"Dear me. She ended up failing."
There was a soft sigh throughout the room, emphasized by the shaking of a head. Though before long, the same owner of the voice clapped their hands and shrugged it off, getting out of her seat and casually walking across the room.
"Oh well. I suppose we can't win them all, it seems."
"In that light, what are we to do about this?" Another voice asked curiously.
"Isn't it obvious? My precious Ember was killed doing a noble duty. And it's quite clear that such an offense must be avenged, with all the retribution at our disposal." She folded her arms and hummed. "Not to mention, the poor man that accompanied her. This is only further motivation to make the ones behind such tragedies pay for such transgressions. Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna." She nodded. "There's no way I can allow them to get away with this scot free."
There was a soft pause.
"...You knew she wasn't going to make it out of that mission alive, did you?"
"Well, I wouldn't have minded if she had succeeded, if only so that their deaths would tie up one loose end and produce further suffering for the Schnees. Ember and her partner being killed in action was unexpected. It turns out Beacon's housed a few wolves alongside their mindless sheep..."
There was another soft pause as the others realized where this was going. "You're going to use this as an excuse to further attack Vale, aren't you?"
"Again, the ones responsible for the deaths of two dutiful White Fang members must repent for their transgressions with their deaths. It's clear now that leaving those two unattended for too long is bound to cause further problems in the future, and we can't have that."
She lightly palmed her cheek, as several scenarios began playing through in her head. And after deciding upon one, she slowly smiled, which soon took a turn for the truly sinister.
"The White Fang isn't to be crossed so easily. I think the planning stage for a little wake up killing spree is in order..." She smiled while gently palming her cheek.
As she began planning around these upcoming eventualities, her fellow White Fang couldn't help but nod and murmur, and eventually speak out with agreement.
From that moment on, they'll stop at nothing to see Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee, the two most active resistors to their cause, dead for their impudence. Their bodies will be desecrated to complete their humiliation, their comrades destroyed from the loss.
That will be a day that many a White Fang will happily feast and banquet over.
If there was one thing that could irritate anyone, it was interference when you're in the middle of something that you're truly into. It could amount to nothing more than a mild irritation, or something you wouldn't take your mind off no matter how hard you tried. It was that much of a distraction for you that no amount of feeling better was going to get rid of that sheer irritation that accumulated from those actions, and from those responsible for them.
This was something that this current someone was feeling right this moment. Almost nothing but mind-numbing irritation that cannot be erased for any reasons. It was no use. This was not an ager that could be reasoned away.
It was for this reason, that a mad doctor slammed his fists onto the computer in front of him, though not heavily damaging it much. The ones watching him could only shake their heads in disbelief. He always did have a rather intense reaction to setbacks and failures,.and today was little different.
"I can't believe this. Who was it? Who interfered with my operations?!"
"Well well, I never imagined that anyone would give enough of a damn about some outdated organization like the Circle, enough to come right out and help them from several simultaneous attacks at once."
"Seems like you've lost a valuable testing site AND an aide, Merlot. What will you do now?"
The man known as Dr. Merlot took several irritated breaths, before he lifted himself up and turned to the holographic images addressing him. He shook his head as his tried to regather his scattered thoughts.
"This doesn't change anything. But at the same time, I can't simply allow such interruptions to stand. I need to see who dares to interfere." With this, he looked into the recordings of the facilities left behind. There wasn't anything there that could be used to directly track him down, but there was enough of a commotion caused simply by noticing something was going on there that he believed someone would wise up and begin picking up the trail eventually. Still, best to see who was the cause of all that ruckus and to begin planning their destruction.
The image was pulled up, and the very first thing he saw was a red cloaked girl who had just defeated one of the larger Grimms in Dirce's experimentations. He pulled up the name for said girl, almost certain that she was a Huntress.
Then he was struck dumb.
"Ruby Rose...?" Dr. Merlot blinked. More information was pulled up, and he ended up glaring. "Half-Sister of Yang Xiao Long. Both whom are the respective daughters of Summer Rose and Raven Branwen."
He gritted his teeth. Of course.
Of all the things, of all people, it had to be the demonic spawn of those two. Especially the latter. He held his prosthetic arm in rigid anger at the memory of the woman who callously lopped off his arm when he once tried to escape capture for his crimes. Those two women have long since disappeared for some time. And now their daughters were Huntresses as well...?
"Oh dear." One of the holograms uttered in annoyance. "It seems that the daughters have grown up. And at the rate they're going, they're going to finish what their mothers began."
"That can't be allowed to happen! Those two by themselves were more obstructive roadblocks that anyone that came before! And if their potential is anything like theirs...Merlot, what are you going to do about this?!"
Right. The decision was easy.
He pulled up a certain channel, and managed to get a bit of attention in the process. "I know these young and spirited types. If their sparks are allowed any more time to heat up, they'll become raging wildfires. It needs to be put out ASAP, but I can't afford to steer away from my work. I have to make sure everything is in place...to destroy Vale."
He looked up as his cybernetic eye flashed red.
"I'll need some assistance. I can't allow them to interfere any further than they already have. No matter what you do, I don't care what it takes or how much destruction and death you need to rain down. But above all else, I want these two wenches DEAD!"
He emphasized the last word as he brightly highlights Ruby and Yang's names.
"Woohoo! Home sweet Beacon!" Yang cheerily cried out as the quartet had eventually returned to Beacon after another successful mission. Weiss was currently busy finalizing the mission completion status on her Scroll, while Blake and Ruby were mostly focused on the breakfast muffins they both had in their hands, casually eating them while in wait.
"Nn."
"Mhm~"
"How are you two so in sync?" Weiss muttered to them while shaking her head. Honestly, she never expected those two to get along so swimmingly, despite how different their dispositions tend to be. Regardless, she supposed that helped out in their bouts of teamwork.
Meanwhile, she's still caught in a game of hot-cold with Yang.
"Ya gotta learn to chill out a bit, Weiss." Yang slid an arm around Weiss, while the young woman sighed.
"I will hurt you."
"Promise?~"
"Grrr!" This was exactly what she meant. As soon as their mission time was up, and they weren't having a deep discussion, it was business as usual. Yang pushing her buttons and Weiss unable to push her back, as most things just slide on by her. She was both irritated by how easily she could do it, and envious because of the amount of control it gives over herself. It's something she herself would like to further hone and master.
"What does the big boss have to say about our mission completion?" Yang hummed. "Ruby wrecked the woman who was sicking those empowered Grimm on the Circle. They shouldn't have nearly as much of a problem anymore with her taken out and her facility wrecked beyond repair."
"Indeed. We can safely call the mission a success. However, the fact that someone was actively engaging in this in such a way...I have a feeling we won't be seeing this kind of scheme for the last time." Weiss muttered as she swiped across her Scroll. "It's likely that they'll launch a deeper investigation in order to trace this operations origins. It's highly unlikely that woman was operating alone."
"Makin' Grimm stronger? Yeah, there's no way only a single person is gonna be in on that."
"In some senses, I'm not entirely surprised." Blake hummed while eating the rest of her muffin. "During my...'travels', I've heard stories of certain people forming little cults that worship the Grimm themselves, and relish all of the destruction and death they bring upon people."
"...You don't think Dirce might have been one of those people, do you?" Ruby uttered with utmost seriousness.
"It's not entirely outside the realm of possibility. Remnant is no stranger to giving birth to vile concepts."
"Indeed it isn't."
Ruby, Weiss, and Yang blinked, then slowly turned as they saw Oobleck right within the center of the quartet. All but Blake jumped back in surprise.
"GAH!"
"Oh, it's Doctor Oobleck." Blake calmly noted as her ears flicked in place.
"H...How did you...?" Weiss pointed in confusion.
"You came outta nowhere!" Ruby's eyes sparkles with a sudden implication. "Can you teleport?"
"I'm afraid teleportation is outside of my abilities, Miss Rose."
"Dang it."
"Is there something you wanted, Doctor?" Yang asked while regaining her composure, complete with smoothing out her hair.
"Ah yes. I couldn't help but notice you were speaking of a cult. Primarily, one that worships the Grimm." Oobleck's glasses flashed. "There has been indeed murmurings of the existence of such a thing, and for much longer than one might think. There have been many throughout history who have succumbed to the belief that the Grimm are the superior species of Remnant, and as such they are the ones who deserve to dominate everything else." He slowly looked away. "It's not a nonsensical thought in the slightest, for there might be people who truly believe in that, and wish to see their potential realized, even if it's at the expense of everyone else."
"That's...pretty messed up." Yang groaned while scratching the back of her head. "The Grimm are out there tryin' to wipe everything out that isn't themselves, and yet these people wanna help them do exactly that? What kinda crazy shit do they have to be on to come to that conclusion?"
"Grimm can become stronger through negative emotions. The fact that humans, Faunus, and even regular animals are capable of carrying such things within them, they come to the conclusion that everything else is nothing but feed for the Grimm. In their mind, that is the natural order of things, and they're more than willing to enforce it themselves." Oobleck lightly pushed his glasses up with a sigh. "It is a far more common belief than one would hope not to expect."
Weiss narrowed her eyes. "And if this kind of organization was given a name, what would it be?"
"They have several names throughout history, but the name that tends to consistently come up the most is the Brotherhood of Grimm." Oobleck uttered with seriousness. "It is a given, that anyone who willingly joins such a council, has likely declared war with life itself."
There was a soft pause due to the information being given to them, about a potential member of a dreaded cabal that they may or may not have encountered. It was highly likely, given that the experimentations done there were meant to discover ways to further empower the Grimm and increase their potency for death and destruction.
Dirce could have been one of them? And what if Fasha was one of them as well? If so, then there was certain to be more of them. And if there were more of them...surely they wouldn't have the terrible luck of running into such a dangerous group again?
...Given the books she's read, Blake's already guessing that such likelihoods are quite high.
Yang for one, shook her head and clapped her hands. "Bah! What's with this air of dread over our heads?! That ain't gonna do nothin' but weigh us down!"
"Yeah!" Ruby cheered outwardly with a fist up. "We can't let something like this drain is or our spirits! If such a group is snooping around, Beacon will be on their case in a heartbeat!"
"Joy. Another malevolent organization to worry about." Weiss grumbled while folding her arms with a sigh. "I wonder just how many enemies we are going to build up during our careers that will want to kill us?"
"Likely many." Blake deadpans as her ear flicked slightly. Mentally, she thought about this Grimm worshipping organization, who thought that Grimm were the apex predators, and thus had the right to prey upon and slaughter everything that wasn't themselves. It didn't escape her notice that that's precisely how the White Fang have been operating, but with Faunus rather than Grimm. Yet another reason that it must not be allowed to continue any further.
"Which is fine by me." Yang hummed while rolling her neck and cracking her knuckles.
"And me!" Ruby raised her hand with a cheerful smile.
"More baddies to punch in the face."
"And more Grimm to slay with grace!"
Blake stoically clapped at the rhyme.
"Don't clap for them!" Weiss reprimanded quite loudly.
"I wonder if we'll all be beacons for trouble." Blake hummed.
Weiss glared. "I swear, if this keeps up, I'm gonna kill myself just for the mercy of not dealing with this tripe."
"I'm sure the White Fang will be displeased with you doing their job for them."
"Oh for f-"
"Yeah, lemme just confirm for you. Expect to build yourself a rep for being a pain in the ass for baddies out there." The team soon turned towards the source of the voice, which was Nora waving cheerfully towards them. "Yoo-hoo!~"
"Looks like they made it back. Thank goodness." Ren smiled as he and Nora were soon joined by Jaune and Pyrrha.
"I'll leave you alo to it, then. I implore you to share any more information you might have on these dangerous foes if you find any. This is very important, and information can save many lives. Including your own." Oobleck declared with a heavy air of seriousness...before he waved. "Have a nice day!"
And with that, he was off the next second. Nowhere to be seen.
"Okay, that dude is faster than we give him credit for." Yang uttered in confusion, before she turned towards their friends that came to meet with them. "Hey guys. Yeah, we've just completed ourselves another mission. And this one amped things up a bit. Are we awesome or what?!"
"AWESOME!" Nora heartily agreed, before she blinked and remembered what she was going on about before. "Oh, right. About that other thing. Ya know how being a Huntress is dangerous and all? Well heck yeah, that's some dangerous stuff. You're gonna build up quite a list of enemies at the rate you four are going."
"I find it quite inviting." Pyrrha smiled with clasped hands. "With such a plethora of enemies, it would come to chance that some of them will be worthy opponents, which will only further your own glory after proving you can indeed overcome their challenges." She had a warmth in her eyes that briefly struck with the others. "In another sense, it also means that time after time, you've stood up for something in life that you truly believed in. And that makes you a Champion."
"...I...wow. That's definitely one way to look at it." Yang scratched the back of his head. Guess there was quite a reason for Pyrrha to continue pursuing strength and the glory of overcoming powerful opponents. She herself had something to say and stand for with every victory she achieves.
"Tell em' Pyrrha!" Nora beamed while sliding an arm around her shoulder. "Nobody stands a chance against you and me together! No way no how!"
"Glad Nora's confidence remains firm." Ruby smiled, her hands behind her head with a whistle.
"Me too. Meanwhile, I'd appreciate if those same guys would give us a few moments of peace. Sometimes they're all over the place." Jaune sighed while shaking his head. "In any case, how in the world did your mission go?"
"I slayed a Cerebus Grimm." Ruby hummed while rocking back and forth. Jaune simply looked at her in confusion, and she shrugged. "It was like a large Alpha Beowolf, but it had three heads and six arms."
"Wait what?! That sounds crazy! You managed to kill something like that?"
"All by myself."
"Can confirm. The rest of us were a bit too occupied to back her up, so she pretty much soloed it." Yang raised her hand with an affirming nod. "And lemme just say, wow is she lucky. I woulda loved to tussle with something like that, rather than waste my energy with miss 'might makes right' that I got saddled with. Real downer, that bitch was." Yang sighed while lifting her arm and rolling her shoulder. "Ah well, there's no need to be cryin' over such a thing. What happened happened. Gotta face the path ahead."
"Ruby! You've slain a Grimm of such power and ferociousness?!" Pyrrha smiled proudly upon Ruby, placing her hands on her shoulders. "That's absolutely wonderful, Ruby! I'll have to slay a Grimm just as menacing to match such a feat!"
"Go for it! Don't expect me to just give you the lead, though!"
"I would be insulted if you did!"
"Ren. They're challenging each other to see who can kill more dangerous Grimm." Jaune noted.
"Yes they are, Jaune." Ren chuckled. The boys saw the two girls absolutely sparkling at the idea of slaying more dangerous Grimm in order to test and prove themselves as capable Huntresses. Pyrrha in particular was positively beaming at the idea of such a competition. And really, Ren couldn't blame her.
Out of the entire quartet, it seemed that Ruby was the most proficient of them when it came to Grimm slaying. And she had the eagerness to pursue doing so with great zest.
Blake's ears flicked as she noticed someone zipping to her right. It didn't take long for her to realize that it was Nora. She's seemed to be looking at the Faunus longingly as if expecting some sort of answer.
"Is there something you need, Nora?"
"The Circle. The town that you were assigned for the mission. Is it alright?" Nora asked sincerely, with a deep look in her eyes. Blake briefly wondered what that was about, then was reminded of what exactly she was fighting for.
Nora was likely aware that the Circle was a tight-knit organization that wanted to help people rise above their sense of helplessness, to become stronger in order to protect themselves against Grimm and all sorts of enemies. It was a place where anyone could belong if they wished to. And something about the way she looked when she asked that question tipped Blake off to the idea that she and Ren might know them a bit more personally, or at least a different section of them.
All the same, the Circle are those who help others master their Aura and Semblances so that they could rise above their helplessness in a dangerous world. The last thing they deserved was to be wiped out by a random, malicious whim. Fortunately, that part of the story, perhaps from history, was kept from being repeated.
"They're fine, Nora. They've been hit pretty hard by what's been going on around them, but they'll be alright." Blake assured her, lightly taking hold of Nora's hands. "The Circle has been given a happier ending this time. They will continue to thrive."
Nora looked positively delighted at the news, as her beautiful smile entailed. "Thank goodness. I'm so glad. Thanks for helping them out."
"Nn."
"Jauney! We should go on and visit the Circle for ourselves! It'll be nice to see how they're doing once they've picked themselves up a little."
"Heh, you got it. I'm sure they wouldn't mind a second course of assistance to make extra sure they get back on their feet." Jaune nodded firmly. "We look after the Circle, and the Circle helps others look after themselves and help others. We can never let anyone destroy that kind of dedication."
"No way in hell." Yang agreed fervently. "Those were good folk out there. They ain't do anything to be treated like that. Glad we managed to give them a hand when we were able to."
"Now then, I do believe that's two successful missions added to our accolades." Weiss noted with a rather esteemed smile. "We must do what we can to keep this up, so no slacking from either of you three! Our reliability is decided by our success rate, so we must exceed expectations in order to strive to greater heights! You three understand this, don't you?!"
"Aye!" Ruby raided a hand.
"Like you gotta tell us." Yang placed her hands behind her neck with a laugh.
"Understood." Blake simply nodded.
Weiss nodded quite firmly, before softening and sighing to herself. "Be that as it may...pushing ourselves recklessly is unlikely to produce consistently good results. Things may only grow more dangerous for us from here on, depending on what we do and where we're stationed. We have to make sure we-"
"Uggggggh. I know this is pretty obvious, but you've got a real overthinkin' problem sometimes, Weiss Cream." Yang briefly patted her back, which briefly caused her to stutter and nearly trip over herself. "We can worry about all that stuff later. We completed another mission! This is a time to be celebrating our win and trainin' our asses off so we can land another one next time!"
"While we're at it, it's high time we prepare for the Fall Maiden Festival." Ruby beamed brightly. "That's coming really soon, and we gotta do our part to make sure it's truly awesome!"
"You gotta point, sis. Hey, it's also gonna be Weiss's first time attending the Fall Maiden Festival in person, isn't it?!" Yang flashed the young lady in question a sunny smile. "We gotta make it real memorable for ya. Show that folk from Vale know how to have a great festival, too!"
Weiss coughed into her fist, briefly flipping her hair. "Hmph. You're building my expectations quite high. I'd best be truly dazzled or else I'll be disappointed." She huffed, though she inwardly was very interested in how Vale handled their own Maiden Festival, and actually couldn't wait to see what it entailed for herself.
Ruby soon turned towards Blake, gently taking hold of her hands and looking into her eyes. "Let's make it a memorable festival for you too, Blake." Goodness knows that Blake could use something to really cheer her up, after everything she experienced.
The sincerity in Ruby's eyes made Blake smile, and she nodded back. "I'm looking forward to it, Ruby."
Yang blissfully smiled at everyone getting along. Though, in the corner of her eye, she noticed someone sitting idly in the corner. And then she noticed the condition that they were in. As her friends and sister were mingling and wondering what to do next with their day, Yang took it upon herself to approach the person herself, and her expression grew more shocked as she did so.
This woman had been terribly injured. And not only was one of her arms gone, but so was her eye.
She had been given proper medical attention and it didn't seem like she was getting my worse, but the look in her eye. It looked like she's been completely destroyed inside.
"Hey. What happened...?" Yang asked quietly, slowly.
"... I've completely failed my mission. And my partner has been killed..." The woman muttered as she looked despondently towards the ground. "The woman who did so...I couldn't do anything. Not only did I fail to protect those I promised to...but she took my eye and arm so that I'd never be able to move past it. Permanent reminders of what I couldn't do." She closed her eye and teared up. "I'm completely worthless..."
Yang watched as the woman painfully recounted her failed mission, and wondered if she had a way to help her. Though, she wondered something else first. "Any idea what this chick looked like?"
"I can hardly remember...but I do remember that she wielded Lightning and Gravity Dust swords."
Yang's eyes briefly sparked. "What's your name?"
"...Kandi. Kandi Floss. And my partner was Roch Szalt." The woman sighed tiredly. "Why...?"
"I got rid of her."
For a moment, Kandi didn't hear Yang quite right. She slowly looks duo to the younger woman, her eye widening. "...What? What did you say?"
"I took that woman out. You said she had Lightning and Gravity Dust blades, right?" Yang asked for confirmation, and Kandi nodded hesitantly. "She's gone, now. She was bothering a tight-knit town called the Circle, and I stopped her before she could trouble them any further. She won't be hurting anyone else." Yang made sure Kandi could hear her clearly, so she couldn't trick herself into believing she was mistaken. And once she did, the realization fully hit Kandi's eye, and she stood up slowly. "It doesn't change that you lost to her, and that you lost someone important to you because of her...but I assure you, I didn't let her get away with it."
Kandi was beside herself to disbelief. And she began tearing up even more, before she allowed herself to fall into Yang's awaiting arms, for she was sure she needed the moment to collect herself.
"...Thank you...!"
"Don't worry about it. You just focus on getting back on your feet." Yang gently encouraged as she lightly patted the woman's back. She's been hurt. Deeply hurt, and this wasn't going to be enough to make it all go away. She doubted it ever would.
But a bit of brightness returned to her eye. That was a good start, and Yang couldn't help but smile at it.
As the group were discussing plans and how they were going to proceed with celebrations and future endeavors, Glynda had them all under her watchful eye. And after assuring that there was nothing else to report, she turned and made to resume her duties.
"Heeeyyy!" Amber chose a proper time to pop up, stepping in place while having her hood over her shoulder. "Somebody's looking mighty proud of our rookies! Is that a prideful glint in your eyes, Glynda?"
The woman in question merely pushed her glasses upwards. "Their paths have only just begun, Amber. It wouldn't do to swell their heads. It will only further expose them to great danger later down the road, especially if they can't get themselves out of the trouble they may place them in." Said glasses flashed briefly as the woman sighed to herself. "There have been too many cases of such things already."
Amber's gaze softened. "Hey, relax. These are good kids. We both know that. And they definitely don't seem to be the type who would sit on their haunches and simply basking in their wins. They're already focused on becoming stronger so they'll be able to earn another one." Amber nodded. "If slacking off is what you're worried about, then there's no need. These kiddies are driven to succeed, and that drive will help save lives."
"Indeed they will. Although, there is a much more pressing concern to be had, regarding the kind of enemies they've crossed paths with." Glynda soon stepped into her office, where Port, Oobleck, Qrow, and Taiyang were in waiting. "Something I believe we should have time to talk about together, no? It's rather important."
"Yeah." Qrow gruffly agreed with his hands in his pockets. "...Hey. I heard the kids have killed for the first time. How'd they take it?"
"They're not that shaken by it. It's one of those situations where not neutralizing the enemy right then and there would have borne fruit to even worse consequences." Glynda looked towards Qrow and Taiyang. "You've mentored them well."
"We just didn't expect such a thing to be so soon." Taiyang folded his arms while looking to the side. "...Anyway, about what the girls fought with. Oobleck filled us in on that specific part. It's who we'd prefer it wasn't, isn't it?" Taiyang looked as each of the other members of the group slowly nodded at the implications he laid down. He sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Of course it is. I really hoped it wasn't."
"The Brotherhood of Grimm."
"...Right."
Glynda looked darkly towards the others. "It would seem that your daughters have found traces them before we could, even if it was entirely by random accident." She then pushed up her glasses in deep thought. "That being said, I can't help but wonder if despite that, this was bound to happen at some point."
Taiyang and Qrow didn't say anything to that, though it was quite clear what she was referring to and why.
"Be that as it may, this much might confirm that they're still operating. Their drive to spread as much pain and misery across Remnant, has not changed. All for the Grimm to detect and follow, and raise carnage in their wake. This has been a battle that has been paused, it never ended." Glynda sighed. "And it appears that Ruby and Yang might have restarted such a conflict, without their entirely knowing of it."
"So what do we do, Glynda? Do you want us to hunt down any potential members for you?" Port urged with a raised fist. "I can assure you, once I've found my quarry, they will not escape me!"
"I will certainly require your help in that direction at some point, but today is not that day. I will have to leave it to Oobleck and Qrow to do the proper amount of information gathering. Going around blindly is not going to help us in the slightest, so that has to come first."
"If there are any more of them within Vale, we gotta hunt them down and crush them. Can't afford to give them any room or time to do whatever they wanna do." Amber noted while lightly pushing her hood back. "I'll be more than glad to lead such plans personally, if I have to."
"I'll appreciate that as well, Amber." Glynda nodded, before turning to the others. "It will be important that we inform of this to the others. James will especially want to know about this, given the kind of man that he is. If all of us are not connected in information, we won't be able to succeed." She narrowed her eyes. "Everyone is to be on alert, and to inform each other whenever new information on them comes up. We must remain ahead in these endeavors, as much as we possibly can. Every opportunity we miss will be yet another opportunity for our enemies to cause unrestrained disarray, and it will all build up into a truly uncontainable disaster. That must not happen. Understood?"
Everyone nodded in agreement, and Glynda felt herself become a bit lighter. She was glad she could rely on them when need be. That being said, she couldn't help but think back to how Ruby and Yang were able to uncover one of that group's remnants. It was just as well, since it gave them a lead to follow, but it still left her with a rather ghost of a feeling.
She had no doubt that these incidents will only keep increasing as time passes and they continue growing. They're very much like their mothers in that regard.
Salem slowly opened her eyes, looking out towards the darkness of the lands. She gently descended down to the ground, with a practiced amount of grace, as she slowly strolled forwards. Several thoughts swirled in her head, though quite a few were striking out more than others. And it didn't take long until them combining into one, where she allowed herself a small smile of interest.
"It would seem she's getting involved sooner than I anticipated. Are you really prepared for such a path of trials, Ruby?" Salem wondered. She then huffed as she lightly placed a hand on her cheek. "Dear me, what am I saying? Of course you are. You have yourself quite a powerful resolve within you, which will be in your favor as you continue to blossom beautifully. Though, I still wonder what exactly you'll blossom into. I'm certainly curious in finding out."
Salem slowly turned towards Remnant's moon, thoughts of the distant past flashing by in her thoughts.
"Until then...I suppose I'll have to simply entertain myself via watching your path to blooming. I'm sure I don't have much to worry about in that regard, for you're sure to bloom wonderfully. You have plenty of people and experiences to help you along. It should make for some fond memories for you to build up and remember."
All the possibilities began flowing in her mind, and she was curious as to which one might bear fruit or not. It should make for a fascinating tale for her to observe. Observing was all she could really do in her current situation. It's been like this for centuries, but she's able to keep herself occupied doing so.
And as she pondered about this, her eyes closed as another thought came to her, one that she almost didn't take into account. She considered hitting herself in the head for overlooking such a significant detail, but there would be no doubt that it will become important at some point in time, given who the subject was.
Yes. There was no doubt about it, in this particular instance. Sooner or later, she was going to get involved. And then things would really start to pick up quite a bit.
Until then, she's content observing the next page in Ruby's journey.
Solitas. The northernmost continent of Remnant, and home of Atlas and Mantle.
The coldest continent of all, and had truly harsh cold climates. The frozen tundra was truly rough to get through without the proper preparations. And even then, it took a lot of will, equipment, and strength. And even then, one is not guaranteed to make it out of it without freezing to death.
Needless to say, a lot had to be done and a lot had to be taken into account, in order for life to build and be sustained here. And currently, that very worry was a justified one.
A herd of Megoliaths were heading towards Mantle, charging ahead with such intensity that the alarms were already being raised once their presence was detected. Their charges seemed to be quaking the ground beneath them, and the menacing closing red marks on them letting those ahead of them know of their presence. At the sight of such a numerous and highly dangerous threat heading their way, the combine herd easily accounted up to a Chaos or Beast level threat.
Fortunately, someone was already on the case in terms of dealing with the ever approaching stampede. They landed a decent few yards in front of the herd.
"Hey hey. Mantle's got enough troubles on its plate, ya know. How about you turn around and go away?" They uttered, with a hood over their head. They slowly raised said head while faced with the board of enemies around them. And one distinguishing feature one would be able to pick out from them when close enough by.
The skull mask.
"Huh. They don't seem to be stopping." They uttered with folded arms, sighing as the herd came ever closer. They then shrugged. "Mmm. Oh well, guess we'll have to do this the hard way." They lifted their foot and stomped it hard into the cold ground.
Moments later, large glowing bones shot up from the ground and pierced right through every single Megoliath right through their centers. High enough in the air for their momentum to have been completely eradicated. All but one of them, who was still charging towards them with renewed sense of vengeance. The stranger raised their arm, as a scythe manifested in their hands, almost entirely made of glowing blue bones. With a single upward wing, the slicing wave of Aura severed the approaching beast in two, and it fell on the sides in two pieces, before ultimately disintegrating into shadows.
The entire herd eradicated in under a minute.
The scythe in their hands slowly dissipated, and they scratched the back of their head with a nod. "Whew. That was a bit too close. One of them almost managed to get by. That wouldn't have been good." They cleaned off their hands and smiled behind their mask. "Welp! Time to head back!"
With that, they turned on a heel and made their way back to Mantle. It's been quite a day, and they could use some time to warm up and relax after a long while of exploring Solitas. They could sure use the rest.
After some time of maneuvering through Mantle, they finally reached their destination. A humble little clinic right within the middle of some of the noise Mantle tends to make on their busiest nights. Landing right in front of the door and seeing the lights were on, they gave it a bit of a ring before quietly stepping inside.
"Knock knock, Pietro! Look who's home! The best part of your day, that's who!"
There was a bit of rustling throughout the room, before someone stepped away from their desk at their presence.
"Well, you're back a lot sooner than usual." Pietro remarked with a bit of relief, standing as the cybernetics in his legs whirred to life.
"A Megoliath stampede was marching it's way over here, thinking it was gonna cause a ruckus. But I took care of it, quick-as." They soon lightly scratched their head. "And all of that ruckus caused Mantle to raise it's alarms...uh, I think it's going to take some time for them to calm down again."
"I don't think you can blame them too much for that. Given the conditions it's understandable that they would get frightened by such a large gathering of Grimm heading our way. Of course, no one's quite that used to your swift response to such events."
"Yeah. I feel kinda bad about that." They soon shrugged. It was what it was. They soon walked over to the man as he was gazing upon his Scroll, and they tenderly slid their arms around him. "So genius, what's new? Anything worthwhile?"
"Nothing too much around here. Business is quiet, yet also peaceful." He soon turned to his Scroll. "My daughter is heading to Vale, soon. Glynda and Ironwood have agreed to throw in their lot on a cooperative project to see if she can adapt to an environment outside of what she's used to." He sighed. "I do hope she'll finally find some friends."
"Yeah, Ironwood's people aren't bad ones, but aside from Fria, they really gotta lighten up. Especially Caroline, that wet blanket."
"She wouldn't be such a wet blanket if you would stop antagonizing her."
"Be sure to tell that to her when you see her next time, because legitimately, all I'm doing is passing by, and she tires to pick a fight with me."
Pietro sighs again, realizing that wasn't going to go anywhere. "By the way. Beacon's acquired quite a bit of new talent in these times. I think you'll be personally interested in one of them. A young lady in red, named Ruby Rose."
"Is that right? What about her could get my interest?"
"She's recently helped a branch of the Circle in Vale. I think Vine over at the Atlas Military would really appreciate that, being a former member of the Circle himself. She's also in a team with the Schnee Family's middle child, Weiss. And that's not all." Pietro's glasses flashed at this, as he handed her the Scroll. "Take a look at her eyes."
They took the Scroll and got a good look at Ruby's profile. Their eyes soon widened behind their mask in disbelief.
"...Well, I'll be damned."
Pietro smiled at the warmth in their voice. They slowly took off their ornate skull mask and slid their hood off their head, trying to really take in the image of the girl in the image. The person themselves was fall, and had a beautiful, womanly figure, as her gray colored shoulder length hair now unconstrained by her hood. And staring brightly at the image, with her two bright and shining silver eyes.
The very same eyes this young lady in the image had, from a much younger generation.
"Eyes, that shine like mirrors...she really is a member of my bloodline."
"What will you do now, Maria? Do you want to meet her?" Pietro asked of her.
"...Not right now. There's still much for me to do. I can't very well drop everything just for this, you know." Maria Calavera calmly declined, but that did nothing to wipe the smile off of her face. "That being said, I now have a very good reason to keep myself posted on Beacon's activities."
Yes. There's no way she couldn't keep up with Beacon news after this. She'll have to keep herself posted on their activities and whereabouts, just to know how this young lady is doing. Herself and her father thought of their bloodline to be so rare that her chances of meeting another in her lifetime were almost non-existent. And yet here was one, right in Beacon, alive and appearing to be well.
It won't be right now. She still had a job to do and other important obligations to live up to. But Maria's already decided that her eventual meeting with Ruby Rose was set in stone.
Thank goodness, I managed to live long enough to discover you. I await the day that our shining eyes will meet one another in camaraderie.
Ruby Rose.
Circle Arc is done.
Note: This Maria pretty much looks like her young self, but with gray hair and a wee bit of wrinkles here and there. She's remains a pretty lady at her age. Also yes, she has a different Semblance.
And age has not made her weaker.
This Elite Elder is still in top condition. There will be further demonstrations in time.
Also, we now have two kinds of villainous factions gunning for Team RWBY.
That's gonna be annoying.
And very, very dangerous.
But with the will that everyone has, and a little luck, they might be able to pull through despite the challenges.