RWBY: Shadow Company

Chapter 9

Blake had experienced a lot of things during her time in the White Fang after Sienna took over.

One thing was that she had a lot more freedom to do whatever she wants without all the constrictions from her parents. While they are overprotective of her since birth, she can't help but want to be free from their grasp without having to hold her hand.

After Blake ran away, she finally gets to do things that her parents probably wouldn't let her do. She gets to stay up late, do lots of dangerous missions, and of course, read all the books that she could ever want without her mom constantly checking in on her every five minutes.

But if there was one thing that Blake thought that she would never experience again was her father hugging her and almost squeezing the life out of her. She guessed that this was worst than her father exploding out his mind about her decision to run away from her loving family was the stupidest thing that she's done.

The saddest part for her was that only Adam was there to look after her.

Adam wasn't like her father. Instead, he was more like an older brother in a way. The two had been together ever since Adam joined the White Fang in his late teens. He's very skilled compare to the rest back then, and it was strange that he didn't explain it either whenever somebody asked him about it.

Rumors were going around the camp that Adam had something to do with the shadows before he joined.

Whenever someone decided to talk shit about the shadows, Adam would stop them from saying anymore slanders about them.

Adam didn't show much hate or resentment towards them like the others. He never took part in their little rants. His blank response either meant that he had one too many heated arguments about them or that he didn't care so much about them.

Her father did tell her stories about his first encounter with the shadows.

It was during his first rally as the official face of the White Fang. They almost got assaulted by the humans until the shadows steps in and stopped the whole dispute before it got any uglier. Shadows are a funny bunch, even weirder behind closed doors.

But Blake could understand why her father was acting this way, considering that she did disappear from them for years and then suddenly showing up again out of nowhere.

Blake misses them too, of course, but not that much. As long as she knows that they are alive, she doesn't have to worry about them.

Ghira buried her face in his chest as he hugged her, and she couldn't see what was going on, but she could hear sniffling, crying, and soon tears raining down on her head.

Is he crying? Blake thought. That only made Blake feel worse now. There wasn't much she could do other than her bringing her right arm up and around her father, patting his back, and brushing it. While she did feel sad, she also felt a little embarrassed because Reily and the shadow continued to watch them.

Reily was crying too, for some reason.

Ghira didn't know what is going on.

But words couldn't even describe how happy he felt right now.

He was returning from his meeting with the council discussing recent Grimm activity on the island, reports regarding the Black Lotus, and the new enlistment of the volunteers that left Menagerie to join the shadows in Vale for their training.

There was an awkward silence when Ghira saw his daughter just standing in his study.

And after all these years, ever since he and his wife Kali left the White Fang, Blake, at the time, ran away with the White Fang. They pleaded for her to come back, but she yelled at them and never returned.

That day, on his last desperate attempt of ever seeing his daughter alive again.

He directed Adam to look after her as she looks up to him and protect her with his life no matter what, even if it would cost him his own life for it. To Ghira's surprise. Adam took wholeheartedly to it and promised him that she would be safe as long as he lives.

To Ghira, Adam values honor. And he knew he could trust him whenever he needs help. And as true to his words, his daughter is right here, alive. He kept his promise, and now his daughter is here, back home in his arms.

And also gradually dying out of breath.

"Oh sorry, Blake," Ghira quickly lets go of her, finally letting her breath again. He wipes his tears away, "I know I should be disappointed and angry with you but, seeing you again just made me too happy instead."

"You're not mad at me? She asked.

Ghira composed himself and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Of course I still am, young lady. The amount of worry your mother and I had for you up until now is unmeasurable." He said.

Blake looks down at her feet, avoiding eye contact.

Ghira sighs, "But, you are alive. And that's all that matters to us. And with you coming back home was the moment your mother and I would always be waiting for because we can never stay mad at you forever."

Blake felt tears escaping her eyes. She was shocked by their love and affections towards her after having left them for so long.

Now it was her turn to hug him back. Ghira smiles as he hugs her lightly this time.

"A wonderful heartwarming reunion. That takes me back to my son and me during Kuroyuri." Li said. "Why don't we all take a seat now. You all must be very tired of all the emotional and exciting events that just happened today."

Ghira sits down, with Blake beside him, "Well, I heard about two possible White Fang members apprehended on the island. I didn't expect one of them to be my daughter, Li."

"Yes, I understand the lack of information given to you, but I did it so that you wouldn't come rushing in and scaring her that way," Li said.

"I believe you would understand how I was feeling."

"Yes, I understand that feeling very well. Mr. Belladonna."

Li turns his attention back to Blake, "Miss Belladonna, you haven't told us why you and your friend have decided to return home yet."

"It was after a few days after we faced the Centurions on a Train raid for supplies," Blake explained, keeping short and easy.

"You what!? A train raid, the Black Centurions!? What are you thinking going against them?" Ghira scolded her.

"But, we didn't know that they were there. We only knew just now, and we are just as surprised as you are." Reily defended.

Ghira looks at Reily awkwardly, "I'm sorry, but what's your name?" He said. Poor Reily, everyone almost completely forgot about her the moment Ghira stepped in.

"My name's Reily, sir. I'm Blake's friend." She replied. "I was with her when I took part in the raid. I was helping Blake to safety when she got shot in her left arm and leg."

Ghira gasped and immediately kneeled in front of Blake, placing his hand on hers, "You're hurt!? Are you alright, Blake?"

"I'm fine, dad. It's nothing serious." She said. But Ghira wasn't content with that answer.

"Nonsense, Blake. It is serious."

"That does explain why she was limping a little when she got here. And why you didn't move your left arm so much." Li said.

Is he always this observant? Blake thought. She tried to hide the pain as best as she could, and you can hardly tell if she was hurt or not.

"Let me see your wounds, Blake," Ghira said. Blake slowly reveals her two bullet wounds. Swollen and covered in black and blue. They were patched up very hastily after narrowly trying to escape the shadows. Her leg looks worst than her arm. Her leg could have been gone if it hit her shin.

Ghira flinches as he saw the wounds on her. He couldn't bear to stare at it longer. Li shakes his head disapprovingly. "One near her shoulder and the other missing her shin. It's astonishing how she narrowly avoided being handicapped entirely. Even if we have our aura, wounds like these are difficult to heal on their own. I'll go get the first aid kit." Li said.

"And you, Reily. Are you hurt as well?" Ghira asked.

Reily quickly shakes her head, "No, Mr. Belladonna. I'm alright, just a few scratches here and there but nothing too serious. Heh heh."

"Hmm, alright. I'll take your word for it."

Blake had been wounded countless times from claws, guns, and swords. And this wasn't any different, except for how well-placed these shots were. They intentionally shoot the vital points of your body to immobilize you completely, making it a lot easier to kill you.

Now that she thought about it. She was very thankful that the shadow who shot her missed it.

Reily was outside of the train when it happened, and if she were to remain inside, she would have died on the spot like the rest of them.

Blake sighs, "Well, I'm sure mom wouldn't be very thrilled when she sees this. She would cry nonstop about it and never leaving me alone. By the way, where is mom? Is she already asleep?"

Ghira didn't respond and just looked at her, he tried to say something, but he couldn't muster out a word from his mouth. And this made Blake very confused.

"Dad, where's mom?" She asked again.

"My, little kitten. Your mother has been in a coma ever since Sienna left the island." He said.

/-/

"I am disappointed in all of you. Not only did you break curfew, but you also broke a law that states no living person is allowed entry into the abandoned subway tunnels, trespassing into Mountain Glenn. But also almost getting yourselves killed over your egos, especially you, Miss Adel. And if it weren't for Colonel Ares and his shadows who just so happened to be there because of a mission, you all would have faced serious consequences for your actions."

Glynda fumed as she explains the list of events that had just happened in the last few hours just after her call with Will ended. She was called up again by Ares, informing her of a mission success on clearing out the Grimm. But the sudden appearance of team CFVY on the screen soon changed the entire situation.

It is only the beginning of a new year, and everything is moving so fast. The final year students have graduated and left tons of letters and gifts for her, which she was grateful, of course.

Of all the teams, it had to be them. Glynda thought. They had been the most troublesome bunch when they first joined Beacon, and she would not want to reminisce about that.

She looks at them. They looked beaten, tired, and dirty. They haven't said a word when they stepped out of the Blackhawk. It looked they had been through hell and back. It made her pity them a little.

She sighs, "At best in this situation. Team CFVY will discharge for breaking the law," Glynda said, and this made all four team members look up in shock.

"But, I'm not going to allow that. I understand that you four aren't that close to each other despite living with each other for a whole year. But I hope that what you learned from the shadows would change you for the better."

They looked at each other and nodded.

"Good, however, although the Colonel has briefed me on the report. I would like to hear it from you four. Oh, and you all would still have to attend two months of detention and submit a 20-page essay on why going into an off-limits zone is a horrible idea by the end of the week." Glynda said, smirking.

The four dreaded the mention of detention.

"Let's start with you, Miss Adel. As the team leader, why don't you tell me why did you and your team decide to go there in the first place?"

(A few hours earlier)

In the dark subway tunnels on the far south of Vale, a group of second-year students from Beacon academy was trying to get into Mountain Glenn. They were riding in a jeep, and the one driving it was none other than Coco Adel herself.

"Come on, Coco, why are we doing here anyway? Didn't Headmaster Ozpin say that going into the abandoned subway tunnels is off-limits?" Said Velvet, a rabbit Faunus who is also Coco's partner sitting in the passenger seat nervously holding her camera.

"I have to agree with Velvet here, Coco. I would advise against this as it might cost us dearly." Said Yatsuhashi. Another member of CFVY. He may be huge, but even he would think twice about doing something that's far beyond his skills. He hoped that the greatsword resting on his back would protect him and the others from the dangers they may come when they get there.

"Relax, Yatsu. Coco said we are just checking the place out for a short while. We're not staying there for the whole night. We'll be back before anyone even notices that we're gone," Fox said as he sharpens his blade gauntlets.

"You can't see the worry that is emitting from my face, Fox. I had to use my memory wipe semblance on the poor guards earlier. I hope I didn't erase any important memories of them," Yatsu said.

"No, but I can hear you and Velvet panicking like crazy in your heads." Fox chuckles. He may be physically blind, but he is thankful that he has a telepathy semblance.

"That enough complaining from all of you. We should be reaching the exit soon. So get ready." Coco said. It's only been a year, but Coco wanted to get out there and start killing Grimm. And what better way to start that than sneaking into an off-limits zone to get the best experience. Her minigun would make short work of the Grimm, wherever they hide.

/-/

Ares's team continues to hunt through the city what seems to be a few hours after they arrived in the capital. Even after a careful search and still no signs of their den.

A Grimm wouldn't stop and rest out in the open. They would prefer someplace dark, quiet, and isolated spot away from the Humans and Faunus roaming around. A cave would be the most common choice for them, which would have to be easy for Ares if there hadn't been more than one cave in Mountain Glenn, and considering the fact, the city requires a lot of tunnels to traverse through the two cities.

And since those tunnels had been long gone abandoned, you get the picture.

The main pack was already hard enough to find in this big city alone. The Grimm that they killed along the way were nothing but tiny skirmishes here and there, hoping that they could stop them from reaching it.

The lower Grimm attacked first, the smaller ones, mainly Beowolfs and Ursa Minors. They tried to attack them by surprise by jumping out of buildings, coming out of openings on the ground, the sewage pipes, the darkness, and even just charged out in the open, which most of them do.

The Nevermore and Griffons stayed on the rooftops. They didn't attack them yet, and they were just looking at them. Like a prey waiting for it to drops its guard and pounces at any moment.

With their numbers this frequent, it must be an even larger group this time around. Glynda did mention that Doctor Oobleck spotted them during one of his mad trips there. How did he manage to gain clearance and come out unscathed is unknown to him.

As a guy who knows so much, he can be pretty mysterious sometimes as well. He praises the shadows, surprisingly. Maybe there was something that happened to him related to Mountain Glenn.

Ares could hear the gunfire releases throughout the city as the Grimm tried to flee or attack him and his team.

In this Grimm-filled city, a lonesome huntsman would put up a decent fight, but there's no guarantee that he would come back out alive. He would be dead before he could even call for help.

The huntsmans always like to boast about their bravery, strength, and fearlessness.

But when it comes to Mountain Gleen, they all quickly turned a blind eye to it. They would try to change the subject and talk about anything else that's not about the ruined city.

And even after the city had been closed off. It didn't stop some of them from trespassing.

There would still be some fools who would go in there and try to make a name for themselves or want to prove that they are capable enough to be a huntsman. You think they could've done that in the Emerald Forrest or Forever Falls, you be dead wrong.

Because here in Mountain Glenn, it's filled with more exotic Grimms. The Boarbatusk and Deathstalker are more prominent here. And the more dangerous ones, those are a lot harder to kill nowadays.

Of course, those who didn't make it out will have their bodies recovered and sent back home.

The news would cover it up and say that they died in some dangerous mission, doing their duty and all that nonsense. And those who did make it out were apprehended.

"Greyhound, this is Wolf." A shadow said through his radio.

"Go ahead, Wolf," Said Greyhound.

"I'd finished my sweep on this sector, it's clear."

"Roger that, Wolf. Regroup on me. That should be the last of the Grimm. Well, at least for now anyway."

Wolf takes a breather and reloads his light machine gun with a new box. "No sign of their den here either, just the usual trash lurking around here," Greyhound said.

Wolf sighs, "If they continue to attack us in small numbers, then their attempt at stopping us is pointless. They can think, but they're not exactly the brightest."

"You know, I actually want that bonus, and double pay sounds real good right now. Approaching you now."

Wolf takes cover and waits for his partner to come over to him. He leaps over the top and landing next to him, "So, after this, wanna go for a beer? I'm buying." Said Greyhound.

"Sure, but this time, I'm choosing the place."

"Hey, I like that bar. It's a good bar. Qrow even recommended it to me."

"You know you two have been contacting each other on my channel, right?" Ares said. Both of them wince at the same time.

"Sorry, boss." Said Greyhound.

"Check your comms next time. Have you two found anything yet?"

"Negative, Sir. Nothing over here."

"Finish up and rendevous with the rest of us. We've already reached the man subway tunnel. You two know where it is, so get going."

"Yes, sir." Said Greyhound. The two made haste and ran back to the team. Wolf is an ex-special force for the Vale Military. After his service contract, he needed to find some work to keep supporting his mother. Civilian job didn't cut out for him. So he joined the shadows, mainly for the pay.

But his action in the field proved to Ares that he was a man not to mess with, but he was willing to put up with his partner Greyhound since his initiation.

Greyhound is also from the Vale Military but is a standard infantryman.

He was the underdog during his service.

He didn't get to do much in the military, he never got promoted, his officers were rude to him, and even his squadmates didn't help him. It was difficult for him until a shadow came and started asking around for anyone who wanted to join them.

Nobody did except for him.

He talks to Wolf most of the time during their training. They were the complete opposite of each other, but they get along quite well despite it.

They made it to the rest of the team waiting on them at the main tunnel leading back to Vale.

The entrance had been reopened, most likely by the Grimm. Who had all the time in the world to remove that much rubble?

Now they mostly use it as a nesting ground, and there is no telling just how many are inside. It has to be in there, add even Ares wouldn't want to know to confirm it.

"Can't believe how we were all here all those years ago. I can still remember the attack like it was only yesterday." Wolf said.

The memories were vivid in his mind, all those people running for their lives through the streets, desperately trying to get into the tunnels before it was too late.

"I hear you, Wolf. This place used to house almost a million people here. And now it's a fucking ghost town." Ares said.

Suddenly he could hear something coming from the tunnel. It was small but, he could see a tiny pair of headlights getting brighter by the second.

"Woah, head up, Angels. We got something coming out from the tunnel." Ares said as he aims his rifle down the tunnel.

"What is it?" Asked a shadow.

"I see a humvee. I count at least four people inside it."

"Are they friendly?" Ares asked.

"I see a Vale Armed Forces symbol on it, so let's hope so," Greyhound said.

Maybe it was just a portal sent here to check on them. But why would drive through here? You had to be pretty crazy to ride through the heavily infested tunnels like that. The one tunnel that no one should enter.

Velvet could see something moving to the side of the tunnel entrance, "Uh, Coco, I don't think we're the only ones out here." Velvet said as they get closer to the exit.

"I see them too, Velvet. It must be the bandits or something. Whatever, take the wheel. I'll go deal with them." Coco said as she climbs over to the minigun mounted on the humvee.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Yatsu said.

Greyhound noticed someone climbing onto the minigun through his scope, "Uh, Colonel, I see one of them is going for the minigun. It's a woman, wearing a barret and shades."

Huh?

"What!?" Ares said as he takes a closer look through his rifle scope. She seems to be smiling as she racks it. Ares's eyes widen, "What is she- Angels takes cover!"

Coco fires the minigun, unknowingly unleashing rounds onto the shadows, "Stupids bandits!"

Why did I give up a good night's sleep for this? Yatsu thought.

The barrage of fire continues to rain down upon the Black Angels, "I'm hit! It got my shoulder!" One of them shouted as he tries to stop the bleeding.

"Everyone stay down! Greyhound, if you got a clear shot, you shoot the tires! Go for the headlight if you can!" Ares commanded.

"You got it, boss!" Greyhound replied.

He lies down and aims through a tiny opening in the rocks. He steadies his breath and fires.

Suddenly the jeep started to jerk, causing Coco to lose her aim and stop shooting the minigun, "Velvet, keep the jeep straight. I can't get a shot of them." Coco said, holding on for her dear life.

"It's not me. I think the bandits shot the tires!" Velvet said.

"They shot it from here? What kind of bandits are they?" Fox said.

"I can't hold it. We're going to crash!" Velvet screamed.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Yatsu screamed while holding onto his seat.

"Brace yourselves!" Coco said as she climbs back inside. The jeep hits a rock, causing it to flip over and crashing onto the side.

Greyhound saw the crash and gave a thumbs up, "Enemy vehicle is down."

Ares quickly gets up and aims rifle down the tunnel, "Great job. Wolf and Greyhound with me. The rest of you stay here and take care of the wounded. On me, let's go."

"Right behind you," Wolf said.

"Ugh, is everyone alright?" Coco asked as she nurses her head. She turns to her side to meet an unconscious Velvet lying on the steering wheel, "Velvet!?" Coco shouted as she quickly checks on her. She places her hands on her neck for a pulse and breathing.

She can feel a pulse, and her chest is still moving.

She sighs in relief. She turns and checks on Yatsu and Fox. "Nice plan, team leader." He sarcastically said. "Any more bright ideas for your adventure?"

Before Coco could do anything else, a light was flashing brightly on her face. Her broken shades let the bright lights touch her eyes. Three fully armored men in black uniforms were aiming down their rifles at them. They don't look like bandits at all.

Ares had already made it to the jeep and surrounded them, "Don't move. Hands up, now!" Wolf instructed them as they aimed down their rifles at them.

Coco slowly realizes who they are and raises her hands, "Shit."

End of Chapter 9

Woah, team CFVY, meeting the shadows!? At first, I wanted to skip Ares's night mission in Mountain Gleen because I don't have an exciting event for him. But then I was thinking, "It would be interesting if there's somebody who trespasses at the moment and gets caught." At that moment, I thought, why not team CFVY gets to meet the shadows in person.