Dressed in DRAB: Sanctum Soldier Chapter 12: Y2C4: Not Alone, a rwby fanfic

AN: Please read the end note, a BIG disclaimer is there. Probably earns the story's M rating there.

You guys may have noticed the story picture changed. ColdPlayFan12 decided to draw a pic of Haley and Azure together and I loved it enough to make it the cover. This is actually the second draft they gave me, the original (which I didn't use because of reasons) is currently on their profile and is awesome.

Music: Doujah Raze- Find You

Year 2: Not Alone

The things that you conceal/They can't hide you
The things that you reveal/They can't guide you
What you thought was real/Is just a lie too
If you can't find the truth/The truth will find you
The things that you detest/Are deep inside you
The things that you possess/They only ride you
The words that you confess/Are just a lie too
If you can't find the truth/The truth will find you

Jason's POV

What the... did I forgot to turn my scroll off last night? A message in the middle of the night is not one of my favorite wake-up calls.

Well, since I'm up... I grab my scroll. It's still half an hour until sunrise. Who's messaging me this ea... I know for a fact I never gave Rex my number. What the Hell does he want?

'Breech, come to Azure's room. It's important.'

He could of explained why...

Still, it's for Azure's sake. I speed through my morning routine and head over. I see Rex standing in front of Azure's door. He looked pissed.

I could hear him ranting. "Of all the stupid, irresponsible, reckless decisions she's made in her life, this is the absolute worst. When I get my hands on her, I am going to slap some sense into that thick head!"

Haley shows up. "I got the message. What happened to Azure?"

Rex growls. "The idiot ran away!"

Haley looks worried. "You certain?"

Rex pushes open the door. I was about to question why it was unlocked when I notice the bullet holes where the lock should be. I'm not even surprised with him anymore.

"Haley, hold your breath."

Haley walks into the room. "Why would I-" She starts gagging.

Rex hands her a rag, which she uses to cover her mouth and nose immediately. "Why is it when you warn someone, they proceed to do the opposite?"

I step inside and I am immediately confronted with a horrid smell. "Is this... perfume?"

"Azure intentionally buys bad perfume for when she deals Faunus with an enhanced sense of smell."

I look at him, my gaze silently asking why he knows this. He shrugs. "Why do you think I had that rag ready? It isn't the first time I was a victim to this. Remember the week I didn't wear the uniform to class? She even used the same brand."

Looking at the room, I realized the only thing inside was her bed. She had taken everything else out. "She really did it... At the very least, if she was planning on coming back, she wouldn't have emptied her closet."

Haley shakes her head. "I guess she did leave. However, it is still her choice whether to continue in this school. Plenty of people drop out."

Rex sighs. "Haley, Azure has told you she grew up on the streets. She was here on scholarship."

I immediately catch on to Rex's reasoning. "She doesn't have anything to fall back on if she leaves, does she? No relatives, no home."

Rex nods. "This is her one chance to live a relatively normal life." Suddenly his scroll vibrates. He pulls it out and checks who messaged him. "Great. Now the headmaster wants to see me."

"You think he knows?"

"This is the only reason he would call me this early. I have to go. We'll figure something out when I get back. She can't have gotten that far." He walks off.

Rex's POV

Is this really all our promise to watch each other's back meant to her? How did I miss this? What use is the ability to read minds when I can't even tell when my friend is going to something this drastic?

I open the door to the headmasters office. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

He looks up from his scroll. "Yes. Mr. Rex, I assume you realize why I called you here?"

I nod. "At some unknown point last night, Azure snuck out of Sanctum Academy with no intent to return."

"Indeed. However, this leads to a problem. Her arrangement with the Hunters was that as long as she went through the training and graduated from one of the academies, her criminal record would be pardoned. As such, her leaving means that we have to reopen those records and track her down to enforce the law."

"And your asking me to find out how to track her down? I'm not helping you. My loyalty to Azure is greater then to the Hunter's. If you carry this out, you lose two students, not one."

The headmaster sighs. "Actually, I was hoping you could figure out how to bring her back. There are very few on the staff here who would be happy seeing Azure behind bars."

"So your threat?"

"I can give you until midnight before I have to declare her rogue. Think of it as motivation."

"I need permission for myself, Haley Onyx, and Jason Breech to skip class for the day."

The headmaster raises an eyebrow. "You're getting them involved?"

"They'll get involved either way. At least this way there's no hassle for them ditching class."

We all caught up in it
Cause we all brought up in it
The hardship we endure is
Just a part of living
All the hearts we break
That's just a part of building
All the parts we take
That's just a part of giving
You don't see it, what you seeing is hidden
And when they hide it they don't want
No one to find it - forbidden
And when they lying
Then it's really only truth that they spitting
If you believe 'em
Then it's really just a lie that's been written
It's kinda hard to try to figure out
The science/religion
Cuz all the hate that you spraying is
Really love that's misgiven
And all the love that you craving is
Just a hateful incision
And when our soul's cradled
Then it's in a grave or imprisoned
The state we live in
Ain't the way we envisioned
When we were babies
There were so many ways
We were left wishing
But now the wool has been
Pulled over these eyes that did glisten
And now that glimmer of hope
Won't even shine in a prism

Haley's POV

"I can't believe Azure would just run out on us like this." I thought we were friends. She could have come to us.

Jason shakes his head. "Looking back, it should have been obvious; we missed the signs. The question is how are we going to track her down."

Having adjusted to the smell, I sniff slightly. "She scent-bombed everything. I can't smell anything other then the perfume."

"She probably expected Rex to follow her and wanted to take away his advantage. So scent-tracking is out."

A new voice pops up. "Excuse me?" We turn to see the blind girl from the beginning of the year standing nearby. "Hello, my name is Ora Khloros. Why are you talking about tracking?"

Jason answers. "Our friend Azure left without warning us. We want to make sure she's alright."

Ora stiffens and starts muttering under her breath. "...not good... shou... happened."

She knows something.

Rex shows up again, but he immediately gets agitated when he sees Ora. "Haley, didn't you and Azure meet a blind girl on the day you came back?"

I nod. "This is her."

He walks forward before suddenly grabbing Ora by the shirt collar and lifting her off the floor. "Because of you, Azure has been suffering and now she's missing. I don't know if you planned it, but if you ever cause my friends any more pain, I will show you why there are criminals scared of me. This is your only warning." For a second it looked like both his eyes were black instead of just his right. Was that... no it had to be a trick of the light.

Rex drops Ora and she collapses to the ground. As he walks away, I move towards Ora and place a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" Damn it Rex. I get you're upset, but this is too far.

"I'm fine Haley. He's probably right though. It shouldn't have gone this bad." This bad? Ora suddenly starts muttering again. "The one you search for no longer has locks that match the night's beauty and eyes filled with the sky's grace. Instead search for hair reflecting the blessed moon and eyes shining with the lands bounty."

I look at Jason. "You understand that?

"I think she meant that Azure has disguised herself. She could have just said it, but..." He shrugs.

We run to catch up to Rex. He turns around. "What's wrong?"

"Ora seems to think that Azure has changed her appearance."

Surprisingly, Rex shakes his head. "I was expecting that. Disguise is one of Azure's more dedicated talents. Did she have any idea?"

I nod. "She said something about her hair being like the moon and her eyes are 'the lands bounty'."

"So most likely a silver-white for hair and land's bounty... I'll admit that one is beyond me."

Land's bounty... That's it! I smile. "The land's bounty is plant life, green. You're planning on looking for her, right?"

"I'm planning on all three of us looking for her. We have a deadline to convince her back today."

Jason shakes his head. "That's not a lot of time, all things considered."

"The way I see it, we're training to be Hunters... let's hunt."

?'s POV

Such a foolish child, walking down my alley this early in the morning.

I follow her down the way, moving in closer. Suddenly she stops and brushes her hair out of her face. "I wonder how stupid you must be."

Excuse me? "Girl, hand me your money, and I might let you leave alive."

She starts to laugh. "You see a young women walk down an alley in a bad neighborhood just barely after dawn and you don't question it? I tricked you here, not the other way around." She pulls a blade out of her cloak.

"Aw, you think I'm scared of your little knife?"

Suddenly she disappears and something presses into my back.

"No, I expect you to be scared of me. Now, you are going to give me your money. Fair play and all that."

"Who the Hell are you?"

"I have many names. You can call me Dagger."

I turn to face the girl only for the blade to reach for my throat. I raise my hands in surrender. "I give. What do you want?"

Her green eyes sparkle in delight as she answered. "I said I wanted your money."

Her other hand comes up and drags a blade across my face. My hand immediately clamps over the bleeding wound. An inch to the left and she would have taken my eye.

"Now you're going to spread a message. I am taking this Kingdom by storm..."

Rex's POV

Noon approaches, and we haven't seen a single clue where Azure went.

"We've been looking for hours. How hard is it to find one person when we know exactly what they look like?"

I sigh internally. "Breech, Azure has survived by making herself hard to find. I first met her by complete chance. The second time, she was already in trouble and drawing a commotion. She realizes she'd be followed; she won't make it easy."

Haley stops. "And by searching together, we're more obvious to her, meaning she's more likely to see us than the other way around."

I nod. "Probably."

"So lets split up to cover more ground."

Damn it, we have no choice in the matter. Them potentially learning who Azure was is better than failing to find her in time. "We've been tracking Azure like we would a regular person. She's not. We need to think like a street rat."

"How do we do that?"

I gesture towards Breech. "Can you pull a map of the city, with districts divided by relative wealth?"

He quickly starts manipulating his scroll. Soon, the map I requested was on all three of our scrolls. "Azure will go to where she feels most familiar with. She grew up where the slums met with a wealthier district. That means she would probably go here." I point out three areas; one each to West, North, and East; that match the criteria. "I'll take the western zone."

Haley smiles. "I'll take the North."

Breech nods. "That leaves East for me. Find her, then call it in so we can converge."

Azure, please don't get in over your head.

Jason's POV

Still no sign of her. I've been checking the backs ways and alleys of my zone. If she wanted to move unseen, the obvious solution is to go through the places people don't like to tread.

"Hey bird-boy. You should know not to wonder the alleyways or you might go missing."

Damn it. "Have you seen a girl here with white hair and green eyes?" I roll my shoulders. This is going to end in a fight.

"Can't say that I have. Still, you should be more worried about yourself. Fork over the Lien."

I chuckle. There are only two. "You have no idea who you're messing with." The first charges straight at me. I duck underneath his knife and launch my elbow into his gut, bringing his head forward for an uppercut. I take the blade and test its balance. "Not really a knife fighter, but this should do for now." A quick slash reveals he wasn't an Aura user as a line of red appears on his arm.

"Let's see, I have your weapon and I'm the one with Aura in this fight. You should probably run now."

The second thug pulls a gun. I am really questioning their survival instincts now. I move toward him, and easily dodge his shot. I slam the knife handle down on his wrist and he drops the gun. A swift knee brought him down.

The first thug strikes me in the back of my head while I was distracted. However, it doesn't hold a candle to the sorts of blows I've received training with Haley and Rex. "Bad move." I turn and launch a hook into his jaw that knocks him out.

I should detain them, but I don't have the time. I call police and report an attempted mugging. Before I leave, I pocket the gun's firing pin.

Hope the others are having a better time than I am.

Haley's POV

Hope the others are having a better time than I am. I haven't seen any clue towards where Azure could be.

I haven't been paying attention to where I was going and end up bumping into somebody and knocking them over. "Sorry, wasn't looking." I offer my hand.

She brushes silver bangs out of her face before grabbing my hand. "Not a problem." I notice her eyes were green.

There is no way it was this easy. "You look familiar. What's your name?"

She smiles. "My name is Bella."

I sniff the air and she smells like the perfume from Azure's room. "Minus the colors, you look a lot like my friend Azure. You also smell like her." Scent doesn't lie.

The girl's smile immediately shifts to panic and she disappears, confirming that it was Azure. I message the others to head to my zone before rushing to find her again.

Azure, please trust us.

Ways through the madness
Are often painful and tragic
Your final place is a wasteland
That's filled with anger and havoc
And all the angels and magic
Couldn't re-angle the traffic
And this disgrace of a place
Is left to its demons and addicts
There ain't no way to try to
Come back from these episodes
They'll leave you lost
Until you're found extra-terrestrial
Cuz when the human mind is
Nothing more than vegetables
It's so easy to spray, and say
There's nothing left of those!
That's the point cuz as they grow it
They don't want you to know it
So they dress it up like it's pretty
When it's really a rodent
And they make it out to be silly
When it's really important
And yea they call it your partner
When it's really your opponent

Rex's POV

I sit on a rooftop meditating. Focus. The more upset you are, the harder it will be to sense Azure.

Casting out with my Semblance, I search for the familiar feel of Azure's mind.

There. I stand up and look towards the horizon and the setting sun. We're almost out of time.

Azure's POV

Damn mutt. How did I forgot she could smell me?

Apparently she told the others, because I barely dodged Jason noticing me. Rex is probably here as well. Fuck my luck.

Still, I haven't seen any of them for several hours. Sundown is approaching and they have to be getting tired. I may need to head to Atlas earlier than expected.

I enter a club and sit at the bar, dropping several Lien cards on the table. "Give me the good stuff."

"You are much too young to be drinking."

I immediately draw a dagger off my wrist sheathe and stab it into the table, causing the bartender to jump. "I don't fucking care. You can either serve me and get a jump on your profits, or you can lose the night and your stock. What's it going be?"

Wisely, he chooses to give me a drink, as well as well as another once I finish it.

I start to feel the buzz and hold off. As much as I want to, I need to keep aware. I start to people watch and look for potential marks.

(I'm disappointed, Azure)

Rex? I turn to see him standing at the doorway out. We both realize I can simply move past him with my Semblance, but the point is made. Leave me alone!

(Do you understand what you're getting into? Once you cross this line, Hunters will not stop looking.)

It's my life! I charge him and slash with one of my daggers. He raises an arm, relying on Aura to protect him from injury.

I shift outside and run off. As I run down an alleyway, my head starts to pound. Suddenly my vision shifts, and I am in a forest surrounded by falling leaves.

"I can't believe this actually worked. Azure, there's no more running."

Azure's POV

I turn around and see Rex. "What did you do?"

"There is always a subtle sense of... resistance is the best word, when I near someone's mind. Normally, I ignore it, getting only the surface thoughts. If I desire more, I push through the resistance. When you ran, I... pulled, if that makes sense."

I look around, taking in the forest. "So, instead of going in my head, you brought me into yours?"

He shrugs. "I went off a hunch. Even Qrow's notes are pretty sparse on this, so I can only assume so."

"Why can't you leave me alone? I'm done with Sanctum."

"Azure, th-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT! AZURE DOESN'T EXIST! SHE NEVER DID! ANOTHER LIE I PRETENDED TO LIVE!"

He reaches out an arm to reach out to me, but I slap it away. "It's all I do... lie. I've been lying to everyone; I even fooled myself. I was scared of everyone, so I pretended to be a master criminal that knew no fear. Dagger took form, and I wore her mask for strength. When the Hunters approached us, I had to make a new mask. I became Azure Raptor, a cocky huntress-in-training. But in the end, they were just fakes. You said I made it because I was myself? I'm still that little girl who is terrified of people. Even with you, Haley, and Jason. I lied and said I trusted you all! I don't... you three scare me even more than others, because I can't hate you. People always work for themselves. I'm alone... even with everyone around me, I'm still alone." My legs start trembling.

"You're wrong. You aren't alone. Me, Haley, Breech; all three of us decided we would go after you because we thought you might be in trouble. Your well-being is important for us. And if you continue this path... if you still wish to break with the Hunters... I'll follow suit. We swore to look out for each other. Even if we have to take on every Hunter in the Kingdoms, I'll follow your choice."

I can't stand up anymore and my legs collapse. "Why? What benefit is there for you?"

"There doesn't need to be one. My word is law to me. And another thing; they aren't masks. They're your past. Everything you did with them, you did."

He reaches forward and hugs me. I let him this time. "Why can't I hate you?"

"Because I see the real you, and accept her. Even if you can't."

"Rex takes us back to the real world."

He nods and my vision shifts back to the alleyway where I lay collapsed on the ground. I stand up, and Rex soon approaches. He embraces me in another hug and I start crying. I'm sick of pretending to be someone else.

"Then be you."

Haley's POV

Jason and I meet up with Rex and a crying Azure. Under her sobs I hear her begging for forgiveness. "I'm so sorry."

I smile. "There's nothing to forgive, Azure. You have the right to choose."

Her crying starts to lighten up. "Damn it, Haley. I'm coming back."

Jason and even Rex smile as well. Jason says what we are all thinking. "Let's go home."

Yea, yea, they can't hide you
Uh, nah, they can't guide you
Yah, yah, it's all a lie too
The only way to find the truth
Is to find you
Yeah, yeah, they gonna ride you
Yah, yah, they deep inside you
Yo, yo, they right behind you
The only way to find the truth
Is to find you!

WN: Dear gods I went on a marathon with this one.

First off- I DON'T SUPPORT UNDERAGE DRINKING! THAT SCENE IS MEANT TO HIGHLIGHT HOW BROKEN AZURE FEELS.

The thing with Azure... Her entire life has been dedicated to surviving. People constantly hurt her to the point she subconsciously assumes people will betray her. She feels scared constantly... She pretends to be strong, but there are a few hints prior that show her insecurities.

On a meta standpoint, Ora did not actually cause this, she merely accelerated Azure's inevitable breakdown. On natural terms, it would have occurred during the regional tournament, and the added confusion would have allowed Azure to slip away beyond the deadline.

Azure's alias Bella is a corruption of the Slovenian word bela, meaning white. It is a running gag that Azure's aliases' almost always resort to her current hair color.

Rex's mind world... Originally it was going to debut later on, but I decided to bring it in early on a sweeter note. Take of that what you will.

Probably should stop ranting.

Neo's POV

"So how is training our protege going?"

I sigh. "Mercury; Shade is a idiot, overconfident, crutches on his Semblance, and I believe he literally gets off on hurting people. How do you think training him is going? Speaking of which, I have to go find him because he's late for another session."

I head into the prison. To no surprise, he was tormenting the human girl again. "SHADE! You are late."

He turns around. "Well, look at the time. Until later, girl." He casually draws his sword and swipes it down the girl's face. He walks out the cell and brushes by me.

I head to the girl and she recoils, but I can see a defiant hate in her eyes. "What do you want?"

I place a hand on her face and channel my Aura. The wound starts healing, and soon only a scar remains. "What's your name girl?"

She stutters in confusion. "Mo-Morgana Rex."