It's been awhile. Enjoy.
Whitaker sat opposite Iris Ardent during his first evening back at Beacon after winter break. Iris tapped a scroll and then laid it down on the coffee table, two cups full of clear water between them.
"How have you been, Whitaker?"
"I've been better." Whitaker reached for a glass. Before he sipped it, he continued, "Break was nice."
"Anything good?"
"I…" Whitaker warily glanced at Iris. "I had a talk with my good friend, Coco Adel, about… stuff."
"Romantic relationships?" Iris offered.
"Yeah." Whitaker leaned back against the couch. "I laid out all of the cards for her."
"What did you say?"
"That it's not that I was never attracted to her, it's just that… I was afraid of too many things. I was afraid of losing her, of not being enough for her. Things like that." Whitaker rubbed the back of his neck, heat tickling his nerves at the amount of honesty he was showing to Iris.
"Those are perfectly normal feelings to have," Iris eased. She smiled. "Nevertheless, that is to hear. I was beginning to worry about your lack of romantic interest in the individuals around you."
"Really? I believed that teachers strayed away from those kinds of thoughts," Whitaker said.
"Well, that is technically true," Iris said. "I'm also your therapist— it's only right for me to worry about your development, emotional or physical. And to be completely honest, Whitaker, your lack of romantic attachment to people was beginning to worry me. However, I'm glad to see those worries no longer matter."
"I see."
"So are you two officially dating now?" Iris asked.
Whitaker shook his head. "We're trying to learn how to be friends again first. It's been a whole year since we'd last interacted so much with each other, and that friendship didn't exactly end on the best of terms."
"Good." Iris nodded. She adjusted how she was seated on the couch, opting instead to cross one leg of the other and fix her coat. "Your injuries, how are they?"
"Healing slowly," Whitaker answered. "To be honest, it's been awhile since I've even thought of how I got them. I just put the cream on them in the morning and before bed."
"That's good to hear," Iris said with a smile. "You're progressing well, Whitaker. You should be proud of yourself."
"Thank you."
"Nevertheless, I believe you should do your best to stay away from speaking too much about your experience at the docks," Iris emphasized. "It's not wise to open up those wounds so soon, even if it feels like you've already gotten over them. Is that understood?"
Whitaker nodded. "I understand."
"Good." Iris grinned. "Now let's move on to simpler things, shall we?"
[;]
"I wanted to show you these," Blake said as she flipped open her journal to Whitaker. Scrawled all across the pages were notes about the White Fang, their logos, a quick sketch of a red-haired faunus with horns, and a stylized red rose. "I've been doing a lot of research over the break, and I have a lot of ideas to share."
Whitaker wasn't surprised. Blake, even over the break, had messaged him and even called him numerous times to talk about the White Fang. He'd considered reminding his teammate that she was on break— the both of them were, for that matter— and to put her obsession away. But he knew well enough that saying something like that could only produce two results. The first being that Blake refuses and continues to hunt for any signs of the White Fang in Vale; the second being that Blake says she will stop, but continues her search in secret. Neither option was healthier than what Blake was currently doing.
"Do you want to talk about it with the others?" Whitaker asked.
Blake shook her head slowly. "Not yet. Not until everything I've got in here is solid information."
Yang, in classic Yang-fashion, slid up next to Blake. "What are y'all doing?" She leaned her head over Blake's shoulder to look at the journal.
"Secret stuff," Blake replied drolly, but there was a flash of mischief that Whitaker caught just as it vanished. "I'll tell you and Ruby about it once Whitaker and I get it all sorted."
Yang simply nodded as she caught a grape in her mouth that was expertly thrown to her by Nora. Whitaker was impressed with the dexterity of the hammer-wielding, grenade-launching member of Team JNPR.
Ruby was currently seated right next to Whitaker, her fingers flying across the surface of her Scroll as she rapidly typed away. Then, she finished and triumphantly hoisted her Scroll into the air like a trophy. "Alright!" She announced to… the entirety of the cafeteria it seemed. "I've got it all here!"
Whitaker resisted the urge to rub his temples and sigh. Though, he did channel his best impression of Weiss Schnee as he motioned for Ruby to hand him her Scroll. "Ruby, what is this?"
She complied immediately. "It's a plan."
"A plan for?" Whitaker received his answer in the form of a massive header at the top of the Scroll that read: BEST DAY EVER ACTIVITIES. "Oh boy.."
"Have some faith in me, Witt! These are all good plans. Look!" She grabbed the sides of the Scroll and began to scroll down for him. Among the gigantic list of activities were: (1) Play video games, (28) Grimm hunting, (35) Hide and seek but across all of Beacon, (53) Sparring but we all swap weapons, and (83) Food fight in the cafeteria—
"Ruby," Whitaker said, putting a stop to the girl's flicking finger. "This is all well and good, but I think we need to focus on getting back into the groove of school instead."
"And I disagree!" Yang interrupted. "We've got a little under twenty-four hours left of our break!"
"Yeah, and we need to start it off with a bang!"
Yang smirked. "Did you mean, a Yang, dear sister of mine?" She taunted, sidling up to Ruby and raising a brow at Whitaker.
"I believe I did, sister!" Ruby high-fived Yang and the two pried the Scroll from Whitaker's hands and began to type away. It was the first instance that Whitaker had seen Ruby actively promoting her sister's frequently awful puns.
Guess they really want to do all of these things.
"Well," Whitaker began, "I think that a few of those activities will be good for us. Just remember, that we have to—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a pie slammed directly into his face. The cream slapping against his hair and merging with it, and the tin of the pie slowly slid down his face and onto the stone floor of the cafeteria.
On the other side of the table was Nora Valkyrie, who was staringly guiltily at Whitaker's predicament, and Jaune Arc, who looked as though he'd just narrowly dodged a pie.
Whitaker let out a slow breath that chilled the air around both Team RWBY and Team JNPR. He wiped his face clean with his palm and wetly slapped the whipped cream onto the floor. "Alright. Food fight it is."
[;]
"Normally, this is when I would scold a student for being so impetuous, but I'm actually happy that you're showing the normal tendencies of a student," Glynda Goodwitch stated as she lifted food and stains from Whitaker's clothes with her Semblance.
"Wonderful," grumbled Whitaker. He stood in the middle of Glynda's office, a trashcan positioned right next to him which Glynda used as a place to deposit the food and liquids. After some time, Whitaker went from looking like an extremely assorted salad to something that vaguely resembled a student at Beacon.
"Did you at least come out victorious?" Glynda asked as she dropped the last of the food remnants into the trash. She scrunched her nose. Despite Whitaker looking somewhat clean, he definitely didn't smell like it.
Whitaker shook his head. "Pyrrha used her Semblance on the vending machines," he answered with a lame shrug. He wasn't going to say it outloud, but he thought it was a little cheap to resort to something like that. Though, to be perfectly fair, he'd been using his Semblance during their entire baguette bout.
Glynda rolled her eyes. "Well, regardless of the outcome, please do your utmost to ensure that a food fight does not break out once more, Whitaker. We have enough paperwork as it is." She gestured to the mountain of papers currently dominating the entirety of her desk's workspace. "And that is not even the rest of it," she lamented quietly.
"Oh."
Glynda turned her attention back to Whitaker. "Nevertheless, you won't be earning a punishment this time. I cannot say for certain what will happen should this happen again. All of that being said, you are free to leave my office."
Whitaker nodded. "Thank you, Glynda."
"Any time, Whitaker."
[;]
At the Beacon library, Team RWBY and Team JNPR were doing a bit of cross-team bonding. Wherein Whitaker was currently schooling Ruby, Yang, and Blake in Remnant: The Game. It was like a more enjoyable version of chess, or that old board game Esmond was obsessed with. Chance? Hazard? Risk? It was something along those lines.
"That's not fair!" Ruby whined, watching as her troops were demolished by Whitaker. "How did you even know I was going to be there?!"
"You whisper all of your moves under your breath," Whitaker said. He idly shuffled his cards in his hand.
"Yeah. You do," Blake agreed.
Ruby groaned. "So that's how you knew I would go for that faunus hideout!"
Blake smiled behind her cards, while Ruby sighed and stared at her own cards. Even though she kept her mouth shut, Whitaker could tell from her doomed facial expression that she was soon going to be out of the game. So, like any good General of Atlas, he swiftly executed his next plan of attack.
"I'll send my battalion here," he pointed to one of Ruby's strongholds. "Due to its heightened elevation and cooler climate, my troops gain a +2 battle bonus, and because of their current formation, they also gain a +3 battle bonus. Oh, and since my war factory just finished being built this turn, all of my units gain a +5 battle bonus."
"That's so not fair!" Ruby complained. "Only the Dragon Grimm has a total battle bonus of +10!"
Blake rolled her eyes, and Yang just sighed, most likely feeling bad for Ruby. Whitaker couldn't blame her.
"Yeah, because the battle bonus for it is immediate. It took me four turns in total to set this up," Whitaker explained as he destroyed Ruby's final stronghold and captured it for himself. His empire— the Ash Empire, as he liked to call it— now spanned all of Sanus and Solitas. Even though the point of the game was to conquer all of Remnant, he'd secured Blake's army in an alliance joined through marriage six turns ago, and Blake's army had already defeated Yang's forces two turns ago.
Whitaker shook Blake's hand. "Well done, my lady. It seems that you and I now control all of Remnant."
Blake grinned. "Yes, yes. Let us throw a grand celebration, my lord. A celebration fit for our new empire."
"Get a room!" Nora shouted from her chair. Team JNPR was seated around a library table, trying to study.
Whitaker merely chuckled to himself at Nora's antics and set about cleaning up the board and the cards. "That was fun, Ruby. We should play it again sometime."
"So not fun," grumbled their leader. "I'm totally gonna team up against you next time."
"I'm sure you'll need it," teased Whitaker as he stacked the cards together.
"Mmrh." Ruby sighed.
"Don't feel so bad, Rubes," Yang tried. "Witt is probably the wittiest one here!"
The silence that followed her joke was deafening. Whitaker almost dropped the stack of cards in his hand. And then he almost threw them at Yang. Almost.
"That was the worst one you've ever had, Yang," Blake muttered.
"C'mon guys, it was good!"
"I've heard funnier jokes from a Grimm," Ren said.
"But… They don't tell jokes?" Yang asked, visibly confused.
"Exactly." Ren sighed as he returned to studying.
That caused a round of laughter. Whitaker even caught Blake giggling. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and the faunus immediately stopped laughing. Whitaker shot her a small smile in an attempt to convey that it was actually okay to laugh. Blake looked away, pink coloring her cheeks. The two of them set about cleaning the rest of the game board while Ruby and Yang joined Team JNPR's table.
"How are you holding up?" Whitaker asked.
"I still feel sticky from the food fight, even after my shower." Blake pouted. "I think I need new clothes."
"I'm just surprised you survived through winter in those," Whitaker commented. He idly looked over her outfit.
"I have jackets. And other clothes," Blake murmured.
"Either way," continued Witt, "I wasn't talking about the food fight. I was talking about you. How are you?"
"I'm fine."
Whitaker fixed a look on her. "Blake."
"I'm okay," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Tired, but nothing a good night's sleep won't fix."
"And how was your break?"
"Good, actually. I managed to finally catch up with my book list." She looked incredibly proud of herself.
"Your smut books?" Whitaker asked.
Blake smacked his arm as color tinged her cheeks again. "They're more than just smut books. At least I read somethings for fun, all you do is read Grimmoires and hunting guides."
Whitaker looked at her blankly. "Those are fun for me."
She sighed. "To each their own, I suppose."
"That's the spirit." Whitaker gently elbowed her.
"How… How are the burns?"
"Mostly healed, actually," Whitaker reported. "They'll scar, but that was an expected outcome."
Blake nodded silently. She opened her mouth but quickly closed it. Whitaker already knew what she was going to say. He laid his hand over Blake's when she reached for the top of the board game's box. He looked into her marigold eyes.
"Witt—"
"You know I don't blame you," Whitaker said quietly. "It's not your fault, Blake."
"I know, it's just—" She looked away. "It just doesn't feel like that. And that's a hurdle that I have to get past myself. By myself."
The words that Blake uttered sounded like a distant echo of something he'd said once before. Of an attitude that he once carried. Whitaker squeezed Blake's hand. "But you don't have to."
Blake's eyes widened. "Wh-what are you saying?"
"You have friends, Blake," Whitaker said. "People who will stand by your side no matter what. Me included. I'm here for you to lean on, to rely on."
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"I was just—" Her eyes flicked away from him, to where Team JNPR and Ruby and Yang were sitting. Then they narrowed slightly before springing back to normal. "It's nothing."
It definitely wasn't nothing, considering the fact that she looked like she was going to murder everyone— or maybe someone—at the other table, but Whitaker chose not to say anything about it.
Whitaker's Scroll pinged. He fished it out of his pocket. It was from Ozpin.
There's someone here who'd like to meet with you, Mr. Ash. Please make your way to my office immediately.
Whitaker sent a reply. "I'll be back," he said to Blake.
"In trouble?"
"Depends on who wants to meet me," Whitaker replied mysteriously. But based on the amount of Atlas ships hovering above Vale and Beacon, he could make a pretty good guess as to who it was.
[;]
Whitaker caught Glynda Goodwitch just as she was exiting the elevator to the Headmaster's office. She looked flustered and frustrated, but when she spotted Whitaker she quickly fixed her face.
"Did something happen?" Whitaker asked.
"Men are all walking slices of unintelligent meat," she responded curtly.
Ouch. "I see."
Glynda rubbed her forehead. "I will see you in class tomorrow, Whitaker. Have a good last day of break." Without waiting for his reply, Glynda exited.
Whitaker stepped into the elevator and pressed the button that took him to the Headmaster's office. It'd been over six months since he last saw Ironwood (and Winter, for that matter), so he wasn't exactly certain on how the general would react to seeing him again. There was also the fact that he'd blatantly lied to his face at the end of his test. Whitaker believed that Ironwood wasn't the kind of man who would let a thread like that slip past his grasp.
Maybe Whitaker was just untrusting.
Actually, scratch the 'maybe'. He was definitely untrusting.
The elevator dinged to announce its arrival, and the doors pulled open shortly after.
Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood stood opposite one another with Ozpin's large desk between them. They were speaking amicably about something, but quickly concluded their conversation when Whitaker stepped through the elevator's threshold.
"Whitaker Ash!" General Ironwood paced over to him with a wide smile and open arms.
"General Ironwood," Whitaker replied. He gave a weak salute before accepting the man's hug.
"It's just James to you, Witt," Ironwood emphasized. "We're practically family now."
"Did you finally propose to Winter?" Whitaker asked.
The general choked on his spit. Ozpin's eyes widened.
"N-no," James managed between coughs. "I will not be proposing to Specialist Schnee. I simply meant that I regard you as—"
"I know, I was joking." Whitaker cracked a smile.
Ironwood laughed brightly and loudly. "I see you've picked up at least a few things from Beacon."
"It is good to see you fully recovered as well, Mr. Ash," Ozpin interjected. "I hope your injuries have been manageable."
"They've been worse," he answered. Whitaker looked between the two of them. "Is there another reason you called for me? General— James and I could have caught up over a Scroll call."
Ozpin and Ironwood glanced at each other.
Ironwood cleared his throat. "The incident at the docks."
Whitaker tensed.
It did not go unseen by both men. "I understand if it is difficult to talk about," Ozpin interjected. "But time is precious, as is the accuracy of information."
"So why am I the only one here? Why not Blake or Pyrrha or Glynda?"
"We already spoke to Glynda," James said. "She gave her report, and when we informed her that we were bringing you in next… She was not happy." The general rubbed the side of his face with a small frown. Whitaker could only barely make out the outline of a handprint on his cheek.
"And Ms. Nikos will be brought in at a later time," Ozpin finished.
"And Blake?"
"Ms. Belladonna… is a complicated situation," Ozpin said. "Her knowledge as a result of her history is important, but she will never share it with us of her own volition. We'll get to that."
"I'll talk," Whitaker said. "On one condition."
"And that is?" Ozpin asked, his brow raised.
"That Blake and Pyrrha are spared from this conversation," Whitaker explained. "They don't deserve to relive that night, especially because neither of them know as much about you two as I do. They'll be untrusting— and you should know well enough how that will affect an interrogation."
Ironwood smiled, clearly impressed, while Ozpin merely nodded. "Very well. I can accept those terms."
"Alright." Whitaker spread his arms open. "What do you want to know?"
[;]
Whitaker told them everything. Between two of the most influential men on Remnant, he had nothing to hide. He informed them of why he and Blake fought, how he tracked Blake down (with Pyrrha's help), and the subsequent battle at the docks. It was as neutral of a recounting as he could manage, and by the time he finished, Ironwood and Ozpin were left in stunned silence. Whitaker couldn't blame them either. No matter how the media had spun it, there were definitely more layers than they'd covered, that much Whitaker was sure of. They didn't know about the suicidal White Fang— how they'd worn explosive Dust jackets and willingly detonated them
"You did well given the circumstances, Whitaker," Ironwood said. "Do not forget that. Anything more and we could have lost you forever."
The teen nodded once. However, the general's good words fell on deaf ears. It didn't matter that what he said was technically correct. It didn't feel that way— Gods, it didn't even sound that way. Whitaker was talented and skilled, there was no lie in that statement, but those two things shouldn't place his life higher in value than others. It did. But it shouldn't.
"Is there anything else?" Whitaker asked.
Ozpin thumbed his chin in thought, but before he could speak, Ironwood spoke instead.
"Do you still have Lightbearer?" he asked.
"I gave it to Headmaster Ozpin," Whitaker answered. He glanced warily at the mentioned individual. "I told him that once I was ready for its burdens, I would wield it once again."
"Burdens?" Ironwood turned to Ozpin, confusion cut clearly across his chiseled features. "What does he mean by that, Ozpin?"
"I will tell you once he leaves, friend," the headmaster eased.
Ironwood didn't seem too happy with that response, but he didn't push the issue any further.
Ozpin turned to Whitaker. "I have no further questions for you, Mr. Ash. And you can rest assured that Ms. Belladonna and Ms. Nikos won't be brought in for further questioning. I keep my promises to my students."
"You are dismissed," Ironwood said. "I'll give your Scroll a call sometime later in the week, Witt. So we can set time aside to properly catch up with each other."
"Of course," Whitaker said. He stepped towards the elevator. With a final look to both Ironwood and Ozpin, the elevator doors opened and he stepped through them. As the doors slid shut, Whitaker cautiously eyed them, and when they were fully sealed, he let out a small sigh.
Sorry, Iris.
[;]
"It sounds weird, Ruby," Whitaker said, glancing over the girl's shoulder and to the assignment she was currently working on.
"What sounds weird about it?" She turned her head up to look at him, then she glanced back at the paper. "'Despite the extensive research performed by the SDC, the wonders and full capabilities of Dust remain yet to be seen.' That doesn't sound weird at all!"
"No, no." Whitaker leaned down. "Here. You have to remove 'remain' and replace it with 'are.' Or just remove 'yet.' Take your pick, and then it should be good enough to turn in."
"So picky," Ruby grumbled.
"Did you finish your assignment, Yang?" Whitaker asked.
The blonde bobbed her head. She handed Whitaker a stapled stack of papers, then let out a small sigh as she stretched her arms over her head.
"This is… actually really well-written," Whitaker commented. "Good job, Yang."
"Thanks," Yang replied with a grin.
"Blake?" Whitaker asked.
"I'll work on it later," Blake said from her position on her bed. She sat up and made for the door. "I'm gonna go to the library. I'll be back."
"Blake," Whitaker interjected just as she wrapped her hand around the doorknob. "You promised us that you would talk to us. That you'd tell us if something was wrong." He turned to face her. "Does this have to do with what we discussed earlier today? Before the food fight?"
Blake pursed her lips. She was clearly fighting with the idea of speaking up. Then, she sighed and plopped herself back down on her bed. "There's nothing wrong, per se. It just… bothers me that while the White Fang are out there planning their next move, we're sitting here doing homework like the real world doesn't exist.
"I know that it isn't our jobs to do something about it— that we should probably leave it to real Huntsmen and Huntresses— but it feels so wrong sitting here doing nothing when we could be out there. Helping them. Saving people. Doing things that we should be doing." She stared up at her teammates, a fire blazing behind her glassy amber eyes.
The passion behind her words roused something within Whitaker, a gentle rumbling of thunder within his chest, and he knew that if Blake's speech got through to him, it definitely got through Yang and Ruby. He glanced at the two other girls, and he could see the assent in Ruby's eyes.
"Blake's right." Ruby stood up. "Even though we're just students, we should at least try and do something about it."
"Ruby…" Whitaker began.
"We'll be safe about it," Ruby urged. "Only information-gathering. We won't go out of our way to find trouble, right?" She looked to the rest of Team RWBY.
"Right." Yang gave her sister a thumbs-up.
"Mmhm." Blake nodded.
"Is that good enough?" Ruby asked.
"It…" Whitaker sighed. "It's fine. I don't think I could stop all of you even if I wanted to, anyways." He sat down on his bed, glancing between his teammates. "So, what should we do first?"
From outside the window, there was a clattering sound, and every member of Team RWBY shot to their feet and had their fists ready and waiting for the intruder. Then, a bright yellow monkey tail lifted up the window. Sun Wukong came tumbling through the window a moment later, with his friend Neptune Vasilias smoothly entering just behind him.
Sun gave everyone a weak smile and wave. "Uh. Hi? We totally weren't spying on you because we thought you were talking about White Fang plans."
"We are," Ruby said. "Do you wanna help?" She asked, offering Sun a hand.
Sun glanced at Blake, who had her arms crossed and her body turned away from the two intruders. "Yeah," he said. "How can we help?"
[;]
Team RWBY (featuring Sun and Neptune) split up into three separate groups with the primary goal of information gathering. Whitaker believed that needed to be explicitly said in order to be understood— mainly by one black-haired, amber-eyed cat faunus. With that laid out onto the table, the rest of planning was a breeze.
Ruby and Whitaker tackled the mountain of SDC records that Whitaker (through his relationship with Weiss and Winter) would have access to. Blake and Sun would attend a White Fang rally to confirm that the organization is still related to the SDC and the loss of Dust across Vale, while Yang and Neptune would visit Yang's friend for a third source of information. Whitaker hoped that drawing information from three different sources would be more than enough for a solid cross-examination, especially given how exclusive the White Fang could be regarding their plans. But Blake had that avenue covered with her and Sun's attendance at a rally.
"Good work everyone," Whitaker said. "Remember: communication is key. Everyone has a partner, if your partner can't reach their Scroll to give us updates, make sure that you can."
Ruby smiled and nodded. "I added everyone to a group chat, which will make sending texts easier." Ruby sent a text into the aforementioned group chat, pinging everyone's Scrolls. "Let's go, gang!"
With Ruby's bubbly excitement motivating them and Whitaker's semblance of a plan to guide them, the group separated to perform their respective assignments. Whitaker and Ruby made their way to the Cross Continental Transit System of Beacon, which was also the Beacon Tower where Ozpin's office was located. In the many times he'd been called up to the Headmaster's office, Whitaker hadn't fully processed that the CCTS was housed in the exact same location. He chose to chalk that up to being distracted nearly every time he'd stepped inside of Beacon Tower.
"So, what'll happen if your cousins don't let you have access to the SDC records?" Ruby asked as she stepped through the door that Whitaker held open for her.
"It'll be incredibly unfortunate," Whitaker answered. He walked up to the desk of the receptionist, presenting his school I.D. to her. "Could you patch us through to the SDC?"
"Of course, Mr. Ash." The receptionist smiled and tapped a few buttons on her console. Then, she glanced up with a small nod. "Station 34-E."
"Thanks." Whitaker and Ruby headed to the mentioned station, and sat down in front of the monitor. A few brief moments passed before the screen blinked to life and a woman dressed in Schnee-white with the logo of the SDC behind her appeared.
"Mr. Ash," she said, recognizing Whitaker. "Is there anything I can help you with today?"
Whitaker cleared his throat. "Hello Amanda. Could you inform Winter or Weiss that I'd like to speak with them as soon as possible?"
"I believe that Winter Schnee is occupied with an assignment, however Weiss is available at the moment," Amanda replied. She typed something into her Scroll. "I have informed her. She will—" Her Scroll pinged with a response. "Well. It seems she'll be receiving your call now."
Whitaker chuckled. "Thank you, Amanda."
"Patching you through to her now." With a wave, Amanda's visage dissolved and transitioned into the pale, Atlesian bedroom of Weiss Schnee.
"Whitaker!" His cousin beamed with a wide grin. She was seated in front of her vanity and she wore a neat set of bedclothes. Her hair was down as well, a style that Whitaker hadn't seen on her in years.
"Hi, Weiss." Whitaker waved. "Someone's looking very casual today."
"School was cancelled because of a snowstorm," she explained. "But all of the professors still have assignments for us. You called at a good time, though. What did you need?"
"I need access to the SDC's shipping manifests, where those ships intended to dock, and if there were any reported losses aboard those same ships," Whitaker answered immediately. He wanted to cut straight to the chase, just like Weiss would want.
The heiress narrowed her eyes. "Why?" Her eyes flicked to Ruby. "And regardless of why, I won't be disclosing that information to you in front of someone I do not know."
"This is Ruby," Whitaker said. "She's the leader of my team at Beacon."
"Uh… Hi." Ruby smiled.
"And we need it because we're investigating the White Fang," Whitaker said. "They're the ones responsible for your dad's Dust being stolen, and we're trying to put a stop to it."
"Mmh," Weiss hummed. Then, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll see what I can do. Just know that you'll be explaining this to Winter as well. And probably giving her an exact run down of every detail of it."
"That's alright," Whitaker said. Explaining something like this to Winter was the least of his worries— in fact, he was more afraid that Weiss would disagree than Winter would, but he was glad to know that Weiss implicitly trusted him. "Thank you, Weiss. This means a lot."
"I know," Weiss said. "I'll get to work. You'll receive those files in an hour."
Whitaker nodded. "I'll see you soon, hopefully."
"At the Vytal Festival, Whitaker," she said. "I'll see you then."
They said their goodbyes, and the screen blinked into darkness as the call ended. Whitaker turned to Ruby. "See how easy that was?"
Ruby chuckled. "I almost forgot that you were Jacques Schnee's nephew."
"It's alright. I have many other family members that make sure I never forget that," Whitaker said with a small smile.
The "R" and "W" of RWBY left Beacon Tower and began to walk back to the dorms. As they walked, Ruby slowed down slightly, her brows furrowing and her lips twitching ever-so-slightly.
"What's wrong?" Whitaker asked.
"Huh? Oh, uh. Nothing," Ruby tried.
"Ruby," Whitaker insisted. "Talk to me."
"Well, I just…" Ruby looked up at him. "I just wanna know what you think of the plan. Of all of this. Like, what we're getting involved in and how dangerous all of it is. I know that Blake's speech was motivating and all, but you seemed pretty firm for a second there about not letting us do this."
Whitaker— remembering where exactly they were: out in the middle of the campus grounds with an inch of privacy— pulled Ruby into one of the many secluded gardens of Beacon. One not unlike the first time they discussed Ruby's position as leader during their first day at Beacon Academy. Whitaker sat down on a bench and stared up at the sky. "I was like you and Blake and Yang. I had big dreams of being a hero, of 'doing what Hunters and Huntresses should be doing.' That changed after Verdant. After I killed someone."
Whitaker glanced at Ruby. The girl had become very still, almost like a statue. But she gave a small nod for him to continue.
"After that, I realized that 'saving people' can't be the sole reason you do things," Whitaker said. "Especially as a Hunter. In this line of work, saving people means making a choice between the lesser of two evils. And often, both choices are equally as bad."
"But… Then where do you place your reason for becoming a Huntsman? Your 'Destiny?'" Ruby asked.
Whitaker shrugged. "Lower than saving people, honestly."
"But you told me that was why you became a Huntsman."
Whitaker nodded. "That's still true. I never said I had a good reason for becoming one. Just that… I've spent my entire life building up to where I am now. It'd be a waste to throw it all away and do something safer. But back to the topic at hand: saving people or doing the right thing is never as easy as it seems. Tell me, Ruby, if we were in a life-or-death situation and you had to choose between me and a newborn child and their mother, which one would you save?"
"I… Th-that's…"
"A difficult choice, right?" Whitaker asked. "And one is no better than the other. Do you know what I would pick if you were me in that situation?"
"Mm?"
"I would pick you." Whitaker smiled. "Most people would choose the latter. For those people, it's a numbers game. Save one life or save two. But when you are faced with that situation yourself, you will always— always— pick the life you are most familiar with."
"What does this have to do with the White Fang, Witt?"
Whitaker stood up. He looked down at his hand. For a split second, his vision blurred and doubled and then tripled. He swore that he could see blood drip from his palm and onto the grass, but it was gone before he could fully place it as real. "I pray that you will never have to make that choice. Any of you. But if you continue down this path, as I know you will, then you will eventually have to come to terms with both taking a life, and choosing when to sacrifice someone else's life."
Before Ruby could respond, both of their Scrolls beeped with a message from Blake.
Send help. Downtown Vale. Sun and I were discovered at the rally. White Fang has Atlesian Paladin.
Attached to the message was Blake's location and a quickly snapped photo of the Paladin. Its large, twin arms were locked in firing position, and it's massive legs were crouched and ready to leap at a moment's notice.
Whitaker glanced at Ruby, a wry smile dancing across his lips. "Ever crashed a Bullhead before?"
Sorry for the incredibly long delay. Life gets busy. Y'know, the usual stuff.
If you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review. They're helpful in motivating me to write.
Also, if you are interested, this is the link to my new Discord server.
discord. gg/xYA8mS43xP
