"I will not ask again." The woman declared, her hold on her walking stick tightening, her thumb running across its strangely curved handle.
"I came out here for some fresh air." Nora answered, narrowing her eyes at the mysterious woman, unable to fathom what had led to such a hostile encounter.
"You aren't from Shade Academy." The woman observed, matter-of-factly.
"I'm originally from Beacon." Nora answered, opting to go with the truth as much as she could. When they had first arrived at Atlas one of the things that had driven General Ironwood over the edge had been the fact that they had lied to him. She was hoping they could avoid that as much as possible this time. "But me and my friends have been around quite a bit since then."
"You're one of the visitors ." The woman concluded, although she seemed to use the word 'visitors' lightly.
"Nora Valkyrie." The Huntress introduced herself, trying for a smile that the woman did not reciprocate.
"You should be in the infirmary being checked." The woman blurted out, refusing to give her her name.
"Everyone is so insistent on that here." Nora muttered, shaking her breath. "I've already been cleared by the doc."
"So why are you out here ?" The woman repeated.
"Regretting my decision to do so." Nora confessed, folding her arms. "If it's such a big deal I'll just head back inside."
"The gardens are off limits to outsiders." She explained, her tone indicating that Nora had begun to try her patience.
"Fine. I get it." Nora began to turn to leave but paused as her eyes fell on the little plaque, once again reading the name upon its surface.
"What happened here?" Nora carefully asked, not wishing to annoy the woman further.
"The academy had been attacked by Grimm." The woman tartly answered, however her voice softened slightly when she continued. "A lot of good people were lost that day."
"Did you know them?'' Nora gingerly asked, daring to look back at the woman to now see sadness lingering in her strangely coloured eyes.
"A few." The woman admitted and she looked down at the plaque, the pair standing in silence. Nora half hoped that the woman would continue to speak, maybe explain the name that stood out against the rest but instead she said. "You better head back."
Nora sighed in disappointment, Shade Academy was proving rather stingy with sharing information. This time, Nora fully turned to face the path that would lead her back to the academy. Without another word she began to walk away and, even, successfully, managed to take a number of steps. However the pain in her head, which she had almost forgotten about as she'd explored the gardens, flared once again however, this time, with renewed anger.
Nora grimaced in pain as she raised her hands to her temples in response. The voice had also returned, but this time far more loudly and persistent and yet just as incomprehensible. Nora fell to one knee as the pain continued to intensify.
What was going on?
Why was this happening?
The Huntress was unable to deduce what could have been the trigger of this pain, and this voice... Was it that of the Maiden's? It had sounded almost alive when she'd heard it over the strait but now, it was shrieking in her mind like a banshee.
"What's wrong?"
Nora could barely hear the woman's voice over the pain but, at some point, she must have covered the distance between them. The woman struggled to get on her knees, holding on to her walking stick to better see what was wrong with the younger woman. But she gasped when Nora forced her head upwards, breathing heavily at the unbearable pain. Bright blue flames had engulfed her eyes, Nora could see the light was reflected back at her in the other woman's eyes.
Why was this happening?
"You're one of the Maidens." The woman whispered, her eyes widening as she quickly looked around the pair. Nora was in too much pain to question how the woman knew of the Maidens or who she was looking for. "You've got to reign it in before someone sees you!"
"I'm trying!" Nora gasped, obviously struggling but, without being able to identify the source of the disruption, she couldn't figure how to stop it.
"Nora." The woman said, struggling to recall the name the woman had used to introduce herself with. "Just breathe." The woman gently placed her hand on her shoulder, her touch warm against the chill that had spread across Nora's body. With that one action alone, the pain and the voices vanished, leaving the Huntress just as suddenly as they had first appeared.
Nora blinked up at the woman, perplexed.
"It's gone…" She muttered in disbelief. "What did you do?"
"Nothing." The woman admitted, her voice taking on a far more understanding tone than what she had been using when she'd been trying to send Nora away. "But we need to get you inside."
Nora nodded her head in agreement, that sounded like a good idea. On uncertain feet, the two women rose, the walking stick embedding itself into the soil as, for a moment, it tried to support the weight of the two of them.
"My name is Valerian Carrie, by the way." The woman finally said, introducing herself at long last as she began to lead the Huntress along one of the many paths.
Light streamed in through the wide windows that lined the office walls, illuminating the variety of strange objects that had been placed on the dark shelves. A bronze astrolabe sat beside a cracked hourglass, the thick layer of dust that coated their surfaces indicating that it had been many years since either one had been used in any way. Headmaster Theodore was leaning against a heavy looking desk as they walked in, a small glass with a golden liquid nestled in his hands.
In many ways he looked much like the doctor though, if Qrow hadn't warned them before, Ruby would have believed that Bellamy was the elder of the two. Unlike his brother, Theodore's hair was devoid from any silver streaks. The colour of his button up shirt, which he had open till the middle of his chest, just revealing the edge of his well toned packs, was a striking combination of golds, green and reds. His beard was neatly trimmed and a single gold earring hung from his left lobe.
"Bellamy was quite the welcome wagon." Qrow greeted as Ruby closed the door behind them, the booming sound amplified by the silence.
"You know a part of me was hoping that you'd skip our academy." The headmaster stated, his dark eyes looking deeply into the golden liquid, his own eyes looked back up at him, tired. "Shade shed its blood for this cause over 25 years ago, must we do so again?"
"We always knew that that witch would return. Ozpin had warned you." Qrow sighed, Theodore had always been the most difficult of the academy headmasters to deal with.
"Yes, Ozpin had said as much." Theodore took a sip of his drink before finally raising his head, his dark eyes studying the visitors with foreboding. "I heard you died again Ozpin. It must be so convenient that when you pass you are simply reincarnated. For the rest of us, when we die, we stay dead." Theodore took another swig from his glass. "Though it must be rather bothersome that you are unable to choose whose body will accept you. This one seems younger than even the Huntsmen we recruit."
"Theodore." Oscar's calm voice surprised Ruby and it took her a second to realise it wasn't Oscar speaking but rather the former headmaster of Beacon. "I'm sorry my return to your academy has caused you such strife."
"It seems, as of late, every time you have spoken to me has been to apologise for one thing or another." The man cooly spoke, looking at the youth with bloodshot eyes.
"But you must know, irrespective of our arrival, that Salem would have returned here for both the Maiden and the Relic." Ozpin tried to explain through Oscar.
"We can try to help you prepare…" Ruby began, taking a step towards the headmaster, this meeting was definitely not going the way she had anticipated.
"Like you helped the other academies?" Theodore harshly retorted, his words stinging the Huntress into silence. "Grimm prowl the halls of Beacon. Haven's head has been murdered while that of Atlas rots away in a prison of his own creation."
"How would you know-"Qrow began but was cut off.
"What can a handful of barely trained Huntsmen and Huntresses accomplish?"
Each word the headmaster uttered seemed like a stab in the heart for Ruby. Although she had tried to cover her doubts, Theodore had just voiced every concern that had plagued the young Huntress's mind. She had not been blind to the destruction that had followed her and her friends but to have it described as Theodore had just had…
"They can and have accomplished plenty already." Qrow defended, standing up straighter as he looked at the older man. "Do you think, if these kids had chosen to sit idly by as the other headmasters had, that a tragedy worse than the one that had hit Shade wouldn't have happened?"
"And what do you think became of the survivors?" Theodroe countered once again, his voice remaining calm. "Shade has had to deal with the full aftermath of the attacks. Lives were lost, Ozpin, the lives of the students we promised to train and protect until they were strong enough to defend, not only themselves, but the people of Remnant.
"Vacuo has never been accepting of foreigners and yet my academy is the only one who took in the students that remained, for my academy still remembers when Salem attacked. We had been woefully unprepared and we paid the price. Many lives had been taken that day, and many spirits broken. That is why we continue to accept students from the other academies for anyone who still wishes to continue to fight after colliding with that witch's forces has the true spirit of a Huntsman of Vacuo.
"But, even though they are trained, I refuse to have any of my students fall to her gruesome hands." He concluded, somehow maintaining his calm disposition. "An attack is near, your arrival warns me of that much, so the students have been sent elsewhere."
"So that's why we saw no other students." Ruby sighed, as finally, one of her questions had been answered
"Wait, so who remains protecting the Vault and Relic?" Ozpin, through Oscar, demanded, his eyes widening. Theodore was not wrong in what he had said, every sin he had accused him of weighed heavily on his soul. However, knowing what they did now, the real reason behind why Salem was so desperately trying to collect all the Relics and Maidens, they could not leave them unprotected and free for her to take.
"Myself and the staff. Many had been there during the first attack on Shade. They know the risks and have accepted them. My students, until they graduate, do not." Theodore stated, his dark eyes moving from Oscar, to Qrow and finally on Ruby. "Tell me, young Huntress, knowing this and the forces you must face, will you continue to risk your life and the lives of your friends for a cause destined to fail?"
Silence filled the space between the question and Ruby's answer, as if the air itself was holding its breath in anticipation.
"We've known for a long time the odds aren't in our favour." Ruby quietly began to answer, her silver eyes rising to meet the headmaster's. "We've been fighting Salem for years and we still have no way of defeating her. But we all choose to continue fighting knowing this because that's what Huntsmen do, even when the odds are stacked against them, they continue to try to protect people."
Theodore looked deeply into his drink as he contemplated the Huntress's words. In one swift motion he bent his head backwards, gulping down what remained of the liquid. When he finally lowered his glass, a tired smile played on your lips.
"You were right, she's something else." Theodore declared, his words confusing the visitors.
"Insufferable, right?" Another voice said, causing the small group to jump and reach for their weapons until the one who had spoken finally materialised, sitting casually in Theodore's chair behind this desk.
"Emerald?" Ruby gasped, her eyes widening in confusion.
"Missed me?" The woman asked, giving the trio a cheeky grin.
"What are you doing here?" Ruby exclaimed, her eyes wide as she lowered her hand which was already holding onto the handle of her scythe.
"Don't think this means I've changed sides or anything." Emerald clarified first, seeing the way the Huntress looked at her. "I'm here to warn Cinder of Salem's plan."
That's right, Emerald had made her intentions clear in Atlas. She'd had no desire to help them but, for the time being, their goals somewhat overlapped. Emerald wanted to warn and stop Cinder from acquiring any more of the Maidens' powers for, if she wasn't in possession of Ancient Blood, whatever that meant, Jinn had warned them the power would drive her insane and destroy her.
"So that's how you knew so much about what happened in Atlas." Oscar observed, a knowing smile on his face. Ozpin had met his share of good doers that had preferred to take on the mantle of delinquent, Emerald was no exception.
"Ms. Satsuri appeared at our door a few weeks ago and brought with her some distressful news." Theodore explained, placing his empty glass on his desk with a thud. "The day your group arrived at our Academy would be the day Salem would attack."
"I have a reliable source on the inside that risked his life to send me that message." Emerald explained, obviously choosing to keep the identity of her source to herself although Oscar had an inkling of who it may have been. Another of Salem's supporters that had had a change of heart once before.
"But how would that witch know when we'd get to Shade?" Qrow blurted out.
"Was she tracking us?" Ruby questioned, a sinking feeling filling her stomach. Once again, Salem was several steps ahead of them and they still were no closer to understanding her game.
"That's because," Ominously declared Emerald, resting her elbows on the desk. "You've had a traitor in your midst all this time."
Velvet walked through the quiet corridors of Shade Academy, stretching slightly as she did so. Her feet needed little direction, after so many years at Shade she had come to know it's passages almost as well as those of Beacon. The thought somewhat saddened her for, during her early studies, Beacon had become as dear as home to her. True, bullies plagued its passages however, it had been there that Velvet had first met Coco and the rest of her team. They had become her family, accepting her Faunus heritage with little effort. In that aspect, Vacuo had the upper hand over Vale. Vacuans were far more tolerable of Faunus, with survival of the fittest being their sole requirement, one's ethnic group was of little importance. That may have also explained why they were so reluctant to accept outsiders for, by their standards, the other kingdoms lived in ease and luxury.
From what Ruby and the rest had told them from their journeys, however, it seemed that that was not the case. All the Kingdoms had their own problems to deal with, ranging from bandits to rampaging dictators. Maybe, if one of these days, the kingdoms didn't spend their time bolstering their own burdens they'd notice the ones on the other's shoulder. Only then would they stop being at each others' necks and start moving forward.
But that was just an idealistic dream.
Velvet sighed, stopping to look out an open window that overlooked the academy gardens. The warm winds rustled the leaves, making the shadows dance as they moved. This was a side of Shade Velvet had never expected to stumble upon when she'd first arrived. It surely had not fit with her expectations. It was also interesting that this academy had an interesting tradition that, after completing the final mission before graduating, students would plant something within the garden's soils. Sun and the others had not known the reason why such a rtradition had initially started but they had agreed that, when the rest of team CFVY returned, they would plant their seeds and saplings together. This would be their final mission before graduating.
Velvet shuddered as an unexpectedly chilled wind blew in from the inside of the school, carrying with it a rancid after scent of rot and sulphur. Her nose twitched in disgust, the smell reminding her of a trashcan whose contents had not been cleared for quite some time and had been left out in the afternoon sun. A shadow fell over her from behind and Velvet assumed it was one of the others already ready with their check up.
"Any idea where that-'' Velvet turned to speak to the person that had appeared behind her but her words died on her lips, being replaced by a scream so fierce it shook the academy down to its core.
Hi! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed the update 😁