Chapter 20

After discovering a Sith assassin working under General Winter Schnee, a Jedi strike team went to defeat the assassin. Rosa killed the Sith, nearly killing herself in the process, only to be revived by the power of darkness.

Weiss looked over the files. The baby lost his mother in the attack on Atlas. He became an orphan the same day Winter and Weiss did. His mother was a wolf Faunus who worked as a maid to their father. Jacques impregnated the woman at some point and had been sending her money. Weiss looked over the account information. With all the purchases made, it didn't look out of place. Weiss looked at her sister.

"We need to find him." Weiss said.

"I know." Winter said. "I never thought father would ever do this."

Weiss wondered how consensual the sex was. The already shattered image of her father crumbled. This man, no this monster, spent decades abusing the Faunus. He told his children all about the evils of the Faunus, but he took one into his bed and fucked her. Weiss didn't know how to feel. She was mad. That was the only emotion she could tell at the moment. She looked at her sister.

"His name is Gold. Gold Sepia." Winter said. "I'm going to bring him here. He lost everything. He needs a support structure."

Weiss looked at the picture of the boy. He had wolf ears and a fluffy wolf tail. He was a cute baby. He had black hair.

"Father is a bastard." Weiss said. Winter leaned back.

"What do you think about the child?" Winter asked.

"I don't know what to think." Weiss said.

"I will find someone able to take care of him. Trust me." Winter said.

"He's our brother. We should take care of him." Weiss said.

"How? I have no time, and neither do you. I am a general. Even if I take Gold in, his life will be hard. You can't take care of him." Winter said.

"We can't abandon our brother." Weiss said.

"We're trying to give him the best life possible." Winter said.

"And that should be with his family." Weiss said.

"Weiss, I'm looking for his family. If he's adopted, that will be his family. Think about the boy here." Winter said.

Weiss didn't want to. It felt like a betrayal to her grandfather. Winter put her hand on Weiss' head.

"I know how hard this might be, but if we're being honest, neither of us could take care of a child." Winter said. She smiled at her little sister. "If you find anyone who you think can take care of this child, tell me."

Weiss shook her head. Winter brought her hand back.

"Focus on your training for now. The Vytal festival is very close." Winter said. "I'll be going to Beacon soon."

Weiss entered her dorm. Rosa was still in the Bacta tank. She went to the dorm couch and sat down, holding her face. Blake gave her a look.

"Is something wrong?" Blake asked.

"Yes… No… I don't know anymore." Weiss said.

"All right, this is new." Yang said. "Tell us what's going on."

"I… have a half-brother," Weiss said.

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Weiss pulled out the picture and showed it to Blake first.

"He's a Faunus." Blake said. Ruby and Yang rushed over.

"But that means…" Blake started.

"My father had an affair with a wolf Faunus. In the end, he's nothing but a hypocrite." Weiss said.

"What happened to his mother?" Yang asked.

"She was killed when Atlas was attacked." Weiss said. She told them all about what Winter told her. They looked at her, then the baby.

"Wow… I hate your father even more now." Blake said. "He was a real asshole."

Emerald stood outside of the Bacta tank, wanting to go into Rosa's mind. She needed to see into it. She needed to know why she almost killed herself. She also needed to know why the tattoo disappeared. Everyone saw the lights coming out of it. But the tattoo was gone.

Cinder opened the door. Emerald looked at her, but she silenced her. Sher stepped forward, holding the dark ink in her hand. She used the force to open the top of the tank and let a single drop of the liquid fall.

"Soon my apprentice, you shall know everything." Cinder said. She turned to Emerald.

"I don't have much time here. I had to use a portal to get in here. She is still valued by our mistress. Keep her safe until she is introduced to the mistress." Cinder said.

"What about the others?" Emerald asked.

"They will keep her safe as well." Cinder said.

"And her Jedi friends?" Emerald asked.

"They won't keep her from us." Cinder quickly left through a portal. Emerald suddenly felt lightheaded. She fell to the floor as the door to the medical wing was flung open. Emerald was unconscious on the floor. Maku stepped in looking at his padawan.

"This is my fault." Maku said. "I'm sorry."

Winter looked for the orphanage that housed her half-brother. It took time, a lot longer than she thought it would take, but she finally found it. She told her masters and Ironwood about her brother. Ironwood was shocked to hear about his existence.

"A Faunus? Your father was a racist." Ironwood said. But the tests proved it. Ironwood knew this child might never learn the truth of his existence. They needed to keep the public from knowing about the child. He would be a target for the white fang and the human terrorist groups. He's given Winter permission to find him.

In the end, it took a month to find the child. She walked to the entrance of the orphanage. It wasn't the best, nor the worst one. She walked in and was quickly brought to see the children. So many of them were recent orphans. Most from the attack against Atlas. Many households in Atlas were dual-income houses. The white fang attacked the financial district mostly, bringing down many buildings. Thousands died. She was seeing the results of that. She showed a picture of Gold to the caretaker, and she brought her to him. He was in a crib, one of many cribs in the room. The women were moving, taking care of the children. She noticed that the staff didn't distinguish between humans and Faunus here.

"Gold's tale is tragic, as all are here. We looked for his father, but we couldn't find out who it was. His mother died when Atlas was attacked. He was brought here by the police. They found him after finding her body. He was crying when they found him." The head staffer said.

"I will take Gold." Winter said.

"Are you sure? He does still have family somewhere…"

"He does. I am his family." Winter said. The head staffer knew what she meant instantly but could hardly believe it.

"I see." She said. It was all she could say.

The rest of the process went smoothly. It took two weeks after that to get Gold, but when she did, she felt a connection to him. The thought ran across her mind of raising him herself. She had to struggle to get that idea out of her head. It was tempting. But how could she force her lifestyle on him? He didn't deserve the baggage of the Schnee name. Especially now that the company was no more.

The baby boy held out his hand for her to hold. She put out her finger, and Gold grabbed it. He let out a noise. His fox ears twitched.

"You are cute." Winter said. She couldn't see any of her father's features in him, except for the hair. Winter hoped she would be strong enough to find someone good for him.

Rosa woke up after a long time. A month and a half since her near suicide. She remembered doing it. She remembered why she chose to do it. She wanted to escape. No one was in the room with her. She opened the bacta tank and quickly changed. She looked back at the bacta tank. Too used to finding herself in it. She needed to change. She needed to get stronger.

She walked out of the medical wing but was stopped by Professor Ozpin.

"You woke up just in time for the final semester to begin." Ozpin said. From the end of the second semester to now was three months. It was only that large of a gap because of the White Fang War.

"What's the point?" Rosa asked.

"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked concerned.

"I'm so far behind everyone else, why even bother?" Rosa asked.

"Rosa… do you want to leave?" Ozpin asked. Rosa didn't meet his eyes. He moved closer to her, looking her in the eyes.

"Is that why you almost killed yourself?" Ozpin asked. Rosa didn't say anything. Ozpin sighed. He put his hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the touch.

"Rosa, this is a serious issue. This goes beyond your teammates growing past you." Ozpin said.

"How many times have I almost died?" Rosa asked. Ozpin nodded his head. "I'm a liability to my team. I'm a liability to everyone. I just… just…" Rosa started heaving. "I just want to disappear."

"Why?" Ozpin asked.

"Because I'm going to get them killed. And even if I don't… I only get strong when I tap into the darkness…" Rosa said. "It… It's wrong of me to use it. It's evil. But I've used it."

"That darkness is weakness in the end. Right now, your powers are still growing. Your potential is even greater. You have allies, friends. Trust me, you are not worthless." Ozpin said.

"…But what if I am?" Rosa asked.

"Miss Reidan, I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child. Your attendance here isn't one of them." Ozpin said.

Rosa wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Rosa said.

"Please miss Reidan, never think yourself as unworthy." Ozpin said. Rosa walked past him. Ozpin hated Maku more than ever. This was his fault. He almost cost Rosa her life.

Rosa entered her dorm. Everyone was in the common area. She walked over to it. They didn't notice her immediately. They were talking about… Weiss' half-brother?

"Since when do you have a half-brother?" Rosa asked. They turned to her, and Ruby jumped on her hugging her.

"Rosa! It's been so long!" Ruby said. The others hugged her soon after. She looked at them.

"How long has it been?" Rosa asked.

"About six weeks." Blake said. They all ended the hug. Rosa looked at her friends. She felt so tired.

"How's training gone?" Rosa asked. They showered her with affection. It made her feel terrible. She hid behind a false smile. How could they care so much about a failure? Why was she so special to have so many friends who cared about her?

"We're almost ready for the Vytal festival." Weiss reported. Yang shot her head up and grabbed Rosa's hand.

"There's something I have to show you." Yang said. She dragged Rosa over to her bed, pulling down a traditional style Jedi Robe, only this one was dyed yellow. She looked at Yang questioningly.

"I got a second pair of Jedi Robes. The other one was kind of messed up in a mission after you were dunked in the bacta tank." Yang said with a smile.

"You've gone on missions while I was asleep?" Rosa asked.

"You were comatose. And yes, we were sent to take on a Grimm attack." Blake said.

"It was that serious?" Rosa asked.

"Yes. The internal injuries were fixed in two weeks. It was the spiritual side that was broken. But on a high note, that tattoo is gone." Ruby said.

"I see." Rosa said. She grabbed her lightsaber from her nightstand. She felt most of her energy drained.

"We were told that you might have had some negative effects from the time you spent in the tank, so we all decided to help get you back to your former strength." Yang said.

"What do you mean…?" Rosa asked hesitantly.

"We're taking you to the gym, every day." Ruby said. Rosa hoped that she could avoid that.

Cyan watched over Rosa. He knew the truth. Rosa needed that darkness now. It has become the glue to her spiritual self. She has no idea how fragile she was. He continued to talk to her. He got closer to her, slowly.

"You've gotten stronger." Cyan said, training with Rosa. They were sparring hand to hand. He slowed down his reaction speed a second, enough that she wouldn't suspect his own force sensitivity. She had been building up her strength since she left the tank. His team was sent on missions occasionally, taking out Grimm, but besides that, things were going smoothly. The semester continued steadily. Rosa's grades in the combat classes started to rise. She was now an average fighter.

"Thanks for noticing." Rosa said, a smirk on her face as she landed a hit on him. He didn't anticipate it. He should have been able to… but he couldn't. He smirked. She landed a good punch on his chest. He stumbled backward.

"Aren't chest shots illegal?" Cyan asked.

"Are they?" Rosa asked, bouncing up and down. She had become a far more confident fighter. Of course, her master was staying two steps ahead of her. All part of his plan. His final betrayal. And they called the Sith Evil.

"Are you saying I can hit you in your…?" Cyan asked. Rosa's face turned red.

"You're right, that's an illegal hit." Rosa said.

"I though so." Cyan said. Emerald and Mercury stepped in the dojo. Rosa noticed them. She let her guard down for a second. Cyan rushed in, throwing a kick toward her. She shot her eyes back to the leg, grabbed it, and took a step forward. Cyan stumbled, falling to the floor. Rosa went on top of him and pinned him to the ground.

"That wasn't fair." Rosa said. Cyan looked away from her.

"But you overcame it." Cyan said. Rosa got off Cyan and helped him up.

"Looks like you were just finishing up." Mercury said.

"We were." Cyan said. He gave Rosa a smile and went to his team. Rosa grabbed the towel she had and wiped off all the sweat. Emerald waited for her. It was awkward the first time talking to her after leaving the bacta tank. She apologized for the kiss. Rosa apologized for dragging her into everything.

"I heard you were improving, but I didn't think it would be that much." Emerald said.

"You didn't just try to pickpocket me, right?" Rosa asked. Emerald handed over her scroll.

"You are getting so much better at that." Emerald said.

"It did take a month of work." The Vytal festival was quickly approaching.

"But look at what this past month has left you with. Look, your buff now." Emerald said, grabbing onto Rosa's muscles. Rosa smiled. She worked hard to get them. She wasn't all muscles as some of the men were, but she was strong. She knew it. Doing this, improving herself, made her feel better about herself.

Her lightsaber skills were improving, but still… not good enough. Niman was a difficult form to use, but she knew it was right for her. She was sparring against Blake. Blake held her lightsaber out in front of her in an Ataru opening. She jumped forward, jumping on the edge of a branch in the practice arena. She dropped. Rosa sidestepped the attack. She jumped back a foot, bringing her hand to the ground, gripping a handful of dirt, then tossed it at Blake. It hit Blake, blinding her. Three wild strikes. Rosa stayed on the back foot, blocking the strikes.

"Use the force!" Sun yelled. Blake took a breath and focused on Rosa. Her strikes were coming closer. Rosa was still on the back foot, jumping into a tree, or she would have if Blake didn't use the force to break the branch. Rosa brought her feet to the tree and pushed off it. She went behind Blake and spun around, blocking the strike meant for her. She jumped back, sending a force push against Blake. She was knocked off balance and flew three meters away. Rosa rushed forward, bringing her lightsaber down. Blake spun before jumping up, kicking Rosa in the back. Rosa dropped her lightsaber and was sent five meters back. She wiped away the blood from her lip. She sighed. She stood back up and ended the sparring match. Another loss.

"What happened?" Blake asked.

"You cut my lip." Rosa said. Blake tried wiping the dirt out of her eyes, but Rosa came over, pulling out a handkerchief and rubbing Blake's eyes. She opened them and saw the blood on her lip.

"I'm so sorry." Blake said.

"It's just a lip." Rosa said. "I took away your eyes."

Sun walked to them nodding his head.

"You fought well Rosa. You did give up a lot of ground though. Your blade work is getting better." Sun said.

"Thank you." Rosa said.

"Blake, you were doing well until you got the dirt in your eyes. I shouldn't have to remind you to use the force. But you quickly got back into the battle after the reminder." Sun said.

"How do you think we'll do in the Vytal festival?" Blake asked.

"Your team has a strong advantage." Sun said.

"Winter's coming next Monday!" Weiss shouted. Everyone turned to her.

"Why next Monday?" Rosa asked.

"Last minute details about the Vytal festival." Weiss said. They went back to Tai Xiao-long's home. They all went to Patch during the week-long break. Team RRWBY and JNPR decided to go, and Sun just so happened to be on the island with his team, getting some last-minute practice in the woods. The same woods that Ruby and Yang trained in. It was a shock to find team SSSN there.

Tomorrow they were all going back to Beacon. Weiss got a picture of her half-brother from Winter. In the end, Winter couldn't part ways with him, after getting life advice from Ironwood.

"Are we going to meet Gold?" Ruby asked.

"Gold?" Sun asked.

"My half-brother." Weiss said. She had to explain everything to Sun. Winter hired people to care for Gold while she was at work. One of them was a new droid based on the protocol droids in the galaxy at large. Winter hired, along with others, a Mirialan couple. One of the twenty couples that joined Quinlan Vos when he came to Remnant.

Ruby lagged behind when everyone started going back home. She walked a different way, going to the cliffside. She made sure she was alone. She sat down next to her mother's grave.

"Hey, mom." Ruby started. "Sorry I haven't come by in a while. Things have been... well, things have been, pretty busy. Oh, Dad's here, too! He's, uh, you know... Dad. He's still teaching at Signal. But he told me that he's going to be on some mission soon. I think he misses adventuring with you. I miss you too." Ruby paused.

"Haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet! So that's cool. I think being on a team with Yang helps. Keep her in line... That was a joke. She's actually a really great fighter! You can tell she's learned a lot from Dad! Oh, so are Weiss and Blake. Rosa is trying her very best, and she's been doing great recently. Oh! They're my teammates! Together, we form Team RRWBY! And yes, before you ask, that does cause a lot of confusion. Anyways, I made a bunch of new friends, and then I met some... let's just say, uh, odd teachers. Oh! We've also stopped some bad guys, too! I guess it's like they say: "like mother, like daughter"! I still wonder why Ozpin let me into the school early. But uh, I guess he'll tell me one day. You know how he is. It's funny, the more I get to know him, the more he's starting to sound like Uncle Qrow." A bark alerts her to Zwei and Taiyang Xiao Long, in the trees behind her. "Oh! Looks like Dad's back! I gotta go! He's dropping us off at Beacon for the tournament match before he goes on his next mission. Wish me luck!" Ruby looked up and saw a group of birds flying toward the sun. "It was good to talk."

Tai puts his arm around Ruby's shoulder and gives her a hug.

"I knew I'd find you here. Come on, let's get you home."

Rosa walked around a stadium, covered in darkness on one half, and light on the other. She couldn't see where she was. Fear radiated off everything. She looked at the sky and saw flying blobs.

"Die!" She heard someone scream.

"Monster!"

"…has fallen!" she heard a voice cry out.

She felt her lightsaber in her hand. Three red blades were in front of her. She was on the defensive, trying to not get killed.

She brought her legs in, getting her body in a straight line, avoiding two strikes. She landed on her back, then sent out a force blast. Two of the dark blobs were flung back. She got up, then felt a pain on her wrists. They started burning. Her legs started burning. She dropped to the ground.

She saw a green blade appear, rushing forward, stabbing her.

Her eyes shot open. She was covered in sweat. She started breathing heavily. She calmed herself. She looked at her wrists. They were reddened. The same with her ankles. She quietly got up, not making a noise as she moved over to the front door. She grabbed her lightsaber and went out in the cold night air. She walked to an open area. She looked around, not seeing anyone. She took a deep breath as she turned her lightsaber on. She started going through the sequences of her form.

She started sweating when she felt someone watching her. She turned off her lightsaber.

"You've grown stronger, Padawan Reidan."

Rosa recognized that voice. It was the Sith at the docks. Darth Cya.

"How'd you find me here?" Rosa asked.

"We've always known where you were since we first met. All the way back at the docks, so long ago." Over a year had passed since then.

She turned her lightsaber back on. She felt the cold night air touch her skin underneath her clothes. She heard the breathing of a bird a few meters away. She let herself open to observe her surroundings.

"Why me?" Rosa asked.

"You can't even begin to understand the power you have in you, if only you came over to the dark side." Cya said.

"I'll never join you." Rosa said.

"I wouldn't be so sure. You already have once." Cya said. He appeared behind her, kicking her into a tree. She nearly dropped her lightsaber. She looked up and duck, barely dodging the slash that cut the tree. Rosa sent out a force push into Cya's stomach. He flew back ten meters.

Rosa blocked the strikes coming after her. She could only defend. She was being pushed back continually. Her back hit a Tree. Her lightsaber was smacked away from her, then she was grabbed by the throat, slowly brought up.

"You are still too weak." Cya said. Rosa tried kicking Cya, but his mask took the damage. She continued to choke. Black spots were appearing in her vision.

"Use the dark side." Cya said. "It's the only way you'll live."

Rosa felt her hits becoming less effective. But she wasn't going to rely on the dark side. She was ready to die for that.

But she didn't have to.

Qrow appeared from the trees, kicking Cya in the head. His mask came flying off. He turned away from Rosa, opening a dark portal. He turned enough for Rosa to see the glowing orange eye.

"Next time we meet, you will join the dark side." Cya said as he entered the portal. Qrow turned to Rosa.

"You're being tracked by the fucking Sith. Why the fuck are you out here alone?" Qrow asked.

"I had a nightmare…" Rosa started.

"A nightmare? Kid, you've taken life. You were at that battle. You lived through nightmares. Kid, you are a target, you need to be responsible." Qrow said, tossing Rosa her lightsaber.

"I'm sorry." Rosa said. Qrow looked at her. He grumped then sighed.

"Look kid… I'm sorry for yelling, but you have to be more careful than anyone else. You have a target on your back, literally" Qrow said. Rosa knew the tattoo was back.

She remembered when she saw it again. She was about to take a shower when she looked in the mirror. She dropped her shower stuff. Blake was taking a shower at the same time, and she left it to find Rosa stuck in place, looking at the tattoo that magically returned. That wasn't a good day. Ruby came in shortly after to see what was wrong, and officially saw all of her teammates naked. That was the first thing that came across Rosa's mind as she refused to acknowledge the tattoo.

But it returned somehow. She was still a target.

She returned. Pyrrha was on the doorstep looking for her. When Rosa spotted Pyrrha, she felt the love of her friends.

The next day they were all brought back to Beacon. While they were on the airship, Jaune was talking about a dream he had.

"…And then I decided to open a café. And I was serving Jedi and hunters in the morning, and at night, I was serving the Sith and gangsters while not knowing who they were. I think I also hired a giant talking fish Ozpin, and a talking Zwei who gave out life advice in a deep smooth voice." Jaune said.

"Was the fish Ozpin, or Ozpin and a Fish?" Ruby asked.

"It was a giant fish, but I knew it was Ozpin." Jaune said.

"I had a dream where I was in a world of ninjas." Ruby said.

"…That's it?" Yang asked.

"I'm thinking… Oh yeah, they had magic powers and fought each other with those superpowers… and I'm pretty sure that sounds just like one of my comics." Ruby said.

"What about you Rosa?" Nora asked. Rosa looked troubled as she told everyone what her dream was like.

"…That's not what I would have thought you would have said." Nora said.

"I've been having dreams like this for a while. But this one… I don't know. Maybe I'm still stressed from Hellio." Rosa said. She wished she had regular dreams.

"Weiss, did you have a dream?" Rosa asked. She sighed, thinking about her dream.

"I remember being surrounded by Four evil spirits… I held out my lightsaber. I was ready to die holding off the enemy when a somewhat familiar spirit appeared. It killed the four spirits. I felt my own spirit crying out for it to stay. I knew it was one of the enemy, but I wanted it to stay. I wanted to tell it we could help it. I saw a tear, then it disappeared again." Weiss said.

"Pyrrha?" Nora asked.

"I would say it was more of a nightmare…" Pyrrha started she shook and a look of disgust crossed her face.

"Well…" Nora said.

"I was forced to do the pumpkin Pete cereal advertisement over and over again. Bowl after bowl of that terrible cereal." Pyrrha said.

"Wow… really? That's it?" Nora asked.

"No, I'm just joking. That wasn't the dream. I dreamed about a time when I couldn't fight. I dreamed about being confined to a wheelchair. I saw a lot of people die, and I know I could have done something if I could have used my legs. If I couldn't fight, I think that would be a living nightmare." Pyrrha said.

"What about you Nora?" Ruby asked.

"I was in an underwater kingdom where I was a queen, and all of you were different fish. Though you looked like you do now, so... I guess you acted like fish."

They finished going around the room, getting everyone's dreams. Some were more fantastical than others.

They landed at Beacon and finished everything they needed for the tournament. Ozpin gathered all the participants for the Vytal festival from the schools.

"Today is the last day before the tournament starts. Tomorrow the tournament begins. It will test you as individuals, duos, and as a team unit. It will test your ability to adapt to different surroundings, and it will test everything you have in you. You will fight against your opponents with everything you have. You will win or lose based upon your performance. With that out of the way, this is also a festival. Have fun. This event is an event." Ozpin smiled and quickly finished the speech. He walked away, leaving all the teams participating to talk to each other.

"Are lightsabers legal?" Weiss asked. Ozpin stood behind them.

"In fact they are. I was about to go around talking to all the teams that have Jedi. Lightsabers aren't able to destroy most weapons with one strike even when they're on the highest power, but to keep everyone safe, we will be checking all lightsabers to make sure that they're on the lesser power setting." Ozpin said. Weiss took out her training saber from her bag. She made this one around the same time as her primary saber. It was a simple design. The only feature that was notable was the white blade it created. Ozpin nodded his head.

"Perfect." Ozpin said, moving on to the next team.

Rosa was in the stands the next day, sitting next to Maku.

"Now, we will announce the order of the teams fighting." Professor Port's voice rang out.

"As always, the selection is random."

A massive screen came down, and the lists of teams shuffled quickly, showing the order of the fights. Rosa noticed that RRWBY was shortened to RWBY. She didn't think it would hurt that much.

"Are you alright?" Maku asked.

"Yeah… I just wasn't expecting that." Rosa said.

All the teams were organized. Team RWBY would be the first team to fight. Team RWBY would go up against Team ABRN from Haven academy. The teams were given ten minutes to prepare for the first fight.

Yang decided to not wear her Jedi robes. She wore her everyday clothes. Ruby a new pair of Jedi design clothing. The base of the robes were a red cloak, with grey sleeves and a hoodie. Her old robes were in the process of getting repaired. Blake wore her regular clothes. Weiss wore her new clothes. They agreed to wear Jedi robes to say if they were going to use their lightsabers of if they were going to use their traditional clothes by using their regular outfits. Ruby looked at her teammates as they got ready for the first match.

They moved to the moving platforms as they went up to the arena. The enemy team showed up. One of them was also in a modified Jedi robe. Arslan Altan had a massive Jedi symbol tattoo on her exposed shoulder. Arslan has a dark complexion, platinum blonde hair, and olive-green eyes. She wore a yellow robe with only one wide, loose-fitting sleeve over a black tube top. She also wore black pants, shoes, and a red sash embroidered with a white endless knot on it.

Bandages ran up both her legs and arms as well as a red necklace two matching red sticks on the back left side of her head. The others knew immediately that team RWBY had at least two Jedi. Ruby took note of the other members of team ABRN.

Bolin Hori, a lightly tanned skin man with amber eyes, and black hair. He wore two yellow sashes, one around his waist the other over his shoulder alongside a dark blue vest and gray pants with yellow lacing up the sides. He also wore black boots and black fingerless gloves, and a dark gray beaded necklace.

Reese Chloris, light green hair swept to her right, with teal eyes and a fair complexion. She also wore two black facial markings on her cheeks. She wore a dark purple hoodie over a mauve sweater. She wore black shorts, knee pads, and elbow pads. She wears black shoelaces and high-top sneakers.

And last, Nadir Shiko has long pink hair tied back into a short ponytail, with an undercut, and the undercut portion of his hair is black. He has a dark complexion and blue eyes. His outfit consists of a cream-colored short-sleeved jacket with yellow details and a black, long-sleeved V-neck shirt, with cream-colored fingerless gloves. He wore black medium-length pants and cream-colored sneakers.

"Team RWBY VS Team ABRN! The inaugural match!" Port said. Ruby looked over the others. She noticed the hoverboard in the arms of one of them. She glanced at the aura readings. She memorized the names and faces immediately. She thanked her Jedi training.

"Let's have a good match." Arslan said.

"Don't hold back." Ruby said. Her and Weiss took out their lightsabers. Arslan took out hers.

"To those wondering what those weapons are doing here, lightsabers are unable to immediately cut through most metals, and these lightsabers have been powered down to make sure that they are unable to hurt others or destroy weapons." Oobleck said.

Ruby was ready for the fight.

"This tournament will go like this folks, this is the four-on-four team battle or the first wave of fights. Whichever team defeats the other wins. So that means as long as one teammate is still up and standing, your team still has a chance! There are two ways to lose, ring out and aura depletion! After the first team losses, they are out of the team tournament. If your team survives the first round you go onto the second round, to the two-man battle, where you and one member of your team go on to your next fight. If you survive that you go onto the finals! The one-on-one matches! But if you are beaten in round one, don't worry, we have a loser's bracket where the winners are able to come back to the next level!" Oobleck explained. The crowd cheered.

"We'll start the countdown for the first match now!" Port said. The countdown started at ten. The crowd cheered down the number.

"…Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

The countdown ended, sounding off a bell, and the first fight began.

Ruby turned on her lightsabers and rushed in quickly. Arslan took out a teal lightsaber. Ruby jumps over Arslan, leaving her to Weiss, which she didn't see coming. Ruby landed behind Arslan and ran towards Bolin. Bolin smiled as he blocked the lightsaber strike.

"It's a force-imbued weapon." Ruby said. She realized why he was so confident. He was also a Jedi in training. He used Niman. Ruby realized. She put her second lightsaber away and changed her fighting style. Yang brought her arms up, blocking the attack from Reese. She grabbed a fire dust shard along the way and was letting the energy go off on Yang. Her force shield and Aura took most of the damage, but she still felt a slight burn.

"Sorry!" Reese yelled as she moved away.

"Isn't that polite." Port said.

"She did still leave a minor burn on Yang." Oobleck commented.

"It's nothing a little aloe won't fix. But it did leave a mark on Miss Xiao-long's aura." Port said. Yang's aura dropped by fifteen percent. She quickly fired a few shots at Reese, one hitting her in the back, causing her to stumble, and slam into the ice half of the arena. Yang cringed as Reese tried getting back up but slipped. Weiss went for a plunge, but Arslan jumped to the side, kicking Weiss in the face, sending her flying. Weiss recovered quickly, checking her aura status. Seven percent down. Blake went after Nadir, slashing at the bullets coming her way. She landed and went for a strike against him, but she was smashed in the face by Reese. Yang went over to stop her when Arslan punched her, knocking her aura down further. Yang got up and wiped her mouth. Her semblance started empowering her.

Ruby used her semblance to rush behind Nadir. He turned around and saw the silver eyes. Ruby saw three shatterpoints on his body. She smirked as she hit the three spots, with quick force-imbued strikes. The three areas were hit, the shoulder, the knee, and his chest, all too fast for him to react, and his body crumbled under his own weight. He fell to the ground. He spun, and continued with a little help from Ruby, slowly sliding off the ice arena.

It was the first knockout of the tournament, and Ruby looked at the cameras, giving a short, cute smile.

"She's playing up the cameras!" Port said.

"Not many remember to play up the crowd in the middle of their match." Oobleck said. "I bet she just made a few fans."

Ruby quickly turned around and blocked a staff swing to the head with her lightsaber. She continued to block the staff until she noticed Weiss. She smirked, confusing Bolin for a second. A black glyph formed to his right as Weiss kicked Bolin into a rock on the fire side.

"Bestie!" Ruby yelled.

"No."

"Oh…"

Weiss rushed after Bolin. He got back up, blocking her lightsaber strikes, though it was getting harder to do so. Her strikes were getting faster because of the glyphs she was using. He barely caught up and realized she was using a mixture of Makashi and Ataru. She was a good fighter. He realized too late that she wasn't alone. Ruby spun in the air, bringing all her strength down on Bolin. He blocked the attack. The ground cracked. Weiss rushed forward, landing a good hit against him, sending him flying. He pressed a button on his staff and slammed it into the ground. The momentum stopped, but he took a lot of damage. He was in the yellow.

He rushed forward, jumping over a swipe Ruby made at him, spinning around, and grabbing a shard of fire dust. He tossed it to Reese, who was fighting Blake. She rushed Blake, overrunning her defenses, and breaking a pillar of ice dust. Blake got up and looked at Reese. She winked, causing Blake to blush. She performed skating tricks, sending out large blasts of fire out of her skateboard. Blake dodged each one by inches Blake used her semblance to create clones and used her weapon to get behind a massive ice pillar. Reese took out the four clones quickly and went after a fifth clone that turned around and faded as she attacked. When she attacked, Blake tossed her weapon to the other side, stopping Reese, then unhooking her weapon. She swung around the ice pillar, kicking Reese, hitting her into the stadium wall.

"Ooh, a double whammy! Reese Chloris is eliminated by ringout and Aura level!" Port said.

"Oh, she really should've worn a helmet!" Oobleck responded. Reese looked at the board and slammed her fist into the ground.

"Shit." She said to herself.

Arslan used her hunter weapon to almost ice skate across the ice surface. She was starting to feel the pressure. Yang was right behind her, using shotgun blasts to propel herself forward. Bolin lands away from Ruby, only to be caught by Weiss' trap. He landed right on top of one of her glyphs. Bolin is helpless as Weiss created a whirlwind from underneath him and formed a giant ice fist straight up from the ground to trap him. It reforms itself into a ball that rolls around the field, moving to the edge of the arena. Arslan sees Bolin and goes to help him. She slams her hand into the ball, using the force to break the ball completely, Bolin dropped. He got up and thanked Arslan.

"I think they all are padawans." Bolin said.

"I thought so too." Arslan take out her lightsaber again. While they were distracted, Weiss used a glyph to create an ice ramp. Yang used her weapon to gain momentum. Ruby and Blake went to the exit of the ramp, Ruby gave Blake and Yang another boost. Blake spun in the air, launching Yang. Arslan saw it coming too late. She and Bolin were slammed against each other and tossed into the fire hill. Arslan got out of the hill, looked at Yang, nodded, then fell. They were out of aura.

"And that's the match! Team RWBY is victorious!" Port cried out. The fans cheered loudly. Rosa was out of her seat cheering her friends on. Maku smiled at her childish display of emotion, then his smile quickly faded.

"WE DID IT!" Ruby yelled.

They had indeed won the fight. Cyan was impressed. But he was also very disappointed in the Jedi. They couldn't feel all the Sith in the arena. They were everywhere, but the Jedi couldn't sense them.

Rouge cheered team RWBY on. Her teammates joined in with her. Karel smiled as he put the scroll away. He was following one of the Sith that attended the event.

Rosa met up with her teammates after the fight and hugged them all. They smiled, not having seen Rosa this happy in a while.

"I can't believe you guys made it look so easy." Rosa said. "I mean, did you plan that ending? A two-for-one punch?"

"Not really." Yang said.

"But you made it look like it was." Emerald said. She walked up to them with a smile.

"Emerald!" Rosa yelled.

"That's me." Blake's stomach growled. Her face turned red.

"Can we get something to eat?" Blake asked. "I'm starving."

"Great idea." Rosa said.

"I'll treat us." Weiss said.

"Want to join?" Ruby asked Emerald.

"…Ruby, do you have money?" She asked with a smirk. She checked her pockets, as Emerald held up her wallet.

"Did I drop it? Girl pockets are the worst!" Ruby said. Emerald chuckled.

"No Ruby, you weren't paying attention." Emerald said. "Great fight by the way." Emerald tossed the wallet back to Ruby. She caught it and thanked Emerald. Rosa told them how good Emerald was at pickpocketing. At first, that concerned them, but Rosa explained that she used it to get information and as a training method.

"I heard your team progressed to the next round too." Blake said as Ruby mumbled something incomprehensible.

"You know, I feel that we haven't seen your other teammates." Weiss said.

"How'd they do in the fight?" Yang asked.

Emerald smiled as she looked away. They were violent. They were Sith.

"Really well." Emerald said.

"So… are you coming for food?" Rosa asked.

"Oh, gosh, that's so nice of you, but my teammates are all kind of..." Emerald looked back at Mercury as he sniffed the inside of a boot, looking perplexed "...introverted. Really socially awkward."

"I see…" Rosa said.

"We can catch up later." Emerald said. "Oh yeah, looks like Merc and I are going to move on to the doubles round. What about you guys?"

"Yang and I" Weiss said, stopping Ruby from grandstanding.

"Well, if Mercury and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on ya." Emerald said.

"We won't hold back either." Yang said.

Ironwood walked to the prisoner's cell once again. He opened it, and saw Roman sitting there, a smile on his face.

"Are you ready to talk?" Ironwood said.

"Soon." Roman said. "Soon, I'll tell you how the Sith lord Myst died, but not yet."

Ironwood did wonder how she was killed. They knew who she was by some of the surviving white fang prisoners and learned how she captured Rosa. She was confirmed dead by Roman, but nothing else.

"Was it Salem?" Ironwood asked again. Roman smiled.

"Soon, everything you care about will crumble in your fingers. Atlas deserved what it got." Ironwood closed the door and stepped in, gripping Roman's jaw with his metallic arm.

"You know, when I got this arm, the hardest thing to figure out was control. I crushed a lot of things. Every now and again, the wiring acts up. I accidentally crush whatever I have my hand on." Ironwood said.

"Good… You're acting like them now."

Ironwood let go of Roman's jaw.

"Do you say you're the leader of the white fang again?" Ironwood asked.

"As always, I lead them to destroy your precious kingdom." Roman said. Ironwood smiled.

"Then you will be executed the day after the festival is over." Ironwood said.

"Executed, hey wait, what the fuck? What about my rights and that sort of shit!?" Roman yelled.

"You just confirmed you were the mastermind of the attack on Atlas and Hellio. You shall therefore be executed. If I were you, I'd start talking." The door closed behind Ironwood. He signed the warrant for Roman Torchwick's death.

Roman thought about it. He had a time limit now. But if he talked, the Sith would hunt him down. But if they didn't get him out of here, he was still dead.

"Fuck this." Torchwick said. "I know you can hear me Ironwood. Fuck you."

Author's Notes: We're finally at the Vytal festival. Things are moving along quickly now.

I thought that I should put a scene with Roman in it since I absolutely love writing for him, but I forget about him a lot. Thanks for reading.

Time for the review from CT7567Rules

Mandalorians will be coming in slowly, but there are some clans that are pro-Jedi, and some that are anti-Jedi. I'm still learning more about the culture, and unlike a certain cowboy, I want to do them right. So I'm reading the republic commando book by Karen Traviss. AS most EU fans know, Karen Traviss is the best writer for the Mandalorian culture. She is more responsible for the Star Wars fan fascination for them.

I don't mean to say that Dave Filoni is a bad writer, but when it comes to the Mandalorian people… well… the less said the better.

Please leave a review and follow.

-DragonZlayerx12