I am so sorry. I was supposed to have the new story up, and I totally spaced. So, um, here's that chapter I forgot.
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Recap: Narrator
Previously, in the Fall Revolution Series, Corinthe Facsimile is captured and tortured by Cinder, but saved by Jack, who turns out to be her mate. Team JARZ and RWBY, along with Winter and Cori help save over one hundred Faunus slaves from an SDC mine. Ozpin and Goodwitch save them in the end, though. Then, Cori accepts a teaching job, and a dance is thrown. Cinder crashes the party and takes over Beacon, killing Ozpin.
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Chapter 1: Goodwitch Takes Command
On the Stage in the Ballroom: Glynda
I'm dropped, forcing me to fall to my knees. My body is incredibly strained due to the amount of Aura I released in an attempt to save Ozpin. I push aside the grieving process for later. I need to focus on what's happening now. I heard Cinder give her orders, heard her give these children an ultimatum. I try to stand on shaky legs, only to have my knees buckle. Just before I hit the floor, I feel two arms grab me under my arms and hold me up. I look up to see Miss Xiao Long and Miss Belladonna on either side of me.
"We gotcha, Goodwitch. Don't worry. And, uh, sorry 'bout the blood." Yang lets loose a nervous laugh.
I look down at my clothes to see that both of them had rubbed blood onto my previously perfectly white shirt. "Right now, I couldn't care less. We need to figure out how to get all of those that don't want to join Cinder Fall's dark army out of here."
Blake nods at me. "Well, I know a way out of here, but it's kind of hidden away."
I look at her skeptically. "And how would you possibly know this?"
Yang pipes up beside me. "Cause she's a ninja."
Blake reaches around me and smacks her on the arm. I smirk and raise my eyebrow at this. "Nevermind, I don't much care how you found it. I just need to know where it is. Then, we can devise a plan for escape."
Blake leans in to whisper in my ear. "It's under the backstage. There's a tunnel leading out. Just start taking kids one by one or by small groups at a time. If it comes to it, Teams RWBY and JARZ will create a distraction that none of these will be able to escape from."
My knees have stabilized, allowing me to stand on my own. "Quite. Just, don't be long if it does come to that. We'll need all the people we can muster if we are to retaliate against this…" I lack a word for whatever Cinder is planning.
"Revolution. The White Fang call this the Revolution of Faunus Domination. That was her shtick to get them onboard. I've overheard some interesting things from these mindless followers of hers." Blake states in disgust.
"This revolution, then. We have to convince them to defect to our side. Otherwise, a bloodbath will be inevitable, and, personally, I'd rather not have to commit such heinous acts, even in war." I nod at them and walk away, working my way toward the first group of students that will escape.
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After the Announcement: Ravena
I breathe heavily and look around me. My Aura is almost completely depleted, and I just can't fight anymore. I look at my blade, its edge coated in blood, dripping onto the floor. I tear the hood off of the nearest dead White Fang acolyte and wipe my blade clean of the crimson stain that is the physical manifestation of my growing guilt. An anxiety fills my chest as I survey my surroundings. The poor souls that lie on the ground, dead or injured fills me with dread. The majority of the corpses belong to White Fang, but that does little to decrease the strain of the pain bearing down on me. War is never pretty. I've seen the pictures from the Faunus war. I've read the stories, but this isn't the same. Now, I'm living it. Here I am, in the middle of a bloodbath, trying to hold in the tears and bile induced at the spectacle before me. Never in my life have I seen such a waste of precious life, of innocents scattered, dead. If it wasn't for the undeniable amount of blood coating the floors, I would probably be on my knees, crying my eyes out at this horrible scene that I had taken a part in.
My thoughts slow as I see bodies being separated and sorted. The White Fang have their own people cataloguing the innumerable deaths while a couple of fourth years are gently lying the fallen students out to be identified. I walk over to the lines, desperately hoping to not find any of my team or friends in the rows. I count the dead from our side, coming to the conclusion that we have suffered twenty-three students, ranging from first years to fourth years, casualties. A thankful, fruitless search makes me sigh in relief.
A crushing hug from behind stops me in my tracks. I look over my shoulder to see a virtually untouched Azura. "I'm so happy I found you!"
I spin around in her arms until we're face to face. I touch our foreheads together and smile brightly, all terror forgotten for the moment. "Me too, love. Me too." The tears I've been holding back starts to leak down my cheeks. A silent sob wracks my body as I hug her forcefully, burying my face into her neck.
She strokes my hair soothingly. "Why the hell did you run away?" Her voice was soft and concerned.
I shrug, my head still lying on her shoulder. "I just saw Adam, and I had to take him. I never even got more than thirty seconds against him before I had to leave." I'm tired, and her running gentle fingers through my now unbraided hair is making my eyes slowly close.
She laughs softly at my almost sleeping figure. "We should lie down for a little while. You're 'bout asleep on your feet."
I grunt in response, ready to succumb to sleep. A hand clamps down on my shoulder, making me pick up my head. Through groggy eyes, I see Goodwitch standing there. She bends her head very close to our ears and whispers, "We have a plan. Little by little, I'm funneling students out through a secret tunnel that Blake found."
Azura looks at Goodwitch with confusion. "How did she find it?"
I chuckle under my breath. "She's a ninja." In my exhaustion induced stupor, that came out entirely drunken, like I had downed a fifth of whisky.
.
Azura laughs at my almost drunk-like state. "Yeah, love. She's a ninja. Now, what are we going to do?"
Goodwitch clears her throat. "Well, Team RWBY has volunteered themselves and your team to be the last out. I have Team CFVY, JNPR, and a few other teams to get through the exit before it's your turn. Soon, the White Fang that are guarding us will notice the lack of students. We have to buy ourselves time. They can't notice that we're leaving." Her whispers get softer and softer.
I look up, waking myself up little by little. "But, what about the rest of the school? Not everyone went to the dance. There is still twenty-five percent of the student body that is totally unaccounted for. How do we reach them?"
Goodwitch hangs her head. "We can't."
"What about CRDL? Cardin, I don't know, he'll definitely go for the power. The only one of them that would be even remotely redeemable would be Sky Lark. Leave them. Do not, I repeat, do not even contact them. File the other teams out and ignore them. They're distraction enough for the Fangs still here." I look over at Cardin's team and see them harassing the White Fang guards and laughing at them. "Get JNPR and the rest out. We'll handle them if it comes to that."
Azura nods in agreement. "Always."
I stop leaning on Azura for support and stand on my own. Goodwitch looks at me in concern. "Are you sure?"
"Do you even have to ask, Glynda?"
She sighs deeply and begins to walk away. Before she leaves, though, she turns to us. "Thank you. And be careful. We don't need to lose anymore people today." She gives us a small smile then walks over to Team JNPR.
I stand up straighter and take a good look around the room, trying to establish how many White Fang are around us in case we have to fight. Dozens line each wall, and the closer I look, the more worried I get. 'We're completely surrounded. If we have to fight in the condition we're in, there's no way we could make it out alive.' I gulp as the pressure starts to get to me. I turn to Azura. "If we don't make it, and I'm not saying we won't, but just in case, I love you." I take her hand and squeeze it reassuringly.
"Love you, too, Rae." She reciprocates the squeeze.
JNPR disappears behind the curtain of the stage, barely rippling the fabric. Goodwitch has refrained from actually going behind the curtain, probably afraid to notify the White Fang or Cinder to her absence. Next, she walks up to Team CFVY, the last team in the room beside RWBY, CRDL, and us. It's a wonder that the acolytes haven't caught on yet. I glance around nervously. Know our luck, just before Glynda gives us the okay to go, they'll storm us in attempt to take us hostage again. CFVY gets through the curtain, and Glynda nods. Slowly, Teams RWBY and JARZ, along with Corinthe, make our toward the curtain slowly. We slip in from opposite sides slowly, one by one. As soon as all of us are behind the wall of fabric that separates us from the psychotic and fanatical Faunus, and Cinder, Glynda slips through, and we all escape through the ninja hatch that Blake opens.
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A/N: So, yeah, Team CRDL is left behind... Why am I not sorry about that? What's that? Because they're jerks? Oh, right. Well, Follow, favorite, review
