AN: Guess who is bad at keeping promises about updating quickly? This guy! Guess who will no longer be making those types of promises? This guy!
I am sorry that this took so long to get out. Hopefully it is worth the wait.
Before I let you get started though I need to give a shout-out to my new Beta, sangheilitat117. He did a fantastic job of helping me edit this chapter, as well as giving me an idea for the next one that I think you guys will enjoy.
So with no further ado, I hope you enjoy!
Small particles of dust floated about the room illuminated by the light that came in through the windows and from the ceiling. The air was thick and rife with the particles and pressure as the middle-aged man slowly made his way over to the table that Team RWBY occupied.
The polished wood of the table that they sat at gleamed in the light sunlight. While the tables that were covered by the white cloths seemed to glow as the sunlight bounced off of the fabric.
Blake could feel her heart thrum in time with Ozpin's prim and precise steps as they echoed against the tiled flooring.
Reaching the head of the table the man stilled a welcoming-smile on his face. "I am sorry to keep the four of you waiting for this long. I trust that you were comfortable here?"
"Oh please," Weiss snorted, "Like you even-"
"Weiss!" The heiress was silenced mid-sentence by Ruby, who sent her a warning glare before turning her attention back to Ozpin. "We were fine, thank you. But as I'm sure you are aware we didn't come here to exchange pleasantries."
Ozpin hummed, his brown eyes quickly flitting over the four girls. "Yes. I didn't expect that was the reason for your visit. How about we all have a seat and then we can begin?"
Blake watched as Ruby, Weiss, and Ozpin all took a seat. Weiss sat beside her while Ruby took the seat next to Yang; Ozpin paused just long enough to unbutton his evergreen colored suit before he spearheaded the table.
She stared at Ozpin as he pushed his glasses further up the ridge of his nose, the dark circular lenses doing an effective job of hiding his eyes. He leaned his cane up against the edge of the table. The pommel of the weapon gleamed in the light.
Blake allowed her eyes to wander towards Yang then. The brawler hadn't as much as flinched when Ozpin had finally showed up. She had just remained still, eyes closed, in the same position that she was in before. Though, Blake noted, the room did feel warmer. That and her hands had balled into fists where they lay on the table top…
Ozpin cleared his throat, drawing Blake's attention away from Yang and back to him. His hands were clasped firmly in front of him, just like when he had come to them offering the mission.
The sight made Blake's skin crawl.
He smiled as he addressed Blake, "I must say that it is good to see you up and moving Miss Belladonna."
Blake had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything. Ruby wanted them to play nice, so she would, despite the difficulty.
"You as well Miss Rose, my sources tell me that you are lucky to still have your arm." He shifted his attention across the table, brow furrowed in slightly in what seemed like concern.
Blake caught Weiss fidgeting in her seat from her peripheral vision. Ruby's wound, it would seem, was still a sore spot for the heiress.
Ruby swallowed, "So, you've been keeping tabs on us?"
Blake was positive she saw his smile widen as Ozpin nodded, "Of course. It's something I got into the habit of doing with people I give missions to. If for nothing else to make sure that the job gets done."
"Sir," Ruby started tentatively as she toyed with the strap of her sling, something that had become an almost nervous tick for the young girl. "About the mission, did you know-"
"About what you would encounter?" Ozpin cut her off, an eyebrow crooked up.
Ruby gave a stiff nod.
Ozpin observed her for a moment before sighing. "I suspected, yes."
After the solemn admission, it got quiet. So much so that the only sound that could be heard was that of their soft breathing. Blake wondered how long it would be until someone broke the thick silence. How long would it be until one of them snapped and asked the question that they all wanted to know?
Better yet, who would do it?
She wasn't about to, her eyes shifted to Yang, who still sat with her arms crossed and her eyes closed. And from the looks of it neither is Yang.
As a matter of fact, it appeared as if Yang didn't want a single thing to do with Ozpin. Aside from balling her fist up Yang hadn't done a single thing since Ozpin had arrived, she hadn't even looked at him. Not that Blake was complaining.
No, she hadn't really been looking forward to trying to hold Yang back from killing their old professor…as much as he might deserve it.
"Then why didn't you warn us?" Blake was pulled from her thoughts as Weiss shot to her feet, eyes glaring daggers at the middle-aged man. "You almost got Ruby and Blake killed!"
Blake watched as Ozpin steadily met Weiss's eyes. The heiress's outburst and glare seemed to have no effect on the man. His voice was as calm and collected as his face was as he replied. "I didn't warn you, because I couldn't."
"What do you mean: 'you couldn't.'?!" Weiss snarled.
Ozpin raised an open palmed hand at the heiress. "Miss Schnee, if you will give me but a moment, I will explain everything." He indicated her chair, "Please, sit."
Blake watched with baited breath as Weiss narrowed her cold blue eyes. She opened her mouth to say something only to be stopped by Ruby.
"Weiss, come on."
At Ruby's prompting Weiss snapped her mouth closed and retook her seat with a soft humph.
"Thank you," Ozpin said, his eyes moving between Weiss and Ruby. "Now before I begin, I do have one small thing to ask."
"What is it?" Ruby asked.
Ozpin re-clasped his hands, his face turning serious as he leaned out over the table. "What I'm about to tell you cannot be repeated. To anyone, do you understand?"
Blake met Ruby's silver gaze as their leader looked to her, the question that laid within easy to read. Blake gave her a swift nod, as did Weiss, before Ruby looked to Yang.
The brawler still hadn't moved and it was starting to worry Blake. While she was happy that Yang was showing an immense amount of self-control; the likes of which the Faunus didn't know her partner possessed, in not turning into a fiery inferno and attacking Ozpin, she'd be lying if she said it didn't have her on edge. She knew all too well what happened when people bottled up that much anger and aggression.
They would eventually explode.
Which in Yang's case…well, it wouldn't be pretty.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Ruby spoke.
"We understand, we won't tell anyone."
"Very well," Ozpin cleared his throat; the sound forcing Blake to pry her eyes from Yang's slouched form to find Ozpin looking the most serious that she had ever seen him.
A chill clawed its way up her spine.
"Now, as I'm sure you've figured out by now the Grimm that Miss Belladonna and Miss Rose fought in Forever Fall was no ordinary creature. It was what we've come to call an Omega Grimm."
Ozpin paused as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.
"Omega's are faster, stronger, and far more intelligent than their counterparts. What sets them apart the most though, and what makes their existence truly concerning is their ability to conjure what we are calling Dark Aura. Since their discovery they have been responsible for killing dozens of hunters as well as taking out smaller settlements. The one you killed marks the first time that one has been reported that close to any major population center."
Blake's mind was on fire, and if the deep, concentrated, looks on Ruby and Weiss's faces were any indication they too were in the same position.
So… it wasn't just a rare occurrence.
The thought of more of those… those things existing filled the Faunus with dread. Just one of them had been capable of almost killing her and Ruby, what if there had been two?
She quickly banished the thought.
"What do you mean Dark Aura?" Weiss asked, her face marred with confusion, "They're still Grimm right? So how is it possible for them to have an Aura without having a soul?"
"Because they do not derive their Aura from a soul as we do. Their Dark Aura is a physical manifestation of the one emotion that a Grimm possesses, Hatred."
"Hatred for what though?" Ruby prompted.
"For us, for humanity."
Silence reigned for a moment as the information sunk in.
"How long have you known about them?" Ruby asked from her position across from Blake, the young leader shifted nervously it was almost as if she didn't want to know the answer to her own question.
Ozpin sighed, lowering his hands down to the table. "We have been aware of their existence for close to eight years now, we…"
"What do you mean you've known about them for eight years?" Weiss's enraged outburst silenced Ozpin.
"Just that Miss Schnee, we've been aware of the Omega's for quite some time." Ozpin hadn't so much as flinched under the heiress's withering glare. "Though we still know very little about them."
"How haven't we heard about them before now then?" Blake decided it was her turn to join the conversation, despite the glare that it earned her from Weiss.
Ozpin paused as if he was debating his answer. After what seemed like an eternity he responded. "The reason you have never heard of their existence is because it has been kept secret."
"How have you managed to keep something like this hidden for so long?" Blake flinched as Weiss slammed her fists down onto the table as she stood, knocking her chair to the ground. "More importantly why would you? You said that you've known about them for nearly a decade, how many other people have you sent out? How many others have gotten injured or have died because you refused to tell them just what it would be that they were truly up against!?"
Weiss's face was red following her outburst, her shoulders heaving up and down as she breathed in quick, harsh, pants. Ruby was wrapped around one of her arms, having bolted to hold her girlfriend's side the second Weiss had lashed out.
Blake forced her eyes away from her teammates and back to Ozpin, who remained motionless and unreadable in his seat. She would have thought the man heartless, had it not been for the sorrowful look in the brown eyes that peered over the rim of his glasses.
"You are correct." His tone was soft, almost as if he was a man asking for forgiveness for the wrongs of the world. "I have sent people to their deaths, and it is something I will continue to do until such a day where I am no longer headmaster of this school.
"Why do I do this? For the greater good of all of those lives that are saved by the deaths of those that I send. That is also why I along with several others have gone to great lengths to ensure that the Omegas remain a secret. We've done it in order to protect the peop…"
"Oh. Please. Shut. The. Fuck. up."
Blake's ears twitched as her eyes darted away from Ozpin and to Yang, who was now sitting erect in her seat. Her eyes which were as red and as dark as blood were focused directly on Ozpin. If looks could kill, Ozpin would have been incinerated.
"Disgusting." Yang snarled through clenched teeth as tendrils of flame danced around the edges of her golden mane. "You don't get to act sorry for what you've done."
"Miss Long, surely you can…" Ozpin pleaded, as Yang stood her chair combusting behind her.
"I said shut. Up!" Yang yelled as a golden inferno fully engulfed her form. The fire raged and pulsed as her semblance came to life. "You don't get to talk!"
Blake jumped up from her seat as the table caught fire from the blistering heat that Yang exuded. She squinted, shielding her eyes against the immense light given off by the golden flames.
"Yang!" She cried her girlfriends name out in a desperate attempt to garner her attention away from Ozpin, but it didn't work. All Yang did was start walking towards the man, leaving a trail of brilliant fire in her wake.
"So self-righteous in your act, if you're so goddamned sorry then tell me where you were when Ruby and Blake were in the hospital! Huh? Where were you!?"
Blake could feel the temperature in the room rising as a result of the inferno that swirled around Yang. Sweat started to coalesce and slide down her skin. The sweltering heat continued to climb with every step that Yang took closer to Ozpin. It felt like the air would combust into flames at any moment.
At this rate it won't be long until she's burned the whole room down… unless we can find a way to douse the flames...Weiss!
The realization caused the Faunus to turn and look to where Ruby and Weiss were. Ruby had her cloak draped protectively around herself and Weiss in what Blake could only assume was an attempt to keep the heat and flames away.
"Weiss," The Faunus desperately called out to her teammate, hoping and praying that there was something Weiss could do with her icy-Aura to alleviate some of the heat. "Do something!"
"I already am!" The heiress panted back, strain evident in her voice. "It's too much, she's too much, I can't combat it!"
Blake felt her heart drop.
With Weiss unable to do anything, the only way to reduce the heat would be to get Yang to calm down, which, at the moment might as well have been impossible. She turned back around in time to see Yang back Ozpin against another table. She could see the sweat that beaded and rolled down his forehead.
"Tell me!" Yang yelled out her face red, rather it was from emotion or the raging heat that surrounded her Blake couldn't tell. "Where were you while Ruby was battling to stay alive!? Where were you when Weiss sat hunched over Ruby for hours, crying!? Where were you when Blake wouldn't wake up no matter how hard I begged!?"
Yang's voice broke.
"Where were you!?"
Blake could feel her tears join in with the sweat that ran down her face at Yang's emotional outcry. She had never seen Yang like this; there was anger coursing through every one of her words, they were practically doused with it. But beneath that there was something else. Something that made Blake's heart cry out for her partner. Hurt. The blonde's voice was raw with the emotion as she continued to yell out at Ozpin.
"Tell me! Where!?"
"Miss Long, please calm down." Ozpin's second plea again went unanswered as Yang's Aura pulsed, unleashing even more heat and flames into the cafeteria.
"I'll tell you where you weren't," Yang shouted as she stilled just in front of Ozpin. Who at this point had concern all over his face. "You weren't there!
"If you were as sorry as you claim, you would have been there! You would have warned us!" Yang squared her shoulders, seemingly doing her best to dwarf the man that stood before her. "But you didn't. You allowed the two people who I care about most in this world to get hurt."
A sickeningly twisted smile split Yang's lips, "Now I'm going to show you what happens to the people who do that."
Time slowed to a crawl.
Blake watched as Yang's arm drew back, a motion that had long since become familiar to her after their hundreds of hours of training together. The muscles in Yang's bicep and forearm bulged as her hand clenched into a white-knuckled fist.
She knew what Yang was going to do…and she knew that she couldn't allow her to do it.
She knew what would happen.
Ozpin would defend himself; he had already moved his cane into a defensive posture, just as anyone would. And Yang, she doubted, even in her enraged state would barely be a match for the veteran hunter.
So when Yang loosed her punch, she moved.
Blake was no stranger to taking hits. In fact, despite her penchant for stealth, it was something that happened quite often. Even then she still couldn't remember a punch quite like the one that connected with her jaw as she darted in-between Yang and Ozpin.
Then again, she had never been hit by an emotionally unstable Yang Xiao Long. She summoned her Aura to try and soften the blow, but even that couldn't protect her from the bone-shattering hit.
A brilliant white flashed across her vision as Yang's fist impacted forcefully with the side of her face, the force of it sent her spiraling face first to the floor. She groaned as she landed against the hardwood, the familiar coppery tang of blood quickly filling her mouth.
Allowing a second for the blurriness to dissipate, she brought her hand up as she worked her jaw in an attempt to relieve some pain. She winced as her fingers brushed against the already bruising skin.
"Bl-…Blake?"
She stilled at the sound of her partner's voice. The anger was gone, replaced by confusion, but the hurt still lingered.
She noticed that the room was much cooler as she turned her head to look up at Yang; the girl's fires had died away. A small involuntary smile split Blake's lips as her eyes met with cool lilac. The smile was short lived however as tears soon sprang up in those endless purple pools. She could feel her heart shatter as Yang started to sob.
"I-I…I hit…Oh my god!" Yang retched as she stumbled backward, a hand rising to cover her mouth as tears poured down her face.
The sight of her partner's tears and the sound of her agonized voice was more than enough for Blake to force herself quickly to her feet, dizziness washing over her as her head spun, the after effects of the hit still lingering.
"Ya-Yang," The swelling stiffness in her jaw made talking difficult. Another wave of dizziness overcame her as she took a step forward hand extended out towards the blonde.
Yang backed further away, a tearful cry of: "Stay away from me!" tumbling out from between her quivering lips.
Before the Faunus could react, Yang turned and ran away, quickly vanishing out of one of the cafeteria's many exits, leaving a trail of hot tears in her wake.
This wasn't the reaction she had expected. No, when she had made the split-second decision to dive in front of the punch she had expected Yang to shift her anger from Ozpin and onto her. She hadn't counted on Yang reacting so…emotionally.
"Yang!" She called out as she wobbly moved to follow after her, the effect of the punch still taking its toll. Dammit legs move straight!
She was just about to make another step when a strong grip latched onto her arm, impeding her process. She spun around, ignoring the nauseous feeling that overcame her at the swift movement. She was about to lash out at whoever it was that was holding her back when her eyes met the concerned gaze of Weiss's very own.
"Just where do you think you're going?" Weiss asked the concern that was in her eyes evident also in her voice.
Blake fought against the hold, "Weiss, let go! I need to go after Yang!"
The heiress just shook her head.
"Ruby has already gone after her Blake, and you're currently in no condition to go chasing after her. You can barely stand!"
Weiss was right and Blake knew it. That didn't stop her from struggling against her though. The Faunus twisted and pulled her arm against the stranglehold, bound and determined to get to Yang even if it meant she had to crawl.
With one last jerk Blake managed to break herself away from Weiss's embrace. Despite her desire to go after Yang though, the young Faunus only managed to make it a few feet before the room started spinning, sending her back down to her knees.
"Blake, stop!" She heard Weiss's concerned cry as the heiress appeared by her side. Petite hands helped to steady her as she slumped further onto the ground.
"Dose she need to be taken to the infirmary?"
Bile rose in her throat as she took in Ozpin's words. How dare he, how dare he be concerned! This is all his fault!
"No, I'm fine." She managed to bite the words out around the growing stiffness. Her Aura had managed to keep the blow from breaking her jaw, but if the pulsing throb she was feeling was any indication. It was bruising, and badly.
"Blake, the entire left side of your face is black and blue…"
"I said, I'm fine!" She glared at Weiss, forcing the white haired girl to promptly close her mouth.
With a shake of her head Weiss turned to address Ozpin. "I don't think so, she just needs to let the disorientation pass."
"Very well, I believe that I will take my leave. If you have any more questions you know where to find me."
"We do."
Blake barely listened to the conversation, the fact that Ozpin was leaving only setting in as she heard the soft thud of his steps as they carried him away. She wanted to turn and say something to the man. Let him know just what she thought about him, but she couldn't. Her mind was focused on one thing.
One person.
Yang…
"No matter how hard I begged!?"
"I-I…I hit..."
Yang's tearful words replayed in her head like a broken record as she choked back a sob. Her partner had looked so lost, so scared…
The room became blurry as tears sprung to her eyes as she remembered the horrified look that came across Yang's face when she had realized what had happened. What she had done. It wasn't her fault of course; Blake had stepped into the path of her punch intentionally.
But she knew Yang didn't see it that way.
"Stay away from me!"
The words drove a stake through her heart.
"Blake," Her ears twitched as Weiss spoke, her voice and words were soft as a hand gently rubbed up her back. "Are you okay?"
She had to fight to find her voice and when she did it was saturated with more emotions than she cared to count. "No… I'm not."
"Blake, I'm sure Yang is fine."
Blake turned around, her eyes seeking out Weiss's. "Do you really believe that?"
Her question was met with silence.
AN: Just a small closing this time. If it hasn't become apparent by this point I like publishing on Monday's...Not saying I won't drop a chapter on another day, it honestly just depends on if it's finished and if I'm happy with it. But yeah, be watching for updates on Monday's!
As normal I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you did let me know what you liked, if you didn't let me know what you didn't. Any and all feedback, as long as it's constructive is a tremendous help, so please drop a review! (Okay...honestly it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when I see a review...so...)
That's it for me. As always, have a good night!