/ | \
\ | /
Act II
Scene 26
It's a New Day
? pov
"Many of you have been wondering about the increased police presence over the past couple days." He Began in his deep rumbling voice.
The man stood in a brown coat over a white shirt with a dark blue tie. He had dark brown skin, eyes, and a thick head of grey hair and matching mustache. Despite his age, he still held a face of vigor and strength, and was seen as a symbol of order and justice in the community of Vale.
He was Commissioner Caldwell, the head of the VCPD for the past 15 years.
"Some of you might have even heard rumors of disappearances, of sightings of monsters, of Grimm in the city." He continued.
He stood on a podium before a veritable sea of reporters, all eagerly awaiting to hear why he had called together this press conference. Everyone in the audience knew what he was talking about. News was their job, and none of them would have been in the business if they didn't. The city was on edge, everyone felt like something was off, like things weren't safe anymore.
"I have come here before you today, to answer these rumors." He said before pausing, closing his eyes and collecting himself. All the while everyone watching held on with bated breath, wondering what he would say next.
"There are no Grimm running around the city." He resolutely declared, his unshakable confidence in his words so clear and apparent that it gave the most paranoid spectators doubt.
They all felt like they could take a breath of relief. They're great protector had just announced they were in the clear, that they were safe.
Or so they thought.
"However…" He interjected with a concerned and stern expression, his brows creased together as his dark eyes narrowed. "That does not mean all is well."
"There is, in fact, something lurking out there in the dark, preying on us at our weakest, but instead of a Grimm, it is a Serial Killer." He announced.
And with those words, the entire room seemed to stop for a moment, everyone pausing to process that.
A serial killer? They thought, bewildered.
Serial killers felt…unreal, fictional, something that only happened in stories and works of more modern fiction. But here the Commissioner that they all placed their faith in was, telling them one was out there.
"At this point we're calling the individual, the 'White Wolf'" He began
Instantly one of the reporters interjected with a question, "Is this because this individual is affiliated with the White Fang?"
"No, actually." The commissioner quickly responded.
"We have no real idea whether this individual is, in fact, connected to the White Fang. They are being referred to as the 'White Wolf' due to the few eye witness reports of the individual telling us that they wear a white wolf mask, and are likely a wolf Faunus. Reports have also given us cause to rate the individual as a hunter-grade threat. If you see this individual, run, and contact the proper authorities as soon as possible."
"What has this 'White Wolf' done?" another reporter asked.
"The 'White Wolf' is directly responsible for the deaths of an untold number of people. At this point, we have yet to identify any particular thing linking the victims together." He answered
"An untold number? Don't you have count of how many bodies you've recovered that are this 'White Wolf's' doing?" Another asked.
"That's part of the problem." Commissioner Caldwell sighed.
"The 'White Wolf' is a cannibal killer, and often leaves little more than a bloody mess as a remnant of his victims. At this point we're still sifting through all the evidence and remains to get ID's on all the victims." He explained
Many in the audience looked sick to their stomachs at the information provided to them about this 'White Wolf', and yet still others saw a juicy story waiting to be unraveled.
"So this 'White Wolf' eats their victims?" One such female reporter inquired.
"Yes. This individual is part of a Grimm cult known as 'Dark of the Moon'. They worship the Grimm as the true saviors of the planet, and in some cases take efforts to become closer to their 'gods'." He said, practically spitting out the word.
"Until this point they've been relatively small and restricted their more…extreme…activities to outside the city limits. With the actions of the 'White Wolf'…this has changed." The commissioner explained.
"What are you doing about this threat to keep this city safe?" A reporter questioned.
"Since this deranged murderer is a huntsman-tier threat, we are activating all Watchman squads onto a higher level of preparedness. All officers are being put on high alert, and regular patrols will be circulating around high-risk areas. Rest assured, we're doing everything we can to keep all of you safe." The Commissioner said, giving brief details of his plan.
"But we can't do it alone, we need your help. We need the citizens of Vale help. We need to you keep a look out and report suspicious activity. We need you to lookout for your neighbors and fellow man. We need to come together as a community to protect one another. This thing only strikes at night form the shadows, only hitting targets of opportunity. That means it's afraid of the light, and it's out duty, as the City of Vale, to drag this intruder out into the light and bring it to justice!" Commissioner Caldwell declared resolutely, slamming his fist down on the podium for emphasis.
And the audience responded to his call to arms, rising up for a standing ovation as pride and righteous fury burned within them. A chorus of flashes went off as everyone scrambled to get a picture of the heroic commissioner. Instead of basking in the glory, as his predecessors might have, he simply returned to his ever present serious frown.
He wasn't in it for the glory, after all.
But beyond the crowd, beyond the cameras, and watching from behind a screen, a pair of eyes narrowed as they watched and heard. A set of red lips turned down ever so slightly, billions of neurons fired in frantic thought.
This…is a problem.
Blake pov
Why can't anything ever be simple? I questioned as I lay on my bed.
It was Friday night, an entire week since Weiss had come to me, and I was still mulling it over. Hell, I was still getting over the shock that Schnee was asking to form a sort of alliance with me between our teams. It was….surreal.
Since I left the White Fang, I didn't consider them to be the mortal enemies of all Faunus anymore, but I didn't exactly hold them in a terribly positive light either. Still, as much as her family had done to Faunus, the White Fang had taken its own pound of flesh in return.
Something I had a hand in I admitted silently.
Still, that was then, this is now, and now, I was trying to turn over a new leaf, make up for what I did in some small way, and actually make a positive difference in the world. Maybe this was God's way of giving me a way to do that?
Still, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to ally with Weiss. If I was closer to her that meant it was just that much more likely that she would find out what I was and what I had done. And I doubted that even if she was the most forgiving saint that she would be able to ignore that.
Then again, I have felt more cynical since I left the White Fang.
But there were a number of other things, all competing for my attention.
My attention was taken from me when I heard a knock on the door to the dorm. I got up to go get it, but found Pyrrha standing in front of the open door, having already responded to it. She looked like she was talking to someone, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. It sounded like they were talking in native Mistralian, with Pyrrha talking to someone who sounded excited and male.
After a moment, she paused, and turned to me. The fact she was aware of my presence at all was a little unnerving, but the passive look her dark emerald eyes gave sent a shiver down my spine.
"I'll be back." She said, and without another word, she left out the door.
I never got to see the man she was talking to.
That was…odd I blinked.
But it didn't seem to have anything to do with me, and Pyrrha didn't seem concerned or in trouble, so I was confident she could handle it. So, I went back to my room to read return o my thoughts.
Not five minutes later, there was a knock on the door to my room.
I resisted the urge to groan, and got up to answer it. I already knew who it was, there was only one other person in the house right now.
"Jaune, what do you want?" I asked, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.
"Uh…hey Blake. I was wondering if we could talk about something." He said slowly and nervously.
"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked, now lounging on the comfortable chair in the common area.
"It's…it's about Pyrrha." He said, sitting on the couch.
"Pyrrha?" I repeated, wondering what this was about.
"Yeah…" He trailed off, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"I'm sure you've noticed how she's been acting…differently…for a while now." He continued.
Differently was an understatement. Ever since Monday morning, Pyrrha has acted like a stone cold killer and it's sent every instinct I have on edge.
Actually, now that I thought about it, it actually started Sunday night.
…After Jaune and Pyrrha got back.
…oh
"I….I think that might be my fault." He admitted.
"Jaune…what did you do?" I asked very carefully and dangerously.
"Blake…I…I…I messed up." He said, hanging his head in shame.
"Pyrrha went up to talk to me about training me to help me get better a-and I just spat in her face and told her to fuck off." He confessed
"You did what?" I seethed.
It didn't take a much to see that Pyrrha had a…thing…for Jaune. I'm not sure if I'd call it a crush, not yet, but she seemed to have some feelings for him. And if she tried to help him, only to get a slap to the face and a punch to the gut, then it was pretty obvious it wouldn't end well.
"I know, I know. After I did it Lilith came to see me and she already gave me a huge rant after I explained it to her. She really made me feel like a piece of shit." He said.
"Which, I guess I am." He said with a weak, self-depreciating chuckle.
Then he looked back up at me, his eyes slightly red and watery. "So after that, I went looking for her to apologize, but when I found her…she was like she is now. She wouldn't talk to me, even when I tried to apologize to her." He explained.
"I think she's still mad at me, but I don't know how to make it up to her, how to make her feel better or go back to normal. I don't know how to fix this"
"Blake…I need your help." He said, looking in my eyes, desperately hoping I would have an answer.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a clue.
"Jaune…" I sighed, bringing my hand to my face in exasperation.
"I don't even know where to begin."
"Yeah…that's what Lilith said too." Jaune sighed.
"No, I mean I don't even know where to begin to fix this. Pyrrha won't even give you, or really any of us, the time of day. It's like she's a whole other person. Do you know how bad it would have to be for her to be like that?" I asked
"Uh…no?" He responded, unsure
"Neither do I." I pointed out. "I've never really been a people person, I have no idea what to do for this."
"B-but you're a girl too, you have to have some idea?" He asked.
"Really Jaune?" I questioned with an unamused look.
"…No." He said with a heavy sigh.
"I have seven sisters, I feel like I should know something about this." He moaned
"Well you knew enough to apologize. Lots of people don't have it in them to do even that." I told him in an effort to comfort him a bit.
I pointedly tried not to think about the fact that I was one of them.
"But apparently, that's not good enough." He said despondently, his spirits still in a pit of despair.
"Jaune, I would love to help and get Pyrrha back in good spirits, but, well, we just don't know enough about her. There isn't a "one size fits all" solution that will work for every person." I explained to him softly and calmly, trying to impress upon him how serious I was.
And I was.
The fact was, we really didn't know much of anything about Pyrrha beyond her recorded fights. I had thought I had known enough about her personality make a judgment call about it back during initiation, but it kept changing, adding new variables to throw everything off. She could be sweet, kind, and strong, or cold, deadly, and sadistic. At this point it wouldn't be stretch for me to think that if Jaune continued to pressure Pyrrha into forgiving him, that she might assault him.
Wait a minute…
That's it, that's the problem.
Knowledge I realized.
We knew almost nothing about each other as a team, and we barely bonded at all. We weren't exactly enemies at each other's throats, at least we weren't until Jaune pissed Pyrrha off, but we certainly weren't a unified team either. We needed something to help bring us together.
We needed to bond.
And as I thought about what Lt. Niflheim had brought up earlier this week, I had the perfect idea.
"Jaune…I actually think I have a solution." I said, my eyes lighting up with the idea, plans within plans spinning in my mind as it went into an excited overdrive.
"You do?" He perked up, surprised by my turnaround.
"Yes, I do." I affirmed, actually allowing myself to grin at the idea.
"Jaune, we're going to go on a team bonding experience." I began.
"We're going shopping."
? pov
I stood in front of the door, checking and rechecking the piece of paper with the number scrawled on it, just to make sure I had the right room. Taking a breath, I gathered myself up, and knocked on the door.
And to my wonderful surprise, the person I was looking for opened the door.
She was a tall girl with scarlet hair and emerald eyes. She wore a bronze headdress and, oddly enough, the boy's school uniform. Which is to say pants instead of a skirt.
"Pyrrha!" I exclaimed in joyful recognition.
Pyrrha, surprised by my appearance, widened her eyes and recoiled slightly.
"Master Sahib?" She said quizzically with a puzzled face.
I failed to conceal the twitch born from her once again calling me master.
Still, there was something…different…about her voice. It sounded…rougher. Deeper maybe.
I passed it off as just my imagination.
"Can I come in?' I asked, gesturing to her dorm,
"Or perhaps somewhere where we can get more privacy." I suggested.
I saw her hesitate and pause in thought.
"…We should go somewhere else." She said finally.
It didn't take long for Pyrrha to lead me to a more secluded spot. Once there, I began to speak more plainly and openly.
"So Pyrrha, you told me you were having some problems. You were having headaches, hallucinations, someone stole all your stuff." I began
"Even another blackout," I finished with a frown, concerned.
She stopped again, looking at me thoughtfully and carefully, trying to figure out how to respond.
Then, finally, she sighed, looking down as she appeared to rub her eyes. When she looked up, those once forest emerald eyes were replaced by bloody crimson ones.
"…I'm…not Pyrrha. Not…exactly." She said finally.
"What?" I blinked.
Her eyes, they're just like they were before. But that hasn't happened for years I thought in confusion.
At seeing my confusion, she decided to try to elaborate.
"I'm…her other. She calls on me when I'm needed usually. But…I've been asleep for a very long time. Last I can remember you had bought me, tried to enroll me in a combat school, which got mixed results." She tried to explain.
"And that was years ago." She added with a frown.
"Wait…are you saying you can't remember anything?" I wondered fearfully, struggling to find sense in all this.
Does she have amnesia?
It…it kind of made sense. She was acting more like she did when I first managed to get her from that woman. Perhaps she had a…total amnesiac relapse of some kind.
She paused again, frowning in thought as she did her best to try to figure out how to explain it.
"…Kind of." She said finally.
"Pyrrha" I sighed, "What do you remember about these last several years?"
This time she sighed in annoyance.
"No, you don't understand. I'm not Pyrrha, not…exactly, anyway." She said with a shake of her head.
"huh?" I blinked, raising my brow in confusion.
"Pyrrha and I are…we're like two sides of the same coin. Only one side can be up at a time. The other is…asleep. And I've been asleep for a long time." She explained.
Now I was really confused.
What on earth could she be-wait I wondered, before an idea came to mind.
What if…
"Are you…that…other…she talked about?" I asked.
It was all starting to make sense. Pyrrha used to talk about not being herself sometimes. I thought she just meant her mood swings, which were fairly severe, but…maybe it wasn't just mood swings. Maybe it was something else.
And looking at the person before me now, I could see the differences. The way she talked, her posture, her style of dress for god's sakes. None of that is even including her red eyes replacing Pyrrha's own green.. It was all very different from the Pyrrha I knew.
"So she did know." Pyrrha murmured.
"Know what?"
"About me. I thought she did. But if she did, then she would have known that the headaches, the blackout, that was all normal." She explained with a furrowed brow.
"So you do exist." I murmured, awed by the reality of it.
In response, she just gave me a puzzle depression
I sighed, "I can't just keep calling both of you Pyrrha. I remember she called you something, what was it." I asked.
"I…don't really have a name." She admitted
"Wait, what?" I said, confused.
I could have sworn she called her other…something.
"Never really cared about my name much." She added.
"Though, I guess for simplicities sake, you can just call me Kokkinos." She finally said.
"Kokkinos." I repeated with a frown.
Her old name. I wonder what that means, if she'd rather have her old name.
So, with another sigh, I began again. "So…Kokkinos… do you remember a doctor? A psychiatrist."
She blinked, frowning again in thought.
"…Vaguely." She finally responded.
"Well, I took you to that doctor to try and…undo some damage Lady Agathe had done to you." I explained.
I took her silent raised brow as an invitation to continue.
"When I took you in, you were…you weren't in a very good place mentally. You had lots of mood swings, going from cold, to energetic, to scared and withdrawn. You were also often very violent." I elaborated.
Then, I chuckled as I remembered something.
"I actually tried to channel that into more productive ventures by trying to get you to be a hunter like I was. So I sent you to a combat school. First day of school they had spars, and you sent a boy 4 years older than you to the hospital with two broken arms." I laughed. At the time, it was horrifying, but now…not so much.
"I remember that day." She murmured.
"That was you?' I questioned
"He wasn't very good." She answered blankly.
"You could have gone easy on him" I sighed.
"The only mercy is death." She calmly said.
"Wait, you tried to kill him?" I asked, bewildered.
"Not at first." She answered
"And this is why I took you to the Psych." I said with a sigh.
"You were violent, aggressive, took things too far. Lady Agathe's indoctrination taken its toll on you. So I tried to fix that, to try and fix you." I explained.
"Fix me?" Kokkinos repeated.
"Yeah..." I began, looking out into the forest beneath us.
"In the end, we used lots of techniques including hypnotherapy and drugs to repress many of your memories of your past. You, or, well, Pyrrha, still knew that she had been Lady Agathe's slave, and vaguely what she did, but it wasn't as…fresh, or intimate for her. They didn't affect her as badly." I expounded.
"So I thought it worked." I finished.
"But instead you separated us…" Kokkinos mused.
"Yup." I agreed
"But…what caused you to come out again? For it all to break down?" I asked
"Well…" She began, thinking about it.
"A giant scorpion tried to kill me. Twice." She said
What
"And it nearly worked. Twice." She added
"Wait, what?" I said verbally this time.
"But I don't really know what brought me out this time. Or why I've stayed out." She wondered out loud, too lost in thought to notice me.
"Stayed out?" I repeated, confused by what she meant by that.
Looking at me, she frowned, and said, "Ever since Sunday night, I've been the one awake. Which is…unusual. Normally I only come out when she needs me, or things get to stressful or intense for her. But…never this long." She explained.
"Wait, so Pyrrha's…asleep?" I asked, concerned.
"And I have no idea when she's going to come back again." Kokkinos responded with an annoyed frown.
"I see…" I said with a frown.
"Well…I guess I have a responsibility to you too." I said with a sigh.
"What?" Kokkinos asked.
"When I took you in, I took responsibility for all of you, not just the nicest side of you." I said.
"So you aren't going to seal me away again?" She asked with a cautious expression.
"Seal you away?" I asked, confused and concerned.
In response, she gave me a flat, unamused, look.
"Oh…right." I said sheepishly, scratching the back of my head.
I kind of did seal her away the first chance I got. Even if it was accidentally I realized.
"Sorry for that, I just…I just wanted to try to help you." I explained. "I just wanted to give you the chance at being a normal girl, of being happy. So I tried to fix you."
She responded with a silently raised eyebrow.
"So, I guess I need to try to find a way to be more…accommodating… to you. All of you." I admitted.
She hummed in acknowledgment.
"So then, since I've denied you for all your life, and Pyrrha's still asleep, I'll try to help you first." I began
Still going to have to get used to this whole "multiple personality" thing I added silently.
"Help me?" She questioned
"Yup, you deserve the chance to try and be a normal girl too, and not just a weapon like the one Lady Agathe made you to be." I continued.
I took her silent questioning look to mean, "what does that even mean?" Which was a great question.
Because I didn't know.
Frankly, I'm not entirely sure what I was trying to turn Pyrrha, Kokkinos, them, into. I just knew that the way they were now was wrong, so painfully painfully wrong. And I wanted to try to fix it. To give them a shot of happiness, of living as their own person, and not someone else's tool. To make friends, comrades, find love…
Love… I thought.
That's it
She was on a team, so she'd probably become friends with them eventually, but love…love might be able to open her heart up.
"Kokkinos, I order you…" I began
"To find a date to the prom!" I finished, pointing to her with a dazzlingly triumphant smile.
A brilliant idea if I do say so myself I thought, mentally patting myself on the back.
If she found a date, I had no doubt that it would help open her heart up. Besides, what girl didn't want a date to the prom?
…
Ok, I'll admit, I'm not an expert on girls.
But what could go wrong? I thought.
Then I looked at Kokkinos's blatantly confused face.
"A what?" She asked with an utterly befuddled expression.
Oh this is going to take a while
Jack pov
"So you saw the White Wolf? Up close and personal?" Robin asked me
"Oh yeah." I responded, taking a large gulp of my drink.
"And?" He prodded.
"Scariest fucking thing I've seen in my life." I admitted without an inch of shame.
"Really?" He recoiled, surprised.
"Uhuh. Hell, I'm glad it ran. I honestly don't know if I could have taken it on my own." I added.
"That bad?" He inquired, leaning over the table in bar.
We were sitting in the Bloody Nose Bar, a favorite of the West Vale officers for decades due to its proximity to the station. In fact, as we spoke, many men and women in blue were sitting in tables around us.
"That motherfucker managed to combine all three factors of Beowolves, Ursa, and Boarbatusks, and managed to enhance them to insane levels. It was bulletproof, strong enough to rip a man in half like he was made of paper, and fast as hell." I explained to him, gesturing my bottle at him as I did.
"So you're saying it's invincible or something?" he queried, taking a sip from his own.
"Nah, I know team 4 could take it out. I mean, it ran when it heard reinforcements, that means it has to have some sense of fear, which meant it isn't invincible." I countered.
"'Sides, we're the best damn Watchman team this side of the mountains." I added, full of drunk confidence.
"Don't let Arthur hear that, he might get sad." A voice said from behind me, clapping me on the shoulder.
Turning, I met the smirking face of the fair skinned and sunset haired woman who I knew for a fact could kick my ass ten ways to Sunday.
"Aveline! Good of you to join us!" Robin exclaimed with a wide smile.
"Yeah, I didn't have much to do so I decided to join Ymir here." She answered, gesturing to the giant behind her.
"I see you started without me," Ymir said dryly
"You took too long," Robin answered.
"Eh, I ran into the detective while I was on my way here," Ymir said with an apathetic shrug as the two of them took seats at the table
"So how's teaching treating you?" I asked
In response, Ymir gave a long suffering sigh.
"Aveline…I have no idea how you turned out so well from that academy." He finally said.
"Hey, don't mock my alma matter. Beacon is great." She defended with a frown.
"It's soft." Ymir countered.
"The freshmen are. Beacon starts kinda soft, easing the students into it, but by the junior year things are pretty intense, and all that keeps them from being actual huntsmen is their maturity and experience." Aveline explained.
"Do you miss it?" I asked, genuinely curios.
Aveline was on the fast track to becoming a renowned huntsmen with her team. Then she threw it all away to work for the police. The why of it is something of a secret to all but her closest friends.
"Well…" She sighed "I kind of miss the simplicity of it. As intense as it was, it was all black and white. Kill Grimm, protect humanity. The problem was, I was ignorant of how much humanity had to be protected from themselves."
"Do you still keep in contact with your friends?" Robin asked.
"Unfortunately not." She answered with a sad smile, "Once they all knew I was working with 'evil watchmen' I become alienated. Made me realize how much I must have really meant to them if that's all it took."
"Awe, well don't worry Aveline, we wouldn't abandon you even if you did decide to become one of those selfish, money grubbing, elitist, arrogant, holier-than-thou, pompous, dickish, undisciplined, glory-hounding, backwards-minded-" I began to rant.
"Jack." She interrupted
"-huh?"
"I get it." She said with a small smile.
"Oh…" I blinked. "I wasn't finished."
"I have noticed the more senior students are a better…" Ymir trailed off, getting back on the earlier topic.
"But they're still immature?" Aveline guessed.
"Yes." Ymir grumbled.
"Yeah, that's kind of part of Beacon's goal. They want to train the kids into huntsmen, not weapons." Aveline explained.
"You can't give children the weapons and strength to take on an army and not give them the discipline and sense of responsibility needed to go along with it, it's irresponsible," Ymir argued.
"I know, and many of the kids kind of treat it as a game, even after taking a large number of missions on through school. They're just in it for the glory and money, not to protect humanity." She sighed.
"In the end, Beacon really just tries to combine college and warrior training." Aveline summarized.
"Is that why you decided to become a detective instead?" Robin asked, looking at Aveline with genuine interest.
"It's a reason." She said evasively
"And how do plan on doing that?" I asked mostly for the sake of argument.
"I got rid of the honey trip," Ymir said with a proud grin that promised glory and pain.
"You what," Aveline said blankly with wide eyes.
"The what?" I questioned.
"The honey trip, it's a yearly tradition for the freshmen after initiation. They go on a trip to Forever Fall, collect some sap from the trees, and try not to piss off the rapier wasps or occasional Grimm." Aveline explained distractedly
"Also known as a trip for pansies" Ymir interjected.
Aveline opened her mouth in protest, but paused, before promptly closing it, and shrugging.
"Fair enough."
"So what are you replacing it with?" Robin asked, now curious what the Atlesian giant had in mind for his students.
"A week long camping trip to Mt. Glen." He proudly declared with a smile.
"Ozpin's probably not going to like that," Aveline warned.
"Actually, he loved it." Ymir shot back
Aveline gave him a confused look, before snapping her fingers and saying, "Right, I forgot he was crazy."
"I'm hoping to use this trip to put things in perspective for them, as well as learning about their survival skills. From what I've seen, all they can do is swing their pointy sticks around and shoot things. It takes more than that to be a hunstmen," Ymir explained.
"Hmm, that makes sense." I hummed in agreement.
"Normally they'd wait until the second semester to have them do anything even approaching that. That's pretty ambitious, Ymir." Aveline commented.
"I like it." She grinned.
"Well, I'm glad it gets your seal of approval." Ymir flatly responded.
"Hey, any idea how long you'll be working there?" Robin asked.
"Not really." Ymir answered with a shrug, "They're giving me a trial year there to see if it works out, but they haven't said what they'll do if I don't muck it all up."
"Hmm…well, since you and Jack are both occupied with other assignments-"robin began
"Don't forget Mila." Aveline interrupted.
Robin gave her a look before continuing, "…and Mila…I have been given a special task of my own."
"Oh?" I said with a raised brow "Finally done sitting around twiddling your thumbs?"
"Yup, I've been put on recon duty, to hunt down the White Wolf." He announced.
"You what?" I said with wide eyes.
"Yeah, that kind of why I asked you about it in the first place." He explained.
"Robin, that thing is a monster, it will rip you apart. If you see it, run." I said, trying to impress upon him the importance of my words.
"Oh, I plan on it. In fact, that's one of the reasons they thought I would be perfect for the job. The rest of my team is tied up doing other things, and I'm a stealth and reconnaissance specialist." He elaborated.
"That is true…" I said with a sigh.
"Rosientoter, it sounds like you lack confidence in our leader's abilities." Ymir stated with an innocent expression.
"Yeah Jack, you should have faith in Robin's ability." Aveline conspired as she looked at me.
"His ability to run away, that is." She finished as she smirked at him.
"Ha ha, very funny." Robin said flatly.
We all laughed at his expense, but he got his in return as the night went on. The drinking continued, the good cheer grew, and we all felt the comradery rise. It was a great long night, one I was glad I had off. We left in high spirits, and I headed home, to warm bed where Mary lay waiting.
Kokkinos pov
Why? I thought, a flare of fury rising up within me as I struck the target.
I had gone into one of the training arenas to beat on the practice targets there. They were little more than decorated inanimate dummy's, but they served their purpose well enough. I came here seeking to vent my frustration from the way my life was turning out now, and more prevalently, Master Sahib's orders.
"I order you to find a date to the prom" He told me.
That had started a two hour long discussion about what that even meant.
"So…you want me to find a sexual partner?" I asked, making sure I got it.
"No no no!" He exclaimed, waving his hands in denial as his face twisted in horror.
"So it has nothing to do with sex?" I asked again, still trying to get a handle on it.
"No. Well, yes, kind of, but not really. It's romance, not lust. It's related to sex, but, it's different." He tried to explain, "You know what I mean."
I had no idea what he meant.
And my blank stare told him as much.
He gave a heavy sigh as he turned to the wall, combing a hand through his hair.
"Ok, so, you know sexual attraction? How men like women and women like men?" He began
"Er, not to say a woman can't like another woman." He hastily amended. "Or…a man another man, I guess. If you're into that."
My only response was to continue to stare at him blankly, as I had no idea where he was going with this.
"Well, it's based off that, but it's more than just a physical attraction. It's love, and one of the most powerful forces in the universe." He said.
That sounds like bullshit I thought as I raised an eyebrow.
"It's something that combines the body mind and soul's desires into one. Once you have it, it's the most wonderful thing in the world." He continued.
I just gave him a skeptical brow, silently giving him my opinion on the matter.
He sighed again at my lack of understanding, before beginning again from a different angle.
And I still have barely any idea what he meant! I raged internally
I barely have a grasp on the very concept of sexual attraction, and now he tells me about this thing that's similar but not? Something even more complicated then something I still can't fully wrap my head around? And he expects me to follow his orders with these vague instructions?! I continued, gritting my teeth in anger.
I ought to tear out his throat for his incompetence!
He doesn't use me properly, nor does he understand my purpose in life!
My fist clenched tightly around Milo's sword grip as my blood boiled at the thought of the soft fool. There was no steel in him, no resolve like there was in Lady Agathe. He was weak, and he was unworthy of being my master.
I would have him suffer for his failings, for his weakness. I would rip out his throat with my own teeth, tear him limb from limb, bathe in his blood as the life drained from his eyes! I would end him for this slight, I would see him-!
Creak!
I stopped, feeling a worrisome give in my blade. I looked down and opened my hand to see the cause, and to my further displeasure, I found it.
In my rage, I had managed to crush Milo's handle in my grip. Had this been an ordinary sword, this wouldn't have been too much of a problem, but considering it was a hunter weapon…
And it's broken I thought, pressing the buttons to shift its form to no avail. The blade was still fine, as was most of the sword, but it seemed to be stuck in sword form.
What is wrong with me? I thought with a growl and a shake of my head.
The urges, the rage inside was only getting worse.
How could I think such traitorous thoughts about my own master? Sure, he isn't Mistress Agathe, but he is still my master, and I his slave. I am his to command as he sees fit. Even if his orders are…unorthodox, or in efficient. It is not my place to question why. I thought firmly.
Deep down, however, I knew many of the things I had thought I believed in. I did think him weak, I did think him foolish, but to want to kill him for it?
I need to get a handle on this I frowned, and soon, because this is unacceptable. I thought as I looked at my damaged weapon with concern, forcing my body to relax.
As much as I was…confused…by master Sahib's newest orders, I would follow them to the best of my ability. The vagueness of them simply meant I had to…creative…in how I handled the situation.
At least it wasn't all bad I thought, attempting to, as they say, "look on the bright side".
And now I have at least one reliable weapon.
"You want what?" Master Sahib questioned in disbelief.
"My blades. I had more than just my sword and shield." I reiterated.
"I…no." He began, looking for the words, before finding his denial.
"They are terrible weapons with the blood of children, just like yourself, on them." He explained, "I don't want you anywhere near them."
I raised a brow skeptically, "They were quality blades that have saved my life an untold number of times." I defended.
"Those were bloody weapons of the old you, you're trying to turn over a new leaf. It's why I gave you Akuou and Milo in the first place." He countered.
I neglected to mention that he was just trying to make me turn over a new leaf, and instead gave him a heavy frown that silently impressed upon him how much bullshit I thought was in that argument.
Glancing away, unable to bear my gaze, which I found to be a sign of weakness, he added, "I don't even have them on me."
I sighed in disappointment at the knowledge that I wouldn't be getting my blades any time soon. Shame, they truly were exquisite.
Still…
"May I have yours, master?" I asked
"Wait, what?" He asked, thrown off guard by the question.
"May I have your knife? I've seen you use it before, and I know you have it on you. It's a quality blade, and it should work just as well as one of my others." I explained.
He frowned, not liking the implications of it. Then, slowly, he reached down to his belt, and pulled a sheathed blade from it. The hilt of the blade was golden with a multi-faced head of a deity as the pommel. The sheath itself was ebony with gold on the edges. Despite its apparent opulence, it was actually an incredibly high quality and deadly blade. But by far, the most glaring detail about it, was it's shape.
It was bent in the middle.
It was a Kukri blade, one that Master Sahib said had been in his family for generations. Something that was supposed to hold some significance. As far as I was concerned it was an incredibly efficient and wickedly curved blade. As much as I was at home using a sword and shield, I never truly felt comfortable without a knife, especially one as fine as his obsidian blade.
He held it in his hand for a moment, considering what he was about to do, before slowly holding out to me. When I grasped hold of the sheath, he looked me in the eye, and asked, "Do you remember the order I gave you before you came to Beacon?"
"Do not kill anyone at school." I recited.
"You have followed that order?" He continued, his voice carrying a weight not there before.
"Yes, master." I said on reflex, the seriousness of his voice bringing me back to attention.
He grimaced, but continued on, "You swear not to kill anyone with this blade?" He asked.
"You would leave me defenseless?" I questioned with wide eyes. I'd never been ordered not to do anything like that. It felt…uncomfortable, to be honest, to be given a weapon I wasn't allowed to use to its fullest. To be ordered not to kill under any circumstances.
He frowned again, before restating his position, "Unless you have no other choice, and yours or someone else's life is on the line, you swear not to kill?"
"That is an order." I more stated than asked.
"Yes." He affirmed with narrow eyes.
"It will be done, master." I answered, bowing my head.
I could practically hear him scowling at me as he sighed, another sign of his reluctance to take his position as my master.
"I suppose that's the best I can hope for." He said.
We talked for a little while after that, mostly master Sahib trying to get a read on me as a person. He didn't seem as happy as I thought he would when I told him what I did to the group of boys that tried to kill me. He seemed very displeased at what he saw as overkill, and told me they probably weren't trying to kill me. At the same time, however, he had to admit that it was a…sign of progress…that I left them alive on my own accord. I didn't have to say, but he knew I would have personally preferred killing them.
In the end, He left a little after midnight, and said that he'd be staying in Vale for a week before heading back to Mistral.
Then I came here to blow off some steam, only for this to happen, which was not helping.
I need sleep I decided.
It was late, probably after 3 in the morning. Normally I preferred getting up at absurd times, but I could do what was necessary. Hopefully I would be able to make sense of all this madness when I woke up.
Still, it brought to mind another thought.
How the hell am I going to find a so-called "date" to this so-called "prom"?
? pov
I was walking around the city at night, just like he had ordered me to. At first he said he wanted me to look as innocent, non-threatening, and weak as possible. Then he paused, and said, "Nevermind, just act normal.". Still unsure as to what he meant by that, but orders are orders.
And it was my first official assignment!
It was so exciting!
Apparently he had gotten information that the "White Wolf" was a bit more than the Commissioner had let on, and that it might actually be a Grimm as was earlier rumored. If that was the case, then it needed to be put down, but handle discreetly and with care. So he sent me to look for it, and eliminate if possible.
It was what I was made for, after all.
And as a result, I found myself walking through the isolated and disreputable parts of Vale on the lookout for anything suspicious related to my mission.
Funnily enough, a number of people had come up to me wondering if I was for sale or if I wanted to have some fun with them. One person even asked if I wanted candy!
As much as I had heard about candy, I unfortunately couldn't eat something like that.
And as much as I would like to have fun, I had a mission to do right now.
I also wasn't for sale, and wasn't entirely sure what they meant by that.
So unfortunately I had to decline each and every one of them. Some of them didn't seem to appreciate my answer very much. But don't worry, I showed them the error of their ways in a sufficiently efficient manner.
But that was hours ago. Right now, it was the dead of night, 3:30 am, and this area of town was dead silent. Even the most active people seemed to be asleep. Only the center city still seemed to be alive.
If I was a normal person, I might have found it all eerie.
The complete silence and absence of all life.
The way the moon hung high in air, its light shining down and casting bottomless shadows on everything.
Then I noticed it.
There was something in those shadows. Something following me, watching me. Every time I tried to get a glance at it, it seemed to disappear, to melt into the darkness. Another person might have questioned if it was even real.
But I knew it was there, and I suspected it was my target.
So I kept my weapons primed, ready to face it should it attack.
It was to my surprise, however, when I rounded the next corner, that I saw it.
The White Wolf
It had to be.
My retinal sensors could scarcely believe it, but what else could it be. It looked like a giant white Beowolf.
And it was just standing in the middle of the street, looking at me. It's slivery white fur reflecting the light off it much like the shattered moon in the sky.
I blinked, my process trying to take in this unexpected event, and figure out a response.
Finally I smiled, gave it a wave, and cheerily said, "Salutations!"
The Wolf tilted its head in response, inspecting me itself.
"Prepare to die!" I continued, drawing my swords from their storage pack, having them circle around me in preparation to strike.
Then the Wolf righted itself, and…grinned. That was the only possible thing I could identify it as. Everything in my memory banks and processors called it a grin, but it still felt off on its face, like it wasn't a perfect fit.
Then its form seemed to shudder, and it jumped.
To a human, it might have appeared that it disappeared, but not to my retinal sensors. Still, it was fast, really fast. It had an acceleration comparable to a .22 caliber bullet, and the speed to match. I watched as it soared into the air, before landing on a rooftop in the distance. It stopped to look at me from over 100 meters away, and I blinked, processing the data I had gathered.
Then I grinned, sent power to the servos in my legs, and jumped myself.
The chase was on.
A/n: Hah, I said I'd be back in a week
That said, I'm considering going back and rewriting several parts of this later.
Eh
Whatever
For now, this works
Oh, also, I realized I missed a tiny part for the last Scene, so that's getting updated.
In other news, this chapter.
the Manhunt for the White Wolf has begun, but how will it end?
Also, Blake has made plans for team bonding, which people brought up last scene about Team ANBL lacking.
Which is true, and I had planned for.
Oh, and I decided to actually kind of throw you guys a bone after all this time playing coy as fuck with Pyrrha and Kokkinos. And if you want a good idea of what Sahib looks like, then you can kind of imagine Henry Green from AC: Syndicate. It's not exactly a perfect match, but it's close enough.
Also, the opinions said during the bar scene do not reflect my own, only the opinions of the people at the bar.
Oh, and Penny's finally showed up. I can't quite tell yet if RWBY fans actually like Penny, like making Penny death puns, or like to be sad she died.
That's about it, next scene should be coming out in a week as well,and I hope this one measures up.
Have a good day.
