Vol: 7 Chapter 7: Visions in Ulan-Tan's Grove
(Play: Red Fraction from "Black Lagoon" Eng cover by AmaLee)
I have a big gun
I took it from my lord
Sick with justice
I just wanna blame you
(A somewhat dirtied image of a Lien card flashes momentarily before it swaps to a blood stained wall of the Schnee manor a cigarette being smoked and an image of either Weiss or Winter from behind holding their weapons which seem bloodied. This then switches to a panning shot of Wolf's Pack going down its barrel.)
I am your angel
Only a call away
You make wanna break you
No matter who you are
(A bullet casing goes flying, showing Weiss' reflection before it cuts to a newspaper article mentioning a shooting in the Forgotten Shore with Weiss being shown holding a side arm, which she fires a few times)
It's all up to you
No one lives forever
Been burned in Hell
By all the pigs out there
It's always been Hell
Ever since I was born
They make we wanna break them
No matter who they are
(The next shot shows the same side arms barrel as Weiss points it at the area in front of her and a cigarette that she had in her mouth falls out as she pulls the trigger and then drops the magazine.)
Get down on your knees
Got a good head on your shoulders
If for you, I'd
Go to the end of the earth
Do what you want
Do it with dedication
I'll put out your misery
(The next shot shows a blood splatter that stains a flurry of feathers that had been blown away by the force of either a gust of wind or gunshot. Another shot shows that an empty bullet casing is rolling on the ground of the streets of Mantle in a pool of blood before it's blown away by the same wind that carried away feathers)
You made a mess
For Christ sake, this rotten world
Shit out of luck
Go with my vision
Light up the fire
Right on the power
A weapon … I have it all
(Weiss is seen sitting in the middle of the streets of Mantle for reasons unknown as the feathers drift through the air around her as the sunset flashes a few times. Then images of Jaune, Sky and Wolfgang are shown before 'Rise of the Iron Wolves: Forgotten' appears on the screen… And is shot at a few times and filled with bullet holes.)
-Amity Tower construction site-
"Weiss, please, for Brothers' sake. Just stop for a minute and rest." Winter tried to say to her little sister as the Iron Lady was busy trying to find something else to do after having finished clearing a mine shaft of Viral by herself… All while being deprived of a week's worth of sleep.
"I don't need rest. I need to vent." Weiss retorted. She had bags under her eyes currently, indicating that she hadn't slept for a while.
"You're running yourself ragged. If you keep this up, you might—." The specialist started to tell her.
"Die?" The girl snapped, cutting her off. "Spare me the concerned talk, Winter. I saw that you knew that Torchwick was alive in the Prison of Elders with the Captains. And you never seemed to care to mention that before."
"How do you—?" Her sister asked.
"Wolfgang had it in his journal. And don't act like you care, if you really cared, you would have been there when Wolfgang needed help. But you weren't!" The whitette shouted, tears stinging her eyes as she stomped her boot in the snow. "And because of that, he's gone. So just leave me alone! And if I end up dying… At least I know we'll be together again then." She said quietly.
'Weiss…' Winter thought sadly. She wanted oh so badly to just pull her little sister close and let her cry into her shoulder, but her little sibling wasn't having it.
Weiss started to turn and walk away, her hand on Myrtinaster's hilt, before her legs suddenly buckled from under her and her vision became cloudy as she started to fall down.
"Weiss!" Winter cried in alarm as she dashed to her sister's side. That's when the woman noticed that she was freezing cold to the touch. Her aura hadn't been up, and from the looks of things it hadn't been replenished in awhile. "She's freezing… Snowflake, why haven't you tried to fix her aura?" She asked the drone.
"I tried, but she kept refusing to let me." Snowflake told her.
"Dammit, Weiss! Why did you have to let your grief control you?!" The Specialist hissed before picking up her little sister. "Snowflake, alert the infirmary! Tell them they've got a patient coming their way!" She ordered.
"Yes ma'am!" The AED nodded as she did just that. "Should I call the rest of her team as well? They're out on missions but I'm sure I can get a hold of them."
"Do it." Winter nodded as she made a beeline for the infirmary.
(Elsewhere)
In Sky's dropship, Jaune was flying to a location that was rumored in legend to be the last place Aether the God of Light touched before he and Urba left Remnant. A place called The Grove of Ulan-Tan on the Dragon Continent, Faustus. Named after the philosopher who discovered it.
"I understand that your visions have taken the form of trees. I've seen them too. I once went to the Grove to look for answers. The last place Aether and his brother touched. The Grove will react to your arrival, if you let it." Fey told them.
"This should be interesting." Sky mused as he checked his weapons. As they landed, it was soon obvious that their AEDs had placed them right at the crater where the Brothers touched Faustus. In the center of the Grove.
"I touched us down near the crater where the Brothers touched Faustus." Joan told them as they made their way to a cliff edge overlooking said crater, where a huge beam of light was shooting from its center.
"What in the-" Jaune started to asked before a pulse of energy shot out from the beam and knocked them back.
"What. ?" Gurren asked slowly as Sky gathered himself.
"Whatever it was, it was for you, and you alone. The Brothers are speaking to you, eyes up, Huntsman." Fey told them as they moved through the grove.
"Devotion inspires bravery, bravery inspires sacrifice, sacrifice leads to death." The voice of Aether spoke as they approached one of the glowing trees.
"These trees are different from the other trees we saw." Sky noted as he and Jaune moved on.
"These visions are constructs of the Brother's light. And light reacts to its surroundings." Fey told them as they continued on.
However, as they did, they soon were met by rogue Enthralled Grimm. These were a mix of black and white with a large white eye. Sky tried to see if he could control them, but for some reason, he couldn't.
"What the hell? I can't control them!" He exclaimed in shock. Quickly they started attacking the creatures before they could attack back, quickly clearing their way to the next tree.
"The Garden grows in both directions. It grows into tomorrow and yesterday. And its red flowers bloom forever." The voice of Urba spoke this time.
"The Enthralled can see the trees… No. They can sense the light!" Joan said before amending herself.
"What caused these to go rogue?" Jaune wondered.
"It might be the energy in the area causing the energy in them to fluctuate." The Grimm Knight theorized.
"It matters not. These Enthralled are weeds, Huntsmen. Pull them up." Fey declared. The boys nodded as they continued forward until they found another group of Enthralled. This time it was Enthralled humans, and they were all surrounding another tree in some sort of blight.
"You could have been kings and Queens of the deep! But you toppled and are toppling the Worm Gods and Salem. Yet you do not replace them." Urba spoke again.
Jaune and Sky quickly dispatched the rogue Enthralled and destroyed the blight. When it vanished, the tree bloomed for a moment before vanishing. After it did, another wave of light washed over them, causing them to slide slightly.
"Humanity needs protectors if it is to survive. If it is to be redeemed. Will you stand with us?" Aether questioned as they reached another blight.
'Where is this whole thing leading us?' The two boys thought as they dealt with the rogue Enthralled.
"Even the stars are brighter now. The moon is healing itself. The entire cosmos is ablaze." Urba spoke as they reached another blight.
"The brothers have been gone for millennia, why have they waited so long to speak to us?" Joan asked.
"The brothers spoke to you and the rest of your teams long before now. When Salem's forces took down Beacon, they showed you a way forward." Fey told them. "The road to recovery is long, but when we grow stronger. So do the brothers."
After dealing with the blight, the two Iron Lords went into the cave nearby. When they got to an open area within, they were greeted by a clash between the Viral and rogue Enthralled.
"Well this looks interesting." Jaune noted.
"That Gate Lord could be useful." Sky nodded. Acting fast, he shot several Goblins and shot a tether of energy at the Gate Lord. The large Viral struggled against the energy transforming it, but it proved futile and became one of Sky's new assets.
As soon as they were dealt with, they found another blight, and it was surrounding yet another tree.
"The Light and The Dark lives in all things. In all places. You can block them, even try to trap them. But they will find their way. And Humanity will defend itself." The brothers spoke in unison.
"Can… Can we get closer?" Jaune asked before suddenly, the two boys each had a strange looking orb in their hands.
"What's this?" Sky asked, looking at the orbs. Then they started splitting into copies in their hands, creating eleven in all, not counting their own. However, Sky's took the shape of a spike.
"What… are these?" Jaune wondered as he looked at the strange phenomenon in his hands.
"That, boys, is magic. Pure, untarnished, seeds of light and dark magic." Fey told them. After stowing the rest away, Jaune and Sky slammed the Orbs into their chests and they suddenly glowed.
Jaune glowed Void purple and soon was enveloped by it before his shield was covered in a magical void. Meanwhile, Sky froze solid in dark ice, before breaking free, frost covering his body as his breath became visible. His right fist was still frozen, but the King felt nothing was wrong.
"Whoa…" Jaune uttered as he looked at his shield.
"Void Light Magic and Stasis Dark Magic." Fey told them. "Congratulations you two. Remember, all this power is part of something bigger than any one of us. Even departed souls, like Wolfgang. Are intertwined in this web we call the world."
Right as she finished speaking, dozens of rogue Enthralled began appearing in the cave. The two boys looked at them and then at each other.
"Test run?" Jaune proposed.
"You read my mind." Sky nodded before they jumped down and began fighting the rogues. Jaune bashed them into oblivion with his shield, the impact resulting in the creatures disintegrating.
Sky slammed his fist onto the ground, sending waves of dark ice at his targets and freezing them solid, leaving them vulnerable to his punches which shattered them into a million pieces.
However, they were soon surrounded by more. "Sky, stay close to me!" Jaune called before they both dashed to a glowing tree which charged them up before the blonde conjured more Void energy into his shield and as he held it in front of him, it created a banner shield!
"Nice one!" Sky praised with a grin as he pulled out his guns and started firing. His shots went through the barrier while their enemies did not.
"That's gonna come in handy." Gurren noted. This continued until there were only a few left, which Jaune quickly got rid of by throwing his shield and slicing them apart while ricocheting back to him.
"Oh man, that's gonna be fun to do." Jaune chuckled.
"I guess this technically makes us the first people to use magic since the old days." Sky mused.
"If you don't count the Maidens." Jaune corrected.
"Right." The King nodded while looking at the other seeds of magic. "Come on, let's get these to the others." He told him.
"Good idea. Hey, there's this new guy, Nomad. He's setting up a new game called Gambit. You heard of it?" Jaune asked.
"I've heard whispers of it, but otherwise, I don't know much. Why?" Sky asked with a raised eyebrow under his helmet.
"I'm thinking after we kill the Rider, we should try it out." He suggested as they docked into the Immortal Rage.
"Maybe I'll give it a round or two. Test the waters, so to speak, and see if it's my kind of thing." Sky shrugged. "I'll call everyone to the bridge so we can give them their seeds." He added.
It was right at that moment that they got a call from Yang. "Guys!" She said in panic.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Yang, what's going on?!" Sky asked his Queen.
"It's Weiss, she's sick, really really sick." The blonde told them.
"When did she get sick and what got her this way?" Jaune asked.
"Today. She's been working nonstop and hasn't slept well in over two and a half weeks! She barely ate anything and hardly drank anything." Yang told him. "We think it's because of her grief." She added.
"Dammit, Weiss!" Sky cursed. "Is she in the infirmary getting treated?!" He then asked seriously.
"Yes, she's stable now, but she's in really bad shape." The Queen nodded.
"*Sigh* Good." The Grimm Knight sighed. "I am so chewing her out for this!" He hissed.
"That's assuming she wakes up." Jaune sighed.
(Elsewhere)
Teams JNPR, RWBY, and ARSN were all in the hospital where Weiss was, the girl still unconscious as an IV hydrated her and an oxygen tube helped her breath. Luckily her vital signs were all normal.
"I hope she wakes up soon." Ruby said, clearly worried for her best friend. Blake and Yang put their hands on her shoulders and everyone else hugged her.
"Us too." They said. Right then, Deus, Leopold, Fey, Ironwood, Winter, Penny, Sky and Jaune all arrived.
"How is she?" Jaune asked.
"She's stable, but she's still not awake." Blake replied.
"You idiot." Sky sighed as he sat down next to Yang. They all continued to watch the former heiress, hoping she'd wake up.
Then around noon the next day, they all arrived back to find her waking up.
"Weiss!" Ruby cried as she tried to glomp her, but was held back by Yang. Winter walked up to her, the woman's face hardened in a stern glare.
"... Winter…?" The girl asked hoarsely, her throat was killing her. Without a word, Foxxianna gave her a small cup of water, which the whitette drank in two gulps.
"Weiss…" Winter said angrily as she clenched her fists, trembling in anger… Before she fell to her knees and started crying on her sister's arm. "Why?! Why would you hurt yourself like this?!" She sobbed.
Weiss looked down at her sister's hands and started crying as well. "I… It's just that I…" She started crying. "I miss him, I miss him so much." She cried.
Everyone looked at the girl and hugged her tightly. They stayed like this for a few minutes, until there was a knock on the door.
The guards quickly opened the door and the person standing there on the other side… Was Willow Schnee!
"Mother?... What are you doing here?" Winter questioned as everyone turned to look at the woman.
"I heard about what happened to Weiss. I know I haven't been a proper mother…" Here, she sighed. "But I think I'll try to start now." She finished.
Dragon Emperor0: Well that could've gone better…
ThermalsniperN7: True. Weiss really did more than just put herself through the wringer.
Dragon Emperor0: Well as someone who's lost several family members and loved ones in my lifetime. I know what grief can do to a person, and the destructive ways people can do to try and deal with it.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah… And it doesn't get easier to deal with either. Losing my first three cats taught me that.
Dragon Emperor0: Let's hope that the others and their new powers will be able to stop the Captains, get Roman, and figure out a way to bring Wolfgang back. For all their sakes.
ThermalsniperN7: I hear ya. Hopefully, it'll be enough. Anyway, see you guys next time.