Hello hello and welcome back
This is the start of a whole new adventure for our OC heroines.
Time for my little rant about chapter 11 of volume three. I'm glad we got to Velvet's weapon but that was quickly overshadowed by Weiss's summoning. And i had a little nerd\fangasm. I'd also like to say a quick prayer to Roman since he did infact die (Most likely) He will always be my favorite villian in the show. Also R.I.P Yang's arm, it happened so fast. Also let's just all agree that Adam is a badass and a creep.
Nothing else worthy to note, on to the longest chapter i've written so far.
Flame found himself running through the empty halls of a building. The screams of a woman ripped through the empty hallways echoing off the walls. He ran harder towards the sound.
When he got to the source of the sound, it was behind a locked door. He then stepped next to it and looked through a window.
Inside was a pale woman dressed in all white being tortured. She sat in a chair with her arms and feet bound to it. Suddenly blue electricity ripped through her as she scream in pain. He pounded on the glass in a fit of rage. The man by the switch to the chair smirked at Flame as he flipped the switch to maximum.
The girl screamed in unbearable pain as her aura took the charge. She spasmed in erratic motions. The electricity stopped as suddenly as it began. The girl huffed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her head hung down, tears falling into her lap.
The man walked up the girl rather angrily and pulled her out of the chair. The restraints snapping painfully, ripping her arms and legs back. He yelled something at her then threw her at a shelf in the room. She hit the shelf breaking it and having its contents clatter to the floor.
The man then walked over to her and pulled her up by her throat. She struggled with breathing as the man yelled at her once more. He then unsheathed his sword. The girl closed her eyes and yet more tears streamed down them. He then plunged his sword into the girl's heart.
Her eyes stayed closed as her mouth turned into a painful expression. The man pulled his sword out as he let go of the girl. She dropped to her knees.
Flame drew on his semblance and punched the glass of the window breaking it and the wall. He jumped into the room, it suddenly changed to a snowy clearing with the small white flakes falling delicately on the ground.
Flame didn't pay attention to that as he charged at the man. Another man ran at Flame trying to tackling him, but Flame shot him and he fell to the ground. The man who stabbed Weiss tried to swing at Flame and did so very clumsy. He ducked under the swing and quickly decapitated the man.
Flame went next to the girl as she was still on her knees. "This is what happens when you follow his plans." She whispered as she fell over and became one with the snow. He cried over the fallen girl, but couldn't understand why. He's never met the girl and shouldn't be crying over her.
The world around him suddenly began to disappear. And he felt himself being pushed around and a faint voice calling his name.
"Flame!" Lindsay said shaking him rather hard. He slowly began to stir, as his body was full of sweat. "W-why are you shaking me?" He asked sleepily.
Lindsay stepped back now that he was awake. "You were having quite a nightmare, you were screaming terribly loud and it looked painful. Then mumbling something about following someone's plans."
"We're flying over the town now." The pilot called out to the two teens. The pilot opened the door facing the town for the teens to look out of.
The architecture of the town was surprisingly like Vale's being an Athleshian town and all. The town's itself was on the smaller side. To the North, East and West of the town, trees blanketed the land for as long as the eye could see. To the South, the oceans of Remnant lapped at the shoreline.
Flame could see many black dots in the town. He got the full grasp of how many Grimm there were.
The snow stricken trees became closer and closer to the teen. As the Bullhead descended towards a small clearing, Flame began to see many tents and small fires through the snow and trees.
When the Bullhead landed it kicked up the snow. However, it didn't deter three individuals from approaching the Bullhead. When the engines turned off and the snow stopped kicking, the doors off the Bullhead opened, Flame and Lindsay stepped out to be greeted by the three.
"I'm so glad you came to help us." The man in the middle said.
"Mind me asking, I didn't get too much knowledge on this mission. What is your name?" Flame asked.
"Crimson, Crimson Dale." The man said. He had a black top hat upon his crimson hair that fell over his right eye. He had a black tie on that fell down his black undershirt. His overcoat was crimson colored while the cuffs were black. The coat fell down to his lower thigh over his tan pants. The pants went down into his knee high black boots.
"And who are your friends?" Lindsay asked.
"These are my bodyguards. I'm not much of a fighter so I need some protection against the Grimm." Crimson stated. "And who, might I add, are your friends?" He asked pointing towards the Bullhead.
Flame and Lindsay turned to the Bullhead to see their pilots, but they were something much more. The pilots were Mark and Elizabeth.
"What in God's name are you two doing here?!" Flame asked walking towards them.
"We're a team and teams stick together." Mark said unfazed by Flame's anger.
"I should send you back to Beacon for disobeying a direct order from your team leader and professor!" Flame said making Elisabeth step back. "But we could use all the help we can get." Flame said with a smile.
Elizabeth punched Flame. "How could you! You got me scared for what a laugh?"
"C'mon now, we have a mission to do don't we." Flame said turning back to Crimson. "Crimson let me see what we're dealing with." Flame said walking with Crimson to the tents of the townies.
"Centenary." Crimson said walking with Flame, while the rest of FLME followed close behind. "Right now we have serious problems here. We're slowly running out of food and warm clothes. Many of us are dying every day and there's nothing we can do."
"How many able bodied fighting men and woman do you have?" Flame asked.
"I can't put a number on it, but I'd say maybe around 3,000." Crimson responded.
"Ok, I want all of them to stay. All children, elderly and those who aren't battle ready to leave and go to the nearest town." Flame said now passing a few townspeople. Many of them were sick and dying in the frigid cold.
"And what of the other's those staying, what do you expect them to do?" Crimson asked.
"Get them any weapon you can find and get them ready. We'll assault the town in the morning." Flame said. Crimson stopped in his tracks and looked at Flame with an angered expression.
"You want us to fight against the Grimm!? Are you mad?"
Flame calmly turned towards Crimson. "This is your town after all. If you want it cleared, then you'll clear it. If not I'll take my leave along with my team."
Crimson tried to come up with a rebuttal but sighed and turned towards his bodyguards. "Get all those unfit for combat out of here and gather any weapons you can find." The guards nodded and went off to do their jobs. Crimson turned back to the teens. "Come and follow me, I'll take you to your sleeping quarters."
They walked through the forest up to their quarters which was on a hill. As they walked they became the center of attention of those they passed. Some whispered to others, some just stared in awe at seeing Hunters and Huntresses, and others yet calling out to them. Flame smiled and called back to those, more often than not making fun of them. Those made fun of often got made fun of by their surrounding peer's.
Lindsay became quite flustered at having everyone's eyes on her. She started at Flame, at how he seemed to adjust to every situation in the most plausible way. Earlier in day he was quite angry at Weiss and now he's sweet talking his way through crowds. He was even angry and distraught when he woke from his nightmare only minutes ago. Her thoughts were broken when they reached the top of the hill.
On top of the hill there was a wooden house and on top of said house was the Flag of Atlas. The cabin itself wasn't something to marvel at. It was a wooden cabin with glass windows on each corner. From outside it was obvious that the cabin was one room.
"This is your home for tonight as well as mine." Crimson stated. He opened the door into cabin and the four teens stepped in. The cabin interior has a small kitchen in the far left of it with multiple beds on the other side. The rest of the cabin was decked with furniture and such.
"Crimson." Flame said turning towards the man. "If you would can you please bring up some of the fighting men. Preferably those who can inspire the people around them and those that people like."
Crimson sighed. "As you wish." He opened the door and left.
Lindsay quickly went over to one of the unoccupied beds and jumped onto it. Mark managed to get a radio working and tuned to an Athleshian radio station. Elizabeth pulled out a small notebook and pen and sat next to a window.
"Whatcha got there?" Flame asked walking over to Elizabeth.
She turned her head towards him and smiled. "Drawing book, it's how I like to pass the time." she stated in a soft voice.
"Do you do it often?" Flame asked taking a seat next to her and looking out the window.
"Not much since I came to Beacon, but any chance I get I like to." Elizabeth responded.
The two were silent for a while with Elizabeth drawing the soft descent of the flakes and the snow all over the trees. Flame looked at the spectacle, this helped him clear his mind to more important matters at hand.
"Do you think it's fair?" He asked suddenly making Elizabeth mess up.
"Do I think what's fair?" She asked setting her pen down.
"The fact that we get to sleep in this cabin and the rest of the town folk have to sleep out in the blistering cold." Flame states.
"I guess you're right" Elizabeth states. "Many of them won't make it back to their families after tomorrow."
"It's the price they pay for getting there town back." Flame stated glumly.
Now it was Elizabeth's turn to be confused. "What do you mean?"
"They're going to fight to get there town back and many of them won't live to see the sun set. That's how war goes." Flame states.
The door then opened, allowing a gust of cold wind sweep in. Crimson stepped in flanked by a man and woman. The man had dark brown hair and brown eyes. The woman had dark red hair and green eyes. They both were dressed in whatever could keep them warm.
"Alright." Flame said getting to his feet. "It's time we talk about tomorrow." The rest of his team stopped what they were doing and came over to the small table the others were crowded around. On the table was a map of the entire town and parts of surrounding area.
"Here." Flame said pointing to the center of the side of the town they were on. "Here is where we make out assault. We're going to make one massive charge straight at the Grimm."
"This is suicidal!" The woman stated.
"But it has a chance to work." The man stated matter-of-factly.
"Right, you two," Flame said gesturing to the man and woman. "Will help lead the town folk along with the rest of my team and Crimson."
"I can't help sir, I don't know who to fight." Crimson stated.
"But that flag on top of this cabin, that is your weapon." Flame said.
"How did you know?" Crimson hissed.
Flame smirked. "I didn't but now I know."
Crimson cursed under his breath but smirk at Flame. "I'm surprised, you have a way with words that most people your age don't have."
"Back to the matter at hand. How much firepower do we have?"
"From what we've managed to salvage, we should have enough for about half of the people." The man said.
"Give them to the most skilled fights, the rest of them can find whatever and follow them in." Flame said.
"Right, we hit them at noon tomorrow." Crimson said. Everyone in the cabin nodded.
"I think I can say this meeting is over." Flame said.
"See you two tomorrow." Crimson said as the man and woman left the cabin.
The rest of his team began to get ready for tomorrow. Crimson himself began to put on his combat gear and such for tomorrow's fight. "We have all morning tomorrow to prepare for combat, what we need right now is rest." Flame states.
The three nodded at Flame, and began to get ready for sleep. They all climbed into bed with their combat gear equipped. It wasn't long until they were asleep.
"What's it like being leader, fun I bet." Crimson said.
"It's a lot harder than you think. The stress of leading them is plenty for me." Flame said.
"But isn't it fun. I mean having them do what you want?" Crimson asked.
"It's fun in its own right, but I never overdo it with what I ask of them." Flame replied.
"What about battles? How do you deal with leading them in battle?"
"We haven't had a test in battle yet. But the stress is always there even when I'm not in combat. One wrong move, one wrong order and I could lose one of them. It would be all my fault." Flame stated.
"I thought being a leader would kind of been fun, but from what you say it isn't." Crimson said.
"Whatever happened to your team?" Flame asked. "You're a huntsman so you must've had a team, what were they like?"
Crimson sighed, apparently Flame hit a nerve. "I'm sorry if that's a sensitive topic." Flame said.
"No it's fine, it just brings back painful memories." Crimson said. "I loved them to death but I wasn't strong enough to save them."
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to them?"
"The Grimm, those damn foul beasts don't know when to stop." Crimson said, looking out of the window. "It was our final mission for Beacon, we would return home and graduate. It was supposed to be a simple clear out mission, Beowulf's and Ursa only." He gripped the windowsill as the window began to shake. "Ozpin lied! They were everything you imagine, Nevermore, Taijiitu, Griffons, and even some Goliaths."
Flame put a tentative hand on Crimsons shoulders trying to calm him down. "I should've never asked."
Crimson turned round and started into Flame's eyes. His were thick with anger. "The others, my teammates, the ones I'd bonded with over our three years together as a team. Killed! All killed within moments of each other! My leader was the last one to die and he told me to run, to tell their families how they went out. Then a claws from the Beowulfs came through his stomach as he ceased to be."
"Crimson you can stop, I can see the hurt in your eyes." Flame said, taking a look at his teammates to make sure they were, in fact, still sleeping.
"And I ran! I ran like the coward I am. I hid my past and never went back to Beacon, for all they're concerned I'm dead. I hid my damn weapon in a flag! I'm just a joke." Crimson yelled.
"You're not a joke!" Flame yelled, managing to stop Crimson. "It takes a lot of courage to recognize a doomed situation."
"It's called cowardice!" He said.
"It's called bravery, did you ever tell the families of your teammates? You're family? Do they know you're alive or do they think you're dead?"
Crimson looked down at his feet and muttered out, "No, they all think I'm dead.
"When we leave here to go back to Beacon you're coming with us." Flame stated. Crimson tried to rebuttal but was silenced by Flame. "You have no choice in the matter, you're going with us even if I have to fight you the whole way." Flame yawned. "Now, get some sleep. We have a long bloody day ahead of us."
Crimson nodded and got into his bed. Flame did the same and listened to gentle breaths of his teammates. He sighed, knowing what'll happen tomorrow won't be the best decisions he's ever made and could easily kill him.
Eventually he fell into a dark slumber.
Flame found himself in a room with his former boss. The room had one light on as Weiss was sitting on the other side of a table, arms bound to the table. Her face had tears streaming down it. Her rapier was held by Jay, pointed straight at her.
"Tell us what we want and won't hurt you." Jay said.
"I have nothing to say." Weiss tried to say bravely, but her voice came out as a sad whisper.
"I beg to differ." Jay said. "You know exactly what we want so don't try to deny it."
"I don't know where it is." Weiss said quietly.
"Lier!" Jay yelled, slashing Weiss's wrists with her rapier. "You know exactly where it is!"
"I don't, please don't hurt me." Weiss sobbed. Blood began to pool around her bound wrists. More tears streamed down her pale face.
"I won't need to hurt you if you only tell me where it is." Jay said, controlling his anger once more.
"I don't know where it is." Weiss said, fearing the worst. "I can't tell you where our dust reserves are."
Jay clenched his fist and reach over to unseat Flame's sword. Jay put it into its small form and sent a torrent of fire at Weiss. Her aura took the attack but the same can't be said about her clothing. Her dress was singed and completely gone in other places.
She let out a long painful scream that chilled Flame to his core. Her face twisted in pain as the fire made contact with her skin. As the fire stopped, Weiss panted heavily. A new coat of sweat coated her body as the last was burned off.
"You ready to talk now?" Jay asked.
"N-never." Weiss said, barely heard by Flame and Jay.
Jay clenched his fist and reached out to Weiss. He pulled her up by her hair and ripped her out of her restraints. She yelped in pain as her already bloodied wrists were forcefully ripped from the leather restraints.
Jay threw her against an adjacent floor to ceiling glass shelf. When she contact with it, her body was showered with broken glass. Some of the glass even stayed stuck to her as she lay on the floor motionless.
Jay walked over to her and picked her up once more by her hair and held her right in front of his face. He took the sword and placed it against her throat. "Tell me know, or your head is mine." He said.
Weiss stayed quiet, which prompted Jay to put the sword behind her head.
Weiss looked at Flame and started right into his eyes. Flame saw the pain the suffering in her beautiful blue eyes. She let a small smile form on her face as the sound of metal ripping through skin echoed around the room.
Weiss still had a smile on her face as her body fell to her knees then eventually slumped onto the ground. "This... is all…. you're fault…. Flame." Weiss said before her body became one the earth.
Blood made a pool around her, encasing her in her own warm blood. Her body had many sword marks across it as to where the blade meet her skin. Each of them contributing blood to her puddle.
Jay held the bloodied sword in a firm grip staring down at the fallen heiress before him. He handed the sword back to a very distraught Flame.
Flame himself was staring at the girl with wide eyes. He fell to his knees next to her head and began slowly running his hands though her blood stained hair. "I-I'm sorry Weiss, I'm so sorry." He muttered.
Flame then stood up and turned to face Jay. "YOU MONSTER!" He yelled and tried to assault him. He took one swipe at him then found himself on the floor lying next to Weiss, his right arm hanging in a broken position.
Jay pulled out a gun and held it, pointing at Flame's face. "Your services aren't required anymore." He said as Flame tried to get up. But he was forcefully thrown against the floor, his face now mere inches away Weiss's. He felt his eyes begin to grow heavy as he reached out slowly with his hand and place it gingerly against her face. "I'm sorry." He muttered.
Flame closed his eyes and surrendered himself to the growing darkness.
Flame threw himself up and as he sat on his bed. His teammates and Crimson were looking down at him, concern written plainly across their faces.
Sweat dripped down his face as he tried to figure out where he was. It took him several moments before the mission he was sent on flashed threw his head. Those thoughts were quickly overtaken by thoughts of his dream.
"You ok boss?" Mark asked.
Flame nodded weakly. "Yes, just a nightmare."
"You sure you're ok?" Mark asked again.
"Yes, I'm fine Mark." Flame said. He looked out of the window at the sky that had rays of lights shining through the darkness. "Let's get ready for the battle ahead of us." Mark, Elizabeth and Crimson all nodded and began to get ready while Lindsay stayed and watched over him.
"You had the same dream, didn't you?" She whispered.
Flame nodded then whispered back. "Yes, it was slightly different but still the same outcome."
"Don't you think it's trying to tell you something?" Lindsay said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Like the dream is foreshadowing your 'mission'." She responded.
"The dreams aren't connected to that Linds." Flame said. He stood and turned to her once more, this time with a serious expression. "Linds, if something happens in the assault to me, anything at all, don't come to help me until I'm done you got it."
"Why? What are you planning to do?" She whispered intently.
"Don't worry about it." Flame said getting to his feet. "Get ready. Today will be a big day for us."
Lindsay looked at him and sighed, "Ok boss." She then went and got ready as the others were just about finished.
"Mark, I'm putting you in charge if I don't show up before we start." Flame said, "Attack as soon as possible. I'm going to wait for Lindsay."
Mark nodded. "Sure thing Boss." He, Crimson and Elizabeth walked out, leaving Flame and Lindsay alone in the cabin.
Flame quickly got on his gear and stood up and did a quick stretch. He then shot a look at Lindsay to see if she was done and was quite surprised to see what she was wearing. She wasn't wearing her normal battle gear, instead she had on a whole new outfit.
She had on now a light blue jacket with sleeves rolled up to her just above her elbows. The buttons on the jacket were undone and her white tank top was visible underneath that held her small bust in place. Her blonde hair was undone and sprawled down her body, while being topped off by a black cowboy type hat. A belt held together a pair of jet black pants. The pants fell into a pair of small black high heels.
She then slung a quiver filled with arrows over her back. Another sheathed was put onto her right thigh which she put her spear into. Lindsay turned towards Flame to see his mouth wide open in shock.
"What? Never seen a pretty girl?" She said with a teasing tone.
"No, I've never seen you wear that, only your school uniform and that cloak." Flame stated.
"Well that was only temporary." Lindsay said. "This is my true battle gear. I was having this updated and so I had to use the cloak."
"And where's your jetpack?" Flame asked.
She smirked. "It's built in." Suddenly Lindsay began to hover a foot off the ground to show her point.
Flame was about to say something when a large explosion rocked the foundation of the building and the sound of gunfire could be heard. Flame grabbed the bed to support him from falling, but Lindsay wasn't fast enough. She fell flat on her face as she slid for a few feet and into a wall.
"C'mon we have to hurry." Flame said running out of the cabin but stopped only a few feet outside of it as Lindsay ran into him.
Lindsay stared out over the forest. The tree's boarding the town were all on fire, and it was spreading inwards. A few explosions of dust could be seen within the trees. Grimm roars and howls ripped through the forest shaking her to the core. "This isn't part of the mission."
"No it isn't." Flame said. "Get down there and see what's going wrong and I'll take care of their leader." He then ran off to his right.
Lindsay sighed and ran right into the fray. Past the flaming trees and some women and children who refused to leave. She eventually came across the wounded and dying men and women who had been fighting.
She stopped and stared at one man who had his chest open and was barely breathing. Blood pooled all on and around the man. Lindsay couldn't take it and fell to her knees, hands on the ground. She put her hands on the snowy ground as she hung her head. Suddenly her whole stomach emptied out onto the ground before her. She stayed there for several minutes trying to regain herself.
She slowly stood up onto trembling feet as she looked at the body once more. A black bag now covered it. She then began to slowly walk towards the fighting, using her spear as a cane.
She found the townsfolk behind quickly made barriers. The ones on the barrier were shooting at the charging Grimm. Mark and Elizabeth were in the center of it, conducting the defense. Lindsay slowly made her way over to Mark who quickly noticed her.
"Lindsay what's wrong!?" He asked walking over to her.
"N-nothing, just got a little sick on my way here that's all." She said. "What's going on here?"
"The Grimm ambushed us, they started to attack just before we arrived." Elizabeth said.
"Anything worthy to note?" Lindsay asked.
"Yes actually." Mark said. "It appears that they have some faunus with them, Fang members."
Lindsay visibly tensed at this. "Of course there's Fang members here, where else would they be?"
Flame carefully and silently ran through the alleyways of the silent town. Explosions and gunfire echoed off the walls of buildings. He heard people talking and slowly went to investigate. He came across two White Fang grunts were talking. "What are they doing here?" He asked himself.
"This is so boring, we aren't even fighting." The male said.
"I wish we were back at base." The female said.
The male smirked as he got an idea. "Wanna ditch this and head back, by the time we get there our shift would be over."
The woman too smirked. "Sure why not." The pair then proceeded to walk back to their base.
"This is almost too easy." Flame thought as he followed the pair from afar and on top of the buildings. He jumped from building to building as he followed the pair for several minutes. He could eventually see that tents and small fires littered around the center of the city.
The pair of White Fang grunts were in a small alley way when they felt an abrupt gust of air behind them. They turned around to see alone man behind them. Before they could say anything they slumped onto the ground, dead.
Flame quickly put the two bodies into a dumpster. He then slowly made his way around the city center and to the city capitol building. He scaled the building's back side and went through an unlocked window near the top.
He ended up in a small office. Walking out into the hallway he began to check every room. He opened door after door to no avail, frustrating him. He stomped down the hallway and turned to an adjacent one as he almost ran into a woman standing there. Flame looked up at her as he felt his heart drop.
"Hello Flame, it's so nice of you to join us." Molly said as she hit Flame over the head with a flat side of her katana.
Flame fell unconscious as he was swarmed by White Fang grunts. They took him to an office turned torture room as Molly followed them, hands clasped behind her back and a smile on her face.
So how was that? Hope y'all enjoyed it.
I can't think of anything else to say so i'm just going to end it here, see you for my next installment.
If you have any comments questions or concerns about this chapter or my story in general just PM me or leave a review and I'll answer as quick as possible.
See ya next time folks.