Beacon Academy: Combat Class, Amphitheater Auditorium Stage
CLANG!
There's an instantaneous metal on metal collision, Sky Lark with his long ranged Halberd named Feather's Edge, is doing his best to break though the defenses of the one man team, Link, who successfully blocks a straightforward jab with his shield. Although previously disparaging the skills of his opponent, along with the rest of Sky's team in Cardin, Russel, and Dove, also known as CRDL. Link takes this fight seriously and does not underestimate Sky. Despite it being a one on one fight and having already shown he can deal with all four of them at once, Link focuses heavily, his aim is to defeat this brash and hot headed warrior by focusing on defense, being patient, and striking when the time is right
"Ahhh!" Sky shouts as he swung his Halberd at Link, the dark blue haired boy is eager to prove a point and now in front of an audience of students, whose focus is more on the boy standing in front of him
"Hmm..." Link furrows his eyebrows and with his unsheathed sword, blocks the incoming attack with a quick parry, clashing more metal with Sky.
Sky pushes forward and attempts to switch his attacking style by swinging his halberd like a bat, this attempt although different, does not generate a landed attack as he has a shield in his path protecting his intended target. The frustrated CRDL member spins in place, twirls his weapon in his grasp and suddenly the back of the halberg is perfectly aimed at Link's head, at least an opening is there…
"Not bad!" Link acknowledges the switch up in fighting style as he just barely blocks the back of the halberd by shifting over his right arm and protecting himself with his shield yet again, "But not good enough!"
Just as he finishes his last sentence, Sky almost catches Link when the back of his halberg is actually a gun barrel, the bully huntsman fires two shots. However, Link negates this with a rough pushback of his shield, slightly shoving Sky backwards, then widens his stance backwards and rushes his spinning slash attack to not give his opponent the time to recover. He spins with almost as much speed and power as his normal variation, the only difference is this one is slower, he only spins three times instead of five, and a more skilled huntsman or huntress would have telegraphed it and evaded the attack with ease. Unfortunately for him, Sky is not that skilled huntsman or huntress and he take all three slashes to his midsection, the last one sends him crashing to the ground
"Grrr!" Sky rises to his feet, with anger consuming him more than intelligence as he abandons the limited success he has and attempts the same approach for a third time now, charging at his opponent
But this is also met with a more powerful block this time in the form of a shield block with a sturdy stance. The impact between the halberd and shield causes the ground they stand on to rumble lightly, even knocking the weapon of choice for the team CRDL member out of his hands.
"W-what?!" Sky grunts and does not react quickly, his hands are shaky and ringing vigorously
Link nods and knows that now is the time to strike. He runs at his opponent he spun in place who has no defensive weapon or even the wherewithal to defend himself properly as the one person team steps gets close and charges forward, left side first. He lands one sword strike to Sky's chest, a direct slash going from his right shoulder, down to his midsection. Link brings the sword back and lands a second strike, the exact same way the first one lands but the sequence is reversed. Lastly, his quick combo ends with a direct jab to the chest that lands swiftly and without any issue at all. Each strike is absorbed by the enemy's aura and armor, but each respective attack does its needed damage and sends Sky stumbling back.
"Now I'll show you!" Link sprints forward once again, keeping up with Sky who stumbles back
The one person team leaps over Sky and lands perfectly behind him, sword and shield drawn, any attack is possible now that he has a defenseless opponent and positioned at his blind spot is an added bonus. However, Link takes it easy and retracts both of his weapons back to their resting spots, instead he spins in place and delivers a fluid side kick directly to Sky's spine that sends him forward and falling front first
"Mr. Lark, defend yourself or I will stop his fight!" Glynda shouts, but he is not visible as the lights are dimmed and only focused on the showcased fight
"No need." Link whispers to himself. "You are finished."
Link bends his knees and gets in his usual offensive stance. The difference here is he has one hand on his sword handle, practically allowing his opponent Sky to pick up his halberd, but for twisted reasons. He does not want Glynda to stop the match yet. Link smiles as his left eye begins to glow a bright gold color, his iris too changes color, going from blue to gold, and this time there's a new addition as the same happens with his right eye. The small triforce engraved on his left hand lights up, along with the designs around his sheath, shield, sword, and clothes.
"WATCH OUT, HE'S ABOUT TO DO THAT BIZARRE THING AGAIN!" Russel shouts in concern for his outmatched teammate
Indeed, just like the sequence that occurred against Cardin, he is about to do the same right now. Link chuckles as in a quick flash, he is already past Sky, who had just raised his weapon defensively. The powerful one person team is slightly more bent over, his arm is fully extended, sword drawn and held behind him, showing it has been swung. Sky drops to his knees and holds his midsection immediately, blood is shed as it trickles down his clothes, but the attack did not have enough power to cause a life threatening injury, as after all this is just a 'friendly' sparring match and Link achieved his objective: defend, block, dodge, frustrate his opponent, and attack shortly after
"..." Blake's eyes widened, the attack she just witnessed, it was so quick and powerful, and it reminds her of someone else, perhaps someone in her past that she would like to forget about
"Excellent work." Glynda mumbles and walks forward to stand in front of Sky as the fight comes to a close, "I must say you made it look far too easy, clearly next time it's best to pit an entire team against you." She looks down at Sky and frowns. "And you Mr. Lark, I am very disappointed. If you're going to specifically ask to fight someone, I would hope that you put on a better performance than what you displayed. Is that clear?"
"Y-yes ma'am…" Sky breathes heavily, making no excuses about his loss for a change
"Mhm. Thank you Professor Goodwitch." Link nods and respectfully bows to Glynda whilst ignoring Sky. Despite showing restraint with his attacks, no respect is shown towards the bully
"Perfect timing too. That was our last fight of this period." Glynda announces as class is dismissed. "That will conclude this lesson too, remember students. Next time it could be anyone of you down here, you must always be prepared to fight because anybody's name can be called upon. Take notes, I hope you observed today's exhibition fights, and I wish you all the luck in the world on your journey to become the future protectors of the world."
Glynda Goodwitch walks off just as the rest of team CRDL rushes to check on their injured teammate, the only one who bothers to look at Link is their stubborn leader Cardin, who is furiously gazing at him
"Can I help you?" Link turns to him and smiles politely. "Did you want to fight me, is that what this is about? You had your chance many-!"
"Listen here freak!" Cardin marches forward, but his bigger stature and wider build does not faze Link in the slightest. "I don't know what kind of games you're playing, but you need to stick that semblance right up your-!"
"My semblance?" Link turns his head in confusion. "You think what I did on Sky today and what I did to you many weeks ago was-!"
"Shhh! Shut your mouth!" Cardin is quick to shush and try to sweet his embarrassing loss under a rug. "You know damn well what I'm talking about, whatever you just did, you're going to kill innocent people with that move. You can clearly handle yourself and are decent at fighting. Why use a move like that?"
"Like I said, my semblance? Do you even know me, Cardin? I don't know what my semblance is." Link shakes his head. "I would appreciate it if you didn't spread false rumors either. What happened to you and Sky was nothing short of bullies and cowards getting their comeuppance."
"Why you little-!"
"Leave it." Dove puts a hand on Cardin's shoulder and shakes his head. "Let him play dumb and pretend that we're the crazy ones, eventually he'll hurt someone important or important to him and then we can discuss what comeuppance really means."
"Pfft. Yeah." Russel snickers as the three healthy team CRDL members all stand in unison, in front of their injured teammate with their arms crossed. "I hope we draw you in the tournament. You caught us off guard that first time we crossed paths. Next time, you'll have to beg us for mercy or forfeit."
"Why don't you all just leave me alone?" Link walks away without bothering to look behind him. "Our dispute happened a while ago and I heard about Jaune putting you in your place soon afterwards Cardin. Focus on yourself, otherwise how are you even going to be strong?"
"Are you saying I'm weak?!" Cardin balls up his fist
"I didn't say those words at all." Link sighs. "I'm just saying, if you focus on every little grudge and act bitter about things not going the way you want them to go, why even bother becoming huntsmen? I do this because I want to help and protect loved ones. Why are you doing this?"
No response…
"That's what I expected." Link turns his head to the left so that his left eye can face team CRDL. "That move is a semblance, but it isn't my semblance. Consider it, a move I picked up from someone by observing them carefully and then deciding to try and replicate it. It's not like the original, but it sure is 'decent' and I will continue to work on it. That is, until it is as strong as the original source where I got it from, if not STRONGER."
Link continues to walk away as to him this feud with team CRDL was done, dusted, and settled for good, but clearly not. With Sky challenging him to a one on one fight and Cardin still out to get him, but maybe now it's the end of something that originated from discriminating against faunus'
"He was so awesome!" Ruby cheers. "And Glynda was right he did make that look so easy? I know that Sky probably isn't the strongest but still, even Jaune would've put up a better and longer fight."
"Hey!" Jaune turns his head in embarrassment. "Although you aren't wrong, that was quite sad to watch, was it not?"
"Jaune." Pyrrha turns to look at him, but laughs instead, "Normally I would tell you to remain humble but, I couldn't agree any more with what Ruby said." She looks down at the stage and watches Link enter the locker rooms to soon emerge back and rejoin them. "I also agree with Link being exceptional. It wasn't even like he had to come up with a master plan to defeat that Sky Lark fellow."
"What do you mean?" Jaune asks
"Well." Pyrrha stares at Sky, who is barely getting up to his feet. "Considering how Sky was attacking without a single thought besides causing damage with straightforward yet uncoordinated, power driven but sloppy strikes with his halberd. For a brief moment, Sky changed his attacking pattern by adding spinning maneuvers and surprise attacks but for some reason he abandoned that. All Link had to do was either tire him out if the fight went the distance or frustrate him by dodging, blocking, and outmaneuvering until Sky made the wrong move and then he strikes."
"Wow." Jaune's jaw drops at Pyrrha's fight analysis. "All I got from that fight is that Sky needs to add more moves to his arsenal. He just kept attacking the same way over and over again. A straight jab with any weapon won't work against someone who can see it coming or worse, someone with a shield."
"Ohhh we have a big shot over here." Ruby laughs. "Just because you have a shield too Jaune doesn't mean you're an expert."
"I never said I was an expert!" Jaune shakes his head. "I'm just saying that-!"
"Relax, I'm just messing with you." She playfully punches him in the arm.
"That is still a great observation, Jaune." Pyrrha smiles warmly. "Excellent work."
"T-thanks." He chuckles
"Anyone else have anything to say about Link's performance?"
"Yeahhh!" Nora stands up before realizing all the attention is on her. "Well… hehe, Link's pretty good?"
"That'll do." Ren nods
"YAY!" Nora cheers
"He was really fast and that applies to everything he did. His swordsmanship, shield placement, that side kick too was something else." Blake nods and seems like she has more to say but that last move sends her into a state of shock
"Besides speed, he is skillful with his sword too." Weiss mumbles. "I don't know what that buffoon was thinking, demanding to fight Link? Please, it's time to stop letting people hand pick their opponents. Those two are obviously leagues apart."
"Is that some Link praise we just heard?" Yang grins. "When Ruby asked if any of us had anything to say about him, she kind of just meant the people who don't harbor some hatred for him."
"Shut it! I can still respect a good warrior while putting the person aside." Weiss crosses her arms, legs, and turns in a huff
"ANYWAY!" Yang shrugs. "He was awesome. Now come on, let's get going and meet him outside the class, before he thinks we left without him."
Team JNPR and RWBY both race to exit the classroom and thankfully for them, they did not stay inside the class talking and talking for so long that even Link beat them. They see him emerging from around a corner and run to meet him. After some immediate greetings, all nine huntsmen and huntresses walk in pairs. Ruby and Yang, Weiss and Blake, Jaune and Pyrrha, Nora and Ren, with Link in between them all
"Sooo, how do you feel?" Ruby chipperly asks. "It must feel so good to win every match you're thrown into I bet. Does it?"
"I've only been in two matches, Ruby." Link chuckles. "But yes, winning does feel good, not over you guys. That has to be one of my lowest moments ever. However, winning over someone like Sky, or anyone in Cardin's team? The victory was better than good, especially over someone like that."
"Good to know, you still owe us that rematch, don't you dare think we're going to let you forget about that!" Ruby turns and shakes an 'angry' fist at him, although her smile seconds after dissipates all doubt
"That's right!" Weiss shouts. "If what you told us is true and you choose not to participate in the tournament, a formal exhibition match will be the only way for team RWBY to redeem their loss."
"I know. We'll see about the tournament, I'm still undecided." He nods and turns his attention to Weiss and Yang. "How have you guys been? I know it hasn't been that long since the new semester started but I'm always curious about all of you."
"I've been okay." Yang nods. "Between what happened at the end of last semester that we weren't even there for which sucks because I wanted to help. I just hope this semester goes by smoothly and that we only have to worry about fighting when the Vytal Festival comes around."
"Likewise." Weiss smirks. "We may not have gotten to do any pre-scouting due to my… erratic words, there's plenty of exchange students arriving early and many arriving late too. There will be plenty of time to scout and-!"
"Weiss?" Link interrupts
"What?" She retorts
"I just meant how are you?"
"O-oh!" Weiss stammers and blushes in brief embarrassment before a frown takes over. "You could've been more specific! I've been happy, yes thank you very much for asking, that's oddly nice of you."
"Oddly? Duly noted" Link chuckles, then extends his arm to poke Blake's elbow. "How about you?"
"Hm?" Blake looks up and realizes she's been called on. "Sorry, what was that?"
"It's okay, I can ask you at a better time."
"Thanks." Blake nods gratefully
"How about you guys?" Link waves behind him, signaling to team JNPR
"Splendid." Pyrrha smiles happily, "I've kept regular contact with my family in Argus and I've told my mother all about our amazing first semester. I specified a lot about two certain people too. One of them being a 'one man army' as some of our fellow classmates call you Link. And of course you as well Jaune and how much stronger you've become since you started here."
"M-me? You talked about me in detail to your mom?!" Jaune says in clear disbelief
"I'm sorry, should I not have?" Pyrrha looks down sadly
"No no! I like it." Jaune laughs. "It just took me by surprise that you'd about me specifically when you've met so many cool, funny, and strong people along with all of our professors."
"Oh don't worry I have been mentioning everybody too." Pyrrha quietly giggles
"Jaune? Nora? Ren?" Link asks
"Tired." Jaune sighs. "But not for any negative reasons. I've been working really hard with Pyrrha and it's helped now that you've joined in during our training sessions from time to time."
"I've been so stuffed!" Nora forces a burp out of her mouth. "Ren kept cooking so much delicious food during the break, it was like I was his guinea pig!"
"You may try to portray it as torture, but I never said all of that food was for you." Ren shakes his head. "What Nora said, I've been busy cooking for my team when I have free time. Other than that it's training with Nora or studying."
The entire group, with the exception of Blake burst out into laughter at the idea of Nora terrorizing Ren by eating all the food he attempts to make for the entire team. Sometime after, Yang clears her throat and turns back to face the blonde huntsman walking in the middle of the big group of nine
"Lead us to the library Link, I want revenge on my sister! It's not fair that we teach Weiss and Blake some basic rules and you three gang up against me, leaving Ruby to easily clean up and claim the weakest victory in Remant's history." Yang slams her fists together, wanting to beat Ruby in a board game that the two sisters brought from home and take far too seriously
"To the library it is." Link nods and realizes they are in for a long walk as the path they were on is the opposite way to the library
Link's pace increases as he stays in front them and essentially leading them blinding around Beacon
"Oooh, sounds like a lot of fun. Can I play?" Jaune asks. "Pleaseee?"
"Sorry Jaune, it's four players only." Ruby grins and points at Weiss and Blake
Unfortunately, both look like they are in their own worlds now. Blake is still thinking about what happened at the docks with Roman Torchwick and how it involves the White Fang. Weiss on the other hand, simply is not looking forward to playing the board game she retained zero knowledge about
"Oh. That's okay then" Jaune sighs and retreats back to his team
"You're right, it is okay Jaune." Pyrrha places a hand on his shoulder and comforts him. "Let's ask Link to join us in the library. He may be a great warrior already, but he could use the time to study too." She suggests "While we observe team RWBY play their… game? And after we study well, we can ask Link more questions about him, his combat experience, and fighting style."
"Great idea." Ruby turns back instantly. "I'm on it!"
"Oh boy." Yang laughs as she has her eyes on Link too, carefully watching to see what her sister is going to do next
Ruby smiles and nervously 'dusts' off her otherwise clean dress, the young huntress is about to call for Link when suddenly another familiar friend appears in the picture
"Yo! Kid!" Coco waves. "How do ya do?"
"Oh, hey Coco." Link waves back. "What's up? I didn't break a promise to hang out with you guys or Velvet, right?"
"Nah, you're safe for now." Coco smirks. "We're just going for a walk around Beacon. As in we are circling the courtyard… outside. You wanna tag along with us before we go back to our?" She asks. "I know I'm cheating because you prefer the outdoors, but hey, it is what it is."
"Umm..." Link looks around and sees Ruby behind him, but now walking back to her team. "Sure I guess, I have nothing else to do right now. I was just gonna lead them to the library, but you guys know your way right?"
"YUP!" Nora answers before anybody else can opposite Link being taken away from the group by the team CFVY leader
"Come on then. We're waiting on you basically." Coco leads the way to an exit, she is followed by Fox, Yatsuhashi, and Velvet. The latter of the four slows down so she can walk side by side with Link
Ren glares at Nora, as does Jaune and Yang but the happy huntress does not know what she did wrong. Weiss and Pyrrha gently smack their foreheads in disbelief, Blake has no reaction and Ruby looks down at the ground, with a sad expression on her face
"Aww cheer up sis it's okay, you have plenty of time to win him over." Yang chuckles
"Shut up!" Ruby snaps. "It has nothing to do with that. I just really wanted to hang out with him. No hate towards team CFVY or anything but it feels like they get more of Link's time than we do."
"Well he's not a pet. Link can make his own decisions and choosing to spend quality time with him is completely his decision." Weiss shakes her head at her team leader. "That, along with it being our fault. You and the rest of us never ask him to spend time with us. We just expect him to come around and willingly hang out with us, which he does. But if we want to see him more then we have to ask-!"
"Yeah I get it." Ruby sighs. "You're right, I just want to go to the library and play our stupid game. This may not be the result I wanted but I'm still going to crush you Yang!"
"Oh in your dreams!" Yang sticks out her tongue and leads the way herself
"What do you think?" Jaune leans over to whisper in Pyrrha's ear
"I think that Weiss is correct." Pyrrha nods. "We do like Link very much but when is the last time any of us asked him to stay and be with us. Whether it is during lunch or after classes are over. Even for you and I regarding our private training, we simply expect him to show up."
"O-oh, right…" Jaune laughs nervously. "You're absolutely right. What do we do now?"
"We should enjoy this day to its fullest extent." Ren mumbles. "Then we do better tomorrow and in the future with the realization we made today."
"YEAHHH!" Nora shouts and grabs the attention of everyone walking in the same hallway her, Ren, Pyrrha, Jaune, and RWBY. "S-sorry everybody! Go about your day now."
The group of now eight huntsmen and huntresses in training, again with the exception of Blake, burst out into more laughter at Nora's expense. Each one varies, Ruby and Yang's are hysterically loud, Jaune's is more of a normal one, Ren's is practically not even heard; lastly, Pyrrha and Weiss' laughs are soft. The annoyed Nora can't help but soon join in on the laughter and all of the positivity even brings a weak smile out of Blake. The two teams continue their field trip of joy around Beacon to eventually end up at the library
Beacon Academy: The Courtyard
It's a nice day outside when team CFVY and Link exit the inside of the prestigious school and all five of them look happy despite the mood being quiet, any talking from the group of five was Coco and Yatsuhashi mumbling to one another. Fox mostly keeps to himself, Link and Velvet walk silently both exchange smiles often
"So um, how was class?" Velvet mumbles, at last starting a conversation herself. "You were just in the combat session, yes?"
"Yeah, how did you know that?" Link nods. "It was okay if we're talking about fighting, I got to spar with Sky from team CRFL. And well, it didn't last very long." He chuckles in amusement
"I bet." Coco smirks and turns back. "I wanna see that sword of yours in action one day. And yes I do mean against me or any of my other teammates… or maybe all four of us if you're up for that challenge?" She nods. "I saw your 'fight' with Cardin, you looked pretty good. Especially that move of yours, it looked very interesting… in a scary way that is, talk about powerful. I assume you used it against the Sky kid too."
"Of course." Link replies in a chipper tone. "That entire team has a lot of catching up to do. I can tell they have just been following and listening to Cardin all of last semester. Not that listening to your leader is necessarily a bad thing but when the leader isn't fit to run a team… nothing good comes out of it. I mean overall as well, he's a terrible person and whatever training they do isn't working."
"H-how so?" Velvet speaks up just as Coco is about to open her mouth again. "What was it like to take on one of them in an isolated setting?"
"That's the thing. It wasn't even a challenge." Link shakes his head. "The guy just attacked mostly with straightforward attacks that anyone could see from a mile away. He only got close to hitting me when he mixed in some different moves but that did not last long."
"Oh well, he sucks." Coco laughs. "As does the rest of their team clearly, now well me kid, when do we get to see you in action?"
"Maybe if some grimm attack the school..." Link whispers. "But that's unlikely considering grimm have no way of getting up here. I'm not sure when us first years get our first mission assigned but even then, I doubt we would get assigned on a mission together. You guys can handle anything I'm sure."
"What about the tournament?" Velvet asks. "I know that's later on in the year but that is always a possibility."
"I suppose I should let you guys in on some exclusive news about me. I'm not participating." Link shakes his head. "It's just not something I want to do. I keep telling RWBY and JNPR that I'm not sure but I think I know what I stand for now. Fighting a team of four, and then another team and then another, it's just a bit too much. Watching all the action in the stands sounds like a lot more fun."
"Bummer. Maybe we could have been selected together for a fight." Coco lowers his sunglasses and winks at him. "Wouldn't that be fun?"
"Fun? Of course. But at the same time, I do feel like living." Link smiles whilst he rolls his eyes
"You should reconsider." Yatsuhashi speaks with a soft but rough voice, "So many people are going to travel from every continent to see the best huntsmen and huntresses do combat for the honor of their schools. The strongest, fast, most exciting, those with the most potential and of course…" The very tall student nods at Link. "The highest touted warriors like you, Pyrrha Nikos, Penny Polendina, and these two mystery teams from Haven."
"I appreciate that a lot." Link smiles at the gentle giant. "I'm not going to rule out anything of course, an old friend of mine said you always have to keep your back door a little creaked open. I think right now I'm just set on not participating."
"How set are you?" Fox speaks up
"WOW you do not have to shout!" Coco sarcastically nudges her teammates shoulder with her hand. "Good to hear from you man."
"Very funny." Fox shakes his head
"Ninety percent." Link mumbles. "Right now I'd rather leave my fighting towards training and real opponents. Not that you guys wouldn't give me a give let me just clear that up. I'm referring to grimm and bad guys."
"You're good no worries kid, I didn't take offense to that at all." Coco shrugs her shoulders
"F-fighting in the tournament can help you become stronger." Velvet whispers as she leans closer to Link and hooks her arm with his. "Or does that not sound correct to you?"
"No, that sounds perfectly reasonable in all actuality." Link responds with happiness in his voice. "And it's a great point too. Looks like I will have to think about it some more."
"See?" Coco slaps Yatsuhashi's shoulder. "If anyone can change his mind about anything, it's Velvet."
"Coco!" Velvet snaps, clearly flustered at what her leader implies
"Ha ha." Link laughs sarcastically. "No, you all made great points and I do have a lot to think about regarding the tournament. So I take back my statement because my decision is definitely not definitive enough."
"Good." Coco approves of these words by their friend
After five to ten minutes later, which then turns into fifteen after their conversation, the group of five find themselves headed towards the main entrance of Beacon Academy. Team CFVY turn to Link and Coco begins speaking, but for some reason her words aren't coming through in the slightest
(Huh?) Link blinks rapidly to check if he's dreaming but when Yatsuhashi and Velvet speak it becomes very clear that this is real
(Would you look at this, you have some old enemies from the past here to hunt you down. Hehehehe… how are you going to deal with this?)
(What are you saying?) Link grunts and soon enough his hearing returns slowly
"Velvet? Coco?" Link glances around and sighs as the team is no longer in front of him. "Fox? Yatsuhashi? Where are you guys going?"
All four members, who were just about to enter the building, look back in confusion. First, they look back at one another and then all turn to face Link
"We said we were going back to our dorm and maybe we can hang later or tomorrow if you want." Coco calls out. "But you weren't responding, you're probably tired, go lay down kid."
"R-right, I am pretty tired." Link nods and waves at the experienced team of second year students. "See you later guys. Bye Fox. Bye Yatsuhashi. Bye Coco. Bye Velvet!"
"B-byeee!" Velvet smiles
"See ya kid." Coco smirks
Yatsuhashi and Fox do not reply but they do wave politely as the team heads inside and departs from Link, who sighs again and walks down the long trail that is the courtyard, leading all the way up to the end of the courtyard, meant for ships that transport people from Beacon to the city of Vale. However, something was different about certain ships arriving at Beacon, with three specific ships slowly lowering themselves down. It was an entire fleet of Atlesian ships, which can only mean one thing…
"Hm? What are they doing here? Maybe they got lost or something." Link looks up and witnesses the three ships landing.
The next thing to see is the ship's opening and out emerge plenty of soldiers and robots, Atlesian knights to be specific. A man with a commanding presence leads the way, but he isn't just an ordinary man. He's a tall and muscular man that wears a white coat, a gray shirt underneath, and a black dress shirt underneath the gray. A red tie compliments his professional attire and he also wears a distinct white glove on his right hand, while his left hand is bare. His pants are the same color as his coat and the bottom of his pants are tucked into silver boots. To anybody unfamiliar with Atlas this is all a new sight to them, but this is not new to Link. He knew exactly who this man was, his name is James Ironwood.
"Looks like he wasn't wrong." Link frowns and immediately his hands ball up into fists. "Old enemies from my past are here to hunt me down. I'm sure they didn't send an entire army just for me, this has to be a coincidence. Perhaps they are here for the Vytal Festival."
The Atlesian knights stay behind to guard the ships, human soldiers begin to way down the courtyard, with Ironwood at the back of the line, making sure everything about the army he's commanding is perfect and ready for anything. But then, he notices and easily recognizes Link as well, then promptly moves to the front of the line so be nearly face to face with the Beacon student
"It's you. After all this time, you're here..." Ironwood mumbles. "Despicable criminal."
"I would hold the insults if I were you. Coward!" Link raises his voice so that all of the human soldiers could hear him. "Did you bring an entire army just for me? How generous of you."
"Not another word out of you!" Ironwood also raises his voice. "I didn't come here with the intention to capture you. But now that you're here and in front of my own eyes. I have another assignment now."
Both man and boy stare each other down and the soldiers around them are very familiar with Link too. They have a feeling or outright know that a fight is bound to break out.
Flashback: One Year Ago, Forever Fall Forest
This area, known for its vibrant forest of red-leafed trees and not just any shade of red, but the whole forest appears to look like a dust red color, even the grass. Correlating with the color red, this current scene is not a pretty one. Fallen White Fang soldiers, destroyed Atlesian Knights, a handful of rail cars that were knocked off the railway line, resulting in destruction, plenty of fire, and many deaths
"This area is secure at last." James Iron speaks commandingly. "Make sure all members of the White Fang who remain alive are brought into custody. They will pay for what they've done here today. We have won yet another battle over the White Fang, good job men."
"S-sir!" A soldier calls out with what sounds like restricted breathing. "Y-you might want to take a look over here? There's a masked kid h-here too, but this one here isn't a faunus and he's very alive..."
"Hm...?" Ironwood walked over to spot one of his soldiers in a choke hold, courtesy of the boy just mentioned, he's not hurt in the slightest but is quite tired. "LET GO OF HIM AT ONCE! Were you up to this? Are you with the White Fang? Do you realize what you've done...?"
"Yeah. Kind of…" Link looks up, he wears a metallic mask that only shows off his eyes and mouth. With his exposed eyes, he looks straight into Ironwood's eyes as he applies enough pressure to make the soldier go to sleep. As soon as he's unconscious, the boy lets go and the soldier drops like a sack of potatoes, "All for a job paid well." He chuckles and is slow to catch his breath
"Let me guess. You're a mercenary?" Ironwood frowns and feels gratitude that he didn't lose a human soldier on this mission
"Sort of..." Link mumbles, making sure the two briefcases full of lien are strapped to his back securely. "Why does it matter to you? You didn't lose any men and you get to claim the glory of foiling the White Fang's plans."
"Who are you working with?" Ironwood asks sternly. "No, you seem too young to be partnered with anybody. Who are you working for?"
"I'm insulted." Link huffs and puffs as he looks around, making sure he's not being surrounded in the middle of this conversation. "You could say I'm with the White Fan. Although I'm not a faunus and I don't care for their plans or goals. My guild is simply partnered with them. As you can see however, I looked out for myself and my own well being."
"And what was your mission exactly?" Ironwood shifts closer to the boy, who retreats immediately
"Back off." Link shakes his head and reaches for his sword. "My mission? Well I'm not really supposed to tell anyone, let alone the enemy but this was more of a White Fang mission so I guess you can know. They wanted to steal everything from that train. I was simply sent here as backup, my instructions were clear. Watch them complete their mission and stay back unless the situation is dire, with lives being at stake."
"And?" Ironwood narrows his eyes
"You're not blind." Link shakes his head. "Your toasters aren't half bad, they wiped out most of the White Fang soldiers that jumped on the train. I only jumped in when they were about to lose. Regardless of what I did, only ten of them made it out of the crash alive and only three of them were able to get away with minimal supplies. Mission failed for them."
"Then how do you have that?" The Atlas military general points at the briefcases on Link's back. "And what happened to the ones who survived but didn't make it out of here?"
"Oh these?" Link nods. "Good question. I fulfilled my duties, they were going to pay me whether they liked it or not."
"Is that why there are survivors for my men for arrest?"
"You nailed it." Link smirks at the General. "I didn't do it with the intention of you arresting them, they just didn't want to pay me so I did what I had to do."
"You're brash and you get straight to the point." Ironwood makes a face as if he was slightly impressed. "You do understand that we cannot let you leave. You still committed many crimes and because of you there is all of this destruction. All of my Atlesian Knights on that train with the purpose of protecting those supplies were destroyed too, and I did just receive an admission of guilt from you."
"I know." Link looks at the shattered moon in the sky. "I'm not the smartest person in the world after all. I do my best to get by and I will certainly not be stopped right now. I have plenty more in me to give to this world."
"You will be a wanted criminal of Atlas if you don't surrender. Destruction of public and private property. Theft, murders, the list goes on" Ironwood takes another step towards him. "If you turn yourself in, you might get a reduced sentence."
"I may not be the smartest, but I am also not clueless." Link shakes his head and shuffles back. "I will be locked away forever if I do surrender, you're just lying to me. So it looks like we're at an impasse." He chuckles
"..." Ironwood does not react to this answer well
Rather than respond with precise questions or generosity, he is done playing games. He shows impressive speed for a man his size and reaches to grab Link by his arm. Suddenly, Link's eyes sparkle with a bright blood red color the second Ironwood's fingertip touches his shoulder
"Heheheh!" Link mutters with the most dark and psychotic sounding chuckle ever heard from the normally soft spoken boy
"Sir!" Multiple soldiers who are now behind Ironwood shout as they aim their rifles. "Do we open fire?"
"NO! Get back!" Ironwood demands as he himself with a massive step jumps away from the perceived dangerous threat
"Suckers!" Link laughs as he instantly takes off sprinting
"It was all a trick. Open fire!" Ironwood demands by whipping his arm and pointing a fingers firmly at the intended target that he nearly had in his grasp moments ago
The boy looks back at Ironwood and the soldiers behind him, with even more arriving as backup. The soldiers begin firing their powerful rifles, although nobody lands a shot as Link quickly leaps into the air and lands on a tree to continue his escape. And he does just that, swiftly jumping from tree to tree. In the middle of a jump from one tree to another, Link takes off his metal mask which proves to be tough in the air. Afterwards, he takes off a pair of see through glasses worn underneath the mask. Except these aren't just any glasses, they are technologically advanced and can record videos, analyze lands and enemies, and project powerful blinking lights. Revealing the blood red color that came from his eyes to be only an illusion, simply just a flashing red light to scare the general and his men
End of Flashback
"Hmph. 'Good times' I wish I could relive it." Link mumbles, then all of a sudden he feels a lot of pressure as one of the Atlesian soldiers stares him down
"You are under arrest." A soldier speaks. "Don't put up a fight and we can save ourselves the trouble."
"Yeah I don't think so." Link quickly shoves the soldier away, he uses just as much power as the soldier did on his arm. "I'm attending Beacon as a student and you have no grounds to arrest me."
"S-sir he's not complying!" The soldiers speaks
"Wait a second?" Link chuckles. "Are you the same soldier I choked out? Good to see they didn't kick you off the force."
"S-shut up! You're under arrest!" The same soldier turns to look at his leader. "What do I do sir?"
"Take him by force. I am not in the mood for games today." Ironwood demands, he turns to his other soldiers to close in and outnumber the boy
"Alright kid, hand's up." The same nervous soldier turns back around to point his gun at Link
But in the short time it takes him to turn back and face his target, Link is out of the sights of all the soldiers. Although, he doesn't flee back to Beacon but emerges right in front of Ironwood, confronting the main person who is after him head on
"You would rather die than have us capture you, is that it?" Ironwood asks, showing no fear unlike some of his soldiers
"If those were my only two options then yes." Link smiles politely at the stern General. "But not right now, I have a life to live."
"I don't care if you are a student here, you have committed far too many crimes and your days as a free person are over! You do not deserve to attend a prestigious academy like Beacon. And now that I have you in my sights, no matter how much you run away, you'll pay the price and do the time."
"Make me, metal head." Link's smile grows
"You ignorant little-!" Ironwood's hand's which were previously behind his back emerge
Link, who still has his hand on the handle of his sword, slowly draws it out of its sheath. The sound of the sharp weapon sliding against the sheath makes Ironwood act quickly and take a swing with his right hand. Link continues to smile, knowing he could bait him in for an attack, lets go of his sword, raises his arms at an angle to cover his head. Both of his hands are needed to withstand the incoming strike, which is a lot stronger than a regular open handed palm strike from just a human
"You can do better than that!" Link shouts
The one man team's eyes begin glowing with the same golden color emerging. In an ominous way, as soon as his eyes change color a thunderstorm begins to brew all of a sudden, with the clouds turning dark first
"Looks like things are going to have to get ugly. It didn't have to be like this." Ironwood mumbles, barely noticing one of his men sneaking up on Link. "W-wait no! Don't-!"
"Too late. This will give me more opportunities to practice this forsaken move." Link frowns, his smile having disappeared completely as he simply puts his left hand on the handle of his sword again. "Thanks for the heads up!"
"No!" Ironwood brings back his powerful right hand and balls it up a fist, he swings rapidly, but Link has already turned to face the soldier sneaking up on him
Before the soldier even gets the opportunity to shoot, he drops down to his knees, and then to the ground on his side. He held his bleeding midsection, writhing in pain on the ground. The protective gear is shredded as the soldier who was just just taking orders suffers the same fate as Sky Lark. The difference between the two instances is that this soldier receives the more powerful strike. The other soldiers abandon their orders and tend to their fallen friend and soldier
"You should have used your toasters this time as well" Link rises to his feet, now with some distance between himself and Ironwood
"Hmph!" Ironwood pulls out his revolver from a pocket inside his jacket, perfectly aiming at Link's head
Link on the other hand confidently puts away his sword and grabs his bow, which morphed into its crossbow state…
(Thank you Ruby for working on this next part with me...) Link internally mumbles while struggling to hold back what this new side of him even is, it's like a twisted demon demon him that he has partial control over
"Drop your weapon or I will be forced to kill you." Ironwood angrily demands
The huntsman in training returns to his generous smile as the crossbow transforms into its semi-automatic rifle state with the click of a button. The confidence in his rifle being ready now is due to recent help from Ruby, an expert on guns who built 'Crescent Rose' herself
"Take the shot." Link mumbles
"Finally, I have you where I want you." Ironwood carefully squeezes on the trigger of his revolver and in a two seconds he finds himself firing a bullet
BOOM!
Glynda Goodwitch jumps in front of Link, the experienced huntress appears as if she were casting a spell with her weapon 'The Disciplinarian', a riding crop pointed directly forward at the incoming bullet. Appearances aside, what is seen for certain is a protective purple circle forming over them, it completely neutralizes the bullet and nobody is harmed. Link looks on in amazement as one of his professors does not hesitate to jump in harm's way and take a bullet for him. Although, in Glynda's case she is perfectly fine and no harm comes from the literal bullet she deflects
"James!" Glynda frowns, she is furious and looking directly into Ironwood's soul with her blazing stare
"G-glynda! I can explain." Ironwood begins. "That boy, he-!"
"Yeah, you do have fun explaining. See ya later general!" Link laughs and runs back to the school
"Wait!" Glynda shouts but Link does not stop running
"You can't let him get away!" Ironwood points at Link, his soldiers initially hesitate but do follow through with his orders
"Not a single step further." Glynda steps back and points her weapon at Ironwood and his soldiers. "I came here to put an end to this senseless fighting, and that is what is going to happen, understood?!"
"..." Ironwood growls and begrudgingly agrees
Meanwhile, Link runs so fast and does not bother to look ahead of him, the boy is worried that someone is following him. Before he knows it, he is at the entrance of Beacon Academy, where team CFVY had just exited whilst looking for him actually, and Link ends up crashing right into Velvet
"Ahhh!" Velvet shouts and falls on top of the boy
"Owww! Damn that hurt." Link shakes his head and opens his eyes, noticing Velvet directly on top of him. "O-oh, I'm so sorry Velvet."
"What the hell are you doing running so fast?!" Coco shouts. "We had a feeling something was up with you that had more to do than with fatigue. But damn it must be really bad."
"N-no…" Link sighs and struggled to regain his composure with the one girl on top of him while another is angrily questioning him
"U-u-um..." Velvet's face lights up and her cheeks turn red
"Hey Velvet." Link smiled. "My bad, are you okay? You aren't hurt right?"
"Mhm." Velvet nods, the moment soon sets in
The rabbit faunus realizes late that she and Link are very close together, their eyes centimeters apart. Velvet exhales and closes her eyes, basically passing out from the embarrassment due to her and a close friend being in an awkward position
"Great. You killed our teammate." Coco chuckles. "Forget about the problem I was just asking you about, help us with our teammate, will you?"
"Of course?" Link sits up and carefully holds Velvet in his arms
"Go on then pick her up, we'll lead you back to our dorm." Coco says
The team CFVY leader laughs again as she leads the way again. Fox follows closely behind her, only Yatsuhashi stays behind to make sure Link can pick up Velvet and carry her back, a task her has no issue doing
Approximately Ten Minutes Later: Beacon Academy Dormitories
"That was extremely awkward." Link chuckles while simultaneously slapping himself on the forehead
The ashamed and embarrassed huntsman is now casually walking around, stalling as long as he can before ending the night in his dorm. Unknowingly, he passes by the dorms of team RWBY and JNPR, with the door for the former being open. Inside, Weiss and Yang are talking about Blake's recent mood drop, even more then usual for the already quiet cat faunus
(Hmmm, I wonder.) Link stops dead in his tracks and contemplates listening in, but any decision making comes to a complete halt when the boy looks ahead and notices Ruby on the ground in front of three other people
"Are you okay?" Ruby asks, even though she is the one on the ground
"I'm fine, just watch where you're going." Speaks a girl with medium to dark brown skin and dark red eyes, and bright mint green hair. she along with her companions wear school uniforms, although they are different from Beacon's, "You gonna take it?" She says as she offers Ruby a hand
"Haha right, sorry." Ruby happily takes her hand to help herself stand back up "I'm Ruby. Are you new?"
"Visiting from Haven actually." Speaks a light skinned girl who looks more like a woman than a student, she sports dark black hair that covers her left eye. She has bright amber eyes almost exactly like Blake's
Silence takes over the hallway when Ruby does not reply, she and this mystery woman have a brief staredown as something is familiar about one another
(Oooh, would you look at this. First it's your old enemies, now it's your old friends. The entire gang is back together)
(Shut up, will you?) Link shrugs. (What are they doing here?)
"Ooooooooh, you must be here for the festival." Ruby giggles and the tension dissipates. "Oh! But exchange students have their dorms."
"I guess we just got turned around." This time it was the third member of the group who spoke very quietly. He is a pale, young man who actually resembles a student, with gray eyes and gray hair
"Oh um, hehe, don't worry, it happens all the time, your building is juuust, east of here." Ruby said as the three of them walk past her before she is even done speaking, showing that they clearly knew where they need to go
While Ruby gets overlooked and smiled at, Link does not. He receives dirty looks from all of them, especially the woman with the amber eyes. They recognized each other, but no fight breaks out. However, with General James Ironwood showing up and now these three former 'friends', Link's mind begins racing as he tries to figure out what exactly all of them are doing at Beacon
"Thanks." Cinder speaks up before they turn the corner to leave. "Maybe we'll see you around."
"Yeah, maybe." Ruby smiles. "Oh and Welcome To Beacon!"
"Mhm." Link struggles to nod and pretend to be cordial with
As soon as this 'new team from Haven' departs from their general view. Link walks forward immediately and gets closer to Ruby. He looks around to see if there will be more people that might come their way, but thankfully that seems to be it for tonight
"Hi Link!" Ruby cheers and extends her fist
"Hey Ruby." Link quickly fist bumps with Ruby. "Those three didn't give any trouble did they?"
"Not at all, they seem nice." She smiles happily. "So how was your day...? Did you have fun with team CFVY? Maybe they'll ask you to help them plan the dance since they're in charge this year."
"I didn't realize you kept up with the dance like that, that's cool. As for my day, it was..." Link thinks back, easily defeating Sky and an Atlesian soldier, causing Velvet to pass out and nearly going to 'war' with a general of an army on the school's courtyard. "It was okay, how about you? How was your game?"
"Oooh it was awesome, we went to the library, played our game a few times, and…" Ruby continues talking as she grabs Link by his arm and drags him back along to the library with in order to retrieve the board game she left behind
Link only smiles and does his best to listen. Although he manages to hear a lot of what was said such as how their game went, Sun coming over to introduce his blue haired friend named Neptune and Blake abandoning the game near the end. The student knows he has other priorities at hand such as all these demons from his past returning after having a peaceful first semester. But for now, he decides to let it all go, relax, and listen to his friend continue talking about herself and how her day went