HUE!
Surprise! It's time for the chapter you'll get for christmas!
After that I think I'm gonna get myself an account on Ao3 and start writing SMUT!
It's gonna be nice.
Anyway, time for some serious business. This chapter may raise several questions, which will all be answered in the next one.
I feel evil for doing this.
Enjoy!
For want of a knight
chapter 25: bloodied moon and tiger claws
"Uuurgh, my head."
"That's what you get for drinking Nolan's stuff."
The day after the party was off to a slow start. Aside from being too early for any of this, Team RWBY had collectively not gotten any chance to land something solid with Jaune.
Ruby had clad herself in her new onesie, looking positively adorable. She was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and questioned why she had to rise so soon.
"Up and at 'em, everyone! We would do well to train!" Oh yeah, Weiss had gotten the brilliant idea. It was like the start of the year all over again.
"What's gotten into you, Weiss-cream?" asked the mildly hungover Yang. She drank Nolan's insane concoction, the perfect imitation of the Nigrum Ex, and ended up with a headache, a costume damp from spilled alcohol and no cute blonde to keep her company, on a pillow or otherwise.
Hindsight had proven that bragging to Pyrrha about the stolen body pillow was not the best of ideas. The spartan blew up, stating that it was theft, and wanted it back ASAP. She had to physically drag Blake to the dorm room door to unlock it and get it back. Blake herself had not been in the mood, being unable to locate the priest of the thighs. She would have liked to attend a sermon, if only for the hell of it and perhaps even a confession.
'Forgive me, father, for I have sinned. I touch myself to you.'
Cheesy? Yes. Was it upfront and would get her point across that she wanted to touch him? Also yes. At this point Blake was running out of patience with all of this. She wanted him, and she wanted him now. The only reason why she didn't snuggle up with the blonde as they saw him napping away in the dorm room was spartan-shaped and not in the mood for this.
Shame. They could have pushed some beds together.
"What time is it?"
"It doesn't matter," the heiress interjected. "What matters is that we must always be vigilant for any situation."
"Weissy,"Yang couldn't help but snarl as she got a look at her scroll. "It's 4 in the morning!"
"Your point?"
"My point?!" Yang was not up for this. "We are all tired and want to sleep. We partied hard, some more than others. And last I checked, this isn't the damn military!"
"I-" Weiss now seemed rather uncomfortable, fidgeting a little. "Truth be told, I feel uneasy today, right now. Like something is-"
Before Yang could reply with something that would assuage her teammate's fears, the universe seemed to deem it fit to reward Weiss for her sense of premonition. Alarms blared all over school, shocking several students out of their beds.
"Beacon is under attack! Grimm incursion! This is not a drill!"
Ruby and Yang stared slack jawed at the ceiling as their snowy teammate looked jubilant abouther hunch being correct, even if just for a small moment.
"Right." Blake was the first one up from the three still in their beds. "Let's get our weapons." She had a bad feeling about any of this right now. How could the Grimm even get close to the academy? Were the automated defenses defect?
"We should get Jaune up first," voted Yang. "Maybe he can do something about us being tired."
"We shouldn't be relying-"
Outside, even over the din of the alarms, the electronic crackling of speakers activating could be heard.
"Attention Beacon academy," a foreign voice yelled over these speakers, some sort of disdain in their voice. "This is the White Fang."
Blake froze on the spot, her breath hitching.
"To our faunus brother and sisters: fight alongside us. Redeem yourselves from working with these filthy humans and help us usher faunuskind in a new age."
Yang stared wide-eyed out of the window. "Seriously? Are they suicidal?!"
"To any other humans, we say this: Our vengeance has come."
Ruby spoke up first. "On second thought, this is too important. Let's get Jaune!"
/-/
Cinder had been awoken unpleasantly by not only the alarm, but also by the knowledge that the White Fang were attacking prematurely and the wrong target, releasing the captured Grimm either for a diversion or a first wave.
It didn't matter. What mattered right now was that Taurus was loose.
"Adam!" Cinder yelled into her scroll. "This is not according to plan!"
"My people have been denied for too long," the leader snarled back. "Consider our arrangement void, woman. We will send our message one way or the other."
The connection cut out and Cinder wanted to throw her scroll against the wall. "Change of plans!" she roared to no one in particular, the turned to a startled looking Emerald and Mercury with his game face on. "You two will get this" -she lifted her scroll for emphasis- "to the CCT and activate the virus. We can't override their protocols from there, but we can shut them down, making for a good enough diversion. I will use this to accomplish our goal. Hold out on the CCT and tell anyone who checks that you're guarding it. We are on limited time!" She turned to the door to tear it open. "Go!"
/-/
James Ironwood was not having a good day.
The nightshift on the airships had noticed the fleet of bullheads too late and tried to open precision fire onto the Grimm they dropped in Vale itself, only to be ordered to stand down. The risk of running collateral was too great, and Atlas' standing had been suffering due to the show of strength being considered excessive enough. It was the Atlesian Knights' turn to prove themselves to the populace. The bots opened fire onto the beasts, only for their limited caliber to do little to the older Grimm captured.
To top it off, it was 4 a.m. and he didn't have the patience for any of this. One would think that being in the military made you get used to waking up with not enough sleep but still be able to perform with full ability. One would be correct, though it didn't account for a foul mood.
"Get soldiers down there and the people out of these zones!" he barked towards the commsmen. "We need to minimize civilian casualties! Let us show them the might of Atlas!"
The men didn't cheer but nodded instead, determined to get the orders to the troops. For a while, all seemed to be in control in the city, but then fate reared its head and displayed its odd sense of humor.
Just as James wanted to phone Ozpin to inquire the state of the school, one of his men spoke up in alarm.
"Sir, we have a problem!"
Thank you, Captain Obvious. "What is it?!"
"The Knights are shutting down! Something is interfering with their programming!"
Ironwood could only snarl before he barked: "Where is this coming from?! Find me the source!"
"We're trying, sir! It seems to be a virus!"
A virus?! How could a virus be inserted into the system?
Then a cold feeling ran down the generals spine. "The CCT," he whispered in horror before yelling at his comms officer. "Patch me through to Beacon, NOW!"
/-/
Everyone even remotely combat ready had met up at the JNPR dorm for the express purpose of getting a pick-me-up in aura form. It had the blonde residing there winded and mildly rattled due to the early alarm. Of course, he wasn't the only one.
"It's too early for this shit!" complained Nora, Magnhild already in hand. Everyone else was agreeing in mutters or in silence, looking awake but annoyed. Out of all of them, Blake was the only one who didn't either look annoyed or eager to smack some assholes. No, she seemed agitated and close to panicking. To those who knew her personally, it came as no surprise.
"So, who's got a plan?" Neon asked into the group.
"We charge 'em and fuck 'em up!" proposed Brawnz.
"They have power in numbers," Jaune started to mumble, with everyone shushing others to listen. "We'll have to lock down the larger corridors to avoid being flanked. Heavy hitters to the front, artillery and support to the back. Maybe some fast skirmishers?"
"Counterpoint: We follow Jauney Boy's plan," Cardin proposed. "It's pretty sound."
"Wait, who elected him as our strategist?" a student interjected, which was countered by Ruby's exclamation of "His scores in Leadership Class!"
"Where are the teachers?" Ciel inquired, brow furrowed.
"That I can't truthfully answer," replied Weiss.
"Alright, split up evenly," Jaune now commanded, slowly immersing himself in a role as commander of the forces. "CRDL are mostly frontline, while FNKI works well form the backline. Form up together."
The two teams saluted and stood in a row.
"BRNZ has good balance with May as long range. SSSN can keep any stragglers or more agile people at bay. You two form up as well."
As such, the teams were grouped up. ABRN and CFVY went to hold a corridor together, while NDGO and PRCN, with Penny and Ciel on their team, went together. RWBY and JNPR, in part due to familiarity as well as synergy, made ready to hold a position. Yet, just as they made ready for the incoming onslaught…
"Blake."
The cat faunus stiffened as she heard the voice over a speaker.
The others were looking up. "Who the hell is that?" asked Dove.
"Come meet me in the cafeteria of this academy."
Blake wanted to dash towards it, with no regard to the situation or her own safety. The only thing stopping her was an aggravated Yang bearhugging her to keep her from running. "Where do you think you're going?!"
"I have to!" Blake yelled while squirming in the blonde's grip. "He is here because of me! This attack happened because of me! If I-"
"Oh, get off your high horse, will you?"
The faunus froze and looked towards Coco. "Look, I don't know what your relationship with Mr Stalker Type is, but you're running face first into a trap here," the fashionista explained with narrowed eyes behind her shades. "Also, do you honestly think that all these people are here for you? You're not that important, as hard as it sounds."
Yellow eyes looked downwards to the ground. "I...need to face him one last time. He is strong, stronger than anyone I know."
"Well, that's a challenge if I ever heard one," grinned Yang. "I'm coming with you. No chance in hell you'll face him all on your own, kitty cat!"
She was aghast. "Yang, I can't-"
"She can't," Jaune agreed and stepped forward, resolve filling him. "But I can. I will come with you to provide support and play tank. One man against us three will be easier."
"I-"
"Wait, Fearless Leader!" yelled the Valkyrie. "Who will fight with us on the front?!"
"We could help."
Everyone turned to see the speaker. Two identical twins in white and red and…
"The midget!" bellowed Yang, ready to throw down. "Why is she here?!"
Jaune looked at the three with mild concern. He knew that Neo could hold her own in a fight, but she was still a criminal in the public eye. Contrast to that, Mil and Mel counted as upstanding citizens with rudimentary training.
"We should let them help," Jaune decided.
"What?" Weiss yelled back. "Are you nuts, Arc?!"
"She's the enemy," Ruby concurred.
"What makes you think she'll help?" Yang added. She took a deep breath before continuing: "Look, I know you got faith in the twins, but her?!"
"Guys, she has bailed me out of a tricky situation once. She's good people, just trust me on this."
"Well, she fought against us! She's with Torchwick!"
"Yang, her name..."
Jaune was preparing his trump card with Yang. His fellow blonde had an eyebrow raised.
"...is Neopolitan."
The brawler blinked, once, twice. "Like the ice cream?"
"The very same."
Yang broke into an amused grin. "Well, I'm gonna milk this for all it's worth."
Weiss had enough of this. "Are you serious? We can't-"
"We better," Sun interjected. "We just ran outta time."
Sure enough, the White Fang stormed down the corridor the teams were gathered. They were wielding a variety of weapons, from simple cudgels and pistols to big swords and LMGs that seemed to be salvaged from Atlas. As a whole, they were screaming their battlecries and curses as they charged, with blood and vengeance on their minds.
"Advance in your assigned groups!" Jaune bellowed over the din. "Don't split off! Mel, Mil, Neo, you're with my team! We will hold Beacon!"
The students roared back, readying for the clash in melee. Bullets were already flying, May and Ruby sniping the larger ones off balance to cause the mass of bodies to slow down. Coc was firing into the group, forcing a few to fall back due to their aura.
Jaune, meanwhile, ran after the Bumblebee duo as fast as he could, right towards what promised to be a boss battle.
/-/
Cinder was close. She could feel it in the stale air of the vault.
Her questions had all been answered as she managed to fry the system behind the innocuous little button in the elevator, granting her entry to her prize.
The distraction had been made. All pieces were in place. Let the White Fang die while she would just arrange for Amber to suddenly cease, gifting her the Maiden powers she sought.
Closer and closer she strode to the capsule that held Amber Autumn, closer and closer to her initial goal since she got here. A shiver ran through her. If all went without a hitch, she would be in and out without anyone noticing. She could return to the fray without raising too much suspicion, she could work on achieving a new goal with increased fervor!
All she had to do was take a life that she had doomed to begin with.
Her bow came to existence, her gripping the handle decisively as she nocked her arrow. The bowstring taut, her aim right at the doomed maiden's heart, she let loose. It flew, hissing through the air…
And stopped right in front of the pod.
Cinder's eyes widened in horror as her vermillion ones gazed into brown eyes, narrowed in ferocious anger.
"No..."
/-/
The three huntsmen-in-training arrived in the cafeteria as the sounds of battle raged outside. They could hear Port and Oobleck shouting at someone or something. However, most of ther attention was on the figure before them.
Red hair with black horns pointing out of them, black attire and a large katana at his side, his scowl accentuated by the mask he wore. This was the one who called them here.
"Adam," Blake gasped out.
"Blake," was his curt reply. "I see you haven't come alone. Scared to face me on your own?"
"Can you blame me?" she replied, trying to gain confidence.
"Do these humans even know who you used to be?" he asked as he tilted his head slightly upwards. "Do you think that this will help our cause? You know the price of betraying the White Fang."
A cold shiver ran through the cat faunus before she showed genuine anger. "The White Fang was a protest movement! When we thought we couldn't do more, we turned violent! But we didn't get respect, we got fear! This is why people turned away from the Fang!" She breathed heavily. "You ordered the kill on Tukson, didn't you?"
Adam leveled his gaze on her. "He was a traitor, turning his back on his brothers and sisters. We fight for a noble and just cause, Blake. We fight for Faunus superiority."
"This fight," Blake screamed back. "Was never about superiority!"
"Then you are as naive as I feared, my love."
"Wait, hold on," Yang interrupted the tense dialogue. "Love? Blake, are we fighting your psycho ex boyfriend here?"
The psycho ex took exception to being called that. In one swift movement, he dashed forward while unsheathing his sword, ready to fight the insolent blonde. His blade was halted by a shield bearing twin crescent moons. Even though the bearer had to shake under the force, the defense held.
Adam couldn't help but grumble in annoyance as he jumped back, evading Blake and Yang's attacks. This would not be an easy fight for him to win with swordplay alone.
And so the clash begun. Yang jumped forward, even as Blake yelled at them. "When he starts to glow, prepare to dodge! His semblance can cut through aura!" Gambol Shroud whistled through the air, clashing against Wilt again and again, the red blade moving faster than it should. It's wielder dodging Yang's punches, yet catching one to the shoulder.
"Wait, he has a sword beam?!" Jaune yelled back. This foe was something else. Crocea Mors barely grazed him, even when he coordinated himself with the attacks of the girls.
"What're you doing?!" Yang yelled at him. "We need you in the back more! You're support, dammit!"
"I have no range-" Jaune began before he remembered. His hand met the brawler's shoulder as his semblance activated. Power coursed through Yang's veins now, her breathing deeper as she relished the strength he flooded her with.
With this power-up, she charged the bull with a fierce punch. It was too fast and he was too occupied with guilt tripping Blake over leaving the Fang. Her betrayal had stung, yet not as much as that human's punch just now.
'Where did that strength come from?' he asked himself as the punch to his pectoral sent him flying a few feet back. Teeth bared, his gaze went up just as another punch came sailing towards his face. He dodged by a hair's breadth, jumping away again while his sword sailed upwards to slash his opponent. A brief spark and a grunt were his reward, with Yang now attacking with even greater ferocity.
This punch Adam was prepared for. The attack from Blake, he was as well. Stabilizing Wilt with both hands, he blocked both Ember Celica and Gambol Shroud, even as the force of the two attacks made the terrorist grunt in exertion.
His semblance was charged.
Backing off again, he now had to plan for the right time to use it. Kill one, even the odds. That was when he saw it; Blake had the hand of the blonde human male on her shoulder, the glow of his aura suffusing into her.
'So that's how he contributes," Adam surmised. He had his target.
Fencing the other insolent blonde away, her boost dissipating and leaving her feeling sluggish, Adam readied himself for his move. Wilt found it's way back into Blush and the menacing swordsman started to glow.
"Shit, dodge, dodge dodge!" Jaune was panicking a little.
"Stay calm!" Blake demanded. "If you dodge too early, you'll be an easier target- wait!" Her gaze wandered on Adam's presumed line of sight, his gaze seemingly firm on the blonde brawler. "Yang!"
Jaune moved before he could think. All his mind, his heart, his soul was filled with was the determination to protect those he held dear. His mind still in confusion whether or not he could love more than one, more than Neo, with whom he felt a deeper connection, more than Pyrrha, who was always there for him when he needed her, more than Blake, with her aloof attitude hiding a heart that cared almost too much, more than Yang, who he knew would jump to his defense just as he would just now.
He unknowingly played right into Adam's plan.
As the Moonslice tore itself into reality and Blake screamed out in horror, Jaune bolstered his own aura as much as he could.
The unstoppable force met the immovable object.
Jaune's aura shattered.
And the Moonslice broke, dealing no damage on the blonde's body.
Adam stared at the knight in disbelief.
"Still alive," he grinned at the swordsman, feeling cold, drained, and yet more alive than ever. His nerves were on fire, adrenaline pumping through his veins.
So he charged.
Adam could not recuperate from the shock fast enough. This had never happened before. How could his greatest technique fail?! How-
The tip of a sword knocked the wind out of his lungs. Even though his aura held, the strike came while he was off guard and was thus more a wound to his pride than his body. Lashing out in anger, Adam striked against the blonde, Wilt hitting that damnable shield again. Though now the bearer was without the power of his aura and was flung to the side, hitting a wall.
"Jaune!" The bumblebee duo shouted as one. The bull was off his game, his calm compromised, and he lashed out more than actually fought. He was off form and had difficulty returning to it while being assaulted from two sides. Yet, as he started to calm down and block their strikes more frequently, the floor exploded.
A hole in the cafeteria floor tore open, with two figures outright flying out of it, landing on opposite sides. Both of them frazzled, both of them glowing in fury.
Adam remembered his original objective now. He knew that tie was running out.
So he ran.
His original objective had never been to destroy Beacon, only to attack it right under Ironwood's nose. He knew that the Atlesian general would not dare fire on the school in fear of bad press and confidence in the students' abilities. Adam counted on Cinder launching her own distraction to achieve her nebulous goals, which would play in the hands of the Fang, who themselves had unleashed captured Grimm on Vale to distract Atlas.
It had never been about victory. It had been about the message.
"Even under your mightiest protection, you are never safe from the Fang," he whispered, basking in this victory, which would surely strengthen his hold in the Fang.
/-/
The students had successfully driven the terrorists back into the courtyard. The fresh recruits were all out of commission while the veterans fought for their retreat. Bullheads stood ready to bring them to the docks, where they would escape.
"Drive them back!" yelled Cardin, swinging his mace.
"Traitors!" yelled a White Fang at the Faunus students, who immediately wailed on him harder.
As the Fang reached near the Bullhead, one of them called out "Smoke!", and within seconds, smoke grenades exploded, robbing students of their sight.
Neon could barely see a black-clad bull faunus rushing from behind them, running towards the Bullheads. The cover started dispersing as the bullheads started their engines and took off, flying low over the city.
"Can anyone get a clean shot?!" yelled Brawnz to Ruby and May.
"Too dark!" complained May. "I can't see a thing!"
Weiss turned around to their unexpected reinforcements as the students cheered for their victory. Melaine and Miltiades, as she learned their names, fought valiantly and brilliantly as a team while Neo was just as much of a menace as she remembered. Secretly, the heiress was glad she was on their side. The mute had smacked more than one faunus away who charged her with a "Kill the Schnee!" on their lips. She supposed the two had become acquaintances somehow, which was confirmed by the twins, to the more or less veiled dismay of everyone listening.
Her relief turned to worry as she realized that her teammates and Jaune hadn't returned yet. Their opponent was fierce enough for Blake to calm down only as two others joined her, her partner and one with an amazing support Semblance.
Worry turned to panic as she saw them charging out of the building. That is, only two of the three that went.
Cinder was in front of them, her Semblance blazing around her as she searched the illuminated courtyard for something.
"Where is he?!" she demanded, half in rage, half in worry herself.
"Fuck, fuck, where?!" Yang was not far behind her.
Pyrrha approached the three. "What's going on? Where is Jaune?!"
Blake looked to the horizon where she could hear the sound of Bullheads growing more and more silent while in the city itself the last of the Grimm perished to Atlesian valor.
"Taken," was all she could say, her voice ringing hollow.
The cheers stopped as everyone around stared at her. "What?" whispered Nebula. "what do you mean?"
Arslan approached, shock slowly turning into a grim expression. "He was kidnapped? How?"
"His aura broke," Yang supplied, her own arms now hanging there without any strength left as she looked to the others. "That guy, Adam, almost killed me. Jaune tanked the hit."
Nora and Ren stared at her in shock. Their leader, taken? Though just as everyone wanted to start asking questions, a voice filled with rage cut through the early morning air.
"Cinder Fall!"
General Ironwood was approaching, handgun ready, his gaze burning into Cinder. Both the cat and the blonde looked to her, now asking the question again why she was fighting that woman.
"Your co-conspirators have been captured." The general produced Emerald and Mercury, handcuffed and beaten, escorted by Winter Schnee. "Your attack has been foiled. Surrender, terrorist."
Cinder looked to the others, who stared at her in shock. None of them had expected her to be the mastermind behind it all.
Not a one.
Cinder had no choice.
Surrounded by enemies now and without any means to escape, she raised her hands in surrender.
/-/
Jaune awoke with a start.
He didn't know how long it has been since he had been knocked out by his impact with a wall – not the first one he had to note – though he did know that he was currently in a bed someplace.
Someplace that was decidedly not Beacon.
The biggest hint he had were the movements of everything around him. Without his aura, he had no choice but to endure his motion sickness to the fullest of his abilities.
He was unhurt, that much Jaune was sure of. Well, apart from maybe a minor concussion. His armor and hoodie were off, leaving him bare chested in this oddly comfortable bed.
"Urp!" The motion sickness got worse. He had to find a bucket, and fast.
"Drink this."
Jaune stilled. A low, commanding, female voice had spoken up while a brown-skinned hand held some medicine and a glass of water out to him. Jaune would rather not look the gift horse in the moth right now and did as he was told.
"Motion sickness, hm?" the voice said again. "Guess that makes two of us."
Wait, she had motion sickness, too?
As Jaune looked in the direction of his fellow sufferer and savior, he saw a tiger faunus. Clad in robes fit for a warmer climate was a tiger faunus with a single red dot on her forehead, lounging in a chair and looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Um."
"You're on a boat," she answered the unasked question.
Well that explains-
"A boat?!" Jaune repeated in surprise. "Why a boat?!"
"Because I had you kidnapped," she replied nonchalantly.
"Why kidnap me?!"
"Why not start with some introductions, hm?"
The young man ducked his head a bit, ashamed of forgetting his manners. "Sorry. I'm Jaune Arc."
"I know who you are; it's why you're here."
Well, that was ominous.
"My name is Sienna Khan, High Leader of the White Fang."
Ah shit. Captured by the leader of Remnant's leading terrorist organization.
"And," Jaune asked but stopped himself as he saw her ears flick a little. "What would the High Leader want of me?" He wondered if he overstepped, asking himself if he was polite enough to his kidnapper.
"As the High Leader, I want you for ransom and as a bargaining chip." She was not beating around the bush here. "You're a student of Beacon, and it is clear that your headmaster does care about every single one of his own."
His head hung low. "Great."
"Though as Sienna Khan..." she continued, making Jaune's head snap up and look at a piece of paper she was presenting to him. She motioned for him to take it and read.
"Alright. This contract is between Julius Magnus Ar..." he stopped short. "Why is grandpa involved?"
"Read further," she commanded, though in a softer tone.
"Arc and Ashura Khan. Wait." Jaune pointed to Sienna, who nodded at him.
"My father."
"This contract is to determine..."
Jaune read further in silence as his mouth started to hang open. He wanted to wrap his head around all of this. This was absurd, insane, this was so beyond the pale! This…
"This is a contract for an arranged marriage," he finally got out in a monotone voice that belied the storm of emotion within him.
"Indeed."
"I-but...what?" He was well and truly lost.
Sienna just shrugged. "When I found this, I started to do some research on you. Human or no, you are the grandson of the Golden Lion. I could have ignored the contract or just burned it, which would have it annulled, since we are the only two people alive to do so."
"I-" Jaune struggled to get his voice out in that moment. "Why?"
"Three reasons," Sienna replied, still keeping her gaze trained on him. "One, the contract itself. We would have to be either betrothed already to someone else, which I thank the gods for their foresight." Her hands rose in a sarcastic manner as she rolled her eyes. Jaune couldn't help but agree; one fuck up would suffice to ruin their lives.
"Two, your pedigree. You're the grandson of the Golden Lion, one of the most revered figures in Faunus history, particularly during the revolution. Your very existence holds weight."
Not for the first time, the young Arc had to ask himself why his family was so insistent on being heroes. Was it something in heir blood?
"And three."
Jaune stiffened as Sienna leaned forward, granting him the first smile he saw on her face. She looked at him like a predator would a prey, seductive and almost lustful.
"I like what I'm seeing."
Merry Christmas!