In the grand probability of endless potential and opportunity, there exists a timeline where everything goes right, rather than wrong. A timeline where events play out as close to the current one, yet key subtle differences alter and change the fates of those touched. Within the endless reaches of time, space and opportunity, we find ourselves in the Mistral Sanctuary. Stalking the halls, a shade of Red hunts for a figure. Adam Taurus, on the run from the authorities, reaches the safe room he had stashed Vic and the girl in. "Sir! you're back we-...holy…your face!"
"It's nothing Vic", Adam says as he prevents the kind man from observing the wound. He knew that Vic could heal him, somewhat, but there simply wasn't time. "Listen, I have to be quick. You and the girl stay with the Court"
"Court?", Vic asks in confusion.
"Mistral was a success. Hazel and the woman from Beacon now know not to mess with the Faunus. And by a miracle, the Mistral Authorities have praised the Faunus for helping and preventing Haven from suffering a fate like Beacon. Sienna, Ghira and Red Fang leadership have agreed to form a coalition organization, much like the governing councils most Kingdoms have, named the Court. Since owls have that. However, in order to push through with this story of an attack at Haven, as well as no proof of the ones having done so, I am branded the monster behind it and will be hunted until the end of my days"
"NANI?!", the white haired girl said as she peaked around the corner. Her blue left eye teared up while the red right one sparked with an anger that Adam absolutely understood. He sank to his knees, quickly tying a blindfold over his eye wounds and held out a hand for her.
"I'm sorry sharkie…your time with me has come to an end. Your safety is top priority. Vic will get you to your uncle, assuming he still lives", Adam said as he gently felt her small hands grab for his fingers and squeeze them in pain.
"You said you'd bring me home! You promised we'd travel together! That you'd protect me!", a flash of fear in her eyes reminds Adam of the pain in his youth. Yet he sighs and ruffles her hair a little.
"You won't need me anymore. You have the makings of a great Faunus, Gura", Adam smiles, "after all, you're a mighty trickster and professional gunslinger in the making"
"But you promised!", she cries and hugs him, causing Adam to momentarily relent. In truth he wanted her to come along. He had a guess about who her father was, but he wanted to see the heartwarming family reunion himself. Yet those chances were gone. He brought a hand to the blindfold as his vision blurred in a sea of red. He wasn't sure how, perhaps because of how Moonslice stores the energy in his mind, somehow that energy has given him 'sight'? No, that's not right. For as long as when Sensei saved me from that Dust mine, I've seen the world in a sea of red. Moonslice isn't just the ability to absorb energy like a battery and blast it back. No it's something…else. He focused his Aura into the parts of his mind that belonged to his Semblance and instantly saw the entire red world shimmer, like a radar or echolocation sense. A bright sea coloured soul stood hugging him, small but pure of heart. Next to him stood a soul clad in angelic light. Vic. He could sense the world, as if everything was drenched in rivers of blood, yet shapes moved. Shapes of black, yellow, orange, numerous colours filled the world. All Faunus that seemed to converge upon the Sanctuary, he sighed and got up.
"Gura..stay close to Vic. Be his royal guard…ok? Stay strong. And keep your motivation for pizza up. And remember: "do not listen to the words of others", you know who I am…make me proud", he said before he grabbed his sword, looked at Vic with a pleading face before he accepted his role as monster, if it meant the Court of Faunus could succeed.
…
In the build up to the train trip to Argus, the gang and their friends and family were spread like butter too thinly over a piece of bread. Ruby, who had hoped her team together meant they'd sharpen themselves and get back in sync, or at least hang out, found herself sticking closer to Jaune and Oscar. They were the only ones training. Ren and Nora were off doing their own things while Blake was along with her family for most of it. THough that should be expected, setting up the Court of Faunus was gonna take a lot of work and with the plan to head to Atlas Blake was trying to spend as much time with her family as possible. Ruby could understand that, at least a little. She had written a letter to her father any chance she got but thanks to always being on the move none had ever been sent back. As she swung her weapon baby, Ruby felt a sting of pain. How was dad? Was he holding up ok? He did have Zwei with him, so that's…something. And Qrow was also gone for most of it. With Haven now headmaster-less, he was asked by the Mistral Council to give assistance until they found a replacement. And with most Huntsmen dead thanks to Leo's treachery, which wasn't disclosed publicly, it was a serious political debacle. Especially since Ozpin wanted someone he could trust put in place.
Spending the least time in the House or near haven, were Weiss and Yang. Weiss, both in a place of cultural significance and displeased that she had taken a massive plane crash to escape from Atlas just to return to it now by train, was taking what chance she could to see the Kingdom. And Yang had promised to accompany her, but with the confrontation with her mother and the loss of a sister, yeah quite a shock to the system as Ruby felt horrible for Yang as she learned of that fact, Yang became a ghost. Sometimes she'd show up, silent and in thought for dinner. But most times she was either out with Bumblebee, clearing her mind by chasing the wind and thrills or working on her bike in the workshop of Haven. Or she'd just vanish wandering about. Now no one was scared something would happen to her, this IS Yang we're talking about, but Ruby still felt sad. RWBY wasn't back together at all. And then in the one night when they were together, there was a small tension that Rose picked up, especially between Yang and Blake. So when the day of the trainride occurred, you can be sure as Grimm that Ruby was excited!
Things happen close to what transpires here, with Blake saying goodbye to Sun, as well as Ilia and while scared it's appropriate, much like Sun, she thanks her with a kiss on the cheeks. When they both agree to stay close friends, Blake does want to thank her for picking the right side. Earning her a glare and a thanks from Ilia. Before she joins her team. Ruby buys snacks and games for them to play during their trip, bags of copiously sugared treats, a few healthy 'fruit' snacks for Blake and Weiss, as well as a board game, several sets of cards and a few battery packs for their scrolls. They get the exchange with the Huntsmen, the overly cocky and arrogant ones. Nora wonders about beach season with Ren, Jaune sits at the bench and has a thought he refuses to share. Argus, maybe…would she have been home by now? Probably not, travel is still restricted over all the kingdoms. Weiss bemoans her fate once more of having to go back to Atlas and while Ruby does still comfort her saying the team will have her back, Blake puts her hand on Weiss shoulder and nods, earning a snicker from the Ice Queen, joking, "Guess I'll just have to face my royal test head on, as Usual. But this time my friends will be there with us!"
Boarding, ticket check, luggage check and finally the seats. As the train moved out of the station and began a long journey towards the northern coastline of Anima, the first of many roadblocks hit. With Qrow looking for the bar already, Ruby trying to get her team to interact, she quickly found herself sulking in the RNJR cabin as she shuffled cards and played for snacks. Weiss was too 'busy' reading a book, Yang didn't feel like playing and Blake was absentmindedly staring out the window. Except when she held open the door and offered to put Yang's luggage in the storage closets. Earning her a glare from Yang who didn't say anything but was getting annoyed by it. She tried not to let it show as she won a round and got Nora's stash of sugarcubes, but Jaune could tell something was bothering her.
"Hey…ruby..? What's wrong?"
"I just won a stack of treats. What's wrong with you?! Don't you wanna play another round and win them back!?", She asked, eager for another game.
"Wouldn't…you wanna play with your team?", Ren asked, observant as ever.
"I…mean yeah I would. But they don't seem like they share that idea", sulking as she packs up the boardgame as she sees Qrow stumbling through the carriages, patrolling with a glass of some expensive looking drink, not plastered yet but clearly getting there. Jaune, noticing her glare, sighs.
"Has…has he always been this way?", he wonders gently, trying not to be overly critical.
"No…he's..he's gotten worse", Ruby's leader mentality quickly kicking into action as she did notice this after the Haven debacle. Perhaps Uncle Qrow is suffering more from Raven's betrayal. Or perhaps Leonardo's betrayal. As she wants to get up and ask if he's ok, she yelps as something makes her stumble before she sees Weiss' summoned Knight distracting her. Confused, she looks around and finds the heiress holding her bag of treats and smiling.
"You weren't gonna hold out on me were you?!", Weiss giggled as she took the bag and ran for it. Smiling, thinking that maybe finally her team was starting to get back at it, she chased Weiss, both laughing and giggling like friends having fun. But as they got to the door of the caboose towards their cabins, they could hear voices. And they weren't good.
"-enough of it! I can get them myself!"
"I'm not suggesting that. I'm only trying to help", the voices of Yang and Blake. Weiss' smile vanished as she realized that when she left to fetch Ruby, at the request of Blake who wanted to do some 'team building', it had caused the tension between them to rise. Ruby similarly had her smile vanish as she realized her team was far from 'back together'. It was like when she first made Crescent Rose. Her first draft and build was good and solid, but after a while she found it malfunctioning with issues and small problems. Unlike the analogy with her weapon, Ruby didn't have a handy solution like she did back then. That being her dear drunkle Qrow.
"Yeah? Lifting my luggage, storing it, only to have it drop on the floor? I packed it and I can carry it, seriously it's getting annoying and I want you to stop it. Seriously, I'm fine"
"I get it. It's just-"
"Oh forget it…I need some air", the door blew open in an intensive push as Yang stormed off. Her footfalls heavy and agitated, she didn't even notice her sister and friend staring at the scene, holding a set of tools that she took with her towards the cargo hold. A weak sorry came as Blake reached for her partner yet could only gasp as her team leader and friend stood there with a saddened expression. Blake sighed. "Why is everything going wrong?"
"Give her time. Yang can be stubborn but she's got a golden heart and the strength of our father", Ruby said, encouraging a small smile from Blake.
"Yeah…I guess I just expected everything to go right. Getting back together after…how long as it been since Beacon…", Blake said, pondering. Weiss and Ruby both reminiscing for a moment before Blake's ears perked up. "So, who's ready for a game?"
…
"Ugh, it's annoying!", Yang hissed as she was getting a particular nasty kink out of her bike with the limiting tools she brought on hand. Not that it's surprising. After the few compensations the Mistral Council had extended, which was mostly because of Qrow, most funding had gone into the trip. And with what little remained, Yang had only enough to get the bare minimum.
"And why is she so clingy and caring? I'm not defenseless. I'm even stronger than before", Yang continued to rant against no one in particular. As she finally gets this thing fixed she sighs and smiles, brushing the back of her glove over her brow, before she spins around, Ember Celica extending in a posture of defensive nature. She had heard something! Someone was with her in the cargo hold! As she looked around, desperate to find what it was, there was a power drop causing the room to suddenly bathe in a ray of red light. A loud clattering of metal made her spin back around. Her tools had been laying on Bumblebee's seat and fell off making a massive racket. Yet the sound in combination with the red, Yang's heart began racing, adrenaline pumped through her veins as her good arm began trembling. Her breathing intensified as she didn't see the isolated and safe cargo hold. She saw a ruined mess hall, a shape of black and red with sword glaring at her through a monstrous Grimm mask, walking closer and closer, sword in hand. Yang stumbled backwards as her panic attack increased more and more. Until she bumped into the caboose door and walked outside. The cold northern air and chance of colour, somewhat calmed her as she brought her hand to her heart and began focusing on her breathing. He's not here. He was arrested at Mistral. You're safe, she told herself. Adam Taurus had become the nightmare image she never thought to have and Emerald using him to trick and break her mental focus in Haven still hadn't fully been dealt with in her system. Yang steadied her breathing and overlooked the forest below the tracks. For a moment she was at peace. Until she noticed a flock of shapes gathering around the tracks behind her.
…
"How do you even jump in this game?", Blake wondered.
"This hardly seems logical", Weiss bemoaned as her character ran into a wall over and over.
"Aww come on gang I already explained the controls", Ruby whined as she was already ahead dealing with the boss, all alone. It's good that she knew this level and the weakness of this boss. Right as she beat it, the door slid open and while the expected person of Yang wasn't getting in, it was always nice to see her uncle.
"Well if that isn't adorab-wait..where's Firecracker?", Qrow asked as he scanned the cabin.
"She went to the cargo hold. We're missing a player. Oh Uncle Qrow why don't you join us!", Ruby asked, her eyes sparking. For a moment it looked as if he'd decline, yet that hopeful spark, Qrow recalled Summer asking him to dance at the Beacon Dance back in the day. She had her mother's spark alright.
"Heh…kick your butts? Sure that sounds like f-"
"GRIMM! There's Grimm gathering!", the voice of Yang rang as she sprinted down the hallway. Qrow's optimistic smile dropped.
"Ugh..just my 'luck'..I'm not drunk enough for Grimm this early", groaning as he reached for his flask, earning a stern look from Summer. No wait, that's Ruby. He had to double take a moment. Was Ruby growing fast now or is it the alcohol, he wondered as he was once again hit with a blast from the past. "It's not even midday!"
"Get your weapons", Qrow deflected as he rushed out, Harbinger extending in his hands. Ruby smiled as combined team RWBY reached for their weapons and rushed out to the outside of the train. Climbing to the top the playful eagerness of Ruby to fight and have her team back began fading to the back as her position as a leader and shot caller took center stage. Manticore swarms were circling and crawling over the mountain, as if they were looking. Yet instantly something felt weird about this to Ruby. She had seen Grimm attracted to moving targets like this no problem. But while the swarming wasn't an issue, she could see a larger shape overlooking the swarm in the distance. As if…looking for something.
"AHHHHH", the scream shook her awake as she noticed those two idiot huntsmen from before. Dee being grabbed by one and pulled away. She extended the barrel of Crescent Rose and took a shot, but while she did manage to kill the Grimm taking Dee away, he was quickly swarmed by more who then tore him to pieces. Leaving only Dudley alone. While the others gasped in shock, Weiss even asking what the plan was, natural instinct overtook Ruby as she dashed forwards with her Semblance, followed only by Qrow as both scythe wielders reaped the Manticore to shreds, saving Dudley from a similar fate. In a panic, he reached for his scroll and engaged the automated defenses of the train. Weiss started using her Glyphs to spray a literal hail of ice shards into the attacking swarm, Blake was busy peppering a closer one with bullets as Yang was punching what little of the swarm had reached the train. Once more Ruby's eyes noticed a deviation. Most times when Grimm attack and swarm like this they always attack the people they see. Especially when they are attacked by Huntsmen and Huntresses, they defend themselves and like a hive mind focus down those who stand in their way. But they seemed to ignore team RWBY and Qrow on the rooftops, focusing more on the caboose that had been the bar and lounge area. There has to be panic inside now. They needed to come up with a plan and-.
A heavy impact shook Ruby from her thoughts. Oh that's one big Grimm! She gasped as a Sphinx landed on a few of the automated turrets and tore them loose as if they were paper. Yang rushed in to attack it, punching a leg and causing damage only for her to then trip as the ribbon of Blake slingshot around another leg but cut off Yang. Weiss had to use a Glyph to pull her away before she'd be stomped to death. Blake runs up to check if Yang's ok, causing them to argue once more and Ruby has to speed semblance over towards them to swipe at the snake tail that tried to bite either of them.
"What are you doing!?", Ruby asks almost pleading! Causing Blake, Yang and Weiss to stiffen a few complaints. She attacked out of turn, I didn't need help,..., It was clear that individually they were killing Grimm just fine. Weiss being an artillery cannon with her Ice Shards. Blake and Yang could both take on a Manticore or two since they were prime fighters. Yet dealing with the Sphinx wasn't going to be their strength. Looking around there were more but they hung back, as if they were observing. Ruby threw her head back making an irritated groan as she got on Crescent Rose and shot towards the Wings of the Sphinx. As she did, her Uncle also launched himself as they both became a blur of slashes. Harbinger in it's scythe form and Crescent Rose sliced and diced the Sphinx to pieces. Qrow nodded, good job kiddo. As a shrill annoyed voice broke the rushing of wind and Grimm roars.
"Why is it always something?!", Nora and the rest of their friends popped up from the Lounge cabin. As Oscar got to the top, asking Qrow how he could help and being told to tell Dudley to turn off the defenses, Ruby noticed how a second Sphinx traced where Oscar ran and attacked him. She looked at Nora, who nodded.
"Sugar Rush!", Nora swung her hammer and propelled Ruby, who jumped on top of it, towards the Sphinx. As Oscar ducked and dove under it's claws, one of it's wings was sliced clean off as Ruby appeared in a subsonic speed attack. Not missing a step, Jaune leapt in to distract the snake tail, which was then promptly severed clean off by Ren who had used Jaune's distraction. Ice formed over the final wing as Weiss pointed her rapier, smiling at Ruby. "Thank me later!"
Ruby smiled as she picked Oscar up and with her semblance brought him over towards the back of the train, the cargo hold, which instantly drew every other Grimm away from the others. Interesting. Oscar wondered why she did that, but before an answer was uttered, there came a heavy blow. A Sphinx Major! Ruby's eyes flickered as she pushed Oscar aside, the heavy snake tail mouth penetrating the steel armor of the caboose and tearing a chunk of steel right off. "Renorarc!"
Jaune nodded as he put his sword through the roof and pressed against it, his shield was raised as Nora put her feet against it while Ren jumped upon Magnhild. In a chain reaction, Jaune launched Nora, who launched Ren. Before Nora picked up Jaune and threw him as well. Both males shot through the air, Ren beginning to spin around, forming as Stormflower formed a swirling vortex of green steel, Jaune put his sword forwards and strengthened his hold, spearing the sword into the Grimm's head, while Ren sliced the tail off. Ruby became a blur of petals and prevented Ren from tumling off the cliff. As all this mayhem happened, WBY could only stare as they realized they were indeed not working as a team like them.
Springing to life they dashed towards their team leader and killed what Grimm they could along the way. Qrow had vanished as he appeared above the wounded but still alive Sphinx and did his own spiral motion, Harbinger carving a deep wound in the Sphinx. Ruby yelled at her Uncle that they needed to prevent it from taking off. Which prompted Blake to get Weiss' attention. Sure, Gambol wasn't a high impact sniper rifle, but still had decent range. Weiss, understanding her angle, formed a massive Ice Glyph as Blake attempted to rapidfire bullets through. The plan being to freeze this thing down. Yet all it did was give it additional weight as small chunks of ice erupted from it's furr. And before Yang could get close, it took off, along with the rest of the Grimm.
"Now what..?", Yang bemoaned as they all turned towards the mountain's face and gasped in unison.
"TUNNEL!", Oscar said as she sprang forwards and ran for the gaps between cabooses. Similarly the rest of them also ran, Dudley being too slow broke his arm getting to safety, as Qrow moved over the rooftop, he passed the hole that was made by the Snake Tail, causing a bend to go through the roof and making Weiss trip. Yet before she could fall off, Ruby grabbed her hand and smiled.
"Thank me later!"
Inside the cargo hold, everyone regrouped while Jaune was busy healing the broken arm of Dudley, Ruby staggers in and sees her team, clearly demoralized while Nora and Ren are unusually peppy. Oscar and Qrow are talking, well no Oscar is standing by and Qrow is aggressively manhandling, Dudley.
"If you had shut off those defenses the passengers wouldn't be in danger!"
"I did what I did to keep us alive!"
"You be lucky if after all this they keep you as a post guard!"
"Enough uncle", Ruby said as she gently tugged him away. Seeing her expression Qrow mellows out a little. "Besides, the passengers are safe. Most of them seem to focus on Oscar. So if we stick with the last part of the train they should be fairly secure. Once we clear the tunnel, we'll put Oscar at the back, along with myself, Qrow, Blake, Weiss and Yang. Meanwhile Jaune, Nora and Ren will stay closer to the passengers, should a lone Grimm hit it and cause damage."
There is silence as Jaune continues and finishes healing Dudley. All eyes are on Ruby giving this clear set of orders and looks between them all. The first to agree is Jaune followed by Qrow. While the rest nod in silence, exiting the tunnel and getting back in position. So the second battle occurs. More isolated from the more oiled teamwork of Ren, Jaune and Nora, the fight becomes more individual. Yang wrestling a Manticore over her head and punching it's skull in, Blake swinging around the cabin with her ribbon and blade, providing just enough distractions and motions so Weiss can safely attack with her Glyphs, even managing to summon the Queen Lancer to help with aerial threats. Oscar fights a few but has mostly taken to being protected by Qrow and Ruby, whose work is the most synced up. And for a while things go according to plan and don't get bad. Yet that couldn't last forever.
"RAVINE!", Qrow yells as he shoots a Manticore with Harbinger, causing it to crash into the mountain side. The shockwave causing a tidal wave of rocks, snow and ice to descend downwards. Looking up at that he throws a glare at himself and curses: "for Grimm sake…give me a break already!"
"Get inside!", Jaune orders as Nora and Ren descend below decks, while the others fight on with the Grimm, relentlessly hunting and going for Oscar. As they stagger towards the entrance of the caboose, a heavy shaking hits as the avalanche knocks into the last train car and knocks it off the track, tumbling over the side and falling down the mountain, pulling the next car with it! A devastating domino effect will cause damage to the train and strand everyone in the wilderness. Jaune, noticing this as along with Ruby as the train begins groaning from highly stressed steel threatening to bend and break, she mouths him a wordless sorry, as she slices the connector node. Jaune realizing what she did as the cargo hold is slowing down and surely begins tipping off the mountain, screams in panic: "NO RUBY DON'T!"
"Get them to safety Jaune…we'll meet you in Arg-", a heavy blast of snow takes away the sight of his friend, leaving Jaune to weep tears of helplessness.
Weiss acts instinctively and Gravity Glyphs everyone on the train, so they don't fall off as the cabins begin falling down the mountain. A rush of cold wind biting into their Aura, while snowflakes form a blinding shroud as they fall into a lethal crash down the mountain. A chunk of debris hits part of the cabin, breaking Weiss' concentration, Yang and Blake fall off the train. Using her Ember Celica, Yang blasts herself in a controlled manner down to a clearing, Blake using Gambol's ribbon to swing and follow. Oscar isn't as lucky causing Qrow to dive after him in, throw him back towards Ruby who catches him, while Qrow vanishes as a bird and flies off, overlooking the disastrous crash. All the Grimm are caught in the avalanche before a massive red flash causes them to fade to dust. Yet none are the wiser to that, as they stagger to their feet and the final members come to a screeching halt near the clearing. Team RWBY, Qrow and Oscar take a moment to catch their breath.
"Everyone ok?", Ruby asks worriedly but gets assuring answers back. She quickly assesses the situation and orders the search for supplies. With the cargo caboose nearby and reachable, they quickly check what they can find. What little food, tools, a busted and broken Bumblebee and several flares. Nothing good since the rest is useless cargo like clothing and jewelry. Several Dust containers which Ruby quickly takes stock off and divides equally among themselves. As she hands off a few bullet casings big enough for Harbinger, Qrow shifts his foot, causing a crack to alarm all of them. This wasn't a clearing..this was a frozen over lake! In a panic they all scramble with what little they can hold, Yang dragging her bike across the ice as it splinters and cracks, the cargo hold beginning to crash through. As most of them all get to the other side, Ruby sees Oscar straining, reaching for the Relic that nearly falls into the frozen lake and once more acts on instinct. She puts her feet on Crescent Rose, shoots out and catches the relic, before putting her entire weight on a block of ice and springing into her semblance to return to shore, Oscar having made his way to safety thanks to Qrow. Yet as Ruby springs forth with her Semblance, a sharp pain breaks her concentration and she slams into the dirt near the rest of her team. Clutching her foot. Damn! Her foot had been placed poorly and either she sprained her ankle, or broke it entirely! She manages to prevent a wail of pain, letting only a soft 'ow' go as she lays among the snow.
"Just our luck..", Blake sighs as she kneels next to Ruby and begins removing her boot. Attempting to bandage the wounded ankle.
"It's not yours…", Qrow says defeated as he stands off a few steps away from his niece in pain. Terrified of getting closer and making it worse with bad luck. Getting a nasty glare from Yang before she puts her hands on Blake and pulling her hands off of the nearly unlaced boot.
"Can't. It's too cold. Ruby has to ride along on Bumblebee as we push. But where do we go from here?"; Yang says looking up and around the area. Nothing indicates civilization around them. And nothing is even remotely identifiable as a landmark.
"We can always go towards I was going", a chipper older voice remarks. Instinctively, RWBY point their weapons in the direction of a diminutive old woman standing at a nearby tree who giggles overjoyed: "put those toys away, we better scramble before more Grimm arrive!"
…
"Get up…", the hatefilled voice hisses. Clutching a wounded abdomen, a young woman staggers through the burnt out remains of what was once her home. SHe could even see the cage in which they had kept the Schnee heiress. She knew that most of the tribe would have moved by now, yet this was depressing. Either something attacked them mid move, or they had an infight. "...we need to get to the Castle"
"No I don't. I have no desire to help your mistress", Vernal said as she limped towards what remained of Raven's tent.
"OUR Mistress. You forget girl, that Salem hunted Raven for her Maiden powers and now she'll come after you as well", Cinder hissed as she appeared in Vernal's vision. It was as if she was a Hard-Light Dust image. But off course it was way worse.
"Don't you mean after us?!", Vernal said, jumpy from the wind making a canvas swish.
"No…I mean you. After all I'm dead and you're the one who's marked now", Cinder said as she disappeared and reappeared in Raven's chair.
"I don't get it…wouldn't the power transfer to Branwen? Or the Rose girl?", Vernal asked the image that only she could see smiling wickedly at her.
"Under normal circumstances it would. Since before I died all I could think off was the treachery of that bird woman. And seeing your dying and sad body. But I am most certainly vivid. I'll never get to take revenge on Ruby Rose", Cinder tried to throw the table that was already destroyed yet she passed right through it. "But the Shadow Hand seemed to have interfered with the process. Seeing as how I'm now stuck with you"
"Oh sorry I inconvenienced you", Vernal hissed back.
"There it is, use that anger. You'll need it, after all, you need to get that relic back", Cinder said.
"And why is that?", Vernal shivered as she saw part of Cinder's memory appear before her. A shade of some demonic entity glared at her.
"Because Salem is coming. Now get up and get to Mistral"
For over two weeks now the one known as Vernal had this recurring nightmare. She sprang awake in the barely qualified abode. A barn she had taken as her own after killing the woman who lived here. As well as all the money the woman had. Changing into her gray attire, after finding the tribe after Branwen had abandoned and effectively killed her, she jumped to home and spoke the truth about Raven, resulting in the camp breaking up. The final thing she did as Vernal before she changed shape.
"Sleep well?", the voice in her had sang with glee.
"Shut up Cinder"
"Aww, poor Vernal, afraid of the big bad nightmare Salem?", She teased her.
"If your words are to be trusted, Salem is inhumanly powerful and dangerous. If Raven is to be believed, she's an unstoppable force of nature"
"Indeed she is, she's power. And given you have some of my soul fusing with yours, we'll be going for that power", Cinder sang again. Slowly she was getting through to her. Not unlike Ozpin had done to Oscar. Except normally the new Maiden would suppress the personality of the old one. Cinder wasn't so easily dominated.
"I think you and Raven are full of it. Both of you tried to kill me. So why would I go after the relic? Cause Salem will kill me?"
"No…poor weak unworthy girl. She won't kill you. She'll make you wish you were dead, Vernal", cinder's image shimmered before it vanished as a plume of fire torched the barn. Walking out, was a different person. Her hair dye gone from before, as she was done being the 'bait'. Raven and Cinder succeeded. In the vault of Haven, Vernal had died.
"Silence. My name is Aschen Gwain"