Tuutje 07: excellent point about our favorite coffee-consuming Headmaster. Basically…read between the lines. Too many questions! Answer to all: spoilers :D
And you caught me pants-down with the scrolls. I made a messed-up numbers-mistake. Thank you for the compliments! It made me happy to see that.
Dragonslasher20: good to see that you are back with us. I have to admit: I quite literarily put everything I had into that last chapter.
Nightraze: I am glad to see that you liked it. I take your point about the POV's: I just want to make sure that every character gets enough screen-time and…well, that does not always work out so smoothly :(
White Rose romance going on? Hmmm…perhaps :P
"Every living being with a soul has Aura. Animal, Faunus or human. It is a latent ability capable of protecting and guiding when the one possessing it needs it the most. However, it is not infallible. Any untrained individual cannot withstand rifle fire or stab wounds and layer of protection will not prevent the Grimm from gripping you. It just prevents them from chomping down and tearing you apart. Now, every person that is trained in Aura will eventually manifest an Aura-effect. Think of it as an extra layer on top of your ability. In some people, this manifests in an extra defensive ability, such as the forming of ice on the surroundings. In some people, this manifests as an offensive ability, such as fire flowing from the body. Either way, these effects can be subtle, but also lethal."
-Eventide, On Aura, pg. 55
22:47 –Beacon medical bay
The proud, noble warriors in the book 'Soldiers of Love' were the real, proper soldiers. People that fought and bled and died all for the protection of the innocent and the poor. The allied forces of the Hunters that fought the Grimm in service of mankind. Those were the traits of real soldiers and not…not gunning down people that had been ready to surrender; people that were essentially defenseless.
It disgusted Ruby. The men that had come to their aid weren't proper soldiers but mercenaries…that had to be it. Ozpin had asked for the help of local mercenaries to assist saving the hostages, even though there had not been any hostages. But…their dropship had looked more advanced than anything she had ever seen before that…at least in the aircraft sector. Roman Torchwick's ship had been a toy compared to the majestic bird that those black-clad soldiers had used in their operation.
So mercenaries that were essentially rich…but why had Ozpin chosen such people to come near his school? It didn't make any sense: the Headmaster would never ever allow such men close to his students. The risk was too great…so someone else should have ordered them to appear. A professor? Perhaps…but who?
No…no no no. These people could have never been soldiers. And the looks…the looks on the faces of those criminals when they realized what would happen. In that instant…in that very instant, she had seen far too muh.
"Ruby…are you feeling better now?" someone asked her.
No she did not. After those horrifying encounters with the remaining criminals –those by JNPR- they had continued onwards to the hole in the side of the building, to take shelter from the rain . And they had found the helmet-wearing student there. The one she had followed there, knowing that there was going to be trouble. And he had actually not been wearing it there…his helmet had been lying on the ground, discarded like thrash and badly damaged –just like the student himself.
Things turned to a blur after that. She had eventually looked up, finding herself sitting on a warm bed in the Med-bay of the school. And there she still was. Everybody was there; the Med-bay was large enough to accommodate forty people in their beds. And right now, a few of those were occupied.
Jaune had thrown up after he had witnessed the murders. He was sitting on a bed with his back turned to the rest of them, staring at the white sheets without saying a word. Pyrrha was sitting next to him, alternating between participating in the conversation and looking worried about her leader. But Jaune wasn't the only one that had taken it so rough. All of them had. Pyrrha was as pale as Jaune was and just this once, Nora was as serious and calm as Ren was. Which meant total silence at that moment. All of team JNPR had been wounded during the fighting, but only lightly. Their injuries were minor. Cuts, slashes and bruises.
And a broken toe for Jaune when his shield dropped on it, but thankfully it was one of the smaller ones. He could still walk, but he had to get treatment for it twice a day. Aura and dust could work very well at healing both yourself and others, but most efficiently when you used Aura yourself. She didn't know how it worked and she didn't care.
Yang was relatively unharmed, thank the heavens for that. She was the only one that was still able to form coherent sentences without having to resort to the solemn and serious form of expressions that the rest did. Blake had a nasty gash on her forearm and a purple bruise on her stomach –courtesy of landing after attempting to take down an attack chopper. She had been lucky; people had died from falling the same distance out of the sky, she had heard.
Weiss was also not hurt too badly. Her outfit was torn and cut in many places, showing that her skirmishing in the forest had been worse for her health than the PE lessons that Glynda had ordered them on. But still, she was one of the luckier ones.
Lisa for example had been hit during the fighting. When providing suppressive fire for team JNPR, she had caught a bullet to her leg. It had hit home in the right lower leg, downing her for the fight and allowing the gangsters to press the attack. But Pyrrha had managed to drag her to a place where they were relatively safe from the fire until "help" could arrive.
LACG's demolitions expert Grace had also been hit during the fight; an exploding rocket had spread pieces of rock and wood –deadly projectiles as shrapnel- all across the area. A piece of jagged rock had latched itself in her arm, preventing her from fighting as hard as she could have done with both arms. She too had been lucky that the rock had not taken her head off. Cho and Alessa were relatively fine due to some miracle. The students of Beacon had deserved a stroke of happiness.
Ruby didn't reply to her sister and kept thinking about what had happened…how those people had sounded and how they had looked like when they died. How mercilessly they had been slaughtered by the five men, who had appeared and disappeared so suddenly.
"Ruby!"
She raised her head and looked at her sister.
"At least talk to me when I talk to you about talking, will you?"
"I don't want to," she replied. She was speaking so soft that only Yang could hear her, but that did not matter to her. She didn't want anyone to hear her talk anyway.
"I still can't believe that things could escalate like that…" Blake said, looking awfully stricken with what transpired. She wasn't normally the type to let her feelings show like that, but this was a special occasion for everyone. "Who were those people?"
"Probably hired goons. Or people with a grudge against the Black Angels," Cho said, placing a white bandage against his head. Not quite no wounds; he had caught quite a few fists to his head and face during his wrestling with the men that had tried to murder him to death. So apart from a mild concussion and several bruises and a bleeding nose and various cuts…he was fine. He was still alive.
"But how did they know to come there then?" Ren replied.
"Same way we did. The news."
"I guess so," Weiss replied.
The news…that wasn't how Ruby had found that place. She had followed Will, the not-so-nameless student who had been a casualty at the hands of an unknown enemy. That was another thing that was just impossible to grasp. All of them had been wounded and hurt, for sure. But they were all gifted and able to beat every opponent in single combat. Lisa had been shot by a firearm while covering her team, Grace had been unlucky enough to get pelted by shrapnel and Jaune…was Jaune.
So the real question for the other students –and probably Weiss too- was: who had messed him up like that? Could it be that Yang was right and that he was just not as good as they were, or was there something else going on?
And then there was the familiar black armour that they all wore…the wounded boy and the five murderers all wore similar armour. Was that just coincidence? Or was the whole 'I-work-alone' thing just a big mean lie to mask the fact that he was an infiltrating mercenary all along? Then he was the one who had called the reinforcements…but Ozpin and Matt and Glynda Goodwitch would have found out if that were true. He was accepted as a student…and went to colleges with them. He could have fooled them but…what would it be to him? And who had taken him down?
No, she was overthinking things. She knew that she couldn't think straight now: the straight-up executions of helpless men and women had shaken her up. So intensely that she was getting paranoid. It had to be a higher-up that had ordered the help. Who was she to think that she knew how Ozpin worked? For all she knew he would have ordered the hit personally. There was no way of knowing. There was no way of being sure.
And no matter who he was…nobody deserved that treatment. His wounds had sickened her to her already shaken core. She had never actually known him, but she did know that he had attempted at least twice to simply be near them. He was less efficient at meeting people than bullets were, but hey! She had been blunt as a hammer once –socially awkward to the max.
A few medical people had entered the room a while back and started their treatment. They were wearing a combination of nurse- and doctor-outfits and were unidentifiable. The first team to get treated was LACG; who had the largest amount of wounds and required the medical attention of certified personal.
Soon after the arrival of those mercenaries, officials had stormed the place. Police, firemen…Beacon Airships to get them out of there, carrying older students as reinforcements. All of them had come too late. At least they had gotten Will to the hospital; Vale's medical room wasn't accommodated for such injuries and the Academy had been too far away to take him.
They had been sitting in the Med-bay for almost ten minutes now and the medical personal was just about to leave. But their conversations were both gratifying and disturbing. Gratifying because they spelt positive news for everybody that was a student: no deaths, most wounded are not so severe and everybody will survive.
The head nurse-doctor turned to face them and sighed. "We wish you all a speedy recovery. We'll come back later."
And then all but one nurse-doctor-person left, leaving the only medic in the room to fumble with equipment and syringes.
Nobody gave them a reply, but no reply was needed. Most if not all of them were too shocked by the brutal events of that day to respond. The blatant murders that the five reinforcing men had committed were on everybody's mind right now, as evidenced by their conversations.
Lisa and Cho were talking with Grace and Alessa about what had happened during their separation, while Yang was talking to her own teammates about how unexpected the sudden intrusion had been.
JNPR was busy with themselves, but mostly kept quiet.
"So how did you even find that guy?" Jason Cho eventually broke the silence and nodded at Yang, who replied to him after a moment of silence.
"Just after those armoured people cleared the area…" She said, shooting a concerned glance at Ruby's general direction. Her lovely concern was warming. Sooner or later she would have to participate with the conversation…if only to show her gratitude. "…we entered the hangar bay and there he was. He was beat up pretty badly. Bleeding profoundly, barely breathing."
Ignoring Blake's sensitive hearing for the moment, Ruby decided to open her mouth herself and add a little light in the darkness. "But he's still alive, right"
"That is completely right!" Someone cheerfully yelled. Virtually everyone turned to face the only other person in the room; the nurse-doctor person. Who then proceeded to unmask herself in one fluid movement –taking off the hat and the medical facial mask- and reveal that she was, in fact, Professor Matt Adamant."
"Question is, Ruby Rose, what is he then?"
"You have got to be kidding me," said Yang.
"Afraid not. Someone needs to keep an eye on you and everyone was busy, this late in the evening. I'm also curious as to why three teams consisting of first-year students found their way to a criminal gathering, causing the biggest body-count Vale has seen in years."
Nobody knew how to reply to that, but that could also be because of the weird nurse outfit.
"Why are you wearing that?" Blake asked the question nobody wanted to ask.
"This? This is a medical bay. Think, Belladonna. Staff won't be allowed in without it."
"Weiss?" Ruby whispered, immediately drawing her attention away from the twisted events before her and to her close friend. Yang and Pyrrha spearheaded the conversation with the big chunk of distraction, so nobody noticed her.
"Yes?" Weiss replied and sat down on the bed, next to her.
"Is everyone alright?"
Weiss looked around for a brief moment to confirm that everyone was, in fact, still conscious and active. Then she returned her attention to Ruby and smiled cautiously. "Apart from some injuries…everyone is just fine."
Ruby lowered her head and stared at the white sheets between them, frowning. Something was bothering her. Why was the bowtie-loving man standing here without his iconic fashion? He wasn't the type to worry about not blending in with his environment, so why would he…? Naked? Really? "Why is our Professor here…naked?"
Weiss blushed and immediately jerked around, checking what Ruby meat. In her eyes, the Professor was standing there, but he was also wearing that Nurse's outfit. "Naked? How come?"
"His bowtie is missing," Ruby said and looked at her partner, locking her eyes with hers. "So why is he here without it?"
"Ehm Professor?" Yang asked him, having heard their conversation and taking the nasty responsibility of finding out on herself. "How come you are here?"
Her eyes shot up and down his body and she quickly added: "As a male nurse?"
"An excellent question there, ladies of team RWBY." Matt replied without taking his eyes off of the medical supplies. Once he had verified that they were, in fact, medical, he shifted his attention to the rest of the teams. "An excellent question. As Miss Rose pointed out- "He had heard them? That- that was to be expected of a Beacon Professor, she supposed. "-I am indeed experiencing a severe lack of proper clothing. I experienced some minor difficulties concerning Dust, a shower and a pencil. Nothing to worry about."
Lisa sighed explosively and lay down in her bed, averting her gaze from the Professor and choosing to ignore him. What was her deal?
"But I made a small, minor mistake as well. A tiny one, really. I…" he coughed inconspicuously and continued. "I suddenly found myself a bit on fire. I had no time to put it out as someone was leading a full-frontal assault on multiple crime syndicates, so…"
This was all very awkward to the people that had not heard Ruby and Weiss talking about his 'lack of clothing' as he himself had pointed out in a euphemism. Those people had virtually no idea why he was suddenly explaining why he was naked and those people were also everyone present in the Med-bay.
"But that is less important now. What IS important is you finding out what happened tonight."
Some of them sat up straighter, their interest awakened by the professor.
Not all of them though. "We were there," said Grace. "We knew what happened."
"Is that so? Then can you tell me why the news said there were hostages, while there weren't any?"
The demolitions expert didn't know an answer to that.
"Right then." The Adamant put the syringe away and sat down. "So…who among you came up with the idea of going to that place in the first place?"
Ruby raised her hand. Technically, it was Will. And she still didn't understand quite why he had done it, but that was beside the point "I did."
"Why?"
"I…" well, she had to be honest here. Right now, Will wasn't here. And it had been very suspicious of him to go there in the first place; a lot of people had died and right now, nobody was sure if he was even part of Beacon. "I was following Will, actually."
The professor raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"The boy with the helmet. First-year, quiet guy?"
"Ah yes…him. So he was going there?"
"Ehm…yes. And I had team RWBY follow him. Once there, we heard the newscast." She halted, remembering a question she had been wanting to ask. "Professor Adamant, how come the news said that there were hostages there?"
He smiled. "I've been wondering the same thing as well. The VNN has been known to accept anonymous tips from people. My guess? Either someone panicked, someone really was a prisoner there…or someone wanted to create a panic."
"A panic?" asked Pyrrha. "What do you mean Professor?"
"Well, you saw what happened, right? The Police stayed away, Beacon stayed away for a while." He stopped to take a look around. "Most of Beacon, that is. Seeing as no hostages were found, the report clearly had it wrong. It came at a cost. At least we found some new allies in all of this. I think. As for finding out how to proceed. Cho!"
"Yes sir." The targeted student replied without missing a beat.
"Take Alessa and Blake and get to the Hangar bay where stuff is happening. Five nice gentlemen are currently staying there. The same five gentlemen most of you encountered tonight."
A pit dropped in Ruby's stomach as she realized who the professor was talking about.
"Ehm…Gentlemen?" Blake posed the question that was probably lingering on everyone's mind right now. She had a habit of doing that.
"Yes. Blokes in black suits; their captain is with Ozpin right now. Borrow one and take him to the place to assist. If you want to know more, that's where you should go. Off you go, now then."
Cho and Blake looked at each other in what was probably their form of mild confusion and then got to their feet. The blindfolded girl merely sighed and followed Cho's example.
Why would they ever need to find those people? And why, WHY were they at Beacon? What was professor Ozpin thinking to let these people aboard their sanctuary?
But the three students simply followed the issued order and left the Med-bay.
Ruby took a few deep breaths and glared at the Professor. He looked tired. "He is not looking happy," she muttered, softer this time to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on them.
"How come?" Weiss whispered back.
"Look at his face…something's bothering him."
"How do you even see that?"
"His shoulders are tense."
"That's it?"
"Pretty much."
"I have NO idea how you keep doing that…"
Ruby smiled vaguely. "It's a gift."
"So it is."
"Those of you who are relatively unwounded are free to leave this room, by the way." He absentmindedly said.
"We would prefer to stick with our allies and friends." Pyrrha replied, formulating that which they were all thinking off.
"Of course…I wouldn't have expected any less of you…" Matt said and smiled. But if you don't mind, all of you are safe and well. I should…probably take my leave and report to Ozpin."
"You do that now…" Lisa softly muttered, just audible enough for Ruby and her to hear.
And as the Professor nodded to them and left the Med-bay, she couldn't help but wonder just what was going on in Vale. Criminal gangs wiping each other out in one night of fire, military-looking but completely merciless soldiers suddenly popped up without warning and now Matt Adamant was wearing a nurse-outfit?
It was curious how fate would work in it really existed. Like being stuck in a team with a hot-headed leader, a perpetually-relaxed demolitions expert with the tendency to overlook things in her line of work and a girl that seemed to defy the rules of physics by simply existing.
That was not fun.
And after a few days on Beacon, Jason Mauve Cho had found out that all the teams were practically a ragtag group of teenagers pumping with hormones.
That was not fun.
But this day had changed his opinion on that matter. The mere fact that the teams existed out of a ragtag group of pumped-up teenagers made them the ideal persons to become the future hunters of Vale. If gave them morality and ethics…something that some people were clearly lacking. The battle had been brutal –and his face still hurt to prove it- but the mere fact that his own team was so diverse made it bearable to keep going on. The presence of such diverse people was something that could be seen as good.
That was fun.
And then, when he had finally come to appreciate the presence of such people in his direct vicinity to help him deal with the problems that the day had posed to him, Matt had proceeded to tell "Cho" to go and investigate. It was like the Police Academy all over again. So now he was walking down the corridors with Alessa and Blake; easily the two least talkative students besides him.
In a way, he appreciated that.
At the very least he had time to process the events now; something that was made impossible due to useless banter all around him. The people that had functioned as reinforcements were NOT policemen and NOT soldiers. There were a few other cities in the Kingdom, but two of them had a population bordering to a million and were responsible for the biggest, bloodiest war ever seen in Vale. It had been two years since that one ended and since then, the military presence in the Kingdom was pretty much negligible. Whether or not that would stay that way was completely unknown though.
"Why do we have to work with…one of them?" Blake broke the silence. "Why are they even here?"
"Professor Adamant probably wants to know the details." He replied. "And I guess, so do they."
"Why?" Alessa asked.
"I don't think they have the right to insist on doing so." The dark-haired girl answered.
"They came. So they are entitled to Intel." He told the two girls.
"Their methods are thuggish and brutal. Where did Ozpin even get them?" Blake sighed.
"Probably has his contacts…" said Alessa. Why had Matt even decided to send all three of them on their way to investigate? He could understand why he had been picked, seeing as his specialty still lay with police-work, but why Alessa and Blake?
Had the Professor taken notice of the blindfolded girl's tendency to see things that the rest didn't? If he had, that would be a valid excuse to let her help. But why Blake? What made her more competent in investigating than, for example, Lie Ren?
"Almost at the office." He stated and rounded the corner, heading towards the room where the Headmaster would be positioned in.
The three of them moved towards the door that usually led to Ozpin's office and Jason knocked on the door. It took the inhabitants half a minute to actually answer the door, but when one of them did, it only raised more questions about the situation.
Ozpin had opened the door, but behind him stood one of the armoured soldiers that had come to help them. Matt had told them to look for the Captain in Ozpin's office, but now that the man was actually standing there the strangeness of it was only becoming more pronounced.
"Yes?" Ozpin said.
"Professor Adamant ordered us to take one of the reinforcing troops with us to the Hangar Bay," Blake explained the situation, not leaving any holes unfilled.
"We were told that we could find one of them here." Jason added to her explanation. "He said something about sharing information."
Ozpin seemed thoughtful for a moment before he answered them. "Yes…of course. So Matt finally found the time…yes. Captain?"
To his knowledge, the man who was standing in the office was the only one of the five "soldiers" that had taken his helmet off thus far. He had a rugged look about him: the man was almost bald, with very short black hair at the top of his head. He looked like he hadn't shaven himself in at least four days and his eyes looked cold; utterly devoid of any emotion and yet inspiring a certain level of fear.
His appearance was enough to give Jason the creeps and he had seen his fair share of murderers, rapists and psychos. Who was this man? This wasn't just a mercenary or something; this one was basically radiating professionalism and combat experience. He had the stoic appearance and rigid attitude of a man that had seen his part of fighting, yet his eyes didn't have the wild, desperate flames that most male mercenaries possessed.
So either this was one merciless and soulless veteran of the arts, or the five weren't mercenaries at all. And judging by his face –which couldn't be older than forty- it couldn't be the first one.
So which one was it?
"Lima two-one will be assisting you. His current position is atop observation post Two," The man said, without moving as much as an inch.
"Thanks." Jason told Ozpin and they immediately turned around and left again. Maybe it was him, maybe it was all three of them, but he felt something about that man that was wrong without a doubt. His way of speaking…it felt so focused and metallic…unlike a human being was supposed to sound, anyway.
"Those guys sound wrong," Blake softly said as they rounded the corner again. Well then…no coincidence then.
"I know," Alessa replied.
"Where is that observation post?" He broke the conversation with the new topic.
"Somewhere ahead. We're actually pretty close."
"I see."
It turned out that Blake was right. They really were close to the place they needed to be; as a matter of fact. They could already see the "Lima two-one" standing on top of the tower, clad in his or her usual black attire.
"I hate this," he softly said and walked up to the man, calling him out as he neared him. The fact that they had been ordered to work with people that were essentially cold-blooded murderers that violated the most basic principles of war and conflict was just too insulting for words. "Hey!"
The man turned around, the non-reflective visor that he had come to recognize facing him. And he remained silent.
"Professor Adamant asked us to-" what had the man actually ordered them to? To gather information, yes, but…"-to share information and assist in the Hangar bay. You captain decided that it had to be you."
The man did not respond to him and instead kept quiet, subtly moving with his head.
"Is he ignoring us?" Blake asked.
"Alright, let's move." The helmeted man replied before anyone else could and started to move down the tower-like structure. It appeared that he had somehow communicated with someone else to determine whether or not they were telling the truth, before coming to the conclusion that they were.
"What?" Blake said, a hint of surprise in her voice.
Jason chose to ignore her and instead follow the man to the Hangar bay, where they soon arrived after a minute or four. It was the most awkward and quiet trip he had ever experienced and that was AFTER he had spent at least fifteen minutes alone in one room with Alessa, who hadn't said a damn word that entire time. And somehow this was just worse.
He hated being in such a close proximity to a man that was so willingly able of extinguishing human lives like that. There was no honour or glory in war, but there were morals and ethics and these men had just destroyed that all in one go, in front of a bunch of teenagers. He should be arresting that guy, not escorting him to the Hangar bay. And the fact that he sounded so much younger than he had expected somehow made it worse.
And if Blake's expression was any indication to how she was feeling, she felt the same thing. Why were these people here?
Eventually they came across the Hangar bay, where the boy known as Will usually stayed. Room had been made to accommodate the large airship that the soldiers had used to get to Vale and two of them were currently hauling supplies and weapons from the ship.
One of the soldiers stood a full head above the likes of Cardin, while one other one was just a bit taller than Ruby. Questions and answers rose in Jason's head, but he kept his remarks to himself. In his time with the Police, he had learned to take in the contents of an entire room in the blink of an eye. What he saw here was a hub of information, yet only a few details actually made sense to him.
"So," said the soldier behind him. "What does Professor Adamant want to know?"
Alessa sighed and crossed her arms. Jason too felt that desire. Matt really, really had a bad reputation it seemed. But that revealed more information; these people knew the Adamant family. That meant they had been to Vale before. That meant trouble.
"Basically," he said, as Blake's ability to speak had probably shut down, "everything."
The smaller one turned to look at them and the big one grabbed him by his shoulder, turning him back to his work again. Weird.
"Everything?" said this Two-One. "That's going to be difficult. Headmaster Ozpin made a deal that involved us."
"And what does that mean? Who are you people?"
"That's irrelevant. We're just here to help."
He crossed his arms. "I saw your method of helping. It didn't inspire much confidence."
"It didn't? Did we leave stragglers?"
That was just insulting. "We had the situation under control without the need for a full extermination."
The soldier paused. "Alright. Anything else?"
There was plenty else. Like the deal that the Headmaster had made, or the fact that these people weren't willing to share whom they worked for, or even who they were. But he knew that he wouldn't be getting answers to those questions. He had resigned himself to working with crappy information.
So he said, "guess that was it, for the moment," and dropped the issue. If professor Adamant wanted to get to know these people, the man could come down and talk to them himself.
23:04
The stressful and most certainly crazy things that had been nagging on Yang's mind had all but faded away…but many more problems still remained at large. First –and most important of all- was Ruby. The initial shock had been so forceful to the girl's mind that it had almost sent her into a semi-catatonic state. Thankfully she had managed to snap out of it, but the mere thought of her little sister being hurt like that was just too painful. And the girl hadn't even been the only one; the cold-blooded executions that they had witnessed had shaken all of them.
The only person who could have taken it worse than Ruby had to be Jaune, who had puked at the sight of the carnage. The rest of the students had been lucky; they would simply be forced to deal with horrible nightmares and after-images for a long time. Even she was having a very hard time blocking the sight out. Fifteen bodies spread over the ground; blood pouring from the various holes in their bodies and their lifeless, empty stares. Stuff of nightmares. The worst was that it was also completely necessary; they had surrendered.
"Yang?" A soft voice asked, shaking her out of her thoughts.
"Yes?" She answered.
"I want to get out of this room…get a little fresh air. Do you want to come with us?"
Us? Oh yes, Weiss too. That was good then; team RWBY on its way to recover from their ordeals. "Sure, why not?" Yang was just happy that Ruby and Weiss were growing so close together. She had initially feared that the two of them would never make nice with each other, but look at them now! Close friends that stuck together, could that be any better?
It showed her that no matter how dire the circumstances could be, a positive thing would always emerge to cushion the blow. Well…almost always then. She had yet to see Lisa and Grace recover and there was no telling what Cho, Blake and Alessa would find. Thank god that JNPR was still relatively unharmed. The only one that was really hurt was Jaune –but mentally more so than physically.
Ruby smiled and Weiss stood up from the bed, rubbing the younger girl over her head in the process. "I told you that things would be alright, didn't I?"
"Nope." The redhead replied. "You said no such thing."
"I wanted to say it!"
"And it is the intention that matters."
"Yes! And you remember that."
"Fine."
Social interaction was indeed good for all of them. That much had been proven days ago. The twelve first-year students of teams RWBY, JNPR and LACG had become so close that they were basically all friends now. Friends forged in fire and combat were usually the closest.
As Ruby led them through various halls to find a way out, Yang's mind still found itself clinging to the things that had happened and more importantly, what she had seen. Apart from the murdered gangsters, there were a few other people with painful injuries. Grace basically had a large shard the size of her thumb lodged in her arm and Lisa had been shot –shot- in her leg. Wouldn't that mean that they would have to skip a few classes in order to properly heal again? She knew that Aura could do a great many things, including healing injuries. But bigger wounds needed more time and medicine to heal, like in a hospital-
Yang gasped when she remembered that Lisa and Grace hadn't been the only ones that had been nailed badly and she could feel her ears flush red with embarrassment.
She had completely forgotten about the nameless student!
Wait…not nameless. He did have a name.
She clenched her teeth and hoped that nobody was able to read her thoughts. Not only had she forgotten about his name, she had forgotten about his presence completely. And even though it was normally kind of funny when she forgot about him –because this wasn't the first time it had happened- it left a particularly bitter taste in her mouth now. There was absolutely nothing about the boy that was funny; from his strange way of acting and thinking to his completely brutal defeat at the hands of an as-of-yet unidentified enemy. And she had found out his name, too. Right inside of his helmet was a small name-tag that read Will. Why a name was scrabbled inside of a helmet was beyond her, although it had probably something to do with losing it and identifying the owner. Not that identifying its owner would be a hard thing to do; he was the only one at Beacon that chose to hide his face like that. It wasn't cowardice though; his actions during the PE exercise had set him apart as courageous…but perhaps he was just shy? He did seem to be a worse combination with people than a landmine was and from what she had gathered from the various reactions from his environment, he had to be aware of that.
Perhaps his appearance in the dining hall had been exactly that? An attempt to interact with his peers to get to know them better?
They hadn't been very nice to him…Ruby had once been forced to go through that state by her, so perhaps Will just needed a little nudge in the right direction in order to improve his people-skills?
It made what had happened to him –and that she had forgotten about him- even more painful. Lisa had been shot in her lower leg, a wound that would be easily healed, enabling her to walk again sooner or later. But Will had looked very bad. Flesh was easier to knit than organs…bones were the hardest to heal but if you knew a specific way to heal them, they would be simpler. Organs…were usually the toughest parts to heal and minor breaks in the surface of the skin never needed much attention. It was strange that his Aura had not protected him. Everybody was trained in even the most basic usage of Aura as soon as they started their education. Had he skipped that part?
"Hey Yang?" Ruby asked her, shaking her out of her musings again.
"Yes?"
"Do you think that they will all be alright?"
"Sure they will!" Weiss beat her to it. "They are all tough and their wounds weren't even that severe; I'll bet that we will soon see Grace rigging the toilets again."
"And Lisa is too stubborn to let something stupid like bullets stop her," Yang added with a smile, "I think that she will simply pretend that the wound doesn't exist."
Ruby laughed at that. "And then she somehow passes it on to Cho."
Weiss snickered when she heard that mean joke. "Poor little Cho."
Ruby grew silent for a few seconds and then said: "What about the other Will? Has anyone heard from him? Do you think he'll make it?"
"Yes." Yang replied, taking notice of her younger sister's peculiar way of formulating things. She had mentioned her friends and the helmet-wearing student apart from each other, but still thought him important enough to mention him at all. That meant that she was either shocked by the extent of his injuries or that she wanted to be able to actually do call him a friend one day.
"I don't know…" The Schnee Heiress said. "I have never heard of someone surviving such injuries-" A quick and violent gesture from Yang concerning a throat and a cutting gesture quickly changed Weiss' thoughts. "I-I mean that I never heard of someone receiving such injuries!" She quickly corrected herself, much to Ruby's sudden curiosity.
"Never heard of such injuries? Then how do we know if he is going to survive? We don't even know how much he can take."
"Don't worry about it sis'!" Yang said, letting her cheerful voice pull the girl back to the happy state that she had been in during the little trip. People who work in a hospital work there for a reason. They will know what to do in this case."
"I hope so…" Ruby muttered. "So what happens tomorrow?"
"How so?" Weiss replied.
"We were supposed to be having scenario training in the afternoon and tomorrow the lessons will start again. So should we…read anything? Prepare anything?"
"We JUST fought an enormous battle in which all of us got hurt. A fight that we won! I think we have earned our rest for the coming time, wouldn't you agree?" Yang replied, feeling shocked that her sister would even suggest doing something as…mundane as homework. After all the stress and pain that they had put themselves through to beat the most notorious gang that could possibly attack them, the Professors would surely not let them go through even more stress and pain to do homework? That couldn't possibly be true.
"I wouldn't put it above Ozpin to do something like that though…" Weiss tentatively put. "But do we even have a schedule for the coming day?"
"Not yet…" The teamleader of RWBY said as she pulled out her scroll, before checking it. "Nope…nothing new at least. I guess that they are focusing on more important things right now?"
"I would imagine so," replied Yang. "They should be figuring the whole hostage-deal out. And who these mercenaries are. And why they are staying at Beacon."
"Spare me the memories," said Weiss. "Please."
But it soon turned out that the Heiress was very wrong about not being faced by painful memories. Their detour had somehow taken them back to the main entrance of Beacon and they weren't alone. One of the soldiers stood posted at the entrance, a large rifle in his arms. He was about as large as the average adult, not even overly muscle-bound.
"Look who's there…" Ruby angrily muttered and crossed her arms, her peaceful and thoughtful expression turning to one of disapproval and plain disgust. "It's mister executioner…"
"Which one?" Yang whispered, hoping that the helmeted figures couldn't somehow hear every single word that they said with some sort of nasty communications device. "They all look alike!"
"I don't even want to know…let's just turn back and find a different way to the gardens." Weiss said and grabbed Ruby's arm to pull her with her, but by that time they were so close to the wide opened door that the man couldn't help but notice them already.
But he simply kept staring there at a few meters from the main entrance and keeping his black gaze strictly at the ruined road that led to the airships –a road that didn't seem entirely abandoned.
A car was driving towards Beacon, not looking particularly friendly. It…it was basically a large jeep. A very large jeep –just like Ruby had promised her! Was this the little sister's surprise for her? Had she somehow missed a birthday event or something like that?
The warrior guarding the entrance aimed his rifle at the car, but stayed his hand. And this time, Yang didn't neccesarily disagree with that aggressive gesture.
The very large jeep had a very large gun on the back –that thing looked so military! And she recognized it, too. It was the W11 Jeep that some of her books depicting military vehicles of other kingdoms described. It was a…uh…an all-terrain vehicle with four-wheel driven engines. It could take a tremendous beating, but didn't have a roof. That very big gun was designed as an Anti-Aircraft chaingun. Taking down flying Grimm like Nevermores was NO problem at all for that monstrous gun…she wanted to drive it.
That car. She would totally drive it in the future. She was ready to call it.
As soon as the original driver had exited, though. And as soon as the black-clad man standing at rapt attention had stopped aiming his very deadly weapon at the very large jeep with the very powerful gun.
"Lima two-four to Lima two-zero. Whiskey one-one approaching the main building. One driver, no passenger or gunner. Request update on incoming traffic." The soldier said as she tracked the car, revealing himself to be a woman in the process. That was a mild surprise; Yang hadn't recognized her as a woman
But the Jeep had come so close to the main castle-like building at that point that the driver's face could almost be seen from her position, even in the darkness of the night.
Then the door opened and a man stepped out of the car, closing the door behind him and stepping up to the woman who was guarding Beacon.
The driver was…exotic…to say so in the very least. He wasn't clad like your basic soldier, being better armoured. His suit resembled Will's but appeared more bulky and greenish brown and the green officer's cap on his head signified him as a real, proper soldier. The real deal. Oh how Ruby would love this! Would Ruby ask this man for his autograph? Because if she did, she could borrow his ride. Bringing it back soon of course.
The man was practically wearing a large cigar; the brown tube was almost three inches long and seemed to weight quite a lot, but the soldier was simply holding it with his lips. That was one badass cigar –basically everything about this man screamed badass at her. His skin had a dark-brown tint and his black moustache seemed both extremely subtle as leagues better than Port's. His sharp eyes were not only directed squarely at the helmeted 'Two-Four's face, but seemed to burn right through that polarized visor. Was he…was this man…was he having a staring competition with a helmet?
Yang had no idea who this guy was, but the very fact that he had come in such a car and that he was wearing such a cigar was already making him awesome in her eyes.
"Is that man having a staring contest with a helmeted mercenary?" asked Weiss.
"No Weiss," Ruby corrected her, "This man is winning a staring contest with a helmeted mercenary." The girl sounded like she was completely hypnotized by the sight.
"Identification is required beyond this point," the female soldier asked the dark-skinned male one, who let his powerful gaze run up and down her body before retorting.
"Heck, you almost looked like a soldier to me. But I'll let it slide…this time," The newcomer said.
"If you cannot identify yourself to me I will ask you to leave only once, sir."
"Well I just happen to have a key!" Her conversational partner replied and whipped out a small plastic card. "This here is prove that Headmaster Ozpin called for the help of Sergeant-Professor Johnson!" Then the Jeep-driver brought his head closer to the guardsman and then added his next gem of communications. "ME!"
This was just too much for Yang to handle. She had seen plenty of tough customers, but this guy? He beat everyone she could ever imagine. Ruby was simply staring at him with an impression of pure awe, her eyes big and wet not much unlike how she looked when she stared at Glynda Goodwitch. Meanwhile, Weiss' impression was a mixture of total shock and complete disbelief.
Both of them were unable to utter a single word and Yang found her own mouth not working as properly as she would have liked it to. This was the very first time that a man was causing her to be at a loss of words, but thankfully that could be attributed to sheer silliness of the situation. A dark-skinned soldier coming up to the castle, basically telling the sociopathic guard that he was 'the new Professor' after insulting said guard.
Was Sergeant-Professor even a rank?
An assault rifle's safety got clicked off and just when Yang thought that they should seek cover once again, the female soldier brought her index and middle finger up to where her temple was located and averted her gaze. After ten seconds of awkward testosterone-filled silence, the helmet-wearing woman seemed to comply. "Your appointment has been verified sir. If you would let yourself in?"
"Thank you!" The obvious soldier said and proceeded straight into Beacon.
"What just happened?" Weiss muttered, still in a major state of disbelief. It was the state of denial.
"I…have no idea…" Yang replied, feeling glad that something had managed to lift Ruby's heart like that, "But where do we go now?"
"Simple, my dear sister Yang," Ruby said. "We go wherever Mister Johnson is going."
And with that, it was decided that they would have themselves a conversation with the Sergeant-Professor…if that was truly an existing rank at all.
Local Vale hospital, time estimation corrupted.
Somewhere in the abstract region between conscious and unconscious, his head was stuck in an illusion of reality and he could not break out. Flashes appeared and disappeared before his eyes, as fleeting as a brief sensation. He recognized none of them and yet, they were so painfully familiar to him.
He felt pain. But not the pain of his body. That was something he had learned to ban out long ago. He had been hurt in so many different ways that there was barely any physical harm left that could make him stop. But this? This was something totally new. It hurt more than anything had ever hurt; it was like his nerves were on fire, like his veins were being torn apart. And it was all focused in his head, where the images wouldn't stop.
And what had even happened? What could have possibly caused such an effect on him? What had even happened?
He pushed back against the tidal waves of inflammation and created just enough space for himself to pull a view memories inside his wall of discipline; his fort of rationality.
His fight with the Operative known as Mantis…his defeat at her hands and his eventual beating. And then…there was nothing. Nothing that could have done it. Were his memories real? Were they what he truly experienced? Or where they corrupted?
He was compromised…he had let Mantis beat him and it had cost him dearly.
Another unwilling spasm tore through his arm and his wounded hand moved, knocking his broken thumb against the railing of the bed.
A chilling cone of pain knocked into his lungs as he did and his mind instantly became much clearer, like the pain had torn through the fog and mud in his mind. He still couldn't see a thing in this semi-conscious state, but at least he knew what to do now. He would find a way to wake himself up, heal in some way and then train hard enough to beat the rogue Mantis and ensure the protection of Beacon –and in that way, mankind.
As a soldier…it was his goal to protect the innocent. He would protect humanity at all costs and the very first step to that would be fighting his own head. But from within his fortress of will, he had finally found a weapon. He could use his very own bodily harm to tear himself free. If only he had a way to ensure the complete control over his limbs…he could wake up instantly. But at the very least he could influence his movements and with that, break free of his prison. Nothing would keep him down.
Engaging the black mass of darkness in his mind, he started to direct the remainders of hic consciousness towards his wounded arm. It was just like trying to assume control over your dreams or even harder, to get out of them. He never seemed to be able to escape the dreams that he could deem irrelevant and even though the rare collection was still capable of escaping from, it was still too hard to do. But now he had a point on which he could focus and with that he would win the war against the seeding corruption that the unknown drug had caused in his mind.
But every now and then, another image would flash through his mind and stop every single process in is body. He saw an apartment block, in bright light and soothing sunshine. Voices were whispering in his mind, but he couldn't understand them.
"His brain activity is off the charts. Better get a sedative ready."
Someone was definitely talking, but this voice was new. Different. Male. Where was he?
The new shot of ache in his broken fingers tore into his mind and enabled his iron-willed thoughts to push the invading blackness even farther away. Any more pushes and he could snap free from the pathetic state he was in.
A small groan escaped his lips and instantly cursed the fact that his body was still not under his own control. The only thing that even remotely listened to him was his broken hand…and that was all he truly had anyway.
"Look at this, it's going to kill him! Give him that sedative."
His mind was slipping and threatened to dump him back in the pit of foulness that was his head. He had to keep holding on…he had to keep fighting. He needed more impulses, more proof that the world was real and that he wasn't hallucinating.
A distant female voice rang out inside of his head –or at least he thought it was- and he decided that it had to be a memory. Probably one of Mantis talking down on him.
His useless arm banged against the metal frame one more time and this time, it caused an audible 'clunk' to sound in his ears. But there were no comments on it, so his violent and severely involuntary spasms were pretty common then.
The pain that he caused with the movement was enough to shake his body up intensely and his chest jerked upwards with the sudden spikes of agony that drove through his mind. His ribs started to hurt again and he felt the wound in his shoulder tear and itch, trickles of blood running down the wound. Never any Aura, left without a soul. Left with half a soul.
And just as he breached the shadowy walls of corruption in his mind, something else bounced into his head and drove everything else away. Every single sensation, every feeling and every fiber of his very being were inadvertently swallowed in its wake.
He felt his chest rising and falling rapidly as an annoying beeping sound next to his head suddenly blared to life. Air barely filled his lungs before it exited again and he felt his throat ache and burn…but he didn't mind it. He didn't feel it.
"What the –that can't be right. He should be dead with all this activity. Damnit, he's not gonna make it. Tranquilize him, now!"
He remembered. He remembered.
He started screaming.
Connection reestablished –Vale hospital, 23:58
In the security-room of Vale's main hospital, the subtle slumber of two groggy security guards was rudely interrupted by a sneering alarm. One of them fell backwards off his chair, while the other one displayed a greater show of discipline by immediately reaching for the screen in front of him. The third one got up from his chair and walked over to his colleagues.
"The hell?" muttered one, rubbing his eyes. "That the alarm?"
The other one gave one good look at the camera footage of emergency-room 3 on the second floor and cried, "Holy shit, look at this! Get doctor de Wit on the phone, now!"
While the first guard radioed his colleagues to ask for help and the second one called the doctor responsible for the patients on this wing, the third one grabbed a lantern and a police baton. They didn't waste any time in mobilizing and immediately proceeded to the emergency-room responsible for the alarm. The white hallways of the hospital were mostly deserted at this time of the day and their footsteps echoed loudly through the building. Every now and then, a patient would wake to the sound of hurried running, before deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble, upon which they returned to bed again
The three security guards rounded the corner to their destination just in time to see a dark figure making a beeline for the stairs.
"Hey!" yelled one, while the other two checked out the room to see what was going on. Their minds played scenarios of theft, of an unauthorized visit or perhaps a doctor who had messed up, but they could not have prepared themselves for the sight of an utterly wrecked and ruined interior. The room had been messed up badly; the cabinets had been thrown to the ground and broken to pieces, the sink had been torn off the wall and thrown through the window and the mirror on the wall had been shattered, droplets of blood still sticking to the shards. Even worse, all the equipment that had been used to keep the patient in the emergency-room stable had been pulled loose and now lay scattered across the ground.
Two nurses were lying in the midst of the chaos, both of them unconscious.
"Take care of those two," cried the most senior of the group, tapping his colleague on the shoulder. He directed the other one towards the staircase. "You, with me."
At that point, more staff had shown up due to the loud noises and yelling of the guards. Among them was a doctor Azure, who immediately began taking care of the two nurses.
The security guards did not waste any time and hurried up the staircase, where some of them spotted trails of blood on the ground. All of them saw the discarded hospital gown.
"He's going upstairs!"
"Keep an eye on him!"
Someone had sounded the alarm. The hospital was now in a state of alert; either someone had kidnapped a patient, or the patient had flown into a fit of madness and was attempting to escape. But the security guards had been trained with the Vale Police Department and knew how to chase down their stragglers. The senior one, a man with a grey moustache and a scar on his chin, had even served in the Wetlands war in Vacuo. It was only natural for him to take the lead. And on occasion he caught glimpses of the person they were chasing down; he was alone, so kidnap could be ruled out. It had to be the patient., though he didn't look like one. He was wearing some skintight bodysuit, perhaps placed by the nurses to prevent bleeding. Now he hadn't been present when the guy had been brought in, but the thin trial of drops of blood on the ground couldn't be a good thing.
The guy had to be delusional. If they didn't watch out, he'd hurt himself and others.
But the guard's requisition for stun-guns had been denied, as had his demand for a tranquilizer gun. Not that he worried; he was more than capable enough to chase down one crazed patient.
The group reached the fourth floor, however, and still they had not caught the escapee. It occurred to the senior-guard that there wasn't anything above them safe for the roof. The patient would be stuck there like, like a rat in a trap.
On the top of the stairs, the patient stumbled. The senior guard made a lunge for him, gripping his leg in an iron clasp. "Calm down son!" he grunted.
The youngster turned around, revealing a young, pale face. His eyes were wide and frantic and his bodysuit was damaged on several places. "Leave me alone!" the youngster screamed at them with a ragged voice, before pulling his leg out of the guard's grip and kicking at him.
The war-veteran grunted when he felt the leg sliding out of his grip, seemingly without any effort. He could not understand how a teen, not even twenty years old, could possibly break a grip he had learned in the army like that. The grunt turned into an outright curse when the leg hit him against his chest, sending him falling back down the stairs. Only the sharp reflexes of his colleagues prevented them all from tumbling down the staircase completely.
They continued the pursue, chasing the patient up the roof. The wind was strong and cold and, as predicted, there was no way out.
The senior guard witnessed the boy looking around with a desperation that looked more like animal behavior to him than human.
It reminded him that this person might be completely unstable, so he kept his distance. "There's nowhere to go boy."
"Get away from me!" the patient stumbled towards the other side of the roof, getting dangerously close to the edge. "Get away!"
"We're here to help you," said a younger guard. "Calm down."
The senior guard spotted their target moving towards the edge and, ignoring protocol for dealing with irrational people, started running towards him. "Wait!"
Too late. The boy turned around, glanced at them with a final, haunted expression in his eyes and then jumped.
"Now that we have committed ourselves to the end of the bargain you proposed, we ask only that you listen. Remnant is not nearly as stable as you believe it to be. Shadows and monsters lurk everywhere and man is fighting man instead of Grimm. We ask for nothing more than reassurance. Reassurance that, should the time come, you will understand and not interfere."