Chapter 7: Nightmare's Muse
We don't own RWBY.
"So Miss Baak, how is your family? I heard that you are quite the sensation, given how your glaive chose you rather than your brother." I lift my head, the pitch blackness fading as a familiar cliff appears before me. Headmaster Ozpin appears before me, holding a cup of coffee and watching me carefully.
"H-How did you know about that?" I look around nervously, hoping no one else is in earshot, and pull at the loose ends of my bow. The others were launched already, I realize.
"A headmaster is supposed to know about his students," Ozpin says giving me a cryptic expression over his coffee. "Although, I was expecting your brother as well. Considering his training, he has quite a lot of potential, despite the setback."
"I… think he is still deciding what exactly he wants to do." I state politely. "But he hasn't spoken to me since the, you know, incident."
"Now that I think of it, Kai-Shun has always loved baking. Perhaps he should make that his profession," Hong Long cuts in, with his usual dry snark.
Ozpin chuckles. "Well, despite his stubbornness, your brother will realize that he still can be a Hunter if he wishes; and if not, we will all be able to enjoy his pastries. But what about you, Miss Baak? What are you planning to do after you graduate from this institution?
"Um, well…" I pause shyly, afraid that my plans were not concrete enough, and too idealistic. "I would like to help the faunus situation in Mistral. From what I've seen, faunus and humans make assumptions and allow miscommunication to occur. I guess, overall, I want to help create equity between humans and faunus." I wring my hands together, not daring to look up.
"That is certainly a noble goal." I sigh with relief, and look up. Ozpin's light brown eyes bore into my orange ones, and he clears his throat.
"Before you start protecting others, though, I believe it is important for you two to learn to fight as a team. This is, as you are well aware, why you are a student. It is crucial for you, as a Living Vessel, to understand how your control works. Just as our teams of four students need to learn to respect each other, so too do you. Before you two work with other students, I think it best to make sure you two can work together seamlessly. If you can't, it would make an already unstable team more unreliable."
I nod silently, realizing that Hong-Long and I squabbled over nearly everything. I could count how many things we agreed on with one hand.
"Tell him that I understand and will do my best to respect what he desires," Hong-Long cuts through my thoughts.
"Thank you, Mr. Foh. I appreciate the cooperation from each of you." Ozpin inclines his head towards me.
Hong-Long's voice resounds with shock. "He can hear me? Nobody should be able to hear my thoughts if they aren't holding the container."
I stare at Ozpin, trying to think of a way to articulate all of the questions I suddenly have. He simply smiles back innocently, as if Hong-Long didn't speak through the spiritual realm.
"In the meantime," Ozpin continues, "I would advise you to keep a level head about yourself. More often than not, a hero becomes overwhelmed by noble intentions. Make sure not to let those intentions get tainted by wrath as before."
"Look out; grenade!" Hong-Long's voice booms, just as an ear-splitting explosion cuts through my head. Ozpin and the cliffside instantly disappear, everything turning black. I reach up to cover my head, my heart pounding. In the background, I barely hear screams of pain, not daring to look up. Finally, everything goes silent. I slowly lift my head, and stop in fear as I see the snout of a gigantic red dragon. Terrified, I raise my eyes and meet the fiery gaze of Hong-Long, his deep red eyes glaring deep into my soul.
"Now that I realize it, all of this great fun that I just had was possible – Thanks. To. You." He straightens up to his full stature, as tall as a five-story building, and lifts a claw the size of a truck. Petrified, I can only watch as his claw cleaves into me, piercing through my chest, abdomen, and thigh.
Screaming, I jump up and wrap my arms around myself. Looking around, I realize I'm in my room. It was all just a dream. I draw in shaky breaths, trying to calm my pounding heart, and pick up my Scroll. Sunday morning, five forty-five. I smile wryly, realizing that I'd woken up right before breakfast hour. I flop back down in bed and tap on my unread messages.
Blake had sent a message, asking me if I was okay and if we could talk. Dread fills my heart and I quickly tap away, reminding myself to respond later. The other message was from Weiss.
"Hey, are you okay? I reached the docks really late, and you were crumpled on the ground. Wukong had to carry you back since he was the only one strong enough. We bandaged your head, since he said you'd been in an explosion… Oh, and I noticed that your glaive's seals are black now, and the bright red ribbon that's usually around your neck disappeared. I looked for it, but it must have blown away or something… I'll go with you to get a new one, if you want. Talk with me, alright? Breakfast?"
Did the bloody scene at the docks really happen, then? It wasn't just my dream?
With a start, I realize I have no idea where Hong-Long is nor feel his usual presence. Frantic, I search the room and spot the glaive in the corner. Relief momentarily washes over me until I step closer and see the seals an onyx black, just as Weiss had said. The bright red ribbon, a manifestation of my companion's spiritual connection to me, had completely disappeared. Carefully lifting the glaive, it felt as if I was lifting just that: a glaive. There was no trace of Hong-Long at all.
The fearful questions flood my mind. Where was he? Did the seals break? If so, where did he go? What if he's on a murdering rampage? Is he capable of that? I clench the Scroll tightly, tapping out a quick, "can we talk now?" I think back to how effortlessly Hong-Long would spread his soul out when we searched for something. How did he do it? I close my eyes and concentrate, but nothing happens. I furrow my brow, trying to concentrate harder.
A buzz from my Scroll interrupts my thoughts. I look down and see that it is Weiss's "yeah." I scramble out of bed, quickly dressing, and stop. It just doesn't feel right without the bow, I think to myself. Digging through my luggage, I find the bow that had come with the uniform. And to think that Shifu had said that it was completely useless… Worry knots in my stomach again and I strap the empty glaive to my back.
I quickly exit my room and head down the hall to team RWBY's room. As I reach the door, the door opens quietly and Weiss steps out. We exchanged quiet hellos and walk to the dining hall.
"Talk to me, Yee," Weiss demands. "Something obviously happened last night."
"Y-yeah…" I suddenly realize that I will have to tell Weiss everything, as well as just how vulnerable I am without Hong-Long. There is no reassuring – though sassy – voice to give me confidence. "P...please don't be too, um, shocked? I have to explain from the beginning for this to, uh, m-make sense." My heart pounds and I grab the replacement ribbon, expecting comfort from the familiar action. Nothing changed. Weiss's arms suddenly wrap around me, and I look up.
"Yee, you can tell me what is bothering you. I am your friend and a Schnee, after all. We fix our friends' problems."
I smile weakly, appreciating the warmth. "Let's get food first. It'll be a long chat."
Umbra: Hey everyone, we're back and we know this one is short. I know that we have been gone for a while and not provided any warning, and we would like to apologize. We both hope that you enjoy this chapter and we welcome and appreciate your feedback on how it was, regardless of positive or negative. (Just try to keep the negative to a calm and professional level. No "this &^$*$&% blows": provide a reason for your expletives like "this &^$*$&% blows because of x and y.")
Phy: To get back into the swing of writing again, I think it's a good idea to start off small (especially since the dynamic has changed a bit). It's part of the reason why this one is shorter.
Side note: I reaaaaally wanted to change the "you" that Ozpin says (referring to both Yuen-Yee and Hong-Long) to "y'all" because it's a form of "you" that is plural, but using that word wouldn't fit Ozpin. As a linguist, though, it bothers me immensely… Why can't we just use "y'all"? I get that people think it sounds southern, but it actually makes more sense linguistically. *cries* /rant
For the reviewer who said you were slightly irked with us cutting out the Ozpin talk: HERE IT IS BUDDY WE GOTCHUR BACK :3 In hindsight, I suppose we could have put it in at the time, but I felt like it made more sense to add it after Yee's learned about HL's, uh, bloodthirsty side.
To respond to your other comment about her outbursts, the first chapter had a lot of Yee having outbursts in response to HL, but most of her conversations with him nowadays are in her head! That's why the first chapter's responses were in quotes, while later they became italics. :) Yee's become a little more aware of herself with that, though when she gets emotional/extremely flustered, she tends to forget.
...although in this chapter, she's "lost me dragon," as Umbra says. Heh.
In response to the reviewer who said it felt like whiplash between the first and second parts of the last chapter: You're right. I felt that she should be useless af in her first fight. [The lowkey reason is because everyone in RWBY seems overpowered except for Jaune. The fact is, though, is that Yee has spent her entire life training as a historian: that means reading, writing, and of course, the most important: studying. During the two years after the ceremony with HL, the training that she went through was the basics of Siu Lum (Shao Lin kung fu).
[For those of you who have never been to a martial arts gym, training is composed of a teacher who shows the student(s) moves, and the students mimic them. For higher level Shao Lin (that Yee hasn't reached), shifus will play-fight the students, but it never gets past kicking or punching a handheld punching pad (they're like super padded gloves for the shifu to wear?). In that sense, for a studious girl to be thrown into a battle with experienced grunts for the first time… pretty useless.]
Umbra: Another reason why there was whiplash was simply because it was supposed to be. I wanted the scene to be incredibly brutal and specifically not RWBY. The job they are doing isn't "clean." It is one step above wetwork. (Phy: apparently that means assassination/murder)
Phy: I think, overall, we intended it to have a clear difference between the two. Yee is very shy, meek, blah blah blah (though kind of unaware of herself), and ultimately very idealistic, while HL is a lot more cynical in his outlook.