The 'Lone' Hero of Vale - Chapter 20
Beacon Academy: Link's dorm
"Who is going to answer me?" Link looks at Pyrrha, the most honest one, but gets no answer, then Blake, the most trustworthy, no answer, then Velvet, someone who breaks down under pressure but STILL, no answer. "I could easily report you to Glynda for this ya know."
"Link we-!"
"No." Link shakes his head, "Get out." Link looked right at Ruby who was only able to utter two words "All of you, leave now."
"What?! Why?! We're here to help you." Yang frowns and violently pounds her fists together
"I clearly don't need it otherwise I would come to you guys."
"That's what that golden eye was during our match." Weiss mumbles, "He was coming out to kill-!"
"Wrong." Link shakes his head again, "That was me, I was doing that, it was me trying to control its power to fully put it under my control."
"W-why would you use it on us?" Ruby asks
"The less I use, the less I can practice to take full control, I don't want to EVER let 'him' out completely, that footage with Ironwood was just the beginning."
"Link..." Blake sighs, "You have a monster inside you, but you didn't want it to be public knowledge."
"Right." Link nods in agreement but his expression quickly changes as he mumbles coldly "Leave now."
"We're here to get to the bottom of-!" Velvet softly speaks but was cut off within seconds
"Shut it Velvet!" Link says with pure cold in his voice
"L-link?" Velvet mumbled and backed away with fear in her eyes
"Talk to her like that ONE more time!" Coco frowns and reveals her handbag, quickly turning it into its mini gun form "And I'll make you regret it!"
"You want to fight?" Link reached for his sword
"No!" Pyrrha shakes her head and stretches out both of her arms, black aura was seen on her hands as Link's sword and Coco's mini gun were out of each other's hands "We're not here to fight; we came because we were worried about you."
"Worried?" Link shakes his head, "I'm OK, or at least I was until this happened."
"Then why have you been ignoring us?" Yang asks
"Well if you've seen the footage then you know why. I did not want that to be seen by any of you, Coco, Velvet and Ironwood were enough."
"But you protected Ruby-!"
"Wrong, at that point it was not about Ruby anymore, I thought she was dead then." Link frowns, "I was ready to kill Ironwood and leave Vale, I refused to be seen as the one who caused Ruby's death, I didn't want to see the emotional reaction from You, Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Coco, Velvet, Sun and Neptune."
"Why?"
"Because Yang, the second anybody sees this curse dawned on me, they fear me and keep their distance, I didn't want that anymore, that's why I've been a lone wolf all this time, it was not my choice, I just simply got used to being alone."
"Why would you assume that about us?" Velvet speaks up despite seemingly fearing her friend and love interest
"It has happened before. When you travel a world as big as Remnant you come across small villages, form friendships with people you figured would be forgotten within days, and then those people die before your own eyes, with the blame being yours, how would that make you feel Velvet?"
"I..." Velvet shook her head, as she had no answer
"News of that village spread, I was named and described with perfection, they referred to 'it'..." Link shakes his head and grasps his chest "They referred to 'him' as a demon, with the golden eyes of a monster, they described those lines on my face as those of a possessed killer out to destroy anything in his path... they even gave 'him' a name."
"The twilight demon." Blake's voice is heard faintly as she looks through Link's bookshelf, and grabs the black and white book with no title or cover "I read all about that tale in this book... which has no title or cover. You ripped it off and kept it stored away, crushed in between many fiction and non-fiction books."
"When did you even find-!"
"In my short time in here, I noticed all your books; they all had covers and titles, flashy artwork and reviews at the back, except for this one. I wasn't in here just bickering; I was actually looking for clues."
"The twilight demon?" Ruby asks
"It was described as just a myth created by a young writer one year ago." Pyrrha says
"Yes, only it wasn't a myth, he's real as day..." Link backs away from everybody and closes his eyes
(Whoa?! Are you serious?)
(I will hold you back, don't get any bright ideas.)
Link struggles briefly, letting out grunts of pain before opening his eyes, revealing the bright gold color, despite the twilit lining which made its attempts to kick in, Link managed to hold it back and take full control
"These eyes are just the opening stage, 'he' has only taken over twice... and on one of those two occasions, people were murdered."
"What about the second?" Pyrrha asks
"I'd prefer not to talk about it, maybe another day." Link closes his eyes and within seconds upon opening them, they were back to their normal blue color. "I don't want to be the reason any of you guys get hurt or even worse..."
"Killed?" Ruby speaks up again, walking up to Link
"Yes." Link nods "I never had anything or anyone worth fighting for... until I came to Vale, expecting to be run out immediately, but instead, I was able to enroll into Beacon and start fresh. I wanted to run through Beacon on my own, bur you guys just had to run into me at that damn club?" Link chuckles and points at Ruby, Weiss and Yang "Ever since then, I only kept making friends, I met Blake, then Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Velvet, Coco, Yatsuhashi, Fox... ultimately culminating with Sun and Neptune." Link's chuckle turned into a smile that was short lived "However, that fresh start was only going to be for a semester had what happened to Ruby actually ran its course."
"Forget about it!" Ruby shakes her head "I'm OK now Link, I'm so sorry for scaring you but please just relax-!"
"How can I relax when I almost caused your death?!" Link frowns but that expression quickly dies down as well "Look at me, you saved my life and I'm screaming at you."
"Yeah, you should be ashamed." Ruby smiles
"Sorry Ruby, but if you were in my position, you would understand. It was my fault, my criminal activity, my wanted level, my presence causes harm to those around me, you weren't the first, and you certainly won't be the last either."
"I could've ran away you know." Ruby puts her head down "I'm surprised Weiss didn't scold me... you know 'Why would you run into battle when you're inexperienced and outnumbered?!' You know Weiss."
"H-hey!" Weiss frowns and turns her head
"Sorry, heh." Ruby chuckles and picks her head back up "But instead of running away I decided to fight for a friend! I get why you blame yourself Link, I didn't at first but now I do, however do I have to put my foot down and say NO! It was my choice to jump in and save my friend! All of us would've done the same, even Weiss!"
"What?" Link shrugs "I doubt that."
"Hmph!" Weiss now turns her back on them
"I was ready to leave..." Link mumbles, "I just couldn't bear the thought of showing my face to your friends and family, or even around Vale, despite people not knowing you or I, it would've been impossible to continue living here and moving on."
"If you wanted to leave Vale, then why did you stay?" Weiss asks as she turns to face Link, "You already thought she was... unless if you knew that she was somehow still..."
"I did not know." Link sighs "Nor did I know what to think, that's the truth, I don't know why I stayed, I could've easily ran off without even knowing Ruby was OK and life would have resumed as normal."
"No it wouldn't!" Ruby stands up and points her finger at Link "We're here, breaking into your dorm and inspecting all of your stuff because you wouldn't even talk to us, can you imagine what we-! What I would have done had you left?"
"Right." Link nods "I get that now, but at that moment, many emotions were running wild, I didn't have a clear thought in my head."
"Good, now that that's out of the way." Yang shoves Link down on a chair "Now it's our turn, start with the tablet, where did you get that?"
"... Ozpin gave it to me as a loaner. He knew what I did, and told me to look at the footage at least once a day; eventually I will learn something about myself? I don't know, Ozpin is a weird person, but he didn't punish me, when I asked about Ironwood, he said that they had come to an agreement, I would've been put in military jail but then Ironwood almost killed Ruby and me despite having no evidence that we caused the train crash."
"The train crash?" Ruby shakes her head with disappointment "But he knew us from before and not to mention you said it yourself he-!"
"Link said it himself?" Weiss asks
"Yes." Link nods "I said that Ironwood was clearly just after me, deep down inside I knew that he knew that I didn't cause the crash, but it would've been the perfect opportunity to capture me and bring me in, no doubt in my mind he would've framed me as well!"
"Alright then..." Blake speaks up "Why is Ironwood after you? Are you basically a wanted criminal to Atlas?"
"Pretty much, yes." Link nods "I've traveled all around Remnant but only spent one day in Atlas, immediately left after I knew I was wanted there."
"What did-!"
"Is it true that you worked for the white fang?!" Blake quickly asks her question, cutting off Weiss in the process
"That's right." Link nods "I was a mercenary for the White Fang a few other smaller criminal organizations."
"Why? Why would do that? What was your purpose?"
"You want my honest answer." Link reluctantly speaks with shame "Money."
"Money?" Blake raises an eyebrow "Money?" She then shakes her head head and growls with anger "Money?!"
"You think I didn't know what the white fang was up to?" Link rolls his eyes "I wasn't Adam's personal mercenary to help him, I was in it for money."
"How dare you?!" Blake snaps, "I thought we were the same! Fighting for the same cause!"
"We are!" Link shouts back "You just didn't know what Adam's real intentions were! You want equality but he wants to take over the world!"
"I was never doing it for money!"
"Yeah well that's because you had something worth fighting for!"
Silence...
"What do you mean, isn't that what mercenaries want, money?" Sun asks
"What was I going to do with money?!" Link frowns "I had no use for it ever!"
"Then why fight for it?"
"So that I could one day find my brother and mother to make them happy again." Link stands and paces around his room "That is what I wanted. That's why I traveled around the world, I did not care about the White Fang nor did I care about becoming rich. I just hated constantly living in a tiny wooden cabin with an abusive father who tried to kill me! I hated watching my younger brother continue to get depressed while my mother had a suicidal look in her eyes! There you go Blake, you happy now?!" Link closes his eyes and walks towards the door to pick up his sword along with Coco's mini gun; he lifts it with one arm and lightly tosses it to her
"Thanks." Coco nods as she catches it with ease
"No problem." Link puts his sword back in its sheath and stops at the door "If you won't leave then I will, do not follow me."
"I won't let you!" Ruby springs up to her feet and charges at him
"H-huh?!" Link turned with his guard down "What the-!" Without any time to react, he is tackled by Ruby as both of them fall to the ground
"I won't let you leave us and continue to cloud yourself with darkness and loneliness! No! You are getting over this right now! And we'll stand by your side the entire time!" Ruby screams out her entire sentence, getting right in Link's face and refusing to let him oppose
"Uhh..." Link exhales "Hello Ruby."
"Hm?" Ruby turns her head to see all of her friends chuckling "O-oh, hi Link!"
"What did you think I meant by that? That I was leaving Vale? That's ridiculous!"
"Well I... you know... you could've..."
"What my sister is saying." Yang pulls Ruby off Link by the hood "Is that your words didn't have a whole lot of... context?"
"I don't have any intent on leaving Beacon if that's what you got out of it." Link sighs and sits up "Besides, I have business I need to take care of here."
"The tournament?" Weiss asks
"Not exactly, the tournament is just a distraction for me." Link shrugs and gets up to his feet
"So you're not going to be taking your adversaries seriously?" Weiss scowls at him
"I didn't say that either." Link rolls his eyes while rotating his shoulder, which took all of the impact from Ruby's, tackle "If I were not to take an opponent seriously then why enter at all? Besides, there's plenty of people I want to fight, there are people I think and know can match me."
"Oooh really now, who?!" Ruby asks with a lots of intrigue
"May as well be honest here. Fox seems to be one of the best here when it comes down to hand to hand. You and Velvet are clearly skilled with quicker and consistent attacks, Yang has superior strength, I think... and of course." Link pulls out his sword and points it at Pyrrha "Ms. Polarity, she may just be a better overall fighter than me."
"The #1 and #2 rookies." Weiss nods "That'd be an excellent match up."
"Indeed." Pyrrha smiles and nods at Link
"Good good." Link shrugs as he puts his sword away and proceeds to walk away, only to hear barking in his path
"Huh" Link looks down and notices Zwei staring him down, with a little bit of aggression in his eyes
Zwei barked at Link and stood his ground
"Umm..." Link takes a few steps back "Isn't he supposed to be back with Taiyang?"
"We decided to keep him for a few more days." Yang chuckled
"Hold on..." Ruby's eyes squint, she thinks carefully then immediately points her finger at Link one again "How did you know my dad's name?!"
"S-shit..." Link has a regretful look on his face as he pulls on his collar "Yang? You wanna tell them?"
"Tell them?" Weiss frowns "Yang what is going on?"
"N-nothing, nothing at all... hehehe" Yang chuckles
"You lied to us sis?!" Ruby spun in place to face her sister
"Damn you Link!" Yang shrugs "I figured when Ren got caught I could easily cover my tracks. Link and I have been working on our hand to hand, and in exchange, he's helping me with my kicking."
"That's why you were so calm when we were all worried." Blake speaks as she and the rest of the group was outside now
"Figures why you would downplay Link's combat skills as well." Weiss nods confidently
"You did what?" Link sighs, "Thanks a lot Yang."
"Hehe, sorry." Yang waves
"That still leaves questions unanswered." Sun steps past team RWBY "What about your days with the White Fang? Your wanted level with Atlas military? And well... your family."
"Another day." Link turns away, "I'm not in the mood to discuss that right now, it kills me on the inside to even relive my family being torn-!" Link shrugs and shakes his head, "How about never?"
"What about the Atlas Military?" Weiss asks, "Is it because you were a criminal?"
"Hmph!" Blake furiously turns away
"You know I'm right!" Weiss frowns
"Enough!" Link covers his ears, "I've already lashed out at you guys once, I really don't want to again." Link rolls his eyes and turns back around to head back into his dorm "You already wasted your time on me, may as well pay back the favor, any of you want a drink, water, coffee?"
"Coffee? It's the afternoon." Weiss asks
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I'll take some." Coco chuckles
"See." Link looks at Weiss but points at Coco
"Extra strong. No cream or sugar." Coco mumbles
"Got it. Anyone else?"
Silence
"Pyrrha? Ruby? Velvet?"
"No thank you." Pyrrha shakes her head
"Sure." Ruby nods, "Extra extra cream and extra extra sugar"
"OK, Velvet?" Link looks over at her
"O-ok." Velvet stutters, "I'll take the same as Ruby."
"Where'd you get the coffee maker?" Weiss asks
"The store?" Link frowns
"R-really?" Weiss blushes from embarrassment but then quickly had more questions, "How did you pay for it?"
"My money." Link nods and then sighs, "That I made by being a mercenary."
"Aha!" Weiss nods
"You still accused me of stealing." Link rolls his eyes "Have a seat anywhere, my bed was fixed up but I don't mind."
"Oooh story time." Yang smirks
"Just a one off." Link shrugs "It's nothing major really, though it may change your views on General Ironwood, and on me."
"Why on you?" Blake asks
"Sun, you wanted to know about my White Fang days correct?"
"Y-yes?" Sun shrugs his shoulders
"There's your answer Blake; White Fang and Atlas Military... which is associated with another part of my life."
"Sorry to cut you off again Link." Blake spoke "But what happened? Five minutes ago, you were just about to go off on us but now you are… trying to make amends? Why?"
"Hmm…" Link looks up just as he was pouring in the coffee grounds "I thought you guys were going to cast me off as a monster, that I was not wanted here anymore, its happened before so this time I was kind of prepared you know."
"I see." Blake nods
"Well you misjudged us!" Ruby cheered "As usual…"
"Hey!" Link chuckles
"We all have flaws and… unique traits, it's no big deal really." Yang spoke up
"Neptune being afraid of the water doesn't compare to the demon haunting me." Link rolls his eyes
"W-what?" Neptune cleared his throat, "I-I!"
"WHAT?!" Ruby shouts and begins to snicker, "Y-you're afraid of the water?"
"Yes." Neptune hangs his head in shame
"But your name is Neptune." Yang raises her eyebrow
"I'm working on it ok?!" Neptune turns away with embarrassment
"It was sprinkling outside a few days ago and you took 5 umbrellas..." Blake chuckles
"You're one sad human being." Coco smirks
"Sure is." Sun laughs along with them
"Alright alright..." Link clears his throat "White fang, Atlas Military, small village... that's how I'm explaining this."
"Wait, we didn't-!"
"I know you didn't ask about the village, but it correlates with Atlas military being after me, and one of the two occasions where 'he' took full control." Link looks down at the floor, slightly admiring the red carpet draped in his dorm, but then...
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Whoa!" Link snaps back into reality and turns around, looking at the requested coffee that was now ready
"Coffee's ready?" Velvet asks
"Sure is." Link nods
"Oooooh sweet!" Ruby nods as well
"Well then, get to it, don't want to be a rude host right?" Coco snickers under her breath
"Hey! I can still report all of you to Glynda ya know? This is invasion of privacy." Link rolls his eyes and turns to face his coffee maker, 4 mugs, cream, sugar, spoons and a rag. He sighed softly, clearly nervous and even a little afraid, his friends would be the first to know of his past, and the reason why he almost left Vale...