RWBY: Shadow Company

Chapter 29

Someone was knocking at Qrow's door. Who could be knocking him this late at night? At first, Qrow wanted to ignore it.

"Qrow, you awake?" The person from the other side asked.

Qrow sighs.

He gets up from his bed and walks over to his door.

"Alright, I'm coming. Hold on," Qrow said as he opened the door.

It was Ares, looking quite distressed about something.

"Oh, hey, old timer," Qrow said.

Ares nods, "Hello, Qrow. I'm sorry to wake you up at this hour."

"Well, I'm up now. So, what seems to be troubling you?"

Ares hesitates to answer.

"So there is something troubling you then."

"Uh, well, I have been having these wired dreams lately," Ares confessed.

"Okay, what kind of dreams?" Qrow asked.

"It's a little hard to explain. Uh, can I come inside? I'd rather not discuss it out here."

Qrow rubbed his eyes and yawned, "Sure, come in."

"Thanks, Qrow."

Ares enters his room, and Qrow turns on the lights. There were littered cans of beer and empty bottles of alcohol scattered in his room. Ares watches his step.

"I'm sorry about the mess. Usually, people don't come in here besides me. Here, take a seat. Do you need anything? Some water?"

Ares swallows his throat, "Yes, please."

Qrow walks to his kitchen and pulls out a glass, "So, what dreams are you having? Or is it nightmares?"

"I-I can't say for sure. They are more like visions."

"Visions?" Qrow handed the glass of water to him. Taking a seat across the table. "Care to explain that further for me?"

Ares sighs, "I swear it felt like they're visions. And I keep seeing her, Salem."

"Keep seeing? So you're implying that this has happened before?" Qrow asked.

Ares nods as he takes a large drink from his glass, "This is the third time now. But the first two were blurry, and I couldn't make out of it. But this time, it was crystal clear. And I saw her, standing right there in front of me, smiling."

Ares groans in frustration.

"And you haven't told anyone else about this?" Qrow stands up from his chair.

"I can't. At least not to Ozpin. You're the only one I can trust with this. So please let me explain the rest before you start running off." Ares pleaded and grabbed Qrow's arm to stop him.

Qrow darted his eyes from Ares and then back to him, "Shit. Are you sure you've seen her? Take your time to remember."

"I'm sure it's her. I'd recognized those eyes anywhere." Ares confirms.

Qrow rubbed his chin, "Alright, can you tell me how the dream went? What did she say, and what did you do?"

Ares sits back down and recalls with his memory, "I remember that I was in the place where no one else should go, the Grimmlands."

"Good, keep going. Tell me what else you saw."

/-/

Ares lies on the warm ground. His body felt stiff, and his eyes wouldn't open. Was it sleep paralysis? It wouldn't be this bad until he could get up.

But he knows that he wasn't back in the Citadel.

The Grimms were near him. He can hear them snarling and growling all around him.

He'd be lying if he wasn't scared right now. Unable to defend himself, the heat from the black pools was unsettling. At first, he thought he had died and gone to hell again.

But after his first time here, he felt less scared than he was. But he was still afraid nonetheless.

He suddenly felt his body lifted from the ground. He tried his best to control his breathing.

Finally, Ares could open his eyes. And in front of him was her, Salem. She was smiling for some reason.

She walks forward to him while Ares tries to break free.

Salem brings her hands up and summons the Grimm away, leaving them alone.

She stops in front of him with an evil look on her face. Ares looks around again for ways to escape this nightmare.

She brings her hand up to touch his face. She laughs. In their previous encounter, she was standing away from him.

But now she was uncomfortably close in front of him.

He can feel the dark energy leaking from her hands, wanting to harm him.

She brings her lips slowly to his left ear, "Ares. Such a fitting name for a man like you." She whispered.

Salem pulls back her head and removes her hands, "And an interesting one at that. There are many like your comrades, but none of them are quite like you. I have something planned just for you. And when the time comes, I will be there to see my greatest creation yet."

She chuckles as she walks away.

"I wish I wasn't asleep. There's only so much to do in this state. But I will be free soon. The time is up, and the unavoidable will come."

Ares gives up and listens to her blabbering.

"I have been watching you. And you certainly don't disappoint. You're much more efficient than that stupid excuse of a commander. Oh, how I can't wait to have you."

She smiles at him one more time before turning her back to him. "Oh, and do enjoy your time while you still can."

She snaps her fingers.

/-/

"My eyes were closed again. And I woke up after that." Ares finishes.

Qrow was dumbfounded.

"That sounds more like a wet dream to me, to be honest," Qrow said.

Ares face palmed, "This is not a joke, Qrow. Come on. I'm being serious."

"Yeah, I was starting to doubt halfway when you started talking about that part." Qrow crossed his arms, "So she has plans for you? But she never explained much on that."

"No, she didn't. But I know that she wants to use me. I'm not sure for what or when."

"It's a little wired that she only wanted you specifically. Do you have any ideas on why?" Qrow asked.

"I don't know. My powers, maybe? Telekinesis is strong, and it's rare."

"Hm, maybe. That or you are thinking about Salem too much lately," Qrow puts his hand up, "Look, maybe you're just stressed out, that's all. Dreams tend to make you think the worst when you're stressed."

Ares nods, "Yeah, maybe. Well, my daughter is coming to beacon next year. She plans to enroll here. And I don't think I'm ready for that moment when it comes. Ozpin keeps mentioning her to me."

Qrow quickly caught on to that, "Oh, is it about the maidens?" He asked.

Ares looks at him and sighs.

Qrow rubs his head.

"Maybe it's not her." Qrow tried to reassure.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear it from you. I can already see it in those bloody eyes of Ozpin's. He's already made up his mind about it. I know it. And that's my daughter he's talking about!"

"Okay, okay. Let's not wake up the others."

"Can't you help me, Qrow? Maybe you can make him change his mind about this whole maiden strategy thing?" Ares pleaded.

Qrow shakes his head, "I wish I could, but there is nothing I can do about that. Ozpin's a hard man to convince."

Ares smirks, "It was worth asking anyway. You already know that I don't trust him. And you still keep my secret, so thank you for helping this old man, at least."

"Anytime. You're my mentor, after all." Qrow said. "You helped me when I was lost. So don't beat yourself over it."

"Heh, I'll try not to." Ares gets up and walks to the door.

"So, if those nightmares come back, maybe it is true. I'm hoping it's not."

"Thanks for the talk, Qrow. Good night."

"You too, Ares." Qrow closes the door. He turns off the lights and heads back to bed.

Ares returns to his room and sits on the bed. He opens the drawer on his nightstand and pulls out a photo book. He flips the pages from his younger days to his military and then to his family.

He stops at the last two photos. One was when he was still with his family. Pyrrha was only four years old before he left.

And the other is him with two other children, a boy with horns and a girl with bright amber eyes.

A/N: Surely this is not some mere foreshadowing, right? Just what did Ares do when he joined the shadows? Who the last sentence is referring to I wonder. And there's a reason for that. Man, this gets deeper than we thought. Wink*

I couldn't decide if I wanted a Jaune or Blake chapter. So I ran to Ares and Qrow. I had slight writer's block. Not sure if I wanted to progress the plot or not, or if I was going too fast. But I think I'm alright now, I think.

Sorry for the wait.

Thanks for reading.