Chapter 17: Prelude to War
"Wait wait wait, you're telling me that you got status as the Schnee Heiress revoked because you almost nerfed some rich aristocrat?' Yang asked, looking away from the television screen. She and her sister were playing Super Smash Sister online with some local kids and so far, had been dominating the lobby. Weiss gave her a nod, sipping her tea.
"I summoned a Boarbatusk and it ran at her. It was after this rich asshat started hitting me too. A close friend of mine had just gotten out of the hospital too. That lady said Vale deserved what had happened, and I just exploded. You should have seen my father, I never thought I would see the vein on his forehead that close to popping."
"How dare you do that to me, Weiss? You are supposed to be the picture of perfection! The next Schnee Heir. You cannot just attack people because they anger you!" Ruby said, imitating Jacques's voice, earning a snort from Weiss.
"My father does not sound like that."
"I was trying to sound like a smug rich douchebag," the red-cloaked reaper said with a shrug. Weiss rolled her eyes, taking another sip from her cup.
"So what else did you do when you were traveling through Mistral? After you got away from my mother that is," Yang asked curiously. She grit her teeth, rapidly mashing buttons as she spun the opponent around, throwing it at Ruby who did an up combo to get him out of the game. "Yes, good hustle!"
"Thanks, sis."
"Erm… to answer your question Yang, all we did was walk around. Shortly after leaving, we ended up going to this disgusting communal bathroom, where…" she paused for a moment, closing her eyes. "One of our friends tried to kill me."
Ruby looked over her shoulder, not at all caring that her character was in the line of fire. "Levi tried to kill you?"
"No, it wasn't Levi. Um… tell me, Ruby, do you know a young woman named Neopolitan?"
"Oh, you mean the shortstack who almost stabbed my sister yesterday? Yeah, we've met, and lemme tell ya, not at all happy that she's in Mistral. In fact, I'm super pissed and the next time I see her, she's getting a shotgun blast to the face."
"Why do you ask, Weiss? Was she the one who tried to kill you? She impersonated Blake and we thought it was her. If Professor Ozpin hadn't called her out, she likely would have slit my throat." Ruby said, her hand flying to her neck. "I was so close to death and I didn't even know it."
"I wouldn't have let you die, sis. You know how much I love you, besides your aura would have saved you. Another reason I wanna give that little shit a hysterectomy. No one threatens my sister and gets away with it." the blonde brawler replied.
"I see you both have interesting opinions about her, but you've based those upon fights and less than savory encounters. We've actually spent some time together. I let her know I could not only defend myself against her but also kill her whenever I wanted. I made her realize that going after Ruby was dumb, and she should focus on the true cause of our misery. Despite that, she still attacked Ruby."
She paused for a moment, looking at her reflection in the tea that remained in her cup. "She's just like me, lost, alone. The only difference is I have all of you. I have Levi, and I have Sienna to an extent. Neo had no one, no one but Roman Torchwick."
"Weiss, you aren't seriously defending that little trout are you?" Yang asked, setting her scroll down. The game she and her sister was all but forgotten. "Did you forget she broke Torchwick out? And helped him overtake the Atlas Military ships that killed literally thousands of people?"
"Of course not. I'll never forget that, it was a cold night for everyone."
"Then tell me why you are defending someone like that? It makes no fucking sense, Weiss!"
"I forgive her because she's genuinely guilty and remorseful. With every step we took, she risked losing the new people she had found. She had nothing, lost the only thing she had, and regained something so much better. I consider her a friend, despite what little time we've spent together and what she's done." she said, placing a hand over her heart.
"That's-" Ruby paused, a far off look on her face as she started at the back wall. "-Oof, that's a lot to think about."
"It isn't really. We don't forgive genocidal maniacs who kill people for fun, Ruby. We're meant to be huntresses, we fight criminals, not befriend them."
"What about Blake?"
"What about Blake?" the blonde woman questioned.
"You tend to forget, she used to be part of the White Fang, you know, the extremist faunus group that has murdered thousands of people for the past five years. The same group we're about to fight against. We all easily forgave her because we got to know Blake the huntress in training, not Blake the White Fang member. Similarly, Levi got to know Neopolitan the girl, not Neopolitan the sociopathic killer. She isn't that bad of a person, she turned to crime because she had no options." Weiss said.
The sisters remained silent as she poured herself another cup of coffee, placing a single sugarcube inside, stirring it with her spoon. "Neo is, an interesting girl. She's a few years older than us, of that I'm sure. But there's something about her that reminds me a lot about Blake. Quiet, reserved, assertive, sassy, headstrong, loyal-"
"Sociopath, sadist, terrorist, thief, liar, criminal, murderer, assassin, see? I can do it too." Yang said, cutting her friend off. "Nothing you say will make me forgive that little asshat for almost killing me, and for what she did to Ruby."
"I mean… she was confused, Yang. I could see the hurt in her eyes. I could tell why she came after me because I opened her parasol and sent her flying. Because I was the last one with Roman. I...I should apologize to her." she said, rubbing her neck, face contorted in an expression of sadness. "I would be doing the same thing as her. If someone killed you, Yang, I would go after them. I would go after them for Weiss, for Blake, for Ren, Nora, and Jaune. Even now, I'm partially here because Cinder will be here, and she needs to pay for what she did to Pyrrha."
"This isn't a video game, Ruby. You can't just storm the enemy's fortress, use your units to make him bend to your will, and then recruit him to your army. This is the real world. And in the real world, criminals will kill you. We aren't in a Saturday morning cartoon, and you shouldn't apologize to her. She deserves what happened to her!"
"Just like you deserved to get your arm cut off?" Weiss quipped, causing Yang's head to snap in her direction. "Ah right, you only lost it because you were defending your friend from her homicidal evil ex-boyfriend. My mistake."
She slurped her tea, only for her cup to be sent flying to the wall, shattering on impact. Yang stood over the white-haired girl, her mechanical arm beeping and groaning as she squeezed her hand into a fist.
"Take it back, Weiss."
"I won't, I stand by what I said. Feel free to hit me if you want, but it won't make the truth suddenly disappear. My point being, no one deserves anything they got. You didn't deserve to lose your arm. Ruby didn't deserve to lose her mother, and neither did Levi. I didn't deserve the wealth I was born into, and I lost it. It made me a humble person. It made me realize that a lot of people have it harder than I do. And Neo had it the hardest."
"I'm sure she did, Weiss. She didn't deserve that fate, no one truly does. But you also have to remember, she had a choice to get out of it. The point of the matter is, forgiveness is going to be a hard commodity for her to get. I'm willing to forgive her… for like a bazillion chocolate chip cookies." she said with a grin. Yang sighed, shaking her head. She clutched her left hand, forcing it to stop shaking a bit.
"It'll take a long ass time for me to forgive her. That's for damn sure. Qrow is right about one thing, we need all the firepower we can get, and she is giving us information."
"That's all I ask, girls. I certainly didn't envision convincing you to let her join us, but Levi has nowhere to go, and they are sort of partners now. Something tells me, even after we defend Haven, he'll stick around. Not like he has anywhere to go."
A sudden knock filled the house, causing Ruby to shoot her way to the front door. Jaune, Ren, and Nora were out in town and Sienna had gone back to her contact, who apparently had gotten an important update. They weren't expecting anything, so when Ruby opened the door and saw a young man standing there with a rather large package, she looked at him confused.
"Ah yes, I'm looking for a Mr. Levi Athan? This was supposed to go to his rented apartment but he messaged me a new address," he said.
"Oh um… he isn't here right now, but I'll sign for it," Ruby said, gesturing to the clipboard.
"I'm sorry little miss, my boss told me it had to specifically be him who signed. This is apparently a very important item."
"I'm here, I'm here." a sudden voice said, causing the young man to jump. Levi arrived just in the nick of time, shaking his head a bit. His cloak had been drenched, and his makeup had run a bit, leaving a few white, red and black streaks running down his cheeks. "Sorry about that, there was this old woman who needed help getting some packages inside her house so I stopped to help her."
"No worries man, I just need to see your ID to make sure you are who you say you are." the delivery boy said. Levi reached inside for his scroll, showing him his ID. The young man looked at it, comparing the ID numbers to the one on his worksheet. "Alright, everything is in order. All I need is your signature here and she's all yours."
Levi took a hold of the clipboard, signing his name across the dotted line, sliding the pen in its holder. The delivery boy handed him the box, a smile on his face. "Ah, before I go. My boss asked me to get a holster from you. He made you a new one for your new weapon so he asked for the old one. That gunblade you traded in already has a potential buyer, apparently, Mistral's army is considering making them standard issue weapons."
"Really? Was my design that ingenious? I based it off of a movie prop." the miqo'te asked. The delivery boy simply shrugged. Levi unbuckled his holster, digging his hand inside, pulling his mother's old pistol, handing it to Ruby. "Hang onto that kiddo, don't blow your face off."
"Ooo, so pretty," she said, examining the pistol. He handed her the spare magazines for it, along with some extra ones for Shiva that he had kept. The final thing he pulled out was Aria's notebook and the picture of his mother he had brought with him from his home. He looked the holster over for a few moments, before handing it to the man.
"All yours, boss. Thanks again for the delivery,"
"No problem sir, you have a good day, and if you need new weapons, the Forge will happily make them for ya." the delivery boy said. He tipped his hat, walking away from the house. Levi closed the door, heading toward the living room, a look of excitement on his face.
"Oh wow, it's finally here!" Weiss said, almost as excited as Levi was. Yang paused their game, standing up from the floor, stretching her arms over her head.
"So, what is it? You look like a kid on Christmas morning."
"Well Yang, this is my new toy. Thanks to a good friend, I learned how bad of a fighter I was. I improved my fighting style and learned new techniques. Weiss taught me how to use a rapier and showed me how to properly use my semblance. My old weapon wasn't designed to work well with it, so I corrected that. Ladies, may I present to you, Overture."
He pulled the wooden box out of the cardboard one, flicking the latches open. Resting inside was a beautiful weapon. It was a lever-action pistol, with a wooden frame, the barrel being made out of solid steel and painted a deep onyx color. The wooden handle was polished to a glimmer, a dark oak finish being applied to the wood, the mechanism glimmering in polished bronze. It had a matching cylinder, with eight slots in the shape of diamonds. The name "Overture" had been etched into the bronze casing, in bold stylized letters. The three huntresses in training stared at the weapon in awe, surprised with how pretty it looked.
"Wow… this must have cost a pretty penny."
"It did, it cost me my old weapon and 50k lien my mother had left for me. I knew I needed something to help me with my glyphs, but I didn't want to sacrifice the usefulness of a gun. So I borrowed some aspects from Weiss's weapon and added my own twist to it." he said.
The four stared at it for a few more minutes, before Ruby spoke, giving Levi a pleading look. "Can I hold it?"
He rolled his eyes, giving her a nod. She cooed happily, setting the pistol he had given her on the table. She grabbed Overture carefully from the case, admiring the handy work. Levi noticed the eight diamond-shaped dust canisters, all of them bearing small inscriptions on the front, each representing a different element. "I need to get some dust, I'm running a bit low already."
"As I said before, I've got you covered. For now, let's focus on testing it out. It looks like they provided you with plenty of ammunition as well." Weiss said, pulling out the boxes of Long Rifle bullets from within the box. There were eight boxes, containing 50 rounds of each dust type. "How generous of them."
"They probably sent it as an apology for that sexual pass he made on you and Neo," he said, looking the bullets over. He looked up as Ruby took aim with the rifle, eyes narrowed.
"I'll be back! Pew."
"You are such a nerd, Ruby." Yang teased, causing the young girl to giggle.
"I couldn't help myself. This is the same type of gun that Arnold had in that robot movie," she said. She noticed a button on the inside of the trigger guard. She pressed it, crying in surprise as a long thin blade sprung out. "Whoa, that's so cool!"
"It is an estoc. This is merely for close-quarters combat, figured I could use something that would better channel aura and dust into my glyphs. Now then, let's go slam some rounds through this baby." Levi said gleefully. He had strapped his new holster to his left leg, having placed all of his belongings in the extra pocket.
It was a long, leather holster, brown in color, taking up most of his upper leg, down to his knee. It tied around his waist and had a fanny pack attached to the right side, meant to hold ammunition. The backside of the belt had several slots to hold more bullets, giving him a lot of options to reload. Overall, he was very pleased with his new weapon.
"Hm… if you are going to try Overture out, then I believe a duel is in order. I wish to see what you can do, Levi. Now that you have your own weapon, let's see how far you've come."
"But Weiss, I don't have dust for Overture yet," Levi said, frowning. Weiss rolled her eyes, reaching behind her back for her own fanny pack. She pulled out eight vials of dust, all of them half full.
"I topped Myrtenaster off this morning after someone used some dust to attack his close friend. You may as well use what's left. We'll get more after our spar, we need to be prepared for Haven anyway."
Levi looked at the vials of dust, a small smile appearing on his face. "Thank you, Weiss. I appreciate it."
"It's no trouble at all. Now then, let's fill these up, shall we?"
Location: Haven Academy
Things had changed, that much Neo knew. Her little show of breaching Haven Tower had sent Leonardo on high alert. She had been watching from a distance, using her new powered-up Semblance to blend into her surroundings. She had noticed the lanky man, Arthur Watts, as she learned he was called, leave the campus. No one else had arrived, though she did see a raven circling around for a few minutes, before flying into an open window, who she assumed belonged to the headmaster. Once she was sure she was alone, and the area was truly void of others, she dropped her cloak, strolling her way toward the Entrance Hall. Hush served as her shield, the rain falling over them peppering the canopy, the little pricks of rain soothing her nerves.
She didn't know when the last time she had slept was. She had been running on power bars and energy drinks most of the day. She needed to gather as much information as possible. It was the only way he could get Levi to forgive her. That's what she did best. Roman would get annoyed and she would do his work for him. She would gather information, collect debts, rough a few guys who owed up and go home, expecting him to yell at her. Instead, he patted her head, gave her ice cream, and told her she had done a good job.
"God, I seriously need to speak to a shrink, I think I'm starting to go insane… as if I wasn't already," she thought to herself, as she climbed the side stairwell, heading toward Lionheart's office. She had been subtle last time, this time she wouldn't be so passive.
She strode right to the door and gave it a sidekick, sending them open with a bang, causing Lionheart to scream in fear, jumping from his seat and cowering behind his desk. Neo's eyes moved to the corner of the room, where Raven Branwen of all people stood, her hand wrapped around the handle of her sword. They stood silent, glaring into each other's eyes, neither batting a lash as they glared. Raven's fingers twitched a bit, but she released her hold on her katana, instead crossing her arms.
"What are you doing here?"
Neo quirked a brow, tipping her bowler hat, twirling her hand a bit. Raven rolled her eyes, resting her weight on her left leg.
"Let's just say, I was brought into an interesting business venture. I give Cinder what she wants, and she leaves me alone. Seems like a good deal, no?"
"Cinder? Did I hear her correctly?" Neo mentally asked, striding forward. Her heels clacked loudly as she pulled her scroll out. She flicked her wrist, typing a single word on it.
"Why? Because we have a gun to our heads, that's why. I don't give a rat's ass about the Relic of Knowledge. I'm here to open the vault and get going. At the end of the day, that's the only thing Salem wants." She answered, narrowing her eyes a bit. "And speaking of, I think there's someone else who wants something."
Neo stepped back as Raven shifted into a stance, her hand wrapping around her katana. "Where is my heiress? And my miqo'te? Do you know how much money you cost me? Millions of lien, that's how much. You are going to pay for that."
"Ladies, please! I will not have you fight inside my office. If you wish to beat the hell out of each other or fight to the death, do so in the courtyard, is that understood?" Lionheart snapped, causing the two women to glare at him. "Glare at me all you want, but I am still in charge here. It matters not who I am dealing with."
"And who are you dealing with?" the raven-haired woman asked, slowly shifting her gaze toward Lionheart. "You know, I have a lot of questions for you."
"Yeah, you and everybody else," the man said, a tired tone in his voice. Raven sheathed her sword, her focus momentarily on the headmaster. Neo backtracked a bit, keeping her weapon at the ready just in case she needed it.
"You know, out of everyone I never expected you to have the guts to betray Oz." she continued, the expression on the headmaster's face changing. He sat down in his chair, placing a hand on his forehead. "It makes me wonder, what does she have on you?"
"I'm helping her for the same reason you are," he quipped, his gaze falling on Neo, who looked at him in confusion. "I'm afraid. We… we can't stop her, no one can."
"Is this Salem lady that much of a threat?"
"That's why I tried to leave when I did. I saw the way the wind was blowing and I made a choice. I'm not afraid, I'm smart."
"Call it whatever you want, Raven. It doesn't really matter, we're here, helping her," he said, closing his eyes, hands on his head, fingers digging into his hair. "I've crossed the line, I've done things Ozpin will never forgive. And he shouldn't. I don't know where I go from here."
Raven moved forward, slamming her hands on his desk, causing him to jump up fearfully. "Man up, you did what you had to to survive. There's no shame in that."
Lionheart looked up at her, a tired look on his face. "Who are you trying to convince?"
The raven-haired woman didn't say a word, holding his gaze for a second before swiveling around, walking away from the man. She paused for a moment, looking over at Neo. "If you value your life, run. Run and don't look back, this place is going to get nasty. Cinder isn't worth it. It's better to live another day than die fighting."
Neo held her hand up, flicking it a few times, shooing her away. Raven shrugged, muttering a soft 'suit yourself' before exiting the office. The ice-cream-themed young woman slowly stepped toward the headmaster's desk, the tired and defeated man looking up at her. She had an unreadable expression on her face, but the fire in her eyes was fierce. Determination, something he hadn't seen in a long time. She reached into her shirt, pulling out a slip of paper, placing it on the desk. She opened her scroll, pulling up the files she had taken from the CCT, the address of a local news site already typed into the email. She tapped the paper twice, gesturing for him to open it.
Leo read the paper, looking up at Neo with a look of intrigue. "You wish to know everything?"
She nodded, her thumb hovering over the send button. He leaned back in his seat, gesturing for her to close the scroll. "Sure, I can fill you in, if you want. It's not like I'm already dealing with the consequences of my actions. I only have one thing left to lose. However, this information is life-changing, it'll make you feel like there is no hope, and there isn't. Raven had a point when she told you to run and not look back. This is a secret I've been keeping for the better part of 50 years, a secret that haunts me to this very day. The truth behind Ozpin and the woman that creates the Creature of Grimm, Salem."
Location: Team RNJR's Apartment
Levi took deep calming breaths as he loaded Overture with ammunition. He started out with six energy bullets, which would help with his swings. It was a style he had developed with Shiva, and would increase his attack power. With Weiss's help, he had been able to fill his dust canisters, adding each one to his dust cylinder. He gave it a few tries, satisfied with how it worked. It was similar to Myrtenaster's cylinder, which he was thankful for. He was glad that he had learned to use Weiss's weapon, it would make things a lot easier for him.
"Alright, Levi. You didn't get much sleep, but that doesn't really matter. You are focused, alert, and about to fight one of your mentors in a real match. Remember what Neo taught you, and remember what Weiss said. Use your semblance. This is a real fight, not a match back at Beacon's combat arena." he thought, mentally psyching himself up. Weiss had a placid look on her face, barely showing emotion, but he could see judgment in her eyes. Not only was she fighting him as a test, but also to see how much he had improved. He wasn't going to let her down.
"Uh, Levi, are you sure you wanna fight Weiss in full combat?" Ruby asked, a look of worry on her face. "She's pretty tough, and had one of the best track records back at Beacon."
"Believe me, Ruby. I'm aware of how tough Weiss is, she's been teaching me how to hone my semblance. I think I got all of her tricks down though," he said with a wink.
"We'll see about that, mister. Remember, this is a full fight, we go on until either our aura breaks or one of us taps out. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am. I won't let you down." the faunus said, giving her a salute. Jaune stood in the center of the field, holding his hand up in the air.
"Okay, the battle will start in 3...2...1, go!" he cried, quickly leaving the field.
Just as he expected, Weiss sprung forward, aided by one of her glyphs. Her blade glowed a fiery orange as she swung at him, only for him to dodge it. He held his left hand behind his back, ducking and weaving as he dodged all of her thrusts and slashes. He waited for an opening, spinning on his heel, driving his boot into her ribs. She flew back a few feet, stopping herself with a black glyph.
Levi held Overture behind himself, pulling the trigger. The recoil was enough to launch him forward, flicking the lever down, he ejected the spent around, pulling the trigger a second time, sending himself into a spin. He activated Overture's blade, swinging it downward at Weiss who parried it with her own. They swung at each other, their strikes echoing across the room from how hard they were swinging. Levi angled Overture just right, pulling the trigger, the upward recoil sent his blade upward, just in time to deflect another strike. He drove his palm into Weiss's chest, an audible gasp filling his ears.
Overture's cylinder clicked softly, as he selected the Hard-Light element. He raced forward, his blade glowing brightly as he swung it outward, sending a dust-infused aura slash at Weiss, who used a backflip to dodge. She formed a platform beneath her feet, launching herself forward.
"Gotcha!" Levi said with a smirk, taking Weiss by surprise. As soon as she set foot on the ground, she saw the vermillion glow beneath her feet, letting out a gasp as she was launched into the air. Levi did the same, forming several light blue glyphs around Weiss, and with a snap, she was pelted with hundreds of small ice shards, all of them striking her body from every direction.
"Haah!" Weiss cried, forcing herself to spin, sending several stone shards outward at Levi, forcing him to jump back. His glyphs shattered, ending the barrage of ice keeping Weiss in place. She used her air step to catch herself before she hit the ground, redirecting herself with another glyph.
The miqo'te faunus reacted accordingly, angling his blade enough to deflect her hit. He returned her attack with one of his own, which she easily parried. Firing another round, he broke their clash, forcing the former heiress to retreat. She spun her rapier around, holding it straight up, running her fingers up the blade. His eyes widened, knowing exactly what she was about to do.
"Shit, she's going to use that. I haven't mastered that technique yet, but I can't let myself get nerfed by it." he thought, flicking his trigger forward. The cylinder spun for a few seconds, landing on the lightning gem, the blade glowing bright yellow. "Let's hope I can actually pull it off."
He closed his eyes as he channeled his aura into his blade, casting a glyph beneath his feet. The ground crackled for a second, as a golden clock face appeared in the center. Levi gasped as he felt a surge of energy flowing through his body, his eyes snapping open. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as several sparkles took shape around him, slowly expanding into the Schnee Family crest.
Everything returned to normal as Weiss shot forward, uttering a battle cry as she jumped from glyph to glyph, sending powerful strikes at Levi who parried them all in rapid succession, sparks raining around them with each heavy blow. With each pull of the trigger, Levi's swings increased in power, until he clashed with the former heiress, both pushing forward with all their strength, neither giving an inch. Suddenly, he heard the sound of glyphs forming behind him, and quickly broke off, crying in pain as rock and ice shards struck his back. Weiss jumped back, panting a bit as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Wow, those two are really going at it," Ruby said, impressed with how much her partner had improved. Weiss was still strong, poised, and had good form like she always had, but she could tell her strikes and her semblance had evolved. She was casting glyphs a lot faster than she had before.
"Don't forget Levi, his style and form are way different than what they were last year. His movements seem familiar though," Yang added. Oscar stood beside him, his eyes moving over each combatant, memorizing their movements.
"Impressive, right?" he heard Ozpin asked, causing him to nod slightly.
"Yes. I can tell they've trained very hard to reach the level of mastery they've achieved. It's especially interesting, especially since his style is different than what you described to me."
"Young Levi was a good fighter, but he never saw his own flaws. His mother taught him how to fight but she never realized her fighting style was not what he needed. His semblance was underutilized as well. It seems as though he is taking everything into consideration, and has become quite the fighter. I expect great things from him in the future." the old wizard said, sounding very happy. Oscar shared in his excitement, wondering where the faunus boy would go.
"Feeling tired yet, Weiss? You can tap out whenever you want." Levi taunted, as he slid some bullets into Overture. He had mixed all of the elemental ones together, to ensure his friend was caught off guard with every single round. Of course, he memorized which one was which, just like he had with Shiva. "Come on, I can tell you're getting tired,"
"Tch, don't get cocky, Levi. I may be a year younger than you but I've spent more time training with a rapier than you have," she replied. Two cylinders clicked softly, random dusts being chosen. "Well, I hope you are ready for me."
"Bring it."
Weiss ran forward, holding her rapier behind her back, swinging it with all her strength, a wind-enhanced aura blast being sent outward. Levi fired a wind bullet at the same time, canceling the effect out. He placed his hand behind his back as the former heiress thrust her sword at him. He angled Overture, using it to deflect her hits. He caught her wrist, spinning her around him, taking aim at her back. Weiss rapidly turned around, forming a hard light shield just in time to deflect the fire round.
She brought her sword down in a vertical slash, which he caught with his arm brace, allowing him to jab her with his rifle. She swept her sword upward, striking the underside of his weapon as he fired, a bronze shell casing being ejected. He smirked, waiting for the shell casing to hit the ground, and as it did, he activated his semblance, a swirl of sand shot upward, sending Weiss flying into the ceiling.
Weiss let out a cry as she cut through the sandstorm, taking several swipes at his neck, all of which he managed to avoid. He felt something underfoot, realizing it was one of his own shell casings. He ended up slipping, giving Weiss the proper opening she needed. She threw four powerful strikes at his chest, ending it with a rock dust-infused thrust that sent him flying out into the outdoor training ground.
"Ow, fuck! That hurt like shit." he inwardly cried, thankful his armor had muffled the strike. He shivered a bit from the cold, realizing he was outside in the rain. He peered at his scroll, which he had attached to his armor, displaying his own aura, which was several points below the yellow. He was at 40%. "I've been using more aura than I thought I was, shit."
Weiss was similarly doing the same, glancing at her own scroll. Her aura sat at 61%, despite that, she was a bit winded. She hadn't expected Levi to take this fight as seriously as he was. It actually made her proud, especially knowing the time she spent helping him wasn't wasted. She walked forward, not caring that it was pouring outside, in fact, it felt rather soothing. "You're holding up great, Levi. I'm glad to see you are taking this seriously."
"The fight at Haven will be a serious affair, like I said before, no more kid games. I'm not gonna let your hard work and Neo's go down the shitter," he said, sweeping his hair out of his eyes. "Let's continue, I saw you slipping earlier so I'm sure I'll win."
"What? Oh, you mangy alley cat! I'm going to get you back for that one!"
Levi let out a laugh as he darted forward, arm extended as his blade began glowing blue. He jumped into the air, doing a reverse somersault, sending the wave of water-infused aura at Weiss, who sent an ice one of her own forward, freezing the wave mid-air, causing it to shatter. The miqo'te caught himself with a glyph, shooting himself downward, aiming a thrust at the former heiress, who swept Myrtenaster hard, deflecting his strike.
He saw the glyph she had formed before him, seeing it glowing bright green in color. He flipped out of the way as a torrent of air flowing out of her sword, threatening to send him flying back. He fired his weapon to the right, using the recoil to send himself in a different direction. He darted forward, forming a path of glyphs toward his target, swiftly increasing his speed. Weiss spun her sword around, forming a hard light shield the moment he thrust forward. Several speedy jabs clashed against her shield, which broke moments later, causing her to somersault out of the way, avoiding one of his errant gunshots.
Taking a deep breath, Weiss calmed her nerves, slowly moving forward, leaping onto a glyph, using them as a stairwell of sorts as she climbed higher. Levi retracted his sword, aiming Overture at her platforms, firing at them. He shattered them in a single hit, though she managed to catch herself each time. His gun clicked empty, forcing him to reload. This gave Weiss enough time to enact her attack, shooting herself down like a rocket, she summoned her Armor Gigas, who grabbed her by her feet, throwing her forward at full speed.
"What the hell is she thinking? Is she insane?" he mentally shouted, as he switched dust types, forming a glyph shield before him. Weiss's strike was enough to shatter it, delivering a fierce strike to his chest that sent him sprawling back several feet. His aura flashed briefly, threatening to break on him.
He glanced down at his scroll, seeing his aura was at 19%. That last power hit had been enough to drain his aura by twenty percent, but he could tell Weiss had expended a lot of her own just to pull it off. At this rate, anyone could win. He shook his head after a moment, spinning his rifle around before sheathing it.
"I give."
"What?" Weiss asked, tilting her head. "Why would you forfeit?"
"Because you were winning, and it'll take longer for our aura to recover if we fully break it. We assessed our skills and I put some rounds through Overture. I think it was a good battle, even if it was a bit of a test run." he said, a smile on his face. Weiss stood stunned for a few moments, shaking her head in defeat.
"Very well, I suppose you do have a good point. Besides, we should get out of this rain, lest we catch a cold."
The pair moved back toward the indoor arena, earning praise from the others. Weiss was being congratulated on her win by her teammates and Nora, while the boys were with Levi, who was drying his hair and face off with a towel, inadvertently wiping away his makeup.
"You did well against Weiss, Levi. Though there were a few moments where you were hesitant. Do try to limit those going forward, hesitation isn't good on the battlefield." Ren said, earning a nod from the boy, once he had pulled his face out of his towel.
"I'll be sure to address that, Ren. Thanks for the advice."
"I've never seen someone pick up a new style so fast before. Just last year, you were this guy who was more focused on ranged combat, using your blade only when you needed to. But with Weiss, you weren't afraid to get in there if you needed to. You defended yourself perfectly. She only landed seven strikes during that entire fight." Jaune added, earning a frown from Levi.
"That's seven too many. Each one of those power strikes did a number on my aura. Even the repeated use of our semblances held no candle to those. I need to keep training, so I can avoid such hits." he said.
"Getting hit is a part of fighting, Mister Athan." the calm voice of Oscar, or rather, Ozpin, said. The young teenager stood before him, clutching his cane tightly in his right hand. "As Mr. Arc and Mr. Ren pointed out, you have done an amazing job adapting to this new style. It is leagues and bounds better than what you did formerly. Nevertheless, you still left yourself open to attack. Especially during moments of reprieve where you had to reload. Weiss could have easily disarmed you during those moments, do not let them become your downfall. Always seek cover if you must reload."
"Thank you, Professor, I'll keep that in mind." the silver-haired lad replied in an appreciative tone.
"Well, I'm glad to see your training sessions didn't go to waste." the familiar voice of Sienna said, as she entered the training room. Instantly everyone's mood shifted. Not that many seemed to trust her, but she didn't necessarily mind. "I wished I could have seen it, sadly I had big girl things to attend to."
"Did your contact get back to you?" Weiss inquired, running her fingers through her hair. It was still slightly damp but nothing she couldn't handle. "You left this morning in quite the hurry."
"Yes, they did, and I don't exactly have good news to share. Is Qrow around?"
"He isn't, I'm afraid. He said he was going to scope the city out in case some new huntsman showed up. I haven't heard from him yet, but I'm certain Miss Rose can contact him for us if you truly need him here," Ozpin said, causing the tigress to shake her head.
"We can just relay the information when he gets here. Well, kids, there's no way to sugarcoat it. The White Fang have changed their timetable, the attack is going to happen tomorrow night."
The result was instantaneous. Everyone went from varying degrees of shock and surprise to anger and worry. Levi rested a hand on the stock of his gun, while Ruby and Yang shared nervous looks. Sienna took a deep breath as she flicked open her scroll, handing it to Ozpin. "It seems someone breached Haven Tower and stole some sensitive information. What was stolen is unknown, but it seems to have worried Cinder and her motley crew, enough to push Adam to move the attack."
"Who could have possibly gone into Haven Tower and stolen information? And for what purpose?" Nora asked, a look of disbelief on her face. "I mean, the only reason someone would do that is if Professor Lionheart did something so bad that he had to hide it. And it's information that can be used against him."
"Someone likely wanted to get leverage on him. there is something else at play here, something that we aren't aware of. I'm afraid the Relic is no longer safe in Haven. We must plan accordingly so that we may retrieve it." Ozpin said, causing the others to frown.
"Didn't you say only the Spring Maiden can open the vault? If that's the case then how are we going to get it for ourselves?" Yang asked curiously.
"Hmm… that's a hard one, considering we don't know who the Spring Maiden is. Putting that into play, it means we have one of two options. Find the Spring Maiden and force her to open the vault, or we kill her so that Cinder can't access it." Jaune said, taking the others by surprise.
"Killing a Maiden? Is that possible?"
"Look at what happened with Pyrrha. She fought Cinder when she got her full power and even without training, she was able to kill her. We won't only have Cinder to fight, the Spring Maiden might be there too, that means we'll have to fight two fully powered and trained maidens." Ruby said.
"Can't we just have Ruby blast the two with her weird eye thingie?" Nora asked, glancing at the younger reaper. "You can do it, right Ruby? Just beam her like you did back at Beacon?"
"I'm sorry, what are you talking about?" Levi asked, clearly confused.
"Oh, Ruby has this special ability. When she saw Cinder…" Jaune paused, clutching the pommel of his sword. "When she saw her killing Pyrrha, she tapped into this power she didn't know she had. Not only did she blast Cinder, but she also turned that giant grimm to stone."
Levi remained silent for a moment, his heart rate quickening a bit. He didn't know why, but what Jaune had said sounded familiar. He recalled his mother speaking about a special trait, a trait that his race carried a long time ago, but the miqo'te of his generation seemed to lack. He turned back to Ruby, a look of curiosity on his face.
"Ruby, you have Silver Eyes?"
Her face went slightly pale as she gave him a nod. "How did you know?"
"You… don't know a lot about miqo'tes, do you?"
"Not really, but can you blame me? Not a lot of faunus of your race exist anymore. It's thought that only around 50 are left in all of Remnant, and most of them are in hiding." the red-cloaked girl replied.
"That's right, our race used to be abundant once, but after the first great war, our country, Eorzea, was destroyed. The survivors made it to what would later become Vacuo and populated some islands just outside of Sanus. I myself was born in a village south of Feldspar, but it was attacked. My mother left during that attack and found solace in Vale. Wasn't long after that she met Professor Ozpin, and she trained to become a huntress."
"Not that this isn't interesting, but how is this relevant?"
"Because Weiss, one of the traits the miqo'te race seemed to possess in the past was the ability to turn Grimm to stone, blast them out of existence and blind them. It was an ability called "Silver Eyes", and one out of every 10 miqo'tes possessed it. But something happened. Our race was repeatedly hunted by the humans, but only the silver-eyed ones seemed to interest them. Eventually, miqo'te in general were being killed off, since apparently, the trait was in our DNA. Whatever the case may be, you possess a very unique and special power, but sadly it can't help us unless there are Grimm present,"
"What Mr. Athan says is true," Ozpin added, walking around the group, holding his cane tightly as he walked. "One of the many missions I gave Professor Athan, his mother, was to find and protect as many miqo'tes as possible. They are an invaluable race, with the ability to use dust as if it was magic. They are more in tune with their aura, and are able to do a great many things with the proper training."
"Before you ask, no. I can't do feats of magic with dust, only miqo'te elders were capable of imbuing the new generations with certain techniques, and all of the ones in Eorzea were killed. These techniques are sadly, lost to history. My mother was untrained as well, so sadly I wasn't able to learn a lick of dust magic from her." Levi said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Kind of pathetic for what may be the last miqo'te on Remnant, huh?"
"Well?"
"Nora," Ren said, rather forcefully. The orange-haired girl flinched, a sheepish look on her face.
"Sorry, Levi."
"Don't worry about it, Nora. Even if I had the proper training, I doubt I could do anything that impressive. Back to the matter at hand, Ruby won't be able to practice those skills until she is in front of a Grimm. From what my mother said, it's all extremely emotional and activates based on that. I don't have much information, I'm afraid," he said, earning a grin from Ruby.
"It's alright, Levi, even this is enough. It's just so cool that I have some awesome peepers! I'll learn to blast lasers from them one of these days!" she excitedly said, earning some laughs from her friends.
"I'm at least glad this bit of information didn't make you all lose morale. We can't exactly back out now, especially given what's at stake. We all have our targets and we all have jobs. So let's plan accordingly so we can win the day. We may not win the war, but every battle we win will be better than nothing." Sienna said.
"I couldn't agree more, Miss Khan. Let us head upstairs, we need to discuss what our next steps will be, as well as ensure all of your weapons are primed and ready. Training is all well and good, but without facing a proper opponent, one will never truly improve." the wise professor said, causing his former students to start heading toward the stairwell.
As he walked, Levi heard his scroll beeping loudly. He reached into his pocket, pulling it open, only to see his messages were empty. Weiss stopped beside him, giving him an odd look. "Something the matter?"
"I thought I had a message," he said, pocketing his scroll. He reached into his back pocket, where he kept Aria's Notebook and Neo's scroll, pulling out the latter, seeing it was glowing slightly red. He opened it with a shaky hand, hitting the message icon, his eyes widening at what he saw. "Fuck me."
"Uh, something the matter there, Levi?" Yang asked, having heard his swear. He looked up at the blonde brawler, along with the others, all gazing down at him. His heterochromatic eyes settled on Professor Ozpin, who's frown deepened a bit. "Professor, I just got a message from Neo, I think she's the one who breached Haven Tower, and if what she sent me is true then…"
Ozpin simply held his hand out, accepting the scroll he had held out to him. He looked down at the device, reading the contents of the file that was attached. He sighed, shoulders dropping as he looked back at the students. "I'm afraid you were all right about not trusting Leonheart. If this is correct, he's involved in the deaths of all the huntsmen and huntresses that graduated from Haven Academy."
"Are you sure? You remember that girl was the one that tried to attack Ruby, do you think what she's saying is actually true?"
"Neo may be a criminal and may have killed people, Yang, but this is something she wouldn't lie about. There's an attached sound file, why don't you play it for us, Professor?" Levi asked. Ozpin tapped it, holding the device out for the others to hear.
"You want to know about the information in Haven Tower? Then that means it was you who breached it. All of it is true. When I joined Salem's side, I was scared for what she was going to do. She wanted me to leave the path open for her to take the Relic of Knowledge, but we couldn't have her do that with so many trained huntsmen and huntresses. So Doctor Watts came up with a plan, monitor the pro huntsman and faculty of Haven Academy and use their scrolls to find their locations. Then we would have one of Salem's henchmen kill them. Their scrolls automatically sent out the message and it was recorded here, in Haven's mainframe, but I changed the requests out in the courtyard to make it seem like they were in progress. I can't begin to express how sorry I am, but you have to understand. I did it because I'm scared. Salem can't be-"
The message cut off, bringing everyone back to reality. The look of disappointment on Ozpin's face was immense. He closed the scroll in his hand and gave it back to Levi, slowly turning around, heading back up the steps. "Nothing has changed students, we must strike tomorrow and retrieve that relic, at all costs."
With nothing left to discuss, the group of huntsmen and huntresses in training moved up to the living room, to plan what would surely be the toughest battle of their lives.
Location: Haven Academy
"And that's the truth. About everything, how Ozpin convinced us to become his trusted allies, how he hid the truth from us, and how we found out that Salem cannot be stopped, no matter what. She is a force of nature. She's been alive for far too long and he has been trying for just as long to kill her. Do you actually believe we stand a chance against something like that?" Leonheart asked.
Neo really didn't know how to react. She didn't know what to say, what to do, but what she had heard was astounding. That Nora girl wasn't lying, the abridged version of events lined up with everything Lionheart had said. Of course, she now had more details, but nothing had changed.
Salem couldn't be stopped. She had far too many Grimm and far too many people assisting her. Cinder was the Fall Maiden, a woman with actual magic who she stood no chance against. Finally, no matter what happened in the future, Salem would be one step ahead. She had waved war on humanity and no matter what you did, where you hid or what you did in life, you would never escape her. There wasn't a place on Remnant where you could hide once she had her eyes set on you.
She wasn't exactly shaking like a leaf, but she was frightened. Everything made sense, Cinder forcing Roman to work for her, Roman telling her not to mess with that woman. The mysterious benefactor that struck fear into the henchmen's eyes with just her voice alone. Cinder being able to make actual fire and mask it with her semblance. The fact she wanted to infiltrate Beacon Academy to find the true Fall Maiden and take what was left of her power. It all made so much sense.
There was no way to win against that. It wasn't just Cinder she was up against anymore. She had been too narrow-minded. If she fought Cinder, that would mean she would have to fight whatever henchmen Salem brought along with her. They had a former Beacon student with them, they had an Atlas doctor and technical genius on their side. They even had a mass murderer who loved nothing more than to kill people for the fun of it.
She couldn't win. No amount of training would help, her Semblance wouldn't be enough.
"I can see it on your face, Miss. You hide it well, but fear is something I can sense, It's something I have gotten used to, during my long life. Take my advice, run. Run and don't look back. You have a chance to start fresh somewhere else, take it, leave all of this behind you."
And she did. She took his advice and she ran.
She didn't look back. Everything around her was a blur as she raced through Haven Academy. The more she thought about what she had been told, the faster she ran. She ran and ran and ran, away from the main building, away from the apartments. Away from everything. Her body swirled pink as she activated her semblance, disguising herself as Blake Belladonna. She didn't care, she just didn't want anyone involved with Cinder to spot her.
"God, what am I doing here? I was stupid to think I could actually stand a chance against her. Me? Fight someone with bloody magic?" she thought, as she came to a stop, digging her heels into the mud. She looked around, noticing she was somewhere near the downtown district.
She had run so far in such little time? It didn't matter. She caught her breath, leaning against a nearby wall, the cold rain droplets sliding down her skin. She looked up at the sky, the rumbling clouds above weren't done assaulting the land below. And she doubted they would. She drew her scroll from her pocket, pulling it open, the black device glowing brightly as she composed her message.
"Levi, I know I did a lot of messed up things in my life. Me and Roman caused the deaths of thousands of people in Vale. I lied to you, and my actions ended up getting your friends and mother killed. For that I am sorry. I am immensely sorry. I will carry this guilt with me for the rest of my life.
I know we promised to be there when Cinder showed up so that we could bring her down together, but we can't. She can't be stopped, and neither can Salem. If you value your life and the lives of Weiss and Sienna, get out of there.
I hope we can meet again someday, but for now, I'm going to disappear. Perhaps that's what I should have done in the first place. That way, I wouldn't have met you, and I wouldn't have grown so attached and become your friend. I thought of you as nothing but a stepping stone, but you became someone else. My best friend and it breaks my heart having to ditch you like this. I'm sorry,"
She hit send and collapsed her scroll, shoving it in her pocket. She reached behind her back for her parasol, and flicked it open, disappearing into the busy streets of downtown Mistral. She spared a glance back, a single tear falling down her cheek. With a heavy sigh and a heavy heart, she turned around and kept walking forward.
Location: Two Kilometers South of Mistral
Adam was on top of the world. After everything that had happened, the many sacrifices he had made, and the many battles he had waged, he was ready. He was ready to show the world that faunus kind needed to be feared, and that humanity should tremble when they do so much as look at the faunus. This adrenaline high had been carrying him since the death of his former leader, and in her absence, he had been able to accomplish so much more than what she had been doing.
He had amassed a large force for the Haven Academy plan, had procured enough explosives, and was ready to blow the place to kingdom come. The only problem was that someone was sabotaging his magnificent plans. Several train cars had been uncoupled and lost, while some high-profile members had been either thrown off the train or silenced during the night. Despite this, he had managed to get plenty of foot soldiers for what was to come. All that was left to do was to rally them under the flag of the White Fang.
He made sure his mask was securely fastened to his face as he strode to the front of the camp. At least three hundred faunus had been rallied, the others having been sent to other places around the Kingdom. Various villages, ports, and cities that needed to fear the Fang. When he gave the final order and brought down Haven Tower, throwing Mistral into the darkness, Anima and the rest of the continents would learn to fear them. They weren't animals, they were the new leaders of the world. The New World Order was about to begin, with Adam at the helm and he was enjoying every single moment of it. He cleared his throat as he stood at the front of the camp, looking at each and every single masked member, all of them wearing similar uniforms and armor.
"Brothers and Sisters of the White Fang, as high leader, I made you a great number of promises. I promised you safety, security, and due payment for all of the suffering you have faced in the past. To my fellow dust miners, those who were driven inches before death mining precious Schnee Dust, your revenge is nigh!
I have promised you all the world and we are about to get it! Our benefactor has promised we can do what we wish with this continent, and make it a paradise for all faunus around the world. We will not bend the knee to the human menace anymore. And we will not let them cage us on an island that is 2/3rds desert! Everything will start falling into place.
The Fall of Beacon was but a precursor for things to come. We will go to Haven and we will bring it to the ground! We will show Anima that we are not people to fuck with! And once we have control of this entire continent, we will take the war to Atlas!"
"Yeah!"
"Down with Atlas!"
"Kill the Schnees!"
"Yes, brothers! Exactly! The Schnee Family will be among the first to pay for what they have done to us. We will march right to their mansion and we will make them feel the same thing we felt. We will make them mine in their precious dust mines. We will brand them with hot irons, and make them bear the mark of the White Fang! We will take their daughters and breed them like they bred our women and we will take their son and castrate him like they did to our men!
The might of Atlas spreads far and wide, but thanks to Salem, General Ironwood is pissing his pants! Once we kill Jacques Schnee and hang his head from the top of Atlas Academy, we will bring the entire city crashing into the ground! Mantle and its people will perish just like the countless faunus who had died since the Faunus Revolution!
We will not let them keep treating us like animals, we cannot let them keep treating us like dogs! We will make them pay! We brought down Beacon, we will bring down Haven and Atlas and Shade! We will not rest until every academy is destroyed. And when the humans beg us for mercy, we will finally be able to stand and laugh! Laugh at their misery how they laughed at ours! We will call them every racial slur in the book, and make them mine dust for us!
Brothers and Sisters of the White Fang, it is up to us to prove to the world, Tomorrow that we are not to be Fucked with. Let us bring Haven Tower down, and start our grand conquest over this broken world! Let us make the White Fang's name be feared across every continent. So that every man, woman, and child feels the fear that we felt when we were branded and chased like rats! Let us unite and fight! Let us claim what rightfully belongs to us! Let us teach the humans not to mess with the White Fang!"
"Hurrah!"
"Long Live High-Leader Adam!"
"Adam! Adam! Adam! Adam!"
The bull faunus stood behind his pulpit, a look of pride on his face. Not because of the men in front of him, but because he was where he was at. He was proud of what he had accomplished. And he would keep accomplishing everything he set his mind to. Haven Tower was just the beginning. The world was his oyster, and he was going to take it for himself.
xxx
"This is bad, Rocket," Azura muttered, as she looked away from her scroll. Thanks to their teammate, Tiana, they had gotten a live feed of Adam's speech. She felt a shiver go down her spine. Every word he said was spoken with such strength and determination that she felt fearful. Fearful of what could happen if he succeeded.
"Yes, it is." the raccoon faunus replied, wrapping an arm around her waist. He pulled her closer to himself, kissing her temple. "It'll be alright. The folks from Menagerie will be here at 6 am, it'll give us enough time to bring down this camp and secure Haven's campus."
"But, what if that isn't enough, what if they end up succeeding."
"They will not," a new voice said, causing the pair to jump in fright.
A dark-skinned young man stood behind them, his bright red eyes glowing slightly in the low lighting of the night. He had long black hair, which fell down past his shoulders and was tied at the end with a red ribbon. He was a muscular young man, with lean muscle mass, covered in thick green scales. Each of his digits had sharpened claws, all of them black in color. He wore a simple leather vest, which he left open, exposing some more of his partially scaled pectorals and abdomen. He was wearing a pair of black pants along with black combat boots.
This young man was Rogue, the final member of Team STAR, and Tiana's partner. He was a komodo dragon faunus, one of the strongest of his tribe and a top student in Shade Academy. He had a firm look on his face as he stood behind his friends, staring at the scroll in Azura's grasp.
"We are strong as a unified force, all of Adam's men are new recruits. I bet you none of them have even been in a fight. That will be his downfall. We took care of his trained men, and he only has a few of those left. It is far too late for him to jumpstart their training. That is where we will win."
"We've been training our people really hard too, Rocket. Don't count us out yet,"
"Blake!" the raccoon faunus cried, looking rather surprised when the black-haired cat faunus appeared behind him, along with Sun and Ilia. Azura gave her a tight hug, happy to see her close friend. "When did you get here?"
"We hitched a ride, my teammates were able to convince a family member to pick us up. We wanted to survey the area before the attack." Sun said, flicking his scroll at Rocket, who caught it with ease. "Detailed information about Haven Academy and the places of interest. Being a student there has its perks."
"So, you were the ones who breached the CCT?" Azura cried, causing Sun to shake his head.
"It wasn't us, all we know is that it's thrown the White Fang into a tizzy all over Anima. It works in our favor though. Since they are partially disoriented, that means they will stick close to the chain of command for the next order. And if we cut the head from the chain of command…"
"They'll be left all alone and defenseless, like newborn puppies. That's when the military will strike," Ilia said, finishing Sun's statement.
"Man, you guys are ruthless," Azura said, earning a giggle from Blake.
"Fire with Fire, if Adam hits us hard, we gotta hit back twice as hard and then some. For all we know, we might be the only ones that will defend Haven Academy."
"We've alerted the authorities, but they didn't believe us, saying an attack like that would take weeks to plan. I guess they'll have to see the academy on fire before they respond. We already have my team on standby, the moment it starts, they'll call the cops. That's when all of us go in." Sun added, earning a nod from Ilia.
"I'm already aware of the battle plan along with the explosives Adam is going to use. Disarming the bombs will be the easy part. It's keeping the Fang in a single place until the authorities show up. That's the problem. But Chieftain Belladonna will at least handle that for us."
"Then all we gotta do is wait until tomorrow night. I swear, it's going to be a long day for us." Rocket said, earning a chuckle from Rogue.
"Imagine being in Tiana's shoes. She's deep behind enemy lines and can't blow her cover, we can't do anything until we arrive at Haven. She's probably going to hate us for the next year and a half."
"Yeah, we're used to it. Besides, she's the one that volunteered, she didn't have to do that hard into character." Azura said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"We should go, we're too close as it is. If one of their scouts spots us, it's game over." Blake said, turning to leave. "Come on, we have some rooms rented out from the local village. We need to meet the train at the station by 7 am if we want to move smoothly, no taking big risks."
"Yes ma'am!" Rocket said with a salute, giving her cousin a grin. She rolled her eyes, exhaling through her nose as she walked away. Tomorrow would be the day, the day where she saw Adam face to face since the Fall of Beacon. The day that she had been avoiding for nearly a year.
"I'll fight him and I'll beat him. He needs to be stopped, and if I'm the one that has to do it, so be it. I'm not scared of him anymore, I can't afford to be." she thought to herself. She steeled her nerves, reaching into her pocket for an item she had started carrying around, a pocket mirror. She flicked it open with her thumb, seeing the smiling faces of Ruby, Weiss, and Yang on the lid. She felt herself start to smile. "Don't worry guys, everything will be fine. Lend me your strength, will you? I'm seriously going to need it."
xxx
"So that's the way of it," Qrow said, after pulling his flask away from his lips, screwing the top on. He looked at Ozpin and Sienna, the only adults that were still in the room. Sienna had a copy of the file that had been sent to Levi, the file that the former professor had just finished reading. "That damn coward sold them out."
"I cannot blame Leo for his reaction, but I also cannot condone what he has done. This kingdom needs strong people to fight against Salem's forces. I just wasn't expecting him to be the one to do this,"
Sienna fidgeted around nervously, not exactly knowing how to contribute to the conversation. She looked up just in time to see Qrow holding his flask to her. She gratefully accepted it, taking a long drink from it. "I apologize for not saying anything, I don't want to intrude."
"You aren't, Miss Khan. In fact, you have steadily become a reliable partner to have. I am very happy that Mr. Athan and Ms. Schnee brought you with them. The information you have gathered for us is invaluable."
"I'm glad to hear it, it's just… we're in deep shit. I had heard rumors from some members of the Fang that some Huntsman and Huntresses were going missing, but even I wasn't expecting this. I always thought Leonardo Lionheart wanted to fight for equal rights, especially when he won the council election all of those years ago."
"It goes to show how easy it is to backstab someone when the going gets tough. I always thought Leo was a pushover, but I never thought he'd do this." the huntsman said, glancing up at the ceiling. "I was expecting it from Theo, to be honest."
"Yes, Theodore has been known to act rashly from time to time given his upbringing. But at least he's kept in contact, and judging from what Glynda has told you, sticking to the plan. Even now we cannot ascertain what is going on in Vacuo. All we have is the news to rely on." Ozpin said, earning a chuckle from Sienna.
"It's hilarious how Vacuo is the only kingdom that still has its head screwed on right. Vale is still struggling with Beacon, Mistral is about to face something it hasn't seen since the war days, and Atlas…? Yeah, that place is slowly turning into a dictatorship. I don't know what kind of shit went down in Vale that has the General scared shitless, but what he's doing isn't right."
"James is like that, if it can't win with military force then he doesn't fight. At least the Staff of Creation is safe for the time being. But the last time we spoke, he told me the Winter Maiden was nearing the end of her days."
"Then we must handle our business here and pay him a visit, ensure he knows I have returned and things are flowing smoothly. Salem's influence may be spreading by the day, but I still believe there are good people out there. We must hang onto that belief, for it is the only thing we have left in this broken world." Ozpin said, rising to his feet. "It is late, it will be wise for you two to get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow, after all."
"Rest easy, Oz. We'll win this," Qrow said, giving the man a pat on the shoulder. His eyes flashed green, a slight yelp erupting from his lips.
"Dang it, I've told him to warn me when he's gonna give me control again," he said, a look of embarrassment on his face as he hurriedly left the living room. Qrow took another drink from his flask, holding it out to Sienna who once again took it.
"So, you think you're ready to fight Adam again?"
"Oh I am, I might not have an arm but that isn't going to stop me from caving his head in. It was my duty to guide him, and because of my lenience, he became what he became. So it is up to me to put him down."
"You make it sound like he's some rabid animal."
Silence lingered in the room as Sienna gulped down what was left of Qrow's whiskey, wiping her lips with her brace. Her ears flattened against her head as she stared at the wall clock, closing her eyes. "Yeah, it does. You aren't exactly wrong with that description."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be," she said as she stood up, stumbling a bit. "The bastard has it coming."
"Perhaps I should escort you back, the last thing I need is you smashing your head open on the concrete," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist. Sienna gave him a smile, running her fingertip under his jaw.
"I've never done it with a human, wanna blow off some steam before tomorrow? Trust me, I'll give you a better experience than whatever human female has ever given you."
Qrow's lips remained firmly pressed into a thin line. His eyes drifted to Sienna's ears, followed by her chest and finally her backside. The expression on his face slowly morphed into a grin, one that went from ear to ear. He didn't say a single word as he guided Sienna toward his bedroom. Even if they were on the brink of war, he could at least try to enjoy the little things.
A/N: Whelp, I managed to squeeze some time into my schedule to post a new chapter. Excuse the editing mistakes, I of course used Grammarly to correct things but it isn't perfect. I've been wicked busy settling back home and recovering from getting my Covid vax, that shit sucked, couldn't move my arm for three days lol. Can't wait to get my second shot, that should be fun. Anyway, I might post the next chapter tomorrow, since I'll probably be busy again soon. Regardless, I hope you are all having a good week, see you all soon!
