FINALLY, I have come BACK to "Conversations"!
In all seriousness thought I wanna start this off by saying: Knight, I tried but we just haven't been given enough info on James Ironwood for me to pull a rabbit out of a thimble. Nevertheless the things you wanted brought up were brought up.
Meanwhile, here we go again.
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, otherwise we'd have Ironwood's backstory already!
Kevin Owens belongs to World Wrestling Entertainment
Chapter 8: Face to Face with the past
The next day Bálor would find himself once again in Ozpin's office, this time sans Goodwitch who had been placed on Administrative Leave since the incident involving Team CRDL. The Faunus would shift in his seat uncomfortably as the Headmaster sat in his seat, facing away from him.
"Professor Ozpin..what's this all about?" He looked around at the office he was currently sitting in, while the décor seemed to scream business casual with its soft carpets and motivational posters the air in the room made him think back to his many trip's to the Warden's Office.
"It'll be just a moment Bálor." The silver haired professor would turn to face the wolf across from him, a cold impassive look on the man's face as the doors to his office opened suddenly. A man dressed in a stark white military suit would enter the room and stop at Ozpin's desk.
"Sorry I'm late Oz, had a bit of a personal emergency last night."
Bálor would stare at the man's uniform, the sight of it causing him to tremble in his seat as he remembered the same uniforms back in Vacuo, the colors would be different, as would the emblem on the shoulders but military was military regardless of what nation they represented.
"Bálor..? Is everything alright?" Ozpin would notice how his ward was going pale before falling out of his seat unconscious, causing both men to be startled before having the boy rushed to the infirmary.
Ozpin would be standing outside the door with Ironwood with a furrowed brow. "You'll have to excuse the sudden fainting, that particular student has had some traumatic run-ins with the military back in Vacuo."
"Oh my, my appearance must have caused him to flashback to those terrible experiences, I do hope that he'll accept my apologies when he comes to." Ironwood would frown at his recent string of bad luck: First he had lost several of the military's Paladins to a raid by the White Fang, and now he had caused a student to relive trauma.
Truly, things were looking terrible for General James Ironwood.
"He'll have to, considering why you had me call him into my office." Ozpin would sigh and shake his head.
"I'm sorry Oz but you told me that he was one of your best, and considering how bold the White Fang have been getting as of late I need your best."
The door to the infirmary would open as the Faunus in question stepped out, looking surprisingly meek and younger then he normally did, he would be drinking steadily out of a Styrofoam cup as he avoided looking directly at the two older men.
"Young man, I sincerely apologize for-" Ironwood would trail off as the young man shook his head, causing him to go silent and let Ozpin make the introductions.
"General James Ironwood, this is Bálor Moonlight our newest and usually more charismatic student."
The wolf Faunus would nod quietly as he turned to Ozpin cautiously, ignoring the General entirely before speaking.
"This is the guy who managed to lose an expensive mech to a loser like Roman Torchwick isn't it?" Ironwood would do his best to hide his anger at his failures, and the impudent little shit that dared to bring them up. "I heard Team RWBY brought it down with some sweet moves, makes me wonder if the good General's little toys can handle multiple opponents at once."
Ironwood would grit his teeth at the accusation that had been placed upon him but he soldier on, finally inserting himself into the conversation at last.
"I assure you that the Paladin is capable of handling multiple opponents at once, it merely requires a competent pilot, something a thug like Roman Torchwick is not." Ironwood would then smile politely as he continued on "Not like you Mr. Moonlight, or perhaps I should call you…Lieutenant Moonlight instead."
Bálor would drop his cup upon hearing the General refer to him by his old rank, the silver haired Faunus would glare up at the older man angrily, wanting more than anything to tear him apart before he felt Ozpin's gentle hand rest upon his shoulder.
"You should go back to your dorm room and rest, you're still technically on Solitary Confinement after all." He would say this in a commanding tone, but the hand resting upon the Faunus's shoulder reminded him of a father who was simply trying to keep his son out of harm's way.
"Ye-yes sir.." Bálor would nod quietly, walking past the general and out into the hallways, coming face to face with Blake once again as he rounded the corner to Professor Port's classroom, he had to admit that the feline did look kind of nice in the Academy's uniform.
"Don't tell me we're gonna throw down again, I had to skip breakfast this morning ya know?"
She would ignore him with a hiss as she began to walk past him.
"What the FUCK is your problem?!" He growled, grabbing her wrist as she tried to leave, the rest of the students stopping in their tracks to watch events unfold.
"I told you this the last time we were alone together, you ruined my team..now let me go you filthy mutt!" The crowd would gasp audibly at her choice of words, Blake had been a staunch supporter of Faunus Equality and Faunus Rights. So to hear her use a racist slur was a shock to everyone, everyone except the Faunus it was directed at.
Instead he would sob quietly at the memories that slur brought up for him.
"Ya know, I'd expect that from humans, they don't know any better." He said between sobs as he held an infuriated Blake in place. "But to hear that kind of garbage from a fellow Faunus is just plain heartless!" He would turn to face her, even as the tears flowed down his face, even as she tried to pull away once again. "You don't even know a damn thing about me!" He would let her go even as other students offered him handkerchiefs and kind words.
Blake would snort again as she watched the others crowd around him, some of them glaring at her as they did.
"There's no conceivable way you're all this stupid! You've all seen how he acts around here, with his stupid Bullet Club references, the stupid grins!" She would blush furiously as her fellow Hunters and Huntresses just stared hatefully at her. "Do you people not remember what he did to Cardin? He should be in jail!" They would be furious at this, first she uses a racist slur, she was now showing sympathy for a well known Faunus hater.
"She's right..I shouldn't be free right now, I should be back in a jail cell in Vacuo." Bálor would speak up, his eyes now slightly red from his tears, standing face to face with the feline Faunus defiantly. "After all it's where I spent my childhood, when I wasn't doing the military's bidding. Imagine spending your childhood growing up behind bars because the leaders of your country need your talents to take down the problems of their own making, so you rip a child from his home and throw him to the wolves in prison to be raised by monsters!" Those listening would be murmuring quietly amongst themselves as he continued with his sad tale. "I had to spend days of my life avoiding being shanked in the chow line, being jumped during yard time, and even avoiding being raped in the showers!" He would turn around and look at everyone after saying that last bit "Dropping the soap in the shower is not a joke people, I've seen good men be reduced to crying babies after a few big guys got their hands on him!" The men in the crowd would look at each other uncomfortably before taking a few steps back from one another as they did, resulting in more then a few hilarious trip and falls.
Blake would just glare at the silver haired wolf Faunus, waiting until he turned back to face her.
"I get it, you've had a rough life, a lot of Faunus have but you don't see them spouting sob stories in order to get sympathy from the crowd. Some of us have more pride than that." She would turn to leave as the crowd started jeering her once again, knowing that even though she had made herself a pariah that she was on the right path towards getting Equality and bucking the system.
"You still don't understand do you Belladonna? I didn't say all this just to get in anyone's good graces."
Bálor would shake his head sadly as she turned back to face him, his amber eyes shining with tears as he felt his emotions threaten to turn him into a blubbering fool once more. "I just wanted you to hate my for the right reasons: For being strong enough to defend myself in a chaotic environment, even if it puts men in the hospital. I did what I had to in order to make it here to Beacon, that way I can fight the true enemy we should all be fighting as Hunters and Huntresses. The Grimm are the real problem in case you've forgotten that during your little crusade for equality." He would brush past her as he made his way back to his dorm room, passing by Yang as he did.
"Hey, B!" She would wrap her arms around him from behind, nuzzling the back of his neck gently as she did. "Man I missed you, does this mean that Professor Ozpin finally let you out?" When he didn't respond to her, Yang would let go of her second favorite Faunus (the first would always be her partner Blake.) and move in front of him with a smile on her face. "We should…celebrate..your freedom." She would notice his puffy red eyes and frown, touching his cheek gently with her hand. "Bálor, what happened?"
He would shake his head and smile a sad smile "It's nothing important, just crying tears of joy over the latest Kevin Owens happening. You remember how much I love that guy right?" The wolf would brush past her on his way back to the dorm room, leaving the blonde brawler standing there confused.
"Who the heck is Kevin Owens?"
Bálor would sigh as finally made it back his dorm room, shutting the door behind him and locking it before he would slump down to a sitting position and let himself finally shatter and cry.
"First that Ironwood guy shows up, I know his type: To them we Hunters are weapons, just point us at the enemy and we'll sacrifice our lives so you can stand on your diamond encrusted podiums and declare "Mission Accomplished". Then Blake of all people has the nerve to say I'm using my past to gain sympathy, I guess she forgot the portion of my time here where I just stayed isolated behind my headphones.
The silver haired Faunus was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't expect to feel a pair of arms wrap themselves around him, he would flinch, prepared to break away from his captor when he found himself staring into a vary familiar pair of silver colored eyes.
"Ruby..?" He would try to ask her what she was doing in his room, and how she even got into his room in the first place but she would cut him off with a firm kiss to his lips.
"Oh crap..is this really happening right now?" He would wrap his arms around her waist and gently pull the crimsonette close to him, returning her kiss in earnest as he gave into her gesture of affection as he began slowly moving aside her hood and undoing her skirt.
"W-wait Bálor, I have something I need to say." Ruby would pull away, blushing deeply and zipping up her skirt. "I certainly didn't see that coming by the way, I think we've both pulled out a first today."
The silver haired Faunus would smile and nod as he stood up and walked to his bed, taking a seat as he did while waiting for her to say her peace.
The younger Huntress would suddenly find herself at a loss for words, she was finally alone with the boy who had stolen her heart like a thief in the night, no Yang trying to cuddle up to him, with his amber eyes focused solely on her.
"Bálor, I'm..in love with you." She would notice him about to speak and wave him off. "Please, I really need you to hear all of what I'm about to say."
He would nod quietly seeing the staunch determination in her eyes that she usually reserved for the battlefield, something told him that this was the big thing she had been trying to get out for days now.
Ruby would smile happily as he motioned for her to continue, she would take a breath and gather her thoughts for what might be her one shot at happiness.
"I've been in love with you for a while, and it was before the Cookie World bit so no asking if that was when this started." She blushed as he chuckled at her words, knowing she had managed to cut him off at the pass yet again.
"This actually started on your first day here, when I saw you sitting in the courtyard. Everyone else had their cliques they belonged to, either because they were a part of a Team or because they thought alike." She sighed as she fondly thought back on the day in question. "But you were different, you were alone. Not because you didn't have a Team or were too shy to drop by and say hello, but because you were confident enough in yourself to do things your way. My first day I was totally helpless without Yang, and if it wasn't for running into Jaune and the others, things would have turned out very differently for me." The crimsonette would shake her head furiously in frustration. "I-I'm sorry, I'm rambling it's just..there's so much I wanna say but I don't know how."
Bálor would nod in understanding, hearing Ruby's confession and some of the reasons behind it brought a smile to his face. He remembered his first day in the courtyard as well and it bothered him that he felt like someone had been watching him that day.
"I'm glad it was you Rubes, if it were anyone else I would have bolted like a frightened puppy."
"Just speak from your heart Ruby, I don't care if it takes ten minutes or ten days..I want to hear it all." The wolf would smile warmly, his amber eyes staring into her silver ones as he urged her to go on with a nod of his head.
"See, you went and did it again. Even something as simple as that makes my heart skip a beat, it makes me want to be more than a Huntress!" Ruby would blush and sit down on the bed next to him, reaching for his hand and holding it close to her heart. "Do you feel it, do you feel what you're doing to me?"
Bálor would be blushing deeply this time as he tried to focus on her heartbeat but failing miserably. "Honestly Ruby, all I feel is your boob and now I really wish I hadn't said that." He would feel her giggle through his hand on her chest and pull him close to her once more with a smirk.
"You're just so amazing, and confident, and just..just..JUST KISS ME ALREADY!" The crimsonette haired Huntress would pull the silver haired Hunter into a searing kiss as they both fell back onto the bed, as the sounds of small moans and lips meeting lips would fill the room.
Well, instead of a one-on-one conversation, we have a thickening of the drama gumbo. Again, I'm sorry Knight but I just couldn't do a straight Ironwood chapter.
As for everything else, review away, suggest who should have a legitimate one on one conversation with our not so great protag, or if you're digging where this is going then tell me if you're pulling for A RoseWolf (BálorxRuby) ending or whether Howling Dragon (BálorxYang) is more your scene, and why you think it should go down as such. No we're not hitting an ending yet, more like the ramping up of non-romantic tensions.
Till next time keep those Reviews and PM's coming! ^_^