Managed to get this chapter out in good time. Kind of proud about that.
'apostrophe italics are thoughts'
[brackets are words written down]
Disclaimer: Neither property belong to me. You would think I wouldn't have say this.
Chapter 14 - Teamwork
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"Remind me again why we're watching the professor dance on the stage?"
"Because, Lloyd, my Sis is stubborn."
[Am I really needed here for this?]
The group was currently standing a few feet from the stone platform in question, save Raine who was standing in the middle in rather interesting ritual attire. After they managed to locate the attempted Ruin destroyers, two young men named Harley and Linar, they found out that a large creature had appeared from the dais a few days prior, claiming to be the Summon Spirit of Wind and demanding a sacrifice for Linar waking it up on accident.
Good job, Linar.
In an attempt to prevent any casualties among the villagers (and study the platform first-hand), Raine offered to perform the ritual and discover the true nature of the being. She had begun the dance, moving between 4 marked points and hitting her staff firmly on each stop.
When she returned to the center and lay her head down, a large purple monster with wings and half-moon blade for it's feet appeared in a shimmer of light. It hovered a foot in front of Raine and spoke, "I have come for the girl."
Colette called out to Raine, "Professor, no! That is an evil creature, not the Summon Spirit of Wind!" The battle formation had been decided beforehand, just in case: Lloyd, Neo, and Kratos jumped on stage to defend the professor while Ruby and Genis got ready to provide rear support with their rifle and magic respectively. Jaune and Colette would jump in only as substitutes for the wounded.
Kratos raised his shield as the Windmaster flipped and swung its weapon down. Instead of bearing the full brunt of the attack the mercenary angled his shield to the right, causing the axe-blade to slide off and smack the platform. Lloyd and Neo jumped into the air, thrusting their swords straight into its chest. The monster took the blows with a loud screech, its voice creating a magic gale that began to cut their limbs. They retreated and Lloyd yelled, "Fire!"
The firing squad did as ordered, shooting a burst of bullets and actual fireballs. Each one hit the beast with great force, sending its whole body crashing to the floor. Lloyd and Kratos quickly placed the tips of their swords on the ground and, sending energy through their arms, created demon fang after demon fang. Their blades slid along the ground in a flurry, waves of energy slicing through the demon as if it were butter.
After a minute of dishing out the constant stream of attacks they relented, trying to see how much damage they had done. The Windmaster began to unsteadily raise its body, trying to orient itself. Just as it brought its full height to bare, however, a bolt of lightning came crashing down upon its head.
The beast simply stood still for a moment, and then, in the same shimmer of light it appeared in, began to dissipate. As it died a stone tablet dropped from its body, hitting the floor with a thud. Raine hurriedly ran over and picked it up, paying no mind to the floating demon corpse.
She brought the tablet over to fellow history buff Linar and they both began to squee over the 'ancient balacruf writing' and, with a promise to decipher it as soon as possible, ran off to Linar and his sister's house.
Harley walked over to the rest of the group and chuckled. "Those two are amazing in their own right. I don't think I'll ever understand these ruin geeks. Still, thanks for stopping that monster."
Genis puffed up his chest. "It was no problem. And I bet they'll figure out the truth in no time since my Sis is there." Harley nodded.
"Yep, we half-elves have to stick together." Genis flinched at that. "N-no, she and I are full elves."
"What are you talking about, you think I'd mistake my fellow kin?" Harley paused when he saw that Genis was pointedly eyeing the ground. "Actually, you're right. You are full-blooded, I must not have been paying attention."
Lloyd stepped close and he put his hand on Genis's shoulder. "Come on, we're all tired. Let's settle down at the inn."
-later-
After they worked out who was sleeping in which room, Ruby decided to step outside for a bit and look at the stars. Jaune, not wanting to leave her alone in this strange new place, offered to join her and she accepted. They sat on the small patio, and for several moments no words were said.
Finally Ruby spoke, saying, "The moon isn't in pieces. I guess we're just used to our moon and how it is, but there really is no bigger proof that we aren't in Remnant." Jaune stared at said crescent moon, mentally comparing it to the one on his shield.
He asked, "Do you think Emerald is alright?"
She pondered that question for a moment. "I hope so. If she got away from all those soldiers she could tell everyone where we disappeared. That'd make the return trip easier to plan." A smile rose on her lips. "Plus, in the meantime we can help out with the adventure these guys are on. A journey to regenerate the world sounds pretty awesome, don't you think?" Jaune laughed.
"Wanting to make not just your world a better place, but another world too? I'd say that's pretty ambitious." He pulled out Crocea Mars and examined it in the moonlight. "You helped me figure out what it means to be a leader, and Pyrrha's helped me out with my fighting skills, even if I'm nowhere near as good as her. Now, my main need is to get field experience to bring me up to where you and all the others are. I'm game."
Ruby jumped from her chair and beamed at him. "Sounds like we have a plan then. Here's to saving the world!" They high-fived and settled back into their chairs. "But really, I wonder how Yang and the rest are doing..."
Unfortunately, only professor Port was able to be reached. But once he heard there were possibly three missing students, the mustached man immediately called General Ironwood and requested that he send some troops to aid in their search.
They initially wanted to spread out fully for the search, but Ironwood refused saying, "If something has happened to your teammates, then you need to remain with my soldiers to prevent anybody else from being harmed." Two human troops each were assigned to teams RWBY and JNPR and they began from different sections of the warehouse district.
They started looking for any signs of activity while Zwei kept his nose to the ground for Ruby's scent. After an hour of searching the dog began barking furiously, spinning in circles in front of a particularly large building. The troopers radioed to their squad mates while Blake walked around the construct.
When she reported back she said, "Aside from the main entrance, there's a false wall in the back." She turned to the soldiers. "How do you want to do this?"
The leader responded, "We'll wait for the others to arrive. One team will enter through the front while the other breaches the rear." Nobody dissented, and JNPR arrived within ten minutes. They notified them of the plan and RWBY took the back door.
The false wall easily peeled away to reveal another door, much larger than the front. A tug at the handle revealed it was unlocked. The leader put his radio to his mouth.
"Commence breach in five...four...three...two...one... Go!"
Both teams burst in, J squad proceeding cautiously while R squad went in vigorously, daring someone to attack them. To the shock of everyone, however, the teams wound up in the same single room, completely devoid of people or machines. Zwei proceeded to sniff and bark at one corner of the empty complex, as if saying 'Ruby was here! I swear!'
Performing one more sweep of the building produced the same result: nothing. Yang could only throw up her hands and yell, "Where the hell are they?"
Her question was met silence...
...until her scroll began to buzz, with Ruby's contact ID pictured on the screen.
She frantically hit the 'answer' button and brought it up to ear. "Ruby, is that you!? Thank Oum you called, sis."
The line was silent for moment, and then a man's voice came though the scroll. "I'm sorry, but I am not Ruby. But I can help you find her."
Yang was about to yell back at him before she caught herself.
'Ruby is in danger and I don't know where she is. Gotta play this smart. I'll crush him later.'
She put the call on speakerphone so everyone could hear and spoke as slow as her anger would allow, "What do you mean 'you can help me find her'?"
The voice responded, "The problem is I'm a captive myself. I can only use this scroll your... sister, you said? She dropped it when she got sent away and I picked it up. Help me escape, with my equipment, and we can get her back."
"But who are you?"
"My name is Griza. I'm a scientist..." He paused, some men audible in the background. After a moment he continued, "'The' scientist responsible for the disappearance of your friends."
Thank you for checking in again. Please, let me know how I'm doing, and have a nice day.