Chancellor Pierce ran as fast as she could, feeling the ground around her shaking as she heard explosions and gunfire around her. The guards urged her to keep moving, but she couldn't help but glance back to see part of her city burning. She noticed some of the Council hadn't made it this far, and continued running. Eventually, the guards took a hard right, and the surviving council members followed quickly, making it into a safe room. The guards locked the doors, and began barricading the entrance.
"How the hell could this have happened?" one of the councilmen shouted furiously.
"I don't know," Kiara sighed, leaning against a wall. "Something tell me the bulk of the White Fang is now on us, and its why we haven't heard anything from Vale or Atlas. They must have been jamming us."
"Well, what now, Chancellor?" a councilwoman looked to Pierce, pleading in her gaze. In truth, Kiara had no idea what to do. They needed to rally their forces together to meet the incoming hordes of White Fang soldiers, but even that seemed like it wouldn't be enough.
"We may have to evacuate," the Chancellor breathed out slowly and softly.
"Wha-what?! Evacuate Vacuo? How could you say that?" a councilman stood enraged.
"From the size of the White Fang forces at our doorstep, we do not have enough troops to defeat them. So our only option is to evacuate the city and live to fight another day," Pierce answered, more confident.
The council seemed to consider it more, and came to realize that she was, unfortunately, correct. "Understood, Chancellor. The Council stands with you," another councilman said as the others stood beside him.
"So what do we need to do?" The guards asked.
"We need to raise a city wide alarm, and move everyone to the western side of the city away from the fighting. That is the only chance our people have," Pierce replied.
"Understood, ma'am. It will be done," the guards walked up the stairs to fulfill their orders.
Team RWBY, minus Blake of course, and Team JNPR, along with Professor Port caught up quickly to Seth, Tom, Penny, and Chaney, boarding the same airship to Vale. Weiss had just finished explaining both Sam and Blake's condition, anger still flowing freely. Everyone shared the same angered expression after she had finished. "They will pay for this," Tom said through gritted teeth.
"They will…but how can we fight Mercury and Emerald without Sam?" Jaune sighed and punched the wall of the airship.
"You yourself said that Tetharans aren't invincible, and that we can take them down," Yang crossed her arms.
"Yeah, but at the same time, you guys also said that they are the ones who killed the king and queen of Tethara, as well as your mother, and defeated Taiyang, Qrow and Ozpin. If they can't win, what chance do we have?" Jaune forced out in a low whisper.
"My father, uncle, and Ozpin were blinded by rage, losing their loved ones just moments before throwing themselves into battle. If they were able to fight with all of their strength and strategy, it might have been a different story that day," Ruby commented, not looking at anyone besides the ground.
"Weiss, I hate to ask this, but do you think Sam will make it?" Pyrrha rested a hand on Weiss' shoulder.
Weiss sighed, staring out a window without looking at any of the group. "He said he would. We spoke a little before he blacked out. Told me that Vacuo needed our help right now, and that if we didn't stop them then there would be thousands of more people who wouldn't be as lucky as him to be alive. He told me he was going to be okay, and at this point I have no choice but to believe him," she spoke with a soft and almost forced voice. The group shared hurt and sympathetic glances towards each other, but decided not to crowd Weiss right now with her temper being the way it was.
Minutes later, they had landed in the clearing by where the headquarters for the Vale forces was, and where Glynda would be at. "I didn't expect you all so soon…is everything alright?" Glynda had been hopeful with their quick arrival, but her mood soon changed as she saw the looks on everyone's faces.
"Blake has some broken bones and a bad wound in her side, but aside from that she will be fine soon. As for Sam, he…he may not make it," Ruby reported, faltering by the end.
"Damn it…" Glynda cursed as she tightened her grip on her wand and looked to the ground. "I'm sorry," she forced out under her breath, pointed towards Weiss.
"I'm sure by now you've heard about Vacuo," Weiss ignored Glynda's reaction and tried to stay professional.
Goodwitch was taken back by Weiss' mood, but decided that she would rather just kick some ass to get her mind off of things. "Yes, I did. I'm assuming that's why you all have come?" Glynda looked at the group from Seth all the way down to Port.
"Yes, that's right," Port answered for the group. "Have you been in contact with Ozpin?"
"Yes, he will be meeting you there. I'm afraid I must stay behind, being the Headmaster's assistant and with Sam being…out of commission, I am the only one left to lead our forces while Ozpin is out," Glynda informed them. "I will send a message to Ozpin about the news and tell him you are on the way. I have a few warships ready to go with you," she motioned towards a group of them hovering over Vale.
"Thank you," Seth bowed his head, along with the rest of the group, before they all boarded the airship to meet the warships.
"Uh, Oz, you might want to take a look at this," Qrow motioned over to a cliff's edge that he was staring over. Taiyang and Ozpin walked over with him and looked down. Vacuo had indeed been invaded, and it seemed their forces were doing their best to keep from being overrun.
"Do you think Pierce made it out?" Taiyang asked, concern laced in his tone.
"If anyone could survive this, it is Chancellor Pierce," Ozpin smiled to himself. "We wait for reinforcements, then push back the enemy with our warships," he ordered.
"If Vacuo can make it that long," Qrow muttered under his breath.
"So, Neo, how are you doing?" Roman decided to break the silence in their airship as they traveled over the ocean to Vacuo. Neo simply shrugged her shoulders and gave Roman a thumbs up. She then tilt her head to the side as if to ask the question back at him. "You know, all things considered, never better," he smirked at her. Neo smiled back, though more genuine than Roman's smirk.
Neo and Roman had been together for some time, even since kids. Neo had always been a strong silent type, and Roman had saved her from school bullies back in their youth. Roman could still remember how they first met…
He was walking away from the playground, hot and sweaty, hoping to get a cold drink of water from the fountain before returning to the games and mischief of the playset. It was a bright and sunny day, no clouds in the sky, and only a small breeze. It was one of those days that even the shade didn't do much to cool off the heat that spread over the land. As he walked towards the water fountain, he thought he could her a girl crying, followed by loud smacking noises. He walked up to the corner of the school building and peaked his head around to see a small pink and brown haired girl curled up on the ground covering her head as two older boys spat insults and beat her.
Roman initially thought to go find a teacher, but as he watched he saw she had bruises, as if this had been happening for a while. Furious, he rounded the corner. "Hey, punks, back off!" he shouted at them, storming over to the young girl.
"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do? Stop us?" a boy glared, his fists tightening.
"That's exactly what I'm going to do," Roman whispered under his breath before decking one of the boys in the jaw. The boy he punched recoiled and cowered in pain, running after the first hit. The other boy, much larger than the first, became furious and charged at Roman. He launched a massive punch directed at Roman's gut, only to miss as Roman had flipped around behind him. He grabbed the back of the boy's collar, spinning him and then letting him go, only to have the boy run face first into the brick wall of the school building. He screamed, reaching for his nose as blood began pulsing out, and ran after his friend.
Roman wiped his hands off on his pants and walked over to the girl, leaning down to offer her a hand. The girl reacted only by curling tighter into a ball, causing Roman to frown. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Roman, Roman Torchwick. What's yours?" he asked, hand still extended to help her up.
"N…neo…" she managed to say softly, so soft that Roman almost missed it. She looked up at him, and he noticed tear streaks on her cheeks, as well as a black eye. She grabbed Roman's hand slowly, and he pulled her up, letting him use his shoulder to find her balance.
"Are you okay? Should we go see the nurse?" Roman asked softly, helping her walk until she felt comfortable enough to walk on her own.
"Probably not…you did kind of break that kid's nose, and maybe that other kid's jaw, so they are probably there right now," she giggled softly. Roman joined her in laughter, still walking back to the playground.
"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why were those two picking on you?" Roman asked gently.
"They thought I looked funny, made fun of my height compared to theirs, and made fun of my voice…I tried to fight back this last time, but then…" she trailed off.
"They started beating you…" Roman finished for her, with her being on the verge of tears again. "Listen Neo, I think you look pretty. I don't think you're that short, and I think your voice is beautiful," Roman told her, trying his best to calm her down before she started crying again.
"R-really?" she looked at him hopefully.
"Of course! And if anyone says otherwise, leave them to me. I'll protect you Neo," Roman assured her.
Neo stopped and gave Roman a small hug. "Thank you…Roman," she said after the hug ended.
"No problem, Neo," Roman smiled. Neo smiled back and Roman gestured to a swing set on the playground. "Wanna swing together?" he offered innocently. Neo was apprehensive at first, but then nodded her head. The two of them ran over, and for the first time that day, Neo was happy.
Roman shook his head after replaying the memory, looking over at his partner. She tilted her head in confusion, "What is it?" she asked, speaking for the first time since they had been reunited. Secretly, Roman loved the sound of Neo's voice.
"Oh, nothing. Just going back over old memories," Roman smiled as he looked out of the airship. Neo was the only one that Roman ever actually showed compassion or happiness towards, and this was in private where no one could see them. Roman was the only one Neo spoke to, and he relished in that privilege.
"I see," Neo smiled as well, stealing a glance at Roman before looking out of the airship at the water beneath them. "When do we arrive?" she asked softly.
"About an hour. If you want to head into the back part of the airship and catch a nap, now would be the time," Roman joked as he stretched his arms upwards.
"And miss out on the view? I think not," Neo crossed her arms, letting her legs hang out of the airship as she sat on the edge. Roman joined her, enjoying the view, as well as the sunset. Roman and Neo both secretly hoped the moment wouldn't end and they wouldn't be in battle again so soon, but miserably realized they had little choice. Neo quickly looked over and gave Roman a small peck on the lips before turning back entirely into the airship. When Roman gave her a questioning look, she simply said, "for good luck," with a small smile and the faintest hint of a blush. Roman smiled back, standing and ruffling Neo's hair before sitting back and slowly drifting to sleep.
The airship ride to the fleet of warships had been completely silent, and each of them had been given a small cabin to rest in before the battle. It would take some time to arrive, a few hours at the earliest. Tom had been pacing around his room, unable to sit down or stop with what was on his mind. Sam may very well be dead and there wasn't a thing they could do about it. He felt incredibly sympathetic to Weiss, whom he had first met at the restaurant all that time ago. Though it felt like it had been an age, it very well might have not even been over a month. He sighed, knowing that sitting here walking back and forth wouldn't help him, so he decided to go find Weiss and check on how she was doing.
As he walked out of his cabin and down the hall towards Weiss's, he saw that Seth, Pyrrha, and Ruby must have had the same idea as they all sat outside her door. Tom motioned for the three to come closer so Weiss wouldn't hear them talking, and decided to ask what progress they had made with her.
"Well? How is she?" Tom asked somewhat hopefully.
"We…we haven't talked to her. Ruby got here first, and she said she heard her crying," Seth frowned.
"Well, what are we supposed to expect?" Ruby sighed.
"I want to help her, I just have no idea what to say…" Pyrrha looked disheartened and helpless.
"Maybe because there isn't anything to say," Tom thought out loud. "All we can do is stand with her and be her shoulder to cry on or support to help her keep fighting."
The other three nodded, and Tom walked between them to go and knock on Weiss' door. "Hey, Weiss, it's Tom. Can I come in?" he asked softly. He heard no response, but could tell some sheets ruffling and footsteps as the door clicked unlocked. Weiss opened the door slightly, turning to go sit down before Tom opened the door the rest of the way to step inside before closing it behind him.
"What do you want?" Weiss said in a low whisper, and Tom almost could feel venom on her words.
"I know there isn't anything I can say to make you feel better, but I want you to know that I'm here to talk. We all are, and we always will be," Tom shrugged off any edge to Weiss' words and gave a concerned and sympathetic glance.
Weiss said nothing, just staring at the ground instead of looking up to meet Tom's gaze. He decided to try another method, walking over to Weiss before bending over and wrapping his arms around her in a large hug. Weiss tensed at the contact, but then began to shiver and eventually shake uncontrollably as she let out the tears she tried to hold back. Tom simply rubbed her back softly and whispered comforting words into her ear as she cried, picking her up out of the chair in the hug before carrying her over to the bed so they both could sit down. Tom broke the hug for a moment to sit on the edge of the bed, patting a spot next to him for Weiss to sit down. She did reluctantly, and put her head in her hands again as she continued to cry. Tom placed a hand on her upper back and rubbed comforting, waiting for her to calm down slightly.
As Weiss' sobs started to fade, she was finally able to form words. "Do…do you think he'll make it?" Weiss didn't look up at first, wiping her eyes. But after she had done so, she shot a pleading and helpless gaze at Tom, looking for any reassurance from Sam's former partner in the VDF. Tom noticed her eyes were red and bloodshot, as though she had been crying for a long time before he arrived.
Tom sighed softly, not really having the confidence to give the answer Weiss so desperately wanted to hear. "Yes, I think he will," he said after some thought. "Let me tell you of a story from way back, back when Sam was still in training, and when we had first met," he tried to get her mind off of the subject of Sam's current condition. Weiss nodded her head, wiping away the rest of her tears as she had finally stopped crying.
"We had been given partners, and I had a reputation for giving those on my side a hard time to push them to be better. So, Ozpin put me and Sam together. I remember one mission, we were dropped out in the middle of the woods, Grimm completely surrounding us. Our objective was to return to Vale, by any means necessary. If you didn't come back by a certain time, search parties were sent out to find you and bring you back, and you would fail the exercise if you were still alive. Now that I think back, I can almost remember getting dropped off…"
Both Sam and Tom jumped from the airship as it neared their drop-off point and turned to the direction of Vale, a large distance away. "How long do you think it'll take to get back?" Tom asked Sam after the airship had gone.
"Depends on how fast you are," Sam looked over with a large smirk on his face. I let out a loud laugh at his confidence.
"Come on kid, I could beat you in any race, any day of the week," Tom replied as he began walking towards a hill to get a better view of their surroundings.
"Hmph, I doubt that very much," Sam said under his breath, but just loud enough that Tom could hear it.
Tom rolled his eyes and continued marching towards the hill. "Do me a favor and don't slow me down. I'd like to get back relatively quickly so I can get back to a reasonable bed," he called back to Sam.
"Bah, who needs beds? I can sleep on the forest floor every night of the year," Sam put his hands behind his head as he jogged to catch up with Tom.
"Yeah, I'm sure you could," Tom rolled his eyes again. "Alright kid, if we're going to get through this, we might as well get to know each other. So, what's your story?"
"The name's Sam. Sam Engle. Got a bit of a strange heritage, at least it probably would be strange to you. And you are?" Sam introduced himself, outstretching his hand for a handshake as he stopped walking.
"Tom Evered is the name. As for family, or heritage, been around Vale my whole life, and my family has never lived anywhere else. What do you mean strange heritage?" Tom asked incredulously as he took Sam's hand in the hand shake.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Sam sighed.
"Oh yeah? Try me," Tom pressed as they resumed walking.
"My parents are the king and queen of Tethara, and are both dead, leaving me as the heir that Ozpin has taken responsibility of raising me and training me," Sam answered.
"Wow. That is strange. But tells me a lot about how Ozpin chose us to be grouped together," Tom commented.
"What do you mean?" Sam took his turn asking questions.
"I've got a history for, uh, giving a hard time to my teammates and partners. I'm one of those no bullshit kinds of people who doesn't stand for half-assed work," Tom replied. "I'm gonna guess you haven't had all that much combat experience, which would make sense why Ozpin would want to put you with me. I would be the toughest, and by definition, greatest person to train you."
"Oh come on, you can't be that good. How old are you anyway?" Sam questioned.
"26, been training ever since I was 12 to be the greatest huntsman of all time. I got accepted into Beacon early, graduated early at the top of my class, and became known as one of the toughest people out there. I'm known for being one hell of a hardass when it comes to stuff, kid," Tom retorted.
"Stop calling me kid, I'm only like 90 years older than you are," Sam rolled his eyes. Tom's eyes widened, but he didn't let his shock as they walked. They didn't noticed until just then, but the sun had begun setting. Both made their way towards a clearing, grabbing what loose wood they could find for a fire. They piled the wood together and Tom tried striking his lighter, only for it to not work. "Don't worry, I've got this," Sam smirked and threw lightning at the wood pile, setting it ablaze.
"So that's your semblance?" Tom moved his bag over to a soft patch of grass to lay down. Sam simply nodded his head and laid down as well, looking up at the stars. Tom decided that he would take the first watch and sat up, leaning against his bag as he watched the fire. Hours passed, and Tom had long since lost track of time. The fire had begun to die down slowly, and he felt his eyelids growing heavier. Without thinking, he slipped into slumber, not waking Sam for the next watch.
Suddenly, Tom heard a gunshot, and his eyes flew open as he stood, watching a Grimm monster collapsing and slowly turning to dust. He turned to see Sam awake, holding his rifle and aiming it where the Grimm had been. "Don't let your guard down, I don't think it was alone," Sam whispered, standing up slowly. Tom pulled out his assault rifle and Sam pulled out his sword to compliment his rifle. Before either of them knew it, several Grimm monsters jumped at them from the darkness. They had been split from the sheer number and surprise of the attack, and would have to work to meet back up with each other. Tom had been attack by a few Ursa, while Sam had been hit with several beowolves. Tom hand managed to gun down one before it got close, but was not as lucky with three more that had charged him. He was forced to quickly switch his assault rifle into its mace form and take the Ursa on in close combat. After beating the three remaining Ursa, Tom stopped to try and catch his breath while he looked around for Sam. To his dismay, Sam and the beowolves were nowhere to be seen. Tom decided that Sam had lead the wolves away as to keep them off of him, and decided to wait for Sam to return to finish the beowolves off together.
Unfortunately, the Grimm had other plans. Tom felt the ground shaking with large footsteps, only to turn and see the largest Ursa Major he had ever seen. "You have GOT to be kidding!" Tom muttered to himself as the Ursa Major charged at him. He had to move fast as the Ursa's strikes were fast and incredibly brutal. Tom tried to jump into the air to avoid the Ursa Major's punch, but after getting into the air he was knocked off balance by the Major's backswing. He fell down on the ground hard, the air knocked out of him. As he fought for breath, the Major came up to deal the final blow, raising its fists above its head, slamming them down on top of Tom. Tom had no time to react, and just closed his eyes and sent out a silent call for help.
Suddenly, Tom could hear the loud smashing sound of the Major's fists, but was surprisingly unharmed. He looked up to see Sam holding up the Ursa's arms, and saw his head whip around quickly. "RUN!" Sam screamed as he began struggling with the weight of the Major. Tom nodded his head and ran to safety before turning back to see Sam run out from under the Ursa Major as well. Tom smiled as he saw Sam escape, but soon turned to worry as he saw Sam's legs begin to shake with the struggle of standing. Before Tom could shout anything or react, the Ursa was back on top of Sam, aiming strike after strike at him. Sam dodged with relative ease, but Tom could tell that holding up the Major had sapped a lot of his strength. He tried to formulate a plan, but couldn't think of anything as he watched Sam. Eventually, Sam stopped dodging and put his sword up to one of the Ursa's fists as he punched, stabbing it into the creature and keeping it in place. Sam used his other arm to fire the rifle into the Major's armorless belly, with the creature growling at him. Eventually, the Major shook Sam's sword out of his hand and nailed him directly in the chest with its good arm.
"NO!" Tom ran up, weapon in mace form as he charged the creature. But before he could get there, the Ursa began convulsing as Tom saw electricity flowing through the sword from Sam's outstretched hand from where he had landed. Eventually, the electric current stopped flowing, and the Ursa Major finally collapsed, dead. Tom ran over, pulling Sam's sword out of the creature before running over to Sam. However, Sam was out cold, and Tom could tell he was bleeding in several places. Not thinking about anything else, Tom picked Sam up onto his shoulder and began running towards Vale, not caring who followed them…
"And then, we had finally made it back to the clearing where Ozpin and the Beacon teachers were. Medical crews came up and took Sam to the infirmary, and for a little bit, it didn't look like Sam was going to make it out of that either, yet he has made it this far," Tom finished. "Don't worry about him, Weiss. He'll be waiting for you when we get back." Weiss gave Tom a tight hug, whispering a small thank you.
"Attention crew, we will be arriving at the outskirts of Vacuo in 20 minutes. Begin final preparations for the battle," a voice called over the loudspeaker.
"I guess I gotta go get ready," Tom sighed, sitting up after the hug. Weiss nodded, and walked him to the door.
"Me too. Thank you, Tom, for everything," Weiss smiled for the first time it seemed that day. Tom smiled back and nodded, walking back to his room to get ready for maybe the toughest battle of his entire life.
And there we have it! Another chapter down in the Forsaken series, and some interesting back story moments. But, it all seems to be coming to a tee at Vacuo. Will the city be evacuated? Will it be lost? Can the Remnant forces stop the White Fang from taking Vacuo? Will Sam survive? What will happen to Pierce and the Council? How will our heroes fight Emerald and Mercury without Sam? In my opinion, its all rather exciting, and I hope you share a similar vibe. And I have to say, I'm actually a bigger supporter of RomanxNeo, so, uh, there you have it so far. Have any questions? Comments? Concerns? Criticisms? Leave a review! Don't feel comfortable putting it where everyone can see it? Send me a private message! Anyways, thank you guys so much for reading, and I will see you all in the next chapter!
