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CHAPTER 4
Winter stood on the balcony outside her office on the Schnee estate. She took a deep breath of fresh air and looked over the grassy courtyard beneath her. The plants outside the manor had recovered well in the two years after being singed by Charles' flames.
Winter sighed to herself before straightening her stance in response to the sound of the door behind her sliding open. She relaxed when she turned to find a dark-haired girl looking up at her with intelligent green eyes.
"Hello, Anise." A warm smile spread across the Schnee's face as she greeted the eight-year-old.
"Hi, Winter." Anise wrapped her arms around Winter's waist. The snow-haired woman responded in kind. "Taking a break?"
"Yes." Winter guided the small girl over to a chair and sat down across from her. "There's been a lot of paperwork today."
"A lot of letters too, right?"
"Right..." Winter nodded. Her recent influx of paperwork was due in no small part to her newest wave of attempts to clean up the Schnee Dust Company. To say the least, more than a few less-than-savory members of the company were unhappy with the oldest Schnee sister's crusade against their corruption.
Winter idly rubbed the side of her neck, her ring finger tracing the rapidly aging scar she had received several months before.
"Why didn't you tell Weiss?" Anise interrupted the woman's thoughts.
"I don't want her to worry about me. She has other things to concentrate on." Winter replied guiltily. She had led Weiss to believe that the man that had attempted to kill her was a remaining member of the White Fang, but the man had, in fact, been no less human than Winter. It wasn't that Winter held any grudge against the Faunus, but revealing to Weiss that she likely was in even more danger than before might have caused the younger Schnee to lose track of her studies at Beacon.
"You're going to have to tell her someday."
"I know," Winter sighed, "Hopefully when it's all over." She paused, and the two sat quietly for several minutes. "So, how are your lessons with Charles going?"
"They're okay, I guess." Anise shrugged. "I don't really get how my power works, but I can kinda tell it what to do. I think Uncle Charles doesn't totally get it either because he has a different power."
"That's understandable." Winter nodded. "He did say that each Bloodline was unique from each other."
"He's still a good teacher though." Anise nodded her head approvingly before seeming to think of something and hopping to her feet. "Oh, have you eaten lunch yet?"
"Not yet, I've been up here since this morning." Winter let herself be pulled to her feet by the young girl.
"Let's go fix that, then!"
At Beacon, team RWBY was in the midst of preparing. With the semester over, they now had a long-needed vacation ahead of them.
"So, what are the three of you planning to do once you make it home?" Blake spoke up from her position on her bed. Unlike her teammates, Blake would be staying in Vale, while Ruby and Yang were headed to their hometown on the island Patch, and Weiss returned to Atlas.
"Well, I figured it was about time I stopped giving our Dad the run-around, so I invited Ryland to come with us so I could introduce him." Yang replied. "Ruby wanted to show Alex and Luna around the island too, but they haven't said 'yes' or 'no' yet."
"Mhmm!" Ruby confirmed her sister's statement while she dug through one of the bags she was packing. "...could've sworn I put it in here..."
"And you, Weiss?" The black-haired girl inquired as Yang moved to assist her sibling.
"I'm simply glad that I'm going to be able to spend time with Winter, Charles, and Anise."
"That sounds like it'll be fun."
"I'm sure it will be. I can't wait to hear Anise sing. Winter has been talking about it constantly." Weiss smiled at the thought. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me or go with Ruby and Yang, Blake? It doesn't feel right leaving you all by yourself."
"I'll be fine. I have Dimitri and Firo to spend time with, after all." Blake shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, though."
"It's a bit late for this break, but we should bring Blake and Weiss with us to Patch next time." Ruby commented, pulling a small component for her out of the seemingly endless bag that lay at her feet. "We could invite everyone else too."
"That does sound like it could be enjoyable." Weiss' ponytail bobbed thoughtfully along with her head.
"So, have you made a decision yet?"
"Hmm?" Alex looked up from the article he was reading on his scroll. Luna shut the door of their shared room behind her and sat down on the bed. Alex turned in his chair next to the room's sole desk to face her. "You mean regarding Ruby's invitation?"
"Yup. If we're going, we should let her know soon."
"I shot Ozpin a message earlier to see whether he was okay with us taking off. Still waiting on a reply." Alex informed his blue-haired companion. Luna moved from her position on the bed and walked over to where Alex was seated. She draped her arms around him and eyed the scroll curiously.
"What're you reading?"
"Arthur passed on something Blake found." Alex held out the scroll for Luna to see. "Looks like Adam and the others have been doing some good work in Vacuo."
The article contained an image of six people, three Faunus and three Humans, shaking hands with one of the Vacuo council members. Following the events at the temple, Adam, Blake's friend, had taken off with a rather motley crew of ex-criminals to try and set things right in the world. Using the knowledge of their trio of ex-White Fang members, Adam, Vio, Erwin, Roman, Neo, and Zephyr had been dismantling what they could of the radical Faunus organization, as well as improving the relationship between Faunus and Humans.
"They certainly look happy. Zephyr especially." Luna commented, pointing to an orange-haired girl in black armor in the picture. The young ex-Order acolyte certainly did appear to be in a brighter state of mind than before, with a wide toothy grin plastered on her face, instead of a saddened expression or a scowl.
The rest of the group pictured seemed to be in similarly good spirits and health. Roman had cut his hair, giving him a much cleaner and professional look. The thief's faithful companion, Neo, had tied her tri-colored hair back into a functional ponytail. She had her hands placed victoriously on her hips.
Vio and Erwin hadn't changed much in appearance since the last time Alex had seen them. Erwin still had all his limbs and fox ears, but he had adopted a watchful gaze of sorts, as if he were always on the lookout for danger. Vio appeared to have lost a small chunk out of her right wolf ear, and had a new scar running across her forehead on the same side, likely from a negotiation gone sideways. Despite that, she had still found time to keep her long hair dyed a vivid purple hue.
Then there was Adam. Of all the members of his group, he had changed the most. Ever since he had shed the White Fang mask, Blake's old partner had dedicated his entire existence to repenting for his actions. He'd become friendlier and more open, chatting with Blake or Arthur whenever he could contact them.
Alex was actually surprised when he had found out Adam regularly spoke with the blond boy. Apparently, the bull Faunus used the Guardians as a source of guidance in how he should handle different situations.
"They've come a long way." Luna spoke up as she finished reading through the article. Alex opened his mouth to agree as the scroll emitted a loud beep. A small symbol resembling a closed envelope popped onto the screen with the name "Ozpin" next to it.
"Guess that's the reply we were waiting for." Alex opened the short text and read it silently.
"...So?" Luna cocked her head playfully. "Are we good?"
"Yup." Alex nodded. "We're good to go. I'll be sure to let Ruby know the good news."
Deep in the forests of Vale, Chaos sat silently and pondered his next course of action. His old helmet lay beside him, softly squeaking out transmissions between the various Order soldiers that had suddenly appeared. They'd thrown around a couple names he'd recognized, chiefly "Agony" and "Carnage", and a few names he hadn't.
It was odd, really. Even after years of fighting for the Order, Chaos had never really felt any strong connection to the organization. It was the magnum opus of long-dead, and in Chaos' eyes, misguided Auras. Hearing the voices of his old "allies" did not stir anything in him.
A small smirk spread across his face and the Bloodline gave an idle shrug. He reached over to pick up the battered helmet, and with a flick of his finger, silenced the radio. The ex-Lord gave a nearly imperceptible grunt as he pushed himself off the floor of his cave onto his feet.
"Sorry, Agony, but I think I've moved onto redder fields, if you know what I mean." Chaos chuckled to himself and tossed the helmet to the ground, the glass visor fully shattering as it hit the stone of the cavern floor. He turned to the Fenrir he had made to assist him. "What do you think, boy?" The Shade remained quiet. Chaos shrugged again. "I think it's time we looked into finding some new friends."
Barnes' Log: Bloodlines, Part 1
"So, if I understand your request, Ozpin, you'd like to know about the thirteen Bloodlines that fought back on Earth? I can try, but keep in mind that all this is just off the top of my head. It's not like I have an EDC database just sitting around for me to access for all the little details."
"So... Bloodlines... I guess let's start with the big ones: Reaper and Esprit. Esprit, the Bloodline of Soul, was head of the Order when it first reared its ugly head. From what I understand, the groundwork for the Order was put into place by the father of the Esprit the EDC fought. Guess that's why he was able to try and call an end to the war. Wasn't his dream, but his father's."
"Reaper was an odd one. I never met him in person, but I spoke with him through Alex a handful of times. He was a pretty good kid, all things considered. Absolutely terrifying in combat, though."
"The Reaper that Alex met was apparently one of the kids that got the Guardian 'ball' rolling. Speaks volumes about leadership right there. From what I could tell, he kind of looked up to Alex in a way, like some sort of role-model. Saw recordings of this kid throwing himself between civilians and Order troops constantly. Though, unlike Alex, at least our Reaper friend could regenerate."
"Okay... combat capabilities... I only saw a recording of Esprit in the field once. All I could tell you is that he was a Light Aura. I have no idea what his secondary ability was. In melee combat, he'd swing around this huge two-handed blade as if it were a twig. Overall, he fought in a slower, more 'precise' manner."
"Reaper I saw in action plenty of times. He was another Light Aura, with a Regeneration secondary ability. His whole fighting style was built around speed, lots of rapid circular swings with that scythe of his. The scythe itself was a bit of an oddity, a crescent moon-shaped blade where the outer edge had been sharpened as well. From what I saw, this meant that he could effectively use the weapon as an impromptu guillotine against Shades."
"...Guess that'll do for now. I'll record more tomorrow. Barnes out."
A/N: Slowly, but surely, the story is starting up.
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Welcometodalolz: There's still more to come. If you think it's been good so far, just wait until things really start to pick up.