Panting. The feeling of fatigue filling the entirety of his body. His legs slowly yet quickly beginning to wilt. Lungs are burning and desperately wanting to take a rest. As the distance he runs grows and increases, the pain becomes ever so more excruciating. He turns his head to look behind him, his eyes fearful and indignant at the sight. Inside the depths of the tree crowded forest there were two bright glowing red eyes. Those eyes soon multiplied and multiplied.
The Grimm.
He grits his teeth and looks at the soft hand he's clasping as tightly as he possibly could. Quickly, he tried to view the face of the person who that hand belonged to. But he couldn't. His legs finally giving out and needing to take a break, he loses balance. Falling face first to the ground, the sudden force causes him to release her hand.
"Ah!"
The blue haired woman stops.
"Indigo! Are you okay!?"
She calls his name in a panicked yelp. Running towards him, she urgently implored him to get up. Tugging his arm rather violently to do so, but that was not her fault.
"Hurry! You have to hurry! Otherwise-"
She looked toward the direction of the monsters. They came closer and closer, in just moments they could reach them.
"Sis', I- I-"
His words came out in incomprehensible stuttering. Soon he gave up on speaking. Instead staring at his older sisters beautiful face in hopes that it would calm him down, like it always did. Her face was sweating profusely and he could hear her gasps for air. She was just as tired as he was, if not more so than him. He has to get up! He needs to!
With all the strength he could muster, he forced himself to stand.
"Ok-ay, lets g-o! Sis'?"
He stared at his sister who bit onto her lip. She took a deep breath, placing her fist onto her heart. Looking at her beloved younger brother, she smiled. Opening her mouth, words came out that caused Indigo's eyes to widen.
"Then ask her, not me."
The girl clad in red was stunned. His rude response was anything but expected. In fact, his words had not yet been registered into the girls head.
"Huh?"
Indigo sighed. He did not want to get involved in something so utterly unimportant. Grimm, thats all that mattered. Not some dumb black cat, who doesnt want to understand that he did not care for her. That was the least of his concern.
"You heard me. If you want to know what happened in our past, ask her, not me. I think that the matter is pointless to discuss."
He stared down at her. Ruby pointing her head to the floor. As if to avoid looking him in the eyes.
"But-"
"You also asked, why would I hurt her? That answer is simple. She got in the way so I needed to get her out of the way. That much is easy to understand, right?"
She was silent. Questions in her head increasing. Nothing had been answered. One thing was made clear however, Indigo did not care about Blake. Which frustrated Ruby, seeing as she knows that Blake seems to care alot about Indigo.
"Are we done here?"
Indigo waited a bit for a response. But, he received none.
"I see. Then, goodbye. Have a good sleep."
He began to close door. But, again, he couldn't. Ruby's foot stopping him from closing it shut.
"What now?"
At this point, it was getting annoying. Almost as annoying as Neo was. Then again, Neo was on a whole other level of annoying. He doubted any other person could beat her on it.
"Um, you see, ever since that day that you did those things..."
Ruby started. Her eyes covered by her bangs. Indigo listening intently despite knowing it would be something that he would not care about.
"...everyone around me has been acting weird... I thought, that if I talked to you then I would understand... But I still don't... I just, I understand that what you did was wrong but, why would every one get so weird after it... Its just so... What am I supposed to be doing..."
Indigo stared at her for few seconds. He clicked his tounge before taking a breath of air. The situation presented in front of him being such a huge pain, that he wanted nothing to do with it.
"How am I supposed to know? Idiot."
He answered her. Despite the answer he gave not really answering anything for her. It was a good response from him, after all he wanted nothing to do with this. Really, he didn't.
"Ah!"
Ruby let out a surprised yelp. Indigo had just flicked her forehead. Using both of her hands, she held them in the place she was hit. She lifted her head to stare at Indigo's blank demeanour. Her face flushing because she had not expected the sudden random action he had done to her.
"Wha-what was that for!?"
Indigo said nothing and he slammed the door in her face. Ruby on the other side being left perplexed. She had an urge to bang on his door again for some answers but decided against it. It was late, her team probably all inside their dormroom by now. She had to return too, and so she did. Leaving while completely baffled at the random action Indigo had done.
"Well, that's a surprise."
Hearing Neo's voice, Indigo turned around to look behind. She was laying down, relaxingly, on the bed. Her eyes peeking through the blanket she hid under.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
She pouted, removing the blanket on herself while doing so and standing up.
"I didn't think you'd be the type to cheat. I'm hurt, honestly."
Indigo raised an eyebrow, unsure as to what she meant. He was also unsure of the response he should give her. If he chooses wrong, she'll be an even bigger headache.
"Is that so?"
His response was incorrect. He could tell as much when Neo's pout grew poutier. She really was a massive pain for him.
"...well, it seems you dont understand what I mean..."
She muttered under her breath. At a level that Indigo could not hear.
"I guess I'll let you off the hook just this once! So, are you actually planning on helping that girl out with her little dilemma?"
Indigo was silent. His eyes wandering as if trying to avoid looking into her eyes.
"I have no idea what you're talking about..."
Neo rubbed her forehead affectionately. Reminiscing upon a very special memory for her. Smiling to herself as she thought, 'What do you know? He still has that sweet and caring side...'
"What happened to, Grimm is all I care about, Indigo?"
"Grimm IS all I care about. That won't change."
Truly, nothing had changed. Grimm was still on the top of his priorities. And, perhaps it will remain that way forever.
"Hmm~, well, speaking from experience. When you do that flick thingy, it means you're going to help them out. In fact, I think that girl might be your most recent, after me, that you have done it to-"
Indigo interrupts her by sighing rather loudly.
"Fine. To put simply, Neo, I don't want to deal with them in the future. From what I gather, it seems that all people related to her detest me in some way."
Neo shows a confused look his way. His words right now, conflicting with what she heard him say before.
"And? You said you didnt care about whether or not people liked you or not. What's different all of a sudden?"
Indigo scratches the back of his head.
"Yeah, I don't. But, after using 'Observation', it seems guaranteed that its going to become a problem. I don't need those pesky people interfering with what im doing, it'll be too troublesome. I might as well just deal with them now."
Neo smiled smugly at him.
"What's this? Indigo, are you, embarrased?"
He glared at her.
"Huh? I told you-"
"That you feel bad about what happened and you want to try to fix it. You can be honest you know, you're not really fooling me."
He looked away from her for a split second before continuing to stare her down.
"I don't feel bad for what I did. Why would I? I did it for a reason, to kill Grimm. I said, that in order to not deal with those people in a time where I'm actively killing Grimm, I will deal with them now."
"Yup, yup. Tell that to yourself all you want, or to anyone else because I know what you really mean."
He sighed. Truly, why was he wasting energy with her. It was a waste of efforts to even talk to her. He didn't care anymore if she wasn't understanding. What point was there to even try to convince her.
Walking past her, he grabbed a pillow and some blankets. He laid all of it on the floor and threw himself on top of it.
"Just go to sleep."
She giggled quietly to herself. Going to a switch, to shut off the lights.
Neo couldn't help but glance down on the blue haired boy. Smiling as she watched him try to go to sleep before going to lay down on the bed. Laying on it she turned herself to face his direction.
"Indigo..."
"What..."
"...I'll help you..."
Help. Help him. For him, he simply thought she meant dealing with those people. But no, helping him, to her, it meant so many things. There were too many things she wished to help him with. It was quite a predicament.
"..."
He remained silent, maybe he was asleep she thought. So it was obvious he would not respond-
"...thank you, Neo..."
Her eyes widen, quickly, she turned away from Indigo's direction. Feeling her burning face to try and calm herself down. His response, not one she had expected nor thought he would ever say to her again. Leaving her thoughts incoherent and jumbled all over in her head.
'Thats dirty... That's so cheap, Indigo... Really, what's wrong with me... Getting so happy over a simple thank you...but I can't help it, it makes me so happy...'
Indigo on the other hand was unsure as to why he said that. And all the things before that. He should have just said nothing. Yet, he could not stop himself from saying it. Whatever, he thought, what's done is done. You cannot change the past, no matter what. Never. He knew that better than anyone.
Though he can't shake off this weird feeling.
Like some external authority, or higher power, had just influenced him.
A young, very young, boy's eyes shoot open. They were dyed red, and felt very painful. He quickly arched up his back, looking around in a fearful anxiety. It was dark, the only source of light came from a tiny window. Through it, the moonlight was glistening a beautiful glow.
The boy breathed heavily, and erratically. He held his chest chest tightly, violently scratching onto it in search of a proper grip. He began to cough. The sound of it was horrid, like his throat was shredding itself.
Everything was returning to him. He was remembering how he had ended up in this place. All of it was gone... Erased. Destroyed... Everything, it was all gone... She was...
With such a realization, he couldn't stop the tears from pouring out.
The scene was burned into his eyes. That moment he reluctantly began to run away from his sister. As fast a he could, as far as he could, she told him to run. So he did. His sister begged him not to turn around no matter what, but despite her plead, he ignored it. Looking behind him, in clear view of his sister.
Her mouth opened slightly. She then closed it, forming a smile. A genuine, soft smile that the boy loved to no end. She lifted her hand and slowly waved at him. Her lips slowly moving, telling him one final word, 'Goodbye.'
It was at that moment, that several large black colored beasts pounced on her. The monsters attacking their prey, they began to feast on her alive, yet she did not make a single cry of pain. While her soft skin was ripped away from her body, her pretty silky blue hair pulled out from her head, her pink flesh chewed on and her white bones crushed to dust by their teeth. She did not scream once. And, in the end, her entirety was ingested, leaving nothing left of her. She was completely gone...
The blue haired boy began to vomit onto himself. Remembering such a disgusting scene was too much for him. The vile smelling puke just kept exiting his mouth. It kept exiting and exiting, from out of his mouth, there seemed to be no end to the amount. Most of all, it was painful. So very painful...
"Can you SHUT- ugh!"
The wooden door was violently opened, making a loud bang noise. A new presence entered the room and she immediately gripped her nose with her hand. The smell was awful.
"Disgusting... Hey, brat, what the the hell are you doing!?"
She yelled at him. Despite being loud, her words did not pass through the boy's ears. He simply stared at the nothing in front of him.
"Guh, alright kid, get up! There is no way you're staying here like that!"
Again, her words fell upon deaf ears. The woman clicked her tongue in annoyance and approached the boy. The smell worsening as she got closer to him. His eyes were as blank as a sheet of paper, and his mouth was agape, allowing for dirtied drool to slip out of it.
"You sure look like shit, are you sure you're a kid?"
Toning down her voice to seem a little more gentle, she tried to get a response from him. But, to no avail, he remained silent. If he weren't sitting up, he'd look no different than a corpse on the floor.
The woman sighed in irritation.
The boy was small. She used her arms to swiftly pick him and a expected he was light. Truthfully, she did not want to touch the boy, he smelled like he was rotting and was coated in vomit.
Nonetheless she carried him out of the room. Her pace quick, one could tell that she did not wish to be disturbed.
The boy had not yet realized that he was being carried. His already evil looking eyes were becoming depraved and corrupted. Yet, those decaying eyes of his could not help but look at the moon. It glowed so brightly, so pretty. How? He wondered.
The moon was broken. A big chunk of it was missing. Large and small bits or pieces were floating away from it. It easy to see, that one day, those broken parts would completely separate from the moon. And, the moon will be left with nothing but a large hole, leaving it looking worse compared to its former glory. So how, how can it still shine so beautifully...
Moments after staring at the glistening beauty.
Everything had stopped.
His back was stinging. Although the pain didn't register in his head. He could only focus on a single thing.
The moon, he was gawking at it. It looked as if it was moving. It was getting further and further away from him. The white shattered moon getting smaller and smaller as the time passed slowly.
He raised his arm, the way it moved was sluggish. It was slow; just lifting it cost an immense effort. Even so, that did not stop him. He stretched out as far as he could, and using his palm to aim at the white luminescent object in the dark sky, and he tried to grasp it in his hand.
He had no idea what he had expected or wanted. Staring at his palm, there was nothing. He had wished, but they never came true. He had hoped, but it was always crushed. Alas, he realized reaching for the moon would do not a single thing. It was not going to produce a result or miracle; it was an entirely useless gesture. Understanding such a basic thing, he shut his eyes sorrowfully.
Opening up his mouth and trying to take a big deep breath, there was a sudden awareness that just came to him.
He could not breathe.
His eyes that he had just closed shot open. The environment around him was painted blue. He flailed his left arm violently in search of something to grasp a hold on. It was a futile effort, all his hand could do was clench into a fist.
He kicked his legs violently. Coughing and coughing, desperately searching for air. And, as the painful burning sensation increased, the more he panicked. It hurt, it hurt so much. Was this where it all was going to end? Was he really going to die here in such a place? Even after all his sister had done, this was...
He grit his teeth and used his right hand to hold onto his throat.
Why? He thought. Why do all the bad things only happen to him!? Everything in his life was ruined, gone because of the horrid monsters. All of it, it was their fault! And yet, they suffer no consequences for it! Such a fact, made him angry!
Those thoughts in his mind were growing more enraged, resentful, fearful and deranged.
He did not want to die.
The thought scared him.
He really did not want to die.
He can't die, not yet, and not here.
He needed to live.
Right now he needed to live no matter what.
The woman stood staring at the lake with her arms crossed. Impatiently tapping her foot. It had been a long while since she chucked the brat into the lake. It seemed as though he wasn't going to come out. She took a deep frustrated sigh. Walking away from the lake in disappointment she glanced back one last time before continuing.
But before she could make any kind of distance, a splash was heard.
Quickly turning around she saw the sight of the boy completely drenched in water. His arms were shaking violently as they were intensely holding onto the ground trying to get himself out of the water. Normally any normal person would help him but she would not.
If he wanted to survive no matter what, then he can get out of the water by himself. She thought.
The boy bit hard onto his lip causing it to bleed. His arms were feeling so frail, he felt they would snap at any second. The clothes he was wearing weighed him down significantly. Yet, with all the might he could muster, he got himself out of the water.
The boy's body fell to dirt. His breathing was irregular and he kept coughing.
The woman looked at him in an honest surprise. She hadn't thought that the brat would actually pull through and survive. She was at a loss and unsure as to what she should do with him now. A thought of chucking him back into the lake again had crossed her mind but with better judgement decided not to.
"Tch."
She clicked her tongue. Whatever was she going to do? She thought as she approached the boy laying on the ground.
"You alive?"
He did not respond.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!"
She kneeled to get closer to the boy. She could hear his quiet breaths of air. Was he asleep?
Before she could even think of doing something, the boy slowly looked up at her.
The sight of his face caused her to shiver. At the same time, a small grin crept on her face. She felt as if she could be killed at any moment. The thrill upon knowing that felt amazing.
"..m.."
The boy opened his mouth.
"...Grimm..."
He said with a very clear bitterness and hate. Grinding his teeth in frustration, until he finally passed out from exhaustion, and fell to the dirt.
"What do you know. I can see it now. You're gonna be one hell of a monster."
Understanding that, the woman picked him up. And, returned to their temporary place of residence. She was was going to take care of him and raise him for the time being. The reason was anything but goodwill, she had simply thought, this boy might be useful in the future. He had only lacked and needed certain 'training.'
Little did she know, in that current moment, the boy could not be conditioned. This boy had already set up a goal for himself, a very voracious and unending one at that.
Yes. It was obvious. The boy who looked as if he was on the very edge of completely breaking and disappearing beyond repair.
He had already broke.
Since the very second he witnessed that moment, that very scene, he realized how useless and incompetent he actually was as he was unable to do anything. Nothing but watch while run away as he was powerless to do anything.
Yes. Since that moment.
His sanity had completely vanished.
Beacon Academy was smothered in darkness. Or it would be if sources of light did not exist. Yes, Beacon lit up with nothing but the colorless crescent moon and the assistance of some light poles scattered around the campus. Nonetheless, it was still dark and it was a time for many of the students to rest for the next day that is to come at their academy. And yet, one blonde boy stood wide awake at this time.
Jaune stared at a stone man pointing his sword triumphantly into the empty sky. He did not look at it for long, his eyes couldn't help but always view his feet. He was troubled and was in a state of not knowing what to do. It bothered him a lot. Showed by him sighing at every moment he had the chance to.
"Jaune? What are you doing up so late?"
A soft soothe voice called out to him.
"Pyrrha?"
The red haired girl showed a gentle smile. Walking up to him and also glancing at the statue.
"Is something wrong Jaune? You've been coming back to the dorm so late nowadays. If something is bothering you, you know, I'm always here to lend you some help right?"
Jaune stares at her as he bit onto his lip.
"Uh...well..."
He had consulted with her on something similar before. But now. Now it felt different. He wasn't sure how to describe it.
He choked on his words and gulped his saliva down his throat. It was unbearably difficult to talk about this problem. He understood that the way he was acting was exactly the same as when he was with Cardin. He knew that it was unhealthy to act that way. Yet, it was still hard to open up.
"Jaune?"
He twitched. Looking toward her worried face. Seeing her like that, irked him. Again, he felt like such a liability. Can he still not truly understand, he acted no different from before.
Pyyrha. Maybe if it was her, just maybe. He would get the answer he wants to hear. Maybe she would give him the motivation and reasoning to commit to what he wishes to do.
He clenched his fist and let out a deep breath.
"Actually I...I kinda don't know what I should be doing."
He lied. In truth he knew what he should be doing. But. He was scared to do it.
Pyyrha tilted her head in confusion.
"What do you mean? Jaune, everyone thinks you're doing great as our leader. You really shouldn't-"
"That's not what I mean..."
"O-oh?"
She seemed kinda troubled. It felt like she had already perceived what words he was going to be speak before he had said them. Almost as if she had expected it.
"Its not about our team. Its about...my-"
He hesitated for a second. His conviction wavering. A thought that maybe his friendship with that person was in fact something one sided completely bothering him.
"-friend. His name is Indigo but I think you already know that. I- I really want to help him! He did some bad things, I know, but... I really want to help him! Or at least...get him- I mean what if he-"
"Jaune."
Jaune stopped talking. Pyyrha no longer had a smile for it had quickly been replaced by a more serious expression.
"Pyyrha? Right, I should calm down. I just think that maybe Indigo was somehow tricked or something. I've been with him for a while and no matter how much I think about it, it doesn't feel right. He's a good person. I know Indigo couldn't have just done that on a whim. He must have a reason."
Jaune looked at Pyyrha with gloomy eyes.
"And that reason?"
"I...don't know..."
She stared at him, he expression confident and unwavering.
"Jaune would you like to know what I think of him?"
"Yeah."
She shut her eyes for a second. Turning away from Jaune. Sighing.
"Indigo Baptisia is not a good person."
His eyes widened as his hand twitched. Her answer and thought being one he certainly did not want to hear. He wished for someone to agree with him but it seems it was not going to be her.
"Jaune, I'm going to be honest. I don't like him, but that isn't to say I hold contempt for him. However, after seeing his duel with Yang I was certain."
"Certain of what..."
"He is a very dangerous man. There's no way he could be defined as a good person. The way he moved was not that of a beginner nor an amateur. It had many possible years of experience. It was like second nature to him. If he had used his blade and was serious then Yang wouldn't have been able to swing a single punch. It couldn't even be called a battle. We're truly lucky that Blake even came out alive."
Jaune grinded his teeth.
"You're describing him as some kind of monster."
"Jaune, I don't know him, I only know what I have seen. I say this to you because I truly care about you."
She placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Its best not to be in any kind of contact with him. He's a bad influence. Give up on helping him. He doesn't need or want it. You're only putting yourself in danger."
Give up.
No one would blame him if he did that. No one would hate him if he did that.
No one would praise him if he did that.
Nothing would happen if he did that.
But, what was he to do.
He needed more time to make a decision.
It was a very important one after all.
"Lets go back to the dorm Jaune. Its late."
"Yeah. Ill catch up with you."
She looked at his saddened expression and frowned before walking ahead of him. Seeing his expression further strengthened her resolve. For what she was working on, it was all for his sake.
Jaune knew a way to clear his mind about everything. It was simple really. All he needed to do was talk to Indigo. But, he was afraid. If he did not get an answer he wanted to hear; a guilty plea. Those words would scar him. That he had done that evil act out of his own free will. It hurt just imagining it.
"Indigo...have...did you ever see me as a friend..."
