White Sheep

Chapter 12 - Counting Sheep

"Ah..." Guilt mixed with shame at that, but it was the desperate desire to have her silver eyes stare at someone else that made him capitulate. "I guess..."

"Well, it's only Arc who wants to complain about this," Weiss said, "I think the rest of us are all in agreement of how much a danger this person is. Miss Goodwitch looked worried about him, and I think that's reason enough for us to be on our guard."

"I can't help but agree," Ren said. "Though I've yet to see him myself, it appears as though he's interacted with members from both our teams. I'd rather not take any further risks."

"Blake won't say what happened in hers, though..." Nora whined.

"He threw me into a tree," Blake turned a page in her book. "That's all that happened."

Phew, well at least there was one person not exaggerating what he'd done. Still, she was being a little quiet and seemed to have stiff shoulders. "Did he hurt you?" he asked, a little concerned. He'd been in a rush, not to mention angry. He hadn't hurt her, had he?

"I'm fine," the girl said. She glanced up from her novel, amber eyes meeting his. It was perhaps the most expression she'd shown for the whole discussion, and he caught the barest hint of a smile behind it. "Thank you for asking."

"Well, it looks like we all got fairly lucky," Yang said. "Blake wasn't hurt, and I managed to arrive before that monster could do... could hurt Ruby. Apart from a few wasp stings, we got out in one piece."

"It could have easily been different, though," Weiss warned. "He seemed in a rush, distracted... he fought to delay us and then escape, possibly to catch up with the Beowolf that abducted Arc." She looked towards him with a small smile. "You're lucky we managed to distract him, Jaune."

"Yeah, lucky me..."

"Objection!" Nora interrupted suddenly, hand in the air.

"What could you possibly be objecting to? That Arc was lucky to survive?" Weiss sighed and planted her hands on her hips.

"Not that," Nora said. "We need a name for this person. If we're going to hunt it down, it needs a name."

"I think it's more of a he, Nora." Ren sighed. "Also, that's not an objection; it's more of a motion."

"Renny, you can't just go around assuming a monster's gender like that."

"It wore boxers."

"And I can't? Really, Renny, we don't live in the dark ages." The dark-haired man raised a hand, then seemed to think better of it. He sighed and waved for her to continue. "As for a name," Nora cheered, "I was thinking something like the Grimminator."

Jaune's face twisted. That was... not a great name.

"How about Grimman?" Ruby suggested.

"That's cute, sis, but you can't just mash words together. What happens if you shout it and we think you just mean a normal Grimm?" Yang grinned to show she meant no malice, even if Ruby pouted regardless. "I think we should go with a more human name. It might take away a little of the mystery, plus no one would be able to tell we're talking about something we're not supposed to be. It would be like a code word."

"That's a good idea," Jaune said, eager for any chance to avoid a terrible name.

"Timmy!" Nora slammed a fist into her mattress. "No one would expect so wild a monster to have a name like that. It would be perfect!"

"That makes no sense, though," Yang complained. "It should be something relevant. How about Grimbald, or hentacle?"

"Yang," Ren sighed. "That was terrible."