Chapter 34: Parallels

"But what wisdom is there within us, to live based on the feeling of our hearts.
How many times has instinct let us down?
Never to be thought through.
Never to be questioned.
Say what you really mean, when your ambition calls you
For what use is there in praying, if you will only hear what you want to hear?" -Tim Lambesis

Team RWBY

Forever Fall

"I wish we didn't have to sneak our way to locker room every time we need our weapon. You'd think we'd be able to keep them on us since we're now allowed to shadow professional huntsmen." Yang complained as we navigated our way through the forest.

Blake lead the way as she had the best eyesight among us during the night. Yang and Weiss were behind her as I followed them, keeping Crescent Rose in it's rifle form so I could use the night vision on her scope.

"How much further Ruby?" Weiss asked as we started to hear the sound of moving water.

"Well he said he was traveling alongside this forest's largest river. So if we continue down this path we should eventually run into him." Blake said as the river came into view. Surprising enough the water was moving at a very slow pace, the current being very relaxed.

I pulled out my scroll and checked the coordinates once more. As I pulled up the map my scroll vibrated and I fumbled with it, catching it last second as I nearly dropped it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"We see you guys, we're just up ahead. Keep along the river and we'll meet you halfway." Slate said as he then ended the call.

"Was that them?" My sister asked, as the rest of my team was waiting on me.

"Yeah it was, come on they're just up ahead." I said as I now took the lead and hurried down the river. After another minute or so we reached them.

"I appreciate all of you coming out here on such a short notice." Slate started as he was taking a few heavy steps.

"What is so urgent that you had to interrupt our sleep." Weiss said in an annoyed tone.

"Yeah and more importantly what happened to you two?" Yang said as she overlooked the two of them. They were soaked head-to-toe and were completely out of breath.

"We were forced to take an... alternative measure of escape." Slate said as he rung out his clothes once more to reinforce the point.

"Escape from what? The Grimm?" I asked as my teammates shared looks of confusion.

"No the White Fang." His partner spoke up. It was a little odd, she rarely spoke and when she did it was always in short sentences. 'I don't know if its because she doesn't truly trust us yet but it's still weird.' "They have a bigger presence than we expected, we thought after the attack on Vale they'd go into hiding but-" Pupura said to the group as she Slate removed their masks.

"We were wrong." Slate cut her off " There's a reason why there has been little to no White Fang activity in the Kingdom of Vale. The White Fang isn't hiding their regrouping." He finished.

"What!?" Blake and Yang said in unison as a look of worry overtook their faces.

"But Forever Fall is so close to the city, t-to Beacon." I said as the thought of another attack on Vale clouded my thoughts.

"Why do they want to disrupt Vale so eagerly? Of all the Kingdoms, Vale is one of the more progressive when in comes to equality of the faunus. Much more than Atlas and Mistral anyways." Weiss stated to the duo.

"Personally we're not 100 percent sure either, a lot of faunus didn't survive that attack. The best Purpura and I could come up with is that they have senior leadership here and they are flipping the script on what happened in Vale. Turning the attackers into martyrs, it's what I would of done in their case if I needed to rally the troops." Slate stated as he shook his in disappointment.

"Going off standard procedures, after sustaining a loss the White Fang would fall back and work on other measures to obtain whatever the goal was, be it supplies, territory, regardless, we'd figure it out." Purpura said.

"And since they're not doing that it means an unknown factor is changing their options." Blake said as she stared off into the scenery.

"Except we know what, or in this case, who that factor is." Slate said to us.

"Cinder." I breathed out.

"Bingo. She's obviously got a tighter grip on the White Fang than I expected, a large force of the White Fang operating in Vale were affected by the failure of that attack on Vale. Which means she's using whatever influence she has to either force or blackmail Senior leadership into working for her. " Slate explained.

"And once leadership has their orders the other members have no choice but to follow them." Blake said dejectedly.

"Unfortunately this leaves me with little to no options." Slate said as he looked to Purpura. "It was one thing when it was just Cinder an her associates, but now she's rallied the White Fang and they're just as strong as ever." He finished.

"So what's the plan then?" I asked them as the rest of my team awaited their answer.

"We have to go higher up on this." Slate said.

"But Dezmond!?" His partner shouted. "If we do that we could be arrested, how can we help if we're stuck behind bars!?" She pleaded with him.

"I know, but I'd rather spend the rest of my life in a cell and atone for my actions then get into something over my head and watch this Kingdom burn down to ashes. If our information can end a war before it ever begins then I'll do it. Maybe we'll luck out once more and they'll allow us to help, hey worst case scenario we just make a break for it. It wouldn't be the first time." He finished with a small chuckle.

"Damn it Dez, your making this real hard to follow you. But damn it I said I have your back and I'm not about to go back on my word." She stated as she punched him in the shoulder.

"I guess that means we should do the same." Weiss said as she looked to the three of us. "If this has truly gotten above our heads then we should follow their lead and report it to the headmaster."

"Yeah Ice Queen here is right, I mean its not like we're just going to up stop our own investigations after we tell them what we know." Yang agreed.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt." Blake relented.

"Alright then, we're all heading back to Beacon and turning in everything we know to Professor Ozpin. I just hope we don't get suspended for this..." I said as Yang took my side and ran a hand through my hair.

"Hey cheer up Rubes, I'm proud of you, you know? Who thought my little sister could of been single-handedly been disrupting criminals for so long without any help from the authorities." Yang said trying to cheer me up.

"Well I didn't do it all by myself, I had you guys to help me."

"Sh sh sh, that's not how I'm telling the story." My sister said as she shot me a smile.

"Thanks Yang." I said as I mistakenly pulled her into a hug. The mistake being she returned the embrace full force and wrung all the air out of my lungs.

"C-ant Br-eathe." I choked out

"How cinematic." I heard Weiss say as she face palmed.

"We-iss h-elp" I muttered before a glyph separated us.

"Thanks Weiss." I said as she and Blake helped me up.

"Alright then Team RWBY plus two. To Beacon we go." Yang said as she took the lead.

TEAM RWBY

BEACON ACADEMY

"Soooo... we really doing this guys? There's no going back after this." Yang said to our team (plus Dezmond and Purpura) as we landed on the airport of Beacon. We were lucky enough to catch the last flight of the day but even so we would most likely be breaking curfew.

"It's the right thing to do Yang." Blake spoke up as we exited the aircraft and started walking towards the school. "Like Dezmond said earlier, this is over our heads. If we can help people by giving the information we gathered to able huntsman and huntresses then it's the best move." Blake finished as we neared the doors.

I pushed the handle of the main doorway of the academy but to my surprise it was jerked forward and I fell flat to the ground. "Owww." I said as rubbed my chin and looked up to why the door suddenly pulled open. Professor Goodwitch stood back caught off guard as the rest my teammates helped me up.

"Oh I'm sorry Miss Rose. But if I may, why are you and your team members out and about past curfew?" Our Professor said with crossed arms, her crop firmly in her right hand.

"Actually we needed to talk to you Professor, as well as Headmaster Ozpin." I said, the rest of my team nodding in support.

"Is there something wrong Ms. Rose?" The professor asked with a hint of worry.

"Actually yes Professor Goodwitch, that's why we came to speak now and not at a more usual time." Weiss spoke up.

"Very well, the Headmaster should still be up working on paperwork. If you four will come with- and who are you two?" Ms. Goodwitch said as Dezmond and Purpura made themselves apparent.

"Well ma'am, we're the reason for this sudden meeting." Slate spoke. " I am Dezmond Slate and this is my partner Purpura Reign, we've had a few run-ins with Team RWBY and we have some extremely important information to relay to this academies Headmaster and Staff."

"Run-ins?" Our professor asked confused. "Well never mind that for now, you six can explain yourself once we've reached the Headmaster's office. Come along now." She said as she motioned for us to follow her. We did so and the seven of us all entered the academy's elevator that led to the Headmaster's office.

We all waited in awkward silence as the elevator slowly lead us to the highest floor. After what felt like the longest elevator ride since my visit after the ball, we arrived.

"How goes it Glynda, oh well I wasn't expecting visitors, I would of made another pot." Ozpin said as he sipped from his mug. "How may I be of service Team RWBY and-"

"Slate."

"Reign."

"Slate and Reign, you two are not students of my academy, are you two visiting from one of the other Kingdom's academies?" The headmaster asked as he took another drink of his mug.

"No sir, but the two of us, along with Team RWBY have some information that would benefit you." Dezmond spoke as he turned to me and my team.

"Do you now?" The Headmaster said as he relaxed back in his chair.

"Y-yes sir." I said as I walked forward from the group. I looked back to my teammates as they all gave me supporting nods. "Well sir my team and I haven't been completely honest with you and the other professors."

"And whatever do you mean by that?" Headmaster Ozpin said, a small grin forming on his face as he yet again took another drink from his mug.

"Well I guess I should start from the beginning. My team and I have took it upon ourselves to investigate the incidents involving Roman Torchwick and the White Fang." I said as Blake took my side.

"Sir the reason I was involved at the docks was because I had prior knowledge of White Fang tactics and movement drills. When I was younger I was a member of the White Fang, it wasn't until the recent past that I left the organization. When I joined them they were still a peaceful organization that chose to hold protests instead of riots. That was before their leader stepped down and a new one rose, which has lead to how the White Fang operates today. I am deeply remorseful to say that I didn't leave the White Fang immediately after this change took place. It took time to show me that what we were doing was wrong, and I eventually fled, vowing to myself that I would become a huntress, so that maybe one day I could redeem myself." Blake said with her head lowered, she looked back up to the headmaster as tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry I lied to you headmaster, but please. Give me this second chance." Blake said as she with both her hands held together.

I looked to our headmaster as he sat hunched over his desk in thought. "Well Ms. Belladonna I certainly didn't expect to have this conversation with you so soon." The headmaster said as he stood up from his desk to start another pot of his coffee.

"W-what!?" Blake said in shock as she couldn't contain her outburst.

"Ms. Belladonna, our academies run extensive background searches on all of our potential students. We knew about your past Blake. Believe it or not you would not be the first person to attend Beacon with a troubled past. You performed a brave feat by using your past to fuel your future Ms. Belladonna, and that's what we're looking for in huntresses and huntsman." Our headmaster said placing a hand on Blake's back to help console her.

"Thank you headmaster. For everything." Blake said as Yang and I pulled her into a small embrace, Weiss soon joining us.

"Team RWBY thanks you too Professor, without Blake we wouldn't be a complete team." I said as we released Blake from our grips.

"Do not thank me, I've simply given you the chance to better yourself and the one's you protect as a huntress. It's up to you to embrace it." Professor Ozpin said as he walked to the other two people present in the room. "As for you two, what brings you to my Academy?"

"Sir I'll be blunt with you, we don't bring good news. It was Reign and I's intention to handle this situation ourselves, but we've reached the point to where this is over our heads." Dezmond started.

"I'm listening." The headmaster replied as he stood with a fresh mug.

"I was until very recently that I was a high ranking member of the White Fang, Reign was a member in the unit I operated in. We both were part of the train attack on Vale that happened several weeks ago, not to mention several of the attacks on Atlas property. The reason I'm telling you this is because we we're being lead astray. That doesn't make what I did forgiveable, I have full intentions on taking responsibility of what I've done." Slate explained to the headmaster.

"Those are very troubling revelations Mr. Slate, being a huntsman myself it would be of my good judgement to take you into custody." He said his face growing serious.

"I understand that sir, and if you still wish to after you hear me out then I won't resist. But first you must know of why I chose to reveal myself in the first place."

"Go on." Our headmaster said un-moving.

"The White Fang is not acting on their own accord, they we're taking orders from the man you arrested. And Roman Torchwick was taking the orders from someone else, that someone is Cinder Fall. She's been the one truly responsible for the crime that's been taking place in Vale, Roman may have been the one spearheading the campaign but Cinder has been pulling the strings."

"And who is this Cinder Fall you speak of." Ozpin said showing a very small trace of worry.

"She's your Queen you've been searching for."

AN: Sorry about the long delay on this one, I've been dealing with the flu for over the past week and I'm barely just starting to get out of this rut. This chapter was intended to be much longer but I've decided to cut it into two parts that way I could get something out instead of delaying even longer. Stay tuned -MidKnight209