I do not own RWBY or AdventureQuest Worlds.
The girl dreamed.
A kingdom of sand lost within the plots of power hungry tyrants, and a great beast of chaos awakening. A Djinn named Tibicenas dreaming of ruling over his own kind, to topple the king of the Djinn. In a kingdom beyond the world, the young man destroys the ghul, and inherits the kingless kingdom.
His quest not over, the young man passes his crown to his friend, who swears to bring the kingdom to greatness.
]|[
Blake was finally discharged, with the caveat of only doing light activities for a few days, to allow her heart and lungs to heal from thee damage facing Beatrice caused. Her team accompanied her as she finally left the Valean General Hospital.
"So. A full week of break. What do you guys wanna do?" Ruby asked the girls. She was in the mood to go have fun, after the doom and gloom of the past few days.
"I just wanna stick around my sister for a while." Weiss said, looking away. Her hand gripped her other arm. "She needs me, and I don't think I can leave her for now." She said, forlornly.
That killed the mood real quick. The scar was still too fresh, after all. An uncomfortable settled down on the girls, now not knowing what to do with themselves next.
Blake broke the silence first. "We can't just ignore this." She said. "Beatrice and the White Fang is still out there. Not to mention Roman Torchwick being broken out of prison." Weiss' grip on her arm tightened at the mention of Beatrice's name. "I can't just let this go."
"And let you run yourself ragged again?" Yang said. "Oh no, Blake. Not this time. You really will die if you keep working like this. At least let yourself rest for a few days before trying to find them again."
"I agree with Blake." Weiss said, with a cold, cold look in her eyes. It was different from the steady determination that Blake had when she wanted to find out the motives of the White Fang, or when they tried to catch Torchwick. This was pure anger, Ruby noted. "I cannot let that monster run free, knowing what she did to my sister." She hissed. Her expression was pained. "But I can't leave my sister's side. I can't—I-!" Weiss dissolved into sobs. "I can't allow the White Fang to destroy my family again." She choked out.
Ruby hugged her partner tight, letting Weiss cry on her chest. The little red and black reaper can't help but feel guilty. She had decided to let herself and Weiss fight the Grimm, instead of going to help the people on the battlefield. She was fast, with her semblance being as it was, maybe she could have saved Winter's sister if they'd just been there. Her grip on her crying partner tightened.
How could she want to be a hero if she can't even save one person? Ruby buried herself into her partner's hair, trying to hold back her own tears.
Yang looked frustrated. Their team was barely just in time to save Winter from Beatrice, but if they had been faster. If I'd just been faster… Yang thought, hair glowing and eyes flashing red slightly. If she saw that monster again… She could already feel Beatrice's face breaking under her fist. Her family had been hurt once. Yang looked at Weiss and Ruby. She could not bear to see them hurt again.
Blake clenched her fist. Her head racing with thoughts on how they could further find information on the White Fang. The group she once supported… She can't help but despise it, and despise herself. Even if her partner had a point about her not being physically able to change all of the White Fang, there were still some things she could have tried.
She still had that one friend on the White Fang. "Guys. I have an idea." She told her team. "I have one lead, but I can't guarantee it would lead to something." She inhaled and looked at them. "Are you guys still with me?"
Weiss rubbed away her tears, using her sleeve. It was unladylike of her, but right now, she couldn't bring herself to care. She disentangled herself from her partner and looked at Blake. "I'm in." She said. Sorry Winter. The Heiress thought. This way, I can protect you once and for all. If the White Fang is gone, it wouldn't torment her sister anymore, right?
Ruby and Yang smiled and nodded. Blake smiled at them back. "Let's go visit my friend. If we're lucky, he'll have known what is happening within the White Fang.
]|[
With all the hustle and bustle of the past few days, Johnny never had the time to finally fix up the shop. He just got the work permit from the city hall. After removing the damage his fight with Cinder's toadies caused, Johnny was now prepared to re-open the newly renamed "Maya's Bookstore," after his old friend.
Never hurts to earn a bit on the side was his reasoning. The place also served as his headquarters for now. A place to rest after trying to search for the White Fang. He laid a map on the counter, looking over the places he had been, and the places yet to visit.
Sometimes he thought if the tracking he had learned in the Sandsea was just him getting lucky. He had no idea where the White Fang where. And with the thought that Salem and her minion was still out there…
A Grimm attack could be impending any day now, and they'd be blindsided. They were lucky it was just one Wyvern that Salem had sent. Now Johnny felt like a tool taunting Salem to send more.
He was so busy in his work that he didn't notice the clinking of the door chime as the doors opened.
"You?!" The four girls said when they realized who was the one manning the shop.
"Oh. It's you guys again." Johnny said, looking up from his map. "Here to buy some books?" He asked.
]|[
[Blake Belladonna, ex-White Fang]
"Where's Tukson?!" Blake asked. Tukson was her contact on the inside! She had hoped to find information from him, but now, this man was in his place. He even renamed the bookstore!
"Okay. Why are you asking about Tukson? You his friend or something?" Johnny narrowed his eyes. The girls looked spooked and ready to fight. They didn't have their weapons, but they looked just like cats ready to scratch whoever was dumb enough to get close. Must be getting jumpy from all that happened from last time. He reasoned. He also can't blame them. Even he was getting paranoid.
"Yes. Where is he?" Blake asked in a clipped tone.
Well, I'm guessing these are students from Beacon. In that case… "You Glynda's students?" He asked the four.
[Ruby Rose, Little Reaper]
"Yes…?" The red and black haired one, Ruby, as he remembered, answered.
"Can you just answer our question?" Yang said. He met her before in the bar. "Stop dancing around it!" She yelled in frustration.
"Fine." Johnny said. He wasn't stalling per se. "You have to understand, you guys are still unknowns, even if we had fought together last time." The adventurer walked out of the counter to face the four, walking closer to them. "I'm Johnny. I got the place after Tukson escaped Vale." He held out a hand as he introduced himself. Blake ignored it. Ruby shook it in place of her team.
"I'm Ruby!" The leader of the team said.
"I'm Yang. We've met." The blonde said, nodding at Johnny, who nodded back. "He beat up Torchwick's partner I think when we were at the bar."
[Weiss Schnee, Heiress of SDC]
"Weiss Schnee." The white haired girl said, offering her hand, and Johnny shook it. "We've also met, at the…the incident." She finished in a lame tone, remembering the details of that day.
"…Blake." The teen with black hair and bow said. "Tukson's friend. Why did he escape?" She asked, immediately returning to her questioning.
Johnny sighed and leaned back on the counter. "Tukson was being taken out by some people from the White Fang as he had deserted from the…organization. I helped him escape, and had bought the place in his place. He's far away from here now. I hope."
"Assassins…" Blake muttered.
"Well, there goes our lead." Yang said. "What next?" She asked her team.
"We can't give up here now." Weiss said, with a hint of desperation in her voice. "We can't spend weeks just wandering around Vale trying to chase after Dust robberies or rumored sightings!"
"You guys looking for something?" Johnny cut in. Judging by the way the white one said Dust robberies that must mean… "Torchwick, or the White Fang?"
Weiss, Blake, and Yang kept mum, but their leader decided to blurt it out for them. "Yes. We're trying to track the White Fang. We can't let them keep walking around after all they did."
"Ruby…!" Blake hissed at her leader, but Ruby looked on. She knew this guy. He was protecting the people at the VPD plaza. He might be able to help them.
"Bad luck for you kids. Even I don't have anything." He gestured at the counter, pointing at his map. "The White Fang have gone underground. I've checked multiple districts and areas. Nothing."
Johnny scratched his head. The girls crowded around his map. It was marked with some circles and some crosses. The places Johnny's checked and found nothing.
"The thing is…I don't actually know what I should be looking for." He said. "Sure I'm looking for the White Fang, but I don't actually know what they normally use as a base, or are there any potential markings in areas I should be looking for, or whatever."
"The underground areas." Blake mentioned. "Have you checked any underground areas in the city? Sewer systems, Old access tunnels, subways, anything like that?"
"…No. No I have not." Johnny looked at the map again. "You gals know any places that would let me access those kinds of places?"
Ruby and Yang looked at each other. "I think there was a sealed access tunnel in the city that led to Mountain Glenn." Yang said.
"Yes, but that way is accessed by going through Mountain Glenn itself, not through the one here in Vale." Weiss said. "I think Professor Oobleck mentioned it was sealed off after Grimm started to destroy Mountain Glenn. The inhabitants settled on the old subway system, until Grimm from the underground areas of the mountain, and…"
"They were trapped, and the Grimm finished them off." Ruby finished. Johnny grimaced. The world's largest tomb. That was a nasty way to die.
He shook his head. "So. Sewers and the old subway system in Vale. I could go check. I'm going to have to ask someone first for confirmation." Johnny said, taking out his scroll. "You gals list down whatever else you think the White Fang could be hiding on."
"Wait, you're letting us help?" Blake asked, eyes narrowing. "Why?"
"Why not? The more people looking for them, the faster we find them I say." Johnny shrugged, looking for his contacts, browsing through his scroll. "Besides, if you kids are already doing this without Glynda's permission then you're already in a lot of trouble." He eyed the team. "And I don't think you're going to stop looking for them, too. So with me here, you lot would at least have a chaperone."
The kids had moxie, Johnny had to say. Besides, it would be hypocritical of him to deny the kids the chance to have an adventure of their own. It won't hurt if he watched over them too. At least, Oz and Glynda would appreciate it if he came with them during their shenanigans.
"We don't need one, sir." Weiss scowled, crossing her arms. The fact that the man looked down on them like they were in need of assistance irked her, somewhat.
"So you're saying you can explain to Glynda clearly what you were doing, a few days just after the incident at the plaza, that you were out on the city finding dangerous criminals?" Johnny asked rhetorically. The team looked away, thinking of the tongue lashing Glynda would give them, and the hours they'd spend with her on detention. "I could at least tell her that you were with me, out on the city, doing nothing too dangerous." Johnny offered. He held up his hand holding the scroll. "I'm already even going to call on Ozpin for details on the subway system and sewers. You wanna join?"
The team looked at each other, and nodded. Johnny smiled. "Right. Let me close down the shop first and wait for Oz to answer."
]|[
"Team RWBY is already looking for the White Fang. As expected. Glynda, can you break out the legal fees now just in case?" Ozpin said in amusement. Glynda groaned in her palms, slumping down on the seat.
"They are in for it once I get back." The blonde professor said, tapping her riding crop to her palm. "A long, long week of detention."
"Don't worry about them too much. Apparently, Johnny's with them." Ozpin said, showing his friend the picture Johnny took of the girls leaning over a map of the city. "He had met the girls when they entered his store."
"Besides, it would help Miss Schnee at least direct her anger into something constructive, with the guidance of someone older." He finished.
"And are you sure that Johnny would be a person to trust even after what he had said? Even after knowing what he experienced?" Glynda questioned him. She trusted her boss, but sometimes, he was just too cryptic for his own good. Johnny was just too unpredictable in her opinion. One time helping the city, another moment showing that he has connections to the darkness even worse than Salem.
"It's not that I trust him. I do, a little. He has shown genuine intentions to help us and Amber. But no, it's not that." Ozpin reasoned. "It's that I trust Team RWBY to be able to handle themselves if anything goes wrong. We have taught them, Glynda, even if it's just for one semester. You know they have good hearts. Trust in that we have at least guided them to be people that would resist the dark if it comes calling."
]|[
After Ozpin somehow got and sent them the map for the underground areas of Vale, Johnny and Team RWBY left to enter one of the access points.
Namely, a manhole cover.
"Augh!" Weiss whined. "Are we seriously about to enter a sewer? Please tell me there's another way?"
Johnny rolled his eyes. He took out a crowbar from somewhere, the tool appearing out of thin air and into his hands. He used it to pry the manhole cover open. The team's eyes widened at the blatant disregard of physics. "Right. Ladies first?" He said.
"How did you do that?" Ruby asked first. "I saw that too last time. You were pulling weapons out of thin air!" Her eyes widened, remembering something. "Can you show me that lightsaber?!"
"Just a thing I can do. And no. At least, I'll show it next time." Johnny said. He ushered the girls down the ladder access. "Hop in. And be careful." He said.
Weiss steeled herself even as she held the slightly sticky steel ladder in her hands, slowly making her way down to the sewer. Thankfully, there was a concrete sidewalk down below, surrounding the sewer drainage. "Ugh. I should've worn another dress for this. Or at least packed some work clothes!" She whined some more. The things she'd do for her sister.
"Cool off, Weiss-cream." Yang said, standing next to her. "We're already here."
"Really Yang? You don't regret not at least packing hair covers? What if sewer water drenches your hair?" Weiss challenged. Yang's eyes widened in horror. "You don't at least want to pack a cap for this?"
"Oh crap. Johnny!" She yelled at their chaperone. "Hand me your cap!"
"No!" He yelled back. After everyone got off the ladder, Johnny followed in, replacing the cover back. "This is mine." He said, running his hands on his beloved black cap.
"Do you have at least some hats or helmets stashed with you?!" Yang asked desperately, clutching her long blonde locks. "Please! Anything to cover my hair!"
"Oh for-! Yes, just wait a bit." Johnny said. He took out a set of blue tricorn hats for the four girls. "Here's all I got for you." He said. The lightning tricorn hats he got during the past few months should be enough, right? Johnny didn't think that the girls would appreciate the helms he got from the skeletons from the sewers from back home.
Blake took one of the tricorns and glared at it. "Don't you have one in black?" The thing clashes with her wardrobe!
"Ugh they smell grody!" Ruby yelled. "Who wore these? They're like, sunbaked!"
"It's like someone wore these all day! It's like…sweaty!" Yang complained.
"It is what it is." Johnny rolled his eyes. "Take it or leave it. Choose, pirate sweat or sewer water?" He told the team. Grumbling, they tucked their hairs into the tricorns.
"C'mon. Let's go explore this place." He led from the front, the map on his scroll tracking their movements.
]|[
Adam and his men had to stop in their march after the incident a few days ago. The city was still too hot security wise, and now they had to find a way to get in. They originally planned to enter legally, as not everyone in the White Fang was publicly known as criminals, but there was the big problem of logistics and the new announcement of curfews and checkpoints around the city making it hard for the group to gather in any residential areas or otherwise, so they had to improvise.
Luckily, Cinder had passed him the blueprints of the Valean underground system. A wide area of near-abandoned sewer system and dug in tunnels for the plans for a subway system throughout the city. They were all abandoned after Mountain Glenn, but the city had still not come around to filling in the tunnels with cement, just sealing them away from the public.
It was an expansive area, and if they could get the generators to work, it would be a fine base for the White Fang. He had to meet up with the people left in the Valean cell of the White Fang first. Which meant dealing with…
"Adam! Here's my best buddy!" Beatrice's laugh echoed through the access tunnel. They had contacted them that they were arriving soon, and they had met in the area where the sewer system met the subway tunnels.
"Beatrice." He greeted his much too cheery comrade. "How are things in Vale after the operation?"
Beatrice grimaced. "Bad." She shook her head. "The news published my name finally, probably after I brutalized the Schnee. Our…collaborator's name also got outed. We are well truly working in the shadows now."
Adam dismissed whatever the concerns about Cinder are. He focused on one thing on Beatrice's statement. "You didn't kill the Schnee?" He asked pointedly.
"Oh, you know I won't kill her if I got my hands on her." Beatrice chuckled darkly, to Adam's disgust. Beatrice ignored it and continued. "But I got stopped before I got her home. By someone you and I know. Working with Beacon of all places."
"Who?"
Beatrice smiled ear to ear. "Our little Blake. She shot at me while I was dealing with the Schnee. She hasn't changed a bit. Still a backstabbing little kitten."
Adam's eyes narrowed. "Beacon, huh?" He considered. "If that's what Blake holds dear now, I'll take it from her. Besides," He looked at his scroll, reading the blueprints of the school on it, from someone named A. Watts. "We have a request from our collaborator."
A/n: Might be a bit late on the next one. Got an exam coming up tomorrow.