Chapter Eleven: Black and Green

Silence.

Dull, agonizing silence.

Save for the gears of large clocks grinding and whirring, Professor Ozpin's chamber was filled to the brim with such silence. It had only been an hour since their return, and Team ZERO had explained to their headmaster what had transpired in the city. In response, Ozpin just stood up and turned to his window-wall, staring out onto the world with a flat expression. Glynda Goodwitch stood close to Ozpin, not saying a word as she tried to process this news, though she wore a face of irritation. Besides the occasional sip of his coffee, he didn't make a sound. Rizu stood vigil, waiting for a response as the other three members just looked to Ozpin and back to themselves repeatedly. With a sigh, the starlight-haired Huntsman sat back down in his chair, looking at his students.

"And that is all that happened?", he asked, his voice laced with minimal concern.

Rizu nodded,"Yes sir. General Ironwood seemed to believe that there was a third party behind this"

"M-Maybe not the White Fang gathering, but the anonymous tip you and the General received seemed to be really similar", Orion continued, fiddling with his tail.

Ozpin just nodded,"Classic James...always the first to show aggression"

Team ZERO simply looked to each other, not sure what to make of that, though each member held a different attitude towards the General. He was quite close to Zane's father, so he saw him as a sort of distant uncle. Rizu of course hated him, even hating being in his presence. Orion believed Ironwood was a danger to his people, and shouldn't be allowed to just throw his power around whenever the Faunus even remotely organize themselves for peace. Ella didn't know him the way the others did, but she resented his excessive military action. Ozpin stood and finally spoke.

"You four did exceptionally well. Team ZERO acted in the way any Huntsman or Huntress would in such a dilemma, so I congratulate you all for your work and will grade you accordingly", he commended, motioning towards the door.

Orion hesitated from moving,"But sir what about the set up? I know for a fact the White Fang wouldn't act violently!"

"Don't worry Mr. Maxima, I will assign a Huntsman or Huntress to investigate this matter. It does indeed seem...peculiar", Ozpin agreed.

"What about us? What do we do now?", Ella interjected.

Professor Goodwitch shook her head,"This is now a Huntsman problem, therefore We cannot send students to look into this. Now you four just head to your dorms, rest, and prepare for the Winter Formal this weekend"

The team simply nodded, although hesitantly and made their way out of the door and closed it. Through the door however, Rizu heard the two professors talking, so he got closer in order to hear.

"Rizu what are you doing?", Zane asked.

"Shh!", he snapped,"I'm trying to listen"

From inside the chamber, Ozpin spoke,"Glynda, what do you make of all this?"

Rizu heard a muffled sigh,"Well it seems like a plot Oz. I'll contact Qrow and see if he can find anything for us. What about Team ZERO?"

"It seems that I have sent them to see something they shouldn't have been a part of. Have our faculty keep a closer eye on them, make sure they don't do anything reckless", the headmaster sighed.

Rizu took his ear from the door and sighed angrily, tapping his blade before walking with his group back to the dorm. When they had finally got inside, Zane locked the door behind them.

"Alright man, what did they say?", the leader interrogated.

"Look Ozpin is basically putting us four on lock. He knows something and we need to find out what it is", he flatly replied, sitting on his bed to unload his gun.

Orion piped up,"I agree. I wanna know who would frame the White Fang. It doesn't make sense to me"

Ella sighed and quelled them,"Okay. Let me please be the voice of reason. This has nothing to do with us anymore. Ozpin said to leave this matter to the professionals, so why don't we?"

The four teens looked to their female companion, thinking over her logic. She was right in every aspect. They had no logical reason to put themselves in potential danger to investigate a hunch. There were no real facts to point to any suspect, yet something stunk about the situation. Curiosity built up in all of them, though Ella wouldn't admit to her own. Rizu stood up and sighed.

"Listen Ella. We know that Ozpin said to leave this to his 'professionals', but something tells me the headmaster sent us to investigate that riot for a reason. What for I don't know yet, but we will never know if we don't try to find it. However...", he trailed off.

Ella cocked her head to the side,"However?"

"I'll be the first to admit that this isn't our decision to make alone. Zane, as our leader, has the final say"

Zane flashed a cocky smirk,"Heh, I am a pretty awesome leader"

"Don't push it", Rizu snapped.

Orion stood up and looked to his leader,"Well?"

Zane Noctis sat on his bed and let out a heavy sigh. He had never made such a serious decision before, let alone one that affects more than himself. On one hand, they could go about their own business and leave this alone. On the other hand, they could hunt down the source of the fake call with no leads or evidence and put themselves in a potentially perilous situation.

Zane rubbed the back of his head,"I...I can't make a decision right now. We had a sizable battle today with those prototype bots and I think we all just need to take it easy. I'll give a real answer after the Winter Formal okay?"

With a mutual understanding, the team nodded to their leader and decided to take the rest of the day to themselves. Orion went over to the dorm of Team ARES to catch up with Eos and Areana. Zane went to the cafeteria to get himself a decent meal and Rizu stayed in the dorm to sleep. Ella decided to go back to her local haunt: the library.

Ella walked through the halls and as she turned the corner to the library, she roughly bumped into a cart full of assorted piles of books, causing the stacks to fall over, revealing a quite annoyed Professor Goodwitch.

"Sorry professor...I guess I kinda spaced out", Ella said meekly as she helped picks up the books.

Goodwitch merely shook her head,"Just be more careful next time. Okay?"

With the books put back on the cart, the professor left her alone in the hall, heading towards the archives. As Ella stepped towards the library again, her foot struck something: a book. It was rather a small, black book that maybe had two hundred pages. Ella picked up the book, thinking that Professor Goodwitch had dropped it. After brushing some excess dust off of the cover, Ella's eyes gleamed with curiosity. Even the title's silver letters piqued her interest.

"Soul Bonding Dust"

Warning: Contains experimental content and practices

Ella scanned the area for anyone before cautiously picking up the book. Soul Bonding? She had never heard of such a thing. Though the warning on the cover concerned her, her heart began to beat with vigor, eager to learn what this book has to offer. Hastily hiding the book in her scarf and headed off to the team dorm, hiding the book under her pillow as she heard Rizu wake up from his nap, groaning tiredly.

"Is anyone else here?", he asked groggily, sitting up.

Ella softly answered,"I'm here"

"Huh? Oh hey Ella. How was the library?", the black-clad boy asked.

"I-It was good. Learning quite a bit"

"Well...that's good"

"...say...Rizu?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you...going to the Winter Formal?"

The question lingered in the room while it hit Rizu like a ton of bricks. Was she asking him out? Never in a million years did he think anyone would be asking him out, especially not Ella Blaze. She couldn't possibly be interested in me, he thought.

"Well...yeah actually. I was thinking I might DJ for the dance...", he replied.

That was probably the dumbest response ever. Of all time. He internally kicked himself for that. Ella simply nodded and turned towards the door. Rizu turned his head towards the sound of her opening the door.

"Where are you going?", he asked cautiously.

"Nowhere in particular...I'm just gonna go outside and see if it snows. Strange...it's actually colder in here", she replied dryly, leaving the room and slightly slamming the door.

As Ella traversed the empty halls, she looked out towards the stars, trying to keep her mind off of her disappointment. For a sharp guy, he's pretty dense, she thought to herself. In solemn silence she walked, several thoughts racing through her head. Why would he have said yes? Why was she interested? Her train of thought was interrupted when she bumped into a familiar Faunus.

"Huh? Oh sorry about that", Ella muttered, looking up at Roland.

He smiled,"Oh zat is no big deal. What brings you here, dear Ella?"

"Nothing I'm just walking around, trying to clear my head", she replied awkwardly.

With that, she started to walk away from him, only for the weasel to turn around towards her again.

"Would you like to attend ze dance to me?", he called out.

She stopped dead in her tracks, looking back at him,"H-Huh?"

"That is...unless you already have a date?"

"...no. I don't have a date. It would be a pleasure to go to the dance with you!", Ella said excitedly.

With that, Roland took her hand and began to discuss plans with her. Maybe this is a good thing, Ella thought. After all...Rizu didn't see her like that. Unbeknownst to the pair, the boy in black stood out from the shadows, lowering his head before using the silent walls to guide him to his equally silent dorm...

A/N: Aaaaand there we go. Sorry for the long wait. But! I had the holidays and stuff to worry about. So...yeah! Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter. It may seem a little slow now but everything I write has importance of some kind. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays! Look forward to the new chapter! See ya.