I don't own RWBY
Chapter 20
"Ugh just how fast was that train going?" Ruby muttered to herself before looking around. 'Alright in one of Vale's central plazas, check, Grimm running amok attacking the civilians, check, the rest of my team moving… for the most part Yang seems to be protecting a prone Blake, so she's either dead or unconscious, check. Well this will take a while if we have to kill all the Grimm alone… wait where's Glynda?' Ruby thought before seeing a paladin being launched out of the tunnel they had just reopened. 'Oh, there she is.'
A very angry looking Glynda walked out of the tunnel opening tossing any Grimm too close back into the tunnel before beginning to close the hole.
"You know I thought that'd be a lot worse." Roman muttered from where he was laying. Unfortunately, his job wasn't quite finished, he still had to be captured. 'Oh well I guess I can just lay here and wait I'm not really in a hurry.' He thought to himself.
Ruby just smiled and shook her head at Roman before getting to her feet and drawing Crescent Rose.
The next half hour was a bit of a blur for her just systematically cutting down every Grimm that crossed her path. She barely even noticed when the Atlesian forces and other hunter teams arrived to help.
When everything calmed down Ruby noticed that Blake had woken up, and now she, Yang, and Weiss were walking towards her.
"Ruby… how well do you know that Neo girl you were hanging around the past couple days?" Blake asked causing Ruby to tilt her head in confusion.
'That's kind of random considering what just happened.' She thought to herself. "What do you mean?" She asked.
"How well do you know her? Did you know that the girl I fought was the same as the one you're friends with?" Blake asked again slightly narrowing her eyes.
'Of course she figured it out.' Ruby thought mentally rolling her eyes. 'We should have used a different name for her, but I guess that was a decision Cinder made.' "What're you talking about? There's no way that's the same girl." She said shaking her head.
"It is Ruby it all adds up. Roman called the girl Neo back when we fought the paladin, and then you introduced us to your friend also named Neo. It isn't a very common name. Then they both have similar umbrellas."
"I can't believe it." Ruby mumbled before staring at the ground with a faraway look in her eyes.
"Hey it's okay Rubes." Yang said running up and hugging her sister. "I had a feeling that bitch was bad news anyways." She finished.
Ruby had to keep herself from openly attacking her sister. No one talks about her ice cream like that. Just to make herself feel a bit better she wrapped her arms tightly around the blonde stabbing her nails into her sister's back.
Yang winced slightly but could feel her little sister shaking in her arms, and she enjoyed the fact that she was here for her when she needed it.
Blake and surprisingly Weiss joined in on the awkward team hug.
"It's alright Ruby we can tell Glynda about it when she's done fixing up the area or go straight to Ozpin to tell them about her." Weiss offered.
Ruby mentally froze. 'Shit what do I do about this?' She asked herself. 'Oh well I'll worry about it later.' She thought as she saw Roman being delivered to the Atlas soldiers by Mercury and Emerald.
With her repairs done Glynda walked up to the team she was supervising. "I apologize to all of you." She said to the group who looked confused. "I was supposed to be supervising you on this mission, but even so I still let this catastrophe occur."
Ruby walked up and put her hand on Glynda's shoulder. "It's alright Glynda we are all in this together. None of us were able to stop the train, but we did do a pretty good job with the cleanup." She said with a smile.
"I suppose you're right, but it's always after something goes wrong that you think about how you could have done something different to change it." Glynda said with a frown. "Regardless now we need to go make our report to the headmaster." She finished.
Team RWBY just nodded and followed the strict witch back to Beacon, and ultimately to the headmaster's office.
With Kyle
'There you are.' He thought looking to a collection of tents surrounded by a wall of sharpened logs. 'It's been awhile, but then again the Branwen tribe and I aren't on the best of terms.'
With that thought in mind he looked up to the sky. It took him a lot longer to find them than he thought it would. The moon was hanging in the sky illuminating parts of the forest.
"I guess I can wait until morning to say hi. I doubt I'll be too missed at Beacon if I miss an extra day." He muttered before picking a suitable place to rest through the night. 'Looks like everything went well on Ruby's side if Roman's explanation was anything to go by.' He thought before closing his eyes and going to sleep.
With RWBY and Glynda
"That concludes our report Headmaster." Glynda said dutifully after recounting what happened on their mission.
"I see. Thank you Glynda. Is there anything else you all would like to add?" He asked to the strangely quiet team RWBY.
Blake and the others shared a look before collectively looking at Ruby who just looked to the ground. With a sigh Blake spoke up. "Headmaster we have reason to believe that one of Torchwick's henchmen has infiltrated Beacon with one of the visiting teams." She said drawing the attention of Glynda and Ozpin.
"Really? What reason do you have to say that?" He asked bridging his hands on his desk.
"Nothing concrete, but both individuals are named Neo. We heard Roman call her that when we fought him in the paladin. Then they also look kind of similar, and both have an almost identical umbrella." She said.
"You said her name was Neo?" He asked getting a nod from Blake. After looking through his computer he found her file. "Neo, no last name, no living family, and student of Haven Academy." He said to the room. "Without direct proof there isn't much that can be done, and her team hasn't said anything about the girl that might criminalize her, so are you claiming the entire team to be criminals?" He asked the group.
Ruby just waited to see what would happen. 'They're a lot closer than they need to be.'
"What? No I didn't mean to say that… it's just there are too many similarities for it to be a coincidence." Blake said.
"Maybe so… if you feel so inclined then keep an eye on her." Ozpin said causing Blake to give him a confused look. "Right now, nothing can be done because there isn't any real proof, but if you keep an eye on her, and catch her doing something then we might be able to do something." He finished with a small smile.
"I understand. We'll keep an eye on her." Ruby said.
"Well if that is all I won't keep you here any longer. You're free to go, and even though you just came back from a mission you still have class tomorrow." He said.
He received nods from the group and then watched them go only for Glynda to sigh before following them. "Now there's two to keep an eye on." She muttered causing Ozpin to chuckle to himself. 'What have these kids done to that strict witch? Or perhaps this one was a mix of them and the reaper.' He mused as he drank his coffee.
The Next Day
With Kyle
When the sun started to rise Kyle opened his eyes. 'No interruptions… when's the last time I slept in the woods and that happened?' He asked himself as he looked around to make sure none of his stuff was missing. He was close to a bandit camp after all.
Satisfied that he had the few things he usually carried he dropped out of the tree he had slept in.
"Now then how do I want to do this?" He asked himself with a smile. 'With all the sneaking around for nothing last mission I suppose I could use a change of pace.' He thought walking towards the entrance of the camp. As an afterthought he snapped the buttons in his cloak together and put his hood up. 'This will be fun.'
"You there stop!" Shouted one of the guards from his place in front of the gate.
"I'm sorry! I'm a little lost and was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of Vale. I have money." He shouted to growing crowd of people who were drawn in by the yelling.
The bandits just smiled and started walking towards the cloaked individual.
One bandit was sitting towards the back her face scrunched up in thought. 'That voice sounds so familiar…' "You idiots get away from him." She shouted too late.
The bandits had already surrounded their prey and one walked up. "We'd be happy to relieve you of your money. Dangerous woods around here you never know who might try and mug you." He said with a grin.
Kyle just smirked. 'Too easy.' He thought as the first one moved to grab him. When the bandit tried to grab him, he lashed out with a kick, and unbuttoned his cloak enough to use his hands.
"Hey! You'll pay for that!" The kicked man yelled as the others moved in to attack.
"How violent." The reaper said with a chuckle.
The next two to reach him swung at him with a short sword and hatchet respectively.
Kyle caught the wrist of both throwing them into each other before sending them both to the ground with a roundhouse kick.
"Shoot him!" One called out as he primed an old looking pistol. 'I'm not even sure that'd properly fire.' Kyle mused before jumping to the edge of the group. All of the bandits with guns kept their sights on him, and opened fire.
Kyle smirked before grabbing the closest bandit and getting behind him. "In a situation like this you should all really be careful of friendly fire." He said as he body he was holding fell to the ground bleeding. "Oops too late." He shrugged.
He was about to go after some of the shooters, but he caught sight of something flying towards him. 'Finally decided to come play?' He thought to himself with a smile.
Spinning to the side he caught the weapon thrown at him. "Still using Chakrams?" He asked.
The other bandits parted ways letting one of their higherups through.
"I like them they're not very common, so people don't usually know how to fight against them." She said twirling the other one in her hand.
"It's good to see you again Vernal." Kyle said shooting at the girl.
Running to the side to avoid the hail of bullets. "Usually when I hear that I'm not being shot at." She yelled returning fire.
"Oh well you know me." Kyle said jumping out of the way of the bullets before running at Vernal and slashing down at her.
"Yes I do, and I know you're not here to kill anyone." She said blocking the slash.
"How do you know that?" He asked.
"You would have gotten into the camp without being seen then taken out your target, and if you were bored enough to start a fight like this you'd do it on your way out." She answered throwing a spinning kick out.
"That's fair." Kyle admitted catching her foot and pushing her off balance. "You still can't beat me." He said from behind her holding the "borrowed" chakram to her neck.
"Not yet." She corrected as he let her up. "You lot get back to your stations!" She shouted to the group of confused criminals.
With that said she motioned for Kyle to follow her and led him into the camp.
They walked into one of the larger tents and sat around an old wooden table.
"It's been a while Kyle why'd you stop by?" Vernal asked grabbing a beer.
"Oh, you know I just wanted to catch up." Kyle said looking at her choice of drink. "Still drinking the cheap stuff I see."
"Yes I am, but what's the real reason you're here? You've always been the whimsical type, so something made you think of stopping by." She said narrowing her eyes.
"Alright you got me." He said holding his hands up in surrender. "I did come to catch up, but I also came to let you know that Sienna sends her regards." He said somberly.
"Sienna… done in by you?" Vernal asked after a moment.
"Actually no… she was my target, but she was taken out by another member of the Fang before I could do it." He said pulling out his scroll.
"I see…" She said after watching the video. "Even if her time was up of course she died to one of those mutinous members of her organization." She said with a scowl. "That would never happen in the tribe."
"The tribe is run by the strongest, so while it wasn't an honorable duel or anything he was stronger than her." Kyle said.
"I know… but still… that was a cowardly way to do it." She said downing the rest of her drink. "I know you were as close to her as I was. It may be cheap, but it is alcohol." She offered taking out another drink.
"Sure why not." Kyle said with a sigh. "Not every day you lose a family member." He said before raising his drink. "To our fallen sister."
"She wasn't physically strong, but she was our rock when we needed it." Vernal added toasting with him.
Suddenly the flap of the tent was pushed to the side. "Vernal! What is it I hear about an intruder in the camp?" A voice called out as a woman in red armor and a katana walked in.
"Did you make up with her yet?" Vernal asked worried to Kyle who just looked to the side.
"Slipped my mind, and it isn't like a simple sorry will cut it." He said as the red-clad woman noticed him.
"You!" She shouted stabbing her sword into the part of the chair next to his neck. "Give me a good reason not to kill you right where you sit." She growled.
He looked lazily towards the sword next to him. "I don't know Vernal would be sad?" He offered looking to the girl who rolled her eyes.
Raven was not amused and moved to bring his head off.
"Or maybe because your niece would be heartbroken that her dear auntie killed me." He said narrowing his eyes.
At this Raven froze. "How do you know Ruby?" She asked in a cold tone. Despite her absence Raven did keep tabs on her old family.
"You could say that I'm her mentor. She's been staying with me ever since she found me after running away from home." He answered looking into the woman's eyes.
"Why would she be with you!?" Raven yelled.
"Because she had nowhere else to go, and I decided to honor a promise I made!" Kyle yelled back.
"What kind of promise could you have made!? After everything you did she shouldn't be anywhere near the likes of you!" Raven yelled again her arms shaking now.
"You're right she shouldn't! And she would've never known me if she hadn't run away! And my promise was to make up for the sins of that day." He said quieter.
"You can't just make it up and pretend it never happened!" Raven shouted.
"I know that, but when I saw her in the alley that night it was either leave her to die in the city or take her in, so I made my choice." He said narrowing his eyes.
Raven opened her mouth but didn't say anything else for a few moments. "This doesn't change anything between us. My brother dimwitted as he is won't just accept this either." She said standing up. "Stay away from the tribe, and don't stick your nose into my old family." She said turning to the exit. "If you're as important to her as you say then you better not mess this up, or I will come after you and kill you myself." She finished before leaving.
"Duly noted." Kyle said with a sigh before looking to Vernal who just shook her head. "That probably could've been handled better." She said.
"I know it probably could have." He agreed. "If I know her then she'll probably contact her brother which means this is going to get much more annoying."
"It's the choice you made." Vernal said with a shrug.
"Helpful aren't you." Kyle deadpanned. "Anyways Roman says hi from his cell on one of Atlas's battleships."
"How'd he manage to land himself in there?" Vernal asked curiously.
Over the better part of an hour Kyle told Vernal about what they had been up to including Neo and Ruby.
"He's really landed himself in a hole." Vernal muttered. "That's what happens when you get greedy." She said shaking her head.
"True, but it was also the join or die line." Kyle added before standing up. "I think I've stayed long enough. We do need to do this again. Hopefully next time Roman can be here in person rather than spirit."
"Sure but I wouldn't recommend you both coming here with Raven still mad at you." Vernal said with a laugh.
"You're right I don't really want to face an angry maiden." Kyle said enjoying the way Vernal froze.
"What're you talking about?" She asked.
"You know what I'm talking about. Most people's eyes don't start glowing when they're angry like she was earlier. That and her aura felt different from the last time I saw her." He added.
"If you'd be so kind we would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this. Especially since you're working at Beacon now." She said.
"You act like I'm one of Ozpin's followers or something." He said with a chuckle. "The information I gather I use for my own needs, and Roman's and the kids if need be." He added.
"Alright." Vernal said standing and giving him a hug. "Do give better warning next time we both know you have a scroll." She said as he walked to the entrance of the tent.
"Yeah yeah." He said walking out. After he had left the camp he started heading back towards Beacon.
With Ruby
Today had been a bit of a headache to say the least with Neo now being watched like a hawk, and the fact that Kyle still wasn't back. On the Brightside she did get called to fight someone in their combat class that she had been wanting to fight for a long time.
Across from the red reaper stood the invincible girl with a smile on her face.
Ruby just returned the smile as Glynda went down the rules of the match that they had heard a thousand times already.
"Don't hold back." Ruby called out.
"I won't." Pyrrha said getting into her fighting stance.
Neo was watching the two with interest from where her team was seated. She was really getting tired of the looks that Ruby's team had been giving her. Cinder already lectured her when she found out she had been recognized.
With the stating buzzer sounding Ruby drew her sweetheart and crouched lower bringing the weapon across her back.
Pyrrha eyed her waiting for her to make the first move. Suddenly Ruby was in front of her swinging Crescent Rose around.
Pyrrha raised her shield to block and took a step back at the force of the strike. 'This might be fun.' She thought before pushing the scythe away and swinging Milo in its sword form at her opponent.
Ruby spun around blocking the sword with Crescent's shaft, and continuing her spin kicked out at the champion.
Pyrrha jumped back with the kick and changed Milo into its rifle form shooting towards the other girl.
Ruby blocked the shots between her spinning before planting the scythe into the ground and taking her own shots at the champion who blocked with her shield.
Pulling the scythe out of the ground she rested the weapon on her shoulder. "Not bad Pyrrha, but you won't beat me by just playing defensively." She said.
"I won't be goaded into just recklessly attacking you, but nice try." Pyrrha said with a smile.
"I wasn't trying to goad you into anything I was just making a statement." Ruby said before getting back into her initial stance with the scythe across her back.
In an instant Ruby had disappeared and swung upright catching the champion in the back knocking her up. With a grin Ruby hooked her scythe across the top of the champion's body and pulled the trigger shooting her scythe down onto the girl bringing her down onto the ground with a sizable chunk of aura missing.
Pyrrha would've been in more trouble if she didn't block the follow-up attack with her shield.
When she hit the ground, she rolled away and landed in a crouch.
Ruby just went after her again slashing at the girl's head only for Pyrrha to barely dodge the attack.
'That felt off… is she already using her semblance?' Ruby asked herself.
Pyrrha's knowing smile was all the proof the cloaked girl needed. 'Well if that's how you want to play it.' She thought before disappearing again and jumping into the air in a heavy downward strike.
Pyrrha saw the girl's shadow and dodged again before striking at the her. Ruby jumped away from her weapon which was currently embedded in the floor, and internally smiled at Pyrrha's smile. 'She think's she's won.'
'Without Crescent Rose all she has is those swords. They don't pack nearly as much power, and Ruby isn't a swordswoman.' Pyrrha thought with a smile.
Ruby knew she would respond like this, but unfortunately for the champion Ruby had a bit of a surprise in store for her. Pulling out Mercy she took the blades apart and started running forward without her semblance this time.
'A straightforward attack? What could she hope to gain from that?' Pyrrha thought before bringing up her shield and running towards the hooded girl.
Ruby dashed forward lunging with Mercy only for the attack to be blocked by Pyrrha's shield. Seeing an opening Pyrrha stabbed forward, but Ruby jumped onto Pyrrha's shield and held onto it to avoid the attack.
After the moment of confusion passed Pyrrha saw Ruby jump off the shield like a springboard and disappear in a cloud of petals.
Pyrrha was suddenly very aware of the vortex of petals she was surrounded in. She also noticed it seeming to coil getting closer and closer to her.
She then felt a searing pain in her side briefly seeing Ruby before she disappeared into the vortex again.
Neo smiled from where she was. 'Ruby loves this one.' She thought with an amused smile.
Pyrrha quickly decided that she needed to get out of this vortex, but when she ran to one side she had to block a passing attack with her shield.
With an idea forming she threw her shield into the line of the vortex, but this is what Ruby had been waiting for as she dodged the shield and appeared in front of the champion already swinging at her.
Pyrrha blocked a few of the attacks with her sword but couldn't seem to affect the movement of Ruby's blades. 'Why isn't my semblance affecting her swords? They are metal right?' She asked herself.
With Ruby's attacks getting faster and faster coupled with the fact that petals were still flying around the room obscuring her vision Pyrrha had completely lost her bearings. She didn't know where Akouo had landed, and she could feel her aura rapidly falling.
All of a sudden the buzzer sounded.
"Ruby Rose is the winner of this match." Glynda called out looking slightly shocked herself.
Pyrrha looked towards the screen showing her aura had dipped into the red while Ruby's was still in the yellow around half. Ruby suddenly appeared holding the other girl's shield with a smile on her face. Ruby handed Pyrrha her shield and went to collect her sweetheart.
After smiling at the other girl Ruby went into the locker rooms to get changed, and when she got in there Pyrrha walked up to her.
"How did that happen?" She asked.
"How did what happen?" Ruby asked.
"How were your swords not affected by my polarity?"
"I never did tell anyone much about these." Ruby said putting the blades back together. "These are made of siderite." Ruby said getting a blank stare from the champion.
"I don't know much about it either only what Kyle told me when he gave these to me, but I do happen to know that it doesn't have any magnetic forces for your semblance to use." She finished.
Pyrrha just looked at her before laughing. "Well thank you for that." She said. "I haven't had a good match like that in years especially one where I lost."
"No one needs to be put on a pedestal like you were it's just lonely there." Ruby said before walking out of the locker room only to be greeted by her happy teammates congratulating her on "The coolest thing EVER!" (I give you three guesses as to which one said that, and the first two don't count.)
Pyrrha just smiled and finished changing.
A/N: Here's this thing.
Congrats to the two of you who figured out the fourth member of Kyle and Roman's little group was Vernal. A lot of people guessed the mothers, and like one person said age and timeline wise that'd make zero sense. Amber wasn't one I was expecting, but no. Finally, someone said Cinder. No she would already know all about Kyle and Roman if that were the case.
Umm I can't think of anything else really important to say, so I guess that's it.
Like always Follow, Favorite, Review, and whatever else you all do.
~Laz Out.