8Chapter 2
I sit in the Bullhead on the way back to Beacon in my improved armor, tuning my new guitar. I didn't do much to my armor, just replaced the leather with something of higher quality and the bone parts with some Dust infused titanium. Slightly more expensive than steel but lighter and stronger.
As for the guitar, well, my dad had started teaching me to play at five, around the same time my mom had unlocked my Aura. By the time he died, I had become quite adept at it. It was the only thing my uncle and the Fang let me keep practicing. I think they liked the tunes. Unfortunately, I left my old guitar at the White Fang bunker when I escaped.
Sitting next to me, repeatedly switching Dusk from axe form to pistol form, is a small crimson haired girl wearing a red hood, by the name of Ruby Rose. I met her while boarding. She saw Dusk and Dawn and attached herself to my leg, talking a mile a second. I just sort of looked at her, shrugged, and continued onto the Bullhead. Luckily, her sister, a tall, muscular, blonde came over and peeled her off my leg. She got Ruby to ask me politely if she could see my weapons.
Ruby continues to stare intently at Dusk as she once again switched it from a war axe to a pistol, "How does it do that," she muttered to herself, "I just don't see how it can switch. There is no visible gun barrel nor is there a place for the ammunition to be stored in it's axe form..."
"I don't even know how they do that Red. And I've been using them for years." I tell her as I once again ignore her sister's, whose name's Yang apparently, shameless flirting.
"Why don't you go ask the weaponsmith who made them for you?" Yang asks, frowning slightly, probably from me ignoring her flirting.
"I did. It was closed down, Damn shame too. That place made some fine quality weapons." I reply, shaking my head slightly, turning back to my guitar.
I play a small tune to test how it sounds. I nod, sounds good. Satisfied, I put the stringed instrument back in it's case.
"You any good with that thing?" I hear Yang ask.
I throw a small glare in her direction, and let a tiny smirk slip through my mask of indifference when I see her flinch a little, "I would hope so. I have been playing since I was five."
Ruby looks up from Dusk, "Can you play something for us?"
I look over to her, "Maybe when we get to Beacon." I reply.
She nods and opens her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a hologram of Professor Goodwitch.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."
And with that the hologram disappeared. Ruby and Yang rush over to the window, 'oooh ing and awww ing. I just roll my eyes, putting Dusk back in it's sheath. I pull my hood over my head and stand up, rolling my shoulders in preparation.
When we finally land, I take off, walking in long, powerful strides, wanting to get to the auditorium as soon as possible. I'm about halfway there when I hear an explosion coming from the docks. My eyes widen as I quickly turn on my heel and sprint back.
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Ruby POV
I flinch as the small girl in white starts to screech at me again. I haven't been here for more than five minutes and things are already going to shit. Nacht disappeared, Yang abandoned me, I tripped over some snobby girl's luggage, gotten screamed at by said snobby girl, then blown up. Now here I am getting screamed at again. It's starting to give me a headache. I open my mouth to yell back, only for the words to die in my mouth. I look up at the familiar, intimidating, towering form of Nacht as he walks up behind the much shorter girl in white. The white haired girl, once she noticed that I'm looking at something over her shoulder, turns around, only to be looking straight at an armored, broad chest. She slowly looks up, paling slightly at the glowing green eyes glaring down at her.
"Is there a problem here Ruby?" He asks, his voice a low, menacing, growl. I see his hands twitch towards his axes.
I shake my head, both to shake out the cobwebs and in response to his question, "No, we're good Nacht. This was all just a misunderstanding, right Princess?"
Before she could respond, another voice spoke up, "Its heiress, actually," We all turn to face this new person. The owner of the voice is a female wearing mostly black, with black hair, amber eyes, and a black bow on her head, "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."
The newly named Weiss shakes her head also and puts on a smug face, "Finally, some recognition!"
The girl in black smirks and begins to list off everything the company has done wrong. Throughout all this, I notice Nacht glaring at the girl with a look of intense rage. Before I can ask him what's wrong, he shoots forward, grabbing the black haired girl by the throat and disappearing in a dull flash of light.
I turn back to Weiss, only to find her storming off. I sigh, I guess I should start making my way towards the auditorium. Alone. Again.
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Third Person POV
Nacht is pissed. No, beyond pissed. He's absolutely livid! His partner is here. Adam… The one who authorized his imprisonment, his torture. Nacht and Blake appear on the roof, with Nacht slamming Blake into the door, nearly tearing it off it's hinges.
"Hello Blake. Long time no see." Nacht says casually, putting Dawn in it's pistol from under her chin.
Blake is terrified. She's being held by her throat against a door, with a very familiar and large pistol under her chin, staring into a pair of very angry looking glowing green eyes, also very familiar.
"Tell me Blake," he says, a dangerous glint entering his eyes, "where is Adam, and what is he planning here? I have a score to settle with him."
Now Blake is pretty good in a fight. She hadn't been one of the top ranking members of the White Fang for nothing, but she had read the reports of what happened to the troops in the Silva Forest. Both from the bunker, and the scout groups. Let's skip the details and just say it was messy. This man is one of the two men she never wishes to meet on the battlefield, the other being Adam.
"I-I-I don't know!" Blake yells back desperately, "I-I-"
"You don't know!?" Nacht shouts back, throwing her to the ground, putting a foot on her chest and Dawn on her forehead, "You are his FUCKING partner! How do you-"
"I left okay!" She cuts him off, then says more softly, "I left the Fang…"
Nacht freezes, Looking down into her eyes, searching for any kind of deceit. Slowly, he removes his foot, and sheaths Dawn. Blake just lays there, her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face.
Nacht looks at her one more time, "I'll be watching you, Belladonna. Step one foot out of line, and I'll end you. Got it?"
At her nod, he disappears in a flash of light. Blake lays there for another ten minutes, before finally getting up and heading to the auditorium.
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Nacht POV
I Blink back into the auditorium just in time to hear Professor Goodwitch tell us that we are going to be sleeping in the ballroom tonight. I follow the other Beacon hopefuls into a large room with sleeping bags all over the floor. I take one close to the window. I sit down on my sleeping bag and take out my guitar, strumming gently, testing how it sounds. I nod to myself and place it against the wall. I then take Dusk and Dawn out along with a cleaning rag.
I'm just about to start cleaning them when I hear someone sit down next to me. I crack a small smile when the sweet scent of roses and cookies invade my sense of smell. I don't know how, but the young reaper has already gotten past my walls.
"Hello Ruby,' I say without looking up.
"Heya Nacht!" she says cheerfully "Whatcha doin'?"
"Cleaning Dusk and Dawn," I reply "Haven't in a few days."
"Weren't you supposed to put those into your assigned locker?" Yang asks as she flops down on my other side.
I look at her, my eyes flashing dangerously, "I don't part from my weapons, nor does anyone take them from me," I growl.
She flinches and scoots away slightly, nodding rapidly.
My eyes soften and I go back to cleaning Dawn, "Sorry, I'm just not comfortable parting with them. Ruby is lucky I'm even letting her touch them," I say "Speaking of, would you like to help me clean Dusk and Dawn Ruby?"
Her face lights up and she nods enthusiastically. I hand her Dusk, a rag, and some cleaning solution. I watch as she rubs the solution onto Dusk so gently, you'd think she's rubbing baby oil onto a baby, her silver eyes sparkling with happiness. I smirk and shake my head, amused.
I place Dawn next to my guitar case, the light shining off the blade. I lean against the wall and close my eyes, my arms folded on my chest.
"Hey Nacht," says Yang, "We are at Beacon, can you play something for us now?"
I keep my eyes closed, thinking. Should I? I don't really see much harm in it. And I did say I would… I nod my head. "Sure"
I lean forward and grab my case, taking out my guitar. I lean back, strumming a few time while think of what to play. I finally settle on one of my mom's favorites, the first song my dad taught me to play.
I begin to play, My calloused fingers dancing over the strings. A familiar tune began to flow through the large room, everyone going silent. I then start to sing,
When the days are cold
And the cards all fold
And the saints we see are all made of gold,
When your dreams all fail
And ones we hail are the worst, of all
And the blood's run stale,
I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get to close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
When the curtains call
Is the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl
So they dug your grave
And the masquerade
Will come calling out
At the mess you made
Don't want to let you down
But I am, Hell bound
Though this is all for you
Don't wanna hide the truth
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get to close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
They say it's you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go
Your eyes they shine so bright
I wanna save that light
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get to close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
I finish the last verse with one last strum of my guitar. I sigh and open my eyes. At first, there was nothing but silence. Then, slowly, one by one, everyone starts to clap until everyone is cheering and clapping.
"That was amazing Nacht!" Yells Ruby, bouncing in place as she claps excitedly.
Yang nods and claps me on the back with a smile, "Yeah! That was great! You're going to have to do that for us again." Ruby nods excitedly in agreement
I put away my guitar and nod at the sisters with a smile, a genuine smile. A smile that quickly fades when I spot a pair of amber eyes staring at me from across the room, a wide range of emotions swimming in them. The most prominent one being regret. I frown, maybe I had been a little hard on her.
I shake my head and stand up 'I need some air'.
I take Dusk from Ruby and pick up Dawn. I sheath them and walk towards the door.
"Hey, where you goin'!" Yang calls after me.
"To get some air," I say over my shoulder "I'll be back in a minute."
I make my way out to the cliff that overlooks the Emerald Forest. I sit down, letting my legs hang over the edge. I stare out at the seemingly never ending expanse of forest below me, illuminated by the light of the shattered moon. I think about everything that has transpired in the past twenty four hours. Saving a Huntress from a large pack of Beowolves, getting accepted into Beacon academy, making two new friends in the form of a small girl in a red hood and her older sister, running into a person from my past, nearly killing said person, Hell, I even played my guitar in front of a large crowd of people, something I've never done. One or two people, sure. Not an entire crowd. I'm so lost in thought that I almost don't notice the nearly silent footsteps coming towards me.
Almost.
I shoot to my feet, Dusk and Dawn in my hands in pistol form. I spin around, bringing the large pistols to bear. Standing about 10 feet away from me, with wide eyes, is a human girl. She's fairly tall, I'd say about 5"10, maybe 5"11, with deep red hair and eyes just as green as mine. She wears a brown and gold tube top type thing with a short skirt and boots. She stands frozen, one foot in front of the other, a hand slowly reaching for a weapon which isn't there.
I sigh and shake my head, scowling slightly. I sheathe Dusk and Dawn and turn back to the forest. Sitting back down, I don't say anything when I feel her sit down next to me. We sit in silence for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say.
Finally, she breaks the silence, "Sorry for startling you. I saw you walking out of the the ballroom and thought you might want some company."
I just nod my head in response.
She shifts awkwardly for a second before speaking again, "You were amazing earlier, by the way." She says, "I've only ever heard anything that good on the radio."
At that I smile, "Thank you miss…" I trail off, looking at the girl expectantly.
Her eyes widen in surprise before she smiles, "My name is Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos." She says.
"Nacht Blau." I say with a nod.
Her eyes widen again, "Blau, as in Larain Blau, legendary Huntress, and 4 time winner of the Vytal Tournament?" She asks excitedly, her eyes lighting up as she bounces in place, in a way that's not unlike Ruby.
"Yes, that's my mother…" I say slowly, raising an eyebrow at her
She stops bouncing and blushes, "Sorry, it's just that Larain Blau was my idol growing up. She was my hero. She's the one who inspired me to become a huntress. I cried for days when I heard she died."
"She was my hero too," I say, smiling sadly.
She smiles back. I look back towards the forest with a sigh. We sit in silence for a few more minutes before I get up.
"I'm heading back in," I say, "You coming?"
She nods her head and I help her up. We make it back to the ballroom without a word. I bid Pyrrha goodnight and walk back to my sleeping bag, Yang and Ruby are already asleep. I slip my armor off, leaving me in a white tank top and a pair of dark blue boxer shorts. I put my armor next to my guitar case along with Dusk. I always keep Dawn with me when I sleep. It's a habit.
I slip into my sleeping bag with a sigh, It's going to be a busy day tomorrow.
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I shoot up out of my sleeping bag, covered in a cold sweat, with Dawn in axe form held in a defensive position. My eyes, wide and glowing with panic and a slight bit of anger, dart around the room, my breath coming out in ragged pants. Slowly, I calm my breath. I take in the site and sounds of the sleeping teenagers laying around the room and relax my stance.
I sit back down with a sigh, putting both hands up to my face. Nightmare. This one about my uncle. More specifically, about a particularly bad whipping from when I was 9. I wince a little when one of the many scars on my back start to burn while remembering that.
"Nacht?" A small, high pitched voice says from beside me. I look to my left to see a pair of silver eyes looking at me with concern.
"Are you alright?" Ruby asks, her voice just as concerned as her eyes.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm okay. Just a nightmare." I say with a sigh. Dragging my hands down my face, I get up and stretch. I look outside, seeing that the sun's not even up yet, I look down at Ruby, "Why are you up?"
She gets out of her sleeping bag with a yawn and raises her arms in a huge stretch, "You were thrashing around in your sleep. I was about to wake you up when you shot up, looking like you were about to kill somebody." she says, "You wanna talk about it?"
I shake my head, "No, but thank you for your concern." I say with a small smile in her direction.
Ruby smiles brightly back in return. Grabbing her combat gear and some clothes, she heads to the door, "I'm going to go take a shower and then grab some breakfast. Wanna eat with me?" She asks over her shoulder.
I nod my head and grab my armor and clothes before following her to the door. We walk to the showers in a comfortable silence. Well, I'm silent. Ruby is chattering on about what we are doing for initiation, about who her partner and teammates are going to be, how she can't wait to be able to use her "sweetheart", stuff like that.
"What about you Nacht?" Ruby asks, "Who do you hope your partner is going to be?"
I shrug, "I don't know. Yang or you. Maybe Pyrrha."
She beams at me when I say her name. I give a small smile back. The small redhead really has gotten past my walls.
We arrive at the showers shortly after that. Ruby gives me a wave before she skips into the showers. I also make my way in. twenty minutes later, I'm standing outside the lunchroom, fully armored, with my hood on and Dusk and Dawn sheathed at my sides, leaning on the door, waiting patiently for Ruby.
It's not long before I see the young hooded girl bouncing down the hall towards me, dragging a still half-asleep, protesting Yang behind her. As they get closer, I can hear Yang complain about being woken up at "O'dark thirty" in the morning while Ruby ignores her. Ruby flashes me a mega-watt smile and rushes over to where I'm standing,
"Sorry I took so long. I went to get Yang up so she can eat with us," Ruby say as she and the still grumbling Yang stops in front of me.
I shrug, "Okay, I suppose that's fine." I open the door and hold it open for the two sisters to enter first. As soon as the smell of bacon hits Yang, her groggy eyes snap open, and with a semi-loud cry of "BAAAAAACOOOON!", darts past me straight to the bacon, with Ruby not far behind her with a much louder cry of cookies. I follow the two with a chuckle. By the time I get my modest meal of toast, bacon, sausage, and eggs, Ruby and Yang both are both already sitting at a table with two full plates of cookies and bacon, respectively.
Setting my plate down across from Ruby, I raise an eyebrow as I watch her inhale a grand total of eight cookies in what must have been half a second. She looks up at me, as a light blush dusted her face. She proceeded to take a slower, more tentative bite from the cookie in her hand as Yang and I began to chuckle at her as we turned back to our plates.
I'm halfway done with my meal when I see a flash of red and bronze out of the corner of my eye. I look towards the entrance of the lunchroom and see Pyrrha enter, also in full armor. We lock eyes and I wave her over. She smiles walks over to us.
"Hello Nacht," She greets, taking a seat next to Ruby, who eyes then widen as she realizes who just sat next to her.
"Pyrrha," I reply with a nod, "How'd you sleep?"
"Well thank you," she says, then turns her head to look at Yang and Ruby, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Pyrrha Nikos."
Yang sticks out her hand, "I'm Yang, and and the redhead stuffing her face with cookies is my baby sis Ruby"
Ruby swallows loudly, waves, then proceeds to chug half a gallon of milk.
Pyrrha blinks at them, "You look nothing alike."
"Yeah, we get that a lot," Ruby shrugs, "We're half sisters."
"Ah..."
We continue to talk for a while before we are interrupted by the intercom telling all first years to head to the cliffs. The three girls jump up, eyes wide in alarm.
"My weapons are still in my locker!" Pyrrha shouts, panicking.
"Ours too!"
I stand up also, "Alright girls, calm down-" I start
"Calm down! Calm down! We are going to be late for initiation! That's not exactly setting a good first impression to the teachers!" Ruby rants, jumping up onto the table and grabbing hold my shoulders, shaking me erratically.
I grab her arms to stop the shaking. I blink a few times to stop the spinning before picking her up off the table and placing her on the ground next to me.
"No, you're not going to be late. Just calm down and grab my arm." I tell them calmly.
Yang and Pyrrha look at me, confusion evident on their faces, while Ruby's eyes widen in excitement before she latches herself onto my left arm. The other two girls look at each other for a second before shrugging and grabbing a hold of my right.
I quickly Blink us to the lockers, the world around us distorting, for a second before snapping back into focus. The girls look around in astonishment.
"What was that?" Yang asks while grabbing her weapons out of her locker. Ruby and Pyrrha following her example while also listening to my answer.
"My semblance," I say, "I call it Blinking."
Suddenly, Ruby appears right in front of me, bouncing up and down, cradling a comically large scythe in her arms.
"You can teleport?! Oh my Oum that's soooo COOL!" She yells excitedly, still bouncing.
I stare at her, "Is that scythe?"
She finally stops bouncing, "Yep! This is my sweetheart, Crescent Rose. She's my pride and joy. I built her myself. She's also a high impact sniper rifle!" Ruby says, twirling the large weapon expertly around her body.
I whistle, "Impressive Red."
"Thanks!"
I hold out my arm again, "Alright girls, grab on. We are late enough already."
Ruby again latches onto my left arm while the other to grab my right. We arrive just in time to see the first person launched off the cliff. Goodwitch gives us a disapproving glare then gestures to the four unoccupied silver platforms. Ozpin just continues sipping his coffee, watching the hopefuls get launched off the cliff.
Ruby, Yang, and Pyrrha all smile sheepishly and make their way over to the platforms, while I return Goodwitch's glare with a blank stare, my emotionless mask sliding into place. I step onto the platform without a word. I watch as Ruby, Yang, then finally Pyrrha get launched into the Emerald Forest. Right before I get launched, I realize that I have no idea what I'm looking for once I get down there.
"Hey Oz!" I yell over to Ozpin, "What am I looking for once I get down there?"
"A relic." is all he says before my platform launches me into the air and off the cliff.
I sigh and shake my head. I Blink down onto a tree branch then to the ground in quick succession.
I smile as I look around. Trees, trees, and more trees. Just how I like it. I switch Dusk into pistol form, keeping Dawn in it's axe form and start walking West.
After walking for about a half hour, I hear the sound of footsteps coming towards me at a fast pace, followed by trees snapping. I quickly Blink onto a tree. It's not long before I see Pyrrha come sprinting out of the bushes behind me, followed closely by the second biggest Deathstalker I've ever seen. It almost knocks the tree I'm in down. I quickly start to follow them, jumping from tree to tree.
This should be very interesting.
A/N: AAAAAAAAnd done. Finally. Sorry for taking so long. Life got in the way. Not to mention a killer case of Writer's Block and my own laziness. And I got engaged a few months ago. So yeah. Shit happens. Anyway, again, I would like to thank Fallen Shadow69 for his help. I ended on a cliffhanger, yes I know. Please don't kill me. I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner. But as I said before, I'm a very busy person. Also, I'm going to need a beta if Anyone is up for it. So yeah, I hope you liked it, Follow, Favorite, And Review! Your Reviews give me inspiration to write! The more you Review, Quicker the chapters. Thanks bros! HotDog out!
H.D.