RWBY: Shadow Company

Chapter 12

The Black Ravens separated the recruits into several groups, making it easier to brief them on their new equipment.

Fortunately, Qrow picked a group that Jaune and Will were in, along with Milo and Knox in the mix. "All of you, follow me," Qrow instructed them, walking towards one of the many empty workbenches scattered around the hangar.

They followed Qrow as they gathered around. And standing directly in front of the table are the four of them, giving Qrow a clear view of them. He could see the curious faces that everyone was showing.

Without delaying even further, Qrow clears his throat before starting, "Alright, pay close attention. Cause this information that I'm about to share with you is very important that every shadow should remember." He said.

He begins by removing his vest and placing it down on the table for everyone to see. At first glance, it looked like a standard combat vest that the soldiers of Vale and Atlas commonly use. But when you look at it closer, its design looks completely different from a regular combat vest.

"This is called the plate carrier. It's got everything you need, pouches for your mags, grenades, med-kits, Armor plate, radio, put some snacks in there if you want, and everything else for whatever you need."

Qrow grabs his vest and flips it over to expose the back, opening it up and pulling out a curved plate that was resting inside of it, "Okay, first and foremost, the armor plate. You cannot go on a mission without it, very important. And this gives you protection from anything that is out to harm you," Said Qrow.

He sets it down on the table, hearing the metallic sound hitting against the table. Inspecting the plate closer, it looked like it had been through a thousand battles, yet it still appears unbreakable. Various claw marks appear abundantly on it, and a few bullets holes that looked like they hardly made a dent onto it, "You can see that this has gone through some tough times, and believe me, this is this the same plate I've been using since I first joined here."

That information alone was enough to get a lot of surprised faces out of them, except for Jaune and Will.

Their expressions remained blank as if they knew about it before, and they seemed to know very well about something.

It sounded entirely impossible that something like this could last such a long time and not lose its durability from wear and tear.

"But how can something like that last so long?" One of them said.

"That is an excellent question. But sadly, the only thing that I can share about that is that it's forged from a rare piece of metal, and the rest is classified."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

Qrow continues, "But the downside is, it's heavy. And you'll be running around a lot with it. But trust me, aside from the extra weight, this thing will be your next best friend. It has saved my life more than once. I'll tell you that."

Qrow knows just how reckless he can be. He used to think that the armor was entirely useless when he was among the few who had their aura unlocked at the time. But even he was impressed with how durable the armor was.

The Huntsmen would never wear so much armor. They prefer to be light and quick on their feet. And to also show off their fashionable clothes to the public, especially for the younger female huntresses.

That's another dumb way to get killed. But even Qrow, at the time, was once influenced by their fashion as well. But luckily, Ares had knocked that thought out of him before it was too late.

But Jaune was not surprised by the armor. Because he knew how valuable armor is to a knight, thanks to his father. A knight without his armor will be vulnerable to an unexpected fatal attack.

Armor could mean a lot of things.

To a person wearing it, it doesn't mean that they are scared, but also cautious and not overconfident of themselves.

But one must not be too reliant on their armor alone.

"So you guys are familiar with aura right," Qrow asked. Everyone nods, except for a few civilians who were shaking their heads.

"Don't worry, for those of you that don't know. I'll give you a straight answer. It's magical energy sealed within your body. To unlock it, you must have another user to help you. Unlock it on your own will result in death. Upon release, it acts as a shield and heals most of your basic wounds." Qrow explained.

The few that shook their heads nodded.

"And that means with your armor combined with your aura. You'll have a much higher chance of surviving an unexpected attack, should you fail to check your surroundings."

Qrow puts back on his vest, "But to be honest with you all, I wouldn't be too reliant on both my armor and aura alone. A shadow must be confident in their skills, always on alert for any danger. Because there is only so much that your aura alone can do. It may heal you and protect you. But it sure as hell won't be able to revive you once you're dead. If one of your limbs is gone, then the chances of you dying are even faster. But once your head is entirely off of your body, you're history. Don't. Ever. Be. A Hero."

Jaune recalled one of the stories from his grandad. About how even the strongest Knights could fall from a simple mistake or an unexpected beheading. An instant death blow. A brutal but effective method in taking down an opponent.

He shudders at the thought of his head just falling off his shoulders.

"Now, onto the next one." Qrow continues.

"Right. Next is your war belt," Qrow pauses as he removes his belt and displays it onto the table. The bulky belt landed with a loud thud when it landed on the table.

"Or commonly known as the tactical belt. I recommend that you wear this with your plate carrier. Allows you to carry more ammo and meds with you just in case. There's a special harness for you to secure your belt to your carrier, keeps it from jumping up and down your waist when you run or jump." Qrow explains as he puts back on his vest and belt.

He clips his belt onto his vest and demonstrates by running around and jumping a bit.

Some were nodding and were impressed by it, judging by their expressions. They looked like they had never used anything like this before, but this was nothing to Jaune. He knows who made them.

Everything displayed on the table is slick and easy to use, durable, and very reliable.

Some of the special forces in the Atlas Military were wearing these. Jaune already recognized the gear when he saw Qrow wearing them back at the station.

"Dad was impressed when he first purchased some of them. Now he's a regular customer and started buying more to equip his shadows as well." Will said.

"Looks very promising," Milo excitedly whispered to Knox.

Knox shrugs, "I guess it's cool. The Black Lotus back home were wearing them as well."

"But it does look familiar, doesn't it, Jaune?" Will nudges him with his elbow.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jaune nonchalantly said.

"Hey. Stop talking over there. You got something important to share with us, Jaune?" Qrow calls him out, pointing straight at him.

Shit. Jaune silently curses to himself.

But Qrow's annoyed expression quickly turns into a smug one.

"But also, let's not forget about our most trusted business associate and manufacturer that brought us these fine products for us to use," Qrow said as he gestures towards Jaune, making the others turn their gaze towards him.

Jaune froze as Milo and Knox looked at him with a mixed feeling of confusion and curiosity. "Uh, what is he talking about?" Knox asked.

"What you see here is all provided by the Arc's Armament. A specialized weapons company in Atlas, the company that supplied our weapons to us. All thanks to this boy." Said Qrow.

"Wait, so you're the Jaune Arc? I thought your name was just a coincidence. There was no way someone like you was him." Knox said, still in disbelief.

That hurt Jaune a little.

During the early years when the company started to rise in the weapon industry, Nicholas went through many demanding interviews.

One question led to another led him to reveal Jaune's name entirely by accident. Thankfully, they don't know what he looks like yet. Nicholas prefers to keep his family's identity a secret from the public. And while there weren't many people who had the same name as him. They would think of Jaune as an important person when they see him for the first time.

One of them scoffs at Jaune, "So you're the son of a famous company. That's nothing special. It's just like the SDC except for your family deals with more on weapons."

"You may be an Arc, but your name doesn't mean much now that you're here." Said another.

Jaune paid no mind to them, even if their words did sting a little. But they were right. He may be relevant in the civilian world, but now he's here. So it doesn't mean anything now.

"Hey, don't look so down. Dad said, if you want the respect, you gotta earn it." Will cheered him up. In a way, this is also a good thing. He doesn't have to worry about the attention, and here he has a clean slate. In here, he's just Jaune Arc, a member of the Shadow Company.

"We're not done yet. There's still one more I would like to share with you for today." Qrow said.

He places his hand over his left thigh and removes another piece of armor from it, "Ballistic armor, for your arms and legs. You got to have extra protection with you. You never know when a lucky Grimm might happen to attack you by surprise by cutting off your limbs and rendering you not combat effective anymore."

Many winced in fear.

"Scary, I know. But you're all going to be shadows. So this thought shouldn't scare you no more."

"I don't like the thought of that, really," Milo whispered, shaking slightly.

"I'm suddenly having second thoughts about all this," Knox said.

"Well, dad did suffer a few injuries like those, but he's still alright," Will reassures them both.

"You're not helping us here." Both of them said.

"Anyways, how you go at it is up to you, your kit, your rules. But I know that some of you might ditch some of your gear because of the weight. Always remain combat-ready, and have everything with you on a mission. Why? Because you never know when a mission might go south. But if it does and you don't have all of your equipment with you, then congratulations, you're fucked." Qrow ranted.

"This gear is designed to minimize the weight load. Once you put it on, I can guarantee that you will notice the difference. The Arc's Armament went through a lot of trouble to make this work for us, and they made them specifically for us, isn't that right, Jaune?"

Everyone looked back at Jaune in surprise once more. But Jaune doesn't say anything and only nods in response.

"Alright, demonstrations over. Go collect your gear and put them in your rooms. Report to the mess hall when you're all done. And then after that, we'll begin our physical training. It is necessary for civilians."

/-/

Ruby sighs as she walks to school by herself again.

Qrow was busy again today. So he couldn't meet her at Signal for a while. All he said was that he had some business to tend to at Beacon.

Maybe Qrow is working for the shadows? He did mention that he helped them from time to time.

At least he got to meet them in person.

All those stories that she heard about them remained vivid in her memories ever since her childhood. And how mom and Qrow would praise them so valorously. She can't help but think that same thing for them. But not a lot of people seem to care about them nowadays.

The shadows today have done a lot of good ever since their official debut to the public. But everyone seems to look down on them for some reason, which Ruby doesn't understand why.

They are out there fighting the Grimm just like the huntsmen, so what makes them different?

While Yang is busy with her final year and doing whatever she's doing with her new bike and going out almost every night. She's barely at home most of the time since the year had started, and she won't even tell her why? Her sister, of all people.

Has Yang started to hate her now? Did she become too annoying for her to handle? So it was that one time that Ruby accidentally spilled her milk all over her hair.

She can be a klutz sometimes. But it usually most of the time.

Ruby sunk her head. She settled to stare at the ground and nothing else while at the same time dealing with her emotions.

This year had been nothing but trouble and boring for me, she thought. She still had three more years to finish Signal and head off to Beacon like her big sister, but yet, she still feels like she's missing out on something.

She couldn't realize what it was yet.

Suddenly, someone was tapping on her shoulder, breaking her chain of thoughts and bringing her back to reality, "Come on, Ruby. Didn't you hear the bell? Stop daydreaming and get moving. We have combat class starting soon." One of Ruby's classmates and a friend called out to her.

Well, she is more like a study friend, Garnet.

She's the more bookish type and likes to use her knowledge to her combat skills. She favors outsmarting her opponents and prefers to strike at a distance. But she is a little knowledgeable about weapons, but not as much as Ruby. But that is also how these two somehow became friends, over a tiny conversation about their Ruby's Cresent Rose.

Sure it only lasted like a few minutes, but Garnet found it fun to be around Ruby.

Because Garnet isn't like Yang, who is bombastic, outgoing, and pretty to attract the boys.

And Ruby, being the introvert that she is. She had a lot of trouble socializing with the others. She had made a small circle of friends during her time in Signal. Having a lot of friends sounds a little overwhelming to her.

"You alright, Ruby? You look blue today."

"Huh, oh no. I'm just tired, that's all. Heh." Ruby said.

"Reading weapons magazine all night, again? You're such a gun nut, Ruby." She laughed.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong in liking weapons, Garnet."

"Whatever you say, Ruby. I'm sure Jasper would say the same thing I did."

Jasper, she like Yang. But younger and more mature than she looks. She can be loud if she wants, but only if it benefits her. But she is also popular in Signal. She's one of the top students in Ruby's year.

But why would Jasper hang out with Ruby and Garnet? Because they are Jasper's true friends.

Anyone would hang out with a famous person and be their friend, but they are only there because of their status. They don't care about the actual person inside them.

Jasper was walking alone until she found herself bumping into Ruby one day. She tripped and fell on her. That day no one decided to help her. Most ignored her while some laughed at her.

It was embarrassing. But Ruby quickly apologized to her.

Jasper couldn't stand it.

She's the niece of Qrow Branwen, the most awesome teacher in Signal. But he spends most of his time teaching Ruby personally.

But after meeting Ruby, her honesty and innocent personality kind of rub off on her and make her ditch her "friends" and hangs out with Ruby and Garnet instead.

Ruby was glad to meet them. Tai was thanking the gods that she made some friends. Yang and Qrow were proud that she did, so it all turned out well.

"Hey, you too. Did you guys miss me?" Jasper comes up behind them, wrapping her arms around their necks.

/-/

"So you want us to help you?" Blake asked.

"Yes. But you're still restricted from leaving the island and contacting others, of course. Don't take it too personally." Li explains to them.

"It's just a small precaution, Blake," Ghira said.

"But why do you need us to help you?" She asked again.

"Not for him, Blake, but for your people here. When Sienna left the island, she took most of the island's best fighters with her, leaving the rest of us with no choice but to take up arms and defend our homes. It has been hard since they left us. We have lost a lot of good people." Ghira explained.

"And that is where you come in. And you have at least some experience with fighting the Grimm." Li added.

That is true. There are little to no huntsmen in Kuo Kuana. Huntsmen nowadays would preferably choose a more high-paying job, so there's not much money they can make here.

The island doesn't have the same defenses as Atlas or Vale, making it more dangerous, maybe even more than Vacuo or Mistral.

"Okay, but aren't the shadows here supposed to take care of that problem?" Blake asked.

Li pauses for a moment, "Yes. That's what we were supposed to do here. But we're not staying here forever. No offense, this is a nice island. But we are also needed elsewhere. We decided to help protect and teach the people here how to fight."

"A very noble act," Reily commented.

"Thank you, Reily. Your people will have a much harder time defending their home without us, and need I remind you that not many of them are skilled with a weapon or even born to be a soldier." Li said.

Oh, that's right. The Grimm activity on the island was massive, and they're lucky that they haven't been overrun by the Grimm just yet. Most of the best fighters were young men who had gone off with Sienna, so what was left were the women, children, and the elders.

Any able-bodied fighters left on the island were almost little to none.

And if it weren't for the shadows, then, well. Something horrible would have happened by now.

"What's the catch to this?" Blake asked.

"Yes, in addition to aiding in defending your home. You will be receiving additional training from my men." Li said.

"Huh, why?"

"Do take this with a grain of salt, Miss Belladonna. But your fighting style is the same as a child swinging widely without a clue or consideration on what they're doing." Reily suppressed her laughter, but Blake caught her.

"Don't start laughing, Reily. Your experience is even lower than Miss Belladonna. Trust me when I say this, but I don't think you are fit to work alone in this state. So a bit of re-education and rehabilitation will do you right on the path to redemption."

"What are you saying!? There's nothing wrong with me!" Blake shouted.

Ghira suddenly slams his fist down on the table and immediately stands up, Causing Reily to fall off her chair and Blake to cower back from the table, "Blake, you ran away from us when you were still a child. You ran away from a life of crime. I thought that you would at least act like an adult for once the moment you set foot back on this island. You could have stayed with us. Why fight in a war that is impossible to win. And if you did die in your little crusade, do you want us to move on and forget about you? You mean the world to us, my daughter, and I'm not letting you leave us again." Ghira shouted.

"And work with the shadows? Sorry, not happening." Blake retort with disgust.

Li quietly stands up and slowly but calmly brings Ghira back down to his chair, gesturing Blake and Reily to return to the table as well.

"I'm sorry for my outburst. It's just a lot of things have happened before your return." Ghira apologizes.

"We all have our problems, and some are more difficult than others," Li said. Blake stares down at the table.

"Miss Belladonna, I know you and Reily have your reasons for leaving the island. But the problem here is more important than it is out there. They can handle themselves, and I'm not talking about the White Fang. If they can survive this long, then there is no reason for you to go back out there again."

Blake stares for another minute before speaking, "Okay, we'll stay. Right, Reily?" She turns to look at Reily.

"Yes, of course." Reily nods her head.

Li and Ghira sighs in relief.

"But after this is over, I'm going back to Adam," Blake demanded.

Ghira wanted to oppose, but the Captain-General quickly stopped him. "We need her here." Ghira nods in defeat.

"So, what's the problem?" Blake finally asked.

"I'll be straight to the point. There are sightings of a rare Alpha Grimm residing deep in the mountains. These Alpha Grimms are rare in Remnant, and fewer have seen them. Recently my colleague From Vale has encountered an Alpha King Taijitu during his mission in Mountian Glenn. They are more intelligent and more dangerous than an average Grimm. And my scouts have confirmed that there is one on the island. It has been here even before your people set foot here."

Blake's eyes widened, Reily's jaws dropped. That's impossible. If this Alpha Grimm had been here long ago, then they would have all died by now.

"You're joking, right? An Alpha Grimm? That's new." Reily asked.

"I'm afraid it is Reily, and it's only the beginning. I fear that it is coming from her."

"Who's her?" Blake asked. "I'll tell you in due time, Miss Belladonna."

"So why hasn't it attacked us yet?" Blake asked again.

"They can't because we are here. It knows who we are and what we're capable of, so it decided to hide for the time being. No doubt waiting for the best time to strike. My goal here is to teach the people of menagerie to stand up for themselves and not be scared to defend their own. But I can't do that as a human. I needed a Faunus who can show the strength and courage to the people and what better way than the very own daughter of the Chieftain."

Well, that was something.

"But I didn't ask to be the Chief, Li. I was just their best option for the matter. Before all this, I was just a fisherman like the others. And my previous role as the leader of the White Fang."

"So, back on the Grimm problem, what kind of Grimm is it anyway?" Reily asked.

"Well, it is as we feared. Judging from the big footprints on the ground, the enormous claw marks on the trees, and the loud thunderous footsteps. It is an Alpha Ursa Major. And it's a big one, its sheer size alone is of a mountain, and the numbers it has been producing are still growing as we speak."

"That's going to be a problem," Blake said.

"It's already a problem, but it's only a matter of when and how we overcome it. We've already trained lots of militia. But they only handle the regular Grimm. The Alpha will have to be managed by you and us."

"This won't be easy, but We'll do it." Blake agrees.

"We'll do what we can," Reily said.

"But I'll be assigning you both to two people I know," Li said.

Blakes ears could cat the sound of footsteps coming closer to them. "That was so much fun. Did you see what I did to that group of Grimm!? They were waiting for me, but I showed them." An energetic voice sounded not too far from them.

"Yes, sis. You told me that three times already. Good job, but don't run off on me like that again." A male voice replied.

"Oh, come on, Lie. Stop worrying so much. Your little sister isn't so young anymore. I can take care of myself."

"Not if dad is around, and you know how he feels when you get too reckless."

"Ah, that must be them."

Walking in are two figures, a male and female. Both of them were wearing black tropical versions of the armor. One was wearing a purple waist sash while the other was wearing a pink one.

"Hey, dad." They both said simultaneously.

"Allow me to introduce my son and daughter to you, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie Ren."

End of Chapter 12

A/N: So this took a while. But I finally got some scenes for Ruby. In volume one, she mentions that she had friends in Signal. But the show never brings them up again. So I made some for her.

And more stuff about Jaune and the Arc's Armament. And Milo and Knox have more prominent Faunus features. (Not just them, a lot of others too)

And Blake's internal conflict with the shadows. And yes, Ren and Nora are now siblings. I find this a lot route a lot safer. Now there is no more risk in their relationship.

However, Weiss will have something special happening to her soon.