Legends and Tragedies
AN: On to the next chapter in our hero's quest, I appreciate what you all said on the last one.
Lets get one thing clear about this next one… a LOT of stuff happens in this chapter. I hope you'll all find it enlightening and exciting.
ENJOY!
(The night of the Rohirrim Raid on Uruk Hai.)
Weiss and Blake were running as fast as they could, they could hear the battle still go on behind them as they were running into the forest. They kept running until they couldn't hear it anymore.
They continued to run until the sound was dim enough for them to feel comfortable. Weiss and Blake were both panting, trying to catch their breath. Blake looked around, "I think we lost them."
Weiss used both her hands to put her hair behind her face so that she could see. Now that her hairclip was gone, her hair was free and started to get in her face.
They then heard a loud rush though a bush and saw an Orc crawl though; he looked around until he locked eyes with the girls. He was the same Orc that wanted to eat them in the camp. He grit his teeth as he stared them down and started to run at them, "I'M GOING TO SKINN YOU ALIVE AND EAT YOUR INNERTS!"
Weiss and Blake ran right then, moving as fast as they could through the heavy wood. In the forest, no weapons, too exhausted to fight, all they could do was run or climb up a tree. Blake saw one that was wide enough for them to climb, "This one, climb!"
Weiss started climbing, Blake helped by giving Weiss a leg up. After that she looked to see if the Orc was still after them, but he was gone. "Where did he…?"
Blake then felt someone pull at her hair and pull her into the ground hard. Blake rolled over to see him bear his teeth at her. She kicked him several times in the chest and face, but her kicks were so light due to exhaustion, all they did was piss him off.
Weiss looked down in fear, "BLAKE!" Weiss then heard a groan, almost like it was a person's voice. She turned to face the tree and saw two yellow eyes open up from the bark. The eyes turned until they were staring at her in the eye.
Weiss exclaimed and leaned away until she lost her grip and started to fall, but then a large branch from the tree came down and caught her.
Down below, the Orc drew his knife and licked his fangs at Blake, "When I'm done, there won't be enough for soup…" Meanwhile behind him, half the tree's trunk came up and over the Orc's head. The Orc heard the sounds and looked up to see a pile of dirt and a tree stump over his head. It came down faster than he could react as it crushed his whole upper body like an insect.
"RUN, BLAKE!" Weiss shouted from the grip of the tree's hand.
Blake stood back up and ran as fast as her feet could carry her until she felt a large branch wrap around her waste and pull her off the ground fast.
The tree lifted them both up and faced them towards its face. It looked at them repeatedly and growled, "Little Orcs, bru-ra-hroom…"
Weiss' eyes went wide and her jaw dropped fast, "Blake… the t-tree is t-t-talking… Why is a tree talking?!"
"Tree? I am no tree. I am an Ent." The beast said as it walked with them through the forest.
Blake's eyes widened in joy, "The guardians of the forest! You are real!"
"Don't talk to it Blake, it's unnatural!" Weiss said in fear.
Blake looked to Weiss with a bit of an annoyed look, "After EVERYTHING we've been though so far, you still think there are thing's that can be considered 'unnatural'?"
"It's one thing when it's Grimm or new forms of Aura, but this is just too much!" Weiss says as she tries to pull the Ent's grip off her waste to no avail.
"Treebeard, some call me," the Ent said as he continued to hold them in his hands. He was walking on a steady pace though the forest, which was surprisingly far for how slow he walked.
"I'm Blake Belladonna, and she is Weiss Schnee." Blake said, hoping an introduction would ease the tension; but Treebeard didn't care for their names, only for what they were doing in his part of the forest.
Weiss then felt nervous, she knew someone had to ask, so she did, "So, whose side are you on?"
"Side?" Treebeard repeated, "I am on nobody's side… because nobody is on my side, little Orc." He then gestured them towards the forest, "Nobody cares for the woods anymore."
"We aren't Orcs, protector." Blake said with as much respect as she could say, "She's a human and I'm a Faunus." Blake then pulled off her bow to reveal her ears.
Treebeard stopped walking, "I know about your peoples… I know what you people do… you are no different than Orcs. Always coming with fire, with axes, with metal; always breaking, hacking and burning. DESTROYERS AND USURPERS! Curse them!" Treebeard began to grip tighter on the girls, but stopped when it was proving to be too much for them to handle.
"Humanity hasn't cut down forests in decades!" Weiss tried to point out, she knew of some businesses that were in the lumberjack practice, "And even if they cut woods, we don't cut any more than we need."
"Orcs don't care, they are the ones who keep chopping down forests, not us!" Blake adds on.
Treebeard understood their points so he loosened his grip on them, "Maybe you are… and maybe you aren't." Treebeard continued to walk in the same direction he had been going before. "The Lady of Spring would know…"
Weiss and Blake looked to each other, "You think he could be talking about a maiden?" Weiss asked.
Blake then felt worried, "Or he could be talking about a Nazgul…"
Treebeard stopped on a grass hill and dropped the girls before two shadowy figures, one looked to be a man in white hair, while the other appeared to be a woman.
Meanwhile in the northern coast of Mistral, Gollum fulfilled his word in leading Ruby and Yang though the mountain pass and near the costal city that could provide them with the boat to get to Draco and Mordor.
"See? See? We've leaded you out!" Gollum motioned for them to follow him to see the city beyond the mountain pass. "Very lucky we find you."
As Ruby passed him, Yang walked up to Gollum with a serious glare, Gollum smiled, "Nice Huntress." And then followed behind Ruby.
There they made their way into town, buying a boat. They had to cover Gollum in a coat and say he was nocturnal Faunus that hated sunlight. There weren't many people in the village to care, so getting though and buying a boat was easy.
They sailed for less than a day before they reached the coast of Draco, once there, Gollum had them follow him northeast, close to the coast, staying away form the main road that Orcs and Grimm often patrol.
Yang was trying to follow Gollum she stepped into a bog, "Ah, we're in a swamp?"
Gollum stopped and turned to the girls, "Swamp, yes, yes." He then motioned for Ruby to continue, "Come, mistress. We will take you on safe paths though the mist."
They continued down the path he was taking, though the mist and though the terrible smell of the swamp. "I found a way though the marshes, I did. Orcs don't use it, orcs don't know it. They go around for miles and miles."
Ruby could see the benefit of this rout, if the Orc's don't patrol this area, why would the Grimm. Yang still didn't like it any better though, as she felt the swamp water soak the inside of her left boot.
They continued down this path for almost a full day, they took breaks when their feet got tired and then continued on when they were ready. Yang looked around and noticed something, "This place is weird. I haven't heard a bird, frog or crickets for hours… This place is dead."
Gollum groaned in agreement, "No, no birdses to eat. No crunchable birdses."
Ruby took out the enchanted bread and ate a few bites; she then broke off a piece and gave it to Gollum, "Try this."
Gollum walked over to it and took a bite, and than spat it out dramatically, "We can't eat human food!"
Yang snapped back at him, "Then starve, unless you can find a fish in the swamp."
Gollum squinted his eyes at Yang, "Nasty lady don't care if we die… she hates us!" he then turned to Ruby with a slight smile, "But mistress cares about us. She knows."
Ruby noticed how much closer he was getting so she slapped his hand, "Don't get too close!" Gollum backed off.
The trio continued their journey thought he swamplands as they were walking; Yang noticed fire coming out of methane pockets in the water. She then noticed faces in the water, thousands of them. This started to scare her.
"Why are there dead faces in the water?"
"All dead. All rotten." Gollum said with a very angry tone, "Humans, Faunus, Orcses… A great battle, long ago." Gollum then stopped to look at the girls, "The Dead Marshes. Yes, yes, that is what they call them. Don't follow the lights"
They continued to follow Gollum though the swamp, trying not to take the wrong step into the water. "Careful now, or huntresses go down to join the dead ones, and light little candles of their own."
Ruby looked at one of the faces and saw a girl; she had black hair and wore a white cape and hood. Ruby walked towards it and stood at the edge of the path, staring at it. "No way… it can't be…"
Yang looked back to see Ruby beginning to lean over the side, "RUBY!"
Ruby could get a good look at the woman's face, what she feared proved to be wrong, it wasn't her mother. But then she saw the corpses' eyes open, and she fell in, as if her body went limp.
Going in head first, Ruby could barely see anything beneath the swamp water. But then she saw multiple ghostly figures move towards her. One of them reached for her and almost grabbed her had it not been for two hands pulling her out of the water and onto the dirt path.
Ruby looked up to see Gollum panting hard from pulling her out, "Gollum?"
Gollum looked at her with an angry glare, "Don't follow the lights."
Yang quickly ran over to Ruby and helped her to stand, "Are you ok? What happened?!"
Ruby was still trying to get over the shock of it all, but she started to speak, "I thought I saw Mom…"
"What?" Yang asked.
"I thought I saw her… But I was wrong, and they pulled me under." Ruby said as she hugged on Yang, they held each other tightly.
They left the Death Marshes that night, and they were getting closer to the mountain boarders of Mordor.
As they were resting for the night, Ruby looked at the ring. It still had no effect on her at all; she felt no reaction to it like Gollum did when he saw it on her neck.
She then heard Gollum talking not far from her; she tucked it back under her shirt and looked up to see him squatting over a moss pile. "So bright, so clean, our precious…"
"Who are you talking to?" Ruby asked.
"Mistress should be resting, mistress needs to keep up her strength." Gollum says with a smart tone.
Ruby stood up from her sleeping bag and walked over to him, "Who are you?"
"As only what is your business, nothing else," He said as he began to cough, "Gollum, Gollum."
"Lady Maleficent told me you used to be a normal Faunus once." Ruby said as she walked closer to him, but he turned his head and started to speak the lyrics to some kind of song. "She said your life was a sad tale, one of tragedy." Gollum continued to 'sing' away her words and turn away, "You were a good person once, weren't you, Smeagol?"
Gollum stopped completely when he heard that name, he turned his gaze towards Ruby, "What did you call me?"
"That's who you used to be…" Ruby said with a serious glare, "It was your name once, wasn't it? Before you were corrupted."
"My name… My name, S-Smeagol." He started to smile as if he had been given the best thing in the world. Which probably was true.
SCREEEECH
Gollum looked at the sky as he covered his ears and squealed in pain. The loud screech woke up Yang out of bed, and Ruby looked up to see what was causing the loud noise.
"Nazgul!" Yang said as she stood up from her bag.
"HIDE! HIDE!" Gollum said as he ran towards a big bush nearby. The two girls followed with their bags and equipment so as to hide from whichever black rider came for them.
Overhead was Zyra, the Spring Harpy. She flew over the marshes and had a small wing of Nevermores as company.
"I thought they were dead?" Yang asked with anger in her tone.
"Dead? No, no, you cannot kill them." Gollum said with a very serious tone, "They are Undead!"
Zyra continued to fly overhead for a while, following some kind of searching pattern. But after a while of finding nothing, she and her wing of Grimm flew off down south.
Gollum poked his head out of the bush first and looked out at the fleeing Grimm, "Come now, Huntresses, the Black Gate is close."
JNPR and SSSN walked into the forest with caution. Prior to entering, Sun reminded them that during the night raid that some of the Uruks ran into the forest to hide, so there could be some waiting to ambush them.
Everyone paired of in twos, Jaune with Nora, Ren with Pyrrha, Neptune and Sage, Sun and Scarlett. They tried to spread out wide, keeping each other safe and in sight.
As they were walking though slowly, they followed several trails of footprints. Pyrrha came across a small splatter of black liquid on a tree bark. She touched it and felt how thick it was, "Grimm tar…" She wiped her hand on the bark and turned to Ren, signaling him to be ready.
They had their weapons at the ready, but they didn't know what was lurking in the branches above them. Just then a loud explosion happened between them, sending them both in opposite directions. They both quickly got up with the ring of the explosion in their ears.
Ren looked up to see it was an Uruk Hai warlock in the trees, using a fire Dust staff on them. He fired several more shots at them. Ren moved quickly out of the way as the fire blasted near his feet. Pyrrha moved, but was stopped when her eyes caught the flames in front of her.
She froze, her body unable to move as the flames surrounded her and engulf the trees above her. A burning branch was about to fall on her and almost landed on her, but Ren quickly saved her when he tackled her away. Ren got off her, "Are you ok?" Pyrrha nodded, snapping out of the shock.
Damn it, this can't be happening now, she thought as she tried to get back into the fight.
With the sounds of the fight happening, Sun and Scarlett showed up to help their friends with their pyro problem. The Warlock fired several shots from his vantage point, but Sun and Ren proved to be too quick for him to hit his target. Just then the Warlock felt something pull on his foot and pull him down from the tree. He looked down to see a grappling hook wrapped around his boot and being pulled on by Scarlett.
Scarlett pulled hard on the rope, but then he felt a dark presence behind him and drew his sword to block a large sword from hitting him from behind. It appeared to be a Marauder Uruk, who tried to get him from behind.
The Marauder drew back his sword and tried to axe down on Scarlett again but this time his blade was blocked by Pyrrha's shield. She quickly slashed the sword off her shield and then reverse gripped her sword to slash across the Uruk's neck, cutting its head off.
Meanwhile up above, Ren and Sun reached the Warlock, fighting with more melee combat, and quickly knocked it off the tree and down to the ground. As it tried to get back up it found itself on the receiving end of a gun, Pyrrha shot several times in it's face, then in it's chest until it disintegrated.
Ren, Sun and Scarlett all had the same thought, "I'll never get her pissed off…"
Jaune and Neptune's group ran to the others after hearing the gunfire. "Everyone ok?" Jaune asked as he saw the remains of the Uruks.
"Damn rats surprised us. We're ok." Sun said with a bit of a nervous grin.
As everyone was gathered there and reloading, Ren felt something coming, something powerful. "Jaune…" he said as he walked towards Jaune slowly.
As he got closer he whispered, "I think there's a Nazgul out there…" his whisper was loud enough for most of the group to hear him, but not too loud.
Everyone gripped their weapons tightly, Jaune then whispered to them all, "We have to be quick, or they'll use their dark magic on us."
Once they all knew the being was close enough, Jaune motioned first to give everyone the signal to attack. Everyone fired their weapons and ended up hitting a green barrier in front of them.
Before anyone had a chance to make an advance, the trees growled loudly and scared everyone into standing down. "They let you live to kill those Uruks, best not push it with more fighting here." Just then tree branches and vines came down and grabbed some of the people's weapons. One grabbed Sun's tail and picked him up off the ground.
Everyone looked up to see a woman walk over grass hill and stand over the group; she had short brown hair, light blue eyes, dressed like a bandit and appeared to have small vines wrapped around her right arm like a sleeve. "Lower your weapons, before they get too angry."
Everyone started to resist from the vines but then they heard groans sound angrier. Jaune looked to everyone and how they were being pinned by the trees. Jaune motioned for everyone to back down, "Stand down, everyone!" Jaune sees that Nora refused to lower her weapon, "Nora, lower your hammer, now…"
Nora didn't want to at first, but she slowly loosened her grip and its head fell to the ground. The groans from the trees started to die down as everyone else lowered their weapons. The trees released the group, even letting Sun down and letting go of his tail. Pyrrha spoke up to the woman, "Who are you?"
"I am Vernal, the Spring Maiden." She then looks to Jaune, "Star Knight of Vale, nice to finally meet the you."
Jaune nodded, "Likewise."
Vernal then stood with her hands behind her back, "I have someone here who wants to see you." She turns to look behind her and allow a man to walk up the hill. He appeared to be limping up the hill, heavily walking with a cane.
Once he reached the top of the hill, everyone's eyes went wide and their jaws dropped as they saw the Headmaster of Beacon emerge from behind the Spring Maiden.
Jaune walked forward, almost disbelieving his eyes, "Ozpin? You're… alive."
"More or less." Ozpin said as he leaned on his cane to walk up the hill. He smiled at his former students with pride over how far they've come.
"But you fell?" Nora asked in confusion, "Khazâd-Dûm is at least 1,000 meters deep, if not deeper!"
"I did fall," Ozpin replied with reassuring tone, "Though fire, and steam."
(Ozpin narrating his flashback)
"From the deepest chasm to the highest peak, I fought the last Balrog of Morgoth."
Ozpin is showing fighting the Balrog he faced in the mountain. His face was green with red eyes as he used his full power against the beast. The creature made green fire weapons like before, and used them against Ozpin.
It made a sword and swung at Ozpin as he jumped up high and used his green barrier to block the blade. He then held his cane in the air as lighting struck the shaft of the cane. There he levitated quickly towards the Balrog's chest, stabbing it several times with the tip of the cane.
Several spots of light formed on the beast's body as Ozpin made his way up from its chest to his head. Once he reached the head he shouted as he stabbed the cane right in between the beast's eyes, pushing the cane deep into its skull and releasing the lighting he gathered. The lighting that was placed all over its chest and head all ignited simultaneously, blowing up its chest and head into oblivion.
The lower half of the body went limp and the flames went out instantly after its head exploded. It fell from the top of the mountain it was standing on and tumbled over the side, creating an avalanche until the body was completely disintegrated.
"After two days of fighting, I finished off my enemy and left his remains fade away on the mountainside."
Ozpin is then seen falling from his high altitude, he tried to land at the roots of the mountain, but ended up landing halfway down. He landed right where the snow ended and the grass began on the mountain, but he had no strength to reach the green.
"I felt my body freeze in the snow, my mind began to drift. Until I was found by two unexpected saviors."
Radagast the Brown arrived and formed a barrier around Ozpin's body, using his Diamond Dust to warm him up. Vernal reached Ozpin and used her Maiden abilities of 'life' to restore his body as best she could from frostbite and hypothermia.
Radagast looked at his old friend with worry, as Vernal focused heavily on his chest, "I'm not sure if this will be enough to save him…"
"Fear not, m'lady. If he were human, he'd already be dead…" Radagast said with a calm and confident tone.
Ozpin looks at his students with a smile, "I'm back, because my mission has yet to be fulfilled."
Out of everyone in the group, Pyrrha remained to be skeptical. "Despite all he went though, no human could have survived something like that… And if he's not human, then what the hell is he?"
Ozpin then motioned for everyone to follow him, "Come, we have work to do." He started to walk towards the edge of the forest. "The first part of your mission is over, now on to the next. We need to go to the capital of Mistral."
"Mistral?!" Pyrrha asked in confusion, "That's two days drive from here, three if we run into Grimm on the main road."
Jaune walked up behind Ozpin and informed him of what he knows, "Mistral is falling apart, first with their king getting brainwashed, the prince on his death bead, and now with Eomer exiled."
Ozpin stopped when he heard about Theodred, he looked to Pyrrha with an apologetic glare, "My condolences." Pyrrha nodded a 'thank you' and then they continued through the forest.
Sun looked to Ozpin, then in the direction they were heading to find their friends, "But what about Weiss and Blake?!"
"So we came all this way for nothing?" Neptune spat with frustration, "We're leaving them in this terrible, horrid, dark, scum-infested…" Neptune stopped talking when he heard the trees start groaning angrily.
Vernal smirked at him, "They have ears, and they can understand you two, so watch what you say, tough guy."
"I mean, CHARMING! Quite beautiful, forest…" Neptune said in an apologetic tone while raising his hands. The groan of the trees died down after that.
"It wasn't just luck that brought Weiss and Blake here." Ozpin says with a confident tone. "The power of this forest, and many like it, has been resting for nearly a century. The arrival of Weiss and Blake will be like the falling of small stones that start an avalanche.
Nora then whispers to Ren, "Is it just me or does he sound more like a fortune cookie?"
"As if he never sounded like that before?" Ren whispered back with a wink.
"Something is about to happen, that hasn't happened since the last Great War… The Ents are going to march." Ozpin says with a bit of awe in his tone.
"March?!" Neptune said with a bit of fear in his voice, "Well, hopefully they're on our side…"
"Of course they would be on our side…" Vernal said as she walked past him, "Unless you did something to upset a tree lately."
Once they reach the edge of the forest, Vernal walked up to Ozpin, "Well, I did my part. Now if you don't mind, I have a meeting to arrange in the forest."
"What meeting?" Jaune asked in confusion.
"It's called the Ent Moot. One of the few jobs that is required of me, and one that I don't intend to miss!" Vernal said as she started to run back into the forest as fast as she could. She looked rather excited to go to this meeting, for whatever reason.
Everyone else walked back to the trucks that were parked outside the trucks and drove off towards the capital to the next phase of their mission.
Meanwhile, deep in the heart of Fangorn, Treebeard walked though the forest with Blake and Weiss sitting on his shoulders.
Treebeard walked slowly, not too fast for them to lose their balance, and not too slow to seem like they were traveling forever. Blake was very welcoming to seeing the world Treebeard walked them though. She saw some of the trees stare back at them as they walked past them.
All her years in the wild, never has she ever found a forest full of Ents. She grew up on stories on the Ents and how they aided the Four Kingdoms against Mordor. Blake then looked up at Weiss, who was on a higher stage of Treebeard's shoulder branches, struggling to bind her hair up back in a side ponytail again.
Problem was, without her crown comb, her hair wouldn't stay in place. She then gave up with frustration as she groaned and let go of her hair. She then looked down at Treebeard, "How much further?"
"Bru-ra-hroom. Don't be hasty, little huntress." Treebeard said with a serious tone, "You might call it far, perhaps. My home lies deep in the forest here, near the roots of the mountains. I promised Lady Spring and Lord Greyhame I'd keep you safe, and safe is where I'll keep you."
Treebeard then began to sing his own little song, he breathed heavily as he sang. After a while of singing, he saw that Blake and Weiss were fast asleep, finally getting some long awaited rest from all the 'excitement' from before. Once night fell, Treebeard set the girls down on a grass hill and walked off. "Sleep well, little Huntresses. I have business in the forest that requires my own attention."
He breathed heavily as he walked off, "I have folk to call, and many who need to listen. When the Ent Moot starts, all must hear our words. For a shadow lies on Fangorn."
Meanwhile in Mordor, Salem had another one of her meetings with her generals. Rourke Jadis were there in person, while Saruman, Radcliffe and the new leader of the White Fang, Umber Kahn, were talking though the mercury pool.
Umber was the first to speak in the meeting. He bowed down to his knees at Salem, "My Goddess… it an honor to finally speak with you. My only regret is that it isn't face to face." Umber Kahn was a jaguar Faunus; he had a tail that was black with grey stripes running down to the tip.
Rourke rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, "Stop being a kiss-ass already and give us an update."
Umber lifted his head slightly, feeling peeved by such remarks. But he calmed down and faced his goddess with a smirk; "I am pleased to inform you that the White Fang has gained strength in numbers lately. A lot more anti-human gangs have joined our cause. Our numbers have reached almost 10,000 in the last month, and continues to rise."
Jadis felt it was best to bring up something that Umber was clearly glossing over; "Lets not forget about another development… Your sister, Sienna, escaped."
Umber's frustration with the Nazgul began to be more noticeable, but he continued to speak to Salem with the upmost respect, "Yes, she did escape…" He then looked at Salem with a devious grin, "And with her cowardice, she has proven to be just as a useless leader of the White Fang as Belladonna. With that, my position as the leader of the White Fang only has gotten stronger."
Salem was impressed; she smiled at her acolyte, "Well done. And how are your troops fairing with the Grimm?"
"It has taken time, but we have been using Grimm control bands to their greatest potential." Umber said as he held up his own, "Soon enough we will have enough troops to hit a kingdom."
Salem nodded, and then waved her hand for Umber to stand, "Rise, my friend." She then walked towards Rourke, "Report?"
Rourke stood up tall, "The war in the Kingdom of Atlas has escalated. The outer cities have been over run or fallen back inland." Rourke started to smirk, "It's likely that the reason we've gained so much ground is because of Atlas' overreliance in their technology. Most of their droids and robots have proven to be minor obstacles against our War Beasts."
"I guess Hades had some good ideas that still work." Jadis said with a bit of a chuckle. Rourke and Radcliffe laughed with her; despite being the one who reanimated them, they never liked him.
Salem was pleased to hear of the reports in Atlas, now she looked to Jadis to hear about Vale, "What news from our theater in Vale."
Jadis' smile dimmed, "Vale is under siege on all points of the compass. Grimm are in no short supply, but if you want me to take the kingdom, we'll need to put more force against it. Orcs, Uruks, or even Fang."
Salem nodded in understanding, "All in due time, my friend. But for now, just have the Grimm force the kingdom to hide behind their barriers. If they are more focused on protecting their own people…"
"They wouldn't be able to help others, brilliant." Jadis said with smile.
Salem then looked to Radcliffe, "Anything I need to know in Vacuo?"
Radcliffe smiled, "I am pleased to inform you that my old mine-fortress of Carn Dûm is back to full functionality. I will have the first shipments of Dust sent to Mordor and Haven within the fortnight." Radcliffe's smile dimmed as he continued, "I have run into other complications though. A small band of freelance Huntsmen have been picking away at my forces."
Rourke raised an eyebrow, "Need any help?"
Radcliffe turned and gave Rourke a reassuring look, "No, brother. What they are doing is minor for what I have planned." He then looks to Salem; "There is nothing that they can do to stop what I have in store for Vacuo and Shade Academy. And soon enough, your grace, the Relic of Destruction will be in your posseion."
"Same for Creation, when I'm done with Atlas." Rourke stated.
Salem's smile grew more and more as the news fill the air, she then walked to the last member of her little dark circle and asked him, "What news do you have to give?"
Saruman stood tall and proud, "I am overjoyed to say that troop production is going ahead of schedule. We have already bred and armed 15 full battalions," Saruman couldn't help but shear his excitement over the success of his experiment and how it will easily bring him high praise from her grace, "Say the word and I can have 6 of them sent to you in a few days."
Salem was happy to hear of such information; she nodded to Saruman to send the troops. Atlas is under siege, Mistral will soon fall, Vale is too occupied to help anyone and Vacuo is practically in her pocket already. "This war will prove to be a lot shorter than the last one. And when it's over, the true masters of this world will rise." Salem then turned to face the window that looked on to the growing army outside her castle, "Enjoy the time you have, sister…" She thought with a serious glare, "Soon enough I will lay burn your 'golden city' to the ground and show you what happens to those who cross me."
Back with JNPR and SSSN, they set up a camp near the main road. There everyone gathered around a campfire and cooked a meal. Pyrrha saw how everyone acted around Ozpin, and she grew tired of everyone avoiding the most obvious question.
She stood up and looked at Ozpin with a very serious and annoyed glare, "No one else is going to ask, so I will. What the hell are you?"
Jaune looked at Pyrrha wish shock, "Pyrrha?!"
She looked to Jaune, "You know I'm right to ask, Jaune. Nobody could survive an experience like that, let alone come out without scars or loss of a limb." She then looks at Ozpin, who appeared to understand her frustration, "Well?"
Ozpin waved his hand for her to sit down, "Please, Ms. Nikos, sit and eat. I will explain."
Pyrrha was a bit shocked he was so willing to answer her, she almost expected a bit of resistance. She started walking back to Jaune and sitting next to him by the fire, "No more lies, half truths, or secrets. We've come this far and suffered enough."
"Indeed, you all have." Ozpin said as he stood up from his seat and walked out in front of everyone. He stood before them and looked down at the fire as he spoke. "By now, you all have been to Amazonia?"
Jaune looked to Sun and Neptune and saw them nod, "Yeah. We went there a few weeks ago under orders from Eomer. We met the queen." Neptune said with slight awe in his tone.
"Crazy to learn that my people have an actual queen," Sun said with a bit of excitement in his voice, "Crazier to learn that there is a whole kingdom under there."
Ozpin chuckled, "Indeed. Well, the queen, as you can guess, isn't a normal person. She and Salem are the daughters of Sauron and Midori, the Demigods of Light and Darkness." Ozpin then used his cane to move the logs in the fire to keep it from smothering itself. "After Sauron passed from this world, he wasn't aware he had another child on the way… his only son."
It didn't take a genius to know where he was leading their thought, but Jaune spoke first, "You?"
Ozpin looked to Jaune with a contempt stare as he nodded, "Midori, my mother, died after giving birth to me. Her last word was my name… my true name: Mithrandir."
Nora's eyes widened, she recognized the name, "The 'Guardian Angel of Remnant'… said to be born with agelessness, to walk among men to protect them from Darkness." She then looks around the camp fire and see everyone stare at her in shock, "What? It was my grandmother's favorite story…"
Ozpin chuckled; it's been a long time since he heard that description of him. Neptune then asked, "How can you be born of agelessness? I mean, you're what, 40 years old?"
Ozpin started to laugh, "I'm a lot older than that."
"But you went to school with my dad." Jaune stated with confusion, "How did that happen?"
Right then they saw Ozpin do something that completely took their breaths away, his face went from being mid 30s to being that of a teenager. His voice also changed, "I wanted to experience the life of a student to know what I needed to improve on for a school system. Meeting your father was quite a bonus." He then changed his age again; he started to look a lot older, close to a 60 year old. "However for me, age quite literally a state of mind."
He then changed back to his mid 30s look, in the hopes to relieve their shock. Nora leaned forward with a grin, "Do it again…"
"NORA!" Ren exclaimed.
"WHAT!? That was awesome!" Nora said with a whiny tone.
Pyrrha snapped out of the shock, "If your real name is Mithrandir, where did Ozpin Greyhame come from?"
"It was a 'mask'. Before I was born, Salem made it clear to Maleficent that she intended to finish what our father started, to wipe out humanity. Given my appearance, Maleficent lied to Salem and said I was stillborn and ran." Ozpin then poked the fire with a bit of anger behind his strokes, "She ran straight to Amazonia. She gave me a new name and raised me to protect what our mother was meant to guard; life."
Sun then asked, "How much as she done for her own people then?"
Neptune was even shocked by this outburst, "Dude!"
"I mean, after everything our people have been though, she still hides? If she had only shown herself earlier, people like the White Fang wouldn't be dragging our people's name in the mud!" Sun said with anger, given what he's gone though fighting the Fang in Mistral, hearing this only made him angrier.
"She helped the Belladonna family found the White Fang to protect your people. But people like Siena Kahn and her brother Umber corrupted its purpose." Ozpin said with a very serious tone.
"And yet she still hides? We're in the middle of the Second Great War and she remains hidden in Amazonia." Pyrrha ask with frustration.
"I've seen her do more for the sake of her people than you would ever be willing to risk." Ozpin exclaim.
"Like what?" Sun asked, daring to know what she could have possibly sacrificed.
"She gave up a son!" Ozpin said after knocking the logs over and ruining the fire. He then saw that everyone backed up a bit after that. He sighed, "As much as she loved her people, she loved him more. And she couldn't stomach the idea of Salem or any other political rival using him against her, so she sent him away. That's how committed she is to the safety of Remnant and our people. ALL our people."
There was silence for a moment, but then Nora broke it when she asked, "What happened to him? Her son?" She was almost afraid to ask.
"He grew until he could take care of himself, I made sure of that." Ozpin said with a caring tone, "Now I'm not sure where he is. But I know he is strong enough to take care of himself."
"Does he know he's her son?" Jaune asked.
"He found out a few years back," Ozpin lowered his head, "It didn't go so well."
"Can only imagine why…" Pyrrha said with a blank stare.
Ozpin was a bit tired of her remarks, but this one was a well-deserved one so he let it go. He stood up and looked out on them all, "We, of the Order of Light, have done a great many things for the sake of protecting Remnant. But keeping you all in the dark will no longer be one of them. You have all shown great courage, loyalty, not only to each other but also to our people of Remnant as a whole. As of now, you all know everything we know. And with this war at our door, we must trust each other to survive it."
Everyone looked to be in agreement. Jaune stood up and looked down at Pyrrha, she nodded in agreement as well. Jaune then walked up to Ozpin and held out his hand to him, "Mithrandir…?" Ozpin then slowly grasped Jaune's hand; "You'll always be 'Ozpin' to me."
Jaune then hugged him with his free hand; Ozpin was a bit shocked, but then hugged back with his free hand. Once they let go, Ozpin then motioned for Jaune to come with him, "We need to talk about what to do next."
Jaune nodded, he then looked to the others, "Once you're all done eating, get some shut eye. Ozpin and I will discuss what the plan is when we reach the capitol."
At this, he got no arguments. Everyone finished eating and started laying out sleeping bags. Ren and Pyrrha took the first watch as Jaune and Ozpin walked out to speak amongst themselves.
Ren walked up to Pyrrha, "Can I talk to you?" She looked at him in a bit of confusion, but then she nodded.
They walked behind one of the trucks, putting it between them and the group. Once they were on the other side, Ren looked at Pyrrha with a hard look. "What happened in Fangorn?"
"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked in confusion.
"In all our years together, I have never seen you freeze in combat like that." Ren didn't seem to be in the mood to beat around the bush, so he tried to get to the point as soon as possible. "You were a statue when that thing through fire at you."
Pyrrha could see that there was no point in hiding it any longer. She leaned her back against the truck and lowered her head, "Ever since the Spire… all that time with Cinder. Now, anytime I see fire in combat, I can't move."
Ren started to get concerned, "You're pyrophoric?"
Pyrrha quickly looked at him, "I can take a camp fire or a kitchen stove. But if an enemy were to use fire around me, my body… refuses to move."
Ren could see the shame in her eyes, "Jaune doesn't know?"
Pyrrha turned her head sharply at Ren, "No. And he can't."
Ren was taken by surprised by her being so secretive, "Pyrrha, this is something he should know!"
"He has enough on his plate as it is." Pyrrha stated with contempt, "This war, Ruby in danger, he doesn't need to worry about me."
Ren rolled his eyes, "Pyrrha, we face monsters that can control fire. Saruman is breeding monsters that can use dust. This is something Jaune needs to know!"
Pyrrha looked Ren in the eye with a serious glare he had never seen before, "I will tell him when it is the right time." Her face relaxed as she pleaded to Ren, "Please, don't tell anyone…"
Ren sighed; he leaned against the truck with a bit of frustration. He could understand why she wanted to keep this a secret, but given their current setting it wasn't ideal. "I'll stay quiet for now. But if it becomes a liability, I'll have not choice but to tell him."
"Noted." Pyrrha said with an understanding tone.
Jaune and Ozpin were talking alone at the edge of camp. From there they looked on to the broken moon, "It's nights like these that make me thankful for the light we have at night. For in darkness, evil festers the most." He then looked east, although he couldn't see it, he knew he was looking in the direction of Mordor.
Ozpin sighed as he states a fact that has been in Jaune's mind for a while, "Salem is eager to end this war, on her terms."
"As would any dictator or tyrant." Jaune says with a slight nod.
"Indeed. She has grown strong since the last time I faced her." Ozpin remembers his fight with her in Dol Guldur as if it were yesterday. Their fight was brief, but it almost finished him near the end. "Salem refuses to have a rival in this world, and I'm not just talking about me, or Maleficent…"
Jaune then felt confused, "Who else could possibly challenge her?"
"You." Ozpin said plainly. He then turned his head to look Jaune in the eye, "Salem has faced many opponents in history, Jaune, but only one has ever given her a reason to be cautious. Like Isildur, you are a 'Zenith Star Knight'."
Jaune squinted his brows, "I'm guessing that has something to do with the wings."
Ozpin chuckled, "It's a lot deeper than that, but that is one of the benefits to being one." He then looked back to Jaune, "To be one means you have a great destiny ahead of you, one that requires you to accept great responsibilities and face great obstacles."
Ozpin then looked out towards the grasslands ahead of them, "It is because you are still growing as a Zenith that she is trying so hard to wipe out the Four Kingdoms. She intends to wipe them out before you have a chance to unite them."
Jaune felt a bit nervous hearing that, "Me uniting the Kingdoms… that'll be the day."
"The first one that is ready to fall is Mistral, thanks to the traitor, Saruman." Ozpin's voice started to sound more infuriated, for years he trusted Saruman only to have him betray him out of self-preservation. "Saruman is using a magical object called the Palantir to control Pyrrha's uncle, King Theoden. It is one of the tricks of the object but he has corrupted its purpose for his own gain."
"I honestly don't see how we can break such a connection, unless you have some kind of ace up your sleeve?" Jaune asked with a bit of curiosity.
Ozpin nodded, "I know a way, something Maleficent taught me that can work." Ozpin looked back towards the east again as he continued, "With Salem preparing multiple theaters for full scale war, there in lies our greatest advantage… She isn't looking for the Ring anymore. She believes with all this chaos it will come to her, but instead it is going straight for the Mountain of Fire."
Ozpin could see the look of concern Jaune has for Ruby, "Don't let regret fill your mind over your choice. It was the best thing you could have done for her." Ozpin himself feels regretful that he couldn't be there for her anymore, but now he had his own mission. "Ruby must finish this on her own…"
"She isn't." Jaune said as he looked to Ozpin with a slight smirk, "Yang went with her."
Ozpin began to smile at the news, "Good… That's good."
Jaune then gave a nervous smile, "I just hope Yang doesn't get into too many fights along the way."
It had been a day since Ruby, Yang and Gollum left the marshlands. From there they climbed up a steep rock formation that acted like a natural barrier. They climbed for hours, and once they reached the top they could see the entrance into the Dark Kingdom. "There… The Black Gate of Mordor," Gollum said with a growl in his tone.
The gate was massive, built with scorched steel and carved stone. It stood as tall as 60ft high, 250ft across and 90ft thick. One thing was clear; nobody was getting in without an invitation.
"Oum, save us all…" Yang said with fear in her throat. "If dad knew we were here, he'd be giving us an earful fit for a kingdom…"
Yang and Ruby crawled on the top of the cliff side, trying to use the jagged rocks as cover as they got closer to get a better look. Gollum crawled behind them, staying behind Ruby and keeping his head down, "Mistress asked to see Black Gate, Smeagol showed her. So good Smeagol does, mistress says so."
Ruby turned to see how distressed he was for seeing such a scary place, "Yeah, good job." She said as she patted his head as he was ducking down.
Ruby drew Crescent Rose, but kept it in sniper mode. She opened up her scope and looked though to see the top of the gate. "What do you see?" Yang asked.
"I see Orc patrols all along the wall, the guard towers on either side have several windows and catapult placements." She looked closely at the guard towers and saw that there were several openings along the walls, small enough for an arrow or bullet to go though with no problem, "I wouldn't be surprised if those towers have murder holes for archers and marksmen."
Ruby moved her eye off her scope and looked to Yang, "I don't see any way past all that…"
Before Yang could say anything, they started to hear a chant down below. They looked down to see a column of Uruk Hai marching in parade formation. Just by looking at them they could guess there were thousands of them.
The troops were marching up to the Black Gate and stopped a few feet from the center. Ruby and Yang then heard a horn blow and then the gate began to open. A few Death Ravagers were pushing on giant leavers while Trolls were pushing on the gate doors to open them.
The girls saw the gate open wide for the Uruks, Yang crawled closer to the edge to get a better look. She looked down and saw a path that they could take to the bottom. "I see a way down." Just then the rock she was sitting on began to crack.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted as she saw her sister fall off the side of the cliff. Ruby didn't hesitate to follow. She slid down the side of the steep cliff that had gravel. Once she reached the bottom she ran straight to Yang.
As Ruby was digging Yang out, two Uruk Marauders saw the rocks slide down from the cliff and felt curious. They broke off from the main group and marched on towards the cliff.
Ruby heard their footsteps; she then started to bury Yang again. Yang would have protested but she heard the troops approach so she said nothing. Using her super speed, she was able to bury yang completely. She then buried herself next, and like Yang, she only buried enough of a layer to be hidden.
The two Uruks walked up to the source of the noise and found more gravel sliding down the steep hill. One of them looked down and decided to stab the dirt with his large bastard sword. The blade landed between Yang and Ruby, it barely missed them.
Just as the other was about to stab the dirt, they heard a voice call out to them, "Hey, mutts!" They turned to see an Orc shouting at them, "What are you doing over there, playing in the dirt? Get back in line!" The two Uruks looked at each other and then walked back towards the army.
Once they were gone, Ruby pulled herself out of the dirt and then went back to digging Yang out. Once they were both out they hid behind a bolder, they could still see the army of Uruks march into the gate. "You think you can get us in there without being seen?" Yang asked.
"Only one way to find out." Ruby said as she held onto Yang and prepared to run as fast as she could, but then she felt her hood pulling on her and pulling her back.
"NO! Mistress, NO! They catch you, they catch you!" Smeagol pulled on Ruby and had no intention to let her go. "Don't take it to her!"
Ruby could see the terror in Smeagol's eyes, he didn't want to go back, but he didn't want Ruby to go in either.
"She wants the precious. Day and night she wants it to come back. And it wants to go back to her…" Smeagol says with fear in his voice. He crawled past them and stared at the gate, his voice began to sound darker, "But we mustn't let her have it."
Ruby looks at him, "Is there another way into that place?"
Smeagol looked at the gate, then at Ruby, "Yes… yes, a secret way… a dark way."
Yang started to get suspicious, she grabs him by his foot and points her gun at his face, "Why are you only bringing this up now?"
"Mistress did not ask, I did not tell." Smeagol said as he raised his hands up.
Ruby grabbed Yang's hand, "What are you doing? He's helping us!"
Yang pulled her hand out of Ruby's, "He could be leading us into a trap!"
"If he wanted us caught, he would have let us go into the gate." Ruby stated with a serious tone. Ruby looked back at Smeagol, "How can you get in?"
"Mountains stretch all around that dark scary place… but there is a path that leads up the side, and into a tunnel that takes you inside the walls." Gollum said with a bit of fear in his voice. He had been there before, back when he was set lose by Jadis after his torture, he chose to go that way out of Mordor. It wasn't safe, but he knew it was their best option.
Ruby looked at the gate as it closed in front of them, she then looked to Yang, "Looks like we're going though the secret cave."
Yang didn't like it, but she nodded in agreement. Smeagol led the though the side of the cliff to be out of sight of the Mordor guards. Yang glared at Smeagol with a more skeptical look, "I don't care what she says, if he crosses us, he's dead."
In Haven, Saruman was continuing his daily routine of troop production. Sending those troops to Mordor was easy, now he had to keep up production in Mistral to keep his promise to Salem. A goblin worker approached him to him and whispered into his ear, apparently someone arrived that he wasn't expecting to hear from again.
Saruman walked out of his tower and found Alpha on his knees in front of him. One of the goblins kicked him, "Looks like our first mutt found his way back home. What do you want us to do with him, my lord?"
Saruman walked up to Alpha and raised his head, "You failed your mission, Alpha."
Alpha nodded, "I know, forgive me… We were ambushed."
Saruman slapped Alpha across the face, "NO EXCUSES!" Alpha backed off as if he were a beat dog. Saruman then knelt down to match his eye level, "But you did return to me, did you learn anything from the women you captured? Or did you even capture any at all?"
"We captured two of them, the girl with white hair and the one with black hair…" Alpha stated, "But then we were ambushed in the night… I believe I'm the only survivor."
"Getting here was no small feat. Nor is surviving an ambush in the night." Saruman stated true facts as he walked around the Uruk Hai at his feet. He then walked up to his head, "I may be willing to give you another chance, Alpha. Soon I intend to lay siege to Mistral with a grand army, I need a proper commander for that army and I know Locus trained you with tactics prior to your deployment. IF I gave you this chance to lead an army, how much can you guarantee me that you'll succeed?"
Alpha raised his head and gave Saruman the most serious glare an Uruk could give; "I will fight to my last breath if I have to! I will not fail you a second time!"
Saruman smiled, "Good." Then his smile went away as he finished, "But if you do, don't expect me to give you a third chance…"
Back in Fangorn Forest, Blake and Weiss woke up from their sleep and were met by Treebeard. He picked them up and put them on his shoulder branches and continued their journey to the heart of the forest. "The trees have grown wild and dangerous these days. Anger festers in many of their hearts."
"Why are they so angry?" Weiss asked in curiosity.
"They hate how much the humans and Faunus use their bark to build their homes and burn their forests." Treebeard said with a sad tone, "Most aren't as awake as we are, but if they wanted to, they'd attack."
"I'm sorry." Weiss said with a heavy heart.
"Don't be… it's not your fault your people are like that." Treebeard said with a forgiving tone, "There are too few of us now, too few to manage them all. But we try our best."
"Why are there so few if your kind have lived for so long?" Blake asked in confusion. "Can't you guys have children like we do?"
"Ahhh… we haven't had any Entings in many years." Treebeard said with a sad voice over his deep breaths.
"Why?" Weiss asked.
"We lost the Entwives. When Queen Maleficent created our people, she created our wives as well. And we lost them long ago."
Blake and Weiss started to feel sad for asking, "Sorry," Blake said. "How did they die?" Weiss was hesitant to ask.
"They didn't die… We lost them." Treebeard said with a more irritated tone, more irritated with himself. "We cannot find them because we do not know where they went."
"I'm sure the Queen knows, if you ask her she can tell you." Blake stated.
"Hmmm… Perhaps, maybe when this is over I will ask." Treebeard said with a bit of hope in his raspy voice.
Blake looked up to see Weiss still struggling to keep her hair from getting caught on Treebeard's branches. Blake then pulled her bow apart, revealing her cat ears and then held it up to Weiss, "Here, try this."
Weiss took it, "Thanks!" She tied it into a bow, similar to Blake's normaly bow, and tied it up tight in her hair. Weiss now had her hair back the way she liked it.
Treebeard saw that Blake had ears, "Ah, you are a Faunus"
"Yeah. I'm a cat." Blake said as her ears moved a bit.
He began to chuckle, "I've always liked cats, they proved to be better than squirrels when it comes to how they treat the forest."
JNPR and SSSN reached the outskirts of Mistral. As they were driving, Ozpin's mind dwelled on the King; one of his oldest friends was in trouble and he was the only one that could save him.
Inside the capital, Eowyn walked into the throne room and saw the King sitting on his throne. He still appeared to be sickly; his hair was pail white and his skin looked old and wrinkly. "Your Grace, your son… he is dead…"
Eowyn walked up to him and held his hand; she knelt down so that she could get a good look at his eyes, "Your Grace? Uncle? Theodred… he's gone."
Theoden slowly lifted his head, slowly turning to look at his niece. "Will you not go to him?" She asked while trying to not cry.
She left the throne room and walked back to the chamber where Theodred's body laid. She sat by his bed, crying over his body. A man who she grew to love as a second brother was dead before her. She let out her tears like a waterfall. What only made this more painful was that there was no one there to mourn with her over her loss.
She then heard the footsteps of someone approaching. She turned to see Peter Slate.
"He must have died at some point during the night…" Peter said with a sad voice, "What a tragedy for the king, to lose his only child."
Peter walked towards Eowyn and knelt down beside her, "I understand. His passing is hard to accept. Especially now that your brother was exiled for his war crimes." Peter tried to rest his hand on Eowyn's shoulder but she brushed him off and walked away.
Eowyn walked straight out of the room without a word. She walked outside the castle and reached the edge of the main entrance. From there she looked on to the city below and see how quiet and glum it was. As the wind picked up she saw a Mistral flag get ripped off its pole, almost as if it signified the great kingdom's fall into ruin.
Outside the main castle walls, JNPR and SSSN's trucks drove up the main road. As Jaune drove the truck he saw the mistral flag get carried by the wind and fall onto the street and get covered in mud.
Everyone looked out the windows of the trucks and saw the people; they were sad and depressed. Nora leaned over to Ren and whispered; "You'll find more cheer in a graveyard." Ren replied by elbowing her arm.
The trucks drove up to the front gate, Jaune was more than surprised to see some familiar faces there. They parked and exited their trucks. Jaune saw Grun and his team, along with CRDL, standing outside the main gate to the castle.
Jaune ran up to Grun and they both locked arms with joy in seeing each other again. "Grun! What are you doing here?"
"I was asked to come to help Mistral in it's current crisis. Here to represent Menagerie." Grun said as he hugged his friend, he then pointed to Cardin, "Your sister sent these guys to represent Vale too."
Cardin walked up to the new arrivals, "I wasn't expecting you to be coming, Jau- I mean, Commander."
Jaune smirked at Cardin, "Relax, Cardin, you don't have to be formal with me." Grun then patted Jaune on the back.
"It's good to see you. I wish we had time to prepare for your arrival, but this is such a grey castle." Grun said with a subtle look in his eye.
Jaune recognized Grun's hint. It was an old signal they made up in the event that they couldn't speak freely. Whenever they were to say 'grey castle' it mean the location they were in was hostile, filled with enemies.
Jaune smirked and patted Grun back while saying, "I know, but we're here to help lighten things up."
Ozpin walked up to the two and smiled, "Grun, good to have you here. If you don't mind, could you lead us to the King."
"I can lead you to the castle, but you'll have to ask Robin Loxley." Grun said as he pointed at the wall behind him.
"Robin's here?" Pyrrha asked as she approached Grun.
"Yeah, he's in charge of the guard," Grun said as he motioned for them to follow.
The group walked up to the front gate of the main castle, Robin was waiting at the top with several honor guards at his back. Robin was happy to see Pyrrha, but had to keep his composure as a soldier.
As the group walked up, Robin spoke out, "Welcome to Mistral, Ozpin Greyhame. Unfortunately I am required to confiscate your weapons prior to seeing the King." Robin looked at the rather large group before him and felt that there were too many to be let in, "And to prevent any incident, I would ask only five of you enter, the rest must wait here."
"Under whose authority?" Pyrrha asked Robin with a bit of an angry tone.
Robin looked at her and gave her a bit of a sad look, then he made his voice more serious as he answered, "Under the authority of Peter Slate, the king's advisor."
Ozpin looked to the group and nodded, Jaune did the same and began to remove his weapons. He looked to the group, "My team only, everyone else just wait out here."
Everyone agreed while the rest of his team disarmed themselves. Jaune handed Joyuse to Robin, before letting go he looked him in the eye, "I'm going to want that back." He handed him his side arm too.
Nora was the one that had the most difficulty giving up her weapon, while Ren and Pyrrha were ok with it. Nora held on for a second while the guard was pulling on her hammer, and once she let go the hammer fell to the floor because the guard couldn't hold it up. The guards all looked at Nora while she smiled at them. Another guard walked over to the first one and helped him to carry it away.
A guard held his hand out to Ozpin and he gripped his cane tighter, "You really going to take a cane away from a cripple?" Ozpin leaned more heavily on the cane. The guard backed off, believing the bluff.
Robin handed off Joyuse to another guard and motioned JNPR and Ozpin to follow him.
As the group entered, Ozpin could see Slate sitting next to the King, whispering in his ear.
"Your Grace, Ozpin Greyhame is coming." Slate said as he backed away.
As the group walked into the throne room, they heard the door close behind them. They looked around and saw that there were few people in the room, mostly Honor Guards.
Ozpin spoke out to the King, "The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Theoden King."
Peter spoke into the King's ear again, "He's not welcome."
Theoden lifted his head and looked at Ozpin with a blank face, "Why should I welcome you, Ozpin Greyhame…" His voice was so raspy and weak, it almost sounded like a moan.
Peter leaned in, "A just question, my liege." He then started to walk towards the group as they approached. "As if you couldn't have come at the worst time, Headmaster. What reason would you have to come here anyway?"
"Shut up," Ozpin exclaimed, he had enough of the political BS people like Slate liked to use to play games. Now he was here to set things right in the kingdom, "I am here to help, and that's exactly what I'm going to do." He raised his cane's pommel towards Peter's face.
Peter showed fear as he gasped under his breath. He backed up, but then he stood tall and looked to Pyrrha, "Milady, tell me… do you stand by this 'offender'?"
Pyrrha looked to Ozpin and then back to Slate, "I am."
Peter then twisted his wrist, allowing what looked to be a wristband to fall down his arm and stop at his hand. Jaune looked down to see it, he had only seen such a band twice: once on Cinder's arm and on Locus'. "Oh, crap. Grimm control band."
"It's treason then…" Peter said as he snapped his fingers.
Just then five figures came out from the shadows in the celling. They were Geist Grimm, and each of them was going into objects in the room. One went into drapes on the wall, one went into one of the Honor Guard's suit of armor, one got into a soldier's katana, one got into an Honor Guard's rifle and one got into one of the torches that were hanging on the wall.
The drape-Geist wrapped around one of the samurai's neck and tugged hard. Jaune ran to him and tried to get it off but found himself pushing it away from his neck.
The one that got into a guard's armor first punched a samurai that came up to him to try and help the guard. The samurai was punched so hard by the possessed armor that it knocked him into a pillar across the hall.
The possessed armor then started to lumber towards Nora. The guard inside the armor was moving uncontrollably, he tried to stop himself but the Geist proved to be stronger. Nora blocked one of its punches and punched back at the guard's chest, she heard him grunt, "Sorry, that was for the Grimm." Every time she punched the armor she apologized, she was fighting a Grimm, but didn't want to hurt the guy inside.
The katana-Geist pulled itself out of the samurai's sheath and swung around, slashing at the gaurd's chest before he had a chance to even react. Ren saw it point its blade at him and swing fast, he moved quickly to keep himself from getting cut but it was hard to keep away from.
The Geist that went into a guard's rifle pulled itself out of the guard's grasp. The guard drew his sword and swung at it but was shot threw the chest several times. It then pointed at another guard who ducked for cover as he returned fire. The rifle floated around, dodging the incoming bullets, but then it extended its bayonet blade at the end and darted forward at the guard. When the guard peaked to see what it was doing Robin blocking the blade with his sword quick enough to save him.
Pyrrha saw the torch Geist form a fireball and point it at one of the guards. She ran at him and pushed him out of the way as the ball hit at her feet. The guard was knocked into a pillar and was out cold. Pyrrha slowly got back up but then saw the fire Geist form a circle of fire around her, she froze like a statue on the ground. She knew she had to move but her body wouldn't budge.
Jaune was still pulling on the drape Geist but saw that he wasn't able to save the guard from being strangled. The drapes then tried to wrap around him completely, but before it could do that he through it at the fire Geist. Jaune quickly saw how Pyrrha was frozen in place as the fire scorched in front of her. It wasn't until the drape Geist was covering the torch that she snapped out of it.
Ozpin remained still as he allowed the team behind him fights off the Grimm, meanwhile he was charging his staff in preparation for freeing King Theoden.
The torch Geist burned though the drapes, forcing that Geist to leave the object it was possessing. Once it was out it tried to look for a new object to posses but was quickly shot though its head by a lighting Dust arrow and exploded.
Jaune turned to see Robin with his bow out; he nodded at him and then quickly blocked a strike that came from the rifle Geist.
Jaune then realized how they could win, "Force them to abandon their bodies!"
Nora saw the whole thing and then turned to the suit of armor she was fighting. She then got an idea, "Hey, buddy. Sorry to say this, but it looks like you'll have to lose the suit." She then charged at it, as it was about to throw a punch at her, she grabbed the gauntlet and ripped it off the soldier's arm. It threw another punch and she ripped off the other. Both the soldier's arms were free now, so she then continued to rip the armor off until she saw the Geist leave. It wasn't until she ripped the chest plate off that the Geist came out and tried to get at her, but then it was shot threw the head by an arrow and exploded. Nora looked to see Robin and gave him a thankful wink.
Nora then saw Peter Slate up near the throne, he began to look nervous and slowly walk into the back rooms. "Now I got a rat to catch," she said as she cracked her knuckles.
Jaune and Pyrrha were facing the now furious torch Geist together. Jaune saw Pyrrha freeze again as the Geist through a fireball at her. Jaune grabbed her and moved her behind a pillar with him as the fire blasted the pillar. He then looked to see some ceremonial weapons decorating the wall beside them: a disk shield and a Spartan spear. Jaune looked at Pyrrha with a serious look and said, "I'll hit the torch, you spear the Geist." Pyrrha nodded, "Give me a clear shot." They both ran to the weapons on the wall.
Jaune shielded them from the large fireball that came their way, then he through the disk shield at the torch in the center of the fire beast. The disk went though the fire and knocked the torch out of the center of the fire. Once it was out the torch was moving too fast for the fire to continue and went out like a candle. It hit the ground and the Geist came out, it was then stabbed though the head by the spear that pinned it to the wall like a nail. Jaune turned to see Pyrrha in her finishing motion after throwing a spear; he could see the warrior spirit in her eyes right then. He then squinted, "Where was that spirit when that thing was burning?"
Ren was trying his best to fight the katana, but he had no weapons to block it; then a bullet that came from behind and grazed him. He turned to see the rifle Geist point itself at him, he also saw a dead soldier that it killed prior to shooting him. The rifle then darted towards him and he dodged it as it impaled the pillar beside him. Then the katana came down and tried to cut his head off. He moved back and pulled the rifle out of the wall and tried to use it to block the katana, but the sword cut though the rifle like a knife though bread.
That Geist left the rifle and tried to find a new weapon to posses but was quickly nailed to the wall by another one of Robin's arrows. Robin then converted his bow into a sword and blocked the katana from hitting Ren.
Ren got back up off the ground and stood beside Robin as he was holding the katana off. "Katanas are weak behind the blade," Ren said to Robin. He quickly looked to Ren then back to the katana, "Give me an opening." He said as he pushed the katana off his sword.
The katana backed off and then stared to come at him in a stabbing way but was stopped completely by Ren catching it between his hands. "NOW!" he exclaimed as he felt the blade push towards his chest.
Robin came out from behind Ren and swung downward on the back of the katana, breaking it in half. Once the fragments hit the ground the Geist abandoned the body of the broken sword and attempted to find a new one. But the Geist was shot several times by the Honor guard that Pyrrha saved from being blasted with a fireball.
Everyone then walked towards the center of the room, looking around in case there were any more. Ozpin smiled, "I believe you got all that Slate brought with him… Speaking of him, where is he?"
"Someone ask for a rat?"
Everyone then saw Slate get thrown out into the middle of the hall and landed on the floor. Nora walked over to him as he tried to stand back up but she stepped on his back, forcing him to the ground. He turned his head to look at her and she smirked at him, "Go ahead, give me a reason to break your arms… or your legs, worm tail."
Ozpin then walked towards the King, "Theoden, son of Thengel, too long have you sat in the Shadows…" He continued to walk as he saw Theoden sit up in his throne, but he tried to turn his head away, "Look at me!"
Theoden slowly turned his head; he looked at Ozpin with his pail and hollow eyes. Ozpin then held out his hand and raised it towards his head; "I am here to release you from this terrible spell."
Theoden then began to laugh like with raspy voice, "You have no power here, Ozpin Greyhame…"
Ozpin then gave the king a very serious glare as he pointed the grey Diamond Dust shard at him and shined it's light at Theoden's face. The power from his staff pushed Theoden back against his throne; they could hear him groan in pain from it. "I will draw you out, Saruman, as poison can be drawn from a wound."
Ozpin blasts him with a grey colored light again, forcing the king to be pushed back into his throne hard. Robin felt uneasy seeing his king in pain, but before he could get closer Pyrrha grabbed him. She gave him a look that would have meant 'let him do this'.
Ozpin then shined more light on Theoden, but he was proving to be too stubborn. Theoden looked at Ozpin with a slight smile, "If I go, Theoden dies." Just then everyone heard Saruman's voice threw the King's lips.
Ozpin got closer as he shined more light on Theoden, "You couldn't kill me at Haven, and you won't kill him now…" Theoden then lunged at Ozpin as he yelled, but then Ozpin hit him in the head with the top of his cane and knocked him back into his throne.
Back at Haven, Saruman was pushed away from the Palantir and hit the wall behind him. He fell flat on his face, and as he was slowly getting up, there was a big bruise on his forehead. "Damn you, Ozpin…" he grunted.
The main door to the throne room was forced open by GMBL and SSSN as they busted in with their weapons out. They were ready for a fight but were reluctant to find the fight already over. Sun then groaned, "Awww, did we miss it?" Ren nodded in reply.
Just then Eowyn walked past the two teams and ran straight to the King, she didn't even notice Pyrrha was in the room.
Theoden slowly started to fall of his throne as he groaned. Pyrrha ran over to him as she and Eowyn kept him from hitting the ground.
Eowyn looked at Pyrrha, "You're here!" Pyrrha smiled back.
They both then looked to their uncle and saw something strange. He started to change, his pail skin stared to change back to its original color. His pail hair started to become golden with red streaks running down the sides. His eyes started to turn from being pail white to its normal green color.
The two girls started to smile as they saw him awaken from the spell. He looked at them both and began to smile back, "I remember you two… Eowyn… Pyrrha… My nieces." They both began to hug him, not too tight considering how weak he still was.
Once they let go, Theoden turned to see Ozpin standing behind the girls, "Ozpin?"
"Welcome back, old friend." Ozpin said as he leaned on his cane again, trying not to fall over. Using that spell took a lot more out of him than he wanted, but it was worth it to him.
More Mistral guards walked into the broken door and saw their king stand tall and strong. Many of them, including GMBL and SSSN knelt before him, as did JNPR, except Pyrrha.
Theoden looked out to them all, "For too long I have lived in a nightmare, not being in control of my own body." He looked down at his hands and felt that they were shaking.
"Your hands might have a better time remembering their old strength, if you grasp your sword." Ozpin recommended.
Theoden turned to one of the guards, and saw the guard kneel before him and presented Theoden with a long sword in a scabbard clasped in gold and set in green gems. The blade's guard was shaped like horses, to signify the days of old and a reference to one of the kingdoms of old. "Herugrim…" He said the sword's name as he gasped it with his left hand.
(AN: Part of that was a direct quote from the Two Towers book.)
Once Theoden grasped the hilt, he pulled the sword out of the scabbard and held it high. He then looked onto the floor and saw Peter Slate, still being pinned by Nora's boot on his back.
Slate was literally thrown out of the main castle like a drunk at a bar by Macht from GMBL and Sage from SSSN. The two big men barely had to use that much strength to throw him; Slate was strangely light for a man of his size.
Theoden walked down the steps to the castle with his sword in his hand, gripping it tight.
Slate looked up at him, after falling down the stairs, he raised his hands up at the king with mercy. "I've only… ever… served you, your grace!" Slate backed away from the king as he continued to approach him with his sword pointed at him.
Theoden started to growl with anger as he spoke, "Your political games would have had me crawling on the floor like your pet!"
Slate continued to crawl backward, trying to distance himself from Theoden's blade, "Please, no!"
Theoden raised his sword up with both hands, ready to strike down the traitor, but was stopped by one of his nieces. He looked to see Pyrrha staying his blade, "NO, UNCLE!" Once she was sure he was going to stop she said, "Enough people died because of this backstabbing bastard…"
Jaune walked past them both and held his hand out to Slate, he didn't like him but he could be a potential informant over Saruman. Slate looked up at Jaune, he saw his cross necklaces and stood up on his own, "Keep away form me, Vale trash!"
He then turned around and ran down the main road, leaving the capital's populace in confusion of the sight.
Jaune saw the commoners walk up to the castle by the dozens. He then shouted, "Hail, Theoden King!" Once they heard the words they all knelt to their king in respect. Jaune turned to face the king and knelt to him with respect.
Theoden was happy that he was now free of the spell, but he wasn't one to revel over his status as king. He held his niece tightly as she helped him to walk back up the steps of the castle. As they were walking up he looked on to the guards and people who they were walking towards and realized something; Pyrrha and Eowyn were here, but where was his son. "Theodred…" He looked to Pyrrha and asked, "Where is Theodred?"
Pyrrha didn't know what to say, she ahead and saw Eowyn before them. She heard their uncle ask his question; and after hearing him ask, Eowyn shook her head at them as tears began to well up in her eyes.
Theoden's hear sank, "No…"
AN: AND THAT'S WHERE THIS CHAPTER ENDS!
WOW, a lot happened in this chapter.
Honestly, it was hard to find a stopping place in this one, but I felt that this was the best place to leave you off until the next one.
We got to meet new characters, tell stories, and got to have more than one fight in a single chapter.
Please leave a review and let me know what you think of the chapter overall.
And as always, ARKOS!