What's good y'all?! It's your boy OGGuy coming with another chapter of Shifting Fates! So far, I'm loving how this book is turning out! It's pretty awesome! But enough about that let's get into the chapter! Hope you all enjoy it!
Disclaimer: All music, characters, and etc belong to their respective creators!
(-Music: Cutscene - Normal [ Sonic Rush Adventure ]-)
Seagulls call as a ship moves over peaceful blue waters. A pan of the boat from bow to stern reveals... Passengers strolling across both the upper and mid decks. Blake Belladonna rests her hands on the rail and stares out at the ocean. She blinks and looks over her right shoulder, somewhat startled. Two kids laugh over a joke. Blake almost smiles and turns to look back at the ocean. We see her new attire is a long white tailcoat with dark violet inner lining and a sleeveless black crop top, as well as a belt attached from behind. The crop top has rectangular and diamond-shaped cutouts around the neckline, which have purple outlines. Additionally, she wears a white belt over black fitted pants. Across her torso is a diagonal strap that has a smaller magnetic clip on the back, which is used to sheathe Gambol Shroud. She wears thigh-high black heeled boots with gold-colored edging around the top. The left boot has a belt wrapped twice around the thigh. Each boot bears her Belladonna emblem in white on the outer side of the thigh, and a white pouch is attached to the back of her belt. Her cat ears twitched behind her bow as footsteps approached, making her amber eyes turn to the right to see a pale man with a white beard. He wears a black uniform with yellow trimmings, and a white hat showing the logo of his ship.
"Traveling alone?" Inquired, the Captain of the ship that Blake and her companion are riding in. Then he held up his hands in a reassuring manner. "Now, now, no threat here. Just here to chat."
"No. I'm travelling with a close friend." Blake responds as she turns to face the Captain.
The Captain lowers his arms and then twists to lean idly onto the rail. "Well, not many people travel by boat on their own. It can be quite a lonely voyage. But I found those that do tend to have the most... interesting stories."
The Shadowcat turns away from him. "Maybe it's just... better for some people to be alone."
The two kids run behind Blake laughing and she gasps again, not expecting the noise behind her. She turns and blinks at them, making the Captain laugh in amusement. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm her mind.
"Maybe, but with your paranoia, I think a few friendly faces wouldn't hurt."
Blake bore a scowl on her face. "Who says I'm paranoid?!"
Her reaction made the Captain laugh some more as he turned and walked away. "No one, dear, no one. I'll leave you be. But uh, fair warning: these trips can be awfully boring."
"Noted Captain." Said a voice making the two turn around to see Miles "Tails" Prower in his new attire. He wore a orange and white hoodie with the edges having white fur around the hood, white on the shoulders to the orange covering the rest of the sleeves, the upper portion is orange and the rest is white, he wore brown shorts with a black belt, he had a dark brown strap that went vertically connecting to a dark brown pouch on his right hip, wearing brown goggles with orange lenses, white gloves with a gray band around each wrist, and shoes that are red from the heel to the middle and white from the middle to the toe with gray soles, each with a gray band around the ankle. "We'll keep ourselves occupied. Thank you Captain."
As the Captain made his way to check on the other passengers, Tails placed his hand on Blake's with a warm smile on his face. She couldn't fathom how the twin-tailed genius had this much of an effect on her, but she closed her eyes and then sighed as she turned to the ocean. She turns and looks at the ground for a few seconds before reaching up and undoing her bow and holding it out over the railing.
"Won't be needing this." She says.
"Remember." Tails said as he looked at the ribbon. "You're a different person now. Keep marching forward. Don't let your past define you. Let your actions speak for you."
Blake nods at the bit of wisdom he gave her. She lets go and watches the ribbon swirl in the air once before landing on the water. The two Faunus turn and walk away. As they pass inside, a hooded figure is shown to be watching her from a distance.
Beside the ribbon on the ocean, the large scales of a sea creature are seen moving just above the surface. After they pass, the ribbon is gone.
(-Music Ends-)
The scene changes to Yang Xiao Long sitting on a green couch in her home on Patch. It seems that she finished training for the day as she placed a bottle of water on the table that had three books stacked on top of each other and the TV remote next to the stack. She grabs the remote. With a click, the projected scene comes on, revealing a news segment from the VBC channel. The screen shows the partly repaired city of Vale with Glynda Goodwitch using her Semblance to place a roof on a building.
"It seems that the repair of the City of Vale is going smoothly. By the end of this year, going by the progress of the reconstruction, Vale will be restored to its former glory." Said a reporter who had a smile on her face.
The flamboyant blond clicks the channel button changing to another news station but what was on the screen made her eyes widen in shock.
"Multiple rumors continue to circulate as to who was behind the attacks at the Vytal Festival Tournament." Said a pale-skinned woman with gold-brownish eyes and pale white hair with purple hues at the bottom. Her reporter outfit consists of a black coat with a purple collar. She is Lisa Lavender.
The screen shows anchor Lisa Lavender and the VNN logo. The caption below her reads: WHITE FANG MEMBER, ADAM TAURUS, PRESENT DURING BEACON GRIMM ATTACK.
"While no one knows for sure, officials have confirmed that high-ranking White Fang member, Adam Taurus..." She spoke as an image of his face is shown while Lisa spoke. "...was present for the attack. Any and all attempts to bring him into custody have been met with brutal force—"
Yang shuts the TV off and sighs as she thought of her partner Blake for a minute before the sound of a door opening caught her attention.
(-Music: Reunion [ Sen no Kiseki II ]-)
"I'm home!" The voice of Taiyang Xiao Long filled the home.
The blonde sets the remote down and leans her head backward on the couch, looking up at the newcomer that way. "Hey, Dad."
Taiyang is shown upside-down at first, as he would appear to Yang, but the image promptly rights itself. He is carrying three boxes with two bags hanging from his forearms. "How was training today?"
"It was intense." She answers as Yang opens her bottle of water and drinks from it.
Taiyang sets the boxes and bags on the table as he looks at his daughter with a concerned look on his face. "He isn't being too rough on you right?"
Yang rolls with her eyes. "Dad. Relax. The both of us have the rest of this week to be prepared to do our part. Knux isn't wasting any time."
"Okay." He sighs feeling a little disheartened. Taiyang looks at a picture that shows himself with the four year old Ruby and six year old Yang.
"You two are growing up so fast… too fast." Taiyang thought but then he smiled trying to stay positive. "But I am proud of what you two accomplished and will do down the road."
"By the way, where is Knuckles anyway?" He inquired.
"He's at Tails' house. Knux said that he had something to do in the lab." She answered her father while she stood up and walked towards the kitchen. "I'll start cleaning the kitchen floor."
"Alright, oh, can you grab the mail when you're done?"
Yang turns to her father and nods as she opens the pantry. Taiyang chuckles as he looks out the window as the camera pans to the sky.
(-Music Ends-)
It is dusk, and the boat continues its journey on the smooth water. There is a peaceful bird cry, and Blake is once again on the middle deck looking out at the ocean. A Faunus couple walk behind her and she watches them, slightly less twitchy than before. It's when she's about to leave that she senses she is being watched by someone on the upper deck. It's the hooded figure, and she immediately takes out Gambol Shroud.
"Who's there?!"
The hooded figure turns and runs for it, blonde hair somewhat visible beneath the hood. Blake stares up at the deck, no longer watching the ocean. She does not notice the dorsal fins of a giant sea creature momentarily surface. However, she feels the boat rocking on the wake it created and lets out a grunt as she tries to keep her balance. The creature's long-necked shadow looms over Blake as she turns around to face the water. Its shadow also falls on a member of the crew on duty in the crow's nest, who is looking up at it in horror.
(-Music: Battle with Infinite - First Bout [ Sonic Forces ]-)
"RED ALERT!" Cried one of the crew members.
The alert immediately sounds. Two red lights next to a speaker pulse with the sound. The Captain and his First Mate who had brown skin, light brown eyes and short, chocolate brown hair parted on the left. The ship uniform consists of three-quarter length blue sailor pants with gold buttons at the pockets, a blue and white striped T-shirt, orange neck scarf, brown knee-high boots and brown gloves. In addition to the uniform, they also wear gold stud earrings. come running out and look at the water from the upper deck, just above Blake. The Captain murmurs as the shadow falls over him.
"By the gods…"
The creature had an enormous serpentine body with large red wings, short arms with claws, a bone-scaled underbelly and a spiked spine. It has black skin and a large external skull, as well as red glowing gills on each side of its neck. Another species of Grimm, the Sea Feilong. The Grimm swings its head back and forth, roaring and spreading its short forearms outward.
The Captain turns and calls out to the ship. "All hands to battle stations!"
"Sir, we've never fought a Grimm this big!" The First Mate said with concern on their face.
"We've never seen something this big! But we'll give 'er a fight nonetheless!"
Tails took flight as he began firing yellow energy balls (Electro Ball) from his red and gold Arm Cannon making it focus on him. Then Blake springs into action, running off the boat and into the air. She creates one of her clones to give her added upward momentum, flinging Gambol Shroud forward in its kusarigama form. Attached to the ribbon on her wrist, it embeds itself into the Grimm's neck. Blake swings above the Grimm and shoots it in the back of its neck. It roars at her as Blake lands on the crow's nest while the Captain steers from the bridge. He keeps the ship stabilized in the Grimm's wake and steps outside to get another look at it. Blake and Tails are still shooting it while it arcs back into the water. The side of the ship opens up and the cannons come out. The two Faunus continued their assault on the sea creature, once again swinging and shooting. The ship's cannons fire but are mostly ineffective. Blake falls back onto the ship's deck, lands on her back, bounces, and quickly gets herself back onto her feet. She discovers that her left shoulder is hurt when she moves to stand.
"Tails! I'm going to heal myself real quick!" She said to the twin-tailed genius.
"I'll hold it off as long as I can but hurry!" Tails said as lands on his feet to give his double appendages a rest. "Let's see if I can stun it!"
The arm cannon has a yellow blade with sparks of electricity around the blade.
"Hold steady men, it's not done with us yet! GET THE HEAVY CANNON LOADED!" The Captain barked as The First Mate changed from being nervous to battle-ready upon hearing this order.
The largest cannon on the ship rises up through a trapdoor on the deck, extends itself, and aims at the Grimm. The Grimm's dorsal fin splits apart and extra bone unfolds, revealing two wings. The Sea Feilong lets out a roar as it flies, its beating wings sending a gush of air at the ship, nearly blowing away the charging the Tails with his Electro Sword ready.
"Heavy cannon, OPEN FIRE!"
The heavy cannon shoots, but the Grimm easily evades it. It opens its mouth and an electric ball forms. A fully healed Blake readies to launch herself at it, but the hooded figure lands on her head and uses her as a launch pad.
"Hey!" She cried.
The figure grunts and the cloak falls back, revealing a tan-skinned boy with short spiky light-blonde hair and blue eyes, He wears two red wrist bracers over black fingerless gloves and an open loose-collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, displaying his muscular physique. He also wears blue cargo pants tied up with a white belt. He wears white bandages on his legs and has a chain hanging from the belt loop on the right side of his pants. He sports black and yellow sneakers and wears a twisted golden necklace around his neck, replaced by a black cord, with a round pendant bearing his monkey emblem. As a result of his Faunus lineage, he has a long prehensile monkey tail the same color as his hair. He is Sun Wukong! The leader of Team SSSN!
"Sun?!" Both Tails and Blake cried in unison with surprise laced in their voices.
Sun activates his energy clones and he and his clones land on the Grimm's head. The two clones pull on the topmost tendrils of the head while Sun grabs its upper lip. "Not today pal!"
When the Sea Feilong releases its electric blast, it goes harmlessly into the air, rather than at the ship.
"What are you doing?!" Inquired a furious cat Faunus.
From atop the enraged Grimm's snout, Sun answers her while holding onto the two tendrils his now-disappeared clones had grabbed.
"Oh, uh, you know, just... hanging out!" He answers sheepishly.
The Grimm manages to get a small electrical charge around Sun and he lets go, shouting as he falls.
"Whoa-oa!"
Tails leaps into action as his namesakes started spinning rapidly as he took off catching the Monkey Faunus as they were in the air above the Sea Feilong.
"T-Thanks for the save T!" Sun thanked the flying fox Faunus with a sheepish chuckle.
"I'll ask questions later, for now, it's all hands on deck!" Tails said as he narrowed his eyes at the Grimm as it evaded purple crescents that were sent from Blake.
He flew towards Blake as he set Sun on his feet and he landed next to him as the three prepared for the Grimm's next attack. In the ship, the Captain is steering while two of his crew are looking at displays.
"Starboard defenses are down, sir!" The First Mate said.
"We still got the heavy cannon?" The Captain inquired.
"Aye, but it's moving too fast! We can't land a hit!" The second Crew Member states as a drop of sweat falls from his face.
"Argh. How about the engines?"
"Fully functional, Captain!"
The Captain smiled as an idea formed in his head. "Well alright, then!"
On the deck, Blake and Tails are preparing to counter a hit from the Grimm's electric blast, but Sun jumps in between with a laugh of triumph. He uses Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang to deflect it and lands on the heavy cannon, resting his staff on his shoulder with a crooked grin.
"Huntsmen!"
The trio of Faunus turn to the source of the plea, which is the Captain from the upper deck.
"If you can clip its wings and draw it out towards the bow, we could take it!"
"Understood! I'll distract it, you both get the wings-"
"My weapon doesn't have a blade function." Sun interrupted Tails as the twin-tailed prodigy glanced at Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang.
"New plan! Sun, you distract it and me and Blake will take care of its wings! Make sure that it's facing towards the bow for the Captain to take the shot! GO!" Tails says as Sun and Blake nod at each other as they head to their respective positions.
Sun spins his weapon back into a holstered position and runs toward the Grimm. "Now or never!"
Sun activates three clones and jumps into the air. The first clone springs Blake upward to the second clone, which does the same. The third clone swings her up. Sun waits, laughing and opening up his arms, but then loses his smile in confusion.
"Huh?"
Blake, instead of heading toward him, directs herself above him and lands on his shoulders. They sink a few feet while he grunts and Blake leaps upward off of him. High above the Sea Feilong, she begins her descent, avoiding the electric blasts it shoots at her. She runs down its right wing, slicing through the thin membrane. Sun smirks as he waits for her on the rock she's readying to land on and catches her. The impact causes the rock surface to crack around them while he's left holding her bridal style. Blake smiles at him until he speaks.
"Say it."
She turns her head away from him. "Ugh…"
The Grimm moves around them, causing the precarious rocky area to collapse. Blake is on the move again, leaving Sun behind.
"Okay maybe later!"
Sun jumps off the collapsing rock. The Sea Feilong flies after them, knocking rocks down as he goes. The Captain watches from the bridge through a spyglass before throwing a handle and increasing the boat's speed. It sails beside the destructive Grimm, keeping apace. Then Tails takes flight, increasing his speed to catch up with the flying sea creature with his Electro Sword. Sun continues to hop around, avoiding the Grimm's attacks until one more move puts him directly in front of its open mouth. Blake swings in on her ribbon and gets him out of reach. Then Tails came in as a flash of lightning and then Sea Feilong roared in agony as electricity danced around it's body, stunning it (Stun Slash). The Grimm prepares a blast to get them both in one shot when it is impaled by the bowsprit of the boat.
"Fire!" The Captain bellowed.
The heavy cannon fires and hits the Grimm dead on. Its upper half is blasted to pieces, and it dies immediately. The Captain, the First Mate and the second Crew Member all cheer. The cheer is upheld by the passengers on the ship who also join in with applause. On their rock, Sun celebrates while Blake smiles and lowers her head in relief. And with Tails flying around joyfully.
(-Music Ends-)
"Ha-ha!" The Monkey Faunus raises his hand for a hi-five. "Up top!"
Blake's happy mood changes to a dolor tone as she glares at him.
Sun wiggles his hand with a grin on his face. "Eh?"
With a cry, Blake swings her arm around to slap him in the face. He rears back in slow-motion and the screen goes black to the sound of her hand making contact with his flesh.
(-Music: Evening Moments [ Sen no Kiseki ]-)
It is nighttime on the middle deck of the ship. Blake is at the railing again, only this time facing sideways with her little brother by her this time.
"Seriously, it was no big deal!" It seems that Sun was talking to two of the Faunus passengers. "Just enjoy the rest of your trip and everything will be cool! We got this!"
The two Faunus, a male with horns and a female with rabbit ears who we saw earlier, wave goodbye and turn away. He struts over to Blake and Tails.
"You'd think they'd never seen a fight before." The monkey Faunus states as he approaches the cat and fox Faunus.
"What are you doing here, Sun?" The Shadowcat inquired with a firm look on her face.
"Diggin' the new outfit, by the way!" Sun compliments her and at the same time ignores her question. Then he points to her ears. "Never did like the bow."
Blake slaps his hand away. "Sun!"
"Answer the question Sun. This is not the time to be playing around." Tails firmly states as he sighs and places his hand on his forehead. "How did you even know where we were going?"
"I saw you both. We were coming in to help with the reconstruction and then I saw you both heading to an Airbus heading to a station that came out here." He answered, looking a touch abashed. "And I think I know why."
The twin-tailed prodigy arched a brow. He KNEW that Sun wasn't present when explained to the others back in Patch, but out of curiosity, he decided to indulge in this. "Hmmm… you think so? Then what is our objective Sun?"
"What are you doing Tails?" Blake whispered to Tails.
"Depending on his answer, I'll let him in on the plan." He whispered back to her which made Blake's eyes widen in disbelief.
"Ugh… you got to be kidding me…" Blake thought as she sighs.
"You two are going on a rampage against the White Fang!" Sun answers with a smile on his face, feeling like he solved the case.
The cat Faunus groans as she buries her face in her hands. "Ugh… unbelievable…"
"What? You always felt like the Fang was your fight. They show up, trash your school, hurt your friends. It makes perfect sense!"
"I can't believe you."
"But there's no way I'm letting you do this alone! It's an honorable approach, for sure, but you're going to need someone to watch your back. And that's where I come in!" Sun puts his arm around her. "Us Faunus gotta stick together, after all."
Blake pushes him off of her.. "You're so wrong."
"She's correct Sun." Tails added in with crossed arms. "This is more of a personal matter."
"What do you mean T?"
"I'm not going anywhere near the White Fang. Not yet." She said as Blake looked at the water.
"Seriously?" Sun asks with an arched brow.
"Like Tails said, it's a personal matter."
"Then why not do it with your team? Your friends? Besides Tails here."
"Sun. Are your teammates with you?" The twin-tailed prodigy inquired.
"You really think I could get Neptune on the ocean? They flew back to Mistral! I told them I'd catch up! It's not the first time I left them to take a boat! So, if you're not going after the White Fang, where are you going?" Sun inquired to Blake after answering Tails' question.
"Home, to Menagerie." Blake answered. She makes her way to the front of the ship.
"Well, I'm coming with you. The Grimm are getting worse; you saw it yourself! And just because you're not going after the Fang doesn't mean they won't be coming for you! Besides, I'm... kind of already on the boat."
Tails chuckles as he pats the monkey Faunus' shoulder and proceeds to follow Blake to the front of the ship. "Well, we appreciate your assistance, Sun. You'll tag along with us. But I need to debrief you on the plan."
"Wait plan? You planned to go there?" Sun asked as three question marks appeared above his head.
"Yup. Come, let's head to our room so I can debrief you." Tails said as he walked from Blake's side.
The Shadowcat sighs again and follows her little brother and then faces the Monkey Faunus. "There's really no stopping you?"
Sun shook his head. "Nope! This is going to be great! Never been in Menagerie before! It'll be a regular journey to the east! Yeah, I like the sound of that."
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Dark Clouds [ Sen no Kiseki III ]-)
Inside Salem's meeting room, Cinder Fall and Salem sit alone at the table. Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai wait by the door. Cinder is breathing heavily with effort while Salem has her right hand casually held out.
"Do you feel it? Don't fight it, girl. It can sense your trepidation. You must make it dread you."
A soft clicking sound makes Cinder turn toward the door. All is blackness but for a slowly moving forward yellow glow. It is revealed to be inside a jellyfish-based Grimm with long red tentacles and a black and white body. Emerald and Mercury react fearfully to it and pull back as it enters. It glides its way over to Salem at the head of the table. Once the Seer Grimm reaches her side, she leans closer to it. After a moment, she puts her hands together.
"Cinder, I am going to ask you this one more time, and I expect a clear answer. Did you kill Ozpin?" The Immortal Witch firmly inquired with narrowed eyes.
Cinder holds her arm out, about to call Emerald over to speak for her. Salem slams both hands onto the table, eyes glowing as she speaks.
"No!"
Cinder lowers her arm.
"I want to hear you say it."
"Yes." Cinder hoarsely answers.
Salem looks at her for a long moment before turning her gaze to the Seer Grimm. "Reinforce our numbers at Beacon. The Relic is there."
The Seer Grimm glides away. At the door, Emerald and Mercury draw away from it just as they did before. Salem turns her head thoughtfully, looking in the direction away from Cinder and bringing her fingers to her chin.
"What are you planning?"
The scene fades to black with Salem's question ominously echoing in the black void.
(-Music Ends-)
[ To Be Continued… ]