RWBY is property of Roosterteeth! I only own my characters.
CHAPTER 7
"Alright, is everyone ready to get going?" Ruby cheerily asked her gathered group of groggy team and friends. They all stood with their bags on the Beacon landing pad, awaiting flights to their various destinations.
"I kinda wish the flights weren't so early in the morning..." Ryland yawned.
"From what Alex has said about some of your missions, I'd have thought you'd be used to early starts." Luna commented before letting out a yawn of her own. She leaned into Alex, resting her head on his shoulder. Out of everyone, the blond soldier seemed to be the only one, other than Ruby, not falling asleep on his feet.
"I think that's Weiss' ride coming in now." Alex pointed to a large dustplane floating towards the landing pad.
"Yes, I believe it is." the Schnee nodded as she picked up her luggage. "I hope all of you enjoy your trip as well."
"Tell Charles, Winter, and Anise we say 'hi'!" Yang called as Weiss waved and boarded the transport.
"I will! See you all later!" the snow-haired student shouted back before the door of the aircraft closed behind her and the other passengers headed to Atlas. The dustplane's engines roared as it pushed itself back into the sky, leaving Ruby, Alex, and the others standing on the landing pad.
"Well, if the timing's right, that's your flight coming in next." Dimitri commented, nodding his head towards a rapidly approaching small dot in the distance.
"Yeah, that's probably it." Ruby agreed, hefting her backpack onto her shoulder. "See ya later, Mr. Dimitri, Miss Firo, Blake!"
"Bye, Ruby." Blake waved to her team leader.
"Make sure to take care of Dimitri for me, okay Blake?" Alex joked, causing the Russian and his two Faunus companions to let out small chuckles of amusement.
"I'll be sure to do that." Blake smiled.
"Go on, Boss, get going." Dimitri laughed. "If you keep trying to be funny, you'll miss your flight and put Ryland out of a job."
"Alright. Take care, D." Alex nodded to his friend, hefting his own baggage and moving towards the transport.
"You too." the Russian waved to his departing friend.
In another part of Beacon academy, an odd trio of students prepared for a trip of their own. Arthur, Anika, and Emerald made up a small unofficial team, formed in the aftermath of the events at the temple two years prior.
The three of them had spent the weeks leading up to their break planning what they were going to do. They'd eventually decided on taking an extended journey through Forever Fall. It'd serve as both a camping trip and a training camp of sorts.
"Did you already pack the emergency kit?" Anika asked the other girl on her team.
"Hm?" Emerald's head bobbed up from the bag she was looking in, causing her mint-colored hair to jump slightly. "Oh, yeah, I think I saw Arthur pack it earlier."
"Someone mention me?" Arthur asked as he stepped into the room. He was holding a trio of plates loaded with food, of which he placed two next to his female teammates. "Figured you both would be getting hungry by now as well."
"Thanks, Arthur." Emerald smiled.
"Any time, Em." the long-haired blond responded happily.
"Sorry to break you lovebirds up for a moment, but have you seen the emergency kit?" Anika asked, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.
"Yeah, I packed it in one of the large backpacks earlier."
"Which one?"
"Blue one, I think."
"Yup. Got it, thanks." Anika reported as she checked the pack and found the box of first-aid materials. She sat down with her legs crossed and pulled the plate Arthur had left towards her. She took the sandwich and bit into it.
"So, how close are we to being ready?" Arthur inquired, sitting down on the floor next to Emerald.
"Couple of hours or so, maybe." the mint-haired girl answered. "We should probably let everyone know we're leaving soon."
"Yeah, we-" Arthur started before a loud thump from the other side of the hall cut him off. "Huh? What's that?"
"Sounds like someone slammed a door." Anika said, swallowing her last bite of food and sticking her head out the room's entryway. All the other dorm rooms' door remained open and devoid of their occupants except for one. "Looks like somebody from JNPR's here."
"Really? I thought they all left already."
"Should we go check it out?" Emerald asked, rising from her place on the floor by using Arthur's shoulder to lift herself up. She extended a hand to the seated male of their trio.
"Yeah. Let's make sure everything's okay." Arthur nodded, accepting Emerald's help to his feet. The trio brushed themselves off quickly before striding over to their neighboring team's dorm room. Anika took the lead and knocked softly on the closed door. The three of them waited several moments, only to be greeted with silence from within the sealed room. Anika knocked once again and gave the occupant another few seconds to possibly respond. No answer. "We're gonna come in, okay?" Anika warned through the door. When only more silence filled the hall, the EDC sniper turned to Arthur and Emerald, who both gave silent affirming nods. With a quick intake of breath, Anika turned the doorknob and pushed the entryway open.
The trio was greeted with the sight of a mop of red hair laying face down on their bed, a packed suitcase tossed frustratedly beside them on the floor. Arthur stepped into the room first, turning back to his two teammates with a questioning look when they didn't follow. They both responded with shrugs and stares that clearly said "you're the people person." Arthur sighed to himself and turned back to the girl currently sulking in the room.
"Pyrrha, is everything alright?" He asked, giving her a single nudge on her shoulder with his palm. The red-haired girl seemed to suddenly notice she had company, and jolted into a sitting position.
"Arthur! Goodness, you frightened me." Pyrrha stammered out, quickly trying to get her long hair out of her face. After realizing the futility of her attempts to make herself presentable, she simply placed her arms in her lap. "I thought the three of you would have left by now. Hello, Emerald, Anika." she greeted the other two members of Arthur's team as she noticed their presence.
"We were going to head out fairly soon, but we heard you slam the door."
"I suppose I did close it a bit too hard. I'm sorry for making startling you all." the Mistral girl replied. She was attempting to keep a calm face, but her eyes kept darting towards Arthur, known for his ability to read people.
"Pyrrha." Arthur said, his tone showing that he knew she was hiding something, "What's wrong?"
"I knew I wouldn't be able to hide it from you..." she sighed. "I received a message from my father sometime yesterday, but I didn't see it until a while ago, telling me not to travel back to Mistral."
"Did he say why?"
"No. The message just cut off suddenly. Not that he hasn't done that before."
"Are you worried he's in trouble?" Anika inquired, leaning against the room's door frame.
"I doubt he is. I tried to contact him this morning, but he didn't answer, so the Mistral Senate likely has him too busy to take calls. It wouldn't be the first time. But this is the first time he's told me not to return home."
"So you're stuck here on your own, then?" Emerald asked with a tilt of her head.
"So it would seem."
"Well, in that case, why don't you tag along with us?" Arthur said thoughtfully. "You've already got a bag packed and everything."
"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude on your-"
"Nah, it's nothing." Emerald smiled and cut Pyrrha off. "Would be wrong of us as your friends to just leave you here all by yourself."
"I don't want you to feel like to you need to invite me out of-" the redhead started before being interrupted again by a wave of Emerald's hand.
"It's fine. I tried to invite Cinder earlier, but she chickened out. We've got room for more people, really."
The Mistral girl opened and closed her mouth silently a few times, before placing her hand over her mouth in thought. She left out a soft sigh and lifted her head, letting a small smile cross her face.
"Very well. I will join you on your trip. Thank you for having me."
"It's nice to have you aboard."
"How big is this damn forest!?" Alyia demanded into the sky.
"Likely the same size since the last time you asked." Ignis replied flatly.
"Not helping, Ryan."
"I could burn it down if that would make you feel better. Might thin out those creatures as well." the Bloodline of Flame pondered out loud.
"Sven's right, you haven't quite grasped the whole 'don't take unnecessary hostile action' thing, have you?"
"Reaper's heart is far too soft." the ex-Lord stated. "He'd have us take twice as long to fulfill a task that would take mere moments."
"Maybe, but that's why he's a good leader. He took pointers from the best, after all."
"... I suppose I cannot exactly argue with that..." Ignis conceded. "If he was a colder warrior, I would likely be dead several times over."
"See? Even you can't-" Alyia was cut off as she collided with Ignis' back. He had stopped suddenly. "What's- mmrph!" She was silenced as her companion placed a palm over her mouth.
"We are not alone." he whispered. Alyia's stance tensed, and she nodded her understanding. He removed his hand and reached for his weapon. With one swift motion, Ignis simultaneously drew and heated his blade, causing it to flash and flare through the air in a vicious slash through the trees. Two pairs of black-armored forms were flushed from their hiding spots. "Order scouts."
"Shit, he noticed us." one of the foes said, dropping into a readied stance and drawing a curved knife. The scout had only a moment to process as Alyia flipped one of her pistols out of its holster and leveled it at him. A searing plasma projectile slammed into the Knight, sending him sprawling across the leaf-laden ground. The other three scouts acted quickly, charging the pair of Bloodlines in a vain attempt to kill them. Alyia planted two more shots into the oncoming soldiers, while Ignis simply knocked the last one to the ground with an idle swing of his gauntlet. The Bloodline of Flame caught sight of the lead scout rise to his feet, his chest smoking lightly from Alyia's attack.
"... Must... report... to-" the leader breathed heavily and began to gather energy around him. Ignis closed on the man in a few strides, reaching out for his neck. In a sudden blur of movement, Alyia saw her fellow Bloodline vanish into thin air along with the scout.
"Ryan!"
Ignis felt a wave of nausea pass over him as he grabbed the scout and crushed his windpipe in his hand. Before he could process what had happened, he found himself roughly dumped into a pile of sand beside the now-deceased Order soldier. A wave of heat much greater than that of the forest washed over him. Around him was a vast expanse of desert. As far as he could see, sand stretched out in every direction. Ignis threw an accusing look at the scout's body.
"Goddamn teleporters."
Barnes' Log: The Order
"Well... I knew I'd end up talking about this eventually. To say the least, it's... complicated."
"The Order first showed up around forty years ago on Earth. It was formed by Auras fed up with being persecuted and hunted down by normal people. They were angry... and that's something I understand a bit better now. Truth be told, I feel guilty for being so zealous back when I was still in the field."
"The EDC swooped in pretty quickly to try and quell the fighting, but for every month we continued, their numbers just seemed to grow. Turns out, as we were killing them, we just ended up rallying more Auras to their cause. Then they started making Shades, and it just went downhill even more from there."
"... Dammit... Then there was the complete shit-show that was 'Silver Bullet'. EDC command sent myself and a handful of other commanders in to try to smother the Order early on... I was younger then, only thirty or so at the time. We were supposed to capture lead elements of the Order so we could force a ceasefire, but one of my fellow commanders, bastard that he was, completely botched it. He ordered his men to execute the prisoners, and then it just all went to hell... Once the bullets started flying... everyone just shot back... even me..."
"Dammit, Ozpin, I shot a kid that day, probably not a day older than one of the students here at the academy. I'm lucky that Charles and his friend, Aiko, showed up when they did. I'd be dead otherwise."
"... Right... the Order... Basic structure is fairly simple. Shades in multiple varieties make up the bulk of their fighting force, Acolytes are the lowest ranked Human members, Knights are effectively field commanders, and Lords are their leaders and are all Bloodlines."
"I'm going to... go help Cinder... Barnes out."
A/N: MORE SETUP!
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