//------------------------------// // Chapter 29. // Story: Embrace of Light and Dark // by Knight of Crows //------------------------------// Cassiel POV The next morning was... Interesting. So before I get into that, Ozpin wanted to speak to me late the night I was placed in team RWBY. Let's just say it was intrusive and he got nothing out of me. Now back to the events of next morning. The others unpacked and decorated their (our) room. Somehow though, they managed to leave no room for me (not like I have anything), and stacked the beds. Literally. So they fixed that in the dumbest way they could, somehow they made it work. Bunk beds. I'm thankful for my bed not being here yet, Yang wouldn't let me sleep on the floor in the corner, and I don't trust Ozpin further than I can stab him. She did try to get me to sleep without the mask, but it stayed on. I think her clinging to me was her way of getting back at me. So our first class was with professor Port. A man on the larger side, dressed in a red suit, probably middle aged. His weapon being a blunderbuss shotgun/ battle axe on the stock. I can already see where this is going, but I listen anyway in case something related to Grimm comes up. Ruby is joking around, Weiss is showing clear signs of agitation, and Port is telling a story of how he dealt with a Beowulf in his youth. One thing he said though got a reaction out of me though. "A true Huntsman must be honorable. A true Huntsman must be dependable. A true Huntsman must be strategic... Well-educated... And wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" He asked. I raised my hand, but didn't give a response he wanted or expected. "I can guarantee I don't embody a few of those. Honor? Against mindless beasts or dishonorable people? All that accomplishes is failure and meaningless deaths. Dependable? The bare minimum is the enemy dies, or your mission is a success, something honor would hinder. Strategic? Dishonorable plans and methods are the most strategic. Well-educated? What's not to understand about 'stab it until it stops breathing'? Wise? The wise man knows how to properly do what is necessary. Send any Grimm my way, and it won't last long, I can guarantee that." "Is that so?" He asked with a raised brow. "Then let's see for ourselves! Step down here and face the monster I captured personally!" He gestured to a giant cage in the room. "I'll prove my point by fighting it my way." I complied. "Don't you want your weapon first?" "I already have plenty." I responded as I reached the bottom. "Alright. Let the match, begin." He struck the lock on the cage with the axe and boar type Grimm charged out. I summoned Dawn, tossed it above the boar, and airstepped to Dawn, catching it as the boar crashed into the wall. "Nice dodge." Port complimented. "Aero." I launched the boar into the air and chose to start proving my point. "Gravity." It slammed into the ground, clearly in pain, it's armor cracking. "Aero." I lifted it again and airstepped to it. "Gravity." It slammed into the ground again, it's armor broken. "Restricting it's movements I see. Well done!" Port said. I airstepped to it again, finally plunging Dawn into it and putting it out of it's misery. "Efficient, though I feel the brutality was unnecessary. Regardless, we are in the presence of a Huntsman in training. I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings and, stay vigilant. Class dismissed." After class, Weiss let her anger out on Ruby. Spoiled bitch. "-you've done nothing to earn your position. Back in the forest you only acted like a child and you've only continued to do so." Weiss complained. "Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about, working together? I thought you believed in acting as a team." Ruby tried to understand, but couldn't. "Not a team, led by you. I've studied, and trained, and quite frankly, I deserve better." Weiss turned away. "Ozpin made a mistake." I grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "She studied too, and trained harder than most. She can probably hold her own against most of the other students here, and she's supposed to be two years behind everyone. That alone should be enough proof that she earned it. Right now, I'm more inclined to follow her orders than yours, she may be acting like a child, but at least she's not acting like a self entitled brat!" I said. "'Self entitled br-'" she started. "'You deserve better'? Because you did exactly what she did? Minus the grade skip? Listen well, Ice Queen. I don't take shit from people like you, and I love forcing them to face reality, before I slam it into their faces. I hear something like this happening again, and your life here becomes hell!" I ignored her as I entered the SR to my next class. (episode 11) So I just watched Jaune get his ass handed to him against Cardin. Idiot can't even use his sword or shield properly. Right now we're all in the cafeteria and after Nora finished telling everyone about a dream she had, Ruby and Pyrrha started trying to convince Jaune to let them help with Cardin who is currently giving a bunny eared Faunus named Velvet some trouble. Once he laid a hand on her, I moved out of my seat and made my way over to them. "This looks like fun... Mind if I join?" Cardin and his friends turned to me. "Sure, why not?" He turned back to Velvet. "Looks like someone else wants you out of here, freak!" "Oh, I wasn't talking about her." He looked at me confused. "I was talking about you and your team." I grabbed him by his hair, froze my hand onto it, and slammed it into the table before freezing his head to it. Before any of his friends could react, I froze them to the wall behind them. "You know, I truly hate humans. There is no race quite as hateful, ignorant, conceited, hypocritical, and irredeemable as humans. I say this from personal experience as a human. I have significantly less patience for humans as I've been on the receiving end for long enough, yet, Faunus have never even so much as given me a reason to fear, hate, or even dislike them." "You're a freak lo-*muffled shouting*!" Cardin started, but was silenced as I froze his mouth shut. "I wasn't finished. Personal experience tells me Faunus are better in every way that matters. Of my only four friends, two are Faunus, and there's only one human I'd call my friend. They are worth more to me than the survival of humanity. The next time I see you doing something like this, you will be forming a very, shall we say... Intimate... Relationship with that wall your friends are frozen onto, before I scrape off what's left and throw you into an industrial meat grinder. Are we clear?" No response. "Good! You should be unfrozen in a little while. Have fun!" I took my seat with the others and got various looks from them. Ren had a straight face, Nora looked ready to explode in laughter, Weiss and Pyrrha were disturbed, Blake and Ruby I couldn't exactly identify, and Yang looked angry. "Those numbers don't add up. Four friends, two Faunus, one human, who's the fourth?" Blake asked. "She's nowhere near here either, much like the other three." I answered. "..." "..." "So you hate humans, huh?" Yang asked. "I could give you a list of reasons why, personal and otherwise. There's only one human I would call a friend, and he's nowhere near here. It's easy to hate someone when they hurt you, easy to hate many when they hurt you or don't help when you need it most, eventually you just stop caring about the good in people because it begins to hurt as well. Rather, you don't just stop caring, you want to return the favor ten fold. Why do you think all those Grimm were at the ruins back then? I'm practically a magnet to them." She slammed her hand on the table. "You're human too, right? We can't tell because you hide under that coat and behind that mask! You hate yourself too?" She yelled. "... Would it surprise you if I said yes? That I can't stand the face in the mirror?" I answered. "But, Cassiel... We're friends, right?" Ruby asked. "Tell me, how often have any of us spoken to one another? I know next to nothing about any of you, and you all know next to nothing about me. You don't even know what I look like. The closest we've had to bonding is me laying into Weiss and standing up for you, Yang not letting me sleep on the floor that one time, and Blake letting me read a few of her books. Does that sound like friendship? Or does that sound like me channeling my anger on the cause of it, Yang being more comfortable with the idea of sleeping in the same bed as someone else than you three, or Blake just not being greedy?" I asked. "Maybe if you opened up a little and let others in, you could still be friends with everyone here." Not something I'd expect from Blake. "Coming from the girl who hides her true self from her 'friends'! Yeah, I noticed, and I truly am sorry you feel you have to hide that from the others." She looked at me, scared I would reveal the secret behind that bow. I removed enough of my mask to show them a third of my face, blood dripping onto the table. "This is one of the reasons I wear this mask. Doctors can't do anything about it, it's a waste of aura to heal it, and no one wants to clean up everywhere I go. Have I opened up enough? I'm leaving now." I dumped my tray into the trash and left. I probably am too cynical for my own good. That night. I'm on the balcony on top of my team's room. The view beats Earth's, no doubt about that. The room might be more comfortable, but I doubt they want to see me right now, not like it should make a difference anyway. I'm not even officially part of the team, I'm just along for the ride as I continue my "tour of the worlds". I removed my mask to feel the breeze, let the blood flow more freely down my cheeks. I heard the door open behind me after a minute or two and put the mask back on, keeping my back to the door. Whoever closed the door and took a few steps to me. Neither of us said anything for a while, I figured they would leave eventually. "So how long have you known?" So it was Blake then. "Hold that thought." I summoned Nightfall and pointed it at the door. A beam of light shot out and placed a lock on it. "How do you do that?" She asked. "I could tell you everything and you wouldn't believe me. So let's just say I have a very... Adaptable Semblance, moreso than Weiss's Glyphs." I dismissed Nightfall and turned back to the view before she came up. "To answer your first question, the first week. Your bow shifts, not often enough to be noticed easily, but enough for me, and you've reacted to things no one else can hear." "You don't care about me not being human?" "The only thing I care about in regards to your race is that you don't think the others will accept you. My experience with people and views on humanity says they won't, this strange feeling in my chest says they probably would. I don't think this is what Raven meant when she told me to let my heart be my guiding key. Whatever, you would get a warmer reception from them than I would right now." "They're more hurt than angry with you, Ruby especially." "Tell me... Why do you hide your ears?" I asked. "Why do you hide yourself from others?" She asked in turn. "If you want details, you'll be having nightmares for a long time. Will the abridged version do if I show you my face? And you remove the bow? Your story?" "You first." Figured. I turned to show her my face and kept the mask off as I spoke. "Long story short, I saw my family get murdered and defiled by a fellow human. I hadn't even heard of a Faunus by that point. Lost my little sister and grandparents too because of the same guy, nearly died to him too. He went free despite all the evidence and I was adopted by my aunt and uncle who are shall we say, less than friendly, doesn't help they hated my parents and by extension, me. The school they enrolled me in was arguably worse. I accidentally found the one who ruined my life, living off blood money from my family, and I made him suffer for hours without even the luxury of screaming. It was humans, driven by the pettiest reasons, who hurt me, not Faunus. Your turn." She took a minute to soak it in before untying her bow, cat ears. "Have you heard of the 'White Fang'?" She asked. "I've read enough. Peaceful group of Faunus that basically wanted to bring humans and Faunus together. Equal rights, fair treatment, the desire to be regarded as people and not something less. Feeling peaceful options weren't getting the job done, they became more radical and violent." I answered. "I was a member for most of my life, almost born into it. Back then it was a peaceful group, a voice for the Faunus in a world that discriminated and hated us. I was at every rally, every boycott, but we weren't making a difference. Though 5 years ago, a new leader with a new way of thinking rose up." "That new leader is the one who changed the White Fang. Related articles gave some info on known members, other articles gave info on their treatment during and before the war, a few people in the SDC need to die. Sienna Khan, Adam Taurus." She tensed up as I said that name. "I haven't found other members of interest. Some want equality, others might want revenge, the overall goal is the same, but the methods had to change." "What do you mean 'they had to change'? They are hurting innocent people, and they think it's helping them!" "It is, it will, though a few martyrs will be necessary. Peace was attempted for longer than should be necessary, so, tired of being the victims, have decided to take what they are rightfully owed by force if necessary, and then some as compensation for the trouble. Now we wait for a Faunus who is even worse than both, one who doesn't want equality, but blood, and will not hesitate to kill anything in his way. Then, a Faunus, opposed to the White Fang, must end it once and for all." I pointed to her. "That is how the Faunus will find salvation. One must be willing to bear all the hate, and die with it. That hero will be in the White Fang, soon if they aren't already." She looked conflicted, pained even. "What will you do now?" I put the mask back on, walked over, and lightly rubbed my hand between her ears. "Call it a night." I unlocked the door and headed down. I'm tired.