A/N: It feels really good to be able to get this many chapters out in such short periods again. Sadly it will more than likely slow down in the coming weeks with me returning to work again, but I will still be putting in an effort to write when I can. I hope you all enjoy the chapter and are having a great day. Rhino out.
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Topaz then hears a scream from somewhere deeper inside. Tensing up and looking in the direction of the scream, his friends became alert.
Yang: "What did you hear?"
Topaz: "A scream."
Pyrrha: "How far?
Topaz: "A little ways off. Just how big is it inside of here?"
Jaune: "So what now?"
Topaz: "We push on."
Yang: "Sounds good, let's go."
Topaz leads the group further in the creature, taking their time to ensure they aren't caught. After a few minutes of walking, Topaz hears some voices and motions for the others to stop.
Hazel: "Come on out Ozpin, quit hiding behind the boy and be a man."
Oscar: "Hazel, I'm telling you the truth. Salem's plan is to destroy all life on Remnant."
Hazel: "ENOUGH! I'll be back soon enough to loosen your tongue later. Don't go anywhere."
Topaz peeks around the corner and sees Hazel leaving a room, stomping off in another direction. Once he disappears around another corner, Topaz motions for the others to follow after him. Entering the room where Hazel just exited, Topaz and the others see Oscar hanging from the ceiling, bruised and bleeding.
Jaune: "Oscar!"
Rushing forwards, Jaune gets Oscar down and then hugs him tightly.
Jaune: "I'm so sorry Oscar."
Oscar: *coughs* "You don't have to apologize for anything Jaune. Nothing was your fault. Who could ever expect Salem to have such a creature."
Yang: "Do you have any idea what that was Oscar, or Ozpin if you're still in there."
Oscar: "Ozpin and I have an idea… but it's something I hope never comes to fruition."
Pyrrha: "What is it?"
Topaz: "Salem has been experimenting with grimm on living beings."
Yang: "What do you mean Topaz?"
Topaz: "Faunus and humans Yang."
Jaune: "No, that can't be possible."
Oscar: "I'm afraid Topaz is correct in that assumption. That was my theory as well. May I ask how that idea came to you Topaz?"
Topaz: "Those humanoid grimm I fought in the past had different scents than normal grimm. I just thought it was from huntsman they had fought in the past, but thinking on it it's the only thing that makes sense. From what we were taught, grimm don't have vocal cords, so there shouldn't be a possibility of them being able to speak like that. Put the two together and it's about the only thing I could think of."
Oscar: "Ozpin says that's very astute of you Topaz."
Yang: "What are we going to do against those things? It beat us like we were nothing."
Topaz: "Yang, we'll do what we can. Overthinking it will only cause problems in the long run."
Pyrrha: "Topaz is right, we'll do what we can when the time comes. Right now, we need to get out of here before anyone sees us."
Topaz: "Sounds good to me, let's go."
Everyone: "Right!"
Topaz leads the group once again through the eerie corridors, somehow avoiding everyone. Eventually they come across what looks to be a landing area for air ships.
Jaune: "This is cool and all, but we don't exactly have a ship to get out of with."
Yang: "We might, right Topaz."
Yang looks expectantly to Topaz, a nervous smile on her face.
Topaz: "It's been a long time since I tried that transformation Yang, but it's worth a shot."
Topaz closes his eyes and begins thinking of the biggest flying creature he's encountered.
Pyrrha: "What transformation?"
Oscar: "I'm with Miss Nikos on this one. What is Topaz trying?"
Yang: "Just watch."
After a few moments of focusing, Topaz attempts the transformation. Feeling the changes he wanted, he eventually opens his eyes, looking down on the shocked faces of his friends.
Jaune: "How is that possible?"
Pyrrha: "You're full of surprised, aren't you Topaz."
Oscar: "Just what are you Topaz? Ozpin and I are both rather curious about that."
Ren: "Wow…"
Yang: "We can talk about it later when we are somewhere safe. Now hop on the big ass Nevermore so we can leave."
The group rushes on top of Topaz, and take a firm hold of his new feathers. Once they're all sat down and secured as well as they can, Topaz takes to the air and leaves the massive grimm's interior. Flying away from the grimm and into an open area to avoid any Atlas soldiers that may try to shoot them down. Seeing a familiar mansion, Topaz decides to land in the yard and once he's landed everyone gets back to the ground and he transforms back to normal. From inside he hears a woman shout at someone else.
?????: "I swear that a nevermore just landed in the yard."
Topaz curiously pokes his head by the window and looks inside. He smiles and motions for everyone to follow him.
Yang: "What did you see?"
Topaz: "You'll see soon enough."
Knocking on the front door, it's a few moments before the door cracks open and a familiar looking older woman peeks out the crack.
Willow: "Hello?"
Topaz: "Hello Willow, how's everyone doing inside?"
Willow: "Topaz?"
Topaz: "Yep, with some friends."
Willow looks over his shoulder and sees the rest of the group.
Willow: "Please, come inside."
Stepping back, Willow motions for everyone to enter. Topaz motions for the others to go inside before him. He hears happy shouts inside and just sits there chuckling.
Willow: "Not going inside?"
Topaz: "Oh no I will be, just think it will be more of a surprise if I'm the last one they see."
Willow: "Dramatic effect, I like it."
Once things have quieted down inside, Topaz walks in and Willow closes the door. Topaz sees all of his friends hugging after an apparently lengthy separation. Topaz takes a step closer to everyone, which is noticed by Penny.
Penny: "Friend Topaz? I thought you were dead?"
Topaz: "As you can see Penny, I am alive and well."
Before Topaz can react, he is hit hard from behind and is knocked to the ground. Rolling onto his back with a groan, he sees Ruby hugging him and rose petals falling to the ground.
Topaz: "You know Ruby, I missed you too, but you know, you really should give a guy some warning before flying into him."
Ruby: "Sorry, I was just so excited to see you here."
Weiss: "Topaz, it's nice to see you again."
Nora: "Anything exciting happen since we last spoke?!"
Topaz: "Aside from accidentally scaring Willow, nothing really comes to mind. Wait, I did punch Jacques in the face and broke his nose on the way over."
Willow suddenly spits out the tea she was drinking and looks over to Topaz.
Willow: "W-Where is he?"
Topaz: "Last I saw he was tied to a streetlight. I had told Winter about him when I saw her, so more than likely he's in custody again."
Willow: "Phew, that's relieving actually. Wait, how did you accidentally scare me?"
Topaz: "The nevermore you saw. That was me."
Willow: "What? How would you possibly be able to do that?"
Ruby: "You did it again? And I missed it? Dang it!"
Weiss: "What do you mean by that Ruby?"
Topaz: "My semblance is overly handy at times. Usually, I just change into certain animals to help in certain scenarios, but the day I learned about my semblance, Ruby's parents had me try a variety of things to transform into. One of those was a grimm itself, and it worked. I don't tend to use that transformation often, because like the creatures of grimm, I can sense emotions and it's overwhelming. So today was the first time I've tried a full grimm transformation in a long time."
Weiss: "Isn't that a little broken for a semblance?"
Blake: "It's theorized that our semblances are correlated to our personalities. Take Ruby for example, her semblance allows her to move at very high speeds by turning herself into Rose petals, and is a rather hyper person. Topaz is a person that isn't easy to read, but anyone who knows him knows he's protective and caring, so a powerful semblance makes sense in a way."
Pyrrha: "But in the same aspect, wouldn't his ability to change into a grimm suggest he has a dark side to him?"
Yang: "Who doesn't have a side to themselves they don't want others to see."
Blake: "That's true."
Jaune: "I'm with Pyrrha on this one, are we sure we can trust him?"
SLAP
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