Chapter 9: Answers Through a Legendary Tale

Kai: "Wait here. I'm going to talk to my professors for a few minutes."

Shangzu sighed & said: "Alright, but the more time that is wasted, the more people's lives are only going to get worse from here on out."

Kai: "Don't rush me."

Shangzu: "I'm telling you, we need to train now."

Kai: "My teachers aren't going to just simply let me leave with a murderous cousin. In addition, what makes you think I'm gonna go with you alone?"

Shangzu: "Look I know I have done some things in the past, but like I said they were for certain reasons and I'm only doing what's best for you now."

Kai stood up and walked towards the door and opened it without another word. Shangzu sighed and merely crossed his arms and closed his eyes and waited patiently.

Shangzu: 'If he's gonna help the both of us and Remnant itself, then Kai's gotta trust me with all this. I know what I've done, and I wanna repent, but I really need his trust right now. He has a power that no one else on this planet has, which can also be dangerous I guess. Still…'

In the other room…

Kai opened the door to the other room that looks into the interrogation room. Once he walked in, he noticed that all eyes were on him. The ones that looked the most concerned were his team and the R and Y of Team RWBY. Everyone else showed concern of course, but not to the degree of these five individuals.

Kai: "What?"

Yang: "Are you okay?"

Kai sighed & replied: "Yeah, why?"

Alex: "I mean you took that pretty well mate. I thought you would've punched a hole in his face or something."

Kai: "I am angry, but I'm a patient person when the time calls for it."

General Ironwood: "You're gonna have to do a lot of explaining young man."

Kai turned his attention to the General and looked him directly in the eyes with a heated glare.

Kai: "My business is that of my own. And for your information general, I don't have to report to you."

Ironwood: "I can have you arrested for this."

Kai: "Under what circumstances? What have I done wrong?"

Ironwood: "You're keeping valuable information that could determine the fate of humanity and the Faunus. Information that is valuable enough to end war and bring peace."

Kai: "Again arrest me for what? Being a traitor? So far, at least that I'm aware of, I haven't broken any laws established by this kingdom's government since the elimination of my clan general."

Ironwood: "Don't smart talk me assassin. I can have you eliminated like the rest of your pathetic clan."

In an instant, Kai punched General Ironwood squarely in the jaw and knocked him to the ground. The four soldiers also present in the room aimed their weapons at him.

Ironwood (while rubbing his jaw): "Now that I can have you court martialed for young man."

Kai: "No one speaks of my family and clan like that. Go ahead and arrest me. Even better, have your soldiers gun me down, because once you do, you won't be able to use my power to help with your so called plan for peace. Shangzu would also refuse to help you because I know my cousin, and he never trusts governments or military personel."

Ironwood stood up & said: "Then you're both fools."

Ozpin: "General that is enough."

Ironwood looked at Ozpin & asked: "You're going to defend this assassin?"

Ozpin: "Yes, he is my student, and I do agree with him. He has not broken any law, except for when he struck you, which I suggest Kai you don't do again. But yes, he is right. He has not broken any rules. I can't speak for his cousin however."

Kai: "My cousin's actions were that of his own. I understand the circumstances he was under, and I see why he chose the path he did, but there are obviously many things he still needs to tell me. I will discuss this with him in private. This is a matter of family."

Ironwood: "This is the fate of the world! This information can be very valuable. This isn't a game!"

Kai: "That's what you believe general, but I do see life as a game at times. You just don't understand my hatred general. It burns brightly, and I won't rest until justice has been served for my fallen clan. I will kill any of those who are responsible for this. Shangzu will die last because he is valuable, but I will kill every last (censored)."

Yang: "Kai…"

Pyrha: "Violence isn't the answer to this Kai."

Blake: "She's right, there are other means of restoring your clan's honor."

Alex: "Mate, don't walk down the path of darkness. You'll turn into something that you're not meant to be. Doesn't this go against your own personal beliefs?"

Kai: "No. My beliefs are different, and they've changed over the years since we've been working together on and off these past ten years. I've seen things worse than what we saw together as a team. When I worked individually, I learned many things about the world. I came to develop new ideals and thoughts about the world. There is only survival in this world. There are only truly ideals of anger, hate, corruption, greed, deception, and many other dark ideals."

Ruby: "But that's why we're here Kai, to make the world a better place. We're here to see that true peace is restored, hopefully by non-violent means."

Kai turned towards Ruby & said: "In a perfect world Ruby that may be a good idea, however this isn't a perfect world, and not everything will go toward that favor."

Ozpin: "You may not see it that way Mr. Tetsuya, but the world is full of mysterious things, and any thing is possible. Corruption can change. Darkness can be eliminated, and peace can exist. The hate you hold can extinguish too. You just have to look past the issue and move on and hope for a better future. A blade isn't always the answer to solving problems."

Kai: "But manipulation is something that cannot be avoided professor. That alone is a big enough start to keep the flames of evil burning and the ignition of more flames. This world's leaders are too corrupt, and a new order must be set in place within the kingdoms."

Mason: "So what are you going to do Kai? Are you gonna off with Shangzu to this place?"

Kai: "What made you think we're going somewhere?"

Mason: "From what I've interpreted from your conversation, it seems like he was meaning to have you leave not only Beacon, but the order as well."

Alex (deadpanned): "You know the Elders wouldn't be too particularly pleased with that."

Kai: "I know, but if it's a chance at ending war and the corruption in the world, then I will train and learn with and from him."

Pyrha: "You know that he's a Fallen Rider right?"

Kai became silent when he heard that from her. He knew that Dragon Riders existed in the past, but he didn't believe that there were riders out in the world today, let alone a 'Fallen Rider'. He turned his attention back to the glass pane that looked out into the interrogation room. Shangzu was casually leaning back in his chair with not a care in the world. Kai then looked back at Sanctum's former star student.

Kai: "So he's a rider huh? Let alone a Fallen Rider. Never saw that coming honestly."

Alex: "So what are you gonna do?"

Kai: "I'm not sure. I still need to talk to him. He seems to know a lot. This mysterious man that he mentioned may be the key to this whole ordeal."

Weiss: "Do you think that this man is a Dragon Rider, or a Fallen Rider?"

Kai: "I don't know, but he seems to have a lot of knowledge on the riders."

Yang: "So you're leaving?"

Kai: "I don't know yet Xiao Long, but I will if it requires me to."

Alex: "You can't go with him you know. It could be a trap."

Kai: "No, it's not. From what I could see in those eyes, it was nothing but remorse and regret. He is truly sorry for what he did. But this man he spoke of might be the key to all this."

Weiss: "Your cousin's story isn't even straight! In fact, I don't even know what he was saying!"

Ren: "I agree with Weiss here. Shangzu's story was messed up. His point on the man making him choose between two decisions doesn't make sense. Why on earth would he want your cousin to choose between you and the clan?"

Coco: "Yeah, the pieces don't exactly fit. In fact, the puzzle itself isn't the puzzle."

Jaune: "Huh?"

Pyrha: "Meaning Jaune that the puzzle given doesn't have the right pieces. You have a puzzle given to you, but instead you get some of its pieces and pieces from a completely different one."

Jaune: "Oh I get it."

Velvet: "Kai, before you leave, you need to get this story straightened out. You can't leave based on a whacked out tall tale like your cousin's. Even if he is your cousin, you need the proper facts."

Kai stayed silent after this comment. He then turned towards the glass pane and saw that Shangzu was doing pushups on the ground. He sighed and turned back to face Professor Ozpin.

Kai: "Professor."

Ozpin: "Yes Mr. Tetsuya."

Kai: "I thought we made an agreement not to use my surname in public."

Ozpin: "Did we? Seems I have forgotten."

Kai smirked & replied: "Funny. (Turning serious.) I would like to speak to Shangzu in private. I understand that it is your duty to make sure your students are safe, but if I'm to make a decision, as well as you to make any decision, I need to hear this tall tale of my cousin's in order to act any further."

Everyone was silent, except for the general.

Ironwood: "Ozpin, you can't be serious…"

Ozpin: "Permission granted Mr. Tetsuya."

Ironwood: "Unbelievable!"

The general stormed past everyone and ordered his troops to follow him out.

Goodwitch: "James!"

Ironwood: "Forget it Glyda! If he wants to play mind games with these children, then count me out. What you have before you is a murderer, a renegade! You're gonna put your trust into that man in that very room?! Unbelievable Ozpin!"

Ozpin: "I am willing to put my trust into Mr. Tetsuya because he can read people like a book, and he can do that very well. I trust his judgment because he was trained by the Creed and I know how reliable they can be."

Ironwood: "The Creed? You trust a bunch of lowlife assassins?"

Yang: "Hey!"

Alex: "Don't worry Yang, we are quite use to it."

Ozpin: "Good night general."

Ironwood scowled and slammed the door behind him.

Mason: "So now what?"

Kai turned back towards the door and began walking out of the room.

Yang: "Where are you going?"

Kai: "Back to Shangzu. We're going some place where we can talk in peace."

Kai opened the door and walked out, carefully closing the door.

Coco: "He sure is bent on speaking with that cousin of his."

Alex: "Deep down inside he cares about his cousin. At the same time however, he is at conflict with him because of what Shangzu has done."

Interrogation Room

The door opened to the interrogation room, and Shangzu lazily turned his head to see Kai leaning against the doorway. Shangzu sighed and slowly got up from the chair he was sitting in. Afterward, he walked over to Kai and looked him straight in the eye. Kai simply closed his eyes and turned around to walk out of the building. Shangzu shrugged and walked out of the interrogation room. He turned his head to the left to see the others from the other room preparing to leave as well. He caught sight of Ms. Goodwitch who was standing in the front of the group looking down at her tablet. He sighed and continued on following his younger cousin.

Moments later…

Kai and Shangzu entered his team's room. He told everyone not to follow them and let them speak in peace. Everyone else agreed and decided to go to Team NASA's building and wait there. Shangzu properly explained the whole story to Kai from the beginning of his life, to the part where he slaughtered their entire clan.

Kai: "You expect me to believe that? You said the man was working for the Templars."

Shangzu: "That was a cover up. I really don't know whom he's working for. I don't think he's really a Templar, nor do I think he's an assassin. It seemed to me however that the Templars didn't even know of his existence."

Kai: "So you're saying he's some sort of phantom or something."

Shangzu: "It appeared that way."

Kai: "Do you think he's a Dragon Rider?"

Shangzu: "He could be. He did tell me a few things about the Riders and how to use some of their special abilities."

Kai: "Do they use aura?"

Shangzu: "To an extent. They use another form of energy that is similar to aura. Aura apparently is the weaker state of this power."

Kai: "Did he give it a name?"

Shangzu: "Anima. A word from the ancient language called Latin, which means life."

Kai: "So like our soul?"

Shangzu: "In a way yes. He never gave me a full explanation of this power, but it is incredible."

Kai: "So you're a Fallen Rider?"

Shangzu: "Yes, but the term isn't really what many have made it out to be."

Kai: "Oh, is that so?"

Shangzu: "Of course! The actual meaning of a Fallen Rider is one who lost his/her powers, or anima, but still rides upon a flying reptile. Those who have turned against he Riders are Shadow Riders. Shadow Riders are those who rely on negative emotions and let the darkness consume them. Their anima is powerful, but it comes at a price."

Kai: "And what would that be?"

Shangzu: "Your very existence. It turns you into someone, or rather something, that you are not."

Kai: "Interesting… You said that you are a Fallen Rider. How is that possible?"

Shangzu sighed & replied: "The truth to be told is that I was a Dragon Rider. I started the training of being a Dragon Rider when I was about ten years old. A former Dragon Rider in hiding told me stories of the great Riders and agreed to train me in the ways of the Riders. I even have my own Dragon whom you've already met."

Kai: "Wait what?"

Shangzu: "The dragon you found in the cave, that's my dragon."

Kai: "Okay, didn't see that one coming."

Shangzu: "Look, I can teach you what I know, and then we can go and search for that man and ask him if he can tell us anything else. Perhaps he could even train us!"

Kai: "Shangzu, you said you're not even sure that this man is a former Rider."

Shangzu: "True, but he can help us by telling about the stories of the Riders."

Kai: "What about your former mentor?"

Shangzu looked down at the ground and clenched his fists.

Shangzu: "He was killed by the Templars. He tried to fend them off so I could perform 'the task', but they greatly outnumbered him, and without his dragon, he was overwhelmed."

Kai: "I'm sorry to hear that. Did he know of that other man's existence?"

Shangzu: "Perhaps. It seems that when I spoke to this man in private, he seemed to know a little bit about my former master."

Kai: "He must be a Rider then."

Shangzu: "Again, many people know the stories of the Dragon Riders, but that doesn't necessarily make him a Rider."

Kai: "But you said he uses magic right?"

Shangzu: "May be, I'm not sure, but even if he did, that doesn't mean that he's a Rider. There are magicians out there."

Kai: "Great, so there are wizards and witches out and about in this world too."

Shangzu: "Isn't that Professor of yours a witch?"

Kai: "Eh sort of. Ms. Goodwitch may appear that way, but she isn't really. She's a huntress."

Shangzu: "A beautiful woman such as her is a huntress?"

Kai: "Well what'd you expect?"

Shangzu: "I don't know, but a huntress?"

Kai: "Trust me cousin, she's got the heart of fighter and a true huntress. She is terrifying at times though, I will admit that."

Shangzu: "Is she single?"

Kai face palmed and sighed.

Shangzu: "What?"

Kai: "Your digging your own grave deeper than it should be already."

Shangzu: "So what do you say? Will you at least trust me?"

Kai leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. He then looked out of the window of his team's room and gazed at the shattered moon in the sky.

Kai: "There's more to this than you think cousin."

Shangzu: "I know, but if this world is to be protected from the Templars, then we need to definitely be prepared. I will face my sentence when the time comes, but for now, we need to be family once more."

Kai: "Why did that Templar want me alive? The main Templar knew of your growing gift. He had spies in the village that we didn't know about. The mysterious man was in the village during your development, and that's how he knew about it too. Either way, the Templar that wanted you alive wanted you alive anyway. The mysterious gentleman only told me the options I had in advance."

Kai: "So either way our clan was to be eliminated, and I was to be the sole survivor? This still doesn't make sense. Why I am that special? You have this gift too Shangzu."

Shangzu: "Yeah I know, I'm still baffled by the options, and when I look back at them, they weren't any different. The mysterious man however said that it was the only way to get you to use your full potential and awaken the sleeping warrior inside you. It still doesn't make sense to me, but I did it anyway hoping that this decision would actually be the right move. So far nothing has made sense."

Kai: "Indeed, you're tale doesn't make sense. We were doomed from the start, and yet you made matters worse. I am still angry with you, but I have forgiven you."

Shangzu smiled & said: "Thanks Kai."

Kai: "Yeah, whatever. (Looked back towards his cousin seriously.) The story doesn't make sense, but at the same time it does. I feel like there's a lot more than what you've just told me about. There's more to this story than your side of the story, which is total BS, but I can see somewhat where this was going."

Shangzu: "You do?"

Kai nodded & replied: "Someone wants to use my power. In fact, everyone wants to use my power and me. I know the Creed values me and keep a close eye on me. However, I think this mysterious man wants more than what he's let onto you cousin. This Templar too, I think that everyone from each respective party wants something out of me, and perhaps yourself too. Our clan was the most respected and even feared clan because we were known to have extraordinary power. With our clan gone, the world has changed for the worse. Grim are growing stronger due to the sins of man. The Templars are making a name for themselves across the kingdoms, and the Creed too is trying to establish itself in the social order. But this so-called Rider, he's the biggest mystery of them all."

Shangzu's expression turned serious.

Shangzu: "Now that I think about it, you're right. There's more to this story than meets the eye. I don't know what's going on entirely, but I do see your perspective quite clearly now. However, I still think that we should trust this 'Rider' more than any of the others. Assuming of course he's still alive and hasn't been captured."

Kai nodded and said: "There's one more thing I probably need to tell you about cousin. It's about a dream that I've been having now almost every night."

Shangzu: "Does it involve a girl?"

Kai sighed & replied:" Of course not."

Shangzu: "Then what is this dream of yours?"

Kai looked at him with a very serious expression. This face alone worried Shangzu of what he was going to say.

Kai: "Have you ever heard of Ragnorak?"

Shangzu: "Yes, why?"

Kai: "That is what I dream of. The end of time is near, and these dreams I believe are signs of Remnant's Impending Doom."

Shangzu: "So it's worse than what I thought. That's why they need you."

Kai: "Why do they need me?"

Shangzu: "You're the key to humanity's survival. You're the one to save Remnant from destruction. May the Creator, Monty Oum, himself bless us all."

Kai: "What are you talking about?"

Shangzu: "The Legend of the ancient culture of the Atlesians. Ragnorak, the end of time, is the legend that states divine beasts shall spring forth from the fires of hell and come forth upon the world and burn everything. But it is also said that the Creator himself would wage war upon these beasts with his army of angels at his side. It is said that the world will be in complete ruins, but a young man will save the earth and only a handful of people shall be chosen to stay alive and repopulate Remnant."

Kai: "You believe that I'm that young man."

Shangzu: "Yes Kai, I do."

Kai: "You could just be assuming things cousin."

Shangzu: "No, I'm absolutely sure of it, you're the one."

There was sudden silence between the two remaining clan members. Kai turned his attention back towards the window and looked back at the shattered moon that floats in the night sky. Shangzu also turned towards the shattered moon and sighed. There was a good two or three minutes of silence before someone knocked on the door. The two family members turned towards the door. Kai got up, but grabbed a knife that he kept under his pillow in the process. Shangzu sighed as he noticed that his cousin hasn't learned to relax after all these years. Kai reached the door and placed his other unoccupied hand on the knob, but he didn't open it.

Kai: "Who is it?

?: "It's Yang."

Kai: "What is it Xiao Long?"

Yang: "Hey! Quit being so formal. And we were wondering if you're done speaking with your cousin."

Kai sighed and opened the door. There stood at his doorway were Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and his own team along with Professor Ozpin and Ms. Goodwitch.

Ozpin: "I see things went well Mr. Tetsuya."

Kai: "Yes sir."

Ozpin: "Did you get what you wanted?"

Kai: "Yes. I got my answers through a legendary tale."