-Chapter 22-

Until Under Dawn, Goodbye

"….Mmmf…Oooohh." I mumbled around in a bed until my eye slowly opened. The vision at first looked blurry until I gave a second or two. It cleared and I saw a clear white ceiling.

I looked around, realizing I was in a bed. "Am….Am I at a hospital?"

I looked around more as I found my answer. "I am, so that means…Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang!?"

I jumped, but cringed in pain. I touched the source of my pain, which was around my abdomen area, but the pain went away shortly after I experienced it.

"How did…" I remembered the scene when Cinder shot me with her power. "Right, I remember."

Suddenly, I heard a door opened as I looked there. A certain someone gasped at me.

"Ellix!" Ruby gasped.

"Ruby? Is that you?" I asked, still feeling a bit confused.

"Ellix!" She ran to my side. "You are back! Oh wait, hold on a second! I will be right back!" Ruby exclaimed before she ran off to somewhere.

Few minutes later, Ruby came back with the rest of them; Weiss, Blake, and none other than, Yang.

We stared at each other for a moment until they jumped to my side.

"Ellix!" The girls yelled. I slowly smiled widely while the girls surrounded me with joy and relieved face on each of them as Yang gave me a hug around my head.

"Ellix! You Silly Boy! You had me and rest of us worried so much!" Yang cried.

"Seriously, you always do some stuff to get yourself into a hospital, always!" Weiss stated.

"Ellix, we are just glad you are OK!" Blake said.

"Ellix, you've been out for a while, about a week, but we're just so happy that you are back!" Ruby said, jumping in joy.

"You girls…" I said, sniffled a little. "Are you all alright? What happened exactly?"

"Well, it went like this…" Blake began telling.

-Flashback-

"So, you must be Cinder Fall, right?" The familiar boy asked. "You've been on the news for a while after you escaped from the prison and all, but I got to say…it is very lucky to meet you."

Each member of Team RGAL came out of the shadows.

"Rudy!" Ruby said as tears of joy flowed down from her eyes.

"Giovanny!"

"Aron."

"Luke!"

Each girl said their respective freshmen partner. Their leader, Rudy smirked proudly as Cinder groaned.

"And who are you, interrupting my glorious moment?" Cinder asked with slight annoyance in her voice.

"The name is Rudy Jade Clover, leader of Team RGAL of Beacon Academy, first year and Ruby's friend." Rudy introduced with a bow.

"Giovanny Onyx, a fellow teammate and partner to my leader, at our service." Giovanny said as he bowed.

"Aron Silver." Aron said calmly.

"Luke Amethyst." Luke spoke with his arms crossed.

"Hey, you two! Why can't you two say something cooler?" Rudy asked.

"Cooler. Meh! That's a waste of time, especially right now!" Luke argued, rolling his eyes.

"Now, now, my chap, let's stay calm like a gentleman." Giovanny said.

"Maybe I should've said something cooler." Aron thought aloud.

"What? Are you serious?" Luke asked.

"Come on, Luke! Can we at least have some fun even in the most serious situation?" Rudy asked with puppy eyes.

"Don't look at me like that!" He ordered.

The girls looked very perplexed at them as Cinder was getting very annoyed.

"Silent!" She yelled.

"Oh right! Well, as for you Cinder Fall, I think this is where you will…fall." Rudy said. Everyone didn't look amused at all, even Yang but Ruby giggled a bit.

-Flashback Ends-

"And that was when members of White Fang came. Team RGAL saved us out of that situation as we carried you all the way here." Blake explained.

"Wow! Well, it was pretty…great that Team RGAL came to save us. I thought we were all goner." I said.

"Yeah. I really appreciate them." Ruby said, showing a tint of redness on her face.

"But, Cinder…she got away." I said in disappointed tone.

"Well, forget about her! She is gone and she won't come back for a while! If she does, then we will kick her ass for you!" Yang said. "You just rest, OK?"

I looked at Yang, and just grinned with assured face. "Thank you, Yang. I am just glad that you…and rest of you girls are alright."

They gave me a group-hug as I tried my best to hug them all while I was sitting in my bed. One day passed, and the hospital allowed me to be release. I was very happy for that, but I knew what I must do next. It was now Sunday night.

Once I came back to Beacon, my teammates and all of my friends welcomed me back. Nora gave me a back-breaking, tight hug again, but I fought it while I tried to look like I am enjoying it. After meeting with my friends, I needed to meet with Professor Ozpin, alongside Prof. Goodwitch and Qrow about my mindless decision to go on alone to fight my team's kidnappers.

Prof. Goodwitch was the one kind of scolded me the most.

"I am very sorry, Headmaster Ozpin. All I had in my mind was saving my teammates and that is that. I…didn't think of calling for any helps." I explained.

"Well…at least thanks to your effort and Team RGAL's intervention, your team is now safe and alive now. Just please do not do anything reckless like that next time." Headmaster Ozpin said.

"Thank you, Headmaster Ozpin." I bowed. "I will be leaving then."

"Hey, kid." Qrow spoke, causing me to stop while I was walking to the elevator. "When you met Cinder, did she tell you anything else?"

I felt suspicious about why Qrow asked me such question. "No, not all. All she said was how she wanted revenge on me, and that is that." I answered. I left the office immediately.

"Qrow, was it wise to ask him such question?" Glynda asked.

"It's never too late to ask, but I think that kid is hiding something." Qrow said as he rubbed his rugged chin.

"I agree." Ozpin nodded. "But, I highly hope that he is not."

I returned to my dorm room, where my teammates were waiting.

"There you are! Where have you been!?" Yang asked.

"Relax, Yang. I didn't got anywhere. I just met Ozpin and we just had a talk, well more or less scolded me for going out on my own, you know." I explained.

"Oh right. Make sense." She shrugged. "So, it's Sunday night! We should celebrate!"

"It is still like the afternoon, Yang." I said.

"Why not start early?" She asked, which she pointed out a good point. "Let's celebrate!"

"Uu! Uu! Let's go get some pizza!" Ruby said.

"That does sound an excellent idea." Weiss nodded.

"If one of the toppings is anchovies, then I would like to have pizza." Blake said with a hint of hunger in her eyes for fish.

"Of course, you can have anchovies. Let's head out now!" Yang decided.

"Hold up, girls!" I spoke. They all looked at me. "Sorry, but I'm not in mood for pizzas tonight. How about a lighter snack instead?"

"You're sure about that, Ellix?" Yang asked.

I nodded. "Positive. Heck, I got shot by Cinder, you know. I think my stomach is not ready to eat something big like pizza yet."

"Oh, I understand. Then, we can get some snacks out of the school vending machine or got to the desert store!" Yang said.

"No, vending machine is fine." I insisted.

"Aaawww, alright. You're the man." Yang said.

"I will go get for all of us. It will be my treat." I said

"What!? No, we will pay it for you. You just wait here!" Yang resisted, looking a bit worry…little too worry that is.

"Yang, don't worry. I will be…fine. I promise."

"Well…OK. It's your call."

"I will tag along with him." Blake said.

"Oh, well…that's fine." I said calmly. Blake and I walked out to get some snacks from the academy's vending machine.

-3 hours later-

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang still waited in our dorm room. Ruby was giving affections with Zwei while Weiss read the fashion magazine. Yang was just lying on her bed until she spoke.

"OK, they are taking too long to get snacks. I am going to find them."

"Me too. I am getting bored here." Ruby said as she put Zwei in his doggy bed.

"So will I! I read all my magazines and I am getting impatient." Weiss stated.

They all headed out to the diner hall where the vending machines are. There were no other students or even cafeteria staff around. The time was 9:00 pm.

"Where is Ellix and Blake?" Ruby asked as she looked around.

"Hey, what's that over there?" Weiss asked, pointing to an object on the floor.

It was a black boot. As they approached the corner of the table, they saw Blake barely unconscious.

"Blake!" The girls screamed. Yang knelt next to her as they tended her.

"Blake, wake up! Blake!" Yang yelled.

Blake slowly opened her eyes and shoot her head.

"Oof, what happened?" She asked as she stood back up.

"You were lying here, barely unconscious! What happened to you!?" Weiss asked.

"And where is Ellix?" Yang asked.

"Ellix…Ellix! That…him!" Blake exclaimed, looking a bit angry.

"What's wrong, Blake?" Ruby asked, getting a bit nervous and worry.

"Ellix, he's the one who knocked me out cold!" Blake admitted.

"What!?" They gasped.

"No way! How could that be!? Why would he do that!?" Weiss questioned.

"I…I…I don't believe it! Blake, please tell me, where is he!?" Yang asked in a panic tone.

"I don't know. It happened when…"

-Flashback-

Blake and I walked into the diner hall and near the vending machine.

"Hey Ellix, I want to talk with you about something." Blake spoke.

"Hmm, what is it?" I asked.

"What is the…Code?" She openly asked.

I stopped walking as I still looked the other way.

"Ellix, Cinder always asked you for it, and from what I assumed, the White Fang also wanted it. She said that you and those 'other friends' or whatever you said, stole something from the White Fang. Tell me, Ellix. What is it exactly?"

"…I'm sorry, Blake."

"What?" She gasped a bit. I teleported quickly to appear behind her and pressed her pressure point on the neck, making her faint.

-Flashback Ends-

"And that's what happened." Blake finished.

The girls looked disbelieved, especially Yang.

"Blake, there is no way he would do that. There is got to be a reason for it." Yang said.

"Yes, Yang, I agree, but there is something more to this! He is hiding something! Something from all of us know! He knows something about the White Fang, and I just… just wanted to know, which is why I asked!" Blake burst.

The girls cringed until she realized what she did. "I'm…I'm sorry to outburst like that. I didn't mean to, but like I said, he is hiding something from us, which I think is the reason why he…he ran away from us."

"Then, let's just go and find him right now!" Yang decided. "Easy-peasy!"

"But, we don't know where he goes. In fact, he may have left Vale already." Blake said.

"Then, we will just chase after him! Don't worry about it!" Yang said, getting a bit tick off as her eyes flashed red a bit.

"Yang, just calm down!" Ruby reasoned with her.

"NO, Ruby! I won't calm down until we find Ellix!" She yelled, scaring her sister.

"Oh…" Her eyes returned to normal. "I'm…so sorry to yell at you like that, Ruby."

Suddenly, they heard a door opened. They turned and see Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby, Yang, girls…we need to talk." Qrow said.

-Meanwhile-

I was driving my motorcycle on the quiet road with little or no cars at all. I drove several miles away from City of Vale. I probably drove around few hundred feet away by now. Suddenly, I came to a halt. I put on the break, causing the motorcycle to skid a bit until it completely stopped.

I opened the visor and saw the person in front of the road. She stood there with her Grimm mask as her long black hair and cloak waved with the wind.

I stepped off from my motorcycle and took out my helmet.

"I expected or better word, predicted that you will appear before me." I said. "As much as you want to talk with me, I have no time for that. I need to get going."

"Ellix…" She spoke, taking her mask off. Her face revealed. "You really want to do this?"

I narrowed my eyes until I sighed. "Yes…Raven, but not that I want to. I NEED to do this. It is for their safety. It is for…your daughter's safety. If I stay there with them longer, I would bring danger to them and I don't want them to get involve with my affair. I don't want to them...to get hurt."

I walked calmly, passing her by. I walked a few steps away from her until she stopped me when she said, "Couldn't you at least say goodbye to her?"

"…I can see you and me are relate-able, you know. I am sorry, but until I see them again under dawn, this is a way for me to tell them…goodbye. See you around."

I walked a few step more. "Wait, Ellix!"

I stopped again and looked over my shoulder. She walked to me as I faced her completely. She slowly hugged me until I was hugged by her completely into her arms and chest.

"Be careful out there." Raven said.

I grinned. "Don't worry, I will be alright."

She released me as I parted away from her. "See you again next time…Mrs. Long."

I flew away, using my boots as the thrusts. She watched me fly by as she grinned a bit.

"Don't stay away from her too long, Ellix…my future-to-be son in law." She said.