Ch. 36 Understandings

Alabast, Ruby, Blake, Penny, and Sun were still sitting on the boxes for some time. They couldn't leave until somebody from Beacon came and got them so it's not like they could leave. Unless they wanted to get in more trouble.

They were done talking and just sat in silence. It was a little awkward for Sun, but Penny was just enjoying being with friends.

Sun just couldn't believe that Alabast somehow got Blake AND Ruby. He knew Blake from their time over the weekend and she seemed pretty chill and cool. And his brief time knowing Ruby was about the same. Just that Ruby was younger and more awkward and louder and much more energetic.

Sun didn't know how to view Alabast. He thought he was just a stronger than average guy, but hearing about his past and seeing him fight changed his mind. And seeing him interact with his friends compared to when he's not around them was interesting. Mainly because Sun himself was not seen as a friend. Probably had something to do with him trying to get in Blake's good graces. What can Sun say? He likes what he likes, even if that earns him a beating when he gets too close.

Anyway, Sun was just counting the stars in the night sky to pass the time. Penny was just observing Alabast, Ruby, and Blake.

Ruby and Blake were on either side of Alabast. Ruby still had Alabast's tail around her and it was gave her a warm feeling. She enjoyed running her fingers through the tail fur. It was just so fluffy.

Alabast had given back Blake's bow once her hands were clean of his blood. She still wanted to hide her race, and Alabast didn't mind. He would just have her take the bow off when they were in the dorm rooms. He liked it when she was fully herself.

Blake wanted to talk with Alabast privately. To thank him, to say sorry, and to ask the many questions floating in her mind. But also to spend time with him alone. It was pretty rare for the two of them to be fully alone after all.

She held his hand and played with his fingers. They were decently big, but not freakishly big. She thought about what if Alabast was stabbed a bit higher, in a more fatal area. She would have been the reason he died. And she was the reason he got hurt. If she had just not gone after the White Fang it would have been fine. Sure more dust would have been stolen, but it exploded in the end anyway. So they just stopped Roman from getting a bit of dust is all they accomplished. That, and lots of property damage. But that was mostly Penny. She shakes her head, thinking this way wouldn't get anything done. She would just need to be more careful in the future.

Alabast was enjoying having Ruby back beside him. He had missed her and the others more than he expected over the two days they spent apart. And when he finally saw Ruby again she immediately got shot by an explosive round. He was pissed and wanted to make Roman suffer. He had even tossed Nights Fall into a hidden spot to be able to crush Roman with his own hands. He even got carried away and tried a move he wasn't fully prepared to use. His Darkness arm wasn't meant to be used like that. He could have just summoned Darkness tendrils to achieve the same goal without burning as much aura. This is probably what got him injured.

His wound is healing smoothly. It just doesn't feel great now that the adrenaline has worn off.

He was trying to keep his mind off of what Weiss would say to him. Yang included. Pyrrha… she was always understanding. But that didn't make him feel better. If anything, it made it worse. What if the most understanding person denied and left him? She would definitely take a piece of him with her, any of them would. They each had a fragile piece of him.

——————

A few minutes later the 5 students heard footsteps approaching them.

They looked and saw the rest of team ANVL and RWBY approaching them. They didn't have very pleased faces. The ones leading were Weiss and Yang.

Ruby jumped infront of them while Alabast and Blake stood up, but didn't move.

Ruby talks really fast to try and explain to Weiss. "Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute..." Alabast agrees with the ears being cute.

Weiss ignores Ruby and just walks past her. She goes right up to Blake, ignoring Alabast as well.

"Weiss, I want you to know that we are no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when we were with the-" Blake tries to explain her and Alabast's situation but Weiss cuts her off.

Weiss narrows her eyes at Blake. "Stop! Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?" She pauses. Yang, Nora,Ren, and Pyrrha stand in the background. "'Twelve' hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided..."

Yang, Sun, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Alabast, and Ruby look on, worried.

Weiss steps closer to Blake. "I don't care"

Blake's eyes widen slightly in surprise. "You don't care?"

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss looks into her eyes.

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-" Blake explains but gets cut off.

Alabast is curious about what she meant by 'younger'.

Weiss raises her hand and stops Blake. "Ah-bahp-bahp-bahp! I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up... you'll come to your teammates. And not some..." Weiss looks at Sun. She catches herself. "Someone else"

Blake glances at the rest of her friends behind Weiss smiling at her. She wipes a tear from her eye and nods. "Of course"

Weiss smiles and nods. The moment is serious for a second more until Ruby quietly cheers.

"Yeah~! Team RWBY is back together~!" She waves her arms in the air slightly.

Weiss then looks at Alabast. "And you" She points her finger at Alabast's chest and moves to stand in front of him.

Everyone goes back to their tense expressions.

Alabast has his neutral expression.

Weiss looks up at his face. "I'm not going to lie. It hurt when you left and went after Blake instead of talking with us"

Alabast looked into Weiss's pained and teary eyes. He has no excuses for his actions.

"But I understand why you left, even if it hurt. I would hope you wouldn't leave any of us alone if we ran out like that. But you need to get better at using your words. Even when it gets hard to speak. And your a team leader. You can't just fall off the side of Remnant like that" Weiss starts explaining.

Alabast looks at his team. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha stand next to eachother. "I know. And that won't happen again. I'll work on my communication skills. And I won't go off on my own" He looks at his team and team RWBY. "I'll rely on others more too"

Alabast kneels on the ground in sieza. His hands on his thighs. He looks up at Weiss. "I'm sorry that I hurt you". He looks at the others. "I'm sorry to all of you"

He slightly lowers his head in apology.

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again. And…." Weiss looks to the side before looking back at Alabast. "… I still love you"

Alabast looks up at Weiss. "I never stopped worrying about you"

Weiss's face is red, even parts of her ears are. "Stand up already, it's embarrassing to have you kneeling on the ground"

Alabast stand up and breathes a sigh of relief.

"Hug time!" Ruby shouts as she grab Yang and Pyrrha by the hands and drags them to Alabast. Ruby catches Weiss with her own arm and Yang's arm to bring her into the hug. Blake also gets grabbed by Pyrrha and brought into it.

Alabast isn't able to completely wrap his arms around everyone but he tries his best.

Nora squeals and jumps in excitement before grabbing Ren and jumping into the hug. "Eeeeeeehh! Hug Time!"

Ren didn't even bother resisting. He knew it was futile to resist anyway.

Nora collided into the group and Alabast ended up getting toppled over from the impact.

Sun looks at the dogpile he uses his tail to scratch his temple as he begins to feel a bit awkward. "At least Penny is…." He looks around for Penny but doesn't see her anywhere. "Where is Penny?"

——————

Across the dock there is a limo with tinted windows. The back driver side window is rolled down to reveal a saddened Penny looking at the back of the driver's seat.

The limo driver speaks. "You should know better than to go running around in a strange city"

Penny further looks down in sadness. "I know, sir"

The vehicle begins to drive away and the window rolls up as Penny looks at her friends look around for her. Although, almost all are laying atop eachother.

"Penny, your time will come..." The driver says to help console Penny.

——————

Alabast wonders what will happen next. "Are we doing anything special over the next 2 weeks before our next semester starts?"

He wants to train and spend more time with his team and girlfriends. It's not like he has any family to go to over the break.

"Have fun!" Ruby cheers from the middle of the dog pile.

The group seems to agree to that. Nobody seems to plan on going home for the 2 week break.

"My birthday is coming up, but I thankfully don't have to return to Atlas" Weiss says.

"You're turning older?!" Ruby dramatically asks.

"We all are you dunce, it's just that my birthday is coming up" Weiss can't believe the IQ level of her leader.

"But you'll be 18! And I'm still only 15…." Ruby says as her attitude deflates.

"I turned 18 a while ago" Blake adds in.

"When?" Alabast asks. That's one thing they hadn't discussed.

They're birthdays.

"January 19th" Blake scans Alabasts face and sees that he is genuinely surprised.

"Why didn't you say anything? We weren't that busy after the New Years" Alabast doesn't know why Blake would hide it.

Blake seems a little down. "I don't know…. Just didn't come up I guess"

Alabast puts his hand on her shoulder, it's a little awkward since he has his arms full and he's on the ground. "We can celebrate it when we get the chance"

"Renny is already 18 too! His was April 1st!" Nora shouts and shakes Ren who seems not so enthusiastic. Probably at being shaken so violently. "Mines August 15th!"

"I guess we really didn't bother with birthdays. We were busy training or lazing around trying not to get lost in school work. My birthday is the 27th of September" Pyrrha admits. They really hadn't cared that much about it in the past.

"July 28th is my big day" Yang has conflicting feelings. Mainly because that's also the day that her biological mother left her.

Everyone then looks at Alabast.

He thinks for a few seconds. "I don't know when my birthday is, I just count the years after…. the 'Bloody Hours' protest... That sounds much worse than it did in the past" Alabast didn't really exactly know his birthday. So he just used the date that he came to this world. It wasn't ever a cause for celebration though

"Yeah..." Ruby doesn't exactly know how to respond. "Why don't you just pick one? You get to choose your birthday! Any day you want! Right?!"

"I guess? But what would be a good day?" Alabast tries to think of a date. "What about June 9th?"

"Any specific reason?" Questions Yang.

"Not in particular, just one that popped into my head" Alabast knows why though. Because June is the 6th month and it makes a funny number. And there isn't a birthday in the same month in the group yet so that also kinda limited his range down. It's also near the date of the 'Bloody Hours' protest.

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asks. She knows that the date is near the protest date.

"Yeah, it's different enough but still close to when I would have celebrated" Alabast looks up at the night sky and all the stars. The broken moon shines brightly.

Just as he says this, footsteps approach the group.

"Get up this instance! Just because you are on break does not mean you aren't still students at Beacon. What were you thinking"

A familiar voice can be heard. Everyone looks to where it came from and saw Glynda Goodwitch in her usual outfit. It seems this was the representative from Beacon that would pick them up.

"Mr. Sun Wukong. I wish that your arrival here in Vale….. could have been better" Goodwitch says in a knowing tone. "Now I recommend that all of you not try a stunt like this again. And I don't want to hear a word until we are back at Beacon. Let's get going" She turns around and begins walking.

Glynda Goodwitch was in full serious mode.

Sun seems to already know who Glynda is. He was on Beacon grounds on Friday night after all. He looks to the pile of students that scramble to their feet and follow after their teacher. Sun follows behind them not daring to find out what would happen if he didn't. He had heard the horror stories on his brief tour around the campus.

——————

After they arrived back at Beacon Blake and Alabast were taken away by Goodwitch from the rest of the group. The others were told that they should go back to their dorms and enjoy the time between semesters. This made a chill run down their spines and they were gone in seconds. Goodwitch knew how to be intimidating when she wanted to, which was actually quite often since she was the strictest of the teachers.

Blake and Alabast walked next to eachother behind Glynda. They had an idea of where they were going. It was the main tower of Beacon where Ozpin had his office near the top. It didn't take a genius to know what was about to happen. And they had a feeling it would be similar to the way Ruby was interrogated. Ruby was very excited and told them every detailed.

——————

Blake is sitting in an interrogation office behind a metal table. She faces the door, waiting for Ozpin to enter.

Alabast was taken to a different room for his own interrogation.

After a few minutes Ozpin enters with his cane and mug in hand. "Well, this has certainly been an eventful evening". The Headmaster comments.

Blake had a concerned look on her face and was staring off to the side. Ozpin's words brought her back to the current situation. "Hm" She acknowledges his statement.

Ozpin walks up to the table next to a chair across from Blake. "I'm sure that after a night of thwarting attempted robbery, you probably just want to go home and take a nap" He rests his cane against the table and his mug on the table as he takes his seat. "But, I was hoping that maybe we could have a chance to talk"

Blake looks at Ozpin and straightens her posture. "Of course"

Ozpin rests his left hand on the edge of the table. "Wonderful. As you know, in order to enroll at my academy, students must first pass a rigorous entrance exam. Most applicants spend years of preparation training at one of the many combat schools around the world" Ozpin grabs his mug and raises it in the air and gestures at Blake. "You, are one of the few that did not. And you passed the exam with flying colors"

"I was raised outside the kingdoms. If you can't fight, you can't survive" The young Faunus explains in her defense.

Ozpin sets his mug back down and leans on his left elbow as his right hand rests on his cane. He moves the cane around a little as if it was second nature. "Well, you have most certainly survived, Blake. I admire your drive. And I am proud to run a school that accepts individuals from all walks of life". He sits up and grabs his mug again and raises it as he talks. "Rich, poor, Human..." The caffeine addict sips his coffee. "Faunus..." He emphasizes.

Blake glares at Ozpin but doesn't respond.

Ozpin sets the mug down and tries to understand his student. "Why do you wear that bow, Blake? Why hide who you are?"

Blake turns her gaze from Ozpin to the edge of the table. "You may be willing to accept the Faunus, Professor Ozpin, but your species is not"

Ozpin solemnly nods. "True. But, we are continuing to take strides to lessen the divide"

Blake looks at Ozpin. "With all due respect, you need to start taking some larger strides. Until then, I'd rather avoid any unnecessary attention" She points at herself. "I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am"

Ozpin turns his head. "And what of Alabast?"

Blake moves her head to the side. "He doesn't have a choice. He can't just hide his Faunus traits. And he deals with prejudice from both Humans and Faunus"

Ozpin sighs and closes his eyes. "That is most unfortunate" He opens his eyes and looks at his student. "But that doesn't seem to have slowed him down one bit. Even without hiding his Faunus traits he has made friends, and some more 'special' than others. He even overcame a great challenge for any Faunus. Even if I don't agree with his….. 'old school' way of handling team CRDL, it was effective. He has continued to challenge who he is and find his own way. I look forward to his bright future and seeing what he becomes"

"And what are you? Blake" Ozpin continues while trying to study her reactions.

Blake locks her fingers together on her lap under the table. "I…I don't understand what you are asking"

Ozpin decides to switch tactics. He leans forward and narrows his eyes. "How did you know the White Fang would be at the shipyard tonight?"

Blake shakes her head once. "I didn't. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time"

Ozpin gives a slight smile, just the corners of his mouth slightly curving up. "You wouldn't have been the first". He sits up and gets serious. "But what happened tonight was not an isolated incident. I may be your headmaster, but I am also a Huntsman, and it is my sworn duty to protect this world from the forces that conspire against it. Blake, are you sure there is nothing else you would like to tell me?"

Blake looks back at Ozpin with the same seriousness. "I'm sure"

"Very well. Thank you for your time…." He grabs his can and mug. "…Ms. Belladonna. Ozpin stands and heads to the door. He stops and turns to Blake. "If you ever need to talk to me" He looks at the young car Faunus. "Please, don't hesitate to ask". Ozpin shuts the door behind him. He really did want to help where he could. But he can't help those who don't want to be helped. That's something he had learned a long, long time ago.

Blake is left in the silent room. She knows that she can leave when she wants. But she's finding it hard to do that.

——————

After Ozpin left the room he moves down the hallway until he is in front of another interrogation room. He takes a brief moment to process what little he learned from Blake. And then another few moments to think of how to approach Alabast Noir. He sighs heavily and opens the door.

Alabast had been patiently waiting in the interrogation room for a while. These rooms are special. Even with his enhanced senses he can't sense anything outside this room. No footsteps. No scent. Nothing. It was a very weird feeling. But he heard the door knob turn and came out of his thoughts. He had his elbows on the desk as he leaned forward. And when Ozpin entered he sat up but left his arms on the table.

The silver haired Headmaster of Beacon Academy walks in. "Well, this has certainly been an eventful evening" He walks to the table and is about to put his mug and cane down.

Alabast huffs. "Hff. That's one way to put it"

Ozpin stops and studied his most peculiar student. Alabast had his same hair, but now it looks more kept than it did when he first saw him. And the Gray tips are slightly lighter and reach farther up the strands of hair. His scars seems to have…. magically disappeared. His eyes don't seem as cold and distant. His combat uniform is partially red, but Ozpin knows that that is a temporary change that Alabast didn't choose. "Someone is more talkative". Ozpin sets the mug down but keeps his cane in hand.

Alabast studies Ozpin. He hadn't seen him freeze mid motion like that before. "I was told to work on my… communication skills. And with how loud and talkative those around me are, you should be more surprised if I didn't become more talkative"

Ozpin sits down and sits farther back than he did when with Blake. He sets the cane near the table between his legs and rests both hands atop it. "That is most certainly true. And I am glad to hear it. Now, I'm sure that after a night of thwarting attempted robbery, you probably just want to go home and take a nap. But, I was hoping that maybe we could have a chance to talk"

Alabast rolls his eyes. "Mr. Ozpin, we both know that we have to talk. But sleep does sound like a siren calling me". His aura is recovering after healing his wound. But the mental exhaustion of the weekend is crashing over him.

Ozpin nods his head. "True, true. And I am extremely glad that the only injury to be had is already healed" He motions to Alabast's abdomen. "Forgive me if this goes a bit longer than expected, I have lots of questions"

Alabast doesn't shy away. "Then ask"

Ozpin takes a deep breath. "Very well. Firstly, why do you use honorifics with me and not the other teachers? And if you do it's very rare"

Alabast raises a brow. "Why?" He thinks about it. "Just because. There isn't one reason in particular. I guess I just respect you the most if you need an answer"

Ozpin turns his head. "And why is that?"

Alabast thinks for a minute this time. "Let's just chalk it up to my instincts. You are different from any Huntsman I have ever met"

Ozpin thinks for a moment. "Quite the instincts. Different how?"

"It's not just your aura. It's something similar yet different. I haven't encountered anything like it before" Alabast admits.

Ozpin is shocked. "Interesting. Well, let's move on" He moves the cane side to side. "As you know, in order to enroll at my academy, students must first pass a rigorous entrance exam. Most applicants spend years of preparation training at one of the many combat schools around the world. You are one of the few that did not. And you passed the exam with absolute ease…. if we ignore the written exam"

Alabast sighs. "I've only trained my body up and sharpened my mind for combat until I entered Beacon, Mr. Ozpin. There wasn't a need for me to know the date of Beacons establishment. Or the date of all previous wars. Or what general triumphed at a battle over a hill I still don't know the name of"

Ozpin nods. "Yes, and you've greatly improved from initiation. I dare say that you have shown the most growth academically in many years"

Alabast rolls his eyes. "But…"

"….But…. your grades are still far from the top" Ozpin admits. "But…. that hardly matters"

Alabast stares at Ozpin. "So you're saying I went from stupid to average. How kind"

"Alabast, I wouldn't say stupid. I'd say…." Ozpin moves his cane from the left to the middle and stops moving it. "…You went from uneducated to academically acceptable. Which for you having only limited knowledge beforehand is a great feat that I as Headmaster am proud to see"

Ozpin begins moving the cane in small circles. "Now besides your academic growth, I am also interested in your growth as a person. You don't seem bothered by the divide between humans and Faunus. I don't specifically know your past. But I have done my research. I'm glad that you aren't consumed by hatred and seek revenge against Humanity as a whole. Or even the Faunus who cross you"

Alabast narrows his eyes. "But you also know that I have a tipping point. And team CRDL had most certainly found that point. I don't care what people look like Mr. Ozpin, only how they act. If they are hostile, they will be treated as such"

Ozpin doesn't particularly agree. "But that isn't necessarily true. The way you treat those that aren't close to you has stayed relatively the same. You are still somewhat rude and distant to those that aren't on your team or team RWBY. Sure, you have changed in small increments. However, I encourage you to not make everyone out to be enemies when you first meet them"

"I'll keep that in mind"

Ozpin gets serious. "Excellent. Now what's your relationship with the White Fang and Roman Torchwick?"

Alabast looks at Ozpins brown eyes. "Straight to it then. Ex-member and former coworker. Both in the past. I made sure that Roman remembers that"

Ozpin studies Alabast's unchanging expression. "Indeed. His knee and fingers will certainly hold him back for some time. But how did you know that the White Fang would be at the docks?"

"Simply an educated guess. Sun, Blake, and I deduced that they were going after dust. It just so happened that we learned there was a large shipment of dust from the Schnee Company arriving in Vale tonight. Sun heard about it while he was a stowaway. And so we decided to check it out and got lucky. Or unlucky depending on how you look at it"

Ozpin closes his eyes. "Either way, I'd say it's lucky there weren't any lasting injuries. What you did was reckless. If you weren't there Blake and Sun wouldnt have been able to so easily walk away from the event. And even with you there, it was close. I advise you to not do such a thing again"

Alabast shrugs. "Sure"

Ozpin shakes his head. "I won't delve into the private lives of my students. But I must make sure that they aren't being distracted from their studies. If your relationship had hindered your studies and the studies of those involved, I would have been forced to intervene. Alabast, I sincerely do not wish to intervene" Ozpin sends him a knowing look.

"I don't want to be a hindrance to them either. We make sure to keep everything moving at a relative pace Headmaster. Whether it's school work, training, or relationships. We try to stay on top of things" Alabast defends.

"Good" He grabs his mug and drinks it. He stops drinking but doesn't lower the mug. "What of your semblance? That was quite a show of power that not even most Huntsman can hold a candle to"

Alabast takes his arms off the table. "I have been training very hard. You need to be more specific when asking about it"

"More specific….." Ozpin takes a sip. "Specifically, have you noticed any significant change? Any jump in power after a certain event?"

Alabast knows that Ozpin has seen him practice his Light part of his semblance. "A while back I found a new aspect of my semblance. It isn't only Darkness, but also Light"

Ozpin nods. "That must have been quite the shock. I'll assume you kept that to yourself for a reason and I'll make sure to keep it under a rug. I anticipate the day you decide to… show off"

"You'll be anticipating for a while Mr. Ozpin. But I guess you are a patient guy"

Ozpin looks at his hands on his cane. "More patient than you can imagine"

"Is there anything else you need from me?"

Ozpin looks back to Alabast. "A little more, do you know who your parents were?"

Alabast glares at Ozpin. "No. And I don't particularly care. Do you know?"

Ozpin looks at Alabast's dark black hair and blood red eyes. "Nothing in great detail. In fact, I have no details on them. I just thought I would ask since I had a theory. I may be wrong"

"I recommend you keep that theory to yourself. Nothing good will come out of it anyway" Alabast puts his hands on his thighs.

Ozpin holds up his hand. "Mr. Noir. Where we came from may not matter. But it's still part of us. You will find out eventually whether you want to or not. I would prepare yourself for such knowledge"

Alabast doesn't respond. What would be the point.

Ozpin motions with his hands. "Just because you left the White Fang, that doesn't leave them in the past. It will haunt you until it catches up with you. The same goes for Ms. Belladonna"

"I know, and I'll be there for Blake when the time comes"

Ozpin leans forward. "Do not make promises you cannot keep Mr. Noir. Blake doesn't have to go through it alone, but that doesn't mean you are the one to walk her through it. You have many people to look after, and you can only be spread so thin before you tear. Trust in those close to you; however, it is up to them to break that trust. I must tell you to not be afraid to ask for help. From your own team, team RWBY, other friends you have and will make, and the teachers here at Beacon. I wish to talk more with you, but I believe this is where our talk will end"

Ozpin stands up and takes his mug. He walks to the door and stops. Ozpin turns to Alabast. "Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them. What you do has far greater impact than what you say. Thank you for your time, we shall talk again soon Mr. Noir"

Ozpin walks out and closes the door behind him.

Alabast doesn't like Ozpin's encouraging words. But he knows that the man has a reason for saying those things. And what does Ozpin want to talk to him about later?

Alabast gets up and walks out the door. He sees Glynda standing in the hall. She looks at Alabast and waves her wand down the hall to open a door. After she opens the door she leaves without saying a word. Alabast walks to the door she opened and looks inside. It's Blake just sitting there lost in her own mind.

He walks in and closes the door behind him. Blake looks at him once he entered.

"Alabast?" Blake shifts in her seat.

"Let's go Blake" To his home, but her temporary home. Blake's home is back in Menagerie. Alabast's home is wherever his girlfriends are.

Blake doesn't move from her seat. "Can I go back?"

Alabast walks into the room and moves behind the chair facing Blake. "What do you mean? Weiss forgave us, Yang and Ruby also. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha too. What do you mean 'can I go back'? If you're worried about them treating you different, then you don't need to be. Just make sure you talk with them"

Blake shakes her head. "That's not it"

Alabast waits but Blake doesn't continue. "What is it?"

Blake hesitated but eventually caves. "It's Roman. And the White Fang. What do they need all that dust for? And what will they do once they reach their dust goal? What are we going to do? Just do nothing? Sit around and wait for them to act? I feel so helpless"

Alabast moves around the table and kneels on both knees beside Blake. "What we should do for the foreseeable future is celebrate this small win. And train. We can try and fight them later. Right now we need to recuperate. Let's enjoy ourselves a little, alright?"

"Alright…. But later we will have to find out what they plan on doing" Blake puts a hand on Alabast's head and scratches behind his right ear.

Alabast leans his head into her fingers and hand. "What else is bothering you"

Blake continues scratching but her face gets a little sad. "Will you tell me about the Black Wolf of the White Fang?"

"The Black Wolf….. There's not much to tell. He had a short leash. Was highly skilled and used to complete difficult tasks. He tried not to kill those who didn't deserve it. But anyone that he was siced on rarely came out walking. He tried not to hurt huntsman and huntresses. He had nobody. Just a void with a fire burning inside. It wasn't easy for him. But he did his best. He told himself that it was for a reason. That he would eventually reach his goal. But he never did. And he died"

Blake ponders what Alabast means. "What was his goal? And how did he die?"

"I can answer both in a sentence my love. The Black Wolf died of a broken heart" Alabast puts a hand over Blake's as she runs her fingers through his hair.

Blake frowns. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. The Black Wolf might have been heart broken. But that isn't who I am anymore. Now we have eachother. And we have true friends. Ones that don't want to cause harm to others. Ones that want to see us grow as people and will help us. Ones that we can trust" Alabast puts his other hand on Blake's knee.

That was more than Blake was expecting. She can't tell if he was saying that for her or for himself. But in the end it doesn't matter. But there's one thing that Blake can't get past at the moment. "Then why do you still have the mask?"

Alabast stops moving. He looks into Blake's amber eyes. "Would you believe me if I said I'm keeping it because it's cool?"

Blake shakes her head.

Alabast sighs. "Haaaah. Yeah. I'm keeping it because…. Even if I hate it, it's who I was. It's the only thing that proves I existed. It proves that my hard work does pay off. It's a reminder of what not to become. All the people I hurt…. All the people I killed…" He lowers his head. He can't look her in the eyes.

"You aren't the only one to do terrible things. And it's not like you killed those that didn't deserve it. You were just being lead in the wrong direction. But you aren't anymore" Blake consoles.

"But Blake…. I don't think… I think I hurt innocent people. I was told they were bad… And some really were. I watched men and women abuse and do terrible thing to Faunus and even Humans. I killed those people easily without a second thought. But my problem are the ones that I didn't have proof for. Even if I didn't kill them, the things I did to the ones I let live wasn't much better…" Alabast brings his hands to his thighs palm up and looks at them. "…. the blood on my hands might not be the blood of the damned. There might be the blood of innocents mixed in…"

Alabast clenches his fists. "…. and ive tried ignoring it since I left the White Fang. Because that's when I found out Sienna fed me false information to warp my mind and trick me. She made me believe I was making the world safer if I killed those people. And she was right. I honestly believe that killing the irredeemable is just. But she may have put innocent people in my path and I tore right through them…."

Alabast clenched his fists tighter. Blake hadn't removed her hand from his head. "I might have even attacked those close to Weiss….. But I don't even remember….. I don't even remember the faces of those that I killed. I…I…. How can Weiss forgive me. If she knew what I did…"

Blake grabs Alabast's hands. "She doesn't know how corrupt those around her actually are Alabast. If you tell her and the others why you did what you did they will understand. You may have been what killed them, but it's not like you had much of a choice either"

"But I did!" Alabast shouts. "I did choose. I could have left when Ghira left like I wanted to. But I stayed…" He quietly continues. "…that was my choice"

Blake gets off the chair and kneels down. She puts Alabast's head on her chest. "You did what you thought was right at the time. Just like when you saved me. You are not a bad person. Weiss, Ruby, Pyrrha, Yang, and I all love you Alabast. Yo-"

"Thank you Blake. I don't know what came over me there. I know I couldn't have known. I made sure to punish those that truly deserved it after I confirmed they were guilty. I think…. I need some rest…" Alabast is tired. Even when he was with Blake in his apartment he wasn't getting much rest.

Blake puts her hands on either side of his face. "Let's go back". She moves his head to face her and kisses him gently.

"Sorry Blake. I was supposed to be making you feel better, not the other way around" Alabast stands along with Blake.

Blake shakes her head. "You've already helped me plenty. It was about time I returned the favor a little. This is the least I can do"

"I'm lucky to have you Ms. Belladonna" Alabast straightens her bow. Blake blushes slightly and grabs his hand. They walk out of the interrogation room.

Blake calms down along the way. "It's weird to think I'm older than you"

"You, Weiss, Ren and Nora" Alabast points out. "And what do you want for your birthday?"

Blake looks at Alabast as she thinks. "…o" she says quietly.

Alabast leans closer. "Speak up, I couldn't hear you"

Blake blushes and looks to the side. "…You…"

It was still quiet, but with Alabast's enhanced hearing he was able to hear it. "I don't think I'm much of a gift"

Blake whips her head to look at Alabast. "You're the best gift!" She didn't mean to shout it.

"And so are you Kitten" Alabast hugs her.

Blake doesn't know why she said that. Now she's dying of embarrassment at the moment. Her stupid romance books.

——————

The Faunus pair goes back and finds team RWBY and ANVL in a single room. Alabast explains 'the Black Wolf' of the White Fang to them. They're shocked. And Weiss took it much better than Alabast thought. Once he explained why he did what he did they couldn't really say he was in the wrong. Besides killing them and not turning them in.

They were a little put off, but over the following 2 weeks of spending time together they came to terms with it.

Alabast made sure to spend time with his girls.

He made sure to remind Yang he wouldn't leave her alone. He knows that she was hiding the pain she felt of him leaving.

He enjoyed his time.

Pyrrha told him that she missed him when he was gone. She told him how much bigger the bed feels whenever he isn't there with her.

Alabast made sure to open up more with his girlfriends. And they opened up more to Alabast.

They also spent time improving their team work as teams. Since they had been slacking slightly in that department.

Nora and Ren had officially begun dating. Nothing much really changed with the way they acted. Nora was still as hyper and Ren was as….. Ren as ever.

They hadn't found Penny yet. And Alabast was glad that they hadn't seen Sun for a while as well.

But more students have arrived at Beacon from the other kingdoms. It was getting more crowded, and not everyone was friendly either. Alabast had to refrain from pummeling a few guys. His girls were capable of turning them away. But that didn't make him feel much better.

And just like that. The second semester started tomorrow. They had one more day left before their studies began, this time with students from other kingdoms. Fun.