Chapter 25: Onto the Horizon
Kio Kuana, Menagerie
6:00 pm
Ilia was moving along the rooftops, hoping to find someplace to lay low as the tensions between the new leadership for the Menagerie chapter of the White Fang and those who still retained their allegiance to Adam were rising heavily. The area where the assassin's blood rested on her cheek was now a dark rash that covered the entire side of her face, and constantly heard voices. It eventually reached the point where she couldn't take it anymore...
"Please, stop!" Ilia said.
"You failed to keep your life safe, gave it up." The voice said in a tormenting tone.
"SHUT UP!" Ilia screamed.
She leapt across the rooftops, hearing the voice of her parents telling her goodbye as they went to work, her reacting to the news of their deaths, and her violent attack against the human girls that mocked Faunus miners. In that moment, she lost her footing on one more rooftop due to her being "distracted" and was sent flying through the air, crashing hard into someone's yard. She smacked her head against a small well in the yard, in which she lost all sight, and the rash on her face vanished...
"What was that noise?" Ghira shouted.
"I'll check outside." Kali said.
Kali walked outside, looking around to see what the source of that strange sound was, in which she immediately saw the motionless Ilia lying on the ground...
"You two, come with me." Kali said to two guards standing at the door.
"Yes, ma'am." One of the guards said.
The trio picked the injured Ilia up, and carried her inside the house as Ghira entered the main hall...
"Ilia? What happened?" Ghira asked.
"I don't know, we found her in the yard like this." Kali explained.
"Kali and I can take her, one of you two go to the WHITECROSS headquarters and request a doctor." Ghira ordered.
"Yes, sir." One of the guards said before running off.
As the Belladonnas prepared to look after the injured Ilia, their daughter was about to face a dangerous situation...
Southern Shore
Vale.
8:00 pm
The skies rumbled with thunder and lightning as the Nightprowler flew through a violent storm that showed up in their flight path. Eric tried to brave it, while the rest of the group struggled to hang on...
"Well, you certainly know how to make a flight fun." Hera said in a sarcastic tone.
"Do you want to fly?" Eric responded in an irritated tone.
"No thanks, sky guy." Hera responded.
"Can it! Eric, can you get us to the shoreline?" Duncan asked.
"Trying, this storm isn't helping with visibility." Eric said.
"Just get us to the ground, this storm makes the air unsafe." Blake said.
"Got something on radar, looks like another airship." Eric pointed out.
"Scans indicate that the vessel is Aletian." Caius said.
But as the ship flew over the Vale shore line, an unfortunate twist of fate had befallen the band of heroes as a rogue lightning bolt struck the Ship's engine. The Nightprowler dived towards the ground, crashing into the center of some woods. Blake crawled her way out of the wreck, injured and in pain, she saw four figures moving towards them...
3 hours later.
Blake awoke aboard the airship, with her injuries bandaged up and resting on the floor of the ship alongside Duncan and his team. Caius sat in the corner with Eric, who was still sore from his injuries...
"Blake, you're awake." Caius said.
"Where are we?" Blake asked.
"You're on Winter Schnee's airship, Blake." Yang said.
Blake leapt to her feet, seeing the one person who she was afraid to face after all that had happened so long ago; Yang. Her heart was racing, horrified and terrified to be in her presence...
"Y- Yang." Blake said in a nervous tone.
"You know, you had me on quite the chase." Yang said.
"I thought I told you that I couldn't face you after...after what I did." Blake said.
"You ran off without even thinking about how Ruby, or even Weiss would feel about you running away." Yang exclaimed.
"Do you honestly think that I could even face Ruby after I almost killed her!?" Blake exclaimed as tears began to pour down her face.
Yang grabbed her teammate and pulled her close, as Blake was immediately overcome with emotion upon being in the presence of her teammate and partner. Duncan came to upon hearing Blake's cries...
"Wow, you guys can not let a man sleep." Duncan said sarcastically as Winter entered the room.
"I'm pleased to see that you have reacquainted with each other." Winter said.
"So where are we heading?" Blake asked.
"Back to Beacon, where you two are supposed to be." Winter said.
"Believe it or not, that was actually my plan for after I had gotten Blake back, you know." Yang said.
"Plans can change, just like the fact that my sister has begun dating yours while you two had run off." Winter commented.
"WHAT?!" Both girls exclaimed.
As the two students braced for a rough homecoming, Ruby and Weiss were about to make a startling discovery as to what Aria had given Ruby...
Team RWBY Dorm room
6:30 am
The two girls were resting in their beds when Weiss' scroll vibrated as Winter was calling her sister. Weiss answered her scroll, and was surprised at what Winter had said...
"Alright, I'll tell her." Weiss said as she scrambled out of bed.
She hurried to Ruby's bed, carefully shaking her to see if she was awake...
"Ruby, I have something to tell you." Weiss said.
"Hmm...What is it?" Ruby asked.
"Winter found Yang and Blake, she's bringing them back here and will be here sometime in the morning." Weiss explained.
"Oh thank God." Ruby said.
"Just wanted to let you know, so we can be ready in the morning." Weiss said.
She kissed Ruby on the forehead, then returned to her bed in order to fall back asleep. The following morning, Weiss was in the middle of buttoning up her shirt while Ruby sat at the end of the bed, waiting for her turn to get dressed.
"Okay, I'm finished." Weiss said.
"Okay." Ruby responded.
But as Ruby began to thrust herself up by pushing on the end of the bed, she didn't notice that there was a sheet of loose paper on the floor and when she took a step forward, the loose paper caused her to lose her balance and fall...
"WHOA!" Ruby shouted as she fell.
"RUBY!" Weiss exclaimed as she ran out from behind the closet door.
In that moment, Ruby heard something inside of her beat like a drum, in which Weiss saw the unexplainable occur before her very eyes. Strange material formed around Ruby's body, in which it immediately transformed into a suit of red armor that cushioned Ruby's fall as she hit the ground with a loud THUD!
"Ruby?! Are you alright?" Weiss inquired.
"Yeah, I'm alright, but...what is this stuff?" Ruby said in a confused tone.
"It looks like some type of chitinous armor." Weiss said as she helped Ruby to her feet.
"Yeah, it kind of does." Ruby said.
"Is this what your aunt gave you? A suit of self-generating chitin armor?" Weiss said in disbelief.
The two watched as the armor quickly vanished after turning into a liquid form and was absorbed by Ruby's skin. They were completely baffled by the sight, just what did Aria Rose give her? While they pondered what was given to Ruby, Winter was just about to touch down...
Beacon Academy Airship Docks
8:00 am.
Qrow and Professor Ozpin stood patiently waiting for Winter's airship as it began to land so they can deal with the two students who had run off. The airship touched down, and as the ramp lowered, Yang and Blake walked down followed by Eric and Winter, with the latter pushing Bumblebee down the ramp...
"You know, you caused a lot of trouble." Qrow said.
"I know." Yang said, sounding ashamed.
"Aside from Qrow's thoughts, you two will have to work yourselves hard if you want to catch up on all you missed." Ozpin said.
"Understood, headmaster." Blake said.
"Here's your bike, kid." Eric said.
"Thanks, man." Yang said.
"I'll be taking Mr. Foster and Miss Belladonna's compatriots to the hospital to have their injuries taken care of." Winter said.
"Alright, Winter. You may take your leave." Ozpin said.
Winter boarded her airship and took off, while Qrow had Yang turn over the keys to her motorcycle as per the instructions of her father as she would be grounded from its use for awhile. Afterwards, the two decided to proceed to the dorms in order to receive their lumps from their teammates for their behavior over the past few weeks. As they approached the dorm room, they immediately encountered Weiss leaning against the wall with a stern look on her face, who then proceeded to walk towards them...
"Weiss, before you say-" Yang said as Weiss immediately hugged the two.
"Shut it, you dunces. You have had us worried for too long." Weiss said.
"Sorry for causing so much trouble." Blake said as she hugged Weiss back.
"Same here." Yang said.
"Good, glad that's straightened out." Weiss started. "Now then, Ruby wants to see you first, Blake." She instructed.
"Alright, I've been meaning to talk to you about the fact that you just happen to be dating my sister." Yang said.
Weiss let Blake into the room, where Ruby was sitting in a chair and looking at Blake...
"Ruby...I...I..I'm So Sorry for what I did to you." Blake said after falling to knees before Ruby.
Tears had already begun to flow down Blake's face, in which Ruby lowered her hand out to her kneeling teammate and Blake immediately took notice and took her hand. Ruby immediately pulled Blake close and hugged her tight.
"I'm just glad that you are alive, that's all that matters." Ruby said.
"Thank you." Blake said before crying in relief.
Ruby held her crying teammate close as Yang and Weiss entered the room, with Weiss helping Ruby up to transition from a single hug between the two girls to a full group hug between all four girls. As Team RWBY celebrated their reunion, Xavier was about to make a startling discovery of serious proportions...
WHITECROSS Primary Headquarters
City of Vale.
9:54 am.
Xavier sat in his chair, holding onto a patch that was acquired from the Vacuo chapter of the organization that had him concerned. It resembled that of an Ouroboros coiled around a dagger, which resembled the emblem of another organization that had a bloody history in Remnant. Just as he was lost in thought, an elderly man with a Dragon head cane entered his office...
"It's been too long, old friend." The man said.
"Yeah, I'll still remember all that time you spent training me to inherit the director position." Xavier said.
"You were an adaptive student after all. I still remember the time you helped me arrange the Menagerie chapter deal." The man said.
"Yeah, the crowning achievement of my career as a member of the WHITECROSS organization." Xavier said.
"Anyway Xavier, what decided to bring me to your office?" The man asked.
"There's been a slight development, Valentine, our chapter in Vacuo came into the custody of two young girls who had been used in human experimentation." Xavier explained.
"That is pretty shocking. Have you been able to identify the ones who are responsible?" Valentine asked.
"Take a look." Xavier said, tossing him the patch.
"No...it can't be." Valentine said in shock as he recognized the emblem.
"We always knew that they might be back." Xavier said.
"But I hadn't anticipated that they would be taking hold in events so quickly." Valentine said.
"I think you and need to have a talk." Xavier said.
"Yes, we should." Valentine said.
As Xavier discussed the possibility of a looming threat to the world of Remnant with his former mentor, Cinder was on the path to a new destiny...
Tomb of Arcadia Nightingale
Mount Hel.
Vale.
Cinder, who now had an artificial, robotic arm provided by a "friend", climbed up the side of a mountain alongside her compatriots Mercury and Emerald. She stopped outside of a set of massive stone doors and thought back to when the Storyteller provided her with the location...
(Flashback)
"Arcadia Nightingale was the member of Salem's inner circle whose seat you now hold." The Storyteller explained to Cinder as she looked through A book in her hands.
"She betrayed Salem?" Spectral Cinder said.
"It was only after Salem had her kill her younger sister." The Storyteller said.
"Family gets in the way when you are striving to achieve your goals." Spectral Cinder said.
"Quite a speech, considering that you have started to see a family bond with someone on your quarry." The Storyteller said.
"Uhh." Cinder said as her face got flustered.
"I can understand why you would want to hide it, considering who your employer is." The Storyteller said.
"Anyway, why are you telling me this?" Cinder asked.
"Because how do you think Salem is going to react to the fact that you have lost the powers of the Fall Maiden? I can picture a few things that could happen." The Storyteller said.
Upon hearing that, Cinder trembled a bit as she knew that he was right, the explosion of the bomb that she was caught in destroyed any chance of retaining the powers of the Maiden. If Salem found out, her chances at striving for the power she sought after would immediately be done for...
"I know you, Cinder, you can find the most unexpected ways to avoid having death smack you around." The Storyteller said as he wrote in a book that had Cinder's emblem on the cover.
"You want me to live in order to keep your story interesting." Cinder said.
"Of course, this moment makes for a good plot twist." The Storyteller said in an amused tone.
"As I much as I don't want to admit it, you do have a point." Cinder said.
"Anyway, it's my job to pen everyone's lives to paper while I'm living here." The Storyteller explained.
"So what happened to Nightingale?" Cinder asked.
"She died after setting Salem's plans back for a while by sealing something that she needed in a world that she could not reach." The Storyteller said.
"She was that powerful?" Cinder said in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, her tomb in Vale was sealed with her own power, locking up her own relics inside." The storyteller explained.
Present Day.
Cinder walked into the center of a large circle in front of the doors, in which it immediately lit up as a rune on the doors glowed and a female's voice was heard...
"You have come to my tomb, seeking power to change the world for your own self. But to gain entry, you must reveal your true feelings." The voice said.
Upon hearing that, Cinder immediately wondered what that had meant but knew that what had lain inside would rewrite her destiny. As she set onto a new path, Qrow was about to make a startling discovery...
Fortuna
10:32 am
Qrow arrived in Fortuna, as it was his first time having ventured into the realm of fate and he was here because the Storyteller had sent a message to him about a matter that he wanted to discuss...
"Welcome, Mr. Branwen." The Storyteller said.
"Oz was right, this place is like an overgrown library." Qrow said.
"Well, the books here are all about every single person in the world of Remnant." The Storyteller mused.
"At least you can keep yourself occupied." Qrow said.
The Storyteller led Qrow to the Vault, a place where stories that had what the Storyteller considered "abnormal" were kept. For a story to be considered Abnormal, he would have to continue writing it despite the fact that the person who the story is about has been declared dead.
"Is there a reason why you brought me to your vault?" Qrow asked.
"I felt that a story here was worth sharing." The Storyteller explained.
"Really?" Qrow said in a sarcastic tone.
"Yeah, its the White one with the rose on it." The Storyteller said.
Qrow immediately picked it up after the Storyteller pointed towards it, and opened it up. All of the color in Qrow's face immediately disappeared, as the book he was holding as it was the life story of Summer Rose, his most closest friend and former team captain. He looked through the book, noticing details that immediately caught his attention...
"Is what this book saying true?" Qrow asked.
"Yep, she's been trapped there for a while." The Storyteller said.
"Then how do I get her out of there?" Qrow inquired.
"I don't know how myself, but I might know a place where you can find the answer to how." The Storyteller explained.
"Then you better start talking." Qrow said.
This Chapter concludes The remastered edition of RWBY:Tainted Blood. Cinder, who once sought power under Salem's banner, now seeks power of her own volition by venturing to the tomb of Arcadia Nightingale, a powerful individual who rebelled against Salem centuries ago. Qrow approaches the Storyteller in a meeting, learning of Summer Rose's survival and the possibility of a place that could hold the knowledge to set her free. Xavier approaches his mentor and predecessor, Marcus Valentine, regarding the mysterious threat that tried to claim the two girls from Chapter 24. Team RWBY has an emotional reunion as Blake and Yang have come home to their team, and Ilia has now been incapacitated by an unknown affliction that has rendered her catatonic in which she falls under the care of the Belladonnas. This story provides everything that was missing in its predecessor and corrects any of the mistakes that I made in the past version. Soon, I will release the sequel to this story, and here is all I am going to tell you about it; title: RWBY: THE COST OF PROGRESS
WAIT AND SEE...