RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, author's note at the end of the chapter.
Althea smirked as she strolled through Beacon's halls, classes had resumed with a heavy influx of missions that had the local Hunters and Vampyres serving as the mentors in the field. Althea herself had gotten the temporary position of 'The History of Vampyres' professor and shared the class with Doctor Oobleck who she had come to acknowledge as an equal in the urge to learn about history. She also heard that Winter would be returning with some 'important' information from Atlas regarding a representative to act upon the Vampyres agenda and to ensure that the foolish council and upper class fools listened when told to do something for their own safety unlike those in Mistral who had not.
She heard the murmurs of students as she walked into the courtyard where so many students had picked as a meeting ground, she saw the Winchester boy talking to Miss Velvet, probably about their earlier interactions in the year. She saw students relaxing under trees talking to each other and even the occasional student who had been 'changed' talking to Vampyres who loitered in the courtyard for their own entertainment.
She saw airships constantly arriving and departing at the now expanded docks as teams of hunters went off to hunt or returned from them with victories and defeats marring and blessing their returns. There were even fully trained hunters who graduated from Beacon in ages past returning to lead students and hunt the tougher queries that lurked in the forested valleys of Vale.
Her scrolled emitted a light song, announcing a message. Althea pondered at said message as she turned to walk back to her office that she had occupied after Grimoire's departure for his 'hunt'. She had expected the eldest granddaughter of Nicholas Schnee to be efficient but not nearly as quick as she had proved in finding a representative. Said candidate sat in a chair across from her's in her office, patiently waiting for Althea as he wrote into a notebook bound in tough brown leather and white string. He noticed her immediately and stood from his seat, placing his notebook into a pack that sat next to his seat.
"Hello, you must be Lady Althea of Atlas, I am Whitely Schnee. I am here since my sister, Winter told me that you needed someone to act as an emissary to the people of Atlas." The young man was certainly taught well but there was one thing that drew a question from Althea.
"A pleasure, though I do have a question before we talk about your employment, are you working for yourself or your father?" Whitely seemed to visibly stiffen as he stood up his face having frozen into a stone face that told her exactly what she needed.
"I see, so an argument I assume?" He nodded as they both sat down in their respective seats.
"He did not want to be a part of the changes happening around him, I did, we had an arguement and I left looking for Winter." She nodded a smile coming to her face.
"Alright, so as an emissary you will be tasked with representing the Vampyric people to the Kingdom of Atlas, which includes the entire population upper and lower class." Whitely had his notebook out again as he wrote down everything she told him and when she stopped he looked up at her with a smile on his face. "When can I start?"
Althea smiled as she sat back. "Not for a time," Whiteley raised an inquisitive eyebrow to this as she sent a message via scroll. "You will be apprenticing for a time under Ashford Belladonna, he has to go to Menagerie to take over as the Baron of Menagerie and reconcile with his wife who's believed he has been dead for so long, the chieftess of Menagerie." Whitely nodded, Belladonna was a name his sister had mentioned both as Weiss's teammate and as the Arch Baron in Vale. "We also need you to see how both ends of the world lives, from the opulent splendor of Atlas to the crowded and squalid realm of Menagerie, you will have to understand everything for an emissary must know much about the people he speaks to." Whitely nodded again scratching notes into his book, if this is the cost of power than so be it he will adapt to this new world and he will thrive and surpass his father.
The screams of a village rose into the air of a chilled night as a small settlement on the border of Vale and Vaccuo as a massive hulking Grimm, standing tall and armored in ancient chainmail with a rusted sword in hand cut down a huntsman, laying the warrior low with a blow to the man's legs and another to his skull spilling blood across the yellow grass.
A pair of figures strolled towards the village, casually slaying minor grimm as they approached. "So Grimi, what have you been up to? Finally get back with Althea with all this commotion?"
Grimoire scanned the village watching as Grimm were fought off by experienced hunters and local warriors. "Things have picked up, that is a certainty." He swung his blade, catching a Beowulf in the side and catapulting it far into the distance.
The smaller figure raised a musket to his shoulder and squeezed the trigger, sending a white hot lance of light towards the towering humanoid grimm taking it's head off at the shoulders and eliciting a cheer from the villages warriors who redoubled their efforts as these two figures strode into combat laying low every Grimm that challenged them.
"So, I heard you found a decendant of your brother's?" Grimoire smirked as he thought of Ruby, the little Rose capable of beating foes with years more experience than herself or anyone in her age group, then again her whole Year of Hunters in Training were miraculous and making progress at that as well. It reminded him of his brothers comrades, so mighty and full of life, ready to defend the Homeland to the bitter end.
"Yeah, I met her under some rather strenuous circumstances but otherwise I think she behaves much like Thorn, hell she even has his hair!" The shorter lord cackled at the image that he was thinking about.
A buggy with several warriors hanging off of it made a circle around the town, smashing into and hacking apart grimm as it drifted over sand dunes and between buildings. "Gotta give your people credit, they know how to show the grimm a good time."
The short lord smirked and fired again with his rifle, slaying a distant Nuckleve that was striding towards the battle. "Well they have been asking for it Grimm, also I heard your guys in Vale have been having a hell of a time maintaining supply lines due to the larger number of Grimm." Grimoire let out a sigh of agitation.
Lord Saran of Vacuo had been a thief once, and then an assassin, he had earned his place in the retinue of Thorn after successfully stealing the Vampyre's sword and dagger from his person, and then casually talking his way out of the whole situation before Thorn inducted him into the retinue and then later after many months of training being named a Lord and assigned to his home kingdom of Vacuo.
"Yeah well, war is war, Saran." The two figures left the village to its victory, wandering further into the wastes that made Vacuo such a hellscape to fight in. They had made it more than twenty miles from the village and right into the cross-hairs of a smirking man who stood on an ever nearing rise, a long brown coat hugging his frame as he smiled at them, addressing them.
"Silver eye, Silver eye! How would you like to die tonight?" Grimoire raised a brow as the figure discarded his coat leaving an ensemble of white. "The Queen demands your eyes!"
"Salem?!" Grimoire drew his blade as the man cackled and rushed down the hill towards them, black hair whipping about him as he leapt at Grimoire a pair of blades appearing from his gauntlets. Grimoire fell back, allowing the wiry figure to soar over him and go crashing down the rest of the hill as Grimoire turned and pursued with Ragnarok drawn.
"Wirey bastard! I've seen you before, you were younger then, and better looking too!" Grimoire swung his blade releasing the clasp for the larger part of the blade and sending a spinning hunk of metal at the scorpion Faunus that had recovered from his miss.
"Oh yes that's right! You saw me slaying those Silver eyes didn't you?" The man's eyes turned purple as he leapt over the blade and lunged at the Lord in Vale, only for a musket shot to ring out across the dunes and smash the assassin into the dune and stunned enough for the thin blade of Ragnarok to pin him to the ground through his shoulder. The stinger on the insane man's tail swung out, and was promptly caught by several twisted limbs of shadow sprouting from Grimoire's back. "So, how about this, Where. Is . Your. Queen?" Grimoire had a vendetta to fulfil, This 'Queen' had been a sibling of sorts to the monster that his brother had been slain by and slew in turn.
"Oh they screamed and pleaded but I refused to listen, I had to kill them all." An Iron fist had smashed Tyrion's teeth across the sand and broken his jaw as well. "Nevermind then, no use asking you questions then, have fun with the grimm." The massive Rose lifted the assassin allowing clawed limbs to twist around his spindly legs and tail, he then pulled, listening to the screams of the madman as he executed for this particular man. "I hope you do not survive this Tyrian, I've been trying to end your line for a long, long time, maybe a Grimm your master favors so much will end you, maybe one of the desert nomad clans either way I hope you suffer you insufferable mad man." Grimoire flung the man over a dune, before retrieving his sheathe blade and rejoined Saram.
"So, wanna talk about name's for the new kingdom?" Saran stared at his friend for a moment before shaking his head. "Sure, yeah why not talk about that just after you slew a servant to one of our greatest enemies?" So the two continued towards Vacuo's capital and to the headquarters of the Vacuan Vampyres that lay in the path of their walk in the sun.
Hey guys, It's been a while so this is somewhat of an apology so I hope you're liking the story, I've decided to implement some political information into the story since it has grown into a world spanning story instead of the Vale-centered story. I hope you all like the story and have a good week. -LG
