Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 15

Revelations at the Beacon Dance

Sorry for not posting at all yesterday, I ended up being way too busy to do so. Anyway, this is the second to last chapter of the first volume, I'll post the last one when I get home from work. Enjoy!

Opening Music: https/youtu.be_x9zjk2MgVQ [RWBY OP 1]

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye) THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS! (The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind) THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD! (Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds) SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD! [OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS] PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT! (Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe) PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR! (Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat) THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED (Shows Yang on her bike) IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER! (Shows a horde of Grimm advancing) WE ARE LIGHTNING! (Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other) STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER! (Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it) MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER! (Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR! (Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR. (Connor starts to fall forward) I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION! (Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him) HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION! (Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS! (Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION! (Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure) IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS! (Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades) A STORY WILL BE TOLD! (He does an epic pose) AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL! [END]

Connor stood in his room, looking at himself in the mirror in the door of his cupboard. It had been a week since he had asked Ruby to go to the dance with him, and the day had finally arrived. He had expected it to be awkward between the two, now that they were going to the dance together but aside from the occasional blush and smile, everything was the same as ever.

Connor didn't have any kind of suit for the dance, so he had decided to go in his cloak. He figured it would be formal enough, even if he did wear it everyday. He still had his eyepatch on over his scarred left eyeball, but he was considering taking it off. It was a formal occasion after all, and wondered if he would look better without it. In the end he decided to keep it on, for at lead some of the night, since Ruby had been the one who'd brought it for him.

He reached his hand down and fiddled with the silver bear pendant hanging around his neck. He also considered taking that off, as it wasn't very formal, but Nora would have his head if he did take it off.

As he was sorting out his cloak, Jaune and Ren came into his room through the door in tuxedos. Ren held some sort of clothing in a plastic bag.

"You're not going to wear that are you?" Ren asked, seeing Connor flashing his cloak in the mirror.

Connor looked at Ren, taking note that they both looked a hell of a lot better than he did, and replied, "I don't have a tux, so this'll have to do."

"You have one now." Ren quickly responded, holding up the plastic bag which Connor now saw contained a tuxedo for himself.

"Well this is going to be embarrassing." Kane sulked, as Connor reached out and took the tux.

A little while later, Connor was fully dressed in his tux and was standing outside the curtain covered entrance to the main hall with Ren and Jaune. Both Ren and Jaune looked surprisingly calm, perhaps even excited, about the night ahead. Connor on the other hand was sweating like a pig. He'd never felt so nervous in his life. He wondered what Ruby would be wearing and that made him even more nervous. Kane seemed startled by the attitude, since Connor was usually so confident in himself, but the thought of going to this dance with Ruby had him shaking in his boots.

"Why so scared?" Kane asked, concerned instead of looking for a teasing opportunity. "People have said things about you and Ruby before and you've shrugged it off."

Connor whimpered a little in response, unable to form any sort of intelligible response. Kane took this as a sign that he'd hit a nerve and pressed on, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"You've never really been that interested in girls before." Kane commented, as Connor tried his best to stop shaking. "You flirted from time to time, with little success, but you were never serious about it."

Connor swallowed the lump in his throat and nervously responded, "I...guess I've changed."

"Damn right you have." Kane quipped, boiling Connors nerves a little more with each syllable. "You've been acting quite strangely around Ruby, in fact. What's that about?"

Connor was silent for a moment and then quietly told Kane, "Stop asking stupid questions. You know what's going on in my head better than even I do."

"Fine." Kane grunted in response, having grown tired of the charade anyway. "But whatever you do, don't go in there shaking like a pussy."

Connor cursed Kane mentally for the tease and then went back to trying to calm himself down, but he just couldn't. Seeing this, Ren and Jaune both put their hands on his shoulders to relax him. He slowly stopped shaking and calmed down, breathing in and out, then braced himself and entered the great hall.

The hall was alive with lights and music. A DJ booth was on on side of the room, while a small bar was set up on the other for those with more mature taste buds. Connor scanned the room, looking around for his date. Ren tapped him on the shoulder and pointed, drawing his attention to a pair of girls standing a little while in front of the bar.

The first girl was Yang, not that Connor really cared as she wasn't who he was looking for, but the girl with her was Ruby. She was wearing a beautiful red dress and her red hair was super glossy. She had put on a fair amount of makeup, enough to make her look good, and Connor thought she looked amazing. Had she really done all that just to look good for him?

He soon realised he'd been standing still for way too long, and in that time Ren and Jaune had gone off with Nora and Pyrhaa. Connor saw Yang leaving with Mercury, and steeled himself to greet Ruby. He strolled over casually, trying to look cool, but when he reached her he froze.

Ruby had seen him coming and greeted him while he stood frozen by fear. "Hey Connor." She said, her voice making Connor all the more nervous. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd get here."

Connor had trouble thinking of what to say, but Ruby's smile eventually warmed to him and calmed him down. How could he feel anything but happiness looking upon that smile? "Hey Rubes." He managed to nervously spit out. He then looked closer at her, nothing things about her he hadn't from a distance and stuttered, "You look...really nice." He then mentally frowned, disappointed in his choice of words, but Ruby wasn't. She blushed and muttered a thank you, then suggested they go and meet up with Ren, Jaune, and their dates.

Over the course of the next few hours, the group chatted and danced a little and then Connor said he was getting hot and needed a drink. He went up to the bar and asked for whatever they had. The barman served him a blue liquid in a shot glass that Connor had seen other people drinking through the night. He supposed one couldn't hurt, and downed it. He started to feel a little groggy after that. He'd never drink alcohol before, but he didn't think it's effects would kick in this quickly, had his drink been spiked?

Nevertheless, he was still hot and so ordered another. He drank it down just as quickly as the first and ordered a third. On the the other side of the room, Ruby was beginning to get concerned about where Connor had gone and she and Weiss went to the bar to see what was wrong.

"Connor?" Ruby asked when they reached him. "Are you ok?"

Connor was hunched over the bar. He'd only drunken three shot glasses, but he looked plastered. He looked up at Ruby and smiled goofily and then said, "Hey Rubes! I'm not feeling so good!" He tried to stand as he finished his sentence and fell off of the stool he had been sat on. Ruby caught him as he fell and supported him.

"He must have a really low intolerance." Weiss noted, seeing how drunk he was. "You should take him outside."

Ruby nodded and dragged Connor through the door on to the balcony, then let him sit down leaning against the wall and sat next to him. He stared up at the stance in a drunken trance and giggled, "Hahaha. Why are the stars so bright, Rubes?!" He cried. "Stop hurting my eyes, you assholes!"

Ruby looked at him smiling and then looked up at the stars himself. He was really drunk, someone must had spiked his drink or something. There was no way his intolerance was this bad. She stopped staring into the sky when she realised Connor was staring at her intensely.

(Insert music here for maximum feels: Clannad Soundtrack Track 5- Nagisa)

"Rubes."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Ruby hadn't been sure if she'd heard him right and she didn't have a chance to confirm, because Connor then drunkly rested his head on her shoulder and fell asleep. Ruby stared at him emotionally, her jaw quivering, tears coming to the edge of her eyes.

"Ah, young love." Came a voice from the balcony. Ruby turned her head and noticed Ozpin standing there, strangely still with coffee in hand. How long had he been there?

"They say a drunk mans words are a sober mans thoughts, Miss Rose." He advised, taking a sip of his piping hot cuppa. Ruby looked back Connor, who was still snoozing on her shoulder. So she had heard right, and if Ozpin was telling the truth, he'd wanted to tell her for a while.

"That's why I spiked Connor's drinks this evening." Ozpin continued, shocking Ruby. He then looked to her and smiled, then explained, "It wasn't anything serious. I just increased the alcohol percentage a little."

"Why?" Ruby asked, confused as to his reasoning for doing such a thing to one of his students.

"Because, Miss Rose, I wanted to see the flower of love bloom." Ozpin replied poetically. "I always knew Connor was fond of you. He doesn't understand how fond I am of him. I wanted to help him along the way, give him a little push in the right direction."

(End Music Here)

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee and looked out onto the horizon. "What is that?" He wondered, seeing a black shape flying through the air.

As the shape grew closer Connor snapped open his eyes and lifted his head from Ruby's shoulder, not even realising it was there, as Kane woke him with a warning.

The flying creature was an enormous black dragon. It soared through the air with her wings and had shards of bone sticking out all around its body. It was headed straight for Beacon.

"A Neverdrake..." Ozpin muttered. "They're extremely rare." He then turned to Connor and Ruby ask told them, "You should come with me Miss Rose."

"What about Connor?!" She cried in response, holding on to his arm as he stared at the beast.

"I'll be just fine, get inside." He told Ruby without looking at her, his eyes pure black and filled with Kane's power. "Stay safe."

Ruby obeyed his orders, getting teary about his safety, and followed Ozpin inside. As the Neverdrake closed in, Connor muttered a few words of taunting.

"Come on then you big fat-"

He didn't finish his sentence however, because the Neverdrake hit him hard, sending him flying through the wall behind him. He flew across the hall and smashed into the wall at the back, leaving a massive crack. People screamed as they looked upon the Neverdrake climbing through the hole, into the hall. Even a hundred trained hunters and huntresses couldn't fight this thing. No one had ever killed an Everdrake.

Connors head spun from the force of the impact with the wall. When he regained normal sight, he saw the Everdrake and immediately called for Kane to give him strength.

"No point." Kane responded, refusing to give any power. "You're body is injured. Even with my power, you wouldn't be able to win. You'd die."

"So what the bloody hell do we do?!" Connor screamed out loud at Kane, not caring who heard.

"There's only one thing I can do. Only one thing that'll give me enough strength to kill it." Kane explained quickly. "I have to leave your body."

Connors world slowed down as he felt Kane ripping their consciousnesses apart without hesitation. To do so without a Kalos Crystal was extremely painful to them both and Connor was soon screaming in agony.

When the pain subsided, he looked up and saw Kane. He stood there, in all his glory, and faced the beast.

Connor didn't get to see that glorious moment though, because he passed out.

NEXT TIME IS THE FINAL CHAPTER OF VOLUME 1! GET READY FOR AN AWESOME EPILOGUE!