Chapter 14: Heart of Silver
Team CMEN's dorm room
8:30 am
Cinder was sound asleep her dorm room and was about to wake up to check things out on her scroll when she saw Emerald standing in the doorway to the room. Cinder was puzzled as to why she just stood there with a blank stare on her face, staring at the ground...
"Emerald? Why were you out so late?" Cinder asked, with Emerald not responding.
"Emerald, enough with the silent treatment, answer me." She said, starting to sound annoyed.
Getting frustrated with her student's continuous silence and non-compliance with answering her questions, Cinder got up from her bed and walked over to Emerald, unaware of the danger she was walking into. When she laid her hands onto Emerald's shoulders, Emerald mysteriously began to laugh uncontrollably, leaving Cinder completely puzzled as to why. She raised her head up, and then proceeded to swing her weapon at her with tremendous force...
"Emerald?! What the hell?!" Cinder said after jumping back.
But all attempts to get through to her student failed, drowned out by the unending sound of her constant laughter as continued to attack Cinder. She began to hit Cinder, despite Cinder's best efforts to evade every strike, all the way to the point where she hit her square in the spine, making it difficult for her to move her legs. While Cinder was down, Emerald took the chain of one of her weapons and wrapped it around Cinder's neck, and began to pull violently while still laughing...
"Emerald!" Cinder said as she was having difficulty breathing.
"It's no use, she is physically trying to kill me" She thought.
"Please...stop..." Cinder said as she began to lose consciousness.
"I don't understand, why is she laughing about this?" Cinder thought.
When she tried to speak again, Emerald simply tightened the chain's grip on Cinder's neck, thus making every word that she could say even more painful than the next one. Cinder began to lose consciousness, until one familiar voice was heard...
"EMERALD!" Mercury shouted.
Mercury leapt from his bed and combated Emerald, while Cinder slumped to the ground, gasping for air. He kicked her off Cinder, and quickly tried to undo the wrapped chain around his leader's neck in order to help her. But Emerald unexplainably recovered and lunged at him...
"Emerald, stop! What the hell has gotten into you?" Mercury asked.
Emerald went on the offensive again, nearly overpowering Mercury and almost knocking him down in the process. Just when she was about to ready the blades of her weapons to strike, She coughed up some of the black sludge, which distracted her long enough for Mercury to deliver a knockout blow to her head. As she hit the ground, he staggered to his feet as he notice the black sludge trickling out the corner of his unconscious partner's mouth...
"What the hell got into her?" Mercury thought as he staggered to his feet.
"M-" Cinder said before passing out.
"Cinder? Hey, wake up! Wake Up!" Mercury said.
Beacon Academy infirmary
10:05 am
Cinder woke up in the school infirmary, with a brace around her neck and her wounds bandaged. She felt incredibly weakened, and quickly looked around to assess her situation, spotting a patched-up Mercury sitting on the bed next to her. He looked as if he was trying to process something before he noticed Cinder waking up...
"Hey, you're awake." Mercury said.
Cinder tried to speak, but her throat was in too much pain for the words to come out. Mercury signaled the doctor, who came over accompanied by a nurse...
"Alright, Miss Fall, I'm gonna need you to follow this light." Dr. Hitachi said as he pulled out a small light.
Cinder followed the light with her eyes, in which Dr. Hitachi put it away after his little exam of her was finished...
"Well, at least her cognitive functions aren't impaired." Hitachi said.
"Will she be alright?" Mercury asked.
"I hate to say this but she won't be able to do much speaking, that girl pulled the chain so hard she bruised her vocal cords." Hitachi explained.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around that, why the hell did Emerald attack her in the first place?" Mercury said.
"Well, according to my niece, that black sludge she's been retching up was responsible." Hitachi explained.
"That sludge stuff?" Mercury asked.
"Yep, It's apparently a material that's biological and technological in it's nature." Hitachi said.
"In English, doc." Mercury said.
"It's a liquefied form of someone's psychotic rage." Hitachi said.
"I've heard stories about a similar process from some of the Aletian doctors." The nurse said.
"Really? What did they have to say, Molly?" Hitachi asked.
"They mentioned a process called Hijacking, in which a person is subjected to chemical or physical torture and programmed to suit the needs of others." The Nurse, Molly, said.
"You think what happened to Emerald is similar to this hijacking?" Mercury asked.
"It's possible, but what I want to know is how the sludge was able to contain someone's actual negative emotions." Hitachi said.
"Where's Emerald now?" Mercury asked.
"She's been detained on one of Ironwood's ships, but distance has been put between her and Torchwick since the guy is still raving mad." Molly explained.
"Let's hope that they can get rid of that stuff." Mercury said.
While Cinder and Mercury recuperated from the attack by an enthralled Emerald, Team JNPR was about to meet the oddest man yet while on their assignment...
Forever Fall Forest
10:30 am
Team JNPR was going on assignment in Forever Fall forest, which was gathering some sap from the trees for a home ec class they were taking. Jaune and Pyrrha were gathering sap from one tree, while Nora and Ren were gathering sap from another tree (despite the fact Nora kept drinking the sap, much to Ren's annoyance). Things were going well, until Nora spotted someone walking through the forest...
"Umm, Ren?" Nora asked.
"What is it Nora?" Ren said.
"Is it normal to see some random crocodile Faunus walk through the forests?" Nora asked.
"He's probably just some huntsman, let's leave him be." Ren said.
As the duo continued to acquire the sap they needed, Pyrrha and Jaune acquired their sap but were unaware of the trouble lurking nearby...
"How much did you get?" Jaune asked.
"Just the right amount." Pyrrha said.
"Okay, let's-" Jaune said before a loud roar was heard.
The duo turned around to see a large Ursa had appeared, this was much larger than a normal one, which meant that it was in fact an Ursa Major. Both students readied their weapons, when a rock hit it square on the side of the head...
"Hey, flea bag!" Someone shouted from the forests.
"What the?" Jaune said.
Jaune and Pyrrha looked to who the voice was, and they saw a tall, lumbering man with green, scaly skin, wearing what appeared to be military fatigues of some unknown organization. He wrapped his hands in white cloth, while the Ursa got ready to charge him...
"Game on, Smokey." The man said as his wrapped hands were covered by a strange, crystalline material.
The Ursa charged at him with great speed just as he made his way towards him, and as the claws of the large bear made contact with the crystalline material, Jaune and Pyrrha watched as they were split by the tremendous force of the man's punch. The man went on the offensive, violently striking the staggering Ursa with incredible punches like one of the professional fighters that Jaune used to watch on TV before attending Beacon. Pyrrha watched as the large Grimm continued to move backward, realizing the unexpected...
"It's trying to retreat." Pyrrha said.
"What?" Jaune asked.
"Look at its movements, that Ursa is trying to back towards the tree line so it could escape..." Pyrrha started.
"Because it is trapped in a losing battle." Jaune said in a tone of realization.
The man caught onto the Ursa's strategy, in which he dashed immediately close to the Grimm, appearing immediately in front of the Grimm and delivering a swift uppercut to the Ursa's jaw, splitting it in two and sending a great deal of black and red material out the back of its head. The two Beacon academy students were startled by the extent of the damage that the man did to the Ursa, one of the Grimm's eyes was dangling from the socket, its face plate was cracked, the claws on its left hand were broken and split, and it looked like it was about to fall over. The man walked back to pick up a large bag that was dangling from a tree branch while the Ursa fell to the ground with a loud "THUD" and began to evaporate...
"MIDAS, how was that?" X-7 asked.
"Strike efficiency is up to 99.6 percent, X-7." A voice coming from his scroll said.
"Good, forward the results to Doctor Caraway, she'll want to see them." X-7 said.
"Understood." MIDAS said as Pyrrha and Jaune came over.
"Excuse me, sir?" Pyrrha said.
"Yes?" X-7 said.
"What you just did..." Pyrrha said.
"WAS INCREDIBLE!" Jaune exclaimed.
"Well, I'm glad you think so." X-7 said.
"How did you pull that off, and how did your hands get incased in crystal?" Pyrrha asked.
"Well, I signed on to a special project that some higher ups in Atlas Military development to test a new Nano-defense system." X-7 said.
"Nano-Defense?" Pyrrha asked.
"You know, self-generating crystal armor, strength enhancements, the works." X-7 said.
"That's impressive." Pyrrha said.
"Well, I got to go, need to meet up with some associates of mine." X-7 said.
"Wait!" Jaune said.
"Yeah?" X-7 said.
"What's your name?" Jaune asked.
"Harlow, John Harlow." X-7 said.
"It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Harlow." Pyrrha said.
"Take care." Jaune said before he and Pyrrha left.
X-7 left for his destination, parting ways with the kids, leaving them amazed at the shear striking power and crystal ability that this stranger had. Reuniting with their teammates, Jaune and Pyrrha had a seriously awesome story to tell them...
"What took you guys so long?" Ren asked.
"We had a minor run-in with a Ursa." Pyrrha said.
"What?" Ren asked.
"You guys aren't hurt, are you?" Nora asked.
"Of course not, the Ursa didn't lay a scratch on us." Jaune said.
"It was too busy fighting someone else." Pyrrha said.
"Who was it fighting?" Ren asked.
"It was fighting this Faunus guy who could crystalize his own skin." Jaune said.
"What kind of Faunus was he?" Nora asked.
"I think he was a crocodile Faunus." Pyrrha said.
"He was also insanely strong, he killed the Ursa with his bare hands." Jaune said.
"Now, Jaune, you are just overdoing it." Pyrrha said.
"I can find it hard to believe someone beat a Grimm to death with their bare hands." Ren said.
"He had this ability to generate crystal material around his entire body, and used the crystals to encase his hands and beat the Ursa to death." Pyrrha said.
"More than that, the guy fought like one of those professional boxers you see fighting in the arena on a show." Jaune added.
"Well, you can tell us all about it on the way back to school." Nora said.
While they were walking back, Raven Branwen was about to meet the one person she would least expect while on her journey...
Tarnost Inn
Southern Anima
12:30 pm
Raven walked into the Tarnost Inn in the village of Pleiades, one of the places where Yang was spotted stopping by to rest before proceeding on her journey to pursue her teammate Blake. Raven needed a rest as well, as this was a long trail for her to follow. After making arrangements to stay in a room, she took a seat at a table, took off her mask and ordered a drink...
"Alright, let's look at the path that Yang is following." Raven thought, pulling out her journal.
"Here you go." The waitress said.
"Thanks." Raven said, reaching for her pocket to pull out some lien.
"You don't have to worry about paying, one of the waitresses put it on her tab." The waitress explained.
Raven was immediately curious, why would one of the waitresses pay off her drink? She looked up to see a young woman with short, black hair wearing a waitress outfit sitting at one of the tables near the balcony on the second level, which she identified as an old friend. Picking up her drink, Raven walked upstairs and sat down at the same table as the woman she noticed...
"I'm surprised to see you here...Geneva." Raven said, taking a sip from her drink.
"Same to you, Raven. What drags the leader of a notorious tribe of bandits out here?" The woman asked.
"I could ask the same of a Trinity Alliance Commandant." Raven pointed out.
"You first." Geneva said.
"My brother called in an old favor, so he's got me tracking down my runaway daughter." Raven said.
"I see. Why would you daughter run off?" Geneva asked.
"She's trying to track down a teammate of hers who ran off after she hurt Yang's younger sister." Raven explained.
"You mean Blake Belladonna?" Geneva said.
"So that's her name." Raven said.
"Yes, My second, Serena, crossed paths with her and a rag-knit group of allies in Tetsuo Province just yesterday." Geneva explained.
"So, this Blake Belladonna is with a group." Raven said.
"Oh yes, they're all defectors from the ranks of the White Fang, and have begun to launch a covert campaign against the terrorist organization as they don't want them to get back on their feet after the Grimm Rage Virus Outbreak." Geneva asked.
"I heard about that, the Fang suspended all operations until the outbreak was over." Raven said.
"Which you and I could agree that move was the worst strategic decision Khan could have ever made." Geneva said.
"Why is that?" Raven asked, sounding curious.
"Because, after the order was given, Adam Taurus's loyalist followers carried out his orders to exterminate any White Fang members that carried the disease in their blood, which drastically weakened the number of members of the organization's membership." Geneva said.
"So their ranks have been drastically reduced." Raven said.
"Grand Marshall Stone sees this as an opportunity, recruitment will cause White Fang Resources to suffer. This will drastically reduce their involvement...with her plans." Geneva said.
"You know about Salem?" Raven said.
"We have X-10 to thank for that. His abilities can allow him to tap into the Grimm command network that Salem is using to control them, so he can sow chaos and prevent the Grimm from carrying out their plans." Geneva explained.
"You know what my brother and Ozpin are protecting, don't you?" Raven asked, despite knowing the response.
"The Cardinal is well aware of the Relic's existence, but doesn't intend on letting her get it." Geneva said.
"So that's why he's in command of the most secretive military superpower?" Raven said.
"The Alliance will reveal itself when the time is right, but our priority is to ensure the survival of the Balance." Geneva said.
Raven finished off her drink, in which she still had one question that needed to be answered...
"One last thing, what are you doing here?" Raven asked.
"This job is simply prep work for my next assignment." Geneva said with a smile before sliding an envelope to Raven.
"What is that?" Raven asked.
"The next step on your journey, call it a favor from an old friend." Geneva said before returning to work.
Raven picked her weapon and mask, taking the envelope with her back to the room she was resting up in and opened the envelope. The contents were images of Blake and her allies traveling in the Nightprowler towards a location in Vacuo, schematics of the airship, photographic images of Yang boarding a vessel bound for Vacuo, and a note kept together with the seal of the Cardinal, the leader of the Trinity alliance. She broke the seal and opened the note and read it...
Raven Branwen
Upon reading the contents of this letter, you should be made aware of a certain development that has occurred. Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose and half-sister to your own child, has unlocked a portion of her silver-eye abilities due to extensive trauma after receiving a near-fatal injury from Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long's partner. However, she has done the unthinkable and has marked Belladonna with a soul brand that has made her a "Gate" upon unleashing her powers. Belladonna is now connected to an individual who is stranded between the world of the light and the Shadow plains, and that individual can access Belladonna's body at will should the need arise. The Seers were only able to identify two key traits to decipher their identity, a photo attached to this letter will show the details. If you can identify the individual, maybe you can seek out the key...
May the light shine on your path.
Sincerely,
Cardinal.
"Typical, doesn't even give his real name." Raven thought as she set the letter down on the bed.
Upon looking at the photo, Raven was immediately shocked by what she had seen. The hand drawn photo that was attached to the note, bore the image of a white-robed figure with silver eyes...
"It's impossible...how is she still alive?" Raven said to herself.
As Raven began to collect herself, Blake was going to have a conversation with the last person she'd ever expect...
Nightprowler 2K4B
30 miles from Vacuo airspace
9:30 pm
After flying out of Mistral, Blake and Team DAHK set out for their next location: a trafficking company in Vacuo that was secretly financing the radicalist factions that were operating within the White Fang. Caius took over piloting the airship so Eric and the rest of the group could get some sleep, but something was off about Blake as she seemed restless due to something interfering with her peaceful rest...
(For this part, the words being discussed are italicized as this is a dream sequence.)
"Huh?" Blake said.
"Wake up" A voice said.
Blake opened her eyes fully to see that she was in the middle of a large open field, but it was different than a normal field. The grass was pale white as if it was dead, the few trees that she could see that dotted the field were black and withered, and the sky was grey and cloudy...
"What is this place?" Blake asked.
"The Shadow Plains, my prison." A woman said behind Blake.
Blake turned around to see the woman that she had seen before, when she was isolated by WHITECROSS and during the trials of Broken and Repaired. She was wearing a white hood and wore an ensemble that almost exactly identical to that of Ruby's but she seemed much older than her.
"I know you, you've appeared before me in the most unexpected ways." Blake said.
"I know, since you became the gate, you are my only window to the outside world since I was trapped here." She said.
"Wait, what?" Blake asked.
"My daughter's abilities has marked you with a Gate, making you the bridge between this world and Remnant." She explained, pointing to something on Blake's chest.
Blake looked down to see some form of circular rune square in the center of her chest, inside a large ring that several smaller runes inside it. She began to suspect that this was the gate she was talking about, making Blake the only one can view into the Shadow Plains.
"How did Ruby place this on me?" Blake asked.
"When you hurt her." She said, sounding angry.
Hearing those words sprang Blake awake, in which she saw the sunlight shining through the windows of the airship, which meant that it was already morning. She found out that they had already landed and the rest of the group was conversing amongst themselves on a plan of action...
"Morning, sleepyhead." Eric said.
"What time is it?" Blake asked.
"Almost 9:30, come on, Hera's making breakfast." Eric said, signaling her along.
Blake stood up and stretched, then followed Eric outside, where the sun beat down on her intensely. It was unusually hot this time of year, considering it was still Fall, but Blake didn't mind as Vacuo was always hot due to the desert producing a great deal of heat. She picked up some breakfast from Hera, then proceeded to meet with Duncan, who was discussing a plan of action with Caius...
"According to the info we were able to pull from the installation during the chaos, the Sand Runners are commanded by wanted trafficker Arnold Saxon, but supposedly, his grip on the faction is weakening." Duncan said.
"His followers seem to be restless as they seem to have difficulty with his policies towards the trade." Caius said.
"He prefers to stick to some dangerous routes in order to cut down on travel time." Duncan said.
"We might be able to use that to our advantage." Blake said after eating some eggs.
"Ah, good to see you're awake, Blake." Caius said.
"I'm surprised you were able to get some sleep." Duncan said.
"I had a lucky evening, I was able to sleep well." Blake said.
"Anyway, we should-" Duncan said.
"GUYS!" Katie shouted.
The group hurried to Katie, who was observing something in the distance as Duncan had her keep an eye on the perimeter...
"What is it?" Blake asked.
"Check out the airship, 5 yards out, moving east." Katie said, handing her binoculars.
Blake looked through the binoculars to see an airship that wasn't like any normal one she had seen before. It was embroidered in its design with a strange symbol on its side, its engines appeared to be spinning on a large ring that appeared to wrap around the body, and it appeared to be escorted by strange aircraft that seemed to be able to fly but too small to be airships...
"What's so special about the airship?" Duncan asked, not sounding amused.
"Its being escorted by air fighters and had this weird symbol on the side." Katie said.
"I saw it too." Blake said, handing Aiden the binoculars.
"What did the symbol look like?" Eric asked.
"A large eye with a cross inside the pupil." Blake explained.
"Oh, great." Eric said, sounding irritated.
"What's wrong, Eric?" Duncan asked.
"I thought I'd never see them again." Eric said.
"What? See who again?" Blake asked.
"Get onboard the Nightprowler, I'll explain on the way." Eric said.
As Blake and her allies were about to get an explanation about why Eric's mood changed, Ruby was about to make a personal discovery of her own...
Beacon Academy
Team RWBY Dorm Room.
10:30 am.
Ruby slowly awoke from her peaceful sleep, which she attributed to Weiss. It's been a few weeks now, and the nightmares she had been prone to seem to just drift away since Weiss had shared the bed with her for awhile due to that night she woke up screaming in a cold sweat. She rubbed her eyes, and saw that a small table was set up over her legs with a breakfast wrap on a tray with a side of French toast with a jelly spread on the side. She carefully adjusted herself to avoid spilling the meal, noticing there was a note folded up on the table next to the knife. She picked up the note, realizing it was from Weiss due to the paper having the symbol of the SDC on it as Weiss always carried a few slips of the stuff with her...
"She always loves the SDC paper." Ruby thought as she picked up the note.
She opened the note and looked at the contents...
Dear Ruby,
I'm going to arrive late at the dorm this afternoon as I have to go into the city for a bit. Winter ordered for me a new combat uniform since my original got ruined during the outbreak and I can't always wear my secondary due to it being extremely hard to clean. Make sure to thank Ren and Coco for the table, they both worked together and picked it out, and now you won't have to worry about getting the blanket covered in crumbs. Furthermore, I will have a surprise for you once I get back, I will also give you a haircut once I get back since I noticed your hair was starting to grow out and it can be challenging to take care of super long hair.
-Weiss.
Ruby smiled and set the note down, in which she said something to herself...
"I love you too, Weiss." Ruby said before eating her breakfast.
This chapter concludes with the DAHK group seeing an advanced airship connected to an unknown faction that Foster seems to know but has a strained relationship with, Ruby acknowledging her feelings for Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha having an encounter with a mysterious individual with strange abilities, Blake confronts the mysterious individual who seems connected to her, and Raven is discovered to have knowledge of the Trinity Alliance due to a former friend of hers being a Commandant in their military forces, and Emerald attacks Cinder in a fit of mysterious psychotic rage. The next chapter picks up with Foster explaining his past, Weiss and Ruby begin their relationship, Yang and her mother clash, and Geneva's assignment is revealed...
WAIT AND SEE.