Chapter-12
Blake
"You look like shit, Blake." Tukson spoke looking at the girl in front of him. After her argument with Weiss and her accidental reveal of her past, Blake had run away, wandering Vale for the entire day before gathering her wits and going to Tukson's book store in the night. Because what else was she going to do? No way the Schnee was going to be simply exchanging words with her, especially after what Blake found out.
She'd always refused to believe that the Night of the Fangs ever happened. That her father stepped down because his methods had slowly become obsolete and not the fact that he failed to stop that atrocity from happening.
But hearing Weiss say it reminded her she was being delusional, and that deep down, she knew it was true.
"I don't want to talk about it, Tukson." Blake grumbled.
"You know that's not going to stop me." Tukson spoke typing into his register. "You're quiet Blake, but you haven't been this pathetic since…"
Blake sighed. "…I took your advice."
Tukson looked up. "You did? Well that's a first. Usually you would listen and half of the time apply it. So what went wrong?"
"I was put on a team with the Schnee heiress."
"Oh. I'm guessing you got into a shouting match with her?"
"Surprisingly, we didn't argue as much as I thought. It was only a few hours back that we yelled at each other."
"And how did that happen?" Tukson asked with a raised eyebrow.
"She insulted a faunus, treated him like he was some piece of garbage and start declaring that faunuses cannot be human. They are monsters who don't deserve to be a part of society. Hearing that, I started yelling at her."
"But it was more than that."
Blake looked away, not wanting to talk as Tukson deadpanned.
"Blake. I've seen you get into arguments with other people for same reasons, but usually you would shrug it off, not come to my shop a weeping mess. There's no way the Schnee simply…"
"She mentioned the Night. How the white fang murdered her little brother." Blake spoke in resignation.
Tukson pursed his lips, which meant he was contemplating whether to talk about the Night considering how much of a sensitive topic it was to Blake. That sent a pulse of irritation through Blake's body as she remembered Weiss' next statement.
"The worst part is that she had the gall to say her father was so much better than the faunus! Like, her father was not a good man but he was not a monster like the faunus. At that point, I completely lost all reason and…" She stroked her cat ears.
Tukson's eyes widened. "And here I thought you listened. Blake, you hid your identity to go to Beacon? I'm sorry but I don't think you realize just how easily Ozpin can dig up your real identity. That guy's got the atlesian military, all the huntsman academies, Vale's Huntsman's association and even members of Menagerie's council in his pocket. Digging up the past of one girl won't be a problem for him."
"Well, I…"
"And even if Ozpin still let you remain in the school, you messed it up yourself by hiding this from your own teammates. Blake, I know you're afraid, but trying to run from your problems will only pile up the burden on your conscience. And when it comes all down, you won't be able to support its weight."
"But what am I supposed to do? The Schnee's most likely gone to Ozpin to reveal my identity and possibly revoke my student's license. I'll have nowhere to go at this point!" Blake snapped in frustration.
"Then stop running." Tukson spoke. "You wanted to stop the movement for Faunus equality for becoming something monstrous, then the White Fang is now your enemy. I may have left it a long time ago, but I have seen what it has been doing. You have a lot more information regarding it than I do, which can help in fighting back against its raids."
Blake remained silent. "You are a good person, Blake. I know how much I hurts you to see the White Fang do this. So I say go and start fighting back. Gather allies, tell them what you know and strike back against the Fang."
"…I'll think about it. Thanks Tukson." Blake spoke walking out of the book store.
She met Sun, the monkey faunus, as well as Aram, as soon as she walked out of the store.
"Hi!"
"Gah!" Blake jumped back with her shoulders tense to notice the two.
"Sun? Aram? What are you two doing here?" Blake asked.
"Well, I was going to go about my own business when I thought 'Well, something's obviously wrong' so out of curiosity I decided to go back. On the way, I saw you walking around like a zombie, speaking of which, are you alright?"
"I am?" Blake asked.
"Cool! So I got worried and went found Aram. He told me of the whole private business you had with your and thought we should go look for you. You still have to go back after all." Sun spoke with a grin. "And you finally revealed yourself!"
Blake took a step back. "You knew?"
"More like Aram did. Aram's got some seriously sharp eyes." Sun spoke. "He caught me by spotting a strand of my amazing hair in the storage!"
"Well, I did spot the twitch of your bow and your strange resemblance to a cat. I deduced it from there."
"So, enough of that, let's get you back to your school!"
Blake let out a sigh. Sun didn't know what happened.
"I can't go back."
Aram furrowed his eyebrows. "Why not? Was it really that bad?"
Blake contemplated telling Aram about it. "Aram, before I tell you…What do you think of faunuses?"
Aram tilted his head. "I believe they are living beings just like humans. They move, they feel emotions. Calling them 'monsters' is really being ignorant considering Humanity is just as bad. I have a friend who is a monkey. He is mischievous like Sun, but in the end is very loyal to his friends and sticks to his morals. He is proof that even beings who resemble animals can be human."
Blake nodded. "Very well, then let's go somewhere where no one can hear us. We'll talk over there."
That place was Aram's room back at his ship. He asked the other crew members not to disturb them and took Blake and Sun in.
"So, Blake," Aram spoke as he, Sun and Blake sat down on a couch. "Why can you not go back?"
"To explain that, first I must talk about the White Fang."
"The White Fang? Those holier-than-thou cultists who mess up…" Sun stopped as he realized Blake was levelling a death glare at him. "Who…do their own stuff?" He asked with a nervous smile, while also realizing why Blake was talking about it.
"You both know about the White Fang and its desire to bring about equality between humanity and faunuskind. I was a part of that group."
Sun and Aram looked at each other before looking back at Blake. "So, are you a spy?" Sun asked with his narrowed eyes.
"No!" Blake spoke in panic. "I'm not a spy! I'm left it!"
Aram hummed. "And then you enrolled in Beacon to hide?"
Blake looked at him. "I…did it to follow the path of a huntress. To be able to gather influence within the huntsman community to help against Clan Humanitas."
"Yet you did not consider how risky that would be if you hide who you are?" Aram asked as Blake flinched. "Who would follow a person who did not have pride in their own beliefs. If you wished to champion for faunus equality, then you should have enrolled without needing to hide your identity as a faunus."
Blake looked down. She wanted to come up with a retort, but somehow Aram had left her at loss for words.
"But that's besides the point. Now I'm guessing Ms. Schnee found out about your former affiliation with the White Fang?"
"She did. Weiss thinks I'm a part of it, probably thinking I was an assassin sent to murder her."
"I see. So you decided to run away." Aram spoke as Blake glared at him. "Did I have a choice."
"You did. But we're getting sidetracked again, if you can't go back, then do you at least have somewhere to go?"
Blake's mind went to her parents' home in Menagerie. The same home she abandoned. All she had to do was tell Aram and he would send her there.
His black coat fluttered in the wind, bloody corpses of SDC-hired mercenaries behind him with the train's wreckage to his side.
Blake trembled as she held Gambol Shroud in front of her, ready to fight.
Adam stared at her silently, not making a move. He then sheathed his blade.
"Run, Blake." He spoke in a harsh voice. "Run and create a new life for yourself. Feed your lies to your new friends. Create another mess that ends in tragedy. Once that happens, I will be waiting for you." He spoke turning around. "Until we meet again, traitor."
Adam's words during their last mission together came back to her, and Blake shivered. Once she did it, there was no going back. This path she was taking would eventually bring her back to Adam. And she was terrified of facing him again.
You have to stop running, Blake…
Blake thought of Tukson's words and then of Ruby. Blake didn't want to admit it, but she had been absolutely terrified when they had faced those 'trolls', as Professor Saber called them. After her plan had failed, she'd thought of making a run for it and escape with her life. It was only Ruby who inspired her to stay and fight. And the level of bravery she displayed, Blake felt like a coward.
She had to make it right. It was her delusions that blinded her to what the white fang was becoming.
Blake looked at Aram. "I do. But I need to do one more thing before I leave for Menagerie." Blake spoke as Aram nodded. "Well, what is it?"
"You are aware of the recent raids on the dust shops?" Blake asked as the two boys nodded. "Good. Well, the White Fang is doing this to lure in SDC ships from Atlas. With most of Inland Sanus infested with grimm, mining operations are very risky. The Vale government imports a lot of dust from Atlas. With its dust supply running low thanks to Torchwick and the White Fang, the council has most likely called for a shipment of dust."
Aram put a finger to his chin. "Ah, I do remember checking the schedule for my ship's departure. And I noticed an SDC shipment that arrived today. It is scheduled to be collected by some of the wholesalers tomorrow morning."
"Time?"
"8 in the morning."
"Then the white fang will be present for stealing the dust before that. We have to make sure that does not happen and figure out clues to what their game plan is."
"Oh, are we going to sabotage them?" Sun asked excitedly to which Blake nodded, oddly enjoying the boy's company
"While that is a sound plan, I do wish to point out that we do not have the manpower to subdue them. My crew can't fight, leaving only me, you and Sun. I would get into deep trouble if me, a Mistralan, was spotted involved in vigilante activities in Vale."
"Hm…What weapons do you use, Aram?"
"I know a lot of weapons, but I'm most proficient with a bow."
"Then you could hide and shoot them from afar. Me and Sun will sneak into the docks and observe how they are going to transport the dust. Once we figure that out, we're going to need a distraction."
"Leave that to me." Sun spoke.
"Thank you. While you distract them, I'm going to sabotage the transport. After that, we all will get out of there, maybe even capture someone for interrogation. Now is the plan fine?"
Aram and Sun gave their agreement. Blake smiled.
"Alright then, let's do this."
Next morning, the three woke up early. Aram instructed his crew to not go out before bringing out a metallic black bow that seemed to be made of good-quality metal.
The three then went to one of the offices of the staff that overlooked the SDC shipments. Soon, they saw a bullhead fly in flashing lights towards the shipment.
Blake narrowed her eyes. So they were using a bullhead? That meant she had to at least destroy one of its engines. There didn't seem to be others, so they would be fine.
Soon, common sabre-wielding faunus wearing grimm bone masks came out. Common soldiers of the White Fang.
Aram raised his bow. "I'm ready when you are."
"Should I go?" Sun asked Blake. Blake was about to give the order when she noticed something impossible.
A ginger-haired man with green eyes wearing a black bowler hat and a white coat with a cane came out.
"Come on, ya animals! We're running on a tight schedule! Get to work before the cops arrive!"
"Roman Torchwick?" Blake muttered in confusion. He's working with the white fang?
Blake shook her head. It shouldn't be possible. The White Fang had been very strict about not working with humans ever since her father resigned. Any humans who tried to extend a hand of cooperation were refused. So watching those white fang soldiers not only work with Roman, but not show any negative reaction to his insults beyond occasional grunts and growls was unbelievable.
"Uh, Blake?" Sun asked as Blake blinked. "Sorry, I spaced out. Go in." Blake spoke as Sun nodded before jumping off to go for their respective roles.
Aram watched them before he noticed someone invisible step off the bullhead and his eyes widened.
Rider observed the operation. While he hadn't been tasked by Cinder to come, the Carrier through his clairvoyance had filled Rider in on the details of what was going to happen. Now that he knew, Rider had been instructed to twist the present developments and produce an outcome beneficial to their cause.
He could feel someone was watching him, but he did not sense any servants so he assumed it was the humans who the Carrier told would come.
They revealed themselves when a monkey faunus boy jumped off the roop while he spotted a cat faunus girl sneaking behind the shipments, trying to reach the bullhead.
Now that they were here, all Rider had to do was wait. He had already done his part of the job so now the part that remained was to hold out until the events were diverted.
The boy had already started taunting the criminals while Rider went and placed himself between the girl and their bullhead, unsheathing his sickle-shaped blade. Should the girl get too close, then he will have to reluctantly cut her down. Despite his company, he was still a heroic spirit. Killing youngsters would be difficult to stomach, but if he had no choice, then he would have to stain his hands with the blood of the girl.
Sun leaned back from the first swing the White Fang grunt gave him and twisted to swing Ruyi Bang at their face, knocking them back.
"Aw, and I thought we were having a little heart-to-heart!" He spoke as he fired of bullets from his gun-chucks to ward off some white fang soldiers before fusing them into a bo staff and slamming it to the ground to knock them away. The soldiers kept rushing him, trying to overpower him with numbers but Sun laughed, ducking under their strikes and parrying their sabres with his staff before hitting them in the joints to disable them. Those that were in his blind spot were shot in the knees by Aram, who made sure to change positions to make it difficult for the soldiers to pinpoint his location.
This rhythm continued until Sun noticed Torchwick raise his cane and fire a dust bolt at him. He flipped away to avoid the explosion and grinned.
"So, finally stepping in? I thought the crooks always tried to run?"
Roman grinned back. "Well, I would, but I am a gentleman's thief. I have standards and manners, and it looks like I'm going to have to teach them to an annoying monkey." He spoke as both charged at each other.
Sun was briefly surprised by Roman's show of skill as the criminal spun his cane with the same fluidity Sun spun his staff, blocking and parrying all strikes before they could get him. Sun shifted his staff to gun-chuck form and kept his momentum, trying to get the barrel to Roman so that he could land a burn dust bullet.
But the criminal kept note and stuck to blocking, not trying to attack until he suddenly shifted his grip, hooking his cane to Ruyi and Jingu Bang's chain and tugging on it, yanking Sun forward before the criminal drove an elbow to his back. Sun stumbled and flipped away to recover while Roman gave a lazy smirk as his eyes went behind him.
"Oh, would you look at that? The cavalry's here." He spoke as Sun turned around to see…
"…You've got to be kidding me." Blake heard Sun's voice as she briefly glanced towards where Sun was looking to see more Bullheads come, landing on the dock and this time bringing out White fang soldiers with guns who surrounded Sun.
Blake's eyes widened. They had been expecting her, Sun and Aram to come. While She and Aram, who was still standing with his bow drawn, were fine, Sun was in trouble.
"Alright boys, you know the drill. Get this over with." Roman spoke as the soldiers raised their guns.
"No…" Blake spoke as her eyes fell on torchwick. She quickly ran upto him, forsaking stealth and pressing Gambol Shroud to his throat.
"Stop! Or I'll slit his throat!" Blake snarled as the soldiers pointed their guns at her.
"Woah, woah! Lower your guns!" Roman spoke gesturing for them. "I prefer my face not being full of bullets or you guys being roasted by the Creepy Fire Lady who's waiting for us."
Blake kept note of 'Creepy Fire Lady'. She could be a clue.
The soldiers lowered their guns while Roman smiled. "So, madame, how can this humble worker help you?"
"What is going on?" Blake asked. "How is it that the White fang is working with a human of all things?"
Roman chuckled. "Well now, don't overestimate their savagery…"
Blake pressed Gambol Shroud as Roman's aura sparked.
"I'm not in the mood for Jokes." Blake spoke as she looked at Sun who slowly came to her side. "Why are they working with you?"
Roman sighed. "Alright, fine. Gosh, cats are so ill-tempered. Well, what can make two people work together?"
Blake narrowed her eyes. "What? All you have to do is answer my question. What can make two people work together?"
"…If they want the same thing."
"That's what the White Fang think. But it's not the correct answer in this case. In the context of our little business venture, the correct answer…is that they are being made to work together by someone they fear."
Blake's eyes widened. There was a third party involved? Just what was going on?
"And who is this?"
"Well, that someone is…" Blake felt a sharp pain as Roman blasted his cane to her foot. Roman went to hit her when an arrow hit him in the shoulder.
"Gah! Will someone get rid of the archer that keeps shooting at us?!" He yelled as some of them started shooting where Aram was meant to be.
"So, what now?" Sun asked.
Blake looked at him. They both faced a smiling Roman Torchwick and a bunch of soldiers. It was a situation that was disadvantageous to the both of them. So, they needed to run.
"On 3, we run." Blake spoke. "1, 2,…"
"Thr…"
"Freeze!" An unfamiliar voice that sounded like it was amplified spoke, catching everyone by surprise.
"Huh?" Roman spoke before he furrowed his eyebrows. "How the hell did those lazy assholes get wind of this?" He spoke as several cars pulled up behind Blake and Sun with the VPD's logo on it. Several policemen armed with guns came out and pointed them at the white fang grunts.
"All members of the White Fang! Lay down your arms!" A policeman yelled.
"The VPD's here!" Sun exclaimed before the policemen pointed their guns at him and Blake.
"Sun…" Blake spoke as a pit of dread opened in her stomach. "I think they have grouped us with the white fang as well.
"Wha…HEY! WE're not…"
"Do not open your mouth, animal!" The same police officer snapped as Sun shut it. "Well, we still have our licenses, so it should be fine, right?"
At that moment, Blake felt something was about to go horribly wrong.
Rider looked at the stand off between the White Fang and the VPD. The VPD were a bunch of lazy idiots, but when they receive information regarding the white fang, they almost become fanatics in going after them. Even a simple phone call from an anonymous contact was enough to spur them into action.
And now that they were here, the time had come for his interference.
Rider brought out one of the rifles the soldiers were carrying. He may not be an archer, but he had been practicing with a gun for a few days and could hit this shot. He pointed it at the police officer and shot.
The standoff was interrupted by a loud bang as a spray of blood erupted from the head of the officer holding the megaphone. He fell back dead, as a strange silence settled in.
They fired back… Blake realized in horror. Her experience of protesting in the streets of mantle told her what was about to happen.
"SUN!" She screamed. "RUN!"
"They fired back! Engage with lethal force!" One of the officers yelled as the silence was broken by a storm of bullets flying between the officers and the white fang soldiers. While a few policemen fell to the bullets, many white fang soldiers died as they did not have the cover of a car.
Blake and Sun hissed as bullets impacted against their aura, with some of the police officers having targeted them and firing upon them. Blake noticed a white fang soldier come out with a rocket launcher.
"Aram!" She yelled to the boy standing on a roof nearby who quickly shot an arrow. It hit the White fang soldier in the head as they fell dead, but Aram was a second too late, as their rocket launcher fired and the rocket flew towards a dust shipment.
Then the docks erupted in fire.
BOOM!
In beacon, students were awoken from their sleep by a loud explosion, one of which being Team RWBY.
Ruby fell off her bed with a scream as the explosion scared her awake.
"What happened?!" She exclaimed before looking out of her window to see a bright red light coming from Nepotain harbor contrasting with the dark blue hue of early morning.
"Guys!" She yelled to Yang and Weiss. "Look!" She spoke pointing to the docks.
Weiss and Yang came beside her as Weiss' eyes narrowed in anger. "There's only one thing that can create that big of an explosion." She spat. "Someone blew up a crate of fire dust whose explosion started a chain reaction."
Ruby looked at them frantically. "We have to go!"
"Rubes, we…"
"No, she's right." Weiss interrupted Yang. "This has to be the work of the White Fang. And I'm not letting them destroy my family's property without consequences. Come on!"
Ruby looked at her partner as she went to get dressed. While Weiss was right, there was another reason Ruby wanted to go.
If it was the White Fang, then there might be a chance Blake would be there too.
Ozpin stared at the massive fire in the docks, his eyes stone-cold as he pulled up a picture captured by some drones he had James install to monitor Vale. The picture was there of a black-haired girl with amber eyes heading into a warehouse guarded by faunus guards.
"It seems she's gotten bold." He spoke coldly before hearing the distant sound of the sirens of fire trucks. Ozpin sat back on his chair. First he would get this mess sorted out, then he would see what he was going to do about this issue growing in his city.
A hooded figure looked up from his spot, sleeping on the street at the strange red hue of fire coming from the harbor.
"Well, that seems interesting." They spoke before getting up, stretching their body before heading towards the harbor.
When the explosion happened, Aram had immediately taken cover, being spared of most of the debris. His ship was in a completely different section of Nepotain harbor so he had no worries of it getting damaged, but he had to make sure Blake and Sun were alright.
Aram bit his lip in guilt. If he had been a bit faster, he could have stopped that soldier from firing. Now, the entirety of a section of Nepotain harbor was burning. Many police officers had been incinerated in the explosion, some suffered serious burns while the unharmed ones tried to clear out what remained of the White Fang soldiers, most of whose numbers had been wiped out by the explosion. He jumped off his vantage point and went off to look for Blake and Sun, ignoring the pain from the heat of the flames around him.
He found both of them in terrible state. Their auras were shattered and both of them had burns.
"Blake, Sun!" he called as the noticed him. "Aram!" Sun spoke dragging Blake to him. "You're alright!"
"I am, but you're. I'm so sorry, if I had been a little faster…"
"Not the time, Aram." Blake croaked out as Aram nodded, going to wrap her arms around his shoulder.
Aram then felt his instincts scream and turned to see a bunch of police officers heading towards them.
"Oh no." He spoke as they stopped a few metres from them and raised their guns at Blake and Sun but not Aram.
"There's more and a civilian, try not to harm the civilian!" One of them yelled before something separated his head from his body.
"What the…ACK!" A second officer screamed as blood erupted from his chest and fell dead to the ground.
Aram noticed the same invisible person from earlier, who now cut through the officers like they were butter.
"Fire!" The remaining wildly fire their guns in panic, most of their bullets being dodged by the invisible person before they threw down something that covered them and the policemen in smoke.
"What's going on…?" Blake spoke as screams of pain and bodies dropping to the ground sounded within the smoke.
"Well…now I've got blood all over. Really blows my cover." A voice that sounded male spoke as the invisible person emerged, now visible due to the blood of the police officers splattered over their body.
"He's invisible?" Sun spoke as Aram raised his bow. Right now, he could hold off this person enough for Blake and Sun to escape. Because they would not last a second if this person was who Aram thought he was.
"Invisibility is one of my many abilities." The voice spoke before raising their arm to remove their helmet. The air shifted to reveal a young boy of Blake's and Sun's age with purple hair and green eyes wearing silver greek armor under a black cloak with winged sandals and a grey helmet nestled in his hand along with a Sickle-shaped blade in his right hand.
"There's no need for resistance. I have you where I want you. I was originally planning to leave but well, you are a loose end that needs to be tied up, Blake Belladonna." The boy spoke.
"Who are you?" Blake asked tensely as Aram prepared to shoot.
"I am Rider, that is all that you need to know." The boy spoke taking a step forward before freezing. His winged sandals fluttered as he dodged a bunch of blades landing where his shadow was.
He glared at the newcomer, who was a young man with tanned skin and white spiky hair wearing a priest's robes and six short and thin blades in his hand.
"Ah, it is rude to be so secretive, Rider, or should I say, Perseus?"
Perseus sighed. "Of course, a Ruler. Even if this isn't a Holy Grail War, you still have that annoying ability to discern my true name."
The Ruler chuckled. "That I do."
"Holy Grail War?" Blake spoke in confusion, unable to understand what Perseus meant by that.
Perseus stared at the Ruler before looking in the distance, where Aram noticed fire trucks and ambulances coming.
"Well, it looks like I won't be able to accomplish this little side quest. Damn you, Ruler. You came at the worst time possible." He spoke dodging the blades the executor sent at him before putting on his helmet and shooting up into the sky.
The Ruler dispersed his blades and looked at them with a warm smile. "Hello, I am Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, It is a pleasure to meet you all."
Aram had left after that, saying it was now time for him to get back and prepare for leaving for mistral. He wished Sun and Blake goodbye and left them with Shirou, who led them out of the docks.
Blake watched medics scramble about, tending to the injuries of the officerse while the firefighters got down to dousing the flames.
The entire operation had been completely derailed. What went from a simple sabotage operation turned into a mass-shootout between the VPD and the White Fang, with them meeting some strange boy named Perseus who displayed huntsman-level skills and talked of something called a 'Holy Grail War', which she kept as something to research on.
"Blake!" She froze as she heard a familiar voice and noticed a Red blur crash into her.
"Where were you?!" Ruby Rose yelled as she wrapped a shellshocked Blake in a hug.
"Ruby? But how did…" Blake stopped when she noticed Weiss.
"Blake." Weiss greeted.
"Weiss." Blake greeted back.
Ruby turned to her teammate. "Weiss, don't…"
"I'm not going to, Ruby. I did promise you I won't make things difficult. But I have one question. When you revealed yourself, were you a part of the white fang?"
"…I was. But no more. The White Fang had become too extreme for me to stay." Blake spoke as a tense silence stretched between them.
Weiss kept her arms crossed, her icy gaze staring at Blake. "Alright then, While you were off doing something or the other, I did some…reflection you could say and came to a decision. I still don't trust you, you could still be a spy planted by the White fang, but to keep this team functioning and thus not put my future in jeopardy, I am willing to let bygones be bygones. If what you say is true and that you ran away because the white fang had gotten violent, then perhaps there is a chance of forgiveness. Time will tell whether I was right to give you a second chance or not." She spoke walking away, leaving Blake gaping.
Of all the things she was expecting Weiss to say, this was not one.
Yang let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! That argument with Weiss paid off!"
Blake looked at her. "Yang?"
Yang smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know partner, I was a bit mad learning you kept secrets from me and scared that my little sister had been living with a member of a terrorist group all this time. But a part of me believed that wasn't true. Being your partner, I could see you weren't one of those types who would willingly hurt people. So, I had a talk with Weiss, which after hours of screaming, yelling, punching and getting frozen convinced her to give you a second chance. So welcome back to Team RWBY!"
"Yang…" Blake spoke tearing up before she hugged her partner. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"D'aw, the little grumpy kitty has emotions." Yang spoke with a grin as Ruby joined the hug.
After weeks of hostility and squabbling, Team RWBY was finally ready to be a team.
"Well, overall, it was a success. Despite the explosion, we got what we originally intended." Perseus spoke, standing away from Salem's agents as Cinder berated her underlings while he talked with the Carrier, who had appeared in a holographic projector made by him, in Greek.
"Excellent. Blake Belladonna?"
"I couldn't get her. We were interrupted."
"So, you failed. But oh well, your failure has given us success so do not fret a lot, Perseus."
"Also, we have salvaged the remains of the Wendigo as you ordered. It shall be sent back to the facility."
"I am aware of that. It is a shame that Saber-class, who you believe is the dragon-slayer Sigurd, was able to overcome it."
"It is. But that means, I'll now have to confront him when he comes back to Vale."
"You will." The carrier agreed. "But my calculations show that Ozpin will build up the pressure on us now that this has happened. Henceforth, we will have to divert some of our forces to Vale and start preparing once Ozpin gets desperate enough to take drastic measures. The other servants will perform their duties, but you will still be assigned to kill Sigurd. Do whatever it takes."
"As you wish, milord." Perseus spoke as the hologram disappeared. He turned back to where Roman was being threatened by Cinder with a fireball.
"Well then, let's see what someone wielding the power of a dragon can do." He spoke walking to join them.
"Cinder Fall. Mercury Black. Emerald Sustrai." Ozpin recited the names. It hadn't been difficult to get their identities, he'd discovered the fake transcripts they'd attempted to send to Leo in Haven academy and it was simple to deduce their identities from that. But he knew there was something more sinister working in this. Now that he'd encountered Sigurd, he realized that Salem must have also gotten new allies. He could no longer afford to play a passive game. The time to start taking an offensive was approaching, even if many factors were not prepared.
Ruby Rose had yet to know of the hidden power she wields.
The Spring Maiden is missing.
He only had one of these strange beings which was Sigurd.
But he was sure he would get them as time went on and he would be ready before Salem could do something drastic.
However, if he remained passive now, he would be jeopardizing his work later.
He tapped on his desk and turned on the special intercom connected to the scrolls of all the huntsmen in Vale.
He took one last glance at Cinder's picture before making his move.
"This is Professor Ozpin speaking. All members of the Vale huntsman's association posted in the villages in north are to return to the capital immediately." He spoke, making the announcement that would be heard by huntsmen and huntresses all across Vale.
A few days later, what could only be described as an army of huntsmen began entering Vale, among them being a grey-haired Saber and a Blue-haired lancer.
A/N: And with that, Volume 1 is finished! I was wondering If this chapter would be another setup before the finale but I just didn't want to stretch Volume 1 to another week. So, I wrote a chapter much longer than my usual word count to get Volume-1 done. See you guys next week!
Now, this is the first story I've written which has actually gotten more than 2 chapters and I still feel excited to continue this story. So, being able to finish a major chapter of canon in fanfiction is quite a big achievement for me and I thank all of you who've read my story and supported it. As a bonus for finishing Volume-1, I've put in a teaser for a second story that I'm going to start working on soon. I'll begin posting the second story once I finish volume-2 in this story.
Hope you guys enjoyed and constructive criticism is appreciated. Enjoy the teaser!
Three people stood in a forest in anima. One was a scorpion faunus with wrist blades on his arms, another a large man unarmed but having dust crystals embedded into his arms. The third was a man taller than the faunus but shorter than the other man wearing a greyish blue coat with a hood over their head. Light from the shattered moon shone on them.
"You must be Omega." The giant of a man stated as the hooded person nodded.
"Well, at least you're nicer than those three pricks." Omega spoke. "Do you have any idea how much I stopped myself from cutting Mr. Grey-hair's face open just to wipe that smug smirk off his face?"
The scorpion faunus giggled. "Well, you are right about him being annoying. The boy certainly doesn't know how to respect his superiors. But that is not the point. You know why we are here. So why don't we get this started?" He spoke taking a stance as Omega stood still.
"Uh…what if we didn't?"
"You do not have a choice."
"I'm pretty sure I do. Doesn't vale have this saying 'You are free to choose your path'? Well I'm choosing not to fight. I've got some friends back home who're going to judo-flip me if I got late for the reunion."
"Don't worry. We'll make it quick. We'll just have them reunite with your head." The scorpion faunus replied as he started running towards Omega
Omega sighed. "Well, I tried." They spoke before thrusting their hand as the faunus felt their body freeze up. They felt as if something was controlling the blood within their body.
Omega retracted their hand and pushed it to send the faunus flying back and turning around.
The other man rushed at him, only for him to dodge the strikes at blazing speeds. "Oh no, I'm not dealing with you yet. Scorpion's crazy brother's mine." They spoke before crossing the distance between them and the scorpion faunus in a few seconds.
The faunus raised their arms in time for Omega's palm to hit them with enough force to send them flying. Omega froze the other man coming up behind him and tossed him away before his instincts acted up.
"Got you now!" The faunus yelled as their tail stabbed at Omega's chest.
CLANG!
The tail was stopped by a bronze sword shaped like a leaf, Omega having brought it out in time to block the stinger.
The faunus tried to overpower them but Omega clearly had the advantage in strength. Omega pushed the faunus' stinger back with his blade and brought it down with enough force to split the faunus' skull open.
Again, the faunus was able to block with the bronze sword causing cracks to appear on their wristblades. In their little deadlock, the faunus grinned at the face of his attacker.
"This is fun!" He exclaimed.
The cold sea-green eyes of Percy Jackson stared back before he smirked. "It is." He agreed.