A/N Sorry this didn't come out last week, but it was Christmas and I got swamped with family stuff and building a new computer, So I apologize if you were looking forward to a new chapter last week and it never came. But hey If it does come out last week yay for me I did it
Qrows eyes opened to the sound of unfamiliar fawning he quickly looked around what instantly caught his attention was Esdeath who was sitting next to Rubys' bed her face inches from Rubys who was quietly snoring, Qrow then looked down at Akame who's eyes were already and stared at him
"Mornin' kid." Qrow quietly said as he shifted a bit "I was gonna go and talk with Oz for a bit while you rested." Akame nodded with a quiet yawn and lied her head back down and closed her eyes, Qrow quickly got out of bed and tucked Akame in a bit after ensuring she was comfortable he looked at Esdeath and gestured to the door, Esdeath nodded and followed him out
"Come on, I wanna talk with Oz 'bout this, and you gotta be there too." Qrow said after she shut the door
"I'd rather be here when Ruby wakes up. So I'll decline." Esdeath shot down causing Qrow to roll his eyes
"And I wish I could visit Akame more frequently than when a murderous psychopath cheats death, too bad we don't all get what we want, now come on it'll make things easier for both of us." Qrow snarked causing Esdeath to growl at him
"Where the hell do you get off? You're not allow to order me around." Esdeath growled at him
"It's not an order its a choice-less suggestion, I'm just saying that we should get this over with sooner rather than later, look Jimmy said we're fighting the same enemy so this meeting includes you too." Qrow shot back
"I'm getting sick of all these secret meetings, you and Akame may be fine withholding information on Salem from Ruby but I'm not. Ruby deserves to-" Esdeath began causing Qrow to look away from her and spoke cutting her off "Akame doesn't know either."
"What?" Esdeath asked as she blinked in surprise
"I never told her, Oz doesn't like getting anyone involved until we know they'll stay involved. I just wanted Akame to have a normal life for a while... but it seems that 'cause you're here she doesn't get that." Qrow explained sadly as he leaned on the wall of the small hallway
"You didn't tell her?" Esdeath asked Qrow nodded "You brought her here. But you didn't tell her ANYTHING about the war she was stepping into!?" Esdeath shouted in rage
"I gave her the option she chose to come. You cant blame me, I was hoping that she would chose a completely different path, one that she could lead a simple life with little to no fighting..." Qrow defended then after a few seconds he spoke again "Gods, I really have become like Tai."
"I never took you as one for being soft." Esdeath teased causing Qrow to scoff
"I bet if Ruby yawned again you'd swoon for hours." Qrow snarked back causing Esdeath to blush a bit
quickly ridding herself of her blush Esdeath recomposed herself "Fine tell me what this meeting is about and I'll consider going to it."
"I'm assuming that's the best I'll get from you?" Qrow asked Esdeath nodded causing him to sigh "I wanted to try and figure out how we're gonna to function together, 'cause I for one never want to see you again, but that's not gonna happen so we need to figure out a compromise." Qrow explained Esdeath nodded in agreement
"That would be both helpful and beneficial for us. But I will say you and Raven haven't faltered in your teamwork. The offer of subordination still stands, should you wish to take it." Esdeath said causing Qrow to roll his eyes
"Yeah I'll get right on that one." Qrow said his voice soaked in sarcasm
"Its just an offer." Esdeath reaffirmed as they began to walk down the hall towards the stairwell
"Anyways I wanted to ask you, are you really scared of me and Raven?" Qrow asked as they walked along
"Absolutely terrified." Esdeath answered calmly she then went into farther detail "When I was growing up I had frequent nightmares of you two and would constantly lose sleep over it, that was until my parents took me to therapy for about half of my childhood. When you showed up out of no where four days ago and said told me how long until we met again I reverted back into that phase, luckily Ruby made me sleep I've been waiting to thank her for that."
"Yeah that was kinda the point, I had a friend run a background check on you and found those therapy sessions so we figured we'd use it against you. Unfortunately for us it didn't work in our favor." Qrow explained then he awkwardly spoke again "I'm sorry 'bout that too."
"Don't be you saw a weakness and exploited it, I would have done the same." Esdeath waved off as they made their way down the stairs
(o)
Reaching the bottom floor Esdeath was immediately called by Winter as both of them recognized her
"General! None of us had any idea... why is he here?" Winter began happily but that happiness turn to disgust when she saw Qrow
"Oh good. Jimmy and Ice Queen minor, it must be Christmas." Qrow snarked causing Winter to growl at him
"So does that make me Ice Queen major?" Esdeath asked causing Qrow to chuckle
"Which one of you can literally freeze time?" Qrow asked turning to Esdeath
"Which one of us can wha-" Winter began but was cut off by Esdeath
"Me, so I suppose that does make sense."
"You can what!?" Winter asked in disbelief as she tried to keep up this the other two
"Well we gotta go talk with Oz so we'll be getting a move on, see ya later, minor." Qrow snarked as he and Esdeath quickly exited the building leaving Winter to try and figure out their antics
(o)
Akame opened her eyes and looked around, Qrow was gone but that was alright, she knew he would be back. Getting up from bed she grabbed Murasame and hooked it on her belt and began towards the door before she reached it the door was opened by Winter
"Oh... you're here too." Winter coldly said glaring at Akame who calmly stood aside
"And here I thought this was a place of peace." Winter commented as she entered the room and began towards Weiss
"It is a place of peace. Once Esdeath left." Akame commented back causing Winter to freeze in her tracks and turn towards her
"Shes done more good for this world then you ever will." Winter shot her voice carrying all her anger
"Probably, but I never needed to claim that I do good." Akame calmly replied as she exited the room leaving Winter to her family as she searched for food
(o)
Entering the elevator Qrow pushed the top button on the list and leaned on the wall of the elevator as Esdeath did the same
"So, your file said that you spent most of your childhood going to therapy it cant have just been me and Raven so what else?" Qrow asked after a few awkward seconds
"That's a strange way to begin conversation." Esdeath snarked as she rolled her eyes at him "But its because... growing up here I didn't have all my memories at once, everyday I lived here I relived again back in the empire..." Esdeath explained as she looked down at the ground for a few moments, her eyes then darted to his "...back with you. But I never realized that you were also my saving grace. I got to live a normal life for once, no one feared me, no one ran, and no one was too afraid to approach me, of course I still retained my skills from living two lifetimes, I was far smarter and skilled than most ten year old's."
"Wait how old are you now? Like twenty? Twenty-one?" Qrow asked looking her over
"I'm twenty why?" Esdeath answered her suspicious clear
"That makes you forty if you have both life times in your head." Qrow said with a laugh
"I seem to recall it being common practice not to ask a woman her age." Esdeath growled at him
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind if I run into any." Qrow snarked as the elevator grew colder by the second and his breath became visible
(o)
Reentering the room Akame had four plates of meat piled as high as the medical staff would allow her, setting them down she lightly shook Ruby causing her to groggily open her eyes
"Akame? What time is it?" Ruby asked in a tired tone
"around 6:47, I don't have a scroll anymore so I cant be too precise." Akame answered quietly then continued in the same quiet tone "I brought food, if you want to eat it warm you'll have to wake up now."
Ruby quickly smacked herself and sat up "I'm sooo hun-" Ruby began in a loud cheery voice but was stopped from speaking by Akames' hand
"Weiss is still asleep, I was going to wake her next, so stay quiet for a few more moments." Akame said then released the younger of the two then turned and grabbed a plate of meat and handed it to Ruby who quickly got to eating, turning to Weiss, Akame walked over to her and looked at Winter to was asleep as well, Akame shook Weiss awake
"Huh... Akame? Am I dead?" Weiss asked her voice shaking horribly
"No, you're still alive." Akame answered and pulled her into a tight hug then released her and smacked her upside the head and spoke again in a shaky tone "Don't ever do that again. It was reckless and stupid, and you made me, Ruby, and Winter worry about you! Value your life more than victory."
"But you said-" Weiss began but was cut of by Akame who sounded very angry "What I said applies to you until it come to self sacrifice. Me, Qrow, Glynda, and Raven have all lived our lives as best we could, you still have yours ahead of you."
"You're younger than me though." Weiss added her tone was quiet
"I'm younger than you, but you know what I've done. My payment will come some day, you don't have anything to pay for yet, so don't throw your life away." Akame clarified as she hugged Weiss again and spoke "Now then, I brought food, you're not allowed to complain about it being only meat after that stunt you pulled."
"Thank you Akame." Weiss thanked causing Akame to smile and go to grab Weisss' food
(o)
The elevator door opened and a thick white mist came pooling out, before Ozpin could question it Qrow came flying out covered in frost next came Esdeath who was perfectly fine
"So... what was that about?" Ozpin asked carefully as he grabbed his cane and looked to Esdeath who leaned on the wall and glared at Qrow
"He called me old." Esdeath answered as she crossed her arms
"Worth it." Qrow chattered with a quiet laugh
"Careful not to bite off your tongue." Esdeath spat at him
"Well I can see this is going to be an easy meeting." Ozpin joked as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms
"Qrow and I discussed it and we would like to know how we'll function given the unique situation we're in? Since both of you seem to like to keep more away from me than I had originally though I'm here to argue apposing points." Esdeath said as the ice the was on Qrow flew off of him and into her hands before melting away
"That's simple, given your status in the Atlas military you cant move as freely as he can, so you'll just act as support when he's on a mission wherever in the world you two are in at the time." Ozpin explained calmly
Esdeath nodded slowly then spoke again this time her tone was identical to the one that Qrow heard when she was talking to just about anyone she didn't like but Qrows eye were focused on Ozpin "Alright I can work with that. Now then on to other points, I want Ruby and Akame brought up to speed on Salem."
"Out of the question." Ozpin shot down his voice cold "They are still students, they will stay that way until they graduate and choose."
"Akame chose to be here for that very purpose, and Ruby has already run into Roman Torchwick, one of Salems' pawns. She'll either learn it from us, or one of them. Who would you rather it be?"
"I doubt they'll run into him again. That was a one off thing." Ozpin waved off as he looked Qrow over as he stood and began to warm himself
"Fate is a strange beast Ozpin." Esdeath shot back a form of determination burning in her eyes "They will run into him again, even if I must force fates hand myself. I had him followed for the past few days, and imagine my surprise when I learned that one of our convoys bound for Mistral was raided and all the supply taken. Then one of my specialist following Roman led them to a White Fang meeting where Roman told the faunas there about an operation taking place to the South-East. That leads me to my next point, team RWBY is still under my command, they along with myself will be assaulting the enemy's hideout."
"They will not." Ozpin growled for the first time in his life Qrow saw Ozpin actually angry
"Its a military matter, not something you are well versed in." Esdeath arrogantly shot
"not something..." Ozpin began but quickly quelled his rage "The dance is tonight, even if you wish to take them on a mission you must be here. To keep up appearances."
"I know, I was planing on moving out tomorrow. I'm not a fool Ozpin, I've traversed the ins and outs of arrogant and corrupt bureaucracy." Esdeath confidently said as she pushed off the wall and walked up and leaned on his desk "I will tell Ruby, and I will tell Akame. Whether you like it or not, by the end of this week they will know." Esdeath claimed, Qrow knew she would follow through and so did Ozpin, Esdeath then turned and walked towards the elevator quickly followed by Qrow
(o)
"So what the hell was that!? Why would you act like that in front of Ozpin." Qrow asked after the elevator door shut
"What do you mean?" Esdeath countered calmly she then turned her attention back to him and smiled warmly with a tone to match "I saw the glares you were throwing at him. You aren't happy with him, are you?"
"You were seein' things." Qrow quickly defended leaning on the opposite side of the elevator
Esdeath pressured as she paced back and forth behind him "I don't think I was. You had the taste of a competent leader and now you realize that Ozpin isn't that."
"Shut up, you were seeing things." Qrow denied again, Esdeaths' pacing stopped directly behind him
"I could go on and on about how bad of a leader Ozpin is, but you probably know better than me." Esdeath commented
"Oh sure, lets talk about how good of a leader you were." Qrow snarked causing Esdeath to laugh a bit
"I needed nothing I just wanted battle, I gave my solders a home, a place where they weren't judged for any of their flaws; bloodlust, masochism, sadism, deformities, debt, insanity, bad luck, etcetera." Esdeath listed as she pressed her chest into his back "I am a good leader, I've had over twenty years of experience, if I wasn't here what do you think Ozpin would do about the White Fang?" Qrow knew the answer but chose to try and ignore her "Come now, I know whats running through your head right now. 'I know Ozpin's been lying to me my whole life, Esdeath has been right the whole time.' is that about right?" Esdeath snarked Qrow continued to try and ignore her, but given the fact that they were the only ones in the elevator and their current position it was getting too hard to ignore her "You don't have to speak. I wont try and convince you anymore, I know you'll convince yourself, you're too smart to let Ozpin rule over you for too much longer." after that she fell silent but she didn't move away from him until the elevator door opened then she exited the elevator and spoke one more time "Think of what I said in here, weigh your options, then decide what you think is best for both you and Akame." after that she left leaving Qrow alone with his thoughts
(o)
Akame then moved to Winter and shook her a bit, Winter opened her eyes and they quickly darted to Weiss then Akame
"What do you want?" Winter asked coldly
"I brought food for everyone. Have some." Akame said neutrally and held a plate of meat out to her
"I'd rather had diversity in my meals." Winter denied politely
"Trust me, Winter. When it comes to Akame you don't get much choice in food. Its meat, meat, and meat." Weiss said then continued to sloppily eat as much meat as she could grab
"That's disgusting." Winter said as her plate was taken away from her
"Your lost than." Akame said and quickly began to eat everything on her plate than Winters' causing surprise from everyone in the room "What?"
"You... how is that physically possible?" Weiss asked after she finished hers and whipped her mouth clean, the door opened again and Esdeath entered smiling happily at everyone
"Oh good, you're all here. Akame, we're going shopping in ten minutes, Ruby, Weiss, Winter, you all can come too. We're going to buy dresses for the dance tonight." Esdeath said causing Everyone surprise
"I completely forgot!" Weiss shouted "I was too distracted! Training to... fight..." her statement fell short when her eyes fell on Esdeath who smiled at her
"Training to fight me." She happily finished "If you're going to stab through yourself to try and kill me that I have no right to stop you from taking pride in that fact."
"YOU WHAT!?" Winter shouted causing Weiss to look towards the ground "YOU STABBED YOURSELF!"
"She had no fear when she did so either, instead of berating her praise her." Esdeath said then turned back to Weiss and spoke again in her General tone that she typically held when dealing with almost anyone she Weiss for your strong will and willingness so give your life for your friends I feel the need to promote you to Spezialistenkader-Oberschütze, that puts you one rank above the rest of your team save Ruby. You will get extra responsabilities and extra pay, congradualtions."
"Congrats Weiss!" Ruby called from her bed
"Thank you general... but I have something I wanted to ask." Weiss said causing Esdeath to smile at her and wait "William, our Oberst, can I request that my team get transferred to Akame instead?" that request caused Esdeath to smile and turn to Akame who was blinking in surprise from Weiss's words
"That's up to her, Akame would you like to have your first squadron be team RWBY?" Esdeath asked her expression unreadable
"I figured after I attacked you I'd be a war criminal in your eyes." Akame finally said her surprise vanishing
"Am I not one in yours? It really doesn't matter to me, I enjoyed fighting you all again, it gets so dull being surrounded by so many weaklings I wanted to rip my hair out, you all brought some fun back into fighting for me, why would I make you a war criminal because of that? Now answer the question."
"I will gladly take them on." Akame answered then turned to Weiss and spoke "First order, Weiss, heal."
"What?" Weiss asked after a few seconds of confused silence
"You heard me, Heal." Akame repeated causing no clarification
"I cant just... heal myself? I cant do what your asking." Weiss said after she tried to activate her Aura
"That sounds like insubordination." Akame said smiling at Weiss who was still completely confused as Akame walked over and channeled her Aura into Weiss healing her Aura and activating it "There try again."
Weiss looked at her stab wound and watched as it slowly closed to something far less serious "Hang on a second was that a joke!?" Ruby shouted as she stood from her bed, Akame shrugged
"General, Why did Weiss stab herself?" Winter quietly asked "That's simple, I held her hostage and she stopped that really quickly by doing so." Winter nodded as she watched Akame carefully
"Yes, she may be young but she has a lot of experience in combat and deserves the chance to excel in a field that will appreciates her experience." Esdeath answered Winters' unspoken Question, her statement surprised Akame, she thought Esdeath would hold a major grudge against her and everyone else involved in Night Raid, it looked like she was wrong Esdeath then spoke again her tone unchanged from before "But I do understand your concerns Winter but I've thought of a solution I hope you'll be happy with, Winter you are now Akame second in command you are to follow her orders and help her when she asks for it." Esdeath finished and everyone looked at Winter who seemed to slowly drain of color
"Now then, lets all go dress shopping for tonight." Esdeath added, now it was Akame turn to drain of color
(o)
They were in a store for what felt like hours, Akame was hoping to disappear into a crowd and she nearly succeeded but Esdeath easily caught her and forced her back to the group, so escape wasn't possible and due to social convention she couldn't attack Esdeath that would cause a scene, so now she was stuck shopping.
Esdeath was wearing a blue dress that changed from a light blue to a dark blue the farther down you looked, it draped over her right shoulder and went just below her knees, Ruby couldn't look away, Akame just looked tired of standing in a store waiting to waste money. Weiss and Winter complemented her dress and looks
next was Rubys turn to put on a dress, Ruby wore a solid Red dress that went over her knees and wore black heels which she seemed to have absolutely no trouble walking in, she also seemed surprised by that
"AKAME! I'M WALKING IN HEELS!" Ruby loudly exclaimed as she looked at her feet
"Whats so surprising by that?" Akame asked watching Ruby walk around with ease "Its not that difficult."
"Ask Yang she'll tell you how much trouble I had went I walked in heels at any other point before now." Ruby explained
"You look stunning Ruby." Esdeath said from behind the two causing them both to look at her Esdeath spoke again she seemed completely distracted by Ruby's looks "Absolutely beautiful."
"Wheres Weiss and Winter?" Ruby asked looking around as she grew more and more red
"They left to go shop for dresses themselves because they know what they look good in." Esdeath and Akame said at the same time causing Ruby to blink a few times
"What?" Ruby asked looking between the two
"They said earlier that they were going do split off and grab their own dresses." Akame explained "Now if we're done, I suggest we leave now. We do have nine hours before the dance and Qrow is most likely in a bar somewhere."
"What makes you think that he's drinking?" Esdeath asked her curiosity peaked
"Akame is really good at predicting where and what people she know are doing." Ruby answered as she sat down and pulled off her heels
"Really, well than, what do you think Blake is doing?" Esdeath asked
"Blake went to the assembly yesterday and so did Yang, so it can be assumed that they had also forgot the dance too using that information we can assume that she was dragged out by Yang to go dress shopping, where I cant say but I will assume somewhere they both can afford but giving the fact they also earn a pay check from you they could shop anywhere, yang wouldn't realize that but Blake would, and thus they would come here as both an affordable option and a place they know." Akame answered quickly
"Is that your final answer?" Esdeath asked raising an eyebrow
"No, that was for their sake, they've been following us ever since they saw us leave Beacon, and are currently hiding over there." Akame said and pointed at a clothing rack
Esdeath smiled at that and spoke in a light tone "Very good, I never took you for a joker."
"Spending every night for almost a week with Qrow will do that to you." Ruby said this time surprising Akame and Esdeath, Blake and Yang both exited their cover and joined the three on their hunt for clothes, additions that Akame wasn't too thrilled about mainly because that would mean that there were now more opportunists that they would notice she wasn't buying a dress nor trying any on
(o)
Qrow entered the seediest bar he could find sat at the bar and started to drink away his doubts, Every single word she said wasn't entirely wrong, two months ago he spent most of a month in Mistral hunting bandits and Grimm, then after his visit with Akame he was sent to Vacuo for two weeks, then Atlas, then the wilds south of Vale, none of it made any sense, he had no objective and no proper destination, each and every time he went it was just 'go here kill Grimm', it was becoming problematic to not bring it up to Ozpin, and it was getting harder to trust him too.
"Brother." Qrow quickly looked over to Raven who was sitting next to him "Finally, I've been trying to get your attention for like five minutes."
"Really?" Qrow asked as he quickly downed his drink
"No its been a few seconds but I wanted to see your reaction. Onto pressing matters when do you want to strike Esdeath again?" Raven asked as she leaned on the bar
"We're not." Qrow answered
"'We're not.' ha okay and when are we going to? Hmm? When she wipes out another nation? Or when she turns your niece into a monster?" Raven questioned her anger clear
"WE'RE JUST NOT!" Qrow shouted as he turned to her after he calmed himself he spoke again "Just... leave me alone for now okay."
Raven looked at her brother for a few more moments then got up and left, leaving him alone to his thoughts and a crowded bar.
(o)
Akame had failed, she was currently sitting in a dressing room staring at a black dress with red lining, she didn't want to wear it but... Esdeath, Ruby, and Yang working together is a very scary team
"Akame whats takin' so long?" Yang called
"There aren't many options for you Akame, would you rather one of us come in there and change you." Esdeath added
"Come on Akame, its not that big of an issue I'm sure you'll look great!" Ruby called after Esdeath and Yang finished, the kind words were appreciated but they didn't help the fact that Akame wasn't comfortable wearing a dress, but if it will get them to stop she'll wear it.
(o)
Stepping out of the dressing room, Akame was met with gasps of surprise and awe, personally she felt extremely vulnerable and weak in a dress, but she also had a weird feeling deep in her gut that she couldn't place whenever she had a dress on
"YOU LOOK SO CUTE!" Ruby cheered and she leapt onto Akame quickly latching onto her causing her to lose balance and fall only to stop before getting too far, Esdeath caught them both
"While I'll agree Ruby, be careful not to get too severely hurt before this evening." Esdeath advised as she pulled both of them into a stable stance
"Sorry..." Ruby apologized then began to gush "But look at her! She's soo pretty!"
"Not as pretty as you, but still she is pretty." Esdeath answered causing Ruby to turn very red again and begin to babble causing Akame to shake her a bit
"Ruby? Are you okay?" Akame asked as she shook Ruby from her stupor
"NOTHING!" Ruby shouted as she released Akame and jumped away a few feet and smiled awkwardly at her
Esdeath raised an eyebrow and looked closer at Akame and spoke as she walked around her "You look like you were made to be a killer. I'd say that you would have lived a rather lucrative life if you had joined up with an assassination group like the Oarburgh." Esdeath commented
"They offered me a spot in their ranks back when I served in the empire. I denied their offers." Akame said as Esdeath continued to look her over
"Oh really? Why did you not take the offer?" Esdeath asked causing Akame to fall silent she then continued to speak "There must be a reason..." Esdeath began the wheels in her brain began to move to figure Akame out when finally something clicked and she spoke again "Were you one of the ones Gozuki sent into Gifnora Forest? Even I avoided that place. But had I know he had someone like you in the ranks of the Elite Seven well... I'd probably have taken you for myself." after Esdeath finished speaking Akame was just quietly staring at her
"His name was Gozuki?" Akame asked Esdeath was surprised by her question of all the things she could have asked about that was the question she asked
"Yes, what did he have you call him?" Esdeath answered
"Father, he treated us like we were his family, but after a while I figured out he was just using us... so-"
"So you killed him, your 'sister' Tsukushi, and took Murasame as your own leaving your sister Kurome behind to be interrogated by the empire." Esdeath finished then looked Akame dead in the eyes "I read the report, and conducted the investigation. The empire saw you as a very valuable asset doubly so due to Murasame being compatible with you. Though personally I felt that it would be better to just kill you and be done with it. Now though, I agree you are very valuable." as Esdeath finished Akame couldn't help but relive the finally moments of Tsukushi; the betrayal on her face as Akame cut her down, the fear of death, and the eventually faded look every corpse has as life left her, but Esdeath voice cut her from her thoughts "You shouldn't regret what you've done to survive and grow stronger. Be proud that the obstacles in you way never defeated you, and forget the past."
"I cant do that, my past is nothing to be proud of." Akame waved off as she reentered the dressing room and began to change trying to stop herself from falling back into the despair of her past
(o)
Qrow leaned on the far wall of the ballroom watching the students party and have fun
"Not having fun Qrow?" Ozpin asked leaning on the wall next to him
"Meh, our dance was way better." Qrow answered as he looked away from Ozpin
"Which one? Your first year where you and Raven started a brawl? Your second year where you and Tai dumped all the punch on Cellas' head? Your third year where Raven stabbed Tai in the hand for accidentally groping her? Or your fourth Year where you all agreed to not do anything... other than spike the punch with Bacardi 151? I still don't know where you guys got that."
"I'd go with four, its kinda hard to forget Glynda flashing the whole dance." Qrow answered paying attention to Esdeath and Ruby dancing across the ballroom
"I had completely forgotten that part." Ozpin commented in a sympathetic voice
"Hmm" Qrow hummed as he looked around
"If you're looking for Akame shes over there with Weiss." Ozpin offered Qrow looked over and followed his finger to where Akame and Weiss were sitting
"Thanks Oz." Qrow thanked as he walked past the man, leaving him standing alone
as Qrow weaved through the crowd someone bumped into him
"Oh sorry!" She apologized, she had pale skin green eyes and blood red hair, something about her looked familiar though
"Yeah." Qrow waved off as she began to walk away but he quickly turned and grabbed her wrist "Give back my scroll." the girl yelped in pain but Qrow didn't loosen his grip
"Ow ow ow ow please stop!" the girl begged, Qrow tightened his grip
"Return. What. You. Took." Qrow ordered as the girl reached into her pocket and tossed his scroll to him, which he caught opened it saw his profile pop up then closed it "Be careful not to lose a hand next time." Qrow growled and pushed her away from him as he turned and stalked away sliding both her scroll and his into his pocket
(o)
Esdeath and Ruby stopped to catch their breaths, both sat and watched as other couples danced and enjoyed themselves
"Esdeath? When can we leave?" Ruby whined lying on the table
"Let see, we've been here for an hour, so we can leave... about ten minutes ago." Esdeath answered causing Ruby to gasp but Esdeath beat her to the answer "Yes we can leave now." Ruby happily bounced in her seat a few times then got up and began towards the door alongside Esdeath
"General?" Ozpins' voice came "A moment of your time."
"Of course Headmaster, You are our gracious host." Esdeath agreed then turned to Ruby "I'll catch up." She and Ozpin then walked away into the crowd leaving Ruby to walk out and look around at her dream school, but something was out of place, namely a person running across the rooftops
(o)
Qrow sat down next to Akame who leaned on him and continued to talk with Weiss, Qrow didn't mind though, he was just trying to enjoy his time with Akame and trying to forget Esdeaths' words.
"Qrow? Weiss wanted to know, how you got to the empire." Akame said pulling him from though
"Ah... Yeah... um..." Qrow stuttered as he tried to form a sentence then pause for a moment then spoke "Shambhala had a marker in the Emerald Forest, I don't know how or why but still that's how I got there."
"Well at least I know where Ruby got her coordination from." Weiss joked "But how did it get a marker here? Can it just put down markers anywhere? And if so whats the limit?" Her line of questions continued until Akame placed her hand over Weiss's mouth and spoke
"Neither Qrow or I could answer that, only someone who has used Shambhala can, and neither of us could use it."
"That opens up a whole other can of worms like, how does compatibility work? How does a Imperial Arms choose if someone can use it?" Weiss questioned after Akame removed her hand
"I don't know, that happened almost a thousand years ago. We just benefit from the labor of the past, but I have a simple way of telling who is and isn't compatible with mine." Akame said pulling Murasame from... from somewhere, Qrow didn't care or want to know but he watched as she drew the blade and held it in front of Weiss "Describe how you perceive the blade."
"Its..." Weisss' face contorted with disgust as she looked at the blade "I cant describe how I feel, but it does make my stomach turn."
"That's answer enough." Akame replied as she sheathed Murasame and hid it once more "If you were to draw the blade, you would either end up like Glynda or die."
"Then who is compatible?" Weiss asked as she racked her brain trying to make since of it
"Myself, Qrow, and Ruby. Are the ones that I know for sure." Akame answered "A good first impression is also a contributing factor of compatibility."
"Hang on, how do you know that I'm compatible with Murasame?" Qrow asked after she stopped speaking
"I'm assuming you are, plus you didn't have a negative first impression with it." Akame explained
"First time I saw it, it was coming for my neck." Qrow shot
"First impressions are the most important, so its a good thing it memorable." Akame shot back
(o)
Ruby rolled to a stop and swung her blades deflecting spears of glass, Ruby grinned madly and called out
"THATS WEAK! LET ME SHOW YOU HOW ITS DONE!" Ruby snapped her fingers and half a dozen spears of ice appeared and began to fly at the intruder who struggled to dodge them causing Ruby to laugh "COME ON DOG, KEEP RUNNING! IF YOU SLOW DOWN I'LL ENJOY WATCHING YOU DROWN IN YOUR OWN BLOOD!"
The intruder seemed frightened as she jumped away and threw something on the ground sending smoke all over the room, Rubys smile faded as she began to search the room "I'll find you, and when I do... you'll beg me to kill you." Ruby spoke loudly as the elevator opened and Esdeath walked in
"Ruby I got a report that someone assaulted my men downstairs, but it looks like you took care of our intruder." Esdeath commented as she looked at the communication room that was riddled with shards of ice "Your aim could use work though."
Ruby fell to one knee and started to breath extremely heavily and held her head "I'm sorry, she got away. I failed you."
Esdeath's expression dropped at that "You didn't fail, you may have stopped them from sabotaging the network, just in case I'll have Mich do a look over of the network and remove anything too suspicious." Esdeath said "I'll talk with Ozpin about it then I'll send for you to give us as much information on her as you can, for now go get some rest. You dearly need it." with that Esdeath helped ruby into the elevator quietly lamenting that her night plans with Ruby fell through
(o)
"Qrow, this way." Ozpin ordered as he walked past Qrow and Akame, both got up and followed after him "I got a report that someone infiltrated the CCT."
"Do we got any idea where or who they are?" Qrow asked as they began to run
"No but we do know that they were chased out of building, I'm heading to the vault, you should scout around the CCT for anyone suspicious." Ozpin ordered and Qrow quickly shifted and flew off
"What about me?" Akame asked causing Ozpin to do a double take the fell silent for a few moments before answering
"go check the inside of the the CCT, make sure the intruder didn't double back." Ozpin finally said as they ran
"Understood." Akame agreed as she kicked off her heels and caught up to Ozpin, their night had just begun...
A/N This chapter should be out today or next week(4) I haven't decided if I'm happy with this chapter or not, and its also not going to be super refined if it is the 28th when I release it but hey, I like consistency so I just might, we'll see. This week has been a crazy one, I've had Christmas, hooking up a new computer, completing Jedi Fallen Order in two days on grandmaster difficultly(Hurting my hand because of that, yes I have no life.) and more family time then I could ever want or need so I was kinda spooked that I might not be able to get this out in time, I probably am still spooked that I might not get it out in time, but hey these things happen so we just gotta do what we do best and power through. Now for editing at 9:05 PM... yay.
