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Beneath me hanging suspended in the night was a Grimm mask of a massive creature. It had millions of eyes on its tentacles and dozens of mouths all of which were speaking. It whispered. It whispered my name. And with it came my mother's voice.
"Jaune I shall always be your mother. Don't ever forget that." I flinched and drew my sword. I stared down the beast. A tentacle wrapped around my leg. Its teeth sank deep and jagged into my pants and legs. It picked me up easily and dragged me close to that whirling abyss of grinning mist. At the center of it all there was nothing to be done. I felt my body change as I shifted to become one with the monster whispering in my mother's voice.
"I love you Jaune. My precious baby son. My only son." It whispered. Its voice was soft and melodic. The dichotomy between the voice and the monster was stark. I went to swing my sword. Where my sword met flesh it Rebounded off and left a vibrating pain down my arms. I dropped my sword. My shield drooped. I was weak. I was too weak to fight it. There was nothing I could do against such a foe. But still I had to try.
The tentacle around my leg drawing me closer to that hideous maw at the center loosened. I picked up my sword. I waved it over my head and suddenly I was flying. On the wing of will and wind I soared away from the monster. I left a huge piece of me behind. I couldn't explain it but I left my heart and lungs back there in the center. They turned red like the insides of a Grimm as I flew away. Black spots crept up my hand. I was changing. I was becoming one with it. This wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to soar and be free. I was suddenly shackled to the earth and yanked in the air backwards. I was falling.
I woke up in my comfortable bed at Beacon academy. I sighed and rubbed my eyes. It was early. Some time still until we would have to get dressed for school. I reclined on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. Where the tentacle touched me vibrated oddly almost like pain but without crossing over. It was a really intense feeling. I just lay there and let the dream take me. Ren was silent in bed next to me. Across the room Nora was breathing heavily. I thought I could make out Pyrrha sleeping on her side but I couldn't be sure in the darkness.
I rolled onto my side. I let out a loud exhale into the darkness. Darkness was comforting. I was afraid but I wasn't afraid of the dark. I was afraid of disappointing my sisters and parents. I was afraid of failure. But darkness? A lack of light? Didn't feel a thing. I sat up in bed. I was wide awake now. And if sleep meant dreaming like that I never wanted to sleep again.
My mothers voice was so soft and comforting. But the creature had been so offensive to my eyes. Not that I had actually seen it. I hadn't been using my eyes. It had all been in the imagination and mind's eye. When I heard the voice of my mother it had been a distant second as all sounds were within both dreams and memories. It was recalled separately. It came from a different place in the brain. I wondered briefly what that meant before conceding. People smarter than me had been pondering the nature of dreams longer than I had been alive. Dreams were so strange. It set me on edge. Like maybe we'd only drilled down five feet into this glacier and still had kilometers left to go. Nobody knew how anesthesia worked. I considered it.
Anesthesia probably almost but not quite killed you. That's why. That's the why. But drugs? How did they actually shut off and turn on different parts of the brain? We know because of drugs like psilocybin and lsd that the mind is capable of altered states. We know that because of dreaming too. The mind can enter alien states. And wasn't it remarkable that throughout Cetra history we had only ever occupied the first floor of the building called consciousness. There were levels to this thing. This was a submarine, not a boat.
I wasn't about to solve the hard problem of consciousness. I wasn't that kind of person. When the sun came up I got out of bed and put up the dividing curtain in our room. I dressed quickly. We went down to breakfast and I had some pancakes and drank some coffee. The food was good. I made a bacon sandwich out of toast and piled some eggs into it and ate in big bites. I was sore. My muscles ached. I was also hungry. I took it as a good sign. I really needed to bulk up. I did plenty of working out in fitness and combat class. Now was the time to heal.
The body would repair itself and I'd get used to the strain.
I just… I felt like I needed more somehow. I just felt like it wasn't enough to ever catch up with the people around me. I shot a glance at Ruby. She was like some kind of child prodigy. SHe got into beacon two years early. I wasn't like that. I failed to get into combat school before. I wasn't up for it. So when Beacon admissions came around I hadn't hesitated. To cheat that was. I stole the sword and armor and shield and faked my transcripts to get in. Headmaster Ozpin hadn't seen fit to press me but I was sure I was throwing red flags. My skills just weren't up to par. Pyrrha had trounced me and she saved my life dozens of times in initiation. I sagged. I was dragging her down. She didn't deserve to put up with me.
Wanting to succeed and trying my best wasn't a guarantee I'd actually succeed. The whole point of doing this was to be a hero and slay monsters. Wasn't it? I was closer to that than ever. So why was I so depressed? I had a beautiful partner. I was the leader of a team. Come on get it together. You're a man now. You're a hero. You're a hunter. Or at least you're pretending to be those things. That means something. I made eye contact with Blake. I swiftly looked away from the withdrawn bookish girl. SHe was a shadow that hid within itself.
When I looked across the table she was still staring at me. I blinked at her for a moment before giving her a nervous smile. She just gave me a neutral look.
"So is anybody down for exploring Vale? The weekend is coming up," Yang shifted in her skirt. Maybe the wood of the benches at the breakfast table was biting into her thighs.
"What'd you have in mind?" Blake wondered.
"There's plenty of bars and discotheques off campus," Yang shrugged.
Blake shook her head. "It's not really my thing."
"Fine, fine," Yang smirked. She seemed to roll with it. "Ruby's underage anyway. But I know a nice cafe and book shop."
"That does sound more my style," Blake decided.
Ruby was staring hard at her cup of coffee. Weiss gave Blake and Yang a smile which seemed fitting on her face. Her scar above her left eye just accented her beauty. "We should probably get ready for the Vytal festival."
"Yeah you're probably right. In just a few months we'll have the international students here. Maybe we could show them around," Yang shrugged.
"That sounds grand," Pyrrha chimed.
"You're from Mistral, Weiss is from Atlas, do you know anyone who's going to show up?" Nora wondered. "Both of you?"
Weiss shook her head and Pyrrha seemed to think for a moment. "Well they'll have to qualify. They'll have to compete and travel over. I know a couple of people. Fionn Fiamma. Albus Arcturus maybe. They both have powerful semblances and are in our age group. I went to Sanctum with them."
"Semblances?" Weiss wondered. "What's their power?"
"Fionn is a teleporter. He can even teleport within your space and telefrag you. Albus's semblance has a lot of rules but it essentially allows him to set up a barrier and punish anyone who breaks preconceived rules which he sets up. Against me he would simply declare that it was against the rules to attack one's elders. From there his barrier would punish me every time I struck him."
"That's so cool," Ruby whispered. "People are so interesting."
"You beat him though?" Weiss wondered. "Both of them?"
Pyrrha nodded. "The best application of my power is a subtle one. I managed to overcome both Albus and Fionn. Though it wasn't easy. I expect them both to do well for the qualifiers and the tournament should they enter."
"What about older students?" I asked.
Pyrrha shook her head. "I don't know any well enough to say."
"Fair enough," I decided. I shifted to look at Weiss. "But you don't know anyone?"
Weiss shook her head. "I was homeschooled by tutors. I didn't attend combat school."
"Cool." I nodded.
"Those other schools are going down!" Yang punched a fist into her open palm. "They won't know what hit 'em."
Blake giggled behind a hand and Ruby smiled up at her sister.
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In combat class I was slated up against Ren. We both lost yesterday and were on the same team. We went after Pyrrha and Nora. Pyrrha managed to outlast Nora. Similarly Ruby and Yang fought as well as Blake and Weiss.
When we were called down we went to the locker room and changed. I got into my armor while Ren got into his gi. He had his weapons. Two submachine guns with blades hooking downwards in front of them. I was a little nervous. He cut quite the figure.
When we stepped into the ring against one another he quickly drew his blades. I readied myself behind my shield and with my sword and tried to make sure my feet were properly spaced.
On go. He opened fire with his machine guns. Green sparks burst from the front and peppered me. Shaves of aura were torn away by the guns as I tried to block and approach. He saw it coming and deflected my sword slash. He blocked easily and counterattacked with his blades. He hooked me and threw my feet out from under me and sliced me three quick times as I fell. I got up only to be met with a long side flip. He kicked me in the side of the head. Then slashed me three quick times. Then he backflipped over me with grace and showered me with bullets. It caught me and I was forced to try and turn with him as he leapt over me. I had to turn around at some point and while I did I was blind to his options. He quickly struck just as I turned around and hit me hard in the jaw. Then he sliced across my breast plate. Then with both weapons he dropped and yanked down on my aura at the same time. It tore a long gash in my aura. Huge white chunks were taken out. I managed to hit him in a way he couldn't block entirely as he rose. But with one hooking blade on my shield he tore it out of my hands easily. Now without my shield and with just a sword my defending options were severely limited. He hit me hard with both feet in the chest. Then he backflipped in place and kicked me in the chin. With one final spray of bullets he knocked my aura into the red and out of the match.
I sighed a little as he helped me up. I had hit him at least. That was better than I did against Pyrrha. IHe hadn't perfected me. It had been close but not perfect.
When I returned to my seat, Pyrrha glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. I met her look with some trepidation. For a moment it felt like she saw right through me. The way my mother would whenever I told a lie back home. It set my teeth on edge and I wanted to escape. But there was nowhere to escape to. I just had to sit and deal with it.
"I thought you did well, Jaune." Pyrrha informed.
"What are you talking about? He took me apart. All kudos to you by the Ren," I phrased simply by way of deflection. Ren glanced at me when Pyrrha spoke so I felt the need to compliment him. He was good. He was better than me. Plain and simple. It really was cut and dry when you looked at things like that. He was simply better. And while that sucked and was brutal it was also honest. It was more honest to just come out and say it.
I watched Cardin dispatch Sky Lark. The other boy from team CRDL who won yesterday. Cardin wielded a giant mace with a gem of red dust at the tip. The other boy wielded a sword which had grooves and was able to fire bullets straight along the blade from the handle. It seemed inelegant compared to Pyrrha's rifle sword combination. But I was sure he was better than me. So there wasn't much I could say. When he lost, Cardin clobbered him about the chest with his mace and sent his aura crackling and sparkling across the floor. It was one massive final hit which knocked him from middling yellow aura all the way to the deep red. Professor Goodwitch called the match quickly. She stepped between the two men and declared Cardin the winner. I nodded along as I watched and tried to pick up some blade work by the defeated boy. It wasn't much and compared to Pyrrha's fast and elegant style it didn't seem like much but it was closer to my style and skill level so I learned more than I did by watching her fight Nora or even fighting her myself. Against Pyrrha I was terrified. She was simply that much better than me. I thought maybe I could hold a candle to these other guys but definitely not Pyrrha. She simply moved the way water wished it could move.
She made it look easy too.
My own attacks seemed sloppy. At times I wasn't even sure I was holding my sword and shield right. But she just flowed bro.
Against Nora it had been fast and then it was all over. Nora hit hard but Pyrrha simply blocked or deflected everything. When she got inside Nora's defenses she made it hurt. And until then it seemed like they were playing Pyrrha's game. She looked so dominant. She had to be top of the class. No question. There was a reason she was a champion. Her footwork was tight and exactly where it was supposed to be. She hit so hard so casually. She smashed Nora with her shield then threw it, rebounded it off the floor and caught it again all in one simple smooth motion. She made that shit look easy too. She made it look so easy I wondered for half a moment if I could beat Nora until she twirled her hammer and grenade launcher combination and sent Pyrrha sliding back. Then Pyrrha reposed with a lunge that carried her forward twenty feet and brutally impaled Nora on her spear. How did she move so quickly in all that armor? It was heavy hoplite style. But she made it all seem simple.
When the sisters, Ruby and Yang fought, Yang came out on top. Ruby was fast but once Yang caught her she made it hurt. She fired off shotgun backed punches from her gauntlets and it seemed like they were fighting at her pace the whole time. Yang fired off a right cross, left body shot, left head hook, and finished with a cross that seemed to have the force of a train behind it. She caught Ruby and blocked the bullets from the sniper rifle. When Ruby spun at her with the blade and practically teleported on top of her sister in a flash of petals Yang blocked easily and fired off a hook that buffeted Ruby. Ruby growled adorably in frustration before diving back in. Yang shielded and waited patiently for her turn. When she fought back she was on fire. Her hair was burning with yellow and red flames. She flowed into Ruby's range and knocked her off her feet. Yang delivered a punch to the side of Ruby's face that made the older sister grimace in empathetic pain for her younger sister. She still knocked Ruby around to the ground though.
When the fighting was over Yang helped Ruby up and smiled full of pride at her little sister.
Ruby looked away from Yang and made eye contact with me. I gave her a cheer and she grinned good naturedly.
Blake fighting Weiss was closer. Weiss just couldn't catch Bulake who seemed capable of short range teleportation and leaving behind after images capable of fighting briefly before dissolving into shadow. Weiss tried to pin her in with pseudo-telekinesis to no avail. Then she lunged in a forest of glyphs darting between them in an attempt to catch her illusory target but Blake fought with a hit and run style which seemed adept at wearing Weiss down. Weiss grimaced realizing this and raised her rapier with the barrels for dust. She cast a wave of fire which caught Blake. But Blake quickly drew a blue crystal and used it on her next shadow clone. When she teleported her clone exploded into water to extinguish the flames. Weiss was forced to play that game. It was a losing game. Even when Weiss activated her semblance in the shape of a clock and accelerated herself with what looked like time dilation it wasn't enough to catch Blake despite the haste her spell granted her. Weiss's power was incredibly versatile. But when Blake appeared in front of her she took her sword in both hands and brought it down against Weiss in a single smooth motion which knocked Weiss from the ring and eliminated her. Weiss sighed and looked disappointed in herself. But she gave Blake a congratulatory and good natured smile. She fought well. She could be proud of that.
I frowned slightly as I watched the other two boys from team CRDL fight. I was deep in my ponderings regarding my team and my sister team. I couldn't keep up with any of them the way I was now. There was no equilibrium. They all had incredible powers where I was just me. I felt like a mortal surrounded by angels. I just hoped I wasn't too mortal.
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-WG