Chapter 37: Walk On Water Or Drown
"I'm too scared to say the things worth saying..."
To be fair, there were worse ways to land in a bed. Certainly worse beds to land in, than the one with white linens and a metric fuckton of wires and needles. Worse places to be in Beacon than the room with beds lined up on one side. Surrounded by his team. Yep. And the headmaster. Definitely the headmaster.
"Nexus Shade," Ozpin said, a steaming mug in one hand and a cane in the other. "You've certainly had quite the evening."
Nex hummed, glancing at the tube pumping some sort of clear fluid into his wrist. A healing catalyst probably. "An understatement. Have you seen the bullhead that hit me?"
Yep. That was his story. He was sticking to it. Going with the flow and all.
Ozpin nodded. "A bullhead the size of your thumb, launched by Roman Torchwick himself. A notorious criminal still on the loose."
Roman still was?
Well, it was probably too much to hope for that his fellow thief drowned or something, never to resurface again. It would have saved him the trouble of finishing that virus. Give him time for sleep, training, or tinkering with his gadgets. Or even more coffee time with Weiss.
"Yep. That one," Nex said, frowning as his partner and the ghost-ninja stiffened. "So... uh, we didn't break any laws, right?"
Minus the property damage, vandalism, and probably a butt-load of other things people could nit-pick. Well, they were crimes committed in the name of the law. Certainly, there was some leeway that could be made.
Right?
"As far as I'm aware, the only rule you've broken is curfew," Ozpin said, taking a sip from his mug. Great. Was it cocoa or coffee? "Which will be excused due to certain extenuating circumstances."
Blake flinched. "I didn't mean for this to happen."
The ghost-ninja probably expected them to leave her alone. She could have died. Would have died if Vigilance did not take that shot for her. His current state was proof of the raw firepower behind one of Roman's flares. Understandable, considering that enough explosions and bullets could level the playing field, even against seasoned huntsmen and huntresses.
"I doubt any of you wanted this to happen, Miss Belladonna," Ozpin said. "But the reality remains. You've risked the lives of your teammates."
The headmaster was right. There was no mincing words. Not when he was lying on a bed. And certainly not when his chest practically went through an oven and a meat grinder at the same time.
"To be fair, it was my call," Nex said, a cough stabbing his throat. It totally was. Right? "I led the operation. Also me who involved Team Auburn."
Team AXRN was in another room. The one Goodwitch called her office.
Thank the gods for small blessings.
It was debatable, but Goodwitch would definitely not be as affable as Ozpin. Especially not since they made tomorrow's headline. Beacon's huntsmen and huntresses foiling the White Fang and Roman Torchwick. Easy sensationalist fodder. Even more so since their fight destroyed a dumb, fancy ship. The kind the rich would kill for, while the poor needed to sell their kidneys.
"True enough. Be that as it may, Mr Shade," Ozpin said, his lips pulling into the ghost of a smile. "Miss Belladonna has shown an incessant inability to move on from her past."
Blake scowled, her fists crushing her shorts. "I'm not stuck in the past. I left the White Fang."
Stuck in the past. With her time in the White Fang. Almost like he had been. Stuck in those days—the days when everything seemed so simple. The mornings when his mother would wake him up with a blast of ice-cold water, and the nights when she would train him until the crack of dawn. Well, it was his metaphorical ghost, now lulled to sleep. If only he could do the same with his skeletons.
"And an inability to recognize her shortcomings," Ozpin said, taking a sip from his mug. "I cannot allow such a risk to remain in Beacon."
"What?!" Ruby said, flinching. "You can't expel my partner."
Expel the ghost-ninja. When they went through all the trouble to get her back. Right after the long months they spent together. Friends, even. Despite the fact that they spoke little. They did say the best of friends were the ones who could share nothing but silence. Well, they were not best friends yet. But the potential was definitely there.
"If the headmaster wants to expel me," Blake said, heaving a sigh. "Then there's nothing you can do."
Ruby scowled, her hand clasping the ghost-ninja's forearm. "I can't. But our leader can, right?"
Probably. It did not hurt to try. Besides, his team was relying on him.
"Look, give Blake another chance," Nex said. "She's made mistakes, sure. But who doesn't?"
Case in point—him. Probably more mistakes than any of his teammates. Enough mistakes to dye his hands red and cuff them in irons.
Ozpin quirked an eyebrow. "A centuries-old truth. Very well, Mr Shade. But I'll require more than just words."
Yep. Actions spoke louder than words ever could. They seemed to be of one mind on that front.
Blake nodded. "I promise it won't happen again."
Which was as vague as it came—something that could be interpreted in a lot of ways. One, they would not find out the ghost-ninja was off playing vigilante. Two, Blake would try to move on from the White Fang. For real, this time. Three, he would not get injured. Again. At least, not because of her.
And probably a lot more fibs his brain could churn out.
"While your vow means a lot, Miss Belladonna," Ozpin said. Yep. A lot. "I need Team Snowbear's stance. Will all of you stand by your teammate?"
No shit. They put in all the effort. They could not back out now. It was hardly a difficult choice to make.
"I'm with Blake," Nex said. "Rubes?"
Ruby nodded, smiling as her fingers squeezed the ghost-ninja's arm. "I'm with my partner. Weiss?"
Weiss glanced at the ghost-ninja. She frowned, her arms stiff against her sides.
Nex smiled, shooting her a look saying, everything's going to be alright.
"I suppose I can give her another chance," Weiss said, heaving a sigh. She looked away. "Despite what she's said and done, Blake is still my teammate."
Blake's eyes darted between them. "Thank you."
Ozpin nodded, taking another sip from his mug. "Good. Then I'll give your team some privacy. No doubt you have some words to share."
The headmaster spun and strolled towards the door, mug stiff in his left hand.
Nex sighed, glancing at his team. Three chairs fenced his bed—Weiss on one side and Blake and Ruby on the other. His partner and his two teammates.
Three pairs of eyes stared at him.
No escape then. Ugh.
Ozpin stopped right in front of the glass. "Oh, and, Mr Shade? Do see me when you're able."
The doors slid open, and the headmaster was gone.
Shit. What did he do this time?
Nex licked his lips, rolling his tongue over the chapped skin. "Well, crap. I swear I didn't do anything."
Ruby smiled, yawning as she leaned into her chair. "He doesn't look mad."
Then again, Ozpin hardly ever looked like anything. There was something about the blank face of the headmaster. Hiding something. Almost like he was never present at all. The kind of absentminded where absentminded meant missing a soul. Not possible, since only the Grimm were soulless. Or so the books claimed.
Weiss glared at the ghost-ninja, crossing her arms. "You're not going to say anything?"
"What do you want me to say?" Blake mumbled, staring at her lap. "I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen."
Nex sighed. There was still that other issue. "It's what you said about us."
"Yes." Weiss shook her head. "It's not true."
Blake fidgeted with her dirt-stained trousers. "I was angry."
Well, that was acceptable. Some things just came out. In the heat of the moment and all.
"And you finally admit it," Weiss said, chuckling as her hand slipped into his. Her fingers brushed the tubes on his wrist. "Why were you so angry at us, anyway?"
Ruby nodded, shooting the ghost-ninja a sideways glance. "You're not a member of the White Fang anymore, right?"
Blake's bow twitched. No surprise there. "I'm not. But I guess it all started on our first day."
Right. The ghost-ninja was spying on them. Stalking them since the day before initiation. Call him dense—well, especially dense—but amber eyes on windows were a dead giveaway. Especially since those very same eyes belonged to their team's ghost-ninja.
"It's just..." Blake said, her lips tightening. "The heiress of the SDC and a faunus. I assumed she was holding something over him."
"Well, Weiss was holding something over me," Nex said, grinning. "She got my hood out of it."
Blake scowled, her eyes narrowing. "What?"
Weiss glared at him, even as she smiled. "My boyfriend lost a bet. The scarf I'm wearing. It's his."
His hood-turned-scarf still hung around her shoulders, stained by splotches of dried blood.
The ghost-ninja stared at the snowflake, probably realizing the idea behind it. That he and Weiss were partners because they were just partners, and not because one of them was an heiress with an ulterior motive. Or even a thief plotting to steal her company, just like what Roman seemed to imply.
Nope.
They were just people. Ordinary ones who fell in love with each other. Screw the ocean between them. They already swam the distance. But still, he could walk on water if necessary. Or drown. Definitely one of those, judging from how the waves were closing in around him.
"Awwww. That's so sweet," Ruby said, smirking as she gagged under her breath. Apparently, it was already routine for her. "Weiss and Nexus sitting on a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the bab—"
"Ruby Rose!" Weiss said, crimson staining her cheeks. She was definitely evolving into a tomato. Backwards, then. "That rhyme is inappropriate!"
Nex shrugged, giving the fifteen-year-old kid a smile. "Just you wait, Rubes. You'll find yours someday. Then the teasing will be legendary."
It would be. He only needed to rope in Yang. And maybe even Weiss. But Weiss was not really the type to tease other people.
Maybe Blake then?
Yep. The ghost-ninja definitely had a teasing streak.
Ruby blanched, covering her mouth with her hood. "Nope. Yuck. Gross. Yang gets lots of boys from parties."
Hardly unexpected. Something about Yang screamed party girl. Down to her outfit, even.
Come to think of it, his getup also screamed something. Something along the lines of a spy—midnight-blue trench, white button-up, and black jeans with matching leather boots. Well, he only needed a fedora and some aviators. If he could manage those, then he would totally nail the look.
Weiss smirked, arching an eyebrow. "Boys? Who said anything about boys? Ruby Rose, I'll have you tell me. What do you think about girls?"
Wow. An actual attempt at teasing. Perhaps he was wrong.
Ruby grinned. "Meh. Girls will be girls."
Failure. Catastrophic failure. Impossible to salvage. Perhaps he was right. His partner should leave the teasing to him.
Blake tore her eyes away from his hood-turned-scarf. "I take back everything I said. Maybe it's possible."
"It is. We're going to make this work," Weiss said, squeezing his hand. "No matter what happens."
His brain lashed out, kicking him in the nuts.
Ugh.
Would she really say that if she knew who he really was?
No.
Certainly not if she met his skeletons first-hand and talked to them in her sleep. The kind of late-night talks that left him panting and drenched in sweat. Or at least, whenever they were too exhausted to share some coffee.
Blake sighed. "No hard feelings?"
"No hard feelings," Weiss said, fixing the ghost-ninja a look—a look that lingered a little bit too long. "But I'll be keeping an eye on you."
"You don't need to. I'm done. I'm finished with the White Fang," Blake said, frowning. "I can't be a part of it anymore."
Nex sighed, rubbing the callouses on his partner's palm. "Don't you want to fix it?"
Fix the White Fang and turn the bloodthirsty organization into what it once was. A force for peace striving for true equality between humans and faunus.
Just like how Weiss was going to fix the SDC. Liberate all those underpaid workers in the mines—most of them disadvantaged faunus. And maybe even disadvantaged humans. Well, maybe she could even install an actual health insurance. She only needed to take the company from her father then everything would be perfect.
"Fix it? My parents tried that," Blake said, frowning. "Then they had to change their names and hide in Menagerie."
Menagerie. The tropical wasteland down south. Home to faunus-kind of all species. It was supposed to be relatively peaceful—free from prejudice and human influence. Well, except for the presence of Grimm and the lack of resources. Believe it or not, he did consider bolting from Atlas before. Crash a bullhead into Menagerie and make a hut or something. But then again, he was never really the type to settle down in an isolated island.
It would numb his brain. Or worse, kill him of boredom. Definitely the second one.
"Your parents?" Ruby said, her eyebrows furrowing.
Blake sighed. "My parents were the founders of the White Fang. You could say it's my little legacy."
Legacy. There was that word. The one word that could probably sum up their entire team.
Weiss had the SDC.
Blake had the White Fang.
Ruby had Summer Rose.
And him?
He had Amariss Shade.
Or perhaps not.
His mother was turning into a speck on the horizon. Too far away to touch or to even see.
Would any of her teammates even take care of her memorial?
That is, if Willow, Jacques, or Mekel even dropped by. He certainly never saw them. They never even showed up for the funeral.
But then again, they probably never showed up because it rained, and no sane man would risk a cold in Atlas. His mother would not want her teammates to catch something like pneumonia. Amariss Shade was cool like that. The best parent in the world. And probably the best team leader.
Well, until he dethroned her. Eventually. It was certainly something to work for.
"Then why not claim your legacy?" Weiss said, frowning as she stared at the ghost-ninja. "It's yours, isn't it?"
"It's not that simple," Blake said, her eyes fixed on her lap. It was probably the very first time she did not have a book. Her very own safety blanket. "Sienna Khan won't just give up the White Fang. Not when its current methods actually work."
Sienna Khan. Infamous leader of the White Fang.
The ghost-ninja had a point, as jaded as it was. Most shops actually sold stuff to faunus the moment the White Fang assumed more drastic methods. Restaurants and other dumb, fancy establishments even stopped kicking faunus out. Not out of respect. But out of fear. Fear that the White Fang would show up at their door guns blazing. Not exactly the most ideal situation, since it only fanned the flames of their unspoken war.
"I hate to admit it. But you're right," Weiss said, her eyelids drooping as she sighed. "No one can fix the world in a single day."
Fixing the world. That was a thought.
"You can do it," Ruby said, grinning as she placed her hand on the ghost-ninja's shoulder. "You can fix the world or whatever. I'll help."
Fixing the world.
It was something to work for. A long term goal. Some sort of higher purpose.
Well, it was something to think on at least.
But for now, he had to be a team leader. A damn good one.
Baby steps. One day at a time. His partner was right.
The world could not be fixed in one day.
Not when Remnant had a metric fuckton of problems.