I can't stay here anymore.
These were the words that ran through Blake's mind as she sat there, awake at night in a dark, quiet, crowded warehouse. She looked at her remaining teammate. Yang was fast asleep, hiding her injury by snuggling herself in her sleeping bag. Ruby and Weiss were still missing. She didn't want to assume the worst, but since they had yet to return...
I'm sorry, but I can't stay here. Not like this...
First, she put her pillow into her sleeping bag, folded up the sleeping bag with the pillow in it, and shoved it into a backpack she found earlier. Next, she slowly and quietly zipped it up. She gingerly climbed up the stairs leading to the second floor, where some of the teams were sleeping. She took great care with every step she made. One wrong move and everyone would wake up. Then she looked back at Professor Oobleck, who by this point, had run out of caffeine and had fallen asleep on the ground. She slowly creaked open the panel, creating a window between the warehouse and the outside world.
The catwoman looked down at Yang, who was still asleep, then at where Sun's team was, only to find that Sun was not there. She looked around, but she didn't see him, so she shrugged it off.
Goodbye Beacon.
Without further hesitation, Blake leaped out the window and jumped onto the rooftop. Then she ran across the rooftops, trying to get away from the situation. As she jumped from one rooftop to another, she looked at the clouded sky, hiding the stars, shrouding her in darkness. She stopped towards the edge of the tenth rooftop she jumped onto. She put her clinched fist to her heart and made a grueling effort to hold back tears.
This is my fault. If I stay, Adam Taurus and the White Fang will come after my friends, and someone else I care for will be hurt. I have to confront the mistakes of my past and make things right... even if it means...
"Blake?" a familiar face asked.
The cat turned around to see Sun, the leader of team SSSN. He stood on the opposite end of the rooftop, bathed in the light of the moon, looking at his crush. Her hair was tangled up, her eyes swollen and red from the tears shed earlier. But he didn't care. It only made him more concerned for her.
"Sun? What are you doing here?!" she asked, clearly irritated with him.
"I saw you sneaking out of the safe house. Why are you doing this?"
"I can't stay here. Yang's been injured and it's all my fault!" She turned away sadly, folding her arms. "If I was never involved in the White Fang, this would never have happened!"
"Blake, it's not your fault!" Sun protested. "The guy who did this, whoever he is, he's the one responsible!"
"But Yang wasn't his target. It was me." Sun gasped. "And I must stop him. Alone."
"Alone? Blake, are you crazy?! You'll be killed! I'm coming with you!"
"No, Sun. I can't ask you to do that."
"Look, Blake." He felt his heart pounding in his chest. "There's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time." He breathed in deeply. "I love you." Blake quietly gasped. "Please, don't do this." He extended his hand. "Everything will be alright. Trust me."
Blake turned away. More tears spilled from her eyes. His words were so comforting, so soothing. Part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms, for him to steal away her pain. As if she knew he was right... but the problem was staying here with him wouldn't fix anything. She focused her energy. "Sun..."
"Yes, Blake?"
"I'm sorry."
He heard fast footsteps and saw Blake standing there, closer to him, crying. He touched Blake's face in attempt to wipe away her tears only to realize it was an illusion. He gasped as the shadow vanished. As the moonlight faded, the real Blake was on the ground, running further into the night. More tears fell from her eyes and hit the ground as she ran.
Goodbye, my love...
A black portal appeared in a dark, foreboding yet comforting castle. This castle belonged to their mistress, or their mistress's mistress. The two criminals panted as they exited the portal.
Mercury looked around. He saw black leather couches in a room with purple walls. "Where did we end up in the palace this time?"
"Looks like... The living room." Emerald answered.
"Ah, Mercury, Emerald. I see you have returned." a mysterious voice spoke.
They turned around as a woman floated into the room.
"Mistress Salem." Mercury said. "I hate to the be the bearer of bad news, but.."
"Cinder is obviously injured." Salem finished. "Set her down. I must examine her."
The two set down Cinder on the couch. Salem carefully inspected her. She softly grasped her wrist and examined the damage done. As she did this, Mercury and Emerald stood there, watching in a foreboding manner. She looked discontented with what had happened to her best servant, yet she never once looked horrified in shock and she never gasped. After looking at her for a few minutes, she finally broke the silence.
"This is most disturbing." she said, slowly turning to face Mercury and Emerald. "Where did you find her?"
Emerald looked down sadly with her hands down in front of her. "We found her underneath a tree nearby the tower. Neither of us know what happened."
Salem grimaced. "I know what happened. This kind of damage I have seen before. It was been done by the power of a silver-eyed warrior."
"Silver-eyed warriors?" Mercury asked. "But... that's just a legend. A mere fairy tale."
She chuckled. "You also thought the story of the maidens was just a fairy tale, and yet you have found the fall maiden twice over."
It took them a moment to process the information. Emerald blinked twice. "Twice? Does that mean..."
"Yes, Cinder now possesses the entirety of the fall maiden's powers." She briefly smiled. "I can feel the power flowing through her veins." Her expression turned grim. "However, that power brings with it a crippling weakness. What is more unfortunate is that Cinder will be stuck in a coma."
Emerald hesitantly asked, "For how long?"
"Anywhere from three months to six months. Alas, healing has never been my strength."
"So... what do we do now, mistress?" Mercury asked.
"That's what I must figure out. Tyrian is searching for the spring maiden, Watts is looking for winter, and Hazel has yet to report back on whether or not he has found the true location of the summer maiden. Also, those three agents have yet to receive the teleportation compasses to my realm that I am still creating for their future use. What's worse is that we have yet to find Beacon's relic. I am having my Grimm search the entire school, but I predict that they can not find where the gate is."
"Look on the bright side, mistress. It could be worse." Mercury added.
A Seer then appeared, showing Arthur Watts standing in a snowy mountain. The tall man stood there in a light blue coat.
"Hello there, Watts. What news do you bring?"
"Actually, there is good news, bad news and worse news."
She sighed. "Oi vey. What's the bad news?"
He breathed in, as if trying to calm himself. "Well, you see, your excellence, it's in chronological order."
"Tell me what happened."
"I had found the winter maiden and attempted to trick her into thinking that I was a good guy who wanted to help her use her special powers for the better. However, somehow, she knew I was lying. I don't know how she discovered it, but once I knew my ruse wasn't working, I attempted to take her by force. Surprisingly, instead of fighting me, she was a coward and ran away from me. Naturally, I pursued. Eventually, after chasing her to the edge of a cliff, I spoke to her saying, 'You know, it would be more logical to surrender now.' She didn't listen. She threw ice to my eyelids, sealing them shut and I heard footsteps. But they weren't the loud fast footsteps of running. I knew she was gone, so I had to get the ice off my eyelids so I could actually see. That took forever. And what's worse is have no way to tell what has become of her. I hate the fact that I have failed and displeased you, your majesty."
"That is most disconcerting. We will have to think of a new method on you pursing these maidens. Stay put until I have new orders for you."
"Will do, your excellence. I hope you may be informed of good news soon."
The Seer's vision faded away until only darkness could be seen. Once the orb showed nothing, the Seer floated away.
"What is our next order of business?" Mercury inquired.
"I would advise you two to go to your respective chambers and rest up. It has been a long day. I will call you again when your next assignment is ready."
The two criminals respectfully bowed to her before leaving.
Later on in the morning, after the sun rose, Nora, who was sound asleep, slowly woke up. She yawned and stretched her arms as she did so. Then she detected a delicious aroma in the air.
"Do I smell... pancakes?"
She walked to the kitchen, and her nostrils definitely did not deceive her. Ren was up making pancakes and other common breakfast items like bacon, sunny-side up eggs and toast.
"Indeed you do smell pancakes." He smiled as he flipped the pan with bacon before putting it onto a plate. Nora looked at three different stacks of flapjacks and began to drool. "I made an early run to nearest store and got ingredients for pancakes and more. I've made three different kinds; plain, strawberry and chocolate chip."
She smiled brightly. "Aw, you..." Nora took two of each kind of pancake and proceeded to drown them in maple syrup. She started digging into her pancakes. "Hey, how come Jaune isn't awake yet?"
Ren shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I better find him and tell him breakfast is ready."
He walked down the hall to Jaune's room, only to find a note on his door.
This is unusual. Ren thought.
He examined the note as he returned to the kitchen.
"Well?" Nora inquired.
Ren sighed. "He's not here. He left this note behind."
"Well, what does it read?" Nora asked, grabbing a slice of bacon.
"It reads, 'To Nora and Ren,
If you have found this note, this means that I have left to find Pyrrha. I just can't sleep at night not knowing if the love of my life is dead or alive and what has ultimately become of her. Normally, I would tell you to call me if you have any concerns, but since my scroll is broken and I have yet to get it repaired, trying to call me would be useless. If I do not return by nightfall, feel free to call the proper authorities. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.
From Jaune.'"
"Aw, that's so cute!" Nora squealed. "I'm surprised that he admitted his feelings for Pyrrha in his note."
"You knew?"
"P-lease. It was obvious." She drank a bit of milk before turning back to Ren. "So what do we do now?"
Ren set his plate down at the table and sat down. "Unfortunately, we have to wait. I'm sure everything will be just fine."
Everything is not fine. Yang thought to herself.
It was around 9:10am. Morning came for the temporary residents at the warehouse. Many of them woke up on their own, but those that did not were woken up by a bugle horn. This included Sun, who had his sleeping routine out of whack after the events that occurred while the lights were out.
"Ahh! What?!" Once he was (mostly) awake, he realized what was happening around him. "Oh man... back to the new nightmare that is my reality."
His best bud Neptune looked at him, concerned. "Sun, what's wrong?"
Before he could answer, Professor Port exclaimed, "Rise and shine, students!" He got out a clipboard. "Now, for role call. I will be calling out team names and leaders will say whether or not everyone is accounted for. Team BRNZ."
"Everyone is present." Brawnz answered.
"Team NDGO."
"All present." Nebula yawned.
"Remains of Team RWBY."
Glydna looked and asked, "Where's Blake?"
Yang shuttered in a panic, "I.. I don't know."
Sun looked downcast. "She ran away."
"What?!" Yang asked. "Why?"
"I don't know." Sun sighed. "I saw her sneaking out in the dead of night, at around 3:20am. I tried to stop her, but I was unsuccessful. I tried to tell her everything would be alright, but she didn't listen. I thought I saw her move closer to me, away from the edge of the rooftop we stood on, but when I tried to embrace her, she vanished. I then realized that she had created a shadow clone of herself, and that the real Blake was long gone."
"That is most disconcerting." Glydna noted. "Hopefully, wherever she's run off to, she's alright."
"Anyway, moving on... Team..." Professor Port started to say.
Suddenly, a large creaking sound was heard. Qrow entered the warehouse, worrying some of the students.
"Qrow? What brings you here?" Glydna asked.
"I'm here to bring my niece, Yang Xiao Long, back home." Yang walked up to Qrow, not even looking at him. He looked at her, concerned for her. "Yang, what's the matter?"
"I'll explain when we get there. Let's just go."
Yang angrily walked out and Qrow followed, shutting the door behind him.
Meanwhile, in a hotel in the city, Weiss had woken up before her father did. She got out of bed, went outside into the hallway, silently shut the door, and attempted to call Pyrrha. She managed to get a ring. And another. It rang for five times before going to Pyrrha's voicemail greeting.
"Hello, you've reached Pyrrha Nikos. I'm sorry I can't answer at the moment, leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can."
Beep. Weiss sighed. She returned back to her room and tried to think of what to do next as she looked at the clock. It was 10:45am. Her father was still asleep. She tried to think of her next move. Usually her father was not a late sleeper.
He could wake up any minute now... the young woman thought to herself.
Weiss tried to remember the name of the hospital Pyrrha was taken to. She retraced the memories and remembered running through the hall that said the name in purple letters.
Everbright Hospital
She recalled that it took 30 minutes to get to the hospital by plane, then another ten minutes from where they landed to plane to the hotel. But who knows how long it would take to walk there? The ice queen looked up the distance and knew that it would take a while. If only...
Jacques Schnee woke up, yawning as he sat up. "Oh my. Is it that late already?" Weiss nodded. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"I.. I didn't want to disturb you." she answered.
"I suppose in the long run, it doesn't matter much. Do you have your bags packed?"
"Yes."
He was still wearing his snow blue silk pajamas. "Well then, give me ten minutes to actually adorn myself in my proper attire and we will leave."
Suddenly his scroll rang. "Hello, Jacques Schnee, head of Schnee Dust Company. State your name and business." As the other person spoke, Weiss watched on. "I told you that the meeting had been cancelled because I have to get my daughter back home." He mused to himself. "Hmm... Alright, I'll do it. Hopefully the CCT being inoperative won't be an issue." He hung up, putting his scroll away. "Weiss, stay put. I'm going to be in an online business conference. I hope that the CCT being down won't interfere with this business affair."
After getting out of his pajamas and into his business attire, Mr. Schnee got out his laptop and set it on the desk. The conference went on, in spite of the CCT being down, but Weiss was restless and had no clue whether Pyrrha was alive or not. During the call, Weiss attempted to sneak away to call and/or speak to Pyrrha twice, but was caught both times; the first time by the pilot and the second time by her father. Then the pilot kept his eyes on her. He glared at her most of the time. She sat on the chair in shame, feeling crushed. There was nothing she could do.
Several hours later, after a long conference, they left their hotel room. Jacques handed the key back to the clerk and left the lobby. From there, they walked to their destination; an empty lot where their private jet was.
Weiss looked at Beacon Academy one last time. She heard the sound of a crow flying above her. She looked up, but saw nothing.
"Weiss?" her father asked.
"Coming, father!"
Weiss got her bags onto the plane and they took off. She stared out the window most of the time, thinking about her friends. The sun was setting behind them as they left for Atlas. Weiss looked down sadly as she and her father flew back home in the jet. Although she had a million things on her mind, she didn't say a word. In fact, she would end up being silent for days. She had nothing to say to her father or anyone else for that matter.
Pyrrha... I hope my efforts were not in vain...
Qrow was out on the rooftops, scouting the scene. He received a phone call from Taiyang Xiao Long, who flew a small private jet that was about to depart for Patch.
The drunkard answered his scroll. "Hello, Taiyang."
"Hey, Qrow. I've got Yang and Ruby ready to be taken home. Where are ya?"
"In the city, doing damage patrol to see if there's nothing I can't fix."
"You ready to go? I've been waiting on ya for about thirty minutes."
"I'm ready to leave. I'll see you there."
"Pyrrha!" a voice called out. He looked closer and saw Jaune, wondering around and searching for his lost teammate. "Pyrrha!"
"On second thought, take them back to Patch without me." Qrow said. "I just remembered there's something I need do before I leave."
"Alright. Good luck, and stay safe."
"Take care." He hung up.
He jumped down from the rooftop.
"PYRRHA!" Jaune kicked a lone can on the ground in anger. He put his right hand to forehand in frustration, sighing. "It's no use. I've searched everywhere." The memory of his last moments with Pyrrha was fresh in his mind, even though the events took place 20 hours ago.
He remembered being shoved into a locker by her and thinking as he was launched away, Pyrrha! What are you doing?! PYRRHA!
After he landed and had the phone call with Weiss, he remembered his thoughts after he threw his scroll to the ground.
Pyrrha... Please... come back to me... I love you.
"Well, it can't get any worse." Then he heard a deafening roar; The Grimm showed up. Jaune got out his sword and shield.
"Go ahead, make my day." he scoffed.
"Hey, are you okay?" a voice asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He sulked. "No, I've been searching for my friend all day. Her name is Pyrrha Nikos."
"You're in luck. I know where she is."
"Really?" Jaune looked at him with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Qrow nodded in affirmation. "Then please, take me to her!"
"Alright, although I haven't seen her in several hours. No way to tell if she survived."
Qrow ran off, with Jaune following right behind him.