A/N I forgot to include this in the previous chap so I'll just put this here
Alright I've gotten myself into RWBY because when I saw the series the only reason why I wanted to make a fic out of it was because RWBY is like a painting that already has a concept and all I needed to do was add in my own elements. I may change the atmosphere entirely, even the story, but the base building blocks were already provided to me. Besides lore drop chapters will be labeled as "Chapter ? Interlude: Title".
Bang
A shot echoed and in an instant a large and loud bang could be heard, something had made impact with the death stalker before another shot was fired, hitting the side of the agile Nevermore, although it did hit, the shot was non lethal to said grimm.
Although all eight students wondered who and where their helper was, they had other pressing matters to attend to. The two Grimms seemed angrier than before, their movements became more aggressive, rampaging through the terrain, knocking down the stone pillars, and destroying anything that stood in front of them.
The two teams now had to deal with one Grimm each.
Jaune the cowardly knight took initiative and charged forward followed by Pyrrha. Both used their shields to block the Grimm's claws, creating an opening for Ren to jump on top of the Grimm's head and latch onto its tail.
Using both guns Ren started shooting into the Grimm's tail. The Grimm started to go berserk, the strikes with his claws became heavier, the swinging of its stinger became more desperate. It was until the Grimm managed to hit Jaune through an opening did things started to go awry, the Grimm used its other claw to deal with Pyrrha, while also launching its stinger forwards towards the red haired student.
From the momentum Ren was eventually thrown off the stinger, but for a split second Jaune saw something. He saw how wounded the tail had become. Sprinting towards Pyrrha, Jaune parried one of the Grimm's claws with his shield.
"The tail," Jaune grunted as the Grimm striked another time.
Nodding her head Pyrrha striked the Grimm's claws as hard as she could, knocking it back and staggering it for a while, pressing her right let to the ground and distancing the left leg, Pyrrha leaned back her body and with all her power she pushed forward and threw her shield towards the Grimm's tail, completely severing it with her shield.
The Grimm howled in pain, its head tilting up in shock of losing its stinger. Without wasting such an opportunity Pyrrha jumped up and threw her sword with whatever remaining strength she had to the Grimm's head.
"Nora hammer Pyrrha's sword," The girl who could only fire grenades at the Grimm now had an opportunity to use her hammer. Shifting the weapon back to a hammer the girl with all her might hit Pyrrha's sword as hard as she could.
The sword went through the Grimm's inside and came out of the back, embedding itself into the ground. WIth one last howl the Grimm dissolved into nothing and the four students collapsed out of exhaustion, with ragged breaths they turned to see how the other four were holding up and to their surprise the four managed to pin the nevermore into a mountain side and it seemed like Ruby was up to something crazy.
Using Weiss' glyphs she accelerated Ruby towards the Nevermore, soon creating more glyphs in front of Ruby, allowing her to ascend farther up to reach the Nevermore. WIth both hands Ruby struck her scythe into the Nevermore's neck and with what remaining aura Weiss had she created a line of glyphs reaching up to the top of the mountain.
Bang
Ruby's scythe fired one round and soon more followed suit
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
With each shot fired her speed accelerated until they neared the cliff, using said cliff Ruby slammed the Nevermore's back into it, passing through the cliff she fired another shot.
Bang
With the speed granted from that shot she completely severed the Nevermore's head, slowly the giant bird dissolved into nothing.
Far away.
Meters stretched to kilometers.
A total distance of twenty kilometers a long and large cannon could be seen. With chains supporting said weapon in the trees. Below Ethlered was busy fending off some Grimm that were attracted to the two shots he had fired.
With his sword he sprayed the flammable gas and lit it up, creating a smoke screen. Enough time for him to look up and collect his cannon. Focusing his gaze the cannon shimmered, slowly its appearance disorientated before disappearing along with the chains and some tree branches that were used to tie the chains.
With one swing Ethelred sprayed the Grimm using the flammable liquid and lit his own sword. From that single move he had lit four Grimm on fire. WIthout wasting any time he charged towards the three Ursas that were not ablaze and promptly sliced the Grimm with his sword.
Ducking from an attack he used both hands to support his body, while his legs were raised from the ground and kicked upwards, hitting the Ursa's chin. Pushing his hand with a bit of strength he propelled himself away from the Ursa and landed in front of a dissolving Ursa that he had burnt priorly.
Muttering a string of curses Ethelred jumped into a tree. Swiftly he reloaded his sword. Exchanging his handle with a new one, while also pocketing the old one. As soon as his sword was reloaded he jumped up to a branch above him as an Ursa had jumped up and tore down the branch he was previously stepping on.
Pointing his sword towards the Ursa the middle of the blade opened up, revealing a barrel.
"Eat this," He muttered, pulling the trigger a shot was fired at the Ursa's eye, the Grimm howled in pain, while the others started to push the tree, trying to tear it down.
Jumping down Ethelred punched one of the Ursas with all his strength, causing it to be pushed back a few feet away from him, while jamming his sword into an Ursa's mouth, with his hilt preventing his hand to be chomped off Ethelred pressed a button and the sound of hissing was heard, and soon smoke followed.
The Ursa quickly swiped Ethelred to the side, while it tried to wail only for it to realize its throat was charred up and with sloppy steps the Ursa fell down before dissolving.
The two remaining Ursa, one with a missing eye, while the other with minimal damage circled around Ethelred, slowly looking for an opening to attack, but that was gone as soon as Ethelred emptied the remaining canister of his gas, creating another smoke screen for him to relocate.
Above the trees he looked down and began to assess his situation. While the two Ursas had their backs against each other Ethelred immediately jumped down and with his sword he pierced into the Grimm. Pressing a button he injected the Grimm with the entire canister of his flammable liquid before setting the Grimm ablaze.
Now only one remained. Taking a stance he waited to see what the Grimm would do, now that it was the only one left standing.
With a loud roar the beast charged towards Ethelred, closing his eyes Ethelred trusted his hearing and semblance to guide his blade. Slowly the thumping sound of the charging beast could be heard clearer, stepping forward Ethelred tilted his body to the side, while his hand held his sword at a reverse grip, facing horizontally to the right.
Ethelred with his eyes still closed felt the impact of the blade piercing the side of the Ursa, swiftly he pushed the bottom of his handle with his other hand to hold still. As the Grimm had charged past Ethelred, the beast fell down to the side, its other side had a gaping hole opened up. With ragged breaths, the Grimm's body could be seen breathing fast as it slowly died away.
Opening his eyes Ethelred turned around and pointed Primum Ignis towards the Grimm's head. With a push of a trigger a loud bang resounded before all was silent.
Rummaging through his pocket Ethelred took out a red piece, using his thumb and index finger to pinch the top and bottom of the piece he observed it closer.
"Now I just need to deliver this back," He muttered while inspecting the red knight piece.
"I'm well aware of your distaste for teams,"
"I know what I'm asking is a lot headmaster, but please do consider my point of view. My own father betrayed me and that left behind a nasty scar, one that'll take too long to heal… So I propose this. If I can handle on my own for a year. Would you drop this topic? Besides sir I have secrets to hide. Secrets that I would not trust into a person I just met or even after spending two years with them,"
"*Sighs* Fine. But this is just because I owe a great debt to your mother,"
"Thank you Headmaster,"
"Do not make me regret this. And most importantly. Do not let your mother's favor go to waste,"
"Yes sir,"
"When the test starts. Go to the east side of the forest, a set of relics will be placed there. Pick one and whichever you choose will affect you,"
"How?"
"I agreed to your preposterous request, but I intend to keep things fair. Whichever piece you take. You will be assigned as a honorary huntsman to that team,"
"I don't quite understand where you're getting at sir,"
"To put it bluntly. An honorary huntsman just means that you are considered in the same team as them, but only in name. The rest is up for you to decide, you can either go on your separate ways or maintain a good relationship, but I do need to remind you that there will be times where said team will ask for your help and you are not to reject,"
"So like a mercenary of some sorts?"
"More like a charity worker,"
"I see,"
"You are dismissed Sir Radcliffe… and good luck with your test tomorrow,"
"Thank your Headmaster, and apologies for intruding this late,"
As soon as Ethelred left the office Ozpin turned his chair towards his window, staring at the shattered moon the headmaster let out a small chuckle.
"Your son is going to cause me a lot of headaches," He muttered. "You really are persistent on being a pain in the ass," Another chuckle escaped his mouth. "Rest well, Esmerelda Jermaine, rest well knowing that your son is in good hands,"
Ethelred seemed to be the last one to arrive back, well considering how far he was it was reasonable, looking around the teams that formed he with his lonesome self walked forward, waiting for the headmaster to announce the results of the test.
"How was the test everyone? I'm sure you've all had your fun today," Ozpin gazed around the groups of students, his eyes lingered for a moment at Ethelred before continuing. "Now I know you are all tired and are quite eager to drop down and pass out, but please bear with me until I've announced the results," Clearing his throat two giant holograms appeared behind him with the faces of four people.
"Russel Thrush. Carden Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark," Ozpin called out, the four students soon stepped up the stage, lining up horizontally.
"The four of you retrieved the bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team Cardinal. Led by Cardin Winchester," A round of applause resounded the large hall as students clapped at the four.
Stepping down the stage the hologram changed and the picture of four other people appeared. "Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie," Ozpin called out, four students soon stepped up onto the stage. "The four of you retrieved the rook pieces. From now on you will work together as team Juniper. Led by Jaune Arc," A look of surprise flashed in the blonde boy's face.
"Le..le..lead by.."
"Congratulations young man," Ozpin cut his stuttering off, amused by his reaction.
Stepping down the stage the content's in the holographic screen shifted again, revealing four girls.
"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long," The four girls proudly marched their way onto the stage with anticipation. "The four of you retrieved the knight pieces. From now on you will work together as team Ruby. Led by Ruby Rose," A round of applause resonated throughout the hall as the blonde brawler soon moved from her position and hugged her sister. "I'm so proud of you," Some pride leaked through her cheerful voice.
Soon other teams were called out and announced.
"Scarlett Lionheart. Hazel Greene. Solana Blackheart. Sterling Cohen," The four people proudly marched their way onto the stage with anticipation. "The four of you retrieved the King pieces. From now on you will work together as team Shush (SHSS). Led by Scarlett Lionheart,"
"Ash Rivera. Cameron Murphy. Ivory Taylor. Sandy Jones," The four people proudly marched their way onto the stage with anticipation. "The four of you retrieved the Queen pieces. From now on you will work together as team Aces (ACIS). Led by Ash Rivera,"
"Amber Lee. Indigo Artorias. Jade Nguyen. Crimson Stoneheart," The four people proudly marched their way onto the stage with anticipation. "The four of you retrieved the Pawn pieces. From now on you will work together as team Lincoln (LINC). Led by Amber Lee,"
Lastly, In the hologram screen the picture of a single person could be seen. This caused a huge reaction from the crowd, murmurs and gasps could be heard amongst the large crowd.
"Ethelred Halistar-Jermaine Von Radcliffe. Please step up," Without looking around Ethlered made his way up to the stage, standing in front of Ozpin.
"You have made quite the feat, but also lucky. While all the other students seemed to be on the right track, you seem to wander off towards the east. Where a hidden objective lies," A crowd of murmurs started to erupt from the crowd, but one look from Ozpin managed to silence them.
"Throughout the history of Beacon only three people including you have managed to retrieve the hidden objective," Ethelred took out the red knight piece from his pocket and handed it to the headmaster.
"Ethelred Halistar-Jermaine Von Radcliffe. You alone have retrieved the red knight piece. From this day on you will be regarded as Codename Einherjar(EHJR). An honorary huntsman to team RWBY," The sound of disbelief resounded throughout the hall, voiced by different ways students were shocked to hear this new revelation.
"Now for the honorable mentions of today's test," Ozpin spoke up, while Ethelred made his way down the stage.
"First place we have team RWBY and JNPR who managed to take down a death stalker and Nevermore," The video of them killing the beasts were shown through the holograms.
"Second place we have team CRDL who managed to fend off a group of Ursas,"
"Third and last we have EHJR. Who lasted and survived throughout the entire duration of the test alone and even managed to assist team RWBY and JNPR from a long distance of twenty kilometers," The sound of two loud bangs and soon something impacting the two Grimms were displayed into the holograms earning him applauses from the other students.
"It looks like things are shaping to be an…" Ozpin couldn't seem to find the right word to describe the feeling he was feeling, but he settled with. "interesting year,"
The next day students were crowding the cafeteria, there were students who were lined up to get their food, some were eating while chatting with their groups, and some were simply talking with empty food trays in front of them.
"Ethelred!" Ruby called out the man who was aimlessly walking around the cafeteria in search of an empty seat.
"Sit here," Ruby gestured to an empty spot beside Blake, seeing around he found no close empty spots so with a curt nod he made his way towards team RWBY.
"A friend of yours?" Ethelred could hear Blake's question, while taking a seat down he answered her question.
"We met just two days ago when she and…" A sudden realization soon dawned him as he took a peek to his side to see Weiss sitting down beside Blake.
"Her," Ethelred pointed at Weiss with his sandwich. "Had an altercation,"
"Yeah we've made up," Ruby scratched the back of her neck, a bit unsure of her own words which prompted Ethelred to raise an eyebrow at this statement.
"Never mind. What happens between your team is your business, apologies for getting nosy," Ethelred dismissed his previous curiosity and took a bite at his sandwich.
"By the way how'd you do it?" Ruby asked, munching his sandwich for a moment. Ethelred swallowed the food before speaking out.
"This was how," He held a fork. Ruby soon felt her left hand empty, looking down she found her left hand holding nothing.
"Yang please pass this back to Ruby," Ethelred handed the fork to the blonde, a bit surprised by what just happened.
"H..how?" Yang managed to ask through her shock.
"I'll explain my semblance later and how I managed to help you guys after we finish today's classes," Ethelred merely answered, his hand grabbing for his fork to eat the sausages.
"Okay, and it seems like we'd also have to discuss about the honorary huntsman thingy later on as well," Ruby added another thing they had to discuss.
"Yes. Yes we do," Weiss stared at Ethelred with eyes that showed little to no room for him to negotiate.
Turning to his side he noticed the bow Blake was wearing, it was quite peculiar… They were like ears. But who was he to pry? As long as the secret did not affect him, he saw no need to pry, although… He does feel quite at peace as of now. Is it because he was still in the early stages where no one has yet to try and stab him in the back. Or was he getting complacent.
"Hey how about we exchange numbers first then," Ruby took out her scroll and handed it to Ethelred, reciprocating the gesture Ethelred did the same and after that was all done an awkward silence fell upon the group.
"So. What class do we have first?" Ethelred asked, trying to start some small talk.
"We have Professor Port's class first, then Professor Oobleck's," Blake answered too quickly.
"Alright. You girls enjoy the rest of your breakfast, I'll excuse myself to head to class early for now," Ethelred lifted up his tray and distanced himself from team RWBY.
'It feels like that team needs to bond first before I can even consider connecting with them. At this stage trying will only lead to awkward and tense moments,' Ethelred sighed out, his head shook slightly as he chuckled in amusement.
'Though it is interesting to see that kind of team develop,'
"As I slew the prey in front of me with my weapon the Grimm dissolve into nothing!" Professor Port was telling one of his tales to the students, while this was an attempt for him to keep the mood up. It just seems to have the opposite effect.
Students could be seen either too serious (Weiss) Or just wandered off their own spirit realm, some even just blatantly pressed their foreheads to the table and slept during class. Ethelred could see an act of mischief as Cardin who had crumbled a piece of paper was aiming it at someone.
With a sigh of disappointment Ethelred's eyes gazed on the paper ball. As soon as said paper was thrown it quickly disappeared before appearing above Cardin's head, causing the boy to flinch as he turned around to see who threw the paper at him, only for him to realize it was the same paper he threw at the blonde boy.
He tried a couple more attempts to only be met with the same result. Ethelred could've sworn the professor had also snickered at some point as his eyes glanced towards the burly man a few times before to Ethelred.
"Mr Winchester," The professor called out, whatever Cardin was doing halted, his body stiffened as his gaze slowly turned to the professor.
"Is there a particular body part that's more susceptible to damage on a deathstalker?" Professor Port asked.
With an unsure look Cardin glanced to the side in search of help from his teammates, but none of them seemed to know either.
'Karma's a bitch ain't it,' Ethelred smirked, his gaze returning to the professor who seemed a bit annoyed at Cardin.
"Alright that's it for class today. Mr Winchester and Mr Arc, please stay behind," Professor Port threw a chalk towards the blonde boy which hit the boy, causing him to jump and fall off his seat. Perhaps that was the only time the professor managed to elicit a laugh from the class.
"Mr Arc. Meet me after class," Professor Port repeated, rubbing his head where the chalk had hit him. Jauned from below the table stretched his hand upwards and gave the professor a thumbs up.
"Good. Now class dismissed, you may all continue your activities," The Professor gave a tired sigh and the students slowly trickled out of the classroom.
"Hey Eth," Yang called out to the raven haired student.
"Yes Miss Xiao Long?" Ethelred turned his head slightly to his side to see the girl walking beside him.
"It was quite funny seeing you do that to Cardin," Yang commented at his actions and a small smile played on his face.
"I'm glad you took entertainment in my actions Miss Xiao Long, but I do hope you paid attention to class. We do have a pop quiz tomorrow," The color on her skin seemed to pale at the mention of a pop quiz which made Ethelred try to suppress the chortle that threatened to escape his lips.
"Well surely you can seek help from Miss Schnee and Belladonna then. They seemed to have paid attention to class, albeit Miss Belladonna did trail off to her novels a couple of times during class," Ethelred recalled the events that happened during class.
"How about you? Can you teach me and Ruby?" Yang asked with pleading eyes.
"I'm afraid not," Ethelred shook his head. "Theoretics is not my strong suit, so I will also have to struggle tonight," Although he said that Yang had an unconvinced look on her, she had seen how focused he had been during class prior to the Cardin incident.
"Yeah right…" Yang rolled her eyes, but didn't press the topic further. They had just met after all and her request was already asking too much from a stranger not from her team.
"Yang! Eth!" The familiar voice of Ruby resounded through the hallways, turning his head and he saw the rest of team RWBY heading towards them.
"She's quite the energetic girl huh," Ethelred muttered under his breath, but it was loud enough for Yang to hear it.
"Ya got that right, she's my sister. My most fun and cool little sis. Of course she's more like me," Somehow she managed to take pride in her words, Ethelred could only blankly stare at her.
"Yea. Let's just hope that she does not care for her theory grades the same way you do yours," Ethelred jabbed.
"Hey! What's that supposed to…"
"I thought you guys had arrived at the next class first," Ruby finally got close enough for her to talk with the two. Turning her head to her sister with a glare. "And Yang. You thought it was funny to leave me behind? You didn't even bother to wake me up," Ruby whined, her hand pinching her sister's.
"Come on, don't just stand in the middle of the hallway. People are actually using this hallway," Weiss dragged Ruby to move forward, while the others started to follow suit.
'I can get used to this,' He had thought before shaking his head.
'Nah who was I kidding,' He berated himself for even having such thoughts.
Oobleck's class went on like any other normal class. Just some theories, explanations, questions, and note taking. Albeit Ethelred had a feeling of deja vu as he watched Cardin once more crushing his paper into paper balls and setting aim at Jaune.
But this time Ethelred decided to not help, seriously the boy merely slept through the class once again. Shaking his head in disappointment he ignored the two and continued to write down some notes.
A yelp resounded throughout the class and Professor Oobleck was fast to call out "Ah, Mr Arc. It is good to see you wanting to participate in class. Now how do you think the faunus were able to ambush the general during the night?" Professor Oobleck asked.
With a nervous look Jaune scratched the back of his neck, staying quiet for a while before answering the professor's question with an unsure tone. "Binoculars?" The answer garnered a lot of laughs and chuckles from the class.
"No it is not Binoculars. Anyone else?" The professor shook his head in disappointment before looking around for any students who wanted to answer, and it didn't take too long.
Weiss raised her hand and answered. "Night vision, some faunus have the ability to see through the dark well," Professor Oobleck clapped his hands and praised the heiress. "Good job Miss Schnee, your answer is correct," The professor started to continue his lecture.
"Now that will be all for today class, although I do wish you will all do your assignment seriously even though it is still due in three weeks time," The professor's class had finally finished, perhaps out of all the students here only three people were truly interested in history and only a couple few only cared for grades.
Ethelred could feel his head ringing, as if something was pressing it hard.
"I really need to relieve myself after this," He muttered. Looking around he saw no need to continue being there so he snuck out of the classroom and to his dorm room.
Removing some wooden tiles he took a box from under the floor, opened it and a lot of cigarettes were inside the box. Letting out a weary sigh Ethelred took out two before putting back the box back into its original spot.
While lighting one of the cigarettes and placing it in his mouth he had turned on the air purifier in his room. Closing his eyes he sat down, leaning his back into the chair.
Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale
He repeated this process again and again until he felt his mind calm down and his cigarette almost running out, a warm feeling on his fingertips made him open his eyes to see the almost burnt out cigarette. Taking the other one he burnt it using the fire from the previous one and switched them, crushing the burning side against the table he continued to smoke the new one.
Ethelred let himself be engulfed by the calming factors of the cigarette.
'Here, I don't know what you are planning on, but this much is enough to even sedate a pack of Ursas,'
"Sometimes even the strongest poisons can become medicine," He muttered a familiar string of words that he had once spoken in the past. A reminiscing smile played on his lips as he slowly let the effects run through his mind.
Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale
A temporary escape to reality. One that he had been using ever since he was merely ten years old.
Slowly he let himself be consumed in the darkness, but when the cigarette ran out.
Opening his eyes he let out a disappointed sigh and crushed the cigarette against his table. Taking out his scroll to see the time he saw a notification from Ruby and a small smirk played in his face.
"Does this girl perhaps just have that kind of aura? The welcoming aura that is capable of making people feel a sense of belonging, she does remind me so much of my sister, but more energetic," Ethelred mused, opening the message he read through the contents and immediately stood up.
"I forgot I had some explaining to do," Ethelred quickly ran out of his dorm with his stuff and headed to the library.
Arriving late Ethelred went to one of the private rooms and saw team RWBY who were currently studying… While studying was perhaps not the right word to use. Yang was playing around, while Ruby was almost asleep.
"Sorry for my tardiness I got so engrossed with my studies that I didn't realize the time," Ethelred apologized, the entire team turned to meet his gaze, feeling a bit awkward Ethelred silently walked up to one of the chairs and sat down.
The four girls cleaned up the table and postponed their studies for now, prompting other matters that needed attention.
"So how'd you even spot us from twenty kilometers away?" The first obvious question Weiss wanted to know.
"I've actually been tracking the Nevermore you were riding on for quite a while, it was hard trying to get a clean shot with it constantly flying and since I was running solo all I had was one to three clean shots or the nevermore would be attracted to me along with every Grimm around me," Ethelred explained himself briefly, Weiss nodded in understanding before Ruby asked.
"What weapon did you use? Surely you didn't use your sword since the damage the weapon did was quite large," Shifting back Ethelred reached out to something quite long that was slung behind him.
"I used this," He opened the zipper and showed an unassembled bolt sniper rifle.
"Before you ask," Ethelred stopped Ruby from asking further. "Allow me to explain my semblance. It is a teleportation semblance and I can only do it if I can see. So what I did was," Reaching into his bag he took out a large canister with a fire logo. "I teleported the bullet and canister at the same time," Ethelred lied. That was not how he did that amount of damage, but to him the less people who knew about his semblance the better.
"I first threw the canister and teleported it near the deathstalker," He demonstrated by moving the canister from its original position to appear in front of Ruby. "And then I shot my rifle and teleported the bullet to a position where it'll hit the canister.
"I see. That explains the big explosion," Weiss muttered as she inspected the canister.
"So can you transport other people?" Blake asked, and this question immediately intrigued the entire team.
"Yes and no," Ethelred's answer confused them.
"Please elaborate," Blake inquired.
"I can't freely teleport anyone, because my semblance will be blocked by that person's aura, lest they permit my semblance," Ethelred gave a brief explanation to them. Blake had a small reaction, while Weiss was furrowing her eyebrows.
"How do we permit your semblance?" Yang asked, quite curious.
"You'll feel that something is intruding into your aura and the rest is up to your mind, whether it'll accept the foreign force or not," Ethelred answered.
"And you can't force this?" Wiess' had an unreadable look when she asked this question.
Ethelred shook his head and then proceeded to point at his eyeball. "I can force it, but it comes at a cost. Temporary blindness for a few hours. It is never accurate how long I'll remain blind, but one person will shut down one of my eyes and if I teleport two…" He didn't need to finish his words for them to understand where he was getting at.
"I see, let's just hope the day never comes when you need to do that," Ruby sounded a bit worried for him, or rather he could hear the pity in her voice, even though it was small. He could still hear it clear. It wasn't the first time he'd heard that kind of tone after all.
Ethelred could merely give her a solemn smile for her optimism, how else would he have known of the consequences if he himself didn't face them.
"Is there anything else you wish to know about myself?" Ethelred allowed team RWBY to ask more questions if they wanted to.
"Von. You said it was a title. May I ask what kind of title?" Weiss asked.
"A very old title, one that has to be upheld, each generation must contribute a great service if they wish for the title Von to remain in their name. The first of my ancestors were the people who led the charge to push back the grimm," Etherled began to narrate the very stories his father once told him when he was but a child.
"Ancestors after ancestors from the first generation all contributed to fighting off grimm, my bloodline runs long and deep, the reason my name is long is so that we can have a clear record of the family branch, to know exactly who our ancestors were," Unseen by their eyes Ethelred had his hands gripped tight under the table.
"My father," Hints of spite and distaste escaped his mouth when he uttered those words. "Was the one who continued the title, along with my mother the two held a last stand against a horde of grimm that lurked between Vascuo and Vale. No one knew which city the grimm wanted to attack, so an attack towards them was ordered," HIs eyes flickered with a few emotions. "Out of the one hundred eighty seven huntsmen and huntresses sent. Only fifty five returned alive… Out of my two parents… Only one survived," He let out a weary sigh, his family history was never one he tried to hide as it was all over the internet.
He just needed to repeat the story.
"I see… Sorry if I brought up bad memories," Weiss apologized, but Ethelred merely shook his head.
"I have long learnt the art of letting go. Now only lingering emotions remain. As I reminisce about the past I'm afraid those emotions shall forever remain alongside those memories," He wasn't lying. He had wept, mourned, grieved, cried, lamented, and denied her death many times. But there came a time where he stopped.
Where he had to stride forward, just as how she would've wanted him to.
"Any other questions?" A somber mood enveloped the room, a suffocating and awkward atmosphere from the previous discussion lingered amongst the small private room where secrets would be left untold.
"Would you mind some sparring sessions? You know, to get to know one another better," Ruby asked, her voice sounding uncertain, her expression nervous as both her thumbs fiddled against one another.
"No. I do not mind having sparring sessions with you all. I find the idea good and as you said it yourself Miss Rose. It'll be a way for all of us to know each other better," Ethelred gave the young leader a curt nod.
"If that is all I'll excuse myself. I myself need to prepare for tomorrow's pop quiz," Ethelred stood up, an action of his that was mirrored by the young leader.
"How about we study together? Ya know, as some sort of bonding time?" Ethelred let out a small chuckle of amusement, he appreciated the young girl for her efforts to create, and maintain a bond. But for the love of Oum have some confidence girl.
"That would be much appreciated. I am weak in theoretics after all. Mayhap having a few study partners wouldn't hurt," Ethelred returned to his chair, reaching into his bag he took out a book and pen.
"Well, apologies for the intrusion then," Weiss and Blake soon started to continue their explanation, occasionally asking Ethelred if he had any questions, while also waking up Ruby and scolding Yang to concentrate.
