Jaune Arc was laying in his bed, awake. This would have been normal maybe, if it wasn't for the fact that it was three in the morning. He turned around to stare at the beds where his teammates should have slept. Nora was there of course, but the other two were empty. Had been since the day the Vytal Festival had started, in fact. 'Where are you guys?' He wondered. He was worried. Pyrrha and Ren were strong and capable, but watching them vanish had been terrifying. Team RWBY was gone too, disappeared probably in the same light bolt that had taken them. Emerald…
That video still haunted him. She had fought desperately and still had been absorbed by the dark goo and the red eye. What did that mean? Was that because someone else had taken her? Or was it just a different mean for taking people used by the same individual? 'Is this somehow connected to everything else, or is it just a coincidence? What is happening?!'
He was angry and tired. This tournament was supposed to be fun, something to set their mind at ease after all the stuff that had happened during the school year. The Breach, for one. And yet here he was, as useless as he had been at the initiation.
'Ren… Pyrrha… Are you ok? Is RWBY with you? What about Emerald?' He asked mentally.
Maybe it was the weight of those questions that finally made him fall asleep. But all he gained were nightmares.
-x-
Nora was the first to wake up, as usual. She mechanically turned toward the boys' beds, Ren's bed, only to remember he wasn't going to be there. She felt tears swell in her eyes. She wasn't used to this. She wasn't used to Ren not being there, ready to be woken up by her cheer. They had been together since… since they were kids. Not having him around was wrong.
She turned to the other side. The bed closest to hers was Pyrrha's, but of course it was empty as well. She didn't know what she was expecting. Maybe that at least one of the two would be back.
She stood up and slapped her cheeks, the resulting impact strong enough to wake up anyone. Except Jaune apparently. That would have been surprising before, but Nora knew her team leader was not sleeping enough. Back before… everything, the blonde teen was always the first to fall asleep after a day of training, but now she would often go down before him.
'Cheer up Nora, you are supposed to support your new team… friend.' She thought. Mercury and her had organized a one on one sparring match to decide who was going to move forward to the one v one, and the winner had been Mercury. She was a bit grumpy about it, but Black had won fair and square, so he deserved the spot.
She considered waking up Jaune, then she shook her head. Mercury didn't really care if his teammates were there to watch him or not, and Jaune really needed to rest. She would go for all of team JNPR.
With that decision out of the way, she started walking out of the room. She made her way through the still calm corridors of the morning, and as she walked outside she ended up bumping against someone.
"Oh, sorry Velvet." She said. The rabbit faunus with brown hair turned her way, and Nora noticed something odd about her. She seemed sad, but not in a 'someone has made fun of my ears' way. More like in a 'something terrible happened' way. Nora could tell the difference at a glance. She had been out of the Kingdom long enough to know what someone terrified looked like. "Are you ok?"
"I… Yes, sorry Nora. I was thinking of something else and didn't see you."
"Are you sure? You look terrible." The redhead said. Velvet had large bags under her eyes and seemed very jumpy, a lot more than usual. People like Cardin would have probably chalked it up to her being a rabbit faunus, but Nora knew better.
"Yes, I'm sure. Now sorry Lyn, but…" Velvet froze.
'Something is wrong.' Nora decided then and there. Velvet had an excellent memory. It wasn't like her to use a wrong name "Who's Lyn? Some new friend from another Kingdom?"
"No, I… I actually don't know anyone with that name. I must have just… I don't know, heard it somewhere." Velvet replied with a shaky smile "Sorry Nora, but I have to go now."
"You going to the arena? I heard Coco is going to move up to the one v one."
"Oh, no, I'm going to see Professor Ozpin." She said "In fact, I should go quickly. Sorry to keep you. May the best team win." Nora looked at her basically run away and wondered if she was supposed to say something to that, but before she could the rabbit faunus was gone completely. 'I need to ask Coco if something happened, that's not Velvet's usual behavior.'
She walked forward, making her way to the transports for the Arena.
-x-
Jaune looked around the room, trying to understand what was going on. The sky outside was dark and he could see… smoke, fire… Grimm. He took a step back as the shadow of an Ursa engulfed the room, before barreling through the window. Reflexively, the teenager brought a hand to his flank, only to realize that Crocea Mors was not there.
He ran, closing the door behind and sprinting out in the corridor, the shadow of the Ursa following him.
He passed crumbled walls, turned a corner, and gasped. Sky Lark was laying on the ground, his neck bent unnaturally. Jaune held back his vomit as the thundering sound of the Ursa's step resounded behind him, and kept going.
More bodies on the way out. He recognized some, like Dove, but others were unknown, nameless bodies of students like him, some still in Beacon's uniform, some in their combat gear. Others were from other schools, and he recognized a girl from Vacuo he had seen on television. He kept running.
He found the way to the airships field blocked. Not just by more Grimm, fighting more and more desperate Huntsmen-in-training, but also by Grimm wearing the White Fang uniform and Atlasian robots with Grimm claws and the symbol of a black queen of chess embedded on their chest. And something else, a creature he could not describe, something that was not a Grimm but far, far worse.
Instinctively, he ran to the CCT Tower, the Ursa still behind. He didn't know what was guiding him. Maybe he was looking for Ozpin, for someone that would know what to do in all this mess.
Maybe he was hoping Nora would be there, hoping she at least would be safe.
He rushed in, and suddenly he was in Professor Ozpin's office, high at the top of the tower. At his side, he suddenly found the sheath of Crocea Mors, although the sword itself was still nowhere to be found.
'Your future is bleak. The night is dark, and dawn is far.' He suddenly heard 'I have seen many before come for my aid. Will you be the next, Jaune Arc?' 'You know where you can find me. Will you do it when the time is right?'
And Jaune woke up.
-x-
Nora Valkyrie looked at the Arena. For the last hour or so, Amity had filled more and more, until even the student-only seats seemed about to burst. It made sense though. The last fighters left were going to go at it, and the winner would be chosen on that day or the next. She was more than ready to cheer for Mercury, even if her position on the Vale side was going to make it a bit weird.
She tried to look around for Jaune while munching on some pop corn – well, her second bowl, but who was counting? – but couldn't see him anywhere. 'Are you really going to miss the finale, Jaune?' She wondered.
As time passed and the arena reached its fullest, Nora started to get bored. Unsurprisingly, not having anyone to talk to could get boring. So, seeing Yatsuhashi and Fox walk by made her smile as she waved to catch their attention.
"Hey guys!"
"Oh, Nora, you ok?" Yatsu asked with a frown that was unusual for him.
"Yup, everything is fine." Nora sighed "Just, Jaune is feeling a bit… under the weather."
The redhead shook her head. They hadn't told about Team RWBY and half of JNPR to CVFY before. Their plan to do so had been cut by the sudden discovery that apparently a flash of light was taking her friends away, rather than any enemy or a sudden mission. This felt wrong, but Professor Ozpin had been clear. No one was to know until they knew what was going on. Officially, Pyrrha, Ren and Team RWBY were on a sudden mission.
"That's sad to hear." The large Mistralian replied "If we can help in any way, just tell us and…"
"And we are here for the first match of the day." Professor Oobleck's voice resounded in the arena, everyone turning their attention towards the field. "For this first match, we are going to se…"
Then a crash and screaming. An explosion tore through the seats of Haven's students, as the camera for some sick reason panned over them, showing the horror of people wounded and dead.
"Wh… What…" Nora started, looking to her side. Both Yatsuhashi and Fox were equally speechless, as the rest of the Arena started to scream like madman once the shock was switched to panic.
Then the screens changed. A new voice, one that Nora could vaguely recognize but not quite place. Someone she had met before, but when…
"I was late." The voice said. "I wished this to be a warning, but it appears I failed."
The screens changed again, now showing what appeared to be camera footage. White Fang members moving through the emergency routes of the Arena, slowly carrying crates of something. Then, next to them, walked Atlesian soldiers, and closing the line, someone Nora recognized.
Neon Katt, her rollerblade slowly moving her through the corridor.
"Look. Atlas is behind it. They orchestrated the Breach to force the hand of the Vale council, to force them into agreeing to their covert takeover, and when Mistral decided to show their support to Vale, starting from suggesting a mixed team, they chose to send a message. Oh, I'm sure they would have come up with such a wonderful suggestion to 'improve security' and 'protect Mistral'."
The video changed again, this time showing various fights, each highlighting where each opponent was from. "Not that Vale is any better. First, Ozpin fails at his job of protecting the Kingdom, then his only response to the Atlesian takeover is pitting his students consistently against Atlas students. What a... lucky coincidence. Unless of course he wanted to win in an attempt to intimidate Atlas."
The screen switched to a mugshot of Roman Torchwick and various White Fang members captured in the Breach. "And have you wondered why the White Fang agreed to serve a human in the Breach? Maybe, because Atlas made them promises. Under Sienna Khan, who can expect the Fang to pull back from an agreement like this? Atlas will give Faunus more rights and protections. Meanwhile, this accursed Kingdom extends its influence to Menagerie." Another change of picture, this time showing a group of Specialists, the frame focusing on a young Faunus "And it all starts with granting a single Faunus a place in the pretty little Ace Ops, the poster boys of Atlas' regime. And of course, with allowing in their Academy someone like Neon Katt, a White Fang member herself."
The screen switched again, this time to a flush of messages on various social networks and message boards "This is a war Remnant. And everyone has already taken a side."
"The Atlesians are not afraid to bloody their hands."
The voice stopped.
The screen went white.
And the crowd started to scream.
-x-
"Well, that was acceptable." Cinder Fall decided, folding back her scroll "Now, we need to see if the animals and the monsters can do what I told them to."
Mercury zoomed around the city streets. People were already running out in a daze, heading to the closest shelters, when the alarms started to sound. Even simple civilians knew what was coming. What they couldn't tell was coming was the White Fang members emerging from various vans and shooting at them. Killing some, but leaving most wounded, the ideal way to attract even more Grimm.
"I hate second rate planning." Cinder added "My original work was so much more well-crafted than an attack like this. Sure, Beacon will fall, but having the core of the fight take place during the day will be so much less interesting to watch."
"I mean, you are the one with the trigger, and Neo took out the girl in advance. You could have waited a little longer."
"Unfortunately, the timing was crucial. General Ironwood right now is far from his men, with me in control of his Scroll. I can't know how long that is going to be the case. Moreover, Atlesian security up in Amity is good. Otherwise, my plan wouldn't have needed to be so complicated."
"Speaking of which, I'd say it's about time," Mercury said, his camera panning toward the Arena, making sure to not film the Atlesian ship heading towards the larger ones hovering over Vale.
"Indeed. Farewell, Amity." Cinder clicked a button.
The explosion at the base of Amity was clearly visible from their position. And so was the Arena suddenly tilting.
-x-
"They have played us!" Ironwood shouted, looking at the screen in Ozpin's office.
Ozpin did not respond, just staring at it. This was bad. In the last century, no, the last few centuries, Salem had never been quite this bold. If Amity came crashing down on Vale, on top of slaughtering uncountable civilians, it was also going to make the panic even worse.
"Tell me honestly. Is there any way for your men to make sure Amity doesn't fall?"
"Maybe. I didn't bring the full team, but the two Ace-Ops we have are experienced enough. If they can get to the core and resettle it, and if the Gravity Dust wasn't lost… And if the enemy didn't crash completely the controls… Brothers, this is a disaster."
"A disaster doesn't even start to describe it." Ozpin shot a glare at Qrow, but the Huntsman just ignored him. For once, it seemed he wasn't going to care about the Beacon Headmaster's opinion on his tongue "The city is terrified. Salem's little pawn slaughtered on live television the Mistralians with a bomb, and blamed it all on the White Fang and the Atlas military, if you two didn't notice. The same Atlas military that hovers on the city, because someone here had to bring his work with himself on vacation, and the same White Fang that right now is probably already causing more damage in the streets."
"Qrow, I would never…"
"I know you wouldn't, Jimmy, but I'm not Vale, and if everyone in the Kingdom panics, then it's only a matter of time before the Grimm..." He stopped as a new screen appeared, this one showing a large horde of Grimm marching towards Vale from Mountain Glenn and the surrounding regions. Ozpin stared at the Goliath crashing through the defences of the city like they were made of paper. "Do that. Fuck." Qrow concluded.
"Qrow, Glynda, go to the city. James, you brought your army. Use it."
Qrow and Glynda of course opened their mouth to object, but before they could talk, it was a fourth voice that spoke up "What am I supposed to do, Headmaster?" The voice of Velvet Scarlatina came out like a whisper, but everyone in the room heard it loud and clear.
"Miss Scarlatina, it was my wish for you to get some time to acclimate yourself to your… change. I believe right now you should stay hidden here."
"But Professor, the city is under attack! My friends are out there and I don't even know if they are dead or alive! I should go help!"
"No you shouldn't." Qrow replied "You are half of the Fall Maiden now, but you haven't trained a day with those fancy powers of yours. They are going to come straight for you. Oz didn't stash you away, but you aren't exactly someone we can allow to roam free. We did explain you who we are up against. Just do what Oz says, and you might get out of this alive." Before the young girl or anyone else could respond, he rushed out of the room, followed by Glynda. James was still talking on his Scroll, and after a last glance at Ozpin and the young Faunus ran out of the room as well. Ozpin wondered why, but he realized once he had been set off it was hardly possible for James to stop thanks to his Semblance. Whatever he was doing, at least it was going to help.
Ozpin looked at Velvet recoil at the thought of Salem. Telling the half-Maiden about her had been a unanimous decision once she had agreed to take the power of the Fall Maiden. It had been a rather painful conversation, despite only revealing what he usually told his inner circle. If Miss Scarlatina… no, Velvet, he had to give her an equal treatment now… If she had decided to not take the power after that, he was still ready to give her a way out. Maybe just keep a close eye on her and her team, enlist them once they were Huntsmen like he had done with STRQ. He had however been relieved when they young woman had decided to agree to the transfer anyway.
"Velvet." He said, and there was surprise painted on the Faunus' face "I want you to understand this. We can wait a little, but then I need you to make a choice. You have to leave, with or without your companions."
"But… But I can't do that! I can't just abandon them!"
Ozpin looked at her for a long moment. He could have forced her to leave. It would have been easy for him. However, that would have also been wrong. And as much as Ozma was ready to admit that, even before being Ozpin, he had made too many mistakes to count, Ozpin wasn't ready to commit another one. "I'll try to get them here." He said, taking the Scroll.
-x-
"What do you mean 'find me team CFVY' Oz?!" Taiyang shouted "It's madness up here!"
Tai looked at the crowd rushing to the exits of the Arena, and clenched his teeth as he helped a Mistral student with a broken leg. He had been on Amity just to try and get himself to calm down after everything that had been going on with his daughters, and of course that was when this was going to happen.
"Please Taiyang, it's important. You know I wouldn't ask otherwise."
Tai narrowed his eyes "I don't work for you anymore, you know that, right?" As he said that two other men in medical clothes walked towards him, and he quickly handed them the boy, before sighing "Fine, I'll look for them. It's the girl with the minigun, the bunny faunus, the kid with the giant sword and the blind one with the Tonfa, right? I remember their fight in the first round."
"Miss Scarlatina, the Faunus, is already here." Ozpin added, and Tai stopped.
"Good, one less. I'll go check the Vale side of the Arena, and…" He looked up, seeing the giant Nevermore pecking at the roof of the Arena, the hard light shields starting to crack. "Ah shit. Seems like I'll have to be fast."
"I'm counting on you." Ozpin's voice concluded, before cutting off.
"Fantastic." The blonde man took a deep breath "I really didn't miss working for him."
-x-
Nora looked down at the ground dangerously closing in. The fall was slow, but it didn't matter: Amity at this rate was going to crash on Vale long before they were done with evacuating it, let alone the portion of the city below.
"How does it look?" Neptune asked while helping Sage on the ship. He was the only member of team SSSN involved in the explosion thankfully, and only with a slight concussion. His Aura was already taking effect, and the teen gently pushed away his companion.
"Bad." Nora replied, "We are going to crash long before we are done up here."
"Damn it!" Sun shouted. "Hey, Arslan, how is everyone on team ABRN? Did they make it out?"
"We are all fine." The dark-skinned girl replied with a serious expression "We were grabbing some food when…" She shuddered "There must be something we can do."
"Like what?" A new voice asked from behind them. They turned to see Cardin Winchester, mace in hand. They could see his Dust crystal had long depleted, probably the result of fighting some of the Grimm that had been attacking the roof. Nora could understand, since she was running low on grenades as well. "The situation is shit. There is nothing any of us can do. We should just run."
"Why haven't you done that, if you are so scared?" Arslan asked back with a dangerous scowl that made even Nora take a step back "If you are going to be useless, just run away."
"You might not believe it, but I want to be a Huntsman. Which means, covering the sorry ass of those people back there is my job." Nora saw him glance at Sun's tail, before he decided to add another line. "Even if I don't like them."
"Kind of a dick, aren't you?" Sun asked back.
Cardin just ignored him, continuing his tirade "Anyway, the Atlesians and Vacuans already bolted. That's why I don't understand why we are still here."
"What?" Nora looked at him in confusion. "How did they run away? There are barely any ships."
"On this side, sure." Cardin grinned "I don't know who that woman was, but she seems to have a point. The Vacuans and Atlesians got all the ships they needed to take them away."
"But that's… Why?!" Arslan asked.
"It's because we are tilting the wrong way." They turned, and saw Professor Oobleck firing shots at the closest flying Grimm with his weapon, the fire grimly litting his face. "This isn't some dangerous, traitorous scheme, mister Winchester. It is merely practicality. Amity is tilting towards Vale, and this side happens to be the most dangerous one to land on for a ship."
"Then why did we have to even get here? Shouldn't we have just evacuated everyone towards the Atlesian and Vacuan side?" Nora asked, starting to get confused.
Oobleck shook his head "That would have been very much preferable. But tell me Miss Valkyrie, what do you think would happen right now if we put the Mistralian survivors and the Valeian citizens together with the Atlesians? How many people actually believed that stupid story on Atlas and the White Fang working together for some world takeover? There would have certainly been a spark of violence. That would have started a riot, and that riot would have…" He interrupted himself to fire again at a Griffon, who fell down from the sky in a fuming globe of fire just in time to allow the passage of another ship. "Caused more losses, either directly or from attracting the Grimm that right now are instead spread all around the Arena and the city." He concluded, without taking his glasses off the sky.
"Is there nothing we can do?" Nora asked, almost in a plight "There has to be something Professor, please!"
"Well, if you could do me a favor, I'd like to have my students survive me. So, could you walk on that ship and go to Beacon?"
Everyone looked at him stunned "But, Professor…"
"I'm asking you, miss Valkyrie, to move your fight, not to stop." He said "If Amity falls, it's going to take us all with it. The less people stay here, the better. The wounded have already been carried away, and there isn't time nor reason to carry the dead. So, now that you have done the best you could do, and admirably so, I suggest you jump on the first airship and get out of here. Vale will need as many living Huntsmen as possible, and I fear you children might find yourself to take the mantle before we planned to."
Nora blinked, not knowing what to say before she looked up at the sky. "Uh, professor. Is that normal?" She asked. Oobleck looked up, watching two of the Atlesian warships move slowly to face the third one.
"No, that's…"
Then they fired.
-x-
"Ahahah! Nice shot bull!" The annoying voice of Roman Torchwick over the phone made Adam Taurus scowl as he looked at the falling Atlesian frigate. He gritted his teeth, unable to decide who he hated the most out of the whole operation. Torchwick was an asshole who had been insulting him and his men for months. But Cinder… Oh, he despised Cinder. The lie about working with Atlas alone made him just want to snap her neck and…
'Patience, Taurus.' He commanded himself 'Let the woman thinks she is in control. Once she feels safe, chopping off her hand is going to be even more enjoyable.'
Adam wasn't an idiot. The Atlesian Warship they had just stolen and its cargo were going to be incredible assets for the White Fang in their war against humanity. Cinder's offer was the only reason he had agreed to her change of plans. Still, the lie could work in his favor. He would just twist the truth and certainly Sienna would to agree with him. And if she wasn't… His coup had been prepared for a while, and there was nothing she could do to prevent it.
Adam observed Beacon. Originally, he had decided to take care of the school himself, with the full intention to find Blake and punish her. However, with her gone – an information Cinder had given him with enough proof to believe her – he had moved to a better prize.
"Sir, the Schnee girl ship and a few others are moving towards us." One of his men called. He looked at the faunus with a lizard tail and nodded, his hand grasping Wilt in anticipation.
"Shoot down the surrounding ships, but don't touch the Schnee one. If she really lands here… Well, it's about time we start taking care of the Schnee family."
The men cheered. Truly, Adam considered Winter Schnee the least interesting of all the Schnee. Not for the fight itself, a battle he was going to win, but because she had abandoned the family. Still, a trophy was a trophy. The head of Winter Schnee would gain him fame among the White Fang and ensure more people were going to agree with his takeover.
All he had to do was kill one girl.