Hello folks.
How is it with more time to myself, I still take three months to write a chapter? Do I need to focus more or less? Am I too focused on planning or not focused enough?
Either way, I hope everyone is safe in these times of uncertainty. So, without further ado, here you guys go.
Chapter 22: No Going Back
A petite assassin looked over her temporary shelter in the medical office. Just as she had washed away the blood off her hands after convincing the person who occupied the space before her, they should accept Cinder's bribe when she felt a faint vibration.
She produced her scroll. It was Will. He wouldn't have called her outside of their appointed times. She hoped it wasn't the kind of emergency she was expecting.
She looked around before answering, "Will is everything okay?" she asked with her scroll displaying sound only.
"Ne-Neo, I need your help." He sounded nervous- scared.
She took a breath, she needed to be the calm one when Will wasn't. "Calm down Will, what happened?"
He didn't immediately respond. "Neo, I told Ozpin to look out for Mercury."
"And?" that wouldn't really matter. If Ozpin was looking out for Mercury, he probably would have just questioned him at most. Even if he detained the silver-haired prick, Cinder had back-up plans for back-up plans. From her understanding, Mercury would have just been the opening act.
She could hear a faint chuckle from the Were-Grimm, "Is it safe to say it's too late?"
Neo didn't need to coddle him nor lie to him. Will knew they were up to something. The fact he hadn't said anything until now showed how much he cared.
First rule of the underworld, 'return what you are given, keep what you've stolen'. She would return his trust and keep his heart, "Yeah, Will. It's already too late. Even if you told Ozpin and Ironwood, you can't stop what's supposed to happen tonight." Despite her thoughts, she needed to keep him safe.
She knew he could try and possibly succeed in stopping Mercury. The rock in the park that still had the indentations of her spine in it could testify to his combat ability. For now, Cinder and Heather let Will go because he wasn't needed for the bigger plan until later. However, if he started making a nuisance for them, they might see a need to take care of him or at least remove him from the equation. Even if they didn't kill him, Neo didn't want him hurt.
Then her boyfriend, she still blushed a little at the thought, said something she wasn't expecting, "I figured as much. Neo, I need your help getting as many of my friends out of Vale or to safety as possible."
She blinked once and then smiled a little. She was going to milk this. "I can help, but I'm going to need you to do a few things for me."
"Anything. You can have anything I have, and I'll do anything you want."
"Anything? ~" Neo cooed with excitement. "Even the stuff you said you'd never do in a million years?"
She could almost envision his nervous eyes mixing with excitement and fear. "Neo if you help me, I will let you do anything you want to me for life."
Poor Will. She really needed to teach him the art of the deal. Roman would have taken everything from him within moments. 'The more desperate a person, the more likely they are to offer you everything they own'. A quote favored by Roman when he was making deals with others.
She smiled a full sadistic smile, "You've got a deal, Will." She chuckled from a mix of excitement and the fact that the last part rhymed. She was feeling absolutely giddy. She didn't even mind the fact she'd be saving the twerps so long as it meant she'd have Will on his knees worshiping her like the goddess she was.
"Neo, Neo are you there?"
Oh, "Yeah Will, I'm still here." Fantasies could wait for later. They didn't have a lot of time. "Okay Will, I need you to follow my plan to the letter."
"Okay."
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Even knowing what was coming- okay know something was coming- didn't make the impact any less severe. The shock from Yang appearing to have attacked a defeated and non-aggressing Mercury in the leg gave him a moment before the typhoon of negative emotions surged, threatening to devour him. Yet, something was different. William couldn't put his finger on it, but it was like something was taking the edge off. Like a life preserver keeping him above the water in the middle of the ocean during a violent storm. Not enough to keep him from being overwhelmed, but enough that he was still maintaining his sense of self instead of losing control.
It was almost as if no matter how much negativity was surging forth, either he or someone else was keeping him from completely losing control.
His body still pulsed on a level he hadn't felt, even when Jaune kiss Pyrrha on interkingdom television. His head hurt worse than the time a huntsman put a hatchet through his skull. Lungs refused to fill with air as he felt his heart palpitating erratically. However, somehow, despite all the pain, he was still somewhat aware of himself… even if he had transformed into a large armored Beowulf that resembled an elder Alpha while clutching his head.
Then William received the shock of his life; he stood up. normally, this wouldn't mean anything, except…he didn't intend to. His mind was aware of everything, but at the same time, it was like he was looking at everything through a filter. Was that just because his eyes had turned red before he intended?
Maybe. It wasn't like being a Were-Grimm had an instruction manual.
As he looked over team CFVY's face their emotions showed more clearly: fear, concern for themselves, worry for William, confusion for yang assaulting Mercury.
Perhaps more concerning was that his vision seemed to be a few frames behind what it should be. Like watching a video with glitchy framing.
He turned his head to look at Coco…or at least the person he thought was Coco.
His voice wasn't coming out. He felt his jaw was open, but sound refused to come out. As he tried to speak it felt more akin to trying to force himself to vomit, until…"RRRAAAWWWRRR!"
Shit.
Before he could even try to rectify things, or even realized why it came out like that, the Were-Grimm felt a sharp blunt force to the back of his head. The force was enough to knock him off his feet and send him flying, face first, into the window as Coco managed to lung out of the way just in time as the nearby snacks created a snowstorm of popcorn, chips, and pretzels.
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When she signed up to be a huntress, Coco Adel had expected to have some rough spots; vicious monsters trying to kill her, psychotic murders plotting terrorist attacks, split ends, and worst yet her outfits getting ruined. Yet, she, and probably no one in the history of Remnant, had expected she and her team would be fighting a Beowulf-ified William alongside a huntsman, she had no idea who he was or why he was here, in a less than spacious lounge.
Especially since she and Yatsu couldn't fight at full strength. He had next to no room to swing that giant sword of his and she sure as hell couldn't open fire with her baby, Gianduja. The former, though uncomfortable to Yatsu wasn't such a big problem. His sparing sessions with Fox and Velvet at least helped his close quarter skills develop enough to keep up in the chaotic mess. She knew from experience he was slow, but he hit like a sledgehammer.
She didn't know who the huntsman was, or even where he came from- they were on the second floor for crying out loud-, but given that he might have just saved one of them from getting bit and William was currently trying to bite his face off while keeping the man's sword in place with his seemingly longer than before claws she figured he could use a hand.
Honestly, she was not looking forward to dealing with a shapeshifting Alpha.
Fox was the first to charge in as he unleashed a flurry of blows in rapid succession, forcing him back as he clumsily tried to block before back-peddling too far and piercing the TV with his back spikes. William tried to snap at Fox with his fangs but was interrupted with an uppercut to the jaw followed with three rapid throat chops.
Judging by the rupturing in his upper chest, she would bet Fox used his aura to create miniature shockwaves within the Beowulf. It looked weird, to be honest, usually, when Fox pulled something like that, the shockwave permeated through the entire target, even if he was holding back. This time it looked more like he dropped a small pebble inside a giant dense lake with barely a ripple to show anything had happened.
Her orange-haired teammate seemed to agree with her assessment as he paused, seemingly perplexed by the odd sensation. Probably a little too much because he had only just managed to evade a claw swipe meant for his face.
The Were-Grimm tried to continue the assault, barely even making it as he awkwardly shifted his weight due to the TV stuck to his back altering his center of gravity, only for the huntsmen to strike down on his left arm mid-swing. It looked like he had actually intended to cut off his arm, but instead, his blade became lodged a few inches into William's forearm. Rather than retreat, the man pushed downward, putting all his weight into it, dragging the Were-Grimm down to the ground with all his might by forcing his sword all the way to the floor.
Coco's eyes met her tallest teammate and the two nodded in unison. The distance between them and the struggle was not even six feet, something they could all cover in an instant, however, time seemed to slow as they approached. Her instincts were telling her they had made a mistake.
Before she and Yatsu could join them, the Were-Grimm let out an earsplitting roar that shook the nearby windows before bursting up in a savage display of strength and flinging the two in front of him forward. Fox and Velvet were weaker to auditory damage than the rest of them. Fox for the fact he needed to rely on sonar to see and Velvet because she has four ears; two of which were rabbit ears.
Fox and the salt and peppered haired man dug in deep as they dragged themselves along the carpet, trying to go against the momentum. Fox being the lighter continued sliding past her into the still stunned Velvet, both landing into the stack of pizzas they had brought with sauce flying everywhere while the older man managed to use his sword as an anchor.
Tossing off the TV William charged forward fangs bared towards the downed Fox. Yatsu intercepted him from attacking their downed members. She heard the scraping of claws on her taller teammate's sote before sliding into an arm lock while the huntsman was using the side of his blade to block and deflect William's other claw strikes. She brought Gianduja down in an arcing overhead swing directly on top of his head, cracking his skull plate with an unexpected, almost teeth clenching crunch.
Yatsu, still holding onto his right arm forced the stunned Were-Grimm to the ground in an arm lock that should have dislocated his shoulder before the other man dropped his sword to take the other arm in a mirroring action.
The instant his arms were locked, the spikes on the beowulf's back started rapidly sprouting from his back in all directions like some kind of boney succulent plant. The huntsman managed to jump back while grabbing his weapon. The slower Yatsu, on the other hand, couldn't move fast enough and just trusted his five plated sote to take the brunt of the damage. Seemingly allowing the spikes to push him back. While his shoulder armor took the brunt, Yatsu's aura allowed him to sustain the rest.
Vel had grabbed her by the hip and pulled her back onto the couch avoiding being pierced. Still holding her tight as the two came to rest on the top of the back of the couch. The jagged spikes came to rest mere inches from her face. Coco and the others took a breath.
They all exhaled as one as it seemed the spikes had extended to their limit. As the air left their mouths, the room echoed with something like the snapping of several dozen fingers at once.
Oh shit!
Like a spike-loaded grenade, the bone spikes fired from the pseudo alpha's back. Each spike fling with the force of having been shot from a ballista. One or two they could have evaded with little difficulty but doing so against several dozens of them at once in such a narrow space was impossible.
She and Velvet hand enough experience fighting to jump back and allow the couch to take up some of the damage, but an adequate shield it was not. The spikes tore through it like bullets through paper, trying to do the same to their aura.
Furniture, carpet, assorted snacks, glass, drywall, windows, and everything else in the room burst into a material spray as the bone-like protrusions shredded forth.
The entire room looked like something out of a horror movie. The walls, windows, the couch, the food…everything looked like it was decorated by a porcupine. She hadn't seen that many spikes since she'd been to a heavy metal concert.
Four of them were pushed back and at least lower on aura than anyone would like. Her scroll told her that most of her team was around the sixty percent mark, save for one. The fifth member, Fox, had against all odds, managed to deflect all of the bone spears sent his way. Sadly, he couldn't relax. Fox had to channel all the strength in his arms to block a heavy claw strike forcing him back a few inches.
Fox tried to counter with a left hook only for the other claw to catch it. With each claw grasping one of her team's main DPS's arms, William began forcing his strength and all of his weight onto Fox, drawing closer with a drooling maw. Fox may not have been able to see with his eyes, but she was certain his blanch irises were starting to widen as his knees began to buckle.
Suddenly the grated remains of roughly a third of the coffee table that was once in front of the couch came flying at his face. The piece of furniture shattering on impact and embedding several large splinters into his face.
As he recoiled Fox managed to pull back. The five of them finally managed to get into a solid formation.
"Any ideas on how to end this Mr…um what's your name?" Coco asked her eyes not leaving the Were-Grimm who was scraping the splinters out of his face- along with much of his actual face.
Though given how fast it was growing back, that didn't mean much.
"Qrow and not really. All I know is hit him until he goes down. I honestly don't think we can kill him at the moment."
He was right. Mindless and violent as he may be, when he remained in this state, William was essentially immortal. Much unlike them. Case in point, the Were-Grimm had already regrown his face and began charging. Thankfully, he was quickly blocked by Yatsu using the side of Fulcrum like a shield. He may not be able to fully swing his sword around, but he could still use it as a shield.
She looked around. the lounge was trashed. So much for trying not to destroy the room. Looking behind William, she pulled up her mental map of Beacon. There's no point in saving furniture in exchange for one of her teammates. If there isn't any helping it…
"Just in case anyone asks", the leader of team CFVY began, "we blame William for everything!" She shouted. "Move Yatsu!"
Like in practice, the giant teen ducked to the right as Coco's handbag transformed into a minigun before unloading it into William.
Unlike last time, he didn't seem to be in control of himself while she was completely calm-ish. Well, as calm as she could be. Fighting a Were-Grimm was stressful.
The bullets from her minigun, enhanced by her semblance, tore through the Were-Grimm and the wall behind them like Lisa Lavender ripping apart Felicity Fandango's latest fashion designs.
After only a few seconds everything within her line of sight was essentially vaporized. The force of her enhanced bullets was probably a little too strong as not only did the wall behind William get obliterated but so did a portion of the adjacent walls. The resulting dust cloud from all the destroyed drywall was just large enough to conceal William. She knew he wasn't in his right mind, but she still didn't want to make the same mistake twice, opting to cease fire.
Yatsu helped them out, with no one in front of him, he now had enough room for a horizontal swing of his sword, dispersed the entire cloud with a single swing. As he did so everyone remained in their fighting stance behind the couch, or what was left of it, with Yatsu to the left of it ready for anything.
What they got would technically qualify as anything. The Grimm in front of her didn't look harmed so much as it was melting.
This wasn't a metaphor, somehow its fur was slopping off of his skin like it was wet tar. His wounds were healing so quickly that in the time it took her to process its speed, the wounds appeared as though they never existed.
"Co…co…" its voice squeezed out like he was being strangled. "Ma…it…st..stop." his voice squelch out as the fur began to solidify again. "It…hurts."
This was so wrong. His eyes almost seemed pleading. As pleading as a Grimm could look. But that was only for a moment. Those eyes suddenly began to burn with a desire all huntsmen knew.
The desire to kill.
William charged again only for Yatsu to forgo his sword, grab the couch with both hands, and literally whacked him in the face with the remains of the couch. Unexpectedly, it worked, the upwards diagonal strike had the back of his head scraping through the ceiling before landing on his back. Apparently, even getting his back spikes stuck in the floor.
Capitalizing on this would be key. "Yatsu, hold him down." The giant teen complied and forced the couch down on top of him. holding him down while digging his back spikes further into the floor.
One of his claws came for Yatsu's face only for Bun-bun to step in, jumping over the couch like an Olympic runner, and use her whole body to tackle and lock it down. Fox grabbed his feet just as a precaution. She and the huntsmen after opening his scroll join Yatsuhashi in holding the couch down.
"Glynda", the man began holding the couch down with both hands while holding his scroll to his ear by pressing his shoulder against it. "It's me Qrow. The Grimm kid's lost his shit. Me and a few students are tryin' to hold him down, but" he grunted as William struggled with a feral growl, "This kid is damn strong, we could use some help."
"We're in the…" he looked to them.
"Common Room, Southside, second floor!" they all yelled. Apparently loud enough for Ms. G to hear them.
He then proceeded to nod and say "yeah, okay."
All of team CFVY looked at him, their eyes asking 'well?'
"Yeah, she said she'll be here in ten minutes."
They didn't have ten minutes! They had him pinned, but William was already struggling to get up, managing to already knock the couch, and her teammates, an inch or two off of him. She doubted they had two minutes. It was taking everything they had to hold him down. No matter how hard she pushed down, the couch continued to rise up slowly.
"He's growing." Velvet yelled. Looking over to her, previously, the rabbit faunus covered his entire arm, but now it looked like it was already longer than her teammate's body.
This was bad.
She had to think. If hurting him only delayed him at best and tired them out at worst, this wasn't a fight they could win. They could probably escape, but then that would mean leaving a single huntsman to handle him or worse yet, releasing William upon Beacon.
Neither of those ideas would sit well with her.
She found the answer in a strange flashback.
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It was when she was a first-year and had been a team leader for all of two months. She and the rest of her team had just gotten their buts handed to them by their year's version of team CRDL, team ICBG (pronounced iceberg).
As she was peeling her face off the stage's floor while Fox and Velvet were trying to chisel Yatsu out of his icy prison. Apparently, Izzy's semblance was cryomancy, Mrs. Goodwitch explained as she loomed over them. She still feared the older woman's strict gaze to this day.
"Miss Adel, no matter how strong you and your teammates are, if you neither work together nor learn to properly utilize that strength, you will not go far in the world."
She, of course, had been right. In a one on one fight, her team could take any member of team ICBG without batting an eye. Their only real advantages were their leader's semblance and their teamwork. That was it.
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"Yatsuhashi." Coco barked looking at the tanned skinned man. "I want you to wipe Will's mind." She ordered. She knew what she was asking, but it was this, or someone got hurt. No matter how much it upset him to do so.
The teen in question looked at her, eyes wide as saucers. "Coco, I- I can't. I just can-"
"Yatsuhashi!" Coco yelled with such force even the Were-Grimm they were trying to pin down was shocked. "This isn't your sister. This", she pointed down, "is an out of control Were-Grimm and a friend trapped inside of it. We need to save him." she didn't tell him she wasn't even sure it would work, but he had enough to worry about right now.
The usually calm member of her team looked terrified at the very notion. She knew it, of all the people she knew, Yatsu was the very definition of 'gentle giant' and it killed her to ask this, but it was their only choice.
The couch creaked and began to bend upward in the middle. "Yatsuhasi, please do it!" Velvet yelled as William began lifting his arm in an attempt to swing her off of him.
"Please, Yatsu!"
"Yatsuhashi!"
"Kid!"
The rest of the people screamed. The couch was creaking and snapping. They didn't have any time left. This was do or die. The giant maw snapping at those holding the couch down was a good countdown. He was growing, expanding, and the only thing they have to pin him down was moments from snapping. This wasn't good.
"Just erase it until before this morning!"
"Fine!" the tallest in the room yelled as his eyes glowed faintly.
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When she had received Qrow's call, her heart had sunk the before she even answered it. She should have, she would have, known this would have happened to him. she had just never expected Miss Xiao Long to do something so vicious as to attack a defeated opponent. He had seen signs of her temper, it wasn't uncommon for her students to let their tempers flare, but nothing like this.
No, she had to focus. She once prided herself on her athleticism. Yet now, now she felt too slow. Her legs burned and stressed as she forced them to move as fast as they could. Any and all who were in her path instinctually ducked out of the way to clear a path for her. Their eyes told her they understood what the consequences of not doing so would be.
Why did she have to be in her office when all this occurred? Why hadn't she just invited William to her office like last time?
No, she needed to focus.
She had to remember what she taught her students; don't take long strides, they're inefficient, use shorter ones instead. Aim for landing on the middle of your foot, don't land on your heel. She had to be especially careful of that given her current footwear. Breath in and out through both the nose and mouth. don't rely on either solely or you risk either hyperventilating or simply not getting enough oxygen.
Her pace had not changed, but the burden of it previously had been greatly reduced. She felt she could go even farther. She may be a teacher and parent, but she was also the deputy headmistress of Beacon and a huntress. She needed to be calm and think things through.
As she sharply turned a corner, she assessed the situation a little more calmly. If this was like last time, William would have only been compulsing on the floor partially transforming. It had already been established that the severity of negative emotions caused proportionally severe effects. Following that line of thought, it isn't unimaginable that William would transform fully. However, did that account for him attacking others?
It was then that moment that she recalled Gretna's words. Had seeing Mercury Black being attacked triggered a relapse of some kind?
No…it was too unlikely.
She needed to focus. When she arrived, she would most likely need to rip William from his Grimm-like wrapping before keeping pressure on him until he passed out. While he could still transform in an unconscious state, she had seen no evidence that there would be any immediate danger from it. It would remain as a simple transformation so long as he wasn't conscious.
She hoped.
As she rounded another corner and climbed the stare with such speed most would think she was levitating herself to fly she heard the distinct sounds of crying. Of someone begging to make it stop.
…to end the pain.
She knew William's Grimm persona could be violent, but was it also capable of cruelty? Was it torturing another student? What of team CFVY or Qrow?
She felt her chest tighten as her stomach began doing loops. She would never forgive herself for her ward hurting students and she knew William would not forgive himself.
She rounded yet another corner, the lounge was just down the hall and the crying was getting softer-it was fading. Her blood ran cold. She had made it in less than six minutes. But was she too late?
Down the hall, she could see Velvet Scarlatina. She was on the floor leaning against something out of her view covered in red splotches.
Her heart fell as she no longer heard any sound coming from down the hall. Eyes tearing, she charged down the hall with all her strength before sliding to a stop in the destroyed remains of the common room.
All members of team CFVY were there looking up at her, even Velvet. Who seemed completely fine. Qrow was the only one standing, apparently caught mid-sip from his flask.
The room looked like it had been the sight of a war. Bone-like spikes protruded from everywhere were slowly dissolving into thin air. Most of the surrounding windows had been smashed, not even pretending to not notice the roughly eight-foot diameter hole in the wall or the countless smaller bullet holes radiating from it.
Yet, what caught her attention the most was William's head resting on Velvet's lap. It was not a severed head like she might have feared if she had considered team CFVY plus Q could have won, but rather the young wolf faunus was simply in his normal form resting on her lap. She could see his eyes were puffy and red. It looked as though he had been clutching his head before losing consciousness.
"What?"
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Ozpin, or as a rare few knew him Ozma, sat at his gear-themed desk as he did every day. The weight of what had transpired crushing his shoulders, forcing a sigh from his lips. Vale's council needed to be notified, the press needed a statement, the Mistral council needed an explanation, and the students needed to be reassured that this was not proper conduct. The problems just kept coming too quickly.
Given what he had just discussed with the next Fall Maiden candidate last night, he felt little motivation. As he did with Amber and so many who came before her. The thought that he was dooming another young woman to suffer such a curse….
The only comfort being this time the maiden candidates had supportive teams to help alleviate the pain.
However, now he had a new problem weighing on him.
Ozpin had opposed canceling the Vytal festival for two reasons. The first it showed Salem and her forces he feared them. He knew from his long history, that his ex-wife was not someone you showed fear to less she'd use it to destroy you.
The second was because it was the only way to draw out her forces. Salem's forces, for the most part, were unknown. Save for Hazel Rainart and most likely the White Fang. Though to what extent the latter was, he did not know.
He needed to find out who her latest pawns were. Qrow had encountered them when they attacked Amber, but his focus had been on saving the girl. His description was too vague. Two women and a man. One colored red, another green, and the last silver or grey. Not much to go on. Nor could they follow/arrest all who fit that description.
Yet he had no choice. If he called off the festival, what was to stop them from simply trying something else or just waiting a few years to try it again. Even if they weren't immortal like their master, two years was not a long time for the human lifespan. Nor could he just continue to cancel the tournament. Either his adversaries would move to a new target, or he would have to explain his reasoning and further risk the reveal of Salem and her forces.
Neither option was ever appealing.
Salem was adept at reading people's desires and promising them their greatest wish. Often doing so without the need for lying. That is what made her dangerous. If more people knew of her, then some desperate or greedy souls would promise to do anything for her to have their desires sated.
Then there was the question of if Salem and Yang assaulting Mercury was connected at all.
In his long life he wished, he truly wished, he could say that things like what had occurred did not. He had seen students enter his academies timider than field mice and leave more vicious than any Grimm. Though these were rare instances, they could not be discounted. Those who become strong can easily become arrogant.
And with arrogance, comes cruelty.
While the masses expected huntsmen, and to a lesser extent huntsmen-in-training, to act accordingly with respect and dignity. They were, at the end of the day, only human. Prone to the swaying of emotions and the stress and fatigue in combat. Match or not, combat was combat. He himself had made countless errors in judgment in the heat of the moment. Some so costly the rippling effect it had on the world has yet to cease.
Was this all simply the result of too much adrenalin or stress? Or was it the work of Salem?
While he had never interacted with Yang until after she started attending Beacon, he had known Tai Yang since he was her age and been forced to endure the man's incessant doting on her since the day she was born. He had honestly contemplated ending either Tai or himself if it meant making it stop.
Even if it was only until he possessed a new host.
By the gods, he almost considered sending the man on a suicide mission after Ruby was born. He had thought having two children would be enough of a distraction, not incite the blonde to torcher him with more doting stories than ever before.
Regardless, he did not believe she would do something like this intentionally. Even if she inherited Raven's attitude. Gods help him if she did.
He flipped on his scroll. He could see already dozens of emails were waiting in his inbox. He doubted they were all for a cream to prevent male pattern baldness.
How dire were things that he wished for spam mail?
Fortunately, the image Glynda sent him was some good news. According to the text, it seemed that Yatsuhashi Daichi's semblance stopped William mid-rampage. They would have to wait to see if there were any consequences to this.
In her message, Yatsuhashi estimated he temporarily erased the last eight hours or so of his memories. As a result, William would not regain his memories for the next eight hours.
Even if the effect needed to be reapplied, this would go a long way in keeping James and the council off his back and keeping William under control.
Speaking of which, he may need to press William more. It was too much of a coincidence that the very person he mentioned was attacked not even thirty minutes later.
There shouldn't have been any way for them to find out William had leaked Mercury's name. right?
Suddenly a text from Qrow pinged.
The Kid was on his scroll before shit hit the fan.
The ancient wizard only frowned. He pulled up the software on his computer that allowed him to view William's call log as well as allowed him to track calls and locate them.
It wasn't the Cavern Meadows Hotel like he was expecting, but someone on Beacon's grounds. Sadly, he could not determine the specifics. What he could confirm that it was most likely a burner scroll belonging to Neopolitan. This wasn't good.
However, this situation did not allow him to question William, at least not for the next eight hours. He would literally be unable to even remember the act of making a call, let alone its content. But what would be their plan?
According to Peter, Yang was claiming Mercury had made to attack her and it was self-defense. Could the enemy have some type of semblance that incited aggression?
There was no doubt in his mind Yang hadn't assaulted him on purpose, but that did not discount other factors such as blackmail, stress, deception, or some other factor he wasn't even considering.
Or was it all one big coincidence. Mercury getting attacked the same day William told them to investigate before William makes a call to Neopolitan.
No, probably not.
If he was in on it, he will try to do something soon. But first, he needed to make sure nothing else came crashing down on his head.
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Professor Plum sat at his desk devouring his meatball sub like it was the last meatball sub in existence. He was a stress eater, sue him. In the last two weeks, he had a research assistant try to blow him to kingdom come, his wife kept nagging him to join her book club, and now a student of Beacon, a student he had taught, had just attacked her opponent unprovoked.
He pulled out his scroll, "Hey Carla, yeah, it's me Plum. I'm gonna need another three meatball subs." He sighed, "-Extra sauce." He quickly added. The cafeteria's meatballs were always too dry.
"Oh, and a bag of chips for each sandwich."
His wife might kill him. Provided his doctor didn't beat her to the punch. he honestly didn't give a damn right know. After the Vytal Festival was over he was going to Vaccuo for vacation. Obsidian Bay Beach was nice this time of year. Maybe he could even get a tan.
Suddenly his scroll began ringing.
By the gods, if this was another telemarketer, he was going to invent a way to kill someone through the phone. He was in no mood for any of it. "Hello?" his voice came out as more of a grumble than he intended.
"Oh, headmaster", now was probably not a good time to piss him off before asking for vacation time, "What can I do for you?"
"Oh, the sword?" he hummed looking at the sword still safely locked behind the nearly two-foot thick acrylic blast-resistant examination case. The blade gleamed eerily black under the overhead light. Though, he felt it didn't have its usual ominous aura to it. Was it because he was not as close to as it before in an attempt to avoid corrupted by the sword's influence, or was he just getting used to it?
He would normally be over the moon to test a new theory, but today was just not the day. "No sir, I am looking at it as we speak."
"Of course sir. I wouldn't be dumb enough to make the code the same as the one to enter the lab." He lied through his teeth. He was too busy testing various things to bother remembering more than one passcode. "I'm not a hack."
"No sir, I've been here all day. Well, except for the occasional bathroom break- and lunch with my wife."
"And paperwork for Glynda."
"And to screen a new intern. By the way, what do you think of recruiting Miss Rose, I'm sure she would love to work on weapons research and development?"
"Hello?"
"Bastard hung up." he huffed. He also didn't bother mentioning he left for about an hour to sample all the festival foods. Sue him, he needed the calories to help him think. Besides, no one would be crazy enough to think his code was so simple.
/-/
She let a sigh escape her lips as her red hair flowed over the edge of the bed she was lying on like some kind of silky red waterfall. Emerald irises just stared at the ceiling. The large arms wrapped around her shoulder, keeping her warm and comforted. They were not overly muscular, but they were well defined nonetheless. They kept her calm and she hoped they would keep her safe.
After having met with Ozpin and his inner circle, Pyrrha's heart was too heavy to keep it to herself. If she did not have her rock named Jaune Arc she would have hesitated, potentially given in to sacrifice herself to save the first real friends she ever had and keep them away from the danger.
Now, however, she had someone else, well some others. A lover and two close friends. She had told them everything. She remembered their surprised faces. A small smile slipped her lips at the particular expression of the usually stoic Ren.
Nevertheless, the did not doubt her or taunt her. They did not write it off as some kind of joke or some figment of her imagination. But more telling, and more comforting, they were more concerned with her safety. They didn't care about the power she might wield, but the safety of herself and potentially her very soul.
Such a plan to transfer a portion of a person's very soul sounded like some kind of plot from Jaune's comics books at best and even simple blasphemy at worst. The soul was sacred, the very factor that separated a person from being a creature of Grimm. Would removing a soul, even if it was a portion, make Amber less of a person? Would she lose herself and merely become a new vessel for Amber? Or would the two of them meld into a single entity that was both Amber and Pyrrha, but neither at the same time?
When she expressed her concerns about these matters, Nora had said to just turn them down unless they could guarantee "all the power without any of the freaky head stuff". Her words.
Ren had suggested inquiring more about the maidens, their powers, what were any side effects, and several other questions she wished she had asked but was too overwhelmed at the time to ask.
Jaune gave her an answer that seemed to soothe her soul. He could have told her to do it or not and it would have ended there. Yet, after agreeing with Ren, he told her it was her choice.
HER choice. Something she had rarely ever been given. Yet all three of her teammates nodded in agreement that they would support her no matter the choice.
The very fact someone, especially someone she loved, not only was allowing her to make her own decisions but also willing to support her decision made her heart swell.
She had intended to meet with Professor Ozpin after the first day of the singles round, however, things quickly became complicated. She could not believe what she had seen. She and Yang had spared with one another numerous times as the top two students in their year. Yang could be aggressive and bordered vindictive towards those who tried to humiliate or insult Ruby for her age and size- granted she felt herself doing the same on a few occasions-, but nothing like this.
She just could not believe Yang would do anything like attacking someone unprovoked. It didn't make any sense.
Nora had suggested asking William to discern the truth. It was a solid plan with his ability to detect and interpret negative emotions.
However, Coco had dashed that hope. While she didn't go into too much detail in passing, but the gist of it was that the resulting negative emotions overwhelmed William, forcing him to transform into a Beowulf and attack her and her team. They had managed to subdue him and were assigned to guard William until he woke up again.
She had no idea how they could have beaten him without being worse for wear, but it was entirely possible they had means she did not. Though she wasn't sure if they were there to protect the Were-Grimm so much as subdue him if they needed to.
She knew it was for his own safety, but she didn't like it. If not for William, her relationship with Jaune would have remained stagnate.
"Jaune?" she asked shyly.
He leaned up in a way that allowed him to still cuddle her in his arm, "Yes Pyrrha?"
"Would you be willing to accompany me on a few errands?"
"Sure."
/-/
Sitting on the uncomfortable chair that had been her seat the last few hours, she let out a tired yawn. Ozpin had given her the day off to watch over William. Team CFVY was on standby outside both to subdue William should he lose control and then wipe his memories again as well as to guard against anyone who would potentially try to harm him.
Whether it was by intent or a moment of simple opportunity, it was already a known fact among both faculty, staff, and students that their local Were-Grimm became vulnerable in the event of intense negative emotions. She had the security cameras in the medical wing of Beacon feeding to scroll and set to alert her to anyone approaching the room. Between the cameras, team CFVY, and her own intuition, it was unlikely for anyone would make it to this room without her knowing.
They still did not know who it was that sent them to find William or why. However, it was plain to see that they wanted him out of that valley.
Anyone who would consider hurting her son will find how the human body was NOT meant to bend.
Looking up from her book, she looked at the sleeping face of the young man. Her mind couldn't help but smile at his sleeping face. He looked so at peace. It was a welcomed relief after everything that had happened.
After team CFVY had wiped William's memories he had begun crouching over in pain from the negative emotions. After losing consciousness, his body began to convulse and partially transform. As such, they had to sedate him. While the results may have been the same, it seemed that erasing the initial onset of the negative emotions drastically eased the stress, frequency, and severity of his transformations.
If the last time was an indication, she could expect him to wake up in the next hour or two. It was going on just past eleven.
I bet he will be hungry when he wakes up.
As she was pondering her dinner options and what her ward might like when a scroll began ringing. Looking at her own that was on the table next to her, she realized it was William's. It was resting on the table next to him along with his other personal effects.
She would have to have a talk with him about carrying around Beowulf fingers in his pockets later.
Yes, she knew it was a snack for him, but she was certain that if anyone else saw it they might think something far more… grim. By the gods, she must be tired to even make a pun like that.
The number on the scroll was one she didn't recognize. Curious she placed slide the green icon and held the device to her ear.
"Will, are you okay?" it was a female voice. A young one she did not recognize. Also, didn't William hate being called 'Will'?
"Will? Will are you there?"
She was curious who this girl was, but she wouldn't find anything out not responding.
"I am William's guardian, who is this?"
"…"
"Hello?"
"I-is Will okay?" her voiced cracked in the beginning but seemed to maintain a forced calm.
"William is fine." She answered. She could feel the concern in her voice even if she tried to hide it. "Now, will you please tell me your name? I will tell William you called." She was hiding her intent.
There was a rustling sound on the other end of the line for almost a solid minute. "…that isn't necessary. I'm… Neon Klatts. I, um, Will helped me and I just wanted to check on him. Thank you." She sped out before hanging up.
What an odd girl.
Curious, she skimmed through his scrolls call history, the number appeared to have called him more than a dozen times in the last few weeks. Forty-two in total in fact.
With several dating back to roughly two weeks after she had first met William…wait, what?
Her instincts as a huntress told her something was off. Pulling up her scroll, she logged into her faculty account. With it, she could see just about any piece of information regarding students on campus. It had become a requirement for huntsmen academies to forward one another student information for various purposes such as medical records for those with special conditions or they need treatment, police records, and, in the event of the worst-case scenario, contact information for next of kin. Additionally, each student is required to check in with the local huntsmen academy the moment they arrive.
She pulled up the profile.
Name: Neon Katt
Already a red flag for getting the name wrong.
According to the profile she arrived in Vale five days ago. There were even airship records present. She was never so grateful for Atlas' overzealous dedication to forms and procedures.
Unlike Vaccuo which has not provided any records of their students' trips since the first Vytal Festival.
Regardless, bells were going off in her head. Too many things didn't add up. she had wanted to make things so that William still had his freedom and that he could always come to her if need be.
Perhaps she had been too lenient on him.
She needed to make a call. The sorceress looked at her adopted son one last time before dialing the number.
"Ozpin, we need to talk. I think we might have a problem."
/The next day/
One might think for all the times he spent in the nurse's office, they would have a bed reserved for William at this point.
He hadn't expected himself to sleep till noon the next day. Nor had he expected Ms. Goodwitch to be so distant towards him. when Jaune and Pyrrha showed up with a get-well breakfast of pancakes she left the room. He couldn't recall actually hurting anyone…well hurting, hurting someone. At least he thought so.
Between losing control and Yatsuhashi's mind wipe, even if it had worn off, the details were still a little fuzzy.
No, she wasn't angry. It was more like she was concerned. It was as though she was waiting for him to admit a mistake. Or hoping to do so at least.
Maybe he should apologize to team CFVY first.
Speaking of which, for whatever reason, the weird feelings he was getting yesterday were gone. His "training" with Ms. Goodwitch had made them apparent to him, like he was connecting to something(s), but couldn't quite get it.
If he remembered correctly, just before Yang's "attack" on Mercury he had felt one move very far from him while the other remained had all but disappeared.
Now, both were gone, and he still had no idea what they even were.
There was also the matter of Pyrrha. While she hadn't been direct about it. he could tell that she had recently had a large weight lifted from her shoulders. She wouldn't explain what it was. Only that he had helped her somehow and because of that she could make an informed decision.
Was everyone trying to be vague about stuff?
He could tell whatever it was had stressed her out, he could still feel the residual amounts of stress on her psyche, but ironically, because her stress had been alleviated, he couldn't read her emotions too clearly.
He tried to read Jaune's emotions, but well, he couldn't stop drifting towards Pyrrha in her abnormally casual attire. Usually, she only dressed in either her school uniform or her combat gear. This time she was dressed in an orange blouse with tight blue jeans. Tight enough that Jaune would steal glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking.
Little did he know, obvious to everyone, she was well aware.
The flirtatious nature of it all made him almost lose his appetite. Perhaps this was what Ms. Goodwitch had meant when she told him not to meddle with people's love lives.
There was an air about the two that made him uncomfortable. He should be happy he couldn't sense their emotions too well, but it just wasn't worth it. he honestly felt like he might barf if they start giving each other cutesy nicknames.
No, I need a distraction. "Thanks for the pancakes guys." He said swallowing another three pancakes.
"No problem William." Jaune replied, "I got the recipe from Ren." That made sense. given what he knew about the two, it wasn't uncommon for him to make Nora pancakes by the dozens. If her stories were to be believed, she might even be able to out-eat him when it comes to pancakes.
"Isn't my Jauney-waney just the best." The red-haired spartan gushed.
The Were-Grimm felt himself gag a little as team CFVY knocked three times on the door to single someone who wasn't an enemy was approaching.
Within the next minute, the visage of James Ironwood stood before the three students.
"William Beorthwulf, I need you to come with me. Now."
By the gods why? Please don't let this get any worse!
/-/
By the gods why? Please don't let this get any worse! Yang prayed to whatever god would listen as she made her way down the hallway wearing a white and black jacket, matching boots, dark sunglasses, and her usual blonde hair tied in a ponytail hidden under a red cloak with two Atlesian guards in front and behind her with Weiss' older sister leading the group.
She was grateful they had at least allowed her to wear her disguise, even if it didn't fit right. If one were to look closely, they could see that the clothes she was wearing were too tight in some places. Not in a sexy, 'show off the goods' kind of way, but more of an 'I am going to need the jaws of life to remove them later' kind of way. These clothes had come from her teammates. As one might have expected her habit of choosing more revealing clothing had not given her a lot of options. With her aura and semblance keeping her warm through even the worst winter vale had had in twenty years, there had never been a real reason to buy warmer clothing.
If things continued where she had to hide her face, she would have to have her teammates go and buy her some clothes that could cover her up.
Then again, depending on this meeting, that might not be necessary. It was her meeting with professor Ozpin.
Her heart was racing so fast she felt she might die before even meeting him.
She had given her statement to professor Port when she was taken out of the arena the night before. Since then, she had had Atlesian soldiers outside her door and even follow her to the bathroom. She wouldn't have been surprised if they would have followed her into the stall. She was glad they didn't, but the way they acted it wouldn't have surprised her.
If it wasn't for her teammates, her friends, she might not have been able to even walk in Ozpin's direction.
Not that she could believe what was happening. She knew what she saw, Mercury had attacked her. There wasn't a doubt in her mind. At least that's what she's been telling herself.
She knew what she saw, she really did…but, there was still the video…uh, the video. How could what she saw be so different. It just didn't make any sense.
Since then, she had only left her dorm room to use the toilet and to take a shower. she was glad they had given her a female guard. She honestly didn't think she could have showered with a guy sitting outside.
Anytime she had left, anyone who saw her looked at her like she was a monster. Even if they didn't say anything, their gazes, their body language, everything about how they avoided and watched her told her they believed she had done it and there was no changing their mind. Even without a word, she could feel their distrust and anger burrowing through her skin.
If this was anything like what William felt on a daily basis, she couldn't fathom how he could even muster a smile, let alone make it through the day.
Even the soldiers surrounding her had made up their minds without any chance of her defending herself. They hadn't said anything, but the way they looked- the glimpses she got of them through their helmets-, told her all she needed to know. Winter herself had all but called what happened as a dishonor. She didn't show it, but the real ice queen had already written her off as having done it.
Hence the uncomfortable silence she had to endure.
She would give anything to have her team her as moral support. Even if they couldn't add anything to her testimony, just their presence would have been more than enough.
Secretly she was hoping that Ozpin would at least listen to her.
/-/
She was brought to a room she had never been before. It looked like it was probably some type of conference room. It was an incredibly spacious rectangular room with two entrances, whiteboards taking up both of the short sides of the room and an overhead projector mounted from the ceiling. In the middle of the room was a long oval redwood desk with about twenty chairs arranged evenly spaced around it. in the middle of the table on the side opposite the double doors she had been led through. To his right was Ms. Goodwitch and to his left was general Ironwood.
"Specialist, you and your men are dismissed. Make sure we are not disturbed." The general ordered. After saluting, the soldiers filed out of the room leaving the four of them behind.
Yang just stood there unsure of what to do.
"You may have a seat miss Xiao Long, let me assure you no harm will come to you hear." Ozpin gestured to the chair in front of him. "We merely wish to hear your side of the story."
At least they're willing to listen. Yang relaxed somewhat as she took the seat directly across from him.
"Now tell us what happened from the beginning."
Yang explained her side of the story from what happened after the buzzard sounded Mercury's defeat. She hadn't felt like her story had changed much. How she saw Mercury attack her. How it was self-defense. She did her best not to leave anything out and keep to her original story because it was the truth. Then again, the only real difference between what she told professor Port last night and now was that she had more time to process the situation and could form her thoughts and speak more clearly.
/-/
"I see." The headmaster responded to the end of her account of that night. That was all he had said.
The general had interrupted on more than a few occasions. Between his tone and attitude, she felt like he thought she was just some kid who was making up an outlandish story just to avoid getting trouble.
Ms. G was somewhere else. It seemed like her mind wasn't in it. she honestly had never seen her like this. It was a little unnerving, to be honest.
Probably noticing her looking at her, the woman in question decided to speak up, "Miss Xiao Long is on the more aggressive side of students in my combat class and has been known to charge in with more force than is necessary." She said making Yang's shoulders slump, "aside from her sister miss Rose whom I have been forced to not pair with anymore less she goes easy on her", she added making her shrink even more.
"However", she continued, "there has been no report of anything to this magnitude. I am comfortable saying she did not do this on purpose."
Her heart rose in her chest, until... "While that might mean she did not do it intentionally, it does not prove she didn't do it by accident," Ironwood interjected. "In the heat of battle, it is common for a person's judgment to be clouded. A person could see things that were never there. Even afterward." He rounded his right should almost as though he was trying to shrug off something.
He was just like the others. To him, the jury had already found her guilty and issued her sentence. "I swear I didn't!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" he shouted, headmaster Ozpin rubbing his ringing ears as he eyed the man who offered a small, "Sorry."
Coughing into his hand, Ozpin decided to take the reins, "I'll take over from here. Thank you, James."
"Miss Xiao Long, despite what you saw or what happened, the world saw you attack Mercury Black", Yang opened her mouth to respond, but was shut down immediately, "Unprovoked."
The blonde shrunk back.
"As a result," he continued, "team RWBY will be disqualified from the tournament. Furthermore, you will be serving six weeks detention with Ms. Goodwitch," he gestured to the woman to his right, "You will also undergo anger management counseling as well as make a public apology."
She just looked at him. That was too light. She knew she should be happy, but this was just...too light. She knew she wasn't wrong. She knew it.
That just didn't stop her mind from coming up with punishments such as expulsion, jail time, or potentially banishment for the four kingdoms. While she didn't have any plans to apologize, everything told her she probably wouldn't have much of a choice.
This was still better than she imagined she would get.
The general looked at the grey-haired man with the same expression she probably was. "Ozpin that is too lenient-" the man suddenly raised his hand to stop him.
"For now." His voice was solemn. Emotionless and cold. "Mr. Black and his team are on their way back to Mistral to be with his family. When he enters the range of a CCT tower we will hear his side of the story. If he chooses to press charges for assault, you will be on your own."
"But-"
"No buts." He silenced her. "Yang, I do not believe you are a violent person. Nor do I believe you did this intentionally."
His eyes for the first time since they had met showed genuine concern. "Beacon has rules about these situations. When you, as all students of the four academies, arrived at Beacon you signed a set of documents saying you would not sue the academy, or your fellow students in the event of injury and another similar set when you were registered for the Vytal Festival."
She remembered. Weiss had made them groom through each and every single page. From what she recalled it was about the same as what he said. Also, that they would pay for their medical expenses.
He sighed heavily, "Accidents happen. Students have been injured far more seriously than Mercury." His voice grew colder and more remorseful with each word, "Some to the point of having to relinquish their ability to become huntsmen." His eyes glazing over as though to stop the tears.
Yang looked at him quizzically. "But then why am I on my own when-if" she corrected herself, "he decides to sue me?"
This time miss Goodwitch spoke. "It has to deal with both the wording of the Vytal Festival liability waiver."
"It covers injury in combat; however, the word can be interpreted in such a way that anything outside of combat or when combat is perceived to be over leaves an opening. Additionally, there are clauses regarding unsportsmanlike conduct, causing an international incident, and harm outside of combat that can result in harm to a competitor's ability to perform their duties as a huntsman in training."
All things that could apply to her.
"I would recommend preparing a letter of apology," Ozpin added. "It might help persuade Mr. Black from pursuing charges if his injury is not too severe."
"Do keep in mind miss Xiao Long," the sorceress' tone called her attention to the woman, "Everything we have said as punishment is to both placate the public and hopefully ease things from now on. If you refuse this at every step, you very well could face potential incarceration depending on Mr. Black's discretion."
She wanted to fight, to argue. Yet, she couldn't muster it. she knew what she saw, but the world around her disagreed. She was being given a chance to continue training as a huntress, to be a part of Team RWBY. She didn't want to admit it when she knew she wasn't wrong, but she didn't want to leave her team. Leave her sister, her girlfriend, or even Weiss.
She just couldn't do it. "I understand professor."
/-/
After Yang agreed to their terms, Glynda saw her out to her dorm. He had suggested it as a way to prevent the students from escalating things. He did not want to believe such a thing was possible, nor did he want to scare the girl, but if his long time in this world had told him anything, mankind was quick to burn someone at the stake.
Fortunately, they no longer did that literally.
Miss Xiao Long had initially refused, but when he pointed out no one would dare even think of doing anything around Beacon's Deputy Headmistress, she could not argue.
The elderly wizard was relieved his excuse had been believed. While it had not been a lie, it was not the whole truth. The real reason was that Glynda wanted to act as the last line to prevent William from escaping.
He had honestly been surprised when she discovered that William and Neopolitan were seeing one another. She was even more livid when she found out what we were planning to test William's loyalty.
Given that Pyrrha had already refused their offer this morning after inquiring further detail, they were potentially shooting themselves in the foot, weakening their fighting power.
Every day they are without a maiden is a day closer to Amber's health failing and her attacker gaining the rest of her power.
Factor in the boon William could bring in destructive force alone and they were only weakening themselves.
But that could wait, they had to see if the young man truly was a traitor.
"You can come in, Mr. Beorthwulf."
If William was a traitor, he would undoubtedly try to fan the flames. That was why he had Qrow spying on him while he was in the infirmary.
The fact he did not, meant his connection to Neopolitan might differ from what they initially thought.
The door opposite the one Yang and Glynda had exited from opened. A pink-haired wolf faunus with splotches of black entered the room. Oddly enough, the remainder of his left ear seemed to twitch a little.
Was that a sign of nervousness?
William moved to take the seat opposite him. James had not moved, but if all went according to plan, his soldiers were not guarding the only two exits to this room from the outside. Winter with a team of four guarding the exit and Qrow with another team of four guarding the other one.
It had taken some time to get James to calm down, but between that, Qrow's drunkenness, Winter's desire to please James, and the soldiers only being given vague orders without any specifics, no one should have tipped William off to their plans.
Now to get this show on the road. "Now William, what can you tell us about miss Xiao Long's claims?"
He took a deep breath while appearing to choose his words carefully. There was a clear nervousness in his eyes before they slowly became clearer. "I think she believes it." his voice came out quick and a little harsher than normal. Almost as though he wanted to end the conversation as quickly as possible.
Thankfully, he had James playing to his strengths. "So, you believe she didn't do it?"
"N-No, well yes. I mean…ugh," he took another deep breath to calm himself, "I'm saying she doesn't believe it. I couldn't tell you if it was true or not without meeting with Mercury himself."
The grey-haired man studied him for a moment, "Hmmm, and what do you think?"
He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. His eyes darted back and forth for a bit like he was pondering something.
"I believe she is under a lot of stress. Maybe if we got her and the rest of the team away from Beacon for a little bit, it could help. Maybe to Patch."
"I see, but why her whole team?" The general decided to add to the conversation, "I hope you aren't planning on being alone with four young women in a single house?"
The wolf faunus' eyes almost doubled in size, "I swear it isn't like that if Ms. Goodwitch found out she'd skin me alive." He all but shouted, his eyes looking around with a prayer in them that his guardian did not hear the general's comments.
At least that proves he feared Glynda. The question was whether it was because he was loyal to them or just not an idiot.
"Then why her whole team, why not just send her home?"
William seemed to relax at the question, "two reasons. Reason number one", he held up a finger, "It gives Yang a support system of people that care about her and that she trusts. And two," he raised another finger, "When a member of a huntsmen team succeeds, they all succeed, but if one is believed to be violent the rest of the team will be seen in the same light."
"I doubt either of you need to be a Were-Grimm to know that there already students, faculty, and even a few teachers who even believe she did it. There are people contemplating breaking Jaune in half for kissing Pyrrha, how long do you think it would take for some to try something. Whether she did it or not, we both know they are going to blame her for it."
There was a wave of honest anger in his voice. There was no doubt he meant his words. And his reasoning was sound. Was he just concerned for his friends?
"Actually", William continued, "It might be a good idea to include team JNPR."
He and Ironwood looked at each other, an eyebrow raised. "And why is that?"
He shrugged, "more support and so Jaune doesn't have to worry about someone spiking his scrambled eggs with broken glass."
The headmaster's eyes almost shot out of his skull, "Do you genuinely believe someone would wish to harm Mr. Arc?"
He sighed tiredly, "Maybe. Pyrrha has a LOT of fans. It wouldn't surprise me if some of her more…verbose fans tried something. I don't think the civilians would try anything, but you don't have to attack someone to harm them."
"I assure you that Mr. Arc is safe. We have already had security keeping an eye on them and given our cafeterias staff, I doubt anyone would be willing to try tampering with his food." Ozpin answered.
William's eyes flickered for a second, he looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't for some reason. "I'm just trying to help my friends, that's all." His voice said he was being honest, but he could tell there was something more to it.
The man smiled, "I can sympathize with you."
"So, you'll let team RWBY leave?" the sparkles in his eyes almost made him want to say 'yes'.
"I'm afraid I cannot do that." He replied as the young man's facial features all but drooped.
"Why the longer they stay here the worse it's going to be for them. Wouldn't it be better to take them somewhere they can stay out of the public eye for a while?"
"I understand William, I really do. However, I cannot have Team RWBY out of my sight."
"WHY?!" he bashed his fist on the table. The reverberations echoed through the entire room. He quietly mouth 'sorry'.
His eyes glanced at the cyborg next to him. "Team RWBY, or more specifically, Yang Xiao Long was involved in an interkingdom incident. If they leave, it will lead many to believe it an admission of guilt."
Too many people are willing to jump to conclusions believing that individuals will only flee or recluse themselves if they are guilty. They never have to deal with reporters invading their personal space, showing up at their door at all hours of the day and night, and every person they pass in the street looking at them like they were a pariah. He could sympathize with that line of thought, he really could, but something was off. His eyes, breathing, body language, there was something not right.
He was nervous. Maybe even fearful.
"BUT-", his voice roared before lowering the volume. It was clear it came out louder than he intended. "But what about Yang and the rest of her team. Are you really going to put an entire team of students through this all so some people what…? Don't think their bad people?", he let out a snort, "News flash, people already think Yang, and her whole team for that matter, are a bunch of lunatics!" he rose slamming his hands on the desk.
He pointed a finger at the general, "And do you DARE say otherwise. I", he jerked his thumb back towards himself, "Have been sensing their negativity since I woke up and believe me when I say it is bad out there."
He was right, there were Mistral students demanding an explanation along with miss Xiao Long's incarceration. The students of Beacon who weren't defending her were giving every little incident she was involved in as evidence of a violent nature and this was not even counting the other two schools. Atlas saw it as a violation of the rules of engagement and frowned upon it in almost the same way one would break formation while Shade took a more 'as long as you're not an ass, then shit happens' type of approach.
He wasn't sure which was better or worse.
And this was to say nothing of the millions of people from across the four kingdoms calling, emailing, or just trying to barge on to the campus demanding Yang's head.
Ozpin remained calm, not even getting up from his seat. "The council of Vale has ordered us to keep them under surveillance. We will keep them safe and once cooler heads prevail; we will have this all sorted out." He lied. Well, half-lied. With the festival and all the tension, not to mention Grimm attacks, they couldn't really go to trial until after the festival. The last part was more wishful thinking than anything else.
The wolf faunus had not sat down, he looked at them like he was a caged man trying to find a way out, any way out, he could use.
"W-What about supervising." He said almost desperate to make the thoughts in his mind form. "You could have someone you trust, yeah, someone the council wouldn't object to watching them on patch."
He was desperate. The younger man wasn't even trying to hide it now. His shallow breaths were starting to come out more frequently.
"William", the headmaster sighed, "Why are you so deadest on getting team RWBY out of Vale?" This would probably be the last leg of their conversation. William looked desperate. If it didn't come across as too racist, he'd call him a cornered animal."
"B-b-because…" He paused. He wanted to counter, that was clear, but there was nothing coming out.
"Well, we're waiting," James said in a voice more akin to steel. Cold and emotionless. It would seem he too knew where this was going. "If you can't give us a reason, then we will just call the meeting to an end."
The general had given him their ultimatum.
"No, no, wait a minute." The wolf faunus pushed his hands in a forward motion. "Just give me a second."
James' anger mixed with his stoney mask. "If you can't give us a reason in the next ten seconds we are done here."
"I just need more time."
"More time for what?" James Barked, "To come up with some way to twist things around?"
"To manipulate people?"
"Why should we even believe anything you have to say?"
James laid his questions in such rapid-fire it felt as though William could not keep up. between the older man shouting and being overbearing and the younger man perspiring the room's temperature was rising rapidly.
"Because they're in danger! The attack will be soon!" the young man shouted only to look like he had let too much slip out.
The hands over his mouth were just the cherry on top with his eyes as wide as saucers.
The general grinned like a trapper whose prey had walked right into his trap, rising to his feet. "Would you care to explain what you mean?"
Welp, William you done goofed.
Is it weird that I haven't mentioned William's left ear was cut in half in so long? I mean it feels like it should have been something I reference more. It is a pretty distinguishing trait.
Anyway, stay safe people and remember to wash your hands.
Also, please remember to comment and give me your opinion. Each comment and PM, helps me make better chapters for you to enjoy.