Vale is for the Valiant

by OniHelix

Ruby was your average everyday teenager. You know, until you look at the fact that she is training to slay monsters using a giant gunscythe. One day, she encounters a strange foe that she cannot defeat, and the next day, she meets a friend which she could never understand. The only questions Ruby really have are... Who's Link? And he's a WHAT? T to be safe.

32. In the Beginning

hehe hoho chapter time

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Chapter 32

In the Beginning

"I want to be strong."

To understand our tale, we must understand something else first.

"A beautiful ring... for a beautiful woman."

"I'm sorry?"

"I want to be feared."

We must understand that while stories have beginnings, there are things that happen even before these beginnings that we must be aware of.

"What?! Impossible! What did...?!"

"She went that way!"

"I want to be powerful."

And we must understand that these beginnings are rarely what we'd expect. They're sometimes worse than what we could have braced ourselves for.

"Someone, call the police!"

"How'd she do that?!"

"How did you do that?"

From the dark came Cinder Fall's smirking face, yet with shorter hair and a version of her weapon forged from metal, not glass.

The person she was speaking to in question was, in actuality, a seemingly younger Emerald Sustrai. Her hair was shorter, she was noticeably thinner, and her clothes were more ragged. Even her weapons didn't look the same. Emerald, however, didn't know Cinder at this point, and treated her current dealing with her with the utmost caution, as she had no idea what her intentions were at this point. She backed away slowly, not speaking, yet taking precautionary glances around to find any potential escape route she could use if need be. Sadly, she was unable to find an easy out, and reached for her guns, though Cinder put a stop to that quickly.

"Don't," Cinder commanded, Emerald recoiling in response. "Unless, of course, you want them to hear you," she continued, a few sets of footsteps coming from outside they alley they were standing in, accompanied by a 'Where did she go?'

"What do you want?" Emerald asked, releasing her revolvers.

"I've already told you," Cinder said, taking a few steps forward. "And I don't like repeating myself."

"I didn't do anything!" Emerald shouted. "Just leave me alone!"

"I know my fair share of liars and thieves. Stealing is an art of patience, coordination, and in a pinch, sleight of hand. But you didn't steal the ring in your pocket," Cinder explained, Emerald looking to the very object Cinder was referring to, looking back up at the woman right as she crossed her arms. "You took it right before the jeweller's eyes. And he smiled."

"Who are you?" Emerald asked, surprised for a moment before immediately going back to being suspicious. Cinder, however, just continued to smile at Emerald, making her even more uneasy than she was before, though her fear was short-lived as all faded to black.

"You will question everything you know."

In the darkness was the sound of an unnatural growl.

"This is impossible."

The growling quickly ceased, snuffed out by the sound of smoke.

"I wish to take on an apprentice.'

"He lives in the mountains with his son."

"Follow me, and you'll never be hungry again."

"Thank you..."

Once again the darkness opened to reveal another scene, this one being the smashed up face of a younger Mercury, though without his armor and his waist sash. Over his knees though were sets of bloody bandages. Behind Mercury also stood a burning house,though it clearly wasn't going to stand much longer. Cinder threw caution to the wind and approached, Emerald doing so with far more caution.

"What are you looking at?!" Mercury shouted, Cinder and Emerald stopping.

"I'm looking for Marcus Black," Cinder declared, Mercury scowling.

Spitting out a bit of blood, he gestured to the burning house behind him, and by extension the white-haired man laying on the ground near it. "There you go," he said, the disdain in his voice palpable.

"That's..." Emerald said, looking at the man, "the assassin?"

"And you're his son," Cinder said calmly, smiling at Mercury, though he simply wiped more blood from his face. There was a lot, after all. "We saw your fight from the treeline. He's taught you well."

"Guess so," Mercury said in uninterested agreement.

"What's your name?" Cinder asked, Mercury looking at her for a moment before answering.

"Mercury," he said, Cinder nodding in approval. Progress was progress, after all.

"Mercury..." she said, reveling in her small victory, a new smile on her face. "Tell me, are you anything like your father?"

As with before, all faded to black, leaving her question left unanswered.

"So what's in it for me?"

"We don't need him! Everything was going fine!"

The sound of a slap rang out, followed by a moment of silence.

"Do not mistake your place."

"My dad always said... 'if you need to know a city, ask the rats.'"

"Well, hello, gorgeous," chuckled a familiar voice. You can almost hear the hat that its source wore...

"So, let me get this straight..."

The veil of darkness was lifted once more, the scene it was hiding being Cinder standing in a tent with Emerald and Mercury kneeling behind her. To one side stood two armed White Fang guards, and to the other a Lieutenant leaning against the wall. It took a moment, but another man came into the tent, standing before a map of Remnant. This was Adam Taurus, the leader of the Vale branch of the White Fang.

"You could've gone to anyone for help. You could've made a deal with a gang leader, paid off some Huntsmen that have strayed from their... righteous path... but instead, you choose to seek an audience with me," he said, sounding displeased.

"You're the one we need," Cinder explained, crossing her arms. "Your skill, your ability to lead those beneath you. You're an exceptionally valuable man, Adam. And we've put a lot of thought into-"

"Then you're clearly not thinking straight!" Adam interjected with a raised finger. "If you truly understood me, you would know coming here was a mistake. The White Fang is not an organization for hire. We're a force of revolution!" he finished, clenching a fist.

"I believe our plan will be beneficial for all parties involved," Cinder continued, completely unfazed as Adam continued to pace the tent. "I have... an associate in Vale. He and I are working on a revolution of our own. But we can't do it without your forces. We need-"

"What you need..." Adam said, cutting Cinder off once more, "is to leave. You're asking my men to die for your cause - a human cause," he continued, raising his weapon and preparing to draw it, seemingly done entertaining the though of talking. "That is not an idea I am willing to entertain."

"Very well," Cinder said, scowling in displeasure yet forcing herself to bow to Adam before the she, Emerald, and Mercury turned to leave. Adam in turned followed them out, ensuring they were actually leaving.

"What was that about?" asked a younger Blake, coming up behind Adam.

"Nothing," Adam said, turning to walk away. "We need to finish preparing. The train will be here at dawn."

Blake, not thinking much of it, simply turned to follow Adam as all was once more enshrouded by darkness.

"So now what?"

"There's another task we must attend to before we proceed any further."

"We need to get ready for that guy, right?

"And the only one alive who'd be willing to help is who we're looking for."

"Who is your target?"

The darkness lifted to reveal the trio standing in an old warehouse, Cinder standing further forward than the other two, as she knew this situation was to be handled more delicately than the others. Before them on a tower of crates sat one of the most dangerous men on Remnant, the assassin for hire known only as 'Fenrir'. This is part of why Emerald and Mercury stayed back; angering him wouldn't end well.

"Your target, speak quickly. My services are highly sought after. Don't waste my time," he said, annoyed.

"The target we have in mind for you..." Cinder said, pulling up a picture of a woman on her scroll, "is a woman named Lumia Reinhardt."

"Hm?" he wondered aloud, leaning forward and glaring at them, his eyes drilling into them. "And why her?"

"Aren't assassins usually supposed to take payment and stay quiet?" Cinder asked, Fenrir leaping down and landing in front of her, causing her to flinch.

"Aren't people supposed to familiarize themselves with what they're buying before they go through with it?" he asked, pacing around Cinder. "I'm far more selective than those savages you're comparing me to. I require reasons for my services to be used. A grudge or distaste is no reason for me to step in. I require something more."

"We simply... want her gone," Cinder said, choosing her words carefully.

"Then I believe we're done talking. Leave," he commanded, turning to sit back in his seat. "Innocents are out of the question, unless you can prove their guilt."

"Then I suppose we'll just have to do it ourselves," Cinder said, Fenrir turning back towards her.

"Oh? So you're telling me you plan to go against my word?" he asked, the temperature in the room decreasing. "That makes you seem like more of a target to me."

"Do as you will," Cinder said, getting what she wanted, "but we have what we want. There are others who will pick up where we left off if we can't do it. Besides, you aren't exactly in a position to make threats like that... Mr. Hale."

"What?" he asked, taking a step back. "Who are you?"

"I'm of no consequence. No, what you need to know is that we may be able to negotiate a new target," Cinder said, knowing she had him where she wanted him.

"...I suppose," he said after a moment, crossing his arms. "Who are they?"

"Oh?" Cinder asked smugly. "You're not going to pry about their sins?"

"I don't believe I have much of a choice anymore," he replied, sighing. "I don't want a name. Just give me a picture, location, and a date."

"In due time," Cinder said, turning to leave. "For now, you follow me. We have many things planned for you, Fenrir, but for now we have someone to find..."

As she spoke, she prepared to exit, smiling as she dude. Though what she had was an uneasy alliance at best, it would prove to be a fruitful one if she played her cards right. As she stepped out back into the night, it seemed far too dark, the world being once again being bathed in darkness.

"We're moving forward."

"Excuse me, but I'm looking for a friend of mine."

"Ah, yes. She was just here yesterday."

"Remember the plan. Exactly as discussed. Not a foot out of place."

The darkness lifted yet again to reveal the cloudy view of a forest, a path cutting through with a fence on either side. Down the path trod a lone horse, upon its back a woman cloaked in green with gold armor, a hood obscuring her features. She continued to ride forward, stepping free of the forest and coming across a young girl, curled up and crying next to a fallen bike. The woman rode up a few more steps before dismounting, carefully approaching the girl.

This was a mistake.

Unknown to her, this girl was nothing more than a hallucination, implanted into her mind by the young Emerald Sustrai. Emerald herself stood relatively close to this faux child, standing as silently as possible as she watched the woman take the bait. The woman kneeled next to the girl, reaching into one of her pockets and causing the girl to flinch. The girl eased up when she saw the woman was only reaching for an apple, unknowingly offering it forth into empty air.

Emerald stood at the ready, prepared to do what she'd been told prior. Going over the plan one more time in her head, she reached for her guns and slid a foot back into a better position for combat, kicking up a little bit of dust on the path. Unfortunately for her, this alerted the woman before her, causing the image of the girl before her to quickly fade, leaving only Emerald there in her stead.

The woman moved quickly, pushing back as her horse fled, casting aside her cloak and revealing herself to be none other than Amber, the Fall Maiden. Reaching for her own weapon, a staff with a crystal on either end, she responded to Emerald firing at her by spinning it rapidly and deflecting the rounds. Continuing, she spun the weapon around herself before swinging it towards Emerald, generating a massive wall of wind to assault her. Mercury chose this time to intervene, sprinting in and leaping over the fence in order to attempt to stop her from sending another gust at Emerald. This wasn't successful, however, and Amber merely swatted both of them away. Mercury recovered better than Emerald, landing on the fence and launching himself back at Amber to attack. Amber in turn flipped her staff around to the orange crystal, blasting a stream of flame at him that he had no hope of dodging. Raising his legs to defend himself, he was forced to endure the flames as they burnt away his pants, revealing that Mercury had actually lost his legs at some point in the past. Due to this, they'd been replaced with complex machinery to allow him to retain his movement and dexterity, but more specifically they allowed him to continue to fight, allowing him to force himself through the fire and land a kick on Amber's back, knocking her to the ground where Emerald drove into her from above. This left her in a small crater, both Emerald and Mercury pushing back as Amber stood. Looking back up at the two, orange energy began flowing from around her eyes, wind swirling around at such a speed that forced Emerald and Mercury to cover their faces. Raising her arms, the wind got even faster as she began to rise into the air, thunder crackling overhead as she cast down lightning from the heavens at her foes, both barely dodging out of the way.

She continued to try to smite Emerald and Mercury as Cinder came into the picture, a decent distance away from the others. She watched as Emerald and Mercury tried to shoot Amber, but a sort of barrier covered her whole body and protected her from the attacks. Clenching her free hand and drawing it forth, she raised many fallen leaves into the air around her, frosting all of them over and creating a multitude of natural daggers to hurl at her foes. Neither Emerald nor Mercury were able to do anything about it and were struck by many of the leaves. She continued to cast forth her weaponized leaves before noticing Cinder coming up behind her. Raising her other hand, she fired off a large fireball at her that Cinder easily dodged, kicking up a lot of dust. Getting an idea, Cinder slid on the ground and kicked up more dust, aiming her free hand back at it with the markings on her sleeves lighting up and melting the airborne dirt into glass, hurling forth the glass shards at Amber. The Fall Maiden took the damage head on, being knocked face first into the ground. Looking back up, her eyes once again normal, she saw her trio of assailants closing in on her, though they flickered in and out of her vision, Amber recalling what Emerald had done earlier. All three flicked seemingly in and out of reality, Cinder approaching first with her blades at the ready.

Cinder stepped forward in preparation to cut Amber down, though she responded quickly and blocked each swing, kicking Cinder away and preparing herself for the other two attackers who have been plaguing her. Each tried and failed to strike her, each one being kicked away as well, though Mercury remained steadfast and attacked once more, landing this attack. Amber didn't seem to care and charged him, completely missing that Cinder was combining her swords into a bow, nocking three arrows. Continuing her assault on Emerald and Mercury, she knocked both of them away before turning to Cinder, finally seeing the arrows aimed at her only moments before they were let loose and forming a triangle around her. This triangle didn't last very long, each arrow erupting in a large explosion that compounded with each other and formed an even larger blast that blew Amber skyward and blew through all of her aura, leaving her next to defenseless.

Apparently she blacked out for just a moment, as next she new her enemies approached her once more, Amber forcing herself to feet just as Emerald and Mercury were about to pounce, blowing the three of them all away with another bout of wind. Mercury, once more, caught himself quickly and charged right back, only to get launched back by a bolt of lightning, courtesy of the now properly-pissed Maiden. Turning towards Emerald, she fired a ball of fire at her, only for that Emerald to dissipate. Turning the other way, she fired another ball of fire at that Emerald, this one turning out to be real and nearly getting burnt as she was knocked back. Figuring she now had a moment of leeway, she approached the one she figured to be the most troublesome, that being Emerald with her ability to seemingly mess with her mind. Hobbling over on her staff, holding her side in pain, Emerald only had a moment to look up in fear as Amber raised her staff to finish her off. She was spared from this fate, however, when something struck Amber in the back and caused her to gasp in pain. She turned to look behind her, only to see Cinder standing behind her with her bow raised and a single arrow having been loosed, that being the arrow in her back. It only took a moment longer for Amber to fall, Cinder smiling and tossing her bow aside, approaching her and donning a single white glove. Emerald and Mercury forced Amber to her knees, and by extension forced her to look Cinder in the eye as she raised her hand to Amber's face, a sort of portal opening on her palm. From the depths of this portal called a single small Grimm in the shape of a scarab, seemingly enough to put the fear of God into Amber, her eyes widening the moment she saw it.

"Please don't..." she begged quietly, Cinder merely smiling evilly as the bug spat out a mass of black webs that latched to her face. The moment they made contact, Amber reared back in agony, her uncovered eye blazing as she tried in vain to force her assailants away with a burst of wind. Needless to say this failed, the glow fading as it travelled through the web, and the Grimm, into Cinder, her own eyes beginning to glow with the same light Amber's did mere moments before. As Amber felt her strength waning, she struggled to keep her eye open, but she could only hold on for so long before she felt completely overcome, her eye slowly closing as she gave in.

Moments before Amber would have been completely lost, Cinder heard running in the distance, turning to see Qrow Branwen nearly on top of them, leaping into the fray and slashing through the webs latched to Amber's face and freeing her, her attackers jumping back. Knowing she'd been through enough, Qrow made sure to catch Amber before she hit the ground, setting her down gently as he turned back towards the three, raising Harbinger in challenge.

Cinder merely watched on as the glove on her hand burned away into nothingness, feeling a similar burn on her shoulder blades that left the symbol that we now know her by. In her moment of distraction, she didn't see Qrow coming for her, yet he didn't see the final newcomer to the scenario.

From the very skies came Fenrir himself, piercing the ground between Qrow and Cinder with his blade. Glaring at Qrow from beneath his mask, he ripped his blade out and tossed it into the air before catching it with his dominant hand, slowly swinging it to the side and raising his other hand to beckon Qrow forward, Qrow being far more cautious now that he was here. Perhaps he knew that mask... Regardless, Qrow knew that Amber was in incredible danger, being sure to grab her in case anything happened. Naturally, something happened immediately after he did this, namely Cinder raising her arms as her eye began to glow with a golden light, the ground beneath Qrow and Amber beginning to tremble. Qrow was forced to get both he and Amber out of the way mere moments before the ground beneath them detonated, blinding him for a moment. The moment he could see again, he looked around to see that all 4 of those who stood before him a moment ago had all left, now turning to Amber, looking on in worry at her now marked face as she lay there, completely comatose. Scowling in distaste in both himself for arriving too late to stop them and in the actions of her attackers, he wondered what he was to do next as all went to black for the final time.

"The Huntsman severed the connection before it was complete... Yes. It's... an emptiness. It burns. Like hunger. I like it... Yes. I will claim what is ours... Thank you."

The darkness lifted once more to reveal the same White Fang camp as before, Adam and one of his lieutenants standing around a table covered in masks, maps, and vials upon vials of dust.

"We'll find her, sir," the lieutenant said, raising a hand to his chest. "I swear on my life."

"Forget it," Adam said sharply, shaking his head. "It's time I returned to Mistral and..."

He would have continued, but the sounds of crashing and violence outside drew his attention, both he and the lieutenant turning to the tent entrance to intervene. 'What is this?!' he shouted as they both drew their weapons, though they were pushed back by Fenrir shoving through, holding the unconscious form of a White Fang member, tossing them to the side and walking to the other, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

"We could've gone to anyone for help," called Cinder from outside, both Adam and his only remaining soldier turning to the tent opening as she walked in, both seeing the charred landscape behind her. They would have walked out to confront her, but three things stopped them: Fenrir off to the side, glaring at the two of them, the multitude of bodies scattered around (and they had no idea whether the majority were dead or simply out cold), and the wall of fire that pushed them back into their tent, courtesy of Cinder. "But we chose you, Adam Taurus. Our plan will be beneficial for both of us," she said, raising her hand, her sleeve glowing. "Or one of us. So, which will it be?"

As she spoke, Emerald and Mercury stepped forth and laid down a case of something each, one being filled with dust canisters and dust crystals, the other being loaded with Lien. Upon seeing the contents and how hopeless his situation was, he loosened up, releasing his weapon and standing up straight. Cinder smiled and lowered her arm, her clothes reverting to their normal color.

She had what she wanted.

OOO

"Yang Xiao Long wins!"

Back in our current time, Oobleck had just called the victor of the second fight of the one on one portion of the Vytal Festival. We should recall what happened, but let's quickly recap just in case.

The cheering was as loud as ever, celebrating Yang's victory over Mercury. Up on the scoreboard, Mercury's profile was crossed out to further signify his defeat.

"Yeah, you did it, sis!" Ruby cheered.

"There's not going to be a next time, Blondie!" Mercury shouted, making his move. Though he seemingly tried to strike her, Yang responded by bringing a shotgun shell down onto his knee, breaking it with a sickening crack. The applause quickly turned to boos from all around, and several Atlesian troops and Knights quickly surrounded her.

"Yang Xiao Long, stand down!" they commanded, all the while Mercury still shouted in agony over his now broken leg with Emerald sitting beside him to support him.

"Please, somebody help him!" Emerald shouted, a few paramedics heading their way with a stretcher. "Can you do something?!"

The paramedic looked at mercury's leg for a moment, seeing the ripped skin through the hole is his pants, blood flowing freely from the wound.

"We need to get this boy to a hospital," the paramedic said to his coworker. "Grab a blanket."

Loading Mercury up and hauling him off, the paramedics made sure to be careful with him as Emerald followed closely after. Yang couldn't help but stare, her face nearly colorless.

"You don't understand!" Yang shouted, pointing at Mercury and trying to make sense of it herself. "He attacked me, I swear!"

"Stow it!" the guard shouted, holding his gun higher as he did. "You've already caused enough of a scene!"

Emerald simply continued to follow the two paramedics, keeping a close eye on her teammate as they went. Beside them there was a female paramedic by an open door, gesturing for them all to approach.

"Here!" she called. "We've got an ambulance ready to go!"

It took a moment, but they loaded both Emerald and Mercury into the emergency airship, the paramedic who first came to Mercury's side sighing in worry.

"Hope they'll be okay. That girl won't leave his side," he lamented, looking to the other paramedic. Unbeknownst to him, that was no paramedic, but it was actually Cinder in a disguise.

"We'll take good care of both of them," she said in assurance, she too hopping on as they took off. Once the coast was clear, Mercury was lain out on a crate, moaning in false agony.

"Oh doc, tell me, will I ever walk again?" he asked the bored Emerald next to him, only to get punched in the shoulder. Since he was out of aura from his prior fight, that one actually hurt. "Ow! What's your deal?!" he shouted, rubbing his shoulder in pain.

"Ugh, headache," she revealed, rubbing her forehead in pain. "One mind I can handle, but two is a stretch."

"Well, you all performed marvelously, driver included," Cinder said from the co-pilot's seat, the pilot next to her smiling and blinking her magenta eyes back to their usual pink and brown, nodding in gratitude.

"So, you think it worked?" Mercury asked.

Meanwhile on the news, the disastrous result of the second fight was the topic of many different news outlets, among them the Vale News Network. The caption of this broadcast read 'Tournament Tragedy', Lisa Lavender once again offering her take on the situation.

"A terrible tragedy took place this afternoon in the one-on-one rounds of the Vytal Festival Tournament-" she said, though the watcher didn't seem to care much for it and changed the channel.

"I don't know what Beacon's Headmaster is teaching his students," said a tourist from Haven, being interviewed regarding the second match, "but that was disgraceful! Completely uncalled for! I'm surprised Valion didn't try anything if this is what standard those Beacon kids are being held to!"

Once again bored by the content, the watcher changed channels once more.

"Despite Atlas reinforcements," said the next news station, instead choosing to cover the increase in Grimm activity rather than the disaster that was Yang versus Mercury, "local authorities are still calling on any available Huntsmen to aid in suppressing the spike in Grimm activity."

Clearly done with television for the moment, the watcher shut it off entirely, and this didn't seem to sit well with Mercury.

"Hey, I was watching that!" he shouted at Emerald as he fixed his leg, tightening a few screws.

"Shut up!" she shouted, her headache still persisting.

"Is this how you treat a patient?" Mercury asked sarcastically, only for Emerald to reach over and overturn the screw he was working on, causing him to wince in pain. "Ah, too tight!"

"Enough," Cinder ordered, breaking them up. "Our Mercury put on a wonderful show. He was quite brave."

"These things aren't exactly cheap, you know," Mercury lamented as he continued to repair the damage Yang had done.

"So," Emerald asked, turning to Cinder, "what's next?"

"You and I will ensure that our next matchup goes just as smoothly," Cinder replied with a smirk, crossing her arms.

"What about me?" Mercury asked as Cinder and Emerald turned to leave.

"You get to lay low until the end," Cinder explained. "We wouldn't want people to see you on your feet and have this all be for naught, now would we?"

"Can do," Mercury said as he finished tightening what needed to be tightened and loosening what needed to be loosened, the blue light under his artificial knee roaring back to life as he smiled.

OOO

"She seems... so young."

Still reveling in his victory, Oni Strife continued to look over the images he had been sent by Gradivus and his team, soaking in every detail and deciding what needed to be done and when it was to be done.

"Then again, he aims to keep a hold on that power for as long as he possibly can, doesn't he... That misplaced optimism of his is will be his downfall," he said, standing up and pacing the room. "In order to maintain his advantage for as long as possible, he aims to give that power to the young and the inexperienced. They believe themselves to be powerful. Oh, how wrong they are. But I will soon relieve them of that burden."

Putting away his scroll, he approached one of the storage units in his study, opening it to reveal a pair of weapons, one azure in color, the other emerald. Grabbing the both of them, he strapped them to his waist, turning to leave his study.

"And soon I will reclaim what was once mine."

---

So yeah, this was a weird chapter. I tried to keep it as close to the base episode as possible, but it only translates so well to words. Hopefully that doesn't detract from it too much though. Also... We hit 200 followers! Wooo! Thanks guys! I really appreciate it! To thank you for your continued support, I'll be sure to continue to put as chapters with as high of quality as I can. And as often as possible, too. That part might be a tad bit harder though since I don't want t burn myself out. Plus I have other things that I need to do in my day to day life, so I work when I can. It usually works out though!

OniHelix out!