Chapter 45
"Will this be enough?" Weiss asked, handing in her a stack of Lien. The pilot did a quick count and nodded.
"Yeah, that'll do. It won't be comfortable though. Too big a risk with this embargo."
"That's fine. As long as you can get me to Mistral." And to my sister.
"That I can do. Hop on and we'll head off."
Weiss walked up the ramp into the cargo bay. It was cramped with all the Dust crates, but she'd live. She had to escape, if only to make sure the risks Klein took to help her weren't in vain.
Adam sighed and collapsed onto the couch. Ghira's office was nice and separate from everyone else. He needed a little time to himself. To think. Unbidden memories came to the forefront of his mind.
They'd all been friends once. Ilia, Blake and Adam. Of course, he and Ilia had had a bit of a rivalry going, one which he'd won. She'd always been closer to Blake than to him, which he couldn't blame her for. But despite all that, she'd joined the fighting with him before Blake had. They'd been a strong pair. Even stronger once Blake joined in.
He sighed again and pulled out her scroll. It didn't take long for him to get into it. Ilia was like him in many ways. Though he could say he'd at least grown past the stage of putting his crush's birthday as a passcode. The scroll was a treasure trove of information, just as he'd hoped.
As he scrolled through the sliding door opened as Kali joined him. Adam put the scroll down on the table and rested his elbows on his knees, his hands rubbing together. "Kali."
"Adam." She said as she took a seat opposite him. "Your friends are running around outside by the way. They yelled something about 'securing the perimeter'?" She said with air quotes.
Adam scoffed with a slight smile on his lips. "Sounds like them."
Kali picked up the scroll with a raised brow. "You've already cracked it?"
"It wasn't hard."
Her eyes narrowed. "Since when did you know her intimately enough to guess her passcode?"
"We were friends, Kali. We also had a… similar interest. You must have noticed."
Kali smirked. "The way you both glazed over whenever Blake entered a room? Or how you'd both do anything she said? Oh, or the subtle and quiet fights to see who got to sit next to her whenever we travelled? No, I don't think I ever noticed." She sarcastically drawled at the end.
Adam rolled his blindfolded eyes. "Yes thank you for the reminder."
Kali giggled. "It was cute at the time."
"We were young then." Adam defended.
"It wasn't that really all that long ago you know," Adam grumbled under his breath, causing Kali to laugh.
Adam sighed. "Are you done?"
"Laughing over how adorable you used to be?" She took a deep breath. "Yes, I suppose I am. But I did have a question for you."
"Oh?"
"You of course don't have to answer, as I know how you feel about it. However, I wanted to ask why you continue to wear that blindfold."
His heart skipped a beat. "I… I uhh…"
"I know you don't want to show your scar, and I don't blame you for that. But you are hiding more of your face than you need to. Why wear a blindfold when an eyepatch could suffice?"
"I… I'm used to it…" His voice was low and weak. He didn't really have a reason aside from shame. Shame over the brand forced into his flesh. Hiding more kept others from focusing on that area of his face. He was just ashamed.
"Because of your mask right? Look I can't blame you, but there's a reason I bring it up. You say you've changed and while I believe you, would it not show everyone just how much progress you've made if you changed it? I won't ask you to show the brand but why not show your good eye? It's not as if you aren't handsome."
"I…" He swallowed. "I could… it feels…" He halted, unsure of how to word it. Kali waited patiently however and he appreciated it. "I feel like hiding it all is… easier?"
"Well we aren't taking the easy path, now are we?"
"True… I just… would it not bring attention to what I am covering?"
"Of course. But people won't see it, Adam. It will still be hidden from everyone you want to hide it from. I know someone down in the marketplace who could make a custom one if you wanted. It could be as difficult to remove as you like." Her voice was soft and calming.
Adam swallowed again and took a deep breath. "I'll give it a go." He forced out, almost feeling like it drained him to concede. Kali simply nodded.
"I'll inform him. We can go down tomorrow and give him everything he will need. If after you've tried it you want to change back then you can. It's still your choice Adam. But I promise that this change will make you at least seem more resolved in your current path."
"Alright." Her words seemed to lift a little bit of weight from his shoulders. He gave a contented sigh. "I'll uh... I'll send copies of the information from Ilia to everyone in case she steals her scroll back."
"Good idea. I'll leave you to it. Make sure not to stay up too late now."
"I won't."
The trees shook lightly in the slow wind as Yang let out a content sigh and reattached her arm. The spray paint had dried, now colouring the arm in a vibrant yellow with black accents. It had taken her some time, but it looked great. She'd even taken the time to colour the metal that would be hidden by her clothing. It made it feel more whole than if she'd only painted the forearm.
Pulling her sleeve down she walked back to the front of the house, where Pyrrha was loading up their supplies onto Bumblebee. She'd gone and gotten a whole new set up, just like Yang had. The red-head no longer wore high heels, going for a more flat set of black boots. Yang wasn't entirely sure how far up they went, as from the ankle up to her mid-thigh was smooth golden metal plate armour, which was built to help brace her weaken leg as well as protect.
As Pyrrha strapped a bag to the back end of the bike Yang got a good look at her new arm-based armour. A pair of smooth, thick bracers covered the black long-sleeved shirt she wore underneath it all as well as hid the point where it transitioned from shirt into a similarly coloured glove. She'd also taken to wearing heavy pauldrons, with a smaller on her right to allow for easier movement and a larger on her left for added defence when blocking with her shield.
Yang walked over and picked up a small bag to tie to the bike herself. Pyrrha smiled as she straightened out her new cape, the red cloth she had once worn around her waist was now pinned to her new gold and brown armour that covered most of her torso. The cape then wrapped around her neck once like a scarf before falling down her back, reaching to about her knees, passing by her new thigh-length armoured skirt. Her dark brown belt was needed due to the extra weight the bronze plates added to the skirt. Yang knew they weren't regular plates, however.
Taiyang soon came out with Zwei close behind. He smiled at the work they'd done to prepare. "Looks like you girls are ready to go, huh?"
"Yup," Yang said confidently as she put on her remaining half of Ember Celica.
"Yes, I believe so!" Pyrrha excitedly exclaimed, picking up her newly reforged weapons. She placed her shield, now with only one hole instead of two, on her back like before. But her sword compacted itself and was sheathed on her belt.
"I'm proud of you Yang. I want you to remember that."
"Thanks, dad. I'll bring Ruby home, I promise."
He shook his head. "Just keep each other safe. That goes for you as well, Pyrrha. Even if you go off adventuring or whatever. I just want you both home one day." He said with a sad smile. "After all, I doubt Ruby will just change her mind and come home."
Yang scoffed. "True. She's always been stubborn."
"You both are." Tai countered.
Yang laughed. "We get it from you, dad." She opened her arms with a smile. Taiyang chuckled and pulled her into his arms.
"Stay safe."
"I'll do my best."
It took a couple of minutes before they finally parted. Yang pulled on her sunglasses and hopped onto her bike. Pyrrha climbed on behind her. Taiyang waved them off, whilst Zwei gave them a happy 'woof'. Pyrrha wrapped her arms around Yang for safety. Yang smiled and started the engine.
She revved it several times before she sped off, leaving her father and log cabin home behind.
The great plume of black smoke heralded the end of the battle and soon brought rescue in the form of Mistrilian airships.
Team RNJR was safe and Qrow would get the help he needed.
Ruby could finally breathe easy.
"Ma'am. Ilia's made contact with Adam Taurus in Menagerie. He's staying with the Belladonna family."
Blake's ear twitched in annoyance. "He's staying with my parents?"
"Yes. She also claimed that he brought three Humans and a Faunus with him." The Lieutenant said with a growl.
"I see. Send some reinforcements to Corsac and Fennec. They'll need them."
"Of course, ma'am."
The heavy doors to their small side room opened. A pair of her soldiers brought in their newest ally. Blake stood with a smile. "Greetings."
"Hm. I'm Hazel Reinheart. I'm here to discuss the next plan." The large Human grumbled.
"Very good." She motioned to the table next to her. "Would you care for some tea while we talk?"
He hummed. "Alright."
A/N: So... I'm back. I didn't mean to not update last week but I uh... Well, basically I had a depressive episode. A Depresode if you will. Not trying to garner sympathy or the like, just saying why I didn't update. It was perfectly timed with a schedule change too. Still not 100% sure on which days I'm moving updates to, but for now it's Wednesdays and Fridays. I'll at least make sure it's updated on my profile first. So uh yeah. Had a bad week. Hopefully, this one'll be better. Got time off from work coming up next week so that'll be good! Take a rest for once.
Anyway, onto the chapter! I am sorry it's shorter, but a lot happened. V4 is over, with Weiss on her way to Mistral, RNJR at Mistral, Yang and Pyrrha leaving and Adam getting knowledge on the attack on Haven. For Pyrrha's new look I wondered for a while if I'd use the same one I did for my other fic, but eventually decided not to. This look is based on art done by lulu-chan on Pixiv called "Olympiakos Pyrrhaeus". It's some beautiful art that everyone should check out. Meanwhile, Adam decides to try out an eyepatch instead of a blindfold, something that a reviewer asked for ages ago. I got an image in my head and hopefully it'll come out right in the text.
I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time!