A/N I got a poll going on in my account be sure to check it out when you got the time, or if you're reading this.
"Wake up Qrow." Li Weis' voice echoed, Qrows' eyes snapped open and he sat up, looking around he saw that the airship was now sitting on the ground "We're at the landing pads. Come on, lets get you moving." Li Wei said hopping out of the airship
"Ow..." Qrow groaned as he rolled off the airship and forced himself to stand, placing his hand over his wound he sighed, he looked over to Ruby just as she slowly opened her eyes
"Morning kiddo." Qrow said causing Rubys' eyes to snap open, jumping to her feet
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby shouted as she pulled him into a strong hug earning a groan from him
"Easy kid... easy..." Qrow groaned as she tightened the hug
"I saved you! I saved you! I cant believe I actually did it!" Ruby happily cheered as she began to cry into his shoulder
"Easy kid..." Qrow said as he struggled to keep them both from falling, Ruby began to laugh hysterically through her tears
"You were so close to dying... so so so so so close to dying. I could hear it!" Ruby continued to explain earning a sigh from Qrow
"I get it kid, I was there." Qrow said as he lowered himself so she could stand on her own
"But you didn't die!" Ruby continued ignoring what he said
"Kid?"
"I can save people! I can!" Ruby happily said still ignoring him
"Ruby." Qrow said smacking her upside the head, Ruby quickly recovered
"Huh... sorry, I was distracted." Ruby quickly apologized as she released him, standing up straight Qrow sighed
"It's fine kid." Qrow waved off ruffling her hair a bit "Where's the rest of them Li?" Qrow asked turning towards Li Wei
"The others with you? They are waiting in the main base." he answered walking them to the edge of the landing pad
"You two have fun getting settled in, I still have to patrol the southern boarder. Apparently Banrinochōjō got over ran, so we're getting a massive flow of refugees from the south, so you five enjoy your fun." Li said as he turned and began to walk back towards the airship, Qrow sighed and began to walk down the stairs and grunted, his wound hurt with each step, placing his hand on the wound as he limped down each step he kept applying pressure on wound, Ruby placed her hand on his should
"I can help you." She said placing her other hand over his wound
"Nah, I got it. You run on ahead, your little friends are probably waiting to... I don't know, cheer? Complain? Question you about how violently you reacted for the past few days." Qrow snarked earning an sigh from Ruby
"I may have taken it a step too far." Ruby commented earning a hum from Qrow
"You have nothin' to prove kid." Qrow said as they reached the bottom of the stairs "You are a powerful warrior, and a kind person. You aren't defined by the people you fail to save, but by the people you protect." Qrow said as they slowly walked towards the others
"Thank you..." Ruby said after a few seconds of silence, she was clearly hurt by the events of the past few days, and extremely stressed
"No problem kid. Now come on, I think this place is a bit out of Mistral proper, once we get into the city I'll get a bit of a plan going." Qrow informed as they walked towards the other three, Nora and Ren were sitting next to each other taking about something and Jaune was staring up at the large city nearby in awe
"Guys!" Ruby called causing all three of them to quickly move over to them
"He's okay!" Nora happily said looking Qrow over
"Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, I think I know someone who lives around here. She'll probably be able to give us clearance to take a train into the city." Qrow said limping towards the nearby neighborhood, he stopped for a second then sighed before continuing, Ruby raised an eyebrow at that
"What's up?" she asked covertly as she forced him to lean on her a bit
"Nothing to worry 'bout, just... an old... acquaintance. Who I though was more subtle about these kinds of things." Qrow answered as they continued walking
(o)
Weiss leaned back in her seat with a sigh, she had gone over her gear a few times so she was certain that it wasn't in poor quality, feeling the ship tilt a bit she spoke
"Why are we turning?" Weiss asked looking over to the pilot
"Caught a distress call from a ship that way, cant risk getting detected." he answered earning a hum from Weiss
"So... who hired you to deliver the dust?" Weiss asked earning a chuckle from the man
"Dangerous question." he avoided
"Ha... I work for Esdeath, there's not much more danger I can experience." Weiss laughed earning a laugh from the man
"My brother works for her, he's a Kapitän on the Rose." he said happily earning a hum of confusion from him
"I didn't know she named one of her ships that."
"Yeah, the first two she got she named, Strength and Obedience, then the one she got immediately after returning to Atlas she named Rose, I figured she would name them all in line with the first two, just kinda seemed to come out of nowhere." he explained "I wish I could work for her..." He added sounding a little jealous
"Trust me, you really don't wanna work for her. It's hell." Weiss warned as she spun around in her chair
"So I've heard, but the pay... she pays double the salary for normal ranks." He said "That's one hell of an incentive."
"That may be true but the life expectancy for her troops is below half." Weiss reasoned getting a look into a large portion of Mantles' population thought process
(o)
Blake let out a sigh, as she leaned on the railing of the balcony, Leones' words kept running through her head they felt untrue but Leone seem to be the best judge of character on Menagerie, looking at her hands she hummed, turning away from the balcony she began towards the doorway leading into the house but stopped at the sound of boots landing behind her
"Ilia." Blake greeted turning around she sighed, Akame was right about one thing, her emotions were being a real detriment right now
"Blake... I... you need to leave this place." Ilia said, her voice sounded strained, which surprised Blake, Ilia used to have a fire in her voice that always garnered respect and attention but now it was like she didn't even know what she was saying
"I cant leave. Not with things the way they are." Blake answered her own voice sounding more sure about her place then before, Leone seemed to help her with that one at the very least
"Please Blake, you have to leave." Ilia begged taking a step towards Blake who placed her hand on Gambol Shroud, Ilia stopped quickly and looked at Blakes' hand which was firmly on the hilt of her blade, she didn't see her as an ally anymore.
"Dad introduced me to the White Fang representatives here in Kuo Kuana; Corsac and Fennec, we'll be presenting them with the information we got off your scroll tomorrow, and after that we'll be telling everyone about it." Blake explained carefully
"That's not going to work Blake. Its never that simple..." Ilia said quietly as she took a few steps away from Blake towards the ledge of the balcony
"You could join us Ilia." Blake quickly said sounding hopeful, Ilia closed her eyes and sighed
"You aren't helping anyone." Ilia said dropping from the balcony, Blake waited a few seconds before entering the house, she knew that was a dumb thing to say, but it told her that Ilia was cracking, at least a little bit.
(o)
A beeping shook Akame from her sleep, sitting up she looked around the messy room, moving herself out of bed Akame began to look around for her scroll, finally finding it on a shelf along with her underwear which she pulled on she looked at the notification on her scroll, it said that her teammate was near, meaning that father had arrive
"Neo, wake up." Akame said walking around to the girl who slowly opened her eyes and smiled at her "It says that father just arrived in the city, I need to meet with him, do you know where the rest of my clothes are?" Akame explained earning an up and down look from Neo, after a few seconds on taking in the view Neo gave Akame a thumbs up
"I cant go out dressed like this. It'd get too many looks." Akame denied earning a pout from Neo who kicked off the blanket showing off her own naked body, jumping to her feet she smiled at Akame and walked to the bathroom her hands tied behind her back with Akames' tie
"Can you at least help me look?" Akame asked with a sigh, out from the bathroom came flying one of her shoes "Thank you. What about my tie?" Akame asked, after a few seconds of no response she quickly got to work searching for the rest of her clothing, to say they were rough was an understatement, the room was trashed, the bed had a hole in it as well as Neos' blade stabbed into, one of the windows was shattered and the other was cracked, the Television had Muranohi stabbed in it, and the door was wide open, showing the living room which was no better
"We might have gone a little too far." Akame said walking out, looking around she saw her coat was on the upstairs balcony, Murasame was tied shut and resting next to the front door which had Neos' belts tying it shut, the coffee table in the middle of the room was nearly broken in half with multiple bottles of various alcohol scattered around it, with a sigh she walked towards the kitchen a sense of dread came over her, she could barely remember last night apart from Neo so she was hoping that the kitchen was fine, entering the room she let out a sigh of relief it was clean and safe... apart from Neos' panties and her bra, grabbing both Akame put on her bra with a sigh
"This is gonna take a while isn't it?" She asked as Neo exited the room finally getting Akames' tie off her wrists she looked over to Akame then looked directly upward seemingly thinking how to respond then she looked back to Akame and nodded
(o)
"How do you know so many people?" Ruby asked looking over to Qrow, who was leaning on the window, the train they were riding was nearly entirely empty
"I come around here quite a lot so you get to know who's who, add in the fact that a lot of the people I know are members of either the military or security, we're all on a... 'first' name basis." Qrow answered earning a hum from Ruby
"Why do you say it like that?"
"They know my name 'cause of Raven and my actions against her, I don't really know any of their names. Li is an exception 'cause he has saved my ass more times than I can count, the others are just... people, I know their names cause... of... well." Qrow continued to stumble for a way to end this conversation
"Ruby! Come up here!" Jaune called
"Thank the gods." Qrow mumbled to himself as Ruby stood and walked away, with a sigh Qrow leaned back in his seat and let out a pained groan
(o)
Walking to the area at the front of the car they were in Ruby sat down next to Jaune
"Whats up?" Ruby asked looking between the three, all of who had serious looks on their faces
"What was going on with you in the forest? You seemed... different." Jaune spoke, Ruby knew that this was coming, Ruby leaned forward and sighed
"Okay... so... a while back during our second semester when Esdeath first started teaching do you remember how... attached she was to me?" Ruby began
"Yeah, it was kinda weird." Jaune answered earning a nod from Ruby
"Esdeath is my girlfriend. She chose to take me as her love, and I was skeptical at first but overtime learned that she really does care about me. Anyways... her semblance is-"
"I thought it was rude to talk about another persons semblance." Jaune interrupted
"Yeah... but it's important for you to understand this so shut up." Ruby answered causing him to fall silent "Anyways, Esdeaths' semblance... is a way for her to... okay, so she can swap her aura with another's, but it also puts her mind in theirs, she has such a powerful personality that it easily over took my own. Everyday I found myself thinking more and more like her... I miss that... it feels like a part of me is gone." Ruby stared at her hands for a few moments before snapping back to reality "Sorry... I... miss her... I just want to see her again... hear her talk again... I need those things... it feels like I'm dying inside when I cant hear her speak." Ruby trailed off, she seemed to be lost in her own head for a while
"Ruby?" Nora asked pushing her a bit, Ruby jumped and looked around
"Sorry! I... may have been distracted. What was I saying?" Ruby quickly asked looking very embarrassed
"Something about how you were mind controlled by Esdeath. Which I find hard to believe, no one should have a semblance that powerful." Jaune answered earning a laugh from Qrow who walked past them and through the door towards the front compartment
"It wasn't mind control... it was sharing her mind. You don't know how amazing it felt! She could walk into a room and everyone knew she was in charge, because she knew better than everyone!" Ruby corrected with a nostalgic sigh
"That seems... a bit exaggerated." Ren commented earning a sigh from Ruby
"If you get the opportunity to meet her you'll understand." Ruby said as the train shifted to a stop
"How long did I zone out?" Ruby asked turning to them
"'Bout fifteen minuets." Jaune answered as he stood "Honestly you do that far more than you might think." he added as he followed after Qrow
(o)
"How did it get there?" Akame asked as Neo leapt from a large tree near the training grounds, she shrugged and tossed Akame her lost shoe, she had everything else she needed to look presentable at least, putting her shoe on Akame straightened her tie and walked to the stairs leading back up into the main house
"Can you clean up a bit around here? I think both of us can only handle so much teasing from Father." Akame requested earning a very quick nod from Neo, Akame nodded then turned and began up stairs, something was different about her now, before Akame was a bit childish and even goofed off a bit, but now it seemed like she had no personality, with a few cracks of expression that revealed themselves every once in a while
(o)
Exiting onto the platform Qrow looked around, he expected more refugees but this was a pretty early train, add in the fact that so many towns were destroyed they probably should have been packed into a corner
"Uncle Qrow, where are we going from here?" Ruby asked walking out behind him
"No clue, Akame was suppose to meet us here... she's not usually late..." Qrow answered earning a quick correction of posture from Ruby who ran in front of him
"Akames here already!? We were on the boat right after hers... how did she move so fast?" Ruby asked in pure shock, they pushed themselves so hard every day just to keep a loose schedule, and Akame beat them by two weeks
"She's a badass. I like to think she got that from me." Qrow said earning a raised eyebrow from Ruby
"But she's adopted."
"I know."
"Can we get a move on?" Jaune asked walking up to them
"Where did you go?" Ruby asked looking behind him at the crowd of people he came from "Didn't you walk out in front of me?"
"I may have missed that door." Jaune muttered in embarrassment, both Qrow and Ruby face palmed at that and began towards the archway marked with the word 'arrivals'
(o)
Akame walked up to the area marked with the word 'arrivals' and looked around a few people apart from them it was mainly empty she didn't see Father or Ruby, finding a bench she sat down and closed her eyes, she was rather hungover from last night, she was surprised that she could even get drunk thanks to her training, but Neo found a way... opening her eyes she checked the time it was 5:35 AM, they had arrived about an hour earlier, she felt slightly frustrated that it took her so long to get dressed, most of the time she could dress and be prepared for combat in less that five minutes, opening her eyes she looked around someone was watching her... from somewhere, they weren't an assassin and they weren't an informant for the Spiders' Web, it was someone else someone she didnt recognize
"Excuse me miss?" a voice came from her left, it was a childs' voice, looking to her left she saw a very small girl probably ten years old, holding a piece of paper and pen "Can I get your autograph!?" she asked happily, Akame looked to her and raised an eyebrow
"I'm sorry?" she said looking around for the girls parent
"Can you sign this please? You that girl that beat Pyrrha right?" she asked again, this time Akame realized why she was here
"What would be the point, actions speak louder than any words ever will." Akame said earning a very confused look from the girl "Instead of focusing on the material, focus on your friends and family, they are more important than anything you can ever own." Akame lectured earning a 'oh' from the girl
"But cant things help my friends and family?" she asked earning a nod from Akame
"Of course, but if you focus on obtaining them you'll fail to achieve what I believe to be far more important." Akame answered "Now if I were you I'd go find my caretaker, they are probably worried sick." Akame added causing the girl to yelp and run off, letting out a sigh Akame leaned back in her seat, no one should want to think of her as a person of fame
"I'm just saying its hard to know where you're going all the time, some doors are harder to see than others." Jaunes' voice came from over shoulder looking over she saw him and Qrow leading the other three
"Oh sure, its easy to get lost while walking in a straight line." Qrow snarked as they exited into the pick up area
"Father." Akame happily said walking up to them, turning towards her his reached out to her for a hug, but she didn't embrace him so he dropped the action
"How've things been over here?" he asked placing his hand over his wound again
"Fine, what happened to you?" Akame asked gesturing for them to follow her, Ruby seemed like she was about to start talking so Akame spoke first "We can catch up once we get to the house. Father what happened to you."
"I took a bit of damage protecting this four, it was nothing serious though." Qrow explained waving off the whole event
"No it wasn't! You nearly died!" Ruby corrected watching Akame, she didn't react she was just being as silent as ever
"Wasn't that bad. It has happened more than you might think." Qrow waved off again earning a growl from Ruby
(o)
the drop pod slammed into the ground and shattered, Yang rolled out of the wreckage and groaned as she landed on her back
"Thanks for the warning..." She groaned as she stumbled to her feet
"Alright Yang, we'll be cutting contact soon so if you have any questions ask them now." Ravens' voice echoed from inside the pod
"I got nothing really major, mostly just wanna know where I am right now, 'cause that was really disorienting." Yang answered earning a hum from Raven
"Mistral it to your south, and Argus is to your north, all you really have to do is head west until you hit train tracks, then follow them south until a train passes by you, hop on that and ride it the rest of the way to Mistral and figure it out from there." Raven answered through a bit of building static "I should mention the craft you were in is set to detonate." was the only bit that made it through before the craft detonated sending Yang flying a few yards away and disorienting her again
"Thanks for the warning... now... which way is west?" Yang said to herself as she began to walk
(o)
Cinder glared at Tyrian who was prostrating himself to Salem as he tried to explain his failure
"I- I- I- failed to- to kill the girl... BUT! Qrow! The huntsman for Ozpin... I poisoned him before I lost my tail! He will be dead within the week!" Tyrian quickly said trying to conduct damage control
"That wasn't your mission. You did well to blind the last of Ozpins' subordinates." Salem said causing Tyrian to become very hopeful for a few seconds "You have failed me." she then added causing Tyrian to begin to stutter "Then you try and earn my favor by giving me that as well. I'm more disappointed with you for your attempt at deception than your actual failure." Salem quickly said cutting off any attempt by him to recover, as she exited the room Salem gestured for Cinder to follow her, Tyrian began to scream, he seemed to be in pain but she knew it was just because he was crazy
"Do you still feel pain?" Salem asked as they walked down the dark hallway
"When I speak... and if I look around too quickly, yes." Cinder answered earning a hum from Salem
"Understand that this pain will never go away, you failure will be a constant reminder, if you fail to slay Ruby Rose again... you will have no reason to return here." Salem said causing Cinder to stumble
"But I thought I was the key to our-"
"If you can not kill one little girl then you are of no value to me." Salem clarified earning a nod from Cinder "Good, now than it's time for you and your underlings to join Watts in Mistral, he is currently setting things up to work in our favor. With Leonardo working for us we have little in the ways of worrys."
(o)
Ruby leaned on the balcony of their new house, she was currently enjoying her time alone, Qrow and Akame were downstairs talking about their next move with Neo, Nora, Ren, and Jaune were getting settled in their rooms
"Ruby Rose." A voice came from behind her quickly turning around Ruby summoned a pair of blades and aimed them at the intruder, it was a tall woman with gray hair, her orange eyes saw straight through her, she was muscular but slender, this woman was built for battle
"It fills me with pride that you think so." she said walking towards her, Ruby took a small step back
"Who are you?"
"Anna Gebrochen. You don't know me but that is irrelevant. All you need to know is that master sent me to serve you." the newly named Anna said as she bowed to Ruby
"And who is your master?" Ruby asked lowering her weapons and letting them fade away, she was probably talking about Esdeath but she needed to be sure
"She is your lover. I serve master Esdeath with unwavering intensity and loyalty, by extension I serve you in equal measure... master." Anna explained in a neutral tone, but the way she spoke it gave Ruby a strange feeling, she couldn't quite tell what it was though
(o)
it was quiet, Akame was relaxing just a bit, after that meeting she really needed it. It was clear to her that Leonardo wasn't telling them everything, they had to wait and be patient, he isn't a good liar so they'll just have to catch him in a lie to properly act against him
"Excuse me." a voice came to her right, looking over she saw a young boy with short brown hair and hazel eyes, he seemed very out of place in the city
"Yes?" Akame asked neutrally he seemed intimidated by her, if his struggle to get any solid words out was anything to go by. Akame shrugged and stood then began to walk away
"W- Wait!" he quickly said moving in front of her "I... was suppose to say... 'I'd like my cane back.'" he awkwardly relayed, Akame felt Ozpins' final words finally click and she reached into her coat
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Akame said holding his cane out to him "I promised father that I would hear you out, but that is all I promised." Akame added as the boy took the cane from her hand
"Do you also feel... strange when holding this?" he asked, she knew what he was feeling, she felt the same way when she held Murasame for the first few times
"Not with the cane, but with my weapon, yes." Akame answered as she stepped past him "Now follow me, we need to go collect father and head home."
A/N Volume 4 is done, and you get a little snip it from volume 5, just keeping in line with the show as much as I can. I promise you this; Volume 5 will be vastly different to the one we got in RWBY, I feel that it was a massive misstep in its original production, so I'll be mainly focused on bringing Mistral to life, similarly with how they did Mantle in volume 7.
Edit- Corrections