Ch. 24

After that day, the huntsmen in training had no time to investigate thanks to studying for semester finals. They all decided to just pick up where they left off after the start of the next semester and informed team MNCE of their plan. Many students stayed on campus during the holidays as the snow quickly settled in, covering the school grounds in a nearly two foot deep blanket of white.

"Scoot overrrr," Neo whined. She sat in Abaddon's lap with a blanket in a recliner near a fireplace. They, along with their friends, were hanging out in their dorm building's common room. It was a large room filled with recliners, chairs, and sofas for students to relax in along with wooden tables and lamps for studying. There were pictures of past star students, headmasters, and teachers on the walls along with the symbol of Vale sitting above the fireplace. Emerald was playing another game of Remnant with Mercury, Cinder was messing with some dust woven cloth, Jurano and Yang were listening to music from his scroll, Ruby was eating a plate of cookies in another recliner, Weiss was asleep along with Emma on one of the couches, and Kathleen lay asleep in a chair across from Abaddon with a blanket over her.

"How am I supposed to scoot when you're in my lap Neo?" Abaddon adjusted himself in his blanket to make Neo more comfortable.

"Glad this semester's tests are finally over," Ruby said from her chair.

"Tell me about it. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack when I got my grade back for Oobleck's test," Mercury told them.

"At least we passed." Emerald placed one of her cards on the game board and smiled. She could tell it was a good move from the surprised look on Mercury's face.

"Yeah, now I just wanna relax." Neo slowly started to fall asleep. She snuggled even deeper into Abaddon's blanket, almost disappearing into the large brown cloth.

"I'm just glad that I hid your bag of snacks, otherwise you'd be full of energy right now," Abaddon thought. He then felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around his neck from behind.

"You know, I can keep you warm too if you'd like." Cinder's lips were terribly close to Abaddon's ear.

"Cin stop."

"We're missing someone," she whispered.

Abaddon looked around and noticed that their cat faunus was nowhere to be seen.

"I thought she was with us," Abaddon whispered back.

"No, it seems she split off as we were coming here. She looked troubled," Cinder said. "If I had to guess, the best place to look would be either her dorm or the library."

Abaddon was about to say something to Yang, since she was Blake's partner but decided to fix the problem himself. "I'll go talk to her then."

"Wait," Cinder said. "Maybe we should let her be for now. And if it gets out of hand, it would be best for her teammates to speak with her."

Abaddon wanted to help Blake, but decided to take Cinder's advice instead.

"Fine, I'll leave it alone. For now."

"Good." Cinder then began moving her lips along Abaddon's cheek. "Now how about we have a tiny bit of fun, for old time's sake?"

Much to her disappointment, Abaddon moved his head away from her. "First of all, in your dreams. Second of all, there are children present."

XXXXXXX

Over a week into the second semester…

"Come in," Ozpin said as he heard the beeping sound of someone requesting to access his quarters.

The doors to his office opened up to reveal none other than James Ironwood, one of the generals of Atlas.

"Ozpin!"

"Hello general," Ozpin replied.

"Please, drop the formalities." Ironwood and Ozpin gingerly shook hands. "It's been too long. And Glynda, it has certainly been too long since we last met."

"Ohh James. I'll be outside." Glynda then left the office, leaving the two men alone to speak.

"Well she hasn't changed a bit," said Ironwood.

"So what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? I would usually expect Heracles to be here, given his love for battle." Ozpin went over to his desk and picked up a pitcher, filling one of the mugs he kept with coffee and handing it to Ironwood.

"Well I do love Vale this time of year, and who's to say that I don't love to see a good show just as Heracles does." Ironwood took a quick sip from his mug.

"I hope there aren't any troubles in Atlas, James," Ozpin said.

"None that we can't take care of. Don't worry Ozpin," Ironwood assured him.

"Hmmm. If you say so." Ozpin refilled his mug and took a sip.

"Thank you. Now, I should be going. Good to see you again Ozpin." Ironwood placed his mug back on Ozpin's desk and walked towards the elevator. Before the doors closed he gave the headmaster one last nod.

Ozpin went back to gazing outside his office window at the school grounds. "I know what you're searching for James, but he already has it. I had hoped my students wouldn't have to fight a war, but one has been fighting an unfinished bout which I hope does not end badly. For us and for him."

XXXXXXX

"Shit!"

Abaddon dug his sword into the ground as a powerful wind gust blew over him. It wasn't hard to keep his balance, but one mishap and he could easily lose his weapon. He looked up just in time to dodge a slash from Kathleen's swords, then grabbed her wrist and threw her to the left. She flipped in midair and landed on her feet, regaining her composure.

"You're getting better Abaddon," Kathleen said.

"Thanks Kat," Abaddon replied. "At least you're not going easy on me, like usual."

"Weeelllll, I'm not actually going all out right now."

"Aww come on!" Abaddon sheathed his sword and took off his gauntlets. "Alright, how about hand to hand, but no holding back Kat! Come at me!"

Kathleen sighed. "Ok partner, but just to let you know," Kathleen immediately disappeared and reappeared beside the boy. "You might regret it."

Abaddon barely managed to block a kick from his right. He countered with a kick to Kathleen's left side, but she flipped over it. She ducked down and tripped him with a low kick. Abaddon flipped back to right himself and dashed at her. With his left leg pulled back, Kathleen was prepared to block, but it was a feint and she was hit full force with a right hook. Abaddon then followed up with a right brazilian kick to the girl's right leg and torso. He would've struck her in the shoulder if Kathleen hadn't kneed him in the stomach. She then jumped back to gain some distance. She was a bit out of breath.

"Maybe, today will be the second time. The second time I actually beat her!" Abaddon's body felt excited just thinking about it.

He put up his fists to guard any surprising attacks. Meanwhile, Kathleen took a deep breath then exhaled to focus. Once done, she quickly rushed towards her partner. Abaddon dodged a high kick that was aimed for his head. When it looked like she was about to do a reverse kick, Abaddon put up both arms to block it, but Kathleen instead used that leg to push down his arms and lower his guard. Next, she struck him in the face with a 360 degree kick. This made the boy falter a few steps. He intended to strike back with a kick of his own, but Kathleen had bent down below him. She reached up with one leg to wrap around his neck and bounced into the air, spinning him around wildly before dropping him headfirst into the ground.

Kathleen stood and dusted herself off. "Told you so."

"Let's…keep…going." Abaddon clumsily stood up from the small crater he was in. His aura had completely reached zero, but he still wanted to keep sparring. "Come on…Kat."

He almost fell to his knees, but Kathleen caught him before he could.

"I didn't realize I got you that bad. Your aura's completely drained and you can barely focus." Kathleen helped him stand up straight.

Abaddon sighed. "Fine. As usual, you right. Let's go get something to eat please."

"Sure thing." Kathleen held on to Abaddon's left arm in order to help him keep his balance as he walked. They picked up their weapons and headed out of the gym and towards their dorm room. As they walked, Kathleen noticed the way she was holding Abaddon's arm and couldn't help but blush. It was like they had just came back from a date.

The duo made it to their dorm. Inside, they found it empty. Kathleen sat Abaddon on his bed and laid their weapons on hers.

"I'll see what they're cooking in the cafeteria while you stay and rest okay?" Kathleen gently stroked Abaddon's tail before she left. She closed the door behind her and started to walk down the hall when she spotted Cinder nearby.

"Oh, hello Kathleen," Cinder said with a smile.

"Hey Cinder."

"Where are you headed?" she asked.

"I'm going to the cafeteria to get some food for me and Abaddon. I kind of went over board during our sparring match…again," Kathleen said.

"So he's resting then. Perhaps I could watch him while you're gone?" Cinder's smile was friendly, but Kathleen wasn't getting a good vibe from it.

"Thanks, but he'll be fine until I get back. Besides, I don't think he's in the mood for unnecessary flirting right now," Kathleen replied with a smile of her own. "Well, I'll see you later Cinder."

Cinder watched silently as Kathleen strolled off on her task, then went in the opposite direction.

"Wow, she really adores him. And I can tell from what she just said that maybe I've struck a nerve. Should I apologize to her?" Cinder's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a nearby conversation. It was coming from team RWBY's room. Unable to halt her curiosity, Cinder quietly walked over to the door and stood with her back to the wall. She began to focus on the discussion being held inside.

"Ok, between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you think you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells." Cinder recognized this as Weiss' voice.

"Uhh, who?" said another voice, clearly Ruby's.

"But let me once again be the voice of reason. We're students. We're not ready to handle this sort of situation," Weiss reasoned.

"Well yeah, but-," Ruby tried to say.

"We're not ready!" Weiss exclaimed.

"And we may never be ready!" Blake said. "Our enemies aren't just gonna sit around and wait for graduation day. They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move and none of us know what it is but it's coming, whether we're ready or not."

"She makes a good point," Cinder thought.

"Okay," said Ruby. "All in favor of becoming the youngest huntresses to single handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale, say I."

"Yes! I love it when you're feisty," Yang added.

"Hmph, I suppose it could be fun," said Weiss.

"None of you said I," Ruby said in disappointment.

"Alright then, we're all in this together." Blake's tone came out happier than before.

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Yang agreed.

Ruby gasped. "I left my board game in the library."

"Were doomed," Weiss said.

Cinder choose this time to step back from the door as Ruby ran out of her dorm and towards the library. Luckily, Cinder was on the side of the door that blocked her from view.

"Hmm, I hope they know what they're doing," Cinder said to herself. "Although, it's better safe than sorry, so they won't mind if a few friends 'tag a long' on their investigation."