When we had all eaten our fill and I was feeling stronger than I was before I had any food in my system, I knew that it was time to tell the truth. At least, one of the truths I'd need to reveal. I stood, walking to the front of the room and turning towards everyone as they all looked at me in confusion. I took out the Long Memory and held it out for them to see, everyone looked at it in confusion at first before suddenly Ruby stood up and pointed at it, "That's the Long Memory! It has to be! Where'd you get this, Oscar?!"
"You're… Probably not going to believe me on my own, so… I've thought of a way to show you. Back before the semester started I was just a farm boy in Mistral… Until Ozpin decided to live in my head rent free."
A collective murmuring started, "Is he crazy?" I heard whispered by Yang. Yet I let Ozpin take over, just as we had planned. Everyone saw my eyes glow, everyone noticed how my stance changed from casual and nervous to incredibly old fashioned and formal, and everyone heard my voice layer on top of Ozpin's, "I assure you, he is very sane. You can ask Glynda, ask Professor Port, they will tell you the same."
The reaction was immediate as people started standing up in shock, everyone was asking questions or trying to wrap their heads around what had just been displayed in front of them, all except Ruby, who seemed deep in thought. After a few moments she spoke up, loud enough to get everyone to listen, "I-I believe him, guys. I know Oscar - The person that's talking now… That's not Oscar." She looked at Penny, "Can you go ask Headmaster Goodwitch to confirm this?" Penny was quick to agree and raced out the door. She'd be back in no time, I knew.
Ozpin retracted his control, and I relaxed into my normal standing position. Once more the glow of my eyes shows them that I'm back to normal. "So… I hope you don't treat me differently because of that - He doesn't have any control over me if I don't give it to him, and he doesn't pay attention to my personal life at all. He can… Lock himself away, and he does that a lot."
It seemed that everyone was in agreement to not treat me any differently, although Whitley had a question, "What is supposed to happen now that he's up there? What's… Going to happen to you?" He had a subdued look of worry on his face.
I sighed as I looked down at the ground before beginning to explain. "...As it stands, we will slowly merge into being one person. I'll… Still be me, as far as I know. Just… Different. We're looking for a way to stop it." I didn't fully believe what I was saying, becoming a merged being between Ozpin and myself meant that I wouldn't be me, it meant I'd be someone new. Neither myself nor Ozpin.
They all stare at me, before Yang speaks up, her voice filled with determination, "We'll help! Not sure what we can do right now… But we can start reading stuff!" Looking up, I see the others begin to agree with Yang, it seemed none of them wanted to lose me in any way to this fusion. They would do anything to stop it.
"Truthfully, I am uncertain if they'll succeed, but I also wish to find a means to prevent this from going too far."
I appreciate it.
As we discussed what to do, I could feel that at least some of them were looking at me differently. Now there was a look of pity or worry on many of my friends' faces… It bothered me, and I genuinely wished I could have avoided telling them the truth, but that wasn't ever going to happen. I would just have to try and get them to knock it off if it continued.
Eventually Penny returned and confirmed on no uncertain terms that I was telling the truth, that Glynda had spoken to my credibility and that if anyone doubted me still they could talk to her. At least now I no longer had to feel alone while dealing with this, nobody could relate to this but at least they were willing to be supportive. I hoped it would prove to be the same when I came out as trans to all of them, but one step at a time…
Before we knew it the semester ended and we were on summer break.
Several members of our teams either went back home or had a place to stay in the city like Ruby and Yang. Apparently they didn't like spending that much time with their father, when I asked, apparently it was because he could be incredibly overprotective at times, despite knowing that the two girls could more than take care of themselves.
Cobalt went back home to his grandmother, while Penny and Whitley stayed. Penny said she found Vale to be much nicer at this time of year than Atlas, while Whitley said that his father wasn't the kind to need 'constant visitation' to know he was loved. Although part of me felt like there was something else to it. I wanted to ask him, but anytime his father came up he seemed to get really tense, always changing the subject or asserting how much he cared for his father before requesting the conversation move on.
I even thought of taking the nuclear option of asking Weiss about it but when I suggested it to Ruby she told me that it would be a waste of time, Weiss was even worse about it than Whitley was. I would have to ask him about it some day, when he felt like telling me.
For my part I ended up moving back up into 'my' quarters. I let everyone know where I was, and that was when Ruby got an idea. If that was where I was going to stay, she said, why not make it more my own? Redecorate it! I… Had no idea about how redecorating anything was supposed to work. So she along with the rest of Team RWBY volunteered, with Penny and Whitley tagging along.
Ozpin lamented what became of his once elegant and refined quarters, but I thought of it as an improvement.
The paintings and tapestries that once decorated the walls were replaced with pictures of our teams, along with posters of less 'boring' things like bands that I didn't recognize or of landscape paintings that reminded me of home. The bookshelf was also given a more 'enjoyable' selection of books as Blake put it, she had taken it upon herself to give me all sorts of stories she said would keep me entertained for a long time to come.
I remember picking out one of the books, 'Ninjas of Love' it was called. I spent the night reading it and… It made me incredibly flustered. It was a romance novel with more than a few sex scenes in it, I should have known there was something off with it when Ozpin went into hiding and left me alone the second I picked up the book with the intent to read it. I think Blake hadn't meant to leave it there, and the next day when I mentioned reading it to her her face visibly drained of color. She relaxed when I told her that I liked it, although she requested I never tell anyone else that she put that there. A secret I was going to keep anyway, because I was sure that my team would never let me live it down.
All in all, summer was a welcome breath of fresh air. There was only one other notable occurrence, when Penny decided to visit my quarters on her lonesome.
I wasn't doing anything in particular, just reading a book when she came up. When I looked at her, I saw she looked very nervous and unsure, "Penny, are you alright?" I closed my book and moved to sit on the edge of my bed, patting the part next to me so she could come sit down, "Take a seat, tell me what's on your mind."
Penny walked forward hesitantly, "I apologize for visiting without prior notice. There has been something on my mind for some time now and I'm unsure of so many things… I reasoned that if anyone would be able to understand, it would be you." Then she sat next to me, poking her fingers together nervously as she looked down.
"I can try." I rub the back of my head nervously, I wasn't used to being the emotional support but… If Ruby could do it, why couldn't I? Besides, I did have some instincts on how to handle these things, thanks to Ozpin's memories.
Penny seemed to struggle with coming up with the right words, "I… This past semester has been the best. I feel like I have real friends for the first time, but I'm worried. I… Have a secret, and if you guys learn about it… I'm worried you won't want to be my friend anymore. I'm… I'm not a normal girl."
"Sounds familiar."
I know…
"Penny." Carefully, I place a hand on her back and start to rub it, "Whatever it is… I want you to know that nobody will think less of you for it. I… I'm not a normal person either, you learned about that earlier." If she was like me, I would tell her, but… Was she, or was it something else?
"I…" She swallowed a lump in her throat, "...Under normal circumstances I would be forbidden from speaking of this, but my father and the others will understand because you're so close to Ozpin. I'm… An android." She looked at me, tears in her eyes as she began to explain while I tried to process exactly what she meant. "Not a real girl. Most girls are born, but I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura! I'm not real…"
I stared at her for a good few moments, my eyes wide. It would explain a lot about how she behaved… Yet I didn't see how that would make her any less a girl, any less a person. "Penny, listen. I believe you… I could have never guessed this was the answer, but I knew you were different… But being different isn't bad, and normal isn't always good. Nobody in our team nor any of our friends will think any less of you, and if they do? They can talk to me about it!"
Penny's tears began to flow as she grabbed me and wrapped me in a hug. This one wasn't like the others, it wasn't bone crushing nor did it take all my breath. It was shaky, fearful, she rested her head against my chest and I, in turn, returned the hug. "Thank you, Oscar…"
"Don't worry about it…" I responded softly. I wish I had known sooner, Penny was a great friend and if I had known she was struggling like this I would have tried to help her sooner. At least now I could be there for her when she told the others.
We sat there for a while as Penny got ahold of her emotions before she requested that we tell Whitley, which we did.
He took it better than expected, mentioning that he was aware of the Atlesian Android project but he had no idea that Penny was that android. He didn't treat her any different either, which was nice. It was up to Penny to tell anyone else she wanted to, but she seemed content with having let the two of us know for now. She mentioned how she'd tell Cobalt once he was back from visiting his grandmother.
Towards the end of summer Cobalt returned, the four of us were all in the dorm room when Penny decided to relay the news to him.
After she said everything, rather than looking shocked like I was, or just confused like Whitley was, he broke out into a grin and threw his arm around Penny, much to her surprise. "Aah, that's very interesting! Yet the circumstances of your 'birth' don't matter in the slightest, to me you're a loyal friend and comrade, an amazing fighter, and a source of boundless optimism for all of us!"
During all of this, I noticed that Penny had a blush start to spread itself across her face, which raised a lot of questions about her opinion of Cobalt. They spent a lot of time together, I knew that much, but did she…?
"If she can feel every other emotion we feel, I wouldn't rule out the possibility."
It's kind of cute, I won't lie.
"Perhaps some day he'll become perceptive enough to pick up on her feelings."
Maybe, if that's what this is.
It was almost impossible to tell these sorts of things with Penny, she thought so differently from the rest of us. Over time she has become a lot more grounded and her more 'out there' behaviors seemed to become more tempered. I assumed that was thanks to our influence.
While Penny was busy being overwhelmed with emotion, Whitley decided to make a suggestion to the group, "I'm normally not the one to suggest 'group events' so to speak, but… Since summer is ending, how about we do something?"
I raised an eyebrow, this was indeed unlike Whitley. He had grown a lot closer to us over the first semester, sure, but he usually still only went along with things with grudging acceptance, "Do you have something in mind?"
"...How about we go get ice cream?"
We all looked at each other, before agreeing that was a perfect idea.
We headed down to Vale and went to an ice cream shop, at first we weren't sure what to get before Whitley suggested trying sea salt ice cream. I'd never heard of it before and it sounded… Weird, but I decided there was no harm in trying something at least once.
Afterward we all headed back out to the front of the shop and sat down at one of the circular tables with an umbrella stuck in the middle. I licked the side of the popsicle, blinking a few times in surprise. "Hmmm. Salty...and sweet!" After it gained my seal of approval the other two were more willing to try it. I had to wonder how Penny handled eating, but it never seemed to be a problem with her before, nor had I ever actually seen her go to the bathroom. I'd have to ask what happens later.
Cobalt took a bite out of his popsicle before speaking up, "So Whitley! How about you start coming with me to life weights? Between that and my dietary regimen you'll be able to become stronger in no time!"
Whitley seemed to contemplate this, "Hmmm, maybe every once and awhile. I don't like spending all my time doing those sorts of activities, nor do I want to become as muscular as you." I could understand that, at least.
"Aah, that's where your thinking is all wrong! You won't become as muscular as me, unless you want to! This was not an accident." He flexes his arm again, "This was deliberate training! So you can stay as much like you are now as you want while still getting stronger."
Whitley seemed to think further, before nodding, "Very well… I suppose coming with you every so often wouldn't be a bad thing." That got a surprised look out of me, imagining Whitley lifting weights was… Amusing and not at all what I'd expect out of him.
I decided to comment on it, smiling and speaking, "I'm kind of amazed Whitley, when we first met I don't think you'd have ever actually considered actually working out. How am I supposed to joke about you being a stick if you actually get muscle definition?"
Whitley licked his ice cream before scoffing, "You could start marveling at my physical progress, after all, you've certainly got nothing to speak of!" He points his ice cream accusingly at me, "I swear you've somehow got less muscle definition now than you did before."
I recoiled in shock at his accusation, yet also the realization that he'd been looking that closely at me made me blush, "A-Are you trying to tell me you've been looking close enough to notice my muscle definition? This is the legs thing all over again!" Whitley was an incredibly perceptive person, but this felt a bit much!
Once more Cobalt and Penny laughed while Whitley looked indignant, with a blush reddening his usually pale face, "It's true though! You cannot deny that you've lost some muscle definition. Maybe you need to come with us to work out as well, hm?"
"Fine! I'll go with you guys to work out and I'll be stronger than you by the end of the semester!" I took a bite out of my popsicle to underline how serious I was about it, although based on the smirk that Whitley wore, I don't think it worked.
"It's a bet then." His smirk turned into a full smile, "Shall we spice things up and set some terms?"
Cobalt laughed again, "Aah, now this is interesting! Healthy competition! I shall proctor this bet, I am an unbiased party after all!"
"Alright, challenge accepted. If I win, you're in charge of keeping the dorm clean for the entirety of the semester after this one!" I grinned as Whitley recoiled in horror at the idea, before he gained a determined look on his face.
"I accept your condition, and you can consider the same to be my condition! If you lose you must keep the dorm clean entirely on your own during the next spring semester!"
So it was a bet and we shook on it, before returning to our peaceful afternoon of ice cream and relaxing, enjoying the day before we'd inevitably be swept up in the chaos of another semester once again.
As time went on the changes to my body became more evident by the day, yet now that the semester had started, I was only a month off from telling everyone. I wasn't going to tell them before because I'd spent the past several months planning how this was going to go and doing it earlier would jeopardize everything I'd planned.
My breasts grew and yet more of my body fat reassigned itself to more 'feminine' places. I had to wrap my chest a few times more just to keep everything under control. Additionally my hair had grown out more, it was now capable of covering my ears and my bangs framed my face, parting in the center. I had to start getting it trimmed to keep it from growing too long, but there was nothing wrong with medium length hair, so long as it didn't get any longer. There were some more changes - my emotions had started to become a lot more volatile. Ozpin told me this was temporary and once the magic had done everything it could I would stabilize, but as it stands I had to try pretty hard to keep myself stable. One day I almost literally cried over spilt milk, thank god nobody was around for that.
Despite my best efforts to keep everything hidden I knew that my friends were starting to suspect something was changing about me. Nobody had actually asked yet, and I just hoped I could keep them at bay until I felt it was the right time. Although having to work out with the others at the on-campus gym meant wearing shorts and a T-shirt, which just increased the risk of being outed. I had a bet to win though, so I just tried to keep it as hidden as possible.
At least Teams RWBY and JNPR seemed busier getting into a food fight than questioning my ever-shifting appearance. I was one to talk though, I'd have joined in if I was there, Cobalt and Penny were and they had a lot of fun attacking their friends with food. The dining hall needed a day of repairs after that, thank the brothers we had stuff we could cook in the fridge.
A couple weeks into the semester, midway through August, I was looking for Whitley. Classes had ended about an hour ago, and we were supposed to be going to the gym again, but he seemed to just up and vanish. Naturally everyone was curious as to where he could have gone, so we split up and started looking for him.
Adjusting my school jacket as I headed inside and started to look around one of the main buildings, I eventually heard the sound of… A piano? I knew we had a music room with a piano in it, but I don't think I'd ever heard it being played on its lonesome, classes were out for the day so nobody should be in there. Intrigued, I started to follow the music.
The closer I got, the more I began to discern… Singing? The voice was familiar but I still couldn't be certain until I was just outside of the room.
"...I've heard there was a secret chord / that David played and it pleased the Lords / but you don't care for music do you?" It was Whitley! His singing voice was beautiful, and… Soulful? I think that was the word. I never expected him to be the kind of person to sing.
Once I got to the outside of the music room, I continued to listen to him for a moment more, a smile growing on my face. I was worried that once he saw me he'd stop singing, but I needed to take that risk, eavesdropping felt wrong in this situation.
As I rounded the corner, I saw him sat at the piano against the wall, large windows filled the room with natural light as he continued reciting the song, "It goes like this/The fourth, the fifth/The minor fall, the major lift/The baffled king composing Hallelujah…"
I think I recognized the song, so when the chorus started I joined in while slowly walking over to him. My singing wasn't good but I put my heart into it, "Hallelujah… Hallelujah…" I expected him to be shocked, but he must have noticed me entering the room, because instead I just saw him start smiling warmly, never looking up from the piano.
Together we sang, although clearly he had some kind of formal training. Me? I was just a farm girl. Once I got to him, all he did was pat the space next to him on the piano bench. I sat there and we continued the song, it was deceptively soft sounding for how melancholic and almost mournful it was. As the final keys were played and the chorus followed one final time, we slowly fell into silence once it was done.
Whitley gently brought the cover for the piano down, before running his hands over it. There was a faint blush on his face, his smile was one of gentle happiness, "So… Going to make a joke or something?" He spoke these words, but with how soft his voice was right now I felt like he knew that wasn't my intention.
"Nope." I gently patted his shoulder, "That was beautiful, sorry for ruining it with my terrible singing voice." I… giggled? Was that what it was? Light, repeated and short. I think that was what it was. I'd ask Ozpin, but it was at this point I realized he'd been missing since I started looking for Whitley. Strange…
Whitley's blush grew as he looked away, "Thanks." He muttered, sounding unsure of himself, "Oscar." His gaze turned back to me, he looked… Nervous? "So… That dance is coming up, yes?" I nodded, still unsure of where he was going with this. "Are you going?"
"Of course." The dance? Wait… It all started to come together in my mind as a blush began to heat up my face. My heartrate picked up and I suddenly felt incredibly nervous.
He was about to speak again when suddenly his phone started ringing. Sighing softly and seeming annoyed, he accepts the call and puts it on speaker, "This is Whitley, what is it, Cobalt?"
"Whitley! Has Oscar found you yet?" It sounded like there was something going on in the background, the screaming of civilians muffled barely by his own voice, both of us were immediately put on alert, "That Torchwick fiend, he's got an Atlesian Paladin! He's rampaging in the residential district - We need to help stop him! Team RWBY is already here, Penny and I are trying to get people to safety."
Whitley immediately lost his annoyed tone and gained one of resolve, "Understood! Oscar found me, we'll be there as soon as possible." After he hung up, we stood and immediately began rushing towards the exit. We'd need to get down there, and quickly!
We didn't even have time to change out of our school uniforms, we just grabbed our weapons from our dorm and hurried towards the airship landing. We weren't sure how much will have happened by the time we got down there, but once the airship pilot heard what we were doing he opted to give us an express ride, instead of stopping at the airship landing he piloted us straight to the residential district - Where soon the signs of destruction became apparent, tossed cars and cracked roads, team RWBY along with some others I didn't recognize were doing battle with the machine.
The airship pilot opened the door to the aircraft as we drew closer, the rushing wind almost drowning out the pilot's yell, "Alright you two, go!"
Whitley and I unstrapped ourselves from the seats we were in before leaping out of the aircraft, it wasn't that high into the air so this wasn't nearly as scary as what happened in the emerald forest, the two of us managed to land with rolls and no injuries as opposed to almost falling on ourselves. When we both stood we saw Cobalt standing nearby, he had just helped someone escape their home and start towards safety.
"A glorious entrance! It's good to see you two here so quickly! Team RWBY is still fighting the machine, you might want to go join them! Penny and I have almost cleared out the area." Cobalt then ran off to go look for more civilians while Whitley and I drew our weapons. I only had the Long Memory this time, the only thing I thought to grab was my satchel and that was where I kept it. I made a mental note to start putting Amber Pine in there as well…
When we finally got to the mech, it seemed like team RWBY had them well in hand, running through a series of coordinated team attacks to throw the deadly machine off balance and relentlessly attack it. Whitley and I had almost resigned ourselves to just watching when Ozpin spoke in my mind.
"There's a bullhead up above! It's shrouded in an illusion, but I can sense the semblance causing it."
Looking up, I didn't see anything at first… Only to see a vague shimmering as someone dropped out of the aircraft - A woman, although I couldn't see much about her. "Whitley! The aircraft!" I pointed up at him, causing him to snap his gaze up.
"Right! Flying Evergreen?" One of the names we came up with for a coordinated attack or action, we had one for each combination of our team, honestly we stole the idea from Ruby, but it worked!
"Flying Evergreen!"
In response Whitley placed a glyph on the ground, both of us braced before getting launched into the air. It wasn't too dissimilar to what happened at initiation, but this time was no surprise! The illusion over the Bullhead had gone down, probably because whoever put it there was no longer near it. The two of us landed atop the Bullhead, "Get the pilot!" I commanded, the both of us swinging down from the top of the aircraft into the open aircraft door.
Whitley went to grab the pilot yet before I could join him I felt a presence behind me, I whipped around just in time to block a strike from the woman I saw earlier with the Long Memory. Her weapon seemed to be a cane like Roman's, except this one was a sword! "Did we ruin your escape? Oops!" I taunt as she smirks at me in turn, kicking out and knocking me back, she seems ready to follow up with another strike before suddenly a dust bullet shoots past her, just barely exiting through the door of the aircraft.
Looking back, I saw Whitley, holding his gunblade out, "I got the pilot to start finding a spot to land this thing, turns out whoever these people work with are pretty quick to fold when their safety is at stake!"
Just in time too, that was when Torchwick jumped up, "I recognize you two, little red has a way of attracting the most annoying people doesn't she?" When he spotted my cane, his eyes widened, "Woah! This is the one we were told about. Listen kid! We'd love to stick around and beat you, but we've got other plans!"
That was when the woman grabbed his hand and wordlessly the two leapt out of the aircraft, as we rushed to the side to try and go after them, we spotted the woman using her… umbrella? To slow their descent while Torchwick pointed his cane at us and immediately we knew what was coming. A dust round shot out and smashed into the aircraft, the strike hadn't been aimed at us… But towards the cockpit! We heard alarms blaring at the front so we rushed over to see what was happening.
The pilot seemed to have taken the brunt of the damage, unconscious and now the aircraft was starting to lose control, entering a sharp dive, "Shit, shit!" I swear as Whitley and I move the pilot out of the seat. Not even thinking, I sat down and grabbed the flight stick. I had no idea how to fly, or even drive, but all I could do was remember what I saw in movies and pull back on the stick as the aircraft started to gain altitude. A bit too much altitude! I tried to level it off but we ended up dipping up and down a lot as the aircraft short forward towards the coast, Whitley had taken the seat next to mine and was gripping it tightly, "Oscar! We need to drop this thing in the ocean! There's no way we're going to be able to land this thing!"
"Ah, children… Allow me to take over."
For once I was glad to hear Ozpin back, "I'm letting Ozpin handle this!" Afterward I felt him take control and immediately begin to level off the aircraft, before flying it up towards Beacon. We spoke with a layered voice, "This is evidence, Glynda will know what to do with it." Whitley seemed to relax into his seat, breathing heavily as he knew that now we'd be safe, Ozpin seemed to know how to pilot this thing.
It didn't take long for us to find our way back to Beacon, the airship parked in an empty landing, and once it was safely powered off Ozpin retracted himself, causing me to feel lightheaded for a moment before shaking it off and standing, "Wow…" I start to laugh, "That was… Invigorating!" I don't think I've ever used that word before… Must be Ozpin's influence.
Whitley deflated into the chair in relief, sighing in relief, "Ugh… For once I'm glad there's an old man living in your mind." Ozpin was a bit indignant at the name, but I just kept grinning as I extended my hand out towards Whitley.
"So am I. Now how about we get out of here? The others are bound to be back sooner rather than later." Whitley looked up at me, smiled, and then took my hand. I let go after he stood and together we exited the aircraft, solid ground felt all too welcoming after that little stunt. The pilot was lying unconscious in the aircraft, but he'd probably be fine. Beacon had a medical staff, maybe we'd be able to get some information out of him.
As we were walking we were passed by several professors and security officers who raced past to secure the aircraft, a few of them tossing the stray, "Good work!" Or "Nice one, kids!" Which honestly just made me feel better about all of that, even if the culprits got away.
"Are you forgetting something?"
What do you- Oh… We were interrupted, weren't we? Are you gonna…?
"I will take my leave for now. Good luck."
I felt Ozpin's presence retreat, now he was locked off once again. It would be too embarrassing to continue this conversation just standing out in the open, so I hurried us towards our dorm. Our friends would return soon, and I had a feeling that Whitley would probably rather not say what he was going to say around the others.
When we got there, I closed the door behind us and sighed, "Ah…" I looked back towards Whitley, who seemed to grow increasingly nervous once again, he knew why I hurried us along like that. Truthfully, I wasn't sure if he was going to ask me out on a date or what, but… Regardless I was happy to oblige, "So… You were saying something before we were interrupted?"
"Ah… Yes." Whitley nervously holds onto his wrist with his other hand as he steps forward towards the window before turning towards me, "You… Speak as if you already know what I'm going to ask. Am I correct?" His voice was soft, his head was turned down, staring at his feet. After I affirm him, he looks up, "I… I want you to know that this has to be as friends. I… I'm not opposed to the alternative, but… My father is very closed minded. If he learned…"
I smile softly, walking over and throwing my arms around him in a hug, "Whitley, you're easily my best friend. There's a lot I need to think about and sort out before I could commit to anything else regardless… But for that night, I will gladly be your date." It was true, sorting out my feelings was a difficult thing to attempt, I knew he meant a lot to me… But did I feel that way about him? My feelings besides, he had no idea about my secret, not yet. Until then, I couldn't ask him, nor anyone, to commit to me. They needed to know everything first.
He seemed shocked by the sudden hug, and yet he quickly relaxed from his tense state and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm glad we have an understanding…" His gentle voice sounded happy, content. Even if we couldn't be more, for whatever reason, we would at least be able to spend that night together.
We broke apart, knowing that the others would be returning soon. I made my way to the kitchen to start making some tea, and sure enough before it was even finished the door flung open, with Cobalt and Penny arriving inside. Penny was the first to speak, "Salutations, you two! I heard you put on a rather marvelous performance with an aircraft!"
Cobalt agreed, closing the door behind them, "I saw it with my own eyes! For a moment I was worried you would crash into the city, but you sorted it out!"
"Are… People talking about it?" I wondered, although I knew that had to be the case. Between Team RWBY defeating an Atlesian Paladin and the stunt Whitley and I pulled, there would be a lot to talk about for some time now.
"Of course! Team RWBY is dominating most discussions, but your performance has not gone unnoticed." Cobalt assured, "You should brace yourself, it is likely that people will begin badgering you about recounting the story."
"Ah…" I sigh, before coming up with an idea, "Well! I'm sure Whitley will be more than happy to answer any prying questions." Whitley recoiled in horror at the thought, causing us all to laugh.
I got more nervous as the day got closer. It wasn't yet time for me to come out, and yet I still felt the overwhelming desire to wear a dress. Could I get away with it without being outed? Probably, if I was careful about what I wore underneath, I even went out and bought an actual chest binder that other girls wore sometimes to keep their chest from getting in the way of combat or other activities. As much as I wished I could just wear a regular bra, I knew the dance wasn't the right time. At least, that's what I kept telling myself. The dance took place on the last weekend of August, after that I would have a week before the Vytal Festival, which was going to take up the remainder of the time until my birthday. Then it would be the day I had planned for, my eighteenth birthday.
I had resigned myself to just wearing a suit when, by chance, I overheard Pyrrha and Jaune talking on the balcony of their dorm while I was walking outside. Jaune promised to wear a dress if Pyrrha didn't have a date… Well! I knew Pyrrha wouldn't get asked out, she was much too 'untouchable' for most people. I felt bad for her, honestly, I spent less time around Team JNPR than I did my team or Team RWBY, but I still considered them friends. Even I could tell that Pyrrha had a crush on Jaune, and yet Jaune was far too blind to see.
"Why not tell him then?"
He needs to figure it out on his own. Besides, if Jaune actually goes through with this, I could use it as an excuse to go in a dress!
"You're getting more devious as the days go by, Ozza, I'm impressed."
I chose to ignore that comment, honestly the me from before all of this started would be horrified to see some of the things I got up to. Even now I almost felt offended by Ozpin being impressed at my actions.
The dance was held in the ballroom of the Academy, the same place we had slept the day we first came here. The locker rooms were close at hand, and the night prior to the dance I hid the white dress I bought the other day along with the stockings. I had considered using heels, but I was still awful at those things so trying to dance in them wouldn't do me any favors. Instead I would just wear my dress shoes.
I'd start off wearing a suit, and if Jaune did end up going through with his bet, I would join him, and nobody would think I was being any weirder than he was! It was genius, I had to admit.
"Don't you think this is a bit excessive?"
What makes you say that?
So once the day came and everyone in our dorm was preparing, I took the time to see what everyone was wearing. Cobalt was wearing what else but a white dress shirt with navy blue pants and a matching dress suit. He never had enough of blue, although I guess there was a lot of green in my life so who was I to talk?
Penny wore a gray dress that covered her entire form and hugged fairly close to it. It was… Very form-fitting, which was a surprising choice for Penny, but then again I had no idea what she would wear if she didn't have basically one outfit. She and Cobalt had decided to go together, which just confirmed in my mind that Penny had a thing for him. Maybe they were already dating? I'd ask, but it felt too gossipy to do so.
Whitley was wearing a standard tuxedo and, for the moment, I was wearing the same. I wondered how he was going to react if my plan worked… I had a feeling he'd make a joke about it, but I didn't care. This was going to be fun! Once everyone was dressed and ready to go, we made our way towards the ballroom. On the way, we saw teams RWBY and JNPR on their way as well, it was too early to tell who their dates were, but Pyrrha had a very hard to spot look of dejection, she was good at hiding it but it wasn't impossible to see. So she didn't have a date… Which meant Jaune would end up having to follow up on his promise! Maybe he'd finally figure out what Pyrrha thought of him…
Whitley was nervous as he stood close to me while we walked, he seemed incredibly conflicted with something. I caught him glancing at my hand, so I reached out and took his hand in mine with a small blush and a smile. He was surprised at first, before just smiling contentedly with a similar blush on his face. It was a good thing Ozpin had locked himself up for the night, I didn't want to think about how awkward tonight would be otherwise…
The ballroom itself was a spectacle, the lighting was dimmed and an ever-shifting rainbow of colors, slow and relaxed. There were tables covered by white cloth that held refreshments and snacks, the music was soft and formal and I already saw some people slow dancing, others were content to sit on the sidelines with their dates, enjoying the night. I saw Ruby, she seemed to be alone, yet she didn't seem to be in a foul mood for it, maybe she just wasn't a 'dance' kind of person? That was surprising. At least Yang and Blake started dancing together basically the second they got here, and they both looked happy.
Nora and Ren were also dancing, while I saw Pyrrha going up to the balcony. I would go check on her, but that wasn't my place, it was Jaune's… Once he caught on at least. In the meantime, I looked at Whitley, who spoke, "Well… May I have this dance, Oscar?"
"Do you have to ask?" I grin, hurrying forward and dragging him with me towards the dance floor. Once we got there I turned towards him, before remembering, "Ah… I don't really know how to slow dance." Well this was embarrassing, I really should have practiced before this…
Whitley caught on to my uncertainty and it was his turn to give a confident smile, "You don't know how to dance do you?" I nodded in defeat, he instructed me to rest my arms on his shoulders while wrapping my hands together near the back of his neck. Then, he placed both of his hands on my hips, "Just follow my lead."
Together we began to sway gently to the tune of the music, the soft rhythm was more than enough for us to find a rhythm. Lucky for me fighting gave me a sense of rhythm and footwork that lended itself to not tripping on his or my own feet. We stared into each other's eyes, his smile was one of contentment and quiet happiness while I was sure mine was stupid and wide, I could feel it.
"So…" I start, "When did you start… Ya know… Liking me?" Even if we couldn't actually date it was still on my mind, and while I wasn't sure how I felt about anyone yet… I could see myself with him, should there ever be time for such a thing.
Whitley huffed and looked away, "...I think it all started during initiation, when you pulled me into that corner of the cave. I didn't know what it was at first but… I think it started there." That was surprisingly early! "Of course I'm… Still not sure if this is just a crush or not." Understandable, neither was I. It was a shame we couldn't really explore it more, considering how his father felt…
We decided to take a break after a few more minutes, walking over to one of the tables with a punch bowl and getting ourselves a couple drinks. As we watched everyone dance, we spotted Penny and Cobalt slow dancing as well. I honestly could never have imagined Penny having the patience to do such a thing… Nor Cobalt for that matter. "Think they like each other?" I ask Whitley, and he wastes no time nodding.
"Absolutely. I wouldn't be surprised to find out they were already together."
We agreed that they probably were, and it was at that point that I saw Jaune heading for the locker room after going up and talking to Pyrrha. I knew immediately what he was going to do, "Excuse me for a moment." Then I got up and hurried over to the locker room, with Whitley looking rather confused but not stopping me regardless.
Once I got inside I rushed over to my locker, looking around for where Jaune was. I didn't see him, his locker must have been in another part of the room, this was a big place… I quickly disrobed and then slipped on the dress and stockings, before putting my shoes back on.
I started for the door, just in time to see Jaune doing the same, he looked at me in shock, "Oh- Hey! D-Did you make a bet to wear a dress too?" He was wearing a white dress that honestly looked kind of good on him, I was surprised honestly.
"Something like that." I grinned, "What was yours?"
"O-Oh, I bet Pyrrha would have a date for the dance and she didn't…" He deflated for a moment before quickly picking back up, "But I'm gonna own it! So keep your eyes on the dance floor!"
"I will! Also Jaune, have you considered that maybe Pyrrha wanted to be your date?" To which he sputtered in disbelief while I left. Now nobody could say I didn't help a friend start figuring things out!
I strode out and surprisingly I didn't get very many looks at all. Maybe I just looked natural in this outfit? My hair was almost as long as Ruby's now, between that and my general appearance, maybe I did pass… It made me wonder if I needed to go to such lengths to wear this, if maybe I could have just worn it outright. Too late now! The only people who stared were people who knew me, although all attention was on Jaune once he came out, the lights turned up, the music changed to a more energetic dance and soon he and his team were… Dancing in sync? I had no idea they could do that!
Once I got over to Whitley, he looked utterly shocked, "I-I, O-Oscar… Y-You… You look g-great." His face was bright red, "A-Any reason for the dress?"
"I just felt like it." I hold out my hand, "Well, it seems the beat has picked up, want to get back to it? I may not be much of a slow dancer, but anytime there was a town function back home I was always quick to join the square dances. Although there's only two of us…"
That was when Cobalt and Penny came over to save the day, with Cobalt speaking up, "You two!" He grinned, "Ah, nice outfit Oscar! We cannot possibly leave all the glory to Juniper can we? My town had a rather robust square dancing tradition as well!" I guess he overheard what I was saying. Perfect!
"I've never done this before…" Whitley cleared his throat, "But I have seen some videos in the past, a lot of circular steps in a contained area, yet the motions are like a more active slow dance!"
I took that as him being in on the idea, so the four of us headed to an empty space on the dance floor and began our dance. Luckily since it was a square dance we didn't need to coordinate between the four of us like JNPR did, instead it was just a lot of fast steps, spinning and other flourishes included on my part! This was the first time I had a chance to wear a dress out in the open like this, and I was going to make the most of it!
As time went on we even noticed some other couples and teams joining in, this kind of dance was accessible to the point where you didn't need formal training, so it was understandable. Once Team JNPR had finished their dance, they also joined!
I couldn't confirm, but I like to think that by the end of the night we'd turned what was supposed to be a formal event into a square dancing event ripped straight out of the town hall back home.
Auntie would be proud!
The dance went late into the night, with nobody seeming to want it to end. However of course it eventually did, and we all headed back to our dorms satisfied for the night. Although I did notice that Ruby had gone missing at some point during the night, which was a shame, I would have loved to have been able to dance with her at least once, but maybe I'd get another chance some day.
However the following day I was called to Glynda's office, which I knew only happened if something important went on. Now dressed back in my regular school clothes, I headed up to the tower. Classes were still going on, I guess that was for the best, when it came to things like this it was better if nobody tried to accompany me, it usually ended badly.
However when I got there, I noticed that Glynda was not alone. A man I recognized as General Ironwood and Ruby surprisingly were both standing around the desk, both looking equally worried about something.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I approached, "Did something happen?"
"Yes… Allow me to fill you in." Glynda begins, explaining that last night the CCTS system had been infected with a virus of some kind by saboteurs, and while they had no concrete evidence as to who did it, they reasoned that I should know so Ozpin could also be apprised of the situation.
Ozpin, for his part, seemed to agree with Ironwood on the fact that now having military strength on stand by would be crucial until the threat could be contained, however he urged Ironwood to avoid making any large troop movements and allow the teams from Beacon and the other academies to do their work first. Moving whole armies was bound to cause a diplomatic incident after all.
Ruby told us what she saw, describing it as best she could. I had no idea who the culprit could have been myself, and while Ozpin had an idea there was no concrete proof yet. So we were stuck, at least, that's what it seemed like until Ozpin posed a suggestion after taking over, with permission of course.
"If Ruby says that her team is certain there is a suspicious activity going on around Mountain Glenn then I say send them there. However, if Team RWBY is going to be on a mission in that area, I see no reason to not also send Team OWPL as well. Oscar and his team must be sent on a similar mission so they can intervene should there truly be something significant going on."
Ironwood seemed uncertain but if he had a complaint he didn't voice it, while Glynda thought over the suggestion before nodding her head, "Very well. There are more than enough missions in the region to go around for the upcoming excursions. I will assign two of our most trusted professors to the missions and assure they're only offered to teams Ruby and Opal."
With a decision reached, Ozpin retracted himself while Ruby and I were dismissed. The two of us left together and once we were outside, Ruby deflated, seeming concerned. Worried, I raise an eyebrow, "You seem exhausted… You should probably go get some rest instead of going back to class, since you had to fight some criminal last night. I wish I could have been there to help…"
Ruby shook her head, "Nah, it's okay." She stands up a bit straighter, but the exhaustion on her face was still obvious, "If Professor Goodwitch is going to make sure we're on missions in the same area, we'll finally get to work together! I'm excited to see how you fight, I didn't get to see anything the other day because of that stupid mech."
Smiling, I nod, "Absolutely. It'll be fun to see you fight up close for once, although don't get your hopes too high for me. I've gotten a lot better at fighting with both of my weapons but I wouldn't say I'm anywhere near your level yet." I rub the back of my head, "After all, you've got to be one of the best fighters I've ever met."
Ruby blushed and looked away, "Thanks, but that can't be true. Maybe you just didn't see how the others fight!" She then checks her watch and looks alarmed, "Class! I need to get to the next one or else Weiss will kill me!" After we bid each other farewell, she ran off to get to class.
Do I want to go to class? This whole business with sabotage is making it hard for me to want to focus on things so… banal.
"That's a new word for you, good to see your vocabulary is improving. As for attending class, you should. There are visiting teams here and it would look bad on your whole team if the team leader was skipping classes."
Fair point.
With that I headed back to class, trudging through it as best I could until the day was over and I was able to get back to the dorm to sit in bed with a book.
Although once I got there and settled in, it seemed that my rather bothered demeanor was easy for the others to see.
Penny was the first to voice her concern, "Oscar! You look to be incredibly disturbed by something, are you feeling ill?"
Whitley followed up, looking at me from over his own book, "I noticed that too, except I don't think you're sick. Is something worrying you?"
Cobalt, who was in the kitchen, called out in agreement, "Indeed! First you had to leave class and now you're being very quiet, it's not natural!"
I smiled, it was nice that they were so worried for me. "You all probably heard we're going on field missions soon with a professor or veteran huntsman. Well, we're going to Mountain Glenn on a similar mission to Team RWBY. There's reason to believe that the White Fang are operating some kind of base in that area, where the old tunnels are. We don't know for sure yet, but… Get yourselves ready, if they are there, we're going to be in for a hell of a fight."
Penny smiled, "Last time they fought us, we showed them how much of a miscalculation it was! We will show them once again that we are combat ready!"
Whitley nodded, "Terrorists are easy work compared to trained hunters. Hopefully that's all there will be."
"Indeed!" Cobalt joined in, "Although I wouldn't say no to a good fight with a trained hunter! Now come on everyone, dinner is ready!" With that, we all got up and went to eat.
Cobalt had prepared steak and mashed potatoes which was a simple yet, in my mind, absolutely divine meal. It seemed everyone else agreed with me. Cobalt was straight up taking bites out of the steak while holding it with his fork, Penny wasn't too far off from that, while Whitley was carefully cutting pieces to eat. I for my part tried to at least be somewhat less messy than Cobalt or Penny, maybe Whitley was rubbing off on me.
"If the sabotage was the work of the White Fang as well, then they will likely be working with others, keep your eyes open when the time comes."
It doesn't sit right with me, I don't see how that Torchwick guy could orchestrate all of this without help from somewhere else. Someone has to be giving him orders, but who?
"I have an idea, but I can't say one way or the other until we can apprehend him."
Alright then keep your secrets, and let me eat in peace.
We ate in relative peace for the rest of dinner, and when all was said and done it was Whitley's turn to do the dishes. While he did that, I went back to reading my book.
The past few days had been nerve-wracking and stressful for a totally different reason than the coming days would be. Now not only did I have to worry about the Vytal Festival and then my birthday, but I also had to worry about what was going to happen with the saboteurs and if they were going to do something during the tournament or before it. Whatever the case, I knew we would have to stop it.
As night started to fall, I decided to go for a little walk. I loved nights like this, it was just cold enough that my brain associated it with the harvest. By this point Auntie and Uncle were probably getting ready to reap everything from the larger fields we planted earlier in the year. This would be the first time I wouldn't be there to help them in a very long time. I felt bad about it and remembered how I was supposed to send them a letter… I resolved to do it tomorrow morning.
I reached a balcony in the hallway and spotted a familiar girl with black and red hair leaning against the railing. She seemed no better off than she did before, so I headed towards her, "Ruby, not used to seeing you out here this late. Everything okay?"
She looked back towards me, at first she seemed surprised but she settled down after realizing it was me, "Oh. Oscar, yeah. Just… Doing a lot of thinking about some stuff Yang told me."
Once I reached the balcony I rested my arms on the railing and stood next to her, "Need a second opinion? It might not be worth much, but I'm here if you need it."
Ruby sighs, "Yang says I'm spending too much time worrying about stuff like the White Fang and not enough time worrying about myself and actually enjoying things like the dance. Then I heard Weiss say I was too childish and immature!" She groans in frustration, "I'm getting mixed signals! I can't think straight like this! Everyone acts like I was weird for not wanting to dance… But I like fighting more! I wish I could go beat up a Grimm or something so I can clear my head."
"We need her to be completely focused in the coming days, things are only going to get worse. I wonder if there's something you can do…"
The gears in my head started to turn as I thought about a solution to this. Fighting cleared her head, and we needed her to have a clear head for the days to come….
A figurative lightbulb went off in my head.
"Then… Let's fight." She looked at me with wide eyes and I explained, "The amphitheater should be open, we could have a sparring match! We've always wanted to see how we fight, I can't think of a better way to do it."
The look in her eyes went from shock to elation as she gasped, "That's a perfect idea! We should get our gear and go now!"
After I agreed, the two of us split up and started towards our dorms. Luckily all of my teammates were asleep, so I was able to procure my gear pretty easily. I had to go to my quarters in the tower to change though, it would have been too risky to do it there.
Once I got up to it, I began to change my outfit from my sleepwear to my combat gear. This was both exciting and a little terrifying, I knew how fierce of a fighter Ruby was. I also know she wasn't the type to hold back even during a sparring match, I'd need to bring my all to bear.
"Kids used to go on dates to express their feelings for each other, now it seems that fights are just as common."
Oh shut up, it's not like that at all.
"You're not the first host to harbor feelings for more than one person, just don't let it cloud your mind. Use your care for them to fuel your desire to work hard, rather than distract you from everything else."
I was already doing that, you don't need to point it out. Besides, this isn't a date, it's a sparring match.
Ozpin didn't respond, thankfully. I finished getting my gear on and attaching my weapons to my sides, and as I started towards the amphitheater I began to think about how exactly I would approach fighting her.
She was fast and relied very heavily on her weapon, if I could separate the two of them somehow she'd be easy, but trying to get her apart from Crescent Rose would be a challenge in and of itself! I wasn't sure if Amber Pine would be right for this, it was slower than the Long Memory and a bit more cumbersome. I'd become better at both over the months but I couldn't deny that my affinity for the Long Memory had grown, it was annoying to think that I might one day end up using it exclusively. I'd have to try and avoid that. All of that being said, one of my greatest strengths will be the ability to switch weapons if I need to. I'd have to remember that.
By the time I got to our chosen arena, Ruby was already there, adorned in her usual huntress attire and impatiently tapping her foot while standing on the raised platform that would be our arena, Crescent Rose resting on her back. When she saw me, her eyes lit up, "Oscar! Took you long enough, c'mon!"
I walked over and took the steps onto the opposite side of the area, taking my cane off my side and extending it. "Any ground rules, any stakes?" I might as well see if she wants to make this more interesting, although I personally felt that getting into a sparring match with her was more than enough excitement.
"Hmmmm!" She thinks for a moment, drawing Crescent Rose off her back and unfolding the oversized weapon as it clicked into place with loud metallic efficiency, "No holds barred. Winner has to take the other out to eat! You better believe I'm gonna make you pay for soooo many cookies." She grinned from ear to ear, holding her scythe in both hands.
I pointed my cane at her, "In that case you'd better be ready to apologize to your wallet! We're gonna go somewhere fancy." So the stakes were set, our wallets' lives were on the line and we had to fight to defend them!
With both sides ready, Ruby grinned like a madwoman, "Let's see how tough you really are!" She lunges forward at blinding speed.
Tracking the rose petals she leaves behind, I swiftly turn to the right and block just in time for her giant scythe to make contact. We didn't stay like that, once I deflected her attack she leapt back.
Lunging forward, I jab forward with my cane towards her stomach, I get in one jab before she drops to the ground and kicks my legs out from under me! Turning this to an advantage, I jab towards her while she's on the ground. I managed to get another good jab to connect with her chest as I then pushed off of her, landing on the ground again.
Kicking back up to her feet, Ruby leaps off the ground, spinning her scythe in the air, "Time to show you what I can really do!" Bringing it down, I prepared to block again only to be sent off the ground as she shot a dust round at my feet.
She wasn't done though, instead she continued closing in on me while still in the air, "See if you can keep up!" She taunts as she brings her scythe down again, I manage to block as we both hit the ground. Kicking up, I push her off of me and stand again.
We rush towards each other again, as she gets close she plants her scythe in the ground and uses the momentum to deliver a crushing kick to my chest, which sends me staggering back and causes me to lose my grip on the Long Memory. As it goes clattering to the ground, I don't waste any time in grabbing Amber Pine and extending it to its maximum length.
"Shoulda been using that to begin with! You've got me on fire! Are you burning too?!" She yells excitedly before closing the distance again. Swinging her scythe vertically, I catch it just below the blade. We press closer against each other as each of us tries to get an upperhand, glaring at each other with eyes filled with adrenaline. After a moment, I shoot a dust round off which goes off against her scythe, causing it to be pushed off my trident and for her to be left wide open while she recovers from the attack.
Adapting an attack from my cane, I jab forward repeatedly, each strike connecting with her stomach. After several repeated attacks I stab forward one more time, at the same time she recovers and brings her scythe forward. Simultaneously, we both shoot a dust round at each other, sending us both flying back.
Once I land on the ground, I start to stand again only to see her above me already! "This is OUR dance!" She yells down at me, as she swings her scythe I raise my trident to block, only for a green shield to appear between us. I must have been so caught up I used magic!
Gritting my teeth, I put my all into holding the barrier as she puts her all into breaking it. Finally, the kinetic force causes the barrier to explode. I felt my aura shatter as we were sent flying backwards and I lost my grip on Amber Pine!
When I finally got my footing back I noticed she must have been in just as bad a state as me, Crescent Rose and Amber Pine were both stabbed into the wooden panels of the stage, too far for either of us to reach.
"Wanna call it off here?!" I yell at her.
"Not a chance!" Ruby rushed forward with her fist raised, the action caught me by surprise and she managed to land a powerful blow to my cheek! The force of the blow makes me take a few steps back, before I regain ground and punch her gut.
As she staggered back, I could see that she was actually getting hurt. Yet the adrenaline was pumping and her only response was to rush forward again and deliver a crushing uppercut, which should have sent me into the air, through some miracle I kept my footing.
I took a couple staggered steps forward to try and get another hit in as she did the same, yet instead we both lost our footing and ended up falling into each other and using each other for support to stay up.
Instinctively we both wrapped our arms around each other as we tried to stand up straight again, yet this only lasted for a second before our legs gave out and we collapsed next to each other. Splayed out on our backs, the only sound in the building was our labored breaths.
"Haaaaah…" Ruby breathed out, before taking another breath, "That… was… amazing!" She managed to sound excited and exhausted at the same time, "I haven't… Felt a rush like that… In forever! We…" She tries to sit up, although quickly finds herself unable to do so as she falls back again, "...We gotta do this more often."
"Ah…" I take a deep breath before nodding, "Y-Yeah, s-sounds fun." I didn't have the energy to say much more.
"You two overdid it."
It was good training though, wasn't it?
"That, I can't deny."
We laid there for a few more minutes catching our breath. I was grateful that this place was soundproof, otherwise I was sure we'd have woken up half the school with our fight. Eventually, I crawled my way to grab the Long Memory, and then I used it to help me stand. Still leaning on it for support, I made my way over to Ruby and held my hand out to the still prone girl, "...Guess this makes four times now huh?"
Giggling, Ruby takes my hand and staggers to her feet. The two of us go and grab our weapons, Amber Pine and Crescent Rose having landed next to each other. "I think Yang would kill me if I came back to the dorm like this…" She admits sheepishly with a grin, "It's gonna take all night for my aura to come back." I could see the bruises on her face, and I had to imagine there were some on mine, not to mention underneath.
"The tower isn't far from here…" I point towards the general area with my cane, "We can crash there… They won't know." I was far too tired to walk back all the way back to the dorms, and Ruby looked to be the same.
She nodded in agreement, throwing her arm over my shoulders for support as I did the same to her and used the Long Memory to help our steps forward. The last time I was this weak was after getting knocked off the train all those months ago… This time was under much better circumstances at least.
It took us longer to get there than it would have usually, but we were limping there so it came as no surprise.
Once we were up there, we both mindlessly staggered towards the bed and just fell into it.
I blacked out then and there.
