Author's Notes:
-Greetings readers and writers. I wasn't sure if I was going to get this chapter out in time for Christmas. Turns out I didn't quite get it out in time. (Along with a present to one of my friends being late.) But I did get it done in time before the new year. I'm publishing this early as I'll be out at a local arcade bar that night.
-Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas (or whatever it is you celebrate) and I wish you all a happy new year! (Here's hoping 2023 is better...)
-Here is a Christmas Carol Parody RWBY-style.
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
The amulet swingin' and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of dread
Now, the jingle hop has come to an end
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
The amulet chimes in amulet time
Dancin' and prancin' in Kuroyuri Square
In the frigid air
What a bright time, it's not the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a Nuckelavee sleigh
Giddy up, Imp and horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Here's a little present from me to you; the penultimate chapter of EL's volume 4..
The scene showed many of Athena's specialists in the dining hall. On the left side of a very long table with big benches sat Cola Arvin, Gilford Carran and Marrok Alban. On the opposite side were Aoi Morris, Daphne, and two seats away from them was Mata.
Gilford angrily stabbed at his baked potato before taking a bite. Mata and Cola winced but remained silent as this continued for about twenty seconds.
Marrok was the first to speak. "Is there something bothering you?"
"Why are we just sitting here? Haven Academy needs to be destroyed to advance our faunus predominant society. We should be out there burning it to the ground!"
"Patience, Gilford. Invading a huntsman academy takes a lot more planning than a primary combat school." Cola told him, scooping up a spoonful of his beef and barley soup. "Not to mention we must avoid the same mistakes we did last time."
As he swallowed the spoonful, Aoi asked, "Didn't Athena announce her intentions to destroy Sanctum ahead of time as part of framing Maura?"
"Yes, but her plan was not completely thought through and executed perfectly." Cola coughed. "Sorry, dry throat." He took a sip of water. "The Revolutionist movement almost died on that hill. I would not want her to make those same mistakes going forward."
Marrok nodded in agreement before he swallowed whatever was in his mouth. "You bring up an excellent point, Cola. But is it possible that she knew those risks and decided to take them anyway?"
The lizard tailed faunus frowned. "If that is so, then she is not as wise or as smart as we thought."
"Don't talk too badly of her, I don't think Ares would like that," Aoi told him.
He waved her off, scooping up another spoonful. "Who cares what he thinks?"
"On the topic of Haven Academy, isn't there a rumor that Headmaster Lionheart has dismissed all students?" Daphne spoke up.
Aoi blinked. "Where did you hear such news?"
Daphne held up her finger, indicating that she was still eating. Then she answered, "I heard that rumor from Addie before she left for Atlas."
"Speaking of which, where is she?" the fish faunus questioned. "She and Negra should have returned back by now."
Aoi took a bite of her clam chowder and a brief silence fell over the room.
Marrok, now with a piece of Margherita flatbread pizza in his hand, suggested, "Is it possible that they were killed by Grimm?"
"I hope not." Cola said. "They're more skilled compared to average second class messengers."
"Hopefully they have reached their respective destinations and that Laverna as well Fennec and Corsac will join our cause." Gilford remarked.
"Hey Mata," Cola called. He gave a slight "Hmm?" as he looked up from his bowl of shrimp fried rice. "You've been awfully quiet. Anything you want to say?"
The sheep horned faunus faltered. "I... just have a lot on my mind. I never thought I'd be here."
Daphne chuckled. "And I never imagined myself being a Revolutionist messenger/specialist in training. Yet here we are."
The Loyalist turned Revolutionist took a bite of one of her shrimp tacos as Aoi said, "There's a number of things we can't predict in life."
"Such as you having several rendezvous with Wungeng?" Gilford asked.
"I wasn't going to mention that, but, yes."
Marrok turned to her. "And what do you think of him?"
"He's... oddly handsome, in his own grotesque way. He's surprisingly good in bed, seems to trust me enough to introduce me to his personal chef, and overall things have been great."
Gilford frowned as he cut up his steak. "He has a personal chef? Man, I'm so jealous."
Daphne rubbed her arm. "I'm not sure I trust him. He flirted with a lot of women before deciding to date you. Including me. What if he's not loyal?"
Aoi smiled and brushed her off. "I think he was just desperate to find a partner. And he found one."
"I don't really know what to think of Wungeng or his behavior, but hopefully Athena will assign him some more tasks. On an unrelated note, has anyone spoken to Ilia lately?" Marrok asked his co-workers.
"She hasn't come out of her room very much lately." Daphne noted. "I'm worried about her."
Cola frowned as he swallowed another spoonful of soup. "What's wrong with her?"
"Cola, your mouth." Aoi chided.
He quickly shut it as Mata suggested, "You don't think she has PTSD, do you?"
With his mouth now empty, Cola asked, "PTSD? Why would she have that?"
"Well, from what I was told, she was a prisoner of war, along with Hector and Douglas before High Leader Taurus and Mistralian leader Bruna made peace."
Gilford blinked before giving him a brief smile, returning to his irritated look. "Hmm. Seems you're not as daft as I thought."
"Come now, he's still new to all of this." Daphne reminded him. "I'm sure Tawny wouldn't be so cruel if she was here. Where is she anyway?"
"She's exploring the city on orders of Athena and took a sandwich with her. But I don't expect her to find anything."
All the while, Tawny Lemongrass found herself roaming through Wind Path, the sun setting behind her as she explored the city in disguise. She was unmasked, her tired green eyes shown to anyone passing by and her long brown hair tussled with a slight breeze. She wore a simple pair of jeans, a lime green top with a forest green vest along with black boots. Her cat ears were also on display for all to see as she scratched at them.
I must say, killing Brianna Bluebell went well. She thought, before yawning out loud. Almost too well. Her hands fell to her sides. I'm a little surprised that I haven't felt any guilt or remorse, but as long as it doesn't prevent me from serving my lady, why should I worry? Yawning again, she wondered, Cola and Marrok have returned from their missions to kill councilwoman Aya Swaran and councilman Kin Li respectively. Things have been going well. Except for the fact that Addie and Negra haven't returned. The AAA and Wungeng also haven't found The Cursed Cat quite yet, hence the reason I'm being sent out here after returning to home base. Where is she?
Just as she passed by, she saw a bunch of posters on a nearby wall, most of them being advertisements.
Guess I may as well check out the advertisements. Let's see... Her eyes glanced over most of the ads on the bulletin board. Compost King, Neo's Neo...
At that moment, a particular poster caught her eye.
"Blake's Book Club?"
The braver catgirl leaned in and examined it more closely. She read aloud;
"Blake's Book Club
Discussing The Thief and the Butcher
Meet at the ballroom at Winds' End
1551 Cloud Courtyard, Wind Path
June 6th, 80 AGW at 5pm
Tell your friends and family
Humans and faunus both welcome."
Down below was a picture of the novel and a phone number.
"June 6th? That's not too far from now." Tawny stated.
Could this really be where the Cursed Cat went off to? If I'm right, this could be the key to finding her. If I'm wrong, then it'll be a big waste of time! Still, it can't hurt to have it for later.
She looked around to see if anyone was there. Knowing it was deserted, she took the poster off the wall, folded the paper and pocketed it.
A small farm boy was shown sleeping against the window, a bundled blanket used as a pillow. The train was shown circling around a mountain, going into a tunnel, obscuring the train in darkness before coming out on the other side.
In the background, Maria was shown reading a book, her mechanical eyes carefully examining the text without any problems.
The train hit a bump, jolting Oscar awake and causing him to nearly fall out of his seat.
Man sleeping on this train has not been the most comfortable. Guess that's what I get for buying the cheap ticket...
He stared at a poster advertising Haven Academy. The poster showed two figures: a female with an axe and a male with a rifle.
The poster read: HAVEN ACADEMY: BE A HERO.
Haven Academy... Will I find answers there? he wondered.
Soon the train began to gradually slow.
"We are approaching our final destination." a voice over the speaker told them. "Once again we apologize for the delays and technical difficulties, but we have arrived at Mistral City. We hope you have enjoyed your travel with Mistral Metro and look forward to servicing you in the future."
I can't believe it.
Neither can I.
We've made it. Oscar and Ozpin thought simultaneously.
The train docked into the Mistral Central Station. Getting up and retrieving his belongings, his shovel rested on his back as he tried to get off the train. Unfortunately, he was too slow and ended up behind several passengers, with Maria Calvera and several others behind him. After a few moments, the crowd of departing passengers thinned and Oscar, Maria and several other passengers behind them got off and exited the loading bay.
Alright, where to now? Oscar thought as he got away from the crowd.
He sighed internally. That's the tricky part. Lionheart has been acting strangely and it's hard to tell if Qrow Branwen has arrived here or not. He should hopefully be a tavern by now. If not, we're going to be looking for him for a long time. I should be able to sense his presence if he's within a hundred feet of me.
"Oh boy," he softly grumbled. "Well, we better get started then."
Meanwhile, back at Kuroyuri, team AVNRR and Qrow stood before the new criminal trio.
"It's the end of the road, heroes."
Ruby glared at them. "Tyrian! Haven't you done enough? First Orville, now Nora, and teaming up with these two?"
"So you know who we are," Alva began.
"Not that it truly matters in the end." Kiaran followed.
Nora looked at the criminal duo with a mixture of sorrow and anxiety. "Alva, Kiaran, listen to me, whatever you want, you won't get. He has other plans..."
She was interrupted with laughter. "Please, we know his true purpose, and it does not matter to us." Alva rebuked.
Her blood froze, her aura ticking down from 32% to 28.
Jaune glared at them. "Why are you doing this? Teaming up with a psychopath? What do you have to gain?!"
"You'll find out soon enough." Alva answered.
Ren began to sense something.
Nora looked at her with a scrutinizing glare. "Wait a second! I remember your voices... You're the ones who killed our boss!"
Gasps were heard from Ruby and Jaune as Qrow and Pyrrha silently reacted.
Alva smirked, confirming her suspicion. "Very astute, little girl. Uriel Aaron took us there to Fiti. We thought that Nero Black could lead us to Nora and Ren, and in turn, to Pyrrha. But he refused to talk. He paid the price for silence. And framing him as a member of the Noire Armada was all too easy."
Nora yelled as lightning started to form around her legs, "You monsters!"
Ren shivered. "We shouldn't be here. I suggest we take a rain check."
Alva glared at him. "Why? Are you scared to fight us?"
The lotus ninja glared at them with conviction. "No. I can sense an unwelcome presence." In the distance, sounds of destruction were heard and a cloud of grey smoke could be seen far behind them. "The Nuckelavee is here." The criminal duo looked to be unnerved. Tyrian was not. Ren gestured to himself, Nora and the criminal duo as he spoke. "It almost killed me, almost killed her, and almost killed the two of you." He glared at the scorpion tailed faunus. "Unless Tyrian happens to be from here as well."
He laughed briefly. "Can't say that I am. My origins are of a place far north from here. But that doesn't matter now. What matters now is revenge and finishing what we started."
Qrow groaned. "Of course. Just our luck."
"Aw crud." Jaune remarked at the same time.
"You know, in light of Ren's words, perhaps we needn't resort to such violence-" Kiaran suggested. "Just let Pyrrha and Ruby surrender themselves, and all will be well."
"Never." They both spoke in unison.
He sighed. "Why am I not surprised?"
Alva chuckled. "I love a good fight."
She charged towards Pyrrha, her sword out and knife unsheathed and ready to strike. Pyrrha quickly side-stepped and retrieved Milo and Akouo.
"So do I."
Tyrian advanced towards Ruby, the latter quickly activating her semblance, putting a decent distance between them. She got out Crescent Rose and turned it to her 'sniper mode' in an attempt to fire at her opponent. Qrow, with his arm broken, held Harbinger in his good arm and also attempted to fire at him, only for the scorpion to dodge or deflect them all.
Nora took some time to power up her hammer with her semblance as Ren retrieved StormFlower.
At that same, Kiaran charged towards Jaune, quickly parrying his punch with the shield of Crocea Mors. But Kiaran, despite his bulky size, was quick. He launched forward, strike after strike, his opponent just barely dodging them.
Soon the Nucklavee was heard howling in the distance, a few sonar waves seen as it roared. Not long thereafter, it extended its arm towards him, barely dodging the attack.
Kiaran let out an exasperated yell, briefly turning to his new ally. "See?!" He barrel-rolled to dodge another arm reach. "This is what I was worried about!"
Tyrian was eerily calm. "Don't worry your head off, I have a plan."
Jaune, using the distraction as an opportunity (and trying to hide his fear) swiftly kicked him in the shin.
Soon enough, the Nuckelavee appeared and came towards the fighters, focusing on Kiaran and Jaune. As the scorpion dodged the swings of Nora's lightning-powered hammer, Ren's gunfire and Crescent Rose's shots, Tyrian retrieved the Grimm Talisman he had used so long ago.
Ruby gasped in fear. "He still has it?!"
Qrow grimaced. "This isn't good is it?"
With this, he jumped up to the awning of a nearby building and smirked, jingling the talisman as though it was a bell. The Nuckelavee stopped moving towards them and appeared to take notice.
Oh no... Ren and Nora thought.
Crud... We have to stop him! Ruby thought.
Ren fired towards Tyrian as Ruby fired towards the Nuckelavee, but it didn't respond to her gunfire, nor did it turn towards her. The Grimm disregarded her and went straight to Tyrian.
Nora released her hold on her semblance and tried to jump up to grab Tyrian's amulet, only for her to get knocked down. As she crashed to the ground, camera focusing on her purple stained stomach bandages, her aura started to flicker continuously.
Ren instantly stopped firing and ran to her side. "Nora!"
She sat up weakly as they both looked on in horror.
The Grimm stood, motionless for a few moments. Everyone seemed paralyzed, unable to move and pondering what they should do.
The Nuckelavee's vision was shown through red lenses and Tyrian holding the amulet, the holder surrounded by dark black energy.
The camera turned back to normal as the Nuckelavee bowed its head to its master, much to the confusion of Kiaran and Alva, shock of Qrow and to the horror of team AVNRR. Ruby was horrified the most.
"You obey me now, Mighty Nuckelavee." He donned his amulet as Ren helped Nora up. "Rise mighty beast! Destroy the ninja and his foolish little valkyrie!"
The Nuckelavee obeyed his words, turned to the good orphaned duo and charged towards them. Ren and Nora jumped in different directions to avoid being run over.
Kiaran shrugged it off and punched Jaune in the face, sending him flying.
Alva on the other hand, seemed semi-distracted by Tyrian's action.
"Such incredible power." She parried Pyrrha's lance with her own sword. "How is it possible?"
I want one of those necklaces... she thought to herself as she backflipped to avoid Milo.
The Nuckelavee went towards Nora, still shimmering with a weak aura, who started to stumble in her walk. Her aura gauge was now very weak; only a mere 10% and falling fast.
"Nora... you need to get out of here."
"No. I can't. If I stop now, I'll fall. And I can't let that happen."
"You're hurt."
"You heard him." Nora looked at the Nuckelavee and the amulet around Tyrian's neck. "That beast won't stop until we're dead."
The Nuckelavee came towards them again.
Nora charged up her semblance and channeled it through her hammer, much to Ren's concern.
"What are you doing?"
"Trust me! Once he's down, strike its underside with everything you've got!"
This better work...
The Nuckelavee galloped towards her as a fire danced in her eyes.
With one swing, her aura vanished as she pelted the Nuckelavee and sent him flying, crashing him through three buildings until he landed on one that was already destroyed. Ren quickly followed and sought to use the blades of StormFlower to decapitate him. Unfortunately, right as he reached the creature it kicked him back, sending him flying right back to where Nora was standing.
"No... My plan failed."
Ren desperately looked towards Jaune, trying to hold back Kiaran's arms with his shield. He gave that same desperation to Ruby; now being pursued by Tyrian, with Qrow trying and failing to catch him.
This can't be how it ends. It can't!
He turned to Pyrrha, carefully calculating every move against Alva. She lashed her lance forth, narrowly missing and trying to get her to the wall of a nearby building.
It's up to us. Me and Nora have to defeat it. But how?
Nora's head began to spin, her vision slightly blurring as the camera turned to Ruby.
The red hooded girl inserted gravity dust into her scythe, now in its normal form and propelled herself back as Tyrian advanced.
Oh man, oh man this is bad. I have to get that amulet away from him. But I can't fight him very well. You know what happened last time!
She looked around and examined the fights happening around her.
With everyone else occupied, it's me and Uncle Qrow against him. But with his arm the way it is, he can't fire well. I need to outsmart him. I need a plan. But Nora's out of aura. I have to help them!
Qrow fired his scythe as he ran, unfortunately missing several times. One of his shots came towards him, causing Ruby to deflect it back, briefly knocking the scorpion faunus down.
But how can I leave my uncle alone with him?
All the while, Pyrrha tried to put on a brave face and taunted her opponent. "Is that all you have?"
Alva smirked. "You haven't seen anything yet." She swung her sword towards the Mistralian champion. "Being honest, this Trojan Alliance was more successful than I anticipated it would be." She locked weapons with Pyrrha. "Once you and your brother are dead, this territory and kingdom will be ours for the taking."
The Mistralian warrior glared at her. "And what makes you believe that you'll find him?"
Alva smirked. "Because we're the ones who found and killed your parents."
Pyrrha gasped as the revelation was known.
"No..."
"You want to know something else? Phoenix was taken out with the same Aura-Nullification-Dart that binds your aura now."
No... mom...
Quickly advancing forward, she struck Pyrrha in the shoulder, but with her falling and rolling out of the way, the cut was not deep.
But it still hurt like hell.
Pyrrha screamed out in agony as a small amount of blood trickled out. Jaune, distracted by his girlfriend's anguish, was soon knocked down by Kiaran.
Her blood felt like fire, and it took all her effort not to collapse from shock then and there. Alva filled her sword with ice and gravity dust. A faint gasp was heard; Pyrrha leapt back up moments before Alva's sword would have struck her spine.
The black-cloaked murderess looked at Pyrrha with vengeance. "It's time for the Nikos lineage to perish, continuing with you!"
Alva lunged forth with her knife, a red slash seen across the screen as it faded to black.