Last Huntress - Chapter 24

-Do You Take The Non Believers-

Ruby stuffed her hands into her pockets as she tossed another glance at the door they stood outside of. She had followed the instructions Weiss' assistant had given, locating the hidden entrance within the sewers beneath Schnee Tower. But now that they were here, she felt the urge to run away rising up inside her, as every thought brought a more horrific reaction to their reunion than the last. Blake seemed to sense her misgivings, and gently bumped a shoulder against hers to pull her from her thoughts.

The older Faunus was waiting for her gaze with a wide smile, and an encouraging nod as she reached over and took her girlfriend's hand. There was the constant shuffling of boots on concrete a few feet away, where Yang was pacing in short circles as they waited. The girl who had answered her call had told her eight o'clock sharp, and yet was now ten minutes late. It left her on edge, especially with the instruction of not bringing any weapons. She felt naked without her revolver, without Crescent Rose. She'd even take the sword Torchwick had given her at this point.

Just when she was about to grab Blake's scroll to call Weiss again, there was the sound of electronic locks whirring and unlocking before the door swung open, revealing a young woman with curly orange hair in the doorway. She was dressed in an finely tailored grey blouse with a darker skirt, and her bright green eyes scanned over them all with a wide and nervous smile. "Salutations! My name is Penny Polendina, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Uh.. Hi." Yang was the first to recover, stepping forward with an annoyed look inside the dark stairwell that had been revealed. "Kinda late, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am sorry about that. Ms. Schnee was very clear about her instructions, and I ran into the head of security on my way here." The woman leaned a bit closer, dropping her voice to an almost conspiratorial whisper. "We will have to take a more careful route on the way back up."

Ruby stepped forward then, placing a hand on Yang's arm to calm her sister's annoyance as she looked at the strange Human woman. "It's not a problem, Penny. I'm Ruby, this is my sister Yang, and that's Blake."

Penny's eyes moved to each of them in turn, before she looked over to find the feline Faunus behind the door that had opened, who offered a small wave. "I see, it is a pleasure to meet all of you! Ms. Schnee has told me very little of you, I look forward to learning more!"

While both of the other women donned confused expressions, Ruby cocked her head to side and smiled at the cheerful demeanor of the Human. "I'm sure she had her reasons, we should get moving."

"Of course!" Stepping back inside, Penny waved at them. "Please come in, and make sure to stay quiet. This is one of the many entrances Ms. Schnee uses to enter the building, and we've disabled the cameras, but we must reach the elevator without being spotted."

They filed in after the girl, following her up the stairs as they began to climb up levels from what had to be a sub basement. The only sounds were the impacts of their boots as they continued on for several minutes in silence, until Penny motioned for them to stop, opening the side door on one level and glancing inside.

"So Penny." Yang was the one to speak up, drawing the other Human back inside the stairwell with a curious look. "Why all the sneaking around?"

"Oh! I'm sure you know about the bombing that took place at the Breach Memorial dedication, yes?" She waited until each of them had nodded before continuing. "Well Ms. Schnee is certain it was meant to target her, and that many people are involved. She is attempting to lay low, and let the Council reveal that they knew about the bombing. Possibly even planned it."

Ruby looked Penny over, making a small noise of acknowledgement before speaking. "And you've been her assistant for a couple of years?"

"Yes, almost two now. She's a great boss to work for!"

Penny's exuberant response only grew the smile on Ruby's lips as she continued. "Where did you work before here?"

"I.." Bright green eyes snapped to all three of the women, two of whom were looking at Ruby with confused expressions. "I didn't. ..Work anywhere before, I mean! T-this is my first job!"

"Oh, lucky you then." Ruby gestures towards the door, her eyes still studying the strange girl. "Are we going through here?"

"Y-Yes." Penny looked a bit flustered as she opened the door and motioned for them to follow. "Follow me, please. Stay close!"

It was only a short distance to the elevator down the hallway, and they all quietly slipped inside before Penny inserted a keycard and pressed the button for the top floor. The doors closed quickly and there was a barely perceptible lurch as it began to climb.

Ruby caught Blake looking at her, concern in her eyes. She tried to shoot back a confident smile, put on a mask, but the effect must have been much less that she desired, because the older Faunus reached over to take her hand and squeeze it comfortingly.

The elevator slowed as it neared the top, coming to a stop just as the doors slid open, a tiny ring signaling their arrival. As they stepped out, all three newcomers looked around in amazement at their surroundings. The lobby was a wide circle, it's ceiling a sloping and layered snowflake design that quietly rotated amongst itself, the shining blue crystal sending a brilliant array of light onto the spotless white floor below.

Two unassuming doors stood to the left and right of the elevator, painted the same white as the walls, while the massive double doors in front of them were left a natural brown oak color, their wooden surfaces carved with intricate and weaving designs all centered around the Schnee snowflake emblem. It was a grand design, fit for the richest and most powerful woman in the world.

But beneath the awe, Ruby felt a twinge of annoyance at the display. Weiss had always been proud, but this was ostentatious to a degree that spoke more about her father Jacques than the girl she had known. It shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did, but as she walked below the admittedly beautiful crystal display, she couldn't help but adopt a scowl as Penny opened the double doors.

The long hallway was a darker shade of grey, it's walls lined with busts set on pedestals. There was several dozen, each of them marked with a nameplate, each of them ancestors of the Schnee line. Ruby knew them as the previous heads of the family throughout the centuries, a list of names that Weiss had rattled off years ago coming to mind. Yet the last one was an empty pedestal, it's nameplate marked with Weiss' own name, instead of her father.

A fitting tribute to the man, Ruby thought, to be forgotten and discarded.

The next set of doors were made of a reinforced alloy, their white steel frames less decorated and much more functional. A last fallback if the penthouse of the tower was invaded, if Ruby had to guess. It was a sign of paranoia, to think that anyone could get through the headquarters of the Schnee Dust & Arms Corporation with the intent to harm Weiss Schnee and make it this far. It didn't bode well for what they had come here to do.

Penny paused at the door, placing her palm flat against the door. Beams of red light flashed for a second, scanning the hand before the sound of the locks disengaging could be heard, and the doors swung inward. Their guide led the way, taking a few steps into the room before looking back at them and gesturing forward to the office inside. "Ms. Schnee, your guests."

Turning from where she was leaning over the desk, Weiss Schnee looked over the newcomers in her office with an even gaze. It settled upon Ruby, and she could not help but stare back. For a brief moment, all the problems seemed a world away, and her breath caught in her lungs as she stared at the woman who had been her closest friend, her lover.

It was like a hot iron stabbed straight through her heart.

To Ruby, it was incredible how much she could still see of her old partner in the woman before her, beside how much different she had become. The bluish-white vest that was buttoned over a white shirt with red accents, the long hair that was wrapped in a blue band into a tight ponytail that hung down to her ankles, the pistol strapped to her left thigh.

But there was still that same pink scar, those same pale blue eyes with such a guarded look to them that it was a wonder they had ever been friends at all.

And to Weiss, it was much of the same. Her cold gaze settled on the scars that now marked both sides of Ruby's face, and traces of a tattoo creeping up the Faunus' left neck. But there was, impossibly so, the same two silver eyes staring back at her with visible trepidation in them. Though it had grown, there was those same red highlights to the younger girl's hair, and to the wolf ears standing alert on top of the structured mess.

But then those eyes left her, studying her sister and her girlfriend with less of a degree of scrutiny to them. Not even an ounce of surprise when her gaze settled on Blake. "Yang, Blake.." Icy orbs snapped back to stare at her, and the voice spoke coldly. "Ruby."

"Weiss." She wasted no more time, gritting her teeth and finding the eagerness to get this over with. "We need your help."

"I thought so. After four years, I couldn't think of another reason you would call me." The woman scoffed, straightening and holding her solitary hand behind her back. "It certainly wasn't to see if I had actually survived, was it?"

Yang stepped in between them, a nervous bit of a smile portrayed on her lips as she quickly tried to sidestep any unpleasantness. "That is.. An added bonus. We all worried when we heard the news, Weiss. It is good to see you are okay." The peacemaking seemed to work, as the woman's posture loosened, and she tilted her head to the side. "But we do need you. There's a drive that Ozpin left behind, and you're the only one who can open it."

Letting out a sigh, Weiss took a long moment before she nodded. "Fine then. Where is it?" Ruby pulled it from her back pocket, the small metal rectangle rather unassuming for how important the old Headmaster had made it seem. Stepping forward to take it from the wolf Faunus, she turned on a heel and marched right back to her desk, placing it upon the surface. Diagnostics immediately appeared around it, telling her statistics on capacity, but little more. After a long moment, a small notification popped up on her interface.

It was a miniature version of Weiss' own emblem, spinning in the air above the drive. She couldn't help the smile that found its way onto her features, at just how extra the old man needed to be. Reaching out with her hand, she swiped her gloved fingers across the snowflake, and it burst into nothingness. A second later a haptic interface appeared above her desk, a chess match already part way through a game.

She made a noise of appreciation. "Game on, Ozpin."

It was a common end game set up on the board, both sides down to two pieces each. White had a pawn, and its king. Black had rook, right beside its king.

Weiss had played against the Headmaster many times in her time at Beacon, finding a worthy opponent in Ozpin that hadn't been matched since she had outstripped her father's skill at the game at a young age. She touched her fingers to the board, watching as the white figurines flashed in response. "An interesting password." A number three flashed above the board a second after. "With limited tries, it seems.."

"Can you get through it?"

Ruby's voice was like nails on chalkboard to her ears as she sighed and looked in the younger girl's direction. "I can, if you let me focus." Her biting remark caused the wolf ears to lay down flat, and silver eyes to narrow into a glare that she ignored as she turned her gaze back onto the board.

Simple enough, she touched upon the white king and moved it forward. An aggressive strategy, to get close enough to take the rook, force the other side to forfeit the game. Even as she moved the king, the rook slid into place to take her pawn that was near the other side of the board from where it started.

Weiss narrowed her eyes, picking up the holographic king between her index and middle finger and moving it towards the rook again. The rook took her pawn, and the board flickered back to its original configuration. The number two flashed over the board, indicating that she only had two tries left to figure out the play to victory.

"Only two tries left."

Ruby's voice cut through the silence hanging the room again, and it sent a flash of heat up her spine. She turned to face the younger woman, snarling her words at her former partner. "Shut up, Ruby." There wasn't an effort to wait for Yang's response as she turned back to the board, closing her eyes and rubbing her fingers at the bridge of her nose. "Let me think.."

It had to be the pawn. The kings were lined up across the board, and the rook was set in such a way that it had to move twice in order to place her king in check. It was easy enough to move the pawn forward once, and then she watched the rook slide across the displayed board, getting ready to force her into check.

She moved the pawn again, into its eighth rank. A menu popped up of all the other pieces she could promote it into. The choice was easy enough, and she selected the queen piece. Again, the simulated game reset to its original state, and a one appeared over the board. "That.. That should have worked, it should have been the end game then."

It was the same voice behind her, aggravating her so. "Are you sure?" Weiss elected to do nothing but shoot the younger woman a glare this time, and to her surprise Ruby nodded and looked down, a silent promise to stay quiet.

And for her, she began to think, running through all of the games she could still remember playing against Ozpin. If it was simply a password, she wouldn't have been needed. It had to be a check on her identity. It wasn't a puzzle, it was a replay. "You paranoid bastard.." She again moved the pawn, the turned moving with practiced ease until the promotion menu appeared again.

She paused with her hand in midair, swallowing down her worry that she could be wrong. Her fingers pressed upon the haptic interface of the rook piece. The pawn flickered into a rook, and she watched the black king dissolve into nothingness. The board soon followed, and there was a whirr from the data drive. A new notification appeared where the game had been, this one a spinning version of the emblem of Beacon Academy.

"..What was that?"

Turning back to face Yang and answer her question, Weiss stook a bit taller than she had been. "It was the ending to one of the matches I played against Ozpin during our first year at Beacon.. Choosing rook was unusual in that situation, as choosing queen would mean almost certain victory. He asked me why I chose rook. I told him that I could have beat him with a queen, but I wanted to beat him with an intentional disadvantage." She chuckled, looking back on the memory, a sunny day in the Beacon courtyard. "Because if I could beat someone who rivaled my skill at a disadvantage, it proved that I was the more skilled."

She had not, after all, ignored all of her father's lessons. And the rare occasions that he had contributed to her growth as a person, she had taken forward with a zeal. Weiss shook her head, clearing away such thoughts as she pressed upon the symbol of the Academy above the drive.

Immediately the holographic screen shot out to all corners of the room, popping up dozens if not hundreds of folders, dossiers, and reports. A quick glance told her it had to be everything the Academy would have had on record.

One file in particular opened on its own, spreading out into dozens of rows of dossiers on students, active Huntsmen, and potential candidates for Beacon enrollment. Many looked updated to most recent records, showing addresses, places of employment, spouses, and known associates.

But what was truly alarming was how many of them were discolored from the normal white of the hologram hue. Most were grey in color, marked with a label that simply said 'Missing', but there were more than enough colored bright red and labelled 'Deceased' that it immediately set off warnings in all of their thoughts. Most that were left unmarked were tinted a yellow color, and stood out among rest.

Weiss noticed it then, the lack of what should be there. As she scanned the holograms scattered about her office, she could not located herself or any other member of team RWBY amidst the sea of dossiers colored red, yellows, and greys. Except one, the one dead center in front of her as she turned back to face the other women in the room, it's color a bright green.

Ruby Rose. Huntress.

She turned her gaze upon the brunette Faunus, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "..You said Ozpin left this behind?"

"He's dead, Weiss." Ruby had apparently found her voice again, stepping forward through several displayed dossiers. "He left it behind so that I would find, and that you could unlock it. Because he didn't trust anyone else to do it."

She scoffed, shaking her head at the nonsense of it, and turned away. It helped to hide her reaction to learned the Headmaster was gone. It was strange, to have not seen someone in four years but still feel a punch in the gut on hearing she would not see him ever again. Weiss closed her eyes and centered herself, somewhat failing to keep her emotions in check as she turned back to face Ruby. "And why would he do that?"

The younger woman looked around at all of the holograms that floated in the air around the large office, their illuminated silhouettes easy to see against the backdrop of the near-black windows. "I.. Think he wanted me to rebuild it all. To recruit who wasn't gone and fight against a threat he saw coming. It's why he was killed."

"You?!" That was all she could take. The throbbing in her arm ever since Ruby had entered the room, the welling grief in her heart that threatened to take over, Weiss couldn't hold it back. She rounded on the young wolf Faunus, glaring daggers at the girl who had once been everything to her. "The last person he would trust would be you!"

There was an inhuman growl from her former partner, and Ruby took a step forward, stamping a boot down on the hard floor of her office. Rage had found its way to the other woman's features just as quickly as it had to Weiss'. "Maybe he thought he could trust me because he knew I wouldn't screw up again!"

"Whoa, whoa.." Ruby's older sister was first to rush into to play defense, as always, and it drew her glare as Yang spoke, looking between them both. "What screw up are you even talking about?"

Weiss rocked back on a heel, an eyebrow raising as she let the boil of fury in her chest simmer down into a chilling sensation of hatred. It was like icy in her veins as she let out a dark chuckle, savoring the way those silver eyes suddenly widened in fear. "Weiss.. Please.."

The plea was hardly all she needed to satiate the anger she felt down the very bottom of her soul, but it was certainly a delicious morsel that only fed her enjoyment of this moment. "She hasn't told you.. Either of you?"

Cold blue eyes swept from Yang to the feline Faunus that had lurked in the corner of the room since she had entered, and glaring back were those nearly animalistic amber eyes. She would have questioned that sudden anger at her, thought more into it, but now was not the time. "The reason our airship went down that day, crashing the transport into the cliff and letting the Grimm pour into the city.. The whole reason that the Academies were shut down? Her eye, my arm.. All those people who died in the Breach?"

Weiss snapped her gaze back to Ruby, whose wide silver eyes were fixated on her with a look of absolute horror. "It's all her fault."

Author's Note: So I won't leave a huge note. Just a thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed! 'Til next time! -Fox