Beacon Academy: The Dormitories, Link's Room
The following day commences, though just barely as it is the crack of dawn on what is likely to be another bizarre day at Beacon Academy. With the 'attacks' by students participating in the tournament against other students, disqualifications, and public image tarnishings two days prior, even more transpired. Fast forward to the end of the following day, and Link found out devastating news about the woman who saved his life, the fall maiden, Amber. She is in the vault room at Beacon Academy, being kept on life support until a new maiden is chosen. Learning about her inevitable fate sent Link spiraling into a semi-drunken tirade and almost on a rampage at a bar in the City of Vale. That is until Weiss showed up, having followed him the entire night, concerned for his well being. The heiress saved her friend and led him back to the school to get some much needed rest in his bed, where she happened to join him. That seemed to conclude the night, until Link began angrily shaking in frustration due to the unfortunate events with his friends not believing him and Amber's condition. Weiss, to her credit, acted quickly and immediately comforted her friend with a gentle hug, she held Link closely, resting her chin on his shoulder, and unashamedly pressing her face against his as the two soon drifted off to sleep, sleeping comfortably with one another
"Hm?" Link groans as his eyes struggle to open whilst waking up before his alarm is even set to go off, and regardless of his fatigue, he is very aware of the events that transpired the night before. "Weiss?"
"I-I'm here." Weiss mumbles, although she is audibly more tired than her friend as she lets out a soft yawn. "I have not been awake this entire time, I am a light sleeper. The amount of times Ruby and Yang have woken me up with their snoring has almost driven me to pulling my own hair out."
"So…" Link's expression drops. "I woke you up? I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Weiss rolls her eyes. "It's okay, I do not imagine I can spend the entire morning here, I should head back at some point."
Despite saying all of that, Weiss does not move an inch and remains in the same position. Link on the other hand, fully opens his eyes and glances below, Weiss' arms remain around him, his hands are still grabbing her arms, and their faces are still touching. It may have been a spur of the moment decision the previous night, but neither he or Weiss break away or express any form of regret upon waking up in the same position
"Thanks for being here for me." Link gently sighs. "And this is nice, too."
"O-Oh." Weiss clenches her jaw and shakes her head, thankful that her forming blush cannot be seen./ "You don't need to say-!"
Suddenly, the heiress is cut off when she feels pressure on her forearm, courtesy of Link's hand giving her a firm squeeze
"I do though." Link lets up on the slight pressure, then promptly moves on to rubbing her forearm, "I'm going to sound all over the place, so hear me out. I am innocent BUT only I knew about my innocence based on what I saw and already had knowledge of... Considering the past. However, not a single one of you that did believe me had any reason to trust me or stand by my side, and yet I still received support. It honestly warms my heart a lot and the person who deserves the most praise is you Weiss." He chuckles. "I owe you a major apology for doubting your trust, after all you were the first person to believe me AFTER Ruby, Yang, Blake, Coco, Velvet, plus those who didn't even show up to speak with me. You were the reason Skylar was convinced of my innocence too. Hearing you stay in my dorm, give me a chance when the rest of your team walked away, then telling me word for word that you believed me, it played a huge part in convincing her I would never harm Jaune and Pyrrha."
"W-Wait! She heard me?" Weiss opens her left eye. "And since when are you two friends?"
"Oh, right." Link grins. "She was on the ledge outside and when all of you left she came in. I think I gained her respect after our match. I would not say we are close but she is my friend."
"Well that's good. She may have attacked me… But I can look past it, only if she's becoming a better person." Weiss nods. "And how does she even balance on that when it is so narrow?"
"I would say I do not know… But I have done that before." The one person team laughs. "If you remember that."
"Riiiiiiight you and Neptune." Weiss narrows her eyes. "You delinquents."
"Hey I thought you were nicer now?" Link snorts
"S-Shut up! I'm trying!" Weiss groans, before letting out a loud sigh. "It is crazy how much has happened ever since that day."
"Yes, indeed." He nods. "I mean it as well, when I want to thank YOU more than anyone. I know we have not always been on the best terms and listen carefully when I say this."
Link lets go of the girl's forearm, then boldly grabs Weiss' hand and holds it gently as he is about to continue with what he is saying
"To me, there is no more bad blood, awkwardness, hatred, or anything of the sort between us. Seeing where you stand and where you have been since the start of all this madness, I know you are someone I can trust and rely on. With that being said, I will repeat what I said last night and more, you will forever have my love and loyalty and I promise to have your back and protect you with my life, Weiss."
"I believe I am a strong person and will soon be an official Huntress, so hopefully I don't need you to protect me with your life but I will not dismiss what you said." Weiss smiles. "Thank you Link, your words mean a lot to me. Now it is my turn to be sentimental, I will always stand by your side to care about you and be there for you." She nods with complete confidence in her words. "I promise."
"Thank you for that." Link smiles as well, though it is not visible to the girl holding him. "Do you want to head back now? I certainly don't mind sleeping for a bit longer if you would like to stay. If not, I can walk you back to your dorm. There is no chance anybody should spot us together this early."
Weiss hesitates at Link's offer to continue sleeping, and momentarily pulls back as a result. The elegant young woman gets out of bed and prepares to leave, much to the disappointment of the one person team. But after some rapid consideration, instead of following through with her plan to leave, she does the unexpected now that everything is much calmer and clearer, unlike the night before where she was acting on pure instinct. Weiss returns to the bed, wraps her arms around Link once again and presses her face against his, easing back in the comfortable position was in not long ago
"I'm happy with your choice, Weiss. See you in a bit." Link smiles and closes his eyes, letting the warmth of the ice queen ironically take over the coldness he feels inside
"Goodnight Link." Weiss mumbles
The former enemies turned friends both smile as they grab each other's hands and softly squeeze. With their comfort at an all time high, it does not take long for the two friends to go right back to sleep as the sun continues to slowly rise.
...
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
SLAM!
"That was almost perfect sleep but I did it to myself." Link groans as the loud slam came from his hand hitting the scroll buzzing on his nightstand
"It really is as simple as disabling it." Weiss yawns quietly
"You're right." He chuckles. "What can I say? Call me lazy."
"No doubt, it's a miracle you are as good as you are physically and technically." She retorts in a very annoyed tone. "Sometimes I really do wonder-!"
"There's the old Weiss… Again"
"Shush." Weiss smiles. "I'm sorry, okay? Never again. I will be better."
"And I believe you." Link nods
Soon, they hesitantly break away from each other and both get up to stretch, with Link sitting up to pop his neck and shoulders, and Weiss completely stands to limber her entire body
"Weiss, you do not need to worry about how you come across all the time, we can all be mean or have our moments where we are being so critical to the point of coming off as harsh, we are human after all. Nobody is perfect and you should not hold yourself up to that standard, it will only set yourself up for disappointment."
"I know I know, it is just..." Weiss sighs. "You're right, I am eager to change who I am as soon as possible and I really wish it would happen overnight but patience is key. Speaking of soon, how long has it been, please don't tell me-!"
"Only an hour, I try to wake up early now." Link shows her the time on his scroll. "Regardless of the fact that I do not really do anything with that extra time. I find myself feeling much better getting as much sleep as I can than waking up late."
"I am not sure that is healthy but as long as you feel better with this change, then good. Regarding my team…" She pauses to carefully think. "Hmmm, I am sure they are still asleep anyway but at least around this time I could fool them into thinking I woke up early and went for a walk or grabbed a coffee."
"That's nice…" Link shrugs and sits back down, dropping his head. "I suppose."
"Hey." Weiss does her best to unwrinkle her dress by patting it down rapidly with her hands before walking around the bed to look at Link face to face. "What's wrong?"
"Sorry. It's just… I am very sad but also angry about how everything has gone for me." Link sighs and ponders the events that occurred over the last few days. "It isn't even about my past either, I would say it is more about all of this if not ALL of what is going on now. It's all very frustrating and I have a question or two for you Weiss."
"O-Okay… Umm, yeah absolutely." She slowly nods. "Ask me anything."
"Alright. Before you followed me last night, tell me about Yang." Link tilts his head upward in order to look at Weiss' eyes. "Not about her personally, because after how she has treated me when I tried to be there for her… I could care less about what she feels at this moment. Instead, tell me about how her actions were received by Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and everyone else. Did she get the same unfair treatment as I did?"
"L-link..." Weiss stammers, unsure of what to say. "I-I-! I shouldn't."
"Please Weiss?" Liat's expression shifts from stern to pleading. "I promise nothing will fall back on you. You are on my side and I trust you with all my heart."
"Well..." The conflicted heiress sighs loudly before nodding her head. "We talked to Jaune and his team, more like they heard myself, Ruby and Blake in the hallway talking and came out to express support for Yang. Their immediate words were asking if Yang was okay and offering support, Ruby took over from there and asked for Pyrrha's whereabouts to wish her luck in her upcoming match."
Weiss nervously finishes her sentence and then thinks fast in order to change the topic swiftly
"And she was chosen last night actually but something weird happened. I did not go to the colosseum but Ruby was there to witness it. She said Pyrrha's opponent was never selected so they postponed her match for today. It was almost like she was going to fight someone specific but then the randomizer went back to regular speed."
(That certainly isn't suspicious.) Link frowns, having an idea as to who the culprit or culprits are. (Emerald and her team went back to Mistral, they said.)
Link wonders momentarily before seeing right through Weiss' attempt, he looks angry initially at her attempts, but eases the tense look on his face, remembering the promise he made to not get upset with her
"Besides team JNPR, did you guys see anybody else yesterday?"
"I personally did not, Ruby saw Velvet but I did not get a lot from that in all honesty. Ruby was selective with her words." Weiss rubs her chin in confusion. "She said their conversation went well and Velvet also supports Yang, even comparing her situation to what happened to Coco. I have a feeling Ruby is up to something else and it has to do with what has been happening with these moments in the tournament, so I wish she told the team more."
"I see."
Suddenly, Link gets out of bed and begins to pace back and forth, traveling from his window to the door and vice versa. The one person team brews with anger as it builds up within him at a rapid pace
"I know what you are going to ask, Weiss." He mumbles. "And the answer is I feel very angry right now. When Coco commits a crucial error and loses a match in the tournament, it is attributed to stress induced hallucinations. Yang breaks Mercury's leg on camera and what was said about that? Did she mention anything Ironwood said?"
"Stress induced hallucinations..." Weiss shamefully admits as she uncomfortably fidgets with her sleeves. "I'm sorry."
"None of this is your fault, but it is still unbelievable." Link shakes his head furiously, "Stress induced hallucinations for attacking someone after their fight was over, when in reality Yang would never hurt someone the way she supposedly hurt Mercury. And what about me? I go through something very similar to what Yang had to deal with, where it looks like I almost killed Jaune and severely injured Pyrrha but in reality, Jaune needed a couple of days to rest and Pyrrha was up on her feet the same day. They got support and were offered a helping hand in case they needed anything, but what about me? Maybe it was because of who I 'hurt' . I know you guys like Emerald and Mercury but you aren't exactly close so I can understand the difference. Yang 'seriously injuring' Mercury doesn't compare to me 'seriously injuring' Pyrrha and Jaune."
Heaving out a loud sigh, Link does not do anything brash due to having company, but instead of continuing to pace back and forth in his room, he decides to walk over to his desk and take a seat
"I got absolutely nothing!" Link's voice cracks sharply, "I know Yang had to wait until the next day just like me to get a stern talking to from Ironwood and then face potential judgement from what her peers thought of her. But our paths go in completely opposite directions from there. I had support from one close friend in Pyrrha and support from a couple of distant friends in you, Skylar, and the rest of her team. I should give you more credit, I'm sorry Weiss. You are now a close friend, so two close friends believe in me, followed by some distant friends." He frowns. "How insulting. Four people who I befriended after they assaulted you and then I had a match with them… And yet they believed me before someone like Ruby, Blake, Velvet, and Jaune, the four people I first befriended when I started at Beacon."
Link drapes his left arm over the desk and taps his fingers against the wood intensely at first, feeling everything wanting to come out: pleas, sadness, anger, screams, and the list goes on
"Coco and Yang got support and plenty of love but I was nearly abandoned if it weren't for a few people. How messed up is that? I trained hand to hand with Ren for days and we did not even have to exchange a lot of words to get along, I guess all of that meant nothing. I thought Nora was a giant cloud of sweetness and fierceness whenever she needed to bring out either side but it seems like all I am getting from her now is resentment. The first person at Beacon I related to was Blake and I even helped with getting her to attend the dance before Yang even tried. If anyone should have been suspicious, it should have been here. She read all those lies about me from that awful book and did not believe any of them."
The blonde boy stands up and walks over to his bookshelf, then pulls out the coverless book and lets it drop to the ground
Thud!
"So Blake should know what it is like when people lie about me or when I am framed. Let's bring it back to Yang as well. Yes, I did not always see eye to eye with her but there was something about her that made me like her. I know you heard that I had a sibling but I do not remember them, so the competitiveness she always brought to the table gave sibling rivalry energy… So much for any of that thinking, because she was ready to punch my head in the other day. Jaune… I do not want to even get started but… I dedicated a lot of time towards him, whether it was in class or in training and he tried to attack me yesterday, did you know that?"
"Oh my-!" Weiss gasps. "N-No! Why would he do that?!"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Link shrugs. "I was having a good conversation with Pyrrha and then he and Nora attacked me. That is how much he does not want me around his teammate I suppose. Next time I see him, I should hurt him, but that is not who I am."
"You're right, that isn't you at all." She frowns whilst shaking her head
"Right. Anyway, Coco and the rest of her team always seemed to like me too, so for Coco to shed some fake tears and not believe in me was something else." He balls up his right hand. "Ruby and Velvet should be self explanatory, considering that at some point feelings were exchanged between the three of us. When things were uncertain, I patched things up with Ruby and I thought we were amazing friends. Meanwhile, Velvet and I were getting closer too but-!"
Link stops himself for saying anything more, sighs, and shakes his head in disappointment
"I should stop." The blonde slowly nods. "Forget all of that, Weiss. Even if I meant every word."
"L-link..."
Weiss follows him over to the desk and steps forward in an attempt to hug him again, but is stopped by an outstretched hand and an extended arm courtesy of Link
"It's okay Weiss." Link's eyes tear up and within seconds, tears slowly trail down his cheeks, "This is what I was talking about last night. When I said they do not deserve to be defended by you, and as sorry as I am for being rude to you, I do not regret shutting the conversation down. Everyone I listed does not deserve any kind of praise or defending, there's no excusing them. You were logical, smart, and even told me to my face that you believed me and stood by my side. You are the only one who deserves praise. The rest of them did not bother to come by and talk, or even call me on this thing."
Link reveals the scroll in his right hand, showing that he only has two messages: Pyrrha asking if he is okay, and an old message from Weiss he has already opened. The angry blonde boy sighs before letting the scroll drop onto the desk in frustration
"I do not like when you cry." Weiss does not react to the scroll drop as she looks at Link with pity and does her absolutely best not to cry herself. "I'm so sorry this is happening to you."
"Me neither, I hate when anyone cries but right now I am full of emotions. I do not know whether to cry, laugh, shout, attack, sleep, run, hide, beg, double down, I don't know anymore."
However, before Link can really let out his emotions despite not being aware of what he was about to say or how he was going to act, a loud knock startles him and Weiss
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"W-Whoa!" Weiss jumps
"Seriously, that was excessive." Link sighs
They look at each other and say nothing else, hoping it is simply a rude student harassing Link or an immature prankster. About twenty seconds pass and the loud knock does not occur again, but instead…
SLAM!
"Now is not the time." Link reaches for his sword and shield. "I'm not looking for a fight but-!"
"That won't be needed." Weiss steps in front of Link with her back to him. "I will answer the door okay?"
"Weiss?" He looks up at the back of her head
"Trust me, I will handle it." Weiss gives a nod of pure confidence. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes, of course I do. Say whatever you need to say to help yourself if you need to do that." Link chuckles
Weiss carefully walks to the door and slowly opens it to find... General Ironwood, two Atlas soldiers and two Atlesian Knights standing behind him
"Miss Schnee?!" Ironwood blinks in confusion, before clearing his throat and regaining composure. "What are you doing here?"
"I was checking on my friend sir. He is currently asleep right now but do not worry, I will let him know that you stopped by. Thank you and have a great day."
Weiss puts on a generic fake smile and tries to slowly close the door. Unfortunately for her, Ironwood conveniently places his right hand on the door and all of a 'sudden', Weiss can no longer make any more progress at shutting it
"H-Hey! What are you doing?!"
"I'm doing what's best for you, your peers, the entirety of Beacon and Vale." Ironwood speaks with his usual monotone, yet firm voice as he and the Atlas soldiers storm into Link's dorm
"You chose the wrong day to terrorize me." Link pays no attention to the soldiers, staring daggers into Ironwood as he stands up
"Whatever issue you have with me or my men can wait for another day." Ironwood ignores the threat. "Men, please escort Miss Schnee back to her dorm."
"W-What?" Weiss shakes her head and retreats further into her friend's dorm, standing firmly besides the blonde boy. "You cannot forbid me from being where I want to be."
"This is not about you, it is about him." Ironwood points a finger directly at Link whilst taking his eyes off him
"What about me? I'm not a threat to anybody right now." Link grunts
"That is for me to decide. Until further notice, you will be kept in his dorm for the entire day. Even if I were to brush aside what you did in the tournament, I was informed that one of Beacon's ships guarded by my soldiers was hijacked because of you." Ironwood frowns. "Young man, you are too much of a risk factor to let roam free."
"Okay, I can understand why you want to keep me here. Why is Weiss not allowed to stay? We were just talking."
"Because you will be forcefully kept here by reinforcements." Ironwood signals to his two soldiers and the Atlesian knights behind said soldiers
"I get it… A prisoner in my own room. I have one question." Link grips his sword tightly. "Is Yang Xiao Long getting the same treatment?"
"No." Ironwood rolls his eyes
(Of course not. Grrr!)
Link tightens his grip around both weapons with as much force as he can muster whilst not audibly responding
"Don't make this any harder on yourself kid." Ironwood rolls his eyes
"Well, you cannot make me leave." Weiss speaks up, as she crosses her arms and stomps her foot into the wooden floor. "I will call my father if I need to."
"There will be no need for that Miss Schnee." Ironwood turns his head to look at his human soldiers. "Get her out of here."
"If any of you hurt her..." Link fights with himself internally to not let loose. "...I will hurt you."
"Nobody is going to hurt Weiss. She is Atlas royalty after all, the more you fight the worse it will look on you." Ironwood smirks, knowing the boy standing across from him is emotional. "Surely you don't want your friend caught in the crossfire if something were to happen?"
The last words of Ironwood's sentence directly strike Link's heart as he remembers the last time one of his friends was caught in a crossfire, it was Ruby at the hands of the General himself
"Be quiet already and safely get her out of here, okay?"
"Finally you are reasonable." Ironwood nods towards his soldiers
"You can't do this!" Weiss stomps the floor, refusing to budge. "Help me Link."
"Weiss." Link calls out to her. "Look at me."
Weiss listens instantaneously but her eyes are full of worry as the two soldiers approach them
"It will be okay, I will be okay. How about we meet up tomorrow morning or later tonight when I inevitably slip past these soldiers and toasters?"
"Are you sure?" Weiss' does not break eye contact with Link, her eyes now shake with worry and sadness
"Yes, I am sure. Go be with your team, make sure to watch tonight's matches, and have a good time. Whether you decide to attend live or stay at Beacon, both should be fun." Link smiles. "And thank you once again for last night, you really have changed a lot."
The one person team winks at Weiss as she allows herself at last to be escorted out. Link waves at his worried friend and gives her an assuring nod. The former smiles back before hesitantly leaving, but it does not stop her from waving and mouthing out her goodbyes. As soon as Weiss exists his room, Link's smile fades
"I do not want to hear from you anymore, General." Link shakes his head at Ironwood. "I get it, I have to stay in my dorm all day, I cannot leave my dorm or attempt to escape. I will just sit in my room all day until I'm no longer deemed a threat."
"Yes, I am glad you are more logical than brash… Today." Ironwood glances at Link's desk. "One more thing now I notice these. I am going to need your weapons too, you are a danger so there is no need for you to-!"
"Out of the question." Link weakly swings his sword towards Ironwood's left hand
"You don't have a choice!" The Atlas general grunts and retracts his hand
"I absolutely do. You may or may not have manipulated me into agreeing to let you take Weiss away from me." Link scoffs. "But you will not take my weapons."
"Very well then." Ironwood turns his back on Link and begins to walk away, "I don't have any more time to waste here. However, you will be warned now. If you try anything rebellious or dangerous, you will be dealt with, understood?"
"I understand, now leave my room at once… Please."
Link shrugs off Ironwood's threat and watches the General and two Knights carefully as they leave. Once they all walk out of his door, the blonde swordsman grabs his scroll and instantly gets back in bed, unsure of what to do next
(Now I wish I fought to keep Weiss here if I am going to be stuck in my room all day. At least then I would have had company.) Link smiles, (Really amazing company too, who would have thought Weiss of all people would have me smiling? What a pleasant surprise. I wonder if it is too late? Her team is already out of the tournament as well, she only has Pyrrha to root for today.) He sighs. (But I suppose it is okay. After all, she does not deserve to be brought into all of this when the problem between the Atlas military and me should stay that way. May as well include most of Vale too.) The blonde boy shrugs. (I cannot believe it. All I did was give and give and give, I opened up about myself when I never thought I would tell anybody about my past... More specifically about Ray, her family and her village. What did I do that for? I didn't even get a chance. If I at least got to speak and pour my heart out once again, that would have made all the difference. At least I think so anyway, for the people who I considered to be close friends. The past few days have really made me wonder if I am terrible at picking friends.)
Hatred and resentment begins to consume Link again, outweighing and drowning out the sadness and concern. He opens his scroll and stares at the screen, waiting for any message to come in from anyone, as his last call was from Ruby shortly before his date with Velvet and last message is from Pyrrha
(Staring at my scroll all day will not make the messages or calls come in faster, they either will or will not happen.) Link sighs before tossing the scroll off to the side before his mind returns to earlier thoughts, (I'm still not sure which one is the more hurtful part. It is the fact that they did not even give me the benefit of the doubt or a chance to speak and hear me out, that is definitely up there for one of the worst reasons.) He narrows his eyes. (And I have a feeling that if the roles were reversed and the same thing happened to Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Coco, Ren, or anybody else for that matter… I would have given them a chance, multiple chances even.)
Letting out yet another sigh of annoyance, Link shuts his eyes and clenches his jaw whilst his emotions fester and he begins to speak out loud
"I know as much as I do about Cinder, Emerald and Mercury from my past and while I am not exactly sure on what they will do next, I know enough to see they are being devious and are up to something bad. Then again, does it matter? Almost all of my 'friends' saw Emerald and Mercury as 'poor kids' who are traumatized by the events that have unfolded in the tournament. And I was deemed the bad person for daring to accuse them of anything. I mean look at me… I'm talking to myself like a crazy person and just keep repeating the same points over and over again."
Deciding to speak no more, the strong emotions carry on as if a powerful ocean were in his head, until suddenly all he can hear is white noise. Link opts to keep his eyes shut whilst he channels the hatred and anger building up once more. He thinks about all the possible words and emotions he wants to say to every person who shunned or ignored him. However, as it all intensifies in his head to a boiling point, he obliviously misses all the signs of him dozing off. Eventually, the one person team does fall into a deep sleep with resentment and vitriol being the main emotions at the top of his head
Beacon Academy, The Fairgrounds
Later on in the day, as tournament matches take place at the Amity Colosseum, Weiss and Blake walk side by side with coffees in their hands at the nearby fairgrounds, the original former enemies initially walk in silence, gazing and smiling at the booths and stands available; though the silence does not last, and eventually one of the girl's decides to open their mouth and start a conversation
"I don't know about you, but I am so glad to be taking a break from participating in fights and watching them." Weiss smiles as she takes a sip of her hot beverage. "Not that we're in relaxation mode but, it's a start."
"Agreed, I'm ready for a break or returning to how things used to be, when classes took more priority. Everything has been so bizarre lately and I wish I could describe it better. I feel sick and uneasy, almost like I can feel something bad coming." Blake sighs. "It's not a nice feeling to experience, that's for sure."
"Something bad? Bad things have been happening this entire week." The heiress rolls her eyes. "At this point I expect it to happen every day until the Vytal festival ends."
"I meant even worse than what has happened already. I hope tonight is just okay at worst." Blake looks towards the colosseum and sighs
"Hopefully you're wrong, but In all honesty I don't blame you for feeling that way. I seriously don't want to see another friend get hurt or be involved in controversy."
Weiss hurriedly drinks more of her coffee as she whispers the last part, but nonetheless it still draws a reaction from Blake
"Speaking of friends." The cat faunus turns to her. "We're friends right?"
"Of course! Does that even need to be questioned? Besides forcefully being thrown in a team with you, I feel like I've gotten to know everyone a lot better this semester and especially over the past few months." Weiss finishes her coffee and licks her lips awkwardly. "That last part is for you, Link. I finally got to know you more than anyone."
"Then can you tell me where you were last night?" Blake now decides to make eye contact with her to get a better read on her teammate. "We were waiting for you to get back after you left without saying why. Then Yang and Ruby fell asleep, I worried about you so I found myself falling in and out of sleep because I could not sleep properly without knowing if you were okay or not."
"I'm sorry Blake." Weiss drops her head
"Don't worry about it, it's okay. Just tell me where you were so I know you were safe. You didn't call to tell us you were staying out longer too, so my guess is you were very busy."
"Okayyy… Well you're right, I was out all night and busy too." Weiss nervously mumbles before thinking to herself. "Did she really say 'you didn't call'... That's ironic since she never called Link."
"Considering you don't want to tell me." Blake narrows her eyes. "I'm guessing this has to do with Link. Is that right?"
"H-How did you-!"
"Because Weiss… Out of the four of us, the person most likely to speak their mind without any fear or filter is either you or Yang. Unfortunately, Yang is not in a position to really speak her mind and understandably so. Your hesitation when you normally have no filter says it all. Tell me what happened?" Blake rubs her left arm with her right hand, showing nervousness as she asks her question. "H-How is he?"
"You could ask him yourself, you know?" Weiss frowns. "That's what he would really want right now. To hear from you, Ruby, Velvet, Jaune, and everyone else."
"Can I though?" The cat faunus blinks in perplexion. "After what he did it is probably best to-!"
"No!" Weiss stomps her foot in the grass. "It took you about a minute of doubting Yang and speaking of the person you used to know before you ultimately believed her. That is how fast your mind changed. You know what? I'm actually disappointed to be associated with team RWBY at the moment."
"How can you say that?!" Blake gasps
"Because of how we-! No, because of how you treated a close friend. The same friend who was much closer to you, Yang, and Ruby than he ever was to me." Weiss scoffs. "He and I were always butting heads or slightly getting along for a short moment, and yet I believe him more than his closer friends."
"ALRIGHT!" She blurts in frustration "I get it. Maybe you're right and I should have been more fair. It's just difficult to do that when we know nothing about Mercury's condition and his entire team went back to Mistral with him already. Jaune and Pyrrha needed medical attention and recovery time."
"I understand what you're saying, when you see what is happening from the outside looking in, it doesn't look good for him. And to answer your question, yes we are friends, so I will tell you where I was. Last night I followed Link into the city." Weiss exhales softly as she continues with her summary of everything that happened. "He was not in a good headspace at all, and found himself in a bar on the brink of fighting the establishment's security, who looked like trained hitmen. But I was there to stop him before any fighting occurred."
"Was he…" Blake tilts her head in confusion. "...You know?"
"Drunk? Yes." Weiss sadly shakes her head, "But he didn't hurt anybody, I led him out of here, back to Beacon, and to his dorm. Then I took all the time I needed trying to make him feel better. As for how he is? Link is hurting really bad and I bet you could have guessed that, Blake. He trusted us all and felt betrayed by us for not giving him a chance, all while believing Yang."
The usually brash member of team RWBY now sighs angrily, composes herself once more, but her frown remains
"And I consider it a major problem when you can practically count the number of people who believed him on one hand!" Weiss snaps. "Link is really angry at all of you but I believe if we all get together as a big group again, this can be resolved in the next couple of days." She nods. "The last thing I want is for things to get worse with all of my friends."
"You really care about him, it's almost ironic but also very heartwarming." Blake lips slightly curve into a tiny smile. "I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, I spent the night at Link's dorm. I am sure you can put two and two together and figure it out on your own but I may as well say it myself. I did sleep in the same bed as him but no it was not as awkward as I thought it was going to be."
Weiss turns away, flashing a big smile as she looks up into the sky
"...In fact, I'm glad I was there."
"That's good, I am glad to hear that you are making sure he is okay. For what it's worth, I hope things get better soon as well." Blake's smile grows wider. "Sun, Yang, Ruby, you, Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Neptune, Scarlet, Sage, Coco, Velvet, Fox, Yatsuhashi, Penny and Link are all special to me. I have had a lot of bad luck in my past with forming and keeping special connections, so I don't want anything to permanently get in between us."
Weiss turns her head back at Blake, then smiles and gently nods as she and her faunus teammate continue walking around the fairgrounds, intending to stay there for the day as the tournament carries on
Back at Beacon Academy: The Dormitories, Link's Dorm
Many hours later, with nothing to do apart from getting on his scroll, nobody to talk to after Weiss was removed from his room, and no freedom after restrictions were set on him by General Ironwood, the one person team drifted off to sleep for a long time
"What the-!" He sits up and looks around frantically, struggling to open his eyes and with it being nighttime now, it does not help his sight. "O-Oh, how long have I been asleep? When did I fall asleep as well?"
Link tosses the covers off to the side in one rapid motion, then slides over to sit at the edge of his bed, quickly putting on his boots before standing up to briefly stretch. However, he only gets to address his back and neck before loud roars and screeches catch his attention
(What was that?) The blonde boy looks through his window and spots Grimm running around the courtyard, specifically Beowolves, Ursa, and Nevermores but when squinting his eyes for a better look from afar, he sees Deathstalkers, Creeps and Griffons a fair distance away. (G-Grimm?! How are they get all the way over here?)
Link grabs his sword and shield before anything else, straps both weapons to his back, and then carefully walks back to his bed to grab the scroll he avoided for most of the day. He opens the scroll and clicks on the live feed for the tournament, but what he sees next is a horrific sight. The live shot is Pyrrha standing across an immobile Penny, who is in four pieces: her legs, torso with an arm, her other arm on its own, and lastly is none other than her head. But that was not even the worst part, Cinder's voice being transmitted throughout the arena and to the entire broadcast is truly the worst of it all
"...And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither!"
"Grrrr." Link balls up his fists and shakes his head at Penny's senseless death. (So that's why Pyrrha never got her opponent yesterday. It was not a malfunction but part of a plan. Yet another setup, this exact one to match polarity versus metal, knowing the result was going to be a disaster.)
Determined to spring into action in any way he can, Link runs to the door and slams on it! To catch the soldier's attention
"Hey, let me out of here in peace! We have Grimm at the school!"
"Grimm? What are you talking about, kid? Grimm could never get close to an academy." One of the soldiers scoffs
"Yeah! Your games won't work on us, stay in there until General Ironwood gets back and clears you for the day."
CRASH!
The loud sound of shattering glass comes from Link's window as a ginormous Ursa smashes through and roars loudly, seeking havoc and destruction
"You chose the wrong dorm to attack." Link mumbles as he plants his feet, digging both heels into the wooden floor, and stares down the Ursa
Slam! Slam! Slam!
"What are you doing in there?!" A soldier pounds on the door in retaliation to the noise
"Just because we're supposed to keep you here doesn't mean you should be so dramatic about it." The second soldier shrugs
The voices of both men very clearly come through, but they are easily overpowered by Cinder's as she gives her closing statement
"So, I ask you now, when the first shots are fired... Who do you think you can trust?"
"It's not dramatics!" Link shouts as he sprints towards the Ursa, who also sprints at him
The fight however, does not last very long as Link leans forward, shield up, and blocks a clobbering straight forward claw attack from the Ursa! When its attack fails, Link slips to the left, jumps, and slices through its neck with one clean, and slow but very powerful swing of his sword
"Hey what's going on-!" One of the soldiers opens the door and gasps in shock when catching wind of the situation, a student retreating, and a dissolving Grimm. "Oh my goodness, you weren't lying!"
"INCOMING!" The other soldier standing guard shouts as a Beowolf sprints down the hall, aiming for them!
The Atlesian Knights in front of the human soldiers have enough time as they lock onto the Beowolf and shoot it with their rifles, managing to take it down just as the Beowolf was ready to decapitate the advanced Atlas military weapons
"That was close." Link sighs as the human soldiers let him step out of his dorm without any arguing or physical struggle
Unfortunately for the soldiers and lone student, they are far from being in the clear, as something instantaneously changes. Suddenly the Atlesian knights turn and aim their guns at the three of them, the color on the Knights is now red, an uncharacteristic feature
"HEY SAME TEAM!"
"PLEASE DON'T SHOOT!"
(The toasters are not going to listen! Here I go!)
Link charges at the Atlesian Knights himself, the 'sights' of the powerful and automatic robots change, indicating that they are rogue. The Knight's focus shifts toward Link and they only point their guns at him. Luckily for the one person team, his shield is more than ready to block every incoming bullet whilst charging forward! After blocking all the incoming gunfire, Link slides in between the robots and attacks with a rapid spinning slash. The blonde moves so fast, the human soldiers watch him in awe
"Whoa... This kid is something else."
"Yeah no kidding. To display no fear and attack when our Knight's are so dangerous, he's brave."
(Toasters are down.) Link chuckles as he stops spinning, with all that is around him now being scraps of metal. He whips his head to look behind him and directly at the human soldiers. "Why did your own weapons almost attack us?"
"We just found out Grimm are actually roaming around in the academy. We know as much as you."
"DAMN!" One of the soldier's growls. "I cannot get in contact with General Ironwood."
"So, what do we do now?" Link looks around, expecting more Grimm to show themselves. (At least they aren't enforcing Ironwood's lockdown rule on me.)
"We will fight and fend off this evil. You are a student so if you decide to abandon ship and save yourself nobody will blame you." The soldier firmly nods. "For a student, you are very strong. Whatever decision you make is worthy of respect."
Link nods, grips the handle of both his weapons, then flashes a confident grin, thu letting the soldiers know he is ready to fight as well
"So you're gonna fight?" The same soldier nods. "Then I wish you luck. Truthfully, I'm glad to know we'll have your help, especially if you can destroy our Knights that easily."
"And one more thing, kid."
"Yes?" Link walks back to his dorm for the rest of his gear, but stops to face both soldiers
"...Thanks." The other soldier begrudgingly says as he and his appreciative partner sprint off
(Just this one time, no problem.) Link quietly chuckles before entering his room
Five minutes pass, with Link patiently waiting for Grimm to burst through his door or window, but when there are no more signs of the soulless monster, the one person team shuts his door
(Very well then.) Link makes quick work when putting the rest of his gear on, then he makes the decision to open his closet and pull out a steel mask, the same one from his days as a member of the Black Hawks mercenary group. (By now there is no mystery over who is behind this mask if I were to be seen. Then again, I know what will happen if I go out there and fight, there is no avoiding my 'friends'. The least I can do is make sure they do not see my face.)
Link opens the door to his room and slowly exits. Next, he takes one more look at the inside of his dorm, for some reason a tight knot form in his stomach and slightly aches
(Why does this feel like goodbye?) He sighs but knows what has to be done. (No matter, I have to protect Beacon. Then it won't feel like I am saying goodbye.)
The blonde swordsman takes off and immediately sets his sights on heading to the courtyard and fighting Grimm head on!
Beacon Academy: The School Entrance
Approximately ten minutes later, Link is near the courtyard but directly in front of the entrance of the academy, and is already in the fight with creatures of Grimm!
Slash!
Chop!
(Is this all you monsters have to offer?!) Link frowns as he is surrounded with multiple dead Beowolves, two Creeps, a couple of Ursa and a small Nevermore too, "Hrah!" He purposely shouts and kills the Grimm as brutally as he can with vicious and loud sword slashes, in an attempt to lure more towards him and away from others who are struggling or trying to avoid fighting
Disposing of even more Grimm, Link runs inside Beacon and quickly makes his way to the main area of the courtyard. Along the way, he takes a good look at the Academy he has attended for almost a year, but seeing windows and walls of the building get destroyed, alongside injured students, dead students, Grimm roaming around makes him sick. With everything slowly overwhelming him, the one person team turns away from the rough scene, until he makes it to his destination. Link's sprinting comes to a complete halt, and he even skids against the concrete before coming to a full stop… Not because of Grimm or more rogue Atlesian Knight, but rather his friends. The same friends he knew there was no avoiding. Impressively enough, it is Velvet doing the heavy lifting against two Atlesian Paladins going rogue and attacking the innocent defending Beacon as opposed to destroying Grimm, just as the Atlesian knights did earlier
"Hmph!" Velvet intensely lets out a grunt as she leaps off an Atlesian Paladin and slices apart its legs with Penny's weapons 'Floating Array'
She lets out a deep breath and knows what she wants to do next as Penny's weapons vanish. That is to finish off the Paladin with the last set of weapons, copied with pictures being taken from her weapon 'Anesidora'. These weapons are Link's sword and shield, they have the same shape, size, length, and weight to them, despite being holograms
(So that's what her camera was for all this time.) Link slowly nods, almost satisfied as he carefully watches Velvet mimic his exact moments from the moment she opened her eyes after summoning his weapons. In an instant, she is right in front of the Paladin and wastes no time in relentlessly slashing it to bits with a variety of slashes: Two handed, one handed, spinning, vertical strikes, diagonal strikes, and jabs! Moving in slick fashion around the Paladin as she lands everything and all with precise power! Speed so impressive that it could easily go toe to toe with Link's version. The final blow completely cuts the Atlesian Paladin in half, sending crumpled and destroyed metal crashing to the floor. Velvet lands perfectly on both feet as the weapons from her friend's weapons soon vanish
"AWESOME!" Coco cheers, despite some discomfort over Velvet using the final set of weapons
Unfortunately, Velvet has no time to reflect on what she just accomplished, as the other Paladin she was fighting earlier runs at her full speed and sucker punches Velvet, sending her crashing hard against the cold concrete
"Velvet!" Coco shouts, angrily aims her minigun at the Atlesian Paladin, and unloads as much gunfire as she can
Coco's bullets, despite how fast and powerful they usually are, seem to bounce off the Paladin as it takes no damage. Neptune accompanied by Reese and Nadir from team ABRN join Coco's effort and shoot at the Paladin
"Grrrr!" Weiss from a short distance grits her teeth together and despite being fatigued, she must do something to help… Something she has kept hidden from everybody
Weiss immediately rushes past the four of them by sprinting in a large circle, instinctively summoning a glyph, but the size of the glyph confuses others around the heiress, because this one was about three times the size as the ones she usually summons. Weiss recklessly gets in between Velvet and the Paladin with no fear of the Atlas military weapon being seconds away from striking. She raises her rapier 'Myrtenaster' defensively, closes her eyes and hopes for the best
CLASH!
A loud thud is heard, the ground rumbles like an earthquake, then Weiss looks up and to her relief, summons the arm and sword of a familiar foe she has fought before, which blocks the Paladin's attack with ease. Then, within two to three seconds, it is the arm of said familiar foe that raises its sword and chops the Atlesian Paladin in half. Weiss takes a brief look at part of her amazing summoning before being surprised by a camera flash, courtesy of a smiling Velvet
"S-Sorry, can't resist! But thank you Weiss, that was really incredible."
However, before Weiss can respond, everyone's high hopes and spirits are almost immediately crushed when a third Paladin is seen coming around the corner and begins to charge at them
"COME ON!" Sun throws up his arms in defeat. "You have got to be kidding me!"
The Atlesian Paladin charges towards the students protecting Beacon at full speed! When suddenly, a smoke bomb lands right in front of it and explodes within a millisecond
BOOM!
The smoke lasts momentarily but long enough to interrupt and throw the Paladin off course. When the white smoke dissipates, Link stands right in front of the Atlesian Paladin, shield on his back, sword in his right hand, and the back of his left hand conveniently pointed at the killer robot too. A tiny beam of light shoots out of the back of his hand and suddenly two large triforces restrict the Paladin, but not trap it, giving Link a short amount of time to attack. Knowing this, instead of the 'triforce slash' that Velvet just mimicked, Link charges at the Paladin, digs both heels into the concrete, springs high in the air, and swiftly comes down crashing hard on the paladin's head, holding his sword with both hands
"Rahhhhhhhhhhh!"
Link mimics the battle cry of an old friend and with his sword perched over his head, performs what looks to be the strongest swing he has ever executed with only his sheer raw strength. Fortunately, there is no concern and the vertical slash is more than enough to completely shred through the Paladin, cutting it momentarily stationary
"W-Whoa!" Neon from FNKI gasps. "Where has he been this entire time? We could've used his help a long time ago if he's just taking out some of our most powerful robots with one shot."
"I cannot believe it." Flynt shakes his head, his glasses are broken from the fighting but his widened eyes say it all. "He just made all our efforts with the other two paladin's look pointless."
"L-Link." Weiss struggles to catch her breath but seeing that her friend has joined the fight and is unharmed makes her smile. "You no good show off."
(Here goes nothing.) Link frowns, slots his sword back in its sheath and turns to face his friends
The blonde boy receives gasps as the mask was certainly not expected. Nevertheless, he walks towards them all but eyes fixate only on Weiss, who is very exhausted and needs her rapier to help her stand upright
"Link! Thank goodness!" Velvet smiles and sprints towards him
Sadly for her, the same energy is not reciprocated by Link, who stops himself about ten feet away. Regardless of his mask covering most of his face, the intense frown is visible to the rabbit faunus. This only makes his blue eyes pop out more than ever as the intensity an anger slowly seethes out of him
"No." Link shakes his head. "D-Don't… come any closer."
"L-link?" Velvet's eyes welled up with tears, not by his words but by his tone, the rabbit faunus can sense the coldness and negatively. "W-What's wrong?"
"Why no? You were flawless." Ren blinks in confusion. "You did an excellent job."
"Yeah what gives?" Sun asks
"..." Link says nothing as his slight frown transitions into a much nastier and angrier expression
The more Link hears their voices and how casual they sound, considering how little they interacted with him before… The angrier he gets. His mind spirals when thinking about how they are talking to him so easily now, despite not uttering a single word, putting in a call or typing a message in days
"We're speakinnnng to youuuu! Or did that attack affect your hearing?" Nora giggles
"S-Stop... not right now." Weiss mumbles weakly but to her dismay, nobody hears her
"You did it man! Smile!" Neptune says cheerfully. "Now we can get back to slapping around all the Grimm in the school."
"Hey come on, lighten up kid. You did great." Coco gently speaks with a weak smile
"I said… NO!" Link, without any hesitation, draws his sword and shield on his friends and stares everyone down
The pent up anger is dying to burst out of the one person team of Beacon, who feels more alone than ever before. When glancing at his friends, Link sees red, especially when thinking about everything that has happened to him and what his friends did or better yet… Did not do to make things better. Meanwhile those standing across from him have two reactions when he draws his weapons: pure shock and complete fear
(Heyo! back again with another update :) I tried getting this one out as soon as possible and I'm having a lot of fun writing these so I hope you all enjoy it and I hope to be back soon with another chapter.)