CH 19 The Shadow of Fire
Chapter 19: A Early Visit
BE SURE TO READ THE AUTHORS NOTE AT THE END!
Vale Airspace
12:10 PM
A massive white jet tore across the skies, breaking the white fluffy clouds as it flew. The jet, aside from looking nearly brand new due to its constant cleaning up by the hired help, was covered in an icy blue design that covered the wings of the plane. The designs consisted of no real pattern, aside from the two twin snowflake emblems on the upper covering of each wing. The right side of the jet, in dark black bold coloring with an outline of very light blue, was labeled: SDC.
The Schnee Dust Company.
The jet, traveling at very illegal speeds, was repeatedly contacted by the air traffic control towers along several airports throughout its flight; each told one name before allowing passage through.
Geist Schnee.
The owner of the SDC, Schnee Dust Company, was one of the most powerful men in the entire world. Not only on an economic and financial stand point that is. The Dust seller had a unique set of skills aside from being an excellent business man, and had a habit of making unwanted individuals disappear without a trace to be found. That is how modern business progresses after all, cutting out the vile and discarding their legacy.
The head of the company sighed in relief as he reclined back in his black leather office chair in his private quarters. Having just made an important business investment in a large array of Dust stations on the coast and oceans of Atlas, the wealth was pouring in like water off a waterfall. And that was a very good thing in his eyes. Good business is the best kind of business.
A small beep from his personal laptop caused the elder to open one of his eyes, pushing away his bangs to inspect a new message in his private email account.
"My Lord, Geist Schnee, we have just harvested a large chunk of the Green Dust Shard in the northern coast of Atlas, but our researchers worry for the environment. Any more mining could causing a section of the sea floor around Atlas to crumble, killing many forms of aquatic and land life. Reply as soon as you receive this message."
Geist pinched the bridge of his nose; a habit that he was attempting to quit but had its way of forcing its way through. Geist typed a half fast reply, not truly caring for the damages to environment. After all, animals are just like Faunus, they can be shipped off to an island somewhere else.
He never truly knew the origin of his hatred towards the beings, and his own fathers as well. Geist believed that his father disliked them due to their lack of effort in working on Schnee Mines, while he never had the chance to ask the man for a confirmation. Geist had many reasons, but could never find the first.
The first event of his hatred, to his memory, was when he was just a young business man, just a few months before he would inherit the "throne" of the company. A shady gang of Faunus calling themselves "The Collective" attacked him on the street, nearly killing him with a pocket knife. After he had taken the knife and personally dispatched the group without mercy, he began a deep hatred, but he knew seeds of the hate had come from somewhere else.
What he did know, however, was that he had no reason to trust them. Especially anyone associated with the likes of the White Fang.
"Mr. Schnee?" One of his personal helpers, a woman by the name of Macy said from his doorway, bowing her head slightly. "We will be arriving within fifteen minutes, sir."
"Good." Geist said, tapping his fingers together in a odd rhythm. "Get me Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy. I feel that we have much business to discuss." He said calmly, hiding a devilish smile behind his friendly one. Even if the school was mourning the dead, Geist knew he would need preparations to be made for his arrival. And while he was here, he might as well make a buck by selling new Dust powered Super Weapons built in his factories, or "Factories of Doom" as the Faunus workers called it.
"Yes, my Lord." Macy said quickly, stumbling out of the room before closing the doors.
Geist relaxed in his chair, humming to himself as he pondered the suit that he should wear with his new tie and faithful rapier, used for "self defense" against Faunus students.
Beacon Academy
Outside Team RWBY Dorm Room
West Wing
12:36PM
Weiss walked along the corridor leading to their teams' dorm room in her crutches, leaning slightly on the wall for support at various times. After a long battle, including being stabbed, blown up, killed, going through Hell, passing out, inhaling a large amount of smoke, passing out again, and having horrible emotional pains after Ruby's "death," would tend to leave one's body and soul tried and longing for a long cat nap. Which Blake technically did the first few days after the battle to relieve stress. After all, she was the only one who could really do that.
Weiss stumbled along as Ruby rolled at very slow speeds, showing Weiss that the leader of her team was just as tired as she was. It didn't help Weiss's emotions when Ruby told her that Goodwitch was put in charge of her well being after she woke up, and simply left her outside alone. Weiss promised herself that one day, she might consider standing up to Goodwitch, no matter how scary her ridding crop is.
As the two closed in on the door, Weiss pause in step and looked over to her Faunus girlfriend, gesturing to the door.
"Mind opening it for me?" Weiss asked, blushing a tad to the fact that she had a hard time doing a simple task such as that.
"Sure thing Weiss-y." Ruby said somewhat cheerfully, rolling over to the door.
After gaining enough momentum to push herself forward, Ruby rolled towards the door, leaning forward in the process. The Faunus grasped the door handle and turned the knob, pushing it open to let her girlfriend enter the ro-
"Ahghhhwhaaaa!" Yang screeched out as the door hit her on the back of the head, causing her to drop to the floor in pain, landing on one of the many multi colored bean bag chairs.
"Yang!" Blake gasped as her girlfriend fell to the floor, holding the fallen Yang in her arms. "You okay?"
"I think I ruptured my spleen." Yang groaned as she cupped her aching head, turning her attention from her lover to the door to chew out the intruder.
Before the busty brawler could unleash her barrage of insults, mostly saved up incase Weiss did something rude or dumb, her eyes fell upon Ruby, sitting with a concerned look on her face in the wheel chair.
"Blake? I think I ruptured more than just my spleen." Yang commented uselessly, blinked a few times, the pain of the door growing distant. "Do you see the Ruby too?"
Before Blake could respond, Yang was already up in the air, poking and pulling on the Faunus in the wheel chair, tugging her ears and such. "Seems so real. I must be knocked out, where in the real world Blake is currently straddling my waist and cupping my-"
"OKAY! That's ENOUGH talking." Blake said, blush covering her cheeks she slapped a hand over Yang's mouth. Once she was sure that Yang was shut up, she turned her eyes to Ruby, who sat with eyes blinking repeatedly, trying to figure out what Yang was going to say.
"Ruby? Is that really you?" Blake asked, looking to Weiss as she walked in, the white haired teen nodding in agreement.
"She's the real deal." Weiss said, poking Ruby in the chest for emphasis. "Apparently, out fateful Doctor Firefall thought she was dead, but she was in a coma."
"That would explain the lack of a body at the funeral... Let me check one thing." Blake said, shifting her gaze to Ruby. "What's twelve-"
Weiss held up a palm, nearly falling over in the crutches. "Already did that."
"And?"
"47."
Blake smiled a little before standing up, releasing Yang. The Faunus walked over to her Faunus leader, the duos ears flickering around as if trying to communicate.
"I missed you Ruby, it's been odd being the only Faunus again." Blake said simply, hugging the teen gently.
Yang jumped back up from her previous prison of Blake and leaped into action, literally tossing Blake across the room and onto her bed before enveloping Ruby into a massive hug, pulling the sisters head into her neck.
"I MISSED YOU SO FREAKING MUCH!" Yang yelled out, drawing the stares from a few wandering students. "NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Yang shouted into Ruby's ears, causing the girl to cover them tightly.
"YAAAAAAAAANG!" Ruby screeched out, causing Blake to fall over in pain, covering her own ears. "Stop it!"
The duo of sisters, mildly exchanging warm feeling of love and whatnot, continued their screams towards each other until one of the strictest professors poke their head out of their class room, telling the pair to shut up.
After the gang re-entered the room with the two crippled teammates, were placed on to the two ground floor beds of Weiss's and Blake's, allowing the pair to lay down for once.
Weiss let out a mild sigh as she rested on the pillow, using the cloak that Ruby got her for Christmas as a blanket, hugging it tightly.
"It's been a hard week without you Ruby." She said, turning her head to look at the girl as Blake and Yang helped the other girl get settled.
"Yeah, sorry to make you all worry so much." She said, flailing her arms around as Yang covered her too tightly.
"So..." Blake said awkwardly, looking around the room. "I guess things will just go back to normal?"
Weiss shrugged in her bed. "As normal as ever."
"That does not inspire confidence in me." Yang stated as she pulled a motorcycle magazine from a nearby table.
After a few moments Weiss spoke up, saying something that has really be on her mind as of late.
"You know what?"
"What?" Yang asked, flipping a page.
"How come we aren't celebrating that Ruby is back, such as having a celebration or something?" Weiss said suddenly, looking around at the confused girls. "Even though I'm not use to parties." She added quickly.
"Well all the food from the main panty is going to the injured students more than us healthy ones." Blake said, sharpening her nails.
"There's also not much to celebrate." Yang added, looking towards Weiss as she tossed the magazine across the room. "After all, we are literally just waiting to die before getting brought back again and again after all, for us it's pretty normal."
As history as already proven, Yang does have a rather strange perspective on things.
"Huh. Fair enough." Weiss said, Blake and Ruby nodded in agreement.
An awkward silence followed the random thoughts of Weiss Schnee, effectively making the room feel uncomfortable.
The sound of Yang's stomach grumbling suddenly echoed around the room, causing Ruby to giggle a tad, Blake snickering slightly, and Weiss simply rolled her eyes.
The next was the sound of Ruby's stomach growling, causing the sisters to break out in giggles, Ruby blushing, and Blake to snicker again, Weiss still ignoring the twins antics.
To everyone's shock, Blake's stomach began to grumble, causing the Faunus to blush deeply while the sisters kept giggling, Weiss smirking a little, but not noticeable to the others.
"I suppose everyone is hungry for out lunch time meal?" Weiss asked, looking around at the nodding girls around her.
"Well, I guess we should head to the cafeteria and get our mid day meal, although I'm not personally hung-"
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Weiss looked down at her stomach before quickly looking around the room at the laughing girls.
Weiss quickly covered her head with the cloak, her embarrassment seemingly melting her body as the teens laughed.
"Alright, let's try not to melt the ice queen." Yang said, clapping her hands together before grabbing her scarf.
"Are you seriously wearing your combat uniform to lunch?" Blake asked, hooking Gambol Shroud to her back.
"Well, we all don't have the time to change and I'm starving!" Yang countered, sticking her tongue out at the Faunus.
"Keep that tongue in your mouth Yang." Blake said, lifting Ruby back on to her wheel chair.
Weiss emerged from her blankets and gathered her crutches up, looking towards Blake, who was clipping Crescent Rose onto the wheelchair.
"How did you find her scythe?" Weiss asked, plucking her own rapier from her bedside, which she retrieved from Cardin's bed side after they removed it from his foot.
"Penny found it after she found you two in the wreck." Blake said simply, pushing Ruby towards the door. "Lucky she found it, Ruby wouldn't be the same fighter without her trademark scythe." Blake noted, walking out with Weiss in tow.
"Where is Penny anyway?" Weiss asked Blake as they locked the dorm room door.
"She said that Headmaster Ozpin ordered her and Sun to help force the recently migrating Grimm back into the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall, the crashed cruisers are a big problem right now." Blake explained, pushing Ruby along.
The group gradually made their way down the winding halls of Beacon, several being repaired and refurbished with their famous looks and styles.
Eventually, the team found themselves at their destination, the large cafeteria, recently repaired. All around the room were surviving teams, teachers, and even famous Hunters and Huntresses, such as Gale Snowwinder, who single handedly defeated a nest of DeathStalkers several years ago. Another was Warren Striffe, who took an Ursa Major and its kin down with his bare hands at his initiation.
However, as Weiss and the team approached the group of famous Hunters and Huntresses, per Ruby's request, the heiress noticed something odd.
Next to Headmaster Ozpin, who had been communicating with the group of famed individuals, stood a very large man. The said man had brown hair with deep auburn highlights, which went down around the neck area. He seemed to be wearing a sleeveless yellow shirt under a woodland camo combat vest, with brown cargo pants and heavy dark brown leather boots. The man was truly massive compared to everyone else, easily 7 feet in height, towering over everyone. Upon his head was a large, black, classic brim cowboy hat with a few tears in the outline of it, the hat blocking out any and all of his facial features.
It must have been Weiss's eyes at the time, but she could have sworn he was growing in size before decreasing it, making him thin and large at the same time.
As the group arrived at their destination, Ozpin stopped a conversation with the towering man and smiled towards the team.
"Ah, here you are my friends." Ozpin said, gesturing to the team. "Here is the team I was telling you about just a moment ago."
Each Hunter and Huntress all turned to face the team, their Aura stronger than that of anyone Weiss had ever met, aside from Saturn and Orion that is.
The heiress half expected them to start a fight or something akin to such action, judging by their Aura, they were ready for any form of combat.
Instead, the famed individuals began clapping their hands, applauding the confused team who had just wanted to say hello, and maybe get a few autographs before lunch to show off to team JNPR.
"So you runts are the team Ozpin was telling us about huh?" One of the Hunters, Gale, said rather rudely. "I have to say I expected... more in looks." He said, scanning the team. "More strength and a fire in your eyes."
"Oh, they are just kids Gale." Another said, Warren. "Let them be. I am personally proud of them, they prevented the fall of our pervious school."
Gale grumbled something under his breath before turning to face the man next to Ozpin. "What do you think Ulysses?"
The massive man took a few steps forward, lifting the front of his cowboy hat up a tad to get a better view of the team, a shadow covering his face. His blood red eyes seemed to glare into Weiss's soul as she locked eyes with the man.
"Hm." He grunted simply, looking at the rest of the team. "I've seen better, but I've also seen worse." He said in his thick Northeastern Atlas (Russian for this story cause in RWBY Russia doesn't exist) accent, a hint of bark in his tone. "They have talent; I'll give them that… luck too."
The towering man moved closer to the team, as he approached his body got smaller and smaller until he was looking directly into Weiss's eyes, at nearly her height.
"But luck will only take one so far." He added, pulling his hat back down to cover his eyes before backing away, his body growing back to the 7 foot giant.
"So have you decided then?" Ozpin asked calmly, taking a sip from his coffee.
"I believe so." Ulysses said simply, nodding in mild approval.
"Excuse me Headmaster, but what exactly is happening?" Blake asked, taking the words from Weiss's mouth.
"Let me introduce you all to Ulysses Ghearheart, former leader of team GLDS." Ozpin said, gesturing to the towering man. "Sadly, the rest of the team couldn't be here today."
Weiss looked towards the elder man with sadness in her eyes. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Huh?" Ulysses's said in a confused tone, refusing to show his face still. "They aren't dead yet, our team simply disbanded after years of working together. They, like I, hunt Grimm alone." He said with a stern tone, a dramatic shift from his confusion.
"O-oh." Weiss said nervously, the rest of her team simply standing in awe at the massive man.
"Headmaster Ozpin has requested that I am to... observe a specific team within their combat and relaxing periods." Ulysses explained, stopping to pick the right words.
"And you've chosen our team?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes my dear, I believe so." He said calmly. "I have a theory that your team, even with your various accomplishments, can achieve so much more. So I will be a guide of sorts in your endeavors."
"Ulysses will be observing for now, and once Miss Rose and Miss Schnee here are in better condition, you all will attend Ulysses special training course." Headmaster Ozpin explained, taking another sip of his coffee.
Ruby maneuvered herself forward past Weiss, looking up at the giant man before her. Weiss felt a tug at her stomach, her mind warning her that any of these individuals could kill Ruby with the flick of their wrists. Although, her brain was telling her that they were fellow Hunters and Huntresses and wouldn't do such an action, she still felt very uncomfortable. Yang, the blonde joker, even seemed worried about the young Faunus.
Ruby looked up at the man with a blank face before holding up her hand.
"Hi." She said with a smile on her face, one of her sharpened teeth poking out of her mouth. "I'm Ruby, nice to meet you." She said cheerfully.
The esteemed warriors in front of the nervous group, who previously had stern expression upon their faces and crossed arms, crumbled at her utterly adorable voice and happiness that she radiated.
Ruby truly was cute as hell, and practically everyone wanted to hug her, or in her case now, "pet" her.
The only one not to crumble was Ulysses, which Weiss expected. He seemed colder than Dagonus, which was really saying something.
Ulysses looked down at the hand before him belonging to the smiling girl. To Weiss's surprise, the man smiled a little, a very small smile.
"It's... nice to meet you." He said in his thick accent, taking her hand for a moment before releasing it.
"Headmaster Ozpin to the communication center." Luna's voice came from a speaker upon the cafeteria ceiling. "Once again, Headmaster Ozpin to the communication center."
"Well, I must take my leave." Ozpin said simply, bowing his head to his former students and Team RWBY. "Girls, you are dismissed to lunch; the rest of you may travel around campus as you please. Ulysses, do you mind touring the campus again to familiarize yourself with our newer additions since your time here?"
"Not at all Headmaster." Ulysses said calmly, giving a tip of the hat towards Ruby before walking off away from the group.
Team RWBY slowly made their way towards the lunch line, everyone happy to have gotten out of that situation intact, however Weiss had a strange feeling in her gut that told her something very bad was about to happen.
A/N: Hey everyone! Did you like the chapter? Good? Good. Did you know we are almost at 50 reviews and almost over 100 followers and 70 favorites? That's truly amazing. Thank you all so much!
The OC, Ulysses, was created by orion0905 with a bit of editing to his character and personality. Thanks for sending me him orion0905, I will make him play a major role! :3
If you all would like an OC to play a role in this story, feel free to send me a PM with the description or just leave one in a review, this is going to be a BIG story so I have room for many OC's.
WARNING! ANY AND ALL OC'S HAVE THE RISK OF BEING KILLED AT ANY POINT! I WOULD CONTACT YOU AT THAT POINT IF POSSIBLE THAT YOUR OC IS AT RISK OF BEING BLOWN UP IN A LARGE EXPLOSION!
*clears throat*
Really quick, here's a look of what's planed so far story wise:
The Shadow of Fire:
Beacon Arc: Chapters 1-16
Judgment Arc: Chapters 17-32
Redemption Arc: Chapters 33-48
Awakening Arc: Unknown chapters
at this point a sequel will be made or I will continue from the end of the Awakening Arc
Birthright Arc: Unknown chapters
Rebels Arc: Unknown chapters
Family Arc: Unknown chapters
Rise Arc: Unknown chapters
Grand Plan Arc: Unknown chapters
Roughly 15-16 chapters an Arc, and 4-5 Arcs a Story or "Season."
Lots of planing so far.
I'll give one hint: Birthright Arc will be focusing on mostly Dagonus, Ruby and Yang's father. I'll leave it to you to guess if he is a villain or a good guy in said Arc. :)
Anyway, I have this sort of grand idea that had been in the works for sometime. I need your alls opinion on this.
Since the "Gods" play a major role in this FanFiction, I want to know if you all want me to make either a separate story of just Weiss and team RWBYs encounters with various ones, or just go ahead and include them in this story.
For example: have either a separate story of Weiss meeting the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, or have a chapter about this event connecting to the main story in this specific story?
It's up to you all but I need to know now before I reach the point of posting the chapters for the Gods or else I'll reach a problem in writing.
Need to know your opinion on this as soon as possible, I'll tally the votes and let you know next chapter or so.
Thanks, best wishes.
- Dagger of Faith