A couple hours ago...
had fallen over the camp the four girls had set up at the mouth of a cave deep in the forest south of the kingdom of Vale. Ruby had been given first watch while her teammates slept. She reminisced of the previous twelve hours she and her team had spent. Once again, the time for Beacon students to have their teams sent out on missions with actual Huntsmen and Huntresses. Their team, accompanied by Professor Ozpin himself, had chosen to take a scouting mission in a region of the southern forest between Vale and Mountain Glen. Due to the ever present danger of coming across those Goliaths the reaper recalled from her team's previous mission with Doctor Oobleck, they were tasked in an area close to the kingdom borders where Grimm were less likely to traverse. The few Beowolves and Boarbatusks they came across were easily dispatched and any in the surrounding area.
She looked back over to her team. She lightly giggled as the cute sight of her Corgie companion, Zwei, curled up next to a sleeping Blake. The hilarity of how the cat Faunus reacted to her natural instincts and acted the usual way a household cat would react to a dog. She secretly hoped she would wake up to notice the dog using her hip as a pillow. To Blake's left was her snoring older sister, Yang, sprawled out in an awkward position as if she was back in her own bed at their dorm room. Weiss seemed to be the only one in a normal sleeping position, lying on her side to the right of Blake. Ozpin had set up his own site inside the cave in order to give the girls some privacy. Ruby was unsure wether or not the headmaster was still awake.
A sudden faint sound in the forest brought her attention away from her teammates and back into the treeline. She couldn't make out what it was very well, although the campsite was near silent albeit the crackling of the slowly dying campfire. Although her last attempt to track something on their last mission ended with her falling into a cavern and being captured by Torchwick's men, she elected to follow the noise and travel into the forest.
She followed the sound into the forest for a few minutes, each passing step bringing her closer to the source. As she got closer, she was able to start distinguishing the sound. "Voices?" she thought. "Who else could be out here?" She didn't know if anybody else from Beacon was tasked with a mission out here. She knew that JNPR finally took the mission to that village the day that Vale was attacked. Sun's team was also nowhere near Vale on their mission. As for the upperclassmen teams like CFVY and STRM, she could only guess. They went out on missions the day earlier before sunrise and didn't get a chance to wish them luck.
Ruby followed the voices for a while longer. She had no real clue on who they could be or why they were out there. She didn't recognize the voices, nor were they saying anything that could give away their purpose of being this far outside the kingdom. They just seemed to be enjoying small talk about nothing in particular. The conversation rapidly changed topics, pet peeves about a mutual friend of theirs...complaints about their apparent camping conditions...one of them mentioning how he missed Vacuo... Wait, Vacuo? "Could they be White Fang members?" Ruby muttered to herself as she continued her surveillance. Finally coming into view of the source, her hypothesis was proved. In front of her, passing through a naturally formed path were two men dressed in White Fang uniforms. One had a pair of horns poking out from his hood, the assumption being his Faunus traits were that of a gazelle or something like it. The other had the tail of a fox, and seemed to be the shorter of the two, and the only one armed with a submachine gun. Every fiber of the brunette sniper's being wanted her to attack those two, however she knew it would be a much smarter move following them to their campsite. She figured the second option and follow them. They walked for what seemed like another hour. Ruby was starting to worry that Weiss would be waking up soon for her turn for night watch and find her team leader missing. Just when she was ready to stop tracking them, they arrived at a clearing in front of a large cave. Everywhere she looked were tents and crates of unknown contents littered with more White Fang members. She couldn't count exactly how many there were. At least a few dozen were out in the open where she could see them, while there could be more in the tents and caves behind them.
Ruby had no idea this mission would end up scouting on a possible White Fang outpost. The mission objective said it was only to scout outa new area for expansion of the kingdom. Knowing she couldn't take the entire group alone, she decided to call ahead for backup, dialing Ozpin's number on her scroll. After hearing the dial tone three times, she gave a sigh of relief as the voice of the headmaster picked up.
"Ruby? Where are you? Your team and I were worried." Ozpin spoke from the other end of the line.
"Sorry, sir, but I found something. The White Fang set up a camp west of ours!"
"The White Fang? You're absolutely positive?"
"I'm looking right at a camp full of them." She replied, looking over their defenses. "They're all armed with all sorts of weapons, plus I'm seeing a few of those Paladin mechs walking around."
"Where do they keep getting those?" Ozpin wondered aloud. "Ruby, we're on our way to your position. Fall back and we'll plan an attack once we arrive."
"On it." Ruby nodded as she ended the call and turned to leave...coming face to face with a girl her height with multicolored hair and a white jacket. "Oh. Hello. What are you doing here?"
The girl didn't answer. Instead, to Ruby's surprise and with her guard lowered, she never saw the sidekick to her head coming. Knocked over and dazed from the kick, she could see through her blurred vision as the girl kicked away Crescent Rose, which was knocked off her person upon falling over. She produced a parasol, drawing a hidden blade from its handle. Grinning wickedly, she prepared to strike the trespasser, only to be stopped by another voice.
"Neo! What did you find?"
Ruby turned to see the girl called Neo looking up to another new arrival. He wore all black and a Grimm mask over his face. His hair was blood red, and even though she was slightly concussed, Ruby could almost swear he had horns hidden underneath it. "A trespasser, huh?" he looked down at the young Huntress in training. "Find out what she knows."6
Neo simply nodded as the man left and curbstomped Ruby, knocking her unconscious.
Ozpin put away his scroll and exited the mouth of the cave after retrieving his cane. Outside, the other members of RWBY had been anxiously waiting the results of the phone call their teacher had received.
"Well? Where's my sister?" Yang impatiently asked.
"She's alright. She simply went out in search of something, and came across a White Fang camp." Ozpin reported.
"The White Fang?" Blake quickly sat up from her sleeping pad. "Did you know they were in the area?"
"I assure you we had no previous knowledge the White Fang had been operating in the area other than Mountain Glenn." Ozpin held up a hand defensively.
"Ruby running off and discovering a criminal organization's base of operations? Sounds like Mountain Glenn all over again." Weiss complained. "The only thing we're missing is her getting captured."
Yang glared at the heiress to the world renowned Dust Company for suggesting something like that. "That last time was something nobody saw coming, Weiss. A sinkhole opened that she wasn't expecting." Yang defended her sister.
"Girls, stay focused. You shouldn't assume something bad is going to happen just from past experience." Ozpin said, tapping his cane in order to get their attention off the negative thoughts. "Now, ready up. We're moving out as soon as you're all ready."
It was some time before Ruby regained consciousness, although she was still badly shaken from her head injury. She found herself slumped against the wall of cave, her legs and arms bound together and her leg binds connected to a metal crate to her left.
"Are you awake now?" a voice brought her attention to the exit of the section of cave she found herself in. In front of her was the Faunus man that found her along with the girl he called Neo earlier.
"What do you want with me?" Ruby asked, struggling to free her hands to no avail.
"Information." the man simply stated, before reaching behind him and returning his hand holding a folded Crescent Rose. "It's not everyday we see trespassers this far out from the kingdom with one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed under her belt without a decent reason." He tossed the weapon to Neo, who in turn left the room with it.
"Hey! Give that back!" Ruby pleaded, trying to follow the tri-colored haired girl out.
"Don't even bother. You're not going anywhere until you answer my questions." the man ordered, stepping closer to the captured brunette. "I can already guess you're a Beacon Academy student, and someone of your age wouldn't be given a mission this far out here alone. So tell me where your team is, and I'll make sure we go easy on you."
Ruby was confused. What did he mean by 'go easy on her'? "And if I don't tell you anything?" she asked. Her answer was never given directly. The masked man called for somebody outside. In entered a White Fang member with a full face mask. He was medium build, but Ruby couldn't make out any physical traits , as any exposed skin was covered. The club he was holding made contact with a full force swing straight to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to cough up a small amount of blood. The two waited as their prisoner entered a coughing fit, doubled over for a moment before heavy breathing took over her cough and soon returned to normal.
"Have I incentivized you enough to talk now?" The leading man asked. "How many are in your group of friends?"
"I won't tell you...anything!" Ruby gasped as she still felt the pain from the first clubbing.
"Wrong answer." he replied in a near monotonous tone. His assistant delivered another blow to Ruby, hitting her in the leg and leaving a sickening crack sound echoing for a second. Ruby yelped in pain as the sensation spread across her lower left leg. It didn't feel broken, but still did enough damage to hurt the bone in some way or form. "If you must know, I have some form of morals. I don't want to hurt you. However, my assistant here doesn't, and he will continue to hurt you until you tell me what I want to know."
Ruby cringed as the pain in her leg radiated again. "I won't...sell out my friends...so easily." she grunted, spitting out some blood she coughed up from the first hit.
Before the leader could order another pummeling to the girl, a knock on the door came, and a female member of the White Fang with deer antlers entered. "Adam, sir, scouts reported seeing a four person team in the vicinity of the camp." He looked back at Ruby, who was slightly wide-eyed at the news her friends showed up.
"It seems I got my answer." he smirked at his prisoner. "Tell the men not to engage unless attacked first." the deer Faunus nodded and left the room.
"What about her, Boss?" the masked Faunus asked Adam. He gave a glance at the young captive, unsure of wether they let her go, or leave her here as a prisoner or bargaining chip.
"You've done well. Do with her what you please." Adam simply stated as he turned to the door. "Just clean up if you leave a mess." he finished before leaving.
Satisfied with his leader's answer, he dropped his club and cracked his knuckles as he turned to the prisoner. "Oh, man. This is gonna be fun."
Ruby only let out a small peep before the White Fang member kneeled over her, ready to finish what he started.
Meanwhile, outside, the rest of Team RWBY and Ozpin had reached the rendevouz point they had arranged with their leader earlier. Looking around for a moment, they quickly realized the missing member was nowhere to be found.
"This is the location Ruby gave us. Does anyone have eyes on her?" Ozpin asked, looking around.
"I don't see her." Blake said, shaking her head. While the others gave similar answers, Zwei was busy sniffing the ground around them. He quickly perked up and ran in between a couple of bushes after an unknown object or person.
"Zwei? Did you find Ruby, boy?" Yang asked, following her pet into the bushes, closely followed by her other teammates. She entered a small clearing to a sight she hoped not to find: Zwei circling Ruby's discarded scroll, and numerous scuff marks and footprints across the dirt floor. "Oh no."
"I knew this was going to happen!" Weiss flusteredly complained. "Now we have to go save her again."
"I don't think we can..." Blake sighed as she looked past the trees to everyone's right. Ozpin came to her side, taking a look for himself.
"What are you talking about? We are getting my sister back, and beating the tar out of whoever took her in the first place!" Yang said, readying Ember Celica as she brought her fists together.
"Yang, I'm inclined to agree with you, but Blake is right." Ozpin replied. Yang and Weiss, still unsure of what the other two meant were motioned to come over. Through the trees, they saw the dozens upon dozens of White Fang members armed to the teeth with weapons, Paladin mechs as well roaming throughout the large clearing turned into a staging area. "Even with all our skills combined, there's too many for us to take on unassisted."
"Well, what are we supposed to do? Wait and hope they just give Ruby back to us?" Weiss asked.
"I came prepared. Professor Port and Team STRM should be flying over soon on their way back from their mission." Ozpin explained, pulling up a multitude of shared texts between the headmaster and their eccentric teacher. "They should be here soon.
"I'm not going to sit around and wait while they do Monty knows what to my sister!" Yang practically screamed, as she charged through the treeline, into a group of White Fang members with guns drawn and pointed at the blonde boxer. Before the bullets instantly fired at her made contact, a giant glyph formed in front of a taken aback Yang. Opening one eye, the blonde noticed Weiss next to her with her saber drawn, glaring disapprovingly at her partner.
"You just made the biggest dolt move ever in the time I've known you." she sighed as she dropped the glyph and the White Fang members kept their guns trained on the Huntresses.
From the cave's mouth stepped out a luitenent of the White Fang Weiss remembered well, chainsword in hand, looking out at the dozens of his men ready to fight the new arrivals.
"Well isn't this my luck? I get another chance to kill the same Schnee from last time." he chuckled. Unknown to the group of Huntresses-in-Training and their teacher, he was grinning wildly underneath his mask. "Prepare to fire on my mark!" he ordered, raising a hand to the air to signal for the group of White Fang members to take aim.
Just as the sound of weapon safeties clicking off echoed throughout the staging area, everyone stopped and turned to a new sound. Streaking toward them from the sky was a dropship heading straight over the clearing. As it flew over, five individuals jumped out the side door, two of them prepping their first attacks as they struck the ground. On one side, dozens of White Fang initiates were instantly frozen in a gigantic patch of ice thanks to a downward strike from a familiarly intricately designed broadsword. To the other side, a thunderclap sounded as a battle axe struck the ground and sent an electrical pulse around, paralyzing some White Fang members and causing a Paladin to short out from the discharge of lighting Dust energy. Snow and Rocco quickly removed their weapons from the ground as Mei, Turk, and Professor Port landed between them.
"Are we late for the festivities, Ozpin?" Peter asked his old friend and boss.
"Just in time, Peter." Ozpin nodded, unsheathing the hidden sword in his cane, and extending the collapsible staff that also acted as the sheathe and leg of the cane. "Send STRM into the caves. They have Ruby!"
"Dear me!" the mustachioed professor gasped as he drew his blunderbuss. "You heard the headmaster! Go save the poor girl!"
"On it!" Turk nodded as he readied Ebb and Flow for battle. STRM and their professor slowly backed in on each other as the White Fang mechs surrounded them. "We just have to take care of these guys first..."
Mei simply gave a cocky smirk and readied her claws. "Hey, Snow! Give us a pattern already!"
"Attack Paterns Snowcat and Blues Rock! Engage!" he ordered as his broadsword transformed into it's flail form. Whipping it around, Mei jumped onto the Morningstar and equipped an ice Dust crystal to her gauntlets, firing ice-infused senbon at the Paladins and freezing them in their weak spots such as limb joints and exhaust ports, also making them easy targets for the flail to knock over as the cat Faunus left her perch on top of it. On the final one that Snow and Mei's combo attack had missed, Rocco and Turk were making quick work of it. Turk had lodged hs trident into a access port on the top of the metal behemoth, giving his teammate the go-ahead to hammer that in and disable the machine with a well places smash from his guitar case. Launching himself into the air with his case's built in cannon, he brought the case down as hard as he could into the mech. It sputtered and sparked as the trident pierced the brains of the robotic suit before it finally fell forward, allowing Turk to retrieve his weapon.
"So are you all going to stand there, or deal with these guys while we're busy?" Rocco called to their professors and the first year students as they started heading for the cave.
"Right behind you. Go!" Ozpin nodded as he charged through multiple White Fang members, either knocking them aside with his staff twirling in one hand while deflecting strikes with his sword in the other. The girls of Team RWBY were to busy themselves to be impressed by their headmaster's abilities as the White Fang descended upon them. Weiss and Blake were back to back as they made quick work of the criminal Faunus surrounding them, while Yang was holding her own quite easily as she and Professor Port were helping clear the way for STRM to enter the caves. The luitenant still sat in the way, ready to counter the charge of the upperclassmen team. Instead of lifting his chainsword to attack a nearby Mei, Peter jumped in and used the axe blades of his blunderbuss to block his strike as STRM ran past them, quickly starting to look through different nooks and crannies in the cave as they went in deeper. As Peter and the luitenant broke off their standoff, Yang jumped in front and delivered a flurry of punches to knock him off guard, followed by an uppercut that sent him flying into the inside wall of the cave, rendering him unconscious. Giving a nod to the mustachioed professor for the assist, she ran into the cave.
"Ruby! I'm coming, Sis!"
And the first chapter is done! Hope you liked it, and I'm sorry, but the next few may be a little late as I have a lot more on my plate with my current semester of college ending soon, plus a few other personal issues. It shouldn't be too big of a delay for the next chapter, but still, with finals coming up, it's going to cut back on my time for writing this fic. Please bare with me, and stay tuned!
