And we are back! I am just coming out of finishing Detective Grimm, a story I started almost 2 years ago, and in the process of recovering from that, I thought about this story. For once, I only have one story to work on per week, which is actually awesome for me. It's a good break for me to work with as the place I am working at now closes for the Winter sometime Mid-November. That gives me time to focus on this story and this story alone for quite some time.
Thinking about it, I started this story in August 2018. It's already been more than 2 years, and we are not even past Volume 3…
Talk about a slow burn, eh?
Beta: CrowSkull
The Blind Huntsman
Chapter 88
Volume 3, Episode 7
Questions Answered, Secrets Kept Hidden
"Silver Eyed Warriors with the power of darkness?" Amber asked, confused. "I… I don't know what you mean by that. The power of the silver eyes was created by the God of Light, didn't Ozpin tell you that?"
"That bit? No," Kai grit his teeth as he gripped the armrests of his chair tightly. That was something he could bring up to Ozpin the next time he saw him. "But if that is true, then it has to be some kind of misconception. I have silver eyes, and yet the power I can draw from them is not always entirely reliant on the 'light'."
"That's something even I don't know much about, Kai," Amber said with a helpless shake of her head. "I was a maiden, and Ozpin has told me a lot because of that. But it was always only what I needed to know. I know about Salem, relics, and the Gods. Silver eyed warriors are there as well, but I only knew about it through your father and Summer." Her eyes widened suddenly at the memory. "Summer! Now that I'm thinking about her I wonder where she is now, it's been so long since I saw her last, do you know her? Is she around?"
Kai shook his head sadly and let out a sigh. "No… I never got the chance to."
"What do you mean?"
"Summer is the mother of one of my best friends, Ruby." Kai began, aiming to tear the bandaid off quickly and not drag it on. "But I never got to meet her personally. I heard a lot of good about her, but she went on a mission somewhere in Vacuo and never returned. We assume that it was one of Salem's men that did it…"
"Oh…" Amber looked down and gripped her sheets tighter. "That's… her? I never thought… damnit!"
"Were you two close?" Kai asked.
"She was my friend," Amber said. "I didn't know her for long, but Qrow introduced me to her once and she almost instantly gained my trust. She was just so… Good, is the only way I can put it. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that she was a good person when I met her."
"I think I would have liked her," Kai said, nodding his head along with her. "But she's been gone for a long time now. Let's get back on topic if you don't mind."
"Yeah, sure, sorry." Amber wiped away the small number of tears that shed from her face. Kai felt guilty for feeling relieved that she and Summer weren't extremely close, he would have had to come back later if she was stricken with a lot more grief then she had just now. "What do you want to know about him? I won't lie to you, Malikai and I did not get along. So the information you are looking for might be biased."
"Try and give up on that anger you hold for him then," Kai said. "Whatever he did doesn't matter now. He's not even around to apologize to you even if you wanted one from him."
"I know, I know," Amber sagged in her bed, feeling guilty for acting the way she had in front of the son of the man she disdained. "Ask away."
"What did my father actually do when he was younger?" Kai inquired. "All I know was that he was one of Ozpin's greatest agents and he had a team that had disbanded a long time ago. Other than that, I don't know what he actually did. Everyone just says that he was a huntsman, but I think there is more to it than that."
"You'd be smart to keep thinking that way," Amber said with a soft chuckle. "Your father was anything but a normal huntsman, he was a Matsuoka. One of the last and strongest remaining breeds of silver eyed warriors. They are known for their hereditary technique that they pass down through each generation. I think it's called Seismic Sensing, right?"
"Yeah," Kai confirmed.
"I thought so. Other than that, he was the leader of his own team as you know. Team MAVR. Or Maverick. Unfortunately, two of his teammates died, one before he graduated on a botched training mission and the other by means I don't know about."
"He has another teammate out there?" Kai asked, surprised with the revelation.
"Somewhere, I believe his name was Aiden, or Alex, or something like that," Amber explained. "He was your father's partner, but after he found out about Malikai and Salem and everything he just… quit. No one saw him since, and that was before I ever had the chance to meet him. I learned all of this after asking Ozpin and Summer about it. I wanted to know more about the man who kept giving me these disdained looks ever since… well…"
"What?" Kai leaned forward. "Whatever it is you did it doesn't matter to me now, that's the past. I won't hold it against you now."
"Okay… sorry, it's just that you look so much like him," Amber pointed out. "Other than the tail and the brown in your hair, it's like looking at him when he was a teenager."
"Hmph," Kai felt proud of that, his father's legacy would live on through him.
"Anyway," Amber continued. "I was the fall maiden as you obviously know already. But I was selected through random means. When the maiden before me passed away of old age, the power planted itself within me. Thankfully, it was when I was younger and already attending a training school. Ozpin found me quickly and raised me up to be one of his future agents since I was training to become a huntress. However… I… didn't want to have any part of it." It was hard for her to admit that, but Kai understood her somewhat. He didn't want to fight as much as he was now as well, but he just had to. He wouldn't deny the spike of discontent he felt the moment she admitted that, but he wouldn't make a problem of it either.
"I wanted to become a Huntress and defend people from the Grimm, that was all I wanted to do. I didn't want to join some ancient war between two immortals, it was just too much for me." She sighed, clearly regretting her past actions now that she was remembering them now. "We argued over it again and again, but no one was quite so adamant about me helping him then Malikai was. He was just… scary," she admitted. "He was terrifyingly strong. The only ones who could even compete with him were Summer, Qrow, and Raven when she was still around. I always assumed that I was clearly the stronger one since I was the fall maiden but… man, did he prove me wrong."
"Malikai and I were at each other's throat for a long time, our verbal fights would have become physical plenty of times before if it weren't for Summer and the others being around to stop us. I thought things were going to calm down between us when Malikai got together with some Vacuon girl he met in the city, but it actually just got worse. Eventually, Malikai and I did get into a fight, and there was nobody there to stop us."
"It was the hardest fight of my life, and it truly showed me just how big the difference in physique and overall skill there was between him and I. The only thing that kept me competing against him was my maiden powers. But in the end, not even that was enough to defeat him."
"How did you lose?" Kai asked.
"His stupid semblance," Amber asked. "He controlled the fire and water-based attacks that I threw at him and sent it right back at me. I had to rely on wind and wind alone, and that actually worked to a certain extent. But that wasn't it, right when I thought I had the advantage, he completely overpowered me. His eyes… they damn near blinded me when they turned on. Which confused the living hell out of me since there wasn't even any Grimm around for them to even work in the first place!" She exclaimed.
Kai locked onto that last little detail, keeping a mental note of it while Amber continued.
"He beat me and terrified me if it wasn't for Qrow coming in before my aura went out I… I don't even know."
"I see," Kai replied. He was having trouble believing that Malikai would go to such lengths, but they were father and son. He would be the first to admit that he wasn't entirely reasonable after everything that he has done so far, especially after becoming Stone Face. And his father was young once as well, things like that just happened. "I assume after that happened was when Ozpin gave in and let you do what you wish,"
"Yeah," Amber admitted. "With Qrow watching over me most of the time. I was to report every day at a certain time and let them know where I was and where I was headed. It was annoying, but at least I was free to make my own choices."
"You do know that made you vulnerable, right?" Kai pointed out. "Because of your wish to control your own life, you lost it anyways against Cinder. She hunted you down, and you made it easier for her since you were alone."
"I know that!" Amber exclaimed. "God, I know that. I just never thought that Salem would get so bold all of a sudden. I was warned that she might try something, but I convinced myself that she'd wait until the next generation."
"I wish that were the case…" Kai sighed. Immediately slapping himself mentally for thinking such things. If that was the case, then he wouldn't be around to stop her, and it would be whoever was conceived by him and a lover. Sure, he might have lived a long, happy, peaceful life after a time of being a huntsman, but if that meant that the world would suffer because of that, he wouldn't give in to the intoxicating ideal. "So, my father was more like me than I thought. I guess Ozpin was right when he said that he and I are a lot alike. So, I know about you and him and how you two didn't exactly like each other, but something at the end of what you said, during your fight, you said there was no Grimm around to make my father be able to activate his eyes, right?"
"Yes, there was no Grimm around. It still confuses me even to this day how he was able to activate his eyes all of a sudden."
"Did it look anything like this?" Kai untied his blindfold and stuck it in his pocket. He took a deep breath and forced his eyes to activate its latent abilities as he did in the warehouse and when Neo and Roman attacked him. The feeling was familiar this time, and he felt a cold, electric spike in his brain as he opened his eyes again.
Amber gasped when she saw it, his silver eyes were shrouded by wisps of energy and instead of white, his eyes turned black. In the center was a glowing white pupil. Kai held it and adjusted himself to the intensity of it. Using it while he was calm still required a lot of focus, but he could keep it up and more stable now. It wasn't hurting Amber now, after all, and she was human.
"This is what I was talking about earlier," Kai explained. "Silver eyes with the power of darkness."
"This… I never… wait," Amber dared to lean in closer, squinting her eyes as she tried to remember that day many years ago when Malikai and her came to blows.
I stood above him, hovering in the air. I felt the wind whip around me as the flames around my eyes burst and grew even hotter. Below me, I saw him. Malikai, staring up at me with wide silver eyes, and Silver Ebony held in both his hands. I waved a hand at him, sending a scythe of wind down to cut through his aura and end the battle. Instead, Silver Ebony glowed a bright white and slashed through it like butter. I grunted, annoyed that he was defying my power even then. With an angered roar, I rushed down with an amplified burst of wind to strengthen my momentum and attack power. Malikai had the gall to meet me halfway, clashing the still glowing Silver Ebony against my staff.
We met eye to eye, hate to hate, we knew we hated each other right there. And it was for such a stupid reason! All I wanted was to live the life that I wanted to live, and he thinks that's cowardly!?
When Malikai began pushing me back, I panicked. Struggling to raise up the rest of my power, it was too late before I even realized it. Malikai blasted me back as his sword shone a different color. Dark swirls of black whirled about his sword for an instant, I looked up and saw his face. The light was still white, but there was a wave of anger to them that terrified me.
That was the moment I knew the battle was lost. My powers went out, and I fell, too exhausted and beaten to continue with the starving aura that I still had under my control.
"I remember now," she said, touching her head. "Yes… your father did use something like this. It was with his sword though, I never saw the black come from his eyes, not like you are doing right now."
"Finally," Kai blinked away his power and tied his blindfold back on. "Something, so, my dad definitely did have access to that power at one point or another… that makes me feel much better about it." Leaning forward, Kai began to laugh. It stopped seconds later, but he felt like all the stress that had been building up forever had finally just started to crumble away like a house of cards. "What else can you tell me about him? What did he usually do? Did Ozpin send him out on missions a lot?"
"That's a lot at once," Amber said, chuckling despite the memories she'd just regained. "But I'm sorry, there isn't that much I actually did know about him. I can answer one of your questions though, Ozpin definitely used him a lot. Even more than he did Summer, and usually together. The two of them fought better together than they did with their own partners, but, well, since Aiden quit and Raven went back to her tribe, I guess that isn't saying much."
"Do you at least know what he did?" Kai asked, getting more desperate than he thought he would for this information.
"Aside from his missions, it was always to cull the Grimm or to do something against Salem. I'm sorry Kai, I really don't know anything else." Amber explained. "You have to wring it out of Ozpin or someone else that was close to him. I don't have anything else for you."
"Agh!" Kai slammed his fist onto the armrest, breaking it accidentally. Amber jumped at the sudden action but started to calm down as Kai took a deep breath.
"Sorry about that," He said, bowing his head apologetically. "I didn't mean to get that upset… there's just so much I still don't know, and I'm afraid that if I don't figure this out quickly and learn what the hell this new power of mine is, then everything is just going to go to shit. The Vytal Festival is already here, and time is running out."
"I think you have more time than you know," Amber pointed out. "You're what, eighteen? Seventeen? You have your whole life to figure out what's happening and more than enough time to know what to do about it."
"It's not that simple," Kai said, shaking his head. "Cinder is in Vale, and she's plotting something. Any second now, and it's going to be another Breach all over again."
"When that happens, it happens," Amber said, causing Kai's head to snap back up at her like she was crazy. "And we'll deal with it when it does. Right now, you are going to get me back into fighting shape." Throwing the blanket off of her, Amber swung her legs over the bed, shakily getting back up to her feet. "This body is already pretty strong, but my old one was heavier and I am a lot more flexible now than I was before. I am going to need a staff-type weapon if we're going to train too."
"But… aren't you still reeling after what happened?"
Amber shuddered. "Honestly, yeah, I just want to sit in that bed and curl myself into a ball and wish I died in that tube. But I am still here, and since my soul literally left my body and entered someone else's, then it seems that my fight isn't over just yet. I'm still here for a reason, and if that reason is so I can right my wrongs and stop Cinder once and for all? Then so be it." Smiling, she reached over to Kai and leaned on him for support. "Let's go, I am not going to get used to this body if I don't move."
Kai put on a grin as he let Amber lean on him for now. "We'll start with walking and running, I'll talk to Ironwood about getting you a new weapon. Once you get a hang of basic movement, we can move you up to master your old fighting style again."
"Sounds like a plan then, Mentor."
"Ugh," Yang slumped down on her bed with an agonised sigh. "Well, that sucked."
"It wasn't that bad," Brick said, taking his spot in the bed beside hers.
"How can you say that?" Weiss said, scowling at her partner. "You surrendered before your aura even went under seventy percent!"
"Oh, I'm sorry that I was up against, Nora, who by the way, has a semblance that completely render's mine a mere buff from a video game when used against her." Brick snapped back, laughing when Weiss huffed indignantly. "I wouldn't say we did bad anyway despite that, Yang would have beaten Pyrrha if they didn't have a plan like that and she would have come to help one of us afterward. Even though I was basically playing a game of Tag for Keeps against Nora, I was still doing my job in distracting her for the most part. The only things we didn't expect was my brother actually evolving his own little way of fighting with his semblance and Jaune running through the lava land like that."
"We didn't have a plan," Ren admitted as he stretched his shoulder. "That was our ultimate downfall in the end. And that is my fault, as your leader I have failed you. Please, forgive me."
"Bah," Yang sat up and threw a cheery grin towards her partner. "How can any of us be upset at you for what happened? A loss is a loss, and for what it's worth, I got Pyrrha to admit that I surpassed her on live television. Who else can say that they've done that, huh?"
Ren laughed. "You are right, I suppose. That is a victory in itself."
"Damn straight it is!" Brick exclaimed. "We got acknowledged by the Invincible girl herself!"
"Um, Yang got acknowledged by Pyrrha," Weiss pointed out slyly. "Not anyone else."
"Eh, Tomato Tomato,"
"No! Not Tomato Tomato!"
"Please, no more banter between you two right now," Ren said with an exhausted sigh. "We only have a few hours to catch our breath and recover before we go out and support Nora's team in their next round."
"Their next round is coming up already?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't we literally just finish fighting each other?"
"Apparently the tournament has given them schedules of the approximate times of their battles. There are going to be a few dozen today and more during the night, and then it picks back up tomorrow morning for the finals leading all the way into the night. Its a relatively short tournament, but I suspect that it was meant to be that way for certain reasons."
"Yeah, I guess so." Brick said, puffing his cheeks out. "Well, do we know what duo they decided to send in there next?"
"She texted me," Ren replied, pulling out his scroll and reading over the endless streams of texts that Nora sends him daily. It was comforting to read over them every once in a while. Her imagination was always moving and thinking something at all times. "A few days ago she told me that it was going to be her and Rick moving together into the final round."
"They aren't going to use Pyrrha?" Yang asked.
"It doesn't seem so."
"Huh, weird."
"I don't think so," Weiss said, Brick laughed behind her as she did so. "Just think about it, Rick's semblance is to generate and control the flow of electricity and can use that to unleash lightning-based attacks and whatnot. Nora's semblance is to amplify her physical capabilities based off the amount of volts are within her system. Put those two together on a team and, well…"
"They are going to super charge Nora and absolutely shatter the second round!" Brick exclaimed in a burst of laughter. "Oh, wow, I absolutely have to see that."
"That's pretty much a guaranteed win for them now that I think about it," Yang said, chuckling along with her teammate. "Yeah, I don't see much counterplay against that. Unless they have some way to nullify lightning then Nora and Rick are going to breeze through the second event."
"Smart play, even if it is rather simple," Ren said. "Though that does exempt Pyrrha and Jaune from being able to compete in the final round. I wonder who they are going to send in then."
"We'll just have to wait and see what happens," Weiss said as she fell back into her bed. "I for one and going to take a nap, I might as well rest up before we go back out there into the stands where there is going to be anything but time to rest."
"I agree with you there, partner." Brick yawned. "Time to get some shut eye. I'm sure Ren will act as our alarm just in case we oversleep."
"Naturally," Ren rolled his eyes as he set an alarm on his scroll. "I suppose I'll join you all in rest. What about you Yang? You've been quiet all of a sudden."
"Y-yeah," Yang blinked her eyes at the one window in their room. Shaking her head when Ren regarded her. "I think I am going to go for a short walk, see Ruby and check up on how she is doing."
"We just saw them a few minutes ago…"
"Well I wanna see her again," Yang said as she slid her boots back on and stood up. "Let a girl go see her sister, yeah?"
"Okay…" Ren watched Yang go with a flustered expression on his face. The door shut behind her gently, indicating that she wasn't annoyed at any of them, at least. "Alright, see you later I guess." He said absentmindedly as he lied back down.
"That was weird," Brick commented. "It's like she just remembered something out of the blue."
"Whatever it is, I am sure she'll be back soon."
"About time you showed up," The woman who she knew as her biological mother said as she came around the corner in the same spot that Kai took her to a short time ago. Yang crossed her arms, looking at the woman with confusion and the tiniest amount of disdain. After the last time they saw each other, she couldn't bring herself to hate her anymore. Even if she was still gone her whole life, she practically told her to her face that she still cared about her in some way and that there was definitely a reason as to why she left. She couldn't just ignore that.
"It was hard to when you kept calling to me like that," Yang remarked as she rubbed her head in an odd spot she never thought would ache so hard. "Is that what you do when you want to talk to someone every time you feel like it? It feels weird, next time just text me or something."
Raven regarded her with a flat expression. "I don't have a scroll."
"Well, why the hell not!?"
"I live in the middle of the woods in buttfuck nowhere, Yang," Raven said with a stifled laugh. "I used to have one but I got rid of it after I left Vale and the others. It was annoying hearing it ring over and over again."
"Hence the weird mental signal you just… think out."
"Indeed," Raven continued to sharpen her sword.
Yang walked around her cautiously, looking around just because there wasn't any other reason to and it was still hard looking at Raven's face and seeing the clear image of herself coming from half her genome. She knew that she was her mother but she didn't think that they'd have the same face. Her hair was a lot more wild than hers was, but she could see the resemblance even when Raven didn't bother to fix her hair in any way, shape, or form. Other than that and being a darker black in hair than she thought she'd ever seen, it was like looking at an older version of herself but with a different color pallet.
She stepped around her mom carefully, wondering what she was meant to do. Raven was the one who called her there, but she was being awfully quiet for some reason. Yang looked down at her sword, the crimson red metal reminded her of that other guy with the red hair in the White Fang, it was similar, but his was a lot brighter and more vibrant whereas Raven's was a much darker and dull color with not nearly as much sheen to it. She knew that it was undoubtedly a dangerous weapon. Qrow and dad told her again and again that Raven despite her personality issues was one of the strongest huntresses in the Vale of her time. Still might be even now if she decided to come back.
"So," Yang said as she sat down on her knees, raising an eyebrow at the same time Raven did when she looked at her. "What did you call me out here for?"
"You lost your fight," Raven remarked.
Yang huffed. "Hey, it wasn't like I could do a lot there. I never used my semblance to that extent, and I would have won if she didn't pull that dirty trick."
"Dirty tricks win battles against otherwise stronger foes," Raven began. "That Nikos girl was more skilled but you were far stronger while your semblance was activated. She couldn't hope to keep up with you while you were in such a state, and so she adapted. You walked right into a trap."
"You watched my fight?" Yang asked, more surprised that Raven actually watched her fight than she was that she was daring to lecture her about anything after being gone for so long.
"I did," Raven confirmed after a pause.
"Wow, uh…" Yang scratched the back of her head, embarrassed all of a sudden. "Thanks? I guess?"
"Hmph," Raven sheathed her sword with a click. "Tell me girl, what do you think will happen while you continue to play the student here in Beacon?"
"Eh?" Yang leaned back, surprised with the sudden question. "I-I'm going to be a huntress, what do you think I was going to do? Ruby is going to be one too, I'm going to make sure that she has smooth sailing while doing so."
"Good job at that so far," Raven smirked when Yang scowled at her.
"The hell's that supposed to mean? I know you're not referring to Kai right now, are you?"
"Of course I am," Raven admitted so easily it made Yang's fists clench. "Don't give me that look girl, I am not the one letting hints go right over my head. The boy did not go on a special training mission. I still sense my bond with him here in Vale."
Yang's scowl turned into a wide-eyed glare in an instant. "What do you mean by that? Where is he?"
Raven pointed up and to her left, straight toward the Atelsian flagship belonging to General Ironwood himself. Yang watched her finger and scrunched her brow together. "Why would he be up there? That doesn't make any sense,"
"Use your head, girl," Raven said, flicking Yang on the forehead. Surprising to her that she got so close so quickly to do so. "What do you think Kai has been doing every time he went out during the night? Sure, sometimes he went out to come train with me but other times he was fighting a battle that you aren't even aware of. I delivered him back countless times, exhausted, tired, bruised, sometimes bloodied. And you all just assumed it was from training with me."
"What are you saying, Raven?" Yang asked, grabbing her mother's shoulders and pulling her when she made to lean back. "Stop talking in riddles or else I'm going to get pissed off. What has Kai been doing? What is being hidden from us?"
Raven smirked, grabbed Yang's wrist painfully, and twisted it, forcing her hand off her collar with an agonized yelp.
"If you didn't let the pleasantries of this school blind you, you would have been able to figure it out a long time ago. I have been helping the kid get in and out of Vale at night, even though sometimes he took things upon himself for the means of transportation. What is the one popular vigilante in that city that has suddenly gone dark for seemingly no reason?"
Yang's eyes widened at the realization. "Stone Face? Kai is Stone Face?"
"About time it clicked in your head," Raven huffed as she stood back up on her feet. "Kai has been acting as Stone Face for quite some time now, and I was helping him when he asked for it."
Raven caught the fist that was thrown at her.
"You fucking helped him!?" Yang screamed, cocking up her other arm and throwing another fist at her which Raven caught with her other hand. "You bitch! What did you do!? You manipulated him, didn't you!? You fucking corrupted him! He's killed people because of you!"
"I didn't make him do anything," Raven said calmly, throwing and pinning Yang against the wall. "It was within him the entire time. Don't try and deny it girl. He isn't the young friendly boy he was when you met him anymore. He grew up faster than any of you did, and I know you noticed it." She squeezed tighter when Yang tried to free herself. She was just too strong, way too strong.
"Don't pin useless blame on me when it isn't deserved. If I held him back, he would have broken free from me and done it anyway. You know how he is perhaps even better than I do. If he feels like he needs to fix something, he is going to find a way to do it. Even if it means hunting down the White Fang while wearing a mask, even if it means he has to kill." Raven leaned closer, her burning red eyes glaring into Yang's. "If it means he'd protect the ones he cares about, he'd do anything."
When she finally let her daughter go, Yang dropped down to her knees, a single tear streaming down her face as she realized that her mother was right. She did know Kai. She knew that something was up with him. She had chance after chance to try and get him to open up to her, and yet she never did it. It wasn't Raven's fault, it was hers…
"I think I always knew…" Yang said as she wiped the tears away before they could get too overwhelming. "I knew something was up with him… I just didn't…" She grit her teeth together and let out a frustrated snarl. "Why did you tell me this? What are you gaining from this?"
"In case you haven't noticed, my lot has already been thrown in with you little shits." Raven explained, crossing her arms as she stood above her. "And it was about time you knew about this before it's too late. Something big is going to happen soon, something even bigger than the Breach, and it's on its way."
For the first time, Yang saw her mother nervous. Perhaps even afraid? It was hard to tell since she turned her face away from her the moment the strong facade came off.
"Being blind to it will only mean destruction."
"What is going to happen? What do you know?" Yang asked as she pushed herself back up to her feet.
"I don't know the answer to that question," Raven said with a shudder so invisible Yang almost didn't see it at all. "But I can feel it within my bonds in this kingdom. They know that something is going to happen, and when the time comes, I sure as hell hope you all know how to deal with it."
When Raven slashed open a portal in the air, Yang reached out to her and caught her wrist before she could leave. "Wait! Help us," she pleaded. "If your lot really is thrown in with us, then help us! You don't have to get back with dad or anything but if you help then it'll make this easier for everyone! Just come back, please, you've already done so much to help us."
Raven looked down at her, and for once she didn't have that anger to her eyes that came whenever Qrow or someone else brought the idea up with her. She just looked down at her and sighed, gently taking Yang's hand off her wrist and turning away from her.
"I can't, Yang. My time as a huntress is over. I've already helped you a lot more than I should have."
"What will happen if you come back?" Yang asked, catching on quickly. "What is keeping you from staying?"
Raven simply shook her head without looking at her. Yang watched as her biological mother stepped through the portal. It closed behind her a second later before Yang could even think about going after her. Yang looked down at the ground and shut her eyes tight, stopping herself from getting emotional.
"Fine then," Yang said as she stood up, forcing her emotions down. "Keep your secrets. I'll do it myself." Taking out her scroll and dialing a number, she waited for her Uncle to answer.
They ran for a total of thirty minutes on the treadmill before Ironwood found them. Kai told Amber to go through some stretches with the broomstick that they found somewhere to act as a makeshift training weapon for now. Kai crossed his arms and leaned against the wall as Ironwood looked at him with that same stone-like expression in his face.
"What is it? I was kinda in the middle of something." Kai remarked.
"I have a mission for you," Ironwood said as he began to pace back and forth. "One that I already got Ozpin's authorization on. I am going to be putting you on the field with a Specialist of mine, Winter, you've met her before."
"I have," Kai said with a nod. "What kind of mission is this? I'm surprised that you guys are letting me out again so soon."
"There's no need to keep someone like you prisoner among your own allies." Ironwood replied. "I would rather use your impressive prowess and put it to good use. I want you to dawn the mask of Stone Face again."
Kai scrunched down his eyebrows as a nasty feeling of surprise filled up his stomach. "You want me to be Stone Face again?" He grit his teeth. "Isn't that the reason why I am here in the first place? Because I wasn't supposed to be Stone Face?"
"I understand how this might earn your ire," Ironwood said with an understanding nod. "But trust me, I wouldn't be offering a mission like this if there wasn't a reason for it. You can tell if I am lying or telling the truth, right? Tell me, am I lying to you when I say that there is a reason that I want you to become Stone Face again for a single mission?"
Kai almost wished that he was. "No, you're not lying," He said with a sigh. "What about my training Amber? She is getting used to her body quickly now I have her moving around, but she is going to need to master that body before she can even think about going up against Cinder again."
"I will personally offer some of my time to help her for as long as your mission lasts. Which should only be a day or a night whether or not we are lucky. That is all I am asking, Mister Matsuoka, I need your help here. Depending on this mission's success is the capture of Roman Torchwick himself."
Kai perked up at the name instantly. "You're serious?" He asked needlessly, he could already tell that it was the truth. "Okay then, that changed things. I'll do it. All I need is my weapon back and some new clothes, these haven't been washed in forever and I can't risk going out there in clothes that aren't comfortable on me."
"Good," Ironwood said with a smile. "I will have Winter find you and give you clothes befitting both yourself and Stone Face, as well as Silver Ebony. Thank you, Kai, it pleases me greatly that you are willing to help."
"As long as it stops Cinder in her tracks, I will do anything it takes." Kai said with a nod.
"As a good soldier should." Ironwood agreed. "You know, if you ever decide that you want to change your path and become a Specialist, I will personally ensure that you get more missions like this."
Kai huffed, amused. "Is that something else you planned when bringing this up to me? A job offer?"
"I see potential in you," Ironwood said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "More potential than I've seen in anyone else before. I know I was hard on you before, and I am sorry for that. I can get… caught up in my own emotions, I admit that. But if I had you as a Specialist, I feel as though we would make quite the team."
"Ozpin wouldn't like you stealing me away from him…"
"Ozpin may be older than any of us, but he doesn't know everything," Ironwood said quietly. "That is just one of his greatest faults. Consider the offer, Mister Matsuoka. I don't expect an answer right now." Ironwood turned away and began to walk. "You can continue training Amber for today. Tomorrow I will have Winter deliver what you need and brief you on the details. Until we meet again."
"Yeah…" Kai was left to think about a lot. "Sure." It was an enticing offer, to become a Specialist for Ironwood would give his family some perks. He could have his mother and Malienna kept in a flagship for safety and he'd be able to see them whenever he wanted. And he was sure he wouldn't be the traditional Specialist either, he wouldn't be trapped in Atlas or contracted to them.
He had to admit that he liked Ironwood. He earned his respect. He was right, Ozpin didn't know everything, and although he was sure Ironwood was keeping his fair share of secrets, he knew that none of them were as drastic as Ozpins.
It was something to think about, at the very least.
And there we go, sorry that this took longer than usual. I feel as though I have been saying that a lot, but this new job has been killing my schedule Lol.
Other than that I am announcing my next upcoming story. YBWR. I may start it this week, next week, or the week after that. It depends on what I decide to do. So until then, enjoy!
T w itter . com (slash) genatools
P a treon . com (slash) Genatools