A Moment of Mercy (Team CHMP) [Year 2]

It was a cloudy evening, two members of team CHMP, Skye and Peter were walking back to Beacon, Peter was carrying multiple bags filled with food and supplies with Skye walking casually alongside him "Why does it take so long to buy everything?..." "We wouldn't have to buy so much if you would just stop eating so much!" "I was raised in a famine, I was taught to eat as much as I could, I still haven't trained that out of me!" they argued as they walked "Whatever, man... I still don't know how you're so thin..." Pete said, trying to diffuse the situation "Good genes, I guess, blessing from a god of some kind? I mean, probably not THE God, he seems to hate my guts, but... Hm?..." he said, interrupted by a figure in the corner of his eye, a young woman, she was wearing a tattered dress and was sitting against the side of the building in an alleyway, she was limp and looked half-dead "Looks like he hates alot of people..." he said before walking towards the figure out of curiousity of why she was there, "Wha-Skye, no, that's just a street urchin, if we leave her alone, she won't bite. Pete said as his teammate walked towards her, Skye noticed two things about the girl first, her eyes and her chest, these triggered... Unwelcomed flashbacks "N-No... Please Someone Help!!" Skye shook these unwanted memories from his head and looked at the girl closely, her eyes were open and glassy, adding to the half-dead look, but she was still breathing and at some moments snoring "Huh... I heard that some people can sleep with their eyes open, but this isn't a good place for rest..." "Nya.... Pa-... Pauline..." the girl said wearily "Okay then, Pauline... You look troubled... C'mere, I'll help..." he said before wrapping his arms around her and picking her up bridal style, Pete just looked at him with a glare as he turned around "....I know what you're thinking.... And no, we will not be bringing a street urchin into our dorm, as leader, that's final!" he said angrily, Skye just rolled his eyes "And since when do any of us listen to you as leader?..." Pete glared at him and sighed "Whatever, but if Misaki and Bai get angry and kick my ass and not yours, you owe me!" "For once, I agree, now come on Pauline, it's time for you to come home..." "You realize this is abduction, right?" "She's an urchin, no one will miss her, and if they do, she'll tell us." "Yeah, but she'll probably be freaking out when we ge-" "Shut up, Peter, no one cares!"

(Time skip, Beacon, Team CHMP Dorm)

Peter was sitting on his bed with an angered expression as Skye was in the bathroom, cleaning the unconscious girl "Y'know, if she wakes up now, this'll freak her out even more!" Pete yelled through the wall, there was no response from Skye, Pete fell back onto his bed "This is such a bad idea... This is why I should be assertive..." he said before he looked at the door to the room "They'll be home any minute now..."

Well enough, at that moment, a particular albino tiger slowly opened the entrance to the dormitory. With a low mutter, he turned the doorknob before pushing inwards and peering into the room. For a moment, his tail flickered behind him as he glanced around, though slowly fell still as he caught sight of the bear afar. At the realization of the fact that his team leader was there, his eyes narrowed; frosted, chilling azure hues of theirs growing ever piercing all the while. Giving the other his normal glare, he swung the door open carelessly before striding in, his hands kept within his pockets while he eyed the shorter lad in a seemingly disapproving manner. "Pardon me; I actually got hopeful for once and thought that there was a chance that you wouldn't be here,," he stated with a simple, underlying agitation. A casual shrug would be motioned by him as he walked rather calmly over to his own bed despite the edge in his down, sitting on the edge of it and crossing his legs. "I mean, it was to be expected since we have the fucking glorious privilege of being teammates, right? Ha...fuck me..."

Misaki followed the boy in "Even though I was right behind you? Misaki said with a smirk "Sorry but you  are never alone in here......"Misaki trailed off as she made her way to the bath room seeing the girl "Skye what are you doing......who is that girl."

Skye quickly wrapped a towel around the unconscious girl "Ah-can't a girl have some privacy?!" he said angrily before gently resting Pauline's body on the floor "And as for the question as who she is... Pete, you tell them!" "Skye brought home street urchin, she's not dead, she's just sleeping with her eyes open... I didn't even know that was a thing... And also her name's apparently Pauline..." "Nya..." Pauline said in her sleep as she stirred a little bit...

"Oh, yeah. ..........Now that I think about it, why the fuck did I even go out with you? Or, like, why the fuck did you accompany me? I'm all the bitch and bastard I need on any trip, and-"

During the tiger's minor outburst, he stopped suddenly, blinking quietly after noticing Misaki's little inquiry, alongside the other replies spanning the room. Closing his mouth for the moment, he looked down, eying the other girl for a moment. He stood there - frozen - before slowly glaring up at the two neighboring males from the corner of his eye with his head still bowed. For a split second, his tail lashed fiercely a single time behind his figure before falling deadly still once more.

".............Don't get me wrong. I may be a fucking dick to everyone I know, but I'm actually open to helping people and all that good and fancy shit like that," he began, slowly folding his arms across his chest. "But you brought a non-student. Here. To our dorm. A four-person dorm."

He took a deep breath before sighing.

"........Fucking Hell; do you guys wanna get us in some deep-ass shit?! What if the teachers or staff rolls around?!"

Misaki sighed a little as she grabbed Skye and pushed him out "Ill finish cleaning her up you boys talk about this."Misaki said as she shut the door and got to work cleaning the girl

Pete sighed "In my defense, I tried to talk him out of it, but you guys never listen to me, even when in hindsight it'd be better than what you actually did..." "And in my defense, I couldn't take her to my house, because since Zegen moved out, I've been making the place... Inappropriate for guests... It'll be fine, we'll find a way to let her stay!" he said dismissively of Bai's concerns...

"Jesus- that isn't a good enough answer to my question, you little fuck!" Baihu growled in a highly agitated way. Undoing the folding of his arms, he raised his hands, aggressively pushing them into his face and rubbing it while muttering into his palms. After doing so, one of them would rake up and through his hair in a stressed way, while the remaining extremity gently pinched and rubbed along the bridge of his nose. "I'm all for helping the chick out, but I say that she isn't staying here! I don't care how harsh I sound right now; just no. If we can't let her stay at your place, maybe mine, or maybe even Peter's since he should apparently take leaderly measures in situations like this, being the leader of this dysfunctional group of ours. Just...not here, dammit. I'd rather not get some bullshit punishment at the very fucking beginning of the semester."

Pete rolled his eyes "Y'know, I would've brought that up if I wasn't paranoid I'd be shot down... I'm fine with letting her stay at my place, but I have to know she'd behave..." he said snarkily "She's not a dog, Peter." "She's a street urchin, I can't trust that she has morals, it's risky enough to bring her here in the first place. She could freak out and bludgeon someone to death with a side table lamp..."

Finally lifting his gaze, the feline dully and fully cast his glare upon his crossbreed leader. "Fucking bullshit, man; and you guys say that I sound like a dick," he snapped back  in a lightly angered toned, a growl caught rumbling from within his throat as he spoke. Standing up, he inhaled deeply and held the breath taken within his lungs before slowly releasing it and glancing around at the duo in his room. He pointed over at Peter. "Suck it the fuck up and pull out your courage and sense of risk, Leader. You won't live long if you have that sort of, 'Oh my Jesus fucking Christ, that could be really dangerous so I'll avoid it at all fucking costs even if it turns out not to kill me,' type of attitude forever. Be brave for once; goddamn."

He pointed at Skye next.

"And you. Although I agree with the fact that you just wanna help some chick out, you could at least call your other team members before pulling some shit like this. If we're stuck as teammates for the entire year, I'm pretty damn sure that we should at least hear about important stuff like this before you make any sorts of moves like this, that way we know what to possibly fucking expect."

Lowering his hand, the boy drew in another breath before releasing it in a long, loud, and defeated sigh.

Pete and Skye looked unimpressed at Bai's outburst "See the thing is, even if I did try to be brave, there would be the fact that one of you would berate for taking unnecessary risks." Pete said in a matter of fact tone, Skye opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a sudden, yet... Strangely quiet and weak scream from the bathroom "Looks like your captive's awake, Skye..." Pete said before the bathroom door opened to reveal Pauline dressed in a towel, clearly in a panic "W-Who... Ar-Are you?..." she said weakly, Skye smiled gently to her "Well I'm the guy who took you off the street and brought to this nice place." he said proudly, Pauline slowly calmed down and looked around the room "It's... P-Pretty here..." Pete just stared at her in confusion "This went alot better than I expected..."

Misaki smiled at the girl "Hey my name is misaki what is yours?.....are you thirsty or hungry at all?"Misaki asked as she looked at the girl with a warm grin.

Pauline looked back to Misaki "M-mizuki... B-both..." "It's Misaki..." "Th-tha's what I said" Pete was still confused at the girl "I'm Skye, by the way." "Kk-k-Kai..." she said, Skye found it cute the way she said it, Pete found it endearingly creepy, thanks to the gurgling elongation of the K...

For the quickest moment, Bai opened his mouth in a scowl, intending to snap back at Peter with some sort of sharp-tongued and aggravated remark. However, he stopped himself before he even said anything, his ears flickering and his gaze instantly shifting over to the bathroom as the scream sounded. His eyes would follow after the towel-clad lass as she rushed out. Once more, he was about to say something, though remained silent as he noticed the other beginning to calm down. Instead, he looked to Peter, narrowing his eyes slightly at the remark he had given. "And that's why you have to get to know somebody at least a little bit before you judge their fucking morals, you ass," he muttered, shaking his head slightly before turning around and walking to his bed. Crouching down, he shuffled beneath it for a moment or so before pulling out a box and retrieving a water bottle laid within it.

Muttering quietly, he stood up before taking a step or two over to the newcomer. He held the bottle out to her, his tail flickering behind him. "I'm Bai Hu. Feel free to take this, if you need a drink or something like that," he said simply, his expression lightening up the slightest bit and his glare easing into a more neutral visual for once.

Misaki smiled a bit at the girl "Go ahead and take it. pauline where do you live?"

"Bayou... Th-thank you..." she said before she took the bottle from his hand and opened it, taking a small sip out if it "Hey, if I was the one who brought her here, you would've been on my case for not being more careful with strangers!" Pauline then looked back at Misaki again "I... D-don't live anywhere..." "We said we found her on the streets in a state that would suggest homelessness, did we not?..." "I'm pretty sure it would imply, but wouldn't outright say that she was a street urchin... It's a heavy implication, but an implication none-the-less..."

The teen remained silent at the other's attempt of repetition of his name, his ears flickering at the mispronunciation. Shaking his head, however, he simply dismissed it.

"First off; no I wouldn't have. I would've reacted the same way I did here; by giving you a fucking earful but agreeing with your causes nonetheless," Bai spoke after the girl took the bottle, gazing over at the bear. "And second...let's see..."

He turned his gaze back to the apparent homeless lass. His tone calmed down a great amount as he spoke in a softer and more calm manner; again, another rare and surprising occurrence from him. "If I may ask, do you...like...remember anything? How long you've been without a place to stay, and other things like that...?"

Misaki glared at pete before grabbing and pulling him out of the room and into the hall way "Pete what is the matter with you? I know where asses but i know you know we would have acted the same way."Misaki said as she crossed her arms in slight annoyance.

Pauline shook her head "I-I... D-Don't remember... Th-the last th-thing I cc-can remember w-was... Three o-old men... Th-they held me d-down, one of them ma-made me g-glow... I p-passed out..." "That's all you remember?..." Pete was about to say something, but was pulled out of the room by Misaki, "A-All I remember... It wasn't the m-men who made me f-forget... I di-didn't rem-remember m-much bef-fore th-that happened..."

Pete glared at Misaki and sighed "I can't defend my actions, but then again, most of the time, neither can any of you, I tried being nice, but all that got me was "Shut up"s and "No one cares", even though, you know, most of our victories came from, or were partially due to me. Who thinks of the plans? Me. Who keeps us focused on the tasks at hand? Me. Who was appointed by Ozpin to lead this train wreck? Me. Now I'd be alot nicer if I got some recognition now and then, okay? Is that too much to ask?"

Misaki let out a small growl "Where not a train wreck of a team Pete and that is why we are mean to you we hate being called a useless team like you always do!...."Misaki sighed "Pete listen to me here i respect you as a leader ok i would hate that job i know the others feel the same we just treat each other badly we always do...."Misaki smiled a little "So pete please try acting nice here i know we are all asses but.......Some one needs are help..."

At the sound of Pauline's reply, Baihu's ears twitched once more, a light scowl beginning to tug at his lips as he tilted his head a bit. "...So someone did this to you, huh...?" he muttered in a low-toned voicing, his tail slowly beginning to resume its subtle swaying movements behind him in a more constant motion. Sighing quietly, he shook his head before stepping back a couple of steps and falling calmly onto his rear, taking a seat on his bed again. "Well isn't that just fucking dandy...?"

He thought to himself, growing silent for a moment. "...Well, then you're definitely not being kicked back to the streets like a fuckton of trash from a recent party. Nah." Quietly, he breathed another sigh before leaning back, laying his back across the blankets of the mattress before rubbing his face with his hands again. "Eh... If it's fine with you guys, I guess she could stay at my place, then... I really don't give a shit, and it would be better than sending her back out there alone. Never know when some freaky-ass shit could happen again..."

"N-No... The men d-didn't makk-ke me forget... The-They're j-just all I-I remember... I remember not remembering..." "Makes sense to me, I believe her for now...."

Pete sighed "I was going to help her anyways, I was just making sure she wasn't crazy first, you think I'm paranoid and untrusting, but I'm just planning ahead, okay? Okay. Now..." he said before walking back into the room, hearing Bai's previous comment "Like I said, I'm good with taking her in with me, I already have a guest room set up... I get lonely when my girlfriend isn't over... She comes over less often than you'd think... It's still often, but not often enough... I'm rambling now, I'll stop..." Pauline smiled at Pete "I-It's... Okk-kay Peta... I think it's cc-cute..." "Uh... Thanks?..."

Baihu just stared over at his leader upon his reentry. "Huh. Alright, then; that's one point down for sure, then," he muttered his voicing low and seemingly disiniterested despite the sense of seriousness he held to the situation. "Loneliness problems aside for now, though, what are we gonna do now? Not for the whole 'who's gonna take her in' case, but, like...for everything in general following. We're apparently acting as minor guardians, now, but I don't think shielding her from the light of day for the rest of her life is the way to go. ...At the same time, I don't feel like she could roam around too freely, considering the possibility that she could find herself in trouble, because, like...I mean, Vale's fine for the most part, but not everything is dandy and all sunshine and unicorns and rainbows. So...what of that?"

Misaki smiled "Ill watch her when she is out also ill give her my old scroll."

Pete shrugged "While giving her a means to reach us is a good idea, I, for some reason, have a nagging feeling you accompanying her every time she goes out would be inefficient..." "How about we make her work in way that gets her out and about? Show her the town on occasion." "Hm... Pauline, you're the team's errand girl." "Er-Errand Girl?... Wh-What's that?" "An errand girl does tasks like supplies gathering and morale raising for a team." "...Okk-kay... I g-guess I cc-can do those, they sound nice..." "All in favour, raise your hand and say "Aye"" Skye and Pauline both raised their hands "Aye!" "A-Aye...?" "Should Pauline's vote count?... It makes things more fair because it's an odd number, so there's no need for a tie... So..."