"How unlike you to call me out like this."
Looking out the window, Ironwood commented with vague interest. Not much was written on his stern face, but that was the norm for him.
"Did something happen?" he asked, correctly interpreting Ozpin's silence.
"I happened to come across some rather curious information," Ozpin replied. "It's related to Cloudburst."
"That mercenary with a rare Semblance?" Ironwood asked. He had no idea what his name was, but he knew the child soldier whom Ozpin had invited to Beacon by his call sign. As such, they only ever referred to Sapphire as 'Cloudburst' when conversing with each other. "What about him?"
"It appears that he's still useful to his organization even now," Ozpin said, pushing a thin stack of papers forward on his desk. "Take a look at this."
"They're just a bunch of mercenaries," Ironwood said dismissively, walking to the desk and picking up the papers. "No matter who's pulling the strings, the likes of-"
"Looks like you understand," Ozpin said gravely, crossing his fingers and leaning forward. Ironwood, who had just gone silent, stayed speechless as he continued to stare at the papers in his hand. "They're attempting to give other mercenaries his Semblance. Who knows what will happen if they- James?"
"Ah, y-yes," Ironwood stammered. "Pardon me; I was just wondering how something like this was possible. I can understand getting samples of his blood, saliva and all that for research, but to think that they ran actual human tests…"
He trailed off, but Ozpin knew. Not only had the tests been carried out, they had all ended in failure following the deaths of the test subjects. Worst of all, the tests were still being carried out despite the hundred percent fatality rate.
"I was worried that his family members would be dragged in, so I did some research," Ozpin went on. "I was unable to find anything about his parents, but I've discovered that his sister might be alive."
"His sister?" Ironwood asked. "How did you pull that off?"
"No girl with the same surname as his was reported in the list of survivors," Ozpin replied. "However, the organization managed to retrieve the samples from all the corpses they found on site, and they found out that none of them were related to Cloudburst in any way."
"So either she died without leaving any remains, or she managed to escape," Ironwood hypothesized. Then, as though he had just suddenly realized something extremely important, he slammed a palm on the table. "Wait; this sister of his – are they related by blood?"
"Yes, they would be," Ozpin answered calmly. "What's wrong?"
"Then if they find her," Ironwood said agitatedly. "If they find out they're related by blood, wouldn't it be possible for them to want her as a subject?"
"Yes, that's certainly a possibility," Ozpin agreed. "That's why we must find her before they do."
"Agreed," Ironwood nodded.
"Can we expect your assistance in this matter?" Ozpin asked.
"You have my support," Ironwood replied. "But I hope you're not intending to keep her at Beacon if we do find her."
"What's wrong with that?" Ozpin asked nonchalantly.
"Are you serious?" Ironwood asked. "These children of yours can't fend off real mercenaries, Ozpin. I'm placing her under military protection. It's the only way."
"I understand," Ozpin sighed. There was no point arguing about it now, especially considering Ironwood's stubborn nature. "We'll discuss this again when it does happen."
"Fine," Ironwood relented. "And what of Cloudburst? Does he know about this?"
"No," Ozpin replied after a long, thoughtful pause. "I'm keeping him in the dark for now."
"And why is that?" Ironwood asked, his interest in the matter fading slowly.
"I don't have any proof to support it," Ozpin sighed, knowing full well that it was unlike him to be unsure of something. "But if she is alive, the possibility of her taking the same path as Cloudburst isn't zero."
"Is that why you brought him here?" Ironwood asked, raising an eyebrow as he caught on to the implications. "Because you thought she was involved in this somehow?"
Ozpin did not reply.
"Another one of your 'hunches'?" Ironwood asked, heaving another exasperated sigh. "What will you do if you're right?"
Ozpin leaned back on his chair and turned to look out the window. Moments passed in silence, and when he finally spoke up, his tone had changed considerably.
"Then bringing him here might have been the biggest mistake of my life."
"The… same?"
Blake did not say anything in response to Sun's question, so Sapphire assumed that she nodded. Sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, he continued to eavesdrop on the topic that, for some reason, became related to him.
"What do you mean?" Sun asked. "Sapphire's… you know, and Adam's-"
"I know," Blake cut across him. "They're different now, but before they ended up this way, they were very similar.
"Adam experienced what most Faunus did," she began. "Being ostracized, bullied, treated like some… thing. Not only that, he went through far worse, and it changed him. I can't tell you what happened to him, but ever since then, he lost hope in humans; to him, humans were the monsters – far more vile and repulsive than Grimm."
"Wuss," Sapphire muttered under his breath. Even though he had once thought of the entire world in the exact same way before, he could help but want to deny it since it was Adam.
"He lived his life fighting after that," Blake went on. "His life was filled with nothing but hate, anger and fear, and it drove him to fight endlessly without care about anything else; to him, the whole world was his enemy. From what I know of Sapphire, he was the same way."
The feeling of being betrayed by the world. Sapphire had never been proud of knowing it, but he had always believed conceitedly that he was the only one who did know. Now that it came to light that Adam shared a similar experience, he felt, for some strange reason, happy.
"Adam's experienced the same pain as Sapphire, if not more," Blake said. "If you think Sapphire's dangerous, then Adam would probably be even more so. No, he's undoubtedly many more times so."
"Wait a minute," Sun spoke up. "If they shared the same experiences, how are they this different now? Sapphire became a mercenary – he had to kill his own emotions too – and Adam became a part of the White Fang, which despite their methods sought to achieve a better life for Faunus. It doesn't add up."
"That's probably because Adam has what Sapphire doesn't," Blake replied. "Adam managed to find the White Fang, and by extension managed to find other Faunus who suffered because of how they were born. He managed to find people who understood his suffering, who went through what he did, so he fought to protect every single one of them with his own life. Sapphire probably didn't find that, so he…"
She trailed off, but Sapphire understood. Taurus had managed to find companions, or at least people he had to protect. Sapphire, on the other hand, had been alone all this time. He had no one to talk to, and no one who could understand his pain. Even when he thought he might have made some comrades, they were mercilessly cut down by Taurus.
Adam Taurus had a reason to fight, but he did not. Even though they shared a similar hate for the world, Adam now had a reason to live. Beyond feeling jealous, Sapphire felt abandoned.
Just when he thought that he had found someone who could understand him – a person he had believed to be his worst enemy, but still – that person had found his own place of belonging. That person had everything he wanted, and he still proceeded to take away what little he had managed to achieve.
"I can't let the two of them fight," Blake said. "I don't know what will happen then; even if Sapphire doesn't know this, he still hates Adam enough to really kill him. Adam won't hesitate to take a life either, so in the worst case scenario both of them will die. I can't let that happen, so I have to go, Wukong."
Both of them were killers forged by the harshness of reality. Having taken separate paths, they could only put their lives on the line upon confrontation. Now that Sapphire knew a little more of the man he had to confront, he could feel his anger rising.
He lived through similar experiences. He shared his hatred of the world. He battled against the wretched reality as well. But in the end, he found people to protect. He found a place where he belonged. He found people who could understand him. Not only did he leave Sapphire to suffer alone, he took away the lives of countless comrades.
Why him? Why did everything have to be given to him? Why was he the one who received so much, but was still allowed to take from others? Why did Sapphire have to lose everything, keep losing, and still be alone after it all?
Take it all away.
Sapphire seemed to understand a little of what that woman said. The feeling of knowing that someone else has what you could never have, especially now that he knew said person could have been someone to share his burden, was terrible. There was no way he could forgive him. There was no way he could overlook his existence.
Just like he did to you, rob him of everything.
He clenched his fists. There was no reason to hold back, and no reason to go easy. It was about time Taurus knew what it felt like to lose everything, and not gain anything in return. Taurus's strength came from the desperation of not wanting to lose everything he attained, be it the people or the place he had found. If he could defeat him, Sapphire could deny Taurus's experiences. He could reject everything that Taurus was, but whether it was out of jealousy or pure hate he did not know.
Taurus had robbed him of his friends, and was even now still claiming Sapphire's life. Killing him would hardly be compensation, but it would have to do.
"I'll take back what you stole, Taurus," he swore, his scarlet irises blazing with rage.
"Hey, Fall!"
Neptune paused to catch his breath, and Sapphire waited him out, giving him a bland expression without saying a word.
"Is it true that you're going to take on the White Fang?" he asked, panting heavily.
"Keep it down," Sapphire said flatly. "It's already dangerous enough that you know about it."
"I don't care," Neptune replied, grabbing a fistful of Sapphire's shirt and pulling him closer. "You better not let anything happen to Weiss. If anything happens to her, I'll-"
"I don't have time for this," Sapphire deadpanned, shoving Neptune's hand away roughly. "If you don't have confidence in her abilities, then don't blame me for her involvement; blame yourself for being unable to stop her in the first place."
Turning around and walking away, he added another comment – this time filled with much more venom than before:
"If you're going to indulge in such pointless emotional commitment, at least be prepared to lose her. That way you might just save your own life."
Quick question: did you spot the reference to the 'From Shadows' song?
This chapter was kinda short, sorry about that. Next chapter will have a scene requested by a reader, so look forward to that! That being said, though, I'll be going overseas soon so updates won't come for a week or so. Thank you for understanding.
Till next time, fellas!