"Set right after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind, this is an alternate timeline where Sora is sent to the world of Remnant (best be caught up with the events of ReMind due to spoilers being imminent). There is currently no foreseeable way in returning to his friends. With that in mind, Sora will face this new endeavor."
Ch.1 - Breath
Well… it was pretty much expected.
The last thing Sora saw before fading away from the Destiny Islands was Kairi's ever-serene face. From what he was aware of, everyone from that journey was present: the Twilight Town gang, the ex-Nobodies, the trio from the Land of Departure, the King, Donald, Goofy… Riku. After prevailing over the fight against the Thirteen Darknesses and seeing Master Xehanort make peace with his defeat, the victory still did not feel complete. Kairi's demise at the hands of Xehanort left a hole in his heart and it didn't sit well for him to accept the truth of her being gone without at least using the power of waking in an attempt to bring her back. His attempts to defy fate led him through the minds of his fellow Keyblade wielders and their situation when he, Donald, and Goofy battled Master Xehanort at Scala ad Caelum. In the end, he gathered all of the fragments of Kairi's heart needed to bring her back.
Yes, even if it cost him the privilege of ever seeing them again.
'There's a high price to pay for wielding such power foolishly.'
'Your time… in this world is—!'
Sora knew what he was getting into when he vowed to bring Kairi back. Young Xehanort's words are just a reminder of the ramifications of his choice and as such, the price he paid for his overuse of the power of waking has already been set in stone. What he was essentially doing was bending destiny, so such a power would come at a significant price. Nevertheless he has already felt full circle with what he has gotten out from his journeys and felt Kairi deserves better. So now there is no turning back. This was it for him.
With the weight of his body leaving the world behind, the memories of the past few years flew by before he finally let his mind rest as the realm of unconsciousness began to seep in and take over. It was not that long before he felt a sense of place. Slowly, he opened his vision to find himself standing in a bright void. There was nothing worth looking at as there was basically nothing to look at. Looking down at himself, he was still wearing the attire from his last adventure. After a bit of thought, Sora decided to walk in an unspecified direction.
"Is this actually the afterlife?"
He really had to wonder if this was the actual final destination for the deceased. When the whole Seekers of Light met their demise by the literal storm of Heartless, they haven't exactly completely died but were taken to The Final World. From what Chirithy has explained, it was a sort of purgatory for hearts with connections to the living world so strong that they cannot fully pass on. It was a rather interesting experience for Sora to piece himself and the others back together in that Final World. But in this case, his body seemed whole. Shouldn't he be left without a body? His train of thought was interrupted when he felt a presence straight ahead. Bright light gradually filled the location quickly as Sora covered his eyes.
"What is this?" Sora said aloud.
"Wandering soul, your form was in pieces when I found you. The essence radiating from you was… interesting."
Sora took a peek at the source. He couldn't make out a form, all he saw was overwhelming light. "Who are you?"
"My identity is not a concern for this meeting. What I will tell you is that I am responsible for bringing you here. Your appearance was something unprecedented. The strength of your heart caught my utmost attention. I can already tell, by taking a look at that strength and the way you carry yourself, that you were a hero who has already experienced a life's worth of ordeals."
"I remember fading from my world. Tell me, am I able to return to my world? To my friends?"
There was a moment of silence before Sora's question was answered. "Unfortunately, I could not determine where you came from. You cannot return from whence you came. My apologies."
That was something Sora expected, but he still felt downbeat upon hearing the answer. "Oh… well I paid the price for using that power too much. What matters is that everyone back home is doing fine. They can live their destinies to their heart's content. As for me, I have lived my chance at life to its fullest… and I'm fine with that."
"But what if I told you another chance is right around the corner."
"Huh?"
The light continued its sentence, "I do not know of the land where you came from, but I know of a land that can use someone like yourself. A world with a history of strife and a struggle against mankind's darkness. This is something I am sure you have probably heard of before."
It was.
"What I am offering is another chance to use your powers for the benefit of the masses; the redemption of humanity. Remnant has its fair share of heroic minds like yours, but with heroes come their villains. With their continued conflict, they will remain divided yet hope still exists and I feel you are a person who can right this wrong. I still see much of life you have yet to discover. This world is one that can give you such experience, but under the condition that you accept this task. It is completely voluntary and you can continue the deep rest you deserve. So, what is your decision?"
This was certainly a hard decision. Sora was not thinking of even a slight possibility of him having the opportunity to live a life again. After the Keyblade fell into his hands, he was suddenly given such great power and was given responsibility to the welfare of numerous worlds. Was he ready to potentially spend another lifetime fighting to keep the light of humanity lit? Albeit this offer only refers to one world, but with an extremely long-term dilemma. Did he have it in him to do this now?
"May your heart be your guiding key." Sora thought to himself as he put a hand to his chest while closing his eyes. He then extended his hand to call out something in the darkness, and then he felt weight in his hand. Opening his eyes, he laid his eyes on the one thing that led him through this path: the Kingdom Key, in all of its splendor.
Because of this Keyblade, he had to face all of his hardships and carry the duties of maintaining world order. But it was also because of the Keyblade that he was able to connect with so many individuals. All of those worlds he has visited; not a single one where he felt that he didn't connect with at least one heart. Call it natural charisma or even a special aura that draws people to him, but Sora just thinks that making bonds is the right thing to do. With that in mind, Sora had one other thing to ask, "Can you at least tell me anything of value about this world, like what the state of it is?"
"It has been ages since I have been to Remnant. I, along with another, decided to depart the world and allowed humanity to mend the wounds they have inflicted upon themselves. Because of our departure, the people of Remnant might not be able to use magic like they once have, or now they might not even believe in the existence of magic. Other than that, my absence has made my knowledge about the current fate of Remnant unknown. If you prefer to be done with fighting, then rest is always an option—"
"I'll do it. I can't stand by knowing that a world is at stake when there is something I can do about it. If anything, my friends would be disappointed if I didn't take action. So, count me in!" Sora said this with absolute confidence.
It was a response that the light was not all so surprised at. Sora's drive to help others was visibly apparent. He had a look that radiated conviction, a conviction of true loyalty to connections. "If that is the case, then the redemption of Remnant is your utmost goal. Only by completing this task will we come back to witness what has become of the world. Now go." Then the light finally faded. Sora soon felt himself falling in the void, but this time to a set location. As he began to lose consciousness, he had only one thing to think about.
"Remnant, here I come."
It's been about two days since Sora's arrival on Remnant. His arrival was quite a welcoming one… because he fell head first into the ocean in a form of a white streak (huh, felt something like this happened before). Rising up to the surface he took a look around: it looked early in the morning as the sun rose above the horizon as he could make out a landmass with a city. The only problem was that it was going to take a bit to swim to. Fortunately there was a nearby fishing boat that made its way to his location. Sora swam up to the boat to see a very surprised fisherman. The fisherman offered Sora a ride to the docks and Sora obliged. They didn't really say much to each other during the ride, but Sora heard the fisherman muttering something along the lines of, "Kids testing their Semblances these days." Being his first minutes on Remnant, Sora had no clue on what a "Semblance" was.
More unfamiliar terms such as "Dust", "Faunus", and "Aura" were brought about when he got off the boat and traversed the city of Vale, so when Sora came across a public library he went straight into looking for books that gave him a basic understanding of Remnant as a whole. Sora isn't much of a book person, but if he did have to spend another lifetime in this world, then he better at least have a common understanding of life here. He had decided to sleep within a tree in a park because a dude who just came from another dimension most likely doesn't carry Lien, so he couldn't book a hotel room or anything. The bench seems a bit more practical but at least sleeping in a tree yielded more privacy.
So the two days passed by unremarkably.
Right now, it was just a typical night in the city. Civilians were going back home, most businesses and restaurants were beginning to close down for the night, and those who enjoy the nightlife roamed around. Sora was just heading back from the library, having finished the reading for the day. It was a miracle that Sora understood the writing and language of Remnant, something that the light most likely gave him the ability to have. His feelings toward the things he has read were mixed. The technology of this era was sure fascinating but when it came to social issues, it troubled Sora. The general discrimination towards the Faunus was unjustified. Sure the White Fang are a big problem to deal with, but they are just the radical minority. Faunus usually just have a single physical trait distinguishing them from humans, what's the big deal? He went on adventures with an anthropomorphic dog and duck and referred to a mouse as "Your Majesty."
That aside, Sora realized something else: he hasn't eaten ever since he arrived. Now that's a big problem. He needs to find a way to make Lien fast. Like Twilight Town, he did find boards listing part-time jobs to do. Reading up on Remnant, however, occupied a lot of time along with him freerunning around the city to get a general layout.
"Well I guess I should start working tomorrow then," Sora said while crossing his arms behind his head. He turned the corner onto the street that led to the park, which was a few more blocks ahead. There he noticed the shop, From Dust Till Dawn. Dust was basically an inferior substitute for magic and since this was a primary resource for hunters to use, Sora might have to call his magic usage "Dust" and maybe even limit the potency of his magic to blend in. This world now will probably not take the sudden existence of magic well, seeing that the books indicated no current usage of magic. Regardless, Sora took a fascination in the vastly versatile applications of Dust and thought about those as he window-shopped. What he soon noticed were a group of thugs grabbing the Dust. Quick to action, Sora began heading towards the door, "Oh no, this is bad news!"
He would have made it to the door had it not been for two of the thugs to suddenly go flying out the window. Sora stepped back to avoid collision. Another individual jumped out of the window, most definitely the person who kicked the thugs out. Taking a look at the individual, Sora noticed she was a girl with a pale complexion around his age. Her shoulder-length hair was a black color that gradated to ruby at the tips. Opening her eyes, steely silver irises gazed at the robbers. She wore dark themed apparel that contrasted her complexion, sporting a red cape that was pinned on by two cross shaped pins. As she rose, a GARGANTUAN red and black metal scythe retracted from its compact form. The girl gave it some twirls before striking the blade onto the ground, embedding it into the concrete.
"That… is a COOL weapon," Sora thought.
The group of thugs ran up to her, but she evaded the first guy by performing some acrobatics on her embedded scythe. With a full twist, she propelled herself with a missle kick to the face while grabbing her scythe. As she landed, she loaded a sniper round into the chamber as she proceeded to fire it. This caused her to spin rapidly due to recoil and knock back another thug. Using the momentum of the spin, the girl used the blunt end of the scythe to do an overhead swing straight down onto the third thug, slamming him down to the ground. The last thug started shooting from his rifle. However, he was not able to connect as the girl began zooming around and started closing in on him. She slides on the floor, sending the thug into the air and in quick succession embeds the scythe tip into the ground, pivots to the airborne thug, and kicks him straight to the ground.
Sora was simply amazed by the girl's skill. He couldn't contain the excitement, "Hey, those were some sweet skills! Where did you learn all of that from?"
"Oh! Uhhh… thanks." The girl didn't see Sora until he called her out. "I'm still a student at Signal Academy." She was about to continue until the sound of clapping appeared. They looked at the source to be an orange haired man with bangs covering one eye wore a bowler hat while smoking a cigar. He wore a gray scarf, white coat, and black pants and shoes. In his hand was a black cane.
"You were worth every cent. Truly, you were," the man said as he crushed his cigar. "Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd love to stick around… I'm afraid this is where we part ways."
Roman raised his cane, revealing a scope. This sent red flags in Sora's mind and the girl did not fully have her guard up. Sora decided it was time to leap into action. As soon as the criminal fired a red Dust round, Sora closed the gap between him and the girl as he prepared to shield her. She thought he was insane to take a round without assistance, initially thinking he was just a civilian. Those thoughts changed when Sora called upon the Kingdom Key as it appeared in his hands. Sora used the Keyblade to bat the round into the sky, exploding in the air. The girl stared in awe as he basically deflected a round without it exploding on contact.
"Now that's what I call a homerun," Sora proclaimed.
"Huh, I wasn't expecting that… " the criminal looked a bit baffled, "... but it would be best if I were to be on my way. Ciao." The criminal then shot another dust round at the duo. The girl, who was ready this time, and Sora both side-stepped away from the explosion. When the dust settled, Sora found the criminal making an attempt to run away. He decided to follow in pursuit. Before he got anywhere, he noticed the girl ran in front of him and looked like she wanted to say something.
"You managed to swing that kind of dust round away without it blowing up in your face! Where did you learn how to do that?"
"Uhhh… self taught?"
The girl gave him a slight look of disbelief but continued on with the chat, "My name is Ruby Rose. And you are…?"
"I'm Sora. We can get to know more about each other after catching this crook!" Ruby nodded. The two found the criminal scaling up a ladder on a nearby building. Behind them, the shopkeeper went to observe what happened outside. Sora gave a reassuring look to the old man, "Stay inside. We'll take care of this!" After a sound of confirmation from the shopkeeper, Sora and Ruby ran towards the building. As they were approaching the building, a group of similar thugs appeared from the adjacent street. Ruby prepped her scythe, but Sora ran past her.
"I got this!"
The first thug made an attempt for a horizontal cleave with a machete, which resulted in Sora leaping over the thug and maneuvering his body to land a strike across the back of his head, knocking the thug out. Sora used the momentum from the strike to kick himself off from the first thug and launch himself at a thug to his side. That very unprepared guard had his jaw acquainted with Kingdom Key as Sora followed through with an upward slash, sending him airbourne. A third thug attempted to flank him from behind and perform a back attack, yet Sora was aware of that and pivoted around to leg sweep the thug. Sora was not done and instead gripped the guard's wrist and chucked him at the airborne thug. As those two crashed onto the ground, another thug hopped over them to exchange in a swordfight with Sora. It was not going well for him, as his opponent has already faced multitudes of swordsmen many leagues above his skill level. Needless to say that Sora easily deflected a few strikes and proceeded to butt the end of Kingdom Key onto the thug's torso. This knocked the wind out of the thug as he joined the pile.
Ruby watched the exchange, very impressed with Sora's skill. No words were needed as both teens looked at one another to nod in confirmation and headed towards the building. Sora got to the building first and ran up the wall. This left Ruby gawking as she decided to use Crescent Rose's recoil to bounce up to the roof in one bound. They stopped to see the man near the edge.
"Hey!" Ruby called out.
"Persistent…the two of you," he muttered. It was a second later when the sound of engines revved to life. A Bullhead suddenly appeared from behind the building, blowing wind onto Ruby and Sora. He climbed on board the Bullhead. "End of the line, kids!" From his pockets, a red Dust crystal was tossed at their feet. They both saw Roman shoot a round at them, realizing what he had done. They were ready to brace the explosion, but someone else managed to negate the explosion. As the dust settled, they found a blond woman with emerald green eyes behind her ovular glasses. She wore a white long-sleeved top with a black pencil skirt and leggings. Trailing behind her was a black cape with a purple inside. She was holding… a riding crop?
"Are you a Huntress?" Sora asked.
The huntress did not reply as she immediately got to work. She shot off a volley of aura projectiles at the Bullhead in the attempts to ground it. Roman, trying to gain footing in the turbulence, ran up to the cockpit of the vehicle. "We've got a Huntress!" Roman exclaimed to the woman at the helm, swapping with Roman afterwards. The huntress then conjured dark clouds above the Bullhead before it started to hail ice shards, damaging the Bullhead's exterior. A woman shrouded in shadows appears in front of the door.
Her face is covered so no one outside could really identify her, only her bright amber eyes shone through. She readied a fireball and shot it out. The huntress used an aura slash to bisect the fireball. As soon as the fallen embers had landed on the ground, the mysterious woman conjured the embers to suddenly heat up. The huntress evaded the large explosion that was right under her. She then took control of the surrounding debris to make a spear and shot it towards the aircraft. Blasts of fire were shot to break down the spear, but it reformed together as it continued its path and managed to graze the roof of the Bullhead. The spear then separated into three, surrounding the Bullhead. Deciding that she had enough, the woman sent out a burst of flames, destroying the projectiles in the process. With no hesitation, she summoned even more fire pillars in order to distract the fighters on the roof. Ruby made a few desperate shots, but they were ultimately deflected as the Bullhead managed to fly away.
Sora processed what just happened. He turned to the Huntress, "Woah, that was amazing. I didn't know Huntresses were so pow—"
"Eeeeeep! Are you a professional Huntress? Can I have your autograph?" Ruby exclaimed.
Judging from the look she gave the two teens, Sora could only think of one thing: "That's the type of look my mom gave me when I misbehaved."
"Just great," muttered Sora with an exasperated sigh.
He and Ruby were taken into custody following the events that transpired tonight as they were escorted to the local police station. Both of them were taken to separate interrogation rooms. After what seemed like a half of an hour passed by of nothing, the door opened and the blond huntress walked into the room. Sora was sort of nervous from the slight glances she was giving him while seemingly observing stuff from her electronic device. It's kind of like a Gummiphone except bigger. Think that's what people here call a "Scroll."
"Young man, I hope you understand that what you decided to partake in will not be left unnoticed," the huntress finally spoke. "Your bravery might have ended up backfiring on you. If I was your parent, I would give you a hug of relief… and a slap on the wrist…," she said as she slapped the table with her riding crop, making Sora flinch. Seeing that she has made her point, she continued on, "...but that's not my decision to make."
The door opened to reveal a silver haired man with circular spectacles and hazel eyes. His apparel consisted of a black coat and pants with a green undershirt. He was holding a coffee mug with his left hand and a metal cane with his right hand, yet the lack of a limp made Sora think that the cane wasn't necessarily used for support. His eyes scanned Sora, like he was trying to discern an anomaly before him. "Curious…," the man finally muttered.
"Uhhh, what is?"
"We have attempted to trace your history and we have come up with nothing. Every sort of record we can feasibly try to locate. Nothing comes up," the man continues. He sat down across from Sora as the Huntress gave him the Scroll. He tapped on a tab to display a series of photos. "We only have evidence of your existence starting around the time a supposed 'meteorite' fell into the bay. We fortunately were given nearby security camera footage and had enough info to tell that you were that meteorite, especially after talks by the fishermen of the area spread. For the next couple of days we have also kept tabs on the books you were reading in the library. Basic Remnant History for Dummies and Grimm 101? Not to mention Dusty Dan's Dust Detour, a Scholastic–"
"We do not need to get into that," Sora quickly interjected, sweating a bit.
The man resumed, "These are frankly all beginner leveled books. Yet with an amazing level of control, you were able to redirect an explosive Dust Round without it blowing up on your face. And here's another clip of you running up a building, seemingly unaided or probably with the help of a Semblance. The way you carried yourself a few hours ago, even though you didn't do much then, you have experience in combat. You are truly a contradictory figure, and I would like a name for this figure."
Guess Sora has never actually introduced himself to anyone other than Ruby. "My name is Sora, sir."
"Sora… do you have a last name?"
"Uh, no?"
"Hmm… alright then. Well do you mind elaborating on these series of events for us? Who you are and what is your past?"
Well Sora couldn't straight up say that he was from another world, possibly another dimension altogether. It was pretty routine whenever he traveled to other worlds to not explicitly say that he was from another world, part of maintaining the 'world order'. He wasn't going to pull out the amnesia card because this man seems pretty smart and would most likely not believe that. Sora was going to have to think of a quick cover story.
That's when Sora's mind wandered to thinking about the Destiny Islands. The main reason why he, along with Riku and Kairi, wanted to sail out on a raft because he quite frankly didn't know anything about the outside. No person from the outside came to their islands in a conventional way, like by boat. They were pretty much isolated, which also reminded Sora of him overhearing a conversation between Hunters about uncharted territory blocked by vast numbers of Grimm.
"Huh, maybe I can make a case for this."
"You see, I come from an island with miles of ocean on all sides. Never knew what was out there, and we never saw ships from the outside. There was one point where I thought the island was all this world had and that was mainly…"
"Because Grimm surrounded your island? And I assume the Grimm eventually overran your island?" the man guessed.
Sora tried his best to feign sorrow, "Yes, the Grimm made things difficult for us to learn much about the outside world. The books I read in the library have terms I wasn't familiar with or told of, yet things I know."
"So what you are saying is that you weren't taught terms such as Dust and Semblances because our terminology has not reached your isolated island even though we speak the same dialect?"
"Uhhh, yes."
The silver haired man gave Sora an inquisitive gaze, possibly wondering if everything adds up. Sora was getting a bit unnerved under his peering stare. Lying wasn't his strong suit.
"Is everything good, sir?"
"Ah don't mind me, it's not unheard of the fact that there are settlements within the vast territories of Grimm, there are a few incoming students if I recall coming from such places."
"Students? Are you a teacher?"
"Well it seems like you really don't know me," the man remarked. "I am Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy."
The surprised look on Sora's face did not betray anything. Ozpin took a guess that Sora has not begun to read up upon important figures nor general global settings and events. As much as he would like digging up Sora's history, that wasn't the entire reason for this meeting.
"Anyways, the main purpose of my visit is to extend the same proposition I made with Miss Rose. By the way, how old are you, Sora?"
"Sixteen."
"A year younger than the typical first year student, but nonetheless I see amazing potential in your abilities. What I see in future Hunters is not the past they came from, but what they can provide for the future. Seeing as you also have more knowledge to learn about this world and its inhabitants, I would like to offer you admission into Beacon Academy for the upcoming school year. What do you think?"
School? Oh boy. Who would think that a guy who already faced off against hordes of monsters, powerful figures, and even gods has to still attend a combat school. Regardless, Sora does agree that he needs to know more about this world. He can't aid in the salvation of the world if he barely knows anything about it. On the bright side, Beacon can provide another thing to Sora: potential friends.
And if there's one thing Sora excels at, it's making friends. He can already consider himself friends with Ruby now. Yay.
"Huh, it's not like I have a lot going for me with my current path. The Grimm might've taken my home, but they haven't taken what my heart feels is right," Sora put a hand to his heart. "I want to help as much as I can… so count me in."
A small smile came from Ozpin. "Then it is settled." Ozpin got up from his chair before turning to the Huntress. She gave Ozpin a sort of card as Ozpin placed the card right in front of Sora.
"In case you are wondering, this is a Lien card. This holds enough Lien to eat and sleep at a comfortable hotel for a week, which is also when the academic year begins. Seeing as you've been living homeless for the last few days, might as well spend the next week before school cleaning up," Ozpin said as he and the Huntress got to the door. Before they left, Ozpin said one last thing to Sora, "...consider this a gratuity for standing up to a notorious criminal." Sora watched as the door closed then looked down at the Lien card.
"Well this is certainly better than carrying a horde of Munny." Sora never thought to consider how he was able to contain all that crystal-like currency through all of his adventures. Convenient magical pocket space?
"Maybe that's why my shoes are always pretty big—"
He was interrupted from his thoughts when an officer entered the room. "You are free to leave the police station. I hope you have a good evening." Sora was eventually led out of the station, where he stopped after a few steps to look at the shattered moon. It reminded him of the time Ansem the Wise's machine made a giant hole on Xemnas' artificial Kingdom Hearts. He was again taken out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice call out to him.
"Hey Sora!" He turned to see Ruby approaching him with an adult blond man following behind her.
"Oh Ruby! See you are still hanging around."
"Yeah, Ozpin finished his talk with me 20 minutes ago, but after my dad over there picked me up he started reprimanding me about my actions. But seriously, I got recognized by the Headmaster of Beacon! Eeeep! My dream of becoming a Huntress is arriving two years earlier!"
"Two years? So you're only a year younger than me? I got accepted into Beacon as well."
"Whaaaat?! That's great!"
The blond man, presumably Ruby's father, finally spoke, "Well that makes you two the youngest first-years if memory serves me right. Hello Sora, I'm Taiyang Xiao Long, Ruby's father. I don't mind being called Tai." Tai extended his hand in front of Sora as he took a look at Tai's appearance. Blue eyes, like his own, his clothing choices consisted of mainly different shades of brown and a red bandana wrapped around one arm. His other arm was more decorated with a shoulder pauldron, a tattoo, and a fingerless glove. Combined with his muscular build, it gave Sora an impression of a close-ranged brawler.
"Wow they look nothing alike."
Sora smiled as he returned the handshake, "Nice to meet you Tai! You must be real proud of Ruby for her talent now that she can attend Beacon early."
"Heh, well being proud is an understatement. This lil' rosebud still has a lot more to grow, but you can thank her uncle for teaching her scythe combat."
"Oh, you are flattering me, hehe…" Ruby interjected as she continued, "... you should've seen me a few years back, Sora. I was complete garbage before Uncle Qrow took me under his wing. From there, he taught me all of his tips and tricks, and now I'm kicking some criminal behind!" Ruby started doing some mock martial arts swipes and kicks with some exaggerated yells, garnering a slight laugh from Sora and a smirk from Tai. The older man turned to Sora and asked, "So what academy did you attend? I don't remember seeing you from Signal."
"Actually, I didn't go to any academy. The island I grew up on is pretty isolated from any of the continents. There were Hunters that taught us bits of combat, but I was mainly self-taught." This didn't really apply to magic because he has had Yen Sid, Merlin, and Donald help him develop his magic. However, seeing how he would have to cut his magic potency to blend in with the crowd, everything else about him physical combat-wise was pretty true.
Tai showed a face of surprise. It must've required a ton of effort and talent to do the things Ruby told him about and being accepted into Beacon early. It's not impossible, but he's heard of very rare cases of mostly self-taught individuals becoming highly efficient and powerful Huntsmen, a couple cases being Qrow and his… sister.
"Well, I'm glad that Ruby will not only have her older sister to accompany her, but you as a fellow early accepted student," Tai responded as he had more to say, "I also heard from Ozpin, when he left the building, that you have been sleeping in a tree for a few days. You can come stay with us for the remaining week if you'd like. Our house is situated in the woods, but I would prefer you to sleep on a bed rather than in trees," Tai finished with a chuckle.
Sora pondered on that for a second, but he eventually pulled out the Lien card Ozpin gave him. "Ozpin gave me this, telling me that it had enough Lien to live off a week and in time for Beacon. Thanks for the offer, but I still have more of Vale to discover. I'll use this to stay at a hotel."
"Are you sure about that, Sora?"
He nodded at the older man. Tai glanced at Ruby. She had a face mixed with joy and nervousness; there was joy because Tai finds Sora to be a good person and nervousness because he offered Sora to stay at their place. The girl showed confidence in combat, but she was pretty socially awkward. It didn't help that a boy was invited to stay with them until Beacon's academic year started.
"Oh man, what if Sora actually decided to take the offer? I haven't really talked to too many boys, and now Dad wanted one to stay with us for a week? How do you live around a boy?!" Ruby internally thought.
He only had an amused look on his face, knowing what Ruby was thinking of, as he looked back at Sora. "Well if you are fine with that, then that's fine by me," Tai relented as he turned to Ruby, "I think it's about time for us to head back home. Have to start cooking real soon. It was good talking to you, Sora. Hope you and Ruby have a great time at Beacon." As Tai waved goodbye and walked away, Ruby turned to Sora.
"Looking forward to seeing you at Beacon, Sora. Let's show them our awesome skills!" Ruby said enthusiastically.
"Yeah, we'll show em! Have a good night, you two!" Sora said as he watched them walk away.
Seeing their forms disappear, Sora looked back to the moon. He let his mind wander for a bit. A night like this… reminded him of his first time in Traverse Town. Finding himself in an alleyway after being swept from the Destiny Islands, where it fell into the Realm of Darkness. Realizing that he was lost in a brand new world, encountering some foes, and eventually meeting new friends. His friendship with Donald and Goofy is definitely one he will cherish until his last breath. And so they journeyed to many worlds, met so many faces, and discovered many experiences. Once an islander closed off in a prison surrounded by water and now a savior of worlds. Sora will now add this world into the list. Who knows how long it will take, but right now he's been given the sole purpose to bring this world out of chaos and he will succeed.
A fist raised to the shattered moon, Sora made a proclamation: "I swear to all of the companions and allies I have made through these past years, I will do my best to protect this world. Although apart, our hearts will always be linked. Our bonds bring so many good memories, give me strength, and most importantly drive me forward. Now, I will do this in honor of your names."
A week later…
The following week flew by pretty quickly as Sora finally got to live in at least much better living conditions. True to his word, Ozpin's Lien card has comfortably lasted Sora the entire week. He was now able to sleep at a decent hotel with a nice mattress and eat some food (which he realized he didn't get to do when he got to Remnant). Admittedly he took a trip to a high-end restaurant somewhere downtown the day prior just to test how much Lien the card really has, leaving the card balance with enough to check out of the hotel this morning. The food there was superb, but he was surprised to say that the food Little Chef cooked up was still slightly better. What was even more amusing was the fact that he saw a chef that was a mouse Faunus. Coincidences do work weird like that sometimes.
Currently, Sora was aboard one of the airships taking students to Beacon. He marveled at the consistency of advanced technology this world offered, even more than what he saw in San Fransokyo. Surely Hiro would have a field day everyday on Remnant. Sora took a look around the ship to see some students looking at their Scrolls, in which Sora took out his own. He bought this a few days with the Lien card and was still learning the essential functions, but it was basically like learning how to use the Gummiphone again (which much to his dismay wasn't on his person when he got to this world).
A news anthem caught his attention to the holographic projection. It was a news report pertaining to the criminal he and Ruby encountered that night. Roman Torchwick, a local crime lord of Vale's underground. What made him interesting was that he wasn't a typical robber who took money, but rather just Dust. Sora did a bit of searching up his past heists online to see that the criminal has not stolen a single Lien, but rather loads of Dust. Is he trying to supply his own personal army or something? Torchwick's current whereabouts are unknown, but if Sora didn't feel the need to hide his true capabilities then he would've found a way to keep Torchwick from escaping. The news report was cut short and the Huntress from that night came on to welcome the students to Beacon. Sora was finally able to pin a name onto her, Glynda Goodwitch. So she's the Deputy Headmistress. With that no-nonsense behavior of her's it seems like incurring her wrath won't be recommended.
"Hey, you!"
Sora turned around to see who called him. It was a young man with black and white hair and blue eyes. His attire consists mainly of a black and white tunic with blue accents, black pants, thigh-high armored boots, and a short white cape with a black edge. Aside from his boots, his left arm has a gauntlet, and he wears a set of faulds at his waist. A sword scabbard hangs at his left side, and red marks coat his right gloved arm.
"Huh, me?" Sora asked.
"Yeah you! You are the dude from the Dust store video!" The person pulled out his Scroll and showed the screen to Sora, which displayed a bystander clip of Sora and Ruby dispatching the thugs. Apparently there were people around to record them.
"Heh yeah, that's me," Sora bashfully responded.
"I think what you and that other person did was so awesome! Man I wish I got to see that in person. I would've stepped in to help too, but it's pretty cool that I've finally gotten to meet you and see that you are now a fellow Beacon student. How about that girl?"
"Oh Ruby? She also got into Beacon so I should be seeing her around very soon. What's great is that she's only 15 and I'm just a year older."
The student widened his eyes and had his mouth agape. "Wow, props to you guys. Now this makes you guys appear even more awesome! It's a pleasure meeting you. What's your name?"
"The name's Sora, and you?"
"Charlemagne, Charlemagne Magnus." He extended his hand for a handshake, which Sora returned. "You can me Charlie, just to keep it more simple."
Sora gave Charlemagne a smile. He can already see Charlemagne as a great friend to have, hopefully getting to see him in action too. The nearby speaker then chimed on, "Attention to all students, we are approaching the main campus. Welcome to Beacon Academy." The two boys turned their attention to the window to observe the view. Both were lost for words.
"This is…"
"... so cool."
Beacon seemed less like a campus and more like an elaborate castle ground. It wasn't as imposing as the castle from The World That Never Was, but the grand size and beauty of Beacon cannot be ignored. As the transports finally touched down on the docks, students began walking out of them to flood the campus. This was when everyone truly saw the scale of the campus.
"Heh, I've seen some sights that are truly marvelous, especially since seeing them for the first time leaves such an impression. This is one of 'em," Charlemagne said as the two began moving through the crowds.
"I can't agree less. Hey by the way, where are we supposed to go from here?" Sora responded.
Charlemagne put his hand on his chin, "Huh, I think from what I heard we were supposed to go to the auditorium to listen to a speech by the Headmaster. We should have enough time to find that auditorium, especially if we follow the crowd—" He was just done with his sentence when an explosion was heard in the distance. "What was that?"
"It sounded like an explosion and I can see the smoke too. I'm gonna quickly see if anyone's ok!" Sora was ready to run towards the direction of the explosion.
"I might as well go with you too!", responded Charlemagne as they rushed to the scene. They arrived to see a girl in white rush off with servants helping her push her luggages along with another girl primarily wearing black walking in another direction. In the epicenter with char marks stood a blond dude and a familiar face.
Sora gave a sigh of relief. It was nice to see a friendly face so soon after touching down at Beacon. "Hey Charlie, it seems like you get to meet her sooner than expected. Let's make ourselves known to them. Heyyy, Ruby!"
Ruby and the blond dude noticed the two walking towards them. "Oh Sora! I didn't expect to see you this soon! And who's your new friend?"
"Charlemagne, but you can call me Charlie. I saw videos of you and Sora duking it out with Roman Torchwick and his goons. Your skills are pretty sick!", Charlemagne exclaimed as he walked forward to shake Ruby's hand
"Ahh…", Ruby sheepishly laughed. "I guess everyone has seen the videos at this point. So much for having normal knees."
The three boys were puzzled for a second before the blond went to go introduce himself. "The name is Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it."
"Really?", Sora said with a hint of sarcasm. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Charlemagne's eyes very slightly scrunched up for a split second.
"Well, my mom said so... I hope they do."
"I sure hope that's the case then," Charlemagne chuckled before pondering, "...by the way. Do any of you guys know where the auditorium is? We lost the crowd."
Ruby felt a bit awkward, "Nope. Uhh well I got this." She took out Crescent Rose and unveiled it while getting a tiny bit of property damage. "This is my baby, Crescent Rose!"
Charlemagne whistled, "Now that I get to see it in person, that is one scythe."
"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"
"A wha-?" Jaune was confused about what Ruby said.
"It's also a gun." Sora replied, which got a confirmation from Jaune. Jaune then took out his own weapons and extended his shield. "I got this sword and shield."
"What do they do?" Sora asked.
"The shield gets smaller so when I'm tired of carrying it, I can just put it away."
It was Ruby's turn to ask. "Doesn't it just weigh the same then?"
"Yeah… What about you two?"
Sora decided to show them even though Ruby has already seen the Keyblade. After learning more about Dust, Semblances, and Aura, Sora had to figure out how to pass off his abilities as the product of those factors. He can't unveil everything or else that would compromise a lot. It would be a bit suspicious to others if he was able to outright summon the Keyblade without holding some sort of item or contraption beforehand. So he devised some cover information during the past week. Sora reached into one of his pockets and took out the keychain for Kingdom Key. He then willed it to summon as the weapon finally appeared in a glimmer of light.
"I've got an array of different keychains so depending on how I wanna approach something, I can swap keychains so my Keyblade will change according to what keychain I use. Each keychain is imbued with light Dust that blueprint the look of the Keyblade and some also have another type of Dust mixed in. My Semblance works very well with light Dust, so that's how I'm able to do that."
"Your Semblance?" Charlemagne said curiously.
With a smirk, Sora ran and launched himself at a pole. Blue light enveloped him as he swung around the pole once making contact. He zipped to another pole before leaping on a railing and starting grinding along it. Sora then zoomed towards the group before stopping right in front of Charlemagne. "This is my Semblance, Flow. My Aura is converted into flowing energy which enhances not only my combat and weapons with light Aura, but also allows me to do all of that."
"Epic…" Charlemagne was lost for words.
Ruby had stars in her eyes. "So is that how you were able to run along that wall?"
"Pretty much. I can concentrate my Semblance onto parts of the body and with running up the wall, I only apply it to the bottom of my feet."
"Amazing. Sooo, what about you Charlie?"
"Heh, I'll keep my weapon and Semblance a secret for now. I think it will leave a much better impression if you saw me in combat with them. Besides, we should really find the auditorium by now."
Ruby slumped a bit, "Awww..."
"I did see the crowds surrounding a building while I was in the air, so that should be the auditorium." Sora answered.
"Then let's head in the direction you saw the crowds." Jaune said.
All ready to go, Sora led the group to where the crowds were.
"Hey Ruby, I saved you a spot!"
Ruby noticed her blond sister waving at her. "Oh! Hey I gotta go. See you guys after the ceremony!" She ran towards her sister.
Jaune called for Ruby but she didn't hear. "Wait! Great, where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"
"And you're trying to fulfill the role of lady's man already?" Sora teased Jaune.
"Hey shush you."
Sora and Charlemagne laughed at Jaune as the boys walked off, not noticing a red-head girl looking at Jaune.
"I'm not going to lie, a lot of these girls are beautiful. Don't worry Jaune, one will hopefully come around." Charlemagne reassured him as he took a gander around.
"At least someone is encouraging…" Jaune muttered.
"Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, blond, and scraggly over there!"
The boys noticed Ruby having a conversation with a girl wearing mainly white, who they remember seeing her walk away from Ruby after she exploded. Sora watched the exchange, "Hey, isn't that the girl from before?"
"Hey, is that who I think it is…" Charlemagne wondered before noticing Ozpin take stage. "Hey, the Headmaster is now here."
"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin then stepped off the stage as Glynda walked in, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."
Most of the students were confused as they went towards the ballroom.
"Well that was one way to leave an impression on the crowd." Charlemagne was certainly curious on why Ozpin had such a delivery.
"Yeah, he seemed very off. Like something was bothering him. By the way, where did Jaune go? He was here a second ago." Sora asked. The two scanned the room until they saw Jaune trying to conversate with the white-haired girl.
"Well I guess he can leave him be for now. Let's follow the crowd this time, Jaune should be able to find us later."
Night has fallen and all first-year students were notified that they were sleeping in the ballroom for their first night. Tomorrow was when teams will be sorted and dedicated team dorms will be decided, but for now it was one big sleepover. Each student was given a sleeping bag provided by the staff and their luggages was stored together elsewhere until teams were determined. So now students are settling in for the night, some conversing, some getting ready to turn in for the night, or some already asleep for the big day tomorrow.
Sora was lying on his sleeping bag looking at the ceiling with arms behind his head. His pajamas were a simple black and white t-shirt with black shorts. He had earphones hooked up to his Scroll, listening to some music from a music playing app. The artist that he was currently listening to was a woman named Utada Hikaru. She has quite the voice and singing talent, so she quickly became one of the best singers that Sora had the pleasure of listening to. A few minutes had passed and Charlemagne entered his view, his choice of sleep wear being a white long-sleeved shirt and blue pants with two black stripes per leg sleeve.
"Ready for the big day tomorrow, Sora?"
As Charlemagne sat down, Sora sat up from his position. "More than ever. I can't wait to see what you can do tomorrow. Oh, I see Jaune… uhh what is he wearing…"
What they saw made both boys sweat drop. Surely it was a sight for the females in the room to see the guys who slept shirtless, but it was also a sight to see what Jaune was wearing albeit in a different light. The man was wearing a blue onesie with a bunny theme, a white bunny head printed on the chest area and a bunny head on each foot. Sora did wear a red onesie with his primary outfit in his first journey, but at least he had wore other things to complement it. Jaune finally took notice of the boys and walked towards them.
"Oh hey, there you guys are!" Jaune placed his sleeping bag down and started to set it up next to Sora's and Charlemagne's. "Can't believe we are sleeping here of all places, especially since boys and girls are together."
This got a chuckle from the other two. "Seems like you're gonna feel awkward from all of this." Sora playfully chided.
"Nah. I have seven sisters, so I am used to sleeping around the company of beautiful girls."
"Seven sisters? Hopefully they at least taught you well in striking conversations with other girls, like with the girl you tried talking to after Ozpin's speech."
"Hey, it was Weiss who gave me that compliment. I'm getting somewhere, Sora."
"Weiss Schnee, huh…"
Sora and Jaune turned their heads towards Charlemagne, who had his attention towards the girl who was combing her now free flowing hair. It was Sora who first voiced his curiosity. "It seems like you know her personally."
"Well anyone who has heard of the Schnee name knows that Jacques Schnee, owner of the Schnee Dust Company, has three children: Whitley, Winter, and Weiss. I don't blame you for not knowing since you came from an isolated island. I did come here from Atlas and not only have I encountered Weiss a few times, but my father has also cozied up with most of the council members of Atlas. Our family has very recently started to become more known throughout Mantle, so we've been invited to a couple Schnee parties. Who would've thought that Weiss would choose to enroll in Beacon over Atlas Academy? She could be like her older sister, Winter, and climb the ranks of the military."
"Maybe she found a good reason to come here over that school in Atlas." Jaune guessed.
"There's probably a lot more to this decision. Jacques isn't really a big fan of Huntsmen in general and Winter becoming an Atlesian specialist is something that went against his wishes." Charlemagne said as the three fell into silent contemplation about this knowledge but soon noticed the blond girl from the auditorium coming towards their location, dragging Ruby along with her.
"Heyyyy~! Are you the three boys who looked after Rubyr today? I must say Rubes, you sure have good taste…" She said that as she checked them out before pausing briefly at Jaune, specifically with what he's wearing.
"I don't like how she worded that" All three boys thought unanimously.
"That aside, my name is Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's sister. We have different moms but that's ok because Rubes is the best sister one can have!" Yang gave Ruby a bear hug, much to the younger girl's protests. "I just wanted to meet you guys for myself and hopefully teach Ruby to reach out more."
"Yang, I'm pretty sure you, Sora, Charlie, and Jaune are a lot more than enough friends for me right now." Ruby retorted.
"Hey first of all, I'm not a friend, I'm your sister. And second, it's only been one day. Trust me; you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"
"I agree with Yang," Sora spoke up, "there's no such thing as too many friends. Sure only a few will stick with you for a long time, but having many friends to count on is what takes you far. There's this one motto that I live by: 'I don't need a weapon. My friends are my power, and I'm theirs.' You can become a part of anyone's heart and as you connect with more people, all those hearts will become one and no darkness will stand in your way."
"W-wow Sora, you just sounded really cool there!" Charlemagne responded to Sora's mini speech while everyone else was astounded by Sora's sudden bout of wisdom.
Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, I guess experience helped with that, but it's true. Hey, I see that girl reading that book by the candle over there; she was with you earlier right Ruby? Why don't you introduce yourself again? I'll help you."
"I don't think that would be necessary, she left before I can say anything—"
"C'mon Rubes! Now is your chance!" Yang exclaimed as she and Sora gradually pushed Ruby towards the girl. "How about you two boys?"
"I think we'll turn in for the night, we gotta wake up early tomorrow." Jaune responded with Charlemagne nodding in response. They exchanged good nights as the trio resumed to go where the girl is. As they arrive, the girl looks over her book to see Ruby failing to get out of Sora and Yang's grip as they finally noticed they got the girl's attention.
"You're the girl that exploded right?"
"Yea the name is Ruby, you can call me Crater… well actually just call me Ruby." This got a deadpan look from the girl. "This is my sister, Yang and a friend, Sora. What's your name?"
"Blake."
There was a brief moment of silence before Sora whispered to Ruby, "Hey Ruby, you should still continue the conversation."
"I dunno what to do, help me!" Ruby whispered back towards him and Yang. The blond decided to speak up. "I like your little bow, it goes great with your pajamas!"
"Thanks…" Blake started to feel a tiny bit agitated.
Yang tried again, "And it's a nice night, don't you think?"
"Almost as lovely as this book that I will continue to read… as soon as you leave." Blake responded.
Yang turned to Ruby and Sora, "Yeah, this girl is a lost cause." This got a slight frown from Sora, but he had an idea. "Maybe talk to her about her book?"
"What's the book about? Does it have a name?" Ruby decided to take Sora's suggestion.
"Huh? Oh, i-it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."
"That story is something oddly relevant to me." Sora thought as he recalled moments like that before coming to Remnant. Riku's dealings with Ansem, Sora's own encounter with Roxas, Master Xehanort with Terra. He is no stranger with this kind of experience, being the one who held the hearts of Kairi, Roxas, Xion, and Ventus. He did decide to speak up, "That's a real interesting story there."
"I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters... They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!" Ruby declared with conviction. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"
"That's... very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."
"Well, that's why we're here! To make it better. Fairy tales are usually based on reality, so a fairy tale based on a peaceful Remnant is something I want to see." Sora interjected, this got some respect from Blake.
"I'm so proud of you two!" Yang gave the two a tight hug, Sora finally knowing what it feels like to get a hug from Yang. The two tried struggling, causing a commotion to start.
"Well Ruby, Yang, Sora, it was a pleasure meeting—"
"What in the world are you all doing! Some of us are trying to sleep!" Weiss marched into their area to yell at them.
"Your yelling isn't really helping the matter too, Weiss." Sora responded as he was in the bottom of the pile.
"Excuse me?!"
The exchange between the four continued as Blake looked on, clearly not wanting to get involved. She decided to call it a night as she blew out the candles. Soon, everyone went back to their sleeping bags. A big day was ahead of them in the morning.
Hey y'all :)
If you guys are wondering what happened with my other story, Fate/Grimm World, then I'll be blunt and say that I honestly had no idea where I wanted to go with the story in the long run. There's also the fact that RWBY now has progressed and changed a lot and thus deviated from how I wanted to incorporate and alter plot elements. I believe it was Volume 4 or 5 when I started writing that story and with the end of Volume 7, the plot looks almost unrecognizable. Plus, I did feel a bit daunted trying to balance the character dynamics of the four Servants I chose; not gonna lie, writing Gilgamesh was going to be an experience. Admittedly I did not fully plan out how four drastically differing Servants would function in their new settings and how they would interact with each other and the RWBY characters. I wanted to go for an Avengers-like dynamic (being a team of heroes being brought together all the sudden and having to work together despite all their differences) but it was my first story ever and I had the biggest writing block trying to devise the next chapter. So suffice to say, I'm unfortunately not continuing that story… unless some of ya wanna let me know if you are interested in picking that story up. If y'all are up to it, let me know.
This story serves as a sort of fresh start on my attempt to at least write (or just make an alternate adaptation of) a story. Since I have a ton of Kingdom Hearts in general known, this is easier on me. As much as I love the Fate series, it would've been a hassle to constantly refer to and research a lot of the material since the series is a history textbook in of itself. Including four Servants and the fact that I wanted to incorporate FGO elements such as Beasts and even pre-existing Servants popping in was gonna be a lot of work (keep in mind that I'm a college student and that's already tons of work). That doesn't mean I'll fully give up on incorporating some things from Fate… like including our boy Charlemange :). Yes, this is the Charlemagne from Extella Link, but I've thought of some details of his situation on Remnant and his arrival. I really wish you can add a third crossover category so this story could be in both Fate x RWBY and Kingdom Hearts x RWBY, but I shall stick with the latter since I plan this to mainly center around Sora.
Maybe I'll just upload this story on both crossover categories, but there's no point since this is more of a Kingdom Hearts story.
I will be honest, I might lose the spark again and stop the updates for this story yet I know a lot more about Kingdom Hearts so this might be less strenuous than what I wanted to do in Fate/Grimm World. The title thing I did with the previous story will still be a tradition I'll follow. Watchmen is one of my favorite pieces of literature and I found it neat that chapter names were references to things in media and culture, so if people in reviews correctly point out the references of my chapter names, I'll give those people a shout out on the next chapter.
Peace,
Re-Eternal