Hello everybody! I am the Burning Ruler and welcome back to another chapter of RWBY: A Demon's Life. Just so you know, I'm writing this at 1 am. Now, Shade and Velvet won't be joining me as they are currently… preoccupied with what happened at the end of the last chapter. But I have some reviews to respond to. Let's go!
Valkerix: I just have one question. What game were you playing? To me it sounds like Geometry Wars, but I'm not sure. Also about Shade, if you met him, you would find he is quite… persuasive.
Writen: Not going to lie, my first draft had the Blood Brothers attacking just before they kissed, but I scrapped it because it didn't turn out too well. Actually, it sucked, but I agree. It would've been a good time for them to attack.
DragoonSensei: Thank you. I hoped it would be.
Lunaris Eclipse: You have no idea how much that means to me. Literally, that made my day. Also, the wait is over!
Now before I start, I have a couple things to say. I have started a new RWBY story, so, shameless promotion, and I am not feeling inspired enough to write anything for SAO: A Beast's Tamer, so don't expect anything for that story for a while. Sorry to the fans of that story, but I just can't waste time staring at a blank screen. Hope you understand. Now that that's taken care of, I only own Shade, Lilian, and Sarah and let's start the chapter already.
Chapter 29: The Journey Begins
"Where are they?" asked Weiss, waiting for Shade's, Velvet's, and Jaune's team to show up at the cafeteria.
"I'm sure they will be here soon Weiss." Said Yang, also somewhat irritated.
"Maybe we should go get them." Said Ruby.
"Sure. I'll go get Shade's team, Kannon, you go get Velvet's, and Ruby, you go get Jaune's." said Blake.
"Alright. Be back soon." Said Ruby, running off.
"Whatever." Said Kannon, leaving.
"See you again soon." Said Blake, leaving as well.
With Kannon.
Kannon found himself at Team CFVY's dorm room. Knocking twice, Coco showed up at the door.
"Kannon!" yelled Coco, jumping into his arms.
Kannon caught his girlfriend and kissed her.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you again, but we need to meet up at the cafeteria before we start on the journey, so we should probably get moving." Said Kannon, putting Coco down.
"Oh yeah, we're leaving today." Said Coco. "FOX! YATSU! WE'RE LEAVING!" said Coco, yelling into the room. Not long after, Fox and Yatsu showed up not long after.
"Let's get going then. Don't want to keep anyone waiting." Said Yatsu, following Kannon and Coco to the cafeteria.
"Where's Velvet?" asked Kannon.
"She left somewhere last night and hasn't come back since." Said Coco.
"Are you not worried?" asked Kannon.
"Well, we know where she went, but we shouldn't tell you. It should be kept a secret. You understand." Said Coco.
"Alright." Said Kannon, wondering where Velvet could've gone.
With Ruby.
"GUYS! GET UP!" yelled Ruby from outside their door while knocking furiously.
Not long after, Jaune opened the door.
"Why?" asked Jaune.
"Um, because we need to leave soon. For the trip with Shade and everyone? Remember?" asked Ruby, reminding him.
"…Now I do!" yelled Jaune, closing the door and getting ready quickly. Four minutes later he opened the door, revealing that Neo, Kami and Risa were also there.
"Why are you here?" asked Ruby, confused.
"Um, it's probably best we don't tell you." Said Neo.
Kami and Risa agreed.
"Why?" asked Ruby.
"Just, trust us." Said Neo.
"Ok, I guess." Said Ruby.
"Anyways, we should probably get Shade too." Said Risa.
"Yeah." Said Kami.
"He should be finished by now. I just hope he's up and ready." Said Neo.
"Yeah. Don't particularly want Ruby to see that do we?" asked Risa.
"See what?" asked Ruby.
"Nothing. Nevermind." Said Kami.
"Alright. Let's go." Said Ruby, leading the way.
With Blake
"Shade are you in there?!" yelled Blake.
"Huh? Yeah. Just a sec. Be out in a sec." said Shade.
"Where's my bra?" asked a female voice from inside.
"Shh… Blake's outside. Keep it down." Said Shade.
"Do I really need to? I mean, we're married after all. This kind of stuff happens right?" asked the voice which was clearly Velvet.
"Yeah, I guess that is a good point. But what if the rest of her team is there? What if Ruby is there?" asked Shade.
"Oh, right. Good call. But, seriously, I can't find my bra." said Velvet.
"Relax you two. Ruby isn't here." Said Blake.
"Oh. You heard us?" asked Shade.
"You really need to work on your whispering Velvet." Said Blake.
"Yeah… heh heh…" said Velvet.
"Here it is Velvet." Said Shade.
"Thanks." Said Velvet.
"You find it?" asked Blake.
"Yeah. We'll be out soon, just need to finish getting dressed." Said Shade.
"Why are you naked?" asked a voce from behind Blake.
"Is that Ruby?" asked Shade.
"Yeah it is. Why are you naked?" asked Ruby again.
"I just got out of the shower." Said Shade, patting himself on the back for thinking so quickly.
"Oh ok." Said Ruby.
Not long after Shade and Velvet exited the room.
"Why were you there too Velvet?" asked Ruby.
"What? I can't visit my husband in the morning?" asked Velvet.
"Good point." Said Ruby.
At this point they all began walking back to the cafeteria. When they arrived, they saw everyone else had already arrived.
"Where were you?" asked Kannon, looking directly at Shade.
"I was with Velvet and that is the end of this conversation." Said Shade, pointing towards Ruby.
"Ok. I get it." Said Kannon, winking at Shade.
"Alright, so we should get something to eat really quickly and then go to see Ozpin." Said Shade, going to get food.
"He makes a good point." Said Kannon, also going to get food.
After they all got their food, they sat at their table.
"So, we go see Ozpin, find out what we can, and then we go?" asked Weiss.
"It's our only lead. It's our best chance." Said Shade continuing to eat.
"Alright. How are we going to follow the leads?" Asked Cardin.
"I'm thinking we should avoid conflict as much as possible. No use getting ourselves killed right out of the gate right?" asked Shade.
"Smart. But we may need to attack a couple times. Get some intel." Said Kannon.
"Of course, but if there is one thing I know, it is only shoot at what you can kill. Only attack if we can win." Said Shade.
"Also smart." Said Blake.
They group finished their food and got up.
"Alright. Let's go see Ozpin." Said Shade.
"Lead the way." Said Velvet, holding Shade's hand.
Shade began walking towards the elevator that would bring them to Ozpin's office. After a few minutes, they arrived at the elevator and rode it up to Ozpin's office. They walked in.
"Hello all. What do you need?" Asked Ozpin.
"Information. We are planning to go after the Blood Brothers and put a stop to them once and for all. We want to know everything you know and where they might be hiding." Said Shade.
"I see." Said Ozpin. "I will tell you all I know." Said Ozpin.
"Alright. Whenever you're ready." Said Shade.
"Very well. One thing I do know, the main base of the Blood Brothers is in Vacuo. But it is hidden. A place you can only find if you know it is there. You will want to infiltrate many other bases in order to find it. I do have a general idea where they are. There are two here in Vale, one of which is hidden in the Forest of Forever Fall, one in Atlas, and one in Mistral. That is all I can tell you. However, Shade, Sarah, and you as well Kannon. You may be able to narrow it down. You see, while Reese Mars was a brilliant man, he may have made a slight mistake. If you focus hard enough, you may be able to find a more focused location of a couple of the bases." Said Ozpin.
"How would we know?" asked Sarah.
"While you all ended up in the same base in Vacuo, you all started in different ones. If you can try to remember, you can find the bases." Said Ozpin.
"It couldn't hurt to try I guess." Said Kannon.
At this point, Kannon, Sarah and Shade all closed their eyes and started thinking. It took a long time, but Kannon opened his eyes.
"The other one in Vale is hidden in town. An old abandoned building." Said Kannon.
"In Mistral, its hidden underground. Under a bank it looks like." Said Sarah.
Shade was still trying to find one. Many minutes later, he opened his eyes, shocked.
"The mental institution. We can find the base in Atlas from the mental institution." Said Shade.
"It seems you have an idea of where to go. You may need this." Said Ozpin, handing a folded up map to Shade. Shade unfolded it and saw that it was a map of all of Remnant.
"This will help." Said Shade, folding it back up and putting it in his backpack.
"Thanks Ozpin." Said Shade.
"Be safe." said Ozpin.
"Always." Said Shade, leading everyone else out.
Shade and everyone else immediately got onto the airships and took one into town. When they landed they began looking for a building that could be a hidden base. After looking all over town they still hadn't made any progress.
"We have looked everywhere for this abandoned building but haven't found any yet." Said Coco.
"Maybe we shouldn't be looking for an abandoned building, but rather a building that is abandoned." Said Shade.
"I pretty sure none of us understood what you just said Shade." said Jaune.
"We've assumed that the building we are looking for will have been abandoned for a long while and will look abandoned. Think about it. If you were in their shoes, would you have set up in a building that could collapse at any moment? Probably not. You would fix it up first. Maybe we should look for buildings that don't look abandoned." Said Shade.
"He does make a good point. We should put ourselves in their shoes if we are ever hoping to find them." Said Pyrrha.
"Alright, so a nice looking building with no one in it." Said Kannon.
After half an hour of searching, they found one.
"Looks like the place." Said Russel.
"Let's go then." Said Neo.
"Hold on. I don't like this. It seems like it was too easy to find." Said Shade.
"You noticed that too huh?" asked Sarah.
"We should be cautious." Said Kannon.
"Alright. Stay in the shadows once we get inside. Only engage if you have no other choice." Said Shade, opening the door slightly to take a peek inside. He saw no one. "Ok. Clear." Said Shade, going inside. Everyone followed Shade. Shade stuck to the walls and everyone followed him. Shade peeked around a corner, before snapping his head back.
"What is it Shade?" asked Kannon.
"We got a guard patrol. Stay quiet. Let's hope they pass us." Said Shade. A few minutes later the guards got into view of the group. Thankfully, the guards turned away from the group, opening the hallway up.
"Come on. This way. Stay quiet." Whispered Shade, waving for his friends to follow him.
Shade and his friends weaved around corners, ducked into small rooms and stayed in the shadows before they found a door that looked more reinforced than any others.
"Looks like a vault. Maybe something useful in there." Said Kannon.
The group began trying to open the door, but couldn't figure it out.
"How are we supposed to open this?" asked Ruby.
"Looks like a puzzle." said Shade, looking at the door, and seeing what looked like a word problem on it.
"If entrance is what you seek, then solve these three. Number one. How can you throw a ball as hard as you can and have it come back to you, even if it doesn't bounce off anything? There is nothing attached to it, and no one else catches or throws it back to you." Read the first message.
"If you threw it straight up in the air, it would fall back down to you." Said Kannon with minimal thought.
The door opened, leading to another door. "Number two. A man who lives on the tenth floor takes the elevator down to the first floor every morning and goes to work. In the evening, when he comes back on a rainy day, or if there are other people in the elevator, he goes to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the seventh floor and walks up three flights of stairs to his apartment. Can you explain why?"
The group thought for a while, before Velvet chimed up. "Wait, if others are in the elevator or if it was raining when he left he goes directly to his floor, but if not, he only goes to the seventh. He is too short to reach the button for the tenth floor. If there are others, he can ask them to press the button for him, or use his umbrella if it was raining." Said Velvet, causing the door to open.
"Nice thinking Velvet." Said Shade.
The last door was in front of them. "Number three. A man walking down the street meets a good friend he hasn't seen in years. They meet up and begin talking. They talk about what they had been up to since they last saw each other. His friend had gotten married and had a daughter, who was there as well. The man leaned down and asked the daughter her name. The girl said it was the same as her mommy's. The man then replied "'So your name is Rachel is it?' He was correct. How did he know?"
Almost the entire group was stumped, until Shade chimed up. "The man's friend was Rachel. It never specified whether the friend was a male or female. For him to know the child's mother's name, the friend would have to have been the mother." Said Shade, proud of himself.
The door opened. "Good one Shade." said Blake.
Shade just shrugged. "It's what I do." Said Shade, walking through the door, revealing large room with thousands of filing cabinets full of files.
"How are we supposed to go through all of these?" asked Ruby.
"It's simple. We don't. We don't need all of them. We only need mine, Kannon's, and Sarah's. Let's also mark this place on the map." Said Shade, marking it down on the map.
"Alright. Let's start searching." Said Sun, looking through the files.
Everyone followed quickly, but no one could find their files. Shade looked through the last cabinet, and didn't find any folders, but rather a single tape.
"Hey guys? Anyone got something to play a tape?" asked Shade.
"Yeah I got something." Said Neo, taking out a tape recorder. Shade put the tape in the recorder.
"Hello Shade. Nice to know you are coming after me. I knew you would. You were always as stubborn as a bull. Even as a child. Well, I assume you are wondering about yourself, and your friends who I am sure are with you. You will find answers when you find me. By the way, how is your marriage working out so far? The ceremony really was beautiful wasn't it? I am very happy for you and Velvet." Said Reese Mars on the tape.
"How did he know?" asked Shade, shocked.
"Surprised Shade? I was there. I was watching you the whole time. I know every move you make and are ever going to make. You can't hide anything from me Shade. However, I do believe you deserve something special. So here you are. Enjoy!" said Reese as the alarm on the base went off, even though there were no guards around to see them.
"He must have rigged the alarm to go off once the tape ended. We need to get out. But get ready for a fight." Said Shade, drawing his swords and taking off in the direction of the exit. As he ran he slashed at every guard that got in his way, leaving them injured or dead on the ground.
"Almost there!" yelled Shade, with the exit in sight, his friend trailing behind. However, just as he got close, at least 100 guards showed up.
"Looks like we have to fight." Said Lilian, reaching into her trench coat and pulling out a battle axe with a pink handle and a red blade.
Shade cracked his knuckles and readied his swords. Everyone else also got into a ready stance before charging the Blood Brothers.
"LET'S GO!" yelled Shade charging into the middle of the fray. The rest of the group began attacking along with Shade as he was swinging his swords at the Blood Brothers, but they we all running out of stamina quickly.
"What is it with these guys? Why are they so much more resilient that the others?" asked Weiss, breathing heavily.
"Kannon! Sarah!" yelled Shade.
"You got it Shade!" yelled Kannon, as he Shade and Sarah went into their grim form.
Kannon and Sarah charged into the fray to assist Shade. They attacked everyone they could reach, but for some reason, not matter how many times they got hit, they didn't seem to be doing anything.
Suddenly, a voice came over the speakers. "The base will self-destruct in 30 seconds."
"What the fuck?" yelled Yang.
"To hell with the fight, get out now!" said Shade, running out, followed quickly by his friends.
Just as they got out, the base exploded in a ball of fire.
"Well. That was fun." Said Shade, almost laughing as he, Kannon and Sarah turned back into their normal form.
Everyone just looked at Shade. "If that's your definition of fun, what is your definition of hell?" asked Yang.
"Life without Velvet." Said Shade, purposefully being as corny as possible.
"You are too good at thinking of corny lines." Said Coco.
"But they are true." Said Shade, earning a kiss from his wife.
"I love you Shade." said Velvet.
"I love you too Velvet." Said Shade.
"Ok, enough with the emotions. Let's just get to that next base." Said Cardin.
"Why are you so anxious?" asked Kami.
"I think he just wants to get this journey over with as quick as possible. Isn't that right Cardin?" asked Risa.
"Yeah. So, The Forest of Forever Fall right?" asked Cardin.
"Yeah. It's going to be a long journey, but we will get there. Alright guys. Whenever you're ready." Said Shade.
"Why waste time?" asked Kannon.
"He makes a good point. Why stand around? Let's go." Said Weiss.
They began walking down the street. Shade slowed down to talk with Kannon.
"Am I the only one who thinks Cardin was acting a bit strange before?" asked Shade.
"You noticed that too?" asked Kannon.
"Yeah. He almost seemed too anxious to start our assault on the next base." Said Shade.
"Hey Shade? Remember back at that secret place you had? How the Blood Bothers tried to attack us then?" Asked Kannon.
"Yeah. They seemed like they knew we were there." Said Shade, before starting to think. But then he got a shocked look on his face. "You don't think…" Shade stopped mid-sentence.
"I don't think anything yet. I'm just saying its possible." Said Kannon.
"We should keep an eye on them." said Shade.
"Agreed." Said Kannon.
Meanwhile, Velvet was talking to Coco.
"So, how was last night Velvet?" asked Coco.
Velvet thought for a while on how to describe it. "Indescribable." Was the only word she could use.
"Really." Said Coco.
"Yeah. By the way, thanks for letting me use one of your birth control pills. Can't be too safe." Said Velvet.
"No problem. What are friends for." Said Coco.
"Yeah. Actually, there is something I want to talk about." Said Velvet.
"OF course. Anything." Said Coco.
"Remember when The Blood Brothers showed up at that secret place that only Shade and Blake knew about?" asked Velvet.
"Yeah, what about it?' asked Coco.
"Any idea who it was?" asked Velvet.
"None here. How about you?" asked Coco.
"Only one. But you aren't going to like it." Said Velvet.
"Who?" asked Coco.
"Honestly, I think it's Kannon. I know it shouldn't be him, but I just can't shake this feeling." Said Velvet.
"Well, you are right about one thing. I don't like that. I have no clue who it could be though." Said Coco.
"Agreed." Said Velvet.
Suddenly, Shade got a call on his scroll.
"Hello?" asked Shade as he answered it.
There was clearly some talk on the other line, and Shade said "Yeah. We're heading there now. Think you could send one to pick us up and take us there?"
Shortly after, Shade said "Thanks. That should really speed this up Ozpin."
"What was that about?" Asked Jaune.
"Ozpin is sending us a private airship to speed up our journey." Said Shade, looking off into the distance, waiting for it to show up.
It only took five minutes for it to show up. Shade and his friends boarded it.
"The Forest of Forever Fall right?" asked the pilot.
"As fast as you can please." Said Shade, letting the pilot take off.
It only took them ten minutes before they arrived at the edge of the forest. "Just come back here when you need to head to the next place." Said the pilot.
"Of course. Let's go guys." Said Shade, leading the group.
They walked around for hours looking for the base until they found what looked like a hollowed out tree trunk.
"Looks pretty suspicious doesn't it?" asked Sarah.
"I'd say so." Said Neo.
They all walked into the tree trunk to find a steel door.
"Secret base. Called it." Said Sarah.
"Now how do we get in here?" asked Velvet.
"I could try to pick the lock." Said Kami.
"No time." Said Shade, taking out a sword and smashing the lock.
"Well, no use being stealthy anymore." Said Kannon.
"Nope." Said Shade, taking out his other sword, as everyone else readied their weapons.
"Find the vault." Said Shade.
They all took off to look for the vault, but were stopped by a patrol.
"Should've expected a fight." Said Shade.
"Ready guys?" asked Yang.
"Let's do this!" yelled Nora.
Shade charged in and swung his sword, cutting through three in one slice, but more just showed up.
"We need to finish them quickly. Give me a hand here!" yelled Shade, as his friends began attacking as well.
"Shade! You go on. We'll keep these guys busy!" yelled Weiss.
"Thanks Weiss. Be back soon." Said Shade, running ahead. He turned many corners before finding a door. He simply kicked it down and ran in. Rummaging through the cabinets he found another tape.
"Gotcha." Said Shade, running back.
"Guys, let's go!" yelled Shade, cutting through the last of the Blood Brothers, which was only three in total.
"Alright, let's get out of here." Said Kannon.
"Agreed." said Mercury.
They got out of the base as fast as possible.
"That was exhilarating." Said Shade, panting.
"Alright, so you got another tape." Said Neo, grabbing it and putting it in the cassette player and pressing play.
"Hello again Shade. You seem to be getting here faster than expected. I must commend you on your progress thus far. Well done. But you may want to look behind you. There is a slight surprise for you there. Goodbye." Said Reese Mars in the tape.
Shade and all his friends turned around to see a large group of Blood Brothers led by Roman Torchwick approaching.
"Thanks for the heads up Mars." Said Shade, readying his swords.
Everyone else got ready, but before they were able to attack, Cardin and his team approached Torchwick.
"What are you guys doing?" asked Yang, confused.
They all had their weapons drawn and they looked like they were about to attack, but then Cardin extended a hand to Torchwick and shook hands with him. They turned around and faced everyone else with challenging looks on their faces.
Everyone knew what was going on but Risa began approaching them with tears in her eyes.
"Risa no!" yelled Kami, but she wasn't listening.
She got in front of Cardin and began speaking.
"Why Cardin? Why are you doing this? I thought you were on our side! We could have had something special! Why are you just willing to throw that away!?' yelled Risa, almost crying.
Cardin seemed to be considering it. "You're right Risa. We could've had something special." Said Cardin smiling. Risa smiled back, but then Cardin's smile dropped from his face. "But we won't." said Cardin reeling back his mace and swinging it at Risa, who was knocked backwards to the group, out cold.
"Risa!" yelled Kami.
Weiss went over and felt that she still had a pulse. She was just knocked out. Kami calmed down after hearing this.
"We'll worry about this later. Right now, we need to focus on them." Said Shade, pointing to the others.
"Alright. Let's go!" yelled Cardin, charging the group.
Somewhat graphic part. Continue at your own risk.
"Too easy." said Shade, moving to the side and slashing Cardin across his stomach, as Yang punched him backwards.
This sent everyone in on the attack. The Blood Brothers attacked and everyone else jumped into the middle of the fray.
Shade set his swords on fire dust and lit them. He swung his swords at the horde of Blood Brothers in and X-formation, sending a wave of fire at them, which a few managed to jump over or duck under. Shade switched to an ice dust, and activated his semblance. The Blood Bothers attacked Shade's copy, but Shade emerged behind them and cut through half of the remaining ones.
"Ah!" he heard a shout from the side, to see Sky, standing over Coco.
"COCO!" he heard Kannon yell from behind him, before going into his grim form, and charging at Sky, biting through his neck, killing him instantly.
"HOLY SHIT!" yelled the three remaining members of Team CRDL.
However, this didn't slow down anyone's attack.
Russel the charged at Lilian from behind, causing a severe wound on her back. Kami saw this and shot a beam out of his weapon, launching him back into Yang, who punched him back towards Kami, who drove one end of his weapon into Russel's heart. He pulled his weapon out of Russel, and Russel slumped to the ground, dead.
"Two down. Two to go." Said Shade.
Just as Shade said this, he saw dove fly over him, and get dropped onto a rock, crushing his skull and killing him. He saw that Sarah had dropped him. He turned back around to see Neo, out cold on the ground. This sent Shade into a light fury, cutting down as many Blood Brothers as he could. He turned around to see everyone else was doing great, but he couldn't see Cardin anywhere. He also couldn't see Velvet. Looking back towards where the Blood Brothers came from, he saw Cardin bringing his weapon down and hitting Velvet, backwards to Shade. She landed right in front of him, beaten down and clearly in pain.
Shade's eyes widened and all the sounds of fighting in the back ground stopped. None of the Blood Brothers were attacking. They just surrendered to avoid what was about to happen. Everyone heard a deep growling noise coming from Shade. Cardin recognized this from the cafeteria. Shade turned to him and his eyes were black once again.
"You just don't learn, do you?" asked Shade in a demonic voice. Cardin attacked Shade, but his mace just bounced off Shade's torso. He tried over and over again, but to no avail.
"My turn." Growled Shade, punching Cardin into a tree. He was on him again in two seconds, pounding Cardin's face into the tree repeatedly, before throwing him high into the air and allowing him to fall onto his knee. Cardin rolled off his knee a beaten and bloody mess. Shade just stared into Cardin's nearly lifeless eyes. "You're finished." Said Shade, about to walk away.
"Don't have the stones to finish me off huh?" asked Cardin in a hoarse voice.
Hearing this, Shade turned around.
"You don't need to do this Shade! He will bleed to death." Yelled Neo, who had woken up ad was hoping to stop Shade's bloodlust.
Shade turned back to her with a sickening smirk on his face. "The maybe I can help him bleed faster." Said Shade, extending his claws and plunging his hand into Cardin's chest and ripping out his heart before crushing it. He regained some sense of control to see Cardin dead and Roman crawling away.
Shade was on him in three seconds. "Tell me what you know right now, and you may live." Said Shade.
"No chance." Replied Roman.
"Well, then. You are of no use to me, are you?' asked Shade before driving his sword into Roman's neck and watching him bleed out.
Graphic part over.
Shade remembered what had happened that caused him to lose it, and he returned to Velvet.
"We need to get back to beacon. NOW!" yelled Shade, picking up Velvet and running back to the airship. Everyone else wasn't far behind. They got on and told the pilot to get them back to beacon as fast as possible. Blake called Ozpin and told them to have a stretcher ready for when they got there.
It didn't take long before they landed. There was a stretcher waiting for them. As they got off the airship, Shade turned to the doctors and said "I don't care what it takes. You better make DAMN sure she is Ok."
"Of course." Said one of the doctors, bringing Velvet to the infirmary.
Everyone else went to the waiting room. They waited for a few hours before a doctor came out.
"Shade. I am pleased to say that Velvet will make a full recovery." Said the doctor.
Shade just slumped into his chair. It seemed he had just recovered from a heart attack. Hell, maybe he had.
"Thank you doctor." Said Shade.
"However, she appears to still be unconscious. We expect she will be for the foreseeable future." Said the doctor.
"But she is healthy?" asked Shade.
"Yes. Perfectly healthy." Said the doctor.
"That is enough for me." Said Shade.
Everyone left the infirmary other than Shade, who stayed in Velvet's room.
One week later
Velvet still hadn't woken up, but she was recovering.
Everyone else showed up.
"She doing Ok?" asked Ruby.
"Yeah. She's doing fine." Said Shade.
"You doing Ok?" asked Kannon.
"Yeah. I'm doing OK." Said Shade.
"We're heading to the cafeteria. You wanna come?" asked Ruby.
"Yeah sure. But is it Ok if I just talk to Kannon and Sarah for a little?" asked Shade.
"Alright. We'll see you there." Said Yang as they all left.
"What's up Shade?" asked Kannon.
"There really isn't an easy way to say this. I have to leave beacon and go after the Blood Brothers" said Shade.
Kannon and Sarah couldn't believe their ears.
"What?" asked Kannon.
"I'm leaving. I'm planning on leaving tonight after everyone else is asleep. I don't expect you to come along, but I am going. I need to leave everyone else here to keep them safe. Especially Velvet. I don't want to have to do this. But I do. Are you coming Kannon?" asked Shade.
"I really wish I could, but I can't leave Coco. Sorry Shade." said Kannon.
"Didn't expect you to." Said Shade, getting up.
"I'll come with you." Said Sarah.
Shade turned around. "No you won't. You're going to stay here and make my sister happy." Said Shade, almost threateningly.
"But-" Sarah was instantly cut off.
"No buts." Said Shade, leaving for the cafeteria.
Kannon and Sarah followed quickly. When they got there everyone began talking about how they were going to find the Blood Brother's main base. They all kept talking. Laughing and telling jokes. Just being good friends again. They continued talking and went into town to look around. They found themselves at the café.
"Been a while since we were here hasn't it?" asked Yang.
"Sure seems like it." Said Shade.
They all went in and got a drink. They kept on talking a joking with each other until the sun began to set.
"We should get back to beacon." Said Weiss.
"Yeah. Let's go." Said Shade, preparing to leave.
They all got back to beacon and went back to their rooms. Everyone fell asleep quickly. Shade simply faked sleep before sneaking out of his room. He got to the airships and saw Kannon and Sarah standing there.
"Hey guys." Said Shade.
"Hey. So you're really doing it huh?" asked Sarah.
"I have to." Said Shade.
"Of course." Said Kannon.
"Before I go, can you guys do me a favour?" asked Shade.
"Anything Shade." said Kannon.
Shade unsheathed one of his swords and handed it to Kannon. "Give that to Velvet when she wakes up. Tell her that RWBY can figure out the meaning for her." Said Shade.
"Sure thing Shade." said Kannon.
Shade was about to board an airship when Kannon called out to him. "Hey Shade!"
"Yeah asked Shade.
"You better come back." Said Kannon.
"Don't worry. I will. I always do." Said Shade, boarding the airship and leaving.
The next day.
All Shade's friends were scrambling around looking for him. They had checked everywhere. Called everyone, but no one knew where he was.
"Where could he be? He's just disappeared without a trace." Said Blake.
"I know." Said Neo. They continued looking until they saw Kannon.
"Kannon! Have you seen Shade?" asked Coco.
Kannon just nodded.
"Where is he?" asked Ruby.
Kannon paused before responding. "He's gone. He left. He left to keep you all safe. He said he needed to do this journey on his own." Said Kannon.
Everyone was in shock until Kannon and Sarah explained it to them.
"He is too selfless sometimes." Said Weiss.
They all had a revelation at the same time.
"Oh my god! HOW are we going to explain this to Velvet?" asked Ruby.
"That is a good question Ruby. A very good question." Said Kannon.
Two weeks later
Everyone went to the infirmary once they heard the news. Velvet was awake, and wondering where Shade was.
The doctors were running tests on her as the group tried to explain it to Velvet.
"So? Where is he?" asked Velvet.
"Um, you see, the thing is…" Kannon couldn't answer.
"What is it Kannon?" asked Velvet.
"Well you see… Shade kind of… left. He said he needed to leave us so we would be safe. He couldn't risk exposing you to any more danger. He did leave you this though." Said Kannon, giving Velvet the sword.
"Why did he give me this?" asked Velvet, confused.
"He said RWBY could tell you." Said Kannon, giving Ruby the sword.
The whole team looked the sword up and down. They didn't see anything until they noticed something carved on the hilt. The letters "GE".
"I know what it means." Said Weiss.
"What?" asked Velvet.
"It means he's coming back." Said Blake.
"How do you know?" Asked Velvet.
"This GE on the hilt. Ii stands for "Gleaming Evil." This sword belonged to Neo's dad before he died. This is Shade's most cherished possession. He wouldn't leave this anywhere he wouldn't' go back to to get it." Said Yang.
Velvet was about to stand up, but the doctors asked her to stay.
"I need to go after him." Said Velvet. The doctor's eyes widened.
"I'm afraid I must advise against that Velvet." Said one of the doctors.
"Why?" asked Velvet.
"It would be better to let you listen." Said the doctor, giving Velvet a stethoscope. She put it on and they pressed it to her stomach.
Velvet's expression changed quickly.
She looked at the doctors for confirmation. They nodded.
"What is it?" asked Ruby.
"How many?" asked Velvet, ignoring Ruby's question.
"Two." Said a doctor.
"Two what?" asked Ruby.
"Velvet? Are you…" Yang couldn't finish.
Velvet nodded, tearing up.
All the girls squealed, and all the boys became shocked quickly, but Ruby was still lost.
"Two hat?" asked Ruby loudly
"Ruby. Velvet's pregnant. With twins." Replied Yang.
There we go. Chapter 29 done! Wow. Sorry to say guys. This story is almost over. Next chapter will probably be the finale. I wish this story could continue on, but I am afraid it must end. Well, no point in being sad. Instead, be excited that Velvet is pregnant. Major bombshells dropped. But anyways, remember to leave a review of what you thought, and I hope that I will see you all in the finale of RWBY: A Demon's Life.
