Welcome to chapter 25!
Ozpin leaned back on his chair, staring up at the ceiling. It might have been night outside, but it hardly bothered him; one could not even see a hint of fatigue on his enigmatic expression.
Ironwood's warning still weighed on his mind despite his expression remaining stoic. Ozpin was already aware that many people were after his life, so this was not news. However, if his enemies were really sending assailants to Beacon, casualties were certainly likely to be caused.
He had washed his hands of those things, and decided to protect instead of destroy. Beacon was the first step to that salvation, and he had no intention of letting anyone hurt those children. And while he could certainly take them down by himself, there were other more pressing matters that demanded his attention.
There was one other person he had in mind who could handle this. However, Ozpin was not sure if that person was ready. If he went in like this, he would just end up getting himself killed. While considering the next move, Ozpin was interrupted by a sudden phone call. Raising an eyebrow on the caller ID that appeared on the screen, he answered Glynda Goodwitch's call.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Sapphire's gone," Glynda said hurriedly. "Miss Belladonna heard him leave not long ago but wasn't able to find him so she came to report to me-"
"He's heading for Forever Fall," Ozpin replied immediately. At such a perfect timing, there was nowhere else the former mercenary could be heading for. "Stop him, Glynda. Now."
Glynda hung up without a word. Ozpin stared at the screen of his phone for a few more moments, lost in thought. If this sudden order to assassinate Ozpin had been leaked to Ironwood on purpose, then it might have been a ploy to get Ozpin away from Beacon. The conflict between him choosing to stay at the school and risk the students' safety and choosing to leave and fight, letting them have what they wanted was probably the goal. Even if by accident, Sapphire had actually helped him make his choice. Now all he could do was to have faith that he and Glynda could handle the situation by themselves.
"What're you really after?" he muttered.
Weiss had the occasional habit of sleeping in. It was a bad habit that manifested particularly often whenever she spent most of the night awake. Today, however, she woke relatively early.
She thought she was dreaming at first. For one thing, there was some kind of shutter sound clicking in the background, and for another she smelled like cookies. Chocolate chip, and probably the kind they served in the school cafeteria. Though for some peculiar reason, she also smelled like roses.
There was a strange pressure around her waist, and something warm pressed against her back. It felt oddly comfortable, even though it was still incredibly strange. Brushing it off as a weird dream, Weiss tried to fall back into slumber.
"Yang, I don't think you should…" someone's voice said in the distance, hushed as though in a whisper. It sounded familiar, but Weiss's hazy mind could not process the identity.
"What; let this chance go? Never!" someone else's voice replied. This one sounded very amused. Must be a blonde. How did she come to that conclusion?
Turning around, Weiss rested on her other arm, hoping that it would somehow change her dream. That movement triggered a small moan in front of her, making Weiss half open her eyes.
Petite lips. A rather small, round face. Black hair with red streaks. Those pieces of information failed to register for a moment, but when they finally did, the heiress's face underwent a color change faster than the speed at which she rejected Jaune's confessions, which was saying a lot.
Pale. Light pink. Red. Scarlet. Magenta. Weiss was sure that at some point in time, steam was pouring out of her ears and her eyes had never been opened wider in her life, but that was not the problem here. The problem was-
"Oh boy," Yang commented, stuffing her fingers into her ears. Blake said something along the lines of 'not fair' before diving under the covers, being unable to cover all her ears with two hands.
"RUBY ROSE!" Weiss screeched, loud enough to wake the entire student population of Beacon.
Ruby Rose was very well versed in what the typical angry woman looked like. She was very familiar with what a really angry woman looked like, having seen Yang when she lost some hair. She did not think that a person could look even madder than that, and she certainly did not expect that Weiss Schnee of all people would be directing such a look at her. Well, maybe she did.
Weiss sat on the edge of her bed, towering over a subdued Ruby who sat with her knees folded beneath her thighs. Ruby could swear that there was a literal tiger looming behind the heiress. The sight was imposing and frightening enough to make Zwei sit down next to his owner obediently without as much as a yip, waiting for Weiss to explode.
"Now then," Weiss declared, her strict tone making Ruby (and Zwei) flinch. Maybe it was a dragon that was behind her instead. "Care to explain what's going on?"
"Eh…" Ruby searched her brain desperately for an answer, but nothing came up. "I don't know… I just ended up in that position… When I realized it, you were screaming my… face off…"
"And WHY is that?" Weiss demanded. "And WHY do I smell like cookies?"
"Blake," Yang whispered to the cat Faunus who was still on the upper bunk. "Is Sapphire behind this?"
"Yeah," Blake replied. "He sprinkled the cookie crumbs on her in the middle of the night to trick Ruby."
"Why am I not surprised?" Yang whispered back, rolling her eyes. "Say, what's that you're holding?"
"He left a note," Blake replied, hastily hiding the other one as she passed Yang the first.
"Tell Weiss she needs to lighten up a bit," Yang read off the scrap in a hushed tone. "Don't take it like it's the end of the world and relax… Wow, this is his idea of helping her relax? She's going to burst a blood vessel. I mean, it's genius and all, but still."
"That's why I'm not telling her yet," Blake replied.
In truth, there was another piece of paper left by Sapphire, but it was addressed to Blake specifically. Sapphire, who knew that Blake would notice him leaving, had left that message outside the door for her to find. It read:
A mission came in. Be back by noon; help make up an excuse. I have to do this alone.
"Blake!" Weiss's voice cut sharply into her thoughts, making Blake's Faunus ears twitch in surprise. "Where's Sapphire?"
"Why do you guys keep coming to me about where he is?" Blake wondered aloud. "He… um… He said he wanted to avoid the volcano eruption, so he went to look for a bunker to hide in."
"SO IT WAS HIM!" Weiss bellowed, her rage levels skyrocketing. The dragon behind her was now replaced by a gigantic four-faced deity wrapped in flames. If one looked close enough, her ice-blue eyes seemed to be flaring up as well. "I'm going to murder him."
The second sentence was spoken in a normal, conversational tone, but it made everyone else shudder nonetheless. There was something really horrifying in Weiss's voice right now.
"And of course, since you're all my lovely teammates," Weiss continued with a glorious smile, picking up a trembling Zwei (who was so scared he did not even look around for help) and stroking him gently. "You'll help me keep it a secret, right?"
Ruby, Yang and Blake gulped. No one would ever find Sapphire's body now.
Cinder jumped when she heard that distant yell. It had been so quiet all this time that she had to strain her senses to pick up any and all sounds. When she heard that shout from the dorms, no matter how far away it was, it startled her in the middle of her infiltration.
Embarrassed that she had been distracted by something so inconsequential, Cinder retreated into the shadows. She could not advance yet, so she had to stay hidden until the time was right.
"Enemy engaged," a voice, heavily obscured by static, reported over the earbud she had. "Tracks were rigged to blow. Alpha team-"
The rest of the sentence was lost in a burst of static. The enemy he was talking about was moving fast, which was only to be expected. What was important was the fact that the two sides were fighting.
Smirking confidently, Cinder ran through the hallways silently, taking extra care to avoid the guards. Now that she was accustomed to this place, sneaking around was a breeze. Without Ozpin around, there was no one who could stop her-
"Good morning," Ozpin said loudly, standing upright in front of the elevator doors. That elevator was the only way up to his office, and Cinder was well aware of that. What she could not comprehend was why Ozpin was here; who was fighting the mercenaries in his place? "I know you're there, so why not we talk in the open?"
"You're more cautious than you look," Cinder said pleasantly, walking into the light and facing him. Naturally, she still had her espionage suit on, but this time she also had a wig. Not that she was certain it would fool someone like Ozpin, but she played his game; letting the opponent think that they had the upper hand was key to catching them off-guard.
"I'm surprised you knew I was associated with that organization," Ozpin replied casually. "I'm sure they were more than happy to be able to get money to kill me."
"Perhaps you should have greeted them personally," Cinder offered, giving him a smile.
"I might have," Ozpin admitted. "If it wasn't for both of us realizing your true intentions."
"So you sent one of your staff to their doom?" Cinder challenged. "Or perhaps one of your students?"
"He was a former subordinate," Ozpin replied. "Now, would you be so kind as to answer my questions? What might you possibly be looking for in my office, so badly that you required my sudden absence?"
"If I told you, would you give it to me?" Cinder asked with a playful smirk.
"It could be arranged," Ozpin said thoughtfully.
"Thanks," Cinder said, ducking to avoid the blow from the guard closing in on her from behind. Grabbing him by the arm and flinging him forward onto his back, she disappeared around a corner.
Ozpin waited for a few moments, until the sound of a shattering window prompted him to sigh. He doubted she had an accomplice ready in case she was spotted, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Even though that meant he would not be participating in the chase personally.
"Pursue her," he said to the guard rushing up to him, walking into the elevator.
Sapphire groaned. He tried getting up, but obeyed the signs his body gave him and slumped back down instead. Pain was something he had gotten used to, but every time he ended up feeling it the experience felt like something new.
He could tell someone was approaching from the rustling of the grass. Heck, it could even be a wild Grimm drawn in by the smoke from the derailed train he blew up, but he took no chances. Ignoring his body's protests, Sapphire got to his feet, firing Duskbreak at this new foe.
"I swear," Glynda said exasperatedly, flicking the arrow away with her riding crop almost lazily. "Boys like you are the reason why teaching is such a pain. And setting up so many traps on your way here was really dangerous, too; what if I didn't disarm them and a student walked into them?"
"What're you doing here?" Sapphire asked, sitting back down as he wiped the blood from his forehead that was obscuring his vision.
"What do you think?" Glynda asked. "Did you really believe we'd let you take on these many trained mercenaries by yourself?"
"As a matter of fact, I already have," Sapphire pointed out, his red eyes fading back to blue. "More than half of the idiots are trapped in the train wreckage so they sat this one out, though."
"I understand that they're from the same organization you came from," Glynda said. "But don't you think that it's too reckless to face them by yourself?"
"Well, this is clearly a trick to get the commander out of his fortress," Sapphire shrugged. "And since no one else knows the modus operandi of us mercs, I'm the only poor slob left, right?"
"We're heading back," Glynda said sharply. "You need to get treated and Lifesaver needs-"
"I didn't use it."
Glynda froze.
"You what?" she asked.
"I said I didn't use Lifesaver," Sapphire repeated. "I kept to Neutral Mode all this time."
"But- How-"
"I know I'm not an intellectual, but I have been putting thought into this," Sapphire said, lying down and staring at the periwinkle blue skies peeking through the vermillion leaves of Forever Fall. "I was told protecting others that way was a flaw, y'see. I'm not conceited enough to think I'm perfect, but I didn't really think that that itself was a personality defect. So I pondered it endlessly.
"I couldn't find the answer at first," he admitted. "I considered committing suicide a few times – don't look at me like that; I didn't actually do it – but I settled for staying alive in the end. I was weak, and I had to get strong to k- to fight. So I looked for the answer to that flaw. Do you know who let me find it?"
Glynda did not answer. She was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say, though.
"Those kids," Sapphire finished. "Those little kids pretending to be warriors, calling themselves Huntsman and Huntresses. Seeing them by no means told me I was wrong, but it showed me the right way to go about doing it. Ozpin said I only looked at others, and that was why people around me died. Even so, he didn't say it was wrong to protect others. So why don't I do just that?"
Standing up, he walked slowly past Glynda, towards the direction she had come from. Despite the pain in his body, he was smiling confidently.
"I'll still fight for them," he said. "But now, I know that it's because I want to. I've never thought about what I really wanted, but now I can say I acknowledge I want to fight for them."
He had found a purpose. Glynda knew well that a person fighting pointlessly and a person fighting with a purpose were worlds apart, and that the strength that simply came from will alone was not something that could be ignored. However, the prerequisite for protecting others was that one must defend themselves first. Sapphire might have thought that he had found his sense of self, but it was only something he established after the wellbeing of others. In the end, he still put others before himself.
"They have bright futures," he said, almost sighing as he did so. "They don't need to tread the dark paths where there's no going back. But I won't kill for that purpose, because I don't want to sink back in either. I know who I am now, Goodwitch. That's why I won't let anyone else become like me. I'm fighting selfishly because of my own experiences, because I think I know better. What of it?"
"Don't get so full of yourself, brat," Glynda scolded, although there was a faint smile on her lips. "You're nowhere near experienced enough to handle something like that."
He was not quite there yet, but Sapphire Fall had managed to take another step. For now, that was good enough. Perhaps, with time, he would be able to save his own life with the help of his friends. Glynda could not help but admit defeat at that thought; Ozpin had been right about this one.
Of course, she was never going to let him know that.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Sun exclaimed as he and Neptune nearly kicked the door down. "What on Remnant's going on here?!"
Weiss squealed before diving under her covers upon seeing Neptune; she was still in her sleepwear and covered in cookie crumbs. Ruby, Yang and Blake simply stared at the surprise guests at their door.
"We heard a shout," Neptune hastily explained their barging through the door. "Sounded more like a sonic weapon, but we came to check if anything was up. Are you guys alright?"
"Oh, don't worry about it," Yang said cheerily with a wave of her hand. "I do have some pictures I'd like to show you, Neptune, so drop by later, kay?"
Neptune could feel the heat of Weiss's gaze from all the way at the door, and she was not even poking her head out from the blankets.
"Say," Sun said, looking around. "Why do I smell another Faunus in here?"
The girls had no idea how to reply to that, so they simply turned to Blake, who facepalmed. The weird spray Sapphire brought in the last time for their infiltration mission was still leaving a lingering bear scent after so long due to Sapphire's excessive dosage, but since no one else on the team noticed anything she had kept it to herself. It failed to escape Sun's nose, though.
"Smells like…" Sun's eyes widened, although whether it was from horror or hurt was uncertain. "A guy…"
"Sun, it's not-" Blake began, but she could not get off the upper bunk; Zwei was still down there.
"I heard Sapphire say something along the lines of this," he muttered in utter horror. "He said Blake was bringing in random guys into the dorm, but I didn't believe him. Holy… he was right…"
"No, it's a misunderstanding!" Blake said in a frustrated tone. "It-it's not like that!"
"Is that why you won't come down from the bunk?" Sun asked. Yang was stifling his laughter as she hid behind Ruby (who, as usual, just looked confused), but he had no time for small details like that right now. "Is it because his smell is still on you from… from…"
"No!" Blake exclaimed, going red in the face as she caught on to his train of thought. "I'm not coming down because… because Zwei-"
"Zwei?" Sun repeated. "Neptune. Do you know any bear Faunus in Beacon by that name?"
"Er, no," Neptune replied. "B-but you can try asking Scar-"
Without letting his partner finish, Sun Wukong sped off in one swift somersault.
"Well, that was awkward," Neptune commented, proceeding to clear his throat. "So, um, Weiss. You free to talk right now?"
"Y-yeah," Weiss replied, her voice muffled by the blanket which she still refused to come out of. "J-just wait outside; I'll be with you in a minute."
Weiss dusted at her combat skirt awkwardly, waiting for Neptune to speak. For some odd reason, the morning was growing warmer and warmer by the second.
"Hey, um, Weiss," Neptune finally said after what had to be several thousand years. "You know about your concert? Is it alright if I go after all?"
Weiss gaped at him for a few million years, not caring that her mouth was open in a perfect, comical 'O'. Fumbling with her vocabulary, the confident heiress finally managed to find her voice.
"S-sure, of course!" she stuttered. "Y-you're more than welcome to attend! Of course!"
"T-thanks," Neptune replied, letting the atmosphere sink back into the pits of awkward silence again.
"S-so what happened to your urgent business?" Weiss asked, playing with a lock of her hair.
"Ah, that," Neptune looked away guiltily. "A certain blue-eyed friend of yours talked me into making the right decision, and, well, here I am."
Of course. It was Jaune again. Like with the time at the ball, Jaune seemed to have a knack for helping Weiss with her romance. Weiss made a mental note to thank him properly later.
"And, there's something I want to say," Neptune said. "After the performance is finished, I have something important I need to tell you. I-It's kind of a big deal, s-so yeah."
"O-Of course!" Weiss said, her voice a higher pitch than expected. "I-I'll see you after the performance then?"
"Yeah, that'll be great," Neptune walked off, his face filled with relief now that the load was off his chest. "Oh, and Weiss?"
"Yeah?"
"Good luck."
Oh, Weiss. Your problems are far from over, so don't let that get to your head. Tsk, lovestruck heiresses…
But wow, lots of smiling in this chapter. And also, yeah I wanted to do that brick joke, so if you still remember where the spray came from, good for you!
In case anyone didn't get the somersault part, it's a reference to the Sun Wukong outside of RWBY, whom Sun is based off of. He can travel 54,000 kilometers in one somersault. I'm Chinese (that explains my terrible English too), so I grew up knowing the Monkey King and stuff like that. I'm not a nerd. I think.
Whatever! I hope you're enjoying the lighthearted stuff and jokes right now, because unfortunately this arc is reaching its climax soon, and from that point onwards the mood will be more serious. Brace thyselves; we'll soon be 2/5 done with this story.
Till next chapter!