RWBY: Team CRML

Chapter 32

Shadow

Walking through the doors and into the room used for training, Tyrian crawled in behind Shadow, wailing. "She'll forgive me..."

Seeing his mother, Shadow clasped his hands behind his back. "Shadow. Tyrian." Salem said. "Your tasks. Were you successful?"

Shadow glanced at Tyrian. "N-no." he looked away, avoiding eye contact.

Upon hearing this, Salem seemed surprised. "I can ex-"

"But-but hope is not lost!" Tyrian cut Shadow off. "My tail, my stinger... I-I poisoned him, Qrow! He will not be a nuisance to you any longer, no... no longer! I've done that... have I done well? Have I pleased you?"

"The last eye is blinded... you disappoint me." Salem told Tyrian.

Upon hearing this, Tyrian began wailing again as Salem made her way to the exit. "Shadow." she said as she passed by him. "Come with me."

Looking to Cinder, the two made eye contact before Shadow turned to follow his mother. Walking into Salem's bedroom, off limits to everyone but her and her children, Salem gestured for her son to sit down.

The two sat down. "So, was he there?" Salem asked. "Your brother?"

"He was." Shadow nodded. "But he refused to return. He wouldn't give up without a fight so I figured he'd be more trouble than he's worth. So, instead I tried to kill him."

"You what?" Salem growled.

"He's a traitor. He doesn't see the advantage of-" Shadow cut himself off as Salem's eyes glowed a dark red.

"You do not get to make that decision!" she shouted, her words distorting. "I told you to bring him here alive, did I not?!"

Shadow was taken back. "You did, but-"

"You will follow my orders, or you will face consequences." Salem said, her eyes returning to normal. "I don't want it to come to that. Next time you see your brother, it will be only to bring him home. Do I make myself clear?"

Shadow nodded. "Y-yes, ma'am."

"Good." Salem smiled. It was a gentle smile, barely noticeable. "Go see if your sister needs any help."

Shadow nodded before heading for the exit.

Chrome

Chrome, Nicci and Blake waited for Sun to wake up. Hearing him stir, Chrome glanced back. "Blake?" Sun said softly upon seeing her.

"This... is why, Sun. This is why I left them all behind." Blake said.

"What are you... wait, where am I?" Sun asked.

Blake gets up and walks over to the couch as Sun looks around in confusion.

"I am done seeing my friends hurt because of me." Blake told him.

"Blake..."

"Shut up!" Blake shouted. Chrome and Nicci both took a step back from shock. "Do you think I like being alone? Every day... every day I think about them! Ruby, Weiss, Yang... they were my friends! I loved them like I never thought I could love anybody. And I hope they hate me for leaving."

"You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do!" Blake shouted. She is forceful enough with her voice that Sun pulls back.

"Everyone thinks they can help me, but they can't." Blake sat down. "You saw Ilia last night and she's not even the worst! No. No more. They're better off without me. I made my choices and I'll deal with the consequences because they belong to me."

"You think you're being selfless, but you're not." Sun told her. "Yeah, that chameleon friend of yours got me pretty good. But I'd do it all again if it meant protecting you. And I can promise Yang would say the same."

Blake turns away, looking down.

"You can make your own choices, sure. But you don't get to make ours. When your friends fight for you, it's because we want to." Sun added. "So stop pushing us out! It hurts more than anything the bad guys could ever do to us."

Sun looks at the floor and Blake, who had turned to face him, turns away again.

"But, if it makes you feel any better, the next time I go up against Lizard Girl, it won't be for you - it'll be to get even."

Sun attempts to point to his wound with his left thumb, but the aggravates his injury. Sun winces in pain and Blake chuckles.

"My hero."

Suddenly, the door behind them fell as Kali pressed to hard on it. "Oh! Oh dear, would you look at that, he's awake! Thank goodness!" Kali said as she sprung up.

"Kali, please."

"Mom!"

"Mom?"

"Hey, Mrs. B!" Sun waved awkwardly.

"What are you doing?!" Blake asked as she walked over to her mother.

"Well, sweetheart, your father needed to speak with the four of you." Kali replied.

"Huh?"

A Scroll is set down on the coffee table. It shows a master folder labeled W. F. with six subfolders inside. The subfolders are labeled: Assignment, E.L., P.R., E.W., S. F., Untitled.

"I'm afraid you were right to be suspicious." Ghira told them.

"What do you mean?" Nicci asked.

"Adam Taurus is planning to overthrow the leader of the White Fang, and stage a full-scale attack on Haven Academy. It would be the Fall of Beacon all over again." Ghira replied.

"Not if we destroy the White Fang once and for all." Sun said.

"No." Blake stands up. "We're not going to destroy the White Fang. We're going to take it back."

Marek

Ruby and Jaune were carrying Qrow on a stretcher as they all made their way to the next village over. Coming to a fork in the road, they stopped. "Mistral." Marek said as he looked at the signs pointing in different directions.

"Mistral, hey!" Nora pointed to the sign. Seeing the name "Kuroyuri" on another, her expression suddenly changed. "Oh..."

"Does it say how close?!" Ruby asked.

"No. And it looks like the path takes us up the mountains." Ren said.

Jaune and Ruby set Qrow down.

"Guys, I don't know if all of us can make that climb." Jaune said, looking at Qrow.

Ruby looks at Qrow, concerned, before rushing forward to the signpost.

"Okay. Well, what about this place?" she pointed at one of the signs. "Kuro... Kuroyuri? Can we get help there?"

"That village was destroyed years ago." Ren said.

"But if it takes us around the mountains, it's the best bet we've got." Jaune said.

"It will take too long." Ren told him.

"The town would have had a doctor, right? Maybe we could scavenge for medicine!" Ruby suggested.

"Right!"

"We're not going to find anything! We just have to press on!" Ren shouted.

There is just a brief moment of silence. Ruby watches him, clutching her hands before her chest.

"Ren, why are you acting—"

"We can split up." Nora said.

"Huh?"

"Ren and I can cut through the mountains while you, Marek and Ruby take Qrow around through the village."

"No, we're supposed to stick together! We keep each other safe!" Jaune replied.

"We don't have time for safe! If we make it to Mistral, we'll bring back help! If we don't, at least we'll have a better view of the land! Up there, we can see if there's somewhere else we can go!" Nora told them.

Ren turns and looks at Nora. They exchange small, affectionate smiles. Still holding his gaze, Nora drops her hand from his shoulder. All five remain silent, feeling the weight of the choice before them. Qrow coughs, making them all turn in concern and giving the motive to continue.

Jaune looks at Ruby before turning to Nora and Ren.

"Ok." Jaune steps forward and he and Ren hug each other. "Just take care of each other."

"We always have." Nora said.

This entire time, Marek was silent as he stared at the Kuroyuri sign. There was something familiar about the name.

On the path to Kuroyuri, Jaune and Ruby lift Qrow. They turn to Nora and Ren, who are on the path through the mountains to Mistral. They nod and Nora waves. "Marek?" Ruby said softly.

"Right..." he said, immediately snapping back to the task at hand.

"They're gonna be fine, Jaune.' Ruby told him.

"You don't know that."

It took them a couple minutes before the three of them made it to the destroyed village of Kuroyuri. Walking through it, the three of them looked around.

"Any one of these buildings look like a pharmacy?" Ruby asked.

"It's... honestly hard to tell." Jaune replied.

"Ren really didn't want to come here, did he?" Ruby asked.

"Uh... didn't seem so." Jaune replied.

"Do you know... why?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea..." Jaune said.

Looking over the destroyed buildings, Marek suddenly had a massive wave of nostalgia as his eyes landed on a particular building. Walking over to it, Ruby noticed Marek head off. "Marek?"

"I know this place..." Marek said softly. "I've been here before."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was a kid." Marek replied. A sudden massive wave of pain rushed through his head. Placing his hands on his head, Marek groaned in pain.

"Marek?"

The pain vanished as fast as it appeared. "I..." memories flooded his mind. Memories he didn't know he had. Memories that were locked away, but not by Marek. By something else. "I remember this place..." he glanced back to Ruby and Jaune. "Give me a moment. I need to see something."

"We'll keep looking around." Jaune told him.

As the two walked away with Qrow, Marek approached the destroyed home. Running his hand along the railing of the porch, a small layer of dust stuck to his fingers.

Pushing the door to the ground, Marek stepped inside of the building. The living room was painted a soft teal and there was a couch in the center of the room with a coffee table in front of it. Sitting on the couch was a woman with flowing red hair and a set of purple eyes.

Making eye contact, Marek blinked and the room was replaced by torn walls. The coffee table and couch were charred and flipped over. Everything was colorless.

And the woman was nowhere to be seen.

Rubbing his eyes, Marek questioned what he saw before walking into the hallway. Looking from room to room, he eventually came across a room that had two overturned twin beds. Walking over, Marek flipped the two over.

Looking them over, his eyes landed on a carving in the wood on the side of the bed frame. Brushing the dust off, the name in the wood read "Mist Stark." Marek read the name. Turning to the second bed, Marek saw a similar carving in the wood but with a different first name.

"Marek Stark."

End of chapter 32