Greeting everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all fine!
Chapter 42 is here; we are entering the second arc of the story now. At this point, I would like to mention two things.
First of all, I intend to have a little slower setup before the action kicks in in order to show a few things I want. I hope the slower pacing will not bore you. If it does, let me know in order to avoid repeating that in future arcs.
Second, I would like to mention here something I said in my first chapter; this story was conceived before vol. 7. As of that, even if I come to use a few things like Atlas' situation or characters who now appeared, the past of this story will have quite a few differences than what we all watched in RWBY vol. 7.
That's all! Thanks for reading my blabber and as always, thank you very much for following/favoring/commenting or even simply reading! You are the best! All of you!
December 27th, 85
Carmel Communications' CEO Private Chambers, City of Atlas
"And that's how all ended" Cherry's image through the monitor finished her retelling of how things came to be in Grimmwater island.
"After I got free, I reached up to the cavern, found Alizar in a near-dead state and the entire ritual site extremely messed up. Therefore, I prioritized our escape from the island."
Sophia was fuming. Those two immature punks! "What's the exact situation of the ritual site, Cherry?" Bistre's emotionless voice asked.
"Weiss Schnee destroyed more than half of the carved runes and the state of the cavern is pretty unstable. I could only crack the ice she used to seal the exit to the sea and remove the layers she put on top of Avyssos' cage."
"Which brings us lower than square one- Avyssos will continue polluting the area, but we lost how many months' work?" Maize grumbled, visibly dissatisfied.
"Taking into consideration all parameters, including the instability of the arrays and the time it would require to gather enough Grimm Blood to carve them again, I would say at least a couple years at best" the fox girl replied.
"In other words, not only you failed to free the Eldergrimm but you also provided our enemies information of our existence and threw away two years' worth of work!" Sophia finally slammed her desk in fury.
"You two were added to our group because of your supposed superior combat skills! What use are you if you fail to even do that? Do you understand the damage your incompetence caused to all of us?"
Alizar, his image seated right next to the pink-haired girl, made a move to stand, but she stopped him with a gesture. The faunus then turned back to her other comrades and spoke.
"We do. And we apologize for the heavy loss. We are willing to accept any sort of punishment for our failure." Her voice was unusually lacking the usual ferocity she emitted, but was filled with determination.
"Fine. Then I recommend relieving you both of your duties so we can replace with you with more competent ones." Sophia remarked, her words seething with poison.
"If that's what you wish, then I will comply. But I will do it only if all four of you agree on that. Master?" she turned to Bistre who was solemnly watching the word exchange.
"Dear Sophia, you are exaggerating. They surely have lots of things to answer for, but going to such extremes is nothing but foolish." "We don't need useless people among us. And they knew where they were-"
"With all due respect, Sophia" Maize interrupted her "you are being ridiculous. If Cherry is speaking the truth, then I can hardly accuse her for losing to Xiao Long and Belladonna together."
"It's not a playground here, Maize. She should know to pick her fights better." "Same applies to you" the faunus commented. "And right now you are picking a fight you have already lost, Ms. CEO."
Well-trimmed eyebrows shot wide as the caramel-haired woman sat back at her chair and looked at the four other images occupying the room.
Cherry and Alizar, humbled and frustrated, but determined.
Bistre and Maize looked at her in mild disapproval.
Glaucus was the only one who hadn't talked yet. She turned at him. "What do you believe, Professor? Am I being too harsh?" The man adjusted his glasses before replying.
"Fundamentally, you would be right in asking for a severe punishment. But both Cherry and Alizar are not pawns to be sacrificed, Ms. Carmel. They are as valuable pieces in the board as you are; do not forget it."
She rubbed her head and picked a cigarette from the drawer of her desk. After she had opened it and took a large whiff, Sophia replied. "Let's say I agree with that; what do you propose to do then?"
"If I may" Alizar got up and addressed the group. "Why don't you have both of us do the scouting missions? Now that Avyssos' awakening has been postponed, the need to find the others' tombs is more urgent than ever."
The woman raised an eyebrow again and puffed some more smoke "that's a surprisingly mature suggestion coming from you. Pretty reasonable too."
"There is no reason to refuse that offer" Maize said. "I agree; it will help us speed up the process now that team RWBY is starting to get closer to us" Azure commented. "I concur as well" Bistre only announced.
"Fine then" Sophia, having severely calmed down, turned to the pair. "Cherry is going to take over searches in Vale and Mistral. Alizar will deal with Vacuo."
"What about Atlas?" the redhead asked her. "Leave Atlas to me" Sophia merely remarked. "With Carmel Comms under my command, finding where Alginos is sealed will simply be a matter of time."
"And what about team RWBY?" Maize said. She didn't immediately reply; instead, the CEO typed a few commands in her computer.
"If they manage to find their way to me, I will deal with them on my own; like I always have for all my enemies- nothing more, nothing less."
-o—
December 30th, 85
Nanko Train Station
Cherry tossed her travel bag on her back, carefully to not let Mandragoras pierce it. She raised her hood-covered head, checked the schedule and turned back to the boy standing behind her.
"Guess I will be leaving first; hope you get bored to death" she jabbed, earning a groan from the redhead. "We have been arguing for the last three days straight."
He adjusted his own hoodie. "Can't you at least pretend being nice to me for five minutes?" "No" she flatly answered. "Is it about the meeting? Sophia chewed us quite a bit" he asked in a serious voice.
"Having to atone for my mistakes is no problem. But having my warrior's honor insulted like this by someone who hasn't even wielded a weapon in her life is unforgivable."
"Hey, we did what Bistre instructed us to" he tried to calm her, but she seethed at him. "I knew you lack any sort of pride, but I am astonished you are fine with this!"
Alizar, to his credit, let the insult drop. He had gotten kind of used to them anyway these past days. "I got away by getting scouting missions. I now have enough time to polish my skills while travelling."
She narrowed her eyes in confusion and he continued "I can get stronger and have a second chance at taking Rose down. That's exactly what I needed."
The girl let a small smirk appear on her face. "Despite the stupid driving force behind it, you have started thinking as a warrior; I can only approve of that."
"I just wanted to say; too much pride can be a problem too." "And the moment's gone. Well done in spoiling your chances to make me acknowledge you."
"I don't need something like that" Alizar said as she turned around to leave. "Everyone does, you fool." "Even Sophia?" he joked. "Especially Sophia" the fast reply came.
Alizar walked next to her and offered his hand. "Good luck, Cherry. I still owe you one huge favor." She grasped and firmly shook it "stay alive, or die gloriously, boy. And never betray your own code of honor."
She broke the handshake and turned around. "In this crazy world we live in, nothing else matters" she shouted, fiddling with her talisman as she boarded the train to Mistral city.
She had a lot of research before her, for the sake of her Master- and for the remaining eleven Elder Gods, sleeping somewhere in Remnant.
January 23rd, 86
Aircraft VA-12, somewhere between New Vale and Atlas
The woman in the window seat was truly a sight for sore eyes. She had snow white skin, slender body, soft, white hair falling down to her petite shoulders.
Despite the light blue patch covering her left eye, her elegant features, even more highlighted by the matching colored suit she wore, were hard to miss.
But even more alluring than that were the warm smile she had and the captivating voice that slowly whispered the lines
"Dead wind whispers in the trees,
Spirit of ancient spite it brings…
Tall as house and made of night,
Hunting with sinister delight…"
Weiss' eye travelled over the old and nostalgic song written on the page of the heavy book in her arms. She smiled affectionately, reminiscing of her few precious childhood moments, singing such songs for her sister and mother.
"What book is this?" Seated next to her for the flight, Blake finally raised her head from the newspaper she had been reading.
Weiss smirked playfully "101 ways to not be late when travelling; very useful for absent-minded faunus" Weiss bent forward and looked the sisters sleeping next to them.
Ruby was half-drooling, with her mask covering her eyes and Yang followed suit, having her cowboy hat over her entire face. "Works for heavy sleepers too" she tenderly reprimanded.
"Give them a rest; Yang has barely slept lately." Weiss slightly blushed. "You thing I don't know that? She is even more anxious than me. Overprotective as always, the idiot."
"You are red all over the face." The pale girl humphed and looked away, much to the faunus' amusement. "As for Ruby, I don't think she has had a full-night's sleep these past weeks."
"Or left Jaune have one too" Weiss finished the black-haired girl's thought process earning a small laugh from her.
"It's good to have the dunce couple back in action- seems like the world has become a better place already. Trusting Goodwitch with his condition was the right call as well."
"I know what you mean; even though we both know this is far from over." Weiss sighed. "Yes, but as Ren said to Arc, take one step at a time."
Blake nodded and then decided to change the subject back to something more entertaining. "You didn't answer, Weiss. What book is this?"
"It's a premature 'get-well' gift from Nora and Ren" she said, giving the illustrated tome to the yellow eyed beauty.
"Lullabies of Woe; an Atlas' folklore song and poetry anthology" she read, before skimming through the pages. "These are really well-done; and a lot ominous. Some illustrations are really dark-themed."
"I sense some sort of interest there, Belladonna?" Weiss smirk grew. "Well, yes. It seems fairly interesting." She stopped for a moment, noticing something. "Have you sung this before?"
"I actually had a book like this back home; lost it a long time ago" the Schnee commented. "I first learnt how to sing in order to tell these stories to my mother and sister" she added.
"You never mentioned that; it's actually very sweet" the raven girl smiled at her. "And very embarrassing" Weiss blushed again.
"Ok, changing topic. We are going to stay in Ms. Flinch's house again, aren't we?" the faunus asked.
"Well, since you practically forced me into this, I guess we will. I will go see the doctor and if I decide to have the operation, he will be kind enough to let me stay with him for my recuperation."
Blake's eyes narrowed. "Don't be like this. Ruby was so happy that you accepted at least to talk to him. She even took a few days off her duties to come along."
"She shouldn't have come" the response shocked Blake, until Weiss continued. She knew the pale girl was trying to put on a brave face; that she actually wasn't far worse than she let them see her, but that was…
"With Ren and Nora returning back to Cypress, Sun's team in Menagerie, Jaune under rehabilitation and team LEAD still working on Mt. Glenn, Ruby's presence back in Vale is essential."
Weiss narrowed her eyebrows. "I told her she didn't have to come, that having you two taking care of me would be more than enough and she shouldn't really exhaust herself for just a few days."
"And, what did she say?" Blake tried to cheer her fried up by asking, despite being fully aware of the answer. "Let's just say her cry of protest activated all alarm systems in south Vale City."
A chuckle escaped Blake's lips. "She is very fond of you." "Stop telling me things I know, Belladonna. What about your arrangements?"
Weiss pointed towards the newspaper. The headline was discussing another pointless thing as always- the scandalous romance of a reporter with a married local school teacher.
Weiss hated reading such things and was one of the reasons she wasn't reading the news save for the few topics she was interested in, unlike the always vigilant faunus.
But right now, she was pointing to the lower part of the cover, where a smaller headline talked about Gray Fenris' last pillage of supplies in North Atlas.
"If Ilia believes she has found a contact, then I believe her. She is second to no one in terms of information gathering."
Weiss nodded. "Please, do not try to open another feud with a lunatic who uses the White Fang's name to cover for his own greed, Blake. Especially while I am trying to think about the operation and Yang is eating her nails over my bed."
"I promise" she solemnly replied. "I will be waiting for you to get better and then I will open the feud, is that all right?"
Weiss' expression changed into one of total surprise- until she saw the smirk on her friend's face.
"You and Yang are such a bad influence to each other" she rolled her eye, before they both turned back to their respective reads.
-o—
Continent of Solitas, Aegis Forest,
2 days north of the City of Atlas
The white-covered trees and bushes were still there. It didn't matter whether it hailed, snowed or decided to get foggy, the trees and bushes would still be there, covered in the thick white blanket of Solitas.
For the guards patrolling Carmel Communications' secret facility, this view of Solitas had become a daily routine- a constant in their lives.
Today, like every day, they picked up their weapons as their shift ended, greeted their replacements and went inside to warm their bodies in the main hall.
And then said replacements would start patrolling the grounds taking turns in pairs until the night shift came. It was an ordinary day for them.
And that changed the moment fog came. It spread quickly; engulfed them almost in an instant. They tried to communicate with each other, but failed. Their voices didn't come out.
One of them tried to shoot, as if to alert their colleagues inside but, to his horror, his gun failed to make any sound as well.
And then, figures appeared running towards them in the mist. They were human-shaped, covered in heavy capes. Animal appendages were visible on their bodies as they came closer, engulfed in silence.
Faunus! They thought and reactively raised their weapons. That was the last thing the four men in patrol would ever do in their lives.
A large jeep, carrying a heavy machinegun on its top jumped through the mist. Two hyena faunus with grey skin and protruding jaws were driving it, while a third one opened fire.
Without even one shot being heard, the defenders dropped dead. The assailants jumped and dragged their corpses away from the cameras before the fog cleared.
A brown-haired man with green skin ripples over his body and a large reptilian tail reached the door and smashed it open. He turned to the others and started making gestures.
One after another, twelve armed faunus stormed inside the building, led by a tall man with yellow hair, matching thick mustache and big, muscled hairy arms.
Immediately, everyone's scrolls beeped. "Damn" one whispered. "You said Kendrick's ability would hold more, Carlo!" "Nothing we can do" the yellow-haired man replied.
"Plan remains the same" the green-skinned one, Kendrick, said. "Only the method has changed. Go!" he shouted.
To say what followed was a fight, would be an overstatement. The three hyena faunus siblings, Baz, Ed and Sen, ran up to the personnel room and assaulted the resting guards.
The humans reached for their weapons, but their fate had already been sealed. Ed kicked them all inside the room as Baz emptied his Gatling gun inside, splattering blood all over the walls.
Sen ran to the monitor room. Three people were inside, visibly trying to reach the guards down in the ground. She stepped in, drawing her blade, licking her lips.
The first to see her lost his head before he could even scream. His colleague, a middle-aged woman in office clothes, fell back screaming "Please, don't hurt me! PLEASE! AAAAG-"
The third one was a goat faunus. Possibly a local. Oh, she was going to enjoy that one. The man tried to run away, her hysterical laughter echoing behind the locked door as she started hacking his flesh.
Carlo's team was not as brutal, but made up for this in efficiency. A couple bullets in the right places were enough to take down anyone trying to defend the communications' room.
He stepped in pleased to see that save for the three corpses on the floor nothing else was harmed. Their Boss had made it clear they needed the facility intact. Suddenly, his radio beeped.
"What is going on?" he asked. "Two guards escaped; they were hiding in the cafeteria" Baz's cackling voice replied to him. Incompetent fools… "I am on my way" he said. "Same here" Kendrick added in the intercom.
He jumped down the corridor. If his experience was true, the guard would try to set the outer alarm system all facilities had. In that case…
A large jump brought him face to face with his target. The human drew his handgun and opened fire, but he was too slow. Carlo twisted his gun off and then immediately snapped his neck, tossing his corpse away.
Inside the corridor, Kendrick had already found the last one, running down a ladder. He calmed down and activated his semblance, before starting to run towards the guard.
All of his sounds negated by his ability, the komodo faunus reached the lower part undetected and managed to use his powerful tail to trip the man. A quick slice with his pair of falchions ended his life instantly.
"Your skills are as terrifying as always" Carlo told him when he found him. "I could say the same. Good job taking them all down quickly; unlike the trio moron."
"I told Boss they acted stupid again; I hope he will finally dispose of them. They do not belong among us." The reptile-man rubbed his lips. "You already talked to him?"
"Yes. I wanted to ask him to let me be the one to go to Mantle for supplies." "How come?" he asked, confused by the urgency in the man's tone.
"This place is too close to Gloomharrow Valley and Everfrost Peak. I don't want to spend much time here. Especially if Boss starts the weird rituals again."
"Careful there, buddy" Kendrick took a serious face. "These words are not something you should say so casually. We have quite the few listeners among us."
"Another thing I dislike. We can't even trust our own people lately, Kendrick. I just need a few days off to clear my mind. These last months have been different than what I expected- or wanted."
A pair of sharp, yellow reptilian eyes narrowed. "Do anything you wish, buddy. But never forget one thing; Fenris has dyed the moon red with the blood of his victims."
"I know that" Carlo replied to his friend. "Then do what you think you must. And be in peace, my friend. He will not learn anything from me."