Arc II: The Knight Life
Chapter 14: Honour Among Thieves
"Hey! What's the hold up? We're not exactly the most inconspicuous thieves at the moment, so maybe why don't you animals try and pick up the pace?"
If any of them showed any offence to his choice of words, he didn't see any of it, courtesy of the masks they wore to conceal their identities. As he considered himself something of an expert regarding fashion, wearing those was, by his standards, outright garish. But, after also considering that he cared little about the White Fang goons who wore them, he supposed he should be thankful they at least did their job.
Sighing, Vale's bowler hat rocking master thief took a final puff of his cigarette, leaning on the side of the Bullhead entrance and looking around the docks. Yet, either the cigar brand dipped in quality or the stress was reallygetting to him as the nicotine and tobacco seemed to be less potent than before.
...but then again, this wasn't just like any other regular dust heist that he was on before. Brothers, it wasn't like any job he'd done before.
"How did it come to this, huh, Neo?" Roman Torchwick announced to the air around him, dropping the cigarette and stomping the ashes out. Several seconds later, the air beside him seemed to shimmer before a small girl with chocolate and pink berry hair - with equally mismatched eyes - stepped forth, tilting her head at the taller man with a confused expression.
"Where did we all go wrong? Weeks ago it was just. So. Simple. Rob a dust store here, a weapon shop there, then go home with nothing to fear!" he complained, lazily twirling around his gun cane as he disembarked the Bullhead.
"And now we have to deal with increasing security with the Vytal Festival, White Fang monkeys who are literally as useless as the animals they look like and Cinder won't even tell me exactly what kind of cargo we're importing, much less why we're doing this in the first place!"
He felt a hand gently pat his arm, and upon looking down saw Neo glancing up at him with a concerned expression.
Roman sighed, rubbing his temples and softening his gaze before slightly lowering his voice. "Yeah. I know. Thanks. It just feels...wrong, like something's off. And you know me. I hate taking a job without knowing all the ins and outs. Something we're doing exactly now, and...well. You know why I hate it, from back then."
He stepped off the Bullhead, Neo following beside him with a look that crossed between curious, sympathetic and determined. The orange haired thief patted her shoulder. "Go on ahead and take overwatch, Neo. I'll take it from here."
With an imperceptible nod, her body and the air around her shattered as she used her Semblance to teleport to Gods-knows where. Careful to not let the animals in front see him like this, he once more plastered that cocky smile on his face that the Valean media and public grew to know him for - alongside a host of his various criminal enterprises. Wading into the dispersed groups of White Fang grunts, he gazed at them all with a critical and demeaning eye. Officially, their job was to steal as much dust as they could from the yard. Originally meant to be used in the Vytal Festival, this shipment had arrived in tandem with some students from some of the other kingdoms, as evidenced by the giant snowflake emblem of the Schnee family emblazoned on the side of the shipping container.
But he knew that it was also a secondary objective. According to Cinder, she had contacts in Atlas add a little extra cargo to the shipment, hidden amongst all the dust on top. It was these packages that he was to extract first and without question regarding its purpose.
"Well, the operation's going smoothly so far. At least that bitch gave me the serials to the sea cans they're in."
Upon hearing a metal door open he looked around and found several goons stream-out of a container with blank, inconspicuous looking suitcases and jars of various coloured dust. Before a few more empty handed ones could go in, however, he whistled over and snapped his fingers.
"Oi! You four! Over here. See that container over there? There's something important at the back of that one, as are with these," he shoved his scroll into the faces of the White Fang who gathered around him. "Get those before you steal any of the dust."
The goons silently nodded before the one to his furthest right cocked his head towards the container and the four ran off, with Roman following and watching as they began making quick and quiet work of what would've otherwise looked like a heavy duty lock designed to prevent theft in the first place.
"Huh. These ones look more competent than the others I've had before, even than Junior's own men. Probably that bullhorned freak's doing."
But just as the thought passed his mind did he feel his sense of caution and combat kick into play, vaguely hearing the footsteps of somebody trying to stealthily rush him from behind.
Narrowing his eyes, he pulsed his Aura to his back and prepared his cane to defend himself, but before he could fully turn around, his assailant was already on him, and held the cold, black steel of a blade to his neck. Grunting in surprise, held himself still despite his shock giving way to immense annoyance. Hearing the commotion, the terrorists quickly dropped their cargo and rushed towards him.
"The fuck -"
"Nobody move!" A young, feminine voice called out, causing them to halt and brandish various swords and guns. "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this...this scum?"
At her address, the goons seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, two of them taking a quick glance at each other before raising their weapons once more.
"Huh? She sounds a little young to be a real Huntress. Is this the best that Beacon and Vale have right now?"
He cleared his throat and subtly flicked Melodic Cudgel's safety off. "Hey, take it easy there, little lady. Aren't you being a little too harsh?"
She ignored him and pressed her blade tighter against his throat, scratching faintly against his Aura. "What's going on here? Talk, Roman!"
"It's called business. You know, something which grownups do to make sure they have food on the table when they get home and have a little money left over," he sniped. "You see, the White Fang and I so happen to be going on a joint business venture."
"And tell me what it is or maybe I'll put an end to your little operation."
He glanced to the right and saw the telltale signs of moving, distorted air making its way towards him while the faint whirring of scramjet engines grew louder with each second.
"Gasp! I'm offended you think it's little. I believe I'm a bit more successful than that," he mockingly replied, nodding to the faunus in front, the ones with guns to cocking them in preparation to fire. The girl behind him held him tighter and forced him to retreat a step back, but not once did he feel threatened at all. Mainly because a couple of his Bullheads chose to fly over them at that exact same time, hovering in front of them and drowning the area with wind and noise.
"W...what the..."
A smirk he'd been holding in finally spilled over as he felt her grip slacken for just a moment. In that instant he sharply butted his head back, eliciting a pained oof from the girl and sending her staggering back. Jumping forward out of the line of sight from the White Fang grunts, he took in her measure: a young, black haired faunus girl who now looked just as pissed as the cat she took her heritage from - and then unwillingly dunked in a tub of water.
As she made to rush him, however she let out another pained cry as the distorted air which snuck up beside her morphed into another girl - this time with pink and chocolate hair - and was promptly roundhouse kicked flat into a container.
Neo hopped back with a cruel smile on her face, unsheathing her parasol's hidden blade and nodding to his raised eyebrow.
"We got most of the cargo off? Good. And as for you, miss alley cat, have to say you've gotten on my nerves just like another little red thorn I know. And good heavens, would you look at the time! There's none left over for you to stay in my way!"
Downed by the container and glaring back at the master thief, Blake grit her teeth as Roman Torchwick and the White Fang pointed their weapons at her and fired. The docks lit up in a torrent of gunfire and pink explosions.
()===|=====+
It was supposed to be a fun night in the town, the best way to end a long week of increasing schoolwork. Instead, Weiss found herself slicing through the air along a line of glyphs as if it were nothing more than a race track. Rooftops and environmental light from below blurred by until they slowly gave way to darkness and the flat, dull appearance of the industrial district closed down and empty for the weekend.
It was going so well too; she didn't know how it was brought up but shortly after they all met back up - sans Pyrrha and Jaune, who Ren said were still out and about - the topic of faunus and the White Fang came up in conversation again, seemingly continuing after being left off back in the cafeteria a couple days ago. From both sides did verbal poison rear its ugly head, along with a revelation that shocked them all down to the core: Blake herself was faunus, and once belonged to the organization she, at times, seemed so adamant in defending. Funnily enough, most of said shock came from Blake herself, probably because she didn't expect to blurt it out in the middle of their heated exchanges.
And then she ran away, with Sun trying to follow behind her. The fact that they didn't have his scroll number as well meant that they couldn't just ping him right then and there, forcing them all to split up to cover more ground. But even as she joined Ruby and Yang atop a roof with full view of the White Fang and their missing friend, she couldn't help but prepare to fight two wars at the same time: one to save her teammate, and one to keep her head in the game.
Though she would forever hold a grudge against the White Fang who attacked her family and killed her company's workers, she couldn't find it in herself to harbour resentment against Blake, especially as she stammered and tried in vain - almost pleaded, really - to let her know that she left precisely because it became too violent, destructive and, almost ironically, just as racist as the people they said they claimed to fight against. Instead, what hurt more was that in the end...she was part of her team. Even though she's a member of the White Fang…. Or was. And even though it technically wasn't, only learning about her history and heritage now almost seemed akin to betrayal, and that hurt her in a way she never expected, even if they weren't even that close from the start.
Weiss scratched her head and sighed in frustration at the swirls of emotions within that she fought to keep still, especially as it was precisely not the time to think about such things.
The guns of a congregation of White Fang and the telltale hair of Vale's most renowned criminal were firing at Sun shielding a downed Blake from behind a container that bore her family's name. Beside them, Ren was busy holding off several masked bandits attempting to flank them while Nora peeked out from cover and fired several more grenades, forcing Roman and his goons to go and seek cover. Ruby coughed lightly before putting a foot on the edge of the building.
"Wait, Ruby, don't -"
Their team leader put one foot on the edge of the building and called out to their friends, waving a hand. "Blake! Hey, guys! Are you okay!?"
The people down below looked up, with Sun and Nora waving back while some of the White Fang raised disengaged and took up positions against them instead. Yang shot her a glance and a wink.
"Don't worry, Weiss-cream. Just a distraction."
"Oh, yeah! Never been better!" Sun called down from below. "Just, you know, in a bit of a pickle here! "
"Ah, hello, Red! Isn't it a bit past your bedtime to play superhero?" Roman joined in, pointing Melodic Cudgel at them. "Time to go to sleep, ladies!"
"Yang, Weiss! From the sides!"
"Heh. On it!" her sister replied, deploying her gauntlets and jumping towards them, firing off some shots the moment Roman and the White Fang began firing back. Ruby took cover and began laying down suppressing fire while she utilized her glyphs to create a path down the building.
Sliding down with grace, she ducked and weaved under the White Fang's shots before her assailants were knocked back in a burst of bright pink light. The Valkyrie from Team JNPR chose to announce her presence then, hollering with a whoop as she charged out of cover, transforming her weapon into its hammer form mid-flight and knocking more of her assailants away.
An angry shout heralded an incoming strike as a goon swung his sword but she gracefully dodged to the side, only to duck as another goon behind her opened fire, aiming for an easy headshot. In an instant she swirled around and spawned a glyph which knocked back two others charging her from behind. She then used it to propel herself forward and blindside her original target and deflect another strike from beside her.
Her eyes widened as she watched her opponent activate his Aura, and in the moment, she was forced back as he saw her surprise and took the advantage. Intensifying his attacks and putting her on the back foot, they struck, parried and dodged in a well practiced routine, eventually locking blades amidst the ongoing chaos.
"Your blood will be mine, Schnee. It's all because of your lot that we suffer, and I will gladly be the one to avenge them!"
"Look who's talking! You are terrorists and the scum of Remnant. You will not threaten innocent lives any longer!"
"Tell that to the people your family enslaves and kills in your mines!"
The White Fang grunt used the distraction to headbutt her, dazing her for a second. In that instant he dropped his sword and threw a hook that sent her down with a cry. Stars danced in her vision as she came to with Myrtenaster several feet away out of reach.
The grunt removed his mask and looked down at her balefully. She stared back as fear and disbelief welled up in her heart at the sight of the initials SDC branded straight across his forehead, leaving behind a nasty and graphically potent scar.
Freezing, the world seemed to blur as she focused her tunnel vision on the initials of her family's legacy.
"What...no...why...it can't be!"
"Pitiful last words, even for a Schnee," he sneered, drawing a small knife. "Mother...brother...this is for you."
"No!"
He delivered a loud oof instead as Ruby slammed full force with Semblance enhanced speed, knocking the bandit down and out of the fight. Breathing heavily, it took her an extra second to realize that her partner had run back up to her and extended a hand.
"Weiss! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"It's just, I can't believe it...it can't be true!"
"What can't be true? What are you talking about?"
"The White Fang, my family's company, and then...this!" she waved her arms in exasperation before she calmed and slowed her breathing. "I-I'm sorry. I suppose it's just a little hard to accept."
Ruby's face settled in grim determination, putting a hand on her shoulder to help steady Weiss' frantic breathing, looking even more worried when it seemed to startle her.
"Look, um, you know I'm not exactly the best with politics and all that other complicated stuff," Ruby giggled with some embarrassment. "But right now, Roman and the White Fang's attacking our friends and I need my partner to help them with me. After we're done we're all gonna sit down and talk about this. Okay?"
The heiress looked at her then, Ruby smiling kindly and holding Myrtenaster out for her. Nodding, she took the blade back, its familiarity helping to return her to the immediate situation.
"Right. I understand."
With a grin, Ruby nodded before speeding off down towards the rest of the fight. To her relief, it looked like it was under control as well; Torchwick, Huntsman trained as he was known to be, was holding his own, fighting off Sun and Yang in a flurry of powerful blows though he was fighting a retreating battle. Ruby rushed to strike a goon encroaching on Ren from behind, who was with Nora as they both held off a small wave of reinforcements from some of the Bullheads behind them.
She narrowed her eyes, and with a glyph, dashed into the fray once more.
()===|=====+
Orange Aura flashing, Roman Torchwick was knocked back by a very much recovered Blake Belladonna, slamming hard and painfully into the side of the Bullhead. Leaning on his gun cane to stand back up, he frowned, gritting his teeth and spitting to the side. Most of the cannon fodder - ahem, hired help - provided to him were incapacitated, strewn around the docks. The few remaining goons were either already in the Bullheads, ready to escape or merely being obstacles against the unstoppable wave that was the local Beacon student population. With the intervention of little Red and her equally obnoxious teammates, their operation ground to a complete halt.
And now, one very irate cat faunus began advancing upon him with a frown, sword-whip-gun combo at the ready.
"Seriously, these kids are getting weirder by the minute. Have they no appreciation for the classics at all?"
"Ah, ah, ah. I don't think that'll do you anymore favours, Roman. You've lost. Give up. Now."
He made to retort before smirking and chuckling to himself, taking out a cigar and increasing the disgust evident on her face.
"What's so funny?"
"Just thinking about how you always seem to be a magnet for trouble, my little alley cat!" Roman laughed as Neo phased behind Blake through use of her Semblance while holding several suitcases. Because of her surprise the pink and chocolate terror gleefully walloped the side of her head, knocking her down in front of Roman. "And I assume you got the rest of the cargo?"
She nodded, tossing them into the open hull.
"Well done, Neo. That's an extra tub of ice cream I'll get for you tonight," Shame we didn't get more dust, though, but best count our blessing where they land," Roman winked as she made an expression akin to a kid clutching a terrifyingly close online videogame match. Seriously, Neo was way too damn good at the thing.
"Shame we couldn't get more of the dust, though," he sighed theatrically and each word rising in volume as the students closed up shop and now ran over to circle them, stopping a good distance away out of fear for their friend's safety. The sounds of battle faded away to angry cries as he jolted the dazed huntress-in-training from the ground, holding her hostage as Neo held the cane sword to her throat.
"And I wonder why that could be!" Roman all but yelled towards the students in front of them.
"Blake! No!"
"Damn it, Torchwick! Hurt her and I swear you'll fucking regret it! Quick, Ruby, use your Semblance!"
Amongst the various protests one stepped forward, and was the only one besides little Red - or Ruby, if he was to grace her with her name - that he recognized. Barring the dust thefts he had yet to conduct his business against any of the Schnees directly as it was also literally quite dangerous. Definitely worth the price for a hostage, but with the combined forces of two kingdoms and the most powerful company on Remnant, well, he wasn't sure how long he'd last anyway. Especially since she stood armed with the rest of them.
"Let my teammate go, Torchwick. Your criminal reign ends here."
"Not so fast, snow white. Plus last time I checked, I was just returning the favour as per good business practice," he grunted after Blake stirred and tried driving an elbow back. He tanked it with his Aura and tightened the hold on her neck.
"Sto - Hrk! Hng!"
"Now you know how it feels, eh? I take it's not so pleasant a feeling."
The girl who was presumably her partner stepped forward and aimed her gauntlets at them, eyes red and hair glowing. "Bastard! Let her go this instant!"
Roman shrugged. "Okay."
"And don't you - huh?"
"Yeah, no problem. I'll let her go," Roman replied, earning slightly dumbfounded looks from her friends. "In a fucked up world like this, I do what I need to do to survive. That being said, I don't know what they're teaching you back at Beacon now besides how to be naïve, so I say it's time for a real world, practical life lesson."
He smirked and gave her over to Neo, causing them to take a step forward with weapons at the ready but no less hesitant at any sudden movement. Subtly, he eyed Ruby and prepared his mental plan accordingly. "Didn't say how I'd give her back, so, Neo, off her and let's be done with it!"
Before they could react, he quickly hefted Melodic Cudgel and shot multiple mini-explosive rounds into the ground in front of them, taking special care to fire in little Red's direction first to buy them some time. Accordingly, he disoriented the lot of them, but only temporarily.
"Ack - wait, No!"
"Damn it, no! Blake!"
"Quick! Get them!"
She roughly forced Blake on the ground, earning a pained cry from her hostage and furious replies from her teammates.
"So long, kiddos!" Roman called out as he hopped into the Bullhead. "Hope you guys have a fun time learning! Pilot, get us out of here!"
The Bullhead began to hover, lifting several feet of the ground and the powerful engines at work driving more of the airborne dust into their faces.
"No, stop! Stop her!"
"Blake! NO!"
Neo cruelly smirked, raising her sword and driving it down -
The weapon was sent flying instead as the crack of a rifle in the distance disarmed her, the shooter sending it flying out of her grip and saving Blake.
Cursing, he looked around the horizon, noticing another flash from a nearby rooftop. He jumped to the side and landed roughly amongst the suitcases just in time to dodge another shot, ricocheting inside the metal hull instead of around his ribcage. Scrambling for the entrance, he met a hail of return fire and Neo acrobatically dodging and ducking her way back inside with weapon recovered. His irritation exploded into fury as he saw that the cat faunus wasn't dead as expected, instead having been carried off to the side by an unarmoured blonde haired swordsman whose profile looked vaguely familiar.
"Richter...is that you?"
The Bullhead then shot up into the air, out of direct reach from the students below. Propelling itself into the night sky out of harm's way, he sat down amidst the cargo, with Neo stepping over busted suitcases, broken vials and odd purple liquid before she plunked down beside him.
After a moment he lit a cigar and puffed for a few seconds as the nicotine joined with the adrenaline still running through his veins. Taking a deep breath and bracing himself, he reached for his scroll and gingerly dialed a number.
"Hey there! So great to hear from you again. So, about that job…"
()===|=====+
"Jaaauuuunnne!"
A speeding object crashed into Jaune at high velocity. Fortunately, since said projectile was Ruby shaped, a side effect of which were the numerous crimson rose petals left in its wake, it did little more than nearly sending him falling to the ground. Instead, he stumbled back into Pyrrha, who absorbed most of the impact and helped pry Ruby off his shoulders.
The aptly named leader of Team RWBY pouted and crossed her arms. "Jaune, you're late! Where were you? Torchwick was here, and then the White Fang, and we all had this big fight and stuff and you both missed it!"
"Yeeaah. Can't run into battle without our fearless leader, you know?" Nora chimed in with a sarcastically raised eyebrow, a hand on her chin and a suspicious glint in her eye. "What were you guys doing?"
Pyrrha nervously chuckled while Jaune stepped forward with a slightly red face. "I-it's not what you're thinking, Nora," he stammered, holding his hands up as she raised her eyebrow higher. Even Ren, impassive as he schooled his facade allowed a little curiosity to shine through.
"We got your text and all, but the traffic was kinda bad on the way. A lot of people panicked with the explosion and sounds of fighting, plus we ran into some people trying to loot a couple stores during the chaos. We came when we saw Torchwick holding Blake hostage, and, well, we figured stealth was the best way to go about it since you guys had his attention." He held up his breastplate and looked to Pyrrha, who nodded back. "And hey, it worked, right?"
"Hmm, it sure did," Nora agreed, looking around the debris, cargo and unconscious goon-filled docks which were quickly filling up with incoming city police cars. "And you didn't even need a cardboard box to do it."
"Nora, this isn't -"
"Look, Weiss, it's not what you think," Yang's voice carried over with a somewhat nervous tone, causing them to look behind to see Blake and sitting down on several boxes while Weiss stood in front of them all, the blonde girl trying to plead with her. "Yeah, she actually has kitty ears under her bow and I think they're kinda cute, but she said she left the White Fang -"
The heiress pushed past, coming in front of Blake who arose accordingly to meet her. The rest of them walked over, and as he looked around, Jaune noticed that from the looks of it everyone joined him in sharing concerned or worried expressions. His own eyes grew in surprise when he looked over to Blake, finally noticing that two fluffy cat ears took the place of her bow. Making the connection, he nudged Ruby with his shoulder.
"Is this...? Is she really a faunus?"
"Yup," Ruby replied, popping the 'p' at the end. "It's, ah, kind of a long story but I think it's best if we listen."
"Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang," Blake continued for them with a desperate tone to her voice. "Back when I was with -"
"Stop," Weiss interrupted. "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you? Where we thought you'd gone and how worried we were?"
"Um -"
The heiress gestured behind them to the scene of their battle. "With the past several hours and especially all this, I've decided that I don't care."
They all shared confused looks, looking momentarily at a loss for words.
"Um, you don't care?"
"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"
"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger and -"
"Ah, ah, ah! I don't want to hear it!" Weiss waved dismissively. "I know we both haven't gotten along since Initiation, but we're in this together now. Just, next time there's something big, or important...come to us. Your team. And I don't still don't know how I feel about you!" she suddenly jarred in, pointing a finger at Sun and earning an embarrassed chuckle.
"Heheh, don't worry, it's okay," Blake laughed, lowering Weiss' arm. "Sun's, um, interesting, and...kinda funny," she whispered the last bit, "but he's nice. And he did save my life earlier."
Stepping back, she wiped an eye and gave a small, genuine smile which Weiss reciprocated. "I promise. And thank you, Weiss."
"Hooray! Team RWBY's back together!" Ruby cheered, raising her arms and earning a similar whoop from Yang as she walked to stand by her teammates. Smiling at the scene, Jaune turned to his own team, content to let his sister team have their moment. A memory also came back to him, prompting him to turn to the voice in his head.
"I guess you knew all along, eh, Link?"
I had my suspicions. The bow on her head looked out of place, even for a disguise. But be on your guard. Not all of the enemy has been defeated.
"Wait. What? What do you mean?"
"Well, decent way to end the week, I guess. At least we have the weekend to sleep it off," Ren commented, breaking his thoughts and earning an exaggerated yawn from Nora as she deliberately fell against him and moaned about battle fatigue. Snorting, he took a good look around the area; by now the police had begun taking some of the White Fang who were stirring to, though there was no doubt that the area was in need of serious repairs. It seemed that RWBY, Sun and his team managed to halt what appeared to be a major theft as evidenced by the multiple jars and bags of dust, along with several broken open suitcases strewn about the area. A murky, viscous looking liquid, presumably the contents of the vials that they carried, seemed to writhe in on itself in their stagnant pools.
But what immediately worried him was the goopy puddle he was looking at started, for a lack of a better term, rising, like if it were an extremely unappetizing bread in an oven. Looking around, with the sounds of his friends talking slowly fading into the background, his eyes widened as the various pools of murky liquid all began following in kind.
Most importantly, there was that faint sense of knowledge that coursed through his mind. The familiar warmth of the Triforce slowly grew underneath his glove, all but confirming the possibility that dawned on him.
Jaune. Prepare yourself. There is darkness at work in front of your eyes.
Link's voice confirmed his fears. Nodding slowly, he watched in morbid fascination - then horror - as the pillars of liquid darkness grew taller with every second.
"What...what is that?"
It is known as Malice - an ancient, primal evil. Or rather, small portions of it. That Lynel which you and your friends fought are amongst the final products of the evil in front of you.
Jaune paled, holding his shield out in front of him.
"No...another Lynel? Here, in the city?"
"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha replied, walking over and looking at him. "And what do you mean by 'Lynel' - oh."
"Oh indeed," he mentally replied. The various yells of concern from amongst the Valean police drew attention to the scene in front of him, and distantly he heard the various footsteps of his friends join him and Pyrrha.
"What on Remnant?"
"Brothers above...what?"
"Th-that's not Grimm, is it?"
"No. It is not," Jaune gritted. All they could hear was the apprehensive silence around them - followed by each of the liquid puffing out of existence almost simultaneously, to be replaced by what couldn't be described as nothing more than monsters. A few looked like bipedal pigs, some alternating in colour between red and blue. The ones immediately in front of him were some green and blue lizards, and two boarlike beasts perhaps three times his height looked from behind them menacingly.
Bokoblins, Lizalfos and Moblins, Link commented, reading his thoughts perfectly. Creatures of darkness. Bokoblins are not too dangerous unless in great numbers, but be wary of the lizards and Moblins. They move quickly and are sly fighters while the taller monsters have brutal strength. Movement is key.
"Right."
Breathing out, he drew his sword and shield, followed by those of his teammates. Judging by the assortment of harried voices over by the police, they too prepared themselves for the upcoming battle, aiming their guns and no doubt calling for reinforcements.
"Well, we're it," he thought, adjusting his stance as the beasts finally noticed them. Several long seconds passed as each side seemed to freeze.
"Time for round two, guys!"
The monsters in front agreed, picking up various debris around them to use as makeshift weapons. With various sounding war cries they charged, the docks once more erupting in gunfire and violence.
()===|=====+
"Watch out on the -"
"- left!" Pyrrha finished for him as she ducked underneath a broken stop sign. The red Bokoblin who swung it gurgled angrily as it missed, then in pain as she walloped its face with her shield, stunning and disarming it. With a snarl it then lunged forward to tackle her but instead found the steel of her sword in its head. The champion watched in disgusted fascination as life slowly left its eyes, dissolving in a burst of purple smoke and leaving nothing behind but its small horn.
Pyrrha furrowed her brows and turned towards Jaune, finding him bracing against another one of the same creatures, though blue in colour. It beat down on his shield relentlessly with a chunk of rubble, and her eyes widened as another two others charged from behind.
"Jaune! Two more from -"
"- behind!" he yelled and sidestepped just as the Bokoblin swung down, missing his shield and instead splitting his fellow brethren's skull in two. It emitted a surprised gurgle as Jaune quickly followed up and sliced its neck, much like the final monster who then landed a solid blow across the back of his head.
"Ow! Hey, that hurts!"
The Bokoblin had no chance to apologize as another loud shot amidst the backdrop of gunfire burst its head open and dissolved it in another puff of smoke.
"You okay, Jaune?"
"Yeah, I was just a bit careless. Just gotta pay better attention," the blonde managed a crooked smile, more embarrassed than actually hurt and sending the building worry away. She couldn't help but chuckle at his expense. "Best lessons learned the hard way, I guess."
"I see. Jaune...do you have any idea what's going on? These aren't Grimm. These can't be Grimm, even if some of them are easier to kill."
"...n-not in the slightest," he replied with some hesitation, earning a slightly raised eyebrow as she joined him in taking in the scene. Most of the piglike monsters were going down fairly easily, though the lizard and taller ones were putting up more of a fight. One Moblin picked up a large chunk of rubble and hurled it at a police cruiser, but several pink explosions on its back caused it to cry out in pain and anger. Sun nimbly weaved and dodged several strikes but the Lizalfos caught him in the arm, forcing him to fall back with a cry. Blake used her Semblance to bait said lizard's guard, leaving it open and allowing Yang to rush in and deliver a powerful punch which snapped the monster's neck.
She then eyed several more heading towards them and looked to Jaune to find him doing the same.
"Well. Shall we?"
He nodded grimly as the two advanced and met head on the crowd of oncoming monsters. Jaune parried a Bokoblin's swing and countered with a thrust to the stomach while she used him as leverage to vault over and pounce on a couple of others. Immediately finding herself under attack from several directions at once, she then ducked and, using her sword's spear form, spun it around to knock the monsters down. One blue Bokoblin that managed to dodge her spin quickly rushed in, but with a cry Jaune met it head on, catching its blow pushing it back with a kick to the chest.
She turned back around to cover their rear, finding several more of the lizards and blue pigs flanking from behind. Back to back they stood, and as the monsters charged in, they met it head on; Jaune taking his mentor's words to heart caught most of the blows on his shield and slowly fell back against unfavourable odds while Pyrrha dealt with the foes on her end. Looking back, she saw him take out another pig monster before jumping back to avoid a blue Lizalfos' wide swing. Regrouping, the two shared a look and a nod, holding out his shield and sword while she morphed her spear into its gun form and placed it on his shoulder. Several Bokoblins that charged at them were blown away as they advanced in step, with Jaune pushing or stabbing out against any that got too close. When only the lizard monster was left he broke ranks and advanced on his own.
"Don't worry. I've got this one," he sent her a reassuring grin before they both heard a loud crash; the combined efforts of the police, Yang and Weiss proved a major victory as one of the Moblins fell dead into the side of a truck.
"Take care of the other big guy for me, will ya?"
She felt the urge to protest but quickly forced it down, deciding to trust him instead. Deep down, she decided to hold to her faith in him as a warrior, as a leader, and most importantly, as her friend.
"You got this Jaune. Just don't take too long."
"Right," she called instead, running past to join the rest of them.
The blonde instinctively nodded back and focused on her from his peripherals but was quickly shocked back as the screeching cry of the Lizalfos heralded a mighty blow that most likely would've knocked him unconscious, were it not for his shield blocking in time. Taking several more hits, he lashed out with his sword to give himself space and a reprieve, succeeding as the blue lizard jumped back and eyed him hatefully with a hint of caution.
This Lizalfos is stronger, faster and more wily than its green skinned brethren. Though not the most dangerous of its race, do not underestimate it either.
"There's even more of them than just these guys?"
Yes. None of that matters now, though. You have trained hard and have fought against superior opponents to remain standing in the end. Do not disappoint me.
Jaune grit his teeth in response, and with a cry he leapt forward in a jump attack and swung his sword downward; too slow, as the Lizalfos, wielding a jagged length of metal sidestepped and immediately lunged. He caught it with his shield from the side but the force of it promptly knocked him off balance, rolling with the fall to the side and simultaneously dodging the monster's ending blow.
Scrambling back up, Aura flashed and he grunted in pain as a swing scraped off his shield and into his sword arm. He did so again as the Lizalfos sought to impale him, jabbing his chestplate as it maximized its offensive advantage. As it delivered another strike, Jaune lunged forward with his shield and caught the next blow, using the momentary lapse to deliver a hard kick to its feeble looking knee and sending it stumbling back. With a yell, he pursued and brought Crocea Mors down with a mighty swing, completely severing its left arm and eliciting a howl of pain.
Jumping back to avoid its instinctive swing, the two stared at each other for several seconds before the monster charged at him once more, remaining arm drawn back in preparation to strike. Tossing his shield aside, Jaune dual gripped his sword as he waited for that perfect opportunity. In that moment he could almost picture Link doing the same thing during their sessions, that sense of familiarity guiding his muscle memory.
The lizard swung and his eyes recognized the opening.
"Gotcha!"
He backflipped just in time above its swing; landing back down, The Triforce flared and pulsed through his body, clearing his mind and strengthening the resolve behind every swing as he rushed past its guard, swiftly delivering several strong strikes and sending the monster crashing to the ground.
It did not get up, the Malice dissipating and leaving nothing behind but it's horn.
He remained still in that position for several seconds after before slowly standing back up and walking over to his shield. Judging from the sights and sounds from the others, it seemed like the rest of them were taken care of as well; remains of the other monsters lay scattered around the ground while the last Moblin fell down dead, courtesy of a buckshot aided punch from Yang's gauntlets. Breathing out, he felt the power of the Triforce slowly fade away as he sheathed his sword and shield.
Hmm. How are you feeling?
"Oh man. Alive, I guess," Jaune sighed, wincing at the noise of several Bullheads roaring over the area - though this time, in the markings of Vale and not of the White Fang. "He got a good couple of hits on me, though. My head kinda hurts."
Yes, the Lizalfos stole the flow of battle and managed to strike you. Fight through the pain and keep your head in the game, but you recovered quickly enough and gave it the ending it deserved. Seems we have more work cut out for us, but overall, not bad. Keep it up.
"Yeah. Thanks," he breathed. As police and Huntsman reinforcements began filling the scene, he quickly walked over to join his friends.
"Holy shit, I can't believe I just did that! To...that!" Yang exclaimed, looking bewildered but also vaguely excited. "That was like something straight out of a monster movie!"
"And it wasn't even Grimm too," Weiss agreed, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "Didn't look like it and definitely didn't die the way they do. Just like that monster from Forever Fall."
The group remained silent for several seconds as they realized the implications. Though they proved much easier than the Lynel, the fact that there was something else than the Grimm stalking about sent a chill down their spines. Once was a coincidence and deliberately forgotten memory, but twice? And formed literally in front of their very eyes unlike the Grimm that form beyond the city limits?
There was something wrong. Very wrong. And having taken place in public with dozens of civilian witnesses meant that this just opened up a whole new can of worms - a can of which they didn't even know existed.
As they continued to argue and debate what exactly they were facing, Jaune turned slightly to the side, lost in worry and contemplation.
"Link, this looks really bad. It looked like Roman and the White Fang were stealing these over dust too. Do you...do you think we should tell them?"
No. Not yet.
"But why? We know so much, and so maybe we can help develop a plan to fight them so we can get prepared -"
And how exactly would you justify the knowledge you have to your friends? How many know of the truth behind the legend you are destined to fulfill? I understand your frustrations, but it would simply make the situation worse and raise suspicion, Link interrupted, his firm warning stopping the retort he had prepared. Especially since a few already suspect something on your part, one of which happens to be your partner.
Eyes widening, he immediately glanced over to Pyrrha and finding her quickly looking away and acting innocent.
"Pyrrha…"
Hold to secrecy for now until we discover more information behind the Malice here. Until then, I also suggest refraining from drawing attention to the Headmaster. It was bad enough when he questioned you in the office, so resist from repeating it now as well.
"Wait. Now?"
"Miss Goodwitch!"
"Professor Ozpin!"
The calls of his friends snapped him out of his thoughts and caused him to look behind, seeing the Headmaster and his deputy exit a Bullhead and walk towards them.
"Fuck me…"
()===|=====+
A good distance away upon the rooftop of a dilapidated cannery, a green haired girl stepped over the bodies of unconscious security guards and joined her group by the edge of the building.
"I took care of the intruder, ma'am," Emerald supplied, earning a subtle nod from her boss as she continued to watch the commotion at the docks. "More security, probably trying to figure out what happened to his coworkers."
"It seems our presence is no longer welcome, then," Cinder purred as she tossed a pair of small binoculars to Mercury, sitting ledge and letting his legs dangle over the side. "It matters not. Roman's failures aside, seeing the results of our master's work in play has proven to be quite...fascinating, and entertaining."
Smirking, she turned around and began heading towards a flight of emergency stairs as Emerald and Mercury bantered and followed after her.
"What's our next step, ma'am?"
"Adam and his lot will definitely fit in perfectly, though Roman will have to make up for the dust soon. Otherwise we continue to wait. Everything is moving according to plan."
Her scroll vibrated, and she smirked at the sight of the caller ID.
"Oh, and speak of the devil."
()===|=====+
"Don't worry! I'll get it taken care of. Yes, yes, I promise. We got most of the cargo anyway. The dust will be no problem," Roman answered his scroll with fake cheer. "Alright. Yes, I got it. Ta," he sighed, ending the call. For what seemed like a minute, Roman and Neo stood there in silence, staring at the now empty fuselage. Slowly and carefully he sat down on the ground, careful not to disturb any of the suitcases or vials scattered around them. Neo followed suit and laid her head on his shoulder.
He reached into his pocket, withdrawing a cigar and content to let the nicotine numb his mind away, at least until he got back to home base and delved into his private reserve of whiskey. He needed it now more than ever, especially after hearing Cinder's disapproval as well as what happened shortly after he left.
Feeling a hand tap his shoulder and then his box of cigars, he pulled one out and gave it to Neo.
"Don't worry, Neo. If I find a way out of this we're taking the first ride," he remarked as they both desperately sought release through their breathable poison. As they quietly looked out the window he held her close with nothing but the muffled sounds of the engines and the remains of the monsters in the back of the fuselage to keep them company.
/AN\
Surprise! Considering work priorities I can't say I expected this chapter to be uploaded as soon as it was, but since since I had more down time than I expected, a good chunk of this fleshed out to begin with as well as the fact that it's been uploaded at the prior nigh-monthly rate, it feels like I've never gone into hiatus in the first place. As such this story will become (tentatively) active again, as I can't give the full all clear for a normal return due to the fact that work is essentially on call and suddenly, the decent amount of down time I've been blessed with for the past several weeks will be gone. I'll be pushing to return to the old format of updates every two - three weeks, but if I'm to be honest there's too much in the air to be certain. Now that school is permanently over for me I theoretically have all the time in the world now (after work) to become more productive on this, but life sometimes throws a wrench in the cogs every now and then. If I can make this work I'll consider that my own little post-graduation gift, lol.
In any case, welcome back to A Descendant of Legends! It is with this chapter that we are officially halfway through Arc II - with several more arcs on the horizon. We're still following relatively alongside the same timeline as canon, but as the baddies continue to plot and scheme their agenda, so too must Jaune and company respond to their plans. Things are slowly starting to unravel especially now that some secrets are becoming harder and harder to keep, and I'm excited to see how he'll react not just as Jaune the student, Huntsman-in-training, but also as Jaune the destined successor to the heroes of old alongside his friends. As chapters progress and the truth behind both the villains and Jaune's destiny comes to light, they will have no other choice but to adapt to a learning curve on a scale they never could've imagined.
Mid arc synopsis aside, thank you all again for reading! Again, constructive criticism and feedback is always welcome.
Hope to see you next time!
MeraHunt: Oh, good old Arkos, you will forever hold a place in the part of my heart reserved for RWBY. And thanks! This won't be their first bout with the White Fang as well. Hope to see you next chapter, and stay safe too!
Dragon lord Syed 101: Thanks, and hope to see you next time!
Spartastic 4: Thanks, I really appreciate it. I honestly thought I'd finally have more time for both myself and the story after grad, but then the virus struck. At least work's secure and stable but the biggest caveat is the constant state of being ready for any on call situation. Onto happier thoughts though - yes, the next iteration of Zelda has definitely made an appearance. Obviously, spoilers so I won't go beyond that, but it's definitely there. Again, thanks and hope to see you next chapter! Best of luck to you too.
jamie: ;)
Anonymous: Hopefully I can soon switch this back to regularly active like before all this happened. Life will be life and sometimes all you can do is prepare the best you can and deal with things as they come. Otherwise thanks, and hope to see you next time!
Axccel: Thanks! And yes, you're correct - the Hero's Shade is indeed the spirit of OoT Link, as Hyrule Historia itself has stated. I think when I first began writing this fic last year - man, can't believe it's been roughly ten months since then - my thought process was that I'll go by the literal meaning of the term 'hero's shade' as I wanted the Link that mentors Jaune to be one of many remnant consciousnesses within the Hero's Soul, but alas, don't worry I also agree and believe the canon stance on who the HS is. I just added the whole 'I was once' bit for dramatic effect to emphasize his position as a distant predecessor. Again, thank you and hope to see you next time!
Ferdiad: Looking back, I think it's probably a personal quirk of mine that I throw in the weapon names as I want to avoid the repetition of, for example, 'sword', then 'blade' when I'm referring to the same weapon or type of weapon within a paragraph. The flow feels smoother when there's a little bit of variety, but that being said, I agree that too much of any isn't good either. Balance is key. In any case, stealth amongst others are some of the skills he definitely needs to work on, but hey, he's one learning boi. Thanks and hope to see you next time!
The Legend of Zelda and RWBY are the respective properties of Nintendo and Rooster Teeth.