Ch 12 An Inner Demon
Richard sat up and looked around at the dark and depressing room around him. His hands were tied to a single metal pole that formed a ring into the ground making it impossible to escape. He was dressed in a ragged t shirt and torn blue jeans with no armor or weapons. When he realized the situation he was in he thrashed around helplessly pulling the chains and trying to escape. When he realized it was futile he took inventory of his surroundings. It was a dark room with a single door with a cement wall and a dirt floor. There was nothing else there beside the one pole holding him down and the small rays of light poking through minuscule holes in the roof. He ventured a question to see if he was alone or being watched.
"Hello is anyone here? What's going on and why am I locked in this little hellhole?"
"Look at this our little hero is finally awake. Just in time as well I was about to take him for dead and feed him to the dogs." Came an eerily sinister and familiar voice echoing through the room.
"You! I should have known you were here. Where the hell are you keeping me and where is my team you heartless monster?"
"Your friends oh you mean that little group of troublemakers. Haven't you already figured it out yet? You failed them just like you've failed everyone you've met. I'm honestly astonished anyone has come within ten feet of you knowing your past and pathetic existence but that's in the past and now thanks to you and your stupidity your precious little school will be destroyed along with everyone you've ever cared about. You should know by now that heroes never win they never survive all they can expect is a life of pain and misery amounting to nothing but failure."
"You're just trying to get in my head and crush my will well I'll tell you now it won't work. I know my team and my school. You terrorist wouldn't be able to do anything harm to them let alone destroy them."
"Oh really just like we weren't able to do any harm to your little friend George or maybe how we couldn't come close to banishing your treacherous ass and taking all you ever knew. Face it Richard you can do nothing but destroy the lives of those around you and leave a wake of sorrow and misery where you walk. Just ask that little shop owner you know about how devastated he is about the loss of his son. He never forgave you for what you did you know. Just like everyone else you've formed some meager attachment to. It's laughable how pathetic you and your little band of heroes are."
"No I won't believe your lies. You'll never break me you hear I know my friends and I know your tricks. Enough of this evil trick you witch. Face me you coward and stop this pointless mind game." Richard screamed in panic a small tear beginning to form in his eyes.
"Oh no Richard we've only just begun you see and whether you accept it or not the cold reality of your failure is seeping into your very being as we speak. You're an outcast Richard hated by both humanity and by Fauni everywhere. Did you really hope that you could just waltz into Vale and expect them to accept you for the animal you really are? You're nothing but a mindless animal to them and that fact will never change. You've seen what humanity does to your kind and you still want to bend knee to them like a dog. This weakness and mindless sentiment is what ostracized you in the first place. Your Faunas brethren hate you and always will you know. They curse your name and spit on the ground you used to walk because of your weakness. Oh how they would love to get their hands on you but I won't allow that. I want you to see the repercussions of your actions before I end your pitiful existence. When your school burns and your friends executed for their weakness then I will finally grant you the reprieve you will have been begging for by then."
As Richard sat there staring numbly at the ground feeling the dark cold of despair creeping into his being. When despair and fear nearly conquered his mind and destroyed his resolve he suddenly remembered a single shining thought resonated in his mind. He remembered the lesson he heard days before from professor Port. Anger is what drives our prey and rules their actions. You cannot let anger overwhelm you no matter what you've lost. You have to be stronger than your foe both physically and mentally and to never underestimate the tenacity of your enemy. Remember this class the creatures of Grimm will show you no mercy and it may be very easy to tell yourself not to show any mercy as well but take heed that mindset is a trap that could lead to a life of merciless retribution and a loss of your humanity. In this world we live in we must always remember that sometimes the end result is not worth the means it took to achieve it and to never fall into the trap of blindly seeking vengeance.
"You're wrong about Beacon and you're wrong about me. I'm no animal I am a hunter. I am not pathetic I am a person with a soul and I know who the animals are here. You monsters live your lives fueled by evil and anger with no mercy what so ever. I'm above you all and your primal bloodshed. I know that this world we live in can be saved and that humanity isn't a hopeless cause. I'll never bow to your madness and I'll never lose my humanity because I know through all your numbers and fear I am stronger than you both physically and mentally. What you see as weakness is a strength and weapon far greater than any you could ever muster. My faith in my friends and their faith in me are greater than any control you can manage through fear. I am better than you and I will never fall by your hand."
"Poor ignorant fool you could have made a fine lieutenant for my cause but you chose a path of sorrow and grief that will eventually lead to your own demise. It's clear my words are wasted on you but don't worry you'll see in time just how insignificant your little band of heroes are. Tell me though you speak of mercy and being better than me but how many of my soldiers lay dead on the ground by your hand or do they not stand as human to you righteous cause. Against the coming darkness no one has the power to stop us. Do you actually think you're strong enough to defeat me? I am the malevolent fire that destroys the lives of the just and corrupts the heart of the so called fearless. All your future holds now is death and destruction."
At that word the room seemingly shattered into fragments disappearing and leaving Richard floating in an infinite void. Those last few statements rang in his subconscious as he relived the tragedy that had befallen him already. He kept seeing visions of his best friend falling at the hands of the White Fang. He heard the anger of the crowd as they dragged him away to mutilate and outcast him. He felt the anger when he nearly ended Blake's life when he first saw her. He saw a photo of all his friends happily standing together. Suddenly a burning flame sprang in front of him causing him to wince while he saw the photo being consumed by a raging inferno. The inferno raged until it exploded lighting the entire void in a dazzling but ominous light causing Richard to look away with his eyes tightly shut.
When he opened them again he was staring upwards at a white ceiling. He felt the warmth of two clean white sheets on him from the stomach down. He felt the soft comfort of a feather pillow against his head and the almost intoxicating smell of the alcohol used to keep the place sanitary. Richard sat there silently staring at his hands and wondering just how many lives had been extinguish because of him. He looked out the window to see a black sky with a cracked and shattered moon high in the sky. The clock next to him showed that the time was four o'clock in the morning and there wasn't a sound in the entire hospital. He looked around to see the forms of four figures arrayed around him. He saw Blake asleep at the foot of the bed on her knees with her head resting on the bed itself. Weiss was asleep by herself using a small couch and a pillow from their dorm as a makeshift bed. Yang was lying on her back using the couch as a pillow with Ruby tossing and turning on her lap obviously engrossed in some innocent dream.
"What am I going to do now? I can't lose anyone of my team or else we'll all be devastated but I can't just ignore the White Fang and let them take whatever they want." He quietly asked himself.
As he looked around at his friends again he could see they had been awake for several days and that this had been one of the few times they had gotten a decent night's slept. He didn't want to wake them up so he just returned to lying down in his bed staring up at the ceiling trying to get a grip on the situation he found himself and the uncertain future ahead of him and team RWBY. The hours slowly dragged on until he saw the first pink rays of dawn shining through his window illuminating the room. Richard had dozed off earlier when Blake started to stir and wake her teammates up.
"C'mon guys we have class today. We'll have to come back later."
"We can skip one class Blake I mean it's not like we're going to town or anything. We have a legitimate reason to stay here." Yang whined as she gently woke Ruby up and nudged her off of her leg.
"The only way we can beat the White Fang is by getting stronger and the way to do that is to learn everything about our foes that we can and to train now let's go."
They all left one by one to go to their dorm and get ready for the new day with Blake being the last one to leave. She looked at the rare look of peace on his face and wiped away a single tear.
"Please be alright Richard. I couldn't imagine us doing anything without you there to keep us going."
After she left the room was quiet for nearly half an hour before Richard began to stir and open his eyes. He looked around to notice that the room was completely empty and silent. He suddenly heard the distant sound of hells against the hard wood coming towards him. He looked to the door to see Professor Goodwitch standing there with a scowl terrifying enough to send a pack of Ursa Major running in fear.
"I hope you can fully understand the sheer stupidity of what you tried. Has this school taught you nothing that you would charge headfirst into a fight with Cinder Fall and only half of your aura and not a thought about the safety of yourself and your team? What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I have to be stronger. I can't beat her now so I'll train and work until I can and then I'll make sure she doesn't walk away from the evil she's committed intact."
"At least you have some sense then but I'll warn you never underestimate that woman. She has fought countless battles and ended more heroes than anyone can remember but I do believe if anyone can stop her it's you."
"Thank you professor and can you get my friends I want to speak with them."
"Fine but I must warn you. Your friends aren't the only people eager to speak with you since our little battle. The police have been asking for you almost every day while you were out."
"Wait Professor, how long was I unconscious?"
She turned around briefly as she was leaving and simply said.
"About a week maybe a week and a half. We had thought you wouldn't wake up at all considering the amount of damage you took without your aura."
He looked shocked down at his wrist communicator and noticed it was at 100% for his aura as he thought about the absolute hell he must have put his friends through the last week. He sat up and stared at the doorway waiting for the inevitable chaos that would ensue in the next few minutes. He was slightly nervous not because he hated these situations but because he wasn't used to this much care and compassion. For most of his life the only people he had at his back were George and George's father and they were never too emotional at least not as bad as what was coming. Pretty soon he heard the frantic steps of a large amount of people sprinting down the hall. He was suddenly enveloped in a hug as Blake then Ruby and Yang followed finally by Weiss all tackled him nearly crushing him.
"Okay guys please get off I still have cracked ribs you know." Richard gasped as they suddenly realized it and jumped off of him.
"I'm sorry Richard it's just you've been out for over a week and I can't tell you how worried we were.' Blake replied weakly.
"I know and I'm sorry for putting you guys through that. I shouldn't have been so brash and it nearly devastated everyone."
"You shouldn't be so harsh on yourself Richard. You didn't know that it would be Cinder Fall you'd be facing and it's not like you just sprinted ahead of us. We were about two feet behind you when she blocked the door." Ruby replied cheerfully.
"I guess you're right Ruby and that's in the past now we need to focus on being ready next time we cross paths with that psychopath now what's this I hear about the police wanting to talk to me."
"They want to know why the White Fang would suddenly attack Beacon out of the blue and they figured you could give them the information they want." Blake responded. "They'll probably want to speak with you tomorrow now that you're awake."
"I'll deal with it tomorrow then but for now I think I'm ready to get out of this room and see how the school is." Richard said climbing out of the bed standing confidently ignoring the pain in his ribs.
"Are you sure Richard? I don't think it's a good idea for you to be walking around after all of this." Weiss asked worriedly.
"Don't worry I'll be fine now let's go for a little walk around the school." Richard asked finally relieved he could get a little fresh air.