"Open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, open it, ooooopen it!" Kali insisted, bouncing upon her seat. Soon enough, the girl took to slapping her hands upon her thighs to a rhythm, chanting even more insistently. "O-pen it! O-pen it! O-pen it! O-pen it! O-pen it! O-pen it! O-"
Raven's hand flew up far quicker than the faunus could react, seizing Kali's cheeks in a vice grip and smushing her lips into a compressed 'O' shape.
"Shut. Up," Raven demanded as she set her friend's mouth free. "Do you seriously believe Ozpin doesn't have some kind of tracker in there, or some other way to tell if we make an attempt to open that briefcase?"
Kali rubbed at her cheeks as her feline ears drooped down into her messy hair.
"I mean, yeah, but based on what Barty told us, he already knows that we know about the Relics. If this is some kind of test, it's a dumb test. He should know by now that we'd be curious."
"We don't know that he knows," Roman offered, his arms folded across his chest. "He might have been testing whether or not Barty knew, and by Barty not giving a reaction, he made it so that Oz doesn't know if we know!"
Qrow shook his head from his place sitting next to Raven, his arms folded in much the same position as Roman's.
"…but if Oz knows that you know about the Relics because we know, and he knows that we know that he knows…"
"…I will literally go upstairs, hijack the wheel, and direct this airship into the nearest mountain range at full speed," Raven threatened in an annoyed tone. "Just… stop. Everyone stop. We are not opening that briefcase. Tampering with those locks would probably be enough to set off any security measures on it, and we've already broken Ozpin's trust once. He gave this cargo to us for a reason, and I doubt that reason is 'a test.'"
The briefcase in question was rectangular, and almost four feet in length. It rested in the middle of the floor, standing on its edge as the teens sitting upon the semicircle of cushioned seats stared at it in silence. Several locks ran along the upper ridge, each looking more complicated than the last, interrupted only by the sturdy handle resting between them.
"…Summer?" Adam said suddenly, earning the girl's attention. "Could you… use your semblance to tell what would happen if one of us did manage to open it, right now?"
Summer shook her head, her short, chocolate hair swaying from side to side.
"It doesn't work like that. I could maybe tell you if someone is going to dive forward and try to open it in the next five minutes or so, but beyond that? Not much I can really do. Also, if I trigger my semblance, it might make that person nervous, and that might cause them to grab the suitcase, run, and try to open it. Or something."
"Wait, your semblance affects causality?" Taiyang asked, looked nervous. "Like, it influences what happens, whether you use it, or not?"
"…I don't know," Summer admitted. "That gets into whether or not 'fate' is real, and… it's all… muddy. Let's just not even consider it. Raven's right, about everything. We don't know how to open it, and even if we did, we probably shouldn't."
"I suppose we could put it to a vote, as to whether or not we should even try," Bartholomew offered. "I somewhat do feel like this was meant to be a test. The question is- what is he testing? Our trustworthiness, or our ingenuity?"
Raven threw up her hands and stood from her seat before heading to the cabin door and throwing it open.
"You know what my vote is," she spat as she looked over her shoulder, the mask of bone obscuring her expression. "I'm not listening to any more of this. I'll be up on the deck."
Raven disappeared into the hallway, her boots echoing faintly away from the cabin until they could no longer be heard by the eight remaining occupants. Willow let out a heavy sigh and rubbed at her temples, looking rather tired.
"I… think we should just table this discussion. Probably permanently. That case was given to Team OKRA, and no one else. We're likely not even supposed to know that it exists."
"Yeah, but why?" Qrow inquired. "STRQ is Ozpin's special little errand-running team, now. If he wanted us to guard it, he would've given it to us. Hell, he probably would've even told us what's inside. Did he tell you to tell us you had this thing?" the boy asked while turning his eyes toward Bartholomew.
"…he did not make a suggestion in either direction," Bartholomew clarified. "In fact, I don't believe he even told me to tell the rest of my team. This is all a bit odd, and the more we discuss this, the more uncomfortable it's getting. I think we should all just turn in for the night, and I'll keep the case with me. If we must discuss this all again, well… we've got the majority of tomorrow in the air before Vacuo. It might be best to revisit the subject with clear heads."
"Yeah. I'd agree with that," Taiyang offered as he stood up into a stretch. "I'm exhausted…"
"Why are you exhausted?" Summer asked. "Classes are finally over, and we're on our way out to a vacation!"
"…because I had to carry your luggage on board, along with mine!" Taiyang reminded as he narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, right," Summer replied with a guilty grin as she began to twirl a lock of hair around her finger. "I'm a fragile little flower, after all."
Qrow snorted as he stood and put his hands into his pockets.
"Right. We all know you could kick his ass, Summer."
Taiyang hesitated for only a fraction of a second before nodding in agreement.
"…yeah. Yeah, she probably could. Let's turn in for the night. We all need sleep."
Raven kept her arms folded atop the metallic railing, gazing out over the landscape far below as the airship drifted lazily onward. The light of the shattered moon reflected off of a meandering river, giving the water within a sort of ethereal glow and letting it stand out among the otherwise dark forest surrounding it. A gentle night breeze ruffled Raven's hair, blowing the shaggy strands from side to side and tickling against the back of her neck. The noise from the shifting air was just loud enough to cover the sound of approaching footsteps until they were within a few feet of her.
Instinctively, Raven put a hand upon the hilt of her katana and turned her head, looking for the source of the noise. Taiyang had preemptively raised his hands in a gesture of surrender as he slowly approached, keeping his eyes upon the slits of Raven's painted mask that covered her own. Upon seeing him, Raven immediately heaved a sigh and shook her head while turning to face him fully.
"You should be in bed," Raven accused, her voice slightly muffled through her headgear.
"It's 2 A.M.," Taiyang replied without missing a beat. "So should you."
Raven turned back to the railing and folded her arms atop it once again without a word.
"Raves," Taiyang said gently as he moved to stand at the girl's side. "I know they were getting on your nerves with the briefcase, but this isn't like you."
"Isn't it?" Raven asked flippantly, her attention seemingly focused somewhere down within the trees.
"…you know I can feel what you're feeling, right?" Taiyang asked, only to begin speaking again the moment Raven's head whipped to the side to face him. "And you know it's a passive thing that I can't control, right?"
Taiyang could practically feel Raven's eyes narrow behind the slits of her mask before she returned her attention to the sights below.
"…that doesn't make me feel any better. Summer sees my future, you see my feelings… might as well just run around naked all day. I'd probably feel the same as I do now. What is it that you think I'm feeling?"
"…betrayal," Taiyang answered. "Probably because of what you just said. You feel like your friends are seeing parts of you that you want to keep hidden… and the debate about opening the briefcase is probably just compounding your thoughts of frustration. The feelings I'm getting from you that I don't understand are the ones of self-loathing. Why…?"
"Drop it, Tai," Raven warned.
"No," Taiyang insisted. "The others can't see it, b-"
Without warning, Raven reached up and tore her mask off in a furious motion. She turned to glare at Taiyang, her face full of anger as she narrowed her eyes. There on the right side of her face was an angry, raised scar of faded red, trailing from just beneath her eye almost down to her chin. The welt covered the majority of her cheek, and the skin was slightly warped and bulging.
"We're going to the beach, Tai," Raven seethed. "Do you know how often the girls are going to beg for me to join them out in the ocean, or in the city of Shade? Do you realize that I have to choose between getting stares for being the only girl covering up, or for this, and the matching wound all along my arm? I look hideous, and no, it doesn't matter that all of you have seen it in private over and over again. I don't like it then, and I hate the idea of showing myself off in public. Getting shit from our teammates and friends for keeping that mask on and refusing to show skin isn't something I'm looking forward to."
Taiyang took a deep breath and moved a bit closer, gently draping his arm around Raven's shoulders. She didn't resist as he softly tugged her into his side.
"Raves… do you really think that's how this is going to go? That Summer, Kali, and Willow would actually act like that, if you tell them you're not comfortable?"
"I…" Raven considered as she once again looked away, doing her best to hide her seared cheek from Taiyang. "I don't know…"
"Come on," Taiyang insisted as he gave Raven a squeeze. "Our friends aren't like that. Except Roman, and if he gets like that, I'll kick him in the junk."
"…after I do," Raven said quietly.
"Of course," Taiyang agreed. "Besides, you're not the only one who will probably spend most of their time inside. Do you really see Willow strutting around in a two-piece, or Adam hitting the beaches in a speedo? People will be willing to stay with you, even if some of us go out. We're not all fun-in-the-sun types."
"…but you are," Raven pointed out as she gave her friend a cautious look. "You are the type to run out to the ocean every morning in a speedo."
"…alright, guilty," Taiyang admitted as he scratched at the back of his head. "I totally would. I totally will. But… if I have to choose between hanging out in Willow's beach house with you, or heading to the beach with everyone else… then everyone else is gonna end up pretty disappointed, pretty often."
Raven rolled her eyes, though she couldn't fight back her soft smile.
"You're weird. Weird, and a little stupid."
"That's part of my charm," Taiyang answered with a wide grin.
"Maybe… maybe I'll come out with you guys, at least once, just to… to see how it goes," Raven offered hesitantly. "But if it goes badly, don't expect the mask to come off in public ever again."
"You never know until you try," Taiyang replied with a shrug.
"Yeah," Raven agreed as she took Taiyang's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I guess you don't."
The feeling of Raven's lips against his own didn't register within Taiyang's brain until it was far too late to return the gesture. All he could think to do was stare blankly as she pulled back after the gentlest of pecks and moved to walk past him.
"…come on. Let's get some sleep…"
Taiyang turned and quickly jogged to catch up, his face flush and chest fluttering.
"Y-yeah… sleep sounds good…"
Author's Note:
Next update the week of 2/8!
-RD