(A/N): Once again I find myself apologizing for taking so long to get this out. This is the first chapter of the second act of the story and it took a little planning on my part to get my thoughts together on the exact path I want to take you on. Hopefully at the end of this chapter you will have a clearer understanding as to why Fenix is the way he is.
Chapter 11: Order Up
"THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!" Fenix said excitedly as he and his team left Port's class alongside team RWBY. It had been four days since their initiation day into Beacon Academy and the end of the very long first week was finally in sight for the first years.
"Yeah I'm going to go and do nothing but relax the rest of the day. How about you hot stuff? Do you have any plans for tonight? Say a HOT date?" Yang asked Fenix in a sultry tone of voice. Fenix just rolled his eyes at the god awful pun. This had been the pattern for the past week ever since he had stood up for Ruby. Yang would make a not so subtle flirtatious comment towards Fenix and he would either shut it down or ignore her outright. It was starting to get on everybody else's nerves to some extent and it was obvious to him. Her continuous flirting seemed to annoy her own team and Jaune mostly. His team along with Ren and Pyrrha were indifferent because Fenix really never responded. Nora, much to the vexation of everybody else, found it hilarious and egged Yang on as much as she could. Instead of him having to fend off the buxom blonde this time, the young red reaper came to his rescue in the way that only she could.
"Yaaaaaang! Knock it off!" Ruby whined.
"Yeah! Besides we still have another class before we are free." Jaune said as he and his team approached their sister teams. His statement was met with a bewildered look from his fellow blonde of the group.
"What do you mean?! I thought we were done!" Yang half yelled in a distraught tone. The idea of having one more class between her and her weekend freedom did not sound appealing to her at all apparently. Fenix just chuckled at her child like reaction while Ruby spoke up again.
"YOU, are done. WE, have a leader's class that every team leader in Beacon has to take every Friday afternoon. We will be taught by Headmaster Ozpin himself and get tutored by the older team leaders." Ruby pointed to Fenix, Jaune, and Herself as she explained to her older sister. Yang had a relieved look like she had just dodged a bullet. Then something happened that made all twelve of the students freeze in fear.
"Might I remind you three that said class begins in ten minutes? I suggest you not be late to your first leadership meeting." The group turned in unison to see none other than Professor Goodwitch standing directly behind them with her arms crossed and her wand/riding crop out. Before anybody could say something stupid and get them all in trouble, Fenix grabbed Jaune and Ruby by the arms leading them in the direction of their last class.
"You heard her guys let's go!" With that the three leaders left their teams. The other nine headed off in the direction of their dorms because they didn't feel like upsetting the disciplinarian before their weekend started. Once the three leaders got to the designated room, they found themselves in a familiar situation. The only empty seats were in the very front row of the lecture hall and closest to the desk where Ozpin was currently sitting. Fenix just sighed as he led the group to the front and willingly took the seat directly in front of Ozpin. Ruby sat next to him and Jaune sat on her other side which just so happened to seat another first year student.
Cardin Winchester. Fenix didn't especially like what little he had seen of Cardin and his team in their first week. They were self-centered, cocky, mischievous, immature, and all around unpleasant to be around. For these reasons, the other first year students (especially the females) stayed away from them. He had heard rumors of them being bullies but had never witnessed it firsthand. A tapping of a cane on the floor brought his attention back to the front of the room where Ozpin was now standing.
"Good afternoon. For our first leadership meeting we will have two simple tasks to accomplish today. First, as I'm sure you all have been doing repeatedly with it being the first week of classes; we will go around the room introducing ourselves. State your name, the names of your team and its members, as well as a little something about yourself. We will begin with our new first year leaders here up front." He finished motioning to Fenix. Suddenly the seating arrangement of the room made a little more sense to him. He sighed as he resigned to his fate as being the first victim of the classic stand in front of the class and introduce yourself routine. He stood up and turned to face the rest of the classroom. He bowed respectfully as he began.
"Fenix Fall, leader of team F.A.B.L. pronounced fable. The other three members are Liam Randgrid, Beau McClellan, and Alexis Hygeia. I was actually enrolled to start last year but a few things in my personal life came up and delayed my entrance into this academy by a year." With that he sat down and Ruby immediately hopped up from her seat. She turned and waved to the upperclassmen as she began.
"Hi! My name is Ruby Rose. My teammates are Yang Xiao-Long, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna. Together we form team RWBY! And before you ask, yes it does cause some confusion." She paused as some of the upperclassman chuckled at her admittance. "Well about me… I guess you could say I'm a bit of a nerd for weapons." She finished rather shy and quiet. Completely the opposite of how she started out. Almost as if she, the introvert, had just realized that she was the center of attention. She quickly sat down and pulled her beloved hood up over her head to cover her face and sat back down. Jaune then stood up to do his part and rescue Ruby from her embarrassed state.
"The name's Jaune Arc." He started with an all too familiar confident tone to his voice.
'Oh Hell. He better not be doing his signature opener to impress the ladies.' Fenix thought to himself.
"Short."
'No.'
"Sweet."
'NO.'
"Rolls off the tongue."
"Don't you finish that phrase." Fenix didn't realize he had said it out loud until Jaune looked at him with a surprised look. His eyes widened as he realized he had in fact accidently called out his best friend before anybody else knew why he was doing it. Well save for Ruby who was sitting between them trying to stifle her giggles. Fenix pulled her hood down in a playful jester before explaining to Jaune.
"Remember how that turned out the first couple of times you used that line?" He gave a look to Jaune daring him to challenge him on this one. He had overheard his blonde companion using that signature line on multiple girls during their first week here at school and he had been shot down each time. Jaune had a blank look of confusion on his face until he saw the light bulb go off in his head. He mouthed "Ooohhhh" to Fenix as he sheepishly admitted defeat and moved on with the introduction. Fenix swore he heard the Headmaster give a muffled snort in amusement behind him.
"Heh heh, well I'm the leader of team JNPR. My partner is Pyrrha Nikos and our other two teammates are Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. As you can tell me and this guy have been friends forever so he tends to treat me like a little brother." Jaune finished motioning to Fenix.
"Someone has to keep an eye on you." Fenix quipped back with a smirk. A few more chuckles arose from the crowd at their lighthearted banter. The next one up was Cardin. He forcefully pushed Jaune down into his seat as he stood up to take his turn.
"My name is Cardin Winchester. Leader of team CRDL. My 'mates are Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. I know that my team will no doubt be the strongest team in the first year class." He finished with an overconfident smirk that he gave towards Fenix, Ruby, and Jaune. He was met with three sets of eyes rolling simultaneously. Fenix had no doubt their three teams could decimate Cardin's team no problem.
The rest of the introductions went rather quickly. Once it got to the upperclassmen they just flew through their intros with ease. At one point Fenix learned that one of the third year team leaders was a newly appointed leader since their original leader had been killed on a mission. It brought a somber mood to the room out of respect for their fallen comrade. The introduction portion of the class ended with a girl in a beret in the back of the room. Fenix swore he saw her giving him weird looks behind her sunglasses that she for some reason wore indoors. After she finished all attention was brought back to the front to the Headmaster.
"Now that you all have the simple task out of the way, let's move on to the final portion of our little meeting. Each first year leader will come up with a two person combined attack on a hypothetical opponent of your choosing. The two people must be from your team. Once you have drawn up your attack you will present the plans to me and I will load them in the holographic projection screen at the front of the room. The upperclassmen will view your attacks and then each year will vote as a collective which team's attack they view as the most efficient. Should your team be voted the winners, you and your teammates will receive a one-time-use-only homework pass on an assignment of your team's unanimous decision. Are there any questions?" He was met with all the first years shaking their heads signaling that they understood the assignment.
"Good. Now you have ten minutes to draw up your plan and turn it in to me. You may begin." With that the first year students pulled out their supplies and began scribbling away. After a few minutes Cardin got up and was surprisingly the first to turn his attack plan into the Headmaster. Ruby was the next as she zipped up in front of Ozpin using her semblance. Eventually Fenix was the last to turn his in and the Headmaster began typing in commands to the holographic projector.
First, Cardin's plan showed up. The screen showed a holographic Cardin taking his mace and using it like a bat to hit one of his teammates. His teammate then started spinning as he held his daggers out in front of him. It basically made him look like a flying drill head as he hit a Beowulf and pierced right through it. Fenix had to admit it wasn't a bad idea, except for the massive amount of damage a hit from Cardin's mace would do to his smaller companion.
Next, Ruby's plan popped up on the screen. It featured Yang and Ruby facing off against a Deathstalker. The two girls stood a long distance away from their supposed enemy. The holographic Ruby hopped on Yang's back and Yang began charging. As Yang gained momentum she cocked her arm back ready for a punch while she was still a good distance away. All the sudden she shot forward at incredible speeds and stopped behind the Deathstalker. A path of burning rose petals was all that remained to show where they had been. Fenix could see the petals seemed to be coming off of Ruby who was still latched on to Yang's back. He looked to see the Deathstalker had a huge dent in its forehead armor. The Grimm was either unconscious or dead from blunt force trauma. Fenix couldn't tell honestly but that wasn't what caught his eye in that whole display. He was more interested in Ruby being able to speed boost other people like that.
"You can do that?" He asked as he turned towards her.
"Yeah. Me and Yang have tried that attack before actually and it works pretty good against bigger Grimm." She replied sheepishly as Fenix began thinking of attack moves he could use with that knowledge. As he was thinking he missed another first year team's combined attack. When he snapped out of his thoughts he looked around to see not many upperclassmen seemed all that impressed yet.
Next, it was Jaune's attack strategy. The screen came to life and showed Nora and Ren standing before a pack of Beowulves. The pack started charging in a tight formation. Ren moved to get behind Nora and then shot her in the back with his pistols. The rounds appeared to be electric dust rounds from the yellow splatter the rounds gave off. Instead of shocking the girl into unconsciousness, she began to glow. She then activated her weapon which was a giant war hammer and charged at the pack. As she reached them she took one wide swing. The first Beowulf she hit went careening sideways from the force of her hammer. The collision kind of reminded Fenix of how the pins fly backwards when a bowling ball strikes them. When it was all said and done, her one swing had hit and thrown each Beowulf in the pack completely off the screen. Silence engulfed the room as it appeared Jaune's attack had gathered some attention from the upperclassmen. Fenix just made a mental note to never taze Nora and always stay on her good side. Next, the class had to sit through and embarrassingly awful plan from one of the other first year teams and then another one that was simplistic yet surprisingly effective.
Finally it was Fenix's team's turn. The projector showed Liam and Beau facing a lone human foe. This caught the class's attention since the only enemy their plans had been against was the creatures of Grimm. Beau approached first and made an exaggerated hunched over pose so as to make eye contact with the person. Once the person locked eyes with Beau they froze. Liam then walked up and drew his zweihander sword. As he got close his eyes went milky white. The holographic Liam then swung upwards and with one single swing decapitated the enemy human character. The holographic screen faded out and the room had a stunned silence until the tapping of a cane broke it.
"Mr. Fall, would you care to elaborate to your fellow leaders your tactic?" Ozpin asked with a solemn voice as Fenix moved to stand. He really wasn't surprised to be singled out after the viewing of his strategy.
"Of course Headmaster. My teammates represented by this attack would be Beau and Liam. Beau has a semblance of paralysis which he has nicknamed 'Death glare.' Basically he stares at you and you are frozen. Liam, the big guy, has the semblance of negation. He focuses on you, and your aura and semblance are completely shut off. On top of that he is incredibly strong. So, you freeze the person so they can't move which effectively takes their ability to defend themselves away. Then you knock out their aura and semblance so they can't withstand the hit. You could take out a fully trained hunter with minimal effort with a strategy like this." Fenix finished up as some of the upperclassmen paled at his revelation of Beau and Liam's combined semblances. The looks of shock he was receiving from his friends far outclassed the looks he was receiving from the upperclassmen however.
"Very good, although I feel you should elaborate on the subject of why you chose this specific opponent versus the Grimm your fellow first year leaders chose." Ozpin explained to the young fire wielder. He knew the young innocent mind of Ms. Rose would have a hard time understanding this but she needed to hear it. The sooner the better in her case. He would rather her be exposed to it in a classroom environment than on the battlefield for the first time. He also knew that Mr. Arc needed to understand that although he was a born leader, it would not always be an easy road with simple decisions.
"Honestly sir some of us already know that Grimm are not the only evil we face in this world." He paused to look to his elder leaders and received a few nods in confirmation. He then spied the girl with the beret in the back. Something about her caught his eye this time and when he realized what it was his eyes widened in shock.
Her necklace.
'I've seen that exact beaded and chain linked necklace before' he thought to himself.
She caught his surprise and in return lowered her sunglasses to shoot a stern glare at him. He got the message and turned to look back at the headmaster. Ozpin raised his eyebrow when he saw Fenix's face. Fenix quickly thought up an excuse to cover for his shock.
"I wasn't aware we were allowed to wear sunglasses with our school uniforms." Fenix said as he wiped the surprised look off his face and replaced it with a stoic one.
"I permit each student to add their own personal additions to their uniform as long as it does not break the dress code. " Ozpin replied not falling for the lie but brushing it off to not call the young man out in front of his peers. Secretly he had no problem with what the student wore but he had lost that argument with Glenda long ago. He did not feel like incurring her wrath once again for a previously discussed issue.
"Now Mr. Fall, would you kindly explain for your fellow first year leaders just what you mean by other evils in the world?" Ozpin asked to move the lesson forward. Fenix turned to see concerned looks on Jaune and Ruby's faces. Fenix just sighed as he began.
"Ok, show of hands, who here has defended civilians?" He was met with everybody in the room raising their hands and a few sets of eyes rolling.
"Alright good. Now, keep your hand up if you have ever lost one of the people you were protecting." Roughly half of the students in the room dropped their hands. Ruby lowered her hand and looked sad when she looked around to see who still had their hands raised. The most noticeable to her were Fenix as well as Headmaster Ozpin.
"Next, how many of you have killed a Grimm before?" Once again everybody's hands were raised.
"That was to be expected since we are all here. Now, how many of you have even fought a person that was a life or death situation? Not a sanctioned fight or a spar." Fenix said as he emphasized the words "a person" heavily. A few hands went down, most noticeably Jaune's.
"Alright, here's the tough one. How many of you have taken a life? Not Grimm." Hands went down. At the end he counted seven hands still raised including his own. The two hands still in the air that interested him was Ozpin's and the girl in the beret in the back. He turned to see Ruby looking unhappy that people in an academy for training protectors of the people would have blood on their hands.
"Alright, last and most important question." Ruby perked up to look at Fenix. "How many of the ones who have killed… had to do it for the greater good. Whether it be in self-defense, to protect or save another's life, or any other instance that you feel is somewhat justifiable in the grand scheme of things." Ruby looked to see all seven of the hands of those who had killed still raised. She took some comfort in knowing that about the people here, especially Fenix and Headmaster Ozpin. Fenix noticed her demeanor brightened up a little so he decided to wrap it up on a somewhat good note. Well, as good as it could be with such a sensitive topic for those in the room. Fenix then nodded to Ozpin who motioned for the rest of the students to put their hands down.
"That is the key difference between us and them. They kill for chaos, for gain, for pleasure. We, kill only as a last resort. To protect those who would be victims themselves if we didn't. Sometimes killing your enemy is a necessary evil, but once again it is only used as a last resort." He stressed that last part as he sat down and turned to face Ozpin again. The Headmaster nodded in approval towards Fenix. Then he addressed the rest of the class.
"Very eloquently put young man. Now does anybody have anything to add, or bring up for debate on this topic?" Nobody said anything so Ozpin continued.
"Well then let's get back to the reason for our little tangent shall we? Second year leaders met in the back, third year leaders meet on that end, fourth year leaders meet on the opposite end over there, and first year leaders sit up front here with me. You have five minutes to make your decisions." With that the entire room shifted into motion as the older students moved to meet with their groups. The first years were already in the front so they didn't have to move. Fenix really wanted to make small talk with Ruby and Jaune to help lighten the mood. He turned to see they were both looking down in silence. He guessed they were thinking hard about the talk that had just happened. Out of respect he didn't interrupt and elected to sit in silence as well. Soon the five minutes were up and the familiar sound of a cane tapping on the floor brought everybody's attention back to the Headmaster.
"Now then, which strategy have you elected as the most effective?" Ozpin looked up to the second year students first.
"Fall's." The beret girl spoke up. Ozpin then looked to the third years.
"Same." A boy spoke up from the middle of the group.
"We agree with them, Fall's strategy." A girl from the fourth year leaders spoke up before Ozpin had the chance to acknowledge it was their turn.
"Well then, congratulations Mr. Fall on a job well done." He began to clap as the rest of the students followed suit.
"That is all for today. A reminder that family weekend will start two weekends from today. You are dismissed. Mr. Fall please come claim the slips for you and your team." With that the rest of the students began to file out of the room as the Headmaster turned around to write down Fenix and his teammates names on the slips. When he walked up the Headmaster handed him the slips.
"It was indeed a very good idea Mr. Fall. I must commend you on thinking outside the box on your opponent as well."
"Thank you sir. Sorry the class took a bit of a dark turn there." Fenix replied somewhat apprehensively.
"Fear not, it was a necessary lesson for some of your classmates. And you put it on terms that they could both understand and agree with. For that I am grateful that you took charge of the room and led the lesson. Now go enjoy the weekend with your friends." Fenix nodded his head respectfully as he turned to walk out of the classroom.
"Oh and Mr. Fall?" Fenix turned to face the Headmaster with one hand on the door.
"Kindly remind Judith and Joseph to keep their daughters in check when they come to visit young Mr. Arc." The Headmaster had the faintest of grins on his face as he said it. Turns out the boy was indeed a natural leader outside of the battle field as he had suspected.
"Will do Headmaster." Fenix smiled back. He then turned and exited the classroom. He had made it out of the door and just turned in the direction of his dorm room, when a voice stopped him.
"Nice idea you had in there killer." He turned to see the girl in the beret and sunglasses leaning up against the wall of the classroom they had just left.
"Please tell me that is a nickname and not a label for the session we just had in there." Fenix asked her silently praying it was the former.
"Relax, it's just my little nickname for you." She chuckled as she pushed herself off the wall and walked to stand directly in front of Fenix. She pushed her sunglasses down to reveal her dark chocolate eyes as she examined him from head to toe. She then brought her eyes back up so they met his.
"It's not often you meet a member of The Order in public after all." Fenix immediately tensed up at the mention of The Order. His reaction seemed to amuse her as she smirked at him.
"Relax killer I'm not here to drag you back or anything like that. I do need to check though. Are you here because of their bidding or for your own reasons?" Fenix exhaled a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding.
"I am no longer a member of The Order. I actually haven't been for almost two years." He tried to relax himself to show the sincerity of his statement. If she was a member or former member of The Order herself she would doubt he simply got out. He had only heard rumors of a handful of people getting out when he had successfully done it.
"So… which sect were you in?" She asked with a smirk. Fenix paused for a moment completely dumbfounded that she was so calm about this.
"Sanctorum de tenebris." He mumbled.
"Come again?" She asked. He couldn't tell from her voice if it was sincere or sarcastic so he went with sincere.
"Saints…Saints of the Shadows." He said with a sullen tone as if he was ashamed of it.
"Black ops division huh? Gotta say you're the first one from that group I've met."
"Really? I mean there weren't a lot of us but you never met any of them?" Fenix asked slightly surprised.
"Not that I can remember." She stated flatly.
"Oh, well what division are you in?" Fenix asked, his curiosity had been successfully piqued by this point.
"Used to be Malleus Dei."
"Really? Heavy weapons? Forgive me but you don't exactly seem the part Ms.…?" He figured introductions were in order at this point as he held out his hand.
"Coco Adel." She responded by grabbing his hand with a vice like grip. He just turned it over and kissed the back of her hand as was his usual greeting for the female gender. He looked up to see an eyebrow quirked up above her sunglasses.
"Yeah that's a bit of a dated custom here Killer. A little over the top for just meeting a girl. My advice is to stick to the handshake unless you want them to think you are asking for their hand in marriage." Fenix was a little surprised that this was the first time hearing this. Especially from all the friends he had already made that he had done that to. A thought then crossed his mind that caused him to look at her questionably.
"You mean you weren't taught to do that upon greeting somebody?"
"No. Nobody our age does anything like that for a standard greeting." A sly grin crept onto her face as she saw his expression. It was a nice combination of shocked, embarrassed, and irritated. Suddenly this unique expression disappeared and was replaced with a smile as he began chuckling to himself
"Augh, she got me."
"Come again?" Coco asked now that her curiousity was piqued.
"My Master."
"Your Master is the one who taught you that THAT was a normal greeting?" She asked skeptically.
"More like she drilled it into my head. Anytime I didn't do that when I was introduced to a lady, she would put me through a hellish set of drills or just make me spar with her and beat the ever loving crap out of me. Ah memories." He finished with a sarcastic smile and an eye roll. Coco was trying (and failing) to remain stoic during this boy's story as her grin turned into a smile.
"So you're seriously telling me she did that to you to make you more of an old school gentleman?" Coco was having a hard time believing this wasn't an act.
"No. I'm saying she did this on purpose with the intent of embarrassing me when I went out on my own. She acts like a complete stone cold hard ass but she has a mischievous sense of humor. She will act like something is completely normal and when you believe her you make a fool out of yourself." Coco gave him a sympathetic pat on the back to show she understood and felt bad for him. She couldn't imagine having to put up with those types of mind games from your Master for all those years. Suddenly Fenix saw a mischievous look (much like one his old Master had) come across Coco's face after a few moments of silence.
"Actually, that gives me an idea Fenix. I'd like for you to do that 'gentlemanly' greeting of yours one more time. My teammate is a cute little rabbit faunus who is extremely shy. Her name is Velvet and I would love to see her reaction to your little introductory move. If you'd do that solid for me I'd give you an I.O.U. Fair enough?" Fenix playful side took over as he smirked in return.
"Deal, as long as you answer a few questions about our shared interests of our past. Fair?" Fenix asked. He thought it was a fair deal since he wanted to know exactly how she got out. He thought his was a special case of sorts so he was interested in her story.
"Cashing in already are we? Oh well works for me. Whatever questions you can squeeze in before we get to your dorm I'll answer, Killer." She stated as she motioned for him to lead the way to his dorm room. Fenix started in the direction and Coco fell into step alongside him.
"So how did you get out?"
"Right to the point huh? And here I was expecting a little foreplay." Fenix snorted at her comment and just gave her a "really?" look. She looked actually surprised that she hadn't gotten a bigger reaction out of him.
"Really? I thought that was a good one. Oh well, when I turned seventeen the council called me before them. They said that my loyalty had come into question since I wasn't exactly subtle about my displeasure with The Order. Normally they would execute somebody wanting out but being the great granddaughter of a former council member has its perks. They gave me the option of a transfer to another sector or division of my choice, or I could 'leave and find my own way in this world' as they put it. I chose to leave and got accepted into Beacon. Now how about you? What's your story?" Fenix admitted that descendants of the council members of old were shown a lot of favoritism so her story checked out in that regard. He was slightly surprised that she had no problem voicing her grievances while still a part of The Order. They had a nasty habit of publically torturing and executing any who were found to not be "true believers of the way." He slightly shook his head at the thought of giving somebody details about his being relieved of duty. But, she had given him a short version of his story so he didn't see the harm in reciprocating the gesture.
"I had only been in for two years when an issue came up. It was a circumstance that broke the Saint's code of honor. As you may have heard, if one cannot stick to the code they are expelled. That usually means executed but during the trial my mentor showed up in my defense. She reminded them of one of The Order's own codes. The code of morals." At this Coco raised an eyebrow.
"Due to my circumstances the council didn't have any other option than to strip me of my affiliation with the Saints and The Order. I was then sent out in exile. Right after I got a real good job in the Atlesian Military. I spent the last two years there and now I'm here." He spread his arms wide as if to showcase his surroundings to her.
"That's quite the story Killer." Coco finally spoke after a short awkward silence.
"Thank you. What are the odds?" He chuckled.
"That two former members of The Order not only magically managed to get out alive but also just so happen to be attending the same academy?" She asked with a bit of amusement in her voice.
"Yeah." Fenix simply replied.
"Honestly not high. My team is never going to believe this." Coco said as she shook her head in disbelief. Fenix, however, froze mid-step.
"They know?!" He half shouted. His surprise did not catch Coco off guard though, as she just continued to strut on.
"Of course." She replied.
"You know how much danger that puts them in right? I'm sure you know how The Order deals with people who discover their existence." The panic in Fenix's voice was almost palpable as he jogged to catch up with his companion.
"First, they aren't talking. I made sure to emphasize what would happen if they were found out. Second, and this is purely just to give you a heads up, if you have faunus on your team you might want to be careful. There are apparently some wide spread rumors that our organization is out to kill all faunus. I didn't know and it wasn't the smoothest of beginnings for me and my teammate. Third, and I can't stress this enough, secrets amongst friends and teammates always leads to trouble." She held up fingers to show him which point she was on as she explained her reasoning to him. Fenix just walked alongside her in silence as he pondered what he had just been told. He could see the point that telling them would give the sense that all aspects of their lives would be open to each other. However, the notion to protect people was always something he had a strong belief in. Especially if it would mean his past would come back to haunt him and cause harm to his friends. Coco looked over to see him deep in thought. Beneath her sunglasses she rolled her eyes at him as she spoke up to break him from the debate he was having in his mind.
"I know what you're thinking Killer. You need to have more faith in your team. They wouldn't have gotten into this school if they couldn't stand up for themselves. I know you think it's a longshot, but imagine what would happen if they found out about your past from somebody else besides you." Fenix had to admit she had a point there. He turned to see her giving him a look over her sunglasses. He just nodded in admittance to her that she had made it clear what the better option was. She just pushed her sunglasses back up and smiled.
"Good, because I believe we're here." Fenix looked up to see they were indeed in the hallway of his dorm room. The only reason Coco knew it was the right place was because all eleven of his friends were currently peering out of their doorways at the duo walking down the hallway. Fenix just sighed as he knew some berating was going to be coming his way for this.
"Nice talk Killer. See ya around." Coco said as she turned around to walk away. As she did she gave him a quick smack on the ass and dropped her sunglasses to give him a quick flirtatious wink.
"It was nice to meet you Coco." He said to her with an exasperated huff at her getting him into more teasing. She continued to saunter down the hallway as Fenix turned to face his friends.
"So what are you all doing waiting for me?" He asked as they emerged from their doorways and started crowding around him.
"Ruby wishes to speak with you." Weiss spoke up first.
"So does Jaune-Jaune!" Nora exclaimed like it was the weirdest coincidence in the world.
"As for us, WE have some things to discuss regarding the cleanliness of our room." Alexis spoke glaring at the three boys on her team while emphasizing the word "we." The other two males of their team just groaned as Fenix sighed.
"Ok we can talk about your OCD tendencies in a little bit Alexis. First we need to have a serious team chat. Also, Ruby and Jaune would you please join us? It may answer some of your questions." Fenix's tone didn't leave any room for discussion. He received nods from the five mentioned and they started walking into team FABL's room.
"Wait why just them? Why not the rest of us?" Yang all but whined. Fenix figured she was just using the rest of the group being left out to mask her being a little offended he didn't offer her to join the select group.
"Because honestly the less of you that know this, the better. Ruby and Jaune got a small glimpse of it in our leadership class and they are also your team leaders. If any of you have the rights to know this information, it's them." Fenix was dead serious about this and they could all tell. Yang huffed and stomped off angry that Fenix didn't think she deserved to know. Fenix just ignored her as he walked into his room and shut the door behind him once the select five had walked in. He made sure to lock the door to discourage any sudden interruptions by a certain angry blonde haired girl next door.
"Ok first, Liam, turn my scroll onto some music over by the wall that connects ours and team RWBY's room." Liam did so and a couple seconds after the music started they heard a muffled "Goddammit!" coming from the other side of the wall. Fenix's team all snickered at Yang's misfortune before turning to a somber state as Fenix got ready to start them off.
Yang's constant flirting with Fenix had quickly become the running joke of their group. She was always trying to catch his attention by methods that seemed lewd yet completely typical for what everybody knew of her. Things like: showing off a little extra skin, grabbing onto him anytime they were near each other, and being extremely nosy into his personal life. The last one really irked the fire wielder seeing as anytime he had tried to so much as message Neo he would have a curious set of lilac eyes peering over his shoulder as to who he was talking to. Mind you she did this to anyone he tried to text but the only one he would get defensive about was Neo's. He (so far) had quick enough reflexes to make sure she never got the name or contact info as to who he was admittedly messaging much more than what typical friends do. He figured if those two ever met, one of them would be severely hurt since he made the decision to inform Neo of Yang and her antics. He knew it was a risky move but he figured being honest from the get go was a wise decision if this was going to work out. He expected her to be upset, what he didn't expect was her messaging back that she was going to "choke a bitch."
As he explained to Neo, after finally calming her down, Fenix's feelings for Yang were that of a good friend. Nothing more, nothing less. He wasn't oblivious like his other blonde best friend; he could tell she had romantic feelings for him. The first embarrassing instance where Yang pulled him into a big bear hug in the middle of the cafeteria during a busy lunch period made that painfully obvious. Now that doesn't sound too bad, but in this case he nearly died from suffocation since she purposely pushed his head in between her boobs. Only by the combined strength of Ruby and Weiss was Fenix finally freed from his cushiony prison and allowed to breathe the sweet sweet oxygen his lungs had been starved of. He was irritated by how she very obviously meant to put his head there for everybody in the lunch room to see. It was also emasculating to him how she was able to pretty much man handle him to do what she wanted since she caught him off guard. With a healthy mixture of embarrassment and irritation, he dragged her away amidst the entire dining hall pointing and laughing at them. Once he got her alone he started berating her with such intensity he was sure Weiss would have been proud. He thought he made it plain as day that he wasn't interested in her that way and that she needed to stop. Apparently, Yang took it that she needed to step up her game in order to get his affection. How she came to that conclusion Fenix still didn't understand but he had just accepted it at this point. He honestly thought this situation put him and Ren in the same boat in a manner of speaking.
Thinking of all this and the muffled slew of curses coming from the blonde brawler on the other side of the wall, Fenix just rolled his eyes. He motioned for the other occupants of the room to sit on the far side of the room away from the wall they shared with team RWBY. After they had all set down, Fenix stood in front of them and began.
"Ok I suppose I just need to start from the beginning…" Fenix began to tell his story. Of course he started with a shortened version of the attack on his village when he was six years old. He informed them his parents and sister had died during the attack but he skipped over many details so they could move onto the issue he thought was most important at the moment. Feeling it wasn't important he skipped over the details of how he was saved by that team of Hunters and what happened immediately after. He explained how the child services program moved him around at first until they settled him in an orphanage in a quiet mountain town called Arcadia. It was located in the southern end of Vale and that was where he met Jaune and the Arc family. Skipping ahead to the good stuff and omitting several hilarious stories of Jaune and his sister's, Fenix paused. He had only spoken to his more recent past with two people so this was a little more difficult than he cared to admit.
"Five years ago, one year before I left Arcadia, I was in a battle on the outskirts of the village. Things got bad really fast and before I realized it I was surrounded by Grimm. I was about to get overwhelmed when somebody stepped in and rescued me. She was a full-fledged huntress and a scary one at that. After rescuing me she admitted she had been watching me fight until she absolutely had to intervene." He was about to go on until he saw the confused looks on Ruby and Jaune's faces.
"It was her way of testing me to see how good I was." He explained to them. Jaune lit up in realization while Ruby just looked more serious. Like it bothered her that somebody would almost let somebody die just to see how good of a fighter they were.
"Anyways, after a bit of talking she gave me an offer. She would take me under her wing to become her apprentice if I swore allegiance to her and her group. Seeing as how up to that point I had pretty much trained myself, I was intrigued by learning from somebody who actually knew what they were doing. I accepted her offer and swore allegiance to her, but then she introduced me to the group she wanted me to follow along with her. It wasn't like your typical social club or religious group or anything like that. It was an actual real life secret society. Now before I go any further I need all of your to swear that you will not breathe a word of this to anyone else. I have seen firsthand what they do to people who are found to be spreading their existence around. I'm being dead serious, you cannot tell anyone you know anything about them. Got it?" His friends now were all thoroughly engaged in his story and on the edge of their seats with anticipation. They all nodded their heads enthusiastically and he took it as their word. He sighed because he knew this is where the issues were going to arise.
"Have you guys ever heard of… Sanctorum de tenebris?" He was met with blank stares from four and Alexis looking like she was trying to recall where she had heard that before.
"You might know them as Saints of the Shadows." Yup, that did it. Liam and Beau's eyes shot wide open in fear. Jaune and Ruby still had the blank looks on their faces and Alexis still looked like she was having trouble remembering something. For a few moments the only noise in the room was the rock and roll blaring from Fenix's scroll on the other side of the room.
"You mean to tell me…" Liam paused as he stood up menacingly. Looking like he was ready to crush Fenix at a moment's notice. "…That you were willingly part of a group that wishes to exterminate all faunus from the face of Remnant?" He voice was quiet but the sharpness in it conveyed the threat clearly to Fenix. At this news Jaune, Ruby, and Alexis all looked at Fenix in shock while Beau just crossed his arms waiting for his leader's answer.
"Whoa whoa whoa." Fenix stepped up as if to challenge Liam. "First of all, former member here. I got out. Second, that's a bunch of crap that they are like that. Some of our best members were faunus. They are not in some war to cleanse the world of all faunus." Liam stared back at Fenix searching for some sign of a lie. After a bit he realized his leader was being honest with him so he broke eye contact in surrender.
"I believe you." Beau spoke up as Liam sat back down. Fenix nodded in thanks to him and received one back from his other faunus teammate.
"Me too." Jaune joined in. "You're my oldest friend Fenix. I know you are not a racist and there is no way in hell you would join something that is." Fenix smiled to Jaune for being the voice of reason for once. Ruby flashed him a smile that showed she agreed with Jaune's point. Fenix turned to see Alexis still deep in thought.
"Al gal? You ok?" His nickname for her seemed to snap her back to reality as she jumped and looked at him.
"Huh? Oh yes I'm ok. It's just… I've heard those names before somewhere, but I just can't place where or when. Please continue." She motioned with her hand for him to continue his story. He was more than happy to oblige that request so he could move on from this subject.
"Before I do, Liam, how did you hear that about the Saints?" Fenix was honestly a bit surprised that rumors had spread about a supposed secret society out for faunus blood.
"It's more like a scary story that faunus kids hear around the camp fire. You guys have stories about rabid faunus out for blood, we have stories about the Saints coming to get us." Beau stated before Liam had the chance to speak.
"In Menagerie it is more like lore. Tales of the human devils who want nothing more than to see our kind's existence wiped clean from this world. There are a lot of different versions but the Saints of the Shadows are always the source of the evil in them." Fenix was actually curious about this now. He knew the Saints had been around for a long time. They were raised from the ashes of the first collapse of civilization long ago. Something that incidentally also brought the emergence of the faunus race. The more he thought about it the more there seemed to be something to these stories of his old associates. He decided to do some digging on it later and pushed on to finish his story.
"Well, in short I took her up on her offer and joined. For the last year I was in Arcadia, I trained under her in secret before they called me to formally join the Order. Once I did, I stayed with my master and joined her division."
"Wait. Division?" Ruby interrupted.
"Yeah the Saints are just a part of the Order. In reality, there are multiple factions that serve different purposes." Everybody looked shocked at his admittance that there was way more than just his group.
"So you're telling me, there is a huge underground group, that is extremely organized, and a few of us have only heard whispers of one part of it?" Ruby asked in wonder. Fenix could see the rest of them seemed a little unnerved by this but Ruby looked fascinated.
"Yes." Fenix simply stated hoping they wouldn't dive too far into this subject.
"So cool!" Ruby squealed. Fenix chuckled at her childlike behavior before Jaune spoke up again.
"So what was your 'divisions' job?" Fenix shot an annoyed look to Jaune. Leave it to his sometimes dimwitted best friend to find a topic he really didn't want to talk about and bring it up.
"Well, we were the ones who handled the covert operations. The Hunter's Guild would consider them as cloak and dagger missions. Get in, complete the objective, get out. Unseen, unheard, and no evidence that you were ever there." These specific "cloak and dagger" missions were among the rare types of missions that Hunters would ever be sent out on. If lucky, a full team of Hunters would see maybe half a dozen of these missions in their career. Fenix didn't always want to admit it but he was damn good at these types of missions as well. His master had trained him well on most of the aspects that a spy would need. That type of life/combat style just wasn't for him though. He always preferred to work alongside others as part of a team, not as a lone wolf.
Sadly he had come to the realization earlier in the week that he and his team may be used by Beacon for just those specific types of missions. They were perfect for eliminating non Grimm threats. A healer, a paralyzer, a neutralizer, and a pyrokinetic. Handling human or faunus criminals would be their specialty. Fenix's experience in this field couldn't hurt the chances that the Headmaster would use them that way either. That and his little demonstration of a strategy to essentially assassinate somebody with little effort in class earlier today pretty much guaranteed his hypothesis in his mind.
He just prayed that Ozpin and the other higher ups wouldn't abuse their abilities and turn them into assassins. The Order had tried that early on during his tenure there but he staunchly refused to kill. It kind of forced their hand seeing as how an assassin who won't strike first is kind of useless. Only a few instances where it was necessary had he actually taken a life in their name.
"So you were like a hitman or something?" Alexis broke his reminiscing to bring him back into the conversation.
"No, nothing like that Al-gal. I have been trained in everything someone like that would need to know but I don't kill unless it is strictly necessary." Fenix chuckled as he remembered he had already had this talk this week with Neo.
"What exactly do you mean by 'strictly necessary?'" Liam, always the cynical one, asked.
"Well let me put it this way. I wouldn't kill somebody just for wanting to kill me. I'd capture them and turn them over to the authorities. I would, say, incinerate a bandit who was holding a gun to the back of a seven year old girl's head. He was going to publically execute the Mayor's daughter to prove he was in charge. Is that good enough for you Liam?" Fenix couldn't hide the anger and irritation in his voice that was directed at his partner. Liam visibly deflated and shrunk in on himself. Before anybody could further question him about this new (and rather touchy) subject, he decided it was time to wrap up this conversation.
"Anyways, we have gotten off track. After I spent a total of three years in The Order, something happened. I promise I will explain it all in two weeks when its family weekend. I think it would just be easier to explain it once with everybody. That includes explaining it to your family as well, Jaune." Jaune paled at the reminder that his entire family was going to be there for the weekend. Fenix was inwardly laughing a very evil sounding laugh.
"Long story short, it caused The Order to expel me. They would have done worse if my Master wouldn't have come to help. Once I got out, Atlas found out my dust weaving abilities. I'm not so good with clothes, but I'm really good with implementing special types of dust into weapons. They hired me and I stayed there working for the Atlesian Military. They kept me living there a secret though. Not completely sure why. General Ironwood never was one to give up information easily. A few weeks ago I was accepted here and well the rest is history." With his story now finished the group sat there in silence as they contemplated everything he had just told them.
"So, you're an orphan, who was trained by an underground organization to become basically a super soldier, who also worked for the most advanced military on the face of Remnant, who is now here training to become a Huntsman?" Ruby summarized.
"To put it simply, yes." Fenix smirked.
"Wow. Seems like you have had quite the exciting life Fenix." Alexis gushed towards the fire wielder seeming almost a tad jealous.
"I guess you could say that, although I like to think the most exciting years are ahead of us." Fenix smiled warmly as he spoke. To everyone else it seemed like he was just lightening the mood. Jaune knew better though. There was some hidden meaning behind what his friend had just said. However, he also knew that there was no way in hell he was going to get that information out of Fenix before Fenix was ready to tell. He pushed it aside in his mind to talk to Fenix later about.
"Anyways, now that that's all over, I guess it's a good time to tell you guys I will be gone most of the day tomorrow into town. Personal business. So, how about we have a guy's night tonight?" He finished looking at his fellow males in the room as if to see what they thought about it.
"Oh no! We need to have a long talk about you boys and your cleaning habits." Alexis yelled out hoping to squash the idea of having a bunch of teenage boys in her room to further trash it.
"Al, it's the weekend. We all deserve a break and some time to relax. However, as team leader I will say we can have a team meeting tomorrow morning to discuss our dorm room. Personally I think we may need to rearrange a few things but we will let everybody have a say in whatever is brought up. Besides I'm pretty sure us three have a pretty good idea what you are going to say anyways. Agreed?" Fenix was hoping to avoid the inevitable meltdown that was already known amongst their team as OCD Alexis. Not just that she was OCD, but she was crazily obsessed with the boy's personal hygiene as well. She had already suggested to Fenix in private that the whole team needed to be on a strict diet that also included multiple vitamins and supplements that they would be required to take daily. Fenix shot it down immediately knowing at least Beau would never agree to such a thing.
"Well if you guys are going to have a guy's night we can have a girl's night in our room!" Ruby shouted excitedly as she all the sudden was clinging to Alexis. Alexis seemed to ponder over the possibility for a moment before relenting.
"Fine we can have our sleepovers tonight. Are you boys planning on having yours in our room?" She asked with an eyebrow raised. Fenix nodded and Alexis turned to start packing a few things for the sleepover. Jaune and Ruby took that as their cue to go tell their teams what the plans for the night were. The boys went to moving the beds around so they could have more room in front of the TV. As Alexis finished up and began walking out of the room she turned and coughed to get their attention.
"You three are going to clean this room spotless tomorrow. Understood?" Liam and Beau groaned as Fenix rolled his eyes. They all knew that their version of spotless was drastically unacceptable to Alexis's.
"Yes mom." Fenix said sarcastically making sure to emphasize the word mom. It didn't have the desired effect because Alexis just flashed them a smile and nodded as she turned to walk to their neighbor's room.
After a few moments Jaune and Ren came walking in with a few supplies for the night. They dropped their stuff and the entire group decided instead of going to the cafeteria for dinner they would just order pizza and eat in the room. Fenix knew if Alexis knew this she would absolutely kill them but in a way that's what spurred him to do it.
After ordering the group of five all set up their scrolls to connect to the large holo-screen in their room. They began to play one of Fenix's personal favorite video games involving multiple characters all playing a free for all brawl type match. After an hour of playing the knock on their door signaled the pizza had arrived. It was good timing since Liam was raging so hard that he was threatening to pummel Jaune for knocking him out of the game.
After eating on the greasy goodness that is pepperoni pizza, Fenix washed his hands and pulled a guitar case out from his closet. Jaune looked up and smiled.
"We really going to play now?" Was all he asked. Fenix nodded in response and Jaune got up to walk to his room. He quickly came back holding a guitar case of his own. As they began to strum a few cords to warm up, Fenix noticed Ren fiddling with an alarm clock that was sitting on Alexis's desk. He had his hand around the back and was aiming it so that it was focusing on the two guitarists. Jaune had his back turned so he couldn't see what his teammate was up to. Fenix just waited until Ren looked up to make eye contact. When they did Ren gave a deer in the headlights look like he had just been caught doing something illegal. Fenix just sighed and nodded to signal it was ok. He saw Ren move to flick a switch on the back of the clock and then give a thumb up to the side to signal it was recording.
"Hey Jaune, how about you sit over here next to me?" His blonde friend looked confused for a moment before shrugging it off and moving so he was facing the hidden camera alongside Fenix.
"So, which one are we going to do?" Jaune asked as he settled his guitar back on his lap.
"How about 'If It Means a Lot to You?' Ya know, that one Juliet composed for that group?" Jaune nodded to show he liked Fenix's choice.
One of the many things that had been a prominent addition in his life since knowing the Arc family was that he had picked up how to play guitar from the second eldest sister Juliet. She was incredibly gifted in composing and performing music. She was already a big star in the music industry but what was most impressive was that she actually wrote her own songs. Very few people did that these days usually relying on some outside source to write the songs and somebody completely different would perform it.
Fenix and Jaune looked at each other as Jaune started bobbing his head to the rhythm they would be playing the song at. Jaune usually took charge of the musical aspects of their lives since he had much more experience in that field than Fenix. This particular time the pace seemed a bit quicker than usual but Fenix mentally adjusted the song in his head to match the quicker tempo. In unison they began playing the song.
(The song "If It Means a Lot to You" by A Day to Remember at more of the nightcore version speed of the song but with two male singers. No real special meaning behind this selection, I just really really like this song.)
As they played the song they alternated perfectly with who sung which verse while they both sung the chorus. Only until the very end did they start alternating parts on the chorus. When they finished, the other three just looked on in admiration in their leader's musical abilities. It was obvious to them that Jaune was by far the more talented but Fenix wasn't a slouch.
After a few seconds of silence in the room they heard the unmistakable sound of applause from the room next door. Fenix, already figuring out the purpose of the camera, knew the girls were watching a live feed into their performance thanks to Ren and the nanny cam. Jaune just assumed they had listened through the wall. He sat his guitar down and faced the joining wall and bowed in appreciation of their ovation. While Jaune couldn't see Fenix's face, Fenix looked right at the camera and winked. After a slight delay he heard a muffled 'meep' from team RWBY's room. After Jaune sat back down he pulled the guitar back in his lap to start lightly playing a few verses of a song that Fenix didn't recognize.
"What's that?" He asked.
"Oh, it's uh, it's a song that sis wrote about you when you left." Jaune replied sheepishly.
"Really? That's nice. What's it called?" Fenix was actually happy the sisters Arc missed him. Life was much more calm without them around but he still missed how they made him feel like family every time he came over.
"Red." Jaune stated simply. Fenix couldn't help but notice how Ren's eyes shot open in shock.
"Really? Jules picked my old color as the title for a song? Seems rather basic." Fenix couldn't help but feel a little honored that Juliet would do that.
"Yeah I forgot to ask. What caused you to change to orange and blue?" Jaune stopped playing and looked at Fenix seriously. The fire wielder could feel the eyes of everyone in the room (and next) on him.
"Remember how I said all questions would be answered in two weeks?" Jaune just groaned at another dodged question by his best friend.
"It will be answered then?" Jaune asked already knowing the answer as he started playing again.
"It will. Any questions that you guys have after that weekend I will happily answer. Just feel like you all will understand a bit more clear if you see for your own eyes." Ren squinted at Fenix with his pink irises barely showing with how intense his stare was.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean you will have to wait for two weeks to get your answer. So Ren, have you heard of this 'Red' song?" Fenix once again deflected the question to turn it right back on someone else. Ren sat straight up to act as stoic as possible.
"I may have." He answered simply trying to convey as little emotion as possible. Fenix, being trained in interrogation, could see through it though. He was feeling nervous the guys in the room would try and embarrass him for knowing of this song.
"Secret Juliet fan?" Fenix asked bluntly to go past the probing stages of seeing if his suspicions were correct.
"You might say that." Ren replied showing no emotion again. Fenix just nodded to him in respect at being so composed. Something crossed Fenix's mind then. If Ren was a fan, he would know the nature of this song.
"So what do you know about the song?" At this Fenix couldn't help but feel slightly on edge how Ren grinned at looked at Jaune.
"It is rather… romantic… in nature." All the sudden Jaune stopped playing mid strum.
'Ah crap' Fenix thought to himself.
"It is?!" Jaune cried out. Ren just looked at his leader with the biggest 'are you shitting me?' stare he has ever seen.
"'Loving him is red'? That didn't clue you in at all Jaune?" Fenix set his guitar down in its case. A precautionary measure in case Jaune decided to lung at him. The blonde knight slowly turned his head to glare at Fenix.
"HOW MANY OF MY SISTERS DID YOU CORRUPT?!" He yelled directly into Fenix's face.
"I'm not answering that." Fenix said as he got his hands up in a defensive position.
"WHY THE HELL NOT?!" Jaune all but threw his guitar on the bed as he prepared to attack.
"Because there is no right answer. No matter what I would say you would still try to hit me." Jaune seemed to pause to think about how true Fenix's words were. After a few moments of silence, Jaune suddenly tensed up and fell sideways on the bed limp as a cooked noodle. Fenix looked back up from Jaune to see Ren had snuck behind his leader. Fenix quirked an eyebrow to wordlessly ask what he did.
"Knowing how to combine aura and pressure points is a useful technique. Wouldn't you agree Fenix?" Ren snarkly commented.
"I am inclined to agree with you Ren. Now, before we get back to gaming, let's set our alarm clock. Wouldn't want to wake up too late tomorrow now would we?" Fenix smiled as his secret message was received and Ren turned the hidden camera off on the false clock. They joined Liam and Beau who had been playing since Fenix and Jaune's song.
"Hey Ren?" Fenix asked as Ren perked up but didn't take his eyes off the screen at the sound of his name.
"How long is he going to be out like that?" Fenix asked honestly a little concerned about his friend's wellbeing in that state.
"Just a few minutes. I didn't use that much aura on him." Ren smirked in reply. True to his word, a few minutes later Jaune gasped and jerked upright. After a looking around to get his bearings he locked in on the backs of Fenix and Ren with a scowl. He then jumped into the game and set it to a team match with Jaune, Liam, and Beau versus Fenix and Ren. As he was setting it up, they could all hear him mumbling something about "the traitor must die."
They played later into the night finally everybody was ready to call it a night. As they all got to their spots for the night, Fenix played an old comedy on the holo-screen for them to fall asleep to. It didn't take too long for everybody but Fenix to fall asleep. Before he too went to bed, he pulled out his scroll and messaged Neo.
Fenix: Hey cutie! Last chance to back out before tomorrow.
He didn't have to wait long until for a response
Sweet Thing (A.K.A. Neo): You should be the one trying to back out here. Fair warning, once I get ahold of you I'm not letting go. ;-)
Fenix: Thanks for the warning but I think I can handle it. I'll be in town tomorrow around lunchtime. I'll message you when I get there. Sweet dreams sweet thing.
Sweet Thing: Oh I'm sure you think you can. We'll see though ;-). Goodnight hot stuff.
With a smile Fenix closed up his scroll and turned the holo-screen off. He was excited for tomorrow with a full afternoon of nothing but spending time with a certain ice cream colored girl who had enraptured his life more than he thought possible.
(A/N): So I hope that helped give you guys some more insight into Fenix. Many people have said that he is too "white knight" but that is how he supposed to be in this story. He and Jaune are extremely alike (pretty much brothers if you will) in the sense that they will do the right thing for the right reasons. Now the next chapter is going to be the date with Neo and you are going to get more back-story for both characters. I'm going to keep hinting at the big "detail" that he keeps alluding to wanting to reveal at the upcoming family weekend. Sorry to disappoint but you are not going to get anything really solid until that chapter. Trust me when I say I think you are going to like it.
As always, please review/follow/favorite if you feel like you enjoyed this. So far volume four of RWBY is actually playing into the direction I want to take this story. Its far down the road but I hope you stick with me to see the twists and turns this story is expected to take.