Weiss POV
I must admit, it feels nice to open up with Yang about her problems and our shared experiences with growing up in a broken family. Though clearly, hers was dramatically different from mine, and I could only wish that Blake was here with us. But soon, Ruby joined us, and we talked much together, though one thing perplexed me.
We did not see Mr Arakan in the morning. And both Ruby and Yang earlier were busy talking about his sudden outburst last night on the rear patio. None of us knew what had happened, but whatever it was, it sounded severe, since we could hear him yelling from below. However, we couldn't tell what he was saying as it was all muffled up. Mr Branwen even went up to check on him, and we were all given that he was letting it loose.
Whatever that means.
According to everyone else, he was clearly out of character to lash out like that. Who portrays him as a friendly if shy yet mischievous boy. Though I must admit, my behaviour against him yesterday is not what I call a good impression, and I made him spill where he came from, even if it hurt and upset him in the process.
"Hey, Weiss?" I heard my partner calling out to me.
"Yes, Ruby. Do you need something?" I asked as my partner stood up from the bed she was relaxing on a while back.
"Wanna go see how Zack's doing? He usually wakes up early, and I'm concerned about what happened yesterday, and I want to check on him now." Ruby explained her reason as Yang relaxed as she chose to add to the conversation.
"Yeah. He sounded pissed as all hell last night. I'm in." Yang then gave a slight competitive smirk as I knew what she would say. "And besides, he owes me a spar we'd agreed on."
"Of course, you would say that." I just rolled my eyes as Yang jokingly stuck a tongue out at me while closing one of her eyes. "But yes, I agree. We should at least check on him."
With that in mind, we all left our current bedroom and headed to where Zack slept. And according to Ruby, he shares a room with Mr Branwen. How he tolerates the smell of alcohol from sharing a room with him is beyond me. We soon arrived at where Zack slept, and once Ruby opened the door, what we saw caught us by surprise.
Zack was currently on his bed in his checkerboard-adorned pyjamas. His Huntsman was on a hanger hanging on the wall shelf and had a pristine quality acoustic guitar with dark brown wood leaning against his bed.
Where did he get that from?
Wait. He did mention that he planned to search the storage room for anything that was of interest to him. That must be when he found a guitar. I would have gone into further questioning as to why there was a new guitar in the storage room if it wasn't for how he was sleeping right in front of us.
Zack's body was unnaturally curled up, with his arms near his chest and his tail underneath his chin. I do not know how he does that, but I must admit. He looked cute sleeping like that. All three of us could also hear him softly snoring away, as I glanced over at my partner and her sister.
Ruby was surprised at what she'd witnessed, and as for Yang, her shocked expression quickly became something I came to recognise when around her. Especially when she found new teasing material on any one of us. And as if proving my point, Yang slowly took out her scroll and began snickering to herself as Ruby finally snapped out of her shocked state.
"Zac- Mph!?"
Before Ruby could call him, Yang cut her off by covering her mouth while I just rolled my eyes at their shenanigans. My goodness, both of you. Yang then raises a finger to her lips as she points her scroll at Zack. Now realising what her sister's intentions were, Ruby went along with it as she covered her mouth to stop a giggle.
Part of me feels that I should have intervened in the matter to stop Yang's prank, but I don't know why I didn't interrupt both of them.
*Click.*
That instantly got a reaction out of Zack as his eyes lazily opened up to the noise, followed by noticing all three of us watching him wake up. What I did not expect was for Zack to have such a… explosive reaction to all three of us watching him wake up.
As soon as he realised what had just transpired, Zack let out a yelp as he tried his best to scramble off his bed. Only to fall off it face-first towards the floor. "What the?!" That was quickly followed by a thud, with both my teammates losing it and began to laugh at the scene. Although I'll admit, it was kind of funny to see that kind of reaction out of him.
He does remind me of Ruby at times in Beacon.
"Ow…" Zack moaned out as he pushed himself off his bed, only to see that Yang still had her scroll on him.
"Did you just take a photo of me while I was sleeping?" Zack asked as Yang just nodded with a grin on her face and showed her scroll to Zack.
"You bet I did! And I got such a wonderful recording of you falling off the bed as well. You also look so cute sleeping all curled up like that.~" Yang teased Zack's face began to glow red from embarrassment.
I could only roll my eyes at the scene with a groan as Zack recovered from his embarrassment and gave his 'request' to Yang. "Delete it. Now."
"No. I don't think I will. You still owe me that spar you agreed on yesterday. And I think I will keep that photo." Yang denied as I walked out of the room. I'm not getting into this mess.
"Of course, you would start adopting what Nora called me." Zack groaned. As for Ruby, she could be heard giggling like a schoolgirl the whole way as I walked out of Zack's room.
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Zack POV
"I should have seen that coming…" I grumbled to myself as I brushed my teeth. Then again, there were a couple of times in which I would sleep all curled up like a fox usually did, and I would always wonder how I ended up in that position. Do other Faunuses also occasionally do what their animal counterparts would do?
But God, that was so embarrassing! I mean, most of team RWBY seeing me sleeping all curled up like a fox would generally do? And to make it even worse for me, Yang shared it with everyone, and it went as well as you can expect. Nora immediately began to coo at how adorable I was sleeping, as both Ren and Jaune gave me sympathetic looks. As for Qrow, well…
He was laughing his head off at the whole incident before leaving to continue searching for more people to recruit. But it was for nought as that coward already got most of them killed. So, then we had them ask what happened last night, and I have to say that I was stressed out to ease their worries.
Which wasn't wrong in a way.
"It would happen eventually." Ozpin gave me some comforting words as he then asked me. "How do you prefer me to call you? Do you prefer by your original name or Remnant name?" Ozpin asked as I froze for a split second.
Honestly… I don't think what Ozpin calls me matters any more. He can just call me by my Remnant name since… I'm that boy and not the other.
"Just call me by my Remnant name, since it saves you the trouble. Not like my original name matters here anytime soon." I said back rather bitterly about the matter.
"I see. Very well then." Ozpin just hummed as I continued washing up myself. I need to develop some strategies to counter Yang in our spar. Okay. This version of Yang is much calmer than pre-fall Yang. This means that I won't be able to agitate her that easily. Close combat is also out of the picture, as I am not what you would call proficient in it. That and Ember Celica has a shotgun as well.
If she punches me, that thing will go off and hurt like hell and take a chunk of my aura with it. In this case… I would want to maintain a distance in combat. Attacking from a nice safe distance would help me, but no doubt Yang's aware of it.
"Thinking of some strategies to help you out in your upcoming spar?" I heard Ozpin speaking again in my head, and I just nodded.
"Yea. If I am to beat Yang or not get crushed by her, I need all the advantages I can get. Even if I have to play dirty." I explained my thoughts as Ozpin asked again. No doubt curious as to what I have in plan.
"In what way?"
"Throwing dirt into her eyes, jamming her weapon. Anything that would give me an edge in the fight." I explained as I grabbed a towel to dry my face.
"I see… Choosing to be a combat pragmatist in this fight?"
"Did you get that from my memories?" I asked with a raised eyebrow as Ozpin so helpfully confirmed it.
"Yes. While you were asleep after your… meltdown... last night, I took the time to read through some of your memories. Especially the finer details of your world in particular, and your version of the CCTs."
"You mean the internet?" I say as I leave the bathroom with a curious brow up.
"Yes. I find it interesting that your world's technological advancement is similar yet dramatically different to ours in other ways." While I admit that I don't know much about the world of Remnant, thanks to its setting is a mixture of futuristic and fantasy. On my part, it was one of the reasons I fell in love with the series at first. Until Rooster Teeth fucked it up after Oum's death and Volume 3.
Perhaps I'm being bias here...
"You mean like our source of fuel, the ability to go into space to set up satellites for our internet and the nukes?" I asked, as Ozpin was silent for a second or two before giving me an answer.
"Yes. That I can say. Though I never thought I would see the day in which humanity would develop a weapon that could wipe themselves out."
"Understandable, I hope that no one would make that kind of bomb in Remnant," I say, only to remember the bomb that Altas had later on and how Ironwood threatened to use it on Mantle. "Anyway, I'm sure that everyone would be watching our spar. So let us give them a show, eh, Oz?" I ended up smirking in an attempt to boost my confidence in the upcoming fight against Yang.
"Let us see how far you have changed in a week."
An hour or so later, everyone had gathered at the rear patio, with both Yang and me all fully equipped with our weapons. RNJR, alongside Weiss, could be seen sitting at the side of the deck to watch both Yang and I have our spar and talk about something, but it matters not to me at the moment.
As for what I was doing, I had Oathkeeper sheathed out and in my hand as Yang could be seen on the other side of the patio with Ember Celica now active alongside her prosthetic hand.
"Don't think I will make it easy for you, Zack. I want to see what you can do so far. Though… Are semblances allowed?" Yang asks as I pause for a moment. Having her not use her semblance would help me in the spar but. I've been training with everyone else, and Yang using hers wouldn't change much.
Well, not really. Since hers is more combat based.
"If you are planning to hold yourself back for the sake of me since I don't possess a semblance, don't do it. Let us see what I can do against you and your semblance, since I handled the others who used theirs against me." I admitted as I slowly pulled Oathkeeper out of its sheath.
"Up for the challenge, are we, Zacky? I don't want to break you too hard, by the way." That got a chuckle out of me.
"I survived through Ozpin's daily training from hell for a week at this point. So honestly, a spar against you wouldn't be that bad compared to his." I countered, much to Yang's amusement.
"You just threw me under the bus, didn't you?" Ozpin muttered as I just spoke to him mentally
"What? Having to deal with your training is far worse than getting my ass beat in a spar. So quiet now. I need to focus on this match."
"Let's see if you can fight as well as you can talk." I heard a click from Ember Celica as I readied myself by activating the shield on my gauntlet before the ice began to coat it.
"Neat trick. It better not be just for show." Yang taunted me as I remained silent while she and I slowly began moving toward each other. The very next second, both of us charged in and clashed as Yang blocked my slash with Oathkeeper. She then threw an extremely telegraphed punch at me, which made me respond by using my left arm to redirect her punch, which was quickly followed by another slash at Yang, who dodged and jumped back.
Probably recognising that I could deal with her going easy on me, Yang smirked and began to take it even more seriously than before as she quickly closed the distance and threw a fast left hook at my face. My eyes widened for a split second as I brought up my shield to absorb the punch, followed by a loud clang as her fist made contact with my shield.
That also activated the Ice dust within my shield and made Yang eat an icy explosion to the face, though her punch velocity sent me sliding back on the patio. Much to my surprise, however. Only Yang's left fist was covered in ice, and even she looked surprised at what I packed in for her.
"Huh, guess you're not all hot air if you can take a punch and keep standing," Yang says as she casually uses her semblance to melt the ice off her left arm. And once the ice melted off, she took a second to examine her left arm.
"Much better." Yang spoke out in such a simple manner that it made me believe that she was not taking this spar seriously.
I then retaliated by engaging my grappling hook before I electrified it and slamming it down onto Yang, who got barely got out of the way by an inch. I immediately recalled it and swung again horizontally as Yang jumped into the air and fired Ember Celica at me as I stepped to the left and swung Oathkeeper at Yang, who came down upon me like a meteor.
There was a loud bang as both Oathkeeper and Yang's prosthetic arm clashed, enhancing myself with aura. I forced Yang off me. "You're starting to impress me, you know that?" Yang comments as she lands back on the ground as we both get into our stances again.
"Now that we both have a respite, back to business." That was all I said as I drew Ozpin's cane and extended it. Yang raised a curious eyebrow at me as she still had that smirk on her face. I then charge in there with a thrust of Ozpin's cane at Yang's abdomen. Though she dodged to the left and another punch which I barely blocked it in time.
The next few seconds quickly passed like a breeze as both Yang and I either dodging or blocking each other's attacks, with the occasional hit landing on either of us.
Block. Dodge. Slash. Parry. Stab. Overhead. Block. Bash. Grapple via whip to slash.
But I know one thing right now. I couldn't keep going on as the stamina difference between Yang, and I was evident to all watching our spar. Some of my attacks and blocks started to become sloppier as time passed. And Yang exploited that to the fullest and managed to land a brutal punch to my face, which also activated Ember Celica. Sending me flying back as I managed to land back on my feet, though losing ground fast.
I could only breathe heavily as Yang looked barely winded. "What's wrong, buddy? Running out of gas already? That wouldn't do you any favour if you were to get a girlfriend now, wouldn't it?" Yang teased me as I straightened my back while a blush appeared on my face because I know what Yang meant.
Damn her teasing.
Taking advantage of another quick respite, I took a quick glance at my scroll to see my aura levels, which was not good. Aura levels were below half, and I was already burning out quickly with how relentless Yang was in this spar.
"You are an absolute teaser, aren't ya?" I muttered just loud enough for Yang to hear. She just chuckled at my comment. "But yes. My stamina isn't the greatest, but I gotta keep pushing."
"Oh. Determined, are you?" Yang just sounds interested in the whole thing.
"Yup. I still have aura to spare, and I am still standing. I won't panic in this fight as I did with Nora. So bring it!" I challenged Yang as I pointed Oathkeeper at Yang. There was also a hey in the background, which came from Nora, as well as laughter and cheers. Also, I can tell that it mainly came from Ruby, who was cheering for Yang and me simultaneously.
"I can tell that you're scared right now." Ozpin spoke to my head as I slowly nodded in agreement.
"I know. But I'm both scared and excited at the prospect of this spar against Yang. I must embrace the thrill of the fight if I am to stand a glimmer of a chance to beat her. And I know. It sounds stupid, but just work with mme,Oz."
"I see… Do try not to make this a habit. I prefer you to be more cautious in an actual fight. A small mistake could mean the end for both of us." Ozpin explained in my head, as I understood what he meant immediately. Yea, I am in no hurry to die anytime soon, though I need to act as aggressive as Yang to stand a glimmer of a chance against her.
"Understood." I nodded back before dashing in close, and with a step to the right, I moved and swung both Long Memory and Oathkeeper at Yang to the left. Who just smiles in return. Yang then dodges back to avoid my sprint attack. Only for me to suddenly chain it to another attack as I took another step, this time to the right as it landed directly on Yang, who winced from the impact. But that made her do something I feared would happen should I show signs of winning this spar.
"Now that's more like it!" I heard Yang say as her hair ignited, and her eyes glowed red. Shit! That was followed by Yang going on the offensive, as her punches and kicks now hit harder than before. And I know that Yang will use it to finish me off now.
Parrying my attack with ease, Yang knees me in the gut before throwing an overhead punch toward my exposed body, which still recovering from her punch. And with a desperate attempt to not get punched in the face again, I brought both Long Memory and Oathkeeper into a cross in front of my face before swinging upwards to counter Yang's enhanced punch. To everyone's surprise, and even to me, what happened was that I unintentionally deflected Yang's punch as it threw her off and made her stagger back.
Snapping out of my shock, I quickly took advantage of Yang's shock as I did a spin kick that hit her right in the chest. That sends Yang staggering quite a distance away from me. "Get back!" I yelled as I dropped Oathkeeper to grab some dirt on the ground and throw it into her eyes, and it worked, as some of it got into Yang's eyes.
"Urgh!" Yang grunted as she stepped back and rubbed the dirt off her eyes while I dashed in close for an attack. And with Yang distracted by the dirt in her eyes. She couldn't recover fast enough from iit,as I proceeded to knee Yang in the gut as pay back for kneeing me earlier before slashing her. Though she quickly recovered and parried my slash relatively easily, as a glare was all I got from her.
"That was a dirty trick you pulled off, Zack." Yang pointed it out, and I just nodded while gritting my teeth from the struggles of maintaining this clash.
"It was. But I'll get my hands dirty if I want to have a chance to beat you!" I yelled as I dodged back to avoid a punch that was aimed at me. Yang then recovered from her punch as she charged at me with an excited smile on her face.
Her fist winded up another punch.
"Hah! Then let us get dirty then!" Yang says as she sends another punch at me, which I block with my shield. She then activated Ember Celica, sending me skiing back from the impact. When I looked up after a heartbeat, I saw Yang right before me with her fist drawn and already about to land on my face!
OH, FUCK!
"How the f-?!" Those were my thoughts as Yang's fist made complete contact with my face and instantly shattered my remaining aura in one hit! Her punch also sent me flying back far, and it wasn't long until I crashed onto the ground with a throbbing pain on my cheek and still in a daze as to what the hell just happened.
"And the winner is Yang!" I heard Nora announcing in the background as I just panted heavily and remained flat on the ground as the pain from Yang's punch pulses from my cheek. Footsteps could also be heard rapidly approaching me as Ozpin chose to take the opportunity to speak his mind.
"That went better than what I was expecting." Ozpin admits as I just frown silently.
"Oh, so you were expecting worse out of this spar?" I sarcastically commented back at Ozpin, who just bluntly confirmed it.
"Yes. I expected you to lose control of the fight thirty seconds into it, but you surpassed my expectations. If only momentary, until Miss Xiao Long activates her semblance."
"Obviously." I sarcastically commented back as I could hear the others calling out to me as Yang stood in front of me with a genuine smile on her face while clapping her hands.
"Not bad. Not bad at all." Yang says as Ruby and the others finally arrive.
"Zack! That was amazing!" I heard Ruby call out to me as I slowly pushed myself off the ground, only to collapse again onto the floor. Is this how it feels to have my aura depleted? I feel so weak. I can see why some people back on earth like to compare aura levels to hp bars.
Once you run out of it, you're screwed.
"Whoa, whoa. Easy there, tough guy." I heard Yang call out to me as she grabbed my hand and helped me back onto my feet with the others.
"I advise you not to push yourself." I heard Ren speaking. "You just had your aura depleted for the first time, from what I can tell."
I could only just silently nod as he was right. "Yea. I feel so weak right now. Is this what it feels like?" I groaned out as Nora helpfully confirmed it since most of the time, in the spar against everyone else, I would yield before I depleted my aura.
"Yes, it does, Zacky! It sucks, but that was still awesome! You managed to handle Yang quite well!"
"Does quite well include having my aura depleted from one punch?" I sarcastically commented as Ruby, Nora, and Yang giggled at what I had just said. I then slowly turned my head to the left to see Jaune picking up Ozpin's cane and Oathkeeper from the ground, not too far from me. Right, I dropped them both when Yang landed that mega-punch to my face.
"Seriously, though, that was a mean punch and that hurt Yang." I point out as I rub my cheek with the back of my hand, though Yang just laughs at my comment before she slaps the back of my shoulder with her prosthetic arm.
"Ha! I know, right? I'm impressed with what you did just now, and you did go dirty on me, so that was payback for it." I stared at Yang confused for about a second or two as I remembered what Yang meant. She was referring to me deflecting her enhanced punch with Oathkeeper and Long Memory in hand.
Uhm… How do I explain to them how what I did originated from a game from my world? Even then, I did it out of desperation and was not expecting it to work since it was from a game. Then again, the world of RWBY has cases of physics deciding to get drunk and go home.
"Well… It was a quick idea that appeared out of the blue in my head out of desperation to not get punched in the face." I said as my fox tail swayed slowly as Jaune approached us, holding Oathkeeper and Long Memory in his hands. That was immediately followed by Nora pointing out in an almost accusatory tone.
"But you got punched in the face just a while ago, Zacky!" Nora pointed at my red cheek as I lost my composure and just rolled my eyes with a smile cracking on my face.
"Oh, shut up about it."
That immediately got laughter from everyone else, including Weiss, as Jaune also took the time to return my and Ozpin's weapons to me. I sheathed Oathkeeper first before keeping Ozpin's cane as well.
"Thanks for returning them to me, Jaune." I said as Jaune just rubbed my thanks off.
"No worries, Zac-."
Whether it was convenient timing or not, a grumble could be heard coming out of me as my face glowed a shade of red, as everyone else laughed even more than before.
Right.
I hadn't had my breakfast at all before Yang woke me up and dragged both of us into a spar.
"I uh. Did you leave any breakfast for me to eat?" I whispered as I did my best to brush my embarrassment off my face.
Again this happened.
"Yeah, I left a sandwich on the table alongside some coffee," Ruby explained as she paused for a second. "You take coffee, right?"
I just nodded my head at the thought of fresh coffee. Haven't drunk that stuff in months. I wonder what Remnant's coffee tastes like. Does it have any difference to the brands on earth?
"Sure. That sounds great. And thanks for leaving something for me." I thanked with an earnest simile on my face.
"Oh, it's nothing. Ren was the one who made it. We just helped out in it." Ruby points at Ren, who just nods at me.
"Well… thank you for making it, Ren. Imma go eat breakfast now. See you all later?" I responded as I just got nods in return. With that in mind, I walked off from the group as they began their morning spar against each other. As for me, I have plans to watch them while eating.
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Before I arrived back at the patio with my sandwich alongside a cup of coffee, Ozpin gave me a piece of advice/lecture as to what I could do to improve myself. The most common thing in our talk was that I mainly needed to improve my stamina. Other than that, I need to work on my skills and evasion.
As soon as I sat down, Ozpin could be heard again in my head.
"If I may ask you something, Zack," Ozpin spoke in my head as I just nodded silently for him to continue.
"Go ahead, Oz. What do you need from me?" I asked as I took a bite out of Ren's tasty chicken sandwich and drank some coffee that tasted much better than on Earth, despite it being those three in one instant coffee. It says they originate from Vacuo, so it must be good. Either that or Remnant's coffee is just better than Earth's.
It might also be because of my enhanced sensory from being a Faunus.
"I wish to ask you about what will happen later, as you agreed to do it." That one? Well… I guess we should get it out of the way first before it could bite us in the ass.
"Okay, I suppose." I paused for a second to take a sip of coffee. "But first, Oz, if I may ask about your history with Salem. Do you believe that she was coming in clean to you after your first resurrection and reunion?" I slowly asked him internally as we were both silent for a second or two before he spoke to me.
"Yes. I believe that was the case. Why?" Ozpin asked with suspicion as I felt my guilt building up at what I was about to reveal to him. But it needs to be done if both of us are to prevent unnecessary pain from happening to everyone.
"Well… you see… in the future. After an incident. Most of team RWBY, JNR, alongside Qrow and an old woman, began to doubt you and used the Relic of Knowledge they had to ask Jinn for the truth about what you were hiding. And all of them learned the horrible truth." I explained and let Ozpin access that part of the story. The part that Salem was hiding was that she was responsible for ending the world, and all of it happened because he so happened to succumb to his illness.
I don't know what happened next, but all I knew the next few minutes was that Ozpin went completely dark on me as I continued to watch everyone else spar. Did I make the right decision to reveal it to him? To show that the woman he loved was the one who ended the world? Or to show that his secret will be exposed to everyone eventually?
I honestly hope I made the right decision to tell him about it.
I could only wonder in my head before hearing footsteps approaching me from the side. Then, turning my head, I could see Weiss slightly tired from her spar earlier, walking towards me.
"Weiss," I called her out as she responded to me.
"Zack." Weiss then sat next to me and began to drink some water she had with her.
…
This is getting awkward.
"I assume that your reunion with Ruby went well last night?" I say as I bite into my sandwich.
"Yes, you can say that. Why?" Weiss then asked as she glanced at me curiously about why I asked that question.
"I'm just basing this on Ozpin's memories. According to him, your relationship with Ruby was shaky at first. But that changed, didn't it?" I leaned back slightly as I turned my head to see Ruby dodging Nora's hammer before swiping her with Cresent Rose.
"Yes. You could say that. I have come to learn that Ruby can become an exceptional leader. And I promise to do my best to be the best partner I could be to her." Weiss said it with a smile as both of us watched as Nora dodged Ruby's scythe by jumping over while yelling out.
Actually… I wonder if Weiss knows about my childhood friend Schmitt. Since she's in Atlas and her mother, is responsible for a company. "I… want to ask you something, Weiss."
"Is something bothering you?" Weiss just raised an eyebrow at me, and I just nodded in response.
"Yea. By any chance, have you heard of a person called Celeste Schmitt?" I asked as Weiss looked surprised for some reason.
"You know her?" Weiss let a breath out as she asked me with surprise.
"Yea." I nodded my head. "We knew each other back in Nozomu we were young. She used to stay there with her family until they moved to Altas. Since then, we have tried to remain in contact with each other, but with the fall of the CCTs. Things have gotten harder." I explained as Weiss was silent the whole way through.
"I see…" Weiss hummed as she rubbed her chin as if she was trying to remember something. "Yes, I know her, and she had sought me out before. Her family were much different from the rest of Atlas's rich and superficial people. You could say that they were rising stars among them for their connections and influence. Both external and internal."
First of all. Wow. She and her family have been busy with whatever they are doing. Secondly, what's her family business that caused them to be rising stars?
"What business does her family do?" I then asked as Weiss was lost in thought.
"Mostly on commerce and trading. Though there were rumours that her family were expanding to other businesses, the other corporations were getting increasingly nervous around them. Then there is one about their utter disregard about the embargoes set by General Ironwood, and they have cleverly used loopholes to get around it."
"So technically, they were breaking the law but not at the same time." I added in as Weiss just nodded at my response.
"Indeed. The thing is that they maintain good ties with the politicians of both Altas and Mantle, which alone makes it incredibly hard for anyone to uproot them without facing any sort of repercussions. Including my father."
I admit I was stupefied by what Weiss had just said. "They… went against the Schnee Dust Company?" I slowly said as Weiss just nodded at me as I took a bite.
"Imagine my surprise when I returned to Altas to hear my father ranting about how the Schmitts had outmanoeuvred and blackmailed him in return." Weiss explained with a slight chuckle as she remembered how furious he was.
I gave my chuckle in return. The thought of that bastard getting blackmailed is hilarious, and I could imagine the look on his face. But why did they blackmail him?
"Weiss, you have any idea why they blackmailed him for?" I asked as Weiss just shook her head.
"I do not know," Weiss admits. "My father never bothered to say why. But nonetheless, whatever the Schmitts did, they got him into a hand lock."
I could only just laugh at what I had just heard. "Good to see that worm squirm. I never liked him." He's a poor example of a father who was only in it for himself. A part of me cheered when he got vaporised by Ironwood, but that was back on Earth. But now, that thought scares me since everything's real.
Surprisingly enough, Weiss wasn't offended by what I said. Instead, she just laughed alongside me for a while before I retook the conversation. "Okay, I think we deviated from the original point of this conversation," I say as Weiss just nods at me. "If I may ask, why did my friend seek you out?"
Weiss paused for a while before she gave me an answer while I had some coffee. "I will admit, it has been a while since I talked to her, but she mentioned her desire to work with me in the future. It was clear to everyone that her family despised my father for his role in the poor treatment of all workers, and that thought process was shared with her." Weiss described Schmitt to me as I was lost in my thoughts.
How strange. Either the Schmitt family realised the significance of the Schnee Dust Company and wished to influence it to their advantage, or something else was happening behind the scenes. Then there's the fact that I must be in a Remnant with slight changes present. I can only come to that conclusion as the little white fox, the Schmitt's attempt to influence Weiss's company and holding Jacques via blackmail, heck. Even my existence will change how the story would go. While I could try to keep it constant, relying on my meta-knowledge of the entire story alone would make me blind to the alternative.
"Well, that was interesting to know. Thanks for answering my question, Weiss." I offer Weiss a smile, and she just accepts it.
"It is of no concern. We are all in this together, after all." Weiss spoke rather proud of herself as she and I returned our gazes to everyone else still performing their spar.
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Much later in the day, Zack was getting incredibly nervous for one reason. Ozpin hadn't spoken to him ever since his talk with him in the morning. He would generally put it off due to Ozpin sleeping, but Zack felt that he might have rushed through it honestly, but the deed is done and cannot be reversed. So, all he could do was hope that Ozpin would recover.
As to what he was doing now, he was in the markets buying all sorts of groceries to resupply the fridge for the rest of the gang back home. It happened to be his turn to buy groceries as both Yang and Weiss needed to leave the house to purchase necessities like sleepwear and toiletries since they did not have any with them when they came over.
At the moment, Zack was hiding his tail as usual as he looked through the selection of fruits on display, as both Humans and Faunus could be seen wandering around doing their own shopping.
"Hmm… The fruits looked fresh enough…" Those were his thoughts before he picked up something among the crowds. He was unsure whether it was his Faunus instinct, but he could feel someone watching him among the surrounding crowd. Turning his head around, he saw everyone minding their business, which puzzled him.
Who or what was watching him?
With that in mind, Zack quickly bought what he needed to purchase and left in a quick but orderly manner to not draw attention to him. "Perhaps it's just my paranoia kicking in for no reason." And so, Zack thought to himself as he arrived back to where he and everyone else were staying at. He then dropped off all the groceries he had bought and immediately returned to his room.
Only to see the very same fox cub with a white letter in his mouth on the floor?
"What are you doing back here, buddy? And why are you here with a letter? In your mouth?" Zack muttered as he slowly approached the little fox with caution. Said fox reacted by slowly walking up to him and dropping the letter on the floor before Zack. It then jumped onto his bed and out the window as it did before. Leaving Zack alone in the room with the letter on the floor while wondering what's happening.
Understandably confused as to why it came back to give a letter to him, Zack slowly picked up the note on the floor with his thoughts running like a steel mill. "That little guy is definitely under someone if it delivered a letter to me. The question right now is who owns the cub and why asks it to deliver me a letter."
Zack then sat on his bed as he, opened up the letter, and read it.
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Hello, Zack Arakan.
If you are seeing this letter, this means that my companion has reached out and passed this letter to you.
Now, no doubt you're wondering why you received this letter.
But that doesn't matter right now. All will be revealed in time. But do heed this request.
You are to head to this location on the map provided to you on the second page alone. Once you're there, there is a hidden shrine there that you need to find.
You will know once you see it.
And then you will receive a blessing from it. If you fail to turn up, my companion will seek you out and bring you to it if he must.
I understand if you have no desire to go through with this request, since I am but a stranger to you.
The decision is up to you, Zack Arakan.
Till we talk again.
A.W.O.R
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The letter ends as Zack is left with mixed emotions. Confusion and suspicion were the main feelings he felt about the whole thing.
Who calls themselves AWOR to begin with?
And who could blame him? This individual wants him to go to a specific place on a map alone? The letter lacked many details. Honestly, who would fall for this? Though, one thing bothered him greatly.
Who and how did this person know of him? A hidden relative? Stalker? Is some Yandere trying to lure him into a trap? A plot of the Brother gods to get him under their influence? His mind could only run on for a while before he chose to pull out the map within the letter, on it shows a highly detailed map of mistral with an X not too far from it.
Honestly, did this unknown person expect Zack to head in there alone? Do they take him for a fool? Zack could only scoff as he crushed and threw the letter into the bin, but chose to keep the map just in case.
Seriously, this feels like a prank, and someone just wants to fuck with him because they can. Yet, the other part of him feels like this is a legit thing. Though the idea of receiving a blessing irked him for going there feels suspicious.
He has better things to do, like preparing for the battle of Haven that should come soon. But Zack could only ask himself as he left his room.
"Ozpin, I could use your guidance on this matter right now."
Only to get silence in return.
"Oz, are you okay?"