FEAR part 2
A/N: Honestly, I didn't expect this one bit of plot to draw out so long. Good thing I decided to split it then.
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any rights or shares to Rooster Teeth, and neither to the rest of the team on this project. God, how much darker from the get-go RWBY would be if we were in charge…
Surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned. Those were the odds at the present moment for Sabre as he thought to himself; An unconditional ceasefire is as good as being at point-blank with your hands tied behind your back.
Out-skilled? With Raider on their side, it seems like a very likely possibility. His thoughts were broken as Father Vicitor clapped his hands together and began speaking.
'You four have fought admirably.' He said, addressing Sabre and the others. 'But now, I feel that I must ask that you lower your weapons.' This time, he turned to the cultists, his voice remaining calm and kind. 'All of you.'
The tone of his voice held a certain level of authority as the cultists slowly lowered their long-swords and handguns. However, Sabre kept The Nightingale up, and so did the others.
'Father,' a girl robed in black with shoulder-length black hair approached Vicitor. '-what shall we do with them?' she asked as she brandished a dagger and glared at Sabre with her beady red eyes.
'Why reward them, of course!' he said in a more pleasant tone, confusing Sabre even further. The confusion seemed to be shared by the girl as well as the rest of the cultists, though they did it in a subtle manner-
Unlike Raider, 'Reward them? Are you insane-you know what, don't answer that.' He shouted in disbelief. 'Vicitor, these are the same Hunters that tried to stop us earlier.'
At that, Vicitor just chuckled. 'Oh Raider, I can assure you these men are not Hunters.' His stalwart gaze fixed onto Wolf. 'At least not all of them.'
'These men deserve to die for what they have done here today.' The girl spoke up, taking a single step forward before she abruptly stopped when Vicitor raised his hand.
'These men deserve to be rewarded today.' He said as he spread his arms, a zealous grin spreading across his face. 'For you see, they have brought the Prodigal Child back to us.'
Sabre's eyes widened in surprise under his mask as he turned to who he thought they were talking about. Wolf just growled in reply as Vicitor continued speaking.
'Truly, this is a sign from the Great One himself.' He turned to address the other cultists surrounding them. 'A sign that our work was not in vain, that our progress has not gone unnoticed! With each passing day, we get closer to awakening Solis Mortis and claiming the power to bend the will of the world. And now, The Child of The Eclipse has returned to help us achieve our destiny!'
The cultists that surrounded them suddenly burst into cheers, the atmosphere surrounding them having suddenly changed completely, though Sabre noticed that neither Raider nor his compatriots joined in the cheers, preferring to continue to glare at them. Continuing to wait for the right moment, Sabre never dropped his guard as Vicitor addressed them again.
'I told the others. I told them that you were not wasted, that we didn't waste our one chance! And now…' he took a moment to regain his composure as Vicitor's excitement seemed to have gotten the best of him. 'Come back to us, Child. Come, and we will be your pack.' He said before his voice suddenly rose as if he were speaking to someone ten meters away. 'Come, and we shall conquer the dark together!' he said as his fists clenched in his leather gloves. 'With you at our side, nothing can stop us!' he said, the last few words came from gritted teeth.
All was suddenly silent as everyone looked to Wolf, whose expression hadn't changed from the snarl it originally was. A few seconds passed before something happened that caught Sabre off guard for some reason, but he later realised that it was to be expected.
Wolf took a few steps forward slowly, getting a surprised glance from Abraham, his eyes darting from Wolf to Sabre while Nathan just gave it a quick look before returning his attention to the cultists surrounding them. Vicitor clapped his hands once in glee.
'Today, truly is a fortunate day for the Old Eclipse!' he said as Wolf took his place next to Vicitor, facing the others. Oh, don't tell me we have to fight Wolf now. He thought as he considered his odds. Against this many odds I don't think we'll be able to get out of this alive, not even with the…hang on…
That was when Sabre remembered the detonator on his belt.
And the bomb in Wolf's neck.
This is the opportunity we need. At least, I hope it is. He thought as Vicitor began speaking again in his oddly friendly tone. 'The hand I have offered the Child also extends to you, Hunters. Revoke your light, bow before me, and I will forgive you for all of your past sins.' Typical cultist mentality.
Abraham looked like he was going to say something out of the corner of his vision, but he beat him to it. 'I don't work with cultists.' He said as he quickly drew the detonator, held it out like a gun and flicked open the cover with his thumb. He was just about to press it as he made the mistake of allowing his eyes to roam from Vicitor, for they met with the eyes of the girl.
The deep, red eyes of the girl seemed to pulse with shadows and grow bigger. They suddenly disappeared as he found himself in a black void, all by himself. He turned his attention back to the detonator, intent on blowing up Wolf whatever illusion the girl must have cast onto him, only to find his hand empty.
Then, he heard heavy footsteps in the darkness.
'Drake, what are you waiting for? Press the damn button!' Wolf heard Abraham say as the mercenary stood, frozen in place. Wolf couldn't see it because of the mask, but he could practically smell the fear emanating from the man. He also saw, as he watched closely, that the mercenary shook ever so slightly.
'He can't.' Vicitor replied as he gestured to the girl, an Arch-Sister by the looks of her. How do I remember this? Her eyes glowed red as she seemed to strain to maintain her stare, directed towards the mercenary.
Immediately, Abraham made a move to reach for the detonator, but the other mercenary-the one that Drake referred to as Ripper-quickly appeared at Abraham's side in a gust of fog with his weapon pressed against the Hunter's neck, causing him to freeze in place.
'Take another step. Go on, I dare you.' The mercenary challenged. Eventually, Abraham took a step backward and raised his hands, a gesture of surrender, if Wolf remembered correctly. Ripper stepped back then, but not before taking Abraham's axe and staff with him. His gaze then shifted to Nathan, who also raised his hands after shoving his guns into their holsters.
Not a moment later, the bounty hunter Raider sauntered up to Drake and snatched the device from his still-frozen hand. 'And what might this be?' he asked.
'The trigger for a weapon implanted in my neck.' Wolf answered, drawing a surprised look from Raider.
'Holy hell, that thing can speak?' he said in bemusement as he chuckled and looked back and forth between the other cultists as Ripper passed him Abraham's staff.
'You will show the Child of The Eclipse the same respect that you are entitled to show me.' The Arch-Sister said to him, more than a hint of anger in her voice.
'But he…' the bounty hunter looked to Vicitor, who gave him an even stare before he sighed. 'Fine, turn around so I can get it out.'
Wolf snarled before complying. Vicitor began speaking to the others again, but Wolf was too lost in thought as Raider cautiously approached him. He thought on Vicitor's words, and his chance at reconnecting with a pack that actually sought power. The opportunity was too good to pass up, even if it was with other Humans. At least the darkness looms over them like a shadow.
He then felt a light slash across the back of his neck before he felt something being removed. Turning around to growl at Raider, he looked at the device that could have been his demise.
'Wow, I am so glad that didn't explode when I removed it.' He remarked as he seemed to try to estimate it's weight before he hurled it into the air. 'Trickshot, go long!' he shouted as the gun-wielding mercenary shot it without even looking at it. The explosion shook the grounds and some of the men in robes that were too close to the explosion shuddered and recoiled at the explosion.
This way, Wolf would be closer to his goal of defeating the Carvus Alpha, and exacting his revenge on The Pack. Only the strongest will survive.
Only…he wasn't the strongest one here.
Wolf could smell the energy, the essence of fallen Grimm Alphas emanated from Father Vicitor. He has bathed in their essence. From our quarrel earlier, I know that he has Claws, but what else? The stench of other Alpha's was too prominent to only have one row of Fangs.
No, there was no way that Wolf could simply take Vicitor's power alone. At least, not in this state. He would require the strength of the other Humans, the ones that called him ally, for with such tremendous power consolidated within one Human like Vicitor, there was no way that Wolf would grow more powerful than him under his rule.
It was a split-second decision that he released his sting and swept it in a wide arc. He knocked over the Arch-Sister and swept several cultists to the ground. However, as he was about to make a full circle, Father Vicitor caught the sting with a hand the size of an Ursa's paw.
Father Vicitor wore an expression of confusion as he tightened his grip on Wolf's sting. 'I don't understand, Child.' He said, his voice filled with genuine puzzlement. 'I offer you a new pack-a new home, and you refuse me as such?' he shouted the last few words as he twisted his grip, causing Wolf to involuntarily collapse to the floor on one knee in pain.
'If you will not join me, then you will join death!' Vicitor said as he formed a claw in his free hand and used it to sever Wolf's sting. Wolf howled in pain as what was left of his sting evaporated into black wisps to reveal his hand before Vicitor delivered a roundhouse kick to his jaw, sending him tumbling to where Nathan stood.
'Kill them all!'
Wolf's double-cross had been…unexpected at best, in Abraham's mind. But it worked in their favour.
The order had barely left Vicitor's mouth as an arrow zipped by Abraham and embedded itself in one of the cultists' shoulder. It was soon followed by a second one, which created a large wall of ice that separated DAWN from Vicitor and at least forty per cent of the cultists that surrounded them.
Well, it's about time the backup arrived.
Abraham looked around for the source of the arrow before he spotted three people standing on top of the roof of the elementary school.
'What-' Nathan began, but Abraham cut him off.
'Backup's here, we can stop playing nice!' Abraham said as the cultists began firing and charging towards them. In a burst of Patriot's Will, Abraham sped in a wide arc in order to topple as many cultists as he could. No sooner had he stopped to catch his breath did he hear and feel a loud explosion that rippled across the courtyard, coming from the opposite direction to where they had infiltrated the compound. The explosion was followed by a loud, 'LEEEEEERRRROOOYYYYY! JOOHHNNSON!'
The attention of the cultists was split enough between the new arrivals and Nathan and Wolf-who quickly got to his feet and quickly re-joined the fight against the cultists, much to Abraham's confusion-that he had the opportunity to help Drake to his feet, who had collapsed to the ground after Wolf struck the girl in the back.
Turning him around so that he laid on his back, Abraham tried to pull Drake to his feet as he slowly regained consciousness.
'W-what? What happened?' he asked, quickly reaching up to pull of his mask and take in a deep breath of air.
'The girl paralyzed you or something.' Abraham explained as Drake gently shrugged off his help and balanced himself using his halberd.
'Right, right. I remember.' He said as he pulled out one of his shotguns and fired at a pair of cultists who charged them.
Seconds later, Drake's female associate, Nicole, leapt from the roof to their side while knocking out two more cultists with her bow. 'Drake, are you alright?' she said with an expression of what Abraham could only describe as genuine worry.
'Just a little-'
'Take care of him.' Abraham said as he turned around. 'I've got a score to settle.' In a matter of seconds, he rounded the ice wall to see Father Vicitor, Raider and Ripper-holding Nightwither in both hands-begin to fall back.
'Hey! Give me back my axe!' he shouted to Ripper, which instantly caught his attention the mercenary's attention.
'You want it?' he taunted before he threw the axe at Abraham in a horizontal swipe. Abraham swiftly spun in a semi-circle, which spun him into a crouch. As he sensed the Nightwither begin to pass over his head, he reached out to where he hoped the handle to be and caught it just as it was about to slip out of his grasp.
That felt awesome. Abraham thought as he righted himself to face Ripper with a smirk, resting the axe on his shoulder. 'I'd also like my staff back.' Which was still stuck to Raider's back along with his large double-scythe.
Raider looked to the two other mercenaries for a moment before they dispersed in a wide arc. After that, he drew Arboria in challenge as Trickshot aimed two submachine guns directly at his chest, as designated by the laser points that appeared.
'Come and get it.' He challenged as bullets rained down on the two of them from above. He was surprised as they were when the former-Judicator girl glided right over their heads, her skin glowing a gold-like yellow as she fired several more shots from her rifle.
That was all the distraction that Abraham needed as he put whatever strength he still had on a forward charge. With his axe drawn back, he managed to knock Trickshot to the ground before spinning to deliver a wide swipe across Raider's torso. However, the swipe met wood as Raider parried the strike.
He gave a confident smirk as he pressed his attack against Abraham, his fighting style resembling his own as they exchanged barely-deflected blows and just-dodged slashes. Unfortunately, Abraham fell for Raider's feign when he left a wide opening for him to deliver a horizontal slash. When he did, Raider quickly skipped backwards and out of his reach, before firing a single explosive round from the staff aimed towards Abraham's feet.
The blast blew him a few feet off the ground before he ungraciously landed face-first. He scrambled to get up, but Raider was already on top of him, his boot pressing into Abraham's back.
'Better luck next time, kid.' He said in his gravelly voice as he pressed the barrel of Arboria to Abraham's back, though he was suddenly blown off Abraham by a sniper round.
Abraham watched as Trickshot helped the mercenary to his feet as they both made a run for the exit, along with a few of the other cultists.
Abraham quickly got back up to his feet as Nathan and Drake approached him. 'They're getting away!' Nathan remarked.
'Not if I can help it.' Abraham said as he broke into a sprint, and then immediately tumbled to the floor in pain.
'Abe, what's wrong?' he heard Nathan shout.
The pain of the earlier wound Ripper hand delivered with his stiletto was finally catching up to him, and it hurt. No sooner did the other Hunter-in-training on Team NCKL with an eye-patch approach him to examine his wound.
'Ok, this looks like a pretty standard flesh wound.' He analysed. 'If you'll allow me, I can stop the bleeding and the pain for a while longer.'
Abraham simply gave him a nod as he stood back up and adjusted the dial on what looked like a defibrillator that was connected by a cable to a backpack. The end of the defibrillator suddenly sprang open like a flower and a blue energy began surging between the four nodes before surging into Abraham.
At first, the electricity hurt, as expected, but it soon subsided into a pleasant numbness. In a matter of seconds, it was over and there was no more pain. He checked the wound himself to find that it not completely healed, but at least clotted and was no longer bleeding.
'How did you do that?' Abraham asked, bewildered yet again that day.
The brunette gestured to his two weapons. 'They can send out a surge of electricity that causes cells to replicate faster as well as pump a numbing agent of my own concoction into your body. I could go on about the science behind it but…'
'Thanks anyway, chap.' He asked as he held his hand up to be pulled to his feet. 'And you would be…?'
'Cody.' He said with a grin as he helped Abraham to his feet. 'Resident medic of Team NCKL.'
'Skip the pleasantries.' Drake said as he approached, removing his mask yet again. 'Did we lose them?'
'Oh, hold on!' Nicole exclaimed as she pointed to a golden body slowly descending from the roof of the school. 'My fellow scout has returned.'
She landed with soft footfalls as her glow slowly faded and she shook her head solemnly. They got away.
They got away, with Arboria! Abraham realised as he quickly sprung to his feet. 'We've got to go after them!' he exclaimed, before everyone was covering their ear to listen to Ozpin's voice, himself included.
'No, Abraham. You, the rest of your team and Team NCKL are to return to Beacon. An airship is already closing in on your position.'
'But they got my staff!' he whined. He didn't want to sound like he was whining, but the staff was one of the few things that he had to prove to Ozpin that he was worth all the trouble he caused, and now he had lost it.
'I don't want to hear it, just return to Beacon, now. We'll discuss this in depth then.' He said with an air of finality before closing the communication.
Abraham struggled to control his frustration as he took in the current situation. Luckily, no one else seemed to have been hurt too badly, and they still had Wolf, for another day at least. Though, under what circumstances they had him were still up to debate as he stood, panting amongst a pile of corpses.
Eventually, a build-up of frustration in Abraham manifested itself, as he turned around and plunged his axe into the ground with a loud, 'Bloody hell!' through clenched teeth.
Nathan was good at picking things up, information and cute girls alike. This meant that he was able to pick up a lot of information on the ride back to Beacon. He loved information, as it often gave him the upper hand in most situations. He picked up on quite a few things to help made sense about what the hell happened back at that elementary school.
The first thing he actually picked up on, was how much the Judicator girl hated Wolf. Kanary, as he'd learned, had the personal pleasure-it seemed-to have been allowed to force Wolf into the airship with the sharp end of her spear-rifle.
The other thing that he learned was that she was a mute, as she stated by giving him a rude finger-gesture when he had tried to compliment her on how soft her hair looked. According to the other members of her team, she had lost her ability to speak during their last attempt at a breakout.
He guessed that she blamed him and Drake almost half as much as she blamed Wolf, which was the only probable explanation as to why he got such a negative response.
I can't be losing my touch, right? He thought as he noticed how distraught his leader looked as the door to the airship hissed shut.
'Hey, Drake, you alright?' he asked as he thought for a second about putting his hand on Drake's shoulder, but thought against it.
His eyes slowly turned to him with a hollow expression. 'That girl.' He started after a moment, drawing everyone's attention. 'She…how long was I out, or frozen?' he asked, seeming unsure of what to say or how to say it.
'Not that long. Something like less than two minutes.' Nathan said as he watched Drake pass his mask in between his hands. 'What happened?'
He responded immediately. 'When I looked into her eyes, I was plunged into a dark void. It must have been some kind of Petrification Semblance.' He paused for a moment, but everyone knew there was more to it. 'Not long after, I heard footsteps approaching. Then,' another pause. '-a Huntsman attacked me with inhuman strength and speed. I…I knew the Huntsman from before.'
This time, it was Abraham who spoke up. 'Who was he?'
Drake stayed silent for several seconds, but after Nicole put her hand on his knee and gave him a reassuring look, he continued. 'He was my father. He was my father and I couldn't bring myself to kill him.'
Nathan let out a sigh, knowing where Drake's convictions were coming from. 'So, she can make us see things and freeze in place, big deal. We know thanks to Wolf that she can't keep it up unless she maintains eye-contact.' Nathan said, trying to look at the positive side of this.
'Her name is Arch-Sister Emily.' Wolf said, from his restrained corner of the airship. Kanary slowly made a move for her rifle, but stopped when Nicole put a hand on her shoulder.
'What do you mean, "Arch-Sister"?' asked Drake.
Wolf did not continue beyond that, and Nathan decided to use his mouth before someone used their blade. 'It makes sense, I mean, they did call Vicitor "Father", which would make her a "Sister". We are dealing with a religious cult after all.' He reasoned.
The rest of the flight back was quite silent, and a little too short for Nathan. As soon as they touched down, there was a host of Protectors led by Rachel and Horizon, ready to escort them to Ozpin.
'Hey, Rachel.' Abraham said as the Protectors rushed in to release Wolf and bind him to be escorted.
'Y'know, I'm starting to really think that you don't work well with others.' Rachel commented as they were marched along. 'Not you, Team NCKL. You are to report back to your dorms, you will be debriefed first thing in the morning.' She instructed, getting a firm nod from Nicole as she gave a timid wave to Drake, which he didn't even seem to notice.
'Gee, what was your first clue?' Abraham said, the usual fire in his tone now gone.
'What's you so bummed out? You aren't the one escorting two criminals, a monster and Abraham.'
'I don't know what's worse; explaining why we failed to Ozpin again, or losing my staff.'
'Oh, cry me a-wait, you lost your staff?' Rachel suddenly gasped in shock. Continuing without saying anything, Rachel took Abraham's silence as her answer. 'Ozpin's not going to be too happy you broke one of his biggest rules.'
She stopped right outside the elevator to Ozpin's office, along with the rest of their guards. 'It's just supposed to be you four. I trust you can handle Wolf.'
'We'll be fine, but thanks for the concern.' Nathan said as he straightened his suit.
'I wasn't talking to you.' Rachel said in a singsong voice. As the doors began to close, Rachel gave Abraham one last sympathetic 'I'm sorry.'
That led to the present, which involved Glynda Goodwitch yelling at them and suggesting very serious reprimands to Ozpin.
'You four had one job, and you failed it twice, along with the lost lives of the hostages and several Judicators. We're starting to believe that you four together are more trouble than you're worth.' The whole time, Ozpin just stared with a stern look. Nathan couldn't tell who he was staring at, but he knew it didn't matter.
'Glynda, please-' Abraham began, but he was cut off.
'I'll be honest, Mr Linkin. I thought that with you on this team, that it would increase its success rate phenomenally, but as it is, you not only failed the mission, you also lost one of your weapons, which violates one of the very first lessons I taught you!' she finished, only slightly out of breath.
Luckily, as she was about to continue, Ozpin intervened. 'Glynda, I think it's only right if we give Abraham a turn to speak. He does seem like he has something important to tell us.'
'Thank you, sir.' Abraham started, not missing a beat. 'I just want to begin with…I'm very sorry I lost Arboria. I know you emphasise on never losing my weapon.' He paused, looking for Ozpin's approval to continue before he did. 'But what we encountered was not what we expected at all. You said that they were a small group of cultists, but what we encountered was not small, and some of the "cultists" seemed more like they've had special operatives training. L-look, Drake can vouch for me.' He said as he turned to Drake expectantly.
Drake sighed once before continuing. 'It's true. Whoever they are, they have resources. Lots of resources. If they were able to hire not only Raider, but two other infamously wanted mercenaries, they must have one hell of a budget. What Abraham says is true as some of their equipment is top of the line, and that some of them know how to use it.'
'Ozpin, we have to continue going after them. Whoever they are-whatever they are, they have big goals in mind, I just know it. Their leader, Father Vicitor kept going on about some religious transcendence and something called Solis Mortis. I know it sounds crazy but-'
'Wait, what did you say?' Ozpin asked, suddenly very alert and very attentive.
'Ozpin, all I'm asking for is one more chance to prove that I-' Abraham rambled before he was cut off again.
'Before that; what did Vicitor say the cult was after?' Ozpin asked, practically leaning over his desk in order to get closer to them.
'Wait, how-he was going on about some transcendence to power and Solis Mortis.' Abraham said as he eyed Ozpin suspiciously.
Ozpin knows more than he's letting on. 'They also said something about some…thing their looking for called the Map Stone.' Drake explained, causing Glynda's eyes to go wide in…surprise?
There was a tense feeling in the air as Nathan waited for some kind of response-anything! Even Glynda yelling at them some more would be better than the silence that followed as Glynda and Ozpin shared shocked expressions.
'Ozpin, what's wrong? I don't understand.' Abraham asked, taking a single step forward. 'Do you know Father Vicitor?'
Ozpin's eyes flicked between Glynda and Abraham before he settled back into his chair and tapped a communicator. 'Rachel, I'm sending them down to you. Make sure that they get back to Detention Block Five.' He said before closing the communicator, not waiting for a reply. 'Drake, I want you to make sure that you and the rest of DAWN make it back to Block Five.'
'Ozpin, please! If there's more to this, I want to know.' Abraham pleaded. He actually pleaded!
'Right now, I want to confirm my suspicions before jumping to any conclusions too soon. It's been a long day, Abraham. You should get some rest.' Ozpin said as he interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them.
'But-'
'Please.' He said in a calm, steady voice, which caused Abraham to take a step backwards, his face registering conflict before it settled on a calmer demeanour.
'Let's go.' Drake said as they headed towards the elevator, Wolf in tow. Nathan saw Abraham spare Ozpin one last glance before they entered the elevator and the doors slid shut.
Three seconds into their descent, Drake spoke up. 'Abraham.' It instantly caught everyone's attention, except for Wolf. 'We'll get your staff back. I'll make sure of it.'
The purpose of the statement surprised both Abraham and Nathan as they exchanged glances as to what brought this from their solemn leader.
'Uh, thanks.' Abraham replied, unsure of how to respond.
Glynda paced back and forth in a circle as the clockwork in Ozpin's office turned, a constant reminder that time goes on no matter the circumstance. Admittedly, Ozpin would have found Glynda's worried state quite adorable if it were under different circumstances.
'Do you still believe that they aren't the Warriors of Dawn?' he asked her as he traced his thumb around the rim of his coffee mug.
She stopped in her pacing to face him. 'It's too soon.'
'Time was never on our side. "He" proved that again and again.' He said as he began typing things into the glass computer in his table.
'What do we do then?' she asked as she approached.
He paused in the middle of a sentence he was writing to consider all their options before he spoke again. 'We get as ready as we can for when the time comes.' He said as he passed Glynda his half-empty coffee mug. 'Check all our assets. Make sure that we have a strong enough force for when Solis Mortis returns.'
She accepted the mug with both hands before downing the entire thing at once. She let out a sigh before a light grin crossed her face. 'I'll go get more. It's going to be a long night.'
It's going to be an even longer Dawn. He thought to himself as Glynda walked away.
