Alright, season 1 is almost done! Just this chapter to do! Hang in there! XD.

I dropped a lot of things at the end of last chapter, but since this is an original chapter, things shouldn't be so long.

Quick explanation of last events. The address Ozpin sent Shade was a last-minute idea that I added. So, if it seems that way that's because it was. I originally planned for Shade to stumble across Vivian's parents in the market, but thought that this way was probably more controlled and easier. Ozpin is a teacher, but he's also a huntsman. Without a doubt Ozpin could find Vivian's family, and since he's a teacher Ozpin knows that Shade hasn't really come to terms with what happened five years ago. Some teaching degrees require studying psychology. With that in mind, Ozpin's full reasons will be explained later.

I'm sure you can guess what was going on with the last paragraph in the Dead Zone, if not, I'll give you a hint. Who's the only character I've introduced that has purple hair? That white glow is a secret, and will be revealed shortly.

Quick forewarning, I've never been good with the emotional stuff. I mean, I pretty much as happy-go-lucky as can be and it's extremely hard to fully express myself to others. A lot of that translates to Shade, and I try, but I've never been good at really giving my characters deep emotions beyond anger and joy. I just ask that y'all bear with me.

With that, onwards.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or Destiny.

Shade simply stares in shock at the woman who became his surrogate mother. Mrs. Aquarius quickly shouts back into the house.

"Clancy! Come here!" The woman shouts. Shade winces as a tall, teal-haired man appears in the doorway.

"Iris, what is I-" Mr. Aquarius glances out at Shade, quickly recognizing the teen. "By the gods, Shade." The Scout is speechless, looking between the two, trying to find something to say. Blake simply stands in the background, watching with bated breath.

"I-I." Shade tries to speak, but is quickly interrupted when Mrs. Aquarius pulls him into a tight hug, tears falling freely from her face. Mr. Aquarius wraps the two in a hug of his own, a few tears falling from his eyes. Shade's arm twitches, and he tries to hug them back, but quickly fails to do so.

Iris Aquarius was a petite woman with long blue hair and brown eyes. She was a doctor, and more specifically a surgeon.

Clancy Aquarius was a tall man with broad shoulders, teal hair, and deep azure eyes. He once was a special forces operator in Mistral before becoming a policeman.

Their daughter had been Vivian Aquarius, Shade's best friend and fellow Iron Lord cadet before her untimely demise in the Dead Zone, Vivian looked like her mother, having her mother's blue hair and facial structure while carrying her father's azure eyes.

Shade's thoughts are broken when the embrace is released, Mrs. Aquarius still crying with a large smile on her face.

"We heard that an Iron Lord had survived, and we hoped beyond all doubt that it was Vivian, Shiro, or you." The woman says. Shade was still speechless, fighting an uphill battle to keep his emotions in check, to keep the memories and the pain and the suffering back. The Iron Lord bites his lower lip as Mrs. Aquarius hugs him again. "I'm so glad you're alive." The similarities between the parents and their daughter was too much for Shade's well-built walls and emotional defenses, their kindness confusing him.

"W-why are you being so kind to me?" He whispers, Mrs. Aquarius pulling back to look at him with a confused face. "I'm the reason Vivian is dead and you should hate me!" Shade's green eyes were dull, and both parents as well as Blake could see the internal war that was waging in the Scout's mind as unwanted memories and emotions break their chains.

"Shade." Mrs. Aquarius says. "It's not your fault, how could you think that?"

"I promised you I'd keep her safe!" He shouts, tears falling from his face. "I promised you that I'd protect her with my life! But when She needed me most I wasn't there!"

"Shade, you were send flying by an explosion, there was nothing you could have done." Blake says, walking up behind him.

"I could've run faster, I should have seen that grenade coming!" The scout says, refusing to meet the Aquarius's eyes. "It's a Scout's job to watch the Supports, to make sure the Support can do their job of assisting the Guardians unhindered. I was supposed to protect her! I was right there! If I wasn't so weak I would've been able to take the hit! Vivian is dead because I was too weak to protect her! My best friend is dead because of me." The Iron Lord slumps to the ground, five years' worth of pent up emotions of sorrow and anger finally winning the battle for the Scout's mind as the Iron Lord sobs into the ground. "If I had been able to save her then Shiro wouldn't have been overwhelmed." Mrs. Aquarius crouches down to pull him into a hug. Blake leans down in front of him as Mr. Aquarius runs inside to get something.

"Shade." The female Faunus says, placing her hand on his shoulder. Her ears twitch at his pained sobs. "It's not your fault." The Iron Lord shakes his head. "Shade, look at me. Look at me Shade." Dull emeralds slowly meet amber. "I may not know Vivian or Shiro, but I know you. I know that you did everything that was physically possible to save your friends. Sometimes," Blake pauses, thinking for her words. "Sometimes even going beyond our limits isn't enough. Shade it was the Dead Zone, the Iron Lords knew that they were probably going to die, you did, and I'm sure Vivian and Shiro did." Shade sniffles as Mrs. Aquarius holds him tighter.

"Indeed." Mr. Aquarius says, his scroll in his hand. "I know that the cadets were given the option to stay out of it, and I know that you didn't even hesitate to say that you were going." Opening his scroll, He plays a short voicemail. "Vivian knew it, but she went anyway."

"Hey mom, dad." Vivian's voice rings out from the scroll. "I'm sure you already know that the Lords are mobilizing to the Dead Zone. I'm going as well. By the time you guys return home the battle should be over. So I'll say this. The cadets didn't have to go. In fact, we were practically ordered to stay behind. I was considering not going, but Shade instantly stood up to Luna and said that he was going, with or without her permission. He didn't even hesitate. The rest of the cadets followed his example one by one." Shade chuckles wetly. "It was an unspoken Iron Lord rule that a Guardian is the leader of a fireteam, but to us cadets, Shade is out leader. He's the one that literally worked from rock bottom to be here, the one that worked to hardest to stand by our side. If Shade was going, we all were going, because we were gonna back up our leader and friend. I was going to back up my best friend." Vivian's voice chuckles. "I know there's a good chance for all of us to die, so, while Shade was gearing up, the rest of us decided to make a designated survivor, someone all of us were going to do our hardest to have survive. We all picked Shade. So if he survives, tell him it isn't his fault, we all went willingly, and he can't blame himself for our decisions. I gotta go now, bye guys."

"By the time Iris and I got home she was dead." Mr. Aquarius says. "And we thought you were dead. Shade, could can't blame yourself. Vi wouldn't want that. Luna wouldn't." Shade nods, running his sleeve over his eyes. Mrs. Aquarius leads him inside, Mr. Aquarius motioning for Blake to follow. The elder woman sits the Iron Lord down in a chair, before moving and getting the Scout a cup of tea. Blake is given one as well as everyone takes a seat. Shade slips off the chair, opting to sit on the floor. Mr. Aquarius chuckles.

"You still like to sit on the floor, don't you?" The man says, Shade nods, a broken grin on his face.

"I told Blake this, but the Iron lords were fighting an Ancient Grimm." He says, his smile falling. "It looked like a giant turtle, it didn't really have a main attack method, no claws or fangs. It could crush a person though. The biggest threat at first was the many packs of Beowolves, but those were easy to pick off." Shade takes a swig of his tea. "Then the turtle Grimm released some sort of black mist that covered the battlefield. We all had our helmets on at the time, so our air filtration systems were fine. One of the cadets, however, had taken a hit to the mask, so he took it off because he couldn't see. He suffocated to death. Vivian had confirmed it when she checked his vitals. So, imagine our surprise when a few minutes later he stood up and broke the helmet of another cadet. Then the gas killed her, and then a few minutes later she stood up. Vivian checked their vitals, still dead, so how were they standing?" A rueful chuckle fills the room. "The damn gas was actually a parasite that killed the host and took control of the body through the bloodstream." The Scout glances up at the shocked faces of the Aquarius's. "It was by this time that the Ursai, Deathstalkers, and Nevermores showed up. Then more Iron Lords fell, and if the body wasn't damaged too badly, wasn't missing any limbs or too deep of cuts, they would rise again like zombies. Most of the cadets fell at this time, as well as some of the elder Lords that had retired a long time ago. Kuroka decided to have the Vanguard focus on the turtle Grimm, which Celestia called a Necros. The veteran Lords would focus on the Grimm while the elder Lords would take care of the zombies, because even if the bodies were the same, their skills were not. Shiro, Vivian, and I were assisting with the Grimm when one of the zombies figured out how to throw a grenade. It landed at our feet, and the blast sent be flying across the battlefield. The grenade was something akin to a flashbang with a high-powered blast that sent the enemy flying. By the time a regained by senses, Shiro had run forwards and Vivian was keeping the Grimm from fully surrounding him. She didn't even notice the Deathstalker come up behind her until it was too late. I saw it, but my comms broke in the blast, so I ran as fast as I could, moving to throw my glaive when I looked down at it. The weapon that Vivian and I had created was in pieces. With a scowl I threw the pieces away and drew my pistol. I was ten meters from being in range when the Deathstalker put its tail right through her back. She died instantly. Shiro was overwhelmed with a pack of Ursai a few moments later, he got ripped to shreds. I picked up his claymore and took out those Ursai in a raging fury. I then smashed in the skull of that Deathstalker. It was then when the Goliath showed up." A sharp intake of breath echoes through the room. "Yeah, one of those monsters showed up. Kuroka saw that, and ordered the activation of the failsafe systems."

"Failsafe systems?" Blake asks. Shade nods.

"It's a system in our armor, it basically monitors your heartbeat and, if it stops, make the armor detonate." The Scout replies. "A Goliath is hard even for Iron Lords who have access to their aura, so it was basically impossible to defeat one in the Dead Zone. When a Lord knew they was about to die they threw themselves at the Goliath or the zombies. It was effective, didn't leave anything to be turned into a zombie, took out a mass of zombies, or chipped away at the armor of the Goliath. This process took around half-an-hour, before the blasts damaged the Goliath to much internally and it died. We lost practically all of the Veterans and Elders around this time, there were few zombies left so I picked them off. Shiro's sword broke at some point so I grabbed Vivian's split-sword. I meet up with the Vanguard, who had managed to push the Necros back into a cave at the base of the nearby mountain, by this time the mist had disappeared, and we weren't going to let it release more. We followed, but the Vanguard made a plan, and used blasting charges to detonate the roof, causing a collapse. We ran, trying to get to the entrance when a roar echoed through the cave. The Vanguard stopped, nodded, and went back, to make sure the thing died. Luna and I were near the entrance at the time. She looked at me, removed her helmet, and smiled. She gave me her sword, and told me one thing."

"What?" Mrs. Aquarius says, moving to take a seat next to the crying Scout.

"Survive." Shade replies, looking up at everyone. "She told me to survive, before throwing me out of the cave just before it collapsed on top of her." He rubs his eyes quickly. "It was so surreal, looking over the battlefield. The area looked like a volcano went off, fire and the ground blackened. Then everything hit me. I was the only one left. The only survivor of the Iron Lords. I cried, and cried and cried. I honestly don't know how long I cried or why I didn't attract any Grimm. When I regained myself, I picked up Luna's sword, scavenged the area for ammo, weapons, and the like. I tried to use the emergency responder, but it was broken, fairly badly as well. I had no mechanical skills, but I took it, and walked, trying to get to the wall. When I got there, I couldn't even get close enough to escape. There was basically an army of Grimm between me and the exit, which was why we were dropped in. I retreated, making it back to the battlefield and set up camp. I spent the five years scavenging the area, trying to find parts to fix the transponder, and here I am now." Shade looks up at Vivian's parents, his eyes red by gaining a determined light in them. "I survived something people much better didn't. There has to be a reason I survived, and I'm gonna find it." Blake grins slightly.

"Feels good to get everything out, doesn't it?" The Faunus says.

"Don't use my words against me." Shade mutters, a small grin on his face. Blake laughs.

"Now that's out of the way." Mrs. Aquarius says, smiling. "Who's this lovely lady?" Shade rolls his eyes.

"I'm Blake Belladonna, a student at Beacon and member of Team RWBY." Blake says. "Shade's training my team to become the next generation of Iron Lords." The Aquarius's blink.

"Well, you work fast." Mr. Aquarius says. Shade chuckles. The four talk for another hour, before Shade and Blake have to return to Beacon.

"It was nice to see you again." Mrs. Aquarius says, giving Shade and Blake a hug.

"Don't be a stranger son." Mr. Aquarius says, clapping the Scout's shoulder.

"Blake, it was so nice to meet you, please look after Shade. Oum knows what sort of trouble he can get into." Mrs. Aquarius says, a teasing grin on her face. Blake laughs, a teasing grin on her face.

"I'll make sure to keep him out of trouble." She says, smirking. Shade lightly taps his fist against her shoulder.

"I'll see you later." Shade grumbles, a small grin on his face. The two turn and walk back to the airship terminals in silence. Boarding the last airship to Beacon, the two take a seat.

"Hey," Shade says suddenly.

"Yeah?" Blake responds.

"Thanks." He simply replies. Blake grins, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No problem." She says. The two return to their dorms once the airship lands.

(Meanwhile)

Another tremor rocks the Dead Zone. The cave has a few more rocks fall away. The white glow surrounding the purple hair flickers, as a glowing blue eye opens briefly, before closing again once the white glow returns.

A/N: Hopefully I did alright. Never been good with this kind of stuff, so I hope I did alright. See y'all later.