RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)
I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.
I am making no money from this.
Chapter 28: New Plans
The days following Antonia Arc's kidnapping at the hands of the Shadow Cadre had passed at a tortuously slow pace, every hour that passed without information seemingly lasting an age; a fact only exacerbated that the professors seemed to instinctively guess that Eagle would not only want to hunt down her mothers' captors herself but that she would be able to convince her team-mates to assist her. The professors, while unable to prove anything had still found ways to prevent Team FADE from contributing, something that they would no doubt argue was for the teens own good; this assertion seemed hollow; Especially when the preferred method of restraining them was over the top punishments such as detentions for laughably minor infractions.
It was following one such detention, an attempt on her teachers' part to bolster her admittedly slipping grades that Eagle Arc trudged through the snow that had accumulated away from the main pathways of the anti-gravity platform that housed the campus, grumbling to herself in a manner that most people who knew her would find disturbingly out of character. Eagle made her way beyond the outdoor training facilities, finding them currently unoccupied, and went beyond what most students considered to be the back of the campus; making her way to the very edge of Halo Academy and climbing over a guardrail that mercifully wasn't icy. With a huff she sat down, knees drawn up against her chest and pulled her hood a little tighter around her head to keep the biting cold from her ears. For almost two weeks Eagle had been coming to this spot after needing somewhere to try and process the fact that her mother, however distant their relationship had been, was missing. It was somewhere she could rant and rage and let her anger out without her friends worrying. Right now Eagle was simply enjoying the view, directly below was the exclusion zone, the total darkness of the blighted ruins standing in stark contrast to the multicoloured and ever changing lights of New Vale around it, growing seemingly more ostentatious and extravagant by the day as the Kingdom prepared itself for the upcoming festival. The interplay of light and darkness was only heightened by the snow which fell below Halo Academy, giving it the appearance of being pulled into the hungry shadows of the Grimm infested nightmare below. It was beautiful, in a bleak and somewhat terrifying way. Eagle appreciated it, it seemed to capture her mood. After a few minutes of losing herself in the view the tall blonde felt her Scroll vibrating, dragging her back to her senses suddenly enough that she needed to frantically reach out and clutch at the railings she'd climbed over. Taking a few moments to slow her breathing she plucked her still ringing Scroll from her pocket and looked at the caller id, a smile finding its' way to her slightly numb lips despite herself as she answered the video call
"Hey Aunt Hell"
"Hey kid" the familiar messy blonde undercut of one of Eagle's favourite aunts and the first person Eagle had asked with questions about her own sexuality came into view, the lenses of the goggles resting atop her head having frosted over in the cold "I've got Vicky with me as well" the second oldest of the Arc sisters came into view behind the youngest. Victoria was still tall and muscular, the epitome of what a Huntress should look like in her gleaming white and gold armour, gargantuan war hammer slung over her back; the image somewhat lessened by the utterly exhausted look in her eyes and the almost desperate way she took a drag on her cigarette
"Aunt Vicky I thought you'd quit?" Eagle chided with a huff, nobody in the family was sure when the former tournament fighter had picked up the habit, only that it had been after Jaune Arc's death
"I did, then this happened….I need something to keep my hands busy until I can wrap 'em around some throats" she admitted with a hollow laugh
"Still no sign" Eagle seemed to crumple dejectedly at the news
"Nothing yet-" Victoria found herself interrupted by her youngest sister, the baby of the family notorious for the fire she seemed to have inside her
"But we'll find 'em, we'll bring Toni home and then kick their asses from here back to Anima!" Hellebores saw that Eagle still looked unconvinced and her expression softened "I know you want to be out here. I know, I get it-"
"It's been two weeks and you haven't found anything!" Eagle surprised even herself with the way she snapped at her Aunt "I'm sorry-"
"It's fine" Hellebores waved her off "Trust me I know how much it hurts. Me and Vicky are gonna call it a night but Flax, Xiangya and the twins are gonna head out in the Jackrabbit while we babysit Honey….Oum bless Flax, he's been running himself into the ground for us"
"Your Uncle Xiangya is from Anima, he's dealt with the tribes before" Victoria interjected "He's certain the Antonia is still alive. The tribes rarely if ever go to such lengths to kidnap someone just to dispose of them without even offering terms for their return"
"I guess" Eagle shrugged "I just wish you'd let me help. I can't sit here and wait for-"
"No" Victoria Arc's tone mad it clear that the decision was made and her iron will was not to be tested "This is not a mission for students"
"Aunt Vicky I know we couldn't stop them before but-"
"Stop it" Eagle was silenced and wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes at the perceived implications before Victoria continued "Nobody is blaming you or any of your team for what happened. You did everything you could and more than anyone had any right to ask; but this is not a mission I can let you take. I'm not going to look for my sister just to tell her that something happened to her daughter in the process….I buried Jaune Eagle, I'm not burying you" Eagle found herself unable to argue, Victoria Arc never spoke about her brothers' death, so instead she simply pouted
"Fine" Hellebores took the Scroll back and gave her niece the brightest smile she could manage
"Hey, I've gotta call Flax for a lift. We'll talk soon okay?"
"Okay" the screen faded to black before Eagle's display picture flickered back into place as the video call ended, leaving her alone with her thoughts once more. A single wordless groan of desperation escaped her
"Yeah, that's how I've been feeling as well" Eagle sat bolt upright, a blush already creeping across her face before she recognised the voice of her team leader, partner and best friend. Felix hopped over the guard rail with far less caution than Eagle was comfortable with watching. The Lion Faunus shook snowdrops out of his messy, dirty blonde mane as he made himself comfortable next to her and peered over the edge at the Kingdom below, letting out a low whistle
"Nyanza mentioned that Helios saw you coming this way a couple nights in a row" Felix answered the question Eagle had been about to ask "Apparently Helios didn't come and see if you're okay because he's actually terrified of heights. Looking at this drop I can't say I blame him….You okay?"
"Just heard from my Aunts, still nothing" Eagle mumbled, sinking even further into the confines of her hoodie. Felix reached up and slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a one armed hug, allowing her to rest her head on him. He was after all Yang Xiao Long's son and hugs were a staple of dealing with problems. Their closeness had actually led to one of the few things Eagle had managed to genuinely laugh at in the last two weeks; a fellow student whose name she couldn't remember had mistakenly assumed that she and Felix were an item, the blondes, neither of whom were attracted to the opposite sex in any way merely stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before collapsing in hysterics.
"I've just been with Nep….Counsellor Vasilias" Felix said conversationally "If you want I can arrange a session for you, just for you to have somewhere you can get things off your chest without having to sit out here in the snow"
"I don't need therapy Felix" Eagle growled "I just want my Mum back. I'm not the problem here"
"Just an offer" he raised his hands defensively and Eagle winced internally at how harsh her comment about therapy could have sounded to someone who was struggling with their own anger issues
"I'm sorry"
"It's fine" Felix assured her with a playful punch to the shoulder "Besides, we both know that the teachers have been keeping us busy at all costs but I heard from Corey earlier, she wants to talk to us in the library"
"She's found something?" Eagle's crimson eyes seemed to light up at the news
"Sounds like it" he nodded, a wide smile displaying his overlong canine teeth "Come on, the canteen is still serving dinner. We don't want you half starved when we find the Shadow Cadre"
Situated in one of the many tower complexes that comprised New Vale's capital city, a tower remarkable only for it's relative dinginess and the lack of flamboyant lighting adorning its' exterior was the New Vale Correctional Compound, a smaller tower than any of the colossal structures that housed the law abiding citizens of the city the compound was surrounded by an electrified fence and armed security while each of the notably few bridges leading from nearby towers to its' upper layers were fitted with heavily monitored security checkpoints, at least two of the dozen or so battle ready airships patrolling the Kingdoms' skies at all times were positioned to respond to an incident at the prison and so far, since it's construction there had been no escapes.
The inside of the tower was broken up into several distinct facilities in ascending orders of security, the ground floor actually contained a walk in rehab centre that citizens needing help could either check into willingly or be ordered to do so by a judge, above that were several stories of youth offenders, then individuals tried as adults for their crimes, each level separated by sex until the highest echelons of the prison were reached; the maximum security wing was situated behind reinforced blast doors and was intended to hold rogue Hunters and other Aura users in the event that the Aura dampening collars that each of the inmates wore failed, this area due to the rarity of such criminals being brought in alive to face justice was far smaller than the other sections and was cohabitation, though cellmates were always strictly of the same gender.
It was against this bleak backdrop that Rhodium Torchwick was directed to small table under the supervision of two guards, clad in an orange jumpsuit that clashed horrendously with his hair, his hands being cuffed in front of him as an extra measure of precaution in the presence of civilians. Reaching the table he made himself as comfortable as possible in one of the frail plastic seats around it and gave the exhausted and beleaguered looking woman sat opposite him a warm smile which showed of the teeth he'd lost at the hands of a Hunter he'd learned from news reports was named Felix Xiao Long in addition to the still fading bruises mottling most of his face
"Hey Ma"
"What on Remnant have you gotten yourself into this time? Look at your face Rhodey!" she gasped out
"It's fine, it's fine….I actually lost the teeth a while back. That's why I asked you to bring that thing, did you get it?"
"Yes and the security here nearly threw a fit when they saw it" Candy Cain, mother of one of the most feared gangsters in New Vale huffed as she reached into a handbag that had been thoroughly rifled through by the prisons' guards, finally producing a small jewellery box which Rhodium hastily opened and withdrew a new set of white gold covers for his teeth from, hiding the chipped and missing teeth from view
"Thanks Ma" he gave her a much more winning smile this time "Just tell me which guard it was, I'm sure I can call a favour with someone a few levels down; have his hands broken with a serving tray"
"Don't you dare Rhodey!" She snapped "Why do you have to be like this? Oum damn it boy, you're ruining your life!"
"Ma it's really no problem, I'll be out soon. I've got a couple lawyers on stand by for stuff like this; I'll be home in a few months"
"No you'll be back on the street selling drugs and guns and Oum knows what else in a few months and don't 'Ma' me like we don't both know it's the truth" Rhodium's heart broke when he heard her voice wavering, making his mother cry was one of very few things he regretted
"Ma-"
"No Rhodey" Candy sniffled "I can't do this any more. I can't watch the little boy I did my best to raise turn into….Whatever it is you've become, I don't know and frankly I don't want to any more. I wish I knew how to make you see sense but I don't. I wish I'd done a better job with you-"
"Ma you were the best-" she cut across him, tears streaming freely from her eyes as she lamented
"I wish I'd never told you whose son you were. I should have lied every time you asked me about your father and never let you hear the name Roman Torchwick….But here we are, you're a gangster like your father and I can't sit here and watch you ruin lives any more Rhodey. I'm finished"
"Finished?" Rhodium's voice was a hoarse and unusually panicked stammer. His mother had already risen from her seat and was making her way towards the exit, as soon as he managed to process that fact he made to grab her; only to be restrained by a pair of guards
"MA!"
"I'm sorry Rhodey, this hurts me more than you can possibly imagine" she hadn't turned around, not trusting herself to be able to say the next words if she could see his face "But I have no son" Rhodium felt as though freezing water had been poured over him, he was utterly numb as he found himself frogmarched out of the visiting area by the wardens, their jibes falling on deaf ears as tears streaked down his face. It wasn't until he'd been led down several corridors of cell blocks into a general population recreational area and felt the cuffs be removed from his wrists that he returned to his senses. Wiping his eyes and taking a single deep breath, taking all the anguish threatening to overwhelm him and swallowing it, allowing himself to understand it terms that made much more sense to him; namely a deep festering rage. His shaking hands clenched into white knuckled fists and he gazed around the room, sizing up his fellow inmates to see who he could victimize without his Aura until he was dragged from his thoughts by a friendly but unwelcome nudge to his shoulder, he rounded on whoever was brave or stupid enough to touch him until he saw the familiar face of his cellmate; a Weasel Faunus possessing every ounce of cunning of the animal he shared traits with
"You good boss?"
"Yeah, real good" the redhead snarled savagely. In a sense it was true; his mother disowning him had rid him of the last person whose opinion of him he actually cared about, it was almost freeing "I've got a few things that need taking care of though, I need you to run a few messages for me"
"Can do" the Weasel Faunus known only by his prisoner number and nickname within the compound of 'Tricky' was eager to please, something that Rhodium exploited to its' fullest extent
"The screws that brought me back in" he nodded in the direction of the wardens in case his cellmate was unfamiliar with prison vernacular "Spread the word that I'll smuggle in one package of anything for whoever stabs 'em" Tricky gave him an alarmed glance which was quickly hidden
"Okay yeah, what else"
"There's a few of my old crew in different wings. I need the word spreading that the plan to take over is still happening, I still want Melanie Malachite's spot at the top. Everyone in here needs to send word to the rackets they were involved in; I'll be home soon and I want my businesses running like clockwork when I get out"
"Anything else" Tricky was ready to leave and attend to the task he'd been given
"Yeah" Rhodium's face morphed into a truly evil smile "Officer Brindle Bordeaux of New Vale Police Department. I want his family found. Just 'cos I fucking hate cops" Tricky nodded and made his way hastily out of the recreational room, leaving Rhodium to find a way to kill some time before he was escorted back to his cell. Looking around the room once more he saw a handful of inmates playing cards, the fact that they were all humans made it an easy decision; he hated gambling against Faunus he was sure they could practically hear the lies and bluffs forming in his head
"Cut me in" he ordered, a quick glance upwards and a nod from the dealer saw the redhead being dealt a hand, very few people sought out a confrontation with Torchwick after all. Before the next hand could begin one of the other inmates at the table happened to glance upwards at a nearby walkway
"Is that new chick still in solitary? Who the fuck did she kill?" the incredulous demand was met with laughter from all except Rhodium, the redhead was struggling to believe his eyes. Being escorted back to the isolated cells of solitary was a familiar Faunus; dark skinned with jade eyes and a distinctive tribal tattoo adorning her upper left arm while two pairs of wings protruded from her back between her shoulder blades, the upper left wing being clearly injured. Rhodium instantly recognised one of the two Faunus who had sold him the truck that had led to a world of trouble and eventually his arrest
"Bitch should have just killed me. Anyone here got any favours they can call in with the screws?"
Arctus Slate suppressed a shiver and pulled his jacket a little tighter around himself, idly considering the idea of actually purchasing a jacket with sleeves at some point during the winter. Shaking off the few snowdrops that had already managed to land on his now perpetually messy hair and shoulders he made himself comfortable in his current position, sat on the roof of Halo Academy almost directly above Team FADE's dormitory. Felix had attended a counselling session soon after classes had finished for the day whereas Eagle had been asked to stay behind to discuss her grades which had been struggling for what were, as far as Arctus was concerned, obvious reasons. The Bear Faunus had received a text message a short while ago from his cousin informing him that Corvid wanted to talk to Team FADE in the library and he was going to go and find his partner, hearing this Diamond had postponed the assignment she was working on and decided she needed a shower; the music blaring from the bathroom could still be heard faintly from the roof and was not at all conducive to holding a conversation over the Scroll, rather than turn it down Arctus had simply used a Glyph to exit the dorm via the window. Taking his Scroll out and opening it he decided to make this a video call rather than audio only, a few moments of dial tone later he was rewarded by the image of Rover Tan appearing on his screen, the light brown skinned canine Faunus's hair having grown into a small afro in addition to the beard he was clearly growing
"I can tell what you're about to say and shut the fuck up" Rover chuckled
"Hello to you too Uncle Rover" Arctus smirked "Seriously though what on Remnant is that on your face? Does your mask even fit over it?" the man he considered his uncle by virtue of being part of the same Team as his father at Beacon merely shrugged
"Yeah yeah, me and Missy are good for money but we've got a kid coming. Can always save more money so I stopped going to the barber every other week"
"How is Aunt Missy?" Arctus enquired "Dad was asking after both of you"
"Ask her yourself" Rover turned and called over his shoulder "Hey babe, Arctus is on the Scroll" the reply was unintelligible from Arctus's side of the call but he could hear movement in the background and before long his honorary aunt had entered what appeared to be the kitchen of the Tan household. Her hair was it's natural chestnut colour for possibly the first time in Arctus's life rather than the bubblegum pink she dyed it; more noticeable however was the prominent bulge of her pregnancy; her mismatched eyes, one vibrant green one yellow seemed to light up at the sight of Arctus on the screen
"Hey Hun, how're things at Halo?"
"Could be better" Arctus shrugged, following up with the reason he'd made the call when he saw their concerned glances "You know about Antonia Arc right?"
"Yeah" Rover sighed "Had to talk Missy out of suiting up. Half a mind to tear the Kingdom down to look for her myself….We owe her" he tapped the centre of his chest, where the pale green light of the Aura regulator grafted into his ribcage shone through his clothes; the device had been designed and implanted by Geppetto Polendina and Antonia Arc, the latter being the one to finally find a work around for the side effects of the device and give Rover and Antonia a chance at children
"We're the best search and rescue team in the Kingdom and everyone knows it" Artemis muttered "If I could be out there without risking the baby I'd be out there right now"
"You know I'm on a team with her daughter right?" Arctus asked, hoping that he be able to convince them to help his cause, the hopes died quickly
"I know that look on your face" Artemis sighed "It's the same look your Dad has when he's convincing himself to do something stupid"
"We can't sit on the sidelines and do nothing. Even if Dad wants me to"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Rover shook his head "If Gang put his foot down then I'm not letting you come out on patrols with me even if I do join in the search. Anything happens to you he might actually kill me"
"Come on Uncle Rove-"
"We didn't say we'll do nothing" Artemis interjected "It's not like it'll be the first mess Rover's gotten you out of this year right?"
"Missy what are you doing?" Rover looked genuinely concerned
"You're right, we do owe Toni; we owe her everything. If her daughter wants to help look for her then we let Team FADE search. Arctus we're can't give you information, but we can make sure anything you find is acted on quickly and Rover can spread the word to turn a blind eye to whatever your team is doing"
"Yeah, yeah I can do that" Rover sighed "It's gonna mean calling in some favours and if your dad or Oum forbid Weiss find out then you're on your own"
"Thank you" Arctus grinned while internally grimacing at the thought of his mother learning of his plans to utterly disregard direct instructions from everyone who'd told him to leave this to the professionals. Seeing his aunts bulge again he couldn't help but ask "So do you know what you're having?"
"No" Artemis shook her head vehemently "We've waited years for this, we don't want to spoil the surprise. They're going to be perfect anyway"
"Can't wait to meet 'em" Arctus beamed, he thought he was a pretty good older brother to Athena-Jade, even if studying in New Vale meant that he saw far less of her now and he rarely ever saw Aunt Ruby and Penny's children, having a new cousin would be fun. Then he caught sight of the time on his Scroll
"Hey, I just realised I've gotta be somewhere soon so…."
"No problem, get going" Artemis chuckled "And tell your Dad we said hi"
"Will do, I keep meaning to visit"
"No worries" Rover grinned "We'll probably see each other soon" before Arctus could ask what the Husky Faunus meant the connection ended; instead he merely shrugged and used a Glyph to carry himself from the roof back into Team FADE's dormitory, where a song from Kurt Cocaine was playing loud enough to drown out the sounds of the shower. Arctus smiled to himself as he wondered absent mindedly if Diamond actually was actually headbanging in the shower, it wouldn't surprise him. Deciding he needed a distraction lest his mind take the image of his girlfriend bathing and run with it in a completely different direction he took Gefroren-Erbe from the stand in the corner of the room where the team kept their weapons and began inspecting the surface of its' black blade for imperfections, not that he would perform any maintenance here, only Eagle seemed to be able to get away with that. Before too long the music was abruptly silenced and the door to the bathroom was opened, Diamond Sustrai-Black sauntering out of the steam filled room clad in grey sweatpants, impossibly fluffy socks and a black tank-top as she towelled her hair dry
"Hey babe" she greeted Arctus, making her way over to his bunk and making herself comfortable beside him and leaning into him; Arctus turned to face her, arms snaking around her waist and pulling her a little closer
"Hey"
"Really" Diamond rolled her eyes before giving him a wink "The second I get out of the shower….Or were you just thinking about me in there?"
"Well I...Um-" Arctus's face flushed scarlet as he stammered, Diamond put him out of his misery by pushing him backwards so she was on top of him and leaning close
"Maybe you'll have to join me sometime" whatever Arctus intended to say in response was lost as she brought her lips crashing against his, her hands wrapping around his shoulders only to move to his chest as Arctus's own hands drifted lower, grabbing her rear. They remained like that for perhaps a minute for Diamond seemed to remember they had somewhere to be and pulled away, eliciting a small groan from Arctus
"You poor thing" she teased with a soft laugh before clambering off of the bed, taking her partners' hand in hers as he joined her
"I was enjoying that" Arctus grumbled as they made to leave, suddenly realising something "You're going without shoes?"
"Yeah why not, it's not like I have to worry about dirty floors….in fact" without explanation she ducked under his arm and clambered onto his back "I'm actually still exhausted from class, you can carry me" Arctus laughed and happily obliged, deciding that any physical contact with Diamond was a good thing and after the way the professors had seemingly been singling Team FADE out he would take as much of a good thing as he could get.
Felix and Eagle made their way into the library, what little conversation that had been taking place between them halting the moment the almost supernaturally hushed atmosphere washed over them. The pair of blondes cast their eyes around the truly awe inspiring shelves filled with tomes of ancient knowledge, the most advanced research papers on any subject that could possibly pertain to combating the creatures of Grimm and a wealth of fiction as even the stoic Professor Goodwitch knew that her students needed to take a break sometimes. Scattered amongst the countless rows of towering shelves, the library taking up three floors of the Academy, were several tables filled with students who were mostly studying both alone and in groups. It was from one such table that a tightly scrunched up ball of paper was thrown, striking Felix on the side of the head
"The fuck bro?" the Lion Faunus demanded, flinching when he realised that he'd spoken far too loudly and several heads had turned in his direction. Shrugging the attention off while Eagle hid her blushing face in her hands beside him he stepped towards the culprits, one of the three members of Team CLIR clearly working on a group project involving a Grimm that from the diagrams alone Felix could safely say he never wanted to encounter
"Little Lady went looking for a book, think she's at the back somewhere" Rusty drawled pointing towards a specific aisle, Felix nodded in understanding and made his way in search of Corvid, Eagle close behind. Before long the pair found Corvid Xiao Long with a table to herself, leaning back on the rear legs of her chair and resting her feet on the edge of the table while she flipped through the pages of a technical manual with the unimpressed expression of someone who knew they could improve the designs they saw
"Hey" she intoned, barely more than a murmur
"Hey Sis"
"Hey" Felix and Eagle took two of the seats around the table
"Are Arctus and Diamond coming?" Corvid asked
"Should be on the way, give me a sec" Felix replied pulling out his Scroll and quickly dialling his cousin only to be rewarded with the sound of it ringing nearby
"Really dude?" Diamond's unimpressed sigh could be heard close by, Felix ended the call and fought the urge to laugh. The trio waited less than a minute for the final two members of their impromptu meeting to arrive and take seats
"Hey, what's up?" Arctus add, evidently trying to downplay the embarrassment of his Scroll ringing in the library
"I've been doing some looking around for you guys" Corvid answered quietly "Made a breakthrough"
"You know something about my Mum?" Eagle struggled not gasp loud enough to draw attention, the hope igniting in her flickering out the moment she saw Corvid's apologetic expression and shake of the head
"No, sorry" she paused a took a deep breath before continuing "I managed to get hold of Mousey, my contact with the Scavenger Guild-"
"The sons of bitches who pulled guns on us?" Felix demanded
"Yeah….I'd be happy with never seeing 'em again either" Corvid admitted "But the fact is that they're still looking for the Shadow Cadre, only they still think that they're in Mistral. The Scavenger Guild might be a bunch off dicks but they only want their guns back. It doesn't matter who finds Antonia Arc as long as she gets found. So I've arranged a meeting
"I'm coming with. You're not going alone" Felix stated flatly, his sister saw the determined glint in his eye and knew it would be pointless to argue
"I'm coming too" Eagle chimed in folding her arms. Corvid merely sighed
"Fine; I've got another meeting with someone who can help as well….Melanie Malachite" there were a few moments of tense silence; Felix knew Miltia Wukong, formerly Malachite reasonably well through his friendship with her daughter; he also knew however that her twin sister was a very different individual
"What did you have to promise her to get this?" Felix asked, his genuine fear for his sisters' safety evident in his tone
"Nothing" Corvid shrugged "Me and Rusty started asking questions, turns out Rhodium Torchwick was bringing all those guns into the city because he was planning to start a turf war against Melanie. I just floated the idea that by being the ones to take him off the street Mel might actually owe Team FADE a favour"
"Calling in a favour on a mob boss" Diamond raised an eyebrow "That's gutsy….Might just work though. I know a lot of gang members in Mistral, image is everything and having a reputation for not paying any kind of debt is bad"
"I spoke to my Uncle Rover earlier….the guy who got us out of the Exclusion Zone that time" Arctus added "He's promised to talk to a few Hunters and police officers he knows; we'll hopefully have a little bit of leeway when we're doing….whatever it is we have to do"
"Oh my gosh" Eagle mouthed out, hope and excitement welling up inside her once again "You guys are so amazing….We're first year students and we're just sat here like comic book villains talking about getting international and possibly criminal organisations, the mob and the police to all do favours for us-"
"Thank Oum we're the good guys right?" Felix snorted
"I might know some other people who could help" Diamond spoke slowly, carefully considering her words as her friends looked at her expectantly "My Mum does a lot of charity work and I used to help out at soup kitchens and food shelters all the time; Mum always said there's more ways to make a difference than being a Huntress. I've been thinking about volunteering at a shelter in New Vale for a while now but it's just occurred to me; the Shadow Cadre have to be getting food from somewhere and if they're not selling anything they've stolen then maybe that's how they're eating and we can get people to keep an eye out"
"That's brilliant" Arctus beamed "Not just the getting homeless people to act as lookouts….Mind if I come with you?"
"Sure" Diamond's face split into a wide smile, honestly the fact that Arctus wanted to help her help people meant a lot
"Okay then" Felix grinned "So you two are heading to a soup kitchen, me Corey and Eagle are gonna go talk to the mob. When are we doing this?" Eagle's crimson eyes seemed to light up
"Tomorrow's Saturday and none of the Professors have found a reason to confine me to the campus" Felix and Corvid shared a look and nodded
"Tomorrow night it is….what's the worst that could happen?" Corvid's question earned her a groan of displeasure from her brother.
Hellion Eudialyte sat in her cell, alone as expected. Since her capture by the copper haired Huntress whose weapon had burned away part of one of her wings the Dragonfly Faunus had been kept separated from the other inmates of New Vale's prison system. Her meals were at different times and the guards constantly stationed outside of her door remained silent unless they were barking orders at her. The Aura dampening collar clamped around her neck was not only drastically slowing her recovery to levels that while considered normal by most people, were utterly pathetic to the raider; the worst part however was the denial of her Semblance. Hellion spent a considerable amount of her time seeing the world through the eyes of either her bird of prey, Marauder or one of the animals whose mind she entered when acting as a scout. Being confined to her own body for almost two weeks while simultaneously being kept in isolation felt to her like a particularly inventive form of torture. Hellion folded her legs under herself and closed her eyes, taking deep slow breaths and repeating a mantra to herself in a barely audible whisper
"I will not be beaten. I will not be beaten. I will not-" she halted as she heard the door to her cell being unlocked, a departure from the well established routine. As she opened her eyes she caught a glimpse of the long corridor her cell was situated at the end of and the lack of wardens currently patrolling it before the doorway was filled by three looming figures
"Is this a breakout?" she enquired, voice somewhat croaky from lack of use. The figures entered her cell and a glimmer of reflected light alerted her to an improvised blade the man at the front of the group was carrying
"Torchwick sent us" there was a single moment where time seemed to stand still for Hellion, the name Torchwick bringing a vague memory of a red headed gangster from New Vale to mind; Hellion quickly decided that this was in fact not a break out and lunged into action.
Then all hell broke loose.
The man with the prison shiv lunged as Hellion leapt off of her bed, the blade missing her by millimetres, her response was precise, swift and brutal. Her left hand flew at her attackers face, thumb finding his eye socket while she grabbed his wrist with her right, then she brought her knee against his elbow until his screams of agony were joined by the wet snapping of bone breaking. She stole the blade from his grip as she threw him aside and onto her bed, burying it in the collarbone of the second attacker, a woman wielding a small length of steel piping, kicking her firmly in the stomach and grabbing her roughly by the sides of the head Hellion rendered her assailant unconscious by driving her face through the sink at the opposite end of the miniscule cell, cutting into her own hands in the process. Her victory was short lived and her world exploded into pain as her face collided with the mirror, she saw her attackers reflection and her own bloodied face in its' fractured surface; the last of the trio was a large man with a skinhead and countless tattoos who seemed to be unarmed. The follow up attack came in the form of a wild left hook which Hellion easily ducked under and delivered an elbow to his stomach, the man responded with a backhand and haymaker that sent her staggering back towards the door with blood pouring from her broken nose. Taking a jagged fragment of the sinks' remains the man charged her and let loose a furious bellow; Hellion lunged forwards to meet his slash, stepping inside his guard she grabbed his arm and flung her shoulder into his chest while sweeping his legs out from under him and using his own momentum to hurl him back into the door frame. She had no time to appreciate the rapid role reversal as he was on her again and she let out a sharp hiss of pain as the broken porcelain in his hand tore a gash from her right shoulder across her collarbones
"Give up and I'll make this quick" he grunted, Hellion's only response was to plough into him, forcing him back against the door frame and pinning his right arm to his chest before headbutting him with bone shattering force, she brought her head back for a second strike only for his free hand to tangle itself in her hair. Hellion wasted no time with futile exclamations of pain or surprise, she'd spent her whole life fighting and knew that sometimes survival far outweighed honour; with this in mind she spat directly in his eyes before unleashing a flurry of punches at his kidneys with one hand while desperately trying to prise the jagged fragment he'd slashed her with from his grip with the other; eventually she managed to wrestle her prize free and the bald man released her hair in favour of throwing a punch at her face. Hellion leapt back, giving the man use of both of his arms which he tried desperately to use to grab her with as she launched herself at him again. It was a futile attempt and his scream of pain echoed around the cell as the fragment in her hand found its' way into his eye in a spray of crimson, only to be cut off abruptly by the door of the cell being slammed into his face with as much force as the Dragonfly Faunus could muster, then slammed again and again until the mans' face was an unrecognisable mess of blood and broken teeth when he collapsed to the ground with a sickening gurgle. Hellion staggered back, hands shaking with adrenaline and breathing frantically; a pained whine alerted her to the man whose arm she'd broken trying to pull himself upright on the bed she'd thrown him onto, an overhand to the temple changed that, though Hellion chose to make sure with several punches to the back of the head. Her heart had barely begun to slow its' rapid hammering in her chest when the sound of footsteps approaching reached her ears, several people all them running. Stalking towards the woman whose face had been utterly ruined by its' collision with the sink she ripped the prison shiv from her flesh and flung the cell door open. She was greeted with the sight of roughly a dozen inmates, perhaps more. Several were armed and by the threats and challenges hurled Hellion's way it was plain to see that all of them wanted blood. Hellion smirked and stepped out into the corridor twirling the weapon in her hand confidently, it wasn't one of her own knives but the weight was familiar and reassuring
"I am Hellion Eudialyte of the Shadow Cadre of the Frost River….Face me and die"
Authors Notes:
Okay first of all let's discuss the elephant in the room, new username. I've made a new Tumblr so I changed my name on here to match, new year, new name, new volume and all that jazz.
Secondly I'll be honest I don't think Weiss is gonna die but if she does I'm dropping the show completely. I'll carry on writing this story but I'll be refusing to acknowledge canon.
Thirdly, welcome the fuck back. The break between the end of the Vol.2 arc and this has felt huge. If anyone hasn't read it yet I wrote "Team SHRD: Counter Attack" in the break for the RWBY OC Secret Santa project, featuring OCs from Cassandra55.
Also thank you to RNJRSupportSquad for the artwork based on Chapter 24 that they made as part of the challenge.
Also thank you to FluffyFirefly for the GIF of Hack/Slash.
Now let's summarise.
Yeah the Professors are stalling Team FADE by any underhanded techniques they can think of. Come on Ren and Nora remember their time at Beacon and they know exactly what's gonna happen. They're doing it with the best of intentions though.
Yeah Eagle's grades have plummeted noticeably in two weeks. She's got a lot on her mind.
A reminder that Halo is actually above part of the exclusion zone itself, and that's gotta be one hell of a view in the dark when it's snowing.
More of the Aunts, Aunt Hell is back, I think I only mentioned the fact that she's the first person Eagle came out to in the Authors Notes last time, so here it is in the chapter itself; also Victoria Arc, if you read The Downward Spiral then you know she's the only person in the world who can give Nora Valkyrie hammer envy.
"I buried Jaune Eagle, I'm not burying you" Ouch. Just fucking ouch.
Helios Nikos, total bad-ass is scared of heights….although considering how high up Halo Academy is I can't blame him.
Seriously I can't imagine any child raised by Yang and Blake in a loving household not being ready to hug someone literally one hundred percent of the time.
The idea of someone thinking Felix 'Total Bottom' Xiao Long and Eagle 'Useless Lesbian' Arc were an item is hilarious to me but in all honesty, if you haven't got a friend that you're that close with, get one.
New Vale puts all of of its' prison population in one place in case of another breakout like the ones staged in the battle of Beacon; they don't have to track people down they can just have the ships stationed above it open fire.
Rhodium's back. Of course he's gotten himself a new Grill, the old one would have been taken when he was arrested.
"With a serving tray" Long live Kali Belladonna's spirit.
I actually felt bad for Rhodium writing that scene.
Yeah Rhodium would definitely have a prison warden stabbed just for taking the piss out of him.
Rhodium Vs Bordeaux cos Rhodey is not forgetting the Narc who wormed their way into his crew….Also "I fucking hate cops" is still Rhodium's slogan.
Rhodium just saw Hellion. Dum dum dum.
Rover Tan has let his fresh fade grow out and Artemis's hair isn't dyed. These are strange times.
I love that Artemis can just take one look at Arctus and know he's gonna do some dumb shit, just because Arctus and Gangrel have such similar faces.
Bless the R & A of Team GRAP
"We'll be seeing each other soon" Foreshadowing
Kurt Cocaine….I'm going to keep making that joke.
I headcanon that Emerald Sustrai wears fluffy socks to bed because Mercury's legs get cold. That tradition is alive and well in her daughter.
Arctus and Diamond are adorable together and you know it.
Actually gave the library a description because you didn't get one the last time we were there.
The Scavenger Guild are making a comeback.
You have to admire Corvid's sheer gall, she went to the almost undisputed head of New Vale's underworld and told her "You owe me"
Eagle's got a point. Team FADE have an impressive amount of influence for a group of seventeen and eighteen year old students.
"There's more ways to make a difference than being a Huntress" I think Diamond actually has a lot of causes that are personal to her, dealing with inner city poverty and the crime around it is one of them. Also a good chance for Arctus to learn how privileged he really is.
I realised when I planned out this chapter that putting Hellion in solitary would actually be the worst possible thing for her.
Yeah that fight was nasty, it was supposed to be. I wanted a deliberately jarring tone shift from the fantasy violence of people with Auras being flung through walls and getting back up to people without them having bloody and visceral brawls.
The fight was inspired by Punisher fighting the guys in the cell block in Daredevil season two, not in a shot for shot way but in spirit.
The real question is do you really think Hellion, a scout, can fight a dozen people or more without her Aura while already injured?
Thank you to SumoSnipe, Araniladin, FleetOfWarships, Arkanes Shippou, ThePrimeWolf, Ferrous, FluffyFirefly and TigerRose for their reviews on the last chapter.
We will actually see how well Phobos's army fares against Nora before the end of this volume.
Yeah Arctus's T-Shirt is the first casualty of this story, taken before it's time.
Your ideas about the voice in Phobos's head may well be correct….and they are indeed not good.
The Shadow Cadre's backstory will come in a few chapters, it also actually lines up the second year story arc.
I'll give a spoiler now and tell you that I have no plans to kill Qrow.
The "I am your father is coming"….what if I told you Qrow has a Molly Weasley moment?
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.