Hello everyone before we get started I just wanted to give a shout out to Archer1eye for helping me with a review and even giving me a few ideas that I used in this chapter. I'd also like to give a shout out to Novandalis who has been my go to person for advice and the idea for the banana on pancakes from the last chapter (and the reason I eat them in real life too). So that's about it. Oh forewarning things are gonna get a little serious.
Chapter 8: The dark before the dawn
Friday morning professor Ozpin called William into his office regarding something important.
"Good morning William." The gray haired man greeted as William walked in.
"Good morning professor." He greeted back. "And to you to Ms. Goodwitch and General Ironwood." He extended his greeting noticing them to Ozpin's right. "May I asked why you called me here? It isn't about what happened Wednesday night, again, is it?" He asked somewhat meekly.
"No, no nothing like that. Well maybe a little something like that. First I would like to see how you are faring given all of the media attention lately."
"I'm not going to lie, it's been tough and more than a few students are either, repeatedly, asking me very intrusive questions or are just plain afraid of me."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Thankfully due to the more umbra nature of that business your name was not released to the press and the incident itself has stayed out of the public eye." The elder man replied taking a sip of his coffee. "One of the reasons I called you in here is actually to discuss placing you on a team."
"-Let me guess everyone you have asked has objected to the idea." William blatantly stated.
"Unfortunately that seems to be the case."
"Not that it matters much in the short term." William said shrugging.
"And why is that?" Ozpin asked raising an eyebrow.
"The only reason I wanted to find a team was so I could participate in the tournament a week from now, but given that everyone knows what I am now chances are slim to none that they would have let me participate even if I had a full team. So I am in no rush."
"You do know why we assign students into teams, right?" Ms. Goodwitch asked in her usual stern tone.
"Well, there are a number of reasons; new experiences, new perspective, developing teamwork skills, build potentially life-long bonds, and various other reasons. After all no matter how powerful someone is, one person is only one person, correct?"
"Correct, however I do hope you don't think you will leave this school without ever being on a team." Replied Ozpin.
"I know, I am just saying that there is no reason to rush finding a team. It defeats the entire purpose if my team is afraid and are unable to work with me or me with them for that matter."
"That is why for the time being until such times as we can find you a teammate I will have you assigned to team RWBY as an extra albeit as you surmised the Vytal Festival's planning committee has prohibited your participation."
"Do I still get to keep my own room?"
"Of course."
"I can live with that. Now that that is settled, I have some business to discuss with you." William said clearly wanting to talk about whatever was on his mind as soon as possible.
"Oh." He said raising his brow. "What might that be?"
"Well it's actually a couple of things really. The first being that it is nearing the time when I need to consume more Grimm and I thought I should tell you I plan on being gone the whole weekend."
"I understand, as I recall the report said you need to consume Grimm every so often or you experience extremely unpleasant side effects, correct?"
"Yes."
"I see, but may I ask why the whole weekend?"
"Well its more that I just don't want to make multiple trips so I plan on eating a large supply of Grimm, enough that I will not need to do this again for a long time."
"And where are you planning to go, exactly?" Asked general Ironwood stepping forward.
"I'm currently debating either the Emerald Forest or the Forever Fall Forest. Emerald is much closer, but I like the landscape of Forever Fall and it seems like it would be a nice place to camp out. "
"I see good thing we are removing the surveillance team that has been following you thus far."
"What?! You've had me under surveillance this whole time?"
Professor Ozpin opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by general Ironwood. "Yes and to be honest I do not believe that this is a good idea."
"Wait, does that mean you've had people spying on me while I was in my room, and going out, and when I was…." He stopped and turned his head towards Ms. Goodwtich. "Did you know about this?" He asked the platinum blonde in a calm but somewhat venomous tone.
"William, I did know, but what you told me is strictly between you and me, I told them not to ease drop on my home." She said trying to be a sympathetic as possible.
William sighed. "I believe you, but only for YOUR people, but how about the general standing next to you? I find it hard to believe that he would rely on anyone other than his own men."
William and the two professors turned to the general, despite his efforts to show his normal lack of emotion it was clear to all that Williams deductions were right on the money. This of course resulted in a very livid glare from Ms. Goodwitch. General Ironwood practically froze in place, save for turning his head to see a very angry Glynda staring daggers at him.
"How could you think I couldn't keep watch over William?" The blonde sorceress half yelled.
"Glynda, please, I can explain." The general begged.
"Then please do." She answered in a calm, but still incredibly frightening tone.
"He is an incredibly dangerous individual, I couldn't stand the thought of him harming a teacher, harming you."
"James, William is not the threat you make him out to be." Ms. Goodwitch says softening his tone, but still remaining very stern. "But I have to ask how much of our conversations did your men hear?"
"Everything." He replied blankly.
"You took advantage of a moment of weakness in which I actually trusted someone with information that I have been keeping guarded for years. In addition, you even went as far as to go behind the backs of those you are supposed to be working with." William said in a monotone manner, reminiscent of his first encounter with Ruby and the others. Ms. Goodwitch noticed for a brief moment that William's right eye flickered to Grimm-red before returning to normal. "Having said that I actually don't blame you." William said casually earning a confused look from all. "I do find his constant distrust of me annoying and the distrust of you comrades unnerving, but I believe someone has to be a little skeptical."
"William-"The concerned female teacher began before she was stopped by William.
"Ms. Goodwitch, I am truly thankful for all of the kindness and trust you, Ruby, and the others show me, I really am, but there is no telling if I could lose control and if that happens and I am unable to regain control, I can't see any of you being willing to stop me by any means necessary. I…I'd rather…I'd rather di- I can't stand the thought of hurting you or any of the others." William said looking down trying to suppress his own fear.
"William." Professor Ozpin said breaking William out of his own self-doubt. "From what I have seen you do not strike me as a person who would easily lose control. The fact you are this concerned about staying in control that tells me you are far from the monster you have been made out to be."
"….Thank you." The young man said with a slight smile.
"Now I have a question for you." General Ironwood interrupted, killing the mood. "Were you aware of the surveillance details Friday evening?"
"You really have a one track mind, you know that." William said wiping a tear from his eye, only to see the general giving him his typical serious scowl. "And no I had no idea until you told me."
"The last time you went to the Silver Guard Mall you managed to evade both surveillance teams. What I want to know is if you were involved with the incident that took place Friday night, the night you didn't come back to Beacon."
How would I even 'escape' a detail I didn't know existed William thought to himself. 'Furthermore I didn't even do anything other than walk around, the only thing that could have happened was…Neo.' He realized as he recalled her mentioning her 'trade secret' to falsify the security camera images. 'But did she also take out the equipment for professor Ozpin's and general Ironwood's teams too?'
"But didn't the news say it was two Faunus." He said realizing he needed to get the suspicion off of him. "I know I count as one, but the only other Faunus I know here are Blake and Velvet, oh and Sun, but he and I don't really hang out much. So where does the second Faunus come into play?"
"James, I thought we had already settled this matter." Ms. Goodwitch asked annoyed at the return of this topic.
"Glynda, he has escaped my detail already, if this is indeed his doing then that's all the proof I need." The general almost pleaded with her.
"First off, can you stop saying I 'escaped' your surveillance team, you can't escape from something without intentionally knowing of it, and, second there is still the matter of the fact that the news said there were two Faunus." William returned to his previous point. "Aside from the three I've listed I don't know any other Faunus in Vale. Plus, can you actually see any of them assaulting someone; sure Blake's moody, but that's about it, Velvet is too nice to even deck Cardin when he deserves it, and yes Sun sometimes steals fruit, but there is a big difference between that and attempted murder."
"Personally I think the attempted murder was a media exaggeration." Professor Ozpin added drawing everyone's attention to him. "Still a shame though, there aren't many original Dunky Kung games left in this world."
"What about a Dunky Kung game?" William asked genuinely confused until he realized Ozpin had set a trap, and so nonchalantly at that.
"It seems that the assailants slammed the man's head onto the console so hard it broke both the man's skull as well as the console.
Another lie, well except for the skull part, I'm pretty sure that is true, but either this guy suspects it's me and is trying to trip me up or he has been given some REALLY bad information. "Ouch." William partially cringed at the thought of Neo actually doing that to the guy.
"I see, now let's move forward with our discussion, I believe there were other things you wanted to discuss?"
"Yes, there is the matter of…" "DO NOT TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR DREAMS, IF YOU DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY WILL DO TO YOU." A voice rang in William's ear. Trying to conceal his inner conflict William decided to change the topic. "…There is the matter of team JPIT. I was wondering if there is anything I need to do or if I need to testify or something?" This wasn't entirely a misdirection; he really did want to ask about it.
"Well as of the moment you do not need to do anything, however if the need arises then I will contact you and help you prepare." Ozpin replied taking another sip of his coffee.
"I see, thank you."
"You are welcomed, tell me William is that all you want to talk about?" The grey haired main asked.
William wanted to say no but could already feel that other voice inhaling for another verbal bombardment. "Yeah that's pretty much it."
"'Pretty much'?"
"Well I guess there is something that has been bugging me lately. It's about the environment in Vale."
"Have other students been giving you a hard time?"
"No, well yes…BUT I can handle it. It's just…just, you know how I am part Grimm and as such I am sensitive to the negative emotions of the people around me. I'm not saying that there are any particularly strong negative emotions, but more that the seeds to become negative emotions have been planted."
"Seeds?"
"I guess the best way I can describe it is that little thought or suggestion that someone gives you, at first you just wave it off and move on, but as time goes on you start to think about it more and more moving it from the back of your mind to the front. Has anything happened in Vale recently, before I got here?"
"Well about a week before we meet you there was a massive Grimm breach committed by some very scrupulous characters." Ozpin said in a monotone manner.
"Oz!" Ironwood spat out in shock.
"James, Mr. Beorthwulf will find out regardless if I tell him or not and it is best he knows the true story."
"I imagine that helped it, but I feel like there is something more to it. Something else that is new to Vale. Something that could make someone gradually more insecure or even paranoid."
"Hmmm, I believe I know what it is you are referring to." Ozpin answered in an almost morbid yet somehow also calm tone. "However, you do not need to worry about it too much the problem will resolve itself soon enough."
"If you say so, then I guess I can let it go. Just be warned the people may not be on the edge of the cliff, but they are a good push or two away from it." William warned.
"I appreciate your insight into the matter William." The grey haired man replied with a smile. "Is there anything else you wish to talk about?"
"No, I can't think of anything…Oh wait there is something. I was wondering if I could get the codes for the weapons lab and the dust research lab."
Since he began attending Beacon William had been continually finding more and more unique things about Beacon. Apparently all first years are assigned basic classes for their whole team in order to build a foundation both scholastically and as a team. Second years and up have more diverse schedules, while still having a few classes with their teammates. Apparently these classes are designed to better suit each individual student; close combat class, dust manipulation efficiency, transitional mechanics, battle applications of semblances, etc. depending on the student's specific fighting style and strengths. While looking into potential classes for next year William discovered that first years could use the facilities, provided there wasn't a class using it and they cleaned up after themselves.
"May I ask why?"
"Well, after the whole team JPIT thing and my fight with Pyrrha, and after seeing the cool fights while I wasn't allowed to participate in Ms. Goodwitch's combat class, I feel like what I have at the moment is not enough."
"Not enough, you say?"
"Up until now I've completely relied on my Grimm powers, but now that I am in a situation where I need to depend on something else and even with my semblance I still fell short, I just feel like I need to improve my fighting ability, otherwise what's the point?"
"I see, very well I be sure to send the codes to your temporary scroll, just use it like you do to get into your room."
"Thank you professor Ozpin."
"No problem, now I'd recommend you hurry, your next class will start soon."
Pulling out his scroll William realized he had approximately ten minutes to run across campus to Dr. Oobleck's class.
"Wow, I gotta go, good thing I have my book bag with me, thanks again. See you later." William said as he ran out into the elevator.
"Now that is taken care of. How is our new student adjusting to Beacon?" The grey haired man sitting a gear themed desk asked as he turned towards the Blonde haired woman with glasses and a cape.
"Well, academically he is nearly a perfect student." The blonde haired woman with glasses replied.
"Nearly?"
"since he was trapped in that valley since he was six his scholastic level should be nowhere near Beacon's, yet using only discarded books he taught himself through and above the set curriculum. Despite a few gaps in his knowledge he is academically brilliant. Had he received a proper education there is no doubt he would easily be in the top ten or even five percent of his class. Although that doesn't seem to stop him, he has been devouring book after book in the library every afternoon after classes let out since he found out about its existence and if he continues with his cram classes he will most likely be caught up by the end of the semester. I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say his natural curiosity in academics could rival Dr. Oobleck."
"…And what of his other aspects?" the man asked taking a sip of his coffee.
"Despite his upbringing he is quite mature for his age. Arguably more than some of the older students. In a social environment he is quite…reserved. He seems to prefer sticking to Ruby and her friends. When he tries to interact with others he can be socially awkward and has had problems when dealing with large crowds, not that I can't understand why. Additionally, he's becomes flustered when people start asking about his Grimm powers. I've noticed, as I'm sure you have too, that when it pertains to his Grimm powers or more specifically keeping them in check he has little confidence in himself, despite having demonstrated time and again that he IS capable of keeping his powers under control during times of stress. Although these days his main source of stress is from the trial and media presence when he tries to go out that has been a tremendous burden on him. Ruby and her team are trying to help him adjust, but the progress is slow. Miss Xiao Long tried to take him to a dance club late Wednesday night to cheer him up, however due to her own actions it resulted in a brawl and a ride to the police station. "
"Yes, I remember having the police chief calling me at one in the morning." Ozpin stated. "He wasn't sure on what to do when his men brought in a talking Beowulf or Miss Xiao Long for that matter."
"Yes, it seems when he is nervous or scared he unintentionally switches into his Grimm forms and can't change back."
"It was also a surprise when William ended up helping him balance the entire police department's budget and also made room for some much needed automotive repair to some of their squad cars. By the time I had gotten there he had already drawn up budget plans that would allow the department to afford a complete equipment overhaul in only ten years." He slightly chuckled. "When I tried to take William back with me the police chief offered him a job and a Lieutenant's salary if he would stay. William of course turned him down, but still gave him his number in case he still needed any help. It is rather amusing to think that someone so powerful who could, without even breaking a sweat, escape from custody, would be so nervous."
"I'd be hard struck to believe he was the same person who tried to kill us. At least outside of combat situations."
"Oh" The grey haired man calmly responded raising an eyebrow.
"After I allowed him to participate, during sparring matches I've noticed he becomes vicious, confident, and even cruel. The degree of which is determined by his eye color."
"Eye color?" the Headmaster asked.
"It's exactly like Ruby deduced, as I mentioned in my report regarding our first encounter with William and what you saw during his combat exam. First his right eye turns red bringing on emotional changes; confidence, aggression, showing less restraint, in short it is similar to Miss Xiao Long including the strength increase. In this state he is aggressive, but still able to use logic and reasoning as well as being able to communicate with others. In conversation and from what was said during our first encounter with him, when both of William's eyes turn red he is no longer in control of his actions and devolves into nothing more than an overly strong creature of Grimm."
"This is why I suggest we take more drastic measures in containing him, he is a clear danger to the students." Ironwood interjected. Both men turned to Ms. Goodwitch who was clearly debating what to say.
"Glynda, is there something you would like to add?" Ozpin asked in a monotone manner.
"As you have just heard William is concerned that with all the attention he has been getting, has him concerned about losing control. However, his Grimm powers can remain in check so long as he can control his emotions, on that point I believe we are safe." She defended.
"And how exactly do you know that?"
"He told me during one of our meetings."
"Oh, one of your 'meetings', well then it must be true." The general sarcastically taunted.
"What are you implying?" The blonde teacher asked showing obvious signs of anger.
"Every day for the last week and a half you have had a meeting with him after your class, you are getting too close to him. He isn't your dead friend-"
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Ms. Goodwitch Shouted. "I meet with William everyday as a means of checking up on him and helping him catch up in his classes, he may not live with me, but I AM his guardian and it's my duty to look after him."
"You're too close, he is dangerous! I saw his fight with Cardin Winchester, after nearly breaking his arm he repeatedly blasted him in the face with his own mace!"
"During his time in that valley he HAD to be callous otherwise he wouldn't have survived." She barked.
"Tell me has he given a more in-depth explanation for these changes in mood?" Ozpin asked directing his attention back to Professor Goodwitch trying to keep things from escalating.
"Yes, he told me that there were actually a few factors to it. The more strongly he feels a negative emotion, such as anger, the more difficult it becomes to control his Grimm power. Although it doesn't necessarily need to even be his own negative emotions he is feeling. Either way can cause his powers to become more difficult to control. A prime example is team JPIT's trial and the stress of the press hunting for him. Additionally, even if there isn't an emotional trigger, there is a limit to how much Grimm he can draw on at any given time before he begins to lose control. That is why even though he CAN transform into something as big as a Deathstalker, he does not because it would require him to draw on too much Grimm power for him to control." She explained with a slight shake in her voice.
"Something he conveniently forgot to mention." General Ironwood stated.
"You don't sound convinced." Ozpin pointed out, ignoring Ironwood.
"I'm just not sure, I believe what he has told me is true, I believe he does trust me, but at the same time I feel he isn't telling me everything. I… I just feel like he is holding back information because he is afraid."
"What could he be afraid of?" Ironwood asked sarcastically.
"Well given the fact you have had him in the crosshairs of your mechanical soldiers this whole time. I believe that William is intentionally holding back information because he is afraid that someone, namely you, will use it against him."
Ozpin cleared his throat "Speaking of information about William, what about the examinations with Dr. Plum?" He asked trying to change the topic and avoid the two fighting, again.
Ms. Goodwitch handed Ozpin a vanilla folder.
"As you are aware after the incident with team JPIT the doctors pulled multiple foreign objects from his body. His X-rays showed that though William can recover from wounds that would normally be fatal or at the least crippling to normal individuals, though he cannot fully heal them. Strangely enough his body does seem more adept at completely replacing lost bones and organs as opposed to repairing them. The sole exception being his skin which shows no signs of scarring except for the scar over his right eye from before he obtained his powers. Both his bones and organs show countless scars and a long record of traumatic incidents, while his right forearm and entire left arm, on the other hand, are completely clean of any injuries. Dr. Plum estimations show every bone in his body has been broken, damaged, or just plain 'removed' several hundred times."
"A small child trapped in a valley of monsters and huntsmen who want to kill him for ten years, I wouldn't be surprised if the number was much higher." Ozpin said taking a sip from his mug. "Tell me, is there any immediate threat to his health?"
"No, at the moment he seems perfectly healthy."
"What might be more interesting is that he allowed us to do an ultrasound on him while in Grimm form. Much to our surprise there were no organs, not even a brain. CAT scans of his brain in his Grimm and intermediate forms show activity but it is too sporadic for us to even properly gauge. His Grimm form has no pulse. When we drew blood from his normal form we found nothing out of the ordinary at all. Furthermore, in regards to his transformations the x-rays revealed that his bone structure does change to fit his transformation, however the skull mask and protrusions from his body do not appear to be bone at all, but rather a much harder substance made out of some unknown type of cartilage."
"I see."
"There is also his semblance to consider. His semblance when combined with his transformation ability allows him to consume massive quantities of any solid substance and digest it within moments. In testing he was able to eat an entire Paladin in under ten minutes and fully digest it just as fast. Though it does not appear he can naturally reproduce the weapons onto his body, but he can create them or at least something similar if he understands how they work."
"Interesting. Tell me is there anything else?" Ozpin asked.
"There is, a number of parents have already found out about William and a petitioning to have him removed from Beacon as well as the Jasper Chronic and Iris Ammolite having riled a number of anti-Faunus groups. Mainly citing his ability to turn into a creature of Grimm as a source of concern."
"Let me handle them." Ozpin interrupted.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Shouldn't we transport him to an offsite facility for study?" Ironwood asked.
"In just the two weeks he has been here he has helped our understanding of Grimm grow significantly, that is true. However, we have only repaid him with cruelty, bigotry, and even more hardships. When I look at him I see a young man who has known nothing but hatred and strife most of his life, yet despite that he continues to push himself to be better than who he was and still looks at the future with hope. When confronted with such a student, as an educator, it is my duty to see that this young man be given a fair chance a making something of himself and at finding his place in this world. Beacon is the perfect place for him as it allows him to learn social skills and how to interact in the world without worrying about his powers taking over and causing harm to others. Right now Beacon is the best place for him to be. He may very well become a key figure in what's to come."
/-/
During Lunch Ruby officially announced William was now part of team RWBY, even though everyone had already been notified by Ozpin via text message. Yang made a comment about William be their backup W or B and even going over an extensive list of jokes about him being a substitute Weiss or Blake, resulting in everyone begging her to stop. William even pretended like the puns were physically killing him slumping down onto the table with his tongue lulled out for dramatic effect. All the while Blake and Yang seemed to be hiding something. To Ruby and Weiss, it may not have been as obvious, but to William it was a neon billboard. Remembering his first real conversation with Blake and sensing it was of a more personal nature he reasoned it was probably best to not say anything till they were ready.
Later that day after his cram class with Ms. Goodwitch and he reported for duty for a few quick tests with Doc. As it turned out Doc's name was Richard Plum and the nurse who looked after William that one time was his wife Samantha Plum. Afterwards William asked Ruby to meet him in the weapons lab to discuss creating a new weapon for him. After about four hours of testing with the simple single function weapons that were used as a base for transformation weapons, and another hour of trying to calm down Ruby after she became overexcited at the thought and process of weapon creation, the two sent the specifications of their project to a weapons manufacturer on the other side of Vale and decided to call it a night.
Holding open the door to the lab for her. "Thanks again for all your help Ruby, you first."
"No problem, oh and thanks."
William pulled out his scroll and saw that it was just turning 8 pm. "So when do you think my new weapons will be ready."
"That's a hard one, students at Beacon typically get priority, but professional huntsmen, teachers, and a few others, like general Ironwood, can be put at the top of the list. But don't worry at most you're looking at maybe a week."
"That doesn't sound so bad, I'm surprised they could get it to me so fast." He said as they walked down the hallway towards the dorms.
"Well I called in a few favors."
"Let me guess you're one of their best customers?"
"Well I wouldn't say 'best', I mean sure I've taken the tour there so many times I can recite it by heart, and they're the one I've gone to for all of the prototypes of Crescent Rose and replacement parts, and sure there was that time that I helped them develop the "Young Engineer" program that teaches kids about basic electrical and mechanical engineering."
"Is that all?" William asked sarcastically.
"I think so." The red reaper said scratching her head as though she may have forgotten something. "Oh, don't forget we're having a party to welcome you to the team tomorrow at noon."
"I'm sorry Ruby but I won't be able to make it this weekend."
"Why?"
"My Grimm supply is getting low and I need to go eat some Grimm, so I had planned on being gone the whole weekend."
"I see, then that actually works better for us, I'll tell the rest of the team. This way we can all be together for the party."
"Wait, why wouldn't the whole team be together?"
"Well remember how Yang got you two arrested, and destroyed that club in the process." William nodded with a concerned look on his face. "Well, while the security footage showed you were only defending yourself, Yang was shown to be the aggressor and now she and dad are working things out with Junior, the club owner, regarding the damages, again. But that could take some time."
William turned and gave her a look "Wait again? How many times has she destroyed that club?"
"For Junior's club this is actually the second time, probably the reason he installed security cameras, as for clubs in general I think this is the eleventh or twelfth."
"Seriously? How many times can one person get into those kinds of fights?" William almost yelled.
"When it involves finding out about her mom, then as many as she needs to, I guess."
"Wait her mom, I thought you said your mom died when you were a kid?"
"My mom did die, Yang and I are half-sisters. We have the same dad, but different moms."
"I see, what was she like? If you don't mind me asking."
"I don't mind, I just don't know. Yang's mom left a little after she was born and after that that's when dad and my mom got together."
"I see. How old are you and Yang anyway?"
"I'm fifteen and Yang is seventeen like most of the other first years."
William chuckled. "Huh, I guess that means you and I are technically advance for our ages."
"Wait, how old are you anyway? I know you mentioned you were trapped in the valley for ten years."
"Oh, I guess I really haven't mentioned it to a lot of people yet. I'm sixteen years old."
Ruby let out a soft "yay".
"What's the 'yay' for?" The wolf Faunus asked mimicking Ruby.
"Well up until you came around I was the youngest student at Beacon."
"Um, you still are."
"I know, but now I at least have someone who's only a little older than I am."
"Ruby has anyone ever told you you are one of those easily excitable 'the glass is half full' kind of people?"
"Yeah, kind of, why?"
"No reason."
"So what are your plans for the rest of the night?" Ruby asked changing the subject.
"Well I thought I'd pay a visit to that Dust shop you told me about and pick up some things."
"Ok, just remember, that your weapons are specifically formatted for wind Dust, you can use other types, but be careful. Oh, and tell him I sent you, I kind of saved his shop a while back, he might give you a discount."
"Thanks for telling me. Although to be honest I was only going to get wind Dust anyway."
"I've been meaning to ask, why was having your weapon being able to use wind Dust, so important?" She asked citing his HEAVY insistence while they worked together designing his weapons on one of the computers.
William slightly blushed. "You're going to think it's silly."
"I won't."
"Well when my parents were huntsmen my mom was well known for her skills with a gun-sword, my dad used wind Dust sewn into his favorite scarf and given my affinity for dual wielding weapons, this seems like a great way to pay homage to my parents while still having a little piece of me in it."
"Aw, William that isn't silly at all, it's kind of sweet actually." William blushed more. "I think you parents would be really proud of you." She said as they reached team RWBY's dorm room.
"Thanks Ruby, that means a lot to me." He said giving her a hug.
"Oh, before I forget." She said gently pushing William's arms apart before unlocking her door and rushing inside. "Here you go." She said moments later holding out a burgundy beret and dark sunglasses, similar to the ones Coco wears. "I know it will be hard for you to go out in public with all those reporters, but with these you might be able to blend in better."
"Thank you Ruby. These will come in handy."
/-/
William put on his disguise and exited the school. As he walked towards the airship landing sight. There he noticed a number of people with cameras standing around, some were slightly smarter and tried to conceal their cameras with a newspaper or in their pocket, but anyone who tried could spot them. Rather than risk being sighted William thought he would do something a little more covert. He walked around to the other side of the landing area to the part of the cliff that was closest towards the direction of the city of Vale. Making sure no one was looking William transformed his hands into Beowulf claws and slowly climbed off the ledge and onto the side of the cliff using a protrusion of rock as a convenient foothold. Once he had his balance he released his grip and fell down the side of the cliff, using his claws to slow his decent roughly halfway down. These powers may be a pain, but they DO come in handy. He thought to himself as he came to a slow stop at the bottom of the cliff.
For a normal person the trip from the Beacon's cliff to Vale would be at least six hours on foot, but for someone like William at top speed in his Beowulf form he could make it in less than an hour. Thankfully the Emerald Forest at the base of the cliff was particularly thick allowing him the comfort of knowing no one could see him transform into a Beowulf. While William hated to admit it, he actually did miss being in his Beowulf form, at least a little. For him it was a strange new feeling, before he had had to rely on his Grimm powers every single day in order to survive, but now he had actually gone days at a time without transforming. It almost felt like he was wearing his favorite shirt after having misplaced it for a long time. Sure he transformed for Doc's tests, but he never really moved around much. Here he was running on all fours at top speed darting between the trees and actually enjoying the experience.
While lost in the surprising joy he felt in actually taking on his Grimm from William almost missed the fact he had already reached the border that was currently being patrolled by general Ironwood's men. Stopping just behind a tree only a few yards from a few soldiers William paused to return to his normal self and catch his breath. Despite being short of breath William did enjoy his experience, he felt like he had been finally allowed to stretch his limbs after not being able to move for a long time.
After returning to normal William, wearing his disguise, slipped by one of the guards who was busy playing a game on his scroll. William probably didn't need to sneak by him, but decided "Why not." After about fifteen minutes of walking William eventually found himself on the edge the city of Vale. William had seen Vale at night that time he and team RWBY went shopping, but that still didn't subtract from the beauty and wonder of the city so warmly lit at night, all the people a buzz about the upcoming tournament in a week, and listening to all the people carry on with such joy. Even Feign Village's biggest festival paled in comparison to the sights before him in every conceivable way. As the Were-Grimm could testify to while the joy did not withdraw the effect negative emotions had on him it most definitely weakened it intensely, much to William's delight.
William walked around for a little while just enjoying the sights in the cool evening air. By pure chance he stumbled upon the very Dust shop he had been intending to go to. He walked in and noticed that the person working the counter was the same proprietor of 'A Simple Wok' that team SSSN had taken him to once. The two talked while the elderly man helped William with selecting his Dust and explaining the pros and cons of powdered Dust versus crystal Dust. As it turned out the old man was actually the owner of the two stores, stating: "One feeds my wallet while the other feeds my soul." After sampling his cooking and see the passion he had in his customer service William wasn't sure which was which, but decided not to ask. During their conversation William told him that Ruby Rose had recommended his store to him. The store keep practically jumped for joy at the news and even gave William a 30% discount. As he rang up William's purchases he told him in GREAT detail of the night Ruby had stopped the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick from robbing him.
After talking for another ten minutes William left the store with his purchases. He took out his scroll seeing it was 10:45 pm, he reasoned the latest he could probably stay out before someone worries, again, would be about midnight, so looking around William decided he would take in the sites some more before going back to Beacon. William couldn't help but enjoy the atmosphere of Vale prepping for the festival, even though the actual festival wasn't till next Saturday it looked like it was already in full swing. William wondered what it would look like when it actually was. Not paying much attention to the direction he was walking the wolf Faunus eventually found himself inside the city park. Unlike the rest of the city the park was minimally lit, but was not without its charm. The cool night air, comfy looking benches, and William beginning to feel the drain from all his running and walking around, made the park an ideal place to rest for a while. Little did he know this would be something he would soon regret.
*2am on general Ironwood's main ship*
"JAMES! What is the meaning of this?" Ozpin yelled as he burst through the doors to Ironwoods office followed by the professor Goodwitch, Dr. Oobleck, and team RWBY seeing Ironwood sitting at his desk and professor Port standing in front of him visibly angered holding his signature combination axe blunderbuss.
"What happened out there?" Professor Ozpin asked clearly angered.
"Oz, he attacked four students, four of YOUR students." Ironwood responded standing up.
"BULLSHIT" Yelled professor Port. "I saw the whole event unfold from the opposite side of the park, team CRDL attacked William causing him to transform into his Grimm form and when he gained the upper hand your men assaulted him. I only intervened because young William was so angered that he couldn't control himself."
"And you don't consider that reason enough to keep him locked up?" The general responded.
"ARE YOU DAFT?" Professor Port yelled again spitting through his mustache. "I find it hard to believe you can find a person who wouldn't be angered by being attacked, TWICE." The portly man bellowed.
"Peter, James calm down." Ozpin eased, trying not to lose his temper. "Now Peter you said team CRDL attacked William?"
"That's correct, I saw young William resting on a bench when team CRDL attacked him. Dove Bronzewing shot William in the head before he and the rest of his team charged at him. William turned into his Grimm form to defend himself. When all four of them were on the ground that's when Ironwoods men attacked him sending him into a rage. Ozpin, I'm sorry, if I could have gotten there sooner I could have stopped them, but by the time I crossed the park William had lost control and I had to stop him or else he may have hurt someone."
"It's ok Peter."
"William wouldn't do that." Ruby spoke up.
"Oh, really then how do you explain this." Ironwood said taking a remote from off his desk and pressing a button. A large flat screen dropped down from the wall and began playing his team's surveillance recording.
"I thought we agreed William didn't need to be followed anymore?" Ozpin asked in calm but harsh manner.
"It was for the best, this clearly proves it." Ironwood retorted.
The video played, showing William's conversation with Ruby as they left the weapons lab through the windows that lined the hallway, him descending the side of the cliff from a stationary long range position only to lose sight of him in the forest, then showing him exiting "Dust Till Dawn" carrying a bag of presumably Dust. The video showed him walking around for a little while until he decided to sit down on a bench in the park and closing his eye. From then it was clear as day team CRDL snuck up on William and Dove shooting him in the head. "Kill the freak." Cardin yelled as they charged at the wounded Faunus. Normally them sneaking up on William would have been impossible, but given the loud noise of the city, the overwhelming smell of the street vender's food, and William's own fatigue team CRDL had just gotten lucky. The fight went as expected; team CRDL's surprise attack worked for all of ten seconds and then fell apart when William transformed into a Beowulf and started swinging them around like ragdolls. Once the four assailants were incapacitated William's Grimm form began to disintegrate like normal Grimm only for a blast from a dust pistol to hit him in the face as three of the general's presumably four men attacked William blasting and slicing him. One soldier clearly tried to decapitate William with his sword only for William to grab him by his head and firmly plant it a good ten inches in the ground through the brick walkway of the park. At this point both of his eyes were visibly bright crimson. It looked as though the soldiers were about to be killed before professor Port jumps into action. Moving impossibly fast given his body type professor Port unleashes a merciless cycle of slashes and blasts from his weapon completely overwhelming the young Faunus and knocking him unconscious after several minutes of fighting.
"If anything that proves you are the bad guy here; William's Beowulf form was disintegrating when your soldiers attacked him." Ruby shouted.
"Ms. Rose, do you honestly believe that? It's not like he was hurt by it." The man in the white coat barked back.
"DON"T YOU EVEN TRY THAT JAMES!" Ms. Goodwitch screamed. "You admitted that you eavesdropped on mine and William's conversation when he was at my house. Then you know that William can't produce an aura while he is using his Grimm powers or while he's deactivating them. An attack while transitioning from his Grimm form would be the same as being hit while a person's aura was down!"
"WHAT?!" Team RWBY and the uninformed professors exclaimed.
"YOU KNEW THAT!" Professor Port and Oobleck shouted.
"Additionally it seems your forces did not try to stop William, but rather seemed to try and kill him." Ozpin calmly added.
"Oz, they didn't-"
"JAMES." Professor Ozpin interrupted again. "Do not insult our intelligence. Your soldiers clearly tried to kill William, unless you can explain a soldier trying to decapitate him? But what is most infuriating is that your men did not try to stop this incident in the first place."
"They were given strict orders to only intervene when William is a danger to others, I didn't think anyone would be willing to attack him."
"Wait, what about what happened in the club Wednesday?" Yang asked.
"Mine and Ozpin's men tried to help, however couldn't get through the crowd of people flooding out of the facility when you started fighting. By the time they got in the fight was already over." Ironwood explained.
"And where is Mr. Beorthwulf now?" Ozpin asked almost glaring at the general.
"He's currently locked in a jail cell on my ship, when he showed signs of resisting we sedated him." Ironwood stated in a monotone manner.
"WHAT, you can't do that he's claustrophobic." Ms. Goodwitch half screamed.
"How do you know that?" Ironwood asked back.
"Regardless of what happened you shouldn't be so quick to lock him up. If anything we should be the one's apologizing for letting thing escalate to this degree." Ozpin spoke drawing the two's attention "For the time being we'll release Mr. Beorthwulf and see to it that team CRDL are reprimanded."
"Oz, you can't be serious? He tried to kill my men."
"NO, he became enrage after being attack for the second time within moments of the first attack. William is a student of Beacon Academy and as such I am using my authority to retrieve him."
"Ozpin, he is dangerous, we can't have him running lose. While he is on my ship there is absolutely no way for him to escape."
*loud ship shaking explosion*
"ALERT, ALERT, PRISONOR ESCAPE, PRISONOR ESCAPE!" The alarm sounded.
Everyone's attention shifted to general Ironwood. "You were saying?" Ozpin asked.
"We have to go." Ironwood commanded. "Team RWBY you stay here."
"Wait, William is part of our team, we are coming." Ruby announced.
The general opened his mouth to speak, but stopped seeing the determination in the red reaper's eyes. "Fine, you come too." He sighed.
The group followed the general to the holding block of his ship. When they got there they noticed that one of the cells had been torn to literal piece and the interior was blanketed with claw marks.
Ironwood looked at the scene with complete shock. "How could he have gotten out, those cells are supposed to be able to contain an Ursa Major."
"Oh, are you looking for that Grimm you had locked up, yeah it ran that way." An all too familiar voice sounded.
"Roman?" Ruby said as she moved to see the next cell occupied by her nemesis.
"Oh, hey red, how's it going?" Roman asked in his typical smug manner.
"Where is he?" Ruby asked.
"Like I said he went that way." Roman pointed to his left.
The group having no other leads quickly followed his direction. The soon found themselves following a trail of scratch marks and unconscious soldiers. They eventually found themselves in the mess hall as a number of soldiers were gathered outside of the kitchen freezer, a few showing minor to somewhat severe injuries.
"Soldier, report." The general barked.
"Sir, the target is inside the freezer, however we cannot get close to him."
"What do you mean?" The commanding officer glared.
The soldier was visibly shaking. "Well, sir, anytime we try to get close to him or he sees us brandish our weapons he attacks, but he won't leave the freezer."
"Did you try grenades?" The general said blatantly earning a number of concerned looks from the others.
"Yes sir, however… he ate them."
"He what?"
"He ate them sir. We threw the grenades, he ate the grenades, and then when back to what he was doing."
"What is he doing?" Ruby asked.
The soldier looked confused as to if he should answer her until the general nodded. "Well ma'am, he's done nothing but eat ice cream this whole time, but he seems to be only going after the Neapolitan flavored ice cream."
Yang visibly twitched. "Yang are you okay?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, it's just my pun-senses were tingling. I guess there is some kind of joke that can be made about William eating Neapolitan."
"Why would he be eating ice cream?" Ms. Goodwitch asked Ozpin who replied with a shrug.
"Have you tried talking to him?" Ruby asked innocently.
"Yes ma'am." The soldier replied. "When we were informed that the subject-"
"William, his name is William." Blake interrupted.
"I'm sorry, when we were informed William was sentient, we tried communicating, but have had no success as of yet."
"Maybe he's just really angry. I mean the video showed him getting attacked twice, plus being taken down by professor Port." Weiss tried to reason.
"Yeah, but still how does that explain eating ice cream and the fact he only seems to attack when someone goes near him."
"I met with Mr. Beorthwulf Friday morning, he told me that he was planning to spend the weekend restocking his Grimm supply." Ozpin spoke up. "But I am still unsure on what to do."
"Oh, I know." Ruby stated. "Has he finished all of the Neapolitan yet?" Ruby asked the soldier.
"Uh… no ma'am, I think there are one or two quarts uneaten. Why?"
"I have an idea but we need to work fast." Ruby said turning to the group. "Yang I'm going to need you to hold Crescent Rose for me." She instructed handing her weapon to her sister.
"Ruby are you sure?" Yang asked concernedly.
Her leader smiled "Sis, trust me. I've got this."
"You're going to do something crazy again, aren't you?" Weiss asked.
"Probably." Her leader smiled back.
"Ruby what do you think you are going?" The general asked moving in front of her path.
"General ironwood, William is part of my team and as such it's my job, as team leader, to look out for him."
"And you think that is going to make me move?"
"James, she has already displayed an understanding of William's abilities far greater than the rest of us, it's at least worth a try." Ozpin reassured him.
"Fine, but the second he tries anything I will use as much force as necessary to stop him."
Ironwood's soldiers moved back enough that they would not be seen by William, but remained close enough that they could get into attack position. When Ruby entered the freezer William was neck-deep in a tub of Neapolitan ice cream. Upon hearing her footsteps draw near the Beowulf removed the tub from his head looking at her and growled.
"It's okay William I'm not going to hurt you." She gestures with her hand. Seeing an untouched quart of Neapolitan on the shelf she reaches for it only to have William begin to growl more loudly baring his fangs and positioning himself to strike if need be. "It's okay William." She reassures prying off the lid holding it in front of him. William skeptically approaches her sniffing the continent of the tub before digging into to it with gusto.
"See, he's just hungry." Ruby said turning her head to the group while still holding up the tub so William could continue to hollow it out. "But we can't keep this up for long. General Ironwood I need you to get your ship over the Emerald Forest ASAP." Ruby ordered.
"Why?" The general asked.
"William's hungry, and he told me he was going to eat Grimm all weekend long. This way we kill two birds with one stone. And I'm pretty sure if we don't, he might end up eating the ship." She said pointing to the bite marks on the freezer door from when William ate his way in.
Since the Emerald Forest was literally in Beacon's backyard it only took a few minutes for the ship to move into place. While the ship was moving Ruby lead William to the hanger bay by holding his prized ice cream in front of him, while keeping another tub under her left arm. When they were in position Ruby told general Ironwood to open the bay door and get as low to the ground as possible, but not to land. When it was opened wide enough Ruby presented him with the freshly opened tub that had been under her arm. Making sure his focus was on the ice cream she moved it from side to side and watched his head follow. With that she threw the ice cream out the door and William soon followed chasing after it.
"So your whole plan is to drop William into the Emerald Forest and just let him eat all the Grimm?" Yang asked.
"Pretty much, I mean even if this is William how long can he keep eating?" Ruby joked.
-9am Saturday morning (7 hours later)-
"How can he keep eating? Where is he even putting it?" Yang complained while she and the rest of the group watched from the safety of Beacon's cliff.
"I'm not sure, much of Mr. Beorthwulf's ability and biology are still shrouded in mystery." Dr. Oobleck analyzed. "Perhaps Mr. Beorthwulf has not been as forthcoming about his hunger for Grimm as he should have been. Although I am more interested in his leftovers."
"What do you mean?" Blake asked a little concerned by the professor's Doctor's unusual statement.
"Take a look at the scraps of Grimm William has not eaten yet." The green haired man pointed.
While they had been watching, William had systematically hunted down and eviscerated several hundred Grimm, often going as far as to literally rip them limb-from-limb. In doing so the forest floor was littered with the body parts that resulted from his sloppy eating.
"So it's just a bunch of Grimm parts so what?" Ruby replied innocently until the lightbulb went off for the whole group. "Why aren't they disappearing like Grimm normally do?"
"I've actually have a theory; you see I've noticed that the parts that are currently scattered throughout the forest were all parts William had bitten off. I suspect that in order to aid him in his need to consume Grimm his body has developed a unique enzyme in his saliva that is preventing the Grimm from disappearing."
"Then we can get all the Grimm samples we need." Professor Port exclaimed with joy.
"Actually Peter, for the moment I believe that is a bad idea." Oobleck replied.
"And why is that?"
"In his current state he attacks anyone whom he believes is trying to take his food, and given his increasing strength, speed, agility, and ferocity I believe that it would be a poor decision." Dr. Oobleck explained as they watched William rip an Ursa's arms off only to impale them into the chests of two Beowulves while simultaneously ripping a third's head off with his teeth.
"I do believe you are right, however this is still a monumental opportunity."
"I agree, with this our understanding of Grimm will undoubtedly expand several fold."
"Um professors that still doesn't answer the big question." Ruby spoke up.
"And what is the 'big question' exactly?" Dr. Oobleck asked.
"Is William going to be okay?" She asked innocently, making everyone around her realize they had no answer. Even though William wasn't inclined to fully list the numerous side effects of his hunger, nothing he mentioned even hinted at something like this. Between some of the most experienced huntsmen and brightest minds they knew next to nothing about what was causing William to act like he was, nor how to treat, let alone cure his condition. All they could do was stand on Beacon's cliff and watch. No one wanted to admit it, but they had no idea what would become of William. In the time they had been watch and even a little before that they saw William, without rest or even signs of slowing down, dismember and devour every creature of Grimm that bore the misfortune of crossing his path. It didn't matter the size or the numbers; packs of Beowolves, Deathstalkers, Ursai, King Taijitu, Creeps, even a few Nevermore and Griffons. They all were ripped to shreds and devoured. Even for the huntsmen whose sworn duty was to fight these monsters they couldn't help, but feel some pity for the creatures being consumed one after the other. Dr. Oobleck had even given up on keeping track of how many Grimm William had eaten out of the sheer speed at which he defeated and consumed them.
Just as he had finished another Beowulf William collapsed. Upon seeing this everyone immediately rushed to his aid.
By the time they got there William's Grimm form had already disintegrated and he was lying face down on the ground.
"William." Ruby said rushing over to him and turning him over. When she got him on his back she felt her heart sink a little. His eyelids were puffy and red as though he had been crying for hours, he looked almost lifeless if not for his ragged and heavy breathing, and a few faint murmurs could be heard every so often. "Guys I think somethings wrong with William." Ruby called to those just arriving while trying to wake him.
"What happened to him?" Weiss was the first to ask aloud. "Why does he look like he's been crying?"
"William…" Ms. Goodwitch let out as she sat down next to him.
"I think he's having a nightmare." Yang stated.
"Nightmare?" Ms. Goodwitch asked looking up.
"Yeah, when Ruby was younger she would have nightmares. One time I came in to check on her after a slumber party when she had a really bad one, she almost looked like William does."
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Ironwood asked.
"Hey, I'm a big sister I KNOW when someone's had a nightmare." She told the general. Turning back to William. "If I had to guess William's been having one hell of a nightmare this whole time."
"Then what can we do?" Blake asked. "He doesn't seem to be waking up." She stated nudging him trying to wake him up.
"Just relax your girlfriend's got this." Yang reassured.
"Wait girlfriend?" Ruby and Weiss asked in unison looking at each other before turning their gaze back to Yang.
"Sis you and Blake are dating?" Ruby asked.
"Well that cats out of the bag." Blake said plainly, placing her hand on her for head.
"-And in my bed." Yang added.
"Yang, focus on William then afterwards you and I are going to have a LONG talk." Blake instructed.
"Oh come on Blake, you know I can mult-i-task."
"What does she mean by that?" Ruby asked looking confused at Blake.
Yang grinned. "Well you see I-"
"Yang!" Blake interrupted.
"Okay, okay, there's actually a simple trick." Yang said looking a little disappointed, but still not wanting to upset Blake anymore that she already had. "First, you get him comfortable." She said sitting on the ground placing Williams head on her lap. "Second, gochi gochi goo." Yang said tickling William's sides only to have no response.
"Really? Tickling?" Weiss asked in frustration.
"What, it always woke Ruby up." The brawler defended.
"It is true." Ruby meekly added receiving a glare from her white haired teammate.
Ozpin cleared his throat. "Regardless I believe we should move William to a safer location."
"Why?" Ruby asked only to see three Ursa Majors step out from the brush.
"That's why." Ozpin replied.
Before they could even fully ready their weapons William, without even making a sound and still in his normal form, seemed to appear in front of them out of thin air facing towards the Urasi.
"William?" Ruby let out.
The Ursa in the middle charged.
"Lookout!" Ms. Goodwitch cried out.
As the Grimm lounged at him William stopped it dead in its tracks grabbing both of its arms and then ripping them off without any trace of effort. Before the Ursa could even respond William brought his hands together crushing its skull to pieces in the process. Seemingly in that same instance William took hold of the remains of the Ursa's throat tore it in half down the middle like a sheet of paper tossing the half several feet to either side. The other two Ursai couldn't even respond before William decapitated them with a double lariat.
The group was in awe of what they had just witnessed.
"William, are you alright?" Ms. Goodwitch was the first to ask.
Standing upright, the wolf Faunus turned around. "I wouldn't say 'alright', but I've been worse." He replied with a smile.
"You're back." Ruby cheered using her speed to rush into him and hug him. However, as she looked up she could see his right eye was crimson red. "William are you sure you're okay?" She asked concerned.
"Well that depends, why are we standing in the middle of a forest?" He asked still hugging Ruby.
"You mean you don't remember?" Professor Ozpin asked.
"I remember going to town, buying some Dust… wait, where is my Dust?" William asked loudly as he dropped Ruby and began to pat his pockets not able to find his purchases.
"I confiscated it after you were brought into custody." Ironwood spoke up.
"You mean after you men attacked me." The Were-Grimm rebutted narrowing his gaze onto the general.
"You were a threat."
"A THREAT?! I WAS ATTACKED!" William flared.
"You were a threat to team CRDL." The general replied.
"AFTER they attacked me."
"Regardless you were still not permitted to use your power in public."
"I was shot in the face by a gun-sword! Please name someone who WOULDN'T be angry about that."
"You still broke our agreement."
"Agreement? So I was supposed to let them hurt me?"
"If you didn't do anything wrong why would they attack you?"
"How can you seriously ask me that? Maybe because Cardin is a spoiled brat who can't stand it when something doesn't go his way or that he's mad I beat him so easily during sparring. I don't know, but still doesn't give him the right to attack me!"
Before the general could reply Ozpin stepped between the two. "James, it is clear you have overstepped your bounds and have behaved in a most unbecoming manner. For which we will discuss later. As for you William, you have my most sincere apology that things have gotten to this point. Rest assured that team CRDL will be severely punished."
William sighed. "As long as you keep him off my back everything is good." He said pointing to general Ironwood as the group began to walk back to Beacon.
"William about last night I am sorry-" The portly professor began, but was waved to stop by William.
"It's okay professor Port, I knew I had already lost control at that point." William said in a monotone voice.
"I still feel terrible for not being able to get to you in time."
"It's okay, really, I forgive you." William said.
"That's great and all, but why is your right eye red?" Ruby asked.
"Oh that, just the result of a rough night." William said trying to shrug it off.
"Is it because of the nightmare you had?"
"How…how did you know about my nightmare?"
"William when we found you your eyes were red and you were murmuring in your sleep." Yang explained.
"I…I don't know what you're talking about." He said turning away from them.
Ruby rushed up behind him placing her hand on his shoulder. "William, if something is bugging you you can tell us."
"…."
"William if you are afraid that we will hold a dream against you we won't." Blake tried to comfort.
"It's not that…. It's just…" The Were-Grimm trailed off.
"William you told me if I ever needed to talk you would be there for me until I could talk to my team, well now it's time you to talk to me." Said the cat Faunus.
"DON'T LISTEN TO HER, THEY WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" The dark voice bellowed expressing far more emotion than usual.
"Blake…"
"DO NOT DO IT." The voice echoed again.
William felt his mind splitting in half. In the stress of it all he just opened his mouth to breath but what he let out was "Every night since team JPIT tried to kill me I've been having nightmares where I kill everyone!" He blurted out. Upon realizing his exclamation William froze, too afraid to even turn around to see their faces.
Suddenly William felt someone hug him from behind, the person was taller than he was. "William it's alright." The voice was Ms. Goodwitch.
William felt himself fall to the one knee. For all his resolve to keep his secret, all the fear about what would happen, it was reduced to nothing. Little by little William's tears began to fall, Ms. Goodwitch did not disengaging from the embrace.
The group remained there for several minutes allowing William to work it out of his system. Afterwards, once William had finished crying, he explained why his nightmare was terrifying; how he could see his Grimm body moving, but couldn't control it, how he saw all of them die at his own hands claws, and how no matter how he tried to resist it he would be forced to relive the same chain of brutal events over and over again.
After William had let everything out Ms. Goodwitch let go helping him to his feet. "William why didn't you tell us, tell me?"
"I…I was scared. I know that I said I wanted someone to be less trusting towards me, but I…I mean I was attacked for BEING attacked. I was afraid I would be killed, or forcibly dissected, or worse yet he would throw me back in the valley." William said visibly shaking.
"William." Ozpin spoke up. "I want to make this a clear as I can." He said in a monotone manner. "William since I have meet you, you have displayed an enormous propensity to keep hold of your sense of self even in the most trying of times, only giving in when faced with a situation most would have given into long before. I want you to KNOW that if you EVER are having a problem or feel your fears consuming you that my door is always open and I will NEVER hold them against you. And it appears I am not the only one." The grey haired man said nodding towards team RWBY and Ms. Goodwitch.
From there the group continued the journey back up to Beacon. Along the way team RWBY talked with William about Blake and Yang being a couple. To everyone's surprise William had already known about Blake's feelings for Yang. Citing the old inner thought romance clichés; "Will she feel the same way?", "Will we be able to go back if she says no?", "What if she doesn't like me anymore?", and many others that come with enough anxiety and stress for a Were-Grimm to detect. William also hinted that Blake wasn't the only one with those kinds of feelings, going as far as to call it the "Fall of Love". Only to be critiqued by Yang on the executions of puns.
The conversation eventually shifted towards the tournament. Yang was especially excited in that the last day of classes before the tournament was Wednesday. William offered to help them spar if they ever wanted to get any extra practice in before the tournament. Eventually everyone started to pick who they thought would win the tournament, even professor Port and Dr. Oobleck got in on the debate. By the time they had made it up to the top of Beacon's cliff the topic of William participating was brought up by Ruby.
"Even if he doesn't compete in anything other than the first round, I don't think it would hurt anyone." The red reaper tried to plead. "And we all know he can control himself, so there isn't any real danger."
"Ruby, I'm afraid it doesn't matter that William can control himself, it is that everyone still knows little about him and as such they are afraid of him. Until we can convince them otherwise the powers that be will not permit William from participating." Ozpin explained, somewhat detesting his own words.
"It doesn't really matter Ruby." William said placing his hand on her shoulder. "The Vytal Festival is every two years and the typical run at Beacon is four years. That just means I have two years to convince enough people I'm a good guy or at least not a threat…to them."
"You make it sound easy." Blake sarcastically joked.
"I was expecting this kind of thing since I first enrolled at Beacon. Albeit I didn't expect being attacked by my temporary team to be the catalyst for all of it. Whenever people come across something they don't fully understand it's inevitable they will be a little scared. All I have to do is be patient. Hopefully everything works out, and maybe if I am lucky I won't get asked if I poop every day." William half lamented, half laughed.
"I know you get some weird questions, but do people really ask about that every day?" Weiss hesitantly asked.
"Sometimes multiple times a day." The wolf Faunus stated bluntly.
"Questions about waste disposal aside, I must say William that is a very mature look at the state of things. I'm proud of you." Ms. Goodwitch complemented.
"Perhaps if you showed more discipline and didn't act the way you do they would allow you to participate." The general casually said.
William stopped. "Would you care to run that by me again?"
"William?" Ruby asked meekly.
"What did you say?" William asked in a calm, but still frightening sounding voice.
The general turned to reply. "It's apparent you lack any form of discip-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" the wolf Faunus roared stunning everyone, the general included. Walking towards the general William made sure that Ironwood noticed that his right eye was blood red. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA AS TO THE NIGHTMARE I GO THROUGH EVERY SINGLE DAY?" He yelled again. "Day in and day out I use every last bit of my strength to suppress my Grimm-side, to prevent my negativity as well as the negativity of others from plunging me into pure madness, to be the bigger man, to never lose control, to continue to push myself to improve as a person, and on top of it all I at least TRY to see in the good in people. I lack discipline, that's a load of BULLSHIT!"
"William…"Ms. Goodwitch let out completely stunned.
"When I first got here I was shocked, no dumbfounded at how kind and trusting everyone is. I thought I didn't deserve it because of what I am, of what I could do, of what I DID. That's why I didn't make a lot of fuss about you being so distrusting of me, but now I see I was WRONG. You will never see me as anything other than so freak of a monster and to be honest I DON'T CARE! I decided to attend Beacon to become a huntsmen so I could one day regain my humanity, but now I realize I've had it all along. Do you think I don't fear losing myself to that madness, I do, and it has been my driving fear for all these years. It's the reason I pushed myself to learn from discarded books, to continue my education, to expand my knowledge, because the thing I fear the most in this world is becoming some mindless beast. People keep saying I'm mature, but that's not the truth, all those years in the valley I had to suppress my negative emotions, swallowing my tears more times than I could ever count just so I could know at least one night of peace. it doesn't matter if its day or night I am bombarded by countless horrors, and no matter what I will not yield to them, because now I have a reason beyond the fear to keep moving forward and no matter what you or people like you think …I WILL NEVER TAKE A STEP BACK!" He exclaimed at the top of his lungs.
Those who listened to William remained frozen, unsure of how to even respond. Even general Ironwood was stopped in his tracks.
Eventually the shock faded and the group began to recompose themselves. "William…" Ruby began not sure herself what to say.
"Ruby, it's fine." William said plainly not turning around. "I just needed to get that off my chest."
"William, we're a team now, if you ever feel like that please tell us."
"I know, I know, it's just sometimes… sometimes it's hard. I've spent the last ten years not allowing myself to really feel, well ANYTHING, and now I can finally become more than a shell of a man. All I ask is that you be patient with me. I'm still kind of rusty on some of this stuff."
"Take all the time you need." The red reaper reassured.
Little did the group know that on the other side of the Emerald Forest two hooded figures, one green and one burgundy, stood watching them from afar.
"So do you think he's ready?" The burgundy male asked with a slight wheeze in his voice.
The green one put her left pointer finger to her chin. "Hmmmm, that's a little difficult to say. He HAS made progress, don't get me wrong, but I think he still isn't ready."
"Do you think we should give him a little push in the right direction?"
"You know what that could mean right?" The female voice asked sounding completely shocked, but at the same time elated at the suggestion.
"The way I see it, we get William closer to his intended state and during all the commotion we can just walk in and steal back the sword we were testing on that Topaz girl and her idiot teammates." He said huffing in between each sentence.
"You really should see a doctor first; you sound like you might kill over any moment."
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" The burgundy colored male asked sarcastically.
"Well it would be easier, but for now we'll get you patched up and then we move on to the next stage." She said not even trying to hide the fact she was giggling ecstatically. "Just you wait William, I'll make sure your true self is woken up real soon." She said with a sneaky smile.
Now things are going to get a little more interesting. Remember if you like my work or see a way I can improve please leave me a comment. The more you comment the better the material you get to read.