RWBY: The Redeemer
Oh, finally I can update this stuff. Let's see if I can upate... My other projects.
Beta-read by SkyRig
Chapter 35: D.D.D. (V)
Claude and Coco were standing in front of the entrance leading to the underground basement, the final place they needed to search for the strange Creature of Grimm they encountered earlier.
"Here we are." Coco spoke, trying to break the tense atmosphere. "I can practically feel that thing prowling and gnashing inside there. Are you sure you don't want to just barricade this room and let that Grimm rots away?"
Claude snorted in a mild amusement, "With what? The server mainframe? Computer? The chairs? Furniture? Not only are we lacking hands and time to do that, they're more likely crumbling down to dust before the Grimm could smash through them."
"...How about leveling this whole building? The room is underground." Coco suggested.
Claude raised an eyebrow this time, "...Are you seriously suggesting that? Not only we don't have any explosives, blowing this place up can cause a chain reaction that might collapse the whole cave system on our heads."
Coco could only grumble, "Sorry, I guess it's desperation talking."
Claude sighed, "Keep your head in the game, Coco. As long as that creature is still around, our chance of getting out of this place is next to impossible."
The girl took one deep breath before nodding, "Got it. Then let's do this, teach."
Claude then took a spot right next to the door, with Coco preparing herself right before the entrance, already knowing what followed. The man took one more deep breath before he nodded at her, and Coco proceeded to kick the door open, allowing Claude to immediately slip into the dark room.
Coco followed right behind him, pointing the Mjolnir Mk. II across the room, searching for her target. Claude himself was looking around with his sword at the ready.
It was a very tense silence for a good few minutes, as Claude and Coco stood back to back, scanning their surroundings with limited visuals, with the humming noise of a generator permeating the room.
Anxious could not even begin to describe Coco's current feelings. The enclosed space was already bad enough, she jumped whenever she thought she caught something moving at the corner of her eyes. Her Gianduja had become useless, her currently borrowed weapon was low on ammo too.
Claude was calmer than Coco, but there was still the sense of trepidation that nagged on his mind.
As they traversed further to the middle of the room, they heard it.
It was a brief, ominous growl - Claude and Coco did not even waste a second to look up, and the Grimm, which had been hanging by the ceiling, immediately descended on them.
The two had to split up to avoid the Grimm crushing them outright, and upon landing, the creature immediately turned towards Coco, who did not hesitate to point her gun and empty its ammo on it.
The mutated Grimm weathered the bullets as it charged at Coco with its claws ready to tear her apart. Coco managed to dodge the first swing, but the Grimm was able to land the second blow that sent her flying into a wall.
The creature turned just in time to find Claude had already jumped and thrusted his blade at it. Due to the Grimm shifting in the last second, the strike that was originally meant for its neck ended up landing on its shoulder; it was far from fatal to the Grimm with such a size, but it was enough to force the Grimm to roar in pain.
Claude did not waste another second and pumped his Semblance into the sword that had been buried itself into the monster's flesh, trying to fry it from inside-out.
The Grimm roared more in agony as its orifice and holes were brimming with electricity discharges. However, what really worried Claude was the fact the Grimm was still screaming - meaning it was still alive.
Claude himself also roared to increase his power output.
Much to his surprise, however - albeit with difficulty, the Grimm was able to get a hold on his frame and proceed to yank him off its top, before it threw him until he crashed into one of the generators.
Sparks flew around as Claude's frame crashed the machines, and he suddenly had to fend off the Grimm that was already trying to bite his head off.
Coco was still recovering, massaging her sore spots from the earlier impact; Claude then used the opportunity to unleash his secret weapon.
The Grimm then was blasted with the power of Claude's silver eyes in point-blank range.
Coco watched a brief light illuminating the entire room, accompanied by the Grimm's shrieking.
However, a few seconds later, Claude was flabbergasted to see the Grimm before him did not turn into dust. Still, the creature's onslaught weakened enough for him to push it away with a well-placed kick.
"What the fuck…?" Claude muttered in disbelief; the creature was heavily injured - some bits of its body were falling apart, and its regeneration did not seem to kick in, as far as Claude could see.
Still, whatever mutation that the Grimm went through - it had given him a certain form of resistance to the power of Silver Eyes.
Then again, now was not the time to muse in new discovery - no matter how disturbing; they were trapped in a room with only one way out, and the Grimm was seemingly on its last leg.
Gathering the remaining stamina he had left, with his silver eyes still glowing, Claude then focused to end the abomination once and for all.
The Grimm, despite its injuries, was already up and ready when Claude was charging. However, it received several shots to its head and sides, forcing its attention towards Coco who had finally returned to her feet, with the smoking muzzle of Mjolnir Mk. II aimed at the creature.
The momentary distraction was all it took for Claude to land a solid, vertical slash across the Grimm's frame. The cut that went from Grimm's head-down was supposed to be enough to deal a fatal damage, but Claude would not risk anything after seeing its regenerative ability.
Coco could only watch as the mutant Grimm - clinging on life, trying to gain distance while throwing counters at Claude's attacks every now and then, as the man's onslaught had caused quite collateral damage whenever they missed their marks.
However, what truly caught her eyes was the way Claude moved while going after the Grimm - his footwork, every footsteps while he was running, leaping, parrying and dodging… It was either the exhaustion or the light head trauma that messed with her brain, but Coco could swear that Claude was like…. Dancing.
Theorists and society once believed that the Creatures of Grimm were savage, mindless lifeforms whose sole purpose and intentions were to eradicate humans and faunus alike. However, numerous field observations and case studies had proven that theory to be not completely true.
With time and experience, the Grimm could gain knowledge, learn like humans they preyed on, albeit how fast they could learn was still debatable. And by gaining knowledge, it was only a matter of eventuality when the Grimm would learn and emulate basic emotions.
So far, however, the emotions that scholars had seen from the Creatures of Grimm had been the aggressive and negative ones.
Any attempts to study these aspects were halted, due to Grimm's peculiar nature of dying within a short period of captivity, and scholars were still unable to determine the cause of such phenomena.
Back to present - there was a certain Grimm that had spent long enough time, gained enough experience in preying on humans, even run-ins with a good number of huntsmen. It learned to recognize which ones it could easily prey on, and which it should be cautious on.
Long story short, after surviving and growing stronger, the Grimm was soon captured and studied on, being confined was unable to kill itself for some reason.
Within captivity, however, the Grimm was able to learn quite a lot of new things, and it knew that whatever the humans had done to it had made it stronger, more powerful.
It felt like it could face anything, thus it decided to bid his time, waiting for the time when it could go free and showed the world the destruction it could wrought upon them.
It did not know how long, but eventually, it was freed; and the first living thing it encountered was a female human and another one with the accursed eyes.
They both could serve as its testing subjects.
However, here it was - being cornered as the one with the accursed eyes inflicted considerable damage with their powers - powers that were as ancient as the age of the gods.
The first emotion it registered within itself, after over decades of long-life, was anger. It would not go down without a fight, hence it resisted and would kill the accursed eyes.
However, as the Grimm kept glaring at those eyes, it registered another emotion.
Fear.
Fear of those accursed eyes, the eyes of those who had hunted its brethren down since immemorial.
Not to mention - silver eyes or not, the prey was still a mere human. He would eventually tire himself out. The Grimm did not understand how to count for time, but it knew enough that quite a while had passed.
Why won't he stop? Why won't he go down? WHY WON'T HE DIE?!
The Grimm then leapt high and latched itself on the ceiling, aiming to gain some time and distance, but much to its chagrin, the human had already leapt after it as well, with the blade ready to strike, forcing it to leap off and began the cat and mouse chase anew.
Meanwhile, Claude did not relent as he did not stop giving chase; his silver eyes had inflicted a significant injury, and he only needed to keep the pressure on before the Grimm could recover.
He and the Grimm just leapt off the ceiling, with the former hot on the latter; the creature was getting desperate, and when your opponent got desperate, the battle was coming to a close. At this point, the mutated Grimm had turned its back on it, leaving many openings for Claude to land the killing blow.
However, Claude was caught by surprise when the mutant before him suddenly unleashed another barrage of emerald spikes like the one it did earlier.
Claude widened his eyes as time seemed to slow down around him. Should he evade? But doing so would risk him losing momentum, and giving the mutant grimm the opportunity to recover. Push through - could he do that, considering the odds?
Claude did not even need a second to decide.
Coco's eyes widened as Claude pushed through the barrage; deflecting every projectile he could with his sword, while some of the spikes managed to hit his frame and lodge themselves in Claude's thighs, shoulder and arm, as soon as his Aura was broken through.
"CLAUDE!" the girl shouted in worry and horror.
Gritting through the pain and exhaustion, Claude gave one last dash at the creature, who looked as if it did not expect its prey to push through his attacks - given that most of the time everything it faced always, either fled or died after receiving such wounds.
It was too late for the Grimm to retaliate further as Claude's blade landed on its neck, and the man roared while throwing a horizontal arc, separating the monster's head from its body.
"Claude!" Coco immediately ran towards the prone Claude on the floor. When she was close enough, she noticed that Claude was already in the middle of pulling out the spikes that pierced his body.
"Whoa, easy there…" Coco was expecting some bleeding, but much to her astonishment, the puncture wounds were gradually closing as Claude took several deep breaths. "What the hell…?"
"...Hey, Coco." Claude greeted with a tired smile. "You good there?"
"That should've been my line." Coco remarked as she knelt down to examine the healing wounds. "Is this…. Your Semblance doing?"
Claude nodded as he sighed, "Kind of, it's part of the entire package, don't need to think too much about it. More importantly… I got that thing, didn't I?"
Coco gave a small smile as she nodded, "You sure did, teach. You lopped its head off…" When she turned her head, she did not expect the Grimm carcass had yet to disintegrate. "Okay… That's surely taking its time to die for real."
"It sure is… Rather, it's taking too long." Claude commented with a narrowed look. He then turned to see the creature's severed head, which also had yet to vanish.
"Uh… Claude?"
Coco's voice made Claude turned to see the Grimm's body pulsing in a green glow, and a few seconds later, the pulsing began more frantic as its body started to bulge around, as if something was about to burst from its inside.
Claude then turned to see the severed head giving similar conditions, and back to the body that kept pulsing and bulging out more frantically.
"Get clear!" he decided not to chance it as he and Coco immediately turned and ran, just in time when the carcass exploded.
The explosion was not dissimilar to standard hand-grenade, but considering the space and the distance between the two and the explosion, Coco and Claude were still knocked off their feet by the shockwave of the blast.
When they got up, they discovered that the explosion, combined with the damage from the battle, had triggered a chain reaction within the generator room, as the machineries began to unleash several sparks and short-circuited.
"Run for it!" Adrenaline began pumping as Claude ran along with Coco, despite the exhaustion from using his Silver Eyes.
The chain reaction from the generator spread throughout the factory, as the building began to shake when Coco and Claude approached the main lobby. The building had begun to catch fire when they both ran past the exits.
They were safe for a short while, as it was a matter of time until the building behind them began to fall apart.
"Where do we go now?!" Coco asked as Claude knelt down to take a breath.
Claude then looked at the path where he and Coco came from originally - there was only one possible destination. "There!"
Coco was too panicked as her claustrophobia acted up, and she immediately helped Claude towards the entrance.
However, upon reaching the entrance, an indescribable feeling washed over them.
The first thing they noticed was the sudden shift in the air, like how you stepped into an air-conditioned room to avoid the blistering hot weather. The second thing was the sheer darkness they dived into - the cavern was dark when they got in, but not this dark. Even when their eyes were supposed to adapt to the poor lighting around them, they were still walking in blind.
Then, a few seconds of walking blind later, they were greeted with a sudden bright, flash of light hitting their faces, along with the fresh air. When Claude and Coco blinked their eyes, they found themselves outside, on the clearing inside the woods near the Lower Cairn, with the afternoon sky looming over them.
"What the fuck…?" Coco could not believe what just happened.
Claude on the other hand, immediately separated himself from Coco who was still trying to process the happening, and began to scan his surroundings. Ignoring the exhaustion, he looked around as if he was trying to find someone.
Claude could not have mistaken the phenomenon that just took place, he knew that Semblance anywhere.
"...Claude?"
The man blinked and turned to see Coco looking at him worriedly. "You okay there?"
Claude looked down for a second before he closed his eyes and smiled, "Yes…. Yeah, I'm good. What about you?"
"Never better." Coco replied with a sigh. "I don't know what just happened, but damn, am I just glad that we're out of that shithole."
"Hear, hear." Claude nodded, before he and Coco heard the humming sound hovering above them.
They looked up to see the Bullhead with the rest of team CFVY and Peter waving at them. Coco was never happier to see her team again, and Claude waved back at a relieved-looking Peter and Griswald.
The journey back to Beacon went off without a hitch, as team CFVY spent the whole trip sleeping, leaning on each other while Peter, Griswald and Claude remained quiet to relax themselves as well.
Upon arrival - Ozpin, Oobleck and Glynda were the first ones to greet them on the landing docks.
"Welcome back, huntsmen." Ozpin made sure to meet every eyes of team CFVY, Claude and Peter while speaking. "Team CFVY, Professor Leicester, Claude, and Peter. It's truly delightful to see all of you return safe and sound. The mission on Lower Cairn did not go as well as intended, but from the survivors' witnesses that you managed to rescue, I say not all is lost."
Team CFVY looked as if they felt a tad better by the headmaster's speech. Meanwhile, Claude glanced at the other two teachers - Barty, for some reason, looked slightly too relieved upon seeing him. Claude could have sworn he caught a ghost of a smile appearing on Glynda's face before her face returned to her usual one that demanded respect.
"...I believe you must be tired from your journey. I can leave your reports and debriefing waiting until all of you have made complete recovery. Dismiss, everyone; you have done well."
The teachers then began to walk towards the main building. However, Claude, who happened to fall behind, was stopped when he heard someone's footsteps behind him.
"Hey, Claude! Wait up!"
Claude turned around to see Coco approaching him, "...What is it, Coco?"
"Well, I… Didn't get to thank you yet, about everything earlier." Coco said while averting her face away, which Claude did not expect coming from her usual confident attitude.
Nonetheless, Claude gave an easy smile, "That was no problem, Coco. Look alive; just be glad that you can still return home with your team in one piece."
Coco chuckled, "...Fair enough. Say, there is this dance party coming in a few days… Are you coming?"
Claude pursed his lips, "Well… I'd love to come, but I can't make promises. I might have to run an errand from Oz during the dance."
Coco quirked an eyebrow, "Really? A job on the night of the party? Can't you ask him for a leave or something?"
"I'm afraid not, Coco. But again, I said 'might', so I can still come if I'm free."
"Hm… I see." Coco hummed as if in thought, before she looked up towards Claude again, "So… assuming that you're coming to the dance… Have you prepared a suit?"
Claude blinked at the question, "Well… No, but now that you mentioned it, I guess there's no harm in preparing one. Well, I guess I'm gonna hit the town to get some new suit later." He said with a nonchalant shrug.
"Want me to come with you?" Coco suddenly asked, before her expression went bashfully awkward, "I mean, y'know, as thanks for earlier, I can help you pick up a new suit. My family owns a boutique, remember? I know one thing or two about fashion."
Claude did not really expect the eagerness in Coco's tone, but he did not think much of it in the end, "Um… If that's not too much trouble, maybe? Are you sure? What about your team?"
"They'll be fine." Coco waved off, "I've already made arrangements with them about the dance before we went on the mission. So we're pretty much set up. What do you say, teach? Having an expert in fashion like me to help you pick up clothes without charge, doesn't sound like a bad deal, does it?"
Seeing her grin, Claude had no more reason to refuse. "...If you say so, I guess I'll take up your offer."
"Great!" Coco's grin became brighter.
However, before Coco and Claude could have discussed time and place, a red comet suddenly rammed into Claude, knocking an air out of him as he was knocked to the ground.
"CLAUDE!"
As his back hit the ground, Claude recognised the voice. He looked down to see Ruby's tearful face looking up at him, as she laid on top of his body.
"Ruby?" Claude blinked, before he heard more footsteps coming his way.
"I'm so worried! What took you so long?!" Ruby cried as she buried her face into Claude's chest.
Claude blinked at his niece's outburst before his hand slowly reached out and ran through her locks, caressing her head gently.
"Ruby!"
Claude slowly got up, with Ruby still latching on to him, to see the rest of team RWBY approaching.
"For goodness' sake, Ruby! None of us can move as fast as you!" Weiss came chiding, before she turned to nod politely at Claude, "...Mr. Rose."
"Weiss." Claude returned in kind. He then turned to address the rest of the first-years. "What's up, girls?"
"Good to see you back, Mr. Rose." Blake nodded with a cordial smile.
"Hello, Blake. Yang." Claude greeted the 'B' and 'Y' of the team.
"Sorry about Ruby, Claude. She's been worried sick ever since we heard about what happened with your mission. All of us were worried too." Yang explained, but Claude could not help but notice that the blonde's smile was not the usual friendly, confident smile she usually wore; this one felt more…. Happy? Relieved?
Claude glanced at Blake, who knowingly shrugged in return, as her head slightly jerked at her partner, confirming that Yang was possibly, just as worried, if not more so than Ruby.
The young girl was quite distraught over his new being temporarily MIA.
"Look, I'm sorry for worrying you. I'm back now, see?" Claude tried to placate his young niece.
"If you're sorry…" Ruby muttered before she met his uncle's eyes with her own, "Then you better make it up! Are you coming to the dance?"
"Err…" Claude rolled his eyes until his gaze met with Coco, who had been watching awkwardly from the side. "Yes?"
"Okay, then you're forgiven! Make sure to show up!" Ruby beamed as she finally let her uncle go. Only by then she realised that the second-year student was present. "Oh, hey, Coco! What's up, how's the mission?"
Coco blinked before she slightly stammered in reply, "Uh, well, the mission's fine. Exhausting, but fine. Actually, I just asked Claude if he needs my help to pick up his suit for the dance."
"Is that so…?" Ruby gave Coco a scrutinizing look for some reason, causing the latter to shift uncomfortably. However, Ruby's face quickly broke into a smile, "Okay, then! I'll leave it to you! Please find something nice for Claude!"
Coco blinked and felt somewhat relieved as she smiled at Ruby. "Yeah, you can leave that to me, kiddo. Besides, you girls have been picking up my team's job for the dance, so let me pay it off by dressing your teacher up."
"Yup! Oh, I gotta tell Jaune and the others that you've returned! See you later!" Ruby then returned to her team, "Let's go, team!"
Ruby then left, with her team in tow - Weiss only rolled her eyes, while Yang and Blake gave more good-natured reactions; at least Ruby did not leave them behind with her Semblance.
After watching team RWBY leave, Claude then turned to Coco. "Oh, right. I almost forgot to ask this. Remember about what we encountered in that cave?"
"How can I not? What about it?"
"Can you keep what we saw a secret? You can tell your team, but that's the most you can reveal." Claude asked.
"Err, you sure? What we saw back there was pretty huge, if you ask me. Shouldn't we get the word out? People might need the warning." Coco asked.
"It's sensitive information." Claude replied. "Not only we don't know if the creature we saw was the only one of its kind; that thing wasn't something people will easily believe. If we're careless, we'll only start some half-assed rumors that nobody needs during the Vytal Festival. Please, just hold on that info for yourself, at least until I discuss this with the other teachers."
Coco regarded Claude's expression for a few moments before she nodded. "...Okay, I understand. Not that I really want to talk about it in the first place, that thing's too crazy."
"Thanks, Coco. I really appreciate it." Claude nodded with a smile.
Then, the sound of throat clearing was heard, causing the two to turn and find Goodwitch was standing by with not-so-amused expression. Barty and Peter were also standing behind her with more amusement on their faces.
"Right, duty calls." Claude said as he smiled apologetically at Glynda, before he returned to Coco.
"I'll see you around, Coco. Don't be a stranger." Claude said with a quick wink.
Coco only smiled, albeit there was a faint blush on her cheek before she strode forward, tip-toed and landed a quick peck on Claude's cheek, before she ran off, "Yeah, see ya later, teach!"
Claude stared at the girl's retreating figure, still feeling the lingering sensation of her soft lips that soon vanished in seconds, before he turned to walk towards the still disapproving-looking Glynda.
"Well, at least someone realised that he's popular." the deputy quipped as she began to walk away, followed with Claude, Barty and Peter.
"Wow, salty much? You know that's probably just hormones acting out of gratitude." Claude replied, "And what's up with that tone? You nearly sound like you're jealous or something."
Glynda merely threw a narrowed look at Claude's teasing tone, which the latter knew was a sign that he should stop talking.
As the teachers continued their walk in relative silence, Peter leaned closer to whisper, "Don't worry too much, sir. If I don't know her any better, Glynda has been worrying for you more than she let on."
Claude raised an eyebrow at Peter's input as Barty followed suit, "Yes, yes, I recall she made more blunder in her paperwork during the duration of your MIA status."
The three men then chuckled until Glynda spoke.
"We are here, boys. I suggest you cut the chatter short. We have a lot to discuss with the headmaster and others."
The noise of steels clashing echoed through the room as Jaune and Pyrrha were engaging in their sparring routine.
Jaune was on the defensive under Pyrrha's mercy, but if one were to take another look, the boy was holding himself better than expected. His footing solid, he managed to alternately parry and block nearly half of his partner's strikes with his shield, and his counter attack became sharper than before.
Nonetheless, the purpose of their daily sparring was simply to keep both of them in shape - to be precise, to ensure that Jaune got more accustomed with his newly acquired skills.
Eventually, a few minutes later, Pyrrha still proved herself to be several leagues above Jaune as she went low and took Jaune's footing away, sending him to the ground.
Jaune remained on his back as the tip of Pyrrha's Milo was pointed at his neck.
"Well done, you've improved again." Pyrrha retracted her weapon and helped Jaune get back on his feet with a pleased smile on her face.
The boy groaned slightly as he stretched out his sore limbs, taking a few deep breaths and soon he could feel his Aura replenished itself.
"How is it going, kids?"
The two turned to see Claude approaching them.
"Claude!" Jaune was the first to greet him as his face brightened up, "You're back!"
"That I am." Claude replied while looking around, "Where's Nora and Ren?"
"They're…. Doing their own thing at the moment. Though I think they're in town looking for a suit and dress for the dance." Pyrrha replied.
"Oh? So they're going together, after all?" Claude asked with a mild amusement in his tone.
"Yes, though Nora will definitely deny the 'together' part if you bring it up." Jaune replied with a small chuckle.
Claude regarded Jaune and Pyrrha for a second, "Right… But let's go back to you. Pyrrha, how's your partner doing now?"
Picking up what Claude was talking about, Pyrrha straightened herself up and her smile gained a tint of pride. "He's improving, sir. Not only in terms of reflexes, his defence became more solid and harder to break through. However, what truly impresses me is his recovery rate; combined with his massive Aura reserves, I believe Jaune can be an unstoppable force on a battlefield."
"Is that so?" Claude remarked with interest in his eyes, as he eyed Jaune for a few seconds before returning to Pyrrha. "Mind explaining about the recovery rate part?"
"Well… We only finished our spar a few minutes ago; rather, not even 10 seconds after we had finished, Jaune had already replenished his entire Aura." Pyrrha smiled proudly at her partner.
"Hoh…" Claude had also gained an impressed gleam on his eyes towards Jaune, who looked pleasantly embarrassed at the credit. "That's impressive, but not that much of a surprise if I'm to be honest. As long as I can recall, the Arcs' most prominent feature is the quality of their Aura."
"Really?" Jaune blinked.
"Of course. Have you ever talked to your dad about it?" Claude asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Err… Not really." Jaune replied while scratching his cheek.
"Make time to call him while the school is not too busy thanks to the upcoming dance. Still, with the way you're going, I don't think you'd need to bother learning the Aura breathing technique." Claude said while patting Jaune's shoulder.
"Moving on, the dance is coming soon. You guys ready?"
Jaune smirked wryly while Pyrrha's smile dimmed slightly.
"Yeah… Barely; I actually almost forgot about it; thanks to the training and everything." Jaune chuckled, "Anyway, are you coming, Claude?"
Claude chose to ignore that his protege nearly forgot to have some R&R as he replied, "To be honest? It depends on the meeting I'm about to have with the other teachers…."
However, Claude paused as the memory of Ruby's face and words from earlier flashed in his mind.
"...But I'll come. Probably later, but I'll come around."
"That's great, then. Are you coming with anyone?" Pyrrha asked with a curious tone.
Claude was about to reply before he paused and tapped on his chin, "Actually, now that you mentioned it… I haven't thought about asking anyone to accompany me, or had anyone asking me either. I'm probably going solo at this rate."
"Really?" Jaune blinked, not expecting the answer. "Huh, I kind of peg you as a popular type. I mean, there was an all-girls team from Vacuo asking if you're around."
"That so?" Claude asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, around yesterday, not long before the news of your disappearance came out. If you look for them now, I think you can still get yourself a date."
"Huh… I guess I'll think about it." Claude replied, although he had no intention to go out with anyone he had never met. "Well, been good to see you again, kiddos, but I gotta go. See ya!"
Claude then walked away after bid Jaune and Pyrrha goodbye. Once the teacher had completely vanished from sight, the redhead blinked and put her hand on her forehead, "Oh, shoot. I can't believe I forgot…"
Jaune turned to his partner, "Hm? What is it?"
"I forgot to ask him some questions, that's all. Nothing too important." Pyrrha waved it off with a small smile.
"Mind telling me what is it about?" Jaune carefully asked.
Seeing no harm in sharing, Pyrrha fished out her scroll, showing Jaune an old video footage. "This is the recording of the finals from the 30th Vytal Festival. I got this from my mother." She explained. "Take a good look at the combatants and listen to the announcements."
Jaune eyed his partner for a second before he did as he was told. The video's quality was low, considering the lack of technology when the footage was recorded, and most of the sounds were covered in statics. Nevertheless, he could still make out of what transpired, albeit barely.
A few minutes of watching later, Jaune commented, "The finalist was also Claude Rose…"
Pyrrha nodded as she replayed the footage again, "Not just the name - the appearance, weapons, combat style, I found them… too familiar."
"Are you saying that the guy in that video was the same guy?" Jaune asked with skepticism in his tone.
"Well, I know this sounds crazy." Pyrrha nervously replied, "But the similarities are just too uncanny. I mean, what if Mr. Rose really is the Thunder Emperor from the 30th Vytal Festival? That Thunder Emperor!"
Jaune sweat-dropped at Pyrrha's uncharacteristically excited tone. "Oookay, why don't you just… y'know, ask him in person?"
Pyrrha's face became pale with some mixture of embarrassed blush. "W-what? No! I can't bother Mr. Rose with something so ludicrous!"
"Well, I'm just saying." Jaune replied with his hands up to placate his partner. "I mean, Claude is kind of cool and easy-going outside of the class. The worst case scenario will be only him laughing at you."
"I don't know if I can bear with that…" Pyrrha retorted.
"Eh, you'll be fine." Jaune replied with an easy smile as nudged Pyrrha's shoulder, earning the smile from her in return.
The girl then stood up, "Well, what do you say about one more round before showering?" She smiled as she prepared her Milo and Akouo again.
Jaune blinked at his partner, he was bushed and yet he had to spar again? He took a deep breath before he met Pyrrha's smile with his own challenging one.
It was another night in Vale, and Claude was currently sitting at the bar of Junior's Club, ignoring the loud music and party around him, with a glass of cold whisky before him.
The meeting with Ozpin and the others - where Claude had to report his findings during his mission with team CFVY: the mutated Grimm he found inside the cavern near the Lower Cairn, belonged to the collapsed Merlot Industry; had raised concerns among the teachers and huntsmen.
The company was originally established to research artificial intelligence and genetics, but after a few years of operation, the industry then turned their interest to study the Creatures of Grimm, believing that the monster's biology contains a key for mankind's evolution.
Capturing and studying a live Grimm was not impossible, despite their nature to disintegrate within an enclosed space without food; nonetheless, the successful amount of capture and research only provided more questions than answers for the scholars.
In the face of such an obstacle, the Merlot Industry came up with an insane plan to lure and attract even more Grimm towards Mountain Glenn, where their headquarters were located, as well as when there was an expansion attempt being held.
The Merlot's obsession towards the Creatures of Grimm eventually led to the disastrous fall of the Mountain Glenn settlement, and the company was disbanded soon after.
The fact that there was a remnant of the industry still operating near the Lower Cairn was concerning, but Ozpin advised to remain positive and hope that it was the only one running, which had been buried within tons of rubbles after Claude's fight.
However, the most concerning matter - was that the mutated Grimm possessed a certain resistance against the power of Claude's silver eyes.
Claude would not brag to say his kin was the best of the best among the huntsmen society - those were exaggerations of the common folks in the past; but the hereditary power that they possessed from the ancient times, were meant to kill the Creatures of Grimm. The initial burst of power from their eyes could slay the Grimm on the immediate surrounding, and the following boost of power and Aura only served as a further boon for the uphill battles.
If the Merlot Industries were one of the Queen's arsenals, and have discovered the means to enhance the Grimm like the one Claude had encountered, then the future was not looking very good.
Everyone in that meeting room sincerely hoped that the factory near the Lower Cairn was the only one; General Ironwood had volunteered to assign some of his specialists to do a thorough investigation on the Merlot Industry.
Then, there was another thing at the very back of Claude's mind.
What was she doing there?
Claude knew well that he should not think about Raven anymore; not after what she had done (or perhaps not done) to Summer, Tai, Qrow - his family. What business could she possibly have at a place like Lower Cairn?
Why did she even bother to help him?
Eventually, Claude heaved a deep sigh as he decided to put that particular thought for much later. He would better focus his mind on more immediate matters.
Claude checked on the clock, before he glanced at the glass connecting to a VIP room upstairs.
Strange - today should be one of those days where Roman would drop by the club, and the crook always booked for the VIP room. It had been 10 minutes since the designated time for Roman's arrival, yet Claude did not catch any sign of anyone occupying the VIP room.
He was about to call for the bartender when he noticed someone took a seat next to him, and silver orbs met with a pair of amber orbs once again.
"Hey…. It's you." Claude was able to put up a cordial smile as he greeted first.
The woman who was the last person Claude expected to appear, smiled demurely as she rested her arms on the bar table. "It is; and it's been a while…. Sterling." Then, her eyes gleamed, "...Or should I say, Claude Rose?"
Claude's eyes narrowed for a fraction, while maintaining his smile. "Mind telling me how you know about that, Cinder?"
"Just from some little birds around Beacon. News travels fast when many people gather for the festival." Cinder cryptically replied.
Claude wanted to call out at Cinder's reply, but he also did not care whether Cinder knew about who he was or not.
"I see. In any case, allow me to re-introduce you myself." Claude then stood up to give Cinder a knightly bow. "Claude Rose, Beacon Academy's first-year's combat instructor at your service."
"Once again, charmed." Cinder kept her demure smile in place. "So, how are things, if you don't mind me asking?" She asked as she leaned against the table, resting on her arms.
"Same old, same old." Claude replied in humoring the woman. "Works are piling up since the Vytal Festival is coming - more students, preparations, not to mention the upcoming dance party and occasional missions outside of Vale…. What about you? Vale's been treating you good?"
"Quite so, fortunately." Cinder's smile widened for ever so slightly, and she noticed that the bartender had placed two glasses of drink before her.
She turned to eye Claude, who gave her a knowing smile, which she returned with her own as she raised her glass in a toast, which Claude also returned in kind.
Cinder then continued after she took a sip, "Minor set-backs in my own endeavours, but things are looking up if I have to say so myself."
Claude quirked an eyebrow as he sipped on his own drink, "Ho? Mind sharing that with me? In fact, what do you do for a living, if I may ask?"
Cinder hummed, her eyes rolled around as her lithe fingers ran across the rim of her glass and under her own lips, showing a display of playful contemplation.
"Hmm… It's rather hard to explain, to be honest, but it is quite close to the real estate department. I'm trusted to scout potential properties, manage and prepare them for the highest bidder….. Sometimes even removing the unwanted properties as well."
"That's quite a high-end job." Claude remarked. "Any…. 'property' that you can tell me?"
He had an inkling of what sort of 'real estate' job that Cinder talked about.
"Oh, just places within the Kingdom, types that most people look for when they are inside big cities."
"The pricey kind, then." Claude concluded, which earned a nod from the woman.
"I aim to please my clients with the best goods. However, some of my…. Agents decided to sneak behind my back, forcing me to delay some of my schedule."
Claude stared at the woman and proceeded to humor her, "Well, that sucks. How did things go in the end?"
Cinder hummed before replying, all while playfully swishing the drink in her glass, "Fortunately, no real loss was incurred. The agents responsible for the blunder were given a light slap on the wrist by me personally, and they are currently under strict supervision."
"Hm…. That's good, I guess." Claude nodded and returned to his drink.
"Enough about me." Cinder ended her side of story casually, as she shifted her position on the bar table - head still rested on her palm as she stared at her conversation partner. "What about you? I heard you teach at Beacon Academy, how are the students in the preparation for the Vytal Festival? Mind sharing bits of interesting stories?"
Claude was pretty sure that the excited tone in her voice was just another ploy to keep up the harmless persona; but then again, it was not his style to back off from easy questions. "Well… For instance, there are only eight first-year students in Beacon Academy."
That actually caused Cinder to raise an eyebrow, "Oh? That's unusual. Do tell?"
The next while was spent with Claude and Cinder talking about mundane stuff, or as mundane as their standard went. Neither of them pushed or revealed too much, yet neither of them showed any form of agitation or boredom on their faces. In fact, both man and woman would laugh and giggle in genuine amusement when the story called for it.
Still, after nearly an hour passed, Claude had confirmed something in the back of his mind; something had happened that kept Roman or Neo from meeting with him.
"I must say, Claude… You are a man with many surprises." Cinder commented with a mirth in her tone, as she stretched her back on her seat.
"And you are a woman who is harder to read." Claude replied with an even tone, as he took another sip of his drink.
"It's part of my charm." Cinder maintained her smile before she downed the rest of her drink. "I'm afraid I have to call it a night. It has been pleasant talking again with you Claude. Looking forward to seeing you again."
Claude saw her slipping a folded piece of paper on the table towards him, and when he looked up, he saw her giving him a quick wink before she nodded at Junior - who had taken his post as the bartender a few minutes ago, before she walked away into the crowd towards the exit. Claude was quite sure that Cinder intentionally swayed her hips while walking away from him.
Once the woman had disappeared from the crowd, Claude stared at the folded paper for a second before he picked it up to check out the content - which was a set of numbers, a contact number to be precise.
Claude stared at the number for a moment, until Junior's voice snapped him out of his stupor, "Uh… What are you gonna do about that?"
In return, Claude closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before putting the number in his pocket. "I'll figure something out about this; but back to why I'm here, Junior…. Still no word yet?"
The mob-boss in disguise quickly caught the message and simply shook his head lightly.
Claude's face turned into a light grimace, the chance of what he has been worrying about had become higher. He downed the rest of his own drink and placed a sizable lien on the table. "Thanks for the trouble, keep trying to make contact with him."
Junior sighed but accepted the money nonetheless, "Fine, but at this point, I don't think I can give you anything."
Claude simply smiled in return and left the noisy club.
Cinder had finally returned to her current living space within the city: a middle-class apartment hotel - not too high profile to attract attention, yet was still comfortable enough for her living standards. When she arrived at the hall of her floor, she was greeted by several familiar faces standing right in front of the door of her room.
"So?" Brunesteid Shamir asked with an intrigued expression as she leaned on the wall next to the door, "How did it go?"
Cinder gave a light scoff while maintaining her smile, "All in all, I have gained some understanding the reason behind your…. Behaviour in regards to Claude Rose."
"So he's that strong?" Mercury, who was leaning on the opposite wall, asked.
"His strength is still to be determined in the long run, but at the very least, he's not someone who is easily fooled." Cinder replied with a narrowed look.
Finally, Emerald, who stood next to Shamir, asked, "In that case, are you still going to do this? That sounds…. Risky."
Cinder smiled with a mild amusement at Emerald's concern, "The risk has always been there, my dear… But our enemy would be a real fool if they were already to reveal their cards at this point of stage. Just trust me… The worst that can happen is that our plan will remain on delay, but if we're to play our cards right… I can have him licking from the palm of my hand."
Cinder's eyes visibly gleamed despite the light in the hall. Neither Emerald, Mercury or Brunesteid said anything; however, the latter inwardly scoffed at Cinder's game plan - not that she could stop her or anything, it was better to let Cinder learn and grow the hard way.
oXo
"Absolutely not!"
Glynda exclaimed while slamming her hand on the table, garnering looks from the rest of her colleagues from Ozpin's inner circle.
"Whoa, Glynda. Relax, what's gotten into you?" Claude asked with a slightly bewildered expression.
"Making contact with the one behind Amber's condition is already bad enough, and now you are planning to see her on a regular basis?! There's a limit to how far you can take risks!" Glynda replied.
"Let's not get too heated now." Ozpin placated. "However, Mr. Rose, Glynda has a point here. While keeping your enemies closer to your chest than your friends might be a good tactic in the times of war… That tactic doesn't always result in positive results depending on what kind of enemy we are dealing with."
"As much as dangerous this endeavour… I'm actually with Claude on this one." James put his two cents. "This plan might give us more insight about our enemies; what they're planning on Vale, what they're planning once they are done here - succeeding or failing, and perhaps something crucial about The Queen that we never knew of. Although…."
Ironwood's eyes then trailed to the man in question, "Claude, are you sure you can pull this off? No offence, but considering your age, you don't have much field experience, especially in espionage."
Claude simply took James' comment in stride with a shrug, "Well… I could deal with Raven, how hard can this woman be?"
A few seconds later, everyone could only sigh exasperatedly at Claude's response.
"Claude, I don't think using your old flame as the standard benchmark is wise in this case…." However, as soon as Ozpin finished his line, he rubbed his chin and his expression went contemplative, as if he suddenly had second thoughts of his own words.
"There, see? Even Oz started to agree." Claude pointed out.
"Headmaster…" Glynda said with a mix of hoping and threatening tone.
"No, no, I haven't agreed to anything yet." Ozpin quickly replied with a wave of his hand before he returned his attention to Claude, "Nevertheless, this approach you're planning is still too reckless to my liking. We don't have enough intel to infiltrate the enemy ranks. One misstep and our enemy could end up with a leverage against us."
James had a light grimace on his face, but he gave a subtle nod as he inwardly conceded with Ozpin's point, despite his earlier opinion.
"She might approach me again even without me calling her number. And Roman's probably has become that leverage." Claude replied with a frowning expression.
"This is why I was against having Torchwick as our mole." James intervened. "This infiltration has already been doomed from the moment we learned about Shamir's involvement. We should fortify our defence and security while we still have the chance."
"Sure, you can go do that. I'll see what I can get from her." Claude replied with a light shrug, having no more reason to object.
"Are you still going after her?" Glynda asked with an incredulous tone.
"She's our best shot right now." Claude countered, "Our options will get even fewer if we drag this on. This way, not only we can learn one thing or two of what she has in store for Vale, if I'm lucky, I can make contact with Roman and figure something else out."
The other senior teachers shared glances at each other. The silence reigned for a few moments until Ozpin spoke, "...At the very least, I want you to have a back-up; someone who is not a stranger to back-door dealings and working in shadows."
Claude shrugged, "Fair enough. I'd like Qrow, but he's hard to stay in touch on a regular basis and…. No offence to the guy, but I can't afford to have his Semblance acting up on this kind of job."
Ozpin nodded, "Understandable, we will do our best as well to find someone as your reinforcement." He nodded at Ironwood, who returned the gesture in kind, before he returned to Claude, "...But do you have anyone else in mind?"
Claude sighed - that was a hard question to answer. The talent and expertise they were searching at the moment were uncommon, bordering on rare. He could not ask for Qrow - while Claude had the absolute faith and trust on the man's capabilities and willingness to watch his back, at the same time, he also knew well just what kind of damage Qrow's Semblance could cause if left unchecked.
Peter? Barty? Or perhaps Glynda or the Ace Ops Ironwood brought along? Claude also trusted them, but their statuses were too conspicuous for covert jobs.
Other teachers or huntsmen currently at Beacon? Ozpin would rather keep the numbers who in the 'know', to be kept at a minimum, for good reasons.
Jersey? That's a tricky one - On one hand, Claude knew that Jersey might be nearly as good, if not as good as Qrow in going covert, despite her profession; but on the other hand, looking back at their history, the eccentric doctor had proven herself for numerous times to be too much of a wildcard.
Claude grumbled under his breath as he finished scanning all of the available options in his mind, and he let out a breath as he found none - what kind of back-up agent was he looking for again?
Like Ozpin said, someone who was not a stranger to the crime world dealings. The Queen and her pawns were currently colluding with the White Fang, weren't they?
Then perhaps someone who knew well enough about the White Fang; even better, someone who was once….
Everyone perked up as Claude suddenly blinked as if in realization, then the latter brought his hand over his face as he sighed heavily.
"...Oh, dammit."
I've been having these problems that I'm pretty sure many other authors have to deal with; difficulty to cook up finer details within the plot and stuff. Welp, that's all for my ranting. Much appreciated for the likes and follows you guys gave me!
Ahsoei, over and out.