It was a cloudy day, and RNJRR was following a mossy stone tile path through the wilderness. While walking, Nora stretched her arms up wide. "Another day, another adventure!" She declared.
"Yes. Anything could happen on this unpredictable journey of ours." Ryu agreed.
Beside her, Jaune read a map while Ruby, Ryu and Ren continue alongside them. "What's on the agenda today?" Ruby asked.
"Walking!" Jaune answered.
"With a side of...?" Nora asked.
"Walking." Ren added.
Ruby sighed. "Haven is a lot farther away than I thought." She said.
"Ruby? How long did you think this journey was going to take?" Ren asked.
"I don't know! I grew up in a small area; I've never been this far away from home!" Ruby snapped.
"Right but... how long?" Jaune asked.
"Maybe like, uh... two weeks?" Ruby asked.
Jaune looked up from the map to glare at her. "What?!" He asked in disbelief.
"Did you never pay attention in geography class? Mistral is one of the largest territories in all of Remnant. We're making incredible time and we're still nowhere near Haven." Ryu told her.
"Okay, fine! Three or something! Look, whatever." Ruby snapped, not making eye contact. Ruby looked up again after a beat and noticed something ahead. "Hey, what's that?" She asked.
Nora jumped onto a slightly fallen post of a fence to get a closer look at a wall and building ahead. "That's... strange." Jaune said, checking his map. "I didn't think we'd be hitting another village for a few days." He said.
Ryu checked the map as well. "That village isn't on this map." He realized.
"Are those buildings... damaged?" Nora asked.
"We should search for survivors!" Jaune instructed and dropped the map as the present members of JNPR and Ruby went running into the village. Ryu grabbed the map and quickly joined his friends, with Nora leaping onto the wall and to a rooftop from there. They discovered the town to be empty. Ruby lifted a fallen plank of wood to find only plant outgrowth underneath.
"Anything?" Ruby asked.
"Nothing over here!" Nora called.
"No one over here, either!" Jaune answered.
"It almost seems like... the town was abandoned." Ren said.
"Yes. If anyone did live here, they've all gone now." Ryu agreed.
Ruby looked around while the others go off-screen, feeling unease in the wind. "Hey, I think I found something!" Nora called. Ruby turned and rushed over. Nora, Ryu, Jaune and Ren were looking at a town sign. Nora moved the ivy growing over it to the side to read what it said. "Oniyuri? Never heard of it." Nora said.
"Me neither." Jaune said.
"I have." Ryu said.
The three of them looked at him, surprise on Nora and Ruby's faces. Ren walked up beside him. "I have as well. You might think of it as Anima's Mountain Glenn, had it never been completed. Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the Kingdom was being run." He began to explain. As he spoke, there were wide shots showing the various unfinished buildings, disrepair and neglect of the village. "Frustrated with the council, they pooled their resources together to build their own city, with their own laws. They hoped that one day, it could maybe even become its own Kingdom. Many thought it would be the future." He went on, starting to walk away from the others. "I know my parents did." He finished.
"And a few Huntsmen, like my parents, had to come along to protect them. As much as they could, anyway." Ryu added, looking down at the ground.
"What happened?" Ruby asked.
Ren brushed some dirt off of the stone border of a low wall to reveal claw marks. "What always happens." He said.
"The Grimm." Jaune realized.
Ren tightened his hands into fists. "Not just any, one." He said.
Ruby briefly faced Nora in confusion, but Nora doesn't move her concerned gaze away from Ryu, whose eyes hadn't left the ground. Ruby turned back to him. "One?" She asked.
Several small black birds took off from a tree outside Oniyuri's wall. They flew over the village and the five travelers. "Come on. Let's just get through here. This place gives me the creeps." Jaune told them.
He turned and left, soon followed by Nora. Ryu and Ren lingered for a few moments, seemingly in thought, but Ryu soon broke out of it first, putting a hand on Ren's shoulder. "We can't change what happened, Ren. We can only live on for those that are no longer here. To continue their memories." He told his friend, then followed the group. Ren considered this for a moment, then nodded and followed as well. Ruby was the last to move as she looked over the empty village. Leaves blew through behind her after she followed her friends.
Dramatic, feminine vocalizing was heard.
The broken moon shined brightly to the sound of Weiss singing. She stood alone on a large, empty stage, singing a wordless aria, her arms outstretched. She was perfectly positioned below the center of the painted emblem of Atlas that dominated the stage. Far to the side, out of the light, Dante played the piano to accompany his sister's music. The song changed to emphatic lyrics.
"I'm not your pet, not another thing you own.
I was not born guilty of your crimes.
Your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore.
I won't be possessed,
burdened by your royal test.
I will not surrender.
This life is mine."
Weiss concluded her song and bowed while the audience applauded. From his seat, Dante glared up at his father while Weiss looked up to the balcony above stage left where her father and second brother were watching. Jacques remained seated, not applauding, while Whitley was standing giving a slower paced, sarcastic clap. Weiss looked back at the audience, all clapping still in their seats. Dante walked up to his sister, giving a small wave to the audience as he did, before putting his arm around Weiss' shoulder and walking backstage with her, her feigned smile replaced with a frown. Dante pulled her closer into a small side hug, both of them tired of being their father's pawns.
A waiter carrying martini glasses on a tray opened up a door and entered the ballroom where people milled about to soft piano notes. He held the tray next to a young man, who took a glass before walking off. A blonde woman in a dark green halter dress stopped to look at the waiter before moving on.
The view movesdaround to show the entire room, showing a number of dressed up people as the waiter moved across the room. On the far opposite end of the room was a display area with three large paintings and two abstract statues. To one side Jacques was conversing with a man in glasses and a gray-haired woman in a green dress. They were laughing. Weiss and Dante were behind their father, Weiss looking at the floor with her hands held primly behind her back as Dante stood with his hands in his pockets, the only way to keep him from having his arms crossed. Whitley stood similar to Weiss, further behind their father, only his gaze was directly on him.
"That's precisely my point. We offer Faunus the exact same wages given to the rest of our mining staff. Their argument's completely invalid right out of the gate." Jacques explained.
"What about the argument of branding Faunus on the face?" Dante asked his father with venom in his voice.
"What?!" The man and woman asked, looking from Dante to Jacques.
"You're doing this now!?" Weiss asked. Sure they planned to expose their father's cruelty at some point, but she believed it would be at a point when they had greater power, like when they were taking over the company: they'd show their father was a monster immediately before taking over and changing things. Not like this.
"I figured it was as good of a time as any." Dante said. He hadn't exactly thought all of it through, he just wanted to hurt his father and would put the blame solely on him, not the SDC as a whole.
Jacques was shocked Dante actually brought this up here, glaring at his son and resisting the urge to smack him in front of everyone. "Now son... You know those are just rumors. Do you really think I'm the type of man who would allow that?" He asked in a tone that basically said "you better answer how I want you to".
"As a matter of fact, I think you're exactly the kind of man who would allow that. I wouldn't even be surprised if you did the branding. And it's kind of hard to believe its a rumor when I saw a Faunus with 'SDC' branded over his eye." Dante snapped,
"I'm sure you just imagined things. The fall of Beacon was quite traumatic. You were likely in shock. Not thinking and seeing clearly." Jacques told Dante.
"I never saw things clearer." Dante countered.
Jacques fumed for a moment, looking at the business man and woman in front of him. "Why don't you go get something to eat or drink, son.I'm sure sitting there and playing the piano left you hungry for some of the Hors d'oeuvres at the table over there..." Jacques said. "And away from here..." He growled under his breath.
Dante simply smirked and walked away. "May I go as well. I'm thirsty." Weiss said. Jacques was hesitant, wanting to keep Weiss on as tight of a leash as possible, especially with Dante now rebelling, but because he'd sent Dante away, it would look worse to stop Weiss from going as well.
Jacques decided to let Weiss go and turned back to his companions. "I'm sorry, I tuned out for a second, but sounds like I'm the good guy again?" He said, to which he and the businesswoman shared a laugh.
"He never was the good guy." Dante growled.
"Look, I know we said we'd expose father's lies, but that wasn't the way to go about it." Weiss said. The two of them then noticed a painting of Beacon and made their way towards it.
Weiss moved across the room to look at the painting of Beacon Academy. She had barely reached it when some schmuck came up to her. "It's beautiful." He said, then paused for a moment. "You two match." He added.
"Are you kidding me?" Dante asked, questioning the nerve of this punk who was flirting with his sister IN FRONT of him.
Weiss put her hand on Dante's chest to stop him, before she stood with her arms crossed, maintaining a cold expression throughout most of the conversation. "Yes, it's a lovely painting." She agreed distantly.
"So, that was my attempt at breaking the ice. How am I doing so far?" He asked.
Weiss sighed. "You are leaving a lot to be desired." She said , keeping up her cold demeanor.
"Well, I've always appreciated honesty." He said, offering his hand. "Henry. Marigold." He introduced himself.
Weiss turned her head to look at him. "Weiss Schnee." She introduced, lightly placing her fingers across his in a very loose handshake.
"And Dante Schnee. Her brother." Dante said pointedly, hoping the guy would get the point and get away from his sister. He didn't.
"I know, I saw your performance. Obviously." He said as he cringed at himself, before clearing his throat. "You were wonderful. And I promise I'm not just saying that 'cause you're pretty." He added.
"Nice save." Dante growled sarcastically, about to lunge at the upstart again, but Weiss stopped him once again.
Weiss turned her attention back to the painting and there was brief silence between the two. "Honesty, remember? So, you thinking about buying it?" He asked, rattling the railing as he spoke
"No. I don't think so." Weiss said.
"It's generally frowned upon to buy art at a fundraiser YOU'RE throwing." Dante said. [1]
"Yeah, plus it's kinda pricey for a painting." Henry agreed.
"It's to raise money." Weiss demanded, annoyance in her voice.
"Oh really? For what?" He asked.
"For what?" Weiss repeated, throwing him a disgusted look.
"Are you serious?!" Dante demanded, starting towards the boy again. This time, Weiss didn't stop him.
"Whoa, easy! I'll admit, I only come to these things for the food and drinks." He said as he reached out to take a champagne flute as a waiter walked by, but Dante stopped him.
"In that case, you're cut off." He snapped.
Henry glared at this. "Well, the extraordinary company i pretty lacking at this event." He snapped.
"Considering we're the hosts and you're the company, you're certainly right!" Dante growled.
Henry scoffed and moved around Dante to talk to Weiss again. "So what, is it another Mantle fundraiser or something?" He asked.
"Get. Out." Weiss ordered.
"What?" Henry asked with a slight laugh.
"Get out, or I will have security escort you out." Weiss elaborated.
"But I haven't done any-" He started.
"Leave!" Weiss ordered again and took on a more aggressive stance as she raised her voice.
He stared at her in disbelief before obeying. "Pfft, whatever." He scoffed again as he left.
"Well done. If you hadn't said that, security probably would've kicked me out for assaulting him." Dante said as they watched him walk away. Once he was gone, Weiss turned back to the painting, crossed her arms and closed her eyes as Dante similarly closed his eyes and crossed his arm, but leaned back against the railing.
"No, no, no! I asked for a double sundae! This is completely..." An angry businessman snapped, before his voice was drowned out by chatter.
"I'm so sorry. Sir." A waiter apologized.
"Unbelievable." Dante scoffed, shaking his head.
The view showed the Beacon Academy painting, then showed the sign in front of the display, which read:
"SHOW THE WORLD WE CARE
All proceeds go to the Kingdom of Vale".
"Show we care, my ass." Dante grumbled.
Weiss' eyes opened again as if she had just been observing the painting and she once again closed her eyes. The chatter of the party guests grew louder, but one voice stood out among the rest.
"But really, does it come as any surprise, what happened to Vale?" A trophy wife near the center of the room questioned. Weiss opened her eyes and turned slightly, peering over her shoulder at the woman. Dante, meanwhile, glared at the woman furiously and gripped onto the ball at the top of the railing post closest to him, starting to rush it in his grip.
"It was a long time coming if you ask me." The horrible scum of a woman said.
"Honey..." The rotten bitch's husband said, placing his hand on her shoulder, trying to shush her, but she shook it off, leaving him to glance around the room with a forced, nervous grin.
"What?" The horrid woman said, laughing. "You said the same thing last night. If they're so arrogant to think they can get by without proper kingdom defense, then I say good riddance." She told him. While she spoke, her husband dropped the act and heaved a silent sigh.
Weiss growled and prepared to shout at the woman, but someone beat her to it-
"Shut your damn mouth, you bitch!" Dante snapped, storming up to her.
Everyone looked to the commotion and Jacques glared at his elder son. "Dante... He growled.
"Excuse me?" The piece of trash woman demanded, offended.
"Vale had plenty of defenses. The Grimm didn't just storm the kingdom. They were dropped down on Vale and Beacon by the White Fang. Oh, yeah. They were attacking the city, too. And, in case you forgot, the Atlas robots, our WONDERFUL defenses against the Grimm, turned on the people they were supposed to be protecting." Dante snapped, everyone flinching at this.
"Dante, that's enough!" Jacques snapped, coming up and grabbing Dante's arm, but Dante easily pulled his arm away and shoved his father back.
"Then, the last thing ANYONE expected was for a giant Wyvern to break out of a mountain and start wrecking the city and making even more Grimm. Grimm LITERALLY raining from the sky, with White Fang AND Atlas robots shooting at everyone is why Vale was almost destroyed. And all the while this is happening, students from Beacon, Atlas, Shade and Haven, were protecting citizens from EVERY kingdom, maybe even some of your kids here." Dante said, raising his voice and looking around at everyone in the room. "And you think you have the right to sit back and laugh about it when people, innocent people, from every kingdom, even Atlas, DIED?!" He snapped.
People began looking shocked at this and a few people even began looking ashamed. Jacques went to silence his son again, but Weiss stood in her father's way. "No. He needs to get this out and ALL these people need to hear what he has to say. Especially that woman... and you." She said, glaring at her father.
"We risked our lives to protect the city, the school, the people and my teammate, my best friend is in a coma now in another kingdom and I just have to keep waiting for news of whether or not he's dead. The only thing Vale was guilty of was not being ready for an attack on the inside. But I guarantee, Atlas isn't ready for it either. I pray something as horrible as that never happens again. But if it does, I hope it all comes down on a room full of people just like this. And I hope the first person to go is you. It would serve you right. And I'd say good riddance." Dante growled at the garbage woman standing before him.
"How dare you!" She snapped, going to smack him, but he easily caught her wrist and squeezed as hard as he could, breaking it. The woman fell to her knees in pain. [2]
"That's enough, Dante. You've made your point." Ironwood told Dante as he approached, stepping between him and the woman. "But you're right." He whispered, to which Dante nodded.
"Arrest him! What are you waiting for? He's insane, he should be locked up." The horrible bitch shouted from the ground.
"She tried to attack me. Self-defense." Dante claimed.
Ironwood turned to two guards as they approached. "It's like he said. Self-defense. She tried to assault him. Take her away." He said, the guards grabbing her and leading her away, despite her protest. Ironwood then looked around at everyone else. "And he's the only one making sense around here. Thanks for the party, Jacques." The general said as he casually made his exit.
Jacques glared furiously at his twins, who looked back at him in defiance.
As the five members of Team RNJRR continued out of Oniyuri, Ryu and Ren suddenly sensed something. Ryu put out his hand to stop the other three, reaching for his sword on his back and closing his eyes as he focused while Ren drew his weapons, prompting the others to do the same. Somewhere close by, Tyrian could be seen running. Tyrian soon leapt high over the wall to engage them in combat.
He immediately took out his weapons in a seamless motion and, laughing eagerly, moved to attack Ruby. However, Ryu intercepted him with his falcon's talons. They stood with blades locked for a few moments, before Ryu delivered a two kicks to Tyrian's side, pushing him back and delivering a jumping kick to his face, knocking him back. "Ooh! Impressive!" Tyrian giggled, eagerly waiting for Ryu's next move. Ryu rushed forward and jumped towards Tyrian, preparing to slice him with his Flying Swallow Technique, but he was suddenly struck out of the air by a bolt of blue lightning shooting out from the right of team RNJRR.
"Ryu!" Nora cried out, about to run in and check on Ryu, before turning in the direction the bolt came from, blocking just in time to avoid a flaming ax kick from Azula, who landed and knocked her back with a side kick to her stomach, before drawing a pair of broadswords, deflecting Ren's guns as he fired a few shots at her, kicking him in the side, then blasting him back with a fireball from her foot, sweeping one of Jaune's feet to take him off-balance and make him lean forward, before slashing upwards, sending him onto his back. She then rushed at Ruby, trading several blows with her as Ruby struggled to defend against both blades at once. She then slammed the blades down on Crescent Rose, bringing the scythe down and leaving Ruby open for an elbow to the chest, then a fireball to the face, launching her back.
"You... You were with Cinder!" Jaune snapped at Azula.
Azula rolled her eyes. "Oh please. I tolerated Cinder. She is merely a pawn in a game so much bigger than her. Whereas I am easily a bishop or rook. Perhaps even a queen." She explained. Tyrian glared at her for a minute, before she turned and looked at him. "That would make our master the king. Still the most important piece, of course." She clarified, Tyrian accepting this and turning back towards the group.
"Then who are you?" Ren asked Tyrian.
"Who I am matters not to you. Or you." Tyrian said, pointing first to Ren, then Nora. "Or— Well... you do interest me. And the Revived, of course." He added, pausing for a moment, before pointing to Jaune, then Ryu.
Jaune gasped nervously as Ryu glared. "Revived?" Nora asked.
Ryu's eyes widened at this, looking to Nora. He'd hoped to avoid this for as long as he could, forever if possible. But now it seemed like he'd have to tell her. But he could at least put it off until after this fight. "Now's not the time." He told her, looking back to the enemy.
"No, I only matter to you." He explained and pointed to Ruby and the rest of RNJRR turned to look at her. She tilted her head in confusion.
"Me?" She asked.
Tyrian broke down into laughter. "You, you haven't the slightest clue, do you? Oh, how exciting this must be." He giggled.
"What do you want?" Ruby demanded.
Tyrian began acting dramatically in response to her tone of voice. "Oh, the rose has thorns! My little flower, I'm here to whisk you away with me!" Tyrian told her.
"You see, our master wishes to have a word with you. And we don't come back empty-handed." Azula said.
"You will this time." Ryu told them, standing between them and Ruby.
"Yeah! If she doesn't want to go, she's not going!" Nora agreed, standing beside her boyfriend.
"Oh, she's going. Whether she wants to or not. Now, just come along with us, or we'll drag you back by force." Azula ordered.
Jaune walked over and stands between them and Ruby, his shield held in front of him. "We're not going to let you do that." He said seriously.
Tyrian closed his eyes and inhaled through his teeth. His eyes slowly opened and he happily growled a single word with a dark grin. "Good." He said.
Delighted that they're willing to fight, Tyrian moved fast to attack Jaune from behind. However, in an instant, Ryu was between the two of them and locked
"Ryu!" Ren cried, about to shoot at Tyrian, but Azula hit him with a flaming ax kick, before throwing a round kick that knocked down Ren, Ruby and Nora, before swinging one of her swords down on Jaune's shield, then hitting him in the side with her other sword, causing him to lean towards that side in pain, allowing her to blast him back with a blast of lightning from her fingers.
Ryu and Tyrian continued to trade blows, appearing to be equal, but with Ryu getting in an occasional kick due to having weapons on his feet as well. Nora then recovered and transformed her hammer into its grenade launcher form and fired at Azula as she continued to attack Ruby, firing and forcing her to jump and handspring back several times.
Tyrian noticed this and headbutted Ryu in the face as they're blades were locked once again, running toward Nora. From across the way, Ruby grinned and shot Nora with lightning Dust. It passed just over Tyrian's left shoulder and he turned as he sensed it. Nora got knocked down when the bolt made contact, dropping Magnhild in the process.
Mistaking the move for an error on Ruby's part, Tyrian gave Nora a baffled stare and laughed while Ren, Jaune and Ruby simply watched and waited. "Well, if that isn't ironic." Tyrian said.
"Ironic? Or intentional?" Ryu asked.
Tyrian sensed something was up and lost his mirth. With a determined, satisfied grin, a now upright and supercharged Nora rushed Tyrian from behind, moving over his right shoulder and coming before him just in time to hit him with Magnhild, back in its hammer form. The blast from the contact had the other three covering their eyes from the backwash of dust and air, Jaune actually taking cover behind his shield.
The air cleared to reveal a perfectly fine Tyrian in a crouch, using his now unveiled scorpion tail to block Magnhild. He giggled and curled his fingers at Nora.
"Surprise." He said. He tried to kick Nora in the face, but Ryu intercepted him once again, catching his leg and flinging him towards a roof, bouncing off it and breaking off a chunk from the area he crashed into, but he managed to recover and land in a crouched position on the roof with his coat left behind.
"He's... a Faunus." Ren said, surprised.
"What is this about? The White Fang? Roman Torchwick?" Ruby asked.
"Plastic soldiers and pawns. My hot-headed partner already told you, my heart and body belong only to our goddess." Tyrian explained.
"So... If it's not Cinder, then who is it?" Ruby asked.
"You'll find out soon enough... When I take you!" Tyrian snapped as he leapt back into the fray.
Ryu tried to intercept him once again, but the ground between him and the rest of team RNJRR was blocked by a wall of blue fire, which Azula landed in front of. "I hope you didn't forget about me." She said, before rushing in, the two of them trading several blows, before turning her broadswords into dual SMG's and firing at Ryu, who ran to the side while drawing his twin katanas to rush in, block the bullets and slash at Azula.
Tyiran used his tail to knock Crescent Rose down. Though surprised, Ruby didn't lose her grip on it. The two both attacked each other and missed until Tyrian kicked Ruby backwards again.
A crow flew determinedly toward the fray while Tyrian kicked Jaune back and then Nora before Ren returned for more only to leap away again. Without missing a beat, Tyrian let Ren be and went after Ruby again. In quick succession, he delivered a right hook to her face and a left blow to her torso, causing red shimmers on her Aura on her head and chest respectively. He turned and swung his tail to knock her back into the air. She flew back several feet and he rushed forward to meet her before she landed. While Ruby was still midair, he kicked her right in the abdomen, causing a large red shimmer over her abdomen and hips.
Azula once again backflipped to avoid Ryu's attacks, turning her SMG's back into broadswords, the two of them trading blows once again, Ryu having an advantage in strength and speed, but Azula would unleash an occasional blast of fire to catch Ryu off-guard or make an opening, slashing him across the chest with both blades and kicking him back.
The incoming crow turned into Qrow who kept running forward after landing.
Tyrian approached Ruby on the ground and raised his stinger, his eyes turning dark purple. Nora, who was comforting a fallen Ren looked on in horror, along with Jaune. Ryu pushed Azula back and tried to run and help Ruby, as the fire wall between them died down, but Azula jetted in front of him with her fire and blasted him back with lightning. Laughing, Tyrian was about to strike with his scorpion tail when Qrow burst through a building and inserted himself between them, holding his weapon behind his back. There was a metallic noise as Tyrian's stinger hit against Qrow's weapon and clipped into the blade. He let out a nervous giggle of surprise while Ruby and Qrow made eye contact and smiled at each other.
"Hey." He told her, before everything went black.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. A few things I'd like to address about the party scene:
[1] I'm not entirely sure, but I THINK that's a rule of etiquette at fundraisers. It'd probably be seen as pretentious, anyway.
[2] Dante might have been a bit too cruel in this scene and admittedly, I'm bashing on the "Trophy Wife" in that scene, but you CANNOT say she didn't deserve it.