Honour's Curse - A RWBY fanbook

Chapter 12 - Aftermath

The ursa major towered above me, its misty, shadowed hide shimmering in the moonlight and the rising flames behind it. I clutched my dagger in my bloodstained hand and stared at the beast's piercing red eyes with my own, burning with hatred and pain. I rushed the beast thrusting my dagger towards it as I charged and screamed, commanding the monster to die and suffer at my hand. My dagger pierced and scratched the flesh of the ursa as my volley of feeble attacks connected, my arms moving frantically in desperation to kill the towering thing before me, but my attacks had no effect. The creature simply swatted me aside with a heavy swipe of its front paw. I coughed up blood as I hit the ground, the fresh cuts on my side stinging awfully. A voice called in panic from my side, "Ettore!" the familiar voice yelled as arrows began pelting the beast's side, one hitting it directly in its eye. My father placed his bow onto the hooks on his back and ran towards the grimm that now stood above me, ready to kill. Unsheathing his black bladed katana my father flung himself at the beast, burning wings of fire trailing behind him as his eyes lit up with furious red flames. The blade sliced through the ursa's neck, decapitating it in one movement, it toppled to the floor disappearing in a haze of black mist as my father sheathed his blade and ran towards me. I forced myself upwards onto my knees as he ran. Suddenly, he stopped, his eyes widening in shock as blood trickled slowly from my mouth, a sharp pain ran through my chest. Looking down I saw a single black arrowhead piercing straight through my chest. Straight through my heart. My heart struggled to continue beating as my father once again began moving towards me, this time slowly, with so much pain and weight behind his movements. I collapsed as my body began to fail and blood sputtered from my mouth, "Ettore... No." My father mouthed, tears welling up in his eyes, his expression of utter shock and sadness quickly changed to pure unbridled anger as his eyes began to glow with a silver hue. My eyes closed as my enraged father roared like a feral animal, and I heard his blade clash furiously with another.

A bright white pierced through the black veil that had seemed to cover me. The light faded and I saw a large room with white walls surrounding me. A blue curtain stood on my left side, and natural light shone in through the large windows on the far-right side of the room. Sitting up in the bed I lay in, I scanned my body, seeing my chest and stomach covered in bandages, I sighed, realising what had happened. 

At that moment I heard a distinct mechanical sliding from behind the curtain on the left side of the room, I pushed back the curtain to see what was going on. The door of the room had opened, revealing a grey haired professor sipping coffee from the same mug he always kept by his side, and leaning on his cane with his free hand. He stepped into the room, hesitating in thought for a second before turning his attention towards me, "Ah Ettore, you're awake." He smiled, "It seems not even a train-crash can keep you down for long." We both chuckled.
"I guess so." I agreed.
"Your wounds have healed as well it seems," He pointed out, "good, I may have need of your services again soon, though for something very... different." His voice contained something of a regretful quality.
"If you don't mind me asking," I began, "what happened after the crash?"
"You were right to alert me, Grimm invaded the city and we had to send the teams that were still in Vale to stop it. On top of that, the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick have been captured. Much to my protests, he is currently being held by General Ironwood and his forces." He explained.
"We should be careful." I said, "Torchwick... He's smarter than he seems, he knew those Grimm couldn't have posed an actual threat to Vale. When I fought him, there was a sense of cunning in his actions, it was like he wanted to lose, he held back. Right know, he's probably exactly where he wants to be, which means he's not the one pulling the strings, or at least he's not working alone." I pondered, speaking my thoughts on the situation aloud.
"My thoughts exactly." Ozpin agreed, "Alas, our smartest move right now would be to bide our time, and figure out more of our enemies' plans."
"So, its a game of patience then."
"It seems so." Ozpin nodded, "For now, you should rest, there are some things I would like to inform you of, but now is not the time." He stood up and began to walk out of the room, "I'll be looking forward to seeing your performance in the tournament Ettore." The door closed behind him, leaving me alone once more.