Chapter 11
Eyes opening to the dark glass of the life support Pod, Amber's hands shot forward in panic before she inhaled calmly, looking at the pods door she looked up to see an emergency hatch on the left side, reaching up she yanked it with the pod door swinging open as it depressurised, allowing her to weakly crawl out moving on the floor as her mind reorganised itself she held her head as the woman from her attack stood in front of her before vanishing, making Amber close her eyes in pain she pushed herself to her feet to feel the cold around her body.
Looking at the room Amber Autumn rubbed her arms to keep herself warm, which grew as a being stood behind her in Samurai garb, with a cane in hand the being smiled as she turned to look at him, with eyes of relief and a smile.
"Fuyu, is he…?" Amber began before the man nodded.
"He is still here, you may accompany me if you wish to see him and meet your new guardian" the man said with Amber nodding, followed by her body being covered in bright blue embers before forming an off-white blouse with a brown vest, corset and pants.
Looking to her body Amber looked up to see Fuyu walking to the elevator, making her follow him before standing beside him in the elevator.
Standing with the fire deity Amber looked to the doors in silence as she felt herself rising.
Fidgeting with her fingers she had an anxious look as the doors opened, allowing Fuyu to step out.
With Amber following with the few students stopping to gawk at him as Amber followed.
With Jaune.
Perking up suddenly with an oddly, thoughtful pull in his mind Jaune looked around the classroom of Professor Port, with Emerald, Nora and Pyrrha looking at Jaune oddly as his eyes glowed on their own accord.
Making him blink in confusion.
Not knowing of Zecromac's sudden recovery as he jumped from his hospital bed, a genuine smile gracing his face as his hospital gown fell from his body, leaving him bare before he was shrouded in shadows, forming his casual attire as he opened the door to his room, walking towards the mental pull he smiled in joy at seeing his brother beside the fall Maiden, who upon seeing him, had a smile spreading over her face as she ran to the man, who caught her as she jumped onto him with a hug.
Within Vale
Lying on the ground in agony, Cinder Fall gasped for breath as her chest glowed within, her eyes lighting up in response before her body convulsed with her rolling onto her hands and knees her the glow from her chest began to move up her throat before she in a manner of speaking, Vomited a current of bright orange energy that flew out the window, her eyes shooting out tears as she watched the fall Maiden's power reject her body to return to its source, before she fell to the ground unconscious.
not noticing a man standing in the shadows with an evil smile.
Hugging the woman in response, Zecromac lowered her to her feet for her to stand, being forced sadly to look up to his face that showed genuine care as his right hand caressed where her once horrific scar, laid, now replaced by unharmed skin with a beauty mark below her left eye.
Staring at one another the two went for a loving kiss until they froze mid way at the sound of Ozpin's throat being cleared, making Zecromac look to the left to give Ozpin an annoyed look.
"Cock block much?"
"Only when it's needed, and Amber, I have to say it is good to have you back" the Headmaster said with the woman bowing her head in thanks, making her turn to Fuyu who gave a lazy salute before he left through a shroud of embers that floated to the ground, with Ozpin sighing at the ground being filthy.
"Out of all of your siblings, your leave is the cleanest" Ozpin said to Zecromac who chuckled while scratching his head, before he perked up.
"Oh, I have to introduce you to someone" Zecromac said as he began to lead Amber down a hallway, letting his deity status known as he defied gravity by floating upside down, with Amber following the best she can with a wide smile, leaving Ozpin alone with a frown, looking after them he smiled.
"Best of luck old friend" Ozpin said before turning to look to see a man with deathly pale skin, black eyes with no pupils with messy black hair, a biker vest over a well-built body with old worn jeans with boots the man smiled with his arms crossed.
"Thanatos" Ozpin greeted cautiously with the man chuckling.
"I'm not here to take ya soul mate, but be warned because she's awake you get to live longer but something else is in this world, whoever partially took her maiden powers has shown themselves to something far worse than Salem, take care of the big softy for me will ya… oh and, tell Glynda she may want to get checked by a doctor" with a wink of perverseness the being vanished into a black vortex, with Ozpin having a shiver of cold run up his spine as it vanished.
Turning to leave Ozpin frowned at feeling a weight on his right hip, looking down his eyes widened at the revolver with a bone cover glued to his person, grabbing it he held it he examined it calmly.
The barrel was the usual cylinder for any handgun, but it was wrapped with a ribcage, the grip the bone of human fingers with the trigger also a finger bone.
Looking to the left in thought he nodded at the hidden message, walking he placed the special weapon to his side in silence, not noticing the weapon creating a holster.
Walking ut of the classroom with his team, Jaune stretched his arms while Emerald rolled her neck in a rotation.
"Man, does he ever run out of boring stories to tell?" Emerald questioned with Pyrrha, Nora and surprisingly Ren humming in agreement, followed by the three turning to Jaune who stared off into the distance with a look of thought.
"Jaune, are you alright?" Pyrrha questioned, her answer was for Jaune to stand straight at a familiar giggle, making all of team JNPR turn to see Zecromac walking to them with a woman following him closely, waving to them the most surprising thing happened, which was Jaune sending Zecromac out the open window.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Jaune questioned with the deity looking at Jaune with a frown of confusion as the blonde faced the open window, with his team pointing to the window and then to him with gawking faces as he just suddenly appeared behind Jaune after being thrown.
"You done?" getting a sigh of defeat from the kid Jaune turned to the woman who smiled sheepishly.
"Uh, hi. I'm Amber Autumn, nice to meet you" Amber said with Zecromac smiling… normally, no grin of bloodlust, no hint of hidden malicious intent… a normal smile.
"This is someone I have been given the task to protect before being forced to find a "student". Because of that, I had to leave her unattended… she just woke up from her coma from an attack" Zecromac said with a smile, with all of team JNPR having eyes for murder as they stood over a frightened Amber and Zecromac.
"Who hurt this woman?/I'll break their legs" team JPR and Nora spoke with the hyperactive girl holding her hammer.
Later that night
Lying within the bed of his team dorm, Jaune held his scroll to read the message he got from his mother and sisters, the teen ignoring Zecromac spinning on the ceiling like a fan, humming a tune to himself as the rest of the team slept idly, with Emerald sharing a bed with Nora with the two cuddling in their sleep, looking to the right at hearing an argument from team RWBY's dorm the sudden sound of a door flying open with feet sooner followed, with Zecromac rushing out the room, seeing Blake fleeing he turned to see Ruby calling out to her, making Zecromac close JNPR's dorm room to follow the hidden Faunus.
Running after the girl he sunk into the shadows.
'Zeke, what's wrong?' Jaune's voice echoed in his mind with the man rising up from a pedestal at finding Blake at the Academies statue.
'Blake's secrets out, I'm going for another walk, don't worry about me' Zecromac said as he saw a Monkey Faunus approaching her, making Zecromac kneel down before his eyes widened
'On second thought, Jaune, get dressed and hurry over here, I have a plan'
Appearing beside Blake and the Monkey Faunus, the two were surprised by his sudden appearance with Blake having a look of fear before he wrapped them in a gentle hug.
"No need to worry Kitten, I won't hurt you" Zecromac said as he looked up to see Jaune running to them with a worried look, seeing Blake without her Bow he blinked in thought before shrugging as he approached, slipping on a right shoulder Pauldron, giving Blake a nod he smiled with her blushing.
"Why are you two here?" Blake questioned with Jaune smiling.
"We're going to stick by you through whatever happened… and plus it's his idea" Jaune said with Zecromac holding his chest like he was shot.
"I am hurt" Zecromac said as he began to fall to the ground, before walking out from behind Jaune, with the Monkey Faunus look at him back and forth.
"How did-"
"It's easier not to ask unless you want a headache, trust me on this" Jaune said before turning to Blake.
"So, where are we headed?" Jaune questioned with a smile, making Blake smile softly before they perked up at hearing Ruby calling to them in the distance.
"Go go go go!" Jaune said with a whisper as they made their way to the docks of Beacon.
With Jaune running after them with Zecromac following calmly, diving into the shadows to keep up easily.
The three days at a café.
Sitting before Jaune and her fellow Faunus, Blake took a sip from her cup of coffee while Sun Wukong held his own with his tail, Jaune holding a hot chocolate as Zecromac approached them to sit on the table beside theirs, Sun trying to make sense of his antics of lunacy.
"So…" Blake began with Jaune looking to her with his full attention with Sun.
"You want to know more about me..." Blake said with Zecromac sitting on a chair with a look of seriousness.
With Sun however….
"Finally, she speaks! Nearly two days and you gave me nothing but small talk and weird looks!" The Faunus said with Blake giving him a look of annoyance, with Jaune instinctively smacking the back of his head.
"Ow, and yeah, like that one" Sun said while rubbing his head sheepishly as Blake's fierce look moved to a saddened gaze.
"Sun, Are you familiar with the White Fang?" Blake said with Zecromac looking at her with a soft gaze.
"Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me!, what about you dude, heard of em?" Sun questioned with Sun looking to Jaune who turned to Zecromac who was at the moment chugging down a bottle of hot chocolate, on request.
Looking at the three he shrugged.
"I was once a member of the White Fang" Blake said with her eyes going to Zecromac, expecting a look of anger she was instead surprised to see a neutral look on his usually bloodthirsty face.
"'Once' is used in that sentence, continue" the being said with Blake blinking as Sun was busy coughing, while Jaune had the same look as his teacher.
"YOU were a member?" Sun questioned with wide eyes with Jaune hitting his back to help him recover.
"That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it..." Blake began with a sad expression as Zecromac placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus." Looking to Sun and jaune the two were listening intently.
"Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there, I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist."
"Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear." Blake said with Zecromac grunting in annoyance.
Making the two Faunus look to him as Jaune had a look of thought.
"Sienna Khan is the main leader right, whose pulling the strings here then?" Zecromac questioned with Blake looking to her cup.
"Adam. Adam Taurus" Blake said with Jaune and Zecromac sharing a look.
Turning to Sun she continued.
"So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." She looked up to her head with her bow moving like ears, making Jaune attempt to stop Zecromac from hugging the stunned girl.
"Just! One! HUG!" Zecromac struggled as Jaune had him in a sleeper hold the next second, stunning the two Faunus.
"NO, the last time you hugged a kid you nearly traumatized her!" Jaune yelled in protest before Zecromac began to go limp, allowing Jaune to throw him off the building with Sun looking at him in shock as Jaune petted his hands in satisfaction, turning to them he pulled out a chair.
"Is he gonna be alright?" Blake questioned Jaune who shrugged.
"I'm fine" turning they saw Zecromac sitting in Jaune's previous chair.
making Sun look at him before rushing to the side of the second floor to look down at the street, seeing no one on the ground Sun held his hands in the air in defeat.
"I give up!" Sun said as he returned to the table, with Blake hiding a smile as Jaune chuckled with Zecromac, allowing her to collect her belongings before the four made their way to the streets.
walking into an Alleyway for a short cut Sun spoke.
"So, what's the Plan?" Sun questioned with Zecromac and Jaune turning to Blake who had a look of thought.
"I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much dust before"
"Until Now" Zecromac said as they exited the Alleyway.
"What if the did. I mean... the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there... Right?" Sun said as he turned to the three, with Zecromac clapping his hands with a look of respect.
"Do you hide your intelligence?" Jaune questioned with a squint with Sun rolling his eyes, turning to Blake she had a look of thought.
"The thing is, I've no idea where that would be" Blake said with Zecromac
"Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some of its crew talking about offloading a huge dust shipment from Atlas"
"How Huge?" Blake questioned with Zecromac and Jaune smiling widely.
"Huge, Schnee company Freighter" Sun said with Blake looking to him.
"You sure?" Blake questioned before having a scroll held in front of her, making her blink at Zecromac who nodded to it, grabbing it her eyes widened slowly at all the records of shipments and deports.
"How did you get this?"
her only given answer was a wide grin of excitement.
"For me to know and you to never find out"
"So, when do we get going to the docks?" Jaune questioned with his arms crossed with the two turning to him.
"It's tonight" Blake said as she looked to the scroll, smiling determinely.
