Chapter VIII: Changes
Ruby was lying on her back in the empty dorm room, relatively awake though not really willing to get out of the bed just yet. She was really tired, having gotten barely any sleep last night, and yet her mind stubbornly refused to once again drift off into the world of dreams. Still, the girl did not give up, if only because of the fact that she had nothing better to do at the moment; with her eyes firmly closed she (im)patiently waited for whichever comes first: the sleep or one of her friends.
Some time had passed – maybe five minutes, maybe half an hour – and she finally began dozing off. Before she managed to slip away into the nothingness, however, the soft click of an opening lock resounded in the room.
Hearing that someone just entered the dorm, Ruby partially lifted the sleeping mask off one of her eyes and peeked in the general direction of the door. Corners of her mouth twitched a bit once she recognized the white mane and navy blue dress of the newcomer. "Hi, Weiss."
Weiss chuckled under her breath as she watched at the silver-eyed girl, slowly drinking what Ruby assumed was coffee from the mug she was holding. "Good morning, sleepyhead. How was your night?"
The sleepyhead in question sat up, moving her sleeping mask onto her scalp. "Miserable," Ruby replied with a wry grin, looking at the heiress tiredly. She closed her eyelids for a moment, rubbing the sleep from her eyes; when she opened them again, the very first thing she saw was the logo of Beacon Academy emblazoned on what was an almost full mug of coffee offered to her by Weiss. "Thanks," the ravenette said, taking the cup with a grateful smile tugging at her lips. She took a few lazy sips of the caffeinated beverage; the coffee was a bit more bitter than Ruby liked it, but as long as it helped her wake up a bit, she didn't really care. After a while, she handed the now half-empty mug to its rightful owner, who in turn promptly proceeded to down the remaining contents in one go.
"Have you seen the other two?" Weiss asked, eyeing the haphazard heap of bedding lying in the place where Yang and Blake slept. "They were already out back when I woke up and went to take a shower."
"Nope. I was about to ask you the same question, actually." Entwining her fingers behind her neck Ruby stretched, letting out a pleased little sound from her lips as all her vertebrae obediently popped into place. "Hmm. Shower sure sounds nice," she groggily pondered aloud as she cracked her neck. Throwing the blanket off herself, she crawled towards the backpack with her belongings and began rummaging through its contents, eventually pulling out a fresh change of clothes. Taking it in her arms, she stood up and walked to the door. "Be right back," she said and left the room.
Already showered and dressed in her normal attire, the silver-eyed girl crossed the doorstep of the dorm, much to her disappointment finding it empty. Then, just when she was about to close the door, she heard Weiss' voice calling her name, asking Ruby to wait. After taking a step back and peeking her head out of the room, she saw her partner approaching her from the far end of the corridor, carrying a white, steaming mug in each hand.
Once she was just a few feet away from Ruby, Weiss spoke. "I went to make some fresh coffee for us. Here, this one is yours."
Accepting the offered drink, Ruby beamed at Weiss. "You're an angel. Thanks."
The heiress rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "You're welcome." She walked past the girl standing in the entrance and stepped into the dorm, then made herself comfortable on the last surviving chair in the room. Most of their old furniture shared the same fate as their beds and rest of the chairs – battered and broken, they were now nothing more than mere stacks of loose pieces arranged along one of the walls.
Once Weiss passed her by, Ruby pushed herself away from the doorframe she was leaning against and then closed the door, taking a sip from her mug while she did so; as it turned out, this time around the coffee was perfectly to her liking. Savouring her drink, she walked to the gap in the floor and perched herself on its edge, letting her feet dangle freely in the room below. "Guess we should do something about this hole if we're gonna stay here for the next four days. It's kind of a safety hazard."
Weiss smirked, teasingly lifting one of her eyebrows. "Like your bed used to be?"
"Hey, knock it off," Ruby retorted, trying to sound annoyed but failing to hide her own amusement. "It'd not fall down if the Grimm didn't tear the place apart first, and if Yang didn't punch that poor Ursa through our floor." She snorted, recalling their first visit in their dorm after Beacon had been retaken, when they had found out that a stray Ursa had made their old room its lair, taking a special liking to a certain Faunus' bed. "'Somebody slept in your bed, Blake. And for once it wasn't Goldilocks'."
Weiss snickered, then leaned in on her chair and rested her chin in her hand. "I thought Yang would actually punch you back then."
"Well, she sure did punch something," Ruby deadpanned, sipping from her mug. After a while she placed the cup in her lap, looking into the room below. Her smile slowly dissipated, replaced by a more thoughtful, somewhat nostalgic expression. "It's a bit weird, once again sleeping in this room. The initation, our classes, the trip to Mountain Glenn... hell, even the tournament – it all feels so distant now, as if it had happened decades ago."
Weiss nodded. "In another life, even."
"Yeah... it kind of did, didn't it."
Neither of them said anything for the next few minutes, reminiscing times past and unhurriedly drinking their coffee, too engrossed in their own thoughts to talk to each other. The silence that snuck between them was neither particularly awkward nor comfortable – it simply was, at least up until the point when the door opened once again and the two remaining members of team RWBY had finally shown up.
"Hey, guys."
Ruby turned her face towards her sister. "Hi. Where have you been?"
Yang took off her jacket and casually tossed it over Ruby's head, adding it to the heap piling atop the mattress she and Blake slept on last night. "Well... Sun texted Blake and wrote that he and two of the Dorks were at Beacon and would be leaving in two hours to help clean up the city, so we went to say hello."
Ruby directed a half-annoyed, half-disappointed glare at her sister, causing the blonde to tense a bit. "And you didn't think of letting us know?"
"Uh..."
The silver-eyed girl sighed. "When are they scheduled to leave?"
"About an hour from now...?" Blake interjected, trying to take some heat off her girlfriend. "They should be somewhere around the landing platforms now, preparing."
Ruby and Weiss glanced at each other, then at their coffee mugs, then back at each other. Noticing her partner's wordless question, the heiress rolled her eyes in a well-practiced manner, then both of them hurriedly finished their drinks and stood up, saying their goodbyes, grabbing their weapons and marching out of the room mere seconds later.
Yang stuck her head out through the doorway, observing with a somewhat sheepish look on her face as the girls strode down the hallway. She pointed a single finger in the direction of the dorm. "So, uh... I guess we'll wait for you here," she called, getting a single 'okay' from Ruby in response, just before the girls disappeared around the corner.
"It seems that we have a while for ourselves," Blake assessed, amused.
Yang chuckled and retreated back into the room, the door closing behind her with a quiet creak of hinges. "Yeah, guess we do."
Though their meeting with Sun, Sage and Scarlet was cut short by the early arrival of the boys' supervisor – who happened to be professor Port – both girls had a good time, even getting an opportunity to chat with their old teacher for a while. They would have stayed longer, but when they learned that the guys still had a few things to do before they could set out, Ruby and Weiss bode the lads farewell and headed back, not wanting to take too much of their friends' time.
Once they left the boys far behind them, Ruby stole a quick glance at her partner; she was tempted to ask the heiress if she was disappointed they were not able to meet with Neptune, remembering that Weiss used to have a crush on the boy, but the question just did not want to leave her throat.
"It kinda sucks for Neptune that he's still stuck in the hospital," she said instead, genuinely feeling sorry for the young man. According to what they had learned, Neptune felt a lot better at this point, but the doctors still wanted to keep an eye on him for the next two days. Apparently bored out of his mind, he was now – as Sun had put it – 'even more of an idiot than he usually was'.
"Well, at least they'll let him out before the anniversary."
Their journey back was rather uneventful - excluding their typical, friendly banter – and before long they had climbed the last flight of stairs, reaching their destination. Coming to a halt in front of the dorm, Ruby fished her Scroll from the pouch by her belt and pressed the device to the card reader, then pushed the door open... only to slam them shut as soon as she took a brief look inside. Her hand did not leave the doorknob, clutching it with enough force for her knuckles to turn pale, as if her vice grip was meant to ensure that whatever horrors she had seen in there would remain locked inside.
"I didn't need to see thaaaaat," she hissed, clenching her eyelids shut as her face was quickly getting visibly flushed. Some muffled, intelligible words came from the other side of the wall and someone blocked the door from within the room; only then did Ruby relinquish her hold of the knob, taking a few steps backwards and leaning her back against the opposite wall.
Weiss arched an eyebrow at her partner, having no clue what caused Ruby to react like that. "See what? The two of them making out?" She figured there had to be more to it than that, but she preferred to not assume the worst just yet.
A short, a bit histerical laugh escaped Ruby's throat. "Just making out? I'd sure have preferred that."
"Were they... indecent?" Weiss asked warily, not liking at all where this was going.
A stiff nod. "Very."
For a moment Weiss simply stared at Ruby, wide-eyed, well aware that simple nudity would not leave Ruby so perplexed. "You... you don't mean you saw them..." she mumbled in disbelief, feeling her cheeks growing hotter by the second.
"Yup. Totally did. I just walked on my sister having sex with her girlfriend."
With a face now almost as red as Ruby's trademark cloak, Weiss slammed her palm against the door, coping with her increasing uneasiness by unleashing her annoyance at the poor souls that had caused it. "You idiots!" Ignoring the steady stream of audibly embarassed apologies coming from the room, she carried on screaming. "Couldn't you at least, I don't know, put a sock on the doorknob or something?!"
"W-we're sorry, okay?! We just didn't think you'd be back so soon!"
"Haaaaaahh..." Weiss exhaled loudly, placing the palm of her left hand across her reddened face. "We're going to the caffeteria. Make yourselves presentable before you go there." With that, the heiress turned away and stormed off, her partner following closely behind.
The two of them left the building without saying a single word to each other, actively avoiding eye contact as they walked side by side across the school grounds. Only after they had already covered over a half of the distance between the dorms and the dining hall did Weiss decide to break this silence, memory of her blush still present on her pale features.
"Do you think we interrupted their... well, y-you know?" Now that she had a moment to cool down a bit, the heiress sounded actually concerned.
"First time?" Seeing Weiss' meek nod, Ruby waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, I know for sure they did it back in Atlas, maybe even before that." She managed to say that with a straight face, but nonetheless some redness returned to her cheeks.
"You know? How?"
Ruby rubbed the side of her neck and turned her head to the left, hoping to hide her face from her partner. Regardless of her efforts, however, her traitorous blood still outed her, rushing to her ears that were still clearly visible to the heiress. "Don't ask."
Respecting her friend's wish, Weiss tactfully did not pry into the matter. She opted to change the topic instead, wanting to avoid any further awkwardness, and Ruby was grateful to her for that. Although this air of mild uneasiness still hung between the two of them, they were able to talk normally, almost forgetting about the whole incident with Yang and Blake by the time they finished their breakfast and were about to leave the dining hall. And then, the moment they crossed the doorstep and walked out, their composure was once again destroyed when they bumped right into the other half of the team.
For a while the four girls just stood there, avoiding eye contact, none of them saying a word until Yang mustered her will and finally spoke up, hoping to dissolve some of the tension. "Huh, seems you two started without us." She was by no means angry or disappointed when she said that, simply desperate to end this awkward silence.
Ruby's eyes twinkled mischievously after she heard her sister. "Well, I just thought you already ate your breakfast," she replied in innocent voice, while the intention behind her words was anything but.
Although it seemed that Yang and Weiss thought nothing of the sly smile that was present on Ruby's lips when the girl had spoken, Blake quickly connected the dots and figured out what the other brunette had actually meant. Her eyes going wide and cheeks flushing red, the Faunus simply stared at Ruby in apparent surprise, with her cat ears perked up atop her hair, as if she didn't believe what she had just heard. For a brief moment the girl's reaction left Weiss a bit puzzled, but pretty soon something clicked in the heiress' mind and she snapped her head to gape at her partner, mirroring the look on Blake's face.
Yang just quirked her eyebrow, meeting her sister's gaze. "Huh? No, we just went to see Sun and his team, then headed straight to..." She paused for a while as a spark of understanding gleamed in her eyes. "Our... dorm..." Gentle blush adorning the blonde's features up to this point rapidly grew in size and intensity as the realization sunk in, rendering the poor girl speechless.
In the meanwhile, Ruby's smirk turned into an impish grin as she watched an expression of pure, world-shattering shock settle on Yang's face. "What's the matter, sis? Cat got your tongue?" Being almost surprised not to see any steam come out of her sister's ears, she comitted this image of very, very embarassed Yang to memory. When Ruby eventually spoke again, she was practically crying the tears of laughter. "Oh, nevermind. Have a nice meal." With that, she casually strolled past her sister.
Yang, the supposed master of puns and witty banter, seemed to be at a complete loss for words, mouth agape, her stare following Ruby as if she saw the girl for the first time in her life. "My little sis telling dirty jokes?" she mumbled, then turned her face towards the two teammates in front of her. "My poor heart was not ready for that."
Weiss, having more and more problems with keeping her face straight, reassuringly patted the blonde on the back and then trotted after Ruby, soon catching up with her partner. Her frame shaking with mirth and her face flushed from holding back her laughter, the silver-eyed girl looked over her shoulder, watching the other pair with interest. Blake walked to Yang and, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend, led the blonde towards the entrance to the dining hall, casting one last glance at the other brunette and, visibly entertained, shaking her head in disbelief before walking inside.
The moment the couple disappeared within the building, Ruby finally cracked, bursting out laughing.
The heiress, snickering herself, simply watched the other girl until Ruby calmed down a bit. "What the hell was that?"
Ruby took a long, deep breath and exhaled loudly, then dried her eyes with her thumb, still grinning. "Just a bit of sisterly teasing. Yang can't have all the fun, can she now?" she replied, looking very pleased with herself, then began to walk away, her partner marching by her side.
"I always thought that your sister knows no concept of shame, but it seems you've just proved me wrong." Weiss clasped her hands together and looked Ruby in the eye. "Teach me, please."
Hearing this plea, Ruby snorted with laughter. "Sorry to disappoint you, Weiss, but I'm afraid it was possible mostly due to the shock of a sudden realization that her little sister is no longer the innocent flower she took her for."
"Wow, that's cruel," Weiss assessed, then chuckled under her breath. "Well, in her defense, she was not the only one who was surprised."
The ravenette playfully swatted Weiss in the arm, her toothy grin destroying the effect of her feigned indignance. "Hey! I might not have any experience of my own, but that doesn't mean I'm so 'pure' I can't come up with an innuendo, okay?"
"How and when did that happen?"
With a strangely elfin smile present on her lips, Ruby tilted her head and gave her partner a long, sideways look that colored Weiss' cheeks with a bit of healthy rosiness. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
After a whole day spent with Blake on semi-actively avoiding both Ruby and Weiss, Yang, already dressed in her nightwear and with her blonde mane wrapped in a towel, was sneaking through the empty corridors of the dorm building, silently making her way from the showers to her team's old dorm room. She planned to go to sleep before the other pair – who, as far as she know, were still hanging out somewhere with Jaune and the rest of his team – returned to the room, hoping that this way she and Blake would make it less awkward for everyone.
There was also the issue of Ruby's new weapon of sisterly banter, one that Yang was not mentally prepared to fight against just yet. 'I will adapt, and I will have my revenge,' the blonde promised to herself. 'But that's probably not gonna happen today...' With that thought, she opened the door to her team's dorm... only to freeze once she noticed that Ruby was already there, lying on her mattress and doing something on her Scroll, her face being the only thing that was illuminated in the otherwise dark room. The girl's silver eyes, shining in the soft light emitted by the device's screen, zeroed on Yang.
"Haven't seen you all day."
Painfully aware that it was too late to retreat at this point, Yang reluctantly stepped inside and closed the door, sincerely regretting not having waited for Blake to finish her shower. Then again, she supposed the situation would have been just as awkward if the Faunus was present – if not even more so. "I, uh... yeah, I guess."
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," Ruby said once Yang walked across the room and laid down, her voice theatrically thoughtful. "After all, you've never been the one to leave your business unfinished."
For the next few seconds Yang looked at her younger sibling with a blank expression, needing a moment to process what she had just heard. Then, slowly, a small grin appeared on her face, matching the toothy smile of her sister. Feeling some tension leave her, Yang propped herself on her elbow. "You're not gonna let me live that one down anytime soon, are ya."
"Nope."
"You know that I'll get you for that one day, right?"
"Not if I lock my door," Ruby retorted, sticking out her tongue. Then, surprisingly, her expression suddenly changed into one of concern. "I haven't gone too far with these jokes, have I?"
Yang laughed softly, feeling a bit better about the whole situation now, as her little sister's question had alleviated some of her earlier embarassment. "Nah. You just caught me with my pants down, in more senses than one," the blonde said, traces of laughter audible in her voice. Then her reassuring smile turned into a smirk. "But, well, seeing that it's us who didn't think of blocking the door, I suppose you could say we had it coming."
Hearing Ruby's groan, Yang chuckled and laid back down on her cot, grinning to herself. While it was true that her baby sister was growing up a bit faster than she would like her to, she still could take solace in the thought that not everything was going to change.
At six to eleven in the evening, two days after their last visit in the headmaster's office, team RWBY once again found themselves walking into the spacious room at one of the upper floors of the Tower. Although both Ozpin and professor Goodwitch were nowhere to be seen, it turned out that the girls were not the only guests supposed to meet with the headmaster that night, nor the first ones to arrive – Qrow, leaning his back against one of the pillars, was also present, talking with a young, amber-eyed Huntress that none of the girls knew. Noticing their arrival, the Huntsman smirked, and Ruby, elated to see her uncle, rushed to his side almost immediately.
Once she was done with their usual greeting ritual and took a moment to look around, Ruby observed the presence of the tall, white-haired woman that stood by one of the windows, realizing that Qrow was not the only familiar face in the room. Weiss seemed to be aware of that fact, too.
As Winter watched her sister hurrying in her direction, a soft smile bloomed on her lips, growing in size when the siblings embraced. The two of them then talked for the next few minutes, happy to see each other, before the heiress eventually excused herself and returned to the rest of her team, who were chatting with Qrow and his colleague.
The woman appeared to be in her mid-twenties and dressed in a way Weiss would expect of someone who was used to a much warmer climate, her straight, shoulder-length brown hair framing a fairly attractive, tanned face. As the heiress approached the group, the woman's golden eyes turned to look at her with friendly curiosity.
Weiss figured that the Huntress was well aware who she was, but decided to introduce herself regardless for politeness' sake. "I don't think we have met," she said, outstretching her hand in welcome. "Weiss Schnee."
The woman shook heiress' hand, appreciating the gesture. "Ah, yes. Amber Terra, from Vacuo. Delighted to finally make your acquaintance."
Weiss' first impression of Amber was one of a nice, energetic person. She was not sure, however, how she felt about the fact that the way the woman looked at her reminded her of a certain blonde thinking of the best way to mess with her.
Before the heiress made up her mind, the door of the elevator opened and another Huntsman she did not recognize marched into the office, taking Amber's attention away from Weiss.
Suddenly, the woman let out a rather loud "Oh!" and hurried towards the newcomer with open arms, leaving Qrow and the girls. "Aidan, my boy, you finally showed up!"
Once the Vacuo woman walked away to greet her friend, Qrow turned his face towards Weiss and looked the heiress up and down with genuine interest. "I didn't think I'd see you up and about so soon, kiddo. Seems you're tougher than you look, huh?"
"You're not the only one who's surprised, old man," Ruby chimed in before Weiss could respond, smirking when the man narrowed his eyes at her. "Even the doctor said she's healing 'freakishly fast'," she said, making quotation marks in the air.
Qrow pointed his finger at his niece's face threateningly. "I'm not 'old'," he drawled, glaring at the girl for a few more seconds before his attention once again shifted to focus on the heiress. "Huh."
It appeared that the Huntsman had something on his mind as he stared at Weiss, thinking of something, but before any of the girls could ask him what it was, the door leading upstairs had opened and Ozpin strode into the office, professor Goodwitch following closely behind.
The man cast a sweeping glance at everyone in the room, then proceeded to greet his guests. "Ah, good, seems that everyone is already here. Welcome. Please, have a seat." Setting his cane to rest against his armchair, Ozpin placed both of his hands atop his desk and waited for everyone to make themselves comfortable on the provided for them chairs; while most accepted the offer, Qrow remained on his place by the column near the elevator, while Ruby opted to position herself behing her sister's seat and lean against the backrest of the chair. "Earlier this week we've gained a great victory for the humanity as a whole – Salem is dead. With her defeat most Creatures of Grimm have withdrawn from our major cities, leaving people of Remnant free to return to their homes and rebuild, and, one day, to enjoy this new age of peace that's ahead of us. This, however, would not have been possible if not for the continuous efforts of all members of the Circle... especially the four of our guests." His gaze was slowly shifting from one person to another as he spoke, pausing for a moment on the group of four young women before carrying on. "For that effort and all the sacrifices you've made, I thank you, in the name of all the good people you've saved."
Blake knitted her eyebrows, taking notice of Ozpin's choice of words – 'especially' instead of 'and', as if he had already included the girls when he had mentioned the Circle. "Does that mean we are a part of the Circle now? Just like that?"
"Only if that's what you wish for. As I've said before, I've never had any right to sign you all up for this war, and after everything you've been through I can't, and won't, ask of you to join us."
To everyone's surprise, Ruby scoffed after hearing these words. "You keep saying that, professor, but with all due respect..." she spoke, slowly circling Ozpin's desk and staring the man straight in the eye as she walked, ignoring the fact that the attention of every person in the room was now trained on her. "While I do not doubt that you feel sincerely sorry for every single soul that has suffered in this conflict, ourselves included, I also believe that you'd not hesitate to try and make use of us once again if the need arose, with or without our consent," she stated, stopping by the left side of the clock-window, and arched her eyebrow at Ozpin, as if daring him to convince her otherwise. "Or am I mistaken?"
"No, Ruby. You are not," the headmaster replied in a calm, almost detached manner, much in the same way as he spoke at the entrance ceremony over two years ago. Then, his expression softened and a quiet, tired sigh escaped his throat. "Do you hold it against me?"
The silver-eyed girl did not reply immediately, leaning against the cold glass and gazing at the lights of the city of Vale flickering in the distance. "Not really. You do what you deem necessary in order to save the humanity. Besides, this is what being Huntresses is all about, isn't it? Protecting people, even at the cost of our own lives." Eventually, she turned her heard towards Ozpin, her expression neither sympathetic nor resentful, simply serious. "All I'm saying is that we'd appreciate if you were straight with us, and didn't keep us in the dark for a change. There's only so much bullshit we can take before we grow tired of it."
People watched her with varying looks painted on their faces – some compassionate, some entertained, some approving; Ozpin's was one of respect, maybe even pride.
"Of course. If the Vigil is to be successful, every member of the Circle – including the four of you, should you join us – should be equipped with every piece of information that might prove useful."
Weiss frowned and glanced at her teammates, then, seeing that all of them were just as clueless as she was, proceeded to question the headmaster on the behalf of the team. "'The Vigil'?"
Ozpin sat on his desk in a way that allowed him to have all the people gathered in the room within his view, including Ruby. "As you already know, killing the Witch is merely a temporary solution... but, sadly, also the best one we have. The good news is that, in theory, every new Witch – an Apprentice, if you will - is relatively vulnerable in their early years, having neither the full power nor the allies and resources of their predecessor. We can take advantage of that, of course... but before we do that, we obviously need to find them first," Ozpin said, then smiled wryly. "Problem is, we don't know who the next Witch will be, or even where and when they might appear. So we keep a neverending watch, looking everywhere and searching for the Witch's successor, all the while protecting this world from those who would like to see it thrown into chaos – that's what the Vigil is about."
"And how do we find said succesor, exactly? What do we even look for?" Blake questioned.
Hearing her girlfriend's question, Yang let out short, humorless laugh. "Well, if Salem was anything to go by, then it should be pretty damn obvious that someone is a Witch the moment you see them."
"A very good question," Ozpin responded to Blake, bowing his head approvingly. "Sadly, it's not that simple, Yang. While it is possible to recognize any Witch by their appearance – usually by some sort of a stigma - it is obvious only in the case of 'older' Witches. As for the Apprentices... If you're lucky, you might spot their mark; if not, it's still possible to... well, sense them. They also 'bleed' smoke from their wounds, in much the same way Grimm do."
"Like Cinder did?" Yang asked quietly, recalling with painful vividity the image of her baby sister standing over the beheaded corpse of the woman that caused the Fall of Beacon, the clouds of thick, black smoke coming from the stump of the neck and the gaping wound in Cinder's abdomen.
The old professor nodded. "Yes. In fact, I believe that the late Cinder Fall was a good example of what the Apprentice would look and be like."
Ruby, who was still standing by the window and observing the world outside, suddenly turned towards Ozpin. "Wait. Are you implying that Cinder was also a Witch?"
"No, as there can be only one Witch at one time. That being said, she'd possibly have become one if she'd outlived Salem. Ambitious, power hungry individuals that have abandoned their humanity - those are the ones that are most likely to become a new vessel for Dark One's power." Ozpin clasped his hands together and rested them on his stomach as he considered for a while what else should he mention. "Just like all my predecessors were men, every single Witch was female, either human or Faunus; unlike me, however, they do not suffer any drawback of old age aside from losing the protection Aura provides. Instead, their bodies turn into something more akin to the Creatures of Grimm than humans or Faunus – ageless husks, no longer able to generate an Aura... but perfectly capable of channeling the power of the Dark One."
Winter, who up to this moment remained completely silent, finally spoke up. "Is there any way to know how much time do we have before the next Witch appears?"
"Yes and no. It's technically possible to very roughly predict when a Witch might show up, as most of them have appeared during or shortly after the times of great unrest, when Creatures of Grimm were on the rise... but that's all we've got."
"Like before the Great War, or the Faunus Rights Revolution?" Ruby suggested.
"Correct. In fact, the Great War would likely never had happened if not for the machinations of Salem's predecessor." The headmaster grimaced. "Regrettably, we don't know much about Salem herself; we had been unaware of her existence up until about twenty three years ago, when she was already a full-fledged Witch."
Qrow chuckled under his breath, scratching the short stubble along his jawline. "Twenty three... damn, Oz, you actually do make me feel old. I hate that about you."
Ruby rolled her eyes playfully. "Lemme guess - it's been you who has found her?"
The very moment his niece spoke up and reminded him of her presence in the room, Qrow's expression turned into one belonging to a man who knows he had fucked up. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he silently mouthed a curse, then, reluctantly, looked at Ruby, forcing a smirk. "Nope. Your mom did. That's how our team got involved with the Circle in the first place."
The silver-eyed girl deflated a bit. "Oh." 'Add that to the list of things that potentially got mom killed, I guess...'
Yang was quick to set the conversation back on track, hoping it would take her sister's mind off things. "Okay, let's say we've learned that she's somewhere out there. What's the stage two? Track the bitch down and get rid of her?"
Although the question was directed at Ozpin, Qrow was the first one to answer. "The Witch Hunt. So yeah, pretty much, though it's much easier said than done. And if we're unlucky and again screw up killing her before she gains power, allies and resources– we're at War, and thousands die. No pressure."
Ruby snorted at that, stepping away from the window. "Yeah, no pressure whatsoever." Returning to the place where the rest of her team was seated, she plopped on the empty chair between Blake and Weiss, then turned her eyes at Ozpin. "So, that whole Vigil thing... what should we do?"
"If we are to find the next Witch in time, we must bolster our numbers, as there are less than one hundred of Circle members in all four Kingdoms at this moment; we need more trusty eyes, watching over the whole of Remnant." The headmaster paused for a moment and stood up. Placing both of his hands on his desk, he leaned a bit forwards and looked the girls in the eye. "And this finally brings me to a question... will you join us?"
The girls glanced at one another, then back at Ozpin.
"What would we be expected to do?" asked Weiss.
"To focus on your studies until you graduate, obviously," professor Goodwitch stated, smirking a bit after seeing the surprised looks she was given. "Of course, you'd still be informed of any developments that might occur as soon as possible. We, in turn, would simply expect of you to keep your eyes open, and possibly investigate some leads for us."
"And after we graduate?"
Glynda pushed her glasses up her nose as she took a brief moment to ponder over her answer. "I believe you already have a pretty good idea how we work and what we do. You'll be Huntresses, first and foremost; the main difference between you and other alumni will be your knowledge about the world we live in, and the responsibilities coming with said knowledge." She smiled sadly. "In fact, you all have already begun walking this path. Now you simply have to decide whether or not you wish to continue pressing onwards."
After a while of consideration, Yang crossed her arms, then, turning her face towards the rest of the team, nodded. Weiss and Blake were quick to respond with similiar gesture, and Ruby, who did not want to pressure any of her teammates into joining on her account, was the last one to follow suit.
The brawler's gaze returned to the man sitting behind the desk. "Well, seems that all four of us are in. Are we supposed to swear an oath, or something?"
Ozpin chuckled softly, shaking his head. "No, nothing so formal; we used to have an oath a long time ago, but later it became the oath every Huntsman and Huntress is supposed to swear when they graduate their Academy. For now, all I need is to just hear you say 'yes'."
And that's exactly what he heard a moment later - 'yes' uttered by four different voices speaking one after the other.
Other members welcomed the four young Huntresses to the Circle with amiable smiles or supportive word; especially Winter seemed to be pleased, pride gracing her features when she congratulated her sister and the rest of the team. Qrow, on the other hand, didn't say a word, probably not seeing a reason to; he simply smirked, looking at the girls approvingly, his arms thrown around his nieces' necks from behind of their seats.
Once everyone said their piece, Ozpin continued. "While we are still by the subject of recruiting more trusty eyes for our cause..." His eyes turned towards the black-haired Faunus. "Blake, what can you tell me about your parents?"
The meeting continued well into the night as they discussed various matters, from reports about other Kingdoms that were brought by Winter, Amber and Aidan – who had turned out to be the representative of Mistral - to the long-term plans of the Circle, like recruitment of new members or hunting down the few allies of Salem that were still out there. When the last question of the night was finally answered, the soft light of the dawn had already tinged the eastern horizon with a lighter shade of blue.
Ozpin was sitting in his armchair, leisurely sipping coffee from his trademark mug as he watched his guests unhurriedly preparing to leave. Though he was quite satisfied – to say the least - with the course of the meeting, he knew he had one more thing to do before everyone headed their own way.
"Before we end tonight's meeting... I have one more announcement to make." Once the soft murmur of casual conversation dissipated and every face in the room was turned towards him, he took a deep breath and continued. "With the start of the new academic year, I'm going to step down from the position of the headmaster of Beacon Academy. From that point onwards, Glynda Goodwitch will take up the mantle of the headmistress of this school."
For a few moments the dead silence permeated the air, eyes of everyone staring at the gray-haired man with various degrees of shock. As one could expect, professor Goodwitch was an exception; still, Ozpin's declaration left some impression on her – instead of being surprised, she seemed to be uncharacteristically uncomfortable.
For the first time during the whole meeting, Qrow seemed to be actually taken aback. "What about you, Oz?" the Huntsman questioned, a small frown marring his forehead.
"I think it'd be best if I kept low profile for some time. As for the details... well, they remain to be seen."
"Headmistress..." Glynda tasted the word on her tongue, then, after a moment of consideration, shook her head a bit. "This will take some getting used to."
"Yeah..." Yang murmured, every bit as stunned by this announcement as the rest of her team. "It will be weird without you around, professor Ozpin."
"I'm inclined to agree," the blonde professor sighed, then looked the headmaster in the eye, her lips forming a slightly bitter, self-deprecating simper. "I just hope that the trust you put in me and my abilities is not misplaced."
Ozpin simply smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure you are going to take good care of this place, dear friend, just as you have been for many years. And please, let's not make my retirement sound so final..." Suddenly, a soft, green glow encompassed the headmaster's body, quickly turning more and more opaque until the man appeared to be nothing more than a silhouette woven from pure radiance. Then, just as abruptly as it began, the light disappeared, revealing the form of a young, green-eyed lad with black hair and tanned complexion now sitting in Ozpin's armchair, a small grin present on his freckled face as he looked at the people gathered in front of him. "After all, the entrance ceremony will hardly be the last time we are going to see each other."
The four members of team RWBY left the CCT Tower walking besides Winter – who was still slightly distracted after seeing Ozpin's little 'trick' for the first time – and a bit broodier than usual Qrow. The sun, having already risen above the horizon by now, was hiding behind the massive building housing the office that would in a few months belong to Glynda Goodwitch, the outline of the spire set ablaze with the light of the morning.
Once the group marched past the two of the four shallow ponds located in front of the Tower and stopped in the middle of the courtyard, about to part ways with Winter, Ruby faced her partner's older sister. "So, Winter... are you going to stay in Vale for long?"
The woman shook her head, then looked to the west, in the direction of the air harbor. "No. I'm heading back to Atlas in three hours; there's much to do back home, and I also need to report to general Ironwood as soon as possible."
"Would you mind if I accompanied you for about an hour or so?" Weiss asked, visibly disappointed by the news.
Winter seemed to be somewhat pleased by that question. "No, I wouldn't."
Knowing that tagging along with her sister meant going different way than the rest of the team, Weiss directed her baby-blue eyes towards her teammates, silently asking them if they had anything against it.
Ruby smiled in response to the pleading look she was given, then gestured with her head for Weiss to go. "Sure, go. We'll see you back in the dorm." She turned towards the heiress' sister. "Have a good day, Winter."
With a small, respectful bow the woman bid the group farewell, then walked away along with Weiss, the two of them waved off by the remainder of the team. After a while, Ruby, Blake, Yang and Qrow headed their own way, south, towards the ballroom and the dorm building.
"I wonder, Blake..." the Huntsman spoke once the Schnee sisters were nothing more than two small figures barely perceivable in the distance, "how do you feel about the prospect of recruiting your parents to the Circle?"
Blake glanced at Qrow, then let her gaze drop to the ground as she considered what to say, her cat ears lying flat atop her scalp. "I... I'm not sure. I can see why Ozpin does think it's a good idea... hell, to be honest part of me even agrees with him. They're influential, especially among Faunus. Trustworthy, too. It's just... they are my parents. I'm not sure if I want to get them involved." She sighed and once again looked at the man, shaking her head. "I really don't know. I need some time to think this through."
Qrow nodded in understanding. "Sure thing, take your time. There's a reason why Oz left the decision up to you." Having said that, he proceeded to address the rest of the team. "So, the four you are gonna stay here until the anniversary, then head to Patch, right?"
Ruby was the one to answer. "Yup, that's the plan. Well, for Weiss and I at least. These two," she pointed her finger at her companions in a mock-accusatory manner, "are going to be stolen by Blake's parents for the next week, and because of that I'm gonna miss her birthday."
The Faunus girl rolled her eyes. "It's not like you two can't come with us that day, Ruby. I didn't think I needed to stress that."
"Yeah, I know, I know. I just kinda assumed that your parents would like to, y'kno, have you all for themselves."
A short, soft laugh made its way past Blake's lips. "You might be right about that. Still, I don't think they would mind it too much – after all, they wanted to get to know not only my girlfriend, but also both of my honorary sisters, and I suppose it is as good of an occassion as any."
"D'aww," Ruby cooed, pulling the smiling Faunus into a sideways hug.
"And what about you, Qrow?" Yang asked. "Will you stay in Vale for now?"
"For a while, yeah. I doubt I'll be staying here for long, though; Autumn won't find herself all on her own, now will she?"
The fate of the power of the Fall Maiden remained unknown since the death of Cinder Fall. Nobody really knew why Ruby hadn't been the one to inherit it; some speculated that she simply hadn't been the last person in Cinder's thoughts - which seemed very unlikely - while others suggested that it was because of her silver eyes, or maybe due to Cinder's unusual circumstances and the fact that she had been usurping the power rather than having naturally inherited it herself. Whatever the case might've been, Ruby was more than happy with that outcome.
Ruby shrugged. "Well, that could happen. It won't, but it could."
They kept on going south, strolling down a somewhat enchanting alley with young trees growing on both sides of the road, leaves of gold swaying slightly in the chilly, autumn wind. The girls didn't talk much, weary after a relatively long day and eager to reacquaint themselves with their makeshift cots. Qrow, on the other hand, didn't participate in their lazy conversation at all, nor did he seem to pay any attention to the words they spoke; busy contemplating something that was on his mind, all he did as they walked was sneak brief glances at Ruby from time to time, knitting his brows a bit every time he did so.
Eventually, Ruby had taken notice of her uncle's behaviour and nudged him with her elbow, bringing the man out of his reverie. "What's up, Qrow?"
The Huntsman blinked, then looked at his niece questioningly. "Huh?"
"You kinda look as if you wanted to tell me something."
"Uh, yeah, I guess..." he muttered, breaking the eye contact and rubbing the back of his neck, as if he was feeling guilty of something. "I'm just sorry that I dumped that piece of info on you out of the blue. You know, the one about your mom."
"Eh, don't worry. I do know that your urge to brag tends to get the better of you," she assured in a deadpan voice, getting a snort of laughter out of Yang and making Qrow relax enough to feign an indignant stare, to which Ruby responded with a soft smile. "Seriously though, it's not a problem. I'm not a kid anymore, and it's not like I'm going to cry every time someone mentions Mom. Sure, it was not exactly pleasant, but... it's not a bad feeling, knowing that I managed to finish something she has started."
The man chuckled, throwing his arm around his niece's shoulder. "Heh. Yeah, she'd be proud of you. Yell at you for risking your life so much, too, not to mention brutally murdering yours truly for dragging her precious offspring into this whole mess." He ruffled Ruby's hair affectionately, disheveling girl's mane much in the same way he did her mother's all those years ago, and smiled to himself. "You might not be Summer, but you sure are her daughter." An idea sparked in his mind, quickly turning his smile into a grin. "Your hair is just as fluffy and fun to mess with as hers, y'see."
A moment and a single half-hearted elbow to the gut later, Qrow still believed the laugh was worth the price he had to pay, his niece snickering along with him as the four of them continued strolling through the campus grounds basked in the warm glow of the morning sun.
Author's Note:
And there I was, hoping that this chapter won't pose as many problems as the last one did. Oh brother, how young and naive I was...
Sigh... Sorry for leaving you guys hanging for three flippin' months (damn you, university). I don't think I'm entirely satisfied with the final outcome, either, but, still, I hope I did not disappoint you with this update... too much, anyway.
If you have a moment to spare, I'd really appreciate if you told me what you liked or disliked about this chapter or the story so far as a whole – it would really mean a lot.
Guest (A me): It is a consolation! Kind of. I mean, I'm still annoyed as hell at myself that it took me so long to get through that one (and this one too, in fact...), but I'm really glad you were able to enjoy it. I'm also really grateful you mentioned what you liked about previous chapter!
TheLatiKing: "I wish chapters were made faster" - you and me both, my friend. You and me both. In theory, future chapters should be far easier for me to write (while this one was especially hard for a few reasons, mostly the meeting part), but nowadays I also have much less time to write than I used to, mostly because of the university. In any case, I'll try my best to be faster, because – and believe me when I say it – no one is more pissed off at my writing pace than I am myself.
Anonymous guest: I will continue, don't worry. Still, thanks; it's always gratifying to see that there are people who would like the story to continue c: