The 'Lone' Hero of Vale - Chapter 12
"Oh no! My alarm didn't go off." Ruby panicked
"H-huh?" Link was still half asleep, wiping his eyes "Your alarm? But we don't have class today."
"Yeah but I wanted to sneak into the team rwby dorm so that way they would just assume I'd returned."
"Well too late now." Link yawned and stretched "Yang and Weiss expect you to help them pick decorations and props for the dance. They'll be waiting for you in the dorm no matter what, and well, you can't show up in that." Link said, motioning to Ruby's pajamas.
"Nobody can see me in this." Ruby whined
"No worries." Link yawned as he went into his closet again, changing back into his tunic while throwing Ruby a grey shirt that had a wolf design on it along with some socks and running shoes
"Wow..." Ruby smiled, admiring the design of the wolf
"There's no way to avoid it now, you're going to confront them and admit the truth." Link called out
"W-what?" Ruby groaned "Can't we wait it out?"
"Nope, they're going to start decorating the place soon, and they won't start without you." Link said, opening the door "Ladies first."
"..." Ruby said nothing and walked out.
5 minutes later. After slowly and carefully traveling to the team RWBY dorm.
"Good luck." Link nods
"Thanks." Ruby sighed and opened the door...to find the room was completely empty. "Phew!" Ruby sighed with relief.
"Good call." Link sighed with relief as well, still standing by the door, which was his mistake. "Hurry, change into your dress, you can hold onto those clothes if you want." Link said
"Um..." Ruby frowned "Dress? Excuse me sir this is a combat skirt." Ruby turned her head, whipping her hair as she paced away.
"Whatever you say." Link chuckled
"But hey...thanks...you know, for letting me crash with you for the night." Ruby nodded
"Oh yeah no problem." Link nodded back "You're actually the first person other than myself to enter my room, sorry if it was messy or anything..."
"Are you serious?" Ruby raised an eyebrow, pointing at the entire team RWBY room "Your messy makes our room look like a junkyard."
"Fair enough." Link shrugged when all of a sudden...
"HEY LINK!" Yang waved from a distance, she was carrying a giant speaker as she and Weiss walked down the hallway.
"Yang?" Link slowly turned his head
"Whatcha doin'?" Yang asked
"Nothing." Link glanced over towards Ruby, giving her a signal to run or hide.
"Who ya talking to?" Yang approached him
"Oh nobody, just myself." Link put up a fake smile and scratched his head
"Oh really? I don't remember our door being open, are you trying to steal our weapons?" Weiss called out
"Of course not! Why would I want your prop of a sword?" Link shrugged
"A prop?!" Weiss fumed with anger
"Catch!" Yang said, launching the speaker at Link
"Woah easy there! This isn't cheap ya know!" Link said, quickly catching it, realizing his other mistake, he took his attention off the door
"Aha!" Yang said, entering the room, noticing Ruby had just strapped on her boots. "Hi sis!" Yang grinned "You and Link having a chat?"
"Oh! Hey Yang!" Ruby smiled back
"Where have you been?" Weiss frowned
"I've been here...the whole time." Ruby nods
"..." No response from either Weiss or Yang.
"She meant where were you...last night?" Yang winked, sitting beside Ruby.
"Nowhere specific." Ruby said, raising her chin up, looking at the ceiling, trying to hide the blush on her face
"I found it pretty odd that Blake was with Sun...I find it odd that you were somewhere else too." Yang chuckled "So where were you?"
"Nowhere!" Ruby exclaimed, her face getting redder every second that passed by.
"You cannot keep secrets from your team, especially you...being our leader and all." Weiss crossed her arms "Where were you last night? Answer us Ruby."
"I crashed with a friend ok?!" Ruby called out and jumped over to Blake's bed
"Link?" Weiss asked
"Guilty." Link sighed and began to laugh
"You would've screamed at me, then nobody in beacon would've gotten sleep, so I asked Link to stay with him for the night." Ruby mumbled
"I wouldn't have yelled at-!"
"Yes you would've!" All 3, Yang, Ruby and Link said at the same time.
"Well!" Weiss frowned before turning her head around "How many beds does your room have Link?" Weiss bluntly asked
"One." Link said, completely calm and collected.
"L-link!" Ruby groaned and hid her blushing under Blake's blanket.
"You guys shared a bed together?" Yang said with a frown
"Mhm." Link nodded
"..." Yang said nothing then burst into laughter. "My baby sister is growing up, how cute." Yang continued to laugh as she dragged Ruby out of Blake's bed "Come on we gotta finish preparations, the dance is tomorrow."
Ruby suddenly stopped smiling and blushing, she then sighed "How's blake?" Ruby asked
"Not good." Weiss sighed as well "Sun told me she only slept like 2 hours then quickly woke up and headed back to the library."
"What a damn shame." Link frowned
"Don't worry about Blake." Yang laugh "She's going to the dance, she's going to lighten up, and best of all, she's going to be okay, mark my words." Yang nodded as she left the dorm, picking the speaker up and carrying it away.
"Come on Ruby." Weiss said, leaving the room slowly, waiting on her teammate outside.
"Got it." Ruby called out
"Come here." Link said, walking towards Ruby and extending his hand "See that wasn't too hard was it?"
"You were right, I shouldn't have been worried, thank you Link." Ruby laughed as she and Link fist bumped again before she finally caught to with Yang and Weiss, they headed left while Link headed right...his sights set on the courtyard, where he knew Atlas ships were still stationed.
Link paced around the courtyard, scouting the Atlas ships, which continued to bring in more robot soldiers
"Man this is what Atlas considers military?" Link shrugs "And they have the nerve to say Hunters and Huntresses aren't need."
"You doing some sight seeing?" A man with a deep voice was behind Link
However, Link felt no threat, as he knew it wasn't Ironwood "Did you follow me here Professor Ozpin?" Link chuckled as he turned around
"Of course not, I was just helping Miss Goodwitch with some 'planning' about some private business, but you caught my attention." Ozpin took a sip out of his mug "Tell me what you didn't tell me before about your history with the law enforcement around Remnant." Ozpin said, directing Link away from the ships.
"We'd be here for days."
"I told your friend Miss Belladonna the same thing I'll tell you, if you ever need someone to talk to, please don't hesitate to ask...i'm more than just your headmaster." Ozpin said as he and Link headed back inside the school, when they saw James Ironwood passing by, exiting the school.
Instantly James drew out his revolver while Link quickly had a tight grip on his sword handle despite not having any intention to fight
"Oz..." James began while aiming at Link's head
"Better put a leash on that puppy." Link mumbled
"He's not causing you any harm James, so please move on." Ozpin nodded as he using his cane to keep James and Link apart
"Fine, but if see him ever 50 feet near my ships, he'll be placed under military arrest."
"Wrong." Link smiled as he let go of his sword "As a student I have the right to roam the campus, that being the courtyard as well, and your ships are on this courtyard."
"..." Ozpin said nothing but did nod
"Ozpin..." James stuttered
"A world renowned general, outclass twice by a 1st year student..." Ozpin slowly stopped himself "But enough of the jokes, I've made time to speak with Link, please respect that James."
"Very well, good day Ozpin." James sighed and walked back to his ships.
"You were saying...?" Ozpin asked
"R-right..." Link shrugged as he followed Ozpin inside.
Flashback
"Where the hell am I gonna go now...?" Link sighed and struggled to catch his breath as he was in the middle of the woods, the rain was pouring down hard and Link had just finished running pretty hard...escaping his father, who had just lost it and tried attacking Link's mother, brother and himself.
"I told mother and brother to run for it, that I'd find them...but I'm lost now..." Link dropped down, lying on a nearby tree.
"I FOUND YOU!'
"Crap!" Link frowned as he quickly got up and began to run
"You won't get away, come here!"
"No way!" Link shouted back, continuing to sprint away, not knowing where he was even going.
Link continued scrambling through the woods, escaping the sight of his psychotic father, smashing into tree as the hard rain limited his vision.
"Get away!" Link turned around as he felt a hand on his shoulder
"You're coming home right now!"
"No!" Link shoved his father away, he held his head in pain "Ugh!" Link slowly began to feel his eyes change color forcefully, feeling pain every second it happened, his entire eye became covered with strange lining, almost making his eyes look puppet-like.
"What the-!"
"Out of my sight!" Link said with fierceness in his voice, drawing the sword out of it's sheath.
"N-no!" The man again tried to grab Link by his shoulder
"Goodbye Father." Link said with a sadistic smile as two triangles flashed in front and behind his father
But suddenly...
Lightning struck right in between Link and his father, the impact of the lightning combined with Link's intensity of power caused an explosion, sending him one way and his father the other way. Unfortunately for Link, the way he was going ended with a dead end, leaving only a cliff edge with a drop down to a strong flowing river.
Link was sent downwards into the strong river, but the speed of his fall was too fast for the water to break his fall completely, and Link ended up smashing his head on the bottom of the surface, which was pure rock, it knocked him completely out cold.
Present Time
"And that's that." Link mumbled, as he sat across from Ozpin now, they were back at his office
"Those eyes of yours...what is that?" Ozpin asked
"Truth be told, I have no idea, I don't even know if I'd call this demon a he or an it, he just..." Link grasped his chest "Lives within me. That day was the only time he's taken over me completely. Every other time the gold in my eyes appears, that's me attempting to control the demon. Though every time I try, he fights back and completely drains my energy. It was just recently that I was about to sprout to the other gold colored eye."
"Do you fear that he'll ever take over you?" Ozpin sat on his chair
"Not really no. We've somehow come to a compromise, we benefit each other in some way as opposed to well...opposing each other."
"Tell me, how did you survive the fall? That strong current would've swept you away into the ocean or a big body of water nearby, and at the time you were only..."
"14, sir." Link nodded
"Did someone save you or did you just get lucky?"
"Oh, well actually, somebody did save me." Link nodded "Although I'm not sure If I can reveal her identity." Link said, instantly realizing his other mistake, reveal this person's gender "I'm so stupid."
"Who was this 'she'...?" Ozpin asked, putting his mug down
"You would never believe me." Link chuckled "But she was very...I guess I can say strong, we didn't fight or anything but I could just sense it, and back then I was a naive kid who was barely figuring out his own power..." Link then sighed "Shame I haven't ran into her ever again, it's been one of my main goals ever since going our separate ways."
"I do believe you." Ozpin started "You are alive today because of this woman right?"
"Right." Link nodded, thinking hard before sighing "Here's the thing Professor...Remember how I said I hit my head really hard against rocks?"
"Yes." Ozpin nodded
"I kind of lost my memory." Link mumbled "That's why I don't remember my mother or brother at all, unfortunately I do remember my father. But anytime I try to recall what happened after the strong river carried me away, my brain begins to tighten up."
"Do you at least remember what this woman looked like?"
"Mhm." Link nodded "She had light brown skin, short brown hair. She wore a long, hooded cloak...um, she wore it on top of a white blouse with a brown vest, corset and pants. She also had a gold gauntlet on her left arm and a pair of golden armored boots. She had some golden armor on her right shoulder as well as a shoulder strap with some pouches slung across her body."
As soon as Link finished describing the woman, Ozpin remained speechless
"Her name..." Link struggled as the massive head pain kicked in "What was it...?"
"A..." Ozpin whispered "M..."
"Am..." Link thought carefully, slowly getting images of the woman again
Flashback
"..." Link slowly opened his eyes, the bright sun was quickly to enter his eyes "Ugh!" Link rubbed his eyes and sat up, feeling his head compressed by something, he was quick to touch his head
"Don't..." The woman spoke as she reached out towards Link
"...!" Link backed away, reaching for his sword.
"Don't worry." She mumbled "I'm only here to help." She smiled and offered Link an apple
"Huh?" Link said as he was still shaking, still nervous and scared after the big fall.
"..." The woman continued to smile with the apple in her hand still up for grabs
"T-thank you." Link said, slowly grabbing it. "W-who are you?" He asked
"I should be asking you that." She said, sitting down beside Link "My name is Amber."
"I'm..." Link stopped himself, struggling to even remember his own name,
"It's ok, take your time, no need to stress yourself out."
"L-l-link...?" He said, wondering if that was even correct.
"Nice to meet you Link." She said, and was quick to ask more. "I know you don't remember anything of what happened last night, but do you at least remember anything? About yourself, family, friends?"
"..." Link began to think, with each second of deep thoughts adding more to his already traumatized head.
"Don't, it's ok, just knowing your name is enough for me." She said, putting a hand on Link's shoulder.
"Thank you for saving me." Link mumbled "I may not remember now but I'm sure what I was doing to get me here was stupid."
"You must not blame yourself." Amber said "The way I found you suggested that you were launched into the river."
"How bad was I injured?" Link asked
"Aside from head injuries, everything else was fine."
"Good." Link nodded, not noticing his eyes glowing gold again
"You have a monster trapped inside you.."
"Huh?" Link looked up
"Oh, nothing..." Amber smiled again "Forget that."
"O-okay." Link nodded as he munched on the apple.
Present Time
"Amber...I promised her we'd meet again, shame I was never able to find her on my 2 years of traveling around Remnant."
"You must not speak of that story with others." Ozpin was quick to speak up as he drank out of his mug again
"How come...?" Link asked "Is someone after her?'
"...We're not sure yet..." Ozpin then realized he was sharing very important information with a student who he's barely getting to know
"Are they after all the maidens?" Link asked
"..." Ozpin was quick to hurry over to Link
"What's wrong professor?" Link asked
"Shh..." Ozpin mumbled as he slowly began to whisper "We can talk about this at another time."
"Yes sir." Link nodded
"Now." Ozpin said "About your remnant adventures...your traveling, your sightseeing...your mercenary jobs..."
"So you know about those." Link chuckles "So now that your buddy Ironwood made up some lies about me, does this mean I'm out?"
"Of course not." Ozpin shook his head "James may consider you a criminal with intentions of destroying the world, but to me you were just following orders for money, which is no better, but-!"
"I have no plans to destroy the world." Link spoke up
"Precisely." Ozpin nodded
Flashback
"What do you even need the money for?" Spoke a faunus guard.
"Truthfully I'm not sure." Link shrugged as he got a briefcase from a man with a mask and red hair "But I'm sure my brother and mother would need it right now."
"Good job out there, you're the best mercenary I've ever seen, please consider my offer of joining us permanently."
"No thank you." Link shook his head "I'd rather not become part of a cult."
"How dare you-!"
"Easy there." The man continued to speak "Your opinions are nothing more than that, but hey if you're helping us succeed then who am I to turn you away. But anyways kid..." The man slowly stopped "This train should stop soon, make sure you aren't compromised, got it?"
"No problem Adam..." Link mumbled
"No names." Adam mumbled
"Sorry." Link mumbled "Sir."
"Sir are you sure we can trust him?"
"Don't worry about him. Mercenaries are like puppets, they never speak as long as they get something that benefits them." Adam spoke as the train began to slow down
"Oh and one more thing..." Link looked back at Adam
"What is it?" Adam asked
"I'm not your little puppet." Link said as his eyes flashed gold "Understand that."
Adam said nothing and just smiled evilly as link hopped off the train.
Present Time
"I would love to hear more, and it was good having this talk." Ozpin said "But you should get ready, the dance is coming soon."
"What? I don't have to make that dance a priority you know." Link nodded
"You mustn't stress yourself out day in and day out, especially for somebody at your age, enjoy all the fun that comes your way, because eventually it won't be there anymore."
"Got it, thanks for taking the time to talk Professor." Link nodded
"I'll always be around to talk whenever you need it."
"I'll keep that in mind." Link nodded as he saw Glynda coming out of the elevator
"Good day." Glynda nodded
"Mhm." Link nodded back, heading into the elevator himself
A few hours later, a little past midnight
"I wonder what's holding them up. .." Link sat on the edge of his window, wondering about team CFVY, who were days late from their return date. "I miss talking to Velvet and Coco. I wonder who or what is holding them up..."
"I'm sure they're doing just fine." Pyrrha said "They are experienced and they each have an advantage over any grimm. "
"Huh?!" Link turned in shock and fell off the edge, had it not been for Pyrrha using her polarity semblance to lift link by his shield/sword/gauntlet's, he would've smashed into the ground.
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha panicked
"It's ok." Link sighed in relief as he dangled nearly 2 feet off the floor "Hey Pyrrha?"
"Yes?"
"Can you bring me up now?" Link chuckled "My face is about 2 feet away from concrete."
"O-oh I-Im so sorry!" Pyrrha smiled and with her power she brought link back up.
"Thanks." Link smiled "How did you...?"
"Your door was open." Pyrrha said
"Right..." Link sighed "So what's up?"
"O-oh well it's nothing, I just..." Pyrrha sighed "I don't know who to talk to about this, Nora just scolds me and Ren stays quiet."
"It's about Jaune isn't it?" Link asked
"..." Pyrrha only sighed but then nodded "Correct."
"He just doesn't get it." Link shrugged his shoulders and sighed as well "Weiss shows no interest but he constantly keeps on asking her out, meanwhile he...in my opinion has an even more beautiful girl constantly training and looking out for him, but Jaune just doesn't see that he's more than an apprentice to you."
"Thank you." Pyrrha smiled at the compliment "If only Jaune knew how I really felt about him, he's one the few people who seems me a just another person, and not 'The invincible Pyrrha Nikos' that everyone else sees."
"One of the few..." Link thought to himself for a bit before turning back to the conversation "Is that why team JNPR and RWBY are your only associates?"
"You too." Pyrrha said
"R-right." Link chuckled "Sorry."
"It's ok." Pyrrha nodded "Jaune sees that this pedestal that I've been put on means nothing so when he talks to me, I like it. He sees me as a friend not as someone who is too good for him."
"..." Link wanted to say something but instead stopped himself, however he didn't go unnoticed
"What is it Link?" Pyrrha asked
"O-oh it's nothing..." Link sarcastically rolled his eyes
"No tell me, it's okay, you can trust me."
"Hm..."
"Please." Pyrrha smiled
"Oh alright." Link sighed "I can say the same thing about you guys. You're not ignoring me because i'm the 'one person team' who many students see as invincible."
"Well you are very good after all." Pyrrha said
"I'm still a long way from being a master, but for now, I suppose you could say I'm mediocre. But you guys just see me as just another regular old somebody, which I appreciate very much."
"A few more than others." Pyrrha slightly chuckled, referring to Velvet and Ruby
"..." Link could only respond with a laugh as well. "They're both very sweet i'll give them that."
"Both of them seem to like you, one can't express it at all, the other one just can't find a way to express it through her actions."
"I suppose so..." Link yawned
"Are you ready for the dance tomorrow?" Pyrrha asked.
"Not really. Just try to keep it down a bit, i'll be trying to sleep." Link said
"Y-you aren't going?"
"Nope." Link said "I'm not a dancing person...and I'm not the biggest fan of tuxedo's either."
Unknowing to Pyrrha and Link, they were being spied on...by Yang.
"Damn him! I expected him to be the bigger person and ask Ruby to the dance, I've gotten Blake to go, now ruby's gonna be alone...Hmph! Oh well, she's still wearing that dress..." Yang expressed a soft smile before running off.
"So Jaune thinks you're being asked out by tons of guys right now?"
"Yes." Pyrrha nodded
"What a shame..." Link sighed "He's got a beautiful girl in his team...yet he chases after the arrogant, stuck up one's." Link shrugs
"You should get some sleep, it's very late." Pyrrha smiled as she got off the edge, sliding back into Link's room
"Mhm, you too." Link said, getting back in his room, shutting the window
"Good night." Pyrrha waved and smiled as she walked off
"Night." Link waved, shutting the door.
The next day
Due to Link's late sleeping, he ended up sleeping throughout the ENTIRE day, and coincidentally woke up right before the dance started
"Hello?" Jaune knocked
"Hm...?" Link yawned as he sat up
"Helloooooo?!" Jaune pounded on the door some more
"What...?" Link said, clearly annoyed, slowly opening the door, to find Jaune wearing a very nice and brand new suit "Oh hey jaune."
"Why aren't you dressed?" Jaune asked.
"I was planning on not going." Link yawned
"Can you change that?" Jaune said
"Question, who are you going with...?"
"Not weiss." Jaune sighed "Guess there's no girls in my future after all huh?"
"Back up against that wall." Link said, pointing at the hallway.
"Um, okay." Jaune said as soon as his back touched the wall, a knife was thrown at him, a fast and surging knife that barely edged his head and cutting off a bit of his hair "WOAH!" Jaune instantly jumped to his left, touching his head, there was no blood, luckily for him, Link wasn't fully awake yet, so Jaune thought that...but Link was sure that he didn't miss.
"Pyrrha..." Link frowned and looked to his right, seeing a bit of a red dress that soon was gone "I was doing you a favor..."
Link shrugged his shoulders and grabbed his knife from out of the wall. "That's your reality check. Forget about dating Weiss, and focus on the people that actually care about you." Link shrugged and slammed his door
"..." Jaune sighed and knocked on Link's door
"Give me 10 minutes, i'll be at the dance."
"Cool, and hey...I'm sorry." Jaune said
"Don't be, I'm sorry." Link said, chuckling a little bit "For the knife throwing."
"N-no problem." Jaune said, slowly walking away
15 minutes later
"I know I said 10 minutes but..." Link said, staring at the courtyard "I feel like my priorities should be focused on more than this dance."
"Feeling's mutual." Spoke Ruby, who walked right beside Link, sneaking up on him with her speed
"Hey Ruby." Link looked over at her, and his eyes were gazed at Ruby in her dress.
"How do I look?" Ruby chuckled, nearly stumbling on her high heels
"Meh, you look better in your 'combat skirt'." Link smiled and nodded his head, slowly taking off his hat, which didn't go with the black suit at all.
"Really?" Ruby said "I look a little girly don't I?"
"I suppose so but if you wanna talk about how you look, then looking girly makes you look beautiful."
Ruby smiled at the comment and was able to hide her blush just ever so slightly "Thanks, you look very sharp too. I never saw you as a tux guy"
"Not a fan but I can't go in with my battle gear either."
"Same, I'd love to get out of this thing and and put my hood back on." Ruby sighed as she and Link walked to the dance together
"Since we're already going, why not together?" Link said, sliding his boomerang out of his back pocket and launching towards a garden of roses
"Together?" Ruby smiled "Sure."
"Awesome." Link said as the boomerang came to with 2 roses, he handed one to Ruby while putting the other one in his top jacket pocket.
"W-woah!" Ruby said, nearly falling again, slightly pushing against the door to keep her balance
"Here let me help." Link said, interlocking his arm with Ruby, helping her keep a stable stance.
"Thanks." Ruby smiled as they entered the building hosting the dance.
"NO WAY!" Yang shouted
"Oh boy..." Both ruby and link sighed as Yang rushed over to them
"You two look awesome together!" Yang said, admiring Ruby's dress first "And you look so beautiful!"
"Ugh..." Ruby said, clearly not amused "Please ask Weiss how she can fight like this?" Ruby mumbled, tightly grabbing onto Link as she felt her ankles giving out.
"Link, a little help, guide her over please?" Yang pointed towards Weiss
"No thanks." Link shook his head
"Come on I got something to show all 3 of you." Yang said as she walked up to Blake, who was waiting for her besides her apparent date, aka Sun; She had no bags under her eyes and didn't look weak or stressed out.
"Whoa she did it." Ruby cheered
"Wow yang..." Link nodded in approval but still hesitantly and carefully guided Ruby towards Weiss "You actually did it. Good job."
"Hmph!" Weiss turned her body away from Link
"Relax, I'm not interested in fighting tonight." Link shrugged
"Very well then." Weiss said, slowly turning back as all 3 of them were now observing Blake get 'taken away' from Sun by Yang in order to give her the dance that she is owed
"Wow..." Ruby smiled as Yang and Blake curtsy to each other before Yang walks off, with Sun taking over as Blake's dance partner
"See?" Yang chuckled and quickly fist bumped with Link
Blake looked over at the 4 and smiled before continuing to dance with Sun
"Told ya she would come." Yang said
"Mission accomplished." Weiss firmly spoke
"So?" Ruby broke away from Link's hold, finally stabilizing her balance "What do we do now?"
"Just have fun!" Yang said while both she and Weiss walked off in several directions
"Umm..." Ruby sighed "Does that mean I can change out of these stupid things and into my hood now?!"
Link didn't respond sarcastically, but instead backed up, keeping his eye on Yang, who was the main greeter for the dance.
Ozpin slowly approached Ruby, but Link walked off to the side
(Look to your right...) The evil voice spoke out, his menacing tone rung throughout Link's head
The two huge doors opened, and in came Emerald and Mercury.
"You guys are just in time." Yang smiled
"..." No response from Emerald
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Mercury mumbled
(Not interested in fighting huh?) The voice creepily said
(I lied.) Link replied, knowing there's someone missing...
That someone was...
Cinder.
(9/28/17) Edited: Minor mistakes