What's good everyone! It's your boy OGGuy back with another chapter! After this chapter gets done/published, I'll draw Team SSKT in their Volume 4 outfits. Links will be in my Twitter at my profile! That's all, let's get into the chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: All music, characters, and etc belong to their respective creators!
(-Music: Shattered Heart [ Sen no Kiseki III ]-)
The scene opens showing Weiss Schnee walking down a long, carpeted hallway of blue, white and gray. Protruding columns from the walls are decorated with black sconces and lit candles. Nature paintings are hung in an alternating pattern between the columns. There is also the occasional cushioned chair or round coffee table placed along the walls.
Next, she is seen walking along an upper-level balcony above a large dining hall. A white and green floral centerpiece decorates the white-clothed table. Every column both above and below bears a sconce, but these candles are not lit. Beside Weiss on the balcony are large arch-shaped openings with white gauze curtains. Through one of the curtains, a crystal chandelier can be seen in another room. There is a shut, brown wooden door in the direction Weiss is heading.
Weiss walks down a wide stairway with curving balconies on either side above it. Large armor statues fill the space on either side of the bottom stairs. Behind Weiss, a paned triptych of arched windows lets in the sun, casting her shadow onto the blue-carpeted steps in front of her. The floor at the bottom of the stairs has a blue and white oval design in its center. Both levels have open archways leading to other rooms.
Walking in another room with blue and white floor patterns, Weiss strides past a life-size statue of a King Taijitu without looking up. Once again, both the lower level and the balcony level have open archways and unlit sconces. A chandelier hangs from the ceiling.
An upward view shows that the chandelier is in the middle of a blue and white circular pattern that matches the floor pattern from the previous room.
From the point of view of a music room, Weiss is seen walking down another hallway. In the music room is a large grand piano with open sheet music. A portrait on the wall shows a boy who has white hair and light blue eyes with a fair complexion. His hair is mostly pushed to the left, although he does have a cowlick. He is fairly tall with a slender build and stands a few inches taller than his older sister Weiss. His attire consists of a short-sleeved white dress shirt, the sleeves fastened just above his elbows by navy blue cuffs, each with twin gold buttons. Over his untucked shirt, he wears a light blue vest, with a black handkerchief in his right breast pocket. He also wears a black necktie, navy blue trousers and black dress shoes. He is the youngest child of the Schnee Family, Whitley Schnee.
The Ice Queen walks alone in the hallway, never having looked up the entire time until she has a startled reaction to hearing her brother's voice coming from right in front of her.
"Good afternoon, sister." Whitley greets her with his hand on his chest and he affects a bow. "A pleasure to see you out of your room for a change."
Weiss sidesteps him and turns to speak, and since he moves to face her the effect is that of the two of them briefly circling each other. "Hello, Whitley. You're in a cheery mood today."
He clasps his hands behind his back and smirks at her. "Klein made crepes for breakfast."
Weiss' eyes briefly flashed ice blue before she took a breath. "What do you want?"
"I heard Father shouting with someone in his study earlier."
"Mother?"
Whitley shook his head as he feigned a concerned look on his face. "No, she's already drinking in the garden. I think it was a man. I just wanted to warn you. I heard he had asked to speak with you."
"I'll be fine." Weiss firmly says.
"I know you will. You are strong, like Winter."
"You never liked Winter."
Behind Weiss, the Schnee Dust Company emblem can be seen above the archway she was walking toward.
"True, but you can't deny her resolve." Whitley stated.
"You... seem different." The Heiress says, feeling quite perturbed by her brother's behavior.
"And you've been gone. I'll have you know I didn't stop growing while you were away at Beacon."
Whitley turns and walks away. As he does so, the lower half of a family portrait can just be seen on the wall between where the two were standing.
"Good luck with Father!" He says as Whitley turns the corner.
"Thank you." She said after Weiss made sure that her brother was out of hearing range.
She continues walking, and there is a close-up view of the family portrait. Clockwise they are Jacques Schnee, Weiss, Whitley, Winter, and Mrs. Schnee. Jacques has black hair that is graying and a full mustache. Mrs. Schnee has a stern look on her face, Winter and Weiss are frowning, Whitley is smiling, and Jacques has a neutral expression.
(-Music Ends-)
Cut to black, and a blurred, echoing voice is heard.
"Do you believe in destiny?"
As Pyrrha speaks, small white circles, again blurred, move slightly around a center screen that remains black and then a white flash shone, filling the dark void with its ever growing light.
With a gasp, Ruby opened her eyes. She's lying in a red sleeping bag on a clearing in some woods. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren are also in sleeping bags around a long burned-out campfire. Magnhild rests beside Nora. Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Arc sleeping on their sides with their hands being held. Then Sonic Takamaki, who was snoring from a tree branch. Ruby sits up and looks around. Birds can be heard tweeting and all seems peaceful. Ruby, however, puts her hand to the side of her head and sighs as though she's in pain.
The group walks down a sunny road as Ruby is in front, looking at a map.
"We're not lost. The next town is Shion. My family used to visit it all the time." Jaune spoke up with a small smile on his face.
"Oh yeah. Don't you have, like, four sisters?" Inquired Sonic who had his hands behind his head with a grin.
"Uh, seven." The Arc said with a sweat drop on his head making Ruby and Pyrrha giggle.
"You know, that actually explains a lot." Nora said, getting everyone's attention.
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"What did you do with your sisters in Shion Jaune?" The redhead inquired of her lover as she held Jaune's hand.
Jaune blushed slightly as he rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, all sorts of stuff! Over here is a great hiking trail, and over here is where we went camping all the time. I got my own tent because I was special. Also, so my sisters would stop braiding my hair."
The Blue Blur snickered at the last sentence. "Didn't like the look eh Jauney boy?"
"Yeah, they just kept doing pigtails, but personally, I think I'm more of a "warrior's wolf tail" kind of guy."
"That's just a ponytail." The Hooded Huntress corrected before snickering.
Jaune rolled his deep blue eyes. "I stand by what I said."
(-Music: Silent Exhalation [ Sen no Kiseki ]-)
Nora stops short, raising her hands to her lips as her eyes widen. Soon after, Ren stops, visibly tense along with Pyrrha's eyes widening in shock.
"Uh, guys?" The pink bombshell got the three's attention to the destroyed town before them.
"Huh?"
Sonic's eyes widened seeing the sight of the ruined town. "This isn't supposed to be… Shion, right?"
Jaune and Ruby look up from the map. Their eyes widen and jaws drop. In front of them is a desolated village. The sky is gray and two columns of smoke rise in the air. A gazebo has a broken tower and lampposts are askew from the ground. At least one dead body can be seen on the side of the road approaching the town. The map is dropped and all six rush forward. They briskly move into the town, looking around. Ren tosses his backpack on the ground and moves ahead while the other three gather in the middle of a road.
"There could be survivors!" Ruby said.
"Over here!" Ren called out.
The other five rush to where Ren is leading them. On the ground, sitting propped against a broken building wall is a young man in armor. He breathes heavily and holds his hand against a bleeding wound in his abdomen. Ren drops by his side and puts his hand on his shoulder.
"A Huntsman!" The Spartan said in realization.
"What happened here? Where are the people at?" Sonic asked the dying young man.
The Dying Huntsmen coughs violently. "Bandits. The whole tribe... Then, with all the panic…"
Ren's eyes narrowed. "Grimm."
He stands and walks a few paces away, placing his hands atop his head. Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora step away to confer while Sonic closes his eyes and then stands back up.
"Alright, we can get him to the next village and try to find a doctor there!" The silver-eyed girl said, trying to keep her spirits up.
"Yeah. Ren and I can take turns carrying him there." Jaune added, agreeing to her idea.
"Jaune, with injuries like those, it's uncertain that he'll make it." Pyrrha countered with her eyes turning to the young man.
"He will. He has to."
Then Ren turns back and walks over to the Huntsman to see if he had a pulse.
"If we get going now, our chances will be better. I can run ahead and look for help!"
"Guys."
The other four turn and discover that the Huntsman has already died. Much to their displeasure that the life that they tried to save is now gone.
"Where should we bury him?" Nora inquired, breaking the long silence.
Ren walks right past them without a backward glance with an uncharacteristically silent Sonic behind him. "We should go. It's not safe here."
"Ren…"
Nora turns and follows him as Ruby puts her hand on Jaune's arm. He is looking stressed and sad with Pyrrha comforting him.
"It'll be okay." She said to the grieving blonde.
"I'm just tired of losing everything." The Arc said bitterly as his girlfriend gave him a kiss on the cheek and held his hand, giving it an assuring squeeze.
"You're not alone in feeling that way Jaune. That I promise you…" Pyrrha said softly.
Ren stops and looks at something on the ground, his eyes widening. A cloven hoof print is impressed into the ground. Nora comes up to his side. She sees the same mark and her eyes also widen in recognition. The two of them silently make eye contact. Then the camera turns to Sonic who had his Scroll out. Then the scene gets enshrouded in a white by the flash of his camera.
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Signs of Gloom [ Sen no Kiseki III ]-)
The scene cuts to Weiss standing outside her father's door and listening to the discussion inside. She hesitates to put her hand on the doorknob.
"I'm not talking about the good of my company; I'm talking about the good of Atlas, our entire Kingdom!" Shouted Jacques, sounding infuriated.
"That is a load of garbage and you know it." Retorted another voice.
The Heiress opens the door slightly to peer in.
"I beg your pardon?!" The Schnee Patriarch barked at the person he's bickering with.
A man whose hair was black, with some gray areas, while his eyebrows were solid black. He had grown stubble and his hair was slightly messier. He wore a white, double-breasted tailcoat with dark blue and black accents, most notable at the cuffs and shoulder pieces. The coat was belted at the waist. Underneath, Ironwood had a black collared shirt and a red tie. He also wore two white gloves, in contrast to wearing only one on his right hand. His pants were no longer tucked inside military boots but instead hung over the black boots. He is James Ironwood, the "General/Headmaster" of Atlas. He is seen sitting in a chair in front of a bookcase.
"Jacques, will you please, just hear me out?" Ironwood inquired. His patience is running out with Jacques.
Jacques places his glass down on the table roughly. "You are a trusted friend and ally to this family, James, but what you're suggesting is absurd!"
"You are blowing it out of proportion."
"The council will never agree to it!"
"You forget, I hold two seats on the council." The General retorted, putting up two fingers to emphasize his point.
The Schnee Patriarch's eyes narrowed. "Your Dust embargo has already cost me millions! I can promise you, I have not forgotten!"
"So this is about you." Ironwood shook his head.
The Heiress has come into the room, and she watches the two men awkwardly while the door shuts behind her. She startles at the sound while James and Jacques turn and look at her.
Ironwood hastily bows to Weiss. "Miss Schnee! My apologies. I should have been gone by now."
"It-it's okay." She nervously says.
"We'll continue this at another time."
"Indeed. Klein can show you out."
"Don't worry, I know the way." Ironwood proceeds to the door as Weiss steps out of his way. He turns to face her father. "Until next time, Jacques."
Jacques solemnly nods back at Ironwood, who turns to Weiss with a small smile on his face.
"Please know, you'll always have a home at Atlas Academy, Miss Schnee. We'll be back in session before you know it."
He leaves. A pan shot of Weiss and Jacques reveals a portrait of a younger black-haired Jacques hanging on the wall behind his desk.
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Roots of Scar [ Sen no Kiseki III ]-)
"Did you forget your manners while you were away?" The Schnee Patriarch inquired with a furrowed brow as he turned and walked to his desk, which is a few steps up from the chairs and tables where he and Ironwood were just sitting.
Weiss looks annoyed at the comment but calms down with a sigh. "No Father. I'm sorry."
"Can you believe there are still people in the world that blame Atlas for what happened to Beacon? To Vale?" Asked an irritated Jacques.
"Well, they weren't there." His daughter responded as she began walking across the room to stand before his desk.
He scoffs as he finally sits down, swinging the seat so that his back is to Weiss. "It's a wonder Ironwood wasn't stripped of his rank. I suppose the council trusts him, for better or worse…"
"I trust him." Weiss firmly says.
Jacques sighs and turns toward his daughter. "Thanks to him, Atlas is forbidden from exporting Dust to other Kingdoms. "A precautionary measure", as he puts it, "until we're certain no one is going to declare war". How anyone could possibly find that to be sound logic is beyond me."
The Heiress blinks uncomfortably at her father. There is one framed picture on the desk, and it's of Whitley.
"Which is why the Schnee Dust Company will be holding a charity concert in the coming weeks." This made Weiss look up at him in surprise. "We need to show the people of Remnant that we are on their side. That we are all victims of the fall of Beacon."
She couldn't come with a response to this news. "That's... wonderful news."
"I know. And I think it would make a lot of people happy if you performed at the event." Jacques added, surprising his daughter even more.
"Excuse me?"
"Many forget that you were there. My own daughter, a Schnee, on the grounds, defending another Kingdom! We need to remind them! And we need to show them that the Schnee family is just as strong as ever!" The Schnee Patriarch said with a bit of a sneering smile on his face.
"Are you asking me if I'd like to sing, or telling me?" Weiss inquired.
Jacques leans forward and makes a tent with the fingers of his hand as he meaningfully gazes at Weiss. "I think it would make a lot of people happy."
Weiss sighs. "I'll start practicing."
"That's... my girl."
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Whereabouts of Feelings [ Sen no Kiseki ]-)
She shuts the door to her father's office and turns to find the butler waiting for her with a tray.
"Hot coffee, Miss Schnee? I always find he keeps his study dreadfully cold." Klein said warmly to her.
Weiss takes the mug off of the tray with a smile. "Thank you, Klein."
"You know what I think?" Klein lifts the tray to cover his face before dropping it dramatically as he leans forward toward Weiss making a less-than-formal face, his brown eyes having turned red. "I think it's to balance out all his hot air."
Weiss' eyes widen in delight and she turns and looks over her shoulder at the closed office door. She turns back to Klein with a giggle. "Klein!"
The two giggle together before he fakes a sneeze, and his eyes turn blue.
"Uh, apologies, madam." The butler said in a high-pitched accent.
Klein pretends to sneeze again making her giggle merrily, hiding her smile behind her hand. He wiggles his mustache and looks up and his eyes turn yellow. "Ah, there's my happy little snowflake."
Weiss breathes a sigh that releases some weight off her shoulders, and she gives the butler a genuine grin. "Thank you Klein."
(-Music Ends-)
The scene transitions to Ruby's opening silver eyes as she sits up and looks around. There are little will-o-the-wisps floating around, looking very similar to the white circles in the dream. The campfire is still burning but has died down. Ren and Nora are asleep while their weapons are once again at their sides. Same goes for Jaune and Pyrrha. But then gazes at Sonic's sleeping bag which appears to be empty thus sparking her curiosity. So she stood up and quietly left the camp in search of the blue hedgehog Faunus. Frankly, she didn't have to travel too far the camp as she saw him sitting at a tree that had a perfect view of the stars that filled the sky; the silver-eyed girl approached the lone Sonic till his hedgehog ears twitched causing him to face her.
(-Music: Missing You [ Kingdom Hearts II ]-)
"I thought you were sleeping Rubes." He said after returning to his stargazing.
"Couldn't sleep. But I should say the same about you Sonic. Is everything okay?" Ruby asks as she sat next to him.
"Yeah yeah, just stargazing." Sonic said without looking at her.
"Well… might as well tell her about Sir Connery then." The Speed Demon Faunus thought as he sighs.
"That Huntsman we found back at Shion. He reminded me of another guy who died admirably." Sonic spoke that made Ruby gaze at him as he spoke. "His name is Sir Connery."
"Sir Connery?"
Sonic nods, affirming the girl's thoughts. "That dude heh, he went out swinging. Noble down to the end…"
"What did he do?"
"Let me take ya back to the beginning Rubes." Sonic said as he looked at the moon. "Sir Connery was a former member of the court in the Kingdom of Acorns. The Ancient Walkers gave him a new destiny or whatever."
"Ancient Walkers? Who are those?" Ruby inquired as three question marks appeared on her head.
"Ask Knuckles. He's into that ancient stuff. As I was saying, myself and the Freedom Fighters were in a pinch. One of my enemies, Mammoth Mogul, ehhh let's say that he's an immortal guy who had a Chaos Emerald in chest eons ago. He's the pettiest villain I have ever defeated too. Back to the story." He cleared his throat despite the surprised look on Ruby's face. "Sir Connery was tasked to guard Tails' uncle and Mogul, who was captured at the time, they were going to send him to the Ancient Walkers for them to deal with him but then the Destructix ambushed them and tried to take the Chaos Emerald that Mogul created himself, who was trapped in there but the [Sword of Light] was missing too."
""The Sword of Light?" That sounds AWESOME!" The Hooded Huntress chimed happily after hearing the name of the powerful weapon.
"Heh, that sword was created by the Ancient Walkers and Sir Connrey was its first wielder. Thus he became the [Paladin of the Ancient Walkers]. That sword was meant to counter dark magic and counter magic attacks."
Ruby's eyes became stars after hearing what it could do. "Oooooooooo that is EPIC!"
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Fairy Tail Rises [ Fairy Tail ]-)
"I bet it was…" Then Sonic narrowed his eyes as he looked down as his hands balled into fists. "After the Destructix failed, we brought Tails' uncle and Sir Connery to Sally's brother, Elias Acorn, who is king now because his pops is infirm and couldn't rule. Sir Connery informed him that the sword was stolen by the Arachne. A clan of ninja spiders who had an obsession with the sword and were to loyal to another one of my enemies, which I will explain another time. But they used the sword's power to free Ixis Naugus. That killed the Ancient Walkers and when we heard of what happened to them, I never saw someone that mad before. You thought Yang looked scary when she looked mad, then Sir Connery would put fear in her heart. But then, Mogul broke out and swore vengeance to those who worked with the Ancient Walkers, which meant Tails' unc and Sir Connery were targets. Mogul had the sword and the Crown of Acorns, another magical artifact. He was unstoppable. He even had the support of Naugus and the Destructix. That battle lasted for 2 days. We didn't sleep. We didn't eat. That big ol' furry elephant had the most powerful items in the cosmos. Myself and Elias tried to get the crown off of Mogul's head but it was too tainted by his dark magic to be removed. We thought that we had lost… even I thought so. But then Sir Connery reclaimed the Sword of Light and used all of the power he could muster, even using up all of his life force to destroy the crown and then the sword too…"
As Ruby listened to his tale, she felt many things about Sir Connery but the main emotion was admiration. But then she saw the forlorn look on his face when Sonic mentioned his heroic sacrifice. Then the girl's eyes focused on Sonic's sword, Caliburn that he had unsheathed.
"The guy… he went out like a true Freedom Fighter. I hardly heard of anything from this guy but Sir Connery, he not only saved us and the planet but the WHOLE galaxy from Mogul. And Caliburn… it feels like Sir Connery is with me." Sonic says as he looks at the blade as he sees his reflection. "I… I actually looked up to the guy. I mean, everyone did. After the funeral was done, a new crown and sword were made in the honor of Sir Connery. If that isn't heroic, then I don't know what that could be then. He fought for his kingdom. Noble down to the end. Like a knight. I felt that from that dying Huntsman we found back in Shion. I respected him for fighting down to the end."
"Wow… I wish I could've met him…" Ruby said, being amazed at the tale of one of Mobius' bravest and noble souls to ever live. Ruby was more grateful to have him and his friends by their side. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sonic's yawning.
"I'm heading to bed. Goodnight Rubes." The speedy Faunus says as he walks back to the camp.
"Goodnight." She said before looking at the stars one last time.
Ruby smiled as she yawned and stood up and walked back to the camp as the camera pans towards the starry sky as the scene fades to black with a single star shining.
(-Music Ends-)
[ To Be Continued…]