Chapter 23: Explosions and Chaos
Team RWBY sat on the main deck, waiting for Rain. Just sitting and waiting. Barney was walking around the ship, familiarizing himself with the layout and weapons' systems.
"So what do you think they're doing right now?" Ruby asked while sharpening Crescent Rose.
"I'm sure they're just taking their time getting back." Yang responded.
"Shit, shit, shit." Rain was muttering to himself as he ran above the ice, dodging explosive blasts coming through the ground.
"Yeah, I'm sure he's fine." Blake said.
An explosion threw Rain twenty feet into the air and he came down face-first. Luckily he was able to throw his hands out and flip around instead of slamming into the ground.
He looked around and saw the others spread out. None of them had even broken stride while he had flown up and down.
"Are you sure? He seemed to be a bit reckless." Weiss spoke up.
"That is true..." Yang started.
Rain jumped off the edge of the ice wall and started free-falling. He used his ice Dust to build a slide around himself. He shot out of the end at full speed and immediately began running towards the city. He didn't have to check to see if the others were behind him.
"But I'm sure he's fine." Yang finished.
Rain had just gotten to the edge of the city when he heard a massive sound of crashing ice behind him. Shortly afterwards, sirens could be heard all over the city.
"That doesn't sound very good." Weiss protested.
Barney showed up behind Ruby. "We should get the ship ready to depart."
Ruby flew forward in surprise and landed on her face, bum in the air.
"Cute butt. But seriously, we should get moving. Those sirens are not a good sign."
Rain kept focus on moving forward while pretending to ignore the sounds of building being demolished behind him.
As he got closer to the harbour he could hear the destruction getting farther behind as the city's army woke up to the threat in their territory.
He saw the harbour and the yacht making it's way to the mouth. As he watched, Moria and Banner jumped aboard. Winter couldn't be seen. He sighed and ran over to the ship.
"Hey." he yelled up to the deck.
"What's up?" Barney poked his head over the railing.
"I need something with a lot of kick. Winter still isn't out of the city and Pyrrha is on our ass."
"I saw the armoury earlier. Give me a minute."
Banner replaced him at the railing. "Are you sure you don't want one of my syringes?"
"Are you crazy? Who knows what would happen if we killed somebody with three maidens' powers? It's too dangerous to kill her."
"Fair enough. You want some help?"
"No. I need you and the others manning the cannons in case we get back with Pyrrha in tow."
Barney reappeared at the railing. "Try this." He threw a package down to Rain.
Rain looked inside and looked back up at Barney. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Atlesian buildings are Dust-proof to a certain extent."
"Okay." Rain closed the package and ran back into the city.
Winter was thrown into a building and fell to the ground, her sword flying out of her hand. Pyrrha landed on top of her and raised a glowing knife. "I wish I didn't have to do this."
"I know." Winter closed her eyes, preparing for the worst.
"I'll do my best to protect your sister." Pyrrha said.
"Thank you."
A whistling sound could be heard coming towards the two of them. It got closer and closer until Pyrrha was launched off of Winter and through another building.
Rain walked up, holding a grenade launcher with massive grenades in the cylinders. He looked down at Winter. "We're even. Now get up and get to the harbour. My ship is setting out. Get on it. I'll deal with her."
Winter got to her feet and stumbled around. "Where's my sword?"
Rain kept his eyes on the building he'd sent Pyrrha through, gun raised. "Does it matter? I've got hundreds of weapons on the ship. I can just give you a new one."
"It was from my mother."
"So?"
"She's dead."
"Dammit. Okay, just find it quickly. She'll recover soon."
Winter stumbled around and found her sword stuck in a large chunk of concrete. She pulled, but it wouldn't come out.
"What's taking so long?" Rain shouted.
"It's stuck in some concrete. I can't pull it out."
"You have magic. Blow up the concrete."
"Riiiight." She summoned up some fire and sent it inside the crack her sword was in before building it to explosive levels. The concrete fell apart like a sandcastle.
"Got it."
"Good. Now run!"
Winter ran as fast as she could and managed to get to the harbour in a few minutes. The second she stepped on the boat, she heard a series of massive explosions from the city center.
She felt her sister slam into her with a bearhug. "Winter! Oh I missed you."
"I missed you too, Weiss." She patted Weiss's head.
"Wait." Weiss took a step back, "Are you the Winter Maiden?"
"Yes, I am."
"That is too obvious."
"That's what Rain said."
"Um, hi, miss Schnee." Ruby had gotten close without Winter noticing. "What happened to my brother?"
"He's your brother?!"
A few seconds later Rain burst out of an alleyway at full sprint. "Go! Go! I just pissed her off! We need to go now!" He was screaming at the people on board the yacht.
When he got on the boat, the alley he had just come out of exploded, with Pyrrha emerging from the dust at twenty miles an hour. And flying through the air.
"She just will not stop." Rain looked at Barney. "Throw me at her."
"What? Are you nuts?"
"Yes. Now throw me."
Barney picked up Rain with his metal arm and spun around a few times before releasing him towards Pyrrha.
Rain flew through the air and managed to grab onto Pyrrha in midair. Her powers kept her in midair, but Rain started draining her aura. Pyrrha just grit her teeth and tried to break him off. Just like Winter's aura, Pyrrha's felt different from everyone else's. But where Winter's had been like a soothing campfire, Pyrrha's was a scouring forest fire that burned his veins.
"To your credit, most people scream when I do this." Rain told her through clenched teeth.
Pyrrha started wavering and finally fell out of the air. Rain tried to curl around her when they hit the water. It was a good thing that he took most of the impact, because her aura was starting to burn him.
Rain floated on his back – keeping Pyrrha floating beside him – while he waited for the ship to turn around and get him. As he floated, he contemplated what had just happened. He had just killed most of his team and captured a demigod. He supposed that was pretty good, but he was a little perturbed: He had fought several enemies today that were easily the top echelon of warriors Remnant had to offer. Victory over the Soldiers and Wilhelm Schnee were forgone conclusions. But beating Pyrrha? That was remarkable. Especially after almost dying from a poisoned dagger.
The yacht eventually sailed into view alongside him and several crewmen jumped into the water to grab the two of them. He decided to fall asleep while they were hoisting him up the side of the ship.
Rain awoke to find he had been placed in his bed. Looking around he saw Blake sitting beside him.
"You had us worried." She said.
"You think falling into the ocean from thirty feet after having a clash of wills with a demigod would kill me? It's like you don't know me at all, Blake."
"Shut up. Ruby was on the verge of tears until she heard you snoring."
Rain sighed, "Now that, I am sorry about. It's been a long and weird day. What did you guys do with Pyrrha?"
"She's in a cell, unconscious. We were hoping you would wake up soon so you could drain her again."
"Before I do that, I need to speak with Winter."
"Why?"
"I need to test a theory."
They found Winter in the conference room with Weiss. The two of them were catching up and Winter was explaining exactly what she was.
"Hello there." Rain said as he strolled in. "Weiss, I need to talk to your sister."
"But-"
Winter silenced Weiss with a touch on her shoulder. "It's okay Weiss. There are some things that we need to discuss in private."
Blake took Weiss by the arm and dragged her out of the room.
"Now that they're gone we can get down to business." Rain clapped his hands together. "Your aura feels weird."
"What?"
"Well I've absorbed a lot of different auras over my few years of life and you and Pyrrha have unique auras."
Winter sat down, motioning for Rain to sit as well. That pissed him off a little: This was his ship, after all. "Explain." She said.
Rain sat down across from her. "I assume Ironwood told you all about my abilities."
"Yes."
"Including the drawback of my semblance?"
"Yes."
"Well, that saves time. When I was taking your aura, I felt something within it. It was like a soothing flame within the boundless energy of your soul. I felt something similar with Pyrrha, but more akin to a raging inferno that nearly set me on fire. I think it has something to do with you being a maiden."
"That makes sense."
"Except it doesn't. See, when I forcefully take aura, it feels the same as when it is freely given – except it stings like a bitch. But with that extra part of Pyrrha's aura, it felt like it was purposely attacking me. Almost like it knew who I was. Does that make sense?"
"Is it possible that the wizard from the story had encountered someone like you before and added that as protection?"
"Unlikely. I know the wizard and he said he had never come across anyone with my semblance before." He saw the disbelieving look on her face. "I should also mention that Ozpin is the wizard."
"Makes sense."
"I know, right? Once you think about it, it all clicks together. Anyways, I have another theory. I think her power lashing out at me could be a result of either the combined powers of three maidens, or the fact that she stole her powers."
"And you're telling me this because?"
"I need you to not give me permission to take your aura."
"Rain Branwen, I hereby deny you the use of my aura. What now?"
"This." Rain leaped forward and latched onto her arm, draining her aura. The maiden part of her aura immediately started burning him from the inside and he fell over, screaming in agony.
Winter rushed over to him. "What's wrong?"
"It burns! Oh gods, it burns!"
"What should I do?"
"Hit me until I expend it all."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now do it before-"
Rainbow...
"Wait a second." Rain raised a hand. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
Hello there, Rain. I've been expecting you for a long time.
"Who are you?"
I could be a friend, or an enemy, depending on you. I am Salem. But not from your present. I implanted this in the power of the Maidens because I foresaw your arrival long ago.
"What's so special about me?"
You are most special, dear boy. You hold the fate of Remnant in your hands. Now, what I must let you know is-
She was cut off by Winter slamming her fist into his gut, expending the aura he had taken from her.
"What did you do that for?" He screamed at her.
"You were talking to strange voices and you started to literally smoke."
"I was just about to find out Salem's plan."
"What? Are you sure you weren't hallucinating from the intense pain?"
"No. She said that she had predicted me and my powers. She wanted me as an ally."
"You didn't say yes, did you?" Winter put her hand on her sword.
"Obviously not. But it would be good to know what she is planning."
"It's not worth it. She might have just been trying to kill you."
"Yeah, I guess." Rain stood up. "And there is always another way to figure out the plan."
They found Pyrrha in a cell with Barney holding a shotgun to her head.
"Hello. Are you feeling alright? Getting enough to eat?" Rain asked her as he opened the cell door
She just stared at him with the angry glare of the defeated.
"Oh, come on. I want to open a dialogue with you. Can't do that if you don't speak."
"How did you take my aura?" She spat out
"There's your voice. To answer your question: it's my semblance. I can manipulate aura."
"That's impossible. Nobody has ever had that. Every semblance is unique, but after awhile you find repeats throughout history. Yours would definitely have shown up in the history books."
"I don't officially exist. I'm not gonna be in any history books. My semblance will only be recorded in some deep dark file on some hidden mainframe somewhere underground. Probably in Atlas. I will disappear from history as soon as everybody I know is dead. You might be remembered as the girl who was burnt to ash, came back to life, and went on a rampage. I won't. At most I'll be a legend. Now help me make that legend one where I kill the oldest evil mankind has ever known. Tell me what her plan is."
"That's a sad future for you, but I don't know anything. So can you kill me or whatever you're planning to do? This is just boring."
"So rude. I'm conveying my deep pain to you. How could yo- hahaha." Rain started laughing. "I'm sorry. I couldn't say that with a straight face. But I also highly doubt that you wouldn't get all the information you could about this situation. Now I'm giving you another chance to tell me wilfully: what is Salem's plan?"
Pyrrha leaned forward. "Go to hell."
"Barney?"
"Yeah?"
"Shoot her."
The shotgun went off and Pyrrha went flying out of her chair.
"Ow. You asshole." Pyrrha was on the ground, her aura depleted from absorbing the massive gunshot to her head.
Rain grabbed her by the breastplate and punched her in the face. "What is her plan?!"
"I don't know."
Rain punched her again. "Bullshit!"
"Rain." Winter grabbed his arm. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Getting results." He pulled his arm back for another punch.
"Okay. Please stop hitting me. She wants to burn everything Ozpin built."
"That's the goal, not the plan. What is her plan?"
"That's all she would tell me. I swear. Please don't hurt me."
"Since when were you a coward?"
"Since I got shot and wailed on by two psychopaths."
"I'm glad that we could facilitate your change. Now what is the plan?"
"I. Don't. Know."
"Fine. Where is she?"
"Give me a map and I can show you."
A.N: Okay. I know these last few chapters have been a little... oddly paced. But I think I know what the problem is. I've been binge-watching House and it might have affected my writing. Now that I have diagnosed the issue, I should be able to correct it. I liked this chapter, though.
