Chapter 4
Shelter.
The train arrived before it got dark as the remaining members of the party left with their stuff.
"Alright first things first find Ruby and the others."
Jaune said while thinking of a plan.
"They're not here yet."
Hiroki stated while behind the group.
"What do you mean?"
Nora questioned him.
"After the Battle Haven I can sense Shade's aura especially when he's using that Shadow Possession."
Erika looked down a bit.
"I have a feeling they're not going to be here for a while."
"Have some faith."
Jaune said, causing the group to look at him.
"Look, let's just find somewhere we can rest and hopefully the others will show up soon."
Ren stated.
"I might know a place."
Jaune said while looking at his scroll.
"Cmon."
He started to lead the group.
Erika stayed behind.
She felt a familiar presence watching her.
Hiroki noticed Erika wasn't moving.
"If you don't want to get left behind you should catch up."
Hiroki said to his teammate.
"Uh right."
Erika ran past Hiroki who looked behind him.
A hooded figure was hidden from Hiroki.
'Soon.'
The figure said as they disappeared.
Meanwhile…
Qrow had kicked open the door of the big house and everyone ran in.
Most of them had their weapons drawn but Shade didn't.
He just walked in and looked around.
Dawn gave Shade a questionable look as she saw how calm he was.
"Close the door already!"
Maria shouted.
"It's cold enough in here as it is."
Blake Oscar and Weiss barricaded the broken door.
Shade had gone upstairs well aware a certain Faunus was following him.
"Would it be safer down with the others you know?"
He said without looking behind him.
"They don't seem to like me very much, especially the blonde one."
Shade turned to her.
"What did you do to her exactly?"
Circa shook her head.
"It's a long story."
"Well it seems were going to be here a while so you have time to-"
Shade was interrupted by a scream.
"What the?"
The two quickly ran to where the scream came from.
Weiss had entered a room and found a couple of dead bodies in the bed.
Shade and Dawn had no reaction to this.
As well as Circa surprisingly.
"There's definitely more to this house than meets the eye."
Dawn said as she walked in.
"Hey what are you-"
Blake said before Shade stepped in front of her.
"Let her do it."
"Why are you letting her examine them?"
Yang questioned.
"I've known Dawn for a while, we've talked a lot about what we can do and people like her."
He turned to Dawn as she examined the bodies.
"Are great at finding out how people died."
Weiss was still shaking a bit.
"We should leave her to her work. She'll tell me if she finds anything."
Ruby helped Weiss out of the room and the rest of Team RWBY left shortly.
Shade noticed how unfazed Circa was at what just happened.
"You didn't react to this?"
He questioned.
"It's something I'm used to."
She said while she looked down.
"Huh?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
Circa said before she ran back downstairs.
Shade sighed and looked back at Dawn.
She had finished her examinations and walked towards Shade.
"So what's the verdict?"
"It appears they froze to death but there's something else, I can't tell what."
"That's not good."
"For now let's just say they froze, the last thing we need is anymore worry."
Shade nods at this.
"I agree and besides I have my hands full at the moment."
He started to walk back down before Dawn stopped him.
"Do you still not know why she was searching for you?"
"No and currently the questions just keep piling up."
Shade was a bit concerned.
"I haven't had this many questions since"
"Since before your Shadow Possession."
Dawn said.
Shade was a bit surprised.
"Shade."
She leaned against a wall.
"Whenever you entered your state Ozpin said your only focus was on your goal."
"Which at the time was revenge against Cinder."
"Exactly and if i didn't tell you anything i had a feeling you would have killed anyone who got in your way."
Shade eyes widened.
"What makes you say that?"
"You acted completely different back then to a point where I knew you wouldn't hold back."
Shade remembered the blood on his blade back at Haven.
He shook his head.
"What's your point in all this?"
"I'm just saying taking your time with Circa might be the best way to get any answers and…"
"And…?"
Shade questioned.
"I don't want you to use Shadow Possession anymore."
Dawn stated.
"I know it's dangerous, believe me when I say this power is haunting me even now."
"Haunting you?"
She questioned.
"I don't know much yet but let's just say I've been very careful with how I use my powers for this reason."
Shade looked Dawn in the eyes.
"Look i'll try my best to avoid using Shadow Possession if i can control it but even on the train i had no control of it, it just happened."
"Then you need to control it, fight it if you have to."
"Believe me, I'm fighting it, I'm in control."
Dawn nods at this.
"Good, c'mon we have to tell the others what's going on.'
A bit of time passed.
Qrow had searched the houses and found bodies in beds that appear to have died the same way.
Dawn told the group that the bodies she examined definitely freeze to death.
"We're not staying here right?"
Weiss questioned.
"We don't have a choice, the storm outside is just getting worse."
Qrow stated.
"I have a feeling we'll be fine as long as we're careful."
Dawn stated.
"So no one do anything risky and no one goes off alone."
Most of the group agreed to this.
"Kinda surprised she's calling the shots. I thought you were the leader."
Yang said to Shade.
"When she's determined nothing can stop her, I know that as much."
Shade saw Circa sitting on the couch with Maria.
Maria got up and began looking through books.
Ruby suggested searching for supplies.
Yang and Blake went off in one group and Ruby and Weiss in another.
Shade sat on a different couch and removed his gauntlets causing a bit of a thud on the floor as he carefully placed them down.
This got Circa's attention as she saw how heavy they were.
"How did you wear those?"
Circa questioned.
"I've had a lot of training with these, they slow me down but I hit a lot harder and my defense is better."
Shade explained.
"I am a lot faster when they're off though."
He smiled a bit.
"When did you last take them off?"
"Back on the train but not for very long."
He rubbed his arms a bit.
"I don't like removing my Gauntlets often, i just feel"
"Weaker?"
Circa said with a bit of sorrow.
"Yeah, when I first made my gauntlet was when I wasn't alone anymore."
He smiled a little.
Circa moved and sat next to Shade.
"I've been alone for a long time."
She said while looking down.
"Cause you were searching for me?"
Shade questioned.
"No."
She responded sadly.
"My power isn't exactly for being around people."
Her fox ears went down a bit.
Shade realized he made her upset.
"Sorry I didn't mean to bring up a bad memory."
"It's ok."
"I was alone for years even when I had people around me, I just didn't get along with anyone."
Circa's ears moved up a bit.
"You get along with her though."
She pointed at Dawn.
"Yeah she's great."
He smiled a little before turning to Circa.
"We seem to get along well now."
"I guess."
Circa said before looking down again.
"Loneliness is some of the worst kind of pain."
Shade remembered one of the shadow chains that was around him.
"But when you find the right people stick with them and even if they leave they're still with you and they'll find you again."
Circa gave Shade a curious look.
"That's specific."
"It's a long story."
"Well it seems we're going to be here a while so you have time to tell it."
Circa gave Shade a grin.
"I walked right into that one."
Shade chuckled.
"Alright listen closely cause i don't plan on repeating it."
As Shade begins to tell Circa everything that's happened between Volume One and Volume Five, Dawn watches them with a slight smile on her face that turned into a concerned face as she looked outside feeling something else was going on outside.
AN:This chapter was heavy on character development, mostly on Shade's relationships. For those wondering when I'm going to reveal Circa's story. Well that's going to happen eventually but for now we're focusing on character development. Next chapter should be more action oriented and I know I should be doing more with Hiroki and Erika but I'm honestly struggling to find a balance between their side of the story and Shade's group's story. When they eventually reunite we'll see but for now. Until next time.