A/N: Loyal readers, and fellow authors, I hope this chapter finds you well. I have recently gone through a loss in my family, my grandfather passed away on January, 13, I've had to soldier on to right this dark chapter. I'll be alright, I've gotten good at channeling my emotions through my emotions. Hope you guys enjoy this.
Weiss was grew more and more impatient with each passing minute. She knew Cy could probably hold his own against someone who kidnapped him, maybe a few members of the White Fang. But everyone had their limits, Cy especially since the heiress knew she had no formal training to speak of. But the fact that he had two older brothers at least meant that he could hold his own under pressure, that was important in these situations. Ashe on the other hand was the youngest, and always kept close to guardian figures like Ferrina and her older siblings. This made Weiss more and more fearful for the children's safety.
As the bullhead landed, the heiress sprinted back to her team's dorm. She knocked on the door, "Open up, please." She pleaded, "It's Weiss, please open the door!"
Blake opened the door, "Weiss, what happened," the black cat Faunus asked.
"That's just it, Blake," Weiss replied, "I don't know what happened." Blake closed the door behind the girl in white as she walked in, "We went to watch a movie at the theater and when we were on our way out, I looked and they were gone."
Ruby had just walked in and heard everything. Weiss saw the look of shock and worry on the brunette's face. "Weiss, how could you have let that happen?" She asked in disbelief.
"Ruby, I," Weiss was cut off by the sound of skin on skin and a burning feeling on the side of her face.
"How could you let that happen!?" Ruby screamed. She advanced toward the heiress and was about to start pounding on her when Yang grabbed her by the waist, "Yang," Ruby cried, "lemme go!" She struggled and beat her fists on Yang's arms. "Let. Me. Go!" She growled trying hopelessly to squirm free. She shrieked in effort trying to break out of her sister's iron grip, "Let me go, Yang, she deserves it and you know it!" Ruby screamed in anger, "She said she'd make sure nothing would happen! She said she'd keep Cy safe!"
"I did make sure nothing happened." Weiss protested, "I told you that I had no idea what actually happened."
"LIAR," Ruby screamed as tears began to run down her face, "You're lying, I know you are!" She kicked her sister and struggled continuously to break free, "This is just like what happened before!" She shouted, "She made the same promise! That she'd come home safely! Now I can never actually see her again!" She choked out as more tears flooded her eyes, "She lied to me, now…" She finally broke free and landed on the floor, pounding it with her fists. Each time her fist hit the ground, the force behind it got weaker and until she couldn't lift it any longer, "… now it's hap… happening agai-ha-ha-han." She started uncontrollably sobbing gaining frowns of empathy from her teammates.
Weiss knelt down and put her hand on her leader's weakly clenched fist, "Ruby," She said softly, "I know you think I'm a horrible person for not knowing what happened to Cy. I probably deserved that slap to the face. I felt the same way toward myself immediately after it happened." Her tone changed slightly, "But that's no reason to break down and cry. Right now, Cy is out there, I know you know I'm telling the truth. I know that you'd know if Cy were alive or not, but the situation has not come to that, and I'm not going to let that fearful consideration come to light." She held out her hand, "Will you fight for the boy you love, Ruby?"
Ruby looked up, her eyes still misty with tears. She swallowed hard huffed, "If it means getting the only boy I'd wait for back, then yes." She took Weiss' hand and was helped to her feet. "Let's go get Ashe and Cy back! BANZAI!"
"BANZAI!" The rest of Team RWBY shouted in agreement.
Cy was beginning to feel absolutely terrified. The multicolored girl in white sitting in front of him resting her head on her forearms with a hauntingly whimsical smile on her face and half-lidded eyes scared him. She made his blood run cold. If I manage to get out of this, I'm swearing off chocolate, vanilla, and s… his thoughts halted, …straw… berry. He couldn't believe it, she was going to make him swear off the one of the things that made him think of, Ruby. A tear rolled down his cheek, Ruby without strawberries, he thought, Oh that's it, I'm gonna show these creeps what happens when you cross a Whitemane. I just need to wait for the right moment.
Neo blinked her eyes slowly. Reached out and rubbed the tip of one of the Faunus boy's ears. If there was one thing got her heart racing, it was seeing a victim tied up and helpless within arm's reach. The more she looked at Cy, the more she wanted to have Roman order her to… have her fun with him. But for her the only question was where should she begin? Should she scar him up a little, or maybe give him a nice scarring illusion, someone close to him in mortal danger. Or, icing on her ice cream cake, she could take on the guise of the little girl in red and break his little heart.
In a nearby room, Roman was busy indulging in a favorite past time of his, making children cry. The fact that he was dealing with a scared little girl, with the cute impediment, made this session all the more satisfying. "Now listen, cutie," He said in a falsely calm voice, "consider yourself lucky that I didn't leave you with my right hand lady, Neo."
"What awe you gonna do to me?" Ashe asked.
"Nothing too serious," Roman said, "I may be a criminal mastermind, but I'm not foolish enough to pull something heinous."
"Why awe you such a meanie?" Ashe demanded.
"Because goody-goodies like your brother annoy me." Roman said, "And I'm not the best person to be around when I'm annoyed."
"Not suwe you'we da nicest pewson to be awound, pewiod." Ashe snarked innocently.
"I heard that, ya little brat." Roman growled pointing his finger close to the child Faunus' face, "You think that just because you're small means I won't break you within…" He never thought baby teeth could hurt. Ashe had lashed out and crunched all of the teeth on the side of her mouth along as much of the length of Roman's finger as she could fit. "OW!" Roman howled in pain. He tried to forcefully yank his finger free, but Ashe was one step ahead and released his finger sending him stumbling back into a White Fang thug.
Neo had heard the cry of her boss' predicament and ran in. She looked at the five year old sitting tied to a chair blowing a raspberry at Roma. The multicolored girl looked to her boss. The Faunus child's teeth had pierced through the tightly woven fabric. "She bit me," Roman said in a pained voice, "the little twerp bit me."
As soon as Neo ran out of the room Cy used his semblance to phase out of the ropes binding him to the chair and out through the wall behind him. On the other side he hid behind through the rope binding his hand. "The next time I see my dad, I should thank him for nagging me to brush my teeth after a meal." He whispered. He pulled up a pant leg and pulled a small object from his sock. "I'm glad I brought this along." He smiled. As the wolf Faunus raised to a crouch position, a small bag of ball bearings caught his eye, "Luck be Ruby tonight." He smirked taking a peek inside, "Huh, only twenty shots," he huffed feeling slightly disappointed, "Better than nothing I guess." He took a deep breath and exhaled, "Hold on Ashe, big brother Cy-Cy is on his way."
Ashe was flailing her head side to side chomping at the hands of two White Fang guards Torchwick called in to get a hand on the Faunus girl. She was growling and snarling to try to keep them away. Torchwick himself was showing his injury to Neo, "Can you believe a little girl's teeth could do this?" He asked, "I'm glad she didn't break skin."
"Hey boss," A White Fang soldier called into the room.
"Ugh, what is it?" Roman demanded, "I'm kinda busy here."
"The other kid we nabbed is gone." The soldier called back.
Roman's eyes went wide with disbelief, "What?!" He shouted.
"Come see for yourself." The soldier called, "It's pretty weird. The ropes aren't even broken."
Roman snapped his fingers and signaled the two guards to follow him and Neo as they ran into the other room. Ashe was terrified to her wits end when she felt a small hand cup itself over her mouth from behind. "Ashe, don't scream, it's Cy." The older Faunus child whispered, "I'm getting us outta here, understand?" Ashe bobbed her head twice in acknowledgement. "Okay, hold tight and follow me." He closed his eyes and pulled his sister through the ropes and chair by the waist. Once she was free, he turned and they both ran through the back wall of the room and hid behind a crate of dust crystals.
Ashe noticed that her brother was panting heavily, "Cy-Cy, you okay?" she asked.
Cy laughed it off lightly, "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just not used to ghosting two people multiple times." He panted a little before continuing, "You okay?" He asked.
"I bited the guy in the funny hat," Ashe said sheepishly.
Cy's eyes widened, "Ashe Azalea Whitemane, what did Papa always tell us about biting people?" He asked taking on the role of big brother.
"That it makes da bad thing come out." Ashe said as her ears drooped.
"Did you break skin and taste blood?" Cy asked.
Ashe shook her head, "Uh-uh, I onwy towe his gwove a wittle bit."
Cy sighed, "That's a relief."
"Oh is it ever." Emerald said sneering at them. She pointed one of her guns at them and called Roman on her scroll, "It's Emerald, I got found them."
"Oh good," Torchwick said, "Now stop standing around and get them back in here!" The conversation ended as the signal clicked off.
"You're welcome," Emerald said sarcastically. She stiffened her arm, "You two are coming back with me."
"Wanna bet, grandma?" Cy said standing up and pulling out a sling shot.
"Oh please," Emerald laughed, "You think that you can do something to hurt…" She felt her hand go numb from being struck by a ball bearing on the pressure point in her hand. She dropped one the gun in her deadened hand and howled in pain.
"Run sis!" Cy shouted as he took off over the crates.
Neo had come to join Emerald in her search and caught the sight of Cy landing and running across her path. Neo turned to Emerald, who clumsily picked up her gun. "You go after that boy, the little squirt is mine." Emerald growled as she holstered the gun. They both ran off after their quarries, determined to not screw things up even further.
The airship to Vale had landed and Team RWBY made their way to the one place Yang knew they could find what they were looking for. The doors of Hei "Junior" Xiong's club were wrenched open by a thoroughly ticked off blonde, "JUNIOR!" She shouted.
Junior groaned knowing his once peaceful night was just ruined by the blonde haired bane of his existence, "Oh crap," he said, "What do you want this time, blondie?"
Weiss, Ruby, and Blake hopped in over Yang's back, "We're looking for two Faunus children," Weiss said.
"We heard from my sister that you may know where they are." Ruby glared.
"So start talking, or we'll let Yang handle the interrogations." Blake said.
Junior sighed, "I'm not running a freakin' nursery here. I'm trying to run a night club."
"A night club where members of the White Fang enter and exit from on a nightly basis," Blake replied, "among other criminal scum who walk the streets of Vale at night."
Melanie and her twin sister Miltiades walked up to them, "Like save your breath," Miltia said, "Junior's not gonna squeal on anyone."
"Besides," Melanie added, "like the guy you wanna talk to is over on the terrace up there." She said pointing to an inebriated man in a White Fang mask. "I heard him talking some crap about capturing two little kids."
"Yeah," Miltia replied, "something about a ten year old boy, and a five year old girl being held a warehouse somewhere."
Ruby glared in the soldier's direction, "Give me five minutes with him," She said reaching for Crescent Rose.
The silver eyed girl's hand was stopped, "Save your conduct, sis." Yang said, "I'll handle this. You save your ammo for when we find where they're keeping Cy and Ashe." She headed off toward the catwalk.
"Looks like you got a little tense when it comes to those kids." Miltia said.
"The little boy asked her to wait for him," Blake said.
"And both of them are the younger siblings of my boyfriend, Rowan Whitemane." Weiss said.
Junior shot straight up, "You mean they're the kids of Redwood Whitemane, leader of the Whitemane Faunus Human Peace Initiative?" He asked.
"Yes?" Weiss said inquisitively.
"Oh boy," Junior said, "I feel sorry for the White Fang now."
"Why's that, Junior?" Miltia and Melanie asked.
"I heard stories of Redwood when I was younger." Junior replied, "He was a fierce warrior, and his wife, Cherry Blossom, was equally as powerful. Between the two of them they racked up a devastating reputation. But, when she…" He realized what was coming, "when she died, the elder siblings took it pretty hard."
"Rowan took it hardest of all." Weiss said, "He was only two years older than his brother is now. It was at a Christmas party my father held. He was broken like an old ceramic doll inside. I did the only thing I could, I gave him a friend to keep his loneliness from consuming him."
"And now five years later, you're dating him," Ruby said, "that's a well-made relationship."
"And I'm scared that if I lose Rowan's siblings…" Weiss started.
"Found 'em." Yang said.
"How did you…?" Weiss asked.
"You put the squeeze on him," Junior asked reaching for an ice bucket, "didn't you, Blondie?"
"Yup." Yang said putting emphasis on the last syllable.
"Where are they?" Weiss and Ruby both asked.
Yang smiled, "The east end of the docks. All we need to look for is a big warehouse overflowing with Schnee Dust Co. crates."
Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, "Of course, that would be where they are."
"Weiss, complaining about it won't resolve it." Ruby said, "Let's go before something else happens to them." Team RWBY ran out of the club and headed to find them.
Cy had managed to keep a good twenty yards ahead of Neo. Every chance he got, he'd dive through a crate to try to gain a few feet, but Neo would leap over the crates and close the gap. If Neo got too close, she was met with a shot from a ball bearing. After ten minutes of fleeing for his life, Cy checked his ammo, "Uh oh, looks like I need to find something else." He did his best to shake Neo off his tail by ducking around a corner and diving through the wall of a large metal shipping container. When his ice cream themed pursuer rounded the corner and saw he wasn't there, her first instinct was to double back to make sure he wasn't on the other side. What she didn't see, was the young wolf Faunus inside the shipping container rummaging around to find ammunition for his slingshot.
He carefully slipped them into his bag and snuck out through the back of the container. He gave a loud whistle in Neo's direction. As the multicolored girl looked around, a ball of lightning shot past her face. Cy laughed nervously at how clumsily he'd missed his mark. "Whoops." He gulped as Neo drew a long blade from the shaft of her parasol. Better go all out. I need to confuse her. He thought as he ran from Neo who gave chase.
Cy picked a small aura restoring pill from a pouch on his belt and ate it. He looked at his scroll, the aura meter on his screen went from orange to green. Need to be careful, Cy thought, I have to keep above the red long enough to get this weird girl off my tail. If I can manage that, I've got to get to Ashe before that crazy lady with the green hair kills her. Then there's that psycho with that stupid hat. First thing's first, I need a good place to take this weirdo by surprise.
On the other side of the massive warehouse, Ashe Whitemane was busy trying to get Emerald off her tail. The little Faunus did everything she could to lose her mint haired pursuer, from hiding behind crates, to toppling things behind her. Eventually, she ran out of options. She ran into an empty room and crawled under a table. "I wanna go home." She whispered to herself.
Outside the room, she could hear Emerald's boots drawing closer as the sickle blade on the end of her weapon sang its sickly sweet knell of despair. "Come out, come out, where ever you are, you little brat." Emerald said in sing song voice, "I promise I won't hurt you… much."
The sound of her tormentor's wicked voice made tears flow from Ashe's eyes. She shivered and her ears drooped as the clicking of Emerald's footsteps grew ever closer. Mommy, I wish you were here," She thought as she hugged her knees tighter. Mommy… Her train of thought derailed as a sharp blade stabbed through the metal table above her.
Emerald aggressively pulled the table to the side, "Found you~" she maliciously grinned. Ashe shivered and fearfully backed herself into a corner. Tears flowed down her cheeks as a scream lay caught in her throat. Emerald drew back a sickle blade, "You'd better hope I miss," She shouted as she swung the tip of the blade down.
All Ashe could do is scream beyond the range of her voice, "MOMMY!" There was a rush of air and an odd pinging sound before the wolf Faunus opened her eyes. She was okay. Had the blade missed her? She looked behind her and saw Emerald trying to pull her sickle out of the floor of the room, "You missed, you big meanie!" She shouted in her adrenaline rush.
Emerald's frustration went through the roof, "SCREW IT!" She roared as she ran toward the wolf girl, who slammed the door to the room… on the mint haired thief's face. The wooden door exploded as Emerald's body charged through and sent her barreling into the adjacent wall. The impact made her stumble backward, trip over Ashe and hit the back of her head on the edge of the table. The third impact knocked her out.
Ashe stood up and looked at the older woman's unconscious figure. She blew a raspberry at Emerald and ran off to find her brother.
Cypress was running as fast as he could, Neo sprinted after him. Unbeknownst to the multicolored girl, the young Faunus boy was looking for a dead end. He wanted to show his pursuer what happened when a Whitemane was backed into a corner. He saw a turn to his left, he skidded into it and ran down to see it was a short hall to nowhere. Jackpot, He thought to himself.
Neo skidded into the hall behind him. The look of happiness on the young Faunus' face confused her. But she shrugged it off as she drew the needle-like blade from her parasol. A malicious grin appeared on her face as she dashed like a fencer toward her prey.
Cy grinned as her jumped through the wall behind him causing Neo's blade to get stuck in the wall. He quickly got behind Neo and loosed a red crystal at her while catching himself on the opposite wall. Neo was fast with parrying the job with her parasol. When she lowered her shield, she was met by a yellow crystal from a higher angle, which zapped her with a paralyzing charge of electricity. The parasol slipped from her hand. Cy jumped higher between the two walls twice more as he pelted her with a wave of water from a blue crystal, which blasted her into the wall behind her, and a white crystal that froze her to the wall.
Landing on his feet after his minor triumph, Cy stepped forward and pointed an accusing finger at the multicolored girl, "That's for almost ruining strawberries for me." He declared with an extra shot of boldness. He turned away trembling from the rush of energy that filled him only moments before, "I can't believe I did that." He laughed as he shook from the adrenaline crash.
Neo's eyes widened in disbelief, two months ago she managed to beat an extremely ticked off blonde on a train. Now she was frozen in a block of ice because of a mad ten year old Faunus, who blamed her for almost ruining strawberries for him. Neo was cursing herself in her head as she watched a boy half her age who'd taken her out with such a basic weapon, pocket the slingshot and walk away from her.
Team RWBY had made it to the edge of the shipping yard. Ruby had Crescent Rose ready, Yang's Ember Celica were deployed and loaded up, Weiss' had Myrtenaster drawn for combat, Blake drew Gambol Shroud and awaited Ruby's signal. "Okay," The cat Faunus said in a low voice, "if we're going to break the kids out we'll need to be quiet about it."
"Weiss," Ruby said, "do you think you can bridge the gap between here and the roof of the warehouse?"
"I'm certain I can," Weiss said.
The guards began moving into the building, "Wait," Blake said, "something's up. The guards are heading inside."
Weiss poked her head up around the corner of their hiding spot, "What could draw them into the warehouse?"
Ruby looked at the building and realized what was happening, "Cy's pretty feisty when he plays hide and seek. He told me that when he plays hunt with total strangers, he'll get the people chasing him to lure him into a corner and then phase through the wall behind him. He'd make so many of his friends mad at him." She giggled.
"Do you really think that Cy could pull something like this off?" Blake asked.
"Blake has a point, sis," Yang said, "Cy may not be as smart and crafty as he leads on to be."
Ruby shot her sister a look that frightened the blonde, "You don't know that for sure, Yang," She deadpanned, "We don't know that for sure. But that doesn't mean that we can't rule that out entirely." She used her semblance and darted to a storage container within sight of the entrance to the warehouse. She peeked over the corner of the container and pulled out her scroll, "The main storage room of the warehouse looks empty." She said, "Blake, do you think you can get a closer look?"
"I'm certain I can," Blake replied.
"That's good enough for me," Ruby replied, "Weiss, Yang, move in a little closer. Don't go any further until Blake gives the all clear."
Weiss and Yang made their way closer to the warehouse, stopping in behind a blue container. "What's with Ruby," Yang asked, "I've known her all her life, and she's never acted like this before."
"Either she's been hit by traumatic puberty," Weiss said, "or the thought of losing Cy hit a nerve and now she's acting more mature. You saw how she acted earlier when I told you that Cy and Ashe were kidnapped. I'd say this is what her motivated side is like when she's determined to finish a crucial mission."
"Or it could be she's so stricken with anger at the White Fang kidnapping the boy she loves, that her undying fury has come full circle." Yang said. Weiss raised an eyebrow at the blonde's statement. "I mean she must be absolutely livid right now, but she's at the point where she knows how to maintain that much anger."
"I hope so." Weiss said.
'It looks clear to me.' Blake said over the scroll. 'Wait minute, I see someone coming.'
Weiss and Yang readied their weapons, Ruby took aim with Crescent Rose, Blake drew Gambol Shroud from its scabbard and readied for battle. Ruby zipped into the warehouse and perched at the top of a stack of crates. Expecting a mob of White Fang soldiers, she was surprised to find that Ashe Whitemane was hiding behind the crate just in front of her. The sudden appearance of a White Fang guard made the brunette zip duck in beside the Faunus girl, holding her tightly. Ruby listened closely, as she heard the hurried footsteps leave and was sure the room was clear, she turned to Ashe. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you." She said, "Where's your brother?"
"Cy-Cy and I got s-sep-sep-uh…" Ashe stuttered to find her words.
"You were separated?" Ruby asked.
"By two mean wadies," Ashe replied, "One wif gween haiw and one dwessed in white. Da giwl in white went aftew Cy-Cy and da giwl wif gween haiw chased me. I gotted away fwom huh, though."
"How did you…" Ruby began to ask but was stopped by the buzzing of her scroll.
The scythe wielder checked her scroll, it was a message from Blake, 'I pulled back a little when that White Fang soldier went by. Are you alright?'
Ruby breathed easily and sent a message in reply, 'I'm OK. Also, good news, I found Ashe."
'That's such a relief.' Blake replied, 'Does she know where her brother is?'
'She said a girl in white went after him.' Ruby said, 'She said she was chased by a girl with green hair.'
Ashe grabbed the scroll, 'The girl with green hair had dark skin and red eyes too.' She typed quickly.
'Did this girl have two green pistols with long blades on them?' Blake asked.
'Yeah,' Ashe replied, 'she was mean and very scary.' She handed the scroll back to Ruby and hugged her tightly around her waist.
'Blake, it's Ruby,' The scythe wielder typed in response, 'it sounds like Ashe was chased by Emerald.'
'No one else we know of matches that description, Ruby,' Blake replied.
Ruby couldn't believe what she was being told, Emerald had always been so nice. There had to be a reason why Emerald was acting the way she did. Suddenly, from a hallway the girls heard a voice, "Neo, what happened to you?"
Ruby recognized the voice, "Torchwick," Ruby growled under her breath.
There was another, deeper, voice coming for from the hall, "While you're fortunate to have recaptured one of the Whitemane children, the little girl is still running loose in the complex."
"Ugh, why can't kids these days follow the rules of kidnapping?" Roman groaned.
"Who says they needed to follow any rules, Roman?" Ruby recognized it as Emerald, confirming what she dreaded the most. Emerald was in league with Torchwick and the White Fang.
"Well, look who it is?" Roman said, "The supposed master thief. Known the world over for her hallucinogenic power; given the highest honor from our mutual partner for helping to cripple one of the Four Maidens of Legend, by draining a portion of her powers. A ruthless silencer of loose ends and bungling fools who stand in her way. And yet, despite all of this, you fail… fail, mind you, to chase down and apprehend a five year old wolf brat." In his temperamental state he struck the wall.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Emerald said, "how was I supposed to know that miserable little runt of the litter could teleport?"
"She not only teleported, Emerald," The deep voice corrected, "She slammed a door in your face. In your disoriented state you ran into the wall across from the room she was hiding in and stumbled back. In further disorientation, you tripped over the girl, fell backward and bumped your head on a table, rendering you unconscious."
"At least I didn't end up like short, dumb, and mute," Emerald protested, "She took on the older kid and got frozen to the wall."
"The kid who got away from you was half the boy's age," Torchwick countered.
"Enough!" The deep voice bellowed, "We've found one of the children, meaning the other one cannot be far away."
"You'll never find her, you big bully!" Ruby heard this new voice, "Just wait until I get out of here!"
"Cypress." Ruby whispered.
"M-m-miss Wooby," Ashe said pointing to the other side of the huntress in red. The wolf Faunus' hand was shaking with fear.
Ruby looked in the direction Ashe was pointing, and saw the burning red eyes of a Beowolf. "Ashe, hold on." She said frantically. Thinking quickly, the scythe wielder darted out of the way of a swipe from the creature's large claw.
This action attracted the attention of the rest of Team RWBY. The trio stormed in, Weapons at the ready. It also caught the attention of Torchwick, Emerald, and the White Fang Lieutenant who'd nearly slayed Weiss on the train two months prior. "Ah, good," Roman clapped enthusiastically, "The players are all here in time for the curtain call." He pulled out his scroll and pressed a button on the screen. An alarm sounded and soon the girls and Beowolf were surrounded by White Fang soldiers. "Oh, I love it when a plan comes together." Roman said lighting a cigar, "Okay, Fido," He said to the Beowolf, "kill them both."
The Beowolf slowly walked toward the two girls, "Ashe, get behind me." Ruby said as she readied Crescent Rose.
The Faunus scurried behind the scythe wielder. As Ruby took aim, the Beowolf darted forward and batted her out of the way. "Ruby!" Yang cried as she tried to run forward.
"Ah, ah, ah!" Roman said as the soldiers opened fire stopping Yang in her tracks, "It's not polite to interrupt a Beowolf during feeding time. Shame on you, Blondie," he removed his cigar from his mouth and blew a cloud of smoke in the brawler's direction, "and you're supposed to be the big sister."
Ashe was paralyzed with fear, "No," she whispered in terror as the Beowolf drew nearer, "No," she pleaded as the foul creature of shadow licked its chops, "No," She said as her mind reached its breaking point. As the beast's gaping maw drew ever closer Ashe, tears streaming from her eyes, balled a fist and in a fit of emotion, "NO!" Punched the Beowolf square in the nose, "Bad DOGGIE," She scolded. The Beowolf, Torchwick, Emerald, Team RWBY, and the White Fang soldiers were in shock. "Sit!" Ashe commanded of the monster. The Beowolf shook itself out of its stupor and made a lunge forward only to be struck on the nose again by Ashe, "I said SIT!" The wolf girl shrieked. Not wanting to be hit again, especially by a child, the Beowolf sat down. It looked like a man in a dog fur suit, which made Ruby and Yang snort a little at how humorous this sight was. "Now roll over," Ashe said. The Beowolf, not wanting to be hit, did as it was bade, "Good boy," Ashe said as she walked over to the otherwise menacing creature and started scratching its belly.
The audience was in disbelief at this spectacle. A Beowolf, a blood thirsty killing machine with gnarly teeth and flesh rending claws, was being treated like an oversized, domestic, house pet before their eyes. Torchwick, by this point was beside himself. When the Beowolf started shaking one of its hind legs and panting like a puppy, he lost it. "What is this," He protested, "This is utterly ridiculous. A cruel joke in a badly written child's holovision show, it's absolutely sickening."
Ashe shot Roman a look. She walked up to the Beowolf's head and gently grabbed its chin. She pointed toward Roman, "See that stupid meanie over there?" She asked, "The creep with the cigar and stupid looking hat?" The beast nodded, "Sick 'em."
Like the flip of an invisible switch, The Beowolf stood on its hind legs and growled at the man in the bowler hat. As it charged forward, a masked figure in black sliced it in half from head to tail. Not stopping, the figure firmly grabbed Ashe around the waist, "You four stay right where you are and listen." He said.
Blake recognized the man in black, "Adam…" She whispered.
"Here's how this whole this works, humans," He growled, "The Schnee heiress turns herself over to us, and we let the Whitemane children go."
"What makes you so sure we'll go through with it?" Yang demanded.
The White Fang Lieutenant held up his chainsaw, "You really want us to answer that, Blondie."
Adam angled the blade of his sword at Ashe's throat, "Think very carefully, Schnee," he said, "Do you really want these, two children to die because of your stubbornness?"
Weiss froze in terror. Her ears were ringing with the sounds of the children's whimpers of terror. Ruby's eyes were locked on the widened, terror filled, eyes of her Cy. "Adam, please," Blake said trying to reason with her old friend, "don't do this. Think about…"
"This doesn't concern you, traitor," Adam said firmly drawing the edge of his sword closer to Ashe's throat, "Time's running out, Schnee." He said, "Make up your mind quickly, or else."
Weiss hung her head. She dropped Myrtenaster to the ground, "I'll do as you ask," She said in defeat, "Just let them go."
"What," Blake inquired in disbelief.
"Weiss, you can't," Yang protested.
"Weiss," Ruby said, "what are you doing?"
"They have me at a point where I can't be happy with either result," The heiress said, "I have to choose the lesser of two evils."
"You can't be serious, Weiss." Ruby said.
"Ruby, please," Weiss said, "I can't do anything else about this. Either I go with them, or they kill Cy and Ashe. Both of us would be distraught by the sight of them being executed before our eyes."
"But," Ruby pleaded the heiress, "what about you? What about your plans to chain the Schnee Dust Co.? What about Bán and Nóinín? What…"
Weiss couldn't take the insufferably painful questions anymore. She stamped her foot on the cement floor, "Would you just shut up and face the reality of the situation, you insufferable, little, red, dolt!?" She shouted, "Open your eyes, there is no other way. Even if we managed to save them, we'd all end up like that Beowolf within seconds." A tear ran down her scarred cheek, "Please just go, there's no other way for this to play out. The White Fang beat us, Ruby." There was a catch in the heiress' throat, "I… I got us into this mess. I'm the only one who can get the five of you out of it. I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the welfare of my teammates. Don't try to stop me." She strode past Ruby. As she passed the scythe wielder, in a soft whisper she said, "Tell Rowan I'm sorry." She approached Adam and stopped in front of him, "Let them go, I'm the one you want." She held her hands out like a prisoner waiting to be shackled.
Adam snorted in satisfaction, "Very well," He said, "you made the right choice, Schnee. The children are free to go." He released Ashe and placed a pair of thin metallic bracers on Weiss' wrists.
The Lieutenant released Cy who ran toward Ruby. The scythe wielder placed herself between the giant Faunus and the boy. The Lieutenant then aggressively grabbed Emerald and Roman by the upper arm. On each of the criminal's wrists was a metal bracer similar to the ones on Weiss' wrists. "These bracers are a recent addition to the Atlesean correctional facilities. They're set so that whoever wears them is denied the use of their semblance. Their auras are left to be used for healing of minor wounds, leaving them as defenseless as a baby."
"But why cuff us?" Roman asked, "This wasn't part of the plan."
"Not that you knew," Adam said, "I heard of your mistreatment of my brethren and I will not stand for it any longer, human."
"And what about me," Emerald inquired.
"My plan did not involve you or the other girl being bested by children." Adam said. Emerald looked to see a White Fang soldier holding Neo by the caller. The multicolored girl also had a pair of semblance neutralizing bracers or her wrists, "I'll be turning these three over to you as well." Adam said to the remaining members of Team RWBY, "They've out lived their usefulness. Now get out of here."
When the girls returned to Beacon, they told Ironwood, Ozpin, and Glynda about what had happened. Ironwood was furious. Not only had the White Fang had once again stolen Atlas technology for their own nefarious purposes. But, for the most part, they were being put to their intended use on enemies of the law. He incarcerated Roman, and threw Neo and Emerald into separate cells of their own aboard different air ships. Ozpin informed the girls that Grau Schnee would be contacted immediately.
The next morning came with the sky overcast and grey. In the distance, a clap of thunder rumbled across the sky as Team WULF's bullhead returned. Rowan was the first off of the ship. The wolf Faunus' appearance showed that he'd seen better days. Ruby looked at him dishearteningly, "Rowan," She said.
The dulled eyes of the Faunus boy shifted all around, "Where's Weiss?" He asked.
Ruby took a deep, uncomfortable breath in, and began the tale of what had taken place in Rowan's absence.
Announcement: I'd like to officially announce that I'm putting together a account, I need some extra motivation to start up some old projects of mine including my first story. Once I get things completed, I'll be publishing new chapters for old works, but I won't wish to make any profits off of my RWBY stories out of respect for Monty and Sheena, and our friends at Rooster Teeth. See you in a couple of weeks. Next chapter comes out on February 8, along with the new 24 year old me, as well as my 10th straight year of writing on here. Thank you to all those who've read my works, have an awesome January. I might be doing a birthday side story coming out on February 7. It'll be another Rose Wolf fluff piece. I know that Monty was buried on February 7 of last year, but as I said in my memorial to Satoru Iwata, "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived," meaning we must celebrate Monty's life.
See you then,
~Cluny
