Chapter 2: Do not think…Obey
"What do you mean, 'War is coming'?" Ozpin mused. He slowly stood up from his chair, his cane within his grasp, and approached the Nevermore-masked samurai. His eyes betrayed no emotion but pure concern.
"You heard me Ozpin. War is about to begin and your teams shall be at the forefront of it. Do you believe that you can truly stop the inevitable from happening?" Raven spat as she walked past the headmaster. Looking out from the balcony and observing all the students below, especially one particular team...Team RWBY
Ozpin slowly turned to make his way over to Raven before eventually putting a hand on her shoulder. His voice not exceeding that of a calm and medium tone, it was as if he knew just what made Raven tick. "Raven, my students have had more than enough training for such a scenario. You of all people should know that they are more than capable to face whatever threat comes by".
However, Raven was quick to swipe her shoulder away from Ozpin as she turned to him. Her eyes burning with an intense anger. "What if they can't!? What if they are not ready, they are all still children fighting as pawns in your stupid little game! You have always seen this as an academy for education…it's nothing but a prison, corrupting the youth and making them into merciless killers! Surely you can't be serious in sending these children into a war!" Raven bellowed as she began to make her way past Ozpin once more, underneath her mask the stains of tear drops had formed…
"I do not believe they are ready until they have faced such a danger…that's what I told your brother and the rest of your team when you were about to graduate" Ozpin's eyes stayed firmly upon Raven, lips curled into a small smile.
I believe that education can only get you so far…it is the huntsmen or huntress themselves that must take the first step." Ozpin's glasses gleamed lightly as he then felt a tint of malice begin to grow within his voice…
"Clearly you have not understood this Miss Branwen, you've ran from your problems and tried to stop change from occurring, forgive me when I say this but…" Ozpin's voice lingered as his hand tightened it's grip around the head of his cane.
"...a hero is not someone who runs away from their battles, but a hero is someone who knows when they have to stand and fight…even if their life will be at risk" His body did not shake, nor did he make a motion for Raven to leave. But he stood calmly as if he was at the epicenter of a storm that was about to kill him, with Raven being that storm.
"You've become soft Ozpin, relying on these children will be your downfall" Raven spat as she quickly drew a Dust blade and sliced open a portal before glaring daggers at the headmaster, who merely shook his head as Raven made her way out from Beacon…her mind now clicking into place, this was a war that would end Ozpin's regime once and for all…
Undisclosed White Fang Base
Unknown Location
Time: 8:38am
Horus let out a loud yell as he slammed his staff down onto the head of Genghis. The larger faunus began to recoil in pain, the two had been battling for a while now and they were seemingly even. The eagle Faunus was having trouble trying to break through Genghis' impressive defence, but soon enough the larger White Fang member began to slam down his weapon onto the ground before pointing to Horus.
"You…You have a lot of spunk kid, I'm surprised you're still standing, that pathetic little staff can't get you anywhere now can it?!" Genghis yelled as soon enough he began to prepare a new attack for Horus. However, Horus quickly spread his wings and took off to the upper levels of the warehouse where he began to calibrate the Dust chamber of his staff, "You need to 'chill' out Genghis. You're getting real 'steamy' up in here" Horus joked as soon enough his staff began to glow a mixture of fiery red and ocean blue as steam began to flood the room.
Genghis began to look around in anger as he let out an exasperated yell. Horus taking his chance quickly began to fly down at Genghis, his eyes now closed as his staff began to spin in his grip. And before the larger Faunus could react he saw for a brief second what appeared to be Horus in front of him and then suddenly behind him.
"This battle is over Genghis, I'll let your boss know that you won't be coming back to your post…you are dismissed" With a slight smirk he slammed his staff down as Genghis cried out in pain. Large icy spires quickly rising from underneath the larger Faunus, impaling him through the chest and stomach as his weapon fell to the ground with a mighty metallic thunk! Genghis let out a groan as his mouth was stained with blood. His heart slowly stopping as he fell unconscious; Genghis was dead at the hands of a fellow Faunus…
"Once a brute, always a brute…now, let's see if your boss is any more of a challenge…I'll end this stupid scheme once and for all" Horus stated with a scowl before noticing a figure out of the corner of his eye, a feminine figure with long black hair and one glowing purple eye. "So…I see you managed to make it too?" He asked as he turned to face the female figure, her lips coiled into a smirk as her snake-like tongue flicked across her lips…
"I wouldn't miss this for the world master, besides…it's been too long since I've fed on White Fang flesh" The female mused with a slight snicker. the Eagle Faunus quickly retracting his staff before making his way out of the door of the warehouse to see that the airships were already beginning to leave!
"Damn it! We're too late…Iris, I want you to take care of things back here whilst I head after these airships…if anything happens to you then don't hesitate to call. You'll know when you need to." Horus exclaimed as he quickly rushed out from the warehouse and took to the skies once again, Iris being left to 'dispose' of the body of Genghis…
"You'll make a lovely meal for me~!"
Beacon Academy
Vale, Remnant
Time: 11:40am
With Team RWBY already preparing for the party, they had been communicating to their fellow teams of JNPR and SSSN and luckily they were all available for the party. Looks like things were going swimmingly…however, in their Grimm Studies class something came up that definitely seemed to peak not just Ruby's interest…but Blake's as well…
"As you can see students! The creatures of Grimm come in many varying shapes and sizes, as I have taught you all before. From the smallest Beowulf to the largest Goliath, but there is one that has never been recorded accurately and is known to destroy entire cities within minutes of its arrival" Professor Oobleck spoke as he darted around from board to board, pointing at diagrams of many different creatures of Grimm before pulling up an even larger whiteboard which seemed to have the picture of a large dinosaur shaped Grimm.
"W-What is that?" Jaune Arc, leader of Team JNPR asked in a slightly fearful tone. Just looking at this thing was giving him goose bumps, the same being said for many other students within the room as Ruby just quickly leaned forward to look at this Grimm. "That my dear boy is Nomad, one of the largest creatures of Grimm ever observed by human eyes." Oobleck simply stated as he then brought up a slide-show of all the 'sightings' of this legendary creature.
"Nomad was said to have been born from the very will of the planet itself and is considered to be almost like a hive-mind for all Grimm kind. If you kill it, the Grimm will lose their minds and turn on each other…or so scientists have theorized" And with a quick click of a button the image of this mountain sized Grimm slamming it's clawed hand down on a city was seen. The image itself was blurry but it was clear that this thing had completely destroyed the city with one single claw swipe…
"Woah…That thing's huge! I want to fight it now!" Ruby exclaimed as Oobleck then shook his head and pointed at Ruby before looking back at Nomad, "Miss Rose if you were to fight that thing you would be killed the moment it saw you, Nomad is not like your average Grimm, it's sentient and knows that it's too powerful for almost any huntsmen or huntress, trying to attack it on your own means suicide" He then felt his attention get diverted as Blake suddenly began to speak.
"Nomad itself was seen back in the early days of man-kinds fight against the Grimm, entire kingdoms have become Grimm infested wastelands because of its rampages, but it only comes out when there's a time of mass hatred or the peace has been disturbed, for example, the Great War" Blake stated as she had a look of partial concern as well as hatred on her face when looking at this Grimm, "That is correct Miss Belladonna, Nomad sightings have mostly been linked to great battles within both human and Faunus history, the Great War was when Nomad truly showed its strength, eliminating almost the entirety of Remnant itself by unleashing a deadly virus from its skin. Luckily doctors and scientists have cured this virus long after the end of the Great War, so such an outbreak would surely never happen again…"
As the class went on, both Ruby and Blake began to think about whether or not the White Fang's plans would be to bring back Nomad and use it to destroy the kingdoms of Remnant and usurp their rulers…but soon enough Ruby and Blake made their way to the lunch hall in order to speak to Weiss and Yang.
"Hey you two, enjoy your Grimm studies? Hopefully it didn't make you feel 'Grimm'" Yang exclaimed with a small smirk as Weiss then turned to her partner and slammed her fist into Yang's arm, causing the blonde to wince slightly, "That pun wasn't even good Yang Xiao Long" Weiss sighed as she crossed her arms, Ruby giggled a little bit as the four sat down at a lunch table.
As the team began to eat they noticed Team JNPR making their way over, "Hello everyone!" Pyrrha stated with a small smile as she slowly sat down next to Yang, the rest of Team JNPR soon following as they all took their seats. "So, how have things been on your end?" Ren asked with a slightly warm smile on his face as Nora then leaned forward, "Yeah, give us the dirt, what's been going on with you all!" A few laughs arising from Team RWBY themselves before Ruby decided to pipe up, "Well, as leader of Team RWBY and with the help of my friends I've decided to hold a pre-graduation celebration party at our dorm-room, we heard that you were available so we'd like for you to come around" Ruby stated proudly as soon enough Jaune smiled a little bit, "Sure Ruby! If anything we were probably gonna plan the same thing, but as my parents always said; Everything's better when you do it with friends." Yang then let out a slight snicker as she then looked to Blake, "I could probably think of a few things that are 'better with friends'" She joked as Blake's cheeks flushed a slight red whilst Nora began to laugh loudly.
As the two teams continued eating their lunch Ruby began to think about the lesson, Nomad itself only arises when there's a culmination of hatred all condensed into one area…what did that mean?! But if anything she didn't want to find out any time soon, but something else was also racking her mind, and it was to do with one Summer Rose and her final mission…
Flashback to 10 years before the events of RWBY Volume 1
"Summer! Honey, you got a new mission sent in from the academy!" Taiyang called out as his wife, Summer Rose, yawned loudly as she arose from her bed, looks like a day of relaxation was going to have to wait for now. But with Yang and Ruby being as hyperactive as usual it was clear that she was going to wake up soon enough. Slowly slipping on her white cloak she made her way downstairs and smiled at her blonde haired husband and kissed him on the cheek, "Morning dear…and morning to you two little ones as well" Summer tiredly stated as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Well…I'd say more afternoon than morning, I mean you were pretty weighed down by your sleep so I guess you 'slept like a rock' if you know what I mean" Taiyang joked as Summer playfully punched him in the arm before looking at what the mission detailed. The mission statement was the following:
[Message sent to Summer Rose from Ozpin]
Greetings Summer Rose
I understand that this may be a bad time for you, what with your new life with Taiyang and all, but sources have claimed the sighting of a large Grimm creature near Vale and we want you to intercept and Taiyang to intercept this creature and subdue it. I hope that you will be able to save this kingdom once again like you have many times before…
From Professor Ozpin
Beacon Academy.
Both Summer and Taiyang looked at the mission statement and then felt their blood begin to run cold, the fact that Ozpin was sending them both a mission…and now of all times? They wouldn't have anyone to take care of Yang and Ruby whilst they were gone, Qrow was out on his own mission, and the less said about Raven the better.
"Tai…I don't know if I should go on this mission, the kids need taking care of and I'm sure that you're more fitted for this kind of mission" Summer slowly stated as she pulled her cloak slightly over her body, her husband shaking his head before putting his arm around Summer, causing her face to flush a dark red.
"Summer, I can take care of the kids, you're already a lot stronger than I could ever be, and you got this!" He exclaimed as he put his hands on her shoulder, showing a slight grin before Summer turned away, for the next few hours the two of them would be arguing at varying intensities about who was to go on the mission, but at this point it was clear that they weren't going to reach an impasse any time soon…
White Fang Underground Control room
Vale, Remnant
Time: 12:00am
The amber hues of Cinder Fall glanced at the large map of Vale, various marks pointing to a trail from an undisclosed warehouse over to Cinder's location, should they arrive quicker than expected then Cinder's plan could finally fall into place, of course as she was lost within her thoughts she heard the sound of boots clacking on the stone floor behind her, slowly turning she saw familiar red hues staring back at her.
"You are a familiar face to me, someone that I should have gotten rid of a long time ago…" Cinder exclaimed as she turned to face Raven, her hands now brimming with fire as Raven quickly drew a red Dust blade before pointing it at the leader of Team CRME.
"No need to get angry, besides…this will all be over soon enough, an old woman like you is too frail to fight this battle. I'll be quick to put you out of your misery" Cinder stated as she soon summoned her two signature Dust blades before Raven began to chuckle lightly under her mask, her voice being masked in a deep and ominous tone as she spoke to Cinder, "I may be old…but that doesn't mean that I'm not about to die, you've caused enough trouble with your crimes and it's time the White Fang are set in a new direction, that of purging Vale and taking back what is so rightfully ours!" She yelled as she quickly swung her blade, which made a loud clanging noise against Cinders twin blades before the two females stepped back.
"You are but a fool to try and challenge someone like me, you're too weak for such a weapon now, aren't you?" Cinder retorted as she showed a slight look of annoyance and determination as she quickly began to perform a variety of spinning slashes mixed with manipulating any Dust shards that cracked off of both hers and her opponent's blade, forming them into an unmanned third blade to try and break Raven's concentration…
However, the Dragon with the Nevermore mask never loses focus as she quickly began to counter the broken blade floating around her before grabbing Cinder by the neck and slamming her into the wall behind her, causing Cinder to wince in pain before smirking and kicking Raven back, the two females were locked in a battle of both blades and their Semblances as the two circled each other, Cinder began to lift the shards of Dust from the ground once more before firing them at Raven, causing the masked warrior to roll and dodge her way around them as she was beginning to lose her patience with Cinder.
"You have no clear goal Cinder! I do! To bring an end to all this senseless conflict by destroying not just the humans, but any other radicalistic group out there! A World free of racial discrimination and torment, even you must want to know what that's like!" Raven yelled as she switched blades with a purple gravity blade, slamming it into the ground as Raven herself leaped into the air and prepared to draw another blade whilst gravity was still affected, "Idiot! There is no such thing as peace, the way you think is nothing but a lie, the words that you speak are nothing but utter garbage, a world free of conflict is a boring world as well as one that isn't any fun. Mankind often forgets that we are the remnants of a bloody war that's been raging on for all our lives, there is only one path to true absolution, and it's through a revolution, my revolution!"
With that, Cinder quickly began to use the Dust surrounding her from nearby crates to form a large spire of Dust, made up of all sorts of different elements such as fire, earth, gravity, etc. Eventually chuckling as she tossed the spire at Raven who merely sighed as she began to cut up the spire effortlessly with her own Dust blades, but upon seeing the crystals break into an almost liquid-like substance, Cinder flung her fingers upward as she turned around and began to walk away…
The ground beneath Raven rumbled as suddenly a large explosion covered that part of the large control room, flinging Raven across the room and beside Cinder's feet, her body now battered and burnt from the explosion itself…
"Have you seen what your actions will do to you if you refuse to obey? Now, mongrel, I believe that you still have some unfinished business with a certain blonde haired Huntress, I won't let you fight her now…but when the time comes, you'll know. Now excuse me, I have some…'issues' that I need to attend to" And with that, Cinder's heels were the only sound that was heard as Raven passed out from exhaustion, trying to revolt against someone of such power was fruitless…but it wouldn't be for long…
Menagerie
Unknown Kingdom Entrance
Time: 1:30pm
A Large group of White Fang soldiers were busy making their way towards the entrance to a kingdom that they had only recently made contact with, supposedly this kingdom was one of the smaller and lesser known kingdoms on the island of Menagerie, however, it was considered an economic and social superpower and had a leader that could only be described as…narcissistic and insane!
However, these soldiers were being leader by someone clad in both black and red, his eyes covered by a mask and his sword laid deep within its sheathe, his face coated with a look of malice as he soon drew his sword and held it beside him.
"This is it. This human scum will be the first one to submit to our orders, or else we will all use drastic force. Your orders are clear, and be sure to not fail me…otherwise your lives will be forfeit. Do I make myself clear?" The low voice of the leading Faunus stated as he turned his head slightly, his battalion of White Fang soldiers nodded their heads and soon enough he turned to the large gates of steel, almost shadowing them like an iron curtain, and the kingdoms name imprinted upon them:
The Kingdom of Carbine
With Team RWBY now well underway with their preparations, why has Ruby gotten so caught up with learning about Nomad and its secrets! Just who is Iris? And what is her association with Horus? And why does Raven work under Cinder? And just who is this Faunus at the gates of the new kingdom of Carbine? These questions and more will be answered in the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned!
