"yes, students," Glynda said, "the forest of forever fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."
Most of the students ignored her, but some were paying attention.
Ez was walking along with RWBY and JNPR, as usual. Her presence here is attracting more Grimm then she thinks is a good idea, but none of them had gotten here yet, so she guesses its ok. No harm done...yet. She was carrying her own jar, like everyone else.
Juane and Pyrrha were unusually quite around each other, still milling over what happened last night. They are still good friends, but they needed time to adjust after last night. They would tell Ren and Nora later, but for now, it was just between them and Ez.
Glynda looked at the students walking behind her and stopped, they were paying attention now. "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates, we will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!" She added, walking off to go sit in a tree and watch them all.
"come on!" ruby says to her team, dragging them in a random direction.
Ren asks Juane, "are we going to follow them?"
The team leader shakes his head. "no, where going this way." Pointing in the opposite direction.
The rest of the students in the class all go in their separate directions, except Ez. She was watching the approaching Grimm in the distance and the teacher. Ez knew the teacher didn't know about the imminent threat, and she didn't want to tell her either. They won't be here in the next ten or twenty minutes or so, and she should probably do something about them, there's over 10,000, but. . .she's lazy and didn't want to. The students can run in terror from the wave of Grimm, the teacher can try to keep them at bay, or something. She'll do something when they get closer. But there not here yet.
She walked up to the closest tree and started collecting sap when she heard revenge coming from above a hill and behind her. she immediately identified it as Cardin with his team. They will be annoying. But for now, she can ignore him.
Ez did listen in on the conversation team CRDL was having though. learnt about their 'fool proof' plan because of it. It consisted of throwing a jar of sap at her and hoping they don't miss, then, the rapier wasps they collected will swoop down and attack her because they are attracted to the sap.
She could point out the numerous flaws in this plan, but she doubted they would understand.
1) just about every animal has a natural instinct to be utterly terrified of her, for good reason. The rapier wasps would run away from her, like their trying to do right now. But they can't get out of the box, so that failed.
2) The swarm of Grimm headed in their direction. They don't have enough time to initiate their plan.
3) She can easily dodge the jar. Have none of them been paying attention to all of her stupidly fast reflexes and movement in combat class? Seriously, there is a point where idiocy reaches its point, and they are well and truly past it.
4) The rapier wasps don't like the sap. They do like sweets and the sap is sweet, but this is one of the exceptions to the rule.
"NORA!" Pyrrha's anger exclamation could be heard by everyone, it knocked Ez out of her thoughts. Nora must have eaten the sap. Ez doesn't blame her, it is rather delicious.
The approaching Grimm where less than five minutes away. If she told Glynda now, she could get away with 'good instincts' instead of former knowledge they would come. She really needs to tell all Grimm to leave her alone. . .she'll do it later.
She jumped into the tree Glynda had hidden herself in. "miss, there's a massive Grimm horde approaching from over there." She pointed in the direction if CRDL. They were in between her and the horde. Oh well. She though. Poor them.
The teacher was startled at first, this was not good. "what makes you think that, miss Ez." She said formally.
Ez shrugged. "I can hear them. Seriously, they're loud." She adds when Glynda didn't quite believe her.
"how long until they get here?" she asked, a good huntress isn't going to ignore information like this just because it came from a student. . .even if she is older than herself. Glynda still hadn't quite gotten over that fact. She even asked for clarification from Ozpin, he backed up everything Ez had said.
Ez hummed. "about four minutes." She said.
If they were that close, then she should be able to hear them too. Glynda shut her eyes, focusing only on her hearing. Within a few seconds the sounds of the oncoming horde reached her ears. Branches being broken, howls from pack leaders and falling trees.
She jumped out of the tree, followed by Ez. "all students draw your weapons, be prepared for a horde of Grimm." Her voice carried, everyone heard her. She then grabbed out her scroll and dialed in the emergency number, calling in the evacuation ships. Glynda didn't believe she can protect all the students and keep the Grimm away from vale. She could only do one, and her priority is protecting the children in front of her.
CRDL gave up trying to get revenge, Ez had even disappeared, and drew their weapons. They retreated towards everyone else.
RWBY put the jars down in favor of getting ready for the battle to come. Blake's bow twitched and changed the direction she was facing. "over there." She said simply. No one questioned it.
JNPR followed their leaders' orders. "group together, be on guard for attacks from any direction." They stood there for the next four minutes tense and ready.
A loud growl came from the hulking form of a spiked Ursa, it was armored all the way down its spine and outer arms. Its belly was the obvious weakness, but it was also armored there. They were going to have a hard time with this one. "Nora, Ren, try to get in on its back or make it stand up. Pyrrha and I will keep it busy." Juane said, charging in to fight, followed by his team.
"Right." Nora said. The other two just nodded.
a pack of Beowulves came out of the woods around RWBY. The leader took in the situation in record speeds. "Blake, yang, deal with the ones on the right, we'll deal with the ones on the left. Don't use up all your energy, miss Goodwitch said it's a horde so there will probably be more. Go." The four leapt into battle, taking down beowulves by the second.
For every Grimm they took down, two replaced them. They were still fresh, so they can hold out for a little longer, but not forever with the way this in going.
CRDL had retreated to the growing group of students, they cleverly hid at the back, facing the oncoming horde. They let everyone else do the work. Glynda stood at the front, taking the brunt of the attacks on herself. She was faced with a deathstalker, two Ursai and about 80 beowulves. She threw the Ursai at the deathstalker, taking out some beowulves on the side. One of the Ursa got stabbed by the deathstalker stinger, the other just hit it and charged at the professor again. This time she threw a hole heap of beowulves at the Ursa, it didn't do much to it, but it did kill a lot of beowulves on its spikes. the deathstalker was very close to her now, she dodged its claws and stinger, before stopping its motion and ripping its entire tail off with a flick of her wrist. The stinger flew back and hit the Ursa. It died.
Using the debris around her she created a giant spear. It spun in super-fast circles and shot towards the unsuspecting deathstalker. It ripped it apart, continuing after and impaling five beowulves clustered behind it. The spear dispersed along with the slain Grimm. Glynda spared a glance at her students, they were holding up fine. Some weren't doing much, such as team CRDL, they were more of a hindrance then help, and others were doing just fine. She looked back at the horde, this would've been hard to deal with if they didn't get forewarning.
Speaking of witch, where did Ez go? She was standing next to her but the moment Grimm appeared from the trees, Glynda had lost track of her.
She heard a horrifying roar come from within the forest. The beast powerful enough to form that sound must be very strong. Glynda was not looking forward to meeting it. She turned back to face two deathstalkers, 8 Ursai and a flock of small Nevermores.
Ruby cut the Ursa in half, swinging her scythe in a backwards sweep to behead a Beowulf behind her. she looked over at her partner, who was currently stabbing a Beowulf repeatably. An Ursa major ran into the clearing, roaring as it went. It swiped at yang, she didn't block, taking in the force. They had told each other their semblances in the first week of school so they knew it was fine, but it still made Blake's gut twist as she watched her friend get pummeled.
"form up." Ruby called. They grouped together before running circles around the Grimm. "checkmate." Weiss and Blake used their combo attack to swipe across the hide and sides of the Grimm. Yang took the brunt of the Ursa's attacks, taking its attention off her teammates. "bumblebee." Ruby yelled after yang got hit by an unsuspectingly strong attack, sending her flying. Blake threw gambol shroud at yang, she caught it, perfectly fine with being spun around by her partner. Yang activated her semblance just before she got launched into the Ursa. She hit it with everything she had. It was killed instantly, dispersing into smoke.
The three then rushed back to help their leader defend against the swarms of Beowulves and Ursa minors. God, there were so many of them.
A piercing screech made the team look up, they watched as a nevermore circled them. Then watched as the nevermore was struck by a brown moving object, Ez's stick. And finally, they watched the nevermore scatter into smoke. The sword fell, landing in the forest in front of them.
Ez could handle herself, they got back to their own fight. Well, until they heard a huge, terrifying roar, sinking their feelings into despair. They did not want to fight that.
JNPR had long since killed the first Ursa elder, heck, they had killed six of them by now. They were doing ok, but really needed a rest from the never-ending exhaustion. They were getting tired.
Juane looked at his team. Then at the deathstalker that just broke a tree at the edge of their clearing. This is not easy.
"just like initiation, Ren, Pyrrha, target the stinger. Nora, distract it." He commanded. He blocked the attacks from the claws while Nora smashed it with her hammer. Both attacks only annoyed the deathstalker, achieving the desired result, distracting it so Pyrrha and Ren could cut off its stinger.
When the stinger did eventually fall off, it impaled the deathstalker through its hide. Juane did not expect this to go so smoothly, but he wasn't complaining. "Nora!" he called out.
Nora smiled and jumped off Pyrrha's shield, rocketing herself into the sky. She shot some of her grenades to make her fly higher, when she reached the top of her jump, she started spinning forwards. With a battle laugh, Nora sped towards the Grimm, hitting the stinger into its head, just like initiation.
The deathstalker vanished into dust, a swarm of beowulves and Ursa replacing it. A Ursa elder came charging out of the forest, ready to attack.
That makes seven Ursa elders.
They all collectively sighed. "dammit." Juane said under his breath.
Nora turned around when the roar was heard. Its sheer volume was so powerful, the beast must be very large. She was exited, and for the first time in a very long time, afraid. She was scared of the thing that made the sound. Nora hoped in didn't come after them. JNPR had the same opinions.
Glynda didn't need her help. First chance she got, Ez ran off. She passed some Grimm, not really paying attention to them. They weren't the leader of this massive parade in honor of her. it was nice and all, but unnecessary, annoying and silly. She rolled her eyes as another Beowulf bowed down to her.
Ez climbed the tallest tree in sight. It was very big, reaching over all the other trees in the forest by a good ten meters. It must have been old. She gazed out into the surrounding forest and found what she was looking for. A stray young Goliath. It must have gotten stranded from its pack.
The Grimm was at least ten-meters-tall, its tusks were huge for its body. It was scanning left and right searching for its commander.
It was young so Ez wasn't pissed at it for its incompetence, in fact, she was amazed by its ability to command the weaker Grimm. Normally, by now, the Grimm below it would have revolted, the only way to make a Grimm behave, is to show it unparalleled strength it just can compete with. For a young Goliath, this was pretty cool.
She jumped out of the tree and rocketed herself towards the massive Grimm. She landed on its back and it snorted in surprise, it was not complaining about being used as a seat. It was happy.
Ez spoke in her language. The Goliath understood and followed the command. "leave, I'm having fun and your parade is ruining it." She said, crossing her arms.
A Nevermore screeched above a clearing. Ez could see that's where RWBY was battling it out. She whistled to it, the Nevermores understand whistles better then words, "come over here."
The Nevermore screeched back, it was young and childish. "yes ma'am. Just ganna get a snack first." Still eyeing the clearing. Ez stared at it for a good 10 seconds, before drawing her stick from around her waist, and throwing it at the Grimm.
The blunt wood sword hit the Nevermore in the crook of its neck, instantly killing it. It turned into dust and her sword dropped to the forest below. The nevermore went home.
The Goliath let out a booming command to its horde. "where leaving! ma'am doesn't want us here." The roar meant.
All the Grimm in the forest froze with the realization that they just annoyed their pristine commander, oh the horror. They all ran. They ran towards the sound.
The students were all bemused when the never-ending army of Grimm froze and ran. Some just breathed a sigh of relief while others became paranoid that they might come back.
Ez spoke to the young Goliath again. "good job. keep control of your horde and don't let it attack the human city, I'm playing in it. Got it?"
The massive Grimm let out a smaller roar in acknowledgement, it will do it.
The Goliath slowly turned around, hulking back toward the mountain ranges with its horde.
It had been praised by its leader. This is the best day ever!
Ez jumped off its back, well aware to what its thinking. She walked back to the students, detouring to get her stick back.
Everyone was grouped together by the time she came into view, Glynda instantly walked up to her to ask where she went, Glynda was the only one there who didn't look bone-dead tired after the 10-minute horde left.
"the Grimm weren't going to leave until you take care of the leader. So, I went ahead and did just that." She said simply, ignoring the rest of the questions from the professor. She walked off to go talk to RWBY.
"hi guys." She said, putting her hand up like a primary school student who's asking a question.
"hi Ez." The exhausted team chanted back. They were sitting in a circle with JNPR. Everyone looked like they could use a nap. Nora was actually lying down and having one.
"we saw your stick." Yang tried to start a conversation.
"yep." Ez replied, looking between the group.
"then we heard a roar." She continued, 'roar' was an understatement.
"so did I." she sat down on the ground with the group. Ren and ruby moved over to accommodate for her.
"and then the Grimm left." She ended.
"huh, I thought they were running from Cardin's horrible smell." And it was true, Cardin did smell…of medicine and anti-bacterial for his bandaged nose.
Blake agreed, having a sensitive nose, she could smell him too. It was torture.
Yang was definitely interested in this. "whats he smell like?"
Ez waved her hand in dismissal. "the old lady smell in nursery homes." She scrunches up her ace in disgust. "now I really wish I broke his legs instead of his nose. They wouldn't need so much anti-bacterial." She stuck her tongue out in disgust.
Blake called, "here, here!" agreeing with her politician style.
Yang laughed. Joined by half of the group. Something about Cardin suffering just appealed to them so much. It was glorious.
Ruby had overheard the words passed between Ez and Goodwitch. "so how did you defeat the leader Grimm? Oh, and was it the one that made the roar?" she asked.
"yep. I just walked up to it and had a little chat." She gave them an evil grin, the group interpreted it as 'beat the living daylights out of it'. Ez heard their misinterpreted thoughts and let it go, if they wouldn't believe the truth, she won't force then to.
The evacuation ship arrived five minute later. They all flew back to Beacon.
And miraculously, not a single jar of sap had been broken in the Grimm attack.
Amber had been attacked. She had been attacked by three people, probably just older then teenagers, 17 to 20 years old was her best guess. She had been horrified when she was beaten, and even more so when she felt her maiden powers draining from her. it made her sick to the stomach, the pain was intolerable and intense. Her relief was evident when it stopped, she didn't know why, but it did. Oh, the joy she had felt at the time.
Then the nightmares started. All her worst dreams and memories came back to haunt her. she could feel her mind slipping away with each passing day? Hour? Second? She didn't even know anymore. It was all just one big blur of horror and fears. Her fears, not anyone else's.
Then it just stopped. A few words had traveled through her mind, repeating itself over and over again. She didn't understand their meaning but loved then none-the-less. Those words had driven the pain, fear and terror away, replacing it with a calm Amber couldn't remember existing. She didn't even care that these words also took the rest of her maiden power, she felt as if she owed it for saving her from the madness. It gave her the sleep she so wished of.
And now her vision was filled with white. Not a clear full color white, but a patterned white. It was more like a roof, or maybe she's going crazy. She had to be dead, no other way to describe it. This roof had to be a joke on her, promising a life she knew she had lost. It couldn't be real.
And yet… here it was, the only thing in her vision. Her head ached. Not like it was before, it just ached dully.
She lay? Yep, she was laying down, on the bed staring at the impossible roof. It was so pretty… even if it was just rectangles. The first real thing she has seen for the last…weeks? Months? Minutes? Who knew?
Amber tried to turn her head to the side unsuccessfully. In the attempt, she made an unconscious groan. She tried again. Hurray! Her head moved a centimeter. It moved such an inconspicuous amount that she was lucky to see the edge of the window on the wall.
It was dark outside, with the city lights in the distance. The broken moon above it all, shattered as usual. It was honestly much nicer then the roof, in Amber's opinion. Well, at least she knows it night time.
A head appeared.
She didn't recognize it, and it didn't look like any doctor of sorts. More like a teenager, 15, would be her guess. The flowing, long, pitch-black hair draped over her shoulders and her kind smile made her look young. But her eyes told a different story. A story of madness and horror, unlike anything she could even imagine. Her eyes a crimson red, much like blood, screamed for help, but also begging for no help. Her eyes were sad, but not, at the same time. As if she had forgotten what sadness was, or, forgot how to feel it. The eyes were strange to Amber, she had never experienced eyes like hers before, they scared her, and yet, she knew she could trust this girl. She knew this girl meant her no harm, and she knew this was the voice in her head. This child above her was the one to save her.
"your awake." She said, sort of happily. "wasn't expecting you to be. . . not yet, at least." The girls voice was so far off Amber was surprised she even heard it.
Amber tried to talk but couldn't get anything past her parched throat. It felt like a fire was brewing, with some shrapnel on the side. But it wasn't as bad as the pain she felt before.
The girl frowned in though, then smiled. As if she had read her mind, the girl grabbed a glass of water and tipped it up so Amber could drink. At first, it felt foreign, like she shouldn't be allowed this luxury. But eventually, her mouth and throat changed their minds and couldn't get enough of this wonderful stuff. She was disheartened when the glass was taken away.
The girl smiled again. "I know how you feel, But the glass is empty." She said in mock humor, refilling the cup. Amber drank another two glasses after the first, though, they were moderated so she didn't get sick.
After her drink the girl spoke again, "I guess I should do introductions now. Hello amber, my name is Ez. Nice to meet you." The now-named Ez grabbed her arm and shook it, well aware she can't move right now. Amber tried to smile, this was successful. yay, she thought, I can do something. Ez saw the smile and returned it with her own.
"your currently in Beacon academy infirmary. I've been informed that you were attacked six weeks ago."
Amber was perplexed. Why am I here? Isn't this unsafe? What if I bring the people who attacked me to these children? They won't be able to protect themselves against my assailants, I wasn't able to, and I had the maiden powers.
"Don't worry, your safer here than anywhere else, and you don't have to worry about the students, I've got that covered. You have nothing to fear." Ez put her thumb up and showed it to her.
How did she know my thoughts? Am I that easy to read? Amber thought to herself. Ez giggled a little.
"no, you're not easy to read. I can just hear what your thinking." She said.
Amber thought for a bit, Ez left her alone without interrupting. It that your semblance or something? Amber though, curios if her experiment would work.
Ez hummed, "no. but call it that if you wish." She shrugged her shoulders.
Well, at least her experiment was successful, she didn't need to speak to communicate. And it looks like Ez caught on to her plan and was just rolling with it. . . oh well. Then Amber thought again. If its not a semblance, then what is it?
Ez let one bored laugh escape her mouth. "a skill of sorts. No, I'm not explaining further." Ez noticed the questioning glance Amber gave her.
Hmm. . .so, I'm at beacon. . .what next? She asked. Ez's face lit up in an 'oh right' expression.
"well, then they put you in life support in a very secret place. When Oz mentioned you to me, I asked if I could see you, he let me. Then I took the parasitical Grimm that had been feasting on your mind out, and no, Oz and the others couldn't do anything about that. After that, I decided I would put the two pieces of the fall maiden power back together, so I took yours and I am yet to find the other half." She ended her sentence by putting her hand on fire. Amber was confused about most of that.
Why would professor Ozpin mention me to you? No offence. "none taken." Ez replied before Amber continued. What do you mean by parasitical Grimm? Why were you the only one who could do something about it? And how are you going to fix magic?
Ez laughed at the questioning. "you didn't get a single word, did you?"
No. was her fast reply.
Ez rolled her eyes. "me and Oz have been friends for a very long time." She held up her hand to stop further questions. "I'm a lot older then I look. A parasitical Grimm is a type of Grimm that are basically parasites, but worst. They are very, very rare so it's no surprise that you, and Oz's little friend group, don't know of them. That's why they couldn't do anything about it, they didn't even know it was there." She pointed to herself proudly. "I, however, have uncounted them before and know how to deal with them. And I'm not answering your last question."
The two were silent as Amber processed this information. Huh. . . so what now? She stared at the girl again, mesmerized by her eyes.
"well, I think Oz would like a word with you if you can sit up and speak now." She pointed with her thumb behind her. this is when Amber realized they weren't alone in this room. "but if you can't, don't force yourself to, I can translate.
Amber sat in silence for a bit. I would like to give it a try. . . wait, this entire conversation, to Ozpin, did it seem as if you were talking to yourself?
Ez smiled, answering both questions in one. "yep."
Ez clicked a button on a remote and the bed Amber was laying on started to move beneath her. it felt weird. A few minutes of mechanical sounds were heard, until they stopped, Amber was sitting up. She lifted her hand weakly and waved at the professor in the chair at the edge of the room, he was reading the newspaper. He nodded in response to her wave and put the paper down. He waited patiently for Amber to start talking.
She tried. And failed. She tried again. . . and failed. This is harder then it looked. One last time. She managed to open her mouth and form a sound. It was foreign to her ears and didn't quite sound right. I'll try it later, when I'm less tired. Then to Ez, I give up, can you help?
Ez smiled at her then looked at Ozpin, "I'm speaking for her." Ozpin nodded then gestured to continue.
Um, hello? Professor Ozpin.
"hi Oz." Ez translated.
"hello Amber, nice to see you awake." Ozpin said. Amber smiled and continued with her rudimentary speech.
What would you like to talk about?
"you can start asking questions." Ez wasn't very good at this.
Ozpin looked at Ez, it was like he knew this isn't what Amber was saying. Amber didn't mine thought, this was her little way of speaking again.
"first off, how do you feel?" the headmaster asked genuinely.
I'm tired and everything hurts, but otherwise ok.
"good, but everything hurts." This time Ez said something similar to what she thought.
Ozpin nodded in understanding. Oh wow, he can understand Ez even when she's horrible at this translating job. Amber thought to herself.
"hay, I'm not that bad!" Ez exclaimed.
Yes, you are. Ez huffed in annoyance.
"did you see who attacked you?" Ozpin asked, ignoring Ez.
Yes.
"yep."
"could you describe them?" Amber's eyes hardened.
Yes. The leader had black hair that covered her left eye. She wore a short red dre—
"stop," her thoughts were interrupted. "instead of describing them can you picture them?" Ez asked. she then got up and grabbed something from a table top across the room. Amber saw it was a piece of paper and a pencil. She motioned for Amber to continue her thoughts, and she did.
She imagined the leader first. Her cruel smile and confident posture first, then all the little details about her; what she wore, the duel sword-bow she used, how she used them, the way she walked, and everything else she could remember. she imagined it all in her mind, her bright orange eyes, the black emblem tattooed on her back, her long black hair pushed over one shoulder, the waist height red dress with the blue feather accessory on her right hip. Her fighting styles, the way the patterns on her dress lit up whenever she attacked and how her partners grabbed her arms and pinned her, and how she put on a white glove and the black Grimm came out of it and oh god. She didn't want to think about that…that horrible woman anymore. It was too unbearable.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that, but I'm going to have to ask you to think about one of the other two now." Ez's voice sounded like she was trying to care. Amber brought herself to think about the awful day again. Ez changed the piece of paper she was drawing on.
OK… she responded before imagining the boy, no older then 18. This time she only imaged him standing still, in an effort to forget what he did. His short grey hair pulled to one side, the grey vest he wore, his shot-gun boots, the arm guards and the long trousers. He had a grey bandanna over his right hip and his eyes were grey. After a minute or two of holding the image, she let it go.
"cool, can you think about the last one? I know this isn't any fun, but it is very important."
Amber sighed, this was the one she disliked like the most. Her illusions tricked her to get off her horse and set her up for the ambush. Make sure professor Ozpin knows about the illusions. She thought to Ez.
"one of them can use illusions and is very good at it." She added. Ozpin nodded at this, it was valuable information. Ez changed the paper again. "ok, I'm ready." said Ez.
Amber let a puff of air out of her mouth like a sigh. Got it… but this is hard.
"I know." Ez replied.
Amber then started picturing the last one, a girl of about 17 years old. She had mint-green hair with a straight fringe and two bangs hanging down at the back, much longer then the rest of her hair. she wore a dull green bra, one fingered gloves on her wrists and white pants and brown chaps on top. She was the least threatening one, but Amber hated her the most. She used two small scythe-guns that sheathed behind her. her emblem was on her back, a split gem. Her eyes were a bright red, not like Ez's, but more like Qrows.
Her mind traveled to Qrow, the last person she saw before passing out. He was her savior and hope in those last moments. She would have to thank him next time she saw him. Ez looked up from the drawing and saved this person in her memory for later, he seems interesting.
She continued her drawing, going off what Amber had been thinking before. When she was done, she showed then to the hospitalized girl.
"this look like them?" she asked.
Amber was appalled by the skill it took to draw these pictures, every stroke was in the right place, not a single one out of line, it was exactly like them. It was horrifying seeing her ambushers again. Except…they were in black and white now, and weren't attacking her, it was comforting, in a way. Yes, they are perfect. Amber answered the question. She looked at the girl and smiled sadly.
Ez smiled back, got off her seat and passed the pieces of paper to Ozpin, who studied then before turning back to the two girls.
"thank you Amber." His voice was comforting, "I have one more question for you and then I'll let you to be." he paused for dramatic effect. "Ez can give you the fall maiden's power when it's whole again. would you take it, or, better question, do you want it?" he asked.
Amber didn't know an answer. I-I don't know. She thought slowly, but Ez didn't translate. Instead, Ozpin spoke again.
"you don't have to answer now, and you don't even have to tell me, just Ez. you don't have to have it, it is your choice and yours alone. No one will think less of you if you choose not to keep it. Have a good night." He said before standing up and leaving, taking the pieces of paper with him.
There was pleasant silence for a bit. "why does he have to be so depressing sometimes?" Ez said loud enough for Amber to hear.
It didn't sound so depressing to me…it sounded more worried or possibly accepting, but not depressing. Amber replied, confused.
Ez gave her a toothy grin. "you can't read his thoughts." She said cryptically.
Amber scrunched up her forehead. I thought you were reading my thoughts, not his.
Ez slumped in her seat. "I read everyone's thoughts unconsciously, It's so annoying." She sighed, "but, I learnt how to ignore it, so unless I want to know what their thinking, their thoughts just add to the pile of nonsense going in and out of my head." She said more happily.
Huh…does it ever drive you insane? Amber asked, giving Ez a glance.
Ez laughed loudly, there was no one else in the room so it was ok. "all the time…if you want, I can let you hear it." She said.
Amber gave her a curious glance, she really liked this girl. How would you do that?
"simple." She said crossing her arms in mock superiority. "I project my thoughts onto you, including everything I hear. It's nighttime, so it won't be as hectic as it can get."
Strength was slowly returning to Amber, so she shrugged, draining all her energy. That was a bad idea. Sure, Ill give it a try. They smiled at each other.
Ez reached her hand out and placed it on the side of Amber's head. Amber had this strange urge to close her eyes, too weak to resist, she compiled with the urge.
Suddenly voices filled her head, happy, sad, angry, cheerful, disgust, curiosity, the rush of emotions overtook her mind and she couldn't form her own thoughts over the flood of others. So many voices spoke in her head they drowned out each other, creating a huge jumble of words. It was hellish and chaotic.
Then, just as quickly as it came, it left. Amber sat there on the bed breathing heavily for many minutes. How long was I listening? She asked.
Ez tapped the side of her cheek, "about half a second."
Amber was shocked by the answer if anything. She expected a short amount of time, but not that short. And you deal with that every day? She thought, genuinely worried for the girl to her side.
Ez nodded glumly. "yep. Oh, but don't tell anyone. This is just a secret between you, Oz and I."
I can do that, with me not being about to speak right now. She said.
"that might be solved with a good night's rest. Speaking of which, you look tired. Do you want to try and sleep?"
Amber smiled weakly, only just realizing how tired she really was. Yes please. Ez grabbed the remote attached to the bed and clicked a button. Slowly, the bed lowered, Amber was laying down again.
"goodnight." Ez said softly. Walking to the door, Ez turned the light off.
Goodnight. Amber thought as Ez closed the door. She slipped off into a deep sleep, happy for the rest.
"why did you say I would give her the fall maiden power." Ez asked Ozpin. She was standing in front of his desk in his office. She wasn't angry at his, she was just curious.
Ozpin interlocked his fingers and placed them on the table in front of his, resting his head on top. "would you do it?" he asked, avoiding the question.
Ez hummed in thought. "she seems like a good kid and all, and will probably be perfect for the power, but after what happened before, I don't think she will want it." She was also avoiding the question.
The both know what each other were doing, a silly little game they play; avoid the question and annoy the other person.
But today, Ozpin needed an answer. "but would you do it." He asked again.
Ez shrugged, giving up. "if she wanted it, sure… but if she says no, don't go picking out one of your students, I won't give it to them." She glared at him harmlessly.
Ozpin tilted his head to the side, that was his next idea.
Ez turned and left. "well, goodnight. Make sure you sleep, unlike me, you need your beauty rest." She said before exiting the room.
Ozpin sighed, Ez is definitely more annoying then anyone else he has met in his entire life. He got up and left too, planning to sleep for the last few hours of the night.
Hello everyone. And welcome to the… um… thing that gets put down here. If your wondering why the mind reading skill was never put in the previous chapters, it's because she had no reason to use it. In this case, she had been specifically asked by Ozpin to use it. She has been using it before, just hasn't really been paying attention to what she hears so i felt no reason to write it in.
If you have any questions or requests, please tell me so I can answer. It could make this more interesting.
See ya in the next chapter…when I write it.
