Welcome to the second work in the 'A Little Push' series. This writing has been a way for me to develop some skills as a writer. Hopefully, those of you who have been with me since the first chapter have seen some improvement. In any case, to continue my growth, I decided to branch out and change a few things.
First, this entire work will be written in 1st person, unlike the 3rd person narration from A Little Push. This is purely so I can practice with the style and see what feels more natural.
Second, I would like to remove The Gamer elements from the story. I believe during A Little Push I was already naturally deviating away from it toward the end. This story is a sequel, and I understand this decision will create some continuity issues. But in general the events that happened, still happened. Jaune still cheats his way into Beacon, learns aura skills, fights the White Fang and Beacon falls. It's just going forward, he didn't have a video-game style menu telling him all his stats. I believe even with the way it clashes with A Little Push, this decision will make for a better story in the long run.
With that said, I will be keeping the Nightmare Stone addition as I feel they're an element that is unique enough to be separate from the 'gamer system', even if they were originally a way to create game-style missions or raids. Now they'll just be a part of the world-building that is specific to my story.
I hope that despite these changes, I'll still be able to create something satisfactory.
With that said; please enjoy the first chapter of A Long Journey.
/-/
The bitter scent of coffee was the first thing I noticed. It called me from my slumber like a siren song.
The second thing I noticed was how dry my throat and mouth were.
I cracked open one eye and looked at either side of me. There was a bottle of water on the bedside table on my right.
I snatched it up and drank deeply. The water instantly struck my dry throat causing me to cough and splutter. The next several mouthfuls were taken slower; not much slower though.
Thirst quenched, I breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
"That's new," I muttered.
The skin beside my left eye bubbled out unnaturally. I let a finger trace it from my eye, down through the center of my cheek past my jaw, and well onto my neck. From there it zigzagged back up past my ear and through where my sideburns had been. Finally, it peaked just above my eyebrow and fell again. It was a scar; a large one and one not too pretty if the texture was anything to go by.
It came as something of a surprise given how potent my aura was. Weiss had once voiced her jealousy that I didn't scar, yet here I was. It made the object of her displeasure look tame in comparison.
If that burned, I wonder what the other one looks like…
I lifted my shirt over my head with as much grace as I could manage with my stiff arms and hopped out of bed.
There was a mirror stationed atop a small dresser and I walked over to it to get a better look.
In comparison, the wound of my abdomen was smaller but much deeper. There was a noticeable divot where my regular skin ended and the scar tissue began. As I twisted around, I could see a similar scar on the opposite side too.
"I guess that's a thing now." I half-heartedly complained.
They were scars, hardly life-changing, but they were reminders of what happened.
"Mr. Arc?" A voice called from the other side of the room's door.
I couldn't quite place the voice, though it seemed familiar.
"Yes?" I asked.
The door opened and Glynda Goodwitch, headmistress – or perhaps that's ex-headmistress now – opened the door.
She offered me some privacy by turning her head and putting a hand alongside her face to shield her view.
"I apologize, I didn't know you weren't decent. I heard you coughing, so I thought to check on you."
"It's fine. Where am I?" I asked.
Ms. Goodwitch dropped her hand and thoroughly looked me over. I might have been embarrassed if I thought it was anything more than an examination of my condition.
"You are still in Vale if that's what you mean. The staff and I have been afforded this building for use as both living and workspace. You needed a place to stay and since there are many injured out there, I offered to take care of you. We are perhaps 5 minutes from the city square." She explained.
"Right... Thanks." I replied as I pulled my shirt back on. "So how long have I been out for? I'm still pretty stiff and sore, so... a day? Two?"
"You have been unconscious for 10 days Mr. Arc." She instantly corrected.
That can't be right... Even against Adam, I'd been awake by morning. Sure, full recovery took a while, but my healing and aura are way stronger than they were then.
I summoned my aura to my fingertips to examine how much I had. And by the looks, I was completely fine.
"What's wrong with my aura exactly?" I asked.
Ms. Goodwitch exhaled in a way I'd only ever seen her and my mother do. It was a mix between a sigh and a huff and always came as a result of her exasperation with Ozpin. Or in the latter's case, her frustration with me.
She seemed tired.
"First, let's get some food into your stomach. You haven't eaten nearly enough lately and you've lost weight, despite our best efforts. I'll explain while you eat." She stated as she turned on her heels and left the room.
"Your aura doesn't have anything wrong with it so to speak, it still works. You are recovering aura and repairing your body. The issue, if it can be called that, is its behavior. It's 'unstable' in a sense. I have personally witnessed it flare up while you slept. I suspect you may have been dreaming or having a nightmare. Your emotional state was influencing your spirit."
That wasn't unusual. I'd already learned from Oz what effect emotions could have on aura. I'd have to see what these reactions looked like to see what she meant though. I doubted it was as simple as it seemed right now.
I sat down at a table when gestured to and accepted a plate of food when offered. Ms. Goodwitch sat down opposite me.
"How about my team then? Where are they? And what about team RWBY" I asked.
"Lie Ren and Ms. Valkyrie are both healthy and safe. I've already sent out the word that you've awoken and they should be here within due time. As for team RWBY, that is a different story. Ms. Rose was in a state of stable unconsciousness, just as you were. Her teammate, Ms. Belladonna was conscious, but her wound wasn't a simple one. They have all been relocated to the Rose family home in Patch to recover. Qrow is with them, assisting with their recovery. He is also helping teach Ms. Belladonna how to overcome her current situation."
At the mere mention of Qrow's name, I remembered what he had done. The memory was blurry, but I remembered one thing clearly.
"What about Pyrrha? You said Nora and Ren were okay, but what about my partner?" I asked.
Ms. Goodwitch opened her mouth only to close it a second later.
"Where's Pyrrha?" I asked again.
"I'm sorry." Was her only response.
I don't know what took over me. I wasn't normally one for lashing out, especially in front of people who I knew hadn't done anything wrong. But before I'd even realized I'd acted, I had put a fist-sized hole through the table. I barely even noticed the splinters which stuck into the side of my hand.
I could hear Ms. Goodwitch call my name. She sounded concerned and she reached out to place a hand on mine.
I flinched backward before she could touch me and I threw the table that separated us to the side in the process. It shattered against the kitchen sink catapulting my food and leaving a large dent in the steel.
"Jaune!" Ms. Goodwitch shouted.
Her reaction stunned me for barely a second. Just enough for me to regain my senses.
"I'm sorry, Jaune. Your partner didn't make it. Qrow said that-"
"Qrow didn't know! How could he? He didn't even check or try to help her!"
"He knew. One of Qrow's skills lets him detect signs of life. He may not have checked, but he knew. I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?" I spat. "It's my fault she died. I'm the one who should be apologizing to her."
"It's not your fault-"
"Isn't it though? You and Oz said it yourselves; you picked her because you trusted me to keep her safe. I'm the one who told her to go ahead with the transfer when we knew something was up! I'm the one she wasted her Semblance on when she could have been saving herself! She is dead because of me." I ranted.
"That responsibility wasn't meant for you so early Jaune. When we said that, we were talking about the future you should have had. When you had finished your training and were no longer under our care. Until then, it wasn't your responsibility to protect her, it was ours. So if you have to be angry at someone, be angry at us. Be angry at Oz for leaving her with James. Be angry with me for getting caught, for getting used as a hostage against you. But don't be angry at yourself Jaune. It wasn't your battle to fight, yet you did, and admirably so. I'm proud of what you managed that night. Ozpin would be too if he was still with us. And I'm sure that your partner would be proudest of all."
That took what little fight I had left out of me. It didn't make me feel any better; any less angry. But it buried it back down under an uncomfortable apathy. I was too tired to shout anymore; far too tired to try and convince the professor what a failure I was.
So I just slumped back into the chair behind me.
Ms. Goodwitch drew her riding crop and waved it and the table was repaired right before me. The dent was erased and the food scraped back into unbroken bowls and placed on the counter.
It was like my outburst hadn't even happened; like nothing had changed.
The front door rattled and I forced myself to put on a good face. I didn't want either of them to see me in such a pitiful state if I could help it.
"Where is he!?" I heard Nora shout before the door suddenly slammed open.
I scarcely had time to stand or respond, before she found me and tackled me out of my chair.
"You're okay!" She happily shouted right into my ear as she pulled me into a crushing hug.
"Define okay…" I croaked as I struggled to hug her back.
She squeezed me even tighter, "Not dead!"
"I'll give you some privacy, I'm sure you have a lot to talk about." Ms. Goodwitch replied.
As the professor walked away, Nora finally detached herself from me allowing us both to stand back up.
"Did you sleep well?" She asked with a teasing smile.
"Like a baby. You look like you've been busy though." I replied.
Her face and arms were dusted a light brown and there were visible sweat tracks.
"Hehe, yeah. I need a shower. Don't go anywhere, okay?"
"Where would I even go?"
She shrugged and bounced her way upstairs.
"You should be thankful that she didn't think to drag you up there with her just so she didn't have to let go."
I turned and Ren had decided to finally announce himself.
"I'm so thankful, most of all to you for stepping in to help me." I sarcastically replied.
"Hey, I did my part. Who do you think she turned to while you were napping?" he smirked. "It's good to see you again Jaune."
"Well, it's only been maybe an hour for me. But yeah, same to you."
There was a moment of uncomfortable quiet where I don't think either of us knew who was to step up first. I think we both had questions, but without Nora around we both settled on finding our seats.
Eventually, though, I decided to at least get the ball rolling.
"So what have you been up to? Nora was covered in dirt but you're completely clean." I asked.
"Work is the short answer. I'm something of an intern for the Vale council. Officially I'm more like a bodyguard in the event of a Grimm attack. But when that's not the case I'm organizing files and running errands if they ask me to. Most of the time, they're happy just to have me around. Having a huntsman around means a lot for them, even if I'm not doing anything." Ren explained.
"Right, and Nora is – what? – too noisy to work there?" I joked.
Ren smiled.
"Maybe true, but that's not it. I wanted something a bit relaxed so I could focus on other things. Nora wanted something that was going to keep her busy and tire her out. So she's been working with demolition and construction. If someone needs a building taken down without dust, Nora is in there with her hammer. When they need someone to do the heavy lifting she's there for that too."
"Why aren't both of you just hunting Grimm? You said there's a risk of Grimm attacks, right? Surely there must be plenty of hunting jobs?"
"The option was there. We could have joined other teams to create a five or six-man squad. But we both preferred to have it this way."
"You couldn't have gone out by yourselves? You guys used to go hunting like that all the time."
Ren sighed.
"Well, first I guess there's a big difference between a pair and a trio. But more pressingly, the danger rating of the forests is way higher than it used to be. There's a lot of Grimm out there and different territories overlap. If we aren't careful we can attract a lot of Grimm all at once. And if we lure them back to town that creates even more problems. Only groups of four or more are allowed to take on missions now."
"I see," I replied.
Ren quirked an eyebrow at me.
"You don't seem particularly phased by the news."
"Eh, I mean. It's bad and all. But it won't affect us for long now, right?"
Ren shifted in his seat a little.
"I'm not sure I follow you. These aren't issues that are just going to blow over."
"No, I know I know. But we're not going to be in Vale for much longer now that I'm up; are we?"
"Oh! The professor must have told you about team RWBY. I didn't realize you'd want to visit them so soon."
"Weiss will be happy though. She was asking about you and whether you were okay. Yang was a little tied up with her sister and partner being the way they were, but I'm sure she'll be happy to hear it too."
"I wasn't talking about them. I'm talking about when we go after Cinder." I stated. "I'm sure you've already got some information from the professors, so now that I'm up, all we need to do is pack our things."
Ren looked at me with a studious look in his eyes.
"I don't think that's a particularly wise decision." Ren finally replied after several seconds of deliberation.
"What's that supposed to mean exactly?"
"What I mean, is that I don't think going after her is a good idea. Or at least, I don't think us going after her is a good idea. I especially think that doing it so soon is a mistake." Ren carefully explained.
"If not us, then who is? There aren't exactly a lot of options here. All of this is supposed to be a secret, so they can't just send any old huntsman. Glynda is probably staying in Vale and Qrow is with Ruby. The general is a traitor. Oz is dead. I don't know anyone else who knows about all of this. So it has to be us."
"I'm sure that they've got it under control."
"Are you? Have you asked?"
"Asked what?" Nora asked as she came down the stairs and joined the conversation.
She took a seat next to Ren and kissed him on the cheek as she did.
"Welcome home by the way Renny. So what are we talking about?"
The interaction shook me for a second, but this topic was something I wasn't about to drop for that. It needed to be addressed right now. Unfortunately, my temporary delay gave Ren the chance to take the initiative.
"Jaune is of the impression that we should be getting ready to go after Cinder." He stated.
"Which we should be," I added.
"You don't really think that, do you? You almost died last time." Nora replied.
"I almost won." I disagreed. "She had every advantage that time. I was running on fumes and Pyrrha had been fighting her alone for ages and we nearly came out on top even then. This time I'll be fresh and we can get the drop on her instead of being led around by the nose."
"Is that how you really see it?" Ren asked. "Because it feels like you're ignoring a few things here. For starters, the maiden powers – and yes, we were finally told about those – were split 50/50 between her and Pyrrha at that time. She's at least twice as strong now and we don't have Pyrrha. Second, she fought you three on one with Ruby there at the end, from what we heard at least. If we go after her now, she'll have her team there."
"I fought her team this time too-"
"You fought them away from her and I'm pretty sure one of them didn't fight at all. Don't two of them have illusion Semblances? Cinder did all this by herself; you couldn't split your attention even if you were to fight them at full strength."
"Okay. Fine." I relented. "Then we go after her allies first. That's what she did to us. We take out her team one by one until we can get her alone, then we strike."
"Ignoring for a moment that you're talking about killing someone like its business as usual. You're still forgetting that Cinder is going to be twice as powerful as when you fought her this time. And if you have been targeting her team, she'll be ready for you." Ren reminded.
I scratched my head in frustration. Why was he fighting this so much?
"Then we do what we did to Adam. We get Weiss and the others involved. With her time-control Semblance thing, we hit her hard and fast before she has a chance to react. I know from experience that she isn't immune to sneak attacks. Her powers don't mean anything if she is dead before she can use them."
"Jaune… I thought you didn't like killing?" Nora asked.
She sounded upset. What about this was upsetting? I'm getting fired up just thinking about it.
"I have no issue killing monsters. We're hunters; that's what we do."
Ren and Nora looked at each other, then back to me. Some unspoken message went over my head.
"They might have done some horrible things, but they're still human. It's easy to see them as otherwise, but-"
"Fine. They're still human. They're mass-murdering, psychopathic, 'humans'. Does it matter? They need to be put down and I'm more than happy to do it. Aren't you? She killed Pyrrha. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
My voice was beginning to rise and I wasn't quite able to rein it in before making Nora flinch.
"Of course it does-"
"Then what? I don't get it! Has a single week been enough for you to just get over what happened?" I asked.
My body felt warm. A heat was beginning to seep through me from my very core. I could feel it burning up to the tips of my ears.
"We aren't just getting over it. We're trying to move forward-"
"Fuck moving forward! We should be out there right now trying to find her and do what's right. Frankly, until she pays for what she did, there is no moving forward. How can Pyrrha mean so little-"
"Don't you dare!" Nora shouted. "You don't have the monopoly on having loved her. Pyrrha was like a sister to me. She was family where I never had one. So don't you dare accuse us not caring enough."
"Do you think she'd want us going after her like this?" Ren asked. "Pyrrha was a lot of things, but she wasn't someone who'd want to be avenged. She'd rather see us be happy."
"Please promise me... that you'll live a long and happy life." The memory of Pyrrha's voice echoed in my mind.
"And I don't see how this sudden obsession of yours will make you happy. I get it, I understand it. You're angry, you want revenge. I know how that feels because I've been there. I spent my first few days furious with myself for not being able to do anything against Adam. I threw myself into training with every spare moment I could get trying to come up with an answer for my weakness. But even when I found one, it didn't get better. If you go down that path, it won't lead you to happiness. It'll just lead to more and more bloodshed, most likely yours."
As Ren ranted that warmth transformed into a crackling electrifying heat. It didn't take long to realize what the source of it all was.
It was my aura. I could feel it bubbling out of me, out of the center of my being like a pot boiling over. I had no control over it as it seeped into my muscles, drawing out more and more of my strength. I had no control over it when my aura shield seemed to activate in patches over my body. I had no control over the energy that danced between my fingertips, begging to be released.
"So why don't you take a step back for now and think things through? We can talk about what happened that night. The professor can pick a good job for you to do to keep you busy. Then once we've all thought things through we can look at this all again. The professors and Qrow and everyone else will surely want to get to the bottom of all this eventually. When the time comes, we can help them then. What do you think?"
"No." I outright declined. "I have no interest in waiting for them to come here when they're ready. Enough time has been wasted, so as soon as I find out where to go, I'm leaving."
"Ugh…" Ren uncharacteristically sighed. "Now isn't the time to be headstrong Jaune. Think about what we've been through a little, would you? Nora has been worrying about you nonstop. You said you were going to be right behind us. Then the next we see you is when Qrow is dragging your broken body into the hospital. If you do this, we're going to lose you all over again."
Nora nodded in agreement.
"That's what this is about then? It's got nothing to do with wanting to move forward or being happy. You just don't think I can do it."
"Don't twist my words," Ren replied.
"Well, you tell me then. Do you believe in me or not?"
"Of course we believe in you…" Nora answered.
But…?
"… But there's a limit, even for you." Ren added.
I stood up out of my seat, done with the conversation.
"Maybe so, but I still have to. You might've been able to, but there is no moving forward from this for me. Not until I set things right. Pyrrha was it, she was everything. And now she's gone. And for that Cinder dies."
I was right on the edge of blowing up and I didn't want them to be nearby when it happened.
"I need to burn off some steam, so I'm leaving. When I get back, I'm asking the professor what she knows. If you're not ready to join me after that, I'll go by myself."
I turned to leave and Ren reached out and grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back.
"Let go," I warned.
"No. You kept us in the dark long enough back then, you owe us this. We're going to talk this out like a team is supposed to."
"What is there to talk about!? Do you think talking is going to bring anyone back? It's sure as shit not going to bring down Cinder!" I shouted, slapping his hand away. "Maybe you just want to talk about how if I'd been stronger I could have saved her? How if I'd been smarter I could have seen it coming and not pressured her into going through with the transfer when we knew the enemy was making their move? How if I'd been a more convincing leader I could have talked everyone out of the stupid decisions we all made? I get that you think I'm a shitty leader. You know what? I don't blame you. I'm pathetic."
The floorboards beneath me cracked as all the energy that had been building broke free of my control. Ren and Nora stepped away from the sudden outburst of energy. Personally, though, it was a release of the tension I'd been feeling. The relief distracted me from the fervor I had been building.
"That's why I have to do this." I tiredly continued after reigning my aura back in. "Because if I don't, all of those regrets I have will never go away. If I can't make things right I'll never be anything more than the pathetic leader who let his girlfriend die."
Ren hesitantly reached out and put his hand back on my shoulder. Not to hold me in place; just to let me know he was there.
"The talking is the point. We can't change what happened. And maybe we can't change what's coming. But if we can at least help each other even the slightest bit, then it's all worth it."
"You don't have to do this alone anymore. You don't have to keep us in the dark." Nora added as she stood up to join us. "Let us help you Jaune."
I sighed, deflating as the tension that had been keeping me going ran out.
"I have to do this…" I repeated. "I know you think I shouldn't, but if I don't… I need to know you guys won't keep trying to stop me."
Nora and Ren looked at each other, unsure how to respond.
"How about we wait until Ruby and the others are back in Vale? It would be safer… And I'm sure they want to do the right thing, just like you're trying to." Ren suggested.
"I…"
I didn't know how long that was going to be. How long does it take to recover from the loss of an arm? I didn't know if I could wait that long.
"Let's talk more tomorrow," I suggested tiredly.
Nora and Ren seemed happy enough with the idea.
/-/
We'd all decided that after that much conflict, we needed something a bit more relaxed.
As such I found myself sitting on a couch watching some old martial arts movie that Nora put on.
The couch was only fit for two people at a stretch, so Nora had decided to let us sit down and then use us as her couch. Her legs were hanging off the end while her head was placed in my lap; the rest of her was firmly in Ren's lap.
It was comfortable, in a sense. Not a physical one, but still.
"So we kind of glossed over it, but you guys are a thing now, yeah?" I asked.
Nora tensed and Ren laughed.
"You know?" she asked.
I joined Ren.
"Was I not supposed to? You kind of gave it away seconds after seeing him."
"She was worried you'd feel awkward, or that it would be a reminder. She wanted to try and keep things under wraps for a while." Ren explained.
"Well, she messed that up." She pouted and I laughed again. "I'd prefer it if you guys didn't try and hold back on my account. That would make me feel more awkward than anything. Losing Pyrrha was my fault; you guys shouldn't have to tiptoe around me because of that."
"It wasn't your-"
"Let's not. I think we've had enough of that discussion. You guys are fine. Hell, it's good to see it. We all wanted you guys to finally get together." I interrupted. "How did it happen?"
"It's a recent thing," Nora replied.
Ren nodded, "We were talking. About you, and Pyrrha, and what happened. It certainly wasn't something that either of us had expected to instigate. It had been about what we regretted, what we were going to miss."
"We never really tried to compete with her the way you did. We all thought your fight was pretty amazing. That was who she was, you know?" Nora explained.
I nodded understandingly. Fighting Pyrrha was an experience of its own. She became someone else in the moment.
"We regretted not ever trying to bond with her like that. She probably would have enjoyed it."
"She would have. Our fight had been special to her almost in the same way that our whole relationship was. You would have had to work for it though."
"I'm sure we would have." Nora giggled. "Anyway… we were talking about that, and then Mr. Romance over here started talking about how he didn't want to have regrets like that again."
"I still don't know how what I said led to what happened." Ren shrugged.
"Oh please, you knew what you were doing. You should've seen him Jaune. He held my hand, looked me in the eyes, and said, 'I don't want to let opportunities pass my by anymore'." She imitated Ren in a way that sounded way more cheesy than anything I thought he was capable of. "He was so… dreamy."
"Why do I feel like I'm one of your girlfriends at a slumber party? This is girl-talk if I ever heard it." I jokingly complained.
"Are you not?" she asked, laughing when I shoved her. "Anyway, so I jumped him."
I snorted. Ren sighed.
"You what?!" I asked after recovering.
"I couldn't help it. I thought he was giving me a sign. I jumped him, sue me."
"She literally jumped me by the way. Tackled me off the bed and nearly broke my teeth with hers. In the shock, I didn't put up my aura between my head and the bedside table's corner. I genuinely lost consciousness." Ren explained.
I couldn't believe it, yet at the same time, I totally could.
"I've always known I was a knock-out." She stated with utter seriousness.
I groaned at the pun and she cackled like a madwoman.
"Anyway, once he woke up and I explained what happened, he asked if I wanted to try that without the tackle. It was all very sweet."
"And here we are," Ren stated.
"And here we are." I agreed. "Why were you holding off so much anyway Ren? Sorry to say it, but I already knew Nora liked you from a while back."
"I didn't want to ruin what we had."
"That's it?" I asked.
"That's it." He answered.
"Ren…" I paused. "You're an idiot."
Nora boosted herself off my lap and wrapped her arms around Ren's neck.
"But he's my idiot now." She cooed.
"I'm not-" Ren started.
"You totally are. But don't worry, Pyrrha thought I was too. It's not all bad."
Ren let his head drop in mock shame as he accepted his new lot in life and Nora and I both laughed.
"I'm going to get some water, you guys want anything?" I asked as I hopped off the couch.
Ren shook his head and Nora continued poking fun at Ren, I took her lack of response as a no.
I headed into the kitchen to grab myself a glass and realized that the floor had been fixed up.
Glynda must have come through earlier. I should probably apologize for breaking so much stuff.
I quietly walked down the hall to not attract any attention. They were in a good mood at the moment and we weren't fighting. I didn't want to drag them back to that moment if I didn't have to.
"Ms. Goodwitch? It's Jaune." I announced as I quietly knocked on her door.
It opened by itself, revealing the professor at a desk behind a stack of papers.
"Come in." she welcomed.
I looked around and while this room was far smaller, it looked similar to her old office. Half of the room of course served as a living space with a bed and several cupboards. But aside from that, it was all desks and drawers.
"I wanted to apologize about the floor and say thanks for fixing it. I think you were right about my aura being unstable in my sleep because it was acting weird. It just kind of exploded on me."
"It's fine. I had been expecting worse after the stunt with the table prior." She said with a slight smirk.
"I suppose I should apologize for that too…"
"Perhaps, but do not let it bother you. Given the circumstances, I think you can be forgiven."
"Thanks…"
She continued writing for a little while as I awkwardly shuffled my fight. Now that I was here, I did have another question, but I wasn't sure if it was even a good idea to ask.
"Just ask." She suddenly stated as if reading my mind. "You clearly have something on your mind. I can always choose not to answer if you offend me in some way."
What does she think I'm going to ask?
"Ren said that you guys had everything under control. That you wanted to get to the bottom of what happened. And that in time you'd ask for our help to finish things. I was hoping maybe you could fill me in. I… I think if you'd told me everything from the start that things might have gone differently. I'd like to know anything you learn as soon as you learn it." I explained.
"Would I be correct in assuming this isn't about the state of the town and its people?" she asked.
I nodded.
"I'm talking about Cinder and the general. And anything else you know that's attached to them and the maidens and anything else that Oz was keeping from me. He's gone now, which means I guess I'm not his apprentice anymore. But I think I still deserve to know."
"You do." She agreed.
"Then-"
"But there isn't anything I can tell you just yet." She interrupted.
"How can there not be?" I asked.
"There are two reasons. The first is that anything I could tell you, we haven't confirmed. The second is that anything we do know for certain should be told to you by someone else. Someone who has all the details instead of just most of them." She explained.
"So you don't know where Cinder is?"
"We have suspicions and we are working on seeing if they are correct."
"And the general?"
"He is definitely in Atlas. But any information about his movement is impossible to gain without distance communications."
"…And there aren't any more secrets about magic or fairy tales?"
Glynda paused to put down her pen and look me in the eyes with her utmost attention.
"There are." She quickly raised a hand to stop me from speaking. "But I can't be the one to tell you. It is too soon, and not my right. All I can say is that you have my word that you will be informed by that person in the not too distant future. And that if he chooses to withhold anything from you, I shall break my oath and tell you myself."
"You swore an oath over this?" I asked.
"And not just one bound by words. Ozpin has… experience that we all lacked. He has been involved with the maidens for a long time. It shouldn't be too hard to believe that he learned a few things along the way that were of a… magical nature. The oath we swore was one of secrecy, even from those we knew he would one day choose. Until he brings them into the fold, we can't share what we know lest we suffer the consequences."
"So then how am I ever going to find out? He's dead." I frustratedly asked.
Glynda paused, and then stopped completely to consider her words very carefully.
"There are systems in place for that." She finally answered.
"Fine. I'll trust you for now, if you can promise me that nothing bad will come of me not knowing what you do now."
"I promise."
"And you promise to tell me whenever you learn anything about Cinder or any other leads?" I confirmed.
"I do. But progress is slow. I can't promise I will have news for you soon."
"How long are we talking?"
"Well, the next report should be in a few weeks to a month-"
"What?!" I nearly shouted. I forced myself to quiet down lest I alert the others.
I shut the door behind myself.
"I-We can't wait that long. She's going to get away if something isn't done sooner."
"We're doing what we can. We have other responsibilities to think of too. We can't allow Vale to fall any further than it has. If Vale was in a better spot, maybe things would be different and we could dedicate more time to searching. But until then, we have to play safe. If we confirm our path first with utmost certainty, we won't waste any resources."
"Then let me help. You've got Ren working as a secretary and Nora doing repairs. As useful as it might be, you won't save Vale that way. Whether it's Grimm or White Fang, put me in the right direction and I'll clear them out."
The professor looked as if she was about to decline, but she caught herself before she spoke.
"What? I'll take any job, I don't care how dangerous." I urged. "So long as it gets us closer to catching her, I'll do anything."
"Alright then Mr. Arc, you've got yourself a deal."