Jaune halted right outside the door to the strange hut; he looked to his team, pointed at the door; then held up five fingers.
They nodded and took up positions flanking the door; Jaune slowly ticked down his fingers and finally made a fist before slamming down the door; letting out his war scream.
Which cut off abruptly as he fell down a tunnel that sloped downward in the center of the room. He tumbled head over heels; bouncing along the rough dirt, before finally slowing to a stop. He lay there for a few moments; blinking past the dust caused by his journey down.
"Jaune!" He was vaguely aware as Pyrrha gracefully slid down to a stop next to him; "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, fine." he said; wincing slightly as he got back on his feet. He looked up to see Nora gleefully sliding down the slope; Ren followed calmly with the champion in tow.
Pyrrha frowned and she pointed behind him; Jaune turned to see the tunnel stretched as far as he could see. He let out a deep breath; "Alright then, let's go see where it leads." he looked to the others, "Unless anybody else has a better idea?" he asked. They were silent as Jaune led them forward, following the twisting tunnel deeper into the earth.
They had walked for about half an hour when they came across three branching paths; the team halted; staring at the wooden signs that had been driven into the dirt in front of them.
"I can't honestly make heads or tails of what these could mean…" Pyrrha said uncertainly. She stepped forward to more closely inspect a sign that had a crude hook painted on it.
"Wait!" shouted Jaune; Pyrrha halted and turned to him. Jaune swallowed nervously; aware that everyone's gaze had locked onto him. "That's uh… basically a 'don't go here' sign…" As if to accentuate his point; a deep rumbling roar echoed throughout the cavern from the tunnel.
"Right… not that way." Ren stated, he turned to Jaune, "So fearless leader… where to then?"
Jaune looked between the final two signs; one had the picture of a strange shadowy being and the other an egg with what appeared to be a sword. "Uhhh…", Jaune looked back and forth between the two signs. Finally he pointed at the one with the being, "Okay, so I know this sounds crazy; but I'm getting a good feeling from this one."
His companions looked skeptically at the ominous painting.
"All right," Pyrrha said, forced cheer in her voice, "After all, how bad could it be?"
She wilted visibly as everyone turned to stare at her.
"Let's find out," Ren muttered and he stepped into the tunnel and the rest of the team silently filed in behind him.
Ruby picked her way carefully through the forest; despite her earlier bravado, she was tense, her heart leaping at every little sound. Whatever the murderous monsters that had invaded Remnant had found so fearsome that they wouldn't even venture into its territories had to be terrifying.
Images of huge dragons, tentacled beings, and all other sorts of monstrosities flashed across her mind's eye. She gripped her scythe tight as they approached the entrance to another clearing. She nearly let out a scream when Blake suddenly grabbed her shoulder.
"Ruby…" she said and she pointed at a small stone that was off to the side of the path.
Ruby looked closer and frowned slightly, "Is there something written on that stone?"
Yang leaned forward and nodded, "Yeah, I think so." she walked through the underbrush and bent over to examine it. After a while she turned and waved to Ruby and Blake, "It's hers!" Ruby dashed over beside her half-sister as she read the inscription aloud.
"'Here lies a man who, though crude in manner and speech, was nevertheless a great warrior; he saved my life and I shall carry out his mission and use all that he has taught me. Here I leave Myrtenaster behind, and instead take up Blackhand Doomsaw; in order to exact vengeance upon those that cut him down. He shall at least have chicken'?" Yang finished, her brows furrowed in confusion.
Blake walked behind the stone and bent down; when she rose, she held Weiss' weapon in one hand… and what appeared to be a bucket of stale fried chicken in the other.
"Ooookkkaayyy." Ruby said, an eyebrow raised; then she shook herself, "Guys! Don't you know what this means? Weiss is alive!" she yelled, "C'mon, she can't be far!" she dashed through the brush and into the clearing, then stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the sight before her.
Just like at the entrance, there were murlocs in piles, however this time they were all grouped around a single location, and there, lying in shattered pieces… were eggs; there had to be hundreds. The murlocs were piled around them; marking the sites of doomed last stands.
"By Mother Moon…" Maiev whispered, her eyes wide, she walked up to one of the shattered eggs and knelt beside it. "We've always suspected, but… to my knowledge, no one has ever seen an actual murloc egg and lived to tell the tale… they protect them fiercely."
"No joke." Yang remarked as her gaze swept around the clearing, "Why doesn't this place smell?" she asked.
Maiev pointed at the egg, "From what we have gathered; murloc eggs resemble traditional eggs in little other than appearance. They are more of a mystical construct than they are a biological one. We know little about the process, but we believe that murlocs will essentially keep emerging from the eggs until they are destroyed." she looked around the clearing then pointed at a small stone structure. "It appears as though they created a portal here, there may have been a malfunction with the initial portal that deposited the eggs here. They likely constructed that in order to transport them to a safer location. They would have killed anything within a few miles in order to keep these safe; your friend and the fallen warrior must have wandered too close."
"How likely is it that they were the reason that this place was marked as dangerous?" Blake asked.
Maiev considered the destruction around them, then nodded sharply, "It is highly possible; they likely would have sent an entire Flipper to protect these; the loss of so many warriors would have made them cautious at the very least."
"We'll keep looking then," declared Ruby as she walked back over to the stone; she placed her hand on it, "Whoever you were, thank you for helping Weiss." she whispered, "I only wish that I could have thanked you in person."
She shouldered her scythe and turned back to her team, her eyes bright with determination, "Team RWBY! Move out!"
Team JNPR walked for a few minutes more down the tunnel, until they saw a plain wooden door ahead. Jaune looked to his team and nodded sharply, he turned back to the door; he drew back his shoulder and drove it into the wood, attempting to smash it down. He blinked in shock as he simply bounced backward; slamming into the ground and leaving a small divot. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his head; he looked up to see Pyrrha offering him a hand.
"You just haven't had a lot of luck with doors today, Jaune." she remarked as she pulled him to his feet. Jaune looked at the door just in time to see Nora's hammer fly at his face, he fell backward just in time to avoid it decapitating him. He shot back up, his eyes wide, Nora waved at him with a sheepish grin on her face.
"So uh…. I decided to try to take down the door with my hammer and it may have just kinda… bounced off." she walked over to retrieve it. The team stared at the wooden door, which stood unfazed.
"So… any ideas?" Pyrrha asked finally.
"Ooo… ooo… let me smack it with my hammer again!" Nora said, raising her hand.
"I don't want to have to play 'dodge the hammer' again…" Jaune groused.
Nora rolled her eyes, "It won't happen again… promise!"
Ren rolled his eyes, walked up to the door and knocked twice. After a short pause, the door swung silently open; he looked at the others, a single eyebrow raised.
"Well…. I guess that works." Pyrrha said, her gaze fixed suspiciously on the open doorway.
Jaune let out a slow breath as he followed Ren and Pyrrha through the doorway. He blinked at the sudden light and when his vision recovered, his jaw dropped open.
The room was massive, the ceiling extending into a massive dome far above their heads; around the room were massive pits in the floor that were filled to the brim with bright colorful objects of a myriad of colors.
A voice echoed throughout the room, "If you wouldn't mind, stand still for a few moments while I adjust the wards… or else you're liable to spread your innards across the eggs."
Jaune froze in place, one foot still slightly raised.
"Well you can put your foot down at least, Deep Mother knows all that will happen is that you'll topple over and then where will we be hmm?"
Jaune let his foot down with a sigh of relief and his gaze flickered around the room for the source of the voice. A slight, robed figure stepped into view, a face that Jaune might have described as old and kindly had it not been attached to a creature whose fellows had been ravaging his world for the past few weeks looked up at them.
The figure waved a gnarled wooden staff and murmured some words under his breath. Jaune felt a great weight lift off his shoulders that he hadn't even noticed had been there; as though a giant had lifted its gaze off of him. He let out a deep breath and watched as the creature stepped forward a few steps, before stopping to lean on his staff; looking over them with large eyes.
"I am Morgl, First Shaman of the Deep," he bowed slightly to them, "I already know who you are, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren…" he nodded to each of the members of Team JNPR in term. Finally his gaze rest on the champion and his lips curled slightly, "YoloSwaglordxXx." His gaze turned back to Jaune, "We don't have much time, and we have much to discuss, please." he waved his staff and the earth around them shifted and groaned; Jaune watched in shock as forms began to rise out of the ground. The rock twisted and churned before solidifying into crude chairs; Morgl sat back with a sigh and gestured for them to do the same. Jaune turned his gaze to Pyrrha, who shrugged and sat down; Jaune followed her lead and stared at the murloc, waiting for him to speak.
"How much do you know about my kind?" Morgl asked.
Jaune and Pyrrha exchanged a glance, "We know that you invaded our world and attacked us without provocation." Pyrrha replied.
Morgl grunted, "Fair enough." he leaned back and let out a sigh, "I won't make excuses for my kind; should you wish to kill me when I am done; I will accept that, however I will warn you that I have placed a protection over the eggs; should you attempt to do them harm, you will die." his gaze pierced into Jaune's, and the Hunter shivered under its intensity, the murloc continued.
"You would have been told by Illidan that we repelled a Burning Legion invasion of our world." he said, "This is accurate, though, it is unlikely that he is aware of the cost. You see, every world has… a... core." His gaze dropped to the floor, "They… destroyed… our core. Without it, we will wither; becoming shadows of our former selves." he gestured to the champion. "He will have seen the result of this; no Ascension, just savages that are barely better than mindless beasts. To avoid this fate; the knight caste proposed a solution… and it was passed when the engineering caste joined with them in the vote."
He lifted his gaze back to the team, his eyes pained, "Essentially, we would steal another world's core; this is just as difficult as you would think. So we searched for years; looking for a relatively new and easily modified core." he nodded to them, "Yours suited our purposes; so we launched our invasion." his gaze dropped, "However… there is a marked difference in discussing the fate of faceless beings half a universe away; and watching your kinsfolk slaughter everyone in their path." he shook his head, his face bitter, "What they have done is no different than the accursed demons." he murmured; he lifted his gaze upward, and a fire burned in his eyes.
"You have little reason to trust me," he admitted, "but I offer you a way to save both of our peoples. I have examined your world and it is possible to duplicate your core; creating two separate realities where each of us could exist in peace."
Jaune looked to Pyrrha, who to his relief, seemed to be understanding what the murloc was saying; her face thoughtful. Finally she nodded, and stood up; "We have to tell Qrow and the others about this; then we can take you to Ozpin."
Morgl shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid that this… Qrow… is indisposed," he pulled a small bowl out from his robes and set it down on the floor, he waved a hand and a ghostly image appeared in the air before them.
Qrow frowned as he examined the fallen murloc before him; the damn thing had come screaming out of the sky at him; he had barely been able to dodge out of the way in time. He kicked at it; frowning as he looked over the creature's strange armor. He let out a low curse; this was probably one of the reasons why Vale's lines had fallen so far back. He looked out over the valley below, where Vale and their Atlesian allies had formed a defensive line. Gunfire and explosives fired out in a constant roar; lights and flashes flared where Hunters and Huntresses unleashed their Semblances upon the foe, it was an impressive sight.
It also wasn't going to be enough.
Everywhere he looked, he saw the creatures threatening to overwhelm the lines; and soon he heard the signal that he knew had been given many times before. There was a sudden burst of gunfire and artillery roared; pushing the murlocs back in a sweep; then the forces turn and ran; falling back to a position a few klicks behind them.
Qrow ground his teeth as he watched the stragglers being overwhelmed, the murlocs swarming over them and stabbing viciously with their crude weaponry. They were giving it all they had; but it just wasn't enough; the enemies' numbers were endless.
He heard a sound behind him and he whirled around, but relaxed when he saw Velvet step out from the shadows.
"Damn girl, you gave me a fright." he said as he sheathed his sword. She said nothing but stepped up beside him to look into the valley, where the battle began raging once more. Qrow frowned at her; the girl had… changed… since the events of the past few weeks. What's more; every night she and Illidan stayed up late into the night; talking about various things. Qrow was worried for her; while the night elf had helped them greatly, he didn't trust him.
He cleared his throat as he looked over the battle, "It's not looking good." he remarked.
She nodded slowly, "Qrow… this… Fragment… do you really think Ozpin knows anything about it?"
Qrow looked at her sharply, then carefully checked over his shoulder; when he was satisfied that he didn't see anyone, he turned back to her.
"Yeah, Ozpin has all kinds of stuff in the vault under the school. If it's not in there; he probably at least knows where it is."
Velvet smiled, "Thank you Qrow," she paused, "Qrow can I ask you something?"
Qrow slowly put his hand to his sword, something in the Faunas girl's tone had alarm bells ringing in his head, "Yeah." he said as casually as he could muster.
"You know that we can't stop them, that… drastic measures… need to be taken. Even if we do win here; the Burning Legion will come… Illidan has told us as much."
Qrow watched her carefully, "Velvet… just what is it that you're planning?"
Velvet turned to him, saw his hand on the hilt of his sword and sighed, "I knew you wouldn't understand," she murmured.
Jaune watched in shock as Velvet attacked Qrow viciously; blows raining down on him with blinding speed. Suddenly, Illidan appeared behind him and put something on the Hunter's neck. Qrow dropped to the ground, writhing; before falling still; he stood to his feet, but there was something… off about his movements… too mechanical.
Morgl waved a hand sadly and the image disappeared; "I'm afraid that Illidan has decided that he wishes to re-create this world in his own image." he murmured, "No doubt he wishes to create his own army, now that he's discovered that he can." he nodded to them. "Not all races can undergo such transformations and survive; the fact that none of you perished in the ritual no doubt is what prompted him to make his move."
"But why would Velvet… I mean… she would never." Jaune protested weakly; Pyrrha laid her hand on top of his, cutting him off.
"She's not been the same since her team's death Jaune," she said quietly, "I'm sorry, I should have seen it; stopped Ilidan's influence."
"Not your fault," Ren grunted, "none of us could have predicted… this."
Morgl leaned back in his chair, "They are lost to us," he confirmed, "however, I believe that you may know these people." he waved a hand an image appeared once more, this time of Ruby and her team, who were accompanied by a woman in strange armor.
"It's Ruby! They're okay!" yelled Nora, who gleefully stood up and hugged Ren fiercely, who made strangled protests.
Jaune frowned, "Where's Weiss?" he asked anxiously, looking up to Morgl, who shrugged.
"I can tell you that she is alive, however, little else. Great magic hides her; magic similar to one we called simply, 'The Destroyer'; however, from what I have gathered, he was slain in a great battle on the western side of the forest."
Morgl stood up from his earthen chair, "Should you accept my offer, I will bring you to them, then we must go to this… Ozpin, that was spoken of. We must reach your core before Illidan or my kin can reach it." he held out a wizened hand. "Are we agreed?" he asked.
Jaune turned to Pyrrha, who nodded, "Alright then." Jaune took the creature's hand and clasped it firmly.
"Wait!" the champion roared, "I need the guy's head noob, we got to fight him or else I don't get the reward!"
Morgl frowned and turned to him, "Can I instead offer you my staff? I will allow you to inspect it first."
The champion looked skeptical, but took the staff, when he did, his eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. "Wow! This is a legendary! Look at the item level! Hell yeah I'll take it!" He reached into his robes and pulled out the paper that Illidan had given him and tore it in half, letting the pieces fall to the ground. Morgl nodded to him, smiling slightly, "Very well… it is yours then."
The champion lifted up the staff triumphantly, and suddenly golden letters appeared above his head, Jaune had just enough time to read them before the champion disappeared into thin air.
'YoloSwaglordxXx has earned the achievement: Wielder: Waterfury: Blessed Staff of the Waterseeker!'
Jaune looked to Pyrrha, who shrugged, "Personally I'm kinda glad he's gone… he was really weird."
Jaune nodded in agreement, then turned to Morgl, who was waiting patiently, "Alright, take us to them."
Morgl nodded, "All right then, hold on tight." he waved his hand and the air hummed with energy. There was a slight pop and Team JNPR and the murloc disappeared.
Illidan looked up sharply and he bared his teeth in a snarl; Velvet looked at him questioningly.
"That accursed champion abandoned that quest… which means either that they failed… or that Morgl was able to convince them to join them." he waved his hand, forestalling Velvet's questions. "It matters not; we shall seize the Fragment long before they arrive; onward!"
The two beat their massive wings hard, urging themselves on to greater speeds; Qrow hung limply from the night elf's grasp; his eyes blank as he stared off into the distance and the three figures flew toward the rapidly approaching form of Beacon Academy.
Cinder emerged from the green swirling vortex, coughing and spluttering as she fell to her knees. Mul'dan stepped forward beside her, his eyes bemused as he watched her suffering; finally he leaned forward and placed a single finger upon her back and whispered something under his breath. Cinder let out a wheeze and desperately gasped for air; sucking in huge breaths at a time. Finally she recovered and stood up; brushing the dirt off her leggings and glaring at the murloc; who looked back at her with wide, innocent eyes.
"You said nothing about not breathing in the smog." she growled.
Mul'dan coughed slightly, "I apologize, it must have slipped my mind." he looked around at their darkened surroundings; then lifted up his staff; which began to emit a foul, green light.
They were in a large vault room; pillars spiralled gracefully from the marbled floor, to the ceiling high above their heads. Along the walls were sealed containers that stretched in rows.
"Hmmm… there is great power in this place." Mul'dan murmured as he shuffled forward.
"As I told you, Ozpin has gathered many objects of power within this place, thinking them safe." Cinder replied as her gaze wandered over the room; finally resting on alarge pair of black steel doors. She pointed them out to Mul'dan, "Do you think that might be what we're looking for?" she asked him.
The murloc frowned and walked up to the doors; he lowered his staff and there was a faint rumbling as the staff's glow brightened to the point that Cinder was forced to avert her gaze. There was a cry of triumph from the creature and he leaned forward; the rumbling redoubling in strength.
"Yes… YES! It is HERE!" the warlock cackled madly and Cinder could hear the shriek of metal tearing and twisting. Then suddenly a huge boom echoed throughout the room and the warlock flew back from the door. He slid along the ground; coming to a halt, he shakily rose to his feet; his eyes blazing with fury.
Cinder followed his gaze and her eyes widened as she saw figures silhouetted in the door frame. She felt a shiver go down her spine as she saw Ozpin step forward.
"So… this would be this… Ozpin… you spoke off?" Mul'dan said, leering as Ilidan, Qrow, and Velvet stepped forward as well. The murloc chuckled; and a large, green vortex began swirling to life behind him.
"That would be him, yes." Cinder said; and she thrust her hand behind her; a red vortex began forming there and she grinned as she saw Mul'dan give a start at the sight.
"You shall not step beyond those doors." Ozpin stated with cold certainty, as he flicked his gaze between the two of them. The three demon hunters behind him pulled out their weapons and stepped out to his sides; dropping into combat stances.
"Well then… mortal." Mul'dan sneered, "Let us see how you fare against the power of the Burning Legion!" Giant forms began manifesting from the portal and soon, several of the Grimmdar had stepped forward. Suddenly, the green vortex shuddered and collapsed, fraying into nothing; an unfortunate Grimmdar that had been halfway through gave out a pitiable howl and it collapsed to the ground; its torso writhing obscenely before finally melting away into nothing.
Cinder's eyes snapped to Illidan, who had an outstretched hand pointed at the warlock, a green, nebulous light oozing around it. Cinder smiled and with an effort of will began to call her own pets to join the fray; soon several of her own enhanced Grimm stood behind her. She felt a pressure form in her mind and saw that the night elf had his hand pointed at her now; and smiled as she saw a fierce frown cross his face.
Finally the pressure mounted to the point where her head felt like it was about to split open and she released her hold on the portal; letting it slip away into nothingness.
"What sort of foul sorcery is that?" Illidan growled.
Cinder shrugged, "What can I say? I'm a quick learner." she grinned savagely as she summoned sickly red fire to her hands.
For a time, the two sides stood there; staring at each other; daring the other to make the first move.
Then suddenly Mul'dan bent over and coughed; and all hell broke loose.
"My Heart has joined the Thousand!" Velvet screamed, as she leapt at the warlock; who suddenly stood fully upright with a gleam in his eyes and fired off a glob of oozing green energy at the demon huntress.
"You'll never get my ships!" Ozpin yelled as he charged at Cinder.
"Why is there a sudden shortage of alcoholic beverages?" inquired Qrow politely as he advanced forward against the Grimm.
Illidan rushed forward; wings extended behind him as he flew at the Grimmdar; his mouth opened and let loose a deafening roar;
"YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!"
The night elf stopped dead in his tracks, his arms falling limply by his sides "whoops." he said, a sheepish expression on his face.