Chapter 14: In the Name of Forms
For He
For She
For Them
For All
All For
Them For
She For
He For
The Fallen
A Lover Lost
A Brighter Future
To Go Back To Change The Past
However slight,
It is not the way
To Challenge fate
One Must Survive
One Must Grow
Stronger than stone
Smarter than the air
Brighter than All
Then and only then
Can Fate
Be
Changed.
(Present, Vytal Festival)
Arid stared at his "master", his so called "Benefactor", but in his head and in his heart the man that sat before him was a devil. A taskmaster risen from the depths of the deepest hell that the Great Monty above could conjure for the wicked and evil.
…
…
…
…
"Say Cheese~!" *Click*
"Next!"
...
…
…
…
"Say Cheese~!" *Click*
"Ne- HEY YOU! NO CUTTING!"
…
…
…
…
"Say Cheese~!" *Click*
"Next!"
...
….
Making him sit here and take pictures of couples and giving them free food and drinks for participating.
Truly, the work of someone so evil and malevolent that Arid wished to wipe him off the face of the planet. Of course the inglorious bastard was amusing himself by showing people how to bake wonderful delicious pieces of pure evil in a frickin' furnace, made of pure evil, of all things. Of course, that didn't mean that Arid had to enjoy what that bastard made. Arid opened his mouth to say "Say Cheese!" but instead got a chicken skewer shoved in his mouth and a pat on the head by the bastard who supposedly killed his friends and potential girlfriend.
Arid angrily tore through the chicken skewer, trying very hard not to moan in delight, though his traitorous ears wiggled back and forth in pleasure. Him and Nemo have a very odd and very strange master-student relationship.
(3 Weeks ago)
Arid was busy checking on his body after that cowardly bastard, Cardin and goons, shoved him through several racks filled with heavy and dangerous weapons. Those things hurt… especially the sharp and pointy ones.
Arid had no word on what happened afterwards since he blacked out almost immediately after being tossed at all those metallic doomsday implements. All he managed to get out from Doc was that Nemo got in trouble for something that could be related to him.
Arid clenched his fist in determination and decided to find out what happened. His faunus ears twitched in anticipation. If he had a tail it would also be moving back and forth in a determined fashion.
Well that's what he wanted to do...
But he was too busy lifting dozens of metal ingots from each station and putting them in assorted piles. And the person who he was supposed to inter- politely ask questions was away for the moment. Something about gathering large amounts of materials for something.
Gahhhhh. Why are all these small pieces of metal so heavy…
And why are there so many of them?! Seriously! Even normal blacksmiths had smaller piles than this guy! Heavens above! This guy has mountains of metals that were sorted out in an underground cavern underneath the forge!
Not to mention the amount of machinery that helped re-fill the hundreds of containers that the students use! Too complicated!
"AGHHHHHHH! WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT BASTARD?!"
Arid screamed loudly and dropped his stack of metal on top of his feet. Causing the screaming faunus to once more screamed in pain. Because metal even in ingot form is heavy and when dropped upon the feet of a unsuspecting fool is highly entertaining.
It was then that Masamune decided to pop his head out from behind the massive furnace. His covered mouth seemed to be in the shape of a smile as he tried very hard not to laugh at the show he was given. Though the Faunus-in-pain couldn't see the laughing bastard, he could still fucking hear that mother fucker. Picking up one of the smaller ingots Arid took aim at where he heard the laughing bastard and threw it hard.
A POKUN was heard. Followed by a THUMP and a "Ugh….."
Arid fist pumped since he managed to get that slimy bastard. Masamune laid on the ground, his eyes containing an infinite swirl that just kept going and going. Arid stood above the semi-unconscious Blacksmith with success written all over his face, that was until he felt something hard hit him between the legs. Arid felt himself fly into the air for more than just a few seconds. And also immense pain, loads of pain perhaps those children he was hoping of bringing into the world have long since departed into the heavens. Ah~ The pain…
…
*Poke Poke*
…
*Poke Poke*
…..
*Poke SLAM*
"UGH"
….
"Stareeeee~"
"..."
"Stareeeeeeee~"
"..."
"Ah! Let's try the Rocket-Hammer next!"
Masamune wheeled off to find the said tool to wake up his sleeping student. Arid began shaking violently as he shakily got up. He felt a large amount of killing intent coming from the weapon racks, the Faunus got up almost immediately and just barely missed being pummeled into the ground by the massive hammerhead the appeared where he was laying earlier.
"Tch. I missed."
Masamune lifted the massive warhammer easily with one hand and rested it on his shoulders. How he managed to swing that massive hammer in the first place would probably explain the smoke coming from the back of it.
"A-a-a-are you trying to murder me!?"
Arid nearly screamed when the hammer came flying at him again. Stopping only centimeters from his face, causing the poor faunus to begin foaming at the mouth as he fell down in shock.
"Oh! Did I cause him to faint again?"
(4 Hours Later)
*WHAM*
*SLAP*
*CRASH*
"OH GOD! ITS TOO BIG FOR ME! IT WON- Ahhhh~!"
The sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoed throughout the empty Forge. Not to mention the rather sensual male moans.
Several girls sporting rather bloody noses were currently unconscious, leaning against the massive doors of the forge which were just opened a little bit. It seems that they had heard just a little too much and had rather… savoury thoughts on what was going on inside.
But really was.
"LIFT THAT HAMMER HIGHER!"
SMACK
"Y-Yes!"
CLANG
"REMEMBER AFTER HAMMERING OUT THE METAL TO FOLD IT!"
"Y-yes sir!"
SMACK
"SENSEI!"
"Yes Sensei!"
CLANG CLANG CLANG
"NOT GOOD ENOUGH! USE THE ANVIL TO HELP BEND THE METAL INTO A NINETY DEGREE ANGLE!"
SMACK
"YES SENSEI!"
CLANG CLANG CLANG
"GOOD! NOW KEEP FOLDING THAT METAL UNTIL YOU CAN'T FOLD IT ANYMORE!"
"YES!"
Masamune nodded happily to himself as he left his student to keep working on that piece of metal. Wait… He forgot to tell the boy something… Oh well! He could worry about that later.
Arid on the other hand had to keep his mouth shut and focus on hammering the metal. He remembered to reheat the metal every time it began to change from bright yellow to a dark red. He kept hammering and hammering, folding the metal dozens of times. But the metal was still able to be folded so Arid kept folding and folding.
Time seemed to slip by as Arid continued to fold the metal, taking brief breaks to rest his arms and to eat and drink. After all, Masamune didn't say not to stop only to keep folding the metal ingot until it couldn't fold. He was a rather harsh but sometimes lenient master to work under. If anything Masamune acted like a father to Arid, but there was something that divided the two from getting any closer.
Holding the hammer that Masamune gave Arid, with his fist clenched tight and the metal burning hot. Arid yelled abuse and hatred towards the man who killed his everything.
CLANG
Once for his friends
CLANG CLANG
Twice for his team
CLANG CLANG CLANG
Thrice for his family
*PUNCH*
And one punch for fucking up in the first place. How did he let such a rookie mistake get to him... Here he was… The goddamn motherfucking top leader of the first years, making headlines across Remnant as the Rising Star Hunter. And a goddamn hated Faunus to boot! He was going to change the world!
The smell of burning flesh entered his nostrils… Oh… Did.. He forget about… OH FUCK
"HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!"
Arid ran about the room looking for something to cool off the immense burning sensation on his hand. And saw the water trough, its cool depths inviting Arid to insert his hand and embrace the coolness.
SSSSTTTttttt
"AhhhhhOWWWWWW!"
Arid enjoyed his quiet relief until the now boiling water was "boiling" him up. Arid was tempted to slap himself for making that bad of a pun while in pain. He was having a bad time.
Masamune on the other hand was doing some push-ups in a secluded corner muttering to himself
"Ninety-Seven! Ninety-Eight!"
(Past, Beacon)
"Ninety-Nine! One Hundred!" Shouted Nemo as he jumped up from doing push-ups and switched over to squats. He did another set of one hundred, then flopped on the ground rolled over and did the same amount of sit-ups. All while carrying over two hundred pounds of equipment and weights in various forms on his body. It was kind of shocking on how he was able to do all of that and still not be breaking a sweat. Then again, he was Nemo.
Cinder was busy just doing regular push-ups and sit-ups, the same amount as Nemo but without the weights. Just because a hunter has Aura buffing up their body, it didn't mean it did it to an extent.
The two were near a bed of blue flowers, Forget-me-nots. Was this a symbol of their bond or just a coincidence? Neither knew the language of flowers so did not care about. Though Nemo did pick one and put it in Cinder's hair.
"Hmm… It makes you seem… Nicer? Yes…" Nemo trailed off again, Cinder on the other hand was confused as to what this meant. She felt that if she took out the flower she would disappoint her partner and though she didn't like having various plant-life in her hair, the flower was pretty and decided to keep it there.
She also wondered why he seemed more… Quiet? Subdued? Hell of a lot different than how he usually acts. In fact… He seemed more… Real this way. Cinder liked this over the other sides of her partner. But she wondered if she could make him act more this way.
After Nemo finished his basic sets he went on his ten kilometer run, Cinder just did her own four kilometer run because she wasn't insane nor did she have the stamina to keep up with him.
When Cinder finished her run, she stood to the side of the cobbled walkway of the Courtyard. She knew her partner would have to come through here. After all, She had to know all about him. It was her duty as the de facto team leader between the two.
(Arid's FlashBack, Continued)
Arid continued to hammer away at the metal. Doing as told because he feared retribution if he did anything different.
This time he was to stretch the metal as far as he could. After doing that he was to set it aside. The pile of metal next to Arid didn't seem to end as Masamune would pop up every now and then and proceed to dump the next load of metal while taking the small pile of stretched metal, in fact they looked like long blunt metal toothpicks than anything. But Masamune would every now and then give Arid a break.
Arid was glad for these short breaks but he was still holding a grudge against the Blacksmith for the unwarranted murder of his teammates. But that opinion was slowly changing, Masamune seemed more like a strict, but drunk, father figure that Arid never had. Nevertheless, Arid bit through his growing affection for the Blacksmith because if he grew to like the man he would never be able to extract his plans. After all, Work room accidents were common in forges.
(36 Hours Later)
Arid placed the final piece of metal onto the pile. His hands and arms were numb from having to hold the tongs and hammer for such a long time, even with occasional breaks, Arid couldn't even lift up his arms without them shaking too much and causing him grief in all sorts of ways.
Even with the boosting effects of Aura, Arid had smithed for a total of a hundred and twenty hours. Which was five days! It was obvious that such a task was daunting to even the most skilled blacksmiths, which it wasn't but Arid didn't know that.
Arid decided that enough was enough and headed to where Masamune was, where the seat-bound man was refining the many metal toothpicks that Arid made. Arid stood with his mouth agape as he saw the Blacksmith hit the metal so fast with such force that it made the metal spark and glow with just the pure friction of the blow, bending in shapes and coming together in a single cohesive sheet as Masamune continued to strike the metal over and over.
It was then Arid realised that Blacksmithing was fucking difficult.
"Oi"
"Y-Yes!"
Arid stood at attention when Masamune stated his name.
"Go get the gear molds, the smallest ones you can find. As well as the small rail molds. Also re-direct metal vats one through seven to my personal forge, I'll need the metals contained in those vats for this."
Masamune looked up very quickly his eyes staring deep into Arid's. If thoughts could be conveyed through just eyesight alone then that would've made communication between the two a lot easier. However, Arid refused to make eye contact with the man and ran off to do what was asked of him.
The Vats that Masamune asked for contained a variety of metals, ranging from the lightweight aluminum to titanium. Not to mention the so-called "Special Blends" that were etched rather loudly on the last few vats. No one knew what was in those vats, the possibilities were endless as the things that Masamune made from these vats were among the strongest and dangerous weapons known to Man.
It is said that when Masamune first tested a blade made from the metal he made, he cut down thousands of Grimm with a single swing. Masamune was said to do this all over Remnant, but a while back He disappeared from the world and didn't show up until now. There were a lot of tall tales about the Blacksmith that Arid was working under, and while most people would disregard these kind of exaggerated stories Arid couldn't help but believe it when the real thing was sitting in front of him.
The sounds of the motors carrying the heavy metal vats echoed with their usual cacophony. The GAR-CHUNK of the strong motors carrying the impossibly heavy vats headed towards where the bandaged Blacksmith was working.
Arid heard the Forge Doors slam open as a group of students headed inside. Team JNPR were carrying dented and chipped weapons, and in Jaune's case Armor. They continued towards the main area.
"RENNNNNNN~ LOOK AT ALL THE SHINY THINGS! *GASP!* AND THE BUTTONS!"
"Nora…! Don't push random buttons." Ren futilely tried to stop Nora.
*PUSH*
Suddenly the motors above Masamune began to tip over. Arid watched in slight horror as all the melted superheated metal fell on top of Masamune.
"OH SWEET OUM! PYRRHA!" Jaune yelled at his red-haired teammate who immediatly raised her hand, but it was a second too late.
Gloop.
"..." Stunned Silence. It went onwards for about five seconds when someone said
"Well, That was anti-climatic"
"AHHHHHHGH!" Team JNPR, mostly just Jaune, screamed out loud at the sudden appearance of the Blacksmith, who was dusting off his shoulders. He was completely unharmed, much to everyone's surprise.
"What?" Masamune just raised his eyebrow bandage at these screaming children and went over to his workplace. Placing his hands in the now cooling steel and straining to lift the thousands of pounds of metal that lay all over his work place.
"..." Arid just watched on, astonished that the Blacksmith had somehow avoided death.
Jaune however, was slowly recovering from his scare. He turned to Pyrrha and asked
"Can you do anything about that?"
She shook her head, "If it was all individual pieces due to its singular mass, I won't be able to bend it to my will as easy as you think." Pyrrha was skilled but even the Champion had limits she couldn't surpass.
Masamune simply laid his hands upon the metal. He sat there for a minute and suddenly the metal began to glow red as heat began to spread throughout the solid metal. This heat continued to spread into and around the solid blob of metal, Masamune then signaled Pyrrha to try and move the metal.
Pyrrha nodded and raised her hand, she attempted to manipulate the liquefying metal. She felt the metal attempt to move to her will but it was still solid at parts which hampered her ability. Pyrrha forcibly removed the liquid metal from the parts that were solid and slowly put the metal back in the vats. It was a difficult job and she couldn't afford to screw up. While solids were easy to control, the improbability and the uncertainty that is any liquid is what is causing her so much trouble.
Pyrrha was sweating the amount of willpower she had to exert on the formless metal took more out of her than conventional means. Solid metals like those in her shield or the blade of Jaune's sword were easier, but when metal is liquefied it takes on a more unconventional means of magnetism. While still containing the properties of metal, its liquid form requires more willpower to bend to her will since the metal wasn't in a single cohesive shape. While Pyrrha could handle larger pieces, it wouldn't be long until she would collapse due to the strain given to her by doing so.
Pyrrha managed to put the rest of the metal into the vats before collapsing onto her knees, Jaune rushing over to help support her.
"T-that was… difficult" She managed to pant out quietly. Masamune rolled over and placed a hand atop her head.
"That was fine. Rest." The Blacksmith looked to Jaune, his eyes seemed to contain a unlimited wealth of Kindness.
"Take her and go, I shall do my best with your weapons and armor." Masamune made a shooing motion with his hand and picked up the dropped weapons and armor.
Jaune nodded quickly and picked up Pyrrha bridal style and left. If one looked closely they could see that the edges of Pyrrha's mouth moving upwards.
Arid decided that if he was going to keep pussying out on facing his demon, then he'll regret never asking him again.
Taking a deep breath, the Faunus approached the Blacksmith as he was smoothing out the deep rents that went into the Bronze Hoplon. It's normally pristine and untouched surface was covered in the scars of battle though surprisingly it didn't have the signature arm-strap that was a must have for shields.
Masamune ran his hands through the crevices and canyons that the scratches on the shield provided, frowning as he felt alongside the underside. Wherever his hands were touching a bright red mark was left on the shield and when it disappeared so did the scratch. Masamune did this to all the scratches on the Hoplon, making them all disappear. He even went as far as regrinding the edges of the shield to sharp edges, not too sharp as to wound the user.
As Masamune was about to begin working on Jaune's armor, grumbling on about how it protected less than Cardin's heavy plate while still weighing the same. Arid cleared his throat, garnering the Blacksmith's attention.
"What do you want?" The Blacksmith asked with a bandaged eyebrow raised.
"I just wanted to know… Did you really mean it? Killing off my team?"
"Yes." Eye twitch.
"You sure?" Arid's eyes following any movement on the Blacksmith's face, however covered up it was.
"Positive" Twitch Twitch
"... You're lying aren't you?"
"Nope" Twitch Twitch Twitch
"Alrighty then…"
Arid turned away from the Blacksmith and left the smithy. He headed to the Medical Bay in search of answers.
Masamune on the other hand simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to work. That Jaune child needed better armor. But he said he was going to only repair it and his word was his bond.
(Medical Bay)
As Arid approached the reception area, the Head Nurse immediately notified Doc and left the desk. Leaving the Faunus confused, he decided to sit down on one of the reception chairs and waited. And waited. And waited for half an hour more.
Doc came strolling out of his office, his face set in the most serious that he ever had. Though inside he was screaming internally and trying really, really hard to not screw up the script he had practiced those minutes earlier.
"Hey Doc."
"Did you need something? A check-up perhaps?"
Arid shook his head and asked "You want to grab a drink with me? I know a place that serves some decent beers in Vale and you look like you could use some down time."
Doc screamed internally, again. This wasn't part of the script! How the hell is he suppoused to do anything!? AGH! Whatever, a drink or two wouldn't hurt.
"Alright, I could use a break once in awhile and besides I have nothing to do in the next four hours anyway."
(Downtown Vale, the "CrowBar")
"Ands thensh the crazsh bashtard says that he'lls takke cares of yas whiles you recover froms your lossh" Doc drunkenly spewed out. Oh how Alcohol opened up the most uptight of people.
"Ya-Ya can'tsh hatseh teh guy… Hesh likes yous 'cepts wurst… Hesh gots noes mem-memorhies of hish pastsh. Dah Ozpins says wesh shouldn'tsh besh tellings dis tosh stughdents…. Butsh I gots da feeling thats yous is alrightsssh… Takes cars of teh man wills ya..? Don'tsh like treat himsh differents fromsh nows butts, heh heh, yas gots ta treats hims nicersh, kays?" Doc fell asleep after telling Arid all the Faunus wanted to know, after all he was still under-age to drink alcohol.
Lifting the unconscious Doctor, Arid began his long walk back to school. In his head he debated what to think of the Blacksmith. A person who took the blame in order for the Faunus to not blame himself and fall into depression. It had been awhile since the passing of his close friends and while it hurt a little when he thought about them, it was a vast improvement when compared to how he was when he first found out that they died. The feeling of wanting to join them regardless of the consequences but Masamune kept him busy, preventing the Faunus from joining up with his comrades in the afterlife through a myriad of ways.
While his skills in smithing were sub-par at best, in the terms of Masamune's standards, it was far from being complete. The times where a frown could be seen, Arid would notice bright shining eyes filled with pride. Arid was stubborn. He knew that. But Masamune put up with that, wearing a mask to protect the Faunus. While it seemed cliche and over-used in dramas and fiction, it seemed rather suitable due to the way that the Blacksmith treated his apprentice.
Arid no longer held a grudge against the Blacksmith but it was better to keep things as they were instead of changing them. And with the acceptance of knowledge that was passed down to him from the Doctor who cared for him when he was comatose… It was enlightening to say the least. But Arid had his doubts, even though he knew about this. It was too unbelievable to think it was the Blacksmith who was teaching him had lost his memory then how would he be able to know how to deal with problems as complex as the human mind?
It was time to get the truth from the source itself. And also to drop off the Doctor.
(Cinder's Room, Before the Vytal Festival)
Cinder paced back and forth in her room. Her cohorts were staring in mild amusement as she paced back and forth over and over again. Her face deep in thought. She didn't know how to act on this plan but she planned to make sure it worked.
The sound of breaking glass filled the room as the small but dangerous Neo walked daintily in front of her. Cinder stopped and stared at the powerhouse and gestured to one of the free beds. Neo only nodded with a smirk and sat on the offered bed with her parasoul leaning against the frame.
"So now that we are all here… Shall we prepare?"
Cinder and her crew began to prepare for the Vytal Festival.
A/N: Sorry that this chapter is shorter than usual my Wonderful readers! I hope you are having a good Pre-Thanksgiving week! Because in about two days (for me) it will be ThanksGiving! After that is Black Friday and Cyber Monday...! ... Shoot... Need to get ready for that camping before the storm of shopping. Aghhhh...
Anyway! Headmaster Arc is coming out on Thanksgiving! For Readers who reads Wayfarer, expect a few days after Thanksgiving for that!