RWBY Reloaded Volume 9 Chapter 7: Drop the Act
(Valetian countryside).
Winter and her band of soldiers crossed into Vale on a desperate mission to gain food for the weakening population of Atlesian refugees. Before a single villager dies, she is stopped.
Reuben: Winter Schnee…
The General looks around, trying to find the voice of her rival. Her icy blue eyes then look up towards the sun, she sees Reuben, fully dressed in his normal Atlas Superman uniform. The Dark blues and bright reds standing out against the pure white uniforms of her soldiers. Superman lands as Winter draws her saber.
Winter: Reuben Clark, stand aside. Or I will have no choice but to move you myself. I am supreme commander of the Atlesian Military, and I will turn it upon you. There was once 70,000 of us citizens, now there are 60,000.
The wind blows between the two of them, maybe they wouldn't come to blows after all?
Reuben: And the number who can serve in an active military I see is even less. You're out of your league, winter. In fact, I'd say you're out of your mind. Attacking sovereign nation… You can always appeal for aid; we'll be happy to help you. It might not be much, but it is something.
Winter's eyes narrow, She cannot turn back now. She's staked her entire reputation on this. It would be days or even weeks before the necessary provisions arrived in Vacuo, and she and her men were just moments away from taking it. So, she does the only thing she can think of and charges, the blue energy of the winter maiden burning through her veins.
(Ever After, Lotus)
Jaune: It's really you, right? When I saw you in the market...I…
Ruby: Jaune…it's us…
The rest of the girls come together and embrace their old friend and a long, warm hug.
Ruby: How did you find us?
Blake: How were you, the rusted knight?
Yang: And when did you get so…
Weiss: Mature~
She says, giving him a look and a slight blush. Which caused looks from the rest of her team. Ruby then turned to Jaune.
Ruby: What happened in Atlas, after the rest of us fell?
He sighs. He had been dreading that question for years.
Jaune: I guess we've all got a lot of catching up to do.
(Grassy location)
Ruby: You're telling me Cinder is gone…?
Yang: But that doesn't matter as long as the fall maiden powers can be transferred to a new host, she just has the ability to go and get the Beacon Relic.
Blake: But she doesn't know where it is...
Weiss: Well, there is that to be thankful for, at least.
Jaune sighs.
Ruby: Atlas has fallen, and we may have lost the relic. We have no clue where it definitively ended up.
Jaune: From what I was shown. Reuben and Winter managed to finish off Cinder fall as Atlas was disintegrating, but I was only able to be shown that. Nothing beyond it.
Blake: Ruby, we got everyone out safely. Shouldn't that count for something?
Weiss: We risked their home— my home— to save the relic, and it backfired spectacularly.
Blake: That has to count for something…
Ruby: What good is saving the world if Salem's going to win anyways? For all we know, she could have won by now.
Yang comforts her sister.
Yang: That's how Ironwood thought. You don't mean that.
Jaune snaps.
Jaune: Are you done? We need to leave for the weather changes. It'll take us a lot longer to get to safety.
The rest of the girls give him a look as Yang still consults her sister. Jaune takes a deep breath and sighs.
Jaune: There'll be plenty of time to lick your wounds later. Come on…
Juniper follows, and soon the rest of the girls do, as they get deeper into the grasslands. The storm brews in the background.
Yang: So where are we going again?
Jaune: My village.
He says, eyes directed backwards toward the crew.
Jaune: I still can't believe you made it the way from the Crimson Keep on your own.
Blake: Not on her own. We had help.
She looks around, not finding the curious cat from before.
Blake: Oh, I hope that cat is OK.
Jaune stops in his tracks. The rest of the team catches up to him.
Jaune: What cat?
Blake and Yang look at each other, confused. Something was wrong. Someone wasn't telling them something. Little then emerged from Ruby's hood and spotted something moving in the grass.
Little: That cat!
The curious cat leaps through the grass, happy to find them, mewing as it does so.
Cat: Ah, I found you. Why is it that you always find the thing you're looking for in the very last place you look?
The cat then looks up and gasps.
Cat: Jaune! Oh my. It has been an indeterminate amount of time, hasn't it?
The storm, however, continues to roll in. Not stopping for their casual conversation. Seems to be much more powerful than any of the storms they've seen on remnant. But what? What was it?
Cat: So, how have you been?
Weiss: Wait! You two know eachother?!
Ruby pondering comes up with the answer.
Ruby: Well, they'd have to. He is the rusted knight, after all.
Jaune, angry, draws his blade. But Blake stops him in his tracks, putting both her hands on his chest.
Blake: I think there's a misunderstanding.
But the one who didn't understand was Blake. He had been trapped there for decades so he of course had time to know the ends and outs of the place, while the cat was able to easily lull the team to a false sense of security.
Blake: The cat can get us all out of here.
Just then, the storm strikes overhead. It was too late for them to flee to safety. But for some reason. No rain was felt. But that's impossible.
Jaune: We don't have time. We have to get to my village.
He stares angrily at the cat.
Jaune: Don't worry, we don't need a guide.
Cat: But your friends wanted to go to the tree.
He gets angry after hearing it.
Jaune: That's where you're letting him take you?!
He says, face leaning towards Blake as Blakes head moves backwards. Yang feels something stir inside of her she doesn't know what it is.
Blake: Well, yeah, that's how Alyx got out. Right?
The Huntsman turns his gaze towards the cat once more. Rage is clearly visible in his face as well as his eyes.
Jaune: You didn't tell them anything.
He says in a threatening, deep tone.
Cat: That's simply not true. I told them everything's a few anythings, and lots of somethings.
The cat was, of course, playing coy.
Weiss: can someone please make sense?
She says more out of frustration than anything.
Jaune: That tree is death.
He declares as Weiss's head snaps back to go and look at her old friend.
Jaune: It absorbs you, takes your memories, and turns you into something else. if you go there it's going to erase you. They call it ascension. Here.
Ruby looks back at Jaune, her mind starting to put the pieces together.
Ruby: Wait, the tree is what causes Ascension?!
Blake: That's what got the herbalist, the roots of the tree.
Yang turns to the cat, clearly irate.
Yang: Curious that you forgot to mention that.
Cat: Ohoh~, excellent punmanship. But, you are not from here. It won't do that to you guys.
The cat said somewhat convincingly. Jaune fires back.
Jaune: Oh yeah? Then what happened to Louis?!
This caused Ruby to turn and look at Jaune.
Ruby: Who?
He stares back with deep blue eyes filled with pain and misery.
Jaune: Alyx's brother.
This caused all four of the girls to look at the cat. This was deeply unsettling information that they all just heard. Why was this kept from them? But Blake was the first to doubt.
Blake: That… that can't be right.
Yang: She had a brother? Why didn't you mention him?
Ruby looked back, disturbed once again. Her trust had been so easily betrayed, but then again, that was on her. Ruby trusted Ozpin, and in the beginning trusted Ironwood, and now the cat had betrayed that trust.
Cat: Well. you never asked silly~. It was always Alyx this, Alyx that.
Wiess: We've been following this story the whole time and it's not even true?!
Lightning strikes in the background as Thunder soon follows. Soon you can hear the soft droplets of rain as Jaune sheathes his sword and turns to continue.
Jaune: Let's go, I've got a plan.
Cat: A lot of good that's done you after what? How many years?
Ruby: Can everyone please just stop? This is, a lot to take in.
The cat sits on its hind legs.
Cat: Looks like we're stuck at a crossroads then
Like a grizzled war veteran. Jaune's eyes widened, as he attempts to lash out.
Jaune: No!
But it's too late. The group is surrounded in a blinding white light which covers them in seconds. The group is seemingly transported. To a separate place in the Ever After, only accessible by the storm. Floating purple clouds of mists and doors. It seems to be a twisted inverted replica of the bridge that they had crossed.
Jaune: Welcome to a ponder storm. A storm that creates a place based on a mental or emotional problem.
The group comes closer to a door.
Jaune: So, we appear to be at a metaphorical and literal crossroads.
Weiss: How perfectly stupidly Ever Afterly.
She sighs.
Weiss: This place really is the pits.
Suddenly, a hole spawns under her and swallows her whole, causing Weiss to scream loudly.
Jaune: The only way out is to solve the problem, or wait until the storm passes. Let's just get moving….
He walks ahead as Weiss comes hurdling back, smacking against concrete with a thud.
Weiss: Okay, I asked for that.
Ruby looks around. Her sister and Blake were both gone.
Ruby: Where's Yang? And Blake?!
Jaune rolls his eyes.
Jaune: Must have had something bigger to work out.
(Cumulonimbus Clouds)
Yang is suddenly awoken on a bridge as the storm rages on overhead. The bridge is a rickety plank one that she can swear she's seen before; it sways back and forth in the wind.
Yang: Huh?
She looks backwards, not seeing away off of it.
Yang: Blake!
It soon becomes clear that the girls were indeed stuck in the same predicament. There was a white pedestal in the middle, what could it mean?
Blake: Yang!
Yang: What do we do?!
The winds seem to pick up in intensity, rocking Blake's bridge.
Blake: We need to get to that platform!
Yang looks down at the endless abyss covered by clouds.
Yang: But how do we take the next step?
(Crossroads)
Ruby, Weiss and Jaune continue to walk with Juniper in tow. The sleek bricks seeming to stretch for miles. Then, the group happens upon a wooden sign. There looks to be two paths, one marked with a boy's face symbolizing Jaune, and another with a cat's paw symbolizing the curious cat.
Jaune: You know this would go quicker if you made up your minds.
He states bluntly as Weiss and Ruby turn back towards him. Ruby nervously chuckles as they choose a path to walk down.
Ruby: I just don't get how the story is both real and not. Ruby passes by a blue door as odd mirrors form in the background.
As she slips by one, the familiar appearance of her mother became visible for a moment.
Jaune: It all happened…
In one of them he sees Pyrrha smiling…
Jaune: Just not the way Alyx said when she wrote it…
Ruby soon stops as she watches Weiss look into one, this one showed Atlas's descent towards the crater, and collision with Mantle. So, this is how he was able to see the final fight? Weiss turns away, looking sorrowful.
Weiss: So, What? She just lied?
Jaune: You have, no idea…
They pass another mirror like object.
Jaune: I waited for you all to fall after that clock thing sent me back. I waited for years. But, somebody else showed up first.
The mirror morphs as it displays the images of Alyx and Louis.
Jaune: It was Alyx and her brother Louis. Two siblings from remnant. I told them I was from there too, that I was waiting for my friends.
The mirror continues to morph, showing off the storybook.
Jaune: Once I started helping them, it didn't take long to figure out I was part of her story. I was the Rusted Knight. But, things weren't always the same as in the book. Like Alyx..
The mirror morphs to show her face.
Jaune: She wasn't just a little petulant or inconsiderate, she was selfish, and cruel. Like this whole world was simply make believe and the rules didn't apply to her.
It morphs to show the boy's face.
Jaune: Louis was the kind one, the clever one. We went places she didn't mention in the story, the Herbalist.
It morphs into Alyx's face once more.
Jaune: But, something changed there. Whatever he said to her, she wasn't the same after that.
The mirror morphs back to the woods.
Jaune: She…lost all trust in us. Started accusing us of things. The more I tried to get the story back on track, the more she distrusted me.
It then shows Alyx picking a poison berry.
Jaune: It was…my fault…did I...change the story? I-I couldn't even be the make-believe hero!
Alyx adds the poison to the soup.
Jaune: I didn't have time to make it right. The Rusted Knight drank the poison. She said she wouldn't let anyone get in the way of her leaving.
The mirror morphed to show Jaune on the ground and Alyx standing defiant.
Jaune: That'd she'd do whatever it takes. And then she was gone…
The mirror stopped showing the book.
Jaune: So, not exactly my favorite story anymore.
Weiss: I'm so sorry…
Ruby: Wait, why don't you try to use the cat then?
He sighs as it shows the younger version of Jaune.
Jaune: The cat's role in the Ever After…I figured it out later when the cat came back for me once Alyx left.
He turns from the mirror.
Jaune: When people lose their way here, the cat convinces them, somehow, to either keep performing their role or to go to the tree, get a new one. The cat calls it healing but its manipulation. The cat was never helping Alyx or you. Their purpose here is to feed the tree.
Ruby looks at Weiss concerned.
Jaune: To keep the cycle going.
Ruby: How can you be sure?
He narrows his blue eyes.
Jaune: Because the cat took Alyx and Louis there, only one of them made it back to our world.
The girls looked again at eachother as Jaune and Juniper forged ahead.
(Cumulonimbus Clouds)
Yang and Blake are in the exact same position as before, unsure how to advance.
Yang: You alright?
Blake: I'll be a lot better when we're together on that platform.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a plank emerges, and Blake looks down.
Yang: Is it a password or something? Together! Platform!
Blake looks back at Yang.
Blake: No luck?
She shakes her head, before smiling.
Yang: I'm sure you'll figure it out, though. You're good at that.
Blake: You think so?
Yang: Well, Yeah! You got a really good...brain..
She chuckles a bit as a plank forms before her.
Yang: Okay, that did something! Uh..
She advances forwards.
Yang: Well, I talked about you so…
She clears her throat.
Yang: You have cat ears!
This causes' Blake's ear to twitch, but still, nothing materialized.
Yang: I think your cat ears are cute.
A plank forms before her, she jumps forward.
Yang: Nailed it! Even though I don't know what it is yet…
Blake: Maybe…it's saying this we never said…to each other.
Yang just shrugs, she seems totally fine by this. She gestures for Blake to take her turn.
Blake: I think you're an extaordianry person
She smirks as Blake continues
Blake: You're always the first to lighten a situation. You act bravely when you're afraid. You do what you say.
Now five planks appear for Blake, as the huntress goes forwards.
Blake: Try to keep up~
Yang looks down, smiling.
Yang: I like that you've never been intimidated by me. Even when you didn't like me all that much.
Blake moves some hair from her face, blushing slightly.
Blake: I was a little wary of people in general…
Yang: But you never gave up on them, even when they hurt you. You never give up, you know what matters to you.
Now five planks appear for Yang, as the huntress goes forwards.
Yang: Let's make this quicker, any big truths we haven't dropped on eachother yet?
Blake blushes as the clouds behind Yang turn yellow. She hesitates, slightly, doubting. The storm had subsided, but just as it couldn't get worse the bridge was extended, forcing the huntresses back to their proverbial starting points.
Blake: Did you…just think of something…but didn't say it?
Yang blushes and goes to mess with her hair.
Yang: That…can't be what this is about.
Yang looks back at Blake, noticing a beautiful shimmer in her golden eyes. Yang closes hers as she speaks mentally.
Yang (Mind): It's like a cliff, and if I do it, I'm just going to fall…
Blake (Mind): I think we're already falling…
Blake smiles warmly, the beauty of the place accentuating her personal beauty.
Blake: Just, say it…Yang.
She takes a deep breath, closing her lilac eyes again.
Yang: I think I…Love you…
Blake: I love you too~
Flowers appear to miraculously bloom. The two of them close their eyes as they are transported to the platform. Grass and vines start to grow on the pedestal surrounding the two girls. The vines then bloom white flowers. Lilac eyes lovingly stare back into deep golden pools. Blake approaches, then Yang does as they kiss. Time seems to slow down as the rest of the flowers bloom white. None of them wanted this special moment to end.
(Valetian countryside).
Winter stands defeated before Reuben once more. This only served to further wound the Winter Maiden's pride.
Reuben: If its any consolation, I fought a clone of myself a few months back.
She mutters something under her breath.
Reuben: This fight barely made me break a sweat.
Winter: Why? I've trained…gotten stronger…but you…
Reuben: Because you still haven't mastered that power you killed Freia for.
He says as he brushes the dust off his uniform.
Winter: All that power, and yet Salem still exists.
He gets irate at the General.
Reuben: She's immortal! I can get 100,000 times stronger than I am now but I still wouldn't be able to beat her due to her immortality.
Winter scoffs as she formulates a plan. She doesn't dare let him in on it. Reuben turns away.
Reuben: I mostly stopped you to try and keep some semblance of the Second Vytal Accords we signed a year ago. Prevent the republics and kingdoms from shattering…
Winter then fires ice at Reuben, a vicious strike at the symbol of hope.
(Garden, Ever After)
Suddenly, everything was back to normal, the ponder storm had completely subsided, almost as if it never occurred at all. Weiss then looked at her other teammates then is shocked. Ruby, turns to see what Weiss was looking at. Yang and Blake still kissing while Blake has one foot bent backwards, soon even Little spots them, as the two end their liplock.
Yang: Did we…miss anything?
Jaune: Feels like I've been waiting forever for that.
He smiles and calls Juniper
Jaune: Come on…
And with that, the group leaves for Jaune's village.
(End of Volume 9, Chapter 7)