Hey there, everyone. Hope you all had a Happy New Year!
Kind of hard to believe we're now in 2025… how the time flies. Hopefully this year is off to at least a decent start for all of you. If not, then I pray that things improve for you soon.
As for myself, things are about the same as always, I suppose. Still just dealing with work and school, balancing all that out with other obligations and my own wants. In other words, a tiring but rewarding experience as is the norm.
In any case, it is my hope this year to get quite a bit done in terms of my fanfic writing since I felt last year wasn't quite too kind to me in this respect. The results of having to also deal with essays and powerpoints galore for my classes, sadly. Things won't actually be changing much on that front – probably still have another year of classes to deal with, infuriatingly enough – but even then, I am going to at least try to get some more personal writing done.
Anyways, I won't bore you guys any further with my rambling. Let's just get onto the chapter. Hopefully this chapter will serve as a good start to 2025 for me.
P.S. Haven't mentioned this in a long while, but please check out my original novels if you enjoy my writing! Fading Darkness, Rising Light and my Infinite Genesis trilogy can be found on a variety of sites such as Amazon Kindle, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and many more. Universal links to them can be found on my profile page, just remove the extra spaces!
Chapter 15 – Moving Forward
Leonardo could only watch in growing panic as chaos continued to unfold within Mistral's capital. The rioting had only worsened and the police, even with assistance from his students and staff, were being steadily overwhelmed by all the violence going on. And with at least several of his cameras down, his ability to monitor and relay information to others had taken a huge hit.
"What is going on?!" he muttered as he tried to regain some level of control over this situation.
Alas, he could only do so much in his office. While he knew intellectually that given enough time, the violence could be suppressed, by the time that does happen the Grimm will have already been drawn to the capital to worsen things.
Put simply, there was no way to resolve the situation before things ultimately worsened.
He grimaced as he tried to consider what he did know or at least had a strong suspicion about.
Currently, Lil' Miss Malachite's Spiders were here in the heart of the capital, stirring up trouble on a scale never demonstrated before by them. Raven was also here with her Branwen tribe – she was the only person he could think of that would know to disable his cameras so swiftly.
Both the police and the population of Haven Academy itself, students and staff alike, were working to quell the chaos.
Three parties in a vicious brawl in the heart of the kingdom itself… or so it would seem as of now.
Taking this moment to at least try processing it all, the Haven headmaster found himself baffled. For what reason would the Spiders make a move now of all times and why in such a manner? For what reason has Raven and her bandits have come here as well?
Lil' Miss was ambitious and petty, of that there was no doubt, but she was also quite cautious. She wouldn't order her gang to make a move like this unless something truly major happened.
Raven was of a similar mentality; for all her boasting of the strong taking from the weak, she was ultimately a cautious person as well – cowardly, one might even say, just like himself. She'd never dare to start trouble near Haven if it would put her tribe at risk… and that is exactly what she was now doing.
There had to be a stimulus for all this, something that was pushing both criminal groups into acting this way.
Perhaps if he can find out what their reasons are, maybe he can get both groups to stand down.
But just how was he to do that if he was busy trying to keep things under control here?
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Leonardo could only gulp at the enormity of the challenge he was being confronted with.
He just prayed things didn't get much worse.
In the capital's downtown area, the violence there had reached a peak. The Spiders were running amok and had stirred up the capital's pettier criminals into joining the fun, which contributed to madness going on as the gang made their way steadily towards Haven Academy.
In return, the students and staff of Haven did their best to spread out and then work their way inwards, defeating and boxing in the remaining criminals. It was just about the only thing they could do right now given their lacking numbers while also allowing police to focus more on evacuating civilians from the area.
All in all, it was a brawl for the ages.
But soon it would become known as something of a massacre.
No one there, criminal and huntsmen alike, knew quite when it actually began… but they sure as hell noticed when it became noticeable.
A series of explosions going off rapidly – not from bombs or anything like that, but from something striking another thing with mindboggling force. This was something accompanied by screams that were both abrupt in starting… and ending.
By the time they even realized how close the explosive sounds were getting, it was too late.
Something – someone – smashed through a storefront like it wasn't even there and with such speed that the person was little more than a blur at first to the untrained eyes. A huntsman trainee, a second-year boy wielding daggers that also doubled as revolvers, was the first to be caught up in what would happen next.
He scarcely got a word out before a foot slammed into the small of his back and with such strength that his aura, which had already taken a pounding, couldn't protect it anymore. His spine was destroyed; he'd never walk again.
For that matter, he'd never move again at all, for another foot followed and stomped on his head as he fell, crushing it with ease.
The Spider member he'd been fighting just now was caught off-guard as well, only barely glimpsing the arriving individual that had burst through the wall, dressed in a more ornate looking martial arts gi. A hand thrust off in the form of a knife strike, piercing through the Spider member's face like it wasn't even there before then being thrown aside like trash.
The tanned individual kept on moving, always looking straight ahead, not even bothering to observe his own handiwork. Instead, he merely upped his speed even more somehow, shoulder-checking two other Spider members that had been nearby. They went sprawling along the ground like ragdolls.
By now, a professor from Haven had taken notice of the man. With her broadsword that can also be split apart into two oddly shaped SMGs, the veteran huntress turned teacher promptly unloaded on the unknown man-.
-To no effect at all. The hail of bullets struck him all over, no signs of aura at all… yet the bullets simply halted upon impact and fell harmlessly to the ground. They didn't even trip him up as he raced over them.
Shocked as she was, the professor nonetheless recovered and switched her weapon back into its broadsword form. She charged directly into the man's path and performed several spins in the span of a millisecond. The momentum built up from this action, combined with her own deceptive strength, resulted in a horizontal swing so powerful that even a Grimm such as the Nuckelavee wouldn't have been able to emerge from it unharmed.
Yet the man, upon seeing the blade coming his way, merely responded with a palm thrust that outright smashed through the broadsword with impossible ease. He then followed up with a stomp forward that caught the woman by her left knee, snapping it, and then landed an elbow strike that caved in her chest.
The professor, despite her decades of experience and training, went down with only marginally more effort than the student and the Spiders.
Others by now had taken notice of the man, and upon seeing what had happened in just these past few seconds, grew enraged. An odd truce was struck between all parties there, seeing this unknown man as a threat to all of them.
Immediately, they unloaded everything they had on him. Bullets and other forms of projectiles such as throwing knives, even grenades and small rockets, were launched the man's way.
He did nothing to defend himself. All that mattered was that his path ahead was clear for the moment.
He didn't have to do anything; as the bullets and other projectiles proceeded to strike him, causing a series of genuine explosions upon him, the man almost immediately emerged from the smoke and debris without even a hair out of place.
Several Haven students suddenly had the idea to pull out ice Dust and proceeded to fire ice rounds at the ground. The result was a sheen of slippery frost, obviously meant to make the man fall, yet he dashed across it without even seeming to notice it was there.
A member of the Branwen tribe, who'd been lagging behind the others, jumped at the man and jabbed his short sword into the man's eye – only for the blade to shatter as soon as it even made contact. This same bandit was then trampled upon by the man, his feet smashing through the bandit's body like it was mulch to start with.
Though the unknown man was obviously in excellent shape as befitting the martial arts gi he wore, he was by no means overcoming all this through raw strength alone. The remaining professors in the area and the more experienced criminals there could discern this much. There was something more going on here, something they seemingly had no counter for.
Whatever it was, it was maddening and only fueled their attempts to stop the man that much more.
And the man – Shen – didn't care one bit.
All he did care about was continuing to move forward. So long as he did that, he was unstoppable by all means. No man – no force, natural or otherwise – in this world could stop him.
He will pave a path forward by all means necessary.
And so long as he lives, he will do so without end.
Ozpin had made considerable progress in his trek. And in this timeframe, he's come to further contemplate what he's learned from Eva's hometown… not that said contemplation ultimately meant much as of now. As good as he was at making inferences from little information, he still lacked a lot of context for things.
Hopefully, once he links back up with the others, all of them could bounce ideas off one another and come to a conclusion that would allow them to make their next move in earnest.
Or so he would like to think.
To be perfectly frank now… he was feeling… anxious.
Something was happening, he felt.
Call it a sixth sense or whatnot, but his many lifetimes had finely honed his ability to detect danger… and it was beginning to ring some massive alarm bells in his mind now.
But just what could possibly be happening now? Was it the Liminals again? Or has Salem finally had her agents make a move as a way to properly level the playing field in her favor?
In any case, he felt he could no longer afford to take his time idly walking towards Mistral's capital.
"…" He made a sound, deliberating with himself over things. Finally, he decided to take off the pack he'd been wearing as part of his merchant disguise. It was full of random knickknacks anyways, hardly of any financial loss to him. Setting it aside, yet still keeping his current disguise up, he promptly took a deep breath…
…And then shot off at full speed.
While maintaining said speed would take a toll on his stamina if he kept it up from here to the capital, using it to at least travel half the remaining distance and then taking the traversing the final half at a slower pace would be more than plenty enough to suffice.
He just hoped that whatever was going on now wouldn't be beyond his abilities to handle.
Raven and Vernal headed onwards to Haven Academy. This was more out of a desire to chase down the Spiders that were clearly opening up a path there rather than either woman wanting to head there for themselves.
With a spinning throw, Vernal cut two Spiders along their necks, the weapons promptly returning to her hands immediately thereafter. When she made a move to go after the other gang members still close by, they promptly stopped what they were doing and all but dashed off to the side now.
"Wha-?!" Vernal could only cry out in genuine shock.
But Raven merely narrowed her eyes, not even bothering to go after the clearly fleeing Spider members. Their behavior had been odd from the start, but this really took the cake.
"Why the fuck are those assholes running away?!" Vernal outright shouted. "You bastards, get back here!"
"Calm down," Raven commanded, keeping a hand firmly on her sword's hilt. "…They were just opening up a path."
That's what they had been doing from the start, but she'd mistakenly assumed it'd been for all the other Spiders to make use of. Except now she could see that the remaining gang members were still raising hell in the capital itself.
The path hadn't been for the Spiders… never had been.
Then for who-?
"…! Incoming!" Raven declared as she looked back the way they'd came… and saw something approach.
No, someone.
Said individual moved towards them with incredible speed and with deceptively little sound despite literally barreling their way up the hill-like slope that the path towards Haven was comprised of.
It was a man, tall and clearly well-built. With brown skin that would mark him as a native to either Anima or western Sanus and with more ornate looking martial arts gi than anything else she'd seen before, said man came racing up the fully cleared path with his gaze never deviating from what was ahead of him.
And in this particular moment, both women were ahead of him.
And that suited Raven just fine – after all, she recognized the man as one of their targets.
Raven cycled out her current Dust blade for a new one, swapping it for a lightning type one. With just a bit of aura channeled into it, she swung her blade in the man's direction. A small barrage of lightning was unleashed, shooting up from the ground with enough power to fry the average person to death.
In this man's case, however, he merely delivered a horizontal chop with his left hand and dispersed the lightning without issue.
Her eyes narrowing further, Raven charged at him and sheathed her blade, once more swapping to a different Dust type – ice this time. Taking her blade up with both hands this time, she feinted a head on charge, Vernal following her lead.
Then at the last possible instant, just as it seemed the two of them were about to collide with the man, both women lightly jumped to the sides and swung their weapons, their strikes impacting against the man's seemingly unprotected sides.
Only to accomplish absolutely nothing; Vernal's weapons bounced off the man with an almost comical ping while the blade of ice Dust completely shattered against the man's body.
"-Tch!" Raven clicked her tongue as she promptly jumped back, wasting no time in sheathing the hilt in order to equip a new blade.
As for Vernal, the young woman ended up stumbling back, only barely able to regain her balance as the man sped past them without even a first or second glance.
With a grunt, Raven took the lead once more in the form of a mighty leap that managed to place her ahead of the man. Now with a fire type Dust blade equipped, she thrust her blade outwards and unleashed a condensed stream of flames.
The flames struck the man directly in his face… and dispersed immediately.
Clicking her tongue, Raven swapped out her blade again. This time, she equipped a gravity type blade.
Channeling more aura than usual into it, she then stabbed the blade into the ground. Typically, when using gravity Dust in a sword form, it can be used to create vacuum slashes or temporarily increase the effect of gravity upon whatever it struck.
However, by essentially overloading gravity Dust, it is possible for the latter effect to impact an entire area if it then strikes the ground.
Which is exactly what she planned now.
Her attack went into effect without issue. The gravity of the area several meters ahead of her and to the sides was subsequently increased by a factor of twenty – more than enough to take anyone off guard.
Nearby trees snapped apart under the pressure. Pebbles that had already been rolling down hill sped along like bullets now. The very ground itself appeared to sink in on itself.
Yet – infuriatingly – the man continued to be unaffected.
"You goddamned…!" Raven muttered, pulling out her blade as soon as she continued to observe him running along.
Under different circumstances, she would be tempted to just call this mission a botch and leave. But this was no such case; this bastard was one of the ones responsible for massacring her tribe. Leaving them unavenged wouldn't stand, not even for a moment longer.
But clearly nothing she'd thrown at him was working. The works of a semblance, it would seem… and a most troublesome one at that.
The only option she had left then…
Underneath her helmet, her eyes began to glow with power. Not aura – but with magic.
The power of the Spring Maiden. Her trump card.
Had she been able to pay especially close attention, she might have seen the way the man's right eye twitched at her buildup of power.
The air around her began to swirl violently, falling just short of forming a small tornado… only to then condense itself into her open right palm. Flames also spawned into existence, swirling within the very core of the air ball she'd just formed.
"Eat this!" she snarled out upon unleashing her attack.
The ball of flames and heavily condensed winds was literally thrown by her with all the physical strength she could muster, aimed directly at the man's center mass.
And the man actually raised both arms as it was just about to strike, causing her eyes to widen in shock.
The ball made contact and exploded with a force that dwarfed the power of her previous attacks by several orders of magnitude, rocking the entire area.
And the man came running out of the cloud of smoke and debris, still unharmed… but now with his eyes genuinely focused on her.
"Raven Branwen…" he called out even as he kept on running – running towards her now. "Your presence here is a welcome one."
Raven huffed. "And it only took you this long to even notice me," she shot back.
It was perhaps foolish to continue using the Maiden's power this close to Haven Academy, but with all the chaos still going on and it being the only apparent tool that works on this guy so far, she wasn't about to reconsider her decision.
This fucker dies today, one way or another.
As the man approached, hand now outstretched towards her, Raven jumped into the air – and remained there, using the power of the Spring Maiden to outright fly.
In this case, she flew upwards only by a little bit before suddenly twisting around and shooting down like a human comet towards the man. Flames generated from magic merged with the fire Dust blade that she now equipped and she swung it with all the power she could muster at the man.
Only for him to spin around and backhand the flat side of her blade, the attacking now missing and instead scorching the path leading towards Haven… a place that was a hell of lot closer now than it had been before. Only now did Raven noticed just how close they all had gotten to the academy.
The man then used this same hand to grab her wrist and pull her in for a punch to the stomach. Raven used her free hand to catch the punch but found herself unable to even slow his fist down. Her own hand got buried into her stomach as a result. The only reason she didn't go flying off was because he maintained a grip on her and once more tried to pull her in, this time looking to go for a grapple if the way he was shifting was anything to judge by.
She couldn't let that happen.
With her magical power, she caused ice to spontaneously appear from her hand and begin to spread onto the man – presumably, this was the man named Shen, if she recalled what Shay had overheard correctly. He fit the description Shay had managed to give with his dying breaths.
The man – Shen – withdrew his hand nigh-instantly and instead went for a palm strike. Raven countered with one of her own, except it was coated with lightning that exploded as the attacks collided.
Raven flew far back as a result of the collision, more so because she also wanted to open up some distance again. As for Shen, he too was actually budged, albeit not by too much.
Still, that he was budged at all was something to almost celebrate. But it was also a point of confusion for her as well.
Was the Maiden power truly this strong that it could overcome the man's odd semblance? Or was there another factor at play here that she couldn't immediately discern the nature of?
In either case, she was just glad to have a way to finally take her revenge now. It was simply a matter of seeing it through now.
Unfortunately, now that she did have a way of affecting him, she also had his attention in return.
Shen recovered from his slight budging by kicking at the ground, unleashing an unnaturally sharp attack that cleanly split the ground open while also sending rubble her way. Raven spun about in midair as she closed the gap, even kicking off a piece of rubble in the process to further speed up.
However, she then had to dive low to the ground, nearly scrapping chest-first against it as Shen went for a wide haymaker that probably would've taken her head off – only for her to then receive a kick in the face, the man having clearly anticipated her dodge.
The force was unreal, cracking her mask almost instantly in addition to sending her spinning about. She managed to regain her senses just in time to block an spinning elbow with her blade, but just like before, blocking proved to be the wrong decision, for Shen's attack seemed to push on through and knock her away.
Raven tumbled along the ground but righted herself a split second later in time to slap an open palm into the earth and rely on her Maiden power again. This time, she commanded the very ground to break and warp apart, forming jagged spikes of stone and dirt, numbering at more than a dozen total and nearly seven feet in length.
Shen, who'd begun to run at her, twisted to avoid some of the spikes while throwing a few jabs and hooks to break apart the others that he couldn't immediately avoid. One spike managed to graze him along the left shoulder, causing him to seemingly lose balance, but Raven knew better.
Sure enough, Shen merely used the hit just now to spin about and tear off a chunk of a particularly thick spike, after which he unceremoniously threw it at her with deadly accurate aim. But she was ready for it, using her blade to cleave the spike in two before responding in kind with a follow up swing infused with magic.
Shen slid under the attack and even continued to slide along the now ruined ground as if he were skating across a snow rink. It was honestly an odd sight for Raven to see; it was a movement too graceful in such odd conditions. By all rights, it just shouldn't have been possible.
Shen then fell onto his knees as he performed a series of sweeping kicks. This forced Raven to jump over the man and literally fly into the air before he could get any ideas about grappling her. It wasn't that she feared a contest of physical strength, rather whatever odd semblance this man had made close combat unfavorable even with the power of the Spring Maiden.
With that in mind, she prepared to engage in long range combat again-.
-Only for Shen to suddenly kick off the ground and slam into her. Hard.
Raven wheeze, all the air knocked out of her. The two of them sailed up into the air. Higher, higher, and higher still, in a perfectly straight line. It was unnatural, especially since it didn't feel as though they were going to lose altitude any time soon.
As Shen's arms now wrapped around her, he spun them both around and somehow kicked off the air, not losing even a little momentum as they went speeding towards the ground again.
Despite the painful whiplash, Raven was able to concentrate and force out a huge burst of lightning from her very being, blowing Shen off her just a few feet above ground. Upon successfully blowing him off, Raven swerved hard to avoid impact, only to skim the ground anyways. Still, better this than an outright crash.
"Raven!" By now, Vernal had caught up to them, the highly mobile battle being waged right now having forced the young woman to trek after them more than initially expected. "You fuck!"
She'd growled that particular curse at Shen, who ignored her as he once more landed without issue. He was still unharmed… but his clothes now looked just a tad bit singed from that huge burst of lightning just now, Raven noted immediately.
But before that…
"Don't!" she cried out.
Except it was too late; Vernal leapt at Shen, weapon at the ready. And just like before, as she spun around and attacked with both of her blades, they just halted as soon as they made contact with him. Shen, without even gracing Vernal with a glance, extended a single finger out into her side… and pierced through both her aura and flesh like they weren't even there.
Vernal cried out, only to be cut off as the man casually lifted her up and whipped his hand to the right, throwing her aside.
The power within Raven intensified at the sight of her second in command being treated that way. "You insufferable-!"
"That magic you've inherited," Shen began, cutting her off just as she'd been about to swap out her current blade for another one. "It affords you some means of overcoming my Principle. But it is still not enough. You can't harm me."
Raven's eyes narrowed. Principle?
Well, whatever he means by that, she wasn't about to let his sudden statement go unanswered. "We'll just see about that. Maybe you'll feel differently after I cut out your damn tongue."
Shen's once stoic expression now cracked, a glimmer of challenge in those eyes of his. But rather than respond with words, he chose action. He performed a standard karate punch, albeit a punch that he's clearly honed to perfection. He did this in spite of the several meters of distance between them.
And yet…
Raven nearly spat out blood as something impacted against her stomach.
She'd still been struck. It was simply due to pure air pressure, refined to such a degree that it couldn't be detected and unleashed with such a speed that she wouldn't have been able to react even if she had noticed it coming.
As she nearly hunched over from the shocking blow, Shen ran at full speed towards her. Hastily, she formed a barrier around herself, composed entirely of magic. Much as she was sort of loathed to admit it, said barrier was something inspired by Ozpin himself, the man having been able to generate some of his own at times.
Her distaste aside, it served its purpose by stopping Shen's attempted shoulder tackle almost dead in his tracks. Even then, the force of the collision shook the ground and air alike. Undeterred, however, Shen merely raised the open palm of his free hand and silently placed it against the barrier. Then with a deep breath of concentration, he performed a martial arts technique Raven had heard of but never actually seen:
The One-Inch Punch.
Well, in this case, it was more like a one-inch open palm thrust, but the principle was the same. All of Shen's power concentrated into this singular point, breaking apart the barrier as though it was glass. Pure magic power was blown away, rattling the whole area even more violently than the collision just now.
All things considered, it was quite the intimidating sight.
But even then, Raven stood her ground, instead choosing to retaliate rather than flee. With a multitude of elements coating an ice Dust blade, she deftly swung her blade upwards in a clear attempt to cut open Shen's upper chest and neck.
All she succeeded in doing was just cutting the upper part of his gi.
She barely even got the chance to grit her teeth in frustration before Shen grabbed the blade with a single hand, shattering it while simultaneously throwing a hook with his other hand.
Raven backed away to avoid the hit and then jumped into the air, using her power to fly. She backed away several yards and then several meters, opting to keep a very healthy distance between the two of them now.
Even as anger coursed through her, she tried to analyze the situation.
Whatever this 'Principle' he spoke of was, it clearly afforded him some odd form of protection and offense. He was strong and fast, but more than that, it felt like certain things just weren't applying to him at all. Whenever a person did anything with enough speed, friction would naturally occur. In other words, a sort of pushback effect.
But in Shen's case, there didn't appear to be such a thing. No pushback, no resistance at all. He could just freely move as is, giving the laws of physics a huge middle finger in the process. Without anything to slow him down, he could hit without losing any bit of force behind his blows… and since ignoring physics seemed to be a thing, that also meant the usual effects of being struck didn't apply to him as well.
Raven could only grunt under her cracked mask. If that really is the case, then she had to admit it was one hell of an ability. Simple in how it appeared to work, but with some ridiculous payoffs since it supplemented his very physical combat style.
But then why did magic appear to work against him? Granted, she's yet to harm him, but she was able to budge him well enough and wage a defensive battle. Was it just due to magic possessing greater raw power than anything else in her arsenal? Or was there a different reason for it all?
Raven was abruptly roused from her thoughts when Shen leapt at her like a human bullet. She let out a lurch as she spun vertically to avoid him, only to then have to utilize flames as a makeshift afterburner to launch herself further away when Shen kicked off the air to course-correct.
But he remained focused, once more just kicking off the air in her direction. This time, she launched a huge lightning bolt that struck him just as he prepared to swing his fist. Shen was able to turn the attack into a hasty defense, the bolt striking him in his right forearm. Even then, it still blew him back…
…Only for him to flip around and kick off the air again, this time going back towards the ground. He tore a large tree directly out of said ground and proceeded to travel back into the air before swinging it like an oversized baseball.
Raven twirled over the tree and slammed a foot against it as it passed harmlessly underneath. Unleashing yet another burst of lightning, it split the tree apart into little more than splinters while also traveling along the bursting trunk towards Shen. This managed to knock him away a bit, but hardly as much as she'd hoped for.
The bandit leader outright grimaced now. While she now had some idea of how Shen was pulling off what he was doing, she was still missing some critical info that would properly turn the battle around in her favor.
If she could just study him a bit longer without being pressured…
Shen clapped his hands together fiercely, producing a horribly loud ringing sound that seemed to dig into the very depths of her eardrums. Vertigo was quick to set in and Raven was only vaguely aware of her losing focus, resulting in her beginning to fall towards the ground. All she could do was clamp both hands over her ears instinctively.
This instinct proved to be her undoing, Shen nosediving towards her now.
He collided with her fast and hard, sending them both plummeting until they struck with thunderous force. Surprisingly, the impact helped her sort of come out of her state…
…But not fast enough to stop Shen from stomping directly on her head, fully destroying her mask this time. Nor was she able to react in time to the falling punch he then performed, his entire body weight slamming upon her as his fist struck her chin.
He then got back up, practically bouncing off her, only to then come slamming down again with a vicious headbutt that made her feel like her nose just got concaved.
Shen got back up again immediately thereafter… but this time, he remained still, relatively speaking; his fingers and shoulders twitched fiercely, as if anticipating her trying something.
Except Raven didn't. It was taking all she had right now to even stay conscious… and that turning out to be a losing battle.
Before her vision fully went dark, the last thing Raven saw was Shen's impassive face.
Ha, what a bastard, she thought. Just wait… she'll wipe that expression off him soon enough…
…Just… Just after she catches a second wind…
From some odd meters away, Vernal could only watch as that tall bastard – Shen, if she remembered Shay's words right – stood over a now unconscious Raven… and wasn't that a tough pill to swallow.
While she'd never exactly thought Raven to be outright unbeatable, Vernal still knew her leader and even friend to be a warrior with very few peers, an absolute badass that couldn't possibly be defeated in a one-on-one contest, at least not by the very best in this shithole of a world.
Yet here Shen had proven her wrong. Way wrong. It was enough to make her hurt.
Albeit not as much as she was already hurting.
Vernal had a hand staunching the bleeding from the alarmingly deep wound Shen had inflicted on her with just a finger. Aura was doing wonders in healing the wound already, but even it hurt like a bitch, having damn near punctured her kidney or so it felt.
In any case, she was nearly down and out, only able to watch as Shen seemed to silently revel in his victory over Raven.
With gritted teeth, Vernal prepared to raise one of her blades to attack. Although she knew very well by now that attacks appeared to have no effect on the bastard, pride and indignation in general practically demanded she do something before she even thinks of pulling a retreat.
But just as she even began to roll over from where she lied…
"Mm. Good work, Shen," called out a voice, a woman's.
Having been thrown into some thick shrubbery by Shen, Vernal's current position rendered her almost completely invisible to others coming up the path to Haven Academy, while affording her a fairly clear view of Shen's and Raven's positions.
And that was when others came into view.
Vernal's eyes widened as she beheld a woman, presumably the one who'd spoken. Just like Shay had also described, the bitch was quite big, tall and visibly muscular and with long hair that was mixture of blonde and blue and purple to varying degrees. The woman strode up the path towards the two combatants without a care in the world, even as fighting could still be clearly heard from the capital down the ways.
She wasn't alone either, with three others strolling up behind her. One of them Vernal once again recognized from Shay's description, but the other two were completely unknown to her.
Shen, for his part, merely grunted in acknowledgement of the woman's – Rya's – compliment. "It was simply good fortune that she'd been here to start with."
Rya hummed. "Perhaps. It was a gamble that Branwen would seek us out to avenge her little tribe. Even if she hadn't, we still would've proceeded with our goal. Now then… Bliss. Pick her up."
The vaguely butler-looking guy that had attacked the camp along with Shen immediately moved to pick up Raven. In a fucking princess carry, of all things. In some ways, Vernal thought that'd be even more insulting than just being flung over the shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Raven was their fearsome bandit leader, not some dainty little princess.
The other man there, whose name Vernal didn't know, let out a chuckle. "So, this is Haven Academy, huh? How lovely it is."
Rya addressed him, but not in response to his comment. "Save your tongue for when it's truly needed." Then she appeared to address Shen again. "The path you'd opened up in the capital was a well-made one; even with criminals and police alike having targeted you, they've now turned on each other again. The results of the buildings and casualties you'd brought about. But it is unlikely to occupy them all too much longer. We need to move… and that means you must yet again make a path for us."
Shen grimly nodded. "I'm well aware… but to where?"
Vernal watched with a great deal of tension as a silence enveloped the area. It was almost enough to make the young bandit make a move, if only to disrupt the silence.
"…Below us," Rya finally said. "Yes, I can sense our destination below us. But we will need to make our way further into the academy before we can bother with a path downwards. So, let us move on to the academy's grand hall. I'm certain we may find a path there to make use of."
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen nodded and promptly turned around before running off. Presumably in the direction of this grand hall Rya just mentioned.
Several seconds go by before Rya and the others follow along after Shen.
Having been taking this time to complete healing, Vernal finally shifted positions into a crouch. Taking on Shen directly would be a death wish. And if these others were anything like him, then that would also be one hell of a way to commit suicide there.
And that wouldn't do at all. This revenge mission was a bust, plain and simple… but like hell she was going to just lie around while they took Raven off to who knows where.
"We're feeling hungry," softly spoke the final member of this odd and dangerous group, a young woman with a strange veil over her face.
The unnamed man next to her just grunted. "Wait until we're inside, at least. I'm sure there'll be some fun little treats there."
"Weird fuckers…" Vernal murmured as she began to tail them all.
Leonardo's cameras within the capital may be ruined, for the most part… but the ones on Haven's grounds had still been operating just fine.
This had allowed him to bear witness to the fight that had just finished moments ago, between that of Raven and an unnamed assailant. And to his shock, the latter had won, even after Raven had quickly been pushed into using the Maiden power.
And hadn't that also been a gut punch. The Spring Maiden, so young and frightened, had fled Ozpin's care long ago and with the last known lead of her being on a path towards where Raven had set up camp back then.
That Raven had the Spring Maiden power now… The obvious answer had Leonardo clenching his fist in hurt.
But ignoring that for just a moment, the fact remained that there existed someone capable of combating a Maiden and emerging victorious. Such a feat wasn't something that could be accomplished so easily, especially not when someone as terribly strong and skilled as Raven had been wielding said power. Furthermore, whoever this man is, he'd won without any damage at all. Clearly the work of a semblance or something else equally esoteric, but it was still something never seen before.
In any case, the man wasn't alone… and now that same group was making its way towards the grand hall with an unconscious Raven in tow.
"The Relic…" he whispered.
They all moved with such purpose that there was no way they didn't know about the Relic. How they even knew about it, Leonardo couldn't even begin to fathom, but it didn't change that something must be done.
Alas…
Leonardo's hands balled into tight fists filled with trepidation.
Just about everyone had been sent into the capital to quell the violence. In other words, he was about the only one here in the academy barring non-combat staff like the cooks and janitors, so on and so forth.
…He… He had to be the one to do something then. Not just for Ozpin or even for Salem… but for his own good and that of others.
But could he actually do something?
While Haven had its CCTV system, that was about it. There was no other security measure in place, not like Atlas' academy where security drones and other defense measures existed. This meant that unless others returned from the capital soon, it would be entirely up to him to drive off or at least stall these new intruders.
The very thought made his heart beat like a war drum. He didn't want to do this, not one bit… but he had to.
Oh, all the gods above, he must do something and do it soon; the intruders were nearing the grand hall already. If they were quick about it, they'd soon find the elevator down to the Vault.
With shaking hands, the headmaster opened up the drawer at the very top of his desk and withdrew his weapon – Stalwart. It was a great name for a weapon in his opinion… and wholly unsuited to him any longer. He's lost the right to own such a weapon ever since he fell into despair by Salem's hands. But it was the only thing he's got to fight with.
"Bear with me just a while longer," he said to the weapon as he equipped it to his left forearm, acting as if it were somehow sentient. Just another sign of him cracking under all the pressure, he supposed.
With a quick flex of the arm, switching Stalwart briefly from its inactive state to its active state and then back, Leonardo shut down the CCTV system as he no longer saw a use for it and then took leave of his office.
With a gait that made it seem like he was walking off to the gallows, he proceeded to make his way to the grand hall.
Hopefully, he can be somewhat of use here.
And there we go.
Perhaps not the longest chapter ever and certainly not the most content heavy one either, but I do hope it was a decent start for 2025.
In any case, I got to show off a bit what other Liminals could do. Whereas Eva was a non-combat type individual that was nonetheless dangerous due to her Principle, Shen is clearly a more fighting-oriented guy whose Principle supplements his prowess all too well given he just beat Raven.
However, this doesn't make him inherently stronger than a Maiden, let that be said. In terms of raw power, he's very much weaker than a Maiden still, it's just that his Principle lets him make full use of his inherent physical prowess very well in addition to providing him an insane level of defense against all sorts of things. Raven's loss was ultimately due more to her not fully knowing how much power to bring to bear on him to overcome his unknown Principle.
TLDR: basically, it's a compatibility issue. Once people figure out how Shen works, well, he'll still be tough to beat, but figuring out strategies to take him on becomes easier.
And on a random side note, the title of this chapter is actually a hint about Shen's purpose/Principle too. Let's see if you can figure out what they both are, ha ha.
You will also notice me really delving into the viewpoints of other characters probably not elaborated on too much in RWBY fanfics – that is, Vernal and Raven and Leonardo himself. Just like I said in the beginning of this whole fic, I'd be exploring the PoVs of various characters aside from the main protagonist/antagonist (Ozpin and Salem respectively) and their respective inner circles.
Now, say what you will about the characters themselves, I do aim to give them at least some extra depth that the show probably didn't really give them. Now, whether or not I'll actually succeed in this endeavor, that's entirely up to you guys to decide. I do intend to give it my best shot though, starting with Leonardo as he goes off to confront the Liminals that have entered Haven Academy.
Ah, and don't think I haven't forgotten about all the other stuff I'd set up in previous chapters too i.e. Veratyr in Atlas/Mantle, Alisa with Salem, Valentino in Vacuo, etc. All that good stuff is simmering very nicely on the backburner for now while this little Mistral arc takes priority. All of it will eventually come together and definitely be resulting in quite a few surprises that I do hope will grab your attention.
Now then, until next time everyone. Take care!