A/N:

Really, really sorry for not posting on time.

There was Thanksgiving so there was not a lot of time to get to the computer.

Whatever it is, I'm getting it out now so, that is good.

Really hope you enjoy.

(I do not own RWBY)

Chapter 7

A Gathering

The ride started off silent, only the purr of the Bullhead's engines was present.

'Who is she really,' Ebon pondered. She was going through the events that occurred recently. Fighting her sister in a deathmatch, then it was revealed that she was fighting someone else instead. Also, the imposter adds that she was "Holding back" which leads to the question of how much strength Eirwen had. That let a shiver down her spine. Everything about Eirwen felt unnerving to her. After examining these events closely, she found one more that was in the back of her head. 'She told me that the scars that I saw where hers.' That was the part that got her. 'What did she go through.' After some deep thought, Ebon finally opened her eyes to see a shaking Leena. "Leena," Ebon whispered," is this your first time on a bullhead?" Leena nodded. "Oh, well just know that nothing bad is going to happen, alright?" Leena took a deep breath and started to calm down.

Sigini was looking out a window when the to girls on her right where speaking to each other. Interested, she leaned over. "So, guys, whatcha talking about," Sigini said in a cheerful tone. Ebon and Leena were taken aback by Sigini sudden appearance. 'Too cheerful then,' thought Signi,' man, the energy drinks are kicking in.' "Ahm," Signi corrected her posture then spoke softer," so whatcha talking about."

Ebon responded," First, are you the real you or are you another imposter."

Sigini was surprised by her response," Shesh, didn't know you were this paranoid."

" I am still confused about what is going given the fact that someone else was my sister," she pointed towards Eirwen, who was sound asleep," also, why is she sleeping so soundly in this situation?"

"So, she kind of has this problem that she randomly falls asleep, due to her past."

" Oh, I didn't know." This confirmed that Eirwen had a rough past. Not intending to pry further, she decided to change topics. "So anyway, you still have not answered my question yet."

" Oh, yeah, I'm real."

"Ok, second, who are you?"

" I'm Sigini but call me Sig."

' Ok, at least there is no immediate threats on the bullhead so I will let my guard down for a little bit.' Ebon released her aura and felt like a big weight left her shoulders, but she knew that was impossible." So, do you know where we are going?"

"I can't tell you, it's a surprise," Sigini hinted in a mischievous tone. 'Why did I say it like that, it just sounds plain wrong!' Sigini was mentally hitting her head against a wall.

' Hmm, it might be a trap, I need to ready myself for that outcome,' planed Ebon.

Sigini wanted to change the mood," So, how did you get here?" Sigini already knew this because they had an agent follow them the entire way. 'Well, changing the mood is changing the mood so whatever.'

Eirwen woke to the sound of the girls on her right were talking about something but she couldn't catch on. 'I really need to fix my sleeping schedule,' Eirwen thought. She reminisced about the time when she was in captivity by the white fang. She could barely sleep due to constant beatings. 'Those were terrible times but was necessary to gain strength.' This had almost put a malicious smile on her face but was interrupted by a buzz of her scroll. She pulled it out of her coat and noticed it was from the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss Schnee. Eirwen was curious why she was messaging her especially for the fact that Weiss must be busy for being a CEO.

Eirwen opened the message tab and the message read," When you have time, could you meet me at Schnee Mansion."

Eirwen responded with," I will make time today if I make ask, what is this meeting for?"

Weiss responded," You'll see :)" Eirwen chucked to herself at the motion. As she put her scroll away, the pilot announced that they were near the landing pad and everyone needs to be seated. By this time, the girls were finished with their conversation and Sigini went back to her seat.

When they arrived, Ebon and Leena were amazed at how ornate the mansion looked. The mansion had an ice-filled garden with frost covered shrubs and columns surrounding it in a symmetric pattern. There were ice sculptures of all sorts of Grimm that looked so life-like. "Those of you looking at the ice, those were real Grimm frozen by my father," Eirwen answered the gazes of Ebon and Leena.

"So this is all yours," Leena asked.

" At the time, yes."

" How?"

" Well, it is because that my family is one of the noble families of Atlas, the Roenfausts. We are only second to the Schnees." The word Schnee rung in both Leena and Ebon. The Schnees were associated with the Schnee Dust Company, the largest dust manufacturer in the entire world of Remnant. They also were the White Fangs main target, due to the fact of the company's labor force being the majority being Faunus. Hearing this, Ebon needed to confirm something but they already arrived at the front door. A human butler was stationed at the large double doors. " Mistress Eirwen, welcome back. Who are these guest that are accompanying you?"

Eirwen responded in an angelic voice," These are my new teammates, and could you prepare 4 cups of my finest brew of tea. Also, prepare 3 rooms for them, and bring them to the lobby to serve them tea."

" Right away, Mistress." The butler dashed off to get the tea, and the group entered to head to the lobby. As they entered there was a row of maids on each side, bowing in respect to their master. While they walked past, Ebon and Leena minds clicked in as the heard the words "teammates". There was a shared surprise in those word by Ebon and Leena. Ebon decided to investigate further later, so in doing so, she noticed that some of the maids were Faunus. Ebon knew that she shouldn't get angry just because some Faunus were maids. 'I have to ask them myself.'

Leena looked around as they were walking through the halls, and noticed how rich this family was. The portraits look like world-class artists painted them, the sculptures looked like they were from the Great War, and the sets of armor look as if they were alive. 'Ok, this is getting creepy.' She refocused on the group, but they already reached their destination. The lobby was a grand place, showing off the skylight on the roof, the front window, the ice chandelier, and the openness of the room, in general, felt like royalty. Eirwen stopped and looked at the group with a hand pointed towards the middle of the lobby," Please be seated." Everyone took up Eirwen's offer and sat down.

" Wow, these seats are comfy," Signi noted. Eirwen obviously saw that she was trying to lighten the mood.

" Ok, since the tea is coming here, let's invite another guest." Eirwen took her scroll out to call up someone, then put it away. Right after the call ended, loud footsteps were heard from a nearby staircase. Ebon, being not prepared, was suddenly hugged from behind.

" Sis," exclaimed the voice from behind. From that voice, Ebon knew who it was.

" Ivory, is that you," questioned Ebon.

" Yes, that's me." Ebon got up, turned around and hugged Ivory tightly.

" I thought I lost you, forever and ever." Ebon was on the verge of tears.

Ivory slightly pulled out of the embrace," you almost did, until Eirwen saved me." Eirwen was leaning against a column, holding a fake smile as they looked toward, even to go so far as to wave back. As the tea came around, everyone took a cup except Eirwen.

" Mistress, will you not have some tea."

" No, I will be alright."

" Very well, as you say, Mistress." The maid left the room with the tea plate. As everyone was reconnecting the past events, Eirwen beckoned Signi over to a dark corner of the room. Seeing that if Eirwen does that, she knew that it was important. Signi walk over to the dark corner, expecting some conversation about assassinations or what not but she did not expect what Eirwen said.

" I have a meeting with Weiss Schnee, so I need you to answer their questions the best you can and show them to their rooms."

Signi was relieved," Whew, nothing about killing people."

" And why would you think that?"

" Well, you are, so you."

" Come on, life isn't about killing, it's about savoring it in all aspects," said with a small grin, " I have to go, good luck Sig."

"Alright, by-." she was cut off by a kiss on the cheek by Eirwen as she left through the corridor they came through. Signi was blushing hard. 'I told her, not in public.' Shaking her head, she decided to rejoin the main group when they noticed the Eirwen wasn't there. "Hey, where Eirwen," Ivory asked.

" Oh, she had to take care of something," replied Signi. " Anyway, she told me to answer questions and take you guys to your rooms." Ebon was the first to ask," So, what is Eirwen to you."

" What type of question is that!" Sigini slightly blushed.

" A good question."

" W-We're good friends," Signi said while she is looking away and twirling her hair," anyway, any other questions."

Leena was the next," sorry for asking, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me so, what happened with your arm."

" It's fine, I got over it. So the reason I have this arm is that I lost it in a grim attack and built the one you see here to replace it. In that attack, I also lost my father."

" I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

" Don't be, once I start, I should finish," she cleared her throat," When I was young, my family lived on the outskirts of Atlas. Living there was rough, but my father was an excellent mechanic. Oh yeah, we were there in the first place because my father didn't like living in the city. It's weird because my father job was in the city so he just created more of a hassle for him. Anyway,besides him, there was my mother. She was a full-time huntress, but when I was born, she made that part-time. My mother was like any other loving, caring mother. Unfortunately, her being a huntress, she went on a mission and never came back. However, my father took it upon himself to become both roles in the family. He quit his job to take care of me and made our home into a private mechanic company. From there, he taught me some combat and how to be, necessarily, a mechanic. Every time I thought of my mom, he came over and told that I needed to be strong for her. So I did just that. For a while, I was happy, having fun with my dad, but then that day came."

Four years ago

Sigini was huffing a small pile of firewood through the forest back to her Father's shop. They had to prepare for the coming winter because, in Atlas, winter was the most brutal time of year. As she was running, she came across a lone juxtapose sticking out of a snow mound. Sigini was so mesmerized that she involuntarily walked towards it. The closer she got to the flower, the more inviting it felt. Suddenly, she was snapped out of her trance as she heard a Beowulf howl coming from her Father's shop. Knowing that wasn't normal, she ran as fast as possible towards the shop.

When she arrived, there was a pack of Beowulf with the Alpha leading the group. Against them, her father was standing alone, with his trusty hammer at his side. " Sig, go downstairs to the safe and take the weapon outside," her father exclaimed. Seeing the gravity of the situation, she dropped the wood and ran into the shop. As she entered, she heard the distant clangs of claw and metal and prayed for the best. After finding the safe hidden in one of the wall panels, she remembered the code her father taught her in case of emergency. Seeing the obvious emergency, she entered the code. When the locks released and the doors opened, Signi was surprised. Inside the safe was a gauntlet that was the size of the entire safe. She lifted it out of the safe with utmost care, thinking it was heavy, but realized that it was very light. Given the weight, she ran back up the stairs. When she arrived at the door to the shop, she couldn't believe her eyes. Her father was all bloody with both his blood and the Beowulf's. As the alpha came in for another attack, he attempted to block it but was fainted and hit his side. The force of that impact launched him all the way to the shop wall, where he slid down to the snow.

" Dad," Signi exclaimed as she rushed to his side.

He coughed out some blood then spoke in a low voice," Sig, you've been a good girl for years, your mother would have been proud." He coughed some more," but now you have to be stronger than the both of us. Use the gauntlet that your mother made and make this family proud."

Signi started sobbing," N-no dad, y-you can't l-leave yet, n-not now, I h-have so much t-to learn."

Her father put a hand on her face," there's no time for crying, Sig, only winning." He finally gave out.

Signi wiped her tears off her face and composed herself," your right dad, time to win." Signi got up and put on the gauntlet. It powered on immediately, having dust pre-loaded. "Time for you bitches to pay."

The beowulfs howled and looked at their new prey. Gaining a new interest, 3 Beowulf charged her. Signi lifted up her gauntlet and directed it at them. She pulled the trigger and a blue blast came out of her hand, vaporizing all three. 'Wow, that is a lot of power, maybe I need to tune it down a little.' They were stunned at the power but pressed forward. Another one came up by her side and Signi ducked under the swipe. She thrust her palm into the beowulf's side and activated the blade. It immediately impaled it, instantly killing it. 'Oh, it has a blade too, hell yeah!' She deactivated the blade and pulled off.

"So, it's just you and me," said Signi as she and the Alpha were the only ones left. They started to circle each other, looking for an opening one of them can exploit. Upon closer inspection, it looks as though the Alpha has been through a lot of battles. It had multiple scars throughout its body and had nicked bone in some places. The Alpha made it move. It rushed in full speed, toward Signi, looking to take a swipe at her side. Signi, reading this, dodged in time. The Alpha howled in anger and took another swing. Signi dodged backward to gain some distance.'At least my training paid off,' Signi thought. This time the Alpha rushed forward with claws bared. 'Huh, running at me with all you got, you got to be kidding me.' Sigini prepared to block, thinking it was a last ditch effort, but she was very wrong. It feinted the block to spun around her. 'What are you-.' With one clean chop, it sliced through Signi weak aura and her right arm with. After this action, the Alpha backed off as a precaution.

Signi was in shock. She didn't know that her aura was so low. As she fell to her knees and looked to the sky, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up that hand and saw her mother. "Now Now, you aren't that weak. You have to be the strongest. For me and your father."

" But I can't, the Alpha is too strong. I've lost my weapon, my arm, dad, and you. What else can I do!" Sigini had tears in her eyes for her weakness.

" No, you are not done, not yet." Her mother walked to the gauntlet." I made this for you to use, not to throw away. So rise up and make us proud Sig!" Her mother started to fade.

" Yes, I can." Something in Signi unlocked. She slowly got up with blood dripping down her side from the loss of her right arm. She walked over to the gauntlet, picked it up with her other arm, and restarted it. The Alpha was on guard by this sudden occurrence but was pleased by this fighting spirit. It rushed forward to Signi. Right before the strike landed, she vanished. The Alpha was confused but was surprised by a fist to the side that launched it to the nearby tree. The Alpha tried to regain composure but looked down to a blade to the chest, then was lifted up in the air. After, Signi pulled the trigger. Several pieces of the Alpha rained down from the sky as blood stained the area surrounding Signi as well as herself. "That's what you get, bastard." Then, she collapsed.

After a while of darkness, she heard a voice. "Hey hey, are you alive." Signi opened her eyes to see a girl about her age crouched over her with grayish-white eyes and crystal white hair. As she stirred, the girl stood up to give her some room. Upon further inspection, it seemed that she had a black and red uniform that was ripped on certain parts but was mostly covered by a winter jacket. "So you are alive, thank goodness."

A/N:

Well, the cliffhangers are endless.

That is for sure.

I will fix my updating schedule to be more consistent.

I'm off to see the wizard.

The wonderful wizard of Oz.