Power, that's what attracted her to him; it's what founded their partnership. She loved power, and he exuded it unlike anyone she'd ever met before. He held power over the elements; over giant snakes, ones even larger than the King Taijitu; he said he held power over life and death but that remained to be seen; and now, he held some power over the Grimm. He even held power over her… for now. She would have that power, for herself. For now though, she was content to be his source of relief, his amusement, his plaything; but when the time finally came, she would take that power for herself, for her own goals.
Their relationship was one of convenience, she had the resources he needed, and he had the talent and knowledge that she needed. Their sexual relationship was also one of convenience; they both had needs, and both were willing to fulfill them.
***Break***
After they had returned from their late night mission, Emerald and Mercury had placed the body into that creepy, special coffin Orochimaru had left for them. They had seen the man's work on living humans and faunus, they didn't want to know what he would do with a dead body. If he really could reanimate the dead, and bend them to his will, there'd be no telling the kind of havoc he could let loose on the world. An undead, and undying, army of Grimm at his command, he could conquer the world.
***Break***
Slowly her eyes drifted open, the darkness of the room she was in was gloomy, but it was safer than having windows. She looked across the bed for her partner, only to find herself alone… again. That could only mean that he was hard at work again. Running her fingers through her hair, she shuffled her feet over to the bathroom; she needed a shower after their activities last night.
The hot shower water felt glorious on her skin, washing away the aches and pains. As she did every morning, her eyes and hands inspected every inch of her porcelain skin, checking for any remaining bite marks or possible bruises; she liked it rough, but she didn't want the physical evidence on display for the world to see. Satisfied with her skin's perfection, she turned off the water and dried off. She toyed with the idea of foregoing clothes on her visit to his laboratory, but with the possibility of Emerald and Mercury showing up, she didn't want to risk it. She elected for her normal outfit; an off the shoulder crimson dress with gold embroidery, reaching down to the back of her knees, but cut up to her right hip; under the dress she wore black shorts, and glass, three inch heel slippers on her feet. Most didn't know that the golden embroidery concealed burn dust that she used to fuel her fiery attacks.
As she walked through his laboratory, she glanced at the different experiments residing on tables and in cages. There were several Grimm confined, their cages sitting next to ones that held humans and faunus. The prisoners had been tortured, both physically and mentally; the residual negative emotions seeming to feed the Grimm and keep them alive. Some part of her felt sorry for the prisoners they had captured, but progress demands sacrifice, and Orochimaru had been the first person to be able to actually control the Grimm.
The thing that really drew her attention was the newly added coffin in the corner of the room. Orochimaru had placed several seals on the ornate wooden box that contained the body Emerald and Mercury had procured the night before. Their report had been a little unsettling; she hadn't known about the small child, but there was nothing they could do now. She had placed an anonymous call to the local police to check on the child.
In the far back of the laboratory sat Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin; his sinister, amber eyes pouring over all of the information they had gathered so far. He was constantly looking between his Scroll, and those old paper scrolls he had brought with him from when he fled his homeland. He seemed to be cross-referencing the information, trying to figure out how to further combine chakra into the Grimm to increase their power, and his control. She would have asked why he needed the dead body, and why it had to be a fresh one instead of one of the prisoners they had already collected, but the last time she'd questioned his methods, he had almost snapped her neck.
His notes seemed to point more and more towards a theory he'd had about some connection between chakra and the Grimm. The theory also accounted for some power aura had over chakra. That blonde girl had used her aura on several occasions to disrupt the chakra paths coursing through the abominations they had created. But those specimens had been alive at the time of corruption. How did he intend to use a dead body to create a Grimm? She didn't understand how chakra worked, so she would have to wait and see whatever it was that he had planned.
A light flashed on her Scroll, she had a message. 'How is the plan progressing?' the message read. Her response was short and simple, 'Everything is on schedule.'
***Break***
Her training had been hard; Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Ren had been working to help her control her aura, trying to get the blonde to be able to form her attack on her own. It was a tedious process, Jiraiya's technique involved water balloons, rubber balls, and regular balloons; trying to burst the first two with her aura, and the third to contain the gathered energy inside the balloon without it bursting.
Kakashi's method involved visualizing the rotation in her head, but due to her lack of experience and fine control, she needed at least two hands to form the spinning ball.
Ren had her meditate, something that was naturally difficult for the energetic blonde; sitting still, trying to clear her mind, and focus, was not something that came easily.
Through the efforts of all three, she was making progress. She could form the ball with two hands, and maintain it as long as she could focus on it. She would need lots of practice to be able to generate the attack more rapidly, and preferably, only using one hand.
***Break***
While they were working on Yang's new attack, Might Gai had the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR doing physical training, he was a real stickler for hard work and dedication lifting someone above what natural talent brought.
At first, Pyrrha had been leagues ahead of the rest, her talent and hard work prior to meeting the Green Beast of Konoha had certainly benefited the red head, but she had started to plateau; she found it hard to push herself beyond where she was at.
Jaune on the other hand had been skyrocketing. His seeming lack of talent not holding him back after Gai had all but beaten the concept of hard work into the boy. Everything from his stamina to his fighting ability was improving; he could go toe-to-toe with Pyrrha in a spar for a good while before either of them gained a real advantage. He still hadn't discovered his semblance though.
Nora was almost a freak case; she was taking all the training with a smile; though her hyperactivity seemed to have been curbed by the constant hard work. She was improving though, her fighting style relying less and less on her hammer, just in case she were to lose it.
Weiss was struggling, being from a rich family had been a huge detriment to her natural stamina; the tutors that had pampered her, and catered to her ego, hadn't helped either; although, her determination to not be left behind was fantastic for improving her weaknesses.
Ruby was doing well, her rather innocent mindset fueling her determination. Her stamina hadn't been bad to begin with, but learning to not rely on her semblance had been difficult at first. Gai had made sure to focus on both hers, and Weiss's hand-to-hand fighting.
Blake was taking the training well, her fighting style was already similar to the shinobi fighting style; using deception to gain an upper hand, and making quick, precise strikes against her target. Shikamaru had taken particular interest in her semblance, studying it to see if there was a way to improve it, to make it something more than just a stepping stone, or a decoy. So far she had been able to increase the number of shadows she could create, up to a max of three; she quickly learned that increasing the number also increased the amount of aura they took to create. She also showed the potential to trade places with her shadows instantly, granting her a sort of shadow step. It would take years for her to be able to perform these abilities effectively in combat, but the potential was enough to drive her forward.
After their individual training had been completed, Gai suggested a six on one sparring match; he'd offered to let Shikamaru join the huntsman and huntresses, but the lazy shinobi had declined, preferring to observe and plan. Knowing that the teams had plenty of experience fighting together, Gai had chosen to pair the students between the teams under the reasoning that you won't always be paired with someone you know and already work well with. The teens had conceded to his logic, all of them remembering their initiation in the forest.
***Break***
Ozpin and Tsunade were currently in the middle of one of their many consultations; their current topic being that of the joint mission they were conducting. The report spoke of the additional three 'abominations' as Oobleck had chosen to call them, and how they had differed from the previous one. The new abilities they'd shown had concerned the Fifth Hokage; they were showing signs of bloodline traits. Ozpin had been interested in these special abilities that were passed down in families or clans. For that purpose, she had sent for Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuga to join their meeting. Both shinobi, now candidates for promotion to jounin in the next cycle, had demonstrated and explained their particular 'Kekkei Genkai.' The Headmaster had to admit that these sounded like very useful abilities, but they could also be dangerous if the wrong person got their hands on them.
They were also discussing the ability Yang had used against the regenerating abomination; that spinning ball of aura that had eradicated her enemy. Tsunade had recognized the technique it was based off of, but using something other than chakra for such an ability was unheard of in the shinobi nations or the kingdoms.
***Break***
He had been working on that dead body for hours now, drawing symbols on its skin, holding glowing hands over the symbols to push energy into them. The concept of imbuing energy into an object wasn't strange to her, but a dead body… that certainly was strange. Just what was he planning on doing? She had seen him use surgical tools on the body; he was altering it in some way.
Cinder had read some of Orochimaru's notes, it seems that chakra was the energy of the body, and aura was the energy of the soul. Aura was more powerful, but tended to appear in smaller quantities. Chakra, depending on the person, could be bolstered to insane levels, allowing for the users to creat things like fireballs, or even greater things. The major downside, it seemed, was that chakra manipulation training had to be started early in life, or else the person's reserves would be unable to produce enough of the energy to manifest the attacks, while aura could be unlocked at almost any age.
This topic would require further study on her part; she had another report to send.
***Break***
"Ok, let's try smashing yours into mine," Kakashi said, holding up his rasengan; now that Yang seemed to be getting the hang of forming her aura sphere attack on her own it was time to test it to see how it the two abilities would react to each other.
"Right," the blonde girl said, holding her golden sphere… she really had to come up with a name for this thing… out in her hand; Kakashi made the same motion, the two of them, and Jiraiya watching the reaction intently.
As the blue and golden orbs met, there was no explosion, as they had thought, instead Yang's seemed to dissipate Kakashi's attack. The copy shinobi suddenly grabbed his arm, as if in pain, despite no physical indicators.
"It feels like… like the chakra in my arm was being pushed out," he said, as the pain quickly subsided.
"Hmmm, it looks like what you said the Kyubi told you is true Yang," the Toad Sage spoke up. "It seems like aura dispels chakra. That would explain its effectiveness on the Grimm, especially those abominations you fought," he finished.
"But it still doesn't explain why or how Orochimaru is doing all this," Yang said, she wanted to make the snake sannin pay for all of the lives he'd ruined.
"We'll figure that out, don't worry Yang," Kakashi reassured the blonde brawler. "Now I think it's time we rejoined the rest of the group. With that, the four of them traveled to where Gai was conducting the training with the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR.
***Break***
The sight that greeted them was an interesting one. The remaining members of teams RWBY and JNPR were sprawled out on the ground in pairs. Ruby was next to Pyrrha, Weiss with Nora, and Blake with Jaune. All six teens were panting heavily, clearly exhausted from the training they'd been doing. Seeing this, Yang grew a mischievous smirk on her face. "Awww… looks like the fun parts over, they already put their clothes back on," she teased, earning various reactions from her friends; Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ruby blushed, sputtering their denials; Weiss glared at her while Blake blushed silently; Nora laughed out loud.
Yang looked up from the prone teens, seeing Gai giving their group his signature 'Good Guy' pose. Looking over at Ren, she smirked at the green clad boy, taking up her fighting stance. Ren sighed, asking himself why he had to do this. Both teens returned their gaze to Konoha's Green Beast. Yang rushed ahead first, drawing the jounin's attention to herself. The two traded a few blows before a strong kick sent the blonde skidding backwards. She quickly got back up, charging again, using her weapons to launch herself forward faster
Meanwhile, Ren had taken the opportunity to slip into Gai's blind spot, hiding there to wait for the right time to strike.
The other six teenagers sat up, watching the two fight, Pyrrha and Weiss taking note of what was going on. Yang, being the loud, strong, and durable one, was keeping the attention on herself. Ren was using his aura control to minimize the noise he made as he moved around behind the jounin.
After a few solid kicks and punches had knocked her away, Yang's semblance was starting to build up, her eyes were glowing red, and her hair was shining with golden fire. The brawler and the Green Beast were trading blows fairly evenly now, neither one really gaining the upper hand. Both fighters launched punches towards the other's face, only to be caught by their other hand. Gai smiled proudly, while Yang smirked, the mischief in her eyes raising suspicion in the older man.
Gai tensed up when he felt a hand on the back of his head, and another on his back, right where his heart was. "Do you concede?" Ren asked, seeing the taller man's shoulders relax as his arms fell to his sides.
"Haha! Good job you two, excellent work!" Gai responded, his bright smile ever present on his face. With his own small smile, Ren lowered his hands and turned to walk towards Nora and the rest of their team. Yang wore a victorious grin on her face as she ventured to her team. Helping her teammates off the ground, the group headed back to town; they hadn't found any more nests in the area, but with the threat of Orochimaru still looming overhead, they had to be prepared, in case he chose to attack.
***Break***
Finally. He was finally finished with the work he'd been doing on that corpse. As he closed the coffin, he placed some strange seals on the wood, watching them glow before the entire box sunk into the ground. 'What was that? Some strange burial ritual?' Shaking her head, Cinder didn't want to think too much on it, she hadn't been able to gather too much more information for her report, the man was very thorough in his work; always making sure to clean his tools and return them to their proper place. He kept his notes close to his person at all times, and when he was done writing or studying them, he would make them vanish into one of the strange tattoos on his arms. The only times she could catch a glance was when he allowed her flirtatious advances. While unable to report on his current project, she had been able to make her own notes about his previous ones, the Phases One through Three. Despite their destruction, they had been successful in controlling the Grimm; the Atlesian Domination chips had sent back bountiful amounts of information during the fights. Soon they would have all they needed to control the Grimm and hopefully put an end to their dealings with Orochimaru.
***Break***
The next day played out pretty much like the previous one, the teams spending a couple hours training, then eating, then searching out for more Grimm in the hopes of finding any clues to what Orochimaru was up to. Kakashi, Jiraiya and Shikamaru were giving their report to Tsunade and Ozpin when the teams left the village with Gai and Oobleck.
After cleaning up a few small packs of beowolves, the group came upon a cave with an unusual glow emanating from deep within. The teams looked between each other, silently debating on whether or not to go in. Seeing no objections, the group moved in pairs into the entrance. Yang and Pyrrha were in the front, both front line fighters better suited to handling an enemy charge. Weiss and Ren were behind them, the heiress for elemental support, and Ren for his aura sensing abilities. Behind them were Ruby and Blake, both quick, agile fighters able to help out where needed. In the back were Nora and Jaune, to protect their group from an ambush. Oobleck was zipping around, searching the walls for any indication of a trap or any knowledge he could gather from this situation. Gai, was between Yang and Pyrrha, and Weiss and Ren.
Despite the light at the end, the cave itself was rather dark inside as they moved farther inward. Weiss had used a small amount of burn dust to light a torch Pyrrha had made. The group moved slowly down the cave tunnel with weapons at the ready. The strange purple light grew bigger and brighter the closer they got, as well as the sense of dread that came with it. The group finally reached the end of the tunnel, and the room there. There were two objects in the room, a coffin with strange symbols glowing on it, and a chair with the room's one occupant. In the chair sat a tall, pale man with long black hair and amber eyes with slits for pupils. The man wore dark clothing, and a long white coat. The man had a taste of evil, and hatred floating off of him as he sat in his chair, reading his book as if he had no knowledge of his guests. From the coffin a faint, yet feverish pounding could be heard, as if someone, or something, was desperate to escape.
"You know, it's rude to enter someone's place without being invited," the man said, not lifting his eyes from the book he was reading; his voice bearing a slight resemblance to that of a snake.
"Orochimaru," Gai said as he stepped forward, taking up his fighting stance. "We are placing you under arrest for the crimes you have committed," he finished, keeping his gaze locked on his target.
The deep, evil sounding laugh the Snake Sannin let out caused Teams RWBY and JNPR to take a step backwards; they had all read the reports on how strong Orochimaru was, and it would be better for all of them not to fight in this cramped cave. "You have more immediate worries at hand," he responded, closing his book and placing his hand on the coffin. Symbols spread out from the wooden box; the pounding was replaced, briefly, with muffled screams. The coffin lid slowly opened, revealing a tall man with ghostly pale skin, black hair, and glowing red eyes; the man's mouth was covered by cloth bandages, he wore cloth warmers on his forearms. His pants were tattered slightly, and he wore no shirt; his weapon was a giant sword. Gai was the only one of the group to recognize the man, it was someone that had disappeared from the Elemental Nations years ago after Kakashi and his team had run into him in the Land of Waves. The man was Zabuza Momochi.