RWBY: Ebbing Darkness - Blake x MaleReader x Yang

Part 3

The halls of the Chieftain's manor echoed with outrage. Ghira and Sienna had their own opinions on the matter but ultimately disagreed with Y/N's decision.
"Are you trying to start a war?!" He shouted at Y/N's kneeled form. He was still and silent, but the red slits under his bone-white face were active.
"Not just a war! You threaten the very foundation of our order!" Sienna berated him. "What do you think the world will have to say?!"
"I care little for what they say." Y/N replied calmly. "All that matters to me is that they know who did it and why."
"I told you—! No! I ordered you to keep them alive!" Ghira bore his teeth and let a growl slip past his usual composure. "Now the humans will have more than enough reason to reply!"
"Did you even think what was going to happen?!" Sienna's ears were flush with her midnight hair. And her eyes, normally a cold amber, were now shining with wrath. "Do you have any idea how many faunus live beyond Menagerie?! How many of them will be pulled into this?!"
"That was a risk they knew they were taking the moment they decided to leave." The speakers of his helmet amplified his quiet response, further enraging his mother. "Your soft-spoken words and half-measured responses aren't the alternatives we seek. I took it upon myself to change that."
"No." His mother seethed. "You're following the dreams of a boy. And in today's world, they can be nothing more than that."
"I was born a warrior, a weapon." Y/N recited as if it were a litany carved into stone. "I have no other purpose. I was never a boy, but an extension of my father's will."
"Your father is gone." Sienna hissed. "Dead, missing, or captured, and he's never coming back. So whatever it is he told you—"
"Then even in his absence, I will continue to move forward." He raised his palm, asking for permission to stand. "I told you once that I would come for the world beyond our borders and claim them for our people. And that's exactly what I intend to do."
"I'm sorry, Y/N." Ghira shook his head. Disappointment and anger were apparent in his mannerisms, but there was also a sense of shock in his eyes. "But that's something we cannot allow."
His hand brushed away Y/N's, dismissing him altogether. Not only was it shaming, it was also a sign of distrust.
"Then let me ask you this." Y/N's open palm closed into a fist. His knuckles were flat with the floor and his trophies rattled from the slight movement. "What do the people think? Do they want us to sit and submit ourselves to a slow and painful death? To have our families and loved ones whisked away in the night? I assure you both that the answer is a resounding no."
"We've been over this a hundred times." Sienna sighed. "There's nothing we can do. Fight? With what army? Retaliate?? With what army?? Defend ourselves?! With what army?!"
"Y/N," Ghira had a look of great pity for what was about to come. "We, as a people, have experienced enough war. What you're proposing is a justified response, yes, but a response we can't afford. And if you can't see that, then you can't be one of us."
"Very well then." Y/N hummed and stood with his sword returned to his shoulder. He was calm and it was an unsettling sight to behold. "If that's something we cannot agree on, then I see no other reason to stay."
It took a long moment of utter silence for Sienna's rage to diminish. And an even longer pause for maternal instincts to kick in.
Y/N's words hurt her more than anyone. He didn't see himself as a boy, a child with all their worries erased by their parent. He was only fifteen and with such ambition and determination that it made her sick with worry.
He didn't look forward to a long and peaceful life. He wanted either the glory of victory or an honorable end. There was no in-between or alternatives.
She gave chase knowing what he would do. His long and confident strides would eventually be outpaced by her sprint, but even then he made it halfway to the nearby forest.
He turned to her hurried footsteps with an unknown expression to her distress. Maybe it was disgust or disappointment, either of the two sounded likely when she showed the cracks in her internal armor.
"Don't go." She said. It wasn't the typical order or stern voice he was used to. It was enough to give him pause and for his shoulders to lower.
"I know we may not agree on certain things," Sienna took a deep breath and let it linger to calm her racing heart. "But can't you see that I'm doing it all for you? I want you normal. I want you to stay and live a normal life."
"I considered killing you once." He hummed, freezing her lungs in place with shock. "It was to be a formal challenge so that I could be High Leader. Our traditions would have implored you to agree."
His sword lowered and was flipped into a reverse grip; a harmless and disarming gesture.
"But the very thought disgusted me. And the shame of not being able to do it brought me here. That's when I realized that I wasn't meant for this world..."
The bones adorning his armor rattled as he turned his piercing red gaze to the sky. He looked there many times before but never found what he was looking for.
"Father told me once that I had thousands of brothers. Thousands. The finest warriors made to combat the encroaching darkness. And I remembered for the longest time that I wished to join them in their many crusades and glorious battles..."
There was a deep sadness to his words. It was a repressed mourning for men he never knew, and the pain of never feeling what they all sought as a collective.
He needed a cause, a people to fight for. He was made for this. To be a weapon and die for his people was the ultimate end. And it was all he had when his father or legion of brothers were nowhere to be seen.
"Father hasn't forgotten me." He stated with great pride. "And although his name fades into legend, I never forgot him either. We disagree on many things, yes, but someone must rise to the challenge. Someone must be our champion. And if not father, then who?"
For one final time, he dropped to his knee and raised his palm, asking for her permission to die.
"Our people have suffered enough." He added in a stoic voice, a sound that was reminiscent of metal grinding on metal. "And it is my duty to them, to you, to set them free."
Sienna raised her hand, hesitant. She wanted to swat it away in hopes of swatting away the poisonous lifestyle he pursued. But soon, it could be the day her age takes her, he would still act. No oath or any amount of words could sway him from his self-proclaimed destiny.
With great pain in her eyes, she touched his palm and took it back, allowing her skin to run along the rigid leather of his glove with a gentle touch she hoped he could feel.