A New World
Chapter 13: Professor Peach
A/N: Another chapter for you all. This chapter will include a summary of the story so far at the end of the chapter so any new readers can catch up with what has happened the story. On an unrelated note, how awesome is RWBY Volume 6 so far?
Enjoy the chapter!
Hiccup finished the call with Nils and decided to work on a new weapon at his forge. Jaune was met with the sound of a hammer striking metal when he woke up. He yawned before climbing out of bed and leaving the room.
He saw Hiccup working on what appeared to be a sword and as he approached Hiccup he tapped him on the shoulder, expecting him to drop the hammer in surprise.
To his credit, Hiccup didn't even flinch. He put down the hammer and placed the sword in some water to cool before speaking. "Good Morning Jaune," Hiccup said without turning around.
"Morning," Jaune muttered sleepily. "What are you working on?"
"Oh, just a sword that I plan to be able to use various kinds of dust. Similar idea to how Weiss' weapon works," Hiccup replied, turning around now as he spoke.
"Cool," Jaune replied. "I'm going to go get something to eat." The former student said as he walked to the door.
"In your pyjamas?" Hiccup asked with a raised eyebrow. Jaune looked down and realised, with his face flushing red in embarrassment, that he was still wearing his pyjamas.
"I must be more tired than I thought. I think I saw those windows going dark over there as well. I must be dreaming" Jaune mumbled.
Hiccup turned to look at where Jaune was staring and he too noticed that the windows of the shop across the street, Tucson's book trade had gone dark.
"You're not dreaming Jaune, I see the windows going dark too." Hiccup replied. "I'm going to take a look. You stay here"
Hiccup left the forge before Jaune could respond and walked over to Tucson's shop. He loudly knocked on the door. The door opened a few moments later and Hiccup entered.
When Hiccup entered the shop, he saw a grey-haired boy, at a similar age to him, standing near the door to the shop. He looked towards the counter and saw a green-haired girl standing near the counter while Tucson stood behind it.
"Sorry if I'm interrupting anything here Tucson. I can come back later if you want." Hiccup said, an apologetic expression on his face as he looked at the boy and the girl who were already present.
"It's fine. What book would you like?" Tucson asked, his face set in a forced smile for some reason.
"Do you any books where I can learn how to weave dust into clothing?"
"Ah yes, I do," Tucson replied as he began to look for a suitable book. He found one and placed it on the counter in front of him. "Here you are," he said. Hiccup placed down money to pay for the book before leaving.
Hiccup returned to the forge and Jaune turned to him with a questioning gaze.
"So what book did you buy?" Jaune asked.
"A book on how to weave dust into clothing, but that's not why I went there." Jaune looked confused so Hiccup elaborated as he reached for his scroll. "I went there to find out why the lights went dark, and I know why."
"Why?" Jaune asked.
"Tucson has visitors. I suspect he is in trouble." Hiccup replied, dialling a number on his scroll.
A loud bang that sounded suspiciously like a gunshot was heard, sounding in the direction of Tucson's shop, just as Hiccup called Nils and the ringtone started playing.
"Do you still have your scroll?" Hiccup asked Jaune.
"Yes. Why?" Jaune asked as the visitors from the store left the building.
"No time to explain. Take as many good pictures of them as you can. Quickly!" Hiccup said urgently and Jaune complied, reaching into his pocket for his scroll and nearly dropped it in the process.
Jaune held up his scroll and began taking pictures while Hiccup's call went to Nils voicemail by this point.
Hiccup pocketed the scroll before glancing at Jaune. "I think that's enough pictures Jaune."
Jaune took one last picture of the pair that had been in Tucson's shop before pocketing his scroll.
"What do we do now?" Jaune asked
"Well I have to call the public police scroll number as my contact in the police seems busy and I suspect Tucson is dead. That bang that we heard before our visitor's left his shop sounded like a gunshot. When the police arrive, we'll show them the pictures and see if they can find our… guests." Hiccup replied. Hiccup then proceeded to make the call.
After the police arrived and, as Hiccup had suspected, found Tucson's corpse with evidence of being shot in the forehead, the police officers promised to look for the pair that Jaune had taken pictures of.
Hiccup then recommended that Jaune go buy something to eat in order to keep his mind off the murder that had just happened across the street from the forge.
Jaune got dressed and ordered take-out from a noodle stand that was set up a few streets away, the same one that Hiccup had ordered food for the boy from the orphanage.
Jaune returned to the forge and began to eat. Hiccup then decided to break the news about his team at Beacon being assigned a new team leader. Hiccup didn't know how to begin to tell Jaune something like that so he decided to be blunt.
"Ozpin is planning to have someone replace you as team leader of JNPR." Hiccup said and winced when Jaune started coughing when he heard the news.
"What?" Jaune gasped after he recovered from coughing. "He's already replacing me?"
Hiccup blinked. "It hasn't happened yet Jaune. It's an idea he thought of. It might not even happen. But if it did happen, the person in question who would replace you is Astrid Hofferson. A friend of mine from back home who somehow found herself here." Hiccup said and Jaune relaxed slightly.
"Well, at least it's someone you know. What's she like?" Jaune asked
"Imagine someone who always tries to be the best at everything but has a temper and doesn't like people flirting with her." Hiccup answered, remembering all the times Snotlout tried to do so but was ignored completely.
"So like Weiss?"
"Exactly!" They both share a laugh at this.
"I'd like to meet her," Jaune said when they had stopped laughing.
"Alright then. Let's go."
Hiccup and Jaune arrive at the police station where Astrid was located.
Hiccup approached Amy, who was sitting at the reception desk.
"Hello, Amy. Is Nils here?"
"No, sir. He is currently away investigating something at an Orphanage. No idea why though. And who is this?" Amy asked, looking at Jaune, her eyes shining brightly.
"That is Jaune. He was a student at Beacon but he got expelled," Hiccup then noticed her sultry expression as she looked at Jaune.
"He has a girlfriend already, sorry Amy." The receptionist pouted in response. "No fair." She whined.
Jaune sputtered and blushed when he heard that. "P-Pyrrha's not my girlfriend." Amy looked hopeful once more while Hiccup raised an eyebrow.
"If she isn't your girlfriend then is she a friend with benefits? You did the 'horizontal tango' if I remember correctly." Hiccup chuckled as Jaune's blush deepened.
"Anyway, if you want to chase Jaune here Amy, you will have competition. Pyrrha Nikos likes him quite a lot it seems."
If it were possible, Jaune became even more red, becoming the same shade of red as Pyrrha's hair.
"Anyway, we're here to visit an old friend of mine," Hiccup said, now no longer teasing Jaune.
"Ok. First cell through there." Amy replied, pointing to the door behind reception.
"Thanks," Hiccup grabbed Jaune's arm and dragged him along, heading for the door in order to go see Astrid.
"Hello milady, what are you in for?" Hiccup said when he reached Astrid's cell.
"Hello, Hiccup." Astrid smiled, standing up from the metal bench she was sitting on and approaching the bars of the holding cell.
Her eyes then moved to Jaune, who was standing next to Hiccup.
"You have an extra visitor. Getting popular are we?" Hiccup quipped and Astrid laughed.
"Who is he?" Astrid asked
"I'm Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue and ladies love it." Jaune said, waving at her.
"Are you trying to flirt with me?" Astrid asked
"I hope he isn't. Considering I told him not too," Hiccup cut in, his tone warning. Jaune noticed his mistake and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"Anyway, there is a chance that you could end up as the new leader of Jaune's former team."
"Team? What do you mean?"
"He was learning to become a hunter at Beacon. Each student is put on a team with three other people, but because he was expelled, his team is missing a member." Hiccup explained
"...So I am being chosen to join his team?"
"Yes."
"I can't do that Hiccup. This place is too… different. Besides I miss my dragon… and Gobber." she said
"Dragon? You have a dragon too?" Astrid nodded. "Her name is Stormfly. She is a Deadly Nadder. Gobber has a dragon too. This place wouldn't be so bad with Stormfly or Gobber, but I can't stay here without them."
The door that leads to the cells opened before Hiccup could reply and Nils Anderson walked through, shoving a large man who had handcuffs on, ahead of him. Nils pushed the man into a cell before turning to Hiccup and Jaune.
"Turns out that the boy you told me about was being abused. We're going to keep him here for the time being." Nils nodded to the man who was in the holding cell. Hiccup recognised him as the man who had tried to hit the boy from the Orphanage. The man looked at Hiccup and began cursing at him, but Hiccup ignored him.
"So what will happen to the boy?"
"He will be kept here until we find a better orphanage to move him to," Nils replied. "Speaking of which, I should bring him here. He is still in the police car." Nils then left and Hiccup turned to Astrid again.
"I might have a way to get you home or at least visit." Hiccup said, thinking of the boy's semblance. Astrid became hopeful when she heard this.
"Tell me more," Astrid demanded
In an old warehouse, the White Fang were moving crates as Emerald and Mercury - the pair that had been at Tucson's book trade earlier - enter the building.
"Oh, look! She sent the kids again! This is turning out just like the divorce!" Roman snarked while he approached the two from behind and wraps his arms around them in a group hug.
Emerald shivered in disgust.
"Spare us the thought of you procreating."
Emerald and Mercury pull away from Roman.
"That was a joke. And this...just might tell me where you two have been all day." Roman produces a piece of paper.
"What!? Agh…" Emerald groaned as she searched her pockets for the piece of paper but finds them empty.
"I'm a professional, sweetheart. Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something." Roman quips. He then holds up the piece of paper.
"Why do you have this address?" Roman demands, staring at them, his voice gaining an edge.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Yeah, I would. Now, where have you been all day?" Roman asked the pair.
"Cleaning up your problems. One of them, at least." Mercury replied
"I had that under control." Roman growls.
"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale say otherwise."
"Listen, you little punk. If it were up to me, then I would take you and your little street rat friend here and…"
"Do what, Roman?" A new voice cut in.
Cinder appears on a platform above them. She stepped onto an automated lift, riding it down to their level.
Roman laughed nervously. "I'd, uh... not kill them?"
"Cinder!" Emerald exclaimed excitedly.
"I thought I made it clear that you would eliminate the would-be runaway." Cinder said, ignoring Emerald.
"I was going to…" Roman trailed off
"He was going to escape to Vacuo! Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat." Emerald stated
"I think he was some sort of cat, actually." Mercury pointed out
Emerald scoffed. "What? Like a puma?"
"Yeah, there ya go."
"Quiet." Cinder ordered the pair.
"Did I not specifically instruct you two to keep your hands' clean while in Vale?
As Cinder speaks, Roman points a finger at the pair while laughing in agreement.
"I just thought…"
Roman uses his fingers to mime having a slit throat.
"Don't think... obey." Cinder told them.
"Yes, ma'am. It won't happen again." Emerald said apologetically
Cinder turned to Roman. "And you. Why wasn't this job done sooner?"
As Roman speaks, he points to his right, then to his left, then behind him. "Sorry if I've been busy stealing every speck of Dust in the Kingdom!"
"You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski mask," Mercury said dryly and Emerald laughs at the remark.
"Look around, kid. I've got this town running scared! Police camping out at every corner, Dust prices through the roof, and we're sitting pretty on an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with! Speaking of which, if you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grand master plan, it might actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother!" He clenches his fist in emphasis.
Cinder walks closer to Roman. "Oh, Roman. Have a little faith." She places her hand on his face. "You'll know what you need when you need to know it." Roman seems entranced but then looked away with a grunt. "Besides, we're done with Dust." She begins to walk away.
"O-okay, then what now?" Roman wonders
"We're moving. Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."
"Coordinates?"
Cinder looks back at Roman. "We're proceeding to phase two," she tells him. "Oh and you two," The pair look at Cinder. "Help our dear friend Adam escape."
Cinder, Mercury and Emerald begin to walk away. Roman attempts to light a cigar but realizes Emerald has stolen his lighter. She turns back to face him and sticks her tongue out defiantly.
Hiccup and Jaune leave the police station. Hiccup glanced at Jaune. "So what did you think of Astrid?" Hiccup asked as they start to walk back to his forge.
"She seems nice," Jaune commented.
Hiccup tensed suddenly for a moment before continuing to walk at his regular pace.
"Act normal Jaune." Hiccup instructed carefully. "We're being followed."
Jaune was about to turn around when Hiccup gripped his shoulder, holding him in place.
"We don't want him to know that we know we're being followed Jaune."
"Then what do we do?"
"We keep walking and try and find an alleyway. If he follows us there, we can corner him." Hiccup stated.
As agreed, Hiccup and Jaune entered an alleyway, lying in wait for the person who was following them to appear.
Hiccup turned into a mouse, just as the person who had been following appeared. Jaune looked around, bewildered, wondering where Hiccup had gone.
The mysterious person entered the alleyway and approached Jaune. The person was wearing a mask, hiding his face from view.
Hiccup transformed back into a human, appearing behind the masked person and knocking the person unconscious before they could react with a blow to the back of the head.
"How did you do that?" Jaune asked, slightly awed. "Is that your semblance?"
"No, it's not. I'll explain later. I'd rather not find out if our stalker here has friends."
They left the alleyway and were about to continue to return to the forge when they both felt something impact their skin.
They both tried to walk forward but instead ended up falling over as they both found themselves suddenly exhausted.
The pair fell to the ground and Hiccup watched as a pair of black boots approached and 'It seems our stalker does have friends' being his last thought before he fell asleep on the pavement, along with Jaune who was next to him, succumbing to sleep as well.
Hiccup's eyes fluttered open and he found himself in a dark room. He tried to stand up but found himself strapped to a chair.
"Hello, Hiccup." A voice boomed. Hiccup looked around, trying to spot the person who had spoken.
"I'm not in the same room as you so stop looking." The voice said.
"How do you I'm looking for him? Also, where am I? And where is Jaune?" Hiccup asked, now looking for him.
"He's not there either. And I won't tell you where you are. Not yet at least. As for how I could tell you moved, there are Infrared cameras in the room. Don't look for them either, they are too small for you to see"
"What do you want with me?" Hiccup asked but received no answer this time. Suddenly, Hiccup heard a loud creaking sound and a set of doors opened, flooding the room with sunlight. Hiccup closed his eyes before opening them again slowly to adjust to the light.
When Hiccup was able to see again, he noticed that the room he was in was made of solid steel and apart from the chair he was sitting in, the room had no furniture at all. He then noticed that there was a loudspeaker in the corner of the room and assumed that was how the voice had spoken to him.
A Faunus woman with rabbit ears wearing a business suit entered the room and approached Hiccup, standing in front of him.
"Hello Hiccup." the woman said, smiling. "I am Professor Peach."
"Hello." Hiccup said
"I'm sure you have lots of questions so feel free to ask and I will try to answer them."
"Ok. Well, first I want to know where I am."
"I can't tell you exactly where you are, but you are still in Vale so don't worry too much. Next question"
"Ok. Where is Jaune?"
"In another room nearby waiting for you."
"What do you want with me?"
"I want to ask you questions about a friend of mine. Tucson. I'm sure you know what happened to him"
"Yes…? Still doesn't explain why you brought me here. You could have simply asked me questions at the police station or at my forge." Hiccup pointed out.
"That is true, we could have done that. But that is not the only reason you were brought here." Professor Peach knelt down and started undoing the straps that kept Hiccup attached to the chair he was sitting on.
"Jaune will likely have questions as well so let's go meet him and answer his questions. I will then tell you both why you are here." Professor Peach said as she unfastened the straps, allowing Hiccup to stand up before she rose to her full height again.
"What is your first name?" Hiccup asked. "It seems somewhat rude to refer to you as a fruit." Professor Peach chuckled at his response. "You're the first person to tell me that," she said between laughs. "My first name is Violet."
"Violet Peach?" Violet nodded
"What about you?" Violet then asked Hiccup.
"What?"
"What is your full name?"
"I'd rather not say."
"Why not? I told you my name."
"I'm not sure if I can trust you yet," Hiccup responded.
"...Fair enough I guess. Let's go." Violet turned and left the room without waiting for Hiccup, who hurried to catch up with her.
Violet led Hiccup to an unassuming grey building that had a single large window on the side. Hiccup could see Jaune sitting at a table near the window. He was facing away from them so he didn't see them approach until the pair entered the building through a door that was next to the window.
Jaune notices Hiccup and waves in his direction. Hiccup waves at Jaune before making his way over to his table. Hiccup sat next to Jaune while Violet sat across from them.
"So will you finally tell us why we're here?" Hiccup asked.
"Yes. You're here because you may give us an idea on who killed Tucson." Violet replied.
"Us? What do you mean us?" Jaune asked Violet. She smiled slightly.
"Welcome to Faunus First. I am the leader of the group now that Tucson is dead" Violet said, her voice slightly sad.
"Faunus First? You mean the group that was protesting until the White Fang arrived?" Violet nodded.
"Yes. If I recall, you were there."
Hiccup became suspicious. "How do you know that?"
"I'm sure you can figure it out Hiccup. You seem smart."
"Blake." Hiccup said after thinking for a few moments. "She works for you. Is that why she was there at the protest?" Violet nodded, confirming his thoughts.
"You've nearly figured it out but Jaune here still seems confused so I'll just tell you. We're… kind of like spies, kind of like vigilanties, looking out for the Faunus, before anyone else."
"So you aim to protect Faunus and human citizens in Vale, with Faunus being the priority" Violet nodded. "That's right."
"The name makes sense now." Hiccup commented.
"That doesn't really explain why you brought us here." Jaune pointed out.
"I'm getting to that. You remember how recently Blake was attacked by two White Fang members Hiccup?" Hiccup nodded. "What did you do when you found out?"
"I made one of them tell me where Adam was and made sure he was arrested, with the help of the police."
"Yes. Now, believe it or not, the attack on Blake was staged somewhat. See, we had been watching the White Fang and you Hiccup for a while and we knew that Adam was looking for her. So we wanted to see how you would react to the attack. Would you try and protect Blake or would you do nothing. You protected her, so that is why we brought you here.
"You want us to help you?"
"Bingo. You see, when we have time, we are able to protect people. This morning with Tucson proves what happens when we don't have time. That is where you and Jaune come in…"
"Basically she wants you to help provide information on people who could be in danger, Faunus in particular, even if we do help both Humans and Faunus," Blake said, appearing as if out of thin air.
"How did you do that and aren't you meant to be in a class at Beacon?" Hiccup wondered
"I learned to move silently when I was still part of the White Fang, and classes ended a while ago. You two were asleep for a while." Blake explained
Hiccup accepted her answer before he turned his gaze to Jaune. "Do you still have your scroll?" he asked. Jaune nodded and pulled out his scroll.
"Show Violet the pictures you took earlier." Jaune complied, going into the scroll's gallery and selected a picture that displayed the duo who had visited Tucson, before sliding the scroll over to Violet so she could see the pictures.
"These are the people who were there when Tucson died. I think they killed him." Violet nodded without looking up at him.
"Does this mean you're going to help us?" Violet asked after looking at the pictures. Hiccup and Jaune both nodded. "Welcome to Faunus First then boys." Violet smiled
Hiccup's scroll then started ringing. He stood up, took it out of his pocket and answered the call. "I need to go." Hiccup said, his voice urgent after the call had ended. "What is it?" Blake asked, concerned.
"It's Adam," Hiccup said grimly. "He's escaped from the police station."
A/N: You didn't think I was finished with Adam did you?
Maniacal laugh!
*ahem*
Here is the summary I promised at the start of the chapter:
Hiccup and Toothless leave Berk and enter Remnant via a red portal, created by Raven without her knowledge.
Hiccup and Toothless meet Qrow, who decides to bring them to Taiyang.
Hiccup and Toothless are brought to Ozpin by Qrow and Ozpin decides to train Hiccup to become a Huntsman.
Two years later, Ruby is allowed to enrol at Beacon, Yang is told by Hiccup that Junior may know where her mother, Raven is.
Beacon classes start and teams RWBY and JNPR are formed.
Jaune is bullied by Cardin Winchester, eventually leading to Hiccup discovering his semblance and Jaune getting expelled when his transcripts are leaked by Russell Thrush to Cardin's father, Henry Winchester.
Blake is attacked by two White Fang members and Adam is arrested as a result of Hiccup's plan b. Blake discovers Hiccup's secret ability in the process.
Tucson is killed and Hiccup and Jaune agree to work with Violet Peach, the leader of Faunus First.
Hiccup discovers that Adam Taurus has escaped from the police station where he was being held.
That is it for now. I will see you all next time! Silvolde.
*walks away*
Beta reader: (pops into doc and removes maniacal laugh) Stop trying to scare the readers Sil!
Silvolde: *in the distance* Never! (puts maniacal laugh back in)