A Different Way Down: A RWBY fanfiction, by NotScot
The Price of Ignorance
A/N: Another lesson learned, don't upload on consecutive days. I'll get the hang of it... eventually.
Weiss could only stare despondently as yet another Paladin, this one an even bigger model than the last two, barrelled towards them. Her expression was mirrored on the faces of the rest of the students in the courtyard, who were all just as weary and worn down as she was.
Sucking in a deep breath, Weiss forced herself upright and retook her stance. On either side of her, Coco and Velvet did likewise, followed by the others in short order.
We still have a job to do.
Weiss raised her aura once more, and prepared to deploy a glyph to slow the advance of the enormous mech.
As it turned out, there was no need. At that very moment, the Paladin's movement's stuttered, slowed, and ground to a halt. The towering machine toppled over before them and skidded across the ground before coming to rest.
…
"Hmm," hummed Sun. "That went better than I expected."
Weiss almost fell over. She leant heavily on Myrtenaster, breathing hard. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and her forehead was drenched in sweat.
When this is all over, I am having a very long shower.
Not even Mountain Glenn had taken this much out of Weiss. Back then, they had been fighting almost non-stop for an entire day, yet the few hours of fighting she had been engaged in on this awful night felt like they had lasted a lifetime.
But it was more than that. Fighting dozens of small packs of Grimm in an abandoned city did not compare to facing down an entire hoard, as well as hundreds of out-of-control robots, while also worrying about how everyone else was holding up while buildings burned and her team were goodness knows where and people were screaming in the distance and everything was falling apart how did this happen why did this happen why did this have to happen-
"Weiss!"
Weiss lifted her head at Yang's voice. Her teammate looked pretty out of breath herself, but still seemed to have some energy left.
"Yang…" Once again, Weiss pushed herself upright. If Yang could keep going, then so could she. "Was anyone else in the school with you?"
Yang shook her head. "No-one I saw." She cast a worried eye over Weiss. "You holding up alright?"
"I'll be fine," replied Weiss. "Have you seen Ruby?"
Yang's fists clenched tight. "Nope. Nothing." She let out a harsh sigh, eyes briefly flashing red. "She'd better be OK," she added under her breath. "What about Blake? Wasn't she with you?"
"She went after an Alpha," Weiss said, pointing towards where she saw Blake run off to. "I think some members of the White Fang were there as well."
Yang's head turned to look where Weiss was pointing. Her worry was plain to see on her face as she chewed her bottom lip.
Weiss had some idea of what Yang was likely thinking at that moment. On the one hand, her sister was somewhere in the city below, likely getting herself into some serious trouble. On the other hand, her partner had gone off on her own, and might need some support as well. Who was Yang supposed to help?
Well Yang, why not both?
"I'll go and meet up with Blake," Weiss offered. "You go down into the city and look for Ruby."
Yang turned back to Weiss. For a moment, she looked like she might say something. But then, she closed her mouth and nodded, giving Weiss a quick pat on the shoulder before taking off in the direction of the city.
Weiss checked Myrtenaster briefly, taking note of how much Dust she had left. Not much, but it should be enough to deal with a few Grimm if she ran into any trouble.
Snapping Myrtenaster's barrel back into place, she turned and headed towards the dining hall.
Red metal clashed against black over and over. Bullets slammed into the walls as they missed their targets or were deflected. In several spots, flames burned, a few having been set as a result of the two combatants' fierce battle.
"This could have been our day! Can't you see that!?" Adam knocked Blake backwards with a thrust of his scabbard. Sheathing his sword, he began to walk towards Blake, mouth twisted in a snarl.
Blake couldn't help but step back, recoiling from his words. It had been almost two years, yet she still felt a spike of fear at his tone.
"I never wanted this! I wanted equality! Peace!" Blake fired twice. She knew it was a useless gesture, but she wasn't going to let Adam get inside her head again. She was going to fight!
"What you want," Adam spat, blocking both shots lazily. "Is impossible!" Rather than use his weapon again, he simply backhanded her across her face, knocking her down.
A backhanded slap, yet it stung more than any of the hits he had landed on her in their duel. Because this was familiar, and it brought along with it memories of all the other times he had knocked her down for one reason or another.
Blake tried to raise her weapon. Her hands shook as she did so.
"But I understand." Adam's foot kicked her hand, and Gambol Shroud was knocked from her grasp. "Because all I want is you, Blake."
Adam Taurus knelt down in front of Blake, reaching out with one hand. There was a time when that sight would have reassured her, his hand reaching to help her to her feet and pull her in for a hug after they had been training together. Not today. As Adam's fingers gently touched her face, Blake felt her stomach lurch in fear.
All I want is you. He had said that to her before. It no longer sounded kind.
"And as I set out upon this world to deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves," Adam was still talking to her, but she wasn't really hearing him. Her pulse was loud in her ears, and she was frozen, rooted to the spot. She wanted to get up and run, but her body would not move.
What he said next, however, she heard very clearly.
"I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."
And then Blake heard another voice, calling in the distance, and her heart stopped.
"Blake! Where are you!?"
Weiss! No, don't come this way! Run!
But Blake's own voice would not work. The words died in her throat as she saw Adam turn his own head in the direction of Weiss' voice. The smile he wore terrified her.
Then Weiss rounded the corner and came into view, and Adam's expression changed again.
"WEISS, RUN!" Blake screamed as loud as she could, forcing her voice out through her constricted throat. "RUN!"
He'll kill her! Blake knew this. Weiss had to run, because she knew what Adam would do to her if he caught her.
Weiss turned around, and her eyes met Blake's. Blake saw the alarm in Weiss' blue eyes, saw them widen as she began to run towards Blake, when she should be running in the opposite-
The tip of Adam's sword pierced Blake's abdomen, and she screamed in pain.
Weiss had been trained to keep her cool in battle. As Winter had told her on the embarrassingly numerous occasions she had fumbled her movements during practice, If you fail to keep a level head at all times, your opponent will find the opening you have given them, and they will exploit it.
Weiss could admit, when pressed, that she did not have the most... even temperament. However, she liked to think that she was capable of holding her emotions in check when it really mattered. Perhaps not to the same degree as Ren, but she was nowhere near as reckless as Ruby, nor as hot-headed as Yang. She did not rush in without thinking, and she certainly did not leave herself wide open when she went on the offensive.
But when Weiss saw Blake, her teammate, her friend, get stabbed right in front of her, any notions of keeping her cool were erased from her mind. Anger clouding her judgement, Weiss activated a glyph below her feet, using it to boost her jump so she could deliver a downwards thrust at the man who had just stabbed her friend.
It was a reckless, sloppy move at the best of times, and at that moment Weiss was running on fumes and very close to reaching her absolute limit. She was full of openings.
Weiss' lunge never reached its target. Her world tilted, and she was flung sideways as the sword-wielding man struck her ribs with his scabbard.
Rage-driven and battle-weary as she was, Weiss still had enough presence of mind to spin her body in the air to land on her feet. She wobbled slightly after placing a foot wrong, but she recovered quickly and prepared to make another move.
"You!" The swordsman's eyes were hidden by his mask, but Weiss could clearly see the way his mouth twisted into a snarl, and the hatred in his voice was audible. "She's friends with you!?"
Weiss used another glyph to propel herself forwards at speed, the point of her rapier aimed straight for her opponent's chest. The swordsman turned on his heel, his red sword moving to intercept her lunge. Weiss was once again knocked off balance, having over-extended herself in her haste. She did not have time to switch to a defensive stance, so when the edge of the swordsman's blade sliced across her back, her aura flashed dangerously from the impact, flickering as it strained to take the hit.
"Of all the people you could have chosen Blake, you decided to play nice with a Schnee!? How could you-"
The swordsman's furious words were cut off by a sharp icicle erupting from the ground between him and Blake, forcing him to leap backwards to avoid being hit.
OK, now we have some breathing space.
Her mind beginning to clear up a little, Weiss took a brief moment to take stock of the situation she now found herself in. Blake was lying on the ground nearby, wounded but alive. She was pressing one hand to her stomach while she tried to push herself upright with her other. Her opponent was clearly very powerful, and likely in much better condition than herself. A brief glance at her scroll told her that her aura was indeed running dangerously low, and she was well aware that Myrtenaster was likewise running low on Dust.
Weiss was not stupid. She knew that she had no hope of surviving a prolonged fight in her condition. However, She also knew that she would not be able to carry Blake out of the dining hall with this man on their tail. Escape was not an option, not unless she left Blake behind, which she was not even considering.
Weiss could not fight, and she could not run. This left her with only one option.
Everyone's Scrolls at Beacon had a function on them that allowed one to send out a distress signal to anyone in the vicinity of the sender without having to waste time dialling up anyone's number. With a single press of a button, Weiss sent out the signal, before stowing her Scroll away in her pocket and retaking her stance.
I don't need to win. I just need to stall for time until help arrives.
"Who are you?" called Weiss. "Explain yourself!"
"Weiss, just go," gasped Blake. "He'll kill you. Please, run."
Weiss moved to position herself in front of Blake, placing herself in between her friend and her opponent. "Answer me, who are you?"
Weiss did not receive a response to her question. Instead, the swordsman whose name she did not know sheathed his sword and crouched low. Weiss could tell that he was preparing something, so she prepared to deploy a glyph at a moment's notice, spinning the barrel of Myrtenaster to select the correct Dust cartridge.
"My name," growled the swordsman, "Is Adam Taurus. And I am the one who will make you all pay!"
Both combatants made their moves simultaneously.
The swordsman, Adam, flash-stepped towards Weiss. His body sparked with red and black energy as he instantly closed the distance between the two. In one motion, he drew his sword and slashed at Weiss, the blade making an audible sound as it cut through the air.
Weiss deployed a black glyph in front of herself as a barrier, and pulled Myrtenaster's trigger. Red Dust was ignited along the length of the rapier's blade, and Weiss aimed it straight at Adam. His sword would be stopped dead by the black glyph, and the blast of fire she would then send out would knock him backwards.
That did not happen.
Adam's sword shattered the black glyph. Weiss' eyes widened in shock as pieces of its snowflake pattern scattered through the air and began to fade out of existence. Myrtenaster was knocked out of Weiss' grasp, the Dust along its edge snuffed out with no aura to activate it.
Adam's sword slashed Weiss across her stomach.
Her aura, already running low, broke instantly.
Weiss staggered backwards. Somehow she was able to remain on her feet.
Weiss could only stare ahead in shock. Nothing had ever broken her glyphs before. She hadn't even though that was possible, yet this man had done so like it was nothing. She may as well have tried to block with a sheet of glass.
Adam Taurus stood up to his full height and looked down at Weiss. She raised her head to look at his face and saw that he was smiling.
It was not a happy smile.
"Weiss Schnee." He spoke her name like the sound of it disgusted him. "For the crimes you and your family have committed against me and my people…" Adam lifted one hand to grip his mask, and take it off.
Weiss stopped breathing.
"I, Adam Taurus of the White Fang, sentence you to death."
Weiss did not move, or breathe, or react in any way to what she had just heard. She just stared with horrified eyes at the brand that had been burned across this man's face. The letters 'SDC' were plain to see.
It can't be true. It can't be true.
Weiss had no illusions about her father. She knew he was not a good man. But this…
How could I be so blind?
Weiss did not react as the man who towered above her drew back his arm.
Weiss did not react as Blake screamed behind her.
Weiss simply stood rooted to the spot as Adam Taurus ran her through with his sword.
"NOOOOOOO!"
Blake screamed in anguish as Adam lifted Weiss' body into the air, still impaled on the end of his sword. Blood ran down his arm and dripped to the floor as Weiss' arms and legs dangled uselessly, her body limp.
"It's a shame the Lieutenant is busy," said Adam. "He would've loved to have seen this." With a grunt, Adam yanked his sword out of Weiss' body, letting her fall to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Tears poured down Blake's face as she dragged herself across to Weiss. Her own wound sent bolts of pain through her abdomen, but she did not care.
"Weiss! Weiss, no, please! Please, no!" Blake's hands were coated in Weiss' blood as she pulled the limp body of her teammate and friend into her lap. "Why didn't you run? Why did you have to stay?"
"Look at you."
Blake looked up at Adam. Disgust and disappointment were clear on his face.
"Crying over the likes of her?" Adam shook his head. "You think she ever shed a tear for the likes of us? You think any of them ever did?"
Blake pulled Weiss closer and hunched her body over hers, staring up at Adam in hate.
"You're a monster!" Blake spat, her tears burning hot with anger as well as grief and pain. "You don't know anything about her!"
Adam frowned. "Why must you hurt me, Blake?"
How dare you!? How dare you say that to my face after what you just did!? I will never forgive you! Never!
Adam raised his sword, and prepared to-
BOOM!
Blake felt the shockwave of the explosion, or whatever it was, through her entire body. The sound blasted at her eardrums, causing her to wince.
Adam staggered backwards, thrown of balance by the shockwave. "That wasn't the charges. What was-"
He did not get a chance to finish his statement. There was a loud cracking sound, and Adam Taurus had time only to look up as a large section of the dining hall's ceiling collapsed on top of him, burying him under a pile of rubble.
Blake remained frozen in place for a few seconds, staring at the pile of debris in front of her, half-expecting Adam to get up unharmed.
…
He did not.
…
Coming back to her senses, Blake acted swiftly. Draping Weiss over her shoulders in a fireman's carry, she stood upright, staggering and grunting in pain as she did so. Her own wound was still bleeding, though not nearly as bad as Weiss was.
Without sparing another second, she began to run out of the dining hall, not even bothering to look backwards.
Adam groaned as he regained consciousness. Everything hurt, but his head especially so. His aura had broken from the force of the impact, but so far as he could tell, he was not badly injured.
Every movement sent a lance of pain through his body, yet Adam pressed on regardless, first freeing his arms, then his legs, then the rest of his body as he pulled himself out of the pile of rubble that had buried him. Once he was free, he rolled over to lie on his back and catch his breath.
After a moment, Adam pushed himself upright and scanned his surroundings. He was alone. There were two puddles of drying blood, one larger than the other. A trail of the stuff led off in one direction, towards the outside.
She got away.
Adam felt his temper rise again, but quickly pushed it down. There wasn't anything he could do about it right now, so he decided to let it go.
Besides, other than Blake, this has been a very good night.
The look on the Schnee girl's face as he had impaled her had been priceless. The shock. The confusion. The way her eyes had lost their light before sliding shut. Oh, what a wonderful sight that had been.
Smiling at the memory, Adam retrieved his mask and placed it back on his face. Then, he turned and began to make his way out of the building, pulling his scroll out as he did so.
"Lieutenant, how has your night been? You've had fun, I hope."
"Yes, my Lord." The Lieutenant sounded winded, but Adam could hear the delight in his voice. "Tonight will go down in history as our finest hour."
Adam smiled once again, his anger at Blake forgotten for the moment. "Now Now, my friend. Don't be so hasty. There will be more victories for us after this." Adam's smile fell slightly as a question rose to his mind. "By the way, what was that explosion? You didn't set the charges off already, did you?"
"No, my Lord. That was something else. It would seem that the human woman failed her task. The Wyvern is dead."
Adam looked up. Sure enough, the large body of the Primordial Grimm was nowhere to be seen. "Oh well. That's why we have backup plans."
The Lieutenant chuckled at that. "How has your night been, my Lord?"
Adam paused at that, his anger at Blake resurfacing.
Let it go, Adam. You've achieved so much tonight. Don't let her ruin it for you.
"Productive," replied Adam. "It's a shame you and I had to split up, Lieutenant. You would have loved it." Adam stopped walking and turned around, facing the Beacon Tower. "Have you pulled all of your men out?"
"Already done, my Lord," came the reply. "Just say the word."
Adam's smile grew even wider. "Then let's pack up and go home. Lieutenant, bring it down."
Adam watched as the charges his men had placed were set off, one by one. A series of explosions erupted around the base of the Tower, and the mighty structure began to topple over.
"And down she-" the Lieutenant's words were cut off as the signal from the CCT was lost.
It was done.
Adam turned and began to make his way to the rendezvous point. His smile widened even more, and he erupted into loud, triumphant laughter.
It had been a very good night.
Ruby sprinted as fast as she could. She didn't have enough aura left to use her Semblance for the whole journey, so she decided to keep it in reserve for later.
Besides, if she did Petal Burst the whole way, her sister wouldn't be able to keep up.
"Ruby, slow down! We need to stick together!"
Yang had found her wandering the streets of Vale, fighting any and every Grimm she could see. She had landed in the middle of the main shopping district after leaping from the falling airship, and had been trying to make her way back towards Beacon to help the others, when she spotted a family being chased by a Griffon.
By the time Yang had reached her, Ruby was escorting well over a dozen families to safety.
They'll be OK. Professor Goodwitch said it was a safe zone.
Just as they had been dropping off the civilians with the Professors, everyone's Scrolls had gone off at once with the same distress signal.
From Weiss.
Don't you worry Weiss. We're on our way!
Author's Note:
First of all, thank-you to everyone who has favourited and/or followed this story!
So, as the note at the start of this story says, I messed up and uploaded the second chapter less than 24 hours after the first, so it didn't send out any update signal by the looks of things. Lesson learned, don't upload chapters back-to-back. Apologies!
Well, this was the second nail I mentioned: 'What if Weiss was the one who fought Adam instead of Yang?' I couldn't decide which nail to switch, so I decided to switch both. From here on out, we will begin exploring how these two changes send ripples through the RWBY story.
Next chapter will be the last part of the prologue, capping off the events of Volume 3 before we begin to move onto the events of Volume 4. No preview this time, but you can expect the chapter proper in a few days. It won't be as action-packed as these first three have been, but hopefully you will enjoy it all the same.
As always, reviews are very welcome, so feel free to share your thoughts in the not-quite-comment section.
Until next time,
NotScot.
