AN: I forgot to switch out a placeholder name I had for Jaune's dad last chapter, and I noticed a few days after posting. So if you haven't seen that yet, it was changed from 'Blaic' to 'Argent' to fit more with the French naming convention for Jaune and the color I had planned for his Aura.
Chapter 9: Menagerie
The cruise ship landed on Menagerie almost a week from its final destination of Haven Academy. Some minor repairs were needed for the ship to make the final leg of the journey, so the passengers had been sent out to explore and appreciate the island for the next few days. Menagerie's main attraction was the large, multi-ecosystem animal preserve that covered most of the island, which was so far the only place on the world's surface that was free of Grimm, mostly due to the very low level of human population on the island. In fact, that was why the island was named Menagerie – because it really was a Menagerie. A place where the animals who had once populated all of Remnant could recover from the brutal war between the Faunus and Humans almost three generations prior, a place where their numbers had almost recovered. The plans were to begin reintroducing them in a couple decades, but keeping a few on the island for both a backup plan and for the added benefit of scientific study on why the creatures were not actively sought after by the Grimm.
Sora was thoroughly enjoying himself as they explored the huge wildlife preserve, staring at the animals that ran around beneath with wide eyes. He was especially excited when their vehicle began passing through the area comprised of a frozen tundra. What could he say? You don't see many frozen creatures on a world almost entirely covered in tropical waters. He grimaced internally. He really couldn't say that. "And what's that thing called!?" he asked, pointing excitedly out of the window every few minutes.
"That's a penguin," Ren explained. His was the only face that wasn't pressed hard against the glass to stare out, instead being the one to glance out over his friends heads to answer Sora's many questions. And calm Nora's ever growing – occasionally explosively dangerous – excitement. "A small, flightless bird that travels between the small islands dotting the south pole of Remnant."
"And that?" Sora asked, just as excited. He was pointing, now, out of the other side of the vehicle, past the low power Dust barrier separating the frozen regions of animals once from the far North and those from the South pole. "What is that white bear!?"
"It's a polar bear," Ren said as he glanced over Sora's spiky hair. The animal was lumbering around, a pair of smaller white balls of fur bouncing around between its legs.
"EEEEEEEK!" Nora shrieked, causing the entire cabin to flinch at the sudden, earsplitting noise. Sora and the others slammed their hands over their ears, trying to block out Nora's intense scream. "BABIES! I wanna I wanna I wanna I wanna!"
"Nora!" Ruby cried out. "Too loud!"
The berserker clapped a hound over her mouth and laughed sheepishly. "Oops," she muttered, removing her hand and grinning at her oldest friend. "But seriously, Ren! I want one!"
"I don't think that'll happen," Ruby said dryly.
"You have Zwei!" the ginger whined.
"He's a dog, not a thousand pound machine of blubber and muscle!" Jaune protested, knowing that he would eventually have to help clean and care for the beast. The idea of cleaning up dozens of pounds of digested seal was not an appealing one to the young man. "You can't have a polar bear as a pet!"
"And why not?" Nora asked, leveling a narrow eyed, argumentative stare at her team's leader. She pushed away from the glass and took a step towards him. Jaune took a step back, laughing nervously. "I want one."
Jaune sighed and decided to just let Nora have it and hope she forgot about it. "Okay. Well, if they'll let you -"
"Jaune, if you let her, she'll find a way," Ren cut in, shaking his head. He turned to the indignant Nora. "Nora... we're going to be traveling in a tropical area from here on. That would hurt it."
The berserker sighed. "Fine," she muttered angrily. She pointed at Ren. "But after all of this is over, I will have one. No two! No TWENTY!."
"I'll even help you get them," Ren said, earning a wildly happy smile from Nora. His eyes widened imperceptibly, only enough for the teasing smiles of Sora, Ruby, and Jaune to erupt. He scowled at the grins of his friends and decided to change the topic by pointing outside. "For now, we're crossing the Dust shield into the Tropical region." The energy of the shield fizzled and hissed against the metal of the carrier, the shield being stretched and rendered partially inert by the sudden presence of the Dust-resistant metal. The guides had said the shield was powerful enough to knock any animal out if they came into contact with it, a good way of keeping certain predators from devouring the other denizens of the island into oblivion.
"Does anyone else think that this is a really weird setup?" Ruby asked, pointing towards the jungle and then towards the tundra. "Like, why would these areas be next to each other?" The question remained unanswered.
Sora and the others yelped as a small, brown creature slammed into the window and yelled at them, grabbing a rung on the outside of the ATV and kicking the window. Sora grinned as he recognized the small creature. It looked just like a monkey that had followed him and Tarzan around forever ago. It cocked its head to the side and grunted excitedly at the children who all leaned in. Ruby tapped against the window and the small creature followed her fingers to kick the same spot as she tapped. It slid around, gripping the rung with its tail and dangling. It shrieked and made a face that caused the warriors to laugh.
Then, from outside of the vehicle, they heard a scream. They froze, unsure if they had actually heard what they thought they had heard. "Did you guys hear that, too?" Sora asked nervously, all the while listening as closely as he could for the noise. They all slowly nodded, and all of them turned to look out the window again. Finally: "Ren open the door."
There was another scream, this one communicating the noise of even more pain and suffering. "Now!" Ruby shouted, already grabbing her scythe from her back. Ren nodded and jumped towards the front of the vehicle, using the blades on his guns to tear open a hatch. He then pointed the weapons directly into the machinery. Unleashing a barrage of Dust bullets, Ren watched as sparks flew out of the hatch. The vehicle seemed to scream in pain as its autopilot was disengaged and it began to slowly grind to a halt. The cabin flashed red. Ruby ignored it and tried to open the door; it didn't budge.
"Distress beacon," Ren muttered at the lights. He stood up and sheathed his weapons with a sigh. He shook his head at Ruby before gesturing at the door. "I'm sure the doors locked down when it activated. Which means that we are stuck." Ren then pointed over at the fuming Nora, his challenge issued.
"WHAT!? You think we're stuck in here?!" Nora shouted, shoving past Ren and grabbing the still live wire. Electricity began coursing up her arm and into her body, the young woman laughing excitedly as her Aura absorbed the energy and channeled it right into her muscles. After a few seconds, she let go of the wire and stomped over to the door, the floor beneath her every step bending in to the shape of her boot print. "We are never stuck, not when we have the Incredible Nora!" She lashed out with her right leg, the massive force of the blow slamming into the hatch. Metal creaked against metal for a moment, then her foot and body edged forward again and the door flew off of the ATV, soaring out of the tree canopy. There was a sharp, electrical crash as it slammed into one of the Dust-based force fields. She jumped out of the ATV and roared at the sky. "Nora smash!"
Sora glanced over at Ren. "You two have to make the oddest couple," he muttered, much to Ren's quiet chagrin. Sora grinned sheepishly. "Pair. The oddest pair." Ren's face didn't change, but Sora thought he seemed less annoyed.
Ruby jumped out after Nora and immediately drew her scythe. "Someone should stay here to tell the authorities why and where we went," Ruby said, turning around to slam the base of her scythe into the ground.
Jaune nodded. "Right. Me. I guess that would be me," Jaune said, wiping sweat from his brow. He was relieved, given the intense heat present in the jungle outside. "I'll stay here in the air conditioned, easily defensible, metal box. With the refrigerator and snacks."
"There are snacks?" Sora asked, indignant that he had not been told. He turned to see Ruby's unamused stare and he laughed sheepishly. "Right. I'll eat later. For now, the real problems. Let's go."
Ren jumped out of the ATV, his outfit camouflaging him ever so slightly in with the surrounding forest. He drew StormFlower and flourished them before letting them rest in his palms. He turned around to salute Jaune. "We'll be back soon," he told the Knight.
"With someone else in tow," Jaune replied, smiling confidently. "Go."
Sora nodded and gestured for Ruby, Nora, and Ren to follow. "Let's move!" he shouted, his hand glowing a bright magenta. The surrounding foliage responded, it too beginning to glow the same shade. He waited for the others to pass him, then jumped forward, grabbing hold of them and landing atop a branch. With a concentrated effort of magic, the four began to fly forward at intense speeds.
Jaune just watched, shaking his head at himself. "Why am I even surprised?" he asked himself as he walked back into the ATV. He drew his sword and sat down in the chair closest to the now gaping hole in the hull. "Why am I ever surprised?"
R W B Y
Sora whooped excitedly as he neared the coast, clutching his friends on either arm as he bounced from tree to magenta-glow covered tree. Ren, Ruby, and Nora were meanwhile holding onto his arms for dear life, simultaneously terrified and filled with adrenaline pumping excitement as the air rushed through their hair. "This is so amazing!" Ruby screamed, her cloak flapping like a flag in a storm on her back.
"Faster!" Nora screamed from beside Ruby, her voice echoing through the jungle to meld with the shrieking of the animals deep in the jungle
Sora laughed and obliged the young woman, dashing between the walls of trees at lightning speeds. He wished that Tarzan could see him now, swinging through the jungle like they had so long ago. Sora grabbed a vine and swung along it, screaming out Tarzan's battle cry as he let go at the top of the arc. The group soared up, poking out above the canopy of the trees for a moment. The entire group screamed in a combination of fear and elation as they dropped beneath the leaves again, terrifying a group of monkeys lounging on a tree as they passed back down. "Sorry!" Sora shouted, landing against a glowing wall of the trees and quickly rebounding to the other side.
He threw his legs before him, getting ready to land on the outstretched branch of another tree. As he got close, however, the tree suddenly flew towards them and the four were sent tumbling apart. Sora and Ren flew through the air together in one direction as the massive tree fell to the ground. "Oof!" Sora cried out when he hit the ground, harder than he would have liked as he tried to keep Ren from smashing against the ground and dying. The two rolled painfully across the ground before sliding to a stop.
Sora looked up, dazed for a moment. That confusion quickly disappeared when he saw what was coming. "Look out!" He grabbed Ren's arm and jumped away, barely pulling the two of them out of the path of the falling tree. The blast of air that resulted threw the two young men even further, crashing into the trees off of their small path. He groaned and summoned the Keyblade back to his hand, shooting out a quick Cure to heal him and Ren. "Ruby! Nora!"
"We're okay!" they called from the other side of the tree. Ruby ran up to it and peaked over the top. "Guys, are you -" She was cut off by a scream that came from behind her. The person they were looking for. She glanced over her shoulder just as another scream echoed from behind Sora and Ren.
"This has to be a trap," Ren remarked dryly. He glanced between Sora and the girls. "But we have no choice. If there is the possibility someone is in danger, we must try and fulfill our duty as Huntsmen."
"He's right," Ruby said, glancing over her shoulder again. She returned her gaze to Sora and Ren. "Nora and I will take this way. You take the other."
Sora nodded in agreement and turned to leave, only to stop and think better of it. He smiled at Ruby. "Be careful, okay?" he said, still grinning.
"Only if you are, too," she said, beaming right back at him.
"When aren't I?" he asked, shrugging before turning and running into the jungle with Ren.
"When are you?" Ren inquired dryly. He caught Nora's gaze and smiled at her, the smile he saved only for her before drawing StormFlower and taking off after the young Keyblade wielder. He silently cast his own words towards the fearless berserker: You be careful too, Nora.
Ren quickly caught up with Sora, the Keyblade wielder having slowed down slightly for the other boy to catch up. "So who do you think is waiting for us?" Sora asked Ren, glancing over as he vaulted over a root that had grown out of the ground.
Ren shook his head, signifying he did not know either. "The only enemies we have that I could think of that have the resources are dead or in prison," Ren explained, letting himself roll over the next tree trunk and landing at a full speed run.
"And this isn't Xehanort's style," Sora said. He flipped over the next tree trunk and landed quietly. "Though he'd certainly get someone else to try something like this." Sora frowned, remembering all the Darkness that the old man had spread throughout the World over the past few years. Entire worlds nearly destroyed by those Xehanort had manipulated and controlled. Ansem the Wise's apprentices, Terra, Ven, Maleficent, Riku, the first Organization XIII. He had constantly found new people to control and use to do the evil he deemed too small for his own hands.
"Then perhaps this trap was not meant specifically for us," Ren noted.
Sora frowned, feeling in his gut that wasn't quite right. Still: "Maybe," he said, trying to understand why he didn't agree; it only made sense, after all, for this to just be a random trap. But no random person would be able to just break out of those vehicles or think it was a good idea to run around in a jungle full of dangerous animals, right? "Maybe not. We'll find out, soon though."
They stopped when another scream suddenly rang out to their right, in the direction of the coastline. Sora and Ren nodded at one another, then sprinted off towards the source of the noise, sure that Ruby and Nora had also received a similar scream across the jungle. Ren approached the treeline a few steps ahead of Sora, breaking through to the coast and skidding to a stop in the sand. "Oh. Yes, this was definitely aimed at us," he muttered as Sora broke through and skidded to a stop beside him.
"What makes you say-" Ren just poked Sora's shoulder and pointed up. Sora followed the gesture towards the burnt, scowling snarl of the one trying to trap them. The man was standing on top of a large, Atlesian mech similar to the ones team RWBY had fought off at the end of their first year. He wore a black suit and pants with a white shirt. His black gloves were a shade lighter and a sheen shinier than the suit itself. He wore a scarlet tie and matching scarlet glasses. Hair and flesh was twisted from the bottom left of his scalp, down the side of his face and beneath his clothes.
"Well, well," Junior Xiong snarled, venom dripping from his voice as he stared down at Sora and Ren. A small squadron of smaller, remote support droids erupted from the back of the large mech and advanced with guns raised towards Sora and Ren. His voice was raspier than before, like it had also been burnt. "Finally a lucky break."
Sora raised the Keyblade in front of him and laughed. "Well, at least it's only you!" he shouted.
"Sora..." Ren warned, taking a few steps back.
"I mean, I was worried for a moment," Sora said, grinning excitedly now. He didn't even notice the small droids advancing on them with intent to kill. He let the Keyblade fall onto his shoulder and he pointed directly up at Junior. "But you? No offense, but I was expecting someone actually dangerous."
"Insolent little brat," the man snarled, entering the mech and letting its cockpit shut above him. When his voice came out, it was heavily filtered giving it an even more burnt feel. "I'll show you who's dangerous! An explosion deserves an explosion!" With that, a barrage of missiles erupted from the back of the machine and flew at Sora. The kid just stood there despite Ren's insistence that he move.
Sora glanced over his shoulder as the missiles came close. "Ren, aren't you supposed to be the level headed one?" Sora asked, shooting a grin at the Huntsman before disappearing in an explosion.
"Sora!"
R W B Y
The two girls glared at Nora and Ruby, who were visibly – and almost insultingly – relieved that the trouble was only those two women. "And here I thought we might have to deal with Cinder or something like that," Ruby breathed in relief. She looked over at Nora, who had her hammer draped over her right shoulder. "It's almost like we shouldn't have even been worried."
"I know! We were scared we'd have to deal with Xehanort, but we only get the Malachite twins!" Nora laughed, earning a ridiculously angry glare from the twins. Then Nora looked down morosely. "I'm almost disappointed."
"Right?" Ruby agreed. She sighed and twirled Crescent Rose until it was a scythe, blade hovering just above the ground in front of her. "I guess we should deal with this, then go look for Sora and Ren."
"You mean your boyfriends?" one of the twins asked, earning rushed half-protestations from the two Huntresses. "The boss should be able to deal with them. He has one of those Atlesian Mechs, after all."
Ruby grinned and raised Crescent Rose so that its muzzle was pointed away from the twins. "Just one?" she asked. She glanced over to Nora. "Well, at least it can be a more even race to see who will win first."
"We won't take it easy on you this time," the other twin snarled, her feathered clothes bouncing as she moved. She took a step forward and growled. "You're done for."
"Doubt it," Ruby said, returning her gaze to the twins and narrowing her eyes. "Nora, I'll take the one in red. I thought our last encounter would show her to not rip off my style."
"It was my style first!" the twin snapped, running towards Ruby. The Huntress smiled confidently at that and fired off Crescent Rose, the noise terrifying animals in the nearby jungle. The two met a few moments later, scythe crashing against the bladed claws of the Malachite twin. The strength of the attack quickly sent the Malachite stumbling backwards to receive a blow to her head from the tail end of Ruby's scythe which quickly turned into a rapid fire onslaught of slashes that the young, silver eyed warrior continued to unleash. No matter what the other woman tried to do, she couldn't escape the ceaseless onslaught of Ruby's scythe slamming into her from every direction.
Nora was doing just as well as Ruby, her hammer and massive strength crushing any defense her enemy could put up. Her hammer came down in arcs containing massive power, each one a block that collided directly with the incoming kick of the Malachite twin. Each moment of contact jarred the twin, sending her other foot a few inches deeper into the sand. With a bit of effort, she brought her leg out and around to slam into Nora's skull, only to be surprised when the blow collided with the girl's left arm. Nora grinned massively, grenade launcher in hand. Her eye twitched from sheer excitement. "Boom," she whispered before giggling. Her finger pulled back on the trigger, causing the Malachite twin's eyes to widen before a massive explosion sent her crashing into her sister.
"Fine. Let's go all out, then, Sis," the one in red grumbled as she forced herself to her feet.
"Fine, Miltia," the one in white agreed, standing up and clasping hands with her twin. "It's been a long time, huh?"
"Too long," Miltia agreed as the two began to glow, the two activating their Semblances. Or Semblance, singular, Ruby noted, holding off on geeking out about a joint Semblance.
"Now, how do you feel about their odds now, Melanie?" Miltia asked, letting go of her sister's hand.
"I don't think they've got a chance," she responded.
"Oh my gosh. Did you guys just summon a dragon? A genie!? AFAIRY!?" Nora screamed excitedly.
"What? No!" one of the twins said. "Look around, you stupid bimbo!"
Ruby chuckled and tapped Nora's shoulder. "Um. Nora," she said. The hammer wielder looked up and grunted in surprise. The two were surrounded by a small army comprised of copies of the Malachite twins.
"Yay!" Nora shouted, raising her weapon to become a hammer once again. She shot a grin at the army of twins that made them all shiver in fear. "More targets to hit!"
Ruby grimaced at the Malachite twins. "I think you might want to run," she noted, gesturing with her thumb at Nora. "She hasn't hit the scariest level of Nora yet."
"Do you want to see that?" Nora asked the scythe wielder excitedly. Ruby shook her head quickly and raised her hands near her face in fear, all while trying to dissuade Nora. "You do!? Then leave this to me!"
"Oh no," Ruby muttered, thinking back on the half-stories Ren had told her so far.
Nora jumped ahead, screaming bloody murder as she swung her hammer around. The head of the weapon caught a half dozen of the clones in the first couple seconds, causing the clones to explode in clouds of feathers as the hammer continued in its path. Nora laughed wildly and continued her attack, her weapon effortlessly brushing aside any of the clones that attempted to get in her way.
Ruby raised her hand to say something, then shook her head and deactivated Crescent Rose, knowing interfering at that moment would be completely pointless. Besides, she felt bad for the twins at that point, seeing how brutally Nora was tearing through them. It wouldn't be cool to completely embarrass them. "Only pancakes could make this moment better!" Nora screamed as she shifted her weapon to its grenade launcher mode and feather-ized an entire group of twins in an explosion of pink Dust grenades.
"Pancakes?" one of the Miltia clones asked before disappearing under the weight of Nora's hammer.
"I don't quite get it either," Ruby said with a shrug. Nora laughed, ignoring the Huntress and slamming her hammer into the ground, pulverizing a small wave of clones around her in the resultant shockwave.
Ruby grimaced as the destruction continued. "Ouch," she groaned as Nora dashed across her line of sight. She winced sympathetically as the carnage continued. "Oh. I am... I am so sorry." There was an explosion. "Ugh... Dust..."
Nora was panting excitedly above the twitching, unconscious forms of Melanie and Miltia Malachite, her hammer heaving up and down in her right hand with every breath. "So... I think I heard someone say something about pancakes?" Nora asked, turning to look at Ruby.
"Um... that was you," Ruby responded.
"Ah! So it was a good idea!" Nora shouted, grinning at Ruby. She frowned. "We should probably find Sora and Ren first. But then... Pancakes!"
Ruby just stared at the hammer wielder with wide eyes. Finally, partially understanding just what Ren had spent his entire life around, Ruby could only nod slowly and have the deepest respect for the usually silent warrior. "Hooray!" Nora shouted.
R W B Y
"Sora!" Ren jumped forward, one hand extended towards the smoky pillar that now extended upward from where Sora had been standing. The Huntsman breathed heavily, trying to convince himself that the Keyblade wielder had survived worse – much worse. But whenever that thought ran through his mind, the more logical center of his mind reminded him there were few fully trained Huntsmen who could survive a direct attack from those missiles.
"I guess he wasn't so tough, then," Junior spat, his Mech stomping and turning towards the stunned Ren. He sighed. "I guess one more death and we'll be done. Sorry, kid, but you crossed me. If there's one thing I learned from Goldilocks, it's that letting that happen never ends well. As my face can attest."
"True," a third person said from within the smoke.
"No..." the mech's pilot muttered, lumbering back to stare at the smoke.
He was greeted by the image of a completely unharmed, grinning Sora who had his Keyblade slung over his shoulder. "Packed a little more punch than I thought. Good job, Junior," Sora said earnestly, shifting his Keyblade back into an attack stance. He looked around at the droids that were vainly trying to process his survival, then let his gaze drift to the stunned Ren. "Ready to have a little fun?"
Ren tried to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he nodded and raised StormFlower to a ready position. "Then let's try something really fun!" Sora shouted gleefully, swinging the Keyblade out to his side. There was a bright flash for a moment and his Keyblade disappeared, replaced in both hands by a pair of gold and white guns, one of which had the same chain hanging from it as Sora's Kingdom Key. "Go!"
Ren didn't quite understand what happened. It was as if he and Sora began acting on powerful instinct, the world outside of their enemies becoming fuzzy. Sora and Ren ran towards each other, firing off in every direction. Sora's twin weapons launched large orbs of fire that collided with the Dust bullets coming from StormFlower. Some of the balls of energy floated into the droid, causing the synthetics to explode suddenly. Some of the others, however, remained where they were as Sora and Ren approached one another.
When they got close, Sora and Ren twisted around to collide back to back with one another, weapons aimed out to both sides. They fired off, slowly moving their weapons as they did to complete the circle of destruction. Then they jumped at the same time, spinning and causing the surrounding projectiles to follow them in a whirlwind that sucked in the droids and mech. Sora's hand began to glow a bright magenta, and the two warriors began to glow similarly. They disappeared and reappeared suddenly, dashing between different droids and firing into their bodies causing explosions as they jumped away to destroy another.
As the last droid exploded, they both appeared above the floating mech and landing on top of it. Sora's Keyblade reformed in his hand, and the two began running across the surface of the mech, slashing through its joints with their weapons one by one. They dashed together above the entry hatch to the cockpit, guns raised again. Together they fired off for a few minutes into the hatch door pounding it in bit by bit until the door exploded. Then, as one, they flipped away, firing off into the hatch continuously until the machine groaned from the intense heat and damage of their attacks.
Suddenly, the mech gave in. It exploded massively, and the world seemed to return to normal. Ren blinked as he landed beside Sora, whose blasters were held up. "That was great!" Sora shouted, turning around and slapping his arm around Ren's shoulder. "Awesome, right!"
"Um," Ren began. He jumped in surprise as the remains of the mech slammed into the ground around them, smoking from the intense heat of their assault. There was a loud scream for a while as Junior fell from the sky before slamming into the sand with a thud.
Sora looked down at the criminal for a moment, then saw the man's shoulders heave up in a breath. "Good. He's alive," Sora said, arm still around Ren's shoulder. He looked over at the Huntsman, still grinning. "Great, right?"
"Um... what just happened?" Ren asked dumbly. "How did we... do that?"
"Magic," Sora replied simply, slapping Ren's back with his suddenly empty hand. "Now, we should probably go see how Nora and Ruby are doing? Oh! After we arrest this guy." He summoned the Keyblade back to his hand and pointed it at Junior. "Stopga!" The man froze suddenly, and Sora walked over to throw the criminal over his shoulder before turning to Ren again. "Hm... I feel like eating some pancakes, don't you?"
Ren sighed and placed his weapons on his belt. "Why not?" he asked with a shrug. "Nora will be happy at least."
R W B Y
As Nora and Sora chowed excitedly down on the pancakes in front of them, the group prepared to talk about what had happened. "I'm just saying, it doesn't make any sense," Jaune muttered. He shook his head. "Junior? How the heck would he get his hands on hardware like an Atlesian mech?"
"It is troubling," Ren agreed over the manners-less devouring of pancakes by Sora and Nora. He placed one hand on his chin. "He was, despite his attempts at become something more, a mere bit player in crime, in Vale and especially Remnant as a whole. Someone else must have been behind this."
"Xehanort?" Ruby asked Sora.
The Keyblade wielder nearly choked on the pancakes inside his mouth, dropping his fork and slamming his fist against his chest as he sputtered. As the coughs died down he grimaced. "I was worried about the same thing," he admitted, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. His face fell to a frown as he thought about it. "It's certainly his style, that's for sure. But that's not what I'm most worried about. I mean, I've been wondering why he hasn't just... teleported where he wants to go."
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked, intrigued.
"He could just appear where he wants to go. Anywhere, at any time. You saw it during the fight, his Corridors of Darkness? Well, why hasn't he?" Sora asked, leaning forward and pushing his pancakes away. Nora watched him do it, staring for a moment, then quietly stole the plate. Sora ignored it and continued speaking. "He never does anything without a reason. So he's waiting for us, for some reason."
"You mentioned that he steals people's bodies?" Ruby asked after a short silence.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "Right now, he's dealing with the only body he could get." Sora thought back on the Replica he had created of his own, younger self's form. "But it's falling apart. Which means he wants one ofus."
Jaune coughed nervously. "Um... us?" he asked, chuckling quietly. He pointed between himself and the rest of them. "Um... Like us us?"
"Yeah," Sora replied, frowning worriedly. "Ideally, it will be someone who has the potential to use the Keyblade."
"So he's after you?"
Sora shook his head. "No, he's tried that and failed. Twice," Sora said, assuaging his friends' fears.
"But, then... there's no one else," Ruby exclaimed. "So then... why? Why follow us?"
"Because not every Keyblade wielder knows they can use the Keyblade," Sora explained, glancing around at all of them. He shrugged and leaned back with hands behind his head once again. "Riku and Kairi didn't even figure it out for eleven years."
Jaune and Ruby grinned excitedly. "So you're saying... one us is a Keyblade wielder?" Ruby asked, her eyes shining brighter than the Light Magic they held and larger than Goofy's shield. She was basically salivating at the mere thought of it. Her hands, clenched into excited fists beside her face, vibrated back and forth. "Squeeeeee!"
"Or more," Sora supplied. He glanced between them all then shook his head. "But as for the who? I don't know. It could be any of you. It could be none of you. Xehanort knows things most people would never guess. Whatever the truth is, I won't let you guys down. I won't let him take any of you, no matter what." Sora's eyes continued moving to land on Ren. The warrior was strong and smart. He reminded Sora of a less confrontational and a lot less angry Donald in that way. Also like Donald, Ren was not the hero of his own story. He was the support for Jaune when he needed it most.
He caught sight, next, of Nora out of the corner of his eye. She was basically inhaling the food at the table by that point, making even Sora wonder if she was a bottomless pit when it came to pancakes. She was just as strong of Heart as her closest friend, with a hidden cleverness to boot. It wasn't quite as sharp as Ren's, but she wasn't a fool. Like Goofy, she was surprisingly smart at times, despite appearing less intelligent than her partner. But again like Ren, she was not of the caliber of a Keyblade wielder.
His eyes settled next on Jaune; the parallels between the young man and Riku and Terra were obvious even to him. But just like them, the young Huntsman was a good person at Heart. He'd never let the Darkness take him, not without a fight. At the end of the day, Jaune was a good person who wanted to do the right thing, even if it was hard. Sora knew from personal experience that bright Lights could cast the heaviest Darknesses, which is likely what would attract Xehanort. Light would always win out in the end, though. He maybe had the Heart to be a Keyblade wielder, if the Darkness he'd seen during their fight with Xehanort had been any indication, or the light the Huntsman had demonstrated in his battle with his own Darkside during the Dive.
Finally, Sora let his eyes fall on Ruby Rose. He smiled as they did. She was special, Sora knew. Her innate skill with Light Magic that came from her Silver Eyed heritage was enough of a testament to that. That alone was enough to make Sora wonder if she was a Keyblade's candidate, as he had only ever seen Keyblade wielders or future Keyblade wielders use Light Magic to any real extent without being trained to use it. Besides that, though, she had the same determination to help everyone that Sora and all his friends from Destiny Islands had discovered when they'd found out about the Keyblades and Heartless. He bet she'd get along great with Kairi once they met; they were both really good people with pure Hearts. And Sora liked them both, so he was sure they'd be great friends!
"Uh, Remnant to Sora. Come in Sora," Jaune said, waving his hand in front of the Keyblade wielder's face. "You've been staring at Ruby for like five minutes."
That snapped the Keyblade wielder out of his thoughts. "I – uh, sorry!" he said, his voice cracking on the last word. This drew a steady stream of laughter from the others at the table, which in turn caused the Keyblade wielder's blush to deepen. "I was just thinking about, uh, how much you guys will like all my friends! Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy. You guys will get along great... once they finally decide to try and find me. And Kairi calls me a 'Lazy Bum!'"
Ruby nodded. "If they're your friends, I bet they'll be ours no problem!" she responded, shooting the Keyblade wielder a soft smile. She couldn't help but be happy if he was happy. Her smile made Sora's smile widen.
"Again? Dust. I need to break this up before it gets any more awkward," Jaune said, glancing between the two warriors who were smiling at each other even still. He looked over at Ren with a sad, sacrificial frown.
"No," the usually silent warrior begged, going along with the joke.
"I am so, so sorry," the Knight muttered, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "But sometimes, sacrifices must be made for the greater good, Ren. I must make that sacrifice to lessen the awkwardness at the table."
"Oh, just let them think we don't notice," Nora giggled.
"No can do," Jaune said, closing his eyes for a moment. He opened them and stared into his teammate's eyes. "Lady. Ren-tleman -"
"Lame," Nora interjected, holding up one finger and pointing it disapprovingly at her team leader.
"It's been an honor," Jaune finished. He pulled out his scroll and sighed deeply before pulling up an image he had decided to usually keep to himself – him, in a white dress. He sighed once more before sticking it between Sora and Ruby. "Look, it's me in a dress!"
"AGH!" Sora screamed, his chair tipping backwards as he jumped away. He crashed loudly into the ground and groaned, clutching his bruised skull. He shivered, a chill running down his spine for a moment as he was assaulted by memories of a similar story. "Ugh, I'm having Cloud flashbacks..."
R W B Y
The streets of Vale were silent in the middle of the night, recent events having forced the Kingdom to institute different laws and curfews for the safety of its people. In fact, the only people who were still outside of their homes at that unceremoniously late hour were those who had been assigned by the council to patrol the sleeping city to guard those building the defense wall around Beacon Academy or to patrol the streets of the city for the rare, wandering Grimm. Neither job was glamorous, and neither was par with the level of skill that Glynda Goodwitch had spent her entire life honing since her time in Beacon had ended. Nevertheless, it was the job she had been given and the job that would protect the people of Vale the best. Therefore, it was her duty and privilege to do that job. No matter how mind numbingly boring it sometimes became.
She walked down the center of a dimly lit street, riding crop swaying with her hand as she marched along. She glanced around the street as occasional noises punctuated the dark silence, echoing through the empty city scape. Her cape floated behind her like an ethereal purple and black cloud, drifting in the wind. The twirling tails of the cloth gave it the appearance of a flame flying from its main body before dying out and being replaced. The imagery was even more fitting in the blackness of the night.
She stopped when she heard a noise behind her, and turned on her heel. Her riding crop shot up and remained aimed at the source of the noise, whatever it could be. Glynda narrowed her eyes behind her glasses and advanced slowly into the darkness, ready for anything that may come. She moved much more silently and much more quickly than her frame and choice of clothing suggested, appearing at the origin of the noise in a few short moments without making even a single noise. She raised the crop across her body and over her right shoulder, preparing an incredibly powerful burst of telekinesis for the person who thought they could sneak up on her. Unfortunately, there was nothing there.
She turned almost before the noise began, swinging the riding crop around moments in front of her in the arc and sending the form in the darkness flying down the street with a powerful punch of her Semblance. The figure soared through the air for a moment, an uncoordinated heap of cloth and flesh, before flipping midair and landing silently. It stood up slowly, patting off its shoulders and revealing its feminine form. Red eyes glared out from beneath an inhuman mask and there was a gleaming set of dust containers at her hip. Glynda knew that a duel with this warrior would cause far more destruction than she had the desire to deal with at the moment. Besides, they were allies... as far as Glynda knew. "Ah," Glynda said, lowering her weapon and placing her hand on her hip. "Raven Branwen. Apologies."
"Damn right," the elder – 'By two minutes!' her brother would often remind her in their youth – Branwen snapped. "I mean, really... Who attacks an ally?"
"First off: quiet down. You're nearly as loud as your brother," Goodwitch chastised, earning only a glare that could melt Grimm from the other Huntress. "Secondly: you should know better than to sneak up on a Huntress patrolling what was recently a war zone. Just as I've always said – you and your brother are more alike than either of you will say."
"Keep saying that," Raven growled, shoving her mask back to rest on the back of her head. She crossed her arms and glared at Glynda.
"Are you going to tell me why you are here and not... wherever it is that Ozpin sent you?" Glynda asked, her voice ringing with irritation at the knowledge that Ozpin had not trusted her with everything.
"I'm getting to it," Rave said, holding out her hand, the clawed glove giving it a sharp and disturbing shadow. "First, I have... um... a question."
Glynda flinched in surprise. Was this one of the Branwen twins, member of Team STRQ of Beacon, one of the two most cocky and arrogant people on all of Remnant... nervous? "Yes, well... fine. What do you wish to know?"
Raven scratched her face absently and let her gaze shift slowly down and to the left. "I... er... that is..."
"Ugh, out with it," Glynda snapped, her riding crop snapping as well.
The noise seemed to break Raven's uncharacteristic nervous streak, and out came the words. "How are Tai and Yang?"
Glynda grew uncomfortably quiet. Raven did not know? That posed a... problem. Glynda considered the question for a moment, not from the lens of what she should do, but from the lens of what Ozpin would want her to do. Raven Branwen was an entirely too important piece in this war, if Ozpin's quiet warnings were to be believed. And they had not steered Glynda wrong ever before. He had hidden countless secrets so that his plans may succeed in defending Remnant. They had failed, of course, but still... On the other hand, there was no guarantee that Raven would abandon her duty to tend to her injured daughter. Such a thing would be vastly out of character for Raven Branwen, the woman having long ago eschewed her role as a mother and the maternal instinct that went with it in favor of seeking out ever greater power and excitement.
For a moment, Glynda considered how ironic it was that both Miss Xiao Long and Miss Rose would become more like their absentee parents than the one who had remained with them their entire lives. That thought, however, also reminded her that the woman indeed deserved the truth, no matter how much she had purposefully ignored her child in the past. "Taiyang Xiao Long was scheduled to resume duties as a Huntsman approximately four months ago. Events during the Vytal Festival have ensured he remain off the active duty list and instead act as a teacher at Signal Academy... often filling in for your brother, who deals with more... important issues. Taiyang is safe," Glynda finally explained, drawing a surprisingly warm and relieved look from the absentee mother.
Then Raven's face hardened. "And Yang?" she asked, crimson eyes flaring up much like her daughter's did when angered.
"Yang Xiao Long is alive and safe," Glynda replied. She frowned. "Though she did not escape the battle unscathed. It is reported the leader of the White Fang was the one responsible for her injuries – the loss of her right arm. And, subsequently, the loss of any will to fight for or protect the people of Remnant. While there is a standing offer from the Headmaster of Atlas Academy to help, she has repeatedly denied the request. He only keeps it open at this point because I explained Ozpin took a special interest in her team."
"Just as he did with STRQ," Raven muttered, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "That attention comes with freedom from rules, fights with the most dangerous creatures and people on Remnant, and becoming the greatest fighters in all of Remnant. And all at the price of either becoming an alcoholic or dead."
"Except Taiyang," Glynda noted.
Raven sighed and nodded, admitting the other woman was correct. "Except Tai," she muttered. The two were quiet for a long moment after that, just examining one another. Finally: "Pin is alive."
Glynda felt her knees go weak for a moment. Did she just say..? "Ozpin? Ozpin is alive?" she asked, eyes wide. She took a step back, a smile appearing on her usually stoic face. "This is... good news. Where is he? Why hasn't he -"
"Come back? Well, he's decided he's better off where he is," Raven explained with a shrug. She shut both her eyes.
"Which is?"
"A prisoner of the enemy," Raven stated, one eye drifting open to meet Glynda's gaze. As she took in Glynda's worried stare, she shook her head. "Says it's the best place to hear what they're planning without them filtering anything. As long as they think he's stuck there, they won't do anything about it."
"And this Xehanort fellow?" Glynda asked.
Raven's eyes shot open. "So you've met him, too?"
Glynda shook her head. "I haven't had the pleasure," she remarked. She raised an eyebrow. "Though, given the fear on your face I suppose that is a good thing. No, I merely met the boy in Miss Rose's company. Sora. Quite an intriguing young man -"
"I know of him," Raven stated, cutting off the other Huntress with a wave of her hand.
"Yes, I suppose you would." Glynda shrugged, arms crossed over her chest. "Your brother is... intrigued to say the least. Sora's abilities as a child almost outstrip even his own at the moment. With time, he could be key to defeating the enemy."
"Pin certainly believes Sora and Ruby are special," Raven agreed, cocking her head to the side and looking up at the sky. The shattered moon glistened far above, its slowly drifting remains filling the sky and blocking out the stars behind them.
"And you do not?" Glynda inquired.
Raven returned her gaze to Glynda. "I believe they need to be," Raven explained. She turned around and placed her hand on her blade's handle, readying to leave. "So, do you know where Qrow is then? I've been looking for him since Pin told me to find you all."
"The other Headmasters, Qrow, and myself?" Glynda clarified.
"Yeah. I saw Corrine and James already. You should have seen General Jimmy when he learned; his eyes basically exploded from his cyborg skull," the woman explained, laughing and earning a small smile in kind from the professor.
"Qrow was heading to Haven, last I heard. And I take it, then, that was to be your next stop regardless?" Glynda asked, tracing the path that the Huntress had taken.
"Don't try to figure out where Pin is," Raven said, sliding her mask back down to cover her face. "He wants to be there, remember?" Then Raven's arm and weapon slashed through the air, cutting apart reality. "Don't get killed, Glyn." Then the masked Huntress leaned sideways and fell through the portal. It hung in the air for a moment, its Darkness beckoning Glynda. The woman merely turned and walked away to continue her patrol, letting the portal slowly shut behind her. Her steps contained something whose presence only those who knew her best would even recognize: ecstatic joy at Ozpin's survival.