Man, what an awesome easy to end the current Volume. It was a rollercoaster. But at the end, it was worth it. The two-year hiatus was executed perfectly…unlike this story. Now then, onto the chapter then, shall we? Apology if this chapter is going to be really short, I want to make a build-up to that moment in Volume 6.
Dark Souls: Embers of Remnant
Four
Continuing On No Matter What
'There is no path. Beyond the scope of light, beyond the reach of Dark… what could possibly await us?'
Everyone silently stood in the snowy terrain while staring at the Ozpin, or rather his real name, Ozma in the body of Oscar. None had even said anything as they were recollecting to what they had witness. Ash had come to his own thoughts. "To think that a woman that had previous relations with him would become enemies due to the immortality that was bestowed upon them by these Gods. And how she cannot be killed while this Ozpin can move his spirit to someone else's body? Something doesn't seem right. It's…rather familiar. I can't piece it together to show any relations to what I have."
"Salem can't be killed... you all heard her too, right?" Yang asked the rest of her team before looking back at Ozpin. All angrily glare at Ozpin, whose head is still down. Ash was at least a distance away as he saw this unfolded. Despite this, he can see Ozpin looking up at them with tears streaming down his face.
"I—" Ozpin muttered tearfully.
"There was so much you hadn't told us!" Yang said, enraged by his secret. "How could you think that was okay?!"
The Blonde's response caused Ozpin to look away, hanging his head down. "Professor…" He heard Ruby spoke. He looked up at her. "What is your plan to defeat Salem?"
Ozpin went silent for a few seconds before answering her question. "I... don't have one..."
Everyone were shocked to hear this from him. The person that they trusted, the person that has been hiding this terrible secret, didn't have an exact plan on how to defeat Salem. Out of nowhere, Qrow suddenly punches Ozpin which sent him flying towards a tree trunk. He looks away from him in disgust and disappointment. "No one wanted me... I was cursed... I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world... I thought I was finally doing some good..." He coldly told him.
"But, you are!" Ozpin pleaded tearfully.
"Meeting you... was the worst luck of my life..." Qrow finished with an apathetic tone.
Ozpin looks down in disbelief upon hearing this from one of his most trusted allies. "Maybe you're right..." Ozpin's eyes glow as control is transferred back to Oscar Pine. He holds his cheek in pain from the effects of Qrow's punch.
Now everyone were confused and angry at this. Ruby was the one to ask. "What happened?"
"He's…gone." Oscar answered while he was still rubbing his cheek from the punch.
"That bastard!" Yang angrily shouted as she glared at the boy. "Tell him we're not done yet!"
"No, this is different. He's gone." Oscar pointed out to the group, which made all confused by what had just happened. "It- It's like he's locked himself deep inside my head. Our head?" He grunted in pain while holding his head. "I hate this! I want it to stop!"
"He just left us?" Weiss spoke in complete disbelief.
"What are we gonna do now?" Blake asked with a panicked voice.
"Alright, stop!" All turned to look at Ash and had the look of mistrust on their faces. "I don't know what the big deal is. But you pried into his secret despite building a lot of trust, which I understand your motive. But that is how all of you respond?"
"Look, buddy." Yang spoke, walking towards his position while gritting her teeth. "You may not have been with us for you, but Ozpin is not the only one to hide secrets."
Ash looked at her with indifference, his face was covered in the Fallen Knight Helmet. He knew where this was going and was tired to repeat what he said to them two times. "And you think all of you have the right to pry into mine?" He said with complete carelessness. "Go on ahead. Ask that lamp to show you what secrets I hold. No one is stopping you. Yet, you're only going to waste it for some petty reason."
This caused her to have her eyes glow red and instantly curled her robotic arm into a fist. She threw a punch and to everyone's surprise, Ash caught it around the wrist and let out a sigh of disappointment. He then spoke in his careless voice while he pulled her close to his face. "Honestly, this is unnecessary for you to do this. I am aware that you're all surprise that this is humanity's second time around. Even I am surprised at this. Yet, since all of you are drawing negativity, it could lead all of us to be killed. Get. A. Grip will you? And let's only focus on our journey from now on. We're only just wasting time."
He let go of Yang's robotic arm, which caused her to tumble a few steps away from him. He turned around and began to walk as he was following pathway that was clearly seen. "We better get a move on. It'll be dark before we know it."
"Hey!" Yang shouted as she and everyone saw him leave. "Get back here! I'm not done with you—" Her words seems to fall on death ears as Ash was far away from them. She gritted her teeth once again. "Can't believe he just did that. The bastard! Hiding his own secret and avoiding our answers!"
"Maybe he's not too comfortable yet." Qrow bitterly told her.
The blonde was shaking her remaining arm from Ash's action. If she had to honest to herself. She was angry and shock. The former was because he was overdefensive with his secret and how he just left them. The latter was how he had managed to easily catch her punch with ease. Right before she could say anything, Maria then interrupted. "He has a point. We're only just wasting time. I'll be damned if I've lived this long just to die out here in the cold!"
Everyone looked at her before realising that both she and Ash made a valid point. They then proceeded to get their belongings and gather what supplies they can carry before they followed the footpaths that Ash had left.
-Scene Change-
Hours had passed. Everyone were tired as snow was building up and how long they had been following's Ash's trail. They were not showing it right now, but all they knew is that Ash is not the person that he seems to be. "I wonder what Ash is hiding from us." Ruby suddenly spoke.
"Probably something that Ozpin is hiding." Qrow muttered, taking a sip from the flask.
"Well, whatever he is hiding, I don't think he'll be telling us anytime soon." Blake tiredly groaned. "All I want to do is to get this stupid relic to Atlas."
"Let's hope we don't have to walk all the way there." Weiss spoke. "Unless you're someone like Ash."
"Well, he is a very unusual individual." Maria pointed out to them. "He doesn't seem very talkative and his blunt in his words."
As this was happening, Ruby stopped in her tracks. "Everyone, quiet. Do you hear that?"
Everyone stops in their tracks. A metallic squeaking can be heard. A large farm can be seen, with one of the front gates swinging back and forth with the wind. A large sign above the entrance that read "BRUNSWICK FARMS". Everyone had clearly saw that Ash's footprints had led to the inside of the house.
"Well, at least one good thing happened today." Blake spoke.
"It looks abandoned." Weiss pointed out.
"It's still better than this." Ruby told her partner, looking at the surroundings.
"Come on, I think we could all use some rest." Qrow ordered them without any emotion.
Everyone proceeds through the farm's gates, with Qrow being the last to enter. The snow starts to pick up even more as the gate is heard closing with a metallic clang. They followed the footsteps to the house and enter. As they did, they saw Ash sitting down near the fireplace that has been recently lit. Ash turn around to see them arriving. "Good. All of you arrive."
"Says someone who walked ahead first." Qrow sarcastically commented.
Ash didn't say anything as he stared at the fire. He went quiet for a while until he informed them of something. "By the way, there are dead bodies in the house. I hope you don't mind it."
"What?" Weiss had asked shakily, hearing how casual his voice was. Ash immeidately responded by standing up from where he sat and headed to one of the upstairs rooms. Everyone followed in suit and once they entered the room, the former Heiress immediately screamed and fell to the ground.
The bed laid two decaying corpses. It seems like to Ash that they had somehow Hollowed. He could do was to look at them before glancing back at everyone. "I found them like that. Don't know what caused it. We should probably leave the room."
Moments had passed and Ash sat back down in his spot. Weiss was next to him. She was still shaken from what she saw earlier. Blake wraps a blanket around Weiss before sitting on the couch Yang is on. She looked over to Ash and saw he was completely still. "Uh, Ash?"
Ash turns to look at the Former Heiress. He can see that look from earlier on. "Something bothering you, Lady Schnee?"
"You can just call me Weiss." She said while cracking a small smile before looking back at the Fireplace. "It's about what you said earlier. You didn't seem to be even phase by it."
She heard a small chuckle coming from him. "I've seen enough death. Someone told me this during my travels 'You'll face death, and it won't be pretty. Enough death to leave you broken, time after time.'"
"That's dark." Weiss said, looking over to Ash.
"It's what helps me be this person that I am." Ash informed her, withholding the information of being undead. Weiss looked at him once again and narrowed her eyes. From the look of things, she can already tell that he had experienced many horrible things. Things that made him not even care at all.
All heard the door open to see Qrow wiping a few snows away from his clothes. "It's the same in every house."
"You mean what we saw in that room?" Yang meekly asked.
"Yeah, something like that." Her uncle replied back to her. "It's the same in every bed in every home. It's like the whole estate just went to sleep and never woke up." Ash didn't react to that as hew kept staring at the Fire.
"Then we're not staying here, right?" Weiss faced over to Qrow.
"We don't have a choice." He answered while walking over to the fireplace. "Storm outside's only getting worse. We'd freeze to death before we made it anywhere."
"Well, might as well get comfortable." Maria said, walking over to a bookshelf.
Yang looked over to Maria with an eyebrow raised. "Yeah, fat chance."
Ruby then thought of the same. "Okay, then, let's do something. If this place wasn't abandoned, it might still have supplies we could use."
"Hey, yeah. Maybe even a car." Oscar had hoped this abandoned place even has one.
"I'll do another sweep of the grounds." Qrow told them, heading out once again. "No one else goes anywhere alone."
Blake had an idea that could help them in their travels. "Yang and I can search the other buildings for vehicles."
Yang looked annoyed at her partner mentioning her name. "Fine, whatever gets me out of this house."
Yang and Blake leave the room, with Ruby moving the drawer to let them exit. Afterwards, Ruby looks over to see Weiss at the doorway to the living room with a melancholic look on her face. She thought of something that might cheer her up. "Food always makes me feel better. Just saying." She chuckled nervously.
"Right..." Weiss spoke before going with her partner to find some food.
Seeing that everyone was gone, Ash had his own idea. "I'm going to Take some time alone." He stood up and headed outside to let the cold air clear his mind.
-Scene Change-
Blake and Yang walk through the snowstorm toward a nearby shed while bracing the heavy snowstorm. They soon enter and find rows of shelves full of supplies on it and a tractor.
"Something tells me that's not street legal." Blake spoke while looking at the tractor.
The two of them continue walking through the shed. Yang looked around and wondered what exactly happened in here. "What do you think happened here?"
"There's that well in the square." The Faunus girl speculated. "Maybe water contamination?"
"Yeah, maybe." Yang agreed with her partner's words before rubbing her forehead.
"Hey, are you okay?" Blake asked.
"Yeah... I mean, no. But I don't know. I'm just tired." The blonde answered. "And I am also thinking of Ash."
"Yeah." Blake said as she too remembered what Jinn had said to him.
Yang then walks forward and eventually found something that may be useful. "Hey, I found something." She sees a flatbed trailer next to the window. Taking a quick glance, Yang sees a familiar black and red figure unsheathing its sword. This causes her to gasp and reels back in fear. Blake sees this and runs up to comfort her.
"What is it?" Blake asked her partner in concern.
"I..." The blonde spoke, looking back to the tree where that figure was, only to see nothing. "I was just seeing things. I'm sorry. I still get flashes from that night." Her flesh hand begins to shake uncontrollably before recomposing herself. Do you think Adam's still out there?"
Blake looked down as she was in the thoughts at the mention of her old partner. "I don't know. If he went back to the White Fang, there would have been serious consequences. But he never really liked people telling him what to do. Adam's strong, but his real power comes from control. He used to get in my head, make me feel small. But now I see he just wanted to pull me down to his size." She and Yang looks at her robotic arm and thought about what Ash did. "Ash reminds me of him, yet he's different."
"I know." Yang acknowledged, seeing some similarities between the two. She saw Blake grasping her prosthetic arm with a smile.
"Hey, I'm not leaving. And if we ever see him again, I promise I'll be there." This made the two-partner smile at each other. "And I'll protect you." This took a sour turn. Yang's eyes widened and had a frown on her face.
"What?" The Blonde Brawler questionably said.
"What?" Blake obvious asked.
There was an awkward silent between the two. Yang suddenly pulls her arm away. "Forget it. Let's just head back."
Blake was worried about her partner's wellbeing. "But what about—"
"We're fine. We can hook that flatbed up to Bumblebee in the morning. Should carry everyone. Mission accomplished." Yang bluntly answered as she walks away, causing the Faunus girl to look down in sadness.
In the other side of the door, Ash had heard everything between them. He knew that it is not his place to peek at other peoples' personal problem, but he would have some information in regard to that spiteful presence from before. "This Adam? He reminds me of Sulyvahn and Freide for some odd reason. He seems to be the source of those two's…rocky relationship." He didn't get the head-clearing space that he wants despite the snowstorm that was happening.
Having his mind cleared from Ozpin's hidden, all that was left was to regroup with everyone and perhaps get some rest. While doing so, Ash began to think on that individual and felt sympathetic towards him and how his life has been since then.
It was not different to the one that Ash has been through. "To think that he only gets reincarnated into another body until he finishes his job? That's...not that different of Hollowing. Except he doesn't Hollow at all."
-Scene Change-
As Team RWBY were still busy, Ash went back to the exact same place. He was deep down in his thoughts. Today has been very interesting yet poetic at the same time. First, his secret of being an undead wasn't exposed. But thanks to Jinn, it may have already planted the seeds of everyone about his true nature.
Second was how this woman named Salem can't be killed. He had his theory of her being braded with a darksign, but it was too farfetched. Eventually, Team RWBY returned as they carried the things that they had found. Qrow was sitting on a chair while facing the window, Maria was in the couch while reading a book, and Oscar was pace back and forth.
Seeing that everyone was calm from what had happened after leaning about Ozpin's story, Ash felt that it was enough for today. Still, he had to keep an eye out for that presence that has been following them ever since they left Haven. He still needed to find the Firekeeper if she was even here and also finding out who summoned him in the first place.
"Undead like myself doesn't require any sleep. Yet…" He suddenly felt tired which soon overcame him. He eventually closed his eyes and hung his head down. Perhaps a good sleep would help him ease up.
Alright, chapter has ended. Said I said prior to this chapter. It is short. I incorporated two episodes into one story. Now then, with the mention of Adam, is Ash having a guess that the presence that has been following them through the shadows could possibly be him?
This chapter wouldn't be possible thanks to me using the script of the episode used for this chapter. I am kinda lazy but I might make an effort or actually writing a full chapter. For now, it's just be using the script to help me write this story.
Ashen One/Ash vs Adam Taurus? That may be an interesting fight to write. I wonder how it would go like considering that this is endgame Ashen One…?
Now onto the review…
Fatswordsman: Well, at least it is building up to that reveal. For now, it's just not the right moment. Ash needs to build trust first before he can tell them.
Again, this was a short chapter, but I have my own reason. I need to watch Volume Six. But that fight that has got mixed opinions. I may change it.
With that, I will see you all in the next chapter. Whenever the next one is published.