Legal Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Red vs. Blue, or any of the shows' characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.

Chapter Thirty-Four:

Clover awoke in that same dark, dreary space. Only, it felt more "real" than ever before, the entire expanse before him nothing but a blackness so dark he nearly thought his eyes were still closed. It took him a while for his vision to adjust, his mind slowly adapting to what he saw around him.

Cinder stood before him, arms crossed over her chest as she looked more than just displeased. She spoke to a figure that seemed absolutely drenched in the darkness flowing before them, and Clover's mind instantly went to the silhouette he'd often encountered of Salem in his nightmares. A shot of fear went through his chest at the realization that she'd materialized this much into Remnant already.

"It would've been ideal if we could've captured the boy as well." Cinder was saying, her visible eye narrowing in consternation at this apparent failure on their end, "Atlas would have fallen then."

"Patience. It is only a matter of time now before we acquire everything we need." Salem's cold voice punctuated the darkness, "I've waited this long for my complete return. A few more days is nothing."

Cinder scoffed, but said nothing in response, apparently knowing it to be futile to attempt arguing with a goddess.

"What is most important at the moment is that we retrieved my trinket." Salem continued, and though he couldn't make out her red and black eyes, he knew her figure had turned expectantly in his direction, "Isn't that right, my lucky charm?"

Clover started at being directly addressed then, his mind scrambling to try and formulate some kind of plan despite the general haze that seemed to be caressing the edges of his awareness. His chest and back hurt, and it was that pain that he focused on enough to give him the clarity he needed to move, to get away...

Only, as soon as he tried standing up, the darkness behind him seemed to twist and move also, and the brown-haired soldier suddenly found himself trapped against what felt like a sturdy wall as tendrils of purple and black miasma wrapped around his muscular frame, effectively pinning him in place. Teal eyes widened as he tried struggling against the new bonds but to no avail.

A copious amount of the viscous liquid that Salem referred to as "food" despite not at all resembling it floated over the goddess' shoulder then. His mind recoiled at the hunger pangs that suddenly laced through his body at the sight of it. "It is imperative that you eat as much as you can, for the final stages of your transformation are about to begin." Salem informed him.

He was not given any time to process the chilling words before the food was seeping down his throat once more, the hunger only dissipating when the very last drops disappeared. "Wh—where am I?" He coughed out afterwards, shocked to find that his voice was still in use.

Cinder pinched his side with her monstrous arm, "Can't you tell, Captain Ebi? Or has your Grimm hunger impacted your mind?" She taunted him.

Salem held up her hand to silence the woman's mocking, "Do not worry, Clover Ebi," she explained, "You're safe here inside the Nevermore."

As if on cue, the winged creature itself suddenly appeared behind him, cooing almost gently. He stared at the goddess, uncomprehending how he could be inside the Grimm if it was also here. "This is a special plane inside the Nevermore that allows me to still exist somewhat in Remnant despite my sealed state." She explained patiently, waving a hand as she added, "It is also an ideal place for you to safely transform."

His voice remained frozen in his throat following, as if she was done with answering inane questions, but his recollection of what had happened earlier came racing back to him. He'd desperately offered himself up to the Nevermore in order to save Qrow, only to somehow be absorbed into the creature instead. So he was basically in an alternate space within the gigantic Grimm? His mind was reeling at the thought.

The dark form of Salem approached then, "You're going to be reborn, my lucky charm, and what better place for your transformation than here?" She asked, gesturing around them as if it was some kind of wonderful paradise.

Burning pain laced through his body and he could just envision the growth of the boney protrusions that had appeared on him earlier, his entire body convulsing with it. Panic was surging through him at the idea that whatever was going on, he was utterly powerless to stop it. The tendrils that had wrapped around his body before seemed to envelop him almost like a cocoon would to keep him in place, and the Nevermore's wings wrapped around him almost protectively.

"I think we should start with the arms first, since our lucky charm was so proud of them as a human." The goddess seemed to be mulling over how to proceed, and Clover felt his heart rate begin to pick up in panic.

"Don't be so alarmed, Captain Ebi." Cinder mockingly taunted, "After all, you won't be having to worry about anything really." There was a cruel gleam in her eye as she added, "Soon, no one will even recognize you. Yourself included."

That only caused him to try and strain more against his bonds, tears welling in his eyes as the agony flaring up all across his skin intensified all the more. A darkened hand reached out and touched the miasma curling around his body then and Clover instantly relaxed, surprised at how calm and at peace he felt just then even as the pain started up anew.

"I can't wait to see what you are reborn as, my lucky charm." Salem murmured as, against his back, Clover felt the thrumming of the Nevermore almost like a lullaby that, perhaps thankfully in a way, lulled his mind into a drowsy state all the more.


The first thing Qrow was aware of when he opened his eyes was a burning pain in his chest. He gasped at the sensation, his senses going from extremely dulled to suddenly incredibly awake within a matter of seconds. Flashes of memory came to him next. He remembered falling asleep with Clover in his room, how the other had panicked when he'd woken up from another of his nightmares. Then the onslaught of Grimm and Golems converging on Mantle...

Around that time, a gigantic Nevermore had shown up. It had seemed fixated on Clover and had attacked them, its talons ripping into his flesh. Clover. Clover had saved him by turning the beast's attention onto him. He'd disappeared somehow into it and...

And then Qrow had woken up wherever here was. His mind briefly registered after the panic had started to die down that he was looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling, at pipes and vents as though he were in a cellar of some kind. The only lighting came from Dust lamps latched onto either the ceiling or standing upright on the floor. From somewhere far away, he could hear the sound of water dripping.

Movement came from off to his left then, and he turned his head slightly to see Nora and Ren leaning against one another on a bench by the wall. Ren was still sleeping soundly, but the redhead had jostled herself awake and was stretching her arms out as she yawned, light blue eyes suddenly landing on him as she did so, "Qrow!" Nora exclaimed, rising to her feet so quickly that poor Ren would have nearly toppled to the floor if she hadn't been quick enough to grab his shoulder and keep him steady, "You're awake!"

"Yeah," he responded, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he winced slightly and struggled to sit up right. His chest and torso were tightly bandaged, he noticed, "What did I miss?" Qrow asked, clearly out of the loop at present.

The girl and Ren exchanged a look, Nora snorting not a second later, "Uh, what didn't you miss?" She stated, "Clover was swallowed by that ginormous Grimm, and Oscar and Kai were taken to Atlas!"

Red eyes widened at the admission, his fingers clenching around the edges of the blanket pooling at his hips. Ren shifted uncomfortably at the sight of the older man's obvious shock, "I'm sorry that this news is so upsetting, Qrow." He said earnestly.

Nora looked apologetic too, "Yeah, it was all pretty overwhelming." She said, "We were trying to keep you from bleeding out and stay alive ourselves."

It shouldn't have come as such a huge shock though. Not really. He knew how stubborn the General King could be when he put his mind to something, and the Goddess of Destruction just wanted all of Remnant to be destroyed.

From his spot next to Nora, Ren regarded Qrow carefully, "Do you remember what happened to you?" He asked softly.

Qrow scoffed, "The Nevermore nearly ripped me to shreds. Clover saved me." He stated plainly, furrowing his brow, "After that, I pretty much woke up here." He glanced around the cramped room they were in, "Wherever here is." He said, not bothering to hide his confusion at their current surroundings.

"We're underground!" Nora supplied helpfully.

At Qrow's blank look, Ren elaborated further, "The abandoned mining tunnels that Sarge and Robyn mentioned before." He explained.

"Yeah, they're our new top secret headquarters!" Nora exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air, "Which we kind of needed after what happened in Mantle."

Qrow smiled wryly at the reminder, "I suppose I have Jaune to thank for my recovery then?" He asked the two, already having guessed the answer.

The girl grinned and nodded, "Yep! He'll be stoked that you're up now!" She said cheerily, "Oh! So will Ruby and Yang too!" With that, Nora jumped to her feet and clutched Ren's hand tightly in her hers, heading towards the door, "C'mon, Ren! We need to tell them!"

Ren smiled patiently at her, cheeks a bit red at the contact between them as he turned back to Qrow, "We'll be right back." He said plainly, as if that was the most obvious explanation in the world.

Qrow nodded slightly, the enthusiasm radiating off of the pair causing him to smile slightly despite the pain still lingering in his chest. It only lasted as long as the door opened and shut behind them, though, his mind spinning with the implications of what he'd just heard.

They'd essentially been forced out of even Mantle by the attack. Worse yet, Ironwood had Oscar and Kai evidently somewhere in Atlas, and Clover was a prisoner of a literal goddess. Qrow smiled self-deprecatingly as he put his head in his hands. He hadn't been able to truly help anyone, had he?

Just as his thoughts started spiraling into even darker territory, the door opened again and he heard heavy footsteps approaching. "Sonuvagun, those two were right about you being up!" Sarge exclaimed brightly as he came into view, "You're too tough to keep down for long!"

Qrow raised an eyebrow, "Is that supposed to be a compliment?" He asked, unsure if Sarge actually knew what a normal compliment even entailed.

The older man in red shrugged his shoulders, "Either or." He responded, a serious look crossing over his brown eyes as he added, "Your girls are on their way here, along with Robyn and Winter. Everyone's going to have a field day now that you're up and about again."

Qrow scoffed, leaning backwards on his mattress, "I don't see why," he said self-deprecatingly, "It's not like I'm very helpful to have around."

Sarge harrumphed, "That's enough of that claptrap, son." He told him brusquely, "We wouldn't have risked life and limb keepin' you alive on that battlefield if we thought that. Clover wouldn't have done what he did either. And Oscar got the Golems to back off by going with them to buy us time, along with that crazy Grif girl."

A pained look crossed over Qrow's features at Sarge's words, "Maybe no one should have bothered." He muttered darkly. After all, all he was capable of doing was bringing misfortune to others. The thought of people risking their lives for him given that set him on edge.

Sarge said nothing to the Huntsman's words, though he placed his hand on Qrow's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze, a gesture that Qrow tried not to wince at, "Things'll turn out, you'll see." The older man finally said at length, his tone emphatic, "We'll get to Atlas, kick that General King and Cinder's keisters, and we'll get your boy and Ebi back."

Qrow gave Sarge a grateful look then, though he found himself unable to say anything in response. He hoped that the old man was right, even as a familiar heavy feeling overcame him. After all, misfortune always seemed to come back to him.


Clover felt oddly detached from what was going on around him, as though his reality and thoughts were currently on another plane entirely. He couldn't tell if that was better or worse, given how the pain now felt farther away and his mind seemed hazy with tiredness instead of the all-consuming panic he'd felt before. Even the miasma binding him to the wall seemed to relax its hold as if sensing his growing calm, the thrumming of the Nevermore still ringing like a lullaby against him and inside his head, its wings protectively encircling him.

He knew whatever was happening was terrible, but he didn't seem to have any energy left to fight it. It was as if he was drifting farther and farther away while still being very much present physically, which was an incredibly odd and disconcerting sensation.

Cinder and Salem's darkened form (was it just him or was she becoming more and more discernible with every passing moment?) were hovering over him, a cruel smirk playing on Cinder's expression as Salem placed a now pale hand against Clover's face and stroked his cheek as though she were petting a dog or cat, smiling down at him indulgently all the while.

"I'm surprised he's lasted this long considering how quickly other transformations have been." The dark-haired woman stated brusquely, almost sounding impressed as a glimmer came into her visible eye, "But it seems as if he's starting to give in now."

"Yes. He's a stubborn one, so it was good to be patient." Salem murmured, drawing her hand away from Clover's face as black and purple mist swirled around her fingers.

A mask made of bone suddenly appeared there, and Clover's teal eyes widened slightly at the realization that it was the very same mask she'd shown to him before. He tried moving his head back on instinct, and the tendrils around his neck tightened in obvious warning. "It is time for the mask to make the ensemble complete." Salem informed both him and Cinder then, and she leaned forward to carefully place the piece on his face.

Clover froze as darkness suddenly overcame his vision with the mask covering his face, and he felt tiny pinpricks of pain along his skin as he realized with a faint and dawning horror that the bone was actually attaching itself. Salem lowered her hand then, her tone appraising and rather proud as she grabbed a handful of Clover's hair and brought his face up to look more closely at her work, "I certainly know how to make the best trinkets." She murmured, sounding immensely pleased with what she saw.

Distantly, Clover was aware of Cinder laughing at his expense.


Author's Notes: Poor everyone at the moment, but we're approaching the final legs of the story and I'm a sucker for happy endings so hopefully there will be one here too! :D