RWBY: Team CRML
Chapter 61
Team CRML
Arriving outside of the Schnee Mansion, Chrome, Nicci, Marek and Liam all shared quick glances. As the front door opened, Whitley immediately glared at his sisters.. "Good evening, everyone."
"Where's Klein?" Weiss asked.
Whitley responds with a sarcastic smile and somewhat dramatic poses. "What an interesting way to say 'Hello, dear brother, how have you been?'" He crosses his arms and continues to address Weiss with a frown. "I'm afraid you won't find him here. He was let go. I can't imagine why." Whitley smirks, and upon realizing what he meant, Weiss gasps. Whitley then looked at everyone Ironwood brought with. "General, exactly how large do you think our dining room table is?"
"I happen to know it's enormous. But most of my guests will be on standby in case the council requests additional eye witnesses. Until then I'm sure they'll be happily celebrating your father's victory." Ironwood replied.
Whitley forces a sarcastic grin with a smug chuckle, then rolls his eyes as he turns to lead them into the foyer. Scattered around the room are small groups of formally dressed guests. Waiters roam the room with trays of wine glasses and hors d'oeuvres. Whitley stops in the middle of the room, turns to Ironwood's group and points to his right. "For those of you joining us in the dining room, please follow me." He walks in the direction he pointed, crossing his arms behind his back. Ironwood, Winter, Penny and Clover follow. Clover glances back at the others.
"Wish us luck."
"I mean, they already invited you, didn't they?" Qrow said.
Clover responds with a slight chuckle. A Faunus waiter approaches Qrow and offers him a tray of wine glasses with his rabbit ears folded back.
"Care for a drink, sir?"
Qrow looks at the wine, his eyes widening slightly. "Uh... No, n-no thanks." Qrow waves his hand in rejection and turns to Team RWBY. "I think I'll just stick to patrolling the grounds."
Qrow walks away from the group. Marrow frowns and watches the waiter pass by. "Words out of my mouth."
Marrow walks away in the same direction as Qrow, and Harriet turns to address Teams RWBY and CRML. "Right, well, don't wander off, don't break anything, and be ready in case the General calls on you."
Harriet walks away with Vine and Elm.
"Counterpoint, how about we do wander off, consider breaking things, and then all that other stuff." Yang said.
"I'll be in touch." Weiss points to her ear, then heads to the staircase. Chrome quickly followed his sister. However, she stops at the base of the staircase upon seeing Whitley descending the stairs.
"Dear sister, I was hoping we could use this time to catch up."
"Oh-"
"I have to know, why did you go through so much trouble to leave home, only to come crawling back?" he asked. He then turned to Chrome, glaring at him. "And you brought in a stray, too."
Chrome folded his cat ears back. "That was uncalled for, Whitley."
"I was just curious as to who this Faunus is." Whitley replied.
"Ch..." Weiss caught herself about to say his real name. "Could you wait with the others, Cal?" Weiss asked him.
Chrome looked at Whitley then Weiss before turning around and walking away. He was going to head back to the others, when he suddenly got an idea.
Instead of going to the others, Chrome went outside. As the door shut behind him, he looked up to see a balcony with the sliding door open. Smirking to himself, Chrome created glyphs up the side of the mansion before running up them and vaulting over the railing of the balcony. Now on the upper floor, Chrome walked inside.
The room was empty, thankfully. It seemed to be one of the guest rooms. Walking to the door, Chrome left the room and almost immediately bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm s-" looking at one another, Chrome realized it was actually Weiss he ran into. "Chrome?!" Weiss whispered. "How did you get up here?"
"I used my semblance." he replied. "Look, I just want to see our mom, and then I'll head back to the foyer."
"I-" Weiss sighed. "Fine. Come with me, there's something I need to do first."
"Lead the way."
Weiss led Chrome to Jacques' study. Stopping outside, Weiss looked to Chrome. "Wait here. I'll just be a sec."
Weiss disappeared behind the door as Chrome leaned against the wall. "Okay..."
A few minutes later
Hearing the door open, Chrome looked over. "You get everything you-" he stopped as he realized it wasn't Weiss but instead their mother, Willow.
The two locked eyes. "Chrome?" Willow said softly.
"Mom?"
"I-I saw the newscast... It-it said you were killed..." Willow's eyes began to tear up.
Chrome was at a loss of words. There were a trillion things he wanted to say, but everything just got jumbled. "I..."
Stepping forward, Willow suddenly wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. "My son."
Feeling his own eyes begin to tear up, Chrome hugged her back. After what felt like an eternity, the two pulled away. "Your eye... What have you been through?" Willow gently placed a hand on Chrome's cheek. "You must have countless questions. I know where we can talk in private. Come with me."
Leading Chrome to an empty guest room, Willow sat down in a chair next to a small table. Gesturing to the other chair, Chrome sat down.
The two sat for quite some time before Willow broke the silence. "You look so much like your father."
"I..." Chrome shook his head. "I have no idea what to say." he chuckled softly. "I wanted to meet you, but now that it's happened, I'm at a loss."
"It's okay." Willow said, her voice was gentle and quiet. "Take your time."
"Why didn't you take care of me?" Chrome asked.
Willow was silent. "I couldn't." she told him. "If I would have kept you here in Atlas, you would've been taken from me. Giving you to your father's brother was my best and only option." Chrome slowly nodded in understanding. "I thought about you every day since I gave you to the Belladonnas. I'm so glad you're okay."
Chrome wiped a few tears from his eyes. "I wish I could have more time to talk to you."
"You will." Willow said. "My...husband, Jacques, I caught him and another man talking about how to...get rid of you."
"Get rid of me?"
"He's going away for a long time. And he isn't allowed back here." she told him. "I want you to live here, with me, your brother and sisters. I also want you to be the heir to the Schnee Dust Company."
Chrome was shocked at this. "Why me?"
"I know you would take away the Faunus' suffering." she told him. "You can help them."
Chrome was about to reply when his scrolled suddenly buzzed. Taking it out of his pocket, he saw it was Winter contacting him. "Winter?"
Answering it, he put his scroll to his ear. "Chrome, I need you in the front of the mansion. The heat is off in Mantle, and I need you and Pen-"
"I'm coming, too!" Nicci's voice came through the scroll.
Winter sighed. "I need you, Penny, and Nicci to help me."
Chrome looked to Willow. She gave a small nod. "I'll be down in a sec."
Hanging up, Chrome got out of his seat. "I gotta go."
"It's okay." Willow smiled. "I'm happy I got a chance to meet you."
"Me too."
Rushing out of the room, Chrome quickly ran down the hall. Finding the main staircase, he went down, and out the front door. Looking over, he saw Winter, Penny and Nicci waiting for him.
"Where's everyone else?"
"They've already left to help Mantle. You're going to help me with something else."
Liam/Marek
In the skies above Mantle, a Teryx, a dragon-like Grimm, lands on the front end of the Manta and looks through the windshield. It roars and spreads its wings. "Hang on!" Marrow told everyone.
Jaune, Nora, Ren, Blake and Yang have buckled their seatbelts. Jaune is leaning on his sword with his eyes closed in concentration. Elm holds onto Qrow and Clover, activating her Semblance to keep her footing. Weiss creates black-and-purple glyphs under herself, Ruby, Liam, Marek and Vine to keep them steady.
Harriet begins making the Manta perform maneuvers, leaning and spinning in an attempt to knock the Teryx off. Inside, Jaune holds back vomit, and Ren looks at Nora, holding onto her right arm.
The Teryx lets go with its hind legs and swings itself to stand on top of the Manta. It then makes its way down the right side of the ship and swings its right hand at the ship. Blake and Yang hear a noise and lean away from each other, just in time to avoid the Teryx's claws as they slash straight through the wall. Yang yelps, looking terrified.
"I can't shake it!" Harriet shouted.
Another Teryx swoops down, slams its hind claws through the ship's right wing, and flies away, causing an explosion in the ship's wing. Debris flies off the damaged wing, which begins flaming and smoking, causing the ship to become unsteady.
"I don't think we're staying airborne." Liam said.
"It's time to go."
"You have your team assignments." Clover heads over to the ship door, flicking his clover medal with his thumb. "Let's go."
He hits the airship's door, making it slide open. On the other side of the door is the Teryx's head, and it screeches at Clover, who confidently stands with his back to it and a smirk on his face. Half of the damaged ship wing snaps off and slams into the Teryx, knocking it off the ship. Jaune, Ren, Weiss, Marek and Nora jump out of the ship one by one. Liam was about to follow but Clover stopped him. "You'll be helping me and Qrow." he told him.
Not having the time to argue, Liam nodded. "Okay."
"Harriet, don't stay too long."
"Yeah, thanks for the tip."
Marrow, Yang and Blake jump out of the ship. Elm and Clover clasp hands with each other, and then Elm jumps up, grabs onto the ship, and swings herself out. Glass from the front of the ship shatters and flies backward toward Clover, who shields his face with his arms. Harriet is standing on the pilot seat with her weapon deployed, having shattered the windshield. She looks back at Ruby and smirks. "Try to keep up, kid."
Ruby laughs and grins excitedly. Harriet uses her Semblance to jump out the broken windshield, run along the top of the ship and jump off the tail, while Ruby follows her, flying through the air with her own Semblance.
The ship begins descending toward Mantle, and Qrow opens the other door. Clover salutes him and falls backward from the ship with Liam following.
The two land on a rooftop with Qrow landing a few seconds later. "We need to make sure the skies stay clear for our teams down below." Clover told them.
Looking to the sky, a Teryx flew down towards the three. "I got this one." Qrow said. However, as it got close enough for him to slash at it, a vertical wave of fire rushed passed him, igniting the Grimm and causing it to crash land onto the roof.
Qrow looked back to see Liam's sword was engulfed in flames. "Sorry, dad, but I saw it first." walking over to the Grimm, Liam swung his weapon, putting the fire out, before raising it and plunging it into the Teryx.
The Grimm turned to dust as Clover patted Qrow on the back. "Your kid's good. Glad I chose him for this job."
End of chapter 61
