Chapter 27

"Just die!"

Adam grunted as he fell back under Pyrrha's assault. He was out of breath and panting heavily. Pyrrha stopped and gave him a concerned look.

"Adam? Are you sure you're up for this?" She asked, voice filled with worry.

He nodded. "Yes." He ran back in, but despite his determination, he failed to land a hit. After several more minutes of making no progress, he gave up with a growl. Pyrrha laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Adam… you know you can talk to us, right?"

Jaune, who had been resting, came over and nodded. They were worried about him. He didn't blame them. His mind was focused on Blake and nothing could keep his mind from repeating what she had said.

"I just need to work it out, alright?"

The partners shared a look before looking back at him. "Adam… maybe we should take a break. You just came back from a mission a couple days ago. You need rest." Pyrrha said with a smile.

Adam felt like fighting, like saying he was fine and wanted to keep going. But instead he nodded and sighed.

Ever since the Breach, things had gotten complicated. Not that they weren't before, but now it felt more pressing. Blake had gone off the deep end and if he didn't act he could lose her for good. Then came the new ability he had used. He'd never seen it before and so far had failed to replicate it.

He'd failed to convince or capture Blake. He still wasn't sure his decision to capture her was the right one, nor if he would try again. One thing was clear, however, he needed to train. He needed to get stronger.

Adam took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. As much as I enjoy our spars, I don't think I'm advancing enough."

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes. Blake was faster than I could deal with. I won't learn to by sparring with you. No offense."

"None taken. It's your choice. But whenever you want to come back, we'll be waiting."

Adam smiled. "Thank you. I have one last recommendation Pyrrha."

"Oh?"

"Train your Semblance. Don't just use it for manipulating your opponent's weapons or armour. You have practically perfected your swordsmanship, so work on reaching the peak of your power."

"Alright… I just don't know how useful it will be. Grimm don't have much metal to use."

"You should realise by now the Grimm aren't going to be your only opponents. Besides, if you don't train it you'll never know how you can use it. Don't neglect a part of yourself because you don't see a purpose for it yet."

Pyrrha blinked in surprise but smiled and nodded. "You're right. I guess I'm thinking like I'm still in competitive fighting. Thank you."

"Don't worry about it." He waved his hand dismissively. "Sometimes you need someone else to point out something wrong."

"Then I have something for you, Adam."

"Oh really?"

"You keep holding back against the White Fang, and it's going to end badly." Pyrrha seemed almost guilty for saying it.

A part of Adam was taken back, but he knew, deep down, that she had a point.

"I'll take it into consideration."

Better.

I have to get better.

Neo smirked as she bought her foot down on Blake's head. She hit another clone as Blake rolled to the side, springing back to her feet.

I need to get faster. Stronger. Better.

Blake charged in and tried to cut Neo apart. The woman dodged with ease. Faster! Blake cut faster and faster. Neo kept dodging.

I must defeat him.

When she finally hit the multi-coloured woman she shattered into a million points of light. Blake cursed and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the colourful boot from crushing her neck.

I must win!

Blake charged in again.

Beacon had returned to normal. It annoyed Adam. The walls had just been breached but here they all were, in Grimm studies listening to a dull man brag about his past victories. Thankfully it didn't last long and Adam could escape.

As they piled out of the class he pulled Ruby to the side. She gave him a confused look.

"Ruby. I need your help."

"Sure! What do you need help with?"

"You're fast. I need to learn to defend against and counter someone fast. You're faster than she was, so you can help me."

Ruby beamed at him like he'd just made her day. "Yes! Of course I'll train with you! What do you need?"

He smiled. "Be fast. Hit me and then run away, then repeat."

"That's it?" She cocked her head. He nodded.

"Yes. We start at your base speed and move up from there. We'll start going faster once I can reliably counter you."

"Alright." She smiled and nodded to him.

"I'll pay you back with cookies later." He said as he clapped Ruby on the back. She cheered as they moved to their next class.

Ruby dashed forward, just a blur, and brought down Crescent Rose, hitting Adam in the side of his torso. He grunted and tried to slash back but she dashed away before his attack could get anywhere.

They'd been doing it for about an hour now and he'd already moved from her basic speed. She wasn't going as fast as possible, but faster than most.

Yang and Weiss were nearby, training together. After finding out Adam's intentions they had wanted to join in. Weiss was playing a similar role to Ruby, dashing in and out. Although it seemed to be much harder for Weiss than it was for their leader, likely due to having to place glyphs.

Ruby took a quick look at her scroll and sighed. "Adam it might be a good idea to take a break. Your Aura is looking pretty low right now."

He let out a sigh but nodded. "Fine." He sat down on the grass. He looked grumpy and annoyed. Ruby sat next to him without a word. They sat silently, watching Yang attempting to catch Weiss.

Adam was hard to read. Probably because she couldn't see his eyes but he also always looked a bit grumpy, so she could never tell if he was fine and just on his resting face or if he was actually angry. She'd gotten better at telling his mood but 'better' wasn't the same as 'good'.

But even so, Ruby could see he was having a rough time. Ever since the Breach and his fight on the train really.

But how could she help him? She could help him train obviously, but that didn't help him get past whatever had happened. Some kind of interaction with Blake.

She didn't really seem to be the same person that Adam described, but we weren't exactly in a situation to talk about books. Did I make a bad choice by asking him about the scar so quickly? Maybe I should have asked in private instead.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye. He looked lost in thought.

How do I fix this?

Emerald sighed. She was bored. Really bored. There she was, sat next to a tree watching their traitorous target but so far away they couldn't hear anything he or his friends said. So far away they were getting nothing! But they couldn't risk getting any closer.

Mercury sighed from behind his comic book. "You didn't have to come, you know."

Emerald scoffed. "And leave it to you?"

"You obviously don't enjoy it. Really you are so annoying. If you want to impress her then actually do something. As much as I love your presence, you're not the one trained for this."

"And you are?"

It was his turn to scoff. "Trained assassin here. You might not know, due to being nothing but a street rat, but we tend to be good at hiding and watching their targets. And you don't think Cinder would hire a bad assassin would you?"

"How are we hiding? We're in plain sight!" Emerald growled.

Mercury sighed and pinched his nose. "We are two students, sitting next to a tree, relaxing on a sunny day. How is that suspicious?"

"Well-"

"Hiding is about not being noticed, not about not being seen. There's a difference there." He turned the page. "Not that a dirty thief like you would see that."

She bristled in anger. "At least I actually care about this! You aren't here because you believe in Cinder or her plan!"

"And?" Emerald blinked in surprise, not expecting the response. Mercury looked at her with a bored expression. "Cinder understands how loyal I am. Maybe not as much as you, but that doesn't matter, does it? As long as I'm useful she'll make it worth my while to stick around."

Emerald scoffed and looked away. She watched as Adam Taurus stood and returned to training. Mercury groaned. "Look Em, if you're only here to appease our boss, then find something else to do."

"What!?"

"I can do this by myself. Maybe go offer to train the stray or something." He lazily flicked over the page of his comic.

Stray? Oh, he means Belladonna. Cinder would be happy if I took initiative to help out an ally… She stood without a word and left, ignoring the smug smile on Mercury's face.

She would make sure she was useful to Cinder.

James Ironwood was a man who always tried to remain calm and in control, however, a certain prisoner wasn't making that easy. It wasn't helped by Ozpin and his decision to allow Taurus into Beacon. He took a deep breath before he opened the door.

Roman Torchwick smiled at him from the shadows of his cell. Covered in dirt and dust and lacking his hat the thief looked far from his normally fashionable self. Yet he kept on grinning.

"Ready to talk?"

"Of course! So you see, I was minding my business when along came this massive Beowolf! I was shocked! How could such a beast have made it through all of Vale's defences! And then you wouldn't believe what happened, General. It talked! It offered me a job and well, it would be quite foolish to turn down an offer from a Beowolf." Torchwick shrugged as James continued to take deep breaths.

He would not let this damned thief get to him. "If you are not willing to tell me the truth, then you can continue to rot in your cell." He didn't wait for a response and just sealed the cell. Perhaps he was too quick, but he had better things to do than listen to a damned thief's jokes.

He left the detention block and returned to his office. He wished he could have a strong drink, but he refrained. He was still on duty after all and he had a call to make.

He pulled out his scroll and typed in a number. It rang for a few moments before the person on the other end picked up. The screen popped up and the woman saluted.

"Sir?"

"Specialist Schnee. I would like to request your presence here in Vale for the Festival and Tournament. I understand you were already going to come for a short time to see your sister."

Winter looked surprised. "Of course sir. If you need me I will be there. I must ask, however, will I still be allowed to spend time with my sister?"

"Yes. I will be stationing you in Beacon. I will provide more details when you arrive."

Winter saluted once more. "Sir! I will arrive ASAP."

James nodded. "Good. Good night, Specialist." The call ended. He leant back in his chair and sighed.

If there was anyone who could keep an eye on Taurus, it was Winter. They'd see if he truly was interested in changing. And if he wasn't?

Well, they had plenty of cells up here.

A/N: Sadly for a certain guest reviewer, Qrow isn't arriving yet. Instead, we have people training! Adam turns fully on countering Blake's speed but sadly for him, not only is Blake training but she will know what he is doing to train. We'll have to wait to see that outcome. Mercury and Emerald are pretty fun to write. Old Jimmy Ironwood calls in Winter to watch our ex-terrorist. I do wonder what Winter was doing during most of V3 in canon. She came to see Weiss and then left. We didn't see her again until V7. It's kinda surprising actually. I thought she had been around more but she was only around for a couple episodes. Oh well. This totally won't change anything. Nope, not at all.

I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time!