Note: Much longer than the average chapter.
"Time to go," Russell said to his teammate, Sky Lark who heard him but didn't respond.
His music had already reached a climax, he had to descend gradually from the peak, if not the entire arrangement would fall apart, the melodious masterpiece would become just another tune, and so he gently deflated the melody, strumming and picking, creating beautiful undulations.
His solo symphony gently reached a conclusion and the entire forest which had been thrilling alongside it paused for a moment before being quaked once more by the approaching Black Wave.
The blue-haired boy nodded towards his friends, and the group vanished after Russell placed his hands on both of them.
They landed in the midst of Mrs. Goodwitch and the evacuating students and began strolling unto the bullhead.
"Do you know where the others are?" Goodwitch asked after getting over the surprise and relief of their sudden arrival.
"No," Dove responded, his head turned down, "We were separated from Cardin and the others, we're not sure where they could be, but they were awfully close to the Wave."
This statement had Mrs. Goodwitch wringing her crop even more anxiously.
"Time to take off!" she shouted to the pilot who ignited the engines immediately in response, propelling the airship into the air.
"Didn't expect it to be this bad," Russell stated referring to the disarray the students of Beacon had been thrown into.
"It's difficult to factor that into calculations, but yes, it is much worse than expected."
"I wonder why they're so calm," Nora mused from team JNPR's seat on the bullhead, "They're not affected by this wave of hysteria that seems to have caught every other student. Even the cool team AMEN seems to be affected."
Her statement brought her teammates' attention once more to Mercury, who had been bound to the floor by Goodwitch's Semblance alongside some other students whose outbursts had been too violent, Emerald, who was sobbing silently and Neo, who was silent and restrained in the corner she had folded herself into, as though trying to be as small as possible.
"It's a jarring experience," Pyrrha said solemnly, "Which begs the question of why we aren't affected by this hysteria."
"It is likely due to Ren's Semblanc... which I'm not supposed to talk about."
Ren simply shook his head at Nora's ditsy slip, "It's okay, Pyrrha's a friend, there's no reason she shouldn't know."
"My Semblance, Serene Surface enables me to hide my emotions and the emotions of those in my proximity from Grimm. I also have control over my emotions as well as a resistance to mood-altering Semblances and drugs. The serenity of my aura is very likely the reason the effects didn't go farther than that small spat between Nora and me. As to the means by which team CRDL can remain composed, I have no idea."
"That would mean that the six of us are the only ones who can assist Goodwitch in defending the bullhead."
"Assuming we can trust them."
"They've given no reason for us to do otherwise," Ren added, although he was not disagreeing with Nora's statement.
"Okay then," Pyrrha said as she approached team CRDL, having decided to ignore her teammates' pessimism.
Her cool gait was interrupted by the sudden jolt of the airship, which sent many a student flying across the aircraft.
They were under attack.
Meanwhile, team SYBR was freaking out; despite the cacophonous cries of the approaching Black Wave they were still able to hear the roar of the bullhead which signified that they had been left behind. "I don't believe this!" Yang said, shedding her usual unconcerned demeanour.
"They just left us!" Weiss said almost despairingly.
"No kidding, Sherlock!" came a snide reply that Ruby hadn't known she was capable of, a response that she knew she should apologise for but for some reason refused to.
"I don't think Sherlock exists in Remnant though," Shouter corrected.
"Get off it, dog boy!"
"We wouldn't have been left behind if we didn't waste time with all those detours!"
"Detours that ensured we avoided packs of Grimm," Adam said, losing his temper, "If we ran into them, we would still be fighting, those of us that wouldn't have been killed off that is."
"Perhaps she thinks she'd be able to bribe her way through the Grimm."
"There's no reason to be tense," said Cardin, the only one unaffected by the bad vibe.
"Says the person who put us in this mess," Blake shot.
"Hey," Weiss cut in, "You're the one who led us towards him. How did you even know what was going on?"
Blake's circumventing response was cut off by a small projectile that struck her head, and the heads of every other member of their party. They were small rocks, but they still stung, they stung just enough to get everyone's head out of their butts and looking at the culprit, Adam.
"That was in case any of you had forgotten that negativity attracts the Grimm," he said, calmer than he was a minute ago, "Fall in line, all of you."
"What are we going to do?" Blake asked, perhaps the familiarity of the situation calming her down enough to respond.
"We need to find some sort of enclosure to weather the Wave in." The others fell in line behind him as no one else seemed ready to take charge of the situation.
"I might know somewhere we could go," Weiss offered, drawing the attention of the party.
"I'm not sure we can get there with the Wave and everything, but there are some temple ruins that are fairly defensible although decrepit. We could possibly weather the Wave there if we can find one sturdy enough."
"That sounds like a plan, we'll need a scout, someone with good eyes who can escape without too much of a hassle."
He had said 'someone', but he had been looking at Blake, she had been a good scout and barring the impossibility that she had thrown away her skills alongside her courage and allegiance to the White Fang, she should still be able to do her job effectively.
"Okay then," she accepted, feeling the weight of his silent order.
Both three-quarters of team CRDL and JNPR were exhausted, they had just finished fighting off the murder of Nevermore interspersed with clouds of the smaller, bat-like Cauldrons that were hindering the progress of the aircraft.
Immediately the Grimm attacked the bullhead, Glynda had rushed unto the top of the airship to battle them, and with the exception of Ren, who was busy trying to bring order to the students within the bullhead and Russell, who was exhausted after transporting his friends over the distance he did, the two teams followed, ready to back her up.
"That's a wicked weapon," Nora complimented, taking advantage of the short reprieve they had, judging from the clouds of Grimm that were on the horizon, to let a little loose. Sky Lark, the object of this compliment simply nodded in response.
"Uh," she said as she tilted towards Pyrrha, "Ever notice he doesn't talk much?"
"Nora!" Pyrrha said by way of rebuke at Nora's crass question.
Sky was apparently unbothered though as he simply lay down the roof beneath him, prepared to get whatever rest he could before the Grimm reached once more.
"What are you lazing about for?" joked Dove as he plopped down beside his teammate. He didn't usually joke, perhaps he did so because he hoped his light demeanour would take attention away from the dents on his armour and the scratches on everywhere uncovered by it. It didn't.
The guilt in Sky's eyes made it evident that it didn't.
"Get off it, man. This isn't your fault."
Sky didn't need words to express his disbelief, he was also too tired to sign it out, so he pretended to agree with his friend and closed his eyes. It was his fault, all of it was his fault; the Black Wave was here because of him, him and his damned ability, he should never have let Cardin talk him into using it, again.
Mellifluid Madness, it had always been more of a curse than a Semblance.
Follow your heart, he thought, What a load.
It was nearly a decade ago, in a small town called Elapharos, a town alight with the colours and sounds of festivity. In this town, a small blue haired boy ran towards what looked to be a temple of some sort.
He was clearly happy, his smile said so, so did the spring in his step, so did his clear laughter. No doubt about it, Sky Lark was happy. Why wouldn't he be? It was An'Harus after all.
An'Harus was a religious festival celebrated by annually by the followers of the god Harus, a well-renowned Daya. This year, Sky had a major part in the festival, well sort of major, it was a role in a play, it wasn't the lead role, but it was a major role, his mom had told him so. Anything, no matter how small, done with the whole of your heart was major, and Harus was watching and would reward accordingly.
That's why during today's play, he would give his best performance, no matter what.
"There's no way I'm wearing that," Sky said as he looked at the costume he was given, it was a girl's. He couldn't wear that; Russell and Dove would have a field day.
"Come on," responded Pacifica, the Priest's daughter, who seemed to enjoy torturing Sky, "This is the only costume left."
"No way," it was bad enough that he was going to be a background character, but to be a background character in a dress? (Kinda like Jaune in Volume 2?)
"If you aren't going to do it," she said as she made to leave, "There's tons of guys who are willing to wear it."
That was a lie, the play was more of a kid's project than anything else, a rendition of the same Scripture taught every other week, the only thing sparser than the cast and crew would be the audience, everyone would rather be watching the actual play held and sponsored by the Winchester family.
The Priest had entreated all the members to attend, because it would encourage children to be active in their faith (and Pacifica would be someone else's problem temporarily) some would stop by, but many would try to get as much work done and catch the actual play in the evening.
"Wait," despite knowing that she was lying, he recalled his mother's words and decided that he would do it, no matter what. Had he known what was coming though, he would have burned that dress.
Blake was jumping from tree to tree, she had taken Ruby's prized red hood to blend in with the foliage better. Stealth during a Black Wave was pretty difficult, it was stupid to even attempt, but it was better than staying put and doing nothing during one, as that was the leading cause of death in Black Waves.
To be honest, she was still a bit miffed that Adam thought that he could still order her around even though neither of them were in the White Fang anymore. And even more miffed by the fact that he thought right.
That's interesting, she thought as she spotted a land-form, It's no temple, but it might work.
She headed back, perhaps a little too happy at her discovery, her happiness was in no way related to the fact that she had completed a task Adam had given her. It wasn't.
"My hood!" Ruby shouted when Blake returned, forgetting the girl who was attached to it.
"I'm okay too, thanks."
"What did you find?" Adam asked.
"It wasn't a temple, but it was a ruin either way and it seemed to be fairly sturdy, narrow openings we can use to limit the number of Grimm that enter and most interestingly…" the cat Faunus paused for a moment for suspense, "… The Grimm seem to be actively avoiding it."
Adam was shocked by her statement, a place where even the Grimm were avoiding? That could only be trouble, but there was nothing as essential as a place where the Grimm avoided during a Wave.
"Somewhere the Grimm avoid? That seems like more trouble than a group of students should even be in the general area of," said Weiss, voicing part of Adam's worries.
"We've managed to avoid the brunt of the wave for now," Yang inputted, "But we've drained ourselves just fending off the few strays, there's no guarantee we can keep this up or avoid the Wave for as long as it takes to send a rescue."
The group all looked towards the bull Faunus, of course they did, he was the oldest and he was the one who had started barking out orders, but to venture into a place they knew so little about even with a group of capable students and Shouter, was a heavy decision.
A decision that would have to be put on hold as a cloud of Cauldrons seemed to have taken notice of the group and were diving at them urgently.
"Dang it!" cursed Adam, Cauldrons were some of the worst Grimm that could attack at this moment, the bat-like Grimm were about one and half times the size of a human, and could manoeuvre the forest easily despite the density of trees.
SCREECH!
They could also do that.
The Cauldron's shriek made every member of the group's step falter, some more than others as both Ruby and Shouter fell to the ground. The two closest Cauldrons rushed at the fallen members, ready to grab them in their bone-crushing claws.
Adam halted and turned around to grab the girl before she was grabbed by Cauldron, and at the same time, Cardin ran towards the Cauldron approaching Shouter and struck it with an explosive attack from Executioner, crippling the flying Grimm. Despite his successful hit, the momentum of the Grimm was too great, and its body sent Cardin flying into the rest of the group, which served as enough chaos for one of the Cauldrons to make away with the screaming dog Faunus.
Other Grimm attempted to get lucky, but a streak of blood red aura scattered them and led them to retreat.
"We just lost Shouter," Weiss said as she collapsed onto the ground.
"We did," Adam said mildly.
"Don't all cry about it at once," Yang bit sarcastically.
"Hysterical reactions won't help," Cardin said, in an attempt to defuse the situation.
"That's exactly what you wanted isn't it?" Blake asked furiously.
"No wonder I jumped to protect him while you ran away."
"Ruby has a plan," Adam interrupted, while pushing the small girl forward, "Tell them Ruby."
Ruby, who had whispered the plan to Adam to avoid being put on the spot, glared at him as she tried to explain her plan.
"Remember our fight against the Nevermore in the Emerald Forest? We used your Glyphs to take it down, they made me a lot faster than I usually am."
"If we can combine that with my Blossom Burst, we can move across the forest and to the ruins extremely quickly. I've never carried that many people before, but Yang is pretty hea… hearty and I've carried her, so maybe I could carry all of us."
"Nice save," Cardin said with a chuckle.
"Good plan, you guys hide out in the ruins while Cardin and I go get Shouter. We're the heaviest, barring Yang, so without us, the plan is more likely to work."
"Not to mention that I feel terrible for my prank earlier and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't go and help my pal Shouter out."
"Shouter isn't gone?"
"You probably don't know this since you're always asleep in Grimm Studies, but Cauldrons are fairly intelligent and cruel, they like to… play with their prey."
"I'm not sure if that's good news or bad."
"It's hope," Adam said, "I'm trusting you to be okay while we go save him. All of you are capable future Huntresses, and Ruby's here too."
His joke earned him a small punch from the affronted girl, "Be careful."
"You too," Weiss said to Cardin, hugging the boy, "I won't forgive you if you don't come back."
"You got it," he said, taking a serious demeanour for the first time as he hugged her back.
"We're up!" Nora said for the umpteenth time, ready to fight off even more Grimm.
"I'm really tired of this," Emerald grumbled as Thief's Respite nailed a few flying Grimm in their wings, slowing down and injuring them enough to dissuade them or for other students to finish them off. Glynda only let a few get past her, but the over a dozen students were still exhausted.
They had always heard from alumni to 'not let the name, Goodwitch fool you.' They'd never understood it till the lady herself ordered the bullhead to stay hovering as she would use the Black Wave as a lesson. And so, the students of Beacon Academy had been fighting all the Grimm that Glynda let through fervently. This was only possible because they were at the very fringe of the forest, and only stragglers from the Wave were attacking them, it was still a tall order for a group of freshmen.
"Class dismissed," she said, as she cleared away the last of the creatures of Grimm, "Although some were unable to fight with their partners due to… circumstances, I hope that you've all learned a lot from your first Black Wave. You guys are really lucky, most sets don't get such an opportunity until the next semester. Don't worry though, you'll probably get another opportunity sometime after the Vytal Festival."
Glynda's statement was punctuated by several students collapsing, exhausted from even thinking about the ordeal she predicted.
"Team JNPR and AMEN," she said, "You both have the same problem of being paired with people who aren't your partners. Nora, sometimes you get in Pyrrha's way and Emerald, although you're clearly capable of fighting by yourself, it's okay to be supported by your classmates when your teammates are out of it."
"Team CRDL, I'm impressed by the fluidity of your teamwork even without your team leader, the others could stand to learn from that."
Almost every team was missing at least a member, although the hysteria had worn off, there was still backlash from an emotional overdraft, nothing a little sleep and therapy wouldn't fix. Emerald got the worst of it, as both Mercury and Neo were out of it, so she had to fight on her own. It wasn't all that bad, she was used to it after all... but she hoped that Mercury and Neo would be okay, couldn't have them dying before they executed Cinder's plan.
"I'm so hungry I could eat Ren," said Nora in her over the top manner as the students descended back into the aircraft.
"I'm not sure that you'd get much out of it," joked Ren exhaustedly as he welcomed the girls back.
"We'll just wait and see."
"Either w-" he started, until he was interrupted by an obviously distracted Sky Lark bumping into him, "Sorry about that."
"Why're you apologising?" Nora asked, "He ran into you."
"Nora don't… do anything stupid," Ren's warning was rather ineffective as the target had already skipped towards her own target.
"Listen buster," she said as she placed her hand on his shoulder, trying out a line she saw in an old movie, "You just bumped into my friend, and I didn't hear an apology."
It took Sky a while to leave his contemplation and concentrate on Nora's words, it then took a longer while for him to decide if it was a dumb joke or if she was just dumb. Luckily, Pyrrha rushed to her side before he could decide, apologising, while trying to keep Nora quiet despite the shorter girl's protests.
"Listen," Russell cut in, "I know you're not supposed to be smart, but that was pretty stupid, even for you." This ended the conversation, as team CRDL left, and Pyrrha kept restraining Nora.
"What the heck, Pyrrha?" she said angrily.
"He's mute, Nora," Pyrrha responded tiredly, officially giving up on looking for euphemisms as she apparently couldn't find any proper ones while she struggled to restrain her friend. It took Nora a minute to get out of her fit and concentrate on Pyrrha's words, and then another one to decide if she should kill herself or ask Pyrrha to do it.
Maybe that Nevermore that retreated will swallow me whole if I ask nicely.
Sky looked back on the pair of redheads, the stupid mute jokes weren't new to him, but a stupid person who accidentally made mute jokes was a rarer sight than most. It amused him, then annoyed him all of a sudden; she would come back to apologise later and probably create an even more awkward situation. He was always making things inconvenient for others, wasn't he? From awkward situations to downright ruining their lives.
Sky was in the dress, he was on stage, in a dress. It was only for a short scene, before he went back behind the curtain and waited for the closing scene. It was just for a short scene, but it was accompanied by catcalls and whistles from Dove and Russell. From behind the curtain, he could see that they were waving a sign that read:
"Nice legs!" Sky was tickled pink by this, but when he saw his mom seated in the bleachers, excitedly scanning for him although she knew he wasn't on again till the end, he stood a little straighter.
She was his biggest cheerleader; it was almost childlike at times how excited she was over such little things from spelling tests to dumb plays.
The play described the war between man and Gods, the lead was Pexis, a man who led rebellion against the Divine, believing that humanity was too great to be ruled over by Gods.
During the course of his journey, he observes the wonders of creation. The details that, if he had created the world, he would likely have neglected. This gives him a deeper understanding of the Gods, making him appreciate their role in the world, but still unwilling to be subservient to them.
It details the battle between them, with cheap visual effects, basically they paid a few older kids with flashy Semblances to do it.
Despite the full manifestation of Human might, the pantheon is easily victorious, but Harus is heartbroken that his very children would take up arms against him and leaves the world that has now been scarred by the Humans.
Pexis stood alone, in a world devastated by his own actions, with a heart humbled by his mistakes. The lights dimmed; it was Sky's cue.
Sky alongside other background characters crawled unto the stage, they represented the fallen humanity, they all sang a mournful tune, a penitent tune, a requiem for humanity.
This was Sky's moment, he raised his voice above the others, slowly at first, but the more he sang, the higher his voice got. He didn't know sadness, he had been sad before, but he had never felt the sorrow portrayed in this song. However, he understood music well enough to know how to convey it through his voice. He dug deep into himself to deliver on the emotion, knowing that Harus and his mother would be proud that he was giving his all.
For a moment, his voice eclipsed everything, from the sounds of fireworks to the songs being played, his voice had become the centre of Elapharos.
AHHH!
A scream broke through the harmony and snapped the boy out of his reverie. Sky's eyes opened to a terrible scene; it was chaos, people were crying and bawling on the floor, they were shouting in sorrow, screaming in agony. Even worse were the ones who were violent, they grabbed their children and shook them, they tackled their spouses, a woman even activated her Semblance.
What was happening? Sky scanned desperately for Dove, Russell and most especially his mom. The crowd had been small, but a more sizable one had been drawn in by the boy's singing. As he tried to push through the crowd, a member tried to push through him, knocking the boy down and out.
"Do you think they'll be able to find Shouter?"
"I hope so," Weiss responded, trying yet failing to allay Ruby's concern.
"Yeah right," Blake answered sardonically, Weiss ignored her, she and Ruby were too busy trying to calculate their path.
"Petal Burst negates my mass, and the mass of whoever I'm carrying along. This means that I don't really have any force behind me, so my advance will be halted by any obstacles, kinda like a ray of light."
"I see, that'll be a problem in such a thick forest, and flying too high will attract too many Grimm."
Despite everything, Weiss was actually a bit happy; this was the first time they were working as a team; she knew part of the reason for that was her own meanness and withdrawal.
"It would," Ruby responded, "But Yang and I experimented, and if we combine our Semblances together, her aura will take the damage and effect of any obstacles and break them. I call it Burning Blossom."
Combinations? Both Blake and Weiss said, thankfully internally, as they'd both likely be repulsed by the idea of having the exact same thought simultaneously.
"Hey, I just followed Ruby's lead," Yang said in response to Blake and Weiss' questioning looks, "Just for fun, and 'Burning Blossom' happened."
They both knew that Ruby was talented, she had to be if she gained admittance into Remnant's best Huntsman academy, but Combination moves, moves that utilised more than one person's Semblance together, at her young age, cemented that status.
"I see," Weiss observed, "So, using an acceleration Glyph, I can energise your 'ray of light' so that you can get that far while carrying all of us, while Yang's aura absorbs the impact from Grimm or any other obstacles so that our movement is not halted."
"It's a brilliant plan," Blake said, in her first contribution, "But the fact that you guys have only done this a few times with varying levels of success even when it was just two of you is troubling."
"Let me finish," she said, raising her hand to stop their complaints, "I know that it's our only shot, and it's not too complicated, so it's likely to work, but it is going to be dangerous for both of you."
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?"
"We don't, but Ruby should still know what she's in for."
Ruby became the centre of attention once those words were spoken, she was a kid, that's how everyone here saw her. She didn't need to make such a big decision, except that she did, they were able to avoid majority of the Grimm, but if they didn't make it to that safe haven, they would die, her sister, all her… friends?
"If I don't take responsibility now, I'll take responsibility for it down the line," she said, hoping no one knew she was quoting Adam, "I'm ready, so let's go."
"Are you sure you want a racist as your partner?" Cardin teased as the two moved through the forest.
"You were by far the calmest during the ordeal, it wouldn't do to attract Grimm in such a situation," Adam responded, "Especially after going through such pains to bypass the Wave. Not to mention that I can't trust you."
"Ooh?" Cardin hummed curiously, encouraging Adam to continue.
"You are smart, very much so," Adam said, "You made a reputation for yourself, a troublemaker, but someone who was nice either way. You certainly weren't polite, but that came more from a lack of refinement than intentional disrespect. The prankster with a haematite heart, that was the impression you created."
"We both know that that impression is fake," Adam continued after ensuring that "Just like you coming back to save Shouter earlier or volunteering to help me get him back. That way, any accusation of you trying to hurt him could be chalked up to hysteria, because if you truly wanted to cause him harm, why would you try to save him twice?"
"You're writing yourself quite an interesting plot," Cardin responded coolly to his string of accusations, "I actually know a bit about that, you know, the Winchester family first got its wealth from theatre."
"Hmm, can I ask a question then? Since we're suddenly buddies," Adam decided to take Cardin's silence as an invitation to ask his question, "Why do you hate Faunus?"
"Strange that you think that I'll answer that."
"Stranger still, is the fact that you will probably answer it. Let's say it's a character from one of your plays, why do you think he hates Faunus?"
"Let's say that this character does hate Faunus," Cardin said while running his fingers through his burnt orange hair, "I can tell you that it isn't a good enough reason, that he knows that it's a stupid reason to. It hurts, but he's simply transferring aggression, but that doesn't stop him from doing so, doesn't make him hate them any less."
"Interesting," Adam mused, his curiosity piqued even more.
"My question again," Cardin said, "How're we ever going to find that scrawny boy?"
"Good question," Adam said, "If you don't mind Qrow, could you help us with that?"
Qrow mumbled a few expletives from the trees, as he descended before the redhead who had called him out. "I'm going to chalk up your ability to find me to dumb luck, because my stealth is perfect and without flaws."
It actually was, Adam hadn't noticed him until that time he ran back to save Ruby, it seemed as though he was planning on helping himself.
"Of course," Adam said amusedly, "I'm sure you know where the Cauldrons took Shouter."
"Of course," he grumbled, an apparent habit of his, "Let's go."
"There's no need for that," Adam said as he moved in front of Qrow, "You can just tell us where and you can go on to helping team SYBR while we save Shouter."
"Their plan is a tricky one, it needs precision, courage and perhaps most importantly, luck. I'm not the best to support something like that, but I called in a favour, so they'll be in good hands, or talons."
Adam caught the drift of what Qrow was saying, and it caused him to quiver a bit in fear. Qrow noticed this strange reaction, but shoved it aside as he led the Adam and Cardin to where Shouter would be.
At this time, the students had all arrived back in Beacon, bruised, exhausted and ready for emergency treatment. Pyrrha wasn't that dramatic, all she needed was a hot shower, something she kept trying to tell Jaune, who kept fussing over her.
"Jaune," she said, grabbing the blonde warrior by his shoulders, "I'm okay, and I'll be even better if you let me get into the shower."
"Oh, sorry about that," Pyrrha should have been able to tell that Jaune was just a little too depressed by her rebuke, she probably could, but now, she was simply too tired to even care.
The jet of hot water was so relaxing, she made sure to go last, so that she could hoard the shower as much as possible. She was done, had been for a while, but she was enjoying the bath she had drawn for herself after her shower. She had marinated so long in there that she was sure she would smell like Lavender Essence for a week.
She didn't want to go out, she was too tired, much too tired to smile throughout everything, to be the encouraging Invincible Girl. If she didn't step out, they'd be worried though. It was with that thought that she was able to drag herself out of the bathroom.
Inuwa, give me strength.
Immediately she stepped out, she was struck by a pillow to the face. Nora and Ren were arguing, this was new, and she was in no condition to handle it now. Jaune was gone too, seems she didn't needn't have bothered about them worrying about her.
If I can just slip back into the b-
"Don't you agree, Pyrrha?" any hopes the Invincible Girl had of sneaking away were dashed by Nora's question. She sighed internally while trying to remember what Nora was saying but remembering instead that she was too tired to care.
"Regarding? I wasn't really listening just now," too tired to care but not too tired to pretend apparently.
"Ren wants me to go apologise to Sky," Nora ranted.
"I think that's fair," Pyrrha answered, her fake smile nearly succumbing to the pressure of such a stupid argument.
"Of course, it's fair," Nora responded, "But he's refusing to come with."
"You said it yourself," Ren responded testily, "You aren't a kid, I'm sure that entails being able to apologise to someone without me holding your hand the whole way."
"I knew it," Nora shouted, "You are mad about our argument earlier."
"I'm not mad about anything," Ren answered, "But I'm still not following you to apologise."
The argument dragged out a for a while, somehow, Ren was able to convince her to go at the end of it all.
Maybe she could pretend to go to sleep now, Ren and her hardly ever talked, she didn't see a r-
"You seem really tired," Ren said. You know what? She was really going to stop hoping for rest.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked as he plopped onto his own bed. It wasn't a bad idea, Ren seemed like a good person to talk to, but Pyrrha didn't want to go through her baggage, not sure she'd ever be tired enough for that.
"I have a question then," Pyrrha asked, not bothering to lace her sentence with her signature sweetness.
"Fire away," Ren asked, either not noticing or not caring.
"You let Nora approach Sky when you could have stopped her. Why?"
"You're a lot more observant that you let on, Invincible Girl," Ren answered with a laugh, "Either way, it's because Nora was right; she isn't a kid, and I don't have to baby her all the time. She'll make mistakes, and then she'll come up with solutions, it's as simple as that. You probably don't understand it though."
"I know more about parenting than you'd think," Pyrrha responded.
"Is that the case?" Ren asked amusedly, clearly piqued, "Well don't stop now that you've gotten me all curious."
"Another time," Pyrrha responded tiredly, as she stretched herself unto her bed, "I'm too tired, and the readers will get bored if there's only backstories in this chapter."
Nora was walking all by herself, all by herself to go apologise to Sky, Ren was such a jerk. The redhead shyly knocked on team CRDL's door, waiting for someone to answer.
"Shawarma?" came a voice from within the room, it wasn't Sky, it was the shorter one, Dove, if she wasn't mistaken.
"It's Nora from team JNPR," she whispered.
"Can I help you?" he said, as he peeked his head out of the door, clearly disappointed that it wasn't their order.
"Em, could I please talk to Sky Lark?"
"Check out the training rooms."
"Oh, thanks, which-" her sentence was cut off by the door slamming on her.
"Hey, Sky," Nora said, finding him training alongside Russell after a few minutes of searching, "Could I talk to you?"
The blue haired youth simply nodded and strode Feather's Edge across his shoulders, watching her silently, as she hemmed and hawed under his serious gaze.
"I-I'm really sorry about what I said earlier," she said meekly, "It was really crass and dumb."
Sky started signing in response to Nora's apology, Russell was paying attention, apparently prepared to serve as a translator.
"He says you're really cute," Russell said, before getting a punch in the arm from Sky, "Just kidding."
"He said he was actually at fault since he ran into your friend, and that the only reason you're apologising is because he's handicapped and you asking for an apology from a mute person is apparently some type of social travesty."
"I didn't mean it like that," she said, before waiting for him to finish signing once more.
"He says that he understands that you weren't trying to offend, but that he doesn't like special treatment or inconveniencing others just because he's dumb. You needn't have come to apologise is what he's trying to say. He did say you're cute this time, though."
Nora couldn't tell whether Dove was joking or not, Sky's face was too stoic to give anything away, but she thought she could see just the faintest shadow of a smile. Either way, she was relieved that their earlier 'encounter' turned out to be a non-issue, so much so that she skipped all the way back to her room.
"You're clearly thinking about that day again," Dove stated once the hammer-wielder had left their company, "Need some time alone?" Sky simply nodded his assent, talking was really a wasted talent when he had friends as attentive as his were.
"Okay then," he said, "Don't stay too long now."
That day, they all called it that, what a day it was too. It changed so much for him.
Sky woke up, violently, jumping out of the bed that he was on, "Mom?"
"Sky," called a voice in response to the ruckus he was making. It wasn't his mother's, it was the Priest, Father Mikaela.
"Father," he asked, "Do you know where my mom is?"
"I do young man, but first, sit," he punctuated this by sitting on the bed, and patting the spot next to him.
"Do you remember what happened?" Sky remembered, he remembered people screaming, running about helter-skelter, he remembered singing, his singing.
"It seems that you do," Mikaela said, observing the boy's confusion and terror, while taking his white gloves, part of his holy vestments.
"Since you understand what has happened, what you have done, let me explain what will happen, or rather, what you must do to make it happen."
"Your singing was surely the cause of the uproar, there's no doubt about it," Mikaela said, "I've never witnessed anything as terrifying, or beautiful. Your voice captured the entire town, even I was under its effects for a while. It caused hysteria within the crowd, attracting Grimm to Elapharos."
"Luckily, no one died in this attack, partially thanks to the Winchester family militia. However," Mikaela paused, mumbling a tiny prayer under his breath "Three people were crippled. Yes Sky, as a result of what I imagine is your Semblance, three whole people were crippled."
"Think, what happens when three people, devout of Harus, get crippled during a religious festival and specifically during a play meant to glorify Harus. People are scared, they are scared because they do not understand what happened, or rather, it's easier to justify wanting revenge if they employ the guise of misunderstanding. I can clearly see that it was your Semblance that caused what happened, nothing more than some accident."
"The people hurt and confused by this however, will take it as some sort of omen, a machination forces that want to oppose our God. No manner of convincing will make them believe otherwise. Their conviction will lead them to take vengeance on you."
"Now, you can choose to run away, I have made preparations for that, but you must understand the consequences of this. Firstly, I will lose my position as Priest, which is a pity, but hardly worth the risk of keeping you here. Secondly, and most importantly, everyone who has a connection to you in this town, will suffer the consequences in your stead. Pacifica, Russell, Dove and your mother, they'll all bear the consequences, the discrimination, hate and shame will be all theirs to bear, and I would be powerless to help since I would have been stripped of my rank as Priest."
"You do have a chance to avoid this," the Priest finally added, with visible hesitation, "But it'll come at a great cost to you. I sincerely pray that you go with the former option." With this, silence descended like an iron curtain, refusing to leave for a while, apparently having found a new abode.
"T-this isn't fair," Sky said finally, breaking the age-long silence, "I was just trying to honour Harus, to make my mom proud. Wha-wh-w…" He wanted to complete his sentence, he truly did, but the tears were too much, they overcame him, he was just a kid, why did he have to go through all this? He was just a kid.
"I know," Father Mikaela said as he pulled the boy into a hug, "You shouldn't have to make a decision like this, but you have to."
"D-does Harus hate me? Did I do something wrong? I missed a service last week… is that why?"
"It isn't anything like that. Sometimes… people misinterpret Harus' message, they are blinded by hate and fear, and they destroy others in their ignorance. We are bearers of Harus' light, it is our duty to guide the blinded, many at times with self-sacrifice."
"I'm also a light-bearer?" Sky asked, having somehow calmed down enough to be embarrassed at his running nose and straining for a tissue.
"Yes, you are," the Priest said, "Harus chooses people like us, normal people who have the responsibilities of hard decisions are thrust upon."
"Okay then," Sky answered, determinedly. He was going to do it, it wasn't right, it wasn't fair, but he was the only one who could, so he would.
"Okay then," Mikaela said, almost regretfully, as he stood up leave the room, "Get some sleep, there'll be quite the ordeal when you wake up."
Mikaela sighed after he left the room, it would seem that using such methods were best, or rather, it was the one that would bring the best results, Harus forgive him for all he did and all he didn't.
Sky bit his tongue in frustration at the memory, or would've; it was an abomination, the means through which an evil had possessed him to sabotage a festival meant to glorify Harus, it was common sense what had happened.
A great orange blaze streaked through the sky like a comet, lighting up the red forest and consequently attracting creatures of Grimm to it. A Nevermore rushed towards the streak, attempting grab it, its great talons merely nicking it though. Strangely, the streak seemed to burn even brighter with the impact, its speed increasing till it crashed unto the forest floor.
The crash raised a large cloud of Dust and ashes, from which the members of team SYBR emerged wobblingly. "And that," said Ruby, dizzily, "Was Burning Blossom."
"That went surprisingly well," Weiss noted.
"Yeah, now let's enter the ruins quickly," Blake said, "In case the Grimm suddenly overcome their aversion to it, we want to gain as much distance from it as possible."
Without another word, the girls ran towards the ruins which were merely a few metres away. The ruins were clearly buried until recently, most likely uncovered by the action of Grimm. Surprisingly, the ruins were still fairly sturdy, which is very convenient as them dying due to a structural collapse would be really anticlimactic.
"Stay here," Blake cautioned, "I'll check it out for a bit, to ensure it's safe. If I'm in trouble, I'll shoot my solar Dust flare, so keep your eyes peeled, although it's pretty hard to miss."
"Okay, be safe," Weiss said, the others were trying to pretend that they had understood what she said, seemingly affected by the fall more than they had let on. Blake merely grunted a reply, she didn't need a Schnee's concern.
Blake moved discreetly through the ruins, carefully manoeuvring through the halls of the decrepit ruins with agility and stealth that would impress even Batman.
Why would ruins like this be in Forever Fall? Blake thought, she had noticed that the ruins were old, several decades at most though, not like the others which were centuries old, some even outliving Vale itself. That would explain their relative stability. Either way, she ought to return to her teammates now, there seemed to be no cause for concern so far, they could weather the Wave here for the time being.
"Let's…go," Blake said as she resurfaced, seeing both Ruby and Yang passed out on the ground.
"Thank goodness you're here," Weiss said, apparently genuinely concerned for Blake, "Um, these two collapsed shortly after you left. It's just like you said, the toll of Burning Blossom must have been too much."
"We'll have to carry them in then," Blake said, in such a cool manner that the Schnee heiress was unnerved. "You'll carry Ruby, she's lighter."
Weiss suddenly rose to her feet. So nervous, she was like a new recruit, kinda like Blake at some point. Perhaps that was why the cat-girl decided to help her carry Ruby.
"Like this," she said as she lifted her ex-team leader and leaned her against her new team leader's back, "Pull her hands towards your chest, kinda like a sweater. Good, now thrust your hips back and lift her." After instructing her, Blake lifted Yang in a fireman carry, ready to move her partner.
"Wow," Blake said once she was on her shoulders, "Ruby wasn't kidding about her being hearty."
"Thanks, for your help" Weiss whispered shyly, as they descended into the ruins, "Um, you're really good at this. Erm, do you... do it often?"
"Yeah, all the time," Blake responded, calmly, not affected by Yang's... err, personality? "A guy made fun of my bow once, this skill came pretty handy when I dealt with him."
"I'm joking," the cat-girl said with a giggle after noticing that Weiss had stopped abruptly, "I didn't have the bow until recently."
She wasn't really joking though, she had carried several of the White Fang's dead by herself, dragged many screaming out of the battlefields, even carried Adam back once. That time was a joke though, he lost a bet and had to bear the embarrassment of being lugged back to home on her shoulders, she still had a picture or two of that on her scroll, fond memories. Fond memories, maybe that was why the Schnee who trailed meekly behind her wasn't as irritating as usual, why the very insignia she wore on her combat skirt didn't enrage her.
Whatever the reason, that was the case, and both girls were happy about it, Blake felt relieved from a sort of burden, being at someone's throat constantly was hard work believe it or not, and Weiss felt like she had been given a reprieve for the first time since meeting this mysterious girl.
"Here," Blake said as she dropped Yang gently unto the floor, "We'll weather the Wave here, it's the best possible position in these circumstances."
"I'll take your word for it," Weiss said, as she collapsed to the floor with her team leader. "Want some?" the Schnee heiress asked as she handed Blake some chocolate. The Menagerien princess already had a few rations, a habit from her days as a soldier, but this was a Twisco bar. But she wasn't supposed to have chocolate, caffeine made her do crazy things. Then again, she was already fraternizing with a Schnee, so it wasn't like things could get much crazier than that.
Shortly after, Blake was running about like she was crazy, and Weiss was following her, unable to keep up with the much more agile Faunus. Thankfully, she wasn't excited beyond common sense as she made sure their unconscious teammates were always within sight.
"Blake, if you don't calm down, you won't get any more," Weiss said as she twirled a Twisco bar above her head. "Ahh," Weiss shouted as Blake tackled her to the ground. "Okay, let go," Blake gigled wildly, as Weiss held unto her, trying to restrain her, "Wait, I saw something."
"Where?"
"There," Blake said as she escaped the Schnee's grasp and bounded once more into the halls. "Get back here," Weiss shouted after her teammate annoyedly, chasing her before tripping on something.
"Ow!" Weiss said as she inspected what she had tripped on, it was a crate, an old one. "That's interesting," Weiss whispered to herself. "What is?" asked Blake who had returned to her teammate's side, seeing that she was no longer being chased.
"The logo on the crate reads Merlot Industries, at least it looks that way," Weiss said, a little unsure, "It's not really legible, but I'm fairly sure, I've seen it a couple times."
"And?"
"Nothing really," Weiss said, "Just that my family actually has a deep relationship with Merlot Industries."
"Really?" Blake asked, strangely fascinated, "What is it?"
"Well..." Weiss dragged her sentence as she jumped unto the cat Faunus, putting her into a death grip, "Got you this time."
"W-wait, I saw something," Blake said.
"I'm not falling for that... again."
"Seriously, I sa-" her sentence was cut short by a roar from deeper in the ruins, it made the two girls quiver, Blake jumping into Weiss' arms like she was a 60's cartoon.
"Go to sleep girls," came a voice from behind the two before their eyes closed and they fell to the ground.
"Time to do this then," Raven said, taking a battle stance in the direction of the roar that had come earlier after she had moved Weiss and Blake out of the way.
"That was a lot easier than I expected," Qrow said, replacing Harbinger on his waist, that was, after he had split the last of the Cauldrons in two.
"I'm scared to imagine how you expected it to go then," Cardin said, exasperated after their raid on the Cauldron cave.
"How's Shouter doing?" Cardin asked to Adam, who was carefully scanning the young Faunus' body for injuries, of course, that didn't take much scanning as he was covered in them.
Ironically, it was good that the intention of the Grimm was torture, as injuries would be inflicted with the intention of delivering the most pain, rather than killing the victim. This was apparently the good news.
"He's okay," Adam responded annoyedly, "As okay as someone who just survived a torture session can be."
"All's well, tha-"
"I know what you did," Qrow declared, cutting the Winchester scion short, "I witnessed all of it. All of it."
The tension that this statement created was palpable, this was bad, to put it succintly, Cardin was screwed. Qrow's statement implied that he was talking about more than the Slytherin 'prank' if that were the case, then expulsion would be merely wishful thinking.
"Seems that I've been caught," Cardin said composedly despite everything, "I simply want it stated that I initiated everything, everyone else involved was coerced into doing it."
"No, we weren't" said Russell, who had appeared suddenly with his teammates.
"What are you guys doing here? More importantly, how did you know to come at this exact moment and how did you know what I said even though you're just arriving?"
"Bad writing, I guess," Dove inputted, "Makes for a tenser scene, but doesn't make much else, least of all any sense. Although, introducing my Semblance will actually explain your first question very nicely, and the second one can be chalked up to us knowing you so well."
"The author is actually holding off on revealing your Semblance till when it can have a more of an impact on the story," Qrow said deadpan, apparently a part of this conversation, "Which is to say, that he hasn't come up with a name for it yet."
"Good thing too," Adam added, "I question your relevance to the story after this arc since you just called the author a bad writer."
"Just forget it," Cardin shooed. "I'll take care of it."
"But C-"
"Enough, now more people are going to drop this fic because of this ridiculous scene, just leave it at that, I'll take care of it."
Team CRDL, without their leader, a phrase they ought to get used to, left immediately, almost as though they were written out of the story.
"We'll discuss your punishment later," Qrow said malignly, "Whatever you're thinking, it's much worse."
"Either way," Qrow said, "So long as he's okay, I'll contact Beacon, they'll send transport for us as quickly as possible, in the meantime, I'll go and get team SYBR."
"Wait," Adam called, before coming close to the man with a struggling beard, "How come you called... her?"
"The Black Wave hit Vale, Merkel to be exact, your professors at Beacon have moved to help, so there wasn't much of a choice. Not to mention she's more capable than most," Qrow paused for a second, "What's with your strong aversion to her though? Last I checked, you were... close or something."
"Well..." Adam said as leaned in and whispered something into his ear.
"You're kidding," Qrow said, "You stole it?" he knew this kid was good, but he actually felt genuine respect for him now. No one could steal that sword.
"That would explain why you'd rather avoid her," Qrow added, feigning disinterest, "Either way, I'm going to pick team SYBR, transport will be here shortly, so stay put."
"Is a Grimm cave really the best place to lay low?"
"Majority of the Grimm are still in the Wave, only the more intelligent ones would have stayed behind, and they'd be cautious of venturing too close seeing as we just eradicated scores of Cauldrons."
"I'll take your word for it."
BOOM!
There was suddenly a large explosion it happened a few dozen kilometres off from the Cauldron cave they were in. it was in the direction that team SYBR had gone.
"Hey, sis," Qrow said to a lady donning a Grimm mask and somehow carrying four girls on her shoulders.
"Hey Qrow, nice to see you too," Qrow mimicked jokingly at Raven's lack of response. Although, her bad mood was understandable, the four girls stacked on her shoulders weren't light, throw that in with the rips and burns on her clothing and a small clump of hair that was missing, anybody would be in a bad mood.
"You owe me big time," Raven grumbled as team SYBR tumbled down her shoulders.
"I do, but Yang is your responsibility too."
"Don't give me that crud, you know the deal."
"Of course," Qrow said, "But crud is the only way to extend the otherwise short conversations between us. I'm sorry, I actually didn't mean to say it like that."
Qrow was clearly frustrated, he violently reached for a small flask in his pocket, uncapping it suddenly and raising it to his lips. "Stop," Raven said as she held her brother's arm, preventing him from tilting the flask's contents into his mouth.
"But if-"
"Doesn't matter," Raven said, "I'm here, so we'll deal with it either way."
"T-thank you," he whispered, as he formed a fist in frustration, "I'm still a burden after all this time."
"You are," Raven said as she ruffled his hair, "Lucky for you, I'm still great at carrying you."
"Seems that hysteria affected me a little too," Qrow said as he attacked the tears forming in his eyes, "I'm usually not this emo."
Raven simply laughed gently at her brother's joke. "Those ruins the kids found are of Merlot Industries," she said to Qrow's shock, "I blew everything up already, but you are free to investigate it yourself after these ones are returned safely."
"You're sure?"
"Of course, I'm sure."
"That would explain why the Grimm were avoiding them. It's pretty unnerving to know that people made something that could even scare off the creatures of Grimm."
"I saw the monstrosities that were purported in those reports, they're worse than I imagined."
"Sharing this information wasn't part of the deal though... You didn't need to."
"Take it as a gift from your big sis."
"You know I'm like seven whole minutes older than you."
"Keep telling yourself that," Raven said as she squatted back-to-back with her brother, awaiting the transport that would take him and her daughter home.
"Qrow made quite the discoveries, didn't he?" Ozpin asked after the man in question had left them.
"An understatement sir," Glynda responded, clearly worried, at least clear to Ozpin, to anyone else, she was just adjusting her glasses. "For part of Merlot Industries to resurface, especially at this time is no small matter."
"The day is not without its benefits though," Ozpin answered.
"Yeah, we found out that one of our students is a racist who would go through great and dramatic lengths to kill off his classmate. And another is still a terrorist, but with a reliance on apathy which makes him a lot more volatile in the long run. Imagine being more volatile than a terrorist."
"It's still a weakness that we can leverage," Ozpin said as he stacked sugar cubes on the rim of his mug and watched them fall in with a satisfying plop.
"We can just sick Raven on him though," Glynda said, apparently not as bothered as to let a good joke pass by.
"Yes, we can."
"What will you do about Winchester?"
"Expulsion is much too lenient, he should actually be jailed for inciting a Black Wave," Ozpin said seriously.
"The fact that you're telling me what should happen, tells me a lot," Glynda answered, "Not the least of which is the fact that you have no intention of doing what you just talked about."
"You know me so well. You're right, I have no intention of punishing him, not conventionally at least. He has so much potential, and more than enough baggage to sabotage himself. Those are two dangerous characteristics to introduce into the prison system."
"You are worried that he will go from a child acting out to a full-fledged criminal, rightfully so. However," Glynda said as she paused to push her glasses back up her nose, "Actions have consequences, he has to be punished."
"Certainly," Ozpin said, "Eventually."
The grey-haired principal got into a staring match with his assistant, their gazes packed a lot more dialogue than the preceding conversation, it was though they had some sort of ocular language. At least, that's what Glynda thought, Ozpin had been merely imitating her frowns and squints.
"At the end, you'll do what you feel you must," Glynda said with a shrug, apparently convinced by their illusionary conversation, "We'd probably all be dead if you didn't."
"Thank you, Glynda," he said to her solemnly as the blonde assistant walked out of the office.
"This is much worse than anything I was thinking," Cardin grumbled, in his seat next to Jaune and Shouter. It was the day after the Forever Fall field trip, all students had been accounted for and were no worse for wear. All except Cardin and Shouter, who would be recuperating off campus.
That was the official story anyway. In reality, this was Cardin's punishment, he'd be on a team with Shouter and Jaune and they'd all be enrolled into Shade Academy. This was a common occurrence in Remnant; teams being separated. Four years were required for each individual to complete their training at a Huntsman Academy, many a student didn't last that long; some were too injured to continue, some too traumatised, some too dead, others simply gave up, or were moved to other academies that were better suited for their talents. This was the sad reality of the glamorous Huntsman Academies. Cardin was actually rather lucky, despite coming from a fairly powerful family, the consequences of what he had done would be disastrous, but instead he was given a slap on the wrist, all he had to do was take care of that whiny little snot, and Shouter too.
"Not in the mood, Cardin," Jaune grumbled, depressed at the thought of such a long sail to Vacuo, not to mention he had to so while travelling alongside Cardin and a Faunus who seemed to be vying for the title of barfboy himself. Jaune felt bad, not because he was leaving, he had to do that, but because he was too much of a coward to tell them himself. By the time they heard anything, he would already have been headed to Vacuo. He cursed the fact that he was so weak, and swore that he would become stronger so that he'd never have to hurt someone like this again.
Shouter was really, really confused, he understood why he was being sent to Shade Academy, he desperately needed to toughen up. He ended up being a burden, he was the only one other than Ruby, the fifteen-year-old, who needed to be saved at any point during the ordeal. What he didn't understand was Cardin; the boy had attempted to poison and brutalise him all while being racist, but later on, he had also tried to save his life and had come willingly to his rescue. It was all very confusing to say the least.
Either way, all three of these people were determined to make the best out of the opportunities they'd been given, they didn't know what exactly that entailed, but they knew that they'd do it.
In Forever Fall, just outside the ruins that team SYBR had taken shelter in, a sultry lady and a giant of a man stood over the corpses of two Valean Huntsmen, their blood still freshly spilled. "Raven was right," Cinder said, a little annoyed, "The entire facility was destroyed."
"At least she was able to grab a few samples of Merlot's serum before that," Hazel stated, "Let's go, there's nothing for us to do here."
Author's Notes:
Firstly, credit where it is due; I got the idea for Jaune leaving from a lot of different fanfics that I never really started reading, but was interested in the concept. I got the idea for the Winchester family earning their money through theatre from a few of Adel Aka's parodies where Cardin is a movie star.
I'm actually planning on naming and creating a few Semblances, I wonder if I should do a poll for some of them, what do you guys think? Also, any questions about combination moves and other elements that I've introduced are welcome.
Have a nice one.