Chapter 91: Callback
In which Bronzewing loses yet another partner, Raven takes bad news poorly, and a scroll call changes it all.
By this point, Bronzewing had lost composure and engaged Schnee in a full-blown shouting match. It was rather surprising that the seemingly refined heiress had such a foul mouth. Bronzewing's uncouth behavior was unbecoming of the gentleman his mothers had raised, but he was presently unable to keep his emotions in check. To have Arc returned to him, and then taken away in less than a full day…if the gods were real, then they were indeed inhumanely cruel.
"You're despicable, Dove. You claim to care about your teammates, but I remember how you stabbed Jaune in the back almost as soon as you met him!"
"And you, Schnee, you believe you have any right to criticize me? Your entire life was handed to you on a silver platter, and yet you still feel like the world owes you a debt, you cockalorum!"
"What does that even mean, you self-important moron? Why do you have to constantly talk like you're better than–"
The though was interrupted by a small bang coming from behind them. Both turned around.
"Wha–"
FWOOOOM!
The shockwave that followed easily knocked their bullhead out of the sky, causing the pair of them to enter a downward nosedive as they plummeted to Remnant. Schnee gripped the stick and tried frantically to pull the up while Bronzewing pressed a variety of buttons in a futile attempt to prevent the engines from stalling.
"Can your Glyphs–"
"Not for an airship this big! How's your aura?"
Bronzewing gripped his seat as they spiraled towards the Grimm wastelands. "I won't survive a fall from this height. None could. What was that blast?"
Schnee summoned Glyphs beneath the plane to stabilize their descent. It wasn't able to stop their fall, but it prevented the spinning that was disorienting the pair of them so.
"It looks like a Dust explosion."
"Branwen…"
So that was it. Her big plan was to self-destruct in a blazing inferno, dragging Arc, Salem, Polendina, and the millions of Grimm with her. Bronzewing was unsure if he should feel enraged at her for abandoning him or proud of her for dying as nobly as any huntress could ever dream. Right now, he just felt empty.
I'll probably be joining her in oblivion soon enough.
Thank the god for small mercies…
They had been cruising over the wastelands at a safe altitude of approximately 10,000 meters. Assuming a terminal velocity of between 250-300 meters per second (which they'd easily reached by this point), they had between 33-40 seconds to devise a landing strategy.
"Got any usable Dust?"
"Negative. You?"
"Nope."
"I suppose this is the end." Bronzewing exhaled through his nose. "I apologize for my uncharitable–"
Schnee smiled forlornly at him as she wrestled with the stick in an exercise of futility. "It's okay, Dove. We were angry at everything else we'd lost, and we took it out on each other. I've already had one blonde apologize to me for the same thing this week. I get it."
The worst part had to be the uncertainty of when it would come. By the time the ground came into range of Bronzewing's semblance, they'd be less than a second from the end. People often said they wanted a quick death, a surprising one, but in his final moments, Bronzewing found that statement to be a falsehood. He'd much prefer to see it coming and say his final goodbyes to life itself.
The airship suddenly lurched, and Bronzewing could feel them being to slow down.
"Was that you?"
Schnee shook her head.
The bullhead slowed to a full stop midair, kept afloat by some unseen force. Bronzewing reached out with his full semblance, but there was nothing in range that could have explained this phenomenon. The engines were inoperable, but they continued to hover in the air despite having no perceptible source of propulsion.
Then, he perceived it.
"An airship is approaching," he informed Schnee. "No, two airships. No, fou– sev– I suppose I'll wait until they all come into range before reporting their numbers."
Their glass viewport shattered, exploding outwards. The first airship approached them and turned around, its bay open and its ramp extended.
An unfamiliar voice called out. "Hey, kids. Need a lift?"
"Raven!"
Bronzewing regarded this new woman who stood on the ramp. "You…bear several remarkably similar facial features to Branwen."
Weiss snorted. "Well, duh! Dove, this is Ruby's mom!"
"The pirate admiral?"
"Oh, for fuck's sake," said the woman, Raven. "Why does everyone…j-just take my hand so I can let go of your airship."
The woman helped them out of their ruined bullhead. Once they were free, it plummeted towards the ground, eventually landing with a large crash.
"Raven!" Schnee embraced the woman. "How did you find us?"
"Let's just say I know a guy…"
"You mean I know a guy," interrupted a familiar voice. "Rather, a gal. A pair of gals. Good to see you, Weiss-cream. Big D."
Xiao-Long exchanged a hug with Schnee and a nod with Bronzewing.
"Prosperity, Xiao-Long. Prosperity, Raven. This fleet…there has to be hundreds of airships. Where did you acquire such a flotilla?"
Raven (for Bronzewing knew not if her surname was Rose, Branwen, or Xiao-Long) spread her arms wide and grinned. "Welcome aboard the Haven Naven! I mean, the Havy Navy! Aw, you know what I mean. Headmaster Lionheart generously informed his comrades and former students that he would need their ships and their skills as hunters…after a little convincing."
Yang spoke. "As soon as we got the coordinates for Ruby and you guys, we came over here. So, where is she?"
Weiss looked down. Bronzewing tried not to meet Xiao-Long's gaze.
"Guys? Where's Rubes? Oh, and Jaune and Penny too. We're not leaving anyone behind."
"Yang, I…I…"
Raven's eyes narrowed. "Where's my daughter?"
"I didn't know she was going to…"
Bronzewing cleared his throat in a facsimile of professionalism, primarily to stave off the breakdown that threatened from reliving the past half hour or so. "We were taken before a being known as Salem. We fought her as best we could."
Raven placed a hand to her hip and raised her brows. "If you went up against Salem herself, then you shouldn't have made it out alive."
Bronzewing could barely croak out the truth. "Not all of us did."
Xiao-Long and Raven froze.
"N-No…"
Schnee sniffled. "I didn't mean to…she said she'd be right behind us…"
Bronzewing felt his hands tighten into fists. It was unfair that he should survive when someone as kind as Branwen or as selfless as Arc died. He should've fought to the end instead of outliving even more people. All because Branwen chose to…all because Schnee was too…
No. It was not their fault. They were simply people trying their best in an impossible situation. He could not fault them.
His tears ceased as a new feeling replaced sorrow: hatred.
Schnee had said that she and Bronzewing had taken out their pain on one another. Well, that was an error Dove Bronzewing would not make again. Henceforth, his rage would be directed solely to person who was truly behind their communal suffering.
Salem.
The only time she'd even caught a glimpse of her daughter since she'd been a tot was the quick peek at Haven after busting down the door. She'd laid her eyes on Rook for a mere moment to take in her teenaged appearance before that damn dragon had torn them apart once again. And now she'd never get to even find out who her little baby had grown up to become.
Mistral came into view, and with it the ruined grand hall of Haven Academy. Yang had asked to lay siege to Salem's castle and make her pay for what she'd done, but Raven had refused and ordered the fleet to return. Salem couldn't be killed, but Yang could, and Raven was not going to lose both her daughters in one day.
The second they disembarked, Raven made a beeline for the cluster of people that had come to greet them. Among them were Cinder Fall, both of the Albains, some dark-skinned girl, and some tiny boy. The bandit queen didn't even notice the others as she honed in one of them.
Raven stopped in front of Leo and drove her fist into his stomach, through his aura.
Her fingers came out on the other side.
It wasn't much for a trained huntress like herself to end a man in a single punch – headmaster or not, she was the strongest there was. The dark-skinned girl jumped back in shock, but Cinder remained unmoved. Raven met her eyes, challenging her to object, but the black-haired huntress mere smiled as her former headmaster fell down and began to bleed out on the floor.
"I take it you weren't able to find Ruby."
"She's dead."
The random boy stepped forward. "No, Summer. Not quite."
"Who the blazes are…Oz. That was fast."
Summer…he still keeps up the act, for no one but himself.
"I forced things forward a little faster out of necessity, as the situation has proven more dire than expected. Oscar Pine is…look, Oscar is no more, but–"
Raven threw her head back in disgust. "Brothers damn it, Oz! You already merged with him? Right after Jaune blew himself to kingdom come? You filthy soul slut."
Ozpin's head sagged. "Jaune has–"
Leo coughed up some blood on the floor. Raven and the new Oz looked at him for a second before resuming their conversation.
"Jaune has given us a rare opportunity. Salem is dead."
"Was it the boy and his souped-up semblance that did her in?"
"Jaune made her mortal with his final action in this world. He saved us all, and I shall never forget it, but the work is not yet done. Salem is gone, but she has a successor as Grimm overlady…your daughter, Ruby."
Raven raised a fist to clobber Oz, but Cinder blocked her path and held her back, pushing out both arms to impede Raven's rampage. "Hear him out! Please, hear him out! Your daughter is alive!"
Raven stared at Cinder, then stepped back.
"Before she died, Salem managed to use the relic of knowledge to manipulate Ruby," Oz explained. "This alone wouldn't be enough to sway the heart of a promising young huntress like her, but…Ruby mistakenly thought she needed to save Salem and pushed Jaune into the Grimm pools. She, too, fell in and was exposed to the darkness. It corrupted her, turning her into a monster. A Grimm."
Weiss gasped, and Yang's hair burned bright gold as her fists balled up. Raven asked, "Where is she?"
"Her bearing, if I recall correctly, was Atlas. Summer, I know you said we were through after Haven, but our goals align once more, and–"
"If you think I'm going to help you kill my own flesh and blood, you've got another thing coming."
Oz held upboth hands in surrender. "The relics are all I seek. When they are secure, we can begin treating Miss Rose and returning her to normal. Please, let us combine our strength. I have much knowledge of the relics, the powers that Ruby now possesses, and Atlas' inner workings. Aid me in securing the relics, and I swear I will get you Ruby back."
Yang looked at Raven, as did Weiss. As the most experienced huntress, it was clearly expected for her to make the decisions.
"After this, we part ways."
"I'll have the relics, and Salem is dead. I'll gladly depart and never cross your path again. I mean it." Oz chuckled. "You've brought me nothing but grief, and I've no wish to have you in my way for any further. I simply need your strength, and the aid of your allies."
"No harm is to come to Rook."
"You know how much I value the silver eyes, Summer. I wouldn't ever willingly harm someone who wields such a trait. As a phenotype, they are too important to Remnant's safety to destroy."
"Okay. We're in. What's the plan?"
"Atlas is under James' command. I assumed he was loyal, but Penny Polendina fought for Salem." The babyfaced warlock's expression soured. "For now, we must assume it is possible General Ironwood has fallen victim to Salem's manipulations and fights for her now, as does Ruby. If this assumption is wrong, he'll meet us at the gates and let us in willingly."
"And if it's right?"
"Then we meet his army with one of our own."
"Haven's hunters aren't enough to fight Atlas."
Corsac stepped forward. "The White Fang would be most happy to see our time-weathered rival Atlas brought to its knees."
"It's been on our To Do List for quite some time," added Fennec.
"Theo didn't want to get involved in the war against Salem when she was thought to be immortal, but I suspect his mind may change upon learning that Salem is no more," said Oz. "The combined forces of Mistral, Vacuo, and Menagerie might just be enough…the keyword being might."
Yang grinned and wrapped her arms around Weiss and the bronze boy. "And I think me and the guys might be able to round up a few more fighters to tip the balance in our favor. I'll go make a call."
Oz smiled. "Cross-kingdom unity. The goal I've worked for my entire life has finally come true."
"For a second Great War, Oz," Raven chided, before the wizard's grin could grow too big. "Don't act like this is world peace and utopia."
"No," said Oz. "Utopia shall come next."
It was a quiet night. Peaceful. Serene.
Ren preferred these kinds of nights. Being a huntsman was a challenging profession, and the brief times that he could unwind with his squad were much appreciated. He was currently attempting to find a ten letter word beginning with L that meant loudness and clarity of voice. It had to have an N in the 9th spot, or it wouldn't fit with eighteen across.
Ren explained the problem to Sky, who was currently building a model bullhead out of toy pieces.
Sky shrugged. "Sorry, babe. You know my vocabulary sucks."
"Cardin, do you have–"
"I ain't got no clue."
With grammar and diction like that, Ren believed him.
"Nora, you're pretty good with words. Any ideas?"
Nora raised a finger up to shush Ren, and he realized that she was currently taking a scroll call. "Yeah, Yang? Wassup?"
The knights of Team Castle all turned to listen to their queen at the mention of their old friend.
"Heck yeah we're ready to help! What's the sitch?"
"Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh…huh."
"Mind running that by me one more time? You sure it's Ruby?"
"Yang, please don't joke about something like that. It's in very poor taste. The poor man's body was mangled."
There was a long pause. Not just long when compared to the other brief ten second pauses when Yang spoke; this was long in general. It had to be at least five minutes. Yang must've been explaining something at length.
"O-Okay. We'll be there. And we'll tell her."
Nora pressed the button to end the scroll call. "Pack your things, boys. Team Castle's rolling out."
The first stop of their glorious venture to rescue Yang was apparently Headmistress Goodwitch's office, for some reason. Nora was adamantly refusing to provide any details as to what their mission was or how they were going about it, but Ren and the others had made a sacred promise to Team Rainbow (or what was left of it). Any time, any place, they'd drop everything and come to their aid if they needed it. Yang was calling in that favor, so there they went.
The elevator finally stopped at the doors of the headmistress' office at to the top of the CCT. Nora stepped in first, flanked by Cardin and Sky. Ren covered their rear. Though there was no danger, they'd taken to moving in formation after running countless missions in Forever Fall and the Emerald Forest.
"Ah, Miss Valkyrie. To what do I owe this unexpected visit? I do hope I shan't need remind your Advanced Dust Theory class begins in less than ten hours, and you'll need your sleep for the test."
"I've been tasked with passing on a message to you."
Goodwitch rose. "Very well. Please, do go on."
"Okay. So…your landing strategy during your initiation was to telekinetically assemble a ramp made of sticks and tree branches that you could slide down to gradually stop your momentum, but you accidentally tore your skirt off and had to fashion a makeshift one out of leaves and mud."
The headmistresses blinked.
Nora continued. "Now, apparently the knowledge of that was supposed to be some sort of secret message to indicate trust between only you and then-adjunct professor Ozpin."
Goodwitch rose from her seat and approached Nora, her hands at her sides. "Then how did you come by it?"
"Because, according to Yang, Weiss, and Dove, Ozpin is alive. And in Haven. And he needs us to help him out. Us referring to you, me, my Castles, Beacon as a whole, and all of the huntsmen and huntresses in the entire kingdom of Vale."
Goodwitch adjusted her spectacles, somehow unphased. Perhaps she thought this a wild figment of Nora's imagination? But the coded message had clearly affected her…
"That is a tall order, Miss Valkyrie. And what opponent is so fearsome that we shall need to call upon every resource we have available?"
"We're going to war with Atlas."
Ren had though Nora insane at first, asking the headmistress to mobilize every hunter in Vale for an all-out war with their closest ally, but apparently Ozpin's call was something Goodwitch trusted absolutely. All students and former students of Beacon had been recalled to the academy, where the professors and staff were readying their airships.
This evening, Ren had been ready to finally complete the book of crossword puzzles that Sky had given him as a gift for their six-month anniversary.
Tonight, he was in the forges, tuning up StormFlower 2 and modifying it for use on humans instead of Grimm.
Sky and Cardin seemed equally perturbed by the notion of fighting other people. They'd trained plenty against their classmates, and they knew intellectually that they would be called upon to bring down rogue hunters, criminals, and bandits on occasion, but never had they considered there would be a war in their generation. The concept was simply unthinkable. The death toll in the previous Great War had been approximately equal to the population of any one of the kingdom's capital cities. People learned from their mistakes, or so they were supposed to.
"Don't worry, boys," said Nora, tinkering on Magnhild. "Remember, our mission isn't to fight for someone claiming to be the headmaster, whether they are or aren't. We're just there to support our friends."
"Do you think it's really Ozpin?" asked Sky.
"Impossible," answered Cardin. "They found his remains. The body was mutilated, but the face was fully recognizable. There's not a chance in Vacuo that he could be alive."
"There are semblances that –"
"No way." Cardin closed his eyes resolutely. "No semblance can undo death, Sky. We were at the funeral. We saw the remains. Ozpin's gone."
"Cardin's right," declared Nora, settling the matter. "And besides, even if the old headmaster were still around somehow, it wouldn't make a difference. Our only goal is to help out the remaining Rainbows. We're not going to be fighting someone else's war."
Cardin may have been Nora's boyfriend, but Ren knew his partner better than anyone. She was holding back something. The old Ren would've neutrally accepted that some secrets were kept for a reason, but the new Ren was growing more accustomed to his emotions. Not everything had to be viewed through an objective, logical lens. Some things were matters of the heart.
"Nora, what did Yang tell you?"
Nora looked up from Magnhild, then glanced around the room. Ren followed her eyes and found her looking at the other, empty workstations. She stood up and walked around the room, gingerly closing the doors and locking them. When they were entirely alone, she called in the Castles for a team huddle.
"This doesn't leave this room. At all."
Ren and the others nodded.
"Remember Morrighan?"
"The horseman?"
"Apparently, Ruby and some of the others wiped the rest at Haven."
Ren nearly doubled over. "Wiped them? As in, killed them all?"
"Cleared them out entirely. The new one, the old ones, all of them."
Sky's eyes grew wide. "You can't be serious."
"I can and I am. Not only that…she killed the queen that Morrighan served."
Ren laughed emptily. "I guess she's been busy with those silver eyes."
"She had help. Dove, Sun, Cinder, and Jaune all played their part."
"Jaune Arc? He's alive?"
Nora shook her head. "Not anymore."
The men of Team Castle sagged. When Jaune's body hadn't turned up, they'd all held out hope that he'd somehow survived. Apparently they'd been right, but not for long.
"Yang told me everything. Jaune gave his life to kill the Queen of the Grimm. He saved us all."
The four of them all recalled Morrighan having mentioned some…Salem figure, who was at the head of the Grimm army, so the knowledge that such a being existed (or no longer did) wasn't as surprising to them as it might have been to others. They had been digesting that factoid for months now, sometimes even postulating about it amongst one another.
"So why the fuck are we fighting Atlas?" ranted Cardin. "We should be celebrating! If the Grimm had a queen before, then they must be weaker or at least less coordinated without her."
"Because there's a new Queen of the Grimm." Nora frowned. "And you won't like to hear who she is."
Next Chapter: No Good Deed – In which Ruby cashes in an old favor.
Omake
Bronzewing: Schnee, if this is the end, then I want you to know I'm–
Schnee: Me too!
Bronzewing: What?
Schnee: I'm also sorry!
Bronzewing: I was going to say I'm an idiot. I suppose you just admitted to being one as well.
Weiss: Oh. In that case, I take it back.
Bronzewing: Too late. You said it, now it's stuck!
Author's Notes
They're back! Toldja they'd return! Not only back, by the way, but back as main characters once more…
Raven just punching through Lionheart, aura and all, is fun. RIP Leo – you'll probably be missed by some people, but only because you have a lion tail and those people are furries.
I guess Oscar Pine is now Oscar Gone. It is currently sad farmboy hours…but oh, I do just love that ominous last line of his.
Also, I think everyone now understands how and why Dove's fate will be what it will be. Jaune martyred himself, and Dove took that to heart, thinking the only way to stay true to his leader and team is to continue Jaune's legacy. I think the red flags can't be any clearer.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!
