Silver Eyes Ch. 2 (RWBY) (Patreon)

A/N: This is the official time slot for Silver Eyes going forward each week! Enjoy Chapter 2!

In which questions are answered, but only cause more questions to arise~

-x-X-x-

Growing up on the streets of Vale, Cole had taken a few blows in his day. None that had fully knocked him unconscious, else he probably wouldn’t have survived to adulthood… but he’d been injured enough a few times that he had to crawl to some bolt hole and sleep it off for a few days, or even a few weeks before he started to feel better.

That’s why… he knew what to expect when he woke up after being hit that hard. He knew to expect pain in his head, cloudy thoughts and impaired judgment. Not to mention soreness throughout his body. He knew to expect all of those things… it was pretty damn normal.

Which is why it’s so startling when Cole experiences none of those things upon coming back to consciousness. In fact… he feels better than he has in a long time. He feels light as a feather and there’s this… warmth spreading through him that he can’t quite place.

For a moment, Cole wonders if it was all just a bad dream. Maybe it was still the morning of the heist and he’d just had a nightmare about how things could go the absolute worst that they could go. Wouldn’t be the first stress-induced dream he’d had of that flavor. Except… no. When he opens his eyes, it’s to look up at an unfamiliar ceiling. And when he looks around the room he’s in… this isn’t his bedroom. This isn’t his bed.

The bed is actually far more comfortable than anything Cole has ever slept in before, and probably a large part of the light and warm sensations coursing through his body. He’s almost afraid to move, anticipating the soreness to make itself known the instant he does… but again his expectations are subverted. Even as he shifts on the bed, moving this way and that, there’s no pain to speak of.

The room is… well, if Cole had to guess from context clues alone, he’s still in the damn house. The old-fashioned architecture he remembers from the manor that they’d broken into is present all around him in this bedroom as well. And, unfortunately, the last thing he notices all but confirms it… the blonde is there in the room with him.

She’s looking at her Scroll and for a second Cole thinks he might have a chance of doing something, either feigning unconsciousness or getting the drop on her or slipping away… something. But then she notices his shifting and Cole can only tense up as those green eyes land upon him, widening slightly.

“You’re awake.”

Shit. Cole stays very, very still as the trained Huntress is suddenly up from her chair and at the bedside checking him over. He endures the resulting poking and prodding, knowing full well that she can break him over her knee if she wants to… and that’s without taking her Semblance into consideration.

Now that his head is no longer swimming from repeated blows and his mind is no longer quite so impaired, Cole thinks he actually might recognize her, truth be told. But… there’s no way right? Why would SHE be here? Unless… oh fuck. This was her house, wasn’t it? Of course it was all but abandoned, given her line of work…

“You’re Glynda Goodwitch.”

He forces more certainty into his voice than he actually feels, causing the blonde to pull back for a moment and study him inscrutably before finally nodding.

“Yes, I am. Glynda Goodwitch, Headmistress of Beacon Academy, at your service.”

Yeah, he’d been afraid of that, but he knew he recognized her. It was all over the news a while back, though exactly how long ago it had been, he couldn’t remember. Something about the old Headmaster dying and Goodwitch taking over as Headmistress. Cole had been younger… and he’d had more important things to worry about than the turnover at a school he was never going to attend.

“And what is your name, young man?”

Cole… obviously doesn’t say a thing to that. He’s not going to just give up his identity like that, not when there’s still a chance he might escape. After all, for whatever reason she hadn’t thrown him in a cell or even put handcuffs on him. He was in this bed, completely unbound, and while Cole wasn’t stupid enough to try to pick a fight with her, especially after what Goodwitch had already proven capable of, he wasn’t giving up without a fight.

As the silence continues right into the realm of full awkwardness, Goodwitch grimaces, the Headmistress humming as she leans back and crosses her arms over her chest.

“I understand that our… first meeting was not had under the best of circumstances. I apologize for my excessive use of force in subduing you and your… friends.”

What? She apologized? Cole can’t help but stare at the blonde woman, feeling rather bewildered. He and the others were the ones who had broken into this place with the intentions of stealing shit. Hell, seeing as the other four got away, they actually had succeeded in stealing some shit. So why the fuck was Goodwitch apologizing to him? Unless it was a trap of some sort. She was trying to lull him into a false sense of security or something, wasn’t she?

“I had to awaken your Aura to help you heal faster, so I hope you’re-!”

“You what?”

That admission causes Cole to break his silence with a tone of incredulity and shock. She’d… she’d awakened his Aura? There was no way that was true, right? Except it was also the only thing that made sense. He’d been thoroughly beat up when he’d lost consciousness. Maybe even life threateningly beat up. But then he’d woken up feeling completely fine.

Looking down at himself, Cole tries to focus on it… on the feeling of having an Awakened Soul. He thinks he can sense it, actually. His Aura lurking beneath the surface, ready to act in his defense, ready to help him and make him stronger.

Cole swallows hard past the lump in his throat, not sure how to feel. This was something he’d wanted for the longest time, ever since he’d been told what Aura even was and why some people were just so much stronger than others. And now he had it… but at what cost, exactly?

“Why? Why would you do that?”

Glynda Goodwitch had gone quiet after his exclamation, watching him study himself in silence for a moment. When he finally turns his gaze towards her, she straightens up and squares her shoulders. Really though, it just didn’t make any sense. It was one thing for her to be trying to butter him up and maybe get him to flip on Junior and the Gang. He could kind of see how everything so far added up in that direction.

… But it was another entirely to awaken his Aura for him. As far as Cole knew, you couldn’t take that sort of thing back. It was permanent. Not to mention illegal in most cases, though he didn’t know if the Headmistress of Beacon got an exception or something. Still… it just didn’t make sense.

“Because you are in grave danger, young man. You’re going to need every bit of help you can get.”

Before Cole can even ask what that’s supposed to mean, Glynda is suddenly close again, one hand under her chin and the other… the other brushing along his cheek bone right under one of his eyes. It comes rushing back to him then, her fascination with his eye color back in the vault.

“… Tell me… has anyone ever paid you special interest because of these silver eyes of yours?"

Until her, she means? Cole very carefully doesn’t react, though he can’t quite keep his mind from wandering. He was young. Under ten still, but already living on the streets. Another street urchin had got it into his head that Cole’s eyes were worth something. After all, silver was valuable right? Had to be. He’d tried to trade Cole some food for his eyes, but Cole was homeless, not stupid. He knew he needed his eyes. He’d seen what some of the homeless people without them had to go through and it was… rough.

The other urchin had tried to bargain Cole down to just one. Surely one was alright, right? He would still be able to see out of the other after all. But Cole had again said no, even when the offer of all of the food the urchin had on him had been mouthwateringly tempting.

Finally, the other boy had decided to just take them by force instead. That was the first time Cole ever took a life. He’d had to defend himself with the sharp rock he’d found, driving it into the other boy’s temple before he could react.

From that day onward, Cole had done his best to hide his silver eyes. He’d grown out his hair at first, using the fringe to keep his eyes covered. Not only did that hide his eye color, but it also kept most people from seeing where he was looking, which he found quite useful indeed given his lifestyle.

Eventually, after he’d joined Junior’s Gang, he’d been able to cut his hair down to something more reasonable once he started wearing the signature shades everywhere. Those had the same effect of both obscuring his eye color as well as hiding where exactly he was looking at any given time.

So no, beyond his fellow urchin all those years ago, nobody had ever paid him or his silver eyes much interest. But Cole isn’t about to just tell Glynda all of that. He stays quiet instead, staring at her wordlessly until she once again breaks, letting out a sigh and shaking her head.

“… No I suppose not. If they had, you would already be dead… or worse.”

What?

“Listen to me very carefully, young man. You may not realize it, but you are very special. Your eyes… there are those who would hunt you for your eyes. And they would be right to, because those eyes of yours are the only thing that might stop them from accomplishing their ultimate goals.”

… What.

“I awakened your Aura because while it is my intention to protect you to the best of my abilities, you must also be able to protect yourself. That is why… I hope to offer you a place at Beacon, where you will receive the training you need to defend yourself from those who wish to do you harm.”

She was serious, wasn’t she? It sounded insane. It sounded like a trap. Except, if it was a trap as he’d initially expected, it was so over the top it was ridiculous. There was no reason for her to go to all this trouble just to flip him… right? But at the same time, it was just all so unbelievable. She was basically trying to sell him on some Chosen One bullshit or something, and Cole honestly wasn’t having it. Maybe she even believed her own bullshit, but he was a skeptic to his core.

Besides…

“I can’t.”

Fuck it, maybe being blunt and honest was a bad idea, but he wasn’t entirely sure playing along was the best plan either.

“… I have other commitments already. Commitments I can’t just abandon.”

Goodwitch raises an eyebrow at that, the Beacon Headmistress tilting her head to the side.

“Commitments to those criminals who abandoned you and fled to save their own skins at the first chance they got?”

Cole flushes a bit at the reminder of that. He still didn’t necessarily blame those guys… but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt a little bit.

“No. Not them.”

He’s not willing to say anything more, of course. For a long moment, Goodwitch studies him silently. Then, she seems to change tack.

“Tell me, why did you not have your Aura unlocked before now? Certainly, the unlocking of a civilian’s Aura IS illegal… but those other men all had theirs. You were the only one in the group who didn’t, which is half the reason I accidentally injured you so drastically in the first place.”

Cole flushes, his lips curling downwards. If she thinks she’s going to flip him that way, she has another thing coming.

“I hadn’t earned it yet.”

And really, he hadn’t. He was sure he was going to soon enough though. Junior wasn’t a kind or generous man, but he was fair and honest. Every other Made Man under Junior’s employ eventually got their Aura unlocked. Cole was coming up soon enough, of that he was certain.

But far from being disappointed at his response, Glynda Goodwitch suddenly has a gleam in her eye.

“I wonder… how will they react when you show back up with the Aura you haven’t earned yet?”

Cole’s eyes widen, a jolt going through his body. How WOULD they react? Junior had almost certainly been told that he got caught by now. They’d probably written him off as a lost cause once the others explained just how powerful their attacker had been. But he’d figured he could explain himself once he got back to the Club. Tell Junior everything that happened and just be fully truthful.

Except… what sort of person awakened the Aura of a thief they caught in their own home? What sort of message would that send to Junior, if Cole showed up again at the Club with the Aura he hadn’t earned the right to yet?

A shiver runs down Cole’s spine. Was that why she’d done it? To leave him without any options.

“I’ll have your name now, young man. I think we both know you need my help going forward. It will be easier if I know what to call you.”

Feeling rather faint, Cole swallows thickly, hesitating for only a moment longer before slowly nodding.

“It’s… it’s Cole.”

Glynda actually offers him a smile at that but he barely registers it. He does feel the hand on his shoulder though, flinching at her touch.

“Cole. It’s a pleasure to meet you properly. I promise-!”

RIIIIIIIIIIING!

Before she can complete whatever that promise was going to be, her Scroll starts to sound off like someone is being killed. Whipping away from him, the Beacon Headmistress swipes the Scroll up from where she’d set it down and shuts off the alarm before reading something that makes her tense up more and more until finally, she lets out a sharp exhale and turns back to him.

“My immediate presence is needed elsewhere in Vale, I’m afraid. Please stay here, Cole. Get some rest, order yourself a pizza if you like.”

She flicks him a high denomination Lien at that, and he catches it on instinct before looking between her and it somewhat blankly. Offering him a reassuring smile, Goodwitch gives him a sharp nod.

“I’ll be back for you in the morning. You’ll be safe here until then.”

And then… she’s just gone. For a long moment, Cole just sits there on the bed, staring at the Lien in disbelief. Then, he immediately throws the covers off and stands up, rushing to the window. Shock of shocks, she’s actually leaving. He catches the tail end of the Headmistress flying away on a platform held up by her Semblance just as she disappears from view and just… stares.

She’d left him to his own devices. Seriously? After all that, she really just… left him alone? Cole could hardly believe it. If this was all some sort of trap, then maybe she’d bugged him or something? The Lien… had to be.

Setting the plastic card down on the nearest nightstand, Cole checks himself over for anything else he might have missed or that might have been slipped into his clothing when he was unconscious. He doesn’t find anything, but… well, that doesn’t mean anything.

And yet, what is he supposed to do now? Actually wait for her to come back in the morning? Every fiber of his being balks at that idea. He needed… he needed to get back to Junior. He needed to at least explain himself. Maybe not everything, but he was sure he could convince Junior that he hadn’t turned.

He could play up his injuries, maybe. Tell Junior that he was so close to death that Goodwitch had been forced to awaken his Aura to save his life or something, and then he’d fled when he woke up. Better that then showing up at Beacon in a few weeks as a student or something with zero explanation.

… Right?

-x-X-x-

A/N: Cole: "I ain't telling this bitch anything!"

Also Cole: "Damn it, this bitch ain't telling me anything!"