Alabast knew that he would eventually have to get up and apologize. But he didn't know how.
At 7 he got up and realized he didn't have a shirt on. Nora, Ren and Pyrrha were asleep. So he went into the common room after putting a shirt on and did some exercises for 30 min. Then he went to the shower and was out within 15 min. It takes a while for him to dry his hair and tail.
By the time he puts his school uniform on and exits the others are awake.
Nora is showing Ren something on her phone and Pyrrha looks embarrassed. Pyrrha then goes in next to take a shower.
"Nora" Alabast is now standing in front of Nora and Ren that are sitting on the edge of Rens bed. He looks into her eyes. "I'm sorry"
Nora smiles and stands up. "Thank you. I know you didn't mean to. You just spooked me last night"
Nora then held out her scroll. "What I do wanna talk about is this!". It's a picture from last night of him and Pyrrha hugging. He was shirtless and you could see the numerous scars and heaps of muscle.
"That was Pyrrha helping me out, are we gonna talk about how you two did end up sleeping on the same bed last night?" Alabast tries to turn the situation around.
Nora blushes hard while Ren gets a slight blush. "And….. don't go showing that picture off to anyone. I don't need everyone to know that I have all those scars"
"Deal, as long as you tell us how you magically appeared inside the room" Nora happily said.
"My semblance is 'Darkness'. It extremely versatile and one of the things it lets me do is teleport to places I've been before. The longer the distance the longer it takes to get there. It has its pros and cons"
"That's so neat! Mines 'High Voltage'. I can use electricity to enhance my strength or channel it through Magnhild like a lightning rod. I was struck by lightning when I was younger and was relatively a-ok. That's how we found I could also absorb some electricity"
"That's really lucky. I'm surprised you were alright after that"
"Yep. I'm stronger than I look" Nora did a hero pose and tried to flex. Ren just shook his head about how she just brushes off how easily she came close to death if she didn't have her semblance.
Ren spoke up. "Mines 'Tranquility'. It allows me to mask the negative emotions of myself and others. Making us invisible to Grimm to a certain degree"
"That's convenient" Alabast doesn't know how exactly to respond.
They hear the bathroom door open to reveal Pyrrha now in the female school uniform.
"My semblance is 'polarity'. I can basically control the magnetism of metallic objects"
"Is that how you stopped m-" Alabast was thinking aloud and stopped himself when he realized what he was about to say and moved over to sit on his bed and look at the floor.
Pyrrha didn't need to answer since that was basically rhetorical.
Nora moved over to Alabast. "Hey Ashy!"
Alabast saw Noras feet in front of him and he raised his head to look at her face.
"Boop!" Nora boops his nose and then runs to the bathroom to get ready.
Alabast sees Nora run to her bed and grab her things and then run to the bathroom. Then he looks over to Ren who shrugs his shoulders. "That's just something she likes to do"
Alabast sighs. "Thank you Pyrrha, thank you" and then he looks back down at the floor.
They hear what sounds like construction in team RWBY's room. Nora finished up and then Ren gets to go next.
It would be quiet aside from the noise from team RWBY until it ends around 8:55.
Alabast glances at the time then back to the floor. Only to immediately look at the time again. "We got classes at 9 dam'it!"
Team ANVL gets their things together in under 15 seconds and open the door to see team RWBY also exiting their room. First was Weiss, followed by Ruby who shouted "To class!". Followed by Yang and Blake.
As Alabast was looking down the hall the rest of his team looked out the door frame by getting on his shoulders and poking their heads out like a totem pole. "Don't just climb me! We need to go!". With Alabast saying that they climbed down and they were all running to class a few paces behind team RWBY. Alabast could have been first but he had no idea where their first class was.
They made it through the class doors as soon as the bell rang. Team RWBY sat in the front while team ANVL sat in the back near the windows.
Alabast ignored the professor since the class was about Grimm and his adventures or something else useless to Alabast. He mostly played with the cape he had on his left shoulder. It's the same he wears on his combat uniform. Like how Ruby still has her red cape on. Alabast looked at Pyrrha, Yang and Blake as they actually listened to the professor stroke his ego much like he strokes his gut.
Then he decided to watch some entertainment. Ruby was screwing around and it was actually interesting. It might have been that it pissed the Princess off beyond belief but it's whatever.
Then all of a sudden Weiss is about to fight a Grimm. Alabast wonders how this class went from 0 to 100 in mere seconds. There are cheers for Weiss from her teammates as well as Nora and Pyrrha.
Alabast sits up straight and decides to watch. Weiss yells that she is being distracted which is fair, but could have been done in a different way especially when addressing your leader. Then the professor uses his blunderbuss-axe to open the cage and a Boarbatusk comes charging out towards Weiss.
Alabast has fought plenty of these Grimm and knows that while he can break the armor covering it everywhere except under it, he is better off just quickly cutting it from below. It saves time and energy. But Weiss doesn't know this so she learns by doing. She even allows her weapon to be thrown away from her. That's why Alabast has his Bestia Fang, he rubs his wrists where they would usually be but he remembers they are back in the dorm room.
Weiss scurries over to her rapier-revolver weapon and is able to utilize her glyphs to defeat the Boarbatusk by stabbing it when it exposed its 'belly'. She was breathing heavily but she defeated the enemy. There was a round of applause but Alabast just slowly clapped his hands and Weiss seemed to notice. She glared at him and he just gazed at her with a neutral expression from his seat in the back from above. She didn't like the metaphor or something and stormed out soon after because the professor ended the class.
"I'm going to see what's up with the Princess this morning. Why don't you three keep Yang and Blake company. Ruby should be fine on her own for now"
His teammates nodded and wished him luck because they saw the way Weiss wasn't so pleased when looking at their team and her own.
Alabast exited the room after Weiss and Ruby sand listened to their conversation. He had his back against a wall around the corner from the two. He saw Ozpin walking by who raised his mug in a pseudo-greeting. Alabast simply gestured down the hallway to where Weiss and Ruby were going at it. Ozpin looked down the hallway and proceeded to go behind Ruby until she turned around and saw Ozpin just standing there sipping whatever was in his mug, it smells like chocolate but it could also be coffee with chocolate in it.
Ozpin gives advice to Ruby and Alabast sees Weiss talking with the professor with the gut they just escaped from. He remembers the guy creepily say 'huntress' and click his tongue at Yang. Alabast was mad at him for some reason beyond being mad at his work ethic. Maybe he misses his annoying sister from his last life...no, it's something more than that.
Anyway, Ozpin seemed to help Ruby and the other professor seemed to give actually good advice. If he talked like that in class Alabast might pay attention.... Yeah, that still wasn't gonna happen but it would at least make him consider it.
Ruby walked towards the door leading outside after her conversation with Ozpin and saw Weiss walk away from the professor. Alabast stealthily made his way behind Ruby and down the other hallway. Ruby turned around and walked where Alabast had previously been standing leaving him an opportunity to talk with the Princess.
Alabast walked past the professor who just watched him walk by and didn't say anything. He followed the direction Weiss went and also could smell her distinct perfume or shampoo, whatever it was it was distinct. Probably from Atlas. It wasn't bad. It didn't bug his nose like most perfumes with their strong scents.
As he continued following the trail through some corridors he saw Weiss going towards the entrance to the library.
Alabast followed behind not in a rush. When he entered he smelled the distinct smell of paper and ink. It wasn't good nor bad.
He spotted the white hair and combat dress that Weiss was still wearing. He walked over and expected her to notice him. Then he realized that she was engrossed in a book. He peered over her shoulder and saw that she was trying to learn how to be a good teammate and teach others based on the information on the page.
Weiss saw a shadow cast over her shoulder and looked back. She was met with the big stature of Alabast and he was pretty close to her.
She jumped forward turning her body to face Alabast and back into the shelves of books pretty hard. The entire bookshelf was going to fall back but Alabast moved quickly to grab it and stop it from going like dominoes making a big mess. That didn't stop the books from falling off either side of it though. He watched as they fell off the opposite side making it too heavy on his side and he couldn't adjust his grip in time. So he moved his body to cover Weiss while he still held the giant bookshelf. The books rained down and he stood over Weiss. He is 6 foot 6 while Weiss stood at 5 foot 3 in her heels. She looked up at him as his head got hit by the books falling from above.
She had a scared expression when she first turned around and saw Alabast. Then even more so when he put his arms beside her head blocking her sides to escape as he brought his head down over her. She had seen this in a few movies or plays back in Atlas but never expected to have it happen in real life, especially with a Faunus. She wasn't racist, she just had a high prejudice due to her father and the info that he fed her growing up. Weiss was smart and realized most was untru but when the White Fang attacked her family and family friends it was hard not to believe some of what he said.
Weiss lost her scared expression and started blushing when she realized that Alabast had just stopped the bookshelves from all falling after she knocked this one over. And he even is stopping her from getting hit by the falling books with his own body.
Then she saw it. After a few books hit the back of his head making his hair move she saw the left side of his face. It looked so scarred and painful. His eye was fine thankfully but the skin around it looked like it was all chewed up and spit back out. It wasn't just near his eye. It was his forehead to his temple down past his cheekbone and stops in the middle of his cheek. There are other scars on his face but they are more spaced out. She reached out to touch it and as she did Alabast flinched hard. But Weiss kept her fingers to his face as he tried to get away but he had to hold the bookshelf.
"What happened? It looks so painful" Weiss used her right hand to touch his face and then she brought her left hand to her own scar over her left eye"
She hated having her scar mar her beautiful face. She couldn't imagine the pain to have a scar be so prominent. Even living with it must have been difficult. Not being able to show your entire face. She hated when people asked if she was ok, if it still hurt, how she got it, and all the other questions and stares she would receive. How could he deal with it. She saw his other scars on his face before, especially the one below his right eye. But seeing this and even more scars going down his neck. She also saw the scars on his forearms previously but didn't think anything of it. Now she wonders if he has any patch of skin that doesn't have a scar.
The last of the books fell and people gathered around and started whispering. Alabast made sure the shelf wouldn't fall and backed away and grabbed his hair over his left side and pressed it down. He looked around and saw the people recording and whispering, starting rumors.
"Did that Faunus just attack The Weiss Schnee" "He tried to attack her!" "I saw him stand over her and threaten her" "I saw him follow Weiss in here and go straight towards her" "That dog tried to knock the shelves over"
Many more comments were made, some more racist than others. Nobody stood up for him but he was used to it. The Faunus in the crowd slowly backed away and gave him a look of pity. There weren't many but a few.
"Alabast….." Weiss tried to call out but she was surrounded by people trying to see if she was ok and asking if the 'Mutt' hurt her. She tried to correct them but they were like a tidal wave against her small waves that she tried shouting. They wouldn't listen at all.
Alabast walked casually out of the library. He wasn't gonna give them the pleasure of having him run with his tail between his legs.
Weiss eventually squeezed through the crowd and stepped around the books that lay in piles on the ground. The Librarian had tried to calm them down and used her semblance to control paper to put the books back but they were in mob mode until Glynda came in. Weiss was taken out as Glynda scolded the other student about their prejudice and how they are not acting like a huntsman/huntress and other things.
As Weiss exited she saw Alabast standing with his back to the wall, arms crossed and griping his biceps hard. He was looking up at the ceiling with a blank look and sighed like that happens often. Alabast felt the void expand and undo what Pyrrha had done the previous night / that morning. He knew he had to be careful, he knew better. And he was sursing himself in his head.
Weiss approached him from his front. She saw his red eye stare into space as his mind was somewhere else.
"Thank you" Weiss said.
She was met with silence. She saw the red eye glance down at her then back up to the ceiling.
"Can we talk?" Weiss tried again but was meet with the same silence, then there was a cricket noise that went down the hall.
"I tried to explain it to them….. That you were just trying to help. But they wouldn't listen to me….. I think Professor Goodwitch saw the recording and is setting the other students straight.... Does that happen often?"
Weiss already knew the answer, but she was trying to get a reaction from Alabast.
"You have….no idea. It's not just me... If there is ever a conflict between a Human and a Faunus the Human 9/10 is deemed not at fault. And that's only if the Faunus has evidence and witnesses to prove them innocent or in the right. I've been to places that are better than others. But I've also been to worse places. But it's not like it matters. We get used to it, however, hat doesn't mean that we are ok with it"
Weiss listens to Alabast and doesn't know what to say.
"Is-is that why the White Fang were doing their peaceful protests before they got violent?"
"That it is Princess. Among other reasons, but the main one being for equality. I think my mother was a supporter. At least, that's what I assume. The last time I saw her was when I was 6 and I haven't heard a word after the protest that set things off"
"Are you talking about the 'Bloody Hours' protest? The one where the Faunus attacked the guards and citizens and had to be pushed back by the military? Your mom was there?"
"Oh, is that what they told you what happened? I'm surprised the name is the same. That's the protest that I've talked about before. And it wasn't just my mom. I was there as well. I can't remember anything before that time and even after it is blurry after 11 years. But I still remember everything I saw that day, everything I felt..." Alabast was still looking at the ceiling and brought his left hand to his left eye as he finished talking. Then he closed his eyes.
"You two. My office, let's get going. I have to make the reports and I won't be taking the others statements since they barely saw anything. I saw what happened but I need a students perspective for the report for whatever reason. I would be more careful next time you two. But good job Alabast, you handled yourself well in those unfortunate circumstances. There won't be any repercussions besides filling out some pepper work"
Weiss looked at Glynda then back to Alabast and sighed. She wanted to talk more but knows that Alabast won't talk with Glynda here and won't continue talking about that protest. She wanted to hear what his perspective was, and what actually happened that day. She could assume but she wanted to hear it.
They walked in silence and then finished the paperwork in silence at Glynda office in more silence. The atmosphere was heavy for Weiss.
After being released Weiss followed Alabast to a secluded classroom.
Alabast had his back to Weiss inside the dark classroom as she shit the door and then walked towards him a little. It was dark but some light got in from the hall but not much.
"Pyrrha saw some of my scars last night and this morning. I also think Nora saw them too. I'll tell everyone tomorrow so I don't have to worry about who knows what. Can you keep your mouth shut until then?"
Alabast spoke in a monotone voice. Weiss was curious as how Pyrrha and possibly Nora saw the scars but figured she would find out eventually.
"I can" is all she could say.
"Thank you" after he said that he turned towards Weiss. She could see the dim light reflect in his red eye and make it shine giving him this dangerous look.
"When did you get the scars?"
Alabast sighs and then answers. "The oldest ones, and almost all, are from when I was 6"
"Was it at the protest?"
"I'll explain it all tomorrow. But what about you? Does your scar make you feel like less of a person? Make you feel incomplete, broken?"
"N-No! It reminds me that I need to get stronger, to not let my guard down!"
"Sure. But it should remind you that appearances can be deceiving, that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. That you should trust others. Because you yourself can only do so much, isn't that why you were reading that book?"
Weiss was surprised that Alabast was giving her advice, or at least try.
Alabast described how he took orders and was alone for a long time until he came to Beacon just the other day. Weiss wonders what he was a part of to be given orders. She thought of the White Fang but didn't believe it, didn't want to believe it.
Alabast walks out and Weiss is left to her thoughts and the advice Alabast gave her. She was going to be the best teammate and partner she could be. But now she also wants to be the best friend she could be. But then she was reminded who her leader, partner, and friend is and realized she has her work cut out for herself.
Alabast eventually messages his team that he has something to tell them and team RWBY tomorrow and that they should tell them since they should be together currently. Alabast goes back to the room and puts his headphones on. He doesn't like Weiss, but seeing her do her best reminds him of a few memories. He also understands Ruby in thinking that she might not be ready for being a leader. When he thinks of Yang he feels something. It's less than what he feels when he thinks of Pyrrha but more than Weiss. Ruby is also next to Pyrrha. But when he thinks of Blake....
He falls asleep on his bed not even changing out of his uniform and is woken up the next morning by Pyrrha. He didn't have a nightmare for the first time in a while and feels better than usual, kind of like when Ruby and Yang....Anyway.
He was ready for the day and knew it would be a crappy one.