A/N: Alright so A ton of apologies are in order as I haven't been to consistent. I was having a rough time and I now got some control over my situation which means I'll be attempting to write as often as I can. If anything I will find a way to make it up for the lack of updates if you guys and gals wanna suggest something then by all means drop a message and I'll see what I can do. So this continues from where we left off and hopefully we can get things rollin'. If it sounds strange my bad I think I'm still in transition for my writing style so we'll see what happens. Enjoy
~Cross Varia
The morning started off the same as usual as the schnee heiress woke from her sleep due to her other teammates running around and causing a commotion due to some slip of paper that had arrived in the middle of the night. She grumbled as she dressed herself in her regular attire of her white dress and jacket before stepping into the living room which was currently being made lively by Ruby and Yang. "Would you two stop it already!" The two jumped and hugged each other before the crimson reaper cried out.
"Yang we made her angry!" The blonde fighter laughed nervously as she slowly backed away while her sister clung onto her. "Run aw-" Before she could finish her statement, a sudden thud caused all of them to stop and look over at their raven headed friend gritting her teeth while starring at the television. Behind her, one of her books lay on the ground as if she had thrown it behind her once she saw what was on.
"Yesterday night there was a reported white fang attack in the West Vale laboratory that is currently being used by the Schnee corporation. Current reports are not good as most workers were executed by the fang members but the few survivors that were found report that there may be some in fighting within the fang as some of the members questioned their orders before being shot down by their comrades." The picture on the screen was the entrance of the lab completely destroyed along with dark red blotches all over the ground. They all knew what it was and it made them lower their heads slightly before the reporter spoke again. "The total fatality count is somewhere along two hundred as nearly two hundred and sixty workers were present last night both guarding as well as researching what the Schnee corporation says would have been a breakthrough in the hunter's market." Weiss slowly stood and walked over to the television and rested her hand on the power button as she waited for any possible bad news to show up before she decided on shutting it down. "All survivors are being tended to as we speak but there has been no word on Wesson Schnee who was said to have been in the building at the time of the atta- Wait a moment we just received word from our team on the scene that Wesson Schnee has been found and he will be delivering a press conference later in the day."
The heiress collapsed to her knees as she took in the events that were being shown on the television. Blake on the other hand shut it off and began to walk off before she heard Weiss speak. "Blake you're not one of them anymore...please don't run." The former fang member nodded but opened the door anyway so she could think about what happened. "Blake!" The heiress sighed as she looked down and realized that tears were sliding down her face. The three members of team RWBY sat there in silence as their fourth member walked away from them once again.
She sobbed as she thought about the possibility that she could have lost her father just like she lost her mother. Her teammates quickly embraced her as she sobbed into their shoulders. "Weiss. Don't worry. Your dad's alright and he won't leave you." She whimpered as she continued to sob into her teammate's shoulders as they continued to comfort the heiress.
A man wearing a long coat sighed as he adjusted his blindfold with a low groan. "I can't believe my ability does this to me.." He continued walking throughout the hallways of the arena until he bumped into someone who he thought he recognized. "Miss Belladonna is that you?" The man moved his head around when a tap on his chest caused him to move his head down towards the person addressing him. "I'm sorry I can't see right now. If it is you miss Belladonna I would like to have a word with you." The person grabbed the man's hand and guided him to what looked like a training ground. "Oh it seems we stopped."
Blake sat down and cleared her throat causing the man to cross his arms after pulling back his hood revealing a mix of red and black hair. "What did you want to speak to me about?" She looked at her sword as she began polishing it with a rag she pulled out of her pocket. "I'm here on behalf of Wesson Schnee. I'm part of a team of hunters who he hired as a last resort against the White Fang." She stopped and stared at the man before thinking about what to do in case things went sour. "I guess you heard what happened at the west vale lab then." He cleared his throat and began to speak. "During the defense of the lab, we were not called in until the last second so we could barely save anyone." His voice seemed to express pain as he spoke. "The loss of life was horrible but we were able to get one positive from it." She narrowed her eyes as she readied her blade just in case. "We have Adam Taurus in our custody."
Her eyes widened as she let her weapon fall to the ground with a clang. "What do you need?" She said almost in a whisper as she walked over to the man who nodded at her new found cooperation. He raised his hand in order to signal her to stop. "I will contact you with the details in due time. Right now we're waiting for him to recover from his injuries."
"At least tell me what happened to him!" She demanded which caused the man to chuckle and walk away when a sudden prick in the back of his neck caused him to raise his eyebrow at the raven headed faunus' actions. "You tell me and I'll be your willing ally. Don't tell me and I might just have to do something I would despise." She narrowed her eyes as she pushed the blade further causing the man to sigh as he quickly turned and parried her blade. Her eyes widened as she avoided a series of lunges that would have skewered her had she not avoided them. She continued to avoid the onslaught until she slammed her leg into his jaw causing him to stagger before he pulled his arm back allowing for a dark mist to surround the room.
Blake winced as she felt her body slow down as the effects of the strange mist began to take hold. A sudden flash caused her to turn and parry but before she could follow up, a hand shot forward and pinned her to the wall. She was in the middle of the room the last time she remembered. When did the wall appear? She thought to herself as she felt a corrupted dark aura enter her body and infect her. She grit her teeth as her body convulsed from the foreign entity entering her body. "You should have just waited.." He sighed as his body began to release more of the tainted aura until a howl caught his attention. By the time he reacted it was too late and he had dropped the golden eyed faunus as well as losing his concentration as he tumbled to the ground.
A large wolf stood in between the faunus and the man causing the man to sigh as he chose to stay on the ground in order to avoid getting mauled. As soon as the beast no longer thought of the man as a threat he walked over to Blake who had lost consciousness after she had been let go. He quietly transformed into a man with shoulder length brown hair with wolf ears and a bushy tail. He knelt down and looked at the now sleeping faunus before gently whispering. "R-ranulf...H-help you...need to g-get you...t-there." He then picked her up and ran towards his team's quarters as the man winced while sitting up.
"Man that guy volug sure hits hard.." He stood and rubbed his head as he felt his energy slowly return to him. "Man a little longer and I would have successfully transferred the memories to her. Didn't think her body would react like that.." He shrugged and sighed as he snapped his fingers allowing his body to disappear in a cloud of black mist which faded within seconds.
Two men stared at each other with their blades drawn as they waited for the other to make a move. One man wore a white jacket with the insignia of the Schnee family while the other wore a black coat with the insignia of the white fang. "Adam why are you still fighting me?! Your men disobeyed your orders!" The faunus silently readied himself as the head of the Schnee family grit his teeth in frustration. "You've been betrayed Adam! Why don't you help me? We can both get what we want of we work together and I need all of the strong people I can get!"
Adam shook his head as he charged forward, the two blades colliding as the two knocked each other back. "You'll get what you want Wesson. I'll just get thrown away when you're done." As the two countered parried and deflected each other's blows they both stopped when all of the doors opened up revealing the rest of the white fang members that were in the lab. As Wesson was about to resign to fighting till his last breath, the room went completely dark followed by the sounds of people gasping for their last breath. A man in a black trench coat followed by two women and another man stood in front of Wesson with their bloody weapons pointed at the faunus in the room.
One of the women quickly opened up a book and chanted in a strange language which allowed a large bear type creature to surge forward and throw Adam through the window behind him. The faunus grit his teeth as he fought off the four opponents until he heard the sound of something whistling. Before he could react, an explosion caught him from behind causing him to crash into a large group of crates which were filled with dust. At the entrance stood a man in a white suit and a cane with a smirk on his face. "My My My. Adam you failed a little too hard this time. Cinder sends you your severance pay up front." With a grin he pointed at the dust and fired a round off into the dust causing a large explosion.
Torchwick sauntered back out into a waiting gunship with a smirk as the remaining white fang members boarded as well. "Now that your little group of foot soldiers have been taken care of. We won't have anyone interfere with our plans Adam. Ta Ta For now mister Wesson!" The red headed faunus gasped for air as his burned, chilled, electrocuted and all around injured body tried to move in order to catch the fleeing Torchwick. Everyone stared as he couldn't even find the strength to move less stand up as he moaned in agony. Wesson knelt down next to him and quickly called his team over allowing them to pick him up gently before disappearing into a dark glyph.
Blake shot up with a pain in her head as she looked around where she was. She could hear the sounds of something being ground followed by a silent conversation between two people. She winced as she tried to move, did whatever that guy do really have that much of an effect on her? She sighed and laid down when she realized she was in a bed with extremely soft blankets. A low chuckle caught her attention when she turned her head she noticed the blue haired cat laguz standing in the doorway next to Volug. "So why am I here again?"
"Well from what Volug here told me. You were attacked and he was able to scare off your attacker. He noticed something strange with you so he brought you here to see if I could give you some form of treatment." The feline sat down at the chair by the bed and held out a cup with tea. "I felt what he did and I realized something tainted you." The faunus took the cup and gently sipped before coughing. "Whatever that guy did to you. He made sure you'd be down for a while." She shook her head before taking another sip which caused her to cough again. "Let it cool down before you drink it. It allows the olivi grass to release its contents properly so it helps you feel better."
She nodded as she allowed the steam to slowly dissipate while she listened to the two friends have a conversation in a different language which she interestingly understood. "(How much longer till we can look for her?)" The blue headed feline sighed as he rubbed his temples. "(She won't have landed farther from where we were especially if it was he who sent here to this land as well.)" The two sighed and decided to look over at the faunus who decided her tea was cooled down enough to drink slowly.
In the first few sips, she felt her body become invigorated with new strength and then she felt like her already excellent hearing and sight get even better. She blinked a couple of times then looked around the room while trying to adjust to her newly strengthened senses."What was in the tea?" The feline chuckled as he took the cup and set it aside. "What you're experiencing is a simple strengthening of your natural abilities. The Olivi grass is special among the laguz since it helps us draw out our power." She nodded as she decided to close her eyes in order to avoid sensory overload. "You're not laguz but we are similar enough that the grass will have this effect on you."
She nodded once again but this time she felt something jump on the bed so when she opened her eyes, Volug was transformed into his wolf state and laying down next to her. His silver eyes met her gold ones causing her to quickly look away before he closed his eyes, signalling he was going to sleep. Ranulf chuckled as he sat back down on his seat. "Now then. I heard you yelling when he brought you in here." She looked down and debated on whether or not to tell him what she saw. "If its personal then don't tell me. I haven't known you long enough to ask for that kind of trust anyway." She nodded as she unconsciously pet the sleeping wolf next to her. She smiled as she noticed his fur was very well kept as well as soft.
"Would you help an enemy that you've hated since you were a child?" Ranulf noticed where she was going with the question. "Back in my home, there was a war between the humans and the laguz. I was part of Ike's mercenary team in wars before that one and one of our former allies decided it was best to wage war against my people." He leaned back into his seat and continued to speak. "I fought along side my people and eventually we were forced into a battle with people we pushed to the brink. The choice was to wipe out a nation to reach our goal or allow them to wipe us out." He seemed distant as he continued his tale. "We fought at the final border to the true enemy and it was a disaster. In the end we helped the enemy and we almost paid dearly for it." He clenched the arms of his seat as he continued his tale. "So many lives lost in an attempt to wipe out a race which only wanted to be left alone. The advantage you guys have that we never had is the fact that there are those willing to preach tolerance as opposed to hate."
Blake's eyes widened and she looked up at the feline who was smiling sadly. "If I had your choice. I would choose the one where I can secure the future of my people without the need for a war." He sighed in defeat as he looked at the raven headed faunus who was looking down at the bed. "That choice may not be available but you can choose to prevent any more loss." Before Blake could respond, she felt his hand press against her forehead and pushed her down onto the bed. "that's enough for now. Rest so your body gets used to your new found strength then you're free to go." She nodded as she drifted back to sleep.
The sound of metal clashing in the training grounds within the arena walls was all that was heard as two women fought it out in an all out spar. "Haaaa!" A large hammer crashed down into a shield that was barely able to withstand the impact before its owner knocked it aside and followed up with a swift kick to her opponent's mid section causing her to stumble back. the two stared at each other before clashing once more.
The two were breathing hard as they barely had the energy to stand before the called it quits. "Good work Nora." Pyrrha called out as she sat down on a bench and reached into her bag which had a bottle of water. Her orange haired friend nodded as she followed the lancer's movements. "Phew. You're definitely strong. Hopefully we won't face off in the next round." Nora nodded then sighed as she rubbed her eyes. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Nope. Too busy thinking of Ren." The fast reply was unlike the hyper active hammerer as she stared blankly at her bottle of water. "The doctor said that he took heavy trauma to the head and that he might not wake up for a while." The lancer quickly scooted over to her friend and placed a comforting arm around her. "If only the judge stopped it sooner...Ren would be here cheering us on." She sniffed and rubbed her eyes causing Pyrrha to rub Nora's shoulder in order to help calm her down.
"We knew Cardin had a thing against us but.. I never thought he would go that far to make a point." Both sighed as they stared at the floor silently before Nora spoke again. "You have to win Pyrrha." The gladiator blinked a couple of times before realizing what she had just been told. "Wait but you're still in it too Nora." Her friend shook her head before looking at her hammer Magnhild. "I'm backing out in this round. I.. I want to be by Ren's side until he wakes up." She stood up and readied her hammer. "So I'll train with you as much as I can before the next round." The lancer nodded as she stood and walked to the center of the training grounds.
Out of the corner of her eye she could swear she saw a person who looked like Jaune but she ignored it and readied herself as Nora unleashed a heavy swing towards her. The two clashed and began exchanging blows as she got used to taking heavy damage to her shield as she expected Cardin to do at least that much. They knocked each other back and Pyrrha quickly rolled away from another smash before charging in and slashing in an horizontal arc in front of herself.
The two collided and they pushed each other back before Nora took the initiative and began to swing her hammer in quick successive strikes. The lancer grit her teeth as she used her shield to block each strike until she felt her leg buckle causing her to fall to one knee. When she looked up, she noticed the orange headed hammerer was increasing the strength between each strike until the red head could barely hold her shield up properly. "Nora!" The orange haired teen screamed as she slammed her hammer down with increased strength before it flew out of her hands. She blankly stared at her hands before realizing what she almost did. "P-pyrrha."
She fell to her knees and her friend caught her before she fell forward. "Pyrrha. You have to win. You have to." She whispered as she rested against her friend who was recovering from the shock of almost having her arm torn off by the raw power of Nora's hammer. "I know Nora. I'll win and I'll teach Cardin a lesson he won't forget."
A woman with long purple hair stood at the center of a forest clearing with her eyes closed as she allowed herself to feel the cold air embrace her exposed skin which caused her to smile before reaching down and drawing her sword which seemed to cut the wind itself. Her body moved in a dance of death as she pivoted, twisted and spun in patterns resembling a dance while slicing everything around herself. Once she finished, she sheathed her blade and smiled to herself before looking up and realizing someone was there. "uhhh...whoever you are. Don't tell anyone I'm here. Please?"
She tried to look past the shadows of the trees but couldn't make out anything which caused her to frown. "Hmph. I guess you're not gonna speak until I see ya face to face." She moved closer and closer to the trees until she made out the shape of a person who was staring at her. "If you're not saying anything then I guess you want to be my sparring part-" Before she finished, she felt the intense stare of a pair of crimson eyes which caused her to drop her weapon and run forward only to see the person move to the side and step into the light. "I...I can't believe its y-"
"What are you doing here?" The young man called out as his dark green hair swayed lightly in the wind and his crimson eyes seemed to glare at her. She attempted to get close once again but he simply backed away again. "Answer the question."
"I came to look for you and Boss. We thought we lost you two for good." She stopped trying to get close to him and instead wrung her hands before continuing. "We were sent by Sanaki to find you." She rubbed her neck and smiled warmly at the man who kept his cold stare. "I also had a personal stake in this too. I asked to come f-"
"Then who else came with you?" He crossed his arms and kept his unwavering gaze on her as he saw her fidgeting under the intense stare. She thought about what to tell him when he spoke again. "I know Ranulf and Volug are here." She looked down and sighed before walking towards her sword which was near him. He looked down and kicked the blade towards her which caused her eyes to widen.
"What happened to you?" His breath hitched as he felt that question strike him close to home. "I always knew you were cold but... not like this." The sadness in her voice seemed to draw out emotions and memories he would rather leave behind as he struggled to keep his emotionless face. He looked at her slowly picking up her weapon and removing the dirt from it before sliding it into her belt and looking back at the man. "Soren, does my appearance really cause you this much damage?"
Soren silently chuckled as he turned to leave only to feel his wrist get pulled. "You've been gone for more than six months Soren!" She screamed as she tightened her hold on his arm. "We sent you after the boss because we knew you would bring him back.. Then you disappeared too." The mage grit his teeth before he pulled his arm out of her grip and looked her in the eye.
"I've only been gone for two weeks at the most." He looked at the ground and noticed one of his tomes had fallen on the ground. "I went after him but his conviction let me remember why I wanted to follow him. I chose to follow him and it was the right choice." He picked it up and slid it back under his sleeve when he looked at the purple haired woman once more. "The past is what it is Mia. Leave it alone." He walked away while she looked down at the ground.
Ike wandered the halls of the arena once again as he looked for something to keep his attention while waiting for his friend to come back from his walk. After turning the corner he remembered the reaction of Ruby's team when he showed up with her asleep in his arms. He could still feel the sting of Yang's full force slap as well as being called a cradle robber by Weiss who was amused by the whole ordeal.
He unknowingly waked into a room with the sign 'owners only' written on it. He stopped when Linzer looked over his shoulder with a chuckle. "Ike its interesting to see you here as this is a private room." The vanguard blinked a couple of times before he looked around and sighed. "Don't fret. Just have a seat." The vanguard obliged as he sat down on a nearby chair and rested his arms on the sides. "So my friend. Who do you think will be crowned champion?"
Ike chuckled as he realized where the conversation was going. "If I had to put money down. Blake or Pyrrha would be the best option for me. They have the most raw skill compared to everyone else. Cardin has power but that can only get him so far." The white haired man chuckled as he sat down across from the vanguard. "Sun looks like a wild card and Yang takes too long to build herself up."
"Then what of Ran, Nora and Weiss?" The vanguard thought it over and sighed as he tapped on the armrest of his seat. "I hear that Nora may back out next round in order to stay by Ren's side. Again I do apologize for not stopping the match before it went too far." The two stayed silent before a knock on the door caused him to look up at a man with red and black hair. "Ah little brother!" He chuckled as he and the man embraced quickly before leading him to the seating area where he and Ike were sitting. "Ike I'd like to introduce you to my brother Damon. Damon this is Ike, the instructor that just arrived in Beacon."
Damon nodded and shook hands with the vanguard before sitting down and entering the conversation. "I throw my money on Sun. He's strong and he looks like he has an extremely reliable semblance." The two looked over at the dark haired man who smirked. "What can't believe a faunus might win the whole thing?" The question caught both men off guard who just chuckled as they continued their conversation.
Linzer quickly placed bracket on the table which allowed both men to see it. "I have the bracket for the next round set up and it will be interesting to see how everything plays out." He then placed a finger on his lips. "As of now you two cannot say anything to anyone okay?" The two nodded before they continued discussing the ins and outs of the tournament.
In a warehouse at the end of the docks in the south end of Vale, Torchwick chuckled as he looked on at a young woman healing the remainder of his men that had attacked the Schnee family lab the night before. "My my did you all play Adam for the fool." He laughed again until a woman wearing a red dress stepped in with a smile on her face. "Cinder I assume you're here to see the new recruit in action?" She nodded as she knelt down next to the girl who had just finished healing the troops who stood and walked away.
"Where's Adam?" She was breathing hard as all the healing took everything out of her and she also wanted to hear what happened to the man who helped her escape from a potentially horrible situation. "I want to thank him." The fire manipulator smiled sadly as she helped the girl stand and helped her to a nearby bed.
"He passed away. He got caught and was executed by the head of the Schnee corporation." The girl's eyes widened causing her to look down as she silently spoke a prayer for her fallen friend. "Don't worry though. We'll take good care of you and we'll make sure they will pay for his death." She smiled sweetly to the girl who nodded and lied down before she fell asleep. "Sleep for now dear child."
After the girl closed her eyes, Cinder turned to Torchwick who was reading a book. "I thought I told you to kill Adam Taurus." The man raised an eyebrow and closed his book before removing his hat and placing it on the desk next to him. "Well?" He sighed and rubbed his temples.
"I shot him into three crates of dust then lit it up. There is no way possible that man should have survived." He spun his cane and rested it against his lap with a chuckle. "If he did survive I'm sure his body is close to useless. His recovery rate was of the strongest in the white fang but even then he won't recover to his best." Cinder sighed as she sat down and looked at the sleeping girl. "I know what you're thinking Cinder and yes. She'll be an excellent bargaining chip."
Dust Net Codex: Person of Interest - Sanaki: The empress of the Begnion empire she rules the empire along side her confidant Sephiran. During the war against Daein, she gave Ike the use of her troops as well as her personal guard Zelgius. After the end of the first war, she continued her life as empress until she was betrayed by the senators. She later escaped and joined the Greil mercenaries as they stopped the senators from destroying everything they fought so hard to build. Once the Goddess Ashera woke up she joined in the final battle and convinced Sephiran to help her defeat the Goddess. After the war she rebuilt the government of Begnion from the ground up. Her whereabouts are currently unknown as she was last seen in the capital of Begnion.
Person of Interest - Mia: Mia is a swordswoman who was saved by Greil and eventually joined Ike in his missions during the war with Daein. She became a close confidant to Ike and began to call him by boss instead of his name. She fought in the final battle and helped keep the enemy from advancing on the leader's position before the evil king was slain. During the Human Laguz conflict, she joined the mercenaries once again and fought alongside the Laguz helping them claim victories in many places. After the end of the war it is speculated that she was having a relationship with the tactician of the mercenaries. Her current whereabouts have her somewhere in Vale.