Chapter 37 – Innocence shattered
The latest White Fang's attack on Vale citizens was soon all over the news. The images of bombed out stalls and blood splatters on the floor got around all of Remnant, inciting a new wave of resentment towards White Fang.
The sheer brutality scared the living daylights out of the Vale City populace. Vale citizens, humans and Faunus were refusing to leave their homes unless it was absolutely necessary. Vendors began rapidly vacating the fairgrounds downtown, afraid for their lives. White Fang's action also served as a signal for many anti-Faunus groups that strived to avenge the killings, in their own way. That involved terrorizing the Faunus populace that mostly had nothing to do with the attack while the real killers were escaping justice. Later that day, Léon Acier, the spokesman of the Unity organization, condemned the attack and went as far as to call White Fang 'a mob of bloodthirsty barbarians'.
Only after Vale Police began an official investigation did the full extent of the massacre come out.
Twenty six people were killed in the attack, gunned down mercilessly by White Fang's kill squads. About thirty more others were wounded to various extents, not to mention the property damage. Surprisingly, many of the casualties were Faunus; one had to wonder what the Fang's angle was. They no longer were the band of freedom fighters they claimed to be and the Faunus populace was starting to both fear and despise them. All in all, it could have been far worse if it were not for a handful of Atlesians soldiers and Beacon students that just happened to be at the fair.
Unfortunately, the hunters in training did not make it out unscathed.
Without support from Atlesian army, they were nearly slaughtered when the Fang lured them into a well prepared ambush in an abandoned factory. Only by sheer chance none of them died in the shootout, yet they did not have enough luck to avoid losses. Six out of eight students suffered injuries and four of them had to be taken into the hospital.
Worse, one person from each team were hurried into the operating room, both of them in critical condition.
It was a good question why Ironwood's troops were so slow to respond to the assault.
The general said that the communication across the fleet was being disrupted at the time of the attack. Yet some whispering tongues claimed that Ironwood was unwilling to put his men at risk so he let Ozpin's students and armed forces of Vale to deal with the problem instead. True, it did sound absurd but in the time of unrest, people tend to believe anything.
Thanks to the recent string of unfortunate events, citizens Vale City were slowly turning on each other, throwing accusations left and right and further contributing to the general insecurity.
Alas, as it often happens, what is a danger to one is an opportunity to another.
Headmaster's office, Beacon Academy…
Ozpin could only sit and watch as storm raged around him.
The headmaster received report of an attack in Vale City mere minutes after first bomb went off. He knew it was only a matter of time before White Fang struck again. But for some reason, all countermeasures put in place failed to stop the assault. What was even worse, the report mentioned the presence of his students on-site. He was willing to do his damnedest to keep them from harm and so he contacted Ironwood to send in troops to neutralize the attack.
For some reason, he was unable to reach the general.
All he could do was contact some of the Huntsmen present in Vale City and ask for their assistance.
These were some of the strongest, fiercest warriors on Remnant. Not even they could avert the massacre, though.
Only after receiving the casualty report did he realize the full extent of their – his – failure to protect the Vale citizens.
Even his students were among casualties; they did survive the terror attack but that could change at any moment.
Two of them were fighting for their lives in the hospital. One stabbed through her stomach, the other torn up by a grenade.
This was a dark day both for Vale City and Beacon Academy.
Currently he was witnessing a fierce argument among his closest friends and coworkers. The cause: Ironwood's admittedly late response to the attack.
"You impossible imbecile!" Qrow Branwen thundered, his face contorted into an expression of rage. "You always flaunt your stupid high-tech toys around, you always want to go everywhere guns blazing like the bellicose warhound lunatic you are, yet you haven't done jackshit when people out there need help! I don't know if you're that incompetent or you just don't give a shit but the whole damn city's talking 'bout how Atlas failed miserably to keep Vale City safe!"
Ironwood was far from his usual composed, no-nonsense attitude. He simply stood there with his gaze fixed onto the floor, suffering Qrow's severe tongue lashing without as much as a word.
"Not to mention that my niece-"
Ozpin felt a pang of guilt at the mention of Yang. According to the news from the hospital, surgeons managed to stabilize her but she remained under anesthetics. No telling whether she would make a full recovery.
Suddenly, Qrow made several quick steps towards the general and lifted him up by his collar… Which was no small feat, given the 'state' of the general's body.
Ironwood's defeated expression turned into one of both shock and fear as he suddenly found himself staring right into Qrow's livid face.
"If you weren't a general of Atlas I would've cut you in half, you useless heap of horse crap!"
The headmaster stood up. This was getting out of hand.
"Qrow, you have to calm down!" Glynda stepped in, trying to calm the enraged Huntsman. The other Hunter in the room, Ruivo, simply stood back, observing the scene with a grim expression. "I realize that you're angry-"
"Angry?! I'm beyond pissed off, Glyn!" Branwen snapped back. He looked like if he was about to tear Ironwood into pieces.
"Listen, I'm sorry about what happened to your niece but going on a bloody rampage won't fix anything!" Goodwitch tried reasoning, yet Branwed did not appear to be listening.
The more of a surprise when he suddenly dropped Ironwood unceremoniously on the floor.
"Saying 'sorry' won't magically heal Yang." Qrow said dejectedly, suddenly looking exhausted.
"Maybe we should finally hear Ironwood's side of the story." Ruivo suggested. "Personally, I'm plenty curious about what he has to say for himself."
The Faunus Huntsman appeared like if he went through hell himself. Blood smeared across his face, multiple cuts showing through tears in his clothing, new dents on his already battered armor and bandages on his left thigh.
Ironwood slowly picked himself off the floor, still somewhat stunned by Qrow's angry outburst. "Look, I realize how it must look like but I assure you it wasn't my fault!" He explained, his voice shaking a bit. "Our communication systems suddenly went haywire; we still haven't found out where the problem was. If there were any distress signal, we weren't getting anything. None of us knew something was going on until one of the officers on bridge saw smoke rising from the city. We tried contacting the Council, Beacon, anyone, but our systems were unresponsive."
"That would explain why I couldn't contact you." Ozpin remarked.
"Then one of the councilors had the idea to send a message via a Scroll. For some reason it worked." Ironwood continued. "Alas, by the time we managed to send a few squads on the ground it was already too late."
"It doesn't change that you messed up, Jimmy." Qrow grounded out. "You got sloppy and other people paid for it."
Ruivo decided to intervene. "Look Branwen, I understand that you're upset and for a good reason, but let's all just calm down and think clearly, alright?"
Qrow did not even look at him. "I'll calm down when Yang is okay; not before."
The Faunus Huntsman heard many things about Qrow Branwen; he did not recall 'obstinacy' being one of these traits. "At least try and listen. I've learned some interesting things about the attack and the perpetrators."
That seemed to attract the attention of others. "Well, what do you have then?" Goodwitch asked.
Ruivo began pacing across the room with a slight limp as he spoke. "First off, the ambush at the old factory was not a split second decision, nothing along the lines of 'if we go down we take them with us'. It was carefully prepared, including ambush sites, kill zones and routes for quick escape. The sudden retreat was probably a ruse to lure in the defenders." He scowled. "I know for sure White Fang was after Beacon students."
This seemed to unsettle Ozpin and Goodwitch more than anything. "How do you know this?" The blonde professor questioned.
"First off, observation and personal experience. Second, your students… well, those who were able to talk, that is."
Glynda frowned. "Was that really necessary, Ruivo? Those children are traumatized as it is; no need to rub salt into open wounds!"
The wolf Faunus shook his head. "Don't call them children, Goodwitch. Griffon's team handled the mission back in the mine better than most others… Though, I suppose no one can cope easily with the thought of their friends dying."
"Please," Ozpin butted in. "What did you learn?"
"At least two of the Fang's aces were involved." Ruivo explained. "I know for sure that Manson Dracul and Adam Taurus were present during the attack."
The headmaster knew those two by reputation.
Both were fearsome warriors, dedicated to White Fang's cause… and both of them used to be mentors to some of the students at Beacon, namely Mr. Flamme and Miss Belladonna. Their men followed them without question, though in the case of the former it was more out of fear than out of respect. Dracul was one of the fiercest anti-human radicals in the entire organization and was known to kill those Faunus whom he thought to be collaborating with humans. While all White Fang members hated humankind to some extent, Dracul's hatred seemed outright fanatical.
"And there's more."
Ozpin broke out of his musings and gestured to Ruivo to continue.
The Faunus Huntsman cleared his throat. "As I was saying, Griffon said that she saw Mercury Black in the ambush site. He admitted to working with Cinder and he also mentioned that 'she wanted her gone'."
Ozpin froze in his seat when he learned that yet another Cinder's accomplice had been able to slip into Beacon so easily. She was somehow able to exploit weaknesses in the academy's defense he never even knew about. Imagine the damage they could have caused… or did cause already. That part worried him greatly; who knew what they did during their brief stay at his school and the extent of the sabotage. The only way of knowing was when things began malfunctioning… and that could happen at the worst time possible.
"So they were hiding right under our noses this entire time." Branwen growled. "Great, just great."
"Griffon described how Black had two Fang troopers restrain her and was about to execute her when Xiao Long intervened and singlehandedly took out the entire group."
"Sounds like my niece." Qrow muttered.
"That would imply that this 'Cinder' supports White Fang's operations." Glynda said, visibly surprised by the conclusion. "If she doesn't actually lead them, that is."
"White Fang would never accept a human in charge." Ironwood grunted. "Though after recent happenings, I wouldn't be so surprised."
"They were working with Torchwick even before you arrived, James." Ozpin pointed out. "I wonder what could've convinced the Fang to work with Cinder."
"With all due respect, Ozpin, our goal should be rooting them out, not understanding them." Ruivo remarked with a frown. "They've caused enough problems, not to mention they're a stain on my people's reputation."
"On that we can agree." The general muttered.
"Anyway, all students said that the Fang tried pretty hard to kill them. From what I've heard, teams RWBY and TNDR crossed White Fang quite a few times in the past; I guess this was the retaliation."
"Skip the details." Qrow interrupted rather rudely. "I want to know which bastard hurt my niece."
"Adam Taurus." Ruivo answered. "I saw him stabbing Xiao Long when she was trying to keep him from maiming the Belladonna girl. I was too far to stop him though I distracted him long enough for those two to get out of there."
Branwen scowled menacingly. "Yet another person on my shit list."
"I bloodied him well for you, Qrow." Ruivo said with a smirk. "True, he's a good fighter, better than most but he's far from invincible. I managed to cleave his stupid mask in two, along with his left eye." The grin on his face was bordering on sadistic. "One of the hairiest fights I got into but then end result was worth the hits I took."
Ozpin would swear that he saw a ghost of a smile cross Branwen's face.
Too soon, as it turned out.
"I'm sorry to ruin your mood but Taurus managed to escape before I could finish him off." The wolf Faunus added. "Some of his buddies came by and attacked, giving the bastard enough time to slip away. He's probably hiding somewhere licking his wounds."
"I'll be sure to finish what you started, Ruivo." Qrow replied, anger creeping into his voice. It was clear that Taurus was going to have a hard time should he run into Branwen in the future.
"If I remember correctly, you met a White Fang officer who was matching Taurus' description back in TITAN mine, right?" Goodwitch asked.
The Faunus Huntsman nodded in response. "That's right; he was the one that 'negotiated' the conditions of our escape. I thought he was one of the more, um, reasonable members of the Fang; seems that my initial impression was wrong."
Qrow let out a harsh humorless laugh. "Yeah, no shit."
"That's enough." Ozpin interjected and set his eyes on Ruivo. "Thank you for your input, Ruivo. The information you provided was invaluable. Go and get some rest; you earned it."
"With all due respect, there's no time for that." The wolf Faunus argued. "We need more people watching the city."
"And trying to find the other two imposters while they're at it." Glynda added.
"About that," He interjected as he suddenly remembered an important detail. "Another of your students, Flamme mentioned that he fought a Fang trooper whom he identified as 'Rowan Ashe'. The name's most likely fake as he was masquerading as a Mistrali student. They said he might be dead but that hasn't been confirmed so far."
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention." Ozpin replied with a nod. "You may take your leave now." Ruivo nodded curtly and walked out of the office.
The 'Ashe' character was out of the picture for now, as was Sustrai. Mercury was still out there but the Police and the Hunters knew his identity and would be on the lookout for him. The Oreonni girl presented the only truly unknown factor; true, her identity might have been fictitious, but she made a rather conspicuous figure with her diminutive stature. Sooner or later she would surely surface again.
The headmaster cast a glance at Ironwood. "As for you James, I admit I expected more from you. For someone so hell bent on sending troops to deal with every problem, your response to the recent events was far from adequate."
The general hung his head, not saying a word.
"Anyway, I think it was no coincidence that communications between your fleet and the city malfunctioned right when the Fang attacked. We can't allow this to happen again, James. I don't care how you do it, find the problem and fix it."
"Yes, Ozpin." Ironwood said in a tight voice.
"As for the rest of us, we'll continue to monitor the situation. The response to the recent attack attracted more Grimm to the City; we can't let something like this happen again." The headmaster continued. "Most of all, we should look into how exactly the imposters infiltrated our school."
"This is going to be a pretty tall order." Goodwitch frowned. "There's literally dozens of potential security risks; information network, possibly forged documents…"
Ozpin cut her off mid-sentence. "Do what you think is best, Glynda. In the meantime, I'll try and find out whatever there is to know about the imposters and whoever it is they work for. I'll call in a few favors if I have to."
"What about me?" Qrow spoke up.
"You might join other Hunters in patrolling the city. But before that, I'd suggest you check on your niece. I heard that the surgery went well."
Branwen was not one to show his emotions but he did seem very grateful for the news.
"It seems that the events are inevitably coming to a head." Ozpin said with a grave expression. "We don't know what our enemy is angling for but we must be ready when they make their next move."
And that was only a matter of time.
At the Vale hospital…
The door to the women's restroom suddenly shot open and a figure in a navy blue jacket and twin sabers at her belt stumbled inside, slamming the door behind them.
The last several hours were incredibly… exhausting? Agonizing? Nerve racking? Heart wrenching?
Tanya had no idea how to describe the torture of both her body and soul she was put through lately and, in all honesty, she did not care. All she wanted was to be alone for some time.
To vent all the anguish she had to suffer without anyone watching. Despite all the terrible events that led up to this moment, she tried to stay composed for the sake of her team, her friends. But the longer she had to keep up the brave face the more the pain seemed to be overcoming her.
Until the point when she had enough.
When she chose the career of a Huntress, she knew that sooner or later she would have to face the possibility that either her friends or even herself might die. Not even in her worst dreams would she think it would come so soon.
Worst of all, it was in a large part her damn fault. If she was not so adamant on pursuing the Fang killers, if she did not stupidly lead her team into the ambush…
Things could have been vastly different.
She made the wrong choice and other people paid for her mistake.
Desmond was damn lucky that he possessed that strange regeneration ability that healed him within minutes… otherwise he would have been blown to pieces.
Nicolaus was wounded in the fight with one of his old buddies from White Fang.
Tanya herself suffered some severe bruises after Mercury Black, that traitorous snake, literally kicked her through a wall. If it were not for Yang's timely intervention, she would have been dead by now… executed by her own weapon.
Though every one of them suffered some injuries during the scuffle, Roland was in the worst shape of them all. In fact, it was a damn miracle that he survived long enough to be rushed to the hospital.
None of them knew what exactly happened but when they finally found him, it took every ounce of her willpower not to scream in horror.
At first Tanya thought he was dead. His clothes were almost completely covered in blood that seeped out of his wounds and formed a large puddle on the filthy concrete floor. It was not until after a few seconds when she realized he was moving; trying to crawl towards his rifle that lay discarded a few feet away.
Seeing her long time friend drenched with his own blood was horrifying enough. The worse shock was yet to come, however…
When she turned him on his back and finally saw the full extent of his injuries.
Roland was a complete mess.
His torso was riddled with shards of metal that tore deep open wounds into his body. One small piece of shrapnel jutted right from under his right eye. His right leg was bent at an unnatural angle, like if it suddenly grew an extra joint. It was far, far worse than anything Tanya had seen so far; the sheer image of his mangled chest had her frozen into place. She was being overcome with panic and horror unable to move a single muscle in her body. Even more so when she saw his right arm… or rather, whatever was left of it.
Everything from elbow down was simply gone, torn off by whatever violent force had mutilated Roland's body. What remained was a bloody mess of torn muscle and broken bone, ending mere inches below the shoulder.
Tanya felt sick when she remembered the sight of her hands stained with his blood.
Given such devastating injuries, it was a damn miracle he was still alive, let alone awake. Though Tanya was not really sure whether to feel relieved or horrified.
Roland did not have the faintest idea of what was going on. He did not seem to realize how badly mangled his body was; all he cared about was getting his gun and fighting. When he passed out, only a while after she found him, it felt like someone blew a hole straight through her heart.
Five minutes later, medics came in and did their best to keep the maimed gunman alive until the ambulance arrived and transported him to the nearest hospital.
They did not allow her to stay with him.
She just stood there, like if in a bad dream, as soldiers, policemen and medics scurried about.
Then a Bullhead adorned with a red cross landed on site and took her and the rest of her team to the hospital. She spent the entire flight staring at the wall opposite of her; not even her friends could break her out of her stupor.
Shortly after arrival a band of medics came in to check and treat their wounds. Though they suffered 'only' minor injuries, the doctors still bandaged them up. Tanya was not so sure about 'minor' though; her chest felt like she had a few cracked ribs.
The following five hours, when she was forced to wait while surgeons worked without pause to keep Roland alive, was one of the most agonizing experiences she had to suffer through, and not only because of the dreaded thought that she might never see him again.
First, team RWBY was hit hard, too.
Weiss was jumped by a mob of White Fang goons; they would have lynched her if it were not for an Atlesian Paladin that chased them off.
Blake was wounded in a duel against her old White Fang mentor.
Yang, the nigh invincible firecracker to whom Tanya owed her life, was stabbed through her stomach by the same bastard when she tried to defend her partner.
Ruby burst into tears when she learned that her big sister was fighting for her life in the surgery room. Tanya enveloped the girl in a tight hug to calm her down… also hoping to find some comfort herself, since they were both put through the same torture.
Blake would not stop blaming herself for what happened to Yang. Worse, after the doctors treated the stab wound in her abdomen, she just left without a word, ignoring the advice to rest; no one knew why. Tanya guessed that she simply needed some time to vent, to cope with everything that had happened.
Then the Faunus Huntsman, Ruivo came around and began asking her questions about the ambush. Out of politeness, Tanya gave him the answers but secretly she wished he would leave her alone. The conversation only seemed to remind her of everything that happened, of her own stupid mistake… and she hated it.
About two hours after arriving to the hospital, a middle aged doctor showed up. Tanya thought the man had some news on Roland; much to her disappointment, though, he wanted to speak with Ruby and her team.
Yang would make it.
As it turned out, her wounds were not as serious as they all initially thought; by some insane luck, Taurus' sword missed all arteries and most of organs. Yang would inevitably spend some time in the hospital, though thanks to the advances in medicine, her recuperation time could be reduced to under a week. Assuming she would listen to doctor's instructions.
Ruby wanted to see her big sister immediately but the doctor was against it; Yang needed a few hours of rest after the surgery before they could wake her up.
The scythe wielder was not happy that she would have to wait for another several hours. At least she knew that Yang was safe.
As for Roland, Tanya would have to stay until surgeons arrived with the news.
An hour passed, then another two. The fencer was climbing up walls, figuratively speaking. The waiting, the uncertainty, it was killing her.
In the meantime, the Junipers arrived to the hospital; they learned about the attack from Beacon's staff and decided to check on their friends that got caught up in the fight. It hit them hard when Nicolaus began talking at length about everything that happened during the Fang ambush. It became increasingly difficult for him to speak, especially during the part about casualties. Tanya never saw Nora even shed a few tears, let alone cry. The rest of the Junipers only barely managed to maintain their composure and even then it was obvious that they were deeply upset by the news.
While Tanya was grateful for their comfort and words of encouragement it did not make her feel any better.
Five hours passed; in that time the sun disappeared behind the horizon and night was falling quickly on the Vale City. Only then did someone come bearing the news about Roland's health.
It took a long, exhausting surgery, but the sharpshooter was still alive.
For the first time since the attack, Tanya felt relief, even hope. But the bad news was yet to follow.
"From what we've seen, your friend was wounded by an explosive detonating in close proximity, most likely a grenade." The doctor had said with a grave expression. "The explosion caused very extensive damage and severe bleeding; had we arrived ten minutes later he would've died. Even then, the boy was pretty much in near-death state. He flat-lined during the transportation to the hospital and then once again during the surgery. We managed to resuscitate him both times but keeping him alive was a difficult task given the sheer severity of his injuries."
The students could only listen to the verdict, petrified with shock.
"Most of his right arm was severed by the blast and what remained was beyond salvaging; amputation at the shoulder was the only option. We also had to pull multiple pieces of shrapnel out of his chest, abdomen, face and throat. His left lung had collapsed and there was also some damage to his vocal cords and the fracture of his right femur. We did what we could to patch him up but as of this moment, we're still not sure if he'll pull through at all. It's a miracle that the explosion didn't kill him on the spot. Our staff will be monitoring him closely but we aren't sure ourselves about his recovery."
Even though the doctor did not say it explicitly it was clear that Roland's career as a Huntsman was over. Not to mention the surgeons themselves were not certain whether he would survive, let alone wake up.
That was the moment when Tanya felt something breaking inside her. Thanking the doctor for the news, she quickly excused herself and ran to the nearest restroom.
She barely managed to lock herself in one of the cabins before sinking to the cold tile covered floor and bursting into tears, crying for the first time in what felt like decades.
At first, she blamed the Atlesian army for what happened. Had they arrived ten goddamned minutes earlier, all of this could have been avoided. However, deep down she knew that Ironwood and his troops were not the only ones to blame.
It was her decision to go to the damn factory and thus lead them right into the ambush. She was responsible for the abrupt violent end of Roland's hunter career. His parents would hate her for it, and Roland even more so, once the reality hit him.
Thanks to her, his dream of becoming a Huntsman was forever lost. Thanks to her, he had become a cripple, left to depend on others' help, possibly for the rest of his life. Thanks to her, his mother would undergo the same painful experience as when her husband nearly died at his last job as a bounty hunter.
All in all, she might have ruined his life.
… and she hated herself because of it.
The rules stated that after 9 p.m., the public was barred from entering the Vale hospital. Only the personnel and (obviously) patients were exempt to that rule. No one was sure whether it was the pressure from Ozpin, or the hospital's administrator was simply feeling generous, but the Beacon students were actually allowed to stay for the night. One could argue it could be for security reasons, since White Fang might try and finish their work and the hospital was heavily guarded by a garrison of Atlesian troopers. Or it could have been simply a gesture of goodwill, letting them stay at the side of their friends that got hurt while protecting the civilians from harm.
Though it was unexpected, teams TNDR and RWBY accepted their generous offer. None of them thought about returning to their school; they all were too exhausted, both physically and mentally, to go back. Plus, leaving their wounded friends behind with White Fang's goons still running about was out of question.
About three hours after being moved to the intensive care unit after the successful surgery, Yang woke up. The doctors would allow her friends to see her for a brief time, fifteen minutes at most; she needed her rest in order to recover from her injuries.
When she heard the news, Ruby nearly took off to Yang's room, not even letting the doctor finish the sentence. Her friends had to restrain her until she calmed down a bit. It was a good thing that in all her excitement she forgot to activate her Semblance; no one would be able to catch her that way, not to mention the possible collateral damage, running lightning fast around the hospital. The doctor warned that Yang was still under painkillers and even the anesthetics had not worn off completely and thus she might be acting strange, as in 'not all there' fashion. Ruby did not seem to care and demanded, rather loudly, to see her sister as soon as possible. Team JNPR had already left at that point but promised to come and see Yang the next day.
Heaving a tired sigh, the doctor led the small band of hunters in training to Yang's room. He paused once moor right at the door to ask the students to be quiet since Yang shared the room with a few other patients.
It was a relief to see Yang awake even if she was a bit addled due to the painkillers.
Ruby enveloped her big sister in a bear hug though she was careful not to cause her pain by using too much strength. Other visitors might not have been as 'physical' in their affection but Yang did not seem to mind. She was glad to have some company besides doctors and nurses. The surgeon that operated on her said that she would not leave the hospital at least for another five days. Even after being released, she would have to attend regular checkups and cut back on training for another two weeks afterwards. Though not in a position to protest, Yang complained nonetheless; awake for barely a half an hour and she was already getting bored. Being confined to the same bed for another five days or so would be an absolute torture.
One could tell that the medication did have some effect on Yang. She spoke at a rather slow pace, drawing out vowels and slurring words together a bit, almost like if she did not have full control over her tongue. It was nowhere as bad as the doctor pictured it, though.
The conversation was pretty light-hearted, considering the recent events. But then Yang noticed that some of her friends were missing and asked about them; since that moment the relatively light mood began deteriorating. She seemed aware of what transpired in the last few hours but a lot of details were missing from her memory.
Yang remembered the ambush, remembered being stabbed, remembered Blake dragging her away from the bull-horned lunatic that tried to kill them both… but from that point, the memories were getting sketchy.
The visitors were afraid to give the blonde the answers.
How could they possible explain that her partner just left the hospital without saying anything? Worse, why she still had not come back? Or that TNDR's resident sharpshooter was still in coma after being mutilated by a grenade? That even if he recovered from his injuries he would remain a cripple for the rest of his life? That he would never return to Beacon?
Or that he might not even live long enough to deal with the aftermath of his near-death experience?
As much as they felt bad for doing this, her friends told her half-truths and white lies; they would tell her the whole truth, of course, but not now. Who knows how Yang would react if they told her everything?
And thus Yang learned about Blake leaving the hospital in order to get some time alone to cope with depression (a half-truth since Blake blamed herself for Yang's injury but no one knew where she went) and Roland being wounded in the ambush (a mix of half-truth and white lies; they told her that the gunman would be recovering longer than her but downplayed the extent of his injuries, outright omitting the fact that he would not continue his studies at Beacon). Even this 'heavily altered truth' upset her but she took it much better than she would have the entire truth.
Exactly fifteen minutes after entering the room, a nurse showed up and asked the visitors to leave. The students said their goodbyes and vacated the room. Yang was rather unhappy to see them leave so soon but orders were orders.
Well, at least Yang had been getting better. The same could not be said for Roland, though.
The sharpshooter was still in coma and not even doctors were sure whether he would wake up at all. He was kept under observation and the staff would not let anyone near him.
When the doctor came in with the news on his state of health a few hours ago; nearly dying, severed right arm, heavy bleeding, extensive injuries and other bad, bad news… What he said then did nothing to ease their worries; quite the opposite, in fact. A mix of shock, grief and the fear that they might never see him again.
Ruby and Nora began crying almost instantly. While others remained relatively composed, the sorrowful expression on their faces spoke volumes. Even Weiss, whose relationship with Roland was never entirely amiable, looked visibly saddened.
Nicolaus would be lying if he said the news did not affect him; one of the few humans that accepted him despite his race was nearly killed by the same group he used to run with. He knew he was not responsible for what they did but still… Tanya only barely managed to keep her composure before she excused herself and ran off. When she returned some time later, he noticed her eyes were puffy and red. From crying, no doubt.
This is my fault, she had said.
True, it was her decision to pursue the Fang thugs into the old factory (though Nicolaus was not about to tell her that). On the other hand, she could not have known about the giant trap that was set up for them. He did his best to calm her down but admittedly comforting others was not his strong suite… and at that moment he hated it.
With the 'Vale Festival massacre', as the media named it, being all over news, the Peregrine family must have already known what happened. They still have not shown up in the hospital, though; maybe they were yet to learn. Nicolaus met them only once or twice; still, he could not help but feel sorry for them. The near-death was bad enough and while there was still a real chance that Roland might die…
The greatest tragedy a parent could suffer was outliving their own children.
It was well past 10 p.m. when the remnants of teams RWBY and TNDR decided to get some sleep. Sure, none of them really felt like sleeping but ignoring their bodies' needs could prove hazardous to their health. Someone from the hospital's staff was kind enough to get them a few sleeping bags so they would not have to sleep on the cold floor. Nicolaus thought it a nice gesture even though they would have to sleep in the hallway since the intensive care unit was off limits.
The lights in the hallway were left on but he did not mind. Worn out both physically and mentally, he drifted off to sleep.
Years of living in the streets were the cause why Nicolaus was a light sleeper. The streets of the seedier districts of Vale city were pretty much a dog-eat-dog environment. In order to survive, you would have to remain on your guard all the time and depend on no one but yourself. Other people, including street gangs and other homeless people, would only help themselves to the little you possessed. When you were asleep you were the most vulnerable to being robbed or even killed, especially when you were on your own.
Nicolaus remembered all the lessons he learned as a homeless kid and not even in the relative safety of Beacon Academy he did not let them go to waste.
Which was the reason while his teammates were fast asleep the fox Faunus woke up when he caught soft footsteps in the hallway.
Whoever that person was, they obviously did not want to get caught.
Slowly, not to attract attention, Nicolaus raised his head a few inches to get a look at whoever was breaking into the hospital. During the nighttime, the lights in the hallway were dulled in order to conserve energy; turning them off was out of the question since there were people working the night shift.
Thanks to the benefits of his Faunus ancestry, Nicolaus could clearly see a short, or rather outright tiny figure creeping through the hallway. He could discern a white tailed coat with pink cuffs, brown pants, and boots with impossibly high heels. It was obviously a girl and she held a pink ornamented parasol close to her body.
Nicolaus felt that she was familiar, almost eerily so. That feeling was reinforced by her long mane of brown and pink hair. He did not see her face but she was already giving him creeps for some reason.
His hand slid to the leather whip he kept on himself. The little intruder did not notice him so far.
She walked slowly past the sleeping students, her footsteps almost inaudible, to a human at least. Inch by inch, Nicolaus turned slowly inside his sleeping back to get a better look on what she was doing.
The intruder stopped. She was looking right at Tanya; the fencer was mumbling things in her sleep, not aware of another person standing over her.
The multi-colored girl grabbed the handle of her parasol and her lips twisted into a smirk that set off all possible alarms in Nicolaus' mind. She pulled at the handle and it came off.
Nicolaus instantly saw the glint of a blade and knew he had to act fast.
The girl bent down and slowly put the dagger to Tanya's neck, her grin only growing wider.
That was the moment when Nicolaus freed his hand from the confines of the sleeping bag and cracked his whip, aiming for the intruder.
The diminutive would-be-murderer jumped back in surprise when the lash struck her wrist, making her drop the dagger. The sharp noise of the whip also succeeded to wake up everyone in the hallway.
Desmond shot up into sitting position, startled by the racket. "What the-"
Tanya was way slower to rouse herself… which could put her in a mortal danger.
Nicolaus leapt up to his feet and grabbed his rifle that was propped against a wall. "Look out! Assassin!" He screamed and took aim at the intruder.
The shot he fired in the next moment struck its target perfectly. When the assassin literally shattered like a broken glass he knew that something was very wrong.
He spun around just in time to block a strike from the sharpened tip of the intruder's parasol.
Only now did he remember just who he was facing off against.
Neo, Torchwick's right hand. Team RWBY ran into her a few times before and it was only thanks to their detailed description of the diminutive killer that he recognized her.
By that time, his teammates were already wide awake and on their feet. But even with the numbers on their side, things could get ugly fast.
The admittedly adorable looks were hiding an unfeeling killing machine. Ozpin's info was pretty clear on that.
The three hunters in training quickly surrounded Torchwick's henchman, their blades pointed threateningly at the diminutive killer. Neo's surprised expression turned into a grin that seemed more than just a little sadistic.
"Get her!" Tanya barked out and rushed forward, her sabers poised to strike. The fencer had the right idea. They could not allow Neo to take the initiative.
Before the multi-colored killer could react, Tanya landed a hit directly at her chest. Much to her surprise, Neo simply fell into pieces like a shattered glass.
Nicolaus began glancing around frantically, trying to find the assassin. He remembered Ruby and other girls say something about Neo having the ability to teleport and leaving a glass-like static image of her as a decoy of sorts. She could simply strike from behind while everyone was busy trying to find out what had just happened.
The handle of her parasol, lying on the floor until this moment, was gone.
"Look around!" He cried. "She's around here somewhere! I know it!"
Ruby and Weiss were at the opposite end of the hallway, close to the room where Yang was being kept. The girls were still fast asleep, not aware of the ongoing battle.
Suddenly, Nicolaus caught a sound right behind him and he spun around. His acute senses saved him from a back stab as a knife slashed through the air right where he stood a moment ago.
… Too close…
He retaliated by swinging his mace at the attacker. The hit failed to connect, though; Neo ducked under the blow and kicked her leg out, hitting his shin. Cursing under his breath, Nicolaus backed away, doing his best to hold his ground against the diminutive killer.
Unfortunately for him, this 'Neo' character was way better in a fight than he thought.
Very soon she broke through his defense and dealt him a blow that would put him out of combat were it not for his Aura. Before she could strike again Tanya attacked her, distracting her just long enough for him to retreat.
His leader and the assassin exchanged a multitude of fast precise blows. Nicolaus took a few seconds to catch a breath before rejoining the fight. From what he saw Tanya was obviously on a more equal ground with Neo than him.
Of course that did not necessarily mean that she could defeat her.
The fencer went for a stab at the killer's side but Neo parried the incoming blow with the tip of her parasol, knocking the offending blade to the side. Tanya was thrown off balance, only momentarily but even that was enough. The multi-colored girl kicked her in the face and then once again in the chest, knocking her backwards. As the fencer landed heavily on her back, Neo lunged forward, going for the kill.
Tanya was far from finished, though, and saw the tiny murderer coming from mile away.
Dropping the Terror Twins, she thrust her hands forward, using her Semblance to create a blast of wind that hit the attacker at near point blank range and sent her flying away along with everything in the hallway that was not bolted to the floor. Neo flailed her limbs uselessly as she soared through the air… until crashing into Desmond who just happened to pick that moment to join the fight. The boy barely had time to react when the multi-colored assassin hit him in the face. He staggered backwards from the impact but somehow managed to stay on his feet. Neo was not so lucky; bouncing off the boy's large frame she hit the wall, fell on a nearby bed, knocking it over and ended up sprawling face first on the floor. Though not speaking, she let out a soft grunt of pain.
"Come on, Desi!" Nicolaus hollered. "Get her while she's down!"
Desmond did not move a muscle, though. He just stood there staring at the diminutive assassin that slowly picked herself off the ground, holding his greatsword in both hands, the tip of the blade pointed forward.
"What are you doing?!"
"You… Why?" Desmond breathed out, his expression a mix of surprise, anger… and hurt?
Neo flinched at the harsh undertone in his voice. Her sadistic grin disappeared and she stared back with a small frown. She seemed unsure of what to do next, a far cry from the self-assured, almost haughty manner with which she engaged his teammates. Within the next few moments, her determination seemed to return as her frown deepened and she narrowed her eyes, jerking her head sideways as in to say 'Out of my way.'
"No." Desmond snapped back, gripping his blade a little tighter. "You'll have to go through me, Neo."
Nicolaus saw Tanya mouthing 'What the fuck?' at him. He could relate to her as he himself was deeply unsettled by the whole exchange. Those two knew each other? How? Just another addition to the myriad of questions he had to ask.
Neo attacked, apparently having enough of Desmond getting in her way. Her opponent engaged her fearlessly, blocking her way no matter how hard she tried to get past him.
In the hallways of the hospital, it was near impossible for Nicolaus and Tanya to join the battle. In the lack of space they would only end up getting in each other's way, only making thigns easier for the killer. Seeing the two of them fight seemed almost comical since Desmond literally dwarfed the mute killer. What really intrigued Nicolaus was that his partner was actually able to hold his ground against Neo, parrying and blocking her attacks with a finesse he had never showed before.
Neo suddenly stopped mid-attack and jumped back, narrowly avoiding Desmond's heavy blade.
Nicolaus heard footsteps behind him and he instinctively turned around.
Ruby and Weiss were on their feet, approaching the battle with their weapons out… And they were accompanied by a small group of Atlesian soldiers.
Even with all her skill, Neo could not hold out against such numbers and she seemed to know it.
The soldiers opened fire at her.
Their bullets only hit the glass image she left behind right as she teleported away. Nicolaus activated his Semblance and looked around, trying to find her. She was nowhere to be seen, almost like if she just vanished into thin air.
In the following hour, soldiers were scouring every nook and cranny of the hospital for the multi-colored killer that somehow managed to slip inside unnoticed. Predictably, they came up empty handed. Neo escaped.
It was clear what she was after; to finish what White Fang started. Why else would she try and slit Tanya's throat while she was asleep and thus no threat to her? Still reeling from the attempt on her life, the fencer asked the hospital staff to check on Yang and Roland. Even though the patients at ICU were under constant supervision, Neo would more than likely find a way to slip inside without anyone noticing.
Much to the relief of the students, both Yang and Roland were alive. Torchwick's little monster did not get to them.
There was one other issue that needed to be settled: Desmond's relationship with Neo. From their short one-sided exchange, it was pretty clear that the two of them had a history. Nicolaus had no idea how could they know each other, considering all their differences, but he had to find out as soon as possible.
"We need to talk!"
Desmond flinched at Tanya's harsh demanding tone. Somehow he knew what she meant… and that she would not take 'no' for an answer.
He never expected Neo to turn up in the hospital, let alone try to murder one of his friends. Considering who she was associating herself with it should not have been surprising. That girl was Torchwick's henchman and she tried to murder Yang during the Breach, for crying out loud; he only learned about it when he overheard a conversation of the girls from RWBY… and that was after his second (and the last) meeting with the multicolored girl. He had the feeling that he should have known long before meeting her, though.
That's what I get for not paying attention…
Either way, Desmond did not look forward to explaining the whole thing to Tanya. He would have to reveal a large part of his past he never knew until recently in order to explain his connection to Neo. It was something he wanted to avoid for as long as possible… but now it seemed he had no choice.
He heaved a tired sigh as Tanya glared up at him. "Not here. I don't want some strangers to listen in."
"Don't even think about dodging this, big guy." She grounded out. "You have a lot to explain."
The only place 'private enough' for their conversation he could think of was the restroom. And there was still a chance someone could walk in on their talk. They had to make this quick.
The three of them crammed into a stall in men's restroom. It was not comfortable in any way but the stall could be locked at least, limiting the possibility of someone intruding. And the place they picked was in a relatively secluded part of the building.
With some difficulty, Tanya turned around in the limited space to face Desmond. "Okay, spill it. How do you know that little bitch?"
She was angry and Desmond did not blame her.
He gulped nervously. Here goes nothing. "Well, we- We met a long time ago, and I haven't seen her in years until a few days ago."
"And you didn't think of reporting her?!" The fencer hissed. "And don't give me the 'I didn't know' excuse!"
"But I didn't!" He protested. "Not until after our last meeting!"
Tanya was not satisfied by his answer. "Yeah, right. Don't make me think that-"
"Calm down, Griffon." Nicolaus interjected. "Accusations won't make this any easier." Tanya huffed in displeasure but gave no reply.
Maybe Tanya had the right to be suspicious. He was meeting with a wanted criminal, after all.
Nicolaus gave him a stern look. "Listen, you've been acting all weird in the last few days. And now we learn that you're acquainted with a criminal, an unstable murderer at that."
"I've never seen her until recently!" Desmond snapped back. Then he added a quiet "At least I thought I haven't."
Tanya furrowed her brow in confusion. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
And there it was, the moment when the 'truth' would finally come out. There was a chance that he would lose his friends… but that would happen certainly if he clammed up. Faced with no other choice, Desmond began speaking. "Neo was- Is from the time I didn't remember until now."
Nicolaus froze, his posture becoming unusually stiff. "How do you know?"
"She told me." Leaving out everything he deemed irrelevant, he talked about his meetings with the mysterious multi-colored criminal with whom he spent a large part of his life. And his teammates and friends listened without interrupting once.
He talked about the strange message that popped up in his pocket after their disastrous fight against MSER, now exposed as Cinder's imposters.
About the first meeting on Beacon campus, where she 'told' him his real name.
And about the mysterious Project Ajax both he and Neo were a part of. Forced conscription, strict and brutal training, abuse and bullying from the instructors, terrible living conditions in the underground facility, meeting Neo, a recruit three years older than him, being forced to fight other trainees to death, augmentations using whatever dangerous concoctions the eggheads came up with, he described everything that went on during his Ajax years without going into excessive detail.
Then it came to the part when, after dreadful four years of constant training, pain and terror, he and Neo got roped into a plot to break out of the facility. The first attempt was a failure and he was forced to watch as the guards executed a fifth of all trainees as a warning. Then the plotters, including himself, were dragged to yet another round of torture. That was before the countless needles rammed into his body knocked him out, completely erasing his memories.
He still bore the proof of the treatment; the small circular scars that he never knew where they came from… until now.
"Neo somehow survived and made it out of the bunker. She told me that while we were out cold, the remaining kids tried to escape again. It was a slaughter… The project personnel and the trainees virtually killed each other off. By the time Neo made her escape, only a few were alive to try and stop her." Desmond/Emery finished. "That's all there is to my side of the story."
The following silence was simply unnerving. But one look at his friends told him everything he wanted to know.
Furrowed brows, wide eyes, corners of her mouth pulled downwards; Tanya's expression was one of utter and complete revulsion. "This is- This is so fucked up on so many levels." She muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "Seriously, I don't even- How can anyone have the stomach to do that?!"
"Someone who believes the end justifies the means." Nicolaus said quietly. Though being thoroughly disgusted himself, he kept a tight rein on his emotions.
"This seems so… unreal." The fencer said, placing her palm on her forehead. "Molding kids into obedient superweapons? That is just insane." She frowned. "Besides, we know who Neo works for. What if she knew about your amnesia and used it to bring you over to her side? You wouldn't have a way of finding out what the truth is."
Desmond suddenly felt very insulted by her insinuation that the hell of Project Ajax might have been an elaborate lie. His phobia of needles, the nightmares, new memories that he never remembered before; it all seemed to fit together. Neo might have been a criminal, a murderer, and a bit of a psychopath but she was no liar.
He was about to retort but Nicolaus beat him to it.
"I hate to say it but Neo might be telling the truth."
Tanya narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"
The fox Faunus suddenly looked very apologetic. "First off, Desmond, I'm really sorry that I went behind your back with this. I- I just had to know."
"What are you talking about?" Desmond questioned.
"A few days after the Breach, Roland and I went downtown… and we made a stop at your mom's place… to ask her a few questions about you. Stuff only she would know."
"You did what?!" Tanya hissed out, outraged by what she just heard. Desmond felt the same, though; it was hard to believe that his friends would just try and pry some information out of her mother, without telling him squat about it.
"Let me finish, okay?" Nicolaus retorted and went back to explaining himself. "Your mom said that her husband worked for research and development branch of Atlesian military and that one day he got assigned to some secret project. He was never told what exactly he'd be doing. I guess it was the 'Ajax' project he got roped into."
Desmond froze at that. So his would-be father was working there too? This was even worse than he imagined. But he never met the man; all his mother told him was that he died in a car crash. "What happened to him?"
Nicolaus heaved a sigh. "Well, he's dead; that one thing your mom told you is true. If I were to guess, he got really fed up with how things were going in the Project. You remember that moment in those dreams you were telling me about? The part where someone was carrying you out of the facility? That really happened. It was your mom's husband that got you out of that bunker during the rebellion."
"Really?"
The fox Faunus nodded stiffly. "Of course, some of the guards who were still alive at the time tried to stop him… with lethal force. I don't know how many times he got shot but he lived long enough to steal a truck and get you to safety. Delivered you straight to your mom."
"He didn't survive, did he?" Desmond asked even though he knew the answer already. He did not know the man who saved him… but honestly, he would have liked to.
Nicolaus lowered his head. "He bled out on the way to the hospital. You spent several weeks in there yourself. When you finally recovered Mrs. Lenius adopted you and… Well, you already know the rest."
These were some of the last pieces of the puzzle that was his long forgotten past. Desmond was still upset that Nicolaus took matters in his own hands without telling him anything. But… he was willing to forgive him; his partner provided him with the missing pieces of the proverbial puzzle and brought him some peace.
As it turned out, Tanya was not willing to forgive that easily. "I can't believe this." The fencer grounded out, shaking her head in bewilderment. "Are you saying that all this time you've been playing detectives, hunting for his memories," She jerked her head towards Desmond. "And left me out of it?!"
"Because you didn't want to do anything!" Nicolaus countered. "Your best solution to the problem was waiting until it takes care of itself!"
"You really think that digging up old memories was a better alternative?" She argued. "You didn't even think about how he'd cope with all that! What if he snapped after you just dumped it all on him?"
"Tanya, I am not crazy!" Desmond interrupted, raising his voice to silence her. "I may have been trained to be a cold emotionless killer, experimented on, lost a big part of my memory… but I'm not a dangerous psychopath!" He took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm not like Neo. They tried to turn both of us into living weapons. She accepted it, embraced it, even. I did not and I never will. I'm a person, not a tool, not a- A thing, no matter how hard those guys from the Project tried to make me into one."
"Sorry man, I wasn't trying to say-" Tanya did not look at him, ashamed of herself for drawing early conclusions. "After you had your first panic attack, doctor said that you might've lived through something traumatic. I was worried that we might uncover something really terrible and that you wouldn't take it well. That you might flip out and-"
Desmond had to admit that she was right to suspect something, well, nefarious. However, he would insist that he was mentally stable, or at least as stable as he could possibly be, given the torture he had to endure. "Neo wasn't worried about that at all. She just dropped by and told me everything she knew about my history, consequences be damned. And did you see me hurting or killing people over it?"
"I trust him." Nicolaus interjected. "And you should too, Griffon."
The fencer remained silent for a few painfully long seconds before she spoke again. "Guys, I'm still pretty pissed that you kept me out of the loop about all this. I could've helped if you had a plan. And questioning his Mom, Nick? That was dumb, even if it did bring results."
"It was the only thing I could think of." The Faunus admitted.
She gave him a stern look. "It's not me who you apologize to. Anyway," Desmond straightened up a bit as she addressed him again. "I would've never thought that you were being put through hell on a daily basis for God knows how many years. Yet despite all that you somehow kept it together. You didn't fall into that endless circle of blood and violence like that 'Neo' girl. I think it's pretty damn amazing."
"There's just one thing." Nicolaus interjected. "Why keep all this to yourself?"
"I was afraid that you might hate me." Desmond admitted. "Plus, if guys in power somehow got wind of this they might try to- to contain me. I got the opportunity to live a normal life; I don't want to lose it, not again."
"Hate you for something you had no control over? You stupid, stupid boy." Tanya chuckled in bewilderment. "Nick trusts you, and so do I. And we'll keep this a secret. Only the three of us will know… And Roland, if he wakes up-"
"You mean when, Tanya." Nicolaus interjected in a soft but firm tone.
"Yeah, when he wakes up." She corrected herself. It was clear that she was still coping with near-death of one of her closest friends. "Desmond, I-"
He stopped her from continuing. "Tan, I don't want to use that name any longer." It was a name of his earlier self, the person that knew nothing about his own history. Things were vastly different now and he was determined to move on. "Call me 'Emery'."
Author's note: Well, we're slowly approaching the finale of this 'arc'. I know that this update might've not been much in terms of action (and well, I can't write fighting scenes nearly as well as I'd like) but it's mostly a set up for the following events since the story is now definitely veering into an AU territory. The canon ending of Volume 3 is mostly dead and buried now, but my earlier warning still stands: there will be even darker moments than this. Just a heads-up.
Anyway, in the next updates, things will be a bit different. Until now I wrote stuff from the third person's POV and I tried to adhere to a somewhat "detached" style of writing. It's time to move onto something new... I'm not killing anyone off yet, I can say that much. That means the next few chapters will be mostly centered around Roland and his recovery, thus the first person POV.
This one's mainly for those who write OC stories:
For non-professional voice actors, people from RoosterTeeth do a great job voicing RWBY characters. My personal favorites are: Lindsay Jones as Ruby (her voice is so effing adorable) and Miles Luna as Jaune (a dead-on match in my opinion). But enough about that. The FFN writers that create their own characters are faced with many tought choices, such as the OC's appearance, history, weapons, behavior and so on. But I wondered: has anyone ever thought about their voice? As in how they'd like them to sound like? To be honest, this question's been bugging me for a while.
I've got a few ideas for some of my own OCs and I thought I'd put them here, just for the hell of it.
Roland Peregrine - Freddie Prinze jr. (Prinze voiced James Vega from Mass Effect 3. Many don't like Vega as they find him bland but I liked his personality, especially during his banters with Normandy's crew)
Tanya Griffon - I'm kinda stumped here to be honest... I guess possible candidates could be Dannah Phirman (Engineer Gabby Daniels and Avina the Citadel computer from Mass Effect franchise) and/or Emma Stone (her voice just sounds right, don't know how to explain :/)
Nicolaus Flamme - Simon Pegg (you might know him from movies Shaun of the dead and Hot fuzz... Those are great comedies)
Emery/Desmond Lenius - Jason Marsden (This guy has one long resume... He's done a lotta stuff but I know him mainly from TESV Skyrim where he voices multiple characters, such as Onmund, Mikael the bard, Erik the Slayer and many others)
Hernand Ruivo - Stephen Russel (Another guy with the history of voicing video game characters such as Garret from Thief series, Mercer Frey, Clavicus Vile, Barbas the talking dog and many others from Skyrim, and recently also Corvo Attano in Dishonored 2)
As always, thanks for reading, review, favorite or follow; compliments and/or critique always welcome :-)