Chapter Beta - DioRezi
Oscar stumbled his way to the seats, gripping his arm all the way. He decided to forgo sitting in his favourite chair - which to be fair, was actually Ozpin's favourite chair - in this place and instead settled himself down on the couch.
Sure, the fight had pushed him way beyond his limit as a person and even as a host to whatever Ozpin truly was, to the point that even a week later the man in his head was still out of it and was unable to talk, but he had survived, and that's something he couldn't knock on the chin. Either that, or he was finally letting the young teenager have some time to himself. Certainly a useful thing when he'd spent the first day after the Battle for Haven unconscious, and days two through five bedridden. The final day of rest was near enough enforced on him by multiple people, so naturally he complied.
Nora told him he needed to because she was a doctor. Ren then informed him that she had no medical training whatsoever and that "simply owning a nurse's uniform" didn't count, unless that'd make Jaune a girl just because he owned a dress. Also, Nora was a girl and girls were scary.
Yang made him stay in bed longer because, as a big sister, her big sister instincts were telling her that him leaving the bed was a bad idea. Weiss countered that by saying that she never got those instincts with her younger brother, and that she was adamant Winter never got them for either her or Whitley. Also, both Weiss and Yang were girls and girls were scary.
But it was Ruby who convinced him to remain in bed. She told him in the gentlest way she could at the time that remaining in bed will do his body good, especially after draining his Aura completely through exertion - that always made the recovery worse than battle inflicted Aura depletion, for her at least. Giving the body just that little more time to heal, even when it's at 100%, meant that he wasn't going straight back to training and trekking around when he'd been out of it for a little while. Let his body recover as well as his Aura.
But on top of all that, it made it easier for Ruby to spend more time with him. She was the closest to his age, so it made the most sense to her. And despite being a girl, Ruby wasn't scary at all.
"Hey Oscar," came a timid voice from behind him.
It helped that she had a slight crush on him, and he with her.
"Hi Ruby," came his reply, not caring to look over his shoulder at her because he just knew where she was going to end up in a few seconds.
"How're you getting on?"
"I'm… coping," he admitted. "Ozpin took so much out of me that day that an Aura coma was the only way my body could recover."
"Why did you let him?"
"I didn't. If anything, I tried to stop him." Ruby couldn't help but let out a gasp at the revelation. "Ozpin forcefully took over my body despite my protests to let me stay in control and talk Hazel down." The silver eyed prodigy glared at the young boy's forehead, trying her best to express her irritation at the man currently in hiding within his head." The glare won't work on him, he doesn't physically exist anymore."
"He's still in there," she replied, not wavering once from her stare, "and that's enough for me." The young farm boy chuckled, breaking his friend's concentration and bringing forth a giggle of her own. They stopped laughing and ended up staring into each other's eyes, supernatural silver and hazel getting lost in the other.
Oscar, in a sudden bout of brave, shuffled right next to Ruby so their legs were touching and found her hand. "Thank you for caring about me so much," he told her.
Sporting a slight blush, she replied with "ah, well, I care for all my friends. But… you're special."
"Who's special?" Nora blurted as she appeared from behind the couch, causing both of the youngsters to scream in fright and jump away from the sudden intruder. "What?"
"Nora!" the crimson tipped reaper shouted back, not initially intending to raise her voice to her teammate - were they still teammates? Questions for later - but her body made the decision for her. "We were trying to have a private conversation here!"
"Oh my Gods, were you about to get 'Together-Together' with Oscar?!"
"No!" she cried.
"What's with all the shouting?" came Yang's voice, the blonde walking into the room with a bed ready Weiss, a casual looking Blake and the two JN_R boys in tow. "I thought we agreed to an early night before we headed off."
"I'm with Firecracker," Qrow added, making his own way in from a different room, stumbling as he did so, "the screaming had better have a PG-13 reason behind it, else I'm making you all train extra hard for doing anything like that in my presence."
"Uncle Qrow, that's gross!" his revolted niece said, everyone missing the quick guilty glances the older three members of RWBY shot each other, Weiss near enough glaring at Yang especially, like she knew something.
"Ruby was about to get 'Together-Together' with Oscar!"
"Nora, was that what they were really doing? Or was that what you think they were doing?" Her partner remained neutral throughout, doing his best to be the moderator of the discussion.
"I mean… they were sitting pretty close together."
"That doesn't mean that they-"
"And they were holding hands." Everyone present knew that Ruby was the speediest of them all, but even with her trademark speed she felt she could never outrun the embarrassment that she was now feeling. Both Oscar's and her own face lit up brighter than Vale in the Festive Season.
"That's private matters then Nora," Yang informed her quirky friend, "let them have the moment. They deserve it, and we owe it to them." Ruby smiled at her sister, silently thanking her for understanding. She was sure that the 'Big Sister "If you hurt her or break her heart, I'll kill you" Talk' with Oscar would come if, and it was a fairly large if, anything would come of this.
A portal opened in the main room, causing all nine people to spring into action at once, those with their weapons on them pulling them out at the ready, and Yang, who just got into a fighting stance, slicing through the tension like a sword through the fabric of space… wait…
"Everyone be on your guard," Qrow warned. 'What are you doing Raven?' he asked himself. Yang also had questions, knowing how her mother's semblance worked meant that she had actively chosen to approach either her Uncle or herself. Knowing Raven, it wasn't going to be her.
Blake was the only one out of the loop, not knowing what Yang's Mom's semblance was or how it worked. To her, the world decided to tear at the seams right in their front room.
"Does anyone want to explain to me what is going on here?" No sooner was the question posed, something came through. Well, not some-thing, some-one. "Adam?!" Sure enough, the recently beaten White Fang leader fell through the rip in reality. Unconscious or not, he was there in the flesh, in front of them all once again.
"No… no nonono no…" the blonde brawler stuttered out in a panic, her arms shaking violently at the mere sight of the redhead. Unable to cope, the young woman took off back to her shared room, tears already falling from her eyes.
"Yang wait!" Blake took off after her, a) to make sure her partner was okay, but b) to get away from Adam again. She knew that she had moved past him, but that didn't mean she wanted him around.
"What in the…" Everyone heard the heels clicking along the floor towards them, some people gripping their weapons tighter in preparation for the potential fight. "Raven, what are you doing he-" Qrow didn't get to finish the sentence, as an unconscious Raven was dragged through the portal, the glowing gateway dissipating the moment the two women came through. "Ice Queen?!"
"Winter! Oh, I am so glad to-"
"No time for introductions and formalities, we need to get Raven to a med bay stat, and the boy to a secure holding cell."
"Look, as much as we'd want to take my sister in and nurse her back to health, she was part of the group that decided to attack us at Haven Academy little over a week ago. That sort of time frame ain't gonna fix this."
"Do you not care for her life?" the Specialist countered. "She saved mine from the likes of Adam Taurus. She pushed me out of the way so that she would take the brunt of the impact and save me. That warrants some form of attention, even if it's minimal. I will discuss matters with her surrounding the Haven attack personally." There was a long, uncomfortable silence among those in the safehouse. No one seemed to be willing to budge.
"Well, I can't take him to the authorities," Weiss mentioned to the crowd, hoping to at least shift the focus away from everyone just staring at each other. "Why don't you go Nora?"
"I… don't know where it is."
"I do," Jaune said, stepping forward slightly, "I'll go with you to-"
"Sorry Jaune," Ruby interrupted, "but we need you here to help heal Raven up. You did wonders with Weiss, we need you to do it again." The blond agreed, but not without an express grumble of dissatisfaction. "Ren, can you go with Nora instead?"
"Of course," the stoic ninja of JN_R nodded.
"Looks like we're staying here a couple more days, kiddos," Qrow sighed, taking out his flask and going back to his room to drink in peace.
"Does he ever stop drinking?" Winter said out loud in annoyance.
"Sadly, I have never known him not to be at least slightly tipsy," Ruby clarified as she took Raven over her other arm and helped move the bandit leader to an easier to work location. "Jaune, Weiss, get my bed ready for her. We'll be in in a minute." Ruby turned to Oscar, the only other person in the room now. "Sorry to ask this of you, but could you run and get Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna, as well as Ilia and Sun please? They'll still be expecting to leave tomorrow morning."
"Sure thing." And with that, he was gone, leaving Winter and Ruby to carry Raven into the red reaper's temporary bedroom.
'Why was the floor soft? Floors aren't supposed to be soft.'
{shuffle}
'Yep, the floor is definitely soft. Did I send us to a Mistral Mental Asylum? I hope not, but it would explain the soft, padded floor.'
She took a second to think a bit more.
'Hang on a minute, I have never even been there, how can I send us somewhere I've never been?'
{shuffle}
'Oh… this is a bed. That's why it's soft.' She finally let herself move around and stir a little bit more, knowing that wherever she ended up had at the very least a bed.
"Easy, easy," she heard. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. "You're still recovering. I need you to stay as still as you can so that it'll be easier." Raven didn't want to open her eyes just yet, not until she knew exactly where she was and at the very least who she was with. "Why am I doing this?" the voice asked, not to herself it seemed, so there was definitely someone else in the room. "After what she did to us all, I don't see why I should."
"You are doing this because, as an Atlas Military Specialist, I hold the same rank as a Huntress, therefore I am superior to you as a Huntsman in Training, and as such you should do as I instruct. Or was that something else Professor Ozpin neglected to inform his students at Beacon?" Winter's voice. Good, they made it through. Raven thought about stirring completely, but equally wanted to hear the conversation through.
"No, he told us, I just don't see why? I know you're ordering me to do it, but it just doesn't make sense to me."
"Sometimes it doesn't have to make sense, Mr. Arc. Sometimes you have to do what is asked of you." She was sure she heard him mumble something under his breath, something about Pyrrha Nikos. She was his former partner back at Beacon, wasn't she? That made the boy here Jaune Arc, which made sense when she remembered who was there at Haven. Seeing no need to remain unresponsive anymore, red eyes fluttered open to see the blond boy from the battle and Winter by her bedside, the latter standing tall over the siting boy and herself lying down on the bed.
"Winter?"
"Ah, good to see you awake Raven. Mr. Arc here has been doing his best to get you healed. The wound itself has sealed and he appears to be working on mending the flesh."
"Well, I'm doing what I can really. I only learned what my semblance is a week ago, so I'm just letting it do what it needs to." Raven hummed a response, not in approval or disgust, more in impartial acknowledgement. Jaune clued in on that, screwed up his face and retracted his hands, the white light coming from him fizzling out into nothing.
"Why have you stopped?" Winter quizzed. "I was under the impression you would completely fix up your patient before taking a break."
"This is only the second time I've ever used my semblance, so forgive me for not knowing what I am and am not capable of instantly," he snapped back, not raising his voice but conveying his irritation through the harshness of his words. "I think I need a few minutes to recharge just a bit." The knight didn't give the Schnee any chance of responding and making him stay, rising and leaving the room as speedily as he dared without it looking like he desperately wanted out.
With the click of the door closing, bandit and Specialist were left alone once again.
"I don't think he likes me."
"And why would that be?" Winter asked, her own tone harsher than it had been previously, even with Jaune in the room.
The ravenette huffed, turning away as best as she could through the pain, which she had to admit had receded a fair amount thanks to the blond boy's work. "Oh please, if you're going to attempt to give me a lecture, you can save your breath and I will make my way back to tribe and recover there."
"I wish to know why you were there, and make my own mind up on where I stand," she affirmed with her arms now crossed over her chest. "And no, you won't be going anywhere; I saw how you create your portals, so your Ōdachi is being kept away from you so that you won't escape."
"And already you have impressed me with your skills and tactical mind more than my own daughter. She seems to think rushing in solves everything."
"Whilst I'm not particularly shocked to see you degrade your own daughter like that, I take pride in saying that my job depends on me being vigilant and having a good tactical mind." The Schnee smirked. "And yours is to keep talking until you've sussed a way out of here, then take any chance you see and flee. Not today, unfortunately. You are staying in here with me, and I will get my information from you. One way or another."
"Clever girl…"
"So," Winter continued, the slightest grin on her lips from the praise given out by the red eyed woman in front of her, "why were you there?"
"How close are you to Jim?"
"You're deflecting the question!" the Specialist cried.
With a far more level head, Raven informed her, "I am trying to determine how much you know so that I can inform you about everything you're missing out on, provided you are willing to dive down that rabbit hole."
"In that case," she levelled, "General Ironwood sees me as someone very close and a person he can trust above almost all else."
"Enough to share some of the secrets of the world around us?"
"There… was one time, back in the days leading up to the Fall of Beacon, where I was dismissed from Ozpin's office, yet one of the girls from the school remained in there."
"Pyrrha Nikos, I am aware of that." Raven tried sitting up, groaning from the pain.
"Why don't you just lay down?" Winter asked.
"I'm stubborn," came the almost too easy reply, eventually finding a balance between comfort and no pain. "So, it seems the General didn't wish you to know much about it. It's sad, but understandable."
"And what exactly are you trying to imply?"
"Nothing. Just that it seems like old Ironwood wanted his circle very tight." She scoffed slightly. "Well, looks like I get to be the one to invite you down the rabbit hole."
"Enough with the cryptics," Winter demanded, "tell me what you know and why you were there, or else I will reopen those wounds and let you writhe here in pain until you comply."
"…I like you," she grinned. Rolling her icy blue eyes, Winter insisted that her guest explain everything she could as soon and as clearly as possible. "There are a great number of things that are based on reality, but many believe to be works of fiction. Most of the fairy tales told to children are based on some things that happened long ago. The Tale of Two Brothers speaks about two of the First Gods of Remnant; one created day, life and light, the other brought death, destruction, darkness and, above all else, the Grimm. They also created four relics of immeasurable power, a Relic of Creation, Destruction, Knowledge and Choice. And to settle their differences, their last act was to create humanity. The Man with Two Souls stems from a curse. And the four sisters that became the Maidens when bestowed with powers from a wizard comes from Ozpin himself."
"Why would Professor Ozpin create a story like that?"
"He didn't create the story, it's about him." Winter honestly found that hard to believe, but Raven pushed on. "An old man, usually depicted wearing green with silvery grey hair, is visited by four sisters and after showing him what humanity can do, bestows them with magical powers. Those four became the first Maidens, and their powers are passed down from person to person as time goes on."
"What sort of powers?"
"Did you never get read any of these stories when you were younger?" Raven asked in frustration. The alabaster woman simply raised an eyebrow. "Right; Schnee. Slipped my mind."
"That's a first," she joked, "normally that's all that remains on people's minds."
"The Maidens were gifted with amazing abilities, controlling the weather and the elements around them. Each Maiden, whilst naturally favouring one element, can create the same sort of things Dust can without the use of it. Magic, if you will. All gifted by a man who lived a secluded life, surrounded by mysteries and enigmas, and who trusted only a certain few people on Remnant."
"But Ozpin is dead, how can he be behind all of this?"
"Remember what I said about the curse?" Winter nodded. "The Gods cursed the Wizard to be reincarnated every time he dies into the body of someone with the same mindset as his own, cursed to forever walk the land until Salem is no more."
"Who is this 'Salem' person you speak of?"
"One of the biggest secrets on Remnant, and the single biggest threat to human and Faunuskind. Salem is the Master of the Grimm. She is a force that will not rest until Remnant is crushed under her thumb, and the only one who can truly delay her - for she can't be stopped - is the reincarnation of the Wizard, who just so happens to be Ozpin."
"But, again, Ozpin is dead."
"How observant," she muttered sarcastically. "But tell me, do you notice anything odd about the people your sister is hanging around with?"
"Where do I start?" she sighed. "For a bunch of young adults, they act so carefree, even in the face of what has been put in front of them. With the obvious exception being my sister's teammate, Ms. Rose. She still seems far too young and chipper to be a team leader."
"Just like her mother," Raven mentioned.
"You knew her mother?"
"Much like her daughter, Summer Rose was the leader of her team at Beacon, Team STRQ - the best team to ever grace the halls of Beacon."
"She was your team leader?"
Raven nodded, adding that "much like your sister's team, STRQ seemed like favourites to the faculty. Extra missions, getting away with things they probably shouldn't, trust given when they definitely shouldn't. We were no older than them when we learned what I just told you, and our whole world views changed in that instant. And the biggest one was about Ozpin and his reincarnations. He mentioned how this form he was in was one of countless forms he had taken in his battle against Salem. And only last week did I find out that the little boy sitting in there with them all is the most recent reincarnation of Ozpin."
"That boy in there?" Winter uttered in disbelief, earning another nod from Raven. "He's… what? Twelve?"
"I'm guessing fourteen, but I understand where you're coming from. He's far too young to do anything worthwhile, and this is the form that Ozpin had unwillingly taken. No combat experience, very little fighting in his life, no knowledge of Aura or semblance, a complete blank slate. But Ozpin is still in his mind."
"Hence why you mentioned how 'The Man with Two Souls' was about a curse, and that curse is Ozpin's."
"You catch on fast."
"And everyone in there is now aware of all this?"
"I guess. From what was said last week, no one seemed to be fazed."
"And you still have some explaining to do about why you were there," the Specialist gently reminded.
"You aren't going to let that go, are you?"
"Whether it's the Schnee in me or the soldier I do not know, but when I set out to do something or get information from someone, I do not like leaving empty handed. And while yes, I have gained a lot of valuable information from you about things I never expected to even be a possibility, I still haven't been told what I came here to be told."
Raven smirked at the answer, shrugging away any doubts she had about telling the fair haired woman anything. "If you insist. I was there to save myself and my tribe. We had one of the Maidens stumble into us one day, and she was scared and frightened of her power. We took her in, we trained her, but she perished at the Battle of Haven fighting against Cinder Fall, the current Fall Maiden-"
"Where you acquired the powers." For the umpteenth time that day, Winter reduced the bandit leader to a state of silent shock. "I may not have been present to know the ins and outs, nor do I claim to know exactly what happened, but Adam Taurus' leg didn't magically get encased in ice."
'I mean…' the ravenette thought to herself, her mouth too stunned to be sassy but her brain still firing on all signals.
"So, either you're telling the truth, that the original non-Fall Maiden died in the battle and you got the powers then, or you are lying, and you've had them for longer. Either way, you are one of the remaining three Maidens."
"…" Raven honestly didn't feel like saying anything at the moment. Anything she said condemned her and let Winter know she was telling the truth, and if she was being completely truthful, confessing that she was one of four powerful, literally mythical women now wasn't on her list of things to do today. In fact, the only list it was on was the mental list in her head that consisted of 'Specific and important things never to tell anyone'.
Defeated in her own mind, she sighed and confirmed her suspicion with a nod.
"Who knows?"
"Besides you? My daughter Yang definitely knows, so everyone else out there may have been informed, they may not. Yang's father, my ex, found out by accident one day, but only told me a few days ago that he knew. My tribe know, obviously, and Cinder knows… knew."
"What happened to Ms. Fall?"
"I want to say I killed her, let her fall to her death in the caves beneath Haven Academy. But I don't feel any different. Last time, when the previous Fall Maiden was killed, and Cinder took her powers, I felt that shift in power. I didn't know who had the powers, I just knew they had moved. I didn't feel anything like that this time, so it makes me think she isn't dead."
With a small grin, Winter mentioned to Raven, "So, you've been a Maiden for some time then?" Raven eyed the Specialist with curiosity. "Cinder Fall made a name for herself back at the Battle of Beacon, but her actions before that point are unknown, even to this day. Destroying Beacon's tower clearly put her on the map of many authorities. But I highly doubt that she would have attempted such a stunt without an aim in mind. So, I'm only assuming such, but my guess would be that she went to Beacon to acquire the Fall Maiden's powers, something you felt that day when she accomplished her goal." The Tribe Leader cursed the logical mindset Winter was in, figuring everything out with only a few details from herself. "Does anyone else know? Ozpin?"
"Gods, no. If he knew, he'd try to herd me into a safe place and lock me up to keep me out of harm's way. The less people who know, the safer I am."
"Rest assured then, your secret shall remain safe with me." Raven eyed Winter, sceptical of her claim.
"And why should I believe you? I am the leader of the Branwen Tribe, a group of bandits Jimmy and the rest of your council back up North want gone. You have ample opportunity to capture me, or use the information I gave you against me, why not take it?"
"Because you assisted me in my mission to take down Adam Taurus, even though it went against your own of killing him, you saved my life and you told me things that I had no right to initially know. The latter I really believe you must have at least some semblance of trust to tell me, I don't see you telling that to anyone who passes you on the street." The red eyed woman did have to admit, she told Winter a lot in the past hour, but really no more than what she told Yang and Winter's sister back at the bandit camp. "As such, I feel I owe a debt to you."
"I don't want to be owed anything by a Schnee," she replied harshly.
"But is that genuinely because I am a Schnee? Or is it for some other reason?"
Why was this woman getting to her so easily? Her years as a soldier clearly made her very good at this sort of thing, and Raven's weakened physical state probably hindered her mental state too - this sort of thing should be a cakewalk for the bandit, coming out the other side victorious.
Not today, it seemed.
"Your silence betrays you, Raven Branwen. I expected more from someone with a reputation such as yourself." She rose to her feet, arms behind her back once more as she made her way to the door. "I will retrieve the Arc boy, see if he's 'recharged' enough to finish patching you-"
"You remind me of someone." For once, it was Winter who didn't know what to say or do as she spun to look at the injured woman on the bed. "You… remind me of me. Strong, independent, not willing to let her life interfere with what she wants to do."
"So what if I am?"
"I've never really met another me before," Raven admitted, "that's why I kept stopping and remaining silent for seconds that dragged on too long - I've never been on the receiving end of that sort of person."
"And your point?"
"I accept the fact you feel you are indebted to me. I wish for us to try and do things together in the future beyond that debt being paid though. I must admit, it is nice to have someone I can understand for once." The Specialist cracked a genuine smile, a rare sight if you weren't either Weiss or Klein.
"That is something I, too, can get behind."
"But, if we are going to do that, I will need to bond with you." The soldier recoiled in disgust, pointing her sword at the bedridden woman.
"You will do no such thing!" she snarled. "I am not some sort of call girl you can have your way with just to 'bond with me'!" Raven's initial surprise turned into uproarious laughter. "What is so funny?!"
"I'm not that kind of person either, but that's not what I meant by bonding. It's about my semblance and how it works. I need to form a strong emotional bond with someone to be able to use those portals to go straight to them." Realizing the error of her ways, and feeling a blush growing on her cheeks, Winter sheathed her sword and straightened herself up.
"Yes. Well, perhaps that is important information to say before the fact, not after. I accept to partake in this bonding." A small smile graced Raven's lips in thanks. "Now, I will bring the boy back in here. Hopefully he would have calmed down by now. Just pretend to be asleep and he may just ignore you." Winter left the room, leaving the ravenette to stew alone with her thoughts.
Chapter Beta - DioRezi
New chapter is here!
Sorry this one took so much longer to upload than the ones before, but DioRezi has had some time with family and as such put this on low priority. What? We're people, and we're allowed to have holidays.
Also, I've done some slight ammendments to Chapter 1 of the story. Nothing major, but with RWBY Chibi showing us all of Klein's personalities, I've swapped the colour of his eyes when he's being Bashful to fit with canon (well, Chibi canon, at least)
As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated
DioRezi: What do you think of our story so far? I'm interested in everyone's opinions on it, guests included