A/N: CC here with the next chapter of From Hunted to Hunter, this update represents the fulfilment of a long desired goal for me: To write a 10,000 chapter and I'm quite pleased with myself for actually managing to do it. My holidays are up and time to hit the books again, but I'll continue updating all I can… I know my update speed has slowed considerably since I began writing this story over 11 months ago but that is mainly because chapters are longer and in much more depth than my early chapters.
Having seen the Winter Schnee reveal at RTX which confirms that Winter is indeed older than Weiss (despite Weiss being Heiress which duped myself and probably a lot of other fanfic writers into thinking that Weiss was older). I've already done up my own version of Winter with regards to personality and interactions with others, which will probably differ from the canon version of her quite a bit. Just thought I'd clear that up before I went further into the story. –CC Signing on.
Chapter 43: The Sniper's Lesson. Atlas, Friday Week 8. Sanderson's PoV:
I felt the crisp air of the Atlesian sting against my face as I strode through the Imperial War Cemetery. It felt odd being here and in my full dress uniform, something I had not worn in several years but I was glad that it still fit perfectly and was in good condition. Looking to my left I saw my companion for today: Major Antonio Silver (ret.), who also was in something that the Vacuo militia considered a uniform. It would have been quite a sight for anyone who saw the crisp and neat blue-white-grey of my elaborate uniform contrasting on the simple tan of Silver's Great Coat.
We reached our destination, a small altar to honour those who fell far from Atlas' shores. Silver had been informed of what had become of our former commander mere hours after Ty had fallen in battle, even before his widow had found out. But today was the first day either of us could be pulled away from our other lives: that of student and academic to come and say farewell in a fashion befitting of a soldier. In my hand I held a small wooden box which contained a set of nearly 20 medal ribbons including 4 for bravery and valour under fire all of which had clasps for multiple awards: all belonging to Ty, chronicling 35 years of loyal and highly decorated service to Atlas. I saw that Silver was fiddling with a data stick in his hands, the data stick whose contents would explain why we were farewelling The Old Man as almost everyone he led called him.
"This certainly is much different to how we farewell fallen comrades in Vacuo…. Normally a lot more alcohol involved, I think Ty would have liked that." Silver uttered, a slight shiver in his voice. Even though it was the beginning of spring this is probably the coldest place this man has ever been.
"Well I've known Ty since I was about 16 when I first joined a combat unit… I have to agree with you there, he never did much like the solemness of military funerals or funeral rites. But later, I got a bottle of his favourite drink in my car." I responded, a small smirk on my face at all the times I saw Ty rant about having to spend time on the parade grounds instead of in the field, he was a stickler for military tradition at times, mostly when those traditions involved alcohol.
"16? Didn't know Atlas recruited that young." Silver questioned in shock that Atlas would put kids into uniform.
"Nah, minimum age is 18: I forged my documentation and enlisted to escape my step-father. Ty found out and kept my secret, but it only added to his attitude of only old men should fight wars. I swore my loyalty to him and I've followed my Captain ever since…. At least until we left our last posting so I could attend university." I responded, explaining why I was so loyal to Ty.
"Well that certainly does explain a lot about the Colonel. So Sergeant, what do we do now?" Silver asked, wondering about why we were out at dawn in a military cemetery.
I nodded and placed the wooden box onto a ash filled bowl atop the altar and grabbed a fire torch off one of the light posts illuminating the altar "It is tradition to burn the ribbons of a fallen soldier, the ashes are left on the altar to be spread by the Atlesian winds, thus returning the soldier and his deeds to the kingdom which they served with honour." I explained as I lit the box aflame before replacing the torch and saluting the flames, Silver did the same.
We both maintained a respectful silence for a few minutes until the flames died down and not but ash remained, waiting for a wind to pick it up and carry Ty to the far corners of the kingdom.
Turning to Silver I sighed "Ok what did Ty tell you about this data stick? Whatever is on it must have been important to make him go all the way to Brimstone." I asked, wanting to know what was so damned important that Ty died for it.
"Well of it is all extremely heavily encrypted, Ty sent me here because you apparently have a few friends that could help and then we were to report our findings back to him to decide the next step." Silver explained as he handed me the stick.
Looking it over I almost wanted to crush it out of anger at losing Ty over this. "Well without Ty we've gotta make those decisions ourselves when we decode this. I got some friends at university who worked in codebreaking for the Atlesian military, I'll see if one of them would assist. But it might be a risk, if what you said about Atlesian soldiers being involved in this is true then there might be others back here that are in league with the traitors you found in Vacuo." I responded, now almost scared to find something on this stick that would implicate my beloved Army in something sinister and treasonous.
"Did Ty have anyone else he could have trusted with such information? It's good if we ensure others we trust have access to such information, give a new perspective on where to proceed with whatever information we gather." Silver asked, always thinking ahead like a good officer.
"I can think of only 1 man that Ty would trust with this, he's in Vale as far as I remember, I'll make efforts to contact him and bring him in on this." I answered, knowing that Simon would leap at the chance to get back at those who had killed Ty.
"Good, another of your former squad mates from the Atlas Military or from after you left?" Silver asked as he rubbed his hands together to get blood flowing to his numb fingers.
"I think that's a question best left unanswered." I replied gruffly as I pocketed the data stick.
"Point taken Sergeant. Shall we go now? I believe you mentioned a bottle of alcohol waiting for us? A toast for Ty is in order, we're going to give him a wake, Vacuo style." Silver inquired, trying to cheer me up.
"I think that can be arranged Major, I got no classes today so I can get drunk as I please…. Trust me I can still outdrink most teenagers and I'm in my 30's now." I replied, a wry grin on my face…. We may have lost Ty and I'll always mourn for him but I'm not going to shut down, Ty would smite me from Valhalla in a moment if he caught me getting depressed over his death.
Together we both gave one last salute to the altar and then turned on our heels, today we drink ourselves stupid just like those bloody idiots Kale and Shauno would in this situation, and tomorrow we find who's taking #1 spot on my shit-list just like Simon or Lachlan.
Beacon, Friday Morning. Simon's PoV:
I woke up in an extremely over-emotional state, the shock of Opal's message had finally worn off and the despair had crept in. I noted damp patches on my pillows. 'Great, crying in my sleep… I just hope Nyanza doesn't mention it at all.' I thought as I grabbed my uniform and a towel to make my way into the dorm's bathroom door, swinging it open I came to face to face with a bare-breasted Sienna.
With lightning fast reflexes I stepped back and slammed the door shut. "For fuck sakes Sienna, there's a lock on the door, please use it. I get that in dorm settings such as this, such incidents can be common in the first few weeks but surely by two months in you'd have a habit of locking it."
"Well you could've knocked Simon, I was just in a rush to get ready and be gone by the time you woke up." I heard a thoroughly embarrassed Sienna reply as I heard the lock click.
"Fair point, I guess my head just isn't on straight today. Where's the other two?" I asked, quickly changing subject to avoid any more embarrassment on either our parts.
"Teal's gone training as she usually does of a morning before class and Ny has gone off to see some of his buddies from signal for an early breakfast." Sienna answered from the other side of the door.
Looking at the time I saw it was barely even 7am. "Ok, what's going on? You and Nyanza are barely even awake by this time normally, let alone gone or nearly gone…. What's going on?" I enquired curiously.
"Well you woke all of us up last night…. You were yelling and crying in your sleep, we decided to give you a bit of time alone this morning then sit you down and talk about it at breakfast." Sienna answered, sounding now worried.
"Oh, I was that bad…. Sorry for waking you guys." I replied sheepishly, hoping I didn't blurt anything to incriminating out.
"At first we thought it was for your parents… but then you began mentioning a man named Kruger." Sienna prodded, hoping for an answer.
I sighed and leaned against the door. "He was my old merc commander, he retired a few months before everything went to shit and I ended up leaving… he was killed this week in Vacuo, I got the news last night from his widow…. He was the closest thing to a parent I had left, even though he was old enough to be my grandpa, 60 years old and could outfight, outrun, outdrink any 20 year old. Guess his luck just finally ran out…. Happens to us all at one point or another doesn't matter if you're a ground pounding infantry soldier or a hunter." I replied cynically.
Silence followed for a minute or two until the bathroom door opened and out came Sienna, brushing her hair. "You really know how to encourage people to become soldiers or huntsmen….. Make it sound like a 1-way trip on each mission." She said as she rolled her eyes.
"Oh not for you Sienna, you're my partner…. You'll be perfectly safe with me around: Because everyone will be too busy trying to kill me to notice you." I responded with a light chuckle, taking a lesson off the snipers and trying to fight through sadness with humour, no matter how offensive, bad or morbid it is.
Sienna raised an eyebrow "Have you really managed to piss that many people off?" My partner asked, genuine concern in her voice.
"Nearly, between my merc days and being a hired gun for the Schnees, I've got quite a few enemies... Also, question: You don't hold anything against me for working as a bodyguard for Weiss at all? I always see you, and every other Faunus here giving her dirty looks when she isn't looking." I responded, hoping I wasn't going to have to start watching Weiss' back more closely from pissed off Faunus.
Sienna averted her eyes, having been caught out. "It isn't the girl personally, even if she does act like a stuck up, bratty bitch. It is her father that we all really hate, her Grandfather treated his Faunus workforce quite well during the early days of the SDC, but that all changed when his son took over in the aftermath of the Faunus War." Sienna responded, seemingly knowing this all off by heart, I had to agree…. Given that I'd had a pretty hands-on role in that mistreatment of Faunus working for the SDC, as well as somewhat agreeing with Sienna's appraisal of Weiss' attitude, which while was improving now she was among people who didn't dote on her.
Deciding to not go further into this line of questioning given my risk of exposing parts of my past I'd rather forget, I just nodded in response, looking to the clock in the room and noting I had a few minutes more to chat with my partner. "Have you talked to your sister recently?" I asked, making sure things were fine with my partner…. I'd not brought this up since our fight nearly a month ago when she revealed her family history to me, I'd spent a while since then wondering if I'd met, fought or killed her parents when I'd been up in Atlas.
"I call her every day, as well as sending weekly progress reports to our 'guardians' to refresh their memories on how strong I'm becoming and what will happen to them if they harm my sister ever again." Sienna replied, a low growl emanating from her throat at the very thought of her younger sister being harmed.
I looked genuinely surprised "I could have sworn I was listening to a female, canine version of myself just then…. I thought you disapproved of such violent behaviour." I responded, with a mock rebuke.
Sienna just looked at me with a bemused look on her face "Unlike you, I don't look for trouble, nor do I strike first, ask questions later. I merely want to make sure no one EVER hurts my little Pearl again!" Sienna snarled back at me, bearing her large and sharp canine-like teeth.
"Ok, point taken…. I was just being humorous about this, I didn't mean to cause offence to you." I apologised, raising my hands in surrender, last thing I needed was for Sienna to maul me.
Sienna just shook her head at me. "I'll see you at breakfast. And Simon, I'm sorry to hear about your old commander, I can see you're hurting deeply from losing a close and trusted comrade, but remember that you're doing him very proud by becoming a huntsman." My partner said, sounding extremely sincere about trying to make me feel better.
"Thanks partner." I replied, slightly choked up as I raised my hand in a fist, Sienna looked at it for a moment and then pushed it away and grabbed me into a bear hug for the better part of half a minute. I nearly pushed her away at first, certainly not used to such things. But I eventually wrapped my arms around my friend's shoulders and returned the embrace.
"Anytime partner." She responded happily before exiting the dorm, leaving me to feel extremely torn… I didn't know how Sienna would react when she learnt the truth, I could guarantee that she'd be glad Ty had died rather than extending her condolences on his passing. Pushing this all aside I made my way into the bathroom to have a long, hot shower to clear my head.
Beacon Cafeteria, half an hour later. 3rd Person PoV:
"Come on Ice Queen, what the hell is up with Mon Capitaine? He was mad as hell last night about something, well madder than usual anyway." Nyanza interrogated an increasingly frustrated Weiss.
"Go ask him yourself you oaf, he is your teammate." Weiss replied flustered at the pestering she'd received from Nyanza when she'd arrived in the cafeteria to simply grab a strawberry yoghurt (for Ruby) and a blueberry one for herself and then return to the library in order to continue helping the young reaper with an assignment from Dr Oobleck on the causes of the Faunus War which Ruby had forgotten to do.
"Yeah but you're his friend, and I know you two meet up on the dorm roof quite often of an evening so you gotta know what's gotten under his skin, and he'd tell you more than he'd ever trust to confide in us." Nyanza countered, knowing he was entirely correct on this.
Weiss narrowed her eyes "He confides in me because I keep our conversations just that: Confidential. I'm not the type of friend that listens to ones secrets then blabs about them to others, you seem to fit into that type quite comfortably though." Weiss replied with a very barbed tone for her barbed words before shoving past Nyanza roughly and walking out in a huff.
"Wow, that girl really needs to get laid, why couldn't have Simon done that when he was her bodyguard…. Probably would have made both of them much nicer people." Nyanza muttered under his breath, unfortunately it was loud enough that Weiss managed to hear it. Not even hesitating, Weiss turned on her heel and launched a blueberry yoghurt right into Nyanza's face. Without another word, the heiress left the cafeteria, dozens of students now laughing at Nyanza's misfortune while Sienna who had been looking on just smacked Nyanza over the head for his entirely inappropriate comments.
It was then that Simon entered the cafeteria just in time to see Weiss storm off, seeing a yoghurt covered Nyanza standing there like a stunned mullet with yoghurt dripping off his face and a big chunk of blueberry stuck in his nose.
"Wow, remind me to buy Weiss a drink….. Because that is the best thing I've seen this week." Simon laughed at his teammate, suddenly feeling a bit better about this week.
"It's your fault she's like this." Nyanza grumbled as he walked away back to the dorm to clean himself up.
"Ummm what's his problem?" Simon asked his partner, perplexed as to why Weiss had pelted him with a bowl of yoghurt, even though he wasn't complaining at all that it had happened.
"Well apparently he thinks that you and Weiss are so anti-social and well bitchy because you both got a lot of sexual frustration pent up and you should have released it together at White Castle thereby making you both much nicer company." Sienna explained in a more complex manner than she really needed to.
"Oh, he said that? Well excuse me a moment my dear partner…. I have something to attend to." Simon jogged over to the cafeteria bench and grabbed another bowl of blueberry yoghurt and proceeded to hurl it into the back of Nyanza's sandy haired head mere moments before he walked out the door to leave.
"What the actual fuck Si!" He yelled at Simon as Nyanza saw him almost doubled over in laughter, not happy laughter, but 'this makes the hurt lessen' type laughter.
"You know why Nyanza, now go clean yourself up." Sienna ordered mockingly.
Nyanza just grumbled and stormed out in a huff while Simon managed to get himself back under control before he grabbed some toast and scrambled eggs and a coffee for breakfast and took a seat with Sienna.
"Glad to see you're looking up." Sienna said happily as she munched on a hash brown.
"Well seeing Nyanza make an ass of himself never fails to improve my mood Sienna, you know that." Simon responded with a small laugh, it was a weak, forced laugh but a laugh nonetheless and it did make him feel slightly better. 'Damn those snipers are onto something here' he thought as he dug into breakfast.
Sienna just eyed Simon off, a slight look of concern on her face. "Well you should come into Vale with us this weekend? Nyanza's family runs a small diner in their neighbourhood and they've extended an invitation for us to join them for a meal, it's got to be better than sulking at Beacon over the weekend because you can't go do your oh so secret stuff." Sienna asked, adding the rebuke in a hushed whisper so as to not give fuel to any rumours about her partner and captain
Simon thought about it for a moment "I'll let you know this afternoon, I'll see what Velvet's plans are first." He replied, still grateful that Sienna was trying to help him but wanting to spend some time with Velvet away from Beacon, despite the potential risk of Levi turning up.
Sienna nodded understandingly, content that either option was better than letting Simon sulk around Beacon. "Fair enough, Hey. You come off your fighting restriction next week, looking forward to getting back into combat class?" Sienna asked, obviously trying to give Simon something to look forward to, lift his spirits even more.
Simon nodded "Yeah, hopefully I get an easy match up, Team CRDL would do perfectly for a warm up." He joked, it had become a running gag amongst the first years as Team CRDL and Jaune were well known to be among the weakest fighters in the class and were almost guaranteed to not make qualification to the Tournament at the Vytal Festival.
"You know Goodwitch doesn't like you enough to be that nice…. You'll probably end up against someone like Nora or Pyrrha who are among the top of the class." Sienna teased, knowing she was probably correct.
Simon just flipped his partner off and laughed. It was good to have these more light-hearted moments, it seemed once we'd all settled in and gave each other's egos space we could all get along, well except Nyanza, because he was just a clown.
Sienna waved behind Simon who turned to see Team CFVY enter the cafeteria, probably having just come from pre-class training together, Velvet waved back and after grabbing her breakfast directed her team over to sit with us, Teal following only moments later, coming for breakfast after her own morning workout.
"Ok, what's up? Simon doesn't look like a grouchy attack dog today…. What's made him smile? Well apart from Velvet anyway." Coco asked in a smartarsed manner, earning a chuckle from Fox.
"Well it involved Nyanza's skull, two bowls of Blueberry yoghurt, Weiss and myself" Simon explained, leaving the rest up to Coco's imagination.
Coco lowered her shades and raised an eyebrow "Really, and why wasn't I invited to this food fight?" Coco joked, being a lot less sassy than normal towards Simon at the behest of Velvet.
"Because knowing you: You've probably got some meatball shooting shotgun disguised as a purse hidden in your room for such an occasion." Simon instantly shot back which caused Coco to stutter and everyone, even Teal to chuckle.
Simon just laughed and laughed at seeing Coco at a loss for words, Velvet who was seated beside him just smiled and squeezed his hand gently below the table out of sight of others, causing Simon to go scarlet.
Simon could see Coco's face light up, ready to deliver an extremely smartarsed comment, but the young Huntsman stared down the upperclassman, warning Coco without words not to cause deep, public embarrassment to Velvet. Coco, despite toning down her antics for Velvet's sake most of the time did occasionally let the shy Faunus be the butt of the odd joke.
"Hey, Sienna did you-" Teal began to whisper but was cut off by Sienna.
"Yeah I asked him." Sienna whispered to her teammate, not wanting to rush Simon into making any plans…. Planning was not Simon's strong suit at all.
The group sat there talking and eating for about half an hour, even Yatsuhashi made some input when he wasn't drinking enough tea to fill a lake, once everyone had eaten their fill Sienna nudged Teal and they excused themselves to go and check up on Nyanza, leaving Simon alone with Team CFVY.
"So Si, reckon you'll make it into the tournament at the festival?" Fox asked, his eerie eyes looking right at the younger hunter.
"We'll probably find out soon enough, I'm cleared to return to combat practice next Monday so that should be something." Simon responded.
"You know if you want to learn from the best… you could always sit in and watch us 2nd years fight, I could show you a thing or two." Coco said cockily causing Velvet and Fox to face palm while Yatsuhashi shook his head.
"Coco, maybe…. But as I said when I first met you in Vale that Saturday, I've been in life and death combat since you were barely a teenager, I think I've got the art of combat pretty down pat." Simon responded icily, but a moment later smirked impishly.
"There's more to combat than dirty, underhanded moves Simon." Yatsuhashi spoke up, his tone disapproving of my methods, Velvet had explained to me another day that Honour in combat was very important to Yatsuhashi.
Simon had wanted to give his usual Honour in combat only gets you dead lecture, but thought better of it, if only to keep the peace between him and CFVY which was needed to keep things between Velvet and himself going smoothly. So Simon did something he was not used to: being diplomatic and conceding the argument even when he wanted to prove his point.
Coco again raised an eyebrow "What, now smartarsed remark? What makes Yatsuhashi so special that you don't backchat to him?" the older girl asked in mock indignation.
"Because Yatsuhashi makes marvellous tea and dumplings, I'd be surprised if you can cook a tin of baked beans." Simon immediately shot back at the sassy fashionista.
Yatsuhashi, Velvet and Fox all immediately burst out laughing at how quickly I'd turned the tables on Coco, who just sat there speechless. "You traitors, I can understand Velvet being on his side: But you two!" She pointed at the 'traitors' Fox and Yatsuhashi, both of whom just shrugged and smirked at their captain. Coco just sighed defeated before looking to Simon "I'm actually serious about that though, come by the combat arenas during 2nd period and watch us upperclassmen fight it out, who knows you might learn something new." Coco offered Simon who thought about it.
"Well I do have a free period during 2nd period so I can make it, I just hope you're as good as you say you are Coco." Simon said as he stood from the table "I gotta go prepare for class, I'll see you in 2nd period." He then turned and left.
Beacon Halls, 5 minutes later. Simon's PoV:
I was feeling much, much better now that I'd had a good meal and an even better laugh, Kruger might be gone but I knew if there was some sort of afterlife then Kruger would be waiting at the bar for the rest of us, but until then he'd smite us where we stood if we didn't keep moving forward with our lives. I'd honour his memory and continue his and my work.
I was walking through the halls past Team RWBY and JNPR when out of JNPR's dorm flew Nora, literally flying right past me and into Team RWBY's dorm. Looking into the all-girl team's dorm just to make sure I wasn't imagining what I saw, and indeed I saw Nora splayed out on a mattress stolen from someone's bunk.
"Ummm, I'd hate to barge in like this. But is there a reason I nearly got killed by the flight of the Valkyrie?" I asked, trying to be polite.
I saw that Weiss and Ruby were nowhere to be seen, and of course that meant there was nothing but Ren to stop Yang and Nora causing mischief, while Ren might be easily able to contain Nora, he appeared to have been left helpless by Yang.
"Oh you know Simon, Gotta train for the unexpected…. You never know when we might need to catapult ourselves at Grimm to knock them out then finish them off with Hammering Time." Nora replied while jumping on the mattress on RWBY's floor. Looking back into JNPR's room I saw Yang and Jaune by a makeshift catapult made out of I couldn't even guess.
"Jaune, I will legitimately give you 500 Lien to catapult Weiss out of that thing." I offered the captain of team JNPR. "5000 Lien AND I'll cover any hospital expenses you incur from her retribution." I amended my deal, knowing Weiss would have vengeance upon Jaune.
"Ummm Simon, I personally would prefer to keep my blood an internal organs internal, but thanks for the offer." Jaune answered sheepishly, though I think his decision had more to do with trying to get into my charges' good books, both perfectly acceptable reasons.
As I was thinking about alternatives I saw Ruby walking up the hall, she looked into the open dorms and her eyes lit up "Ooooh, this looks like lots of fun, MY TURN!" The young reaper demanded.
It was then that I had a spark of genius "Ok Ruby, you can have a turn, go and get ready…. I gotta sort something out with Jaune and Yang first." I answered the redhead, who simply walked into JNPR's dorm, not suspecting the antic I'd just conscripted her for.
Yang and Jaune closed the JNPR dorm door, leaving Ruby with Pyrrha and Ren for a moment. "Ok short scarred and evil, what have you got in mind." Yang asked, sensing a prank was oncoming.
I smirked evilly, I'd never really gotten Weiss back for pushing me into a freezing lake and nearly giving me hyperthermia all those months ago, this seemed like a good as time as any "Well, I'll wait at the front of the RWBY dorm for Weiss, once you hear her outside, one of you open the door and the other launches Ruby at her." I answered, my tone one of extreme enthusiasm.
Yang raised an eyebrow "Wow, I never expected you to take part in pranking…. Nyanza always said you were such a wet blanket." She said pleasantly surprised that her former classmate was wrong.
"Nyanza says a lot of things Yang, that's normally why bad things happen to him involving blueberry yoghurt, or bare fisted boxing." I responded as Nora and Yang returned to the JNPR dorm to await the return of the heiress. The wait only lasted about 3 minutes when an annoyed looking Weiss came around the corner and towards the RWBY dorm. Her face lit up slightly and her scowl relaxed when she saw me at the door.
"Simon, is something wrong… have you gotten any more news from your old friends?" Weiss asked as she stopped in front of the open RWBY dorm door, just meters from the JNPR door.
"No, not as of yet…. But I do need to get in contact with them, so thanks for reminding me. But the reason I'm here is just to thank-you for being such a good friend to me, especially for saving my life. But at the same time I forgive you Weiss." Said in a very heartfelt manner.
Weiss just looked confusedly at me as she heard the JNPR door swing open beside her, before she had time to react she was bowled over by an airborne Ruby who knocked Weiss over and landed on top of the Heiress in a tangle of arms and legs and cape.
"I forgive you for pushing me into the frozen lake at White Castle Weiss. I'll see you in class best friend." I said a moment before I took off sprinting back to the SNST Dorm, not looking back to see the chaos I'd created.
That Same Time. Weiss' PoV:
I was returning to the dorm after having cleaned up Ruby and I's study area to prepare for when I saw Simon standing outside our dorm, I figured he had heard some more news from his old Black Fist comrades and whether he had to say goodbye to another member of an ever shrinking circle of people he trusted. I stopped by our door to speak to him, not even paying attention to the mattress laid out on the floor.
I asked what he needed and answered my question in a manner that was usual enough for him, then he began thanking me for being there for him. I was used to him making statements like this during our rooftop talks, he was well aware he only draws breath now because of me. But for him to state so publicly was extremely odd for someone as reserved and secretive as my bodyguard turned best friend. Then the real red flag came when he said he forgave me and the sound of the JNPR door opening just to my right.
I turned just in time to see Ruby flying towards me and knocking me down into our dorm, Ruby landing right on top of me, her head in my chest. I heard Simon yell something about forgiving me for pushing him into a frozen lake before sprinting off, leaving me with a dazed, maybe unconscious Ruby on me and Team JNPR/RWBY (minus Blake who was in the Library) all laughing at me and Ruby's compromising position.
"Hey Weissy, don't go getting to comfy with my sister or I'd have to beat you up" Yang joked, this just had to be her idea…. Simon was just an accomplice and Jaune was there under duress.
I gently rolled Ruby off and made sure she was still breathing and conscious: she was. Then I turned to Yang and put her in an immobilising glyph, which no matter how hard she struggled, could not break out of. "YOU! Yang Xiao Long! Why did you think it necessary to do this before class, or at all!?" I half-yelled as I closed the door behind us, giving Team RWBY some privacy.
"Hey, it was Simon's idea…. He even tried to bribe Jaune 500 Lien to get us to catapult you." Yang said, trying to doom Simon to save her own skin.
I merely shrugged "Simon had a legitimate reason for that idea….. But you were only too happy to volunteer and get as much comedic value out of it at my expense. I'll deal with Simon in my own time… but I got you here right now." I remarked evilly.
"Now, Weissy I'm sure we can come to an agreement without anything having to happen to my hair!" Yang begged defensively.
I raised an eyebrow "Now Yang, I'm not suicidal as to mess with your hair" I said as I walked over to Ruby and helped my partner up before whispering in her ear. Ruby giggled and smirked evilly at her sister, this made Yang very afraid as Ruby slowly made her way towards the immobilised sister, and then lunged at Yang's sides, a flurry of tickles causing Yang to cry out in pained laughter.
I just grabbed her stuff for classes and walked to the door "Don't worry Yang, the glyph will wear off in about 15 minutes, until then you're at Ruby's mercy." I said before walking out, not paying attention to Yang's begging or her tearful, pained laughs of Ruby once more attacking her sister. I had to talk to Simon, I was mad about his and Yang's prank, but Simon did have good reason…. I'd been wrong to snap at him so harshly over a dress from when I was 12 and didn't even know Simon.
The more I had thought about it over the months Simon worked for me after confessing that, the more I realised that him stealing that dress and using it as a bed to make his horror a little less horrific was one of the few acts of kindness and charity I'd done in my youth, and even that was indirectly and I hated the perpetrator for years.
That incident had caused me to take a good long look at myself, it was part of the reason I always tried to help Simon all I could to work through his many, MANY issues. Which brought me to why I was making my way to his dorm: I needed a straight answer of what exactly Simon, my friend, was caught up in… I did not want him going and getting himself killed on some fool's errand trying to emulate his former commander.
I turned several corners and eventually reached the SNST dorm and as I was about to knock on the door, it opened to reveal the sandy coloured boy, Nyanza. He just stared at me for a moment before slamming it in my face and locked it. I stood there for a moment hearing heated whispers and eventually the tell-tale sound of a punch being thrown. It was then that Simon opened the door, Nyanza was in the background nursing a bruised eye and a bruised ego.
Simon stepped out and closed the door, looking much better "You wanted to see me Weiss? And I hope this isn't to inflict upon me some measure of vengeance for hurling Ruby at you."
I shook my head "No, I just want to know exactly how you ended up injured… no vague half-truths either, I want real, precise details." I ordered, eyes piercing right into his soul.
Simon sighed in resignation, knowing he'd never get rid of me until I got my answer. Looking around to make sure no one else was around he motioned me to follow him around the corner. Leaning in close to my ear Simon whispered ever so quietly to me "I've been meeting with some old friends from before I worked with you…. Some orphans like me, others worked with me under Ty, even two former SSB snipers who joined the Fist. One of them is now a Vale intelligence Cipher agent, I've been working with him and the Vale Head Hunters to move Fist deserters out of Vale and away from those who'd see them dead, as well as to find a fellow orphan whose lost his mind and is in need of my help. I got injured in a trap… crooked operatives bribed by the Fist set us up to assassinate some Fang officers…. We killed them and nearly got killed by their guards." Simon explained, looking down sheepishly but he seemed relieved.
I looked at him, my expression was one of shock "Well that certainly is much more extreme than any of the rumours: Head Hunters and Intelligence? You certainly enjoy having dangerous company. But seriously…. You're playing a stupidly dangerous game with not only your life but the life of your friends!" I warned, not at all wanting to see myself, or SNST drawn into the dangerous underworld that Simon had become part of and knowing that Simon would do all he could to keep those he cared about out of it, but he had limits.
"I know Weiss, I didn't even realise what I'd gotten myself into until it was too late to back out… But now that I've started, I'm damned well going to finish it…. I'm not going to let those butchers murder anymore deserters or innocent Faunus, nor am I going to let the Fang murder and pillage in the name of social justice." Simon retorted quietly, his eyes constantly flicking about to watch for anyone else who might hear our conversation.
I nodded understandingly "I get that, you feel guilty and you want to try and fix things for those that have shared that journey with you while taking it to those that subjected you to four years of hell. But there's no good in getting yourself killed in the process, people depend on you now Simon so you need to use those self-preservation instincts I know you have." I ordered firmly, as if I was still his employer.
Simon just rolled his eyes and gave me a mock salute "Yes ma'am, survival instincts on ma'am." He replied mockingly as he could. I just shook my head at my friend's immaturity. I turned to walk away when I felt Simon's hand on my shoulder. "Before you go, one other thing: Velvet and I, we… we've kinda started dating." Simon confessed, a tone of happiness I rarely heard from him in his voice.
I stood there for a moment before I realised just how big of a deal this was, Simon, like myself was very insular and kept almost everyone at an arm's length. We might make friends but we always kept ourselves behind and emotional wall, for someone to get through those barriers and manage to get Simon to convince himself that he could pursue a romance was a testament to just how much Velvet meant to Simon, even if he suppressed the memories of her when he was a soldier of the Fist.
I smiled at my friend, I was genuinely happy to see him fall in love, though I was also slightly fearful for Simon of the complications that could arise from his past. I also felt a slight feeling of jealousy, not against Velvet. Simon was a close friend and we both saw each other platonically, but I was jealous of Simon for being able to trust someone enough to let his barriers down, I had no such person and the boys my father tried to match me with had put me right off dating, I'd seen the absolute worst of male teenagers and Simon more often than not took them aside and clipped them around the ears if they tried getting too hands on.
Simon beamed absolute delight "You'd better get going Weiss, I gotta head to class soon, but it was very good to get those things off my chest…. I can keep secrets easily, but not from you… it hurts hiding stuff from you but sometimes it is required for the good of others. If you're not busy over the weekend maybe we can grab a bite to eat, be able to actually spend some time outside of Beacon together." Simon said as he turned back to his dorm, whistling a tune as he went, leaving me alone with my thoughts as I walked back to see if Yang had managed to escape the immobilising glyph yet.
2nd Year Combat Class, Simon's PoV:
I'd ended up taking Coco up on her offer of watching the 2nd years in their combat classes during my spare period…. Just as something to take my mind off more unpleasant thoughts., I saw several 3rd and 4th years here as well, gauging how their sophomore class was going, I pondered why the upperclassmen never came to watch the first years fight 'Probably because they see us as rookies not worthy of their time' I thought as I leaned against a pillar in the back corner of the stands, watching the action from a distance. I had to say: I was impressed with these older students, they fought with much more intensity, strength, tactics and flexibility in both body and combat style. But I hadn't seen Coco put her money where her mouth is and kick ass yet.
However the next match up was interesting Velvet vs Fox. I saw the two teammates enter the arena, Fox sporting his usual gauntlets and Velvet, I was extremely confused when I saw Velvet enter the arena completely unarmed, save her combat outfit. I was extremely perplexed, but the 2nd years seemed accustomed to Velvet being unarmed as I heard no surprised whispers at her state of disarmament. So I looked on, wondering exactly was going on here.
I didn't have to wait long to get my answer. Once the match started I saw Fox charge Velvet, trying to slash at her with his bladed gauntlets, Velvet however merely did a handspring right over Fox, landing behind him and using a sweeping kick to knock her teammate off balance. Fox, without benefit of sight was caught off guard by Velvet's sudden acrobatic move. But Fox bounced back quickly with several slashes finding their mark on Velvet as well as a fierce head-butt to Velvet's head when she was caught off guard by a feint by Fox at slashing at her.
I felt pissed at Fox, I just wanted to be able to grasp my sniper rifle from thin air and take a shot at his head for striking Velvet. I knew it was silly of me to think that, given that this was important training for her to become a Huntress and I wouldn't allow myself to coddle her, but I did feel unending rage at the thought of someone trying to harm her and promising myself to put all the training in pain that Lachlan had taught me to good use if anyone ever did assault her with killing intent.
Focusing back into the match I saw Velvet backflip away from Fox, kicking him in the chin as she flipped. Velvet and Fox now stood at opposite ends of the arena, I could see Velvet was putting all her effort into moving silently, not wanting to alert the blind but nor death Fox to her location, lest he bring the ranged function of his weapon to bare.
Velvet and Fox circled each other slowly, Fox trying to sense out the light-footed bunny and Velvet trying to sneak in close for a kill strike. Unfortunately for Velvet, Fox struck first, surging forward, leading with a kick to Velvet's knees and then an uppercut followed by upwards slashes, knocking Velvet's aura levels down pretty far, they went from nearly full to half in a moment, but Velvet was not deterred. She instead grabbed Fox by the arms and judo threw him into the ground face first. Velvet's next step was to jump on Fox's back, pinning him and wrench one of Fox's Gauntlets off, which she seemed to be an expert at, probably through a lot of practice. Velvet had the first weapon off and tossed out of the arena in milliseconds. However before she could remove the 2nd Fox bucked his back, causing Velvet to dislodge, the blind bladesman shoved Velvet off and flipped away, having to make do with one gauntlet. Velvet readied herself, assuming a fighting position about 20m from Fox. Velvet moved first and moved swiftly, sprinting in and sweeping foxes ankles out from under him, Fox performed a handspring and evaded Velvet's elbow strike. This game of Rabbit and Fox continued on for several minutes, neither combatant able to gain a decisive advantage over the other.
I was extremely impressed by just how much of an expert at unarmed combat my Velvet is, I made mental note to never challenge her to a hand-to-hand sparring session. Velvet and Fox both moved quickly but were both visibly exhausted from high intensity hand to hand. Everyone in the crowd were cheering the two on. It eventually came down to a match of endurance, which Velvet was winning, she was able to draw on additional energy reserves thanks to her Faunus nature whereas Fox was just getting more and more tired as he lashed out at Velvet with his remaining gauntlet, he became sloppy which allowed Velvet to capitalise on it and roll him to the ground and into an arm bar submission maneuverer on his disarmed arm. It took 30 seconds of pressure but Fox eventually gave in and tapped out.
The crowd erupted in cheers as Velvet curtsied in appreciation. My hands were hurting from clapping, but damn I was very impressed at how much of an efficient combatant Velvet really was, Coco was right: I could learn some new skills, maybe not from Coco but certainly from Velvet. I leaned against the pillar, kinda disappointed that Coco wasn't called upon to fight today, but that didn't matter as Velvet and Fox had put on such an excellent match.
As Goodwitch dismissed the class I waited by the exit for Team CFVY to emerge, Yatsuhashi and Coco were both supporting their teammates who were both absolutely exhausted. "Good match Velvy, Coco was right… I could certainly learn from you a few new tricks." I said, mocking Coco's declaration that she could teach me a few things.
Coco scowled at me "I wanna find whoever taught you to be so sassy and shake their hand at doing such a good job, then kill them for the same reason." The CFVY captain grumbled.
I just laughed "Coco, those two are top tier snipers, specialists in Aura Penetrating weapons, they could end you from a mile away, and I don't think you'll be killing them anytime soon." I shot back, irritating the fashionista.
"Is that a challenge you smartarse?" Coco inquired.
Before I could answer the sound of Velvet clearing her throat got both our attentions. "Coco, you won't be murdering Simon's friends. Simon, you could try not antagonising my captain? She has little to no restraint on her ego as you surely know by now, but then again neither do you sometimes.." Came her playful yet serious rebukes of myself and more so Coco.
Coco and I looked at Velvet and then each other and then at Velvet again. We were simply stunned that the usually shy and reserved Faunus had just simultaneously burned us both to crisps. "Ok, who are you and what have you done with the real Velvet Scarlatina" I joked, earning an eye roll from Velvet.
Velvet freed herself from Yatsuhashi's support and wobbled a bit before regaining her balanced "Can you guys go ahead, I just gotta speak to Simon for a moment." Velvet asked politely of her team. Yatsuhashi bowed and began walking away. Coco gave a knowing wink and a smirk before following suit, taking Fox with her.
"Something on your mind Velvet?" I asked as I fell in beside her and walked alongside slowly.
"Not really, just seeing if you were getting out of Beacon this weekend." Velvet responded walking slightly gingerly from her match but I could see the happy spring in her step.
"Yeah, apparently Nyanza's family is very eager to meet us so he's taking us over to his family's diner tonight, but tomorrow or Sunday I've got no real plans if you're asking me out." I replied quietly, adding in a small comment of a Date just to see the embarrassed blush from Velvet, who indeed go a shade of crimson at the innocent insinuation.
"Ummm, sure. Saturday for lunch?" Velvet whispered in return, suddenly very aware she was in a public place and she nearly seized up at the thought of someone asking if she and I were together-together.
I resisted the urge to eye roll, Velvet was much shier and less immune to being affected by the public rumour mill than I. "Sure, sounds good. I'll meet you at the Saturday Markets in the artisan district and we can go from there?"
Velvet looked over at me and smiled "I think that sounds wonderful, the markets are always very nice. BTW have you given any thought to coming back to Exton, I don't mean to be pushy about this but a lot of our old friends are eager to see you." Velvet explained, but still putting me on the spot.
I thought about it for a moment, deciding it was better to do it sooner rather than later. "Ok Velvet, I'll go to Exton with you during the two week break at end of semester? That sound alright to you?" I asked, mentally cursing myself for agreeing to this but I knew I had to go back, I had to stop hiding from who I used to be and what I'd become.
Velvet smiled widely "Thanks Simon, I-I'll talk to my parents tonight and organise for you to stay with us." She responded, sounding absolutely over the moon. I just smiled in return, not betraying the massive anxiety I now felt over this idea but I was going to push forward and face it, for Velvet. We walked together in silence for a moment, looking around I noticed a few curious glances, but for the most part people were minding their own business, my run in with Cardin yesterday had reinforced my reputation as a hard ass and as someone not to cross, but I was honestly surprised that Goodwitch or Ozpin hadn't taken me to task over it. As we came towards one of the main halls Velvet and I had to go separate ways to period 3 classes. I said my goodbyes and resisted the urge to blow her a kiss. As I walked away I realised that even though Ty was gone, my life would go on and it was possible to find happiness even in a world of death and hellfire. How little I realised just how important this skill would become further down the track.
That Afternoon, Vale Residential District, Simon's PoV:
I walked down the streets of one of Vale's outer suburbs, unlike downtown Vale with its skyscrapers and modern architecture, this area had mainly single or double story buildings and the dwellings were slightly older, though not rundown like the shanty towns in the Faunus quarter. The people here were much more laid back, relaxed and less standoffish than those towards the inner city. People said hello and were quite friendly to us, though I believe it was mainly due to us being with Nyanza who seemed to be basically a neighbourhood hero for choosing to become a hunter. But then again that was a normal occurrence, Hunters were very much revered by the majority of civilised, law abiding citizens. They saw Hunters as a Beacon of light that keeps in check not only the forces that seek to destroy the kingdom but also the more shadowy government organisations such as Vale Intelligence. If only they knew that several Hunters were counted among the elite Cipher agents, then the good citizens of Vale might think twice about such blind faith in the Hunters.
Shaking off my mental cynicism I put on a happy face, I got curious looks from a lot of people. It seems Nyanza had made sure people around here knew just who his captain was. The looks were sympathetic though no one thankfully touched on the subject when they were engaged in conversation with Nyanza during the walk, the people here were most considerate in that respect.
Eventually we found our way to a small diner on a small side street, it looked relatively busy for a small business in the outer suburbs. "Well, this is the Torres' Takeaway and also my family's home on the 2nd storey." Nyanza announced proudly, seeing him so enthusiastic and completely without smartarse remarks was very much unlike Nyanza. Looking over to Sienna and Teal I saw looks of apprehension on their faces about this.
Nyanza went to open a door when it was opened for him and a man in a Vale Air Fleet uniform and had the same sandy coloured hair as Nyanza appeared. "Nyanza, Mum said you'd be coming around today." The man, who looked to be in his mid-20's commented.
Nyanza turned to us, looking very relaxed and uncharacteristically happy "This is my older brother, Flight Lieutenant Copper Torres. Call sign: Raging Bull. He pilots Warheads for the VDF." Nyanza introduced his brother, pride radiating from our teammate.
"Ok, where's the real Nyanza? The Nyanza that's on my team is never this enthusiastic about ANYTHING." I commented, mildly insulting my teammate.
Copper just laughed "Lazy Nyanza? Only when his parents aren't around…. If he is within 100m of them then he's the hardest worker you'll ever meet, if only to avoid their wrath for not helping out. Isn't that right Ny?" The oldest Torres child smirked.
I raised an eyebrow "Well that settles it, your parents need to move to Beacon to assist me in keeping this terror in check." I retorted, finding common ground with Copper in our tormenting of Nyanza.
Nyanza just huffed and led us all into the diner where within moments a large man looking to be in about his 50's with sandy coloured hair that was beginning to go bald in a chef's apron came out the front with several plates of food and handed them off to a girl who looked to be slightly older than Nyanza. Upon seeing us he all but charged out the front. "Nyanza! My boy…. So you finally come and visit your dear old papa, only took you two months since leaving to become a big, strong huntsman." The older Torres laughed, dragging Nyanza into a hug and literally lifting him off the ground.
I felt a pang of jealousy, and I could tell that Teal and Sienna were feeling the same: Nyanza had what we'd all wanted and dreamed of having. A loving, stable family environment. Sienna and I had lost our families and I would hardly call Teal's loving or stable from what I'd heard from her about the Wolfsbane clan.
"Dad, please…. You're breaking my ribs." I heard Nyanza squeak over the laughs and chuckles of the patrons of the diner.
"Pfft, if I can hurt you then I should go see your headmaster because he obviously isn't training you hard enough, HA!" The Torres Patriarch laughed with his youngest child.
Eventually Nyanza struggled free and stood next to Teal. "Team SNST, this is my father. Nyanza Torres the third. Technically I'm Nyanza Torres IV." Nyanza explained, rubbing his head in mild embarrassment. "Father, this is my team: Sienna Reynolds, our defence expert. Teal Wolfsbane, Dust expert." Nyanza paused when he pointed to me for a moment, "This is Mon Capitaine, the ghost himself: Simon Alexander." Nyanza introduced us all, making sure my name was said in but a whisper, lest it cause a flurry of questions from curious patrons.
I glared at Nyanza for the use of the moniker Ghost, I found the term quite insulting as it insinuated that someone was skilful enough to actually have a chance at killing me. The older Torres shook each of our hands, lingering with me. "Nyanza hasn't said too much about you all in his calls home, so I'd love to hear more. But that can wait until later once we're able to sit down for a proper meal. For now just find a seat and relax." The older Torres offered, motioning to a booth in the corner.
Sitting down, myself in the back corner next to Sienna, across was Nyanza between Teal and his brother. "So Teal, How do you survive being this pest's Partner?" Copper asked, mocking his younger sibling.
Teal just shrugged "It was horrific at first, but Simon is a pretty good keeper of the peace… most of the time." Teal replied with a smile.
"Ha! I knew you were lying when you said you actually behaved yourself at school." Copper laughed, ruffling Nyanza's sandy hair.
"Says the guy who nearly got thrown out of the military for starting 3 separate brawls in 3 separate pubs in a single night!" Nyanza countered indignantly.
Copper seemed to shrink within himself "Hey, no need to bring that up in front of guests." Copper chastised Nyanza.
It was then that a girl with sandy coloured hair arrived with a note pad "Hey Copper, Nyanza and guests Dad wanted to know if you wanted anything to eat or drink… It's going to be another hour till him and mum are able to join you guys." The girl asked.
"Well Venus, so long as you're the one cooking, I'd hate to make more work for dad. I think we'll get some garlic breads and no wine for me tonight…. I got to fly tomorrow so I can't drink, some ginger ale instead." Copper answered.
"Team, this is my older sister: Venus Torres. She works here when she isn't at university studying psychology…. She'd make a great friend for you Simon." Nyanza introduced his sister while simultaneously insulting me, but I had to be polite and merely smile at the remark about my sanity or lack thereof if you listened to Nyanza.
Venus zeroed in on Teal, and impish grin on her face and instantly Sienna and I knew what was coming. "Well Ny-Ny, 'bout time you brought a girl home for mum and dad to meet, they were so worried you'd be alone forever with how much of a pest you are. And wow, you really did pick quite a looker aye."
Sienna and I just lost our shit in laughter while I couldn't tell who looked more insulted and disgusted at that prospect out of Teal and Nyanza. Both of which stuttered in pure anger at Venus who seemed to be just as much of a smartass as Nyanza, probably where he learned it from.
"I'll be back in 10 with some Garlic bread. Copper if they want anything to drink you go get it." Venus said once she managed to stop laughing before walking off to take other customer's orders.
"Your family seems nice enough Nyanza…. Unlike you." Teal said to Nyanza mockingly, which made Copper laugh.
"Nice one Teal….. Good to see you guys don't just let Nyanza get away with not being mocked on a daily basis, dust knows he does it to everyone else." Copper joked, reaching over and high fiving Nyanza's partner. This began an hour long free-for-all insult war between the 5 occupants of the booth.
That Same Time, 200m from Torres' Takeaway. Levi's PoV:
Having easily followed a distracted I was sitting with an expert marksmen from the Fist in the back of a room with a clear view of that disgrace of a human Simon. 'Conversing with a Faunus girl, Oh how far the mighty have fallen.' I thought as I looked through the binoculars at my former friend and comrade being friends with a Faunus, it made me sick to my stomach that he could be with her for more than 10 seconds and not have taken her head off.
"I got a shot lined up on Simon, just say the word and I'll end his pathetic life." The shooter questioned, his eye not leaving his scope.
Looking around the street I noticed something interesting, a business man outside the diner about 20m down the street, except it wasn't really a business man. It was Gregory's minder, Minder-27 that meant Gregory was not too far off either, watching over his friend probably suspecting I or another of Simon's many enemies would try to get at him.
"Don't fire, Intelligence has agents in the area. If we fire we're sure to get caught, and I personally have no interest on getting into a firefight with them in broad daylight." I responded, ordering the shooter to stand down. The fact Gregory was somewhere out there was only part of the reason I took this course of action…. I personally found it cowardly to snipe a person like that, I wanted to get in close and look that traitor in the eyes when I ended him, screw Lachlan's orders in this case.
The shooter began disassembling his weapon and placing it into a briefcase in parts. We'd have to wait here till nightfall and escape out a back alley towards our next target, it was far too much of a risk to go onto the main street in these circumstances. 'You can't hide behind Gregory forever Simon. I will have you one day!' I thought as I closed the window and made my way back towards the middle of the apartment lest I be seen by Gregory or his Minder out a window.
Gregory's PoV:
I knew Levi was up there, starring at a window from a 100m away while keeping my cover as a street cleaner.
"Shouldn't we move in and apprehend or neutralise the target sir?" I heard Minder-27 ask through our communicators.
"No, not here and not now. Too many innocent civilians around, Keeper ordered us NOT to create a scene. What do you think will happen if we draw weapons here?" I commed back, I knew Minder-27 would not contest my order but he'd also know that we could get the job done without causing a scene, the other reason was that if something were to go down it would draw a currently oblivious Simon and his team into the fight and that would create a whole mess for Simon if his team learned of his involvement in the Fist and with Intelligence.
"Understood sir, I'll tell the watchers to keep drones overhead should the targets try to escape. We'll get them sir." Minder-27 replied.
'No you won't…. You think Levi is dumb enough to let something like a drone catch him? He's got plenty of escape routes planned I just know it.' I thought, not really wanting to catch Levi with Minder-27 or any other agent as they'd be too quick to simply kill Levi, not help him as I want to. So I'd continue to play cat and mouse until I could get Levi cornered by myself, Simon and maybe the Snipers… it was the only way to ensure we all come out alive. I continued my surveillance of both Levi and of Simon, to ensure he didn't get up to mischief or in trouble.
1 Hour Later. Simon's PoV:
It had been quite an enjoyable experience talking with Copper, he was very much like Nyanza, except he had more tact with his insults and mockery than the youngest Torres did, except when it came to insulting Nyanza or his sister.
"Well the first match he ever fought with his gauntlets, he was strangled into unconsciousness by the tethers of his own weapons, and I've even got a tape of it to prove it." Copper laughed at Nyanza's expense.
"I knew it! I knew I could do that if I wanted!" I laughed loudly, punching the air in triumph at confirming my preferred way to bring about Nyanza's doom.
Nyanza just buried his head in his hands from the embarrassment he was suffering from the combined efforts of us and Copper, and Venus when she came to our table. "I suddenly and entirely regret bringing you guys here." The boy whined.
"I don't these three are practically family now through our mutual love of taking the piss out of you." Copper chortled.
I looked at Sienna and Teal who both froze at the mention of Family. I could see looks of hurt in both their eyes and I began to silently agree with Nyanza, it may have been a mistake to bring those two and maybe even myself here… I just hoped this wouldn't cause a massive rift of jealous animosity among SNST over Nyanza actually having a family who cared.
It was then that the door to the shop opened and a women who also looked to be in her 50's entered and immediately made a beeline for Nyanza "Oh my baby boy is here!" The woman said with delight as she made her way to our table. It took a lot of effort for me to keep my face level, the jealousy really hit me hard when I saw Nyanza's mother fawning over her baby boy and I could tell it had cut Sienna and Teal deeply.
I could see a look of guilty on Nyanza's face as he finally managed to wrangle free of his mother's embrace, it was obvious he hadn't expected his parents to go over the top like this and I could see he felt bad for the effect it was having on myself and the girls. "So these are your friends? I'm Diamond Torres, Nyanza's mother." The woman introduced herself, and for the 4th time in an hour we reintroduced ourselves, I just hoped that no more of Ny's family arrived for this, because it looked like it was going to be a very long night indeed….
Several Hours later, Torres' Takeaway. Simon's PoV:
It had been an interesting night. Sienna, Teal and I mainly acted as silent flies-on-the-wall as the Torres pack reunited and perpetually embarrassed our Nyanza to no end, who had little or no return fire against his siblings or his parents, it honestly was amazing to see Nyanza's ego systematically destroyed… It almost overpowered the immense yet suppressed feeling of jealousy I felt, almost and I could tell that Teal and Sienna felt the same, eventually it was getting near 9pm and the shop had long since closed and I decided it was time to get out of here, I could almost feel the shadows of the Fist and Fang closing in on this place.
"Oh, no. Absolutely not, you are guests to our family and we'd be happy to bunk you upstairs for tonight." The older Nyanza offered firmly, looking almost insulted that we wanted to leave at this time of night.
"I know Mr Torres, but I think Nyanza deserves some quality time with his family seeing as he hasn't seen you in two months." I responded, doing my best to sound respectful, but I knew that Teal and Sienna were both about to crack.
"Well at least let us pay for a taxi back to the air pad for you three." Diamond Torres offered to which I held up my hand.
"No need, I can pay for it I swear, you just spend some time with Ny and the girls might come around tomorrow." I explained as I got out my scroll to call a cab, being told it would take about 5 minutes for it to get here. So the girls and I said our goodbyes and by the time we were walking out the door the taxi was arriving.
I could feel myself being watched from the shadows, what I'd have given to have a set of thermal goggles at that point to see what was lurking in the darkness. As I climbed into the cap, taking the driver side window in the back seat. The cab ride was silent for the most part, I just looked out the window mostly while the girls whispered in hushed conversation. I could have sworn I saw people running across rooftops, but I put it down to paranoia and ignored it. We made it to the air pad and jumped on a waiting bullhead that I'd arranged to meet us there. As soon as we had boarded and were alone, due to the cockpit door being closed. We all blew a sigh of relief.
"You two alright?" I asked the girls as we got airborne.
"Honestly part of me wants to hit Nyanza, the other part wants to be him." Teal replied honestly.
"His family seemed nice, though I don't think Nyanza understood the affect that tonight was going to have on us." Sienna added on.
I could see the animosity starting to fester so I did something I rarely did: Defend Nyanza from the girls.
"I don't think the purpose of tonight for Nyanza was to lord it over us the fact he has a family, He's never really told us much about his life whereas he knows plenty of our misfortunes and he feels quite overwhelmed and probably very guilty for not coming from broken homes like us. I think he just wanted to include us in his even for a night to try and make us all feel included. So don't go holding it against Nyanza for trying to show a bit of compassion that kinda backfired, he doesn't deserve that ridicule and I don't want this to become a team breaking issue." I ordered firmly at the girls who just nodded tiredly.
The rest of the trip went silently and by the time we got back to Beacon we all went to bed, quite exhausted from the week and looked forward to a good sleep-in.
A/N: This chapter really does try to take a deeper look at other characters like the other members of SNST, Sanderson, Weiss and Team CFVY while still advancing the story somewhat, there is about 5 more chapters until this story hits the end of RWBY volume 1, so things are going to certainly pick up pretty damned quickly.
I hope you all enjoy this jumbo sized chapter and I hope to hear your opinions on it and my development of the characters. –CC Signing off.
