Main theme: Metro Exodus rap by Jt Music, featuring Andrea Storm Kaden
Arc Theme: Atlas Shrugged by Vacuum
Theme: The Sound of Snow from the Re:Zero season 2 soundtrack
Across Vale, things were both calming down and ramping up.
With both the Ascendant Court's numbers thinning, either from their constant war with the Choir of Silver elements in the north of Vale, or to regroup with their gathering forces on the borders of Mistral and Anima in preparations for their invasion, the Court's control over the continent of Sanus began to wane and fade.
However, with this sudden loss of overarching power across the old territories of Vale, this allowed many former elements of the Choir of Silver, as well as multiple other criminal groups now scattered across the continent, to emerge from hiding and form bandit armies and clans, pillaging and looting the abandoned settlements and towns covering the no mans land that now covered the kingdom, and throwing Vale further into lawlessness, not helped at all by the waning, but still continued, pressures and probing attacks from the Ascendant Court that made up the first two months of the Second Great War.
As such- With the assistance of the local Atlesian military forces, commanded by General Ironwood and loaned to the kingdom in the wake of the Initiation Massacre- The Valerian council would reassign much of their Huntsmen (Bar the ones that, according to rumours, Headmaster Ozpin had supposedly assigned to Mistral in order to repel the invasion there) To these lawless strips of Vale in order to regain their lost territories and create new outposts and beacons of power for their kingdom against the now clearly intelligent Grimm armies.
All the while, the plans of the Ascendant Court would continue to turn and turn in their favour.
Unidentified document found within the ruins of Vale
"You want me to do what?"
"Reassign your children to assist our forces in the Grimmlands, Ozpin. That is what we want."
Ozpin rubbed his head in tired frustration, and tried his best (And failed) In not showing his growing annoyance at these politicians mucking about with his students, "Fellow council members, I must object."
"Oh?" asked an annoyingly familiar voice over the many holographic screens spread out before his desk, all of them sporting blank faces (To protect their identities, of course) As he continued, "And why might that be? Are your students not ready to assist their kingdom in defending its people, as they are being taught to-"
"Enough, Morado," said a councilwoman, "You are here as a spokesperson, not a councillor. Keep your more... Biased opinions on the matter to yourself, yes?" Morado grumbled, as did several other councillors, but did not say anything else as the councilwoman continued, "That being said, I understand your unsaid objections, Ozpin, but-"
"Do you?" Ozpin began as calmly as could be, "I have yet to make clear my objections, so how can you understand them if I haven't yet said them?"
"No mind games today, Ozpin. Do not think we made this decision lightly," the councilwoman chastised the headmaster as she continued, "As much as we wish to protect these children from the harshness of war, we must settle on the uncomfortable, but realistic, truth of our current situation."
"And what is that, dear councilwoman?"
"The truth is that we are loosing this war, Ozpin. We are loosing control of this situation," there was a long sigh on the other end of the line, before she continued, "On every front of this conflict, even with the Grimm slinking away to Mistral- As General Ironwood has informed us- Our Hunters are falling by the dozens, and from what the Atlesian council have told us, we shall be receiving no further reinforcements from Atlas at all. We have no further military forces to push back the Grimm or deal with the rampant lawlessness and bandit clans spreading across our old territories, aside from the ones that we already have. Unless you have a better option, Ozpin, we must make use of every single weapon that we have in order to survive this war, and unfortunately, your children, and Beacon itself, are one of those weapons."
Ozpin didn't have a better option, but he didn't want to let it show as he tried to deflect the topic and find a way to save his students from any further bloodshed and trauma that they weren't ready for, "Councilwoman, my children are not weapons-"
"They are. They're Hunters."
"In training."
"And yet they have weathered one major battle, and not only instigated another, but won it completely and totally, and ended a severe thread to Vale in the latter as well. The latter fight which, by the way, you failed to prevent as well, just like the former. You're lucky that your students were able to successfully win that fight without any losses at all, because if you hadn't, then it would've been you that we would be sending out into the battlegrounds now, instead of them."
Ozpin's frown worsened, but he kept his voice level as he then said, "Councilwoman- Councillors- My students aren't yet ready to fight in this war."
"They have already done so."
"They aren't ready to continue doing so."
"And yet they have already defeated a threat to Vale on their own, without any assistance, and even tamed a flock of Dragons, including a legendary Thunderstorm Dragon, which has not been seen in hundreds, if not thousands, of years," the councilwoman exclaimed, "And one more before that, if the words of those two students who interfered in the Harriet Bree case are to be believed."
"They are children."
"We are aware."
"Are you?"
"Do you think that we're making this decision for a laugh, Ozpin?" the councilwoman's voice was sharp, now, "Do you think we want to send your students out into the wild, towards death's door, without even taking what they might suffer into consideration? Need I repeat, Ozpin, that we are loosing? These Ascendant Court Grimm continue to send flocks of Grimm soldiers to our borders to pull us apart as they gather themselves in Mistral, not helped at all by the damnable bandit clan and Choir of Silver remnants that keep raiding and depopulating our settlements, the conscription laws are falling through and giving way to corruption within our own ranks, and unless we can prove to the Atlesians that we can govern and protect ourselves, they will not leave us alone and force us into their debt when this war ends, giving over our freedom and turning us into just a vassal state for them."
Ozpin knew about that last fear. He had been long enough in the politics to know it well. Much of the Harriet Bree case that Ms Rose and Mr Arc were involved in was brought about by the conscription laws that the council had put in place in order to boost their numbers, and allow themselves to retain some measure of political independence from Atlas, so that they don't become subservient to the militarised kingdom when the war reaches its end.
However, this law focused on the quantity of its new soldiers, and not the quality, and soon, criminals and syndicates from all walks of life began to use the conscription laws as a way to increase their influence and power, giving rise to corruption within the ranks of the police of Vale, which did little to quell the rising tensions within the city and its settlements whilst the Huntsmen were away.
A foolish move, really. One that he suspected was brought about by humanism and rampant nationalism in the wake of the Ascendant Court's rise to power (Of which he still did not know who was leading, which almost scared him to death), And also by the hushed conspiratorial whispers of one Morado Nikos...
The man knew how to stroke peoples egos to his favour, at least.
"As far as we and the people of Vale are concerned, Ozpin," the councilwoman continued, "You have about eight hundred people ready and willing to fight in those dorms of yours, so I suggest that you start putting them to good use."
"They are children."
"And once again, we don't have a choice."
He loathed what he was about to say, "If we can talk to General Ironwood, then we can arrange for more assistance from Atlas to-"
"Even if we wanted to, Ozpin, we can't. Atlas has denied us or any of the kingdoms any more reinforcements after most of ours and Vacuos defenses were shipped to Mistral, and on every other matter that we have tried to raise to them- Apart from issues that might grant them more political block over us- They've been silent about. There is very little choice left for us."
Ozpin frowned in silence at that, but then focused himself on something that the councilwoman had just said. Atlas was being silent about topics that did not concern any political advantages for itself? Even with a braggard of a kingdom like Atlas, that was an incredible new low for them.
Something wasn't right with Atlas.
Unfortunately, as much as he would've liked to have seen what was going on up there, all of his best agents were either dead or in Mistral at the moment, themselves either attempting to convince the Bandit Confederation to go to war against the Grimm, or attempting to weed out the spies that the Ascendant Court had placed within the three major cities to rile up the criminal populace against the kingdom, of which they were having little luck.
Luck, as it turned out, was very much not on his side nowadays.
"There are multiple bounties currently available within the Hunters dens, with kill or capture orders on multiple bandit clans within our territories. Your students can start there. We'll give them as many guards as we can spare, but we expect your teachers to be encouraging them along, understood?"
"They aren't ready."
The councilwoman sighed, "None of our are, Ozpin. None of us ever were."
He should've been. He owed it to the students of his school to be ready for anything, and yet he wasn't.
They didn't deserve this.
"They don't deserve this."
Another sigh on the other side of the line, "None of us ever do."
…
Maybe he did.
Maybe this was what he deserved.
He didn't let it show, though.
There was the sound of shuffling on the other side of the line- "Give the order, and get your students on the frontlines by tomorrow morning, or we'll move them for you."-And then, silence.
And once more, Ozpin was left to his own, self-reflective thoughts.
"And that is how the conversation ended."
Glynda Goodwitch, once headmistress and head combat instructor, now learning to be a full time school therapist in the sad absence of Professor Peach, looked to Ozpin over the table with an incredulous look on her face as she and the rest of the teachers of Beacon, including Hazel Rainart, Peter Port, Bartholomew Oobleck, Ann Greene, Arthur Watts, and Harold Mulberry, gathered around the round table within Beacon's conference room, papers and notes strewn across the surface before them as Glynda said, "You can't be serious. The council wants to send our students out to fight? They want to send children out to fight in their battles for them?"
"I agree," nearby, Hazels voice grumbled lowly as he crossed his arms together, "We've sent enough children to die in our steeds. If they want a war so badly, then they should go out and fight themselves."
"Now now, Hazel, let us take pause and consider what the council is asking," came the ever-present voice of Arthur Watts, checking the glowing blue rings around his fingers as he then continued, "After all, we should always-"
"What is there to take into consideration?" Hazel continued, "The children under our care are not yet ready for open war against the Grimm. I stand by that point, and I shall continue to stand by that."
"As do I," Glynda said as she made her support of their newest head combat instructor clear, "Ozpin, our students- The first years most of all- Are not psychologically well enough to deal with this kind of combat against the Grimm. For gods sake, we still have students suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and flashbacks to the Initiation Massacre, much less what happened in the Sleeping City only two weeks ago. Suffice to say, none of them need the extra stress and pressure of going to war once again, not when they're still traumatised from their last battles."
"That is true, of course," responded Arthur Watts, who simply leaned back into his chair and went, "But, as I was about to say before I was interrupted," Glynda and Hazel looked at him with a frown, but he continued, "We must at least humour the council's request. From what we know, they are correct in saying that we are loosing on every front of this war, and we have a surplus of fighters within our walls, even if we decide not to deploy the first years alone."
"So you are saying that we send a traumatised group of children into the world and traumatise them further?" Oobleck sarcastically asked him, his fast paced tone of voice missing as Peter Port next to him nodded along whilst the two teachers squared off against each other, "Is that what you are saying that we should do?"
"What I am about to say is that if what Ozpin said is true, then we don't have a choice in the matter at all," Arthur finished off with, "From what we know now, the council has not asked, but ordered this, and if we go against the council, then at best, we will be declared as traitors and criminals, at worst... Well, I shan't say."
He tapped his hand against the table to draw further attention to himself. Arthur Watts was always the type to enjoy the spotlight being on himself.
"And besides, if we are taking our opinions into account, we must also take into account the opinions of our own students as well. What if they do not enjoy being cooped up in this school? What if they actually want to be out on the frontlines? I know for a fact that the first years have made it a habit of," he waved his hand for lazy emphasis, "Mingling with the people of the city slums below. What's to say that they do not want to make a bigger difference for the people below by removing the threats to our people as well?" there wasn't that much emphasis on the 'Our' word.
The other teachers narrowed their eyes, and Glynda spoke up next, "So you really are advocating that we send these children out into the wilds, thereby worsening their mental states?"
"You are against it because they are traumatised?" Arthur asked rhetorically, "So are most Hunters and soldiers. This is no different. They will learn to cope with it as much as everyone else."
Glynda bolted out of her seat to fire back a knife-sharp retort, but Ozpin held a hand up to silence them all, "Enough."
"But-"
"Glynda, please," Ozpin said as Glynda scowled before sitting herself back down, "As much as I do not wish to do so, I must at least acknowledge Mr Watt's points. They are not wrong."
Arthur smiled, and Glynda leaned forwards, "Ozpin-"
"We have no choice in the matter, Glynda," was the headmaster's response, before he sighed, and stood up from his seat, "I will make an announcement for all of our students to meet in the amphitheatre. If everyone could help to direct the students there and gather in the assembly area, that would be grand. I will work out a speech on the way there, and we shall make plans and arrangements tonight."
It was a rushed plan, but they were on a rushed timescale, and they all knew it. All the other teachers nodded and got out of their seats, but did not say anything, less they make their distain known.
As everyone, save for Ozpin and Glynda, left the room, the former headmistress now therapist looked at the headmaster, and went, "I do not trust him."
Ozpin, in turn, looked at Glynda, "Who?"
"Professor Watts. Arthur," she replied, "He's too... Callous. Too careless with our students. Too quick to soak up attention. And I don't like how friendly he's been getting with Ms Esper Fyre and her team members."
"He won't do anything against us, Glynda."
"How do you know that?"
"Because he is beholden to us, that is why. We built him his facility under the lake below, and in turn, he is in debt to our services. We have his facility below on constant watch. Even if he wanted to, he can't do anything against us."
"That doesn't make me feel any better."
"In the unlikely even that he even tries to go against us, we will deal with it."
She looked hard at him, "Do you really trust him?"
"I trust him to be smart and stay on course," Ozpin turned to leave, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make an announcement."
Glynda didn't say anything, but Ozpin knew what she was thinking.
He hated himself too.
"Are they for real?" Melanie asked as she, Jaune and Ruby stood together at the back of the wide auditorium, all of the students within huddled together as they listen to Ozpin go over the plans for tomorrow, and that they would be meeting up in the morning at the landing pads to be taken away to the wildlands of Vale to assist in clearing out raiding groups and bandit clans scattered across the Valerian plains beyond the ravaged Emerald Forest.
"Beats staying in here for a week," Jaune muttered to her in return.
"Yeah, I have to be, um, well, I have to be honest with you," Ruby stuttered a little as she spoke. At least that trait hadn't left her, "I'd rather- Well, I'd rather be out there and helping on the frontlines than cooped up in here and doing nothing."
"I'll say," Jaune agreed, "I'd rather be helping out than not helping at all. I know that we've been helping with the slums, but I still think that I- We can do more."
"That might be a good aspiration to have, but it's not healthy," Melanie added in, "I mean, it's only been what, two weeks since what happened in the Sleeping City?"
Ruby flinched, and scratched her nails on the metal eyepatch underneath her hair.
Melanie looked to Ruby, "Exactly," there was a slight apologetic tone to her voice, but she didn't stay on it long, "We're still recovering from everything that happened with the Choir of Silver. I don't think that we can consider ourselves 'Fully prepared' to go out and throw ourselves into the meat grinder once more. Not so soon after what happened."
"From the sounds of it, I don't think Ozpin has a choice," Ruby threw in her own contribution, "He seems... Regretful. His voice seems regretful. He probably doesn't want to do this."
Melanie huffed, "True."
Jaune looked to the side, and saw Gretchen Rainart standing nearby. Calling out to her, he then asked, "Has Ozpin ever done anything like this before?"
Gretchen shook her head, and rubbed the scar on the side of her face, "No, never. Well, I mean, there was the Initiation Massacre, and how we were all deployed then, but... Well, this is a time for firsts and seconds, I guess."
Jaune blinked, "I guess," and then looked back to Melanie and Ruby, "I got to be honest, though, I'd rather be out there than in here. You know, fighting and making a difference, and all that. Can't rest well if I'm not doing good."
Melanie and Ruby winced, and looked at him.
"...What?"
"Nothing," Melanie said, "Nothing at all," and then looked back to Ozpin on the stage, going back to listening to what he was saying.
"-Reencourage cooperation between team members," they were able to catch Ozpin saying, "That is why, when you are sent into the field, you are to be working together in your teams, and will be assessed and graded according to your actions to and with your team members."
Ruby and Jaune blinked, and Melanie called out through the rising chorus of chatter, "Are you kidding me!? Our teams. Our actual teams. They want us to work with those assholes!?"
Ruby winced at the though.
Jaune cringed, remembering everything that had happened around the Sleeping City incident, having not forgotten what Pyrrha had lied to him about, "Yeah... This is not going to be fun."
"You think?" Melanie said to him, now much calmer than before, "I still haven't forgiven Neon and Ciel for the shit that they said to me, and now these guys expect me to work with them. Yeah- Yeah, fat chance. I'd rather stick with you guys."
"Y-Yeah," Ruby nodded eagerly, "Me too. I still- I haven't talked to Weiss since we met down in the slums last week."
Jaune blinked, and looked down at her, "Really? How did that go?"
"It- She said she was sorry."
"Oh."
"I didn't forgive her."
"Oh..."
"Yeah- Look, what do you guys want to do tomorrow?" Melanie asked them, "I can figure something out with Eri- As soon as I figure out how to understand what she's saying- And we can sort it out."
"I would- I would rather stick with you guys," Ruby went to them, "I- Look, he's telling us the times. Ozpin's telling us the time to meet up."
"The Bullheads will be arriving at 8AM sharp tomorrow," Ozpin finished his speech with, "Be gathered with your teams at your assigned Bullheads, where you will board and be taken to your assigned positions in the Valerian fronts. From there, your assignments will be handed out to you. Be vigilant, and be cooperative. I expect you all to be pulling your weight out there, as one unit with your teams. Don't let us down."
Everyone just looked at him.
"Ah-"
"-Shit."
"Yeah, no kidding," Jaune went as he, Melanie, Ruby, and the rest of the fifty first year team leaders gathered within the Lounge, either standing with their arms crossed against their chests, leaning against the walls, or sitting down in the chairs provided to them, "I mean, I know that not everyone here have problems with their teams-"
Skipjack, Shadestep, and Bayonet nodded their heads. Razor just gave a half shrug.
"-But for the rest of us... Well," he rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah."
"I would say that I don't have problems with my team," Yamana added in awkwardly, "But... Well, my team consists of only Jolie, since Kevin and Terra-Terra left to join the Exodus Troop, so... That wouldn't really count, right?"
There was a few murmurs and shrugs around her, and Jaune felt the need to throw in a shrug of his own. Did that count? He didn't know.
His mind wondered over to the Exodus Troop, a sort of religious organisation that had splintered off from the Church of the Brother Gods (Or whatever they were called) Around two years ago, and had stated that mankind's true destiny was outside the walls of the kingdoms, and not within them, leading to various one way pilgrimages of civilians out of the cities across Remnant, and into the wilds of the Grimmlands.
Of course, nowadays they were slowly loosing popularity, but it still showed how influential they were- Apparently having their hands in charity foundations and news outlets- That people still listened to them and went out on their pilgrimages into the Grimmlands across the world, despite it being such a catastrophically stupid thing to do, so hey, what did he know?
Jaune was broken out of his thoughts by Melanie going, "Well, this isn't going to work, is it? I mean, I don't know about Flynt on my team, but Ciel and Neon? Out of the picture. I wouldn't trust those two idiots to spell my own name without either thirsting over Weiss or calling me a racist piece of shit. Anyone else got their problems?"
"I think you know mine," Yamana added in with.
"Esper's still being an cocky, arrogant ass, but I'm starting to get the handle on wrangling Lavender and Sora," Tusks shot in with.
Vi Maru of Team VAKY was the next to speak up, albeit more shyly than anyone else, "I, um, I don't know how to, um, command my team. They just, um, I mean, I don't, er..." she just put her hands on her face in awkward silence, to which the others patted her on the back in response.
DJ spoke next after a few moment's silence, "Russel and Alexis on my team tend to fight a lot- Mostly due to Alexis' Faunus heritage- So Sky on our team has to break them up for the times that I'm not there-"
"Wait, 'The times that you're not there'?" Shadestep asked, "Then where the hell are you those times, DJ?"
The Techion in question looked to Shadestep, and stammered out, "Oh, um, I'm just- I'm just working."
"On what?"
"Look, I'll- I'll tell you about it later, okay? When it's complete. I'm just- Just doing research, okay?" he looked to the side, "Just research..."
Another long pause, before Ruby then continued on the discussion with, "As for my team, well, I can still talk to Leadpipe about things, but I've been avoiding Weiss, and Blake... I don't know. I don't think she likes me."
"Ah, it's not you personally, Ruby," Razor shot in with, "Blake just doesn't like anyone. At all. Like, seriously."
"...You really think so."
"Trust me," he nodded, "I know so."
Melanie looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "How do you know that?"
"I just do," a pause from him, before he then interrupted Melanie's probing with, "And as for me, well, Rancor and Omega usually spend the most of their time coddling Yang like she's glass, which is annoying, and Yang is too much of a hothead to ease their worries, so... That's fun. That's fun for me to deal with."
Ruby winced at this. From what Jaune had seen, despite being sisters... Well, at first it looked like they were having a pretty good relationship between them, back before the Initiation Massacre around two months ago...
But now?
Now, they seemed more... Strained. Bloodied. Broken. It was as if everything from the Initiation Massacre was weighing down on them and breaking them apart.
In fact, not just the Initiation Massacre, but everything else. From what he had been able to piece together, Ruby and Yang hadn't had the best life at all. He didn't know the full details, but he could guess that it was bad, and he didn't need a psychoanalytical degree to know that those kinds of experiences could either bring people together, or tear them apart.
For Ruby and Yang, it looked to be the latter.
(He also suspected that Ozpin bore some of the blame for that...)
It was a latter for most of the first year students as well. Suffice to say, when Jaune had arrived in Beacon following the Initiation Massacre, everyone that would be on his team (Even Pyrrha, bar as he was to admit it) Were perfectly cordial and jovial with him, and had even shared a lot of witty banter with each other on their group chat that Nora had made for them.
But now?
Now, they couldn't even talk to each other in the same room together, he was pretty sure that his teammates resented both him and each other, and he had no idea on how to fix it.
Hurray for him.
He never wanted this. He never wanted to be a leader. He never wanted to be the leader of an entire team.
But, unfortunately, wants and needs rarely tended to agree.
He realised that it was his turn now, and that people were looking at him (Which he really didn't like, as it turned out), So he just rubbed his hands together (Hey, a change in his habits) And said, "Um, well, I mean, I had an, er, kinda had an argument with Pyrrha the night before we went to the Sleeping City-" there were a few gasps and murmurs of disbelief in the gathering of team leaders. Which was to be expected, he guessed. Pyrrha Nikos was held in high regards after all (For reasons still not entirely known to Jaune), "-And Nora and Ren tend to go off and do their own thing, so... I mean, I know that I should be doing a better job of leading them, but..."
…
"Yeah..."
Once more, silence filled the room, before Melanie cut through it with, "Right, we are not beholden to our teammates actions. If they want to be complete and utter assholes, then fine. That's on them, not us. I say we-"
"But, um, we, um, we are."
Melanie looked to Vi nearby, "What?"
"I mean, we're their leaders, aren't we?" the shy girl responded with, "I mean, I know that, um, others might not agree with, er, with me, but, I-I think that we have to be responsible for our teammates. We're their leaders, right? We- Er, we need to be held accountable for what they do. If, er, if they can't behave themselves, then that's on us."
"No, it isn't," Melanie shot back with, "I'm not the one who has to sort out my teammates shitty attitude. That's on them to deal with."
"I hate to say it, Melanie, but Vi's got a point," Skipjack called out, "I mean, my teammates and I are pretty open to each other about our problems. Maybe that's the reason why no one else is able to work out their own team problems."
Melanie stepped forwards and narrowed her eyes, pointing a finger at Skipjack with a scathing tone, "Well, if you're such a good leader, then why don't you take over my idiots? See how that goes for you?"
Skipjack narrowed his eyes in turn, "You know what? With that attitude, maybe I will. Make something good out of them, at least."
"Oh, you little-"
Time to step in before things got heated. Literally.
"Guys, please," Jaune called out to them as he got himself between Melanie and Skipjack, "Can we not fight, please? I think we've had enough of that to go around already. Besides, we won't be any good in here- In the infirmary thanks to an argument turned fight- While everyone else is out there in the wild tomorrow, okay?"
There was a murmuring from the two of them, before Melanie stepped back-
"Fine."
-And Skipjack did as well.
"Sorry."
"Look, we've probably got one hell of a long day, tomorrow, so why don't we all head up to our dorms, and get ourselves prepared for the morning tomorrow, okay?"
There was another chorus of mutters and agreements from the team leaders, before they all nodded to him and began to file out of the room, Jaune following shortly afterwards with a goodbye to all of them.
"You should do that more."
Jaune looked over to Razor, "What?"
"Be more assertive," the soldier-themed team leader said to him as he patted him on the shoulder, "That. You need to do that more often."
"..."
Jaune didn't say anything, and Razor didn't either- Not anymore, at least- As he walked away, leaving Jaune on his own once more.
Once again.
…
…
…
…
He walked off, back to his dorm room. Once he got inside, he saw Nora at her desk, tinkering with the circuits and mechanics of the recharging Eri, whilst Ren sat on his bed reading a boo written in what he presumed to be old Mistralian. Pyrrha was nowhere to be seen. Probably out training again, without Eri this time.
Ever since Nora had tried to speak with him in the slums a week ago, none of Team JNPER- Save for Eri- Had really spoken to each other. Hadn't even tried to interact with each other at all, save for Nora and Ren who were always together. All that they had ever given each other were the common curtsies; 'Helloes'. 'Goodbyes', so on, so forth.
Today was no different.
"Hey," he waved to them.
They both nodded uncomfortably to him, but did not saying anything.
"...You, um... You know what's going on tomorrow? Where we have to meet up? What we have to do?"
Another shared nod between them. Nora averted her eyes.
"...Okay, just... Yeah."
…
He walked to his bed and plopped himself down.
'Be more assertive'?
Yeah, right.
He didn't know what to do with them or himself.
The next morning...
The night came and went, and soon, the first, second, and third years had gathered by the landing pads, Bullheads, Dropships, reconverted freighters, Air Buses, and all sorts of other airships waiting to take the population of Beacon to their destinations, ships coming back and forth, to and thro in the air and across the landing pads as their bellies were fit to bursting with rested and ready warriors and fighters, some more eager to fight than others.
Physically, they were ready.
Mentally, of course, was another story.
Team JNPER was no exception as they were bunched together by the teachers, an air of uncomfortable silence hanging over them as far away, the members of Team RSBL and Team MNCC nearby held in that same shroud of discomfort around them as their team leaders looked towards one another, and tried to inch closer to each other for conversation-
"Everyone stay in their groups!"
-Only for one of the teachers to yell out to the crowds (Maybe them specifically) And force Jaune, Ruby, and Melanie to retreat back into their unwanted teams, the separated teams clammed together as they fidgeted and looked at one enough.
It wasn't like they wanted to be like this, but the teachers had been adamant about spacing them out and separating them into their assigned teammates, which was definitely something that none of them wanted in the slightest, but the teachers were strict in keeping them all distanced apart and focused on the names being called out to board the ships before them.
Perhaps it was a way of psychologically projecting a form of cooperation between the dysfunctional teams, trying to push them into their groups and force them to interact and bond with each other, repair the damaged relationships between them, of which none of the first years were a fan of.
Nearby, Jaune saw Velvet's team- After their name was called out- Being assigned to one of the giant Air Buses nearby- Perhaps it was one of the air buses that they had left behind in the Sleeping City two weeks ago?- And watched it take off into the distance, as another air bus flew through the air and docked with the landing pads to take its place, the crowds of initiates around them dwindling more and more as the minutes and ships went by.
Jaune looked to the rest of his team. Pyrrha looked tired, agitated. Her foot was tapping constantly against the ground. She looked like she hadn't had any sleep from the bags under her eyes. She probably hadn't, if the look on her face was any indication.
He wanted to ask if she was fine.
He didn't.
Nora and Ren weren't much better, the both of them standing next to each other in silence, Ren practically hovering over Nora protectively, most likely over what happened in the Sleeping City-
Jaune swallowed down the guilt that he felt at that fact.
-Whilst Nora's eyes followed Eri as the little drone hovered in circles around them, her blue optic searching around them, looking for something- Anything- To be said between them.
And nothing came forth.
Jaune almost jumped in place as-
"Team JNPR, to the red and bronze coloured Bullhead on landing pad 2B!"
-Their team's name (JNPR, the official name, not JNPER, as they liked to call it) Was called out, as was their destination and assigned ship, being what looked like a custom Bullhead painted in red and bronze, with glowing green strips of light running down the engine pods, and an emerald green glow emanating off of the engines themselves as a butterfly flew in its light silhouetted its shadow on the ground against the light, whilst two Hunters- A woman with spiky pink hair, a white tunic, and a black robe fitting over it, and a lanky man with pig ears for his Faunus trait, dressed in a brown patterned bandana covering his eyes and hair, a brown jumpsuit, and combat boots.
Nearby, Glynda and Hazel frowned at the sight, "Did that Morado Nikos person really assign Team JNPR to their own Bullhead, as well as give them two personal guards, just to get them to the Valerian front?" Hazel asked.
"Indeed," Glynda added as she readjusted her glasses, and sighed, looking at Beacon's newest head combat instructor, and going, "I suspect that there is a psychological aspect to it."
Hazel raised an eyebrow, and then seemed to come to his own understanding, "Ah, you believe that Morado is attempting to project his will onto Miss Nikos and her team?"
"Correct, though I believe that there might be more to it," Glynda added in, "I believe that this might be a form of control. Morado is making it known that he has power, and he can flaunt it as much as he wants. Or at least, make it seem like he has power to flaunt about," her eyes narrowed, "Either that, or he just wants to protect his precious masterpiece."
"You hold contempt for Ms Nikos?"
"I hold contempt for her father," Glynda corrected, "That man is an egotistical annoyance, and I want nothing to do with him, and yet he is constantly attempting to worm his way into the Valerian council, and into Beacon as well. If we're not careful, then he will end up running this place in time," she scoffed at the thought of it, "I've seen Ms Nikos' behaviour, how she has reacted to her loss around the Grimm Tidings, and what she lied to Mr Arc about. I have no doubt that Morado had something to do with that behaviour," another scoff, "If installing those kinds of beliefs and fears into his daughter is what he considers teaching- Considers parenting- Then I dread to think about what he will do to the rest of our students."
Hazel suppressed a shudder of his own, and crossed his arms together.
"Then let us pray that that never happens..."
Pyrrha cringed at the sight of the red and bronze Bullhead, and Jaune finally found it within himself to break the silence, "Is that your ship?"
"It's my father's," she answered after a long pause, "Well, one of my father's. He's quite the wealthy man."
"...Is there-"
"No."
Jaune sensed that that was the end of that conversation, and left it at that, pausing once more, before going, "Why don't you... Maybe you should rest on the way there. Get some sleep, I mean. You look-"
"I'm fine."
"But-"
"I'll be fine," a sharp look from Pyrrha was all it took to make Jaune drop the subject.
Behind them, Melanie cringed at the sight, and she and Ruby decided to try and call something out to them, but were silenced by the teachers, having to resort to a wave- Which Jaune returned- As nearby, one of the teachers called out, "Team JNPR, report to the Bullhead, where you will be taken to the old Biodomes of Titan's ruins, await Team MNCC and Team RSBLs arrival, and receive further instructions on your assigned tasks and bounties there."
Well, that was enough to put a smile on Jaunes face, as he looked over to Ruby and Melanie, the both of them smiling back, and mouthed 'See you there' to them, which they eagerly agreed with.
Now a little more perky than before, Jaune walked a few steps ahead of the rest of his team, and was greeted by the two Hunters at the Bullhead, the one with the spiky pink hair going, "Hey there, kiddos. I'm Rosa Schwein," she gestured to her partner, "That there's Argento Pocoron, and yes, his last name does sound like popcorn, so let's get that out of the way with."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Argento waved her off with, before looking to Pyrrha, and going, "You're Morados kid, right?"
Pyrrha frowned, but then politely said, "Yes, he is my father."
"Heh, well then," the Huntsmen said as he gestured to the red and bronze Bullhead, and went, "Get yourselves in the ship, and we'll be on our way."
And so, with that, Team JNPER boarded the Bullhead, and were sent on their way.
"Who were those Hunters?" Glynda asked Hazel as Team JNPERs Bullhead left the landing pads, and flew off into the distance.
The burly man looked over to the departing ship, and went, "I believe that Morado said that they were hired help, when he called up about this... Arrangement last night."
"Hired help, yes. But are they loyal to Morado, or someone else?"
Long ago, there was the flying city of Titan, and the floating city of Marina.
Launched around a thousand years ago after the Blooding Millennium, in the founding of the four kingdoms of Beacon, Shelter, Shade, and Haven (Before they were renamed to honour their founders), And christened and blessed by the four founders called Vale, Vacuo, Mistral, and Mantle, the flying city of Titan and the floating city of Marina were the greatest technological innovations of their time, standing as monuments against the Grimm, and serving as bastions of hope against the tides of extinction.
In particular, the floating city of Titan served as the inspiration for Atlas, made of hundreds of biodomes with engines strapped to the bottom and hundreds more bridges connected between them, chaining them together as a giant web hanging in the sky, as if a spider the size of the world was woven them together like silk and cloth.
Everything about the city of Titan was built upon the foundations of steampunk. Transportation between the biodomes? Steam trains and hot air balloons. Weapons and defences against outside enemies, like the Grimm? Gunpowder cannons with dust added in the mix, and mass-produced flintlock guns and swords. Entertainment for the children of the city? Coal-powered puppets and automatons.
Melanie looked down at the broken and rusted automaton underneath her, and picked it up, pulling apart the weeds and vines covering it as the rusted thing that could barely be called a machine now flaked and rattled, and then-
{CRUMBLE}
{CLATTER}
-Fell to pieces in her hands, re-joining the dirt and the soil on the floor below as the metal continued to rust away in the breeze and air of the natural world.
She looked upwards once more, and towards the shattered biodome right in front of her, once stretching for miles into the sky, now just collapsed into itself, and breaking apart the buildings within. Blocks of stone and metal houses and businesses had crumbled and mixed together into a slush of dust and rubble, spilling outwards over the split and bend walls and onto the earth below like liquid, as the floor of the biodome itself had split in two, and caving in on itself on the edge of a large mountain nearby (Not Mount Glenn, though it was close by. 'Mount Glenn'. Such an unoriginal name), broken open and spilling out its guts like a corpse, splaying split rails and strands of bent metal as shards of giant glass and metal impaled themselves in the ground and stood out as statues and sentries to their dead charge.
The broken biodome of Titan stood tall and broken, casting a long and jagged shadow across the world below its gaze, and served as an ugly tapestry of modern art- A reminder of all that mankind, as a people, had lost.
It wasn't always this way. Before Titan fell, it was a living, breathing monument to the successes of mankind- A celebration of the old ways, and a testament to how far they had come as a people.
But then came the First Great War, and in the same collective madness that seemed to overcome all of Remnant, the superpowered mass murderer and sky-pirate known as the Genocide King invaded Titan all by himself, and brought the entirety of the floating city crumbling to the ground, all on his own. Nothing in the city's arsenal could stop him, and one by one, the Genocide King brought each and every single one of the biodomes crashing down into Mount Glenn and the lands around it below, shattering them and allowing them to be consumed in fire.
None of the people who once lived in the floating city survived. The Genocide King had lived up to his name.
And to this day, the Genocide King had never been found.
Fun.
And yet, when Melanie looked behind herself to face Ruby nearby, as the rest of their teams stood to the side after being dropped off, what left her lips was not a comment on the monuments to all that was lost before them, or an observation of the wild world around them, or even a ponder on how her trip to their meetup point had gone.
It was a simple, scared question.
"Where's Jaune?"
He and his team had never arrived.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
[…]
Neither Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, or Eri said anything as they sat/floated in the locked down holding bay of the Bullhead as it gently swayed from left to right as it moved, the engines giving off a steady hum that commingled with the gushing winds outside, buffeting the red and bronze ship like a million tiny fans and hammers. It was a gentle thrum that filled the air around them, and none of them wanted to interrupt it.
Jaune didn't know what to do.
Should he talk to them? Should he talk about everything that had happened between them?
He really didn't want to.
He knew that he probably should, but there was a selfish, petty part of him that wanted to deny them that.
Was that actually selfish, or well-deserved?
He didn't know.
He didn't know a lot, in all fairness.
Like why this trip was taking so long, for instance. Seriously, he didn't like it in here (Having just swallowed a pair of motion sickness pills not too long ago to starve off the obvious), And he wanted to get off as soon as possible.
Besides, it shouldn't take this long to go to a nearby mountain near some shattered biodomes, right?
Right?
…
He looked around the grey coloured and green lit cargo bay around them, with a large vent built into both the front and back of the hold, and strange bulbs fitted into the walls as well, all of them bathed in a thin emerald hue as they hung onto the railings in the roof above them, and finally broke the silence between all of his team members as he asked, "Hey, um... Is it just me, or... Or are we taking a bit too long to get to the biodomes?"
There was a long pause from them as well, before Ren decided to cut in with, "As a matter of fact... You are correct. It is taking too long to travel to the old biodomes. We've covered this stretch of land in less time before."
Taking the initiative, Pyrrha let go of the rungs above her, and knocked on the door to the cockpit, "Hello? Excuse me? I'm sorry for asking, but are we near the biodomes yet?"
No response.
She knocked again, "Hello? Can you hear me?" she pulled on the door to the cockpit, and then looked back at them, "It's locked. They've locked themselves in."
Nora then looked to Eri as she hovered in the air near them, and asked, "Hey, Eri? Where are we? Can you see how far we have to go to the biodomes?"
Eri let out a beep and a whistle in response, and looked downwards as she worked her magic, and used her internal systems to-
[BEEPBEEPBEEPBWOOOOOOP!]
In a panic, Eri began to spin around in the sky, and flailed her four arms about as she flew and flew around them.
Something was seriously wrong here.
"Eri, Eri! Slow down!" Nora yelled out to her, "Slow down! I know that I have a habit of talking really fast at time, but right now you are really taking the ca-"
[BEEP BEEP BWBEEP BOOP VWEET VWEET BEEP!]
Nora's eyes widened.
"What?! What do you mean 'We're above open water'!? What does that-"
Suddenly, tendrils of electricity shot out from the baubles built into the walls, and-
[BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!]
-Lynched themselves into Eri, the little drone letting out an electronic scream as she was shocked with energy and overloaded, before falling to the ground and going silent, her blue optic flickering with fleeting life, and then going out.
"ERI!" Nora cried out as she went to try and restart the droid in a panic.
"Dammit, we're trapped in here!" Jaune pulled his sword from his sheath, and went to try and wedge one of the doors open, "We need to-"
{THWOOSH}
{THWOOSH}
White gas, sickly and nauseating, began to flood out of the vents on either side of the hold in torrents, smothering them within barely a few seconds.
"Shit, gas! Everyone, put your helmets on, put your-"
Too late.
"-Hel... Mets... On..."
One by one, the members of Team JNPER collapsed to the floor.
First Nora.
Then Ren.
Then Pyrrha.
And finally, Jaune.
The drugged, and unconscious first years would be able to disturb nothing more for the rest of their journey, and the Bullhead continued to fly northwards, unimpeded, and unstoppable.
Several hours later...
"See? Here we are?" Rosa said as she gestured to the fresh new world underneath them, the shattered moon hanging high in the sky above their speeding ship, darting through the air as they piloted it towards their destination, "And you said that this wouldn't take long! Hah!"
"Ah, shut up and focus," Argento said as he continued to handle the controls of the Bullhead, annoyed by his partner's general lack of professionalism as he continued, "The job's not done yet. Not until we get these runts delivered to the boss lady and get paid. Then after that-"
"After that, it's off to Mistral, where the council will be paying us a small fortune to help 'Defend the free people of Anima from the threat of the Grimm'," Rosa mocked as she pulled out her scroll and blew a raspberry, "Oh please... I still think we should've haggled the prices. Get a lot more than we're getting for going up against, y'know, a giant army of killer Grimm, and all that. It'd make it much more worth it."
"'Take what you can get when you can get it'," Argento quoted his motto as he gently steered the ship over to a new heading, "It's always worked out for me. Hasn't stopped now."
"And yet it was me who needed to convince you to take this side job," Rosa poked him in the arm childishly as she played with her scroll with the other, "C'mon, Argento, admit it."
"Admit what?"
"That I was right. That I was right to convince you to take this job. Steal away a couple of snot-nosed brats by selling ourselves to their sugar daddy as helpful mercenaries, and when no one is looking: Bam! Nab them when no one's looking! We get a boatload of money from our employer, and a little extra on the side from Morado, on top of all of the cash that we're going to be swimming in when we save Mistral! Or just take the money in advance and run. Whichever one."
"I thought you didn't like the amount of money that Mistral is going to be paying us."
"I don't. Still think we could've got more."
"Just call our employer, alright? Let her know that we're inbound for another hour or two."
Rosa let out a huff of air, "Fine," and then dialled a number on her scroll. A few seconds later, a face, covered by pixels and voice changer muffled, took over the screen, "Hey, boss lady, we-"
"Do you have them?"
Rosa pouted at the interruption, but recovered herself with, "Yeah, we got your shitty kids. Got them all tuckered out in the back."
"When will you be arriving?"
"In about an hour or so," Rosa confirmed, before, with a perked eyebrow, asked, "Hey, just out of curiosity, what do you want with these kids? I mean, I'm not one to judge, but aren't they a bit out of your age limit-"
"Are you being paid to ask questions?" the voice on the other side of the line asked sarcastically.
"Er, well, no, I was just thinking-"
"Don't think. Obey. Understood?"
"...Sure."
"Good. Then be quiet, obey your betters, and make haste to the coordinates that have been provided for you. I will have a team waiting to relieve you of your cargo."
Rosa narrowed her eyes, and Argento did the same as well, if only instinctively, "Alright, fine," Rosa finished with, "Fine... We'll be there. Just make sure that you have the money ready and waiting, because we've got contracts out there for us to-"
Suddenly, a green light on the controls of the Bullhead began to blink a startling crimson red.
"Dammit," Argento said sharply as he swerved the ship to the side and flipped a series of switches, "We've got something tracking us. A surface-to-air missile, I think."
In a panic, Rosa almost dropped the scroll as she looked to him with wide, fearful eyes, "W-Well fucking shake it off, then! Launch flares or something!"
"What do you think I've already done?" he retorted as behind them, the steady thump of burning flares launched themselves out of the back of the ship and through the sky, "Let's just curve around this area. It might take a little longer, but I'd rather we didn't get shot down and lost in the-"
{BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP}
Argento paused, and looked down at one of the screens next to him as the sirens blared around them, "Shit!" his voice was more panicked now as he swerved the ship around once again, "Another tracking missile! Two more tracking missiles! I can't shake them off!"
"Well then pop our flares again!"
"We used them all up trying to ward off the other missile!"
"What is happening?" the voice on the other side of the line was too calm for their liking, "Explain."
"We're under attack!" Rosa called out to their contractor as the STA-missiles flew closer and closer to their ship, "Who the fuck is shooting at-"
One of the missiles struck the side of the ship, destroying one of the engines in a blazing fireball, and shutting down the other one through the violent change in the electrical currents of the ship. The other missile landed a direct hit on the cockpit of the Bullhead, turning it into a twisting scrap of burning metal.
Rosa and Argento died instantly, their bodies reduced to burnt, mangled messes, like spiderwebs of cooked gore on the burning metal, stinking of oxidising steel and bubbling blood.
Black smoke trailed from the Bullhead as it descended towards the surface, a bright white enveloped the cargo hold, and the ship crashed into the ground below.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Cold.
That was the first thought to cross Jaune's mind as his eyes began to flutter open, creaking and fluttering against the biting, knife-sharp cold that felt like it was slicing him open piece by piece.
Something cold was smothering his body, and as he somehow found the strength within him to tilt his head down and look over himself, to see what was covering him, like a cage of iron, wrapping around and imprisoning him in a fine sheen of what looked like glass.
Ice.
Snow.
His prone body was being covered in it all, as were the unconscious bodies of the rest of his team.
Red.
That was the second thought that came over Jaune's mind, as he looked over himself. There was so much red covering him.
Blood. That's what that was.
A frozen sheet of blood covering his entire body, weeping through tears and slices in his body, and freezing within his arteries and veins, creating a solid spiderweb of red ice within the tears of his body.
He was so weak. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't move anything. Everything hurt.
Hurt.
That was the third thought that came to mind as suddenly, a tidal wave of pain came over him as he realised how many bones in his body were broken and stabbing out of his skin underneath his armour, blood pooling in his armour and leaking out in frozen streams, whilst shards of metal stabbed themselves into his flesh and tore it open like jagged knives.
It hurt to move even a finger. At least, the ones that weren't broken.
He didn't even have the energy to scream.
He knew that the others were feeling the same way. Over the howling biting winds of the whitened, cold world around them, he could hear their groans and whimpers of pain as they fidgeted unconsciously in their sleep, faces and bodies broken and covered in their own blood.
And then, that's when he saw it.
White.
Flames.
White flames.
White flames covering them.
Covering them, and stretching out from him.
Aura.
It was his aura.
His aura, reaching out to his teammates, shielding them, covering them like a fine blanket.
…
…
…
…
"All I remember was a bright light, and then waking up in a hospital bed."
That was what Flynt had said to Jaune when he returned to Beacon after waking up from his coma, when he was asking him and Neon about how they survived the Air Bus crash. Just a white flash of light, and then he woke up in the GVMC.
Was that... Was that how they had survived back then?
Had it been his aura that had protected them?
Just like it was surely protecting them now?
…
Questions for later.
Enough life returned to his eyes to allow him to look around, and as he did, he wished that he hadn't.
The Bullhead around them had been reduced to nothingness. Just twisted, unrecognisable metal, coiling around itself and fragmented into shards of scrap, trailing across the world around them as the hollowed out trail that their crash had made in the ground behind themselves was slowly filled in by the sleeting and slashing snow biting at them.
Nearby, he could make out the burnt and hollowed out corpses of Rosa and Argento, their bodies bent over a slab of jagged metal, their chests and heads and stomachs opened like bags, spilling their fragmented organs, intestines, threaded flesh, and trails of frozen sticks of blood out onto the world below, and with long icicles forming across their bodies.
He couldn't even vomit at the sight. There was nothing left within him to initiate the action.
They were in a snow storm. A blizzard.
They were in the middle of a blizzard, and they were freezing to death.
Something began to approach. Many somethings in the shadows of the snow, growing closer and closer until finally, he could finally make out their appearances.
Soldiers. Atlesian soldiers in full body gear and helmets coloured white and gold, armed with assault rifles and with glowing amber patterns across their helmets, wearing a red insignia of a heart within a blood-red pointed shield.
There were others, though. Techions. Four armed Techions at that, just like Tock before she was killed, only they were painted in white and blue with that same red insignia on their chests, wore white cloaks and fur coats, welded blocky long rifles with glowing blue scopes and muzzles, four eyes in their metal, pointed helmets, and looked almost identical to the dead Techion that Ruby had said protected her from Templar in the Sleeping City.
Attis. That was what Ruby had called him.
These Techions looked almost identical to Attis.
…
…
…
…
Didn't a ship belonging to the Choir of Silver hold someone that Ruby called 'Hephaestus'?
Someone who was in the same court as Attis?
Jaune found the strength within him to widen his eyes in shock.
The leading Techion of the group of Atlesians, moving through the snow storm like wraiths, held out one of their lower arms, and brought forwards a holographic projection of a woman with burning amber eyes, and long hair as black as charcoal, wearing a black turtleneck dress that stretched down to her feet, covered in golden patterns and flowers like ash, black stockings on her arms that were connected to amber fabric patterns that stretched from her shoulders to her elbows, black high heels, and finally, a feather broach above her right breast.
"Well?" the woman's voice- Glossy, silky, and deceptively seductive- Spoke to the Techion, "Did you find the Bullhead?"
"Yes," the Techion drawled out in a deep growl. It's voice was slurred and glassy, unnerving in how it- He couldn't even tell if it was a boy or a girl- Spoke, "Destroyed. Pilots destroyed. Ship destroyed."
"That is acceptable," the woman dismissed, "I wasn't going to let them live, anyway... What of their cargo?"
"Alive," the Techion gestured their long rifle to Jaune and his team, their prone, bloodied bodies laying still on the floor, "But damaged."
"Transportable?"
"Not for some time."
"Well, I don't have time for such things."
"Wanted alive?"
"Preferably, but not necessarily."
The woman looked down at the freezing, dying bodies of Jaune and his team, and smiled sadistically. It was all teeth.
"Kill them. They're not worth bringing back alive. They're better as corpses now than hostages."
The Techion nodded, and the hologram faded to nothing.
Jaune's eyes widened once more.
One of the soldiers wordlessly stepped forward, and pulled a long poll off of their back, extending it outwards into a hardlight blade, curved around like a flame against the wind, glowing blue against the white darkness of the storm around them.
Jaune found it within himself to raise up one of his broken arms, and croak out, "Please..."
The soldier said nothing, and raised it above their head.
"Please... Don't..."
Nothing was said once more as the soldier went to bring it down and cleave his head off.
But then-
"HYAH!"
-A spiked, black and glowing blue Morningstar connected to a chain slammed into the side of the soldier's head, broke apart their helmet, and turned their head into a fine red paste of gore and blood, bone fragments spilling outwards in a shower as their eyes exploded and their jaw fell to the ground, blood spurting out pf the neck stump where their head once was as the soldier's body fell to the floor, the blood and gore on the ground freezing in the ice and sub-zero temperatures almost immediately.
Everything else happened so fast.
One by one, within a matter of seconds, the soldiers were reduced to bloodied corpses and piles of frozen red gore. Their limbs were torn off, their bodies mangled, their armour stained crimson and frozen over in a fine red sheet. A few seconds more, and the Techions were eviscerated as well, their mechanical bodies broken open and spilling Black Ether all over themselves, as coal black vapour wisped out of their bodies as well.
The fight was over before it had even begun.
"I knew they would be here," a voice called out, "Songbird's intelligence was accurate."
"As it always is. Good man, Songbird," another voice joined in, "Though he could stand to make a few more appearances in person. 'Least them I know that I can trust him."
"Hey, if it's all to make Ms Ella and her meanies go away, then I'm all for it!" a younger voice added in, "And if it makes the nice lady happy, then who are we to say no?"
"In due time, little one. In due time," the first voice finished the interaction with, as Jaune looked up, and saw a blue haired and eyed girl in a back and white dress, and holding a bloodied Morningstar in her hands.
The last thing that he heard before he passed out from the cold, and fell into a deep slumber, was:
"Welcome to Atlas."
On the edges of the Land of Darkness, hundreds of forms, big and small gathered for their grand journey.
Final preparations were made, weapons were loaded, and intents were made clear.
Morale was high, and the want for slaughter was even higher.
Soon, they would depart from their home, and onwards to their faraway destination...
Reviewer response time:
rarrarshark: :0 indeed. Then again, these are still Grimm, and Ozpin's been fighting them for thousands of years, so I doubt that he would suddenly start giving them anymore thought than he had been before, no matter what shape or form they take.
N-Lorin: Thanks! This was the reaction from you guys that I was hoping for, though I figured that there might be negative reactions instead.
avatarlopes: Yes, she does care indeed! Glynda strikes me as the type of character who deeply cares about her students, no matter how good or bad they are, underneath her strict demeanour, so I'm glad that you were able to see her the same way that I did! Though for all of his flaws, I don't think that Ozpin's that much of an arse. Just extremely desperate and trying to grab as many resources as he can whilst trying to stick to his usual methods. If it's worked before, it'll work again, after all... Except in this context, it really doesn't, but he doesn't exactly know that.
Guest: Yeah, people do be like that when others are arses to them.
Guest: Well, here's the newest, longest update! Hope you enjoyed!
Guest: I have to be honest, I was struggling to find a cool way of ending that short story, but then I remembered that that poem was my story's main motif, so I just went with it.
arkyeanwarlord17: You know, that was probably my first ever attempt at horror. Hell, most of my beginning arc was bloody as hell, which I'm pretty sure is what's made my story known. Maybe I should start tapping back into my roots before I loose them completely...
And here we are, the beginning of the Atlas Shrugged arc! The setting has been shown, the main villain has been introduced, let's get it on!
What, you thought that I was going to follow the tradition of most stories and jump straight into the docks fight and the White Fang arc in the timeline? Nah, bro, this is my fic. I do what I want.
In all seriousness, though, I'm sorry if I ended up misdirecting people with the way that a majority of this chapter was going. I didn't want to immediately rush into 'JNPER getting kidnapped and sent to Atlas' scenario without some decent pacing involved, and... Well, someone once said that I had a knack for subverting expectations, so here we go again.
As well as that, I wanted to throw in more ques and hints to a long dangling plot thread that I've established:
Morado Nikos, the father of Pyrrha Nikos.
I've only had him hinted to and talked about so far, but trust me, he's going to have a long shadow over the entirety of Ascendancy, mostly relating to Pyrrha's character and development, and everything that revolves around it.
We haven't seen him in person, but just the actions of Pyrrha so far should be more than enough to know his deal.
Anyways, if you haven't caught onto it, the name 'Atlas Shrugged' is obviously a reference to the book by Ayn Rand, and before we go, I would just like to take a moment of my time to throw my hat into the ring about quite the hot button topic within the FNDM:
I don't hate RWBY's writing.
Now, before you unfollow this story and throw bricks through my house's windows, allow me to please explain why I feel this way.
I will admit, RWBY's writing has its flaws. In this volume alone, I think Penny being killed off so soon after getting a real human body is a bit of a bad move, I would've liked it if Nora was the one to get the maiden powers instead of Winter, or at least had some of her backstory revealed to us, and I would've liked it if Salem was a lot more active in the plot, especially at the ending. And that's just in this volume alone.
RWBY's writing has flaws, yes.
However, I don't think it deserves all of the hate that it gets.
And that is because, as a viewer, I still enjoy watching the show.
I know, shocking. I am a RWBY fan who actually enjoys watching RWBY, especially when you consider how many people on this site constantly say how they don't like RWBY anymore, or how they hate it and everything about it, and so on.
Here's the thing though: As much as some of the complaints against it might be justified, I do feel that the writers get way too much hate then they actually deserve.
Like, seriously, I can't search RWBY on YouTube without finding a video by Hero Hei, or EruptionFang, or whatever, that doesn't say that 'RWBY is over', or 'RWBY is terrible', or how 'RT is going to hell and everything about it sucks' and crap like that, continuously making these things over and over and over again each year, every time a volume ends, when it's very obvious that Rooster Teeth isn't going to just drop RWBY, since they've invested so much into it, and will be continuing the story and making more volumes after it.
I continuously feel the need to point out to people who say that 'RWBY's not the same anymore' that the original creator of the show, Monty Oum, died, and he was apparently singlehandedly creating the show and characters, as well as the kickass animation. All of that, I'm pretty sure he was almost doing all by himself. So when he died, it was all entrusted to people that didn't know what his vision was a hundred percent of the way, because no one but the original creator knows that in their head, so they had to work with what he's left behind.
So of course it's not going to be the same. Monty Oum (May he rest in peace) Died, and he was doing all of the animation and stuff by himself- And it was legendary- And he was the one who was holding the biggest vision for the show, leaving the rest to sort out the peace when he was taken from us.
So, trying to compare RWBY when Monty Oum was alive, to RWBY when Monty Oum wasn't, and complaining about how it is not the same anymore is redundant, because of course it's not the same anymore. When the original creator- Who, again, was doing almost all of this himself- Dies and leaves it to other people, it is, frankly, rather silly to expect the same level of consistency between these two select groupings of individuals, because different people have different visions and understandings, so trying to expect it to be the exact same is silly.
Anyways, I enjoyed Penny's last scene with Winter and Jaune, I enjoy watching RWBY, despite being aware of its flaws, and I will continue to do so in the future.
That's not going to change because someone like Hero Hei on YouTube said it would.
And besides, do you really think that Rooster Teeth would just drop RWBY and start over from scratch. On top of being an extremely profitable franchise, it would also be a huge disrespect to the original creator who started this all. It would be like spitting on his grave and not giving a damn about how he would've felt about rewriting his entire story from the ground up.
So stop getting your hopes up, Hero Hei. They're not going to be doing that any time soon.
Anyways, rant over. I hope that you've all enjoyed reading this, and as always, leave a review, follow, favourite, and I shall see you all next time!
Titanmaster117 out!