Deprivation and Restoration Chapter 5: The Power of Hatred, a rwby fanfic

A/N: Computer crashed again, so I lost a good 1k words and had to re-write it. This chapter flowed quite well actually, surprisingly. Please note that in this chapter certain events will happen that will change Canon plot slightly, Teehee. Also new concepts will enter the field, vastly changing things and canon.

Remember me talking about the Winter Maiden Theory last chapter? About how Salem is possibly the Winter Maiden? Here's something to think about; what if she isn't at the top of the food chain? What if someone, a literal god, is above her and she must sacrifice all four maidens to awaken him. That would explain why she was willing to help Cinder get to where she was now, so that she would have the Fall Maiden at hand, and that it might draw out the Summer and Spring Maidens.

My theory for season 4 is that the good guys will try looking for the Spring/Summer Maidens to help take back Beacon, while Ozpin will try (and possibly fail/retreat) to fight Salem - that's why the conversation took place at the end of season 3: she turned around to look at someone, speaking directly at Ozpin, and no scroll was in sight. Plus Ozpin disappeared earlier after his fight with Cinder, so its possible he went to the dragon island to fight Salem (I presume that's where she is). Anyway, enough rambling.

Poll at da bottom~

Response to Question-PM's/Question-Reviews:

Phantomwa1ker: ''If it's counted by chapter then I choose Ruby again. And I LOVE chapter 4. It is so cool the way Eien goes nuts and beats Cinder to a pulp. However what about their Auras? Why wouldn't they protect them from the countless hits? I'm referring to Ruby and Eien when I say this''.

-Their Aura did protect them, but considering the power difference between Cinder and Eien it was nearly unnoticeable, that also counts for when he went into badass mode against Cinder and Roman, his power went far past theirs. An example is when Cinder was using her hands coated in Aura against him, her Aura cancelled his out so it was like a normal fist fight in a sense, leaving inevitable bruises from her natural strength (Glad you like the story)~

I DO NOT OWN RWBY

NOTE: NEXT UPDATE WILL BE ON SATURDAY (19/03/16)

Chapter 5: The Power of Hatred

Eien glared at the three new intruders, all of which returned the glare with only the slightest of hesitance. Neo immediately made her way over to me, pulling me out of the metal as Emerald went in worried panic over to Cinder, who had curled up into a fetal position and groaning painfully.

''Careful, he's a lot more dangerous than he looks'' I warned the three new arrivals as we stared off against the still but clearly angry teen ''And as far as I know, he hasn't used his Semblance yet''.

That got their attention, for a student, hell even a Hunter, to be able to render Cinder in such a state without using their unique Semblance was worthy of attention. Eien smiled, which would've looked friendly if not for the deep hatred in his eyes - which were hidden behind his hair, making it look entirely too sinister right now, it was creepy. He abruptly vanished once again, this time appearing in front of the one who kicked him, Mercury. He raised a hand in a deft block as Eien smashed a palm strike against him, the force behind it making a loud thunderclap. The angry teen showed no mercy, grabbing the offending arm and yanking it away before smashing his knee into Mercury's stomach, having surprising athletics as he spun and smashed his other foot into the grey-haired teens face, sending him tumbling back.

He suddenly reached out behind him and grasped something, and that turned out to be Emerald as the original beside me faded into nothing. He threw her with all the strength of a Goliath into a truck beside me, making me wince as I heard at least three bones break from the impact as she gasped. Neo pirouetted over to the angry teen, her usual confidence less apparent from the display of power his hatred had given him. She waited for him to strike, as was her fighting style to counterattack. He lashed out with a roundhouse and she extended her umbrella, blocking the attack and spinning around for a following strike.

Instead her umbrella was suddenly torn from her hands by Eien as he appeared in front of her without a sound, grabbing her by the front of her shirt and head-butting her, knocking her out of his grip as she slumped to the floor, dazed. I aimed and fired another shot, but that only resulted in him cutting the attack in half with the umbrella and directing his ire on me, which was not what I preferred. Emerald was quick to attempt another sneak attack, her fake beside me only for Eien to grab her attacking hand by the wrist, snapping it with a painful jerk. She shrieked in pain, but that was quickly muffled as he back-handed her away, sending her tumbling next to the still-weakened Cinder.

Mercury, with a rare look of anger on his face, attempted to drop-kick the smaller teen only for Eien to grab his offending ankle, ignoring how his hand bled and threw the teen away. Mercury landed vertically against the side of a car before propelling himself towards Eien, punching the teen in the gut and the teen hunched over out of reflex, allowing Mercury to smash his nose with his knee. Eien palm-strike him again, sending him flying back with surprising force as a vicious snarl escaped Eien's lips, his body glowing as a tell-tale sign of his Semblance activating.

''Seele Ernten'' He snarled the unfamiliar words as the glow increased. Suddenly a spider-work network of beige light erupted around him, beams of light going all manner of directions around them. At random intervals there were small pieces inside them, like if you broke a biscuit into pieces, that is what they looked like. I myself was trapped by the beams, one against my neck, one over my right leg and the other against my left knee. I did not want to touch them.

Neo had one across her neck and another one inside her stomach, but she seemed to be in no pain, but had a terrified look on her face, scared of what might come from moving. Emerald and Mercury weren't touching them either, having the beams of light in random directions all around their battlefield, the pieces of whatever it was inside them at random, making those spots look more like circles. Cinder was also unharmed, the beams not even close to touching her. I waited with baited breath as Eien glared at us hatefully, the beams of light coming from behind him so the source was probably his back.

''S-Such a p-powerful Semblance'' Emerald whimpered in fear.

''This'' He growled, gesturing to the light ''Is not my Semblance''.

My eyes widened ''Eh? What?''.

He ignored me, rather turning his gaze on the already terrified Neo ''Seele Ernten, Auseinander''.

There was a tense moment of silence, before Neo screamed. Unknown to most people, Neo could speak, but didn't like to because her voice was so high-pitched it reinforced the assumption she was a kid because of height, so she preferred not to use it unless it was of dire need. So when she screamed, it sounded so high-pitched it almost broke my eardrums, but the horrific sight before me didn't allow me to cover them.

Neo's body, from the point where the beam touched her, was disintegrating into ash. It spread up her body and down her legs as she screamed, her back arced and eyes wide with fear and pain. We could only watch in silent horror as it reached her face, showing the inside of her skull as it reached her mouth, silencing her screams even as her eyes were wide with the pain and adrenaline fuelling her now non-existent body. It only lasted seven seconds longer before her whole body was nothing more than ash, leaving us in a horrified silence, not even noticing the various metal hulls around us had disintegrated too.

''You hurt my friend, someone close to me'' Eien said, his voice in a seemingly indefinite growl/snarl ''For that, you will pay-''.

Suddenly a bolt of fire struck his side, tearing into his side and charring the flesh. He barely let out a quiet grunt, looking down at it almost as if it was just a nuisance and not a hole in his fucking side, about the size of a BASKETBALL!

He glared back at the form of Cinder, who stood up on shaking knees. Eien snarled and in an instant she was back on her knees, clutching her head from an invisible attack that Eien was doing. She groaned as she fell down again, unable to even kneel under the force of whatever it was. The 'Seele Ernten' shattered like glass around us, the small shards flying back to Eien as he turned his piercing glare on us. It was then, in the light of the embers of Cinder's attack, that I saw his eyes; gone was the cool blue, but now replaced by a seething royal purple, intense and deadly.

Mercury dashed at Eien, aiming a low kick at his legs. Eien jumped over it, ignoring Mercury's attempt at kicking the younger teen in the crotch despite the force behind the strike enough to shatter stone, and brought his hand down like a strike from the heavens, implanting the grey-haired teen into the concrete with his insane strength. Once again he flawlessly saw through Emerald's illusions, grabbing her by the neck and forcing her to join her partner on the ground, an inch or two into the concrete as they groaned in pain.

I aimed my cane at him since he now lacked a weapon, but before I could fire he appeared before me out of thin air, slapping my cane skyward as the shot went towards the ceiling. I took a vicious hook to the face as he took my weapon, using it to block a surprise attack from Mercury, twirling with deadly elegance and pulling the trigger, firing the Dust round within at point-blank range at Mercury, Eien having disappeared before the round even left the muzzle. He appeared again on top of an overturned tram, looking down at us with his consistent hatred. Mercury groaned as he stood up again, clutching his stomach as blood flowed like a river from his burnt chest. Emerald whimpered as she held her broken left arm, her ribs already bruising.

A sudden amount of dust and pebbles was our only warning before a large chunk of earth crushed a nearby train, followed by several smaller ones. We all looked up and paled at the sight of the crumbling roof, large chunks of rock and debris falling. Emerald immediately went and picked up Cinder, with the help of Mercury, and came over to me, looking at me for an order. Eien had a similar mentality, his hatred dimming as he appeared beside Ruby and picked her up, before disappearing again, this time not reappearing, although their weapons disappeared with them.

I turn towards our exit, a tunnel that led to the surface ''Lets get the hell out of here!''.

''Aye, Aye captain'' Mercury grumbled while Emerald laughed, no mirth in her tone but desperate less-than-sane humour.

''We are so fucked!'' She cheered mockingly, and I couldn't agree more.

'Fuck you Black, just fuck you'.

I woke up with a gasp, flailing momentarily as my head surged in pain. I looked around, I was in a small control room in the railway and my scroll was beeping idly, signalling a message. I ignored it for the moment, allowing myself to get adjusted to my bearings. It wasn't too big, probably designed for no more than three people with a few ancient control boxes, dead fuses in them. It was barren and empty, but hospitable enough, and it was night judging from the clock on the wall, still ticking even after all these years. Ruby was to my right, lying against the same wall I was lying against, asleep with a peaceful look on her face. That was until she woke up slowly, looking at me in confusion.

''Eien?'' She murmured in confusion, meaning to get up before she winced, clutching her stomach for some reason. A memory flashed through my mind, of Cinder hitting Ruby through the stomach with a bolt of fire, the anger accompanying it rising slightly, but faded just as quickly as it came.

''W-What?'' She murmured to herself, looking a mix of confusion and fear as she looked at her stomach, realising there was no hole as she looked at me. Another memory flew through my head, the words leaving my mouth of their own accord.

''I healed you'' I said, watching as she felt the phantom pain ''Are you okay?''.

''I don't know'' She mumbled, unconsciously leaning against me as she looked up at me ''There no hole, but I can still feel it... the pain''.

I Shh'ed her, hugging her ''Its fine, you're safe''.

She blushed again, looking away shyly ''Y-Yeah''.

''You're too cute Ruby'' I smiled and she blushed darker.

I chuckled and ran a hand through her hair, she initially stiffened under the touch but relaxed a moment later, allowing me to run a hand repeatedly through her hair in a soothing manner. She didn't object to it, gaining a slightly distant look in her eyes and blushing periodically for whatever reason. I pulled out my scroll, checking the messages tab; ten messages.

The first was from Yang; Are you guys okay?!

Second also from Yang; Hello?

Third from Blake; Eien? You there?

Fourth from Yang; Is Ruby okay?

Fifth from Weiss; Hello? Where are you?

Fifth, sixth and seventh from Nora; Hello?~

Eighth from Ozpin: If you are reading this message, then try and head back to your apartment, WBY, JNPR and Captain Sierra's team have been evacuated for their injuries, upon contact we will send a bullhead for you. Good luck.

Ninth from Ozpin: Your team is worried about you, but I doubt you would die after only a week.

Tenth from Yang: Please come back, both of you

I winced at the last one, but pushed that feeling aside. I clicked the button to reply to Ozpin, noting his paraphrasing, but a screen appeared, reading 'Unable to Connect to DustNet servers'. I scowled faintly and checked the date, matching it up with what Ozpin said; it was ten days since this operation began, and seven days since we enter the tunnels, which was strange... that meant they had been out for seven days.

''Hey Ruby'' I asked, making the girl give me a confused look when she saw my frown ''Have you woken up at all, after we fought Cinder?''.

She shook her head ''No... why? Is something wrong?''.

''We've been out cold for seven days straight'' I said bluntly and her eyes widened in surprise ''The others are worried, and I cant get a connection until we reach the surface''.

Ruby pulled out her own scroll and showed me her messages tab; 495 messages, 475 of them from Yang.

I chuckled, running another hand through her surprisingly soft hair ''You have really soft hair''.

''Thanks?'' She giggled.

''Mm, lets go'' I said and she nodded and made to get up, before she tugged on my arm, pointing to the wall.

''What's that?''.

I turned and blinked at the wall I had somehow missed. It was covered in a crimson rock, shining in the dull light of the room. I walked over to it and ran a finger over the tough but smooth surface, memories dancing in my mind from the various people I had 'absorbed' as I dubbed it, since saying killed was too brutal. I remember a Huntress that used something like this, it was a hard material... Adamantite. Adamantite was an extremely rare metal that was hard to come across, and even information on it was scarce because of its rarity. It was used once in the Great War, an unknown warrior who identified himself only as the 'Crimson Ronin' came and slaughtered entire armies, because their swords or Dust Weaponry couldn't break his armour, making him nigh invincible.

After the war ended, he disappeared and took the legendary metal with him, only telling a handful of people what the metal was called, and that is how the legend of Adamantite started. This had to be Adamantite, it was tough feeling but smooth at the same time, had a shiny crimson colour and seemed durable... only one way to test it. I coated my fist in Aura and smashed it against the ore, but like I expected it didn't dent in the slightest, while I felt my fingers bruise from the strain.

''Eien?'' Ruby said in puzzlement at my actions.

''Its Adamantite'' I said quietly and Ruby's eyes widened, mouth hanging open.

''...really?'' She asked, breathless.

I nodded ''Yes, but I'm afraid we have no way to move it... yet. Lets focus on getting out of here first, then we can come back for it - its not going anywhere''.

Ruby deflated slightly but nodded, following me as I left the room into the railway tracks once more. I couldn't see anything familiar, but it had an odd sense of familiarity. I dismissed that thought, making sure Ruby was close behind me before looking at the map on my scroll, if we went straight ahead we would end up at the station, and from there we could take the stairs up. Decision made, I silently led the way down the dark tunnel, their eyes adjusting to the darkness quickly. Ruby walked next to me, leaning on me slightly as she hobbled a little after 'bashing her knee'. She does that awfully quietly.

We made it to the station quickly, only for me to frown at the large cluster of Grimm stationed there. Probably... two dozen of them, all Creeps. I looked around but could find no way to sneak around them, if they weren't smelt out that is. I look behind me at Ruby, who looked unsure but smiled at me, showing she supported whatever decision I made.

So, I surprised her by walking out in the open, with her following uncertainly. The Creeps immediately noticed us, but strangely didn't attack, instead watching us as we walked past two large ones, staring at Ruby with natural hatred while looking at me with uncertainty, it was certainly... concerning. One stepped forwards towards Ruby, but I drew and pointed Judgement at it and it cowed away in an instant. I kept a look of blankness on my face as I walked up the steps, Ruby following obediently behind as she tried to not look at the Grimm.

Sunlight hit us like a flare as we walked out, the brightness blinding me for a moment or two before my vision adjusted slightly. We were on the other side of town from the Great Library, since the train station was on the opposite side of town and, well, we just left said train station. I led the way towards it, any nearby Grimm giving me a look before ignoring us, which was slowly starting to become unnerving. Why were they... afraid of him? He wasn't complaining, but it made him feel mean, even if he wasn't doing anything.

''You okay, Ruby?'' I murmur to the girl as we walked through an abandoned warehouse, getting that much closer to the apartment complex.

''Mm'' She hummed quietly ''Why are they, you know...?''.

''I don't know Ruby'' I responded, a tad sombre ''I honestly, truly don't know''.

The members of JNPR and WBY walked into Ozpin's office, hope sparking in them as they visited again, hoping for some news. They stopped in front of the professors desk as he looked out the window, sighing as he turned to face them.

''I'm afraid I have no more news for you'' He stated sombrely ''I think its time to consider that they may not be coming back''.

''Ruby wouldn't die so easily!'' Yang burst furiously, adding ''Neither would Eien, the tough bastard...''.

''Language, Miss Xiao Long'' Ozpin reminded and Yang nodded apologetically ''While Miss Rose and Eien may be very skilled individuals, not even they are excluded from death, none of us are. I am not saying to give up hope, but... it would be wise to take some time to understand that they may not be coming back''.

Yang grit her teeth, anger and sadness merging ''D-Dammit!''.

Blake looked down sombrely, both Ruby and Eien were very good teammates, good friends. It was almost ludicrous at times to think someone of their calibre would be brought down, but if the collapse didn't get them, then the Grimm would. Eien had been an especially close to her, one of the few she could call a close friend. He accepted her Faunus nature without even blinking, even playfully teasing her with them and being surprisingly good at massaging them (nimble fingers and all). She was saddened by their probable death, but she had see similar things in the White Fang, she would get over it. Eventually.

Weiss was equally as sombre. While not having a particularly close relationship besides friends, she enjoyed the times Eien would come to her to talk. Sometimes because he wanted to know about things she would having particular knowledge about, mainly dust as swordsmanship, and other times he would just come to talk for the reason of talking. Ruby, while sometimes hyper to the point of insanity, was a very kind and innocent soul, and to see her die at such a young age made Weiss gulp; both because it reinforced that someone as skilled as Ruby could die as easily as she did, and that her friend would not be back at the dorm to pester her.

Jaune grimaced, both Eien and Ruby had been good friends of his. The young teen had mended his ties with his friends and beaten Cardin's ass so hard that he could make Cardin flinch just by giving him a pointed look, and gotten the aforementioned bully of his back. Ruby had been a great help when it came to improving his reaction times, since she was mainly about speed and all, and there was only so much Pyrrha could teach - and speed was what Ruby represented really; fast and excitable.

Pyrrha was saddened by her friends probable passing. Ruby and Eien had been good friends with her, both eager to spar with her to hone their skills. They never looked at her as the strongest student in Mistral, but as a fellow trainee and friend. It was good training for her too, since both had a habit of using the recoil of their guns to move around quickly, forcing her to remain equally as quick. She would miss them dearly, especially since both had such enthusiasm and eagerness (though Eien's was more subtle, hiding behind his smile). She still held hope for their return.

Ren and Nora were on the same boat; sad. Ren had grown close to Eien, both sharing similar tastes in books and personality. Eien was the only other student Ren knew of that could withstand Nora on a sugar-rush, and what a day that was. Ruby reminded him of Nora a lot, only far less excitable (until a weapon entered the equation). Nora herself was just plain sad at their deaths, she liked Ruby and Eien - the latter was like a second Ren, only more talkative. By a bit.

Ozpin sighed ''I-''.

He was interrupted as his scroll beeped. He sighed again and picked it up, opening the message tab, and widened his eyes. He tap and rapid set of keys for almost a minute before closing the scroll, placing it down again.

''It seems... you won't have to come to terms with their death after all'' Ozpin said, smiling behind his mug at them as they smiled in tandem ''I've sent an emergency Bullhead, it should reach them in ten minutes''.

''Are they alright?'' Yang asked immediately.

''Well...'' Ozpin paused, tapping at his scroll. The floor to their left opened with a rough thunk as a large screen rose out of it - gaining more than one 'look' - as it flickered to life, revealing the large courtyard from beforehand. Eien was standing in front of the camera, walking with Ruby apparently holding it.

''Hi guys!'' Ruby smiled as she tilted the screen back so they could see her face, and the sky behind her.

''Ruby!'' Yang exclaimed happily, looking one step away from glomping the screen.

''Yang!'' Ruby smiled back ''Is everyone okay?''.

''We should be saying that to you, dunce'' Weiss smiled at the screen as the other nodded their assent.

''Eh, we're good'' Ruby shrugged in a nonchalant manner as she tilted the screen so Eien could be seen ''Say hi Eien!''.

''Hi'' Eien chuckled at her as they walked, and everyone in Ozpin's office grew worried when they saw an Ursa staring at them. They were about to voice it urgently when the Ursa cowed away from them, lowering its head and taking a few steps back. This puzzlement grew when they saw several Beowolves do the same thing, whimpering as they did so.

''Uh...'' Jaune's statement(?) was the epitome of what they were thinking; what in the actual fuck?

''I don't know'' Eien shrugged ''I'll... tell you the whole story about it when we get back, only that its important... and may have some of the answers you were needing, Professor Ozpin''.

Ozpin frowned at that ''Would you like to reiterate that?''.

''The Queen'' Eien said with so much venom even Ozpin flinched, surprised the calm and collected Eien had suddenly become so hostile. His tone however immediately changed back to its normal calmness ''By the way, when is the Bullhead here?''.

Ozpin blinked at the very bi-polar change, but dismissed it ''Eight minutes, approximately''.

''Alright'' Eien nodded ''We aren't very wounded, but our Aura is a bit low... as is the battery for our scroll, I'm afraid we'll have to continue this conversation later. Until then!''.

The screen flickered to black as the video feed was cut off. Everyone sighed in relief, knowing their friends were still alive and well, though at the back of their minds they all pondered on the oddness of the video before shrugging it off. They could tell them when they got back.

The ride back on the Bullhead was relatively uninteresting. Medics were on standby but we waved them off, since all we needed really was some food, water and rest to recover our Aura and in my case the shards of my soul I had used during the trip, since it would take several days to recover all of them. Honestly it left him with a slightly empty feeling, like when you eat food but are still hungry because your stomach hasn't fully ingested the food. Ruby had her head on my shoulder the whole way back as we stayed in silence, her eyes closed but only feigning sleep - it was the only real way to get the nurses off them. I, on the other hand, just gave them a glare that made them shrink in fear. It was almost amusing... was I becoming sadistic? Nah, probably not at least.

During the journey back I took off our earpieces - the mics had broken on them as had the receiver, but the memory drives on them remained. I uploaded the files onto my scroll (Since Ruby's had run out of charge) and put them on the main drive of it, so that I could sort through it. The earpieces had micro cameras on them, I wasn't informed about it but after checking it myself I found one, so whether the others forgot to tell me or if they didn't find it worth mentioning, I don't know. I remembered everything up until I felt... that... then I just, blacked out I guess. Considering I was in a different location as to when I blacked out my body must have gone on autopilot or something, but from my fragmented memories it was hard to tell.

The aircraft jolted to a stop as we landed and Ruby feigned a drowsy awakening while I pocketed my scroll. Ruby leaded me out as I walked behind, my hood and bandana still up. It was then I only realised that while we may be not too bad off, our clothes were. Part of my pants on my right leg had been burned away, the side of my jacket was also gone (how did I not notice that?!) and the area below it was coated dried crimson, and several other body parts either missed small chunks of clothing or had dried blood on or around them. Ruby wasn't as bad off, but the front and back of her dress had been stitched with a piece of plain black cloth because I lacked the proper skills to mend it and cover her exposed stomach.

When we exited the airship we were immediately greeted by the sight of JNPR and WBY approaching us at a quick pace, reaching the launch pad in seconds. Ruby was immediately engulfed in a death hug by Yang, the older blonde only letting go once Blake pointed out their wounds.

''Geez you guys look like shit'' Yang stated with a raised eyebrow ''What the hell happened?''.

''A fair bit'' I shrugged slightly ''Though I think it would be best me and Ruby get changed, checked at the infirmary, then explain, okay?''.

They shrugged ''Sure''.

[Bold is used to indicate what is happening on the screen, just to help differentiate. Also these paragraphs are rewrites because of a video recording]

''Good to see you two in the land of the living'' Ozpin said with a hint of dry humour in his tone, sipping his coffee as always.

''Certainly is'' I replied with equal humour ''I doubt Ruby could live a day without her cookies, and I doubt the afterlife has those''.

He chuckled and Ruby gave me a cute glare. Myself, RWBY and JNPR lined up and faced Ozpin, with me having already sent his scroll the video and skipping it to the appropriate part. With my scroll in hand I pressed play, letting the video start. No comments were made as they watched me and Ruby tumble down the tunnel, from Ruby's perspective and nearly making Jaune throw up from the constant rolling until I steadied Past-Ruby, much to the amusement of my team. Again it was relatively quiet until we found Roman Torchwick and Cinder Fall, making Glynda narrow her eyes in recognition. Blake was also tense at the sight of the White Fang members, trembling slightly and doing a relatively bad job at hiding it.

Nora cheered when I silently detonated the crystals ''BOOM!~''.

Again there was silence as I introduced myself as did Ruby, and Cinder. I spoke then ''Cinder Fall. She's the one who has been given the alias 'The Queen', Professor''.

''How did you get your hands on such information?'' Glynda asked.

I raised an eyebrow ''The library''.

''Oh''.

''Ruby, you get Torchwick'' Eien said quietly and the screen bobbed as Ruby nodded, disappearing in a cloud of Rose petals as she appeared in front of Roman and swung down, clashing with his cane with a resounding clang. She grunted as she spun around, Roman easily stepping out of her circle of influence as she missed, allowing him to take a shot with his cane at her. With ease she used the recoil of the gun to avoid the shot, attempting to fire at him as he evaded.

The fight continued, everyone in the room giving me and Ruby a concerned look when we tensed.

On the screen, a sudden 'whoosh' sound echoed behind Ruby and before she could turn around the sound of something hitting flesh along with a charring sound. The camera shook as it slowly descended downward as Ruby looked at her stomach.

All of the girls in the room gasped when they saw the hole in Ruby's stomach, skin around it charred and crackling as it melted. Ruby, from beside me, gripped my hand as she grimaced and I mimicked the expression. Ruby's past self suddenly fell onto her side, the camera conveniently looking over to me and Cinder, allowing us to see my shocked expression.

''Ruby...'' Yang murmured to her sister in concern, eyeing the spot where the attack hit before looking back at the screen, apparently not deciding to comment on Ruby holding my hand.

Eien was frozen in shock, even as Cinder hit him with a literal wave of fire that sent him flying into the wall, his trench coat partially burning from the hit as his body made an audible 'snap' sound as the teen hit the side of a tram.

Everyone winced and shoot me a look.

''And this is where things get weird'' I murmured with a frown ''I don't remember anything after this...''.

Eien's body crumpled as if his spine had been shattered, hitting the ground with a muted thud. Cinder scoffed and muttering something about kids before turning and beginning to walk way, Roman on the other hand kept staring at the limp form, eyes widening slightly when it slowly got to its feet, hair overshadowing my eyes, his face contorting into a vicious snarl, visible after the bandana was burnt away.

''Die'' He intoned. Eien was suddenly in front of Cinder, grabbing her face and smashing it against the ground, then throwing her through a metal train. Roman raised his cane to fire only for his target to phase into existence in front of him, punching him in the face with inhuman strength, the train behind him groaning as he smashed against the wall of the train car. His eyes widened as he leaned to the side, missing Judgement that buried itself in the hull beside his head.

''Damn'' Yang whistled lowly, getting several quiet agreements.

Eien's form stood up straight on the middle of the platform, glaring at Cinder hatefully. Roman also got to his feet and Eien held his hand out, making Judgement fly into his awaiting hand, with nothing connecting the two.

''Huh...'' I hummed ''Looks like I'll be experimenting after this''.

Weiss glared at him ''Not in our room! I do not want to have to replace the bed you blew up like last time!''.

I smiled innocently ''For science?''.

''No!'' The heiress huffed, ending their brief banter as we turned back to the screen.

Eien blurred and vanished from existence, appearing beside Cinder and swinging in an arc, which Cinder responded with dodging and firing a bolt of fire at him. It struck his leg and burned him, but he didn't even flinch, rather barrelling through it and stabbing her in the stomach, swinging his scythe while she was still attached and slinging her into another train car.

''Brutal...'' Blake murmured, sending me a concerned glance, to which I responded with a shrug.

Roman raised his cane and fired a shot at Eien, but he cut it in half without even looking, his gaze glaring at Cinder as the woman tore a chunk of metal out of her shoulder, hissing at the pain. The two had a five-second glare off, and Roman was becoming visibly annoyed after he fired the third shot and Eien destroyed it without even looking. Cinder created a large fireball in her elegant hands, the swirling mass of firing not even making past-me stop his murderous glare. He was waiting, but for what, they did not know. Without waiting to find out Cinder fired the fireball at him, who merely raised his left arm in front of him.

''What are you doing?!'' Ruby cried at me.

I shrugged again ''I told you; I have no memory of this, my body might have gone on autopilot or something like that, or I might have gotten a concussion afterwards''.

The fireball exploded on him, engulfing him in a torrent of flames that he didn't even try to avoid. This left his opponents confused; he had certainly demonstrated his ability to move faster than even Ruby, so why take the hit? He could easily dodge it, hell he didn't even block sans using his arm. They waited until the flames cleared and allowed them to see the teen, and a disgusted frown took its residence upon Roman's face upon seeing that his left arm was no longer in existence, nothing more than a burnt stump from the devastating attack.

Ruby immediately grasped my arm, shaking it and making sure it was real. I smiled faintly and patted her head affectionately, making her blush again. She seemed to be doing that a lot recently.

''Why didn't you dodge?'' Pyrrha asked, before I sent her a flat look and she responded while looking back at the screen ''Oh, memory loss, sorry''.

However Eien was unfazed, and the duo realised why a second later. Their eyes widened as a cracking sound was heard along with a tearing sound, and they watched in interest as his arm regrew itself from the stump, the wounds all over his body not healing though. All through this he kept glaring at Cinder, completely ignoring his regenerating arm like it was as easy as breathing.

''Hm... interesting'' I hummed, looking at the arm Ruby was still clutching me like a lifeline.

''Don't go chopping your arm off now'' Yang teased, looking at me and Ruby deviously at our position.

''No promises'' I smiled mirthfully, getting a weak punch to the side from Ruby ''Okay, probably- fine, I won't remove my arm''.

''Good'' Ruby said smugly before turning back to the screen.

He took off then, and Roman once again suddenly found himself embedded into the hull of one of the many rusted trains and trams around the area. Roman could only watch as Eien appeared out of thin air in front of Cinder, grabbing her by the throat as the Dust attack she was conjuring suddenly fizzled out. Her clothing glowed again, but it faded, unable to form despite it being a simple grip on her neck. She clawed at his hand, punched and kicked, even resorting to spitting at him, but nothing fazed the glaring teen, his mind set on obvious vengeance.

''Damn, you're even more badass when your pissed'' Yang smirked at me.

I tilted my head to the side like a cat ''I... don't think I was angry... it was... hate?''.

''Hate?'' Weiss repeated.

I nodded slowly, piecing the words together ''I've never felt Hate before, I've rarely been angry as it is, so it might be because that was the first time I experienced the emotion I sort-of empowered myself?''.

''Well said'' Ozpin nodded.

He raised a finger, and with apparent gentleness tapped her forehead, while uttering a soft word; ''Suffer''.

''Huh?'' I blinked, innocently confused ''I'm not a sadist...''.

He dropped his hold on her neck, only for his knee to smash into her nose and send her onto her back. Cinder coughed as spluttered as air filled her lungs, and once she regained some amount of composure she glared at him, her arms glowing to send a Dust spell...

...only for Cinder to gasp and grab her head. Two seconds later she screamed as her whole body trembled as her legs gave out under her, screaming in a way that made Roman wince as her smooth and sensual voice broke from the pitch, while Eien looked on with a glare, undoubtedly having something to do with this. She squirmed as she screamed, lost in her pain until it stopped just as abruptly as before. She was sweating, her skin a few shades paler than before and a small river of blood coming from her nose and mouth, though the former was likely because of her broken nose. She heaved in breaths as she tried to stand, only each time for her to grab her head and fall back to her knees, letting out the quietest of whimpers.

Everybody winced as they watched, even I was slightly put-off by the brutal display.

''That's...'' Jaune swallowed.

''...Brutal'' Weiss finished quietly, sparing me a glance of concern.

Eien watched impassively the whole time, glare withstanding as he watched the once-superior woman writher on the ground beneath him. There was no sadistic glee or psychotic eagerness, only cold hatred in his already hidden eyes. He hefted his scythe up and put it at her neck, and Cinder barely noticed over her current pain, unknowing of the scythe about to remove her head.

We all watched in anticipation...

He would have, if not for a foot crashing into his face, knocking the scythe out of his hands as he glared at the new intruders. Three people arrived. One was a dark-skinned girl with mint-green hair, the second was a girl with an umbrella and a brown/pink/white colour scheme and the last was a male teen with grey hair.

''I know the grey-haired one is called Mercury, the green haired one Emerald and the umbrella girl is Neo'' I stated, a fuzzy memory coming to my mind that made me frown ''...and it doesn't turn out good for one of them''.

Eien glared at the three new intruders, all of which returned the glare with only the slightest of hesitance. Neo immediately made her way over to Roman, pulling him out of the metal as Emerald went in worried panic over to Cinder, who had curled up into a fetal position and groaning painfully.

''Careful, he's a lot more dangerous than he looks'' Roman warned the three new arrivals as they stared off against the still but clearly angry teen ''And as far as I know, he hasn't used his Semblance yet''.

''Now that I think about it, what is your Semblance?'' Pyrrha asked.

I smiled slyly ''I'll show you guys after''.

They all nodded, accepting the answer while I shared a secret smile with Ruby.

Eien smiled, which would've looked friendly if not for the deep hatred in his eyes, making it look entirely too sinister right now, it was creepy. He abruptly vanished once again, this time appearing in front of the one who kicked him, Mercury. He raised a hand in a deft block as Eien smashed a palm strike against him, the force behind it making a loud thunderclap. The angry teen showed no mercy, grabbing the offending arm and yanking it away before smashing his knee into Mercury's stomach, having surprising athletics as he spun and smashed his other foot into the grey-haired teens face, sending him tumbling back.

Yang whistled again ''You and me are having a spar later, I wanna see you in action''.

Eien suddenly reached out behind him and grasped something, and that turned out to be Emerald as the original beside Roman faded into nothing, his grip on her neck. He threw her with all the strength of a Goliath into a truck beside said man, making Roman wince as he heard at least three bones break from the impact as she gasped. Neo pirouetted over to the angry teen, her usual confidence less apparent from the display of power his hatred had given him.

''You can see through illusions?'' Ren asked quizzically.

I gave him a blank look.

''Right, memory loss''.

Instead her umbrella was suddenly torn from her hands by Eien as he appeared in front of her without a sound, grabbing her by the front of her shirt and head-butting her, knocking her out of his grip as she slumped to the floor, dazed. Roman aimed and fired another shot, but that only resulted in Eien cutting the attack in half with the umbrella and directing his ire onto him, which was not what he obviously preferred. Emerald was quick to attempt another sneak attack, her fake beside Roman only for Eien to grab her attacking hand by the wrist, snapping it with a painful jerk.

Everyone winced again ''Damn...''.

She shrieked in pain, but that was quickly muffled as he back-handed her away, sending her tumbling next to the still-weakened Cinder.

''That's the pimp hand''.

Everyone looked at Ruby.

''Hehe... sorry''.

Mercury, with a look of anger on his face, attempted to drop-kick the smaller teen only for Eien to grab his offending ankle, ignoring how his hand bled and threw the teen away. Mercury landed vertically against the side of a car before propelling himself towards Eien, punching the teen in the gut and the teen hunched over out of reflex, allowing Mercury to smash his nose with his knee. Eien palm-struck him again, sending him flying back with surprising force as a vicious snarl escaped Eien's lips, his body glowing as a tell-tale sign of his Semblance activating.

Everyone perked up, but I frowned.

''That's not my Semblance'' I frowned and they looked confused ''If it is, then only I can use it like that when I'm... like that''.

''Seele Ernten'' Eien snarled the words as the glow increased. Suddenly a spider-work network of beige light erupted around him, beams of light going all manner of directions around the criminals. At random intervals there were small pieces inside them, like if you broke a biscuit into pieces, that is what they looked like. Roman was trapped by the beams, one against his neck, one over his right leg and the other against his left knee.

''Seele Ernten?'' I repeated with a frown ''...the word has a sense of nostalgia, but I don't remember it... I'll need to look into it later''.

''It looks cool'' Ruby smiled and I returned the gesture.

Neo had one across her neck and another one inside her stomach, but she seemed to be in no pain, but had a terrified look on her face, scared of what might come from moving. Emerald and Mercury weren't touching them either, having the beams of light in random directions all around their battlefield, the pieces of whatever it was inside them at random, making those spots look more like circles. Cinder was also unharmed, the beams not even close to touching her. Roman himself waited with baited breath as Eien glared at them hatefully, the beams of light coming from behind him so the source was probably his back.

''S-Such a p-powerful Semblance'' Emerald whimpered in fear.

''This'' He growled, gesturing to the light ''Is not my Semblance''.

''Told you''.

Roman's eyes widened and he blinked ''What?''.

Eien ignored Roman, rather turning his gaze on the already terrified Neo and extended a hand ''Seele Ernten, Auseinander''.

I noticed Ozpin stiffen at the name, but said nothing sans giving him a meaningful look, which he responded with a 'We'll talk later' look.

There was a tense moment of silence, before Neo screamed. She screamed, it sounded so high-pitched it almost broke their eardrums, but the horrific sight before the viewers didn't allow them to cover them.

''What... the actual... fuck?'' Yang mumbled with wide eyes.

Neo's body, from the point where the beam touched her, was disintegrating into ash. It spread up her body and down her legs as she screamed, her back arced and eyes wide with fear and pain. Her allies could only watch in silent horror as it reached her face, showing the inside of her skull as it reached her mouth, silencing her screams even as her eyes were wide with the pain and adrenaline fuelling her now non-existent body. It only lasted seven seconds longer before her whole body was nothing more than ash, leaving them in a horrified silence.

''You hurt my friend, someone close to me'' Eien said, his voice in a seemingly indefinite growl/snarl ''For that, you will pay-''.

Again, Ruby patted his side to make sure it was still there.

Eien glared back at the form of Cinder, who stood up on shaking knees. Eien snarled and in an instant she was back on her knees, clutching her head from an invisible attack that Eien was doing. She groaned as she fell down again, unable to even kneel under the force of whatever it was. The 'Seele Ernten' shattered like glass around them, the small shards flying back to Eien as he turned his piercing glare on his opponents. It was then, in the light of the embers of Cinder's attack, that they saw his eyes; gone was the cool blue, but now replaced by a seething royal purple, intense and deadly.

Ruby immediately leaned in front of me, checking my eyes ''But... they're blue''.

''Light blue'' I corrected.

''Same thing'' She smiled and I chuckled, nodding.

Roman aimed his cane at him since he now lacked a weapon, but before he could fire Eien appeared before Roman out of thin air, slapping his cane skyward as the shot went towards the ceiling. He took a vicious hook to the face as he took his weapon, using it as a cane and blocking a surprise attack from Mercury, twirling with deadly elegance and pulling the trigger, firing the Dust round within at point-blank range at Mercury, Eien having disappeared before the round even left the muzzle. He appeared again on top of an overturned tram, looking down at them with his consistent hatred. Mercury groaned as he stood up again, clutching his stomach as blood flowed like a river from his burnt chest. Emerald whimpered as she held her broken left arm, her ribs already bruising.

A sudden amount of dust and pebbles was their only warning before a large chunk of earth crushed a nearby train, followed by several smaller ones. They all looked up and paled at the sight of the crumbling roof, large chunks of rock and debris falling. Emerald immediately went and picked up Cinder, with the help of Mercury, and came over to Roman, looking at him for an order. Eien had a similar mentality, his hatred dimming as he appeared beside Ruby and picked her up, before disappearing again, this time not reappearing, although their weapons disappeared with them.

I paused the video ''And that's that, after that its just a bunch of walking through tunnels, so nothing important''.

It wasn't really, but the last thing I wanted them to see was me tearing through hordes of Grimm like tissue paper.

Ozpin nodded, lowering the screen into the ground with the touch of a button ''Very well, now do tell about your Semblance''.

I nodded and pulled out a pen from my pocket. In a single fluid motion I flicked the pen up, twirling it in the air as the others watched in a mix of curiosity and mild confusion. I caught the pen between two fingers and allowed a small piece of my recovering soul to enter it, intent on transforming it into a cookie. It glowed and a flash of blinding light obscured my own vision along with my companions, clearing a moment later. They blinked in surprised confusion at the cookie in my hand, no bigger than my palm, as I handed it to Ruby, who grinned and gobbled it up in a matter of seconds.

''My Semblance is Matter Manipulation, as I have named it'' I started, looking at all of them ''It allows me to change, recreate and destroy any matter or energy, as long as I can touch it. As you just saw I could change a pen into a cookie, with the cookie now tasting like one, feeling like one, and overall is a cookie. I can only do it a limited amount of times in a time frame, each time I use my ability it increases the chance of my death''.

''I can use it roughly a hundred times, anytime after ninety has a high chance of my death - and once I went into a semi-coma because of it. It requires me to touch an object and project my will onto it, then it will change in a flash of light, the larger the difference in size the more of my Aura is consumed. Most of the time I cannot transform objects into other objects without knowing a fair amount about said object, such as composition, atom arrangement in rare cases, and in some cases taste and scent, etc.'' I finished.

''That's... an interesting Semblance'' Glynda nodded ''It is very powerful, nearly limitless in power, but also has grave consequence. Can you also affect living thing with it?''.

I frowned in thought ''To a very limited extent, such as slightly affecting their movements or footwork. However judging from what 'I' did during the video... its possible that in that state, I could affect the brain as well, causing severe pain, unless it was her nervous system I affected''.

''With great power comes great responsibility'' Ozpin murmured, reciting the quote.

''Indeed'' I nodded ''I don't use it on other people, or in spars, both for the fact of the danger of killing or dangerously harming them and for the fact of it requires concentration, something admittedly difficult in the middle of a fight''.

''I see'' Ozpin nodded ''You're dismissed. Do take it carefully, Miss Rose, Eien''.

''Will do~'' Ruby sang cheerfully and I nodded, following her out as the rest of the group walked beside us.

''Matter Manipulation? Its quite a unique Semblance indeed'' Pyrrha smiled.

''Mm, but its taking a while to recharge'' I sighed as I looked out the window, the orange hue in the sky of the sun setting ''Probably will take a few days before I'm back to full strength, regardless of how high my Aura is''.

''Oh by the way, Captain Sierra's team was wanting to speak to you, told me to tell you to call them'' Blake added and I nodded, I would call them in a bit.

I had plans brewing, and I was sure Ruby would be excited about them.

One week later...

''Eien... should we really be here?'' Ruby asked hesitantly as we walked.

''It'll be fine'' I soothed her as we walked down the familiar tunnel, the Bullhead waiting outside. Since I had more of my Aura and Semblance than last time I made us a tunnel downwards, allowing us to make our escape quickly. I approached the small room and placed a hand on the wall, letting a single shard flow into it before roughly pulling it out, making it disintegrate into ash while (thankfully) not collapsing the roof above. I walked into the room while Ruby stood next to the cart, which I had situated on the tracks so it would be easier to move.

''Now... how to get it out of the wall...'' I murmured in thought as I looked at the large mass of Adamantite. I couldn't drill through it, since it was incredible tough - it was called Adamantite for a reason - and I couldn't melt it... so I would just have to move it. I pressed my hand against the large concentration of metal and sent a sort of ping through it with my Aura, finding that it was a rough cube, thankfully. At my gesture Ruby pushed the trolley up against the wall next to the chunk of crimson metal.

I let several shards float into the rocky area under the metal, once again making them turn to ash. Ruby was quick to use her Semblance to push the cart under the massive rock, and the metal shook as the large block of metal slid down onto it, the edge grinding against the rock walls around it, forcing me to create a pocket of space around the Adamantite to fully sit on the cart. Once it was secure so began the annoy endeavour of trying to move a block of legendary metal that weighed as much as a Bullhead probably.

Eventually we managed to get it back onto the rails, which made the job far easier as we simply just pressed our weight against it as we walked. Our troubles began anew as we then had to push it upwards along the dirt trail, which I had the foresight to create a set of rails to help us. When it became apparent we were not going to be going anywhere anytime soon I transformed several pieces of scrap metal into Atlesian Knights, and at my order they helped me and Ruby push it up the hill. Five minutes later of struggling, we eventually reached the grassy top and Ruby promptly fell flat on her face in tiredness.

''Come on, almost done'' I panted slightly, reigning in my breathing as I ordered the knights to push it into the Bullhead, which they followed without question.

Ruby smiled up at me as she got up ''Have I told you your Semblance is awesome?''.

I smiled back ''Yeah, several times now''.

''Well its awesome'' She grinned as we walked back to the ship.

''Why thank you'' I chuckled as we passed the Knights, who were now standing dutifully beside the metal and waiting for orders other than stand still. I walked up to the cockpit and Ruby sat beside me in the co-pilot seat, and at my order the Knights sat down, strapping in for the ride. Said ride only took twelve minutes, but instead of arriving at Beacon Academy, we were in the shoreline by said academy, the rocky cliff-face coming into view as I slowed and lowered the Bullhead. I had found a relatively small cave two days ago, and since then had created it into a rather large one.

I landed the Bullhead on the cliff, powering the engines down for the moment. Ruby got up first and began pushing the trolley and, once again, at my command the Knights complied and assisted her in pushing the block of Adamantite into the cave. I came in after and, after using a few more shards, hid the large block behind a faux wall of brown rock. With that done I retrieved my soul shards from the Knights, causing them to turn to ash, and sighed in tiredness - it was two in the morning after all.

''We can start in the morning'' I smiled at her, since tomorrow was a Saturday ''Any priority ideas?''.

Ruby looked positively thrilled ''Ooh I know! We could rebuild our weapons with it!''.

I smiled ''Mm, good idea''.

''But for now, lets get back home to bed''.

A/N: So how'd you guys like that chapter? I intend to do quite a few things with Adamantite and include Eien's Semblance a lot more, since he had previously wanted to keep it hidden but now its out in the open. Do you guys like how I handled the situations with Ruby and Eien, I think it was alright if a bit rough on the edges.

Did you guys like the fight scene between last chapter and this chapter? I think I handled it moderately, and while I may have made it out that Eien is OP I assure you that was one of those 'Anime-character-gets-pissed-and-goes-badass-mode' things, so it won't be happening 24/7. Neo's death will actually have some effect later on, either in the next chapter or the one after it. If you have any suggestions on story elements or personalities or ANYTHING, feel free to PM me (I'm on this site often, and enjoy a good chat).

Thanks to all those who have PM'ed, favorited, followed and reviewed! It means a lot~

POLL:

Ruby - 15 Votes

Weiss - 8 Votes

Blake - 4 Votes

Yang - 1 Vote

Damn nobody likes Yang lol. Ruby is almost certainly going to be paired with Eien, but I may tease him with Weiss and Blake - not paired with, just a little tease. Eien's character is also clueless at times, regardless of his actual intelligence, especially when it comes to social interactions. I've written him so that he understands certain things, but doesn't others.

As an extra to this chapter, here is a short Omake I thought off:

Omake #1: Neo's Voice

Emerald, Mercury, Neo and Roman sat on top of a collection of crates, waiting for Cinder to return from a deal. She did these often to gain allies and resources, when the aforementioned four couldn't be seen lest they be recognised. They had been sitting in silence until Mercury abruptly spoke, directing his question at Neo.

''Why don't you talk?''.

She blinked, a confused expression on her face before she shrugged, deciding not to answer it. However Mercury persisted, and eventually Neo gave in after Roman and Emerald joined in too. She shyly looked away and took a deep breath, before speaking.

''This is why I don't speak'' She huffed. Contrary to her feminine and petite appearance, her voice was deep and manly, the direct opposite of her appearance. Everyone recoiled in surprise from the deep voice, blinking owlishly at the now-embarrassed Neo.

''...oh'' Was all Mercury could reply with ''You sound like The Rock''.

''Shut up...''.