When Ozpin had asked Tock to meet with him in his office to discuss her future, he wasn't sure what to expect. Through personal observation and secondhand reports he had learned much about the kind of woman she was, in fact, it would not be a stretch to say that on paper he knew her better than Jaune did. However, it must be understood that the keywords in that last sentence were "On Paper," it was impossible to ever really know someone without having a good honest heart to heart conversation. Sure he had spoken to her before this meeting but a confession and interrogation no matter how friendly were hardly comparable to an actual conversation, they were not even in the same ballpark. That difference only expanded exponentially when she arrived just before noon and the two within the privacy of his office and a delicious cup of coffee began to talk with the conversation organically drifting into her past. The things that she told him extended further than any background check could ever reveal and covered topics that no investigator would have ever even considered researching. He learned in great detail the emotions she felt when her attempts at becoming a Huntress failed for reasons that were only partially her fault, what sparked a connection between her and the men that would make up her future crew, and finally what went through her head during her time in Vale. All in all, he found her a remarkable woman, Though I don't think I can trust her with any major secrets, maybe what she needs is an opportunity… and I can give her that. The only question is how… oh, I know.
And so he made her an offer, a simple honest chance to change the course of her life that naturally extended towards the rest of her crew. All he asked in return was her continued cooperation in resolving the potential crises that Vale was facing… assuming that there was an actual crisis and he and his colleagues haven't all gone collectively insane… Either way that was a problem for future Ozpin and he was confident in his own ability to handle the burden that he had unfairly placed on his own shoulders… By the Brothers, I need a vacation. However to his own credit, he was able to hammer out a deal with the crocodilian corsair, "Thank you so much for your cooperation, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to help you and your crew be able to start anew when all of this is over," he extended his hand to offer a handshake.
"Ta, a've made mony mistakes in mah lee bit this doesn't cop lik' yin o' thaim," Tock graciously took his hand and gave a firm shake sealing the deal and guaranteeing a future for herself and her crew… However, Lady Luck was sometimes a bitch because it was at that exact moment that the doors to his office swung wide open as a clearly intoxicated Qrow Branwen walked inside while leading an equally drunk woman that Tock to her horror instantly recognized as a woman who had every reason to want her dead, Och jobby!
Meanwhile, Ozpin did not know for sure who was this blind woman who had followed Qrow into his office was but he comfortably felt that he knew enough that he could make an accurate guess on both her name and the mess that would follow if he didn't act fast, Oh Shit! Instinctually he took a quick glance at Tock and found that she was glancing at him with an expression of near panic that was almost certainly being mirrored on his own face. But at least now they knew that they were on the same wavelength and while the comradery was very much appreciated, it did oh so very little to actually improve their dire situation. What they needed right now was a plan of action but what kind of action? That was a question whose answer was something that they were both trying to figure out and needed about five seconds ago.
"Hey Oz, are you alright?" Qrow asked, noticing his mentor's discomfort but then his eyes drifted to the stranger that was sitting across from his mentor, "Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't aware that you were already in a meeting." Who is she and why is she dressed like a pirate? And are those scales? Meh, it probably isn't important
Oz, thanks to his many years of experience saw the question for what it truly was, not a true inquiry into his wellbeing or even a means to prod into the identity of his guest. It was an opportunity to deflect Qrow's and Maria's attention towards something else, like himself, "Oh don't worry my old friend, your timing is actually impeccable as we had just ended the meeting and my guest has a few other places that she needs to visit before the day is done, right?"
Tock, seeing her chance, started to get up out of her seat but then she was addressed by Maria before she could get very far, "I know that he said it's alright but I still feel bad about interrupting your meeting, we didn't know that we'd be walking in on anything. But I suppose that's on us for not checking beforehand."
She didn't want to but for one awful moment Tock's feet disobeyed her and froze on the spot, "We-well it's ah na-o kn-pro-pro-blem, we wu-wer aw-ready da-one 'n' a'm in a ba-b-bit o' a rush," She knew that her accent would give her identity away so she had wisely attempted to mask it, unfortunately, she vastly overestimated her ability to do so and was now stuttering, her voice was shaky, and she sounded incredibly nervous and unsure. The worst part was how she realized just how badly she sounded right now which made her try even hard not to sound suspicious which only drew more unwanted attention her way.
"Are you alright? Do you need to sit down?" Maria asked with a level of genuine concern that made Tock feel even more nervous as well as a little guilty.
"N-a need, a'm ju-st in a ba-bit o' a rush," Tock took a few more steps towards the door, "B-bi-but cheers fur th' offer, ah appreciate it."
"Your voice sounds awfully familiar… where have I heard it before," Maria was scratching her chin trying to recall as Tock resisted a sudden urge to remain still and took a few more steps to the door while shooting Ozpin a pleading look silently begging for help.
The Headmaster quickly caught on to her request, stood up from his desk, and walked right up to her, "My word, you do seem rather off." He then placed a hand on her shoulder and walked with her past Qrow and Maria and continued until they were right in front of the door, "We have a rather skilled doctor on staff if you'd like I can have someone accompany you to their office."
Tock gave him a confused stare and whispered, "Whit urr ye talking aboot?" Instead of answering his eyes drifted towards the door but it was more than enough to convey his intentions, "Och, och na na, ah appreciate th' offer bit-!'' She realized that her accent was starting to slip out and paused in order to make an effort to suppress it, "Ah kin g-et tha-ere oan mah a-ai-o-own."
With a smile, Ozpin opened the doors and held them for her, "Well if that's how you feel then I won't delay you any further. I hope the rest of your day is a pleasant one."
"Cheers!" Tock then rushed right out of the room and down the hallway towards the elevator
"Is she alright?" Asked Qrow as he watched the woman run away at a suspiciously high speed, Huh, she must be using Aura to boost her leg strength which would make her a Huntress or at least someone with similar training… He continued to watch even as Tock turned a corner and vanished from view, She had scales and teeth like a crocodile and dresses like a pirate which coincidentally is the exact way that Maria described the woman who cut out her eyes. If I didn't know any better I'd probably assume that she was the same person who cut out Maria's eyes which would explain why she was so nervous around us, but that would be silly. What possible business would she have with Ozpin? Not to mention that it would be a coincidence so incredibly unbelievable that I'd have to assume the Brothers were handing her over on a silver platter for me and Maria to butcher in unspeakable ways.
Ozpin noticed where Qrow was looking and moved to grab his attention, "What are you waiting for? Come sit down, we have a lot of catching up to do and I am eager to hear from you and especially from you Miss Calavera!"
Qrow's stare lingered on the empty hallway for a few more seconds before finally turning away and helping Maria into a seat and afterward, he sat himself down and pushed the nervous woman out of his mind, "Well, I guess we should start with what happened on my end or rather Maria's end since at the end of the day I was really just the messenger boy."
"I won't disagree with you there," Maria said with a smirk before using her thumb to point behind her. "Before I begin and I know Qrow already asked but that woman who just left-"
Ozpin felt his heart freeze inside his chest.
"-is she alright? She was acting really funny and maybe I'm overthinking things but it somewhat felt like she was acting that way because of me... was I somehow making her nervous?"
Ozpin breathed a sigh of relief and took a drink from his ever-present mug and for a moment wished that it was filled with alcohol rather than coffee, "Oh no, she's fine, absolutely fine but enough about her! Tell me a little bit about yourself!"
"Um, okay… well I'm pretty sure that Qrow has already told you about that scaly Wannabe Pirate Bitch!" The sheer amount of venom that was put into every word was enough to make a drop of sweat go down Ozpin's neck. "And don't even get me started on that accent! I don't want to sound like a racist or anything but I have traveled the world and I have never heard anyone else talk like that, at first I thought she was playing a joke on me which really wasn't helped by her clothes. I mean I get the pirate aesthetic cool and Aura means we can where almost anything we want without having to worry about the cold but we were in the middle of a goodman mountain range! The ocean was literally miles away in the other direction, she just looked so weird standing there and another thing..."
Ozpin had to consciously suppress a groan as Maria kept on ranting about Tock, Why? Why can't I ever get a break? Ugh...alright, enough complaining, the first thing I need to do is get her mind off of Tock and I got just the thing to do it! "How about you tell me about the village."
"I'll admit that those buccaneer pants made her booty look amazing but- uh? The village? You want to know about the village?"
"Specifically the one in the mountains, Qrow told me that he found you there and that they took care of you after your unfortunate encounter. He told me that they were even willing to fight a Huntsman just to protect you."
"Those idiots," despite her harsh comment, her soft voice and body language made it clear that she was truly grateful to them, "I suppose Qrow already told you that they were being held hostage by a rogue huntsman?"
"Yes, he has."
Qrow took this as a chance to enter the conversation, "When all of this is over we need to figure out a way to put a stop to that. People won't be able to trust Huntsmen if it's this easy for them to go off the grid and create a fiefdom for themselves. Not to mention that a Rogue Huntsmen could easily be recruited into her ranks."
"And that's another thing!" Maria pointed at Qrow, "He told me that I would get answers about who wanted my eyes gone and that there was a girl that you wanted me to train, so rather than hearing about my life story I'd rather start with whatever is going on around here especially since it made me causality of a war I didn't know was being waged or that my eye color made me a participant."
"Very well," Ozpin got up from his seat, pulled out his scroll, got ready to press a button that would dim all the lights while turning on the hologram projector, and then stopped himself when he remembered that Maria was blind. All that money wasted on a projector that I'm still trying to justify. Oh well, at least she isn't thinking about Tock anymore but that's still a problem that I'm going to work out and do so quickly. He then quietly and with a little bit of embarrassment sat right back down on his desk, "Well Miss Calavera, have you ever thought about the Grimm? Wondered where they come from or why your silver eyes affect them the way that they do?"
"No to the first and yes to the second… how are they connected?"
"Magic," he answered with the subtlety of an Ursa Major breaking a man in half.
She didn't say anything for a bit, it was as though had expected him to at any moment break out into laughter and reveal it all to be some kind of joke… but it didn't happen. For a moment she imagined that there was a huge grin on his face as though he was mocking her lack of sight but that thought was soon extinguished. Why would he do that? Why would he have Qrow track me down and bring me here just to make a stupid joke… unless, no, it can't be? But that would explain so much, including my eyes… by the Brothers, this changes everything!
Ozpin spoke with a soft comforting voice, "I know that it all sounds crazy but trust me when I say that you are not alone in this, we don't have all the answers either but we are more than happy to share what we have with you. All we ask is that you help a young girl by the name of Ruby Rose avoid the same fate. Even if you refuse, we will still get you the best machinist possible to give you new eyes at no cost to you."
"That's a really generous offer… I guess that Ruby girl is Qrow's niece so I suppose that I can pass down what I know," she placed a hand on Qrow's arm, "I owe you that much."
A noticeable blush appeared on the drunkard's face, "This means a lot to me, seriously, this means more than you can possibly know."
Her hands were now interlocking with his, "Well, you can show me your appreciation later."
As this touching scene unfolded a massive grin appeared on Ozpin's face and the machinations of his mind began working out a way to try and make this mutual attraction between the two into something more. Now he knew that it really wasn't any of this business and that more cynically minded people would see this as an amateur attempt at eugenics. To them, he would give a small little laugh, then ask for a little bit of credit in regards to his character, and then he would claim that he merely wanted Qrow to be happy. And if their kid just happened to be a sliver-eyed Grimm Slaughtering Badass, well that's just how things worked out. What a gloriously wonderful day!
"Oz, you got a really creepy smile on your face right now. Are you scheming something?" Qrow asked.
"What?" Ozpin placed his hand on his chest and took a step back as though he had been gravely offended though the tone of his voice told a very different story, "How could you say such terrible things about me?" The headmaster said with a tiny chuckle that grew as Qrow and even Maria began to join in as all the earlier tension had never existed at all, Well this all worked out perfectly, to think I was worried that something would go wr- no! I mustn't finish that thought! I don't know why but something always goes wrong when you think that it won't. But I didn't! You hear me! I didn't think it so whatever malevolent force out there is responsible for this phenomenon is can shove it right up their ass!
Maybe it was just coincidence or maybe there really was a malevolent force with an oddly specific responsibility but either way, the only thing we know for sure is this is when everything went wrong and it started with the door to the office swinging open and Glynda Goodwitch entering. Normally Glynda was an extremely attentive woman but for some reason, she failed to notice Maria seating that the desk before she opened her mouth and asked the question that set everything off, "Ozpin, I happened to pass by Tock a couple of minutes ago as she stepped, no, ran out of the elevator. I can't quite place my figure on it but she seemed scared, did something happen here?"
"Tock?" The temperature of the room dropped. "Did you say Tock?" asked Maria with a voice that was deathly cold.
"Uh," Glynda stared at the woman not sure what to answer the strange woman staring in her general direction, Why is Qrow standing next to her? Oh no, she must be the slivered-eyed warrior that Qrow was sent to get! She could see Ozpin standing right behind the pair waving his arms at her in a desperate attempt to silently convey a message but she was having a little bit of difficulty deciphering his message, You want me to do what?! Her eyes then darted over to Maria who was still waiting for an answer and growing more impatient by the second, Ozpin must be asking me to lie but what am I supposed to say? I can't just say anything since it could create a contradiction that will expose us! She looked back at her boss with the hope that he could somehow offer a suggestion about what was safe to say but no such luck existed, I'm going to have to be as vague as possible, "Um, No I didn't… Who are you?" Ugh, that was horrible...
There was a pause and "My name is Maria Calavera," she rose from her chair as she spoke and began reaching for her scythes, "And I have a question for you."
"And I'm getting a distinct feeling that I should not answer your question," Glynda replied after noticing that Ozpin's signals were becoming more frantic as the tension in the room began to reach a critical point.
"Hey Ozpin," time seemed to slow down as everyone turned their attention toward Jame Ironwood who had just walked into a minefield of a situation he knew nothing about, "I passed by Tock on the way to your office, is there something wrong?" As cliche as it was to say there was no better way to describe the situation other than to say that the silence which followed was deafening. Glynda, Ironwood, and especially Ozpin all felt the need to say something but had no idea what they should or even could say in this situation, it felt as though they were all balanced on a tight rope that was slowly unraveling itself.
Then Maria stepped forward, she didn't say anything nor did she look in anyone's direction rather she was focused on what was behind them. She was able to visualize a map of the room in her mind thanks to a combination of Aura boosted senses and her semblance, already she had the entire room nearly though not quite perfectly mapped out. But it's good enough, Maria then dropped down into a sprinter's starting position and took in a deep breath as she tensed up her muscles.
Immediately Ozpin and James attempted to intercept her but they would not make it in time, Glynda, on the other hand, raise her arm to use her semblance and would have been able to hold Maria down but then Qrow grabbed her arm and broke her focus, "What's going on here!" He demanded from his colleagues and mentor, "Why was Tock here? Why did you let her walk out of here despite what she has done? Have you all lost it!?"
"Please just listen to me! I know this all looks bad but the situation changed! Just give me a chance to explain, I beg of you!" Ozpin tried his best to reason with the understandably angry pair but neither Maria nor Qrow were in the mood to listen.
"You can explain after I get myself a brand new pair of crocodile skin boots!" She shot off at full speed the moment those words left her mouth and she was out of the room before anyone could have done anything. All they could do now was hope that Tock was far enough away.
"Yeah! Kick her scaly ass!" Qrow shouted in encouragement just before he attempted to run after her only to be telekinetically lifted off of the ground by Glynda, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm stopping you from making a huge mistake," She angrily retorted as she used her Semblance to hold him back. "Tock is not our enemy! She's our ally!"
"HAVE YOU ALL LOST IT!? SHE CARVED OUT MARIA'S EYES, WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE SHE'LL DO!"
Ozpin quickly answered, "Besides working with us to figure out what Salem's next move might be? And of course, let's not forget how she teamed up with Yang in order to defend Ruby."
Qrow went limp out of shock and disbelief, "What?"
"It's true," Ironwood carefully and gently placed his hands on Qrow's shoulders as Glynda released him from her Semblance, "Tock told us everything, she told Yang everything and together they captured a team of Mercenaries working with Salem, she's on our side."
Qrow was having difficulty processing what he had just heard but in the back of his drunken head, he began to recall something that Maria had told him, Tock accused her of being the rouge Huntsman holding the village hostage but why would she do that? Was it a performance? No, Tock found her in the mountains after she finished fighting a Grimm so no one else would have been there… Tock really believed that Maria was the rouge Huntsmen but how could have that mix-up have happened… Salem!
When the pieces finally came together in his head, the bigger picture left him struggling to stand up straight as the revelation left his legs shaking. I got to stop her! I got to stop Maria from making a huge mistake! "Somone open a window!"
"Are you going after her?" Asked Ironwood as placed his hand on the windows latch, "Can you even fly in that condition?"
"That doesn't matter! Maria is about to make a terrible mistake and I'm the only one who can reach her in time to stop her!"
"But she's blind and we're in the middle of preparations for the Vytal Festival," Ozpin said before walking up the window and pointing at all the people below them, "I don't want to come off as ableist but I severely doubt she'll be able to find Tock in that mess so instead of running around like fools, let's take a moment to plan things out. Besides, she'll be more willing to listen to reason if she's given an opportunity to vent some stress."
Not too long ago Qrow might have agreed with Ozpin without much resistance but even his alcohol ladened mind saw the foolishness in this suggestion. "She's also angry and is actually trying to hurt someone, being left alone is the last thing that she needs. If you must talk things over then go ahead but I'm going to keep her from making a mistake."
The look in Qrow's eyes told Ozpin that arguing with him would be pointless and more importantly he had raised a very good point, "Very well then, this meeting is hereby postponed." He walked up to one of the windows in his office and opened it, "Qrow you are the one with the best chance of talking Miss Calavera down meanwhile I'll monitor the situation with the security cameras and tell you where to go."
Ironwood was quick to offer assistance of his own, "Let me know the moment you spot her and I'll send my men to clear the area, I'll also prepare a medical team just to be safe."
Now it was Glynda's turn, "I'll inform the school staff of the situation, the last thing we need is somebody trying to step in and interfere without any knowledge of what's going on. Also please let me know when you find them, I'll use my semblance if it proves necessary." Nobody replied to her, there was no need as now everybody knew what to and now it was simply a matter of doing it… shame they didn't act sooner.
The day has only really begun and it was already going great for Pyrrha, for example, earlier today when she walked into the cafeteria for breakfast she found that they were serving both Ladina and Sfakianopita which just happened to be two of her favorite meals from back home! She would admit that at first, she was cautiously optimistic but soon found that they tasted as nostalgically good as she had hoped. Then a little while later she was on the track and field with the rest of her team and all of them were able to set new personal bests during their morning run! Now in the present, she was by herself in the team's dorm room studying a book on the uses of Medicinal Dust Infusion which was a subject that she was having trouble understanding. This time, however, the wheels inside her head finally clicked together, and she was able to overcome her mental block, "Of course! You use the Gravity Dust to create an antigravity field around the chest to prevent it from collapsing on itself and if you hook it up to a cart then it will get caught up in the field and raise off of the ground. This way we can speed up the delivery process while also minimizing unnecessary movements therefore vastly increasing the likely hood of successful treatment! And if you add in a little Water Dust you can-!"
*CRASH, BANG, SMASH*
Pyrrha was caught completely off guard by the sudden loud noises anded nearly jumped out of her seat in surprise, her reflexes kicked in the very next moment and her hand moved down to her waist and grasped at the thin air reaching for a weapon that was resting inside a locker back in the gym. It took about a second for her to realize what she was doing, Calm down! Figure out the situation before coming to conclusions. The first thing that she did was use Aura to enhance her hearing to the point where she could narrow down the source of the racket to something going on in the hallway, I can't tell what it is but I can tell that it is getting closer, If I want to find out what's going on I might have to step out and look. She grabbed her scroll, I can get my weapon in under a minute but it's best to have something until then. Using her Semblance in the dorm room allowed her to pull several small pieces of metal into her hands, five screws, a bullet, about 27 Lien, and around 22 staples… this isn't much but it'll work.
With one hand on her scroll and the other filled with ammunition, she walked up to the dorm room door and took a deep breath before using her Semblance to open the door. She then prepared her Semblance and cautiously stepped into the hallway where she saw a familiar figure running towards her.
"Pyrrha! thank th' brothers ye'r 'ere, hulp me oot wi' this wifie!" Right behind Tock was a woman that the champion did not know but she did recognize the enormous skill that the stranger possessed by the way she swung her dual hand scythes at the pirate while shouting all kinds of threats.
"Wh-What going on?" Pyrrha asked as Tock ran up to her, grabbed her, ran inside her dorm room, slammed the door shut, and then proceed to lock it shut.
"Sorry aboot that 'n' kin ah mooch yer shield?" Tock asked with a voice that was barely above a whisper.
"Um, sure? But do you mind telling me what going on?"
"Ye saw that wifie chasing me? Her name is Maria 'n' she is th' Huntress wha's een ah cut oot. A dinnae ken how come she is 'ere bit ah dae ken that she wants tae mak' a purse oot o' mah skin! !"
Pyrrha's eye's widened, "Maria!? What's she doing here?"
"Lik' ah wid ken! She 'n' some drunkard juist busted intae Ozpin's affice richt efter we hud a blether," She then noticed a look of extreme concern on Pyrrha's face. "Ah wasn't set up, Oz wis juist as surprised as ah wis 'n' even helped me escape."
"That's-," a knock on the door silenced Pyrrha and Tock. After a few more seconds there was another knock followed by another one a few seconds later but neither woman was even considering asking who it was and the idea of opening the door was even further from their minds.
"I know you're in there, Tock." Spoke Maria with a weirdly chillingly calm voice especially when compared to her outburst from just a minute ago.
"Howfur th' absolute bloody bugger did ye fin' me whin ye'r suppose tae be blind?! " Tock loudly and foolishly asked Maria as Pyrrha moved to the back of the room and began opening the window.
From behind the door, Maria answered in a manner that would have almost seemed friendly if it wasn't for the mocking undertone in their voice, "A rather energetic student came up to and asked me about my scythes, I'd told her that was busy but I could make time to talk she helped me find you. Also, I'd like to clear up a misunderstanding you seem to have, I don't want to make a purse from your skin."
"Fur reals? Because a'm bonny sure ah heard ye say that ye wanted tae skin me."
"You heard right, what you got wrong is the odd idea that I wanted a purse. What I want is a new pair of boots so now that we have that cleared up, could you please open the door?"
Pyrrha walked up to Tock and whispered, "I'm going to send my locker to the outdoor sparring grounds, after that I'm going to tell the rest of my team to meet you there. Do you know how to get there?"
"Aye ah dae, ta." Tock walked up to the window, stuck one leg out, then turned around to face the door, and then to Pyrrah's horror she shouted a challenge to Maria before just leaping out, "Juist huv a go 'n' catch me ye doolally boot!"
"Insulting her isn't going to help calm her down!" Pyrrha shouted at the now empty spot where Tock once stood, there was a couple of other things she wanted to say but Maria's renewed knocking reminded her that there was a far more pressing matter than trying to remind someone of the proper etiquette for apologizing.
Then knocking stopped, "Please open the door before I do something that we'll both regret," asked Maria with all the politeness she could muster, which at this moment was close to but not quite yet at none. That being said, I'm not exactly sure what I can do other than break down the door which isn't really an option. The last thing I need to make these people- The door suddenly swung open and while Maria couldn't see her face but she had a distinct feeling that the person in front of her was upset with her, I suppose my knocking got on their nerves.
"She went through the window and said something about going to the outdoor sparing fields, if you hurry might be able to catch her." Pyrrha then stepped to the side to allow Maria inside, "Come on inside, the window is directly in front of you and the way is clear."
Maria was pleasantly surprised by how cooperative this young lady was being but she was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, not when she was so close to achieving violent retribution, "Thank you," she then walked inside and found the kind stranger had spoken the truth, she could feel a breeze coming from the open window in front of her and felt nothing brushing up against her as she walked forward. However, before she could exit there was a burning question that she absolutely needed to have answered if she wanted to have any chance at catching her prey. "So… this is my first time in Beacon so I don't actually have any idea where these sparring fields are, help?"
Pyrrha had to resist the urge to smack her own forehead, Of course, she's not going to know where the fields are, she just got here! She then used her own scroll to pull up a map in order to make sure that what she was about to say would be accurate, "I'm going to assume that you're going through the window, with that in mind, you should just keep going straight until you reach a fountain, and after that, you just need to take a hard left and you'll get there. There are always at least a couple of people sparring over there so you'll be able to hear them as you're getting close.
"Thanks!" Maria then leaped right out of the window fully unaware that the dorm room was on the 3rd floor or how she was about to crash into a tree that was directly in front of the aforementioned window that she had just leaped out of.
Pyrrha stuck her head out of the window and saw Maria on the ground dazed but still firmly holding on to her scythes, Well that's impressive. "Are you alright?"
"Just peachy." Maria was pulling herself up by using the tree for support.
"I'm sorry I should have mentioned that there was a tree there, even if I didn't think you'd jump out like that." This was not a lie, she really didn't think that Maria would just jump out of a window without knowing what was on the other side, This woman is supposed to be so strong that Tock needed her entire crew just to beat her, and yet she's making these kinds of amateur mistakes? Her desire for revenge must be making her sloppy.
Maria was now standing upright but still feeling a little disoriented so she kept talking since it distracted her from her newly acquired headache, "It's fine, I shouldn't have jumped out like that but… why is there a tree here right in front of a window? Doesn't it block the view?"
Unknown to the blind Huntress, Pyrrha was thrilled by the question but it wasn't because she had a fondness for talking about trees. The real reason was that every second that she could delay the chase was another second that could be used to prepare, already she had used her scroll to send her locker over to the sparring fields for Tock. Right now she was texting her teammates about the situation and directing them over to assist, Maybe I can keep her here for just a little bit longer. "There was an incident not too long ago where a man had climbed up that very same tree because he wanted to ambush us in our own dorms."
"What!?"
"Don't worry, the guy turned out to be the parent of another student and the reason was in that tree was because he wanted to surprise her by ambushing her and her team inside their dorm room. But as you can probably guess, he was barking up the wrong tree!" Pyrrha hated herself for making that joke but was able to keep a straight face as she forced it out of her lips.
For a brief moment Maria was totally silent, her initial thought this girl was simply making things up but couldn't come up with a reason as to why she would do something like that. Furthermore, she never had the pleasure of attending a Huntsmen academy so as far as she knew this could have been normal, She did say it as though it was a common unremarkable occurrence... Either way, she had a question for this young lady and it was simply, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS SCHOOL!?"
"You seem confused, would you like me to explain it?"
"Ye- N-no, not now but maybe later? I- I'm sorry but I'm in just far too much of a rush right now and I can't afford to be distracted!" Maria then ran off as fast as her legs could carry her before Pyrrha could even attempt to delay her any further.
The Sparring fields were just as advertised and yet they were a little more than that, it wasn't merely an empty space where trigger-happy students could just let loose. To start with you couldn't just fight wherever you wanted you could only fight on top of the numerous stone platforms that were neatly organized to maximize available space. The platforms themselves were far from uninformed, some were purposely smaller, some larger, more than a few had built-in obstacles, and the ones that did were all unique in their layout, others had some sort of environmental hazard built-in, and many platforms were some combination of different elements. However, the most important feature and the reason why Tock was here were the steel-reinforced pillars located on the corners of each and every single platform, contained within those pillars was a Hard Light Projector that kept the fight and the damage inside the platform.
When Tock arrived she found to her pleasure that Pyrrha's locker was already there and that despite the upcoming festival, there were still available platforms. Mere minutes later she had her swords stored inside the locker and Pyrrha's shield Akoúo̱ securely strapped to her arm, "Noo a've juist git tae pick yin," Tock said to herself as she began walking around and in between the available platforms while trying her hardest to avoid being distracted by the matches that were going on. Before long she managed to narrow it down to about three options, the first was a plain platform without any features, the second was similar to the first but had thick stone columns scattered throughout the platform, and the last one had been morbidly designed to resemble a street in a ruined city.
"Maria likelie wants a fair rammy bit ah lik' living 'n' ah'ament aboot tae rammy her fur real…," Tock was speaking out loud hoping that the sound of her voice would draw Maria over to her location. "Then again she couldn't beat me while she hud een sae what's is she aff tae dae noo that's she's blind as a bat?"
"Care to say that to my face?" Asked Maria who was now inexpiably behind her.
Most people would have leaped into the air out of shock or fear but not Tock, not this time, she wasn't surprised or afraid by Maria's sudden arrival because she had planned this. Her time in Vale had taught her that Fate or something like it was real and that it had a sick sense of humor, Efter a' howfur else kin ye explain a' o' this? Bit sin tis 'ere ah micht as weel mak' it wirk fur me. She started walking toward the platform without any features, "Whit if ah wur tae tell ye that ah wis sorry fur howfur hings turned oot 'n' that 'twas a' a muckle misunderstanding?"
"I'd tell you to shove it up your ass and fight."
"A'm sorry fur howfur hings turned oot, ah hud hee haw against ye. Th' hail thing wis a tragic misunderstanding 'n' ah wid tak' it back if ah cuid." The two women were now standing on the platform, the pillars located on the corners detected the combatants that turned on. In the span of a few seconds, a dome transparent blue-tinged light covered the platform separating the two women from the rest of the world.
"Take your apology and shove it up your ass… why did you ask me when you already knew what I would say?"
"Twa reasons, th' foremaist is that it costs me hee haw tae huv a go 'n' th' seicont is that it's th' truth. A'm sorry 'n' ah dae wish ah cuid tak' it back, ah wis used tae hurt ye 'n' this rammy does hee haw bit helps th' boot wha played us against ilk ither."
Maria hesitated as she recalled what she had learned in Ozpin's office earlier, Could she be telling the truth? She was in Ozpin's office earlier so she might know what I now know but what if she's just trying to confuse me? She took the scythes in her hands and connected them creating a single double-headed scythe, "I'm going to beat you until your black and blue, and when I'm satisfied, then we'll talk and then I'll decide how you'll walk out of here. Of course… that's assuming you'll be able to walk at all."
Author's Notes: Originally the rematch was going to happen in this chapter but after looking at the word count, I decided that it would be better to save it for the next chapter. This gives me an opportunity to tie up some loose ends and do a little setup for the time skip. Also, I intended for this chapter to have a far more comical bent but after reading through it I found that I wasn't laughing. The problem wasn't the jokes weren't funny but rather they felt spiteful, for example, Ozpin postponing the meeting was not how the scene was going to go. The first idea I had was Ozpin convincing Qrow to stay for the meeting by pointing out that Maria was blind and that this was her first time in Beacon so she'd most likely just get lost in the hallway… yeah, I'm not sure what I was thinking of when I wrote that.