RWBY: Forever Fall

Day One

After some consideration, I’d decided that a measure of honesty was probably the best approach. Not too much of it, but enough to keep things reasonably believable without delving too deeply into any one aspect of my story. Ultimately it came down to a lack of information––I needed a story that wouldn’t seem outlandish and yet account for the lack of knowledge I had about this Plane.

I certainly wasn’t going to say anything about Planeswalking, nor about how Zatanna wasn’t really a person, but I also wanted to leave my story internally consistent if such information did eventually become known. Lies by omission tended to sound better in my experience than outright falsehoods, and I still didn’t know what sort of magic or natural abilities these people may possess.

Thus, Zatanna and I were travelers from an ambiguously distant land. Treasure hunters, perhaps, or some manner of researchers. Probably the latter assuming this ‘Beacon’ wasn’t too far away. My own country's history told me everything I needed to know about how local peoples felt about foreigners coming in and taking their cultural treasures.

There had been something like two-hundred honor duels between representatives of magical Britain and Egypt over the past eighty-odd years, and that wasn’t even mentioning the low-level conflict between the Ministry and India’s fragmented magical government that had been simmering since before the Statute of Secrecy was officially passed.

In any case, we’d seen the bullhead, heard the fighting, and hurried over to help. I’d try to avoid mentioning too many further details, but I was not necessarily averse to sharing some of my own capabilities if it proved necessary. I was not an overly violent person by nature, but I knew that some people––perhaps the sort that went to a school that offered combat classes––only understood force.

The next few minutes were somewhat awkward. Jaune helped Cardin to his feet and the two exchanged a few words, then moved over to join the five of us. The short, raven-haired girl was named Ruby Rose and she enthusiastically introduced her companions and, oddly enough, her weapon. She seemed far more interested in gushing about her transforming scythe, which she called ‘Crescent Rose’, than introducing her classmates, giving me a full thirty-second rundown on its many capabilities while the other two girls were just introduced as ‘my teammate Weiss and my friend Pyrrha’.

It was rather funny actually, though I wasn’t sure if this was just how the girl was or if it was supposed to be some sort of intimidation tactic. Zatanna had explained the concept of a shovel talk to me some time ago. Was this some manner of local equivalent? Weiss, the white-haired one, seemed rather exasperated, while Pyrrha was just amused, smiling even as she continued to stare at me with a measure of hostility shining in her eyes.

Once she finally ran out of words, she eagerly asked me about my own weapons. I wasn’t too keen on showing her my wand, nor did I think she’d find it particularly interesting, but I did mention having recently found some interesting weapons that maybe she’d like to take a look at. It seemed as though transforming, multi-purpose weapons were something of a thing around here, making the odd sword-and-shield I’d repaired less of a novelty, so I happily dug the two pieces out of my bag and passed them over to her.

It took her a matter of moments to ascertain what she was holding and how to use it, and then she began to spout off technical jargon about antiquated mechashift techniques, metal compositions, and the like that I could barely parse. I was pretty sure the gist was that my recently acquired equipment was horribly outdated––something about a Great War era––but in excellent condition, which I basically knew already.

Several times I tried to steer the conversation, though really it was mostly just Ruby talking and the rest of us smiling politely, towards other topics, but her enthusiasm could not be curbed by mere words. She seemed like a…strongly opinionated young woman and probably would have fit right in with all the other Ravenclaws obsessing over the smallest minutia of their favorite subjects.

Fortunately more people arrived before Ruby could start disassembling the shield-component of the transforming weapons, and a soft cough from the Goodwitch lady cut her off and had her spring up to attention. She looked around, blushed furiously, squeaked out something that might have been an apology, and took a step back to stand with Weiss and what I assumed were her two other teammates, the yellow-haired girl and another dark-haired girl with an odd-looking bow in her hair.

A moment later she realized she was still holding my weapons and shot forward, a shower of red rose petals falling behind her as she moved with inhuman speed to shove the glaive into my free hand. I nearly cursed her as she just appeared in front of me, moving so quickly that it almost seemed like she was apparating. A moment later she was back with her team, only the glaive in my hand and the petals drifting down towards the matching red carpet of leaves to show she’d been there at all.

I instantly bumped my threat assessment of the entire group up two stages. That had been terrifyingly fast. Standing so close to me, she could have shoved the blade of her scythe through my chest faster than I could cast a shield charm, leaving only the shield charm on my enchanted necklace to protect me. If that scythe was half as dangerous as the girl thought it was, it was more than possible my enchanted charm wouldn’t have held up all too well either.

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Jaune and Cardin hadn’t been all that impressive, but perhaps they were just on the lower end of competence? They certainly didn’t seem particularly competent compared to some of the people around me. It was a common adage that the more powerful a wizard grew, the more eccentric they became. It was why the Wizengamot wore plum robes and Headmaster Dippet had covered nearly two-thirds of Hogwarts’ grounds with his favorite ling plants.

Perhaps the two boys’ practical looking armor was actually a mark against them compared to some of the more flamboyant outfits of their peers? Typically I would think that a sword and metal armor would be practical for a potentially dangerous field trip, but the combat teacher was wearing a movement-restricting skirt, had a boob window––a truly astounding muggle invitation––in her blouse, and was carrying a riding crop instead of an actual weapon.

I scanned the students around me, taking note of the pristine white dress Weiss was wearing, Ruby’s corset, and Pyrrha’s Gryfindor red and gold attire with its completely exposed shoulders and thighs. My eyes lingered on the cheerful-looking girl in the pink skirt. She didn’t look dangerous, but there was darkness lurking behind that carefree smile.

Then it was the Professor’s turn. “And what exactly is going on here?” she asked, her riding crop held loosely at her side. There was a note of menace in her voice and I could feel…something radiating off her, a sort of pressure that made my skin prickle and the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. This woman was dangerous. She didn’t look like much, but everything about the way she held herself spoke of utter confidence.

A number of the students exchanged glances and I gave them a moment. Optimally, this seemed like the time for someone else to introduce me, though I would do so myself if no one spoke up.

Finally Weiss decided to break the silence. She took a half step forward and the professor’s gaze turned towards her, fixing the white haired girl with a piercing stare. “There was an ursa major, Professor Goodwitch. A particularly large specimen. It attacked Cardin and broke his aura, but Jaune managed to hold it off until Ruby, Pyrrha, and I arrived on the scene around the same time as these two appeared. One of them used their semblance to knock the ursa away and restrain it. Then Pyrrha killed it.”

For all that I’d been there the entire time, Weiss’s words were rather interesting. First of all, she knew exactly what the creature was called; not just an ursa, but an ursa major. I wasn’t sure what the distinction was, if it even existed, but it was something to keep in mind. Then there were the terms she’d used. Aura and Semblance. From what I’d seen, Aura was probably whatever shield had protected Cardin from the first few hits of the ursa. I was less sure about the other word. Perhaps a local term for some sort of magic?

Professor Goodwitch stared at Weiss for several seconds, then nodded slowly and turned to Jaune. “Excellent work, Jaune. Though Cardin is not one of your teammates, as Huntsmen we have a responsibility to help one another against the Creatures of Grimm. Alone we fall, together we stand strong.”

Jaune looked rather flustered by the praise and her words gave me a lot more clues about this plane, but I didn’t have much time to think about things before she turned towards Zatanna and I. “And I must thank you as well, strangers, for assisting my students. Might I know your names?”

I inclined my head briefly. “Of course. I’m glad I was able to assist. Grimm are a danger to us all. My name is Hydrys Black, and this is Zatanna Zatara. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Professor Goodwitch.” I noticed her eyes narrow minutely when I introduced myself, but it was barely more than a twitch, her face swiftly returning to the smooth, imperious mask from before.

“Certainly. And what brings you to Forever Fall?” She was clearly at least a little suspicious, but I couldn’t blame her. We were random strangers, encountered what was clearly a fair distance from civilization in what was apparently a monster-infested forest. It would be strange for her not to be suspicious.

I smiled disarmingly. “Zatanna and I are explorers and researchers from a distant land, though I fear we’ve become somewhat lost. We saw your vehicle fly over us and decided to follow it hoping it would lead us back towards civilization, and I’m glad we did. It seems we made it here in the nick of time.”

She frowned, my explanation clearly not making her happy. “Quite.” She paused, looking the two of us up and down. “Where exactly did you say you come from?”

I shrugged, doing my best to stay casual. I’d always been annoyed by the many lessons that pulled me away from studying magic, but I was really starting to see the value in what my family had driven into my head over the years. “I couldn’t say. We have traveled quite a distance, but I fear you are the first people we’ve encountered since we left our home.”

“Mistral, Atlas, Vale, or Vacou?” one of the students asked, cutting in before Professor Goodwitch could say anything.

I shrugged again. “I fear those names mean nothing to me.”

“Some tiny village in the middle of nowhere, then,” Weiss said snidely, “It’s a wonder how they manage to survive like that, but they just keep cropping up no matter how many times the Grimm destroys them.”

“Weiss, be nice!” Ruby chided. She turned towards me. “We’re on the continent of Sanus, a few hours from the Kingdom of Vale. It's, uh,” she spun around and pointed. “That way!”

Weiss sniffed and muttered, “As though a country bumpkin like him would know what a continent is,” under her breath, quietly enough that I wouldn’t have heard her without my supersensory charm.

I smiled at Ruby. “Thank you, that’s good to know.”

Professor Goodwitch seemed to be having an internal debate with herself. Finally she came to a decision. “Well, it would be remiss of me to not offer you a ride back to civilization. Vale often takes in new citizens from outlying settlements. We’ll be heading back to Beacon shortly, but there is a daily bullhead that takes students from the Academy to the city. I’m certain we can arrange for you to catch a ride.”

I inclined my head again. “That would be greatly appreciated, Ms. Goodwitch. Thank you.”

“Yeah, thanks!” Zatanna added. “I wasn’t looking forward to hiking the whole way! I’ve never flown in a bullhead before. What is it like?”

“With seventeen people? Cramped, unfortunately,” the yellow-haired girl grouched. “And it's going to be even more cramped now.”