Chapter 13
Logan was doing situps in the dorm while Ogata and Velvet were still asleep in their shared bed with Thalia curled up on her own bed. After they had gotten together, Velvet said she wouldn't mind if they shared the same bed, as long as they didn't try to do anything intimate until the both of them were ready. At the moment Velvet was snuggling cutely into Ogata's chest while he wrapped his arms around her protectively, his hands cupping her ears from where he'd been stroking them. Apparently, a Faunus allowing someone to touch the ears (or horns) atop their head was reserved for family, or in this case, very close friends. Someone touching or grabbing them without permission was considered very offensive.
"Guess Ogata came back late last night from that scouting mission," Logan said silently to himself as he reached his hundred-fifty mark before sitting up. He stretched his arms and wrapped his arms around his legs. "Why am I having that dream?" he thought.
Lately, Logan has been having dreams. They're particularly short, but every time he has it it becomes longer and longer. It is just him all alone in a dark, colourless room with a window. The only thing that served of lighting was the shattered moon that would leak into the room. He would hear a voice before footsteps. Those would become louder and louder before a person would come out of the shadows. Moreover, a female. Every time he has this dream she would get closer and closer. Last night she was just almost face to face with him. All what was coloured was a teal coloured eye with grey wolf ears on top her head.
"Nah, it can't be her. I mean, c'mon... I got nothing. Ugh. Whatever, I hope it won't affect my fighting." He sighed through his nose before pinching it. "I'll let them sleep for a few more minutes." He heard a knock on the door and stood up. "I wonder who." He walked over to the door and opened it. "Desmond."
"Logan, can I talk to Ogata?" Desmond asked the Ranger.
Logan pointed behind him. "He's still asleep, Desmond. Hiro said that I should be the one to take over if something bad happens or whatever."
Desmond nodded before motioning him to step out of the dorm. Logan walked out of the room into the hallway. The door closed softly as the two looked at each other. "Logan, you know that the Vytal Festival is going to be here in a week, right?" the Assassin asked him.
"Yeah. People from all over attend it, including the Rangers from Boreal and Shinobi from Orient. Why?" Logan replied to him.
Desmond took out a piece of paper and handed it to him. "I decided to do a little digging into Vytal's communications and found out that the White Fang will be trying to take out key figures during the festival, including Weiss," Desmond explained to him.
Logan skimmed over the paper of information a couple times. He stuffed the paper into his pocket and nodded. "So, you want us to be there to make sure that doesn't happen?"
"You're right. Since you and Ruby are our best marksmen, you two will be on the rooftops to scope out and take out any White Fang. Me, Ogata and Thalia will be in the crowd to oversee what happens." He then looked at Team VOLT's door and sighed. "Velvet doesn't know yet?"
Logan nodded as he leaned on the wall. "Yeah. I'm trying to convince Ogata into telling her but he insists that he'll do it himself when he thinks it's right. He doesn't want her to get hurt," he told Desmond.
"And what about Team RWBY?"
"Only Ruby. We're considering about recruiting Blake but it'll be a little hard since she's solitary."
"Logan, tell them to meet me after combat training so we can make ourselves a plan, Can you do that?" Desmond asked him. Logan just nodded at him before saluting him. Desmond then noticed the light pink flush on his cheek's. "You're blushing."
Logan realized what Desmond said and turned away. "I-I..."
"You have someone on your mind right?" Desmond asked with a smirk.
"I-I... yes. Lately I've been having dreams about someone. I don't know who-"
"Or you'd rather not accept who it is," Desmond added.
"Whatever. All I can say is that I'm not really concentrating a hundred percent since then. My marksmanship has gone down a bit, focusing on a task is more difficult and even trying to take notes in class is harder now," Logan said rubbing his arm.
"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of, Logan," Desmond said to him. "C'mon, you guys have classes in a bit. Get some breakfast and head to my class."
Desmond was in the teachers lounge with a cup of coffee in hand. He took a small sip from his mug and bit his lip. "We only number five. I need to expand more and recruit others in Vale. But that would mean I need to have a hideout, food and resources. How am I gonna get all that?" He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt arms wrap around his torso. "Morning, Glynda," he said to her.
"Morning, Desmond," she replied to him before taking a seat beside him. Desmond noted that she has been like this since they've gotten together. At first she was all so serious, which she still is but less, and wanted work to be done right away. Now, she's a bit perky and more happy than usual. "How are you?" she asked.
"I'm pretty good, Glynda. Just a bit tired. But I guess coffee will do the trick for me," he replied to her.
"Ugh, don't become like Ozpin. We don't need another coffee-obsessed fanatic on our hands," Glynda grumbled at him.
Desmond couldn't help but chuckle at her. Glynda was rather adorable whenever she talks like that or whines slightly. "Hey, I just need coffee to wake up, not to live off it." He took another sip from it before looking at the time. "Huh, I thought I needed to be at my class in a few minutes," he said.
"My class is after your class. But, I should get my Dust lesson ready," Glynda said to him. She stood up and turned around to leave. She then felt a hand grasp at her own and blushed a bit. She turned around and received a quick peck on the lips from Desmond.
"So you can relax before you teach," Desmond whispered to her with a smile. He kept back another chuckle when he saw her blush darken. "C'mon, loosen up. It doesn't hurt to do that once an' awhile," he said to her.
"Just get to your class, you idiot," she said to him with a small smile of her own.
Training room...
"C'mon people, pick up the pace! The Vytal Festival is just around the corner and I want to you to be ready for the competitions against the other kingdoms!" Desmond shouted at them on the speakers of the room. Even though Desmond still needed at least month to fully recover from his injury he's still doing his best to prepare the students for the tournament at the festival.
Velvet was watching Ogata spar against Yang as she continued to stare at the Shinobi. Ever since Ogata caved in Cardin's family armor (which was rumored to be made of the strongest material in Vytal) and word has gone out that they're dating, she hasn't been bullied for the past month or so. "Ogata would probably beat the living sense out of anyone who would pick on me.". All she could do was sigh happily at the mere thought of Ogata. "Go Ogata!" she cheered for him from across the room.
While Yang assaulted him with a flurry of flying fists, Ogata stood in place blocking or deflecting everything that came her way. Compared to his grandmother who could split an entire street open with a single index finger, Yang's hits weren't all that strong, though he would get some bruising from her hits if she continued improving. Catching a punch aimed for his nose, he counted with a palm strike to her abdomen, sending her skidding backwards.
"Hey Ogata," Yang said as she ejected her spent shotgun shells. "Has Velvet asked anything special from you yet?" she asked with a sly grin as she loaded fresh shells.
Ogata felt his face heat up slightly while he saw Velvet's face turn into a dark hue of red in embarrassment. He took in a deep breath and chuckled at her. "Have you been spying on us?" he asked her nonchalantly.
Yang's face was covered in a dark red flush before she shook her head. "N-no! Shut up!" she shouted before she charged towards him.
"And she's dead," Logan said in amusement. As Yang pulled her fist back to fire off a shell, Ogata brought down his Tower Shield. Yang shot off a round at Ogata which just bounced harmlessly off his shield. Yang just kept on shooting her shells at him in frustration as her hair began to glow, but none of her shells were even scratching it; not even scratching the scratch that was already there. Her barrage stopped as she discharged the last shell at him. Ogata raised his shield up and ran towards her. Yang was about to punch at him but her arm didn't respond.
"What the? What happened?" she gaped at her now-limp arm, before raising the other to punch the approaching shield. Ogata rammed his shield forward at the moment her hand connected, eliciting a yelp from her, before his free hand snaked around the tower shield and jabbed her arm underneath her armpit, it too falling over. Tossing his shield aside, Ogata tackled Yang to the ground and grabbed the front of her scarf, raising his other fist back in a punch. Her arms too sore to counter, Yang closed her eyes as the fist came down. Feeling the wind by her face, she opened an eye and looked to her left, a fist-shaped crater left in the floor.
"Next time, don't say anything like that, please," Ogata said as he hoisted her to her feet by her shoulders.
"Yeah, your actions really told me," she said to him. "What'd you do to my arms?" she asked as she tried shrugging her shoulders.
"I hit your pressure points," he responded. "You'll be back to normal in a few minutes since subtlety isn't really my forte. If it were Ren doing it, you'd be done for hours."
Yang was a little shocked. "What? You're saying that even though you can do that, Ren can have you out longer?"
"Basically, yes."
Later...
"Good session today, people! I'd say most of you are ready for the tournament. Still, there's always room for improvement," Desmond announced to them. The bell rang and he nodded at them. "Class dismissed. Make your way to your next class." Just as they started to leave the class, he cleared his throat. "Would Logan Frost, Ogata Hiroyuki, Thalia Hatari, Lie Ren and Ruby Rose see me."
Velvet was confused at what the Assassin said and looked at Ogata. "You think you're in trouble?" she asked him.
Ogata shook his head at her. "Nah, I don't think so." He gave her a quick peck on the lips before she left the class. The five walked down to see Desmond who was sitting down at his desk. "What is it, mentor?"
Desmond looked up at them and placed his hands together. "Logan, did you relay the info I gave you to the others?"
Logan nodded at him. "Yes, mentor."
"Good. I know I never been part of the Vytal Festival before but you five already know that the White Fang are being controlled by the Templars," Desmond said.
"And they want the White Fang to attack key people during the festival. That will only make things on the Faunus more worse," Logan replied.
"What will we do then?" Ren asked.
"Now, during the festival, I want Logan and Ruby to be on the rooftops. You two will be providing overwatch and take out any White Fang you see. The rest of you, you will be on the ground and move around the area of the festival. Contact me if any of you find any suspicious activity."
"Will do," Ogata replied.
"Alright, now get going, I don't want Glynda to have your skin's because of me," Desmond said to them. Clamouring, the five bumped into each other as they made their way out of the classroom. "Just like me when I was late for my job."
Glynda was seated at her desk as it was already ten minutes in her class already. "Where are they? They're lucky that I'm not going to give them detention," she muttered quietly as the students at their respective Dust stations are learning how to concoct certain Dust spells to use in the field. She then saw the five enter through the door. "Hmph. The five of you are late," she said to them.
Logan waved at her. "Sorry, ma'am, Mr. Miles was just talking to us about the upcoming Vytal tournament."
Ogata nodded with him. "Yeah, Ms. Goodwitch. Mr. Miles just wanted to run down a couple things with us."
Glynda sighed before pointing at the separate stations through out the room. "At least you came. Go to your team's stations and continue off from where we left off last time," she said to them. As the three members of VOLT walked over to Velvet, Glynda eyed them. "Strange, this has been happening for the past couple months. Ever since Desmond came, things started to become more peculiar. Maybe I should go have a talk with him after class."
Glynda's house...
"Desmond?" Glynda said to the Assassin.
Desmond lifted his head up from the couch to see her in the kitchen. "Yeah?" he answered back.
"I'm just curious," she replied to him.
Desmond got confused at her. He sat up on the couch to look at her better. "'Bout what?"
Glynda walked over to the living room and sat herself beside him. "I've noticed that you've been keeping students back after your class. Especially the members of team VOLT. Why?" she asked.
"Oh shit! I'm an idiot not knowing that," Desmond scolded to himself in his head. He cleared his throat at her before placing his head on the couch cushion. "I, uh... I just wanted to talk to them about the Vytal tournament," he said to her, using the same excuse Logan and Ogata gave her.
"But this has been going on for two months now."
"And that's another mind fuck for me." Desmond sighed before facing her with his head still on the cushion. "Trust me, it's just about the Vytal tournament, alright? No need to start freaking out about this," he said to her.
Glynda just nodded in response. Desmond smiled and kissed her forehead. "Alright then," she said to him. "If he won't tell me, then I'll ask those two."
The next day, Glynda's class...
"Alright, I want you to review pages three hundred to three hundred and twenty for tomorrows class!" Glynda told them as the bell rang. It has been a tiring day since Glynda has stayed up for the majority of last night wondering who to ask and why Desmond was talking to them. "*Ahem* Mr. Hiroyuki and Mr. Frost, stay where you are," she said to them.
After a couple moments, the classroom was empty, save for Glynda and the two members of VOLT, who were near the wall that was in-between them and the hallway. "Are we in trouble, Ms. Goodwitch?" Ogata asked her.
Glynda was standing in front of Ogata and Logan with a stern look on her face, their backs literally to the wall. "Would you two gentlemen tell me why Mr. Miles is giving you such peculiar attention?" she asked so innocently yet in a sickening way.
Logan shook his head at her. "Well, I- we, uh, have high grades in his combat training," he stuttered slightly at her.
Glynda felt her lips curve into a small smirk. She whipped her riding crop into her hand letting out a loud 'crack'. "Oh really?" She walked up closer to them and she was looming over the two. "If you two don't want to be in trouble, I suggest you tell me the truth," she said to them.
Logan and Ogata looked at each other, noticing each others sweat on their foreheads. Ogata nodded slightly at the Ranger before he concentrated his Aura into his right index finger. Ogata took in a deep breath before shouting at the top of his lungs, "I need an adult!", actually blowing Glynda's hair back. He then flicked the wall, opening a human-sized hole, which he then proceeded to drag Logan out of by the back of his collar. As they fell from the second-story window, the Ranger flailed helplessly before they came to the ground with a 'crash', small craters left beneath Ogata's sandals.
After being dropped to his feet, the two scattered in separate directions, the Ranger going as far as to exclaim- "Help! Amber alert!"
Glynda covered her eyes before she casted wind into the room to clear the dust. She removed her hand from her eyes and sighed when she saw that they were gone. "I guess that was pushing them a bit to far," she said. She sighed and took out her Scroll. She went through her contacts and called Ozpin. "Prof. Ozpin?"
"Yes, Glynda? What seems to be the problem?" the headmaster asked.
"We have a blown out wall in my classroom. It's better not to ask why and send in a repair team to fix this mess," she told him sternly. Ozpin just nodded on the video screen and cut the connection. She placed her Scroll away and crossed her arms. "What to do now? Maybe I'll just go talk to Desmond again. If he's keeping something from me I want to know. And I"LL know."
Glynda's house, night...
Glynda was sitting up on her bed underneath the covers reading a book as she waited for Desmond to be done in the bathroom. She heard the bathroom door open with a relieved sigh accompanying it. Desmond appeared at the doorway of the bedroom and stretched his arms. Even though they've only been dating for two weeks, Desmond already knew the look Glynda had on her face that was the "We need to talk" look. "Is there something wrong?" he asked her.
Glynda closed her book and placed it on the nightstand along with her glasses. She just tapped the spot beside her lightly to have Desmond come over. Desmond accepted the invitation and joined her underneath the covers. She turned around to face him. Desmond could tell that there were tears brimming behind her eyes. "Desmond, what are you keeping from me?" she asked him, trying not to choke on her words.
"What are you saying?"
Desmond regretted his choice of words when he saw the tears starting to fall out of her eyes. "You know what I'm saying, Desmond Miles!" she screeched at him. Glynda held back from sobbing, with small chokes coming out of her throat. "Why were you targeted at the banquet?"
Desmond was distraught to see Glynda like this. Even though he was never in this world in his entire life, he always saw Glynda being a tough as nails huntress who never backs down from a challenge. Now, he sees her being so worried about him and hurt that he's been keeping it a secret for far too long. "Glynda-"
"Just tell me. Don't make it blunt, tell me why," she said softly to him.
Desmond shifted himself so the front of his body was facing her. He took one of her hands in both and sighed. "Glynda, you know that I'm not from here. When I was here for the first night, I told Ozpin what I am."
Glynda looked up to see his face. Her emerald green eyes glimmering with tears. "What are you?"
Desmond stared straight into her eyes and said, "I'm an Assassin."
Glynda held back a shocked choke but had her mouth slightly open. "What?"
"I'm an Assassin, a protector of freedom who works in the dark to serve the light. I'm not one of those hired hitmen to kill a certain rival or key figure. I only kill those who threaten to take away freedom from the people and exploit them."
"But why were you shot? Is there any explanation?"
Desmond nodded soberly at her before taking in a long pause to gather his thoughts. "Back from where I come from, there is a company called Abstergo Industries. Most people don't know what they really are. I do. They're called the Templar's, and they're our enemy. The Assassin's and Templars have been duking it out for centuries. From ancient times to the modern day. Every continent, every country, every city, every battlefield, the Assassins and the Templars were always there."
Desmond paused for another moment to have the information settle into Glynda who was just nodding and listening the entire time. "When I was taken here, in someway, I thought I could have a clean slate. Have a normal life that I never had when I was a kid. But the day I woke up from my coma after cutting you, I was ambushed by men sent from the Templar's. As long as they're here on Remnant no one is truly safe. Truly free. That's why I recruited some of the students here into a new group of Assassin's. I know what you're thinking; they're just teenagers who are being trained to fight monsters. But I've seen potential in them and I know I can't fight alone."
"That's why you were shot? These Templar's wanted you dead?" Glynda asked him.
"Yes. I'm lucky that I'm alive. If an Assassin was here that meant that their plans would've been ruined. I'm glad that I'm still alive. I... I just didn't want to tell you because I love you, Glynda. I love you so much that I don't want you to be placed in the conflict between the Assassin's and Templar's. I don't want you to get hurt," Desmond said as he cupped her cheek.
Glynda just threw herself on him. She wrapped her arms around him as she sobbed into his shoulder. Desmond just placed a chaste kiss on her forehead as he gently rubbed her back. "Y-you're so sweet," she cried out as her tears streamed down her face onto him. "I'm sorry. I never meant to doubt you in the beginning."
Desmond pulled away from her arms before placing his lips on hers to calm her down. He pressed on them firmly as she just kissed back soft on his. To him, she tasted a bit sweet as she continued to kiss him. After a minute, they broke off with them panting from the small lack of air. Desmond just placed his fingers on her chin and looked dead in the eye with her. "It's alright. I'm not going anywhere, Glynda. No one will be taking me without a fair fight," he promised to her.
Glynda just giggled at him before hugging him tightly again. "I know, I've seen you fight against the training drones." Desmond then laid down on the bed and she turned off the lamp. She laid herself down and wrapped her arms around his neck while he placed his arms around her torso. "Desmond?"
"Hmm?" he hummed in return.
"Are there others you recruited into your "club" of yours?" she asked curiously.
"Maybe. C'mon, let's get some sleep," he said to her.
Glynda placed her head underneath his chin and sighed with content. "I'm glad we've straightened things out." She heard the Assassin yawn before letting out a content sigh of his own. "And I'm glad that I have him." She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep with a smile on her face.