The Struggle for Haven Begins
Haven: Apartment of Team RNJR
The morning had come and gone relatively quickly once again. Though that was no surprise given the schedule: Wake up, breakfast (Or train then breakfast as far as Wayne was concerned), then train, lunch, train, dinner, sleep. Before he knew it, the sun was going down once again, and Wayne found himself, like most everyone else, exhausted. 'Not much longer now,' he thought as he finished washing up in the bathroom, 'We won't be caught off guard so easily this time.'
Opening the bathroom door then, Wayne was about to step out when he caught the smell of one of his friends. "Did you need the bathroom next," Asked Wayne as he poked his head out of the door way.
"AAAAh," Weiss jumped at the sound of his voice, "Gosh Wayne, do you practice surprising people as a hobby."
"Only when it's funny," Replied Wayne as he stepped out of the bathroom. Fortunately fully clothed. "But I've only done that, what, three times since we got here."
"Four times," Corrected Weiss as she brushed some of the hair out of her face. Her hair was currently out of its usual left-side pony tail, leaving it all too simply fall down her back. A sight Wayne rarely saw, even at Beacon. "You do remember when you made both me and Nora jump when you walked into the kitchen without announcing yourself."
"Are you sure that counts," Asked Wayne, "I thought I just broke up some gossip on accident when I walked in."
"Nora leapt into my arms Wayne," Said Weiss, "It counts, even if you weren't suddenly popping out of nowhere."
"Well when you put it that way," Wayne said, "I suppose it does. But back on topic, did you need to get in here."
"I was on the way to my team's room actually," Said Weiss, "And you?"
"About to call it a night myself," Replied Wayne as he gestured for Weiss to proceed past him, "So, ladies first?"
"Actually," Weiss hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I was also thinking of talking to you as well."
"Well we can talk on the way," Said Wayne, "The others should be finishing up that conversation we started on the relics. Meaning the hallway's gonna get crowded in a minute."
"A fair point," Said Weiss as she began walking. Wayne followed after as they walked the short distance to the apartment bedrooms. His room was the first one they arrived at. Wayne was about to bid his friend good night when she turned around abruptly, stopping next to his door.
"I've got a question for you Wayne," Said Weiss, "It's about the upcoming battle for Haven. I'd like to know, are you afraid?"
"Are we talking about the battle itself or something more specific?" Asked Wayne.
"I'm talking about things unsaid, or things left undone," Said Weiss, "I know none of us want to think about it too much. But there's a real possibility that, even with us knowing what's coming, something terrible still might happen."
"That's not a terribly optimistic thought," Said Wayne, "Though believe me, it's crossed my mind more times than I'd like. But I'm still a little lost here."
"I guess what I really want to say is," Weiss said as she moved to one of the windows, where the moonlight was shining through. "If you knew your life would end tomorrow, or the day after that, how would you want to spend it?"
"You're not trying to pick up the slack on team pessimism because Blake isn't here are you?" Asked Wayne offhandedly.
"Answer the question," ordered Weiss, rather sternly. 'I guess she's serious about this,' thought Wayne.
"Well the best thing I could think of right now," Said Wayne as he scratched his chin in thought, "I'd just want to go home. Be where it all began."
"That's it," Asked Weiss, a little confused, "You'd want to go back to a place you'd spent your entire life at for your final day alive?"
"Not by myself," Explained Wayne, "I'd want you along too. And Aegis, Ruby, Yang, Ren, Jaune, Nora, and all our friends. Blue Forge may be a small town, heck our grandest building is only a couple stories, but you should see some of the celebrations. The town just comes alive during those times. And you'll get to meet the rest of my family, sure they'll embarrass the ever living daylights out of me and Aegis."
"But, considering this is my hypothetical last day, it'd be worth it to spend it all with my family and friends. What about you, anything special?" Weiss seemed to think for a bit, her expression shifting from thoughtful to neutral a number of times.
"If I had to pick," Weiss finally said, "I'd want to visit Menagerie or the island of Patch as well. If such a thing were possible, I'd visit both in the same day."
"The rest of team RWBY's homes," Said Wayne, "Makes sense I suppose. Visit the places where the rest of your team grew up, see what life is like there."
"That's the overall idea," confirmed Weiss, "I know my life was very different from any of my teammate's lives. I just, want an idea on what I've been missing out on. What it's like to have a family that actually cares about more than money or status."
"You've got that already," Said Wayne as he put a hand on Weiss's shoulder, causing her to look over at him. "Your team might not be blood relatives, but take it from me, they care about you like a sister. Heck, even Blake's gotten over that whole, 'you're a Schnee' issue she had back at Beacon. And Jaune, Ren, and Nora, they're like close relatives."
"And Aegis," Asked Weiss with a slightly amused expression.
"Oh he'll come around," Assured Wayne, "He may not admit it, for a long long while, but even he cares about what happens to you. For now just think of him as grumpy cousin Aegis who's holding a grudge because, I don't know, you ratted him out a few times too many over the years." This thought actually made Weiss laugh a little as she tried picturing it in her head.
'Grumpy cousin Aegis,' thought Weiss as she kept laughing, 'Now that would've made life way different growing up.' She giggled a bit more at the idea before finally sighing, a neutral expression returning to her face. "Wayne," She said as she turned towards him, "There is one other reason I wanted to talk to you."
"I didn't do something bad did I," Asked Wayne, curious as to what was on her mind.
"No," Replied Weiss, "In fact, I'm the one who needs to say sorry, about a lot of things."
"What in the world would you need to apologize to me for," Asked Wayne, now a bit confused.
"For treating you the way I did, back at Beacon," Explained Weiss, "I know we joked about it at dinner earlier, but it's really true. I was so arrogant and condescending back then, and I treated a number of my friends worse than I should have. But I treated you and Aegis worst of all, and for the stupidest of reasons, your Faunus lineage and just the fact that you didn't instantly respect me when you knew all about my family name."
"Weiss that was ages ago," Said Wayne, "And to be fair, it's not like me and Aegis made the best first impressions."
"It doesn't excuse the way I acted," Said Weiss, "And if we're being honest, most of the reason you two made a bad first impression was because I reacted so poorly in the first place. But what's worse, even when I started acting better socially I still treated you two worse than the rest of my friends. I mean, I made you help me set up for the dance and then used your own promise against you so that you'd take me to the dance to make another guy jealous. And all you'd asked for was some dance lessons."
"It wasn't all bad," Said Wayne, "We got to poke fun at you plenty of times at Beacon."
"Wayne you had to fight your brother in nos armores because of me," Weiss pointed out.
"Hey we laughed about it at the end," Said Wayne, "Though I could've gone without the shard of glass in my-."
"Are you seriously making it harder for me to apologize?" Asked Weiss.
"The point I'm trying to get across is that it's water under the bridge now," Said Wayne, "You're not the arrogant, selfish rich girl I first met at Beacon. You've grown far beyond that. But, if you really wanna hear me say it so bad, apology accepted."
Weiss sighed, but smiled in spite of herself as she reached her hand up to touch Wayne's cheek. "Then I only have one more thing to say, Thank you Wayne. For putting up with me for so long, and for all the things you've done for me up to this point."
"It's what friends do right?" Said Wayne as he touched her hand, "Though if you're giving out apologies, you'd best give an apology to Jaune as well. I remember you didn't treat him so well either." Weiss groaned at that statement as her hand left Wayne's cheek to fall next to her side.
"You are not making this easy on me, you know that," Said Weiss.
"You're the one who brought up the subject of 'things unsaid,'" Wayne pointed out, "And I know you wouldn't want him to think you still hate him after all this time."
"I never hated him," Said Weiss, "I just wanted him to stop having a crush on me. But, since you asked, I'll do it, at the very least as a favor for you."
"That'll work," Said Wayne with a smile, which Weiss returned. 'I really should've noticed before,' He thought to himself, 'She really is beautiful, especially with the moon reflecting in her eyes.' Weiss looked like she wanted to say something else, when they were suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone zipping up the stairs.
"Hey guys!" Called Ruby, "Qrow and Ozpin need us all downstairs for a meeting. Uh, what are you two doing in the hallway?"
"Oh, we were just," Wayne tried to think of some excuse as he and Weiss turned away from the window. Fortunately, Weiss was one step ahead of him.
"We were reminiscing a bit," Said Weiss. This only caused Ruby to tilt her head in confusion, though.
"Remi-what?" Questioned Ruby, "Is that another word for romantic?"
"NO, NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT, NOT EVEN REMOTELY!" Wayne and Weiss exclaimed at the same time, their faces turning equal shades of red.
"Alright alright, so what does it mean?" Asked Ruby, still confused and now a little surprised.
"We were just remembering some happy times," Said Wayne, "Nothing major."
"Oh," Said Ruby, seemingly accepting this answer, "Anyway, we need to get downstairs. Team meeting and all that."
"What's the emergency exactly," Asked Weiss, "We were all about to head to bed."
"Well Uncle Qrow just got a call from Lionheart," Explained Ruby, "The headmaster wants us to meet him in the main tower tomorrow."
"Any idea what it's supposed to be about?" Asked Wayne, somewhat skeptical. 'Last I heard, the guy was hardly any help at all.'
"Uncle Qrow and Ozpin will explain everything once we're all together," Said Ruby, "But I'm hoping it's good news." 'Yeah me too Ruby,' thought Wayne, 'me too.' In all honesty, he should've known better.
Main Haven School Building: The Next Evening
'It's still weird,' thought Wayne as he walked along with everyone else, save for May and Drake who'd been asked to scout around for any traps. 'Seeing one of the Huntsman academies this empty.' While it was true night had fallen, there had always seemed to be some sort of activity going on around the school grounds when Beacon was active. Now, though, an eerie kind of silence seemed to have fallen over Haven academy. Wayne glanced behind him, seeing that Oscar was falling behind a bit, no doubt he was a bit nervous about the meeting. 'I don't blame him,' he thought as they entered the large, ornate building that served as the staff and headmaster's main complex.
The inside of the building had several floors with a large open space in the middle of the bottom floor. As they walked in, Lionheart himself stood on a balcony that was flanked by two stairways with a large statue of a robed woman holding her hands above her head. 'I wonder if that's supposed to represent the first spring maiden,' Wayne thought to himself as he noted the large gold chains dangling from the statue and the numerous other gold instruments.
"Ah, good evening everyone," Said Lionheart, "I'm, uh, pleased you all could make it." 'So that's the headmaster of Haven,' Thought Wayne as they stopped several feet from the base of the statue. He was an older man with long grey hair and a beard, fittingly like a lion's mane. His attire simply consisted of a long-sleeved white shirt with grey, formal pants and a brown button up-vest. Wayne also happened to catch the swing of what looked like a lion's tail from behind the headmaster.
"There appear to be more of you than before," Observed Lionheart, seeming somewhat nervous. 'Why is he wearing his weapon?' thought Wayne, noticing the gauntlet with a type of cross-like weapon attached to it.
"The more the merrier and all that," Said Qrow, "So what's the deal with the council?" The headmaster of Haven didn't answer at first as something seemed to catch his eye. 'What's with this guy,' thought Wayne, 'Is he that bad at social interaction?' That was when he smelled it, the scent of bird feathers.
"Why do you have your weapons?" Questioned Lionheart. 'Definitely not right,' thought Wayne as he began looking around. Yang also picked up on this as she noticed his eyes wandering the room.
"Uh-?" Qrow replied, "Because we're all huntsman here, why wouldn't we?" Leo simply responded with something about not having his evening coffee. But Wayne had stopped paying attention at this point.
"What is it Wayne," Whispered Yang, wondering what had her friend currently distracted.
"I smell a bird in here," Said Wayne as his eyes continued to scan the bottom floor. Realization crossed Yang's features as she decided to look at the next couple floors up. That was when she sighted it, a red-eyed Raven perched on a banister a couple floors up.
"Mom," Said Yang, confusion in her voice. The moment she said this, Qrow drew his weapon and fired, narrowly missing the squawking Raven as it flew towards Lionheart. The moment she passed behind Haven's headmaster, the bird's body disappeared and was replaced by that of Raven Branwen, wearing her signature Grimm mask.
"That's Raven," Said Ruby, her expression shifting from neutral to serious upon seeing the bandit leader.
"It's true," Said Nora with an expression of shock, "They're both, magic." Everyone else remained silent for one reason or another as Raven removed her mask, an amused smile crossing her face as she did so.
"Are you trying to insult me," Asked Raven, "I know you can shoot better than that."
"Why are you here?!" Said Qrow, the demand for an answer clear in his voice.
"I think I should be asking you that," Said Raven as she made her way down the flight of stairs to their left, "I hear you've been scheming to come after me little brother, your own sister." Qrow shifted his attention to Lionheart then, already knowing where his sister got that information.
"What did you do Leo?" Asked Qrow as his grip tightened on his weapon. Some of the others gripped their weapons as Wayne crossed his arms, reaching into his coat as discreetly as he could. As for Lionheart, he was too nervous, or guilty to form a coherent response at the moment. So Raven responded for him.
"He looked at all the facts, gauged the situation and made a decision, just like any other sane person in his position," Said Raven as she stopped in front of the statue. "And it seems you've all made a decision of your own." Raven's gaze lingered on Yang as she finished speaking, causing the blond to clench her fists in anger.
"We know you have the spring maiden," Said Qrow, relaxing his grip on his weapon a bit.
"Yes, she resides with me," Replied Raven as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"Then let's do the truly sensible thing," Said Qrow as he returned his weapon to the back of his waist. "Bring her here. We can beat Salem if we work together on this."
"You just don't get it," Said Raven, "After all the time you spent gathering information for Ozpin and you still have no idea what you're facing. You can't beat something like Salem."
"That's not true," Said Ruby, drawing Raven's glare. "We've managed to accomplish things that others would call impossible. But we were only able to do that because we weren't alone. We had those willing to teach us, those who helped us, and each other. I know you've seen things far more terrible than we could know, but if you work together with us, we could have a chance."
Raven seemed to consider this for a moment. "You sound so much like your mother," Said Raven before drawing her sword and slicing open a portal. In almost the same instance, a fireball shot out of the portal towards Ruby, knocking her back and onto the floor. Wayne reacted by drawing both Crescent Fangs and firing at the portal.
"Ruby!" Exclaimed Yang as she rushed to her sister. After another couple of seconds, Wayne quit firing, recognizing the sound of ricochets. 'I wandered when you'd show up,' thought Wayne as he quickly donned his mask, 'I just never expected you to be walking through one of those portals.' As he thought this, none other than Cinder Fall herself stepped through the portal, followed by Mercury, Vernal, and of course, Emerald.
"It's wonderful to see you all," Said Cinder as she stepped to the far right, "I've been looking forward to this."
"Cinder," Seethed Ruby as Yang helped her up from the floor.
"Now that's hardly a way to greet some old friends," Said Mercury, "Was that you being so quick on the draw Wayne?"
"I thought I'd give your boss a makeover," Replied Wayne, "But it seems Ruby beat me to it. An improvement in my opinion, you call her one-eyed Wilma back at the office?"
"Can it Wayne!" Barked Emerald as she drew her weapons and aimed them at Wayne. Wayne and some of the others took a fighting stance, but Qrow held up a hand.
"Everybody keep calm," Ordered Qrow, trying to keep them from jumping in without thinking. The sound of some of their scrolls vibrating drew their attention then.
"It appears we have company coming," Said Ren, as he read the message May had sent them. The sound of the doors opening behind them confirmed that message as a rather large man wearing a green coat with long coat tails hanging down to his boots.
"The White Fang is setting up for demolition," said the man as he closed the door behind him and turned around, revealing dark hair and a bearded face. "We're having a slight problem with a couple of snipers. But the perimeter is secure enough that no one is getting out of here." 'He's not joking,' thought Wayne as he strained his ears, hearing the faint sound of weapons fire outside the building.
"This whole thing's a trap," Said Weiss as they turned their attention back to Cinder.
"Set specifically for us," Added Ren. 'I suppose we should be flattered,' thought Wayne as he kept his weapons trained on their adversaries.
"Tell me Raven," Asked Qrow, "At what point did you join them?"
"Let's not be too harsh here Little Bird," Said Cinder as she stepped forward a little.
"You ain't near the age to be calling him little anything," Remarked Wayne.
"Your sibling joined very recently," Cinder continued, unphased by his interruption, "But dear Lionheart has been working for us for quite a long time. Our entry into the Vytal festival was all thanks to him, as well as numerous morsels of information he's sent to Salem." Lionheart's face became more and more downcast the longer Cinder spoke. "You've been quite helpful to us, wouldn't you say professor."
"Just stop already," Said Lionheart, his expression becoming even more pained.
"It was all your doing," Said Qrow as he clenched his fists, "You have a position on the council with information on every huntress and huntsman in Mistral. And you gave all of it up to that witch?!"
"I was only-," Leo tried to say, but was clearly too guilt-stricken to continue.
"I couldn't find a single one," Said Qrow, "Because you led Salem to them." Lionheart had no answer to that statement. But Cinder was more than happy to continue for him.
"Don't feel too bad about it Professor," Said Cinder with the same condescending attitude as always, "Tyrian and Hazel would've likely caught up to them one way or another."
"What in the world is wrong with you?" Said Juane suddenly. Wayne glanced over to see his friend breathing heavily, his fists clenched as his hair hid his eyes. "How can you feel so little? Not only taking lives but bragging about it like it's something to be proud of."
"Jaune?" Nora asked, her usually cheerful voice now full of nervousness.
"And all the while you do it with that same damn smile on your face!" Jaune practically yelled as tears rolled down his cheeks. It was at this point that Ruby and Yang readied their weapons, despite Qrow urging them to remain calm. "You'll pay for what you've done, do you hear me? Say something already!" Everyone else pulled out their weapons then as they awaited Cinder's response.
To be honest, it should've been obvious. "Who are you supposed to be again?" Asked Cinder, sounding somewhat bored. That was the final straw. Jaune activated his shield, switching it to a heavy blade as he charged forward, yelling in rage. Cinder simply smiled as she materialized a curved, flaming glass blade and blocked Jaune's strike.
The clash of their blades rang out, signaling the beginning of the battle as Ruby rushed in next in an attempt to help Jaune. Using the recoil from her scythe, she launched herself into the air. Emerald reacted by throwing out one of her chains in an attempt to yank Ruby out of the air. But Wayne had charged forward as well, leaping into the air to knock Emerald's chained weapon away, before spinning and swinging his own weapon out.
Emerald leapt back, dodging the wired weapon as Wayne landed between her and Ruby. "You and I still got some issues to work out," Said Wayne as he took a fighting stance.
"I'd actually like that," Said Emerald, "But I got my orders, little red doesn't go near Cinder!" She ended this statement by swinging her right weapon's chain out towards Ruby. But once again, Wayne intercepted it, this time by swinging his own weapon out on a wire and knocking hers out of the air.
"You gotta go through me either way," Said Wayne as he reeled his weapon back in. Emerald grit her teeth a bit at that statement as she shifted her weapons to gun mode and fired. Wayne twirled his weapons to block the incoming bullets, holding his ground. Emerald shifted her weapons back to sickle form then as she charged forward.
By this point, everyone else had engaged the enemy in combat. Qrow against Raven, Mercury against Yang, Ren and Nora against the large man now known as Hazel, Oscar against Lionheart, Ruby and Jaune against Cinder, and Weiss against Vernal. As for Wayne, he kept his focus on Emerald as she came within striking distance. He deflected the first few strikes aimed at his head and torso before countering with a few strikes of his own. But as he spun and struck low, Emerald leapt over him, attempting to close the gap which had grown between them and Ruby as she and Jaune fought Cinder.
Reacting quickly, Wayne pulled a fist-sized sack out of his coat and pitched it at Emerald. Reacting instinctively, the green-haired girl sliced it with her sickles, only to be rewarded with a cloud of red powder covering her. While she was coughing and her vision was blurred, Wayne swung his left weapon out, wrapping his opponent in wire as he yanked her back towards him. Emerald managed to roll and untangle herself from the wire as Wayne once again stood between her and Ruby.
"That's a new trick," Said Emerald as she cleared her eyes of the rest of the powder, "But don't think it'll work twice."
"Doesn't need to," Said Wayne as he finished reeling in his weapon, "Just needed to get the point across."
"Guess it's the reverse this time," Said Emerald as she shifted her weapons to gun form, "So I'll play with you for just a little bit." She ended her sentence by firing more green bullets at him, which he deflected once again. But this time, two more Emeralds appeared out of nowhere. Wayne flinched at the first one as it passed through him, dodged the second one, and waited as the third one struck from behind.
'Hope this is right,' thought Wayne as he waited for the blades to hit his back. But no pain came as they passed harmlessly through him. 'Whew,' he thought as he nearly smiled to himself, 'worked like a charm.' The sound of blades swinging through the air brought him back into the fight as he just barely managed to deflect a couple of vertical strikes before Emerald spun around and delivered a kick to his head.
'Right, focus on the fight,' he reminded himself as he managed to spin with the blow and strike low, forcing Emerald to move back a bit. "Don't space out on me now Wayne," Said Emerald, "This won't be any fun if you go down easy." He didn't respond to that as Emerald held her weapons out to her sides. Using her semblance, she made it seem as if her weapon sprouted six blades, all on chains which moved like they were alive.
Holding his ground, Wayne waited as first one chained blade, then another struck at him. Both passed through him, nothing more than illusions, but as the third blade came, Wayne knocked it away, the feel of the clanging metal confirming that it was real. Another illusionary blade came at him again, followed by a real blade, which he barely moved away from in time. For the next several moments, one blade after another came in varying patterns, most illusions with a real one in the mix every now and then.
'What's going on,' thought Emerald as she began feeling the slightest bit of strain from her semblance. 'He's actually getting better at dodging and deflecting the real blades. But how can he smell them, I made sure to disguise my scent this time.' Realization dawned on her at that moment. 'Let's test something.'
As Wayne deflected another real blade, Emerald suddenly vanished. 'Here we go,' he thought. As he waited, an image of his opponent flickered in and out of existence. This happened a few more times, each image closer than the last. Finally, Emerald appeared striking at his right side. But Wayne instead held his weapons up defensively on his left as invisible blades suddenly clashed against his.
'Found ya,' thought Wayne as he spun and kicked what looked like empty air. Emerald yelped as she suddenly appeared, Wayne's kick causing her to move backward a few feet. "You smug prick," Said Emerald as she held her side for a moment, "You're tracking me with that red powder you threw earlier."
"A special kind of powder that Faunus can track," Explained Wayne, "Mixes with a person's natural scent. Great for marking a prey you know is gonna be in a smelly area."
"I guess it's the usual way then," Said Emerald as she lunged at Wayne, who deflected the next several strikes. "No wonder you weren't making any of your usual quips, you were laughing to yourself the whole time!"
"Well truthfully," Said Wayne as he and Emerald locked weapons, "I no longer think you're worth wasting my breath on." This seemed to anger Emerald as she broke their lock and slashed at him more viciously. Wayne dodged and parried as he moved to the left, trying to keep her from moving towards Ruby. A lot easier said than done, considering Emerald was in top shape this time and attacking more ferociously than when they'd fought at Beacon. On more than one occasion her blade slipped underneath his guard, nearly slashing his waist or stomach.
At one point, she faked a strike and flung her chain out, wrapping it around his ankle and pulling him across the floor on his back. As she brought her other weapon down on him, Wayne quickly spun on the floor, using the chain on his leg to deflect the blade as he knocked her legs out from under her with his own weapon. Both rolled back up, their positions almost identical to when they started. "So am I not even worth using your semblance on now too," Questioned Emerald, somewhat angrily.
Wayne didn't answer, knowing she was just trying to goad him into using it. Truthfully, two of their opponents were maidens. That alone meant he had to save as much energy as he could. But that concern went right out the window when he heard one of his friends yell out in pain. Glancing over, Wayne saw Weiss kneeling with her weapon jabbed into the ground, and Vernal holding it there with her ring blade weapons. But what caused Weiss to cry out was her aura breaking from two laser blasts shot by Vernal's weapons.
He moved without thinking, shifting both weapons to gun form as he aimed and fired at Vernal's head. He used his other weapon to fire in Emerald's general direction, not caring if he hit her, only that he held her off for a vital second. Vernal blocked the first couple of bullets before moving away from Weiss, a look of mild surprise on her face as she glanced in Wayne's direction. Emerald used the opening and fired back, forcing Wayne to dodge and roll. Some of the bullets came so close he felt them scratch his coat.
"I never knew you could be so RUDE!" Exclaimed Emerald as she switched back to sickles and swung her blades out on chains again. Wayne ducked and deflected both strikes as Emerald circled to the side and closed the gap. "Keeping me to yourself then cutting in on someone else's dance!" Emerald jumped and spun in the air, slashing downward with both sickles. Wayne blocked both strikes as his opponent landed and locked their weapons again.
"But I suppose it makes sense, considering the sorry state of some of your friends." Wayne didn't want to agree, but a few glances at the ongoing battles told him that for once, Emerald wasn't entirely lying. Yang, Qrow and Oscar were holding their own, but Ren and Nora's attacks were being repeatedly swatted away by Hazel. As for Weiss, she was struggling just to ward off Vernal's attacks. But Ruby and Jaune had the most trouble. Cinder had been toying with Jaune the whole time she was holding off Ruby.
Or at least she was, until Jaune angrily demanded she stop messing around. Cinder was all too happy to oblige as she ignited her sword into a flaming weapon and sped forward. Jaune charged as well, but it was obvious how this was going to end. Ruby realized it as well.
"NOOOOOO!" Ruby yelled as her eyes unleashed a large, silver glow which threatened to blind everyone in the room.
"No you don't," Said Emerald as she broke away from Wayne and swung her weapon out on its chain. Wayne reacted and swung at the blade flying past him, or so he thought. At the last second, Emerald used her semblance to disguise the length of the chain. Just as Wayne hit the chain, the main part of the weapon knocked Ruby in the head, stopping the blinding light which had been coming from her. While it had the desired effect of weakening Cinder and giving Jaune a possible opening, Ruby was now unconscious.
" $ %," Wayne swore as he closed the distance and kicked Emerald away. Emerald tucked and rolled, but was caught off guard when Wayne barreled into her, slamming her against the wall. "No more time to play I'm afraid," he said as he kept his opponent pinned.
"Too bad," Said Emerald, her voice a little strained due to pushing back against Wayne. "Cinder's about to have a grand time with dunce boy over there." He knew he shouldn't but he risked a glance at Emerald's mistress. Jaune had missed his opportunity and was now down on the floor, while Cinder had materialized a molten glass spear. But what was strange was her target wasn't Jaune.
'No!' Wayne nearly yelled out loud as he moved away from Emerald just as Cinder threw her spear. 'If I can just-.' There wasn't even time to finish the thought as Wayne swung his left weapon, slicing through the spear down the middle. But to his, and likely everyone else's horror, the spear reformed on the other side, its flight continuing as it struck through the back of its true target.
"WEISSSSSSSS!" Wayne heard Jaune yell, only to realize a moment later that he was yelling as well. The kneeling heiress looked down at the spear that had gone through her side, shock and disbelief on her face. In the next instant, the spear dissolved back into dust as her arms dropped to her sides.
Not waiting another second, Wayne rushed over, ignoring everything else that was happening. He crossed the room in hardly a matter of seconds, sliding the last couple of feet as he caught Weiss before she could hit the floor. 'No, no, no, no,' he repeated to himself over and over again as he covered the bleeding wounds with his hands, 'Not this again. Even when we were ready this is still happening.'
"Of course it's happening again," Said an all-too familiar voice as some seeming dust residue suddenly formed into a small, red-eyed helmet. "But what did you expect, your friends were clearly outmatched from the start. The question is, what will you do now?" Wayne's response was grabbing the floating image and enclosing it in his palm. 'I don't need to hear your voice right now. I know why you're here.'
"Alright # hole," Said Wayne as black mist suddenly escaped his mouth. "We'll do it your way." Their exchange lasted only a couple seconds, long enough for Jaune to make it over.
But Wayne had stopped paying attention to everything by that point. He hardly noticed when Lionheart was knocked down the stairs by Oscar, or Hazel jabbing dust crystals into his arms. The only thing he even paid particular attention to was Lionheart putting a pocket watch on the necklace of the statue, causing it to descend. Cinder, Raven, and Vernal all stepped on the platform as it moved downwards increasingly quickly.
"Wayne how is she," Asked Jaune, finally getting his attention. "Wayne?" Jaune had finally noticed the black mist coming off of his friend's body. And it was increasing by the second.
"Take this," Said Wayne, his voice surprisingly even, and more than a little frightening. "Wrap her wound and keep pressure on it."
"Uh yeah," Said Jaune as he cautiously accepted the med kit Wayne had pulled out.
"She'll live if she's strong," Said Wayne as he grabbed his weapons and stood up, "Do what you can."
"What, but what are you gonna do," Asked Jaune as he got to work wrapping Weiss's wound.
"The only thing I'm capable of right now," Said Wayne as he crossed his arms. The mist around his body intensified then, causing the floor beneath him to crack. "If I'm lucky, I'll be back."
"You're not planning on going down there alone are you," Questioned Jaune, "That's suicide!"
"If any of you are strong enough," Said Wayne as he generated numerous, small glowing orbs, "Then you can come after me." Quickly spinning around, Wayne unleashed the orbs in all different directions. 'Scattering Moonlight,' he thought as the orbs struck Hazel, blasting his coat off, and knocking back Emerald and Mercury, who'd been occupied keeping Yang away from the vault entrance. Even Lionheart was taken by surprise by the fast, but surprisingly strong orbs.
Not waiting to see how successful his attack was, Wayne launched himself from where he'd been standing. Moving faster than ever before, he left none of his enemies any time to recover as he jumped into the air. 'Is this what it was like for the others,' thought Wayne as he went feet first down the vault elevator, 'No fear of the unknown, no trepidation at the possibility of imminent death. Just exhilaration as they gave in to the power.'
Wayne flipped backwards in the air, switching to head first, unable to resist the smile that came to his face. 'Even if I haven't given in fully, heck, even if I didn't have this technique, I'd still only have one goal right now. Tear a maiden into bloody shreds!'
The battle for Haven begins, and already threatens to take its first casualties. And how much has Wayne allowed the aura shadow to consume him this time? And will I get around to the main part of these notes? Yeah I'd better. First off, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and seeing if any of your predictions were correct. Second off, as always I'd like to thank everyone here who's taken the time to read, comment and review on this story, it's thanks to y'all that this story is as good as it's gotten. And no, I have no idea what Weiss would actually want to do for her last day on earth, so feel free to correct me if I seem way off on that account. But also, stop by next time as the vault of the spring maiden becomes a battleground between an evil maiden and a beast. 'Til next time.
