Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. The song used in this chapter is "Hope of Morning" By Icon for hire and also not owned by me.
Something I want to talk about real quick. So, the day before RWBY vol 2 came out, a buddy of mine showed me the most awesome thing I have seen all year. See, our favorite anime, Rurouni Kenshin, was made into a live action movie last year, and by all accounts, it made the transition very smoothly. However, the movie only touched upon the main character introductions and left fans feeling kinda dissapointed. However, this buddy of mine, not half an hour before I wrote this little AN, informed me that there is a sequel coming out next month. A sequel focusing on the story's Kyoto Arc, my favorite of the story arcs.
This is really important to me because, although Game of Thrones, Fate/Zero, and other shows inspire me as a writer, Rurouni Kenshin is the series that got me into not only anime, but TV and stories in general. I never would have tried and discovered that I loved writing if a comic artist in Japan never decided he wanted to make a story about an assassin who gave up killing and wandered across 19th century Japan helping people who cannot help themselves. It is still at the top of my favorites list almost 20 years after it came out. And that is saying a lot.
King sat in his chair, surrounded on all sides by screens displaying almost everything important going on in Vale. Next to his chair was a small table with a chess board on it, but his eyes were entirely focused on his scroll. His new white haired agent had just sent him a report on what was happening in the school.
"That idiot." King said. His normally calm voice was laced with agitation at this new development. He threw the scroll across the room, letting it shatter against the stone floor. "What the hell is he thinking!?" King shouted at no one in particular. "He's thrown our two aces into the line of fire! Doesn't he understand what's going on?! The Grimm aren't dying off! They're consolidating their strength, waiting for the signal to attack! And now look what he's done!" The pissed off shadow dweller took a moment to regain some control over his anger. "How is a king supposed to defend his kingdom if his lords and generals are fighting against him?" He glanced over at the pieces pieces on the chessboard. A white pawn and Knight, to be precise. "Randal, Ruby, don't die out there. If they take you, we're all doomed."
"I'm scared that you'll compare and I'll look a lifetime past repair
I second guess myself to death, I re-solicit every step
What if my words are meaningless? What if my heart's misleading this?"
A tap on his shoulder snapped Randal out of his thoughts. He turned his head to face Goodwitch, the two of them had been sitting next to each other for the past hour of this flight. Apparently, it was now her job to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't attack or threaten any more students. Though to be honest, everyone felt that CDNL had been asking for it since day one. The older teacher pointed to her ears. Getting the message, Randal removed his headphones.
"What's up?" He asked, sounding just as bored as he felt.
"We're coming up on our destination, please, keep your eyes open, The forest of Forever Fall is a dangerous place for the unprepared."
"Which is why I made sure to stock up on incindiary bullets and replacements for Sibbald's blade once I found out I was coming along." He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I've got maybe, twice as many on me than I usually do."
"Did you get the chance to visit them before we left?" The blonde witch inquired. He didn't need to ask who she was talking about. He still couldn't beleive it was the anniversary of team DARK's aniahlation. It just didn't feel like that much time had actually passed. He'd planned to spend the day trying to figure out what to do with all his late roomates' stuff. He couldn't bring himself to chuck it, and apparently their families came and picked up all the memorabilia that they wanted, and that apparently left him to decide the fate of their stuff.
Unfortunately, life had other plans. The school had booked a field trip to Forever Fall, and apparently the anniversary of the deaths of his closest friends wasn't enough for Ozpin to give him a day off. He planned on getting back at proffessor Jackass for that later. Maybe he'd use one of Nora's grenades to blow up his desk or something to that effect. But until then, here he was, babysitting a bunch of rookies. Granted he'd started to get to know a few of them, maybe they even considered him a friend at this point, who knew? Maybe they were already his friends and he was just too stubborn to admit it. Oh well, he'd figure it out later.
"Yeah, I got up a few hours early so I could pay my respects." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Wake me when we land, would ya?" He didn't even wait for an answer before putting his headphones back in.
"When the hope of morning starts to fade in me
I don't dare let darkness have its way with me
And the hope of morning makes me worth the fight
I will not be giving in tonight"
A black knight stood atop a branch of one of the trees surrounding the clearing where the ship landed. His dark form hidden by the leaves that shrouded him.
"Bericht" Said a deep, gutteral voice that came in on the wind. The scout looked to it's commander, sitting in a tree nearby.
"Sieht aus wie einige Schüler aus dieser Akademie." It turned it's gaze back to the group of Beacon students disembarking from the ship. "Und ein Tier in Mir." It said, noting Randal.
"Tier in Mir? Er ist hier?" The scout nodded.
"Haben wir nun mit ihm?" A third voice asked.
"Zuerst müssen wir sehen, ob er die Kontrolle hat, oder ob er ein Sklave zu dem Tier." Answered their commander.
Something felt off. Randal couldn't quite understand what, but there was this... feeling in the air. He couldn't quite describe it. But the feeling in his bones was all too familliar. He couldn't help but smile as the teams he was assigned to made their way through the forest. A fight was coming, a good one. A hand drifted over the pocket where he kept Sibbald, was he already anxious to get back into the action? The last real fight he'd been in was that night he, Mercer, and Mary butchered those members of the White Fang, and he certainly needed some practice.
"You murdered my daughter!" Vesper's words echoed in his mind. He'd almost forgotten about that. He still had no idea what had happened in that village last year. Was it that black blur that killed all those people, or were Vesper and that little girl right, and he was somehow the culprit? He shook his head, trying to remove those thoughts from his mind. He couldn't afford to be caught off guard here and now.
Eventually, his batch of students, teams RWBY and JNPR, found a good place to start gathering tree sap for their assignment. Randal leaned against a tree with a good vantage point over the area, his eyes scanning for the threat he knew was coming.
Despite technically being one of of Goodwitch's teams, Team CDNL somehow managed to ditch their teacher and followed Randal's group with all the stealthiness they could muster. They were hiding behind a cluster of rocks on the edge of a clearing atop a small hill. Below that hill, Randal's students were going about their work. However, the team of bullies were completely unaware of the pair of glowing red eyes watching them curiously from behind the clump of bushes it was using for cover. Nor were they aware of a faint black mist that swept across the clearing behind them.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Cardin?" Russel asked. "I mean, yeah he's an ass to us, but he's a teacher! We could get expeled or something for this!"
"Oh, quit your whining." Cardin replied. "I was out all night catching these Rapier-Wasps, and I'm gonna teach that dropout a lesson he'll never forget." The leader of CDNL looked to his other two teammates. "You guys get the sap?" Sky Smiled, producing a jar of tree sap from his bag.
"Right here, Cardin." He said, handing the jar over to his leader.
"Good." Cardin smirked. Finally, he was about to have his revenge on the bastard who dared treat him like dirt these past few months. Who did he think he was anyway? He may be a teacher now, but he was still a dropout. He couldn't handle what it really took to be a huntsman and protect the world from these monsters.
Savoring every second, Cardin raised the jar of sap over his head, and aimed at the teacher... Who was smiling like a maniac, looking directly at him, and had one of his Tonfa/SMGs pointed directly at Cardin. Crap.
BANG! The sound of the gunshot was deafening compared to the relative peace of the forest surrounding them, and it was followed immediately by the sound of shattering glass, and something sticky and sweet smelling landed on Cardin's head.
"That's what you get for leaving your group!" Randal called out. Cardin never felt this infuriated in his entire life.
Behind the bullies, several sets of glowing red eyes watched as these events unfolded in front of them. Among the group that had formed was a lumbering black beast with boney spikes shooting out from it's spine. It growled when it caught the scent of the sap that now lay on Cardin's head, and made to move out to make a snack out of the Huntsman in training.
"beruhigen Sie sich." the closest of the black knights whispered. The Ursa Major obediently took a few steps back and ceased it's growling.
"Was wissen wir über die Studenten tun?" The knight wondered aloud.
"Es ist einfach." Came their commander's reply. "Kein mitleid." A chuckle was heard among the other knights, none of them taking their gazes off their prey. "haben die ursa töten diese vier." With a nod, the Knight controling the Ursa Major released the grimm to do as it pleased. And right now, what pleased it was the thought of eating Cardin's head.
A/N: I really wanted to get this chapter out by the vol 2 premier, but sadly I got a case of writer's block on wednesday night and couldn't break out of it, and so I cut it here and the next chapter will have all I had to cut out and then some. AWESOME ACTION NEXT CHAPTER!
Also, I'm pretty sure at least some of you will have realized what language the knights are speaking. If you can understand what they are saying, congrats, you can figure out what they are up to. However, if you can't, don't worry as it will be explained in time.
I'm still freaking out about the Kenshin movie BTW. Anyway, have a good thursday and be sure to enjoy the epicness that is RWBY vol 2!