The Wilted Rose

Chapter 71: The Easy Part

Vale

4:05 PM

120 Minutes to the Fall

Red Hood Pov

Neo and I stood opposite of the Atlasian Bullheads landing zone. It was the designated area for where troops could get on and off the cruisers above. Whether they were going out on Duty or shore leave didn't matter. What did matter was that Neo and I were going to get some uniforms and sneak onto one of those Bullheads. 

The plan was rather straight forward. We get two people who wear our sizes, and we nab their uniform before coming back to the airship and just before getting on, Neo will change our appearance to match whoever we took the uniforms from before taking the trip up. After that, we find our way to the cellblocks, get Roman and get the hell out before they even know that we're their. Getting our weapons onboard is the risky part. 

I had none other than a trusty duffle bag that I kindly liberated from yet another store. I find it funny that there's probably someone out there who's going mad because of all the bags I'm stealing. Downright makes my day. It was sporting Atlas colors so that was also a plus. 

The bag was filled to the brim with our stuff and will have a spare uniform for Roman, provided that things are still quiet at that point. One can hope.... I was still hurting but it was now or never. The fights were resuming at six and I wanted us to be at the colosseum before it starts. Cinder has to be there. Once I deal with whatever she's planned, I can deal with Tai. 

For now though, I just needed to find the right pair. Luckily for us, Neo caught sight of some not to far from us. It was already off to a good start. Now we just need to "ask' for their uniforms. Bonus points for them being officers and there being a third that looked perfectly sized for Roman. That'll come in handy. Neo and I started tailing them, just waiting for a opportunity....

Pyrrha Pov

4:25 PM

100 Minutes to the Fall

I sat alone on the backside of the cafeteria. It was rare for there to be any quiet these days so it was a special moment that I wanted to take advantage of. At least that was the idea. What Ozpin had told me about the Maiden had been at the forefront of my mind. There hasn't been a minutes reprieve from it. It didn't help that The one person who was just as deep in this as I was had been driven out of Beacon. 

Y/n was my lifeline and with him gone, I felt alone. More alone than I had ever felt. How was I supposed to make a decision like this? I only had a few hours, tomorrow at best, to figure out whether to risk becoming a Maiden. Y/n was starkly against the idea. Should I trust his take on the situation and refuse? But then who will take my place after? Will there even be another to take my place? 

There was so much to consider and no feasible way for me to find the right answer, if there even was one. It felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders and it was starting to crush me beneath. A leaf fell down beside my outstretched leg, barely brushing against it and bringing me out of my thoughts with the sudden stimuli. I stared at the leaf with the only thing I could think of being Autumn and how closely the leafs' webbings matched the scar on her face. 

I was yanked out of my thoughts by Jaune calling out to me. Any other time, I would have been happy to see him but with everything happening and my time running out while being no closer to a answer, I would have rathered staying alone. Jaune held out a stick of cotton candy, noticing just how deep into this spiral I was.