Enslaved To A Flame

by ShadowedSword21

Roman has never had just one trick up his sleeve. With the stakes rising rapidly, he enlists his Ace. A man who is both an accomplished thief and assassin. His mission? Capture or kill Ruby Rose. His freedom is riding on this task, but innocent souls have a knack for shifting perspectives. Reboot. Warning for darker themes in later chapters. OC

7. Living Nightmares

Enslaved To A Flame

Chapter 7

Living Nightmares

He was trapped in the nightmare as soon as his head hit the pillow and his eyes closed. The day had been long, and his emotions tried and worn. His mask fractured, a crack in it betraying his thoughts. Nightmares always invaded through them, plaguing him, making it weaker, betraying his abilities.

William should have known better than to even attempt to go to sleep with his mind frazzled and his thoughts mixed and in a jumble. He went to bed anything though, and now he was paying the price, reliving a memory that made him sick to his stomach.

The moonlight filtered through the dirty warehouse window. It was past midnight, but a few hours before dawn. William always worked during the night when he was younger, and this memory was no exception. He was young at the time, ten or twelve, no older. He had become a murderer that young.

He had messed up, an infiltration that wasn't completely silent. He'd slid through the ductwork, popping out a vent. He hadn't caught it fast enough, a corner nicking the catwalk, leaving a clear metallic ring throughout the facility. He had silenced it as quickly as it came, restraining the vent cap with a dozen wires that pulled the rest of the vibrations out of it.

The mistake was already made though, and the security alerted. Two night guards, patrolling around the warehouse. Its was a low risk target tonight, a simple part for one of Roman's tinkering designs. In retrospect, William could now see that those parts contributed to the enhancement of the serum Roman used for torture.

He had cleared the catwalk and slid into hiding behind the crates lining the warehouse floor. Thirty minutes of waiting, then fifteen minutes to find his target. He stored it in a leather pouch, rushing back to his entry point. Only to stop, ice freezing his veins as shock and panic filtered through his system.

To this day he could make out the security guard, his head turning up from the discarded vent cap on the floor. He felt the bunching on his muscles as he pulled Moonlight Sonata off his back, wielding it like a claymore rather than a single handed sword. He could see the surprise flashing in the man's violet eyes as silver sliced through flesh and cloth.

That was the first time he had killed a man. Blood trickled down the blade, staining his hands and the sleeves of his shirt. He had made a mistake back then, lingering as he stared at the body, frozen in shock at his own reaction.

Blood poured out of the wound, a diagonal slash, across his throat and down the left side of his body. His voice wheezed, air whooshing in and out of his lips, his violet eyes burning bright against the dark. For a moment the man saw beyond William, a thousand yard stare that looked upon something far more important than his killer.

One word slipped out of his lips. It didn't take a genius to put together it was a name, of either a lover or a child, the man was old enough to be a father. William had made it out of the facility without a scratch or blunder after that. He never told Roman about it. Never spoke a word about the nightmares that started after that.

Tonight was no different, the corpse haunting his mind. The man had a family. The man had a wife or a daughter or someone. He had to. That name had to be something. And William had ripped that away from him, severed the bond and ended that life. Just as he had so many others.

He woke up to his own scream. A cry from his throat to stop. Because he couldn't bear to see the first murder that corrupted his soul and stained his hands to happen again. William couldn't withstand the surge of darkness and sorrow from that one event, that one twist of fate that swallowed his soul and plunged him into the darkness for good.

Tears had streaked down his cheeks. He felt them in the cool darkness of the tent, a hot splash against the icy cold sweats that claimed the rest of his body. He tore the blankets off his body, ripping off his shirt as he panicked to get calm. He needed time. He needed quiet. A place to settle his mind before anything happened.

"William?"

Moonlight Sonata appeared in his hands. There wasn't a thought of where or how he pulled it out, his semblance yanked it into his hands as he pounced the intruder. His full weight sent them to the ground, one hand over a pair of soft lips, the back of his sword against that same wrist, the point leveled at the throat, the tip pressed against the soft vulnerable flesh.

He didn't know who snuck into his tent or how they knew his name. Roman never sent another man with William. He acted solo, had since the first incident.

William's shoulders tightened, the muscles easing the blade back a fraction as he shifted, preparing to slam the weapon down, through any resistance his attacker could make as well as their throat.

Moonlight made him pause. A slender beam lighting upon the body under him. Soft brown ears, light brown eyes filled with terror. Tears were in her eyes, but William's hand had kept her silent. Velvet.

For a moment her ears turned white, her eyes turning a darker shade of brown. Blood trickled off his sword, staining her porcelain skin, pooling in the hollow of her throat. He could almost hear her voice as well, pleading for her life, begging him to save her.

He threw himself off Velvet nearly as quickly as he had taken her to the ground. He threw Moonlight Sonata, careless of the direction, so long as it wasn't anywhere near her. He felt his stomach turn, disgust and shock making it clench. He barely pushed himself to his hands and knees before it pushed up, the contents dumping out of his mouth onto the ground.

Velvet was silent as William vomited onto the ground. She didn't react when he rolled to the side, one hand to his head, the other clenched in a fist. His wide sea green eyes looking over, soaking in every detail of her expression.

Now he saw it. Coco hadn't given him that expression, but he saw it in perfect clarity with Velvet. The look of horror on her face, terror in her soft brown eyes. The way her lips parted, every muscle in her legs and arms tensed. It wasn't a fighting reaction, no she was about to run. The way she shook, her legs trembling, likely paralysed with fear.

William shook his head, staggering to his feet as he looked at her a final time. He'd crossed the line. That was it. He turned on his heels, taking off into the darkness. He didn't care that he was dressed only in his pants, not even his boots on his feet. His only protection his semblance as a Aura Blade. None of that crossed his mind.

What did cross his mind was how close he was. How easy he had almost ended yet another life. A practiced easy stroke that he'd performed time and time again. And this time, he had almost taken an innocent life. He could fool himself that some of the men he'd killed over the years were bad men, slavers and drug dealers, arms dealers and mob boss's. But they still chased him, asking him what right did he have to end their life.

So he ran. His bare feet thudding against the forest floor. He didn't care he was leaving tracks so blatant a bat could see them. He just needed to get away. Away from the girl he almost killed that reminded him too much of yet another life he should have saved. Away from the woman that believed he couldn't kill her because of a silly reason like seeing something in him.

William didn't keep track of how long he ran. Long enough for his feet to finally blister and bleed. For the cut on his thigh to start pulsing, bleeding through the bandage, torn open by the pounding of the earth and the flexing of muscle. And when he had decided he ran long enough, William simply collapsed.

He hit the ground, tumbling around and ending in a lightly curled ball. He closed his eyes, listening to his own heart and focusing on his breathing. He had to calm down. He had to steady himself. He needed to put himself back together. Because if he fell apart one more time, he won't be able to handle it.

He forced his thoughts on something he could handle. Pain. The ache in his soles, run raw from the pine cones, rocks and twigs he'd stomped through in his path. Roman had taught him long ago how to manage pain. How to push it to the back of his mind, to completely ignore crippling pain and work through it as if the injury wasn't even there. There wasn't a physical pain William wasn't familiar with, that was something he was willing to bet on.

His Aura wrapped around his feet, pulsing brightly as it stopped the bleeding, taking the pain out of the wound. His skin would reknit slowly, a time consuming process, or perhaps the Aura would replace it entirely. William didn't care. All he wanted was a distraction. Something to keep his rampant thoughts away, and his mission in mind.

A shaky laugh climbed out of his throat as William sat in the darkness. A low chuckle directed at himself. He was hopeless. He should have made this mission quick and clean. He had the perfect chance to kill Ruby. He should have taken it, slit her throat and torn through her Aura. Gouged out her throat and been on his way.

He could have disappeared long before someone found her body. Long before they analysed her wounds and found out who had murdered her. But he hadn't. He had hesitated and now he was paying the price. Immersion into a weak society that was tugging at the fraying ends of his heart that should have been clipped and burned off long ago.

He snarled, shaking his thoughts away. Focus.

Focus.

Survive the mission.

Get back to Beacon.

Complete Roman's mission.

Kill Ruby Rose.

Escape.

William nodded at himself, taking a few deep breaths. Nothing else mattered. Not his masks. Not this mission. Not Coco or Fox. Not why Coco cared about his safety. Not why Ozpin would always stare into his soul. Not why he felt his heart shriek when Velvet looked at him and shied away. And not what he thought about team CFVY. And certainly not what they thought of him. He would be a fleeting memory to them that would wither and fade.

Another hour passed, and William used that hour to sort through his thoughts and clarify his situation. He couldn't escape. Roman would find him. There wasn't a way out. He had to complete the job, in one way or another. He had to finish the job, not necessarily killing Ruby, but the main mission. Then he would be free.

He'd escape his father's debt. Roman would let him loose. He'd no longer be just a possession, just another slave. He'd be human again.

'With the blood on your hands?' His mind asked. 'You're nothing more than a murderer and you know it.'

"Perhaps." William replied, as he always did when his mind forced that question on him. Blood stained his hands and he knew it. Some of it by choice, some because he had no choice. Some of it was innocent blood, but there was also a great deal of dirty filthy blood on his hands, spewed from crime lords and killers just like Roman.

The scent of tea leaves and mint told him exactly who was coming. He had already distinguished each member of team CFVY's scent, memorizing it as if it was a fingerprint or a voice. He didn't turn around as the man approached, nor when he heard the soft scrape of steel sliding free of a scabbard.

"You really should kill me." William advised on a whim. "It would end up better for all of us."

"Perhaps I should." Yatsuhashi agreed. "But that isn't what I wanted to do. To kill man is to become something less than human, especially when he has not truly deserved it."

His words were generalized, but the words still made William grimace. Less than human, just like Roman always said. He swallowed the emotions, guilty, pain, pity, regret, and instead put on a smirk.

"Even if I'm a murderer myself?" He asked, turning to look at the large man.

The heavy sword sunk into the ground, just enough to keep it standing as Yatsuhashi sat down.

"That does not matter. What does matter is right now, at this moment. Your past does not define you." Yatushashi replied. "What I need you to do now is not to die. I need you to talk."

William bristled, his shoulders tightening. Yatsuhashi didn't know anything. The man wasn't clever enough to put together all of William's clues and hints and sarcastic comments and careful wording. "There isn't anything to talk about. Just kill me. Velvet would feel much safer."

William didn't need to know how to romance to know that the Faunus and the samurai were attracted. He knew enough about affection to see it in their eyes, the hasty glances, the more than friendly way Velvet always checked in on him. How they fought side by side and trusted each other completely.

William wasn't sure what was pushing him. He could win in a fight against Yatsuhashi. He knew he could. But he still wanted that fight. That rush of adrenaline that rested on the edge of death. If he was lucky he would end up slaughtered, carelessness killing him. He never was though. Roman had drilled survival and tenacity into him far too many times for him to die so easily.

"Why do you want to die?"

"It would be better for everyone if I had never existed." William replied honestly. He knew it would be. Roman wouldn't have risen as high in the Underground as he had if William hadn't been by his side, gaining territory, serving as an assassin to expand his influence, reinforce his threats and capitalize on weakness. Without him, Roman would be just above a gang boss, nothing noteworthy, and certainly not someone Cinder would have contacted.

"Why do you say that?"

"Reasons you don't need to know."

"That may be true. But it effects my team and I'd like to know. If you cannot answer that, tell me why you are afraid you will hurt my teammates."

William felt the loaded question as soon as it left Yatsuhashi's mouth. He smiled, looking up at him. "You know I could. Whether you recognize it or not, Velvet could have died tonight. Moonlight and memory saved her tonight, nothing more. And even before that, Coco shouldn't have pushed me that far, any further and I wouldn't have given a damn what she thought."

"We both know there is a lie in your apparent truth."

"You're lacking a point with your philosophy samurai." William snapped. "Get to a point or get the hell away. I'll make my own way back to Beacon."

The samurai got to his feet, stretching before he picked up his sword, turning and sweeping it around. The blade stopped, resting gently on William's jaw.

"I can kill you right now. But I don't. Because I want to know you. You are a mystery that has given my partner pause, and made her hurt inside. You make her sad when she looks at you. She calls you a wounded wolf. A beast so wounded you'll snap at anything. And I want to know why. And then I want to fix it. All of us do. Coco and Fox especially. You've really peaked Fox's interest."

William snorted. "So what? Now I'm a charity case? I'm something for you to fix? What if I don't want to be fixed. Why can't I just be put down like the wounded dog I am? Huh?" He said sharply, glaring openly at the bigger man. "Why can't you do that? I'm scum. I'm deserve to die. Everyone's been telling me that for seventeen years and I think at this point I've started to believe it. Anyone who has believed in me is dead. So you know what I've dealt with? I've dealt with pain, hate and life generally being a bitch. That makes me bitter. So I think I have a pretty damn good reason for wanting to be dead. Huh?" He barked, his tone angry as he rose up on one arm to better glare at the man.

Yatsuhashi chuckled, smiling. "Well. We believe in you."

William opened his mouth for a snappy retort, and then fell silent. He held his expression for a moment, and then growled, throwing himself down again.

"Come on back. We're waiting on you." Yatsuhashi said, getting up. "We're waiting for the W in the team to stop being stupid and get in his bed so we can all go back to sleep. Velvet isn't mad at you. Neither am I. We know you have some trouble in your past." William snorted at that. "And we forgive you. We're ready for some problems with that." He held out a hand for William.

William groaned, staring at it. "I don't believe you." Then he took the offered hand, pulling himself up, the light casting light on the scars decorating his body. Yatushashi didn't stare, didn't seem to notice, except for a quirk of the lips. "But since you didn't kill me. I'll give you the benefit of a doubt." He finished with a heavy sigh. "But I can't go to sleep. Not after the nightmare I just had."

Yatsuhashi nodded. "Then I'm sure Velvet would like company. You should talk. Open up. She'll understand better than anyone else."

William snorted. "Right. Because I've only tried to kill her once. Of course. She'll instantly understand all of my heartfelt problems." He replied.

"She may." Yatsuhashi replied with a smile. He didn't wait for William's reply and instead walked away in the direction of the camp.

William let out a frustrated snarl. They were too soft, to forgiving. They would regret it when his mission was finished. They would regret not killing him right here and right now.

"Again. I doubt it." William muttered, following the giant back to camp. Coco and Fox were waiting on them. Velvet was sitting by the fire, nursing a cup of what William assumed was tea. She was calming her nerves. Her ears pulled flat to the top of her head.

At their approach Coco and Fox slipped into their shared tent. Yatushashi joined Velvet of a moment, touching her shoulder, giving her a smile before returning to his bed. And then he too retired, leaving Velvet, the victim, with William, the monster.

The rabbit faunus was silent for quite some time before she spoke, catching William by surprise. He stood far enough away from her to give her plenty of space, and allowing her to avoid looking at him if she desired, but close enough for her to tell him to leave without waking the others.

She spoke first, which surprised him. "I'm sorry William." Her words came out soft, but firm and with conviction. As if she really thought she did something wrong.

"Sorry I almost killed you." William's reply was blunt, rude even, but he didn't want to further the conversation.

Velvet's gaze dropped from his eyes, turning to his chest, which had remained bare through the entire event. William watched the shock form, then the horror, and then the pity which was quickly replaced by a new wave of genuine regret in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words. William felt the wolfish grin on his lips, but he chose not to speak his mind.

He headed to his tent, retrieving his shirt, pulling it on, thankful for the long sleeves that hid all of his scars and memories. Moonlight Sonata rested on his bedroll, likely retrieved. He stared at it for a moment, disgust echoing in his mind. A moment later it passed and he grabbed the weapon, holding it close to his chest as he headed back.

"You should sleep." Velvet recommended quietly from her spot by the fire.

"If you think I can still sleep after the nightmare I woke up from and the nightmare I almost made real, then you should have a white tail instead of brown ears." William replied sharply.

Velvet made a yelping noise, reaching up and holding her ears. William felt hot shame pool in his stomach as he realized his words had cut deeper than he had thought or intended them to. He moved away from her, heading to a tree and climbing up into the branches, above her and out of sight. He leaned back against the trunk, casting his eyes up to the canopy.

The wind rustled the branches, shifting the leaves and letting traces of starlight slip through to reach his eyes. William basked in it, taking the sight in. Stars hadn't been a thing he had time to sit down and look at. In the city the lights were always on, and there was never any time. Always another name on a list, another plan, another mission.

William chuckled, taking solace in the astral lights. Even if his world was twisting around and flipping so violently it left his head spinning. The sun still rose, the moon still set. And the stars would still shine the next night. Even when people tried to pry deep into who he was or why he was, the moon and the stars never asked.

He regarded Moonlight Sonata for a moment, the silver blade resting in his lap. He adjusted his thighs, letting a shaft of light hit the silver blade. The slice of light reflected cleanly off the blade, shooting into the darkness of the world.

"What is the sound of moonlight?" He whispered the question. The reason for his weapon's name. Because the moon could be beautiful to some, music and magic. And to hit it could mean death, blood and misery. A collection of pain and sorrow that trickled through masks and laced them with pain.

Coco was doing a good job of finding ways to chip at those masks. Casting questions and putting reason to his recklessness. It hurt, realizing his facade was so breakable, but perhaps he needed to play a better game of lies instead of a game of mystery.

Velvet's shift ended soon, the Faunus being replaced by Fox. The blind man didn't talk, and instead spent his time huddled under the tree William had selected, his arms crossed. William stayed awake through Fox's shift, and Coco's shift, which took up the morning. He napped once or twice, jerking himself awake before he could fall too far into the darkness.

When the sky started to lighten he started moving. He struck out from the tree, using his wires to traverse the treetops, running across the wires like tightropes to survey the ground below the campgrounds. He had done the same the previous night, which was how he had tracked the pigs down, as well as disposed of a handful of Grimm that had passed close to their campsite.

This morning his path was clear, and it left him little to do until the others woke. Even when the others woke, he stayed in his chosen spot. He could tell they were still unsettled from last night. Yatsuhashi had bags under his eyes. Fox's shoulders were tight. Coco was slow, and she set straight to making a cup of coffee. He was wearing on the team since he didn't mesh well with them.

They called him down for breakfast but he refused, instead turning his attention to the woods again. He patrolled again, giving them time to talk and relax. When he returned from his route, Coco was waiting for him, Fox by her side with his weapons. She called him down, a hard look in her eyes. William knew better than to argue today.

"What is it?" He asked, dropping to the ground and taking a few steps forward to stand over her.

"Practice sparring. I don't want to see you getting hurt like you did yesterday, and I can't trust you to do it on you own. So every morning, Fox and you will spar. And I will judge your actions." She explained.

William was tempted to point out that he could handle Fox. He was even more tempted to prove it. But his mission wasn't to show off how combat oriented he was. It certainly wasn't to start a pointless fight. So instead he took a few steps back and drew Moonlight Sonata. He squared up against, angling it down.

Fox was shorter than he was, and his weapons only allowed for extreme close combat. William would be at a disadvantage if he got too close, but William knew he had a few Aces up his sleeve. The least of which were his fists.

"Begin." Coco announced.

Fox rushed in, his arm blades crossed in a defensive position. He came out of it just before they clashed, two swipes aimed at William's chest. William scowled. He had misread him, assumed that reach mattered to the hunter. He managed two awkward parries with the base of the blade before retreating a step.

Fox pressed him for that distance, but let him escape. Moonlight Sonata twirled around, expanding out into it's bow form. Fox gave him a confused look, but stepped back in.

William lashed out twice, wielding it like a bo staff. Fox parried beautifully, but was wholly unprepared as William's heel swung around, knocking his arm out wide. The bow drew back, an arrow on the string. Fox rushed in to close the distance to make the shot impossible.

William jumped, bunching up as his eyes focused on his target. Orange blades crossed. A blue arrow slipped between them, slipping clean through Fox's guard and by his neck before it buried into the ground.

William twisted away in the air, dropping his weapon to balance on his hands. He swung his legs around, using his weight and his metal heels to knock Fox off balance. Fox proved he was fast though, weaving through a pair of heavy kicks to bear down on William.

The blades came down on William. He rolled back, letting the blades barely miss him. He came to his feet, Moonlight Sonata behind Fox. He stepped into Fox's flurry of blades, casting out his aura. Wires wove between him and the trees, tension creating mini barricades for Fox to work around.

The blind brawler hardly seemed phased, instead twisting and adjusting his blades to slice between the wires to strike at William. William's lips teased back in a savage grin. His eyes lit up as he watched Fox move through his wires. He threw a hand out, a wire shooting out from his fingers.

He stepped into Fox's next attack. Hesitation appeared for a split second, but disappeared as Moonlight Sonata sprung into his hand, whipping around Fox and into William's awaiting hand.

Steel scraped against steel, William nose-to-nose with Fox. "You're not even close to being blind." he whispered, just low enough for Coco to miss it.

Fox's eyes widened for a fraction, his strength slipping. William twisted through his guard, bringing his leg up and slamming the heel into Fox's jaw. The brawler snarled, his head arched back, his neck exposed. Dead. William took a step back, glancing at Coco.

"Nearly killed yourself twice there." She noted calmly, looking completely unfazed that he just went toe to toe with her CQC and came out ahead. Which meant either she had a good poker face, or Fox had been holding back and she knew it. William couldn't be sure which.

"Got the upperhand from it though." William countered.

"You'd tear off your arm if you thought it would help you run faster." She shot back sharply, a flash of rage in her coffee brown eyes.

William gave her a smile. "Perhaps. But why waste something like that? If I try hard enough I could beat someone to death with the limb after I amputate it."

She gave him a look of disgust, but turned away. "Not a scratch today William. Or I'm sending you back to Beacon. Do you understand?"

The wild wolf chuckled, his seagreen eyes flaring at the statement. He took it as a challenge. Just another exercise, just like the ones William would give him. "Of course."

Coco gave him another sharp look, but it didn't carry the same weight it had a moment ago. William smiled through it. She turned away, instead rallying her team together and giving details about today's operations. William couldn't help but wonder if she was placing him with Fox because of position, or because Fox was likely the only one that could match pace with him and keep William from going out of control.

They set out in a new direction. Velvet was leading, a shift in the formation from yesterday. Yesterday William had led them, and dove into the combat as soon as it appeared. William took a backburning for the duration of their combat, working side by side with Fox, matching the CQC's movements and keeping his head clear of any bloodlust.

Coco called out orders, coordinating William better than she had yesterday, guiding him instead of instructing him. She'd refined it though, calling out high priority targets for him instead of wasting breath and time locating them. William had more than enough skill to navigate the battlefield and reach, find and eliminate any target.

The day passed quickly, not that William cared. He had spent most of the day working out the kinks he'd developed overnight, stretching sore and bruised muscles he sustained from the Beringel. CFVY set to their evening routines when they reached the camp. Coco brewed a pot of coffee, Yatsuhashi set out hunting. Velvet took to sitting on the far side of the camp.

William didn't have to glance at her to know why. Her eyes rested on him, shifting quickly to anything else when he looked at her. Her ears perked up sporadically, like she was trying to fake not being terrified. He met her gaze once, and to his surprise, he found something other than fear in her brown eyes. Concern. She was still worried about him, even if he scared her.

It was an anomaly that he hadn't considered, and one that outlined her foolishness. Coco called him a wolf. That wouldn't be far from the truth, and any Faunus knew that cornered animals lashed out at anything.

He stood apart from all of them, watching their routines and observing their nature. He had already made a gap between them. There was no need to reinforce it, only to let that wedge slide in and let that gap expand naturally.

He woke in the morning in a cold sweat. He headed straight to the river, bathing in it and washing both it and the dream away in the lukewarm water. When the rest of the team awoke, Coco had him spar with Fox again. He took it slower today, the excitement lost, his attention elsewhere.

Roman came to mind several times, and William's thoughts wandered. Fox scored a few scratches, but both fighters could tell neither was trying. Fox was conserving his strength for the Grim. William was conserving it for the moment Coco let him off his leash.

He couldn't blame her for restraining him. He knew his fighting style. He knew it because he had built it precisely for the reasons she was wary of it. His fighting style was incredibly lethal, both to his opponents, and himself. He balanced on the edge of death and stared the Grim Reaper in the eye, waiting for that hand to snatch him over the edge. His life was just a black blot in the history books anyway. The sooner he died the better off. But he couldn't bring himself to do it straight out, but he still leaned towards it in combat. Suicide was something he wouldn't consider fully. His mother had made sure he wouldn't go for that. She hadn't mentioned anything about impaling himself on someone else's sword to stab them through the eye though.

The days passed quickly to William. It was just another mission, with a different type of slaughter each day. CFVY went to bed tired each day, and woke every morning with more kinks and cramps than the previous day. Team CFVY wasn't built for long missions.

William could see it. None of them had the hard survival instincts and abilities needed for prolonged field missions. Fox was the closest, but even he was slower, worn down from fighting and dull rations. He was slow on counters in the morning, his blades no longer flickering orange blurs. He paced himself differently as well, lowering his stance and hunching his shoulders.

Yatsuhashi tired differently. His strength weaned, forcing him to dodge instead of block. William had observed him closely, measuring his reflexes and speed. Those two areas seemed to maintain themselves, but he was compromising. He lept out of the way of Ursa now, and skirted the larger Grim until Fox and William had weakened it.

Velvet's weapon was still a mystery. Coco had given her permission to copy William, but that didn't give him any clues about it. It didn't help Coco had advised her to keep those copies until a desperate hour due to William's style. She clung to Yatsu as well, hiding her meager frame closer to his bulk as the combat wore on.

Coco took it the worst of them all. Her Aura didn't replenish overnight. She ate a large meal than anyone else and looked exhausted by the fourth day. She used her minigun sparingly, and waded into to combat by Yatushashi more often wielding it as a handbag. Her strength was unchanged, but she moved little during a fight, planting her feet and warding attacks off one after the other until she was reinforced or she had to retreat.

That said nothing of the other strains William could see on her body.

Leadership put a strain on her. She strove to check on everyone, and tried to set the shifts so she would get the longest watch. Her muscles were tense, even in the evenings. Her smug smirk morphed into tightly pressed lips. On the sixth day it formed a scowl.

William kept his comments to himself. He knew he was irregular. He stayed up late and woke early, either from a nightmare or insomnia. He was used to it. He took the others shifts without asking, letting his shift bleed into the next, or when he woke up he relieved the guard because he knew they needed sleep and that was something he wouldn't see for another twenty hours.

Fox was the only one that refused, sitting his watch regardless if William was awake or not. He woke up on time as well, relieving the guard timely and without complaint. Fox was the lynchpin. He smoothed Coco's frayed nerves and tired mind. William glimpsed that every time he ducked into their tent to wake Coco for her watch. He was always late to get her, giving her shorter and shorter shifts as he took more and more of it. She was always angry about it, but she couldn't do anything since she needed the sleep.

Despite that, William found that he respected how well they held it together for a team. They might not be street-level and their endurance may be below his, but they compensated and overcame. The seventh day was as much as a grind as the sixth. They ran into a nest of Deathstalkers around dusk, and spent the last hour fighting in the twilight before heading back.

No one voiced their thoughts that the mission should have ended. It was a five day mission, and they were already two days over, with no sign of the Grim thinning to a sufficient degree. Coco kept her scroll charged, a little solar array that William wished he had. His scroll had died a by the third day. Roman would live without info for a while, but he'd expect a long report when William got his scroll charged.

By the ninth day, William could see CFVY was done. They were exhausted, worn down to the bone. Yatsuhashi kept his sword in the holster while they walked, and was slow on the draw. Coco let William scout again, and he took pleasure in engaging and eliminating as many threats as he could before they caught up. She was too tired to give him anything more than a mild warning and an empty threat. Fox did his best to keep up.

When they retired to the camp that night, William headed straight to the river, switching his uniform to a pair of gym shorts he had found in the pack. He wasn't sure why they were they, but he was grateful. Fox accompanied him, taking a seat on the bank as William waded in up to his knees.

"You keeping up?" Fox asked as William dropped himself into the water.

He submerged fully, casting out his semblance and anchoring to various rocks and growth on the bottom of the bank. He floated there for a time, feeling the current pushing against his body and the pressure of the air in his lungs. He exhaled slowly, the bubbles trickling against the stubble he'd grown over the week.

When his breath had run out he stood up, shaking his head and wiping his eyes. Only then did he answer Fox's question.

"It's you that's tiring. Don't deny it." William took a seat beside Fox on the bank, keeping his feet in the water.

"That's true. But you're tiring as well. You haven't quite preformed to your usual standard. At least not today." Fox put in, giving him a hard look, an impressive feat giving the man couldn't even see William's eyes, yet always managed to locate them.

"Perhaps. Less from the combat. More from the flashbacks." William replied easily. "Maybe cramps. I've had one under my shoulder blade for a while now." He had snapped the bowstring tight the previous day during a shot, and the draw weight was too much for his worn muscles to fully handle. He kept it at that weight all day though, and now he was paying the price.

"Excuses. You're tired too. Your Aura might not be linked to ours, but Coco can see it, and she's been voicing her concern about it for some time. It's been green for a while and she can't figure out why. Today it's gone. You've been using your semblance all day."

William pulled his feet out of the water, stretching and cracking his neck. He chose not to answer, and instead let the topic drop. Fox took the silence well, kicking off his shoes and sticking his toes into the water.

"Are you ready to return to Beacon? Coco called ahead. We'll be leaving in the morning. Another team will come back and finish anything we haven't. I think we cleared out a good majority of it thought." Fox informed him. The question caught William by surprise, and it took a moment for him to answer.

He turned his seagreen eyes from the river water to the setting sun, and then the rising moon. He pursed his lips, considering the prospect.

When he returned he would have to update Roman. Kill Ruby. Maintain tabs on Cinder, Emerald and Mercury. Pass all his classes and do make up work for any subject he didn't know. Coupling that with whatever Ozpin had in stored for him, and suddenly William had cold feet. Too many games were being played, and he didn't know enough about any of them to play his own pieces.

"I can't say that I am." The answer was honest. And it surprised him until he realized why. He trusted Fox. Not with everything, but he trusted the blind man enough to be honest about somethings. He was hardy, and William had admittedly leaned on him in combat, fighting back to back with him in some cases.

"Any particular reason why?" Fox asked, pressing the issue. He was seeking information.

"Nothing that I'm willing to tell you, Coco or anyone else alive." William replied.

"Then I'll be guessing it has something to do with your uncle. He wouldn't have sent you to Beacon from Vacuo without a good reason. Perhaps he's got business here?"

William knew he shouldn't answer that question. He shouldn't entertain that thought, it was dangerously close to giving his secret away, letting Fox know his uncle, or anyone related to William, had business in Beacon wasn't good. Especially not if they started linking William's scars and conditions back to them. William answered it anyway.

"Of a sort. He's just a businessman though, looking at a company that's about to break. He plans to take over and reap the profits before it collapses and take what he can off the remains." William explained, elaborating far more than he should.

"Sounds like a bad businessman."

"Sounds like business to me." William replied. "It's not bad or good or evil or right. It's just money, changing hands." He looked over at Fox. "That's just good business."

"I don't think I'd like your uncle."

"I don't like my uncle." William said, getting to his feet and turning back towards camp. "But that's just a matter of business."

The comment caught Fox's attention, but William had finished exposing himself for Fox. If Fox was clever he could put some of the pieces together, but not before it was too late. Roman was looking to take over a failing organization. The only problem was, that organization was Beacon. And it would fall, and it would go up in flames. All because of William.

"Would you answer this question for me?" Fox asked, making William stop. He tucked his hands into the shorts pockets, refusing to turn around for him.

"Shoot."

Fox didn't ask right away. He seemed to weigh his words before he spoke them, and the weight of them seemed to double when William heard them. "I have trouble reading you William. You come off as a dark terrible person some days, or even when I feel your Aura in combat. Like a whirlwind of blood and fury, just looking for another body to make a corpse, and you don't care if it's theirs or yours that becomes it. Then other times I can look at you, and I feel this shattered shell of tattered memories and a broken mind. Like someone smashed you long ago and you healed all wrong in every way possible. You are plagued by more demons than I believe I can name, and I know you won't tell anyone why. So my question is, which ones of those are you?"

The question was something William had seen coming. CFVY was smart, they'd picked up on his cracked masks. Coco had pried at it with her offhanded humor and intrusive way of getting to know him. Yatsuhashi had chipped at it when he found William. Velvet wore on it every time William looked at her, her brown fur shifting to white, and then bleeding it back to red and then brown. But Fox wore it simply because William felt he could trust him. And that was a feeling he hadn't had it a while. The blind fighter was genuine.

William pursed his lips, glad that he hadn't turned around. He swallowed, licking his teeth as he thought. "Both. For a lot of different reason. I am warring with myself everyday and night, and the more I fight myself, the more it hurts and the more broken I become. Some days I can control it. Some days I can't. And some days it snaps, and I have nightmares that bleed into reality. Velvet learned that when I first met her. It's just what I became. So your answer is I am both. I have dealt with more than you can comprehend, and more than I am ever going to be willing to share. And I have done some things that I can't say are right. And I've done somethings I know are wrong. I shouldn't exist, but I do. And that tortures me every day as well."

Fox nodded slowly, soaking in William's words. Coco would hear about it later, William would bet on it. But he didn't care. He had spoken his mind, and it took some of the weight off his shoulders. His mask was chipped, but the skin underneath it hadn't run Fox off. Not yet. But that was all William was willing to share. Just a shard of it.

"Fair enough." Fox finally acknowledged. "But let me tell you one thing, and let me make it clear. Everyone deserves to exist. For one reason or another you have lived and survived to this moment, and until your purpose in life is met, you cannot die. Fate has a plan for you William Faolan Lance, whether you want to admit it or not. You are alive for a reason. Your past does not become your future. Your past is not a shackle, but a guideline, and one that can easily be turned from. If all you think of is the past, you will never live in the present, and you will never realize the future is still in the making until it's too late. Life isn't simple. It shouldn't be. You have to struggle and find your own way in this darkness, and make your own way through it."

"And if my life leads to the destruction of hundreds of other lives?" William asked, the question out of his lips before he could filter or stop it. The reply was heated, a jab at death.

"Then that's no one's choice but your own. I don't know what situation you're in. But I do know that you don't want to kill anyone. You don't even want to kill yourself. That choice is yours William. And you can take responsibility for where you life is headed, or let the ship drive itself, and have no one to blame but your own stupid choices."

William snorted, shaking his head as he started walking again. "Everyone says that. I don't believe it. Sometimes, you don't have a choice."

Fox grinned, a cheeky expression that told William he had said something similar long ago. "You always have a choice. It's just a matter of it you want to see it or not."

"For a blind man you sure use the phrase 'see' a lot. Trying to be philosophical here or just that annoying teenage monk type?" William asked suddenly, shifting the topic so abruptly Fox couldn't easily change it back.

Fox shrugged, letting the subject die. He recognized William's apprehension to the topic. William would learn on his own time, with his own terms. And there was nothing Fox could do to fix or fight that.

Fox drifted away, letting the darkness set in before he spoke again.

"It's your choice William. And there isn't a soul who can make those choices for you."

To anyone else, that comment would have been out of place. It would have been relating to a past topic that didn't take place in the present. To William though, his mind filled with a hundred different thoughts and ideas at any given time. It focused them on his conversation, his choices and thoughts for just a moment. And that moment was all that was needed for William to grimace and realize all the faults he had made for letting Roman steer his course.

He had made plenty of mistakes in his life. But he supposed his biggest was turning Roman into a dictator, with more power over him than anyone else. William sighed, shrugging to himself as he watched the others turn in. He could do nothing about the past, and could only affect the future. Or at least, that's what he told himself.

William turned in for the night, giving the watch over, it wasn't his to begin with, and slipping into his tent. He set Moonlight Sonata to the side, peeling off his shirt and draping it over the weapon. He didn't want to look at it tonight. He laid back on the bedroll, closing his eyes and trying to focus on anything except for his crimes.

He heard her name instead. A premonition almost as it slipped into his ear. Said in that dying guards voice. And then it was gone, swept away by the wind and replaced by a sleep William had needed for a long time.

When William woke up the next morning sunlight was shining through the tent walls. He sat up with a jerk, fear creeping into his heart. He'd slept through dawn. He hadn't done that since… He shook off the uncertainty and instead grabbed Moonlight Sonata and his shirt, crawling out of his tent to see the situation.

The tents had been broken down, all except for his. One of his carved plates was set by the fire, a rich brown handkerchief draped over it. Velvet was crouched by the fire, prodding the coals with a long stick. She looked up at him as he approached, making no effort to hide his chest.

She shrunk away from him, visibly shaken by the deep scars. He watched her expression with interest. Her ears flattened, her eyes looked scared. A tightness in her shoulders appeared, her back slouched just a little bit more. Then she rallied, straightening her back as she stood up, swallowing a lump in her throat as she moved towards him. Her arms went behind her back, no doubt she was holding one of her wrists.

"You slept longer than usual. I didn't hear you during my shift either." She muttered, her voice low, but William could still hear her soft accent.

"This is probably as late as I've ever slept in years." William replied, watching her expression brighten. She was pleased with herself, secretly applauding her progress of facing her fears. "Be careful cottontail. I'm unstable." William warned her, moving past her to the plate.

William would give her credit where she was due. His comment disturbed her, but she took a seat across from him as he picked up the plate. She didn't talk, her eyes roaming his scars. He ate quickly, setting the plate aside when he finished.

"Where are the others?" He asked, pulling his shirt on as he headed back to his tent to pack it up.

"Coco and Fox are calling the Bullhead in now. Yatushashi is carrying their bags." Velvet explained. "I'm here. Coco wanted someone to wait for you in case there were any Grim around."

William nodded, and set to breaking down his tent. He packed it up, bundling it up in the duffle and zipping it up. He slung it over his back and picked up Velvets before she could. He didn't do it out of kindness, but to push Velvet to use her weapon if Grim attacked. He hadn't seen her use it and it was starting to interest him. Something related to that camera of hers. He was sure of it.

The opportunity never came. They caught up to Coco and Fox too soon. Yatsuhashi had dropped their bags in a pile, so William tossed his and Velvets in to join them. Then he took a post on the edge of the woods, his eyes on Coco, who was trying to make a call with her scroll.

Fox was balanced on the top of a tree, an extendable antenna in his hand, reaching out into the sky for better service. William bit his lip, glancing at Fox's leg, considering it as he let his semblance out. He could definitely pull his leg a little and Fox would catch himself.

He mulled the idea over in his head, then cut it off abruptly. Mission. Not playtime. Even if Fox was an interesting fellow. He likely didn't enjoy being jerked out of a tree. Coco certainly wouldn't.

William assumed Coco got signal when she collapsed the scroll and called for Fox to get down. She dropped to the ground, walking over to him and leaning against the tree, giving him a tired look.

"Sleep well?" She asked.

"Better than you." William replied without missing a beat.

Cocos expression turned sour, but she shrugged. "Fair enough. But you didn't wake up screaming last night. So I assume you're doing better."

"Better is highly subjective." William warned her. "Use a better word if you want a real answer. I slept better. Sure."

"Was your sleep peaceful?" Coco corrected, giving him a look that he couldn't quite place.

"Hardly. But it was longer than I've had in years." William answered honestly. He wasn't sure why he'd told her that. Nor the tip about wordage. Maybe she was wearing on him.

"Glad to hear it's improved in some aspects. I suppose you have too many demons in your closet to ever really sleep peacefully."

William shrugged, his ears picking up the high pitched whine of engines. "Maybe. Haven't lived long enough to figure that one out. Hadn't planned on living until I get gray hair and finally make peace with all of them."

"At least try to live long enough to have a family William. I'd enjoy telling your children about their edgy father who has a smoking problem."

William started, but kept his reaction calm. He hadn't touched a cigarette since he'd arrived. Thought about it plenty, but he hadn't touched them. Never pulled out a pack or a stick at any given time. How had Coco known?

"My father smokes." Coco replied, reading his expression. "It's easy to see the ticks if you know them. The way your fingers fold, how you cup your lip, a part around your lips that closes at the tips, perfect for cradling one. Deep exhales when you're tense, as if you're thinking about it. You're not the only one that can read expressions and mannerisms William."

William felt a wolfish smile take his lips. He hadn't expected that. He had underestimated her. He chuckled, letting the deep rumble come out. "Careful who you play this game with Coco. You might get into something you aren't ready for." He glanced at her, his eyes picking at the little details about her outfit, her makeup, skin condition, and then diving into the depths of her eyes.

"You can't pull out anything that Ozpin hasn't." She replied, meeting his gaze with a hard resolve.

William narrowed his eyes, then shrugged. He knew what he needed to know. She wasn't easy to read, but he had gleaned what he needed off her. Anything else would only matter in blackmail or personal details.

"Another time to pick at your past." William replied, turning away as the Bullhead pulled into the skies above the clearing. "We have Nevermore." He nodded to the small dark shapes hurtling around the Bullhead, skirting around it for potshots at the cockpit and cargo bay.

Moonlight Sonata unfolded in his hands, and he pulled the string back to his lip, carefully adding another finger to guide the second arrow he formed on the string. He fired, both arrows flying true, hitting a single Nevermore and knocking it out of the sky.

Coco's minigun whined to life, peppering the sky, taking out three of them and driving the stragglers away. William picked another off, leaving a lonely pair to escape. Some Grim learned quickly.

"Is it safe?"

"For the moment. Hurry!" Coco barked into the comms. "Land already and get us out of here!"

The Bullhead spiraled down into the clearing, but William didn't bother moving towards it. He had already heard a problem. He spun on his heels, pulling his bowstring back to his lip.

"William?" Coco hesitated, seeing him react.

"Load the Bullhead." He replied. "Quickly. Something's coming."

"Yatushashi! Double time!" She barked out, rushing to help.

William let the arrow fly, watching the blue arrow disappear into the darkness. He knew it hit something, a blue spark and then the glow disappeared. He fired again, watching the arrow arch into the woods, lost in the trees. Again he felt it hit, but it didn't seem to stick.

"Something big." He mused softly, constructing another arrow.

He changed the headshape, a spiraled tip. The spin would throw his accuracy off, but he could still hit something like this. He pulled it back to his lip, only now seeing the red glow in the trees. He fired again.

He felt the arrow hit, but again it skidded off. He gritted his teeth. What could it be? He couldn't tell from this distance.

"Interference!" He barked out to Coco.

"Hold back! Draw it in and let us assault it!" She called. "I'll get in the Bullhead for aerial support!"

William held back, chewing on his lip as he tried to wrestle the details of the beast from between the trees and the shade of the morning sun. It was too big to be ordinary. The forest was old, but it should have been cleared out regularly, which pointed to the Grim being young and naturally big, or old and wise.

Trees shook in the distance, disturbing baby Nevermores. Fox carefully positioned himself across from William. Yatushashi filled the center and Velvet kept to the back. The Bullhead eased off the ground, Coco in the cargo bay, her minigun spinning slowly.

That was when William saw it, his memories flashing back to when he'd seen a corpse just like it in Roman's lab. He took a step back, then steeled himself.

"Drake!" He yelled, taking in the massive creature. ITs head was easily the size of the Bullhead, but it's body was lean and whip like despite it's size. Scales covered its body, leading all the way down to it's slender tail. William's eyes narrowed as he looked at the tail. Too slender, not for stabilization, but attacking.

"A what?" Coco asked, her voice coming through the comms.

"A Drake." William repeated, "Watch the tail. Heavy armor, difficult to pierce, Yatushashi will have the best luck at it. Underbelly is flesh, but it's thick, like a DeathStalkers hide. This one looks a lot bigger than the last one I saw."

"You've seen one of these things before?" Fox asked, shooting him a confused look and cocking an eyebrow.

"Not the time!" William barked back.

It had been weaving between trees to the clearing up until this point, but it ducked down, bucking up. William's eyes widened as he realized the muscle movements. He dropped to the ground as it launched forward.

Trees exploded, shattering into splinters, at least one was torn straight out of the ground, throwing dirt and sand into the air. William kept his head down, feeling and sensing rather than seeing the beast as it came into the clearing.

He rolled to his feet, the beast behind him and Coco in front of him.

"Aim for it's eyes!" He instructed, cracking his eyes to see if the air was clear.

The dirt had hit the ground already, but there was another problem now. The Drake was in the clearing, a tree clenched in its jaws, adding an easy thirty feet to it's reach, and that didn't include its tail.

Gunfire peppered the Drake's face. It snarled, swinging it's head around, the tree reaching for the Bullhead. The Bullhead pulled back, flaring backwards to avoid it. William pursed his lips. They needed to make it drop that thing if they wanted to take off. There was no chance they'd be able to kill it, not with what they had at the moment.

"Fox! Cover Yatsuhashi!" Coco called. "Let him for for it's legs! William go for it's mouth! Velvet! You have my permission, any of our sets, and that includes Williams!"

"Roger!" Velvet replied, cracking her neck, a confidence growing about her as she rushed forward.

William folded Moonlight Sonata back into its bladed form as he ran to the Grim. He needed to climb it's body to get to it's face. Then he could strike it's exposed gums and the weaker scales around it's face. Maybe take out an eye. Coco's gunfire was doing a good job of keeping it off balance and blind, but she could only do so much with her Aura before she ran out.

Yatsuhashi was closer, and he drew the monsters attention. William saw the attack coming, yelling for Yatsuhashi to block. He barely managed to before the massive forepaw slapped him aside, sending him tumbling across the clearing. William was barely out of range, and Fox managed to jump over it, but nothing more.

"Velvet?" William called back.

"Ready."

"Let's go." William said, unsure when he assumed command of her, or even if it was a conscious thing. He just knew what he was about to attempt would be easier with a second pair of hands and eyes.

Velvet stayed on his tail as he charged, keeping up his speed. He checked on the beast, but its attention was on Fox, who was tearing into its scales with furious slashes. Most sparked off, but a handful cleaved into the tender flesh hidden underneath the scales.

William cast out his semblance, sending a thread around the Drake's chest and coiling it around it's leg. He tugged on it, wrapping the thread around his wrist so the force wouldn't be on his fingers.

He reached back for Velvet's hand. "Ready?"

Her hand fell in his, and he staggered, a memory hitting him.

White hair, fresh cotton colored ears and yellow eyes. He swallowed, squeezing Velvet's hand to focus on the present as he pulled the slack out of the wire, pulling himself up the creature. It wasn't exactly speedy, but William knew Fox could handle the attention for the creature. Velvet dangled below him, her feet skirting the ground.

The tension in his hand was killing him, his fingers and wrist turning purple as the wires dug into his skin.

He just hand to last long enough to pull himself up.

It didn't last that long.

The creature shifted, throwing it's weight to one side and then the other, towards Fox. William threw slack into the line, letting gravity pull them back to the ground as it rolled over. William strained, his muscles going tense as he swung Velvet away before they crashed to the ground.

Dust was in the air, and he wasn't sure if Fox was crushed underneath the beast or not, but now was his chance.

"Velvet!" He barked, clawing to his feet as he rushed to the beast's side. "Let's go!"

"Coming!"

She was behind, lagging slowly, but William could catch her if need be. He stepped up onto its underbelly, pivoted and ran diagonally across its body for its face. The tree was in the way now, but William knew if it rolled back to it's feet it would sweep around to the right, away from them.

He felt its weight shift again, torque in its shoulders that rolled through the rest of it's body. It was rolling again, the opposite way William had planned. He swore. He couldn't run fast enough to keep clear if it did, and he couldn't slide under the tree and keep that speed even if he could. Then there was Velvet.

Too much weight. He'd had to swing it.

"Go right!" William yelled, sending threads around her as he constructed a harness around her slender frame. He sent wires out to loop around the trees on that side, pulling the tension tight. He only had a few seconds.

The tree swung for his head. He slide, pulling his wires to keep Velvet ahead of the spin. He wrapped a wire around the tree, anchoring himself to it. Branches cut into his fore arms as he whipped around. He had to let Velvet's wires go slack, or else he'd tangle her up in a hopeless mess.

When the world stopped spinning, he was on the right side of the beast, clinging to the tree trunk. Velvet dangled off the side of it's neck, his wires tangled on the far side, keeping her suspended as she tried to get a grip on the slick scales.

She needed help first.

William shifted his wires to his right hand, freeing his left hand. He cast out another set of wires, sending them around the Drake's neck, connecting them to Velvet's harness. He cancel the wires in his right hand, Velvet's weight transferring back to his hand. The wires bit into his fingers, but he flexed and pulled, drawing the wires in.

"Keep steady!" He called, eyeing the Drake as one of its red eyes stared at him. William smiled.

It's head whipped around, snapping the tree around to shake him off. William let go, falling for a moment, branches clawing his clothes before he looped a wire around the other end of the tree. His arm jerked, nearly wrenched out of socket.

He whipped around, letting go of the wires again. He shot away into the forest, his semblance going out again. They wrapped around a tree, his harness condensing into a belt. He whipped around the tree, cutting the connection as he swung back around.

William tumbled through the air, orienting himself just before impact. He straightened his legs, angling his heels forward in a practiced maneuver. The steel plate smashed into the Drake's right eye. One heel sunk in, a mixture of red pulp and black miasma erupting out of the ruptured organ.

William looped his semblance around its head as he nodded at Velvet, who had moved around to the other side, partly because he drew her harness back to urge her over, partly out of her own instinct.

Her harness vanished, William needing that Aura for other things. Velvet couldn't perform otherwise anyway. The beast shook, leaning back and roaring. It's head snapped up, shaking it back and forth to throw William off. Velvet had to move now.

"Go for the eye!" He called.

"Roger!" Her voice was crisp, clean cut and dark. Something was different. William could feel it.

He saw her out of the corner of his eyes, charging up it's back, her left hand clenched around the wire outline of a sword. William felt his stomach twist as he recognized the design, he nearly dropped. Instead he pried his leg out of the eye socket, adjusting his wires as Velvet crested it's neck, jumping up.

Faunus abilities gave her impressive height. Momentum added to it, coupling that with her Rabbit heritage, as well as her well muscles quads and calfs, and William wasn't surprised she arched up.

His semblance wrapped around her, wires around her waist, looping over and under the beast's head. William dropped, kicking out towards the ground. Velvet jerked down. He had calculated right, his wires would guide her.

The beast roared in response, shaking its head violently and roaring, the tree coming tumbling out of it's maw as it screeched. William shifted his wires as Velvet fell off it's head, the wire sword missing. He pulled her to him as they fell the short distance. They landed together, William on his knees, Velvet on her feet.

William rolled to his feet, reaching out and grabbing her wrist and throwing her forward as the rampage started.

"Pull the Bullhead up!" William screamed, diving out of the way as rage and pain took control of the Drake. "It's going to rampage!"

William knew what destruction a rampaging Drake could cause. He'd seen the aftermath of half of one. He didn't want to see anyone caught up in a full Drake's rampage.

It's limbs slapped on the ground, tearing clods of dirt, roots, rock and anything else caught in it's claws up and throwing it around. William dove, between its forepaws and under its belly. He dove to the side, hitting the ground and sliding underneath the next leg, the claws narrowly missing him.

The Drake threw itself to one side, smashing into the trees on that side. Two of them fell over, the others were left tilted, half the roots ripped right out of the ground. It bounced back, throwing its bulk towards William now. He ran, casting out wires. It would be close. The beast hit him, it's bulky side would have flattened him against the ground if William hadn't pulled himself forward.

As it was he went skidding, flipping end over end on the forest floor. He shielded his head with his arms, curling up after the second tumble and ending in a ball lying on the ground over a dozen meters away.

He grimaced, feeling his body throb with the impacts. Nothing broken. He slowly pulled himself up to his hands and knees, looking over at the Drake.

Both eyes were gone, one a dripping pulp, the other slashed open. It poured black miasma out of both, clearly in too much pain to care about CFVY or William. It was thrashing, throwing its limbs about and knocking into trees. The Bullhead had moved to the other side of the clearing and CFVY was loading up. Coco was running for him, her weapon back in its tote.

William got to his feet, breaking out in a fast jog as he rushed to meet her. He was more than eager to leave the Drake where it was. William had no desire to kill a beast of that size, not when he knew what it took to kill one a fraction of it's size.

"Get moving!" Coco barked. "I don't want us to be anywhere near that when it recovers!"

William picked up his pace, meeting her and racing back to the Bullhead. He pulled ahead, but turned to look back.

The Drake had stilled.

It took him a moment to figure out why. Enough time for Coco to pass him and jump onto the waiting cargo bay. Enough time for the pilot to start the engines again.

Drakes were lesser Dragons. Without wings, and without the firey breath that their cousin Grim were so famous for. Instead, they had a very different type of attack to substitute.

"GET THE BULLHEAD IN THE AIR!" William roared, his eyes scanning the clearing for anything to anchor off of. It wouldn't need to hold for long. Just long enough. He unfolded Moonlight Sonata.

A strong arm grabbed his collar, hoisting him up into the cargo bay. He didn't pay it any mind as he drew the bow back, two arrows on the string.

The sound reverberated through the air. Like a mucus clog in someone's throat, and they were trying to cough it up. Except that someone was a two story tall Drake, and that something, William knew, was highly corrosive acid that doubled as digestive fluid.

He fired.

Both arrows missed the Drake completely, but the wire looped between them snagged the Grim's snout, causing it to jerk back. The arrows hit, a far tree that still stood, hanging on by the edges of it's root system. William gave the line slack.

"Hurry!" He urged the pilot as they climbed.

Grim sensed Aura. They were drawn to it. They could feel it even without eyes. And at the moment, the Bullhead was full of Aura. It would be hard for any Grim to miss, even a blinded Drake.

"William?" Velvet asked.

"What's it doing?" That was Fox, his hearing only giving him so much.

William concentrated, focusing on the arrows. He uncoiled them, letting the Aura that was so tightly ravelled come apart and tangle around the tree, looping around it and weaving into its bark and roots.

"William." Coco said, dangerously low.

"William."

The cough turned into a gurgling sound, and now William could see it. Thick purple sludge, bubbling and hissing against the air. Not yet.

"Fire another!" Velvet.

Another wire would complicate the mix, adding additional forces that could counter each other, creating a stalemate the Drake could resist. William didn't need a sustained force. He just needed a moment, one singular moment of pull.

"Pilot, angle back." William ordered, his eyes never leaving the Drake.

There was hesitation. Then the Bullhead tilted back.

"On my order, drop back, and put full power into a reverse thrust. You're going to duck backwards. Understand?" William explained carefully. It wasn't just his life that hinged on this trick.

The gurgling stopped. The Drake balanced, arching its back up, feeling their position rather than seeing it. It pushed it's head up, tilting back for angle. William waited, slowly drawing the slack out of the wire so it kept in contact with the Drake's open mouth.

William saw the muscles flex, the auxiliary muscles in the jaw. The bunching of its cheek muscles and the ripple in its throat as it started to roar, spewing it's gathered corruption into the air.

The wire snapped tight, the anchors jerking towards the Drake from the force. It's head snapped to the side, acid sloshing out of it's mouth as the roar turned into a squeal. The acid exploded out, coating the trees and launching into the air.

"Now!" William snapped.

The Drake pulled free, letting out the rest of it's attack in one thick glob that shot into the air at them. The Bullhead dropped, engines shifting and firing backwards. They jerked backwards, tilting up at a forty-five as the engines pushed them.

William was steady on his feet, reaching up and placing a hand on the floor. The others hit the cargo bay floor with a hard slam. William's eyes were still on the Drake as it shook itself.

The acid splashed in front of the cockpit, missing them by a foot. It landed in the forest below, dousing the trees. Immediately they turned yellow, then fading to black and ash as they fell apart.

"Go." William instructed. The Drake couldn't draw up anymore acid quick enough to hit them. "And gain height quickly while you're at it."

The Bullhead whined as the engines oriented, then picked up speed, leaving the clearing behind them and the Elder Drake to its own business.

William's gaze lingered on the clearing and the Grim until it was out of sight. Then he collapsed, letting his feet hang over the edge as he rested on his rear. He tilted his head back, exhaling slowly.

Fox was staring at him. The others had taken up seats, casting a fleeting glance at him, but seeming content with sitting in silence for a time. Fox patted the space next to him on the bench, inviting him. William rose, then sat down. The cargo doors closed a bit after, sealing them off from the wind and giving them rest.

"Coffee or tea?" Coco asked when the silence seemed complete, excluding the dull whine of the engines that slowly faded away into white noise.

"Tea." Yatsu and Velvet chimed in union.

"The usual." Fox replied, giving her a small smile.

Coco turned her gaze to William as she set up her small portable brewing machine. She set it up for tea, pulling mugs out for all of them.

"William?" She prompted.

"Coffee." He finally said, examining her as she worked. She had relaxed. Finally out of the field, with her team safe, the tension had eased from her shoulders.

The tea brewed first and Velvet and Yatsuhashi got their mugs first because of that. They sipped the drink slowly, taking time to taste the flavor and depth. Coco started on the coffee, letting it brew and boil. She gave Fox and William a cup first before making herself a cup. William let her add cream and sugar to his before she handed it over.

He took it, feeling the warmth sink into his hands, soothing his joints and the strained digits.

"So you knew what that was." Fox stated.

William took a long quaff of his drink, letting the caffeine put life back into his bones before he answered.

"I do. Do you not recognize it?"

"A Drake is a very rare Grim. They aren't regularly seen to any degree. Yet you recognized it while it wasn't fully in sight. Points to you having seen one before."

"I've never seen a living creature like that before if that's what you're talking about." William replied. "But if it's so unusual, then perhaps I took interest in it when a lecture note or a book mentioned it."

"Of course." Fox replied, turning back to his coffee and letting the topic drop.

William nursed his coffee until Beacon was back in sight. He felt his stomach sink, his coffee suddenly seeming appealing. He finished the cup anyway, setting it on the next to Coco's finished cup as he looked through the cockpit at the approaching school.

"So is this it?" He asked, directing the question to Coco.

She hummed, looking up from her scroll. "Come again?"

"This it for us? Just going to ditch me and run?" William asked, feeling the playful smirk work its way out and onto his lips. "Couldn't handle me?"

Coco smiled back, a pleasant expression, but it held a determined aura on her lips. "Oh no little wolfie. We're not done with you yet." She winked at him. "You won't escape from me that easily my little Alpha."

"Alpha?" William asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Of course. The Alpha of the pack. You don't take orders well. Much more suited to issue them. You can handle orders, but operating as you do, you understand enough about the battlefield to be a leader. Ozpin likely thinks the same." Coco replied. "And yes. Alpha. That's your pet name William."

"We'll just have to see about that then. I don't think Ozpin will give me a team yet." William replied.

"I beg to differ. You're more than qualified." Fox shot back, setting his mug next to the others. "You deserve a team, regardless of whether you think so or not. You have your faults, but they aren't in combat."

William hummed, choosing to let that topic slip away instead of addressing it. He wasn't about to get into an argument on his mental state in an enclosed Bullhead. Instead he shrugged and got up. The Bullhead was almost there anyway.

The ship slowed to a halt, spiraling down to land on the pad. The cargo bay door opened and William was the first out, grabbing his duffle bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Eager to run wolf?" Coco asked.

"Hardly." William replied. "But it does no harm in regrouping. You're a bit to difficult for me to shrug off Coco." He informed her, casting his gaze back at her.

She stood confidently, her hip cocked, her smirk revealing her mood. William wanted to crush it. He wanted to tear that expression off her lips with a dozen cruel words about her past that he had gleaned just from her posture. How she wore long sleeves to cover her scars, how she wore glasses to hide her fear. How she was neglected as a child so she chose to wear heels and walk with confidence to stand out. How she cocked her hips to the left, but caught her belt, keeping her weight on it instead of the femur because when she was leaning to pose it had been bruised.

William smirked. "Careful Adel. I do bite, even people that I like."

"I'll take that as a complement." She replied instead, taking it all in stride, just as she had been taught and how she had learned.

William left CFVY, heading to his room. He needed to unwind, calm down and call Roman. He had a combat report to file on CFVY anyway, and he would need a hot shower to ease the aches and bruises. His leg was another matter, the cut from before had sealed, an easy treatment when William could stitch it up and tighten it whenever it was needed, but it needed to be cleaned properly.

He glanced back, finding that Coco and Fox had been swallowed up in a growing crowd of people. Seems team CFVY was rather well-known. He would have to make a note of that, they worked well, they could be a top team despite their flaws.

The dorms were quiet, no doubt because of classes and other activities. Training seemed to happen for most of the day at Beacon, but lagged during the nights. Students needed their sleep apparently, but Roman never followed that line of thinking.

He swiped his scroll. The device was dead, battery drained, but the security still worked on it. The reader on his door lit up, yellow, then green. He pushed the door open, walking in and letting out a heavy sigh as he dropped the duffle by the door.

He stepped into the bedrooms, then paused. An additional bag on the opposite bed. The faint smells of sage, lavender and undertones of jasmine. Someone in his room. Female. He heard the bathroom door handle jiggle as someone reached for it, opening it up from within.

She walked out, looking at him with surprise. He was even more shocked, his seagreen eyes diving into her violet eyes. He'd seen them before, where? He couldn't be sure. He didn't need to jump to conclusions and assume anything. She just had purple eyes. Plenty of people had purple eyes.

"Oh. You must be William." The girl said, extending her hand.

William took it, squeezing. She matched his strength, and William turned her hand over, taking his hand out of hers to look at the callouses on her palms and fingers. Weapon user, but her fingers had callouses on the tips as well, unusual, since most musicians had them in those places.

"I'm Victoria." She introduced herself, meeting his eyes and giving him a small half hearted smile. "Victoria Violet."

Good (insert time of day) to you. So this chapter came out a bit quicker than the last, and I suppose part of that is due to school. I write better at school since I'm in a set schedule, and also because I just have time where it works out that I write. I don't know when the next update will be. But I'll be looking at my old chapters of this and rewriting it as I can.

I really enjoy William's story. I hope you all are as well. And I hope you enjoy his trails and falls as much as I enjoy writing them. He keeps me on my toes, and he's not always an easy character to work with some days. His moods are a pain, and he doesn't always have the most… delightful ways of looking at some things, but those are writer's woes.

I hope you enjoyed it. Leave a review of what you thought and think. Cherio!

Furthermore. This Chapter in particular ended up WAY longer than the original. I apologize for that, but that's just how it worked out once I wove in a few new details and shuffled some things around, as well as fleshed out a few of the dialogues and internal monologues.