Broken Branches

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.

Remnant was at war. Yet to the dark foreboding figure, looking out across the sprawling city of Vale from his vantage point atop a apartment balcony, it didn't seem that way. The night was young yet activity and light still lit up the street. Nightclubs, bars, restaurants. Neon signs, flickering lights and blaring music. Not anything he would associate with a city at war. Where were the night patrols, scouring the streets for vermin, both in human and other form? Where were the bastions, the checkpoints, spreading their safety through kill zones and bolt shells? Cameras, Arbites, sentries? The cloaked figure shook his head in disappointment. It made it too easy. For both him and the greater enemy. He guessed that he should be used to it by now after spending so much time in this flawed haven.

He returned to his work, paying the sights no mind, as he proceeded to remove several lock picks from within the confines of his cloak. Oh, this wasn't his apartment. Too open and vulnerable. Give him a cramped underground bunker any day. At least then he didn't have to worry about snipers shooting at him from ABSOLUTELY ANY DIRECTION! Seriously, who made this apartment? There was barely a solid wall in sight, and even they were dubious. The structure relied on glass to hold itself up. It was in the dead centre of the city so had been built at the top of a large apartment complex, so someone could see across all of Vale. And may as well have said to any enterprising assassin 'Hey! I'm up here! You can shoot me from any other building in Vale!'

'What are you doing here, Armis you fool!' The man sighed. 'For the Emperors sake, they better be paying you well for this.'

BZZT BZZT

'Speak of the devil' Armis thought, rolling his eyes. Still working on the lock (stupid dust tumblers), he reached once again into the folds of his cloak, pulling out a scroll. With two hands griping the scrolls handles, he extended it, a finger tapped the highlighted button and he held it to his ear.

"Armis here."

There was a small blurt of static before his caller replied.

"This is Inspector One. Please use the code name assigned to you." A small pause before the voice continued. It was thick with static but Armis could recognise who it was. Owen was his official handler for missions like this. Whatever 'this' was. "Have you got into the target's apartment?"

"Almost. Hold on."

Armis held the two locks steady, slowly easing the locks tumblers into their correct places. Still holding the phone, he took out an energy bar and after peeling the wrapper in half, began munching down on it.

"Are you eating something?" Owen questioned.

"No." Armis mumbled, his mouth full, crumbs of oats spilling into his cloak. Armis cursed inwardly. Stuff like this doesn't just fall out. That will take hours to get out of the endless depths of his camo-cloak. Damn, it might even disrupt the weave.

The scroll blurted again. "Can I have some?"

Finishing the last of the bar, and swallowing what remained within his mouth, just as the locks to the apartment gave way to his attentions, Armis proceeded to store his tools, and slowly open the door. The well-oiled hinges made no noise as it swung inwards. Another flaw to add to downfall of this apartment. Covered head to toe in a black shroud of cloaks complete with a hood, Armis trusted in the light absorbing fabric of his camo-cloaks to make himself practically invisible in any sort of darkness.

"No."

"Awww. Anyway, your looking for one small emerald jewel, the shape of a teardrop. It contains the target's ID and clearance codes, that allows her to enter Beacon."

Armis lifted his hood up over his head, and snuck into the room. Now all he needed to focus on was the noise he produced. For this was the hard part. The vulnerability of this apartment was likely countered by the endless array of traps, alarms and hidden defences scattered throughout the room. Heavily armed guards or even some Abominable Intelligences, these frankly insane people use were likely posted nearby, ready to storm the building and respond to any intruders. And worst was the target herself. The target was a trained Huntswoman. Hell, the woman was a teacher of some of the supposedly best Hunters on Remnant. Trained to track and kill Grimm, the monsters that currently owned most of the world, it would be no easy task to past by this hardened killer, let alone steal from her. The Hunter would be on constant alert, even sleeping. They did not just collapse onto their beds at the end of the day in full uniform. They certainly didn't simple cast their weapons aside to the other side of the room, well out of grabbing distance. And they definitely didn't give away their position by snoring… Armis past by a glass table, (what was it with this apartment and glass?) after scanning the room for traps. He soon came to a corner. To the right was a kitchen area, not the right way. He stuck his shadowed face past a white stone pillar to his left, before quickly retreating.

'What was that sound?' Armis pondered. Come to think of it he had heard it ever since he entered the room. Armis could hear it again from around the corner and he slowly inched his head closer until he could get a good luck at the rest of the room. 'It sounds like… OH COME ON!'

Lying in the open was the target. Collapsed on the large double bed that dominated the centre of the room, fully clothed and in her work clothes was the target. There was nothing around the target except, strangely, for something lying on the other side of the room, far away from the sleeping woman.

"Owen?" Armis spoke into his scroll. "What is the targets preferred weapon of choice?"

"One moment." Owen replied, before a small mumble of; "Use the code names man."

Armis tried to get a better look at whatever was on the floor.

'It looks like a…'

"A whip. Glynda Goodwitch's preferred weapon is a whip."

Armis froze. 'No. No no no.' This is too easy. Too too easy. Did she know he was coming? He was being set up. Thinking about it, why was there a dust key lock on the top floor balcony, not some electrical crap the rest of Vale used. She has a data encoder but only a simple tumbler lock for her balcony! They must have known he was coming. But what or who had given him away? Owen? No couldn't have been, he doesn't have the balls. Wait could it be… No, impossible. Could it really be her? Could it really be that she…

A rippling snore came out from the woman on the bed. Armis peaked round the corner once more, and could have sworn he saw the woman's nostrils vibrate!

'She is actually asleep.' Armis sighed. 'Stupid Inquisition and that fucking paranoia you bring, you continue to ruin my life even now!' He roared his defiance in his head.

Now to the task at hand. Having deduced that the hunter was indeed asleep, Armis never the less took extreme care moving across the room and up to the bed. Unfortunately, now he was presented with the problem of retrieving his prize, the emerald tear attached to the uniforms neckpiece. Tilting his head from side to side, he debated with himself the best way of removing said jewellery. If the woman was awake she would definitely be held as being quite beautiful, in a strict and professional manner. But asleep and peaceful, away from stress, she was quite cute as well. Her glasses were still upon her face, if a little lob sided. Her uniform was creased, yet surprisingly clean, the black skirt/corset combo giving way to a white, skintight suit that hugged her body up to her hands where it ended in frills. Hell, she still had a black and purple tendril cape attacked to her shoulders by golden clasps. Even her hair remained in a perfect blonde bun complete with few twirls of hair to the right side of her face, as though it had just been styled. A few adorable hairs had still fallen across her face though, it almost made Armis want to…

'Damn it, Armis Zwolf, focus.' He thought as reaching forward, slowly, and tentatively, he used both of the two index fingers on his hands to lift the gem away from the woman's neck. A simple clasp held it in place.

'A small tug should do the trick if I got the right angle.' But as Armis leant forward, something shifted, under his cloak and a crease in the material flattened allowing the crumbs of an energy bar, to spill down from his cloak right onto Goodwitch. Armis paused for a moment and looked down at the woman beneath him. The crumbs lucky hadn't fallen on her face, and only a cringe of discomfort before settling back down to sleep, signaled any reaction. The crumbs had missed he face completely and fallen below her neck piece, slipped past the gap in her uniform and in-between her…

'Ah. Time to leave.' Armis thought as one last tug freed the emerald, and he tucked it within the folds of his uniform, while slowly lowering his two index fingers, to rest the clasp gently back onto Glynda's neck. Retracing his steps a bit too quickly back to the balcony, Armis reopened the balcony door and then shut it behind him. He made sure to re-lock the door to prevent any unnecessary suspicions. Back in the open air, his scroll still on his face, held up by a increasingly tiring hand, Armis reported back to Owen.

"Object secure, target is unaware. For now."

"Ok good job. Now onto the next objective."

Armis smiled. "Finally. Beacon Academy."

"Oh how are you gonna get down from a twenty storey apartment complex?"

Armis chuckled as he swept his cloak to the side for the moment with an arm, to reveal a boxy metal backpack. Of sorts. Slung over his shoulder, two metal thrusters, similar to smaller versions of Beacons air transport, the Bullheads, except thicker in proportion and less circular. Much less circular. These more resembled steel blocks. Attached to the main backpack by thick-segmented pipes, they were fed fuel from a drum that made up most of the design.

"Oh you know. I'll jump." Armis backed up a few steps before sprinting towards the edge.

"Wait wha-"

Armis jumped, planting a foot firmly upon the metal railing of the balcony and pushed off the edge, into the rush of the cold night air.

In the morning, as the sun just crested the horizon, a Bullhead, with the Beacon Academy logo emblazoned along the side, carried the weekend students who had decided it was a good idea to spend the last day of the weekend in a nightclub hotel. Most of the students on board were nursing several stages of a hangover and were seriously regretting their decisions. That they had to take the extra early 'Bullhead Bus' as many had taken too call it, didn't make things any easier. And the only person even remotely happy about their situation was also the only under aged person among them.

Ruby Rose was darting around the Bullhead, roses slowly piling up around her, or floating around the place as she dashed though piles of her own petals.

"Yesterday. Was. AWESOME! I can't wait to tell Team JNPR!" The dark haired little girl cried, to the anguish of the rest of the passengers. Ruby's blood red cloak flew to her side as her fist flew into the air. "We were dancing, and running, and jumping, and Yang was even able to-"

"Woah sis' could you tone it down a couple hundred notch's, my head hurts." Her gold haired older sister moaned, clutching her head.

"Sorry Yang." Ruby giggled, then looked around the bullhead, to see both the angered and envious looks of the rest of Beacons students. "And everyone else." She finished, a small hint of guilt playing across her face. A few faces mumbled acceptance to the dark red reaper. It was a wise decision. Wearing a black gothic style dress and red-laced corset, complete with long combat boots with yet more red lace, anyone should be quick when noticing the line of 50. Caliber rounds looping around her belt. Her sister only added more danger to annoying Ruby. With a short temper, Yang Xiao Long was not one to be trifled with. With a light brown leather jacket, that ended at her midriff and exposed a astonishing amount of cleavage, and a even smaller mini skirt, she punched things. A lot. The other two members of Team RWBY were Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee, the black of Blake's buttoned vest and ribbon, contrasted Weiss' white dress and skirt.

"I will never again allow you to tempt me into drinking with you." Weiss moped.

"Seconded." Blake quietly sighed, leaning back against the metal wall of the Bullhead.

Yang turned to them. "Come on it wasn't that bad? Was it?"

Everyone behind her began glaring at the back of her head, and Blake and Weiss raised an eyebrow in contempt.

"Was it?"

Finally he had arrived. Having attached himself to the underside of one of Beacons bullheads, and grasping multiple handholds with his hands and feet, Armis had nearly reached the Academy. His cloak began to writhe and push against him, as the bullhead came into land, the wind generated from landing the craft bounced up from the landing pad. Glancing around from his position underneath the craft, Armis could see no one around. There would be no one around at this ungodly hour, except the people on this carrier. So as the bullheads pilots, rotated the craft around to release the students, which it carried, Armis dropped from the aircraft and became a blur of whirling black cape, as he sprinted for the nearest shelter. As the bullhead fully landed, and the bay doors opened, a second red blur darted forward.

"Good morning Beacon!" Ruby screamed, followed by the moans of the shambling horde of other students. "Come on guys we have combat class with Miss Goodwitch!"

Yet more moans of lamentation and mumbled threats followed.

Armis was long gone, having quickly hidden behind one of Beacons many pillars. He waited for all of the students to pass him by, skirting round to the other side of the pillar to avoid detection. The courtyard was empty for now but it was too open and it was likely teacher were watching from the windows at the returning students.

"Any real student should be punished severely for returning to school in anything but peek physical and mental condition. But I highly doubt these people are the 'Whip till bloody type.' Although thinking back to Goodwitch…'

Armis tried to find another way of getting into Beacon's main building without exposing himself. Although perfect for darkness, that would be prevalent at night or hopefully within this building, his Camo-cloak tended to shimmer in direct sunlight, if it was moved suddenly. Armis suddenly glanced upwards, and his eyes traced along the ramparts this pillar held up. Perfect. A faint sound of metal piercing stone could be heard if anyone other than Armis was around. Several sounds actually. He was quite adept at climbing for several reasons, if he did say so himself. Armis quickly made his way up the pillar, like a spider, metal claws digging deeply into white marble. He hoisted himself up onto the ramparts and followed it around to a roof fire escape on Beacons second floor. Taking great care not to accidentally stumble into someone, he made his way though the halls, listening for any wandering students and teachers, and into the open lift.

'Come on Owen, you cranky bastard, don't fail me now.' Armis thought as he dug out Glynda's emerald from his cloak.

He flipped open a latch that was underneath the usual elevator buttons, and inserted the tear shaped jewel. With a few clicks and the whir of a scanner later, a soft ping could be heard. It had worked. With the emerald pocketed and the elevator in motion, Armis began a check of his weapons, rhythmically patting himself down.

'Bolt pistols, using knock off dust bolt shells. Check. Stubcarbines using dust rounds, that, Machine God willing, wont wear on the barrel. Check. Transonic Blades. Check and unmodified. Backup blunts and blades. Check.' Armis finished his equipment check. 'Other emergency equipment stored in Beacon deposit box A. Ok here we go.' Armis thought as the elevators opened to a massive underground complex, several storeys high.

This was The Vault. Lined with deep green pillars all along the expansive hallway, it was Beacon's hidden little secret kept right under the noses of every hunter in Vale but a select few. And his target was here. Quickly moving from shadow to long shadow, cast by the dim lighting in the ceiling, Armis became invisible to all conventional means of seeing him. The darkness now wrapped around him like it was now part of his billowing cloak, the genius behind the weave allowing light to be absorbed from the very air, leaving only a blackness behind. Nothing stopped his progress. No guardians, no traps, no alarms. Nothing. It frustrated Armis to not see these things blocking his way. It meant one of two things. Both were frightening prospects. Either there were no defenses, and the vault, 'The Vault's' defense was entrusted to a data encoder and a elevator and there was no challenge. No thrill or adrenaline of encountering an unforeseen circumstance and besting it. Or Armis could simply not see the defenses and the danger. And that possibility. That scared him.

At the end of the hall was the objective. So tantalizingly close yet still out of reach. He had to confirm it was the target. He took his time, checking for any form of resistance before he simple gave up hope for this world's inhabitance. So many advances in technology, yet they forget such important things, while they invested their efforts in Abominable Intelligences of all things. Drawing his cloak around him, Armis darted forward towards the uplifted metal coffins his target slept in. It was a young woman, a psyker of immense power, kept here to be experimented on and her powers drawn from her body to be passed to another.

He would not allow that to happen, Armis thought as he dashed forwards, a strange humming blade emerging from his cloak clutched in a firm grip. Meddling with the powers of the warp was something these people were not ready for.

CLACK

"Stop. Right. There." A voice echoed down the hallways of The Vault.

A second before Armis was ready to leap, ready to end it, a man had just turned the corner of the crossroads of The Vault. Armis immediately stopped, and span around, blade at the ready in front of him, while another shorter version appeared at his side in his other hand, the sick hum from each weapon intensifying.

CLACK

"I assume you went to great trouble to get to this point." The man slowly walked forward, the cane he held impacting the floor sending vibrations throughout The Vault.

CLACK

"I don't know how you got in here, or how you found Amber, but how about we put that aside for now and start with introductions first."

CLACK.

The man's face appeared quite young for someone with grey silver hair, yet in his eyes and his stance was the signs of boundless experience. And sorrow. A dark green scarf, under brown eyes and shaded spectacles, the man appeared almost regal in his black-buttoned suit, a hand rested on his cane.

"My name is Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy." He gestured to this cloaked and shadowy figure, with a mug carrying Beacon's emblem. "Care for some coffee?"

In response to this statement, Armis simply blurred forwards, his cloak trailing behind him and a tide of bullets shot out from within the confines of his blackened figure. Several casings of various sizes, clattered to the ground behind him as he ran. Chips of stone exploded upwards, all around Ozpin as dust charged rounds detonated against the emerald floor, sending fragments spinning in all directions. More detonations sounded as stray rounds impacted the wall at the far side of The Vault. Dust was kicked up around the man, obscuring view. Armis leapt into the air, swords at the ready above his head, ready to confirm his kill and finish the job if necessary. But as he came falling down upon his foe, the dust cleared to reveal Ozpin, still standing, no wounds, no damage, not even a stagger from the sheer weight of bullets Armis had send his way.

'I missed?' Armis thought bewildered. 'How could I miss?!'

Ozpin's mouth started moving, and time seemed to stop as Armis reached within a meter of him.

"You missed because I told you to miss." Ozpin said, in an emotionless voice. He took a deliberate sip of coffee, as Armis just hung there, suspended. "Now. KNEEL!"

With the power behind his words seeming to shake the very world, Armis returned to the current time frame, as he was crushed downwards by some invisible force. Weight immeasurable forced him to kneel against the cold reflective floor, his cloak alone felt as through the constriction of a snake was enveloping his body.

'Psyker' was the only thought passing through his head, as he used what strength he could muster to raise his head to his foe. Ozpin hadn't moved an inch, coffee mug still clutched in a relaxed hand. The man then stepped forward and leaving his cane, imbedded in the floor behind him, he reached forwards and placed his hand upon Armis' head.

"This will, regretfully, not be pleasant. Please do try to relax."

Armis roared his defiance, as he felt his mind invaded and his psychic defenses crushed and overwhelmed.

Ozpin had not expected this when he woke up this morning. Waiting in his office for Glynda to reach him in his clock tower, to be ready for them to convey any changes to the usual school day to the rest of the staff. When she failed to show, Ozpin assumed she had gone straight to her combat class that was scheduled for this morning. However as he got up, grabbed his cane and signature mug from there usual resting places, his computer scroll pinged to notify him that Glynda Goodwitch had used the elevator to access The Vault. He had given her the emerald key to enter Beacon's 'Staff Only' areas and in extreme circumstances, open The Vault. Really extreme circumstances. His suspicions raised and his paranoia playing out the worst possible circumstances, Ozpin, took out his own key and entered a private elevator to access The Vault. He expected Glynda to be down here, examining Amber, perhaps even disconnecting her from the stasis pod, to end her suffering. He hadn't expected a cloaked figure, stalking the halls of The Vault, heading towards the same pod, killing intent in his mind. Not expected, but not unforeseen. He had brought his cane after all. Now as he utilized the full extent of both his semblance of time and his other… more elaborate gifts, Ozpin full intended to read this mans mind, figure out where Glynda was, what he wanted and then wipe his memory. He was surprised at the fight this cloaked man's mind put up. Very few people knew about the power to enter anothers mind on Remnant. And significantly less knew how to effectively defend themselves against such invasions. Yet this mans mind was a fortress, barred and guarded. This was the first real fight Ozpin had had with a mental opponent since he met one of the Maidens. But Ozpin was no amateur, he ran and taught a school of the world's greatest huntsmen and huntswomen and there was a reason he had this position. The challenge excited him, yet it lasted mere moments, as Ozpins mind, simply went around the fortress, destroyed its weak foundations and poisoned the guards. With the man's mind giving way, he began to gain insight into this mans life.

'Armis is his name, Armis Zwolf, also known as 'Metzger' in the underworld. Curious. The next question was where was Glynda. Ah, getting sloppy Goodwitch, she's safe but that's the reason she is late, she has no access key. Why was he here? To kill the Fall Maiden yes, but who sent him? Damn, communication and payment through dead drops. No contact, these guys are good.' Ozpin thought as he continued digging around in this mans head.

As he continued to search, delving deeper and deeper, Ozpin gained the answers he was looking for. And so much more. He physically recoiled as the memories of this man's life were forced into his head. Where he was from, whom he originally served and what he used to fight. And more importantly what he was. How he was experimented on. Cut and stitched. Stolen from, and added too. Augmented with the blood of his own supposed twins, five identical brothers. Quickly Ozpin retreated from Armis' mind as the memories began to overwhelm him. He backed away a few steps and released his hold on the supposed assassin, who stood up, leaving the two at an uneasy standoff.

Ozpin shook his head from the rush of memories and looked up to the cloaked figure opposite, pity and even empathy in his eyes. "You poor man. You poor poor man. So many sacrifices, just to survive."

A chuckle came from under the hood of this shadowy man. "We have all too much in common, both you and I."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"While you were digging around my head, I couldn't help but dig around yours. Being able to read someone's mind is only half the battle. Defending yourself at the same time? Now that's the hard part."

Ozpin continued to raise his eyebrow. The man was bluffing. He didn't know a damned think about-

"I think I prefer moons full by the way." Armis answered Ozpin's unspoken question.

The headmaster's eyes opened wide before he quickly recovered and composed himself. "Touché."

"So now what?" Armis asked, looking around the Vault. "I know the reason for this place, and the purpose behind your organisation. I also know that I have been tricked. That woman back there is both an aura user and a psyker. Like you, she has an aura of great strength, but also a well of immense psychic power. But from what you know and I have seen, if she dies, her power will transfer to her assailant and that is something neither you nor I want."

"And from what I have seen in you is a young man, forced into a body that is not fully your own, judged and ostracised by your people through no fault of your own and forced to fight in situations unimaginably bloody and brutal." Ozpin took a large gulp of coffee to calm his nerves. A plan began forming within his mind. A truly brilliant one. "So I have a suggestion."

Now it was Armis' turn to raise an eyebrow, although Ozpin couldn't see it through the darkness his hood cast over his face.

Ozpin continued. "Now that we both have each others undivided attention, understanding and, I hope respect..." Ozpin glanced up at Armis for any reply.

The hood nodded. "Aye."

"I would like to offer you a position at Beacon Academy."

A small gasping sound was heard from Armis' direction. It took Ozpin a second, before he realized that Armis was laughing. The volume increased until his laughter was booming through The Vault, and his cloak shook and waved. It took almost a minute before he had settled back down again.

Coughing to clear his throat and chuckling a little bit more, Armis finally replied. "As you can probably see, I'm not a people person. You've seen what I do, what and who I've killed. How could I ever fit into a school like this?"

This time it was Ozpin's turn to laugh. "Then you must have been lying when you said you had seen through my mind. Look again. I have accepted a former terrorist into this school. She now shares a room with three other girls who have frequently been known to attack terrorists on sight. I accepted a boy who had no qualification, no references, nothing but a old set of armour, sword and a shield and now he is being trained by the 4-time champion of Minstral. The president of the infamous Schnee dust company is now both the friend and trusted team member of a faunus and I live in a giant clock tower as Atlas sends their military to surround us. Yet I am very much in touch with this fleets commander and though I disagree with this turn of events, I allow a foreign army's general free reign to walk my school. I like to think that this entire school is full of 'not people persons'."

Armis paused and stood up straighter. Ozpin wasn't lying. "Touché."

"I do not expect you to give me an answer immediately." Ozpin smiled. "How about you go up to the combat area in room G3? There are several students waiting there for Miss Goodwitch to take combat practice. We both know she probably won't arrive for a while now. So go see what the students at Beacon are like."

Armis was honestly conflicted. He had no commanding officer at the moment. No one bellowing orders and no clear path to follow.

'Ahhh hell, there's no harm in checking.' Armis decided. "Very well then. We shall see." Armis told Ozpin, as he drifted towards Beacon's main elevator, and quietly disappeared into the darkness.

Ozpin smirked, as The Vault grew quiet. He had finally found someone with the same power he had and was actually worth a damn. He chuckled.

"Indeed. We shall see."

Thank you for reading this first chapter of Broken Branches. I apologies for being quite secretive about Armis' description and some of his actions may not make sense but I assure you this was on purpose and all part of the plan. Sorry also for so little action in this chapter. However i promise you that the next chapter will contain both a full unveiled description of Armis' appearance and a more lengthy fight scene. For those of you who are struggling to imagine what Armis looks like while cloaked, think of him as a combination of a traditional grim reaper, the masked shadow demon from the latest chapters of Berserk (Chapters 339-341, I seriously recommend it, but not for the faint of heart), and Death gun from Sword Art Online II.

For those of you who have been reading my Angels and Fairies story, I have stopped writing it for now, but I do know what is going to happen next and if enough interest is shown I may add more chapters. But for now I will be focusing on this story.

Reviews and criticism is welcome.

Signed by Imperial Decree

BluePanedGasMask