Well second chapter is here, one a bit shorter this time, just Salem's meeting at the start of Volume 4.
KHARAKI TAKAN - It is possible that the Rinnegan might appear in this story. MIGHT. I'm still deciding, but even if it does, it's waaaaay down the line.
On the ground there is a pool of black slime. A large paw emerges from within the slime and a Beowolf gradually crawls out, slime sliding off of it and onto the ground.
This is a common occurrence in the Grimmlands where, if the name wasn't obvious, the Grimm come from.
It is a mostly dark and desolate land made up of red ground, purple crystals, and a red and black clouded sky. There is no human life here, except for in a single location.
In a castle made of the same purple crystals, Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai watch from inside a high building. Emerald has her hand to her mouth while Mercury seems slightly disgusted. Someone behind them snaps its fingers.
They are in a large windowed room, at the center of which is a long purple, crystal table. Four people sit at the table with seven chairs. One of them is Cinder Fall, looking different, with her hair cut short, her left side completely covered, though you can still see some of the scars.
Sitting across from Cinder is a man named Arthur Watts, looking at his Scroll.
Next is the man to Cinder's right, Tyrian Callows. He sits in a crouch casually on his chair, resting his arms on his knees.
Across from Tyrian is Hazel Rainart. His arms are crossed, and he looks asleep.
Cinder sits quietly, while Mercury and Emerald move to her side. Emerald nudges Mercury out of her way so that she can be directly next to Cinder.
"Yes, yes, please keep your posse in check." Watts said tiredly.
Mercury grunts and makes a move toward Watts, but Emerald holds him back.
"You hear that? Silence." Watts continued to mock. "I've half a mind to thank the little girl that bested you."
"If I were you, I'd hunt her down." Tyrian added, snickering as if what he said was hilarious. "Find her and… well, she took your eye, didn't she?"
Cinder only stares at Tyrian while he cackles at her. Cinder tries to speak but only manages to make quiet exhaling noises. Emerald leans in to hear her.
Watts rolls his eyes. "Pathetic. Why did you even—"
Watts is interrupted by the sound of a heavy metal door being unlatched. The doors open and everyone stands just before as Salem enters. She glides alongside the table with soft footsteps before reaching the head of it, jewels jangling from her hair. Salem stops, facing away from them and toward a candle and crystal display. "Watts." She spoke, calmly.
Watts straightens, looking toward her.
Salem turns to look at him. "Do you find such malignance necessary?" She asks as she gestures for all to sit down.
"I apologize, ma'am. I'm not particularly fond of failure." Watts defended himself.
"Then I see no reason for your cruelty towards young Cinder. She's become our Fall Maiden, destroyed Beacon Tower, and most importantly, killed dear Ozpin. So I'm curious, to what failures are you referring?"
"Well, the girl with the Silver-Eyes." Watts answered.
"Yes. We've dealt with their kind before." Hazel answered. "How is it that a novice was able to slip through our grasp and best one of us?"
"My thoughts exactly. Even without her new power, it should have been effortless." Watts added.
"It is because of the Maiden's power." Salem answered. "Make no mistake, Cinder, you hold the key to our victory. But your newfound strength brings with it a crippling weakness. Which is why you will remain by my side as we continue your treatment."
Cinder is unhappy about this and lowers her head. Emerald looks at her in sympathy.
Mercury suddenly raised his hand. "Uh, excuse me? I have two questions, if you don't mind." He asked politely, which is something that Mercury would never do, but every part of his body tells him to not be rude to Salem.
"Yes, Mercury?" Salem gestured him to continue.
"First of all, what is a Silver-Eyes?" Mercury asked.
"A Silver-Eyes is one of the few things in this world that can truly harm the Grimm. A single glance can be fatal, and that is only one one of its basic functions. So you do not have to worry about being harmed by them, Mercury." Salem explained. "If untrained, it can be a nuisance, only triggered by sudden spike in emotions. However, if trained, it can even rival a Maiden's power, or if you are an expert, surpass it."
"Woah, how do you get something like that?" Mercury asked, his curiosity overcoming his fear for a brief moment.
"It's not something that can be obtained." Watts now answered. "The Silver-Eyes are locked to their wielder and any attempt at transplanting them has ended in failure."
"Quite, but I have been looking at ways too… change that." Salem said.
"Besides, I would rather crawl back to Atlas and beg than have a power with side effects like those." Watts waved him off.
"Side effects? Like what?" Mercury asked.
"The Silver-Eyes are powers of similar nature to the Maiden's. The difference is that Maiden's powers spread throughout your entire body and soul, whereas the Silver-Eyes are mostly located in the eyes." Watts said. "Now I think this is easy for someone of your intelligence. What do you think happens when you have such power in such a fragile body part so close to the brain?"
Mercury decided to let that little comment slide in exchange for more info. "It... changes them?"
This time, Hazel continued. "They first awaken this power with a sudden spike of negative emotion. To use this power, they have to tap into that emotion repeatedly. Naturally, you will start to change."
"Are you satisfied, Mercury?" Salem asked, to which Mercury nodded. "What was your next question?"
"You said that Cinder was injured because of the Maiden's power. How so?" He asked.
"Come on boy, isn't it obvious? You were there when it happened." Watts rolled his eyes.
"Watts." Salem silenced the man with a single tone, before looking at Mercury. "To answer your question, Mercury, it is not the power itself, but rather how it was obtained. You remember the glove I gave Cinder, correct?"
Mercury nodded.
"Well, as you know, that glove contained a Grimm I had created to steal a Maiden's power. Once stolen, the grimm would bond with the wearer, acting as a… chalice for its power, so to speak. So, genetically speaking, Cinder has Grimm DNA within her. Which will help in her recovery. Are you satisfied?"
Mercury nodded once more and backed away, not wanting to be in Salem's eyesight.
"Dr. Watts, you are to take Cinder's place and meet with our informant in Mistral." Salem informed him.
"Very good." Watts answered.
"Tyrian, I want you to continue your hunt for the Spring Maiden." Salem said to the madman.
Tyrian laughed as a response. "Gladly." He said.
"And Hazel, I'm sending you to the leader of the White Fang. Adam Taurus has arranged the meeting. The boy continues to prove loyal. Ensure that Sienna Khan feels the same."
"As you wish." Hazel said.
Cinder raises a finger and Emerald leans in to hear her. Cinder rasps into her ear. Emerald straightens.
"Speak, child." Salem gestured to Emerald.
Emerald gulped, also afraid of Salem. "She wants to know… What about the girl?"
Watts scoffs "What about her? Seems to me that this is Cinder's problem, not ours."
Cinder slams her fist onto the table and glares at Watts, who grins at her.
Salem raised her hand, silencing any arguments. "That's enough. The Silver-Eyes are a threat to me as well. Tyrian?"
"Yes, my lady?" Tyrian said, giddy with excitement.
"Spring can wait. Find the girl that did this to Cinder…"
Tyrian giggles elatedly and claps.
"And bring her to me. Alive." Salem finished
Tyrian freezes and groans disappointedly.
"If you would like, you can test her to see how much she has improved her Silver-Eyes." Salem added.
Tyrian's good mood returns quickly.
Salem then looked at the rest of her faction. "Because of your efforts, Beacon has fallen. And Haven will be next."
Everyone rises and begins to leave the room. On the way out, Tyrian snickers at Cinder and points to his left eye. "Eye for an eye." He says as he goes into an uncontrollable fit of manic laughter, while Cinder grits her teeth as the door closes behind them.
In the silence, Salem began pondering. "Ruby Rose…" She repeated the name, before smiling. "I guess your daughter is following in your footsteps, Summer. Too bad she doesn't know where it will lead her."
I'm still confused by Salem statement about the Maiden's powers being the reason Cinder got hurt because it doesn't make any sense, so I added the fact that she has Grimm DNA in her to make it sound more plausible. Also wanted to add Mercury lines because my boy did not say a single thing, so he's the one asking questions in our place.
There will be more exposition on how the Sharin-I mean, the Silver-Eyes work later on. It's better than just showing everything here and having to repeat it later on. Trust me, if you have seen Naruto, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
I'm only going to do Volume 4 from Ruby's perspective and probably the villains. There isn't a lot to change in the arcs of the rest of Team RWBY, only like a thing or two, but not enough to rewrite them and I don't think anyone would like to see a copy paste of the arc with only one difference.
Now finally, I want to hear opinions: What do you think of the two ships I have chosen? Would you have picked different partners. Personally, I was between Weiss and Penny for Ruby, so I want to hear your opinions. Jaune and Oscar were an option, but the former is used a lot and the latter because of well, Ozpin. As for Bumbleby, I literally have no idea who to ship Yang with other than Blake.