Beta: Dark Whisper

I hope you're wearing a seatbelt, 'cause things are about to really get moving.

The Fall Project

War

Shatter

Cade wasn't entirely sure when he first noticed it.

He could tell by the way she shifted in her seat when Milo sat nearby, or how her mood would turn to a silent tension and she would cautiously glance in the swordsman's direction with a worried expression.

It wasn't until Neo refused to tell him what was wrong that he legitimately started to worry. She always talked to him when she was upset or concerned, and if she was going against that then something must be very wrong indeed.

Not long after this revelation, he pulled the young woman away to ask what was so badly bothering her. They walked the forest path as they spoke, taking in the peace and calm of the Silver Falls.

'I'm fine,' she signed. 'I'm just... anxious about getting back to Mistral.'

The young man chuckled; she never could lie to him. "Very convincing, had me at 'anxious'," he joked. She gave him a painful jab to the shoulder as payback.

"So what is bothering you? I hope it isn't Milo. He has his issues but it's not like he'll just snap and lose his mind. Not unless we hurt Yang in some way," he reasoned.

When the young woman seemed to shrink away, biting her lip as her pace slowed, he knew a chord had been struck. "Neo?" he called. "Is this about what happened on the train when you fought Yang? That was what, a year ago?"

Neo waved her hand dismissively, shaking her head. 'Not that,' she deflected.

Cade pulled her to a stop in the middle of the path. "Then what is it? He didn't hurt you did he?"

Not yet, she thought, shaking her head. They had been walking for hours now, and were far enough separated from the group that no one could overhear them... But was it right to tell him about Milo? They trusted him, they were a part of his team, like brothers. Bringing his betrayal to light would drive a wedge of distrust into the entire group. Was it really worth telling them?

Neo had never been good at making decisions. She always left that to masterminds like Roman or Cinder or on the other side of the spectrum, Jaune. On the other hand, it wasn't very long ago that Cade gave her an important piece of advice; what you learn from making a decision can be just as important as the decision itself.

She knew what would happen if she stayed quiet. They would find out eventually, that much was inevitable... but if it became known that she knew and said nothing, then she would be in just as much trouble as Milo.

In the end, the choice was obvious.

'Milo... I saw Milo give the White Fang information about all of us,' she signed slowly. 'I think he's been doing it for a while.' Her eyes drifted to the ground as the young leader's expression turned to one of hurt and betrayal.

Guilt churned within her as a long, sullen silence followed. Why must she be the one to bring him news like this? The sight of him warring in his mind over why Milo would do this, and what should be done about it.

"Ironwood... was right?" Cade said in breathless disbelief. "No, no... there must be a reason for him to do that," he told himself. "Did he give them false information?"

She shook her head, but paused as a thought occurred. 'No, but I think he embellished our capabilities a bit,' she explained, seeing a glimmer of hope in the young man's eye.

"Then maybe... something is forcing his hand."

Neo shrugged as the young man groaned and rubbed his eyes, and she leaned into his chest in a hope that she might comfort him.

"I'm sorry," she quietly voiced into his ear, and she felt his lungs fill and release in a great sigh.

"I really don't know what to do about this," he relented. "We can't ignore it, but I can't tell Ironwood either. Milo is my friend and partner, and I could never put him in that situation."

He took a few steps away from her as he thought carefully on what should be done. "Still, I think... I think this is too big for Jaune. He might make assumptions because of his age, but Ozpin would know what to do... right?"

She shrugged again, ever unsure when it came to big decisions like this. Suddenly she remembered her terrifying encounter with the Avian, and felt the need to share it.

"H-he caught me," she waveringly revealed with a soft whisper in his ear.

Cade blinked, not sure he heard correctly. "Milo caught you?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "He knew I heard everything but let me go anyway, saying that he needed to make sure everyone stays safe or something like that."

"So he does have a good reason..." Cade hopefully stated.

Neo wasn't so sure. When working for Roman, she had encountered a few Atlesian special forces trying to assassinate him in his sleep. She managed to stop them but they were brutal, ruthless, and had no qualms with sacrificing their own to get their job done.

She knew Milo hated Ironwood, but if even a tiny bit of that mentality stuck with him, then he might not hesitate either. Not to mention the fact that his goals have been, and remain, completely unknown. The young man kept a mysterious air about him, never seeming to show his full opinion on much of anything.

But now she had done what she set out to do, and Cade knows what his friend has been up to. He would make a decision on what to do better than anyone else, in her opinion, better than even Jaune or Ozpin. Those two are very set in their ways; more likely to oust the young man out of fear rather than think things through carefully.

"I think," Cade began, "we should keep this quiet for now. He has a reason for what he's doing, and I trust him to do the right thing."

'Are you sure?' she signed with a concerned look, but he hesitated.

"No."

'I wish things were more black and white,' she signaled quickly. 'Everything would be much simpler.'

"Me too," Cade laughed, a low echo reaching through the forest.

The young man's smile faded as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Something felt off to him, as if the forest itself was holding its breath.

A shiver snaked its way down his spine; a feeling many Huntsmen have become accustomed to. Something dangerous was close by, stalking them.

His head whipped around as a hand fell to the hilt of his sword, and he scanned the path to their flank. Not a movement was made, but the eerie silence kept his nerves on edge.

"You didn't bring your weapon did you?" he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the treeline. Neo responded by tracing a cross on his arm, a quick message that meant 'negative.'

"Okay," he exhaled, doing his best to keep his mind focused. "How far can you move us?"

Before she could respond, the brush to Cade's right was shoved aside as a humanoid figure leaped toward them.

The young man drew his sword and swung in one motion, but the wolf faunus ducked below his blade and reached for Neo. Just as his hand made contact with her arm, she instinctively stepped back to avoid the attacker's grip only to be seized from behind by another.

Her eyes flashed red as she bared her teeth and spun, delivering a vicious knee to the other man's gut. The moment his grip loosened, Neo crumpled and fell to the ground, gasping for air as if she were suffocating.

"Neo!" Cade cried, turning to guard her limp form, his blade poised for defense.

However, the two attackers circled them rather than attack, their red eyes watching intently for the right moment to strike. One stared at him with excitement, drawing two daggers from behind his hips, while the other unsheathed a curved falchion.

"We found them, brother!" the dagger-wielding faunus declared triumphantly. "They are friends of the bird-man! His scent is strong on them!"

"Where is your Avian friend?" the other interrogated with a much more proper tone. "We have a score to settle with that one."

Cade's heart was a storm of raging thunder in his chest. No way in hell was he going to leave Neo behind, but how were they going to get to safety?

"What did you do to her?" he questioned, knowing that she had no visible injuries.

The eldest of the two laughed. "Paralysis is the Semblance my brother was gifted. As for me..." he nodded in Neo's direction. "She'll find that using her own Semblance will be quite impossible for the time being."

The young woman coughed violently, taking several gasps of air to fill her lungs. A few moments later the air around her flickered, the illusion failing as she hissed in pain.

"Careful now, child, or the strain will kill you," the elder brother declared with a toothy grin.

"Who did you catch? Hope they're worth it because if not we hiked all the way out here for nothing," Mercury announced as he revealed himself from the treeline, flanked by two White Fang soldiers armed with rifles.

He paused when he noticed Cade, sword up and in a defensive stance, hovering over a familiar body. He stepped just out of reach of the young man's blade and squatted down to peer at the young woman's face. Cade spared a glance and saw that her eyes were open, and she was glaring hatred at the grey-haired man.

"Oh, now this is rich!" he said with a grin. "I wonder what Roman would think about you turning traitor?"

"That's enough!" Cade shouted, swinging his blade hard enough to make Mercury flinch away. "Stay back."

The aggressor turned his gaze to meet Cade's own, an arrogant smirk on his lips. "She's not the only traitor in your 'posse', you know..." he hinted.

"That bird-brained friend of yours; he's the 'King of Backstabbers', isn't he?" Mercury taunted with an embellished flair of his hands. "I mean, how many times has he betrayed the people around him?"

The man raised a hand, tauntingly counting off each example of Milo's treachery. "Atlas, when he abandoned his job, completely dooming their chances at winning the war... Ironwood, when he tried to murder his old commanding officer... Beacon, when he abandoned the city and left it to its fate... His own sister, Cinder-yeah that one surprised me, his own flesh and blood goes looking for him, and she's never seen again! But finally, as if that wasn't enough, he betrayed all three teams he worked so closely with when he told us everything we needed to defeat each and every one of you. And I must say, your stupidity knows no bounds," he concluded, watching with sadistic glee at the anguish in Cade's eyes.

"I-I... That's..." he stammered, then looked down at the still-paralyzed Neo. "You said he withheld information!"

"Who's to say she isn't in on it too?" Mercury taunted with a shrug of his shoulders, and something in Cade snapped.

With a roar of primal rage, the young warrior lunged forward and brought his sword down with a two-handed strike, aimed for Mercury's head. The attack missed as his target spun to the right, so he pivoted his hip and swung in a wide arc from left to right, just across the man's chest.

Mercury merely dodged back to avoid his blade, and Cade could only watch as he brought his boot up to smash into his exposed chest, while the two wolf faunus simultaneously struck him from behind.

Cade's vision flashed white and his ears rang from the resulting blast, feeling the impact of the hard ground on his back. His sword was gone, thrown from his grasp, and his chest swelled with pain. He lifted his head enough to look down as black crept into the edges of his vision.

His punctured armor flowed with blood, and Neo was screaming in horror.

Mercury knelt down to Neo, who was staring in horror at her companion's corpse after she had screamed her voice raw. She was sobbing now, a pitiful, near-paralyzed mess weeping in the dirt. It made him angry, not knowing why a capable woman like her would choose to stoop so low.

"Snap out of it!" he shouted angrily. "Did you really think this wouldn't eventually happen?"

Mercury growled as the woman seemed unable to hear him, then reach down and picked her up by the collar and smacked her across the cheek to gain her attention.

"Do you have any idea how many times that gold-winged bastard reminded us he'd kill whoever hurts his friends? He was like a broken record, over and over again; 'Hurt them and I'll cut your heart out, hurt them and I'll burn out your eyeballs,' on, and on, and on!" he shouted. "But you know what I think? I think I'm just getting started!"

"First we're gonna hunt down each and every one of your 'new friends,' and bleed them out one by one," he swore, glaring intently into her anguished eyes. "And when we're done with bird-brain and the rest of his misfits... then I'll have time to deal with traitors like you."

His ranting tirade was interrupted as a quiet rustle and a choking breath sounded behind him, and he turned his head angrily toward the disturbance.

Mercury's jaw went slack as Cade stood, panting from the strain, hatefully meeting his dumbfounded gaze. Blood slowly dripped from the holes in his armor as he sputtered and coughed up more of the red liquid.

"How... How are you standing?" Mercury questioned in disbelief.

"Cerberus," the eldest brother barked. "Finish him and let's move on. This Hunt is over."

"Yes, Sirius," the younger twin responded, eagerly drawing his daggers with a crooked grin. He sauntered up to his target and reared back to plunge his blade deep.

Everyone jumped as the loud snap of a pistol assaulted their ears.

The youngest brother collapsed to his knees, clutching the smoking wound in his chest. Staring down on him with a pained but determined grimace, with a bright red glowing revolver aimed at the faunus' head, was Cade.

A second ear-splitting crack, and the wolf limply fell to the ground.

"NO!" Sirius cried, dashing forward. Cade quickly adjusted his aim and smoothly pulled the trigger. The other brother fell as the weapon bucked in his hand, the empowered crystal-infused bullet easily punching through the murderer's aura.

The two White Fang soldiers scrambled to ready their weapons, but before they managed to take aim two more shots were fired, and struck true.

He turned to Mercury, his sixth and final shot loaded into the chamber as the revolver shimmered angrily. Staring down the barrel in shock was Neo, who was being used as a shield by the last surviving member of the hunting party. She squirmed, feeling slowly starting to return to her limbs.

"Drop the gun," Mercury demanded, hiding behind the helpless woman.

Cade said nothing, swaying on his feet with an unblinking gaze, while Neo squinted, focusing her restrained semblance in a last-ditch effort to escape.

"I mean it!" the desperate man cried, pulling a knife from his belt and holding it up to her neck.

Neo groaned in pain, a trickle of blood trailing from her nose as her form crackled. The image shattered, and Mercury gasped in surprise as his hand gripped empty air.

Cade's final shot echoed throughout the forest, and there was silence.

The young woman stumbled from around the brush, trying her best to shake away the sharp tingle in her limbs as she dashed toward Cade. Blood leaked from her nose and mouth, and her chest pained her greatly as she forced out a few more wheezing coughs.

She collapsed next to Cade, who was on his back and breathing weakly. Gently lifting his damaged armor with one hand, she stuck her hand beneath it with the other and pressed down on his bleeding chest wounds as tears welled in her eyes.

"Y-you're safe now," Cade waveringly stated, and Neo sobbed lightly.

"Go."

She rose up to look at his pale, drained face, a look of frightened confusion in her eyes.

"Go, Neo." he begged her, tears beginning to trail down his cheeks. "Don't be here for this."

The young woman pulled her shaking hand from beneath his armor. Both hands slick with Cade's blood, she shook her head. "Cade, no," she managed to speak between her choked breaths.

"Please, Neo... you-"

He was silenced as she pressed her lips on his, and they shared a bloody, desperate final kiss.

"I love you, Cade," Neo whispered when they parted.

Moments later, his heartbeat slowed, and he faded.

Neo cradled his body in her arms, and cried.

Following the sound of gunshots, the young Huntsmen of Vale discovered their fallen friend. Neo was there, weeping over him, until she realized they had arrived.

She took one look up at their shocked faces before grabbing Cade's pistol and teleporting away. When the emergency bullhead finally arrived an hour later, they gave up their search and left for Mistral.

The next day, Cade was posthumously awarded the Silver Cross, given to huntsmen from Beacon who fall in battle. His closed casket was decorated with red roses and grapevines, all adorning the top of his shield. His friends and teammates, as well as his fellow students, all joined together to honor and remember him. Headmaster Ozpin gave a few solemn words in his memory, as he had done for each and every one of Beacon's fallen.

All of his friends mourned their fallen brother. Ruby and Nora sobbed quietly, while the Twins shared a bitter embrace. Blake scowled at the loss, while Ren tried to comfort his childhood friend. Weiss did her best to keep her composure, but broke not long after Ruby. Jaune and Pyrrha quietly confided in one another.

Neo was still missing. Some say she was overcome with grief and they wouldn't likely ever see her again, others thought she may rejoin the ranks of the White Fang. One thing was certain; she loved Cade, and blamed herself for his death.

Yang couldn't prevent her sniffles and tears, but she put a watchful, worried eye on Milo. To everyone else, the young man appeared to be in mournful silence, showing little more than a furrowed brow as he stared into the dark wood of Cade's coffin. Only she noticed the near imperceptible twitch of his wrist, the tension in his shoulders and his fingers curled into loose fists.

He was trembling.

She wiped away the moisture from her cheeks as she glanced down, hesitating for a moment before taking a half step closer. Her hand took his, and she felt a bittersweet joy as his fingers intertwined with hers and squeezed tightly.

Her gaze flicked up to see him looking at her now, the dark shadow of a haunted expression on his face. She could see a deep fear in those golden eyes, worries he often buried deep being brought to the forefront of his mind.

"I..." he paused, his voice close to breaking.

She leaned closer, bracing her empty hand on his arm, encouraging him to speak his mind. When she did, he looked away, and she could feel his breath catch as if he were in physical pain.

"I-I have to go," he whispered, stepping across her and into an aisle between the seats. Her heart fell as he pulled away, feeling a sudden rush of fear.

He was going to leave again.

Before he could slip away, she snatched his arm with a flicker of motion while smoothly falling in step next to him. She made her message very clear; they were going to talk before he went anywhere, and she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

As they walked away, dozens of students from Beacon and Haven alike stood as they passed, giving their condolences. Yang had to restrain herself from shouting some of them away, knowing they could never understand how much Milo must be hating every single word they spoke. He remained silent though, simply nodding thanks as they continued past.

Once they were far enough away to be undisturbed, Milo stopped and brushed off her arm. "Warehouse," was the only thing he said before trying to pull away once again.

"Wait, Milo," Yang interjected, managing to stop him before he ran off. "I want to come with you."

The young man huffed, shaking his head. "I need to be alone, Yang."

"You shouldn't bottle your emotions. Let me help you," she pleaded.

"Yang," he sighed before giving a long pause. "I need time alone to... get my emotions out. Remember what I told you about when... my family..." he cursed under his breath, wiping a few tears out of his eyes. "God, I still see them, and now Cade."

Her gaze fell to the ground, swallowing her protest. The last thing she wanted was to give him the chance to run away, but she knew what he needed right now. In this moment he needed to calm himself down, and he was ashamed of that. Her presence would be a hindrance, forcing him to swallow and hide his pain rather than let it burn away.

This would be the third time he'd felt such a profound loss, and she couldn't help but think that life had dealt him a bad hand. After those few silent moments she looked up to meet his gaze, then wrapped her arms around him in a comforting embrace.

"I'll meet you there in a few hours," she said, softly whispering into his ear. It almost hurt to let go of him, knowing that he was in pain and she would have to wait to help him.

Three hours of torturous waiting and worrying passed after he left, finally coming to an end when Yang opened the heavy steel door as quietly as she could. The moment she entered, the sound of clashing blades and whirring gears reverberated off the walls.

She silently moved closer, watching as Milo did what he did best, swords in hand and holding nothing back.

Rather than cutting through his foes as usual, however, he was having a difficult time against the Atlas training robots she had trained against not so long ago. It was four against one, each of the others wielding real swords rather than the practice blades they used when she fought. They also appeared to be much quicker, each one moving with a fluid precision that matched his own.

They attacked in unison, forcing him to dodge erratically out of the way while simultaneously counter-attacking. Each time he swung, there was either a loud clash of metal on metal when the droid blocked, or the soft whistle of his sword cutting through the air when they ducked away. Milo appeared to be tiring, but the sheer will and fire in his eyes coupled the strength of his blows told her he could fight like this for a very long time. For the meantime Yang waited patiently, seating herself on top of one of the small crates that lined the room.

Nearly twenty minutes later, the battle finally took a turn when Milo deflected a blade to the right. The attack swept to his side, millimeters away from permanent damage as it sliced a few feathers off his wing, while Milo's own blade nicked the attacking robot in the neck, spraying hydraulic fluid in every direction as it fell to the ground.

Milo's stance changed instantly, from defensive to highly aggressive. He rolled to his right, cutting one robot's legs with a scissor-like sweep of his blades and casting the remains aside, then deflected two strikes with each blade from the remaining pair of Atlesian machines. He slapped one more attack aside before stabbing upward into the robot's chassis, hearing something inside snap and hiss. Without stopping to recover his blade, he made a spinning dive over the last remaining robot as it swiped for his back, his sword singing as it swept clean through it's neck while he deftly tumbled mid-air. He landed perfectly on his feet, chest heaving as the now-headless final robot clattered on the ground.

With gritted teeth and a low growl of anger, he lifted his one remaining sword with two hands and plunged it hilt-deep into the machine's chest, piercing into floor as the Huntsman's Steel fractured concrete and metal.

Milo then gave a long, tired sigh, letting his exhausted limbs loosen as he rolled to the ground and closed his sore eyes. Yang approached with a remorseful pit in her stomach, her head a mess of questions she dared not ask. She stopped a few feet away, leaning down to pick up a pair of feathers that had been cut from his wings.

"Hey," she softly called out to him.

A few moments of quiet passed.

"Hey," he answered, his voice rough and shaken.

Yang started to speak, but caught herself. She fiddled with the golden feathers, thinking carefully on what words she would use to make sure he wouldn't close himself off.

"Are you hurt?" she questioned, waving the two feathers in his direction.

"No," he quietly responded. "They grow back."

"Okay," Yang sighed. What could she possibly say that would put him at ease? Nothing came to mind. Thankfully, Milo seemed ready to speak as he lifted himself into a sitting position.

"I... I don't think I could've stopped this," he slowly explained, as if each word were a stunning, painful reality.

Yang nodded in understanding. "The world is dangerous right now. A lot of things are basically out of our control."

He averted his gaze, staring at the floor. "Maybe," he skeptically muttered.

The young blonde was baffled, completely lost to his meaning. Before she managed to question him, he cleared his throat with a grunt.

"I can't let this happen, not again."

"What are you saying, Milo?" she asked as she started to worry.

"I think everyone should go back to Vale. Let people like me finish the war quickly so no one else dies," he frantically declared.

Yang felt as though she had been punched in the gut. Did he have any idea what he was telling her? Did he truly want her to leave his side?

Tentatively, she reached for him with open arms and grabbed hold of him tightly. "You can't do this alone. We need to stick together."

Milo coughed against the sob that broke through his lips, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists and he fervently fought the tears that welled in his eyes.

"I watched them die, Yang," he whispered. "They bled to death in my arms and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it."

The young woman was stunned for a moment, feeling as though the floodgates of a dam had been torn open in her path. Before, he had spoken with a quiet, detached coldness, simply stating the facts of what happened. This, however, was raw emotion set loose.

She wanted so badly to ease his pain, feeling a sting in her own eyes as her arms pulled him closer.

"Now, Cade is gone and all I can see is you in their place..." he cried, breath shaking as he returned her embrace. "I won't let this happen again. No one else is going to die... I'll make sure of it."

Yang dug as deeply as she could in search for an answer. She needed to help him calm down, to keep him from doing something rash. Again she managed to recall the thought that his life had been stacked against him. His family murdered, then he was abducted and brainwashed, forced to become a murderer himself, and so much more. It was all a mess with him at the center, screaming in pain, rage, and confusion.

She bit her lip, hoping this might help him as she cried alongside him. "You can't change fate, Milo. Some things are just... out of our control."

His eyes shot open, his face a mournful scowl. "Fate is cruel."

The image of strength that was Milo shattered, revealing the raw emotion beneath his steel shell. There was grief and anger, confusion and hate, but above all there was a profound fear of loss, created by what love he'd lost already.

Yang remained by his side, even as the sun fell, the stars shined, and they slept deep into the night.

"We're wasting our time," Adam growled, glaring through his visor at Remnant's ancient Queen.

"If we start now, we could kill both Schnee and the General within the first hour, then have half the Kingdom under control in less than a fortnight. Then Mistral in a month! So I ask again; Why. Are. We. Waiting?!"

The woman kept her chin high as she turned and look on him as if he were a child. "Oh Adam, you have such passion. If only all my subjects shared your singular devotion. Alas, no one can be so fortunate."

She stood from her chair in the meeting chamber, walking ever so slowly toward him. "Everyone has a reason for what they do, young one," she explained. "Walk with me," she said, her voice lined with a condescending urgency.

Adam barely managed to keep himself from flinching as her fingers lightly grazed his arm. Her touch was death, cold and remorseless. He would not dare disobey her, and followed in silence.

"Were you to see the world as I do, you would understand that everyone has their own reason for their actions. Everyone has a purpose they strive for, and when you formulate a plan around those aspirations, there are times in which patience is most key."

"And this is one of those times?" he hesitantly questioned.

"Precisely," she answered, a malicious grin spreading on her lips. "You once told me you want control of Dust. You will have it, but before I give you what you want, I require payment."

He furrowed his brow and frowned. "What do you need?"

"Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. I need the Maidens, Adam. Thankfully Summer and Fall are accounted for, but I still require Winter and Spring."

He hesitated, "But... isn't Fall-"

"Fall is accounted for," she interrupted with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Bring me Winter and Spring and you will have the power you seek."

Adam released a sigh. They were so close now, so close to finally showing Schnee what they have done to the world.

"Just point me in the right direction," he declared with a look of determination.

Salem gave a sinister grin in return. "Patience, Adam. The plan is in place, and all we must do is wait."

"The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."

-Isaiah 57:1-2