RWBY
Origins Of LUNR
Chapter 37: Coming Together 37 Part 3
Back in Mistral, Qrow is seen leaning against a stone railing. "This isn't right. I get one or two of them, but... all of them?"
Qrow sighs and hangs his head in disappointment. Suddenly, he hears the sound of Raven's portal behind him. "Raven?" He asked. The sound of a motorcycle is heard coming from the portal. "Oh." He said in a surprised manner, noticing who came through the portal.
Back at the house Ruby and the other's were staying at, all of them were helping prepare dinner. Ruby and Ren were cooking at the stove, Regulus and Midori were preparing a Salad and dinner rolls and Jaune, Arrossire, and Roy were setting up the table, and Nora and Arrietty were cutting carrots, with Nora occasionally eating slices and being scolded by Midori.
"Alright, the first batch is just about done," Ren announced.
"Awesome! Now we just need Qrow and the others and we'll be all set." Ruby said.
"Do you really think he's gonna bring that many people? This is a lot of food." Nora said as she eats another carrot slice. As she reaches for another Midori slaps her hand in a motherly way and wags her finger at her.
"Uh, I don't know, but it sounds like we could use all the help we can get," Ruby replied.
"I'm back!"
Ruby heard Qrow's voice and smiled. "Be right there!"
"You're going to overcook that," Ren said as he looked at her pan.
"No, I'm not, shut up!" Ruby quickly retorted.
"Hey, uh, Ruby… Regulus?" Qrow called from the other room.
"I'm coming!" Ruby exclaimed.
Some smoke comes from the pan Ruby is cooking with. "Fine! You take over." She said to Ren who smiled.
Regulus raised an eyebrow "I wonder what he needs me for." Regulus said. Midori smiled and took his bowl. "I'll handle this you go see what he wants," Midori said as she closed her eyes and started chopping the lettuce in front of her.
Ruby grabbed the tea tray and headed to the living room while Ren finishes the pan's contents. "So, we didn't know how many people were coming, so we just cooked all of it."
She looks up, and gasps as she drops the tea tray and its contents, which shattered on the floor. She stares in disbelief at the sight of not only Qrow but of her older sister Yang, Weiss, Lance and Uzziel. Yang approached her little sister.
Ruby's voice started cracking as she tried to speak. "Yang, I... I'm so sorry! I- I should've stayed, and I should've talked to you more! I'd- I just…" She stuttered as tears start pouring from her eyes. "I wasn't sure if you wanted me around and-"
Suddenly, her big sister gives her a strong hug. Ruby's lips quiver and she looks toward her sister. "I love you," Yang said as tears stream from her eyes.
Ruby sobs as she leans into her sister's hug. "I love you too."
Regulus walks into the room to see the two sisters hugging, before turning his head to see Uzziel, Lance, and Weiss standing near them. His eyes widened for a moment as Lance and Uzziel notice him and their eyes glisten as well.
Lance then looks at Uzziel for a moment and then walking toward Regulus and holding his fist out. Uzziel walks over and does the same put his fist beside Lance's. Regulus smiled back at them and puts his fists beside theirs making a triangle. Jaune and the others enter the room, joyful at the sight of the two sisters embracing each other. Qrow grinned as well. Oscar Pine enters the room. "Uh…" He says to himself as he looked up, seeing Ruby and Yang hugging. Weiss smiles as she wipes a tear from her eye, before frowning while looking down.
"Weiss," Ruby says as she notices her friend's expression.
Weiss looked up and sees the two sisters open their arms up for her. She smiled and eagerly joins them in their hug. Everyone leered happily as they watch three of the four Team RWBY members embrace each other.
Later that day, the dinner table is abuzz as everyone all talk over each other indistinctly. The mood is quite cheery, with the children all smiling and laughing.
Yang starts laughing at Jaune, "How do you lose your map at a time like that?" She asked.
"Believe me, I've asked myself the same thing ever since." He replied.
Yang, Weiss, and Ruby laugh, while Jaune giggles sheepishly. "Hey, but you made up for it, Mister Muscles! You shoulda seen this guy take a giant Grimm head-on!" Nora stated.
"I couldn't have done it without Ruby wearing it down." He said.
"Uh, me? Did you see Ren during that fight? He was out of control!" Ruby exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, I may have lost my temper momentarily." Ren chimed in.
Ruby started shaking her hands as she looked at Ren "No, no! Out of control as in "awesome"!" She explained.
"Oooohhh. Thank you." He replied with a smile.
Everyone at the table bursts into laughter. As dinner continues, Weiss tells her story about how she accidentally summoned a Boarbatusk during the Schnee charity ball. Ruby gasps "You did not!"
Weiss has her face in her hands. "Yeah, right in the middle of the party." She said in embarrassment.
"Please tell me you let that lady have it," Yang said.
"Of course not! Even if I did really want to." Weiss replied as she looked at the ground.
"No way, I don't believe it." Nora said crossing her arms, skeptical.
Weiss summons her Boarbatusk right next to Nora. The Grimm summon growls, causing Nora to yelp and fall to her side. They all begin to laugh as they look at her.
As dinner nearly finishes, Yang shows off her robotic prosthetic arm to the rest of the group. All of them react in awe. "It's not a replacement for the real thing, but I'll make sure to make good use of it. I have to thank Lance and my father for this though, it was them that gave me the talk I needed to use this" She explained which earned her a smile from Lance.
"That's amazing," Arrossire said as he observed the arm.
"It's Incredible. Looks like it'll dish out some serious damage too." Regulus added.
Ruby gets all starry-eyed and quickly zooms over to her sister's side to admire her arm.
"Is it just as strong?" Ruby asked as she held up her sister's arm.
Yang nodded at her "Hm, sure is." She answered.
Suddenly, they hear a bang on the table. Nora has her arm out ready to arm wrestle. "Wanna bet?" Nora challenged
"Nora, please, now's not the time…" Weiss stated.
Despite Weiss' protest, Yang and Nora arm wrestle. Jaune, Arrietty, Arrossire, and Ren cheer on Nora while Ruby cheers on for her sister. Weiss looks on disdainfully. Meanwhile, Uzziel, Roy, Lance Midori, and Regulus were sharing a conversation of their own.
"I'm glad to see you alright," Lance said as he looked at Regulus.
Regulus nodded "Same to you. I was worried when we all got separated. I had no idea if you both got out okay." He responded.
Lance then started to look around and noticed that a certain someone was missing "Regulus, where's Nolorona. Did he get separated as well?" He asked.
Everyone looked down at the ground which Lance quickly picked up on. "Am I missing something here. Did something happen to him?" Lance asked, hoping he wasn't about to hear bad news.
"My brother and I got into a fight.
"You and Nolo? Never thought I would hear that." Lance said.
Roy looked at Lance as he crossed his arms "Well they are brothers. Brothers bump heads. Especially one as hard as Nolo's" He said.
Before Lance could respond a robotic sound is heard coming from Yang's arm, and suddenly Nora is knocked back to the wall holding Yang's detached arm in her hand. Nora groans in pain while the others look on in concern, except for Yang, who has a smug grin on her face.
"Did she... win?" Jaune asked.
As Nora comes to, she realizes she's holding Yang's robotic arm, causing her to scream and throw it away from her. Yang laughs while she catches her arm.
Later on, Jaune helps clean up the dishes. "Gyah... We ate it all…" He groaned as he picks up the pot holding all the bowls. "Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick…"
"Easy there, Vomit Boy, I believe in you." Yang teased.
"Oh, we're doing nickname throwbacks now. Wonderful." He said sarcastically while walking away with the dishware in his hands.
Weiss giggles which Nora noticed. "I mean, the Ice Queen seems to like it."
Weiss stops giggling, and Ruby bursts into laughter at Nora's remark. Weiss grinned nonetheless. Weiss smiles and rolls her eyes "I so did not miss you people." She stated which made everyone laugh.
Nora gasps "Oh my gosh, she really does like it! What went and warmed your heart while you were gone?" Nora teased. As she said this everyone's eyes averted towards Uzziel who was taking a sip from his cup. He stopped and looked at everyone "Why are you all looking at me?" He asked.
Lance smirked as he looked at Uzziel "So… you left us to go see the Ice Queen huh? What did you do to make her this nice." He teased.
"Hey! You make it sound like I used to be terrible." Weiss said.
"Nah. Just a lot to deal with it at once," Yang stated bluntly
"Hmph!" Weiss pouted. Yang playfully sticks her tongue out at Weiss. Uzziel laughed at this which Regulus noticed and looked at him immediately.
"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you Uzziel," Regulus stated which made Uzziel look at him with a confused expression.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
Lance laughed "Oh don't act like you don't know just because Weiss is here. You were a major jerk when we met you. It was always 'Stay out of my way this' and 'I don't need partners that.' You were so bad that Nolo started calling you Mood-Ziel. You were always so angry." Lance explained, making everyone laugh at the name
Weiss and the other's gave Uzziel a shocked expression. "You was really like that Uzziel? But you're always kind when I'm around." Weiss stated.
Uzziel smiled at her "I am kind. I was just in a bad place at that time. I was dealing with the loss of my parents at that time. I'm sorry guys." He said as he looked at Regulus and Lance who smiled at him.
"Ahhh don't worry about it," Lance replied.
"It's been a long time. We've all grown in our own ways." Ren said which made everyone look at him.
"You really think so?" Midori asked.
"Well, think back to when we were all at Beacon, would you say you ever did anything foolish or embarrassing? Or do you think you were perfect?" He asked.
"Oh gosh," Weiss said as she buries her face in her hands again. Uzziel smiles and pets her head.
"I may have been a little too gung-ho from time to time," Yang said as Ruby looked at her.
"Heh, you? I tried to 1v1 a Nevermore on the second day of school." Ruby stated.
"Yeah, well... don't even get me started," Jaune said walking back into the room.
"Well, that embarrassment - that desire to go back and tell yourself not to be so stupid - that just proves you're not the same person you used to be. You're smarter, you're kinder, you're stronger, and you're not done growing yet. None of us are." Ren finished.
There was silence for a brief moment as everyone took his words in. "Yeah, it turns out Ren gets real deep when he feels like talking," Ruby informed them.
Everyone giggles.
"Well, hold on, I thought I was pretty great in school!" Nora said.
Yang smirked at her "Even at the dance? When you spilled punch all over yourself in front of-"
"Yes, especially the dance! Thank you, Yang!" Nora yelled. Yang covers her ears from Nora's yelling, who has her scroll out playing "Shine". Ruby laughs.
"How can you possibly make so much noise eating dinner?!"
Everyone turned to see Qrow, Jarvin, and Oscar are seen standing next to Jaune. They were accompanied by Miyabi Estelle, Dyna, Flash, and Bayne. Nora presses her scroll to stop the song. Oscar gives a small laugh. Uzziel's eyes widened as he saw his sister standing before him. As she gave him a nervous grin he quickly glared at her which made her change her expression to sad.
Ten minutes later….
Everyone relocates to the second-floor living room, with Weiss, Lance, Uzziel and Yang having finished being filled in on what everyone else knows so far.
"So, the Maidens. Magic. Salem. It's all true?" Weiss asked.
"Uh-huh," Jarvin stated.
"Miss Xiao Long, is this more or less what your mother told you?" Ozpin asked.
Yang doesn't respond, still having her arms crossed. "For the most part," Lance answers for her.
"You forgot something. You forgot to tell everyone what you did to Qrow and my mother." Yang stated as Ruby gasps.
"What is she talking about?" Arrossire asked.
"Oh, great." Qrow groaned, putting his hand to his face. Jarvin put a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him
Ozpin sighed "Hm, that's not a secret I thought she would give up so easily. Your mother must trust you a great deal." He said.
Yang scowls at him, but Ozipin continues. "My ability to reincarnate, though a curse, isn't without a few key benefits. Much like the Maidens, I too possess a certain... "magical" power." He pauses as he stands up and walks next to Qrow and Jarvin. "Using this power, I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to "see" more, to move freely and be unburdened by their natural bodies. I... well... gave them the ability to turn into birds, and upon doing that I gave Jarvin here the ability to turn into a wolf." He chuckles as he shakes his head and looks at the ground. "Rather ridiculous-sounding out loud, isn't it?"
"Wait, what?" Uzziel said in disbelief.
"Uncle?" Ruby called out.
"You turned them... into birds." Ren said trying to grasp what he said.
Roy put a hand to his head trying to grasp the situation as well, "And you turned Jarvin into a Wolf."
"Alright, now you're just messing with us." Nora said.
"What else is new?" Jaune said in an angry voice.
"He's telling the truth. We saw it. Yang's mom... changed, right in front of us." Weiss stated.
"Why would you do something like that? I mean, what is wrong with you?" Yang asked angrily.
"Yang, that's enough! We made a choice. We wanted this." Qrow said as he looked at Jarvin.
"He's right when Qrow brought the idea to me, I quickly took the offer," Jarvin added.
"May I?" Ozpin asked Qrow. Qrow nods and Ozpin begins to speak again. "Granting this power to them was no trivial task, and I can assure you it was not done frivolously. I required assistance in gathering information on Salem's plans, as well as searching for Maidens when their hosts became unclear."
"Okay, so, have you done this with others? Like General Ironwood? Or Professor Goodwitch?" Arrietty asked..
"As helpful as that might be, unfortunately, it is not that simple. My power is finite, and if I'm being honest, dwindling. The amount that I gifted to Qrow and Raven was, all things considered, rather minuscule. You see, centuries ago, I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women, who I hoped would use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens." He went silent for a moment and then turned his attention towards Yang. "Miss Xiao Long, it was never my intention to lie to you. To any of you. There are just some matters that I prefer to... "play close to the chest". I believe that's how you phrased it?" He asked as he looked at Qrow.
Qrow chuckles "Yeah." he replies.
"Everyone has a choice. The Branwen's chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest. Now, all of you have a choice. If anyone wishes to leave, now is the time. There's no shame or disgrace in abstaining, only in retreat." He explained as he looked around the room.
Everyone stayed silent as they ponder Ozpin's words. "Very well, then." He said.
Yang suddenly stands up which makes Ruby look at her. "Yang?" She said in a worried tone. Yang took a deep breath and then looks at her sister. "If Ruby sticks around, then I will too. If there's one thing I know about her, it's that she somehow always knows the right thing to do." She smiles at Ruby after saying that. "But, if we're going to help, if we're going to keep risking our lives, no more lies. No more half-truths."
Everyone remains silent. Ozpin, Jarvin and Qrow exchange a brief look with each other. Ozpin ponders Yang's words for one last moment, before responding.
Ozpin nodded while smiling. "Understood." He replied.
Yang sits back down. Miyabi stepped forwards and looked at Ozpin who returned the glance at her "Sir if I may." She said which earned her a nod from him.
"If we're all going to be working together then like Yang said no more half-truths. We need to lay everything on the table right now, and I mean all of us." She said as he eyes shifted towards Uzziel who still looked angry. He was looking at the ground and she could see that he had a lot on his mind.
"Starting with you Uzziel." She said which made him look at her. She could see it in his eyes, he needed to get a lot off his chest. Everyone looked at Uzziel and Miyabi as she addressed him.
"You have been glaring at Jarvin and Estelle since they arrived here. If you have something you need to get off your chest, then you should do it now. We need to be focused and we need to be working as a team. But we can't do that if you're holding grudges." She stated.
Uzziel looked at her for a moment before looking at Estelle, who had a worried look on her face. Weiss who was sitting next to Uzziel put her hand on top of his which made him look at her. "Remember what I said Uzziel. Listen to her side first." She said.
Uzziel looked back at Estelle for a moment and then Ozpin. "There's something I want to know, and I want the honest truth," Uzziel demanded.
Ozpin looked at him for a moment and then nodded "Sure." He replied.
Uzziel kept his eyes on him as he spoke "When we were with Raven, she told me that you had followers in the academies that would do whatever you asked of them. She said that my mother and father were some of those people as well. What were they to you and why were they killed?" He asked.
"Raven…" Jarvin muttered.
Ozpin sighed and looked at the ground for a moment before speaking "So she said all that huh? Your mother and father were not my followers. I would like to think that I don't have any. Just like Qrow and everyone here, your mother and father were very good friends of mine." He said as he smiled and thought for a second. His face then turned serious as he looked at Uzziel.
"Your mother and father were loved by all and gained a lot of friends because of that. Cinder and her underlings targeted your parents because they had information on the whereabouts of the spring and winter maiden. But they refused to give up the information and were killed. I'm terribly sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how you must of felt when you found them." Ozpin stopped again and waited a minute to let the information sink into Uzziel's mind before speaking again.
"When you were born, you were all they ever talked about. They were very loving people, just like your sister over there." He looked at Estelle who smiled at him.
"Loving? Yeah, I wouldn't go that far." Uzziel stated bluntly.
"Uzziel!" Miyabi exclaimed but Jarvin held his hand up to stop her.
"Let him speak his mind," Jarvin said. Miyabi looked at him and nodded, allowing Uzziel to continue.
"I can understand why my uncle would hide the fact that he could change into a wolf. But what I can't understand is why… Why weren't you there when I needed you the most!" He exclaimed as he looked at his older sister.
Estelle looked at her brother, she could see the hurt in his eyes and the anger that came with it. Feeling sad wasn't going to fix this situation and she knew that. There was only one way to fix this situation once and for all.
She gave him a stern look as she began to speak "Uzziel, you're taking this way out of proportion. Grow up." She said rather harshly.
Uzziel gritted his teeth, her words cut deep. "You wanna know why I wasn't there? It's because I was out searching for clues trying to figure out who killed our parents. Do you think the information Ozpin just gave you just came out of nowhere? I want revenge just as much as you do but I will not let it pull me away from duties." She explained.
Uzziel didn't say a word he just continued to listen "I understand how you feel but you need to stop acting like a child." She said bluntly.
Everyone was shocked by what they were seeing Uzziel growled and balled his fist. "You understand? You don't understand A DAMN THING!" He yelled as red aura appeared around him in the shape of a dragon.
Estelle did not seem fazed by this in the slightest. Instead, she just watched as Uzziel stared at her with anger in his eyes. Bayne took a step forward but was signaled to stop by Ozpin.
"You don't understand what I've been through. Losing mom… losing dad…" Tears started to form in his eyes as his body began to shake.
Estelle's eyes widened as she noticed something during his breakdown. "Then I lose you… I lost contact with Weiss. I was forced to stay in Mistral. Then I find out that Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald killed our parents… it's frustrating and I don't know what to do." Uzziel continued on as he closed his eyes.
Estelle walked over to her brother and wrapped her arms around him. "Uzziel… you mastered your semblance." Uzziel's eyes snapped open as she rubbed his head. Tears ran down his cheek as she held him tight.
"You've gotten so strong these past few years…You think I haven't been watching you but I have. I watched all of your matches during the Vytal festival on T.V. I'm proud of you and I'm proud of what you have become." She said which made everyone smile. Seeing the two siblings work out their emotions was heartwarming.
"You're my little brother and I love you very much. But as strong as you've gotten physically… I need you to be just as strong mentally. We were always able to read each other so I thought you would understand why I left. I'm sorry I put you through that." She said.
Uzziel's eyes widened as he looked at his sister "We'll bring Cinder and her team to justice! You, me, Jarvin, Weiss, all of us! We'll make sure she's paid for what she's done!" Estelle exclaimed.
Uzziel managed to work through his frown and nodded as she whipped the tears from his eyes "Also Uzziel, don't ever think you're alone. Jarvin and I miss them just as much as you do. She said.
Uzziel nodded once more and spoke, "Got it." He quickly replied.
Miyabi smiled at them and then looked back at Bayne and Flash and cleared her throat. "Alright, now that's out of the way. I think it's time you two introduce yourselves to everyone and give your report to Ozpin." She ordered. Flash sighed while Bayne stepped forward and looked at everyone.
"I was just about to ask about them. I don't think I've seen these guys before." Jaune said.
"That's disrespectful Jaune. How could you not know the great Bayne Sukasa? He's a legend." Arrossire said.
Arrossire then pulled out his scroll and clicked on a few icons before showing an article to everyone. The article showed a picture of Bayne in front of a bunch of cameras and he looked to be answering questions. "He's known around the world!" Arrossire exclaimed.
Yang laughed "Easy there fanboy." She teased
Arrossire gave her an annoyed look as Bayne cleared his throat "Thank you for pointing that out, I'm flattered that you consider me a legend. As he said my name is Bayne Sukasa I'm a pro huntsman along with my partner Flash here." Bayne said as he pointed at Flash.
"My name is Riley Yamu but everyone just calls me Flash." Flash greeted.
"As Miyabi said we have something we need to report to you Ozpin," Bayne said as he looked at Ozpin who put his hand on his cane and looked at Bayne.
"Terror has teamed up with Salem." He announced which made Ozpin's eyes widen.
"You're sure about this?" Ozpin asked.
Bayne and Flash nodded at his question. Ren raised an eyebrow, confused as to what was being talked about. "Terror?" He asked.
Bayne nodded "Yes, but to make this make sense to you all I think I need to start from the beginning. Terror is an old friend of ours who's real name is Kall Kirigami. He was a pro huntsman like the rest of us and he took his job very seriously." He paused as he started pacing the floor a bit. The room grew quiet and the air was tense as the information seemed to fall in shattered and silent places, waiting for someone to piece it together.
"Kall was known for his semblance, which you kids nowadays would call it 'OP.' His semblance granted him superhuman abilities, such as flying, super strength eye beams he was literally known as the strongest huntsman. Because of his powers, he was given the nickname Supreme. We were very fortunate to have him on our side in battle." Bayne then looked at Jarvin and smiled for a moment.
"When team JABS graduated from Atlas Academy which if you don't know consisted of Flash, Jarvin, Myself and a man named Snart Leno. We were offered a position in the Atlas Academy where we were put in a group called The Regime in the Atlas Military with Kall, Snart, and a woman named Diana Lucas. It was led by General Ironwood himself." Bayne said.
"Man what a team it was. Not a soul could hold a candle to us. We probably would've given Team STRQ a run for there money if we ever faced off." Jarvin teased as he looked at Qrow who rolled his eyes and smirked.
Bayne nodded "Yes everything was nice at that time. But one day… everything changed." Bayne started which made Ozpin look down knowing what he was going to say.
"Do any of you remember the tragedy that happened in Xervia? The city in the eastern hemisphere of Remnant?" Bayne asked.
"I think Jarvin told me about that. Isn't that the city that was destroyed by a bomb that nuked the entire city?" Uzziel asked.
"Oh yeah! That was all over the news. I felt so bad." Arrietty stated.
Bayne nodded "Yes, the bomb was triggered by a man named Aion. He was a psychotic criminal, who found joy in hurting others. On that day Kall's pregnant wife Alice Kirigami was on a trip with her job in that city. When it was nuked it set Kall off and traumatized him." Bayne explained.
"That's terrible," Weiss stated.
"It shows you how evil people can be in this world." Yang added.
Bayne nodded at Yang "Yes and Kall learned that the hard way. But what happened after is what changed him completely." He said. Yang didn't say a word instead she waited to see what he was going to say next.
"I was able to find and capture Aion and bring him to prison where I began questioning him." Bayne said as he began remembering what transpired that day.