Author's note: the next chapter is going to be called Lunatic Eyes from Shadows and I make might that the last chapter (saves me the stress). I wasn't really going to end this fanfic with this many chapters. There were going to be more since I had a plot to follow (hence the slow pace :/). I'm sure many people will (actually, won't) be disappointed. I've already had people spot out mistakes and one person typing that how I did my fanfic is off-putting. Can anyone blame me for not wanting to continue? Not to mention I am being bullied.


Chapter 6: Imperishable Insanity

Over in Remnant, Qrow, who walked out of the facility to seek Ironwood for any form of assistance that being of Dust, was already at Alsuis through the now-treacherous Atlas, thanks to that Grimm outbreak which had suddenly happened. The city had been cleared of Grimm primarily, but with seven people in particular gone without a trace, Qrow sought help without Ozpin's jurisdiction. Qrow had traversed to the Headmaster's office of the academy with James Ironwood within, who was accompanied by Winter and also Penny.

Qrow was currently in an argument with James in order to try and convince him to help with the misfortune which befell the individuals, especially one in particular. However, this was proving difficult for him as James was far too obstinate to meet his demands.

With the argument ongoing, Qrow forcefully slapped against the desk with a closed hand and displaying annoyance. Keeping himself afloat of emotions, he continued his attempts of trying to convince James to do that which he felt was needed, since he needed to help the two teams. Therefore, he maintained persistence.

"Look, James. I know what you're trying to get at. The city's under peril, I understand. But with the defences being out of commission, we will have no way to help these people." said Qrow, explaining the situation in his own words and putting forthwith the dangers of having little retaliation within the city against any transgressors; Grimm or any other intruders thereof.

With that being said, General Ironwood sighed. "Just because one small catastrophe happened to you does not condone an even worse situation for us all." After saying that, he turned to the opposite direction whilst putting his held hands behind his back. "There's nothing I can do until I ensure the safety of this city. After that, we can excogitate on your side." Qrow still was not amused. He continued on with his argument, putting an open hand in front of himself and moving it swiftly to one side as though he was throwing air, "To hell with that! You don't see the bigger picture here, General." And with that, Ironwood thereupon turned back to his original position and undid his hands, moving closer to his desk with his right hand placed on it, "And you don't understand the significance of the situation."

After saying that sentence, James continued, "If you want me to help you, we have to work together. The city was just recently attacked by the Creatures of Grimm and all you think about is needing Dust for your own sake?" he said, trying to address the situation in a more detailed manner to Qrow, but not exemplary. He put a hand over his eyes and shook his head slowly, whilst at the same time continuing on, "You say that those teams were transported to another place and that our defences have subsequently decreased because of it, didn't you?"

Qrow moved back from the table and answered his question, "That's right. The Grimm destroyed the mainframe for those machines. But we need the Dust since Ozpin hid one of them away from us." "I see." said James, removing his hand away and then turning his back, then turning his head so that he can see Qrow by the corner of his eye, "So you say that you still have one working machine. That must mean that this machine was out of reach from your little..," he coughed slightly and insincerely, covering his mouth, before continuing, "... exercise." "So I've heard." said back Qrow, who did that answer that question with a comment which displays a factual outcome as he had only heard this from Ozpin, especially since he was the only one besides James who knew how to operate the mechanisms.

"So you just barged in here hoping you could get some Dust for your own sake just so you can go on a rescue mission?" said the unamused Winter, abruptly, "Don't you see what's happening to us now? The city and its people need our help more than anything else." Qrow turned back to face Winter as James himself sat by his desk with his holds folded out in a V-shape, with Qrow himself quite happily responding to that retort of his, keeping a shallow expression, "What does it matter to you? You have Relic of Creation thingy that you can power up the city with, don't you? Why are you getting concerned over this all of a sudden?" With herself moved forwards a few paces and her arms stretched out downwards, she was becoming increasingly aggravated by Qrow's attitude, with Qrow himself causing himself to seem both hazardous and oblivious, thus she rebuked, "Why? What do you mean, "Why"? You're asking US to spend time that we don't have consulting to your needs!"

"That's enough, Winter." interrupted James, trying to stop the argument momentarily. "Whatever." retorted Qrow, who took out his flask, opening it and drinking from it without a care as to what Winter was conveying. He safely put the flask away after drinking all that he needed, as he then began to talk again, "Look, I didn't come here to babysit you, Ice Queen. I came for a favour." "Oh, and you think waltzing in here and talking in a coarse manner will help you?" she argued, folding her arms as she did. "Qrow, you're just rude and stubborn. If the General says "no", then obviously he means it! So go back to your nest and come back when the time is appropriate."

With a slam of the hand, James's mood altered upon hearing the two of them bicker. His facial expression shifted slightly as did his tone of voice, "Enough!" Both Qrow and Winter stared at each other, with Winter in disgust, as Qrow himself turned to face Ironwood, "She started it." "That's enough, Qrow. I don't have the patience for your incessant squabbling." he announced. Qrow began to pace himself whilst at the same time looking directly at Ironwood, "Look, James, I know you are busy trying to protect the city from the impossible and whatnot, but Oz says Grimm transported along with them. They are left unarmed and maybe unprepared." before continuing, he stopped and moved towards the desk withal his left hand then placed on it, "We need help just as much as you do. We don't know how long they have left before anything bad happens."

"That time will come when it is needed. We can't do anything until this city is in order. The only things stringing this city together are our resources and myself. We can't abandon everything just to occupy you and Ozpin. I am only human, so please treat me as such." she spoke in a serious, yet formal manner. This caused Qrow to open his eyes, frowning, and then close them infinitesimally soon after that, moving away from the table as he did, "You've changed, James." he said, going back to his beverage to drink a small amount before putting back to one side and continuing, "You're only half the man I knew."

Placing his hands together again, James felt as though this was the end of the conversation, howbeit he was sort of relieved. "Now that we have put those matters to one side, is there anything else I can do for you?" he said, moving a hand in the air with the arm that it was a part of still resting on the table by reason of the elbow.

"No. We're done here." he said, rather disappointingly. He aggressively turned the other way and started walking, talking back as he did, "Thanks for nothing." He then walked out of the room with a slightly hunched-over body and hands in his pockets, walking out informally with nothing but an exhausting sigh. He had hoped that he could convince at least James to lend him some power so that he could go to where the others had moved to, supposing he would transport to the same area of interest, unbeknown or otherwise, but he accomplished nothing withal. He was hoping to obviate that outcome, with himself hoping that things would go his way.

Meanwhile, back in the land of the fluffle that being Eientei, Blake had moved out from the mansion after nearly being sighted by Reisen herself. She decided to explore the area.

Looking around Eientei thoroughly, as she was not paying close attention to the surroundings beforehand, she could see that there were bamboo shoots scattered everywhere, isolating the place. "This sure is a weird place to live in." said Blake, moving steadily past the mansion with her eyes fixed at the outer area of the shady trees and into the forest, which was mostly gloomy from the tops with some light piercing through it.

It was at this point Blake began to think to herself, as this scenery was becoming most nostalgic, "It's almost like home. Can't believe how quaint that is." Closing her eyes for a moment, she brushed her right eyelash with a finger with her own feelings moving towards her place of residence from years passed.

Suddenly, she became alerted by what sounded like pounding, causing an ear to twitch. "What in the world?" she wondered, moving her head in one direction and then moving herself towards the sound. Soon, the forceful sound became louder with even speeches becoming apparent, "The first is for Daikoku-sama!"

She moved around the corner of the building and traversed forwards, hearing more of the comments and thrashing, the comments themselves seem to sound in some level of coordination, hearing, "The second is for Daikoku-sama!" and moving back to the previously mentioned, the two comments taking turns like a game of vocalised tug of war.

Blake had made it to the source of the strange happening and when she did, she was astonished by what she saw: rabbits at the back of the mansion! They all looked like they were partaking in designated jobs, pounding food for whatsoever reason within an usu, continually repeating one another with the same words over and over again, almost as if it is a way of communicating.

Blake's eyes lit up after becoming surprised by the amount of youkai who were here. "So many Faunus with ears and tails… What the heck are they?" Despite her curiosity, she could not stay here a moment longer. She moved backwards a little bit, thinking to herself, "I… I better go. I have to find the others." Despite her moving, she was abruptly stopped after hitting something with the back of a foot, "Going somewhere?" Blake then burrowed and eyebrow and back to use a hand to feel behind herself, feeling the side of something instantaneously jumping forwards in a precarious manner, turning to face the person as she did, "Who are you?" she asked.

"Who, me?" said the person, who was actually the rabbit from before, Reisen. "I'm just someone who was walking around… until I found you." Noticing the person and that she looked familiar, Blake thought that this would be a nice enough time for questions, "Wait, you're that rabbit before. Good. That makes my life much easier." She made a slight "hmm" before continuing, "I wanted to know… What kind of Faunus are you? I've never met anyone like you before."

Reisen looked back at her strangely, "Faunus? I really don't know what you mean by that, sorry." Blake continued to interrogate her, or tried to, "What do you mean? You have the makings of one, though strange." she then put one more serious expression, with narrowed eyes and such, before continuing, "Don't play dumb. What are you?"

Reisen just giggled, "What am I?" she said, herself putting on a menacing smile and brightening eyes, "Someone who doesn't like intruders." After staring right into Blake's eyes, Blake began to feel disorientated.. Her head became fuzzy as she placed a hand on her forehead with a wincing eye, her balance failing for a moment as she moaned from some ordeal. She then looked back at Reisen and asked her urgently, "What did you just do to me?" Without answering her question, Reisen's body began to slowly dematerialise whilst at the same time laughing, which could be heard by Blake in a distorted manner. She was slowly fading away until eventually completely disappearing with the sound of her voice emitting still, until shortly after the evanescence of her bodily self.

Without any delay, Blake ran away from Eientei and into the Bamboo Forest. However, something was not right. As she moved inwards, panting as she did, she noticed that the forest was somehow becoming denser and the trees moved towards her. "What's going on?" she thought in her head. Her head ached, causing her to slow down and crouch down on the ground. "What did that rabbit do to me? I mean, all I did was ask her a question. Was I that rude?" Coming into grips with her situation and losing her own grip on reality, she looked about the area and noticed the trees were animated, moving in as it were. "What!?" with haste, she ran away from the moving trees and continued until she was in the clear, swiftly jumping in a hastily panic as she then skilfully performed a roll which caused her to gain momentum during the maneuver briefly before she took control of the situation and put her hands on the ground when the opportunity arose, forcing herself away from the ground and performing a flip of glamorous athleticism, regaining her past posture without any pauses, looking back to through where she came and how it had suddenly become blocked by forestry, ever so ominously.