Chapter 2: Transdimensional Fieldtrip
6 months later, Remnant.
Team RWBY and NPR are flying over a bullhead as Ozpin summoned them one hour ago. They need to investigate a strange phenomenon that happened in Forever Fall. Earthquakes and high energy levels are detected and they hypothesized that a rare dust crystal is the culprit and they need to retrieve it. And Pyrrha Nikos was staring blankly at the window as she is seeing the sight of Forever Fall, its sanguine color making it stand out and quite ironic, considering that she is reminiscing the 6 months where her partner, Jaune, disappeared, never believing that he died.
Since Jaune disappearance, Pyrrha used his sword, the Crocea Mors as her new secondary weapon. She still remembers those 6 months like it was yesterday. She never moved on from his disappearance and one time where the whole Team CRDL faced Pyrrha alone, and that time she was almost blinded by fury that she nearly killed their leader Cardin Winchester, the one who gave Jaune a hard time.
She later apologized for her actions, but she was never sorry. She still held a grudge against their team and sometimes blamed them for Jaune's disappearance. And she talks to Crocea Mors as if it is Jaune. She even confessed just trying for Jaune to magically appear as he had also magically disappeared. She might be getting crazy to others but she is desperate for a closure.
Jaune might have disappeared, but they are all trying to move on in their own ways. The wound is still there and the question of why Jaune disappeared still lingered in their minds. Occasionally, they go around Vale and hand down posters to passerby's to see where he might have gone but there are no leads, no clues, none. But deep inside they know there is a very good reason why he did that even if they don't know it. Jaune is their good friend and would never abandon them just like that.
She then observed her teammates and team RWBY.
Ruby was listening to her scroll while her hood is one her head while her partner, Weiss, is inspecting her Myrtenaster's dust cartridges. Yang was trying to have a conversation with Blake while she reads and just answers in single words. Ren and Nora were quiet but they nuzzled to each other.
The pilot notified them that they would land on 5 minutes and that got them out of their stupor and ready their equipment, without uttering a word to each other.
The VTOL Pilot landed them 300 meters from the cave and they got off the bullhead and prepared their weapons.
"Alright, so what's going on? Retrieve a rare dust crystal? That's it? I could've been studying by now." Weiss spoke up breaking the silence, crossing her arms. She isn't too pleased when her study time is interrupted.
"But Weiss," Ruby said, "It is a request from the headmaster. Besides!" She beamed up, "We got ourselves a new mission! Go Team RWBY!" and jumped up high, high fiving her sister, Yang.
Pyrrha walked ahead of them, again letting those thoughts aside. "Now is not the time for that, let's move."
The jogged towards the cave however a pack of beowolves ambushed them, however, Pyrrha Nikos has been perfecting this technique for months. She grabbed Crocea Mors from her belt and threw it in a spinning motion towards a beowolf, however, she wanted to end this very quickly and using her polarity semblance, spun the sword faster and used it as a saw blade to slice the pack of Grimm who stood in her way on her own and raised her hand in the air to retrieve the sword.
It happened very quickly it was no surprise to her teammates and Team RWBY that Pyrrha had become stronger, and deadlier at combat as dedicated herself more to training with Crocea Mors. Using the Crocea Mors as a projectile weapon and a saw blade that is nearly indestructible however only using it when she needs to put fate's favor into her own hands.
"Damn, P-Money! You've been training alone with that fine sword, am I right?" Yang cackled and laughed and Pyrrha blushed and at the same time smiled while Weiss punched Yang for her "shamelessness".
After the ambush, they walked ahead to the cave. It was dark inside but there were moss, plants, and vines that they don't recognize and they used their scrolls as a light source. Dust and fog lingered everywhere, making the atmosphere more sinister as they sense that something is seriously wrong. However, the grimmest reminder that they got was a pile of bloody skeletons that lingered everywhere and black chitin that they don't recognize, the only thing missing is a "Abandon All Hope, All Ye Who Enter" sign at the entrance.
"Whoever entered here, must've died," Ruby said shakily as she is terrified of the human remains.
"Well, whatever that grimm is, I'll punch that monster's face with these bad boys!" Yang flaunted her newly maintenance Ember Celica.
However, there was a rumbling of the earth, brief but noticeable.
"Guys, is it just me or something is about to happen?" Ruby asked them with a shaky voice due to nervousness.
"Relax, Ruby, nothing is going to-" Pyrrha was going to reply but suddenly there was a sudden rumbling of the earth and large boulders soon fell to where they went, blocking their way for an escape. Their situation only got worse when they saw that they no longer have contact with Beacon or anyone outside the cave. Through instinct, Yang used her semblance and punched the boulders so that they can escape, however it backfired as more rumblings of the ground came, and now the cave is falling to them.
"Great job, Yang! Now we will all die here, thanks to you!" Weiss said sarcastically
"Wait!" Pyrrha raised her hands as she heard that they are near a water source, "Guys come with me, now!" She commanded.
They immediately followed Pyrrha and what stumbled upon them was a deep chasm and a bridge that connects the two fissures of the earth and below it was a river that flows violently. They then crossed the bridge but with the quakes, it became harder and noticing that the rope is breaking, they immediately crossed it, Pyrrha being the first and Yang being the last but before Yang can even cross it, the bridge broke taking Yang with it.
"Yang!" Ruby screamed as she saw her sister being enveloped in the chasm but she saw a black aura envelop the gloves of her sister, she then knew that her sister is safe as Pyrrha is using her polarity semblance to lift her the gauntlets of her sister along with her but she too is having difficulty lifting her up as veins appeared on her head as Yang is heavy but even if she is having difficulty she is successful as she let Yang down on their side of the chasm and Pyrrha panted for air for using her semblance like that.
Ruby used her semblance to immediately hug Yang tightly who she thought was going to die for a minute there and sobbed quietly as her sister comforted her, "Shhh... It's okay, Rubes. Cereal Girl saved me." And Ruby gave thanks to Pyrrha which in return she smiled.
Weiss was going to berate on how stupid Yang is but she too is just glad that she survived.
The way to the entrance is now blocked and the only way for them to move forward is the connection to the cave which again doesn't have any light and they have no way out.
"So, how are we going to get out of here?" Blake asked.
"We might as well move forward." Ruby recomposed herself from the minor reunion, "This is the only way forward and the only way for that rare dust crystal and maybe a way out, maybe..."
They then walked ahead to the cave however they are now wondering that why is there no Grimm in this place if there are carcasses of dead people in the earlier part of the cave? And the black chitin became more and more numerous. It is clear that these are not the corpses of Grimm as they disappear once dead but the atmosphere became more and more ominous to them and the fact that they think that the cave is out to kill them isn't helping anyone's optimism.
It wasn't until they stumbled upon a bronze looking giant door to them that they now know that this is something more than a cave and that there is a body with blue robes on it along with an unlit torch and a dossier on the ground along with an inkwell and feather.
"Is he dead?" Asked Ruby and Weiss facepalmed at the obliviousness of her statement and rubbed her temples to avoid an oncoming migraine.
Ren grabbed the dossier, dusted it off with his hands and opened it and began to read aloud its contents.
17th of Hearthfire, 5E 5
I recently discovered this Ancient Dwemer Ruin 2 months ago called Kagrenac. It is said that this ruins housed a transdimensional portal to travel any planes of Oblivion! I got along with my other 4 colleagues from the Arcane University to discover this ancient wonder but hey refused and I even got a protest from the Archmage, himself. He said that these ruins housed the Falmer and need more advanced magicka training for me to explore my own discovery. Ha! I'm an adept mage in the school of destruction! Mere Falmer wouldn't withstand the might of my flames! And I'll make sure even he would envy me with my discoveries that would change the face of Tamriel itself!
Vallus Beto
Ren couldn't read the next entries as they are smudged with blood and there is a torn page in the final entry. As everybody heard this, they got either terrified, confused or interested. They have no idea what in the name of Remnant the dead guy now named "Vallus Beto", was saying like Dwemer, Falmer, Arcane University or anything. But one thing is clear though, he died due to his recklessness and these "Falmer" killed him before he even got into the ruin.
"Is this really the way to the dust crystal? Because by the looks of it we're directly entering into a literal death trap. And Dwemer? Falmer? Oblivion? Mage? What in the name of Oum is this insane dead man talking about?" Weiss huffed but she has a point, if not a clear evidence in front of them is a dead giveaway.
"But do even have a choice?" Pyrrha asked and shrugged raising some eyebrows, "Alright, look. We currently have no way to get out of this cave and the only way to "get out" is the door in front of us. We don't even know if there is an exit behind that door. All we can gather is that there is some transdimensional portal maybe at the end of this ruin."
"But even that is preposterous on its own." Weiss interjected, "I mean a transdimensional portal? Nobody can create such a thing! Even with Atlas' current technology, it is still farfetched!"
"I know." Pyrrha agreed with the Ice Queen, one a rare instance, "But let's just go, after all, we have weapons to kill whatever new kind of Grimm these so-called "Falmer" is."
After a few amounts of preparation and weapon inspections, they opened the door to Kagrenac(1).
Cathedral of Chief Tonal Architect Kagrenac
Once inside, they now don't need to use their scrolls for the light source as these ruins have light sources of their own, as there is a lamp on the top of the room. It was a very large room with eight pillars and at the top of those pillars were a full set of Dwemer Armor with both sword and shield at a battle stance and at the center was a large pool of water and at the center were three large pillars, containing an unpowered replica of Sunder, Keening and Wraithguard.
On the walls were various text and carvings of the planned construction of the Numidium written in Dwemeris and a map of Blackreach and various Dwemer ruins in Morrowind. There were carvings of the Heart of Lorkhan surrounded by Sunder, Keening, and Wraithguard, signifying their purpose to construct the Brass God and gain divinity to their race.
However on the floor was the blood of the guy in the entrance, a clear sign that he tried to escape the ruins and there are still drops of blood to the next corridor that leads beneath the ground. Dust, fog, and cobwebs still lingered the entrance of the ruins, but the black chitin is still there.
"Woooww..." Nora said as she takes a look around.
They were, to say the least in awe of what they are seeing. History might be boring but this itself is fascinating. Never in Remnant did they know that this kind of things or even a civilization existed such as this! They couldn't understand the text as it is not in Valean but the sheer grandness of everything is just awe inspiring to them.
However, the one that was impressed the most was Ruby. The exotic shape of the Dwemer Armor Set and three dwemer artifacts at the center, she is attempted to touch the replica of Keening however she was met with a slap on the wrist by Weiss.
"Ruby, No!" Weiss reprimanded. "No touching! If that dead guy at the entrance wasn't an indication then I don't know what is!"
Ruby pouted and crossed her arms like a child that recently got their toys out of their hands but she understood where Weiss was coming from. This place is fascinating yet dangerous. They should have brought Dr. Oobleck along.
"This place must have some kind of history. Because by the looks of it those three things were to construct some tower with a heart." Ren said as he observed it, "Maybe a lost civilization? And maybe the heart is the crystal we're looking for?"
"Yes, but is it another human or maybe a Faunus civilization?" Blake analyzed the writings. "But even Dr. Oobleck doesn't know that this kind of civilization exists."
"Yes, but let's just get this over with," Pyrrha then turned around and headed for the corridor. She might've been fascinated by everything that is displayed here but she is focused on the goal, the goal being the dust crystal and get the hell out of here.
Nora gave Ren a worried look and he just sighed. They knew Pyrrha somewhat changed even though they are all trying to move on. On a mission and on combat she is just absorbed to the goal too much. Defeat this, get that, Pyrrha would do it by the letter. They are worried that their friend might've been distancing herself from them and destroy herself emotionally as Ren saw Pyrrha one night talking to Crocea Mors like it is Jaune.
They followed Pyrrha as they walked to the corridor that leads deeper into the cathedral and another large door stood in their way and it opened automatically to their surprise.
They entered into a small room but with doors on the north and on the east. The north door has a kind of a cashier area filled with various dwemer ingots and cogs while the east just leads to another room. They walked again until they heard steam and a sphere came out on one of the pipes. The sphere then transformed into a robot that they don't recognize and now it is shooting crossbow bolts at them, of course, they don't know that these Dwemer Ruins are guarded by the Dwemer Constructs such as the Dwarven Sphere, and robots capable of destruction magic such as the Dwarven Spider.
Thanks to their aura, the bolt, even though it did hurt, didn't penetrate them. Ruby transformed her Cresent Rose into a Sniper Rifle and fired immediately at the construct, however, the construct took the full blow and still it was unfazed, the highly compound dust bullet disintegrating. Weiss activated the gravity dust on her Myrtenaster and formed a glyph under the sphere however it didn't affect the sphere at all! Almost as if it is immune to Dust!
Yang punched the construct repeatedly in successive blows and now it did the trick, the brute force of her punches knocked the construct out and it fell into pieces, "How's that Tin Man!", but it didn't go without a cost. Dwemer Metal is one of the known toughest metals as they last thousands of years and her Ember Celica had a few dents on it. "What?! I just got this maintenance two days ago!" Yang said as she gritted her teeth in anger.
"Well, these people left some guardians after all. This may be the Falmer the guy is talking about. And by the looks of it, this civilization is more advanced than we thought." Blake said as she tried to scavenge what remained of the construct but all of it was just pieces of dwemer metal that they don't know how to use or craft more machinery.
"Let's move." Pyrrha then opened the door to the next area and now they saw these human-like creatures that are charred by fire along with dead giant insect-like creatures that have the same black chitin earlier in the caves and finally a construct like earlier, however, this one is a giant one, along with a hammer and legs for movement.
The final room is also as large as the first but the difference is that there are remains, ember, arrows that scatter across the floor and a broken pillar near the remains of the Dwarven Centurion. There is a bridge connecting it to another room and the water below the bridge remained intact and the air is filled with moisture. There are gears turning beside the door at the other side of the bridge, two tubes on the side of the room and a sign in Dwemeris on the top of the door which they can't read.
They trod lightly, however, again, they heard steam coming out of the tubes and two Dwarven Spheres were out ready to kill them. This time, they decided to use brute force. They nodded to each other and moved like a coordinated team, NPR took the one on the right while RWBY took the one on the left.
The construct on the left shot their bolts aiming at Weiss, however, Ruby shot it down with her Sniper Rifle. Weiss activated her dust cartridges again and used her fire dust this time and shot the Dwarven construct. Again, it didn't seem faced but it did take damage. Blake quickly countered the construct's melee attacks with quick, precise strikes and kicked the construct fazing it for a while. "Here goes, Tin Man!" Yang shouted and punched the construct on its flank, destroying it in the process.
Meanwhile on NPR's side. The construct was firing its arrows towards Ren who uses his ninja skills to dodge the bolts and shot those which he didn't dodge fast enough while Pyrrha is using her semblance to put the construct in place and weaken it, finally, Nora charged up her hammer and swung her hammer like a golf swing. The construct flew into the walls and crushed due to the sheer amount of physical power Nora put in that blow, "FORE!"
Pyrrha smiled as she saw Ren and Nora congratulating each other while Team RWBY high fived each other. These small moments make all these treks to some unknown place worth a while.
Pyrrha walked ahead of them and again they followed her, again, the door opened to them automatically.
By observing the room, it looks like this is the final room as there are no more doors left to open. The room was smaller than the rest of the rooms in the cathedral but what was special was that there were globes of planets suspended by beams of dwemer metals. The control room was on the far left side of the room and only a lever is required for it to operate. The ceiling is like a dome also is made up of dwarven materials but is cut into four sections and has hinges and gears attached to the walls.
"Great. Now we really have no way out." Weiss said.
"But we can try using this as a way to get out?" Ruby said questioningly as she too doesn't know how does this machine works, it wasn't until Nora pulled the lever and mumbled "oops" did the door closed and the globes started spinning in a fast rate and now they are blinded by the light that is coming from the globes.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO NORA?!" Yang shouted as there was also the noise of the spinning globes that make the room very noisy.
"I PULLED THE LEVER BECAUSE I KNOW NONE OF YOU IS GOING TO PULL IT!" Nora replied, again shouting.
The globes spun faster and faster until...
5E 5, South of Dawnstar.
The globes stopped spinning and they felt that the temperature dropped many degrees below. After the ordeal, almost all gave Nora an angry glare which in return she rubbed her head in embarrassment and gave a nervous laughter. "Sorry," Nora muttered and hid behind Ren which he sighed.
Now the roof opened and finally they were out in the open.
"Ha! See guys? I'm right!" Ruby screamed in happiness and she immediately jumped out of the room and into the outside world but once she saw what was outside, her face just stared into what she is seeing.
"Rubes! What's going on?" Yang got out of the room and saw what she saw, "Guys, you have to take a look at this. Because it looks like the blue guy at the entrance is right."
"What are you talking about, Yang?" Weiss then followed her but still closed her eyes and opened it, "Transdimensional teleportation is impossible! Even Atlas haven't...got..."
Now, the rest of them got intrigued by Weiss' reaction and followed, and again they got the same reaction. Forever Fall is vast and even if that the cave system that they got it was also large, it doesn't compare to the vastness of Forever Fall, however, what they're seeing isn't Forever Fall.
They saw snowy mountains on their right and a fledgling city on the north. The ground that they're currently standing in is also covered in snow. This isn't Forever Fall. No, it isn't. This is Skyrim.
AN/ (1) Kagrenac - The one said to be the engineer who constructed the Numidium and made the three artifacts to control the Heart of Lorkhan.
Thank you for the response, I honestly didn't expect this fanfic to have that many favorites and I hope this second chapter is somewhat okay to your liking dear readers. For the third chapter, maybe January since I still have university work to do.
Constructive criticisms and suggestions are welcome.