by E. C. Myers
“You did it, my boy,” Edward said.
“We did it. Are you all right?”
“My buckler’s seen better days, and I think my wrist is fractured. But I haven’t felt this good in a long time. My head feels clearer somehow from the fighting. I suddenly remember things I’d forgotten.”
“Like what?”
“I knew something was up with Bertilak and Carmine. I knew they weren’t behaving like real Huntsmen.” Edward slapped his knee. “I remember when I called for help. I brought you here.”
“You did?” Fox asked. He didn’t know whether the man was being delusional again, but he seemed lucid—and someone had called Shade Academy for assistance. Maybe they hadn’t come forward because they hadn’t remembered doing so. The mind could be a funny thing, especially out in the desert.
“Bertilak and Carmine … they knew that we were causing those emotion bombs.” The old man kicked a light dusting of sand in Bertilak’s direction. “I hired these fools to take us to safety, but over time, I realized they weren’t taking us west at all, at least not directly. By the time I figured that out, though, we were already in the desert and the Grimm were following us—we needed the Huntsmen to survive. So I figured I’d try the distress call, see if it brought anyone in.”
“Your plan worked.” Fox handed Bertilak’s Scroll to Edward. “Can you find anything useful in this? Ideally, the name and address of Bertilak’s boss.”
“Never cared for these things myself,” Edward said. “Lucky! No password.”
“Why would a big, strong Huntsman need a password? He probably thought he was all the security he’d ever need,” Fox said.
“Or Carmine got tired of him asking her what his password was. He isn’t exactly the brains of the operation.”
Carmine! She was Bertilak’s partner, he wouldn’t have been keeping his intentions toward Edward and Gus to himself. He wouldn’t have been able to—she was way too smart.
“Crap. Check the call log. Has Bertilak been communicating with Carmine since he brought you out here?”
He heard Edward tap at the screen.
“He sent her a message about twenty minutes ago.” Edward clicked on it.
They tricked us. E is useless. I’ll ditch him, you get G to the boss. I’ll catch up.
Edward groaned and got up, his bones cracking and popping. “We have to get back to the others.”
Standing was the last thing Fox wanted to do right now, but he got up anyway. There was no telling what Carmine would do, especially if the rest of Fox’s team put up a fight to protect Gus.
“Help me with Bertilak,” Fox said.
“Help you what? Bury him?” Edward asked.
“No. Carry him.”
“Let’s just leave him here.”
“He’ll die on his own like this.”
“He deserves worse. He’ll slow us down.”
Fox shook his head. “We don’t leave people behind. Even people like him.”
Edward sighed.
“Is that what they’re teaching Huntsmen these days at the academies?”
“It’s just something a true Huntsman knows already. Right?” Fox asked.
Edward was quiet for a moment. “But what if they’re really heavy?”
Fox, Coco, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi stepped out of the Bullhead. All hopes of avoiding attention and getting back to their room quickly and quietly were immediately dashed—it seemed like the entire school was at the cliffside docks.
“Damn,” Coco said. “That’s today?”
It was the day the Vytal Festival assignments were being given out to students. It was a bigger deal for the First-years, who had yet to go on a real away mission with their new teams, but for most of the classes it was the first big outing. It was also a great PR move for Beacon Academy, a show of both strength and goodwill, a reminder to citizens in Vale and beyond that Huntsmen and Huntresses were watching their backs.
Or they were supposed to be. If Coco hadn’t volunteered her team for that mission in Lower Cairn, they would be here now, getting some routine job patrolling an obscure region. On the other hand, they might have had to work with Professor Port again; for some reason he got assigned to mentor Team CFVY an inordinate amount of the time.
Coco had thought that Team CFVY was above all this, but their recent failure had her rethinking that. It had her rethinking everything.
She sighed. “Well, here we go. Let’s put on a good face.”
“Maybe no one will notice us because there’s too much going on,” Yatsuhashi said.
Fox started counting, wearily: “Three, two, one—”
“Hey, Team CFVY is back!” a student called out.
Velvet’s shoulders slumped.
All eyes turned to them and several students rushed over to see them up close.
“It’s showtime,” Fox said.
He led the way as the team crossed the courtyard, heads held high but trying to convey that they really didn’t want anyone to talk to them right now. It all fed into their persona as rock stars at Beacon, though they certainly didn’t feel like they deserved a hero’s welcome.
Coco kept pace with Fox, but Velvet fell behind. Yatsuhashi slowed down so he could keep an eye on her. They had all been preoccupied on the way home, lost in thought, replaying and analyzing everything they had done over the last week. But Velvet seemed to be taking it the hardest. She was the soul of the team, so much so that she almost literally wore her heart on her sleeve. Coco, Fox, and Yatsuhashi all kept big parts of themselves protected and hidden away, but Velvet put it all on display.
Team RWBY watched CFVY from the sidelines with the same admiration as the rest of the school, but slightly less awe. The two teams saw a bit of themselves in each other, as two of the teams that stood out at Beacon—that Professor Ozpin had chosen to draw attention to.
There seemed to be one special team every year, whether to motivate the rest or to push that team harder to be models for the rest, to be as exceptional as everyone expected them to be. The big surprise was that RWBY was outshining Pyrrha Nikos’s team, though everyone in CFVY agreed that Team JNPR was still impressive, considering.
Yatsuhashi was relieved when he saw Team RWBY hurry up to Velvet. She could probably use someone else to talk to. Given everything that happened, CFVY hadn’t had much to say to one another since they had been rescued. Coco was angry at Yatsuhashi for pulling her away from certain death by a Goliath and swarms of other Grimm. Yatsuhashi was angry at Coco for falling apart under pressure. And they were all sifting through their actions, wondering what they should have done differently to save that family.
“Velvet! Are you okay?” Blake asked.
Velvet lifted her head and turned around. She appreciated the concern from her friends, but the last thing she wanted to do right now was talk about what had happened.
She was still trying to figure out what had happened. And a part of her wanted to forget all of it.
“I’m fine,” Velvet lied. “I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me.” Velvet gestured at him as he passed by and flashed him a quick smile.
She hoped that things were still okay between her and Yatsu. She hoped Team CFVY could come out of this one. They’d had defeats before, but this was the first time they’d lost the people they were trying to protect. It felt wrong that they had been rescued at the last moment and that poor family …
“Your mission was supposed to end a week ago,” Weiss said. “What happened?”
“N-nothing happened. It was just … There were just so many.” Velvet looked down. She could still see the swarms of Grimm moving in, the Goliath marching toward them. The cave entrance collapsing with the Gray family inside.
Yang, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake looked at one another nervously.
Velvet couldn’t do anything about her and her team’s failure, but she could at least make sure that her friends succeeded on their first real mission. She wanted to tell them that no matter what they did, they still could
be beaten. That the stakes out there were real, and not only could they die, but other people might die. And they really, really needed to be able to trust one another and work together.
But there would hopefully be time for all that later, and maybe they would need to learn those hard lessons for themselves. Right now, all they needed was reassurance, and that was all Velvet had to offer.
“Oh, but don’t worry. You First-years are just shadowing Huntsmen, so you should be fine.” Velvet gave them a shaky smile that she hoped was convincing.
Yang squinted. “Riiight.”
Velvet was worried that if she stayed there any longer, she would break down in tears.
“I should go.” Velvet backed away and raised her hands. “Be safe, okay?”
As if those empty words could make sure they came back in one piece.
Velvet hurried away. Her team hadn’t waited for her. She started after them, but then she decided she could use some time alone. She turned to head for the gardens, where she often went to think—and almost ran into Professor Goodwitch.
“Oh! Pardon me, Professor.” Velvet avoided making eye contact and tried to get around the older woman. But Professor Goodwitch held up a hand, palm out, to stop her.
“Ms. Scarlatina. Welcome back. Are you all right?”
Velvet held her breath. She blinked back tears. She nodded.
“We’re all relieved that you made it back safely to Beacon. I know you could use some time to recover, but Professor Ozpin would like to see you in his office.”
Velvet froze. “Me? What for?” she blurted out. Her face flushed. “I mean, of course. What time?”
“Now.”
“Now?” Velvet swallowed. She looked for her team but they were long gone. Maybe they had already been summoned and she would find them there.
“Right. Lead the way, then.”
Velvet followed Professor Goodwitch toward Beacon Tower. She had never been one to get into trouble at school, and students didn’t get called to the headmaster’s office often.
“Hey, Velvet!” Sun Wukong hurried to catch up to her, followed by his teammate, Neptune Vasilias.
Velvet had only met them a couple of times, when they were hanging out with Team RWBY. She didn’t know much about the Haven students, who composed half of Team SSSN (Sun). But she appreciated that Sun was always kind to her, and it felt good to know another Faunus, even if he was only around during the Vytal Festival. She had learned a lot more from him about Vacuo, where he had grown up, than she had from Fox, who rarely talked about his childhood there. Nothing she had heard made her remotely interested in visiting Vacuo, even if it was one of the most welcoming places for Faunus-kind.
“How’d your mission go?” Sun asked.
Velvet shook her head.
“Hi, Professor Goodwitch,” Neptune said, turning on his charm.
Professor Goodwitch gave him a withering look over her glasses. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” she asked.
“Not until tomorrow,” Sun said. “Crime scene investigation in Vale.”
“So we’re around tonight, if you want to do anything.” He seemed to be speaking to Velvet, but he was looking at Professor Goodwitch.
She rolled her eyes. “We have official business for Professor Ozpin, so please excuse us.” She marched ahead. Velvet shrugged her shoulders unhappily and followed.
“There’s nothing to be worried about,” Professor Goodwitch said as they rode the elevator up to Professor Ozpin’s office at the top of the tower. “We just need you to tell us everything that happened.”
The doors opened.
“Absolutely everything,” Professor Ozpin said. He had been waiting at the elevator to greet her. “Welcome, Ms. Scarlatina. We’re very glad to have you back with us.”
“Th-thank you, Headmaster.” Velvet looked around. “Where’s everyone else?”
“I assume you mean your teammates,” Ozpin said. “We prefer to speak with you each individually so we can get a more complete picture of events.” He walked her over to his desk and gestured to a chair. Velvet couldn’t help but look around at his office. They were inside the clock at the top of the tower; the window behind the headmaster’s desk formed the clockface, and numerous cogs and gears moved on the walls and in the rafters above.
“I apologize for not giving you a chance to rest after your ordeal.” Professor Ozpin sat behind his desk and steepled his fingers. The desk was so large, he looked like a kid playacting at his father’s desk. The comparison seemed even more appropriate when Professor Goodwitch took up position behind him to his right, standing with her arms clasped behind her back.
Velvet hoped Professor Ozpin’s Semblance wasn’t reading minds.
No one knew much about him. He was a mysterious figure, often seen at Beacon events and walking around campus, quietly observing. He seemed to have a genuine interest in his students and an almost carefree attitude about life, which was a stark contrast to Professor Goodwitch’s no-nonsense bearing. He somehow appeared to be both younger than his physical age and much older. He didn’t teach any classes at Beacon himself, and no one had ever seen him fight—but rumor had it that he was a formidable Huntsman in his own right.
“Anything I can do to help,” Velvet said.
“Thank you. The reason I wanted to speak with you first is because of your uncanny observational skills and attention to detail. No one is blaming your team for what happened in Lower Cairn—as your teacher and headmaster, Professor Port and I take full responsibility for the mission. But people will have questions … We have questions. And it is our responsibility to understand what exactly went wrong.”
Velvet nodded.
“But first, would you like anything? Water? Hot chocolate? Cookies? I know students concentrate better when they are fed.”
“No, I’m fine,” Velvet said.
“Very well. Let us begin. At the beginning, if you please.”
Velvet folded her hands in her lap. Unfolded them. A tear dropped to her sleeve.
“When we got to the village, it was already lost,” she said. “The Grimm had taken over, and there was no sign of survivors …”
Yatsuhashi had been looking forward to eating at Curry Up, one of the many pop-up restaurants in Vale for the Vytal Festival, but he didn’t have much of an appetite for once. In fact, only Fox was eating the rice curry he’d ordered, and he didn’t even seem to be enjoying it. They were all starving after their mission, but they were also preoccupied by what had gone down in Lower Cairn.
“We could have made it,” Coco muttered.
“Are you kidding?” Yatsuhashi said. “We’re lucky we got out of there alive.” He stopped himself before adding, “Not everyone did.” They were all aware of how badly they had screwed up.
Coco lowered her head. She wasn’t even worried about the failing grade on their mission; she was haunted by the things she’d seen, by the people she’d failed. Not to mention being rescued by Professor Port at the last minute had been a tremendous blow. After he had picked them up in the airship, he had looked at each of them solemnly, making sure they weren’t hurt—and then he had sat down in the front without saying a word for the entire trip home. She didn’t know if he was just giving them space to reflect, or if he couldn’t deal with his disappointment in them.
“Professor Port seemed a little surprised at that Goliath, too,” Fox sent.
“You think so? He looked like he wanted to jump down there and take it on single-handedly,” Yatsuhashi said.
Maybe that accounted for his disappointment, then.
Coco poked at a curry-soaked potato with her chopsticks. “We didn’t have enough information about what we were getting into. They couldn’t have expected us to handle it without—”
Yatsuhashi pounded his fist on the table. Their plates and glasses jumped. “Which is it, Coco? Could we handle it or not? Or do you mean you think you could have handled the situation, on your own?”
Coco’s mouth fell
open. “No! Yatsuhashi, that’s not what I—” She sighed. She slipped her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know what I mean. Of course I couldn’t have handled it alone. If anything, it’s all on me. I’m the leader. I …” She shook her head. “I should have gotten us out of there sooner. Called for reinforcements. I was just too proud, too eager to prove ourselves. Myself. And then my fear, in the cave …”
Fox shook his head. “It’s on all of us. We have to take responsibility for what happened. We aren’t always going to have enough intel, or correct intel, about a situation. We have to be able to handle anything that comes our way, at any moment. Even if ‘handling it’ means a strategic retreat.”
Coco nodded. “You’re right.”
“You need to tell Velvet that,” Yatsuhashi said. “She’s shouldering a lot of the blame herself.”
“Wait, where is Velvet?” Fox looked around.
“I assumed she just went off by herself, like she does,” Coco said. “With Ruby and the others.”
Yatsuhashi didn’t correct her. Coco thought Velvet went away to hang out with other friends, but he knew that Velvet took things very personally. She disliked feeling useless, or like she’d failed her team. Having to hide her Semblance from their potential rivals didn’t help—Velvet wasn’t the kind of person to hide something that was much a part of her, one of the things that made her special. Of course, Coco never picked up on any of that.
“She probably isn’t with Team RWBY now. All the First-years are heading out on missions,” Yatsuhashi said.
He tried to call her on her Scroll, but it went straight to voice mail.
Then he saw Team JNPR—Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren—walk into the food stand with Sun and Neptune from Team SSSN. So not all the First-years had left Beacon yet.
“Have you seen Velvet?” Yatsuhashi called.
