Chapter Text
"So it appears that the matter involving Miss Belladonna is settled."
Sapphire could not recall the last time he had seen Ozpin look so smug. It made him want to punch something.
"Yes, sir," he replied curtly; he used the tone of a student instead of a soldier's. "I won't be going for her head if that's why you wanted to know."
Ozpin nodded. He glanced towards his left, where Glynda Goodwitch stood with her arms folded across her chest. She scowled.
"Are you still hung up on getting revenge?" he asked.
"I can't say for sure about Taurus," Sapphire admitted. "But as for Mercury… I can't say I still want to kill him."
Hesitation. Uncertainty. The two elements that had never once been a part of his life now lurked behind his words and tone. Ozpin, however, did not appear to notice.
"I see," he replied, seemingly satisfied with that answer for now. "You may leave."
"Why didn't you ask him about the surgery?" Glynda asked as the door closed behind him.
"The time isn't right yet," Ozpin answered. "He won't agree."
"Another one of your 'trust the gut instinct' moments?" Glynda enquired, sighing as she massaged her aching temple.
"Just simple observation, Glynda," Ozpin replied. "I'm sure you noticed as well."
Glynda merely looked away, refusing to reply and admit that he was right.
-
Sapphire walked down the empty corridor slowly, his eyes directed at the floor.
He did not want to kill Mercury. The implications of those words hung stagnant in his head, haunting him persistently. Had it been because of the battle with Blake? Or had he simply become soft?
He constantly reminded himself that he was a mercenary. His hands were smeared with blood. His soul had sunken into sins that could not be forgiven with the lives he had robbed. He had sworn to kill Mercury, but now he could not even muster enough resolve to perform the heinous acts which he should have gotten used to. He had to, but he did not want to.
And yet, he could not bring himself to mind that much somehow.
You're not a monster.
He clenched his fists. Holding on tightly to those words, the former mercenary kept walking.
-
He stood outside the room, eavesdropping on the conversation beyond the door.
"But why can't Sapphire join?" Ruby was saying.
"Because he's not supposed to fight," Blake replied. "If we have to fight our way out, he may worsen his condition."
"Agreed," Weiss spoke up. "He'll only hinder the operation."
"But y'know," Yang said, her voice clearly suggesting that she was going to side with her little sister. "Sneaking into a White Fang gathering will be dangerous; it'd be better to have more people, right?"
"Yeah, that's right!" Ruby exclaimed. He wondered if they knew he was outside and were waiting for him to come in. "He's part of the team now, so we shouldn't be keeping this a secret from him!"
"I agree wholeheartedly," Sapphire said, finally stepping into the room, causing the four girls to turn and stare at him while seating around the small folding table in the center of the room. "Rose can't keep secrets after all."
"Were you eavesdropping?!" Weiss asked indignantly. "You have no manners!"
"I do," Sapphire protested. "I just choose to ignore them sometimes. Or most times. Whatever. What's this sneaking into the White Fang thing about?"
Weiss and Blake sighed.
"We've actually been at it for a while before you transferred," Yang explained. "We're currently tracking Roman Torchwick's movements and trying to stop whatever he's doing."
"Oh, him," Sapphire said. "He's hired us on a couple of occasions before."
As though making up for its recent absence, the stop-and-stare-at-Sapphire-while-speechless moment returned. Picking up on the disbelief in their eyes, Sapphire cleared his throat.
"That was a long time ago," he justified. "I was a merc and we mobilized when paid. It was usually stealing Dust or creating diversions, that's all."
"Do you know how to find him?" Blake asked hopefully.
"No," Sapphire replied heavily. "The higher ups usually keep the clients' information quiet. I only knew that Torchwick hired us when I spied on the transaction after the mission."
"So that's a dead end," Ruby groaned, lying down on the carpet. "That stinks…"
"Back to your conversation earlier," Sapphire said. "What gathering were you planning to infiltrate?"
"We managed to discover that there's an address to Faunus who were interested in joining the White Fang," Blake replied. "We were thinking of sneaking into it and figure out what they planned to do from there. It's only three days away, so-"
"Wait, you guys have been doing this way before I came here?" Sapphire cut across her, finally catching on. "By yourselves?"
"Yeah," all four members of Team RWBY said at the same time.
"Don't say it," Blake said immediately before Sapphire even opened his mouth again. "We know what we're doing."
"Fine," Sapphire agreed begrudgingly. "But I want in."
"Well, it's not as if we have much of a choice, right?" Weiss asked exasperatedly. "You'd tag along even if we said no, right?"
"Spot-on, snowflake," Sapphire praised, receiving a glare from her. "Belladonna, you-"
"Blake."
"What?" Sapphire asked, flummoxed.
"Call me 'Blake'," Blake replied. "It's easier that way. Besides, everyone calls me that."
"Oh! Oh!" Ruby, suddenly full of energy, sat upright. "Call me Ruby! My surname's good too, but I like it when people call me by my name!"
"You can't go wrong with 'Yang' for me!" Yang chipped in cheerfully, winking playfully with a wide grin on her face.
"I suppose you can call me Weiss," Weiss said, somewhat reluctantly. "I get reminded of my background without people calling me by my surname, thank you very much."
Winter's sister, indeed, Sapphire mused in his head.
"In any case," he went on. "You said that there're three days left, right?"
"Yeah," Blake nodded. "We were thinking of how we could all go in without attracting too much attention; I'm fine so long as Torchwick doesn't see me, but everyone else here is a human."
"Leave that to me," Sapphire said. "I'll make some calls and have the stuff ready by tomorrow. It'll allow us to pass off as Faunus for a simple gathering. Give me a day and I'll fill you guys in."
The four girls looked at each other, considering his proposal. Ruby did not seem to mind, and Yang actually seemed quite excited about the whole idea.
"Alright," Blake agreed. "Show us what you can do then."
"Great!" Yang exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Now that that's settled, let's enjoy the rest of the weekend!"
When he saw her reach for her pillow, Sapphire immediately dived out of the room.
-
"A meeting?"
Mercury did not bother masking his displeasure at being told to attend something so boring. Nonetheless, he did not dare say 'no' right to Cinder's face.
"Roman's putting in some effort to regain the trust of the little animals he lost the last time," Cinder explained. "After losing even when using that shiny new toy of his, the White Fang found it harder to trust him. He seems to be confident he has something that would change their minds this time."
"So what'd you want me to do about it?" Mercury asked, not seeing her point.
"Tell me what it is," Cinder replied simply. "Go see what he has to offer them, and report back to me."
"He didn't tell you?" Emerald asked, seated in a chair beside Cinder's bed.
"He's been less than cooperative since his little run-in with the girls," Cinder said. "I want you to see just what is it that makes him so confident."
"You mean more confident than usual?" Mercury asked. Cinder smiled faintly.
"Mercury," she said. "Don't talk so much."
-
"So, man," Jaune said, smiling as he put an arm around Sapphire. "I heard you lost to Blake in a fight."
"Who told you-" Sapphire began, but he saw Ruby fumbling with her glass of milk. He sighed. "Yes, it's true."
"Hey, welcome to the club, buddy!" Jaune cheered. "We're all part of the losing-to-women brotherhood now."
Sapphire smirked. It was not an entirely pleasant smirk, and Blake could swear she saw a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"That so?" he asked. "Well if we're part of the same brotherhood, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind a little sparring match, right?"
"E-eh, um, I'm a pacifist," Jaune replied sheepishly.
"Tell you what," Sapphire said, raising his voice so that the rest of Team JNPR could hear. "If you win, I'll help you keep that embarrassing secret of Nikos's which you told me the other day."
Pyrrha, elite huntress in training who beat Team CRDL by herself, spat out her orange juice violently. Ren and Nora managed to dive out of the way in the nick of time and managed to avoid the incoming geyser, while Jaune simply looked confused. He flinched when a strong hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"Jaune," Pyrrha said, a brilliant smile blossoming across her face. "Win at all costs, okay?"
"Eh?" Jaune asked goofily. He was getting some very bad vibes from his girlfriend right now. "U-um, Pyrrha? W-why do you have such a scary aura around you even though you're smiling?"
"But you know, Jaune," Pyrrha went on, ignoring his words. "I'd really like to know what you told your dear brother back there. You'd tell me, wouldn't you?"
"Er-um," Jaune managed. "I-I didn't say – that is to say, I'm not trying to bluff my way out – b-but I didn't say any- Pyrrha? W-why do you have your spear out? What- Ouch!"
"Do excuse us for a bit," Pyrrha said, that dazzling smile still on her face as she dragged Jaune out of the cafeteria by the collar of his school uniform. The blonde was struggling helplessly as he was led out the door and disappeared from view.
"That went well," Sapphire commented casually, turning back to his cereal.
"You have no soul," Blake sighed, before gasping as she realized what she had said; she knew Sapphire was sensitive. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"Doesn't matter," Sapphire said, waving away her apologies. "Don't worry about it."
"So Sapphy," Nora leaned across the table. "Did Jaune actually tell you anything?"
"Nope," Sapphire answered immediately. "But I thought we could use a little entertainment to kick start the day."
Ren put his hands together in a prayer.
"May his soul rest in peace," he muttered.
"Pieces, maybe," Sapphire said, listening to the shrieking of a girl in the distance.
-
Seated around the table, Sapphire and Team RWBY wore deadly serious expressions as they pondered endlessly and tirelessly.
"So we go with the blue?" Sapphire asked, breaking the tense silence. "Are you sure?"
"It brings out the color of his eyes," Ruby replied.
"But he was proud of the fact that he was a natural blonde," Yang pointed out, stroking her own hair. "I mean, I can relate."
"They should be red," Blake said. "They'll remind him of Pyrrha."
"What'd you think, Weiss?" Ruby asked.
"Huh?" Weiss jumped at being called, looking around in confusion. "W-what?"
"We're discussing what flowers Arc would like on his grave," Sapphire replied seriously.
Before Weiss could reply, there was a knock on the door. Sapphire stood up and opened it, but jumped back and got into a fighting stance immediately after seeing who it was.
"Battle positions!" he yelled. He was somewhat getting used to the hyper vibe of this room. "Whatever you do, don't let it bite you!"
"I'm not a zombie!" Jaune protested.
"It lives!" Yang shouted from behind the table. "Get behind me, sis!"
"And I'm not Fran-" Jaune began, before remembering what he came here for. "Oh wait. I'm here for Weiss, not to mess around!"
"Double-crossing's a crime," Sapphire pointed out. "At least to your partner."
"I'm not double-crossing!" Jaune protested, easily pulled into Sapphire's pace.
"Is polygamy considered cheating?" Sapphire asked the room at large.
"My heart belongs only to Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted, before a deep hue of red crept up his neck and over his forehead. Steam subsequently poured out of his ears.
"What did you want with me, Jaune?" Weiss asked, her expression slightly dazed as she walked towards the door.
"He wants you," Sapphire offered.
"No! The headmaster's looking for you," Jaune finally said the words he wanted to say after taking Sapphire's bait again.
"Right," Weiss replied. "Thanks."
Without another word, Weiss left the room. An uncomfortable silence remained, prompting Jaune to look even more confused.
"What's with her?" he asked.
"She's been preoccupied with something lately," Yang replied. "We don't know what, and she wouldn't tell us anything either. We thought we'd cheer her up with some messing around, but that didn't work out so well."
"I see," Jaune muttered. "Wait; does that mean I was just used for comic relief?"
"You didn't realize that?" all four people in the room asked at the same time.
Jaune groaned in defeat.
-
"How sure are you about this plan?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Roman snapped. The lack of intelligence that came with a Faunus brain was frustrating to accept sometimes. He kept that comment to himself, though; they may be stupid, but they outnumbered him.
"I can see the benefits to our cause," the White Fang lieutenant said. "But is this really feasible?"
"Of course it is," Roman insisted. "Unless you're telling me your men are so incompetent they can't pull off something like this?"
"Watch your mouth, human," the lieutenant snarled. "Do not ever mock the White Fang. We are more than capable of pulling off something this simple."
"Then it's settled," Roman concluded. "With this, your army will grow when they find out that you really have what it takes to bare your fangs at the enemy."
And give me more pawns to manipulate, he thought with a wicked smile.
"Very well," the lieutenant said slowly. "We'll follow your idea and assassinate Weiss Schnee."