RWBY-The Recidivist: Chapter 16 *Rewritten* (Original Version Released 23rd of January, 2014)

Reminder: DISCLAIMER/AUTHOR'S NOTES

NOTE: I am aware that the entire series is not finished yet. Due to the huge number of changes in the canon and the other project being done in Japan, this story will be an AU (Alternate Universe) that takes place between Volume 2 and 3, while adopting some actual elements from the canon.

RWBY along with its characters DOESN'T belong to me. The series respectively belongs to RoosterTeeth and its creator, Monty Oum. The plot in this Fan Fiction and some characters you'll know who are OCs (Original Characters) are original from me. If any ideas or characters sound similar to another story written by somebody else, it is purely coincidental. I refuse to blatantly steal somebody's idea and claim that it was mine. If you have any concerns, you are always welcome to message me.

If there is anybody outside of this site posting this Fan Fiction without giving proper credit or impersonating me, please let me know.

Chapter 16: Lost Soul.

Survivor's guilt.

-(Near the Royal Palace, Northern Doraegon, Drahën Empire Territory)-

(Third-Person POV)

…

"Major? Are you still mad at us for jumping off earlier…?" Wyvern asked cautiously as Yang remained dead silent.

Marina sighed and immediately replied, "I'm not mad."

"That doesn't sound convincing."

"Look, I'm not pissed off or anything. Just disappointed." She told both of them.

Wyvern bit his lip a bit and said, "Soooo…you are technically mad."

"Sir, all I just want to say is you should know better not be so careless and endanger yourself especially if it could've been easily avoidable. You know it's my job to ensure your safety as your personal pilot." Marina explained and looked back at Wyvern, looking him straight in the eye. "You wouldn't want your mom to hear about this, would you?" She asked.

Hearing that alone was enough for Wyvern to remain stiff and stay silent for a while. Until he sighed and bowed his head to her. "I apologize for endangering your job and myself. I'll be sure to not let it happen again."

Yang decided to step in to apologize too as she also encouraged him back then. "Sorry, ma'am."

"It's all good." Marina replied and turned back to focus outside the canopy. "Yang, this was just the first time Wyvern did something like this. I think he was just trying to impress you~…"

"Hold your horses! That was NOT the main reason why I did what I did!" Wyvern said defensively. "We were on limited time to find Amelie and landing at a secured airport while in a severe overcast would've taken out most of it!"

"Not the main reason?" Amelie jumped into the conversation, seated on the opposite side of Wyvern and Yang. "So, you had other intentions to why you became so reckless."

"I am just going to stay silent until this conversation stops." Wyvern declared as he was now blushing heavily.

Yang snickered as she was a little bit flattered. IF it was true that he was trying to impress her. "Okay, let the man enjoy the ride back, girls. And Amelie, Schnell might be waiting for us on landing."

Amelie nodded with a smile and looked at Marina to ask, "Hey. Major? Can you…probably slow down so I can prepare myself from an imminent crushing hug once I get there…?"

"No can do. Because we're already here." Marina chuckled as she reduced airspeed and descended the craft to the landing pad below.

Outside the main fortress were two figures standing near the landing pad, awaiting their arrival. Judging by the red cape and a tall woman with a katana, it was none other than Ruby, there to check up on Yang, and Schnell, clearly there to welcome Amelie. As soon Marina let the landing gear hit the surface of the pad, she gave a thumbs up at her passengers and opened the side door while the other three unbuckled their safety belts. Wyvern stood up and allowed Yang and Amelie to exit out first. But the short-statured faunus herself was the first to step off the craft as Schnell couldn't help her excitement and did what Amelie expected.

"AMELIE~!" Schnell squealed and dashed towards her.

"Damn it. Here we go." Amelie gulped and gave a small smile as she braced for impact.

In a split second, Schnell grabbed a hold of Amelie and lifted her up from the air to the point where Schnell used her zhulong wings to fly around, all while swinging the poor girl around, who was squealing due to the sudden gain of height. All the safety she had was holding onto Schnell, which only encouraged an even tighter squeeze from her.

"Schnell, be careful with her!" Wyvern shouted up to her. "Make sure she's not injured too because extract was pretty rough."

Upon hearing that, Schnell slowed down and descended back to solid ground and chuckled. "Eh-hehe…sorry." She apologized to both him and Amelie, clinging and shivering onto her.

"N-Nice to see you again too…" Amelie at least greeted while trying to hide her shaken state.

"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed and ran up to her sister the moment she noticed Yang had some injuries, especially on her left jaw. "What happened?! Are you okay?!"

"Relax, Ruby. I'm still standing, aren't I?" She chuckled while patting her head to ease her worries. "Plus, I gotta thank Wyvern for backing me up to make sure I didn't get worse."

Ruby looked over at Wyvern, both concerned yet relieved due to seeing him taken a beating too, but still able to walk properly. "What happened though?" She asked. "Schnell and Charlotte told us everything on how it would go down. But it looks like it wasn't easy."

Wyvern sheepishly looked away and scratched the back of his head. "Turns out the White Fang sent in one of their best agents in the field. Something Amelie used to be a part of. But her experience managed to help us bypass and get through some of them. Could've gone worse."

Yang nodded. "Two of the guys in charge of their mission almost got us. But…yeah…" She sighed and pointed her thumb at Wyvern. "He managed to hold them off a bit, which was impressive."

"Thanks, Wyvern." Ruby smiled and went up to him to give him a small hug. "Have you dealt with the White Fang before?"

"Yeah. They're more of a nuisance than an actual threat though. Especially Adam." He told her while looking around as if he was making sure Blake wasn't around to hear about her ex.

"Seems like you two have some history. But the other guy…he…I think he knows about Zhulongs existing too…" Yang added as this news made Wyvern alerted.

"What?! Are you sure?!" He asked while looking directly at her as this was a very serious situation.

"It's just his power and abilities. Almost reminded me of a zhulong's. When I was about to ask if he was one, he just denied it. He told me he wasn't a zhulong, but…"gifted"…whatever the hell that means…" Yang said.

Wyvern bit his lip and looked over at his folly home. "My parents are going to have to hear about this later. Just let them know about "him" sometime today."

"Got it." Yang nodded.

"Everyone else still in my folly?" Wyvern asked Ruby as he watched Sybille and Amelie walk towards it.

Giving a nod, Ruby also displayed a rather dry smile at him. "They are. But…errr…"

"What's up?" Wyvern asked curiously as he easily noticed this along with Yang.

"I don't think you should go inside there just yet…"

"Why not…?"

(Meanwhile Inside of Wyvern's Folly)

"You're seriously showing my baby pictures to everybody…" Wyvern groaned as his face turned red hot from embarrassment.

"Hey. We warned you it was going to happen, didn't we~?" Schnell smirked as she patted his shoulder.

"True. But I didn't expect you to show EVERY single detailed photo of me from birth to my first-time bathing!"

Charlotte giggled and waved her hand. "That's because it was my suggestion."

"Mom, I swear to God…"

Nora scooted over to Wyvern and nudged his side. "Look on the bright side. There are so many cute ones more than there are embarrassing ones~!"

"Nora, it may not look embarrassing to you. But it is most definitely to me." He sighed and looked away as the rest of Team RWBY and JNPR continued to look at the photo album with Xavior turning each of the pages. "Alright, dad. Listen up. Just that photo album and no more baby pictures."

Xavior nodded and formed a mischievous smirk. "Good idea. I still have some home videos of you when you were a little-"

"Dad. I love you. But if you do that, I am not afraid to kick your ass. Wyvern glared while folding his arms uncomfortably.

With that, Xavior laughed and shut the album as he set it aside on the nightstand near the couch. "Okay, I'm sorry~!" He said and looked over at the kitchen with the smell of another course of food being prepped with the white bean stew from earlier, made by Sybille. "Oh! I smell some soy sauce seared Drahënese Redfins!"

Blake perked up immediately upon hearing AND smelling the food. Especially since it had fish involved in the dish. "Redfins?! You're cooking those too?!" She asked, oozing with excitement. And drool…

Jaune tilted his head as he was more excited to try Sybille's food than what kind of fish it was. "Redfins? What's so special about them?"

"They're basically the most expensive and exquisite tasting fish, native to Doraegon. If you try to purchase it from outside the Drahën Empire, expect the price to be inflated due to its rarity and such." Gyo explained as he glanced over to Weiss and asked, "Is it true Atlas tends to…inflate the price dramatically than all of the other kingdoms?"

Weiss sighed and nodded. "Dramatically is an understatement. I've seen a fine dining restaurant sell a one-pound piece of Redfin for 700 Liens. 1500 Xens, in your currency."

Nora whistled. "Holy hell. That is criminally expensive. You can feed a whole family for one week with that much!"

Wyvern pointed at Yang and Amelie. "Or these two in three days…"

"Shut up!" They both said in sync.

"Well, how about we tone down and start chowing down, shall we?" Xavior said energetically as he was clearly a massive fan of Redfins.

As for Blake, she immediately dashed over to the kitchen before Jaune could first. Everyone else later began to follow as Weiss was the last one to follow with Wyvern in front of her. Then, she accidentally hit the small table holding the photo album, knocking it down to the floor with a page open. Wyvern noticed this and went over to try and pick it up, but Weiss grabbed it first and lifted it from the ground with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry." She apologized.

"It's okay. Are you all good though? That sounded like a hard hit on your foot." Wyvern asked.

"Nothing I can't handle." Weiss said as she took a small glance down at the photo album but took another look at it once she caught a photo near the end of a page.

It was a much younger Wyvern where he was around the age of five or six. He smiled widely while taking a pose next to a little girl around his age next to him. This little girl was clearly dressed like she was in the nobility sections of the Empire. Dark gray wavy hair, green eyes, fair skin that was somewhat darkened from a tan, and wearing an arm cast that was written with marker from Wyvern, who was holding it with his other hand.

Curious, Wyvern peeked over to see which page Weiss was on that kept her locked on for a bit. But remained stiff the moment he realized there was a picture of a girl he recognized and was clearly uncomfortable having been seen.

"Wyvern?" Weiss looked up at him and pointed at the photo, clearly noticing Wyvern's body language. "Who is this?"

Wyvern remained silent for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. "A friend of mine. Sadly, she's not with me anymore."

"She moved away that prevented you from seeing her?"

"She's dead." He dropped the bomb that was able to make Weiss shocked. "Murdered, to be clear."

"Hold on. If you really don't want to talk about her, maybe I should've not got deeper into this. Sorry." Weiss said as she didn't mean to force Wyvern to talk about this dead friend of his even further, thinking this will mentally cause some harm to him over his loss. She pushed the album to him quickly.

He jolted upon seeing her backtrack like this and chuckled to lighten the mood. "Hey, don't worry about it! It's all good." Wyvern assured while taking the album and looking down at the same photo. "To be honest, I thought you guys would've known about her anyway when my mom and Schnell were gonna show you guys my baby pictures."

Weiss glanced down and back at him and shook her head. "Actually, we didn't really get that far into the photo book. Your mom and dad mostly showed the pictures when you were still a baby. Not reaching to the ones where you were already a toddler." She told him.

"Well, guess there's no reason to leave you hanging." Wyvern shrugged and took the photo of him and the girl out. "Her name is Nayeli. Known her since she and I were still four years old." He said while leading her outside to the front of his home where he could properly explain with less commotion going on inside.

Weiss followed closely as she shut the door and saw him lean against the railing, facing the cliffside. "If you're really comfortable sharing, what happened?"

"I don't know all the details. But I got the news on my 7th birthday where she was supposed to come over while my parents would arrive late due to their work on the empire." Wyvern explained. "And if you're wondering: Yes. I was more than capable staying on my own without supervision all thanks to Ostanes."

"That sounds horrible…" Weiss frowned. "Especially with that sort of timing."

"My Master was the one who arrived in time to see it was the man I've been chasing this whole time. Ammit." He told her while letting out a huff to show his frustrations about that man.

"Why would he kill a child?!" She asked while clearly disturbed on thinking about Ammit doing such a thing. "It doesn't make any damn sense to go after someone who isn't involved in anything!"

"Ammit is the kind of animal that doesn't care, as long as they're important to the Empire. And me, personally." He told her while hiding the pained expression. "I've lost quite a few good friends because of him. And I think he does it for his enjoyment for my suffering while accomplishing something from it politically."

Clearly this angered Weiss towards Ammit, as she could sense Wyvern getting hurt explaining it to her. Growing up in a high position status as a Schnee, she could relate to the pressure of getting enemies that are willing to do the worst for their own gain. But Wyvern describing Ammit willing to kill a child seemed like it was purely out of spite.

She let out a long sigh. "That bastard is willing to go that far?! ON A CHILD?!" She exclaimed.

"Weiss." Wyvern hushed as he reminded her they were only outside the building, and some guardsmen were probably patrolling around the palace gardens.

"I'm…sorry." Weiss forced herself to relax and leaned against the railing with him. "My family has dealt with horrible stuff against us in our history. But nothing as cruel as what Ammit is doing to you."

"I had no choice but to numb myself about it. What was a child like me back then supposed to do?" He shrugged while averting his gaze away briefly.

"Still. No child deserves to suffer from that many losses."

"Just know that Ostanes along with the Empire's military and law enforcement are doing their best to track down and prevent stuff like this happening anymore." Wyvern said as a way to try and ensure everything was better. "And I'm not a little kid this time. If he tries to strike, I'll fight back to protect the ones I care about. If I fail, I can take it."

She frowned as she knew deep down he was only saying that to act optimistic for her not to worry. "Gyo, Schnell, Sybille, and the others seem capable anyway. So, I think they will be fine." She added to make him and herself feel better.

"Indeed. Remember what you said back then when we were still…starting off bumpy?" Wyvern asked as he let out a clearly fake chuckle, hiding his uncomfortableness.

Weiss sheepishly glanced away. "Like I said, I'm sorry."

"No, no. Not that. I'm sorry too." He told her. "All this time, my biggest fear was leaving behind those I care about. When I had to leave Doraegon and attend Beacon without the company of my friends here, I was terrified of what would happen. What if they suffered the same fate as Nayeli and I was unable to intervene?"

She leaned against the railing and sighed as if she could somewhat relate to that with her sister, Winter. "Well, now that they're older, I'm sure you can trust them on handling things themselves. I mean, you've seen them fight against all that Grimm when we crashed."

"Ammit is a different breed when it comes to savagery and danger." He told her while shrugging his shoulders. "Yes, my friends can handle the most dangerous Grimm. But against him? I don't know. And I would rather face him than let them do it themselves."

"Listen." Weiss inhaled deeply and huffed. "About what I said back in the cafeteria when we first met. Yes, I know we moved on from that. But after hearing about all of this, I wanted to apologize properly because…it seemed like you deserved one from that specific attack I shouted at you. And…I'm sorry. Terribly sorry."

Wyvern smiled warmly and chuckled. "Well, you already know my answer on forgiving you. But I'll leave you with this: I am NOT going to leave you and the others behind. Even if it'll endanger my life."

"You can't do that though. You're going to be the Prince of the Drahën Empire one day!"

"Does a title of someone really matter when that someone is willing to protect those he/she cares about, even if he/she were supposed to be protected?" Wyvern shook his head. "I know I won't be able to save everyone. But I would rather try than sitting on my ass all day doing nothing. Even if I wasn't a Prince, I would still be willing to protect those in need as both my duty as a Huntsman, and for the preservation of humanity."

"You sound like an old friend of mine before he…passed." Weiss frowned briefly but smiled at him. "Seriously. It seems like the more I learn about you, the more I start to respect you. Putting aside our differences."

"There are no boundaries on making friends. Just obstacles. And both of us seemed to have passed over it." He said and moved his hand to shake hers.

Weiss complied and shook his hand. "Just don't be so reckless from now on. I've lost others and him because of that flaw."

"No promises." He grinned dryly.

"This is for your own safety. Mainly from your mom, and Yang."

"I understand my mom. But why Yang exactly?"

She rolled her eyes and chortled. "Never mind. But, enough about that. We should head inside to eat with the others. You must be starv-"

*Growl~…*

Weiss' body betrayed her by her stomach growling to show she was much hungrier than Wyvern, after trying to push that he was the one in need of food. Upon hearing this, Wyvern snickered while looking away while Weiss retaliated from that reaction by nudging his side, blushing heavily. He took it but got off the railing to head towards the front door as if he was about to head inside. Weiss sighed and sheepishly avoided eye contact while following him.

"If it makes you feel better, I am pretty hungry because I didn't eat a lot in the city compared to Yang and Amelie." Wyvern told her while opening the door.

"Yeah, okay. Let's just forget that happened, okay?" She groaned.

"And Weiss?" Wyvern glanced back at her with a smile. "Thank you."

Pretty short chapter. I know. (If you consider 3,500 words short like me…haha!)

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