Disclaimer: I own nothing involved with RWBY, that belongs to Rooster Teeth.
"If it comes up though, I'm killing him." No one reacted to Yang's threat, she had been repeating it since Tuesday night. Now that they were dressed and doing final weapon checks on Friday, it seemed more a silence filler than anything.
"I just want to fight! Sweetheart's been sitting in a locker too long." Similarly none of Ruby's teammates paid her hugging the folded scythe any mind. Wednesday had been the last hand to hand sparring session, teams CRDL and RWBY had been kept away from each other. Four days was far too long to wait for revenge.
"You have to admit, CRDL has it coming." Blake didn't look up from Gambol Shroud, the sheathe needed to be sharpened a bit. She loaded the main pistol and blade and put the sheathe on her back.
"He stuffed Jaune in a locker and launched him into Vale during lunch!" Ruby bounced, her spare magazines stayed on her belt. "And did you see the black eye he had yesterday morning? Someone needs to put Cardin in his place."
"You would think he would have learned to avoid Cardin by now." Weiss shrugged and shut her locker. She flexed her hands, the skin across her knuckles felt too tight after her impromptu boxing match with the spire. None of her teammates had asked about the scrapes.
"He isn't exactly...observant, and Cardin is always looking for someone to pick on." Blake too closed her locker, Yang followed suit.
"But Jaune has a Nora and a Pyrrha on his team, why doesn't he just ask them for help?" The other three shrugged at Ruby, she had a point.
"Alright, alright, more reasons to kick the shit out of the ginger." Yang cracked her knuckles for emphasis. With that RWBY left the locker room and took their place beside Pyrrha and Ren, the teams mumbling greetings as they waited for Jaune and Nora. Jaune was the last to exit the locker room, Crocea Mors hanging loosely at his side. He spoke to no one, choosing to lean against the raised ramp instead. Ruby watched Pyrrha's face fall, the crimson headed Mistralian tried to smile when she noticed Ruby's appraisal. Goodwitch snapped her crop.
"This will be the final preliminary, and as promised is a teams only night. As such all of you will be fighting multiple times and you will be eliminated if your aura drops below fifty the first match, and twenty the next. You will have next week off to prepare and rankings will begin that monday." Ruby and Yang were the loudest of the students who cheered, CRDL didn't stand a chance. "Onto the first match."
The matchmaker had other plans though, RWBY's faces and four question marks rolled onto the screen. Yang and Blake shared a glance, it was time to see just how far they could push the enigmas. Yang also had not forgotten Carmine's taunts.
RWBY stood in a loose diamond; Ruby ready to charge with Yang and Blake flanking her, Weiss would hang back and support her team with glyphs. Team SLTE stood in a tight box formation; Ruby guessed they would hunker down like they had against the Nevermore, sticking close together and making sure no one member came under too much pressure. Though a change in strategy wouldn't have really surprised her, they all actually had their weapons this time.
Carmine's katana sheath still had one empty slot, though white and black dust blades and an extra hilt had been attached to the mess. She briefly wondered how well he could dual wield the long swords; despite her own weapon of choice, Ruby could recognize when a weapon dipped from specialized to unwieldy. Tera held what appeared to be a light machine gun with an oversized halberd head running the length of the barrel. For a second Ruby didn't notice Eurig's weapon, it just looked like he had different colored gloves. Then she noticed the emerald flash of a gale crystal in his right palm, the fingers of the gloves ended in half inch claws. The almost mute Esme had strapped dozens of kunai to her hips and biceps and had even more strung across her chest. She worried Ruby, a rainbow of crystals glowed in the hilt of her blades. The match bell rang.
The three girls charged their opponents just as Carmine boosted Esme into the air, red and blue pommeled daggers flew at the chargers. Just as Ruby spun her scythe to deflect them, the kunai detonated. Steam blinded Ruby but she did not break her charge. She stumbled for a few steps, but the mix of fire and ice dust prevented any real damage. A glyph from her unseen partner blew her clear of the fog, straight into the sprinting Carmine. He vaulted over her, Ruby turned to block the slash that was no doubt rushing towards her defenseless back. She stumbled into empty air. For a second she was confused, then she glanced through the dissipating steam; Carmine was headed straight for Weiss. A sudden burst of gunfire kept Ruby from rushing to her partner's aid, Tera had flanked her in the chaos. Crescent Rose blurred around the redhead as she deflected the dust rounds. Ruby wove through the rounds, confident she could avoid the shots. Tera didn't even stop firing while dodging the scythe, forcing Ruby to pull back after two near misses.
Ruby noticed with some apprehension that the light machine gun's box magazine ran along its entire left side. Tera stopped firing as the gun's barrel glowed. Ruby lunged, metal shrieked on metal. A pull of the trigger and Ruby forced Tera back, spinning with the recoil to immediately strike again. Similarly, Tera gripped her gun by the end of the oddly short stock and let its weight guide her movements. Weaving over and under each other's oversized blades and knocking each other back with clashes, the two seemed evenly matched. Then Ruby activated her semblance. The haft of Crescent Rose cracked the girl's visor, the blade sent her to the ground. Ruby sprinted past, intent to help her partner against Carmine but was stopped by a dozen rounds kicking up dust around her. While the rounds stopped her from going forward, they did not steal away her momentum so she ended up sliding on the floor to slow herself. Ruby regained control and whirled around, a shell flying towards the specialist. The scythe wielder skidded further back with another pull of the trigger, Tera was launched off her feet by the double tap. Again, Ruby rushed forward with her semblance and this time Tera couldn't defend herself. Slash, slash, the buzzer rang. Ruby glanced at the aura gauge, panting. She was down to eighty one, a few of Tera's rounds had slipped through and her semblance was still costly.
Glyphs were even more costly. Weiss had dropped to sixty five and her opponent did not not help the situation. Carmine was relentless. She cursed to herself as the samurai slashed for her head. A duck and lunge brought her too close for him to slash, he just leaned away from her rapier and lashed out with a kick. She didn't notice his aura drop by three points or that hers remained at sixty five. She did notice a slight give in her side when she hit the ground, half way across the arena. An ice wall gave Weiss a moment to gather herself and focus a bit of aura on her at best cracked rib. Her healing was interrupted by a glowing red blade plunging through the ice beside her head. Weiss winced but rolled away from the wall and jetted back with a glyph. Carmine cocked his head to the side and raised his katana. Weiss smirked, Ruby's scythe gleamed over his shoulder. The katana flared.
All Carmine had to do was spin and both of his opponents were engulfed in flame, the edge of the dust blade crumbling away from the display. All Ruby could do was cover her face and dive through, it was too late to wrap herself in her cape. Weiss launched herself above the wall of fire only to have Carmine throw the remains of his blade at her; her eyes widened as the red light engulfed her. Smoke and flame washed over the arena, only Goodwitch's intervention kept the blast from taking the stands too.
Ruby's ears rang as she rose to her knees, a dull roar sounded behind her. She had to squint against the arena's tilting but still saw Yang wailing on a dazed Eurig. The blast had worked as a supercharge for her semblance, but dropped her aura to fifty one. Her hair glowed and eyes burned crimson, the lion was eliminated within ten seconds. Blake and Esme were sluggish in their movements; her teamate due to a vivid burn on her leg, the quiet specialist looked distracted. Ruby staggered to her feet, looking for the last samurai. Instead she found her partner.
The heiress lay half way across the arena, deathly still. Her clothes were covered in soot, even her hair had taken on a grey cast. Her face and hands were flecked with bright burns. Ruby stumbled a bit as she neared her, Weiss wasn't unconscious. No, now that she was almost close enough to touch Ruby could see that the heiress was very much awake. Her eyes were open the tiniest bit and her teeth were clenched together, every breath caused her to twitch just enough that Ruby knew she was awake. Awake and in pain. She was at her side in seconds, lurking Carmine be damned.
"Weiss," Ruby put her hand on her teammate's side to let her know she was there, "can you hear me?"
Her eyelids fluttered a bit but she did not answer the redhead, something warm seeped under Ruby's hand. She pulled back from the fluid, gaze snapping to her hand. It was covered in blood. Another glance at Weiss showed her arms tightly folded across her chest and a steadily spreading patch of red. Ruby gently tried to lift one of Weiss' arms, to see the damage, Weiss wouldn't budge.
"Help." It came out as barely a whisper, Ruby gulped. "Help!"
The match bell rang as Ruby yelled again, "Help!"
Across the arena Blake and Yang froze in their assault, locking eyes and sprinting straight to their teammates. Goodwitch beat them to the duo, her scroll raised and medics on the way. She snapped her scroll closed and pushed the students away, trying to stabilize the Schnee until the medics arrived. Her friends and teammates were horrified, her jacket's side was soaked through.
At the edge of the arena, Carmine leaned back. His blade sheathed and arms crossed, he didn't watch the mess he had caused. He only had eyes for the black armored girl on the opposite edge of the arena, the girl he knew could see what he felt. They both knew he was smiling behind the mask, black and purple bleeding through the seals of his armor for Tera. She understood exactly what the fight meant. Disobey and they will pay.
It was midnight before Ruby left Weiss side. The antiseptic stench and silence of the infirmary had driven her away; despite losing quite a bit of blood and almost having her lungs punctured by dust shards, Weiss would be fine. That hadn't kept Ruby from sitting by her for over three hours, alone with the unconscious heiress and her aura monitor. For three hours she sat listening to her partner breathe and a machine beep. In. Out. Beep. In. Out. Beep. In. Out. Beep.
It was maddening. The rhythmic beat haunted her thoughts even as she walked away from the infirmary. That, coupled with ample time to playback Carmine launching his blade at her partner, led Ruby to her current destination. The first year gym flared to life as she marched through the door, she went straight to the changing room. Again the lights attempted to blind her, Ruby just threw open the first locker and kicked off her shoes. Her cincher and skirt were next, and after a second of thought peeled off her dust weave shirt. Ruby rolled her shoulders, savoring the weightlessness that always settled over her after taking off dust weave. While it provided superior protection to cloth and, due to the haste glyph woven into the fabric, allowed her to use her semblance without exhausting her aura, it also made her feel like there was a net wrapped around her. Dust weave worked by threading the wearer's aura through the clothing in symbols similar to the glyphs Weiss could summon and holding the charge for later use, which felt exceedingly odd to someone trained to feel aura. She cracked her neck and went back to the training room.
Ruby stopped in the doorway, she hadn't closed the gym door. A creak brought her glare to the punching bags and the feline faunus leaning beside them. Ruby set her jaw, had Eurig known Carmine planned to kill them?
"Fancy meeting you here Red." The specialist raised his eyebrows and gestured mats on the other side of the room. "Care to go a couple rounds?"
Ruby was halfway to the mats before she realized the lion didn't have his helmet on, or any of his armor. He looked like any of the other first years though the black cargo pants and matching t-shirt would have made him stand out in a crowd. Eurig's features were sharper than she had expected too, he really did take after a lion. Ruby was briefly entranced by the patchwork of scars that curled around his jaw, down his neck, and beneath his shirt. Maybe they wear the armor all the time for a reason.
"What're we going to?" The lion smirked.
"How about a little game? No semblances or really mean hits, just a friendly game." Ruby nodded and lined up across from the specialist. "First one of us to get the other on the ground gets to ask anything?" Again Ruby nodded.
"Was Carmine trying to kill Weiss?" Eurig smirked up at her, he had expected a countdown or something more than a nod before the redhead tripped him.
"No." Eurig's smirk dropped, "If he was trying, your friend would be dead."
"If her aura hadn't been in the fifties, the blast would have killed her." Ruby bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming at the faunus.
"It didn't. My boss is a sadistic asshole but he's a smart, sadistic asshole."
"Why would h-" Eurig hip tossed the distracted student. Ruby glared at him as he extended a hand. Forget Carmine, forget the day. Knock the cat on his ass. She took a deep breath, she could manage that.
"Remember the rules." They circled each other. "Are you and Blondie sisters?"
Ruby raised an eyebrow but nodded.
"Why do you all look-" Eurig was silenced by having his leg kicked out and a heel to the abdomen toppling him.
"Remember the rules," Ruby grinned down at the lion, Eurig shook his head and took her hand. "Did you know Blake before coming here?"
"In a sense. We were both involved in a faunus rights group." He tapped her fist, sending the jab over his shoulder instead of into his nose. Ruby bounced away.
"Like the ones that picket places?" Eurig smirked and decided to let that one slide.
"Not exactly." Ruby still looked like she wanted to ask more but stayed quiet, Eurig lunged. She hopped over his kick and batted away both of his hands, a retaliatory kick swiped at his head. The lion ducked and delivered a roundhouse to her side. Ruby stumbled but didn't fall, scampering away from his follow up strike. Eurig followed, a jab flying forward. Ruby wove around the blow, letting his hand graze her shoulder as she slammed a fist into his ribs. A second hook to his ribs stunned him long enough for Ruby to snake her leg behind his and grip his shoulders. Unexpectedly though, the lion wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she pushed him over her hip, dragging them both onto the mat. Eurig landed on top, forearms braced on either side of the petite girl's head. They stayed like that for a moment, panting and leg tangled together, then Ruby realized how it would look if anyone walked in. The lion rolled off of her laughing as her face almost glowed from her sudden blush.
"Stronger than you look Red, looks like we both get a question this time." Eurig settled against the mats beside Ruby, "You can go first."
"Um...do you like Blake?" Eurig raised his eyebrows and smirked. "You two just look at each other a lot and you said you kinda knew her and-and…" He held in chuckles as the redhead's rambling tapered off. He shrugged.
"I think we understand each other more than most, and she is beautiful. I'm just not sure either of us would be into doing anything too...serious. On that note, how about you and the princess? You into her?" Though it didn't seem possible, Ruby got redder.
"Um-uh...No? Maybe. Yes." She covered her face with her arms, Eurig rolled along the mats laughing. Eventually the lion calmed down and Ruby regained most of her usual pallor, though her ears were still red when Eurig stood and offered his hand.
"So, go again?" Ruby grinned as he pulled her up.
"Sure." The game began again, both members of team SLTE and RWBY smiling.
No one smiled in Weiss room, not the fitfully sleeping student or the blank faced specialist. Tera sighed as her eyes roved over the Schnee, appraising the damage her squad leader had done. Dark ringed eyelids in a burn dappled face were all that stared back. Light as a feather Tera pulled the collar of the hospital gown away from Weiss, frowning at the tight bandages around her chest. She knew they would be removed in the morning and within a week or two the Schnee would just have a coin sized scar to remind her of the attack, but for the night she was unconscious with a bound chest. It was all Tera's fault too.
She silently scoffed and stepped away from Weiss, she wasn't the one who threw an unstable dust blade at an already weakened girl. She was the reason Carmine had thrown the blade though. Her punishment nearly resulted in Weiss' death. That was the way everything in their order worked, that was the Ferrus Corporation. Someone else always paid the price. Tera sighed, it didn't matter.
There would be no official punishment for the attack. On the Beacon front the incident was officially an accident; 'It was instinct professor, my training took over and I automatically sought to eliminate the nearest threat. I will control myself better in the future', Goodwitch hadn't seemed happy with her leader's excuse but accepted it none the less. She couldn't have enforced any punishment to Carmine anyway, none of them were actually students. On the Corporation front, no one cared; the Ferrus Corporation, originally the Ferric Order, was very loosely organized. There was no oversight, no real enforcing body, just cells of rogue huntsmen and the like. There had been a time when they were a rigidly disciplined network of mercenaries and assassins and politicians for hire, then they had gotten involved with some Far Northern cult and all but collapsed. Tera wasn't terribly familiar with the history. All that mattered was that there would be no one keeping Carmine in check; they had met with a representative of what remained of the Corporation when they heard about the job and Carmine supposedly checked in with the man every once in awhile.
Tera sighed again, maybe it would be best to back off and leave the students to their own devices. Nah. It was selfish but she couldn't imagine just leaving Weiss to her own devices. She reminded her too much of herself. Tera left the infirmary and crept to the first year gym. The sound of laughter surprised her. The masked specialist couldn't help but smile as she cracked the door, watching Eurig and Ruby try to trip each other. She wasn't the only one who missed having friends.
"No, we have not gotten any closer to finding the target. I know, I know but Eurig has not been a member for years." Carmine rubbed the bridge of his nose as the representative prattled on.
"Yes, sir. I understand. I'll contact you in one month, yes." Carmine took a deep breathe and ran his nails down his left bicep, the fabric of his t-shirt held the grooves for a moment before straightening out. His scroll slid across the table as he flipped through random files. The hub was silent, Carmine liked it that way. He pushed the files away and checked his scroll, no new messages. He supposed that was a good thing. He thought about reading the files on the first year teams again but decided against it.
After Esme's last message the files held no interest. No, hearing that Eurig and Tera had gone to socialize with members of team RWBY had made Carmine restless. That combined with a surprise call from Command made focusing on the scribbles all but impossible. Instead, Carmine leaned back in his chair and thought.
The first thing on his mind was what to do with his traitorous subordinates. Killing them requesting replacements was always an option. Well, it would have been if the Order hadn't been nearly crippled since Carmine joined; it was wonder what four years and a trip to Dragnere could do. Killing Tera and Eurig would be satisfying but leave him short handed until command sent another squad to help, which could easily result in his squad permanently lacking two people. Until he found the target, then things would change but that would be easier if he had help. No, killing the traitors was out. As was crippling them and exiling them to the students, there was too much animosity towards his team as a whole for that to yield any favorable results. I'll leave them alone for now, let them think they've pulled one over me. Carmine sighed, life was simpler before the order left Dragnere, before it really mattered who he killed. Suppose I'll be back to that soon enough.
Maybe sooner than I thought. A smile split his lips as two messages beeped over his scroll. Esme and Ozpin, he opened his subordinates first. A video greeted him, a shaking crate with bloody hand prints over the lid, found it. That was a perfect segue to Ozpin's request, status report. Carmine was in his office within five minutes.
"Please, take a seat mister Slate." Carmine sat before the elder man's desk.
"Thank you sir," he crossed his arms, "Is there anything particular you would like to know about the assignment?"
"Actually, I would like to know about your clashes with team RWBY." Carmine took a deep breath and struggled not to hiss it through his teeth.
"Just minor spats sir, they seem to believe my squad has some nefarious plan." Ozpin nodded and adjusted his glasses.
"Besides the fact that they are correct, that was why you were hired, I do not consider the near death of the Schnee heir to be part of a minor spat." The headmaster's eyes flashed behind his glasses.
"Sometimes I forget how, fragile, those in the south can be." Carmine met Ozpin's gaze. The sudden pressure behind his eyes did not intimidate him.
"I wouldn't underestimate my students, especially not miss Rose and her allies." Ozpin looked over his glasses at the specialist, "Push them far enough and you may find yourself fighting for your life."
Carmine smiled, "It's all part of the job." It is my favorite part.
Ozpin gathered himself for a second, arguing with the specialist would get him nowhere.
"Speaking of the job, what progress have you made?"
"My squadmate's contacts proved to be useless which set us back, though I believe we may have just had a breakthrough." Carmine pulled out his scroll and showed the video to the headmaster. "The survival class has a field trip to the Forever Fall Forest Wednesday right? I think my squad tagging along may also yield...enlightening results."
Ozpin stared straight into his silver eyes. Blood and iron glared in their depths. The headmaster shook his head, Carmine nodded.
"You're sure you're fine to walk around?" Weiss smiled to herself as Ruby bolted on ahead. Sure, she asks if I'm alright but still almost sprints everywhere. If it got to be too hectic she could always let go of the redhead's hand, but where was the fun in that?
"I'm fine Ruby." Weiss smile widened as the younger girl beamed at her. They darted around Beacon's courtyard, finally disappearing into the academy's extensive garden. Blake didn't bother to follow them, the bountiful flowers bothered her nose. Plus, she'd gotten tired of following Ruby and Weiss. Though the two had grown close in their two weeks at Beacon, and downright separable since Weiss was injured the day before, they weren't a couple. Blake personally thought it was only a matter of time but could also understand the heiress' hesitance; if even half of the rumors from the White Fang were true, she had good reason to be afraid. Stier Schnee was not known for his accepting nature. Blake shrugged, it wasn't her business anyway. Old habits die hard.
Unlike a certain cat she knew, stalking was no longer one of her past times. That cat didn't seem to agree. He was why she was leaning against a wall just outside the courtyard, idly listening into whatever conversations she could. Eurig was late. Blake sighed, a claw tapped her shoulder. Blake reacted.
"Jumpy much?" Eurig grinned and released her hand, she almost swung again.
"You could have just walked over here, like a normal student." Though she glared at him, there was no real heat behind it.
"Then someone would notice us, sneaking up on you was fun too." He sat down and looked up at her, "I actually had to try."
"You're sure you're not just hiding your face?" Blake stayed standing.
"Well, that was a factor. Carmine would blow a circuit if students started thinking I was like them." They smirked at each other. The enigmatic specialist was why they were hiding instead of just talking in the courtyard or texting.
"What has your boss done that you had to call me?"
"It's not what he has done, but what he plans to do. And make me do." At her raised eyebrows, he continued, "He wants to raid a White Fang outpost and wants me to get us in." The lion tapped the wrapping over his ruined tattoo for emphasis.
"So how did they try and get rid of your mark? It looks like they used sand paper." That had bugged Blake since their sparring match.
"Good guess, industrial sander. Not pretty but it helps my cover, how do you hide your mark?" Blake raised an eyebrow at him, the lion grinned. "Forgot for a second, you were a spook-"
"Infiltration."
"-Spook. You all always scared me." It took Blake a moment to realize he was serious.
"Why would anyone in clean up be afraid of us-me? You all had the dangerous jobs." Eurig shook his head at her.
"We had the best jobs; get caught, get shot. Infiltrators, contacts in the peaceful cells, leaders, all of you were valuable. No one wanted to get promoted."
"You all were afraid you wouldn't get killed if you got caught? We were all afraid of that." Adam had guaranteed that, everyone in the infiltration unit knew exactly what it felt like to have shards of lightning dust slipped between their vertebrae. Blake knew how effective several other torture techniques were from first hand experience, Adam had wanted her to be prepared for everything. He'd wanted her to be the best.
"No, I was afraid of you." Eurig's admission snapped Blake back to the present. His grin was gone. "I was afraid of how skilled, how much havoc you could cause when you worked with our leader, how easily you could kill."
Blake's face was grim as she nodded. She didn't like to think about her time in the White Fang and apparently neither did Eurig.
"Back to the issue at hand, how do you want to play this?" Blake chewed on her lip.
"When are you all attacking and what does Carmine want?" Eurig glanced up at her.
"Thursday, the outpost isn't too far from where Professor Peach is having her field trip. Carmine wants to hit it while all of the other teams collect sap or whatever, have me point out anyone important and then kill the rest. As for what he's looking for? I have no idea." The lion sighed as Blake stared at him. "Our mission isn't to stop the White Fang, we're looking for some cult chick. I don't know what Carmine thinks the White Fang have to do with this, and I would really like to keep too many more of the people I grew up with from getting slaughtered."
"Alright, I'll try and get away from my team, see if I can't look around first. Anything else?" Eurig pulled out his scroll and sent her a video. Blake's jaw set and her eyes widened as muted screams cried through her scroll. She muted it before turning to the standing specialist.
"Whatever you do, don't let Esme catch you." Blake glanced back at the courtyard and Eurig was gone. As she left the shadow and walked towards her dorm, Blake went to her scroll's messaging app. We need to talk, Blake typed the message but didn't send it. The three names seemed to glare at her from the translucent screen, they don't know what you are. Do they need to? She deleted the message. It wasn't time, not yet. Really though, Blake had to ask, would it ever be?
Author's Note: Reviews are always welcome. If you find any errors, have any questions, or just want to comment on how the story is progressing, please feel free to PM me or write a review. I would really like to hear from anybody reading this, especially if you think I'm doing something wrong; that way I can fix it early.