A/N: I'm so sorry, I really wanted to update before I went on vacation, but last week was so stressful I didn't finish in time.
And for those wondering how I published LSQW Chibisodes while on vacation. I had it on my google docs and managed to post from my phone.
Anyway, new chapter!
I'll do some post notes to hopefully answer any questions that this chapter might create.
I don't own RWBY or RT.
Guilty Rose Chapter 8
"So, let's go back to the beginning, what happened after combat class ended today Rose?"
Rose was sitting in Glynda's office. Rose really liked Glynda's office, it was just so her. It was decorated like a library from a fantasy novel. Floor to ceiling bookshelves lined the back wall. All the books were meticulously organized by genre and title. The bottom right section of books was Rose's favorite. That section was fairytales and legends of Remnant.
Rose shook her head to clear her thoughts and began recalling the incident and everything that led up to it.
"Well, when we left your class, we found out that my match with Cardin had already spread throughout the students, and we were practically ambushed by a group of students on our way out."
"That must have been tough for you."
Rose let out a sigh and grimaced at the memory of opening the door and finding so many people all trying to get to her.
She had her knife drawn but was resisting the overwhelming urge to use it on her classmates. Her team must have noticed because they immediately went into action. Weiss and Yang pulled Rose between them, protecting themselves with aura when Rose inevitably tried to stab them, while Blake blocked the other students' path.
"I didn't react too well, no."
"Was it better than the first time we went into Vale at least."
This time they both grimaced.
"Kinda? Weiss and Yang protected themselves with their aura."
"That's good, so what happened after that?"
"We continued on to the cafeteria. Several others tried to talk to me in the halls, but my team kept them away."
"I see, is it possible that your trip to the cafeteria contributed to the incident."
"I don't know, maybe?"
"Okay, so then walk me through what happened inside the cafeteria."
Rose sighed, she knew Glynda knew what happened already. It was the why it happened that Glynda was so concerned with.
"Well, we got our food and team JNPR called for us to sit with them. It wasn't long after that Cardin walked by and yanked on my tail."
"And you didn't notice him or react?"
"No, I didn't notice him and that threw me off."
"Interesting."
"My teammates and JNPR are not being punished too harshly, are they?"
….
Blake stood in awe with Weiss, Yang, and the rest of team JNPR. Miss Greene had led them to what was supposed to be the room they served their detention in. However, instead of a classroom, they were brought to a media room. But that was not the shocking part, the most shocking part was the room's contents. A banquet table full of grilled tuna, pancakes, and what she suspected to be the favorite food of everyone else.
There was a second table, smaller, it had a stack of strawberry and chocolate chip pancakes. Nora was slowly approaching the smaller table before Miss Greene grabbed her shoulder.
"Those are for Rose, those are for you. Understood?"
Nora vigorously nodded. If they were for Rose, she wouldn't eat them. Even if they looked to die for.
"Good, now, you six will remain in here for the rest of the afternoon. Rose will be joining you after her class with Professor Goodwitch."
"Question, is this really are punishment for what Yang and Nora did to Cardin?"
"Yes, Miss Schnee. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some shows I'd like to watch."
….
"The Schnee legal team is prepared to fight any charges Mr. Winchester might press, though I guarantee he won't even try for his ego's sake. However, we staff members cannot remain passive in this matter. But there is no need to worry, the punishment is appropriate. You will also be joining them when we're done."
"Okay."
Rose wasn't quite sure what to make of the small twinkle in Glynda's eyes, but it made her a little uncomfortable.
"Now, let's continue our session, you're team is probably waiting for you."
….
Emerald, Neo, and Mercury stood by the door of Cinder's office watching Cinder zip back and forth.
"She has that creepy smile again."
"Yeah we're going to Beacon the day after tomorrow."
Neo just stood between them eating a waffle cone with six scoops.
"How many times has she checked that she had everything packed?"
Neo tried to count on her her free hand while licking her ridiculously tall ice cream but gave up after the going through her fingers three times.
"Too many times."
"You really don't like how excited she is about meeting this girl?"
Neo whipped out her scroll and typed into it.
Jealous much?
"I AM NOT!"
"Would you three shut up!"
Emerald and Mercury shut up immediately. Neo, however, pretended to be offended. Cinder leveled a glare at the multicolored girl that would not be misunderstood. Neo close her mouth, zipped it, and threw away the key. Cinder nodded, pleased that her command being followed and turned back to her desk.
"Now where did I put that. Ah! Here it is!"
Cinder pulled an ornate gift box from her desk and opened it. Her entire expression softened at whatever she had put in it. Neo pointed at Cinder with an incredibly unnerved expression. Emerald and Mercury nodded with the same expression on their faces.
….
Rose only ever had two types of dreams for as long as she could remember. Se's never mentioned either to another soul. She just couldn't bring herself to.
One being all the people she had ever killed glaring at her silently whilst bleeding from the wounds she inflicted on them. She tried to talk to them at first, but they only glared more. She would just sit there now.
The other type was her being confined in some way, either in a man's arms or being looked in cage , and reaching out for a woman in a white cloak. She'd scream and cry out to the woman, but she couldn't make a sound.
Rose's current dream started out as the latter.
Rose sat in the fetal position. She knew she could never reach the woman outside her cage, so she didn't even bother trying this time. At least not until she finally looked up. This time, there was a crowd of people standing outside her cage. All of them facing away from her and just out of reach. She immediately recognized the three closest to her cage.
For the first time in years, Rose pressed her body to the bars and reached out for them, for the one with long blonde hair in particular. She opened her mouth to scream their names, to get their attention. Again, she couldn't even make a sound. It was so frustrating. They weren't even an inch from her fingertips.
Tears of pain and frustration escaped from her eyes.
"Just a little more!"
"You'll never reach them if can't even call out to them."
Rose spun around. She knew that voice. That was Cin's voice.
"Cin?"
Rose's voice startled her, like this was the first time she'd ever been able to speak in her life. She looked back to see if any of the crowd heard her, but none had even reacted.
"You didn't call out to them."
Rose turned back to where Cin's voice was coming from, but still found no one. When she hung her head in defeat, she saw Cin's charm on the floor of the cage. Rose wanted to grab it, but it was still shattered. She was left with the only option of staring at it.
"Why don't you call out to them?"
Rose now knew Cin's voice was coming from the charm, but somehow was not disturbed by this.
"I don't know why I can't call out to them."
"Yes, you do."
Rose bit her lip. She did know why. She didn't want them to turn around and see her.
"Why can I talk to you then?"
"You know why."
This time she didn't understand what Cin's charm meant.
Rose chose to sit there and ponder what the shattered charm meant until she woke up not moments later.
And with a start Rose woke, staring into the concerned eyes of her teammates.
"Rose are you awake now?"
"What's going on?"
"You slept in nearly two hours."
"Are you feeling okay?"
Rose looked down. It was Friday. She'd be able to start looking for Cin today after classes. A brief wave of euphoria washed over her.
But she'd be lying if that dream hadn't shaken her.
Right in front of her were her teammates and supposed sister. She didn't doubt Yang was her actual sister, but it hadn't felt real yet.
And she knew why. She didn't deserve it being real.
Rose's hand drifted to her neck.
"I'm fine."
….
Cinder Stared at the approaching tower from the window of the bullhead. It was finally hitting her.
She would be seeing Rose again.
And not just some random encounter after a botched heist. she'd actually get to spend time with the girl who had gotten under her skin like the thorn of her namesake.
"What will happen if I meet her and she hates me for working with a criminal?"
The thought rocked her. This was the first time she considered what Rose thought of her after their encounter in the bullhead. Suddenly, all of expectations and hope turned to anxiety and dread.
This sudden change did not go unnoticed by her teammates. All three of them saw the smile she had plastered on her face for the last few days sour in anxiety.
"Cinder?"
"What?"
"Are you okay?"
Cinder looked away from her teammates and sighed. She debated on whether or not she should confide in them.
"Oh what the hell!"
"I'm worried that Rose is going to hate me because I worked with a criminal."
A pin drop could be heard in that bullhead if it weren't for the engines.
"I'm out. You two can handle this one."
Neo stared at Cinder, wanting to follow Merc's example and walk off but also wanting to see where this would go.
"Cinder...you are a criminal. We're literally going to this school to kill someone and recruit another to help us destroy the kingdoms."
Cinder's eyes widened and her anxiety spiked up even further. She was now full on hyperventilating and Emerald just groaned. She wanted to be the one Cinder was freaking out for, that would give her the excuse to hug the black haired beauty and tell her it was okay. Maybe she still could, but she wouldn't.
"You said she was the Guilty Rose, The Face of Death, the girl responsible for killing hundreds of people. She was a ruthless bandit. I doubt she will judge you for working with a criminal or being one for that matter."
Emerald's heart sank at what she saw next. Cinder was chewing on her lip, unable to meet Emerald's gaze. She looked guilty, like a child that had been caught lying.
"Cinder, what did you not tell us?"
Emerald was used to being left out of the full plan, but this was different. This was Cinder having lied to everyone, including Salem.
"She was forced to do the things she did."
"What?"
"She never wanted to kill or hurt anyone, and I can guarantee that she still doesn't."
"Then why the hell are you trying to recruit her."
"Because I don't want to kill her. We both know Salem's orders. Deprive Ozpin of her anyway possible."
A clap from the team mute broke the tension in the air. Both Emerald and Cinder turned to look at Neo, who was holding up her scroll.
Wait, THE GUILTY ROSE isn't actually a psychotic mass murderer?
Cinder looked thoroughly annoyed by the question, but sighed and let it go.
"No, you'll understand once you meet her."
….
"Finally! I can go into Vale now!"
Rose had shocked herself with her eagerness to go look for Cin. As soon as she was dismissed from her last class, she channeled her semblance across her whole body and left in a storm of petals for her dorm. Her team was pretty shocked by this display and came barging in while Rose was still getting ready for her trip to the city.
"What was that Ru-Rose?"
Rose knew her team would have questions, so she never told them about her plans to go to Vale.
"I just wanted to beat the rush to go to the city for a few hours."
Not a complete lie, but it would allow her to steer the conversation.
"Why are you going into Vale?"
"I wanted to drive my bike around town, make sure the tuning I did has held up."
"You have a bike? Like a motor bike?"
"Yes Yang, I have a motorbike, which Glynda refuses to ride if it isn't in perfect tune."
"Wait, Professor Goodwitch Rides on your motorbike?"
"You call her Glynda?"
Rose was a little overwhelmed by the questions.
"Yes, Glynda rides with me to go on errands every now and then. I call her Glynda because she watched over me since I came to Vale. Now if you don't mind I would like to head out before the rush."
Her teammates obviously had more questions, but decided to let her go instead.
"I should have told them about Cin...I'll talk to them after I find her."
As she turned the last corner to exit the building, Rose went face first into a bosom. Rose quickly recoiled, knife already in hand. Though the knife dropped from her hand as quickly as it came to it when she saw whose bosom she just ran into.
"It can't be."
"Cin?"
"Rose?"
A/N: And I'm an ass, I know. What can I say?
So the first part was obviously to answer why Rose didn't stab Cardin, I've said enough there already.
Second, the dream sequence. That was really spur of the moment and I am willing to edit or delete it if people don't like it. But I do feel it offers some insight on Rose's current mental state. So please give me feedback on that.
Third, more fun with Cinder and her peanut gallery. Guess what Cinder had in the box. Bonus points based on how accurate you are!
Finally, the end. Everyone had to see it coming, right? Well now we get to watch the development starting next chapter. Also, I promise some Rose momma next chapter!
Okay, now for some none GR news. Some of you may have noticed my profile now includes upcoming stories. These stories are stories that I have decided to write at some point in the relatively near future. I'll add summaries soon.
Thank you guys for waiting and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will try to up date sooner than a full week, but life has it's ways of changing plans.
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See ya soon!