Here we are at Chapter 67. Only two chapters left until we reach volume 5 in the story. I do not own RWBY or Tales of Berseria. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 67. Enjoy.
Chapter 67: Ready to Move
At the Xiao Long household, Yang is in Ruby's room, reading the letter that Ruby left behind. She has already read it several times before, but each time she reads it, all she can think about…is how she treated Ruby after the Fall of Beacon. She grits her teeth in frustration as the memory comes back as clear as yesterday, and so does the pain and the guilt. Putting the letter on the bed before she rips it, Yang turns to the picture of a younger version of her and Ruby on the bedroom table, back when things were much brighter in their lives.
"Yang…" she hears and looks up to see Weiss standing at the doorway. "Everything alright?" she asks, a little concerned.
"Hey Weiss…I would say I'm fine…But that would be a big, fat lie," Yang replies as she looks at the picture again, holding it in her hands this time.
Weiss sits next to her on the bed and rubs her back a bit, "Thinking about Ruby?" she asks.
"Yeah. I told you before that she was going to Haven to find those responsible for the attack on Beacon," Yang notes.
"Yes, and you told me that Jaune, Ren, and Nora were going with her. Believe me, I miss that cookie loving dolt too, but she's our leader. I'm sure she's fine," Weiss tries to comfort her.
"That's not the problem!" Yang states, stunning Weiss a bit. Yang takes a breath and calms down. "It's just…after the Fall of Beacon, I wasn't in the best of shape, in more words than one. Ruby was trying to help, and I didn't want to listen. I was in a bad place, after everything that happened. She was just trying to help me, and I pushed her away. I hurt her, and told her to leave me alone. I didn't care about anything at that point. I didn't even tell her that I love her after she said those same words to me. Looking back now, I hate myself for how I treated her, my own sister. I just…I have to make it right. I owe her an answer, an answer that she's been waiting on for over half a year. I wasn't there for her before, but I will be there for her now. I HAVE to be there for her. I turned my back on her, just like my mom turned her back on me and Dad. That is the one thing I never wanted to do in my life, but I did it anyway. I made a huge mistake, but I refuse to let that mistake define the rest of my life," Yang decides.
Weiss smiles a little bit and kiss Yang on the cheek, making her eyes widen a bit before she looks at her.
"That's the Yang I know and love. And don't even think about going out there on your own. I'm coming with you. She may be your sister, but she's my BFF, although I'll never say that to her face. We'll find her and watch out for her, together," Weiss says.
Yang eventually smiles back, "Thanks Weiss. For being there for me," she says.
"Hey, what are girlfriends for," Weiss replies before giving Yang a chaste kiss on the lips.
…
Meanwhile, in Menagerie, Blake sits in her father's study, watching over an injured Sun as he sleeps on the couch, his wound all bandaged up, while Rokurou stands off to the side, watching the two of them with his arms crossed.
"He shouldn't have been here. If he had just left me alone, this wouldn't have happened…again. I didn't want this to happen again," Blake laments.
"It's not your fault that he got hurt," Rokurou says.
"Yes it was! This is what I was trying to tell you before. I'm bad luck. People that I care about have been hurt because of me, because they tried to help me. I can't be helped. First it was Yang at Beacon, and now it's Sun. This is why I left them behind; it was to protect them. As long as I'm near them, they're never safe. You saw how Ilia was, and she's not even the worst of them in the White Fang. You have no idea what it's like. Ruby, Weiss…Yang. I loved them. I loved them like I never thought I could love anyone else. Do you think I like being alone? Being away from them? I don't, but it's better for them if I am. No, no more. They're better off without me. I'll do what I have to do because those choices belong to me. And I hope they hate me for it," Blake says, a few tears falling from her eyes.
Rokurou just stands there, staring at her as she lets all her feelings out. After giving Blake a moment to calm down, Rokurou slowly walks over to Blake…and slaps her across the face. A shocked expression coats Blake's face as she slowly raises a hand to where he slapped her, and then turns to face him.
"You really are an idiot, aren't you? Let me ask you this: why do you think Sun followed you here and wanted to help you?" Rokurou asks her.
"What? What does that have to-," Blake begins.
"He came here to help you…because you're his friend. He never needed a reason to help you. He helped you…because he wanted to. And the same can be said for Yang. She risked her life to help you because she cares about you. Because you're her friend. And I'll bet that she'd be willing to do the same thing all over again. Look, when I was first travelling with Velvet back in my world, I was helping her because I had a debt to repay to her. But as time moved on, and we got closer to our goals, I started helping her, not because of a debt, but because she was my friend, and still is. I helped her achieve her goals simply because I wanted to help her do it. I wanted to see where her will would take her, and what would happen after we defeated Artorius," Rokurou says.
"…He's right, Blake," they hear and look to see Sun waking up, having listened in on some of their conversation. "He's right. If I had to do it all over again the same way, knowing where I'd end up, I'd do it in a heartbeat if it meant protecting you. And Yang would say the same," he says as he sits up. "Yeah, you can make your own choices, sure. But you don't get to make ours. When your friends fight for you…it's because we want to. So STOP pushing us out! That hurts more than anything the bad guys could ever do to us," Sun says.
After having listened to both of them give their big speeches, Blake thinks long and hard about her past actions, and comes to believe that they're right. How does running away help protect her friends? After Ruby and Yang got hurt, and Velvet went missing, and Weiss was taken back to Atlas, how could running away do any good? The truth is…it doesn't. It has NEVER done any good, and Blake finally realizes that.
"Now do you see Blake? You don't have to solve your problems on your own, and you don't have to be alone your whole life. You have friends who are willing to do whatever it takes to help you…And I think it's about time you start doing the same for them," Rokurou says.
Blake thinks more on his words until Sun puts a supportive hand on her shoulder.
"But if it makes you feel any better, the next time I go up against Lizard Girl, it won't be for you – it'll be to get even," Sun says.
Sun goes to give him a thumbs up with his left hand, but then winces as the motion aggravates his injury, making Blake laugh a little.
"My hero," she mutters at Sun.
Just then, the door behind Blake that Sun crashed through the other night, crashes down again. Only this time, the culprit is Kali, who had been eavesdropping before she embarrassed herself, while Ghira stands behind her, looking down at her with a hand on his hip.
Kali pops back up, "Oh! Oh dear, would you look at that, he's awake. Thank goodness," she says, trying to play it off.
Ghira covers his face with his hand, "Kali, please," he says.
"Mom!" Blake yells.
Sun waves to them, "Hey, Mrs. B," he greets her, while Rokurou just shakes his head.
Blake walks over to Kali, "What are you doing?!" she asks, flabbergasted.
"Well, sweetheart, your father needed to speak with the three of you," she says.
"Huh?" Blake asks, confused.
Ghira places Ilia's scroll on the coffee table, showing several folder icons on the screen.
"I'm afraid you were right to be suspicious," he says as he stands behind the coffee table while Blake and Sun sat on it, with Rokurou standing behind to them.
"What do you mean?" Blake asks.
"Adam Taurus is planning to overthrow the leader of the White Fang, and stage a full-scale attack on Haven Academy. It would be the Fall of Beacon all over again," he says.
Blake and Sun look down, "Not if we destroy the White Fang once and for all," Sun says.
"…No," Blake says, looking up. She stands up, full of decision. "We're not going to destroy the White Fang. We're going to take it back," she declares.
Rokurou chuckles, "Well, this sounds like it could be fun. Hope you don't mind if I join in on this little party," he says.
"Okay, but how do you propose we do that?" Sun asks.
"We'll start here in Menagerie. If Haven is the White Fang's next target, then we need to be ready to help them. We should first get someone to send out a message to Haven Academy, warning them about the upcoming assault. Meanwhile, we need to gather the Faunus here in Menagerie to help us. The school is not in the middle of classes right now, so it'll be less defended than when the students and the teachers are all there together," Blake comes up with a plan.
"I'll send a messenger to Mistral at once. At least then the school can be ready should an attack happen," Ghira adds.
Rokurou nods, "We'll also need to deal with the White Fang here in Menagerie. I don't have to be a genius to know that those Albain brothers might be in league with Adam Taurus. I say we pay them a visit and have a talk about them and Ilia. See if we can get some answers, or at least ruffle their fur a bit," he says.
"This sounds like this is going to be one heck of a party. Count me in!" Sun cheers.
Blake smiles at him, "Thanks. We're going to need all the help we can get," she says. "It's time…that I stop running from my past, and start facing it."
…
Outside her home, Yang Xiao Long spray paints her prosthetic arm and half of her Ember Celica bright yellow, with some black. A moment later, with her arm back on, she goes into the tool shed behind the house and pulls off a tarp covering her motorcycle, Bumblebee.
"I don't remember saying you were ready," she hears her father say behind her, leaning against the open door frame, arms crossed.
Yang doesn't look back at him, "Oh yeah? You're gonna try and stop me?" she asks, smiling.
Taiyang chuckles, "No. I think I'm still too sore after our last fight," he says, holding his left shoulder. "I just want a better goodbye than a letter. And I also have a question for you," he says, and Yang turns around. "Where are you going?" he asks.
"What do you mean?" she asks.
Taiyang moves into the shed, "Well, despite asking him numerous time not to, I know that Qrow told you where your mother's been at these days. I know how much you wanna see her. I've stopped you in the past, but I won't anymore…And we've both read the note. We know your sister's headed to Mistral. So, WHERE are you going?" he asks, as Yang looks slightly to the side, glancing at Bumblebee.
"Wherever we're going, it'll be together," they hear and look to see Weiss walk into the shed, carrying her suitcase with her. "I'm going with her," she says as she stands with Yang.
"Don't forget us," they hear again and look back to see Eizen, Eleanor, and Zaveid standing behind Taiyang.
"Yes, we're coming with you," Eleanor says.
"Listen guys, we appreciate your help, but this is our mission. Our fight. You don't have to drag yourselves into this," Yang says.
"You forget; we do what we want to do. We go where the wind takes us. And besides, you're friends with Velvet, remember? That makes you our friends as well. So we're helping you out, whether you like it or not," Zaveid adds.
"Um, okay if that's what you want. I doubt we could stop you anyway, but…Yang's bike can only fit two people," Weiss notes.
"Oh, don't worry about that. It's all taken care of," Eizen states, pointing a thumb behind him.
The trio take a look outside the shed and see a real beauty. They find a black and silver chrome Triumph Rocket III motorcycle behind Eizen, though slightly modified to with a larger body and seat for two people. Weiss raises and eyebrow, but Yang starts to drool a little bit.
"Where in the world did you get that?!" Yang yells.
Eizen shrugs, "I have my ways," he says.
"You didn't steal it, did you?" Eleanor asks accusingly.
"I didn't steal it, I did business for it. Would you rather we walk the whole way to Anima. We don't have the Van Eltia here with us, nor do we have that spirit board that we used to get around more quickly from before. You have to adapt, and that's what I did," Eizen argues, though Eleanor just stares at him for a moment before sighing.
"Well, at least this saves us some time from having to find transportation for ourselves later. Might as well run with it," Eleanor states.
"Wait, what about him?" Taiyang asks, pointing to Zaveid. "Your bikes are only good for two people each, and there's five of you. What's he going to do?" he asks.
Zaveid waves it off, "Don't worry about me. The wind will be my guide and transportation," he says.
"Huh?" Taiyang asks, raising a confused eyebrow.
"Eh, never mind," Zaveid says.
…
Meanwhile, back at Salem's domain, Tyrian and Cinder, with help from Emerald, finish explaining the situation with Velvet and the power of the Fall Maiden.
Salem raises a hand to her chin, "I see…So this Velvet Crowe used her semblance, a demon claw of sorts, and was somehow able to absorb the power of the Fall Maiden from Cinder, similar to the method I gave you to extract the power from the previous Fall Maiden. Before this time, there has never been a case of a Maiden's powers being stolen or sucked out from their host, until I created a method that would do exactly that. But this girl acquired a power to do so all on her own. Cinder for now, continue your treatment and your training. If this girl was able to steal a piece of your power with just her semblance, then we cannot allow her to take the rest. And, should the time come for you to face her, you must take back what is ours. Is that UNDERSTOOD?" Salem demands, her eyes glowing for a second.
Fearfully, Cinder nods her head, and then Salem leaves, allowing both Tyrian and Cinder to breathe a sigh of relief.
…
Back in Anima, Ruby and Velvet's group feel the energy in the air get suddenly darker, and they hear several footsteps coming towards them in the village.
"Guys…" Ruby mutters.
"Oh great, if Eizen was here right now, This would have Reaper's Curse written all over it," Velvet notes as she activates her arm blade.
This convinces everyone else to ready their weapons. Soon enough, they see a pair of Beringels walking around the corner of one building along with a few Beowolves, eyeing the group with malice. However, they start to get really worried when they see one more Grimm join the party. A Grimm with a horse and a humanoid boy fused together, long spines on the back and a pair of curved horns on the head of the human half. Arrows and swords litter the back of the monster, signs of past battles, and past deaths of innocent people. The Nuckelavee Grimm raises its head, staring at them, before it and the rest of the Grimm roar in unison.
"Oh, this is gonna suck," Velvet mutters.
And that's the chapter. Sorry it took so long, had work and a little bit of writer's block. A little short, but what can you do. Anyway, the rest of Team RVWBY are ready to move forward, but Ruby and Velvet have one more obstacle to get through before making it to Haven. Will they survive this next challenge? Until then, please Read and Review.