Yang woke up with weak headache, noticing her other friends are in the room with her lying on the ground and...asleep? She got up with more effort than it should take feeling dizzy. She realized she didn't have her gauntlets on. That stranger must've taken them. Shouldn't be too much of a problem getting them back.
She looked around the room and saw a big circle of weak light in the middle. When she looked up, she saw a huge unnatural hole. It must be an early evening - the Moon isn't even up yet.
-Yang...? Is that you?
She heard a voice behind her. Ruby and the rest of the team were waking up.
-What happened to you girls?
She asked Blake and Weiss as she helped her younger sister get up.
-I'm not sure. Sleeping gas maybe?
Answered Blake.
-Where are our weapons?
-I think that guy took them.
-Wonderful.
They were looking at each other and didn't see the golden-dressed man walk - or rather jump - the room with a huge back in his back.
-Welcome back to the land of the living.
He said. His voice sounded young, of a young adult, though it was hard for the girls to tell due to his mask muffling his every word.
The second they heard the voice, they turned around ready for an attack. But they weren't attacked.
-Go ahead. Attack me. I'm all defensless here just waiting to be punched.
He taunted the team.
-Wait, where's Zwei?
Ruby just now realized the dissapearance of her dog.
-The dog? Boy was he happy to see me. Oh don't worry about him. Worry about me if you get on my bad side.
The man replied and dropped tha bag on the floor.
-Interesting tools of destruction you've got there.
He kept talking while digging in the bag. This was their chance. Yang could attack him now and be done with it. That guy attacked them all for no reason and who knows if he's not a mercenary working for the remains of the White Fang.
She did as she thought.
With a punch coming the man raised his hand to block it, out of pure boredom.
-You really want to do this again?
He asked. The fight continued. The mysterious man blocked more attacks than he threw, not actually trying to hurt his opponent in any way. They got to the moment all of their arms were stuck blocking each other's punches. Then something strange happened. Or Yang thought happened.
The man blinked to her.
He pushed the girl away, almost making her fall down.
-Alright, let's make a couple things clear.
He said. Yang was still ready to attack, but now she wasn't sure about the man's intentions.
-First...
He started.
-Wait!
Weiss interrupted the man. She was shaking a bit.
-You're a wanted man! You've been killing innocent people all across Remnant!
-If by "innocent" you mean "guilty as all hell" then yes, I am wanted for it!
The man screamed angrily.
-You have no idea what they were. And they weren't even human.
He looked at Blake.
-Neither were they Faunus.
The team backed up a bit, shocked by the reveal of the warrior's past.
-I wanted to be friendly. Really I did. But you just had to make things harder for me.
-Harder for you!? Does it matter if you're going to kill us just as you did to those poor people!?
Weiss continued.
-You have no idea why I attacked them! That fool Ironwood can't describe a real threat even if he trips on the damn thing!
The stranger was mad.
-What do you mean? Innocent people are threats to the-
-Those weren't innocent people!
The man took a break.
-I could kill you anytime I want. But I didn't. I brought you here, instead of chopping your head off right there, right then!
He continued.
-You want to know why I killed those people? Let me tell you. But first a question. Do any of you know the story of Marcus Proven?
The girls were scared. Ruby was almost crying. Weiss spoke again.
-I do.
-Then tell me what you know about him.
-Marcus Proven, also known as Marcus the Mad was a great hunter and was well know during the war between the four kingdoms. His main weapon was his aura. It was so powerful, it actually became sentient, helping Marcus during his missions. But one day that power drove Marcus to madness and his aura wanted to take control over his body and mind. Eventually, it succeded. Tired of being used as a tool by Marcus and started rampagin through the kingdoms killing all who stood in its' way. After many months of chasing it down, the body of Marcus was destroy, thus destroying the aura as well.
There was a moment of silence after which the man started clapping but stopped after a few seconds.
-Good job.
-But what does it have to do with those people? That aura was-
-Destroyed? Hehehe, that's only what your teachers tell you. To make you feel safe. But it wasn't destroyed. It wasn't and it took control over another poor fool's body, and now it's infecting other people to make sure it survives no matter what. My job is to hunt the thing down.
-Take your weapons. Go home. It was my mistake deciding to take you here.
The man said and used a grapple hook on his arm to grab onto the ledge of the huge hole and left.
-Wait!
Yang shouted. But there was no response. He was gone.
-We should probably tell professor Ozpin about this. Quickly.
Blake said.
-Agreed.
The girls took back their weapons and found a way out of the cave. The Stonewoods are safer than they thought.
Right?
The team found Zwei and their bags in one of the rooms in the cave, specificly in the one the man built as his bedroom. Zwei was surprisingly happy and Ruby noticed a half-eaten piece of meat in one of the corners.
The team quickly packed their tents up and left the forest. Ozpin needed to know about this man.
After a few short hours they arrived back at Beacon. It was almost night, and the team was tired, but there was no time to stop and rest.
They arrived after a few short hours, quicker than when they went the other way.
They immediately headed to the headmaster's office. They ran as fast as they could. Ruby was the first one to get to the door.
-Professor Oz-
The man in the gold was right there. He was standing right next to Ozpin. But he didn't seem to mind. In fact, Ozpin was smiling.
-Hello, girls. I belive you've already met my student, Gordon.
None of the girls were moving. They couldn't belive if what they're seeing is true. How did the man get to the school unnoticed by anybody? And Ozpin is careless that a murderer is right next to him?
-What?
The entire team said at the same time.
-The thing you just heard. I'm not actually a bad guy. Surprise.
Said Gordon. Ozpin laughed quietly.
-Gordon told me about your...unfortunate fate in his cave. He wanted to make sure you're not one of Sentinel's slaves. The Sentinel is Marcus Proven's aura, by the way.
He said answering the yet unasked question.
-He came to me to make sure you don't do anything stupid like contacting general Ironwood. You probably know he's not welcome near any civilized places.
-Wait, so you sent out there just for us to hear his story?
Asked Weiss.
-No. It was an honest scouting mission. But I simply forgot Gordon made the Stonewoods his home.
-"Simply forgot"? What if he took us for that...aura's slaves? We could die-
-Miss Schnee, please.
The headmaster raised his hand.
-Every man makes mistakes, and I'm not an exception. So please, forgive me. I suppouse you earned yourself some free time from all these adventures. You can go now.
Nobody moved.
-You have two months of free time. Go. Have fun at home. Rest, sleep, eat how much you want.
Nothing.
-I'll take that as a proof that you all have a ton of adrenaline in you. I'll send you on one more mission then. You'll go with Gordon.
-What!?
The man asked.
-Ozpin, they are not ready for what's out there.
-You have no idea what these four are capable of.
-Belive me, I do. And these four girls aren't going to last a full minute in a fight against the Sentinel's monsters. Without mentioning the Sentinel itself!
-Gordon.
The headmaster interrupted his student.
-How about we hear their opinion on this subject, hmm?
Gordon thought for a while.
-Fine.
-Girls?
Team RWBY started discussing it whispering. After a few seconds, they were ready with an answer.
-We want to go.
The team was back in their room. They were packing up for yet another adventure. For something more dangerous than Grimm and more exciting that the fight at the Emerald Forest.
-Are you sure this was a good idea?
Asked Yang.
-I mean, that Gordon guy was pretty serious about that whole Sentinel thing.
-Well, there's no going back now, Yang! And don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine!
Said Ruby packing up her fourth bag.
-I hope so.
The girls were starting to fall to their beds and sleep. It was a long day. And it will be a longer one tomorrow.
Yang was still thinking the blink of the man's blink.
-Get up.
Those were the first thing the team heard this day. It was Gordon's voice, and it starled Ruby making her fall of her bed.
-Team RWBY reporting for duty!
She said sleepily after standing up and saluting. Then she fell down and started sleeping again.
-Do something about her.
Gordon said.
-And meet me in Ozpin's office in 10 minutes. We'll be discussing the script of this "adventure".
After those words he left.
-How did he even get in here?
Asked half-asleep Weiss.
-Maybe Ozpin gave him some kind of a universal key or something. I don't know. But we probably should wake up Ruby and go to the headmaster's office.
Replied Yang.
-Agreed.
They started dressing up in silence, which was broken by Blake.
-Do you think we can trust him?
Weiss looked at her.
-The goldy guy? Well...I hate to say this but...he was right back at the cave. He could kill us, you know. Either way, professor Ozpin trusts him, so I think we should too.
The girls spent rest of their time in the room in silence.
When they packed up, they went up the headmaster's office, courious of what they will see there.
-It's so quiet here.
Said Ruby.
-There used to be so many people here. It feels really weird.
-Yeah. I think so too.
Said Yang.
They arrived at their destination in a matter of seconds and opened the door unsteadily.
-Come on in.
They heard the Gordon's voice.
The room didn't look like it did before. There was a huge curtain covering the window, preventing any light from the outside from coming in. There were enough lamps to keep the room light, though. There were four chairs in front of the headmaster's desk.
Gordon was sitting in Ozpin's chair. He didn't have his mask on.
His face was clean - shaven well. He didn't look old, maybe a few years older than RWBY's oldest members. He was staring at the door waiting for the girls to come in.
-Don't be shy, I don't bite. Maybe.
He said.
The girls, one by one entered the room and Weiss, as the last one to come in, closed the door.
-What are we here for?
Asked Blake.
-To understand that my job is no joke. And now that you'll be "helping" me, to understand that this is much bigger than the White Fang or any of the Grimm attacks.
He said.
-Let's begin.
He clapped to times and a picture of a zombified body appeared on the curtain. The monster was dressed in some kind of travelling cloak, dirty and clearly not taken care of. Its' skin was grey, and its' eyes were sparkling red. The mouth was torn and it had long, sharp teeth sticking out of it.
-This...is the Sentinel's host. This - is what you can turn into if you're not careful.
-Eww...
Said Ruby.
-Oh yes, it is. The only thing worse is what the Sentinel can do to you. As an aura, it was Marcus' tool of destruction as well as protection. He will summon weapons out of thin air, play with your mind, your thoughts and anything physically or mentally connected to you. That's...
Gordon clapped.
-...where me and my team come in.
The picture now showed 3 people - Gordone himself and two others.
One of the warriors was a pink-haired woman. She was wearing a pink mask and purple dress(or combat skirt). Her weapon were twin kriss knifes.
The second one was a long - haired man. He looked older than the rest and had blue hair. He wasn't wearing a mask, showing his full beard. His clothes were a blue cape and entirely blue clothes. In his hand there was a morning star.
-We were trained in clearing our minds of any emotions when fighting this monster. You, did not, which will be a problem.
-Why are there only three of you?
Asked Ruby. Gordon looked at her calmly.
-We're working in secret. Wouldn't want Ironwood's spies in our team now, would we? As I was saying - this is me and my team, so if you see any of these, think twice before shooting in their direction. Next...
*clap*
-A test.
There was nothing on the cuirtan. The team heard a noise behind them and quickly turned around readying their weapons and knocking down their chairs.
There were at least ten training robots - switched off from safety mode.
-Impress me.
After a bit of mess and robo parts were cleaned, the girls sat down again.
-Well...?
Started Ruby.
-I've seen worse. But this is nothing compared to what it's like fighting Sentinel's creations. Ozpin does have faith in you, though.
Gordon stood up and walked up to the window behind him. It was a beautiful day.
-I suppouse you could come with me.
Ruby was never so happy in her life. It's even better than when Ozpin allowed her to go to the Stonewoods. She didn't even try to hide it.
-On one condition.
He said and turned around.
-You do what I say, when I say. Whathever it is, you listen to me. Now, go see if you've got everything. We're leaving as fast as we can.