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"Are you really going to put him to work for you in Atlas?" Blake asked the next morning, looking haggard and tired even after several hours of rest in a hotel room he'd rented for the night. Face hidden behind his mask as always, he looked at her and she added quietly, "I can't do anything if you're not, but… I wanted to know. Need to know, so I can sleep at night at least."
"Is that why you look like you didn't get any sleep last night?" He asked, looking her up and down in concern. She avoided his gaze, even with the mask hiding it, and instead looked at one of the stores they were walking by as they headed for the Bullhead docks. "Brothers, Blake… Am I really that scary?"
"You have an army of essentially goblins, a dark tower in the northern wastes, giant spiders, and you came back from the dead." She pointed out dryly, even as low as her tone was. Probably wary of the sleepy pedestrians walking lethargically up and down the road around them, heading to early shifts or coming from late shifts. "You've also already massacred some of the best fighters an entire organization has to use, enjoyed it, and then declared war against a terrorist group."
"Hey, the Minions and spiders aren't… That scary." The woman, as anxious and exhausted as she was, managed to shoot him a disbelieving look and he sighed resignedly. "Okay, okay, fine, I guess it's pretty scary unless you're really, really used to it. And I'm, you know, used to it since they do what I say."
"Glad you can agree it's scary, Overlord.." The words were grunted as much as said, the woman watching a couple leaning against each other as they walked. Once they'd passed and she'd relaxed from whatever about the innocent little couple had tensed her, she murmured, "I can't believe you have giant spiders…"
"To answer your question, though, yes." He said instead of addressing the spiders, since he had nothing he could really say about them. "If he helps me and doesn't pull anything, or, you know, hurt any of you, then I plan on putting him to work for me. I can use the help expanding the Tower and managing the finances."
"And pretty conveniently, it lets you keep an eye on him as well." She pointed out, his silence at the accusation more than answering her assertions. "I knew it. He's not even safe if he does help you."
"He's safer if he does than anywhere else he could go, or anything else he could do. What would happen to him if anyone found out he'd simply talked to you and I?" This time, she didn't answer him and he grunted knowingly, shaking his head at the idea he might have simply been using the young, stuttering Faunus. "Exactly. If he does what he says, and doesn't stab me in the back later on, then he'll be protected. A literal army, and me with it, between him and whoever wants to get back at him for helping us."
"I see…"
"I don't throw away people, Blake." He finally added after a few moments of silence, anxiety and fatigue filled amber eyes avoiding his gaze even with his mask to hide his face from her. "I might have… Less than savory powers, and, well, the Minions, but I'm not that kind of evil. Life has potential, and wasting it just because someone's job is done is… Stupid. Besides being, you know, wrong."
"It's a slippery slope, Jaune." She finally said, sounding… Small, enough that he glanced to her in concern. "I've seen people walk that line, and saw someone I truly-" she cut off, shook her head, and seemed to go on differently, a hand holding her side gently just above the curve of her left hip. "Someone I cared for didn't come out the other end the same person. He came out angry, vindictive, cruel."
"And you're worried I will too?" She nodded and he sighed, the two walking in silence for a moment while he though.
She had experience in this, at least the more normal parts with him being angry and out for blood, and saw the bad end of it to boot. And now she was scared that she was going down the same road, scared she was seeing someone else transform into some monster.
"I won't go down that road, Blake. I promise you that." He considered patting her on the back reassuringly, but she was on his left. And a clawed gauntlet was not something that reassured people - aside from the occasional wild Ruby of course - to have patting their back, so he didn't. Instead, he forced a loud laugh as though he'd realized something, and when Blake gave him a confused look explained, "If I even tried, Ruby would kill me. Probably with that wooden spoon Gnarl is so scared of."
"She thumps me with it, Master! On the back of the head, and you allow it." The Minion squeaked in his ear, indignant and outraged. "Me! The Head Minion, leader of the longest existing evil army in the planet's history! Purveyor of mystical secrets, and confidante of the long line of Overlords past! And she. Thumps. Me. With. A. Wooden. Spoon."
"Trust Ruby if you can't trust me." He said quietly, ignoring the whining Minion.
"She wouldn't tolerate it, you're right about that at the very, very least…" Blake agreed, smiling slightly. "Ruby's far too… Pure of a person to abide you turning into the kind of monster Ad- He," she amended, from whatever name she'd almost let slip, "turned into."
But that brought Ruby up, and how she apparently felt about him, and how he'd missed that basically completely… Which was a box of problems he kind of wanted to open, and kind of wanted to shove into a closet and hide from. Which was a very confusing set of things to feel, to say the least. So he pushed it away to deal with later, and turned back to Blake and the present issues instead.
Not that she was saying anything, instead staring ahead listlessly either while she herself thought about what he'd said or what she'd brought up, or more possibly who she'd brought up. Or maybe even just because she was exhausted from sitting up all night thinking about everything. He couldn't solve, or even help with, the first problems… But he could do something about her being so tired.
"You know, Blake." He said when they finally got to the shuttle docks, Bullheads already starting to lift into the air lethargically, headed to wherever they were needed and sporting any number of sigils. From the Atlesian military shuttles to shipping companies, and everything in between. She looked up at him and he quietly asserted, "We could head back to the hotel. I can afford the day, and you look exhausted."
"I have classes, I can't-"
"I'll explain to Ozpin that you and I got… Caught up dealing with our mutual problems." She understood what he meant, he could tell by the way she grimaced. Leaning against the wall beside the door into the shuttle's entry foyer, watching the listless people occasionally pushing through the door to go in or come out.
Blake stood away from him, nearer to the road than to the building - or Jaune, for that matter - and turned to the side to look around anxiously, like they were being watched. Or like she didn't want to talk to him about this, but knew she couldn't prevent it. "You're exhausted, Blake. And tense enough that I can see it, and I… Am not the best at reading people. Worse now, honestly, after everything."
"I'll be fine. I can take care of myself." She grunted, ignoring him beyond a glance at his axe, where his fingers drummed along the haft of it agitatedly.
"Blake, you need to-" She shot him a glare, defiant and stubborn, and he sighed, shaking his head and bringing his axe forward like a cane to pull himself off the wall. She blinked, though, and shrank in on herself like he was going to do something with the axe. Pulling it away from her, he asked, "Blake, what's wrong-"
"Nothing you need to worry about. Now can we please go?" She snapped back at him loudly, striding past him and into the Bullhead terminal without a backwards glance. And, confused now, he made to follow her without anything more than a mouthed 'what the hell'.
The Bullhead was the same one from the day previous, having waited all night for them to return. Which they would have done earlier, if the docks for the Bullheads hadn't shut down several hours before their meeting with Perry. Almost as soon as they'd landed, they had been hustled out by tired staff who were too irritated by having to process in another Bullhead instead of getting to go home for the night. Which he'd felt kind of bad for, but it was too late to do anything about it so he'd moved on.
The night before's ride into the Kingdom-City had been tense and anxious, Blake worried about him not keeping his word - which still irked him, but he chose to ignore it - and Jaune worried about Blake's friend tricking them. The ride back out of it, though, was different. Less awkward and anxious, and more… Tense instead.
Just as quiet, though, with Blake fighting sleep in the corner of the craft and Jaune… Sitting at the other patiently.
"Master, I do believe this is an awkward silence." Gnarl oh-so helpfully chipped in, sounding bright and happy at a chance to nettle him. Probably in revenge for him mentioning Ruby at his expense. "I would highly, highly, highly suggest you not return to Beacon in such an awkward silence, and with Mistress' friend in such a sour mood. It might be a portent for the entire day."
"Not normal for you to show so much concern for me, Gnarl." He murmured, knowing Blake could hear him and seeing her ears flick under her ribbon.
"We lack the materials to make her cookies if you upset her." The Minion added quietly, clearly trying to maintain some semblance of self respect.
"There it is." He chuckled, the Head Minion growling and not saying another word. Seeing Blake's confused face, a brow raised over baggy eyes more than enough to convey that even to his apparent denseness, he coughed awkwardly and explained. "Gnarl said I should, ah, apologize to you for making things… Awkward. Before Ruby gets mad at me, and he has to bake her a thousand and one cookies to quell her spoon-filled ire."
"Spoon filled?" Exhausted, upset, paranoid, but Blake still managed to look disdainfully surprised somehow.
"Master, please, she still respects me!"
"She has a wooden spoon that she whacks Gnarl with if he misbehaves." He ignored the pain filled sob of the Minion, aside from a small smirk Blake couldn't see, and shrugged his armored shoulders. "Just a normal little kitchen spoon, but… Gnarl is terrified of it, apparently. Ruby pulls it out and he behaves, does whatever she says, all that jazz."
"You are the cruellest of masters…"
"Maybe I should have Giblet enchant it…" He mused, the woman across from him actually smiling slightly at the clear joke. "Gnarl, do you have an enchantment that would let it just… Hover and whack you on command? Ruby would love that, I'm sure."
"No! I shall not allow such cruelties! No decent, Overlord-abiding Minion should have to endure this treatment. Wait..." The Minion paused for a moment, before finally grunting and shrugging off whatever his point would have been. "Sorry, Lordship, can't dwell on that. That way lies 'sympathy' and 'empathy' and other naughty, dirty words."
"You know, I wanted to be surprised. But you would be worried about normal things like empathy and sympathy, Gnarl." He sighed, shaking his helmed head and sighing. Blake didn't say anything, or even relax completely, but she stopped scowling and seemed to at least untense a bit, if she couldn't relax entirely.
Everything was probably just too much, too fast to hope for any more, and he was happy to let her enjoy the silence with a bit less tension now.
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"Why aren't we landing at the normal spot?" He asked, pressing a finger against the little button that connected his intercom to the cockpit. It clicked and buzzed quietly as he spoke, old and rickety like old electronics always were, but seemed to work.
"Orders. Got told to land in the freight area, back around behind the main academic building." The pilot answered, his voice gravelly and old sounding in the kind of way that only old men could really ever sound and be healthy. A second passed and, preempting the young Overlord's question, he added, "I, uh, I don't know why, sir, I'm just a pilot. I held over in Vale 'cuz they told me to, so I'm landing in back if they tell me to."
Ozpin, then. Perfect, because that was exactly who he wanted to see today… Not his sort-of-girlfriend, or his friends who knew he wasn't dead now. Ozpin was totally the face he wanted to see, and an Ozpin swinging around his 'I'm the Headmaster and can do whatever I want here' dick to boot.
Wonderful.
"Thanks, uh, pilot? Yeah, thanks." He flicked the communication-link off and turned in his seat, looking at Blake and jerking his head up with his question like he'd seen in some movies, "What about you? Do you think something's going on?"
"I don't know, really. Why would there be? Have you done something that would have caused someone here to hold something against you?" She asked, genuine confusion and curiosity coloring her voice and exhausted looking face. And a hint of concern, too, though that was probably less for him and more for Perry, Ruby and their mutual goals regarding the White Fang.
Or maybe just the idea of the giant spiders not having him around to control them, that cynical little voice offered. Which was… Helpful.
"Ozpin doesn't like me. Er, well, he doesn't like Overlords, I don't actually know that he cares one way or another about Jaune Arc." He probably didn't, now that he thought about it, unless he cared about the bad reputation that must have come with him sneaking in and turning out as ketchup on the bottom of the canyon. "And the only one who would both know that we got a Bullhead into Vale yesterday and be able to make it land somewhere else is Ozpin."
"I can't think of anyone else either." She offered, grimacing slightly at the admission. "What are you going to do about it, though?"
"See what he wants, I guess. I can't exactly stab him or anything, you know, ridiculous like that." Ridiculous, but a pretty permanent solution, to say the least… Especially since Ruby would also kill him for that. "Besides, we've kind of… Got a truce going, now. So whatever he wants shouldn't be that bad of a thing for me. In theory."
"In theory." She echoed, shaking her head to the side and raising her eyebrows at the obvious problems there. "I can stay, if you want to. I don't think he'll do anything in front of a student of his. Not so flippantly."
"No, I'll be fine. Just go to your dorm and get some damn rest, you need it." He held up his clawed hand when she made to speak, chuckling at the defiance already sparking along her shoulders and in her fatigued eyes. "I'll clear it with Ozpin myself, Blake, and you're my friend. Who was up late because she helped me out with my own problems, and was stressing over it all night. Please, just get some rest."
"Jaune-"
"I'll sick Yang on you." He threatened as the Bullhead tilted, angling in for landing.
"Fine, fine." She finally relented, sighing tiredly and letting her shoulders droop in exhaustion now that she'd agreed to sleep to get rid of it. "I'll get some sleep in the dorm, just remember not to tell Yang. And to tell the Headmaster."
"I will, I will." He chuckled, the ramp lowering in front of them as the shuttle finally shuddered to a landing.
The freight area was large enough to accommodate six Bullheads like his, carrying staff, supplies of all kinds, and whatever else was ordered by the people of Beacon into a private area for loading and unloading. Semi-round in shape, with the warehouse structures on two sides facing away from the cliff the administrative building had been set near, the landing area itself hanging out over air for a dozen feet on the furthest side. Already droids were moving supply crates into neat piles against one wall while a pair of mildly tired looking workers in green and blue oversaw it.
And tried to ignore the Headmaster of the Academy standing in the wide doorway, leaning on his cane and smiling in that faux-pleasant way that he did towards Jaune. The kind that only existed for politeness, so they could pretend they'd been welcoming and friendly when everyone knew they really, really hadn't been.
"Ozpin." He gave the man a curt nod when he and Blake reached him, letting the bottom of his axe hit the ground hard enough to clang just a little.
"Headmaster." Blake said, quieter and almost reproachfully glancing to him and then back to the man.
"Miss Belladonna." Ozpin said, smiling politely and looking her up and down. As if he expected to find her covered in injuries, or he was surprised she was breathing, he wasn't sure. But it spoke of mistrust for him and made him sigh. "You look… Exhausted, but unharmed."
"She's going to head to her dorm and get some sleep, if you'd excuse her for the day. Our contact was a bit late to the meeting, and we ended up still up until close to five this morning." Ozpin glanced to him and then, doubtful of what he was saying - which, fair, considering it was a lie - looked to Blake with a raised brow. When she nodded, he looked back to Jaune and the blonde added, "It was just a meet-up. If there'd been a fight, I had my… Friends there to pull us out."
"I see." He got the meaning clearly enough, judging from the pursed lips and disapproving sigh. "Very well, then, Miss Belladonna. I'll see assignments gathered for you and sent along with your team to you. Be sure to get some more adequate rest through today and this evening."
"Yes… Sir." She seemed unsure but, when Ozpin lifted a hand to gesture at the door behind him meaningfully, she didn't look back at him before leaving.
Loyalty to him came somewhere after sleep apparently.
"Now that she's off to get some actual sleep," Jaune started, sounding as tired as he already felt of whatever Ozpin had for him, "what do you want, Ozpin?"
"I… Hate to do this, for I know where it leads, but… I have no choice, sadly." Grimacing and sighing almost as though it physically hurt, he finally forced out, "I need your help with something. Or, rather, I need eyes and ears scattered around the forests surrounding Vale. And you are the only person to hand with enough eyes and ears that doesn't come with a literal flotilla attached."
"Why?" He asked, so surprised at Ozpin asking him directly for help that he forgot to be suspicious of him.
"That… Is best discussed behind closed doors, but suffice to say it involves the White Fang and the Vytal Festival." The White Fang being mentioned had his ears perking up, and he took a step towards the man so they could speak more quietly almost before he thought about it. "I know they plan an attack of some manner, but not from where, or what kind. I only have a couple dozen Huntsman to hand, including my staff here, and they are busy with internal security concerns throughout Vale. And the Atlesian navy is..."
"Obvious." He offered, the man nodding morosely in confirmation. Sighing, almost even growling, his irritation at the situation - and for once not at Ozpin being involved in it - and waved a hand past him at the great, wide door. "Let's go to your office and talk, then. Gnarl will need the details on… Things."
"This could be a great opportunity, Master, to recover some of our lost treasures…" Gnarl pointed out, the Overlord grunting and hoping the creature would understand what he meant by it.
"Very well. James is already waiting for us. He can brief you, and then you can brief your… Gnarl." The man turned while Jaune rolled his eyes and followed.
For once, it would be nice if Ozpin left anything up to anyone else...
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Instead of the private room they'd been to the last time Ozpin had wanted to speak to him, Jaune soon found himself instead in the main Headmaster's office. The windows were covered by thick, black curtains and a blue holographic map displaying Vale - a basic one that didn't show much detail beyond outlines, labeled districts, and the forests around Vale - cast pale light on the curtains. The white-uniformed General was, as promised, waiting there patiently with his hands clasped behind his back and his back nearly touching Ozpin's desk.
The man, surprisingly, offered Jaune a respectful nod and asked for clarity, "He's agreed to help, then?"
"The White Fang are my enemies as much as either of yours." He pointed out snappishly, leaning his axe against the wall beside the door and habitually channeling Mana into his Gauntlet in case he needed to teleport to it. "So whatever you need to hurt them, you have it, if I can spare it. So please, tell me what you need so I can tell you if I can do it. And what I'll need to do it."
"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked, voice laced with hesitation that he wasn't used to from the man. "You already have a small army under your personal command. That should more than suffice for scouting and the likely small skirmishes."
"When I'm with them, yeah, they're good enough to do most anything. But I can't be in all of these places at the same time, Ozpin." He closed with the map, pointing to Beacon itself, and went on, "I have a Portal Shrine around here, and I can teleport back to it freely enough. So I can cover there and one other spot as I am, but…" Letting the clawed tip of his Gauntlet drop with his arm and then crossing both over his chest, he let his head loll sarcastically at Ozpin, "There's hundreds of miles around Vale's wall, and I'm willing to bet you need it all watched."
"How many Minions do you have?" Ironwood asked, Jaune turning his helmet towards him so the man would know he'd heard the question but keeping quiet so he also knew that he wouldn't spill the beans on how strong he was without reason. The General grimaced, and Jaune knew that message had gone through. In a tired, but firm and polite voice, he added, "I only ask because, if you wish, I can… Devote scouts to regions you lack the manpower for. I only have a trio of scout regiments."
"Gnarl?" He asked, raising the Gauntlet meaningfully and looking down on it so the others knew he was speaking to him instead of them.
"I advise caution, but… In this case, giving our accurate numbers might actually be a boon to us. To force them into surrendering things to us that we need and want, much as I despise appearing weak." The Minion sighed, sounding frustrated and angry at the problem at hand, and then went on, "We have two hundred and eleven Minions, counting myself, Giblet, the workers and so on. Of that, a hundred and forty three are purely fighters, with forty two more who mostly serve as hunters and scouts."
"And the giant cave spiders?" He asked quietly, Ironwood's brows shooting up at the question.
"Two dozen are old and large enough for riding and fighting." The Head Minion answered, "Enough to put in the more likely spots where fights might happen, and a few extra eyes to put out there, but not enough to matter."
"I have around two hundred Minions and twenty four spiders they can ride." Counting the workers, at least, as bad as they were at fighting usually, but they had eyes so they could at least look out for things. "Of them, only a bit under fifty are capable scouts and hunters. I can sprinkle those around with normal Minions held back a bit in case something happens."
"Giant… Spiders?" Ironwood asked quietly, sounding disgusted and terrified in the same moment. "Did I hear that right? I hope sincerely I did not."
"You did." Jaune answered simply, shrugging simply. "They're big enough to ride and sentient, but they're… Actually kind of nice. They like making clothes, actually, I found out recently. I'm going to have them change up the lining of my armor, soon as I can, actually."
"H-How do you expand your host? Do you… Have a population you can call on?" The Atlesian asked quickly, Ozpin standing silent and staring at the map forlornly while the general rushed on to seemingly pretend the spiders didn't exist. Taking the silence that answered as something other than it was, the Overlord staring at Ozpin meaningfully, the large man asked, "What is the matter?"
"Ozpin knows what's the matter." He said quietly, looking to the man and asking, "So, how much of my own books and scrolls are you going to give me to fight for you?"
"They are your enemies as well as mine." Ozpin pointed out. An attempt to evade what he'd asked, and a fairly weak one at that. "You're going to fight them whether it helps us or not. We both know that."
"Yeah, but this isn't fighting them. This is scouting, helping you with security because you know something is coming. Not just fighting them." He sighed, shaking his helmed head, and added in a quieter voice, "I get you don't like what I am. But I want to help. You don't give me my scrolls, let me bulk up my forces, I'll still try. It won't work, of course, but I'll try either way."
"We do need his numbers, Ozpin." Ironwood pointed out quietly, "And if he ever tries anything, the Atlesian Navy will be there to fight him back."
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, General." The uniformed man shrugged noncommittally, and Jaune turned back to the Headmaster again. "Up to you, Ozpin. Make a call, already, so Gnarl and I can start moving Minions where we can."
"I'll have my scouts support them." Ironwood added helpfully, looking to the Headmaster with a sour face at the idea regardless. "But if the White Fang is moving supplies in for what you said… Failing would almost certainly mean a lot of dead people. Civilians, Hunters, my soldiers… Students if we can't contain it, and so on."
And it was preventable, right now, if Ozpin could see past his own prejudices.
"Maybe I go bad eventually, like you keep saying." Jaune jumped in after a few silent seconds of the man thinking and Ironwood waiting as patiently as he could, hands clasped behind him. Waving his Gauntlet at the map, Jaune asked, "Maybe I attack Vale, one day, for some reason. But if we don't get over our problems, then Vale will be attacked, and people will die."
"I would really like to prevent that." He finished finally, letting the arm fall and adding in a firm, sure tone. "I died wanting to be a Hunstman. I literally gave my life for it already, because I wanted more than anything to be a Huntsman. To protect people from the Grimm and… Whatever else. To be a hero. So put me to the test, Ozpin, and see if I'm a villain like your prejudices assume… Or a hero, like I died to be."
A full minute passed before, sounding like he'd had to force the words out through gritted teeth, Ozpin finally grunted, "Very well, then. Send for your 'Gnarl', have him come here, and we'll… Go through the scrolls I collected and see if anything applicable to our predicament can be found. Anything to that end, I will surrender to you."
"I'll send for a spider to bring him here." As though the Minion wasn't hiding in RWBY's dorm…
"Joy." Ironwood grumbled, shaking his head and stepping towards the map. "Until the… Spider shows up with your Minion, please allow me to brief you on what we know. As little as that is…"
After he nodded, the man began to explain, "We know that the Vytal Festival will be attacked in some manner, which is why my fleet will be stationed in defensive formations around it and along Vale's perimeter wall. We do not, however, know what form that attack will come in, hence my inability to devote infantry or precision strike teams to counter it."
"Makes sense." Atlas' soldiers were good at very specific jobs, but he couldn't send in bomb disposal without knowing they would encounter bombs. It could just as easily be men with guns, or a raid, and they wouldn't do anything against that. "You have to know what you're sending them in for, and where, and we don't know either."
"Exactly." The General nodded, smiling in a way that showed he was happy someone understood. "So I've got soldiers layered around Amity, and along Vale's wall. Enough to stymie any attack, but not enough to counter it. And certainly not enough to send out scouts to find out what the White Fang are doing, beyond the reports of them moving around a few miles out from the wall in practically every direction."
"Well," he smiled behind his mask, rolling his shoulders to pop them, "this is going to be fun."
"Indeed." Gnarl added, sneering cheerily. "I'll set the Minions to harvesting leather and fur for armor, Master. Along with essence of course. I know of a particularly good source, if you'll… Rescind a certain, aggravating ban."
"Fine, Gnarl." He sighed, shaking his head and chuckling quietly. "You can go seal hunting to fill up our reserves, just this once."
"Wonderful…"
"If Ruby gives you permission." He added, smiling at the face he knew the Minion would make at the requirement.
"Now that's not fair at all… So cruel, unfair, arbitrary and demanding..." The Minion sniffled, sounding choked up when he added, "I'm so, so proud at how Evil you are becoming, Master. So immensely, immensely proud."
"Run me through where you want my Minions." He said finally, stepping up beside the Atlesian and nodding his head at the map. "And where your support will be, too."
"What about you?" The General asked, curiosity instead of heat coloring his voice. "I figured you would want to be out there, taking the fight to the Fang. Whether or not they're actually doing something or this is coincidence, you have your own feud to pursue. Do you not?"
"I'm going to be on the opposite side of Vale, far from the Beacon Portal Shrine, since I can teleport back to it if I need to." He answered, ignoring the sour face Ozpin made at 'Beacon' in the same name as his Portal Shrine. "That way, I'm as close as I can be to… Pretty much anywhere a fight could break out."
"An intelligent enough deployment strategy." Ironwood complimented, the large man nodding politely and turning to the map. "Very well, I'll brief you on everything you need to know going forward."
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Hours passed while the Atlesian general briefed him on everything they knew and where his men would be, as well as where his Minions should put themselves to maximise coverage. Most of that time was devoted to the latter rather than the former, due to the bad news that they weren't sure what the White Fang were doing out on the frontier beyond that they were doing something. Gathering equipment, going silent in places where normally they'd stir up rallies or riots if they could manage it, and hiding in areas that they'd normally made displays in of being there in public.
Hours spent to say, basically, 'We have no idea where they are, or what they're doing. Just that they're out there somewhere, doing something.'
Which explained why Ozpin was willing to ask him for help… Unless the old man hoped he'd get killed fighting out there, so there wouldn't be an Overlord anymore. Which would make sense, but something told him that if the Headmaster wanted him dead he'd be less obvious in getting him killed. This already screamed it, obviously enough for him to see it, so he actually trusted that it wasn't murder by mission.
Classes had, unfortunately, ended several minutes before he'd left the office. Which meant that he had to walk through most of Beacon with the students surrounding him, looking at him and whispering. About him, about his arms and armor, maybe even about Ruby since he was pretty sure the rumor mill had already gotten around him bringing her back in one piece.
He ignored it all, though, even if it annoyed him just a bit more than he'd admit.
Swiping his Scroll across the door-lock, he pushed into the dorm he and Tai shared now, smiling when he found Ruby curled up on his bed snoring away in her uniform. Tai was on his own bed, leaning against the wall and looking at something on his Scroll, and offered him a little nod in greeting.
"She's already out?" He asked quietly, gently laying his axe against the wall by the door, turning to start removing his armor and laying it on the table beside his axe. "Classes only let out twenty minutes ago."
"Came straight here to see you, saw you weren't here and laid down." The other man informed him, short and quiet to avoid waking the sleeping girl. "Probably got worn out catching up with everything in her classes. Let her sleep."
He nodded instead of saying anything, sitting on the floor at the end of his bed, leaning back against it now out of his heavier armor and wearing the cloth under it. Quietly, he said to the other blonde, "I'm gonna catch a nap too, Tai. If you don't mind?"
"You do you." He grunted, flicking a finger on his Scroll's screen. "I'll yell at you both around dinner time, so you can get some food."
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
Razmire :
Gnarl and Ruby are great counterbalance.
Dr. Killinger :
I plead the fifth.
Husebad :
Less 'blowing up' at least for now, more 'forced not to and made to work together'.
Zathol :
Yeah, Ozpin screws people all the time, because he is just sooooo wise. Thus, this plot development.
And yeah, Ruby is a balance to the eviller tendencies and urges the Overlord tends to have. Both from within, and from Gnarl whispering in his ear. Ruby, though, is so sweet, kind, loving and pure that she can balance that out. Temper him, you could say. Like a sword of hot iron baying for blood being quenched by… Cookies and hugs, mainly, with a few shy little kisses in there.
Glad you're enjoying it, though~!