Chapter 4
Hey guys. Next chapter is here. Things are starting to unfold. What could the White Fang be doing? Who knows…well I do but…shut up. You know what I mean. Be sure to leave a review if you enjoy the story or have advice for me. I welcome all criticism; just try to be polite about it. Enjoy!
"Thank you for joining me, you two." Ozpin leaned forward in his chair, linking his fingers. He rested his elbows on his desk.
"Sure thing," replied Alear. He and Nix had been called down early in the morning to discuss something with Ozpin. They had yet to be told what. The suspense was starting to get to the wolf Faunus.
"Relax, Mr. Meerin," Ozpin said calmly as he saw him fidgeting. This was the first time someone had used Alear's last name. He had chosen it himself shortly after arriving at Beacon. He hadn't needed one in the White Fang. "I merely have a proposition for you and Ms. Nix. All I ask is you hear me out."
The two students nodded.
Ozpin sipped on his coffee. "As you may have noticed, students here are placed on four person teams upon their arrival. These teams work together to hone their skills, both individual and teamwork. With you two, this is not the case. While these teams are being sent on assignments, you two stay here. I wish to remedy that."
"What do you mean," said the two students in unison. They looked at each other after realizing what they just did, startled.
Ozpin's eyebrow twitched in amusement. "I wish to establish a new branch of operations here in Beacon; one dedicated specifically to recon, espionage, and strategic elimination."
Alear crossed his arms "Elimination? Are we talking about Grimm or people?"
"Both, when the occasion calls for it."
Nix looked at him in surprise. Was the headmaster giving them permission to kill?
"Normally we save these types of missions for full huntsmen and huntresses, or at least the older students, but I feel with the two of you having your…unique past, you've probably had experience with this sort of thing."
Alear was amused to say the least. "You're a very astute man, aren't you Professor?"
A small grin formed on Ozpin's lips. "I like to think so."
Alear was curious about something though. "How do you even know about our pasts? We didn't exactly flaunt that kind of info around."
"I'm the headmaster of Beacon, Mr. Meerin. I have my sources," He said with a shrug.
Alear didn't like that Ozpin could so easily find such sensitive information about him, but there was really nothing he could do about it.
"So how will this work, team-wise I mean." Nix blinked, her eyes switching colors as she said this. It seemed she had a habit of doing so. Whether it was semblance-related, or just because she liked to mess with people, nobody knew for sure.
"I'm glad you asked," said Ozpin with an appreciative smile. "Unlike normal teams, this new stealth force is going to be comprised of two man teams. These teams will function differently than normal. Instead of their being a leader, the members will be partners. The four man teams also have partners, but ultimately obey their leaders orders. These new teams will operate on an equal standing. Most of the time these partners will work on missions together, but there will be the occasional solo mission."
"And why are WE your picks for this new branch?" Alear gestured between himself and Nix.
Ozpin didn't seem to mind the interruption. "Because of the smaller teams and possible solo missions, the individuals chosen will need to be exceptionally talented. I believe, after much research, that you two are skilled enough for such a position. Not to mention, both of you are very hard to find if you wish not to be found. That will be a very useful ability in the stealth force."
Nix raised an eyebrow. "You know about our skills?"
"Like I said, I'm the headmaster of Beacon. I have my sources." Ozpin loved to be mysterious.
Alear ran his tongue along the bottom of his teeth, something he had a habit of doing when he was thinking. "There must be other people with the same skills, like Blake Belladonna. She is amazingly talented. Why just us?"
Ozpin raised his eyebrow in amusement. "I'm well aware of your girlfriend's status."
"He even knows about our romantic lives? Great," thought Alear grimly.
Ozpin continued. "But the other students, including Ms. Belladonna, came to my school at the proper time and have gone through our initiation. They are already assigned to teams and I feel breaking those teams apart now would only hinder their growth."
"I'm in," said Alear.
Nix eyes grew wide in surprise, her head tilted to the side in interest.
"And you Ms. Nix?" Ozpin asked after a moment of silence.
"Well," Nix sighed. "If this big lug is going to do this whole stealth thingy, then I guess I could be his partner." She grew a broad smile, excited at the aspect of working with Alear again.
"Excellent," said Ozpin. A smile of his own was forming. "We are putting together your first assignment as we speak. I'll send the details and departure date to your scrolls when we're finished. You are dismissed."
They nodded and made their way back to their dorm room. Nix had taken one of the extra beds in Alear's room, seeing as he had three unused ones. After Nix moved in, they both pushed two of the beds together, giving them both a lot of extra space in the room. Blake was a little nervous about Alear living alone with another girl, but was reassured after a long night of talking via scroll.
It was a Saturday. Ozpin had called them down pretty early, so everyone else was still sleeping. The two decided to get an early breakfast, after changing out of their uniforms, and wait for their friends to join them. They ate pancakes in quiet companionship, with Alear almost falling asleep. He wasn't used to waking up early. He liked to take long, leisurely naps. These had been in short supply since his enrollment at Beacon, much to his dismay.
Despite being tired, Alear was happy for the first time in what seemed like forever. He had been miserable in the slave camp. He had been miserable with the White Fang. Hell, he had even been miserable when he first arrived at Beacon, although you'd never guess it. One of the things he mastered at a very young age was the ability to mask his emotions. When he was hurting, he rarely showed it. He just threw up a smile and pretended like he didn't have a care in the world.
But lately, that smile has slowly started to become more and more sincere. Thanks to the new friends he had made, topped off with his new relationship with his favorite cat Faunus, he was finally feeling genuinely happy. He felt like nothing could bring him now, that nothing could ruin his happiness. He didn't know how wrong he was. He didn't know that in just a short while, he would be dragged back into the darkness.
"Boop." Alear was snapped out of his sleepy gaze by an eccentric redhead poking his nose.
He chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Hello to you too, Nora." He tossed her a pancake and she caught it in her mouth, shaking back and forth with excitement.
"You know, if you keep giving her pancakes she's going to start sticking to you like glue," said Ren, calm as usual. How he stayed like that around the fiery ball of energy, nobody knew. "She has an unhealthy obsession with them."
The hammer-wielder paid no attention to this comment and happily munched on her new-found pancakes, courtesy of Alear. He had only eaten a few and had several left. He saw no reason they should go to waste.
Jaune and Pyrrha soon came over from the breakfast line and now the whole of team JNPR sat at the table.
"Hey guys," Nix said cheerfully.
Jaune made his best attempt at wooing the new girl in their group of friends. "Well hello there, cutie. Name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it," he said, gesturing toward himself.
She tilted her head and gave him her cutest smile. At first, he thought he had succeeded in flirting with her, much to Pyrrha's discomfort. He was about to continue when she started rapidly blinking, switching her eye colors between pink and blue with every flutter. This soon disoriented him, resulting in him losing focus on reality. She, and her sister Neo, inherited the same semblance, illusions. Once he was out of it, she stopped blinking, both of her eyes going white as she stared into his own orbs.
"What should I make him see, Wolfy?" She asked with giddy anticipation. She loved messing with peoples' minds.
The wolf Faunus glanced at Pyrrha, coming up with a glorious idea. His face practically exploded with excitement, rivaling Nora. He leaned close to Nix and whispered his idea into her ear. She grinned evilly and nodded her approval.
Jaune instantly reacted. "Oh, Pyrrha? When did we get back to the room? And why are you wearing…THAT?" His face blushed and a certain organ started to rise. Pyrrha noticed and looked away with a gasp. Her face was almost as red as her hair.
"Wha-What are you making him see?!" She demanded. Ren struggled to contain his amusement, but to no avail. He soon was laughing quite loudly, alongside Alear and the rest of team JNPR, minus Jaune and Pyrrha.
"I just told her to show you and him alone in your dorm," Alear said with big, innocent eyes. "And you might be wearing…a sexy maid outfit?" He flashed a cheesy smile.
Pyrrha was mortified at the thought of Jaune seeing her that exposed. They haven't even started dating yet, let alone anything like that.
Nix on the other hand, seemed quite pleased with her handiwork. She kept her illusion going long enough for Jaune to start making light moans, then quickly ended it, leaving him confused as to what just happened. His member was raised tall, free of shame. That is until he realized he was sporting a full erection in front of his team. He quickly scooted closer to the table and bowed his head in embarrassment. Pyrrha was right there with him.
"Welcome back, Jauney Boy," said Alear with obvious enjoyment. "Did you enjoy your little fantasy? Nix is quite skilled at what she does. The illusions seem so...realistic, don't they?"
He somberly nodded.
Alear grinned at the response. "She's pulled a few tricks like that on me back in the day." Nix stuck her tongue out at him.
"How'd you get her to stop?" ventured Jaune.
The jade-eyed wolf Faunus started to say something, but quickly shut his mouth after Nix glared daggers at him, daring him to speak. "Let's just say…I gave her a taste of her own medicine." He winked at Nix, causing her to blush at the memory. "I'll get into that another time though; it looks like team RWBY is finally awake."
Sure enough, RWBY proceeded to the breakfast line minus Blake, who came to sit next to Alear. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder with a slight groan.
Alear chuckled. "Well hello to you too, Kitty Cat. Tired?"
"Mhm," she said lazily. "It's Ruby and her damn whistle. She scares the hell out of us every morning with that thing."
"Have the Ice Queen deal with her. She can be a real hard ass."
"I heard that!" yelled Weiss from the line. Alear waved at her.
"She's tried, we all have. She finds it no matter where we hide it."
Nix put on a mischievous smile. "You know Blake, I'm sure Alear wouldn't mind if you started sleeping in our room."
He wrapped his arm around her. "Nix if you're trying to embarrass me, you're going to have to try harder. We used to sleep next to each other all the time."
Ren gave him a questioning look.
"What? We didn't exactly have a lot of room in the White-…um I mean the organization we used to be a part of." Alear had to watch his words. RWBY and JNPR already knew about their past, but they were in public right now. Anyone could be listening.
Nora slurped down her last pancake. "So does that mean you two have done "stuff" in the past?" She grew a perverse grin. Blake glared at her.
"As interesting as this conversation is, I have to be going." Alear kissed Blake on the head before standing up.
The cat Faunus was not happy that her pillow was leaving so soon. "Where are you going?"
He stretched before responding. "I'm just heading into the city for a little while. Feel free to join me after you guys are done with breakfast. I'll probably just be wandering around."
Alear quickly left before anyone could say anything, returning to his dorm room. He checked his scroll, hoping he had received a certain message. He was in luck.
The message read, "Meet me in the park in the center of Vale. –X."
Alear smiled to himself. There was another reason he was up this early, besides Ozpin summoning him. He had secretly been gathering information on White Fang activities, specifically Adam's activities. To do this, he had contacted several old friends who were still with Adam. It took more than a little convincing to persuade them that Adam's story about him being a traitor was false. It took even more convincing to get them to believe Adam's own betrayal.
But once his friends found out the truth, they were more than happy to be spies. X was one of these contacts, one who hopefully had some useful information about Adam.
He strapped his weapon, now in its sniper form, on his lower back and proceeded to take an airship into Vale.
Sure enough, he found his contact in the park. They wore a long, black cloak with a black hood covering their face.
Alear calmly sat down next to them, staring out into the park. "Not very inconspicuous are you, Xera?"
She calmly pulled her hood back, revealing her long, black hair and pale skin. Her slit, red eyes were the only sign of her being a snake Faunus. These eyes burned into his own. He always had to fight the urge to shudder whenever she did so.
"It's not like I can walk around here uncovered. The White Fang has eyes everywhere." Her voice was as icy as her gaze.
"Tell me something I don't know. Hell, I'm pretty sure they're in Beacon too," Alear sighed.
"Then it's safe to assume Adam knows you're alive and well, and where you are." Xera crossed her arms. "Great, that makes my job much harder."
He gave her a sympathetic look. "You know, I do appreciate what you and the others are doing. I couldn't do this without you."
She smirked. "Trying to flirt with me, Alear? Tsk, tsk. I don't think little miss kitty would like that."
He laughed. "Please, if I was flirting with you, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
She scoffed. "You're pretty confident for someone who was dumped by his last girlfriend."
"Alright, alright. You've made your point. What intel have you got for me?"
Her face grew grim. She lowered her face and leaned closer to Alear. "Something big is going down. Adam's been shipping men and resources to an unknown location for weeks."
Alear was confused. "To what end?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. It's all been quiet. Only the higher-ups seem to know much. I've only overheard them say something about restarting some kind of camp. I think it's some kind of dust mining operation, based on the kind of equipment they've been sending."
"Dust mining? He's using his soldiers to mine?"
Xera sighed, not happy about what she was about to tell him. "No, he isn't. He's begun using slave labor, human and Faunus alike. He's been shipping large amounts of them there for a while now."
To say Alear was mad would be an understatement. "Are you kidding me?! How the hell is everyone else okay with that?!"
Xera cupped his face with her hand and looked him in the eyes in an attempt to calm him. "I understand you're angry, but remember where we are." Her voice was hushed.
He took a deep breath, digging into the side of the bench with his nails.
The snake Faunus turned her gaze back to the park. "He's saying that all that he's doing…is for the greater good of our people."
"That's bullshit," he muttered.
"I know…but everyone is so…desperate." Her voice was wavering. "They're being blinded by their own desperation, allowing Adam to persuade them that whatever they have to do to gain Faunus equality is worth it. No matter who gets hurt in the process, it all seems justified to them."
"He's a goddamn mad man."
Xera nodded solemnly before checking her scroll for the time. "I must be going now. I've lingered here long enough."
Team RWBY and JNPR spotted them as she said this. Alear nodded. "Go, my friend, and be safe, you hear? You and the others must not take any unnecessary risks."
"No promises," she said with a sly smile, throwing up her hood and vanishing from sight.