Blake walked through the halls of Beacon, taking her time to the library. Assuming that's where Weiss was, she would have to have a plan for talking to her. She's so biased, thought the Faunus. I thought she had changed since she found out I was a Faunus. I should talk to Amber too. At least, when he wakes up. Blake recalled how Yang knocked him out. Didn't he shatter a cheekbone or something? Blake looked up, and realized her feet had brought her to the doors of the library. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the doors open, golden eyes scanning for Weiss. A quick survey found her at none of their usual tables. Blake roamed the aisles, aimlessly searching. She poked her head around a corner and looked down the row, finding Weiss. The white-haired girl had puffy red eyes, knees tucked under her chin. Was she crying? Blake sat beside her, waiting for Weiss to speak.
"Blake, when Amber made the room dark, did you... see anything?" she sniffled.
"I don't think so," said Blake slowly.
"Blake, you have to understand. He's a monster."
"That's why I'm here." Blake sat up against the wall. "Weiss, I don't understand."
"That's exactly the point! If only-"
"Weiss, Amber has a lot of scars. He probably represses the memories of when he was a kid. I know what it's like to be mistreated, to live in poverty, but he was literally living on the streets. Weiss, you grew up in a place that was almost the complete opposite of his world. How do you expect to understand anything about him?" This hit home with Weiss. The girl looked down, lost in thought.
"Blake, he's pure evil."
"Please, Weiss. There is no such thing as pure evil. The world isn't black and white: it's anything but! There's nothing but hues of gray!" Weiss just sighed. "Please, Weiss, just... try to talk to him without any violence." Blake pleaded.
Amber slept fitfully, various dreams plaguing him. In one, he talked to the devil.
The devil sat on a throne, wreathed in smoke and shadow. Amber was bound before him in chains. Nobody spoke, but the Devil's voice thundered in his head.
YOU ARE MINE. YOU BELONG TO ME.
"No!" Amber fought against his bonds, but they didn't give. His head ached with the devil's laughter, driving him to excruciating pain. Amber begged him to stop, but there was no respite. When he thought he could take no more, he awoke.
Sweat beaded on Amber's brow. He gasped for air, breath panicked. The whitewashed walls of the infirmary seemed to close in on him. His bed was like an oven. Amber threw the sheets off of him, swinging his legs over the edge. Gingerly he placed his feet on the floor. Testing his weight an finding his legs to be in working condition, Amber stood up. The hell? Where am I? Last I know was in my room, then... what? Amber shuffled to a mirror hanging off the wall. He looked at his reflection. At first, nothing seemed off, then...
Amber touched the small horns sprouting from his forehead. They feel real, but I could swear I didn't have horns before. Running a hand through his midnight hair, Amber muttered,
"That's awesome." He glanced at the tattoos on his hands. I should talk to RWBY, if they even still want to talk to me. Someone politely coughed behind him, and Amber whirled to see a beautiful girl with chestnut hair blushing in the doorway.
"I'm sorry, I need to let the doctor know if you awake," she said quietly. An emerald dress came down to her knees, the rest of her legs covered by dark green leggings. She wore long green gloves that matched her dress up to her elbows. Laurel leaves, still alive, wreathed her hair. Sure covers up well, thought Amber.
"Okay," he responded, moving over to the sink. Filling a cup with water, he watched the girl leave. Why was she blushing? Amber felt a breeze, and over his shoulder at the back of his hospital gown. Under further inspection, it was revealed that the gown didn't exactly cover up well. Amber felt heat rush to his face. Did she see...? Ugh, so much for first impressions.
After an inspection by the doctor, Amber's effects were returned to him and he was released from the infirmary. Returning to his empty room, Amber felt a familiar pang of loneliness. Time, however, had taught him how to ignore his soul's cries of solitude. If I had a team, however... Amber jumped onto the couch, daydreaming of what could be.
Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all waited in their dorm for Yang. Ruby pulled out her scroll.
"Lemme call her," she said, dialing Yang's number. The call rang for 5 seconds until Yang picked up.
"Hey sis! You need anything?" asked Yang's canned voice.
"We were, um, just wondering when you would be back?" asked Ruby.
"I gotta do something, sis, I don't know when I'll be back," explained Yang.
"Wait? What are you doing?!" exclaimed Ruby, but the call had already dropped. Ruby put her scroll away and sighed. "Well, at least we can play Remnant without her winning."
A knock sounded on Amber's door. Amber cracked his eyes open, blearily looking around the room. When did I fall asleep? He looked at the clock. 8:00? Jeez, this'll screw up my sleep schedule. The knock sounded again.
"I'm coming," muttered Amber, opening the door for Yang, who stood outside his door, arms akimbo.
"Hey! I heard you got out of the infirmary, I thought we'd celebrate!" Amber looked at her, perplexed, until Yang brought out a lemon and a bottle of gin. Amber shook his head.
"No, Yang, really,-"
"I insist!" chirped Yang, zipping through the doorway. She sat down on the couch, crossing her boots on the table. She smiled back at Amber, who's eyes were wide as coins. "Come on, let's see what's on T.V!"
"The T.V doesn't actually-"
"Great! Now sit. Down." Yang ordered. Amber hastily obeyed her. "Are you entering the tournament?" Yang asked as soon as he had sat.
"I don't know yet. I might, but I'll be in the first year division. I'm not the best fighter." Yang nodded.
"Ok. Well either way, I need you to do some more work for that White Fang project."
"You know my rates."
"I think that there's someone undercover at Beacon," whispered Yang.
"Ok. Why are we whispering?" whispered Amber.
"Because, its secreeeeet," replied Yang.
"Okay. I can go search the list of transfer students that registered in the tournament, that way I can get at least some basic info on them."
"Sure. But first..." Yang held up the bottle of gin. Right, thought Amber. Is she...?
"Yang, are you... into me?" Amber asked. Yang threw her head back and laughed. Grabbing a two cups and pouring a hefty amount of gin into each, she told Amber.
"Sorry if I've been teasing, but no. You are handsome, but Blake would be furious." Amber's eyes widened.
"You and Blake are a thing?" he asked, incredulous.
"Well, no. Not yet," added Yang with a wink. She held out a cup to Amber. He took it. They both drank. Yang walked back over to the couch and sat.
"So, you know it was me that put you in the infirmary, right?"
Amber choked on the vile concoction in his mouth.
"What?" he spluttered. "I thought maybe I drew too much, I had no idea!" He tried to recall what injuries he had, but could not.
"Yeah, things were getting a little out of hand, so I knocked you out," said Yang slowly. "Sorry about that. Everything's fine, though." Amber thought back to the incident.
"Wait, how long was I out?"
"Not long."
"Yang..."
"Just a few days."
"Wow. You pack quite a punch, no pun intended." Amber looked over at Yang, who proudly smiled.
"Nice pun." she said, smirking. "So uh, what's been going on with you?"
"I met a girl."
"Nice! How did you meet? Was she pretty? Did you talk long?" Amber then recounted the details of the meeting in the infirmary.
"That must've been awkward."
"Tell me about it. I didn't see her after though. I'm thinking of going back. She wasn't your average, everyday beautiful. This girl was a knockout." Amber stared at the ceiling, taking a sip of gin. The liquid burned his throat like fire, but he pinched his nose and choked it down. After a short time, Amber could feel the buzz of alcohol take hold of him. Getting up to pour another drink for himself and Yang, he spoke up.
"So, you wanna look over some contestants with me?" Amber handed Yang her gin and sat in his chair. Wheeling around to face the computer, he brought up the contestant list. "What did the person who Ruby fought look like?"
"She had black hair, and fought with dual swords. She was wearing a mask, we don't know what her face was." Yang responded. Amber ran a hand through his hair, typing at his keyboard. After a minute, he turned to Yang.
"I can't find much, but here's the list of black haired contestants. With the deets you gave me, I can't really do anything." Yang nodded, frowning.
"Fine. At least we can drink." She held up her cup as if in a toast, and Amber obliged her.