I'm alive! Sorry for the delay on this one. I did notice while writing it that every single year there is a noticeable peroid of time where I stop uploading, usually from June-August. This year it just happened to start in May.
Anyways, here's the newest chapter. Hope you all enjoy.
Weiss stood outside of her tent with a slight frown, staring down at her hand with a confused expression in her eyes. Idly, she began to activate her aura and push it through her body, wincing as she felt uncomfortable shocks jolt her.
All around her soldiers were celebrating, overjoyed at their victory over the enemy army. They had managed to strike a decisive victory today by capturing the heir to the Altan family. Now other Mistralian noble families would be much less eager to confront the Oniyuri Rebellion, leaving them to be dealt with by the king instead.
The white-haired girl paid little attention to the loud cheers and laughter of her comrades, instead focusing on her aura. After her failed fusion with Ruby's silver flames, she was still experiencing some pain, similar to the uncomfortable static feeling after being shocked.
Her memories of that moment weren't clear, likely on account of the immense pain she had been in. All she knew was that by attempting to brute-force the fusion she had inadvertently caused more problems than she solved. Worse, Ruby outright refused to look her in the eyes.
The ghost hadn't been too pleased with Weiss these past few weeks, but now she was outright unwilling to even be within ten feet of her. She felt guilty, knowing that she had gone too far and that her closest friend was likely disgusted with her actions.
Even though she couldn't fully remember everything she felt when fused, she remembered how Ruby felt about this entire war, how pointless she thought Weiss's involvement in it was.
There had also been something else, an emotion that completely overpowered everything else Ruby felt. But as soon as Weiss had brushed against it, Ruby had managed to push it down beyond her reach before she could even figure out what it was that Ruby felt.
She shook her head. It wasn't her place to pry. She was undoubtedly curious, but she knew she had pushed too far today. If it hadn't been for the miraculous arrival of Yang and the Valean army, she would have surely died.
"Speaking of which," Weiss thought to herself as she looked up to see Yang and Blake approaching her, followed by yet another familiar figure. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a slightly uncomfortable expression on a face that was just slightly too chubby to belong to a warrior.
"Jaune. It's good to see you," She smiled genuinely at her friend, not very surprised to find him here. After all, Yang was here, and she had little doubt that the boisterous blonde would've dragged him along no matter where she went.
"Weiss? You're really here? I thought Yang was just messing with me," He said, shocked. "I'd never have guessed you would end up joining a foreign rebellion when you left Vale."
"Wow. Rude." Yang punched Jaune in the shoulder. "Did you really think I'd lie about something this big? That I'd just make something up to sound cool? Does that sound like something I'd do?"
"Yes."
"Yeah."
"Absolutely."
Weiss and Blake looked at each other and giggled while Jaune rubbed his shoulder where Yang had punched him. The lilac-eyed woman just gaped at them, her eyes flicking from each of them.
"I can't believe this. Weiss I get, she's always been sassy, and Blake loves to mess with me. But Jaune, actually growing a backbone and being snarky?"
Jaune ignored her with a roll of his eyes. "So, Weiss, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?"
Normally that question would've made Weiss cautious, as she liked to keep her secrets close to her chest. But one, she was tired, and two, Jaune was her friend.
"I'm still looking for that book. The only copy I have access to is in Lionheart's vaults, so I offered my help to the Rebellion in exchange for them getting me access to it."
Jaune nodded, understanding instantly why Weiss would join a group attempting to fight one of the Four Great Kingdoms after leaving Vale. She had jumped into an explosion to try and save the previous copy of the translator tome, after all. Blake and Yang just rolled their eyes teasingly, having already heard the story of why she was there.
"I should've guessed. I imagine they're using your reputation to draw more attention to their cause?" Jaune guessed, to which she nodded.
"Man, that's smart. We've been hearing all sorts of rumors as we've been traveling through Mistral, and people have been talking about the Rebellion wherever we went." Yang said.
"Some of the rumors sounded pretty unrealistic though. Stuff about how a single wanderer was able to kill the Scourge of Mistral and joined the Oniyuri Rebellion afterward. And after that, she managed to save the entire Rebellion from a trap." Blake recalled. "I assume that's just propaganda?"
Weiss scoffed. "Of course! Do you really think I could have done that?" She rolled her eyes. Blake and Jaune nodded, while Yang looked a little disappointed. She had clearly believed the rumors.
"Y-yeah, that makes no sense."
"Nora and Ren helped," Weiss stated bluntly. "Honestly, those two deserve as much credit for killing the Nuckelavee as I do."
Her trio of friends spluttered in shock. "Wait, you actually did kill the Scourge of Mistral? I thought that its death was just a rumor?" Jaune said.
"That'd be a poor lie, as any goodwill it gained would be lost when the creature resurfaced."
Blake frowned. "I assumed it was dead, but you're telling me that you and two other rebels managed to do what countless knights and warriors have failed to do? I figured it had to have been a large-scale assault that took it down."
Weiss shook her head. "No, it was an unlucky encounter. It appeared while Ren's squad was scavenging in Kuroyuri, and I happened to be nearby and interfered. The plan had been to distract it so they could flee and then escape, but after it cut off my exit I was forced to kill it."
Blake and Jaune both stared at her with wide-eyed expressions while Yang just gave her a wide grin and whistled. "Damn Weiss. That's the kind of statement I'd expect from my dad or Uncle Qrow, not a stuck-up princess like you." She teased.
Blake shook her head in disbelief. "If it had been anyone else saying it, I'd assume they were boasting. But with you, that just sounds typical. What, did it eat the book or something?
Weiss just shook her head. "No, it was just in the way. I couldn't let it end there, so I killed it. Simple as."
Yang's grin grew even wider. "I wish I'd been there to see that fight."
"Oh, it was awesome!" A new voice called out. The four friends turned to see Ren and Nora walking towards them, clearly having overheard the conversation. "She was all like whoosh and shing and I was like 'you want a piece of me?' and..." She kept speaking, giving a vivid but childish reenactment of her fight with the Nuckelavee. Jaune and Blake looked lost, while Yang nodded excitedly.
"What happened next?" She grinned happily. Weiss idly thought that she looked quite similar to Ruby at that moment, which made sense. The girl's love for knights and heroes had clearly come from her childhood experiences, which Yang had also shared.
While Yang and Nora had a conversation that no one else seemed to be able to understand, Ren turned to Weiss with a curious expression on his face.
"Are you alright? What happened there at the end of the battle, was that...?" He trailed off, to which she gave a slight nod. Ren grimaced, clearly understanding what had happened and why it went wrong.
Jaune didn't seem to notice, but Blake clearly picked up on some of their wordless conversation and frowned but otherwise made no note of it.
"More importantly, what are you guys doing here?" Nora asked loudly, pointing at Yang. "Why is the Valean army helping us out now?"
"Mistral has been caught interfering with Valean matters," Blake answered. "We're just repaying the favor."
Ren placed a hand on his chin. "So Lionheart had spies in Vale that were caught? While that's certainly a cause for concern, I don't see why you'd feel the need to come here."
Jaune shook his head. "It wasn't just spies. We have records of several deals between a major criminal leader in the capital and several high-ranking Mistralian nobles close to the king."
Weiss's eyes widened. "You don't mean-?"
"Yup," Yang nodded, her face drawing into a grimace. "Roman Torchwick."
Those who had met the man all felt their anger rise at the thought of the smug thief who had caused them so many problems months ago, while Ren and Nora glanced at each other silently wondering who he was.
"So that rat had been working with Mistral the entire time? All that dust he stole, all the weapons he smuggled out, it all went to Lionheart?" Weiss asked.
Blake nodded. "We figure. Mind you, there isn't a lot of damning evidence. Just his words about a Mistralian contact on the night at the docks and a few documents listing deals with some nobles. Nothing that ties him to Lionheart, but enough to draw conclusions."
"That's why we're here. Officially, we came to Mistral to help clean up the Grimm. Unofficially, we're here to cause trouble and be a pain in Lionheart's ass. If things escalate enough, Vale will declare war on Mistral for attacking us while we're on a humanitarian mission."
Weiss bit her lip. It was a clever strategy, but one thought crept to the forefront of her mind. "If Torchwick was working for Mistral, then what about his attempts to capture me? And what about his theft of the translator tome?"
"That was all Torchwick," Jaune replied. "He likely tried to capture you to sell you to either your father or the White Fang in order to fund his escape from Vale. That night on the docks, he was more scared of his Mistralian contacts reaching him than us."
"As he should've been. We saw what became of him," Blake muttered softly. Weiss turned to her.
"What do you mean?"
Yang and Jaune both grimaced while Blake kept her features neutral. Ren and Nora looked on curiously.
"Roman Torchwick was found several weeks after the incident at the docks. He'd been dead since that night, with numerous injuries that we didn't give to him. From what we guess, his Mistralian contacts were in the city and managed to get to him before we did. All signs point to them having tortured him before dumping him in the sewers to die."
A shocked cry came out from behind Weiss, and she didn't need to look to know that Ruby had been eavesdropping on the conversation and was devastated by the news.
Objectively, Weiss had little reason to care. In fact, many wouldn't even blame her for feeling vindicated that the man who had caused her so much trouble met such an end. But Weiss felt as though her dislike for the man and her pity for his fate canceled each other out, leaving her impassive to it.
But Ruby was much more innocent. Some would even describe her as naive. She truly felt sorry for Torchwick, even though he had been her enemy. But that was part of what made Ruby herself. While she may have wanted him brought to justice, she never wanted him to die, especially in such a way.
Yang and Jaune clearly felt uncomfortable about it, though that was likely more of a physical reaction than an emotional one. Weiss imagined that his fate hadn't been pretty to look at. But Blake seemed unbothered by it, likely due to her experiences in the White Fang.
Idly, Weiss wondered if learning about his fate would've bothered her had she never left on this journey to begin with. After all, she had certainly changed a fair bit since she left Atlas all that time ago, but even before she had never been particularly good at empathizing with people she never met. Part of being a Schnee, she guessed.
"I can't say I'm surprised," Ren muttered. "Lionheart never was one for mercy. Many of our comrades have met similar fates."
Weiss felt a pair of eyes snap up at his words, boring holes into the back of her head. Ruby was thinking about Weiss going through such a fate.
"That's a risk we choose to take," She spoke aloud, both to answer Ren's statement and to try and reassure Ruby. But she knew it would do little good after having felt Ruby's doubts and fears earlier.
"Well, it's a good thing Lionheart is going down!" Nora cheered. "Between all the help we've got recently, growing tensions in the capital, and now Vale's support, we've got a good chance of finishing this off soon!"
Yang gave a cocky grin while Jaune and Blake both nodded their heads. Ren smiled and closed his eyes, gazing off into the distance with a peaceful expression.
"An end to the fighting. Wouldn't that be nice?"
"Yeah."
Weiss made no comment. Even after the war ended, she still had her own battles to fight. She was a necromancer, a criminal in every kingdom of the world. She needed to hide that secret while also bringing Ruby back, all the while avoiding her father's attempts to reclaim her. And there was a good chance that after Ruby was brought back her secret would be exposed and she'd be arrested.
But that did little to dissuade her from her path. She'd made up her mind to save Ruby, and she would. There was nothing else to it.
"Hey look, the generals are leaving their tent!" Nora suddenly called out, pointing to the strategy tent at the center of the camp. Pyrrha and Yatsuhashi left, followed by Arslan Altan, their political prisoner. After them came two figures bearing the Valean coat of arms on their armor.
The first was Qrow Branwen, the only active member of King Ozpin's royal guard. A peerless warrior on the battlefield, the kind of fighter who only appears once in a generation. It wasn't a stretch to say he was one of the most powerful fighters in the world, and Weiss's throat went dry when she realized how much danger she was in around him. If he found out she was a necromancer trying to resurrect his niece, she'd be dead before she saw him draw his sword.
The woman behind him was a brunette with short hair. She wore a fine blue robe that flowed down to her ankles with a brown cloak over it. Around her waist was a fine leather belt and a small leather satchel. Gold bracelets on her wrists caught the light and twinkled, and Weiss could sense the powerful magic from where she stood.
Yang jerked her head to the figure. "That's Coco Adel, one of Glynda Goodwitch's apprentices. Rumor is that she's one of the most talented students she has, and she's only a year older than us. She's one of the best mages in all of Vale, and the second-in-command for our mission."
Weiss nodded, observing the woman with even more interest now. She wondered how she would measure up to the other mage, and what kind of magic she tended to use. If they were working together, perhaps they would be able to learn from each other.
But for now, there was a speech to listen to. Pyrrha stood off to the side while General Daichi addressed the crowd that was forming around him, his voice carrying over to where they stood.
"My comrades, our fortune grows greater by the day! Today, we have managed to snatch a great victory in a dire situation and managed to do so with minimal casualties. Tonight, we celebrate. Both for our victory and for our brothers and sisters who did not make it here to do so themselves!"
A cheer went up in the crowd. Yatsuhashi waited for them to quiet down before continuing. "And there is more good news. Thanks to the Altan family's generous donation, we have managed to acquire a number of fine weapons for us to use in our campaign against Lionheart's tyranny!"
Arslan Altan attempted to look dignified, standing up straighter and staring blankly off into the distance while the crowd mockingly cheered at her. As part of the terms of surrender, her family's private army was forced to surrender almost all of their weaponry, keeping only enough to defend themselves from Grimm.
This was a great victory, as most of the weapons they had obtained were in good shape, rather than the salvaged weapons they recovered from prior battles or the repurposed farm tools they used as weaponry.
Yatsuhashi continued his speech, talking about how the nearby lords would be unwilling to oppose them and how they might even sway neutral parties into supporting them. He spoke at length of their success and listed many of the needs the rebellion still had such as food and medicine.
Pyrrha stepped forwards and began to speak of their plan of action going forwards, giving general orders to the army and addressing a few captains specifically to lead specific operations such as recruitment in local towns or hunting Grimm to keep the peace. After giving her orders, she stepped back and allowed Yatsuhashi to speak again.
"And finally, to address a matter you all have likely been wondering about—these men and women from Vale who arrived to aid us in our battle. We have spoken to them at length, and have come to an agreement. Now, if you will allow him to say a few words, I present Qrow Branwen.
That sparked a massive wave of whispers. Those who knew of his role as a royal guard spoke with awe and reverence, while those who only recognized the Branwen name thanks to the bandit tribe spoke with fear and confusion.
Qrow stepped forwards, his expression inscrutable and his posture slouched. His crimson eyes lazily wandered the crowd, stopping for a moment to rest on Weiss and her companions. For a tense moment, their eyes seemed to meet before he moved on.
"Well," He spoke in a rough voice. "I've never been one for speeches. Yes, I'm a Branwen. Yes, I'm a Valean Knight. Yes, I'm the Qrow Branwen. That answer most of your questions?"
A few chuckles came from the crowd, but most stayed silent. Qrow just scoffed.
"Tough crowd. Well, I'll keep it short because there's a bottle in my tent with my name on it. I became a knight to hunt monsters. That's where my skills shine brightest. That's what these brats I brought with me are trained to do. That's what our king tasked us to do."
That prompted more of a response. Many of the rebels nodded along, showing that they had guessed as much. To them, the knights weren't there to fight their battles, just to help them kill the Grimm.
"There's a lot of monsters in the world," Qrow continued, his hands leaving his pocket to draw a flask from his hip. "Some can tear down a castle wall in a single swing. Some can fly over the clouds themselves. Some can even breathe fire."
The crowd looked lost while Qrow opened his flask and took a long swig. For a tense moment, only the sound of him gulping down what Weiss knew from Ruby's stories to be an unhealthy amount of alcohol could be heard.
"And some monsters wear human skin," Qrow finished, his eyes hardening. "A monster who'd tear his own kingdom apart and throw away his loyal soldiers all for his own gain is one I can't stand."
His lips twitched up into a savage grin. "So let's hunt this monster."
With that, the man turned away and walked back to the others to the thunderous cheers of the crowd. This was even better than they could've hoped for. Those who knew of Qrow before were stunned, while those who didn't found themselves happy to be allied with a member of the infamous Branwen tribe.
Even Weiss couldn't help but feel encouraged by his speech. Yang looked like a child watching their hero in action, which was probably exactly the case. Jaune and Blake both looked impressed with the man, while Nora and Ren both smiled at each other.
"It looks like we may really get what we always dreamed of, huh?" Nora asked, bumping her shoulder against Ren.
"Yeah. After all this time, we'll finally have peace."
Weiss felt happy for them and thus did not express the feeling that lodged itself in her chest out loud. Her friends deserved to be happy, even if only for this moment. But she still couldn't help but wonder to herself.
"Will stopping Lionheart really bring peace? Or will it cause more problems in the long run?"
Kinda a short one this time, sorry. Setup for the next few, along with some character interactions. Just as a heads up, these next few chapters are going to have some short timeskips between and during them that way I don't have to write every single detail.
I don't really have much to say after this chapter, so I'll just stick with the usual. Hope you enjoyed, please feel free to leave a comment/review if you did, and see you next time on the next chapter, whenever that ends up coming.