Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth and Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. I own nothing of either of them and am only playing in the worlds they gave us.
Later than I anticipated due to a couple of well worn issues I won't bore you with again.
Enjoy.
A Chance Encounter
Chapter 9
Somewhere in Vale
Adam Taurus would never be confused with a patient individual and biding his time was not something he did well. He certainly understood that there were times when all you could do was wait but necessity didn't make it any easier. The plan had been for the White Fang to lay low anyway until it was time to strike, and that had become more and more necessary by degrees.
First had been the interrupted meeting and Torchwick rampaging through the streets with an Atlesian Paladin with the White Fang logo prominently displayed on it for all to see. Second had been the earlier than planned implementation of the strike from Mountain Glenn. Third, and a constant all along had been the harassing attacks by some unknown vigilante.
The Mountain Glenn thing had cost them a lot of people, more martyrs to the cause. Problem was, losing that many at once was hardly inspiring and it had put a severe strain on recruitment. Only the most hardcore and committed were joining up, those who were on the fence had their sense of revolutionary utopia shattered and were reluctant to commit to a cause that could cost them their life. As far as he was concerned they were little better than the humans or the Faunus who outright rejected the White Fang.
One thing that the first two problems had in common was a certain team of students from Beacon that had been the cause of the disruption and mayhem. Of course one member of that team just had to be Blake. Abandoning the Fang, abandoning him was unforgivable on its own but now she was actively working against them. Against him. As if that wasn't bad enough, and it was, she was on a team with a Schnee. A Schnee! Apparently there was no limit to how low or how far she would go in her betrayal. He wanted nothing more than to get his hands on her and demonstrate the price of her betrayal, but patience was required and as loathe as he was to wait, there was no other choice right now.
The plan had to come first whether he liked it or not. They had been given a great deal of money and material support for their cooperation and bringing down the greatest of the Huntsman schools was just the kind of notoriety and achievement the White Fang needed and to hell with Great Leader Khan's views on not attacking the academies. This would make the humans fear them even more and he wanted those filthy creatures to be shaking in fear.
One of the other bad aspects of waiting was that it tended to induce paranoia, fostering a fear that things were about to unravel at any moment. He hadn't heard from his benefactor recently and while he could easily do without her periodic visits that were meant to remind him of all that she had provided and that she was calling the shots, the fact that she hadn't been in contact recently was out of character and thus immediately suspicious. She hadn't even sent one of her lackeys. Torchwick's shadow didn't count since she had been here for a different reason.
It had pissed him off that his Lieutenant hadn't seen fit to let him know about her visit until a day and a half later. While he didn't know anything about the people she had been looking for information on the descriptions did sound vaguely familiar to him. The fact that they were a trained Huntsman and Huntress that had just been hired by Beacon did get his attention since it meant two more highly trained fighters would be around to defend the place and that made them a threat.
When he had one of his contacts dig up what surprisingly little they were able to find about the two, alarm bells started going off in his head. The lack of information alone was suspicious but then he saw their mission records and those alarm bells got a whole lot louder. He needed more information and since she and her people were on the inside Cinder should have been able to provide something useful but had instead essentially gone silent and that only added to the sense of unease.
Regardless of that he still needed more recruits to replace at least some of what he had lost, but barring that he needed to train the people he did have harder to make up for the numbers they lacked. He wanted the fall of Beacon to be a huge statement for the White Fang, something that would be burned into the minds of the humans and never go away. He also wanted to teach Blake a lesson that she would never forget. Maybe he would carve up her team in front of her and leave their mangled, barely alive bodies on public display as a message to the world and as a source of horror for a traitor like her to relive over and over. To drown her in feelings of guilt and despair for her past mistakes causing them so much pain and suffering.
He couldn't wait for the day to come. But until then there were many things to be done. Equipment and weapons to be readied, attack plans to be refined and objectives to be handed out to strike teams and troops to be drilled on their roles until they could do their tasks without having to think about it. When the time came they would strike a blow against the humans unlike any the White Fang had struck before. The chaos and bloodshed would be glorious and hopefully there would a little personal satisfaction to be had for him along the way.
AC&T Class Arena
"Are you sure she's going to be alright?" Pyrrha asked warily as she watched Yang get knocked halfway across the arena for the third time. Or was it the fourth now?
Ruby sighed. "Yeah, she'll be okay."
"Physically maybe," Weiss snorted. "I wouldn't be so sure about her pride though. She's getting trounced."
"It's...not that bad," Ruby weakly defended, knowing that yes, it really was that bad.
Weiss gave her a sideways look. "Ichigo just knocked her across the arena with a one handed, left handed back hand with the flat of his sword. And he didn't put any effort into it."
Ruby shoulders sagged. "I know. And I know that she needs to learn that she can't just plow through every fight like a tank and rely on her Semblance. I just wish it didn't have to happen like this."
"Unfortunately the hard way is the only way sometimes," Blake said morosely.
Ruby understood that, she really did. She also knew how Yang's Semblance worked and how much punishment she could take and still keep going. She was amazed by it and thought it was ridiculously awesome, but that didn't mean that she liked to see her big sister take the hits that made it work. She always worried though. Yang thought she could take on anything and everything head on and plow through it. But what if she couldn't? What if she met an opponent that she couldn't run over or one that she couldn't absorb the hits from? One that she couldn't overpower with the energy that her Semblance had collected?
She'd run into two such obstacles in their new teachers who where deflecting her attacks and sending her tumbling or flying with effortless ease. Judging by the looks on their faces they were able and willing to keep this up until Yang got the point and learned the lesson at hand. Yang however seemed just as stubbornly committed to proving them wrong, even though everything she had experienced with these two thus far should tell her otherwise. Stubbornness and the myth of youthful invulnerability didn't make for a good combination, especially when combined with the Semblance of an aspiring Huntress.
"It's a lesson we should all take heed of," Ren cautioned. He cast a meaningful glance at the ginger sitting next to him. Nora's combat style was a little too much like Yang's for his liking.
"Poo!" Nora protested, crossing her arms over her chest. She knew he was right though, trying to recklessly plow through your opponents wasn't the best way to fight and it was a lesson she was having a little trouble putting into practice herself.
"It looks like she's starting to get really mad," Jaune noted.
"This won't end well," Pyrrha added.
That was what Ruby was afraid of as she retreated into her hood and prepared to watch her sister learn a hard lesson.
As with most things, this all started innocently enough, or so Yang had thought. They were working on unarmed combat again today so she was playing the role of Teacher's Assistant. Aside from Jaune, Weiss and Ruby probably lacked the most in hand to hand fighting strength and ability and along the way she thought it would be fun to spar against the two of them at the same time. It didn't take long for her to kind of forget the teaching part and start teasing and playing around with it like she generally would if they were on their own. Predictably Weiss and Ruby flailed away at her with little effect and this did not go unnoticed.
"Everybody stop!" Ichigo had called out, a displeased scowl on his face.
"Yang!" Yoruichi said sharply. "You're supposed to be teaching them how to fight and defend themselves, not tanking everything they throw at you and teasing them because they can't hit you or brushing it off when they do. It's also a hell of a way for one of them to end up getting hurt. This isn't play time. It's time to learn skills that will keep them alive, not for you to amuse yourself. You're supposed to be helping to give them those skills, not humiliate them or waste their time!"
"I-I'm sorry," she apologized. "I got carried away."
"Yeah, you did," Ichigo said coldly. "And you gave us all an good example of how not to fight any opponent, no matter who they are."
"We've cautioned and warned you before about tanking attacks and trying to just plow through your opponents and using your Semblance to save your ass if things go sideways," Yoruichi said. "It's time for an object lesson to make you understand where that will get you."
"Everyone but Yang clear the arena floor!" Ichigo ordered. "Take a seat in the bleachers and watch and learn."
"I said I was sorry," she protested. It wasn't like she would have let Weiss or her sister get hurt and she resented the accusation.
"I heard you," Yoruichi shot back. "Did you not hear me? The way you fight might work against those who aren't as strong as you or against some low level Grimm, but it is not sustainable."
"Hey I took a punch from a freaking Paladin and turned it into scrap metal!" she countered.
"Big deal," Yoruichi taunted as she walked up to her. "What if you had missed and it got another shot at you? What if there had been more than one of them? How much can your Semblance absorb before it gives out? What if you had taken another hit right after you expended that energy to destroy the Paladin? Would you still have had enough Aura to protect you? Would you have had enough strength to help your team if they needed it?" It was clear by the look on her face that she couldn't answer those questions. "Well here's your chance to find out how well you hold up against someone more powerful and more skilled than you. You fight me then Ichigo. Let's see how long you last. And don't worry, we aren't going to one shot you, that wouldn't teach you anything."
A seemingly harmless two fingered poke in the centre of her chest had been the starting bell and she found herself actually knocked back several steps by it. Fine, if they wanted to challenge her then she was up for it. She was tired of being told that she relied too much on her Semblance. Her Dad, Professor Goodwitch, and now these two. She'd show them what she could do.
She launched herself at Yoruichi, throwing combinations of punches and kicks. In seemingly the most aggravating way possible the dark skinned Huntress simply dodged and sidestepped everything with a minimum of movement and effort. A slight turn sideways, a turn of her head or a slight bend of her neck, every kick and punch missed her even if by only a hair. Even more unnerving was how her eyes bored into hers the entire time, never once losing contact. She wasn't even looking at the blows she was avoiding. Off to the side Ichigo stood with his arms crossed over his chest, disapproving scowl still in place as he watched every movement.
She picked up the pace and the power, moving faster and hitting harder yet Yoruichi's demeanour never changed. She kept looking her straight in the eye but began blocking or slapping away her blows instead of avoiding them and was still, infuriatingly using little effort to do so. The first move against her that Yoruichi made surprised the hell out of her. She threw a spinning back kick that the Huntress turned into, grabbing her leg and spinning with the momentum for about a hundred and eighty degrees before letting her go, flinging her halfway across the arena and into the barrier shield, causing it to flare to life before she dropped the several feet to the floor.
"Is that it?" Yoruichi mocked her as she stood in the centre of the arena, hands on hips.
Yang growled and fired Ember Celica behind her to give her a boost as she charged back at the woman. She threw a hard right that Yoruichi turned into, grabbing her by that arm and throwing her hard over her shoulder, causing her to bounce and skip across the arena floor to the other side and again into the barrier. She charged back yet again and Yoruichi seemed content to once again simply block and slap away every blow of the furious assault.
About a minute later, she began to fire back. Yang was a good fighter for her experience level but her defence was full of holes and every time one of the bigger ones opened up the Shihoin Princess struck. Yang was bigger and with a longer reach but with her quickness it was easy to step inside her guard. The first shot was a stiff jab to the face. It wasn't hard enough to do any damage but it did snap the blonde's head back. The next time it was a jab and a body shot and on it went with various punches, jabs, kicks and leg sweeps. None did any great damage but did chip away at her Aura. Most of all they were designed to be annoying and frustrate the girl. After a bit of this Yoruichi unleashed a spinning kick that Yang couldn't hope to keep up with and sent her sailing across the arena again.
"You can take over Ichigo," she said, sounding bored and waving her hand dismissively in Yang's direction. "I've had my fun."
"Right," he sighed. "Time to get serious then."
"Serious! Serious!" Yang was livid. Not quite into red eyes and flaming hair territory yet but she was on the verge. Part of her knew of course that Yoruichi hadn't been giving her even close to her all but it still pissed her off and her pride wouldn't let her stand down. She had worked too hard to get where she was, to get to the level where there were few in her age group that could challenge her let alone beat her. Her pride however was also keeping her from being entirely rational.
Being beaten so easily on the train by Neo was still an open wound for her that had yet to close and it had put doubts about her abilities into her mind for the first time in a long time. She had nearly died and would have if her mother of all people hadn't intervened. She hadn't told the others how close she had come to being killed or just what that had done to her. It had made her even more stubborn and put blinders on her, gave her tunnel vision that made her see straight ahead as the only option and that put her in the predicament she was in now.
She couldn't beat them, either of them, but she couldn't fail either. If she failed it meant that she couldn't protect herself, and if she couldn't protect herself then she couldn't protect her friends, her team, or her sister. But she had backed herself into a corner this time and there was no other way out of it but to do what she had always done. It would probably hurt and no doubt there would be a good dose of humiliation to go with it. She had already been bounced around the room by a woman smaller than her, just as she had been with Neo, and seemingly with even less effort behind it.
Now she had to face Ichigo and the scowling look he was wearing was somewhere between displeased and disappointed. She didn't know why that look bothered her so much. She didn't know him very well yet seeing that look on his face didn't make her feel very good at all. It actually hurt to see him look at her like that and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. It only added to her sense of frustration so with a booster shot from Ember Celica she launched herself at him.
Unlike Yoruichi who mostly defended against whatever she threw at her, Ichigo didn't. After deflecting her initial blow he struck back and it was all she could do to fend him off. Her arms shook and her Aura flared with every blow she blocked. He wasn't fighting with any recognizable taught style, he fought like he learned how on the street. He took advantage of any and every opening that appeared, punching, kicking, and even headbutting. She couldn't get any strikes in against him at all.
A palm heel strike to the middle of her chest nearly took her breath away but it did push her back far enough that she had some room to move. She tried to take advantage of it to land a blow but found herself hit with the broadside of the blade of his big sword. She hadn't even seen him draw it and he didn't wind up and hit her, it was more like he flicked his wrist yet she was sent bouncing hard across the arena floor again. Most alarming was that the blade slapped her, not her Aura and she knew her Aura wasn't yet depleted.
He tossed the sword to his right hand and rested the blade over his shoulder. "Is that it?" he asked. "You haven't even used your Semblance on us yet. C'mon blondie, charge me, run me over. Smash me apart like you did that Paladin. Catch fire and burn me to the ground. Show me some blind aggression damn it!"
Ask and ye shall receive. Red eyes, flaming hair, and a desperate last chance charge punctuated by a roar of anger and frustration. Her right arm shot forward to deliver a devastating punch...but it never landed. Her world slowed down like it was all suddenly in slow motion. She caught a somewhat sorrowful look in his eyes that was soon cut off as his blade came up between them, the dull back edge striking her right bicep, passing straight through her Aura like it wasn't even there.
The sudden stop of momentum nearly dislocated her shoulder and she was sent stumbling and spinning back to her right, very nearly losing her footing. A moment later she did as she felt the same sharp pain across the back of her thighs and found herself staring at the ceiling as her back slammed into the floor.
Anger, panic and a lack of reason overrode any semblance of common sense as she shakily got to her feet and lunged at him. It was all she could manage since her legs felt as numb as her arm. She was brought to an agonizing and brutal halt as the sword slammed into her midsection, folding her over the blade like she was made of paper. The air was pounded from her lungs with an audible huff and she blacked out momentarily as she hung over his blade, feet not even touching the ground and he held her gasping form there like she weighed nothing.
"The first strike would have cut your arm off," he said gravely. "The second would have taken your legs and you would likely bleed to death before anyone could do anything to help you. The third one would have cut you in half and left you in a pile of your own guts."
He let her down gently where she shakily braced herself on her hands and knees and gasped for air. As he drew the sword away he made sure she saw the sharp edge before he laid it down, still within her sight. With one arm and both legs feeling numb she nearly hit the floor but he caught her and manoeuvred her around so she was sitting upright. He looked to Yoruichi and she gave him a sombre nod as she kept the others at bay and began explaining the point of the lesson to them just in case anyone had missed it.
He went down to one knee before his defeated student. "Yang," he said gently. "You have a lot of talent and you're an excellent fighter and you're only going to get better. But with the way you're currently using those skills you're going to get seriously injured or killed. Maybe even get friends or team mates hurt or killed and I know that's not what you want. Do you remember what we told you after the class evaluation?"
She wasn't able to speak but she did nod, indicating that she did remember.
"Physical skill, intellect and instinct, I wasn't kidding when I said that I used to try and fight with those as separate entities instead of putting them all together," he continued. "When I started out I could street brawl and I waved my sword around like a big stick...I had very little skill in actual sword fighting. I didn't really think all that much I just charged in like a bull and I had no instincts at all. But I had power and I used it to make up for the other things that I lacked. Problem is, when that's all you've got your enemies learn pretty quickly how to work around that and make a mess out of you, and let me tell you I have been made a mess of more times than I care to remember. I could take a lot of punishment but none of it felt very good." He regarded her for a moment. "When you're taking blows and storing up the energy, you feel the pain from those shots don't you."
She nodded again. "Yeah," she managed between ragged breaths.
"The biggest problem I had and I think that you have is the bullheadedness of youth," he smirked. "As I became more skilled using a sword and I started using my head and I began to develop and trust my instincts, I got hurt a hell of a lot less and the fights, even the serious ones, got easier. I didn't need to use so much power and learned along the way that using power should not be your first option. I've known some really powerful people, scary powerful, and the one thing they all knew was that the power they had should only be used when it was really necessary. They saw using that power first as a weakness."
She understood what he was talking about because it wasn't the first time she had heard this. "My Dad," she said a little more steadily as she was finally starting to breath normally again. "My Uncle, Professor Goodwitch...even you and Yoruichi, you've all told me the same things but I never seemed to really listen to it until now. I guess I needed a good old ass kicking to finally get it through my head."
"It usually worked for me," he smiled. "Not the best or the gentlest way to learn but the point of the lesson is usually permanently stamped into your brain."
"In that case I should have learned my lesson on the train from Mountain Glenn," she said. "It got hammered into me then but my pride wouldn't let me admit that everyone had been right."
"Being proud of your abilities and skill isn't a bad thing," he said. "But too much has consequences...as you now know. So, what happened on the train?"
"I fought a girl named Neo, she works for Roman Torchwick," she answered. "She's like half my size but she kicked my ass like I was nothing. I couldn't lay a hand on her and the worst of it was that it looked like she wasn't even trying. She had this aggravating little smile on her face the whole time too." She sighed. "I nearly got killed by a little shrimp with a frilly umbrella."
"At least you're still here to learn from it," he reminded her.
"Not by my own doing," she said quietly. "Someone ran her off before she could finish the job."
She wouldn't look at him and he knew there was something more to that story but he wasn't going to try and pry it out of her if she wasn't willing to tell him on her own. "The important thing is that you are still alive...and Ruby didn't have to go through the hell of burying the big sister that she adores." Yang looked up at him with wide eyes. That may have been something that hadn't crossed her mind. "The older siblings are born first to look out for the younger ones that come after so you have an important job Yang."
"I've always told her that I'd be there for her, that I'd never leave her," she said quietly, taking a moment to glance at Ruby. She didn't even want to imagine what it would have been like for Ruby if she had died that day. First Summer, then the big sister that practically raised her afterwards...it would have crushed her. "You have younger siblings don't you?" she asked, pretty much knowing that he must.
"I did," he answered softly. "Two younger sisters. Twins. Karin and Yuzu."
"Had?" she asked before realizing the word had escaped her mouth and regretting it when she saw the pained look on his face.
"They're gone, just like everyone else," he said sadly. "Yoruichi's all I have left." He shook it off. "But you still have your family and your friends around you and you all have exceptional skills and can look out for each other. Together you are stronger than any of you are alone...it took me a while to learn that lesson too and I should have learned to work better with the people around me. I've done a lot of things the wrong way and paid the price for it and fortunately I'm still alive. I'm more than willing to share that with all of you if it means that you won't make those same mistakes."
He stood and offered her a hand up which she took, wobbling a little bit on her sore legs and wincing at her sore abdomen.
"Tell me something," she asked. "The blows you hit me with, your sword passed right through my Aura like I didn't even have one. How'd you do that?"
"My blades, Zangetsu, are a type of weapon known as a Zanpakuto, the only ones to exist," he explained. "Roughly translated it means 'soul cutter'. Aura won't stop them. Even Pyrrha's Semblance didn't work on them when she tried it during the evaluation battle."
She realized right then that she didn't actually know what Pyrrha's Semblance was. "Dude, that's not even close to fair."
He just shrugged. "You use any advantage you can. Your enemy certainly will. Fight dirty if you have to, whatever keeps you alive."
She smirked. "I like that way of thinking." She sighed and became more serious. "I'm sorry...for how I was acting earlier. I was supposed to be helping Ruby and Weiss and I was acting like a jerk. And by needing to be taught a lesson I took away class time from everyone else. I owe them all an apology too."
"Apology accepted," he smiled. "And I'm pretty sure they'll forgive you. I think Yoruichi and I freaked them out a little bit too but so long as everybody learned something from this then it's worth it."
"Well I know I did and it's kind of embarrassing but I brought that on myself," she said. "I should have learned this lesson already."
"Somebody once said 'the more you bleed in training, the less you bleed in combat'." He gestured to the growing black and blue marks she was sporting. "Same goes for bruises. I'd rather be the cause of a few dings for you all here than see you get hurt out in the field."
She looked at him warmly. "You know, I bet your sisters thought you were an awesome big brother. Even though you're our teacher, you've been like a big brother to all of us so far. You're patient and you encourage us as you teach us stuff and you really want to see us succeed."
He was almost left speechless. "Well, thanks for that," he said gently. "And I'm pretty sure your little sister feels the same way about you."
The bell rang signalling the end of class. "Tomorrow will be hand to hand again," Yoruichi told them all. "The rest of the week will be with weapons. And there may be a spot check on Aura manipulation so keep practising."
Yang winked at him. "Later Big Bro." Then she was off to join her friends.
He was immobile and staring at the doors when Yoruichi went to him after the kids had all left. "Ichigo?" she questioned. Her worries increased when she noticed that his hands were shaking. She grasped them with hers. "Ichigo, what's wrong?"
It would take him a moment to be able to speak and tell her, but when Yang spoke those parting words, for the briefest moment and maybe it was just hopeful, wishful thinking on his part, he was sure that he had felt a subtle, gentle surge of something achingly familiar from her soul.
Later, at Dinner
The two teams, as had become the norm for them, shared the same table for their meal. It had become even more of a thing for them since starting the advanced combat class because they liked to share their individual experiences and compare notes as it were. Every one of them, from the strongest to the weakest, were glad that they had agreed to take the class. Even in the smallest things they all had seen improvement already in everything they learned and practised since the class started.
"Ruby, Weiss...I'm sorry," Yang apologized.
They had all been worried since she'd been uncharacteristically quiet since the end of class. She told them all she'd talk about it later as the group broke up to take care of some homework before dinner.
"I was supposed to be helping you guys but I started messing around instead. I owe the rest of you an apology too. You lost class time because I needed to be taught something I should have already learned. I screwed up and I'm sorry."
Weiss looked at everyone and read their expressions in their momentary shock at this unexpected event. "I think it's safe to say that you're forgiven." She frowned a bit. "It was...disconcerting to see you get knocked around like that."
"Yeah, it didn't feel too good either," Yang responded, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "I don't even wanna know what it would have felt like if they had been trying. The beating I did take and the humiliation was bad enough." She shrugged. "I only have myself to blame."
"Are you sure you're okay Yang?" Ruby asked, worried. "Your Aura hasn't gotten rid of the bruises yet."
"I'm fine Rubes," she answered. "It doesn't really hurt anymore and I'll bet the bruises will be gone by morning."
"Do you know how he managed to go right through your Aura?" Weiss asked. The idea of someone being able to totally bypass one's Aura like Ichigo did was a scary thought.
"He said it was because of what kind of weapon his swords were," she answered. "Called them Zanpakuto and said it translated to 'soul cutter' and that they were the only ones that existed. He said Aura can't stop them and that even Pyrrha's Semblance didn't work on them." She looked up at the redhead. "I don't even know what your Semblance is."
Her team knew, and Ruby and Weiss knew and evidently they had kept her secret and hadn't told Yang or Blake judging by the curious look the hidden Faunus was giving her. "It's Polarity." She made a spoon lying next to Yang's plate rise up and spin around a couple of times before setting it back down. "I can control magnetism."
"And it didn't work on Ichigo's swords?" Jaune asked.
She shook her head. "I might as well have been trying to move a piece of wood. My Semblance should work on any material that can be affected by a magnetic field, but it didn't work on his swords. Either his Aura cancels out the effect or those blades are made of something I can't affect."
"Another mystery with our mysterious teachers," Nora lamented. "I still think they're aliens."
"I did find one thing out while I was talking to him," Yang said, her tone more sombre now. She looked to her partner. "Remember when you said you saw pain and loss in their eyes?"
"Of course," Blake answered.
"Well, he kind of acts like an older brother with us and I said he must have younger siblings," she explained. "He said he had two younger twin sisters. He said they were gone just like everyone else and Yoruichi was all he had left."
That took the air out of them all and left them all pondering what kind of shape they would be in if they lost nearly everyone close to them.
"I spoke to Yoruichi on Saturday after we had lunch," Pyrrha began. "Since we started the class Ichigo has kept his distance from me and seemed to be avoiding interacting with me." They all wore looks of astonishment. Obviously none of them had noticed. "I asked her if I had done anything to offend him and she told me that the problem was that I remind him of someone he was close to." She went on to tell them exactly why that was, telling them what Yoruichi had told her about reincarnation and the strong familiarity they felt within her soul.
A stunned silence reigned for several minutes as they all let that bomb bounce around inside their heads. Even though their stares were largely unfocused, Pyrrha still felt uncomfortable since they were all more or less looking in her direction.
"Um...s-she also said that they took a great deal of solace that their friend's soul had reincarnated into someone like me," she added quietly, her face red. It was embarrassing but as she'd had time to think about it now she felt a certain sense of pride and honour about it.
"I...I don't know what to say really," Weiss spoke. "One of the biggest topics of the mysteries of life and existence and it turns out to be real."
"Well, my minds blown," Yang admitted.
"Ren?" Nora asked in a concerned tone. Said boy had an odd look on his face.
"I've often thought and believed...hoped that perhaps reincarnation was a fact," he began shakily. "What this means is that even though they are no longer with us in the flesh, those we have cared about and have lost still exist in this world. They aren't lost or gone. They may not be aware of who they once were but they are still with us."
"Wow," Ruby murmured and it didn't take much for Yang to know what was going through her mind because she was thinking along the same lines. If she was indeed truly dead, the soul of their mother, of Summer Rose, was still in this world somewhere. For a moment that seemed to intensify the old feeling of loss and give her a feeling of peace at the same time. She wondered if Ruby was feeling that way too. The damp look in her silver eyes had her leaning towards yes. Under the table she took Ruby's hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Is it just me or does it somehow not feel all that strange that Yoruichi and Ichigo would know this?" Blake asked.
"I would like to say otherwise but I can't disagree with that," Weiss said. "Especially considering the discussions we've had about the two of them."
"I brought up the issue of the accounts from the history books with Yoruichi," Pyrrha said. "She was aware of it and thought it was certainly possible that the accounts were embellished but more than anything she seemed amused by it...kind of in that 'I know something you don't' kind of way maybe? She seemed more interested in what our theories were than anything else."
"So she didn't admit to being an alien?!" Nora chimed in.
"Um, no she didn't Nora," Pyrrha answered. "She didn't admit to being or not being anything. She pretty much turned the conversation back to me. She did chuckle at the assertions that they were either immortal or aliens though."
"Ha! But she didn't say no!" Nora declared, standing and slapping her hands down on the table. Ren placed a hand on her shoulder and reigned her in.
"You don't think they're up to something or looking to cause trouble do you?" Ruby asked. The tone of her voice made it clear that she didn't want to believe such a thing.
"I don't think so," Blake said. "I certainly haven't had the feeling that they're up to no good and they haven't done anything to suggest that, but I do believe that they are much more than what they seem to be and every new thing we learn about them and what they can do only makes that belief stronger."
"So how do we find out anything more?" Jaune asked. "We can't just go up to them and demand answers. What would we even ask that wouldn't sound like we were crazy?"
"I haven't spoken to Dr. Oobleck yet about the historical accounts," Weiss said. "It wouldn't hurt to see if he knows anything. At the very least we might be able to find out how reliable the accounts might be, if the people that authored them were known to embellish or outright make up stories."
"We could try digging around on the net and see if anything comes up," Blake offered. "Even if it's something small or it looks insignificant it could lead to something with enough digging."
"I suppose I could always go see my pal Junior again and ask him," Yang suggested. "I'm sure he'd be glad to see me."
At a certain night club on the seedy side of Vale someone felt an ominous shiver go down his spine and nearly dropped the glass he was polishing.
"The worst that can happen is that we don't find anything," Ren offered. "But, it will have to wait since it's time for our Aura practice."
"Lead on Professor!" Nora cheered as she jumped up on his back the moment he stood up.
"Just don't try to hurl lightning bolts this time," he cautioned her with a small grin. "Just concentrate on making the ball in your hand."
"Aww that's no fun Renny!" she protested.
"It exploded in your hand and you scared us all half to death!" Weiss reminded her.
"Not to mention that you zapped Jaune and his hair was standing on end," Yang chuckled.
"I said I was sorry!" she protested. The look in her eyes was alarmingly sincere.
"I was fine," Jaune said. "And it didn't hurt but just be careful okay?" He lightly ruffled the girl's hair.
"Okey dokey boss," she smiled.
Ruby and Yang lagged behind the group. There was obviously something on the scythe wielder's mind. "What's up Rubes?"
"Are you sure you're okay Yang?" the little reaper asked.
She stopped and placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I'm fine Ruby, really. What's really got you bugged?"
"I...I didn't like seeing you get knocked around like that," she said softly, looking at the floor. "I didn't think they'd do something like that."
Ah. She looked up to their new teachers and was feeling a little disillusioned. "I'm glad they did," she responded.
Ruby gave her a questioning look. "Why would you be glad that they beat you up?"
"Because it was the only way I was going to get it through my thick skull," she answered. "You know how many times Dad or Uncle Qrow warned me about how I fight and you've heard Professor Goodwitch say the same and you know that I never tried to change. I need to fight smarter. If that had been a fight out in the field against a real enemy I might be missing a few parts or I'd be dead. I'll take a few bruises and some wounded pride over that any day."
"It still wasn't very fun to watch," Ruby said.
"Oh believe me it wasn't a lot of fun being on the receiving end either," she admitted with a slight chuckle. "But sometimes we have to learn things the hard way, especially if we let our pride and ego get in the way." She pulled Ruby's hood down over her eyes. "They did the right thing and I even thanked Ichigo for the lesson so it's all good."
"Yang!" she protested as she tried to push her hood back. A moment later she found herself hoisted over her sister's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Ahh! Put me down!"
"Nope! Now let's go, we've been left behind." With that she gave her little sister a playful but solid slap across the butt and took off at a jog to catch up to the others.
"Gah! Yang!"
Ozpin's Office
The last thing that either Glynda or General Ironwood expected to see when the elevator doors opened to let them into the headmaster's office for an evening meeting, was for the twilight shrouded room to be filled with dozens of marble sized balls of light in every colour and shade imaginable lazily flying around the office.
"What in the world..." Ironwood muttered.
"Professor Ozpin?" Glynda said, questioningly.
Said Professor was sitting leaned back in his office chair not just watching the spectacle, but directing it with subtle movements of his hands. Groups of the balls chased each other around the room before arcing up towards the ceiling then coming back together in a single group that was six inches wide and a couple of feet long. It swooped down and flowed around the two visitors in a figure eight pattern before rising up to the ceiling again. They all came together into a single ball about twelve inches in diameter and swooped down into another figure eight.
On the first pass it turn an brilliant yellow/orange, like a miniature sun and they could feel the heat coming from it as it dodged around them three times. On the fourth pass it changed to an icy white and left a trail like a comet behind it as it raced around them. Flying back up it broke up into dozens of marble sized orbs again and circled them once more. On one pass they ruffled the tail end of Glynda's cape, causing her to level an unamused glare at her boss.
"My apologies Glynda," he said, his voice mirthful. "I'm a bit rusty at this."
Ironwood bit back a chuckle, correctly suspecting that it wasn't really an accident. "What is this Oz?" he asked.
Ozpin sat up and the orbs flew to him. He held up his right hand and they circled around it, breaking up into motes of light before disappearing entirely.
"As you are both aware I can wield magic and that power has been slowly declining," he began. "I used quite a bit when I empowered the Maidens and used a not insignificant amount to give the Branwen siblings the ability to turn into birds. Since then I have tried not to utilize any in order to slow its decline. However, over the last several days it seems that something within me has changed because I have felt that magic steadily increasing instead of waning."
"Do you know what is causing it or what changed?" Glynda asked.
"No," he answered. "I quite literally woke up one morning feeling better and more energized than I had for quite some time. At first I didn't think much of it, that perhaps I was just feeling particularly good that day but the feeling has continued to grow. I can feel both my Aura and my magic growing stronger."
"Do you think being near Yoruichi and Ichigo as they treat Amber has had any effect?" Ironwood asked. "They would seem to be the only addition or change to things around here."
"I considered that," Ozpin said. "But their energies are focused directly on Amber. Unless it is something I can't feel I don't believe there is any spill over effect but I will ask them just in case."
"Such a development can only be good news I would hope," Glynda said, cautiously optimistic.
"I feel no ill effects and as I said I feel better than I have in some time," Ozpin reiterated. "And I'll take every positive development we can get."
"I wish I had the same kind of news regarding my dealings with the Council," Ironwood said. "They seem to be inclined to drag their feet over the issue of undertaking another closer inspection of the CCT system. I'm not sure if they think such a thing is unnecessary or if they are worried that it is. I believe there are those who think its too close to the Vytal Festival to risk a disruption to the system of any duration should there be a problem."
"Sounds like they're more worried about their image as hosts to the festival than they are about the security of the system," Glynda offered. It was no secret that her opinion of the politicians on the Council was rather low.
"There have been other attempts to hack the CCT in the past but none ever came close to being successful," Ozpin said. "Unfortunately I think this has given the Council the mindset that the system can't be hacked and they are more inclined to believe the reports and observations of the bureaucrats who administer over it than anyone else."
"And since they have seen no issues with the system since the night of the attack they are not inclined to accept the possibility that there may be one that hasn't shown itself," Ironwood continued. "I'll keep trying and I will have my people who checked the system out after the attack go back over the logs they copied to see if they can find anything they may have missed at first glance. Unfortunately I also have not heard back on the investigation into people who may have been part of the CCT project but have since left for whatever reason."
"I suppose there isn't much else to be done then short of taking Ichigo's suggestion," Ozpin smirked. "But I suppose we would need to be in a dire situation to go that route and hope to get away with it."
"I just hope it doesn't come to that," Glynda said. "Because if the system is compromised the Council will have a far bigger issue on their hands than what a temporary shutdown right before the festival would ever cause."
A Certain Apartment in Vale
It was shortly after one in the morning as Ichigo stood on the apartment balcony gazing up at the broken moon. The state of the lunar satellite was quite a metaphor for the reality of his and Yoruichi's life. Broken, but still there, ever present. Emotion and memory was a double edged sword for them, offering comfort and laughter one moment, despair and sorrow the next. It was worse when you could feel souls the way they could, how that ability was like having another sense to add to the other five and one that could instantly evoke such strong reactions to the memories and emotions that were embedded within them.
Taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell...they could all evoke memories and their associated emotions with quick and brutal clarity, but the feel of a familiar soul could reach deep into your own soul and go beyond the experience of those other five senses. That's what had happened when he felt that little surge from Yang's soul. It had slammed into his like the tolling of a shrine bell and in an instant he had relived every precious memory he had with Karin and Yuzu. He experienced every sound, every physical feeling, every smell, and every emotion was magnified a hundredfold
He had scared Yoruichi half to death as he stood there frozen and shaking. Quite frankly he wasn't quite sure how he hadn't had a similar reaction the first time he felt their souls within the half sisters of Team RWBY. If anything he was a little baffled at how well he had been able to contain the reactions he did have. Maybe it was because that surge was so much more potent than what he had been feeling before. It kind of made sense to him since the feeling of Tatsuki and Orihime's souls within Pyrrha Nikos was quite a bit stronger than the feeling of his sister's souls within Yang and Ruby and he'd been having a more...distressed reaction to them.
He'd scared himself half to death too because when he began to come out of the episode he was badly disoriented, didn't know where he was, and began frantically looking about for his sisters. It had taken a heavy dose of Yoruichi's Reiatsu to shock him out of it and a lengthy period of time sitting on the arena floor and wrapped in her arms and holding onto her for dear life to contain the breakdown. It reminded him too much of some of their mutual breakdowns after they had finally awakened, spending untold amounts of time clinging to one another, shaking and crying, only this time there hadn't been a raging storm of Reiatsu swirling around them.
He felt Yoruichi's weight and her warmth press gently into his back and her arms encircled his waist. He covered her arms with his as he felt her head lay against his back, between his shoulders.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" he asked.
"Wasn't sleeping," she responded softly.
He sighed. "Sorry...I-I just...sorry."
"No," she said, tightening her hold on him. "There's nothing for you to be sorry for. I know what you feel just like you know what I feel and there's never a need to apologize for any of it. We're hurt, we're broken, and wounds reopen sometimes."
"It makes me feel helpless and I can't stand that," he whispered.
"I know," she whispered back. "Me too. But it's our reality, our price to pay for the past whether we're responsible for it or not."
For every argument they could make for being responsible for the downfall, they could come up with just as many for why they weren't. Once upon a time he was one to take all the responsibility onto himself and she would be the one arguing that it wasn't his burden to bear, but she had become broken enough that she was no different in that regard than he was now. It was like they were trapped in a limbo in between the two. They were the only two left from what once was so that left them to carry the burden.
"Will we ever stop this cycle of falling apart and putting ourselves back together?" he asked tiredly.
"I don't know," she answered. "I wish I did." She placed a gentle kiss on his shoulder. "But we're together so we can face it and we're not about to give up, it's not what we do."
"No, it's not is it?" he mused. "I guess we don't know how...which is good I guess since we probably would have given up a long time ago otherwise." He turned around in her embrace and wrapped his arms around her, quietly revelling in the feel of her body...her soul against his. "Keep moving forward right?"
"Keep moving forward," she echoed. "We can bend and we can break and fall down but we will always get back up again."
"Yeah, we will. Love you Yori," he breathed.
"Love you too Ichi."
They stayed in that embrace for a long while before eventually heading back to bed and finally to sleep.
AN: I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do for the next chapter, and my brain hurts from trying to figure out the future of this thing. How much do I break canon? What do I do as alternate methods to get a result if/when I wreck someone's plans from canon? Certain things do need to still happen but they may need to be accomplished in a different way.
Ugh!
The quote Ichigo told to Yang, 'the more you bleed in training, the less you bleed in combat', comes from Richard Marcinko, creator of Seal Team 6. (If you haven't read the Rogue Warrior series of books, you should, they're freaking great)
Thanks for reading. Hopefully you'll be so kind as to leave a review.