บท 10: Birdy No!

04:55 20 feb 2020

Blackbeak had just been minding his own business flying with a cluster of sticks to his and his mates nest, when a two legger slammed into him causing him to lose control and somersault into the ground below. It was not a pretty sight. His luck was not the best either as he had landed on a wild boars back. The shock hit the pig hard as he panicked and began to buck and jump around sending the poor bird onto the stampeding ground. As he tried to fly himself back into the air a fox was waiting to ambush him and bit off a few of his feathers.

He fought and cawed his way past the hungry creature and got back to the safety of the sky. If he ever sees another two legger ever again no matter the circumstances he's sure to drop a surprise on their heads. All of a sudden a large shadow was cast over the bird. As he glanced upwards to see if it was an eagle gunning for him an even scarier thing appeared. It was a two legger! Falling at him at breakneck speeds. He didn't even have time to dodge his enemy.

*Wham!*

"Birdy No!" Doug yelped in shock and disbelief. How could he not have noticed the poor bird in his line of landing sight. From this point onwards he would not let another thing escape his senses, he promised internally.

As he fell faster and faster to the earth below, he took out one of his machetes and stabbed it into a nearby tree and slid down until he landed on a tall tree branch.

'Now, before I start the major hunt. Let's get some practice in by taking care of the prying eyes.' he thought as he stretched his arms. 'Wonder how many of them they put on me. Maybe a few hundred?'

Doug flexed his legs by crouching as low as possible till his heels barely touched his lower back.

'Well. Let's get this over with, the sooner I get this done, the faster I can hunt this creature down.' A devious smirk creeped onto Doug's face. "Guess its time to get a short exercise in huh?"

And with that he launched like a bullet leaving the branch exploding into splinters and tiny pieces.

{At the academy}

Ozpin had just decided to log in to the drones after taking a nice lunch break after he had recently arrived back. When he did however, the last thing he expected was to see a "Lost Connection" screensaver over a black background. Just then Ms. Goodwitch waltzed into his office looking angry and irritated.

Ozpin: By the looks of things I take it you know what happened? That only took roughly what....23 minutes?

Goodwitch: And the ones that caused this to happen. It appears our dear pupil took it upon himself to deal with the drones along with a helper.

Ozpin: He had help? Don't tell me...

Goodwitch: Yes it was #31. We were able to bring them to the same rough location by using both drones to draw them together before they were destroyed. Speaking of which I have some footage you also might want to see.

Ozpin: Show me.

As she pulled up the virtual reality hologram it spread throughout the entire room till it made a full recreation of what happened in the northern squadron of Beacon Forrest only a few minutes prior.

{Ten Minutes ago in the Woods}

Doug had just taken care of what he thought was the last drone when all of a sudden what seemed to be a camera snapshot had caught his attention.

"There's still one more? But why would it make noise if it was trying to keep an eye on me? Seems counterproductive." Doug mumbled as he began to leap from tree to tree getting closer to the machine. Only instead of quickly disposing of it he let it fly in any direction it wanted. And from what he could tell it lead him west of his original location.

'Are they trying to tell me they found where he is? If I continue to follow this one will I find him?' As he got lost in thought he almost missed a feral growl ahead of him, causing him to pull out a blade and throwing it in the general direction of the sound. A small yip could be heard as another drone crashed head on into the one leading him and a petite creature slightly smaller than his own size came tumbling out of the tree leaves, hitting its forehead into a low hanging branch knocking it out cold.

It resembled a Fennec Fox with three horns on its head and had wings as large as a great grey owl. Each feather a different shade of color than the others, a rainbow of colors. But red was splattered on a few as it bled from its forearm where my throwing knife was lodged. On its forehead was a small cut and bruise where it had headbutted the branch. Considering how hard it hit its head, he wouldn't put it past him that it got a slight concussion. It was clear that this wasn't the Grimm he was tasked at finding but at the same time it was the closest clue he had to finding it. His mind ran a mile a minute as questions ran through his mind.

He immediately began to analyze and think of ways to possibly bring the creature into submission at once. Facing an unknown enemy that you weren't given any information on and expecting top notch results are just plain foolish. But he had to, his future and power were at stake. He stopped thinking up scenarios and began to walk towards the creature. Step by step he got closer, until he stood over it making sure that it was unconscious. After checking its heartbeat he sheathed his Machete then began to search his pockets for some rope and gauze.

"What exactly are you?" Doug mumbled to himself. He had never seen anything like this before. He took some paracord and began tying its limbs and mouth before it woke up again. After tending to its wound he started to walk over to the two drones to make sure they weren't still broadcasting. They may be totaled but that doesn't meant they were destroyed all the way.

As he bent down to check on the machine a small shift of noise behind him let him know something was happening. He turned his head slowly to come face to face with the foxlike creature who had now a snarling face of razor sharp teeth ready to tear him to shreds. The binds that were holding him before now turned to dust from whatever power it held. But before he could pull one of his knives out to fight a voice in his head told him to stop and let the fox do what it liked. He couldn't quite understand why he should listen to the voice but he obeyed and simply stood there.

[Who are you?] the voice entered his mind demand as the creature glared into his eyes.

"I am Doug." He replied as if he had no control over his words. "A student at Beacon Academy. I am a first year."

[Why have you come here? And what is your purpose for being here?]

"I was tasked to find an escaped experiment that was recently in Professor Ozpins possession. It escaped and I am here to try and find it."

[Am I the experiment that you were looking for? Did they send you after me?]

"No I am not searching for you but you could be a clue that leads me back to the one I am looking for."

The creature slowly let its snarl fade as it looked away in thought.

As its gaze wandered off of him Doug could feel the hold on his mind keeping him from moving slip slightly. Taking advantage of the opportunity he struggled to get his body under his control again by kicking a substantial amount of dirt into the creatures face.

[WHA-?! AGH! How dare you! When I can see again you are in for it! URGH! I'll kill you for this disrespect you despicable cretin! Do you hear me you contemptible fuckwit?!]

"As if I'll let you." Doug felt as if his brain was slowly melting away. He focused all his might to keep moving. It was like being held down by weighted clothes over 200 lbs. For some reason this creature can gain control of others just by being close to them, or was it by eyesight? Either way he needed to put this animal down for time being.

[I am Hjálmarr, the enlightened seer! Second only to Baldr the Undying!] The creature clawed at its face and tried to get the intrusion from its eyes.

'Undying? Who would hold a title like that? Oh forget it, I need to take care of this guy before I even worry about something else.' Doug grit his teeth and shot towards the creature with breakneck speeds arching his leg high into the air. It was a breathtaking Axe Kick that was so perfect a martial artist master would cry at his form. He brought it down behind the creatures skull at the beginning of its spine. All of a sudden he felt much lighter than what he was being subjected to earlier, safe to say it was a major relief. If he didn't bring down this animal he would have been in real danger. For all he knew it could've made him take his own life just by telling him to.

'If I am thinking correctly and most likely I am, this is one of the powers that David uses on me all the time. He may have said that we were the same person and all sharing the same consciousness but I doubt he was telling the full truth. Its whatever though, because I'm not aiming to be an exact replica of him anyway. What I want is to be an original with my own loadout of pure power and strength.'

Doug detached his duffel bag from his belt behind his back and began to take out some steel cannisters and pipes that held certain chemicals and powders of dust. "Wish I had some of my surgical tools, but I guess my blades will work just fine. Now.....Lets get to work. Ah, before I almost forget." He muttered to himself as he walked over to the downed drones once more, this time succeeding in stomping them to complete destruction.

{Back at Beacon}

Ozpin had just finished his tea and watching the recorded video from his assistants scroll.

"What do you think he's done to experiment #31? If he's killed it then its fine but if he's started to dig any deeper then he may as well be a loose end."

"Worry not Ms. Goodwitch he is just a curious one is all. If anything he could possibly help us with the different tests we put them through. I can even see him being one of their overseers. With him I doubt we'd have another escapee on our hands." Ozpin set his cup down on the coaster and rewound the video a bit to where Doug first was going to break the feed and the fox had first broke his binds. But his countenance fell as he stared at the scroll with an unsettling look. One that Ms. Goodwitch hadn't seen for a long time. Not since....

"Is there something wrong professor?" She had walked up beside him and lightly placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Oh um. It's just.... I could be wrong but has Doug ever shown manifestation of Aura externally?"

"No I do not believe so, but what does that ha-" and that's when she saw it. On the screen Ozpin zoomed in to Doug's right hand. What seemed to be a normal fingerless leather glove soon showed what appeared to be a red and white light bled through the fabric.

"W-what does this mean? I thought that-"

"Glynda."

This was the first time Ozpin had called her by her first name. So when he called out to her it took a few seconds for it to register in her mind.

"Y-yes sir?"

"I need you to gather all the scientists and check Doug's medical history. See if you can get a sample of his blood when he had his immunity shots. Also try to get into contact with Qrow at once, I need to speak to him as soon as possible, do you understand?"

"As you wish Professor." Ms. Goodwitch took back her scroll then briskly walked out of Ozpins office to fulfill her duties.

Once she was gone Ozpin gazed down at his hands which were shaking as if he had Parkinson's disease. "I'm not that old yet. *Sigh* I need to calm down or it'll effect my health." He clenched his fists and slowly opened them making them still.

"Now, all that's left to do is hope that the boy has found a lead to #7 and the rest of the escapees. If their leader has fallen they soon will fall in line to be taken back." He leaned back in his reclining office chair, took off his glasses and began to clean them with a silk cloth while getting lost in thought.

All of a sudden one of the monitors came to life with one of the teachers reporting in.

"It seems that all of the students have successfully gotten their relics. They are now on their way back from Beacon forest as we speak. All students have been accounted for except Doug. Do you wish for us to send out a search team to retrieve him?"

"No, that won't be necessary Mr. Kluxis. I believe he'll return once he's good and ready on his own time. We'll just have to wait until he's done with his little project to hold the naming ceremony." Ozpin looked down at his mug to see that it was now empty. *Sigh* "If you don't mind please have one of the staff to bring me a fresh pot of hot coffee. Black if you would."

"Right away Dean, it'll be ready momentarily." The feed suddenly cut out and Oz was left in silence once again, the perfect setting to think to his heart's content.