Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, not me. This is merely a fanwork meant for entertainment purposes only. Cover image courtesy of Jan Chrt (jeni-cek on deviantART). All rights reserved.
It was a sombre gathering. Using her remaining aura reserves, Glynda had just about restored the tent, and with Lavender there to tend to the wounds, everyone was looking in much better shape. Of course, that didn't change the fact that Weiss was gone, and apart from the sign that could very well be a trap, they had few leads to go on.
For the moment, only RBY and JNPR had made it back from the bombs, with the rest of the teams presumably otherwise occupied. Still, not ones to rest on their laurels, the two teams had begun gathering information on the recent travesty from the staff, and while JNPR were still out and about, RBY had gathered around a reconstructed table to share their information.
"I just…eurgh!" Yang cried in frustration, slamming her fist down on the table, "How'd that gal just wipe the floor with everyone and take off with Weiss?!"
"It seems like it was the surprise of it, mostly." Blake answered, "With all the attention on the bombs, no one really expected an attack on Beacon, especially since they'd already succeeded in blowing it up. That, and given that no one actually died, the attacker was likely focused on subduing everyone rather than killing them."
"Bastards…Ruby, did you get anything more on who it was?"
"They were wielding that dark sword from before." Ruby replied, her eyes filled with steel, "But from the sounds of it, the woman using it wasn't possessed like Jaune was."
"Pyrrha never found it in the ruins." Blake pointed out, "Now we know why. They must have used the bomb as cover to steal it while everyone else was evacuating."
"Hmph. They're clever, alright, but that's not gonna help them when they've got a face full of my fist. What do you say, Rubes? Want to go down to the tunnels and kick some ass?"
"Sounds like a plan!"
"Sounds like a mistake." Blake corrected, "So far, all we've had to go on is what they've given us, either through Pyrrha's mysterious message or the bomb message, and each time we've been tricked into losing something we were supposed to protect."
"So, what? We should just leave Weiss to die?" Yang asked incredulously. "What kind of teammates would we be then?!"
"That's not what I meant, and you know it! All I'm saying is that JNPR still haven't finished getting the whole story and combing the area, and it's possible that they'll turn up a clue or something that the enemy didn't intend us to have!"
"There's no time for that!"
"But there's time for senselessly throwing ourselves into the meat grinder?!"
"Do you really think-"
"STOP!"
Ruby looked between Yang and Blake, her expression serious.
"Weiss is gone, okay? She's not here. We don't know where she is, we don't know what they're doing with her, and we definitely don't know if she's safe! And you know what? Arguing with each other isn't going to help."
In a smooth motion, Ruby slung Crescent Rose over her shoulder, beginning a slow walk towards the tent exit.
"Yang, Blake, stay here and get what you need from JNPR and head out on Bumblebee. And me?"
She loaded a round, giving the gun a dramatic cock.
"I've got some tunnels to scout."
It was around a minute later when JNPR made it into the main tent, and, between them, they were apparently carrying the large block of earth the attackers had left behind. With a heave, the group chucked the block in front of Yang and Blake, who were currently in the middle of getting ready to set off.
"What's with the sign?" Yang asked, adjusting her gauntlets, "Are we gonna put it up on a wall somewhere or what?"
"Not…exactly…" Jaune huffed, rolling his shoulders, "There's a…thingy...in the…sign. Pyrrha?"
"I was searching the area for anything magnetic, and for some reason, there was something left inside this bit of earth." Pyrrha explained, "Since we weren't sure if it was fragile or not, we thought it would be best to bring it inside before we cracked it open, as it were."
"And it totally made for a group bonding activity!"
"That's certainly a Nora way of thinking about it." Ren commented, smiling.
"And now I think we'll have a Nora way of doing it, too." Yang said, "How about it, Anora Borealis? Ready for some hammer time?"
After a definite nod, Nora brought out Magnhild and, with Pyrrha directing her strikes, she smashed the earth surrounding the object like glass, sending a slightly battered scroll flying out onto the floor. Pyrrha was the first to react, using her semblance to levitate the scroll over, and soon the rest were crowded around, gazing intently into the somewhat dirt-covered screen.
"Okay, I wasn't expecting a scroll to pop out." Jaune admitted, "Does it still work?"
"Mmhm." Pyrrha half-answered, cleaning the screen and giving it a few experimental swipes, "I'm just trying to find the personal profile section. Ah, here we are…"
The scroll now displayed the familiar blocky mug of Cardin Winchester.
"Cardin? Huh, that would explain why no one seems to know where he's gone…" Jaune noted, "Do you think he went to rescue her or something?"
"I doubt it." Blake said, sneering, "Considering Cardin was one of the only ones who didn't volunteer to check on a bomb, along with the fact that he obviously wasn't incapacitated like the teachers, it's far more likely that he's gone turncoat."
"Then why leave the sign?" Yang asked, "If someone wanted to completely get away with a kidnapping, they wouldn't leave something like that as a clue, even if it was a dead-end clue. They'd just leave."
"Did you actually read it? 'God rests in the tunnels'. It's a boast, and it certainly wouldn't be the first for someone like Cardin."
"No, something here doesn't add up. Have you found anything else on the scroll, Pyrrha?"
She shook her head.
"His message log seems to all be towards his team or Jaune, and a quick look through didn't turn up anything relevant. Unless…one moment."
TIP TIP TAP.
"Ah, personal notes, here we are. Hm…it seems that his last log was written earlier today, concerning some earth tremors he had felt recently."
Pyrrha scrolled through the wall of text fairly quickly, only coming to a halt as an image came into view. Realising what it was, Yang stole the scroll from Pyrrha's hands, beaming as she raised it towards the ceiling.
"A map!" she exclaimed excitedly, "That beautiful bastard just gave us directions right to the bad guy's lair! Guess I know why they call him Winchester now, hot damn!"
"…you can read that?" Jaune asked, staring blankly at what seemed to simply be a mass of random scribbles.
"Well yeah, when you ride a bike around the city a lot, being able to read a map is a pretty sweet way of not getting more lost than a seventy year old supply teacher at a comic con. Now come on, we've gotta head after Ruby!"
"That would explain the red blur we saw earlier." Ren said, "Any idea which way she went?"
Yang shrugged.
"I dunno. All of them?"
The taste of earth was thick in Weiss' mouth as she awoke, coughing and spluttering as her eyes slowly adjusted to the barely illuminated blackness surrounding her.
From the looks of things, she was currently situated in a large, circular chamber, its walls feverously decorated in symbols and signs the like of which she had never laid eyes on before. To her left was an enormous set of steel double doors which, as it turned out, were also the only set of doors, so this room was apparently some kind of dead end. To her right, meanwhile, a towering gold throne stood atop a set of carved stone stairs, and upon it, a tall, thick-set man sat, his scruffy light brown hair topped with a crown that would put a king to shame.
Finally, in the centre of the room, a lone, silvery pyramid proudly stood, upside down and buried in the earth, much like its mindscape counterpart. This time, however, the pyramid carried Zinnia and Ater Mors instead of the bound form of Jaune, though the device still managed to give her the same eerie, desolate feeling.
After what felt like an eternity, the man on the throne stood up, his bare feet hardly making a sound as he padded across the chamber's stone floor and walked up to the shrine, his face set in a twisted grin.
"It is almost ready..." the man announced ominously, glancing over to Weiss, "You should consider yourself blessed that you will live to see it."
Weiss frowned as she realised her hands and legs were currently bound to a chair and, as such, there was basically no escape if this guy decided to monologue. Not only that, but as she tried to say something, to shout, to scream, she found that, while her lips could move and it felt like she was speaking, there didn't seem to actually be any sound coming out of her mouth. The man chuckled.
"Silence…a wonderful semblance, wouldn't you say? Able to quieten impudent children, make attacks completely undetectable and muffle out any sound one might not want to hear. No wonder Karyan made it so far into the Red Hunter's ranks…well, I suppose she also had a little help from her equipment in that regard."
The man ran a finger down Ater Mors, wincing as a spark of dark energy attempted to shock him.
"An intriguing and most powerful weapon, and it will no doubt become even moreso once my experiment bears fruit…not that you have any idea what that might be. Shall I tell you? Yes, I believe I shall…it's not as if there's any chance you would pass such information on, anyway."
The man sauntered over to Weiss, lifting her chin up so that his dark blue eyes met with her own.
"I am Beaufort. Once upon a time, I owned a small dust corporation, one which your father ruthlessly took over and absorbed into his own. He destroyed everything I had, and I was practically left on the streets to die."
Beaufort cracked his knuckles.
"Now I'm going to use the power of Ater Mors to take his company apart, brick by brick…and after that, I might just go ahead and take over Vale while I'm already doing good for the world. After all, who exactly is going to stop me?"
A resounding crashing sound echoed from the door and, at the same time, Weiss felt the silence on her lift.
She grinned.
"Death comes for you, Beaufort…and she carries a red scythe."
Only the last chapter and the epilogue to go and we're done! Ooooh I'm so excited!
As always, any questions, feedback or what have you, either post it as a review or send me a PM, though don't expect me to answer any spoiler requests ; ) .
See you next Tuesday everyone! Or, uh, Wednesday, in this case. Woops.