Chapter 6: Aftermath
Blake stood alone in a dark forest. The trees had all withered and died, the grass and flowers had turned gray and wilted. Dried bones lay strewn across the ground. There is no sound, no movement, even the air sat still as stone. She looked around, the shadows seemed to close in on her. She ran. What she was running from she could not tell, but she ran as fast as she could for as long as she could before stopping to catch her breath. She called out into the forest, but could not hear her own voice. She was plunged into a murky pond. She tried desperately to swim to the surface, but could not reach it. She panicked. The shadows formed a figure in front of her. "Give yourself to me." the shadow hissed. She couldn't hold her breath. She inhaled the murky water. Her vision started to fade…
Blake shot upright, sweating bullets and hyperventilating. The pain in her chest from her broken ribs and the sting of the gash in her back opening back up snapped her back to reality. She was in a hospital room. It was dark, and moonlight shone through the window. Looking around she could see Drake and Ruby on nearby hospital beds, both covered in bandages. Her other three teammates were nowhere to be found, probably having been discharged sometime earlier. She lay back down, careful not to agitate her wounds further. "What the fuck was that?" she asked herself, unsure of whether or not she should go back to sleep.
Team RWBY, as well as Drake and Ikari, sit in the hospital awaiting their debriefing. As they're finishing their conversation, General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin enter, followed by Glynda Goodwitch and a young faunus man. He stood about six feet tall and had dark silvery hair, his faunus status being displayed by the grey wolf ears poking out from under his hair. He wore a light gray trench coat featuring blue-silver tribal patterns, worn closed over matching gray suit pants and combat boots. Over his trench coat he wore an armored shoulder pad, a blue-silver cloak featuring an emblem of a wolf's head attached to the lone piece of armor, a longsword with no hilt and a handle wrapped in gray cloth at his side and a blue-silver ornate dagger sheathed behind his back.
Ozpin was the first one to speak up. "I'm glad to see you all alive and well. The General and I are interested to hear about your encounter with this strange man turned out."
"I'm particularly interested in hearing how this man singlehandedly fought off a group of some of the best Hunters in Remnant." Ironwood cut in with a serious tone.
The group of Hunters chose Yang to detail the account of their fight, her having been one of the two to remain conscious through the whole thing, and the only one to make it out without a concussion. As Yang spoke, Glynda recorded her account of the events on a large scroll while Ozpin and Ironwood listened intently. The young faunus man who had entered with Ironwood seemed to be standing watch over the room.
After hearing the summary of the events that had transpired the previous evening, Ozpin sat staring at the floor in thought. Both Ironwood and Glynda looked at him in anticipation.
"As concerning as this man's abilities seem to be, what I am most concerned about are the possible effects of his weapon on those it cuts." Ozpin stated in a serious tone, looking up to make eye contact with Blake. "The two guards who were killed by his blade had disintegrated into a stony dust within the hour. Out of your group, Ms. Belladonna was the only one to be cut by that sword, and so far the same effects have not been observed on her. However, I do find how slow the wound seems to be healing to be a bit of a concern, though that could be because of a depleted aura." Ozpin looked towards Glynda now. "I would recommend that Blake be kept here until her wound closes completely, just to be safe." Glynda nodded in confirmation before leaving to speak with the doctors. "As for the rest of you, I hear the doctors have cleared you to leave, however all except for Yang are expected to take it easy for a while, Drake especially so." The group of Hunters nodded in confirmation before Ozpin, Ironwood, and the young faunus man left the room to discuss what had occurred.
"Well, that was a thing." Yang said, breaking the ice that had formed over the group.
"Yeah, but how are we supposed to fight someone like that?" Ruby pouted, resting her chin in her hands. "Most of the fight we couldn't even touch him, and when we finally did get a solid chance, he shrugged it off like it was nothing."
"There has to be some trick to it." Drake spoke up. "Nobody is simply untouchable. My own semblance, as well as Pyrrha's, can give off that impression, but it's not flawless. There has to be some way we can take him down."
"But what if there is no trick to it?" Blake was the one to speak up this time, visibly upset by the events that had transpired. "What if he really is a God like he said? What if we really have no hope of beating this guy?"
"There's no such things as Gods." Ikari said simply. "He's just another man on a power trip."
"Ikari is right, there has got to be an explanation." Weiss chimed in. "Once we find out what it is, bringing this guy down should be no problem... right?"
"Well I'd say that went quite nicely." Roman stated, relaxing in his seat in the office of a large warehouse. "Pretty nice place Neo found us, too."
"It'll do nicely." Kelas said, looking out the office window over the expansive building, occupied only by the stolen prototype aircraft. "Plenty of room to build in, while still leaving a lot for storage." Neo smiled at her success, before plopping down into a couch situated in the office. "How is Cinder's end holding up?"
"I think she's securing some muscle to guard the place and keep things in order, as well as looking for leads for our first heist." Roman replied casually. "We're going to need something to turn around for a profit, after all."
"Excellent, and you're certain they won't come looking for us here?" Kelas said, turning to look at the short girl behind him, who nodded in response. "Good. As soon as Cinder returns, we'll discuss our next moves."
"So, James, what do you make of all this?" Ozpin inquired to the General walking beside him, Glynda and the faunus man in tow.
"I'm concerned Oz." the General replied. "This man singlehandedly took down six trained Hunters and made off with a prototype military aircraft. Whoever this 'Kelas' is, and whatever he wants, he means business. We need to track him down and put a stop to this quickly."
"If I may, General?" the wolf faunus spoke up for the first time that day. Receiving a nod from Ironwood, he continued. "The specific prototype they stole was intended as a transport craft with heavy lift capabilities, meant to get troops and supplies in and out of enemy lines quickly and quietly. If they had intended direct terrorist actions against important targets, they could've stolen one of the more heavily armed craft stationed at that base. From this, I think it's safe to assume that he intends to target supply carriers, the two biggest targets being supplies from the Schnee Dust Company and Parson Ballistic Technologies. If we want to track them down, watching the targets of a possible heist would be the best place to start."
"Very perceptive, Lupa." the General stated. "That sounds like where we should start, wouldn't you agree Oz?"
"I'll make sure to have Hunters keeping an eye on the rail lines." Ozpin replied. "You should assign a small guard detail to each train to keep watch."
"Absolutely." Ironwood confirmed.
"THEY'RE DOING WHAT?!" the young entrepreneur known as Greene Parson shouted. "Do you realise what this will do to the underground arms trade?!"
The gray haired man in the labcoat, sitting across the young businessman's desk adjusted his glasses. "I am perfectly aware the kind of effect it will have, but we will simply have to make due with… alternate methods of transportation until then. The stunt our new friends pulled last night has General Ironwood on edge, and they seem to think that your arms company will be one of the primary targets."
The businessman ran his hands through his short brown hair, leaning back into his chair. "How are we supposed to uphold all of our clients' orders with such strict security in effect?"
"You could always try convincing the General that you will increase internal security on the shipments adequately, in response to the increased threat." the scientist suggested.
"We don't have the manpower for that." Greene shot back.
"The General doesn't have to know that." the scientist replied, a sly smirk sneaking its way onto his face.
"Okay, and what if our new friends do come after my company's shipments?" the businessman inquired to his colleague.
"So what?" the scientist said relaxing. "Most of the income comes from the illegal arms trade, the transportation end of which is handled by aircraft. If they were to plan a heist, it would be on one of the train lines or cargo ship routes, meaning only the legitimate goods would be stolen."
"That would still hurt the chances of a partnership with the Schnee Dust Company, and as a result make it harder to obtain their CEO as my wife…" the businessman pondered.
"Considering the Schnee Dust Company is the other major possible target, and Ms. Schnee was among the Hunters to face our new friend in battle, I'd say it's a perfectly acceptable risk." the scientist explained, attempting to ease his colleague's concerns.
"I suppose so…"
Team RWBY, sans Blake, as well as Drake and Ikari were preparing to head home for the night and get some well needed rest. As they headed for the door, Blake grabbed Yang's arm, holding her back for a second.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Blake asked softly.
"Sure, kitten. What's up?" Yang asked, sitting down on the edge of Blake's bed.
"I… this is going to sound silly… but I had the strangest nightmare last night." Blake began. "There was this forest, and I couldn't hear anything, not even my own voice, then I was drowning, and this shadow spoke to me. I don't know what it all means… I'm a bit scared. What if it has something to do with what Ozpin said about that guy's sword?"
"Don't get too worked up over it." Yang advised. "It was a stressful fight, and you got pretty beat up. Some of that stress is bound to get to your head." Yang leaned in and kissed Blake softly, stroking her cat ears in the process. "Try to focus on me, and get some rest tonight." Yang whispered in the faunus girl's ears. "I'm going to do some research, then I'll be back first thing in the morning, okay?"
"Okay…" Blake said weakly, laying down and watching her lover walk out the door. She closed her eyes, letting the sweet embrace of sleep wash over her.