[h2][center] Oswald Connoly- Armory/Farewell [/center][/h2]

So this was it, huh? Two weeks was all he got? Sapphire was leaving Beacon. Leaving them all. Leaving [i]him[/i]. He didn't know why it felt this way. He realized that there had been [i]something[/i] there, but he wasn't sure if it was reciprocated, if it was worth pursuing, or if it had just been an idle fancy. 

He'd never know now, really, so what did it matter? And what she was saying to Gren? [b]'What kind of a huntress would I be if I couldn't look after those closest to me?'[/b] That almost physically hurt him. It was a question he'd asked himself more times than he could count. [i]What kind of a leader, what kind of a FRIEND leaves his teammates to die while he drags a broken girl back to safety?[/i]

He steeled himself before his self-loathing could take over again. He'd done his best. It just hadn't been enough. That was the reason he was here. To be better. 

And then Sapphire asked for a moment. As Gren left, Oswald turned to Sapphire with the most composed look he could give. Between his broken bones and the frustration he was feeling, it probably looked like shit, though. 

Taking Sapphire's hand lightly, he gave her a polite shake as she finished what she had to say. 

Demetra said he was lost, huh? That....wasn't the word he'd use to describe himself, but it wasn't horribly inaccurate or anything, either. He felt more overwhelmed than lost. He had a goal, he just...was too deep in the shit to reach it without help. 

"For what it's worth....I should've kicked your ass that first day." A half-cocked smile and a joking boast was all he could offer. He felt too burned out to say anything of substance, but before he could let her leave, there was one thing he had to say. One thing she needed to here. "Make sure you cherish every fucking second you have with that girl, Sapphire. Because one day you might wake up, and she might be gone. Don't end up like me, wondering what else you could've done. Help her. Let her help herself. And just...just love her." 

He had nothing else to say. He didn't need a response. This wasn't a conversation. "Goodbye. And thank you." 

It was an ending. 

---------------------Back in the classroom--------------------------

Oswald came back to the classroom glassy-eyed and looking even weaker than he'd left it. Inside, he wasn't sure what to feel. So he was just...empty. 

Taking a seat, Oswald looked at what he and Gren had been doing before Sapphire showed up. Right. Blades. 

He remembered saying something. He just wasn't sure what. 

He couldn't bring himself to care much, actually. "So....what next?"

[@Lucius Cypher] [@Prince of Seraphs]