Chp. 2: Future Plans

Remnant

Evernight Castle, Land of Darkness

Conference Hall

May 3, 2020

Within the conference hall of Evernight Castle, Cinder sits in her chair at the crystal table. Cinder has gone through a drastic change of appearance. Her hair is much shorter, she wears a black mask that appears to be made of black glass over her missing left eye and the scarring from her injury which extends into a slight x-shape over the bridge of her nose, as well as having deformed and degraded the tissue of her left ear. She wears a long, dark red dress with one long, wide sleeve hiding her missing left arm. The edges of the collar and the opening for the right arm are gold-colored, and the upper chest and left sleeve are decorated with golden designs. The right side of her dress is open from the hip down with two gold-colored straps made up of interwoven ropes connecting the front half to the back half of her thigh. Under the dress, she appears to wear black pantyhose. On the right hip, the dress has a black rhombus-shaped gem set in a gold-colored metal of the same shape, with feathers of varying shades of blue extending from the bottom of it. On her right arm, she wears a long, gray glove, the top of which has a gold-colored metal ring with curvy branching extensions going up to her arm. Her right ear has a new, ring-shaped earring higher up than the dangling black gem earring.

Sitting across from Cinder was a man, looking into his scroll. He is a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. He has short black and gray hair as well as a thick mustache and eyebrows, and green eyes. He wears a grayish-blue overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt, and a black necktie. His pants are the same color as his overcoat. His yellow-buttoned undercoat and fingerless gloves match his cordovan shoes, under which he wears yellow socks. This is the disgraced former Atlesian scientist, Doctor Arthur Watts.

Sitting a chair away from Cinder was another man who was sitting in a crouch casually on his chair, resting his arms on his knees. He is a pale man with gold eyes and a brown ponytail braided to resemble a scorpion's tail. He wears a white sleeveless jacket with leather belts strapped to it, along with white pants. His jacket is left open, exposing his bare chest, which is crisscrossed with prominent scars. His arms are covered with purple bandages and leather vambraces. He also wears leather boots covering his entire shin with knee guards. On each earlobe is a silver, ring-shaped earring, and near the top of his left ear is another matching earring. His animal trait as a Faunus is a scorpion stinger that protrudes from his back as his tail is wrapped around his belt. This is Anima's known psychotic serial killer, Tyrian Callows.

And sitting across from Tyrian is a man with his arms crossed, and looks asleep. He is a tall and muscular middle-aged man, towering over everyone in the room who stands 6'4". He has short brown hair, a beard, and hazel eyes. He wears a two-tone olive green coat over a black 3/4 sleeve shirt, and a large belt. His pants are black, with a pouch strapped to each pant leg, and his boots are brown with white fronts. His hairy arms have some scars near the edges of his sleeves. This is the calmly composed giant, Hazel Rainart.

Emerald and Mercury walk up, standing next to Cinder.

"Yes, yes, keep you posse in check," Watts said.

Mercury growls and is about to make a move on Watts, but Emerald holds him back.

"You hear that? Silence. I've half a mind to thank the little girl and the boy that bested you," Watts said as Hazel gave him an unimpressed sideways glance.

"If I were you I'd hunt them down. Find them and, well, they took your eye, didn't they?" Tyrian snickered, before cackling.

Cinder tries to speak but only manages to make quiet exhaling noises. Emerald leans in close to Cinder listening to what she has to say.

"Pathetic. Why did you even-" Watts gets cut off as the sound of the doors were being unlatched.

The doors open as everyone stands before a figure who walks in. The figure is a woman whose skin is a deathly pallor, with jet black sclera in her eyes, and glowing crimson irises. Her bleached, pale white hair, has been done into a larger bun with six offshoots wrapped together that also suspends several obsidian-colored ornaments. She has dark purple veins that line her face and arms, and has a black diamond-shaped marking in the center of her forehead. She wears a very long, short-sleeved black robe that obscures her feet and partially drags across the ground, with its distinctive feature being a curved high collar with dark red trim bordering the outer edge of a narrow window exposing her bust in a vertical ellipsis resembling an eye, and completed with a long shawl emblazoned with three interconnected, maroon-colored vertical elliptic sigils resembling a trio of overseeing eyes above a series of maroon-colored diamond emblems. She also wears a ring resembling a beetle on her right middle finger, and has long fingernails with jet-black nail polish. This is the immortal queen of the Creatures of Grimm, Salem.

She glides alongside the table with soft steps before reaching the head of it. Salem stops, facing away from them and toward a candle and crystal display.

"Watts," she spoke as Watts straightened and looked towards her.

"Do you find such malignance necessary?" Salem asked as she turned around.

She gestured for all to sit down.

"I apologize, ma'am. I'm not particularly fond of failure," Watts said as he and Salem sat down.

"Cinder has indeed failed to receive the second half of the Fall Maiden's power, failed to destroy Beacon Tower, and failed to kill Ozpin," Salem said. "But not all of the failure is to be put on Cinder. For now, new players have appeared before us."

"This new unknown military, the unknown new Beacon students, and the girl with the silver eyes," Watts said.

"Yes. We've dealt with her kind before. How is it that a novice was able to best one of us, along with the added aid from one of the unknown students?" Hazel asked.

"My thoughts exactly. Even without half of her new power, it should have been effortless," Watts said.

"It is because of the Maiden's power," Salem explained. "Make no mistake, Cinder, you hold half the key to our victory. But your newfound strength brings with it a crippling weakness. Which is why you will remain by my side as we continue your treatment... and avoid further failures."

Cinder lowers her head in unhappiness as Emerald looks at her in sympathy.

"Dr. Watts, what could you find out about this new threat?" Salem asked.

"All I could find is that they are not associated with Atlas in any way. Even General Ironwood stated that they are not his men," Watts explained. "And as for the new Beacon students, I couldn't find anything on them. Not even a birth certificate. It is as if they haven't even existed until now."

"Either Ozpin did a fine job at hiding them or they couldn't keep their noses out of other people's business," Tyrian said.

"Either way, they not only prove to be a problem, they also leave with more questions than answers," Hazel said.

Salem sat on her chair in thought for a minute until she spoke.

"Until we know what we are up against, all actions on the academies are to cease," Salem said. "Dr. Watts, You are to take Cinder's place and meet with our informant in Mistral."

"Very good," Watts responded.

"Tyrian, as you continue your search for the Spring Maiden, you are to find any information on this new military," Salem said.

"Gladly," Tyrian laughed.

"And Hazel, I'm sending you to the leader of the White Fang," Salem said. "Adam Taurus has arranged the meeting. The boy continues to prove loyal. Ensure that Sienna Khan feels the same."

"As you wish," Hazel said.

Cinder raises a finger. Emerald fails to notice the gesture for a moment. When she did, Emerald leaned in to hear her. Cinder rasps into her ear for a moment as then Emerald straightens.

"Speak child," Salem said.

"She wants to know..." Emerald began. "What about the girl... and the boy?"

"What about them? Seems to me that this is Cinder's problem, not ours," Watts scoffed.

Cinder slams her fist onto the table and glares at Watts, who grins at her.

"That's enough," Salem said. "Tyrian?"

"Yes, my lady?" Tyrian asked.

"Spring can wait. Find the two that did this to her," Salem said.

Tyrian giggles excitedly and claps.

"And bring them to me," Salem finished.

Tyrian freezes, groans disappointedly, pouts for a second, then looks back up at Salem with an acquiescent shrug.

"And like I said before, I want to know what we are up against," Salem said.

Everyone rises out of their seats. Tyrian snickers at Cinder and points to his left eye.

"Eye for an eye," he laughed wickedly.

Tyrian goes into an uncontrollable fit of manic laughter, while Cinder grits her teeth.


Beacon Academy, Vale

Headmaster's Office

Meanwhile at Beacon Academy, Ozpin, Glynda, and Qrow were all making plans for the new year for the academy and forming plans to fight back against Salem.

"In just a few days, we will open the doors and teach the next generation of huntsmen," Glynda said.

"Just remember, this wouldn't have been possible if those Americans and their allies hadn't stepped in," Qrow said.

"But due to this, Salem will try much harder to make her move. So we must be prepared," Ozpin said. "Do you remember your assignments, Qrow?"

"Yeah, find this Oscar Pine kid, find the Grimm Reaper herself, and make sure the huntsmen and students in Mistral cut all ties with Leo," Qrow answered.

"The Americans and their allies have stationed themselves in secret locations all across Remnant," Glynda said. "And they are starting to training huntsmen of their own with the added help from other huntsmen."

"I'm just disappointed that Teams GRMA and CFDT could come back right now, due to this coronavirus back on Earth," Ozpin said.

"Maybe that's a good thing because Teams RWBY, JNPR, and the other teams that participated in protecting Vale and Beacon are all victims of the media lately and the media wishes to interview Teams GRMA and CFDT for their actions against the Cinder and White Fang and the Americans for all their surprise appearances lately," Qrow said.

"That is true. But I'm sure our Terran friends know what they are doing and are careful on not getting caught," Ozpin said.

"They may have had a few close calls in Atlas, but Keaton and James said that it's all under control," Qrow said.

"I'm just disappointed that Teams GRMA and CFDT won't be joining us this year," Ozpin said. "I do wonder how they are doing."


Earth

Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Norris Lake

In the open area hidden outside Norris Lake, Teams GRMA and CFDT were sparring with training sticks and were all close to being done for the day. The teams' leaders, Jacob Gordon and Britney Connor were the only ones left still dueling. Jacob strikes at Britney with his stick, but Britney quickly blocks his attack with her two sticks. Britney gave a series of strikes at Jacob, in which he blocks and dodges every attack. Jacob swings his stick at Britney several times as she backflips away from his attacks. Britney hurls one of her sticks at Jacob, jabbing him in the chest and making him stumble backwards. She then gives an overhead strike at Jacob which he quickly blocked. Jacob then kicks her in the side then whacks her in the head, knocking her to the ground.

Britney grabs her second stick and quickly gets up as she blocks another attack from Jacob. She gave a series of strikes at Jacob as he dodged and blocked every attack. Jacob slashes at Britney, but she suddenly bends her back backwards to the point her head reaches the back of the thighs. She then plants her hands to the ground as she then kicks Jacob in the face as she backflips back to the feet and straightens back up. They both then charged at each other and clashed and looked at their sticks as they stared down. They both then started laughing as they both dropped their sticks.

"Okay, I guess that's enough for me for today," Britney said.

"Yeah, I'm tuckered out for today," Jacob said. "By the way, I'm not used to your contortion semblance yet."

"You're just jealous that I can do this," Britney said as she spins her head all the way around then back around.

"I would appreciate it if you'd not do that again," Jacob said with a grossed out look.

"At least it's not as weird as Kelly's semblance," Allen said.

Everyone looked towards Kelly as she was talking to a bird that was sitting next to her. The bird chirped a couple of times.

"Yeah, I know. Sometimes they are idiots," Kelly said to the bird.

"I disagree, Allen. Having a semblance where you can talk to animals can do some good," said Robert. "Like if their was a murder case and the only witness was a dog, just bring Kelly into this, or if Kelly decides to become a vetrinarian, she could be a real life Dr. Dolittle or can be a real life Eliza Thornberry."

"At least their semblances aren't as dangerous as mine," Ricky said. "I can turn any random object into a freaking time bomb. Thankfully my semblance doesn't work on people. But I really want to put it in action when we're on Remnant."

"Speaking of which, I really want to go back to Remnant again," Rebecca said.

"Yeah, but ever since the coronavirus came along, everything went to hell," Jacob said.

"With all the schools closed down, our chances of a proper graduation is pretty much down the shit bowl," Kendra said.

"And the worst part is that the government told us that we can't go back to Remnant because we'd risk having the COVID spread to Remnant as well," Britney said.

"So in other words, we're stuck in a hole here," Ricky said.

"So what now?" Robert asked.

"I can try and convince them once more, but I doubt they'll give us the okay," Jacob said.

"Until then we do nothing... as usual," Britney groaned.

"Let's just go home," Allen said.

Everyone then starts to make their way to their vehicles so they can get home.

"When I get back I need to finish reading RWBY: Before the Dawn," Allen said.

"It was really nice of E.C. Myers gave us the book before it was released," Rebecca said.

"Yeah, that way, we can track down members of the Crown in Vacuo and figure out how to fight back against them," Britney said.

"At least we know they aren't associated with Salem," Kelly said.

"But, just imagine if they were. They are still a dangerous threat in Vacuo that needs to be dealt with," Jacob said.

"Once we get back to Beacon, we tell Professor Ozpin so he can tell Professor Theodore about this," Kendra said.

"Exactly, Kendra," Allen responded.

"That is, if we are allowed to go back to Remnant," said Robert.

"All we can do is wait, and pray and hope we can go back," Jacob said.