An: I will be honest. I kinda lost motivation to write the story. It has a good premise, so I want to do right by the story and make it good. That requires me planning the story's progression carefully and rereading my chapters over and over to avoid horrible writing/plot holes and all of that gets tiresome quickly. So expect updates occasionally but they will be slow.
Waiting for the other students to get to the main hall had gotten boring rather quickly. Each attempt by my soon to be team to talk was rebuffed by me as I made good on my plan of actually trying to push them away. It was for their own good. Or at least that's what I told myself to fight away the cold fingers raking at my heart. One word answers and sharp dismissals quickly had proven themselves as a beautiful,and only, indication on my supposed state of non-interest. Eventually after each attempt to draw me into conversation had failed it was decided by the three girls that I was not in the mood to talk. Or perhaps they realized they didn't want to talk to me. Either way was fine with me. It would make sense too. We weren't really friends yet, and I wasn't ingratiating myself very much. Then there was consideration on what I was doing instead of making conversation. My brilliant idea was to give them the cold shoulder, and so I chose to give them frostbite. My grand plan had coalesced as me scrolling through information (of which consisted me definitely not looking at cat and dog pictures interspersed between news reports on dust thefts) on my scroll while thoroughly ignoring the three and leaning against a wall far away from them. Even I during the height of my inability to understand the most obvious of social cues would have caught the message clearly.
With the clear change in social dynamic, the girls split away to stand awkwardly near each other and make conversation. Close enough to form a group, show a hint of cohesion, but far enough away to show their discomfort. I'm positive the conversation was just as painful as the interaction looked from my position leaned against the wall. Which is to say very. But like all things in the world, the embarrassment to all other forms of interaction that was the current situation was not long to remain.
The unbidden monotony was broken by multiple teenagers in varying states of disarray walking, limping, and shuffling their way in. Some of the newly formed, but unnamed teams, looked rather untouched by the initiation test while others show signs they had gone through a meat grinder a couple dozen times and then were grounded for good measure. It took awhile, but eventually Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and Yang came through the doors looking pretty trashed but still whole in spirit which could not be said the same for every other team. More than one had come in looking like their world had been shook. Perhaps a sudden revelation that they were not the pinnacle of combat itself, or the notion they would have to spend four years with people they hate. Who knew? Returning to four of my reasons to fight, the dirt and mud from the outside world was smeared on over seventy percent of their bodies. If their haggard faces and heavy frowns were anything to go by, they were not in very good moods either. Too bad for them I suppose. I was in no mood to cheer them up, and even if I was I could not do so due to my one mission. I needed to save them, to save everyone. Even if it meant sacrificing someone like me. Especially if it meant sacrificing someone like me. Besides, they would have access to a shower soon anyway after team assignments and their temporary discomfort would be relieved. I went to turn away my gaze from them when the worst case scenario occurred.
The four humans disguised as dirt piles quickly made their over to the rest of my team. Or, in actuality, Yang spotted Ruby and forced the rest of her group to follow as she bullied her way through to her sister who was unaware of the oncoming bull rush. It seemed Ruby's clean state was not long for the world.
"There you are! I thought for sure I would beat you in this initiation. Great job my Rubaby!" Before Ruby could stop the incoming sister-on-sister assault she was drawn into a mud-filled hug-slash-wrestle, thoroughly soiling the younger sister's outfit and souring her mood as well, as indicated with her pouty grimace that followed. I struggled to hold in a snort. Ruby always had the funniest expressions. Instead I looked back to my phone, struggling to school my face. My task was not an easy one, even more so by the comedic sounds being made. The others simply looked on, ignoring the massacre of sisterly love occuring before them. Yang abruptly let Ruby go after giving her a few noogies for extra good measure seeing as she had proven her alpha sibling status before looking around with a confused look.
"Hey Rubes, what happened to Jauney? I was sure he would pass," she asked as she looked to and fro. The blonde then rubbed at one of her shoulders. "Anyone who could shoulder toss me like he did is strong enough to pass for sure."
I groaned into my hands in remembrance of my panic attack that had caused me to actually attack the blonde bombshell. I grew quiet and still as I tried to melt into the wall behind me. My shaded spot had made it hard to spot me on first entry, but a quick look in my direction would easily give me away. It seems my forced solitude I was unfortunately tasked with trying to create was about to be disrupted. Ruby pointed towards me while taking a dramatic pose. A very Ruby pose with her legs squared and arm fully extended, the other hand raised into the air in front of her with the fist clenched.
"He's being a big ole grumpy pants over there by the wall. I don't know what happened to make him mad either. He was fine during the test, helping us out and giving ideas about how to do stuff while listening to our ideas. But as soon as we got here, just complete no-cookies-for-a-month mode!"
Yang eyes turned to me as soon as Ruby pointed out my position looking intent on making her way over when Weiss interrupted the sisters' conversation.
"What does no-cookies-for-a-month mode mean?" the white-clad girl asked aloud, genuine confusion coloring her voice. Luckily her question was a perfect way to stall the coming onslaught of Yang and the others for a few precious moments. It was hard enough interacting with them individually as it was. My heart wanted to explode in both happiness and anguish simultaneously, and instead just did somersaults of ups and downs as a compromise. It was only getting worse with them all in front of me. So close, and yet so far. A bit of torture from god or fate, I knew not. Only that it tested me here and now.
Yang turned back to answer the heiress with a grin while Ruby let out a dismayed sound, the younger sibling turning as red as her cloak.
"Oh, uh sorry that's a Rubyism." The yellow-clad girl then scratched her cheek in slight consternation as she realized that wasn't much of an explanation at the uncertain gazes being sent her way. Ruby on the other hand had thrown her hood up and tightened it in preparation for her own extreme embarrassment to follow. Yang continued, "Whenever Ruby got in trouble as a kid her punishment would be no cookies for a month usually. She would then give everyone the cold shoulder and be pretty pouty about it even if she got let off the hook. Not wanting to talk to anyone and all that. So whenever Ruby or anyone in our family would give someone the cold shoulder, well, we would say they are in no-cookies-for-a-month mode."
The others made varying sounds of understanding at Yang's explanation.
"Not the point, though! Nope, the point is that tall, blond, and scraggly is trying to phase through the wall over there. Come on, let's go break that n.c.f.m. mode!"
Yang made her way over, the others following for lack of better things to do as they waited for the other teams to arrive.
"What's up Jaune?" Yang spoke with jolly coloring her voice. I steadfastly looked down into my phone. The girl however didn't budge. I sighed before I spoke.
"The ceiling,"
Yang sighed as I continued to keep my eyes glued to my scroll. At this point I had run out of stuff to search on the device. I didn't have any games to play either. I was just relooking through the same saved pictures on the device over and over. One of my sisters at the beach wearing her new bathing suit and adorning a megawatt smile. A picture of my mom and dad standing together on their anniversary, matching toothy grins. A picture of a weird stump I saw two years before I came to Beacon for the first time, complete with my youngest sister balancing on it on one foot. The pictures went on and on. Mostly family pictures interspersed with the occasional pic of something I just thought looked cool. I hadn't had friends before Beacon. That made what I did now even harder.
"Come on, what happened to Mr. smooth-talker eh? Even judo-flip Jaune would be preferable to this right now. Did you go on your man-period in that forest?" Yang continued to pester, not actually giving any time to answer any of the questions until after the third.
"No." My bland reply.
"To which of my questions was that directed to?"
"All of them." I encased my heart in steel. It was for their good. It had to be.
Yang turned back to the rest as my expression remained stony.
"Man he's got n.c.f.m. mode bad. What did you girls do to him?"
Weiss and Blake shrugged, not sure what could have lead to my sudden change.
"What happened during your guys initiation then," Ren offered, "perhaps that will tell us what occurred for this to happen."
The two aforementioned girls looked to each before blanching. They were not feeling up to the task of explaining what had happened during our admittedly rollercoaster of an initiation. Using a giant Nevermore to get to the top of the cliff and then crash-landing said Nevermore onto the headmaster and headmistress did not much sound like a good story other than as a joke. Too bad Ruby held no qualms about telling the story.
"Well, me and Weiss-"
"Weiss and I," said mentioned girl interrupted to correct the younger girl, ever conscious of grammar even now.
Ruby continued unfazed, "were hoping to get a better view of the forest to help us find our teammates. We had found each other super-duper quick so we wanted to find our other set of friends too. Anyway, we had just reached the top of some trees when this enormous," Ruby's arms stretched as wide as they could to impart the large size, "Nevermore swooped by and a big gust of air it made as it went by pushed us onto it's back. We were only riding it for like a minute when I spotted Jaune and Blake! So I jumped down to them. Weiss decided not to follow me down though."
"You just jumped off?" Yang interjected.
"Well, yeah. It wasn't a big deal though."
The look on everyone else sans Nora and the red clad reaper's face told otherwise.
Weiss spoke then with an indignant voice, "What do you mean. We were stuck a thousand feet in the air. Unlike you and your suicidal tendencies, even in my discombobulated state that was induced by the Nevermore I knew we were unprepared to try to land when you brazenly jumped from it. Moving past that, you could have smashed into the ground and died if your weapon had malfunctioned. Besides that point, my weapon is not suited to create massive recoil that could dissipate momentum like yours managed, and I would have used all my aura trying to utilize my semblance to reach the ground."
"Anyway Ruby, as you were saying." Yang said over Weiss's annoyed splutters.
Ruby pointedly ignored the argumentative heiress to continue the story that Yang and the rest of her muddy ensemble were enraptured in.
"So I landed near Jaune and Blake, but like I said, Weiss was still up on Air Nevermore. But the then it spun in the air really hard and knocked Weiss loose!" Ruby made motions with her hands to show a person being flung from a Nevermore. Then new ones to show the person falling really fast. To the others it looked kinda like Ruby was having a seizure during her mimed presentation of a hand puppet show of the great war, but they let it go since Yang was not reacting to it in the slightest and instead was nodding her head in understanding.
"Then Jaune was all like, 'Hey Ruby! I need your super awesome help. Give me all your super expensive gravity rounds you have!' and I did. He then got the dust outta them, totally wasting those awesome bullets, and did something to the dust with his aura before tossing it above him where Weiss was when she was about to hit the ground. She landed in the cloud of gravity dust and spun around a bunch before landing." Ruby chattered.
"Dust manipulation." Pyrrha spoke.
"It's difficult to do at the best of times, and near impossible to do without a medium. You said he did it with his bare hand?"
Weiss then jumped in, "Yeah, even in my...indisposed state I saw clearly what he did. There wasn't much to do when I was falling then watch below me besides the prayers I was making for my survival, and my vows to haunt the little red idiot over there if I did die."
That was not good. I had made a point to try to figure out how to combat Cinder during her invasion. Without the sword skill or overwhelming semblance to even the odds, I turned to the best equalizer.
Dust.
With Weiss's help I was able to learn how to utilize the precious mineral. It didn't matter thought. Nothing I learned during the war had.
"Anyway, back to the story Ruby. You had told us about the Nevermore and meeting up with Blake and Jaune. What's next?"
The others hummed or made other ascents of understanding of the story given so far and wish to hear more.
"Then after that Weiss threw up." Ruby added smugly.
The others turned to look at Weiss who had turned her head and nose up and away from the conversation. The dust user's face was speckled with red however.
"Then what happened Rubes?" Yang reoriented the conversation back into the focus of the fifteen year old. At this point other people nearby were listening, rather invested in the story too.
"The four of us checked our medallions to make sure we were a team. And we were! Then we started going to the cliff because we had did what we needed to do. We got there to the bottom of it and none of us could figure out an easy to get up without just actually climbing it. You would think there would be stairs or something right? No cookies though. Anyway, with the super deep," more hand motions used to this time depict the great deepness of the crevice below the cliffs, which instead looked more reminiscent of the hand motions to milk a cow or perhaps how to strangle a boarbatusk, "canyon below the cliff and us, we didn't want to chance it. So Jaune was then like, let's go ride that Nevermore to the top!"
I pointedly ignored the side glances I received from the crowd of people. We didn't have a better idea. I had asked everyone of my team what ideas they had on our problem.
"Riding the Nevermore was better than climbing?" Yang asked.
My new team nodded together resolutely. I internally joined them.
"Anyway," Ruby returned to the play by play, "We went to where the Nevermore was attacking some other students and climbed some trees and got to the top of them. Luckily the trees were super tall. Then when the Nevermore passed by we jumped on. Then the fun stuff happened! We each took turns jumping in front of the Nevermore to guide it towards the cliffs. We used blake's rope-ribbon thingy to keep us from falling."
"You guys...took turns bungee-cording in front of a giant murderous Nevermore? To steer it to the cliffs? Hundreds of feet in the air I may add," Yang asked incredulously.
A wide grin signified Ruby's happiness at the events. Only for it to turn into a pout.
"Well, the others did." The red girl pointed to her other three team members while she looked a little put-out. "I didn't get to try it at all."
The relieved look on Yang's face kind of made me feel indignant. Sure it was a problem when Ruby was jumping in front of the evil flying creature hundreds of feet in the air, but the rest of us doing so was all good. I stamped down the feeling.
Ruby bounced back from her lull in her storytelling just as quick as I managed to corral my feelings, "When we were above the cliffs though, I finally got to shine! We had to land and didn't know how so I was like, 'I got this!' and I cut off one of the wings of the Nevermore. We then landed. Then we walked here and waited for you all. The end."
Yang gave Ruby a deadpan look at the abrupt end of the story. That didn't mention how Ruby was trying and failing miserably to look innocent.
"You just cut off one of the wings? Wouldn't that crash it?" Pyrrha finally spoke after digesting the reaper's words.
Blake cut in, "It did. Ruby didn't mention her destruction of the grimm's wing made us land on the majority of the jump pads." Blake then looked away before quietly adding, "and also on top of Professor Ozpin and Ms. Goodwitch."
The incredulous looks Ruby received from Yang and company nearly made me laugh but I held it in. What we had done was ridiculous and crazy at the same time, but in hindsight it was rather funny.
Ruby retook the reins to steer away the conversation from our kamikaze dive onto our teachers, "W-w-what about you guys? How did you guys all meet up and stuff? Also why are you guys so dirty?" Ruby then groaned. "Pun not intended."
Yang's megawatt grin at Ruby's pun aside, Ren then took the proverbial stage to answer only for Nora to rush forward and speak before him.
"Yangy, Pyr-Pyr, Renny, and I found each other through majestic sloth sounds!"
Ren let out a sigh before speaking up himself.
"What she means is that I heard Nora making noises of what she think sloths sound like," Ren added, "and I found her that way. We happened to have matching medallions which was lucky. Then as the two of us walked and searched for our other team members, and while Nora continued to make the sloth sounds, we happened to come across Yang and Pyrrha fighting some Ursa. It was rather lucky for us again when we found that their medallions matched to be honest. Seems almost too fortuitous but I decided to let it go. Passing the test was more important."
Nora quickly spoke again. "Then we were trying get to the cliffs and found this awesome shortcut. The shortcut was blocked by ten ancient Deathstalkers playing in some mud but we slayed them all! Then we climbed up the cliff and here we are!" Nora finished with a wide grin.
Pyrrha spoke up this time, "Once we had all convened to try to discuss how to get to the cliffs, Nora decided to explore a nearby cave in search of sloths. Inside was an ancient Deathstalker who was quite unhappy to be disturbed. It took a lot of running, falling in mud and dirt, and most of our ammunition. But in the end we killed it near the cliffs next to some ruins that were connected to both sides. We made our way across and climbed up that way."
I had forgotten about those ruins. In team JNPR's struggle against the ancient Deathstalker of the past, we had been drawn far away from those ruins. Either way it didn't matter, they still had to climb and we didn't. Us one and them zero. I tried to ignore the negative thousand from landing on the headmaster and headmistress. It didn't count. Not at all.
"Well that explains how we all got here, but none of it explains grumpy pant's mood." Yang returned her focus to me. Before she could speak again Ozpin made his way onto the stage followed by Goodwitch. Yang looked over to me, her eyes making a clear message. This was not over. Not by a long shot.
"Congratulations to all of you who have passed the test and managed to make it here. You all are the select few to be given the opportunity to study within these austere walls for the next four years. We, your mentors for these next few short years, are all here to guide you in your footsteps to come towards becoming a hunter. It however is up to you to take these steps towards protecting not only Vale, but the Remnant as a whole from the Grimm tide. The teachers, the library, the other students, and yourselves will all serve as light posts in the grimm night. Shine brightly."
A small rumble of claps greeted the actually somewhat positive speech. A far step off the depressing affair I remembered from my previous life. The man let a small smile slip across his face as he gazed out at us all, Goodwitch standing silent and composed behind him. With how little she was moving she might have been a marble statue.
"Now onto what you all want to hear so I may lease you to shower, rest, or whatever you wish to do. The naming of the teams. Let us start with the first team to manage to make their way here. Would the individuals Jaune Arc, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, and Weiss Schnee please come to the stage."
I left my wall and unintentionally lead the other three towards the stage. Once on the raised wooden platform my vision of the crowd was somewhat obscured by the bright overhead lights, but I ignored it as I willfully stared out into the crowd. Each of these faces would be more individuals I was going to protect. While they did not hold a spot in my heart like the others, they were still important. I did not want them to die for no reason. My attention was drawn to Ozpin as he passed before us to stand on the other side and allow him to look at us. He turned back to the crowd.
"Before you is the first team to pass the initiation. The vanguard if you will. Like any leading force, they are the first weapon to combat our foes and as such I find their leading charge would need a name rather fitting. I name them team SABR(saber). A sword to cut through all grimm kind. As all the teams have been structured in Beacon's history, team SABR shall follow the same mold of a leader and three subordinates and as such requires a leader be named. In this case, team SABR shall be lead by Jaune Arc!"
A larger clatter of applause than from Ozpin's speech before reached my ears. I couldn't help but focus instead on Ozpin's eyes which had met mine to pass on a message. It seems today I would need to be fluent in eye without how many wish to tell me something that way. Regardless, what he was trying to impart was more important than paying attention to my team's reactions to Ozpin's choice of leader or the crowd's subsequent reaction to the proclamation. Ozpin's gaze was unreadable in the entirety of the message he was attempting to pass to me, but the wizened orbs remained clear in one notion. He knew what I was trying to do in regards to my team. My attempts to distance myself from my friends were not unnoticed and Ozpin apparently didn't approve. Was that his motive for the different initiation test? How would he know enough to cause these changes? Or did he have some other goal for this new development he had engendered? For now it would have to stay a mystery.
"All right, thank you team SABR. If you will return to the crowd, we have several more teams to name."
As we exited the stage Ozpin called out more individuals names, the individuals being two girls and two boys, who ended up passing us by to go stand on the stage. My team returned back near the wall I had leaned against as applause rang out for the team named after us. Ozpin continued to name several more teams before finally reaching the rest of my friends.
"Would Yang Xiao-Long, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie please come to the stage."
Yang turned to glance at me, her eyes reaffirming to me the conversation wasn't over as if I had forgotten in the past five minutes. It was starting to get real old at this point, all these eye conversations.
I watched the four go with veiled interest. The four quickly mantled the stage and stood next to Ozpin and Goodwitch.
"Another set of hunters who have shown their true selves. They have ran the gauntlet and proven themselves worthy to learn within these hallowed halls. As such, they shall be named Team RYNN(Run)! Team RYNN shall be lead by Pyrrha Nikos."
Another blast of clapping for a new team and then like a puppet whose strings were cut, it falls away almost instantly. The crowd of teens was tired and were now at the point of performing the clapping motion only because it was obligatory. A few more teams followed team RYNN each accompanied with their ever increasing lack of enthusiasm. Team CRDL was the last one of those few, barely receiving two sharp claps from the members of the crowd before abrupt silence. The boys couldn't even find it in themselves to feel affronted considering they were falling asleep where they stood.
"Thank you all for your patience and diligence. Ms. Goodwitch has taken the initiative and has synced your scrolls with your assigned rooms and provided said numbers themselves during this ceremony. You are free to wander the grounds for the rest of today or retire for the night. Class begins Monday, enjoy the weekend. That is all."
With that Ozpin turned away, likely to return to his office. I wanted to follow but there was a time and place for everything. Instead I glanced at the information sent for my new room. My hand gripped the scroll tighter. It appeared it was still my old room. Unbidden, old memories quickly laid siege on my mind. Each memory of team JNPR a lance of iron through the heart. Nights of homework, talks of dreams on the future, and our unrealistic ideas on what to do once we graduated Beacon. The promises we made to forever be a team. Promises that had been shred to ribbons before my very eyes. I quickly slipped out of the room to make my way to Ozpin's tower, screw the consequences or the seven sets of eyes that followed after me. Rooms and nosey teammates could wait right along with the unwanted memories associated with them. It was time I got my answers from Ozpin.
Walking along the hallways I couldn't help but be plagued with more shadows of what had happened in these halls in a different life. What would happen if I did nothing. Just ahead in a classroom on the left side of the hall I was treading through was the grounds for a bloody final stand for several year three teams I had previously never met. The only survivor had been the nearly desiccated remains of a half-blind faunus who was still barely clinging to life even through their starvation and blood loss. They were kneeled brokenly next to the largest remaining part of a few of his fallen friends. The fallen were utterly massacred, their bodies torn asunder and limbs missing from jagged bites and savage swipes. The stench of the decaying Ursa and Beowolf corpses that intermingled with the human remains half digested in their stomachs were collapsed nearby had told me the story of what happened in the room. The room had been filled by his quiet svelte voice letting loose a constant stream of questions to his fallen comrades. Why wouldn't they wake up? What did they want to do when they did wake up? Why was there all this blood covering them. Where had their arms gone? How about their legs? How could they leave him behind? How was that fair? As I approached to see what I could do, the boy had begged for death upon his blurry sight catching a glimpse of me. Before I could react he had grabbed my legs, blood streaming off his limbs and onto my own torn coverings. He cried, screaming for release from his pain. To not be left alone, to not be the last one still alive. To be allowed to join the others to wherever they had gone. The boy was not truly ignorant of what had happened, not in the slightest. I granted his final wish with a single swipe.
A few feet further down the hall a water fountain comes to sight. The blood that stained it as I drank my fill after hours of fighting whispered into my thoughts. Some of it had to have been mine of course. More of what was caked to it had been dried, rewet by leaking water, and dried again. Dry for who knew how long. Days? Weeks? Who knew how many dying individuals had taken their last sip of water from this receptacle. I shook that from my mind as I continued to walk.
Even further down now, closer to Ozpin's elevator was a rather typical vending machine filled with various snack foods and treats. In another life I had come across a second year girl who had her face shoved through the glass face of the machine. Or perhaps she had been thrown. I did not care. I couldn't let myself. She was dead and there was not that I could do for her. The broken shards were already piercing her face and eyes when I came across the scene. Her blood had splattered all over the contents of the machine which was either fallen out or missing entirely due to the machine being half-ransacked. The blood was drying, her corpse long turned cold. The crumbled food packets that remained were resting directly on the corpse and were thoroughly soaked in her blood. Perhaps they were not taken as a sign of respect, or perhaps another person who had stumbled across this gruesome end could not bring themselves to take food off the cadaver. I held no such qualms.
That food served as my dinner that night. It was the first meal I had eaten in four days if I remembered correctly. I didn't want to remember correctly. I didn't want to remember at all. Not now, not when considering I had a chance to prevent it all from happening. To never let such atrocities occur within these walls again.
Suddenly the taste of blood filled my mouth and I realized I had bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. The acrid taste instantly filled my mouth. Within a moment my aura healed the wound away, but the coppery taste remained. I all but threw myself into the elevator to escape the innocuous vending machine that had served an impromptu grave. I would stop it from ever becoming such. I quickly found the hidden panel Ozpin had spoken of, only able to find it due to the book the previous Ozpin had given me. I inputted the code when prompted that Ozpin's hint and book had given me. The elevator shut with a pneumatic hiss that had previously not been present before rapidly moving downwards. The lift moved far quicker than it usually did, and I was thus left me with little sense of how far I had traveled underground or how fast I was moving.
The metal box came to a stop with barely a rumble, the doors sliding open with another quiet blast of air and I walked out into a massive hall with large columns scraping the earthen sky with their extreme height. My gaze roved and was able to see in the distance a lone contraption. A metal tube with a silhouette of a body resting in it. The enormity of the room with the small machine created a sight which left an unsettling feeling in my chest. This was the final resting place for the fall maiden. Well, what remained of the fall maiden. I walked forward as I let my eyes roam my surroundings. Large stone walls and columns drawing upwards into a ceiling that remained hidden in the darkness above me. No matter how hard I strained my eyes I could not see anything more than inky blackness stretching the cavernous span of the roof. The floor in contrast was a polished marble with intricate designs stretching far in the distance. Soft green lights positioned on the columns provided low light but did little to dispel the solemn tone of the large vault. The large tomb.
I came closer to the machinery maintaining the little life remaining in the maiden. Through the glass I spotted the girl, looking not much older than some of my sisters. Intense scars snaked across the girl's face but even then the old wounds did not detract from the beauty of the girl. I wondered for just how long before I came to Beacon that Amber had to lay here strapped into the machine, unable to feel the sun or wind. Stuck in a comatose state miles below stone and steel.
An intense urge to touch the frosted glass came upon me then. Seeing no reason to deny the feeling that had overtaken me, I reached a hand forward placing it on the glass. My palm rested against the cool glass over where the girl's stomach would be.
Nothing.
No burst of electricity or some sudden movement.
Not a single reaction.
I don't know what I was expecting, but I did feel relieved after touching the glass. Just as I was about to remove my hand from the glass a voice sounded.
"Don't go. Please."
I fell back in shock, drawing Crocea in an instant as I spun wildly looking around for who had spoken. There was no one. Silence unnatural permeated the open space. The room almost felt claustrophobic now, even though the area was so open. I scanned each corner of the room, searching for the source of the voice. But each frantic look to the four corners of the massive room showed no signs of any others in the vault. I turned back to look at the only other person in the room. The one was supposed to be in a coma. To no longer be able of functionable thought. The one who was trapped in a glass sarcophagus for what else could it be? Did she...had it been the Fall Maiden who spoke?
I stepped forward cautiously, casually tossing Crocea to my left hand, the tip of the blade resting just a few centimeters from the floor in a relaxed looking manner but ready for any attack. I slowly brought my right hand towards the glass above the maiden once more. My heart was beating wildly, sweat beading along my forehead. Where had my Arc courage gone in this moment that I needed it most? /as my hand hovered but an inch above the glass I swallowed the spit that had pooled in my mouth. There was no way it was the maiden. It wasn't possible. But I needed to be sure. I steeled myself and placed my palm back onto the glass.
Once more I was met with nothing. No indication of a reaction or that something had change. No tingle, a distinct lack of change in the oppressive feeling of the room, nothing had changed in any way that I could sense. I shook my head in annoyance at myself. I was already paranoid and dealing poorly with my past as it was, now I had to deal with hearing imaginary voices?
"Thank god...I thought I had scared you away."
My eyes grew wide as the voice from before returned. I had truly lost it then. What a way to go. After such a horrid war with Cinder and Salem and instead insanity was what would be my end.
"This...is just great. Now I am hearing voices. As if what I've gone through wasn't enough…"
"Voices? I'm not a random voice. You can see me can't you? My eyes won't open but I...know you are standing before me. Your blinding white Aura shows the outline of your body. Your hand rests on the barrier between us, whatever that may be."
"A...Amber?"
"You know my name?"
This...was weird. This was really weird. Had Ozpin gave me the ability to talk to comatose people? That would be a very specific semblance to just happen to have on hand. But what else could explain this? She was a maiden, but no where was this written or recorded as part of their powers in Ozpin's book. Considering he was the one to create the powers too, I would assume he would know all about them.
"Uh...yeah. I have uh...heard about you. Well, before this had all happen."
This was actually insane. I was talking to a girl who had been in a coma for who knows how long. We weren't even really talking either. Even though I was speaking aloud, she was speaking to me directly to my mind.
"I see. Or I guess I don't, not really. I actually don't know what is going on at all. I don't have a single clue. The last thing I remember was being attacked as I tried to help a little girl. In hindsight it was a bit odd for a child to be so alone but I… I needed to help if I could. Then that was followed by pain, lots of it. Then nothing. It felt kind of like sleeping, but I knew sometimes I was 'awake' even though I could not see. I could sometimes hear voices or feel a rush of aura through my body. But nothing changed, I didn't wake. I could not move. Nothing changed until now when you came near me. It's like waking from a dream for real or something, but I still can't move or see. I don't know how we are even talking right now." Amber's voice grew desperate. "Please, you have to help me! Where am I? What happened to me? Why can't I see, move, do anything? I can't open my eyes and I am in pain. I don't know your name but help me, please?"
What was I supposed to do? How could I help her? If Ozpin and Ironwood with all their resources couldn't heal her, what chance did I stand? Was she just a fake voice? Had I really lost it and none of this real? I stood straighter as I came upon the answer. The solution was as clear as it had always been. I would have to help anyway I could if she really was alive in there. If I was insane, then I really didn't have anything to lose. She would be just one more person to save along with the others.
"You were attacked by minions of Salem. Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai, and Mercury Black. They tricked you with illusions. I don't know the method, but Cinder has a way to steal the Maiden power from you. They were in the process when you were saved by Qrow Branwen. I don't know when this happened, but it was not recently. You were brought to a vault far beneath Beacon and placed in a stasis machine. You're in a coma of some sort. As far as we can tell, half of your soul has been stolen. I...I don't know how we are communicating either. But I will figure out how to help you. I promise"
Amber didn't respond for a moment. An uncomfortable pregnant silence stretched between us, the quiet having filled the stale air in the chamber. Perhaps she was a fake voice. Perhaps I had actually lost it. Then the voice of a dying girl returned.
"O...Ok. I can't do anything about what you just said. I have much to think about now. But...thank you. Thank you for telling me what you could, for your help. Truly, thank you."
"It's not a problem. If I were in your position I would like any help I could get."
"Could you stay and talk with me for awhile. Please, I'm scared. I don't want to be alone. Not now that I finally found someone who can hear me. Not now that I feel like I am actually able to think clearly."
"I…," I thought of my questions for Ozpin. Then of my team. I sighed. That all could wait for now. I had been heartless enough for today."...that's fine. Sure. What do you want to talk about?"
"Uh, well what is your name? You know mine and I still don't know who I am talking to."
"Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it!" My signature introduction spilling forth before I could stop it from a small part of me that had survived the crucible I had been put through. A part of the original me. The unbroken me.
I nearly jumped at the soft giggles that answered my words.
"You're right. I do love it. Though I guess I'm a little biased right now, but whatever. So Jaune Arc, what do you look like? I'm betting I look a total mess if I've been sleeping a long time. I get pretty crazy bed-head just from one night of sleep."
I could tell she was trying to not think of nor address the severity of the situation. I decided to play along for now.
"Uhm. Well, my sisters say I'm tall, blond, and scraggly. So do most strangers now that I think about it. I got blue eyes if that help gives you a picture of what I look like. Also, you are kind just laying in a tube with a white tube top thing and skirt. I can't say it's fashionable but what do I know about fashion. You don't look a mess at all. Just kinda like you're sleeping. Your hair isn't in a mess or anything. Maybe someone combs it for you?" I decided to neglect mentioning the massive scar that was tearing it's way over her face. No reason to add more stress.
"Well, that's good. That I don't look a mess, I mean. It wouldn't matter what you look like. Not that you being or not being ugly would affect anything or that I would care how you look! Uh, *cough* anyway, what do you do for a living? Are you a huntsman that works with...Ozpin? Or something else?"
I could just feel the mixed feelings being poured into the way Amber said Ozpin. That was a history I did not want to touch. I scratched the back of my head, I was kind of his servant now too at this point I guess. Or for whatever this order of the Maidens was. But I doubted that is what she wanted to hear, or needed to hear. Besides, if it could save my friends I would happily sacrifice Ozpin and any relation the older man and I had.
"I am a student here at Beacon. I have been for...awhile. What did you do before all this?"
"I was kind of a traveling huntress. I went around and helped villages here and there in exchange for food, supplies, and somewhere to stay for a night or two. I killed grimm and just kept moving. Since you know I am a Maiden, I am sure you can guess why."
I hummed in acknowledgement. I took the chance during the comfortable quiet spell that followed her words to look at my scroll only to spot two missed calls and a smattering of texts. I quickly swept them away and focused on the time. It was closing in on midnight soon. That meant Ozpin and the others would be here soon.
"Amber, I have to go soon. I have a meeting with Ozpin and his order. We are going to be discussing how to stop Salem and her plans. I will try to visit again soon."
"Do you have to go? I'm sorry, I know you do. Just...whatever you do, don't tell Ozpin you spoke to me, or that I can talk. He has used me and the other maidens enough over the centuries. He doesn't deserve to know about me. I...I will be waiting for when you come back."
"Goodbye Amber, I promise I will come back."
"Please do…"
I removed my hand from the glass and the emptiness of the room struck me. I looked around to see that no one was around. No people, no objects, it was just an empty expanse. For some reason I was kind of expecting to see Ozpin watching me. But now that I knew I was still alone I could enact the dumb thought that invaded my head. This was definitely a bad idea, but I didn't care. I looked at the machine and at the panel controlling its functions. There were several buttons and a tap keyboard on the screen. I wanted to know how to open it so I could do what I had planned. There had to be a way to open the thing quickly, otherwise they wouldn't be able to change her clothes or clean her up and deal with the bodily functions that must still be occurring. I mean even if she was sort of frozen or something, her body would still require maintenance at some point. I stared at the screen intensely before tapping a button that looked rather important. Come on Arc luck, don't fail me now.
The large door to the tube opened within a second. I panicked as I realized what I had done and the potential ramifications. I needed to be quick. I slipped my hoodie off and folded it neatly before placing it under Amber's head. I closed the panel just as fast. The frost on the glass returned in under a second. I placed my palm back over Amber's stasis machine.
"Amber?"
"Jaune? What just happened? I felt cold and the air smelled weird. Like really old, dry, maybe stale fits it best? Then it felt like a pillow or something was placed under my head. I can smell it. It kinda smells nice actually, like getting a hug. Is that weird to say? Was that you? How long has it been since we last talked?"
"It was me. It's only been about five minutes since we last talked. I wanted to do something to help you before I left so I placed my hoodie under your head. I know it isn't much but I wanted you to have proof that I was here, that someone knew you were still alive and awake. I will help you. When I finally get you better I want my hoodie back though."
"Oh. Thank you then, Jaune. I really mean it. For everything. It's...it's not weird. It is sweet...I think. Thank you."
I turned to walk over towards the elevator. I was going to go find Ozpin and get this ball rolling. I needed to know about what Ozpin had done to me in my previous life. Then I had some research to do.
How does someone go about healing a soul torn in two?