"What do you mean?" Blake asks. Her voice dripping with caution.
"I assure you, I am in complete control. I am going back to where I first found some sort of peace, and want you four to come." Bruce tells them. They look into his eyes and see nothing.
Just the shell of the person they knew.
"So tomorrow I will take you. We will meet at my car. Come wearing winter clothing." Once he says this, he turns quickly and leaves. "Good night."
And with that, the silence returned to the dorm. The four have all have a sad look on their faces. Weiss and Blake eventually go to bed, deciding that they will deal with it tomorrow. Yang later decides the same. Before she can close her eyes, her attention is brought to Ruby.
"Yang?" She asks quietly. Yang turns away from the wall and looks at her sister. Ruby's eyes were filled with tears that were going to drop at any second. The moonlight gleaming on her eyes gave the sight of her holding back more sadness that what is seen.
"Will Bruce be okay?" She asks her sister for reassurance. Yang, however, decides to tell her the truth.
"I don't know."
The next day
Beacon Garage.
The girls all had their bags pack and were walking towards the garage. Bruce messaged them that Ozpin knew they were leaving and what time to come. They were clothed with heavy jackets snow boots, pants, gloves and hats. Ironically, they all matched their color.
Eventually, they arrived and were greeted by Bruce in his regular clothes. He began to walk towards them, making the slightly happy despite the reason they were there in the first place. But instead of greeting them, he told them to get in and took their bags. They knew that this was going to be a long ride.
Vale streets
The ride so far was a quiet one. No-one dared to say anything. The roads were surprisingly clear, despite the time of day it was.
They reached a stop at a red light. All of the windows were open in order to keep the girls cool. Suddenly, a sports car with four guys pull up next to them. They rolled down their windows and began to talk.
"Hey, ladies! Why not ditch the dork and ride with the men."
The four can only roll their eyes at the thought of this, but also caused them to speak even further.
"Ohh, I see! He is a big guy in your eyes, eh?" The girls do not reply, making the guys smile. Bruce just keeps his eyes forward. "How about a race then? Ten block down. We win, we get the babes. You win, twelve thousand lien right now. Deal?" The passenger stick his hand out for Bruce to shake.
Bruce just sits there looking forward. He then slowly turns his head towards them. He then grabs the guys hand and shakes it. Hard. Once they finish, they guy pulls his arm back fast and holds it.
"You better dust this punk." He says to the driver.
"Bruce, you don't have to do this." Blake pleads, not wanting him to do something he will regret. Bruce does not listen and just puts his hand on the gear shifter.
The two cars start to rev their engines as they wait for the light to change.
Red.
.
.
.
.
.
.
GREEN
Both cars shoot forward towards the street. The combined roar of their engines bring noise to the city. The girls all have different expressions on their faces. Ruby, in the front seat, has a smile on her face as the speed they were going excited her. Blake was holding onto her seat with her nails for dear life. Weiss bowed her head down and begin to talk to herself. Yang had an all out smile on her face.
The other car began to gain some distance from Bruce, prompting them to begin chanting early. But to their surprise, Bruce sped past them at blinding speeds, reached the last block and drifted to a stop. The other car rolled to a stop, and the four got out of the car.
Bruce just sighs and gets out of the car.
Two minutes later
Bruce gets back into the car and drops five thousand lien onto the girls laps before changing gear and driving away, leaving four unconscious bodies littered on the pavement.
Later
They eventually reached their destination. Bruce lead the four towards an inter-kingdom cruise carrier. Weiss explained to the four that this was a very expensive trip if he got them all tickets. Each one of them got their own room for the flight. With the money they got from Bruce, they indulged themselves with room service. The connoisseur-of-cookies nearly ate herself into a food coma for 'research'. Blake would come back to Vale with many different genres of books. Yang never knew these types of alcohol existed, but was happy she did now.
Weiss being the only one used to this type of class went to each of their rooms to check on them. She reached Ruby's door and knocked on it. She was then startled by how fast the door was opened.
"HEYYABESTIEYOUNEEDSOMETHINGIAMBUSYDOINGSTUFFWHATABOUTYOUHAYHAVEYOUEVERHADATRIPLEDELUXECHOCOLATESWIRLCOOKIEBEFOREIHADTWENTY!"
Never has Weiss used her semblance faster. She closed the door and made an ice wall to prevent her leader from escaping. She walked away, but not before hearing the sound of a broken faucet and a squeal.
"What just happened?" She asked herself before moving onto the next room.
She knocked on Blake's door three times, but received no answer. She tries again, but still no response. She then grabs the handle and turns it.
'She didn't lock it? Blake would never leave herself open like this.' Before opening the door all the way, she opens her hand and crafts a rapier out of solid ice. Thankfully the extra training with Bruce, Ozpin, and Glynda came in handy. She then opens the door slowly and surveys the room.
'There is no sign of a fight.' She analyzes, then turns towards the door. 'No forced entry, so where is blake?" She looks once again and notices the body like shape under the bed sheets. Fearing the worst, she quickly moves to the bed and rips off the sheets.
HISSSSS
Weiss jumps back from Blake as she starts to scratch at the bright light in her eyes.
"Weiss, what are you doing?" Blake asks annoyed. Weiss notices this tone and matches it instantly, melting her blade away
"Checking on my friends, you dolt. What were youuuuuu…" She starts but the takes notice to the plethora of books on her bed. "Oh."
"Reading like I always do." Blake tells her, mad that her reading time was interrupted. Before wiess can say anything else, Blake pulls herself under the blanket to read. Concerned for her friend, Weiss tries to get her out.
"Blake, this is not good for you. Get out fro-" she is quickly silenced from the sight of Gambol Shroud's barrel pointing at her.
"At least lock your door." Weiss pleas, but only receives the sound of the gun cocking. She quickly leaves and heads towards Yangs room, but changes course at the sight of bottles and the smell of alcohol.
Once she reaches Bruce's door, she notices the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door, causing her to sigh in sadness.
Bruce's P.O.V
I hear the footsteps of Weiss leave. I Want to open the door and console her, but I can't. I just sit here, alone like always.
Alone.
"That's not true. You have me!"
I can only look up and see that damned smile.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. You used to be fun."
I then look down and see myself in my old suit, my hands and legs tied to a chair. One of many. I then hear the sound I dreaded.
The Crowbar.
I look up to see him looking down, hitting his hand with that damned thing.
"Ready for a wild ride?" He asks. I try to speak, but am frozen with fear. My own demons. He swings at me, knocking me over, causing me to fall down the hole the is my sanity, all while he laughs.
Help me girls.
No Ones P.O.V
Outside of Bruce's window, a raven sits there looking at his unmoving body, staring. Suddenly, a crow lands next to it and they look at each other. After awhile, the two fly away as fast as possible.
Time skip
No-ones P.O.V
*Attention all passengers, attention all passengers. We have reached our destination, Mistral airport. Please wait as we make final landing preparations. Have a nice time.*
All four of the girls heard his and moved to get ready. Since Mistral was cold this time of year, they understood why Bruce told them to pack heavy. Speaking of Bruce, The girls all went to his room to get him.
Ruby knocked on the door three times, but received nothing but silence in return. She tries again, same response. She knocks again, no response. She knocks again, no response. She kno…..
Bruce opens the door fast and holds her hand before she can knock again.
"I am in the washroom. Wait for a second, please." He quickly says from behind the door, retracts his hand and closes it again. The three can only make small chuckles at what their leader has done. Ruby blushes from embarrassment in response.
Once he finished, he emerged from his room with his normal outfit again, confusing the girls.
"Bruce, where is your winter clothing? You will catch a cold in this weather." Weiss pleads.
"I don't need it." Bruce says as he turns to look at her. His eyes were dull, even worse than what they were prior to him being in that room by himself. He continues on, leaving four saddened faces.
Time skip
(Sorry, It is worth it.)
The five have been walking for quite a while. They were now eventually on the mountain, completely cold. Except for Bruce, he was just walking like the cold did not affect him, despite the fact that even his cape was frozen solid.
'How?' Was the only thing on all of the girls minds as they were freezing to death.
"B-B-Bru-uce. C-Can We-e P-P-Ple-ease t-t-ake a b-break? I-ts-s-s so co-l-l-ld." Our favorite 'hot-head' begs Bruce. He keeps on walking, not answering her.
Blake is completely infixed on his figure, trying to figure out how he is fine in this cold weather. She look at his feet, and notices that the snow under each of his steps is less than theirs. On a closer observation, she sees that each steps he takes, the snow melts, but is quickly refrozen and covered with snow. She raises her hand and points at it, causing her team to look as well. It takes them a second, but they see it as well eventually.
Weiss takes a few extra steps forward and tries to gain his attention.
"B-Bruce!" She yells while shaking him, he suddenly breaks out of whatever he was doing and turns towards her and takes notice to her pale(r) blue skin. He looks towards the others and sees that they are suffering the same fate. He stops and ushers them closer.
"Hold on." He says before raising his hands. His eyes are then lit ablaze with the usual silver fire, and his hands are covered with flame.
The entire group is surrounded with a barrier of heat. On the inside, the girls all sigh in delight as their temperatures begin to rise. They sit there for a while to return to their normal states.
"So this is how you kept warm. I am jealous of those powers." Ruby tells him. He responds with a dull look.
"Come. We do not have much to go." Bruce becomes them to follow him. As they walk forward, the barrier follows them.
After a while, the five reached a hut. The girls were all sceptical of this location.
"I-Is this it? This is what we came here for?"
"Is there a bat-cave here?"
"I don't see one on the remote."
"Maybe he kept it of since it is sacred to him."
"SILENCE!" Bruce snaps after the bombardment of queries and statements attack him. The girls all jump back in shock and look at him with appall. He just stands still, breathing heavy. After a few seconds, he walks forward into the hut. The girls all look at each other. Blake opens her mouth to speak, but the heat barrier dissipates and the cold immediately attacks them. They begin to shiver and hurry into the hut, hoping to rejoin Bruce and his heat. As soon as they enter they feel the warmth, but not from Bruce.
"I hear a…..heater?" Blake says, sceptical of her own faunus hearing. They look around and notice that the hut is much bigger than they thought, but there is no sign of Bruce.
"Guys. look." Yang call their attention to a staircase leading downwards, into the mountain. They look at each other with a nod, then move down the steps.
Once they reached the bottom, they saw Bruce standing there, waiting for them.
"It took you all some time." He says, the amount of narcissism in his voice disgusted the girls.
"Well, maybe if we had someone to show us where to go, we would be here faster." Weiss says, quick to match his tone.
"Hmph, scathing." He brushes her off fast and walks further through the corridor. Weiss only walks forward with a similar 'hmph'. The three remaining just look at each other.
"I know that he said that he would be different, but this much change doesn't seem right." Blake tells them before walking forward herself.
Yang can only sigh before walking as well. Leaving her sister to herself. Ruby takes a few seconds before walking as well.
'What happened to you?" She thinks.
Once she reached the rest of her team, she stops with them. They are all in front of a final door, facing it. Bruce then turns towards them.
"When we walk through here, do not react violently, nor with any hostility. Do you understand?" He asks them, albiet more-so commanding them. They only stare at him to try and prove some sort of point, but he takes this as an confirmation and opens the door.
When they walk through, the girls are greeted with a beautiful sight of greenery and nature that suddenly put them at ease. But Bruce's eyes seem to be looking for something. Ruby runs forward and looks around as she rotates. The amazement in her eyes are un-paralleled by anyone else's. Once she is greeted with the astonishing sight of a katana pinted at the face.
'Wait.'
A plethora of men appear from the shadows and surround them. All of which have katanas pointing at them.
Suddenly, a deep voice echos through the area in some language that the girls don't recognize. Blake hear a low grunt of approval, letting her know that he understands. As the voice finished, all of the men sheathed their swords and step back from them. Ruby takes this chance to run back and hide behind Bruce, looking over from his side.
One last man fall down into a crouch and stands up. He then walk in front of Bruce and seems to try and size him up, Bruce doing the same.
Ruby, at this point, has moved from Bruce to Yang, who looks saddened from being second choice.
After sizing up, the man bows down to Bruce, prompting the rest so do the same. The girls can only look at them in shock, then at Bruce, who is looking around as well. The man in front of Bruce stands up and speaks.
"Welcome back, Grandmaster." He says, with an older voice. Bruce just gives a ghost of a smile in return.
"I told you to not fall me that. I passed that title on to you." he tells with a slightly happy voice, causing the man to laugh and reveal his head from his hood.
"Hahaha, so you did." He then puts his arm around Bruce's shoulder. " Allow me to show you your way around again." He says, gladly. The pair walk forward, leaving the girls.
"WAIT!" Weiss yells, making them both turn around and look at her. "Bruce! Where are we?!" She asks hysterically.
…
...
...
"Girls, welcome to the league of Shadows." Bruce says simply. They all stare at him confused. Where they supposed to know what that is?
"NO WAY!" Blake screams with excitement. She begins to freak out. Her hands covering her mouth, and starts to jump in place. "THE League of Shadows! The most secretive, yet famous group to ever live. The White Fang were even jealous of the unity that you showed." She continues on until suddenly stopping in her tracks. "Wait! He called you Grandmaster, so that means.?.?" She stare at Bruce with questioning eyes, awaiting an answer. Bruce just sighs and nods yes to her.
Time skip
After putting Blake's unconscious body in one of the many rooms, the group all walk to a room with a symbol on the wall.
"As I was saying." The man continued. " Allow me to show you and your friends your way." He offers.
" You can show them. I only have one location on mind, and I know it has not been moved." Bruce responds without a second to waste. The man can only watch as he walks away.
"(Sigh) What happened to him?" The man asks the girls with a somber tone. Ruby opens her mouth to answer, but is quickly covered by Yangs hand as she stares at him.
"Before we answer any questions, I want to know who you are. Let's start with a name." She says sternly. Weiss and Ruby just copy the look on her face. Their expressions cause the man to laugh.
"Hahaha. No wonder he brought you all with him. I can see why." He tones down his laughing and introduces himself. "My name, the one you will most likely know, is Bane."