I experienced a hard-drive crash on my fanfiction-laptop and the replacement was like, ten years old. But now I got a new one and I can finally update again!
RWBYbomb21: that would be awesome, but not what really what I planned.
Cliffdiver: unfortunately, no. I was just more inspired to write a new RWBY chapter than anything else. It might become more occurring, but…I don't know.
Tuutje07: Aww, thanks. That made me all happy inside.
7Artemis7: Good; it'll be even better when I finally get done with rewriting the first 25 chapters. Also, donuts and cookies for me?
Solar Jarl The Cannon King 44K: so awesome to see you here!
"Procedure 042 Vytal is based on the ideology and theory of "Ankers". An Anker can be seen as a staging area for airships. The ship can travel everywhere, but it must always return to the staging area. No, that's not quite right. There are certain bacteria that, when threatened, form a protective shell inside of their body where they store their genetic material. This endospore will survive the death of the body and can be kept stable and intact for a long time. When the time is right, the endospore will hatch. An Anker is like that. The Procedure is a process meant to revert the mind of the Catalyst back to the mental Anker, upon which it can be…implanted."
-Professor J. Ikterine, supervisor of Artificial-Comatose and Health-monitoring. 1 of 2.
"Day 75- Headmasters office -07:18
The reports of the past expedition to the northern continent were still a source of worry and apprehension. Despite them varying in length, style and sense, they all told the same story. A story that belonged in a horror-movie, not in real life. Even Glynda had never seen something like that before in her years as a Huntress and she had seen a lot of things. Why was it that these children, still on their first year, experienced the kind of things even an adult Hunter would have trouble dealing with? Why did it seem like they were destined to be in the wrong place at the right time?
"Ruby Rose," said Ozpin. "'And after apprehending Cyan Romero, Alessa beat him up to prevent him from running. Then Onyx came along and took him in.' Jaune Arc: 'Thankfully, Ruby found the location fast enough to defuse a possible hostage-situation. We arrested Doctor C. Romero. Alessa Noctis of team LACG made sure that he would not pull a gun on us again, as he had proven to be a dangerous adversary. After that, Onyx forces appeared at the lab and took the doctor to a place called Hellgrounds."'
"Hellgrounds?" she asked.
"Strange, isn't it? Lisa Adamant…'some…'" he coughed. "'…stuff went down and stuff got real and when we found that'…oh my. 'Found that child-experimenting man, we had Alessa work off some frustration and then took him in. Will was there, Onyx teleported there and all was well."'
"She has an eccentric way of describing the situation," Glynda Goodwitch remarked.
"Yes."
"Was that all?"
"One more fragment, written by Will. Did you find a dormitory closer to RWBY and JNPR?"
The Huntress crossed her arms and sighed. The moments where Ozpin wanted her to do something that she did not understand were getting more frequent and she had to admit that this was one of them again. "Sir, not to be rude, but is the boy not fine where he is now?"
Ozpin grabbed his cup of coffee. "You read Ruby and Jaune's report, did you not?"
"I did. I could not get through Lisa's."
"Then you should know that the situation is constantly changing. Right now, a proper dormitory will be fine. Operative Greystone: 'consequently, Romero fell down several flights of stairs in an attempt to escape, suffering minor lacerations, a broken rib, a chipped tooth and a torn muscle.'"
Glynda snorted. "Why should he lie? Did he not know his peers made reports as well?"
"This report was a copy of what he sent to Onyx. It is obvious that miss Noctis got violent with the doctor. Why he should hide it from his superiors…can be because Romero still holds value to Onyx or because he specifically wanted to hide that Alessa did it."
"Experimenting on children…he deserved what got to him," remarked Glynda.
"There is no doubt that his actions came to "bite him in the ass", as a certain Adamant would put it. So now the question is…"
Professor Goodwitch turned to face Ozpin. "Is he covering for Beacon, or for Alessa?"
"Exactly. The former would suggest that Onyx holds the power to accuse Beacon of matters they should not be accusing about, while the latter would suggest that Alessa had a more personal reason to do it."
She shook her head. It was nearly impossible to believe that the three teams would simply stumble upon a former-Onyx lab and encounter the same man who had been responsible for turning the life of one of their own into a hell. It did explain the lack of official documents, but Professor Adamant had been quite insistent that Alessa got to Beacon.
"This is why you granted his request," she then said. "You knew that something terrible had happened when he brought her here, did you not?"
"I did not suspect something of this magnitude, Glynda. I suspected it had to do with Roman Torchwick."
"And what happened with Roman Torchwick, anyway?" she demanded. "I keep hearing more about some "terrible accident" everytime someone mentions the two of them together. What could have possibly happened between a common criminal and a former Adamant heir?"
"Not a common criminal. And not just a former heir. He both willingly gave that title away, as it was taken from him. It is not my story to tell though. You should ask him someday."
"I think I will," replied Goodwitch. "Adamants are always trouble."
"They are one of the oldest families of Hunters. Of course they are always trouble. No…what troubles me, is this Blackwood they encountered. It took all fourteen of them to take him down and even then, he still survived."
"A teacher should have gone with them."
"If I read Ruby's report, I do not think it would have made much of a difference."
Shock and trepidation loosened the muscles around her arms and a shiver ran down her back. "What do you mean, Ozpin?"
The Headmaster sighed and turned to the window. "Did you read what happened to Yang Xiao Long?"
"Yes. Nearly killed by Blackwood, saved by Greystone."
"Not just "nearly" killed. The report describes that the Operative stopped her heart with a single punch, through her Aura and through her Semblance. Greystone resuscitated her. Few might realize it, but I believe Blackwood actually killed Yang that day. She just did not stay dead for long."
Horror struck Professor Goodwitch as the realization dawned upon her. "Yang's prowess in battle rivals that of some second- and third-years!"
Ozpin turned around again, looking solemn. "Indeed. I'm afraid no amount of normal training would reach such results. Take your average new Huntsman, for example. Trained four years at one combat school before attending another four years of Beacon. Eight years of total training. A lengthy education, started at an early age, wouldn't you agree?"
"Would not have made much of a difference…Ozpin, are you saying that this Blackwood holds more training than an average Hunter?"
"He is described as being twenty years old. To attain a skill necessary to make short work of three teams of students of their caliber demands either a dozen years of rigorous training, or half a dozen years of…more extreme training."
"How old was he when he started then? Everybody here at Beacon started when they turned thirteen; any sooner and it would not have worked."
"I know…and I don't know. Have a chat with Will, I would say. Perhaps he can shed some light on this matter."
Glynda crossed her arms again. "If you think that is a good idea…"
Perhaps he heard the hesitation and uncertainty in her voice, because the Headmaster approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked at her with his wise, calm eyes, and said, "There's no reason to be afraid of him. He's not like this Blackwood."
She wanted to pull away and act indignant, but her body did not obey her mind. "I am not afraid," she said, but there was no way that Ozpin would believe her.
"Then there is nothing to worry about," he kindly said. "Take your time. Remember, you are still his superior. A man is not solely defined by his deeds. Not in this case."
"A man? Ozpin, I am not so certain you picked the right term."
He let her go. "Ever heard of the saying "a man chooses, a slave obeys"?"
Glynda shook her head again. "I can't say I have, sir."
"That doesn't matter. Thank you for your help, Glynda."
"Anytime." She glanced at him again, before turning around to leave the office.
Day 75 -Hangar bay -01:46
A man towered above, glaring down with all authority of judge, jury and executioner. There was no point of escape now. He wanted to move, to get up and run away and have his Semblance kick in, but she whispered at him to stay put. She resisted his urge and stayed him grounded. With his head angled like that, he could see it all. He could see the sun slowly setting behind the man, reducing him to a shadowy figure, his outline even more ominous than normal.
There was hope, now long since dead.
On the other side of his body, outside of his vision, someone poured liquid on him. He could hear the contents of a container or can, shaking and clashing, like a glass of water in a speeding tank. More than ever he wanted to get up and flee, but he would die if he did. There were too many of them. He had to stay put and play possum.
She could fix him. She could fix him. She could fix him.
His neck was starting to hurt, but not as bad as his side, which had been blown apart by a high-caliber round during the betrayal. The man popped a cigar and took one puff as the person behind him finished up dousing him. He could not see what colour it was and that terrified him more than anything. He knew what was going to happen, because he had witnessed it with his own eyes. He knew that the road ahead was the darkest and most insane he would ever take. It took all of his willpower just to stay put. His abdomen hurt, not because of the damage done, but because of the damage about to be done. A weird sensation numbed his chest.
She could fix him. She could fix him. She could fix him.
The man finished his cigar and turned to walk away. When he did, he casually flicked the burning stump at his prone body. Time seemed to slow down as the smoking piece sailed through the air. Enough time to shoot it out of the air. Enough time to get up and run. Enough time to roll out of the way. Enough time to bend out of its path. Not enough time-
She could fix him. Their fall was for them. Together.
Not enough time!
Stay put. Stay put. Stay put. Play possum. Play possum. Play possum.
The stump impacted on his unmoving body, setting alight a sea of flames. All turned red, his heart controlling his mind. Something within him started to scream. He didn't feel a thing at first, but his suit would not withstand this for longer than a few seconds. The fire starts to burn, silently, deafening. His blood was boiling, his fibers screaming. It was tormenting without the pain. Conflagrations danced round him and they blinded him.
Time was just a concept and the first thing to fade. He could not scream he had to stay quiet. He would return he would get revenge. He would escape. He would survive. He could not die here.
The fire was consuming all. The warmth was numbing and exhausting. He could close his eyes and fade away. There was no hope, there was no peace. All was burning. There was burning. There was screaming, but his lips were closed. There was screaming inside of his head and he understood why he felt the exhaustion, yet not the burn. And he begged it to stop.
The screaming rose in pitch and like cascading waves, the flames rolled over his body. His suit disappeared, his clothes gone. His skin exposed and his limbs trembling, the flames licking at everything exposed. The pain flattened his nerves, curbed his body and destroyed all thoughts. It drove out all and above all, she screamed at him to stay down and not move and he was burning.
She could fix him. She could fix him. She could fix -
Something hard impacted on his head and his body jolted with alarm. He jerked with his arms and went for his knife, but it was dark and he didn't see where he was. Reaching around, he slowly realized what had hit him and what was going on.
It appeared that he had bumped his head on the floor. His hammock still hung where he had left it, only it was tangled and dislodged. His forehead, but that was the least of his worries.
Operative Greystone looked around. He was in Beacon's hangar bay, which was dark and quiet. He was alone and he was lying on the ground. Situation…relatively normal, he supposed. He cautiously reached for his arms to check his skin. It was still covered by his skintight suit, which felt cool against his skin. His head felt like it was about to split in half, but that was good. It meant that he was awake.
He chuckled and slowly crawled back to his feet. Normally, the dreams in which he died were the best he ever had. She would yell at him for that. Now it was more obvious than ever; when faced with the idea of death, he was at peace.
Something warm ran over his lip and he reached up. A trickle of blood was running down from his left nostril. Had he bumped his head that hard? Or was this the familiar headache-induced bleeding?
It was that moment that he heard the crying. He automatically froze and felt the hairs on his neck rising. He recognized it. He had heard it so many times before…the sad, reluctant sobbing of a person who had broken down after seeing too much horrors for one day. Every time again he was forced to commit an atrocity, it was there.
Will got to his feet. He had to help her! He had to go to her and comfort her!
The hangar bay was dark and he wasn't wearing his helmet, but he could still find his way to the stairs that led up to the door. The door was roughly five feet above the ground and covered by a metal frame, which had broken down long ago, during the fight with Operative Mantis. He had to watch out for that.
He reached for the doorknob, when the sobbing suddenly stopped. He could hear shallow breathing, but nobody was crying. It had just stopped.
Had he imagined it?
Slowly, he opened the door and peered into the dark hallway. Not a single soul. Where had-?
Something grabbed him by his ankles and pulled him to the ground. He slammed with his head against the wooden door, which loudly slammed open. After that, the same thing that pulled him to the ground started dragging him back over the floor. He felt the sharp remains of the fence dig into his ribs, before he fell over the railing completely and fell to the ground. He managed to avoid being knocked senseless by the impact on the deck, but he had no respite. No relief. As he slowly sat back against the wall, trying to puzzle together what had just happened, something materialized from within the darkness.
His heart fastened and for a second, he could not breathe. He couldn't jump for his discarded rifle or grab a knife even if he had wanted to.
She was ghastly pale. Paler than him, even though he spend most of his time with a body-covering suit or set of clothes. Her emaciated limbs went for his throat with an excruciating slowness, as if suspended in honey. And he still couldn't move. He still didn't want to move. He was paralyzed and helpless as she wrapped her slender fingers around his larynx and slowly increased the pressure. The dusty cloak around her body rustled like Ruby's cloak, though there was no wind.
'Take me home,' she sang to him in a voice that was like a whisper. 'Liar.´
"I tried," he whispered back. He could barely squeeze the words out. "I…I did. But I…I…failed. I failed you."
She let go with one hand, but also increased her relentless grip on his throat. He did not follow her free hand. He knew what would happen. He deserved this. Finally, almost a full year later, had he suffered enough?
He was down. And she would chain him to the ground. Deeper down, until there was nothing left. And it was alright –it was okay. He had been waiting for it. Before his eighteenth summer, he had promised. He was never made to last anyway.
Would he accept? Would he go?
'I never gave you up.' She slowly inserted the tip of his knife into his side. 'Always our angels wept.' She pushed the knife deeper down, slicing through muscles and drawing blood. No Aura to protect him. Of course not. It had always been her. 'Did you give up on me?' she slowly pulled the knife out, revealing a small, bleeding wound. The knife was wet with blood.
"Never." He paid the wound no mind. He deserved to suffer for his failure.
He closed his eyes and the knife clattered to the ground. She was gone. He was alone.
Had he always been alone?
His eyes were wet. The ground was slipper with a mixture of fluids. His side hurt. He was afraid; afraid of the consequences of his failure. She was dead. She was gone. But she was here. She needed him. He needed to find her.
His training took control over his body later than before. Later than he had expected. He was vaguely of reaching for a backpack to grab something, before reaching for the wound in his side to inject something there. A cool, stinging sensation spread through his chest and he breathed out. Only then did he become aware of himself.
His heart was pounding. His chest was heaving. He was shivering, but not due to the tissue-regenerative liquid. Again, he was afraid. Scared. He couldn't trust his senses. He couldn't trust his environment. The darkness, once his ally, had turned against him. There wasn't anything he could trust; nightmares and pain were all around him.
With his back against the wall, he sat and waited until the dawn. He didn't dare go back to sleep again. She was always there. Not always as vocal, but watching. Waiting. She always woke him up at night, leering and taunting him. Several times she had jumped him, attempted to throttle him. At dawn, he would check his body for injuries. There always were.
His side stung. This was a new one. She had not stabbed him before. But he had been stabbed multiple times in his life. He would recover.
He was tired.
Hours later, dawn arrived. With it came a rising sense of helplessness and vulnerability. He had limited Aura capabilities, his mental state was deteriorating and worst of all: he did not know the status of his partner. She could no truly be dead and gone; there was something left. This might be his chance to save her. To fulfil the promise he had not been capable of holding.
He slowly got to his feet again. The wound in his side stung again. It was irrelevant.
What should he do now? Abandon Beacon to go on a wild goose-chase? He did not know where to start. He needed an expert on this. He was going to hunt down Onyx personnel.
Without fully intending to, he reached for his Beacon outfit. It had a tie. His undersuit did not have that.
He carefully covered the opening in his skin and attached his rifle to his back. His first two steps were wavering and unsteady, but he bit through his exhaustion and kept going. She kept him from sleeping, but she could not keep him from keeping strong. He could go for days at an end without sleep and food and water were secondary to his objective only.
The dining hall was relatively busy. He spotted a total of three dozen students, spread across the tables. There were many unknowns. Many possible hostiles. An ambush could come from any point. He should avoid this area, or strike prematurely.
Teams RWBY, JNPR and LACG were sitting at tables too. RWBY was the closest though and Yang instantly spotted him. Of course, Alessa probably spotted him too.
There was still a spot left for him, but he had no desire to partake in another food-fight. The idea was somewhat disturbing.
The team spotted him and both Yang as Ruby waved at him, though Yang was more enthusiastic. She always was the most enthusiastic of her team. When he had first met her, her presence had been rather confusing for him. She had been so familiar to him –she still was- that his instincts tended to shut down when around her. It was complicated.
Still, he waved back. Things were always complicated, but there were also things that were just natural. Ruby had taught him as much. There were so many things she had taught him. He owed her and her team many times over.
"You look nice," Yang said as he sat down next to her. "It's about time you wore that again. You…do look tired though."
He felt uncomfortable and vulnerable in the school-outfit, and he hadn't had a sane night without being physically abused in days, but at least things weren't completely bad. He looked nice. That was a thing.
"I'm never tired," he said. "And the suit itches."
She grinned. "Would you rather be naked then?"
"No. People would stare at me."
Weiss gave him a stern look, while Ruby started giggling. "Is that the only reason you would not walk naked into the dining hall?" asked the Heiress.
Wait, something was amiss. This was a trap. "Is that a trick-question?"
"A trick –what? Are you daft?" the girl exclaimed with a surprised look.
"Wow, you saw right through her, didn't you?" laughed Yang. "Sorry Weiss, better luck next time."
Blake smirked as well. Somehow, Will felt like he was the subject of a form of sarcasm. He threw Yang a questioning look, but she merely rustled his hair and said, "One of these days."
Alright, if she said so. He reached for the nearest cup and poured himself some coffee. He put the can down again and grabbed the cup, but it slipped out of his fingers at the last moment. He managed to catch it before it could fall, though he did spill some on the floor.
He frowned and looked at his fingers, even as Cho on the other table stared at him. He knew that he was tired, but he was nowhere near tired enough to drop a cup of coffee. It must be the school-outfit.
"Anyway," he started, making sure that he picked up his coffee properly this time, "I received confirmation that Romero has arrived at the Hellgrounds. He shouldn't be a problem anymore."
"Good," said Ruby. "He can stay there for the rest of his life."
"So what are these Hellgrounds then?" asked Blake. "Does Onyx have its own prison?"
He nodded. "In a way. The hellground Facility is an isolated, underground prison-complex where all unwanted prisoners are locked up. It's the last resort, used only when the individual can't simply be put to death. Just like Romero's lab, it goes for five levels under the ground, but it's many times larger."
"Why do they call it the Hellground Facility?" asked Weiss,
"I can think of some reasons," replied Yang.
"It's completely underground, outfitted with simple and rudimentary electronics and well-guarded. If you crossed the line to be put away down there, you'll never see daylight again. Perpetual darkness, many miles away from civilization. Prisoners don't get a chance to tear each other apart, because they are thoroughly supervised. Dictators, war-lords once commanding thousands of soldiers, it doesn't matter. Down there, you are nobody."
"Sounds depressing. Romero will fit in just fine," said Yang.
Will noticed that even the ever-merciful RWBY had a line that should not be crossed. In their case, it was harming children. That did not bode well for him. Perhaps they would understand his circumstances if he got the chance to explain? "So when does the next semester start again?"
"In a few days," Ruby said as she reached for a plate of cookies. "But that's not important. What is important, is how we are going to spend those days. I think we could all use something to look forward to."
He grunted and reached for his scroll. He knew direction the girl was headed and he had better things to do, anyway. It was time to compose a blacklist again.
"Coco is still not back, so it will be up to us to make that everything goes as planned."
Shouldn't Ruby know by now that no battle-plan survived contact with the enemy?
"And as soon as we are done with Professor Port's homework, we'll get going!"
Ironwood. The Atlas General had a pretty simple list of feats, among one of which was the collaborated creation of the first robotic humanoid capable of generating Aura, authorized and supported by Onyx. Some medals, one Purple Heart, a commendation for revolutionizing warfare by using droids…yeah right, like staging a computer-controlled army capable of being wiped out with one EMP Pulse was worthy of a commendation.
The more he read about the General, the larger his feeling of contempt for the man grew. It was no wonder that Ironwood and Eventide clashed so often with each other. Their ideals stood in direct contrast to each other.
…what homework did Ruby talk about?
"And then we'll have to invite Ash, Cal and Lily and-"
"Ruby?" interrupted the Operative. "Did Port give up homework?"
"Of course he did," said Weiss. "You were there, remember? Pulling legs and all that foolishness?"
Right, the retarded sayings. He had lost his focus halfway through the lesson, as he had remembered something important. "Could you…refresh my memory?"
"It was this autobiography-thing on your proudest moment fighting the Grimm," said Yang. Weiss returned to bickering with Ruby about some important night and Blake was busy drawing,
He smiled. "Shouldn't be too hard for you, right?"
"Recalling one of those fights, not so much. Writing about it though…meh, I'll give it a shot, What about you then?"
A proud moment fighting Grimm…he did not feel pride or happiness during fighting. He felt nothing during fighting and afterwards he always tried to forget about what he had done. But pride…he had absolutely zero reason to feel any form of pride. He had firmly believed that his actions had been causing peace and sanity throughout Remnant, but his time at Beacon had shown him that that was wrong. In a way, the Academy had shown him the errors of his ways. In a way, it had taken away the only thing that kept him slipping over the edge.
His musings had to have been more visible than he could afford, because Yang suddenly reached out and placed an arm over his shoulder. He did not shy away from her affection, like he had done during the first few times. But neither could he allow himself to relax.
"Grimm," she repeated, "not humans. You've been around, right? Surely you could feel proud for every Grimm you kill?"
Actually, if she put it like that, there was one. "There was the time we encountered the Mental Grimm."
Yang's smile grew wider. "There you go. That wasn't so hard?"
"Not really."
The blonde stood up from the table and pulled him with her. "Hey Rubes, we're going to the library-"
They were?
"-you coming?"
"Sure," said the redhead. "There's a book I've been meaning to show Weiss. Are you coming with us, Blake?"
The Faunus smiled, looking happier than Will had seen her in a while. "You guys go ahead. I've got an appointment with a friend of mine, in the city."
"Just be careful," said Ruby. "Just because things look calm, doesn't mean they are."
Blake pointed to her head, where her bow twitched. "The ears don't lie. I'll be fine."
For a split-second, Will wanted to warn Blake to stay away the exchange students. But then he remembered that it was him who should stay away from the exchange students, so he kept quiet.
A few minutes later, as Blake walked away to catch the nearest airship down to the city, he had gathered enough courage and words to ask his next question. "What do you guys think of all the foreign students?"
"I think it's awesome that they are coming to Beacon," Ruby said as she led them up a flight of stairs, "Don't you?"
He eyed a group of second-years that were walking down the hallway they were about to enter. Onyx still hadn't found the one responsible for the leak about the Schnee Dust killings from two years back. "There's so many of them."
"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you sounded intimidated," the redhead joked as they moved towards the entrance of the library. "We're all on the same side, Will."
"Until I introduce myself, that is."
"If you introduce yourself with 'hello, I am Operative Greystone from Onyx', you will walk into some opposition, that is only logical," said Weiss. "But "Greystone" doesn't define you. You have a name, so use it."
He muttered something in return.
"Excuse me?" said Ruby.
"I don't want to use my name," he repeated, speaking too fast to sound nonchalant or uncaring. "It's very private."
"What do you mean, your name is private?" asked the Heiress, placing her hands on her hips in the process. Her strict tone and attitude made him cringe and feel like he needed to hide behind Yang, which might even be a good idea to do. "We all know it."
How was he going to explain this? "It's about the only thing I can share with someone."
Yang's reply was immediate and blush-inducing. "What do you mean "the only thing I can share"? There's plenty of things you can share! Emotions, memories, intimacy."
Between Weiss staring at Yang with a mixture of disbelief and shock, and Ruby quickly coughing to hide a loud laugh, Will had no idea how to reply to that. Was Yang suggesting something? Did she want to share intimate memories? Emotional ones? Why was the room so hot all of a sudden?
"I…" words failed to describe words. He knew –he knew- that it was impossible to reply without causing the girls to laugh at him again. "It's the only thing I can share with…strangers."
"Well, I'm not a stranger," said the blonde a she walked towards a round table, causing whatever thought-processes Will had to utterly shut down. "So don't feel intimidated or anything."
Weiss gasped. Ruby yelped something about a book and disappeared in a cloud of rose-petals, but not before pulling Weiss with her, leaving the people that desperately needed assistance without their assistance.
"I'm not intimidated," the soldier replied without an ounce of honesty. For the first time, he experienced what it felt like to be a gatling-gun in need of cooling down. His dream came to mind, but he dismissed it again. This heat he experienced was nowhere near unpleasant.
Why was it that he could handle overwhelming storms of artillery and bullets, take out ships on bombing-runs with precision shots and survive his helmet being smashed in by his former friend, but not dealing with Yang Xiao Long?
The girl looked smug. "I don't know. You look like you're about to keel over."
He sat down on the opposite chair and very consciously and deliberately placed both of his hands on the table. He liked her expression. "Right. Let's hope Ruby will be there to catch me."
Yang laughed and Will checked his scroll again. Field Commander Yale, the current person in charge of most Onyx Fireteams in Vale and also Beacons confidante concerning Onyx activities. He had always respected Yale for being an efficient and ruthless tactician, but that had changed when it became clear that Yale knew more than he let on. That made him an important target.
"You know," she said, assuming a more serious tone, "I've actually been meaning to ask you something. Now that we're back at Beacon, you know."
She sounded very serious. Her expression had lost its playful edge and now contained that same doubtful, pained edge that freshly-traumatized marines had. If she didn't watch out, it would turn to a haunting. "Go ahead."
"Have you ever…you know…been close to dying? Not wounded, but actual dying?"
He grimaced. He couldn't help it; the timing was so painful. "More times than I wish to remember."
"How did you deal with that?"
"Something always brought me back. Defibrillators, drugs…" he paused, a stab of pain shooting through his chest. "Screaming." But that was not what Yang meant. What she had gone through was actual dying. It had happened twice to him and both times, he had always had someone to help him pull through. And she was just a student; death was part of his life, but not hers. Blackwood needed to pay for what he had done. "What happened to you…is not part of what you have been training for. Facing death is. Experiencing death…is not." This was harder than dealing with a confusing Yang. Where was Ruby when he needed her? Was this where people needed to be…touched?
The girl placed her head on her arms, on top of the table. "But that's the thing. It keeps me up at night. What if it had worked? What if I had…what would Ruby have done without me?"
Will sharply inhaled, finally understanding what Yang's true problem was. It was a problem that was so common among soldiers: when faced with their own mortality, they would keep going strong, smiling if needed. When faced with the mortality of others, or the void they would leave when gone, they would turn their heads and lie to themselves. Yang was plagued by the thought of the grief of her loved one; her younger sister.
He walked over to her side of the table and, glancing at his hand for a moment, gently padded her head. The little curl on top of her head bounced right back up as he withdrew his hand again. He couldn't address the coping of near-death experiences, as they were the most peaceful moments in his life. But he could do something else. "You would have never stayed down…and neither would I have let you."
Yang looked up at him with a hint of surprise.
And he smiled at her. It felt odd, after so long. Like his muscles weren't used to it. But it felt so good. "I picked you up. And I will always do so. Just like the rest of your friends."
She looked at him for a few seconds, before she suddenly got up and hugged him. The movement was sudden and surprising and for a brief moment, he flinched. She placed pressure on the wound in his side and he sucked his breath in through his teeth. But the second he felt her warm arms wrap around him, holding him in a tight and comfortable embrace, something in him gave away. His pain faded away and his clenched muscles relaxed .He could close his eyes. Her skin felt searing against his, yet it never hurt him.
It lasted too short for his tastes. Before he could fully accept the fact that someone was touching him without any lethal intentions driving them, Yang let him go again.
"You know," she said, softly pulling away and looking at him with her lilac eyes. They were so pretty to look at. "No matter what people say, you're really an amazing guy."
Compliments were very rare. People generally disliked him. How should he reply to this? How did normal people reply to that?
In the end, he never got to try out his method of touching her hair again. Ruby and Weiss returned to the table, both holding a book with a red cover. When Yang asked them about their assignment, Weiss replied that they had already written it.
Yang ruffled his hair again and sat down. Will, feeling like he had missed some important chance to share an intimate emotional moment, blinked a few times and sat down as well, next to her. Ruby handed him a paper and proceeded with "homework tutoring", telling him just what he needed to do to not make Port laugh his lungs out.
He stared at his blank paper, which contained a single scribble at the top, saying "Greystone". He was very bad at reading and writing. In his life, he had only ever written when there was no tech available. Letters and plans in jungles, secret messages in the trenches, but those occasions were rare and few. Reading went better, as almost every mission was reported to him by nonverbal manners, but it was slow nonetheless.
It was really sad to realize that he knew dozens of ways to kill a human being, but lacked the necessary training to write more than ten words a minute.
Ruby and Weiss were both reading the same book and Yang was silently finishing up her homework. Team JNPR had joined them in the library to prepare for coming lessons and slowly, he was starting to feel actually comfortable. A moment of peace and sanity with the people he cared for the most –loved, even- was all he needed.
Three minutes later, he felt the need to share a moment of emotions and intimacy. "You know, in a way, I have an older sister too."
"Wait, you have a sister?"
"What do you mean, in a way?" asked Ruby.
"She's a Com –a Faunus. She was my neighbour and she took a liking to me. But we sort of…drifted apart."
"I thought Onyx had an extensive information network?" said Weiss. "Why don't you just find her again?"
It might not have been the best idea ever to bring this up. "I don't think she would like that. It's been a long time since we last saw each other."
"That…doesn't make a lot of sense," Ruby carefully said.
It did. There just wasn't any context available for them yet.
Yang looked like she wanted to say something else, but two people approached them from the side. They outflanked them, so Will reached for his sidearm to defend them against a new threat. But Yang brushed against his foot and scraped her throat.
So he stood down,
"Sup losers."
It was the Faunus-boy Sun Wukong, flanked by a blue-haired male.
"Hey Sun!" Said Ruby. She smiled,
"Ruby, Yang, Ice queen-"
"Why does everyone keep calling me that?"
." -hey, who's this?"
Greystone shot an alarmed glance at Yang, but she merely winked at him. He took that as a "go ahead" sign. "I'm…Will."
"Cool. Where you from?"
Classified. But he could not answer classified, lest he make Ruby unhappy. "Onyx."
Wrong move.
"Onyx? That's not a King –oh shit, Onyx!"
Wukong reached for his skirt, where a weapon was hidden. It identified him as a hostile. Hostiles got neutralized.
Always too late. He could not. He could not open fire and kill Sun, who suddenly seemed to remind him of the terrified kids in the trenches. Instead, his body could take the first brunt of the attack and then he could take evasive manoeuvres-
Yang jumped up from her chair and pointed at the Faunus, her eyes shifting to a hint of red before flickering back. "Don't even try it, Sun. He's with us!"
Probably recognizing the major threat that an enraged Yang posed to his health, the boy raised his hands and backed off. "Whoah there didn't mean to cause problems."
Will allowed himself to exhale and calm down again. Had Yang just jumped up and defended him?
"No problems caused, Sun," Ruby gently said. "A lot has happened lately."
"Yeah, I'll bet," Sun replied, sounding taken aback. "Anyway, I never got to formally introduce you to my old friend."
"Hey," the blue-haired boy awkwardly said. He alternated between keeping an eye on Yang as keeping an eye on Greystone, "I'm Neptune, from Haven."
"Hello Neptune," said Weiss. She too was alternating between looking at Yang and Will, but she looked more worried than him. "It's…nice to meet you."
Will wanted to reach for Yang and let her know that he was grateful, but he dared not reveal a single detail about himself anymore. Things were very tense right now.
"So where is Blake?" asked Sun. "I thought you guys always hung out together."
"She's meeting a friend of hers," said Ruby. "In downtown Vale. I guess you will find her there, if you want to look for her."
"Nah, that's cool," said Sun. "So…Will, huh? What do you do with Onyx? Are you a student here too?"
Greystone felt like answering with something along the lines of "shooting people", but that would not make a very good first impression. "I'm a warfighter," he replied.
Ruby snickered. "That's not a word, silly."
"Actually," said Neptune, "It is. Warfighter is used as a term to describe a soldier in combat."
" Don't be a nerd," replied Sun.
"Hey now, not a nerd. Intellectual."
Yes…this meeting was about over. He had better things to do. In the end, this homework didn't matter. Not even the Vytal festival mattered. All that mattered was finding out the truth. Ironwood was the first on his list. If the General wouldn't talk…he would make him talk.
"The White Fang and I are going on a joint business together!"
"Brothers and sisters of the White Fang, why are you aiding this human scum?"
"Filled it to the top with bodies and walked away…"
"You? You killed my friends? Because of a protest?"
"Blake please…"
"You should have never, ever existed."
"Do it! Free me or shut up!"
"Goodbye…"
With a weary sigh, Blake attempted to ignore all the confusing feelings and memories, before failing once more. She had come to downtown Vale to repress all the whirling thoughts she had been having, yet everything around her seemed to worsen how she felt.
She was confused. She had spent a lifetime learning that all soldiers were seeking only to maim and harm her race. She knew that humans were out to harm her and her kin and she needed to be aware of them. And yet…deeds performed better than words. She had seen another new and disgusting side of humanity in the northern continent, but she had also seen bravery and courage. She had seen the insanity and terror that Operative Blackwood induced –the trauma's that Operative Greystone inflected. She had seen what Cyan Romero had done to his victims and how he viewed life.
But she had also seen Cal break down in tears about the awful fate of his friend. She had seen Will almost literally bring Yang back to life and she had seen Johnson tutor and inspire all students, no matter their race or gender. She had seen the miracles that Ruby could cause with her childish, naïve way of seeing life and she had seen that everybody had a…a human side.
She didn't know what to feel anymore. She had felt more pity and sorrow for a human soldier than she had felt for her own kind, which was about the strangest thing she could do. In the past few days at Beacon, she had attempted to sort her feelings out regarding a few of the more egregious parts of her life. Onyx and the White Fang, namely.
Blake wanted to hate Onyx. In a way, she still did. She despised their methods and their justifications, the pain and hurt they caused and the lives they wasted. But she felt familiar with Cal, she liked Lily and she pitied Ash. She still disliked Will, but that was more because of his mental conditioning from which he could not break free than his actual personality. A personality, she had to admit, he did seem to possess.
But she still did not understand him one bit and she knew he would never understand her. There were few people who truly understood her. Ruby Rose seemed to be one of them, Operative Alice was another one.
And Tukson was probably the last one. The Faunus owner of Tukson' Book Trade, in fact an ex White Fang-member just like her. But he had just been a grunt; a foot soldier, among others. He had never attracted any form of unnecessary attention during his time in Vale and perhaps because of that, he had been able to help Blake greatly. He had made sure that she could have entered the city undetected and after that, he had given her shelter in his shop.
And she had thoroughly enjoyed his considerable collection of books. Tukson was a man of knowledge and quiet passion, polite and professional. She had once told him that she owed him deeply.
He had told her that she didn't owe him a thing.
The mere memory of his kindness brought a smile to her face. Ruby was the same type of person; helpful and compassionate at the right moments, without ever needing anything in return. She really should have visited him sooner.
But hey; catching war criminals was tough business.
She reached the familiar street where Tukson's Book Trade was positioned and she was about to round the corner when her ears caught something that did not belong near the calm book-store. Something that should not belong near the store.
"No," she whispered, increasing her speed. When she rounded the corner, she spotted a scene that only belonged in her nightmares. Tukson's store was a crime-scene; yellow tape had been strapped around the walls, officials were investigating the small shop and the windows had been blown to bits. The walls were utterly perforated with bullet-holes and the door had been blasted off its hinges.
Blake approached the scene, not wanting to believe what she was seeing. Deep inside of her mind, a dreadful piece of logic told her what had happened.
She ignored it.
There wasn't anybody in the vicinity. The place was deserted.
Blake closed her eyes when they started to prickle with heat. She clenched her fists and averted her head altogether.
It was the White Fang.
Tukson had abandoned the White Fang. One didn't simply leave the White Fang. They must have gone after him…they must have murdered him. For revenge. For payback.
Her friend was dead. The one memory she had wanted to keep of her past life, torn away from her. But it wasn't fair! Tukson had never killed anyone, never hurt an innocent! He was a kind, good man, who had gotten tied up with the wrong people! He had done nothing to deserve this.
There was no justice in this. No justice, no fairness. Was the VPD busy tracking down the killer, or didn't they even care that a Faunus had left died? And what was Onyx doing with all this! They made entire gangs and militias disappear, why hadn't they stopped this? Why hadn't they…why…?
Why hadn't she visited him sooner?
Blake took a deep breath and grimaced as she felt something wet run down her cheeks. The White Fang had crossed a line that they should have not crossed. Working together with scum like Torchwick and committing terrorism all around the city…it had gone too far. It was time to go on the offensive and find out just who had lost his mind enough to sink to the lowest level.
And she knew who could help her with that. Not team RWBY or JNPR or even LACG. Not only was this a personal matter, this might turn ugly as well. She was not going to subject the likes of Ruby and Jaune to this conflict and she doubted that LACG would be of any help as well. That left only one person she could trust.
"I need you."
She got her answer about half a minute later.
"Can you travel?"
In the middle of the spiral of emotions she was experiencing, Blake felt a flicker of hope and satisfaction. This was what she needed; a no-nonsense attitude that would not shy away from what needed to be done. "Yes."
"Meet me at From Dust Till Dawn."
Not even waiting to send her reply, Blake closed her scroll and started running towards her rendezvous point. Thoughts or revenge and violence drove out her sorrow for Tukson's death. She would find out who was responsible and she would make them pay. She had sworn to never sink to the level of the humans she had protested against, but this was different. This was about justice –about finding the truth.
She was so engrossed in her imaginations that she did not notice where she was, until she had walked straight past the From Dust Till Dawn. Her scroll buzzed with another message.
"At your six."
Blake whirled around, her hand going for her weapon. A hooded person was standing in an alley to her rear, which had been previously abandoned.
"Alice?" she asked, putting her Gambol's Shroud away again. The girl was garbed in black, with a long coat hiding her legs. It would make sense that she clothed herself like that, as anything slightly Operative-shaped in the city would stir up a massive beehive.
"Blake."
She looked around and, after verifying that there weren't many other people around, joined the Operative in the dark alley. When she was with her friends, they were often highly conspicuous, costing her stealthy profile she needed to stay unnoticed. At first, she had hated it. Later, she had grown fond of it. Now she couldn't use it.
"What happened?" asked the ex-Onyx soldier, crossing her arms. Blake noticed that she had various blades and other weapons strapped to her body. They served to remind her that Alice was just like Will in that aspect.
"A friend of mine was murdered," she replied. Saying it out loud like that hurt even more. "A good man, who did not deserve to die."
"Who did it?"
She swallowed. There was no going back now. "It was the White Fang. He left them and they enacted their revenge."
"I'm sorry. What do you need me to do?"
"I want to know the truth," Blake immediately replied. "I want to know why the White Fang has allied itself with Roman Torchwick, I want to know who murdered Tukson and I want to know why Onyx didn't put a stop to this sooner!"
"Onyx," Alice quietly replied, "deals with things like global terror, worldwide chemical and biological threats and massive wars. The Themeluesi's job is keeping Remnant intact, not keeping cities intact."
Blake shook her head. "They don't even know how big this is?"
"I don't know how big this is. There are dozens of groups like the Fang out there. But Torchwick…that's a different case."
She looked at the ex-Operative again. Something in Alice's voice just did not sound right. "What do you mean, different? And can we take this somewhere more…sheltered?"
Alice looked over her back. "New Onyx soldiers appeared in Vale, led by a Field Agent. Sheltered no longer holds the same meaning."
"New soldiers?" Blake asked. "Like Fireteam Lima? Are they here to hunt you?"
"I wouldn't know. Now, about Torchwick. What do you know about him?"
"I know he's a human criminal, stealing Dust and working with the White Fang. I know he has some history with the Adamant Clan and I know that he has combat training."
"You could say that. Roman Torchwick is wanted by Onyx for crimes against humanity; he is responsible for the deaths of three-hundred and fourteen civilians."
Horror clutched at Blake's stomach. What could have possibly justified such a gross loss of life? What did this man plan to do with the White Fang? Had he ordered the death of her friend? "He killed three-hundred people? Why?"
Alice shrugged. "The details are vague. It had something to do with Matt Adamant, Grimm…and Cinder Fall."
Professor Adamant had been there when Torchwick murdered all those people? Why hadn't he stopped him? "And why is Torchwick still walking around alive with Onyx around? Doesn't a mass-murdered warrant their intervention? And who is this Cinder Fall?"
The Operative stayed quiet for a few moments. Then, "I think I know a place around here that can serve as cover. Follow me."
As the two of them navigated a small network of alleys, Blake said, "You still didn't tell me why Torchwick is still alive."
"I have no idea. Since I defected, I've been cut off from most of Onyx's networks. What I do know is that he works with someone they see as a very important. If you want details, ask Greystone."
Blake halted. "I…"
But Alice didn't miss a thing. "Don't want to ask him? I can relate."
"It's just that I don't understand him. He did terrible things, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy. Ruby trusts him, Yang does more than trust him, but Weiss is hesitant too." She paused. "He…did something weird a few days back. I…do you know what happened, one year back?"
Upon hearing the word "year", Alice froze. "It's not my story to tell," she slowly said.
She frowned. "I thought you hated him."
"I do. But…if Onyx really did what I think they did –and I'm not even sure- it is not my place to talk about it. I won't. I'm…sorry."
"Don't be," Blake was quick to reply. "I was just curious."
"I can understand that. Even Onyx's secrets have secrets. As an Operative, I had one of the highest-possible clearances possible. And still there were still so many things kept secret from me. From us."
They reached a sorry-looking club, boarded up and covered with police tape.
"This one was hit too?" Blake asked, feeling surprised that two seemingly-unrelated places were taken out at the same time. It just didn't seem right.
"This club was hit by Blackwood," Alice quietly responded. "He murdered everyone inside and moved on."
"Why?" Blake exclaimed. "Why would he do that? He slaughtered the government, attacked you and then our teams…for what?"
The girl only shrugged. "It's a difficult story, one which lacks a beginning and an end. We can talk and plan inside of this building –nobody uses it anymore."
"Plan?"
Looking at her from underneath the hood, Alice said, "If you need my help to find out if the White Fang really killed your friend, we'll need a place to work from. Do you trust Beacon with this?"
It did not take Blake very long to recall her conversation with Headmaster Ozpin. "No. Not with this…"
"Which is why we need a place to stay. I know I do…"
Blake noticed that Alice's tone had dropped somewhat. Perhaps mentioning Blackwood had not been the most tactful idea…all of this Operative-nonsense was getting to her.
"Do you really think the White Fang did it?" Alice asked as the two of them walked around to the other side of the building. "Because once we set out to do this, there is no going back. I have killed my fair share of Fang troopers myself."
"I need to know for sure," said Blake. "And for that, I need to find Roman Torchwick. Will you help me find him?"
"Finding Torchwick? And what will you do encounter him?"
"I'll stop him. And then the VPD can decide what to do with him."
"You know that Onyx will probably want him?"
Blake thought about the Doctor Romero and what he had done to his subjects –the lives he had ruined and the horror he had caused. And Onyx had taken him to their underground prison-complex, never to see the light of day again. Torchwick had not done anything to her that warranted such a cruel justice, but if what Alice said was true…the man had the blood of hundreds on his hands.
And he would need to be brought to justice. The Police was generally useless; in her live, she had begged them for help more than enough times and she had never gotten her help. But the people there were actually kinder than normal humans; there was barely any racism with the VPD. Onyx on the other hand, seemed to think that the ends always justified the means. They did not shy away from murder and destruction to get what they wanted. But they reached results. If Will was right –and there was no reason to doubt him- the organization had already prevented half a dozen wars. With them, Torchwick would surely meet his end.
Was that what she wanted though? Was she ready to condemn a man to certain death? She was ready to take lives if needed, but…the only thing she had witnessed Torchwick do was work with the White Fang to steal a haul of Dust from the docks. She needed to find out what he was doing with her former brothers and sisters before she would do anything.
"I know," she replied. "But I want to know what's going on first. And then Onyx can have Torchwick and stuff him away."
"Right. So where do we start?"
They entered the abandoned club from a rear entrance and Blake took a look around. Dried blood on the ground, shattered walls and cracked windows, everything gave away that a terrible fight had taken place there.
"Wow," she said. "You really picked a cosy spot."
"I heard Blackwood took on the information dealer called Junior here," replied Alice. "Obviously, he won. He always does."
Junior? Wasn't that the guy whom Yang had met in a club too? "Ruby told me that he survived. That Yale told her so. Do you believe him?"
The soldier kicked against a broken piece of wood. "He's an ass, but he's an honest ass. One of the few in Onyx."
Blake looked around, eyeing the level of destruction that had been wrought. "So if he gets back to Vale…he will do it again? He will cause a bloodbath again?"
Alice didn't answer. She was looking at a dried patch of blood, where a man had once breathed his last. Her eyes were blank and empty and her shoulders were sagged. It seemed to be an Onyx thing; the empty, non-seeing eyes and the dull numbness that lay within. Were they all broken inside?
"Alice?"
The girl sucked in a deep breath and seemed to snap out of some sort of trance. "Sorry, what?"
"What is Blackwood going to do once he gets back?" asked Blake.
"I don't think he will go back. I…I don't know what he will do."
Blake sat down on a ruined piece of stone and sighed. "Will didn't tell me what changed Blackwood. He said he didn't know what happened. Is that true?"
The ex-Operative visibly shivered. "I don't know. There's so many things we didn't know. When he was younger…shit, I can't even tell you."
"Go on," Blake gently urged her. "It's okay; nobody's going to hurt you if you do."
The girl chuckled. "Yeah right. Fine. When…Blackwood…was younger, he was different. He suffered from psychosis for a while, but then Onyx discovered a…a tumour in his brain. Somehow they removed it and after that, he changed." Alice lowered her hood, revealing her dark-green hair, which was still shaved extremely shot on one side. She seemed to crop it to military lengths regularly, which didn't made sense as she was no longer with Onyx. "He lived through his greatest moments…his finest hours. The defender of mankind, no matter the threat he faced. He strived to be the perfect soldier…and that was when I left Onyx. I have…absolutely no idea what happened to the mighty warrior I left behind."
"And Will?" Blake asked, eager to find out more. "What was he like when you left him?"
"A messed-up little psycho. But he was still my friend."
Friend? Did Mantis think of the marksman as her friend? But that didn't make any sense! "Then why did you nearly kill him, back during your fight?"
Alice scowled and drew the edge of her knife across her skin, coming dangerously close to drawing blood. "That empty shell is not the boy I left behind. He's just fragments and pieces…a mockery of who was once Operative Greystone. Another crime committed by Onyx."
Blake was about to press for additional answers, when the girl suddenly sheathed her knife and jumped up. "Alright, we got White Fang to hunt. Where do we start?"
The sudden eagerness took Blake back somewhat. Something about the sudden chance of subject seemed a little bit…off to her.
"The White Fang holds regular recruitment events every few days," she said. "That should be our ticket in…but you're not a Faunus. They won't let you in…and it will be too dangerous for you."
"Don't worry," the soldier replied, brandishing a wicked grin. "I'll be just fine."
Day 75 –LACG dormitories- 18:29
It was a fairly pretty day outside. Granted, the sun was down and the air was chilly, but still. The stars were shining outside and everything had quieted down somewhat.
So why, Lisa wondered, was she feeling so down? Things were alright. Stuff was good. Her team was currently chilling in their dorms, Beacon was still in one piece, everyone she loved was still alive and their first term was already over. Yet something still stirred in her stomach, making her feel bad. Something was just not right.
She sighed and reached for her weapon. Grace and Alessa were wandering around in the garden and Cho was visiting some uncle of his in Vale. How else would she pass the time than with messing around with her rifle? The blade might need some furbishing… no, she had already done that. Perhaps the barrel could use some cleaning? No, it was already spotless.
Lisa grumbled, once again recalling the conversation she had had with Ruby and Jaune. A particularly haunting conversation regarding everybody's favourite team of messed-up soldiers; Fireteam Lima. Ruby's purpose had been to inform them about something that might have caused some problems in the future if left unattended, but Lisa hadn't been too sure about that. After all, they had encountered a lot of nasty shit together.
And then Ruby had proceeded to tell her and Jaune about a little story involving a little Ash and a not-so-little crapload of horror. It had visibly shaken Jaune and Lisa had to admit that it had horrified her as well. She knew that everything that Onyx got themselves involved with was bound to be nightmare fuel, but Ash's story had been of a completely new level.
It had also left her feeling guilty. She knew that she wasn't the kindest girl on the sunny side of Vale and she had acted like a bitch to people that had done nothing to deserve that attitude. It would explain why she felt so down; she just couldn't get that damn story out of her head. The world had a lot of sick bastards to offer. And that was exactly why her family existed; to make sure that innocent people would not suffer at the hands of the wicked.
And as an Adamant, she knew her duty. More than that, she had a duty as a person. If there was anything that Ruby had taught her, it would be that you needed people to create good people. And if poor little Ash was going to get rid of his nightmares, a good person as needed to help him. It all made so much sense.
Lisa tucked her weapon away again and started rummaging around in her backpack. Weeks ago, Matt had given her a gift, thinking that she would need it to get through the days away from home. She had been less than amused, but the gesture had been nice. But there ought to be someone else who could make better use of it, so who knew?
It did not take her very long to find what she was looking for. But now she had a different problem; there was something else she was looking for and she did not really know where to find him. According to fox-boy, Ash was sleeping in some distant dormitory nearby. If he had been telling the truth, she should find the kid somewhere nearby.
Things did make a lot of sense now. Well, apart from sending teens to clear entire groups of enemy militia and getting them horribly traumatized as a result. She understood why Ash was like he was, she understood why the kid adored Pyrrha so much and she understood why Cal seemed to stress his fur off.
Lisa casually made her way down the series of hallways, occasionally checking the rooms she walked past. At one point she opened a door and spotted a small figure lying on a bed, garbed in a very tight, black bodysuit.
Ash was less muscled than Will , or even Cho. His body was lean and sinewy, yet still profoundly more developed than the average seventeen-year-old teen. He looked a bit like Jaune, but then without the pajamas.
For a second, Lisa doubted the intelligence of her idea. Ash was reported to have problems with aggression and violence at the most awkward moments. Waking him up by touching his shoulder was going to cause a lot of problems. On the other hand, he suffered from chronic nightmares as well, so waking him up roughly had better actually help.
"Hey, sleepy-face, " she shouted. "Wake up!"
The second she raised her voice, little Ash shot upright in his bed with a gun in his hand. She cursed under her breath and ducked and he pulled the trigger, blowing a neat hole in the door behind her.
"God fu –cease fire you moron, it's me!"
He was another Will!
Ash groggily rubbed his eyes in a manner reminding her of a little child. A little child with itchy trigger-fingers, nonetheless
"Morning," she said, carefully revealing herself again. "I ehh…do you know who I am?"
He blinked innocently. "You're the mean racist lady."
So he did know her! "That's me," she replied with a grin. "So Cal told me that you have been having nightmares lately? "
"Yeeees?" The kid said, looking rather confused.
Lisa grabbed her backpack and stepped closer. "I'm here to help you." She really, really hoped that Ash's state of mind would mean that she wasn't going to make a fool out of herself now.
"I don't think I understand-"
She pulled a brown teddy bear out of her bag and knew that, somewhere and somehow, she was insulting a Faunus. The thought made her smile "This here is Tealdore 'Ted' Adamant, the famous Adamant sibling-teddy. It is custom in our family for older siblings to give a teddy to their younger siblings. You can have this."
Ash cautiously reached for the bear, looking at it with big, unblinking eyes. "He's so fluffy!"
Not only fluffy, it was also awesome. It had a little bowtie and little black eyes. "I know."
"But why give it to me?"
Now it was time to improvise. "Legend has it that the very first Adamant, a great hero called Tealdore Adamant, founded our family right after the great war with the Grimm. It is said that a part of his soul still resides in this teddy bear, giving it the ability to protect against evil things like curses, nightmares and Grimm."
"That's even better than a gun."
"I know!" She petted him on his head as he grabbed the bear. "So whenever you feel scared, just grab Teddy and he will protect you. Alternatively, call me and we'll shoot nasty shoot together. Alright?"
He hugged her. "Thanks Lisa. You're an awesome sister!"
Aaawww! So cute! Was this what Matt always felt whenever he was being a big brother? She could get used to the feeling. "There there, Ash. You're welcome. I'll leave you and Ted alone for now. Be sure to come by over two days or so; Ruby is planning something awesome."
"Will do!"
She rubbed the kid over his head one more time and then left. No matter what Cho and Weiss said, she had good ideas once in a while.
But that bowtie still fitted Ted better than Matt.
I myself cannot begin to comprehend the horrors that must be inflected upon the subject to initiate this state. The files are so thickly covered in ink that even the ink is classified –I have read war-reports describing civilian deaths in horrid detail that were even less covered than this. I guess it's for the better though; I am surrounded by the most brilliant people I have ever known and every single one of them has one sociopathic tendency in common. All of them are involved with 042-Vytal and none of them seem to have committed suicide out of guilt yet. Their resistance to emotions must be extraordinary; I am very glad that my only responsibility is to keep a check on the subject's vital signs. It doesn't do much to help me sleep though. Most of my colleagues do seem to use medicine…perhaps they will lend me some if I ask."
-Professor J. Ikterine, supervisor of Artificial-Comatose and Health-monitoring. 2 of 2.
Next time: Weiss gets faced with the true nature of her family, Ruby encounters the most relaxed Onyx soldier ever and more is uncovered than can be stomached. Again.