"Ma'am, hostile forces are pushing forwards to Tethara," one soldier ran up and reported to Cinder. A look of shock appeared on her face, only to vanish with her eyes glowing like fire.
"Get a hold of Mercury and Emerald, now," Cinder ordered. The soldier jumped at the sharpness of the order, but did as he was told. The soldier reappeared with a scroll that had Mercury and Emerald on the screen, patient expressions on their faces.
"What is it now, Cinder?" Mercury asked, irritably.
"Vale and Atlesian forces are pushing towards Tethara, and Vacuo forces will be joining them soon. We need to distract them," Cinder answered.
"We could concentrate on Vacuo, wipe them out and force them to one side. That would leave Atlas and Vale practically defenseless," Emerald offered.
"At the same time, we could push around back to Mistral and get Roman back," Mercury commented.
"I'll will take care of Roman, you two just focus on Vacuo," Cinder ordered with a smirk and closed the call. A figure appeared before Cinder with pink and brown hair, carrying a light pink parasol. "You know what to do," Cinder smiled, turning to leave. The figure just smiled back, and nodded her head as she watched Cinder leave.
Sam could hear footsteps coming from the entrance to the cavern that he and Blake were in, and quickly nudged her awake. Blake let out a whimper of pain before Sam clamped his hand over her mouth. She gave Sam a questioning look before hearing the footsteps as well. Sam mouthed the words, "Stay here", before standing up and limping towards the entrance. Sam was unaware of how long they had been in there, but he knew it wasn't long enough for him to fully recover. Regardless, if it was an enemy coming towards them, he would fight with everything he had. He reached the entrance and began charging his electricity when someone jumped on him, kissing him repeatedly.
"Weiss? Is that really you?" Sam managed to grunt out, trying to pick both of them up.
"Yep, and she isn't alone," a familiar voice called from further out of the cavern. Sam looked to see Ruby, Yang, Ozpin, Taiyang, Qrow, Team JNPR, Penny and Chaney Ashcroft standing a little ways away from the pair. Weiss eventually let go and let Sam find his balance.
"What, you didn't think we wouldn't come looking for you, did you?" Weiss questioned menacingly, but with a few tears leaking out.
"Hey, where's Blake?" Yang asked before Sam could respond.
"I'm right here," Blake coughed as she leaned against the cavern wall to help her stand.
"Good heavens, what happened here?" Ozpin looked from the state of the cavern to the beaten up pair.
"It's…uh…kinda hard to explain," Sam gave a shaky smile and scratched the back of his head. "But all that matters is that we don't have to worry about Adam anymore."
"We might be closer to winning this war than we thought if the real leader of the White Fang is dead," Qrow mused.
"This war won't end until Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury are all dead," Sam's expression became serious.
"He's right. So, what do we do now?" Jaune asked.
"We keep doing what we were doing before: push to Tethara," Ozpin replied, turning to leave the cave after seeing Blake being helped out and Sam following behind Weiss.
"So who is left to defend Vale?" Sam glared at Ozpin.
"Seth and Tom said they would stay behind to watch over the place. Besides, Mr. Engle, you are an incredibly valuable person to us. If we lost you, the war would also be over," Ozpin answered. Sam opened his mouth to counter, but decided to hold his tongue. The walk out of the cave afterwards was relatively silent.
After they finally reached the exit, Sam could see several Valean soldiers within the town just outside of the cave that he and Blake had to sneak through. "How long did this take you, Oz?" Sam asked as his wounds began to ache less.
"Maybe 5 hours. It takes much more time to move an army than it takes to move a small squad," Ozpin pointed out.
"I see, and when did you come in, Chaney?" Sam turned to the Mistral commander.
"I arrived just as your forces began their assault. I managed to find Seth and he told me where I could find the people to find you," she replied with a soft smile.
"So how are things back in Mistral?" Ozpin took his turn asking questions.
"Things are finally all cleared up. With Roman captured, the rest of the White Fang ran with their tails between their legs, no pun intended," Chaney giggled.
"So now what?" Qrow spoke up.
"We need to get you two back to Vale," Ozpin said simply, waving in an airship.
"Oz, I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine, really," Sam said confidently at first, before trying to take another step and almost losing his balance.
"You are not fine. You are coming back to Vale with me, where you will rest. Understood?" Weiss told him sternly.
"Alright, alright, I get it, I'll go rest," Sam put his hands up in defeat, graciously accepting help from Weiss and Chaney to get onto the airship. Blake was helped by Ruby and Yang, and Penny and Team JNPR followed.
"You hold the fort, alright Sam? We'll keep working out here!" Qrow called to the group as they left.
"Stay safe you guys!" Taiyang waved at the airship. Team RWBY and JNPR, Sam, Penny, and Chaney all waved back their goodbyes before the airship closed its bay doors and headed off for Vale.
"So, what happened to you two?" Ren was, surprisingly, the first to ask after things got quiet.
"Well, allow me to answer your question with a question. Have you guys ever heard of Origin Cave?" Sam looked from face to face in the group.
"Oh, yeah! Professor Port talked about it in one of his stories, but everyone doesn't usually pay attention to them, but I love them so I listen all the time, and they are really great, but yeah I have!" Nora exclaimed excitedly.
"Would you like to explain it then, Nora?" Sam smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Well, I mean, I don't know anything, Port just kinda mentioned it, so…" Nora admitted.
"I can explain, if you wish," Penny spoke up for the first time. "I have all of its information in my databanks."
"Please do, Penny," Sam nodded his head in acceptance.
Penny explained the history of the Grimm, the significance and power of the Origin Cave, and how it came to be how it is today. "Okay, so that was Origin Cave. What does that have to do with anything?" Jaune asked.
"Grimm do not have souls, which is why their power, without connection to their home dimension, is weaker than ours. If a Grimm monster was able to harness the power of a soul, then they would become infinitely stronger," Sam explained. "This is what happened with Adam. He offered his soul to the Grimm who, of course, gladly accepted it. Adam became equally Faunas and Grimm. With that power, he could be considered a god. So we fought him, and in the end, we won."
"And just how did you manage that?" Weiss asked.
"It wasn't easy, that's certain. Adam was stabbed by Blake through his chest, and all of the Grimm creatures around us began to act up like they were in pain along with Adam. We thought that could be the time to get away, but Adam had begun floating up and absorbing the darkness around him. By the time he was finished, he was a huge Grimm monster with incredible power. We struck blows at each other for a while, and his attacks were taking a toll on me, so I had to eventually resort to just dodging. Eventually, I found a spot to strike at him and got his shoulder, but that only made him pissed. He tossed me around like a ragdoll before flinging me into the cavern wall. I can still feel the cracks in my bones from that collision," Sam began.
"After Sam fell," Blake took over, "I thought Adam might have killed him, and he immediately set his sights on me next. He began reaching his tentacle like fingers out to me, and then I hear him groan in pain and Sam's weapon jammed through his torso. Next thing I know, Sam pulls off this really sweet move and slashes right through Adam's chest, bringing him out of his Grimm form and back into his normal one. But that's when things got scary."
"I had used most of what was left of my energy in that attack, and had collapsed on the ground afterwards. Blake had already been down with the wound in her side, so there wasn't much she could do. Adam walked over to me, picked up Tetharan Fury, and placed a blade right over my chest to kill me. All I heard was a single gunshot, then the clanging of Tetharan Fury falling to the ground, and then I looked over to see Blake had raised up one of Gambol Shroud's pistols and shot Adam in the back," Sam finished.
"So, Blake was the one to save the day, huh?" Yang giggled.
"Something like that," Sam closed his eyes and smiled.
"What are you talking about? You're the one who fought the guy, without you I would be dead!" Blake pushed his shoulder.
"And if it wasn't for you, I would be dead right now," Sam said simply, not opening his eyes. "Do you guys see what I mean about saving the world now? Anyone can be the one to do it, but not alone."
Everyone went silent after that, thinking long on what Sam had to say. "Sure, you guys might not be able to do it without me, but without any of you, it still wouldn't be possible. Sure, one of us will do it: save the world. But how we get to that point, everyone is needed for that," Sam explained further. Everyone nodded their heads slowly and remained silent the rest of the flight to Vale.
A young woman followed by a few guards entered a large room, with a large electronic map surrounded by a few high ranking men and women. Everyone fell silent as the young woman entered the room, however. All eyes turned to face her, and eventually one of the higher ranking men saluted her, saying, "Chancellor Pierce, it's good to see you." Everyone followed him, saluting her as well. She lifted a hand to relieve them and walked over to the map.
"What is the status of our armies, generals?" she asked formally.
"The enemy attacks appear to have lightened up, but we are not backing off our pressure. It appears as if the enemy was making preparations to move east, possibly to strike at Vale," one of the generals responded.
"Have we sent any word to Vale of this possibility?" Pierce asked softly.
"No, Chancellor, we were uncertain and decided that we should remain focused on our own defenses," another general admitted guiltily.
The Chancellor sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We are in a time of war, a war of which the four kingdoms must be united to bring an end to it, and yet we betray the trust of another kingdom by not alerting them of possible invading forces? What if Vale was being eradicated right now because of it? Just because it may or may not be the case is irrelevant. The other kingdoms will have no reason to trust us if we do not inform them of things like this!" she shouted fiercely.
"Understood, ma'am. It…it won't happen again," the first general who spoke bowed his head.
"I will have to bring this before the Council," Pierce sighed again. "In the meantime, maintain our defenses and make sure nothing gets through."
"Yes, ma'am!" each general saluted her as she left.
Since the attack that almost destroyed Mistral, things had become peaceful again. The city had begun initiating repairs, the wounded were receiving proper medical attention, and life began to take steps to becoming normal again. When Roman Torchwick had been captured, he was taken to a small, isolated prison that specialized in impenetrable solitary confinement.
Every 4 hours, there would be a changing of the guard. The guards at the prison would be relieved of their shift, and the next set of guards would come in. It was on one such changing of the guard where everything took a turn for the worse. The prison only contained one prisoner, and of course that prisoner was Roman Torchwick.
One guard was leaning back in his chair, trying to take a nap, while another guard was gathering his belongings while looking at the clock. 7:56 AM. Changing of the guard would begin in just four minutes. He shook the other guard awake, and turned to face the door when he felt something penetrate his side. He looked down and saw the tip of an umbrella stabbed into his gut, with large amounts of blood beginning to seep through his clothing. As soon as he opened his mouth to say something, he was sliced by a slash of his throat. The other guard gained his conscious just as the mystery figure ran her blade through the back of his neck, killing him instantly.
She took the blade out and admired her work before going to unlock the prison doors. Just as she got to the controls, however, she could her more voices from down the hallway coming closer. Quickly, she closed and locked the security office door so they wouldn't find the bodies or her yet, and began working on letting Roman out. The voices faded, and she unlocked Roman's cell and the security office at the same time and began making her way towards him. By the time she got to him, he had his cane and his hat back and flashed her a smile.
"Its good to see you, Neo."
"This meeting of the Council of Vacuo is now in session," Chancellor Kiara Pierce called as she sat down at a round table along with 14 other council members. "First we shall discuss matters important to the safety of our people, then move to reports covering our city's basic necessities. Anything to report of the state of the war, Council?"
"We have become concerned with the lack of communication with Atlas and Vale. We can understand Mistral's case, we received the report from Vale, but with the other two kingdoms, it doesn't make sense," once council member spoke up.
"I am unaware of any reasons of which we have not received communications from either of the two kingdoms…" Pierce was cut off by the sound of an alarm. "What's going on?" she asked, annoyed.
A few armed guards entered the room and begin moving the council members out. "We need to get you and the Council to safety, Chancellor," one of the guards said as he came over to escort her.
"What has happened?" she asked as they left the room.
"Primary defenses to the east have been overrun. The White Fang has begun to break through," he answered.
May God help us all…
AN: And just as things seem to be going well, they hit another bump in the road. I did tell you guys this would be the longest Chronicles yet, so I couldn't just end it sometime soon. We have a long battle still to go, so strap in and be ready for the ride. Now, this wasn't exactly 3,000 words, and I'm sorry its not quite as long as the others, but I really wanted to get another chapter up soon. I think you guys would be a bit more content with a 2,000-2,500 word chapter every 2-3 days rather than a 3,000 word chapter every week or so. So I will try to make them 3,000 words, but if I can't, then I'm sure you guys will understand. Next stop on the War for Remnant: Vacuo! I read up on a Wiki that technically every kingdom is ruled by a Council, but in the actual show it just seemed like Ozpin had rule over Beacon and Vale, Ironwood over Atlas, so on. I thought it would be a good touch to include a council rule over a kingdom to add more diversity. Or whatever. I don't know. Anyway, thank you all so much for reading! If you have any questions/comments/concerns/encouragements/criticisms/etc., please leave a review or send me a PM if you are uncomfortable leaving a review. I look forward to hearing your opinions! I will see you guys in the next chapter!