Enslaved To A Flame
Chapter Two
Welcome To Beacon
A sixth sense warned him about the danger as soon as he stepped out of the door. He didn't have time to do much about it. His sword was still in it's holster, and he couldn't tell which direction the attack came from to weave a shield in time.
The hit came from his right, the wooden door shattering as a fist came through it. William had enough time to jump, and start to scrunch up before it hit, sending him tumbling down the hall.
He rolled with it, coming back on his feet, facing his attacker. A blonde in a short sleeved leather jacket, a skirt and leggings. Her arms were covered in yellow punching gauntlets, and as he watched, she swung her right forward. A shell discharged and a reloading sound reached his ears. A thin barrel was just barely visible at the tip of her weapon. William grimaced,
He charged, keeping his sword sheathed. He wouldn't need it for this. She moved to meet him, cocking her right arm back. It looked like a heavy punch. He jumped as she swung forward, a straight punch that was easy to read.
He planted one hand on it and flipped over her. Keeping momentum as he went for the elevator. He mashed the button, and the doors dinged open. He didn't enter though. Instead faced the blonde again as she came back. He ducked her first punch and, before she could pull it back, grabbed it.
His feet stomped on top of hers as he pulled back, over balancing her and throwing her over his head, into the elevator. She landed with a yelp in the back of the elevator, head on the floor and back against the wall. William rolled to his feet, quickly pressing a few of the bottom floor buttons before stepping out. The elevator closed just as she got to her feet. William turned away.
His second opponent was waiting for him to turn around. A black haired girl, a bow in her hair, with golden feline eyes. William paused, considering if she could be a Faunus, but decided that he couldn't be sure. She wielded two weapons, a thick cleaver like object in one hand, a thin sword in the other, a pistol looking mechanism for the hilt.
"Well aren't you polite." William muttered.
She narrowed her eyes at him. It was a very catlike expression. "I don't attack people when their backs are turned."
William watched her as she edged closer. She was experienced. He started to draw his sword, but through better of it. The hall might have been large, but she had two weapons and an advantage in speed. He needed quickness. He drew the Aura Blades out of his pocket, gripping them reversed. Daggers weren't meant to be held upright, but upside-down with the blades pointed to the ground.
The blades came to life in his hands. Buzzing blue edges vibrated slightly in his hands as they channeled his Aura into them. He put his hands up and the girl attacked. She used a flowing style, each attack leading into the next. William was glad he used the daggers, he would not have been able to keep up with his sword. Her attacks were quick, but they lacked any true force, and it let William fend them off one after the other even with the daggers.
He broke her guard a moment later, catching both blades in either of his, and knocked them out wide. He kicked her, making her stagger back as he took off running down the hall, away from the elevator. There should be a window he could jump out of somewhere on the floor.
He rounded the corner and on instinct dropped, sliding on his knees and leaning back as far as he could. A scythe blade slashed through the air above his head. A mechanical crank as something in the mechanism shifted reached his ears. Then it was gone. He didn't even catch a glimpse of the wielder.
He twisted around, getting to his feet as he recognized the next person. The white haired girl from before. Weiss, if he recalled correctly.
He jumped back as she thrust her rapier forwards. He parried and knocked it aside before it could hit. He followed up with a kick, planting his back foot and slamming it into her gut. Even with her Aura blocking it she doubled over. The benefits of having a steel heel.
He glanced behind him, locating the window he needed. It would take him out. He cast out his semblance, his Aura uncoiling off his body, forming strings and threads in his hands. He flicked his hands out, two threads looping around his Aura Blades. He tied them against his thighs as he took off running down the hall.
"Ruby! He's going for the window!" Weiss yelled behind him.
"No shit!" William yelled back.
A blur of red flashed by him, slipping around him and halting in front of the window. Rose petals bloomed beside him, and the girl in red came into focus. A large scythe in her hands and a determined look on her face.
She wore a different outfit from before, a cute little red and black outfit. A long red cloak hung from her shoulders. William almost felt bad for his next move. Almost.
He jerked his hand back harshly, a loop ensnaring her leg as he did so. He retracted the wire as quick as he could, and Ruby's leg came out from under her, spilling her onto the floor. He jumped over her and one of the Aura Blades slid off his thigh. He caught it, driving it into the windowsill as he went out the window.
The air grabbed at his clothing,but he ignored it as he searched the ground. He found a lamp post, and decided that would have to do. A wire looped around his sword, pulling it into his open hands. He flipped it, and it expanded readily into form. A moment later a thick blue cord, fashioned out of his Aura, appeared on either tip. He pulled the string back, an arrow forming on the string as he did so. The broadhead finished crafting itself just as he fired, and a thin blue wire kept it connected to his hand as the arrow shot through a light post, shattering the glass.
The arrow exploded out, threads bending back and wrapping around the post. Above him, the Aura Blade dug into the wall sharply, his weight suddenly on the wire. He grunted, feeling his arms protest as his weight pulled at their sockets. He slid down the wire, approaching the lamppost at a dangerous speed.
The wire disappeared and he hit the ground at a sprint. His legs went out from under him and he tucked into a roll, tumbling several feet in a wild, uncontrolled roll. His Aura didn't have time to coil around him again, and he took it without complaint as the concrete bit into his clothing and exposed flesh.
He came to a halt on his stomach. He paused, assessing the damage for a moment before pushing himself up and getting to his feet. The cloths had held up perfectly, a little dust and dirt on them, but nothing was torn. He dusted himself off and glanced back up. A little red figure could be seen from the broken tower window, and he could only guess what Ruby was thinking.
Still, It gave him plenty of time to get the relic. He took off running down the sidewalk, back in front of the building. His split second decision hadn't given him the best landing area, but the lamp post he aimed for was the closest out of all of them. William wasn't sure if he could have made a longer shot, and didn't wanted to risk missing. Plus, if he missed and had to shoot again, he would have sped up even more. He wasn't sure a lamp post and a hastily stabbed in dagger could handle that force without failing.
The cafeteria came up quickly, as did one of his opponents. Weiss. A glyph appeared under her, and he realized that she must have jumped out, using her glyphs to navigate down safely. A far better option than the one he used.
She had beat him to the cafeteria doors, and he had to guess that Ruby was inside as well. She was fast and her semblance seemed to be speed. Roman's reports had matched that and William wouldn't be surprised if she'd just taken the stairs, flying down them and bouncing off the walls down the entire tower.
Weiss thrust her free hand forward, and William felt a glyph under his foot as he took the next step. So he tripped, tumbling over the glyph and rolling back to his feet. Weiss seemed stunned, or perhaps irked.
She blocked his first strike, a casual overhead slash, which led into a more complex sequence. She reacted well to it, fending off the attacks well, but missed him casting out his semblance again. He feinted a grab to her wrist, his wire prepared as she knocked it aside. It coiled around her wrist, an unnoticed trap.
William extended the wire, blocking her next attack as he brought his foot up, and stomped on the wire as he pulled it tight. Weiss' hand jerked down, her surprise evident in her expression. William took a moment to shift his weight then pivoted on the foot, using his other leg to give her a roundhouse kick to the side. He dissolved the wire as he did, and she went stumbling out of his way.
He rushed to the doors, throwing them open and ducking inside. To his surprise, it was the blonde waiting for him. She stood by the little pedestal that held the relic, a black rook chess piece.
"So we meet again." He mused, walking forward as she did. She matched his pace, so they'd meet in the middle.
There was a swagger to her step and a grin on her lips as she sized him up. He gave her time to as he did the same. Plenty of power, but she was lacking in dexterity and finesse. She could throw a punch and more than handle one if he had to guess.
"You ready for this hotshot?" She challenged, cocking both of her gauntlets.
William clicked his tongue, considering the room for a moment. Lunch tables spanned the whole room with the relic in the exact middle. Doors stood on either side. The main doors which he came in through, and side exit doors. A cooking area was at the far end, and he could even see the cooks through the window getting ready for lunch.
"Why not." He replied with a sigh, wading into the fight.
"Oh come on!" She piped back, a dark gleam in her eye. "Act like you'll enjoy a dance with me!"
William pursed his lips. "It's not the dance I'm dreading. It's the rejection that follows."
She led with punches and William's eyes analyzed each one. She had a pattern, left right left right. A constant series of blows, an ideal execution if you could connect. Little explosions rocked out of her gauntlet barrels and William did his best to knock them aside. Three connected, but his Aura took the damage.
She was definitely the heavy hitter of the group.
William ducked around her next punch and his hand ghosted up the side of her arm, wrapping one of his wires around it, making sure he had a hold on it for later. He gave that wire plenty of slack, as he didn't need her noticing it early and prying it off.
He ran, to the relic this time. He took two steps and jumped to the side, landing on a table. An explosion impacted the ground where he was. The blonde had rockets. Of course she had rockets. William grimaced, rolling his eyes. He jumped again, turning to address them directly. They were faster than Dust Rounds, But slower than regular bullets.
He flicked his hand out, the fingers dancing as he wove two shields, and strung them up from the overhead lights of the cafeteria while anchoring them to the legs of the tables in the room. The tension gave it more strength and let him put less Aura into maintaining it's shape. He backpedaled, weaving shields for each rocket, or adjusting others to compensate. The blonde fired off more, advancing on him as she shot. William was careful to make sure that the wire on her arm wasn't incorporated or tangled.
She reached him as he got to the relic, bounding onto the table and charging him. He planted a foot on the wire attached to her arm, pulling all the slack out of it and snapping it tight. She twisted around, smart enough to realize it was bad to turn any other way. William's leg came up as a kick to the face that knocked her to the tabletop. William threw another wire out, wrapping it around the relic and pulling it towards him off of the pedestal.
The blonde was getting to her feet now and William looked up as the doors burst open. The black haired girl from before. William caught the relic, wires looping around it, making a harness as he looped wires around his arms and thighs, forming a full body harness, to make sure it stayed on his back.
William planted his foot on the blonde, keeping her down as he focused on the black haired girl. He pulled his sword out, transforming it to bow form. The string buzzed to life, and he pulled it back, his Aura already constructing an set it on the string, Aura already constructing another, held in his ring and pinky finger. He drew back with his thumb and index finger, and launched the shaft across the room at the black hair girl.
She shimmered and re-appeared running on the tabletop next to where the arrow flew. William managed two more shots, both missing, before he suddenly and painful realized his mistake. The blonde could take a hit.
He crumbled as she slammed her fist into the back of his knee. He grimaced, feeling pain radiate up it with the explosion. William swore, but he focused the pain and took it out on her, putting his full weight in his other knee and driving it down onto her stomach.
She grunted and William rolled forward, collapsing the bow as the black haired girl rushed to meet him. Again they traded blows, which William got the better of, leaving her flexing her off hand. Her knuckles struck more than once with the back of his blade.
He turned as the blonde came at him. He realized his second mistake there. Before, her eyes had been a pale color, not a pink, but a light purple. Now they burned red, her hair shining brightly. Her semblance perhaps? Either way, this wasn't going to be pretty.
"Shit." He swore as her fist encompassed his vision.
He tore through the table, and the next one, only survival skill and experience allowing him to keep his grip on his sword. He hit the far wall a moment later, feeling the plaster crack as his back slammed into it. Groaning, seeing? his vision wash red and feeling the faint trickle of blood where his head had cracked the plaster wall.
He shook his head and peeled himself out as the black and yellow pair rushed him. The blonde had calmed and they were running at him at a normal pace, neither in a hurry. They didn't realize he had taken hits like that before. He wouldn't be surprised if that could knock out most people. He reached up and touched his face. He was not surprised to see blood on his thumb, likely gushing out of his nose.
He sniffled then blew his nose, blood and mucus coming out as he dropped to the ground. He turned and noticed the disgusted face on the black haired girl as his Aura collected around him, staunching the bleeding. For a moment, she seemed stunned, unsure if she should attack or not since he was bleeding.
"You took that without Aura?" The blonde called from farther back. "Holy shit!"
William didn't reply as he turned and sprinted out the door, throwing them open with his shoulder. They swung open on greased hinges and he went running. Ruby hadn't ambushed him and Weiss wasn't outside. Which meant they were both waiting for him inside the tower, likely in front of or near the elevator to Ozpin's office.
The blonde came out behind him, but he ignored her. He could outrun both of them. Neither were faunus, and even if they were, he had experience escaping pursuits.
He hit the school building, taking the stairs up to the next floor. He vaulted the first railing, but swung his legs up further, hooking them on the next, and swung himself up the full flight, hitting the door with his back. He stumbled into someone, knocking them on their back, but he didn't have time to apologize as he kept running. He'd take the elevator from the third floor, but he needed to hit the second floor button so he didn't have to wait long.
He reached it, hitting the button and sprinting away, but the blonde had caught up. Behind her a blond haired boy in a school uniform, along with a redhead with a golden tiara, seemed to be examining the fight. The black haired girl was rushing out the stairwell, knocking the boy over again.
He took the opportunity and charged the blonde. She reacted with a left hook,but he knocked it aside with his elbow and wrapped his arm around her neck. He noticed her eyes had returned to their lilac hue. He hoped that meant she'd calmed down. He twisted her around, her back to his chest. She seemed surprised that someone would try a chokehold on her, and her partner recovered, rushing them as William knocked her legs out. He dropped to one knee and looked up to measure the distance as she ran to them. William felt the blonde shove her arms up, moving to push his arm over her head.
"Yang!" The other girl yelled.
William dropped the blonde, Yang apparently,and he heard a gasp, letting him know she was fine. He lept forward, reaching for the other girl's ankles. Her gaze flickered between him and Yang, and he noticed a shadow to his left. She had pulled her disappearing act again. He caught himself with his hands and swept his leg around, knocking her to the ground anyway.
As he pulled himself to his feet the elevator dinged behind him. Now was as good a time as ever. he ran back to it before mashing the button for the top floor.
The doors closed as Yang and her partner reached it. the elevator was already on it's way. William checked his equipment. he had an Aura Blade left, his sword,and Lockpick set in the cargo pocket. Nothing to wipe his nose on.
He reached up, feeling the way it broke with his hands. He took a deep breath and concentrated for a moment. He'd set his nose before, but it was a bit of a dangerous process. If he set it wrong then it'd heal crooked. Roman was excellent at it and William could hardly tell that the man had broken his nose three times before. William wasn't the best, but he could get it straight at least.
He let out a growl as he wrenched it into place. His Aura burned and he felt it help realign the shattered bone fragments, edging them into place. The cartilage felt smooth, but he ran a finger down it, making sure. It felt like he'd aligned it right. He could only hope since he didn't have a mirror on hand. He wiped his nose on the back of his hand, ignoring the smear of blood it left on it. He wasn't about to wipe it on his pants. He just got them.
The elevator came to a halt at the seventh floor. The doors open and William just glared at the two waiting. Ruby and Weiss. They regarded him for a moment then each other. The elevator as too small for any real fighting. Ruby sheathed her weapon, and Weiss kept hers out. Then they both stepped in.
"Ruby." William greeted. "I didn't know you were a team leader."
Weiss lashed out, forcing William to dodge to the side as the rapier sliced through the air by his chest. He didn't have his Aura, it was in his semblance. which was unfortunately being used for the harness. He grimaced.
Ruby smiled at him. "Nice to meet you. I didn't realize we'd be fighting today either." She said it cheerily.
"You have a nice-" William hissed while drawing his remaining Aura Blade and knocking the next rapier thrust to the side. Weiss lashed a hand out forming a glyph at his feet.
He jumped, but found she'd anticipated it, and put one on the ceiling as well. He slammed the Aura Blade into the wall, cocking his body violently to one side to keep his head from brushing against it.
"Team." He finished as Weiss redirected a glyph. William jerked to the other wall, propelled by the glyph into the opposite wall.
The elevator was too narrow to do anything but take the blow, which didn't hurt too much. It made his nose itch if anything. He hit the ground and lashed out with a kick. Weiss tried to move to the side, but Ruby delayed her and the kick sent her back against the wall.
"Perhaps two of us in the elevator wasn't a good idea." Weiss mused.
"I think you'd be right." William agreed, stepping closer. "Just my personal opinion."
She gave him a glare, but he ignored it. He'd been given far worse.
She attacked and he deflected it again. So she started incorporating short slashes, making him work for it. Ruby sat back and watched.
William gritted his teeth, annoyed. They weren't bad. Not in combat, but it frustrated him that he couldn't dispose of them entirely. He was used to killing and moving on. A dead sentry was far less of a liability than an unconscious sentry. A dead one never got up, the other had a time limit.
He knocked the next rapier thrust aside, and grabbed the blade with his off hand,a thick mesh of wires covering it protected him from being sliced open. He didn't need more blood on his new clothes. He yanked Weiss forward as he extended his other arm, sweeping it forward.
She hit the floor, head spinning from the clothesline. William grunted, seeming satisfied with the action and result. He glanced at Ruby, who put her fists up. He raised an eyebrow. She grinned sheepishly and shrugged.
"Just letting you know." William commented. "Martial arts are a wonderful thing to learn. That and street fighting." He glanced down at Weiss who was slowly shaking her head. The floor was a hard granite and William had no doubt in his mind that had hurt.
"I'll keep that in mind." Ruby commented as the door opened behind her.
William brushed by her, stepping into the office as Ozpin looked up from his desk. He looked around him casually to see Ruby and Weiss. He hummed softly, setting his coffee cup down.
"I see you've made it back in one piece Mr. William." Ozpin mused. He paused, noticing the blood on his hand and lip. "Are you hurt?"
"My semblance cancels out my Aura's passive shielding." William explained. "A bloody nose. Nothing serious. I didn't realize how hard the blonde girl hit."
That drew a smirk from Ozpin, but the emotion didn't quite reach into his eyes. Certainly his expression matched, along with his body language, but there was something distinctly missing from his eyes.
"Yes. I suppose Miss Xiao Long has quite the arm. The relic?" He asked.
William canceled his semblance, pulling the relic off his back and setting it on the desk. "Of course."
He nodded to it, before changing the topic. "You took a daring move getting down from here. Your semblance doesn't give you much in landing strategies, does it? Certainly not in this environment."
William paused, feeling anxiety crawling up into his mind. He'd completed the mission. Why was he being questioned? No one was dead. He hadn't hurt any of them so badly that their Aura had run out. He put Yang in a chokehold, but not nearly long enough for her to black out or die. Why did it matter how he got to the ground? The relic was retrieved.
"I don't understand the problem sir." William replied. Was Ozpin like Roman? What types of punishment did he use? William resisted the urge to cringe at the thought.
Ozpin rose from his chair. "You plummet more than a hundred feet in the air and use a zip line that's attached to a lamppost and a windowsill?" He cocked his head at William. "I appreciate daring, and the effort you put into the objective, but your safety is of the utmost importance, regardless of the importance of the mission. If you had missed that shot, then you'd be in far worse shape than a broken nose and a crack on the head."
So he knew about the head wound as well And he had thought that his hair had hidden it well. He was concerned with how he did it, not what he did. Why was that an issue? Roman never cared what condition he came back in. Roman caused half of the injuries William had to begin with!
"I...I…" William paused and slowly closed his mouth, unsure what to do about it. This was new. He'd infiltrated gangs before and they were fine with injuries, sometimes they even encouraged it.
"Take yourself to the infirmary. Get those wounds treated. Be careful." Ozpin replied before he could think of anything. "You passed, but I don't want you hurt. Miss Rose." Ruby straightened her back.
"Yes sir?"
"Please gather your team and wait in the lobby, I'd like a moment to talk with Mr. William." Ozpin explained, nodding at them. Ruby nodded, slowly stepped back into the elevator. Her partner hit the button and the elevator closed.
"You could have killed yourself." Ozpin said, his voice sharp, annoyed this time, But again the tone didn't match his expression, which relayed disappointment.
"The mission was accomplished, quick and clean." William countered.
"There are things that are far more important than the mission." Ozpin replied just as sharp. Would a normal teen yell? William didn't know. He struggled to keep his emotions in check, he didn't have an attitude or a mental mask for when someone cared about his health.
"And what if I don't care about my health?" William shot back, hoping it would be the right response for a rebellion punk from Vacuo.
"Then perhaps you should start." Ozpin replied. "Before you end your life too early and become just another gravestone for your parents and uncle to mourn at."
William gritted his teeth, clenching his palms into fists. "My parents are dead And I don't give a damn if my uncle ever came." He caught himself. "He doesn't have time for me, much less a funeral." Caught it, now he was just a neglected punk. Gave him a reason to be antisocial and snarky.
"You should learn by now that there are still people in this world that care about one another regardless of how well you know them or not. Miss Rose is one of those people, with a heart as big as possible, and a love for every soul in the world that she has ever met. Surely you can see that." Ozpin replied, his voice raising slightly.
William's fingernails bit into his palms as he snapped back. "I haven't had a chance to see that. The only person who gave a damn about my life is dead, so I don't want to hear it!" He barked back, seething with rage. He could still feel his mother's hands on his shoulders, protecting him. Even now, still hear her voice in his ear, assuring him that she loved him. And he could still hear his father laugh.
There was a pause, with silence so thick a pair of scissors could have cut it. Ozpin seemed stunned at his statement. William hadn't meant for it to come out, but he could play on it anyway. His parents were dead, and it all factored into the backstory he could slowly build for himself.
The next time Ozpin spoke, it was slow and deliberate. "The only person in your life who can determine what your life is worth," he looked pointedly at him, "Is you. It is not defined by who, or how many people have loved you, but by what you think of yourself. If you have had someone love you in your life, then you should know you're worthy by their definition, and you shouldn't try to throw it away with reckless stunts that could leave you no more than a splattered mess of blood and bone on the sidewalk."
And what if the person who loved you would be horrified if what you've done? Of what you've lived through? William scowled, finding the expression came easy with the persona he was slowly building. "Lucky I had someone give me the chance to find my own worth, is that it? Right." He turned away to the elevator.
"William." Ozpin replied, a tone in his voice that made William stop in his tracks. "No one's life is worthless. If you're alive now, it means someone cared about you enough to keep you living. If not your uncle, then surely one of your parents, or a friend. They are the tools that let you survive the tide of the world. "
William glanced back at him. "How can I survive the tide, if I'm still drowning in the well that's filling up?" The tide of the world? Did he mean the crime and corruption William was practically swimming in already? The little world Roman had already drowned him, until it soaked into his soul?
Ozpin sighed, his look of disappointment on his face evident. "Then I would suggest you stop trying to swim, and grab the bucket when it comes down."
William rolled his eyes. "A bucket?" He asked sarcastically. He snorted, shaking his head. They went from metaphors for darkness and light, to a literal well. Glorious. He headed to the elevator, hitting the call button.
Ozpin was silent as the doors opened, but tossed him something. William caught it, examining it as Ozpin cast him his final words.
"Welcome to Beacon. A step towards the light."
The last line made William snarl, but the door closed before he could bark back And the silence of the elevator let him collect himself. Ozpin had gotten under his skin, had started prying at the masks he made with surprising strength and quickness. he gave William nothing to defend with, no chance to turn the discussion away or deflect it back on him, Or had he just missed them?
William's mood had been smothered and as the elevator opened, he found all four girls waiting on him. Yang seemed to be inspecting her weapons while Ruby was eagerly awaiting his arrival. The black haired girl seemed to be reading a book inside of a book and Weiss was stilling in a chair. Her back straight, hands folded neatly in her lap.
"Did you get accepted, for real? What did Ozpin want? Where's your room? Do We need to take you!?" Ruby said, nearly jumping him.
She was an excitable character. He had dealt with her type before. he just needed to distract her, So he smiled at her and handed her what Ozpin had thrown to him. a key, or more likely a programmable key card, for his room. He would have to download it onto his scroll later.
She snatched it out of his hand as he stepped out, examining the numbers on it, before handing it back to him. "Let's go! Before the Witch marks us tardy for class!" And she took off running.
"She always like this?" William asked as the others got to their feet.
"Get used to it." Yang replied. "I'm her big sis, and she's been like this for as long as I can remember." She laughed a little and ran after her. Weiss looked exasperated and the black haired girl just went along with them with a simply eye roll.
William sighed before running after them.
Ozpin watched from above. Glynda came up behind him and followed his gaze down to them.
"Tell me," She said, her gaze never wavering from William's back as they ran to the campus dorms, "What do you see in that boy?"
"Glynda, you've known me for a long time." Ozpin started. "And at this moment, I can't truly say what I see in him. I see a wounded man. One who has never had the opportunity to be kind or pick his path in life. He was thrust into darkness the moment he was born. All I want to do is give him a chance."
Glynda held up a file for him, William's full name neatly printed on the tab. "And of this?" She asked.
Ozpin glanced at it, then nodded. "Authenticate it And set up his course schedule."
"Why are you helping him? If you want to reform him, give him to James." She commented as she headed to his desk.
"This boy has already had enough pain. He doesn't need a man driving him to do the right thing, but the simple opportunity to realize what right and wrong is, and the ability to choose what to follow. I believe he will choose what is right." Ozpin replied steadily.
Glynda sighed, looking back on him and shaking her head. She had known Oz for a long time and there were still things that she just didn't understand about his decisions. Not in the present at least. "I hope you're right." Was all she said.
Alright, so this is rewrite of Chapter Two. The whole combat sequence was changed, and I took out William's fight with the entire team, deciding that it was a bit unreasonable for him to be able to fend off four people at once.
I hope you enjoyed, and you got to see a recast of William's fighting style, or perhaps a more true version of it. I'll be working through the chapters and revising them. SO if things don't line up like they should, it means I might not have gotten to it. I'll add little notes so you know for sure.
Read, Review, and I hope you liked it.
