I am so sorry for the late post. I originally wanted to release it the same day as volume 7 came out. However, between having to take my laptop to get it fixed THREE times for the same issue and a moved up deadline at work, things did not go as planned.
Story of my life.
I've tried mauling this chapter over a bit more but have gotten to the point where I just want to post it and move on to the next one.
Hopefully, the next chapter goes smoother and will be out more quickly. And on that note, I'm not sure exactly how I want to divvy it up, but there should only be a few more chapters until the end of this fic.
So, without further ado, chapter 20.
Chapter 20: A Night Out
It was roughly 8 pm when the meeting concluded. Many of the participants would have wished it had ended a little earlier, but the awkward and honestly, very long discussion in which Glynda, Winter, and Blake explaining the finer points of interacting with the fairer sex extended the meeting.
He and Jimmy had the misfortune to be on the opposite side of the elevator compared to the three women 'lecturing' him. Neither he nor the cyborg wanted to make a move, less they might get dragged in.
Ozpin at least had the comfort of somehow being able to sit in his chair, guarded by his desk, and remaining unnaturally still.
Seriously, was that just years of practice or some kind of magic? If the windows were open, he could even see a pigeon flying in and landing on his head none the wiser to him being alive.
Qrow Branwen, if he wasn't to say it out loud, but he never had the best of luck with women. Namely, because most of the woman he grew up around liked to threaten castration with a rusty hatchet, had an unnatural attraction to blonde idiots, or were his sister. All not great options.
Even so, whether bandits, huntresses, soldiers, or even ex-terrorist; women always closed ranks and divebombed towards the faintest smell of blood in the water.
Granted, he himself had made a few "social faux pas" as Glynda once pointed out, whatever that meant, including one incident where his blonde jackass of a friend tricked him into wearing one of Summer's skirts in public- oh he had beaten Tai like a dirty rug for that one. Still, he couldn't help but feel bad for the kid, one angry woman was enough, but three…that required at least a six hundred lien bar tab.
Actually, given that two of them were Glynda and Winter, probably more like eight or nine hundred.
In short, by the time they had finished with him, he had the same look in his eyes Qrow and Tai saw in each other's eyes whenever Summer and Raven teamed up to lecture them- utterly destroyed. Made to feel a mix of guilt, discomfort, and shame from getting his ass chewed up; helpless to even defend himself because he probably knew better than most that retaliation in these situations just made it worse.
Still better him than me. He thought, taking a swig of his flask. If not for his sympathy for the kid, he would have written it off as prime time TV material.
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As the two young faunus made their way to the elevator- one, in particular, looking like he could use a long nap- Winter did something unusual. Ironwood had dismissed her, but she usually seemed like she wanted to stay when Ozpin's little faction got to talking. Yet, instead, she moved towards the kids.
"M-Mr. Beorthwulf, a moment of your time?" she asked meeting them halfway to the elevator.
The faunus looked at her befuddled, if not a little apprehensive. Not surprising given his experience with the Atlas Military… and hour and a half lecture.
"W-what can I do for you?" He asked turning to her, pivoting on his left leg. His face looked confused, but his body language told Qrow that he was ready to run. It was a stance he had been taught whenever talking with someone you weren't sure was friend or foe- usually foe.
The woman stopped her advance, if only for a moment, "I merely just wish to talk with you for a little about… how you are adapting to your team." Even newborn bandits could lie better than that. Hell, Ruby could lie better than that.
Judging by the look in his eyes, the kid saw through her with ease. Though he hadn't expected the look of terror in the kid's eyes… or transforming into a Beowulf before sprinting to the elevator, while grabbing his teammates, and SMASHING the down button over and over again.
Winter moved towards, her hand extended before moving to give chase as the elevator doors opened and William chucked Blake, and himself into the elevator. Winter in close pursuit.
To an average person, it looked like the specialist just tripped, Winter herself might have believed it herself, if not for the blonde sorceress moving in on her.
"What are you doing?" Winter barked as she got to her feet.
The older woman's emerald orbs narrowed. "I could ask you the same thing." Her voice didn't have any anger in it but still had a soul-chilling cold to it.
Not wanting to repeat what had happened earlier Qrow decided to open a window and take flight. He had better things to do- anything really- namely drinking.
As the man-now bird- felt his wings fill with an air current he glided away as he could hear Glynda yelling about how William only transformed like that out of fear and winter yelled her intentions were nothing but altruistic- whatever that meant.
He could also feel Ozpin and Ironwood glaring at him from behind as he escaped.
Sucks for them. He mentally chuckled.
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"W-W-William, l-l-let me goo-oooo-oo!" Blake shook out as William was sprinting down the courtyard. Thankfully, William had managed to revert to his normal form.
After clearing the distance that she could make in ten minutes in only four he set her down and began trying to catch his breath.
"William, what was that about, why did you just…freak out like that?" She asked while gently rubbing his back. It was faint, but she could feel his clothes were soaked with sweat. Had he been that scared?
Inhaling one last time. "Well…that depends…"
The cat faunus looked at him, "On what?" what could scare a Were-Grimm?
"Are you and Yang doing it with Weiss?"
Her amber eyes widened to saucers before they darted around looking for anyone who might have overheard. Blake wasn't exactly shy about her preferences, but that didn't mean she wanted the whole school gossiping about her or her team- not that they already weren't. The Beacon rumor wheel would have everyone talking about it elaborate lesbian threesomes of every kink imaginable by breakfast.
Upon finding that William had come to rest in a remote place, she deemed it safe. "No. Weiss told us about her…feelings for us." She began with no small amount of color coming to her face. "We talked to her for a few hours, but we came to realize Weiss loved…the concept of us."
"…What?" The Were-Grimm looked at her incredulously. "I don't understand."
Blake gnawed on her thoughts for a moment. "She loved the idea of being able to express her feelings. To be able to open up about her feelings and express them in public."
"…for women or in general?" William asked, having already guessed as much.
"Both," Blake guessed flatly. "She shared her whole past with us. Specifically, how her father tried to determine how she acted, spoke, and…even felt." Blake had to hold herself from shaking. She knew she hadn't seen eye to eye with her parents, more so before leaving home to work abroad for the White Fang, but she knew they would never try to control her. To force their beliefs and point of view on her regardless of her own desires. Her lip trembled for a moment. She then turned to look him in the eyes. "Y-you knew about her past this whole time, didn't you?" she asked him, not so much an accusation as more of a probable fact.
William just nodded.
"How long have you known?"
"Since movie night with team CFVY."
"At least her feelings about you and Yang." He added. "…when it comes to her family… I've known for a while now. I've been getting bits and pieces ever since we've met actually."
The cat faunus was genuinely surprised for a moment. Then remembered who she was talking to and how he's had a knack for revealing her own inner workings. Not that she hadn't noticed bits a pieces of Weiss' underlying past.
There were all the little things with Weiss. How, on those rare moments, when she let her guard down, she would stop trying to 'uphold' the Schnee family image and would let a small portion of her displeasure with her father slip. How, on rare occasions, the snow heiress would try and stifle herself during the night.
Nightmares from what Blake could surmise.
Weiss had been fairly successful in silencing herself, for the most part. Provided those listening did not have four ears. She could never fully discern what she was muttering, but the phrase "Father, please no." came up more often than anyone would be comfortable with.
"That's also why you ran, isn't it? Her father?"
"Sort of. I'm pretty sure Weiss would make good on her promise to freeze me solid if I told anyone. But if I told her Sister, or worst yet, someone that could inform her father- do I need to even say what Weiss would do to me…?"
"….or what it would do to her?"
He really didn't. Weiss tried to give off the appearance of remaining levelheaded, but that façade was incredibly fragile. Weiss may come off as bossy and a control freak, but it was only because she never had any control growing up. to go from freedom back to that- to him…it would terrify and anger just about anyone.
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As the two made their way back to the dorms they moved through the rather large number of students from all over remnant still active so late, despite a tournament being held the next day.
Granted only eight people will be actually participating.
William's ears were twitching from the sheer volume of people trying to regret their failures, missteps, and embarrassments from the tournament. He could feel a few individuals, more than others. Especially those who made the most embarrassing mistakes; like trying to look cool and instead falling off their weaponized hoverboard and landing flat on their but or getting hit in the coconuts with… a literal coconut.
Ouch.
"By the way William." Blake began which he responded with a "Hm?".
"Do you think you could check on Weiss when we get back to the dorm?"
"Sure." The meaning of that question was not lost on him. He hadn't seen Weiss since her confession. The concern from Blake was conflicted. Weiss probably confessed more than she might have intended and told everyone she was okay.
Whether that was true or not was anyone's guess. He knew she had trouble showing her true self. It just hurt a little to think that despite her beginning to open up to her team, she still felt she couldn't fully be herself. And he knew she could. Literally, everyone on her team either wanted it or probably wouldn't mind.
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Approaching team RWBY's dorm room was not what he expected. It wasn't that he could sense negative emotions. It was that he couldn't sense ANY negative emotions- from team RWBY at least. One poor sap was worrying about how he was going to scrounge up 500 Lien by tomorrow because he bet on team CFVY to win in the second round.
This didn't make sense. there weren't any negative emotions coming from team RWBY's dorm room. Even with Blake gone, Weiss' default was more than base negativity for him to normally sense from the end of the hall. But they were two feet from their door and…nothing. The sounds coming from the room said there were people in it.
Was she out?
His extra set of ears confirmed there was sound. He couldn't make out what was being said, but at least one of the sounds was Weiss.
What exactly had happened to her?
William rushed the last half foot, jamming his scroll into the reader and twisting open the door with more haste than he should have. "Gaaaahhhhh!" a woman's voice let out.
But it wasn't Weiss' voice. Looking down he saw Ruby on the ground leaning up rubbing her nose.
Definitely too much haste.
"William? Why'd you do that?" His team leader asked with a glare. It looked like she had activated her aura just in time take the brunt of the damage. If she was a normal person, it wouldn't have broken her nose, but at the very least it would have been bleeding pretty hard.
"I'm- I'm sorry Ruby. I…uh…I wanted to check on Weiss after everything that happened." He said still seeing a little anger in her silver orbs. He didn't know why, but he felt a small twinge of fear. Maybe it was just because he'd yet to make Ruby angry that the look on her face seemed to disturb him so.
The huntress in question was still cuddling Zwei while sitting on her bed, speaking in the weirdest way of speaking he'd ever heard. "Who's a gwood boy, you are, Jes you are." She continued playing with the corgi despite her partner being knocked down.
Wasn't this how people usually talk to babies?
William looked to Blake for answers- not really that helpful. She was hiding behind him, looking at the said corgi like it was her mortal enemy.
His Grimm senses were telling him that was a more accurate statement than he was comfortable with. He knew it wasn't a faunus thing, his neighbor in Feign was a cat faunus and she had at least five or six dogs and he, as a wolf faunus, didn't hate cats.
Guess Blake is just weird.
Anyway…" W-Weiss, are you okay?"
The heiress in question looked up confusion in her eyes. "Why wouldn't I be?"
He looked over to Ruby for help- she wasn't ready to forgive the door thing. He could sense it.
He mouthed 'sorry' to Ruby.
"Well… I heard you confessed to Yang and Blake… and it… didn't work out?" Why was he so nervous?
Oh right, frozen alive.
Weiss looked perplexed for a moment, still stroking Zwei's head before lowering her own. Sigh. "I've spent so long being told what to do, what to feel. I've had no control of my own life for so long…" she looked so remorse. He could sense the weight on her heart. It was crushing.
Numerous images began to flow before his own mind. It was overwhelming; both in depth and volume. It amazed him that he could keep standing.
He was in disbelief that someone could do this to another person, let alone their own family. William didn't know Jacques Schnee, but he secretly swore that if they ever met, he would feed him his own mustache.
"I'm just…happy…" she took an abnormal pause on that word. Had she never been happy before?
Appearing to have read that off his face she continued. "…to be able to express myself. Even if I get shot down. Even if my feelings aren't returned in that way. The fact that it was me expressing my feelings, was simply cathartic. I honestly wish I had done this sooner; I feel so light that I don't believe anything can sour my mood."
William was happy for Weiss, he really was. It's just… well, he had never seen her smile like that… or at all.
As William was pondering how, and when did, Blake slipped past him to her bunk bed while apparently not touching the floor someone or something burst in through the door behind him, knocking him forward.
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Yang had rushed into her team's room, excited to have a way to celebrate their teams' victory in the doubles rounds.
And to cheer up a certain Were-Grimm.
This was going to be awesome.
Her sisterly instincts pushed her forward. She didn't even notice the slight bump when she rushed through the door.
However, when the blonde brawler entered her team's room, she saw Weiss holding up Zwei in front of her, his back to her, and he was kissing…William?
What the Fuck?
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William and two others made their way down the brightly lit streets of Vale.
After profusely apologizing to him, Yang informed him and her team that they were going out. Though in this instance, 'they' referred to William, Blake, and herself.
While Weiss initially disapproved of the idea, Yang countered by the fact that the singles rounds wouldn't begin until 4pm. Even if they stayed out late, they should be able to rest up long enough to be ready to fight.
She was reluctant but eventually agreed. It probably helped that Yang slid her a small box of costumes to dress Zwei up in. He could see stars in the heiress' eyes. Apparently, something their dad had passed to Ruby. Something he did for their family holiday cards.
He wasn't sure why exactly, but he had a feeling Yang's plan was to pacify not only Weiss but Ruby as well. Given how much the two were gushing over whether to dress the dog as a bee or a pirate first, her plan worked.
As for himself and Blake, the brawler's plans were what she called a 'triple date'. The problem was that Yang wouldn't tell them more than that. Aside from her getting a call and asking them what kind of food they would want before relaying it to the person on the other end.
Due to the noise of the crowd, he couldn't hear who was on the other end.
He assumed that Blake and Yang were one of the couples, but who were the rest? William tried to think of someone; maybe Jaune and Pyrrha or Ren and Nora- who despite them constantly saying they weren't together he couldn't believe otherwise.
But that still left him out.
Maybe someone from team SSSN…probably not. Team CFVY…maybe. He honestly couldn't get an emotional reading on most of their members either for being too quiet, too composed, or being too… Coco.
Cinder's team…hmmm, not a bad idea. Sure, they were the enemy, but time with Neo. Also, Neo in her Lacy Mintha disguise. That sold it, he hoped it was team FLME.
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After a few more minutes of walking, the three arrived at a restaurant, named Ocean Breeze, with a large open area back patio with an island bar in the middle and a DJ booth at the back.
As Yang led the two faunus towards the back patio they had to follow single file due to the sheer size of the crowd bumping and grinding to the DJ's latest song having spilled out of the dance floor and taken over just about a third of the remaining back patio. Civilians, huntsmen, students, he could have even sworn that he saw an off duty Atlesian soldier. At least he thought so. The mesh top and several dozens of glowsticks made it hard to tell.
Like Blake, in front of him, he folded his animal ears down. He could never understand why Yang preferred such loud places. Was this because she only had two ears?
What was surprising was the fact Blake was okay with this. She always struck him as someone who preferred a quiet place to read her books. Though maybe this is further proof that opposites attract.
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Eventually, the trio made it to a table toward the back. Sitting there, smirking as she sipped on some type of pink beverage with a lemon peel topping it was the leader of team CFVY.
"Alcohol?" William asked without thinking after his nose caught the smell of her breath.
The diva just smiled. "Yep. Now that I'm no longer in the tournament, momma can switch back to the good stuff." She saluted taking a deep swig of her drink.
"Lucky." Yang grinned as she took a seat and Black opposite her.
Looking closely, while it initially appeared to be a single long table to suit eight people, it was actually eight two-person tables slid together and covered with a long pink tablecloth.
Yang and Blake took one end, William took a seat next to Blake, and Coco sat at opposite him one table down.
"So where are Yatsuhasi and Velvet? Are they getting food or something?" the Were-Grimm asked innocently enough.
The brown fashionista looked at him for a moment. It was then that he noticed she had gotten a replacement pair of her signature sunglasses.
She then turned to Yang. "You didn't tell him, did you?"
Blake responded before her girlfriend could. "She hasn't told either of us much. Aside from that this is a triple date."
"Still why did you think it was Yatsu and Vel?" she asked William.
He wasn't entirely sure how to respond. He had heard that huntsmen teams were close enough to be family, or lovers. Guess he might have overshot. "No particular reason. Just thought about them when I saw you."
"I like them- don't get me wrong- but more like family. With regards to the two who actually did go to get food, from what Yang has told me you'd actually like one of them." She said lowering her glasses to give him a wink.
Before he could ask what she had meant- almost as if they had planned it beforehand, the two in question showed up with both of their arms full of food. The first to sit down across from Coco was a dapperly dressed dark-skinned young man with a dark fedora and matching vest over a white shirt.
The other person who sat across from William was a perky and almost giddy orange-haired cat faunus.
He may not remember the young man's name, but he knew the woman's name; Neon Katt. Cute, perky, wonderfully positive attitude with a nice ass and an even cuter tail…oh, that's what Coco meant. There was just something about her tail that made him want to stroke it- the tail not his…other tail.
Realizing that he had been starring too much while Neon figured out who got what from her tray William looked away. But not before catching a glimpse of both Yang and Coco giving him a knowing grin. What did they expect? They both knew what he was into. That was why they probably suggested this whole thing.
"Heya, I'm Neon." The energetic woman greeted handing him his spicy chicken wings before shaking his hand. She was energetic, very energetic. The fact his arm felt like it might be dislocated at any moment during their handshake was an indicator. "You must be the Were-Grimm? Can you really turn into a Beowulf? Can you turn into any Grimm? Oh, can you really eat anything?" she fired off her questions so fast William couldn't hear them all.
"ye-yeah…did Ironwood tell you about me?" he asked somewhat confused. While his transformative abilities were well known at this point- though grossly exaggerated by the media and rumors-, his semblance was something that wasn't as widely known.
Her partner was the one who answered. "Not just us. Every time they learn something new about you, everyone from Atlas is given an update and ordered to use that information in the event you try anything." He said in a cool and calm manner.
It was more how he said it than what he actually said that made William uncomfortable. Though he was still concerned about what was said as well.
"Please tell me this isn't some hair-brained scheme by Ironwood to get me arrested." He just said it. after the emotional rollercoaster of a day he had, he just didn't have any desire to go any route but the direct one.
The two seemed a bit taken aback by his comment. "See Flynt, now you've got him worried." So, his name was Flynt. Hopefully, he wouldn't forget it too easily. "You can relax, general Ironwood only wants to keep everyone safe."
William wasn't buying it. Actually, he could. He knew she believed that, but he just couldn't. "I'm sorry, but I don't think he sees me as 'everyone'. At least not in the context of keeping safe."
That got a rise out of the two. He felt a ping of anger. Neon didn't change, but Flynt quickly calmed down. He moved to speak up, but Neon cut him to the quick. "The general may be a little harsh at times, but he does it because he cares about everyone. He wants to keep people safe."
The Were-Grimm didn't need to look at the three other Beacon students. Their emotions all said, stop before things go too far. He had to agree.
"I'm sorry. I was in the wrong to say it like that. I do know he cares." He felt the three relax. "I just don't think he can trust people he doesn't fully understand." And then they tensed up again. What? He didn't say anything that was wrong.
The look Yang shot him said he was heading for a cliff.
Huh…better just lie. "I mean, I just don't think he trusts me yet. It's only been four weeks since we met each other, so it's understandable." That calmed most of the people down. Thought he got the feeling Flynt was aware of what he just did.
"Trust needs to be earned." Neon responded. "We trust general Ironwood because we know him- he's our headmaster. And the general in charge of our kingdom's military. And an accomplished huntsman. And he can be pretty cool- at times." She was calmer than before, so it sounded more of a matter of fact than anything else. However, a small bit of bite was still present in her words.
"Okay, but just to confirm he tells his students about me?"
"Oh yeah."
"What exactly did he tell you about me?"
Neon pondered it for a while. She was posing her right pointer finger under her chin like she was thinking. "Mainly you can transform into any Grimm you've eaten, you can eat just about anything, and… you sleep in the nude!"
"PWWWWTH!" Yang spit her drink onto Blake's face. The cat faunus just stared at Yang before turning to Neon and then settling between them. "Really?"
The multicolored girl mouthed 'sorry'.
William was so embarrassed. "Why and how is that necessary?"
She just shrugged. "It's important to know a person's living habits, maybe?"
He really didn't want this conversation to continue and he was certain that everyone else did too. "For the record, I sleep as a Beowulf- that has thick fur."
Why was he continuing this conversation?
"Why?" the faunus across from him asked. There was something about the innocence in her voice that seemed to strike a chord with him.
"I-it's really soft." Replied with her eyes not moving from his. Why was his heart rate increasing?
"Really?" She asked, leaning closer to him. He could smell her perfume. It wasn't a sweet scent like Neo, but more of a spicy citrus. Like it was some kind of exotic spice. Not what he would have expected from someone who lived in what he was told was basically an artic hellscape. "U-um yes?"
Too close. Keep calm. Must figure out a way to prevent blood flowing to that place.
"Can I touch it?"
"What?!" William blurted out.
The orange cat faunus made a pouting face. "I can't touch your fur?"
Do not fall for sad eyes. Do not look at them directly. Do not…. William's eyes met Neon's pouting face just as her lip began to tremble.
Crap.
He transformed his left hand in such a way that to those not at the table it would appear to be a weird black glove. Given some of the other chooses in attire for the students of the academies… and more than a few civilians, it honestly wasn't that odd.
Neon grasped his hand with the speed of a beartrap before rubbing it. "It's sooooo soft."
It's okay, it's okay. A cute girl is rubbing my hand. No problem.
Neon pulled his arm closer to her as she leaned forward rubbing her face on the palm of his hand. If it wasn't for the fact he had a super cute girl rubbing against him, he might have made a comment about how much she looked like a cat. But he just got them to not hate him.
"U-um…" William looked to the others, not sure if he was expecting them to look at him with disgust, pity, or for help.
Oddly enough it was Flynt who came to his rescue. "Neon, time and place." He said in a way that seemed like it was a recurring thing between them. Despite the cheated look Coco shot her date.
She blushed. "Ooops. Sorry."
William still felt some heat in his cheeks. Keep calm, keep calm. Think of something to change the subject. Anything.
-several moments of thought later-
"So how did you guys enjoy the tournament?"
…wow I really suck at this. I need to get out more.
Neon, thankfully, just smirked and put her finger on her chin, "It was pretty good. I need to find a way to get my hands on a pair of hover skates to get around rougher terrain…or ice." She smiled, somewhat bitterly glancing at Yang to her right, more like looking at Weiss.
"They make those?" William's eyes lit up. Yang could have almost sworn she saw the image of her sister superimposed on the wolf faunus.
"They do, and they come in every design imaginable." Flynt confirmed turning to Neon, "Told you it would have been worth the extra expense."
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After the initial unease, the six began talking about different things. At first, it was the practicality of weapons and equipment compared to proficiency and preference. Neon admitted she needed to upgrade her roller skates so they can work on the rougher terrains.
Afterward, the conversation bounced around a few more topics; which kingdom was going to win, namely Atlas or Vale, plans for an after-party, and what they were going to do after the tournament. It seemed that in recent years, there have been talks about inter-kingdom student exchange programs and joint missions.
Apparently, team RWBY had already agreed to partner up with team SSSN if they ever went to Mistral.
Somehow, the conversation ended with a challenge from Neon to William in a hot wing eating contest when he said he could eat anything. While it would seem like being able to eat bones would be advantages, however, the fact William still needed to chew them in order to avoid choking. He realized it halfway through before he switched to eating them normally. However, by then victory was secured.
Neon won by good lead.
William was surprised someone could beat him, but he still felt happy. Yang had been right, he needed something like this. Just enjoying hanging out.
Admittedly, sharing a table with a pretty girl get got along with definitely didn't hurt.
It made him feel that things were going to be alright. There was time, there was still hope for tomorrow.
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Neo had received a text from Emerald out of the blue to come to their base. Something about the White Fang screwing up, again. She swore if it was another fire, she was going to stab someone. They had no idea how much teleporting half of all their Dust took out of her when they had to relocate last time.
That's not even counting having to use her semblance to camouflage their trucks on several occasions, scrambling security cameras, and of course, scouting the area to make sure no one saw them. And to eliminate anyone that did.
However, this time around, her message told her to go to a facility she had never seen before. It was a warehouse off of the harbor. If she remembered right, this district of warehouses, mainly dealt with goods shipped to and from Patch.
About twenty feet in front of the property was one of Roman's goons- despite what Cinder said, they would never be her goons, they were her's and Roman's, named Dougal. She though. He was new.
He simply nodded to her before guiding her to the side of the building after she responded the same to him.
As they arrived at the door, Neo noticed the lock was designed to look only slightly above market standards, but her years as a thief told her it was something one would only see in military complexes or facilities that dealt in only the highest end goods.
The goon tentatively named Dougal retrieved a keycard from his pocket, swiping it. four distinct clunks resounded through the area.
She couldn't recall any high-end goods ever coming from Patch, nor could she recall anyone she knew of who lived on patch who could afford anything that would warrant this kind of security. Even if it was something for Signal Academy, the huntsmen academies had their own channels to go through for supplies or simply had them sent directly from Atlas.
Walking through a hallway for a short time, Dougal led her to the third door on the left. When he opened it up, it looked like a janitor's closet.
She shot him a "What is this?" look. One he immediately recognized.
Neo rarely ever talked to the goons, if at all. In fact, most of them didn't even believe she could talk. Neo did this for two reasons. The first being that Neo's appearance could change at any given whim, so she never had to truly worry about someone being able to identify her. Hence why she constantly changed her appearance with each heist. However, her voice was something she could not so easily change. She couldn't count how many people had actually been nabbed due to vocal analysis. It was a liability of sorts. Even if she got captured, aside from Roman, she doubted anyone knew she could talk and as such would most likely mention that she was mute. The fact she could speak would put doubt on her identity if she was ever apprehended- it had happened a few times already actually.
The second and main reason was simply that she is just a giant troll. She loved messing with people. She wasn't going to apologize for that.
Entering the room and closing the door behind them, Dougal made his way over to a fungus stained large sink at the back-right corner of the room. Neo was caught between feeling grossed out by the fungus covered sight and the irony that this was the sink in a janitor's closet.
Cinder might need to hire a new cleaning crew.
He took out his scroll and began tapping a series of numbers. Before Neo fully began to ponder if he was sexting a girlfriend or something, three beeps from somewhere within the room sounded, and, with an almost mechanical motion, Dougal went over to the disgusting sink and turned both the left and right handles of the faucet till they faced each other.
Sudden there was a mild shaking of the sink before it suddenly began to rise revealing it to the top of a small elevator.
When did they get so 'secret agent Gold Bond'?
The two entered and he pressed two of four. If one was the current floor then that meant there were three floors below them. Then what did 'B' stand for? She pondered noticing the buttons were labeled '1', '2', '3', and 'B' in descending order.
The elevator descended, bumping and taking a lot longer than one would think it would take to descend just one floor. She could have made at least six trips while leisurely walking in the time it took them to descend.
The elevator opened revealing a narrow hallway leading to a living room-like area complete with a big red couch across from a matching lounge chair, a sperate brown lounge chair, and a hundred-inch hollow screen TV. To the back, there was what looked like a freshly made impromptu kitchenette. If you want to call it that.
It was more of a camping sink, microwave, dinner plate on a folding table next to a minifridge.
"Greeting's Neo." A melodic voice resounded through the room. "Have we kept you waiting?" an impossibly tall woman asked as she walked in through a side passage that wasn't visible from the entrance.
For some reason, Neo felt she had seen her before, but couldn't place it. even though she was positive a seven-foot three woman in heels with pink tips on her long white hair would stand out in her memory. Especially to someone like Neo.
"Hello Neo." Cinder walked out behind the taller woman. Normally, she didn't think Cinder could hide behind someone so easily, but that was before she met that giant of a woman.
"Alpin dear, that will be all. Please go back to guarding the entrance."
Oh, his name was Alpin, I was way off.
"Yes, ma'am." He responded in earnest. There was something in her voice that would make anyone relaxed upon hearing. Her included.
Why did she feel so relaxed around the tall woman she had never seen before?
"Neo, I think we need to talk, don't you agree Heather?" Cinder continued.
"Yes, please sit-down Neo." The woman, apparently called Heather, gestured to the red lounge chair.
For some reason, she complied and sat down before she even realized it.
Cinder and Heater sat across from her on the couch.
Neo, despite whatever weird mind-fuck shit was going on, was still a pro. Her eyes looked around for Cinder's usual lackeys. Or as Neo liked to call them, the remaining two thirds of the world's most messed up love triangle.
"Emerald and Mercury are not here." Cinder responded to her glances. "They are off making preparations for our big move. Due to unforeseen events, we've had to move around some assets."
The taller woman, who smelled so nice, met her eyes. Neo immediately looked away, blushing.
What is wrong with me, this isn't what I'm like.
"Now Neo," she began as the much shorter woman's eyes immediately locked on to her upon hearing her name, "we need to have a talk, my child." She said. Her smile so soft and warming. It was the kind of smile that a mother would give a child after a bad day that made all the troubles of the day was away. It was a voice she would love to get lost in.
/-/
William might have not expected it- especially after the last time Yang took him clubbing and he spent a night in jail- but partying with friends was actually pretty fun.
Who knew?
With Vale's legal drinking age only being 16, it was a real surprise. Especially William. He found out that his body handled alcohol a little differently than other poisons. If he used his semblance, he'd get drunk off a single sip.
At one point he was almost convinced his blood was alcoholic. Given his semblance, it might have very well been. According to Neon, his lips, tongue, and saliva all tasted like booze. Even his cheek that one time she gave him a peek at the beginning.
Neon had been energetic, despite being somewhat apprehensive at first. A little emotional probing revealed her last boyfriend had left her in a bad place after he not only cheated on her but once even stole her favorite headphones to pawn them. Her teammates, the rest of team FNKY, made sure he regretted it.
In his inebriated state, William couldn't help but wanting to console her. He also had a little more respect for Flynt. While he wasn't completely sure, but it seems like he agreed to a double, and then triple, date to be supportive to Neon.
Then came the part where his body metabolized the alcohol at an accelerated rate. Going from drunk out of his mind to sober as a judge in the span of about seven or eight minutes.
What followed was a mix of lust and fear as he had a beautiful drunken faunus with a great ass and equally great tail on his lap, making out with him, while remembering that Neo would probably skin him alive if she ever figured it out.
The Were-Grimm then realized he was stuck. He couldn't just leave abruptly, that would be too suspicious.
That and he couldn't exactly stand up after having Neon grinding on his lap for the last five minutes.
If he remembered right, Yang once called alcohol 'liquid courage'. He could use a little courage right now. And with that, he downed an entire bottle of tequila. Earning more than a few cheers from Flynt and Coco who were already six shots in.
That helped more than he had hoped. *Hic* So, what if he was seeing Neo. He had to keep his cover. They already knew about his taste, and Neon was already putting in so much effort. He couldn't hurt her feelings.
*Hic* This could work. *Hic* He was just keeping his cover.
No, Neo won't find out. And even if she did, he'd tell her it was to protect his cover. *Hic*
This is the best plan ever.
*An unknown amount of time later*
This was the worst plan ever. William thought, feeling his last unbroken rib join its kin as he was viciously slammed against a wall. Accompanying it was a ringing of the ears, sharp pains across his entire body, and oh yeah, a good sized dollop of his own blood pooling in his mouth.
Guess going in from the sides doesn't work. The wolf faunus mentally moaned as he shakily stood up; spitting out the small pool of blood.
At some point in the night, William found himself in a strange dimly lit room. He would have normally concluded Neo was about the walk through the door to punish him for making out with Neon. Whether it was the good kind or the bad kind of punishment, he could only guess.
That is until a humanoid Beowulf walked into the room and began talking.
At first, one would imagine it was just an alcohol-infused nightmare…until he felt a rib break from its punch.
Followed by an introduction to the entity he had been talking to all this time inside of his own head. Which he did admit sounded pretty bad when he said it out loud.
YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE IN CONTROL. NO AMBITIONS, NO DESIRES. JUST A WEAKLING WHO CLINGS TO OTHERS IN ORDER TO PROVE HE EVEN EXIST! His alter ego spat before grabbing William by the throat and tossing him across the room like a ragdoll.
The thud his body made resonated through the entire room. Much like the pain echoing through is body. For whatever reason, he could not heal himself. Initial pain was always horrible, but it would fade rapidly with his healing ability. This however, was the longest he had ever felt such intense pain.
YOU CAN'T EVEN FIGHT WITHOUT ME. TEAM JPIT, NEO, THE DEATHTALOS, ALL THOSE MANY HUNTSMEN WANTING TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK. YOU WILLINGLY TURNED YOUR EYES AWAY AND LET ME DO YOUR DIRTY WORK!
NO MORE! He roared. It was truly the first time William could recall him ever displaying this much emotion at…well, at all. YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO BE IN CONTROL.
As he picked himself up for what was probably the ninth or tenth time since the ordeal had started, William had to think of something- and fast. It was clear his alter ego was more focused on torturing him rather than killing him instantly. He had more than a few chances.
In terms of speed, strength, and agility he was equal to William. However, it was his aggressive attack pattern, William's lack of a weapon, and the restriction of his powers that made the winner of this fight to the death clear.
William had tried to use his Grimm powers, any of them, but nothing came. Nor was there anything for him to eat. Just a big empty room.
At one point he tried eating his opponent, see if history could repeat itself, but the flesh dissolved instantly before William could absorb him and the regrew whatever piece he bit off just as fast.
He'd gotten a few pointers from Yang, but that was it. a clumsy right cross had him hitting the air as his legs were pulled out from under him and he was tossed like a sack of potatoes.
Before he could even get up, the Beowulf grabbed both ankles, lifted him up, and started bashing him against the floor and walls the same way someone would dust a rug. The force of each swing was so great he could literally feel his blood flying in every direction with each and every single impact.
He tried to grab onto something- anything to make it stop. However, the walls were flat and smooth. Much like the floor and low hanging ceiling.
His muscles and bones screamed in pure agony. He could bleed off some of the impacts with his aura, but his control was still far from polished. If he was lucky, he could partially focus some small globules of aura into a spot on his body just before impact, but that was the problem. He was getting hit all across the front and back of his body. Each time his head hit something he felt like he was going to blackout that much sooner.
Even if he could focus his aura with the skill of someone like Ms. Goodwitch, he could feel his aura was all but gone. He didn't need to check his scroll-if he even had it in this weird dream world- his life force was fading.
Before he could get tired, the Grimm tossed him against the wall. Another few spirts of blood burst from his mouth as he slumped onto his side, limbs sprawled out, almost as lifeless as their own. He'd lost too much blood.
Looking around the room it was clear this had never been a fight. That would imply he could have done something against his adversary. The blood splatter decorating most of the walls, floor, and even the ceiling only told anyone who looked at it that it was a one sided slaughter.
"AAAHHHH!" William screamed as two three-foot-long bone spikes pierced his shins, effectively nailing him to the floor.
Why did this keep happening, why did he keep finding himself helpless, moments from death? what was the point of it all?
As if reading his mind, the Beowulf slowly approaching grinned- as best a Beowulf can grin. YOU LACK AMBITION-DRIVE! YOU LEAVE YOUR FATE UP TO OTHERS. YOU ONLY LEARNED AND TRAINED ACCORDING TO WHAT OTHERS WISHED. YOU HAD SO MANY CHANCES TO GROW ON YOUR OWN, TO REQUEST AID, YET YOU CHOOSE- YOU CHOOSE he roared on the word, TO BE WEAK.
His alter ego stopped just in front of him. Normally, William couldn't understand the facial expressions of Grimm aside from the obvious desire to kill and the rare bout of fear. However, this time was different, this time, he saw a look of pity and disgust. He was so weak that Grimm- that burned with hatred for all humanity- actually felt that way towards him.
Ouch.
AND NOW YOU WILL BE DEVOURED BY THE STRONG WITHOUT EVEN PUTTING UP ANY RESISTANCE. PATHETIC. He scoffed.
Was there really nothing he could do? His only advantage was his semblance, but there was nothing to eat. Not his surroundings, there wasn't even any ruble dislodged when his legs were pierced through the floor. Not his opponent. The only thing that seemed that could actually interact with this world was…himself?
As his Grimm-self raised a claw, opened for the first time, the world froze for a moment. His long deep-seated fear might be his only way out of this mess. For William his semblance, though a vital part of his survival always carried with it a deep apprehension about its limits. Namely if he used it on another living creature, what would happen?
Would it stop only at physical substances, or would it do more? What of his aura or his soul? Would he still be the same? These and so many other questioned buzzed through his mind at lightning speed.
Could he eat a part of himself? It was a taboo he had placed on himself since he first became a Were-Grimm. Could he break it now?
Emotionally and instinctually, he felt that this would be opening up something that he shouldn't. however, his pragmatic side one the floor by the simple fact that, despite appearing to be some kind of dream world, he was certain that if he did nothing, this would be his death.
Closing his eyes, William brought his left hand to his mouth and… took a bite. A loud crunch resounded through the room.
It was more painful than he had imagined, but the pain dissipated more quickly than he imagined as well. Before the claw could reach his face, several bone spikes of his own burst from his body, severing the Grimm's arm.
The beast stubbled back. Obviously confused.
To be fair, so was William. He knew he could replicate any material he eats and propagate it several times over. That was how he could produce stone armor and weapons for himself from only a little debris.
Even so, seeing his hand reform after having literally been bitten all the way through was unexpected. Or the fact his shins had reformed so quickly they could actually shatter the bone spikes piercing them.
Hopefully, that wouldn't require more surgery. He didn't want anything else to have to be pulled out of his body.
Oh wait, this is some kind of dream, never mind.
He felt a little bit of life come back to his face. He could only guess that bite allowed him to replenish his blood supply as well. He'd have to remember this trick if he ever needed to give blood.
Looking back at the Beowulf before him, William felt what he imagined to be a rather terrifying grin appear on his face because his previously cocky opponent took a step back with a somewhat nervous expression. His severed arm re-growing to completion within a few moments.
William himself felt a strange mix of hunger, anger, and calmness swirling in him. As if his act of self-cannibalism unlocked something deep within himself. Something predatory and… hungry.
He felt his saliva pooling in his mouth. he didn't know why, but something told them he could actually eat him now.
/-/
Two crude kilij manifested into his hands with a bloody burst from his palms. Unlike his normal transformations, the bone burst from under his skin before disconnecting from the bone. It hurt enough for him to flinch briefly, but the pain ended just as abruptly and just as easily as before.
Not waiting for his opponent to make the first move, William took the initiative. He charged him, an oblique strike from the right clashed with a pair of raised claws, forcing the Beowulf back several paces.
It almost seemed surreal. He felt a rush of strength. It was like gears that had become desolate suddenly gnashed together and started turning at full speed.
He even felt his ribs mending.
An upward swing from his left sword let a streak across the Beowulf's chest, breaking the claws stopping his right sword. it came down with half strength but still managed to take two of his fingers. His alter-ego bared his fangs withdrawing before lunging at him again. This time wholeheartedly devoted to ending him.
The room resounded with the clash of bones and claws. This time the two matching the other in terms of ferocity. Neither caring about defense. Slashing at each other wildly. Ash and blood spurted in every direction.
However, for every wound inflicted, no matter how severe, the damage was gone within the next moment. Neither side gaining nor losing an inch. This is what William was afraid of.
In battles of attrition, it was the side with the most resources that would win. In this case, it was the ability to repair the damage done. While William's semblance allowed him to produce a large amount of whatever substance he devoured, it was still limited. His match with Pyrrha was all the proof he needed for that.
In addition to only having a vague sense of how much of his own flesh, bone, and blood he could reproduce, he knew that there was a good chance that his Grimm self was more than wary of his semblance. There was no way he would let him get a second chance.
Dodging a claw meant for his head, William decided to test a few things.
Disengaging and jumping back, William set himself up as a perfect target, leaving his midsection completely exposed with his swords raised too high. One the Beowulf was all too happy to take. Anyone would think that the Beowulf could disembowel him by the time he brought down his swords. So he didn't.
Rather, he raised them. As the Grimm came into range. His claws pulled back to make as powerful a swipe as possible. Bone lances shot forth from William's knees, running through his torso, roughly where his left lung and liver would be.
Unfortunately, it seemed he didn't have the same anatomy as a human. If anything, it only allowed him a reprieve from the attack long enough to bring his swords down. The momentum from before was enough to drive the Beowulf onto his knee spikes a fair distance, but not enough to hold him in for close range, but enough to partially severe both of his arms.
What wasn't as planned was the fact that in disconnecting the bone spikes coming from his knees felt like he'd broken his kneecaps.
It was for that moment he couldn't even move. All he could do is use his swords to block the claw strikes coming for his face.
It was faint, but he definitely felt a few chips of bone shoot back on his face from the force of the blow as the claw was intercepted. Since he couldn't mend his swords now that they weren't connected to him, it meant he needed to regrow new ones.
He now regretted not paying more attention to Ms. Goodwitch and team RWBY when it came to counting his shots. Weiss especially had warned him that he needed to be aware of how much power his semblance used and how many times he could use it give the amount he consumed.
Why didn't he listen? He wasn't sure how many more times he could use his semblance before he needed to take another bite of himself. He wasn't sure, but he guessed maybe he could take six to eight more hits. Although, that number wouldn't stay that way for long. Given their fight, that number would be zero within a few more moments. but he didn't think he would be able to reproduce two more kilijes. Not with how fast his opponent was.
a clawed hand stabbing into his chest confirmed it. it missed his heart, if only barely. The force sent him back against the wall.
Thankfully the holes in his chest and the pain in his back disappeared quickly enough.
William switched to a more evasive form. Channeling his inner Blake. He still tried to continue testing his opponent for any weaknesses.
/-/
In real-time the confrontation last maybe five or six minutes, but it felt like hours. His healing effect was wearing off and his body began to ache, begging him to stop.
While humans and faunus had limits to their stamina, some Grimm either had much more prolific stamina or simply didn't have a limit. There were the occasional tales of villagers fleeing from Grimm attacks being chased by Grimm for days as they ran to the kingdom for safety.
Looking at his opponent, it might very well be the latter.
His strategy to find a weakness was not panning out. Grimm didn't have organs. This meant there were no vital points to stab. With its regenerative abilities, there was no crippling it either.
He had to think. What hadn't he stabbed or cut? Limbs, heart, liver, chest, abdomen, and even the groin out of pure desperation.
Nothing.
What was left?
….The head? Worth a shot. He thought as the Beowulf overextended on a claw thrust, giving him the perfect opportunity to test his theory.
Unlike with other strikes, the Grimm made sure to dodge this one. even going as far as to jump a couple of spaces to the side.
This was his chance.
He squared himself and charged forward. His alter-ego grabbed his left sword with its right claw. William just let the blade go as he moved into a left-handed uppercut stunning the beast. If only for just a moment.
William severed the Grimm's left arm at the shoulder by dragging his right sword down.
Swinging his sword back and taking it in both hands, William pooled all his remaining strength int one last upward swing.
With a single strike, the head flew off before landing on the floor with a loud thud.
He still couldn't relax. His eyes never left the corpse as it collapsed or the severed head next to it. He waited for the body to get up and move again. Or the heat to rejuvenate the rest of its body.
One minute. Two minutes. Five heart-pounding minutes….nothing.
It was done! William had slain his own demon. Exhausted, near death, and both mentally and physically pushed beyond all limits, but he had won!
Letting out a fierce cry of triumph he roared his victory only for an unseen force to pull him backward.
/-/
Before he realized it, his world was dark. His memories were hazy as his head pounded. Neon and William had been left at the bar drinking while Yang and Blake went back to rest for the tournament and Flynt and Coco seemed to disappear- the last time being seen telling them to not wait up as Flynt took out some kind of thin plastic square with a flat circular bulge to it from his pocket.
They had taken his advice and continued alternating between drinking and making out.
Ow, his head was throbbing. Was this what death felt like?
They continued until the only a few groups were left, Neon and himself, a man who was so drunk he smelled more like liquor than a liquor bottle, the bartender, a couple who were probably too focused on making out to notice they were about to fall off their chair, and a team of four drunken huntresses. One of whom- a red head- was already faced down and passed out drunk.
Then there was this super tall woman…something about pink glowing snakes….mothers….billing Ozpin- or something like that-…and he wasn't sure, but felt like he might have seen a bipedal giant fox and a walking broccoli creature with nice boobs and red eyes.
Then something about a failure and a dis, dis-something…dis-faction? Was that a thing?
His body felt like it was being lightly crushed by something. Not enough to be considered as a threat to him in any way. In fact, it felt nice, whatever was covering his arms and most the lower part of his body was pleasingly warm and comfortingly soft.
He slowly opened his eyes and waited for the fuzzy blurs to take the shape of the real world.
He was looking up at the ceiling of his dorm room. A ceiling he'd strangely be able to discern anywhere due to the unique stain on it that reminded him of a Beowulf on a unicycle.
He could feel that he was in his bed under his blanket, naked. Though for William sleeping nude wasn't that uncommon. Especially during those winters where he couldn't find any clothes and just ran around naked in his Beowulf form.
Trying to weakly sit up, for some reason he felt very drained, William felt something silky and supple holding down both of his arms. William tested the rest of his body's maneuverability. In addition to his arms, there was also something under the covers with him keeping his lower body and chest down. Realizing sitting up wasn't going to work, he settled for just using his neck.
William's eyes almost burst out of their sockets. He blinked at least a hundred times to make sure he wasn't still dreaming.
Starting to feel himself panic, William halted himself from transforming, closing his eyes, and taking in a deep breath. Repeating his breathing exercises, the wolf Faunus' nose confirmed what he was beginning to think really happened. The air was dense with the same smell he remembered fondly after his first night with Neo. Though with some very understandable differences.
Slowly opening his eyes, the young man took in the full sight of what was before him: four naked; well more accurately semi-naked, young women gently curling up to him, all wearing the same satisfied expression.
And him having no idea how, or exactly what, happened. Aside from what it obviously looked like.
Gently snuggling on to his left arm under his blanket, while still revealing quite a sight, was a rather attractive young woman with sandy blonde hair. The top part of her torso was uncovered, she was wearing only full-body golden chainmail- except for her right arm- and a pauldron with the two chains connected wrapping around her chest exhibiting her womanly assets through the chainmail.
On his right arm, resting above the blanket, a woman with black hair that was completely disheveled and now lay wildly covering much of her face. Some semblance of what looked like ringlets could be made out. She wore a dark grey dress with a black corset, or at least that's what it used to be. There were several cuts in the fabric displaying her more than appealing anatomical features. Given that the arm she was cuddling like it was her favorite childhood toy was still that of a Beowulf, it was pretty clear where those cuts came from.
He knew he could sleep in his Grimm form, but he had never actually tired sleeping partially transformed before. So it came as a bit of a surprise that he could. And so easily at that.
On his chest, snuggling up to him under his blanket, was a cute lightly tanned girl with ruffled purple hair that was combed to her left side. She was naked except for the tight-fitting grey shirt and the leather bandolier tying her wrists together, and his foot confirmed that her ankles matched. William couldn't help but acknowledge how cute her sleeping face was as she breathed gently with such a soft smile.
Next to her was the girl from last night he did remember; Neon. Her tail was cutely wrapped around the waist of the purple-haired girl next to him. Her clothing did not look torn, or more accurately than if it had been it was a much, much more thorough job than the others because she was completely naked, save for the green and purple sashes binding her arms and legs. Though even from where he was, he could see there were a number of markings covering her upper body. William was fairly certain that the bite marks were his handy work, though he was kind of hoping that the lipstick smudges weren't.
Despite the alluring appeal of the sight William's mind seemed to still wonder how she could sleep so soundly with still tied up.
Taking the sight of all four girls in again, he felt like he had seen the three others from somewhere. But where?
Their muscles told him there were definitely not civilians, while their apparent age suggested they weren't licensed Huntresses. They weren't students at Beacon, he hadn't been there long, but he was certain he would remember girls this cute. So that meant they were students from another school, but which one.
Looking at them William suddenly realized who three of his four new bedmates where. They were the team Sun's team fought during the tournament. Team NDGO, he believed.
Taking in the situation, most guys would be over the moon and back a dozen times to have slept with four gorgeous Huntresses, even if they couldn't remember a single thing. However, William wasn't like most guys- ignoring the whole Were-Grimm thing- he was dating Neo. Neo! The same pint-sized master assassin and bodyguard to the criminal underworld's worst of the worst. William had to force himself not to transform after imagining what she would do to him if she ever found out. In that case, not being able to die from having your organs ripped out might be kind of a disadvantage.
He was never drinking again!
It was at that moment William remembered his conversation with Velvet and his metaphor of a deranged lunatic dropping a house on him. though this time it felt more along the lines of an entire suburb.
"William." a voice suddenly shouted through his door. It sounded like Yang. "I know you're in there. Open up."
Neon started to stir when she heard the knocking.
William himself was still having trouble processing anything. His head was pounding too much to make full sense of the words he was hearing.
He then heard another voice, Ruby maybe, but he wasn't sure. And then another and a fourth voice. The women on his bed all started to wake, adding to the noise and confusion.
This wasn't good!
/-/
This is why she needed to watch her teammates like a hawk. If not, they'd get into all kinds of trouble. Ruby lamented as her sister started knocking louder on the door.
Flynt Coal had been led by Coco to their dorm room just before she could wake up her team. That was her thing! And they ruined it.
According to Flynt, Neon hadn't come back to their dorm room last night. If she was anything like Yang, that shouldn't have been new. However, he told them she always told them when she would be spending the night somewhere else.
A habit she would need to make sure her sister took up. granted that might be a little complicated when she and her girlfriend shared the same room as she did, but she could worry about it later.
Yang had come back just before she and Weiss were about to turn in for the night. Saying they left William at the bar with a cute piece of tail.
Blake then explained that it wasn't actually a segment of some animal's tail, but the orange-hair cat faunus her partner and Yang had gone up against the day before yesterday.
This is why people shouldn't go out drinking. It is so much better- and less confusing afterwards- to just spend a night taking pictures of silly costumes on a cute little dog. Zwei rubbing against her leg in agreement…or needing to go to the bathroom.
"Maybe you should use your scroll Ruby," Coco suggested.
All members of a team had an access code to their dorm rooms. Since William was part of team RWBY any one of them could access his room and visa versa.
There was stirring in the room, but still no response. Ruby was hesitant to go in considering William usually slept in the nude and his poor luck with people coming into his room to find him either partially or fully nude.
Suddenly the entire floor was woken up with an ear-piercing scream "MURDER!"
That was all she needed to hear before jamming her scroll into the door slot. The moment she heard the beep she slammed the door open.
"You murdered my favorite blouse!" a woman with black hair in ringlets shouted while having one hand on William's throat while the Were-Grimm used both hands to hold up the knife from being plunged into his face. Two of the other members of team NDGO were trying to help save him while Neon looked at the group faced completely flushed.
All members in the room were barely clothed.
What?
William was right, I really do enjoy messing with him. However, I assure you it has some meaning to it.
Also, Gold Bond = James Bond.
As for Volume 7, well I am hopeful. At first glance, they seem to be getting back to basics in terms of fight scenes, if only a little, but it is better than nothing.
I was happy to see Penny again. I knew Penny would be back, she is an android after all. I just wasn't expecting them to be able to retrieve Penny's core and memories. I was honestly expecting something along the lines of an amnesia-type situation with Ruby and Penny, but this could still work.
Pietro's exposition was insightful and paired well with what we were seeing of how Mantle was being run.
It was probably the first time we actually saw faunus being genuinely getting the short end of the stick and not just some minor insult or a 'no faunus' sign. This should make for some good Blake and Weiss dynamics.
As I said, I'm hopeful, but I reserve full judgment until the end of the volume. Especially after what happened during the second half of volume 6.
And as always, thanks for reading and please comment.