Legal Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth. The True Runes and any other Suikoden-related lore that pops up in this fic are the rightful properties of Konami.
Author's Notes/Warning: This chapter does contain a Minor Character Death corresponding to canon. Please be advised before reading!
Chapter Thirty-One:
As soon as the True Water Rune sigil was revealed to the group at large, a strange blue glow enveloped Weiss' right hand. The white-haired young woman raised the affected appendage up to her face, blinking in surprise at the odd display, "What is happening now?" She asked, more outright curious than afraid, especially when Ilia placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"I think the True Rune is reacting to you. Just like the True Lightning Rune reacted to me down in the tunnels." The chameleon Faunus told the youngest Schnee daughter gently.
Neopolitan rolled her dual-colored eyes and jumped down gracefully from the rooftop she'd been standing on with Cinder. Alarmed, everyone turned at her sudden action and Qrow reached for Harbinger's reassuring presence to remind Neopolitan that she was amongst enemies. He needn't have bothered though, as the half-mer paid them all no mind as she silently strolled forward in front of a surprised Weiss and Ilia, holding out the True Water Rune expectantly as she did so.
Weiss' pale blue eyes widened slightly and Ilia's hand hovered pointedly over the hilt of Lightning Lash, but Neopolitan merely rolled her dual-colored eyes again and gestured to the floating rune, indicating that Weiss should hurry up and claim it.
Carefully, Weiss reached out her glowing hand, the water circle symbol of the True Water Rune lighting up overhead as clear as day before fading upon her skin. She glanced down as the last vestiges of the light faded completely, arching a delicate eyebrow as she did so, "That was rather anti-climactic." She finally managed to get out, sliding her right hand into Ilia's left.
"You're telling me!" Yang stated not a second later, crossing her arms over her chest, "Especially given how long it took to find the damn thing."
"And another child gets chosen to fight directly in this damned war." Hazel muttered sadly, both Emerald and Mercury regarding him nearby with mild concern.
"It figures that a Schnee would eventually be chosen by this particular True Rune." Cinder remarked rather indifferently from where she stood observing things. Neopolitan stepped back slightly, putting her hands on her hips impatiently as Cinder jumped down from her chosen perch as well. The dark-haired woman moved with measured grace, as if she owned the very street they were walking on and found it and everyone on it not worth her time or effort.
Qrow couldn't help but tense as Cinder came to a stop near Neopolitan and the other two girls, "That's more than enough." He growled out protectively, holding Harbinger up in a defensive stance as Willow, Winter, Robyn, and surprisingly even Hazel stepped forward then too.
Cinder merely quirked her eyebrow in clear amusement at this turn of events, pointedly raising both her arms up in mock surrender while pointedly ignoring the gasps at the sight of her monstrous, Grimm-like arm as she took a step back while Neopolitan watched on curiously, "I extended the True Water Rune to you as a show of good faith." She explained rather haughtily.
Ruby frowned, "Good faith towards what, exactly?" She asked, her tone indicating she clearly wasn't buying any "kindness" on Cinder's part.
Cinder glanced over at Qrow's youngest niece, something unreadable flickering in her one visible eye before she smirked confidently once more, "A truce." She stated evenly, as if explaining things to a group of particularly slow children, "So that we can work together to enter the RuneScape safely."
Elm scoffed, "And why would we want to ally with you for that?" The tall woman asked, crossing her arms over her chest in clear agitation.
"We all have our reasons for wanting entry." Cinder calmly explained, "Working together makes the most sense, does it not?"
Cinder calmly glanced over at her former companions, searching momentarily for agreement. From where they were standing, both Emerald and Mercury shared a look. The grey-haired fighter frowned at Cinder's remark, but opted to say nothing as Emerald merely shrugged in response to Cinder's question.
"With the True Water Rune's innate healing magic combined with the Bright Shield Rune's, it shouldn't take long for the farmhand to recover." Cinder replied as her gaze landed once more back on Ruby as she jerked her head in the direction of Oscar Pine's unconscious form while Nora and Penny hovered over him protectively.
Understanding dawned on Robyn's features then and she slightly lowered her crossbow, "You intend to use the kid's magic to teleport directly into the RuneScape." She surmised, almost sounding impressed with the clever tactic.
"You're as sharp as they say." Cinder murmured appreciatively, looking pleased that they'd finally gotten to the crux of the matter, "So, do we have a deal?"
It seemed that they did as Winter and Weiss were already moving over to where Oscar was. None of their group trusted Cinder as far as they could throw her, but she was right about them needing a way to get into the RuneScape quickly to rescue their friends. After all, the sooner they got to them, the better.
Clover fell forward slightly, a cold sweat forming along his brow despite the ever-present heat of the Sun Rune's RuneScape. The Rune of Punishment's glow overtop his left hand started to fade slightly after he unleashed his spell, a pained scream echoing throughout the space as spectral swords slammed into the ground where Tyrian had been standing not moments before.
As the dust cleared, however, the madman could be seen practically twirling in a further away area, his own magenta rune sigil glowing.
"It figures that the Eightfold Rune allows its bearer to teleport too." Jaune muttered under his breath from his spot standing next to Clover, his own hand outstretched. The orb of fiery death he'd conjured to keep Tyrian in place for Clover's swords to leave their mark also simply dissipated into the practically shimmering air due to the immense heat of the RuneScape.
"That was almost close!" Tyrian cackled gleefully, the manic look in his eyes intensifying as they briefly flashed the same magenta color as his True Rune to indicate the activation of his berserk status.
Watts, meanwhile, simply sighed and glanced down disinterestedly at his watch, "They're both still immensely weakened and are only relying on their magic here." He told the scorpion Faunus tersely, "How long do you plan on toying with them?"
"Patience!" Tyrian mocked, his tail swishing back and forth as he glanced over at their three former prisoners, "What's the harm in dragging this out for a little more fun?"
Clover's teal eyes narrowed at the madman's remark and he willed himself to get into as much of a combat stance as he could at that moment, feeling more than looking to see that Jaune and Whitley had both tensed up as well, "Get ready!" He said, his currently exhausted state making him fake his normal fighting confidence.
Watts shot a distasteful look in Tyrian's direction at his comment, and he opened his mouth to retort when there was a shimmer in the air between them and their targets. Everyone was stunned and left blinking in surprise as a suddenly visible Oscar Pine lowered his hand, standing close to an assembled group comprising of Penny, Qrow and the young knights who had traveled to Atlas, along with...
"Mother?!" Whitley got out in absolute shock, "What are you doing here?!"
Willow Schnee smiled at her youngest child, smoothing out her skirt as she did so, "I came to help save you, of course." She replied casually, as if she wasn't in the middle of a tense battle.
"But—!"
The youngest Schnee sibling's surprised disbelief was cut off by Jaune grinning and practically throwing himself into Marrow's outstretched arms, "You're okay!" He shouted, sounding deliriously happy.
"Well, better now that I get to see you again." The canine Faunus muttered shyly, his face darkening with the telltale signs of a blush.
Clover caught both his adopted sister's and Qrow's eyes and smiled at them, before his eyes wandered over to the rest of the group that Oscar had teleported in. As surprising and joyful as the reunions were, both Jaune and Clover tensed all the more at the appearance of soldiers from the Land of Darkness in the newcomers' midst. "What are they doing here?" Clover asked warily, teal eyes narrowing.
Watts pulled at the edge of his mustache then, his eyes on both Cinder and Hazel in particular, "Yes, I wonder that as well." He muttered, clearly not pleased.
Hazel's massive hands clenched into fists, "I'm here to prevent any more children from being sacrificed for this war." He said sternly, his resolve clear as day.
Cinder's visible golden eye flashed as she jumped backwards from everyone, lifting her right hand into the air with a triumphant smirk, "And I'm here to tie up some loose ends." She said scathingly as the two-headed wolf symbol of the Beast Rune came to life high above her head and the very ground all around them began shaking violently.
"You little—!" Watts exclaimed, his eyes widening in realization as to what she was doing.
"It's been since the Fall of Beacon when the Beast Rune last tasted blood!" Cinder cried out mirthfully, "I think it's high time we changed that." She glared over at Neopolitan and her two former underlings, "This is what you get when you betray me!"
"Are you mad, woman?" Watts shouted out then as a gigantic, ethereal golden wolf began to take form, "The Beast Rune is incapable of telling friend from foe when it manifests like this."
Cinder smiled bitterly, "I see no friends here," she said pointedly, "Just people who deserve this fate."
"I so called this." Yang murmured as the summoned physical manifestation of the Beast Rune roared thunderously and charged.
"Mother!" Qrow heard Weiss call out at as she joined the other True Rune bearers in blocking off the advancement of the monstrous wolf, "Protect Whitley, please!"
"Of course!" Willow responded to her youngest daughter as she summoned an icy apparition of a Grimm and moved to stand in front of the three former captives along with Marrow, Nora, and Ren.
"W—we can help too!" Emerald got out shakily as she, Neopolitan, and Mercury formed a protective circle around the white-haired boy and the weaponless Clover and Jaune, "Just keep that thing away from us!"
"Good to know where you stand when your former boss tries killing you." Nora called brusquely over her shoulder before turning her attention back to the battle at hand.
Watts had been thrown to the side of the fight thanks to a massive paw swipe from the Beast Rune, which Tyrian teleported away from. He deftly moved to strike out at Cinder, who dodged out of the way quickly. Their in-fighting basically left the giant True Rune incarnation to be dealt with by the others.
"Jaune!" Ruby called over her shoulder, "Are you in any condition to maybe call back this RuneScape?"
Penny's eyes were glowing, "It does seem to be providing the Beast Rune with massive amounts of power to feed off of." She stated plainly, as if reporting on the weather.
Jaune glanced over at Marrow, Nora, and Ren then questioningly, the three nodding their heads in understanding to his silent query, "I think so! With these guys here too, at any rate!" He called out as his forehead began to glow along with the rune symbols on the other three people nearby, "Just give us a minute!"
"You got it!" Yang slammed her fists together, a line of fire shooting forward to hit the wolf squarely in the chest. The fire was soon joined by a volley of other magic attacks, though...
"Is it just me, or is it getting even larger?" Mercury asked with trepidation as the dust settled, the monstrous golden wolf towering over everyone.
"It must be absorbing the attacks thanks to the RuneScape." Blake surmised, golden eyes widening at the realization.
"Great." Ilia said as she rolled her eyes in response, "So how do we stop it?"
"You don't." Hazel said plainly as he stepped forward, staring intently at the monster.
Oscar frowned, not liking the man's regard, "What are you...?" He trailed off when he realized he wouldn't probably like Hazel's answer.
"You, girl." Hazel said as she turned slightly to Weiss, "The True Water Rune can temporarily silence magic around a target."
Weiss blinked in surprise, "What are you planning?" She asked with trepidation.
"Silence the creature now." The larger man ordered as he leapt forward then to grip tightly onto the fur of one of the beast's arms, keeping the wolf somehow pinned to the spot with a ferocious yell.
Weiss raised her hand and did as she was told, and Hazel cast a glance over at Qrow, "We don't have much time. Do it now!" He shouted, the strain evident in his tone.
Qrow hesitated for a moment, understanding just what Hazel was telling him to do, "But—!"
"No more Gretchens, remember?" Hazel asked the elf with steely resolution. The wolf's other paw slammed into him then, claws tearing through flesh as it pinned the man down in a bloody smear on the ground with an angry howl.
Despite Qrow's own desire for it to remain silent, Soul Eater glowed and awakened. The Rune of Life and Death had decided, even without its bearer, that the time to feed had come. A black ball of energy suddenly enveloped Hazel and the Beast Rune incarnation, magic slicing through them both in blinding intensity.
Just as suddenly as it had begun, it disappeared, along with the two figures as well. Soul Eater's scythe symbol glowed above Qrow's hand, the True Rune apparently sated as Qrow silently dropped to his knees. He wasn't even fully aware that his youngest niece and Clover had moved forward to check on him, stunned and shocked as he always was after Soul Eater manifested itself in such a way.
Cinder let out an angry growl at this turn of events, dodging another of Tyrian's blows as she raised her hand as if to once more call out the banished monster...
"That's enough, my dear Cinder."
The new, chilling voice behind all of them caused everyone to pause then. A tall, impossibly pale woman with white hair garbed in black was standing just behind Cinder, Tyrian, and Watts. She stared at everyone with cold, red eyes.
Qrow's blood froze in his veins. Salem was here.
"I don't recall giving you three permission to act so much on your own." She told her followers without preamble, as if the others weren't even there at all. Her brow shot up in a considering fashion a moment later, "Though I suppose at least taking care of the traitorous Hazel was a good step to take."
Just then, the combined light of the Sun Rune with its three helpers suddenly expanded outward from where Jaune had been kneeling on the ground, the RuneScape shattering all around them as if it had never existed in the first place. The next moment, they were all standing back on the streets of Atlas. A stunned group comprised of the Happy Huntresses, Winter, the Ace Ops, Raven, and Tai moving towards them, though they froze upon seeing Salem.
Salem's red eyes took in the scene around her, lips quirking upwards, "It seems as if the remaining True Runes are all in one place now. Good." She said calmly as her eyes swept over the assembled group, "If you don't wish for the Kingdom of Atlas to be ripped to pieces, I'd suggest accepting the invitation I'm now offering to the Land of Darkness. I'll graciously give you a month to bring your True Runes to me."
And just like that, she and her minions were gone as if they'd never been there at all. The bitter cold of Atlas seeped into Qrow's very bones at Salem's final ultimatum, and he shuddered even as hands gripped his shoulders reassuringly. He watched as the Soul Eater symbol faded over his hand, feeling as if he might never be warm again.
Author's Notes: Poor Hazel! And poor Qrow too! Soul Eater is a tough True Rune to have to bear given its proclivities. :/
Looks like it is time to update that True Rune list as well:
Eightfold Rune - Tyrian
Beast Rune - Cinder
Front Gate Rune - Salem
True Water Rune - Weiss
Thank you for reading, and friendly comments are always appreciated! :D