I'm back for another chapter. What did you think about this twist? Anyway, start up. I do not own RWBY.
The ride at the start was quiet as Taiyang sat next to Summer. Qrow and Winter sat quietly opposite of each other but not looking at each other. Summer was looking around. About 10 minutes into the flight she broke the silence.
"What year is it?" Summer asked shyly. I look at her. "The year is 1957, third cycle. What was the last thing you remember?" I say to the shy woman. "It's all fuzzy… I see a Beowolf and then nothing. Next thing I know, you are outside that pod." Summer said while looking down.
"Summer… You were in that pod for almost eleven years." I say and pause for a second. "We need to head to Beacon, Ozpin will explain better than I can since I am not from here." I finish. She looks at me with questioning eyes. "Where are you from? Mistral, Vacuo, or Atlas?" Summer asked.
"None of them. Once we see Ozpin, I'll explain in fuller detail than I can right now, if I can. Not to sound rude or anything but everyone is sore and tired from the fight beforehand. But any other questions you have I think I can answer." I say. Summer looks at Taiyang and leans on him.
The rest of the trip is quiet enough to hear a pin drop in the cabin of the bullhead. I hear Foxhound 1 talk to the tower to confirm landing on an air dock, to which we do. I load out along with everyone else and we head to Ozpin's office without being spotted by any students or teachers while Winter and Taiyang go to the med wing (more like limp over, but they got over there).
Once in the reception area, Goodwitch looks over at us and her face pales. Without saying a word, she rushes into the office. "Well then…" I say before both Goodwitch and Ozpin come out. "Now Glynda… Why did you have… to pull me… out…" That is all Ozpin said before his face pales as well, but still has a iron grip on that cup.
"Yes Headmaster, this is Summer Rose. We found her in some cyro-pods in an abandoned White Fang warehouse. But that warehouse was inhabited for a short time before they cleared. Before then… I think a cyro-facility, due to Summer being there. Any questions?" I summarized trying to get all seven of us into his office.
"Yes that may be. But how is Summer here? She was officially KIA and it was confirmed." Ozpin said leaking some classified Intel out (well, at the time of the confirmation. So at this time, it's public knowledge.).
"Oz, that is what I thought so as well, but here she is." Qrow said. "I seen blood on her cloak and seen a scar on where it was slashed. She is alive thanks to whoever it was that put her in that pod. The wound would have killed her if not for it. And look at this." I say before pulling a few folders out of my bag I grabbed on the way out of that building.
Ozpin grabs the folders and reads them. The first one is a medical folder about Summer. The report (more like a medical/autopsy report) shows that Summer had a cut across her stomach from a Beowolf and had lost a lot of blood by the time whoever it was found her. It showed that her BPM was so low it took a couple of minutes for one beat of her heart. Apparently she had a case of Ice Dust that got opened and spilled out on the gash and it slowed her heartbeat somehow. They patched her up and placed her in cryostasis to keep her alive and her aura healed the wound while in stasis.
The second one described purpose of the building and the group. 'To experiment for the betterment of everyone.' That seems like a cover-up if I have ever seen one. Apparently the group was research-orientated around preserving Huntsmen/Huntresses if they got wounded. Again, smells like a cover-up.
The third folder was a White Fang folder. Said folder had information on some of the hidden hideouts and some serious information on 3 heists, 2 of which have already happened. When Ozpin seen this, his eyes widen. That last heist will take a huge shipment of Dust while it is still on the ship.
"This is a lot of information you have found Rune. Was there anything else there?" Ozpin said, returning to his neutral tone after the whole deal with Summer and the WF file. "No sir. The White Fang was in a rush but grabbed the more important things. I found computers that were wiped clean of any data relating to the White Fang. But the data left from this 'Organization' was broken, fragmented badly. Given enough time, I can fix that." I say.
"I will let you do that." A pause from Ozpin. "Now, what about Summer?" Ozpin asks. "I have an idea on that. For the time being, I would think that Ruby and Yang cannot see her." I say and Summer looks at me then Ozpin.
"Ruby and Yang is here? How old are they?" Summer asked. Ozpin sighs. "Summer… Ruby is 15 while Yang is 17." Ozpin said in a neutral tone. Summer goes wide eyed at the ages they are now to when she last remembers before the Beowolf attack.
"Why can't I see them?" Summer asked in a hurt tone, ignoring the thought of the age restriction that normally is ruled with an iron fist. I intervene. "Summer, if Ruby and Yang see you now after you were officially KIA for almost 11 years, what do you think will happen? You seen what Taiyang and Qrow did when they seen you." She looks at me and looks like she is trying to put my words to thought.
Then it came to her. They would not believe her if see seen them. Right now it would cause more pain than comfort. She started to tear up. "But the idea I have will make sure you will see them. But in the time being, don't." I say to her trying to stop her crying.
"O-ok. How long will it take?" Summer asked. "A week at best, I will have to work around the schedule that all the Professors have for the tournament that is next semester." I say. She looks at me with a confused look.
"It will be before the dance that is supposed to happen before the semester." I say before pausing. "Is there anything you would like to add sir?" I add in. "No Rune. I do ask what it would take to get this plan finished." Ozpin said.
"Nothing at all. Right now I can start it before the day is over and finish it by a couple of days." I say and I get a raised eyebrow by all the members in the room. "Send Summer home to Patch with Taiyang while I do all this, that way no one will see her." I say to the group.
Summer looks at me with a smile. "If anything, let her rest and recover. She seems to be exhausted mentally more than anyone else." I add in. Goodwitch looks at me with a shocked face. It seems that my strategic part came to be during that fight. Those eyes are the stuff of nightmares, more like Nightmare Incarnate.
But back to the matter at hand. The dance is the deadline to bring Summer to Ruby and Yang. Ozpin looks at me. "Now I have no more questions after this. What of Taiyang and Winter?" I look around to the small group.
"As you can see with Qrow, they were injured during the fight. They are in the med wing right now. I was going to check on them once we were concluded." I say. 'Yep, strategic part is here and in full swing.' I think to myself.
"Now since there is no questions, I would say we are done here unless anyone would like to add something. And remember Rune, students from other Academies will come in tonight and tomorrow." Ozpin said before picking up his cup. No one had anything to add so we get up and walk out. I tell Summer that I will tell her my story when the time comes before Qrow and Summer head to the med wing while Ozpin and Goodwitch stays in the office.
I head to the dorm, it has been a couple of days of not being here seems to have changed everything. I arrive at RWBY's door and hear something off, well if you count not hearing anything common off.
I open the door and all eyes were on me. One pair had bags under them, and they belong to Blake. "Hey guys." I say and I see a blur, or two, coming at me. I sidestep and they fall in the hallway.
"Rune! What was going on! We couldn't get a hold of you on your scroll." Yang said. "I was out of range of the CCT in The Ashen Lands." I say and eyes were wide. "You were at The Ashen Lands?! What of Ouealag the Scarred?" Weiss asked.
I shiver at the recollection of the memory. "It was horrible. 10 feet tall and a color of blue for eyes that seems to be the essence of nightmares. I was mal-equipped at the time. Taiyang and Qrow were fighting Dreadstalkers while Winter and I fought him." I say.
They were about to ask more but Weiss caught on to something. "Past-tense. You were describing him in past-tense. You killed him." Weiss said while paling. "Yes and while he looked strong, he was a pushover. He didn't follow the winds of change and got buried by the sand left over." I say while recalling the quote my teacher said all the time.
"But enough of me, what about you all?" I asked. "Have you been to the cafeteria?" Yang asked. "Nope. Why?" I ask. "Well, nothing would be left of the carnage…" Yang said while trying to find all the details. "Let me guess, food fight." I say while smelling the whole cafeteria in one room that wasn't the cafeteria.
"Yea…" Ruby said while rubbing the back of her neck. "Alright, enough of this, what is going on with the dance?" I asked. "Well, team CFVY are still on a mission so Yang and I are in charge of setting it up." Weiss said.
"That's great! What have you done so far?" I ask. The only reason I'm doing this is due to Summer being here. Well my scroll vibrated, I look at it before they spoke. "Magnolia is out and heading home. Part one done, move when you want. –Oz."
"We have everything but the DJ or band, maybe both if we can." Weiss said. "I could be the band part if you want to. I go up there from time to time playing songs on my guitars while the DJ is setting up another playlist." I say, trying to not dance for most of the time. 3 of 4 faces brightened up at the thought.
"Really?! It could save some resources if you did." Weiss said before her scroll beeped. "It seems like we have everything we need then, if you still want to do this. That was the DJ." Weiss added with pep in her voice. "Good… well I'm tired guys, night." I say, which I was lying. A thing I hate doing to them.
"Ok, night Rune!" Ruby said before climbing in her bed. Once everyone, minus Blake, got into bed and asleep, Blake heads out. I follow her with stealth that would make her envy me. She heads to the library and sits at a table with a book.
Her bow twitches at the slightest sounds but one thing about me is the whole 'hold the sound' thing can be activated for a minute at a time now without Phase 2, but is like a bomb to my aura every time, 1/4 of my aura per hit.
Having only activated it once to avoid her detection, I have 2 hits left but I won't need them. "Come on out Rune." Blake said after seeing a slight movement. I step out slowly and sigh. "What's going on Blake?" I ask the tired girl.
"That is none of your concern Rune." I hear her say with an irritated tone. "Blake, we are on a team. I for one can take this. Remember the cryptic message that I was left, the whole 'Stop the darkness from taking the hearts of the mighty' thing. This obsession you have will only cause grief in you. Now tell me… what is wrong." I say trying to get an answer.
"You've… matured Rune. I have no idea on what happened during that mission, but you were so straightforward and foolhardy." A slight pause. "So I'll tell you. The White Fang will not stop while we wait for graduation. I think they are up to something and no one is doing anything about it." Blake said.
"I do have to agree with you but we need to discuss this with the rest of the team." I say while offering a hand to Blake to help her up. She takes it and nods to what I said. On our way back we ran into some students.
"Oh! Sorry, didn't see you there, I was lost in thought." I said, giving the fake excuse. They turned around. "It's ok. You know where the dorms for the festival's students are?" A girl with green hair and red eyes said. "They are west of here. And where are you from, if I may ask." I say, pointing west.
A black hair girl walks up. "Visiting from Haven, actually. And… thanks for the directions." The black haired girl said. "No problem." I say as they start to walk around, but something seems off. Like the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, off. And that means danger, a gut sense but it's helped me out of more jams than anything else. But they continue to walk around the corner.
I try to do something I haven't done consciously, call on Sapphire or try to. I feel the area drop a few degrees. "What's going on Rune?" "I need you to tail them, you know who I'm talking about, and they seem bad news." "Alright." She leaves and I turn.
Blake is wide eyed at the small conversation. "What's going on Rune? Why have a ghost follow them?" Blake said, trying to piece together things. "Call it a gut instinct. Hairs on the back of my neck stood up on them and that is usually a sign of danger." I say. This maturity in my tone is starting to weird me out a bit.
"Why though? I didn't get that feeling." Blake said as we continued our walk to the dorm. I look over to her and to the front. "Remember the situation I'm in Blake? I have this sixth sense for danger and that brings me said trouble in droves." I say.
We arrive at the room and find that everyone is awake. How do I know this? The door opened as we got close, and Yang was the one who opened it. "Well, well, well… Look what we have here. Really Blake, why Rune?" Yang said with an over-hyper tone.
Blake's face reddens at the thought but I intervene. "Really Yang? I had to go find her and she has agreed to open up to you all." I say ignoring the heat on my face. "No need to get Yangery Rune." Yang said and got a groan from everyone who heard that.
"Yang… It's too late in the night to do that. Now, I'm really going to bed. We have to have a chat in the morning." I say as I climb into my bed in the corner. We all climb into bed without another word and I drift into sleep.
I wake up later from a dreamless sleep earlier than the four in the room and walk into the hallway. "Come on out Sapphire." I say sensing the spirit. "Really… And here I was thinking I could scare you." "You know you can't do that. So, what of your search?" "Nothing off right now, but I share your feelings on them. They act like they have done this before." "I know, but as I said earlier, something is off. Just watch them, if you need the energy, you can find me. And make sure you don't get spotted."
And with that, Sapphire disappears like a mist to a wind. I hear someone cough behind me. I turn and see Ozpin with that coffee cup. "Morning Headmaster. What can I do for you?" I ask trying to act like I was walking down the hall.
"Care to share the reason why Sapphire is being sent to watch some students that have come to the festival?" Ozpin asked after he took a sip of coffee. "Alright, you caught me Headmaster. The only reason I have done it is, how should I call it, a gut feeling with the hair on the back of my neck standing up around those students.
They have an aura of confidence around them that only a few people have. That aura is only gained by years of experience and yet to stop learning. They aren't regular students, if I should call them that. If I may, I would like a look at their file." I finally say.
"That's quite an accusation Rune. However, I do not have the file. I have general information and that is can only be viewed by instructors." Ozpin said with another sip of coffee. "Now, what do you think of the dance? Did your teammates finish it up?" Ozpin asked.
"Yea they did. When I got back last night they had to choose the music, either coming from a band or DJ but we opted for both. I agreed to play some while the DJ was setting up another playlist." I say.
"Interesting… Now, I must take my leave to get more coffee. Good day Rune." Ozpin says as he heads to the cafeteria. "Good day Headmaster." I say back while going to the room. I reach it and open the door as quietly as I can.
I see Blake and Weiss up getting to go to breakfast, Yang was up but lying in bed and Ruby was still asleep. "Morning guys." I say and I get a tired 'Morning' from the 3 people up. Blake and Weiss walk out to head to breakfast. I help Yang get Ruby up and around.
"Can I talk to you guys for a minute?" I ask. They look at me with a curious look and sat down saying sure. "What can you tell me about your mother, Summer? I want to know that way this isn't used against you and I can counter it if it is. If you don't want to share, then you can get up and join the others." I say. This got me a flash of red and a sadden silver.
"It's… It's ok Rune. I know you want to help." Yang said with her eyes back to lilac. "It's just a touchy subject around us. Summer was a super-mom. She was the slayer of monsters, baker of monstrous portion of cookies, and you can say she was a guardian."
I look at Ruby and see she was about to tear up. I continue anyway. "What would you guys do if she just walked into the door?" I say. This gave me another flash of crimson before a return to lilac. "I wouldn't know… I don't know." Yang said with Ruby looking like a dam is about to burst.
"Alright, I will stop. But I have another surprise for you at the dance." I say and I get a 180 out of Ruby. "Really? Rune, you need to stop that. What if all these surprises will make us crazy?" Ruby said in gibberish.
"It won't harm you to keep you guessing. Guessing gives you something to do if you have nothing. Come on, let's get to breakfast before Nora eats it all again." I say. We get up and rush to the cafeteria. Luckily we got there before Nora and Ren, so there was plenty of pancakes.
But that peace and well stocked food didn't last long after about 5 minutes. In a literal whirlwind, Nora came in and grabbed anything that looked like pancakes and syrup that wasn't bolted down. I pinch the bridge of my nose and Weiss does the same thing.
We all eat and listen in to Nora's dream, at least it is different than the last time. I get finished before anyone else and walked back to the table. Before I could do that, my scroll beeped to a message I received. I look at it and look at the ID, but there isn't one.
"Message to Rune Cobalt,
I know you are on to me. Cease this immediately and I will overlook this once. If not… You wouldn't like to know. I can take you down and you wouldn't stop me."
I turn around before they seen me go to the table. I walk past the obsidian-haired girl with her friends and freeze mid-step. They see me and have a puzzled look on their faces, from what I see. I turn and look at them. I type a message on my scroll but didn't send it, I only needed to tell them something without saying anything.
"I know that was you. You have looked at me since last night trying to figure out my power, strengths, and weaknesses." I 'say' to the mysterious girl and her group. I look at my scroll and see another message.
"Very cleaver Rune, if that is your real name. I will talk later." And I walk off to Ozpin's office. I arrive and Professor Goodwitch was not at her computer. I knock on the door and I see Ironwood open the door, which surprised me a bit but not much due to the festival.
"Ah… Mr. Cobalt, right?" Ironwood asked. I nod my head. "Sorry to intrude, but I have found another threat for this school." I say, bowing to everyone. "Is that so? Then have at it." Ozpin said. "They are here in this school." I say to the Headmaster.
Ironwood looks at me with a frown. "Young man, what are you saying?" I look at the General. "With all due respect, this isn't some beginner to the board. It isn't Grimm, but human." I say, that got everyone's attention.
"What do you mean?" Goodwitch said with a glare that could melt reinforced steel. I hold my hands in the air, mockingly. "What I seen is White Fang operatives." I say flatly. All eyebrows disappear in hair. "What do you mean?!" Goodwitch said/shouted.
"Calm down Professor, I have proof of this." I say pulling out my scroll and phone. I send the messages to Ozpin and the General. They read the messages and got a puzzled look. "Mr. Cobalt, these have no ID on them." Ozpin said.
"Ever heard of a UDS?" I ask. Ironwood looks at me. "What's that?" He asks in a calm tone. "A Un-Detectable Scroll, the CCT can't track the aura ID on it because that feature is disabled and they can only send messages, not receive them." I say in a flat tone.
The occupants in the room have different looks. "What do you mean they can only send messages?" Ironwood said. "It's just as I said, this way they can't be tracked by someone sending a message." I say to the General.
"Really, and how do you know this?" Ozpin asked before Ironwood. "Easy, when I wanted to send a message back all I got was 'ID not found'." I say. "Alright, now who are these people?" Ironwood said. "James, I'm sure Mr. Cobalt doesn't know who they are." Ozpin said.
"It was hard to see their faces. One of them, from what it looks like, has a semblance to create illusions. I could only see the hair and that alone will not come to an accusation." I say. "I must say Rune, if it wasn't for the fact of your predicament, I would hire you for an investigator with that deductive knowledge." Ironwood said.
"Now, now James. I do have a question on another topic though." Ozpin said. "And that would be sir?" I say. "What is with the sudden maturity? Did the battle change you?" Ozpin asked. "I would say so, I looked into those eyes and they seemed cursed. I had a limiter, and I still do, but one part was locked due to inexperience. That part was a small part of my strength and my strategic knowledge for some reason and that knowledge gave me my maturity for thinking." I say.
"That is strange but good. Now, is that all?" Ozpin asked and I nod. "Alright, dismissed." Ozpin said and I walk out with a bow. I hear them continue but pay no mind. I get to the ground floor and look at my scroll. I walk back to the dorm to hear the common things.
Music, plans for the dance, and what Blake told me. I hear what she said to me. About the White Fang not waiting for graduation and we will wait for now and go looking after the dance. I walk in and all eyes were on me again.
"Where were you Rune?! Your scroll wasn't working for some reason." Ruby said. "Wait, did you say my scroll wasn't working?" I ask and she nods. "Dang, it was working today. I think I know what is wrong." I say and eyebrows rose.
"Really? What if it is the CCT?" Weiss said. "Then it is, until then I will look around." I say. I sit on my bed and open my phone. I look on my phone for an application for virus detection and found it. I hook my phone up to my scroll and ran a test.
I go wide eyed on the results. This virus is something that I have ran into before, but where? But the virus was just installed and the programming is targeted to scrolls. I smile at that, I have NOTHING on my scroll and my phone has anti-virus on it, so nothing could get into it. What it does is it sends the virus back to sender.
RTS, or Return To Sender, is something I developed myself. I remember myself making it on the other side but I don't remember how to make it. All the details are lost in my mind somewhere. It doesn't matter right now.
Back to the scroll, the virus seems to fall into the programming on my scroll making it look like my scroll's own code. I purge the little bug from my scroll and I look up. I see the group looking at me.
"Yes?" I ask. "What did you do? I've never seen that before." Weiss asked. "Oh nothing… Just a virus removal." I say in a neutral tone. "Virus removal? Is that what was wrong with you scroll? The scrolls have a safety feature to where if something is wrong with the scroll it doesn't receive messages." Weiss said.
"That's a great feature, but not as good as my phone here." I say while holding out said device for unhooking. "Let me see you scrolls, I need to check them." I say and they were hesitant by gave them to me. All clear so far.
"What's that program you mentioned Rune?" Ruby asked. "Something I call RTS. A program on my phone sends the virus that was targeting my phone back to the sender. I have yet to see something slip past it. The only downside is it can't download anything third party or anything anymore." I say as I handed Yang her scroll.
"Well, I think I'm going to sit here while you plan for the dance." I say bringing out my acoustic guitar. "I think I may play a bit if you don't mind." I add in and they all agreed. I play any song that comes to mind that fits with my instrument that is out.
I play until I hear a knock on the door. Weiss opens it and see Jaune. He has a guitar in his hands. 'Oh no, this can't be good.' I think to myself. I put my guitar down and walk to Jaune before he could start whatever he was going to do and walk him away from the door.
"What's going on Jaune?" I ask while pulling him from the room. "Well… I was going to ask Weiss to go to the dance with me." Jaune said sheepishly. "I have to say Jaune that is brave. Go ahead and try, but only once you can ask. I don't want to deal with Weiss in a bad mood." I say.
"Well alright." Jaune said before going to the door. He did ask and got rejected. He walks away in a sad state and I was about to chase after him and I see Pyrrha exit her dorm to the noise. "Hey Pyrrha! What's going on?" I ask with her looking around for the noise. "Oh nothing, I thought I heard Jaune." Pyrrha said while still looking around.
"You did, but he just left. Did he ask you to the dance?" I ask. "No he hasn't. Let's catch up to him and see!" Pyrrha said before bolting. I chase after and check on their training spot on the roof.
We see him and he turns. "Oh, hey guys. What's up?" Jaune said in a said tone. "Nothing, just chasing after you for a chat." I say. Pyrrha looks at me then to Jaune. "Yea, why don't you ask someone else to the dance if they say no for the umpteenth time?" I say.
"Who will I ask?" Jaune said. I look to Pyrrha and Jaune sees this. "You mean Pyrrha?" Jaune said with shock. "You must have guys asking you all the time." Jaune said. "Not really, no." Pyrrha simply said. "Alright Jaune, Pyrrha. How about a friendly little wager?" I say in a tempting tone.
"Alright, what's going on?" Jaune and Pyrrha ask, taking the hook and bait. "Simple. You guys must come up with a deal before I say anything." I say in the same tone. "Really… Alright, if Pyrrha doesn't have a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress." Jaune said.
Both Pyrrha and I look at him at this. "Really Jaune?" I hear Pyrrha ask. "Yep, what about you?" Jaune asked. "Hmm… I honestly have no idea. If I do have a date at the dance, I'll wear a suit." Pyrrha said.
"Eh, alright. Do you both agree on this?" I ask and they nod. "Alright. If Jaune wears a dress, I'll help him with some homework for three weeks in the upcoming semester and if Pyrrha wears the suit, I'll help train Jaune and let her rest for three weeks." I say and they look at me.
"Sure." They both said and I catch the last part they mumbled last. "Why does it feel like we make a deal with a devil?" I look at them. "Alright, now is the time for the blood signature." I deadpan with an evil-like smirk and they look scared. I bust out laughing. "You should have seen your faces! Man that was funny." I say after I laugh.
"Not funny!" They shout in unison. "I was joking about the bet, by the way." I say. "Well, I for one will stick with my side of it!" Jaune said confidently. "Alright, Jaune. If you want to." I say and I look at Pyrrha. "What about you?" I asked Pyrrha. "It's fine, but are you sure Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm serious. You want to do some more training since we're up here?" Jaune asked. "Sure thing Jaune." Pyrrha said. "Mind if I join in?" I ask. They look at me with a slight red tint to their cheeks. "Sure." Pyrrha said.
"What are you going to help with Rune?" Jaune said. "Hand to hand. I will teach you, like I will teach Ruby and Yang, if she wants it. It's called CQC. What happens when you don't have your weapon on you and your opponent corners you? Easy, use their own weight against them." I say to the duo.
"That sounds interesting Rune. Why CQC though?" Pyrrha asked. "Easy again. Close Quarters Combat. It's a variation on what I used when we first sparred in class, well that was a variation to this." I say. Pyrrha's eyes go wide on that.
"Really?" Pyrrha simply asked. "Yea, come at me." I say in a combat stance. When she swung, I blocked and flipped her. "The only downside is that what I use is mostly for defense and little offence but that doesn't mean anything with this. I primarily use grapples and throws to stun my foes and use Light for offence. Any questions?" I say.
"Yea, why teach me though?" Jaune asked. "With what I will teach, you'll be able to use your sword and shield along with." I say. Pyrrha's eyes shone in the night with this and had a grin. "Sure, now let's teach Jaune." Pyrrha said and we taught all the way until late.
That's all for now, I put Summer to the side for now so I can think on how she will be. I think that's it for now. PM or review for questions and favorite/follow to be up to date.
