A/N: Impossibly big apologies for the massive delay on this. I'm not going to bore anyone with any excuses of any kind, but I'm very sorry for taking this long. I'll do my best to avoid this at all costs in the future.
On the whole, it wasn't exactly anything new. Ruby and Yang finished their training under the guise of combat practice, and after Yang hastily added a few not-so-reassuring words that they went very easy Blake and Weiss had relaxed a little. They all sat together on one of the many tables lining the rim of the dining hall with varying levels of happiness, though the mood as a whole was pleasantly positive.
Ruby was pretty much back to her usual bouncing self, extremely proud of herself at keeping what passed for calm while her wound healed, and a little embarrassed when Yang ruffled her hair and praised her sister as though she had saved the world. Weiss was quiet as usual, though there were noticeably less venomous remarks to the sisters antics and a few more roundabout compliments. Blake also noted that the heiress seemed to be at ease with her team a little more, and although she was far from pulling them in for group hugs, she wasn't rebutting as many activities as she had previously been doing.
For Blake, she was just doing her best to stay positive. It was hard not to give at least a small smile when you had the Rose and the Dragon around for most of the day, but between their amusing escapades and her educational work Blake still found time to immerse herself in a good book, even if was only for an hour or so. The tranquility of her literature was far from her grasp at this particular moment in time, but unlike most team activities she was really rather enjoying herself.
"Why is it that we can duel with murderous creatures on a day-to-day basis but we can't wear our own clothes to class?"
Yang spun a fork between her fingers, holding her head in her palm as she rested her elbow on the table. Weiss flicked a glare in her direction, but it was lost to the typical ignorance that the blonde so often employed when she was searching for a specific answer. Blake didn't bother gracing her partner with a response and instead let Ruby do it for her, despite her knowing that neither of the sisters would be very intelligent about the question or the answer.
"Maybe they want us to look professional?"
Ruby stabbed her ice-cream with her spoon and began gouging the once spherical lumps into a huge white mess, tongue poking out in anticipation while Yang made a noise of agreement through her mouthful of water. She raised a hand and pointed to the ceiling as she swallowed, purple eyes twinkling.
"Could be! Very possible, though I don't see how that relates to our ass-kicking."
She earned herself another glare from Weiss, more severe this time, and she caught it. Not that it changed anything of course, and as Yang gave Weiss a sly smile, basking in the knowledge that she was irritating the heiress, Ruby spoke again.
"Maybe we're only supposed to kick ass in out combat clothes?"
Yang was about to give her opinion yet again, but Weiss cut her off before she could open her mouth. Blake glanced upwards at the sharp increase of noise to her right, her eyebrow raising at the badly disguised care Weiss displayed.
"Ruby! Mind your language! You may be in a school full of people that use profanity like that on a regular basis," Her eyes swept the dining hall with disgust. "but that doesn't give you an excuse to say things like that."
Ruby pouted in response and coupled it with her puppydog eyes, making for a formidable opponent were Weiss to notice her. But the heiress wasn't even paying attention to Ruby anymore, having caught the beginning of Yangs snickering and directed her ire towards the older sibling instead.
"And you! What kind of an example is that? You're her older sister, act like it!"
A normal person may have taken offense at this, but Yang simply smiled and brushed the anger aside with a wave of her hand, dragging out each word to make them sound as comical as possible.
"Pfffffffffft, Weeeeiiisss. You know that Ruby didn't get that from me."
Cocky grin met with a cold stare, the person in question hoping to break the tension without aggravating her partner any more than Yang already had.
"I'm sorry Weiss, I promise to keep my language completely clean, okay? Don't blame Yang, for once I really didn't get it from her."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Yang feigned offense at the accusation, but her smile broadened with laughter at Ruby trying and failing to keep her face straight, honest sincerity falling to an unstoppable onslaught of mirth.
"It's not supposed to mean anything!" She protested through fits of giggling, only amplified by the physical assault on her sides as Yang danced her fingers across Rubys flanks, tickling her sister without mercy as she chuckled herself. Blake couldn't help but smirk at the exchange in front of her, and she caught the brief glimmer of amusement in Weiss's eyes as they shared a quick glance.
"Oh yeah, like I believe that! Are you implying that I've been a bad influence?"
"N-no! Please sto-o-o-ooopp!" Ruby gasped for air as she feebly tried to fend off her sisters attacks, breathing deeply as soon as Yang halted her assault and gave Ruby a tug on the cheek, causing her to pout unhappily. Ruby couldn't even keep a straight face for more than half a second, the corners of her mouth curling up before she could fold her arms to look serious.
She did manage to pull herself together after a minute or so, and Blake watched silently as Ruby reassured her partner without the distraction of Yang, she noticed that despite Weiss's usual cold front she at least seemed to accept Rubys words as the truth. It made Blake think, if only for a second, how easy it is to gain someones trust. And more importantly, what could then be done with that trust once it was obtained. The possibilities would have enticed her mind into a lengthy discussion with herself as she so often used to find herself in were it not for the question that broke through to her ears, one of friendly concern that could only have been Yang.
"Blake, you okay?"
She gave a small smile and pushed her nearly empty plate further to the centre of the table, wiping her mouth with a napkin and resting her arms on the newly made space in front of her as she gave her answer.
"I'm fine, just thinking." Blake kept it short, knowing that her partners interest would shift to something else in a minute or two and she could go back to her thoughts.
"About?"
But a minute or two hadn't passed yet, even though Blake wished it had. She resisted the urge to sigh and instead directed her attention to turning away the interest presently aimed at her the best way she knew how.
"Do you really want to know?"
She caught Weiss give her a quizzical look out of the corner of her eye and stretched her arms above her head, mentally nodding to herself as she correctly predicted Yangs response.
"Is it deep and philosophical?"
Blake caught the hint of sarcasm in her partners voice, but she decided to play along anyway, resting her hands in her lap as the aftereffects of her muscle-loosening sent a pleasant feeling spreading across her shoulders.
"Do you think that you'd be interested in the effects on relationships by the formation and breaking of trust?"
Both Yang and Ruby blinked in time with one-another as they registered what Blake was saying, the elder of the two barely keeping her jaw for falling open a little. Their heads moved to the right at the same time, and Blake turned her own a little to listen to Weiss's words.
"They won't be, but I am. Why on Remnant would you be thinking of something like that?"
Weiss raised an eyebrow slightly in curiosity while Blake brought her arms up to the table to prop her head on her fists, giving the heiress as sly look that she knew Weiss would react to.
"Insurance. Experience. Curiosity." She took a breath. "Why do you think of the things you do?" She shot back dryly, aware of the sisters somewhat dumbfounded expressions, as though they couldn't understand what she was saying. Weiss merely narrowed her eyes, fully comprehending the strings Blake was trying to pull.
"Insurance?" Weiss repeated, ignoring the underlying tone of her teammates words and instead focusing on the thing that stood out to her the most. Blake nodded.
"Should I ever have to be against any of you for any reason, and I truly hope that such a thing never happens, I want to make sure that I can do what's best for you." She took a sip of her water, enjoying her toying immensely.
"And you think that...breaking our trust will...help?" Yang asked, wholly unsure of her grasp on the conversation.
"I can't very well put things right if I'm dead, can I?" Blake replied, a little taken aback at the shocked reactions she received from her team. Ruby clasped a hand over her mouth as she gasped, while Yangs eyes widened to match the gap between her lips, jaw hanging loose in surprise. It was as though she had spoken of something unmentionable, and the slight unsettling in her stomach only strengthened that idea.
She was far from thinking it to have been a mistake, none of her team could see around the intricate walls she had erected to her real reasoning, but even so she had not expected something that she considered at every first meeting, something so vital in the grand scheme of things to seem almost heinous. She imagined that Weiss and perhaps even Yang had at least thought about such a thing at least once, but their responses to her suggestion that she may die by their hand said otherwise.
Weiss just stared, an action which made Blake feel far more uncomfortable than she felt it should have. Although she had been content with messing with her team, this unease was not natural, so in an attempt to push it away she asked Yang about her activities of the day. Luckily enough, the blonde snapped out of her trance and subsequently dragged Ruby into her explanations, rapidly leaving both Weiss and Blake with the confused impression that she had declared war on the next-year students.
Still, it passed the time and allowed Blake to quietly slip back into her mind, so she was happy.
The two walked in silence, each grateful for the chance to be alone with themselves without any interruptions. Their pace was slow, and though they were aware of eachothers presence beside them they paid no heed to eachother. For all their differences, they were very similar.
Weiss couldn't shake those words from her head no matter how much she tried to think of other things. It refused to leave her alone.
'Insurance.'
What could she have possibly meant by that? More importantly, what did it mean to Weiss? Something about the way Blake chose to word her answer didn't settle well with the heiress, and that was a fact she greatly disliked.
The very person who caused her this displeasure was idly strolling beside her down one of Beacons many corridors, completely oblivious to her teammates discomfort and to the fact that she was the one who had brought it about. Weiss wasn't sure if voicing her opinions would even help her to understand how she felt herself, while she knew that the past month had truly been a whirlwind of emotions, the most recent two weeks had taken it to new extremes. Weiss wasn't sure how she should've felt, a fact which she didn't like at all.
What does it say about a persons strength if they can't control their own emotions?
She had to be the best Huntress she could possibly be, and right now despite her extensive studying and excellent grades - she just wasn't. Maybe it was the shock of being assigned teammate rather than team leader that had thrown her off, or maybe it was the fact that she was taking orders from someone two years her junior, let alone someone who was accepted into this academy, for no viable reason. Weiss had spent years training herself to be one of the students attending Beacon, if only to escape the joyless confines of her fathers mansion.
But although she had indeed made it to this legendary place and passed the initiation, she was not the leader she had assumed she would be, and that above all irked her. She didn't doubt Rubys combat skills, though she was a little unrefined and brash - something she no doubt learned from Yang, no, Weiss was more than accepting of her leaders battle prowess. The problem for her was Rubys lack of leadership skills, even after Weiss had made her opinions on the matter perfectly clear she was still annoyed with Rubys inability to take things seriously.
Although, to her credit, she was improving over time and Weiss did notice a rise in her maturity levels, but still...
"Weiss."
Blakes call cut through her contemplation like a knife through butter, even though it was barely above a whisper. She felt the gentle nudge in her flank and looked up, immediately straightening her posture as she saw the respected form of Professor Ozpin striding towards them. They made it another few steps before the two parties came to a halt, the headmasters spectacles were low on his nose and his cane firmly in his hand. He exuded purpose.
"Miss. Schnee, Miss Belladonna." Ozpin greeted them in turn with a slight bow, to which they both returned as they listened to him talk. Blake watched his body language as best she could, while Weiss concentrated on the mans face, partly because it was polite and partly because she wanted to distract herself from the troubling thoughts that had previously swirled inside her head. "How is Miss Rose?"
"She's recovering well. As far as we know her wound is almost back to peak condition, but Yang and I insist that she takes it easy, just to be sure."
He nodded in acknowledgement at Weiss's words and took the lead, content that the exchange was ready to continue.
"Excellent news. And you two?"
Blake gave the shortest answer she could without being rude, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck tingle as she spoke. Something wasn't right.
"Fine sir, thank you."
"As well as can be, given the circumstances."
He paused for a few seconds, hazel eyes passing between the two girls completely and frustratingly unreadable. He stood straight, though he was by no means intimidating and turned on his heel wordlessly, beckoning them to follow him with a single gesture of his free hand. They followed him for several minutes around the winding corridors with no small amount of curiosity, passing the stray student and little else on the way to his office.
Even though they had been at Beacon for about a month and a half now, they still found the layout to be somewhat confusing. Blake knew they were heading to Ozpins office, she remembered the path as soon as they passed the fork in the walls, the same one she had been at when she was infiltrating the very place she was being led to. She knew that he would bring them there, the underlying tone of his voice was too severe for it to be a social call. Something was up, she could feel it.
Professor Ozpin held the door open for the two girls, his face blank as they passed him into the room without a sound. He closed it behind him and gestured them to his actual office, seating himself on the padded large chair that faced the door and formed a triangle with his hands, fingertips hovering in front of his nose.
He said nothing.
Weiss held her hands in front of her out of respect, allowing them to hang lazily below her waist while Blake had her own behind her back in much the same way, unsure of what to do. They didn't take their eyes off the headmaster, but Blake did note that the untidy mess on his desk had been cleaned, and where there used to be a pile of papers there now rested a single obsidian-black folder.
A curious thing, so trivial.
Ozpin broke the silence, leaning forward and turning the folder around a half-circle, opening it and allowing the girls to lean closer to inspect what was on the pages. He spoke as they read, watching their expressions with a keen eye that he knew full well Blake could match.
"Based on what Miss Rose and Miss Long have told me, and from Professor Ports experience I believe that I know just what you discovered."
He met Weiss's somewhat confused gaze and gestured to the pages with a small nod.
"Umbra. Tenebris. Exceedingly rare and exceedingly powerful Grimm that could readily tear you in half. This is what you faced, correct?"
Blake nodded, her eyes darting over the text and drawings as she read everything she could and memorized it all. Page after page of information, not only on the Grimm itself but also the past dealings that the Academy has had, some dating back hundreds of years. This was not a new occurrence, and that set Blakes stomach lurching.
"Then you know full well that it cannot stay in the forest."
Weiss shot the headmaster a look of disbelief. She already knew what he was going to say, and she was horrified by his words.
"You two, along with the rest of your team will meet me at the Eastern entrance at Four O'Clock in three days time. In the morning." He cut Weiss off even before she could speak, catching her sharp inhale and reading her face like a book. Understandably angry, but not very accepting.
"I have talked this over with Miss Rose already, and this is the time we agreed upon. She feels that she will be ready by then and I have every cause to believe her. Your fears are justified, Miss Schnee, but they are false. This is not up for debate, do I make myself clear?"
Blake nodded wordlessly, his sheer authority subduing any protests she may have had. She glanced over to Weiss, noticing the flushed cheeks and furrowed brows of her teammate - Weiss was very unhappy with this. But despite her complete disapproval she too bowed her head in acknowledgement, the action screaming the feelings that she daren't express to someone of such a high position of power.
He glanced between them over his spectacles, allowing them some time to grasp what they had been told and to make preparations for the time to come. Blake slowly turned her attention back to the folder and began reading through it again, puzzlement and intrigue sharing her face in equal parts. He could tell that this wasn't new to her, not in the same way it was to Weiss.
The heiress had her back to the room, staring outside the single window that gazed out over the grounds. She wasn't paying attention to the setting sun or the shadows that slowly crept across the ground, nor was she listening to the sounds of the students returning from that days practice in the forest. She was not aware of her own reflection in the glass, of her arms folded across her chest and her face solemn. She was back deep into the swirling mess of thoughts that clouded her mind, though Blake was now with her in this; rather than against her.
He likened her to an only child who had discovered someone like a sibling to them. Someone they never had.
Ozpin turned his head back to the girl before him, watching the slightly apprehensive way with which Blake spoke and raising his eyebrows briefly in surprise.
"May I take this? To study?"
Blake had kept her voice strong, though she heard the quiver in her words and winced inside. This wasn't exactly how she had planned things to go, but as far as she could tell she wasn't entirely in danger, not yet. He still didn't know that it was she who broke into his office, and he didn't know that both she and Weiss knew far more than they were supposed to know.
She still had pieces to use, but so did he.
The silence seemed to drag on for hours, but he held her stare for only a few seconds before answering.
"Yes. I shouldn't need to tell you to take extreme care with it, and I expect it back on my desk within twenty-four hours. Understood?"
She nodded again, a vague glimmer of anxiety in her eyes. Ozpin saw it, and so did Weiss. The heiress had turned at her teammates question and watched the exchange, though neither she nor the headmaster mentioned anything of it to Blake. Instead, the two girls shared a stare and a brief changing of words before they excused themselves from the office, more than a little unnerved at the events that had just transpired.
Blake found Ozpins lack of a goodbye particularly chilling. He was always a polite man, but now it seemed like there was no cause for him to be civil to them anymore.
'Perhaps he's just had a long day.'
Her attempts to reason with herself were painful to even listen to, she knew that wasn't the case at all. She and Weiss began their walk back towards their dorm at a much faster pace, with Blake carrying the folder under one arm and Weiss beside her. They had a few things to talk about when they met up with the sisters.
'Chief among which,' Blake thought, 'is how and when Ozpin managed to talk to them about this without them saying anything to us. And more importantly, what else might they have told him? Yang doesn't know the whole story and neither does Ruby, but I can't let this go. I have to know what was said.'
'I have to know everything.'
Professor Ozpin sat back in his chair, gently massaging his forehead with his fingertips, eyes closed. Today was a stressful one, but as ever he had kept everything under control and paved the next few days smoothly. Nobody was any the wiser bar perhaps one person, and things had progressed exactly as he wanted them to. Rubys injury was unfortunate, but her rapid recovery was a blessing that meant he could start the next step that much sooner.
A knock sounded at the closed door, prompting him to open his eyes and give the person permission to enter. It clicked open and he addressed his company politely, offering them a seat to which they accepted without a word. They were not on friendly terms, but he regarded them with a respect that he had perfected over many years. He had lied many a time before, and this time was no different. They didn't deserve his respect, but it would be easier if they believed that they did.
After all, they would play a large part. Ozpin was sure.