Metal like Roses
Written by ReaderWarrior
Beta'd/edited by Icarus720
Don't be afraid to comment on this chapter! It makes my day reading your thoughts and opinions on my work :). And tell your friends! I'm still trying to be the #1 Mistborn writer on Fanfiction.
I do not own Mistborn or RWBY
The Next Step
It all started the day I started hearing voices. Well, one voice, I guess.
Ash fell from the sky. From the balcony of Evernight, Emerald and Mercury watched as black specks from a nearby volcano fell like corrupted snow and covered the land. All around them, Grimmpools, oily-black ponds of the night, the very creatures Huntsmen and Huntresses had been fighting for hundreds of years, crawled out and looked with virgin eyes at the dark sky. No one was foolish enough to travel to the Grimmlands. It was suicide. Even if someone survived the trip here, they wouldn't last long.
Emerald winced as she heard the bubbling of a nearby Grimmpool. Almost directly beneath them, ash landed and mixed into the liquid. It steamed and then geysered before one of the Grimm pulled itself from the depths. She had seen too much of this, since the Fall. She, Mercury, and Cinder had completed their mission and returned to her castle.
Her castle. Her lands. Her country and her rule. Emerald shuddered. There was another reason no one would survive here. If she didn't want you here, you wouldn't be for long.
Snap!
Emerald and Mercury flinched and turned away from the glass. Cinder, along with other members of their organization, sat at a large table made of dark, purple crystals. They, along with the candles scattered around the room, were the only source of light to offset the red sky.
Cinder, who still had her hand up, said: "Come." Emerald and Mercury quickly rushed over to stand beside her chair, the former making sure she was directly next to Cinder. Out of the three of them, Cinder was the only one to change her style after the Fall. She had said a victory as good as theirs deserved a change - yet neither of her 'friends' had followed suit.
Now she wore a long, dark red dress. The edges of the collar and the opening for each arm were gold-colored, and the upper chest and left sleeve were decorated with golden designs. The right side of her dress was open from the hip down with two gold-colored straps made of interwoven ropes connecting the front half to the back half of her thigh. Under the dress, she appeared to be wearing black pantyhose. On the right hip, the dress had a black rhombus-shaped gem set in a gold-colored metal of the same shape, with feathers of varying shades of blue extending from the bottom of it. On her right arm, she wore a long, gray glove, the top of which had a gold-colored metal ring with curvy branching extensions going up to her arm. Her right ear had a new ring-shaped earring higher up than the dangling black gem earring.
Emerald would be lying if she said she didn't like the new outfit.
As they walked up, a voice grumbled "Yes, yes. Please keep your… posse in check." Arthur Watts, as arrogant and condescending as ever, brushed his mustache. He was a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. He had short black and gray hair, along with a thick mustache and eyebrows, complementing his green eyes. Watts wore a grey overcoat with yellow linings, accompanied by a yellow dress shirt and a black necktie. His pants were the same color as his overcoat. His yellow-buttoned undercoat and fingerless gloves matched his cordovan shoes, beneath which he wore yellow socks.
With a growl, Mercury clenched his fist and made a step forward. Emerald grabbed his shoulder and held him back as Cinder held up a hand to stop him.
"My 'posse' was able to infiltrate Beacon Academy right under Ozpin's nose," Cinder countered. "Not to mention, bring the school crumbling down and the old man bleeding at my heel."
Arthur scoffed. "A feat that you were only able to accomplish with my programs. Or was it not thanks to me that you were able to sneak in? Not to mention access to every device connected to the Valian CCT tower."
"Which I had to implant."
"A monkey could have done that." Arthur leaned forward and folded his hands. "Meanwhile, some urchin is randomly found and almost throws the entire operation into chaos. Remind me again why you didn't bring her for study?"
This time, Emerald was the one needing to be held back. "We killed her. That solved the problem didn't it?"
"Though not before you had some fun, right?" another voice asked. On the other end of the table sat another figure. Though he wasn't so much as sitting as he was crouching in their Grimm-boned chairs (a resource no one else has ever been able to craft from).
Tyrian Callows was a pale, young man with gold eyes and a brown ponytail braided to resemble a scorpion's tail. He wore a white sleeveless jacket adorned with leather belts strapped to it, paired with white pants. His jacket was left open, revealing his bare chest, which bore crisscrossed prominent scars. Cream-colored bandages and leather vambraces covered his arms. Leather boots encased his shins entirely, accompanied by knee guards. Lastly, each earlobe sported a silver, ring-shaped earring, while another adorned the top of his left ear.
"Had her tied down, pressed for answers?" He laughed like a madman. "I would've made sure she couldn't stick her fingers into Mistresses' plans. She wouldn't have any left!"
The last of the inner circle, Hazel Rainart, grunted. He had been asleep since they entered. Or, at least, feigning sleep to blot them out. The giant never seemed to care much for their company.
Hazel was an unusually tall and large middle-aged man. He had short, dark brown hair, a beard, and hazel eyes. His hairy arms bore large scars running up them, the source Emerald had yet to find out. He wore a two-tone olive green coat over a black 3/4 sleeve shirt, accompanied by a large belt. His pants were black, with pouches strapped to each leg, while his boots were brown with white fronts.
As they all ignored Tyrian's giggling, Cinder turned back to Watts and her eyes narrowed. "I won. And I used every tool in the chest. It's not my fault you just happened to be such a good one."
Watts' nose flared and his mustache shook as he began to argue back, but he stopped as the doors to Emerald's left creaked open. Everyone quickly jumped to their feet as she entered.
Her skin had a deathly pallor, with jet-black sclerae in her eyes and glowing crimson irises. While she had initially retained her half-bun hairstyle for her bleached, pale white hair, she had since re-styled it into a larger bun with six offshoots wrapped together, which also suspended several obsidian-colored ornaments. Dark purple veins lined her face and arms, and she now had a black diamond-shaped marking in the center of her forehead. She wore a very long, short-sleeved black robe that obscured her feet and partially dragged across the ground. Its distinctive feature was a curved high collar with dark red trim bordering the outer edge of a narrow window exposing her bust in a vertical ellipsis resembling an eye.
The robe was completed with a long shawl emblazoned with three interconnected, maroon-colored vertical elliptic sigils, resembling a trio of overseeing eyes, positioned above a series of maroon-colored diamond emblems. On her right hand, she had a ring resembling a beetle, while her long fingernails were adorned with jet-black nail polish.
Her name was Salem. And she was the queen of the Grimm. Eternal and immortal. The secret enemy of all Huntsmen and Huntresses, and the force that eventually crushed them under her heel. It was to her that Cinder, and later Emerald and Mercury, had sworn allegiance to.
As she glided from the door to the head of the table, Emerald felt her throat seize. This was a woman that could have an entire continent of monsters chase her down until she gave up. She could manipulate kings and lords to bring greater chaos to the work of Remnant. There was no stopping it. No stopping her. Which made it all the easier for Emerald to bow her head.
She, along with the other occupants, looked down as Salem entered. If the Grimm were nightmarish shadows of animals, then one didn't have to wonder why the most dangerous one looked human.
As Emerald knew, man was the worst of all the monsters.
Salem peered out through one of the glass windows. "Cinder…" Her voice was strangely soft. Like a woman who was too tired to give much care about the enthusiasm at the start of a day. "Is this malignancy necessary?"
"But Mis- No, Mistress." Cinder clenched her fists and cast a glare at Watts. Salem was the only person in the world that could make Cinder apologize. Salem waved a hand and they all sat back down.
Salem's throne was of purple crystals, the only one at the table. "I am not particularly fond of trivialities. Especially childish arguments. It was thanks to Watt's virus that we were able to hack the CCT and the Atlesian Knights brought to the Vytal festival. This usefulness led to you being able to talk half of the Fall Maiden's power." Cinder blushed. "And, most importantly, the death of dear, dear Ozpin. Tell me, how might we have better succeeded?"
"What about Nikos?" Cinder asked. "I could have killed her if I had the time."
"This divide of the Maiden's power is concerning," Salem agreed. "But will be dealt with. She is too busy trying to save her fallen kingdom to use her power to the level you have been practicing."
She can feel it. Emerald knew that at night Cinder would use her powers and talk to no one. And she seemed to grow weaker with it a other times. It was likely that only one of them could use the Maiden's full power at one time. Cinder was none too happy to share this power, especially after their initial fight.
"What about that silver-eyed girl?" Hazel grunted. "We've dealt with their kind before. She took down most of the Grimm assault and forced the White Fang to retreat."
There was a repetitive thumping on the table as Tyrian shook his legs excitedly. "I'd be happy to go find her and pluck them free. An eye for an eye, after all!" Again, he fell back into giggles but froze when Salem held her hand.
"The girl is broken," Salem said. "Living in the house of a lost mother and weakened father. Pyrrha Nikos makes quite a few trips there. Perhaps, Cinder, would you like to visit them?"
Cinder smiled. "Yes, Mistress. We will leave at once and-"
Again, that hand. If it were anyone else, Cinder would have likely broken it off for silencing her.
"You will wait until I say so. And you will bring them both to me." Salem's red eyes seemed to glow and she grew a strange smile. "This procedure Ozpin used, however barbaric, might prove useful. Doctor Watts, you are to take Cinder's place and meet with our informant in Mistral."
"Very good," he nodded.
"Tyrian, I want you to continue your hunt for the Spring Maiden."
The Faunus clapped his hands like a schoolgirl being picked for hide-and-seek. "Gladly."
Salem nodded. "And Hazel… I'm sending you to the leader of the White Fang. Adam Taurus, though still bedridden, was able to arrange the meeting. The boy continues to prove loyal - ensure that Sienna Khan feels the same."
"As you wish."
"Because of our efforts, Beacon has fallen." Salem, and everyone else, rose from their seats. "Haven shall be next."
Emerald coughed into her fist and everyone's eyes focused on her.
"Don't," Mercury whispered.
Salem raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Speak, child."
"What about the girl?" she asked.
"The silver-eyed one?" Watts asked. "Were you not paying attention?"
"No." Emerald shook her head. She took a breath and looked down at the table. "Vin Venture. Her name wasn't listed among the dead and she was with Yang, Ruby's sister. I know you don't believe me about her, but she is dangerous. There was something about her that was…" She lost her voice when she saw Salem tap her finger.
"Do not tell me what I do or do not know," Salem warned. "I know far more than any of you will ever know. But your reports were intriguing. Her powers were not that of a Semblance. They perhaps were of something much more ancient, or perhaps much newer.
"Tyrian. Spring can wait." Even the psychopath knew better than to talk back against her. Though he did pout. "Track down Ms. Xiao-Long. Find out what happened to our magical mystery. If she died, have her unearth the body. Or have her take you to wherever she's been hiding."
Tyrian's pout morphed into glee as he clapped his hands. "And after?"
Salem smiled. "Treat her as a gift."
"Yes, Mistress." He started to physically shake from excitement. "I just love tearing off the wrapping paper!" As everyone began to leave, he began to laugh at his 'joke'. His laughter echoed throughout the castle as he banged his head against the table and then the chair. He had no reason to be quiet. There were only monsters here.
Fall had faded to winter, and winter into spring. The snow that had just begun falling when they began their journey had already melted and been replaced with lush, green grass and foliage. It was peaceful. Birds were chirping and some bugs were buzzing. There was no better place to be quiet than the middle of nowhere.
"I'm just saying!" Nora yelled as she and Ren walked together through the forest. "If Yang is leading the mission, then the Y should come before the JNR (Junior)! It just makes sense to go with that one."
"But there are three members of JNPR and only one from RWVBY," Ren said.
Nora groaned. "How can I be more clear? Yang's in charge. So: YRNJ (Orange). And it's an actual color!"
Stopping as well, Ren shook his head. "JRNY. That's three compared to one."
Before they could argue this for the jabillionth time, Jaune coughed into his fist. "Guys. We need to focus." The leader of team JNPR was crouched behind a fallen tree, staring out at a clearing in the forest. "Besides, YRNJ sounds much cooler."
"Right?!"
As Ren facepalmed, the ground began to shake. The birds that were quiet a second ago made panicked cries as the familiar sound of a tree rustling grew closer.
Jaune nodded and his teammates rushed to his side. "It's time."
A lot had changed since the events known as the Fall of Beacon, as well as Vale. To this team, most of that change was physical. Nora's hair was now shoulder-length and she had pink eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her eyes. She retained her gloves and wore a white sleeveless turtleneck top that was similar to her old one, though the heart cut-out on the top now has a diagonal cut through it. She also wore a shorter, detached white sleeve on her left arm. Over the shirt, she had an open-cropped, short-sleeved navy blue bomber jacket with a damaged print of her emblem visible on the back, pink stripes along the sleeves and pink buckled cuff, and red lining on the collar. She now wore a pleated pink skirt with two wide belt loops for matching belt. The skirt had a white layered tulle. She had knee-high pink socks just visible above her white calf-length boots with pink laces and black low heels, soles, and toes.
Ren had begun to wear his hair down, and it had grown longer. His attire is similar to before in color. He now had a longer, sleeveless tailcoat with black and silver trimming. Under it, he wore a black, sleeveless turtleneck with red, tasseled ropes over the hips, pants that got tighter below the knees, and calf-high open-toed sandals. From his middle finger to his biceps ran gradient pink-to-black detached sleeves ending in metal armbands.
Out of the three members of JNPR that were on this voyage, Jaune was the only one who had not (YET!) updated his attire.
The four former students had made their way across Anima and they would often find small villages in need of help. Pockets of people who had very little help from Huntsman and Huntresses even before the Fall. So, whenever they found one, they would offer to help deal with any local Grimm problem before moving on to the next town. It allowed them to stay loose with their lien and provide a service that everyone could agree was both worthwhile and necessary.
This latest hunt? A geist. A type of Grimm that was more spiritual than the others. Its body was fairly weak and it was pretty small. But, when it possessed something, it could take it as a body and control it. Jaune had heard from Ruby that Weiss' scar came from a geist that possessed a suit of armor from Schnee Manor.
The threat of this type of Grimm ultimately fell upon what kind of body it had. Jaune was hoping it might have been something small. Like a bush. Or a twig. Maybe a bunny? But then we would have to kill a bunny…
There was an animalistic roar followed by an explosion. Then, a whistling. At the center of the clearing, a shadow grew as something quite large fell from the cliff above them.
That's not a bunny, Jaune thought as, essentially, a pile of boulders slammed into the ground. After a few moments, it rose back up into a humanoid form. The only part of it that was obviously supernatural was the white mask-like face of the geist on the centermost rock and the red veins that stretched out from it to the rest of its newfound body. The only question, where was-
Yang fell off the cliff a second later and rolled as she hit the ground. By the time the geist was rising to its feet, she was already back on the offensive. She gave a battle cry before slamming her fist into its body. Her shotgun gauntlets, Ember Celica, birthed an explosion as she struck and it stumbled back.
She had begun wearing a new outfit with a tan jacket with orange lining and gold edging, unzipped halfway to show an orange crop top. The coat had darker brown short sleeves, a thick collar that completely encircled her neck, and two long gold-trimmed rectangular tails. She also wore fitted black pants, and her hair (as always) was let down.
Around her hips and over the tails of her coat was a brown belt, which had two pieces of dark brown material trimmed in gold attached to it. The first was covered from her left hip to the back of the belt and was folded over the belt, and the second was attached from the right hip and almost around to the other piece of material. She wore knee-high brown boots with gold caps on the heel and toe, with the heel cap attached to a gold strap across the front of her ankle, and a gold zipper on the upper half of the front of the boots. A single small buckled strap was on the upper outside of her boots and a pair of black fingerless gloves with long brown cuffs reaching to mid-forearm completed the outfit.
"Back her up," Jaune ordered. He instinctively reached for his sword and shield, Crocea Mors, but they weren't there - part of their 'payment' for this mission. Behind him, Ren jumped into the trees and his twin guns fired.
Nora smiled as Stormflower fired. "Don't forget about me!" Magnhild, her hammer/rocket launcher, shot into the ground and propelled her upwards, leaving a trail of pink smoke (and the sound of giggling).
The two lifelong friends smiled at each other as they landed on the same branch. "We need to draw it away from Yang."
Nora grimaced. "Do you really want to get in between them? You know how she is when she's fighting nowadays…"
"It is not our place to question our friend's way of healing. What we can do is provide help." Ren spun his pistols. "Even if it means we might have to get violent."
"Deal." Her smile returned and she lifted up her weapon. She pulled the trigger repeatedly, firing a rapid succession of pink grenades that blew the geist forward. Yang was still charging at it like a bloodthirsty animal. The geist's knees were her newest target and the blonde seemed determined to punch her way through the stone body.
Jaune winced as she made no effort to block a swing at her and she was thrown backward. Above him, Ren and Nora split up and started firing to keep it off-balance. There was some time for him to rush over to Yang, who was trying to claw her way out of a large tree trunk.
"Yang!" Jaune tried to grab her wrist but she was waving it so violently that it ended up slapping him across the chest. He fell backwards and groaned as he landed on the edge of a sharp rock, right between his legs. "Yang," he squeaked, "you need to focus! Reel it in."
Slowly, Yang's red eyes grew some clarity and, after she closed them to take a breath, they returned to their normal purple hue. She pulled herself out of the tree and dusted off her clothes. When she noticed Jaune, she offered a hand and a smirk. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine." He took it and Yang pulled him up. Thanks to his aura, there was no actual damage. But even just imagining his Jaune giblets getting hit like that… well, even his voice could only go so high. "Where were you this time?"
"I don't know. It wasn't a blur so much as it was like thick syrup. My body was acting before I could even think what was happening." Yang rubbed the back of her head. "At least it is better than before with the blackouts."
Jaune nodded. "Maybe Ren's focus therapy is working."
She rolled her eyes. "Sure."
Before Jaune could push further, Nora came falling from the sky and landed directly on top of him. "Hey guys!" she smiled. "Everything good?"
"Yeah," Yang smirked, slamming her fists together. As she did, her hair started to glow and heat began to visibly roll off of it. Nora threw up her grenade launcher and it unfolded. When she caught it, it was replaced by a large war hammer. The two women then rushed back into battle, leaving Jaune to catch his breath.
He pouted once again at the lack of weaponry on his person. "You'll be fine without a weapon… you're the strategist," he said, repeating Nora's comment from when they first entered the forest. Next time, his strategy would involve taking Nora's hammer and having her fight without it!
She'd probably still kick its butt.
When Jaune caught up, the geist was being bombarded from every possible angle. Ren from above, leaping and spraying it with her guns, while Yang and Nora alternated between attacking the creature's boulder arms and legs.
And it wasn't doing a darn thing.
Nora jumped backward as Yang held out a hand. The blonde grabbed the hammer's barrel and spun around so fast that she began to blur. Then, with a loud "Wheeeee!" Nora was thrown at the Grimm. It tried to block with its right arm, but the force of her hit threw those boulders into the sky.
"Yes!" Jaune cheered
The rocks froze in mid-air. Then, as the geist spun backward, they were pulled down and thrown back at them. Whatever allowed it to possess this body meant it could control them even if they weren't directly attached to it.
Jaune gulped as Yang and Nora dodged out of the way, letting the unearthed stone fly past them and directly toward him. "No, no, no!" he cried as he desperately tried to avoid them. He ducked, sidestepped, and lept over the first three, but the fourth slammed into his head and blew him backward into a tree. When he looked up, the Grimm was staring down at him.
"Uh, oh." A red energy pulsed out from the 'shoulder' and a black, inky, and rotten arm jutted out. It reached for Jaune but he crawled backward. "Ha! You missed!"
The geist looked up. Instead of reaching for him, it had instead shoved its nightmarish arm into the trunk and began to pull it out, replacing the lost stone one.
Jaune started to run around the clearing as it swung at him. "His arm is a tree! HIS ARM IS A TREE!" As he tried to avoid getting side-swiped by the log, his feet dragged against one of the leftover rocks from its arm and fell to the ground. Jaune turned around, ready and accepting another blow to his aura - I should have enough, right? - when a green blur, one of Ren's Stormflowers, hit the geist in its 'face' before rebounding back to its owner.
There was no shriek from the Grimm as it stumbled back. But it took enough time to recover for Jaune and the rest of his team to regroup.
"Ok, how do we do this?" Jaune asked.
Everyone immediately started throwing out answers. "Its body is too thick to break through."
"It doesn't care about its body."
"Plus it can keep adding new limbs!"
He rubbed his chin. "But it's protecting its face…"
"I doubt we'll get another good shot at it again. Let's just hit it 'til it dies!"
"No," Jaune shook his head. "Uh, if we take out all of the limbs and hit it all at once…' He gasped and spun around with a smile. "I've got it! We follow Yang's plan."
Ren dropped his head. "Is that it?"
"No, seriously. It's trying to keep us from its face. If we kill the limbs, we'll have a shot to kill the whole thing!"
Cracking her neck, Yang gave Jaune a pat on the back. "You're the boss, boss."
'Yeah!" Nora cheered.
"Right." Ren lifted up his guns and gave them a quick reload.
Jaun turned around and watch the geist rise back up. "Ren, right and high. Yang, left and low, but get ready." The two quickly jumped into action with Ren firing from the treeline and Yang dodging between its legs and hitting it when she could. With a raised eyebrow, Jaune looked back at Nora. "Ready to try out the new upgrade?"
She gave a short nod before running back a few feet. With her legs planted, she squeezed a second trigger on her hammer and voltage upon voltage of pure electrical energy began to pour from its face.
"Great, that just means- OH MY GOSH!" Jaune began to run away as the geist swiped at him with the tree. "This is the last time I take your advice about weaponry!"
"Suck it up!" Yang yelled as she crossed her arms to block a kick. Ren continued to fire at the wood but, somehow, one of his bullets caused it to erupt in flames. Instead of burning to a crisp, the flames covered the entire limb to form an even more dangerous weapon.
"Aw, crud," Jaune muttered. He ran forward and slid past it. "Hey, look at me!"
The geist turned, once again trying to smash him, but missed. For a few minutes, they continued their strange game of tag-hit-and-run. But no matter how hard they hit it, none of the geist's body would break. While Grimm didn't have aura, it was likely whatever possession this type could do, allowed it to hold its body together more than any other Grimm.
As Jaune performed his sixth forward roll, he heard Nora scream "Ready!" At her call, Yang lept back and put herself directly in front of Nora. The redhead's eyes were flickering like lightning as she gave a manic smile.
Jaune cupped his hands over his mouth. "Give it everything you've got!" He wondered what anyone else would have thought of this maneuver. It was a glass cannon that relied on how strong the battery made Nora and how much power Yang's body could handle.
With a roar, Nora swung her hammer like a bat and hit Yang directly in the back. Yang's hair gained an extra level of heat (Jaune would swear it looked like it was made of flame) as it connected and she matched Nora's cry. Like a firing pin on a hammer, Yang was blasted forward in a streak of gold and she crashed directly into the geist.
The Grimm was knocked clean off its feet and flew back a few yards. When it crashed to the ground, Yang had made a crater in its body. The rest of its limbs fell from their original position, the blow too fast for them to even follow. With her hair burning, Yang grabbed the geist's mask and began to rip it free from the boulder. Only then did it make a noise - a scream of whispers and hisses that reminded Jaune of what he'd heard when camp leaders tried to make horror stories come alive.
But this was no horrible monster of fiction. It was a creature of the Grimm and it needed to be taken care of.
Yang held up the geist by its face and smiled. She raised her fist and slammed it into the mask and it shattered, the rest of its body turning to ash and dust. She turned around as everyone caught their breath and smiled.
"Did you need to hit me that hard?"
Jaune clutched his chest and tried to remember what oxygen tasted like as the excitement of the battle began to wear off. "Suck it up. Another victory for team YRNJ!" After a few seconds of silence, he shook his head. "Alright, you know what… Ren, I think you're onto something. It's just not sounding great anymore."
"Boooo," Nora grumbled.
"Why don't we just say Ren's in charge and call it RYJN and call us Region?"
"Booo!" everyone yelled back as Yang laughed.
"We truly can't thank you enough," Mayor Greenland said as he shook Jaune's hand. Like most village leaders, he was on the older side - a sign that he had seen and survived quite a lot on Anima, as well as Remnant. He had gray hair and wore red robes with accents of gold, a necklace of green prayer beads around his neck, and a golden ornamental hairpiece.
Jaune nodded. "Just doing our job."
"That geist had been plaguing our village for weeks. We were beginning to wonder if we'd have to relocate."
"Well…" Jaune cast a glance at Yang, who was already shaking her head. "We are on our way to Mistral. Maybe we can help you guys move out or we can-"
"We really have to get moving." There was a jab in his side as Yang elbowed him. "We've already spent way too long waiting around. Let's go."
Ren moved between them. "Please forgive our teammate. Her lack of patience these days is only matched by her fighting prowess. The offer still stands."
Greenland chuckled. "It's fine. You folks aren't from around here, are you?" He turned to look at some passersby. There were a couple standing at a fruit stand, others watched children run around without a single worry or fear, and even a farmer letting a young girl pet a horse. People were just going about and starting their day. It was a familiar sight. One they hadn't really seen since before winter. "Anima is a large continent. I'm afraid our people would never survive the long trek to Mistral. It may be safer in the Kingdoms, but we prefer our way of life. I just wish we could pay you more."
"Our previous arrangement is more than sufficient," Ren bowed. The others quickly followed suit. Then they walked over to a blacksmithing shop, where a large Faunus, by the name of Flaje, was finishing the last bit of their payment.
He smiled as they walked in. "I was wondering when you'd be back. Not everyone can deal with a geist that quickly."
Nora gave a childish salute. "All in a days work for team JRYN-YRNJ-RYJN!"
"Journey orange region?" he blinked.
"It's a work in progress," Jaune blushed. "Kinda having trouble picking a name that'll fit."
"Well," Flaje picked up one of the pieces he was working on and placed it on the table, "maybe this will fit you better. Here you go, son. It's gonna be heavier than you're used to, but you'll thank me next time you go up against a set of claws."
Jaune stared at the breastplate. "Oh, wow. I don't know what to say."
"Don't gotta say anything! Just put it on. I'll go get the rest." Flaje then headed toward the back of the shop and disappeared from view. Everyone turned to the young boy, who was still in shock at the new piece of armor that was his - not a used (technically stolen) family heirloom, but his.
"So… What're you waiting for?" Nora clapped Jaune on the back, nudging him forward.
"Right," he muttered. He walked over and unclasped the one he was currently wearing, setting it next to the new one. "Guess I was going to grow out of it eventually."
Ren gave a reassuring smile. "A sign of progress."
"Progress." He turned around and instantly regretted it. Yang and Nora instantly shared a glance and started to giggle. "What? What is it?"
Before she answered, Yang pulled out her scroll and took a picture. "Is that… Pumpkin Pete? From Pyrrha's cereal?"
Jaune looked down and saw the mascot on his chest. It was typically covered up by his breastplate. Had he seriously never taken it off before? "My hoodie? I've always had this."
The two girls began to laugh even harder. "Pyrrha's going to love this!" they cried
Face red, he crossed his arms and turned away. "Pumpkin Pete is a respectable and recognizable mascot! And I worked hard to get this hoodie - for three months I collected box tops and-"
Yang and Nora's laughter grew even louder, with the former even stumbling backward. As embarrassing as it was to have them laugh at him, Jaune felt a smile tug on his lips. It had been a while since Yang had laughed. Since they left her home, Ruby, and their dad, she had been battle-focused. Always trying to rush them to the next city. Even in her sleep, she always seemed to be in some kind of fight. A few weeks ago, she even stopped making puns.
If it wasn't for the fact Jaune was getting an upgrade, they would have probably left this small town behind a good while ago. But this made it all worth it.
Ren shook his head and he smiled too. "I suppose we don't have to grow out of everything."
"Can't have a Huntsman without his weapon," Flaje interjected, slamming down a box of other armaments onto the table. Then he held up the prize of the collection. Crocea Mors, his family's sword, looked nothing like the rustic museum piece Jaune had gotten used to. "Made all the modifications you asked for."
The guard had become more decorative but the shield was where most of the work had been done. Gold now covered the metal along its edges. Underneath the twin crescent emblem was a strange pattern. It had been flattened but Jaune still recognized it easily. A crown of gold, worn by a champion of battle.
—
Pyrrha placed a hand on Jaune's cheek. "Promise me you'll be safe?"
"I'm more worried about you," Jaune answered. "You've got all this power, but it just puts this target on your back. You're trying to help Ms. Glynda and Ruby? That's a lot - even for you."
She paused, her red hair blowing in the wind. Then, slowly, she reached up and took off her crown. "This is the trophy I won in my first tournament. Whenever I put it on, I feel as if I can do anything." She placed it in his hands. "I think you need it more than me."
"Pyr-"
Jaune felt the gift press against his chest. "I don't need it anymore. The only thing I need to remind me how strong I am is to imagine you by my side. I've never felt more safe, more confident, and more powerful than when I am with you, Jaune."
His throat felt dry. "I… I was just going to say that I don't think it'll fit me."
Her laugh… It was beautiful. Why hadn't he noticed how amazing of a partner he had until now?
"I promise," he whispered, trying to ignore the fact that his cheeks now matched her hair. "I will take it everywhere."
"Thank you," Pyrrha smiled as she pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. This is what you do."
"It's what we do. We help people.
—
"That was some fine metal you brought me," the blacksmith commented. "Accents the white nicely. Where'd you get it from?"
Jaune felt everyone step forward to admire the man's work. "A friend," he smiled.
A few minutes later, the doors opened. Yang, Ren, and Nora went to wait outside as Jaune changed. They wanted to see his new attire all at once. Even though Yang was tapping her foot, she had to admit that it was born from excitement and not impatience for once.
Jaune stepped out and everyone turned around with smiles and gasps. He decided to keep his black hoodie (with the CCT towers down, Yang would have to wait before sending it to Pyrrha. His new chest plate covered a bit more of his upper abdomen, trimmed with gold lining and similarly-colored bracers. Additionally, he wore black gloves with gold-colored metal armor plates over his fingers. The only other big change to it was the sash around his waist - silver and gray.
It was a reminder of who they lost that day all those months ago. Even though Vin wasn't dead, or at least they hoped not, no one had heard from or about her since. She had changed so much in her brief stay at Beacon. And even if a good two-thirds of it involved someone almost dying, the events from her stay were an important part of them and cherished memories.
Originally, he wanted to do both black and gray to remember… Yang closed her eyes and banished those thoughts from her head. She felt a tugging on her mind as she pushed those memories away. That color wasn't worth remembering. Not yet, no matter how many times Ren tried to get her to open up about it.
Yang shook her head and forced a smile to her face. "Not bad, Jaune-boy."
He blushed at the nickname. Jaune pulled his sword out from its sheath and held it out. It sparkled in the daylight. Then he spun the scabbard from his waist to his wrist and it unfolded into its shield-form.
The blacksmith stepped out from behind him and admired his handiwork. "He cleans up alright, don't ya think?"
"He certainly does," Ren agreed as Jaune walked over and sheathed everything back up.
Yang smirked and crossed her arms. "It's definitely going to have at least one girl jealous that she isn't here."
"I still think a rocket launcher would have really brought the look together," Nora added. "Nothing's gonna stop team YRNJ now!"
"Jaune is still the leader," her childhood friend mumbled.
Their appointed team leader shook his head. "It doesn't matter what we're called. As long as we're together."
"You kids sure you won't stick around?" Flaje leaned up against one of the wooden posts for his shop. "You've been real good to this town."
"Can't," Yang said, throwing on her pack. "We've got to get going to Haven Academy."
"No matter what," Nora added with a dark tone.
Ren nodded. "We've heard the next village over has a working airship."
The blacksmith shrugged and stroked his beard. "No way of knowing. Scroll signals were bad enough out here before they shut down Beacon Tower. Haven't heard from Shiloh village in a while."
"Then there's only one way to find out." JRNY turned around with a wave goodbye to the Faunus and continued their way east. They watched as Flaje smirked and went back inside before turning a corner and walking outside of the town's gates.
"Okay," Jaune said, holding up a finger. "Water?"
"Check!" Nora answered. She and Ren walked side-by-side with Jaune as Yang trudged along at the back.
"Food?"
"Check!"
"What about ammo?"
Nora patted her pack. "Locked and loaded! Thank you Schnee Dust Company."
"Got the map?"
"Uh…"
Jaune looked at Nora. "Please tell me you have the map."
"Ren's got it," she smiled.
"No, I don't. You have it."
"Wait, really?"
"Please tell me you're joking." Jaune looked back and forth between Ren and Nora, who each had their own smiles on their faces. "Guys? Guys!"
"Nope!"
Yang looked up. Birds were chirping and some bugs were buzzing. There was no better place to be quiet than the middle of nowhere. She just wished that Ruby could be here to enjoy it too.
Or Vin.
A single bead of metal falls past the outstretched arms of different Grimm beasts. Then, from the darkness, a beowolf jumps up and swallows it. A light explodes from its maw and, when it opens once more, five lights explode outward. The beautiful colors of crimson, frost, silver, shadow, and gold swirl together. Then, from a window at Beacon Academy, they fly out and up past the shattering glass and into the shattered sky - each going their own separate way.
One heads to the island of Patch in the North-West. Two to Atlas, though the twin shades of white split off when they reach it. One towards an island in the South-East. And the final one towards Mistral.
"It used to feel like a fairytale, now it seems like we were just pretending."
Ruby sits in her bed, staring at the closed door and her hood hanging off of it. She turns to the left, to the window, and sees her rifle now covered in a thin layer of dust. With tears in her eyes, she turns away.
Through a crack in the door, Tai turns around and grabs a photo off a shelf and holds it to his chest, staring at a bottle hidden behind it. Pyrrha places a hand on his shoulder and steps towards Ruby's door.
"We'd fix our world, then on our way to our happy ending."
Weiss turns around, hiding her injury. A man lurks over her shoulder with a lab coat as she turns to see her family. Her butler, Klein, holds tea at the ready (and glares with red eyes to the figure behind Weiss). A young boy stands in front of a mural of a family of five with near-matching outfits, giving a small smile. A woman's shadow raises a bottom to her lips in the corner of the room and everything goes dark as it encompasses the room.
"Then it turned out life was far less like a bedtime story."
Then, to give light, an older man sits behind a desk with a lamp and frowns. He throws down papers and throws a vial of dust at Ironwood, who is one foot in and out the door. The man spins around and smiles, placing his hands together, as he stares at a picture of Weiss on stage.
The Weiss in the photo clutches her head. Tears appear in the portrait, forming the Schnee's emblem and Glyph, as Weiss tries to steady herself.
"Than a tragedy, with no big reveal of the hero's glory."
Ironwood closes the door behind him, where Vin stands waiting. They nod and step forward, turning to face a group of men and women with different hairstyles but all wearing the Atlas military uniform. To his left, Winter pulls out a clipboard and calls some names. Penny stands behind her, biting her nails
A group of people step forward and brandish their weapons as Vin unfurls her snow-white mistcloak and jumps at them. Her shadow forms an Allomantic symbol, a crooked curve reaching for a dot, two spikes trailing each other, and another two stabbed from within the sphere. As she lands, she sends the people flying, as well as hundreds of letters with the SDC logo on them.
"And it seems we weren't prepared for a game that wasn't fair."
The letters fall down and morph into waves. Blake stands alone atop a ship's bowsprit. As she steps back, a robed figure spins her onto the bow and smiles. Another figure in robes stands behind them near the captain. Suddenly, a large man grabs the figure and throws him aside before wrapping Blake in a giant hug. A woman, a faunus with cat ears and tail, hugs Blake from behind. The three all smile at each other.
But Blake notices the sun reflecting in the water and looks away with tears in her eyes.
"Do we just go home? Can we follow through?"
A puddle reflects Blake as Yang steps through it, distorting the image. Yang runs towards a pack of Grimm, her eyes red, and uses her fists to turn them to ash. After day turns to night, Yang looks up from the pile of monsters and turns to see Jaune, Ren, and Nora staring. She gives them a thumbs up but their worry is still visible.
Above them, Qrow looks down with scythe in hand. He watches concerned but his face sours even more as a raven flies by and overshadows everything.
"When all hope is gone, there is one thing we can do!"
The red markings of Adam Taurus' mask split the darkness. As the red light grows, two Faunus in robes appear with knives before fading, quickly replaced by figures on a mountain. Hazel slams his fists together. The second, Cinder, smirks as Emerald and Mercury stand behind her. Tyrian smiles evilly and crouches. Watts bows like a nobleman.
Then, above them all, glares and the world shakes. The mountain they stand upon has an explosion at its spire, sending ash everywhere. As it falls down, Grimm run up and cover everything, leaving only darkness.
"Let's just live!"
Ruby, with Pyrrha's help, fires a shot through and hits the rim of a target. She wipes away some sweat and smiles, her dull eyes now containing a flicker of light. Pyrrha smiles back and closes her eyes, holding onto a scroll. She turns to look at a scarecrow in the field next to the target.
"Day by day, not be conquered by our sorrows."
The scarecrow morphs into Jaune, who alongside Ren and Nora, protects Yang as she sleeps. They each take down a few Grimm and clear the area. Yang doesn't show the slightest sign of awakening as they all sit down and throw more wood onto a fire.
"The past can't hold us down."
Weiss stabs her rapier upward, its metal matching that of her new arm. White energy runs from her shoulder to its tip as she spins it in a circle. Then, in front of her, the entire ballroom fills with a gigantic Summoning Glyph.
"We must break free!"
Blake runs into the darkness as glowing red eyes chase her. She tries to use her semblance but wolves pounce on it, dissipating the shadow. When Blake turns around and falls down, she sees Adam with his blade staring down at her. He raises it and slices it down as she screams.
"Inside we're torn apart, but time will mend our hearts."
As she lay in bed, Vin saw faces of her past appear in front of her. She stood in her original outfit, trying to grab them but held back by mist. Then, when she broke free, Grimm arms grabbed her and held her back as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang all walked past.
With a scream she breaks free again, her gear now the one Ruby made for her, but as she reaches to touch them, she freezes - her robotic eye the only thing able to move.
"Move onward! Not there yet?
"So let's just live!"
The letters RWVBY fill the screen, each one overlapping with the faces of the team's members. Ruby's dull stare. Weiss' metal arm. Vin's white-cloaked back. Blake's mid-scream panic. And Yang punching her open palm with red eyes.
Then, beneath them, a boy with freckles writes into a journal. He gives a ghostly-familiar smile as his eyes flash green, the last thing visible before everything fades.
Created by Monty Oum
That's right! I'm back! And I'm ready to write until I can't write anymore! Or, at least, when I can. Honestly, I see now why some authors take so long to update. With Uni, I haven't found the time to update ONE of my fics as much as I did when Covid first shut everything down. So please bear with me.
Some news: Thanks to you all, this FanFiction has now gotten recognized on TV Tropes 'Mistborn Fanfic Recommendations' (thank you Kalvan). I was so excited to hear about this! It's a huge honor and stepstone for me.
Also, I started a podcast! It's called Cosmere Connections (not the one by the Cosmerenaut) and can be found on YouTube and Spotify. If you're from the RWBY fandom and want to know what's going on with Vin, Hoid, Vax, and a lot of other stuff, I highly recommend it. We cover the books chapter-by-chapter and avoid spoilers. Please check it out! We just finished the Well of Ascension, which is right when I have Vin plucked into this story.
I can't believe how good it is to be back. This is something I've been waiting to come back to all year but I knew I needed a break. New school, new country, another new home. Thank you so much for waiting. There's a lot me and Icarus have planned/outlined. Some of it is basically canon and some of it will be brand new/original.
I know this chapter didn't have anything of Vin, but I promise that she will be in the next one. It will almost focus completely on her. But please understand I will be following the original Volume's format as this season, and the next one, are pretty well written and don't leave a lot of room (or not enough for me to feel comfortable injecting a whole bunch of new stuff on).
As always, I'd like to ask everyone to comment on this chapter (whether or not you are reading this as it updates or a year from then). It helps me improve and gives me even more drive to write!
My dream of being the number one Mistborn FanFic writer still has not been achieved! Slavok's Beautiful Destroyer still holds that record with a difference of 161 Favorites and 271 Follows. We are in third though! C'mon everyone, we can do this!
Read on, warriors