Chapter 7 – Hunting Heartless Part 2

Chapter Summary: No more time to retreat, fighting is the only choice, only thing left to do is hope they are strong enough.


Lauriam was officially over this mission. He watched the students interact with each other and concluded that they knew each of their teammates and trusted them enough to have each other's backs. However he noted that they were shocked whenever Ruby used Graceful Dahlia. The thought of using each other's weapons was foreign to them. He made a mental note to seek permission to teach these students.

The main reason this mission was such an annoyance to Lauriam however was because he was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that he had no choice but to bring students against the Heartless which he was becoming more certain was a Veil Lizard. Four days in and his carefully structured plan was collapsing. Lauriam discussed this with Oobleck and they both agreed that they needed to confirm the identity of the Heartless before deciding on the best course of action. At this point, retreat was still a potentially available option. If it was truly a Veil Lizard however, it was almost certain that the Heartless was hunting and there was no escape from fighting it.

Oobleck called the students together on the fifth day while Lauriam went off to hunt down the Heartless. Had the students been awake, they would have realised that the pink haired man had walked in the direction of Vale, not deeper into the forest.

xX Day 5 – Danger Xx

Ren didn't know what to think when the Professor called them all together. He was certain that it couldn't be good. Lauriam was missing. The young ninja themed fighter looked at Oobleck, trying to work out what the man was going to say. He wasn't prepared for what the teacher did say however. None of them were.

"Lauriam has gone to try and identify the Heartless we discovered traces of yesterday," he started seriously, slowly, taking off his glasses so that he could look at each of the students without the light glaring off glass and hiding his eyes. "It falls to me to inform you that we may be forced to fight this Heartless. It is not a testament to your skill that will bring us to fighting the creature. If this were an assessment of how you have progressed in your time here at Beacon, you would have passed, but this was not that. It was an assessment of if you were ready to fight what was in this forest, which you are not."

That harsh truth was spoken and left a cold feeling settling over the eight students. That was something Ren appreciated about Doctor Oobleck. He didn't sugar-coat the truth and didn't try to downplay the situation. One look to his friends and Ren could see that they were reacting with different levels of shock. It was Pyrrha who spoke first.

"You said may?" she asked, stepping forward. Oobleck nodded solemnly.

"Yes, if it is still possible, we will be retreating back to Beacon," he replied. The eight students exchanged glances. If the danger wasn't apparent before, it was now. They nodded together then looked back at their professor. Just then Lauriam stumbled through another portal of shadow, scythe in hand, shoulder jutted awkwardly. His expression was grim as he beheld the students in front of Oobleck.

"I can now confirm that this Heartless is a Veil Lizard, and it is hunting us," he said. "And it is currently blocking our exit. It would down any bullhead sent to retrieve us."

"Vale Lizard?" Jaune asked. The pinked haired man looked at him and noted the confusion, Lauriam realised that he, and probably the rest of the people from Remnant, probably thought it was in relation to the city, Vale.

"Veil, as in the cloth, not the city," he clarified. Realisation dawned in a few eyes, Ren saw, not to just its name, but also the implication to its abilities.

"It can camouflage itself," Pyrrha murmured. "Veils conceal what they cover…. So a veil lizard would conceal itself."

Lauriam nodded at the red head with a slightly impressed expression. He sat down and dismissed his scythe, leaning against a tree and sighing. The man stretched out his arm with a grimace, and there was a sickening pop, leading Ren to realise that he had dislocated his shoulder somehow, and Lauriam was unlikely to tell anyone, bar Ruby perhaps, how.

"Pack your stuff," he said, instead of answering the question that was looming around. "We can't stay here for much longer, and it's time for us to play bait. We're going to lead this lizard further away from the city."

The eight students moved quickly to follow instructions. Ren took a moment to stare at Lauriam and wonder what he had run into to come back with such an injury. The young ninja was starting to suspect that Lauriam did not have his Aura unlocked.

xX Day 6 – Hearts Xx

It was late, Blake noted with a frustrated hiss, and they were still fighting Heartless. She glanced at the one who was leading them and frowned. Lauriam was looking worse for wear, as he had taken a few significant hits. Why wasn't he using his Aura to heal himself? He had his own scythe in his hand and was using it to slash at strange looking floating jar like creatures. They had a black and red heart shaped emblem which had a three pronged tail. Emblem Heartless is what Lauriam had identified them as.

Blake noted that Lauriam was staring at something with shock. She looked in the direction that the man was and paused when she saw a crystalized pink coloured heart floating up from somewhere. The faunus had no idea what it meant, but one look back at the shock written over Lauriam's face was enough to tell her it shouldn't be happening. Whether it was a good surprise or a bad one was still up in the air though… Blake groaned at the unintentional pun.

"Checkmate!" She heard Ruby call in a panic, and Blake looked up, responding to the call quickly, seeing the red pot Heartless and quickly meeting Weiss' eyes before they leaped into the fight, slashing at the creature that had knocked Ruby down. Where was Crescent Rose? Thoughts for later as the Heartless fell to the joint attack of Blake and Weiss. No heart formed from it.

"Are you alright, Ruby?" Came the smooth voice of Lauriam. Crescent Rose was still nowhere to be seen. Blake went looking for it; her leader would need her weapon. She found it folded up, lying in the grass. Odd… Blake remembered that Ruby had been fighting with it in scythe form. The faunus picked up the weapon and brought it back to the girl who was trying to convince Lauriam that she was fine.

When she saw Crescent Rose however, Ruby's face fell. The young teen took the weapon and with one hand tried to open it. It remained stubbornly closed. There was a small hiss under Ruby's breath, a hiss of frustration. She clipped her weapon onto her belt.

"I'll need to fix it back at Beacon…" she sighed. Her fist clenched as the realisation that the weapon was broken set in. Blake frowned. They were down a fighter now because_

The faunus' thought was cut off by Lauriam handing his scythe to Ruby once again.

"I'm not useless without my weapon," he hummed quietly, before he glanced up and frowned. Blake followed his gaze again and blinked in surprise when she saw another crystalized heart floating up from the other side of the clearing. Blake tried to recall if Lauriam had ever explained what made Emblem Heartless different to Pureblood Heartless. She couldn't find that explanation in her memory.

Blake's questions were left unanswered as the two teams moved on, constantly keeping an eye out behind them to try and see if the lizard they were leading was following. The grim look on Lauriam's face was all they needed to see to know that; yes, the Veil Lizard was still hunting them.

xX Day 7 – Prey Xx

The next day they were facing the mountain range. Nora stared up at it and had the creeping feeling of déjà vu. Something similar then? The orange haired girl glanced at Ren and saw he was thinking the same thing, though his face was still the same collected expression that it always was. Nora hummed then turned to Lauriam and Oobleck.

"Sooooo, our aim was to bring this lizard thing to this clearing near the mountains," she started. "Then fight it, correct?"

"That is correct Miss Valkyrie!" Oobleck exclaimed.

"So where is the lizard?" Nora asked. "We didn't step on it did we? Is it small? Or is it big? Maybe it's in the tree_"

Her voice was rivalling Oobleck's with its speed, and she seemed to be wavering between excitement and worry as she kept speaking.

"Nora," Ren interrupted. "I think it's large."

Nora paused, and then spun on her heel to face in the direction that Ren was looking. Actually, everyone was looking in that direction. Behind the group, standing from where they had come from and now effectively blocking their way back, was a gargantuan black lizard with nasty looking spikes on its back in a poison yellow colour, a colour matched by the ring's around its arms and legs, and an even sicklier yellow on its long claws. The yellow eyes on the lizard glowed in such a way, which paired with its open mouth showing a pink tongue; it looked like it was grinning.

The hunter had found its prey. Now it was time for the hopeful trap to spring. Thankfully, Jaune, ever the strategist, already had the start of a plan.

"Ruby, Nora, Yang, keep it distracted," the blonde leader said. Nora smirked and raised her hammer, glad that Jaune was observant. Ruby seemed happy to defer her leadership for this fight to the blonde as well, for the most part. The trio who had been called ran forward to take the attention of the lizard. As she swung Magnhild at the enemy, she could hear Jaune giving more instructions, and she slotted what he said into the front of her mind so she could ensure she fought with her friends.

Ren, Weiss, Blake and Professor Oobleck were spreading out and firing at the lizard from a distance. Pyrrha and Jaune would circle around and strike the lizard from behind, and Lauriam would prevent the Heartless lizard from hurting anyone, as best he could.

Nora grinned wildly, this would be fun.

About fifteen minutes later that grin was wiped from her face and she was lying on the ground, having been thrown into a tree by the lizard's spinning tail attack. Nora pushed herself up with the handle of Magnhild and rushed forward again, hammer swinging, her movements somehow bigger than before to keep the Heartless' attention on her. Nearby she saw Jaune protecting Ruby from the claws of the Veil Lizard, before the young leader of team RWBY jumped up, Lauriam's scythe in hand, and slashing at the creature's head in tandem with Nora's smashing strike.

"We really need to finish this fight now," Pyrrha said from beside Yang. "We're running low on Aura."

In what could have been a mocking example of that statement, the Veil Lizard swung its tail again, throwing back Pyrrha and Yang, both girls landing on the ground, Aura shattering around them. Jaune grunted as the attack pushed him back into Ruby. The younger leader whispered something to Jaune and both nodded in agreement before leaping in opposite directions.

"Ren! Nora! Help Jaune!" she called. Nora nodded and gripped her hammer tighter. She blinked as fire flew past her, her head whipped around to spot Lauriam, standing as if he had literally thrown the fire. No time to question that however, as she refocused on what Jaune was doing. The blonde signalled to Nora, asking for her to toss him into the air. The orange haired girl grinned.

The blonde ran at Nora and jumped onto the head of Magnhild, which was then swung upwards, propelling Jaune into the air above the Veil Lizard. Then Nora and Ren ran at the Heartless to attack. Pyrrha and Yang were now standing as well, and they were nodding at whatever Ruby was saying. They ran forward with what Nora could only guess was their own strength now since their Auras had broken. The orange haired teen suddenly understood; this was an all-out attack.

Ruby was now moving and calling Weiss and Blake to her, and they were running to meet Oobleck. They were to be a second wave if the Heartless was still standing after the combined attack of Jaune, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha and Yang. The young leader needn't have worried.

Nora's hammer smashed the lizard's legs, while Ren's bladed guns stabbed into the lizard's side. Yang took great pleasure throwing a punch at the Veil Lizard's belly, while at the same time Pyrrha and Jaune's blades sliced at the Heartless' neck.

It dissolved into darkness, releasing a crystalized pink heart. The five students who had taken it down didn't notice it. The RWB of team RWBY didn't notice it. Oobleck was too busy checking over his students to notice. But Lauriam noticed.

Nora decided that she was tired and wanted some of Ren's pancakes. The bad news came in the form of Oobleck saying that transport wouldn't be able to get them until tomorrow. No pancakes.

xX Day 8 – Father Xx

It was late afternoon and they were still waiting for the bullhead to find them. Pyrrah had unfortunately fallen unconscious after the lizard had been defeated, the shattering of her Aura leaving her open to gaining a last nasty bite from the Heartless. Yang was also out, though she was sleeping by choice, her head resting on Nora's shoulder, who was watching Ren closely. Said ninja was currently keeping watch on their temporary camp with Blake. Jaune and Weiss were listening to Doctor Oobleck who was giving them some lecture.

Ruby on the other hand was sitting near a tree, Graceful Dahlia in her hands, staring at the pink blade with a troubled expression on her face. Grass crunched under boot and dark magenta pants entered her vision. She looked up to see Lauriam looking at her with a worried gleam to his eyes despite the easy-going smile on his face. Was this the face of Marluxia? Lauriam sat next to her with a hum, leaning his head back against the tree.

"So, am I allowed to ask what's on your mind?" he inquired softly, not looking at her since he let his blue eyes fall closed. Ruby glanced up at him again and noted the shape of his face. The angles in his face structure, they were similar to hers, even though her face was rounder.

"Just…" the young teen started before she sighed. "Just the same thing that has been on my mind for the past five weeks… I still don't know…"

Her voice trailed off again.

"What to call your father?"

Ruby jumped as Lauriam finished her thought. She nodded and looked away. The young reaper said nothing, but flinched when the man placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. The hand retracted at her flinch.

"Ruby, let me ask you something," Lauriam said quietly. "Who raised you?"

"My fath_ Taiyang Xiao Long."

The reply was said in a monotone, making the pink haired man raise an eyebrow.

"And what feels right?" he asked. Ruby looked up again, confusion practically screaming from her entire posture, so Lauriam clarified. "You called him by his name, did that feel right? Does the name sit right on your tongue?"

The little reaper shrugged, her eyes becoming conflicted. Ruby curled into herself, setting Graceful Dahlia aside and drawing her legs up to her chin so she could bury her face. The scythe disappeared with a flick of Lauriam's wrist. He looked hesitant for a moment before he laid his arm over Ruby's shoulders and drawing her closer to his side. He wasn't really hugging her, nor did she hug back, but the young reaper decided she appreciated the gesture.

"You should talk to your father," he murmured quietly, and though Ruby didn't react, she heard him. "Yang mentioned that you were heading home to Patch before the Vytal Festival. Talk to him, face to face. I know you were considering staying in Vale while your sister went back, but you should go home with your sister."

When the young reaper remained silent, Lauriam continued, staring up at the leaves above in the forest canopy.

"Say that you stopped calling him father," he hummed. "What then? I can't give you fifteen years of your life that you'll have thrown away. Taiyang, while he certainly lied, still raised you to the best of his ability. Don't let that truth fade away with the lies. So I shall say again, go home with your sister."

Ruby was silent for a few moments before she looked up at Lauriam with silver eyes that showed her reluctance, but also brimming with the budding trust that the girl had started to put in the man beside her.

"Will you come with us?" she asked. "That way… he can meet you properly."

The sound of a bullhead approaching pulled a halt to the conversation; however that didn't stop Lauriam from placing a reassuring hand on Ruby's head. Then he stood up and offered his hand to help the young teen to her feet.

"I'll think on it."


When the two teams got back to Beacon, Oobleck took most of the students to the infirmary to get them checked over, while Lauriam lead Ruby and Jaune to Professor Ozpin's office to make a report. Needless to say, the two leaders got to witness the pink haired man tear into the Headmaster for his reckless decision to send two teams of FIRST YEAR students into Forever Fall when he had requested back up to help him exterminate Heartless. Jaune very specifically covered Ruby's ears when the furious man started throwing insults that were well beyond the appropriateness for the school setting, much to the younger leader's protest, if her glare at the blonde was anything to go by.

When Ozpin finally turned his attention to the two students, they both spoke in tandem to express their thoughts on the mission. They looked at each other and knew they agreed.

"We shouldn't have been the ones to deal with that threat but in the end we were forced to."

The look in Ozpin's eye… was there a lesson that he had wanted them to learn at the same time. He looked both apologetic and proud of his two students. Strange man. Once they left, a certain young reaper made her way to the library, where she pulled out her scroll and made a call.

"Hey… dad… can we talk? I have a question…"


The students, when put under pressure, work well together, and look to their leaders to choose their next move. I am unsure if they see it, but they seem to look to Jaune to make their strategy, he has the mind for it, even if his combat skill is lacking. Though they were clearly out matched against the Veil Lizard, they did well to take it down as they did. They recognized their disadvantage and planned accordingly.

This brings me to my second observation. Someone in this group of eight students has a Keyblade, of this I am certain. While fighting against the Emblem Heartless, hearts were being released. This can only mean that one of the students' weapons is a Keyblade in disguise. What was the term again? Formchanging? How do I know that? In any case, I can narrow my list of candidates down to five of the eight. Yang Xiao Long, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc. All of Team JNPR and Yang from Team RWBY. From the rest of RWBY, Weiss and Blake defeated an Emblem Heartless in front of me but no heart was released, and Ruby was nowhere near the released hearts while I was observing the fighting. After her scythe broke, she was using mine. I will need to watch these students closely.

Lauriam's Observations #2


And that is the end of the Hunting Heartless and - SURPRISE! Someone has a Keyblade. It's also NOT Ruby! I also have left it intentionally unknown. Why is someone getting a Keyblade in this fanfic? I'm setting up for later in the story. How does this someone have a Keyblade when there's only three ways of getting one and Marluxia is the only one to have been on Remnant before and Lauriam doesn't remember having a Keyblade? All will be explained later.