RWBY: Team CRML
Chapter 8
"Hey." Chrome's was gently awakened by the Innkeeper shaking his shoulder. "You gotta go now."
Chrome's eyes fluttered open as he sat up with a yawn. "Right."
The Innkeeper, noticing Chrome wasn't wearing a shirt, looked away as she blushed. "Get dressed, okay?"
She stood up and left the room so he could dress himself in private. Grabbing his dry shirt and jeans, Chrome slid them on before leaving the room.
As he passed the Innkeeper, he waved and said a quick thank you before heading out the foor. Pushing his hair back as he got outside, he reached into his pocket for his scroll. Going down to his sister's name, he called her.
After the first couple rings, Blake's voice answered. "Hello?"
"Blake?" Chrome let out a sigh of relief. "We need to talk."
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Chrome repeated. "Weiss knows we're ex White Fang, Blake!"
"You ran into her?"
"Yeah, and she wasn't happy." Chrome told her. "She pulled her weapon on me."
"What?!"
"You need to explain everything to her. She's your teammate, Blake." Chrome said. "This is serious. You can't run from this one. Now, where are you?"
"I'm...with a friend."
"With a friend?" Chrome repeated. "You wanna elaborate?"
"Look, we're working together to stop the White Fang." Blake replied. "We're getting close."
"So the White Fang is here in Vale."
"We'll talk later." with that, Blake hung up.
"Blake? Blake!" Chrome looked at his scroll. "Damnit!" Closing it, he put it in his pocket.
Elsewhere in Vale, Liam, Nicci and Marek looked for their missing leader. "Chrome!" Liam shouted.
"Chrome?!" Nicci yelled out.
Getting irritated at Marek's silence, Liam turned around to face his teammate. "Marek, if you're not going to help, just head back to Bea-."
Marek suddenly held up his finger, getting Liam to stop talking. After a second passed, Marek turned down a different street. Reaching the end of the street, he took a right, heading towards the docks.
Liam and Nicci shared a quick glance before following. Turning the corner, they saw Marek staring at a warehouse. "Here."
"Here?" Nicci repeated. "What is it?"
Glancing over the warehouse, Liam spotted a window. "I got it." taking a running jump, Liam changed to his avian form. Flying up to the window, he took a look inside, seeing countless crates along with White Fang members moving them.
After a few more seconds of looking through the window, Liam flew back to his team, changing from his avian form and landing next to Nicci. "The White Fang." Liam told them. "They're scattered through the warehouse, moving crates of...something."
"How many?" Nicci asked.
"Don't know." Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll. "But we need to worry more about our leader." as his scroll rang, Liam glanced at Marek. "How'd you know they were in there, anyway?"
"I can sense their negative emotions." Marek replied.
"What like a Grimm?" Liam asked him.
"Yeah..." Marek glared at his teammate. "Like a Grimm."
"Liam?" Chrome's voice came from his scroll.
"Hey, where are you man?" Liam asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. But the White Fang are here in Vale somewhere." Chrome replied. "I need to find them."
"Why?"
"It'll be better to talk in person." Chrome replied. "Where are you?"
"The docks."
"I'll be right over." Chrome hung up.
Putting his scroll away, Liam crossed his arms. "What'd he say?" Nicci asked.
"He'll be right over. Guess we just gotta wait."
Minutes later
Spotting their leader approaching, Liam crossed his arms. "You know, you should leave a note or something next time."
"Didn't really have time." Chrome replied. "Where are they?"
"The White Fang? In there." Liam gestured to the building behind him.
"What are they doing?"
"Moving crates." Liam told him. "That's pretty much it."
"Hm."
"Now, you wanna tell us why you're looking for the White Fang?"
Chrome sighed. "Fine, but not here. Let's get back to the dorms."
"Fine."
Minutes later
Back at the dorms, the four members of team CRML sat in their shared room. Marek was lying down in his bed. Nicci was sitting on her bunk with her legs dangling off. Liam sat in the chair by the desk, his back facing the window. And Chrome stood in the center of the room.
"Alright. Talk." Liam said. "Why did you bail last night, and why are you looking for the White Fang?"
Chrome took a deep breath. "Don't get pissed but... I'm... I'm-"
"He's ex-White Fang." Marek said for him. Nicci gasped softly while Liam just looked back at Marek. "It's pretty obvious, especially since his 'cousin' is the daughter of the previous White Fang leaders. I say cousin but in reality you and Blake are siblings, aren't you?"
Chrome stood in silence as Liam looked back to his leader. "Your parents are the ex-leaders of the White Fang?"
"H-how do you know all of that?" Chrome asked Marek.
"It used to be my job to know everything about, well, everything." Marek replied.
"Who'd you used to work for?" Nicci asked.
"One evil bitch." Marek growled. "Took orphans from destroyed villages to 'raise as her own' only to twist their views to match hers. And if you disobeyed, a small part of you was... lost each time."
"Lost?" Chrome asked.
Marek just turned his head away. "I've said enough. Besides, this is about the ex-Fang member that's standing right there, not me."
"Marek..."
"I'm done talking. Leave me alone."
After what felt like forever of silence, Liam spoke up. "What do we do about the White Fang at the docks?"
"Let's head back tomorrow." Chrome said. "At night, under the cover of dark. I'll explain the rest of my past then."
"Good."
End of chapter 8
