"Coco!" Ruby yelled as the woman passed through the security gate and gave the guards a wink as she strutted by. "You're late! You've known about this meeting for the last month, how could you be late?!"
"I had a hard time picking out a pair of shades this morning that matched this outfit," Coco informed her with a smirk as she walked through the council room, nodding to Stratford on the way to her seat. Ruby chuckled nervously before using her semblance to fly across the room to her own spot.
"It's the same outfit that you wear every time I see you!" Ruby exclaimed.
"How dare you!" Coco gasped.
"Can we get to business?" Siobhan asked. "And where is Qrow, anyways?"
"He had a previous engagement that he needed to attend to," Winter stated. Ruby sighed. If only they knew he was just babysitting Rosy.
"We have quite a few things that we need to address, so maybe we should just get right into it," Ruby suggested. "I'm guessing we can probably skim over the fact that Athena attacked Beacon since we already had an emergency meeting about that and the kids have already received their medals."
"Actually, I wanted to ask Coco about that," Stratford stated as he stood.
"Oh boy," Ruby mumbled.
"What happened was an extreme that we never could have predicted, but was also an egregious mistake on the part of myself and Glynda not to have more teachers present at the event," Coco agreed. "I've begun establishing a security force at the school for after hours, and we're installing a new security system that's a little more… 'Cobalt' proof."
"Though to her credit in reference to the previous systems that were in place, Cobalt scored higher in technology classes than any of his peers," Ruby defended.
"We just need to make sure that this doesn't happen again," Stratford noted. "The last thing we want is a repeat of what Team RWBY had to deal with all those years ago, not to mention, widespread panic if it starts to appear that way."
"The White Fang is completely dismantled this time," Winter interjected. "And the Neo-Salems seem to be moving slowly for the time being."
"What happens when they begin becoming more aggressive?" Siobhan inquired. "We need to find them and stop them now and that starts with either the Stardust Gang or Strakh."
"With the school year underway I don't have as much time to devote to tracking them down, but I do have someone on the job," Coco explained.
"Emerald Sustrai," Ruby announced.
"She used to work for Salem!" Dorian exclaimed.
"She also helped us take Salem down!" Ruby shouted.
"How do we know she's not running a long con?" Stratford questioned with a sigh, sitting back down.
"We have no reason to believe so," Coco said, trying not to lose her cool. "As well as learning that the Stardust Gang is going to attack the Technology and Dust Expo this Winter, we've learned where they plan on meeting Jett next."
"The Expo!?" A few of them yelled.
"We have to reschedule," Olesia stated.
"I refuse," Coco replied.
"It is not for you to decide," Siobhan fired back.
"This is a matter of national safety, we couldn't care less about your ego," Stratford scoffed. Coco leapt to her feet.
"We cannot let the Neo-Salem's push us around!" Coco asserted. "I have plans for the entire police force and school staff to attend this expo, rest assured, nothing will happen. If we cannot depend on the Huntsmen we have to take care of things then we are in worse trouble than ever before."
"I still think that it is in our best interest to change the date," Dorian said. "Of course we trust our resources, but that doesn't mean we don't prepare for the worst."
"I'll attend," Ruby stated. They all stopped bickering and looked at her. "If Coco thinks it's for the best, I will personally attend." Coco stared at Ruby for a long moment before sitting back down in her chair and exhaling. "Does that work for the rest of you?" Stratford looked at Siobhan and the two of them nodded.
"Yes," Stratford agreed. Vacuo and Atlas also agreed.
"Good," Ruby sighed. "Is there anything else you need to address with this council?" Coco nodded.
"Two things, actually," Coco informed them. "The first is that over the summer my students discovered an Android in the woods out of town that was collecting massive amounts of Dust, stating that his technology 'belonged to Atlas, though he did not answer to Atlas.'" Winter's eyes went wide as she thought it over, her chest heaving.
"Do you know something?" Ruby asked.
"Years ago we had created a blueprint for a unit that would do just that, collect Dust from the mines in Atlas, which would reduce labor costs and danger to our employees," Winter told them. "But it went missing. The only thing that I can think of is that Admon is the one responsible. He's the only officer who's defected 'recently' that would do something like this. We never had the chance to prototype or test the unit because the AI was still young yet, a modified version of Penny's that hadn't had the combat system removed from it yet."
"It attacked my students," Coco noted. "Called itself DAMU."
"That has to be it," Winter said rubbing her temples.
"Do we know where Admon is?" Stratford inquired.
"We lost track of him last year in the midst of fighting the Fang and looking for the Neo-Salems," Winter stated. "I will take care of this, you have my word."
"And the last item?" Ruby questioned.
"A woman by the name of Silvia Blood was caught testing equipment illegally in Vale, stating that she was with the Vacuo council," Coco remarked. She looked to Olesia. "Is that true?" Winter and Ruby exchanged a glance.
"No," Olesia stated bewildered. "I have no idea who that is."
"We should probably keep an eye out for her and bring her in for some questioning if we find her," Coco noted. "Someone else can have the floor now."
"Does Vacuo have anything to bring to this meeting?" Ruby asked.
"I've been working with the Atlas Military in our pursuit of Strakh," Olesia explained. "We had an incident two days ago."
"What kind of incident?" Siobhan questioned.
"One of Strakh's hideouts was burned to the ground," Dorian began. "It was discovered by Kitsune Aka and Nero Creel, neither of which could be here today. They managed to cripple the man even further, shooting him in his good leg, but in the incident, Nero was kidnapped and Kitsune was knocked unconscious. The driver that we had supplied to Kitsune found her in the building shortly after it was rocked by an explosion. She had pretty severe burns but the doctors in Vacuo assure us that her Aura will be able to heal them, considering the nature of her semblance."
"One of your men was captured?" Stratford asked.
"Yes," Winter sighed. "Rest assured, the military presence is excessive as of this moment in Shade looking for both Strakh and Nero."
"He's not liable to give up any intel that we have on them, is he?" Coco inquired. Winter chuckled, though the stress she was feeling was evident.
"Well, they don't have Kitsune, so I'd say that we're safe," Winter assured them.
"She would give up information more easily than he would?" Siobhan assumed.
"Not exactly," Winter replied.
"Mistral?" Ruby finished. Stratford stood.
"We haven't had anything noteworthy as of late, and we are more than willing to help with any of the other kingdom's problems," Stratford offered. "I would like to extend thanks to Winter for letting us occupy Argus in their stead so that their forces can be used elsewhere. My men are more than willing to defend Atlas's easternmost base until your military force can return."
"You have in writing that the base still belongs to you, right?" Ruby asked Winter. Stratford chuckled.
"Ruby," He said. "I don't want Atlas to leave Mistral. Their relationship with us is more important to my kingdom now than it has ever been. I even offered to allow them to expand the borders of Argus recently. Isn't that right, Winter?" Winter nodded.
"We've been wanting more space for a larger armory for years and Stratford and I signed the papers a few weeks ago," Winter noted. Stratford tsked and wagged his finger at Ruby.
"But in all seriousness, if I can help with anything, let me know," Stratford informed them. Ruby smiled and nodded.
"Of course!" She exclaimed. "That should do it then! I trust you all enough to get things taken care of without giving specifics, so let's keep Remnant safe!" They all began to file out of the room, Dorian complaining to Olesia who walked away from him to join Stratford, lagging behind to walk with Siobhan as the two of them argued with each other over how their kingdom heads shouldn't be dating each other. Winter, Ruby, and Coco remained behind as the doors loudly slammed shut and echoed through the subterranean great hall.
"Blood?" Ruby repeated. She ran her hand through her hair.
"That can't be," Winter noted. "Unless someone is using her identity."
"Who is Silvia Blood?" Coco questioned.
"2 years before you returned to Beacon the council was having problems with her," Ruby explained. "Merlot's granddaughter. But her project went awry and she died in an explosion."
"Why would anyone want to use her name?" Coco asked.
"If it's a Neo-Salem follower they probably just want to stir up some fear," Winter offered. "I say we ignore it for now. We'd be seeing far more Grimm if that was the case, but their numbers are currently at an all-time low."
"Keep an eye out," Ruby added as Coco began leaving. Ruby sighed. "So we lost track of Strakh again, huh?"
"Seems that way," Winter noted as she collected her papers.
"What happened?" Ruby pried.
"Kitsune told me that they ran into Jett while they were there who knew that she was on the council," Winter stated.
"How would she have known that?" Ruby pondered.
"It's not exactly a secret that she's a member of the council," Winter reminded Ruby. "It's not like it was shortly before you joined where we did everything behind the scenes. Now we have to be out in the public, reassuring them that we're doing what's best for them."
"Did she say anything else," Ruby asked.
"She said Jett had the ability to borrow semblances," Winter added.
"Amazing!" Ruby exclaimed. She calmed down. "I mean, it's awful what happened, but what a semblance." Ruby opened the door for her. "Where will you start looking for Nero?"
"If we turn Shade upside down and still can't find him, I'm not sure," Winter stated staring down the hall. "Perhaps Emerald can try and find that out for us as well?"
"I'll see what Coco can have her do," Ruby assured the woman. Blood has to be dead, right? The Camazotz could have easily been an undiscovered species, there were parts of Remnant outside of Salem's realm that are uninhabitable by man, perhaps it came from there. No, I'm certain she's dead.
"Neela," came a voice that Neela could hear from her sleep but she couldn't quite put a face to. She inhaled slowly, her body rejecting the idea of waking up so soon, knowing that something was off. It was far too early to be waking up, her biological clock was aware of that much for her, and she pushed the calling of her name aside and tried to drift back towards the last dream she was having. It was one of the nicest she'd had since the accident, she was at home with Shadow and the two of them were playing in the treehouse. Shadow was the hero, of course. Even in Neela's dreams, the girl was too cute for words. She'd nearly returned to her deep sleep before the voice called to her again. "Neela."
"What?" She groaned as she forced her eyes open, needing little time to adjust to the darkness of the room to find that Ilia was on top of her, and she couldn't find a reason why in her head. She panicked, her breathing growing erratic as she blushed. "Ilia? What… What's going on?"
"Come on, we're wasting precious time," Ilia told her. Ilia climbed off of her, leaping to her feet and checking to make sure that Titus was still asleep. She glanced at the other bed, Eren had more or less been AWOL since Glynda had introduced him to the team, and Ilia wondered where he'd gone. They never actually saw him outside of class, and during class, he wasn't the most social. Ilia watched as Neela threw the covers off and tossed her legs over the side of the bed, her baggy sweats riding up on one leg, and her tank top disheveled enough that Ilia could tell she was sleeping without a bra on.
"Can you at least tell me what we're doing?" Neela asked her as she rubbed her eyes.
"It's a surprise," Ilia assured her with a wink. "Grab Predator's Edge and…" Ilia stopped and looked at Neela who looked away. "Grab your bow and arrows and I'll meet you outside of the dorm." Neela nodded slowly as she stood.
"Right," Neela replied. Ilia headed out into the hallway first, taking the stairs down to the lower floor of the second-year dorm rooms. They were slightly larger than the first-year dorms, and the space was appropriated differently this time. The recreational room was easily a fourth, if not a fifth, of the size of the First-Years. The extra space was made up for with a small weight room and laundry room, and there was a set of stairs that led further down to a swimming pool. Ilia could only imagine what the next two dorms were like, this seemed excessive as it was. She sighed. Why had she called Neela's weapon by name, she knew that Eliana had come up with that name. If only there was some way to do it all over… wishful thinking, but Ilia felt like she'd give up almost as much as Neela would to have their teammate back.
Eliana was a kind of glue that had brought them all together with a nativity and optimism that no one would ever be able to replace. If it wasn't for Eliana, Titus never would have come out of his shell, and in turn, Ilia would have run away again. She owed Eliana. She wanted to go to Mistral and demand that Eliana return, but she had the feeling it wouldn't make a difference. She stepped out of the dorm, closing the door quietly behind her, and turned back around to find Emerald standing a few feet away.
"Where are you heading out this early?" Emerald asked.
"Please, Ms. Sustrai," Ilia pleaded. "Neela needs this. I don't know if they told you what happened but she's having a rough time. We're just heading out into the Emerald Forest for a few hours." Emerald smiled and nodded.
"Just be careful out there, okay?" Emerald instructed her. Ilia smiled back.
"Of course," Ilia insisted. Neela opened the door a few minutes later, dressed in her usual outfit, bow and quiver slung over her shoulder as she yawned.
"We heading to the practice range?" Neela asked her.
"I had a better idea," Ilia said as she began moving towards the forest. "We have to clear your head so we can keep you on top." Neela followed her, anxious and sorrowful as they left the school grounds.
"You don't have to worry about me," Neela told her. "I'll get back on my game, I just need time."
"I want to see you in action!" Ilia exclaimed grinning at the Faunus. "The great Neela the Archer in her element!"
"Ilia…" Neela began.
"So we'll go back to the basics so you're ready in time for the Vytal Festival!" Ilia announced.
"Stop it!" Neela shouted at her. Ilia halted in her tracks, staring at the ground and refusing to look back at Neela. "I see what you're trying to do, but just stop!" Neela breathed heavily as her chest heaved. "Everybody keeps treating me like I need help. Like I need to forget. Like I'm not strong enough! I'm sick of it, okay?! That's why I started sleeping in the dorm again, I couldn't stand Blake and Yang asking me what was wrong all the time!"
"Then start acting like it!" Ilia screamed at her turning around. Neela was shocked to find tears streaming down Ilai's face. She was crying… "I had a family once! My mother loved me more than she loved herself and my dad was at the very least supportive until she died! I just want that again! But to have Eliana leave like that and to have to watch you act like everything's okay whenever someone calls you out on it?! You're the one who needs to stop it!"
"I…" Neela started.
"Just accept that you're not okay! It's the first step to fixing all of this! I don't want to lose you too!" Ilia exclaimed. "You three are the closest friends I've ever had, and I hate seeing you like this. Titus does too, though he'll never say it out loud. Let me do this one thing for you. Forget about Eliana for a while, everything will sort itself out with enough time, but you can't wait for that to happen! You need to keep moving forward!"
"I'm sorry," Neela apologized. Ilia closed the gap between them and hugged Neela, holding her tight for longer than Neela would have expected.
"Please try," Ilia begged. "Just for a little while…" Neela's mind melted. She was caught in a loop. Every time that she tried to fix it, to make it better, to forget… it just came back.
"I'll do my best," Neela told her as they released each other. Was there any fixing this? Would it get better? Could she forget?
"Clear your mind," Ilia told her. "Just like when you're tracking a Grimm. Just find something to focus on and use that to anchor yourself." Neela nodded. It was worth a shot, but the only thing that she wanted to focus on was Eliana. "What if I got rid of the memories? Would that help?"
"What do you mean?" Neela asked her confused.
"I've heard that Yatsu can erase memories," Ilia explained. "If I found a way to enter your psyche and remove them…"
"No!" Neela asserted. Ilia looked her in the eyes. Neela was hurting still.
"I'm sorry, you're right, that's awful," Ilia admitted. "I just want to help put you at ease and it was the first thing that came to mind." Ilia looked out further into the woods before turning back towards the dorms. "Maybe we should head back, we've lost quite a bit of time as it is, and I'm sure that you're upset with me."
"I'm not upset with you," Neela told her. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, it's just going to take me some…" Neela stopped as her ears picked up on something. Her eyes narrowed, rushing Ilia and shoving her to the side as Neela grappled up to the trees and peered down trying to spot the Grimm. She had the urge to use her Semblance to find it quickly, but she knew the results might be catastrophic. As often as she was passing out, her aura was working overtime, meaning that its capacity was dwindling every day. If she gave it a period to cool down it would return to normal, according to Ren and Jaune, but until then she'd have to deal with having less. Ren also told her that too many more episodes could possibly result in her aura breaking for good, or something worse.
"Do you see something?" Ilia asked.
"Not yet, but I heard something," Neela informed her. Ilia nodded and watched her in awe. It was like instinct to Neela, maybe this was the best idea she could have had. Neela scanned the area, noting a few prints and broken limbs and she leapt down, staying close to Ilia as she moved forward. The downed brush provided them with enough cover that Neela was confident she'd be able to get a jump on them, Ilia following closely, trying to steady her breathing. "What is it?"
"A pack of Beowulves," Ilia admitted. "Vin said his team spotted them yesterday as they were leaving the forest." Neela nodded. She wondered what had set them off, usually, Beowulves were smart enough that they didn't leave a trail of destruction in their wake unless they were chasing after something that was afraid of them.
"I think someone might be out here," Neela explained moving more quickly.
"What?" Ilia asked. "Trespassing?"
"If they were, they're definitely heading the other direction now," Neela explained. She moved more quickly, noting more signs of movement by the pack and picking up on a faint scent. Neela felt a warmth. She was hunting again, this was exactly what she needed! She grappled quickly through a mess of downed trees, stopping on the edge of the dense woods that led into a clearing that was a mostly dried up river bed. Since fall had begun it hadn't rained much, and Vale wondered if it was in for a dry winter that year. Neela's train of thought was cut off as a Beowulf crashed through the trees on the other side of the river, rolling down the bank before stopping at the bottom, its breathing ragged.
"That guy must have crazy strength," Ilia called out. Neela nodded in agreement. It took a considerable amount of force to throw a Grimm that far, and judging by the lack of bullet fire or Dust, it had been raw strength or the work of a Semblance. The spot that the Beowulf had exited from was obliterated, wood splintering everywhere as two Manticore crashed through and focused on the Beo.
"What?!" Neela gasped. "Are you seeing this?"
"I don't even know what those are!" Ilia spoke in a hushed tone as Neela jumped down to her.
"Manticores!" Neela informed her. "They're only found in northern Mistral, why the hell would they be here in Vale?"
"What do you know about them?" Ilia asked as she absorbed herself into Neela's body.
"Can shoot fireballs, scorpion tails, damn near impossible to attack from the front," Neela offered. "Mom says that she grabbed one by the horns once, corkscrewed it, and then nailed it in the jaw."
I'm gonna guess that was Yang.
"Obviously," Neela replied as they finished their kill on the Beowulf. "And they're a bit territorial."
Do we go back and tell the teachers what's going on?
"We'll never know if we can take it if we don't try," Neela suggested.
That's the spirit! Just… don't overdo it…
"I won't," Neela informed her. She knocked an ice arrow and lined up the shot. "Things are going to happen quickly."
"I'm ready," Ilia admitted. Neela released the arrow, firing her grapple across the river and holding it tight to let Ilia slide down it like a zip line, the arrow erupting and freezing the back legs of one of the beasts. The Manticore roared to its partner before scanning the sky and noting the women, Ilia coming down to plunge her blades deep into the back of the one that was frozen. The ice proved ineffective as it easily broke free and used its head to throw Ilia into the woods.
"Ilia!" Neela shouted without thinking. The second Manticore was already moving, taking the tree out from under her as she retracted her grapple and swung over the river to the opposite side. The Grimm slid to a stop, noting that its prey had moved, roaring at her again. Neela moved gracefully through the trees, leaping across branches and boughs towards where she'd last seen Ilia.
I'm alright.
Neela slid to a stop, nearly falling out of the last tree.
"How are you back in me?" Neela asked.
Oh right, I haven't shown you this yet. I set a link earlier while I was tagging along inside you. It works once, twice if I overdo it. Handy in a pinch.
"Good to know," Neela replied as a fireball shattered her tree apart and sent her sprawling. Her grapple missed and she hit the ground hard enough that Ilia leapt out beforehand to avoid damage to her own aura. Ilia landed on her feet, opening fire on the Grimm but watching nervously as the bullets ricochet off of their manes.
"You have a plan?" Ilia questioned.
"My ice arrows won't cut it to stop them," Neela admitted. "I've got the upper hand in mobility until we get close, I'm not sure we can pack enough punch."
"What are we doing then?" Ilia inquired. She rolled out of the way of one as it leapt in to tackle her, blasting herself backward with fire Dust bullets. Neela fired two explosive arrows into trees on both sides of them.
"Keep them here for a moment!" Neela requested as she grappled into the foliage once again.
"Easier said than done!" Ilia confessed. The beast charged up for another fireball attack as the other charged in, swiping with its stinger and tossing Ilia again a second time as she was unable to dodge both. Neela struck a few earth Dust arrow tips into the tops of the two trees. "Are we ready?"
"Just need to bring them back this way!" Neela declared. She leapt down into her trap and offered herself as bait, firing a few lightning arrows at them that drew their attention and annoyed them.
"Hey!" Yelled another voice from deeper in the woods at the Grimm. Eren stepped out from the dense shrubbery and smirked, his gun in hand as he twirled it around his finger.
"No!" Neela shouted.
"You've been tracking me all morning, right?" Eren asked with a smirk. "I'm right here jackasses, and I bet I taste great."
"Neela has a trap set for them, shut up!" Ilia demanded as she ran to Neela's side.
"That so?" Eren asked. He sighed. "Man, that would have been really cool to see, but since I'm the one who decided to hunt Grimm this morning, something tells me they're more interested in me." Eren stared the monster's in the eyes. "They can tell I killed the other two." He laughed. Two other Manticores?
"This will be safer!" Neela shouted. Eren gritted his teeth and glared past the Grimm at her.
"Yeah, but less fun," He explained aiming his gun. "Come on then!" His veins bulged as he shouted at the Manticores and they roared, coming in for an attack. They both attacked at the same time, his gun seeming to charge up before firing off a massive kinetic round, breaking the one on the left's right horn clean off. He caught the other Grimm's stinger on his scale armor covering his arm, holding it there as the monster attempted to overpower him. He batted the stinger away, tossing the gun into the air as he caught the horn and swung up, running it through the left's jaw, killing it instantly. He backflipped away from the second as its tail swung back around, catching his gun as he landed back on his feet. He holstered it as the beast roared at him, charging up another fireball, this one much larger than the last few. Eren chuckled, holding the broken end of the horn in his left hand and aiming the point at the Manticore, his palm flat.
The horn flew from his hand with amazing speed, crashing through the Grimm's bone mask and sticking out of its forehead. It shook its head, even more pissed off before the bone exploded and the Grimm was torn apart. Ilia and Neela stared for a few seconds before he turned around and bowed.
"Well… come on then. Don't everyone applaud at once," Eren jested as he approached them. "Are you impressed now? Do I have your approval?"
"It's not about impressing me," Neela scolded. Ilia looked at her. She seemed a bit more stable than when they'd first met and she was sure it would stay that way… unless he called her Little Hawk again.
"Then what do I need to do, huh?" He asked. "Clearly you're unimpressed."
"It doesn't matter if I approve of you," she said. "What matters is that you commit yourself to becoming a member of this team and bettering those around you." He chuckled before breaking into a full-blown laugh.
"You see, this is why I didn't want to come to this stupid ass academy," Eren said brushing past them. "You're the top dog around here. Once I have your acknowledgment I'll be satisfied, but I ain't about all that team bullshit."
"Then I guess you won't find what you're looking for," Neela told him. He waved her off and stomped away.
"What's with him?" Ilia asked.
"Who knows," Neela replied. She sighed and looked at the wreckage around them. She had to admit that she was impressed at his skill, but why did he want her to admit it to him so badly? "Well, now what?" Ilia chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Funny you should mention it, but after I fight a new Grimm I normally get a tattoo of it on my body," Ilia explained. Neela's eyes grew wide.
"Really!? That's why you have so many? So you've fought a Sea Feilong?!" Neela blurted out. Ilia laughed.
"Probably one of my toughest fights ever, but yeah," Ilia told her. "Wanna go with me to get the new ink?"
"Sure!" Neela exclaimed. "If you don't mind."
"I don't mind," Ilia laughed. Neela smiled. There it is. Hold on to that, Neela.
Hopefully, Ilia can help Neela turn things around. Next week, Chapter 9: Reference!
A big thank you to AG_Nonsuch, Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. The artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay classy!