A/N: Chapter 35 of REKT. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or teams of RWBY, they belong to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. What I do own are the characters and teams of my OCs: REKT, GTSY, KACE and DAZE.
Special thanks to the reviewers and to the readers who Fav/Alert this story, I really appreciate it.
Chapter 35: Prophecy Scrolls
The next morning...
I awoke somewhat refreshed, feeling groggy and my eyes were somewhat puffy. My first thought was due to the fact that I fell asleep crying. It had been a lot time since I last cried myself to sleep and I swore to myself I would never cry again. Seems like retelling my past brought with it the emotions I had hope to keep locked away. Letting out a soft sigh I noticed the warmth of another and a pair of arms wrapped around me.
"Mornin'." Kairos' deep rumble reached my ears and I felt her smile against my temple. "Did you sleep well?"
"I guess you could say that..." I replied, disentangling myself from her and got out of bed, raising my arms up for stretching. "It wasn't the best but at least I got some shut eye."
"We only got a few weeks left so lets do as much as we can with the time that we have." The ruffling of sheets indicated that she stepped out of bed as well. Rummaging around she threw on a clean set of clothes before proceeding to tie her hair back. "I think I'll spar with Pyrrha this time."
"Then I'll ask Sun to help me with more Aura control. Since you know, his Semblance is quite useful."
"Are you already proficient in Aura control?" She asked me as we walked out to greet the others. "Why do you need him for that?"
"I wanna see if I can make copies of myself using my Aura. For a long tie I focused on using my Aura for attacking and defending but imagine if I were to make clones! That would be so much fun!"
"Yo! Reina!" Sun waved his hand in greeting as the others split to train. "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah, thanks for asking Sun!" I replied as Kairos left my side to greet Pyrrha. The monkey boy led me to a quiet place and we sat opposite of one another with our legs crossed. "I was hoping you'd show me how you make your clones through your Semblance."
"There's nothing to it but you want to mold your Aura into whatever you want by imagining it..." He pointed a finger to his head and grinned. "...in here! Once you have what you want," He clapped his hands together and a clone of him appeared, sitting cross-legged next to him. "then you'll be golden. Go ahead and give it a try!"
"Imagine what I want...in my mind." I repeated and thought about it. My Aura danced about within my mind but once I focused the threads weaved about, forming the basis for a decent human. Slowly I molded it into what I wanted and sensed something sitting next to me.
"Well...it's still a little funky." Sun spoke after a minute or so, his arms folded across his chest. The being then shimmered and disappeared out of existence. "And you can't hold it for a long period of time unlike me. But it's definitely something. If I were make a guess, I'd save this little trick when you're in a pinch."
"When I'm in a pinch?"
"Yeah! I'd work on improving one clone and making sure it can move and do as you want." He smiled as his tail twitched behind him. "To me, one excellent clone is better than none. And when you got that done try to make another clone. Perhaps you should limit yourself to two clones."
"How long did it take you to solidify your Semblance?" I asked him.
"You know I have no idea!" He laughed out loud and stared up at the sky, his eyes brimming with happiness. "I just...went with the flow and had a knack for it. Since I've always been climbing trees at a young age it came naturally for me. It just developed from there." We chatted for a good while, shared laughs and proceeded with our training. By the end of the session I was able to sharpen my Aura copy, leaving the details out for another time.
"I knew you'd get a knack for this!" Sun cackled with glee as I moved my arm and it went right through my copy. "Now it's a matter of time before it solidifies and become useful in battle. Unlike my Semblance who makes my clones explode upon contact I'm certain you can actually use your clones more efficiently."
"More efficiently?"
"Yup I definitely have a really good feeling about this!" Sun replied, giving his clone a high five before turning his attention to me. "Reina, you could very well be a master of aura. I can't wait to see your growth."
"You think so Sun?" I asked him.
"Just know this, if our team meet together in the tournament, don't hold back because we're friends." He smiled genuinely and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I would like us to have a fair and clean match." I returned a smile of my own and nodded my head in agreement.
"I feel the exact same way Sun." I continued my training sessions in the afternoon with Jaune and his team to make up for the time I lost after the Beowolf attacks. Between Nora's intense training regiment and Ren's meditation I couldn't find an in-between. Jaune spent his session talking with me about his own experience growing up with seven sisters. Pyrrha, a little tired from her morning training, just helped me work on basics much like how she trains Jaune.
It's not every day I get taught by a fighter such as Pyrrha so it was mesmerizing to watch her demonstrate the moves. The red-headed Spartan made the moves look easy as her body moved like water, each component transitioned from one to the other without any mistakes.
"You want to pivot on your standing foot while also rotating your hip." She was saying, correcting my posture whenever she can. Even if it was something very minor, it never went unnoticed under her watch. "Much of the power and drive comes from there. Without much rotation you wouldn't have enough power."
"Pyrrha, I'm sure she knows that." Nora stated as she sat beside Ren, twiddling her fingers in her hair. "She's been in fights herself. Why don't you have a quick match instead?"
"Nora, Pyrrha's probably tired." Jaune said defensively. "She's been on her feet all day."
"It's quite alright Jaune, I don't mind." Pyrrha smiled before looking at me, a look of challenge in her eyes. She had an interest in fighting me ever since Glynda's class when we faced off against Mercury. "What do you say? One quick round?"
"Sure!" I said with excitement, standing to my feet and stretched my arms. "Don't hold back!"
Nightfall...
"Our break seems to be going by kinda fast, don't you think?" Kairos asked as we got ready for bed. Dinner was great with Weiss not wasting time making toasts like she normally would. The spirits were high as all the Huntresses and Huntsmen ate and talked amongst themselves. Pyrrha and I had a great match and true to her word, she knocked me to the ground in forty-five minutes.
"Yeah...I wonder how the others are doing." I smiled at her, pulling my nighttime shirt over my head and adjusting it appropriately. "I'm sure they had a great time and trained just like us."
"Thanks to Weiss we did gain a lot of fighting experience. I think this vacation was a success." The Faunus nodded with agreement, setting aside her book on top of the table. "I'm feeling much more confident and ready for that tournament."
"How many different teams do you expect to enter this year?" I asked, climbing into bed and fluffing out my pillow. "Just thinking about meeting different teams around the world just makes me feel on giddy on the inside."
"I would imagine any teams outside Vale are welcomed to participate." Kairos replied as she thought about it. "That's what a tournament is. We act as representatives and fight to bring honor to the schools we represent. I myself am limited on knowledge so watching the techniques of others will sure help us in future battles."
"Is there any rewards for the winning team?"
"Not that I know of but I'm sure there's some kind of reward." She let out a loud yawn and turned over, facing away from me. "Well goodnight."
"Goodnight." I replied and soon I could hear the soft breathing, indicating that she was in deep sleep. Thinking about a few things I snuggled against the blankets and fell asleep too, slowing my breathing until it remained at a constant pattern.
Tap~ Tap~ Tap~
Mmmngggh...what's that noise? I turned my head, the tapping against the glass caught my attention. The clock read 1 o'clock in the morning so I got a decent amount of sleep before the noise woke me up. Easing myself out of the blankets when the tapping continued I shuffled quietly out of the room and down the hall.
Tap~ Tap~ Tap~
"In the kitchen?" I followed the noise downstairs and entered the dark space, making my way to the window and opened it. At first there was nothing, then a whoosh of wings reached my ears and a bird landed next to me on the table.
"Caw, caw!" It screeched, eying me with its beady red ones. "Caw caw!"
"Shhhhh! You'll wake the others!"
"Squawk!" It flapped its wings indignantly, even pecking my finger with its sharp beak. "Caw!"
"Ouch! Wait...what's that?" It was then I noticed something attached to the bird's leg. It had a cylindrical shape and I carefully untied it. Holding the object in my hand I carefully unrolled it, letting the light from the moon to help me see the words within my mind.
The end draws near. Time is getting shorter and shorter. Before long, the forest will run red. The ocean will run red. The hunter has begun the hunt.
"What does that even mean...?" I muttered before the bird pecked me again. I totally forgot it was still there. "Ow!"
"Caw caw!" It hopped to the sill, tilting its head in my direction and flapped its wings. Walking over I leaned my head out and with my mind's eye, noticed a small parcel. Reaching out I grabbed it and set it down upon the table. The animal hopped onto my shoulder and watched as I opened it. What greeted my gaze were four elegant looking scrolls, sealed shut with my family's emblem. My eyebrows scrunched together as I grabbed one at random and opened it slightly.
The one who calls forth the fire will bring about a new beacon of hope. Beauty not only in the destruction of ones self but also in the resurrection of something deadlier.
Are these scrolls...prophecies? I set it down gently on the table and opened two more. They were the same as the first one but also stopped after the words, not letting me see what's on the inside.
An invisible string, pulled back by expert fingers has the ability to move even the stubborn mountains. One arrow is all it takes to bring everything down.
Roar of the sea beast, its strong bones crafted to serve its master and protect him from danger. A great offense is paralleled by an even greater defense. The skeleton of the sea beast will rise again to fight, its grotesque features will cause foes to flee.
"These...!" My hand reached for the last one and something within me felt an instant connection. My hand hovered over it before closing my fingers over it. Taking a deep breath I opened it slowly until it lay out on the table.
When the sun goes down and the moon becomes shrouded in darkness, the beast comes out. Alignment of the stars spells out the destiny of the unlucky one. Beware: Loss of humanity equates to the destruction of all of man kind. Unless the beast is slain at the hands of another.
"Reina?"
"K-Kairos?!" I whirled around, slapping the scroll down upon the table when the Faunus approached me and scrambled for a hold on the back of a chair so I wouldn't fall to the ground. "W-What are you doing here!? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"Woah, calm down. I've never seen you so jumpy before. I had a feeling that you left the room so I decided to follow you, you know just in case you needed my assistance." She assured me before noticing the clutter on the table. "What's that?"
"They seem to belong to me, hence the family emblem. If memory serves me right my father had some of these in his study and we had the more important ones stashed away elsewhere. But, while I can fully read one, the others wouldn't let me read their secrets."
"That's preposterous." She stated with a hearty laugh, reaching over to grab one of the scrolls at random. "It's not like-?!"
"What's the matter?" I asked when she suddenly doubled-over, dropping the scroll to the ground and fell on her side. "Hey! Answer me, what's wrong?!"
"S-Searing pain...!" She gasped and when I rolled her over a mark had formed upon the lower left side of her stomach. A mark resembling that of fire. She lifted her head once the pain went away and noticed her new marking, frowning a bit. "Well that was something totally unexpected."
"The words..." I had turned my head to where the scroll lay open on the tile floor and froze when there were more words underneath the strange message. It looked like someone's signature and I heard Kairos draw in a sharp breath next to me as her eyes focused on the signature alone.
Teo Klain
