Shadows of War (RWBY X TITANFALL) Act 2: A Phantom Adversary

Chapter VIII: Raw Emotion

Matt POV - January 12, 2219

To summarize the last two months: Blake was pissed off at us for the extraction... more actually at the fact that someone she fought along once practically died, even though we proclaimed innocence. Carsen bluntly told her HE was the team sniper and was in the base with Nate, getting Winter out. Eventually, Nate and Blake go at it, saying sh*t that their pride will take the hit later. The last thing she said to him was, "If you keep breaking your word like this, then I don't need your help." and walked out of the hangar. But that didn't mean we were out of this situation due to recent events. If the Fang wasn't hunting us then, they are now. Frustration followed us around in the following days. The scroll Nate handed to Reyes was encrypted beyond belief. Something that she wasn't able to crack within a short amount of time. This was a first for all of us, but all we could do was wait for Reyes' decryption software to do its thing, and we'd be in business to track our mystery caller. People called me uncaring or said that I don't show emotion most of the time; while that may be true in most cases, what happened recently did leave a visible annoyance on my face for 3-4 days. The memorial by the highways was finished with a marble slab with names carved on it. We eventually stopped by to pay our respects but started to do our own thing afterward. 

Nathan and Reyes had begun looking for Ash's sister. We did, but a little banged up. As far as I know... Winter's the only one taking care of her as of now. After all that nonsense, Nathan called Winter a few days later, checking up on them both. After three years with them, Quinn has been going to therapy with the best specialist she can find, Winters words. Her though that was between her and Nathan.

After leaving a hobby store and putting my backpack on, I pulled out my scroll and followed the path to the nearest café. It wasn't exactly too cold, but the wind chill made it feel like it was as I pulled my scarf over my face and pulled my hood up. The smell of coffee flooded the air as I walked in and sat in a corner booth facing the door. I grabbed my sketchbook and started to doodle the scene before me. The location was coming along nicely. The scene's rough idea would have to be redefined later, but all sketches do. Refined lines here... erase foundation lines there. It's probably one of the best sketches I've done in recent weeks.

I took my pencil off the paper and reviewed my drawing, only to see a face on the left side. I slowly lift my head and see a redhead with a grey beanie and designer glasses. Her emerald green eyes gave her away.

Me: "I wasn't exactly expecting to see you here, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha: "Neither was I with you. I just needed to get out of the academy for a while."

Me: "Everyone in our group had the same idea, especially after a long few days."

Pyrrha: "Yeah, I'm just glad the weekend finally came. Can I ask you something?"

Me: "What's up?"

Pyrrha: "What exactly happened between Nathan and Blake? They seemed inseparable until mid-November."

Me: "They have a difference of opinion... and a mishap on the Wolves' end."

Pyrrha: "How so?"

Me: "What I'm about to say, stays between us? *she nods* We don't know what happened exactly. All hell broke loose when we got the objective. One enemy died via a sniper shot, and Carsen, being the team sniper... has put us in a rather interesting dilemma. Blake believes that Carsen killed him, but he was with Nate on the ground. From there, it's been one argument after another. Right now, they're giving each other the silent treatment."

Pyrrha: "If Carsen didn't do that, then who did?"

Me: "I don't know. Nate said that he got a good look at her face. Sure, we all heard her voice on our coms, but the chaos probably made us imagine things."