Darkness Falls
Ahead of Schedule
Following what Ironwood discovered during the Vytal Dance, he called an emergency meeting in the Headmaster's Office. The General paced back and forth, Ozpin sat behind his desk, while Glynda stood beside the headmaster and Selena sat on the right edge of the desk, her legs crossed.
"They were here." Ironwood sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ozpin, they were here!" He repeated with a raised voice, slamming his fist down on the desk.
"We're very much aware of that!" Glynda retorted with a slightly lower raised voice. "Thank you, James."
"Fantastic! You're aware!" the General exclaimed, raising his hands in the air. Selena rolled her eyes and rubbed her temple. "Now are we going to do something about it or should we just stay the course and continue to ignore what's right in front of us?!"
"Easy James." the youngest of the group held up her hand. "No need to give yourself an aneurysm."
Before Ironwood could say something in reply, an alert sounded from the opposite end of the office, the elevator doors opening. "Come in." Ozpin spoke calmly.
A nervous Ruby stepped out of the elevator, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry it took so long." she apologized. "Someone accidentally hit all the buttons on the elevator on the way up here." she chuckled softly.
"Thank you for coming, Ruby." Ozpin tipped his head, giving the girl a warm smile. "How are you feeling?"
The young girl just shrugged, "Okay, I guess. I'd feel better if my bad-guy-catching record wasn't O-for-three." she chuckled again, taking note of the silent stares from three of the four Huntsman in the room. Selena gave her a warm smile and a nod.
"Ruby." Ironwood cleared his throat as he stepped forward. "I feel it's appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night is exactly what being a Huntress is all about. You recognized a threat. You took action. And you did the very best you could." He patted the girl's shoulder gently.
"Thank you, sir." the young, dark-haired girl replied with a shy smile.
Ozpin stepped out from behind his desk, standing between Glynda and Selena, "Now, the general here has already informed us of the events that...transpired last night." he informed. "But now that you've rested, we were wondering if you had anything to add?"
"Was anyone else with her?" Glynda jumped right into the questions. "Did she look familiar to you at all?"
Selena stepped up and placed her hand on Glynda's arm, "Easy Glynda, give the girl a chance to breath first." she said in a calm voice, turning her attention to Ruby. "Take your time to answer Ruby."
"Umm..." the younger silver-eyed girl rubbed the back of her head nervously. "She was wearing a mask...and she never said anything to me." she stuttered out her answer. "But I know she fought with glass. I don't think that was her Semblance, though." she paused a few more seconds, "Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked."
Glynda tapped her chin with her index finger, turning to face her fellow Huntsman colleagues. "Save for the glass, that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby."
"Embedding Dust into clothing is an age-old technique." the Atleasian general reminded. "It could have been anyone."
"It may be age-old, but many newer Huntsman use Dust to power their weapons and nothing more." Selena argued, bracing her hand on hip.
"You think this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" Ruby questioned with a slightly arched eyebrow.
Ozpin nodded in confirmation, "It's possible."
"But we still lack evidence to link the two together." Selena added, her own silver eyes meeting Ruby's.
Ruby paused for a quick minute, remembering everything her and her team learned from their adventure in downtown Vale a few weeks prior. "Actually, I...I think I remember her saying something about a hideout, or something, in the southeast." her lips curved into a slight smile. "Just outside the Kingdom."
The Haven professor's eyebrow quirked, "Interesting." she muttered, glancing to the silver-haired man beside her, their eyes locking for a long minute.
Glynda stepped up to say something, but the Beacon Headmaster held up his hand to cut her off, "Thank you for your cooperation, Ruby." he said politely, folding both of his hands on top of his cane. "Why don't you go and spend some time with your team? You have a big day ahead of you."
"Any time." Ruby nodded and slowly turned towards the elevator at the back of the office.
"And Miss Rose." Ozpin halted, and Ruby glanced over her shoulder. "Please try and be...discreet about this matter."
Seeing the serious look in the headmaster's eyes behind his glasses, Ruby gave another nod, "Yes sir."
"I'll walk out with you." Selena volunteered, already making her way past Ruby and pressing the elevator button.
The elevator ride down Beacon Tower was a type of quiet that made Ruby a little nervous. The young, dark-haired girl slowly rocked back and forth on her heels, avoiding eye contact with the older blonde a foot or two away from her.
Even through her peripheral vision, Selena could see the nervous look in Ruby's eyes. A look that told her that she knew more than she was letting on about the hideout in south-east Vale.
The doors opened and the pair stepped outside. "Relax Ruby, you're not in trouble." Selena assured, the two girls standing in the courtyard. "I agree with James, you did great last night." She placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder, "You've got good instincts kiddo, keep following those and you'll be fine." She gave the girl a reassuring wink and walked away, her pigtails blowing in the soft breeze.
Selena sat cross-legged on her bed, a glowing crimson crystal resting over her breasts. "Everything is going smoothly, nobody suspects." she spoke calmly, her eyes closed.
"Good girl." a woman's voice echoed through the blonde's mind. It was swirling in shades of red and black, a wispy figure pacing around her. "Everything is going according to plan. You just keep playing your part, my dear."
Selena took a deep breath and exhaled, "Of course, Mother." she replied, bowing down on one knee and lowering her head to the hem of the wispy figure's dress. A faint pale hand with black painted nails patted her head.
The buzzing of her scroll brought Selena back to the reality of her visiting professor's dorm room. She reached for the device, checking the message from Glynda, informing her to report to the Beacon Ampitheater. With a heavy sigh, she uncrossed her legs and let them dangle over the bedside, slipping on her black stiletto boots.
She grabbed a translucent dusty-rose colored shawl and tied it around her waist, then added brown leather tassetts over her dark purple skirt. Selena slid her scroll into the belt and reached for another item on her nightstand. A large, pink heart-shaped broach with gold trim and white wings glistened as the sunlight hit it. Selena grabbed her sealed weapon and clipped it to the back of her skirt, her eyes staring at the frame photograph that the broach sat behind.
A single framed photograph of five students standing by the trees outside Beacon Academy. That was one personal item Selena brought from her home in Mistral. One of her at seventeen with four other Beacon students in their final year. In the center of the group stood a woman with dark hair that faded to red, wearing a white cloak over a black corset and skirt combo, an axe strapped to her belt. Off to the left stood a tall man with blonde hair and bright blue eyes standing back-to-back with a woman in red, with long black hair and her hand on a bulky scabbard. On the right, a man with short, black hair wearing a two-toned grey shirt holding a sword over his shoulder stood back-to-back with Selena, who was all bright eyed and smiling with her hair pulled in high pigtails decorated with silver moon-shaped pins.
"Those were the days." Selena sighed, holding the picture and running her thumb over the image of the man she was leaning against.
Selena stood off to the side with the rest of the staff as the first-year students piled into the auditorium, standing in groups according to school. After a brief introduction from Glynda, Ozpin took the mic.
"Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant." Ozpin addressed the students and faculty. "On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. A war of ignorance, greed, and oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself."
Selena stood in silence between Glynda and Ironwood, brushing her bangs aside as she listened to her old friend's speech. Parts of it sounded similar to how she opened her lectures about the same war in her class. Her eyes glanced to the crowd of Haven students, all in the school uniform, but some with personal touches.
"Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it." Ozpin's voice echoed in Selena's ears as he continued on with his speech. Meanwhile, the blonde was lost in her own thoughts. She blinked her silver eyes and was suddenly seeing herself amongst the crowd, standing there with the Beacon blazer and skirt, along with a dark pink halter top and black leather boots, next to the team she was an honorary member of. She reached up and held the golden winged heart and cross locket around her neck.
"But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best." the Beacon Headmaster concluded his speech and all the students applauded, the sound of which snapped Selena back to the present. She shook off her daze and clapped, watching Ozpin walk off the stage.
The various teams from the schools checked the mission boards around the amphitheater, choosing their options for the upcoming field trip.
"So, inner-city detective work is what you guys went with?" Tyro questioned as teams KNGT and SSSN walked through the Beacon Courtyard.
"It seemed like a win-win." Sun shrugged. "We get to explore the city and complete a mission."
"What mission did you guys choose?" Scarlet asked, smoothing out his bangs that covered the right side of his face.
"Oh, we chose something similar, only around the docks." Gunny answered, his rust colored wolf's tail blowing in the breeze.
"And Professor Schade is who we're working with." Koalina added, folding her hands behind her back.
"I can't wait to see her in action!" Nova grinned. "Think we'll finally see her weapon?"
"It would be interesting." Ty noted, touching his chin.
Sage nodded in agreement, crossing his arms over his chest, "It is strange that we've never seen her fight. I don't think anyone at Haven has, to be honest." he pointed out.
"Well, she is considered a prodigy, right?" Neptune shrugged his shoulders, glancing to the others. "She earned her Huntress Licenses at what, eighteen? That's like, some sort of record."
The two Haven teams stopped in their tracks to think on the statement for a few minutes. "Well, if you do see her kick some ass, be sure to tell us all about it when you get back." Sun grinned, looking to Koa.
"Uh sure, I guess." she replied, looking from her fellow Faunus to a few feet ahead, where teams JNPR and RWBY were in conversation. "Looks like Blake and her team are about to head out, let's go see 'em off."
The group of eight came up to the two Beacon teams, catching the last part of their conversation, "Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village." Pyrrha smiled, her hands on her waist.
"We set out tomorrow." Ren informed.
"Then you can party with us tonight!" Neptune offered, sliding up to the two teams with his fellow Haven students following. "We're shadowing a crime specialist." he motioned to himself and his three teammates. "All inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges."
Jaune's eyes twinkled at the thought, "So cool." he said, awestruck.
"What about your team Ko?" Blake asked, her eyes meeting her younger twin's.
"Oh, we're shadowing Professor Schade on a stakeout near the docks, which could possibly move to the warehouse district. Black market smuggling." the younger Belladonna replied, one hand on her hip.
"We normally go to the city with you guys, which means stuff's always exploding and junk." Sun stated, bluntly. "So we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, you know...normal."
"Good point." Yang winked with a light chuckle.
"Four minutes, ladies!" Dr. Oobleck yelled from the airship.
Team RWBY all exchanged nervous glances and sighs. "Well, uh...wish us luck." Ruby put on a smile and threw a thumbs up to her friends, the four girls heading towards the airship.
A few hours passed after Team RWBY left and Team KNGT met with Selena at their rendezvous point; a small bistro in Vale with a perfect view of the docks. The Haven professor sat at the table, sipping on a cup of tea, with four different meals plated around her. "I took the liberty of ordering dinner for you guys while I waited." Selena cracked a smile. "Dig in. We've got a few things to go over."
Team KNGT dropped their bags under the chairs and sat down, digging into their dinner. "Now, about this mission." Selena cleared her throat, folding her hands in front of her.
"We are to help the Vale Police Department arrest a crime family who have been smuggling Dust and weapons into and out of the kingdom." Nova clarified, holding her fork above her plate.
"Exactly." Selena nodded. "This next shipment is actually coming from Mistral, so consider this a joint operation. It'll also give you guys insight on how the Vale Police work, since it is different from the Mistral Police." Her eyes landed on the two male members of the team, who both have family involved in said department.
"We're looking forward to it, Prof." Gunny nodded.
"Great." Selena smiled. "Finish up your dinner and we'll go into deeper details in our rooms."
"Here's our main target." Selena informed, dropping a photograph on the table she and her four students stood around. The picture was of an adult male, with grey eyes and dark hair, a beard and mustache, wearing a black vest over a white shirt and red tie. "Hei Xiong, a.k.a. Junior."
As soon as Nova saw the picture, she exchanged a quick glance with her partner while Selena went on with the mission details. "The Vale Police have had their eyes on Junior for months and have compiled enough evidence to arrest him. They just need a smoking gun to make all the charges stick. That's where we come in." she set her scroll on the table and pulled up a map of the docks. "We'll break into smaller teams and set up oversight positions here and here." two red dots appeared on screen. "Remember, we're here as backup for the police, because Junior has been known to get a little trigger happy when cornered. Any questions?"
"No ma'am." Team KNGT answered in unison.
"Great. Now, we've got an early start tomorrow." Selena closed down her scroll display. "Ty. Gun. You boys are in the adjoining room." she pointed to the door behind them across from the hallway closet. "Koa and Nova will be staying in here with me. Go on and get some rest."
"As you can see, we have a solid perimeter-" the police lieutenant addressed his unit as well as the group from Haven, when he was cut off by the sounds of the Grimm alarms blaring from downtown Vale.
"Sir!" a uniformed officer ran into the briefing room, panting heavily. "A hoard of Grimm just emerged from the ground right in the middle of downtown!"
"From the ground?" Selena repeated in a low voice, her brow arching. "This can't be right. It's way to early."
"Professor Schade?" Koalina's voice snapped Selena from her thoughts. "What should we do?"
Selena looked at her four students, all geared up and ready for a fight. Seeing the looks in their eyes was all the answer she needed, "Lieutenant, we need to borrow one of your Bullheads. I'm afraid we're needed in downtown more than here."
"I'm inclined to agree." the officer replied, stroking his goatee. "I'll arrange for your transport immediately."
Meanwhile in Downtown Vale...
Team RWBY was surrounded in the middle of the pavilion by Beowolves, Ursai, Creeps, a massive Deathstalker and a King Taijitu. The large snake-like Grimm unleashed a roar that shook the very ground they stood on, and the rest of the hoard charged ahead to attack. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang readied their weapons and jumped into the fray, putting all their training to the ultimate test.
Ruby planted the blade of Crescent Rose into the ground, using it as an anchor as she swung around the staff, kicking away the Beowolves that surrounded her. Yang locked and loaded Ember Celica and propelled herself into the sky, firing off simultaneous blasts at the Grimm below, not even noticing three large Nevermores behind her until they sent her crashing back down into the street.
Blake slashed a Beowolf with Gambol Shroud before switching it to its pistol mode and fired on the approaching Creeps. Weiss glided around using her glyphs, slashing three Beowolves with ease using Myrtenaster. She pulled the trigger and used the Ice Dust in the hilt's revolver, creating an ice sword she molded using one of her glyphs. After shaking herself off from the crash, Yang sent several cars flying towards the Grimm advancing on her.
As Ruby finished off another large Beowolf, the Deathstalker made its way towards her from her blind spot. Before the young girl could react, Nora flew onto the scene seemingly out of nowhere, slamming Magnhild on the scorpion Grimm's head, killing it instantly. The hyperactive redhead landed on her feet with a grin as the rest of her team joined her.
Team JNPR jumped into battle, helping to thin out the Grimm. Jaune took down a large Ursa with a few dozen swipes of his sword. As the bear Grimm disintegrated, Team SSSN arrived on the scene.
"Nobody move!" Sun shouted, him and Neptune flashing their badges, much to the dismay of Sage and Scarlet.
A small group of Ursai charged towards the Haven team, who readied their weapons, jumping into battle alongside their new friends from Beacon.
Soon, the skies were full of Atleasian Airships, dropping their new Atleasian Knight units into the fray. The Bullhead from VPD flew overhead, Selena and Team KNGT standing at the edge, ready to drop. One by one, with Selena leading, they jumped, sticking the landing with ease. At the same time, another Bullhead carrying Peter Port and Team CFVY flew over the battle and they too jumped out.
"About time you guys showed up." Neptune chuckled, slashing through a Creep with Tri-Hard.
Nova cracked a smirk, pulling her blades from the sheaths on her back, "You know what they say." she giggled, the blades giving off a faint, red glow. "Always save the best for last." With a smirk, she tapped her heel on the ground before charging forward, swinging her two blades in tandem, incinerating an Ursa in her path.
"Nove's got the right idea." Koalina unsheathed Silence Fury in glaive mode, spinning the Dust chamber till it landed on a yellow crystal. Electricity crackled from the blade as she twirled it around her body, jumping into the air and spinning as she sliced off a Beowolf's arm, followed by its head.
Gunny took his weapon from the sheath on his leg, its size nearly doubling as it took the form of a bronze colored spear with dark red markings. He stabbed an oncoming Creep through the head, jumping over the disintegrating corpse to take on another Ursa.
Tyro unclipped the hammer from the plate on his back, swinging it once around as the hilt extended and the hammer head enlarged. With one swing, he sent two Creeps flying right into a Nevermore that had swooped down, sending the three Grimm into the side of a building.
Selena couldn't help but smile at seeing her students hold their own against the hoard of Grimm. Her silver eyes landed on the two headed snake wrapped around the gazebo in the center of the square. With her head held high, she walked straight towards it, casually reaching behind herself and unclipping the broach from her belt. She easily jumped over a Creep that charged at her, which was then slashed in half by Sage wielding his broadsword, Pilgrim.
"No way, are we finally gonna see Prof. S in action?!" Sun grinned, shooting at a Beowolf to distract it while Koa bisected it with her glaive.
"It appears so." the cat-Faunus nodded, standing beside the grinning blonde.
Selena clicked the small lever in the back of her broach, the criss-crossed metal moving in opposite directions, creating a staff that grew as the broach itself rose to the height of Selena's shoulder. The dark pink stained glass receded into the golden outline and the wings outstretched under the heart, a garnet colored orb holding it all together. The revolving chamber under the wings locked the Dust crystals in place.
The King Taijitu looked down at the lone blonde approaching it and let out another shrieking roar, the two heads flicking out their tongues in preparation to strike. Selena stopped in her tracks and flexed her fingers around the hilt of Eternal Dreams, a large golden-blush colored glyph appearing around her feet with roman numerals and clock hands overlapping her emblem.
As the black and white snake heads dove down with fangs bared, Selena jumped into the air, five blush colored glyphs appearing around the King Taijitu. She pressed the heart-shaped button in the center of her staff, locking in a Dust crystal into the cartridge, the wings giving off a cyan glow. The blonde Huntress cracked a smirk, her boots making contact with one of the glyphs, sending her flying into the snake-Grimm. Selena swung and slashed the Taijitu from all sides before landing gracefully on her feet, the snake disintegrating behind her as it fell to the ground.
More Grimm charged towards Selena, and she wasted no time fighting back, the wings of her weapon changing from cyan to red to pale green. A large Boarbatusk rolled towards her, and Selena met it head on, ducking last second and skidding on her knees as she slashed at its underbelly with another Air Dust powered strike, her weapon held high above her head as it disintegrated.
A yard or so away, Port and Oobleck smiled at Selena's display of skill. "She certainly hasn't changed at all." Port noted, his weapon resting on his shoulder.
"Yes indeed." Oobleck nodded in agreement.
Selena rose to her feet and rested the bottom of her staff on the ground, bracing her free hand on her hip. She was soon surrounded by Teams KNGT and SSSN, all of them bombarding her with praise and compliments and marveling over her weapon.
"Thank you everyone." she chuckled softly, looking at her eight students. "But I should be the one praising you. You all held your own and worked together, like a team should. I believe you're all more than ready for the Vytal Tournament."
The two teams cheered and talked amongst themselves as Selena glanced over her shoulder, watching as Roman Torchwick was escorted to a landed Atleasian Airship by Emerald and Mercury. "Oh, I can't believe that you caught me, you've really taught me the error of my ways." the criminal sarcastically groaned. Two Atlesian Knights grabbed his arms and took him inside the airship. "Watch the hat." Torchwick snapped as the bay door closed.
Selena's silver eyes narrowed as she watched Emerald and Mercury stand close to Ruby and her team, seemingly a friendly interaction. "So, those are the other players. Interesting."
After everything had calmed down, Cinder met with Emerald and Mercury on a rooftop in Downtown Vale. "All in all, I call today a success." Cinder gloated.
"Those stupid kids really made a mess of things." Emerald sighed, shaking her head.
Mercury nodded in agreement beside her, "A lot of Faunus didn't make it out the tunnels." he added. "You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to us?"
"No." a stern male voice answered. "But they'll listen to me." A bull Faunus wearing a black blazer with a red wilting rose emblem on the back stood before the trio. Beside him stood a jackal Faunus, wearing a long, open red jacket over a tightly fit black shirt.
As Selena walked across the courtyard heading towards Beacon Tower, she caught sight of a black bird perched on the banner pole, its red eyes staring down at her. She stopped and met its gaze, "You got anything to say to me?" she taunted, bracing her hand on her hip.
The bird let out a croak, followed by a scream as it took flight, nearly divebombing Selena before gliding off towards the ocean. Selena let out a scoff, brushing her bangs aside. "Yeah, you were not the Branwen I was expecting to see." she rolled her eyes and walked into the tower, pressing the button for the elevator. "Same old Raven. Still hate me I see."
A/N: And with that, Volume 2 is officially done. The next chapter will begin Volume 3! As always, reviews are appreciated and thanks for reading! Here are a few clarification notes just in case:
-Selena's sealed weapon brooch is based on the "Crisis Moon Compact" from the Sailor Moon anime. The weapon itself is based on the "Spiral Moon Heart Rod" and the "Garnet Rod" from the same anime (the weapons of Sailor Moon and Sailor Pluto respectively), however this is just one mode. A second mode will be revealed in the sequel titled "Mist & Shadows".
-Likewise, Selena's pose after finishing off the Grimm is similar to the finishing pose of Sailor Moon's attack "Rainbow Moon Heartache".
-Yes, Selena can use Glyphs, however that is not her Semblance. Her glyphs are similar to those the Schnee's use, but always have a blush undertone to them and have her emblem instead.
