Chapter 20 — Grave

"You fall out of your mother's womb, you crawl across open country under fire, and drop into your grave."

— Quentin Crisp

There was one thing Adam had noticed about his temporary caretaker. It was the fact that she regularly left the cave — twice a day or so — and would always be accompanied by the Grimm she had referred to as Ajax. The thing that irked him was the fact that her absence lasted for quite some time. Plus, during those times, she would return without any food. His first guess had been that she would be going out to hunt, but that assumption had been proven wrong the first time she returned empty-handed. He wondered what else she could be doing in the forest?

Today was the fourth day of his unwilling stay, and the human had once more left — this time in the early morning when the sun had barely risen — and not returned since. He had pretended to still be asleep and listened to the fading sound of her footsteps. The Grimm had not been with her this time. He opted to wait for her return, since there was nothing for him to do anything.

He wondered how she had not gone mad yet.

The familiar noise of leaves being crushed invaded his ears, and he looked up from the fire that had been his object of study and turned his attention to the girl. As usual, her boots were dusty and he could see that mud that was caked to the soles of them. There were smears of earth on her bare legs as well, and her hands looked dirty and rough.

He watched as she knelt by the bucket she kept some water in and gently lowered her hands into the cool liquid. Her body visibly relaxed and he saw the relief that slowly filled her face. She carefully began to wash the filth off her hands and dried them on one of the towels that lay scattered throughout the cave. Her blue gaze flicked over to his own analyzing eyes and she offered him a small smile. Adam noticed just how tired she looked to be.

Just what is she doing out there?

"How's your wound?"

The question had become standard to his ears. Every day, she would inquire about his well-being, and sometimes check the wound even if he claimed it to be fine. That really annoyed him — he wasn't some baby that needed looking after. But so far, he had let her do as she pleased, guessing that it would help him get out of this place sooner.

The main reason for his silence, though, was the fact that he tried to avoid having a conversation with her as much as possible. Fraternizing with the enemy — even if he was not really fraternizing — was punishable in the White Fang. Plus, his own pride kept him from talking to a lowly human.

But today, he decided on another course of action. The best he could make of his current situation was to find out as much as possible about her power to control those monsters known as Grimm. And, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself, it helped him as well — a way to kill the silence and boredom. Naturally, any questions asked by her about their organization would be left vastly answered.

"Fine," he replied, raising his chin so that he was looking her in the eye. His mask lay forgotten on the stone on which the girl had placed it the day she had found and treated him. He didn't bother putting it on any longer. Firstly, she would be dead before he left anyway. And secondly, it was nice to have the thing off for once. At HQ, he continuously wore the plastic thing and only took it off when going to sleep. So this was a welcome change for once.

She gave him another smile, replying, "That's good. Tell me if it hurts, okay?" Then she headed over to the fire to pour herself a new cup of tea. She drank an awful lot of the beverage, he noticed. "You want some? It's a new one that I made just this morning, so it's still fresh."

He scrutinized the offer. In the past, he had mostly avoided drinking the tea that she brewed. He'd simply asked for water instead of the mixture. But since he could tell she was not the kind of person that would poison someone — especially not after having saved him from certain death — he chose to accept it.

Surprise showed on her face and it took her a moment to process his answer. He smirked internally as she poured him a cup while he made his way over to sit across from her. Taking a sip, he was taken aback by the fact that it actually tasted pretty good. At HQ, they passed hot water as tea, and the coffee was even worse.

This, he could get used to, especially since it would be a change of taste.

"It's good." The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could think upon them. Upon realizing that he had just complimented her, he wanted to kill himself. He was here to get information — not to flatter some human girl.

"Really?" she accepted the out-of-character affirmation happily. "Thanks; I was a bit worried it would taste weird since I experimented with some new herbs and haven't really made up my mind yet if I like it or not, so…" Blushing out of no detectable reason, she lifted her cup to her lips, murmuring, "I'm glad you like it."

Adam arched a brow while taking a sip of his own. Odd human. Anyway, time to get down to business.

"So," he started off vaguely, not really sure how to phrase his question, before he just decided "fuck it" and asked bluntly, "What've you been doing out there this whole time?"

It was her turn to arch a brow and look surprised once more. "Out where?"

"The forest," he pressed on. "You've been going there pretty often."

Her eyes dimmed and the normally light blue color turned into a deep sea blue. It was interesting to observe such a change. Her hands wrapped themselves around the delicate tea cup and her body seemed to take on an immense weight by the way she leaned her elbows on her knees.

"So you noticed," she mumbled, more to herself than him.

His ears perked up at that. He was not supposed to know of her leaves then. This only strengthened his curiosity. What in the Goddesses' name could be so secret that he was not supposed to know of it? Maybe she had tried to retrace his steps? To try and find the White Fang base on her own?

But, no, that would not leave her covered in mud. And she would not need a shovel to track traces.

What else then?

"That day when you first woke up," she started off slowly, catching his attention. Her eyes locked with his and she seemed to debate on how to voice what was next to come. "After I found and treated you, you had a serious fever. But once you woke up. Do you remember what you said?"

Her eyes searched his as though this were a vital question. The day he woke up… How could he remember? If he had been as bad as she said, then he would not be able to remember anything. Even less something he said.

"No."

Light blue turned into deep sea blue once more and her eyes took on a hint of sadness. She took a deep breath, her entire body heaving with it. "I see."

"What did I say?" he demanded. Her reaction was extraordinary. Had he revealed some grave secret concerning the White Fang? Or something else?

Without a word, she put her cup aside and stood from her seat. Turning her back to him, she did not notice his blazing eyes. Would she leave him now? Or had the military been outside all along and would now arrest him? But once she reached the exit of the cave, there was no yelling, no soldiers jumping up and out to kill him.

The only thing she did was turn to him and command, "Follow me."

Now she was really stretching his patience.

Nevertheless, he obeyed. His first thought was to take his weapon with him — there was still the possibility of her being a threat and all — but by her attitude, he saw that she meant no harm. So he followed her. She took him along a path she must have created herself all those times she left the cave. The leaves were trampled into the ground and the girl maneuvered through the thick foliage with ease.

After brushing aside several branches — he was a lot taller than her, so of course she could just walk under them — they finally came upon a clearing.

And on that clearing were what seemed to be two graves. The sun cast a red glow through the leaves of the trees surrounding the space and directly onto the two crosses that stood erect in the ground. The crosses themselves were made of two sticks tied to each other, but embellished with flowers and leaves that had been draped over them.

"What is this place?" Adam demanded with shock. She had taken him to see a graveyard? What kind of sick joke was this?

"When I found you, there were two other men with you. But…" Her voiced stocked for a moment and he looked at her, shocked to see her eyes become shiny with unshed tears. She sucked in a shaky breath before continuing. "But they were already gone. There was nothing I could do for them. Except this." She lowered her head. "I'm really sorry."

Adam felt how his own heart contracted in his chest. Of course. Eric and Steve. They had been with him, on the mission, but not when he woke up. Why had he not asked about them?

Damn it! Those two were idiots, but they had still been his responsibility. His men. Yet he had not even remembered them.

Swallowing the unfamiliar feeling of grief, Adam advanced to the two graves. There, he knelt down on one knee, before laying a hand on each cross. The soil was still fresh — they had not been buried long — and the flowers still gave off a pleasant aroma. Lowering his head, he gave a quick prayer, whispering the words "I'm sorry" at the end. Once finished, he stood back up and turned around to see the girl standing behind him, her own eyes closed and lips moving in a silent prayer.

Walking until he stood shoulder to shoulder with her, he asked one question that had invaded his mind the second he'd seen the grave site.

"Why did you do this for them? They're Faunus."

She lifted her head, blue locking with red, hers still sporting a trace of tears. Giving him a small, sad smile, she gave the simplest yet most shocking answer he had ever heard.

"Everyone needs a grave; no matter if human or Faunus. They were human and deserve as much a chance to rest in peace as you and I do. They hold the same rights. It's the least I can do for them."

He accepted the answer for what it was. But before he could leave to return to the cave, the girl asked, "What were their names? I want to add them, so that they won't be forgotten."

So that they won't be forgotten.

She wanted to remember them, saw them as someone that mattered. In all his life, Adam had never been as shocked as he was in this moment. This human girl refuted every opinion he had held against humans for his entire life.

She was different.

"Eric and Steve."

With that, he retreated to the cave. She may not know it — and never will — but, internally, Adam was grateful to her. At least she would not forget the men who gave their lives to protect him and the White Fang.

They would not be forgotten like numerous other brothers and sisters.

And for the first time, Adam had to admit that, maybe, not all humans were bad. At least not this one girl.

Edited 20/06/2017

I'll try to improve the drawing as soon as I find the time to. Could take a while though.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. All I do own are my OC and the idea and plot of the non-canon parts of the story.