An Aura of Hope: A RWBY Fan Fiction

Chapter Four

The next day I skipped breakfast. I wanted to head to the city early and get everything done. I left a note on the table telling Mother and Grammy that I had left before they had woken up and that I planned to be home about an hour after lunch. There wasn't anything left of my encounter with the Boarbatusk the night before except for scattered pieces of wet wood. About halfway to the walls, I started getting all teary-eyed. I wasn't going to walk down this road and see this scene again for four years! Wow.

I started memorizing every beautiful shade of green in the forest, every soft hill on the dirt path, every single cloud in the blue sky. As the walls of Atlas came into view, a whole new wave of sadness came over me. This was my childhood I was leaving behind, for crying out loud!

I greeted Jess at the gates with a wave.

"Morning, James! Why so glum?" she asked.

"I got into Beacon!" I called to her. We still weren't close enough to stop shouting.

"That's great! But... I don't think that answered my question!"

"I have to leave tomorrow, and I won't see Atlas again for at least four years!"

"Oh... I see..."

"Yeah... So I'm just going to walk around town and take in the sights, say my goodbyes, you know."

"Alright. Talk to you later?"

"Sure." I smiled at her and entered the city.

First things first: school supplies. I got out my list for school and scanned through it again. I'd probably looked at it fifteen times last night and could recite it perfectly, but I don't like to take chances. First on the list was a weapon. Got that done with Viartannie Ijs. Next, a black suit with a white shirt and a red tie. This would be my uniform for classes. Next, battle armor of my choice. I had to stop by Germaine for that. My armor was in my locker. Then, A History of Our Planet by Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck, The Creatures of Grimm by Dr. Peter Port, The Full Collection of Non-Grimm Creatures by Dr. Raven Blackwood, and The Various Flora of Remnant by Dr. James Peach. My textbooks for the school year. And finally, any personal possessions that I may wish to bring.

What a list.

I'd been saving up in case I did get into Beacon, so I thought I would have enough for school. I first went to Ms. Laura's Tailoring Shop at the South end of Atlas.

"Good morning, sir. How may I help you?" asked an older lady who I assumed to be Ms. Laura when I walked in.

"Good morning to you as well. I need a suit for school."

"What kind of suit were you looking for?"

"Black, please. With a white shirt and red tie."

"Certainly. Right this way, please." She opened a panel to the back of the deserted shop. As I walked down the aisle to the tailoring booth, I noticed that apparently very few people came here. The dust was so thick in the store that I almost choked on it.

When we got to the platform she began taking various measurements that made me feel self-conscious and embarrassed.

"That should do it," she said finally. "Come back in two hours and I'll have it for you.

"Thank you. How much do I owe you?"

"You know what? You are so polite and you're the first customer I've had this week, so it's on the house."

Score!! "Thank you so much! I was worried I wouldn't be able to afford it."

"It's hardly a problem. The world needs more young people like you. Take care, now."

"Thank you again! I'll be back in two hours!" I left the store.

Yes! The suit was going to be the most expensive thing on the list. Where to next? I looked around for a city directory. Finally I spotted one just a block to the West. I started that way.

"SHOW US YOUR HANDS!" came a loud voice from an alleyway behind me. Great. Just perfect. I raised my hands and turned around to see three large men with guns pointed at me. I took the middle one to be the leader, seeing as he was the one that looked at all intelligent. He had a bald head and a massive scar running from his left ear to his nose. Apparently the wound had blinded him in that eye, because it was glazed over white. The other was beady and black. The other two thugs were similar in appearance, both being about six foot five with messy brown and black peppered hair, but one had brown eyes and the other had a very scary shade of blue.

I absorbed this within seconds of turning around.

"What money do you have?" asked scar-face.

I didn't answer.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION!!"

Well somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

"Search him," said scar-face to his goons.

Perfect. As the two men came closer, I could see that their hands were abnormally hairy, then it hit me. These guys were Faunus. Bear, from the look of them. My suspicions were confirmed when blue-eyes hoisted me up with a furry paw by my shirt, stabbing it through with large claws.

These guys weren't smart at all. Time for all those required self-defense classes to come to work. I brought my foot up to blue-eyes's chin swiftly and accurately. I could feel his jaw give way to my sneaker and I knew it was broken. He let out a bestial wail and dropped me. I landed with a backwards roll and followed it with a donkey kick into brown-eyes's torso. He doubled over and I hopped up quickly and dispatched him with a knee to the face before he could recover. As I was recovering, blue-eyes grabbed me from behind and flipped me over him. I hit the ground with an audible "thud" as an excruciating pain erupted in my left wrist. I got up as quickly as I could with a broken wrist. Luckily, I was still faster than the behemoth I was fighting, and managed to dance away from his grasp. I pulled Viartannie Ijs from its sheath and stabbed the pointed end into blue-eyes's arm that he brought up to defend himself. Unfortunately for him, that wouldn't help him here. He was frozen solid before he felt the stab. I yanked my boomerang out with a crunch of his arm coming with it. I shattered it on the road and looked around for scar-face, who was nowhere to be seen. Apparently he fled earlier in the fight.

And then it hit me.

Holy crap.

I just killed a guy.

And knocked out another.

Holy crap.

I collapsed to the ground, the weight of what I'd just done overpowering me. Should I tell the police? No, they wouldn't understand. Then what do I do with brown-eyes? He wouldn't stay unconscious forever. Unless...

I crawled over to his unmoving form. I checked for a pulse. None. So I killed two guys. And now I had two bodies to get rid of. I searched around for a place to hide them, but the only place nearby was a dumpster. That'll have to do, I thought. I dragged brown-eyes in front of it using one hand and hoisted him up onto my shoulder and finally I was able to throw his upper body over the edge. Damn he was heavy. I put my hand under his foot and slid the rest of him in afterwards. That should hide it until after I leave. Blue-eyes was another matter. He was frozen to the street and his arm was in dozens of pieces all over the road. How the hell was I supposed to do this? I was starting to panic. What if I couldn't get rid of it? What if a random passerby came by? What if scar-face got the police? He was sure to know my face! Calm down, James, I thought. Just had to think. What if Viartannie Ijs could unfreeze something? Or even completely change something to ice? Worth a shot.

I stabbed it back into blue-eyes's frozen form. Nothing happened. Huh. Wait a second... I channeled my Aura into my boomerang and toward blue-eyes. Slowly, the form inside the ice began to shrink.

When blue-eyes was completely gone, i pulled out Viartannie Ijs and the ice exploded into snowflakes.

The snow melted quickly and made for an easy clean up. I tried not to hurl as I did the rest of my shopping. Eventually I went home, disgusted and shaky, with the rest of my stuff in bags at my sides