A/N Hey guys, I know it's been a bit since I last updated this... okay, it's been almost two years since chapter 13, and I am extremely sorry about that. Writer's block is a bitch and a half to deal with, especially when certain things hit. (I'm looking at you, stress, and your friend over there.) But I do have some news for y'all, and it is that I'm managing to push past the block and was able to get this chapter ready to release for you guys.
Chapter 14
Miscommunications
Third-Person P.O.V.
~Eight Days ago~ -An abandoned building in Vale-
"So~... Why did you send me that letter last week? Why so cryptic all of a sudden?" Ruby asks, leaning her head on Adam's chest while just watching the lights of Beacon in the distance.
"Well, that's a little hard to explain, Ruby. I take it you didn't reforge your mask, since you didn't wear it here?" he replied, idly playing with her hair as they spoke.
"Actually, I did, but couldn't get it past Weiss without her seeing it. I'm hoping to bring it to our next meet up. But that's beside the point," she says, sitting up straight and turning to look him in the eye. "You are trying to dodge my question, Mr. Taurus."
Adam tried to hold back a chuckle as Ruby tried pouting. "You know I would never, Miss Rose. However, I will say that it's something that might cause some confusion… How about this, we each have three questions to ask the other about what we currently have on our minds, taking turns asking, with me starting if you accept. And we both have to be honest with our answers. Deal?"
Ruby turns her head slightly, giving the bull faunus a poor excuse for a death glare, before nodding. "Deal."
"Good. So, has Miss Schnee noticed anything off about you lately, maybe something that you and I wouldn't like her to notice?" Adam asks, not being subtle about looking with hatred off towards Beacon.
"Hmmm…" Ruby taps her chin in thought. "Not anything that I can think of. Or at least, nothing she hasn't talked directly to me about. Now, my turn. Why did you want me to reforge my White Fang mask?"
Adam sighs, knowing this would be one of the wolf's questions. "It has to do with something big coming up. That is all I can say on that at the moment." As he says this, Ruby starts pouting. "Hey, I told you the truth. Do you really expe-... Wait a second, I see what you're trying to do. You aren't getting me to waste a question that easily."
Ruby's pout drops like a stone as she sighs before smiling innocently. "I don't know what you mean, love. I would never do such a thing."
"That's a load of shit, and you know it. Now, how's being a student at Beacon treating you? Not too rough, not too easy?"
Ruby sighs, having expected this to pop up eventually. "It's… well, it's more than I expected… Ozpin has me taking remedial classes to cover what I would've originally taken in Signal or any other training school. Not to mention I'm the leader of a team, giving me a few extra classes with the other first year leaders. With all that combined, I have three times the coursework of my teammates, but I honestly think I'm handling it pretty well. Talking to you helps me destress some, Blake helps me out with some of the things I can't figure out, and Weiss and Yang help out where Blake can't… Although it is mainly Weiss helping as Yang is almost always in the sparring room or sleeping a hangover away in the library... Don't ask me why she drinks, I have no fucking clue."
Adam chuckles a bit in response to the redhead's ranting. "Well, at least you are learning some things, Ru. I will say this though, I don't think I'll ever get used to you swearing. It doesn't suit you." He then wraps an arm around Ruby's shoulder and holds her close as the moon starts to disappear on the horizon.
"My turn then," the redhead says, tapping her chin in thought for a brief moment before a smile suddenly spreads across her face. "And you just used your last two questions at once. So, how's Flynn doing and when did Velvet join the ranks?" As Adam starts to grin, Ruby holds a finger up to stop him. "With how I put it, that's just one question. I may not remember other times we've done this yet, but I still know how to word things. As for my last question…"
Adam's P.O.V.
~Present day~ -Mountain Glenn-
As I scan the report that just found its way to my hands, I hear all too familiar laughter echoing down the tunnel that leads to the hidden bullhead landing strip we have above ground, and I have to grind my teeth to not shout at the thief as he comes into view.
"Torchwick, what happened at the rally last night? You were supposed to just showcase the Paladin unit to sway more to join us, not blow up half the city and lose the mech."
Roman shrugs as he walks up to me, acting like he owns the place and my soldiers as he replies. "Well, some nosey brats decided to crash the party and the mech, and they also alerted the police to the rally while chasing me."
I manage to suppress the urge to punch him as Flynn walks up behind him. I take a deep breath and try to clear my thoughts as my lieutenant motions for me to walk away. I shake my head in response and glare at Roman, one hand resting on Wilt's hilt. "And who's fault is it that their face is all over the news in a town full of huntsmen-in-training? If you didn't go flaunting your so-called talents, you wouldn't be the target of some overconfident students."
I was about to say some more before his ice cream themed friend appears behind me as I feel the edge of her parasol's blade in my side. When she was satisfied that I had nothing else to say, she moved over to Torchwick's side, both sporting all too smug smiles while watching Flynn fume. I try to keep my own expression as neutral as I can while taking yet another deep breath. "I agreed to help with your boss' little scheme only for as long as nothing threatened my people. Keep up those stunts, and-"
"And you'll do nothing about it," the criminal interrupts, that smug grin still on his face. "Without our support, the best you can do is scrounge for weak recruits. Tell me, how have the recruitment numbers fared since you receive our help, hmm?" I can do nothing but bite my tongue as he turns and walks towards the train. "If you need me, you know where to find me."
As his multicolored partner follows him, I turn and head towards the surface tunnel myself. "Flynn, you're in charge until I get back. I need to go have a chat. Try not to provoke those two, as I don't want to find an excuse as to why I didn't save their lives." 'Here's hoping Cinder isn't too busy to answer some questions.'
Unknown P.O.V.
~downtown Vale~
The sound of people charging past echoes down the alley as a figure hunkers down next to a dumpster, breathing heavily while clutching two dark grey daggers, one dripping with blood. "God damnit, why can't he just give me a scroll for situations like this?" the figure whispers to herself, eyes wide and scanning for any sign that someone found her. She quickly pulls a piece of paper out of her satchel as she uses the blood covered dagger to carefully write a message out.
"Boss, I need someone to come bail me out please. Someone had cornered me near that club that got trashed a while back and I had to defend myself. Then his friends came around the corner and I had to run. I made it a few blocks away, towards the south I think, before I was able to duck inside an alley and get behind a dumpster. I don't know how long I'll have, but I'm Delivering this for as long as I can. If you haven't received this or if your lieutenant doesn't receive this, I will try as often as I can to reach-"
"Shit... come on... come on!" She continues to whisper to herself as the blood starts to dry on the dagger before giving a low growl, her small cervine tail flitting in frustration. Sighing, she sets her daggers down as she folds the paper up and concentrates as she holds it in her hands. A faint flash of light forms as the paper vanishes and she picks the daggers up.
"I hope you find it Adam. I don't want to keep running," she mutters as she presses a button on the handles, the daggers magnetizing together and shifting into a machine pistol, approaching footsteps echoing down the alley as the lid to the dumpster silently closes.
Yang's P.O.V.
~team RWBY's dorm~ -next morning-
"Gah! Hey! I'm as confused as you guys are!" I step away from Weiss before she can push me into the wall again as I speak. "I didn't expect Neo to show up to protect Torchwick of all people. When she said she was working for someone, I assumed she meant Junior!"
"Is there anyone here who isn't associated with criminals?!" Weiss throws her hands in the air as she storms out into the hallway, and I hear a small sigh come from Ruby as a blonde head pokes out from the door across the hall, before ducking quickly back inside as one of Weiss' black glyphs appears on the team's door. "And I don't mean you, Arc!"
I grimace a bit as I watched that happen before looking over at Blake and Ruby. They were both sitting on Blake's bed, but only Blake was really looking at me, with Rubes glancing between the floor and the door. Shaking my head, I move over to the lone desk, my scroll still sitting on it from last night with a chain of notifications on the screen, all from Neo.
"Yang, please, let me explain before you cut me off." "I had no choice, Yang, please believe me." "Yang, please... call me." "Yang?"
After a few seconds, I feel Blake place her hand on my shoulder and hear the bed creak as Ruby moves. "I'll take Ruby to get some breakfast. You should call her." I nod in response to Blake and listen as the door clicks shut, taking a couple deep breaths before picking up my scroll and pressing call.
Blake's P.O.V.
"Let's go Rubes, thanks to the Snow Angel we'll beat Nora to the table," I prompt the young wolf, earning a small laugh as we walk down the hallways. "Yang will catch up when she's done, we both know that, so don't worry."
She looks up at me and smiles. "I know, Blake. It's just..." She looks at the floor again. "Why was her friend protecting Torchwick? What was he even doing at that rally? I have way too many questions with no answers in sight and it's just..." She throws her hands up into the air at this, and I shake my head in response.
"I know. I have the same questions and probably more. But we can't let those distract us right now, especially since we've got combat classes today. Any bets on who'll be fighting today?"
Ruby shrugs in response right as we turn the corner, and I manage to pull her to the side as a trio of students stop in front of us, their uniforms bearing the symbol for Haven academy. A gray haired guy and a mint haired girl following who I can only assume to be the leader of their team, who gives me and Ruby a sharp glare for a moment before her face relaxes and she offers a smile.
"So sorry about that. This place is more of a maze than Haven," the raven haired leader said.
A/N Okay, before anyone goes to the comments and says I got a few events out of order, I have this chapter set just after "Painting the Town", as if the fight on the docks never happened, as well as the food fight. So instead, Cinder and company are arriving the day after the nightly investigations of "Painting the Town", as well as having both Ruby and Blake go to the rally instead. As for the rest of that, well... you'll have to wait and see. And I do realize I skipped a bit of explanation of other things from the previous chapter (such as WBY confronting Ruby after she carried Russel to the infirmary), but those will be covered in a future chapter as well. For the new people that have found me between this chapter and the previous one, welcome. For new and returning readers, I now have a twitter account to keep you guys up to date with anything relevant to my fics. You can find me at the tag Nathanielzellos.Thanks for sticking around, everyone. Until next time. Ciao~!
