Chapter 14: Game of Shadows
Blake
The past weeks wer a replay of all the history they learned about Remnant, the White Fang and the Grimm. Bloodshed spilled from the streets into people's houses. Cinder took over the military after Ironwood's mysterious death, and in the name of civil security, immediately seized all of the Schnee Dust Company's key assets.
Together with the support of Goodwitch and their friends at Beacon, they've fended off Grimm attacks, destroyed androids and attempted to reason with the White Fang. The first two were somewhat successful despite their limited supply of dust, but the last goal often failed. Blake was disappointed that the White Fang radicals were unable to see past the injustices of the past, channeling their anger at the wrong time. There have been more casualties than she dared to count.
But maybe they've done just enough. Cinder has once again, arrived at Beacon with the goal of annihilating them.
There comes a time in a warrior's life when she realizes the only outcome to the battle is victory. For the past weeks, Blake's skills, strength, endurance and will have all been tested and pushed to the limit. It all started with Weiss' rescue from the White Fang compound, the defense of Beacon against the Grimm, the ambush in the alley, and then being the "hero" that Ruby encouraged them to be. It will end in moments with this last fight or else Blake truly believed that there is no possibility for hope in Remnant.
Yang was on her left, while Ruby and Weiss stood to her right. Team RWBY was back together.
Cinder emerged from the veil of smoke and ash that is the remains of the iconic statue of the Huntsman and Huntress fighting a Beowolf. Roman Torchwick, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black followed a few paces behind the fiery villain, their weapons drawn.
Weiss spun the revolver of Myrtenaster to the light blue setting and manipulated bands of bright cerulean lights. Ruby converted Crescent Rose to her favourite full scythe formation and swung it in front of her in a smooth arc. Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud in its kusarigama form and twirled it in a circular formation. Yang's Ember Celica lengthened into gauntlets as she took on a battle-ready stance.
"Team RWBY, go!"
Blake used her ribbon to manipulate Gambol Shroud, sending the scythe towards Roman's head. He leaned backwards, watching the flat of the blade sail millimetres from his nose. Gambol Shroud caught the rim of his hat, knocking it off his head. Roman growled and shot his rifle at her. Blake left a shadow clone in the path of the bullet and sidestepped so that she stood directly in front of the red-headed megalomaniac. She brought down her sheath towards his face, but he blocked it with his cane.
From her peripheral vision, she caught Weiss flipping out of the way of a series of bullets. The heiress summoned a glyph and propelled directly in front of Emerald. The latter barely had time to bring her twin curved blades up to deflect a direct hit from Myrtenaster. The two of them engaged in a sequence of thrusts, strikes and parries, Emerald's speed preventing the heiress from utilizing too much magic in this fight.
She could hear Yang more than see her. The blonde was shouting wildly as she blasted away at Mercury.
Of all of them, she worried most about Ruby who ran forward and engaged Cinder before any of them could react. Her team leader fired shot after shot at the older woman, but the villain easily blocked the bullets with her hand. Blake felt a flash of heat, and caught a blur of red rolling away from a torrent of flames.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted a warning as an eerie orange glow appeared beneath Ruby's feet.
Just as the light erupted, a brilliant green light contained the explosion. Goodwitch.
A distant clanging of metal against pavement distracted her focus, and it was only luck that prevented her from having her teeth knocked in by Roman's cane. She lowered herself to the ground and performed a leg sweep to send Roman stumbling to the ground.
Weiss jumped into the air beside her and landed with a tuck roll, picking up the fallen Myrtenaster in one motion just as Emerald's blades slammed into the pavement. Sparks flew up from the impact. Her opponent snarled in frustration.
Blake was at Weiss' side a split second later and passed the heiress her hair ribbon. Weiss wrapped Myrtenaster to her weakened left hand with the black ribbon, and somersaulted backwards. She summoned a sheet of ice on the ground that caused Emerald and Roman to slip. As the two struggled to regain their footing, Blake and Weiss charged their weapons. Simultaneously, Blake shot an endless stream of bullets while Weiss fired a powerful blast of energy. Roman and Emerald caught the force of their attack directly in the chest, flying limply into the side of a nearby building.
They remained still.
"Thanks for the power boost!" Yang shouted, running with full speed into Mercury. Her fists, coupled with shots, moved faster than he could block, and within seconds, he collapsed close to Roman and Emerald's unconscious bodies.
"Incompetent fools," Cinder hissed. She formed a spiralling wall of fire that deflected Goodwitch's attack. "Enough." Cinder's protective circle dimmed. "It would seem as if my associated were unable to end you tonight."
"Cinder, you need to stop what you're doing. You need to end the darkness."
The villain chuckled, amusement all too evident on her face. "You give me far too much credit. I did not create the darkness. Not directly, anyway."
"What do you mean?"
"Humanity's lack of hope brought upon this darkness. The creatures of Grimm merely fed on the chaos and desolation that is the human soul." She paused to allow Blake and the others to consider this new information. But as is typical of the mastermind, she continued rather than conceal her knowledge of the truth, "I suppose I did play a hand in it. Orchestrating a revolution and eliminating much of the dust supply in the kingdom did require a level of genius that I'll gladly accept."
"But why?" Ruby asked in disbelief.
"Why not?" Cinder replied. "This is a game of shadows, you know. The mystery remains."
And then she was gone.
Three Years Later
Since Cinder disappeared, Beacon Academy continued to inspire hope across the kingdom under Headmistress Goodwitch's leadership. Periods of light were becoming common once again, although the darkness still prevailed some days. Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha, Lie Ren, Nora and several others spend much of their time engaged in combat with the Grimm, although their task is made even more difficult due to limited dust supplies.
For the past three years, Weiss has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Schnee Dust Company, continuing her family's legacy despite her initial aversion to this responsibility. She couldn't have done it without Blake though. With Blake's help as her Human Resource Advisor (although Blake often refers to herself as Weiss' personal body guard), Weiss has enforced equitable treatment and wages for workers at the mines, as well as expanded the SDC's research and development sector. The search for Cinder and the missing supply of dust have yet to be successful, and while the Schnee Dust Company is also suffering loses from the greatly diminished supply of dust, Weiss has been pretty successful at maintaining profits while supporting Beacon Academy's efforts to end darkness.
Weiss was surprised by how much she missed Ruby and Yang when the sisters came into view. "It's good to see you guys," Weiss sighed happily as she sat down.
"I know! I've missed you so much, Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed, squeezing her former partner in a tight hug.
"I can't believe we're all graduating today!" Yang cried.
"I know," Weiss said. "If it wasn't for Blake, I may not have graduated."
"Oh please, you would have been fine on your own."
"With the correspondence studies, yes, but not with the combat portion." Blake left Beacon Academy when she did, opting to also complete her studies via distance education. She and Blake studied and trained together diligently. They would fly to Beacon on weekends to train further, but they spent the majority of their time off campus. Despite regaining the dexterity and strength in her left hand, Weiss has held onto Blake's hair ribbon, and the Faunus seemed to no longer need it, displaying her cat ears on a regular basis. Occasionally, on a particularly cold or wet day, Weiss's hand would feel a little stiff, but holding Blake's hair ribbon always eased the discomfort.
"Just let her sing your praises, Blake," Yang said. "Trust me, Ruby and I would have been useless as study buddies."
"That I have no doubt."
Tomorrow, Ruby and Yang would go back to the forests to pursue the creatures of Grimm again, and Weiss and Blake would return to Atlas to attend to affairs. Today though, Weiss was with her friends, and it was a beautiful bright day outside.
END.