Author's note: And thus begins my version of V7. Enjoy.
After turning the Sea Feilong to stone, Ruby felt a wave of exhaustion roll over her. She felt that someone was holding her, but even that feeling faded quickly, and she was too exhausted to tell who she was talking to, or what she was saying. When she looked around, Ruby found herself in her soul core. Her legs were a bit shaky and she leaned against a tree.
"Hello Ruby," Emerald said, walking up to Ruby, "We… kind of have a bit of a problem here."
"Hello," Ruby said, pushed herself off the tree and asked, "Can you show me?"
"Sure, this way," Emerald answered and walked away.
"Thanks," Ruby said and followed Emerald to the middle of the forest, where she saw a large pond with a familiar shark swimming around.
"It just… showed up all of a sudden," Emerald said. Ruby knelt down by the side of the pond and reached into the water. The shark swam up to her, and she pat it on the head.
"I'm sorry," Ruby said softly, then turned serious and said, "But I promise, Salem will regret ever setting foot out of her tower."
"Tower?" Emerald asked. Ruby got back up and explained Jinn's vision to her.
"So yeah, that's that," Ruby said after finishing the story.
"That's… a lot to take in," Emerald said and asked, "How can we stop her?"
"Sirena has a plan," Ruby answered, "A fight on multiple fronts. We'll divide Salem's attention and prepare multiple ways to slow her down. No matter which she focuses on first, we'll keep doing other things to hit her where it really hurts."
"How can I help?" Emerald asked.
"We need to make Salem think that she's winning," Ruby answered, "If we know what she is planning, we can get ready to pick up the pieces afterwards and rebuild everything stronger than before. Right now, Salem is focused on Vale, where the teachers and students are getting the Grimm out of the city, and Mistral, where Sirena has placed turrets to keep the Grimm out. Sirena will further divide Salem's attention, but also prepare for humanity to fight back against her properly. And then there is Argent's plan, but I don't know what that is. All Sirena told me is that it'll fail without merging with her own plan, and that it'll distract Salem in a few years, when her own plan comes to fruition."
"Do you need anything from me?" Emerald asked, eager to help.
"Later, thanks," Ruby answered.
"Alright," Emerald said, "Anyway, there is a new emblem."
"Really? Where?" Ruby asked.
"This way," Emerald answered and led Ruby to a tree with an emblem engraved in it, which looked like a mix of a graduation cap and a crown. As with any other emblem, the bark looked like it had naturally grown into that shape, rather than the emblem being burned or carved into it. Ruby hesitantly touched the emblem and heard a calm, inviting voice in her head.
"Take my hand and I'll lead you, hear my words and I'll teach you," the voice said.
"Thank you, Emerald," Ruby said as she turned around to look at her again. She suddenly realized that she was talking to one of Cinder's ruthless minions, who had taken countless innocent lives because Cinder told her to, but for some reason, Ruby couldn't see that. All she saw was a little girl who was lost, and scared, and confused about her place in the world. She took Emerald's hands and brought the two of them into a dream modeled after a village from a cartoon she used to watch as a child.
~o~
A Mistral airship landed on a clearing in the swampy forest region of Anima, and Ilia pushed two large crates out of the cargo bay. She got off the airship and gave the pilot a sign, and he took off again, leaving her to do her job.
"Alright, first things first," Ilia said to herself, "Protection." She released a large amount of apple-sized rocks from her skin, with nine of them being coated in lime green energy. The rocks rolled around and gathered up the remaining stones, forming nine stone snakes. The rocks had sharp edges everywhere, meaning they dealt a lot of damage to anything the snakes coiled around, adding piercing and slashing to the crushing damage.
"I'm really getting used to this semblance," Ilia thought. She climbed onto one of the crates and pulled out twelve metal bars, splitting the top side into four triangles. Each triangle was attached to the adjacent side, and the crate folded outwards. Buffers built into the top corners caught the four sides and provided an even surface with the elevated center piece. After all four sides had unfolded, Ilia removed three bars from each of the triangles now pointing away from the middle, and folded their halves to the side of the square they were attached to. She then put the bars back into new slots, fixing the platform in place.
"Thanks, Atlas," Ilia said after the mobile camp site was almost ready. She turned on the hard-light generator hidden under the floor of the central piece, and the camp was ready to go. The mobile camp also had a storage unit in the floor, and could create a hard-light dome against all kinds of harsh weather. With her base set up in less than five minutes, just as the military had advertised, Ilia went to the second crate she had brought. It contained a large sack full of light blue fertilizer granules, as well as enough food and water to last her a whole month. Ilia took a large measuring cup to spread the granules on the soft peat ground around the trees surrounding the clearing.
"Here comes the airship," Ilia said as she poured some of the fertilizer around a tree. The soft and wet ground dissolved the small orbs immediately, and Ilia had to keep track of which tree she had treated already. She didn't know exactly how these granules worked, but she knew that every plant fertilized with them would grow much better for a long time, and that was all she needed to know for her plan. If everything went as planned, it would help fight the Grimm in the long run, and keep the area safe from them as well. She spent the rest of the day fertilizing the trees, then went to sleep in the tent that came with the mobile camp.
~o~
Emerald looked around in the new environment. The buildings only had one or two floors, hay roofs and wooden boards as windows, and most houses had some sort of edible plant in planter boxes in front of them.
"Where… are we?" Emerald asked.
"It's a place from a cartoon I used to watch," Ruby answered, "It's a nice little town, and I really like it here. Ever since I learned how to control my dreams, I've come here from time to time to hang out with the locals, go on small adventures, or just have fun. Anyway, I figured we could do something you want to do."
"How about I teach you to use my weapons?" Emerald asked and said, "I mean, you have them, so you might as well use them. And I've always wanted to be a teacher."
"Alright," Ruby said and drew Thief's Respite. She got familiar with the design and tested the different functions for a bit.
"Ready?" Emerald asked.
"I guess so," Ruby answered.
"Good enough," Emerald said, "First, Beowolves." Just as she said that, a large pack of Beowolves appeared in the distance and came running towards the duo. Ruby decapitated one of the Grimm and slashed another one across the back. She began shooting at the Grimm, but realized that the long-range accuracy was abysmal and she didn't land many shots over twenty meters.
~o~
When Ilia woke up, she had breakfast and went straight to work again. This time, instead of fertilizing the trees, she went up to one of them and slammed her right hand against it, using her seismic sense to see its roots.
"I see," Ilia said, and used her semblance to make the tree attract a type of symbiotic fungus that lived in the swamp. Luckily for her, the warm swamp climate allowed her to soak up ambient aura, meaning that she just had to take it a little slow to make sure she could, theoretically, bump up the duration, range and degree of attraction as much as she wanted. She spent an hour using her semblance on just this one tree, making it attract the specific fungus within a one kilometer radius for a year. Being more specific about the target species also made it easier for her to use her semblance, so she made each tree seem irresistible to a different type of symbiotic fungus. If she targeted humans or faunus with this degree of affection, they would become so obsessed with the tree that they would even stop eating unless they could get food without losing sight of the tree. Because of this, the target fungus would ignore all other food sources and use all its available resources to grow towards this tree.
~o~
Ruby killed the last Grimm of the horde and caught her breath. Emerald looked at the evaporating Grimm, and at Ruby standing in their middle with a perfect form, and walked over to her.
"Amazing," Emerald said. Ruby collapsed the weapons and put them away again.
"Thanks," Ruby said.
"How did you know to use them like this?" Emerald asked and said, "It took me a while to get this good, and I built them."
"I experimented with a lot of weapons," Ruby answered, "I eventually settled on Crescent Rose, but I still know a thing or two about sickles, revolvers, and so on. The kusarigama form is a bit outside of my area of expertise, though."
"Yeah, it's a bit difficult to use," Emerald said and asked, "Anyway, why did you settle for a scythe?"
"How many scythe users do you know?" Ruby asked, and Emerald thought about it for a moment.
"Let's see, there is you, and this other guy," Emerald answered, "He's got a red cape too, I think."
"My uncle Qrow," Ruby said, "But yeah, that's the point. Scythes are difficult to use, so most people choose other weapons. Because of this, not many people have experience fighting scythe-users, meaning that most people have no idea what my sweetheart and I can do. This, combined with the versatility of a scythe, makes any decent scythe-wielder a formidable opponent, even if they'd just be average with any other weapon."
"I didn't expect you to be this cunning," Emerald said, "And I'm usually pretty good at reading people."
"I wouldn't say I'm cunning," Ruby said, "I'm just being cautious. And I don't want people to try and fight me."
"How would a scythe help with that?" Emerald asked.
"Simple," Ruby answered, "If people don't know what to expect, they're easier to discourage, and I can play off any mistakes they make as my plans or skill. This makes them tell others that I'm a skilled fighter, and over time, rumors will spread that scythe-wielders are incredibly skilled fighters. For example, the Grimm Reaper used twin scythes, and her semblance allows her to sense danger in advance, meaning she has a nearly perfect defense. People had a lot of trouble fighting her, because they could barely hit her. Qrow's semblance, on the other hand, brings bad luck to those around him, making it harder for his enemies to do anything without interference. But since he's not very open about it, people think that all the bad things that happen to them when fighting him are because of him. Kinda like how Pyrrha used her semblance secretly to make minor adjustments to people's weapons in order to make herself seem more skilled than she really was."
"Like I said, pretty cunning," Emerald said.
"Alright, maybe I'm a little cunning," Ruby said, "But I fight for the people, so it's fine."
"Yeah, I suppose it's fine," Emerald said, "But… there is one thing I noticed while watching you."
"What is it?" Ruby asked.
"It seemed like you could… sense the Grimm," Emerald answered, "I don't really know how to put it but, you seemed like you knew where the Grimm were, even without looking at them."
"Really?" Ruby asked and said, "Let's try it, then."
"What do you mean?" Emerald asked.
"Easy," Ruby answered, "I'll close my eyes, and you make a Grimm pop up somewhere around me. Then I'll try to find it without looking."
"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Emerald asked, "What if it attacks you?"
"Relax, this is just a dream," Ruby answered, paused for a moment and said, "Gods, I completely forgot!"
"What is it?" Emerald asked, panicking a little when she saw Ruby's nervousness.
"I have to astral project to Argus," Ruby answered and said, "I just hope it's night. Sorry, we'll have to continue some other time." She brought Emerald back into her soul core and astral projected to Argus, focusing on Saphron's sorrow of missing Jaune.
~o~
Saphron stood in the front door of her house, bidding her farewell to her brother. It was a cold, slightly windy fall morning, and a small gust blew a bunch of leaves past the two of them.
"Saph, I gotta go," Jaune said, "But I'll always be there to protect you. Even if you're the older sibling."
"Good luck," Saphron said, "I just wish I could come with you." She put her hand on his shoulder and thought about coming with him. She wanted to be there for him if he needed her, even if it was just a part of her. Suddenly, Saphron felt a powerful surge of energy, and Jaune's armor began glowing yellow as the energy flowed out of her hand and into the steel.
Terra was busy at work, fixing yet another network issue for the military, when her scroll rang. She pulled it out of her pocket, checked the number, saw that it was one of her neighbors and picked up.
"Hello?" Terra asked, but already heard crying in the background.
"Terra, thank the Gods we reached you," her neighbor said, "Adrian has been crying for five minutes, and we can't get into your house. Please, come home and see what he has." Terra's heart sank and she dropped everything. Before she knew it, she was back home and cradling Adrian in her arms.
"There there," Terra said, "Mommy is here, everything is good." Adrian stopped crying eventually, and Terra realized that, with her working and Saphron helping out at the hospital, Adrian must be lonely. She looked around the living room and spotted the modeling clay. Getting an idea, Terra sat Adrian down on the couch, sat down next to him and started modeling herself as a coconut-sized clay figure. The entire time, she thought about being there for Adrian, even if it was just a clay figurine of her. As she was deep in thought and working on her clay duplicate, she felt a powerful energy well up from within her, and dark orange energy flowed out of her hands and into the figurine. She finished the figure, put it down on the table and started with another one, making it look like Saphron. After she finished the second figure, Terra put it down on the table, but saw that the first figure was missing. She looked around in a panic, but then noticed something in the corner of her eye. The first figure was walking around and playing with Adrian. It stopped, helped the second figure on its feet, and both nodded at Terra before they continued playing with Adrian.
"What is going on?" Terra asked, but immediately found herself in her bed, with Saphron lying next to her and also slowly waking up from what had to be an equally confusing dream. It was still in the middle of the night, so both went back to sleep.
~o~
The next morning, Saphron and Terra got ready for the day. Sirena was sitting on the couch, staying in Argus a bit longer, just in case more Grimm show up. After breakfast, Saphron and Terra sat down on the couch, and Terra hesitantly took a bit of the modeling clay.
"What are you doing?" Saphron asked as Terra began making a tiny snake.
"I had this weird dream last night," Terra answered, "Basically, Adrian was crying because he was home alone, so I made tiny clay figurines of us to keep him company. And… they got up and played with him." She put the snake on the table and looked at it, then sighed when it remained motionless.
"I see. I had a similar dream," Saphron said, "I was talking to my brother as he was leaving, and when I put my hand on his armor, some energy started flowing into it."
"Really?" Terra asked.
"Yes, it was pretty strange," Saphron answered, and both turned to Sirena.
"What do you think it means?" Terra asked.
"It means you unlocked your semblances," Sirena answered. Saphron and Terra were both confused to hear this.
"But don't semblances usually activate in intense situations?" Saphron asked.
"Technically, yes," Sirena answered, "However, dreams are a tricky thing. They can put you in intense situations without putting you in danger, for example. Still, your mind and body react the same as if you really were in that situation. There actually are a few instances where people unlock their semblance in their dreams."
"So, why doesn't the snake move?" Terra asked.
"Using a semblance is difficult at first," Sirena answered, "You have to get into the right head space, but over time, you will learn to do it without thinking about it."
"You mean, if I focus on what I felt in my dream, the snake will move?" Terra asked.
"Most likely," Sirena answered, "But I would still like to see the full process you went through in your dream. Which is to say, make a new clay figure."
"Alright," Terra said, took a new bit of clay, started modeling and whispered, "Play with Adrian, play with Adrian, play with Adrian." Terra kept repeating the phrase, while Saphron and Sirena watched as she modeled a small dog. Terra's aura lit up, and its dark orange energy began flowing into the clay. Saphron wanted to say something, but Sirena shushed her with a gesture, and the two just watched. When she was finished, Terra put the dog on the table, her aura broke and she let out an exhausted sigh.
"Hun, are you alright?" Saphron asked.
"I'm fine," Terra answered, "It's just… somehow very exhausting." She rested her arms on her legs and let her head hang, and the small dog walked over to her to cheer her up.
"At least it works," Sirena said, "And don't worry, you'll get better, and then it'll take less aura for you to animate these figures. But it seems like, as long as you make these figures, you can use your aura to make them come to life once you're done making them. Now, try giving it an order."
"Alright," Terra said, looked at the dog and said, "Sit." The dog sat down and wagged its tail.
"Good," Sirena said, turned to Saphron and asked, "Now, Saphron, can you try and recreate what you did in your dream?"
"I'm not sure," Saphron answered, "My brother isn't here any more, so I don't know how I could do that."
"It's more about the emotions than the person," Sirena said, "Focus on the emotions, and try it."
"Well, alright," Saphron said, took the golden bracelet, closed her eyes and whispered, "Keep Terra safe, keep Terra safe, keep Terra safe." She kept repeating the phrase, her aura lit up and yellow energy flowed into the bracelet. When her aura broke, she leaned back and let out an exhausted sigh.
"And, exhausting, right?" Terra asked.
"Yes," Saphron answered.
"Just as I thought," Sirena said, "You have a lot more aura than the average person."
"Wait, I do?" Saphron asked, "What does that mean?"
"It means you can do a lot of good with your semblance," Sirena answered, "If you train it properly, that is."
"So, what does my semblance do, exactly?" Saphron asked and said, "I mean, I feel like I did something, but I don't really understand what I did."
"Give the bracelet to Terra," Sirena said, "And Terra, focus on the bracelet. Remember, it holds Saphron's will to keep you safe." Saphron handed the bracelet to Terra, who closed her eyes and focused on it. Suddenly, the bracelet began glowing yellow, and yellow energy flowed into Terra, turning dark orange in the process.
"What just happened?" Terra asked.
"Saphron's semblance," Sirena answered, turned to Saphron and said, "You can store your aura in any object, basically turning it into a battery that others can use to recharge their aura if they hold the object. It's pretty inefficient right now, but the more you practice, the better you'll get at it."
"I see," Saphron said, looked at Terra and asked, "What do you say, Hun?"
"About what?" Terra asked.
"About using this to our advantage," Saphron answered, "I'll give you the bracelet, and you make little clay figures to help out here and there."
"I don't know," Terra said, "I can only make the figures so big, and they wouldn't be of much help for me. It's fun, sure, but I don't see it as much more than that."
"Well, alright," Sirena said, "It's your semblance, so how or if you use it is up to you."
"Thanks," Terra said. She suddenly got a call from work and headed out, and her halfway knee-high clay dog followed her.
~o~
As she was working at the tower, Terra kept thinking about what she could or should do with her semblance. Her dog was a great help, holding tools for her and generally being a great moral support, but using semblances was more a thing huntsmen did. Just as she got up to take a break, she heard a growl in the bushes and froze on the spot. A Beowolf walked up to her and she took a step back.
"A Grimm?" Terra thought, "What is that doing here? I thought the military kept them away." The Grimm slashed at her and sent her flying, but her aura protected her. The clay dog came running, holding a wrench in its mouth, and jumped at the Beowolf. He hit the Grimm in the head with the tool, knocking it on its back. The dog kept hitting the Beowolf with the wrench, and two soldiers came running and killed the Grimm with their rifles shortly after.
"Are you alright?" One of the soldiers asked as he helped her back up.
"Yes," Terra answered, her shock turned into anger and she asked, "Where were you?"
"We-" the soldier said, but was cut off by Terra.
"Why was this Grimm allowed to get this close to the city?" Terra asked, taking a step towards the soldiers.
"I-" the soldier said, but Terra cut him off again.
"Why did a piece of clay do a better job at protecting me than the military?" Terra asked.
"Well-" the soldier said, but was cut off again.
"You're lucky noone got hurt," Terra said, "That thing could've killed me, you know. I'll need to ask for your ID, and you can explain this to your superior." She got the badge numbers of the soldiers, issued a formal complaint to their superior immediately, and made a decision. If the military was more pomp than power, then she would protect Argus. She, and her army of clay soldiers.
~o~
Saphron came back from bringing Adrian to the daycare, and when she entered the house, she found that it was empty. She closed the door behind herself and looked around, not sure where Sirena had gone, but then the door opened. Saphron turned around and saw Sirena enter, who didn't seem surprised to see her.
"Sirena, there you are," Saphron said and asked, "Where were you?"
"Huntsman business," Sirena answered, "It took a bit longer than expected, so I thought I'd be back before you. Otherwise, I would've left a note to let you know where I was. Sorry if I worried you."
"It's fine," Saphron said, and they both sat down on the couch. A few minutes later, Saphron got a message from Terra and gasped.
"What is it?" Sirena asked.
"Terra got attacked," Saphron answered, "By a Beowolf."
"I'm sorry," Sirena said, "I went to take care of a pack close to the city, but apparently, one got away."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Saphron said, "Terra is unharmed, and just a bit shocked. But she said she changed her mind on training her semblance."
"I see," Sirena said, "That's good to know." Sirena and Saphron worked on Saphron's aura regeneration a bit until Terra came back, then Saphron recharged the bracelet and Terra began making a small army of apple-sized humanoids, which she wanted to equip with small cameras to have a surveillance system. She got better and better at making clay figures, and Sirena explained that, the more they were like what Terra had in mind, the less aura it took to make them come to life.
~o~
Arthur entered a sparely lit room, with Tyrian and Tock following him. After Arthur turned on the light, Tyrian looked at Tock, used his tail to point at the halogen lamp and nodded to Arthur, and both faunus chuckled. Arthur chose to ignore the slight jab at his supposed disability, as usual. He walked up to the console in the middle of the room, and began preparing the procedure.
"So, why're we here again?" Tock asked.
"To make you stronger," Arthur answered, "This facility can infuse your traits with dust, allowing you to generate up to two types of dust at will, and whenever you want."
"Now that sounds lovely," Tock said.
"It is," Tyrian said.
"So, what kind of dust should we go with?" Tock asked.
"I'll pick lightning and steam," Tyrian answered, "And considering the drawbacks of your semblance, I would say that you get hard-light-dust."
"That sounds like a plan," Tock said, "I'd also like some of that plant-dust I've heard so much about."
"Alright," Arthur said and asked, "Who is first?"
"That'd be me," Tock said and stepped forward.
"Good," Arthur said, "Now, please go into that glass chamber."
"This one?" Tock asked and walked over to a large cylinder.
"Yes," Arthur answered and said, "Normally you'd have to fully expose your trait to prevent cell damage, but Talia kindly fixed the issue a few years ago. It might still sting a little, though."
"Thanks for the warning, doc," Tock said and stepped into the chamber.
"Alright, here it goes," Arthur said and activated the machine. The door closed and Tock began screaming in agony. Tyrian didn't know what to do, and just watched helplessly. After a few intense seconds, the process and the screaming stopped, and the glass door opened. Tock took a wobbly step out and Arthur walked around the computer. Tyrian wanted to walk up to her, but saw something in her eyes. Tock dashed forward and slammed Arthur against the wall on the other side of the room.
"It might sting a lil?!" Tock asked, "Does this hurt a lil?!"
"I only knew what Talia said," Arthur answered, gasping for air. Tyrian walked up to Tock and put his right hand on her left shoulder. Tock looked at him, calmed down again, let go of Arthur and looked at her right hand. Arthur coughed a bit and dusted off his new clothes.
"Well, at least you did something right," Tock said to Arthur as she inspected the hard-light construct on her arm, which looked like an anthropomorphic crocodile's claw. She focused a little, creating an entire suit of fitting armor, complete with a fully mobile tail. She made the armor disappear again and made a small seedling appear in her right hand. She tossed it aside and focused on it until it grew roots into the wall and floor.
"So, Tyrian," Arthur said and asked, "Are you ready?" Tyrian looked at Tock, who gave him a small nod, then looked back at Arthur.
"Yes, I am," Tyrian answered, "And remember, lightning and steam."
"I know," Arthur said. Tyrian stepped into the chamber and Arthur started the procedure. As the machine came to life, Tyrian started screaming, but it quickly turned into maniacal cackling. Arthur looked and listened in horror, while Tock stood next to him and just sighed.
"A man who loves what he's doin' is just the best," Tock said and asked, "Don't ya agree?"
"Well, I-" Arthur said, but stopped because he didn't know how to respond at all.
"I forgot, you haven't found someone yet," Tock said, "But don't worry, one day you'll find someone who'll go out with you."
"Th- thanks, I guess," Arthur said, confused why Tock would suddenly be nice to him.
"Someone with a healthy dose of self-loathing, that is," Tock said. She laughed, but stopped when the glass chamber opened and Tyrian took a step outside.
"H- how do you feel?" Arthur asked. Tyrian swung his tail and shot a lightning at Arthur, sending him through the wall Tock had slammed him against and depleting his aura. Tyrian walked over to Tock.
"Did I miss something?" Tyrian asked.
"Our lil sciencer here thinks I've got feelings for him," Tock answered, and both faunus laughed as Arthur crawled out of the hole and dusted his clothes off.
"That's not-" Arthur said, but the two faunus were already leaving the facility and had turned off the lights.
"Move it, doc," Tyrian said, "Atlas is waiting."
"You don't want to disappoint the boss, do you?" Tock asked. Arthur turned on the flashlight of his scroll to find his things, then followed the two through the almost complete darkness.
Author's note: Tock and Tyrian know that they make the other feel good, so they have a lot of making people feel miserable to do to balance it out.
Talia lied to Ilia about having to take off her clothes, just because.
Ilia has been using Guardian's Gambit a lot, and is becoming more and more like Lux. But she's also using her own semblance a lot, which counters the effects somewhat.
But no, Sirena didn't plan to have Terra get attacked by that Beowolf.