Another day, another chapter. Let's get down to responses shall we? Lord-Krun; glad you liked it, and who knows, perhaps they'll encounter more Huntsman and Huntresses sooner then you think. Bravo Tango; glad you also liked it, and if there's one thing I hate, it's unnecessary exposition, so glad I dodged that bullet. OutlastTheDark; don't remind me of...THOSE things. That Hybrid is SO edgy and mysterious! Edboy4926; you know, that is an excellent question. Why? Because it made me realise that this fic isn't as solid as I originally thought. That said, a big change to the story will be occurring in this chapter. Oh, and to answer your question, after multiple bits of research I've estimated that not including the Void Rays and fighter Pilots there's about over 8,000 Protoss in this expedition fleet. Now you can probably understand why a big change is coming. That said, I have a special announcement for the end of this chapter. Now, on with the show!
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Chapter 11- True Honour
Weeks after the initial invasion…
Alaris watched from the safety of the trees as multiple Warp signatures arrived in Remnant's orbit. Executor Velran had made contact with the Daelaam Council back on Aiur, informing them of the new planet, and the war they had become embroiled in. In response, Hierarch Artanis had approved the Invasion as long as they were confident the Humans were not aligned with the Terran Dominion. As a token of his support, Artanis had sent multiple Carriers and Motherships to Velran's location, with promises of more to come once the Golden Armada was fully organised.
The first batch of relief ships could not have come any sooner, for the Atlas Soldiers quickly retaliated against the fledgling Protoss Base. Were it not for the arrival of reinforcements, the Invasion would have come to an abrupt end there and then. More Outposts had been constructed to accommodate the new attack force, and with sting operations being commanded by Thraos against the enemies supply lines, the likelihood of victory was becoming more and more realistic. Hence why Alaris was in his current situation.
He jumped down from his perch, landing in the centre of a group of Zealot's and Stalkers, who all turned in his direction as he landed. Upon informing Thraos of the properties of Dust, he had initially been wary to delve deeper into the matter, as he needed every body available for combat. However, now with reinforcements arriving on a near weekly basis, he could now faithfully send out a few troops without worry of being undermanned. Alaris had been selected on a mission to gather more Dust crystals in an area their readings indicated was known as 'The Emerald Forest'. It was close to one of their Cities, but was mostly unused save for the occasional operation in the area.
Their Warp Prism had managed to infiltrate the sector unhindered, despite what seemed like the beginning of some festival. The mission was simple; Warp in, deal with any hostiles encountered, gather Dust crystals for research and then Warp back to base. So far, they had been successful in the first two objectives, but had little luck in finding any Dust crystals.
"What are your orders, Sir?" a Zealot spoke up, stepping forward so he was in Alaris' line of sight.
Alaris nearly ignored the question, almost forgetting that he was in charge of the small task force. Being a superior was still new to him, a fact not lost on some of the older veterans amongst him. After a few minutes of silence, Alaris turned to face the Zealot who questioned him, the warrior stood silently as he awaited an answer.
"Send out the Stalkers to scout the area, the rest of us will fan out." Alaris ordered, earning nods of compliance from the other Protoss. "If anyone of us enters combat, or finds the objective, report immediately and regroup to their location."
The Zealot's and Stalkers all nodded once again in compliance, quickly fanning out in search of Dust crystals. The Stalkers moved well ahead of the Zealot's, using their Void Displacers to move ahead of the main force, 'blinking' into tree branches to gain better vantage points. Alaris stood still for just a moment before moving off himself, activating his Psi Blades as he cut through the foliage with ease. If fortune was on his side, this would be nice and quick.
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"Come on! I think it went this way!" Ruby shouted as she sped through the Emerald Forest, her eyes scanning the ground for any disturbances.
"Are you insane?! It went this way!" Weiss shrieked as she swung Myrtenaster up in the air, pointing in the opposite direction.
"You're both wrong! It went this way!" Yang then shouted, pointing in a completely different direction.
"Maybe we should actually check the tracks first." Blake suggested, her voice almost a whisper in comparison to her team-mates yelling. "Maybe then we can figure out where it went."
"Fine, be boring why don't you..." Yang muttered as she knelt down on the ground, examining the muddied floor for any prints.
Weiss and Ruby did likewise, kneeling on the ground for any disturbances in the soil or any traces of blood. Only just earlier whilst practising for the Tournament did they spot what was undoubtedly an Alpha Beowolf, the Grimm not even aware of their presence. Ruby had managed to fire a shot at it from afar, and not knowing where the bullet had actually come from, the Alpha Grimm had instead fled the area, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. And that led them to their current predicament. They'd lost sight of the Grimm, hence their current situation. They knew they had to be quick, if the Alpha recovered from both the wound and shock quick enough and decided it wanted a little payback, then the Hunted could easily become the Hunter.
"Got nothing here." Yang shouted out, standing up as she brushed the dirt off of her hands, turning around to face the other members of her team. "You?"
"Found some!" Ruby shouted triumphantly, nearly leaping into the air as she rose up. "That means I was right and you were wrong!"
"Hey, come look at this..." Weiss suddenly spoke up, her eyes narrowed at the tracks in front of her. "Have you seen anything like this before?"
The rest of her team-mates quickly went to her side, looking intensely at the tracks in front of Weiss. They looked like holes in the dirt, and were quite far apart meaning whatever made them was big, and judging how deep they went, also quite heavy.
"What the heck..." Yang mumbled, scratching the back of her head as she observed the tracks. "What do you think made those?"
"I...I don't know..." Blake replied, nearly as dumbstruck as her partner was. "I've never heard of any Grimm that can make tracks like that."
"Oh! Maybe it's one of those alien things that have been in the news recently!" Ruby suggested rather excitedly, bouncing up and down on the spot as she spoke.
"Do you actually believe that rubbish on the news?" Weiss sighed as she shook her head when Ruby's response was to rapidly nod her head.
Nearly a week ago, the news had reported that the Atlas Military had been engaged by 'hostile extraterrestrial life forms'. Of course the news spread like wild fire with a whole manner of conspiracy theories popping up. Of course, Weiss refused to believe such hubris. Sure, Atlas had fought strange creatures about a year ago that threatened to wipe out all life on Remnant, but that was different. They didn't come from the sky for starters. Winter had arrived a few days ago with a new battalion of Atlas troops to reinforce the Academy, but when questioned on the matter she refused to speak of it. She just hadn't been the same since what had happened, something that admittedly troubled Weiss.
"Well whatever it is, it can't have gone far." Blake suddenly spoke up, knocking Weiss out of her thoughts. "Look, these tracks are still fresh."
"Shall we follow them?" Yang asked, shrugging her shoulders slightly as she spoke.
"But what about the Alpha?!" Weiss complained, pointing in the direction Ruby had said it went. She wasn't just going to give up on chasing a solid lead for a potential wild goose chase!
"Who cares about the Alpha?" Ruby responded, rolling her eyes as she spoke. "We all know aliens trump Grimm!"
"Since when?!" Weiss spat back, huffing in anger when Ruby elected to ignore her.
"Come on! This way!" Ruby shouted as she followed the new set of tracks, followed closely by Blake and Yang.
"Oh for the love of..." Weiss began, not finding the willpower to finish her sentence as she instead let out a frustrated growl as she stormed after her team-mates. "Wait up!"
Weiss quickly caught sight of the rest of her friends, who had somehow managed to bypass the thick foliage in front of her a lot easier then she was currently, often growling in anger when her combat skirt got caught on a stray branch or she ended up walking directly into a very large spider web, the sticky silk getting caught in her hair easily. Weiss stumbled around when she started to spit out some of the silk that had gotten caught in her mouth, bumping into and nearly knocking over Yang who had for some reason stopped in her tracks.
"Watch where you're going!" Yang hissed quietly, bringing her finger to her lips quickly afterwards.
"What are you talking about?!" Weiss hissed back, pulling the last few strands of silk out of her hair.
In response, Yang simply pointed forward, where the gazes of both Ruby and Blake were locked. Weiss followed the length of her finger, and gasped at the sight before her. Standing a good few metres ahead was...something. It was big, bigger then she had anticipated. It was quite tall, with a steel blue metal hull around its body. A purple shroud of some form covered what looked to be its face, with a pair of green eyes peering out at its surroundings. At the base of the body were six limbs, two feeler like apparatus' at the front and four long spider like legs supporting it. Judging from the way it moved and observed its surroundings, it was searching for something.
"Oh my god..." Weiss whispered as her hand went to her mouth. "They...they weren't lying..."
"Holy crap you guys!" Yang whispered in excitement, leaning forward slightly. "We've found ourselves an alien!"
Without another word, Ruby slowly switched her Scroll on, activating the devices camera mode as she held it up to take a picture of the alien, which was at this moment unaware of their presence.
"This is SO going on social media!" Ruby whispered as she quickly tapped her screen, a bright flash emanating from the front of the Scroll as it took a picture.
The alien's reaction was instant, wildly looking around as it tried to detect the source of the light, its fleshy head snapping to both the left and right of its body.
"Dammit Ruby!" Yang whispered harshly as she quickly ducked to avoid the aliens line of sight. "Why didn't you switch off the flash?!"
"I'm sorry! I thought it was off!" Ruby defended as she began to check the settings on her Scroll.
"Wait!" Blake suddenly whispered, causing all to turn towards her. "Don't move, I think it saw us."
All slowly turned their heads to face the alien, which was slowly gazing in their direction, its emerald green eyes narrowed into concentrated slits. Then suddenly, with a blue flash, the alien disappeared right before their eyes.
"Where'd it go?" Ruby asked in a hushed tone, looking around expectantly for the alien to reappear.
Almost as if on cue, there was a loud humming noise behind the Huntresses, as they caught sight of a bright blue light emanating from behind them. Slowly, the Huntresses turned around, the alien staring intently at the group, its eyes burning with rage. It then caught sight of Ruby's Scroll, quickly raising a leg and knocked it from her hand, sending the device flying towards the dirt with a dull thud.
"Uh...hi..." Ruby chuckled nervously, waving slowly at the alien, whose glare seemed to intensify at the gesture. "So...funny story-"
"Run!" Yang quickly interrupted, delivering a sweeping kick to one the aliens legs, sending it tumbling to the ground quickly as a blue dome flickered around it. Yang then delivered a kick to the aliens fleshy face, dazing it further as the dome flickered again from the impact.
The four used the aliens stunned state to quickly break cover and run forward, intent on putting as much distance between them and the alien. As they ran however, Weiss quickly skidded to a halt, turning around and holding Myrtenaster out in front of her.
"Weiss! What the heck are you doing?!" Ruby shouted as she turned to face her team-mate, who was as still as a statue. "We have no idea how strong that thing is! We need to get out of here now!"
"I think not!" Weiss rebutted, turning around to face Ruby as she held Myrtenaster out towards the forest, the sound of the aliens clanking feet coming closer. "We are Huntresses! It's our duty to protect the innocent and defenceless from any threat, Grimm or otherwise! And I'll be damned if I turn and run from some freakish, spider legged cyborg that can-"
Weiss was interrupted as she let out a shrill shriek, quickly ducking as blue bolts of energy were fired in her direction. Upon following the trail of energy, it was quickly discovered that the alien had fired them from ports on its main body, and it wasn't relenting any time soon judging by the rate of fire.
"Okay, maybe running is a good idea!" Weiss relented as she quickly ran towards Ruby, who had a dumbfounded look on her face.
"You think?!" Ruby responded as she continued forward, Weiss not far behind her.
The sounds of clanking metal became louder as the alien came closer to them, bolts of blue energy occasionally flying over their heads. It wasn't long until Ruby and Weiss caught up with Blake and Yang, who had managed to get further ahead when Weiss had made her 'brave stand'. Suddenly, a flash of blue light erupted in front of them as the alien rapidly appeared before them, standing defiantly on top of a perch of rocks, its bulk blocking their path.
"Well..." Yang muttered as she activated Ember Celica, holding her fists out in front of her. "It's been real fun."
The other Huntresses nodded solemnly as they readied their weapons, the alien watching them intently as it decided on the best course of attack. Before either could however, a loud howl emanated from the forest, causing all of them to turn and face in its direction. The howl came forth again, this time louder and closer. The alien quickly panicked, backing away rapidly as it quickly teleported away, rushing out into the thicket of the forest.
"Er...any idea where that came from?" Ruby asked as she scanned the forest, Crescent Rose held tightly in her grip.
"No..." Weiss replied as she rapidly turned at every movement in the foliage, the howl sounding again.
There was a tense silence as suddenly the sound of heavy panting and breathing, followed by an angered snarl echoed behind them, a large pair of amber eyes staring intently at Team RWBY.
"Guys...I think that Alpha found us instead..." Blake murmured as all four turned in its direction.
Without another word or sound, the Alpha quickly burst through the clearing, its large wolf like frame a stark contrast to its speed as it landed in front of the Huntresses, letting out a savage roar of defiance. Ruby was the first to react, quickly taking aim with Crescent Rose as she prepared to fire a bullet into its eye. The Alpha reacted just as quickly, raising its hand and grabbing hold of the barrel of the Sniper Rifle, raising it just above its head and causing her to waste the bullets. The Beowolf then pulled the weapon forward, causing it to slip from Ruby's grip as it then swiped forward, knocking her back to the floor.
Weiss quickly thrust forward with Myrtenaster, aiming for the wound that Ruby had caused when they first spotted it. The Alpha roared in anger and pain as the tip of the blade gouged the wound, drawing fresh blood. In response, the Alpha swung back with its left paw, knocking Weiss to the ground with Myrtenaster still stuck in its leg. The Alpha snarled as it used Crescent Rose to swing out at the rapier, knocking the blade out of the wound before discarding the Sniper Scythe. Blake quickly began to fire rounds from Gambol Shroud at the Alpha, causing it to raise its arms up in defence as it swung out in front of it, only to instead hit a shadow clone as Blake leapt over it.
In the apex of her leap however, the Alpha managed to grasp hold of her ankle, causing her to gasp in shock as it then swung down, causing her to crash into the earth. As the Alpha raised a claw to finish the job, Yang charged forward, blasting the side of the Alpha's face and causing it to stagger backwards from the blow. As the Alpha recovered, she hooked her legs around its neck and swung onto its back, quickly firing Ember Celica where the neck and skull connected, hoping for a quick kill. The Alpha wasn't deterred however, growling loudly as it grappled with the Brawler, quickly grabbing her with one of its claws and holding her aloft, raising another claw to gut her with.
"Oh no you don't!" Ruby shouted as she retrieved Crescent Rose, rushing forward with assistance from her Semblance and swiping at the Alpha's left leg again, causing it to drop to its knee and release the Brawler.
"Okay, new plan of attack!" Ruby shouted as she and Yang backed away from the angered Grimm, whilst Blake and Weiss recovered their weapons. "Aim for the left leg, it's the weakest spot! Yang, you kite it. Blake and I will strike when we can whilst Weiss offers support whenever possible!"
"Right!" Yang, Blake and Weiss all said at once, taking positions seconds later.
With the Huntresses circling the Grimm, it began to look around warily, well aware that any move made by either could be its last. The Alpha then let out a determined snarl as it rushed towards Ruby, claw raised high above its head. A blast to the side of its head quickly disorientated it however, causing it to tumble and fall.
"Hey ugly!" Yang shouted, waving her hands in the air to get the Grimm's attention. "Has anyone told you lately how bad your breath stinks?! Man, no wonder you have no lady Beowolves following you around!"
The Alpha let out a snarl of annoyance at the Brawlers impudence, quickly rushing forward to strike the woman down. A bright yellow glyph quickly appeared beneath her feet as the Beowolf swung down, the Brawler disappearing to the Alpha's right where she fired another barrage of blasts at its head, staggering it further.
"Come on! You can do better then that!" Yang taunted as she reloaded Ember Celica.
The Alpha roared in frustration as it charged yet again, only to stumble upon being slashed at its left leg, causing it to howl in discomfort. It turned sharply to see Ruby stood behind it, her Scythe coated in a thin layer of blood. As the Beowolf turned to attack her, Yang fired yet another blast, causing it turn and snarl in her direction, charging forward yet again. A wall of ice quickly erupted in front of her, causing the Alpha to try and skid to a halt as it crashed into it, slipping onto its back in the process.
Blake then dashed forward, striking multiple times with Gambol Shroud, causing multiple slashes to appear on the already growing wound. The Beowolf howled in pain as it kicked out with its foot, causing the Faunus to slide back and skid to a halt. The Beowolf then charged forward, slashing at Blake who quickly dodged the blow, leaping behind it and firing a round from Gambol Shroud, hitting its shoulder and causing it to stumble onto its side.
As the Alpha slowly picked itself off of the floor, it spotted something in the corner of its eye. Weiss was beginning to power up a Glyph in front of Ruby, who was aiming her weapon through the centre of the Glyph. Quickly realising it was she who was responsible for its previous failures, it let out a snarl as it planned its next attack.
As the Glyph finished formation, Ruby fired a round from Crescent Rose, the Dust infused bullet speeding towards the downed Alpha in seconds. However, at the last moment, the Alpha leapt to the side, the propulsion from the Dust infused bullet aiding it in its leap. The Alpha landed on a rocky outcropping, and then leapt towards Weiss, who barely had enough time to register the danger. As she raised Myrtenaster up to defend her self, the Alpha tackled her to the ground, grasping her in its claws and roared defiantly at the other Huntresses, who were too stunned to even move. With its quarry in hand, the Alpha then leapt into the undergrowth, its howls of triumph drowning out Weiss' protests.
"Let me go you freak!" Weiss demanded as she slammed her fists into the Beowolf's paws, though the attacks seemed to go unnoticed by the much stronger Grimm.
With each leap, Weiss knew it would be harder for her team-mates to find her, and even more so her chances of survival. She knew what the Alpha was doing, taking her back to its den so it could feast on her in peace. A fate Weiss wasn't exactly happy about. With Myrtenaster still in her hand, she thrust forward with the blade, piercing the Alpha's gut. The Grimm howled in pain as it registered the blow, tripping over its feet as it fell to the ground, Weiss flying from its grip.
As Weiss slowly got up, the Beowolf shook its head as it turned to face her, letting out an angered howl as it clutched where Myrtenaster had struck. Even in its current state, she knew she was severely outmatched without her team. Slowly backing away from the Alpha, she didn't register the slope behind her, rolling backwards with a loud yelp. The Alpha took this as an opportunity, carefully making its way down the slope as it attempted to grab hold of Weiss' flailing body, making sure not to fall itself.
Weiss eventually managed to stop rolling as she came to a standstill, the slope retreating into a narrow cave, which she wilfully descended down. She backed away from the mouth of the cave, hoping that the Alpha was just too large to fit through. That assumption was soon made redundant however, as she felt her heels clatter against stone. Looking down, she saw she had stepped on a human skeleton, the bones still dripping with stained blood. She nearly gagged at the sight, backing away from the skeleton before quickly stepping forward, the Alpha having forced itself halfway through into the cave.
Realising that this must have been the creatures den all along, Weiss let out a silent sob as she came to the assumption that this would be the end. She knew that her team-mates would never think to look down here, and her bones would simply be added to the collection already present. The Alpha was nearly all the way through now, and inside the cave it would have the advantage for sure. So consumed by her grief, she nearly missed the golden armoured warrior behind her…
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Alaris was pleased to say that so far, fortune was indeed on his side. None of his warriors had reported any trouble they couldn't handle, and he believed he had hit what the Terran's referred to as a 'jackpot'. He found small traces of blue Dust crystals outside the mouth of a cave, no doubt a larger quantity inside the cave. Entering the cave proved to be the hard part, the gap being quite tight to push through. Upon finally entering the cave, he was immediately on alert at the sight of human bones inside. The cave must have been some creatures lair, meaning he would have to be quick in case it returned.
Deeper into the cave, he had found a large quantity of the strange crystals, their blue hue blending perfectly with his own Psi Blades. He made sure not to let the Psionic weapons come into contact with the Dust, remembering what had happened to that Probe a few weeks ago. Regardless, he had found the objective, meaning it was time to report it in so they could proceed with harvesting.
"All warriors, this is Templar Alaris." Alaris spoke to his fellow warriors. "I have found the objective, sending coordinates immediately."
"Coordinates received Templar." he heard a voice reply, a fellow Zealot judging by the deep bass of the voice. "We are en-route to your location, stand by."
As the communication halted, Alaris spun around at the sound of growling behind him, coming closer by the second. Immediately, he activated his Psi Blades, the blue blades acting as a light source in the darkness of the cave. He scanned his surroundings, taking not of all the locations the creature could come from. As he continued to turn, he heard the patter of rushing feet behind him and spun around...to see a child in front of him.
His eyes, which had been narrowed into hate filled slits, quickly widened in shock at the sight before him. Were it not for his warrior training and discipline, he would have cleaved right through her. The young woman, who must have only been an adolescent, quickly yelped in shock as she fell on her rear, backing away from him as she held her sword out, which shook in her hand. Despite the determined glare on the young woman's face, he could tell by the redness of her eyes that she had been crying recently. Alaris approached the woman, who instinctively backed away from him, the sword in her hand continuing to shake.
She was afraid.
A roar quickly broke the silence, causing both to turn in its direction. Weiss let out a panicked moan as the Alpha finally caught up with her, snarling in triumph as it approached her cowering form. It then looked up however, catching sight of Alaris, who stood defiantly with Psi Blades far apart. The Alpha turned and roared at the new threat, charging forward on all fours. Alaris quickly moved forward, leaping forward as he drew a Psi Blade back, slashing forward in a wide arc as the Beowolf's arms swung over his head.
The two ground to a halt seconds later, both as still as statues. Weiss wasn't sure which she wanted to win, at least with the Alpha she knew what would happen to her. Then, the Beowolf let out a pained moan as it slumped to the ground, disintegrating seconds later. Alaris quickly stood to full height, clashing his Psi Blades together as a show of victory.
He then quickly turned to meet the Weiss' gaze, who shuffled away instinctively upon locking eyes. Her breathing had become more rapid, her chest rising and deflating with every breath she took. Alaris was...confused as to what to do. Clearly the second he turned his back, he knew the woman would try and attack him, in an attempt at self defence no doubt. Yet despite this, he couldn't bring himself to strike her down. There was no honour in it, regardless of if it was self defence on his part. As he continued to study the Weiss, the sound of feet approaching quickly caught both their attention.
"Quickly! His coordinates lead down here!" the voice of a Templar bellowed faintly.
"Down there?! Are you certain?!" another questioned almost incredulously. "Surely it is too tight?"
"By Adun you are difficult!" the first Templar complained. "Go down there now or I'll have you warped all the way to Char for your insolence!"
The sound of shuffling followed quickly as the two Zealot's began to clamber through, causing Alaris to snap his head towards Weiss. Would his fellow Templar see this in the same light as he did? There was the possibility that they would, but there was also the risk they wouldn't. Looking back towards the mouth of the cave, where he could now hear his fellow Templar approaching, he turned again to Weiss, who was still stood still.
"Go!" Alaris ordered, nodding towards one of the many cave tunnels, hoping it possibly led to an exit. "Run!"
Weiss didn't need telling twice, staggering to her feet as she quickly ran towards the cave, the sight of Alaris getting smaller as two others like him quickly came into view. Weiss could not believe what she had seen, two aliens in the same day, and one of them had saved her. At least if this cave did lead somewhere. Soon, light came into her sight again as she brushed apart a large clump of foliage, taking a deep breath of air as she found herself in the Emerald Forest once again. She caught sight of something red to her right and turned, sighing in relief when she spotted Ruby and the rest of her friends, searching for her no doubt.
"Hey!" Weiss shouted, waving her hand around in order to grab their attention. "Over here!"
Her partner and friends quickly stopped in their tracks and turned to face her, quickly running towards her.
"Weiss!" Ruby yelled as she grabbed hold of the Heiresses free hand, pulling her to the surface with a sharp tug. "Oh god, we were so worried about you! It's all my fault! If I'd been paying more attention I should have known that the Alpha was going to-"
"Ruby." Weiss interrupted, silencing her team-mate as the rest of her friends quickly surrounded her. "You won't believe what just happened."
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Hope you liked that chapter, it was pretty fun to write actually. Managed to sneak in a tiny Carbot Animations reference in their, so kudos to whoever spots it. Liked it? Feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism is welcomed. Any questions? Either leave in your reviews or PM me.
Raging Archon ou-oh wait! I nearly forgot the announcement!
I'm going to be starting a new RWBY/StarCraft crossover! But only after this one, and also after Volume 4 has finished. I can't reveal any major details, but I can tell you what it'll be called. 'RWBY: The Shadow Master'. I'd like to hear your thoughts and speculation on what it will be about.
Raging Archon out.