A Molten Fox's Tale

Sometime has passed when I went to Eques and found Tak. I went to see mama and tell her about everything about school and what I've been up to. There was an awkward moment when I told her about Mavis and Yang. Mama took the news pretty well, thinking that she did need to move on with her life, even though the both of them missed grandpa very much. She offered that the four or five of us should have dinner one day and until today mama and I haven't picked a day yet. Haven't seen Yang or Mavis at all.

Getting Tak settled in was… well it was interesting. I took him out shopping for shoes and clothes so he didn't wear rags anymore but… it was hard to pick for a blind person. Tak reminded me of that a number of times.

Soon we got some clothes and shoes for Tak, which he said it was kinda odd for him to wear shoes before returning to the dorm room. As of now, I was reading or rather rereading some of my old books while Tak was doing… whatever it is he does. He usually spend his time here in some form of meditative state and I've noticed that he does this during times of stress. Another thing that I've noticed of him now that he was my roommate was his back, not his back entirely but the odd nubs on his back. I try not to look or talk about them since… well I believe its it's not something I should talk about.

After a few more minutes of reading there was a knock on my door. I blinked at this before getting up and seeing who it was. I opened the door and saw it was Weiss.

“Hi Weiss… you need something?” I asked her.

“Yes.” She said, I noted a little struggle in her voice when she continued. “It was… pointed out to me that I was… a little rude and harsh to you for the past year.” I arch a brow at this.

“Kinda.” I said before letting her continue.

“I… well… you see…” She let out an annoyed sighed. “Look, I have trust issues with Faunus due to my family and… well, my family doesn't like your family.” I blinked at her.

“What did my mama and me do-"

“No not your side of the family, mostly your aunt side.” She said, cutting me off. I arch a brow at her, not really sure what she meant but maybe if I ask auntie about I could get some answers.

“It's fine, no harm done.” I said to her with a smile. There was a tiny smile before her gaze went behind me.

“Who's that?” Weiss asked. I looked back and saw Tak in a chair spinning it a bit.

“Oh, that's Tak, he's been my roommate for about a few weeks now.” I answered her while Tak continued to spin in the chair. Weiss nodded at this before I looked at her.

“Come on, you should meet him." I said as I pulled her in, making her yelp. “Hey Tak, come met a friend of mine.” I said to him as I dragged Weiss inside. This got Tak to stop his spinning, the chair making its last round about with Tak facing us.

“Hmm?” He hummed questioningly. He must've been deep in thought, I guess it was fortunate for me that he heard me enough to get him out of his thoughts. “What?” He asked. I pulled Weiss up beside me, her frowning at me as she stood.

“Tak this is Weiss, Weiss this is Tak.” I introduce them and snapped my fingers to help Tak to face towards Weiss. Tak's eyes widened a bit at this before waving his hand and saying.

“H-hello.” He said with a stutter… right, not good with meeting new people.

“Why did you snap in front of me?” Weiss asked me with a frown.

“Tak’s blind.” I answered her.

“Oh…” Was all Weiss said about this. She kinda looked embarrassed at what she said, probably thinking she might've offended him in anyway. Tak merely gave her a smile, one that should Weiss that he was fine.

“It's alright, most people don't tend to look at my eyes.” Tak said to the Ice Queen herself and it was true. When me and Mavis brought Tak to Vale so we could get him some clothes, some people asked why we were guiding him without even noticing his eyes, which is a dead give away for Tak's lack of sight. “If it isn't much of a bother… mind if I feel you?” He asked Weiss, the latter of course blushed understandably so but Tak doesn't do that, he just feels the face of the person he wants to get to know. He did the same to me and Mavis as well.

“He means your face.” I whispered to Weiss. The Ice Queen blinked at this before she spoke.

“Right! I knew that… I don't mind if you need to feel me… j-just the face I mean…” Her eyes darted around as she said this, the red blush stood out on her pale face. Weiss walked closer to Tak, enough for the latter to cup her face within his hands. He knew to be gentle about this of course, so it wasn't an unpleasant experience. Weiss was blushing throughout the ordeal and soon enough, Tak was blushing as well.

“You're… beautiful.” Tak said in awe. Weiss blinked at this, blushing more as I held back a snicker.

“R-Really? I mean… uhh thank you.” Weiss said with a small smile. It wasn't until now that Tak felt the scar on Weiss left eye. I could see Weiss flinch when this happened, expecting Tak to say something or look disgusted but he never did. After a bit, he finally lowered his hands with the blush still on his cheeks. I mean, he blushed when he did the same to me and Mavis but not this much, he was nearly red as a tomato.

“Y-yeah… beautiful.” Tak repeated, a little smile curling his lips. The two of them stood there for a few moments, making me wish I brought popcorn before Weiss spoke.

“Umm… I should, uhh, I should go…” She said before saying goodbye and almost ran out of the door. I let out a chuckle quietly but with Tak’s super hearing he heard it.

“What's so funny?” He asked me with an arched brow.

“Oh nothing, just funny to see the Ice Queen of Beacon blush.” I said with a chuckle. He arched a brow at the nickname but said nothing though he did seem a little disappointed that Weiss was gone. I looked back at the door then at Tak. “I’ll be right back.” I said before I ran out of the door.

I ran down the halls until I caught up with Wiess. “Hey!” I called out to her before I came up beside her.

“Yes? What do you want?” Weiss asked as she continue to walk.

“What was all that about? I never see you somewhat stuttering.” I asked her. I still saw the blush on her face as we walked.

“It’s… nothing…” Weiss said before adding. “Why do you want to know?”

“I’m curious.” I answered her with a smile. Weiss didn’t say anything before we got to the library.

“It’s… I’m not really the one someone calls… beautiful…” Weiss said softly before looking back. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some studying to do.” With that she walked into the library.

“But… it’s summer…” I said, knowing my words went on deaf ears. I frowned a little at this before sighing and shaking my head. I didn't know why she would want to study during summer but to each their own I guess. I walked off back to my room, on the way I heard giggling nearby. The source of said giggling was Yang and Mavis as they walked around the corner. Mavis, for once that I’ve had seen, was wearing something other than her white dress; replacing that was a white tank top shirt with a pair of jeans. The two of them were holding hands as they happily walked down the hallway before Mavis saw me.

“Ah, hello Viri.” Mavis greeted me with a smile. Yang smiled at me as well and waved.

“Hey you two, how are you two doing?” I asked the two. Yang grinned happily.

“Other than amazing?” Yang answered me. This got a giggle from Mavis before she laid her head on Yang's shoulder.

“We're great, Viri.” Mavis said to me. I smiled at her before the three of us walked down the hallway towards my room. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the two, if I look hard enough I could see small hearts coming off of the two of them.

“So how has your day been so far?” Mavis asked me as we walked. I shrugged a bit at the question.

“Pretty tamed, been reading some books.” I answered her, earning a snort from Yang.

“Egghead.” She said with a smile. I rolled my eyes at this before continuing.

“Weiss came over and met Tak, that was… something.” I said, earning Yangs attention.

“Really now~.” She said with a mischievous tone. That ment I had to be careful with what I say or Yang will bug Weiss about it.

“How did young Weiss fair with Tak?” Mavis asked me though her voice had a knowing tone to it.

“Well… they met in my room, talked and Tak asked for a feel of her face.” I told her, earning a weird look from Yang.

“Wait what? What this about feeling Weiss’ face?” Yang asked the both of us. Mavis’s gaze went onto the blonde who's shoulder she laid her head on.

“Young Tak is blind, Yang. He feels to see, he knows roughly what me and Viri look like, he was even surprised when he felt the similarities.” Mavis said to Yang. The latter was surprised to find out that Tak was blind. Yang blinked at this.

“So… he feels up someones face to get an idea what they look like?” Yang asked. Mavis smiled and nodded before she stopped when Yang stopped. Yang pulled away with an odd look on her face and before closing her eyes and started touching Mavis’ face. “Hmm, nose, eyes, forehead, mouth…” She said with a laugh until she had her hands on both sides of Mavis’ face and opening her eyes to look at her. “Face.” She said before going in to kiss Mavis on the lips. Mavis giggled, clearly amused by what Yang had just done.

“It's a little more complex than that, Yang.” Mavis said to the blonde. Yang smiled as she wrapped her arms around Mavis’ neck.

“I don’t hear you complaining.” Yang said to her with a smirk. We continued on walking before we came by my room and stopped, seeing that the door was open when I remembered having closed it when I left. I went inside my room and saw that Tak wasn’t here.

“Ah oh, that’s not good.” I said as I stepped out of the room and looked at the two. “Uhh, Tak’s not here.” Mavis arched a brow at this.

“Perhaps he wanted to explore Beacon’s halls. He has been cooped up in your room, dear, it was to be expected.” Mavis said to me, actually surprising me that she was expecting something like this to happen.

“Yeah… I should’ve thought of that through.” I said sadly, feeling like I messed up.

“Oh don't be so down, you should be glad that he decided to go out.” Mavis said after seeing my down expression. “He’s being bold by doing this, remember we had to convince him to come with us to get him some new clothes and that was no easy feat.” She said to me. I chuckled at the thought of that. I looked down the hallway a bit.

“I hope he doesn’t get lost…” I said quietly as I stood there for a few moments before I couldn’t take it. “I’m going to go look for him.” I said before I ran down the hallway. I ran from different dorm sections to even the hallway connecting the dorms to the Gathering Hall. I soon found myself out in the courtyard, panting after having been running all this time. When I looked up to plan where I would search next, my eyes were quick to spot Tak sitting under a tree. I blinked at this before heading over to him.

“Tak?” I said his name. He faced towards my direction.

“Oh, Viri… sorry for walking out without telling you. I got curious about this place.” He said to me, gesturing to Beacon Academy as a whole. I smiled at this before walking up beside him and sitting down.

“I should’ve given you a little tour, sorry.” I said apologetically.

“It's fine.” He said to me, giving me a reassuring smile. He then looked forwards onto the horizon. “This place is huge, I don't think I scratched the surface of it yet.” He said. I smiled at him before looking out at Beacon.

“You were always scared of the Huntsman from your home…” I started to say, feeling him tense up a bit. “But what if… what if you come here and learn to be a Huntsman yourself. What a Huntsman is truly meant to be.” He was silent soon after I said this, no doubt the memories of the heinous acts done to him by Huntsmen in his world coming back to him. I looked over. “You don’t have to answer but… What did they do to you?” I asked him. He began to shake at this but before I could say anything to disregard my question, he spoke.

“I-I… I used to have… wings.” He said though with some struggle to form the words, his fear nearly getting the best of him.

“You did, but I don’t-” I stopped when I realized what he was referring to. “Oh… oh lords Tak.” I saw him shake as if he couldn’t hold it together before I pulled him in for a hug. “I’m so sorry Tak… I’m so, so sorry.” He began to sob quietly, the memory haunting him still.

“They broke them and ripped them off.” He said though I had to take some time in processing his words as they were bordering incoherent with his sobs. I pulled him close and held him, trying to calm him down but, from the sobbing alone, it wasn’t going to happen soon. It was some time later as the two of us sat there before I head a voice.

“Viri?” The Voice said. I looked up and saw Weiss walking over to us. “What are you doing?”

“Oh… hey Weiss.” I greeted her as I heard Tak sniffle a bit.

“Did something happen?” Weiss asked, a very worried tone in her voice. I looked down at the bat Faunus.

“Just… talking about stuff, some memories came up and…” I didn’t finish what I was saying, didn’t feel right to bring it up. Tak wiped his eyes and spoke up.

“It's fine… better now than later.” He said to me, no doubt knowing why I had stopped. I looked at him with a worried look before sighing. I looked up at Weiss and told Tak’s story, leaving out the fact that it was Pony Huntsman because that would be too weird.

“By Oum… that’s awful!” Weiss said in shock. “I can’t believe some Huntsman would… Tak, that’s definitely not what a Huntsman is!”

“They are where I'm from.” Tak said, leaving out that he was not from here. Tak sighed shakingly. “Everyday I would wake up terrified, thinking that they'd finally find me. I always feared what more could they do to me, all because I ran.” He said though the last part confused me a little. Tak sighed a bit before Weiss did something that I never thought she would do; she kneeled down and gave him a hug.

“It’s okay, you're safe here.” She said softly. Tak was quiet but grateful nonetheless. The hug not only got him to calm down but it brought a little smile out from him.

“Thank you, Weiss.” He said to Weiss with a small smile. Weiss held him close before realizing what she was doing and pulled away quickly.

“I uh, no problem, that’s um, that’s what friends do for other friends and… yeah.” She said before laughing a little. She stood up and took a few steps back. “I need to go… and get back to my room since… it’s almost dark! Yes… Got to get ready for bed and… bye.” With that she ran off. I giggled a little, realizing what’s happening. Tak heard me and arched a brow at me in confusion.

“What's so funny?” He asked me, sounding very curious to know.

“Oh nothing.” I said to him. “Come on, it is getting dark.” With that the two of us went back to my dorm room. On the way back, Tak had his hand on the wall to keep him from bumping into it and it made me consider getting him one of those walking sticks blind people use to get around.

A few days later…

It been close to a week since Tak and I talked, to which Tak was quite about. I tried to ask what’s wrong but he simply answered that he wished to not talk about it.

I decided to get him a walking stick to help him get around. Tak was a bit hesitant about it but after some time he was happy he got it, saying that it really does help. It even helped get around outside a lot easier as he wasn't dependent on the walls anymore. While everything was fine and dandy, my mind couldn't help but come back to the talk we had, more specifically the offer of Tak becoming a real Huntsman. He never really gave me an answer but every now and again I could see him contemplating something. The offer maybe? I couldn't be sure.

After some time thinking I decided not to bug him about it, I don’t want to force something he doesn’t want to do on him. I laid in bed reading as Tak meditated in a corner, I wonder why he does that? Does it help? I have so many questions. Soon enough however there was a knock on my door, which I did try to ignore at first as I didn't want to stop reading but the second set of knocks brought me out of it again. I sighed and stood up from bed before going towards the door and opening it.

“Hello!” Ruby said happily. I blinked at this and saw the whole team RWBY there, even Yang without Mavis.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked them.

“Oh nothing, we were going to go out into Vale, do you and Tak want to join?” Ruby asked before Yang snickered a bit.

“It was Weiss’ idea.” Yang said before getting elbowed by said Ice Queen. I chuckled a little before looking back and see Tak was out of his meditation.

“Hey Tak, want to come alone?” I asked him before explaining to him what’s going on. He briefly thought about before standing up with a smile and nodding.

“Sure, I'd like to come with.” Tak said, grabbing his walking stick as he said this. With that said the six of us headed off into Vale. We chatted and laughed as we walked, Weiss stood by Tak and chatted with him.

“Hey Yang, I thought Mavis would be here with us, where is she?” I asked the blonde boxer.

“Oh… she said she had something to do today.” Yang answered. I nodded to her, I haven’t heard much of what Mavis or grandma (Yes I know they’re the same person, shut it), I wonder what she’s doing? Tak and Weiss were really hitting it off with whatever they were on about, Weiss was thoroughly enjoying her conversation with the bat faunus and vice versa. Yang noticed this and couldn't help but smirk.

“Wow… It seems the Ice Queen has her eyes on someone~” Yang teased Weiss, who turned to her and blushed.

“Yang!” Weiss yelled, earning a laugh from Yang. I looked back at Tak and saw that he was blushing as well. I held back a chuckle as we continued on, stopping by some stores. Some clothing, some shoes and even a weapons part store. We soon stopped when we came by a fancy dress store, the topic of the dance coming up.

“Hey, should we go look for something to wear.” Weiss said, trying to change the subject. “They say that when the school starts back up there’s going to be a dance.”

“I don’t know… it’s still a few months away.” Blake said, almost making me jump in surprised. I completely forgot she was here.

“Well it would be nice to have it ready.” Weiss said. After some talking it came to an agreement that we will go in. As we did the four of them went off to look at dresses and shoes as I stood by Tak. It’ll be bad if I left him alone.

“Why don't you go on with them?” Tak asked me as we sat on some chairs inside the store. I arched a brow at Tak when he asked me this. “Wouldn't you want to get a dress for this dance as well?” He asked me.

“Well yes, but I didn’t want to leave you alone in a place you don’t know.” I told him. “Sorry, I get over worried about stuff.” He merely smiled at me and said.

“It's fine, it's not like I'm going to walk off by myself.” He said to me though I only arched a brow at him for this, remembering the time he did walk off by himself. He didn't need to have sight to feel my staring. “Hey, that was only one time and I was curious.” He said, crossing his arms. I chuckled a bit before heading off to find a dress. As I did I came close to the changing rooms when the door open and Yang stepped out.

“So, what do you think?” Yang asked, striking a pose. I looked over and saw her in a nice, sleeveless white dress. I arch a brow at this.

“You got the idea from Mavis.” I said, nodding to the white dress. Yang smirked and immediately said.

“Damn straight! She looks amazing in white so I’m getting one for myself.” Yang said before walking back into the dressing room. Speaking of Mavis, maybe she could make me a dress. It'll certainly save me a lot of money and most of the dresses here don't look like they'll go good with me. Making up my mind to ask her about when I see her I went over to Tak and waited for the rest to finish what they are doing.

I realized my error as the two of us sat there for some time as the four looked through the dresses and shoes. Tak didn't seem bothered by the long wait, his mind no doubt on something else. After nearly an hour, yes an hour, they finally picked out their dresses and some matching shoes for the dance which again is a few months away. We left the store just to notice that the sun was going down.

“Huh, didn’t realize we were in there for a long time.” Ruby said in surprised, earning a look from me and a frown. “Better head back.”

I rolled my eyes and the six of us headed back to Beacon. Again we chatted with each other, Tak and Weiss and Ruby with me. The latter is just me listening and Ruby talked… a lot. Not that I mind, it's just surprising how many topics Ruby can go through within a minute. Though remembering that Blake was with us got me thinking of Indigo and got curious. I asked her if we can talk in private which she nodded to and the two of us walked a little bit back, now Ruby was talking to Tak.

“Hey… how’s Indigo?” I asked her in a whisper. Blake frowned a little before making sure no one was eavesdropping on us.

“He’s… fine for the most part.” Blake said though for some reason she had stopped mid sentence.

“When you mean fine, you mean he’s not overly depressed all the time and drinking himself stupid?” I asked her. Blake was quiet after this though I kept quiet thinking that she was trying to come up with right words.

“He's still drinking but not as heavily as before. I've been giving him impromptu therapy, so he could talk out his depression.” Blake said to me, revealing what she had been sneaking off to lately. I nodded at her with a little smile.

“At least it’s something.” I said to her. She didn't say anything nor did she smile back, which got me to think that something was going on or something happened. “Hey, did something happen?” I asked, better now than later to ask.

“Well… I found out that Indigo and one his female teammates were romantically involved. Before you ask, it's the other one, Nava… the blonde lioness faunus.” Blake said and clarified which teammate it was.

“Ahh.” I said to Blake. I noticed she was a little saddened when she said this which made me wonder… could she?

“Anyway, he revealed that she was a part of the White Fang sent to infiltrate Beacon. This was before the White Fang turned violent and at the time there was an extremist splinter cell group in White Fang which eventually converted the entirety of the White Fang as the group they are today.” Blake said before sighing and adding. “When the conversion happened, Nava was sent a kill order from the new leader. Her targets… her targets were her own teammates.” She said. My eyes widen at this.

“Oh lords…” I said to myself. Blake chuckled dryly at this, no doubt having had the same reaction as mine when Indigo told her.

“He still has the ring as proof.” Blake said to me. A ring? It took me a little bit to connect the dots before feeling bad for Indigo. I looked at Blake for a confirmation and she nodded. “Yeah, that kind of ring. Before the incident, they've been together for a really long time, since they were second years at Beacon.” Blake explained as we walked. Oh jeez... I could only imagine what was going through his mind way back when it happened. Blake felt about the same as I did but for some reason, it hurt her more or maybe it's just in my head.

The rest of the walk was either in silence or chatting with the others before we all split ways and head back to our dorm rooms. I laid down in my bed, letting what I learned about Indigo turn in my head. I wanted to help him in some way but I didn’t know how.

I sighed and told Tak I was turning in for the day, too tired to do anything else. With that I closed my eyes, letting sleep take over. As this happened a smile formed on my face as I remembered what tomorrow is.