emerald forest*
one year and eight months later*
Bruised and exhausted, Cole coughed as he tried blasting the grimm, but all he could manage was a fizzle. After that failure, a crawler bit down on his arm where his vambrace was and tossed him into the side of a large boulder
Dragging himself to his feet and ready to fond his second wind, a fledgling Beowolf charged him and slashed him in the gut, sending him crashing back first into a tree. His electricity wasn't enough to completely shield him from the attack, but it was enough to protect him from being cut too deeply.
The force of the attack left claw marks so deep it pierced skin through his armor that now lay on the ground in pieces and the tree he hit splintered bark and cracked the wood under it. Bark showered down on and around him.
Pushing himself up to his knees, he began coughing up blood, spraying the grass with the red fluid, thankfully it wasn't too deep.
Holding his hand up shakily at the horde, muttering "for fuck' sake gods…*cough*…can't I catch a break?"
Hefting his hand up he charged a blast *bzzt* he froze when the sparks barely flickered in his palm and a bit of fear came out, "shit" he looked up and smiled at the outcome of ignoring the trespassing signs and trembled knowing he was defenseless his hand fell in front of him fingers began to dig into the ground, "can't really say… I didn't see this coming" he said with small sparks flashing here and there but faded as fast as they came. Raven won't die to my hand, that bitch won't pay and lakna was glassed without knowing why"
A wendigo Grimm stalked toward him snarling hungrily. Raising its arm to take his head off, but instead of death's sweet cold embrace he felt a heat so strong it threatened to scorch his blood soaked flesh, opening his eyes, he realized the heat was coming from a blonde woman with lilac eyes and yellow shotgun gauntlets, but his eyes were on hers and not in a good way since a familiar rage rose from him seeing those red orbs he hated more than anything.
A white dressed girl stood near a red clad girl and nearest to him was a fourth girl dressed in black with cat ears wearing a genuinely worried expression on her face.
Rage burned in his heart, seeing her and a blonde raven again after so long, but physically couldn't do anything except weakly glare at them and mentally jot them down for future punishment.
The one In red looked at the other three and smirked "Blake you keep him safe, yang make sure the big ones die, I'll take care of the faster ones and Weiss you can cover Blake if need be"
"That's not the plan we discussed, and you know it you dunce!" the girl in white said as she advanced with yang at her back helping her, Blake stayed with Cole as Ruby used her semblance to cut down the more agile Grimm. These girls were all beautiful in their own ways, but cole's were concretely set on the pools of silver that met his.
"She's right Ruby, you have got to stop doing this whole 'making it up on the spot' shtick, it really needs to stop!" the Faunas girl yelled as she cut down a few creepers.
Red glared and yelled "just do it, he needs extraction and we won't survive long out here"
The blonde wasn't paying enough attention to either of her teammates because she was more distracted by the amount of blood Cole had been losing from his chest, shoulder, left arm, and neck.
"Good thing we dropped in when we did, or you'd be in a Grimm state" the blonde said, skidding past Cole with an Ursa's mouth in her hands. He flipped her off foggy and distorted but the face was clear enough to disrespect.
Letting Blake turn him over on his back, he glanced at her with a weak glare and watched her violently twist its head to the left ripping its jaw out of place while Weiss froze the bottom and stabbed it in the back of the head, pushing the tip of her sword through its mouth.
"Pay less attention to him and more on the horde he brought Xiao long!" the heiress yelled as a knasher lost its head to the redhead, which of whom flew past the Grimm when she used Blake's ribbon to propel herself toward an alpha Beowulf.
To Cole there was far too much to pay attention to, and even harder to register it all, but Blake was busy hastily wrapping bandages around his body, much to his dismay.
Throughout the fight, Cole weakly tried moving away from Blake, face contorting in pain every time she'd clean and wrap his wounds. To his dismay he was too weak to choke her….which was misinterpreted as him wanting her to hold his hand and with those disgusting empathetic eyes she told him sweet nothingness that he'd ignored.
After the fight was won, the girl in white was panting and holding herself up against a tree, redhead was chuckling at yang for getting her fist stuck in a tree and the Faunas shifted about and was now holding Cole in her lap.
"Piece…of…cake" redhead muttered before collapsing into the ground and accidentally hit her head on a rock, the other three laughed a bit before helping her up.
Cole coughed a few times before letting out a sigh of relief fainting in the sun hoping he was going to be safe in their hands, but it didn't matter because right now, all he wanted was to rest his eyes, and the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness were the white boots of the white one -now named weiss- and leaves falling to the ground into his blood.
"Hey, sir you ok- oh crap, he's unconscious!" Weiss said paniced sliding over to cole as she grabbed blakes pack and started wrapping his smaller injuries and plugged the gashes with a special foam that clotted severe bleeding. It took them a while to notice he'd passed out, either from the pain, blood loss, it didn't matter.
"Huh, he's actually kind of cute, I got dibs." Yang said, lifting him in a bridal carry and looked him over for a few seconds. 'Hope he's into blondes' she thought with a smirk.
"Anyway, he's probably lost a lot of blood, possibly has mild dehydration too. We need to get him to beacon's medical staff now! Weiss, call ozpin and tell him we got him, Blake grab some fire dust crystals and some water" Ruby said putting her scythe away.
"Put him down barbarian Weiss said annoyed at her nonchalant attitude to cole's body and with zero regard for his well-being.
Yang rolled her eyes and put Cole on the floor
"Ozpin sent us after he got your location for unsanctioned training outing on a weekend, but my job is medical care so, how many wounded this time?"
Ruby nervously chuckled and answered "one severely injured we four have minor scrapes, bruises and depleted auras." While she was busy, Weiss conjured up a small block of ice for Cole's fever shaping it like a small arch and put it in a plastic bag with a cloth under it.
Blake stared intently at cole discerning why he was familiar to her, and yang kept an eye out for more Grimm in case the horde came back. The bullhead collected the five of them with Cole on a stretcher marked 'critical condition'.
A pair of medics looked cole over and began stitching him up "its pure luck you four found him, another ten or so minutes and he'd be dead". The second medic said nothing until he looked at Weiss and grimaced "miss Schnee, unfortunately you're a match, so I need to make this a direct transfusion"
She sat near the long haired man and removed her jacket, "how much does he need doc?" she asked watching Cole barely breath and a mask slipped on his face to help him breath easier with an air dust crystal to give him what he needed.
"three to four pints…gods it's pure luck he's alive let alone breathing" he looked Cole over as his partner finished cleaning him up. "you'll need to rest for the day" he typed up a note and digitally sent it to ozpin, "that will excuse you for the rest of tomorrow after your team gets you breakfast; I have your medical history at my fingertips so don't try making excuses or complain"
"actually I was going to ask if there was anything you need to help him after I go to my room" she asked feeling tired and watched as cole was getting his color back to his skin but not by much.
four hours later*
Looking back on what was done, ruby shouldn't have visited, but she felt bad for not taking the distress signal or their mission seriously, so she would sneak off after class during lunch and dinner to see him hooked up to equipment she'd been all too familiar with.
Honest to the extent of her guilt she'd done nothing wrong, she just assumed it her fault.
"You really don't need to be here, ms.branwen"
Ruby turned to the voice and smiled sadly, "it's the least I can do considering the fact that my team almost didn't respond to the distress signal…he was near death's door when we saved him" looking back at Cole she gave him a sympathetic look before walking to the exit.
"It's sweet of you to visit anyway ruby" the nurse said checking on Cole and went to work washing him and cleaning him.
Little did she know every one of her friends had already figured out what was going on when yang got nosey so she and coco followed her when she snuck off on his first night of admittance apologizing to him and said that she'd visit again after lunch like he had just done.
"Hey, she's leaving his room as we speak…..yeah whatever, just act natural and let her think-"
"Yang move it" coco interrupted chasing after ruby.
Yang groaned as she hung up and ran after them 'why's this guy so special?' she thought rounding a corner tripping into nora and velvet, helping each other up she apologized and ran after coco but lost her and ruby in the process.
"You should be in class, what are you doing in the halls?"
Looking up, yang smiled and said, "just practicing my stealth running and free running hehe"
"well good thing you ran into us, we need help with something"
Already hating this, they both exclaimed "NO!" and dragged them off to class.
"Bunch of buzz killers" yang said sitting in class listening to ozpin's lecture on the knasher Grimm, which oddly enough people were listening to his story. "I guess a substitute was the right call" Blake said finishing her notes on the hunting patterns oz have finished covering and even weirder was that she had a cold feeling run down her spine when a picture of a knasher was showing blood and entrails wrapped in its razor sharp teeth and claws.
"Im sure you all have been working hard but don't forget to turn in your papers before tomorrow, late papers will lose about thirty percent of your final grade."
beacon infirmary two days later*
An EKG machine beeped rhythmically, a surgical tube pumped intravenous fluid and another pumped a few pints of blood into his arm. His cuts were dressed and wrapped up, but were soaked in copious amounts of blood.
A short nurse wrote down her report on her current patient, who looked like a corpse if not for his heart and breathing.
'Patient has mass scarring from the right side of his face to the torso, back and abdomen, shins and calves, all likely wounds made from the past. Lightning scars traveling from the back of his fingers to his shoulder blades pectorals, and spread to his stomach. Suffering from a bit of mild dehydration, a high fever of 104 -but went down yesterday- and pale skin. It's assumed that the patient is sick if not for his pulse and steady breathing.'
A few hours later a nurse walked In and put more notes over to her desk, put her phone down and took a look at his test results. They showed that apart from his current state, he'd be fine in a few days. Other than that, he was healthy.
All of these symptoms were supposed to have faded in a few hours, but then it hit her, either he was auraless or he was unable to manifest one. Immediately taking off towards ozpin's office to tell him the news, she had neglected Cole waking up as she stormed out.
'He won't believe his luck when he sees this' she thought as she sped past students and a few teachers, the second she got to the elevator in beacon tower she practically ran into ironwood and team RWBY.
The five of them just stood there watching her mash the 'up' button and frantically talking about not believing something, but didn't catch much else.
As the doors opened she leapt inside and flashed her medical identification card and said, "nurse Elwood, I have a request to speak to the headmaster asap" with that the doors closed and up she went but a lot slower that she'd hoped.
Waking up to various tubes and things sticking to his body was by far the weirdest things he woke up to. Not wanting to dwell on it long, he pulled all of them off and carefully took out the three needles in his arm. "Better get cleaned up" looking to the side of his on the right he saw a restroom and a box with clothes "huh, that's convenient…odd, but convenient nonetheless" he said to himself taking the gown and bandages off before stepping into the shower blasting his face with cold water, he assumed he was already clean, but he still felt the desire to since he'd been in the woods for a few weeks, so he felt he should clean himself up.
Finished with his shower he grabbed a towel and a pair of boxers, walked back to his bed where the clothes sat untouched right alongside his tattered clothes in a bag. Other than his boots his old outfit was useless so he just pulled together an outfit he could wear on the move.
Getting dressed was the easy part, to leave was going to be hard when he saw a few strangers entering the room dropping his belt on the floor.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me" he said as they entered the room. He had a glare he felt could set a stone ablaze, but hid it when he saw a blonde bombshell with a riding crop.
ten minutes earlier*
Glynda was behind ozpin's desk looking out the window talking about the new first years as they were coming in when she dropped the question he was hoping to avoid.
Sir, are you sure he's still alive; it's been almost two years since he disappeared and Qrow said that his body was never found after the blast, nor was the woman who was with him."
Ozpin looked at the happy new students with a somber smile, and he said, "I'm certain of it; if Qrow's reports are as accurate as his swordsmanship, then I have no doubt about him being in my infirmary" he sat back in his chair sipping his coffee, "I doubt that he'll pass up this chance"
With a smile, he looked up at her and was about to say something else but ms.Elwood burst through his door.
"Headmaster Ozpin, professor Goodwitch there's something you need to see!" they both looked at each other and back to Elwood with a look of concern and confusion.
"What is so important that you'd burst into my office nurse Elwood, cause if this is about the first years again we're going to have a hard time replacing-" he was interrupted again when she slammed the file on his desk and exclaimed, "it's about the new patient from the ageless forest sir, and I think it'll leave you speechless"
Ozpin grabbed the file and read the bold yellow highlights on the fifth page and replied evenly "then lead the way ms.Elwood" she stood there for a second before leading him towards the elevator doors.
Just as the doors closed he smirked at Glynda slyly, he may have been headmaster, but this was worth seeing for himself and Glynda was probably going to kill him, and speaking of Goodwitch, she just stood there watching them leave. After a moment, she started fuming realizing ozpin practically shoved his workload on her again, which she'd use to get him to do favors for her and this made her smile a bit with a vengeance in mind.
Taking the elevator down and literally sprinting across the school grounds they both got to the infirmary within minutes, and when they both got inside, ozpin rushed over and opened the curtain to find an empty bed with the sheets ruffled and tossed to one side.
Before even thinking to ask where he was the three heard a belt fall on the ground, both looking in that direction they saw Cole next to his bed wearing most of the uniform that he found in a footlocker near his bed, but the two adults noticed the tie, button up shirt and blazer sat on the bed completely untouched.
"Why am I not surprised" He thought as Cole gave a light glare at the nurse's stare and looked directly over at ozpin.
"Thank your students for saving me in my place; I need to get going." He said looking himself over in the mirror noting that his boots were the only things still in a pretty good condition. 'The farther away from the Faunas and blonde I am the longer they'll live' he thought to himself turning to leave, but nurse Elwood stepped in his way, "ohhh no you don't, you just woke up after a two and a half day coma; After all it was our students who found you in the center of a Grimm horde and are likely suffering from-" Cole cut her off when he grabbed her by the front of her shirt and looked into her eyes angrily.
"I don't have to do anything you ask, I'm not your liability, nor am I a student here. So do us both a favor and just shut up and get the hell out of my way" he said growling like a feral beast baring its fangs at its prey but instead of attacking he dropped her on the ground and walked toward the doorway.
Unfortunately ozpin had other plans by stopping him with his cane touching his chest and said bluntly, "I want you to attend my school Mr. Valentine, you could use that of which we have to offer at my academy such as a monthly allowance for food and hygiene products, a four-person dorm room with a fully functional kitchen, a cafeteria with an assortment of remnant's best chefs, a library, free education and an armory with a forge for personal use, for any student willing to use it, of course. All yours if you take an assessment test." Cole took one look at them and tried a second time to leave but was yet again stopped, "and I'll make my offer sweeter by making you a third year student under the pretenses that you were Glynda's adopted son who transferred from Mistral." Ozpin added insistently, almost coming off as desperate.
"do I get any say in your decision?!" Glynda glared and went ignored as oz just talked more.
Sensing his tension he added with a whisper in his ear, "and I'll ignore your act against my nurse just now"
The nurse looked up at her boss, dumbstruck with what he just offered this….delinquent, and ignored his animosity towards her when she told him he couldn't leave.
Hearing this out loud, Cole quickly saw what he was being offered a chance he just couldn't pass up, but his biggest issues were that he hated being social with anyone, but he had no other choice.
He literally stood there speechless, frozen in place at ozpin's offer, but snapped out of it when a single word slipped out, and Oz picked up the copious amount of emotion in that one word.
"Why" it was quiet, but he heard it nonetheless.
"Because as far as I can tell, you don't have anywhere to go, and you look like you're fully capable of changing your life for the better. All I ask is that you take this offer and make something of it." He responded, placing his hand on Cole's shoulder, gently squeezing to try to help reassure him of the man's intention.
Cole looked at ozpin and said angrily, "that's not it, I want to know why you want me here when I have no interest in being here"
Oz put a hand on his shoulder and smiled "because you don't look like the type to leave a good opportunity hanging" taking his hand off, Cole watched him curiously "and I sincerely doubt that you will" he said just as he turned and left the room with Cole following close by, albeit cautiously.
Cole's mind was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn't notice nor care for everyone watching him for whatever reason they had. 'If he thinks this is gonna stick he's got another thing coming, I'd give it a week at most' he thought to himself as he looked around at the lusciously green lawns and cobblestone pathways.
'It's beautiful' he thought when he saw an orange rose bush. 'Mom would've been happy to see me here'.
Ezra was always on his mind; after all this time he still missed her so much that every now and then that sometimes he'd feel a sharp pain in his chest…ironic.
When they got to the auditorium stage they stood side by side and everyone from the first to the fourth year students, all wondering why a kid had half his face covered by a dark blue reinforced steel mask on his right side.
Ozpin stood in the center of the stage and for ten minutes he was giving a speech that made Cole impatient, so he decided to walk out from backstage just as Oz was going to say more he pushed past him and took the microphone from its stand. Before speaking himself he turned to ozpin and put his hand over the top and said, "no offense but I want this over sooner rather than later"
Ozpin gave a calm nod and let Cole speak, albeit strange he'd be this upset with a crowd to welcome him into beacon.
"I'll just cut right to the chase" he turned around and gave ozpin a light glare and rolled his eyes at the old man's 'get on with it' gesture and said "I'm a transfer student from Mistral, I'm not big on long-winded speeches, so I will keep this plain and very simple: I'm not here to be a hunter, I'm here because-" he paused to try and take this façade seriously, "because I made a promise to someone id be the best…oh yeah, my name is Cole by the way"
Looking over everyone, he turned around and gave ozpin the mic as he walked backstage and toward the doors leading outside.
Glynda looked over at Cole and raised an eyebrow at the man and muttered, "what's ozpin been putting in that mug lately?!"
Giving an awkward chuckle ozpin brought the mic up and said, "well as you just heard he is…very eager to start this year at beacon academy, but for now, he will need a guide to show him around campus, do we have any volunteers?" ozpin asked and just as he did hundreds of hands shot up from second and third year students and a lot of them were women.
"It wasn't mentioned but, he was found by team RWBY in a crater surrounded by the S-class alpha wendigo two days ago" he added for context, and it surprisingly caused more hands to rise.
Not caring about the guide he was probably assigned to, he decided to leave the room and wander beacon.
'By the gods this isn't what I expected' Cole thought as ozpin picked his 'guide' but he didn't care cause right now he just wanted to eat.
On his way to the courtyard he took in the sights and wasn't expecting anything this beautiful and well-built, especially since he'd seen monuments made for the arc descendants, all of whom had clades or various versions of it.
"After I eat I'm goin to bed" he grumbled to himself. "But even I gotta admit how huge this school is in person"
Comment anything you think could be worked on at: H6pp1n355_in_misery.
Criticism is appreciated
I'll post when I get the next chapter out but it's not like anyone else writes my stuff
For all my readers I appreciate you reading this I'm trying to improve everything I did and change major plot points.