Now back to the adventure! And cheers to the official start to the second arc!
REAPER IN RED
Chapter 21
It was a brand new, glorious day and I don't think I'd ever woken up in a better mood. Everything was looking up for this Reaper. I had all the steps I needed to claim a territory written in my notebook -diary- and I was ready to get started. Just four nice and simple steps. Who would have thought it would be so easy?
I flipped open my diary and read through them once more. Just in case I forgot one. I smiled as I read my notes. Step one, find a spot to claim. Check! I'm going to claim Beacon Academy. My home base. Perfect spot to hold onto. Well, there were probably loads of better spots, but this one was going to be mine so I loved it.
Step two, extend my magic as far as possible to create the borders. Okay, not super hard. I could do that. Just hop into my Reaper form and unleash it all.
I frowned as I remembered step three. Keep power extended for a month -or a month and a day, I wasn't too sure- without fault. Okay, so I needed to continuously use my magic for a very long time. I needed to be in my Reaper form for a month and somehow not let anybody notice that there just happened to be a Grim Reaper walking around and going to class and lying in Ruby's -my- bed. Okay, that put a little but of a damper on my spirits, but I knew I could figure something out. I always did before... maybe.
You know what? I'll get to it when I get to it.
Step four was fairly simple. Just Reap a soul in my territory.
I shook my head from my morning thoughts. It was a new day. That's what mattered. The sun was just rising into the sky, beautiful shades of orange and pink surrounding the big ball of fire. The rest of my team was still asleep in their beds. Yang was snoring blissfully, it had been the first night in a while without nightmares. Actually, none of them had nightmares that night. Which was amazing because I got a full night of sleep as well.
Rolling myself out of bed -quite literally- I fell, landing on both my feet as silently as I could. As had quickly become standard practice, I glanced at Blake to check if she had noticed, frowning as her cat ears twitched in my direction. Darn, she had woken up. I will defeat you and your crazy good hearing one of these days!
Huffing, I made my way to the washroom to take care of my usual routine. A quick shower with nice warm water, giving the toilet a flush and watching the water twirl, brushing my teeth with minty toothpaste and trying not to swallow it -again-. And then it was on to hair brushing, my favourite part of every morning. No more finger-combing for this Reaper!
Satisfied with the shine and lack of knots, I opened the bathroom door and got ready to wake up my team.
A new day. It meant new classes -well, still the same classes, but new material- and new conversations and new food. It still surprised me how much I had been missing all these years. Humans really knew what they were doing in their kitchens. I still sometimes preferred my nice and simple meals of a handful of strawberries and some grains, maybe a little meat if I'm in the mood for it. But, cookies and pasta and milkshakes and salad dressing, they had quickly become staples of my new human-Ruby diet.
"Sho," Yang said, pointing her empty fork at me while chewing, "do you think we'll be getting our missions soon?"
"Huh?" Missions? Was that a thing I should have known about?
Weiss, thankfully, had the answer. "I do not know for sure, since Professor Goodwitch has yet to say anything about them. I would expect some information to come our way in the new few weeks. Most of the students are going to be arriving soon for the Vytal Festival. At least that's what Sun said."
"Still close with monkey-boy?" Yang smirked at Weiss's huff.
"We have talked on occasion. About how faunus are treated and best practices."
"Y'do know we have our own kitty right here to ask, right?" Yang's fork was now directed towards t he raven-haired girl beside her, whose face was still hidden behind her book. Or should I say my book?
It was hidden behind the book of fairytales we had taken from the library two nights before.
"I was indeed going to ask her," Weiss replied, "but I was first going to make sure I knew at least the basics from Sun so that Blake could share her own knowledge. If-if she wants to, of course."
Blake's bow twitched. "We can talk." Blake responded. Curt as usual.
It was good to see everyone getting back to their old selves.
A tray slammed down on the table next to us. The three of them jumped, hands going towards where their weapons would have been.
"I guess not," I mumbled to myself. Getting better at least. One step at a time.
"Good morning Team RWBY!" Nora's upbeat attitude didn't budge as she sat down across from Yang. The rest of her team was much more considerate of us, sitting down slowly, well within our view. They had been the only team we had shared the full story with. It was good to have friends to have our backs.
And that thought brought my mind back around to my goal. I was going to claim my territory so that everyone would be safe. So that I could watch all their backs. No Grim Reaper or skin crawler or any other higher order was going to scare my friends again. Not with me on the watch.
"You guys talking about missions?" Jaune asked, taking a bite of his eggs and downing it with a glass of milk. Not a bad choice in drink. Orange juice was still better.
Yang nodded, "was wondering when they were going to be starting."
"Ooh! I'm hoping for a hard one. A real kick-her in the crotch fight. Right Jaune-y? Ren? Pyr-Pyr?"
Nora's smiling gaze flickered to each of her teammates. And then to my own. Not the happiest of faces to be sure.
"Oh right. Sorry." She backtracked. "No talky for Nora. Got it."
"I'm hoping to choose an… easier mission. Not a simple one, mind you. But… maybe only against a Grimm or two." Weiss said after a moment of uncomfortable silence.
Her words got a nod of agreement from the rest of the team. "I think I want to train up a little more before we go up against another Higher order. Did you guys hear what the headmaster said? We went up against a weak one. I do not want to try one in its prime." Yang shuddered.
"Did you know that Professor Port went up against skin crawlers on his own when he was younger?" I decided to chime in, hoping to steer the conversation away from such a depressing note.
Jaune -thankfully- picked up on my topic change, "ya, during combat history he was telling us about it. It was crazy! Probably the first time I've ever paid attention to him talking. And the stories. I know how hard it is to believe, but they all sounded true!"
"Maybe it was because Professor Ozpin was listening," I joked.
Jaune hummed in agreement.
"So, food fight?"
"No Nora, no food fight." Ren's head shake did little to sway the rowdy redhead, who tried to flick her grapes at Yang, only for them to be caught and placed back onto her plate.
"No fun…" she grumbled, laying her forehead on her crossed arms.
"Class'll be soon. Will we see you all there?" Pyrrha slowly stood up, looking at us, the question still hanging on her face.
I looked at each of my teammates. None of them looked perfect, but they did look better. We still had one more day off if we really wanted to take it. Was time off, away from class and Team JNPR and our -their- regular lives really the best way to handle this? I didn't think so anymore. Yang caught my eyes and gave a little nod. I returned it.
"I think we'll join you guys."
"At least for a little bit. Baby steps," Yang added
"Baby steps." I agreed.
Lucky for us, all our classes today were together. No special leadership courses for me today and nothing crazy for any of them. Just regular old together classes. That also meant that we would be having combat class with Professor Goodwitch as our last period of the day. But Professor Oobleck was first.
And he was talking about the labour riots that happened in Mistral thirty years ago. Sweet Salem, was it dull. Not just because he kept on talking in his regular rapid-fire way, but there was a big difference between listening to the professor talk about how the rioters and police clashed and, well, actually being there. And it wasn't even that exciting! The most memorable part about those riots was the strange back and forth going on where rioters would argue and shout and the police would fight them for a little bit, then everyone would just stop for a little bit so that huntsmen could kill the Grim nearby and then back at it again.
No deaths, which had really annoyed mom at the time since she had just lost her body temperature and was getting antsy for her next Reaping. As Professor Oobleck paused to take a sip from his mug of coffee, before darting back into his lecture about the specific goals of the riots -new laws regarding overtime pay and better safety standards- my mind turned to more pressing matters.
Matters like how to extend my magic while still in my human form. It had to be possible. Right?
I knew that my magic worked in human form -well, some bits of my magic at least- but most was only available when I was a Reaper. A Reaper-Reaper, not a human-Reaper. I could still could sense those dying nearby in my human form, so that had to be something.
That was my magic. The essence of it, at least. My reach was a lot farther as a Reaper, but it was definitely still there as a human. I shut my eyes, trying to feel around with my magic. Anything would be good. A heartbeat, maybe even a time until death. Just of Weiss or Yang, whom I was sitting between.
Oh! I was feeling something. There was definitely something happening. I squeezed my eyes tighter and clamped my fists, my body physically shaking from the exertion. But something was definitely going on. I could feel it. What was it? It.. it was.
Nope, nothing.
I was just straining hard enough to give myself a headache.
Welp, that sucked.
"And that is all for today, class. Please remember to finish reading the current chapter by tomorrow as well as write two pages on what you believe to be the primary cause for the riots based on the examples provided in the text."
Had I… really been straining myself for that long? I hadn't even noticed the time fly by. But, thankfully it did and we were all off to the next class of the day. Huddled together. All carrying our weapons.
Flinching at loud sounds.
Heads on a swivel.
Darn, none of them were doing that much better. Okay, when we had to pick our missions, an easy one was definitely off the table. On the table? We were going to do it. Maybe some Grimm. That would be fine, right? After all, they would only chase after me, so they would be free from danger the entire time. That was the safest option, though I wondered if there was anything that didn't even involve fighting monsters. Maybe something nice. I'd have to think about it.
"Oof," I bumped into the headmaster, cane in one hand, mug of coffee in the other. "Sorry," I said, rubbing my forehead and giving him a sheepish grin, "I guess I wasn't paying as much attention to my surrounding as I thought."
As the rest of my team looked back at me, the headmaster gave them a wave. "Please do not fret. I shall be speaking with your team leader just for a little while. I will see her off once our exchange has concluded. I shall endeavour to return her to you before the period is over. Please let your professor know."
With a quick goodbye, I was standing there alone with the headmaster.
"Hi," brilliant start Ruby. Thank you, Ruby.
"Good day to you too Miss Rose," the headmaster replied with a sip of his drink. "It has been some time since our last talk. I thought it best to check up on you. And your team, as it were."
"Oh, ya. They are good. Peachy. Umm.. the greatest. Well… they still finch a little at loud noises, but it's getting better."
"It is never a good sight to see ones as young as them scared of the world which surrounds them," Headmaster Ozpin's said sagely. "I do believe that they will use their experience as an educational one, though it may be some time before that experience bears fruit. And how are you feeling Miss Rose?"
"I'm good," a little sad for my team and what I did to them, but it was a better day.
"Learn anything new during your stroll through my library?"
"Huh? I-I mean, what stroll?"
Ozpin smirked, "what stroll indeed."
"I was wondering… when I was in the library -during normal, regular daytime hours of course-"
"Of course."
"I found some fairytales. The Hero's Daughter, is it… well known?"
"Among the most well known that we have. Also one of the oldest recorded fairytales to date. It goes by many names depending on where or when you have it. The Hero's Daughter, The Hero's Curse, The Hero and His Sire, The Offspring. The Farmer's Daughter."
"The Farmer's Daughter, I knew it." I mentally high-fived myself. Those two stories had so much in common, it was crazy.
"The Farmer's Daughter is an old one and a version of the tale which many do not know. I had only been granted a version of it a few decades ago. It had been passed to me by word of mouth and I wrote it down to the best of my recollection."
"Are there any mistakes in it?"
"Not that I recall. The times mentioned, the order of the phrases. All are correct."
"Okay, good."
"Do you believe you found something useful in the text? Something to help you extend your grasp on your power?"
"My aura."
"Indeed."
"I… I don't know."
"Sometimes, it is through trial and struggle that we humans achieve that which we wish for. It is a trait I believe is shared with many other species as well. From the vampire which yearns for sustenance, to the Syren who must create his own song."
"Thanks, headmaster. I think."
He chuckled at that, "now, let me see you off in class. I think I held you back long enough."
It feels great to be back to our usual story. It also feels so much longer than 2 weeks since my last chapter of this. I guess that's corona-season for you.
Momentei - Pretty close guess! Sacrificing Jaune would be pretty funny.
Darknight2124 - Thanks a whole bunch! It was great to try out different writing styles of such a similar story to see if I could properly get the point of each across.
dragonqueen1993 - They are meant to be confusing. :) In each story there are only a few throw-away lines that relate to the process of claiming a territory. Reading it for the exact purpose of finding those details is the only way to really find them. Or know certain obvious things that only a Reaper would, like who Salem really was or what magics a Reaper possesses.