that I didn't fulfill in life. Now, I am susceptible to the calls of certain people."

Weiss noted the switch back to his voice, and mentally flagged it as suspicious.

"It also helps that I am one of the few servants that can work without my master supplying me mana. Does that answer your question?"

Not really. There was something there, some secret that he was keeping, but Knight was clearly unwilling to share. For a moment, she had half a mind demanding she pull apart his secret, and demand the truth out of him.

The other half didn't. Knight had been open and willing to discuss anything that might affect the threats they would face. He had fought off two servants to ensure her friends had the time to escape. He had served her faithfully, and without fault.

He deserved enough respect from her to avoid bringing up things he did not want to discuss.

"I see. Thank you for answering my Summons Knight, and thank you for getting us all out of Vale. Blake might never thank you, and Ruby and Yang likely won't remember, but I saw your fight, and JNPR wouldn't have survived if you hadn't intervened."

She couldn't see Knight, but even as he began to dissolve back into motes of light, she could feel the relief from their bond, and could imagine a smile across his face.

"Happy to serve, Master."

Weiss found herself in a vaguely familiar place. She stood on soil as black as tar, the closest clump of brown grass standing defiantly through her foot, as if she was only a ghost or as if she were in a dream.

Pale blue eyes darted around the scene, landing on the silver armor of Knight. His armor was cleaner than it was outside her dream, but it was marred by various black stains. His gauntlets were the worst affected. His sword arm was practically dyed in whatever the black viscous substance was.

He stood silently above a miniature fissure in the ground as bit by bit, the soil seemed to mend itself together. Weiss waited, and watched Knight in this dead world as he seemed to hold his breath, waiting for the dirt to finish its work. It was an agonizingly slow process, but eventually the dirt stopped moving, its work done.

"It's done."

Weiss barely recognized Knight's voice. He spoke softly, and his voice was slightly higher pitched than she remembered, but the main issue was emotion that seemed to drip from his every word.

Knight had always been stoic and explained things as briefly and succinctly as he could. He spoke blandly, with the only emotion that she could pull from him was through their bond and from his body language.

"Do you hear me? It's done. The Rusted Knight killed the Jabberwock. Can I leave now?"

This younger Knight screamed his grievances at the sky, every word dripping with emotions that Weiss could barely start to categorize. Anger, Rage, Impatience, Denial, Grief, and Loss were all thrown upwards into the multi-colored clouds that seemed magical in nature.

"I said it's over. I killed the damned thing, so come on. Take me back."

Despite their nature, and in defiance of Knight's cries, nothing happened. For a moment, Knight continued to look to the stars for something… anything.

When it became clear that whatever he was waiting for wouldn't happen, Knight let his weight shift forward, the impact of his knees hitting the ground burying the silver armor almost an inch into the hard black soil.

"Take me back. Dammit, I need to go home."

"Knight? Are you…"

Weiss tried to speak, to say a kind word or a word of encouragement but just like before, her mouth failed to utter a sound. She felt herself forming the word, but there was no feeling of vibration in her throat, nor could she hear the word uttered beyond her own thoughts.

Instead, she slowly approached the kneeling figure with slow measured steps, just as the first aid courses had taught her when dealing with someone in mental distress.

It was when she had stepped almost within arms reach that Knight spoke again.

"Damn it. I thought that if I just killed it… If I just skipped to the ending…"

Knight's voice was small again, barely more than a whisper, and she could almost hear his heart shatter. She knelt down beside her servant, and she could almost feel Knight stiffen as she did so.

"You're… here?"

Weiss shivered as blue eyes stared out of the silver helmet, his eyes shimmering with tears building up in his eyes. There was no ethereal glow, none of the silent but stalwart confidence. Weiss looked down at this regular man, knees buried into the black dirt beneath them, and her heart ached.

She let herself kneel down beside him, her combat dress remaining spotless even as it phased through the black soil. She couldn't touch him, or the world around them. That didn't mean she could do nothing.

She smiled at Knight, placing a hand just above his own, and Knight let himself fall apart… the soft sound of water against metal and the short pants of breaths of a man at his lowest were the only sounds for miles.

Hello. I'm back with another chapter. This took a lot longer than I had hoped, in no small part because I have had less time to myself in general. Unfortunately, I dont see that changing until after the holidays. Still, I have hope that I am wrong. I have every intent to finish this story, and I don't see that changing.

This chapter, we have Knight and Weiss alone for most of it. I had originally intended for a third scene, where we get some other characters, but given how long the conversation went discussing his skills and phantasms... well some of that gets saved for next chapter.

Speaking of those Skills, there will be the inevitable questions about X skill over another Y skill. I have put thought into Knight's skills, and the skills of all the servants in the war, and I believe that this particular set of skills is consistent with what Knight has experienced alongside what particular set of skills would be associated with his RIDER variant. Other variants exist with other skills.

I do want to address one particular skill however; Poison Resistance. Knight does not have this skill and should not have this skill in my opinion. While he survived being poisoned by Alyx, he was left at death's doorstep as a result. He was not able to resist the effects of the poison in his legend, and he should not be granted the ability to do so as a heroic spirit.

As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and as always, if you have any questions/comments/concerns, feel free to review the story or PM me. I'll try my best to answer. Until Next Time.