Successor's Remorse

"Your task is to fill your jars with sap from the trees in the Forever Fall. Once you've completed your task, reconvene with the rest of the class as soon as possible."

Professor Goodwitch instructed the students in her usual calm voice. The riding crop she used as a weapon tapped rhythmically against her clipboard with every word she spoke. "While our initial scouts of the area reported that there are no Grimm, it would be in your best interests to remain vigilant. We've lost students because they grew too comfortable in the presence of teachers, only to be ambushed by a stray Grimm."

Her voice took on a solemn tone as she swept her gaze over the students. "Remember, there are only a few of us teachers to watch over you all. Trust in your teams and the bond you've forged. With any luck, we'll make it back without any casualties."

The students murmured to each other nervously and slowly began to disperse into the sea of orange. Gil and his team, along with team RWBY, took a route that avoided most of the other students.

[Looks like Laura's not taking any chances.] He thought.

"Staying pairs is the key to completing our assignment," Laura said in a high-pitched but commanding voice. "If we move in a group, we risk harming the trees by tapping them too much. If we keep our group small, we take less from the trees and complete our task faster."

She cast a sidelong glance at Ruby, who understood what was about to happen. With surprising speed, she stepped to the short girl's side with a prideful expression.

"Sis, you can go with Alisa! You two both seem funny, so it'll be fun!" Ruby ordered in a voice that tried to match Laura's confident zeal. "I'll stick by Laura. Blake, you can go with Gil, you both like quiet, so it's perfect. Weiss and Raishun can--" She tensed up and quickly carried on with an apologetic laugh, "Weiss can tag along with Yang and Alisa. Three's a party, after all!"

The group quickly split off into their assigned pairs and stared at each other awkwardly for a moment. Noticing the tension, Ruby quickly cleared her throat, gathering everyone's attention on her.

"Come on, guys! Let's do this!" She cheered, throwing her fist in the air for added effect. "Come on, Laura, you do it too!"

"What!?" Laura looked at the girl with a dumbfounded expression, then shyly lifted her hand in the air. "Let's d-do a good job, everyone!!" She said in a half cheer, half-whisper. "Go forth!"

Gil couldn't help take one last look at his cousin before moving into the forest with Blake at his side.

[I'm glad to see she's finally breaking out of her shell. Even if it's just a little bit.]

Neither he nor Blake uttered a word throughout their assignment. Yet even without talking, they worked in a good rhythm. Gil would tear into the tough bark with his hatchet, leaving it weak enough for Blake to pierce it with her sword to extract the sap. Together they completed the task with relative ease.

It wasn't until the last jar had been filled that Blake decided to break their silence.

"Whatever happened to your fourth member? His name was Raishun, right?" She asked, her golden eyes containing a hint of curiosity. That changed, however, when Gil shot her a nasty look. "I didn't mean to bring up bad blood; it's just there are a lot of rumors." Holding her hands up in surrender, she crouched down to check on her jars.

Gil thought it over for a moment and decided to humor the girl. "He had a disagreement with Laura and couldn't see eye to eye with her." He replied while picking up his own jars of sap. "He didn't come back to the dorm after we left the dining hall. Frankly, we don't know where he is. Maybe he's off working at some seedy cafe in the city. Or he went home to tend to his ailing mother. Point is, it's not my job to find out what became of him, nor do I care enough about him to find out."

"I see." Blake mulled over his words while packing her jars into a bag on her hip. "It makes me wonder how Imperial Arms choose their wielders. Maybe Caligula made a mistake choosing him. I know if I were an Imperial Arm, I wouldn't bond with anyone who commits evil deeds or can't stand their ground in tough circumstances."

[Why the hell is she talking to me about this?] Gil thought, eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Imperial Arms house the souls of fallen Huntsmen. They have personalities and morals just like us." He explained, "Things like evil and morality are objective. No two people see them the same way. Goals and morals are only a part of the criteria they have when it comes to picking a partner."

His eyes zeroed in on the bow that sat on her head. "Take the White Fang, for example. Imperial Arms are seen as these blessings, incorruptible weapons of justice. Yet rumor has it they've gotten their hands on the Imperial Arm Hypnos and even bonded it to a Legion. If they really were incorruptible, why would one choose to help a bunch of lowlife thieves?"

[C'mon, I see right through your disguise. Take the bait, I dare you.] Gil thought. A part of him felt bad for taunting her, but when Laura's safety was under threat, he wasn't willing to take any chances.

Instead of rising to his insult, she simply blinked a few times as if trying to remove a piece of dirt from her eye. Then in a voice that carried a hint of venom, she replied. "You have a point. But a runaway noble doesn't have any right commenting on the morality of the White Fang. Wouldn't you say, Gilgamesh?"

Time seemed to slow down for Gil. [How does she know that name!? After all the steps we took to protect ourselves, we were discovered just like that?] He looked at her in confusion, then fear.

Sensing she had struck a nerve, Blake couldn't help but crack a slight grin. It was that gesture that sent Gil over the edge. The fear he felt twisted and turned into murderous intent. With discrete movements, he grasped at the knife on his lower back so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

[I'll kill her.] He thought coldly, [My knife's blade is precisely like a Beowulf jaw. I'll just say we were ambushed by one, and I couldn't save her. She'll suffer a bit, but then again… what's one more rock on a mountain of bodies?]

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Laura finished filling up her jar and wiped her brow with a tired sigh.

With the last jar filled, Laura wiped her sweaty brow with her hand and let out a tired sigh.

"I'm finished here." She turned towards the leader of Team RWBY, only to see her trailing a few meters behind her. Their eyes locked for a second, then Ruby averted her gaze and began to whistle a small tune. [She obviously wants something. I suppose I can indulge her since she didn't talk my ear off during this ordeal.]

Slipping the jar into her bag, she walked over to the girl in the red cape and cleared her throat.

"Ruby, you haven't said a word this entire time. If something bothers you, you're more than welcome to talk to me about it." With her kindest smile, she took the girl's hand in her own and stroked the back of her hand with her thumb.

"Uhh. Yeah, there's actually something I wanted to ask." She replied meekly while staring at her hands. "Where's Raishun? We ran into each other one night at Beacon, and he gave me some advice that helped me get along with my team."

The meekness suddenly faded from her features, a nostalgic look of peace replacing it. "He told me to prove to them that I can lead in my own way while treasuring who I am now. It wasn't until my team started getting along that I realized I never thanked him or helped him with his problem."

[Why is he always coming up in conversation. He's a weakling who ran away because of a misunderstanding.] Laura did her best not to show her true feelings and nodded in understanding at the girl's words. "Raishun's not attending Beacon anymore." Laura replied, "He abandoned my team only a week into the semester, and I had to take up the mantle of leader."

"He's gone?" Ruby said in disbelief, "But why? Before I left, he told me he was thinking of a way to apologize to someone he'd hurt. If he practices what he preaches, then he would've stopped at nothing to fix his mistake!"

Laura felt her heart sink into her feet. "He what?"

"He even went as far as to dig up some flowers in the schoolyard." Ruby giggled, "He got so into it; I don't think he noticed the dirt on his nose from picking so many of them. Imagine that, being so desperate that you steal flowers from the school!"

[Then those flowers weren't just some perverse form of flattery… No, I knew it from the start. I just didn't want to acknowledge what they represented.] The white-haired girl stepped away from Ruby and felt her teeth sink into her cheek. [I've done it again. I stepped all over another person's feelings just to further my own ambitions.]

"I hope he at least got to apologize." Ruby sighed and slung her back of jars over her shoulder. "We should get back with the others. I love the sun, but my feet are starting to hurt."

"Alright. I'm sure the others are done by now as well." The white-haired girl took the lead through the forest. Partially it was because of pride that she walked in front of Ruby, but also because she couldn't bear to have the girl see her so distraught.

[I hope that you found rest in a peaceful place. The burden of leadership will be mine to bear, along with the shame of having wronged you.]

The pair hadn't walked far when they came across Gil and Blake facing each other in front of a large tree. Laura was glad to see her cousin was okay, but that changed when she saw him reaching towards the back of his waist.

[The knife! He can't seriously be thinking of that now!] She rushed forward towards the pair, hand outstretched. "GIL!!"