So, having re-watched the last few episodes of RWBY volume 7, I have to say that I'm quite impressed. The writing had definitely improved a lot from the previous two to three volumes in terms of overall quality. Same thing goes for the fight scenes too. Before, I hadn't really thought too much of RWBY other than that it was a decent enough show to watch but with plenty of potential… though volume 5 and portions of volume 6 did lower my opinion of it considerably. Now though? I could actually say that it's a pretty good show and say so unironically.
Of course, it's far from a perfect show, obviously and there were a fair few plot holes here and there, but that's expected by now. The Ace-Ops, especially Clover and Marrow for obvious reasons, were a fun bunch to watch. Even when the last few episodes came around, well, sure their actions then irritated me for being too 'with us or against us' and all that, but at the same time it made sense to me and that matters more to me than what I'd have preferred to have happen. Doesn't make them (or Winter) any less stupid for being so damned obedient, but I guess that's just what it means to be a soldier… though one would think even soldiers such as them would have learned to actually question orders.
Oh well.
Anyways, what did you guys think of volume 7? Any moments that really wowed you? Any parts that had you pissed? I'm curious to know!
Now then, let's get onto the chapter! And man, I'm just on a roll with getting these chapters out!
Chapter 32
A few days go by without much incident. And it was this lack of conflict that honestly had Jaune feeling a bit on edge, if only due to what had been going on since then.
Which is to say that the drama around Blake was still ongoing and was showing no signs of stopping any time soon.
Currently, however, there really wasn't much he nor his friends could do, given that they were currently in the middle of class. Team RWBY, however, was absent.
Just as Blake had been all but told to do by general Ironwood, she'd gone to Vale's walls in order to combat the Grimm that have recently been attacking it and her friends had gone along with her, both to assist and to protect her; they trusted no one else that might be assigned to the walls to leave Blake alone.
Jaune doubted things were going to be easy for team RWBY out there on the walls, but he figured they were all better off there than here; many of their fellow students were rather pissed about it all, still. Which made sense, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
No matter. He just had to do whatever he could. In this case, that meant simply gritting his teeth and enduring the slander against his friend.
Oh, he could try and talk to some of his peers, try to make them see Blake for the flawed but ultimately good person she is, but he had long since stopped being naïve enough to believe that words alone would change the minds of so many people.
At least with what Blake was doing, out in open view of anyone close enough to the walls, she would be seen combatting the Grimm in the name of the public's safety. Again, it won't change everyone's mind, but she didn't have to win over everyone, just enough people to take her side.
Class ended soon enough as did the rest of classes for the day. It was now time for an early dinner and Jaune and his fellow male opted to cook dinner rather than go out to eat.
Working together, the duo whipped up a scrumptious meal that even in these hard times had drawn the attention of some other students passing by through the dorm's massive kitchen, to the point where some girls had even seemed to look at him and Ren with rather flirtatious looks. Apparently, men cooking and doing it well was sexy or something, Jaune belatedly realized.
But Pyrrha and Nora pretty much scared away these people by glaring at them really hard – man, what dedicated partners he and Ren had, Jaune thought, oblivious to the real reason – and in the next few minutes, they took to eating silently but heartily.
It was really the only way to take their minds off the situation going on.
"I can't believe how many people are talking badly about Blake," Pyrrha said quietly, but angrily. "I mean, I understand that she was a part of the White Fang, but…"
"It can't be helped," Jaune immediately pointed out. He looked at her and did a little motion with a free hand. "You of all people should understand her plight."
At that, Pyrrha could only sigh. "…Yes, I can."
She'd told him of her fame as the 'Invincible Girl' and how such a reputation had garnered her a legion of fans… as well as isolating her from most others, to the point where making friends had been so terribly hard for her to do. And with no way to combat this isolation, numerous rumors, though fortunately harmless, popped up about her.
Though the circumstances were as different as could be for her and Blake, the same basics still applied. All people could see was Blake's past now as a former White Fang. Even though they don't know the girl herself, they've already come to form certain opinions about her and acted on these opinions. Such was the way of things.
"Do you really think this will help her?" Ren questioned after taking a small sip from his delicious homemade vegetable drink. He was, of course, referring to Blake and her friends helping out at the walls.
Nora, sitting directly across from her partner, scoffed loudly. "Ha! As if that's change the minds of all these idiots!"
"N-Nora, not so loudly, please…!" Pyrrha pleaded quietly from beside her. Some other students who'd also come to make their own meals were looking their way and weren't looking too pleased, being able to somewhat overhear this conversation.
"Sadly, she's right. It might win over some people, but not everyone," Jaune said, basically spouting his thoughts from class earlier. "At least she hasn't been called up to speak before the council yet… but I feel like that'll change very soon."
Then, as if by the hand of some particularly mischievous god, their scrolls beeped in unison.
Pulling them out and opening up the messeage they'd received, JNPR paused for a solid few seconds.
The message in question was from the headmaster. And true to form, it would seem that tomorrow, Blake will be going to the council's meeting chambers to answer some very serious questions. And it looked like she would be taken to the place in question via a rather scenic route, meaning plenty of people that would be out during the day at that time would see her…
…But as worrisome as that was, the message also included another few details – they would be to act as part of Blake's escort. In other words, bodyguards. Looks like the headmaster had taken his suggestion to heart, after all, Jaune realized.
Alas, while this was good news of a sort, it didn't please Jaune entirely.
He narrowed his eyes as he reread the message a second and third time… and noticed that it didn't mention the rest of team RWBY at all.
Would they be going to meet the council and it was just so obvious a thing that the headmaster felt no need to mention it? No, that seems too unfeeling of the man. He may be on the strict side a bit, if that speech from the beginning of the school year was anything to go by, but he'd long since proven to care for his students greatly, even if he was rather aloof in how he went about things.
Still, the lack of acknowledgement about whatever role the rest of RWBY was to play in this was throwing Jaune off.
Looking up from his scroll, his eyes met Pyrrha's and then Nora's and Ren's. Once more, his friends were on the same page as him… unfortunately, same page or not, it wasn't as if there was anything they could do about it at the moment.
Sighing, Jaune put his scroll away. "…Let's finish dinner," he said simply. "Then we'll go see the headmaster as per the message's final instruction."
The very last comment in the message had been for them to see the headmaster directly at the earliest possible time in order to receive additional details.
Jaune just hoped that said details would clear up his mounting confusion.
"Enter," Ozpin said upon detecting JNPR's arrival to his office.
The four dutifully obeyed and they walked in. Ozpin eyed them critically as they did so, especially Jaune Arc.
Ever since that time a few days ago, the ancient wizard had been on serious edge. The very fact that the blond had even spoken Salem's name at all had confirmed that Ms. Belladonna did indeed tell her friends about what he'd been stupid enough to utter.
However, having kept a close eye on them via the campus' security cameras, it didn't seem like either JNPR or RWBY had gone around speaking of Salem's name to anyone else, which was the only good thing so far about this.
But just what did they intend to do, he wondered? It was as plain as day that they wanted to know more, he could almost literally feel the curiosity pouring off them about Salem… but now the question is, just what exactly will happen next?
He had to know and he had to know fast. As it is, he'd yet to tell James of this slip-up and for good reason – the man was already swiftly reaching his last nerve thanks to this fiasco with Ms. Belladonna's past being aired out for all to hear about. If he told the general of this potential leak, there was no telling what James would do in his currently rattled state.
Thus, he'd need to observe them and hopefully plug this leak for good before he could even think about telling James or any of his other associates about this.
"You came at a good time," he began as he stood up. Normally, he'd offer them seats, but he could tell from their postures that they were too tense to even think of sitting any time soon, at least not in his presence. "Let us jump to the matter at hand then – Ms. Belladonna had been summoned by the council and is required to be there tomorrow at approximately five in the afternoon. As you've read in my message, there will be an escort and you are to be a part of it."
"Why the suddenness of this?" Jaune Arc spoke. "This feels rather quick… and what of team RWBY too?"
The headmaster inwardly sighed. "It would seem that sending out Ms. Belladonna to the walls these past few days had been a misstep on my part – seeing her out there, working so closely with Vale's sole defense against the land-based Grimm has many people feeling antsy. The council is sadly included among this group."
At first, he'd been able to talk the council into taking their time thinking this all over, but now they were acting rather hastily, he couldn't help but think… but no, looking at it from their point of view, it would be worrisome to see a supposed terrorist being placed so close to such vital things. That said, it didn't make his frustration towards the council any less intense.
"As for team RWBY, they've also been summoned by the council to serve as Ms. Belladonna's defense of a sorts," he continued.
"Testimony," Lie Ren murmured, more to himself than anything else.
Nonetheless, Ozpin nodded in confirmation. "Correct. Not only that, but thanks to the CCT, Ms. Belladonna's parents have reached out to us in defense of their daughter not long after the news broke about her past. They will be there tomorrow as well."
That certainly got JNPR's attention and they all looked quite startled by that. "That's cool and all, but why's that?" Nora Valkyrie of all people asked, looking so very confused. "I mean, won't those stupid meanies-."
"Nora, be nice," Ren interjected.
Nora continued, undeterred. "-Just dismiss their words as bias or something?"
Ozpin's lips quirked upwards in very light amusement for the first in time in days. This was something he very much appreciated; there was just no telling when the next time would be where he could actually relax and take joy in something.
"Ordinarily, yes, the opinions of parents can be very biased indeed. However – and I do hope Ms. Belladonna doesn't mind me spilling the beans here – but her father, Ghira, used to be the high leader of the White Fang before Sienna Khan took his place. As for her mother, Kali, well, she never held any official position within the organization, she was nonetheless an advisor to her husband, so she holds considerable sway. More so since the man himself serves as chieftain of Menagerie, with Kali once again serving as an advisor of sorts. Thus, they hold a great deal of influence."
He didn't know the couple himself, but he always did his best to keep tabs on all major players, both before and after taking up official positions of authority. Though the Belladonnas were far from the sort of people to go around advertising their status, Ozpin was honestly amazed no one had ever noticed the connection between them and their daughter long ago. It wasn't as if Ms. Belladonna had gone through any considerable effort to hide her identity.
He supposed that could be blamed on the rather disjointed manner the kingdoms were run in; it wasn't as if every town or village kept birth certificates or any sort of records at all on their residents nor was it as if said residents would keep those records at hand upon choosing to live within the kingdoms themselves.
Anyways, JNPR was more than taken aback by what he'd just said, surprised enough to really show their feelings, which was quite convenient for him…
Except for Mr. Arc, of course.
The blond teen was by no means unaffected by the news, but he did a far better job than his teammates were doing at hiding his shock. More than that, just as the headmaster tried to get a read on the team, Mr. Arc looked to be doing something similar.
There was no sense of hostility behind the blond teen's actions, but rather a quiet yet intense inquisitiveness that had Ozpin rethinking some things.
Considering all that he knew of the teen so far, he was a wild card, but an undeniably powerful one at that too… would it perhaps be worth it to just bring him into the fold…?
No, he thought. Just as he'd said, the teen was a wildcard. While he had a fair good image of the kind of person Mr. Arc is, there's no way to know for sure how he'd react to what he could learn.
"Getting back on topic," he decided to say next as JNPR regained their composure. "They'll be making their own way to the council and in advance of Ms. Belladonna. They will also have their own security, so that will not be a primary concern of ours for now. What matters is securing Ms. Belladonna's as well as her team's safe passage from here to the council's chambers. It is a rather straightforward route, but that just makes it much more dangerous."
Having gained their attention again, he brought up a holographic map and silently beckoned them to move closer for a better look.
He began to go after in as much detail as possible over what was to be done. For one thing, they wouldn't be the only people assigned as Ms. Belladonna's security, but rather would actually be working with a few fully-fledged huntsmen and be put in charge of going on ahead to ensure the route is properly cleared and that any and all potential troubles are dealt with in advance.
The headmaster painstakingly went over every single street they'd be going down, pointing out to the best of his ability every single blind spot the cameras may have and what spots the police that have been assigned to this event will have trouble covering as well.
In spite of how sudden this all was, he did his damnedest to ensure that he was prepared for any manner of trouble. He'd learned his lesson from how nearly catastrophic things had been recently to be more active in how he went about things.
All the while, he made sure to monitor the team closely, but alas it seemed it was for naught; they were completely absorbed in what he was currently saying and showing them. Their dedication to their friends' safety was truly admirable, even though RWBY was more than capable of fending for themselves.
Roughly twenty or so minutes later, he finally began to wrap things.
"…I know that was an awful lot to drop on you," he began. "But do understand that this was equally as sudden for me. That so much has already been coordinated is a true miracle in and of itself."
That said, he had the sinking feeling that the council had already been planning something like this from the moment they'd started to recover their wits during the initial bombshell; no way the route could've already been planned out and covered to this extent already. They'd likely contacted the police commissioner the very second they'd finished speaking with him in order to discuss police presence.
"You've any questions?" he asked.
The four students shared a look between them for a moment before Pyrrha Nikos spoke up. "Will it be possible for us to provide testimony in her defense as well?"
"I honestly can't say. In all likelihood, you'll be on standby outside the council chambers as active security… but we'll see what happens," Ozpin answered truthfully.
That seemed to be enough for Ms. Nikos and she nodded in thanks. When no one else seemed to step up, Ozpin then nodded.
"Very well then. Thank you for your time. I'd advise you turn in early for the night. Now, dismissed…. Ah, except for you, Mr. Arc. There's a private matter I need to discuss with you."
Mr. Arc looked to his teammates and nodded at them in indication that he'll be okay. They clearly had a great deal of faith in him for they merely returned his nod and took their leave.
Now it was just him and the blond teen once more. Ozpin was beginning to notice this was a bit of a running thing between them.
"Is something the matter, headmaster?"
"…Not quite," Ozpin answered quietly. "I merely wished to see how you're doing."
"Me?" The blond was understandably confused.
The headmaster nodded. "With everything that's been going on since then, I've neglected your mental health… given what it was during your mission debriefing that one time."
He was referring to the boy's sudden openness during the debriefing about what happened at Sol. This was both a genuine attempt at seeing how the boy was doing now… as well as a ruse to see if he can better gauge his intentions.
It was two-faced, yes, but it had to be done.
The blond teen looked taken aback but settled down a split second later. "I…" He closed his eyes and then took a deep breath. "I'm doing better now. I just had to get that off my chest last time. Sorry if it caused you any worry, sir."
"Not at all. I'm glad to hear that. But do note that my doors are always open in case things become too much for you, Mr. Arc," Ozpin said and genuinely at that. "But do tell me – has there been anything of late that has warranted any concern from you? Aside from Ms. Belladonna's circumstances?"
Perhaps he'd just been too on the nose there – the way the boy's eyes narrowed ever so subtly, it was clear that he realized that he was referring to Salem's name. The boy really was sharp despite just how vague his words had been.
"…No, not really, sir," the boy answered. "At least, not as far as I know. Speaking generally though, I just wish to be sure that nothing will be threatening my friends… or any others."
Did Mr. Arc somehow sense that Salem did indeed pose a threat of sorts? If so, then his instincts were monstrous in a sense. Just how could he ascertain something like that from just a name alone…?
"I assure you, once this current mess is over and done with, things should be settling down for quite a while."
Which is to say, that Salem should hopefully be hanging back just a little longer until making her next grand move. Now, whether or not his student could pick up on that vague statement remained to be seen…
…And seen, it was. He could tell by the way Mr. Arc ever so slightly nodded. And it was also clear that there was numerous questions he wanted to ask yet held himself back from doing so.
"I see. That's good to hear, sir. It's good to know we can always rely on you and the others to watch out for us all. Though if there's ever anything I and my team can do to help…"
Ozpin couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Arc. My apologies for holding you up. You may take your leave, unless there's something else you wish to discuss."
The boy stayed quiet for just a second longer he should've, assuming he was trying to hide his intense stare. "Thank you. Have a good day and a good night, sir."
Ozpin returned the boy's words and he watched in silence as the blond left.
It wasn't until well after he took his leave that Ozpin finally returned to his own seat and sat down, sighing in the process.
"Well, that had been something," he said to himself.
Once again, Jaune Arc made clear his desire to help… and yet, it was also all too clear with how suspicious he sounded that he didn't quite trust him. The boy was a truly good person, but he was by no means a fool. He would not just go along with serving as a pawn, no matter how well he'd be treated and whatnot.
Thus, the boy would still be labelled a wildcard, Ozpin thought, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Simply going by their brief conversation, it seemed rather clear to the headmaster that Mr. Arc would let the matter drop for now, keep quiet about it… but only up until Salem made her move, at which point he would get involved and to hell with whatever Ozpin or his allies would have to say about it.
It was honestly reckless, for a teen, however strong he may be, to imply something like that without fully knowing everything, but it was nonetheless admirable. And it wasn't as if the boy was unaware of the fact that he didn't know everything either, meaning he wouldn't just blindly leap into the fray should things reach that point.
"You just get more and more interesting, Mr. Arc," Ozpin murmured as he leaned back in his chair. "Though the question still remains just what should be done about you…"
Alleviated to a point, Ozpin still had to wonder how things would progress from here… but after knowing what he knows now, if nothing else, Jaune Arc will fight for what was right.
That alone will have to do for now.
"Sir," a White Fang lieutenant called out to him. "It's nearly time."
Adam nodded, finishing the polishing of his blade and returning it to his sheathe. "Good. Then it's time to move out."
"Yes, sir!"
And so, as the new day began, Adam Taurus and his forces prepared themselves.
Today was going to be a day Remnant would not forget anytime soon.
Watts smirked in quiet triumph. It really can't be said enough how much he enjoys seeing the fruits of his labor.
"It's done?" Cinder asked somewhat impatiently from nearby.
"Yes." He'd figured the council and White Fang would've been making their respective moves by now… but what they didn't know was that in this short period of time, he'd taken the liberty of moving things along even more.
Thanks to that little imp that Cinder had by her side – surprisingly capable, he had to admit – gaining direct access to the systems he'd needed to tap into had been so terribly easy. From there, it'd been as simple as hacking the emails of every council member and essentially faking an entire conversation between them. All he had to do was just take emails they'd already been sending to each other and just alter the wording a little to best craft the scenario he wanted. Wordplay – it truly was an incredible craft. With just a few changes here and there, fooling others is as easy as breathing. All it took was just a few nudges here and there to their thought processes to make them agree to this entire farce now of all times.
As for the White Fang, well, reverse tracking their own digital footprints had also been a breeze for him. Against most others, their defenses would've been commendable enough, but to him, who'd written the entire code for Mantle's systems, it was nothing. On this end, all that had been needed was to show them the altered emails to make them think that the council had been coming around to this idea of their own accord. These screenshots had also had a special virus encoded within them that had given him access to the systems they were using as well and he'd activated the radio equipment there to monitor for himself what was being said at nearly all times.
"Taurus and his goons will be on their way now," he stated as he turned in his chair. "Thus, it'll soon be our time to move as well, Cinder. Ready yourself."
The woman nodded stiffly. "And our targets? Will they be there?"
She was referring to Jaune Arc and his team along with team RWBY, of course.
Watts nodded. He didn't miss the look of predatory anticipation in the different colored eyes of the diminutive woman standing near Cinder nor did he miss the way Hazel's arms slowly tensed up as well.
It was enough to almost make him laugh. At least his cohorts weren't wanting for motivation.
"Let's go," Cinder said as she pivoted and made to leave. "And Watts… your help was of great use. But don't forget that this is still my mission in the end."
Watts huffed as the young woman left before he could even bother responding. "Really now… just how useful does she believe herself to actually be to Salem?"
This was a question that was to not receive an answer, for everyone else in the room had taken off too, no doubt to prepare for what was to come next.
Watts sighed, his mood slightly soured.
But he cheered himself up merely seconds later – after all, the prelude to the destruction of Vale was now going to start.
The day goes by quickly, far too quickly for Blake's liking. Unfortunately, whether she wanted to or not, it would soon be time to speak directly before the council.
Currently, she was serving as the heart of an armed transport, heavily armed to be more precise. She wasn't sure if she should be flattered or appalled by the level of security around her. Was she really that much of a flight risk? What with two professional huntresses sitting inside the transport alongside her while two more sat inside the car behind them where the rest of her team was at, it certainly did feel like overkill. Blake had plenty of confidence in her skill, but she knew all too well that she was still years away from being on the level of a professional huntress.
That wasn't getting into the other huntsmen and police that seemed to be following either alongside or behind her transport, to say nothing of the police car leading the way in front of said transport.
Intellectually, she knew this was needed just in case any protestor – of which, she could hear many of as they neared their destination – decided to get a bit too uppity, but it still felt like overkill.
Unless… where they perhaps expecting something else to happen? Did they fear a White Fang attack upon her person? It certainly would make for quite a statement – how the White Fang will go out of its way to strike down a traitor and was more than capable of doing so within the heart of Vale.
Even so, this felt like too much, but perhaps that was just her nerves talking now.
…That said, regardless of the exact reason for all this security, she was rather surprised that no soldiers from Atlas were accompanying her in some way. Was this a show of slight trust from general Ironwood? No, she doubted it. Either the headmaster managed to talk him down or the man was simply having some of his forces hang back and watch from afar.
…Yeah, the latter sounded much more likely. It didn't put her at ease.
What did put her at ease though… was who exactly were among the huntsmen outside right now – team JNPR.
No doubt due to a combination of them knowing her – therefore, being able to put her at ease – and their own capabilities that considerably exceeded the norm for first years, especially Jaune, that was why they must have been chosen to be here.
They would definitely stand out, what with their age and all, but while that might probably make them a little uncomfortable, Blake really did appreciate their efforts.
Minutes go by, time now feeling like it was moving at an agonizing crawl. But sure enough…
"We're here," one of the huntresses said as the transport came to a stop, immediately getting up and maintaining a certain distance between herself and Blake as someone came and opened the transport from the outside.
Immediately, Blake was bombarded by the sight of the massive city hall that the council conducted their business at… in addition to the sight of numerous people behind thick blockades made of those thick stone roadblocks and policemen.
The people were protestors and they made this known as they all yelled at her in pure anger. The sheer level of negativity that she could almost literally sense right now ought to have brought a fair few Grimm here, but she supposed the people back at the walls were taking care of that right now.
The mere sight of so many protestors was almost enough to break her… but the sight of her friends as they exited the car they were in helped to calm her as did the sight of JNPR as they were spread out yet still close by in case anything happened.
She looked at the latter, specifically Jaune, and he nodded upon making eye contact with her. His hand was resting on the sole sword he now had, looking for all the world as though he was just letting his hand rest on it, but she knew well just how quickly he could draw forth his blade when needed. His strength, both in combat and in mental fortitude, was appreciated.
"You ready to talk some smack to these cronies?" Yang quipped with a cheeky smirk as she and the rest of team RWBY neared her. That she would so brazenly joke like that was enough to get the huntresses around them to frown in distaste.
For her part, Blake merely laughed albeit quietly. "Considering how much trouble I'm already in, I think I'll let you take care of that for me."
Yang's eyes twinkled dangerously… up until Weiss gave the blonde a light slap on the shoulder. "Don't actually take her seriously, you big idiot," the heiress said though not unkindly. "The last thing any of us need is you being thrown in jail just because you couldn't control your pun-spewing mouth."
"Ha, you're just jealous I'm way more open than you are," Yang shot back with a smirk. "Come on, I know you want to tell them off too."
Weiss rolled her eyes, but she had a slight smirk of her own too.
Ruby gasped in fake shock. "Weiss! Don't become like Yang! Just one of her is bad enough!"
As her teammates – her friends – acted as though today was any other day, Blake couldn't help but watch them with a smile, thankful for their presence. When she'd been told about this sudden hearing, her friends had immediately demanded to go and speak on her behalf, no if, ands or buts about it.
Now, the four of them were escorted inside and the thick material that comprised the building did wonders for blocking out all the noise outside. It was a pleasant surprise.
But what proved to be an even greater surprise was the sight of two very familiar people that had been awaiting her deeper within the building.
"M-Mom?" Blake stuttered out. "D-Dad?!"
There, just further down the hall leading up to the council's chambers, were her parents. The mere sight of them, looking as they did all that time ago, was enough to nearly freeze her in place. Only barely did she even notice the presence of others in the hallway, security personnel comprised of policemen and some people that had clearly come from Menagerie.
"Blake!" her mother cried out upon seeing her. She immediately rushed up to hug her and mercifully no one stopped her. "Oh, my baby girl…"
Her mother, Kali Belladonna, damn near hugged the life out of her right then and there and all Blake could do was just stand in place like an idiot.
H-How…? After running away from home to join up with the likes of Adam and Sienna, after spending so much time committing such horrible things, just how could her mother be quick to rush to her like this?
Her mother broke the hug and looked her in the eyes, nothing but love in her own.
"M-Mom, I…" Blake started, unsure of what to say yet nonetheless tried to say something, anything.
Her mother merely smiled and patted her cheek gently, just as she used to do when she was just a young child. "Oh, Blake, I know… and it's okay. What's always mattered to me and your father is that you're still alive and well."
…!
Blake nearly broke at that statement and it was only thanks to Yang being so close by to suddenly rush up and support her that she remained standing.
But of course, as was also the case during her childhood, her father was a bit of a mood killer.
"That isn't to say we approve of everything you've done," he said somewhat hastily as he stepped forward, looking a bit embarrassed by his wife's actions. But that didn't make the small smile on his face any less genuine. "But your mother is right, Blake… I'm glad you're well."
Blake was quick to do as her mother did, rushing up and giving him a big hug. It took him off guard to say the least, but he was swift to return it. "Dad, I'm so sorry about all this…"
"I know," he responded gently before breaking the hug. "And trying to make up for this certainly won't be easy… but your mother and I are always here to help. Just like now for example."
"E-Errr…" Ruby could be heard somewhere behind her, sounding just like her awkward self. It was enough to kill the mood somewhat and have all eyes drawn to her. The silver eyed girl could only laugh awkwardly. "…Hi?"
Her mother, ever the friendly one, was quick to step up. "Oh, are you Blake's friends?" she asked in happy curiosity.
"O-Oh, yeah, definitely! We're all on the same team at Beacon and well, we're here to help too," Ruby summed up quickly and lamely, shuffling about in nervousness.
"I see… your help is appreciated," her father spoke stiffly, reminding the B of RWBY just where exactly she got her slight stand off-ishness from.
It was enough to lift her mood further… until she saw her father focus his gaze on Weiss, who stiffened upon noticing his gaze.
The security personnel around them, who've been remarkably forgiving about all this fuss, tensed up as well.
Her dad's reputation as chieftain of Menagarie was well known to those that looked into such things and Weiss's name was also well-known by sheer virtue of being a Schnee.
"Dad…" Blake started, worried.
He merely held up a hand, silencing her. "…You're a friend of my daughter?" he asked Weiss.
"Yes sir," Weiss responded without hesitation. "I'll admit we'd gotten off to a rough start… and when I discovered she was not only a Faunus but also formerly part of the White Fang, well, I will admit that I didn't take that news well. But that's in the past now. We've talked it over, we understand each other's circumstances. We've grown closer and now I stand here of my own volition to make sure nothing bad happens to her."
Weiss then smirked ever so slightly. "And it will be a cold day in hell before I let something happen to a friend of mine."
Evidently, a lot of the security personnel had a certain image of members of the Schnee family and rightfully so. To hear Weiss utter something like that must have been a real shock.
Her father, however, didn't look so impressed… until…
He chuckled. "…Not even I was immune to the sheer anger Faunus held towards your family. It just goes to show that bias can run both ways… I truly do have much to learn still, it seems." He extended out his right hand. "Your help is appreciated, Ms. Schnee."
Weiss reached out and shook his hand, her own looking comically small in comparison to her father's hand. "Glad to be of service."
Blake could only watch blankly as her mother then let out a barely muffled shriek. "Oh, you are just too cute! You and your teammate here!" She was, of course, referring to Weiss and Ruby.
She snatched them both up in a sudden hug. Yang watched and laughed. Blake was somewhat embarrassed as was her father.
The security personnel could only look on, utterly confused by all that was happening.
Eventually though, Blake finally spoke up again. "Uhm, mom, maybe you should let them go now. We shouldn't keep the council waiting."
"Kali, please listen," her father said when her mother showed no signs of having heard her. "It'll be just a few more minutes until the council is ready for us. Now let those two breathe – they can't testify in Blake's defense if they're no longer able to talk."
Her mother let go of her teammates upon hearing that, looking quite embarrassed with herself. Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss, having not been expecting such a sudden and strong hug, could only cough and gasp for much needed air.
"I'm already loving your mom, Blake," Yang said to her.
Blake could only snort, unable to think of anything to say.
But then, just a moment later, they all immediately settled down as someone exited the room they were all waiting outside of. A thin man that must clearly be an assistant to a council member looked them all over with zero emotion… save for just a slight bit of disdain upon seeing her, but he hid it well.
"…The council is ready now," he spoke. "When you enter, security will show you all to where you will be seated. I ask that you obey quietly."
He then opened the door as wide as he could and some security personnel began to usher them all inside.
Blake took a deep breath as she was the first one to be escorted within. She looked back ever so briefly at everyone here to support her – her friends. Her parents. Even the guards that had come with her parents shot her looks of encouragement as they were forced to wait out in the hallway.
Their presence gave her much renewed strength… and thanks to the drawn out shenanigans just now, she discovered that her dread from earlier was now gone. She was as calm as she was ever going to be now, she realized belatedly.
Alright then, she thought as she stood tall and proud.
It was time to begin.
Jaune stood as still as a statue as he remained outside alongside his team. A fair few protestors, upon seeing Blake enter city hall, took their leave not long afterwards for whatever reason but many remained, no doubt eager to see whether his friend would exit the place in handcuffs or not.
His teammates looked somewhat unnerved by the sheer rage and even hatred the protestors were spewing out right now. He was feeling far from dandy himself, but he was doing a much better job hiding it. Once again, his years of experience out there in the frontier was serving him well.
That said, the fact that he and his team were the only teens out here among the sheer number of security personnel was an odd thing to see. If anyone else was in his position, they'd likely be intimidated due to being the odd ones out. But as surreal as it was to be the only group of teens among a throng of fully fledged huntsmen and police officers, he took it as something of an honor – it showed, if only to the public, that they were capable.
"How are you holding up, Pyrrha?" he asked his partner, having to speak up a little to be heard over all the noise.
"As good as could be, I guess." The redhead smiled nervously, angling her head so that only he could see said smile. "…This is rather overwhelming, to put it lightly."
He nodded in understanding. "Just stay focused. So long as you stay busy looking out for any possible threats, you'll tune out all the voices eventually." It was rather poor advice, but it was the best he could offer at the moment.
She nodded in thanks and proceeded to walk off, she along with several others having been tasked with patrolling the area as discreetly as possible.
Having been tasked to do the same, Jaune walked off in the opposite direction, approaching one part of the barricade. He was so close now to some protestors that he was literally within spitting distance… yet not a single person dared to do anything to him. If anything, as he neared, some people seemed to quiet down, looking intimidated.
Was it his scar, he wondered? No, he doubted it. Perhaps it was the sheer intensity of his presence. Several people he's met out there on the frontier have made it clear to him that he can have this intensity about himself when focusing on something that just seems to ward people off. Maybe that was what it is.
He's never thought much of this, but if it could help quell the crowd somewhat, then he'll gladly take it for it is, though the mere thought of intentionally intimidating people into submission was something that didn't sit well with him at all.
That aside, though…
"Ren, did you notice anything?" he asked as he approached his fellow teen. Out of the bunch of them, Ren had the most attuned sense when it came to detecting aura.
The boy frowned and shook his head, seemingly unable or unwilling to say anything more. Jaune could only silently acknowledge his answer.
"Okay, thanks," he said. "Stay sharp and just focus on any presences that are steadily moving anywhere near the barricades."
"Got it," Ren answered quietly. "Do you think something will happen?"
At that, Jaune paused in his tracks. "…Possibly."
He said nothing further and continued his trek while Ren grimaced.
The blond teen discreetly looked around, specifically at the high rising buildings all around the area. There didn't seem to be any signs of potential snipers, but one could never be too sure.
Despite the lack of visible threats, he couldn't help but feel something horribly off, thus his extra vigilance. Given just how big of an incident this is turning out to be, he was genuinely surprised nothing happen during the entire trip here… but maybe…
No, he thought with a shake of a head.
He'd just been about to think that this entire event was one big trap. And see, there was a world of difference between merely setting a trap for this event and the event itself being a trap. The former could be dealt with easily enough (relatively speaking, of course), but the latter though, well, that depends.
But for this entire debacle to be a trap in and of itself… his instincts said it was, yet his rational mind, which he was trying to apply more and more often here in an attempt to be himself, was failing to figure out how such a thing could be possible… for if it was trap, just what kind of diabolical mind cook up a scheme this complicated?
And he wasn't thinking of the White Fang – though undoubtedly responsible for Blake's past coming to light, they've never demonstrated the cunning nor resources needed to manufacture from scratch every last detail like this.
No… someone else felt behind this somehow.
…
…
…Ah.
"Could it be?" he whispered to himself as he patrolled.
The sheer suddenness of this council hearing being called couldn't possibly be explained by what the headmaster had told him. He didn't doubt that Blake being seen working so close to Vale's walls could trigger further unease within people, but to the point of making the council decide to do something like this literally the day after?
No, it didn't feel right at all. Someone had pulled some strings. But who? How? Why?
His gaze intensified as his senses further sharpened themselves. He may now be trying to temper his instincts with rationality, but not anymore. If he felt even the slightest thing off, he will act on what his gut tells him to.
"Excuse me," he began, speaking to a nearby huntsman. Upon getting his attention, Jaune wasted no time speaking with him quickly about the situation, namely what the huntsman knew about all this and the like.
After a quick minute, he determined that a lot of the people assigned to this event as security were just as in the dark as he was on the more subtle nuances. All they knew was that there was just a high probability of there being an attack of some kind on the White Fang's part.
Thanking the man, Jaune continued his patrol and glanced around himself out of the corners of his eyes, just waiting for something to happen.
Moving out of view so that he could use his scroll freely – to do so openly in front of the public could paint a bad image, that of a lax trainee. He personally didn't care about his reputation much, but it wouldn't do to shame Beacon and his fellow trainees – he promptly sent a message to his friends about his suspicions and the request for them to spread out some more and cover more ground. After doing that, he sent another message, this one to the people in charge of the security detail for all this – he'd been given their contact info by the headmaster prior to moving out and thus he was putting it to good use.
He knew that they probably wouldn't take too seriously the word of a mere trainee – after all, they didn't know him personally nor what things he's been a part of – but nonetheless, he did his best to express his urgency in the matter and did his best to come up with a more conceivable reason other than 'my gut is telling me something is wrong.'
Finishing this up, he moved back out into the open and watched from afar as the lead police officer, reading over his message, swiftly called over a few people and gave them new orders. Though this was certainly a relieving thing to see, the blond himself was far from feeling at ease still.
Moving back towards Pyrrha, he again asked how things were going. "Anything?"
The redhead shook her head. "Other than some people recognizing me and taking some pictures?" she started with just a lightly resigned smile. "Not really. I've even been using my semblance to 'feel' for any oddities, but nothing on that front either."
Thanks to her semblance of polarity, she was capable of sensing metal around her. Though not exactly the most precise at it, she's still a good enough sense for this that any sudden movements of any piece of metal or otherwise magnetized material will be picked up by her, be it bullets, a close combat weapon, vehicles, or something else entirely. Combined with Ren also staying on the lookout for any oddities among the people he can sense, they should have a 'monitoring network' set up here.
"…Wait," Pyrrha then said, getting Jaune's attention again. She then motioned to something off in the near distance. "There…"
Jaune followed her subtle hand gesture.
As a necessity, Vale had a number of cameras set up throughout the kingdom. Not enough to warrant any outcries of invasion of privacy and definitely not enough for whomever watches the cameras to be labelled as omniscient, but enough to generally keep track of the regular going-ons in the kingdom.
And given the importance of city hall, there were definitely a lot of cameras around, be it atop streetlights or on the sides of certain nearby buildings. One could tell when the cameras were in use by the simple glowing red light along their sides.
And as Jaune looked around, he noticed a number of cameras were now missing these lights… and were facing away from the area too.
He wasn't the only one who seemed to notice this, for the lead officer along with a few huntsmen were in the midst of openly speaking on their scrolls, talking with a quiet urgency that mercifully none of the protestors could pick up due to their own loudness.
Jaune then watched as one by one, the security personnel on their scrolls gained looks of confusion upon their faces and he could make out via lipreading them uttering the words 'you there?' among other similar phrases several times over.
His gut was telling him something again and he looked to his scroll… and saw he no longer had a signal.
"…They're about to make a move," he told Pyrrha, immediately making her tense up and reach for her weapon. "Get ready to move. Stick close to city hall alongside those other huntresses over there in case anyone tries to make a run for it."
No longer caring about the public might think, Jaune jogged over to where Ren was, but didn't approach as he saw his teammate still focusing hard, but not giving off any sign that something was wrong just yet. Instead, he went up to Nora, who pulled out Magnhild and wielded it in a somewhat casual manner in its gun form.
"Something up, fearless leader?" the girl said in a serious tone.
"There might be," Jaune answered, just as other security personnel started to rapidly move about, the down cameras and lost scroll signal swiftly making the rounds. And this time, the protestors noticed something was about to go down, for they quieted down considerably in an instant. "Stick close to Ren and be ready. Pyrrha will defend city hall alongside some other huntresses. I'd like you and Ren to take care of protecting the crowd alongside the officers in case anything happens."
Nora nodded as she switched Magnhild into its hammer form. "What about you, Jauney?"
"I'll be heading further out, checking the perimeter around this area," he immediately said as he removed his blade, sheathe and all, from where it'd been hanging on his waist this whole time. He didn't draw the blade itself just yet though. "…Something's about to happen. Don't know why they're taking their sweet time right now but keep a lookout."
Nora nodded gravely and he dashed off.
Despite what he just said, he did have a vague feeling as to why things were playing out this way. Whoever exactly was doing this was essentially trying to incite panic. A bit of a risky move considering all the officers and huntsmen were now very much on guard, to say nothing of when the Atlas soldiers might decide to get involved, but so was the crowd now, which would only invite even more Grimm to the walls, possibly more than what the security personnel at the walls could deal with.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw one of the officers near an alleyway jerk in surprise. On instinct, Jaune immediately rushed to his possible aid.
"Are you-?" he began in concern, only to abruptly stop as alarm bells went off in his mind.
The officer – clearly dead, as the cleanly cut throat now attested to – fell back and now the only thing filling Jaune's eyes was the bladed point of a very familiar umbrella and two mismatched eyes glaring at him viciously.
And behind him, he could now hear the sounds of multiple explosions going off… along with cries of terror and rage.
Not going to lie, Blake's segment was a real bitch to write – wasn't too sure how exactly to write out her meeting with her parents again and it underwent a few rewrites before I settled for the end result. Hope it's to your liking.
As for this whole council hearing thing, as absurd as I'm sure it sounds to you all, there doesn't seem to be anything akin to a legal system in RWBY that's similar to what we have in real life. And given the authority that the council in each kingdom seems to have, I decided to take some liberties… and besides, while fleshing out some aspects of the world is fun/necessary, you guys aren't reading this to see accurate legal processes in a series like RWBY, at least not in this fic. Hope you understand.
Now, as for how things are going to unfold, well, you'll see in the next chapter, I'm afraid, heh. The next few chapters will be where things really start to pick up in all sorts of ways… and I am definitely eager to get around to writing it all out!
Now then, until next time, everyone. Take care!