Hello there Readers, Thanks for the Support on the Previous Chapter.
Sorry for the ten day wait, I live in Macau which is right beside China so because of the Virus school has been suspended but Teachers have given us homework online which has been a bitch to deal with.
Also I forgot to give credit to Rooster Teeth for RWBY and Games Workshop for Warhammer 40k.
May We all be Blessed By The Emperor
Previous Chapter:
There in the Phalanx's War room surrounded by fellow Astartes, he could see the Shock etched across their faces. 'They felt it too, at least I know the Dark Gods are not trying to persuade me.' Gregor stood up looking across the room attracting the attention of the rest of the Astarte's attention. "Brothers, Our Primarch is Out there. The Praetorian Has Returned."
101.M42
3rd Person
Phalanx War Room
The Phalanx War Room looked like what you expected from The Imperial Fists, spartan. It had a round table, with chairs fit for Astartes, the room had Aquilas and the symbol of their Legion on the ceiling, windows. Sitting on the chairs were Eleven Marines, one Chapter Master, and the ten Space Marine Captains representing their respected Companies.
Captain of The First Company: Darnath Lysander, 'The Emperor's Wrath'
Captain of The Second Company: Zandar Chiros, 'Master of Rituals'
Captain of The Third Company: Tor Garadon, 'Bastion of Defiance'
Captain of The Fourth Company: Alars Lydoro, 'Master Armourer'
Captain of The Fifth Company: Dravastis Fane, 'Keeper of the Archive'
Captain of The Sixth Company: Antaros, 'Master of Vigilance'
Captain of The Seventh Company: Orpheus Taelos, 'Bearer of the Grail'
Captain of The Eighth Company: Aeneas Strom, 'Wielder of Terra's Flame'
Captain of The Ninth Company: Miklos Kaheron, 'Master of Devastation'
Captain of The Tenth Company: Metrios Carr, 'Master of Reconnaissance'
They all had the same look staring at their Chapter Master, a look of Hope. Hope that their Primarch, their Father had returned to them.
Gregor spoke up, "We have to begin a search for Him immediately, but we cannot alarm Lord Commander Guilliman. He may yet think that we are being manipulated by Chaos. Metrios take three Strike Cruisers and go out in search of our Primarch, meet up with the Black Templars, allow them to occupy the other two Strike Cruisers with two companies. They'll be roaring at a chance to find their Primarch. If anyone says otherwise, say that it is Crusade by the Tenth Company that has been sanctioned by me. The rest of you we will have to make this seem like it is normal, continue on with your duties as you would. If any Marine questions you of the Shift or disturbance they felt tell them the truth, but by no means allow anyone else other than Imperial Fists and its succeeding chapters to know, by any means necessary. Is this understood?"
The Captains stood and saluted the Chapter Master, "Yes Brother!" Gregor told them to go do their duties and looked out of a window to Terra, "Your Savior Will soon return and Chaos will once again Dread The name Rogal Dorn. Ave Imperator."
Remnant, Vale, From Dust Till Dawn
Eran was in a Dust store called 'From Dust Till Dawn' at the dead of night, why you may ask, 'To see if I can find higher grade Dust for Ríkr.' Well that was the reason he told Weiss.
They were staying in a local five-star hotel not so far away. So he decided to check out local Dust shops for better quality. To his surprise this Dust shop sold some very high quality Dust. He was about to give the store owner the Lien needed, after he set Ríkr on the floor, handle pointing upwards.
However goons wearing black tuxedos with red ties, tinted glasses and hats walked in. Led by a man with a hat, orange hair, green eyes a cigar in his mouth, gloves, a white overcoat, a cane, brown leather dress shoes, brown pants, a black shirt and a grey necktie.
Eran was wearing black combat boots, black socks, black dress pants, with a white long sleeve dress shirt plus a larger version of the bomber jacket he wore when he got out of the Hospital. The clothing was specifically made for combat and he was actually able to maneuver in them surprisingly well.
He now stood at 7 foot 8 inches, it was hilarious seeing the height difference between him and Weiss. The years of teasing had been 'rough' on Weiss, she even tried drinking copious amounts of milk for a time. It helped a bit but not much, she was now 5 foot and 6 inches. Still quite a ways away.
Eran still had a muscular build as he did in the past, had the same look except he was almost never seen without his stoic, dead fish eyed look in public. It frightened many people… including the shopkeeper. He handed the shopkeeper money, and the shopkeeper gave Eran a briefcase full of electric dust. Eran told the shopkeeper to keep it for now and grabbed hold of Ríkr, He turned around to face the criminal,expecting a brawl to break out.
Roman Torchwick, Criminal Mastermind, was not an easy man to scare but this giant in front of him… put him off to say the least. The fact that he didn't have an arm was a big contributor to that. 'A soldier? No.' He thought, The giant turned around and he saw his dead fish eyes. 'Wait, White hair, no forearm, Mistrali smile and White Eyes?... The Schnee kid?!' He was in shock, what was the Heir of the SDC doing here?!
Roman, reigned his emotions back and looked up at the Schnee, "Well hello, . What might you be doing here?" The Schnee's face didn't change an inch, "If you're intending on robbing this establishment you will face dire repercussions." Eran spoke plainly not bothering to adjust the facts. 'Wow the tabloids weren't wrong about this kid, his voice really is as cold as mantle' Roman thought amusedly. However his goons were growing weary of the SDC's heir.
Instead of offering an answer Roman simply made a motion with his head and his goons brought up their weapons. "I think it would be better if you surrendered now, …" Roman spoke with a low and dangerous tone.
The store was silent but an anti-climatic sound of rock music filled the air, the Goons and Torchwick cringed and even chuckled slightly. Schnee stood there, his piercing white eyes locked onto the criminals, an idea popped into his head. He brought up the hammer to show as an act of surrender.
However Eran made sure to keep the Ríkr's face always locked onto Torchwick. The goons and Torchwick relaxed slightly, Eran took this chance and fired the electric beam from his hammer. By the time Torchwick realized what was going on it was too late. He was launched past his goons, through the door and ended up onto the pavement.
The goons were in shock until Eran roared as he swung his hammer to his Aura using opponents. If they didn't have Aura he was certain he could have killed the first two with one swing.
Using his immense strength he swung his hammer, it hit the first man in the head knocking him out. In quick succession Eran used his momentum and strength to do an overhead strike onto the crown of the goon's head, making him crumple onto the floor as well.
The two that were further back were smarter, one took out his gun and the other his sword. Well maybe the second one was a little dumber. The man with the sword swung at Eran overextending himself in the process. The result equalling him having the wind knocked out of him. As the Schnee sidestepped the swing and Spartan kicked him from the side. Sending him flying into the wall of the store. Smashing his head into the wall and knocking him out.
The goon with the gun was about to shoot the Heir, until a bullet hit the goon. Looking behind him, Eran saw a young girl who was quite short wielding a scythe/gun that seemed twice her size.
She had silver eyes, a predominantly black and red battle dress with a red cape, black and red boots and pale skin. She took a moment to inspect the man she just helped, but her attention was instantaneously taken away by his weapon. Unknown to Eran he thought that she was admiring his height or size, however he turned his attention back to the criminal he shot out of the door.
Eran looked back at the girl and spoke, "Come on, we got one more goon to catch." She nodded and walked beside him out of the store.
They saw Torchwick get back up shakily before speaking in a furious voice, "God Damned Schnee! Well as much as I'd Love to stick around, I'm afraid I'll have to leave." He spoke while raising his cane, which in fact turned out to be a weapon. He fired the Weapon, sending a destructive flare like weapon that tore up the pavement.
Thankfully they were able to dodge the shot with slight assistance from their auras and it didn't reach the store. The red and black haired girl did a front flip over the shot while Eran merely sidestepped. The shot was extremely bright and made them avert their sights to avoid temporary blindness. By the time they looked back to Roman's previous position he was gone.
They looked around and saw him climbing a ladder to the roof of the building. They quickly followed him, with his 'partner' of sorts using unneeded amounts of acrobatics. They could hear him mutter, "Persistent", angrily, his back still facing them.
They readied their weapons once more, however the whirring of an engine cut through the night's silence. Low and behold a Bullhead appears out of nowhere, in front of Torchwick.
Whoever was piloting that Bullhead opened its doors and allowed Roman entry.
Roman, once inside, turned back to his pursuers and took aim with his cane, Eran saw this and took aim with his warhammer. They fired at the same time, the difference was that Eran's weapon could provide a continuous beam. The weapon's beam overpowered the flare like shot and went on to strike one of the Bullhead's engines. The pilot smartly decided not to jeopardize their mission and flew away leaving a trail of smoke in its wake.
To Eran and the girl's surprise a woman came flying onto the roof looking around before staring intently… at them.
This woman had a riding crop, a white long-sleeved, pleated top that has a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that flare in pleats at the wrist. Her lower body covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black-brown stockings.
She wore black boots with bronze heels and a cape that was purple inside and black on the outside. The cut of the cape was stylized to end in flames and arrows, with a row of diamond-shaped bronze beads on the back. Above this line of beads appears an emblem of a tiara which must have been her personal symbol.
She appeared to be a middle-aged woman that had very light-blonde hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her eyes were bright green and she wore thin ovular glasses. She had dangling teal earrings that match the hanging pendant on her collar. The woman looked at the duo recognition consumed her eyes when she saw the famous white hair and eyed Schnee.
Eran merely stared at her while the girl sheathed her weapon and stared at the woman and said "Can I have Your Autograph!" In a tone that completely diffused the situation.
Next thing you know they were both stripped of their weapons and were taken to an Interrogation room. They were chastised by the Huntress who then introduced the Headmaster Of Beacon.
The aged man walked in with a cup of coffee in hand along with a plate of cookies in the other. Eran had remained completely silent throughout the entire time his face blank showing no emotion.
He saw a flash of recognition flare in the Headmaster's eyes when his eyes landed on him. Ozpin appeared to be a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. He has a light complexion and sharp facial features. Interestingly, Ozpin had black eyebrows, suggesting that he may have had black hair when he was younger.
He wore shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. His outfit mainly consisted of an unzipped black suit over a dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wore black dress shoes and long, dark-green pants.
"Hello Schnee, how are you?" Ozpin asked politely, the girl beside him turned her head to him in sudden realization of who he was.
The look of shock on her face was amusing, "Wait… You're Eran Cornelius Schnee?!" She sputtered out, "Yes I am, I thought the scars were a bit obvious, no?" He spoke softly his previous ice cold voice gone, as he pointed to the 'smile' on his face and his nonexistent left forearm.
The girl blushed severely from embarrassment, "Sorry, guess I was too focused on the battle and your weapon. I'm Ruby Rose." She brought up her right hand in an effort to gain some kind of familiarity. He accepted the handshake, "Nice to meet you Ruby Rose. Also relax more you're definitely not the worst person I've met." He spoke kindly with the smallest of smiles on his face. The newly named Ruby smiled and released Eran's hand, turning her head to face Ozpin once more. Slowly but surely her eyes started to follow the tray of cookies in his right hand.
After a small talk of introductions Ozpin suspiciously commented on Ruby's eyes for some reason. Thankfully that awkward moment past when they changed topic from silver eyes to Ruby's reasons for becoming a Huntress. Eran was completely shocked, inwardly, when Ozpin simply handed her the keys to Beacon, so to speak. However he couldn't deny that she had a significant amount of talent and skill with the scythe/gun, so he accepted that it was a worthy 'promotion' for Ruby. Similar in some ways to how he received the invitation…
They were released a few minutes later, Eran and Ruby walked out of the Police Station, said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways. Eran still had to collect the briefcase he left in the shop, which was about a ten minute walk but it was peaceful. He got the briefcase from the storekeeper who had waited for him as well as a thank you from the older man for saving his Dust. Eran thanked the man for waiting for him in return. He made a mental note to come back to the store when he got the chance to, whilst he was walking back to the hotel.
Eran got to the Hotel, took the elevator to the tenth floor and opened the door to his and Weiss' room. As he entered he realized that Weiss had already fallen asleep soundly.
He smiled and walked over to his bed, changed and fell asleep, inwardly hoping he would meet again with the young girl.
When the Sun bloomed in valean horizon in the east, Eran awoke as well doing everything to look presentable.
After he was done with all his necessities he walked out of the bathroom wearing His armour, Ríkr on his right shoulder and he was wearing his gauntlet. His helmet was in between his gauntlet and side the same thing he would do before the incident. Under the armour he was wearing black combat boots, black socks, black dress pants and a white dress shirt.
Thankfully these clothes were able to stretch and were comfortable in use while fighting even in armour. Surprisingly Weiss was still asleep, 'Her alarm is set at this time right?'
As to be expected at 6:30 sharp her alarm was set off. She sleepily woke up and stretched, saying "Good Morning" to Eran as well as asking him how he slept and other topics.
They continued small talk until Weiss came out wearing the near identical set of clothing she wore on the day, when he lost his arm… However he had to be surprised that Weiss would continue to wear the same battle gear since they were thirteen.
They walked out of the hotel heading to the airship docks along with their respected helpers who brought various cases of Dust. Throughout the walk there, Eran would be staring, longingly at his gauntlet/forearm. He was merely reminiscing inwardly missing the ability to sense the air passing through his fingers. The better days, but he also wouldn't have known of his Father and the Imperium if it hadn't occurred. With great knowledge, comes great sacrifice. 'That's basically plagiarism' he thought with a slight chuckle
He instinctively stopped gazing at it when Weiss turned her head slightly towards him, not wanting to show her that he was weak. What he didn't know was that Weiss saw it and truly did feel terrible for her brother, not having a forearm… not being able to even pick up a fork and knife.
'No need to worry, we're going to Beacon, things will change.' Weiss thought wishfully.
The populace of Vale had recognized him, most bowed their heads in respect and admiration. When they came aboard the airship everyone turned to them, including a girl that he recognized, Ruby Rose. Most looked at him in admiration, respect and some in trepidation.
All, except Ruby, looked over, started to walk to him to a blonde's obvious concern. She walked right about half a foot away and said, "Hey Eran how are you?" In her normal cheerful voice, much to everyone's astonishment. Eran smiled slightly, brought his hand up to her head and started to rub it and said, "Hello Ruby, nice seeing you again. I'm good, you?" He spoke in his normal warm voice, much to Ruby's chagrin as her face grew red, finally noticing everyone's stares.
"Brother, how do you know this… ." Weiss said, annoyance clear in her tone.
Eran turned to his sister and said, "Ruby and I are friends, she saved me from a bullet yesterday when some goons decided to rob a dust store she and I were purchasing from. Well considering the time it was you could say it was their only option. However we fought them off with no problem." He chuckled slightly afterwards, "And You Didn't Tell Me!?" Weiss hollered with a frustrated manner. "Come now Weiss, you never asked," the elder twin spoke in a roguish fashion. The younger twin was about to retort until…
Interrupting their conversation was a fair-skinned young woman with lilac eyes and bright golden hair that fades to pale gold at the tips with a cowlick sticked out at the top. She wore a tan jacket that bared her midriff, with golden brown piping and short, puffy sleeves with black cuffs that feature two gold buttons. Underneath this, she was wearing a low cut yellow crop top with her emblem on the left breast in black. Along with a brown belt covered by a pleated brown piece of material reached from hip to hip around the back of her waist, with her emblem emblazoned on the right-most pleat in gold. Underneath this was a long, white, asymmetrical piece of material reaching to her knee on the right side, as well as a pair of black mini-shorts. She wore a pair of brown, knee-high boots and orange over-the-knee socks, with the right sock pushed down just below the knee. A gray bandanna was tied around her left knee. An orange infinity scarf and black finger less gloves completed her outfit.
"Oh so you're the person my sis has been talking about. I'm Yang Xiao Long, call me Yang." The newly named Yang spoke cordially, however Eran was slightly surprised, contrary to Ruby who blushed even harder. "Has she now, I hope only good things." He said stoically but in a kind manner, Yang nodded with a radiant smile. She took a closer inspection of the teen in front of her, specifically at the horrible scar on his face.
'Oh GOD! At least it's better than when he first appeared on the News, but geez...' She quickly averted her gaze to the TV trying not to look uncomfortable.
Weiss was in shock at the situation but let it slide, it seemed like her brother actually made friends with nice people, she didn't want to ruin it. The four of them started to chit chat until the TV took everyone's attention from any and all other topics as news of a criminal by the name of Roman Torchwick. Eran and Ruby immediately recognized him and told their small group about the actual events of the previous night.
However whilst recounting the final words of the summary of the previous nights events, Eran heard the of the next story. "In other News, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights Protest turned dark, when members of The White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once Peaceful organization has now disrupted…" The Newscaster for VNN (Vale News Network) Lisa Lavender was cut off by an announcement by the Huntress from last night.
An image of the huntress replaced Lisa Lavender as she proceeded to speak.
Eran couldn't even hear anything as the memories of that horrible day came rushing back. He contained his emotions but couldn't help but bite his lower lip. Nothing his Aura couldn't handle as his golden aura flared slightly as it healed his lip.
Thankfully all those around him were too enthralled listening to the huntress. He caught bits of the speech now knowing her name was Glynda Goodwitch and the last bit. Something along the lines of, "Our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our World."
The future students of Beacon turned away for a few seconds until Lisa Lavender came back with another report. A report about The Schnee Family, specifically two who would be attending Beacon. "We are back from our short commercial break and are moving onto a Special Report given to us by a Dust Shop owner. He has given us a report of a certain Heir of the SDC going to his shop and stopping five goons with the help of a girl wielding a scythe. He has given us video footage of the events that occurred in his store and just outside it." *The video showed the battle between Roman and his goons vs Ruby and Eran except for the segment on the rooftop*
"It seems as though our Atlesian friend has grown since the last time we saw him and is ready to protect us, even with one arm." Lisa continued to speak in her newscaster voice. While tension in the airship was so thick you could cut through it, they all expected his arm to be a very sensitive subject. Thankfully Eran understood that the newscaster was just doing her job.
The rest of the air ride was practically void of any problems except a blond boy with motion sickness vomiting on Yang's shoes. Though as Eran looked out of the window he was at peace, the sea was beautiful, the sky clear and of course a certain structure was coming closer and closer by the minute, Beacon academy.
Beacon was situated just before an impressive cliff's edge that overlooked the city across the sound (a sound is a large sea or ocean inlet, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land). At the top edge of the cliffside are several large, circular aerial docking bays, where airships and Bullheads can dock and allow their passengers to disembark. At the base of the cliffs, a docking bay is also available for water-going surface vessels, and a path from there leads upwards to the top of the cliff.
When the airship landed Weiss and Eran got off immediately as they had to make sure that their dust would be taken care of while they attended the ceremony. They waved 'bye' to Yang and Ruby, who got off just after, they walked slower than most taking in the view.
A long, wide avenue leading up to what appears to be the main academy buildings and their large, impressive main doorway. Which opened up to a large amphitheater surrounded by a double ring of colonnades bisected by the main avenue with the outer ring rising high over the main entrance to the academy itself. The avenue is marked with trees and flag-draped light-poles, as well as a number of impressive aqueduct-like features and archways.
In front of the entrance to the main amphitheater is a large statue and fountain of a Huntsman and Huntress standing atop a rock. Beneath the aforementioned rock there was a cowering Beowolf. There was also a large circular pond lsurrounded by a pathway and a garden of red trees.
Yang looked towards Ruby after they took in the beautiful view and spoke, "You like Eran, don't you Sis?" It sounded like more a statement than a question but it got Ruby flustered all the same. Ruby truly looked like a Rose, she sputtered denial, "N-n-n-no! Yang we're just friends! Besides he's like a Prince or Heir or something. Why would he care about me?" Her voice growing more dejected as she spoke, Yang's smile turned into a sour frown. "Ruby, any guy would be lucky to have you… Besides, I was only teasing you." She spoke seriously before laughing at her sister's immediate anger. Ruby and Yang 'fought' for a bit before they decided to continue their Journey to the Amphitheater.
They also met the vomit boy or Jaune along the way. Jaune wore a black short-sleeved hoodie with detached reddish-orange sleeves and a dark brown image of the bunny rabbit Pumpkin Pete trimmed in white with cute black round eyes. Covering his hoodie while also hiding the Pumpkin Pete bunny rabbit symbol was a white diamond-shaped chest plate cut off above his lower abdomen, and placed over his shoulders were a pair of white spaulders with rerebraces set under them. Below, he wears blue jeans with a white patch placed on the left knee and black sneakers. Jaune also had elbow guards with cords strung through them, and he wore black high tops.
He had two belts criss crossing his waist, both different shades of brown, with a pair of small pouches on them. Jaune wore brown wrist-length gloves with exposed fingertips and small metal plates over the back. His sword was strapped to his left hip in a sheath that doubles as a collapsible shield.
He apologized with fervour to both of them before arguing the fact that Motion sickness was more common than believed. They had a pleasant walk having conversations over several topics. Unknown to them a black haired cat Faunus with a bow on her head was slightly fearful of getting closer to the school as it was. 'I'm going to school with the boy my group tortured once… Yay.' She thought as she dug her head back into her book and continued walking.
Once inside they truly saw how many people applied for Beacon, Yang even saw 'The Invincible Girl', Pyrrha Nikos. Something they had to teach Jaune about to their incomprehensive surprise. However they were pulled from their musing when they saw a large armoured figure with white hair and a hammer. "Well I guess we found Eran, lets go." Ruby said admiringly, 'Geez he's frickin TALL' Jaune thought as they walked over.
Eran feeling someone standing beside him turned his head to see Yang Xiao Long, Ruby and a boy he did not know the name of.
He waved and said with a genuine smile, "Hello again." The two girls waved back instantaneously giving him warm greetings. Afterwards introducing him to Jaune, who was socially awkward but it was simply something he would hopefully grow out of.
Weiss genuinely thanked Ruby moments later for saving her brother from the bullet. But humble Ruby Rose retorted, "I was just offering a helping hand." They immediately quieted down as Ozpin and Glynda came out on stage. Ozpin made a lackluster speech about their purpose of being here before he stepped out of the way for . "You will gather in the Ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. All, except for Eran Cornelius Schnee may leave." She spoke with normalcy probably from doing this so many times.
Eran was momentarily surprised by the announcement everyone's attention turning to him before split-secondly reigning his emotion back. He waved goodbye to the group, watching them walk away. Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Jaune walked away uneasily, worried for their brother/friend.
When the amphitheater was left vacant by all but three people the two educators walked up to Eran as he switched over back to his dead fish eye look and cold smile. Ozpin walked up closer to him-box in hand- and handed it to him, " I believe that you have been waiting for this for three years. Go to your friends." Ozpin spoke with warmth and sympathy, Eran sheathed his Ríkr, putting the handle in a circular hole on the right side of his hip. He carefully took hold of the box and thanked the two of them before taking off to find his friends. Soon his dead fish eyes grew warm as did his smile.
Ballroom
"What do you guys think they wanted with Eran?" Ruby asked the group who all had already worn their pajamas and were laying in sleeping bags arranged in a circle. In this order: Jaune, to his left Ruby, then Yang, then Weiss finally Eran. Leaving one empty for their friend, the group were all wearing various different pajamas. Weiss was wearing a faded blue nightgown with short sleeves and white trim and displayed the Schnee Crest on the upper-right chest, with her hair down. Ruby's pajamas consisted of a black tank top featuring a heart-shaped beowolf design on the chest and long white pants decorated with pink roses. She also wore a black sleeping mask decorated with triangular red eyes reminiscent of a beowolve's. Yang's pajamas consisted of an orange tank top with her emblem on the front in red, and black boy shorts. However nothing was more amusing to the girls than Jaune's blue onesie with blue bunny slippers and a white bunny face on its chest. Jaune grew red due to all the previous japes but understood that it was all friendly banter among compatriots. In those moments an unlikely bond between the group flourished as they saw each other as great friends.
However the tone grew seldom when Ruby asked the question they all wanted to be answered. "Maybe they just wanted to congratulate him for protecting that store- wait no they would have asked Ruby to stay as well… OH WAIT, it's because of his prosthetic!" Weiss exclaimed in relief and happiness, her brother was receiving a well deserved reward.
This drew curious looks from the other three, "His prosthetic? Shouldn't he already have one?" Yang asked in complete disbelief, the same feeling marring her sister's and Jaune's faces. Weiss' face grew sour as she remembered all the torturous first few months since the incident. "Well… the military decided that they would make it for my brother. They said it would take three years to make, but it would be the best they could ever make, and it seems like that time has come. Knowing him he probably forgot about it… you know it was just heartbreaking seeing him at home without his arm, it looked like he was defeated. Always looking at his stump like he was in an almost permanent state of melancholy, when he thought I nor anyone else was looking. He even did it today when we were walking to the airship." Her voice was solemn the group could barely hear it clearly but the words cut through the air like a knife through butter. By the end of it Weiss let a tear drop, but soon a strong smile took over, "But now it seems like he will be able to push through this challenge like has before."
The group felt so much from the story, somber, anger, happiness it was a roller coaster. It hit Ruby especially hard, she shed tears, soaking her pillow with tears. Yang shed a few tears, wishing to maintain her emotions, but she got angry nonetheless. Her Aura flared in anger, eyes turning red and hair gaining a fiery glow. However she was soon calmed, knowing that Eran would most likely receive a prosthetic Today. Jaune was hit by the story feeling a range of emotions from solemn to anger and finally to relief. Even if they were friends for only a day, to wait that long to be able to use an arm was a crime, at least that's what he thought.
However their attention was diverted when they felt the ground shake ever so slightly. Coming out of the Locker Room was none other than Eran- he funnily enough had to lower himself slightly to get through the door, many chuckled including the group- wearing a grey long sleeved cotton shirt. Which had a his symbol in silver proudly displayed on his chest and on both shoulders golden two-headed eagle sigils. He also wore a pair of grey and silver flannel styled pants and a pair of grey socks, with a box and pillow under his right arm. His clothes outlined his robust muscles hardly revealing much but everyone could tell that he was above them all in strength. His left forearm was not present, allowing for the sleeve to whip around as he walked to everyone's discomfort, especially Ruby and Yang's.
However something that caught everyone except the group was the fact that he was smiling, widely, making his 'smile' more present, to everyone's uneasiness, except Weiss' who was used to it. However the group took to it better than anyone else did it was still a horrid scar. Once he reached the group they looked up at him, "Is that what I think it is, Eran?" Weiss asked joyfully, Eran smiled back, "Yes Weiss it is." His voice was warmer than most of them had ever heard, except for Ruby and Weiss. It brought tingles to Ruby and Yang's spines and his smile made them blush.
Weiss jumped up and hugged him tightly, gleefully celebrating the arrival of his prosthetic. Jaune stood up and patted him on the back while asking him if he wanted him to put the box and pillow on his sleeping bag while they celebrated. Eran accepted and allowed him to do so as the two other girls joined in the group hug. Jaune merely patted him on the back, the group soon separated and sat down on their sleeping bags.
"Jaune can you open the box?" Eran asked, to which Jaune instantaneously did revealing a robotic arm. The arm has a silver base, the fingers were grey with navy blue coloured joints. Eran picked it up and revealed the robotic insides where his left arm would go. "Hey Jaune hold it steady." Eran spoke softly, Jaune followed his request and held it steady on the floor. Unknown to the group a small portion students were watching this, they all cringed when Eran pulled up his sleeve but, warmth filling their hearts at seeing a fellow student gaining what he had lost tragically so long ago. However there was one girl who was just so uncomfortable with it all that she tried to shy back into the wall even further, covering as much of her face as she could with her book. Eran looked at the inside of the robotic arm, anticipation burning inside him and so he stuck his arm in the prosthetic as one would a plug to its socket.
It felt like a world of feeling opened up to him, the arm almost felt as natural as his previous one, it was an odd but welcome feeling. "What are you feeling? Eran?" Weiss asked curiously but Eran just lifted the arm like it was Blessing by the Gods. His eyes started to redden but he willed himself not to let his tears fall, he was a Schnee and Primarch. He brought his arm up so he could inspect it, articulating all the joints his smile widening, until he just looked at peace, happy. A good portion of the few who were watching were truly overjoyed, however, they made sure to keep themselves quiet. This was of course a moment for Eran and the group f friends he had around him. It was a truly heartwarming sight, Eran in a sudden movement pulled the entire group in for a hug. The entire group hugged back albeit Jaune felt slightly awkward but it was nice moment. Once they separated they talked for a bit more before going back to bed. Ruby and Yang however felt their hearts bloom with happiness as they remembered the warm smile on Eran's face, why they didn't care, it felt right. Curiously Yang did feel something more intense per say, and with that they fell into the deep trap known as sleep.
However in their sleep Eran had another one of his dreams, this time with a Golden giant in armour looking straight at him. "Rogal, my Son I'm glad to see that you are alive and well." His voice was powerful and seemingly infinite. Eran took a knee and spoke, "Father, this World is strange but I have found comrades but I also lost an arm again as well." Revealing his prosthetic, The Emperor looked at his son sympathetically, "My son remember you are the Praetorian, but you could live in peace on that planet for the rest of your days." Eran looked at his father with an incredulous look, "Father, I will return to battle Chaos and the Xeno but first I will bring this World into the Imperial fold. I promised to Bring a New Era to this Planet and that I will. I may not remember everything but my Duty is to protect the Imperium and that this a duty I have failed to fulfill." He spoke passionately, his Father merely looked on with Pride, "Rogal, I know you will come back to the Imperium but remember, live a good life while you can, no one lives forever." The Emperor spoke with knowledge and sincerity. The Dream blurred out as he awoke for a new day.
The next morning went by fairly quickly and uneventfully, everyone prepared for the initiation, ate breakfast, brushed their teeth, shower, weapons, armour, the works. However a very energetic orange haired girl who could seemingly teleport talking rapidly to a tall man with black hair. 'Poor soul' every guy thought when they saw the two. Plus the argument that milk was the answer of how to grow up quicker. Which Eran had trouble understanding how it grew to become an argument between Weiss and Ruby. After a small argument, Weiss had to educate Jaune on who exactly Pyrrha Nikos was, in front of said Nikos.
Pyrrha wore her red hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet. She also wore light-green eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her green eyes. She was tall compared to most of the other girls at Beacon. She wore a brown overbust corset with a vertical strip of lighter brown in the center. Additionally, Pyrrha wore an elastic, black, A-line mini skirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms. She wore a red ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt. As for accessories, there was a small circular bronze plate on her right hip opposite two pouches with both connected to a belt. The plate bore her shield and spear emblem. Underneath her hair, she always wore a brown circlet adorned with a pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm. Pyrrha wore armor. She had elaborate bronze greaves that started below her mid-thigh before continuing downwards into her boots as well as a pair of cuisses that began mid-thigh and ended slightly above her knees. She was also equipped with a bronze bracer capable of connecting with Akoúo̱ atop the sleeve on her left arm. Her high-heeled boots were brown with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves and reaching up to mid-calf.
However Eran really questioned the effectiveness of Pyrrha's armour. It left so many spots undefended she looked like one of those Superheroines on a child's TV. Eran finished putting on all his armour as the voice of Goodwitch announced, "Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again all First year students report to Beacon Cliff for initiation immediately."
Cliff side
Next thing Eran and everyone else knew they were flying off into the sunset after an educational class on how to choose partners… NOT.
They were given their objectives that were very straight forward, one: Find the Temple, try to get a partner along the way, two: Get a Relic, three: Protect yourself from Grimm. Very straightforward. Eran expected to be flying about now but it seemed that the jump pad couldn't handle the weight. It brought many incredulous looks… sadly he had to be thrown by into a Grimm infested forest… He wasn't thrown as far as everyone else so after he landed via doing an athletic role into a kneeling position he simply walked forward. Hell, if he could do athletic roles with Storm's teeth and the Auric Armour this was a piece of cake.
Soon enough he could see the temple in better detail. The smaller part of the temple seemed to mostly consist of the broken ruins of a rotunda. The floor of the structure bears a symmetrical design. Three of the columns were broken and lied around the area in pieces. There were five stone columns still standing that held up a circle of stones. Small relics stood on pedestals lined around the rotunda.
However his plan to simply retrieve a relic and return was altered. He was granted the privilege of viewing the strangest scene he had witnessed in his entire life.
It was stranger than the time Leman Russ was acting like a Psyker at a family dinner and that was saying something. So, first Ruby came falling from the sky when she was intercepted Mid-air by an also flying and screaming Jaune, which led them to hit a tree. This was followed up by a crazy girl riding an Ursa into the field with a black haired boy with a magenta hair scolding her. Which was later followed by Pyrrha Nikos running from a Death Stalker.
The Death Stalker had a jet-black exoskeleton underneath several large, white, bonelike plates upon its back, which are adorned with red markings. One of the more prominent attributes of this Grimm is the glowing golden stinger on its tail that it uses as a lure. It also has a pair of large pincers that it uses to defend itself and grab or cut into its prey. The Death Stalker's ten red eyes and markings can also glow in the dark when it chooses to reveal itself to its prey. It reminded Eran of the Brass scorpions of Khorne, just slightly.
Followed by a three-way reunion-esc event between the girl that came riding an Ursa, Yang and Ruby, which consisted of Yang and Ruby hugging each other while saying each other's names and the third girl third-wheeling the hug. There was another girl but he didn't linger on her as Yang lashed out for a second ranting about the non-existent time of peace and quiet, followed by two seconds of peace. Closely followed by the arrival of a black-haired boy with a magenta hair huffing and puffing for breath, catching up to the crazy girl. Next thing they did was look up to see his sister that was flying via holding the claw of a nevermore but let go and started falling. The group merely stared, Jaune who was in a tree jumped and caught Weiss in his arms and landed on his back while Weiss was on his stomach. Weiss thanked him and they stayed in that position for a bit, recovering. Whilst in the background Pyrrha was still running from the Death Stalker until she was thrown by it and face planted beside Ruby.
Ruby then charged the Death Stalker but was held in place by a feather from the nevermore. Yang tried to run to Ruby but to avoid the feathers she fell back on her rear end and couldn't get there in time to save Ruby. Now was the time for action.
In a burst of speed he launched himself over to Ruby's position and when the Death Stalker finally attacked, Eran diverted the stinger into the ground. Ruby and the entirety of the group closed their eyes to avoid seeing the strike but opened them to see a giant in full-plate armour weilding a massive warhammer. They obviously knew who it was, "ERAN!" Yang, Jaune and Weiss hollered out in surprise whilst Ruby just stared in shock. Eran then jumped high up into the air, grabbed hold of Ríkr with both hands and as he was closing in on the stunned Death Stalker's face, he brought it down on the center of its damned ugly face. With slight assistance from his aura its plating shattered and Ríkr forced its entry into the thing's cephalothorax and then to confirm its death Eran fired Ríkr's beam. It went through the Death Stalker, soon enough it started to disintegrate.
Eran turned back to see the entire group looking at him in awe. He got closer to Ruby and picked up the feather with one arm releasing Ruby. Afterwards he used his robotic hand to take off his helm and placing it in between his arm and side. Revealing his head to the group and his other hand placing Ríkr in a metal ring on the right side of his hip. Ruby bolted up and wrapped him in a hug, which was then followed up by Yang and Weiss jumping in the hug as well. The three girls blushed at the attention from the other in the group and separated from the hug curtly.
Ruby spoke up, "Thanks Eran." Eran merely smiled and said, "I just did what was right Ruby there is no need to thank me for that." He walked towards the temple with the girls in tow, at the same time looking at the others in the group with a more detailed eye, there was Jaune, Pyrrha Nikos, the Ursa riding girl and the poor guy she was paired up with.
Taking a closer look at those two, the guy had long black hair that ended midway down his back. There was a magenta streak on the left side of his hair. His eyes matched the streak in his hair. He wore a dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat that was red on the inside, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trimming goes down the right side of his torso and forms a black collar. Along with this, he wore a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit and light-tan pants with black shoes. He tied his hair back in a low ponytail.
The girl was a fair-skinned young woman with orange hair and turquoise eyes. She wore a collared black vest that ends at her waist. Her signature emblem, a hammer with a lightning bolt, can be found on its back. Under the vest are two layers of clothing, colored red and light-blue respectively, and under this is a white sleeveless top that forms a tiny heart shape cut out over her chest, with a white detached sleeve on each arm. She wore matching fingerless gloves on each hand. She sported a short pink skirt that starts at the waist and ends mid-thigh. Her shoes were a mix of pink and white with pink laces, displaying her emblem on their soles. She also wore armor that begins in the middle of the shoulder and neck and ends by the waist.
Then there was a fair-skinned young woman with wavy black hair and amber eyes. Her Faunus trait is a pair of black cat ears on top of her head. She wore a black buttoned vest with coattails and a single silver button on the front. Underneath this is a white, sleeveless, high necked, crop undershirt and white shorts with a zipper on the front of each leg. She also wore black low-heeled boots and full stockings with a color gradation of black to purple at her ankles. Her emblem was visible on the outside of both thighs just below her shorts in white. On her left arm was a black detached sleeve with a silver cuff around her bicep, and black ribbons are wrapped around both forearms. A small, loose, black scarf is wrapped around her neck. A black ribbon is tied with a large bow on the top of her head, she wore purple eyeshadow in Catseye style. As well as a large blade strapped to something that was enshrouded by her hair.
Well this was all he could see but in sudden realization he remembered that Girl in that Hellish camp with Amber eyes. A piece of him, a very small piece, was begging to put Ríkr straight through her skull for her association with the White Fang but he understood something most didn't. That people, Faunus or Human change and how could a White Fang agent be accepted to Beacon Academy. As well as be expected to work with humans without lashing out or showing hostility. The girl in the group he knew was a part White Fang but must have had a change of heart of sort. Besides, the Faunus could prove to be useful in his righteous vengeance against the White Fang.
Ruby, Eran, Weiss and Yang walked together to where the rest of the group was. The orange haired girl introduced herself by seemingly zipping out of existence for a second and then standing on Eran's shoulders. "I'm Nora Valkyrie, The Queen of The Castle!" She said with a concerningly energetic voice, followed by Eran almost looking up but wisely decided against it, "Hello Nora, can you get off my shoulders?" He asked with surprising calmness and kindness, the energetic young lass again zipped out of existence for a second and later appeared beside her companion. Who decided to introduce himself in a significantly calmer fashion, "I'm Lie Ren, Nora's partner." He said while sticking his hand out in offering a handshake one which Eran accepted. The rest of the group had slight sorrow in their eyes for the poor boy, but also couldn't help but chuckle at the comical pairing.
He looked over to Jaune and Pyrrha Nikos, "Hey Jaune." "Hey Eran, that was cool!" Jaune spoke with fervour, whilst high-fiving the much larger figure. Eran looked at Jaune expectantly, Jaune realised the point of it and introduced Pyrrha Nikos, "Eran, this is Pyr, or Pyrrha Nikos, my partner, I know very surprising, I guess I just got lucky. Pyr, this is Eran Cornelius Schnee." He spoke respectfully Pyrrha brought out her hand which was readily occupied by Eran's for a friendly handshake. They both traded pleasantries but both were thankfully genuine. Eran then turned to the final member of the group, a frightened but seemingly uncaring faunus hiding her identity.
At first glance she seemed very uncaring, but if you looked closer you could see the worry in her eyes. Yang however decided to put herself in the conversation, "Eran, this is my partner Blake Belladona, Blake this is Eran." She said in a positive manner, from Eran's side with a large smile on her face. Eran again stuck out his hand waiting for a handshake, Blake was surprised by this, fearing it to be a trap she was slightly reluctant but overcame her fear and shook his hand. Exchanging pleasantries that were more uncertain on Blake's part. Blake looked up to Eran's dead fish eyes for a split second and saw eyes that seemed to herald a future interrogation for Blake. 'At least he seems to be mostly over it, I mean I didn't do anything to him. Maybe this'll be a good year, maybe…' She thought hopefully.
Eran then excused himself to retrieve the artefact, others taking his lead realising they hadn't retrieved an artifact either. He walked into the temple and searched for a piece, undecided he continued to look around until he came to an area of rubble, something about it just gave him a feeling. He pushed and pulled the rubble away and found a 'King' piece. He put it in his pocket when he heard Ruby shout, "Nevermore!" with urgency. He rushed out of the temple to see a Nevermore closing down on them but still a ways away. He walked to the group and said, "We should get to the cliffs and complete the mission. Let's move!" As he donned his helm and readied his weapon for their eventual confrontation with the Nevermore. He was one of the quickest in the group, surprising the others obviously believing that you couldn't be giant, quick and strong, most likely from Valley Wood movie stereotypes.
They eventually got to the cliff, where there were also ruins, consisting of stone towers and stone bridges situated over a large chasm. A stone bridge leads to a large central tower. Smaller towers surround the main tower and are connected surrounded by long stone pillar-lined walkways. Opposite of the bridge is a tall cliff with a stone wall. The Nevermore was already there perched up on the ruins beside the cliff like a normal bird, whilst sending dozens of lethal feathers at the group. The group's frustration and annoyance and Eran's anger from a few minutes ago attracted a pack of Ursas.
Eran tried out his Glyph for the first time in Vale and created a Nevermore to take on the perched bird. Much to everyone's awe, again except Weiss' because she had already seen him practice this before. But couldn't help but feel her pride swell knowing she had a part in teaching him how to create glyphs, alongside Winter. After Eran's creation flew off he told Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang to go assist it in bringing down the Nevermore. They nodded and sprinted to their target whilst avoiding any and all incoming attacks with acrobatics and other fancy moves.
Eran, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren would stay there to take care of the Ursas. Eran fought with the ferocity and fluidity of a raging tsunami, completely unshaken by the Ursas. Nora provided range attacks for a time but soon followed in singing 'I'm Queen of the Castle!" Ren fought in melee as well in short range with his sub machine guns. Jaune fought with heart but not with the expected skill, he barely held his own and would be helped by Pyrrha Nikos with her gun and or shield.
After the initial combat stage, they were all in close-quarters combat, after a minute or two of fighting and teamwork the Ursa pack was a measly three Ursas. Eran killed one of the last three by using his warhammer as a spear and with two hands stabbed Ríkr through its monstrous skull. Ren cut open the second to last one's abdomen which was then blown apart by Nora. The last one died by Pyrrha's spear going through its neck in tandem with Jaune plunging Corcea Mors through the Ursa's heart.
They retrieved their weapons and turned their attention to what they thought would be an ongoing battle, only to be given a badass view.
Ruby was on top of the cliff, her cloak billowing in the air, scythe in hand and rose petals flying off with the wind. Whilst the Nevermore was falling down, headless, with the rest of her group standing on the ruins looking up at her. It was actually a very badass scene that should have been painted, sadly it was not.
After getting up the cliff and returning to the amphitheater the moment they were all waiting for, the creation of the teams. The newly made CRDL (Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark) went off stage, the Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren were called up to create team JNPR with Jaune as the head of the team. The newly dubbed students of Beacon clapped for the team but were not expecting Jaune to take up the position instead of Pyrrha Nikos. Next was Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, they were the newly dubbed team RWBY, with Ruby as the head of the team which Eran could tell Weiss was against it. The students clapped once more as team RWBY came off stage.
"Eran Cornelius Schnee, come to the stage." Headmaster Ozpin instructed, the students clapped once more. Eran walked on stage with his helm on and warhammer in the metal ring on his hip. His dead fish eyes and his mouth in the form of a straight line. "Eran you have retrieved the King piece, no other student has ever retrieved that piece because there is no other, because there can only be one King. However no student has retrieved the Queen piece either. Subsequently you will not have a partner at the moment, however what would be a King without his knights. Therefore you will remain with team RWBY and hopefully in your time in Beacon you may find yourself a Queen. Good luck to you. You may all head to your dorms." Ozpin spoke with respect and calmness. The students clapped with more fervour for the Schnee Heir for his success and Ruby and Yang could be seen turning red. Eran then walked off stage as the students began heading to their dorms.
He walked towards team RWBY and said with a joyful smile, "Well this isn't a bad way to start off the year, is it?" They all smiled genuinely at the joke except Blake. Her smile wasn't genuine, inwardly she was worried but Eran hadn't shown an ounce of hostility. With that reasoning her smile albeit small became genuine and she now stood relaxed. 'Yes, this may yet be a good year.' she thought, seemingly reading her mind Yang spoke out, "This year is going to be hella fun." With an infectious smile on her face, Ruby was absolutely jubilant and Weiss was gleeful. Eran chuckled a bit as they started to walk to their dorms, 'A good year indeed,' He thought happily.
However, others had differing plans, 'Oh this year is bound to be fun.' Thought a girl with ashen-black hair, her bright amber eyes promising the worst one could imagine. "Oh Eran, you've made this year a whole lot more fun." Her voice full of malice spoke as she retreated back into the shadows whilst glowing segments of her clothing came to life.
Well thank you to those that have read this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it.
I'll try not to make the waiting period longer than this but I honestly can't tell. The damn virus is fucking up my schedules!
Constructive criticism is very much appreciated!
Also to all Warhammer 40k fanfic lovers there is a really good fanfic called 'The Lupercalian Redemption' that I think you guys should check out!