I somehow lost two favorites with the last chapter, I'm devastated. Thankfully I gained two favorites, thus breaking even. [Edit: this was an hour after posting the chapter, I've since recovered.]
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Kaiser had been dangling by the chain for a couple hours now, soft groans left the boy as the aches and pains wracked his body.
In front of him was a man, powerful in frame, ruthless in nature.
Kaiser could attest to the man's strength, he had been feeling it with every strike to his face, every blow to the body. He was pretty sure he heard something crack near his chest, that was the last thing he needed.
"We have all night to do this, kid." It wasn't until this brief reprieve that Hank Hammers noticed something strange, the boy had stopped any sort of the bargaining that he had when he was first captured. He still needed to know what the kid was doing in his boss' office, there were important documents in there that could warrant a search from police. If Chrysan Marigold was arrested, who would cut Hammer's check?
Kaiser was a mess, quite the understatement, a black eye swollen shut was covered in hair dyed brown matted to his head. A stain of blood smeared his cheek, sweat and blood stained the boy's white dress shirt. Despite the obvious pain and tiredness plaguing the boy, he managed to utter simple words.
"No death for me now." They were simple words, five syllables in total. They helped keep Kaiser grounded, to make sure he knew where he was and what the situation was.
"What's that?" Hammers lifted a hand to his ear, a gesture for the boy to speak louder.
"No demise for me later." Kaiser muttered the second line of his haiku, his own mantra that was recited during his interrogation training. It would keep him focused until the time came
"You're dirty, I think you're due for a wash." Hammers had started ignoring the boy, now opting to take a wide hose connected from the wall; it was plugged into the mansion's water pipes. He aimed to douse the boy in freezing water with enough force to blow somebody off their feet.
"Not until I'm done." Kaiser was unaware of this, focused on his mantra, not able to tense up before the onslaught.
And then Hammers set the hose to its power wash setting.
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A torrent of water blasted Kaiser in the face as his eyes snapped open, it was coming from above in quick cold bursts. The groggy boy sputtered and spat out water as he reached for the shower handle, cutting off the pressure immediately.
Oh god.
As Kaiser stood in his shower, sopping wet, he had realized he had fallen asleep standing up in his dorm shower.
"Not this shit again." It was a particularly bad habit he had developed traveling to different kingdoms on different operations.
The point in which people are most vulnerable are either when someone is going to sleep, or when they are just waking up. A single moment I. Time where you could easily be kidnapped or murdered right in bed. Kaiser's solution to this had been to not sleep in bed at all, rather the places where he could easily hear any intruder.
A standing closet was Kaiser's preferred choice, they were most likely close to the door and normally had clothes in them of which Kaiser could hide behind. If that was not optimal, a shower was the next best spot.
In the event that a intruder did invade his area, Kaiser would be woken up by his well honed instinct while the intruder took the time to inspect the bed. This would give Kaiser ample opportunity to sneak up on the intruder and retaliate.
This was a practice that Kaiser had as a spy, not as one of Ozpin's students. So then why had he woken up in the shower like this on this particular morning? He had made sure to unlearn this habit when he had defected from Albert Ross.
As Kaiser stepped out of the bathroom, eyes bleary and wanting to sleep, he saw the broken glass on the floor.
Shards of glass covered the entire area of his room, the box that held his 5011 fighting knife shattered to bits with one consistent hole in it.
The room was trashed, a battle with the grimm would've done less damage.
Kaiser then remembered the day before, and how it started with a couple sniper rounds. As well as to the fact that he had been attacked in the Beacon forge, almost getting pumped full of lead right after the creation of his blade: Plain Sight.
Perhaps, Kaiser had not felt completely safe when returning to his room. Most likely his body had reverted back to old instincts, finding the nearest place to sleep out of sight.
Kaiser sighed and slinked back into the bathroom, looking into the only unbroken mirror in his dorm.
He looked worse for wear, another great understatement.
A small thin scar tracing from Kaiser's cheek to his ear, it was tough to spot, but ultimately there. As he peeled off his strangely pink stained clothes from last night, his keen eye spotted a long thin strand of golden colored hair. Kaiser flicked the hair away as he examined his body, he glared at the thick purple bruising all over his torso and arms. His hair was sopping wet now fully covering his eyes, it'd go back to its naturally floppy state when dry, better yet it would stay out of his eyes.
Kaiser had settled his gaze onto his neck, there lay three significant smaller and lighter bruises that trailed up to his jawline. The peculiar thing was, he didn't even remember getting hit in the neck, so what were these bruises from?
In fact, how did he even get to his room? He hadn't remembered going back to the dorms last night, the last thing he did remember was taking a drink before going off to look for Yang.
The entire day yesterday had been overwhelming for the young spy, the biggest shock of all was the fact that Martin Kane was alive, as well as Kane's promotion to the Phantom unit.
A heavy full ache weighed down on Kaiser's body, it felt like coming down from an adrenaline high after getting hit by a car. It was then that Kaiser remembered he had fallen out of the seventh floor of a skyscraper the night before, the boy gripped his bathroom sink in order to stay steady as the pain was beginning to subside.
Kaiser rubbed his face in his hands, weeks of tiredness catching up with him. In a split second, the boy was retching above his sink, he felt bile in the back of his throat. The mixture of too much alcohol and the toxins in which Evon Argent had cut him with were wrecking him, the boy silently pleading for his system to stop purging.
Fragile shaking fingers held Kaiser's pale face, shadow rimmed eyes looked back at him in the mirror.
/-/
When Kaiser strode out of his dorm room, nobody could tell he had gone through a metaphorical shitstorm. All it took was a hot shower and some mental preparation, he walked confidently throughout the halls littered with students. He dressed in a plain white long sleeve shirt, as well as baggy black jeans.
Kaiser had even fluffed up his hair a little, just to show that he wasn't in a negative mood.
A facade of composure walked through the halls of Beacon, his presence a slap in the face to all the hungover students lying all around campus. Kaiser's path was traced with ease, each step was practiced and graceful. Unfortunately, every second he moved, Kaiser was wracked with even more pain.
A heavy hand was planted on Kaiser's upper back, one which Kaiser had reacted to instantly. Turning around, Kaiser had prepared to jump back, completely dumbfounded at the hands raised in a way that offered only peace.
It was Cardin Winchester, just as tired as the rest of the student body.
"Winchester," Kaiser said stoically. "What brings you here today?"
A laugh was forced through gritted teeth, Cardin regarded Kaiser with a sort of contained standoffishness.
Cardin and Kaiser had an unsaid rivalry, a simple game really, of who could get one over the other. So far, Cardin had outed Kaiser as a spy. Kaiser had returned the favor by publicly humiliating Cardin and his entire team, in front of the entire cafeteria no less. Cardin then retaliated by getting Kaiser banned from the Vytal tournament, rather, his dad did but it still caused Kaiser a load of trouble.
Overall, the score was 2-1 in Cardin's favor, so why was he here this morning bothering Kaiser?
"You pissed off a lot of people last night," Cardin said almost amusingly.
"I have a knack for that, what did I do this time?"
"What didn't you do? But I'm not here to tell you what you did to other people, I'm here because of what you did to me." Cardin reached with his palm out, as if expecting Kaiser to know what he was referring to. "Give it to me."
"What are you talking about?"
"My scroll, and while you're at it, my team's scrolls too." Cardin sighed at the dumbfounded look he was given by the usually sharp spy. "You jacked a bunch of people's stuff while I was trying to take you back to your room."
"I wouldn't steal anything from anyone. Why the hell were you trying to take me back to my room?"
"You knocked over some of the punch bowls, we couldn't let Goodwitch see any of the mess so we had to get you back to the dorm." Cardin had a wild smirk, eyebrows going up and down. "You kept saying something about getting back to Xiao Long."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"That's beside the point, I want the scrolls."
"I don't have them, do you want to check my dorm for them?" Kaiser gestured down the hallway, his door a good distance away.
"Don't mind if I do." Cardin started walking towards his door, Kaiser trailing behind his towering classmate.
Kaiser quickly unlocked the door, leading the both of them into the mess that had been left behind. "I swear it was like this before the dance."
"I know, I was the one who threw you in here last night."
Kaiser crossed his arms while looking at Cardin. "Why didn't you try getting the scrolls when you put me in here?"
"You're more of a pain when you're drunk, I thought I could reason with you when you woke up."
"Astute thinking, genius." Kaiser yawned into his fist, followed by Cardin's own yawn. "As you can see, I have no scrolls here."
"Hold on." Cardin swiped Kaiser's scroll out of his hand, quickly dialing up a long memorized number.
"What are you doing?" Kaiser shot an annoyed look at Cardin, the bigger student letting the scroll keep dialing.
A sudden vibration followed by a shrill ringing sound, Kaiser snatched a falling object out of thin air. It was hard and thin, it would've been a major headache to get hit with it. He narrowed his eyes, it was a scroll, Kaiser's scroll number plastered across the screen.
"There it is." Cardin gestured with his finger for Kaiser to look in that direction, he did so.
A number of scrolls were lined up on top of the door frame, flirting with the idea of toppling over.
"Guess not even you can help making a fool of yourself when doing the things you were doing last night."
The score was now 3-1, that didn't matter, even a monkey could get one over on Kaiser if it was lucky enough.
"Is that all you needed?" Kaiser non threateningly gestured for Cardin to get out of his room, at least as non threateningly as he could muster.
"Yeah." Cardin chuckled to himself, he decided not to elaborate on the rest of last night.
"Alright then." Kaiser once again stepped out of his room a while after Cardin had left, he stepped aside as some students passed by sickly groaning.
An arm slung itself across Kaiser's shoulder, the boy had to physically stop himself from flinging whoever hung onto him over his shoulder.
"How can you look so put together after everything that happened last night." Sun aimed to poke Kaiser's cheek with his index finger, to which the spy intercepted the offending appendage.
"Problem is I have no idea what happened last night." Kaiser shrugged apathetically. "Except for the fact I took Cardin's scrolls."
"That's all you remember." A satisfied tiredness was set in Sun's eyes, as if he had turned in a lot of acceptable work at the last second. "Surely you remember helping us start that line dance?" Sun playfully threw a couple light punches in Kaiser's direction. "I could never forget the fancy moves you pulled last night."
"Line dance?" Kaiser had barely uttered the question before Sun thrust his own scroll in the boy's face. "What's this?"
A grainy video presented itself, different colored lights flashed across the screen, likely from the night before. Off to the side of the screen, Kaiser could be seen trying to dance in time with Sun and a couple others.
It was a crude, suggestive, and all around immature display of some sort of excuse called dancing Kaiser had ever seen. The spy on screen, embarrassingly enough, gyrated his hips while slowly building towards something as he clapped in a slow rhythm. It was too embarrassing to watch that Kaiser had missed the person wolf-whistling in the background of the video.
"Please tell me that's all I did." Kaiser had never seen himself doing something so absurd.
"I wouldn't know, you sort of left us up in the middle of the crowd for something else." Sun elbowed him on the side, a mischievous smirk aimed at the boy. "Bet you ditched us for a girl, didn't ya?"
"Look, I have no idea what happened last night." A splitting migraine began to form, the spy resisting the urge to rub his temple. "Do you know if we have anything due this week?"
"No actually, classes are canceled this week." Sun finally lifted his arm off Kaiser's shoulder.
It was a pleasant surprise, not that Kaiser had disliked his classes. He had been a great student, turning in assignments that matched anybody's standards, until he had discovered the stash of Hercules at the Dockyards. From then on he'd been turning in half-assed papers if he had turned anything in at all. Kaiser promised himself he would do better now that this quarter of the year had ended, he wanted to stay on top of things to maintain his struggling grade.
"Why?"
"Huntsman assignments."
Maybe it was the injury from getting slapped around by assassins all week, but he wasn't aware of any huntsmen assignments.
"Elaborate?" Kaiser tilted his head one way.
"Well, this week our teams are gonna be pairing up with veterans to take us on our first mission!" Sun pumped his fist in the air, clearly excited.
"Is this mandatory?" It was obvious why Kaiser was asking this, he was dead tired from the little trips he had been making this week.
"Yeah, but relax, you got an experienced huntsman to pick up the slack."
"How's this gonna work with me?" Kaiser pondered. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly filling out group requirements here."
"Maybe they'll stick you with a team of huntsmen." Sun shrugged, he offered a reassuring smile. "I'm sure they'll at least prepare you for your assignment."
"If you're sure."
"Hey, I'm always sure, like when I was sure that putting together bunk beds in your dorm would give you a lot more room." Sun flashed his signature grin.
Kaiser only winced at the memory, "That's why I never let you back in my room."
"Right right." Sun picked up his scroll which had been buzzing, he quickly answered the call. "What up. Oh, I'm here with Kai." Sun then walked off and waved his departure to Kaiser, but he was still in earshot. "He's not that bad, I swear!"
Once again Kaiser was left alone, walking down the hall. Part of team RWBY had passed him by, Weiss shot him an indignant look. Ruby had bashfully avoided Kaiser's gaze when he looked at her, and Blake had politely waved at the spy.
Truly, what the hell did Kaiser do last night?
A ding sounded in the spy's pocket, Kaiser fished out his own scroll. At least he hadn't put his device along with all the others on the doorframe. He clicked on the notification, automatically directing him to his email.
Dear Kaiser,
I apologize for contacting you so soon after last night's events, I do hope you managed to rest well this weekend. I request your presence in my office by 12:00pm today, we shall discuss some important matters there. I'll see you soon.
Regards, Ozpin.
Kaiser blinked once at the email, then sighed. It seemed that either his actions at the dance or more alarmingly the nightclub had reached the headmaster, and now he would be likely to face the consequences of a night out of his control.
"proí, ómorfi·"
It was too early in the day to deal with this, even if it was already nearing 10:30 in the morning. It was definitely too early to be teased by Yang in language she had a small grasp of.
"You know…" Kaiser's face flushed red. "You used the wrong gendering for the word, I think you're looking for ómorfos."
Yang had at least felt a bit of embarrassment at the mistake she had made, it wasn't her fault Northern Mistralian was so hard. Either way her confidence was unphased, as she walked up alongside Kaiser.
"Man, last night was rough." Yang tilted her head onto Kaiser's shoulder, a contented sigh was let out. "Didn't know you had those moves in you, Kai."
Ah yes, he had asked Yang to dance with him, one of the only things Kaiser remembered from the dance before the night turned into a blur of bright lights and laughing people. "I'm full of surprises."
Kaiser's face stayed impassive, trying not to focus on the heavy head leaning on him, a faint familiar scent of citrus invading the boy's nose.
"Too bad you had to leave early in the night, I was having a lot of fun." Yang snickered to herself a little, she raised her head to face the boy. "I asked you to get me a drink, but you got sidetracked and ended up dancing with Sun."
"I made a couple bad decisions last night." Kaiser didn't miss the slight frown that appeared for a half second on Yang's face, she exposed her neck for an instant, revealing a line of small bruises on the side. "Like going out last night, that was a terrible decision."
"Fighting bad guys I suppose, right I-Spy?"
A mirthful chuckle escaped Kaiser, Yang was one of the few who could draw out this side of the boy. "I'm finished with that now, you're going to have to find a new nickname."
Yang had put a finger to her chin, pondering for a moment, it didn't take long for her to respond to Kaiser's little challenge. "Pretty boy."
Kaiser only looked away in minor annoyance, it was a small nudge into the next question. It may have been a stretch caused by Yang's increased forwardness this morning, but then again…
"Yang?"
"Yup?"
Kaiser breathed out a long sigh, very much wanting to run from the unknown. "Why did you kiss me last night?"
Kaiser had put it together quite quickly, his attention to detail and knack for finding answers cultivated from years of training and what seemed like a lifetime in the field. First, it was the strange bruises on his neck, they weren't there after his fight with Evon Argent. Second, it was the fact that Cardin had told him that a load of classmates(particularly the male ones) had been annoyed or even resentful of him. Whether that was because of Kaiser knocking over punch bowls or his own guess was up in the air.
Weiss and Ruby were much more telling, their reactions were much more personal. Kaiser had read their body languages automatically accounted for, he had earned Weiss' ire, meaning he had probably personally affected her in some way. Ruby's current shy attitude towards him had meant he had embarrassed her, but not to the point where her team resented the boy from across the hall.
The small bruises on Yang's neck had been the missing piece of the puzzle, particularly because Kaiser had a few of his own trailing from his jawline to his neck.
Yang blinked once, then twice before breaking out into a grin. "Well, because you kissed me first, Kai."
"Clearly I was too drunk." Kaiser muttered to himself, despite the fact that Yang could clearly hear him.
"We both were, do you regret it?" The question was much softer in contrast to Yang's boisterous attitude, as if somewhat disappointed in Kaiser's uncertainty in his actions.
"Yes- I mean no, I don't know!" Kaiser's hands gripped the sides of his head, his eyes screwing shut to let him think.
"Hey." Yang laid a soothing hand on Kaiser's arm, prompting him to look at her. "Relax, you don't have to overthink it."
"Then how do I think about it? I barely even remember it." Kaiser sighed, he pulled Yang along into another hallway, one much less populated with recovering classmates. "Do you regret it?"
"Not really, no." Yang continued walking with him, hoping that Kaiser wasn't too distressed to respond. "The thing is, I like you, Kai. I like you a lot."
If Kaiser was silent before, he was deathly quiet now. It was a punch to the gut that he hadn't expected, not even an assassin could catch him as off guard as Yang had.
Kaiser had known that Yang was quite forward with him before, but he had chalked that up to her joking attitude with everybody. For those advances to actually have meant something more than just a passing comment was unfathomable to the boy.
"Well…" Kaiser still hadn't found a good response, how could he, nobody had ever shown this amount of interest in him before. So far the people who threw invitations at him were only interested in the mystery surrounding him. A lot of girls seemed to think that they could fix him, as if he was broken!
"I kinda wanted to ask you last night at the dance." Yang was now measuring her words, unusual for her. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out together sometime."
Was she… was she asking him on a date? Despite his own feelings bubbling up, Kaiser hoped to any god that she wasn't. A vague thought had popped in his head about the last person who was close with him, Martin Kane, and how much it hurt when he had gotten the news of his death. Granted, Kane was confirmed to be alive now, but Kaiser didn't think he could handle the pain of complications with another friend again.
"I don't think… that'd be such a great idea, Yang."
"Why not?"
Kaiser was scrambling for an excuse, if this was a covert operation he'd have been able to set up a foolproof cover. "I don't even know if I like you." The apprehensive tone in his voice was apparent, Yang gathered back a bit of her usual confidence.
"I'm pretty sure being drunk makes you do things you secretly want to do, but normally wouldn't." Yang only smiled at Kaiser's deepening blush. "Ultimately, it's your choice, Kai. Life is short. If you say yes right now, we can head out and split a nice breakfast between us."
"Can I have some time to think about this?"
"Sure, Kai. Take your time, I'd rather you be sure about all this."
"Ok, well I have to go meet Ozpin." Kaiser held up his scroll, gesturing to the device. "I got called in for a meeting.
"Yeah that's cool, good luck with that."
Kaiser began walking off in the direction of the headmaster's office, quietly muttering to himself.
"What should I do?" Unbeknownst to him, Yang had continued to trail behind him.
"First you should buy some chapstick, you know, so it doesn't feel like I'm making out with sandpaper."
"Yang!"
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Kaiser tentatively stepped into Ozpin's office, once again admiring the architectural wonder of living inside a clock tower.
"Ah, Good morning Kaiser. I trust that you have rested well over the weekend." Ozpin greeted the boy who had stepped inside, he noticed that Kaiser had looked in awe of the room, but was in reality subtly scanning the room.
"I did, thank you for asking." Kaiser specifically aimed his gaze at the shadows in the room, he of all people knew the biggest dangers were the ones you couldn't see. "Did my grades get raised?"
"Yes, in fact, they did. I'm glad that you were able to finish your missing assignments." Ozpin extended his hand to the seat in front of his desk. "Please, sit."
"I hope this isn't about the mess I caused last night." Kaiser had pulled the chair in front of the desk.
"While you did cause quite the ruckus during the dance, it wasn't something too detrimental to the future events of this school, the worst you can expect is slight ridicule from your peers." A mirthful smile appeared in the normally stoic headmaster's features. "I wanted to talk about something different."
Kaiser straightened out his back, refusing to slouch in front of the headmaster. "What exactly would that be?"
"As you know." Ozpin cleared his throat, his fist pressing against his mouth. "Monday is when we start sending teams on huntsmen assignments, as you know, you are the only student in this year without a team." Ozpin had said it less as an admonishment, and more as a statement.
Despite this, Kaiser tilted his head downwards, a little disappointment creeping into his mind. "Will I be excluded from the assignment then?"
"No, no, nothing like that. In fact, I had a different sort of assignment in mind for you, one much more suited to your specific skill set."
"Espionage." Kaiser had picked up on this immediately, it was really the only thing that set him apart from his peers. "You'd like me to act as your spy?"
"Not in the capacity that you're used to." Ozpin tensed for a moment, he didn't let Kaiser pick up on this. "God forbid I send you on those suicide missions like Albert Ross."
"So, then what will this assignment entail?" Kaiser narrowed his eyes, suddenly disbelieving of the headmaster in front of him.
"It is only a simple intelligence gathering assignment." Ozpin took a deep breath before preparing to deliver the bad news. "There is a caveat to this of course, this assignment takes place in another kingdom."
"Where."
"Vacuo."
Kaiser tensed, his fist clenched, and the boy seemed to be closing his guard. This more vulnerable side of him had been brought on by one significant reason.
Kaiser absolutely hated Vacuo, a little known fact that he had kept to himself. The dry weather, the absolutely dominating sun, the sand that got everywhere. Much worse were the unfortunate events that had befallen him every time he had visited, once getting mugged by a gang while he was 15. Another time he had gotten food poisoning while doing surveillance, he got pulled out immediately. Worst of all, a string of events that started with Kaiser getting beat up by Martin Kane in their first meeting and ending with him getting speared through the stomach with a harpoon by the end of the week.
It was safe to say, Kaiser was skeptical about this little trip to Vacuo.
"There's been strange reports shared with me by the Shade academy Headmaster, Theodore." Ozpin's frown deepened, he was almost tempted to cancel the operation. The information about Roman Torchwick was already in his possession, was there any reason to even continue. No, it wouldn't be a good idea to antagonize the spymaster who ran the IPS. The last thing Ozpin needed was an interference while he was preparing for a looming threat. "There's been an inordinate amount of grimm stalking the industrial district. We have no clue of where they come from, or why they decided to appear in that area exclusively at night. Which is why I think that this assignment is more suited to your capabilities."
"Sir, I am not so confident about this, there's hardly any information other than the clear consequence of whatever is happening Vacuo." Kaiser responded calmly, his hands down by his side. "I don't think there is much for me to work with."
"I've reviewed some files from your time working under Albert Ross, I believe you're more than qualified to be a part of this assignment." Ozpin's argument was a good counter, one that had rendered the spy silent. "It's a simple surveillance assignment, you'll look around, take notes of anything that happens. If you find anything you deem important, report it back to either myself or professor Goodwitch. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir." Kaiser's mouth was dry, the promise of a simple surveillance was taken with a grain of salt. Ross had told him the same thing multiple times, only for it to end with Kaiser having to fight for his life. "Will I be going alone?"
"No, as you know, teams are required to have an experienced huntsman accompany them on these missions. This will not be an exception, I have assigned Qrow Branwen to join you on your mission."
"Do you have some sort of plan to get me into Vacuo, because I don't know if you've noticed, I don't really have any papers. That pretty much makes international travel impossible." Kaiser crossed his arms, there were some glaring flaws in this operation.
"Headmaster Theodore has been kind enough to provide us with temporary documentation, attained through his own connections, of course." Ozpin remained stone faced, carefully examining the boy across from him. "Do you have any more reservations about the mission?"
Kaiser unconsciously gulped, "No sir, when will I be leaving?"
"I'd like to have you packed up and at the airship terminal by 2:00, you should arrive by late evening." Ozpin disliked strong-arming the promising young man into this, but he disliked the prospect of being harassed by the boy's old employer even more. "If there is nothing else that you need, then you are free to leave."
"Yes sir, thank you." The response was automatic, almost habitual, Kaiser had been in Ross' office too many times.
As Kaiser let the door shut behind him, he left the headmaster to his own thoughts.
Ozpin stared at his computer screen, analyzing old footage from long ago. It was a practice duel between an 18 year old Qrow Branwen and another student, the youthful vigor displayed had differentiated itself from the experienced combat veteran of today. Ozpin noticed that Qrow's strength wasn't what it once was, age catching up, the frightening prospect that one day Qrow would be too old to spy for him.
And this, this was the real reason for recruiting Kaiser as a student of Beacon Academy. The boy was already quite adept at espionage, Ozpin could round out his huntsmen training. Once the boy had graduated, Ozpin would offer him the same work he had offered Qrow. The mission would make an acceptable trial run, see firsthand how Kaiser got on.
That was the future though, for now, Ozpin was content to let Kaiser enjoy his four years at Beacon.
/-/
The pleasant spring breeze had rolled in, brushing Kaiser's coat to the side. The boy himself casually strolling along the Beacon pathways, specifically the path that took him to the airship terminal. It was quiet, most students were in their dorms trying to savor what was left of their weekend. His scroll wasn't ringing either, he preferred it this way, Kaiser didn't want to go through the hassle of explaining his situation.
Kaiser stopped short in the shade, the leaves softly rustled in the wind. "You can stop hiding."
A figure appeared beside one of the oak trees, a scruffy looking man who oozed danger. A gruff laughter came from him, as if his throat was parched. "Trust me kid, you wouldn't be able to see me if I didn't want you too."
"Mr. Branwen." Kaiser acknowledged the man in a respectful manner, he owed him that much. The older huntsman was there the night Kaiser had mistakenly decided to antagonize Adam Taurus, only to receive a near fatal stomach wound. Qrow had been the one to contact medical staff and somehow transport the boy from Vale to Beacon's medical center.
"Geez, you make me sound old when you call me that." The older huntsman crossed his arms, a smirk appearing in the gray stubble that refused to grow. "Call me Qrow."
"We'll, Mr. Branwen." Kaiser heard an immediate scoff as Qrow look at him, then to the medium
Sized duffle bag in his possession. It was filled with his gear and whatever extra clothing he would need. "I guess it's just you and I on this trip."
"Airship arrives in ten minutes, anything else you need to know before we head out?" Qrow only received a shame of the head.
"No, not unless you already figured out what the hell is happening over in Vacuo."
Qrow only chuckled, the boy seemed mild mannered, yet very annoyed at the prospect of going on the mission. He liked the kid, Qrow had to admit, especially with the guts Kaiser had to face off against Adam Taurus without having unlocked his aura. "No luck, kid. Half the fun is finding out on your own."
Kaiser pondered for a moment, his eyes roaming over Qrow. "Have you ever done this before? Spying, I mean." It wasn't that Qrow seemed inadequate, but he just stood out like a sore thumb. His scruffy looks with tattered clothing was a stark contrast to the distinguished students seen around campus, and to see Qrow compared to the working class in Vacuo.
"I don't look like it, but I've done a couple jobs from some friends of mine." Qrow began heading over to the airship terminal, Kaiser keeping pace with him.
"Their not kind of jobs with super cars and fancy gadgets though, I mean, I'm not James Blond."
Kaiser thought about Martin Kane's upgraded car and the exploding cufflinks the assassin supplied him with, then he responded. "It's not like that, movies and real life are two different things."
"I hope so, you wouldn't catch me dead wearing a suit!" Qrow chuckled out, very much enjoying teasing the overly serious boy.
It took awhile for the two to hear the signature roar of an airship waning as it landed at the terminal. Kaiser and Qrow approached the lowering airship, they watched as the doors opened and a ramp stretched out onto the loading dock. It was only now that Kaiser had noticed that Qrow had a clear lack of a travel bag, unlike the well prepared boy who had his wallet, weapons, and spare clothing and toiletries.
"You're not bringing anything?" Kaiser stepped up onto the ramp, the airship looked to be standard fare, a cargo hold lined with seats and a space above the seats to stuff cases. Kaiser's own duffle bag was tossed up there, after which the boy sat down on the seat in the far back.
"Nah, I just need my weapon," Qrow patted the greatsword at his side, it didn't look like much compared to the weapons he had seen during combat class. "And the clothes off my back." Qrow sat down next to Kaiser, idly looking over the boy's shoulder. "It's gonna be a long trip." The thrusters boosted, and they were off the ground.
"Yeah, if you don't mind, I'm gonna take a nap." Kaiser fished his pocket for his earphones and scroll, wanting to play soft background sounds while he rested.
The cargo hold had started to shake, shocking Kaiser into forcing him to drop the device just as he had opened it. It was just turbulence, but it had unnerved the boy.
"Here, let me get that for you." Qrow leant over to the floor, reaching over to grab the open device, revealing the final surprise of the day.
Kaiser watched quizzically as Qrow visibly stiffened, perhaps he had bad posture? Qrow's back looked painfully rigid.
Experienced hands lunged at Kaiser with speed that he couldn't track, they clamped down onto the boy's shoulders like a snake biting down on a mouse. Kaiser was thrown across the cabin, his back hitting the wall as he slid down. None of it hurt, his aura taking the brunt of the damage. It was the shock of the action that had gotten to him, he looked up with a bewildered face.
"What the hell are you doing with my niece!" Qrow demanded.
Kaiser was met with the soft glow of his scroll, giving Kaiser a look at the new Home Screen that must've been added the night before. It was something that must've happened at the dance, the center focus being the contented looking blonde smiling as if she had done nothing wrong. Latched to the side of her neck, the head of someone with shock-white hair had been greedily sucking at the exposed skin.
So that's how Yang had gotten those bruises…
The sudden realization was almost enough to distract him from what Qrow had said.
"Your niece?"
"Yeah dickhead! What the hell were you doing with her!" Qrow had dragged Kaiser up by the collar, his glare boring right through the spy.
"I was so sure I was dancing." Kaiser, incredibly stupefied at his seeming lack of self-control last night, stared blankly past Qrow. "I swear, I didn't know she was related to you." Getting on a huntsman's bad side was dangerous, no amount of the bullshit trickery Kaiser had could save him from a skilled veteran. It was only a case of bad luck that Qrow had seen his scroll.
"So, tell me, what if you did know? C'mon spy boy, tell me!" Qrow was already starting to regret doing this favor for Ozpin, to think that he had once respected the little runt in front of him.
Kaiser pushed forward, separating the two in the cargo hold, he had only one response and a shrug to offer. "I wouldn't have let her set my wallpaper."
"Oh you little shi-" Qrow began to roll up his sleeves, the boy assuming a trained fighting stance in response.
"Enough!" The sound of the voice drew both their attention towards the cockpit of the airship. A squat looking man in an official looking uniform, he stared down at the two huntsmen. "I will not have you two fighting in my ship, I hear another word and I'll dump the both of you in the ocean!"
Qrow had the decency of looking ashamed, not at the fact that he was about to beat on someone who he was in charge of looking after, but of disrespecting the pilot with causing trouble on the ship.
Kaiser was just stewing bitterly in the fact that he had already managed to piss off two people that he needed on his side.
"Go sit on opposite sides, I don't want to hear another word until we get to Sanus!"
Qrow had sat down grumbling back in his seat, Kaiser had trudged right over to seat diagonal and opposite, he decided it'd be for the best.
And so, the airship flew off with two people, one with the belief that anything that could go wrong would go wrong. The other, with the belief that anything that would go wrong, would be the fault of his semblance.
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Sorry for the short chapter this time around, I've got three writing classes just kicking the crap outta me.
