/N: Yay! Chapter ten is up! I still can't believe you guys. I thought "Nobody will read this; I'll just take my time" and you guys all showed up and craziness ensued. I take a while to write/update and I apologize. Enough gushy stuff: onto the fic!
Note: line breakers were acting up, so sorry if it's all weird.
"You two are dismissed. If anything like this happens again; your privileges in the shop will be revoked for a time. Am I clear?"
Lorry and I nodded at a serious looking Ozpin before heading towards the door.
"Wolf…could you stay for a bit longer?"
Lorry shot me a confused look, but I waved her on. "I'll be all right. You just go and I'll catch up."
"If you're sure…" She closed the door and left Ozpin and I alone in the office.
He started chuckling. "Why on earth did she have a smoke bomb for Grimm in the mech-shop?"
I laughed self-consciously. "It would have been fine; but I accidentally pressed the button to release the gas…I will never do that again."
We both shared a moment of laughter before Ozpin said with a straight face:
"I can only imagine how painful that was for your nose…can you still smell at all?"
I nodded. "Yeah: barely."
Ozpin nodded. "Good…good…" He seemed to have something on his mind, so I asked what it was.
"You have decided it's better to hide your Faunus heritage with that hood you wear. That and your decision to ignore the dress code are interesting. Why hide who you are?"
I shuffled and looked at my feet. "I don't know…being a Faunus is hard. When I escaped from Cinder and the White Fang I had no home. I lived in the streets and quickly discovered what it was like for Faunus's to live in the world. Ridicule, assault, burglary. It was crazy. I was homeless to boot, so you can imagine how quickly I learned to hide from people."
Ozpin took a sip of his tea (he told me he was trying to quit coffee) and said, "Jade, I know you haven't had the best life,"
I scoffed at that. No, torture and forcibly killing people is 'not the best life'.
"But I hope you realize that trying to avenge your family and take back your past is going to do nothing but make you empty. I suggest you talk to Ruby Rose about why she is here at Beacon…perhaps she can give you some inspiration."
He turned and looked out the window; signaling the end to the conversation.
I left and found Lorry waiting outside the office. She looked curious. "What was that about?"
I shrugged and moved past her. "Oh, he was just giving me some advice." I guess a half-lie isn't that bad…
"Why don't we hurry up and try to clean the shop again; the smell is almost gone!"
It had been a few weeks since 'the incident', but the smell was still ungodly bad.
It…lingered.
"Yeah…if you hadn't picked it up…" Lorry didn't finish the sentence, but she didn't need to.
"Hey, I thought we were past this. No more being angry at me, right?" I asked.
Lorry was a bit upset that I had gassed us (and the entire school) out of the mech-shop. Okay…maybe a bit more than upset. She had yelled said something about how all of her equipment smelled now.
I could say that everything we had touched for the next two days still smelled so bad, Ozpin didn't even call to talk to us until just now.
Yeah, that's how bad we smelled.
I heard that everybody who was in the elevator we used to get back to the dorms had some…empty stomachs.
I grinned despite myself. "You have to admit it was funny. At least sort of? A teeny-tiny bit funny?"
Lorry was trying not to smile; something she was failing at.
"Let's just get back to the dorms."
RWBY dorms
"Blake, which is better; a shotgun or a sniper rifle?"
Yang and Ruby had gotten into a discussion over which of their weapons was better; which in turn led to a serious debate over the guns inside them.
"I…don't know." No way was Blake joining in and picking a side.
Ruby then jumped down from her bunk and peered at the book Blake was reading.
"What are you reading?" Ruby and Blake swap books every once in a while; so Ruby wanted to know if the book was any good.
"Oh, it's a book about two siblings fighting so their mother can live in a nice place by the castle. Eventually they join the army, and are fighting the invaders who…I won't spoil it for you. It's called Wind of War, by Arieko*. You should read it. Once I'm done."
Ruby looked intrigued. "Does it have any cool weapons in it?!"
Blake nodded. "Yes…and you can figure it out for yourself…as soon as you let me finish it."
Ruby took the hint and left Blake to her book.
She looked over at Weiss. "What about you?"
"What?"
"Which do you think is better; a shotgun or a sniper rifle?"
POV of Lorry
When I was waiting for Wolf to get out of the office, I did some thinking.
Ever since the day when Wolf stood up to Cardin and had a 'talk' with Ozpin, she has nothing but open admiration for him.
Sometimes some students would make fun of his limp, and his need for a cane. They usually got a verbal lashing on par with Glynda's.
And a couple of weeks ago, I had 'caught' (you couldn't call the headmaster of a school checking on students 'caught', exactly) Ozpin watching Wolf.
Now, I would see him just looking at her with almost…concern and…maybe a bit of sympathy?
What could be so important about Wolf that Ozpin would be so...caring towards her?
Just then, the door opened and Wolf stepped out; a look of concentration on her face.
"Hey, what was that about?" I asked.
She didn't look at me as she passed quickly by. Whatever Ozpin had said must have unnerved her.
"Oh, he was just giving me some advice."
I quickly followed her. "Why don't we hurry up and try to clean the shop again; the smell is almost gone!" I was hoping to distract her from whatever was making her upset.
"Hey, I thought we were past this. No more being angry at me, right?" She asked; a smirk on her face.
Oh boy, she had no idea how mad I was. That shop was the only place I could go to get away from people. My sanctuary, if you will.
"You have to admit it was funny. At least sort of? A teeny-tiny bit funny?" Wolf asked.
I tried not to laugh at all those poor people who had lost their lunches that day, and a few the next…
But Wolf was right. It was funny.
Wolf laughed. "There we go! You were totally failing at trying not to smile."
I just tried to keep my sense of dignity towards my fellow students and hurried towards our dorm.
...
POV of Flyder
Otto walked out of the shower; the only thing covering him being a small towel around his waist.
I nearly dropped my jaw onto the floor.
When we say "Hey, this is Otto. He's big." We don't mean big. We mean BIG.
His chest was well muscled. So much so…I think he had like, an eighteen pack.
He looked strong with his black wife-beater but now…holy crap.
Otto noticed me totally envying his muscles and he smiled in that way only he can.
"You think you can never have these?" He flexes, just to show off. (Okay, probably not but still…)
"You already do." Okay…what?
Otto noticed my obvious confusion and he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Muscles aren't always visible, you know. Otto has visible ones. You…you have the secret ones that not everyone can train to get. You have strength; just not the same as me."
He walked over next to his bed, but I was lost.
How could a guy that seemed so…not smart…have such amazing intellect? It was confusing.
I just decided to shake it off and take a shower like I had planned. That is, until I noticed the smell in there again.
I swear to god, Wolf and Lorry are going to regret ever stinking up this place!
I piled my clothes into my arms and headed for the elevator.
When I got there and a couple green kids came out of it, holding their stomachs, I sighed.
Guess I should take the stairs…
Ozpin's office
"Well? I trust you have the information I need?" Ozpin was currently talking to one of his most trusted 'Hunters'. Well, he wasn't really a Hunter. When he was younger, he attended Beacon.
He hated the Grimm though, and was so scared of them that Ozpin offered him a new job.
Information Gatherer Operator. Or IGO for short. And the student named himself 'Iggy' as a fun joke.
Iggy was perfect for the job, and took to it like a student from Beacon.
"Yes sir." Iggy placed a folder onto Ozpin's desk. "Careful though; that stuff isn't for the faint at heart."
Ozpin nodded. "Thank you for your help. You will find what you have requested at the usual drop."
Iggy bowed and instantly vanished.
Ozpin picked up the folder on his desk and sighed.
He didn't want to go looking into Jade's past, but he knew it would be helpful.
And Jade was going to go down a dark, dark path if he didn't help her.
He opened it and cringed. It's for the best…
At least; that's what he kept telling himself.
JNPR dorm
"Say what?"
Jaune had answered the door and was surprised to see Flyder standing there asking to use their shower.
Flyder was still standing in the hallway…awkwardly waiting.
Pyrrha got up and opened the door further. "We would be glad to share with you. I'm sure Jaune has no problem with it, do you?"
Jaune couldn't stand against the Pyrr-pressure and nodded. "Um, yes! No problem! It's over there!"
Flyder moved fast, and instantly the bathroom door shut and the water turned on.
Ren looked up from cleaning his weapon. "You can shut the door now."
Jaune recovered from staring at the space Flyder occupied and he shut their dorm room door. "Uh, sure thing!" He replied awkwardly.
Their was silence…until they heard sounds of fighting across the hallway.
Nora perked up. "Do they need help breaking legs?!"
Across said hallway, RWBY dorm
"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed as Yang held her up in her arms. "Put me down!"
Ruby drew a fist back, and then the dorm room was covered in rose petals and getting warmer, Ruby and Yang the center of it.
"Rubes! That's dirty fighting! I can't believe you would go for something like that!"
"Your fault for exposing too much anyway!" Was the short and muffled reply.
"Now you're getting it! That was my hair!" Yang shouted.
"No! I didn't mean-" Ruby's attempt at making peace was thrown out the window…and so was she.
"Yaaaaannnngggg!" Weiss and Blake just stared at Yang, who was standing with Ruby's cloak in her hands and a triumphant grin plastered on her face.
They all heard the sound of Ruby hitting the ground below, and Yang winced slightly.
"Hehe…she'll be fine…"
*the story I'm referring to is Arieko's Winds of War, so go look him up! He has several stories that are sure to make you laugh. And cry. And everything in between. He is an awesome writer, so go and read his RWBY stories!
Feel free to comment, review, PM, anything you like. I appreciate all you guys keeping with me, and any comment is appreciated. Even if you think I should change something. Feedback is awesome!
Peace! Jackie out!