672Painful breathing inside a ventilator mask was heard and Walker leaned forward on his hospital bed. Blake and Red's worried questions seemed to fall on deaf ears as he continued to stare forward. At first, he was going to just go back to Mother Base, but he decided to stay at Beacon's medical facility for a few days then head back.
The doctors and nurses had to practically get on their hands and knees to get him to take his helmet off, and even then he didn't trust them. It was only when a few doctors and nurses belonging to the Gears arrived did he let down his guard a little. His trust in people wasn't high, especially when it came to taking off his helmet and showing his face.
Blake, Jaune, and Red left after he remained quiet and couldn't get him to say anything. No reassurances, no comments about the war, or even asking about how they were. He was officially gassed out and they decided to let him rest.
Several minutes after he was gone, he slid his hand across the stand next to him and grabbed his wallet. He opened it up and saw a picture of Velvet, Amiya, and him at Menagerie when they took dozens of pictures. This one in particular was special because it was one where he had his helmet off. He immediately noticed the light in his eyes. In that moment, he looked so alive and carefree, the Locust weren't on his mind and neither was finding a way home.
He was just happy to be next to the two of them and it made him immediately feel like shit. It wasn't just Velvet that he missed, but the rest of the Scarlatinas as well. They were his second family on Remnant and he lost them too.
It only increased his determination to leave Remnant with only Amiya. The others had to stay here. They would create families themselves and move on with life. All he wanted to do was live a quiet life on Sera, maybe build a cabin in the woods and just enjoy those he fought alongside.
Several minutes after he was gone, he slid his hand across the stand next to him and grabbed his wallet. He opened it up and saw a picture of Velvet, Amiya, and him at Menagerie when they took dozens of pictures. This one in particular was special because it was one where he had his helmet off. He immediately noticed the light in his eyes. In that moment, he looked so alive and carefree, the Locust weren't on his mind and neither was finding a way home.
He was just happy to be next to the two of them and it made him immediately feel like shit. It wasn't just Velvet that he missed, but the rest of the Scarlatinas as well. They were his second family on Remnant and he lost them too.
A pained chuckle escaped his lips as he laughed bitterly at the situation he was currently in. Stuck on some backwater rock, dealing with the same nightmare he fought so desperately to escape beforehand, and no idea on what his first step was to get home. The situation itself was hopeless, any lesser man would've bit the dust years ago had they been in his shoes.
Besides finding a way back after destroying the Locust, Amiya was his only true reason for coming back. Seeing her face was the ultimate reward after fighting, but it was also a reminder of his greatest failure. He promised Richard that he would take care of the others should something happen to him and Katrina, and he made the mistake of not going to them first. That night he defended Beacon from falling stuck to his mind like a nightmarish memory.
Instead of saving the people he cared about the most, he decided to save the random civilians and Beacon as a whole. Every time he was reminded of that, he went silent or aggressive, depending on who would bring up that topic.
Now he has to deal with the fact that the others knew he wasn't from Sera, which meant he had to explain to them his connection with the Locust. He knew this day would come but he didn't want it to come now. Scorn immediately caught onto this when he saw the look of confusion on Jaune's face when Sera was mentioned.
His only worry was if the other leaders on the mainland found out. They were already distrustful of him, and he knew that Scorn was smart enough to use that against him and the Gears. If it meant driving a wedge between humanity to make them easier to annihilate, then he would do it.
Scorn understood humanity's way of life on a frightening level. He used their fear to attract Grimm, making the downfall of settlements easier. Another thing he knew was how easy it was to cause discord within the ranks.
People underestimated him because they assumed he was a regular Locust. He wasn't... he was a monster through and through. Walker was the only one who seemed to understand him, and despite Scorn's hatred of humanity; he seemed to respect Walker.
His comment that Walker would've made a perfect member of the Horde was sincere. Had Walker been a Locust, he would've been the most dangerous with how belligerent he was in battle. Both were one side of the same coin. The Locust on Sera valued strength and enemies that cowered away were tortured and killed, their deaths were nothing short of a hellish experience. Those who fought, while still killed brutally, were more or less valued in a sick way.
Walker scowled in the mirror and immediately started to think about the next move. His plan was to personally hunt Scorn down and rip his heart out like he promised. He already knew he was going to bring the Obsidian Guards and several Onyx Guards as well. However, they would have to eliminate each Theron that serves underneath the Locust leader.
There was a knock on his door and he was thrown out of his thoughts. He heard a voice on the other end and knew it was Blake. His steps were slow as he opened the door and let her in.
She slid inside with a bag of food in her right hand and just watched as he slowly made his way back to his bed. He sat on the edge and put the mask back over his face, staring at the ground in between his legs.
"I got some food." She said as she held up the bag.
"I'm not hungry, but thanks for the offer." He shook his head. His voice was quiet and painful sounding with each breath he took.
"..." She lowered the bag and sat down in the chair next to his bed. The silence was uncomfortable and she didn't know what to say.
That it all made sense now? That she finally pieced together why he knew so much about the Locust, why he seemed to have some unhealthy obsession with them and their extermination. He's dealt with these nightmarish monsters before and was an expert on them at this point. Him and Scorn originated from the same place, but asking him made her fear another Atlas incident would occur.
She didn't want to lose his trust and see him in that tank again, or better yet, dead. He was too important to her and a lot of people.
"Walker-" She started but stopped when he let out a painful cough.
"I need you to gather some information for me about the tunnels." He said hoarsely.
"Walker, just... take it easy." She said and stood up from her chair.
"I put a tracker on Scorn's armor during our previous encounter. The signal should be strong enough to understand their shithole a bit better." He said.
"Walker-" She tried to say but he started to mumble. He was so caught up in this thoughts that he didn't notice her sitting on the side of the bed.
It was only when she gripped his biceps gently did he actually notice her. Despite the exasperated look in her eyes, he could tell she was scared for him. As much as she wanted him to take it easy and not think about the Locust for once, she knew it was impossible. His obsession with eradicating them off the face of Remnant seemed to cloud his view of everything else.
His hatred for them was so great that he stopped noticing the little things in life. He didn't attend the events to raise morale at Mother Base, he rarely talked to the civilian populace, and if it wasn't Amiya or the war, he didn't care.
He was bred for war, and she wondered if everyone on Sera was like that. She still had trouble believing that, but the pieces were fitting too well together to deny it. A part of her wanted to know more but the other part knew to stay silent and not push. The whole situation became more complicated and she didn't know what to do.
"I'm alright, Blake..." He said as he gave her forearm a few pats.
A sad look appeared on her face when she heard that. His constant reassurances despite his severely injured state. Even when she tried to start a conversation about something else, his focus immediately went back to the Locust. Not even bringing Amiya up seemed to derail him and her heart felt like it cracked a bit.
After a while, she left him alone and he blinked tiredly. He looked out the window to see the normally cloudy day start to darken a bit. He could tell it was going to rain and wondered the last time Vale had a sunny day.
"How damn depressing..." He laughed bitterly.
There was another knock on the door and he sighed before taking off the mask and putting on his helmet. He told the person to come in and saw Creed enter. Ruby and Weiss followed him along with Winter and Cardin.
"Boss." Cardin greeted.
"Cardin." Walker greeted him back with a nod. They were on the first name basis, and they were brothers at this point. The same applied with Jaune, the three of them were brothers and he would go to hell and back with them. He would honestly do that for all his Gears. However, their place was Remnant.
"Commander." Creed nodded and pulled up a chair.
"What's the status?" Walker asked.
"Patch is ours." Creed said.
"Hmm." Walker hummed and looked out the window. They all noticed his rather quiet, yet melancholic tone. His body was covered in bruises that looked painful to the touch.
"Sir... why-" Ruby stopped when he turned his head slightly in her direction.
"Signal Academy was a slaughterhouse and a location that wasn't worth the trouble. I understand your desire to save it, but with the Glowie sludge and Grubs that infested that place, we'd only lose more of our numbers." He said and she went silent.
"And if the same thing applies to Atlas?" Weiss asked.
"We destroy the city." He answered instantly, causing everyone to freeze.
"Commander, that's a bit extreme." Creed commented.
"Scorn has access to Atlas technology. Imagine what would happen if he had access to the entire arsenal." Walker said.
That was a terrifying thought. They had seen videos of Scorn, how the cruel Locust leader was in battle. It was like he was the epitome of humanity's worst sins. If he gained access to Remnant's largest military's equipment, the damage he could do would be catastrophic.
"Boss, what about Mistral?" Cardin asked.
"We'll get there one day. Colonel Creed and I need some time." Walker said calmly and Cardin nodded before leaving the room.
"But-" Ruby started but was stopped when Weiss began to tug her out of the room, leaving the two leaders alone. It was silent and Walker turned his head out of the window.
"I'm going to start building the network system soon." Walker said.
We'll need time to recover." Creed said.
"We don't have time." Walker responded.
"Commander, we're not like Gears... the soldiers underneath my command can't fight as long and hard as you all." Creed reasoned.
"This is a time they have to. Scorn has been showing himself more and more, and it's costing us. More people are being found in the wild and Beacon is starting to become overcrowded. Too many mouths and not enough food." Walker explained. His tone still sounded pained and hushed.
"..." Creed remained silent as he thought about the situation.
"We have little time, and I'm not going to waste a single second of it." Walker said.
"Kid... those gals are right. You need to take it easy..." Creed sighed. He respected Walker and was even envious of him in a couple ways, but he saw a person who was pushing himself beyond the safety that his health would allow.
"Colonel, you and I both know that the Locust never rest, and as long as they don't, then I never can." Walker said.
"..." Creed just looked at Walker with a calm expression, but there was sadness in his eyes. How someone so young condemned himself to this fate. He decided to shoulder the burden of the war so that everyone could have some form of normalcy.
"Don't look at me like that. I'll recover." Walker waved his hand. He hated those looks he was given. Those didn't get him anywhere, getting things done took them somewhere.
"It's okay to let your guard down, kid. If not me then people you trust the most." Creed said.
"..." Walker just stared at him. The people he saw as his second family were dead. Only one person survived and she was too young to understand his situation.
"Just take this time to recover and enjoy the small moments. Victories are spread thin these days, you know. You can't just live only to fight." Creed said and bid his farewell to him.
All Walker did was stare at the door. It was easy for everyone to say to relax when they didn't have such a big responsibility. He was the leader of the Gears. He led operations, management, systems, and went on the frontline with his Gears. Nobody understood the Grubs like he did. Their hatred was a single drop compared to the ocean he had in his soul for the Locust.
The only good Grub was a dead Grub.
The Metal Throne was silent as Walker slept in it. That special attachment to his helmet that connected him to the network hummed with power. Everything was running a tad bit slower today and as much as he wanted to force the workers to fix it, he knew they were tired.
He himself was tired and tilted his head a bit, resting it on his right fist. His eyes were closed and his breathing was slow, the aches and pains from his battle with Scorn still hurt. It was hard to get Amiya not to jump on him in excitement when he came home.
As much as he cherished her, he did need some time away from her too. A loud boom made him open his eyes and turn his head to the right slightly. Outside the window was fireworks and he heard the cheers of the citizens. With the recent news that Patch has been taken back from the Locust control, they decided to celebrate.
Blake and the others were attending. Amiya was with them, but he just decided to slip away and rest on the Metal Throne. In his left hand were the tags he made for the Scarlatinas, dangling off each finger.
"My lord." An Onyx Guard said as he walked up to Walker.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Are you not going to attend the recent victory celebration?" The Onyx Guard asked.
"No. I need some time to rest." He shook his head.
"But the people threw it for you." The Onyx Guard said.
"They threw it in celebration of the VDF's recent victory." He corrected.
"Ah." The Onyx Guard said.
"Go be with your family." Walker ordered.
"But-"The Onyx Guard started but quickly stopped when Walker held up his hand.
"I know you have been working hard. So go... enjoy this little moment with them." He said and the other man showed great hesitance before nodding and thanking him. The doors closed with an echoing snap and all was quiet once more. Not a single soul was in this place except him and he sighed quietly.
As much as he preached for people to enjoy these little moments, he himself couldn't find the energy to do so. Amiya had tuckered him out earlier and dealing with work bullshit only irritated him. With the amount of unnecessary drama that's been happening in the work environment this past day, he was left with zero energy.
He was called back into work due to an incident, which meant he missed out on quality time with Amiya, then he had to deal with the stares from the other three. At the end of the day, he was tired, bitter, and wanted to be left alone.
On top of that, he still had to deal with the fact that he needed to find a way to tell the other three. He drummed his fingers along the bottom of his helmet and sighed.
He brought out another picture of Velvet and looked at it sadly. This one was of her, Amiya, and him at Menagerie. His helmet was off and he could see the light in his eyes. Velvet was close to him and Amiya, practically hugging the two. The happiness in her eyes seemed to banish some of the sadness he was feeling right now.
The sorrow came back tenfold when he realized how much of a family they looked like in this picture. It made him momentarily forget that Amiya's deadbeat, sperm donor existed. In that moment, Amiya was his and Velvet's.
There was no war, no Locust, no Glowies, and no Grimm. Just three individuals enjoying what life had blessed upon them.
He had found another diary of hers after they cleaned the former apartment of the Scarlatinas. Another diary but this one was dedicated only for him. It was how much she was glad he was in her life and how she couldn't wait for him to wake up.
Remembering those words written down in the diary and seeing that photo made the hole in his heart bigger than before.
God, he missed them...
Another firework went off and he closed his eyes, basking in the quietness of this cathedral-like building. The floating skulls floated around to do their daily tasks and he eventually fell asleep.
The celebration continued on, but many people looked for Walker. He was a large part in the success of the destruction of Signal Academy, but he was nowhere to be found.
After an hour, the doors to the Metal Throne opened up and several pairs of eyes peeked inside. They spotted his lonely figure on top of the throne, not a single soul in sight. The sight itself seemed to bring about a sense of sadness to anyone who stumbled upon it.
A lonely king who had shouldered the weight of the world. A warrior stuck on a barren rock with no way back to his true home.
"Does... does he always sit on that thing like that?" Jessica asked.
"He's been sitting on it more and more these days." Jaune sighed.
"When was the last time he was anywhere but here, the Command, Combat, or Medical Platforms?" Theresa asked.
None of them could think of the last time he was anywhere else but those locations. He didn't know that they had so many activities because he never bothered anymore. The death of the Scarlatinas at the hands of the Locust had turned him bitter and jaded.
His training was harsher as well. However, it paid off in the end because the Gears that went through it came back.
Blake shook her head and walked down the aisle and up the stairs. Each step was quiet and she noticed the candles every few steps, along with the different paper scrolls with quotes. Some were of fallen Gears while others were of wise individuals.
When she finally stood in front of him, she saw that he was sleeping. Her hands gently gripped the helmet attachment and unhooked it from his helmet. Steam escaped it as she gently lifted it off of him and he slowly woke up.
"I thought you were going to watch the fireworks with us?" She asked.
"Just needed some time to think. Plus, you know I'm not one for celebrations." He shook his head.
"What's got you in a slump?" Jaune asked as he walked up the steps.
"They died on this day last year..." Walker said.
"..." Everyone went silent and a dull throb of pain was felt in their hearts. With how much they had been going through over the past several months, they momentarily forgot what day it was.
Now it all made sense as to why he was in such a depressed mood. He was reminded of what he considered his biggest failure. A promise broken to a man who acted as a second fatherly figure.
"Make sure you all clean up after you're done celebrating. The workers usually hate having to scrape the firework residue off the platforms." Walker said as he began to walk down the steps.
He grabbed Amiya's sleeping body from Red's arms and exited the building. While the celebration was coming to an end, he was just going to turn in for the night and start working on a way to tell the others.
As much as he didn't want to, he knew that if he didn't tell them at least something, then they'd start getting suspicious. If they didn't believe him, then that was on them and he wouldn't care. He'd only tell them the bare minimum. Nothing about the Seran government or any of the dirty deeds he's had to do during the Locust War on Sera.
Some of them would be mad when he'd tell them he planned to leave once this war was over, but that was alright. All that mattered was that they had something to start from rather than nothing.
They would be the only ones he'd tell. Ozpin and his company would never know, and he intended to keep it that way.
No doubt they'd try to drop another missile on his head if they found out he came from the same place as the Locust...
The office was silent as Walker looked at two documents in each hand. He sorted them neatly before scanning them and shredding the two shortly after. He blinked tiredly and the mug of coffee had gone cold long ago.
He frowned and deleted an email from Ozpin after responding to it, telling him to stop bothering him about gaining access to the base. His right eye twitched when he received a call from the Council.
All he did was ignore it before sighing and picking up. When he heard that they wanted him on the mainland for something trivial, he immediately hung up. They didn't seem to realize that it was nearly a sixteen to seventeen hour flight.
The hours ticked by and his body ran on autopilot. Time seemed to fly by as he drove to the daycare, picked Amiya up, drove back to the platform, cooked dinner, and then put her to bed after getting her cleaned up. He plopped down on the couch face first and sighed into the pillow when he heard the door unlocked.
Red shimmied inside and dropped off the keys on the counter before giving him a brief greeting.
"Did you eat?" She asked.
"I just ate some MREs." He said tiredly.
"You didn't feed Amiya that, did you?" She asked instantly.
"No." He said back at the same speed.
"When was the last time you ate?" She asked.
"Just an-" He started.
"I mean a proper meal?" She interrupted.
"A while." He answered.
"..." She sighed and walked up to the couch. All he did was raise an eyebrow at her and blink in confusion when she sat near his head.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Shush." She shushed and put his head on her lap.
All he did was just go with the flow; he was too tired to resist and close his eyes. His helmet rested on the coffee table and faced towards the window.
A comfortable silence basked them and she looked at him before placing her hand on his shoulder. Despite having a calm expression, she could see the trouble in his eyes when he opened them.
"..." He breathed softly as he closed his eyes once more.
"Walker." She called out.
"Hmm?" He hummed and glanced up at her. There was an uncomfortable expression on her face and he had a feeling he knew what it was about.
"Can I-" She stopped herself and looked away.
"You want to know about Sera, don't you?" He asked.
"Yeah... if you don't want to. You don't have to." She said.
"What do you want to know?" He sighed and sat up, leaning forward and staring ahead.
She didn't know what to ask. A part of her was to scared because the last time she mentioned Sera, he almost crushed her head like a grape. Another part of her felt like she was taking advantage of him and guilt tripping. However, there was that tiny curious part that wanted to know more.
"I don't know..." She said quietly.
"Let me know when you figure it out." He said and lied back down on her lap.
The two returned to that comfortable silence and she closed her eyes as well. It was a bit peaceful at this moment.
"Was Scorn telling the truth?" She asked.
"...Yeah." He sighed quietly.
"..." She just stayed silent and nodded.
"You're thinking about Atlas, aren't you?" He asked.
"How'd you know?" She asked quietly.
"I'm not that shit stain. I know when something is on your mind. Your tail flicks around uncomfortably." He said.
Her eyes trailed down to her tail and true to his word, her tail slapped against the side of his stomach stiffly. It made her realize how much he seemed to notice the little things about her. Even if he didn't outwardly show it, he seemed to pay attention to people and learn about them.
"..." He breathed softly as he closed his eyes once more.
"What's it like there?" She asked.
"Are you going to tell anyone without my permission?" He asked.
"No." She answered instantly. Despite feeling a little hurt at the question, she knew his caution was warranted. After the whole incident in Atlas, Walker was more guarded than before. He did thorough background checks on nearly everyone and kept many at an arm's length.
"It's a shithole. A violent shithole but it's mine." He said after a minute.
"..." She just drummed her fingers on the side of his shoulder rhythmically.
"I know you have more questions." He glanced at her.
"I do, I just feel like I'm stepping on a minefield." She shook her head.
"Ah." He said and remembered why she seemed so hesitant to ask. That night when he found out Reed had told the three of them about Sera, he nearly lost it. He almost killed Red for finding out about his past and that made him realize how volatile he was during his moments of anger.
"Plus... I like it." She whispered.
"Like what?" He raised an eyebrow.
"This. No Locust, no Glowies, no management. Just the peaceful silence." She gestured to around the apartment.
He had to agree. When was the last time it was the two of them? He didn't know the last time he actually took a break from work and the war. Whenever his citizens called for him, it was usually for a celebration. Those were never his type of things to enjoy and he just told them to enjoy it themselves. Their happiness was more important than his.
Despite her wanting to know more about Sera, she knew he was tired. So was she believe it or not. Her tail smacked his side a bit and he found it soothing for some reason.
"..." Walker sat up and leaned his back against the cushion. He sank into it comfortably and tipped his head back a bit, staring at the ceiling tiredly.
She leaned against his shoulder and sighed quietly.
"You know what you remind me of?" She asked.
"What's that?" He blinked tiredly.
"Hickory firewood." She answered.
"Why's that?" He slurred.
"I don't know. You have this warm scent to you. It smells good." She closed her eyes and nodded.
"What about Blake and Jaune?" He asked.
"Blake has a floral scent and Jaune usually smells like honeydew for some reason." She answered.
"Thought he would've smelled like shit. Considering how he stinks up my bathroom all the time." He jabbed lightly.
"Nope." She shook her head.
"Hmm..." He hummed sleepily and finally decided to let the fatigue overtake him.
It didn't take long for her to follow his footsteps and she slept quietly as well. He was pleasantly warm unsurprisingly, one of the reasons she stuck so close to him after meeting him for the first time was because of those two reasons.
It was silent for an hour before the apartment door opened up and both Blake and Jaune walked in. The former smirked a bit before draping a blanket over the two of them and going to Amiya's room.
Jaune just let out a mischievous laugh before bringing out his scroll and snapping a few pictures. He went to the laundry room and brought out a sleeping bag before returning to the living room.
The coffee table was pushed out of the way and he unfolded the sleeping bag, climbing inside and playing on his scroll for several minutes.
For once, it was extremely peaceful for the four of them. Walker would have to tell them one day though. Scorn had made sure the cat was out of the bag and Walker knew lying to them would only burn bridges.
That wouldn't be for a while though. He needed rest if he wanted to continue with his war efforts against the Locust.
He still needed them home to find a way home.
It's been a while, huh? Well, life's been giving me ups and downs but I'm managing it pretty okay in my opinion. A little rust when it comes to writing, but it'll all come back.
A few of you have been asking about Wolves That Walk Alone and I'm here to say that I'm working on it. That story isn't canceled, but there are other things I enjoy more than dedicating all my time to that or my other stories.
Anyways, I'll see you guys later and take it easy.