RWBY: Team CRML

Chapter 35

(Reply to ThunderFlameKnight: If I could pick voice actors/actresses for my OCs I would want it to be Nolan North for Chrome, Jared Padalecki for Liam, Sam Witwer for Marek, Elizabeth Olsen for Nicci, Troy Baker for Shadow, and Laura Bailey for Mist)

Marek

"Haven Academy..." Marek said softly as he, team RNJR and Qrow stepped into the courtyard. "Finally."

Walking into the school, Qrow took the lead. "Hello?" Ruby called out but there was no answer. "Hello!?" she said louder.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here." Ren said.

"Well, I guess school isn't really in session right now. Maybe that's it."

"No, this isn't right. Come on." Qrow hurries ahead.

"Wait for us!"

Marek and RNJR pick up the pace to catch up, and soon, all six are running to a pair of wooden double doors. Qrow comes to a stop in front of them, draws his sword, and extends the blade.

"Get ready. There could be trouble."

The students follow his lead in drawing their weapons. Qrow brings up his foot and kicks the door open. Just on the other side, Leonardo Lionheart widens his eyes, throws his hands into the air, and lets out a frightened scream. Jaune, Ruby, and Nora widen their eyes and scream as well, while Ren gives the headmaster a confused stare. Standing on one foot with his eyes wide, Qrow suddenly looks down, loses his balance, and falls. Shortly after, Lionheart makes a noise and briefly faints. RNJR let their weapons down and stare, dumbfounded, while Qrow sits up.

"Uh, Professor Lionheart?"

Lionheart gasps and sits up.

"Qrow! For crying out loud, you nearly scared me half to death!" Lionheart told him.

Qrow stands up with a growl. "Me? Why weren't you waiting for us at the entrance?"

"Huh?" he pulls a pocket watch from his coat and checks it. "Oh, right. Apologies. I guess time slipped away from me."

"You're joking."

While Lionheart stands up, Marek and RNJR put their weapons away.

"Where is everybody?" Nora asked.

"Ah, you must be the students Qrow mentioned." Lionheart looked at each one of them.

"Yes, sir. Ruby Rose."

"Jaune Arc."

"Nora Valkyrie."

"Lie Ren."

Lionheart looks to the last student. "And you?"

"Marek Stark."

Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora all looked at him with a quizzical look. "A pleasure to meet you all. Leonardo Lionheart, at your service. I'm afraid most of my staff is currently away until classes resume, but-"

Hearing this, Qrow briefly clenches his fists and then leans in toward Lionheart.

"What? Leo, you can't be serious. Who's guarding the Relic?"

"Qrow, the children."

"Already know. I filled them in. What do you mean your staff is away?" Qrow replied.

"You... filled them in?"

"So, is this not going at all like anyone thought it would?" Nora asked.

Chrome

It was nightfall in Menagerie as Chrome walked out to the balcony. Leaning against the railing, Chrome ran a hand through his hair. Hearing a soft thud behind him, Chrome spun around as he reached for his weapons.

"Easy, Chrome." Ilia held her hands out to him. "I just need to talk."

"Twice in one night?" Chrome asked. "Blake mentioned you two spoke."

"Things didn't exactly go as planned." Ilia replied. "I was hoping you'd be more cooperative."

"That depends." Chrome crossed his arms. "What do you want?"

"You need to leave Menagerie." Ilia told him. "Adam, he-"

"I'm not leaving." Chrome told her. "So you can save it. Why don't you help us instead, Ilia? We don't have to be on opposite sides."

"You know why." Ilia replied. "I wished you had listened to me." with that, she leapt off the balcony.

Marek

"I have to say, Qrow, this all seems very reckless, even for you." Lionheart said.

"No, reckless is leaving one of the Relics completely unguarded. It's not checking in with Oz for ages!"

"There was nothing to check in about before the fall of Beacon, but since that day, Mistral has been in chaos!" he got up from his chair, fists clenched. "Vale wasn't the only Kingdom to suffer that night. Everyone was watching. Every house in every Kingdom saw that poor girl ripped to pieces, saw monsters crawling over the city, Atlesian Knights attacking citizens...and then nothing. You could feel the dread in the air. With all that negativity, you can imagine what it was like when the Grimm came for us." he walked to a window and looked outside. "Mistral's territory is the widest reaching in the world, you know, and that makes it infinitely harder to protect. We lost so many great Huntsmen, teachers from this very institution. And it's only gotten worse."

"How so?" Marek asked.

"We may have dealt with the Grimm, but the Mistral council's still at odds with representatives from Atlas. First, it was the Dust embargo, now it's the closing of borders." Lionheart turned to face Qrow. "I'm not sure what happened to James in Vale, but it seems to have only worsened some of his more unfortunate tendencies. And, on top of everything, we still don't know where the Spring Maiden is."

"All the more reason we need the Huntsmen and Huntresses here!"

"Okay! Okay. Things are bad; they're bad. But we can figure this out. Why is the Spring Maiden so important?" Ruby asked.

Lionheart looked to Qrow again. "I thought you filled them in."

"Mostly filled in. Look, there's a lot to cover, okay? I quit teaching for a reason." Qrow reached for his flask and took a drink.

"The four Maidens each have the power to perform feats of magic, and they are the only ones capable of reaching the Relics." Lionheart explained.

"What?"

"The Relics are each locked inside a chamber that can only be opened by a specific Maiden. Winter for the gift of Creation, Summer for Destruction, Fall for Choice and Spring for Knowledge." Qrow took another swig from his flask. "Spring is the problem."

"What happened to her?"

"She was determined, at first, when she inherited her powers, but the weight of responsibility proved to be too much for the child. She... ran. Abandoned her training, everyone. That was over a decade ago. There's no telling where she could be now." Lionheart said.

"I... know. At least... I have a pretty good idea." Qrow told him.

"Are you serious?"

"It's not exactly good news." Qrow said.

"What are you talking about? This is incredible news! After all these years! Where?!"

"I did some digging around. Looks like, after Spring ran away, she was picked up by bandits, specifically the Branwen tribe." Qrow explained.

"Raven."

"Yang's mom?" Jaune asked.

"That's right."

Qrow pulls out his Scroll, walking over to and placing it on Lionheart's desk. The hologram monitor on the desk displays a map of Remnant.

"That's about where they've set up their main camp." Qrow said as it zoomed in. "It's where they fall back to after raids and scouting missions. Raven's managed to gain a lot of followers since she returned to the tribe, and I'm sure when the Spring Maiden showed up, it only made things easier."

"Well, Qrow, I've got to hand it to you. With these coordinates, we can mount a retrieval force and head out in a few weeks."

Lionheart walks over to the computer, while Qrow clenches his fists.

"A few weeks?"

Lionheart pulls up a hologram keyboard and taps a few keys, while Qrow's Scroll displays the text "COPYING FILES", followed by "DISCONNECTED".

"That's right."

"Leo, maybe you didn't hear me. My sister has the Spring Maiden, and I know where she is." Qrow placed his hands on the desk. "We need to go, as soon as possible!" he knocked a few books off the desk.

"And perhaps you didn't hear me." Lionheart said angrily. "This Kingdom is in shambles. 'As soon as possible' does not mean tomorrow. It means, as soon as I can convince the council that I need Huntsmen more than they do. Unfortunately, bandit tribes aren't very high on their list of priorities when the threat of war is just on the horizon."

"Then damn the council. We'll do it ourselves. You and I are trained Huntsmen and these kids aren't exactly pushovers."

"Yeah!"

"Perhaps there's a more peaceful way to approach this?" Ren asked.

"We need to get Spring as far away from here as possible. And Raven isn't going to give up her most prized possession without a fight." Qrow said.

"Unfortunately, you and your sister are evenly matched. And I'm not the fighter I used to be. No offense, but these students and I can't take on an entire bandit tribe and a Maiden that's no doubt had years to hone her skills. We need to be positive we can apprehend Spring, because if we fail Raven and her tribe will scatter. And we'll be lost. We get one shot at this. And it needs to be perfect." Lionheart replied.

"You know Oz wouldn't be happy with any of this if he were here."

"Perhaps you're right. But he's not. I'm doing the very best I can." Lionheart said.

"There has to be something we can do."

"What about Cinder? She came with Emerald and Mercury from Haven. Do you have anything on them?" Jaune asked.

"We pulled their files after the Fall of Beacon. Nothing but lies and forgeries."

Jaune tightens his fists and glares at the floor in anger. There's another beat of silence before Qrow speaks.

"Well, I can't say this has been a warm reunion, Leo."

"I'm sorry. I know you've all traveled a long way. But I will do everything I can to help." Lionheart told them.

"Sure. We'll stay in the city for the time being. Local comms are still up. Keep in touch. Come on, kids."

They all begin to file out of the room. At the rear, Ruby turns around to face Lionheart again.

"It was nice meeting you, Professor."

"Likewise."

"What now?" Nora asked.

"You five head back to the house." Qrow told them. "I need a drink."

Heading back to the house, the five of them walked inside. Pulling his hood down and taking his bandanna off, Marek sighed. "Tired?" Ruby asked.

"Exhausted." Marek replied. "I'm gonna head off to bed early."

"Goodnight." Ruby said as he walked down the hall.

"Night."

End of chapter 35