A Teacher's Pride

Perhaps a couple miles from the village where Viridios and Vritra fell, there was a small clearing in the forest. However, it was not a natural one, rather the trees were thrown clumsy, and the ground torn up. Leading into, and away from the clearing, were a series of three toed, bird-like feet.

Also littered across the clearing were four mangled bodies, and the broken remains of weapons. All of the bodies were utterly lifeless, that is, for one, which let out a gasp. One with a red tail…

(not far away)

While this wasn't the first time RNJR had flown, something about this was different. Seeing the mountains and the land stretch out as far as they could see, feeling as if they were able to go anywhere. Riding high after their victory over the Spirit and the Grimm, they felt… unbeatable.

Look! Ruby suddenly said, optioning with one of her vines. The group looked in the direction she was pointing, as through the clouds they could see something. While they had never actually seen it in real life, they immediately knew what it was.

Dragons and dragonelles Nora declared we have arrived in Mistral! Mistral while quite similar to Vale, was also quite different. It was all built on a mountain, with two towering structures sitting atop the peak; they recognized one of those two buildings as Haven Academy. Presumably the other, larger one, was the Imperial Palace.

Couldn't have gotten here sooner Jaune said, as they all swooped down. They couldn't very well drop Qrow off at the hospital as dragons, so they landed on the outskirts of the city and turned back to human form. They were able to carry Qrow to the guards at the city gates, who were able to get him the help he needed.

Once they were secure in knowing Qrow was going to be alright, they all managed to find some lodging. After she got to her and Jaune's shared room, Ruby promptly collapsed facedown onto the bed, utterly exhausted.

"Oh mattresses," she moaned into the fabric, "How I missed you." Thinking about how comfy these beds were caused Ruby's mind to slip towards her own bed, which left her thinking about home, and her family. Ruby's sniffled slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Jaune.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Ruby said softly, as she pushed herself back to a sitting position. Seeing his partner clearly not in the best place, Jaune took it upon himself to make her feel better, as he sat beside her.

"Hey, we made it didn't we?" he asked, as he squeezed her shoulder.

"Yeah, we did," Ruby answered, as she smiled at her partner, wiping some stray tears slightly. That was when a strange feeling went down her arm; rolling her sleeve up, Ruby saw the scales all fading away.

"The scales," she said, "They're…" She trailed off as Jaune checked his own arm, as his scales already started to disappear.

"What…. how…," he muttered.

"Of course they are disappearing." The two looked up, as they noticed Darkness appearing in the room, his arms folded behind his back.

"You all did well," he said, "You made the whole journey, and faced the challenges, all by yourselves."

So Jaune said after a moment of savoring his compliment I take it your satisfied with our performance?

"Satisfied? Darkness asked, cocking his head slightly, "No, I am not satisfied." That left Ruby and Jaune balking at their god.

Wait! the latter said.

What? the former added.

"No, I am not satisfied," Darknesssaid bluntly, "Because what I am, is proud." The balking turned into staring; the God of Darkness was declaring his pride for two of his champions.

"You four have demonstrated bravery, clarity, and above all will, and you did it by yourselves, and I have not been this proud since the first human emerged from the dust." Something about their creator telling them he was proud of them; it was like having a super powerful parent praise them.

"Thank you," Jaune and Ruby said together, smiling at their god, as their creator nodded at them.

"But I sense your journey is far from over," Darkness continued, "Prepare, for your challenges will only grow from here." With that, he faded away. Jaune and Ruby looked at each other.

"We got this?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, we got this," Jaune affirmed, as the two fist bumped. That was when an impulse struck Ruby…

*chu

Jaune put a hand to his cheek, as Ruby quickly jumped to her feet, covering her face, which was as red as her cloak, hurrying out of the room. That left Jaune to just stare after the little rose in surprise.

(a few miles from Mistral)

Ren and Nora soared through the air in their dragon forms, practicing in their dragon forms. Enjoying the cool, fall air on their scales, they eventually came to a stop on a cliff overlooking the city to rest.

After landing beside each other, Nora inched closer to Ren, purring gently, as she rubbed her neck against his, folding one of her wings over his long serpentine body. Ren let out a soft hiss, as he returned the gesture, as he wrapped his tail around her own, as the two dragons enjoyed the sunset together.

(on Patch)

Bumblebee hummed down the road, as the two hands, one mechanical, tightened on the handlebars, as Yang glared down the road through her shades.

Having painted her prosthetic yellow, Yang was finally getting off her ass, and down the road. Her father hadn't been thrilled when she told him what she was going to do, but likely understood that trying to stop her would be like trying to move the entire island.

"You are finally taking action?" Yang glanced to the side, as she saw Darkness floating beside her.

"I need to focus on the road," the blonde responded.

"Considering you are not wearing a helmet, I assumed safety wasn't your priority."

"My Aura protects me," Yang answered.

"So, where are you going?" Darkness inquired.

"I…" At that, Yang actually stopped, at the head of a crossroad, staring at the signs. Darkness stopped in front of her.

"I should not need to tell you what do. I believe you know." With that, the god winked away. Yang stared at the crossroads, chewing on her lip, before she slammed her scaled arm on one of the handlebars.

"Damn me," Yang then declared softly, before turning in one direction, knowing Darkness was right.

"I'm coming for ya, Sis!" As she drove on, she felt a strange tingling sensation on her natural arm, but didn't think anything of it as she focused on the road ahead of her.

(in Northern Anima)

A small murder of Nevermore were roosting on a cliff, eyeing a village hungrily. However, before they could do anything, they were all consumed by a blaze of red fire. As the ashes of the Grimm floated into the sky, a great red dragon swooped over.

Glad to know the village was safe for the time, Pyrrha continued flying. She had been flying for some time without stop, and yet she was barely tired; she felt like she could fly for another several days. But knowing she needed a break, she landed on that same cliff, shifting back into her human form. Taking a breath, the champion leaned against the tree, rolling her mechanical leg. She then looked towards the horizon.

"Almost there, RYPJ!" she promised under her breath.

As she did so, Darkness looked down at her, nodding in approval.

(over Solitas)

Resting against a case full of Dust, Weiss stared at the ceiling of the airship she had gotten a ride on. It had been rather pricey, but she didn't care; anything to get her out of Atlas at this point. As she was sitting, she held up her hands, as a glyph appeared on it. A small dragon then floated out of it, which Weiss smiled at.

"It is as if you were looking in a mirror." Weiss glanced up to see Darkness in a shrunken form, floating over her. While he was maybe only a foot tall, he was still floating over her, causing Weiss to look up to him. Perhaps that was to expected form a god, but Weiss didn't mind.

I suppose it is she answered.

"You have done very well," Darkness said, his arms folded behind his back.

Well… I couldn't have done it without you Weiss said.

"Yes, you could have," Darkness said with a nod, "I just reminded you to do it." Weiss smiled at him, before she looked back to the glyph dragon.

You know, this… might be weird to say she said slowly But you've actually been more of a father to me than my real father. Darkness was silent for a time, before he nodded to her, and faded away. Weiss just kept her smile, as the glyph dragon faded away.

"Just wait, Nora," she muttered. To think she'd be so excited to see Nora.

(on Menagerie)

Blake then picked a blue piece of cloth out her trunk. On it was the white head of a wolf, the original symbol of the White Fang. She smiled confidently at that. She start to wonder if a different symbol would be needed; dragons started coming to mind…

She then sensed something, and glanced up to see Darkness floating down to her level.

"To reclaim a lost legacy will be a great challenge," he said, "Are you prepared to face it?"

Without a doubt! Blake answered with an all time firm nod.

"I would expect nothing less from one of my students," the god answered, before he started to float away.

Wait! Blake suddenly called, making him stop, I've been meaning to ask. I know you and your brother created humanity, but... what about the Faunus? There it was, the hard question, the one Darkness still did not have an answer for.

"There is much about your people that I still do not know. But be assured, I will find the answers soon, and I will share them with you." Blake nodded, as she turned her attention back to the trunk.

"But be warned, the answers may not be to your liking." That made the cat stop, as she clenched the fabric of the flag slightly.

I just want the truth she said That'll be enough for me. Darkness looked at her for a time, before nodding. He then floated through the ceiling, and looked over the expanse of Menagerie.

His champions, his students… his children had restored their clarity and their drive. The future was in their hands, and for the first time, he believed that humanity deserved the second chance his brother offered….

(somewhere else on Menagerie…)

"The stranger is proving a continued nuisance," Fennec said.

"Perhaps, but he is still a stranger," Corsac answered, "I'm sure we can find a way to outmaneuver him." He and his brother were standing before a small shrine in front of a painting of a cloaked figure with Faunus ears, similar to their own appearance, something Ilia found a tad narcissistic. She was standing in the back of room, having given her report, and watching silently.

"We have to wait for Lord Adam's word," Corsac continued, "Once the time comes, will have to move quickly." Upon hearing that, Ilia clenched her fist slightly, as she turned purple.

"Something the matter, Sister Ilia?" Fennec asked, glancing back at their subordinate.

"No," Ilia lied, turning back to her normal color, "Just… thinking."

"Be assured," Fennec said, as he approached putting his hand on her shoulder, "What you are doing is for the good of all Faunus." There it was, the same phrase that Ilia had always heard.

"For the good of all Faunus," she echoed, as she flashed a dark green.

"Now go," Corsac said, "When the time comes, we will summon you." Once the chameleon was gone, Fennec pulled out his Scroll, as his brother came over to him. With that, the Faunus made a call.

"Is it time?" Bai Suzhen asked as her face appeared on the screen.

"Not yet, but it will be very soon," Fennec said.

"I'm a busy woman," Bai said, narrowing her red eyes, "Either you take the initiative, or I do it on my own."

"You must wait for our signal," Corsac said, "Everything must line up exactly as we need it."

"You seem to be under the impression I need you," the albino said sternly, "You are aware I could just do this all myself and accomplish the same goal."

"Trust us," Corsac said, "It will all work as we have planned."

"Be assured," Fennec said, "you will have the gratitude of all Faunus in the future."

"Be still my heart," the snake answered, "Don't try and get all revolutionary on me, just give me the time and place."

"We will give it to when the time is right."

"You better be all you've been built up to be," Fennec said, narrowing his eyes.

"Relax," Bai said, as she rolled her eyes through the Scroll, "They'll never see me coming."

World of Remnant: the Old and New

In the ages since my brother and I left this world, much has changed. We never thought that the world would stop in our absence, and after the mortals recovered, they were able to build a new world for themselves. They no longer have magic, but they have sought to compensate with their technology. And a great feat it indeed is; their world has reclaimed some, but far from all, of the legacy of our time.

So have they surpassed the old times? As far as I am concerned, they have not. All the technology they have has merely given them a different means of conflict, if anything, it has made the conflict more destructive. Until the day comes that we can return that which we confiscated, they will remain incomplete. We can give them our gifts, but beyond that, they will have to do it themselves.

Some say I am asking too much for them to achieve unity. But I believe it can be done. The mortals are nothing if not tenacious, and tenacity can foster success and progress. My brother's students have demonstrated that quite well.

Note: Thanks to a Guest reviewer for the WOR idea. This'll probably be the last one for a while, just saying now. With that, let me do another sort of Volume retrospective like I did at the end of Vol 3.

When approaching this volume, I asked the question: how would it be impacted by what happened in deviation from canon already? But also, how could I make it my own? That was where DRKE, Viridios, and Vritra came from. Most of the scenes consisted of adapted versions of canon, chiefly included with Shade.

Moving onto the Spirits; while I won't go into some of the broader details, such as their exact nature or goals (spoilers and all), I will discuss where they came from; as should be obvious now, they're going to be antagonists. I knew going into writing this story that Salem wouldn't be sufficient as the sole antagonist in this premise, so I brainstormed. I didn't want either of the Brothers' to be the antagonists, since that's a cliche nowadays (it annoys me how people reduce these ancient, wise, and all powerful beings which we know remarkably little about into either petty, one-dimensional bad guys, or weirdly quirky and eccentric jokes), so I struck the God of Light off the list. I then considered making additional gods: a third Brother, and three Sisters, who would embody the classical elements, and fill the rainbow spectrum. But all powerful deities make for bad antagonists unless you give the mortal protagonists a sizable edge, which wouldn't suit RWBY's setting. The Spirits came from me remembering what Blake said about who the Faunus worshipping (initially a throwaway line used to make the revelation more shocking to her), and decided to explore that concept a little more. I asked "what if the God of Light created his version of the Grimm?", and that's where the Spirits came from.

Moving onto Team DRKE, they were created mostly to insert some of my own concepts into the story. I thought it would be interesting to see a team with a general theme centered around fantasy archetypes, which is of course where DRKE came from. They served their role in the story as the adversaries for RNJR, after which they were always to be beaten by Viridios and Vritra. As you probably noticed at the beginning, they're all dead, save for one; you should be able to tell who.

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