Blake Belladonna, the Black of Team RWBY, stared outside her window in to the endless rain as it pattered against her window. The weather right now, for lack of a better word, sucked. .She had just finished latest edition in the Ninjas of Love series, and now had nothing to do, no homework to complete, and no monsters to kill. Her team moved around her, minding their own business
"Ya know, Blakey…. staring at it won't make it go away." Yang supplied cheekily, taking a seat next to her on her bed. The faunus's eye narrowed for a second, before looking down in resignation.
"I know, I'm just have nothing to do right now, and the weather warning won't let me leave our room to the library." Her cat ears flattened again her head, but shot straight up as her partner slapped her on the back, the pain shooting through her spine.
Ow…
"I know what we can do!" A grin to their once comatose leader, who quickly bounced towards them, followed by their resident Ice Queen.
"Ooh, please tell us, dear sister, any more of this debauchery, and I'll be in dire straits!" Ruby exclaimed with flair, and the back of her hand resting on her forehead. The two girls stared incredulous, until Weiss explained," She's been watching a lot of soap operas."
"Wha-! Have not!"
"Have to!"
Blake and Yang grinned at their little argument. A devilish light came to Yang's eyes.
"Speaking of sappy soap opera, Blake, did you get a tan?"
"What does a tan have to do with-"
"Have been around the Sun recently?"
The three girls immediately groaned, completely ignoring the question. "Yang, we already talked about this, no more puns! Seriously, one more and I think I'm actually going to start considering switching to another team!" Weiss scolded half-heartedly. Unfortunately, their fellow leaders took it too literally. Tears came into Ruby's eyes as she held onto her sister.
"How could you betray us, Weiss? Is this because you're having problems with Nep-"
"One more word, and I'll have your tongue!"
Silence came to the room for a moment.
"… wait, so you like girls? I mean I won't judge but-"
"YANG!"
The blond girl raised her hands quickly in defeat, letting out a laugh. The ice queen let out a weak chuckle.
"My love life is the equivalent of a tree in winter. Just dead." Weiss hugged her knees together, hiding her face. The two sisters then got up and hugged her, saying how it would get better… hopefully.
Blake was then thinking of Sun. Its not that she didn't like him. She just didn't like him in that way. He was always really fun to have around, and not a bad guy at all, even if he was part monkey. She was entirely focused on her Huntress training, and hardly any boys ever crossed her path. Well, except one…
"Yeah, Ruby likes Jaune anyways." Yang quipped helpfully, nudging Blake a little. A confused expression appeared on the prodigy's face.
"Of course I like him; we're the best of buds, leaders in cohorts, comrades in arms against the forces of….. EVIL!" Ruby exclaimed, getting into a faux karate stance. The three girls laughed at her antics. Their leader was still an innocent girl, despite being warrior against Grimm.
Blake considered him then. Jaune Arc, leader of their sister team, JNPR. He had come a long way from his bumbling old self from initiation. Sure, he couldn't win a single duel against Cardin, and sure, he might not be the best swordsman still, but he was good friend to them all. Despite his weaknesses, he never seemed to be a burden to any of them. After getting help from a certain Mystrali champion, he had improved considerably in all areas of Hunter training. Jaune and Blake didn't really have much to talk about whenever they were alone together, but she sensed that didn't mean much. There were times when he liked to quiet as well, something she could understand entirely. He wasn't half bad looking too.
Well, half bad looking-ish.
Thunder cackled outside, a bright flash illuminating their window, actually causing the four to jump in fright. Ruby had instantly latched on Yang, while Weiss had hidden under the covers. Even the brawler's eyes had widened considerably.
"Wow, that was a little close for comfort." Blake said, a hand to her chest. The other three girls nodded slightly.
Blake then figured she might as well try and sleep. After all, they had a test tomorrow in Ooblec-
What the?
A smoky scent had entered into Blake's senses. Her face scrunched up in confusion, as she got up slowly. Yang was the only one to have noticed her partners discomfort.
"Blake, what's going on?"
Suddenly, the sound of bolt of lightning landing, glass shattering, and loud thump could be heard from their room. The four huntresses got up quickly staring at their door cautiously, each holding up fighting stances.
Pyrrha's voice came from the other room.
"SOMEONE HELP! COME QUICK!"
Blake reacted quickly, her heart hammering in her chest, she ran outside their dorm, ignoring the crowd that had formed outside of the room of JNPR, and ripped open the door to their friends room. Her team quickly followed her as well.
The rain fell into the room quickly, the wind blowing the curtains windy, the night sky dimly illuminating the room. Blake's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, her eyes landing on the form of a tall, muscular man near the window, holding Ren in a headlock, a dagger looming dangerous near his neck. Pyrhha was holding Nora back about a few feet away, who shouted angrily to let her partner go.
"No..Nora! Don't do anything!" The ninja choked out, struggling against the strength of the adult assailant. Never before had Blake seen the ninja in such compromised position. How the heck did this man sneak up on one of the most careful man she had ever known?
"Look, I already know your one of his illusions. I didn't think he was so foolish to use the same trick twice. Now then…. tell me where Zeo Torchwick is." A gravelly voice came form the man, his tone harsh and threatening.
Blake's ears twitched.
Team RWBY stood together next to the remaining members of JNPR, their leaders standing defiantly in front of the adult man.
"Look, this is just a huge misunderstanding, we don't know anyone by the name Zeo, but we do know a Roman Torchwick!" Ruby spoke fast and urgently, trying to all the attention towards herself, instead of the knife held steadfast against her friend's throat.
Blake, unlike her friends, could see the man in his entirety. He was dressed dark, ragged clock. Under it, he seemed to be wearing an black exo-suit, one worn by those in the military. She could tell because it was military grade since his entire suit stuck to his body, revealing his hard muscles. She could see a familiar insignia on the front breast pocket. It was tiny decal of snowflake, with a sword going through horizontally. It came to her a few seconds later.
"The Schnee Dust company…. you got that exo-suit from the Schnee Dust Company, didn't you!" Blake growled, not knowing entirely what she was saying. The Shnee heiress's mouth fell upon slightly, before her expression turned dark.
"Not only have you held my friend hostage, you also dare steal from my company? Identify yourself, you criminal!" Weiss screamed in anger, fist clenched to her side.
The faunus could finally see the right hand corner of the man's face, the rest being covered by a hood. His mouth, once set in a thin line, now was slightly agape. She caught sight of …. a white mustache and scarred skin?
An old man had snuck into one of the most prestigious Huntsman academies known to mankind, and had captured a man known for being uncapturable. Her eyes narrowed in anger, not understanding what she was thinking. She vaguely noticed their headmaster, Ozpin, followed by Glynda Goodwitch.
The old man's cowl suddenly snapped to them both, his grasp on Ren noticeably getting lighter. Taking his chance, Ren lashed out, ripping away from the man's grasp into the the arms of her fellow team. The old man grunted in pain, as he knelt to the floor, one hand to his chest, while the other held himself from falling down completely. He coughed violently, the knife still in his grasp. Blake could hear the man speaking to himself.
"This can't be happening…..his illusions can't think for themselves…nor can he create any of those that are still alive..unless….."
Their headmistress stood in front of her fellow students to protect them, while Ozpin regarded the fallen intruder. His cane tapped as he walked towards the intruder, stopping a few inches away.
"Well, I suppose you could've picked a better day to infiltrate my academy. Do you have anything to say before you're shuffled off to prison?"
Blake could see the old man smile a bit sitting up a little, his cloak now revealing everything except his eyes to them. The student's regarded the old man's appearance, realizing he wasn't as young as they previously thought. They could now see the end of an eye patch that covered the man's right eye, and also the strands of white hair that appeared next to the man's ears.
Seeing that smile, Blake suddenly recalled something that had happened earlier that week…
She was reading in the library, as per usual. Her team had pestered her all morning to leave the library so that they could go out and visit the streets of Vale again. She would have gone on any other day, but the newest shipment of books came in to their library at Beacon Academy, so she wanted to waste no time in getting her hands on them. She sat a table alone, with a view of the Becaon courtyard next to her.
As she was getting started, she felt something bump against her legs. Her eyes quickly darted to the floor, only to then shift to the sight of her leader panting front of her.
"Oh, Ruby, what do you want?"
"Have you seen… hah….have you seen Jaune anywhere? He's our replacement for you, and we really wanted to go see this new horror movie."
She felt a bump against her leg again, this time a little more pressing. A grin quickly sprouted on her face, before it quickly died again, getting into the act.
"No, haven't seen any bumbling knights around her. You know, he might be CRAWLING about." Blake surmised with a poker face to beat all poker faces. Ruby stared at her weirdly for second, before dashing off.
"You know, we already have a bad pun guy, well girl, we don't need another one." Jaune crawled out under the desk, a sheepish expression on his face. The cat woman then laughed a little, before falling silent again. The blond knight dusted himself off, before heading away.
"Hey Blake."
The girl then regarded him with her amber eyes, the grin still not disappearing form her face. He turned, a gave her a smile.
"Thanks a bunch…." She whispered to herself. Her amber eyes fell upon the form of the old man again, but this time, with disbelief. Her mind raced between the image of Jaune's smile and the old man in front of her. She then slowly realized that their fellow knight in shining armor was nowhere to be seen, and the old man sat next to said knight's bed. A seemingly crazy idea popped into her head, one that made absolutely no sense at all.
The old man then actually broke into a chuckle, before laughing out loud. Ozpin and Glynda exchanged confused glances. The old man finished with a smile on his face.
"Mister Ozpin, what kind of a headmaster are you? Don't recognize your own student?" The old man heartily choked, his gruff voice becoming lighter and more recognizable. The students vaguely realized the storm outside had cleared up, no longer did the heavens wail. Ruby was the first one after Blake to realize the truth. Her face morphed from one of surprise, disbelief, sadness, anger, and then finally happiness. The young leader quickly dashed forward, out of the hands of her sister. Yang's follow up warning died in her throat as Blake too, bounded forward. The two girls then stood in between Ozpin and the old man, the crowd now watching the scene unfold with shocked expressions.
"Miss Rose, Miss Belladonna?" The headmaster questioned, two hands now holding his cane. His eyes darted between the two students. One had a rather serious expression, while the other could barely hold in her tears.
"Sorry Mister Oz, I made…. a promise to someone to always protect my friends." Ruby said, now gazing back at the old man, who regarded her with a sharp grin. Weiss, Yang, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren now finally making the connection. All bore expressions of shock and disbelief before racing forward and standing next to their fellow comrades.
"Well, we did make a promise." The old man muttered, shakily standing up, before falling back down again with a grunt of pain, but this time in the arms of Blake. He was quite heavy in her grasp, but nothing she couldn't manage. The old man coughed violently again, the sound rumbling against her skin. She quickly laid the fallen warrior on the ground. He was breathing abnormally, as if he had just been in the race of his life. The faunus ripped the cloak of the man's body, and gasped in wordless shock. He was injured in multiple places, the exo-suit cut open in multiple places. A deep gash ran through the side of his chest, numerous holes in suits right arm(She could only assume those be bullet holes). She ripped of his cowl, and gazed at the scarred face of a friend she used to know. The resemblance was uncanny; he had the same blue eyes, the same eyebrows, the same contours, the same scent(her faunus abilities let her identify people by scent). Under his eyepatch was a harsh burn; he had obviously been through a fire. His hair, normally blonde, had now grown white with age. Thankfully, he hadn't grown bald just yet. That sight would have been unbearable. The only difference was the mustache which he had decided to grow, like he had taken a page out of Professor Port's book. Gone were his boyish looks and thin frame. Here was a man who had come out form nothing; a man who had trained his entire life for the sole purpose of killing Grimm, and fighting for what was right. This was the face of a hero, one who had seen both hardship and success.
She just wished she hadn't seen it so soon, and on someone she knew so well.
She cursed under her breath. She didn't know a damn thing about caring for the injured. An hand found itself on her shoulder.
"Let me do this Blake, its the least I can do for one of my students." Ozpin had an unreadable expression on his face as he sat down on his knees and inspected the man's injuries. A grimace appeared on his face, before his face became impassive once more. Blake's ears flattened, her amber eyes darted to her teammates. Weiss Yang, upon seeing the seemingly broken expression of their teammate, finally realized it themselves, a look of horror coming to Yang's face, while Weiss eye's narrowed in anger. The brawler cursed loudly and raced over to the old man's side, and held his hand in hers. She had never thought in her wildest dreams that his hands would be so strong like they were in hers. The tears came quickly to her eyes, as she berated herself for not realizing it sooner. Upon seeing bittersweet expression on her sister however, she stopped them as soon as they came. She had to be strong.
"Yang…"
"Quiet, Vomit boy, I don't want to hear it."
It was that bubbling laughter that was so uncanny between that guy and the old man, that's how she realized the truth. He was laughing again, for some reason, at her. A half-hearted glare came to her face.
"What?"
"Nothing….the last time I was called Vomit Boy…..The last time I was called Vomit Boy…..I was in the middle of a presentation…. when you so rudely inter-"
She shut him up with a glare."Thats a story for another time."
"YOU - HOW..?" Weiss couldn't even start to yell at him. He had to be used to it by now, considering his age, she darkly considered. Her voice died in her throat, like some kind of great barrier had it off. The old man chuckled again, the familiar voice falling on all their ears.
"Save it, Snow Angel…."
She shut up almost immediately, falling to her knees in front of him, as she could only stare at his wounds. She wondered what he had gone though to get here, wondering what hell had he gone through. His wounds were deep, and she had never seen anything so severe, yet here he was, smiling at her again, calling her snow angel.
Pyrrha had wordlessly crossed the room before Yang and Weiss and cradled the old man's head in her arms, allowing him to breath a little better. His eyes wandered throughout the room before falling on her hair. Her breathing quickened slightly as he regarded her.
"Sorry I called you an illusion….. partner..."
She shushed him quickly, refusing to cry at this moment, eyes closing tightly.. She would be strong for him, she had to be. She had already failed in protecting her partner, and had already failed in caring for his injuries, so the only thing she could do now was comfort him. She only knew how to fight, not how to heal. The old man's smile died, seeing her downtrodden expression. He could imagine herself feeling useless, not being able to fix his wounds like she used to all those years ago, when he repeatedly lost to Cardin.
"Its not your fault… Pyrrha…."
The sobs suddenly overtook her body. She couldn't take it anymore, the sight of her friend in such a horrid state.
The headmistress, upon realizing the truth, quickly ordered every student to retire to their dorms. Not wanting to face their teacher's wrath, the crowd quickly dispersed. If they had stayed, they would have seen slight redness in her eyes, as she quickly raced down the hall to call for the medical division.
Pyrrha realized it not long after, seeing the contours of the old man's face. Tears sprung to her eyes, words of angst dying in her throat. She rushed forward, not hesitating any longer
Ren and Nora both realized it at the same time, the realization came crashing through. Nora raced towards her fearless leader's side, coming into his vision. Upon finally seeing the familiar warmth of his eyes, she smiled shakily, grasping his other hand in hers. Ren cursed himself for not realizing it faster; he had been next to him, for gods sake. He quickly knelt at his side, inspecting his injuries.
"Sorry you have to see your…..what did you call me back then…." The man's eyes scrunched up in pain. A laugh quickly came to the hyperactive girl, the tears now falling form her eyes.
"What do you mean "back then"? You'll… always…. be our fearless leader." She paused to gaze at both Ren and Pyryha who regarded her with the same familiarity. They would always be team JNPR, regardless of what separated them.
Ruby's gaze was focused on his face this entire time. Everyone couldn't help but look to her; she had that quality of being a leader, they guessed, as well as he did. Her mouth was set in a thin line, her silver eyes sharp as she stared at the old man's eyes.
"Staring… again… Ru-"
"Shut it." The finality of her tone cut through them all. They realized that she was the holding the injured form of her first and best friend as an old man. They could not begin to imagine her pain.
"Listen Rubes…..I'm not going to die….we're…..heh….the best of buds….comrades in arms against the forces of…." His voice died suddenly, for he could not remember.
Blake, Weiss and Yang looked to each other with knowing grins.
"EVIL!" They chorused together, staring at their fellow leader, who couldn't help but break out into laughter. Ruby sniffled a little bit before resting her hands on her knees.
"You forgot leaders in cohorts… now that I think about it that doesn't make any sense…" Ruby muttered to herself.
"When have we, Ruby Rose, ever been people to make sense?"
She couldn't argue with that logic.
The old man's eyes finally fell on the form of Blake Belladonna, her face getting more blury, he could feel his consciousness slipping away. But before that…. he needed to say something to Ozpin.
"Mister Ozpin-"
"Its Ozpin now, Mister Arc, you aren't a child anymore, you're an adult. That doesn't change the fact that you will always be my student." His tone was abnormally sharp, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Ozpin….inside left breast pocket…. there is…. a disk….. that can…..only be read by people of my choosing…..you are one of those people..only you can…. help me now…." The old man explained in short gasps. Ozpin nodded his head, a focused expression on his face. The old man took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice.
"Blake…"
They could feel his the power of his voice wash over them, all being directed towards the female faunus. Something in Blake's stomach stirred at that moment, as if he could feel the entirety of his being in that one word; her name. He wanted to convey so much in the time that he was conscious.
"Yes…. Jaune?" She spoke, in a voice so quiet the she was not sure if he heard it or not. But this was Jaune Arc she was talking about; to not hear the voice of a friend was unthinkable for him.
"Even if you don't understand it now….. even if you don't understand me now…know that….regardless of how old you are….or regardless of how old I am….I will always love you."
And with that, darkness overwhelmed, the screams of his friends drowning out like echoes in to the night.