Umbra Hart

Laying his head down on his arms, Umbra watched the clock. As he watched the seconds tick by, all he could think about was paying Ozpin a visit. He wanted to find out if Ozpin had gone back on his word, or simply didn't have the power he wanted Umbra to think he had. Once the bell had rung, Umbra was the first to leave. By now Team RWBY was used to Umbra going off on his own once classes were done, so they didn't say anything.

Quickly making his way through the halls of Beacon, Umbra weaved his way through the crowd. Since everyone either feared or hated Umbra, he didn't have much difficulty doing so. Those that could see Umbra walking their way made sure to go out of their way so they didn't have to be near him.

Finally reaching the elevator that would take him to Ozpin's office, Umbra called it down. When it arrived Umbra hit the button that would take him to the top and leaned against the elevator wall. Upon reaching Ozpin's office, Umbra went up to knock on his door. Before he could, Ozpin called out from inside.

"You may enter." Doing as he was told, Umbra walked in. Standing and looking out the window, Ozpin and Glynda seemed to have been talking before he arrived. Turning around, Ozpin smiled. "Ah, Umbra, it's good to see you." Rolling his eyes, Umbra walked up to Ozpin's desk and sat down. "How has Beacon been treating you?" Scoffing, Umbra leaned back in his chair.

"Seeing as how only one of your students has tried to kill me so far, I'd say it's going better then I was expecting." Lowering her head, Glynda crossed her arms. Frowning, Ozpin, put his hands together.

"Yes… I remember that incident. You can rest easy knowing that I gave Silver a stern talking to. While I expected tensions to be high with your arrival, I must admit that I never expected things to go that far." For some reason, Umbra didn't believe Ozpin. For the sake of moving things along though, Umbra didn't say anything about it.

"Whatever you say… Anyway, that's not what I came here to talk about." Sitting up, Umbra wanted to take things seriously from here on. "Are you aware that footage of me leaving my mothers hospital room was sent to the media? My face has been all over the news recently. It's painted a pretty big target on my back. Whatever happened to making things go away, huh?" To Umbra's surprise, Ozpin sighed and took his glasses off to clean them. It was obviously a way for him to buy time in order to think about what he should say.

"I am aware. Yes." Finishing his fake task, Ozpin put his glasses back on. "Right now, all I can tell you is that that footage wasn't sent in by the authorities. It was leaked." Shaking his head, Umbra wish he could've said he was surprised, but he wasn't.

"Are there any competent Hunters or cops? Or are they all corrupt and incapable of doing their jobs properly?" As Ozpin was going to answer Umbra, something in Ozpin's office buzzed. Looking over at the alarm, Ozpin adjusted his glasses.

"I'm sorry Umbra, but this important. If you want, we can continue this conversation another time." Standing up, Ozpin put his hands behind his back. "Come in!" Hearing the doors open behind him, Umbra looked to see who it was.

"Ozpin." Holding his hands out, the man seemed to be on friendly terms with Ozpin. However, Ozpin didn't quite return the same energy.

"Hello, general." General… Wait a minute… Realizing who the person was, Umbra felt his heart begin to race. If he's here, then that means…

"Please, drop the formalities." As the general and Ozpin shook hands, Umbra slowly began to get up. "It's been too long!" Interrupting the general and Ozpin's conversation, Umbra interjected.

"Speaking of corrupt and incompetent assholes…" Walking up to the two, Umbra felt his blood begin to boil. "Tell me general, is the lieutenant with you?" Just now noticing Umbra's presence, General Ironwood instantly dropped his friendly demeanor.

"Umbra Hart… If you don't mind, your headmaster and I are trying to have a conversation." Ignoring what Ironwood said, Umbra kept talking.

"Have you promoted her further since I last saw her? Let me guess, she's your personal assassin now, isn't she? You use Eliza to control Atlas, don't you?" Stepping towards Umbra, it was obvious that Ironwood was mad.

"That was uncalled for! I'll have you know that Captain Dubos has been doing an excellent job protecting the people of Atlas!" Smirking, Umbra found it laughable how easy it was to get a rise out of the man.

"Just Atlas huh? Guess you snobby assholes really have forgotten about Mantle. That, or you just don't care enough about them. Surely with your insider knowledge, you can tell me how much longer they have. Is it a year? Or is it just a few more months at best?" With how angry Ironwood was getting, his face was beginning to turn red. Stepping in before things could reach a tipping point, Ozpin put himself between General Ironwood and Umbra.

"That is quite enough you two!" Surprising Umbra for the second time in such a short time frame, Ozpin had actually yelled. Closing his eyes, Ozpin collected himself. "Umbra, while General Ironwood and I talk, I ask that you leave." Scoffing, Umbra started walking towards the elevator. Stopping, he decided to say one last thing to Ironwood before he left.

"If she's here, I will find her Ironwood. And when I do… you better be prepared to hire a new captain." Leaving things at that, Umbra left.

On the way down, Umbra paced within the small area of the elevator. There was a chance that Eliza was at Beacon. Instead of having to go to her, she had brought herself right to Umbra. Somehow, things had worked themselves out. If he could manage to find her, Umbra would finally be able to finish what he set out to do. Feeling his breathing begin to quicken, Umbra closed his eyes and counted the beeps from the elevator.

By the time he reached the ground floor, Umbra had calmed himself. The first place he wanted to start his search was the courtyard. Upon going outside, Umbra noticed that there were a significant amount or airships flying around. It almost seemed like the corrupt general had brought the entire Atlesian Military along with him. With all the air support Umbra thought that maybe he could find some troops on the ground, but was disappointed when that wasn't the case.

Thinking that maybe they were all already inside, Umbra started searching the halls of Beacon. Going room to room, he checked anywhere that soldiers might gather. Once all the obvious choices were out of the way, he started checking random rooms. His search was out of desperation more so than logic, as he had a gut feeling that the troops wouldn't need to leave their ships unless needed.

Spending the rest of the day searching for Eliza, Umbra hardly noticed when night had fallen. He was in the library when by chance Umbra looked out a window and saw that the stars were out. Kicking a nearby table leg, Umbra decided to call his search off for the time being. On his way out of the library, Umbra ran into Silver.

"What's the matter Umbra? Someone didn't let your empty threats get to them?" Leaning up against a bookshelf, he had a smug look on his face. "You look like someone's really pissed you off." Standing his ground, Umbra crossed his arms.

"What do you want Silver? Are you here to try and kill me again?" Pushing off the bookshelf he was leaning against, Silver walked up to Umbra.

"Not this time. I've actually been keeping an eye on you for awhile now. Something that Team Ruby is supposed to be doing." As much as he hated the members of Team RWBY, Umbra had to admit that he appreciated how incompetent they were when it came to watching him.

"You really think I'm going to fall for such a lame excuse? The second I turn my back on you, you're going to move in for the kill." Running a hand through his hair Silver sighed.

"Listen, you don't have to believe me, but it's the truth. If I wanted to kill you, I never would've announced myself like this." If what Silver said was true and he really had been watching Umbra for awhile now, then he had a point. However, Umbra wasn't about to let his guard down around Silver.

Standing in silence, the two enemies stared each other down. Seeing as how they were in the library fairly late into the day, not many people were around. With how angry he was at not being able to find Eliza, Umbra figured maybe he could take his frustrations out by killing Silver instead. Solar Eclipse was hidden beneath his blazer, and they were close enough that Umbra would be able to get a few hits in before Silver knew what was happening. Before Umbra could entertain the thought of killing Silver any further, someone else broke the silence.

"Look at that, it's a mini Pharos Academy reunion." Looking back, Umbra saw that it was Coco. At the sight of someone else, Silver visibly loosened up. Smiling, he pocketed one of his hands.

"Coco, am I glad to see you. Now that you're here, you can help me keep an eye on Umbra." Having finished his search for Eliza and not wanting anything to do with either of the people in the room, Umbra figured he was ready to call it a day.

"Don't bother. I was just about to head back to my room." Lowering her sunglasses, Coco gave Umbra a look. It looked like she wanted to tell him something, and under any other circumstance Umbra would have been willing to hear her out. Seeing as how he was seething and that Silver was around, Umbra knew that sticking around wouldn't end well. "Whatever you have to say, I'll listen to it later Coco. Right now, I need to be alone." Giving Silver one last glare on his way out, Umbra left him and Coco behind.

Returning to his room for the day Umbra didn't bother turning the lights on. After changing out of his uniform and into his own clothes, Umbra shut out any light from entering his room. Once it was nice and dark, he used his Semblance. Holding out for as long as possible, Umbra stayed in the shadows until the pain became unbearable. Taking only a moment to let the pain die down, he used his Semblance again once he was ready.

By using his Semblance for as long as possible, Umbra was hoping to either overcome the pain or increase his tolerance to it in order to extend how long he could use his Semblance. While he was in the middle of using his Semblance, Umbra heard a knock at his door. Grumbling, he reluctantly went to answer it. If it was Ozpin or Glynda, he'd most likely wind up in some sort of trouble for ignoring them. Turning on the light and opening the door, Umbra felt his grip on the doorknob tighten. Standing there waving was the biggest thorn in his side, Ruby Rose.

"Hey Umbra." Seeing as how Ruby was empty handed and didn't have the sword she was making for him, Umbra was tempted to just shut the door on her face without any warning.

"I'm in the middle of something. Leave." Before Umbra could shut the door, Ruby frantically tried to stop him from doing so.

"Waitwaitwait! I just wanted to tell you about the sword!" Stopping what he was doing, Ruby now had his attention. After letting out a sigh of relief, Ruby continued. "I just wanted to tell you that I might, uh, need some more time. You see, something kindaaa came up. I promise that it's almost done, I just need a little bit longer!" Annoyed that that was all she had came to say, Umbra scowled.

"That's all you came to say? I don't care how long it takes you or about any of your personal problems. It's done when it's done. I'm a prisoner here for the foreseeable future, so I don't really have a need for a weapon at the moment." Something Umbra said caused Ruby to lower her gaze to the floor and fidget.

"You know Umbra, you don't have to stay locked up in here all day. If you want, you're more than welcome to hang out with me and my friends." Turning off his light, Umbra got ready to go back to training.

"No… I'm not…" Closing the door, Umbra used his Semblance. Going over to his bed, Umbra decided to lie down.

Putting his hands behind his head, Umbra stared up at the ceiling. While he trained his Semblance the only thing Umbra was able to think about was how close he was to Eliza. She had brought herself right to Umbra. He didn't know if that made her an easier or harder target. Harder or easier, it hardly mattered to Umbra. All that did matter was the end result. As long as he killed Eliza, nothing else mattered.

Ruby Rose

Sighing, Ruby closed her eyes and gently leaned her forehead on Umbra's door. Every day, she tried her hardest to at least get Umbra to open up a little. It felt like no matter what she did, Umbra only ever seemed to close himself off further. She knew that she made a promise, but Ruby was beginning to think that she was tasked with something impossible.

Opening her eyes and backing away from Umbra's room, Ruby had a determined look on her face. No matter how impossible it seemed, she would help Umbra. Not only was it her job as a Huntress to save those in need, but Ruby shuddered at the thought of what failure meant. While Umbra may view her as some naive child, Ruby knew more about how he was feeling than Umbra realized. Knowing that knocking on Umbra's door again wouldn't get her anywhere, Ruby decided to leave him alone for tonight. Turning to leave, Ruby started thinking of ways she could potentially bring Umbra around. As she was lost in thought, she bumped into someone on her way back to her room.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!" Dusting himself off, the person she bumped into laughed.

"Don't worry about it, it's not like either of us got hurt. If I'm being honest, I'm actually kinda glad we bumped into someone from around here." By we, the person was referring to his three teammates. Judging by their outfits, Ruby knew that they were students from Mistral. "We're actually kinda lost. Do you know where we're supposed to be going to find our dorm?" Smiling, Ruby pointed behind her.

"You guys are actually heading the right way. It's just down that hall and to the right." When the man smiled back, Ruby felt as though something was… off. Or was it? Something felt weird to Ruby but she couldn't quite tell what.

"Thanks, I appreciate that!" When he held his hand out for Ruby to shake, she was hesitant to do so. "Name's Zaffre by the way. Zaffre Hoffman." Realizing that her feeling wasn't a bad one, but one of recognition, Ruby gasped and shook Zaffre's hand.

"Hoffman!? Like Granite Hoffman!? Are you his son!?" Granite Hoffman was a fairly famous Huntsman. He was one that Ruby had read about and helped formed her view on what it meant to be a Hunter. After escaping from Ruby's grip, Zaffre's smile slipped for only a second. If Ruby had blinked, she would have missed it.

"Sorry to say, but there's no relation. I get that a lot though since I kinda look like 'em." Waving, Zaffre and his team started making their way towards their dorm. "Thanks again for the directions! I hope our teams get to meet in the tournament!" While she was sad that she didn't get to meet the son of a famous Huntsman, Ruby was at least glad to be of help to someone. After waving back, she walked off in the direction of her own dorm. Looking back at Zaffre and his team, Ruby still had that strange feeling. The more she thought about it, the stronger it got. Shaking her head, Ruby figured she just needed sleep. With what her and her team were going to pull off, she'd need to be at her best.