Chapter 3: Staging
-Petals Scatter-
Blake
"Oh come on!" I was awakened by shouting from Yang. "We don't get any vacation time after that?" There was a tremendous crashing sound, and I was upright, looking around in surprise.
Whatever the crash was, it had, apparently, come from out of the room, as all of our stuff was in its normal spots. Ruby and Weiss were sitting on the latter's bed, still in pajama's, and Yang was hanging over the edge of her bunk, upside down, and otherwise invisible to me.
"What's going on?" Stretching, I fought down a yawn, and then a laugh when Yang, who apparently hadn't noticed me waking up, fell off her bed with a thump. Ignoring her indignant squawking, I took in the scowling faces of Ruby and Weiss, and the notebooks splayed across their laps, and the Scroll sitting on top of those.
"We're not sure." Weiss gestured to the notebooks. "Professor Ozpin seems to want to see us in his office about that mission." She made a face. "And these notebooks have been utterly, completely useless."
"Well, the guy who wrote them is super messed up." Ruby added, no doubt in an attempt to be helpful. Her glare at the book was as close to hatred as the dark haired girl got. "Like, really messed up." I wasn't entirely certain what Ruby's standards from messed up where, but given that she was capable of wholesale slaughter of Grimm,
"We knew that already sis." Yang pointed out from the floor. "You'd have to be a few screws loose to even think about trying that, ya'know?" She rolled upright, shrugging. "When'd Ozpin say he wanted us to stop by?"
Ruby picked her Scroll up from the pile of books. "He doesn't say. Just that he'd like us to stop by sometime today, to talk about that mission?" A small shrug. By her expression, she wasn't too worried about that conversation, although I couldn't help the rising worries.
"Well, in that case, we should probably go as soon as possible." Giving Weiss a bit of a sideways look, I couldn't help but be concerned.
Maybe it was my initially laid back life, but the way that Weiss was so quick to be wherever we had been told to be always seemed odd, and how jumpy she tended to get if we were running late. It was a small observation, but combined with many others painted an unpleasant image of her life.
Pushing myself upright, I glanced at the clock. Still fairly early in the morning.
"Breakfast first." I declared. Weiss's mouth opened to object, but luckily Ruby stopped her from objecting with a nod. If nothing else, Ruby could be counted on to gravitated towards food in the mornings.
"Breakfast first." As if to punctuate the point, someone's stomach growled. Possibly mine. Or Yang's. "See?" Only Ruby could manage to make a smug smile seem innocent.
"Oh, fine." And only Ruby could get Weiss to give in that easily. Trading a quick smile with my own partner, we'd be resigned ourselves to being entertained by the two of them trying to figure out their crush on the other a long time ago, I rolled out of bed.
Getting to breakfast, as it happened, was never something that Team RWBY could do quickly. For starters, Ruby and Weiss fought over who got to shower first, (Ruby always won, usually do to outright abuse of her speediness), and then it took a further ten minutes to find book covers that Weiss could use for those notebooks, which, despite how horrible they supposedly were, she was quite engross in reading.
-Petal's Scatter-
"I'm not saying a damn word until everyone you want to be here is here." Two and a half hours later, it seemed like we arrived right on time in Ozpin's office.
To some degree, I found myself disappointed. The room itself was plain, wrapped almost entirely, by a window that gave an, admittedly, impressive view of the Beacon Campus, and the city of Vale beyond that. A mass of twisting gears filled the room. The only piece of furniture was a large desk, behind which the Headmaster sat, taking a sip from what smelled a lot like extremely black coffee. According to Ruby, he carried that cup everywhere, which I found difficult to believe.
I had to conceal my surprise at the number of people in the room already. I knew Ian, and Professor Goodwitch well enough. The man leaning against Ozpin's desk was someone I had only seen pictures of, and hoped to avoid dealing with. General Ironwood of Atlas, not quite the face of everything Adam had railed against, but close enough. Next to him was another woman, clad in white's and blues, hair drawn up in a tight bun. She stood at attention, hands folded behind her back.
"Winter!" Confusion, and surprise from Weiss. So that was the name of the mysterious woman, if nothing else. I had no idea who she might be, although based on her facial structure, I suspected a sister. For obvious reasons, Weiss didn't talk about her family, so all I could do was guess for the moment.
"Oh, good." Head titling to the side, just enough for his left eye to become visible, Ian spoke. "We can finally get this moving." Although we had only spent a day in his company on a mission, he had displayed a wide range of emotions, from rage, to amusement, and a chilling determination. Yet, none of those really matched his tone now. There was something else too him, he was upset, but in a way I didn't understand.
"Um…what's going on?" Ruby led the way into the office, head moving from face to face. One of her hands was closer to Crescent Rose than normal, suggesting she as wary of what was happening. The tension, already highly palpable in the room, mounted, hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
Professor Ozpin lowered his mug, hands folding before him. "We wished to talk to you about the mission your four took part in yesterday. It has raised a number of questions, the answers to which have unfortunate implications…for a number of people."
Ironwood cleared his throat. "In particular, for the relationship between Kingdoms." Wait. Ian said those things had to be Atlas creations right? Why would an Atlas general be here? With a faint rustle of clothing, Yang's arms crossed.
"You mean like having to explain why a whole bunch of twisted monsters are running around the countryside?" Could she have been any blunter? Then again, subtle was not Yang's forte.
Ironwood winced, shifting his weight onto a back foot. "That is a question we are all asking at the moment." His hands folded behind his back, just like the woman standing next to him, Winter. "It has always been Atlas policy that any such creatures are simply leftovers from the war, and that the program to create them was discontinued prior to the war ending… but this report casts severe doubt on this policy."
"Oh, does it now?" One of Ian's eyebrows arched. "It, casts doubt. What more do you fucking want? To go see the corpses for yourself?" If I had thought the issue was a sore spot for him before, the aggressive, combative stance drove the point home.
"General." Winter, assuming that was her name, spoke up. "The implication that those… things, have continued to be made has been floated before." Tension built in the air, as Ironwood's face twisted.
"And why haven't I been informed of this?" He would make a good general, I though. Steely, commanding air. He didn't seem to have the charisma that some of… them had, but there was no doubt soldiers would follow his orders to the letter, and loyally.
"Because, the information was classified." Her reply was stiff, grimacing even. I turned to try and guess what was going on from Weiss, who, despite her scowl, didn't seem to know. Crossed arms, and, like Ruby, one hand resting near the hilt of her weapon. "Oracle insisted that all of his personal projects be classified to the highest order, and, without his encryption keys, no one has been able to gain access to the files since then." Her eyes closed for a moment. "All attempts have been unsuccessful, and to my knowledge, no one has even managed to get into his office."
Ozpin cleared his throat. "While this is a fascinating conversation, I fear we are getting a bit far afield?" A statement and a question all at once. Subtlety effective at controlling the flow of the conversation. He seemed good at those.
"I don't know, hearing Atlas have its dirty laundry aired out is pretty fun." Ian piped up, having reverted back to the laid back style of a few moments ago.
"Ahem." The general shook his head. "If you four don't mind," he turned to address us all directly, "I would like your direct account with the monsters that Huntsman Blackwood described in his report?"
Dust. Did we have to relieve forty minutes of continuous hell again? Having to dream it, over and over, last night had been bad enough. And I had seen death more than the others. I didn't want to imagine what it was like for Ruby, especially Ruby, to try and cope with that. Or Yang. As I gathered from the White Fang, the more gruesome the death's the harder it was for people to cope.
"A-Alright." The decisive nod seemed as much for her own benefit as anyone else's, but Ruby started talking.
They listened in silence, even though I saw several times when Professor Goodwitch, and Winter, wanted to interrupt. Especially when Yang was describing the…fight. Ian, kept silent as well, no doubt having already given his version of events, although he did wince a few times, and scowl further.
In truth, that wasn't much of a fight, although a regular human going up against a Huntsman or Huntress never was; Aura and Semblance elevated us to a level that even the most dedicated regular person wasn't able to reach. That perhaps, was the strangest bit. Those things, despite being half-Grimm, should Ian be believed, were fairly weak in combat. Just like the average Grimm you might find wandering the woods, they were only a threat in large numbers, when they could surround and attack from more sides than you could defend.
As our recounting finished, another, heavy silence filled the room. Professor Ozpin's head was bowed, obscuring his expressions, but in a way, he seemed smaller than before. Professor Goodwitch was shaking with what seemed like rage, and Winter seemed equally upset. Ironwoods eyes were narrowed, his expression one of deep thought.
"You…" Professor Goodwitch stumbled over her words. "Goodness."
Ironwood was the first to recover himself. "Winter. What was the-"
"Twenty-six was the largest previously recorded concentration sir, at least that Oracle informed anyone of." She paused, as though considering going on, before thinking better of it.
"Wait wait wait." Yang made a gesture. "You're saying that, so far as you," She jabbed a finger towards Winter, "Are aware, what we fought yesterday was ten times more of those things than ever seen in one place."
"That is correct." Winter gave a shallow nod, expression remaining bland, although the way her weight shifted, suggested that there was more to say. "All files pertaining to those incidents were classified some years ago, and to my knowledge, have not been declassified."
"Why not?" Ruby shook her head. I had to agree, I didn't think that it would be such a production, to handle security protocols. Then again, militaries were not something I studied extensively.
Professor Ozpin, to my surprise answered. "Unfortunately, the person responsible had the… forethought, to encrypt his files, using what I understand to be a highly advanced system, resulting in abject failure of any attempts to crack the system."
"And, as Commander Oracle was killed in action some years ago, we have no means of accessing any file he deemed worthy of encryption." Winter filled in, the notes of her words being at once, admiring and annoyed.
So. Someone had basically screwed them out of any helpful information? Wouldn't they have systems in place to prevent this? When I asked as much, the General turned to Winter, arching an eyebrow. The woman sighed.
"Oracle was, if nothing else, paranoid to the core. While you are correct, there were systems in place, he either subverted those systems, or blatantly ignored them." Once again, she seemed almost fond of this Oracle. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ian smirking, just a bit.
"Who was this Oracle guy then?" Ruby asked. "And if he found this stuff out, can't someone else?" Also good questions. Especially, just who was this guy, and why was he important.
There was a silence, a lot of glances between Ozpin and Ironwood. "Oracle was the Commander of the Intelligence Division of the Atlas Military." The General began. "I never worked with him personally, as his death came a few weeks before my promotion to my current position, however he was well known for disregarding rules and regulations he felt cumbersome or that slowed down the processes of his office, which earned him a great deal of respect, as well as animosity. Despite that, he was an effective Commander,"
"Wait." Weiss cut in, eyes zeroing in on Winter. "Winter is he-?" It was unlike Weiss to end a question prematurely, she was always careful to complete her entire sentences. A glance towards my teammate revealed nothing.
"Yes, he is." Um, what? I could almost feel the thoughts running through my teammates, but, in her usual fashion, Weiss took over the conversation, apparently determined to redirect the topic away from this Oracle.
"None of this explains what we are doing here." Our white-haired teammate pointed out. "This seems like it is all information that is, classified, or on a 'need to know'" The mocking tone with which she used the descriptor told me everything I need to know about her feelings, "which it seems like we aren't."
A throat snorty ripped from Ian. "She's got a good point Ozpin. Why are they here?"
The Headmaster gave a long sigh. "Because, last night, Mrs. Schnee," He nodded towards the woman, "Stumbled across something while on her flight into the city."
"I was reviewing the mission report at the request of General Ironwood." Winter stepped forwards, her speaking manner becoming clipped and precise. "When I found attached a series of files that suggested a possible location for where those things might have been produced in the past, along with security footage indicating the facilities might still be active."
"I thought all such information was classified?" Professor Goodwitch shook her head. "So why would these files crop up now?"
"Oracle, as you recall, earned his codename." Ozpin mused, seeming to be talking to everyone except us. "It seems possible he might have set the files to unlock at this specific time?" Watching the man's eyes as he took another long drink of his coffee, however, suggested he didn't believe his own theory for a second.
Winter shook her head, expression one of equal disbelief. "Oracle's Semblance only ever extended a few hours, or at most a day or so. He was also quite fond of reminding us that the future can change, and as such, we should never bank upon it." Someone with a Semblance that could read the future? Or, at least, that's what I was getting from her statement.
"Sounds like a cheery fellow." Ian mused, returning to the conversation. Winter rounded on him, glaring hard, not seeming to take the implied insult to someone she must have been close to well. That didn't stop the Huntsman, however, from going on. "Either that, or a bit of a conceited ass."
"You-"
"Schnee!" So that made her related to Weiss for certain then. Ironwood cut her off, and she froze, bowing her head a bit, without seeming quite sorry. "We agree that this information seems a bit suspicious, but if this event was as bad as you claim, and they are being created in Atlas itself, we could be looking at a major security incident." He continued, expression somber, and facial muscle tense.
"This is further complicated by the fact that General Ironwood has brought the bulk of the Atlesean Fleet here to Vale, in the interest of security around the Vytal Festival." Professor Ozpin was scowling, as well. I didn't need to be some kind of expert to know that wherever all this information was going, it couldn't end well.
"But wasn't that postponed?" Ruby's head cocked to the side. "Or was is postponed so your ships could get here?" Astute of Ruby. As always, I found myself wondering how much of our team leaders goofiness was legitimate, and how much was just a front she put on because it made dealing with everyone around her easier.
I suspected some of both. But that wasn't the point of this…whatever this was, and I could address it at a later time.
"It would lead to a security incident, because, should those monsters get loose in the streets of Atlas, it would be mass carnage." Ian filled in, the expressions of the actual Atleasan's in the room suggesting he was correct. "And with seventy percent of their military making a good show of not invading Vale, Atlas itself is pretty shorthanded to defend against attacks." A pause for him to scratch his jaw. "Not that any of this explains what you've gathered this specific group of people for."
"I believe we need to investigate this, and at once." Ironwood's answer was immediate, but still wasn't answer. Well, it was an answer, but it didn't answer Ian's question. Something in my head started to pound, and I had to make a conscious effort to keep my ears from twitching in response to the oncoming headache.
"Then use some of them soldiers left guarding you Dust forsaken rock." Although out in the village, Ian had displayed some level of distaste for Atlas, it was surprising to see him so blunt about it to the General. "Unless they are all sitting around-" He cut himself off. Beside me, Yang gave a snort, no doubt having a good guess at what sort of unpleasant phrase he was going to utter.
"It isn't that simple." Winter sighed. "This issue is as much political as it is military. Should word that the military is challenging the established narrative around those creatures get out-"
"People like Father start asking questions." What? All eyes snapped to Weiss at her interjection. Already pale, the Schnee Heiress was almost chalky, eyes wide. I knew her Father was powerful, every Faunus did; we could trace so many of the problems we faced in the recent century back to that one man, and his cronies, but I hadn't realized he carried heavy political power in Atlas as well.
"Correct." Winter gave a shallow nod. "And the current head of the Intelligence Division is mostly a puppet for such figures, meaning the Military cannot rely on them either." Fantastic. It was so comforting to know that in a country that was ostensibly a military dictarorship,
"That is where the people here come in." Ironwood resumed speaking. "I cannot officially act to find anything out, even to reach out to the local Huntsmen and Huntresses, or deploy our Specialists." He paused, taking a deep breath. "What I can do, is ask Professor Ozpin if some of his students would like to tour Atlas, during the downtime before the Festival."
He wasn't serious.
"James! You can't be serious!" Professor Goodwitch's outrage had, it seemed, reached a breaking point. "That is madness!"
Ian's rumbling snap carried as well. "Haven't they given enough, you miserable bastard!" Every inch of his expression was screwed up with rage, an emotion similar to his reaction to seeing those monsters in that village.
If my head had hurt before, the rising din of shouting, as Ian and Ironwood started in on each other, hurling an insults back and forth, Professor Goodwitch joining in from time to time a well, was enough to make it so. The effort of will to block out in the veritable cannon barrage of words was hard, and I made a note to find somewhere quiet to be after this was done.
Seeming to sense that whatever was going on was going to take a while for them to resolve, Ruby and Weiss turned their back on the arguing adults, where expressions equally exhausted and confused by the proceedings. Ruby seemed just overwhelmed by everything, eyes wide, and fingers twitching. Weiss's alabaster skin shades paler than normal, pupils wide, jaw set. Sure signs of her being anything but alright. Exactly what was wrong only Ruby could guess though.
Yang's arms were crossed, her default, if defensive posture, weight set back, easy to slide into a fighting stance. Of the four of us, Yang was probably the calmest, as though her usual adrenaline fueled lifestyle prepared her for this sort of moment. Then again, her tension was always well hidden, kept at bay until she could turn it against a concrete thing, in an explosion of fire.
Every part of me wanted to flee, bolt from the room as fast as possible. Be anywhere but here. Preferable with the others. I clamped down on that desire, my teammates needed me, before anything else.
There was a moment, where I could almost watch the tension in Ruby shift, pushed back, settling elsewhere in her body. Her attention settled on Yang first, the two sisters trading a bit of a look, communicating something between them in an instant, the sort of understanding I was given to understand only siblings could achieve. Or Ruby and Weiss. And maybe Yang and I.
Her eyes drifted to me, silver sharpened, picking away at me, in a way that Ruby only could. I wasn't sure how much of the fear, the worries running wild in my head the younger girl picked up upon, before her gaze left me. Oddly, she didn't lock eyes with Weiss, but then again, Ruby probably already knew. Her sense of the white haired girl's mindset was always borderline telepathic.
"They want us to go to Atlas." Weiss mumbled, shaking her head, as though the idea was ridiculous. For a moment, I could recall that she was always hesitant to talk about her home, although we never really knew why. So maybe her freaking out was kinda to be expected.
"We don't have too." Ruby pointed out. "Besides," She glanced over her shoulder at the argument, "That's a lot of arguing too." Weiss's expression suggested she didn't believe Ruby's words for a second. "We don't have to Weiss." There seemed to be a flash of conversation between them, one of Ruby's hand coming to rest on Weiss's shoulder. "I promise."
"Am I the only one who feels super lost with all of this?" Yang butted in, in a manner that might have seemed rude, but I knew well enough that she was trying to avoid the rising tension.
I shook my head, glancing towards the argument, which was now mostly pointless shouting. "I think we're all missing something. Ruby, did he ever saying anything about Atlas when the rest of us were sleeping?" She shook her head.
"Sure seems like he's got a problem with them, that's for sure." Yang gave me a nod. "Of course, he seems to have a problem with everybody." She sighed. "Any idea what to do about this?" My partner frowned, gesturing. "I mean, we've fought those things, and they're…"
"Really bad." Tossing a nod Yang's went, I picked up the thread of conversation. "We're not spies though Yang. And that's what their asking about." A pause. "If we even went." There was a longer pause, as everyone worked out what they thought of that idea. Ruby's arched an eyebrow, apparently wanting me to speak first. "I don't trust it."
Yang shrugged, as I had suspected she would, although the way her jaw was set suggested that, even if that was the case, she wasn't going to push the issue if Weiss or I said no. It was hard to say where Ruby came down on the issue.
"I don't know…" Weiss trailed off. "Winter seems to think it is a big deal, and she would know but…" But Weiss didn't want to go back to Atlas, for reasons that were impossible to guess at, for me at least.
"Who is she anyways, Princess? Your sister?" A good question. We didn't know much about Weiss's family, aside from what I already knew about her Father, none of which was terribly positive. Even the few times that man got mentioned, Weiss hadn't implied he was a nice person.
"Yes." Weiss nodded, mouth opening to say more, before it closing it again. Odd. "If Winter thinks whatever is going on is important, then it probably is…" The words trailed off.
I picked out a particularly interesting insult from the shouting match, and cringed. Apparently Ian really didn't think sending the four of us to do whatever this all entailed was a good idea. As though our agreement was a foregone conclusion. Then again, when I stopped to think about it, they were probably right.
For Yang, it wasn't complicated, she got to see the world, an adrenaline fueled adventure, and might have a chance to get her hands on more information about her Mother. At least, in a vaccum, that was Yang's choice. Easy to figure out. The real trick though, would be what Ruby wanted.
Speaking of Ruby, guessing how she felt about any of this was hard. Helping people was her thing, and she would always jump into any situation where she could, if one discounted firearms and the fact that Ruby could occasionally be as combat happy as Yang was. Where things got complicated with Ruby was Weiss. If Weiss wasn't okay with it, or rally if I wasn't okay with it, Ruby would probably tell them exactly where that whole idea could be shoved. If perhaps in less angry language that was being used.
As for myself…I just wasn't sure. Those things were unnatural…monsters even. That didn't make the idea of killing them any more palatable. I had left the White Fang over that idea. While I could rationalize the act with that idea that someone had twisted those people, or what been people, into monsters. They didn't have much left in terms of humanity, so killing them was a mercy. At least, that's what I tried to convince myself of.
Basically this all was just a mess. The screaming argument behind us had finally died down, and everyone attention turned back to the adults, none of whom seemed happy.
"How about you do something reasonable, and ask them what they think?" The venom from Ian was impressive, glaring up at Ironwood, who seemed almost towering over the Huntsman, not that he seemed intimidated.
Professor Ozpin gave a slow nod. "Ian is correct. Nothing is going to happen if Team RWBY does not agree." The entire group turned towards us, expressions expectant.
-Petal's Scatter-
Weiss
I had grown up used to silence, for long periods of time, growing up. Having to sit next to Father when he elected to drag me along on one of his business trips had left me more than willing to be quiet, and used to occupying myself in the quiet.
In that time, I had also come to appreciate the different kinds of quiet, and the quiet in our dorm was anything but a pleasant one. Ruby had immersed herself in some weapons manual, the one cue she was anything but happy, as if there weren't a hundred other cues in place already. Blake was reading something, but hadn't turned a page in ten minutes, although I couldn't say more about what was going on in her head for sure. Yang was doing an admirable job of faking being asleep, otherwise known as brooding.
Thus, the silence as becoming oppressive, as none of us wanted to address the situation at hand. For the second or third time in the last hour, I started to form the words, and then clamped down on them again.
"Ugh!" The muffled impact of paper against the wall made everyone jump, attention snapping to Ruby, abruptly bereft of the manual she'd be reading, which was now on the floor across the room. "This is ridiculous…" Her shoulders slumped.
The silence was deafening as we all took that in.
With a rustle, Yang rolled over, groaning. "Not sure that's quite the word I'd use sis." Definitely faking sleep then. Not that it surprised me much.
"What would you suggest instead?" Blake groused. "Disaster?"
Yang snorted, glancing towards her sister, as though weighing the merits of what she was about to say versus her sometimes ridiculous desire to keep her sister innocent. "Was gonna call it a clusterfuck, but disaster works too."
Well then. Crass wasn't quite unusual for Yang, but for her to swear in front of Ruby was. Apparently all of this sat worse with her than I had thought.
"Yang." A long sigh from Ruby was the only admonishment Yang got. "Even though you're probably right." Well then. "What do we tell them though?"
And that was the sticking point. Ozpin had convinced Ironwood to give us some time to think about what they were asking, and come up with any questions we might have; although that wasn't all that much help.
"Weiss's sister seems to think that whatever this is, it's worth trusting." Yang shrugged. "We don't really have much to go on here. Just some random stuff?"
That reminded me. Oracle. According to Winter, one of her old teammates. "Winter trusts it because Oracle was her teammate." All of them turn to me. "he's probably the only person I can safely say my sister completely trusted." More even than me, or anyone else in the family. I only knew he was dead because I'd seen her crying afterwards.
"But how does she know that the files are genuine?" Blake shook her head, hair swaying. "Or that any of this isn't some kind of trap? Just suddenly getting those files, right after we run into those things? A bit too good to be true, things like that don't happen. All we have to go on is Weiss's sister?"
"Not even that really. Professor Ozpin didn't seem very confident in things either." And how did Ruby figure that? I had long since accepted that she had a better gauge of what the headmaster was thinking than most, that is to say, a clue at all, but for once that didn't help in the least. "I'm all for helping people, but…" But killing people wasn't on Ruby's list of acceptable things. "Even if they aren't really human anymore they still…"
Yang sighed. "All we're doing right now is stewing, and not getting anywhere." She sat up, grabbing Blake by the arm.
"Hey Wait!" Blake tried to protest, but was dragged from the room, leaving Ruby and I alone, and the atmosphere getting tenser by the second.
Watching them go for a moment, Ruby sighed. "How'd we end up like this Weiss?" How did we end up talking about doing something that bordered on illegal, with government permission? How did we end up killing people? That reality hadn't sank into me yet, that we'd killed people. It was easy to brush off the White Fang. Just because I acknowledged that Father was wrong in his views about them didn't' change the fact that was the life I had lived. They were terrorists. Criminals. If they died, well, I wasn't going to shed tears over them. Maybe it was cruel. But those things…they had been people. They hadn't done anything wrong. "I don't want to sleep Weiss. To see them die…over and over."
For the first time in my life, I was filled with spark of feeling, sharp, overwhelming and intense. Liquid fire flared though my veins, shepherded onwards by a feeling I thought I had mastered. Equally white hot, in a different way. This surge of emotion brought forth another acknowledgement. I hated whoever had made those things. They had taken a piece of Ruby, in that little village. One of the defining elements of her.
Standing, I moved across the room with purpose, trying to find the words. Leaning over her shoulder, I let my chin rest there, my arms falling over her. "I don't know Ruby." One of her arms came up, trapping my hands against her chest, the contact burning, comforting, in peculiar way. It was good to see that even this couldn't dampen some parts of her.
"I became a Huntress, want to be a Huntress, to help people Weiss. I didn't become a Huntress to be a killer. Or a spy…or any of that." Her head lolled sideways, pressing against my arm, hot tears filtering through my sleeve. "I…what makes me different from Grimm Weiss? Me, or Blake or Yang, or you?" Her entire frame shook. "How am I not a monster?"
I didn't have anything to say. All I could do was do my best to not cry, the last thing this situation needed was that. Ruby's grip on my arm was crushing, somehow I couldn't find myself caring.
My time as a member of Team RWBY had been nothing short of life changing. Most such things were easy to put to words. The final element of that however, was a little different.
At first, Ruby had seemed like just any other teenager. Loudmouthed, impulsive, and everything I despised. Clumsy to boot. Seemingly clueless about so many things. Then, the choice between her and Jaune Arc, she had been a simple lesser of two evils. Ruby, at least, wasn't going to flirt with me. She might annoy me, but at least there was a small mercy. Perhaps I could at least teach her a bit about not annoying me eventually, since we were destined to be teammates at that point.
My opinions of her improved in those woods. Although I didn't like to admit it, she was obviously more experienced a fighter than I was. Faced with a horde of monsters, her default response was perfect confidence in her combat abilities, instead of falling back. At the time, I took it for impulsiveness. Now, months later, I knew differently, if a little. Yes, Ruby was impulsive. She acted before she thought most of the time… but in that moment, it hadn't been hotheadedness. She had simply known she would win that fight. A few dozen beowolves, even back then, wouldn't have mean anything to her. She'd fought worse growing up. Even if her plan was insane, Ruby pulled it off, in spectacular fashion.
Not that it made how I acted the next few days any better.
Over time though, I had started to notice things.
For example, Ruby almost never made fun of people, and hated bullies. With a passion. Cardin was the closest I'd see Ruby come to hatred, for a long time. She got closer with Torchwick, but at the time, it was the first time I'd see anything less than an innocent smiling Ruby Rose. Instead, there was a sharply focused Ruby, where every one of her actions was a carefully refined as my own. Where that side of Ruby went during the day, I had yet to determine, even if some of her silliness had become somewhat endearing over time.
Yet, one trait had shown through all of that. Where I, and I was starting to understand Blake, saw the world at best, in shades of greys, having seen our fair share of hardships and losses, and so on, Ruby had somehow held onto to innocence, in spite of the way that life seemed to have beaten her around quite a bit growing up. Losing her mom, and apparently being feared by her peers for her skill in combat, shouldn't have left her in any better a position than the rest of us, yet somehow Ruby was bright and cheerful and saw the good in almost everything.
"Weiss?" Her voice was muffled a bit, and shook me from my thoughts, and the slowly building desire to inflict lethal levels of harm on someone.
"Hm?" My heart was beating painfully fast. Her heart was betting faster, through my hands.
"Thanks…" I almost missed the word, mumbled into my sleeve as it was. "I'm just overwhelmed by all of this." She paused, sniffling a bit. "You probably have your own stuff to worry about."
I didn't move, didn't speak for a long while. "You're just as important as those things are Ruby." Heat sparked in my cheeks, not that she could feel that. More tears soaked into my sleeve, as Ruby's grip on my hand got stronger. "I'm not going anywhere."
Shaking. For a moment, I didn't understand, then, memories of the night before hit me. She was crying, this time, a bit more controlled perhaps, but crying. My most recent words replayed in my head, working through them, trying to understand just what had prompted this. The only thing I could consider was the phrase 'I'm not going anywhere,' which made sense, but also didn't.
"Sorry." I almost missed the word. There was another shudder from Ruby, this time as she took a deep breath. "Weiss?"
"Yes?" For some reason, I felt a flare of trepidation, as her head lifted off my arm, eyes turning to me, bright and gleaming with half shed tears.
"If…" She stumbled on the word. "If I tell you something, do you promise not to freak out?" Of course? Why would see even ask me that? "It's…it's about…" She sighed, eyes closing for a minute. "At Signal, how everyone treated me."
Oh. I'd managed to pull Blake aside, and gotten the little bit that Yang had said from our Faunus teammate earlier in the day, which had been less than enlightening. While I was more than willing to concede that seeing Ruby covered in blood was…unsettling, it wasn't as though that made her a monster.
Biting down my initial, snarking reply, "I promise." For some reason those two words seemed heavier than normal.
"When I first started at Signal, everyone thought I was a little weird, already knowing the basics of how to fight and stuff." Words came slowly, not in the wild rush I had expected. "But they eventually let it be, for the most part, especially once they started learning too." That made sense. People didn't like things that were outside the normal. "After a while, I ended up just sorta the class weapons nerd, everyone knew who I was, even if they maybe didn't like me very much."
That sounded like Ruby well enough. She could break down almost everything about a given weapon in seconds, for whatever reason. Then again, weapons had to do with fighting, and fighting ran in her blood. "What changed?"
Another shudder from her, heart racing faster. "It was a Wednesday." That was oddly specific, for Ruby. Dates were not a skill Ruby possessed. "Yang tried to cook breakfast," Which as I recall would end badly, "Which she just can't. I love her, but Yang cannot cook anything edible." Ruby giggled a bit. "I told her to go, and I'd clean the mess up, since Dad was supposed to be home before us that day…" Tears again. "It shouldn't have been a big deal. There weren't very many Grimm for a long time but…"
But that day, by some stroke of stupid luck, there were.
"Beowolves." Ruby gulped. "I don't remember how many, but lots." She paused, seeming lost for words.
"You killed them, with predictable results." Perhaps self-evident, in a sense. Ruby's style of combat, and even just the style of combat that a scythe would result in, was up close, personal, and violent. While I teased her about getting coated in blood, it was the end result of how Ruby fought. Nothing was there to suggest that she was had changed that fighting style.
"You mean getting covered in blood?" She muttered, before nodding. "Yeah…" There was another silence. "I didn't take it very well though… By the time I got to Signal I just sorta collapsed?"
She walked in the door, covered in blood, and just collapsed. According to Blake, that was what Yang had said. As I knew from plenty of experience, adrenaline was exhausting, even more so when you were younger. So, collapsing as soon as the adrenaline rush of combat ran out, especially at only twelve made plenty of sense.
"By the time I woke up…everyone thought I'd murdered someone." What? How on earth… that made absolutely no sense. "Not that they'd admit it to me. Everyone just whispered behind my back." Breaking free of my arms for the first time, Ruby stood, swaying a bit. "Then the whispers kept going. Uncle Qrow knew, but I kept Dad from finding out." Strained, Ruby seemed to try and smile a bit. "I got used to ignoring them, after a while…" She seemed to have calmed down, and was almost smiling. "And it did help when bullies tried to pick on the friends I had."
Ruby, using something against people like that? What was this? Naïve, innocent Ruby, doing something underhanded? That idea alone was enough to have me reeling. Then again, she never seemed to bothered by Nora's incessant demand to break Cardin's legs…
"I almost killed someone yesterday Weiss." Somehow, of all the things she said, that was the one Ruby managed to deliver without her voice cracking. WHAT? "I didn't mean to, he tried to grab me, and…" And everything came crashing apart for Ruby at that point, tears streaming down her cheeks, and her knees giving out beneath her.
-Petals Scatter-
The rest of the day passed in a whirlwind. In an attempt to get Ruby's mind off recent events, and to clear my own head, I had suggested we follow Yang and Blake's example, if only to get some fresh air. That, I quickly realized, had been a bit of a mistake, as Ruby's version of relax seemed to amount to visiting every weapon store in Vale.
She did buy me a new dress, over my protests. After two minutes of arguing, I gave up, surrendering myself to the reality that I wasn't going to win that argument.
As the sun was finally setting, and I once again found my thoughts drawn to the future. To what we might find, going home. To whom might find us once we arrived there.
I did not relish the idea of dealing with Father, especially not bringing my teammates there. Blake in particular… that was just asking for trouble. Especially if her secret got out. While I had faith in Winter to keep us safe from anyone who was too crazy, Father was another matter altogether; I wasn't convinced Winter's military authority would do much good in that situation.
For a moment, the scar over my eye seemed to throb, a painful reminder of the man's opinions, and how he tried to get his way. Sending one of those armored creations as some sick kind of…test, or something. And he only let me come to Vale, I knew, because I had managed to back him into a corner, using his own little trap against him.
Speaking of family, what was Winter doing here? Did it have something to do with the Atlas Military showing up? That didn't make much sense to me though, if what I understood of Winter's life was true. She had been part of some kind of specialized portion of the Atlas military, with her teammates, at least until a mission went wrong, and they were killed. Since then, I didn't know what she had been doing.
"Hey Weiss?" Ruby stopped out of no-where, turning towards me. "What's your sister like?"
How… oh it was Ruby. Knowing her, it showed on my face, somehow. "I'm not sure what you mean?" There was a pause, Ruby's face screwing up, as if to say something unpleasant.
"She seems kinda like you, except she's more…um…" Ruby turned a strange color, between a blanch and a blush, as though she didn't' way to use a specific word, before plowing onwards. "Something just seemed kinda off about her I guess?
Hrm. It was oddly, true that Ruby was a good judge of character, in her own way, so it was possible she saw something there, although it seemed she was basing her understanding of Winter off of me, which probably wasn't very accurate.
"Winter is…" How could I even describe Winter? We hadn't seen each other much since she started at Atlas, and I had only met her teammates a few times. "She's in the military, although I'm not quite sure what it is she does." A slight tilt of Ruby's head to the side; she didn't understand how that worked. "We don't see each other all that often anymore." A pang of regret, as the realization that the last time I saw my sister for more than a day was a couple years ago, and she's spent most of that time locked in her room crying. "She's busy with work, and I've been at school, or training." A small nod, a more of a frown from Ruby.
"Sounds like she's someone pretty important?" It was a statement and a question all rolled together, as Ruby loved to do when she was solving a problem. "I mean, she was with General Ironwood, so…"
That was a good point. Now that I thought about it, I had never heard Winter say what her formal rank was. Yet, she was here, working with the highest ranking General in the military? "I confess, I'm not sure. She worked in some kind of specialized division at one point and then…" I trailed off. There was no easy way to explain that her teammates were killed on a mission. Although she never said, I had been confident at the time that Winter liked one of them, and looking back I was only more convinced of that assessment.
"Something bad happened?" Ruby gave my hand a slight squeeze, which I knew was her way of telling me that I didn't have to keep talking.
"There was a mission. And during it, something went wrong, and her teammates died." Beside me, Ruby's breath caught for a moment. "She showed up in the middle of the night, covered in blood, bleeding, and I think she had a broken arm, crying, and rambling about whatever happened." That had, in a sense, been a rude awakening to the world, and proven to me that I didn't want to attend Atlas.
It was also one of the rare times when Father had truly gotten upset with one of us. I didn't know what was said between them, but when he had left Winter's room, Father had been white as a sheet, and instructed me to leave my sister to her 'foolish grief'.
Ruby didn't say anything, just gripping my hand, guiding us…somewhere. Dragging myself back into focus, I sighed. "For a while, she helped me practice swordplay, then her job got too busy." And I'd been avoiding her, although not as badly. "I kind of expected she come find me today." For some reason, the fact she hadn't hurt.
We were sitting on the airship back to Beacon, my hand still in Ruby's as I stopped talking.
To my surprise, night had fallen completely, the moon visible, just barely, over Ruby's shoulder in the window. The topic of my sister hung between us for a while, Ruby unusually quiet, even some of her normal vibrancy missing from her eyes.
Her right hand was clenched, not very tightly, but her shoulders were relaxed, and she wasn't biting her lip or frowning, so she wasn't exactly nervous, but at the same time, she was? Her hand was clammy, which would suggest whatever was on her mind wasn't something to be nervous over, yet I kept coming back to that same feeling.
"Something's bugging you." For a moment, I had the irrational thought that Ruby had fallen asleep on her feet, before she twitched, shaking her head.
"Nope." Not quite serious Ruby, but… it wasn't exactly regular Ruby either. Only she could give me a headache, and manage to be endearing about it. "Just thinking." Oh. That did not bode well at all.
"You aren't coming up with some kind of plan are you?" Or at least, not an insane plan that would make me question my life choices?
"Nope." It was a small smile, one of the ones that my heart jump when they happened.
"That's good." While I couldn't deny her effective nature of her plans, most of them were a little too… life threatening for my taste. I would leave the adrenaline seeking for Yang. I was dragged from that thought, as a weight settled on my shoulder. I glanced down, surprised to find my vision filled by black and red hair.
For some reason, I found myself wanting to blush at the close contact. It was not as if this was the first time that Ruby had done this, or even that I minded. I didn't mind, in fact, even if I teased her about it. Sometime though, it did make it hard to try and ignore feelings. Or at least, try too. Like now.
"You're using me as a pillow again?" After a while, I had to ask, because I was more than certain human spines were not meant to bend that way. "We're almost back to Beacon."
"Maybe." She mumbled into my shoulder. "…Okay." She didn't move, and I couldn't say I minded that fact. Indeed, it wasn't until the doors of the airship has hissed open that Ruby lifted her head from my shoulder, wearing an expression that was close to content as I'd ever seen from her. I followed her across the school ground, until we ended up beneath the tree that, when we had days off, or time to relax, Blake liked to use for relaxing under, and Ruby would occasionally read beneath, if she wasn't off, further refining her already considerable talent with the scythe.
Letting go of my hand for the first time in quite a while, Ruby flopped down onto the grass. I sat, albeit it in a far more dignified manner next to her. Under normal circumstances, I would have protested being dragged about, but Ruby seemed happier than she had been in days, and although I wasn't about to admit it to anyone, I had enjoyed myself. Besides. Spending time with Ruby was enjoyable.
"Weiss?" There was a small hesitation to her voice, a choking on the words, as if she wasn't certain what to say. Or how to say it.
"Yes?" She bit her lip, turning away from me a bit.
"I…I wanted to talk to you about something?" That was, I noticed, not quite a statement, and didn't leave me much room to figure things out, unfortunately. It did however, suggest that whatever had been bothering her was what she wanted to talk about. Although I wanted very badly to ask, years of habits, as well as knowing Ruby, told me to stay silent. She would get there. "Um… well…" She swallowed. Then swallowed again. "I…"
Watching her splutter and stumble over her words was, in a sense, endearing. Perhaps a bit mean of me, but words had never been a thing Ruby was good at. She thrived on action, as opposed to talking, despite doing a lot of the later. "One word at a time Ruby." I offered, smiling just a bit. It was surprisingly hard to figure out the line between teasing and being nasty, but I hoped that she would figure it out.
"Yeah yeah." Pushing herself upright, Ruby gave a long sigh. "This isn't supposed to be hard." The last part was mumbled, and I only really knew what she said by virtue of reading her lips.
Reaching out, I placed my hand over hers, shelving my confusion, and curiosity at whatever was bothering my partner for a moment. "There isn't a need to rush." Or at least, I didn't think there was. Knowing Ruby, it was hard to say for absolute certain though.
She was almost pouting, but not quite. "I know…" Trialing off again, one of her hands ran through her hair. "It just shouldn't be this hard to say it…." Another long pause, leaving me plenty of time to ponder just what it was that had left my talkative teammate so stumped. Normally, I couldn't have taped Ruby's mouth shut if I wanted the words to stop coming out of it.
Giving her head a sharp shake, she turned towards me, eyes shimmering with…something. "What's it that Yang says sometimes?" Before I could answer, she gave another decisive nod. "Fuck it."
I had a single moment to process the fact that Ruby actually swore, because she was kissing me.
Only a few details of the moment sank in: her lips were just a little rough, about like the rest of her really; the warmth almost pulsating off of her; Ruby was kissing me, we tumbled backwards, into the grass, breaking the contact.
Thoughts whirling, I struggled to put together a coherent sentence. "Ruby? What-Why-Wh-"
"Weiss!" She cut me off, eyes widening by the second. "One at a time please?" Not quite a pleading note to her voice.
Right. "Why?" That seemed like a logical first question.
There was a pause, her regarding me with guarded expression, what might have been tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Oh Dust. "You usually kiss people you like don't you?" There was a silence, then quieter. "More than like though." She attempted one of her usual confident grins, but it wasn't quite the same.
Oh. Of all the answers I had expected that was… not one of them. Not at all.
More than like? A phantom sensation flared down my chest, a whirlwind of worries flaring up without warning.
I had deal with plenty of less than…savory people vying for my affections at various points, most of them children of Father's various business partners. Even we discounted the sincere ones, (such as Jaune, although I had little interest in him), the number of people who had showed interesting in me for selfish reasons, or just because they wanted to get in Fathers' good books was exhaustive. As a result, my first instinct in any such situation was to run. Or at the very least, extricate myself with all due haste.
But this was Ruby. She wasn't just some…creep. Granted, none of said persons had ever kissed me either, but that was beside the point! It wasn't as if I even minded terribly much that she had…
For a treacherous moment, I could just imagine Father's face, at the idea of me being involved with a girl. Or anyone from Beacon for that matter. How angry he'd be, how he'd react. My heart started to pick up, and I took a deep breath, forcing that near instinctive panic aside. I was here, Father was not. And it wasn't as though we would be running into him in Atlas, if Winter had her way about it.
"Weiss?" She tried hard to mask the slight wavering in her tone, but it bled through, the small hints of fear, panic; tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes, half hidden by the shadows of her hair, yet thrown into sharp relief by the fact her eyes almost shone. "I-"
It wasn't hard to guess the forming words, even without knowing Ruby, without being in this situation. "Ruby Rose."
There was a pause, one I had learned meant that Ruby was composing herself, not that she didn't have anything to say. A muscle in her neck twitched, she blinked just a hair too long. When he eyes opened, they were a bit more guarded, although a small spark of hope was there, hiding in the corner of tears. "Yes?"
A million thoughts hit me all at once. My arms came up, wrapping around her neck. It was strange, thinking about life back at home, having met Ruby, and to a less extent the other two. The idea of going to back a bland, sterile world, as opposed to the whirlwind vibrant one that Ruby represented was almost unthinkable.
It didn't take much effort to pull myself closer to her. She would never be the greatest student, we both knew that, but at the same time, in little, other ways, Ruby had a breadth of knowledge that was hard to eclipse. It just happened that her skillset was entirely useless for schooling. It was hard to explain the fact that she just had a plan for…everything, for example. Or that fact that she would without fail, put herself forward to help literally anyone.
And then all those thoughts when out the window.
I was kissing Ruby. The skin of her neck was burning against my arms, as we shifted, lips parting just a bit. I found myself just as unaware of exactly what was happening as before, this kiss being longer, and infinitely more intense.
As we separated, Ruby swayed, just a bit, taking several deliberate breaths. "Oh…" Her arms, which had been holding her upright over me, gave out, leaving my teammate to collapse into my chest. "Oh." She wore a lopsided, somewhat dazed grin,
In a way, the slight weight of Ruby served to calm my own racing heart, and throw everything into focus. Ruby had kissed me. And then I kissed her. Something I had privately wondered about for some time, and it had just happened. Twice. And now, she was collapsed on my chest grinning like a dope.
"Ruby?" It was an effort, but I managed to keep my voice level, managing only a whisper, hoping the unspoken question made it through; the strange little way that Ruby could sometimes figure out just what was going on in my head, seemingly from nothing. For a moment, I thought she hadn't heard, before she shifted, a single silver eye fixing on me. No tears lurked in the corner this time, however, a whirlwind mix of excited, shock, and happiness, that if I had the time, I could probably have figured out. Or maybe I already head. She sat up, just a bit, arms remaining shaky, biting her lip just a tad, as though considering.
It was a simple set of actions, somewhat every day for her, yet I felt a shiver run through me regardless. Then she kissed me again. Shorter this time, and I was a bit more aware, not quite so overcome by shock, and a rush of feelings. "I've wanted to do that for a while." It was whispered, in-between a fourth kiss, a rush of warmth filling me, and I pulled her closer, for a moment not wanting those precious seconds to stop.
-Petals Scatter-
Winter
"I'll have whatever he has." Dropping onto the barstool, I resisted the urge to groan. Of course he was in a bar, even at this hour. I had yet to decide if the man attracted bars like flies, or if bars attracted him like a fly.
"Well well well." Qrow leaned against his hand, offering me an appraising gaze. As always, he hadn't changed a bit since we last saw each other. He still need to shave, was still quite drunk, and probably needed a shower. "Either hell's frozen over, or the dead are walking…" He paused, seeming to weight the options. "Guess I should start hedging my bets?"
"Shut up." It was halfhearted, as I accepted the drink from the bartender, and drained the entire thing. I wasn't sure what had even compelled me to come here, to talk to him of all people. The conversation was bound to only annoy me, besides giving me a headache.
Despite no doubt having something snide to say, Qrow remained silent, nursing his drink, occasionally swirling the ice, and snorting, at who knew what. Either that, or he was ogling someone, and approve of what her saw. Accepting a second drink, I stared into the amber liquid, trying to make sense of my swirling feelings, the very same one's that brought me to this place.
"Do you think it's possible he survived?" Qrow would know exactly who I was talking about, leaving no reason to preface the statement. The man grunted, head tilting, surveying me with one of his rare, piercing stares. Despite appearances to the contrary, I knew Qrow was intelligent, and had many of the same skills I did, for many of the same reasons; drinking was his coping mechanism as much as it was his vice after all. Although he didn't seem especially drunk at the moment. Bastard probably knew I was coming.
"With that one? Who knows." Damnit Qrow. That was not the answer I was hoping for. "From what you've told me, he lived through plenty of garbage, before so Dust only knows what could or couldn't kill him." He gave a rasping chuckle. "'course, not telling you he's alive?" He paused before taking a drink. "Dick move."
"It was strange." Another drink, and I found myself talking, without really knowing why. Perhaps it was a story I just needed to get off my chest. Knowledge I'd kept bottled up, in those years since that evening. Six hours that skirted the edge of nightmares ever sense, finally coaxed out by inebriation. "Looking back, he knew." It was the only conclusion I could reach, when I woke up, screaming into a pillow, the ghostly image of a man falling over head slow to fade.
"He was well named, so would make sense." Qrow pointed out, as he always did. It was what originally drew me to him, the way that, despite being a hooligan and a drunk, Qrow could manage to listen, and listen well. His advice was terrible, but at least the man could listen.
I couldn't prevent my snort at the thought. Oracle. "It started a joke in school, really. That he was a sort of Oracle for our team. And eventually, the nickname spread, first to others in school, and see even teachers we knew well would call him that. It wasn't even a question, when we enlisted with Intelligence, what his codename would be." I drained another drink with a sigh. "And, without fail, he led us through everything, no matter how horrible, not matter how deadly, he was there, calm, and in control, to take charge of the situation, guiding everyone out alive."
We had relied on him, trusted him. The other three of us, despite the rocky start we'd had, and he, in turn, repaid the trust. Time and time again. We'd never thanked him, although knowing Oracle, he wouldn't have accepted the thanks anyway. That was the sort of person he was, never taking thanks from others if he could help it.
"And then, without warning, he died." Qrow nodded a bit, taking up the narrative as he did, giving a long sigh, to accompany another drink gone. "Losing friends is never easy…" he paused. "So what has you asking about that?"
I sighed, staring into my drink again. "Have you met Ian's Blackwood?"
Qrow hacked out a cough. "Once. Seemed alright enough, bit of a bastard I guess." His eyes narrowed, as though processing the original intent of my question. "Don't know much about him though. Just sorta appeared few years back, never explained much, but he's damn good at his job."
That was helpful, in a roundabout way. Qrow was no Atlesean specialist, but in terms of gathering information, I knew his skills were comparable. Further, he had the same hard bitten set of instincts that any of filed operative developed, meaning that, even if he didn't' consciously think about it, he would gather information on a new face. Although it took me a while to realize it, the fact that Qrow didn't know much about Ian Blackwood mean that whoever he was, he had something to hide.
Of course, having something to hide didn't change the fact I was probably seeing things. Everyone had a secret or two, so that fact that some random Vale huntman had more than normal was not out of reason.
"You're not going to be asking me without a reason…" Qrow trailed off, and I had to hide a wince. Apparently drinking degraded my ability to be subtle.
Damn him for making it obvious though. "It's a bit more than a resemblance. They look almost identical. Which makes no sense. I saw the man die Qrow." He didn't answer, not that I expected him too. This was all things he'd heard me say before. "I spoke as his funeral. And now…" The words trailed off. He had no family, and whatever happened had been bad enough that it was a closed casket ceremony.
"Seems like you already know what the answer is."
"Go fuck yourself Qrow." Swearing at Qrow was not the sort of thing I would usually do, but he was right. All of this was his style. 'The hardest places to see is exactly where your focus is.' It was an old mantra, one Oracle had loved to recite, just before pulling a trump card on someone. And, what better place to hide? "I just don't understand why?
That elicited a long shrug, as he drained another glass. "Hard to say. Never met the guy. Pity really. He sounded almost alright." Qrow's lips quirked, no doubt imagining something humorous. "He must've done something right, gettin' through to you." I wouldn't have called it…right, exactly, especially considering how our relationship had begun. "I've never known a dead man to get back up out of his grave though. Be one hell of a trick."
"Assuming the bastard was ever dead." That thought lingered between us for a while. It was the first time, in truth, that such a topic had come up in some time. I had thought I had moved on from that, put those times behind me. Until a single meeting managed to upend all of that, and now, here I was, sitting in a seedy bar with Qrow Branwen, drinking. I think I mumbled a few cursed under my breath.
"Fuckin' hell." I had stopped paying attention to how much I had drank by this point, only vaguely aware it was quite a bit, which probably was the source of Qrow swearing. "Might wanna cut her off, if she cares 'bout walking home." I managed a half-hearted glare, no doubt losing some of the effect from being intoxicated.
We sat in silence for a long time after that, him nursing another… something, and I lost in my thoughts, the swirling, alcohol fueled mess of what ifs, and frustrations. What if I had paid better attention? What if I hadn't changed fields? What if this, and what if that? Or, as Qrow said, trying to play lottery in hindsight.
"My sister is coming back to Atlas for a while." It was the drinks, making my lips work before my brain engaged again once again. "Her and her team. They managed to stumble across proof of Oracle's little obsession, and Ironwood wants to deal with it…" The word escaped me for a moment. "Unofficially." Not the one I wanted, but it would do.
"Has the man lost his damn mind?" It was a genuine growl that escaped the man.
"Quite possible." I had asked myself that question several times today, since that meeting. "He wants the four of them to investigate. And myself, and Blackwood to oversee it." The worst part of that entire sentence, funnily enough, was not that Ironwood wanted me to do it. No, the worst part was that it made sense. As a former member of Intelligence, it made sense to put me in charge of mission involving under cover, and not quite…official work. Right. The thought was groggy, forming over several seconds. I was important, so people wouldn't ask to many questions, and Ironwood knew I had…conn…connections, in my old department.
"Dust." Qrow shook his head, glass waving about as he spoke. He was more upset than I expected about that. "I thought my job sucked." Given that Qrow famously declared that, were he an Atlas soldier, he'd shoot himself, such sentiment wasn't exactly uncommon from him, but none the less. "That's gonna be a disaster. Bunch of kids going that kind of work?" He shook his head. "Recipe for problems, let me tell you."
"Ozpin agreed, however reluctantly I do not know. And they agreed as well." To my surprise, Qrow snorted into his drink, scowling deeper.
"Of course they agreed. That's the sort of thing that Ruby and Yang can't turn down." He knew those two? I wasn't aware of that. "Damnit." Setting the glass down, he spun on his stool, appearing to become somewhat more serious. "I'm off to give Oz a yelling at." He stood, swaying a bit, before straightening. "Have fun explaining being shitfaced drunk to Ironwood."
And with that, he sauntered off…leaving me to pay.
As I said earlier. Fuck you, Qrow Branwen. Preferably with your scythe.
-Petal Scatter-
Ozpin
Sunset. A time of rest, and calm, within the otherwise chaotic day. Long shadows swirled about the floor of my office, as the dancing light through the gears above fell lower and lower.
In a sense, I couldn't help but feel it was fitting. Something, although I had little idea what, was coming to an end. Peace perhaps, I thought with a sigh. Worry and malcontent was breeding in the streets, although few had truly come to realize it just yet. The Atleasan fleet hovering over-head set the more astute on edge, even as James claimed he was only here to protect, at the behest of the Council. It was a heavy weight, the memories of the Great War, especially amongst those whose families had suffered in the conflict.
More troubling still, was the resurgence of those Half-Grimm creations. Although Ian Blackwood refused to accept it, they had been on the decline in recent years, time at last killing off the final remaining ones; a mercy really. Yet, an entire village was now found destroyed, then attacked by those very creations, in numbers that were unprecedented.
More and more, Salem's touch was spreading, it seemed, and there was little doubt that was responsible for that. No one else on the planet would have the influence, power, or knowledge with which to bring those monsters to being once more, or in such numbers. That meant her move was coming.
Glancing down at my desk, I sighed. If only there had been another way. A different path I could let them walk. Yet, they had chosen, and I had no argument with which to stop them. All that could be done was watch, wait, and attempt to blunt the horrors they would see. Ian Blackwood could see to that. For all the rage that young man contained, he truly hated to drag those uninvolved into conflict, and it showed.
Of course, he seemed to have a past with Atlas, which I had not realized until today. Then again, when Ian had appeared, we had been so shorthanded that no one bothered to ask him the first question, he was simply swept in, and within the year had become something of a fixture without any real explanation. He worked almost entirely alone, but was highly effective, so no one would question him about it. The few times before today we had spoken he had always seemed like a reasonable man, knowledgeable, and confident, but nothing extraordinary.
And now, I was sending four students into a country that, at the very least would be hostile to one of them, and alien to another two, under his care. Fear and worry settled in my gut, heavy as always. And, as always, I swept those feelings aside. There was no time for regrets or second guesses. We had reached a crossroads, and the only option remaining was to step forwards, commit to path, and hope.
A/N: So. This is supertastically late, as a result of Word eating my rewritten draft no less than three times, which is a major motivation killer. Not happy with it, but I'm also at the end of my rope, and ready to move on, so here we are.
Drunk Winter is fun as hell (also a total lightweight). Although I'm also pretty sure I should be drunk when I wrote her parts, for authenticity or something, but not gonna do that. Not worth that much effort. I think too damn much about this shit already. No really.
And the first act of the story begins! And lots of groundwork to lay here, some of which isn't gonna pay off for quite a while. But that's…mostly okay. And this chapter probably needed some Cinder, but oh well, we got Ozpin instead. If I start down that road, I'm going to write you guys a book per update, and well, my chapters are already pushing my person length limits. I'd actually consider going to each POV gets its own chapter, which probably would be faster, and let me build up my backlog better, but I almost prefer this method in a way. It let's me give me stuff per update, and we don't have two or three weeks at a time of just me doing character stuff that relates to the plot, and isn't really filler, but at the same time, isn't a badass action sequence, or other stuff later. And for those wondering, action should make a return next week, in some form. Gotta bust some heads eventually.
I don't think I have any rants. This week really. Some observations on OCs that I'll keep to myself, and I officially have a plan for something that, if I manage to write half as well as it looks in my head is going to be downright fucking awesome. But that's a ways off. (for the curious, I have the bones of the plot figured out up through the end of what would be Volume three of the show. Depending on how cooperative everyone is, those bones might or might not get redone a few times in the middle. Who knows. These characters are someone less helpful that the ones for Darkness, which has, for the most part, followed the plot thru-line I set for it, with about two deviations, and those fit well enough. This? Not so much. I mean, I've redone one particular plot point no less than 4 times. In this chapter. It's getting obscene.
While I'm on the topic of characters. Winter. She's a hard one. We know not quite piss all about her. She's loyal to Ironwood, she has some kind of history with Qrow it seems, and is both frosty, and a hothead. Doesn't get on well with dear old dad (one for the human garbage heap he is), and is in the Atlas military as a 'specialist', what the fuck that means. Aside from that, free reign basically exists for her character, aside from stuff like fighting style and semblance, yadda yadda.
What does that mean for me? Well, I can do kinda whatever, as long as the end result is what I just described. And let me tell you, that is a lot of options. Unfortunately, something in my head is a few screws loose, and the results of that are, predictably not sunshine and rainbows. I guess at least she didn't have a parent die (that might be preferable…). Either way, Winter gets to be an important character, so that's a thing. And is also a totally lightweight. (Ironwood doesn't know…probably.)
Reviews, thoughts, suggestions, are always appreciated. This chapter was a terrible pain to get done, and this isn't even a version I'm terribly happy with. Unfortunately, I didn't' have the patience to rewrite it a fourth time, so…here we are. This damn chapter is cursed, and so I'm just done. It's here, and sometime later, I'll fix it, when I'm farther in I guess.