Chapter 27
The forest was silent. Even the chirping of birds and rustling of bushes had quieted. The only sound left was the slow scraping of stone on stone and stone on wood as the Petra Gigas slowly pushed its way through the forest, seemingly sure of its path.
All that changed as Ruby opened fire. A single sniper round pinged off of its stone, mere inches from its Grimm mask merely chipping away a few pieces of stone. The forest roared to life as birds took flight and rabbits and other forest critters ran for their lives. Ruby travelled through the trees, leading the now enraged Grimm from its course.
Every few metres she would turn and fire again to keep it focused on her. There was something exhilarating about jumping through the trees while being chased like this. Maybe Yang had been right about seeking adventure.
It took just over a minute for Ruby and her new friend to reach her destination. Ruby leapt into the air, tapping into her Semblance to gain distance. The Petra Gigas tried to follow and fell off a cliff. Together they fell to a clearing.
The Grimm slammed into the ground while Ruby crashed through several branches, landing on a thick branch with a grunt. The sounds of battle began as her friends attacked the recovering monster. Ruby leapt down to the ground and entered the fray.
Ren attempted to run up the Grimm's arm, but he was only able to cross a few steps before he got violently thrown off.
In order to give Ren some cover, Nora tried to shatter it with her grenades but found them largely ineffectual. The same went for both Crescent Rose and Ember Emortus. Pyrrha's bullets pinged off of the stone. Jaune hid behind a log and yelled out commands.
With the Petra Gigas immune to their weapons, they needed to kick it up a notch. "Pyrrha! Push it's guard open, Ruby you fly up and pull it out!" Jaune yelled as Ruby swapped into her gauntlets. Pyrrha dropped her blade and reached out her hand and gripped the air. She pulled back and then thrust it out, sending a blast of wind at the Grimm.
The very air around the Petra Gigas seemed to grasp its arms, pulling them to the side. Ruby sped through the air as a bundle of petals, returning to normal just before landing on the things face. Ruby grabbed the mask and pulled. Rocks tumbled to the ground as the Geist was drawn from its home.
It pulled itself free of Ruby's grasp and attempted to escape, only for a red and gold spear to lance through its face, killing the Grimm instantly. As it dissolved the spear flew back to Pyrrha.
Ruby landed on the ground and joined her friends. "Another victory for team Junior!" Jaune announced, hands upon his hips. "Actually yeah, that sounded better in my head…"
Ruby raised her eyebrow in confusion. Pyrrha just shrugged. "Let's head back and tell the village elder." Ruby said with a sigh.
"He was nice." Pyrrha commented as the team walked to the blacksmiths. The elder hadn't been able to give them much more than gratitude but that was fine. After Kiku, they were pretty much set. What few items they did need they could just buy anyway.
The group soon arrived at the blacksmiths. The Faunus within greeted them with a big smile. "Welcome back! We just finished it all off. I've got your weapon right here." He pulled Crocea Mors out and placed it, point down, on the counter. "I think it came out pretty well." The blacksmith expanded the sheath out into its shield, showing them the golden edging that had been added.
Jaune took the blade with a smile. "Thanks. It looks great!"
"Alright! I'll grab the armour. You can take that old stuff off." He left into the back room. Jaune put his sword down and took off his breastplate. He took a deep breath and sighed.
"Feels like the end of an Era…" Jaune said, turning to face them.
"Pft!" Ruby struggled to hold in laughter. "What is that!?" She pointed at him.
"My hoodie? I've always worn it." Jaune seemed confused.
Ruby took a deep breath. "Why is it a bunny?"
"It's Pumpkin Pete!"
Ruby blinked in confusion. "You've been wearing a Pumpkin Pete hoodie this entire time?"
"Yes! What's wrong with that? It's limited edition!"
"Never change Jaune. Never change." Ruby smiled and exited the building.
Jaune looked to the others. They just shrugged. Soon they all left to give him some privacy while he changed.
The halls were almost silent, the only noise being their feet as they hit the ground. It felt deafening to Cinder, who had been so used to the hustle and bustle of Vale. Even a tiny village had more background noise than Salem's keep. The sounds of Emerald and Mercury following her did little to fight off her uneasiness.
Purple light filtered in through the windows, a grim reminder of just where they were. In some ways, it was a threat. There was no chance of escape. Just hordes of Grimm and certain death.
Hazel and Watts were already waiting when she arrived. Watts smirked at her while Hazel just gave her a nod. Cinder took her seat and waited. Emerald and Mercury took their positions behind her.
A couple of minutes passed. Hazel looked like he was sleeping. Watts messed around on his scroll. Cinder tapped the table impatiently. As Tyrian entered both of her underlings decided to have a look out the window.
They still weren't used to all of this. Even though every day they saw Grimm being born, each time still sent a shot of adrenaline through their systems. Cinder could recall a time she felt the same, but that was so long ago.
A snap of her fingers and her pawns returned to her side. Watts smirked again. "Yes do keep your little pets in line. We already have enough children around here."
Cinder glared in response. Behind her, Mercury growled in anger. Watts scoffed. "You know a part of me wishes to thank the girl that defeated you!" Cinder stiffened.
Tyrian began to laugh. "If I were you, I'd hunt her and her little friends down." He leant over towards Cinder. "Find them and, well, she took your eye, didn't she?" He cackled in his chair as Cinder pulled away, desperate to create some distance.
Cinder opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was barely a whisper. It frustrated her. Made her unbearably angry. Emerald came in, intent to report Cinder's words. Watts scoffed again.
"Utterly pathetic. Why did you even bother to-" He was cut off as the door opened. They all stood as their mistress entered the room. Salem glided along the floor to the display of purple crystal and candles at the end of the room.
"Watts. Is such an attitude really necessary?" She turned, gesturing for them all to sit. Watts was the only one of the lieutenants to stay standing.
"I apologize, ma'am. I simply am not fond of failure." He bowed and took his seat. Salem sat at the head of the table.
"I see. While Cinder did fail to become the full Fall Maiden, she did manage to destroy Beacon and more importantly killed Ozpin."
"True my lady, but to lose to a child."
Hazel nodded. "While she has Silver Eyes we have dealt with their kind before. How could one who doesn't even know how to use her powers defeat one of us?"
"My thoughts exactly!" Watts followed, a smile on his face. "Even without her new power, it should not have proved a problem!"
Salem considered for a moment. "As I understand it, that girl knew of Cinder's plans and came prepared. They dedicated a team to slow her down while they killed Amber just to transfer her power. To then face a group who knew her capabilities would be trying for anyone. The fact Cinder almost succeeded despite all of that should show you well enough that she did not fail because of one girl." Salem turned to Cinder.
"That being said, you did fail to claim the full power of a Maiden. You may still be our key to victory Cinder, but you will need more strength to win. Unfortunately, that strength comes with a crippling weakness. You will remain here, by my side, while your treatment continues." Cinder lowered her head. Her shoulder throbbed in pain.
Salem let out a quiet sigh. "Watts, you shall take Cinder's place for now. Meet with Lionheart and prepare Mistral for the next operation."
"Of course, ma'am." Watts bowed slightly.
"Tyrian, continue hunting the Spring Maiden."
Tyrian cackled and leant forward. "Gladly~"
"Hazel, meet with Adam Taurus. He has arranged the meeting. He has proven loyal so far, so make sure Sienna Khan feels the same."
"As you wish." Hazel said with a deep nod.
Cinder raised a hand and waited for Emerald to notice and come closer. Cinder whispered in her ear. As Emerald straightened Salem looked to the green-haired girl. "Speak, child."
"Cinder wants to know… what will be done about the girl?"
Watts scoffed. "What about her? She really isn't our problem." Cinder silently growled and slammed her human fist upon the table. Salem raised a hand and they both stilled.
"Enough. Tyrian?"
"Yes, my lady?"
"Spring can wait. Bring this girl to me."
Tyrian looked excited at the prospect of a new target. "Of course my goddess, anything for you."
Salem stood. "Because of all of you, Beacon has fallen and Haven shall be next."
They all rose. Watts and Hazel hurried away but as Tyrian passed he giggled and leaned in.
"An eye for an eye!"
He cackled as he wandered away.
A/N: Sorry for the delay and short chapter. The start of volume 4 turned out a little tougher than I expected. Mainly I think due to how few new perspectives I can throw in and how few changes there are yet. Without the rest of RWBY, I can't really check in on certain areas without it being basically bloat. Hard to check in on Menagerie or Atlas when nothing is really happening there. And the only other perspectives/scenes are canon ones with minute changes or ones I have to be careful with to make sure the timeline of events makes sense. Fun. The next couple of chapters might suffer the same, it's hard to tell. As we get further into the conflicts in V4 we should be good though.
I hope you all enjoyed and are as excited as I am for Volume 8! I'll see you next time!