Firesale
90% off all office supplies at your nearest White Fang hideout! Everything must go! Act now while supplies last!
The latest chapter of my RWBY OC fic Flames of Change. Make sure to see the pinned post for the chapter list in order.
Dash Ospreay belongs to me.
Sienna Umberon belongs to @gruntnuker-rwby and @wetsliceofbread
Although he had lost track, Dash was fairly certain it had been a few days since he had last seen Sienna. Or at least it was a few sleep cycles since then. But, between the days and nights blending together from inside his hellish prison cell, and his body demanding rest from a combination of pain, exhaustion, and boredom, there was no guarantee he was right. When she eventually did return, she looked more irritable than usual. Which was saying something. Dash watched as the other White Fang troops did their best to stay clear out of her way. The ones that were forced to interact with her received their orders with complete compliance, no questions and words kept to a minimum besides a succinct "Yes ma'am." Every time her gaze found Dash out of the corner of her eye, her scowl intensified. Dash had no clue why. He knew Sienna well enough to know something was bothering her, but trying to pinpoint what would've been sheer guess-work.
"I'll be in my office. If you bother me, it better be real important," Sienna told the soldiers before retreating behind her office door. It was down the hallway but in plain view from where the caged heir sat. Another unknown amount of time passed. Time might as well have had no meaning to Dash at this point. It was long enough for him to wonder if having Sienna around was better or worse for him compared to the revolving door of faceless Fang cronies. Despite the time, he couldn't come up with an answer before a loud thud from the other side of the door derailed his train of thought. Staggered, stumbling stomps grew louder and closer until the door swung open. Sienna wobbled in place in the doorway with a goofy grin until the door bounced back from its hinges and thwacked her in the shoulder.
"Owww motherfucker!" she cursed at the door before giving it a big two-handed push. The door came back at her again so she inelegantly dodged, nearly tripping over her own two feet in the process. "Fuckin' feet always failing me," she mumbled to herself. Somehow managing to stay upright, she entered Dash's room and her grin curled into something more mischievous. He noticed after light investigation the half finished bottle of whiskey in her hand.
"Helloooooo," she cooed at Dash with a playfully evil undertone before, to Dash's surprise, unlocking the cell door. However, the shock was short-lived once he laid eyes on the chain leash and collar wrapped around her other hand. "I'll be taking the toy into my office. I'll make sure he's fed," she called out to any Fang member within earshot. Dash tried to tilt his head and move away to make it difficult. But, one harsh grab by the chin from Sienna was correction enough so she could snap the collar on with ease.
"But Sienna, ma'am," a particularly nervous looking new recruit spoke up, instantly drawing Sienna's death stare. "Er, Commander, uh.." Sienna's eyes burned two holes through him. "H-High Leader Taurus said the prisoner is to remain in his cell at all times."
"High Leader Taurus can suck my fat cock!" Sienna exclaimed, leaving the rookie perplexed on multiple levels. "The prisoner knows to not even dare try to escape on me. Isn't that right, Spicy?" Dash sighed instead of rolling his eyes at the name. It was one of many used to irk him at Beacon. A quick yank on the leash curtailed him though and brought him closer to Sienna's side.
"Watch the lungs, red. I heard that," she said. A brief moment of PTSD powerlessness gripped Dash and caused him to break into a cold sweat. Sienna then began leading the way, with Dash lagging behind, outside his normal confinement and into a new one. Thankfully the walk was short. In Dash's mind, the less people that saw him like this the better. Even though Sienna was already too much. "Ya know if you ever make it out of here, you're gonna have a serious pet play kink thanks to me." Her loud, uncontrollable laughter was like nails on a chalkboard to Dash. As he trudged along behind her, Sienna kept flicking the end of her tail so it brushed against Dash's face enough to tickle him. Well that's one to be told to pick up the pace. With his hands cuffed and unable to turn his head, the only way he could avoid the relentless tail tickling was to speed up. Sienna snickered again, this time punctuated by a snort.
Once inside her office, Dash took a survey around as Sienna locked the door behind them. A beautifully crafted dark oak desk sat as the master centerpiece to the room. On one side of the desk sat a messy stack of almost late paperwork with her mask on top of it as a paperweight. Her claws were hung up on a display stand behind her chair. As Dash wondered how Sienna swindled a stylish place like this, Sienna forced him down into a sitting position where he stood. She hooked his bindings to a pipe running along the wall, leaving him very little wiggle room. But, it was still a nice step up from the blanketed shelf he had been sleeping on.
"I don't think you'll need that. It's more for in case someone knocks," she told him while knelt down. Once he was secured, Sienna got up and sauntered toward a counter on the left to begin preparing the inmate his dinner. She had been the one who set his eating schedule during his time here, but it was the first time he watched her actually make it. Or rather he watched what wasn't obscured by her body or the insane amount of fluff on her tail. After a couple moments of eyeing her as she casually went about her business while fighting her drunkenness, she sat down a hot meal in front of Dash - in a doggy bowl. Dash glared at his warden.
"Gotta be able to eat without hands somehow. Now quit giving me that look and be a good puppy." Her words dripped with an infuriating amount of mocking impishness. Dash didn't want to give her the satisfaction of being even more of her obedient dog. He left his food untouched. It was a strategy he had already tried to employ against his captors. It hadn't proven very effective though, and every time he would eventually crack and give his body the scraps it had been begging for. "Suit yourself. Only hurting you."
Sienna turned back toward her desk, whipping her tail into Dash's face one more time in the process. Jumping into her comfortable office chair, she kicked her feet up onto the desk before leaning too far back and nearly falling backwards. She did recover, albeit clumsily. Dash sat in disbelief that this one of the White Fang's fiercest and most capable, the one who stormed into Atlas and got out with him. "So," she went on, "I heard your daddy's little speech." Dash grumbled as his eyes fell away from her and toward a wall. "In the damn near month - fuck has it been that long already? - guess how many times your dad has contacted us personally. Or how many times he's tried to break you out by force."
"You already know the answer," he finally mumbled after a minute of Sienna patiently waiting. He really didn't want to say it. He had already heard it once.
"Yeahhhhh. But I wanna hear you say it," she said. Still, no reply. "Come onnnn, I'll give you a drink if you answer." Sienna waggled the whiskey bottle she had just taken another swig out of. Only silence followed. But, Sienna's stubbornness was only amplified without her sobriety. Dash was learning quickly that there was nothing more frustrating than a happy in-your-face kind of drunk to deal with when you can't leave. "I know you know the answer. You're gonna hate it."
"I get it! It's zero, alright?!" Dash snapped.
"Ayyyyy," Sienna said. "Strawberry shortcake want a drink?" Again with the names. If he didn't like them at Beacon, he fully detested them now. Somehow, the grin that always accompanied them was even more annoying now than it was then. Shrugging him off, Sienna started to rummage through the obscene amount of drawers in her desk. "So much shit in here," she muttered to herself.
"Where is Dawn?" Dash asked.
"She's fine. A different crew is looking after her. I've been keeping in touch with them. They're ones you can trust," she said before her head popped over the desk again with an unopened bag of pens. As she tore into it with her teeth, she met Dash cocking an unsure and faithless eyebrow. Sienna rolled her eyes. "She's got coloring books to keep her busy, and her own personal grunt to make sure she always has crayons. She's broken a few throwing them back at him, just for him to give her more ammo. Poor bastard doesn't know what to do." Dash smiled slightly. It was the first warmth he felt inside in a long time knowing that Dawn was being so strong. He knew she was tough. The smile faded, however, when the first pen was thrown in his direction, even though it sailed over his head.
"Damn!" Sienna remarked. "So when are you gonna learn your daddy doesn't care about you?"
"That's not true," Dash said lowly. Sienna lobbed another pen, this time nailing Dash right on the forehead. He flinched at first, but couldn't turn his head away, before growling and kicking towards Sienna. But he was a mile away, and he only kicked the air before the chains tugged him back to his spot.
"Bullseye!" Sienna laughed. "But it's true. He's too worried about his precious profits to pay the ransom and get his own kids back. He’s either too dumb to realize you’re being held hostage by a group who have wanted you dead for years, or he just doesn’t care."
“If he gives in to the White Fang’s demands, no matter what they are, money or whatever, then they win. Not to mention it can’t be easy coming to the table to negotiate with a side that only wants you killed.”
“Man, he’s got you brainwashed real good,” Sienna said while shaking her head. Her mismatched eyes looked down at Dash, simultaneously stunned and expectantly disappointed that this was his line of thinking even in the situation he’s stuck in. It still didn’t stop the next pen from raining down and getting him right in the nose. “But hey, that last part’s fair. I think everybody wearing these masks want nothing more than his death certificate. Myself included.”
“Yeah, I bet you wanna be the one to personally do it,” Dash grimaced as the next pen tomahawked at him clipped him in the ear. “And are the pens really fucking necessary?? Quit it!” This time at least he kept the thrashing to a minimum so the collar didn’t painfully remind him of his place.
“Still got that hot head. Don’t think anyone will ever beat that out of you,” Sienna said. Dash eyes glanced upward in thought for a moment before he nodded in concession. “And yeah, I’d say the pens are necessary. Let’s see. The first one was for when we first met and you called me a ‘punkass faunus wastelander’. The next one was for the time you tried to pin the argument on ‘faunus like me’ when thirteen people died in an accident at one of your factories. And the one I'm about to throw is for the time you tried to pick a fight with Riley just cause she stood up for me! Actually-". With each accusation, Dash shrunk and shriveled more and more in his place before the sounds of more drawers opening and closing brought his attention forward again. Coming back up, Sienna was reloaded, this time with a box of paper clips. With one heated up in the palm of her hand via her semblance, she chucked it at him. He made no effort to try and dodge, letting it burn where it hit him.
"And to answer your other thing. I want him dead, yeah, but I don't wanna be the one to do it. I don't kill if I can help it," she continued.
"How noble of you. Want a medal? Want me to rub your feet?" Dash scoffed.
"Ohoho," Sienna chuckled, "you even think about touching my feet and I'll make an exception and ship you back to your dad in more pieces than IKEA furniture." Stopping mid-breath, Dash was briefly paralyzed. He wasn't sure if it was a bluff to call her out on. But it sounded like the most real threat she's delivered yet. Guess she wasn't the type to get foot rubs from Riley. Sienna laughed loudly and took one of the last swigs the bottle had left. Slowly, Dash exhaled and let his arms drop. Once the laughter ceased, Sienna caught her breath. "You should be thanking me, ya know."
"Thanking you? For what?? The privilege of being an insane fox's plaything? Or that you don't have anything bigger to throw!" Dash said incredulously almost like his tone was instinct. Another searing office supply smacked him in the forehead, only further proving his points.
"Ooooo maybe I could find some ball bearings, that's an idea for next time. But I'm serious. You should be grateful. I'm the only reason you're alive."
"Uh-huhhhh. You're totally my savior and not the reason I'm in this hell to begin with, right?"
"Think about it, Spicy. You think that hit at the party only happened cause of me? You’ve been on the hit list for a long time, and that party gave them the golden opportunity. They were gonna crash that mansion and come after you anyways. And all the people guarding you while I was gone, you think they have the patience to deal with some trust fund kids? If they had their way, they woulda offed you and Dawn and sent back your corpses in exchange for the ransom money.” A cold snap rocketed up Dash’s spine. It was partially for his safety, but mainly due to the image of his little sister meeting her end like this. It was an image he couldn’t erase. “So I told them I knew you, knew you too damn well, and they offered me the job in a heartbeat. I took it, cause yeah, I wanted to get back at you for all your cocky prick bullshit and for all the times you defended your dad. But also cause… I didn’t wanna see you dead. Same goes for your sister.” Dash squinted at the fox faunus like he was trying to peer through some mirage. “So yeah, think about that next time you wanna call me trash or whatever. I’ll be expecting some more obedience from my pet.”
“So what’s the endgame?” Dash questioned, dismissing Sienna’s cackling and cutting to the point, all the while suppressing a groan.
“It was supposed to be have your sperm donor fork over the ransom and get you two back home safe, but he hasn’t gone for it yet. So now I don’t know.” There was a momentary pause, Dash studying Sienna as she offhandedly fidgeted with a clip.
“And what about you?” he spoke up, causing her fox ears to flick slightly in confusion. “How do you see this ending for yourself?”
“Probably when everybody we went to school with come to put me six feet under,” she said. Her response was quick and seemed to carry no care on the surface, but Dash noticed her entire demeanor shift. Her ears lowered. She sat more leaned forward in her chair. She dropped her makeshift fidget spinner. She instantly sobered up.
"What does that mean?" Dash asked.
"It doesn't matter how it ends for me," she replied, not really answering Dash about where their friends from school came from or how they fit into this.
"Sienna what do they have-"
"Oh for fuck's sake you still just talk way too much! After all this you still can't keep your mouth shut! I said it doesn't matter so drop it!" Sienna swiped her bottle just for her growl to magnify when she realized only the last drops of her bourbon were left. Tossing it aside on her desk, her right hand wrapped around her left forearm, leaving a glowing red mark. Dash took note of her manner. It mirrored the mood she was in when she first arrived today. There had to have been something more to it under the aggressive exterior. Was it stress? Worry? Fear? Sienna wouldn't reveal that even to her most trusted friends, much less him. Whatever it was, it didn't stop the next scalding paper clip from coming at him with renewed vigor, although her aim was wayward. Dash released a heavy sigh. Something in his mind was clearly weighing him down, something he had no idea how to begin to articulate it. What were the words to say here?
"I'm sorry, Sienna." Sienna's ears shot straight up and she stopped mid-windup of her next throw.
"What?" Sienna had no idea that those words were even in the Ospreays' vocabularies. Was that the first time Dash had admitted guilt about anything? It was like a baby saying his first words. It was awkward and lacked confidence. But, she couldn't dwell on it too long. The clip in her hand started to melt and burn her fingers, prompting her to fling it against the wall. "Fuck!"
“What’s the look for?” Now it was Dash’s turn to be befuddled.
“The fuck? Where’d that come from?” Sienna furrowed her brows, convinced he was joking. She almost wanted to lob another pen at him for the audacity of lying to her face like that. Or to make sure he was real and not some alcohol-fueled hallucination.
“For all the shit at Beacon. I’m sorry,” he repeated. He sounded genuinely sincere, but that made it all the more baffling and unbelievable to Sienna. “Believe me or not, I don’t care. You’re not getting it out of me again.” Now that was the Dash she was more than accustomed to. That braggadocio that gave him a very punchable existence. She folded her arms and intently glared at the trapped heir. After an excruciatingly long moment, Sienna unsteadily rose from her chair. Still struggling with coordination, she made her way to the counter without faceplanting into the floor and withdrew a fork from one of the cabinets. Dash’s electric eyes widened in panic.
“Whoa whoa hey hey now what are you planning on doing with that?? Let’s not be rash here, we can be more civilized about this,” Dash said with a nervously petrified fake chuckle. Sienna didn’t answer and kept approaching. He tugged hard on his restraints as the instinct to put his hands up and block his face kicked in. He fruitlessly tried to scoot away before closing his eyes and awaiting the pain of a fiery utensil meeting his skin. However, he kept waiting. And waiting. Until his arms were suddenly able to fall to his sides in their natural position. Unsure how or why he wasn’t bleeding, on fire, or both yet, Dash opened one eye to see his bowl of food placed in front of him now complete with a fork to eat it with. Then, his gaze raised upward to Sienna towering over him, twirling the key to his binds.
“Eat.” The command was stern, frighteningly so. It was still coming from the woman who held the fate of his life in her hands, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Dash rubbed his wrists, hesitating to break eye contact until his grumbling stomach won out. The food was still warm. It was nothing fancy, but every bite he took felt like heaven. The subsequent bites after the first one came quicker after the previous as his body cried in gratitude. After a moment, Sienna dropped down to one knee in front of him. “You know. You can help us.”
"You expect me to help the White Fang?" Dash said with a mouth full of food before swallowing. "The info I've given up already isn't enough."
"You can do more. Give us more, do what we ask, and do it all without having me to beat you into submission, and it might just be your ticket out of here. And our ticket to end all the pain your family"s caused."
"And condemn my father to death?"
"He's doing the same to you right now."
"I can't do that to my own flesh and blood, Sienna. How do you expect me to sleep well at night doing that?"
"Uuuuuugh," she groaned. "Definitely getting something bigger to throw at you next time." Before Dash could escalate the argument any further, something he had a talent for doing, a knock on the door cut them both short. Dash froze before his next bite, petrified if someone heard them or saw him somehow. But, Sienna just groaned louder. "Now whaaaaat?" Rising once more, she went to the door and opened it up just enough for her to stand in the doorway. She blocked any vision of Dash from the outside, and vice versa. But, Dash could still hear a Fang official's voice.
"Commander Umberon."
"Yup, that's me."
"We have received intel that significant progress is being made in repairing Vale's CCT tower. The crew working on it is supposedly close to a major breakthrough in restoring communications." Dash perked up at the mention of at the current state of his old home, but luckily it went unseen. “We need those comms to remain offline so we can continue to operate with less secrecy as we have been. We are sending Tango Squadron to make sure our great strides will not be halted, but they could use an extra bit of firepower. And since you are so familiar with Beacon Academy, the High Leader suggested you.”
“Tango Squadron, huh?” Sienna said before pausing to think. Not like she was pondering not doing it, it was just taking a moment for her buzzed mind to catch up with the rest of her. “Yeah, I’m in.” As she was being relayed all of the important mission details, most notably that this was happening tomorrow night, she nodded rakishly through it all. “Yeah, yeah, got it. And hey tell one of the grunts sitting on their asses to get me some more booze, would ya?” Dash couldn’t see the response, only the door shutting and Sienna spinning to face him once more with a smirk.
“Did you hear that? I get to visit our old stomping grounds! This should be fun! Oh and don’t worry,” she said while crouching next to Dash. She caressed then pinched Dash’s cheek with enough power in her semblance to cause a light sting. With his hands now free, he was able to swat at her arm and push it away. “I’ll be back for you much sooner than my last trip. Then we can continue our little conversation.”