Love and Hate
The void then faded, and the group was suddenly back in the house, Darkness standing before them, folding his arms behind his back. Darwin doubled over as Blake went over to help him, not that he was the only one.
"I trust that answers the questions you may have had," Darkness said. Initially he received no answer from the shock group.
"Yes," Blake finally said softly, as she finished helping the old tortoise up, "It's…. not what I expected." Kali hurried out to the window, to vomit out of it. Kali went over to her sister and started rubbing her back.
"So after all this time, the Spirits…," Sienna said slowly as she pulled herself back up.
"The Spirits don't care about us, they never did," Blake said grimly, "They created us out of bitterness and anger towards the God of Light."
"So… what do we do now?" Sun asked the god before them.
"I cannot tell you," Darkness answered, "All I can do is warn you that the Spirits still remain in this world. For what reason I do not yet know."
"Wait!" Ilia said, "Aren't you a god? Don't you know everything?"
"The Spirits were created by my brother, meaning I have no power over them. But if you are to do anything, you must do so with haste. Time is short."
"It's obvious what we need to do," Blake said stepping forward, "We have to stop Adam. He wants to bring the Faunus back to the time of the Wild Empire. He doesn't care about Faunus safety, he just wants to bring back the age where we are the oppressors."
"Yes, it appears the Faunus were no always the victims," Darwin said grimly. Ilia stared at the ground at that. For so long the humans were just the enemy that tormented the Faunus for no reason, and now she knew that there was a time where the Faunus were the oppressors. Was that what Adam was trying to recapture? Was that what Ilia was trying to recapture? She reached up to her face, realizing she was crying.
"It won't happen again," she then declared, "I won't let it happen again."
"Then we do what have to do to stop it," Blake said. With that, the group departed the building, Darkness reassuming his mortal avatar in the process. When they got out, a sizable crowd had gathered outside, escorting the White Fang outside, including Corsac and Fennec. During all of this, watching from the darkness was Slate Skek, as he watched his plan and ambitions fall to pieces before him.
"Sneaky, cursed Belladonnas," he hissed, "Weak, useless White Fang." Knowing better than to remain where he was, Slate quickly retreated. He would have his power someday, but not today. Blake then turned to face the crowd before her, as she took a deep breath.
"What happened here tonight wasn't because of humans, it was because of Faunus!" Blake said, "We can be just as capable of violence and cruelty as the humans can, we've just been the victims for so long, we can't think of ourselves as anything else. And if peace breeds complacency, then violence breeds more hatred, and if we don't stop it, then we have no right to blame the humans for continuing to fear us! But we can stop it! We can stop the violence now, and show the humans that we aren't the monsters Adam is demonstrating us to be." Eventually, one hand rose into the air, then another, and another, and another, until people all over the crowd were calling out in support for the cause. Ghira felt himself tearing up slightly.
"Are you crying, dear?" Kali asked with a smile.
"I have something in my eye," Ghira insisted.
"Of course," Kali answered, "I'm sure you do."
"'As long as there is one Faunus and one human who believes in coexistence, then it is a cause worth fighting for'," Darwin mused as he watched Blake's speech.
"Who said that?" Sun asked, before getting conked on the head by Darwin's staff.
"Come now, boy, don't you know your people's history?" Darwin scolded, "Those words were said by Ahmad Horus himself when William expressed his fear that humans and Faunus couldn't find common ground."
"William?"
"King William of Vale, I served as one of his advisers," Darwin explained, "When he abdicated, he said that Ahmad would best benefit from my advice."
"You knew the last king of Vale?" Sun asked in surprise.
"Indeed I did," Darwin said with a nod, "A skilled fighter to be sure, but a good man first and foremost. I feel many people these days forget such a detail about him. But that is a story for another time I'm afraid." Meanwhile, as they were talking, Sienna and Ilia approached Shade.
"Uh…, excuse me," Sienna said to the doctor. Shade blinked as he turned to the woman.
"Yes?"
"Well, we were just thinking," Sienna said, "We did some pretty bad things in our time with the White Fang. And we were just sort of wondering, if you could…" She trailed off.
"Do you forgive us?" Ilia asked bluntly. Shade looked at them for a time, before he arched an eyebrow.
"Are you looking for absolution from me?" he inquired.
"Uh…"
"Well, I do not grant it," Shade said bluntly, to the surprise of the women.
"But…"
"If you want to atone for your past crimes, you must do it through your own actions," Shade explained, "You may ask me again when you two have done some true good for this world." Ilia looked at the ground, as she messed with her hands, before Sun suddenly pinched her.
"Ow!" she protested.
"There's a little atonement now," the monkey said with a nod. Blake then chuckled at that.
"I may have an idea how to start doing some good," she said, as she smiled at her friend and aunt.
(in Mistral)
Qrow frowned as he stared at his scroll. He had been expecting some kind of message from the huntsman team sent out by Leo by this point. True, Raven could be hard to track, but at least a message that they were on the right or wrong track would've been something by now. He sighed, as he hung his head.
"Hey, Uncle Qrow." Qrow glanced up to see Ruby approaching him.
"Oh hey kid, what's up?" Qrow asked, always ready to talk with his niece. Ruby looked down, rubbing her arm.
"It's… kind of embarrassing," she said.
"Oh great," Qrow grumbled to himself, knowing what this was about now, "Okay, who is it?" Ruby blinked in surprise at that.
"How did…"
"Kid, I've been around long enough to know the signs," Qrow said, "Now again, what's his name? Or her name?"
"It's…," Ruby trailed off, before taking a breath, "It's Jaune." Qrow blinked, as his mouth made an "o", before smiling.
"So, you inherited your mom's thing for blondes," he said.
"Uh…"
"Just kidding," Qrow said, holding up his hand, "How long have you been feeling like that?"
"Being honest," Ruby said, as she leaned on the balcony, "I've always had a little bit of a crush on him. He was the first real friend I had at Beacon, and then he was my partner. I mean, he's nice, he's funny, even when he's not trying to be, and we share a lot of interests. But then we travel across Anima together trying to get to Mistral, and having him around, it just made me feel secure, like everything was going to be alright." Qrow listened as his niece explained his feelings; he sighed, it wasn't like he'd never been there before himself. Another certain young woman with silver eyes herself came to mind…
"Almost surprised you didn't ask the big guy about this?" Qrow commented.
"I… just though you'd have a better idea." Being honest, that was a lie, she had wanted to ask Shade first, but hadn't been able to find him.
"Well," Qrow said, as he pulled out his flask, "I can't really tell you what to do. Are you sure you feel that way about him?" Ruby just nodded.
"Then what's the problem?" he continued, "Why don't you just talk to him?"
"Because…," Ruby said slowly.
"Let me guess, you don't know if he feels the same way, and you don't want to ruin your friendship with him," Qrow said. He'd also been there and done that; he'd let it happen to him one, he wasn't going to let it happen to her. After taking swig, he came over to his niece and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Kid, if you don't do this, you could very easily miss your chance, and you'll regret it the rest of your life," he said, squeezing Ruby's shoulder. He then walked past her, leaving Ruby to stare after him, before she sighed and looked to the sky. As she thought about it, it didn't take long to realize her uncle was right; if she didn't do it now, she could and would lose her chance. Taking a deep breath, she turned on her heels to go look for Jaune. She eventually found him, where he was sparring with Weiss. Upon seeing Weiss, Ruby's breath hitched slightly, but she caught her breath.
"Jaune!" she called. Jaune paused what he was doing as he heard his partner call.
"Oh, hey Ruby," he greeted with a smile, "What's up?"
"Can I talk to you?"
"Sure." Ruby then glanced at Weiss, who pretty quickly got the point.
"I'll leave you two alone," Weiss said, "See you later, Jaune." Once she left, Ruby turned and approached her partner.
"What's up?" the blonde asked, as he sheathed his weapon. Ruby took a deep breath.
"I… you're my best friend," Ruby said, "And we've been through so much together."
"No kidding," Jaune said with a slight chuckle, "Meeting a god can do some pretty crazy stuff to a person, right?" Ruby returned the chuckle. Here goes nothing she thought.
"I… I just wanted to say, I… I…." Unfortunately, as if fate was feeling especially mean spirited that evening, the door suddenly opened as Weiss came back in. Jaune glanced up and Ruby glared back, not happy to have her confession interrupted.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Weiss apologized, "But Qrow just word from Professor Lionhearted. Apparently the huntsmen team that was sent out has come back. We need to meet them at the Academy."
"Alright," Jaune answered, "Lead the way." Ruby sighed as he left, having missed her chance. Taking a deep breath, she followed her partner.
(on Haven Academy grounds)
As they walked towards the meeting hall, Jaune looked up at the sky. It was a full moon tonight, which cast an eerie light over the academy grounds, and left an imposing shadow over the Imperial Palace. Granted, it was also somewhat ominous. Jaune wasn't sure why, though.
They entered into the reception hall, which was an otherwise open room, save for the end, which had a towering statue of a woman beneath a terrace flanked by stairs. That was where Lionheart was standing.
"Ah, welcome back," he said, as he looked over the group, "You… brought your weapons."
"We are Huntsmen, after all," Qrow said, eyeing Leo, before looking around, "So, where's the team?"
"They're in the back, I'm sure they're coming now."
"Why aren't they here now?" Qrow all but demanded. As he and Lionheart talked, Yang's eyes wandered, as she noticed a black bird perched on the railing of the balcony. A very familiar black bird.
"Raven?" she asked out loud. That got everyone's attention on the bird, which took to wing, and in a flash, transformed into one Raven Branwen, not wearing her mask. That surprised the rest of the team, to see someone other than themselves to use magic.
"Glad to see all of you too," Raven sneered, as she descended the stairs to their level.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Qrow demanded.
"Doing what I have to," Raven answered, "I'm more inclined to ask that of you. What're you doing, plotting against your own big sister?"
"What the hell's going on, Leo?" Qrow demanded, turning his attention to the professor.
"He's doing the smart thing," Raven answered, glancing at Lionheart, who was staring at his hands in a mixture of shame and nervousness, "He looked at the facts and made a judgement call about it. Don't act like he's not doing what anyone else would do in his position."
"You really want to do this, Raven?" Yang hissed, her eyes turning to slits, taking a step forward, "Even knowing what we can do?" Raven narrowed her eyes at her daughter, as she sighed.
"At this point, I don't care what you can do," she said, "Whatever you can do, Salem can do better. There's no beating her, she's invincible. At this point, better to stand behind the devil, than in her path."
"You're wrong." Of all people, those word's came from Ruby, who stepped forward.
"We know we can beat Salem," she said softly but firmly, "We know she's not invincible. Because we've seen greater power than her's, and together, we've found ways to do the impossible. If we can do those things together, than we can defeat Salem. Please." She then offered her hand to Raven, who stared at it, before she glared at it bitterly.
"You sound just like your mother," she said venomously. She then drew Omen, and with one slash, opened a portal. From the portal shot a fireball, which struck Pyrrha square in the torso, sending her tumbling away.
"Pyrrha!" Yang cried, as she ran over to her partner. Everyone readied their weapons, as three figures stepped through the portal.
"Cinder," Ruby growled, as her own eyes turned to slits. It was indeed Cinder and her associates. At the sight of Mercury, Weiss hissed, as cold mist leaked out of the corner of her mouth. As if to make matters worse, that was when the doors opened, as Hazel Rainhart stepped him, shutting them behind him. Shortly after, Tyrian Callows dropped from the ceiling, grinning maniacally at the group before him, his stinger and weapons at the ready. Lastly, through the roof burst Talos, who rose to his feet, and shed his cloak, revealing his whole body to be covered in white armor with bronze highlights. His gaze was focused entirely on Pyrrha.
"Oh no," Oscar murmured.
"The White Fang are getting the charges ready," Hazel announced, "No one's getting in, and no one's getting out."
"Oh, this is gonna be fun," Tyrian declared, as he held up his stinger.
Note: I don't think anyone was thinking this, but just in case someone was, I'll say that this isn't one of those stories where Qrow is Ruby's real father.
Really not much to this chapter, mostly setting up for the next big event. I wanted the fight to actually begin next chapter, that's another matter of my writing style, I like to have fights be the main focus of the chapter, without anything to take attention from it; including the long scene in Menagerie might've distracted from the fight starting. But since we're going into the big final battle, I'm facing a bit of a dilemma, since there are things that I want to happen in the battle, but some of those things are potentially mutually exclusive.
Be sure to review.