Chapter 9: The Rift
(Day 9)
It was already noon when Blake and Yang went fishing for food. Yang was still using spears, but Blake tried to use a bow to take the fish down. Needless to say, the Faunus had her problems.
"Yang? How's you leg coming along?" She asked, and took aim again. The arrow pierced the water, but the fish survived, and swam away with the arrow.
"It's getting better. I can at least move it again." She led the spear down, and impaled a Salmon.
"Let me guess? You're not going into the water again?"
"No way. One sharkattack was more than enough for me. I'll never set foot on a raft again. Ever." Yang explained, and suddenly froze. All color left her face.
"Yang? Is everything okay?"
"Something just nippled on my leg." Yang said in horror, and slowly looked down. There was some sort of animal in the water, with a fin sticking out of the shallow water. At first sight it looked like a dolphin, with a scaled hide. "WEISS!" She yelled, and jumped into Blake's arms.
"You know that it's not a shark, right?"
Yang jumped down. "I know. But it still nippled on me. It's a predator."
"What is it?" The heiress asked. She was wearing a hide shirt, to everyone's surprise.
"What is this?" Yang pointed at the creature.
The heiress looked down at the creature. "That's an Ichthyosaurus. What's it doing here?"
"I don't know. Trying to eat me?" Yang suggested.
"Don't worry. Judging by the size, it only eats fish. I meant what is it doing in the shallows?" She went in closer, and noticed that it had problems with moving. "Seems like it's stranded. More or less."
Weiss put a hand on the animals back. It was scaly, but smooth at the same time. She walked around it, and noticed something on its dorsal fin. "It's hurt. Something bit inside the back. Maybe it tried to flee, and ended up here?"
"Let me guess: Megalodon?" Yang said.
"Probably. Maybe we can patch it up." She ran back to the camp, and came back with a piece of meat. Weiss handed it over to Yang. "Here, give it some meat when it's hungry. I'll look if I can find something to wrap around the wound."
While Weiss walked away, Yang reluctantly handed the meat over to the Ichthy. It took it, and swallowed the food with one bite.
"You're really scared of water creatures, aren't you?" Blake asked, and catched a fish with an arrow, whcih she stabbed into the water.
The blonde scratched the back of her head. "Well, maybe. The whole thing with the Megalodon was really scarring. I... I just don't feel that good out on the ocean."
Blake kneeled down in front of the Ichthy, and petted its head. The reptile let out an amused squeal. "Look, it's friendly. Not everything in the ocean is a giant shark."
At this moment, Weiss came back with more meat, and a stick.
"What's the stick for?" The blonde asked.
Weiss put it at the fin. "To measure it. If we're lucky, we can put a saddle on it."
"Hey, Weiss. Help me out here. What does an Ichthyosaurus eat?" Blake asked.
"Fish, maybe crabs and other small critters." She marked the size of the fin on the stick, using mashed berries. "Why?"
"Because Yang thinks it's going to eat her."
"That's nonsense. It's friendly. Like a dolphin." Weiss took Yang's hand, and put it on the creature's snout. "There. It doesn't hu-"
Before anyone could do anything, the mouth of the animal opened, and it bit into her hand. Luckily, the grip of the reptile wasn't strong, so she could just take her hand away. "What was that with 'it doesn't wanna eat you'?"
"That must be a misunderstanding." The heiress tried to diffuse the situation. "Maybe it is like a crocodile. It has some spots that cause a reaction. Like your hair, or Blake's ears."
"Which ones?"
"The cat ones. Trust me, this creature is completely peaceful."
Yang glared at Weiss. "It just bit into my hand."
"Good point." She started to push Yang away from the river, back to the camp. "Maybe you should just relax a bit. Start with planting the tea, or something." She turned around, and looked at the Faunus. "Keep feeding it. Taming a water dweller would be great."
Pyrrha was sitting outside their house, once again trying to decipher the scroll they'd found. She came a lot closer, at least she hoped. She decided to wear a shirt and pants made out of hide today, since her armor had already taken some damage during the last days, and she didn't want to break it. The clothes were made by Jaune, and he made one pair for everyone.
"And? Are you getting somewhere?" Jaune asked, and sat down next to her.
Pyrrha smiled. "Well, I think I may have managed to translate bits here and there."
"Great. What's the scroll about?"
She shrugged. "Still hard to say. It seems to be about someone finding a tribe. Either that, or about an old man suplexing a deer."
Jaune looked at her speechless. "How can you mix those two up?"
"Well, it's hard to translate, okay? Especially without any references. I only have my memory here." Pyrrha explained. "How are the defenses coming along?"
"It's getting somewhere." Jaune said. "We've got the inner wall ready, now we only need the spikes." The cracking of wood was heard, and they looked toward the small forest in the valley, from which Nora was bringing a whole tree, carried by Aryl.
"The Triceratops is doing good work." Pyrrha mentioned. They saw how Nora nearly fell form the creature, but managed to grab the saddle and hold on. It seemed like the straw they put on the saddle made it a bit harder to stay on. Suddenly, Danny flew over their heads, and latched onto Nora's face, causing her to fall off for real. Everyone chuckled.
"How are the boats coming along?" Cinder asked, as she stepped up to Adam, Mercury and Emerald, who were planning the boats. Although she told Merc and Adam to do it, Emerald decided to help, since someone who learned the building parts would be needed.
"Oh, you'd be surprised." Mercury said, and searched through a pile of rubble next to them. "Where did I put it..."
"What's he searching for?"
"For..." Emerald got interrupted by Mercury.
"I've got it!" Black yelled, and held up a role of paper. He put it on the cliff, and held one side. Emerald held the other one, and they unrolled it, revealing a blueprint of a warship. Cinder had to admit, it looked good. Like a ship, used back when they weren't powered by engines.
Adam stepped in front, and took a long stick to show the details. "This are our current plans. Since the fish can tip over boats, and the lower side of our ship will still be made out of rafts tied together, we had to think of something." He pointed at the bottom of the ship. "A couple of wooden spikes will cause the monster to be hurt when it tries to attack." The next thing he pointed to was a white mass between the rafts. "These are sacks, made out of hide and filled with air. They'll hold us above the water. Now, to the ship itself: It will consist of a big deck, with a room in the back. In there are supplies, and the steering wheel for the ship." He pointed at the giant sail. "This will propel us. Of course, a sail is only good with wind, and only in one direction, so we have another plan. There's a propeller, made out of wood in the back."
"A propeller? How are we supposed to get it to work?" Cinder asked. She had to admit, it looked incredible.
"That's easy. Fire. Sparkpowder is highly flamable, meaning that enough should get the thing moving. We just burn it, put water above it, and the steam will do the rest. Now to the most important feature: The weapon systems. Of course, we don't have anything like Atlas does, but Black had the idea to built a bigger version of a bow."
"Yep, a Ballista." Mercury added.
"Even one could be enough to take the beast out." Adam threw the stick into the sand. "What do you think?"
Cinder glanced over the blueprint once again. "It sounds good. How long would it take to built the thing?"
"We've already thought about it." Emerald explained. "Roughly two or three weeks. If the weather stays clear, and nothing goes wrong."
"What? So long? Can't we built something smaller?"
They thought for a moment. "We could try, but this is the stuff we'd need to take down the fish. And no one of use is foolish enough to sacrifice himself like that."
"You are, when I say you are!" Cinder yelled. "I'm the leader, so shut up and start working on the boat!"
Adam gritted his teeth. "Fine. Next week, you'll get what you deserve." He turned around, and took the blueprint, only to bring it over to the raft in the water.
"This isn't going to end well, is it?" Mercury asked Emerald.
"Nope."
"Is it tamed yet?" Ruby asked excited. As soon as she heard what Blake was doing, she ran over to her, and brought more food if needed.
"I don't know. Where's Weiss with the saddle?" The Faunus asked, and looked over to the camp. Weiss was coming closer, holding a brown mass in her hands.
"I've got it. Let's try this." She put it on the back of the animal, and wrapped the reins around the dorsal fin. Considering that it didn't react to it, they guessed that the Ichthy was tamed.
"Who wants to try it out?" Weiss asked.
"I do!" Ruby said, sat down on the saddle, and took the reins in her hands. "Okay... How does this work now?"
"Try to say something." Weiss suggested.
"Alright. Go." Nothing happened. "Start. Yip Yip. Move." She groaned. "It doesn't move."
Blake crouched down next to the creature, and noticed the problem. "Because it's stranded."
"Blake, it's in the water." Ruby pointed out.
"Yes, but its belly is on the sand. The water isn't deep enough." Blake stood back up, started to push the Ichthy. "Weiss! Help me!" She came to help, and together, they managed to push it into deeper water.
It led out a happy squeal, and started swimming. Ruby used the reins to control the direction, as the Ichthy swam out on the ocean. Behind her, she could see her friends waving at them. She waved back, and turned the Ichthy around, to swim in circles around the area. It wasn't hard to get a grip on riding it, and she soon was able to get it to jump out of the water.
Ruby stopped the creature, and petted it on the head. "You need a name. What do you think of, uhm, Indi? 'Cause of your color?"
She didn't get the reaction she expected, since the animal started to look around nervously. "What's going on?" It squeaked, and went underwater. Ruby was able to hold her breath just in time, and held tight. The Ichthy went deeper, until Ruby couldn't see a thing anymore. The only visible thing were different groups of lights, which slightly looked like jellyfish.
She tried to steer the creature up. A mistake, as she soon realized. The jaw of a Megalodon snapped shut in front of her, and she managed to avoid it just in time. The Ichthy changed direction, and went back to the surface, followed by the Megalodon. It came closer, until a red cloud filled the water. Ruby looked behind, and saw that a giant creature with four fins had bit the monster in half. And it's black, lizard-like eyes stared at her.
Indi accelerated, and the thing hunting them soon lost interest, and went back into the dephts. Ruby's sight slowly went black, but they breached the surface, and Ruby instantly took a deep breath. After making sure that she wouldn't pass out, Ruby steered the animal back to the river, and jumped off as soon as they were in water deep enough for the Ichthy, but too shallow for any predators.
"Ruby! Are you okay?" Yang yelled, as she ran towards her. Weiss and Blake followed. It seemed like they had seen her go underwater.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"What happened?" Weiss asked.
"I think Indi got scared, and tried to flee."
"Let me take a guess. Megalodon?" Yang said.
"Yes, but there was something worse down there."
"Which would be?" Weiss asked.
"I don't know. It looked like a giant lizard. It had four fins. I couldn't really make out much. It was dark, and underwater."
"Sounds like some sort of Pliosaur, or Mosasaur. Could you get a glance at its tail?"
Ruby shook her head. "No, only at the side of its head, and the front."
"Okay, I'd guess a Mosasaur, or maybe a Kronosaurus." Weiss explained. "Maybe I can get a glance at it, when it goes up to breathe. Whenever that is."
Yang walked into the water, and approached their new tame. "And now to you! You nearly killed my little sister, you piece of shit!" The Ichthy led out an afraid squeal, and moved backwards as Yang came closer.
Ruby went in, and held her angry sister back. "Stop, he's just an animal. He didn't know better!"
Yang sighed deeply. "Right. That still doesn't mean I like him!" She went back on shore, leaving Ruby, Weiss and Blake alone.
"She really has a disdain for water creatures, doesn't she?" Weiss muttered.
"I can understand that." Blake pointed out. "One of them nearly costed her a leg."
Watts was standing at the sidelines, as the last preparations were made to the device. If everything would go as planned, it should open a rift to whereever RWBY, JNPR and Cinder went. Right now, it could only be held open for a couple of seconds, but this was more than enough time to send a recon drone through.
Not that he cared. As soon as it was working accordingly, he was tasked to steal the device. The plan his mistress set up was easy, but effective. Once they had their hands on it, Salem would send through a couple of Grimm, and let them reproduce on the other side, until Vale would eventually re-open the rift, and let the Grimm directly into Amity, and in turn into Vale.
But for that, it had to work in the first place.
"Everyone, grab onto something. This could be one of the most important events in recent history." Levi proclaimed to the staff that was gathered around. Behind him were General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin.
He pressed a button on a panel, and they saw how the air started to break apart.
Warning: Access to ARK Unit by outside forces. Access denied. Initiating safety protocoll #211. Attempts are redirected to 16;83.
The air formed into a blue-purple ball. A portal through space and time, in the middle of the coliseum. Watts wasn't sure if the lightning coming out of it were natural, or because it was highly unstable.
Everyone gasped as it started to bend. It was about to collapse, as a small, oval object rolled out. Ironwood was getting the drone ready, but just as it was going through, the portal collapsed, cutting the drone in two.
Ozpin stepped forward, and picked up the object. "It's... an egg."
Ironwood and Levi stepped up to him. "An egg? Of what?" The General asked.
"If I may..." Levi interrupted. "This egg should be destroyed. We don't know what's in it."
"No. We should not." The headmaster answered. "This is a visitor from another planet, or dimension. We should keep it, try to hatch it. Maybe it can help us. And destroying it could lead to a war, a war we can't win."
"Oz, that's insane. Who should take care of it?" Ironwood pointed out.
He smiled. "I already know the perfect candidate."
Before anyone could do anything, Ozpin left the arena, and brought the egg back to the school, only to knock on the door of a certain Team.
"Yes?" A female voice was heard.
"I've got a present for you." He said, in the most cheerful voice he could muster.
The door opened, and Velvet stood in front of him. "What?"
"Can I come in?"
"Sure." Velvet gestured into her room, and the headmaster stepped in.
"As you know, we tried to open the portal today."
"Did it work?" Coco, who was sitting on her bed, and was appearently listening to music when he knocked, asked.
"Technically, yes. When we opened it, this came through." He held up the egg.
"An egg?"
"Exactly. And I want you to hatch it, and take care of whatever bugger comes out."
"I'm sorry, but why us?" Velvet asked.
"Because your team displays a great amount of caring." Ozpin explained. "You are always there to help your teammates out, as if you where a family. Even when Mister Winchester bullied Velvet, you came to her aid, and beat him up. In my opinion, you're the best option we have."He put the egg down on the closest bed.
"We don't have a choice, do we?" Coco asked.
"No, you don't. Good day to you." With that, Ozpin left the room, leaving the two girls and the egg alone.
Velvet walked up to it, and put a ear on its side. "What do you think is inside?"
Coco stood up, and walked up to the egg. "I dunno. Maybe a big bird?"
"Or a dinosaur." The Faunus joked.
And Chapter 9 is up, with a new arrival on Remnant.
Something I forgot to mention about the tea in the last chapter: They don't get crops from randomly picking bushes, but have to find them on the Island, with every plant having its own, unique location. Of course, some of them can only be grown at certain places. The crops in here include the four from the main game, and the ones from Primitive Plus.
Now to replies:
The Multiversal Writer: Yes, that was the Alpha/Albino Leedsichthys. And the swamp will make its debut in this arc, so it won't be too long.
Jimmy331: Of course they'll reunite. It won't be too long until that happens either.
Some Guy: I don't think anyone will go insane, and even if, then it'd be most likely Neo, Nora, Adam or Cinder. I can't see Jaune going bat-shit.
Omega09: I think this Chapter answers it. However, it won't be masses of Grimm, but rather five or six strong Grimm, each based on some sort of mythological creature (for example the Qalupilak from the Inuits.)
RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth; Ark: Survival Evolved belongs to Wildcard Studios