4 Chapter 4: Year 1
I don't own RWBY, they belong to Rooster Teeth
I only own my OCs
… do roosters even have teeth?
"ocs are cancer, gamer is a cancerous trope, what do you get when you combine them? this stinking pile of excreement." Word per word, Guest.
13 months after Grim Outcome, 14 years old
It's been a year or so after that cruel mission.
I had passed out after the mission and I had to wake up at a clinic bed inside Beacon, where Qrow was apparently doing a report to Ozpin. He also did a report to my dad through the Scroll, which I called him out on, but he ignored my jabs.
We were given a week of rest to recover from the mission that escalated from a B Class Extermination to A Class Extermination and was paid 250000 Lien, which Qrow and I split for ourselves. God knows what Qrow needs 125000 for, but I spent mine on a proper combat outfit and commissioned a bladed sheath and a revolver chamber for my new sword.
Qrow didn't seem to mind on my spending and even called it a common thing among Hunters. I just nodded in agreement. While Acid was good, I can't afford to use it if I'm teaming with a bunch of other people. It's a double edged sword.
My new combat outfit came before my upgraded sword, obviously. It was a dark red cape that reached down to my waist and a black formfitting sleeveless shirt with a red lining on the bottom and my symbol, 3 diagonal red bars, at my chest. My pants were also black and a bit baggy, the ends inside my black boots. My boots were a bit heavy, but it didn't really matter.
And when I finally got my combat outfit, I realized that they actually added stats.
My red cape sadly didn't give me any bonuses, but my form fitting shirt gave me +1 on Strength, my pants and boots giving me a total of +2 on Endurance. Qrow looked at me weird when I salivated at the thought of clothing combinations.
My new sword was something I loved just as much if not more than its predecessor. I named it Swigiddy Swoody… Well, I would have if Qrow didn't smack me in the head and if the forge guy didn't look at me dirty. Instead, I named it Dust. Not really a creative name, but it'll do. It was the same sword, but the blade was a bit longer, now at least four feet long instead of being at most four feet long. The blade—Dust's—edge was still as green as ever, but this time, there was a revolving chamber with 3 dust crystal holders just below the guard, thankfully covered by the grip.
I test it out. The handle was a bit longer because of the chamber, but the blade was still the same. I do the motions to quickly open the compartment and spin, then close it again.
It took below a second, it didn't even bother me.
Agility 10 was really useful.
I nodded in satisfaction and received my new sheath. It was colored a dark gray with crimson on the bottom part closer to the handle. If I pressed a button on the crimson part, the red parts would fold to be a handle and guard and the dark gray would shift from sheath to blade to be a secondary sword for me. There wouldn't be a point—sorry, an edge on it, and no dust compartment. It would be a rectangular bladed sword like those in Attack on Titan.
To be honest?
I didn't care, it looked awesome. I did a flourish with Dust, sheathing it into Chamber, my new sheath-sword, and then pulled out Dust, immediately pressed the button on the side of Chamber, satisfaction coloring my expression as the crimson parts folded into itself to form a handle and guard and the dark gray sheath form blades on the sides. That took less than a second too.
I was giddy with excitement.
I paid the forge guy and burst out of his shop, leaving Qrow behind calling out to me and probably feeling a tad bit more than a little annoyance until I realized I had no idea where I could test it in. Qrow followed me out, smacked me on the head again, and guided me to the Forever Fall forest, to which was the home of some Grimm.
I vaguely remembered filling my revolving chamber with Acid Dust, Gravity Dust, and Ice Dust very quickly and bouncing up and down as he lead me to the area, and Qrow muttering something about my charisma and contradictions.
As soon as we reached the forest, I darted inside. I spotted a pair of Ursa, drew Dust to my right and pressed the button on Chamber and attacked.
I started with Chamber on a diagonal swing, Dust following with a horizontal one as I dashed forward towards the next bear Grimm. Dust was set to impale it through the chest, which it did, quickly tearing out Dust from its chest then bringing in Chamber to the bear's neck and decapitating it.
The Grimm never knew what hit them.
God, Dual Wielding is fun, I remember thinking. It was, I can attest to that.
But during the other times of the year, there was little else that Qrow and I had to do but do missions. None as dangerous as the named quest, thankfully. They gave at least a thousand experience per mission, with 4500 being the current highest (which was another Extermination Mission).
During the course of the year, I had leveled up only twice. The EXP gain was still the same, but the Experience bar was a bit bigger. 10 to 11 added 10000 to the experience bar instead of my prediction of another added 1000 since the pattern was (From level 1) 1 – 2 – 2 – 1 as far as I could tell. 2 points, of course, went right into Aura Manipulation to max it, which gave me a passive Perk called Sage, which upped my Aura Regen by 300% and made my Aura passives, which had originally given me 50% on all physical stats, 75% instead.
It was amazing.
The rest of the 32 points as dictated by Qrow went right into Speech and barter, 16 each. So my speech went up by 16 and then 5 more points because of experience making it 53 out of a hundred and Barter went to 31 + 1 point when I was bartering for my weapons and outfit.
Sneak went up by 6 more points because of all the reconnaissance missions we did, which was quite frankly, a lot of the missions he did. I don't know whyhe got a lot of it, but whenever he got a recon mission, I was of course, dragged with him. We infiltrated several White Fang Warehouses and some less descript Crime Lords in Mistral at one point, going in and out, violently if need be.
Since I leveled up a total of five times if we count that Named Quest incident, I got two more traits that I can use. I immediately chose a trait called Dust 'Till Dawn, a trait which gives me 50% more dust efficiency which I shortened to 'making it last longer;. The second one was a little bit more tricky, but eventually, I just used a slot for Stone Wall, which made me immune to any kind of knockback as long as I was standing still.
So essentially, I was fast and couldn't be knocked back. Think of that as you will.
Right now, I was just standing outside the inn Qrow and I were staying in. Right now, both of us were on a Village Protection Mission. Thankfully, it was unnamed, and the quest prompt was still the same with Protect the Village and Wait for Qrow. It's been a few hours, but it wasn't unusual. He should be here in a few minutes.
… Should is the keyword.
My cape flapped in the wind as I kept as a expressionless face at my exterior. I could see children look at me in awe while parents dragged them away to 'not mess with the Hunter's job,' or some other variation. Dust was sheathed inside Chamber, but my hand is resting on Dust should a fight come inside the village.
There was this sinking feeling in my gut, and I couldn't help but feel paranoid.
My eyes dart to the left to see a pair of children playing Tag, then to the right to see a woman and her mother finish shopping. A further to the right shows men drinking booze and making drunken comments on things they have no control about.
I looked again.
But this time, I didn't feel with my eyes.
Wind Perception was a wonderful thing, really. I could get a feel for things out of my view range, and it helps me more because of my low perception. This time, it was really useful since I can feel multiple people waiting outside the walls. I don't know what they're doing, but I wouldn't have caught them if they didn't have the need to move. I grimaced.
Quest Updated: Family Reunion
Protect the Village
Wait for Qrow
Oh hell. The mission updated into a named one.
Cursing, I immediately jumped to the highest point of the village. Villagers looked up in confusion, some ushering their children inside worriedly, glancing at my expression and seeing the worry on it. I had drawn Dust and unsheathed (if it was any other situation, I would have snickered) Chamber. I hold them both at my sides, my grip on the uneven swords tight.
Quest Updated: Family Reunion
Protect the Village
Completed: Wait for Qrow
"Crimson!" Qrow was beside me in an instant. "What's the situation?"
I wasted none of my time. "Multiple targets out the village walls. Can't tell if hostile, but if they're waiting outside, then I bet my ass they're hostile."
Qrow nodded and flicked something on his weapon (even now, I have no idea what he flicks or if he evenflicks it because I don't really look at his hands) and took it out of its compact form and into its sword form.
Heh, you know, I just realized. Scythe, Shotgun, Sword. SSS.
Focus.
"Are the civilians inside?" I asked him. He shakes his head.
"I haven't told them to go inside yet. You hold this position, I'll warn the villagers," with that, he was gone again, sprinting on the streets to usher the villagers inside their homes and to keep them safe. Murmurs were starting to burst from their mouths as they went inside, but panic wasn't a thing yet.
They're moving, I thought. I felt it. Some of them were starting to advance. A few made to the wall and slammed multiple somethings on it. I looked down and saw Qrow still ushering the people inside, so I dropped down to him and told him the situation.
"They planted something on the walls," I whispered. "C4s, probably. I'm going to go stop them."
Qrow nodded seriously. "Take the bombs out if you can. They could be remote controlled instead of timed."
I nodded and burst into speed.
They were north of the village's wall. I was running fast, the people around me were basically a blur. I reached the wall and I skid to a stop, my legs bending underneath me and jumped as I used Air Vacuum to bring me up further. I rotated the revolving chamber inside Dust's compartment, purple flooding the once green blade, then glowing a deep purple as I fell upon the enemies.
They were dressed oddly, full black. I couldn't hear anything as they whispered among themselves, but I didn't need to.
I wasn't here to scout them out, anyway. I was here to stop them.
I slammed Dust down with an accompanying Shockwave, purple tinting the winds that come with. The bandits were thrown back and then promptly slammed down as the Gravity Dust took effect. I immediately dashed to the wall and see at least 4 C4-type bombs strapped to it.
A bandit growls below me and tries to grab my leg. I pause and slam my foot down on his face, making him hiss in pain, but not knock him out. Aura. This isn't any ordinary group.
The bandits were starting to get up, but I have no time to waste. I grabbed the first C4 and threw it as far as possible into the woods. I rotated the chamber inside Dust again, landing it into Ice Dust. The blade changed colors again, this time, instead of deep purple, it was the color of light blue. Cyan.
Frost came off my sword in waves as I dash past the bandits. I parried a sword attack casually, frost spreading from the contact point to the guy's whole sword. As he stumbles back, I hit the contact point again and shattered it.
I swipe Chamber at his chest, making him fly back into the woods and land harshly at the ground, his Aura already healing the superficial chest wound.
He wasn't the only bandit in the area, and I still have 3 more bombs to recover. I deflected a slash and duck under a swipe. There were three bandits surrounding me, the others were trying to surround me. I sighed deeply and stabbed my sword into the ground.
It was an Ice Shockwave. Once again, it was a variation of the original shockwave technique, so I didn't get any EXP for it, which still grinds my gears. Ice spread from my position and under them, icicles forming to hit a few bandits and sending them flying in the air. I pull out my sword immediately and change dusts, this time, into Acid.
Green flows into the blade and I grin.
I dash forward to the first bandit and activate Dust, corroding his Aura. He tried to block my attack, but it only ended with a broken sword and more lost Aura. I slam Chamber into his chest and make him fly to the woods too.
I parried a sword that was trying to get me from behind, and slashed at him with Dust as I spun to meet him, sending him off. A bandit jumped at me with his sword raised high, another below him running to meet me.
I met them faster.
In an instant, I was in front of them. Flash Step was a 10 Agility perk which let me move between short distances really, really quickly. It's good because people don't usually expect it, and seeing their reactions, they didn't either.
I slammed the flat of Chamber's blade at the jumping bandit and send him flying off to the woods while I let my overhead slash with Dust hit the bandit trying to rush me, making him crash harshly to the ground.
I saw a bandit shout to his allies hidden in the trees. Something about needing to take care of the Huntsman. A smile graces my face again.
This is fine.
Qrow lands beside me and looks around. "Looks like you were busy."
"They were small fry," My eyes were set on the woods, where more bandits were coming out. "Can you handle them for a bit? I haven't gotten the rest of the bombs yet," I take a peek at the walls and still see the three bombs strapped there. The bandits guarding the bombs had run off to join the rest of their crew.
Qrow didn't answer me. I glanced at him.
He was tense.
I don't know why he was tense, but he was. His face was set on a scowl and his hand tight on his sword. His pose was rigid as he looked over the bandit crew reorganizing themselves. He assumed a stance. "Go ahead, kiddo. I'll take care of these."
I hear a cry of 'It's him!' from inside the organizing bandit tribe. Qrow slammed into them like a freight train and was slashing them left and right, but I had no time to watch them flail around and try to contain an angry Qrow. I dashed towards the second bomb and threw it off into the forest too, followed by the third, then the fourth.
Just as the fourth reached far, far away. I heard a deep voice rumble on the grounds. "Qrow Branwen,"
My head snapped to Qrow's position. He was not winded at the slightest. If anything, he looked annoyed as he glared at the mountain of a man in front of him.
The man was at least 6 feet tall. He was wearing the same full black spandex thing that he other bandits had but instead of the typical sword, he had a large hammer beside him. He had lengthy black hair that reached up to his shoulders, and his face was twisted into a sneer. "Traitor."
"I never was a part of your stupid tribe," Qrow spat and engaged the enemy.
I saw the bandits try to get near the wall again and moved in to intercept. In a moment, I was right in front of them, Dust flourishing and Chamber slamming into the chest of a bandit and sending him flying.
I parry a sword swipe and counter with Chamber again, jabbing its non pointed end into the enemy's chest. The bandit stumbles back and I follow up with a hard kick to the face, hopefully knocking him out. I swipe at a bandit's chest and send him back, unnerving the rest of the advancing bandits.
I steady my breathing and face my side to them, Dust facing them with Chamber above me. I narrowed my eyes as I see them tensing up.
I moved.
There were only 7 conscious bandits left, but it was easy enough. I met the closest one in combat, Chamber meeting the bandit's sword and Dust literallydisarming the bandit, making him scream in pain.
I didn't have time to flinch because as soon as I disarmed him, I kick him off me and flip back, twirling my sword to get rid of any blood left on it.
The bandit was still screaming in pain and I watch the remaining bandits passively, taking note of their scowls, surprise, and fear.
I relish in their fear.
I dash forward again but this time, they were ready. The bandit blocked my initial swipe with Chamber and pulled back to block Dust. I give him a cocky smirk as I blurred away from him to a few meters back, readying Dust.
Dust glows a bright green and I disappear above them, Dust already slamming down to cause a Shockwave of Acid. The bandits' remaining Aura were affected and they noticed. A few bandits ran, causing the remaining to shout at them. "Cowards!" One of them spat. There were only 2 left. "Bah, it's just a kid! Let's just go!" With that, the two of them rushed me.
I smiled.
My sword style wasn't really something that is offensive. I had made this style back when I received a quest for it way before my apprenticeship with Qrow. It was a reactionary style, parrying and deflecting attacks before swooping in to jab my sword into their opening, then flipping out of reach before they could retaliate. A hit and run.
To these bandits, it was a good enough style. They ran towards me, but they were slow.
Way too slow.
Under a second, I was already beside one, Dust glowing a bright green. My sword fell down on his arm, making him meet the same fate as his screaming ally. The other bandit turned to me with fear, sword in his hand dropping as he saw the flat part of Chamber descending on his head, knocking him out.
The two drop like a sack of rocks, except the other sack of rocks was screaming, which a quick kick to the face saw to. Qrow was finishing up with his enemy, tying the mountain on a tree. He glanced at my direction, saw the two disarmed bandits, and the other knocked out and apparently decided that I don't need to be worried on since he kept tying up the bandits.
I stood guard as he rounded up the rest of the bandits. "Were there any more?"
"The rest ran away," I answered him, eyes scanning for movement. "I don't know if there're any more. I can't feel any movement in the trees," I paused. "Uncle Qrow, what the hell was that?"
"A bandit tribe," he grimaced. "The one I grew up with."
"A bandit tribe?" I echoed. "What would they achieve by attacking a village like this?"
He scoffed. "What motivation do they need? There's food and valuables, that's it."
Wait… "If you grew up at this tribe… you left, right?" He nodded at that. "So that means that mom grew up with them too?"
He nodded again. "Yeah, and last I heard, she was leading it herself," he pursed his lips. "I won't get any more info until one of these morons wake up."
"Are we bringing them back to Vale?" Qrow had round them up now. In total there were 11 bandits that got left behind, all unconscious from either Qrow's or my attacks.
"Yeah, we are." He glanced at the sky. "Bullhead should be arriving any second."
Suddenly, the ambience of the forest was broken by Beowolf's growl. Following that, there were growls that I could pick out. Ursa and more Beowolves. Fuck.
A bandit dropped in from nowhere. I tensed and Qrow tensed even more. This one wore the same clothes as the currently unconscious bandits except he was wearing a mask below his eyes.
He didn't have any weapons on him and ignored his allies. "She wishes to speak with you," He states. "At the clearing north of here."
Qrow made to intercept the bandit, but the bandit only dodged to another place closer to the wall. "There are several bombs strapped to the wall, hidden from sight," He continues softly. "If you are to ignore the call, then we will assume that you left and blow it up. That is the only warning we are willing to give."
I grimaced.
It was an ultimatum.
Quest Updated: Family Reunion
Protect the Village
Go to the Northern Clearing
Well, I know what the quest is telling me to do. I glanced at Qrow and saw him glaring at the ninja, his grip on the sword tight. "Kiddo, don't listen to him. It's a bluff."
I shook my head. "We can't afford to believe that it's a bluff," I glanced around, seeing Beowolves already coming out of the forest, followed by Ursas. "I'll just have to make do. If anything, this'll be my first meeting with her, right?" I crack a smile.
His scowl turned to me and for once, he looked angry. "Kid, you don't know your own mom. She's differentfrom me. She's careless, she doesn't give a shit if you're weak. Just stay here, I'll deal with her, and you deal with the Grimm."
I sighed. "Qrow, we can't deal with unknowns," I whispered harshly. "If there are bombs in there, we risk exposing the village to even more Grimm, and I bet that the stronger Grimm will start coming here when panic rises. I have to go there, I don't care what happens."
He was silent for a while, the howls of the Beowolves and growls of the other, lesser Grimm continuing to grow and overtake the natural ambience of the forest. I can imagine the people inside the village are terrified right now.
Speech Check Success: 53/50
Oh thank God.
"If you don't come back, I'll write died to stupidity on your gravestone." Qrow warned me. I snorted.
"Shut up." Inwardly, I was glad I had his permission. I was also glad he knew where I would be if I did die, since the way he made up my mother was that she was a dangerous woman.
He just sighed. "I'll take care of the Grimm. I never took Raven to be a bluffer, anyway." He grimaced as he looked over the wall. "Go."
I nodded and darted north, taking note that the ninja disappeared. Where'd he go? But that didn't really matter that much now, did it? I kept running and passing the Grimm that littered the forest right now. A few turned to look at me and an Ursa tried to swipe at me, only to fail when I cut off its arm.
It was a small miracle that branches and bushes don't bother me too much, my Aura making small work of any impacts I may or may not have had with them. I take a peak at my Aura levels and grimace.
Aura: 168/280
I don't know how long that'll last if I run into violent contact with a powerful Grimm or if my mother decided to not keep me around anymore.
If it's the second one, she's probably sick of sending child support checks. I thought amusedly as I run through the forest. The Grimm's growls were a bit far away now, and I see the clearing a few hundred meters more.
I skid to a stop just before the clearing. The Grimm noise is all but an echo in the winds now that I'm too far away to be bothered by them. I was always nervous around this place, seeing that the Grimm were always keeping a bit of distance between this and them. I never knew what made them stay away, and had idly thought that if the thing keeping them away was safe, then maybe we could use it on our cities, too.
I shook my head to rid myself of the thoughts and observe the clearing. It was just a circular clearing, with the ground uneven and unpaved. The ground wasn't weathered and used much, so the Grimm didn't even come close to touching the ground here, and the trees were old without scratches.
But I couldn't see anyone here. No black hair, red eyes. No anything.
It made me more nervous.
What's this… bad feeling?
Oh shit.
I lunged forward, barely dodging a sword strike to the head. I twist around and glare wide eyed at the attacker, only for my look of anger to drop to shock.
It was her.
My mother.
Quest Updated: Family Reunion
Protect the Village
Completed: Go to the Northern Clearing
It wasn't hard to recognize her. She had red eyes, obviously. Her black hair was long and cascaded behind her, looking similar to Yang. She wore a red long sleeved shirt along with a black skirt. Her shirt had a black stripe in the middle. She had these dark red vambrace things and she had several necklaces worn. Her boots were thigh-high, and she had a huge sheath strapped to her side, which I assume, was for the red sword she was currently wielding.
She looked awfully similar to Yang, except if she had my color palette… and choice of weapon.
"… You look like a shojou anime protagonist," I honestly commented. Surprisingly, there was anime in this world, but instead of it being from a place called Japan, it was from Mistral, one of the four major kingdoms.
Major Kingdoms imply there are lesser ones. I need to find them someday. I thought, distracted. I shook my head. Focus.
I think I saw her expression twitch. "Impressive, you dodged my attack," So we're ignoring my comment now, are we?
"So I did," I kept my eyes on her blade, waiting for any sign of movement. Her position was deceptively relaxed, but I took notice of the fact that she didn't unhand her sword. "Is it an achievement or something?"
She chuckled. "For someone your age? Yes," She stalked closer to me, holding her sword close. "You are strong, stronger than your sister." That was a fact.
"She's getting stronger," I immediately answer. My hands were on Dust—I had sheathed it awhile ago—ready to unsheathe both weapons to engage. I'm not confident on my skill to hold her—Qrow said she was very good, but I'll have to hope if she even does. "She's on Signal, she's bound to catch up."
"And yet, here you are. Already doing missions supposed to be taken by third year students on Beacon," She casually said. "No, she will not catch up. You are too far ahead of her, and I think that you still have a long way to go."
The last thing was the only thing I agreed on. "She will. She'll make it to my skill level eventually."
"Oh?" Raven was close to me now, exactly right in front of me. She bent over to be right at my face. Fucking Hell this is weird. "You must trust your sister a lot."
"I trust her more than you do, Mom."
She paused. "So you know me."
"I've known for quite a while now," I revealed. "Yang knows you too. She wants to find you, you know?"
"I am well aware of that," Raven has gone a bit further back, turning her back on me. I don't know if she's that stupid, or she thinks that I have honor to not strike at her back… which isn't necessarily wrong.
"So why don't you talk to her, to us?" I pressed.
My danger sense flared, and I barely had time to bring out Dust and block her sword from cleaving me in half. If I was any lesser man, I would have paled. That was fast.
"That," She says, as she presses down harder on me, taking advantage of her height. Damn my smaller self. "Is exactly why."
Oh.
Ooooh.
"You want power," I hedged. "You came to me because you were impressed by my skill." I tried to press back on her sword, but she pulls back from me and lands a few meters away.
She only smiles thinly at me. "Who says I was impressed, my son?" She was mocking me, I just knew. I narrowed my eyes at her.
"That's a very good question," I had pressed the button on Chamber again, turning it from sheathe to sword in a moment. "A question that I don't have an answer to right now."
Quest Updated: Family Reunion
Protect the Village
Impress Raven
Well then.
I lunge at her with Chamber raised high. She parries the attack and quickly sidesteps from my thrust with Dust. She kicks me in the chest, making me grunt as I was sent a few feet back. I skid on my feet and duck under a slice from her katana thing, counter attacking with Dust to her stomach.
She blocks just in time and is sent back and away from me.
That exchange took seconds. "You're fast," She praised.
"Thank you," I grunted as I nursed my stomach. "You hit hard."
"But you rely too much on your weapon," She narrowed her eyes at that. "You've improved your sword skills, but not your unarmed. I don't see you integrating martial arts in your style."
Well, that was true. I probably need to bring it up to snuff. "I thought you didn't care for your children? Qrow seems to think that, anyway."
She scowls at the mention of Qrow. "That traitor has no right in judging what I do."
"Why do you keep calling him a traitor?" I asked despite knowing the answer.
Raven seems to know that I know it already, since she just smirks. "Stop stalling, Crimson."
Ah biscuits. At least I managed to recover a bit of Aura already.
She comes at me with the intent to kill, her sword flashing in the light of the moon. I cursed and parried with Chamber before going for a side slash with Dust, an effort that was deflected by Raven.
I jump back and quickly switch dusts inside Dust's revolving chamber. It, of course, landed on Ice. Cyan flooded my blade's once green parts and glowed an eerie color.
I smirked at her watching my sword and lunged. I slashed at her sides with Chamber, but it was parried. I immediately followed up with Dust to her chest, and she barely deflects it this time, and I got a hit on her shoulder.
She looks annoyed at the frost creeping up her shoulder, but was otherwise unharmed. I called out to her.
"Impressed yet, Mom?" God, I probably shouldn't taunt her while we're fighting to preserve my life, but I couldn't help it.
She dashes forward and presses on the attack. My swords and hers met between us, sparks dancing on the night. To any civilians, they would only see blurs as we met and clashed, and some Huntsmen would be having trouble watching us too as we fought. Dust deflected an attack on my side, and Chamber got a hit on her shoulder before she reciprocated with a nick on my ear.
She was, however, going slower. My tactic of trying to slow her down with Ice was sort of working, if not always effective. Whenever there was a reasonably ice chunk on any part of her body, she just flared her Aura and kept going. It was annoying as hell, but I had to make do.
I brought my swords down together on her, and she blocks it, holding me in place. I try to lift a leg to kick her, but she was faster and already kicked me off. She was on me in moments, and I had a little more than a second to bring up Dust to block it and try to take advantage of her opening on her sides with Chamber, which failed to wound her.
I frowned as we kept clashing over and over. There were no words exchanged between us in the duration of the battle, only fighting sword per sword. I had yet to use my semblance and she had yet to use her own. I parried an overhead slice and countered with a slice for her knees, which worked and made her hiss in pain as her Aura worked to reduce the damage done.
The danger I'm sensing… I'm sure it was hers… but there was something else.
In a fight like this, with me stewing in fear and admittedly, anger, the Grimm would have been attracted like flies and attacked despite my mother and I's combat prowess. There was something holding them back, and that something…
The ground rumbled, and I lost my footing. Unlike me, Raven had held firm, though she stopped attacking and started to look around. "What..?" She whispered, but I heard her.
The ground shook as a dark hand broke off from the earth below, a few meters away from them. Raven's red eyes widened as she witnessed another hand break free from the earth. I take a step back as the thing used its arms to bring the rest of its body up, which, I bet, will forever disgust me to no end.
It was humanoid on the top part, with multiple bubble things on its back that occasionally wobbled and did a thing that looked like it would pop. It had 4 legs that were more like spikes that were put below the waist. It had claws and most importantly?
It was fucking huge.
Like seriously, it was at least two, three Ravens stacked on top of each other. My eyes narrowed as it brought its arms back and roared, making me prime target for some spittle that was apparently acidic holy shit. I barely dodged it, but thankfully, it didn't seem like it used that spit to attack, though that may be my optimistic side speaking while it was looking at its claws.
It swiped at the ground in front of it and tore it up, the earth flew and it threw it down, shattering it into several fragments of rock.
My confidence was there too.
My eyes drifted to its head, then past that, and into the nametag on top of it.
Vojk
The Aberration
Field Boss
It was a named monster.
It was a named monster.
It was a named field boss.
I want to scream so much right now.
So much.
As it tore up the landscape in front of it, I glanced at Raven, who was observing the new addition to the clearing with a calculation look, one that dissolved as soon as she looked at me with a smirk.
Oh no.
Oh no no no no.
Oh fuck no.
"Well, Crimson," She drawled, sheathing her sword. "I wasn't quite aware there was an Aberration in this clearing," Well she was honest about that. "But let me change the goal of our bout," There was a click as her sword was sheathed completely. "If you manage to kill that thing on your own, color me impressed. If you choose to run, I won't blame you, but the village nearby would certainly die."
There wasn't even a choice in that! Qrow already has his hands full with the Grimm that were attacking the village. If I left this thing alone, it could gather stronger Grimm to attack the village, and there's no telling what it might do after that.
I held my swords tight as I glared at her. She just casually jumps back behind the shrubs. "Good luck," But there wasn't really any luck wished in there.
I set my glare at the monster in front of me. There was no indication of a health bar, but it was still tearing up the ground in front of it. It would only be a matter of time before it sees me and decides I'm a better punching bag than the nature around it.
I decided to take the initiative. I darted to the left to hopefully avoid its anger issues and flank it on the side while it's distracted. It worked, since it didn't turn to my direction. I dashed forward and jumped, Dust in the air as I brought it down on one of its arms, tearing it off, black blood coming out.
Blood?
The aberration stopped roaring and tearing off the ground. It stared at its fallen limb, probably thinking of how impossible a lowly human could even hope to tear off one of its arms. The limb started to dissolve into black matter, and I smirked, only to lose it when I saw why it stopped.
It was looking right at me.
It had its arm back.
WhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefUCK—
The arm I just cut off came crashing down at my area, the ground tearing up as I pounced back. "What the fuck!?" I voiced it out this time, frustrated. I darted forward again and, with startling speed, got smashed with one of the thing's arms and sent flying back.
-39 HP
Oooh fuck. That was quite a bit. And that was fast. Faster than it should be for its size.
I groaned as I rubbed my head. The Aberration—Vojk—was roaring again. It picked up the fucking ground and raised it above its head, then threw it at me.
Naturally, I dodged.
The earth came crashing down behind me as I rolled forward. I stand up and brandished Dust as I charged forward, speed being more of a priority than defense at the moment. I needed to cut off another one of its arms again.
The monster was sending its arm at me again. Perfect. Unlike last time, when I was surprised, I quickly retaliated with a swipe from Chamber, sending the hand to the ground. I followed up with a slice from Dust starting from its shoulder before I was sent flying by its other arm.
-43 HP
FFFF—I was sent crashing to the tree, head first. My Aura barely helped me tank those hits, and my Aura was taking a lot of hits now. I glance back quickly, and gawked.
The shoulder I cut off? It was regenerating. It was facing me with what I would guess a murderous look as the black blood I saw spilling out of its wounds started to weave around empty air to form an arm and a claw. It solidified, then it looked as if the arm was never lost.
A Grimm that sacrificed armor, for the sake of regenerating fluids…
I paled.
I took a peek at my status.
HP: 256/335
Aura: 92/280
My HP was regenerating a bit, thanks to Aura. But because of it, my Aura regeneration is slowed, and I wouldn't be getting any more any time soon. I grimaced.
"Release!" I hissed the skill, and my sword slices the Aberration. 24-hit combo, and an aura consumption of 30 thanks to the maxed out Aura Manipulation skill. The three slices hit the head, chest, and cuts off all its legs.
To my horror, all of it regenerates.
I summed it up with a single word. "Fuck."
How the fuck do I stop it from regenerating? I thought, desperate. The aberration threw another chunk of earth at me and roared again before charging. I darted to the left to dodge a smash from its arms and cut off its head, which, like before, it regenerates.
How do I kill this thing?!
It wasn't heavily armored, but any fatal wound would be regenerated near instantly. The monster itself didn't seem to care about any damage done to it, but kept looking at me and never…
Showed…
It's back…
I grinned.
It's back! Of course. It's back must be its weak spot, the bubble things. I could try to pop them all, but that would take quite a bit of speed. If I were to do it from the front, I need to penetrate it deep enough or tear through its chest quick enough to get to the other side.
I noticed, there was a small window of time when it was regenerating. A pause before it started attacking again, and it depends on the type of wound.
My grin stretched even further.
I can do this!
I jogged forward, then it became a run, then a sprint. I darted between the chunks of rocks it threw at me and weaved in between its arms. I cut off both arms and then its head. I get a feeling that it would have roared, but it had no head to roar with. The black fluid started to creep up and weave around the invisible blueprints, so I made my attack quick.
"Atom!" Instead of letting the attack loose like I did a year ago, I compressed all the targets right into the monster's chest.
It did as I expected; tore right through it and right behind it. I bet one of the bubbles popped, so I dashed through the hole, letting the black blood thing stick to me and then come out the other side. There were more bubbles, but it was still regenerating, albeit more slowly as I popped a large segment of bubbles from my compressed Atom attack.
I grinned.
This time, I knew where to strike.
"Eclipse!" I used both of my swords for this combo and jumped. I brought it down right in the middle of the aberration and tore its back apart, my swords cleanly slicing it from the middle and popping any of the bubble things and releasing the black liquid into the ground. When I finally touched the ground, I chanted with the last of my Aura.
"Sword's Song!" It was a beautiful barrage of sword slashes. This combo was 18 hits, but my attack was spread out to hit more targets. It was my way of dealing with hordes of monsters, and in this case, it worked perfectly. The bubbles on its back popped, releasing more black liquid into the ground.
Then it fell, dead.
The body started to disintegrate, and so did the black blood on my clothes and the ground too. I panted in exhaustion as I buried Dust in the ground, using it more as a cane now that the battle was done. Raven had appeared at my side at one point, observing the battlefield.
"… Impressive," She repeats one of her earlier statements, except this one… I can hear pride? I'm not sure, it might be the exhaustion in me talking.
"Can you… bring me to Qrow? He's on the village… I think… I can't… stand anymore…" And with that, I passed out on another named mission.
Raven caught her son before he fell to the ground, silently observing the boy.
He was skilled, that was for sure. He had an amazing mind of deduction and a semblance of strategy. He hadn't used his semblance for the fight, though that may be because Aerokinesis may not be that useful on a giant target. He was strong, and the best part?
He can still grow.
Raven would not deny that her son had made her proud here. She by herself would have trouble killing an Aberration on her own, and that was only after she graduated Beacon. Here was her son, who did it without even attending Signal.
There was no doubt about it. He was strong, and if she were to bring him to her tribe, they would accept him too. Raven saw the glint on his eyes, the glint of the ability to do anything if it meant either his or his family's survival. It would be a good addition to the tribe.
But…
He wanted her to bring him to Qrow.
It was a waste of talent, of ability. She had no doubts that his Uncle would only dampen his growth, would only slow him down. If he was to go to Beacon, it would be an insult to her and her son.
Yes, she was acknowledging the fact that he was her son.
She pursed her lips. She could just take him to her tribe, but that wouldn't make him happy now, would it? Even if she were to bring him there, he would be undoubtedly rebellious. He had a deep bond with his family, a family that she, admittedly, was not part of.
It stung a little, but Raven was not an emotional woman, and obviously, neither was her son. He seemed too calm instead of angry at her, so that was something. He wasn't angry at her, but he did demand answers. Her son was odd, but then again, so were all the other powerful hunters. It may be a sign of greatness.
Or it's a sign that she's defending Crimson's oddity.
As she contemplated on what to do, she suddenly feltthat someone was coming. That feeling was very familiar, a feeling that she had no doubt of was Qrow.
She waited for her twin brother to appear in the clearing, and when he finally appeared, he looked livid.
She imagined what it must be like for him. His nephew, the one who he was supposed to be "mentoring" was unconscious on the ground in front of her. The earth was torn up in chunks and there were rock fragments everywhere and earth was everywhere and trees torn down. She had no wounds, and the child was wounded and only barely healing with Aura.
Why, it must look as if Crimson had went to hell and back, and was still outclassed in every way possible. While it would amuse Raven to mess with her brother, she can't take credit from her son's performance on the fight against the Aberration.
"Raven, what the hell did you do—!" She cut him off immediately.
"I didn't do anything," She says curtly. "He had a fight with an Aberration that was hidden in this area. It was quite big too, and a very powerful regeneration factor." Qrow paled as she described its strengths, then his eyes narrowed as he growled at her.
"And I bet you just stood back and let him fight it, didn't ya?" He spat. "That's your kid!"
"And it's because of that reason that he won."
Qrow paused, his expression frozen. "He.. He won?Against an Aberration?"
Raven only smirked and nodded.
"You… You helped him right? You stepped in?"
Raven shook her head, and watched Qrow as he realized the extent of her child's ability.
"This… This is… wow. I knew he was good and could be better but this is…" Qrow seemed to be holding back information, which Raven frowned at. It seemed he knew that he was good, but well…
This event will cement his ability to him, at least.
Raven, still frowning, nodded at Qrow. "I'm going to leave."
"Wait," Qrow stopped her. She stopped, just before she opened a portal with her sword. "Was he… good?"
Raven smiled softly. "He was impressive."
She was gone.
Qrow looked at his nephew, who had started to snore as his Aura took care of the superficial wounds and bruises that formed. Dust was stabbed into the ground next to him, and Chamber was beside him. Qrow shook his head and called in a Bullhead.
Taiyang was going to love this development.
When I woke up, it was bright.
There was a prompt in front of me.
I smiled, and closed my eyes again. I was happy.
Quest Complete: Family Reunion
Completed: Protect the Village
Completed: Impress Raven
Completed: (Secret) Get Raven to acknowledge player as her son
+16000 EXP
+ Ursa Mask
I leveled up, too.
I smiled even more.
