Utsu's POV
Damp.
I felt a damp sensation all over my face, I slowly move my hand to to the moist area and I feel a warm sensation, as if I put my finger in a barrel of slime.
I slowly move my hand away and into my line of sight, and see trickles of blood running down my index and middle fingers,
"No…" I peered back at Byakko desperately, trying to relieve my newly spiked anger.
But what enraged me was true,
Byakko really did have a nasty gash of blood pouring out of his back, soon he would be completely drained and nothing but a hollow shell of flesh would be left,
"K-kid look, he got in the way of my sword its no-"
"Bastard…" I interrupted Qrow's excuse, causing him to shudder, "My parents death was a heavy price to pay, but with the death of my lifelong friend..." my head jolted up, revealing a nasty glare in my eyes, "...you've crossed the line," I spoke in a low threatening voice, in order to intimidate Qrow as much as possible.
But to be honest.
I didn't care about how confident or how intimidated he was at this point,
It didn't matter if everyone found out I existed,
I just cared about getting his blood on my claws.
My silver flames erupted into the face of a tiger as a silver pillar hit me.
From there, my fauness features changed.
My tail went from thick and sturdy to thin and elegantly.
My ears extended and grew to curve inwards while still pointed at the top.
My pupils, while still skinny, grew to the top and bottom of my eyes as my whole eye became a thick gold.
My claws adopted a more 'beast look' to it as it extended from the tip of my finger to twice the distance away from my nail.
And finally, my K9's shifted into one's of a tiger, sharp and ready to feast upon meat.
I emerged from the pillar and it dissipated in the air, I landt on the wooden floor as the silver aura fissures that were once coursing through my body came to a stop,
"Get ready Qrow," the way I talked was the exact opposite from how I spoke to Ruby. Filled with hate, rage but completely calm at the same time, "this is the second time I've used this form, so you should be honoured," I smirked at him, but he replied with a grunt as he morphed his blade into a scythe.
I readied my claws, bore my fangs and charged at him, he took a defensive stance and took a precise swing at me,
"Nice try!" I weaved through it with the help of my tail and eyes, "but it won't be enough…" I was now so close to him that even a whisper would of been loud enough for him to hear me, but I didn't waste any time whispering as I brought my right hand up and diagonally across his face.
I hit him! I had gave him the same wound that he gave to Byakko!
But...if that's what I'm thinking then why am I face flat on the floor…?
...THE FLOOR!
Adrenaline was sent coursing through my bloodstream,
If I missed, then that means I'm wide open, I have to move!
But even though that was my initial thought, I made no attempt to get out of the way, all I felt now was the sensation of going to sleep,
Oh… I'm blacking out… I guess using my awakening was a bit too much for my body to handle.
The only thing I could make out in the room was Kaigo's lifeless hand,
But, if I black out now, Kaigo will have nobody by his side, he'd go to having saved everyone, to losing them! And if he wakes up to that...
An image of Kaigo taking my role in 'the great fire' flickered in my mind.
No! I can't let that happen! I can't let all of Kaigo's efforts go to waste!
My lifeless arms slowly travelled up the room, reaching as far as they could and then anchoring themselves on the ground.
Qrow will probably kill me afterwards, so I have to save Byakko!
I couldn't see where my arms were dragging me, so I had to go by feel, and slowly, I felt the sensation of my soon-to-be corpse shifting from wood to blood, I had to be close!
My arms started flailing around, searching for Byakko's fur, it took awhile, but I finally managed to find his blood soaked coat,
"By-" I tried to speak normally, but all that came out was dust, so I tried to shout, "Byakko!" Thankfully, the sound of my voice rang through my ears and surely his, "listen to me… you have to survive this… for Kaigo… and for me…..please…..don't let me..down," I heard a low purr and his paw on my hand, "good bo-" I tried to reassure him, but this newly found strength had faded away, and the only sensation I felt now was…
the floor.
Qrow's POV
…
…
...what just happened?
What seemed to give of the same vibe as Salem charged towards me.
And two seconds later I witnessed the kid make a break to his tiger…
and blackout,
"Qrow? Qrow?! Qrow!" My name snapped me back into reality, and I came to see Oz in front of me, "would you care to explain what happened here?" as always, he got straight to the point, no 'are you okay?' or 'do you need to be healed?' Just short and firm, as always.
"Uhhh, this kid with silver hair came in through the window, he was hiding under the bed, I spotted him and we started to fight, but it was then he called upon a-," my next words got caught in my throat due to recalling that horrible moment, "a-a strange power that overwhelmed me, but he blacked out,"
"Blacked out? From aura exhaustion? Or the fact that his body couldn't handle any battles?" Oz was now crouched next to the kid and checking for a pulse,
"The second one," I replied firmly, getting over the chills that (who I presumed to be) Utsu had gave me,
"He could be a phenomenal ally," Oz mumbled that under his breathe, I heard and was about to object, but he continued, "anyway, everyone try to find medical supplies, Byakko's condition is destabilizing rapidly, if we do not act now, his life will be lost," I looked behind me in surprisement, I hadn't even realised that the whole gang was present.
"No need," a voice came from the abundance of people present, a few moments later a blonde haired kid stepped forward, I think his name was Jaune,
"Oh? Mr Arc, do you have an alternative?"
"Yea," the kid sounded quite confident in his response, he approached the tiger and knelt down.
He placed his hands on the wound, you could hear the 'squelch' from all the blood that had accumulated around the scar itself, he closed his eyes and aura started to shoot from his arms and pool around the tigers wound,
"Figures Jaune would use his semblance, your like our little white mage!" A voice from the abundance of kids rang behind again, and Jaune replied,
"Yea… just sucks that I didn't use it for Kaigo, could've saved some first aid for someone else," Oz came up behind him and placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder,
"Do not worry Mr Arc, just be joyous that you discovered your semblance when you did, I assume that this isn't the first time you have used it, so with your strength alone, you have saved two lives, be joyous for that fact,"
Oz then turned to all of us and slammed his cane on the ground,
"Now, last order of business, what shall we do with Utsu? shall we question him, or dispose of him? I personally think an interrogation is in order, if Utsu has enough power to shake the likes of Qrow, then he will be a very useful ally," now I took act to try and stop his thought, there's no way I'd work with a destroyer like him,
"Oz you ca-" but all it took was a finger to silence me, I could feel his demand with that motion telling me to at least let him finish,
"If you disagree due to what we've heard about Utsu, then consider this, why would Utsu come to his brothers resting point?" Nobody answered, they didn't want to say it, so I plainly said,
"To kill 'im,"
"If that is the case, then why didn't he do so at the point of separation?" My eyes widened, realising what Oz was trying to say,
"What do you mean?" Yang's voice came out, showing that everyone else hadn't quite understood yet,
"Think about it, if Utsu's true intentions were to kill Kaigo and do as he pleased, then why didn't he do so when Kaigo's semblance wore off and he'd be granted freedom?"
"But Kaigo's semblance didn't wear off, Utsu just took off when Jaune healed him," the kid with a single stroke of pink hair objectified to Oz,
"That may be true, but if we are left with these two existing in the same plane at the same time, then surely that would mean that at some point, Kaigo was unconscious and Utsu was free to do as he willed," with that the female fauness asked the male one something,
"Sun, didn't you say that a boy gave Kaigo to you unconscious?"
"Yeah...and I'm pretty sure that's him right there," after his answer, there was a moment of assurity, a moment where everyone knew what to do, but that was suddenly altered a second after, "but we can't let him stay!"
Everyone's eyes fell upon the fauness, demanding a reason why, he followed up and said,
"When we were stopping Adam in the fall of Haven, I saw someone trying to leave, so I approached him and asked why he was leaving, but when I saw the look in his eyes, I knew that he wasn't a fauness from Managery...he was a monster," and with that the room fell into doubt,
"Mr Wukong, are you sure what you're describing is true?"
"Yes! and I even have this to prove for it!" He pulled down his shirt that was covering the left side of his chest, and we all saw five claw marks made entirely out of blood, almost tracing where his heart is, "not to be going against your word Ozpin, but do you have any proof like this that could prove his innocence?!" Now everyone's gaze fell upon Oz, I of course, remained faithful that Oz could again sway everyone to allow Utsu to stay.
His mouth opened, but another voice came out,
"He does," Ruby stepped forth from the pile of people and was now addressing us all, "I found Utsu after Kaigo was given to Sun, and we didn't fight, instead we just had a conversation," her tone was… different, it was as if she was actually taking something seriously other than fighting.
I guess she really has grown up.
There was a moment of silence before Oz asked Ruby,
"What did he say to you?" It was subtle, but I saw Ruby's eyes dart to the kid's body then back up again, telling me that she was gonna hide some bits of their conversation,
"Utsu talked about… his family, and how he wanted to go back to those days where he, Kaigo and their parents would be smiling together…" there was another moment of silence, Oz was waiting for one of the kids to say what he would say,
"Well, that doesn't sound very killer-like," the Schnee stated.
"Yea, and it sounds like something Kaigo would say," Yang added on,
"Indeed, looks like we have our proof, does everyone now agree that Utsu can stay for questioning?"
A collective 'yes' shot around the room, Sun was baffled by this, he was about to object, but the female fauness put a hand on his shoulder, telling him to give it a rest,
"O.k everyone" I addressed everyone, just like Ruby did, "We've decided what to do with Utsu, so it would no be best if you all got some rest," I turned to Jaune who still seemed to be healing Byakko, "kid, you done yet?"
"Almost...just a little….more!" He removed his hands and stood up, "he should be fine to move around, but Byakko should get some rest as well," Byakko's eyes slowly peeled open as he stretched his limbs as far as they can go.
"As should we, so I suggest you follow your friends to bed," Oz said, causing Jaune and everyone else to leave, "well then… shall we begin the preparations?" I smirked and replied,
"We shall,"
Utsu's POV
Flashback
My eyes slowly opened and revealed a fuzzy blue sky, littered with clouds and a shadowy figure abruptly placed in the middle.
Eventually, my eyesight focused on the figure, and it turned out to be my mother's face,
"Wakey wakey sleepy head!" she said in a playful voice,
I leant forward, and she stood straight, I stretched my arms and asked,
"What is it mom? Do you need something?"
"Kaigo hasn't came back from hunting yet and its getting dark, I know he can handle himself but…" she trailed off at the end to avoid actually requesting something from me, I still played along and replied,
"Fine, I'll go look for him," I got up and waved my mother goodbye.
From there I approached the forest and activated my semblance to try and hear for any noise.
Drip...drip...dri-
The sound of what I presumed to be blood momentarily dripped then stopped, so I turned North West and began to approach that direction.
As I got closer and closer to that direction, I could smell the thick sensation of blood drying onto the ground, I broke into a slight jog and finally came across Kaigo,
"Hey bro! You've go-"
My heart stopped.
My heart stopped from the horrific sight I'm seeing.
Sure I've killed animals and brought them back before,
but never as gory as this.
"What's up Utsu?" My brother turned to me in an ordinary fashion, as if he had done this many times before.
Behind him were the bodies of numerous tigers, inflicted with wounds digging deep into their flesh and the environment was a thick maroon, eventually blending into a luscious green,
"Quite the shit-show right?" My brother turned back to see what I was seeing, then asked, "so what do you want?"
"U-u-um," I struggled to get my words out of my mouth, "m-mom wants you t-t-to come home,"
"Alright then," he retracted his knife and blood shot out from it, making a powerful impact on the ground, "let's go," he began to walk back in the direction I came from, I turned and was about to follow him until I heard a soft groan from one of the corpses.
"You coming?"
"Go on ahead, I need to check something out,"
"Alright then! Don't stay out too long!" My brother began to walk away all carefree, allowing me to check out where the noise came from.
I fully turned to all the tigers and watched, a few moments later, I was able to deduce breathing from the central one, the way it was positioned covered its paws and face, but I still approached it anyway.
I got closer and closer, until I was able to see the white tigers face,
And it was…
Struggling.
Despite, its nasty wounds that had been inflicted upon him, he was still struggling to cling onto life.
Struggling, while at the same time, reaching out for the other corpses, trying to help them,
"Listen," I spoke to the tiger, as if it could understand what I was saying, "there's no point in struggling, they're already gone, I can't hear any other heart beats,"
Surprisingly, the tiger growled in response while peering over to me, his eyes beamed solemn determination at me. He then turned back and brought out his claws his claws to drag himself over to the corpse.
Why?
Why go through all the trouble of striving for an answer when its blatantly obvious.
No! The answer has already been given to him! he's just too ignorant to accept it!
Then why?
The tiger curled over the one he was travelling too, shaking it with his body,
Why do I feel like I have to help him?
WHEN THE ANSWER HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE CLEAR?!
I paced myself over to the furthest one from where the tiger was, I knelt down and pressed my fauness ear against the dead tiger.
…..
Nothing
Just stop, this is a waste of time.
I stood up and saw that the tiger was crawling to the next corpse, leaving a blood smear across the grass, I chose the other one and knelt down beside it again.
…
Nothing
For fucks sake just put an end to it already!
I stood up, turned and spoke proudly,
"See, I told you that they we-" my words got caught in my throat,
The tiger that was struggling to stay conscious suddenly collapsed, as if a kid was following a parent in a blanket and tried to be as flat as possible to hide,
"H-hey, aren't you going to check out that last body?"
No response,
A bead of sweat rolled down from my forehead, to my cheek and to the ground,
"C-c'mon, p-please wake up,"
No response.
Tears started to well in my eyes, but a second later they vanished in the air due to a spike of anger,
"Seriously?! Your just gonna roll over and submit? You were doing great, why stop now!"
No response,
"What if he's still alive? What if the corpse you are crawling to is just unconscious? You can wake him up, but no, your taking a rest," my anger faded and shifted into concern,
"Your not dying on my watch,"
I quickly ran back and to the right where I knew a river was located, I took of my shirt and tied the sleeves with the bottom so it could hold water.
I emerged from the trees and stopped before the river, I scooped up as much water as possible, turned back and ran.
It took a little bit, but I made it back to the blood-fest that Kaigo started, I spotted the tiger and dashed towards him, stopping gently to prevent the water flowing out.
"Don't die on me here!" I put my head on the tiger and listened,
….
No….
…..bump…..
A single beat was all it took for me to believe that there was hope, so I unwrapped the bandages on my arms from my own wounds and dipped them in the water to cleanse them.
I then splashed water on his wound (which was his entire back leg) and quickly rubbed it to clean out any dirt, from their I quickly wrapped the wound with my bandage and both ends stuck onto his fur.
But blood was still slowly oozing out!
I poured the rest of the water out of my shirt, undid the knot and wrapped it around the bandages, I tied off the sleeves and waited for any blood to ooze out.
…...
"Haaah," I let out a sigh of relief and transformed back into a human,
The bleeding had stopped and the tiger could now rest in peace.
I should stay with him until he wakes up, so that he could see whether or not that corpse is alive.
I dragged his body under a tree with a thick trunk and many leaves, hoping this would provide is with enough shelter if it rains.
"Jeez," I sit down, back against trunk and peered over to the sleeping tiger, "to think that this caused all this trouble, and for what? an answer that he already has?" I chuckled, "well, at least I got a kick out of it," my arms stretched out and my eyes closed, "maybe striving and trusting in others isn't so bad at all, besides, it worked out so well for this tiger," My head hit the trunk and my eyes closed as I began my slumber.
Or realistically as my slumber was ended
Because my eyes peeled open to a pitch black room,
"Finally awake, eh?" a gravelly voice came from the corner of the room, I was feeling quite dazed, so I didn't answer his question.
"Welcome back Utsu," I heard footsteps slowly approach where I was sat, "we have a lot of question for you,"