A/N: Sorry for taking so long. Work has been getting more difficult for me, and I have little time to work on my fics, so don't expect quick updates.
I have decided to focus on one fic at a time and decided to start with the ones I have made first. To those looking forward to my other fics, please understand that I want to finish these fics as soon as I can.
Thank you for understanding.
Episode 10: Rin's Adventure
"So, what do you think little Rin's adventure will be?" Tai curiously asks.
"Hopefully, it doesn't have to do with the Grail War." Kali hoped, not wanting the little girl to get caught in all that danger.
"As I recalled, Rin did leave Fuyuki with her mother before the war started." Glynda points out, recalling the first viewing.
"Only one way to find out," Qrow says as the viewing starts.
A table is shown with a book on it and a box with various gems at its side. A paper with symbols on the table, a broken crystal on its center, and numerous others at its side in a room full of candles to keep a light in it, clinging sounds of crystals could be heard.
"Oh~, how ominous," Nora says, seeing the magic material.
"It better not be some creepy magic stuff or something," Yang said, shivering at the clinging noise.
The camera travels around the various objects in the room while the clinging sound is heard again. It focuses again on the table. The broken crystals on the paper are put with the rest of the broken ones.
"I think this is a workshop of some kind." Wiess summerise having a few pieces connected.
A tiny hand places a new gem on the paper, and the person takes a deep breath and applies Mana to the object. The whole room glows, and the person is revealed to be Rin, her eyes closed in concentration. She opens them to look at her work, her blue eyes shimmering with the light the rock emits thanks to her mana.
"Oh! Its Rin!" Ruby says, nearly forgetting what the girl looked like.
"What's she doing?" Yang asks.
"I believe she is training her Magecraft." Ozpin answers.
She molds the mana, and the rock starts to change form.
The students 'ooed' at Rin's doing, and the adults were awe.
She smiles at her accomplishment, letting her emotions slide and causing her to lose focus. The mana starts getting out of control, and she panics, trying to get the energy under control.
Eventually, the light dies down, the rock still intact, and she sighs in relief... Until the rock explodes, creating a small cloud of dust. She gasps and accidentally inhales the dust, causing her to start coughing.
"Aww… it broke." Nora was saddened at the broken rock.
"That doesn't look safe," Winter says in concern for the girl's safety. Granted, training isn't always safe but seeing a girl as young as Rin. She couldn't help but worry.
She looks down at the rock. It was ruined, just like the others. She blushes, and tears of frustration form in her cute little eyes.
"Aww! Don't cry, Rin!" Weiss says, gushing over at how adorable Rin is right now.
"Rin," She turns around to reveal Tokiomi, looking at her with his arms crossed. The proof that they together show that this happened before the war started.
"Oh! It looks like this is a flashback." Pyrrha points out that Tokiomi is with his daughter seeing that he should be in the war.
"At least that man did something good for one of his daughters." Weiss frowned despite one positive thing Tokiomi did, but that doesn't change the fact of what he did to Sakura.
"I still don't understand why he would do that." Yang frowned, still feeling bitter at what Tokiomi did, resulting in the suffering of Sakura's childhood.
(Opening theme: Oath Sign by Lisa)
(Opening them ends)
The scene shows an elementary school, with many children playing in the courtyard or arriving at the school on bikes or other transport.
"An elementary school? Is this where Rin attends?" Ruby asks.
"Yup. It's just outside the outskirts of Fuyuki." D points out. "It's still a flashback."
"This reminds me of when Ruby and Yang attended those schools at their young age." Tai sighs wistfully.
"Yup." Qrow reminisces about the memories. "They really loved their school uniforms back then."
"Dad!/Uncle Qrow!" Both Ruby and Yang screamed in embarrassment, much to everyone's amusement.
A girl is shown crying in a classroom. Her belongings were on the floor, and two boys looked down at her.
"Really? Bullying at this age?" Weiss scoffs at the scene.
"Children at this age don't know any better." Winter points out.
"HEY!" Rin's voice is heard, and she enters the scene, putting herself between the bullies and the girl. "Are you guys forcing her to do your work again?!" The boys are taken back and even look on edge by the young Tohsaka being there. "You suck! You really are the worst!"
Yang gasped at the sight. "OMG! It's a younger version of Weiss!"
"WHAT?!" Weiss screeched, flabbergasted at the sudden comparison.
"What's with you, Tohsaka? This doesn't involve you!" One of the bullies says. "This doesn't concern you!"
Rin smiles confidently. "Well then, why don't you guys try to do the same with me? Then it'll concern me!" She challenges the two.
"…Are you sure this girl is like me? She acts more like you." Weiss turned to Yang, who wanted to record but couldn't deny that Rin was much of a rebellion like she was back at her age.
"I think it's a combination of both of you," Nora comments giggling at the embarrassed look at the two.
The two boys exchange looks, obviously nervous about Rin's intrusion. "Hey..." The first asks the second, who shakes his head. "Bah, this isn't fun!" The first one says running away.
"Smart choice." Jaune nodded.
"Why's that?" Pyrrha curiously asks.
"You don't mess with a young girl at that age. Trust me, with the number of younger sisters you have. You don't want to cross them." Jaune points out, getting curious looks from his friends.
The girl signs in relief, her belongings appearing before her, "Here." She looks up to see Rin holding them up for her with a smile.
"That's so sweet of her." Kali gushed at the young girl's kindness.
Continuing with the first scene shown, Tokiomi lectures Rin about what she did wrong. "You used too much mana at once," He explains, the camera focusing on Rin's failed attempt.
"Back to Rin's training." Ren comments.
"Is this back from the beginning?" Nora asks. "I'm a bit confused."
"Let's just keep watching."
"To control your mana, you have to control your temperament," He says, standing over his daughter's attempts while she watches. He extends his hand and starts applying Magecraft on the rock.
It glows and comes back together while Rin gasps in awe.
"Lose control, and the mana goes back to your body," He explains, clenching his fist and making sparks come out from the rock. Rin grows frightened at the example. "Too many mana used the wrong way, can not only hurt you but also those around you."
He cups his hands around the rock and gets the energy under control. "Try to keep a constant flow of mana. That's the style of the Tohsaka family. It translates to keep control and elegance on every moment." He manipulates the form of the gem, and many spikes come out of it.
Rin's mouth opens, and she lets out sounds of awe, admiring the beauty of her father's work.
"Interesting… it's very much similar to our family's Semblance." Winter comments while also fascinated at Tokiomi's lesson.
"Do you think I can use this for my summoning?" Weiss asks her sister.
"Take note of this for reference, Wiess," Winter said as she nodded and took note of everything with her Scroll.
Back at the school, Rin is lecturing the girl being bullied. "You shouldn't stay quiet when they do something like that, Kotone," She says, the two walking down the hallways of their school. "It wouldn't hurt you to get mad every while and then."
Kotone giggles and smiles at Rin. "Rin-Chan, you're amazing. You always say what you have in mind."
"She's very mature for her age." James points out.
"She is from a prestige family," Penny adds.
Despite herself, Rin blushes. "T-that's not true," She smiled sheepishly and looked down. "I think it's just the natural thing to do." Kotone continues to smile at her as they walk down the hallway.
'Yes... It is natural,' Rin's voice narrates.
"Okay… this kid is starting to sound arrogant," Sienna comments as she raises a brow.
"Sienna!" Kali reproaches her fellow Faunus.
"Hmph! I'm just saying the obvious." Sienna hummed before crossing her arms.
Back at the mansion and Tokiomi's explanation. Rin watches as the man shapes the gem into the form of a cute little pony.
"Hate to say it, but that's impressive," Blake admits.
He looks down at her and picks up the figurine. "Extend your hands, please."
The girl does so, and he deposits the pony on her hands. The girl admires its beauty. She looks up and smiles at her dad while gesturing at the horse. "Father, please teach me more! How can I make things like this?" She asks, looking at her dad, smiling at her with amusement.
"Ugh…! Why does he have to be a good father to Rin but not to Sakura?" Ruby narrowed her eyes, not liking how the father was only treating one of his daughters with love.
"When will we learn the reason that Tokiomi did that?" Yang questions the deity.
"Soon." That was all D said, earning an annoyed look from the blond.
"Well, let's see... They might come hard for you at the moment." The girl looks down in disappointment. "But I know you'll be able to make it someday if you work hard enough."
He crouches to his daughter's eye level and gives her a warm smile, or warm for a man like him. "You are the daughter of the Tohsaka family after all."
Rin blushes at her father's praise and looks at the crystal horse with determination.
Both Weiss and Winter frowned and gritted their teeth. Upholding the legacy of the family name is essential to the Schnees. Hearing it from a man who gave his daughter way to a disgusting excuse of a human did not sit well with them at all, and hearing this from the father made their distaste of a particular father in their family grow.
On another day of school, girls start to huddle around Rin for help on their assignments in the middle of classes, the camera showing it from a first-person POV. One with short, black hair asks. "Hey, Rin-Chan, can you show me how to do this part?"
"Of course, which is it?" Rin answers.
"Ah, me too, please!" Another girl says, appearing in Rin's field of vision.
"Me too!" Two other girls ask, appearing on the scene.
Notebooks started stacking up on Rin's desk. "Look, this was on page 23," She explained on one. "You got the sum wrong. Here is like this," She explained the next. "And about this question... Look, here's an example."
"Wow, she is really popular for her age," Ruby says, amazed that a girl half her age makes many friends quickly.
"She's brilliant for her age also," Weiss adds while inwardly admitting that she also had to go through her studies at a young age, but the only difference was that she was never surrounded by children back then.
All the girls were huddled around Rin, with Kotone trying to get close but unable to call her attention due to her shy nature.
However, Rin notices. "Kotone," She calls out. "C'mon, sit down. I'll explain everything to all of you one by one."
Kotone smiles and nods. "Okay."
A montage of the rest of Rin's day is shown. She walks down a hall while talking with Kotone, who watches nervously, stumbles, and the papers fall but composes herself in time. Rin tosses Kotone a note in classes. The girl opens it and giggles at its contents. And the end of the day, the two walk home together.
Back at her home, Rin practices her Magecraft under her father's watch. She channels mana on a gem and manages to morph its form. Tokiomi takes it to examine it, and then he gives her a nod and a proud smile. Rin blushes at the price.
"She looks so happy…" Pyrrha comments, wondering if she has already forgotten about Sakura.
"Why are we looking into the life of this girl again?" Roman questions while Neo just shrugs.
The day when the preparation for the war starts. Rin is pouting sadly as Tokiomi gives her and her mother the news. She asks to confirm what her father said. "Are we going to live with the Zenjou from now on?"
"It looks like they finally reached the part when the war came," Tai said.
"Who's Zenjou?" Velvet asks.
"Just a friend of the family." D answers.
"Once The Holy Grail War starts, Fuyuki won't be safe anymore," Tokiomi explains calmly with his eyes closed, Kirei standing behind him dutifully
"...I want to help father in the Holy Grail War," Rin blurts out, staring sadly at her dad.
"Well, ain't that adorable." Roman sarcastically says. "I'm sure a little girl like her can do anything in that war."
"Did you have to make that comment?" Coco frowned, not liking the thief's sarcasm.
"Oh, please, like you think the kid can do something." Roman countered, leaving Coco just to snarl, unable to answer back.
"Rin, we can't be causing problems to your dad right now," Aoi scolds slightly.
"So we're in your way?" The girl asks with teary eyes.
"Isn't that the case?" Sienna bluntly said, earning a few glares, but few understood the harsh truth.
Tokiomi opens his eyes at her words. "It's not that," He explains. "This time, I'll have to make special preparations to set the perfect conditions to fight." The camera focus on Kotomine Kirei as Tokiomi continues his explanation.
"Ugh… is everything about him about perfection?" Yang groaned in annoyance.
"Nothing wrong about doing perfect things." Weiss counters.
"But you can't do everything perfectly." Ruby points out before tilting her head. "Didn't we have this conversation during initiation?"
Weiss opened her mouth but slowly closed it, recalling her blunder after everything she went through during the first couple of months in Beacon. She couldn't help but feel ashamed for her behavior back then.
"Your right… forget what I said." Weiss apologizes, much to her sister's surprise but smiles, glad that her younger sister is finally maturing.
"Which includes making sure you and your mother are safe. In order to do that, it's for the best that you're out of Fuyuki." Despite his explanation, Rin still looks sad and disappointed.
"There must be something I can do!" Rin screams, sitting on her bed while launching her pillow against the wall. She falls to the bed while kicking her legs in the air, her face buried against the mattress.
"Like many children with Huntsman in their families, they would always want to be a part of their life despite not knowing the dangers," Tai comments, recalling many times hearing fellow Huntsman with children would always beg their parents to bring them one of their hunts.
She sits up as she thinks of something. 'That's right!' next scene shows her walking down to the mansion's basement, using a candle to illuminate her way, where she usually practices. 'It's only because I haven't learned enough stuff!' She walks to some shelves and sets the candle down. ' Ijust need to study for myself!'
"I admire her determination. However, is that wise to study by yourself when handling magic?" Ren questions, not liking the idea that a young girl like Rin should be studying by herself.
She picks up a book and opens it. She flinches and grows nervous. "I... I don't get any of this." She looks for another, and another, and another. "What is all of this!? Dear lord!" She ends up with a stack of books she doesn't understand.
"Of course, you can't understand, child. From what I can tell, that is an advanced topic you are looking at." Glynda says as she adjusts her glasses.
"I'm certain Doctor Oobleck would be interested in reading that book." Ozpin mused while also interested in having a read of the book himself.
She sighs and picks another one to try her luck. But for them.
*STAMP*
A stain in the form of a palm appears on the book, making a stamping sound that frightens Rin. More palms appear, covering the pages in black.
Most of the audience jumped in alarm, not expecting a black handprint to appear on the book just like that.
"What was that?!" Ruby jumped in fright.
Scared, Rin drops the book that is now completely black and with a scary purple aura. And the book... Starts talking. "Du, wer die Tür gëofnett hat, wird Freuden sein (You, who opens the door, become my friend)."
"W-What's going on?!" Jaune says, not understanding what's going but he and the others can understand the German language thanks to the translation.
Rin moves to grab the book. "I have to close it!" She says.
"Für die Aussage nimm meine hand (For this declaration, take my hand)." As she grasps the ends of the book to try to close it. However, the object refuses and continues its chant. "Wir weiden im meinem Ziffer treffen (We'll meet in my room.)"
"What is that thing talking about?!" Weiss screeched in fear.
"I don't know… and I don't like it!" Blake mutters as she shivers in fear, not liking the eerie atmosphere the book was releasing. Even Velvet was trembling at the sight.
'It doesn't budge!' Rin realizes as she continues her struggles to close the book.
"Idiot! Don't touch something you don't understand!" Ozpin shouts out of concern.
"You have no idea what will happen next!" Ghira added.
"Sind deine Armen klein, grop, schlank, steif!? (Are your arms small, weak, big, or strong!?)." The book continues, and then, from its pages, black hands appear, grabbing Rin's arms and causing her to scream in fear. "Jeder Ist Glench (They're all the same)."
"It's got her!" Penny screamed.
"Creepy hand! CREEPY HAND!" Nora shouted in fear as she tried to hide behind Ren.
"Rin!" Tokiomi's voice comes from upstairs. "What's wrong?!" He comes down and witnesses the scene.
"Help her!" Kali bagged.
Rin cries in fear as Tokiomi runs to her side and drops a gem on the book. He focuses Mana on it, causing the gem to glow and turn the book back to normal.
The viewers all sigh in relief that the threat is gone and Rin is safe.
"Thank goodness that's over." Glynda sighed as she placed her hand on her chest in relief.
"What was all that about?" Coco asked.
"Poorly handled magical tome," D answered before waving it off. "No need to get any more detail on it."
Rin sighs in relief, and Tokiomi picks up the book, walking to the shelves to hide and put it back in place. "This is still too advance for you to practice it, Rin," He says and turns on the lights. "There are things in this world with mana of their own."
"Is that true?" Pyrrha curiously asks the deity.
"It's somewhat similar to Aura being connected to all living things, and since mana is considered a part of life, even inanimate objects that have mana are considered alive."
"That's both confusing and scary." Velvet admits.
D just shrugs. "Magic is weird but also has logic in them."
He grabs something from his desk and shows it to his daughter. The camera focuses on Rin as she gazes at the object, revealing it as a compass.
"A compass?" Penny says as she curiously looks at the object.
"This is a Compass of Mana. Normally, it doesn't indicate anything. But if there's leftovers of mana on the area," He hands a gem to the kid. "Rin, try to generate Magecraft in this."
"Really? He's giving her an object that can tract leftover mana?" James says, intrigued at such a device and thinks that something like that can be helpful if converted to Aura.
"Why is he giving her such an item instead of lecturing her?" Weiss questions, not understating the logic at that.
"Perhaps the book was enough punishment as it is." Ozpin comments.
"Right." She closes her eyes and focuses her energy on the stone, causing it to glow.
The camera focuses on the compass, and the needle turns to point at the stone.
"It does this," He finishes his explanation while Rin looks in awe. "As for this book," He points the compass to the book that attacked his daughter. The needle focuses on it, and red sparks come from it. "Anything that causes this reaction is beyond your understanding, so be careful."
"So it also serves to measure the threat of the mana it tracks," Ozpin says, intrigued at such a clever device, even something that never existed during his time as Ozma.
The girl nods, looking warily at the book, and the man hands her the compass. "I'm giving you this. As an early birthday present."
The girl takes the compass carefully and lets out a grateful smile. "T-thank you, father!" She says, admiring the gift with bright eyes.
"Once the Holy Grail War is over, we'll try advance jewelry Magecraft," At his words, Rin looks up excitedly.
"That's very sweet of him… if only he never gave up his other daughter, though." Kali smiled but frowned, still not acknowledging that Tokiomi is a good father.
"Many things have passed since then," Rin narrates as her school is shown on a rainy day.
"Looks like we are finally at the end of the flashback and the current events." Ozpin points out.
"I don't like the setting of this scenery." Blake comments, pointing out at the rain feeling how depressing it is
She sits alone in her classroom while everyone has their seat partner listening to their teacher.
She looks at the empty seat at her side with a worried expression, wondering why Kotone didn't attend that day, before giving a disappointed sigh.
"Looks like Kotone is absent today." Yang points out.
"Hopefully, nothing bad happened to her," Pyrrha says, hoping that it was the case.
She walks down the corridors as the sun sets, the camera focusing on her blue eyes as the voices of many kids start talking.
"They said we have to go to the study room again."
Her eyes darted right, and a glimpse of a said room with a paper with notification written on it is shown.
"What's happening…?" Ruby says in concern, and her fears are about to grow.
Cut back to Rin walking down the hall and another kid talking.
"In the news from the morning, they talked about the kidnappings again."
The audience gasps realizing what is happening.
"Ryuunosuke and Caster…!" Jaune growls in rage.
Rin's eyes dart to the left, and the camera cuts to a news reporter shown on TV, talking about the serial kidnappings of elementary school students. "In the city of Fuyuki, the recent disappearances," The woman talks. No doubt a particular Master's work.
"Those bastards are kidnapping children all over the place!" Qrow growled in disgust.
"Glad that both Rider and Waver destroyed their lair." Velvet points out.
"But there still kidnapping children." Coco frowned in disgust. "No doubt to start over again."
Cut back again to Rin walking down the same hallway. Her eyes come to focus, and she turns left. The door to the teacher's lounge is shown with a sign that says: 'IN REUNION."
"The teachers have been in a reunion all day," A child's voice explained over the image.
"Not surprising. It wouldn't be strange for the teachers to have a staff meeting." Tai comments.
"If you ask me, they should suspend school and keep the children safe in their homes," Glynda adds.
"Is there even anywhere safe? I doubt it is as long as that psychotic of a Servant is out on the loose." Sienna frowns.
Rin walks down the hall, eyes turning right and children talking around.
"They said they're canceling the fifth period!"
"All right!"
"How I envy the innocents the children express." Kali sighed at the children's innocence.
An image of the bulletin board with said news on display and a warning to stay away from suspicious people.
Her eyes turn right, showing a classroom.
"But they said we should stay home."
"Why?"
"They're really clueless, aren't they?" Nora whispered.
"I think it's better that way." Ren comments.
Eyes turn right. Cut to the news reporter.
"Another kidnapping..."
"They say it's only being kids so far..."
"Oh no…" Weiss gasps as she covers her mouth with her hands.
"It can't be…" Winter's eyes widened, realizing what that meant.
Rin finally stops and closes her eyes as the voices of her classmates and the rumors echoes around her. Cut to her eyes close shut.
"Hey, hey! Have you heard?" A girl's voice asks.
Rin gasps and opens her eyes before turning around in surprise.
The viewers could only hold their breath, fearing the worst.
The camera now shows the picture of a kid, smiling and giving a peace sign to the camera. The photo was adorned with flowers... It was a funeral.
"…It's not Kotone…" Ruby mutters but couldn't help but have a few tears fall from her eyes.
"Another child robbed from his life." Blake clenched her fist in both anger and sadness.
"I heard there's not a body on the casket," A woman said.
"That's because it was completely destroyed," Another answered.
"How could this have happened…?" Glynda could only look in sadness.
"But I thought Rin's school was outside of Fuyuki? How could this have happened?" Tai reinforced the question.
Rin looks at the picture in horror. It was one of her classmates, after all. Someone she knew...
"This happened in Fuyuki, right?" Someone, a woman, comments.
"So the child and family were at Fuyuki during the time…" James frowned, realizing what that meant.
"But that can't be right…" Jaune points out. "The news of serial killer running around in Fuyuki isn't the ideal choice for a family with a child to visit."
"I'm pointing out that the crazy duo might have done something to do that." Roman pointed, seeing that with magic, anything can be possible.
'Magic problem.' Neo's sign says as she nods in agreement.
"Poor child…" Kali teared up a bit.
This causes Rin to frown. Fuyuki... The same place where her father went to fight.
Rin is in the school building at night, using a phone on the wall, a worried expression on her face. The phone stops ringing, and Rin talks rapidly. "U-Um, I'm Kotone-Chan's classmate, Tohsaka..."
"The person you are calling is not currently at home. Please leave a message after the tone."
Ruby gaps in horror. "No… does that mean…?"
"Those sickos…!" Yang growled as her eyes turned red.
Rin scowls and places the phone back in its place. The image of her classmate's picture at the funeral comes to mind, and she makes a decision.
"Oh no…" Qrow's eyes widen in realization with a few others as well. "I think I get the title now."
"She's… not thinking what I think she's going to do?" Yang's eyes widened as her eyes turned back to normal as she had a flashback of a stupid stunt she did back in her childhood.
The scene changes to a monorail train speeding through its tracks. Its destination: Fuyuki. Insider of it, it's Rin, wearing a red coat and the compass around her neck.
'Please be safe...' She thinks, gripping the compass. 'Kotone.'
The train speeds on the tracks, leaving behind a red Stella from the rear lights.
"Well. That kid is good as dead." Roman bluntly said while Neo nodded in agreement.
"Don't say that, you bastard!" Nora growled at the thief, but he just shrugged it off.
"Please. What that kid is doing is suicide."
"Let's not decide just yet." Surprisingly, Sienna said that, surprising some people in the room. "Let's just watch and see what happens."
Rin walks around the city's empty streets where the war occurs. The lights from buildings and posts are not doing any favors against the darkness of the night.
"I'm surprised a girl her age can travel by herself," Blake admits.
"She's either brave or just clueless about the dangers." Ren comments.
"So this is," She says, her breath visible due to the cold. "Fuyuki at night."
The camera shows where she's currently in. A creepy atmosphere can be felt in the air.
"It's completely different from the day," She mutters. She hugs herself in an attempt to keep herself warm. "It gives such a bad feeling."
"At least she's afraid of something." Qrow comments.
"Why would you say that?" Yang raises a brow.
"Not saying it's a bad thing, but it's not exactly normal for a girl her age to be brave, like going to a city with a secret war." Her uncle answers.
"Perhaps being a daughter of Magus can do that to a child." Ozpin points out that while recalling similar scenarios of Huntsmen with children would see it as a norm to them.
From her neck, the compass starts glowing. She takes it out and gasps when she notices its needle spinning around, pointing in every direction.
"It never reacted like this," She mutters. "Could it be that there are leftovers of mana all around?" She guesses. The camera pans through different city places, some of them having warnings about the recent kidnappings.
"That doesn't look good." Jaune nervously says.
"She is in the middle of a battlefield of magic warfare, so it wouldn't be strange that the compass would react that way." James points out.
"Magic warfare… that sounds so cool and horrifying," Ruby admits.
She trembles in fear before gripping the compass tightly and pressing it to her chest. "I have to find Kotone!" She mutters to herself and takes off running.
"Got to admire that courage she has." Tai smiles, seeing how far this little girl would go for her friend.
"But will it be enough?" Qrow questions.
The cold air of the city makes some electricity cables from a post tremble, and it ruffles Rin's hair a bit. She ran on the sidewalk, passing through different stores and buildings. She constantly checks her compass before coming to a stop in front of an alleyway.
She looks down at her compass. It's still spinning, but now when it points in the direction of the alley, it glows more intensely. There was a concentration of mana in that direction.
"Looks like the trail is getting warmer." Yang comments.
"And it has to be in an alleyway." Nora shuddered.
Without any other choice, she enters the alley. She looks at the compass to see where the Magecraft is concentrating and takes a turn in that direction.
She has to pass through many bags full of dirty garbage, causing her to gag and stick her tongue out in disgust. She presses herself against the opposite wall to make her way through.
"Yuck!" Ruby gagged as she unintentionally recalled the time she was thrown in a garbage bin.
When she comes through the other side, she notices two people walking on the opposite end of the alley, on the more open street.
"Looks like there are also people up late." Yang points out.
"Wait… something doesn't look right…" Blake says as she narrows her eyes, trying to have a closer look at the two people Rin noticed.
Her eyes widen when she sees one of them is a kid. 'A kid so late at night?' She looks at the person who's holding the kid's hands. A male with a bracelet glowing purple, orange hair, and a purple jacket. Ryuunosuke.
Everyone gasps in horror and anger.
"Ryuunosuke!" Kali practically snarled at the sight.
"And he has a child with him!" Ghira growled but was also confused why the child seemed to look out of it.
"Why is that kid walking so clumsy-like?" Penny questioned, noticing how the child seemed to limp as he walked.
"It's probably the bracelet that Ryuunosuke is wearing." Ozpin points out as he narrows his eyes. No doubt, Caster created it to brainwash the kidnaped children.
She feels a tremble going through her body. The effect on the screen is similar to when Iri detects another Master. 'What was that?' Shaking the feeling off, she runs to follow the man with the kid.
"What was that?" Velvet blinked.
"That was almost like when Iri detected magic," Coco says, recalling the numerous times the homunculus reacted in the same way Iri reacted.
Ryuunosuke and the kid turn around a corner to get out of the alleyway. Rin peeks her head from behind a bunch of bags full of garbage and many containers and pipes from the other end. She tries to walk but stumbles on the items in front of her, causing them to fall and make a bunch of noise.
'Smooth…' Neo's sign says, showing how sarcastic the message was.
Rin gasps and ducks, afraid that the man might've noticed, but no one comes out after a while. She sighs relief and gets up to continue her investigation.
"That was a relief." Pyrrha sighs in relief.
She peeks from behind the exit of the alley. She takes a sharp breath and presses herself against the wall. "Oh no," She says. A police car passes on the street in front of her, without noticing her much to her fortune. "Thank goodness," She breaths out. "They would take me home if they see me."
"There are police around, and they never noticed Ryuunosuke with a child in the middle of the night?" Weiss raised a brow at that fact.
"Either Caster did something to his Master so he wouldn't notice, or Ryuunosuke is good at avoiding the authorities." Ren deduces.
She peeks again, and her eyes widen. Ryuunosuke is laughing and walking on the sidewalk close to her position. She crouches behind the wall, hoping to go unnoticed while keeping an eye on the alley's exit.
"C'mon," Ryuunosuke said. "Keep walking."
He passes in front of the alley, holding a kid's hand. But to Rin's surprise, he has a second one with him now.
"Another one?!" Glynda gasps in horror.
"Where did that one come from?!" Tai questions in horror. "Better yet, where is he finding all these children?"
'There's two now?' She wondered as she watched them walk away with horror. Once they're far away, she takes a calming breath. "He caught more children..." She looks at her compass and grips it. "Why?"
"Trust us, kid. You don't want to know what that creep is doing with them." Yang shuddered in disgust, recalling what the sick Master and Servant had been doing to the kidnaped children.
The image flashes again in her mind, and she frowns. 'Wait. Why am I hiding?' She tightens her grip on the compass. 'I won't be able to do anything at this rate!' She gets up with an adorable face of determination.
"She is very determined for her age," Ozpin comments admiring the young girl's determination.
"Hopefully, she might find Kotone with them." Ruby hoped.
Meanwhile, D was contemplating if he should mention that this particular episode is an alternate version of when young Rin could not find Kotone and was found dead and the other kidnapped children. But he decided against it since he didn't need to add more dead children in their heads.
She looks at the compass. The needle pointed in the direction where he went. She ran towards the location through different streets and passed by other buildings before finally leading her under stairs that led to a tavern.
"Oh, that's even worse than an alleyway…" Blake nervously gulped, knowing what this scene meant, and hoped she was wrong.
Her compass finally has a strong reaction while pointing to the door below, causing Rin to let go of it with a yelp. After running for so long and that slight scare, she regains her breath and makes her way to the stairs.
"Looks like that's the place." Qrow narrowed his eyes.
"Most children would stay away from areas like that." Sienna points out.
"Maybe for normal children, but not for a child of a Magus." Ghira counters but also wishes that Rin did not go there.
She stands in front of the door and takes a nervous breath before gripping the handle. Her descent is slow. It feels like she's staring at the liar of evil, and she isn't that far off.
The students could only shudder in fear as they couldn't help but compare the scene to a horror movie.
She tugs the door open, entering the tavern, which is deteriorated. There are bags full of garbage, dust everywhere, and broken frames with different certificates. "There's no one here...?" She mutters unsurely.
"Oh, man… I can't help but think there will be a jump scare coming." Yang nervously gulped.
"Yang! Don't say that!" Ruby nervously berates her sister, growing a bit more scared.
She makes her way inside, but not two steps in, and she starts hearing noises. She flinches but continues forward. At her feet, a hand suddenly slumps down. She yells in fear but then realizes that it is an unconscious kid.
The students screamed, and the adults flinched at the sudden jump scare.
Weiss quickly got over her scare before gasping at the scene. "A child!"
"Please don't be dead… Please don't be dead…" Penny pleadingly mutters.
"H-hey!" She knelt at their side and turned them around. She gasps when it's revealed it's none other than Kotone. Her eyes were glazy, clearly unconscious.
"It's Kotone! She's alive!" Blakes gasps.
"But she seems to be in some kind of trance." Ren points out being glad that the girl is okay but also afraid for her safety.
"Kotone!?" She exclaims in surprise. "Kotone! Kotone!" She shakes her to try and get a response, but then she notices her compass pointing at her. "They did... Something to her?"
She starts looking around, slightly panicked. "What should I do... What should I?" She sets her down and turns around to leave.
"Don't panic! That'll just make things worse!" Coco reprimanded the child.
D mentally raises a brow at Coco's comment, recalling when Coco panicked when Emerald's illusions inflicted her, but that hasn't happened yet, so hopefully, this event can help her.
Only for a pair of long legs to block her way.
Everyone gasps in dread.
"Oh no… he's here…!" Velvet mutters in fear as she trembles.
Ryuunosuke is standing there, the two kids from before in his hands. Rin looks at him in fear, and Ryuunosuke looks down, noticing her presence.
"Oh?" He asked, feigning kindness and smiling at her. "Are you lost?"
"Stanger danger! STRANGER DANGER!" Nora and Ruby screamed in fear.
"Get out of there!" Jaune cried out.
"No..." She looks away in fear. "Umm..."
"You arrive just in time," He says, throwing the two kids down. They slump down, unconscious. "The party is about to start," He explained, walking around to stand behind her. "But we're still short on people."
He crouches down to eyes level with her. "Tell me," Rin looks at him, shying away in fear. "Do you want to help?" She tries to move back but notices he's stepping on her hand.
"I can't watch!" Pyrrha covers her face with her hands and looks away.
Rin looks past her and screams in horror when she notices many other children in the room. All of them sitting on the tables of the tavern slumped down.
"The missing children!" Kali gasps, unintendedly making Pyrrha look back at the screen again.
As she trembles in fear, Ryuunosuke continues to smile. "C'mon! The more, the merrier, right?" She looks at him, and he reaches a hand to her.
"Not with a creep like you!" Yang growled in disgust.
"Run, Rin!" Pyrrha screamed out.
"No!" She shrieks in fear and slaps the hand away. When she does, the same reaction from when he saw him earlier happens again.
Ryuunosuke seemed to feel something similar as he flinched away from her. Rin looks down at her hand. "What was that?"
"What was that?" Tai questioned.
"Who cares!? This is her chance to run." Qrow points out.
Ryuunosuke looks down at her with a blank look, but one that it reflects his annoyance at her resistance. "Don't try to run."
He tries to grab her, but Rin moves out of the way and gets up. She runs a bit to gain some distance from him.
"Don't let him touch you!" Glynda cried out, knowing that this was all in the past, but she couldn't contain the growing fear.
Ryuunosuke gets on his total weight while the camera focuses on his bracelet.
Rin notices the object and comes to a realization. "He uses the bracelet to hypnotize them?!" She exclaims as she remembers the time she saw them with the kids.
"So she figured it out. Now, what will she do?" Sienna questions as she narrows her eyes as she watches.
She ducks behind a chair by the bar and throws a box full of books at the floor to obstruct the man's way to her.
She climbs on the bar, and Ryuunosuke tries to grab her. But Rin holds two envelopes with unknown contents and throws them at him, causing him to cover his face.
Rin then grabs a box full of bottles and pushes it off the bar and right into Ryuunosuke's foot.
"OWCH!" He yelps in pain.
"Clever. Using her height and her surroundings to her advantage." Winter nodded in approval of the little girl's resourcefulness while being satisfied at harming the serial killer.
"Now's her chance!" Ghira says.
Rin takes that chance to grab the arm with the bracelet. "I will break it!" She says and starts applying mana to it.
Blue energy gathers around the accessory, but a sickly purple glow comes from the bracelet. She tries to apply more mana, but the purple light overcomes her and starts to cover her arm and travel to her body.
"No! It's starting to control her!" Ozpin says as he grips his cane.
Her vision becomes distorted, and the camera changes to a first-person view, where she looks at his smug face of Ryuunosuke. "Oh? So you will help me out after all?"
"Fight it, young lady!" James says, hoping for some kind of miracle for the child for reaching this far.
Rin's eyes become glazy, her body spamming and drool coming out of her mouth. She is losing the battle against the mana of the bracelet.
Suddenly, she comes back to focus. Blue mana covers her and starts to overpower the energy of the bracelet. She grits her teeth and glares at Ryuunosuke, forcing herself to continue her efforts.
Ryuunosuke looked at her in surprise while Rin continued to glare at him. Her whole body almost looked as if it was lit on blue fire, with traces of red from the cursed object. Her compass floats from her neck, the needle pointing at Ryuunosuke.
Rin grits her teeth as she applies more energy. The compass starts to spin without control, showing that Rin was a source of mana as significant as the bracelet.
Ruby gasps. "What happened!? Not that I'm complaining."
"Impressive willpower for the girl's age, dumb luck, and the aid of her compass." D answer.
"I ain't complaining if that's what it takes to survive," Jaune comments, making everyone agree with him.
"Uh?" Ryuunosuke asks, looking at the compass. "What's that?"
Rin grits her teeth as the image of her failure in trying to use Jewelry Magecraft flashes on the screen, and Tokiomi's words ring. "You used too much mana at once."
"Look like Tokiomi's gift was useful after all." Weiss hated to admit it.
"This is nothing!" She yells through her fiery man, looking intimidating despite her age.
"Yeah! You go girl!" Yang cheered.
"Give it all you got!" Coco cheered as well.
Her mana burst out, focusing on the bracelet she was gripping. The cursed accessory explodes in a flash of light that blinds the kidnapper.
The audience can only gasp and hold their breaths while waiting for the outcome.
Ryuunosuke stagers back while covering his eyes in pain. He grunts and yells in discomfort while Rin jumps off the bar.
"Yes! Go blind, you sicko!" Nora grinned happily, seeing that Ryuunosuke was suffering.
The children are surrounded by an aura similar to the bracelet before dissipating around them.
Rin knelt at Kotone's side in worry. "Kotone!"
The girl starts getting up, confused and dazed. "Rin-chan?"
"Huh? Where am I?"
The children woke up confused and scared, and some started to cry.
"The children are back to normal!" Kali happily said.
"Well, what do you know." Roman raised a brow, not expecting the kid to pull through.
'I know, right?' Neo's sign says.
Rin gets a stern look in her eyes as she turns to them. "This is no time to cry!" She says whole getting up. "Let's run!"
"Yes! Run to freedom, all of you!" Pyrrha dramatically says as everyone else cheers for the children's escape.
The kids escape from the tavern while Ryuunosuke slowly regains his vision.
"Hey! Wait!" He calls as if expecting them actually to listen. He walks in their direction before stepping on the remaining of his bracelet. He kneels and picks a piece with a sigh. "Oh, man... The teacher is going to be angry..." He mutters with a pout.
"I'm not going to even comment on that." Weiss's eye twitched in irritation at how unpredictably annoying he was, but she was pleased that a child bested the serial killer.
The police are gathered nearby. The children are all being comforted and taken care of.
"And the police finally arrived." Ghira breathed out.
"Did Rin call them, or did the police in the area find them?" Penny tilted her head.
Kotone gasps and looks around. "Huh? Where's Rin-chan?
Rin is hiding in an alley, panting after she ran off, not to be noticed by the police. "What a relief..." She says. She looks up with a smile. "Better to head back."
"Why didn't she stay with them? Isn't that dangerous?" Ruby asked. She gets that Rin is happy that her friend and other children are safe, but why didn't she stay with them?
"Maybe she didn't want to get in trouble?" Yang shrugged.
"I think she should have stayed with the children. She would have been escorted safely home by the police." Ozpin points out but reminds himself that Rin is still a child and might not think far ahead.
She grasps her compass with a smile. "I did it, father!"
The compass suddenly reacts, causing Rin to yell and let go of it.
"What? What's happening now!" Jaune says, growing confused and scared.
"What?" She looks into the alleyway. The discarded cans and the air itself seemed to tremble. Rin's compass suddenly goes crazy, spinning out of control and liberating red sparks, before it finally stops and points upwards.
"It never acted like that before!" Pyrrha points out.
The image flashes back to when Tokiomi gave Rin the compass. "Anything that causes this reaction is beyond your understanding, so be careful."
Rin looks at her compass with fear, the energy it emanates causing her hair to be lifted. She looks up to see something falling from the ceiling of the building behind her.
It was a Horror, one of Caster's monsters. Yet, the way it squirms, it almost seems injured.
"Oh no! It's one of Caster's monsters!" Weiss screeched both in fear and concern for Rin's safety.
"Run, Rin!" Blake shouts at the screen.
Rin observes the creature in fear. She shakes her head as her eyes are wide with fear, almost as if trying to negate the existence of that horrible creature.
"Damn it! She's frozen in fear!" Qrow cursed.
"Is this the end?" Winter mutters in fear as she can't look away from the viewing.
From behind her, a swarm of bugs charges. She turns around to see them coming, but they fly past her and attack the Horror. Rin is wholly petrified as the bugs fly past her.
Behind her, the Horror screeches in pain as the bugs devour it.
"What the heck was that?!" Coco screamed at the sudden appearance of bugs.
"But they're killing the Horror." Velvet says as her rabbit ears twitched from the pained screeching noise.
"Wait… those bugs… is it…?" Glynda mutters as she recalls one person who is connected to bugs.
Rin can't take it anymore. After everything she went through, she passes out and collapses. A person is standing in front of her. Kariya Matou.
"Kariya!" Almost everyone shouted in unison.
"He saved Rin!" Pyrrha happily says.
"Thank goodness…" Kali sighs with relief.
And the screen goes black.
A car speeds through the streets. Inside of it is Aoi Tohsaka. "Rin. I can't believe that girl ran to Fuyuki!"
"It's the mother!" Ruby points out. "What is she doing out there?"
"Kariya must have called her." James deduces.
She arrives at a familiar park and finally sees her daughter unconscious on a bench. "Rin!"
"It's the same park from the first viewing." Ren comments.
She ran to her side and put her hands on her little girl. "Rin..."
"Rin-chan is okay," A familiar voice said behind her, and Aoi turned in its direction. "She's just sleeping."
Kariya is standing there, his figure illuminated by a light post. "Kariya-Kun?" Aoi asks slowly.
"Well, this is going to be good." Roman sarcastically says but is curious how it will go after Kariya has gone through.
She cradles her daughter close to her body. "What? What is happening? What are you doing here?"
"She doesn't know that Kariya is part of the war?" Sienna raised a brow.
Kariya removes his hood, revealing his deteriorating state to the woman.
Aoi gasps in horror. "Your face..."
'And there's the reaction.' Neo's sign says.
The two stand meters apart. Kariya is standing in the grass, with the moon's natural light bathing him. At the same time, Aoi and Rin are on the pavement, with a yellow glow over them of a post illuminating them.
"This is... The Magecraft of the Matou Family," Kariya explains softly. "You give up your meat, and they take your life slowly." Aoi stares at him in horror. "Our Magecraft has a high price to pay."
"But Sakura-Chan is okay!" Kariya states as the night sky are visible. A cloud covers the moon. "I'll save her before this happens to her," He promised. "Zouken only wants the Grail!"
"He's lying to her," Weiss mutters, feeling sorry for Kariya and Sakura.
"He has to… The mom didn't even try to stop her husband at all." Yang frowned but understood Kariya's reason making her less guilty as possible.
"He promised to free Sakura-chan if I obtain it for him!" He explained as his face came to focus.
"And how does he know that?" Sienna raised her brow and frowned. "For all we know, he might just stab him in the back and look at him! He's close to death's door."
"Perhaps Kariya did not think this through carefully," Ozpin says, fearing the worse for the two.
Aoi widens her eyes in horror. "The Grail, you say?!" She asks, the implications not lost to her.
"Yes, don't worry!" He said. "My Servant is the strongest!" He shows his Command Seals as he clenches his fist with determination. "It won't lose to anyone!"
"For now, even hope causes pain to Sakura-Chan," He explains. "So pray for me. Pray for my victory... And Sakura-Chan's future." He turns around to leave.
"Kariya-Kun," Aoi calls softly. "You..."
Kariya turns around again. "I'm sure the day will come where we can play around in the park like we used to do," He says. He turns around and puts on his hood again, walking into the shadows. "And Rin-chan and Sakura-chan will be sisters again. Until then, Aoi-san, don't cry anymore."
Aoi watches in sadness as her old friend walks away. "Kariya-kun, you plan to die?" She lets out a few tears. "After killing Tokiomi..."
"Even she knows that Kariya won't survive," Glynda says sadly.
Rin slowly wakes up in her mother's arms. "Mother?" She asks softly, looking up at the woman.
"Rin!" Aoi gasps in happiness and relief. "I was so worried!"
Rin's eyes tear up, and she snuggles her mother. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," She says as Aoi holds her close. "I'm sorry..." She sobbed.
"At least they're back together." Ruby smiles happily that the mother and daughter have reunited.
Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched.
"Master Kirei, are you sure it is okay to leave like this, the daughter and wife of Tohsaka Tokiomi?" One of the Assassins asks through the link with his Master.
"Oh shoot! I almost forgot about the Assassins monitoring everything." Tai blinks.
"Wait. Why didn't the Assassins help Rin if they are affiliated with her father?" Jaune points out.
In the Church, Kirei has his eyes closed and a hand pressed on them to see through his Servant's eyes. "It's okay. Keep observing the Master of Berserker."
"So they didn't know until Kariya found Rin?" Pyrrha comments.
"The Assassins have been ordered to monitor only the Masters and Servants," Ren said.
From the park, Assassin nods. "Understood."
Kirei opens his eyes and looks up to the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.
Aoi drives her car out of Fuyuki city, with Rin sleeping in the backseat. Aoi observes her from the mirror.
"And with that, Rin's adventure ends," Ozpin says.
As the camera focuses on Rin's sleeping face, her voice narrates again.
'It wasn't much, but I managed to do something.'
'Respecting about if I'm independent, I passed out halfway through it, so...'
Her school is shown, with Kotone attending and meeting with Rin happily at the school entrance.
'I still have a lot to learn,' She says as she is shown trying Magecraft but failing again, much to her frustration.
'But that's it for now,' Back at the school, everyone asks her for help. Kotone, again is too shy to step forward. 'After all, I have a lot of time ahead of me.'
'Someday, I'll fight as a Tohsaka Mage,' She noticed Kotone, startling the girl.
'Then I'll be ready, I'll work hard, and I'll learn all of my father's teachings,' She is shown practicing again
And back at the school again, with Kotone blushing and smiling at Rin offering her help. 'And when the time comes, I'll give my best, with elegance.'
Rin returns the smile at Kotone. And everyone can get a good look at her adorable face.
A crystal with many spikes, like her father made, is shown—this time made by Rin.
Episode 10.
Rin's Adventure.
-104:16:06
(The countdown goes down two seconds)
"Welp! Alls well that ends well!" Yang sighs happily.
"Preview time!" Ruby cheers.
(Ending Theme: MEMORIA, by Eir Aoi)
(Ending Theme ends)
The Command Spells of Tokiomi, Waver, and Kiritsugu are shown spinning around the screen.
"It seems the next viewing will involve the Masters of Saber, Archer, and Rider." Ozpin hums.
First, it focuses on Waver's.
"A king without wishes is worse than a puppet without a head!" Rider roared.
Almost everyone flinched at Rider's sudden put bursts.
"What was that?" Ruby eeped at the King of Conquerors' words.
Then Kiritsugu's.
"What value does it have a king that can't protect the weak?!" Saber asked heatedly.
"Is there an argument?" Weiss asks, thinking that it involves the two kings.
Then Tokiomi's.
"We don't have anything to fear," Tokiomi assures someone.
"Fear for what?" Penny raised a brow in confusion
"A Reality Marble!?" Iri's voice asks in shock.
"A Reality what now?" Qrow raised a brow.
"I'll have to kill you myself," Gilgamesh threatens.
"Why is Archer angry this time?" Sienna asks.
"I thought your goal was to conquer the worl–" Waver said, but then he yelps. Rider probably flickered his forehead again.
"I'm guessing that was the sound of Waver being finger flicked." Coco laughs.
Next Episode:
Grail Dialogue
"Time for the next viewing," D said with slight eagerness in his tone, getting everyone's attention as they wondered what they would expect in this subsequent viewing for him to act that way.
To be continued…
Next Update: Until RWBY Reacts to Fate Series is complete