RWBY: Team CRML
Chapter 38
Liam
Finding himself standing in the livingroom of a house, Liam looked around to see Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and the remaining members of team JNPR staring at him. "Liam?" Ruby said softly.
Looking back, Laim saw his father standing a few feet away, just as shocked as the others. Upon seeing him, Liam glared at his father. He didn't realize just how pissed he'd be at all of the things Qrow had hidden from him for so long.
Feeling a pair of arms wrap around him, Liam looked down to see Ruby hugging him. Returning it, the two parted. "Where have you been, Liam?"
"I was at Raven's camp." he replied. "She was helping me recover."
"I thought you were dead! Everyone did!" Ruby said. "No one knew where you were, or what had happened to you! You were just...gone!"
"Raven took care of me." Liam told his, now known, younger sister. "I lost my arm during the fall and she helped me get back into fighting shape." he added as he showed his red and black robot arm.
"You didn't rest or anything?" Qrow asked.
"If I had let myself rest, I would've fallen into depression." Liam replied as he turned to his dad. "I insisted I train." he then crossed his arms. "She also told me quite a few interesting things."
Qrow stared at his son. "What'd she tell you?"
Liam glanced at Ruby before looking back to his father. "I think you know that." ever so slightly, Liam pulled on his cloak, hinting to what Raven had told him.
Seeing this, Qrow looked to the ground. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Ruby spoke. "We were just about to eat. You guys wanna join us?"
Staring at his father for a few more seconds, Liam narrowed his eyes. "I'm not hungry."
"Oh..." Ruby said softly.
"Liam and I have a few things to talk about." Qrow said. "You guys go ahead."
"Are you sure, uncle Qrow?" Yang asked.
"Yeah."
With that, the two of them walked down the hall, entering a room on the left. Liam walked to the center of the room before turning around to face his father. "Alright... Let me hear it." Qrow said softly.
Feeling his anger rising, Liam clenched his fists. "What the fuck! Why? Why hide so much from me?! Were you ever going to tell me the truth, or were you going to hide it from me forever?!"
"I-"
"Summer is my mom! Salem has me in her sights! Is there anything else I should fucking know?!" Liam's voice got louder with each word. "Not only did you hide this from me, but you hid it from Ruby, too!" he gestured to the door.
"She told you about Salem?"
"Glad that's your take from this." Liam crossed his arms. "Did you even look for me when I went missing?"
"Liam, I-"
"It's a 'yes' or 'no' question, Qrow."
Hearing his son call him by his first name caused Qrow to hang his head. "No." he shook his head slowly.
"All it would've taken for you to know I was safe was a call to your sister." Liam told him. "But even then, you didn't ask her if she knew where I was, did you?"
Qrow looked at his son, shocked. "She told you-?"
"That you two had a little chat about the Spring Maiden?" Liam asked. "Yeah, she did. She also told me that you didn't even mention my name."
"I was-"
"How could you?" Liam asked, glaring at his father. "You made me think my mom was never in my life but you kept it from me!"
"It was Summer's wish." Qrow said softly. Too softly for Liam to hear.
"No father would hide this." Liam said. Walking over and opening the door, Liam left the room, leaving Qrow alone.
Chrome
After another day of failing at getting signatures to help Mistral, knowing the White Fang were going to attack it thanks to Ilia's scroll, Chrome stood on the balcony, running a hand through his hair. "Hey, Chrome, you coming with us?" Sun asked as he and Blake peeked around the corner.
"Yeah, I'll be right-" placing his hand on the railing, he felt his fingers touch something on the underside. "-there..." grabbing it, Chrome found it to be a folded up piece of paper. Looking back, Blake and Sun were both gone.
Unfolding the paper, it was a note from Ilia.
-C
Things going too far.
Not sure what to do.
Find a quiet spot,
I'll find you.
Come alone. Please.
-I
Rereading the note, Chrome folded it back up and placed it in his pocket before turning around to follow Blake and Sun.
Liam
Heading down the hall, Liam had his head down and fists clenched. "Damnit!" punching the wall, the door next to it opened.
"You wanna keep it..." Marek stopped as he realized who it was. "...down..?"
Liam turned around and was immediately taken back. "Marek?"
"Liam!"
The two of them shared a quick hug. "What happened to you after you fell?" Liam asked. "I thought that maybe you didn't make it."
"Well, I sunk my claws into the side of the tower to slow my descent. Then, I fought my piece of shit 'brother'." Marek added. "I walked away as Shadow was buried in rubble and debris. Apparently he lived. What about you?"
"That woman, your sister or whatever..." Liam shut his eyes as memories of Beacon Tower came back to him. Feeling his hand begin to shake, he used his robotic hand to get it to stop. As he did, Marek noticed the mechanical arm.
"She cut your arm off?" Marek asked.
"Pretty much."
"I... Damn..." Marek said softly.
"Yeah."
"How did you get here?" Marek asked him.
"My aunt. Her semblance allows her to open portals to people she's bonded with." Liam explained.
"Interesting."
"Have you seen Ruby?" Liam asked. "I have a few things to tell her."
"I'm right here." Liam turned around and came face-to-face with Ruby. "What's up?"
"I'll go ahead and leave you two alone." Marek said before walking into the livingroom.
The two watched him leave before Ruby looked to one of the rooms. "We can talk in here." entering the room, Ruby sat down on the bed as Liam shut the door. "What's up?"
"We're siblings." Liam said bluntly.
Ruby was silent as what he said sunk in. "What do you mean?"
"Summer is my mom, too. Raven told me." Liam told her. "But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Salem, she wants us gone."
"Us?"
"Silver Eyed Warriors." Liam told her. "Raven said that people with our trait can 'kill Grimm with a single look'. She also told me that if we want to keep the people we love safe, that we need to disappear. Distance ourselves from everyone we care about."
Ruby was shocked at what she was hearing. "I... You're my brother?" she suddenly held both sides of her head. "And Salem..."
"Ruby, if you continue on with what you're trying to do, I'll help you, but we'll need to be careful." Liam told her.
"Why would uncle Qrow hide this from us?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know..." Liam said softly. Turning his head to the side, his eyes shifted down to Summer's cloak that he was currently wearing. Slowly taking it off, Liam folded it up before holding it out to Ruby. "Raven gave me this. It was Sum- mom's. I think she'd want you to have it, Ruby."
Upon seeing her mother's cloak, Ruby gently touched it before pushing it back to Liam. "You keep it."
Glancing down at the cloak, Liam looked to his sister. "You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you, Ruby." Liam said as he put the cloak back on.
Chrome
Walking into a darkened alley, Chrome had one of his hands hovering over the hilt of one of his swords. "Ilia?"
"I'm here." Ilia stepped from the shadows, dropping her black camouflage. Her hands were raised above her head.
"So, what'd you want?" Chrome asked.
"I'm sorry." Ilia said softly.
"If you're truly sorry, then help us." Chrome told her. "You can still make things right."
"It's too late for that." Ilia clenched her fist.
Hearing a series of footsteps on the roof, Chrome looked up just as a bat Faunus dropped down, aiming to land on top of Chrome.
Rolling out of the way, Chrome drew his weapons while taking his stance. "I fuckin' knew it!" Chrome growled while glaring at Ilia. "You-" Chrome was knocked to the ground as a web-like substance wrapped around him, causing him to lose his grip on his weapons.
Emerging from the darkness were two Faunhs. The spider Faunus pulled on the web to get Chrome into a kneeling position. "Well done sister Trifa. And to you, Ilia." the bat Faunus said.
Looking up to Ilia, Chrome glared at his former friend. "I should've known." Chrome said as he shook his head. "I'm such a fuckin' idiot to trust you."
"I tried to warn you." Ilia told him. "I'm sorry."
"Save it for someone else!" Chrome growled. "I'm not buying that 'I'm sorry' shit!"
"But I am. I am sorry it has to be this way, but you and your family are holding the Faunus back!" Ilia growled.
"How? By trying to keep psychopaths like Adam from hurting innocents?" Chrome asked. "In what world do you live in where you think that type of thing is fine?"
"The same one as you!" Ilia snapped. "There's no such thing as innocent! There's no right thing to do! Only what's best for us! There's the humans that still hate the Faunus, and there's the others who stand by and let the hate happen! But you know what snuffs out hate? Fear. I don't like hurting people. But I'll tell you this..." Ilia pointed her weapon at Chrome. "...it's gotten us results." There was a short pause. "We all have to make sacrifices for the greater good, no matter how much it hurts."
"And killing me is for the greater good, huh?"
"No, but getting rid of your family is." Ilia replied.
At this point Chrome pulled against his restraints. "I won't let you get anywhere near my family!"
"I know. That's why you're being sent to Mistral. To Adam." Ilia told him.
Hearing his name sent a wave of fear through Chrome. "Ilia...please..." Chrome hung his head as his eyes began to fill with tears.
"It hurts me to do this to you, Chrome." Ilia said softly. "I always wanted you to see me, but never did." her spots turned a soft shade of pink as did her eyes. It was only for a second before they went back to their normal colors. "Yuma, with me. You two, get him to the docks."
Ilia and Yuma, the bat Faunus, leave while the other two get Chrome to his feet. "Let's go, traitor."
The sound of quick footsteps drew their attention as Nicci jumped down from the rooftops, cutting through the web with her axe. Spinning around, she kicked back Trifa before using her semblance on the second Faunus, knocking him into the side of a building hard enough to knock him out.
Walking over to Trifa, Nicci hit her with the butt of her weapon, knocking her out as well.
"You're lucky I was tailing you, Chrome." Nicci said. "That was a dumb idea, coming here alone."
"Yeah, I know." Chrome replied as Nicci freed him from the web. Picking up his weapons, Chrome placed them in their sheathes. "We gotta warn Blake, Sun and my parents."
"Here." Nicci tossed Chrome his scroll from where it lay on the ground.
"Let's go!"
Calling home as Nicci called the police, the two of them began running back to the Belladonna residence.
End of chapter 38
