RWBY is property of Roosterteeth! I only own my characters.
CHAPTER 36
The sudden arrival of the Bullhead transport containing Ignis had drawn more than a little bit of attention from around the Beacon campus. Students and staff had come running to check whether the newcomers were friendly or not.
Among those racing towards the landing pad was Pyrrha, tightly gripping her weapon in her hand. She mentally prepared herself in case there was going to be a fight. Upon arriving at her destination, she was surprised to find a decent crowd of people working to help unload the transport of its weary passengers. Pyrrha allowed herself to relax, realizing that the craft posed no threat.
Suddenly, her eyes met with one of the newly disembarked individuals. Pyrrha felt her spear drop from her grip and she rushed forward to meet the person.
"Father!" the student cried out. The man turned, and Pyrrha threw herself at her parent.
"Pyrrha," Peleus breathed with relief. "You're alive!" The pair of redheaded Mistral residents embraced each other warmly. Peleus held his daughter tightly. "I was so worried... When I saw Vale had been attacked... I was afraid that..." He shook his head.
"Father, why are you here?" Pyrrha asked, releasing her parent from her grasp. "Don't tell me that... our home..." Peleus bowed his head solemnly, confirming his child's fears. "Mother is safe, right?" Pyrrha gripped her father's arms with a desperate look in her eyes. When his expression only fell further, the red-haired student fell to her knees.
"Pyrrha, I'm so sorry, I-" Peleus dropped to the ground as well and hugged his daughter as if he were afraid she would suddenly float away. "I did all I could, please believe me..."
"I know..." Pyrrha nodded weakly and leaned her head against Peleus' shoulder. "I'm sure you did..." The student jumped slightly as an unfamiliar woman with long blood-red hair quietly walked past them to address the small crowd gathered around the landing pad.
"If you aren't helping here, I'm sure you all have better things to do," the woman said commandingly. Sensing the powerful air she gave off, the students who had come to gawk quickly retreated away from the landing pad. The woman turned on her hell to face Peleus and Pyrrha, offer both of them a hand.
"Thank you, Eve," the Mistral Senator said, gladly accepting the woman's assistance. Pyrrha hesitantly took Eve's offered hand, following her father's example. As they stood, Peleus cleared his throat and did his best to readopt a more composed stance. "Perhaps I should introduce you, Pyrrha. This is Eve. Eve, this is my daughter, Pyrrha."
"I-It's a pleasure to meet you," Pyrrha greeted uneasily, still unsure what to make of the woman in front of her.
"Likewise, Pyrrha," Eve replied with a soft expression.
"Eve!" another woman's voice called. Pyrrha noticed an incredibly similar-looking individual waving at them from next to the Bullhead. "Think you lend me a hand?"
"I'll be right there, Elise," Eve answered, just loud enough to be heard. "Peleus, will you be-"
"I'll be fine. I have to go track down Ozpin as soon as I can..." the Senator responded. "I suppose we'll talk later, then."
"Right," Eve nodded. Peleus said one last farewell, before turning towards Beacon to locate the headmaster, Pyrrha at his side to escort him.
"So, how did this come about?" Pyrrha asked, breaking an awkward silence that had hung between her and her father. Her tone had an... edge... to it, something Peleus had never heard before. It sounded like... betrayal? Jealousy?
"I'm not sure I understand what you're asking," the Senator replied cautiously. He'd been in enough arguments with his wife to know when it was a good idea to tread lightly around the women in his family.
"Eve," Pyrrha said sharply. "You two seem awfully close." Internally, the redheaded student had no idea why she was saying what was coming out of her mouth. "I mean, she's already calling you by your first name, and-"
"Pyrrha," Peleus cut his daughter off sternly. "What are you implying?" Pyrrha quickly pulled her father off to the side, stopping behind a pillar.
"I'm saying that Mother is gone, and you're here acting friendly with a brand new-" the student hissed harshly, but stopped when Peleus raised his hand up to his chest.
"Thetis is my beloved wife. She always will be, even in death. Nothing will ever change that," Peleus stated. "Eve is... well, it's complicated. I owe her a debt. Without her, I would likely have died long before reaching Vale. She has done nothing but save my life and ask for little in return."
"I..." Pyrrha stopped to think on her father's words. Her tone still came out harsher than she intended. "I guess I should thank her, then..."
"You don't have to get along with somebody simply because I do," Peleus shook his head. He reached out and embraced his daughter warmly. "You and your mother will always be my family, no matter what. I-"
"Peleus," Ozpin's voice interrupted the pair. The two Mistral residents whirled to find the headmaster standing a short distance away, with another woman at his side, the third one that had arrived with Pyrrha's father. "I was taking Cherri to speak with another... associate... of mine, and she informed me that you were looking to talk as well."
"Yes," Peleus nodded. "It's rather urgent."
"As is what I have to say to you. We have much to discuss," Ozpin gestured for Peleus to follow him. "Miss Nikos, I trust it is acceptable for me to borrow your father. After all, you already know what I am going to tell him." Pyrrha suddenly realized who the woman, "Cherri", was.
"Of course, Professor," the student bobbed her head. "I'll... find something else to do..."
"Thank you," Ozpin replied. "Peleus, if you would follow me..." The Beacon headmaster led Pyrrha's father out of sight. With a sigh, the redheaded girl walked alone around the academy's halls. Her lonesome trek was brought to a sudden halt as she collided with someone. Both Pyrrha and the other individual fell onto their rears.
"My apologies, Pyrrha," Eve said, noticing that it was Peleus' daughter she had run into.
"Were you looking for my father?" Pyrrha asked, her voice was tinged with a slight venom.
"No," Eve shook her head sadly. "General Evans dragged Elise and Ignis off to speak with the rest of their group." Pyrrha suddenly felt some of her unfounded anger towards the woman dissipate.
"You didn't go with them?" the student asked as politely as she could.
"It's not something I felt like interrupting," Eve replied. Pyrrha suddenly felt confused and guilty. Was this woman an outcast even among her friends?
"Isn't Elise your sister? You two look incredibly similar. If so, why wouldn't you go with them?"
"Yes, but I simply feel I wouldn't belong," Eve stated shortly with a shrug. Two pair sat silently on the floor for several moments. Eventually, Eve rose to her feet and offered Pyrrha her hand. "You know, you're a lucky girl Pyrrha."
"What?"
"Peleus really cares about you a lot. Even when we were halfway around the world, he was always thinking about whether or not you might be safe. You should be thankful to have a parent like that." Pyrrha saw many emotions play over Eve's face, pain and... longing... chiefest among them. Knowing the kind of person her father was, Pyrrha suddenly felt she might understand the connection between Eve and Peleus.
"I, uh... I actually should thank you, Miss Eve, for helping my father make it this far," the student said softly. "And... I'm sorry... I suspected there was something going on between you when there wasn't..."
"You're welcome, Pyrrha," Eve said softly, helping the girl to her feet. "But, really, you should be happy. I wish I could say I had a father like yours..."
Shiro let out a huff of air as she picked her way through the thick woods that sat on the mountains separating Vale from Vacuo. She'd been... a bit overzealous... in her use of her newly-acquired ability to teleport, and had wound up draining her aura to dangerously low levels. She had small cuts on her legs from passing through thorned bushes. With her aura depleted, the wounds remained where they were.
"Hey, you there!" Shiro stopped as a voice shouted out to her. A pair of men dressed in plain armor, wielding a sword and halberd respectively, stepped through the thick underbrush. "Are you lost?"
"You could say that," Shiro put on a winning smile. "I'm trying to work my way to Vale."
"Vale?" the sword-bearing man said. "On foot? On your own!? Aren't you worried about Grimm?"
"I'm capable of handling the occasional Beowolf," Shiro replied. "Ah, but I should introduce myself. My name is Shiro."
"I'm Rojo," the swordsman replied with a slight accent. "My silent friend here is Gris. We're the local Huntsmen for a frontier town not far from here."
"It's nice to meet you," Shiro said sweetly. "I couldn't bother you to point me towards my destination, could I?"
"Well, it's getting dark..." Rojo looked at the setting sun. "How about this, we can take you back to our town and you can stay a night. Once you're rested and fed, we can set you on your way. You look like you've been through hell and back, if you don't mind me saying."
"That would be nice," Shiro nodded, making sure to maintain her smiling demeanor. "It's been a rather long trip so far, it would be rude of me to turn down such a generous offer."
The pair of Huntsmen guided Shiro to their town, a small settlement of only around thirty buildings tucked away into an outcropping in the side of a tall mountain. The pale woman made mental notes about the scenery around her, idly admiring the hard work that had gone into making this town a reality.
Rojo quickly helped set Shiro up with a room and meal in his own home. She politely introduced herself to the Huntsman's wife, but it was the man's daughter that caught her attention. The girl, perhaps only nine years old, sat in a corner with a set of tiny Dust crystals in her hands. Curious, Shiro edged closer to see what she was doing while her parents were busy preparing food.
"Hi there," she smiled. "What're you up to?"
"Nothing," the girl hurriedly stuffed the small crystals in her pockets.
"It looked like you had some interesting Dust there," Shiro pressed. "Would you mind if I took a look?" Hesitantly, the young girl nodded and pulled the crystals out in her palm. Instead of the solid colors that Dust tended to take, the small clear stones shifted with multiple hues. "How interesting. How did you do this?"
"I- I made them," the girl answered. "Daddy got me a regular set of crystals, and I found out I could move the energy around between them..."
"Your Semblance?" Shiro asked.
"Yeah... but I found out that it wasn't just Dust... I accidentally crushed one of Mommy's plants, and so I... fixed it... by taking power from the other plants and helping the hurt one..."
"So you can drain aura," Shiro smiled. "I'll let you in on a secret." The pale woman knelt down to whisper to the little girl. "I can do something like that too. Don't tell anyone, though."
"Did you ever... hurt someone with your Semblance?" the girl squeaked quietly.
"Once or twice," Shiro answered. "Did you?"
"Umber was being mean, so I pushed her..." the small girl nodded. "We ended up fighting... and now she can't use all her aura anymore... and I... I'm stronger now..."
"Hmm," Shiro said thoughtfully. "What's your name?"
"Niji," the girl answered quickly.
"Well, Niji, I'll make you a deal. I won't say anything about your Semblance if you don't say anything about mine. And to seal the agreement, I'll give you a gift."
"A gift?"
"Here," Shiro held out her hand, which the girl took carefully. Shiro concentrated, offering up one of the weakest powers she possessed, the small portion of ice control she had taken off the black-armored woman she had injured back in Vale. Energy flowed from the pale woman into the girl. "Alright, give it a shot."
Niji hesitantly triggered her new ability, firing a tiny puff of snowflakes into the air. She smiled at the appealing display.
"Thank you, Miss..." the girl said.
"Just remember, don't tell anyone about this," Shiro smiled.
"Hey, you two, dinner's ready," Rojo called cheerily. Shiro and Niji joined the girl's parents at the table, and happily dug into their food. Shiro took her time to watch Niji carefully. Internally, she smiled as the girl dug ravenously into her meal. She knew that she had planted the seeds of a much greater hunger in the girl. There weren't many like the two of them, but it was up to the chosen few to inherit Remnant.
Shiro decided not to make herself known in this town. She'd depart the next day quietly and continue her way towards Vale. After all, she needed to leave the town for Niji.
"This presents a problem..." Ozpin muttered. A large group filled the headmaster's office, standing around in a loose circle. Peleus had just finished recounting the events in Mistral for a second time, so the residents of Earth were aware of their enemy's location. However, the issue remained on how to proceed.
"Regardless of the final decision," Peleus said, "I will have to return to Mistral. I cannot leave the men and women there to fight alone."
"I will go with you, Father," Pyrrha stated from where she stood a short distance away. "I can't leave our home to suffer."
"The issue remains," Ironwood replied, "neither Vale or Atlas is in any position to lend Mistral troops. Vacuo might, but we have no way to contact them at the moment without the communication towers..." Uncomfortable silence filled the headmaster's office. Everyone seemed to agree that letting Peleus and Pyrrha leave to fight the Order alone was not an appropriate course of action, but they couldn't simply depart for Mistral with Shiro roaming around unchecked.
"I have a suggestion..." Jerloh raised his hand to get the rooms attention. "You might not like it though."
"I believe we'd be willing to hear any ideas at this time," Ozpin answered wearily. Ruby made a mental note of how much older the headmaster appeared for a moment from her spot against the wall next to the door. Blake and Weiss seemed to notice as well from their positions beside their team leader. Yang was absent, apparently watching over Ryland in the infirmary.
"In order for us to beat both opponents we're facing, we may have to split up," Jerloh outlined. "Of the people in this room, more than a few are experienced with the war back on Earth. If we were to take all of them, we might be able to fight the Order effectively."
"Wait," Weiss said, "You're suggesting that you mount an attack with..." She quickly counted off from the people around her. "nineteen people?"
"Not sure where you got nineteen from, Weiss," Jerloh replied. "Myself, Alyia, Ryan, Eve, Elise, Arthur, Alex, Dimitri, and Marcia. That's nine. Peleus and Pyrrha makes eleven. Luna and Firo makes thirteen."
"Fourteen," Cinder cut in. "You forgot me."
"Right," Weiss replied. "Then Ruby, Yang, Blake, Winter, and I make nineteen."
"Whoa there," the Terror Inheritor said, "No one said anything about that."
"We can help!" Blake said pleadingly. "You can't ask us to just wait around when our friends might die!"
"Right!" Ruby stated firmly. "We helped against Vortex and Chaos before, we can help again now!"
"Jerloh," Alex got the Bloodline's attention, "Ruby and her team have proven time and time again that they're capable of taking care of themselves... However..." The blond soldier turned to face Ruby specifically. "You realize that this means you might have to-"
"I know," the cloaked girl answered. "I don't like it, but I know..."
"Miss Rose," Ozpin said softly. "There is no need for you or your friends to put yourselves in this position if you are unsure of whether you will be capable of taking a life."
"No," Weiss stated, "we have to. As Huntresses, it is our duty to protect Remnant and its people from all threats, be it Grimm or not."
"Running and hiding would accomplish nothing," Blake added. "We want to help our friends."
"We aren't asking to fight a Lord in single combat," Ruby stood as tall as she could, looking at the people around her with determination. "We're asking to make sure the people we care about come home." Varying looks crossed over the faces of the other occupants of the room. Alyia and Ryan both adopted looks of being a mix of worried and unconvinced. Expressions of surprise were plastered on the faces of the headmaster, Ironwood, and the pair of Maidens that were gathered behind Ozpin's desk. Peleus and Pyrrha were giving the girls gratitude filled looks, and Ruby distinctly noticed something akin to pride flash over the three EDC troopers' faces. Jerloh's expression was unreadable for several moments, but then he began to laugh.
"Well, it would be hypocritical of me to keep trying to shoot you down if you're all that determined," the Bloodline chuckled.
"As much as we appreciate your offers of help," Marcia said, "I feel like you should all think this over a little more carefully first. We won't be able to depart for Mistral for a while still... Ruby, not just you and your team, but everyone in this room should think this over before we leave. When we're ready, if you are still determined to go at that point..." Marcia sighed, "then there's nothing we can really do to stop you, at least according to Alex."
"Thank you," Ruby bowed slightly as a show of gratitude. "We'll be sure to do everything we can." The student suddenly noticed that some of the other occupants of the room appeared uneasy as a result of Marcia's words. Winter was holding onto Anise tightly, and Arthur and Emerald both appeared anxious. Suddenly, the door to Ozpin's office flew open, causing the people within to jump. Ryland stepped over the threshold with Yang right behind him. Bandages were still wrapped around the young soldier's chest, creating noticeable lines underneath his shirt.
"Yang and I went looking for you guys to ask whether you were up for dinner," Ryland said. Ruby noticed some of his original flair had returned to his voice. "No one said anything about a meeting."
"Yeah," Yang added, closing the door behind her, "what's going on?"
"We are discussing the proper course of action in dealing with the Order and Shiro," Ozpin answered.
"Alright, how come we didn't get an invitation, then?" Ryland asked.
"That was my fault," Alex answered. "I thought since you were still injured that you wouldn't be able to come with us. I also assumed that Yang would end up staying with you no matter what, so I didn't tell either of you."
"Damn, that's cold, Bossman," Ryland smirked. "Still, I kinda get where you're coming from there. But, like hell I'm going to let Carbon's killer just walk away. Down an arm or not, you can count on me wherever you need me."
"You're sure?" Dimitri inquired, eying Ryland's bandages. "You can sit this one out."
"I'm sure, Sarge," the young soldier answered. "As long as the Order poses a threat to Remnant, I'll do everything I can to help take them down."
"Alex was right about one thing," Yang spoke up. "I am staying with Ry, no matter what. So you'd better count me in too."
"Very well, then," Ozpin let out a deep breath. "Mr. Greene... I will leave the creation of a force to assist in the retaking of Mistral to you and your companions. However, now we must discuss how we are to deal with Shiro."
"We can handle that," Amber said, gesturing to herself and Cherri. "If we were to track down the remaining Maiden, our combined strength should be able to defeat her."
"No, that is unacceptable. If Shiro proves too strong-" Ironwood started.
"It would be no different than if she beat us here in Vale," Cherri said. "If she wins, she'll take our powers, regardless of where it is. At least if we're out in the wilderness, we can use our full strength without worrying about hurting people..."
"Exactly," Amber explained, "if we were to send a whole army after Shiro, it would leave Vale exposed to Grimm attacks. If we were to wait for her here, Cherri and I would be unable to use all the power at our disposal to fight for fear of harming people in the city. If we do this in the way I suggest, we stand a greater chance of defeating her." The pair of Maidens watched Ozpin and Ironwood tortuously ponder whether Amber's idea was the correct course of action. Even the Fall Maiden knew her plan was incredibly risky, and would be disastrous if it failed. The Beacon headmaster placed his head in his hands.
"It seems we have little in terms of alternatives..." he sighed. "Unfortunately, I believe Amber is correct... our best chances of stopping Firo will be if the three remaining Maidens fight her directly away from civilians..."
"I... agree," Ironwood nodded slowly. "When would you be ready to depart?"
"It shouldn't take long," Amber answered. "With Cherri's help, I could be ready leave in a day or two."
"If that is the case, there is no time to delay. Both groups should begin preparations to leave immediately." At the Atlesian Genreal's words, the gathering in the room dispersed. All the occupants exited the office, quickly running off in different directions towards their respective goals.
Cherri stopped as she exited the headmaster's office, feeling a hand tap itself against her shoulder. She turned to find Ryan standing behind her, silhouetted in the moonlight that filtered in through the Academy's windows.
"So," the Bloodline said. "I guess this is it."
"What do you mean?" Cherri asked fearfully.
"I mean that this is where we part ways," Ryan answered solemnly. "Even if we defeat the Order in Mistral, chances are that the rest of our time will be spent trying to get home. Since it sounds like you and Amber will be leaving soon, I thought that I needed to express my gratitude before I no longer have the opportunity to."
"You know," Cherri smiled, "You could always come with us to fight Shiro. I wouldn't mind your company a while longer."
"As much as I'd like to..." Ryan looked at his feet for a moment. "I know where I'm needed. The Order currently has five of its Lords in Mistral. If I were to leave to fight with you, it would leave the attacking force with only four Bloodlines of their own." The Bloodline of Flame held his hand out to the Maiden. "Thank you, Cherri. For saving my life and watching my back all this way... but now, we each have our own battles to fight, and our paths seem intended to split here..." Cherri gently reached out and weakly shook the ex-Lord's hand. With a final nod of his head, Ryan released the Maiden's palm from his grasp.
As he walked away, Cherri opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came. She reached her hand out towards his retreating form, but could not move her feet to chase him. She placed the hand he had held against her chest. Her heart seemed to slow and felt cold and heavy. Cherri shook her head, reminding herself silently that the Bloodline already had a home... it just wasn't with her...
"Goodbye..."
A/N:Alright, we are slowly working our way towards the end.
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