The Long Road
Current Day
Azura hummed happily as he worked in the floor's student kitchen. A tea kettle hummed nicely on the stove. A pot with a lovely chicken soup simmering along and even his apron was still perfectly pressed and clean. The midmorning sun came through the window as he soon got a platter ready. Gingerly serving soup into a bowl and taking the kettle off, he then added the teabag in a cup before pouring in hot water to steep.
'Alright. Now to go feed the beast. I mean, Ruby. That's gonna be a hard change to accept…' Azura thought before heading out into the hallway.
He made good time in the halls, with everyone being in morning classes. There was no threat of a collision. Even then, he was confident his reflexes would prevent disaster. Though there would be a loss of soup. Finally, he arrived at Team RWBY's room and knocked before opening the door. As soon as he opened the door, he was hit by a harsh snarl. Ruby lay on the bottom bed with the hanging death trap that was normally her bed above her. However, he had noticed that she was strapped down with hefty straps, like the kind you would find on a semi-trailer…
"Azura! I swear, if you assist in holding me against my will, I will never forgive you!" Ruby snapped, weakly thrashing against the straps.
"I am willing to accept that if it means you recover and heal properly, Ruby. Now then, it is time for your lunch and midmorning tea." Azura told her as he walked over.
"I'm not taking any more medicine!!" Ruby yelled.
"Do I need to get the funnel again?" Azura asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I have a countermeasure for that." Ruby enigmatically replied.
"Then it's a good thing I bought a metal funnel, just in case." Azura replied with a playful smile.
"Like that will stop me…" Ruby muttered. "Seriously, do I have to take so much medicine?"
"Ruby… you need to take it in order to recover more quickly. Do not make me hold you down and force your medicine down your throat. Please." Azura replied with a sigh.
"What are you gonna do? Kiss me like a sitcom nurse?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If I must…" Azura replied simply.
Ruby blushed bright red at that. "L-Lets n-not get h-hasty here…" She nervously stammered out.
"Ruby. If you will not listen to Yang or even your father Lord Xiao Long, then I will do whatever I must to ensure you make as swift a recovery as possible. Now please stop resisting and cooperate." Azura simply told her, setting the tray on the bed with the legs out.
Ruby let out a sigh as Azura grabbed a variety of pills off the end table. "Fine. But I… I just feel…" She said, as if lost for words.
"Helpless? Weak? Like a burden? I have been there." Azura told her.
This caught the red reaper off guard. "You? But you're…" Ruby said in shock.
"Strong? No, Ruby. I am not…" Azura simply replied as he stirred her tea to help with the steeping process.
"Well, you're certainly stronger than me right now. And you put up a heck of a fight against Kong." Ruby said back as Azura gave her a sip of tea from the teacup, putting it to her lips for her.
"That is merely because you are in a weakened state. And trust me, any Zodiac heir actually worthy of their mantle would make much shorter work of Kong than I would have." Azura told her as he finished stirring her tea before setting the cup on the nearby shelf with a coaster underneath the cup.
"Is this because I cracked your rib? I'm sorry for that…" Ruby tried to say, before Azura cutting her off.
Azura shook his head. "Not at all. You see, Ruby, I… actually started out very weak by Zodiac standards." He replied, picking up her soup.
"Why does that matter? Everyone's got to start from somewhere." Ruby asked, before eating a spoonful of chicken soup.
"You do not understand. I was as weak as a normal person and had absolutely no talent whatsoever. I was basically the Zodiac equivalent to Jaune." Azura explained as he stuck the spoon back in the soup.
Ruby sat there, her face confused. As she ate spoonful after spoonful of soup, it simply did not make sense to her. After getting another sip of tea, she spoke up again.
"If it means anything at all, Azura, I don't think you're weak." Ruby said.
Azura smiled. "Thank you, Ruby. But being weak does not bother me. Not anymore. It just means that, to get to where I am now, I had to earn it. I did not have to rely on good genetics or natural talent, but my own hard work, grit, and determination." He told her as he took the cup away and set it back on the coaster.
Ruby smiled more at him. "Then why don't we work on getting stronger together then?" She asked.
Azura smiled and gently wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I would like that. To tell you the truth… My father once told me that there is nothing wrong with starting out weak. However, there is a problem with choosing to stay that way if you choose to pursue a warrior's path." He explained.
"He was the giant weirdo at the parent-teacher conferences, right?" Ruby asked.
Azura nodded. "Yes indeed. But do not let his silly, strange demeanor fool you. He has always been strong. In fact, he was the strongest modern Zodiac in the entire world before his retirement. At least, until he lost his leg breaking up a White Fang occupation of a Schnee Dust mine where the mine collapsed because of a missed attack from one of the assailants." He explained.
"That sounds a lot more like good luck than just being strong." Ruby said, her eyes widened in shock at what she heard.
"True. But he did make quick work of the assailants before the accident that destabilized the mine. He even used his full strength to hold up part of it before one of them came back and helped him get to safety at the cost of Father's leg." Azura replied as he continued to spoon feed her.
"Is your dad a superhero!?" Ruby asked in awe.
"To many, he might as well be. People once called him the Tiger Titan and the Honored Ikusagami. Now he is just Azolum, loving husband and father." Azura replied with a smile as he wiped her mouth again.
Ruby looked over Azura as he made her another cup of tea. "You're worried you're not going to get out from his legacy's shadow." She said sadly.
Azura sighed as his smile turned sad. "Yes… I am. But that does not mean I will not stop trying." He replied, adjusting her pillow to make her more comfortable.
"My Uncle Qrow told me once that, in order to walk a new path, you first have to find it. Maybe you just need time to find your own path out of his shadow?" Ruby explained.
Azura smiled. "I already have. My aunt Sakuya has chosen me as her candidate to compete to become her heir." He told her as he lowered her back onto her pillow.
"Do you… want that?" Ruby asked.
Azura nodded, pulling the blanket back up over her. "I do. The Zodiac creed is that true strength exists to be used to protect the weak. As those born more fortunate than others, the strong have a duty sent from Heaven itself to wield the strength they were gifted by the gods to wield it in defense of those weaker than them. It is a sacred duty that the strong are meant to uphold." He explained to her as he tucked her in.
"That's quite the mission." Ruby said, a hint of awe in her voice.
Azura smiled. "That is simply what I was taught. Father told me that, while I may have been born weak and talentless, there are gifts I was born with. The gifts of determination, grit, perseverance, and sheer willpower." He told her.
"Then I'll make sure you survive to fulfill that mission." Ruby replied with a smile.
Azura smiled back as he finished tucking her in. "Thank you, Ruby. Now focus on getting better to make sure that you can." He told her gently.
"Can you at least take me to Gym Class today? I want to do something, even if it's just watching." Ruby asked.
Azura chuckled a bit. "That much I can do. As long as the others make sure you do not physically participate." He told her.
Ruby rolled her eyes as Azura turned to pick up the platter. Yet as he did, Ruby saw a symbol on the side of the tea kettle. A crest of an outstretched bat wing. Just as Azura turned to leave, Ruby spoke up.
"What's that symbol on the tea kettle mean?" Ruby asked curiously.
Azura flinched a bit as he looked down at it. "It is… the crest of House Blackslate, a warrior family of Mistral. A family that an old friend of mine once belonged to… before it was wiped out in a single night with its survivors being scattered to the winds…" He explained.
"I'm… sorry for your loss." Ruby replied sympathetically.
Azura shook his head. "It is fine. You could not have known." He told her before he walked out, gently shutting the door behind him.
That Afternoon: Gym Class
"Alright, people! Keep moving! I want action today, not pants wetting! Well, not unless you want the Lancers to eat you alive today!" Red's voice roared out, before blowing his whistle firmly.
The obstacle course was set up with a usual level of terrifying death traps and parkour bits. However, at the end before the rock wall today was a massive hive of Lancer Grimm. The hornet-like monsters were kept where they were supposed to be by a large, electrified net over the obstacle course. Which was not exactly helping those running the gauntlet. As Weiss and Blake were finding out.
"Why do we have to work in pairs today!?" Weiss called out, barely avoiding a nasty fall.
"It is important for Huntsmen to be able to work together. This is day one information, princess." Red explained before casually looking at his clipboard.
"Heiress!!!" Weiss snapped back, barely avoiding another nasty near-fall.
"I don't think the Grimm, or I, care too much about that. Also, Lancer on your six." Red said nonchalantly.
Weiss barely dodged the attack from the Lancer before thrusting with Myrtenaster, killing it. Blake leapt over with catlike grace to Weiss and offered her a hand up. "Need some help, Weiss?" She asked, an eyebrow raised.
"... Alright, fine!" Weiss yelled back reluctantly.
As they did so, they saw Azura and Rena making their way through the course with ease, leaping across it like a pair of spider monkeys. Weiss glared in frustration at the ease with which her friends moved through the obstacles next to her.
"Any ideas, Blake?" Weiss asked.
"... We pick up the pace and work together?" Blake asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"Fine. Let's just make this quick." Weiss sighed.
The two then began making their way through the course together. Swinging across ropes, leaping across log-sized posts, and dodging snapping jaw traps and Lancers. However, they could not make enough headway to catch up to Azura and Rena, who were gaining a quick lead.
"All right! This is taking too long!" Weiss yelled, as she activated one of the Dust rounds in Myrtenaster's chamber.
A pair of yellowish-white Glyphs appeared under them, glowing with electric light. Soon, the two found themselves speeding up dramatically as an unfamiliar sensation flowed through Blake.
"How did you-" Blake quickly asked, surprised by her own talking speed.
"Time Dilation Glyph!" Weiss replied just as quickly.
Blake nodded in response as the two took off after the leader and strategist of Team AZRE. As they moved at much higher speed, they rushed by Azura and Rena quickly, causing a gust of air to rush past the two as black and white streaks.
"What the hell was that?!" Rena yelled in shock as she was hit by the wind.
"Offhand? I would say Weiss and Blake…" Azura replied in a deadpan.
"I have no idea how you two just did that, but it was cool! Extra credit achieved!!" Red called out, before jotting down something on his clipboard.
Azura sighed and got down on one knee in front of Rena. "Rena, climb aboard. We are catching up to them." He told her, offering her a piggyback ride.
"They've gone monochromatic. How exactly do you propose we do that?" Rena asked.
"Just trust me. I have a way." Azura explained, motioning his head for her to climb aboard.
"... Alright, fine." Rena sighed, before jumping onto his back.
Azura then activated his Semblance, a sapphire blue lightning-like Aura surrounding him. Soon, azure-blue streaks of lightning, something completely new to Rena and the others, shot off him. It was then that Rena found her hair standing on end, as well as Azura's.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Rena yelled.
"Just hold on tight! We are about to kick it into high gear!!" Azura bellowed before taking off in a streak of lightning like a bolt from the heavens as a boom of thunder was heard.
"OH SHIIIIIIT!!!" Rena screamed as she hung on for dear life.
Weiss and Blake smiled as they enjoyed their lead. However, they were quickly caught off guard when a streak of sapphire and azure-blue electricity shot by them in the blink of an eye. The speed at which it moved kicked up a gust of wind that nearly blew them off the obstacle course.
"Whoa, what was that?!" Blake quickly asked in disbelief as she and Weiss held on, trying to keep balanced.
"Just keep focused on running! We're almost there!" Weiss quickly yelled back.
From the sidelines, everyone not participating stood in shock at what they just witnessed. Some began to murmur about it as Ruby looked on in awe.
"Wow… that's so cool…" Ruby said.
"How'd he even do that? Ruby, can you follow his movements…?" Yang asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. Well, not as well as I normally can. Stupid poison…" Ruby replied, grumbling out the rest.
"I don't think the poison has anything to do with it right now…" Yang said in disbelief.
"YES, IT DOES!!" Ruby snapped before pouting and crossing her arms.
It was then that the streak of lightning that was Azura and Rena quickly approached the rock wall. Seeing Azura not slowing down, Rena started getting nervous.
"Um… Azura? I think it's about time you stop…" Rena told her team leader only to be ignored as he kept going. "Azura…? AZURA!"
However, Azura only sped up even more. Rena screamed as they bolted even faster towards the rock wall, afraid they were going to crash. However, to the shock of her and the observers, Azura planted his foot onto the wall before beginning to run up it. To the others, it looked like the streak of lightning was rushing up the rock wall, the surface cracking with each foot fall.
"OH, COME ON!!!" Ruby cried out in disbelief.
"Ruby. Please calm down. You're going to overexert yourself." Ember said, patting her shoulder.
Ruby continued to pout. "He's still not faster than me…" She said stubbornly.
Soon, Azura and Rena scaled the rock wall by running up it before running back down the other side. With a gust of wind, they crossed the finish line as Azura skidded to a stop, a gust of wind rushing past Red and nearly blowing his papers off his clipboard. Looking up, Red saw Azura panting lightly as his electric footsteps burned the floor while the lightning and aura disappeared.
"To be expected. No extra credit." Red said, before putting an X on his clipboard.
"Oh, come on! I ran vertically up and down the rock wall with that move!!" Azura called out in exasperation as he let Rena robotically climb off; her hair blown back stiff from the force of the air as it rushed past them.
"Excluding the bias of already knowing you. You didn't do anything different than what they did." Red explained.
"Yes, I did! They used one of Weiss' Glyphs while I used my Semblance and a special technique! And I did it while carrying someone!" Azura pointed out in frustration.
"Let me rephrase that for you. How was the end result any different?" Red asked, his eyebrow raised.
"I didn't have to use Dust like she did!" Azura added.
"You had to use an aura technique and your Semblance, to produce the same end result of going really fast." Red explained.
"But I went much faster!!" Azura pointed out.
"It's an obstacle course, not a sprint!" Red shot back.
"We made it through the obstacles and broke the record!" Azura said in anger.
"No, you didn't." Red replied.
"Oh, come on! It's going to take forever to fix my hair and you're telling me it was for nothing?!" Rena demanded in anger, finally getting over her shellshock.
"First, I wasn't taking times. Second, Professor Port is the fastest to ever complete the obstacle course. And I highly doubt you beat his time." Red explained.
"What!?" Azura and Rena yelled in unison.
Red pointed to the far wall, where trophies and victory photos resided in a large glass case. The one that Red pointed to showed a younger, but portlier version of a certain mustached professor. Despite his lack of mustache in those days, he sported a flagrantly long grey mullet to complement his long bangs.
"... Professor Port?! Are you kidding me?!" Azura asked in stunned disbelief.
"I don't know either. I just work here. All right, next set, you're up!" Red said.
"What…? How…? Why…? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!" Azura and Rena yelled in sheer disbelief.
"Move along, you two!" Red yelled over at them.
With dejected sighs, Rena and Azura climbed down the side of the rock wall, with Weiss and Blake following behind them. Once they arrived back with their friends, everyone had a good look at Ruby. Seeing her up and about, especially in athletic wear, it drew so much more attention to how pale and thin she had gotten. As if the poison ate away not just her body, but her very soul.
Ruby sighed deeply before turning to look at them. "Good job, everyone." She said.
"You would have done better than any of us, Ruby." Weiss told her partner, trying to be reassuring.
"Ahem!" Azura loudly cleared his throat.
"Like I said, better than any of us. Especially considering that a certain someone had to cheat to win." Weiss replied.
"It is not cheating! I just used what skills I have!" Azura replied in frustration.
"Azura. We are trying to cheer up Ruby." Blake said sternly.
"I have a way to cheer her up. This may get me in trouble with one of my sensei's back home, but Ruby: What would you say to me teaching you that technique I used on top of my Semblance to help Rena and I beat Weiss and Blake?" Azura replied before smiling at the red reaper as he made his offer.
Ruby's eyes widened at that. "You would?" She asked eagerly.
"Like hell, you're not! She's gonna speed out of existence or something!" Yang snapped.
"Oh, come on, Yang. This is not a comic book. No one can move that fast." Azura replied, rolling his eyes.
Yang's face went deadpan. "Have you seen how fast she runs already?" She asked.
"I have. And her being able to move even faster would work to your team's advantage." Azura told her with a smile. "Besides, look at that face."
Yang slowly looked down at her baby sister to see Ruby looking up with puppy dog eyes and a quivering lip. She even had a small tear drop run down from her eye.
"Ruby. No. Don't you do this. You're a wolf. Have some dignity." Yang said in protest.
Tears began running down both of Ruby's eyes as she kept doing the puppy dog eyes to her big sister.
"Alright, fine! Gods, why do you have to be so cute!!" Yang yelled as she finally caved.
"YAY!" Ruby cheered, perking right up as she weakly hugged her big sister.
"But you're learning this after you've made a full recovery." Yang sternly said to her.
"... I'll take it. After all, a win is a win." Ruby replied with a smile.
"Well, the version I used is a more advanced version. I will need to teach her the two component techniques of the basic version and how to combine the two before going from there." Azura explained.
"So, our fearless leader gets to be taught by her lovable Tiger Bushi. How romantic." Blake said with an evil smile.
Azura and Ruby blushed. "Your silence would be greatly appreciated, Blake…" They said simultaneously.
Meanwhile: In an Outskirt Alley of Vale City
The echoes of the hustle and bustle of Vale's heart rang through the outskirts, covering the movements of the crooks and villains that called it home. In one such grime and shadow covered alley, two dark cloaked figures waited impatiently. One was tall and burly in build with a pair of boar tusks sticking out from his hood. The other was also well-muscled but built slightly more for speed and agility with a white tiger tail sticking out from just beneath his cloak.
"What's the hold up?" The boar tusked man growled.
"Patience, dear brother. They'll be here." The white tiger tailed man told him placatingly.
"Why must we wait around in dirty alleys for scum like them?" The boar man asked, his annoyance clear in his voice.
"Because, if we don't, they'll kill us all and our subordinates. And our leader can't manifest his 'unique gifts' against their boss for some reason. A reason that even he can't explain." The tiger-tailed man replied.
The Boar tusked man snorted. "We're supposed to be better than this." He said dejectedly.
"I know Ankoku. I know. But we hopefully won't have to do this for too much longer." The tiger-tailed man replied.
"You know, you two aren't very good at keeping a low profile." A male voice said before the source of it walked around the corner.
The two turned to see Mercury and Emerald walking around the corner with smirks on their faces. The two Faunus scowled at them, before turning to face and address them.
"Sorry for the delay. Boss had us on another job. Had to fight a cat man. Like…" Mercury explained before being at a loss for words.
"Like a puma or something." Emerald added with a smirk.
"Yeah. That's it." Mercury chirped with a smile.
The two figures glared at them, a pair of dark eyes visible underneath the boar Faunus's hood and a pair of blues visible beneath the white tiger Faunus's own. "If we weren't being strong armed into this, I'd-" The boar Faunus growled out only to be interrupted by Mercury.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. You don't like us; we don't like you. We got something in common. Now we have got what you're looking for. Do you have what we're here for?" Mercury asked, leaning against the dark brick wall next to him.
With a glare, the boar Faunus named Ankoku grunted in irritation. "Give it to them, Baihu." He told his brother.
Pulling out a flash drive, the now identified Baihu waited until Emerald or Mercury pulled out what they had for them. Nodding, Emerald pulled out a large black-bindered book as she looked back at him.
"Give me the book and you'll get the drive." Baihu told her with a glare.
"You will. Just curious what you boys need a book about spirit mumbo jumbo for." Emerald said before throwing Ankoku the book.
"You don't need to know. Let's just say our leader needs the information in that book for something important." Ankoku told her with a snort.
"You got what you wanted. Hand over the train schedules." Mercury sternly ordered.
Growling in anger, Baihu tossed Mercury the flash drive. Catching it, Mercury smirked as he tucked it into his pocket.
"Pleasure doing business with you boys. I'll make sure your boss gets a good review from us." Mercury replied sardonically.
With that, Emerald and Mercury slipped back into the shadows and disappeared. Once their footsteps faded away, Ankoku growled in fury and punched the wall hard enough to crack and crater it.
"Damn those two!! I wish we didn't have to play nice with those two smug assholes!" Ankoku nearly roared in fury as the wall crumbled before him.
"Calm yourself, brother. Our master knows what he's doing. He wouldn't have signed that pact if he didn't." Baihu said.
Ankoku growled, then sighed in frustration. "Fair enough. I just hope that his Zodiac contact is right about that book and keeps up his end of the deal if we can find an opening to deliver this information to him…" He replied, clearly trying to calm himself.
"If our Master's contact is lying to us Ankoku, then we have a lot more to worry about than that book being wrong." Baihu replied worriedly before they two slipped away into the shadows.