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cinebration · 4 years ago

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Give Me Peace (Geralt of Rivia x Reader) [Request]

I always had a vision of the witcher where reader is a siren (alternative, land walking type that can still enthrall ppl with her beauty) and her and Geralt always bump into each other over the years. Ppl are always hunting her since sirens are worth a lot of money so he decides to help her. Geralt refuses to admit his feelings are real for her until he figures out that witchers are immune to siren songs. Basically, lots of angst but a fluffy ending! — Requested by anon

I know this was supposed to have a fluffy ending, but it turned into something else, and I couldn’t bear to change it.

Tagged: @bichibibi

Warnings: death

Gif Source: august-walker

Over the span of five decades, you and Geralt crossed paths more times than he had ever crossed anyone’s, Jaskier and Yennefer included. The hand of destiny seemed to be at work, nudging you both into each other’s path every ten years or so.

It started first by the ocean. You had spent much time there in that first decade, drawn to the sea and your marine cousins, the sirens of the water. You were a siren of the land, beautiful beyond measure but lacking the enchanting voice of your sea cousins. You did not call men to their deaths as they did. Instead, your beauty drove men to madness.

Perhaps you were the more dangerous breed.

For the first few years, your beauty kept you safe, as no man who laid eyes on you and met your gaze was safe from your spell. You could topple kingdoms if you so felt with that kind of power.

But there came men and women who coveted the prize of a slain siren, especially one poisoning the minds and hearts of their very best.

Thus came your first encounter with the witcher, Geralt. Hired by the townsfolk, he sought you out on the shores of the sea, where you sat on the rocks in low tide and gazed out over the choppy waters. Careful to avoid your gaze, he drew near, armed not with his sword but with his wits, ready to be enthralled.

Hearing his step on the sand, you glanced at him and paused, stricken by his rugged beauty. Never had you seen a man whose looks could entice you as you enticed others. Though he averted his eyes, you saw their vivid yellow irises glinting in the setting sun.

“Witcher,” you called, “have you come for me?”

He grunted.

“You would kill me for something I have no power over?”

“You’re driving the town mad.”

“They are driven mad by their own desire. I can’t hide myself.”

“They don’t see it that way.”

“How do you see it?”

He cleared his throat, glanced over his shoulder to see if any of the townsfolk had followed him.

Slipping down off the rock, you approached him. He took a step back, shifting into a defensive stance. You ceased, bare feet digging into the cooling sand.

“If I paid you more than they did to protect me, would you?”

The muscle in his jaw flexed. “Only if you leave.”

With a sigh, you looked back over the ocean. You would miss it, but forests and mountains were your home; to them you would return.

The following decade, Geralt heard news of a beautiful woman bewitching men near Brokilon. At first he thought she belonged to the druids that populated the dangerous forest, but as he heard report after report of men driven to madness, raving of beauty and unearthly eyes, he knew the woman to be a siren.

He knew it had to be you.

The villagers sent him forth to kill you. Traveling through the forest on the outskirts of Brokilon, careful not to trespass, he found a small hut near the road, partially obscured by the trees but by no means invisible.

Through a half-shuttered window, he glimpsed you brushing your hair. In the light from the fire burning within the hearth, he glimpsed the faint lines of sealed gills. He had heard that land sirens had come from the sea centuries before, but nothing had offered so much proof as the vestigial, malformed organs on your neck.

“Witcher,” you called, seeing him through the window, “have you come for me?”

He grunted.

“You would kill me for something I have no power over?”

“The villagers don’t see it that way.”

“What am I to do? I can’t hide myself.”

“You could do a better job.”

“Come into my home, witcher, and warm yourself.”

Shaking his head, he unsheathed his sword.

“If I pay you double what the villagers are paying, will you spare me again?”

He considered for a long moment. You stared at his face, but he refused to meet your gaze. Out of his peripherals, he saw something of your beauty. It was stellar, he would agree, but it stirred nothing more within him than he expected when seeing a beautiful woman.

It almost made him want to meet your enchanting gaze.

Discipline and strength won out, but not entirely.

“Yes,” he answered. “Just leave.”

Sighing, you put out the fire and gathered your things, amounting to nothing more than a small sack over one shoulder.

“Witcher,” you called, “I have been attacked twice now.”

He nearly met your eyes, so sharply did he turn back to you.

“Men shot arrows through my window, tried to set fire to my home.”

“You are a monster to them.”

“So are you, but you are allowed some peace.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Few men think they can kill you. Every man thinks they can kill me. There is peace in the former.”

Shouldering your sack, you struck off down the road, fixing your gaze on the mountains.

Geralt watched you go until even his enhanced vision no longer saw your figure, your words echoing in his mind.

In the third decade, Geralt came upon you by chance. He passed a hunting party made of hardscrabble men practically frothing at the mouth with anticipation. They rained arrows down into the ravine from their position on the mountain face, arrows with fire burning at the ends. Geralt would have walked on if one of them had not cried, “Burn, enchantress!”

Geralt paused to look down into the ravine. A small shack leaned against the wall, situated by a thin stream. You stood in stark relief among the basalt, knocking away the arrows with a poor shield. One arrow caught in your thatch roof, caught fire.

Geralt hauled the nearest archer off his feet, slamming him against the cliff face. The other men spun, glimpsed his white hair and murderous glare. They fled, screaming obscenities in your direction.

“Witcher,” you called, “have you come for me?”

He didn’t answer, unsure how to.

Running into the burning shack, you stumbled out with your bag and watched the rest of your ramshackle home burn. By the time it had been reduced to a pile of ash and cinders, Geralt had made his way down into the ravine. He avoided your gaze but stared at the curve of your neck.

“They grow bolder every year,” you informed him. “See?” Slipping off the shoulder of your tunic, you presented a livid scar not many months old. “They will be the death of me—and I have not driven any of them mad.”

“Sirens have gone up in price.”

“I have no money to pay you, witcher, to spare me.”

He grunted. “I wasn’t hired to kill you. This time.”

“Until next time, then.”

“Wait.”

You obliged, dropping your gaze slightly so he could look on your face. Wary, he only glimpsed it before averting his eyes.

“They’ll keep coming,” he said.

“Yes.”

“What…will you do?”

“Nothing. We all die at the hands of men.”

Geralt felt something strange constrict his chest. “You can go to the Edge of the World.”

“The elves have no love for my kind. We are as dangerous to them as we are to humans. But thank you for the advice.”

Geralt watched you follow the river through the ravine and wondered why he wanted to tell you to stay.

The fourth decade, he was hired yet again—by you. You tracked him for miles, following instructions given to you by a man in the town. No one had been bewitched therein, for you had bound your eyes with cloth, preventing them from being enthralled.

Only as you navigated the unused road did you remove the cloth. After a day of unceasing travel by foot, you approached Geralt’s campsite. Roach whinnied as you drew near, but she did not rear or cry out in alarm. Geralt sprang to his feet.

Having blinded yourself again with the cloth, you stood at the edge of his campsite.

“Witcher,” you called, “I have come for you.”

“Why?”

“I am being pursued.”

“By?”

“A group of armed men. They seek me out especially, not solely because I am a siren, but because I am the siren.”

Looking on your face, he saw weariness and fear lining your features. The tops of your eyebrows were drawn together, indicative of your distress.

“I have no coin,” you told him.

“You have to pay me.”

“I feared as much.” Pulling tight your threadbare coat, you asked, “May I at least share your fire? I have a penny to pay you for some food.”

Geralt hesitated. As much as he wished to help, felt compelled to—a feeling that worried him—he couldn’t help but wonder if it was a trap. A slip of his guard would be all you needed for you to enthrall him and make him do as you wished.

“I will wear the blindfold,” you assured him. “You won’t be afflicted.”

Grunting reluctantly, he tossed you a hank of meat from the spit roasting over the fire. You ate ravenously with less grace than he expected. Only then did he notice how frail you seemed beneath your coat, how few plentiful days you had seen since he last crossed your path.

A surge of feeling coursed through him, one he identified with an urge to protect. Protection wasn’t strictly in his purview, as he was more of an offensive weapon than a defensive one. Yet the urge remained as he watched you warm yourself in front of the fire, eerie with the blindfold covering nearly half your face.

“Have you found your peace?” you asked in the quiet.

“No.”

“A pity. But neither have I.”

“You don’t actually expect to find peace.”

You smiled thinly. “Surely I do. In death.”

Geralt nodded.

“There is a madness in driving men mad,” you said. “I can find no solace among people, and so, living alone in the most terrible of ways—among others—I know what it feels like to be driven mad.”

Geralt watched you as you spoke. The firelight flickered shadows across your beautiful face.

“Few sirens know it themselves. They live free in their youth, reveling in their power. Few make it beyond that. But those that do begin to run, and that marks their end.” You shook your head. “None of us choose this.”

Geralt tried to quell the emotions rising within him. He hadn’t chosen his path either, his life. Destiny had worked hard to bring him here, with all of life’s misery and suffering multiplied tenfold for his status as a witcher. If only the rumors of the elixirs and Grasses were true, that they could make him an emotionless monster.

Instead, he silently suffered beside a land siren who knew suffering intimately.

You disappeared by morning. The band of men pursuing you crossed paths with Geralt a few hours later. Choice words and a rough scuffle sent them back home.

In the fifth decade, Geralt felt drawn to the sea. There was no work there by the ocean, but he drifted there anyway, away from the turmoil of the interior. Two miles away from a fishing port, the beach was unblemished, free of humans.

Only you were there, seated upon a rock at low tide, overlooking the serene waters.

“Witcher,” you called, “have you come for me?”

“I have.”

Geralt mounted the rock beside you, sat down on the rough and slimy surface. You stared out at the horizon, knees held against your chest.

He dutifully avoided your gaze.

“Witcher,” you said, “you shouldn’t fear me.”

He grunted.

“I do not affect your kind.”

Frowning, he glanced up, found himself staring directly into your eyes. They were gorgeous, truly enthralling—but though his heart rate spiked at being exposed to your naked gaze, he felt no different than he had upon arriving at the beach: pained and joyous. He couldn’t believe it.

“See? You are unaffected.”

“I…why didn’t you tell me?”

“What good would it have done? You needed something to fear to still consider me a monster.”

He cleared his throat. “You’re not a monster.”

“Neither are you.”

He wanted to say otherwise, but you were staring at him again. Fighting the feelings in his chest, he reached up and brushed away the hair from your eyes, curling the strands around your ear. The faint gills on your neck revealed themselves.

Leaning forward, he pressed his lips against yours. You kissed him back gently. You tasted salty, much to his surprise.

When he pulled back, he discovered it was because of the tears streaming down your face. He brushed them away, but you shook your head, holding his hand.

“Give me peace,” you whispered, “and return me to the sea. I was never meant for the land.”

Geralt avoided the ocean for five decades after, but the salty taste of your kiss never left him.

#Geralt of Rivia x Reader #Geralt of Rivia #Geralt of Rivia imagine #Geralt x Reader #Geralt #Geralt imagine #Witcher imagine #Henry Cavill x Reader #Henry Cavill #Henry Cavill imagine #The Witcher #requests

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kassandras-one-braincell · 4 years ago

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Soma x Reader - Sear

Bad Things Happen Bingo, prompt: Cauterising a Wound

Can be found on AO3 here.

Warning: contains graphic violence, gore and mentions of death (no major characters)

Red.

Bright, untamed red engulfed Grantebridge as the town is swallowed by roaring flames, cobbled streets drenched in blood. Roofs, market stalls, banners ablaze, smoke billowing into the night, suffocating. Corpses litter the paths, neither woman nor child safe from the raiders’ wrath, mothers collapsed atop their young in feeble attempts to shield them from lethal blows. Drengir bid their fallen comrades safe passage to Valhalla, closing unblinking eyes and laying them to rest with their weapons atop their breast, praying that morrow’s eve they shall feast with the Gods. No raider remained breathing, all having been hacked to pieces by Soma’s men, but the devastation was done.

Scouring each burning home for the injured, you hold your tunic to your nose as a barrier against the clouds of grey and ash, kicking down charred door after charred door, assaulted by the stench of scorched death. Your hand remains firmly clasped around your axe, grip unwavering and knuckles white from defending a longhouse of children and elderly some minutes prior, adrenaline yet to dissipate from your veins. The raiders came in hoards, their numbers vast – they could be lingering amongst the shadows, poised for attack. You have to remain alert.

As you pass the third, fourth lifeless bodies of children – the baker’s sweet boys, you could barely identify through the flaking skin and charcoal – a woman’s petrified scream rings out to your east. Immediately, you take off into a sprint, using the cries of fear as your compass.

Panting, you reach the source of distress: a lady, belly swollen with child, cowering from a stout straggling raider, grinning maniacally with his longsword raised for the kill. The poor woman sob, pleading for her life, for her baby’s life, tears muddying with the blood staining the pebbles beneath her. Without thinking, you tackle the man, ready to accept the embrace of the Valkyljur should you perish for this lady.

At first, you fail to notice the sword cleaving into your abdomen, focused wholly on driving your axe through his jugular, grunting with every swing until crimson sprayed your face. Sweat mingles with scarlet as his breathing stilled, head all but severed from his neck. You pry yourself from atop the raider, muscles screaming. It is only when the lady stares at your stomach with sheer horror that you feel the warmth of your blood seep through your clothes.

Then, panic.

It’s deep. Far, far too deep to be safe. Dirt from your tunic meddles with your severed flesh, the promise of infection imminent, should you survive the night. And fuck, there is so much blood, rivulets dripping onto your trousers. You clutch the wound, praying that your guts don’t spill to the ground, gasping first in shock but now in pain as agony shoots through your stomach with each heave. “Shit, shit…” You take it back; you aren’t prepared to die. I can’t die.

On your knees, staring at your casualty in disbelief, you hear a deep voice cry your name. “Gods, fuck, hang on,” you hear the man curse, unclear with your pulse pounding in your ears. It’s only when he reaches your side, slinging your free arm around his neck that you identify the man as Lif.

As he lugs you to your feet, he urges you to keep pressure on the wound, not that you’d dare remove your hand from its position. “We’ll get you to the longhouse, alright? Stay with me,” he tells you, and you find yourself nodding in futile hope. For a second, your foggy eyes meet the tear-stained ones of the lady you saved. Words didn’t need to be exchanged: her gaze holds a thousand thank-yous.

The journey to the longhouse is an orange blur, the inferno tearing through Grantebridge, a flaming, ravenous wolf feasting upon its prey. Safe from the cinders and torches, the longhouse stands intact upon a hill, the only structure safe from the raiders’ rampage. Warriors rush between the injured, frantically applying salves and gauze to the countless injured. Mothers cling to their suckling babes, mumbling their praise to Freyja for shielding them, while others clutch at their heart in agony as they mourn their losses. The children – gods, those precious children – cry out in horror as Lif helps you to an empty stretcher, you having protected them barely half an hour ago. You muster your strength and give them a reassuring smile despite knowing your fate.

“Soma!” Lif calls out, catching your jarlskona’s attention. Her eyes widen in panic as she sees you, utterly terrified and on what just may be your deathbed, and she rips her hands from the basin she was just cleansing them in, pushing past her men to reach to your side.

Within seconds, your lover is kneeling at your side, fear smeared all over her face. “Soma…” you croak out, on the verge of tears.

“Hush, save your strength, my love,” she whispers, voice hoarse from ordering her men. She tears away the torn fabric covering your wound, gently moving your blood-soaked hand to the side. You whimper, afraid your entrails would seep through the laceration. The way her breath hitched in her throat breaks your heart in two.

“I need a clean sword and some cloth. Now.” A young drengr to your side nods and scampers off, asking no questions, the urgency in Soma’s voice palpable. Your usually calm, collected jarlskona is unhinged, desperation clouding her brain. “Listen to me,” she ushers, reapplying pressure to the gash, her other hand cradling your cheek. “You’re not going to die. I’m going to seal the wound shut, alright?” A stray tear escaping, you nod. She sounds affirmative, and for the first time since the raid commenced, you felt a glimmer of hope.

Some seconds later the drengr returned with the cloth and sword. Soma thrusts the sword into the nearest brazier, eyes wild as she silently pleads for the blade to heat up swiftly. Lif takes the rag from the man’s hand and hovers it above your lips. You open them, knowing its purpose, mentally bracing yourself for the searing agony of cauterisation, and sink your teeth into the fabric when he stuffs it into your mouth.

“Breathe, brave drengr,” Lif says. ��In a few months, an infant’s cry will sing through Grantebridge thanks to you. And you’ll be around to hear it.” A choked laugh escapes you, your body jerking forward, and if it wasn’t for the rag between your teeth you’d call him a sap. But the thought was comforting. Live or die, a new spirit would be brought into this world.

Soma turns to the two other warriors nearest to you. “Help hold her down,” she orders, and they obey, one joining Lif at your arms and the other at your legs. They grip your limbs tight, knowing you’ll thrash against the searing blade. Upon seeing the steel glow amber, Soma takes the hilt into her hand. She moves the hand on your wound to just above it, pressing down to secure your torso in place.

“Look at me, my love,” she tells you. Your eyes connect, pools of grey stormy with determination. She musters a soft smile, and for a split second you gain control of your breathing. You remember this woman would endure the depths of Helheim if it meant you would live another day. You’ll live. Just a bit of pain.

“Remember the springs we found this summer passed? The rabbits sleeping by the water – hold her firm – without a care in the world?” You nod, your clammy hand grasping for hers atop your stomach. She spreads her fingers so you could interlace yours with them, giving you something to cling onto. “We spent hours lazing in the sun, making love and eating blackberries.” The memory washed over you, embracing your mind in hazy warmth. “Gods, you looked ethereal—” The flat of the blade comes into contact with your wound. White. Hot. Agony. You scream into the gag, teeth clenched so hard you think they might break. The sickening smell of burning flesh fills your nostrils as you writhe against the hands restraining you, tears welling in your eyes, body desperate to move away from the blade inflicting this anguish. You knew it would be torturous, but gods this was blinding. Sobbing, you try to find something, anything to focus on, settling on your woman’s face, contorted in distress from causing you this pain. A second, more intense wave of agony crashes over you when Soma flips the blade to cauterise the other half of the large gash. You squeeze her hand hard enough to bruise for weeks to come. Fuck, you want death, you can’t endure this anymore, you want to be back at those springs in Soma’s arms again. “—all sun-kissed in the cool water. I’d die a million deaths to relive that with you.”

Finally, sweet reprieve. Soma removes the blade and tosses it to the floor as the men holding you flat relent. You heave and whimper into the gag, moaning in pain. She leans over and removes the gag from your mouth, the metallic taste of your blood on her hands sharp against your tongue. Her lips meet yours in a firm, loving kiss. “My sweet, brave girl,” she whispers, the pride in her voice tangible. “It’s all over. Gods, you’re so, so strong.” The scar across her face curves as her features twist into a relieved smile.

Exhausted, you laugh in a burst of hysterical happiness, content to be held by your jarlskona.

Grantebridge is in ruins, but home is in Soma’s arms.

#bad things happen bingo #soma jarlskona #ac valhalla #soma x reader

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the-wayward-arc · 4 years ago

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Commission done for a friend. (WARNING! GORE AND TORTURE ARE MENTIONED AND INVOLVED)

Their plan had failed. Kidnap the Arc heir and get the ransom. Easy. Of course, the child put up a fight and force had to be used. Necessary. But then they came, Tyrian and a man known simply as the Hound. Both of them were her mistress's top men in the Grimm syndicate. Why did they attack them? Why were her and her three other associates tied up in the middle of the clearing? Cinder wanted answers and she needed them now!

"I just wanna go home." She looked to the five year old Arc heir, he was clinging to the Hound for dear life, his eyes closed tightly as tears ran down his face.

"Hey! What's going on here!? Why'd you ruin our job?!" The fourth member of Cinder's team yelled out, Bron. A swift kick to the jaw from Tyrian was his only answer. Bron coughed, spitting a tooth as he glared at the uncomfortably quiet assassin. Cinder knew Tyrian, he was never this quiet! He always had something to say! Before she could ponder more, lights could be seen approaching from the tree line along with the sounds of Engines.

An armored limousine flanked by four hummers, two on each side drove up, their lights nearly blinding. Their headlights were turned off but the floodlights on top of each hummer was turned on. They all recognized the vehicles, they were all Grimm syndicate vehicles. Though the limousine in the center, they all knew who that was. Cinder had a small smile on her face. The occupants of the Hummers exited their vehicles, they all looked ready to fight a war. Decked out in full military apparel from their military rifles to the various tactical gear, the only striking things separating them from any actual military branch was their black and red uniform color and their bone white metallic masks. Apathy squad. That was the name of this particular group of Grimm syndicate soldiers. Only used for the extreme of issues and commanded only by on-

Two people exited the driver and passenger sides of the limo. Hazel and his older sister Gretchen Rainart, both dressed in suits. All four watched Gretchen walk to the end of the Limo, opening as someone stepped out, someone they all recognized; Salem, the head of the Grimm Syndicate. She was strikingly beautiful given her age, platinum pale blonde hair kept in half undone bun style. Fair skin with vein like tattoos spreading all over them, a tradition she once stated was part of her family for those that became the heads. Her light blue eyes fixated on the bound for as she walked over to them gracefully. Her heels kicking rocks as she walked over.

"Ha! You idiots are in for it now! Once the boss lady hears you messed up our job, there will hell to p-"

"Aunty Salem!" Bron stopped talking, all four of them froze as they saw the hound put the young boy down as he ran with a limp to Salem. She brought herself down to one knee, arms opened as a loving smile that none had ever seen before was on her face. The boy hugged her tightly as she did the same, her arms wrapping around him as she kissed his forehead.

"Shhhhh, it's okay my sweet knight. I'm here. Your aunty is here." She said with a soothing motherly voice, soothing the crying boy as she sent a death glare at all four of the bound men.

"I *hic* scared Aunty! They said they would *hic* kill me. That they would come after everyone." He cried as he buried his face into her chest, crying.

"Мой маленький рыцарь(my little knight), I'm here now. You were so brave, I'm proud of you for being brave. Aunty is gonna make the bad people go away okay?" She said, a chill of pure fear running down all their spines.

"M-Mistre-" cinder tried to rise, to tell her Mistress this was a misunderstanding! Only for the butt of a rifle to hit her back down. She looked to see an Apathy soldier behind her, they had surrounded them. All their rifles pointed at them. She looked at the crying boy, then to Salem. This boy. The sole male of the Arc family was Salem's nephew. He was her family...a family they all just threatened.

"Stay down." The soldier stated.

"Jaune, why are you limping and who gave you that black eye?" She asked him, Bron and Mercury stiffened as Jaune pointed at them.

"The man with the silver hair hit my legs hard because I tried to run away. He said if I did it again, he was gonna make sure I could never walk again." He told her. Mercury looked at Salem, her glare terrifying him. Then he glared at Cinder, the one who decided to go against Salem's orders.

He rose up, "DAMN YOU CIND-" the butt of rifle slamming against his jaw sent him to the ground, two soldiers picking him up and putting back onto his knees.

"Silence! You will speak only if Salem allows it!"

"who gave you that black eye?" She asked him, ignoring the commotion as she moved locks of Jaune's hair to get a better view of his eye. Her anger rising as she could see the outlines of a fist among the swelling. He pointed at Bron.

"He did." Tears started forming and it broke Salem's heart to see her nepphew had gone through so much pain, the redness on his wrist did not go unnoticed. "H-he said h-he would kill me and our f-family. Saying h-he would do bad s-stuff to m-momma and my sisters."

Bron's mouth was dry. He couldnt speak to defend himself. What the boy said was true. Of course he was just stating it to keep the kid in line but he didnt know that. Not would Salem care if he didn't mean it. Salem looked at him, there was death promised behind that stare.

"You arm, why is it like that?" It was Cinder's turn to stiffen more than she already did. She kidnapped and beaten Salem's nephew. Threatened his family with death or well Salem's family.

"T-to keep me in the room. The metal hurt when I tried to get out of it. She gave me a knife and said I could leave if I just cut off my hand." Cinder didn't dare look up. She knew they had screwed up immensely. There was no mercy. No way to talk themselves out of it. There was only punishment.

"Gretchen," the older woman stepped forward, "take Jaune into the Limo, give him water and some snacks. Hes had quite an ordeal."

"Yes ma'am." The giant of a woman extend her arms out as the boy hugged Salem tighter. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, whispering in his ear as he nodded. He allowed Gretchen to carry him as she began to walk away. Salem slowly walking towards the four.

"Wait!" Jaune cried, causing Salem to immediately turn her head with concern. Gretchen walked towards Salem. "Aunty, the girl with the green hair...she was nice to me. She gave me food and played a game with me." Salem looked at Emerald, the girl not wanting to look back.

"Is that so."

"Yeah! She was nice to me, when the man over there punched me, she wiped away my tears and tried to make the pain go away." Emerald smiled a bit, internally thanking the boy for remembering. Cinder however was seething with anger. She didnt know Emerald was doing this!

"I see, go rest now мой маленький детеныш(my little cub), I'll be there shortly." Salem turned away, waiting for the door to the Limo to slam shut. Once it did, she looked at Cinder.

"Cinder," there venom and anger in her voice, despit her calmness. Gone was that motherly tone. "What were your orders hmm?"

"Mistress, please just all-" a hard slapped shut her mouth. She looked at Salem, seeing her hand raised with a glare. "What. Were. Your. Orders?"

"T-to S-stand by and wait for your orders." She answered, recovering from the slap.

"What did you do instead?"

"We acted on our own."

"And?"

Cinder clenched her teeth. "We kidnapped the Arc heir and held him for ransom..."

Salem look towards Bron as she walked over to him. Two soldiers bring the bound man to his feet.

"let me see your hands." She commanded, holding her own hand.

"Ma'am, T-this was all Cinder's idea! If we had know-" a fist to the gut by one of the soldiers silenced him. Salem still waiting for him to show her his hands. The two guards did for him, Salem examining his right knuckle and seeing it was somewhat red. Her anger rose more, knowing what he had done to Jaune.

"This the fist you used? Hazel." The large man immediately walked over, clasping Bron's fist into his own before crushing with all his strength, a sickening crunch was herd as Bron screamed in pain, his fingers all broke with a few bones poking out. "His punishment isnt over yet, stand him up." The soldiers immediately raised the man up, cutting his bound hands as he went grasp the broken one.

The others looked at Salem as she walked in front of them, then hearing the snarling and growling. All their eyes widened when they saw three large wolf like creatures. Beowolves, The result of the Grimm syndicate cross breeding Russian bear dogs with Wolves, to create vicious attack dogs to be sold. The dogs were large, with jet black fur and vicious fangs as they snarled. They charged at the 3 bound people only to be stopped by their chain leashes.

"Каблук!" The dogs immediately sat down, looking at the one who ordered, Salem. She looked at Bron who looked back fearfully.

"I have done everything in my power to ensure my family is never involved in the other side of our business. From bribing officials, forcing others to look the other way, to even assassinations against anyone that looked at my family the wrong way. Then you four," she looked at them all, seeing their fear. "Decide to act on your own, kidnap my sweet nephew and make him endure pain that I worked extremely hard to ensure he would never experience!" She shouted, making them all flinch. "Bron, you threatened to kill him. You threatened to kill MY family. To do unsavory things to my not only niece but my great nieces as well." She walked forward, the man trying to back away only to be stopped by Hazel.

"Ma'am! Please!" He begged. "It was Cinder's idea! Please you have to believe me!" He cried, tears running down his face but it didn't faze Salem. She snarled at him.

"Run."

"W-wah?" He asked through sobs.

"Run. You have 3 seconds." She said, turning around. "3..." the beowolves stood up and bron knew what was going to happen. He stepped back, breaking into a sprint towards the treeline. "2..." he ran, as fast as he could. Praying to any god that would listen to save him. "1." Salem turned around, "Убийство.(Kill)" The beowolves immediately broke into a run, free of their chains as they chased after their prey.

Bron ran, he could hear the barking from the canines. He ran, despite his lungs burning. He had to keep going! He had to survive! He wasnt going to die here! He- a Beowolf lunged onto his back, pushing to the ground, before he could react they were on him. Biting into his flesh, ripping chunks off as he tried to fight back. One grabbing a hold of his broken hand and violently tugging at it, he screaming as one bit into his exposed stomach, a chunk being ripped off due to the powerful jaws.

Salem looked at the surviving three as they listened to their former teammate being ripped apart. His screamings echoing throughout the forest. Screams for help. To make the pain stop. Forgiveness. There was no forgiveness. No mercy. They had brought the wrath of the devil himself onto themselves. Mercury could clearly hear the flesh being torn off as the screams died down before silence.

"Возвращение!" A soldier yelled. Within a few minutes, the canines came running out, all three recoiled as they saw each one of them was covered in blood. In their jaws, each held a piece of Bron. One held his mauled tattooed arm, bits of flesh hanging loosely off it. The other held what looked like intestines in its mouth but the other was the worst. A piece of Bron's face was held firmly in its jaws, his lone eye hanging out of the half torn socket. Emerald couldn't hold it in and vomited. Cinder tried her best to stay composed despite the brutality she had just heard and seeing its aftermath. Mercury was shaking, the assassins always the one doing the killing. Now he was on the other end.

"Emerald. The kindness you showed my nephew will not go unnoticed, your punishment will not be as severe. But you will still be punished, just not now. Others are ahead of you." Salem stated as she walked past Emerald. Silently thanking Jaune.

"Mercury." She looked at the young assassin as he looked away.

"Look at me." He still looked away. Immediately a soldier grabbed his head and forced him to look at Salem. He could've sworn her blue eyes were gone, replaced by a pair of glowing blood red ones. He blinked and her eyes were normal.

"You beat Nephew's legs. To ensure he couldnt run far. You threatened to make sure he couldn't walk again if he tried to run again. Am I correct?"

Mercury could only nod. He dare not lie.

"You will not die today. No, I still have need of you. But you will be punished and it will be the way you threatened my sweet boy." Mercury's eyes went wide as the soldiers grabbed him, throwing to the ground and started to tie his legs above the knee caps, a piece of wood placed between his legs, also above the knee caps as it painfully forced his legs to spread apart despite being bound. The soldiers held him down.

"Make him experience the pain he brought upon my nephew." She ordered, before Mercury could say anything, something was shoved in his mouth.

"You may wanna bite down my dear Mercury, or else you'll bite off your tongue." She told him as a large soldier walked foward, a sledgehammer in hand. Mercury eyes widened as the soldier raised the sledgehammer high and immediately brought it down to the side of Mercury's right leg. Forcing the limb to bend into the wood. He screamed into the leather as the hammer came down again onto his right leg, another swing and another followed until his right leg was a right angle. His bones sticking out.

Emerald shut her eyes as the soldier repeated the same action onto the other leg. Salem unfazed by any of it as she looked at Cinder. Each sickening hit of flesh tearing and bone breaking made her flinch. Eventually it stopped and she looked at the gnarled form that was Mercury, he had passed long ago from the pain.

"Treat his wounds. Make sure he lives." The soldiers bowed before taking the broken assassin away. The beowolves were still gnawing their prizes.

"Take Emerald away, put her in one of the vehicles."

"Yes ma'am." One soldier stated as he picked the thief by the arm and forced her away. She dared not look at Salem or Cinder. Cinder glared at her as she was led away.

"Cinder. You have no one to blame but yourself." Salem snarled as Cinder looked at her. She was immediately brought to her feet to look at her boss.

"Ma'am! Please, I acted on how you taught me! To take the chance when it presented itself!" Cinder told her, hoping she can get out of this.

Tyrian walked forward, holding a long box in front of him with both hands. Salem turned around, opening the box's latched lid carefully to reveal a sword Nestle in soft fabric.

"Crocea Mors. This sword has been in my family since the time of the Roman Empire. During the reign of Julius Caesar. It was his sword, then it was melted down by one his descendants and reforged into the sword you see now. Carried by our ancestor Joan of Arc before her death." She waved the sword a bit, holding it up high as she inspected it. "Each Arc since then has held onto the sword, swearing upon it to protect our family no matter what. To honor our promises we make. To ensure any foe who stands before us falls. It will be Jaune's soon. When he comes of age, it will be his." She looked at Cinder. "You harmed my family Cinder. I had such high Hope's for you as well, but you still have some uses to me, so I won't kill you."

That didnt make Cinder feel better. "Raise your right arm out Cinder." She ordered, at first Cinder didn't. Salem looked at Hazel as the man stepped forward and forced her to. Cinder tried to fight back, but to no avail due to the man's strength.

"Mistress! Please! It won't happen again! I promise!" She pleaded, Salem handed the sword to the hound, as he raised the blade above Cinder's arm, right above elbow.

"Oh my sweet Cinder. I know. But what was it you said to my nephew?" The Hound raised the blade higher. "The only way to get out was to cut off your hand?" The blade came down In one swift motion. Severing Cinder's arm. Cinder fell to her knees, shocked. She looked at her severed limp limb as it was thrown towards the canines as they began to rip it apart. Then down to her stump, blood pouring out. The shakily looked at Salem, who simply cleaned the blood off the blade before carefully placing it back into secured holder. She began to walk away, as the pain finally registered to Cinder. She screamed and flayed on the ground as she tried to stop the bleeding.

"Go, make sure she lives. She still has uses to me." She told the soldiers. The canines were put back into their cages as Hazel opened the door for Salem. She saw Jaune was fast asleep, hugging into Gretchen, Salem extend her arms out, wanting to hold the small child. She cradled him as snuggled into her, a sweet smile on her face as she alerted her niece that he was Safe and the proper authorities were dealing with the people involved. She slowly ran her fingers over his swollen eye, then looking at his wounded wrist. "The bad people are gone now, I'll always protect you my sweet knight." She kissed his forehead as they drove away, the sound Cinder screaming could faintly be heard.

#jaune arc #rwby #rwby salem #salem rwby #cinder fall #mercury black #emerald sustrai #hazel rainart #gretchen rainart #Au #commission snippet #snippet

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firemblem-fics · 5 years ago

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Hello, If you are still taking requests, could you write any of the prompts for Yuri please, anything is fine lol. Thank you! I love your blog uwu

betrayal. | yuri

50 Wordless Ways to Say I Love You: Giving them a tight hug that makes them lose their breath

-> Pairing: Yuri x Female!Reader

-> Warnings: Cursing, Violence, MAJOR CINDERED SHADOWS SPOILERS

-> Genre: One-Shot (1.3k), Some Fluff, Mostly Angst

-> A/N: This is like as canon-compliant as I could make it with the addition of the reader idk, I’m sorry it’s not quite “original” as much as it’s me rewriting the scene

“Finally, you’re all awake. Good morning, sleepyheads. Or is it a good evening?”

Yuri’s voice pierced through your skull, making your head throb. You heard the other Wolves talking to him- they sounded angry- but you were too weak to even open your eyes.

“You- you scoundrel!” Constance yelled, “You are unfit to speak with us, liar that you are!”

Yuri waved her off, seemingly uncaring about whatever the hell he was doing. You tried to keep quiet, fighting off a groan of actual pain, as you opened your eyes and peered up. Yuri was standing tall above the four of you, his sword in his hand. You, Constance, Balthus, and Hapi were tied up, lying on the ground in a chamber. What the fuck?

“What exactly are you trying to do here?” Balthus pressed.

“Aelfric intends to reenact the Rite of Rising.” Yuri sighs, then explains. “By offering up the blood of the four Apostles, you can bring someone to life. Saint Seiros attempted the ritual 995 years ago, but not enough blood was given, so the ritual was a bust. And now, through extreme persistence, Aelfric has found and gathered the four of us, with our Crests.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with Y/N? She doesn’t even have a crest.” Hapi asked.

You were more awake now, gently sitting up as memories came to you. That’s right- Yuri had betrayed everyone. The Wolves, the professor, you… Your eyes burned with tears. The little bird certainly was only a rat. Yuri looked at you, a bit too long to mean nothing, and walked to the side, twirling his sword.

“She’s simply too strong. To have her go free is to risk too much. Aelfric can’t let this ritual fail. He spent his years raising us in the Ashen Wolf house all to ensure that the Rite of Rising was successful.”

“You mean to say that he intends to drain our blood? To kill us?!” Constance’s voice raised.

“Yeah, no, count me out.” Hapi joined in, “Wait- the number four includes you too, right? You’re gonna die too?”

“Yep. That’s the idea.”

You’d had enough of this talk. Yuri- Yuri wasn’t like this. You refused to believe it. He had been nothing but sweet to you, was it all really just a lie? Struggling to find your voice, you finally cried out.

“I can’t believe you!” Everyone’s head snapped towards you. “You- you filthy liar! You’re risking your life and everyone else’s for what? Some dead bitch? You’ve spent your whole life with these people to stab them in the back?”

“Y/N-” Yuri opened his mouth, but you cut him off.

“No, no! Fuck you, Yuri Leclarc. Or are you lying about your name too? I can’t believe I trusted you- or any of us. You took advantage of everyone’s kindness and now you’re throwing everyone’s life away.” You spat at him. If you weren’t avoiding his gaze now, you would’ve seen hurt flash in his eyes.

That hurt hardened quickly as he saw Aelfric watching from the corner. “Shut it. I've lived through Hell and worse. After clawing my way here, you really think I wanna die?”

“Then why throw your life away for the likes of Aelfric?” Asked Balthus.

“Some things are more important than my own life.” Yuri’s eyes shifted back to you for a moment, “Some things are worth protecting.”

“You’re not making any damned sense-”

“It would seem that you want to be punished severely, Yuri.”

Suddenly, Aelfric revealed himself, walking to Yuri with a threatening aura. Yuri only scoffed, defiantly speaking back to him. You couldn’t understand much, now, your vision was spotty with your migraine. You felt like throwing up, but that didn’t seem quite appropriate right now.

“-If I must, I will kill your mother alongside your dear people.” Aelfric finished his little speech as you focused on soothing your nausea. You kept blacking in and out between the conversation, missing bits of it. To focus on staying awake, you tried to grab the dagger that was strapped to your waist in order to cut yourself free.

“The whole ‘evil villain’ outlook doesn’t look good on someone as pious as you, Aelfric.” Yuri laughed. You paused, wondering why he would insult his boss.

“Yuri-bird, I could-”

“Not yet,” He hissed at Hapi. You continued to fidget, getting your ropes to the blade and beginning to saw through them.

You were about halfway through when three figures, coated in masks and dark outfits came forth and took hold of the three downed Wolves. A fourth walked in front of you, raising his hand to knock you out once more. You flinched back, awaiting for the impact, but it never came. Opening your eyes, you saw Yuri holding the man’s wrist.

“You will not touch her.” He threatened, “Or else.”

The figure left and you could only sit back and watch as Aelfric sliced the four Wolves, spewing some goddess-awful monologue to Yuri. Bells chimed and Aelfric began to look panicked, much like you were. You said you hated Yuri, but that was far from the truth.

In the past time that you had gotten to know him, his sly, cunning antics had begun to grow on you. A lot. Before you knew it, you had found yourself becoming quite fond of the house leader, wanting to fight alongside him and spend your time conspiring with him. With as big of a crush that you had on the boy, it was only normal that you would feel so betrayed by him. Hell, you weren’t even going to die (yet, probably), and yet you were still just as upset as the other wolves.

“Oh, and just so you know, I’ve been working for Lady Rhea since before I ever began working for you.”

Your utter surprise at Yuri’s words made you snap the last bit of rope that you had to cut. So, he was on your side the whole time?

“It matters no longer. The ritual is almost done. Just a little bit longer…” Aelfric tried to reason- with Yuri or himself, you couldn’t tell.

Yuri scoffed and you began to stand up, drawing your weapon. “Don’t think for a moment-”

“That I’ll let anything happen to them!” You yelled, suddenly charging towards the man. Your fist collided with Aelfric’s jaw, knocking him to the ground as the other Wolves stood up.

“Seriously, Boss, did you have to tie us up so tight?” Balthus complained, rubbing his wrist.

“Sorry, Balthus,” Yuri laughed, “I figured those little tears would be enough for you to break through the rope.”

“I hate to interrupt the relief party,” You walked up to the group and shoved the blade of your weapon against Yuri’s throat. “But I’m still quite angry, and I’d like to take it out on some people I actually can beat up.”

Yuri gave you a watery smile and gently pushed down the blade, tilting his head at you. “I’m sorry.”

You scrutinized Yuri for a moment before dropping your weapon and rushing towards him, knocking him back a few steps as your arms wrapped around him. You heard him grunt a little and you smile, squeezing him even tighter. Yuri eventually relaxes and wraps his arms around you as well, resting his head on top of yours. “Don’t fucking do that again.”

“Do you still hate me? I think you do, because you’re squeezing me so tight I can’t breathe. Not complaining, though.”

You looked up at him, ignoring the professor and the other knights as they filed into the chamber, ready to fight. “No, I could never. Even if you really had betrayed us…” You looked away from his gaze, but he tilted your chin back up.

“I couldn’t betray you all. That would mean never getting a bone-crushing hug from you again and now that it’s started, I don’t want it to stop.”

You laughed and tip-toed up, pressing a light kiss against his cheek. “Whatever, you sap. Let’s go kick some ass.”

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem x reader #fire emblem imagines #fire emblem three houses x reader #x reader #fire emblem three houses imagines #requests #yuri #yuri leclerc imagine #yuri leclarc imagines #yuri leclarc x reader #yuri leclarc #yuri leclerc x reader #asks #lay writes #ask prompts #writing prompts

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strykingback · 4 years ago

Text

War is Coming...

Location: Odin, The Capital City of the KIngdom of Artorias.

Time: 8:00 AM

OST: Victory for Artorias

____________________

The streets of Artorias was filled with cheers of citizens who had received the announcement of Atlas’ fall with soldiers marching down the streets looking forward and some of them so overjoyed that their war with Atlas had finally come to an end. Parents, Husbands, Wives and Children hugged their loved ones even attempting to march with them.

Despite it being Imperius Prime who destroyed Atlas and Mantle it was enough for the Artorians to finally feel sated after months of fighting. Now they can have a respite. Which every soldiers unit lined themselves up in front of Daedalus Corner. Inside the Grand Hall of the Artorian Council was Glestchner and Hans walking together.

“Brother, full glad I am to see that you are alive after everything those savages put up against our forces….but I must ask you something where is Salem?” Glestchner said which Hans stopped walking.

“Salem was killed by that of the Prince of the Brumelians and The Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. As for Watts he was captured by an Atelier Agent so far we have no spot on his location yet. But We do have two things now….” Hans answered. “And that is?” “The Relics of Knowledge and Creation. How lovely both of these would be…. Thanks to Cinder.” Hans said which both him and Glestchner looked behind themselves looking at Cinder who had a confident smirk on her face. “Still… you used the last answer for the Relic did you not Cinder?” Hans asked looking at the Fall Maiden.

Which she could feel that confidence fall back a bit being questioned that feeling many eyes being stared at with Hans Elite guard prepping themselves which she had no choice but to say it. “Y-Yes… I used the Relic of Knowledge to find out what Ruby and her friends were planning...then I used the Relic of Creation to-” Cinder spoke which prompted Hans to put his hand up telling her to stop which he snapped his fingers with one of the Elite guard bringing up miniature V-PAD showing the footage from Atlas. “I do not care about Han’s so called plans! I just want to kill Ruby and I have the power to do so and after I am done with her I will kill Hans and his useless brother next, Tyrian, and whoever gets in my way!” Cinder shouted on the recording towards Neo who seemed unfazed by her shouting which the recording ends there which Hans returned the V-Pad to the guard stepping backwards. “So you had plans on killing me? I will admit this is very unpredictable of you Cinder little did you know that you have to be careful with what you say.. For your words can become consequences…” Hans said “Guards… remove her Grimmified arm and also… make sure she loses her Maiden Abilities… Permanently.” Hans said with Cinder preparing herself to attack with her eye glowing before she felt something pricked against the back of her shoulder which she grabbed it with her human hand and looked at it feeling drowsy trying to approach Hans before falling down. As two members of the Elite Guard picked her up and carried her away. “Now brother.. Time for your speech it will be broadcasted to all of Remnant… and thus we shall ascend as the fourth kingdom replacing Atlas once and for all.” Hans said placing a hand on his brother's shoulder with Glestchner returning a soft smile as he walked out of the Hall along with his brother.

_________________

Location: Actus, Capital of Brumel. War-Room.

OST: Pride..

Time: 9:00 AM

_________________

Rodrigues looked at the empty podium waiting for Glestchner to begin his speech whilst Guangxian who was busy hacking away ready to get things started with Rodrigues’ speech instead. Which the King himself had spent days conversing with the Knights of the Roundtable, and the Brumelian council about the action Brumel should take and it was Unanimous. Declare War…

Brumel would be going to war for the first time in fifteen years and this time it would be with a vengeful wrath this time around.

“Activate the Sleeper Agents..” Rodrigues said leaving the room with one of the War Room Attendants calling the numbers of the Artorian sleeper agents… -Back in Artorias-

A Phone Went off in three different places One in an apartment, another in a security guard position in a broadcast station, and finally in a Soldiers pocket who was talking with some family members with each one picking up their phone as they answered with a brief “hello” with all of them hearing this one phrase….

“For the Glory of Brumel…”

With all three freezing up and hearing their mission objectives in their head, with the apartment sleeper agent leaving his apartment and going to the broadcasting station, the security guard who moved to shut off all cameras grabbing his pistol and leaving his post into the guards break room. Which they all looked at their former ally who had their gun raised at them with everyone trying to scramble to pull out their pistol only to be met with bullets to their heads sighing softly as he left the area of carnage to go meet with the broadcasting crew.

The soldier sleeper agent left his family saying he had something to do, meeting up with the Apartment agent with both nodding at each other and going to the broadcast station which both had their own objective there. Which the soldier explained to staff that this person was selected by Hans to help the broadcast team which the two were escorted by the security agent as when all three arrived at the door they prepared their weapons which the Soldier gave the Apartment agent a pistol. Finally opening the door and closing it to the confusion of the broadcasting staff as they were met with bullets as all of them were killed….

Which the apartment agent hopped on and took out a USB drive he had from when he went on “Vacation” beginning to upload it into the stations mainframe which back in Brumel Guangxian smirked knowing that agents were getting the job done which he and the Apartment agent worked together on the hack finally opening up a connection Brumel which Rodrigues’ can broadcast his speech not only to the Artorias but the rest of Remnant as well which after a few minutes passed the hack was complete. All the Apartment agent had to do was wait until Glestchner said something that would change it from the speech to Rodrigues doing his speech.

Back to the Grand Hall came out none other than Hans and Glestchner with Hans taking a seat with his most trusted Generals. With many soldiers and citizens shouting the salute of Artorias.

“HAIL ARTORIAS!!!”

Which Glestchner smiled preparing to speak with the salute dying down as everyone in Remnant with the exception of Atlas….

“My people, sons and daughters of Artorias. It has been done, the Atlesians who had laughed at us has now been eliminated from the world of Remnant and to dust it returned!!! We have proven ourselves in the face of a most contemptible opposition but we had risen and shown our pride! I thank you the soldiers who had joined us against our Atlesian foe! We have Rebuilt Our Nation, We Have Regained Our Strength and WE HAVE BECOME THE NEW FOURTH KINGDOM TO REPLACE ATLAS ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!” Glestchner said with Pride. With Vacuo and Vale’s people looking on with horror seeing what remained of Atlas until it was switched over to Rodrigues’ sitting behind his desk on every screen in Artorias, Vale, and Vacuo.

“You will not be such a fourth kingdom…” Rodrugues spoke on the screen.

“Whats this?!” Hans said putting his finger up to his communicator, “What is happening?” He said with an angered tone.

“Sir, the broadcast station is not replying, we have zero conncection with it at all and are sending teams to check it out over.” A reply came over which Hans nodded.

OST: Atelier

“For years we had merely did our best helping wherever we can within Remnant, the Atelier Agents, The 105th Atelier Rifle Division, and much more. Yet, we too had attacked our Atlesian brothers and sisters. But We found it in our hearts to forgive them as they were led by a cruel dictator.” Rodrigues spoke.

“Such foolishness and they suffered for their mistake when they-” Glestchner spoke.

“Yet, if we only knew of your plight we would’ve helped you. We could have helped stabilize and return your kingdom to its former glory. Instead you allowed a son to murder his father in a planned attempt to destroy Atlas… instead you had succeeded where we had shown mercy in taking the lives of our Atlesian brothers and sisters and going as far as to destroy their home.”

“I know this, My son.. Had told me this HANS AMADEUS. That a son who murders his father who sought to converse with the Atlesian council for aid and succor is a fool to do so!!! This is no longer a reconciliation this… is what we shall do. The Kingdom of Brumel hereby declares War against Artorias… may the Brothers Grimm have mercy on you, your soldiers, and its people…. Enjoy your days of peace as they will be short-lived.” Rodrigues said with the broadcast shutting off with an explosion going off where the broadcast station.. And smoke rising from it.

Which many people including soldiers who thought they were doing this with a good cause started walking away and with many civilians calling out Hans for what he did but others getting in arguments thinking it was the right thing to do…

War was coming… and is Artorias prepared for it…? Only time will tell..

#[Sometimes A Story Has Its Heroes- Drabble]#[A Wise King of Honor- Rodrigues]#[Grand Leader of Artorias- Glestchner]#[Symphony of Destruction- Hans]

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calliecat93 · 4 years ago

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It’s been a long year everyone, but at last we have arrived. RWBY Volume Eight. This is the fourth volume I’ll be doing text reviews of, which feels crazy. I’ve been watching this show more or less form the start, and I can safely say that this is the most scared I’ve ever been. Not because of the quality, I have high hopes for that. But we know how the last volume ended. We knew that it was going to carry over into this one. And it was even MORE tense than we expected. It’s gonna be one heck of a Chapter 1 review, I can say that.

Before that, we have a new opening! Sadly, to my knowledge, the song title hasn’t been announced yet. But other than that... oh man. There is a LOT to unpack here. SO much to analyze. So much to speculate. Once more Jeff and Casey gave us a banger, and Casey was NOT kidding when she said it was dark. But before we proceed any further, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way

(Warning: This post WILL contain spoilers for RWBY V8 Chapter 1. If you have yet to see the episode and do NOT wish to be spoiled, PLEASE scroll past this post. You have been warned.)

We begin seeing Mantle int he state we’re used to, but it glitches. The blues and whites shift into reds, fires and chaos are widespread, and the Grimm are wreaking havoc. This is going to be what Mantle looks like the moment that Salem strikes the city. The one watching this all unfold? Ruby. She failed to stop Ironwood and the division between our heroes, Atlas, and Mantle is greater than before. The poor girl can only watch in horror as Mantle burns, Atlas continuing to hover above... for now at least.

The theme oft the volume, contrast to last volume’s themes of trust and fear, is mistrust and division. The first chapter demonstrated this, but I’ll save that for then. But here? We have the logo causing a divide between Ruby herself, and all of her allies. I could be reading into this too much, but I do have to wonder... si something going to happen that causes Ruby to strike out on her own? Do things go badly and she’s the only one who doesn’t quit? Does the pressure get to her and she does something that causes everyone, ever her own teammates and sister, to turn their backs on her? It’s hard to say, but I don’t think that Ruby is coming out of this 100% the same.

Ah, isn’t this nostalgic? Our girls really have come far. Ruby went from a naive, innocent girl with an overly idealistic dream to a true Huntress who wants to make lives better after witnessing how bad it can really be. Weiss when from a spoiled rich girl suffering form neglect and a controlling father, to a defiant young woman determined to reclaim her family name her way. Blake has gone from a frightened girl to a woman broke free of her abuser’s control and is fighting for both equality and for her loved ones. Yang was a confident, yet reckless girl with abandonment issues and while she went through great loss, she came back even stronger and shining even brighter.

The girls have changed. They have grown. They’ve lost their innocence along the way, but they survived and kept moving forward. But while they could, another failed to do the same...

The general has completed his descent into villainy. He is now a cold, heartless tin soldier who is willing to take any step he deems necessary to protect Atlas. Even if it means cold-blooded murder. Even here, there is nothing but coldness in his eyes and as the shadows engulf him, we see the image of Atlas fall into ruin. We also see Clover’s badge, and the images of his remaining teammates and Qrow. Marrow in particular just looks uncertain about everything, a major contrast to how upbeat he was last volume. Harriet... just looks like she has been consumed by hate and rage. And if I had to guess, it’s going to be aimed at Qrow. She may claim to not be friends with her teammates, but losing Clover is going to have some very, VERY bad affects on her and the others. Especially under Ironwood’s influence.

We see Qrow downcast before Robyn offers him a hand in support. Yeah, think it’s safe to say that these two are gonna launch some kind of prison break. Looking forward to it~! Then we cut to Oscar, clutching his head and looking like he is in pain. He’s surrounded by Grimm and it looks like he’s int he Grimm Whale. We know that Salem is after him, so... yeah, my concern is VERY high. Also we see Salem in a new form and... umm... the apparition of her in V5 has now been topped in... help us world.

Returning to the theme of division, that seems to be central especially for Ren and Nora. Last volume, they were in conflict with Nora unable to get Ren to open up, even after they finally kissed. Here? It seems the drift is only going to grow. Ren glances at Nora, before facing away. Nora had been facing away, but then she glances back at Ren before turning around. She just looks so upset and pained as she stares at the man she loves. Along with Nora willingly splitting from Ren in Chapter 1... it’s gonna be a ROUGH volume for Renora shippers everywhere.

We come to the Schnee Family. Weiss and Winter walk past each other. At first, Winter looks like her usual, composed self. But as she passes her sister, her attire changes to have her new cybernetic features. her composed expression shifts into one of sadness and maybe even guilt. Weiss seems to notice, looking up with wide eyes before the scene shifts. We know that the two will be in conflict now due to their opposing sides, even though neither clearly wants to be. Chances are they’ll meet face-to-face again, and it is NOT going to go well as they must decide whether or nit to fight each other on their respective sides.

Then we see Whitley and Willow. No Jaques, though we know he will be appearing. Willow continues to look tired and depressed, and I can only hope that somehow SOMETHING goes better for her here. But then we have Whitley. Despite his role being minor, Whitley got hit a heavy blow with Jaques arrest curtesy of Weiss. But here he looks like he’s trying to look calculative... but his fear is shining through. The kid is in a bad place and I doubt that he’s broken form his father’s control. Will Weiss help him out of it? or is it too late?

Then we shift to a chess board. We have Salem, her pawns all ready and charging ahead with their attack. Now I knwo nothing about Chess, but clearly the Queen is winning. Ironwood is on the opposite side, all of his chess pieces fading into dust as the board breaks away. He stands alone, completely open to checkmate. The King is about to be overthrown. Ironwood has driven off hsi allies, and the remaining are likely either going to soon follow or fall to Salem’s forces. For all his efforts to save Atlas, all that he is done is secure it’s downfall, as well as his own. Yeah, even if by some miracle he realizes his mistakes, I don’t think that James is coming out of this alive, and it will all be by his own doing.

We see Watts being Watts, typing away. I have to wonder... does he somehow escape form custody? Or does ironwood willingly let him free for his side? The guy is desperate, he’ll do anything to win, even strike up a bargain. Which Watts would absolutely take and use the access for his own means. Maybe even some hacking...

Then we have Pietro, himself hard at work. Behind him is a mirror, and his reflection turns to look at Penny. Compared to the bright smile she had int he last opening, Penny looks scared and dishearted. She is looking at her hands, closing her eyes as though in resignation. We see her reflection glance at her. To just increase my fears of a potential ‘Watts hacking Penny’ theory, here are some images from later in the opening.

The first has Penny up above the heroes. At first I thought it was just her flying up to get into a battle stance. I didn’t realize how she was facing the gang face first. Right in front of Amity, and in between Atlas and Salem. Then from the tail-end, we have this 2D effect showing her eye. It goes from the usual green color, to a bright red, which soon engulfs the rest of the lines. Yeah... I know I panicked about Penny getting hacked last volume... but I am even moreso now!

A snowflake falls into Ren’s palm before promptly meting. Due to the color fo his glove, it looks like a flower petal. He looks down at it forlorn. Jaune puts a hand on his shoulder and he, Yang, and Oscar are there. Btu the support doesn’t do anything to change Ren’s expression. We then see a flower petal fly by Nora, who tries to catch it. She fails, but Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Penny appear at her side. This perks her up as she gets into a battle stance. Once more, emphasizing the divide between Renora and showing us our current team dynamics. They have separate goals, but they aren’t divided... at least, not right now.

Then we have this shot of Ruby and Yang. I’ve bene predicting for a while that there was going to be a conflict between this two. They have VERY different ways of handling things, and last volume made it clear that while she stood by her, Yang was having doubts about Ruby’s decisions. I’ll go more into that when I review Chapter 1, but I am hoping that this shot shows that no matter what issues they have between them and even if they end up arguing, they WILL work past it. They’re still sisters. They still love each other. They still ultimately have the same goal. No matter what happens, they will be there for each other.

After a really cool battle sequence (I’d post the pics but this si already a MASSIVE post), it freezes. When it does, we see Cinder walk past it. At first, she is displaying the demeanor that we expect from her. Confident, egotistical,a nd wearing that sick smirk on her face. You know the one. She also walks past neo and Emerald. Neo looks exactly what we expect, annoyed. Emerald looks more optimistic though, also expected. I think it’s safe to say that Neo’s gonna turn on Cinder fairly soon, especially after Chapter 1. But will Emerald? We’’ve been hoping, but will this be the moment she finally realizes that Cinder doesn’t care about her and get out? Only time will tell.

But Cinder’s usual smugness stops when she grabs her arm in pain and screams. Her Grimm Arm. As many have noted, the arm has slowly been consuming her body. It went form just up to her elbow, to now engulfing up to her shoulder. Not to mention Winter managed to slice it off, and it grew back in a pretty violent manner. Given what we saw in the start of the episode, it looks like we may FINALLY be getting the Cinder backstory and truly understanding her motives. I think that Cinder will reach a breaking point in this volume. One that is NOT gonna be pretty or do our heroes any good.

We get the usual villain lineup which ends at Salem, We get a close-up of her eyes, and in them are the Relics. No shock that those are what she’s aiming for. Then we see both the Lamp and the Staff, and they both glow and let loose the blue smoke. It brings up a question... we all know that the Gods will be summoned if all four are brought together. But what would happen if two are brought together? If the two are used together, what will it cause? Either way, both of them are gonna be vital in whatever happens.

The image glitches again, going form the Grimm devastation to Ruby looking out at Atlas. She is with the others, her scythe being use to cause a division line between the two current groups (as seen in the top image). Then, the ice cracks beneath her feet. She and the rest of Team RWBY fall into the depths below. Remember that scene in the V6 opening when Qrow got dragged down by Grimm arms? And how that symbolized his conflict int he season as he endured a downward spiral? Well... it might be Team RWBY’s turn.

The girls fall into the water, sinking into the abyss. But there are light particles surrounding them, and Ruby opens her eyes to see the light above. The source? The Staf fof Creation? She reaches up for it, only for a group to Grimm arms to grab her and keeping her from going upward. The lyric accompanying this is “Sometimes it’s worth it all to risk the fall and fight for every life.” Could this hint to Ruby deciding to use the Staff to stop Salem? If she does, then this will guarantee Atlas’ Fall f she makes even a minor mistake. Is that a risk that she is willing to take? What will happen if she does so? How will her team react? Will this cause a greater divide? Like I said, Ruby ain’t gonna have a good time in this volume...

Then we have the following words appear.

Happy Ever After. The same words we see at the end of every fairy tale. But life isn’t a fairy tale now, is it? The words get crossed out and twisted. Until at the end, we are left with...

Yeah... if you needed more proof that this volume was going to be dark... here you go.

We end with the girls weapons landing at the bottom of the abyss. The last to do so is Crescent Rose, and we cut to it emended in the ice with the moon behind it. It’s a shot that reminds me GREATLY of Ruby’s first ever appearance in the Red Trailer all those years ago. And aas the petals scatter, we have the credit to Monty Oum. Your show has come so far Monty, hope you’re proud right now.

This opening was fantastic! The song sounds like a VERY twisted version of Lets Just Live, being about the heroes realizing the true horrors of their world but there’s no real motivation to keep living this time. Now it’s all about how bad things have gotten, and ends with wondering if sometimes, it’s best to take a risk to save everyone. As far as where I rank this, song-wise it hasn’t topped Let’s Just Live, Rising, and Trust Love, but I think it’s beaten the other four. That can always change though. Animation wise... I’m still trying to decide if it’s topped Opening 7 or not. But it is very, VERY good. The fact that they managed to make it look this good despite the work-at-home environment is commendable.

And... that’s it! I hope you all enjoyed this! The review for Chapter One will be coming soon. But for now, thank you all for reading, and let’s get ready for one Hell of a volume~

#rwby #rwby8 #rwby spoilers #rwby reviews #rwby musings #callie reviews

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katsukiboom · 5 years ago

Note

Hello!! Hope you have been taking care and resting!! If it’s ok, could I ask a scenario with Sero (male reader if possible or gn!). Reader and Sero works together as pro heroes, and one day Sero isnt feeling his best and collapse in the middle of a fight, reader goes apeshit because he is seriously injured. All the drama, all the stress, all the laughs when sero and reader realize he just have the flu, maybe a love confession at the end?? Thank you so much for sharing your write with us!

Thank you so much for reading my dude! It took me longer than I thought since I went back and forth between writing, discarding then writing again lol but here it is! I hope you enjoy it my dude! I kept the reader gn but if something slipped pls let me know!

Ko-Fi || Commissions

———————————————————————————————————–

ThatWednesday morning the streets were quite busy, everyone going side to side toget their Easter decorations and presents in due time for the upcoming weekend.With a little bit of struggling, you made your way through the crowd as youwaved hello to some of the civilians that recognized you and even took somepictures of you in your new outfit. You were beyond excited to live your lifeas one of Japan’s most popular heroes, and being with your best friend only madethings even more interesting.

Sero hadbeen with you ever since high school and quickly became your metaphorical otherhalf; you did everything together to the point where people were alwaysconfused when you were without the other, and whenever you brought up the factthat it could do so much as annoy your friend, he was quick to shot thosethoughts down to remind you how much he enjoyed your company. You figured youhad fallen for him somewhere between graduation and landing your first job as asidekick, as he had never let go of your hand throughout the tough times and alwaysmade you feel like there was a positive side to every little bad thing.

But thatday something was off – Sero was always the one to keep his trademark smilewhen faced with stress, fear or any other emotion people could describe as‘negative’, so you wondered why he was looking so gloomy as he joined yourpatrol, the bags under his eyes almost reaching his cheekbones. He lookedterrible yet he always managed to awaken a spark within you, and that day thatsame spark told you to keep an eye on him in case things happened to get dirtyquickly.

- So, Cellophane, - you teased after greetinghim; he only nodded in response. Taking note of the slight red that tinted hischeeks, you assumed he was not up for joking around. – You look like a trainran you over twice, is everything okay?

- Yeah,don’t worry about me, - Sero’s voice was more like a whisper and you almost hadto lean in and ask him to repeat himself, but he made sure to give you alittle, weak smile after that to let you know that everything was… sort of okay, but you knew better thanto believe it. Before you could even reply to that, he cut you off, his bodymoving faster than anything else. – Has anyone given you the daily report forthis part of the city? – He asked, and you could see his hands tremble just alittle bit.

You had towalk faster than usual whenever you went out patrolling with him, but that dayit felt more like you needed to. –They’ll be sending it shortly from the office, - you replied with littleenthusiasm. – Are you sure you’re okay? We can go back if you want, I’ll comeback later. You don’t look so bright today.

- Yeah, youtold me, - he retorted, his smile disappearing only for a moment.

And beforeyou could say something else, a strange smell appeared in the air, one that youwere all too familiar with – ashes and smoke. You looked at your partner with aworried look and gave him a simple nod before running off, activating yourjumping quirk to be able to get there much faster. You managed to get to thetop of a building and got to see a big black cloud covering half of a block afew streets away, and you texted Sero the location, not before hesitating asyou pressed the ‘send’ button. Whatever it was he was dealing with would haveto wait, although you hoped he wouldn’t overexert himself if it came down to afight.

You gotthere just a minute after him and witnessed a bunch of police officers on thefront lines trying to control the crowd of civilians gathered around theentrance of a building, murmurs and whispers going around about some fewhostages that had been taken by the villain. The flames engulfed threedifferent places yet they seemed like they were dying out, and you took just alittle second to assess the situation and figure out what the best course ofaction would be.

Your planswere cut off however by an explosion coming from the farthest building, amuscular body walking out of it with smoke covering his form and keeping ithidden from everyone’s view – some people didn’t doubt to scream and run forcover yet most stayed in place, frightened looks on their faces as the villaincalmly made his way towards the crowd.

- Finally aworthy opponent, - the deep voice spoke through the smoke. You recognized it immediately;it was Cinder, the one new villain that had been threatening most of that partof the city. Clenching your fists, you gave Sero a side glance and saw hiseyelids closing just for a second. – I was waiting for some goddamn heroes tofinally show up. Didn’t imagine it would be… you two, - he added with disdain,and it only worked to anger you further, even if you knew that was the idea.

You werethe first one to attack, using your quirk to jump at him and kick his chest,although his strength greatly bested yours – you barely managed to make himtake back a few steps before he grabbed one of your ankles and threw you away,but just as your back was about to crash against a tall column something wrapped around our body andpulled you back. Strong arms caught you midair and you looked up to see aflustered Sero above you, holding you close to him until he realized yourposition. He gently placed you down before confronting the villain himself,shooting tape at him yet it was easily deflected. – We have to work togetherfor this, - he mumbled to you, and you understood what he meant.

You jumpedback and forth between the buildings as Cinder threw balls of ash and smoke yourway, your quirk barely helping you to avoid them as you distracted him enoughfor Sero to make his move. The first few tries were unsuccessful to say theleast, but the fourth time was the charm; Sero got a hold on his right arm andyou took the chance to activate your best ability, Jumping Jax, to kick thevillain right on the jaw and then once more on the sternum.

You thoughtyou had him that time, you really did – but when he gained his composure and lookedat you with rage-filled eyes, you knew you had jinxed it. Cinder let out ascream as his body started emanating more and more smoke, turning thetemperature up before he let out an explosion much like the one from earlier. Thewave caused by it threw you back to the crowd, who managed to move away just intime to avoid you hitting them and causing someone else to get hurt.

- S-Sero, -you grumbled as you shakily got on your knees, but as you scanned he area allyou could see was the debris and small flames. – Where are you? – You couldhear the crowd get louder and louder as heels clicked beside you, and youlooked up to see a woman with long blue hair and a cheery smile with a red,small whip on her right hand and her left clenched in a fist. – Midnight, - youwhispered, and she only looked at you and smile.

- Long timeno see, kiddo, - she said before walking forward. – Are you working on thisalone?

You didn’t havethe time to reply as Cinder let out a loud roar and charged towards thecivilians, but the more experienced pro-hero was able to meet him halfway andblow her aroma right on the villain’s face. It took little over three secondsfor it to have the desired effect but even in his dazed state he kept onrunning, and you put yourself in front of the crowd ready to jump on him again.

What you didn’texpect were the many tape strands wrapping around his body and holding him backuntil the substance in him finally made him surrender.

Following thedirection the tapes came from, you were able to finally locate Sero inside oneof the buildings across the street – it seemed as if he had hit a shop window,which explained his current state: his forehead was bleeding as well as hisleft arm, his uniform torn apart on the chest area and stained red as well. He lookedeven redder than before and, as soon as your gaze fell on him, he gave you aweak smile before completely collapsing down inside the store while all youcould do was watch in anger and sadness.

Screaming hisname, you ran to him without thinking twice.

The soundof beeping filled the room and the smell of medicine was strong, even forsomeone in his state. Sero wasn’t really sure what woke him up but it certainly wasn’tbecause he was feeling better already – his body felt heavy and his eyelidswere still droopy, the blinding white lights above him preventing him fromfully understanding where he was. It hurt to look sideways but he tried anywaysuntil he saw a figure to his left, a black blur that became clearer and cleareras he focused his sight.

It was you sitting on one of the twoarmchairs next to the big window, your head slightly to the side as you slept seamlesslyeven in that position. He was confused for a moment until he tried to reach outto you and noticed his bandaged arm and the many tubes connected to him, andwhat had happened came back to him as he let out a pained sigh. Had you takenthe villain on alone? No, he remembered seeing Midnight there as well. Were youhurt from the attacks? You didn’t seem like it, although there were a fewscratches on your skin but those were only superficial.

He’d never speak about his feelings withanyone, as it made him feel a bit weird to say he was in love with his bestfriend. Your face looked peaceful and he wondered what could be going throughyour mind; he couldn’t help but feel guilty for all he put on you. Sero regrettednot informing you about his condition and making you worry, but above all heregretted not being able to comfort you and tell you that everything would beokay. His heartbeat started picking up at the blurry memory of you running tohim before he passed out due to the high fever he had been suffering that day,and the beeping of the machines rose as well, making you open your eyes in theprocess.

- W-what is going… - you mumbled, stilllooking sleepy, but as soon as he looked at you with a small grin you openedyour eyes wide and jumped off the chair, going to his side faster than he could’veimagined. – You’re awake! You’re finally awake, you asshole! – You exclaimed asyour hands cupped his face carefully. Your eyes were red and he wondered if youhad been crying. – You could’ve told me you weren’t feeling well! I would’ve sentyour ass home without a single doubt, you put yourself in danger!

- (Y/N)…

- Don’t get me started on what happened toyou! Do you think it’s nice to see you all covered in blood and with brokenbones? The doctors told me you had two broken ribs, your left arm wasfractured and you got the nastiest concussion on your head that luckily barelygrazed your skull so don’t give me that crap and tell me to ‘be calm’ – hey saidyou’d need at least four weeks to recover. How do you think I felt? How doyou think I’d feel if something worse had happened?

- (Y/N)!

- No, shut it! – He tried talking but everytime you cut him off and raised your voice a little more, to the point whereyou were almost screaming. Every word you spoke felt like a knife going intohis body, stinging like salt on a wound, and he knew it was all because of hisown stupid decision. He deserved it. – I’m always going around worried aboutyou, trying to get you to be okay, and you pull this shit off! You’d be just asmad as I am right now if it were me. Had you thought about it? Had you thoughtabout me being in your position? – Sero noticed your eyes had started to water,and before he knew it your whole expression went from furious to sad. – I just…I can’t afford to lose you.

The sudden confession was the last straw asyou broke down crying, carefully placing your face on top of his chest andletting everything out. For a moment he was frozen, your words sinking inslowly, but once he understood what you meant he smiled and softly raised onehand until he was able to put it on top of your head, caressing your hair asyou cried. He dared not to say anything that could break the mood anddefinitely didn’t want you to feel he’d be mocking you in any way, so all hedid was hold you the best he could until you finally rose up, wiping your faceand wincing a little bit.

- Does anything hurt? – He asked, worriedthat you might have some hidden injuries. You just shook your head as you satnext to him on the bed but kept your sight away, instead looking out the windowto the afternoon sun. – I understand what you’re saying, and I won’t deny it. Ideserve all of it; I didn’t think I was also putting you at risk here. Had yougone to get me and had Midnight not been there… - he shuddered at the thoughtand decided it would be better not to finish that line. Instead, he reached outand took your hand as tightly as he could, your warmth making him feel betteralready. – I’m just glad it was all over and that you’re here with me. I… can’tafford to lose you either, I can’t think of anyone better to look at when Iwake up.

Giving you his usual smile, he witnessedthe most incredulous look appear on your face as you turned around, your facealready flushed. – W-what did you say? – You asked with a small voice, and hecould tell he was about to cross a line that couldn’t be rebuilt if broken, buthe decided to take the chance anyway.

- I think you heard me right the firsttime, - he added without hesitating. He moved a little to look at you better,supressing the pain his sides felt whenever his body did anything. – I’m gladyou’re always here for me and I’m here, just being a mess. Am I a bad personfor wishing you always to be with me? Am I selfish if I want you all to myself?– No response came from you but he saw your eyes watering again, the exactopposite thing he had expected. – I’m sorry, I’m speaking nonsense now, - helet out a sigh and tried to pull his hand away from yours but you stopped himby holding onto it.

It was his turn to look dumbfounded. – Do…do you mean it? – You whispered, another few tears slowly falling down yourcheeks.

- Have I ever lied to you?

You looked down at your feet, then at thewindow and then back at him, this time with a big smile on your lips to mirror his.– If you’re selfish for wanting that, then I guess we’re both selfish, - youreplied, removing your hand from his and placing it on his face. – I just neverthought we’d be doing this… especially in a hospital room. - You both laughedas the whole situation dawned on you, but there were still things runningaround his mind to ask you, things he wanted to know before anything else. –The doctors told me you had the flu that day, and it’s been two days and you’resupposed to still be recovering; if I also get sick, you’ll have to take careof me.

- I’d gladly do so any day, - he retortedwith a teasing tone, although it was cut short by his body already feeling nearits limits for the time being. Letting out a groan, he leaned back onto thepillows and closed his eyes, hoping that would help with the headache that wasbuilding up.

- You’d better get to rest, love, - you said,and it was enough for him to turn red again with the new nickname you used forhim; he had waited a long time to confess to you, and it had all happened soquickly he still hadn’t had the time to even realize it. His heartrate monitorwent up just enough to make you giggle, and you placed a soft kiss against histemple. – Don’t you worry now; I’ll be right here when you wake up.

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elesianne · 5 years ago

Text

A Silmarillion fanfic, chapter twenty-four

Chapter summary: The winter before their wedding, filled with preparations and waiting.

Rating: Teen and up audiences; Chapter length: ~2,800 words

Chapter notes: This is a short chapter but the next, last one is a behemoth.

(Read on AO3)

Chapter XXIV // A winter of waiting

My beloved betrothed Tuilindien

begins the letter that Tuilindien receives from Carnistir only a short time after he went home.

I found our house still standing like Curufinwë and Findaráto assured us at the harvest festival, and in fact they had made more progress on it during my absence than I had expected. Apparently their personal disagreements only spurred them to work harder, in some sort of one-upmanship. The basic structures of most walls are finished, and there is even a roof on most of the garden-side rooms.

I have taken up residence in the most finished room, for myself as well as Cinder – that is what I named the kitten. It seemed the most fitting name for a black cat with orange eyes. Cinder did not much enjoy the journey here, but is settling in well. Her mother seems to have taught her well, for she has already caught two mice. She doesn't appear to be as sociable as Snowdrop, though, but an independent spirit who likes to keep her distance from me while sneaking to sleep close to me at night.

Curufinwë does not approve of my moving into a building site, as he put it. He told me that I seem to have lost the last of my dignity and concern for appearances now that I am certain that you will marry me.

I told him that it is my house and I will live in it if I want.

The truth is that I am tired of the daily journey from the palace. Not because of the distance, mainly, but because there is little privacy there and I had to waste time every day talking to people I didn't want to talk to but had to for grandfather's sake, at meals and upon leaving and coming back at night. Here there are no distractions, just Cinder and I, and Makalaurë's house is near enough that I go there for meals as often as Tinweriel tolerates me.

Spending the summer with you was delightful, but so is throwing myself into work here again, seeing our house grow every day, making it ready for you.

I miss you already, though, and look forward to your winter visit.

With love

your Carnistir

My darling Carnistir,

I am glad to hear that you found the house in a better shape than you expected, and especially that little Cinder is making her contribution by catching vermin.

I do not think that living in a half-finished building must mean loss of dignity, and it would certainly not make me any less likely to marry you if I hadn't already decided that I will do it. I cannot help wondering, though, as winter approaches, whether you and Cinder will be warm enough. Have you any source of heat there?

It is silly of me to worry, I know. You know how to take care of yourself. But I spend a great deal of time thinking of you these days, even more than before. I am writing my treatise but it does not take that much time, and I do not have any particularly ambitious goals for it. I write a little, I help look after Aiwië, I spend time with Cirincë (I have kept up the riding lessons we began in the summer) and I think of you. That is how I spend my days.

I admire your industriousness and I love you for working so hard to make us a home. I only hope that you make enough time for rest as well, though you now live there in the middle of your work.

As for me – as the forests and fields on the mountainside settle into winter, as the days grow cooler and many of the songs of birds fall into silence, I find that my heart has settled into waiting. First for my visit to your city, and then for the move to Tirion. I have already gone through all of my things and decided which ones I will bring with me. I am just waiting to pack them and give most of the rest to Cirincë.

Carnistir, I have never before found waiting this hard. Perhaps because every day, I say goodbyes in my heart to the people and places and things I have always lived among – and every day, I miss you so. I feel bare and alone now that you are so far from me that I cannot feel your spirit in our connection, no matter how hard I try.

When I miss so that it feels like it must surely eventually become unbearable, I take off the ring you gave me and I read the words inside. I feel warm, then, and comforted by the strength of your affection and your promise to me.

And I count the days.

Your Tuilindien

As late autumn is turning to true winter, Tuilindien rides to Tirion. She has only a groom and a maidservant with her this time, for this three-week visit is for her to begin building connections and making plans for her future in Tirion, as well as for wedding planning.

She stays at the palace once again, as a guest of Indis and Finwë. The queen takes her role as hostess seriously. She introduces Tuilindien to all of her ladies, many of whom are Vanyarin, and invites her to so many meals and activities that Tuilindien's days are easily filled. She has no time to feel lonely, though this is her first time in Tirion without any of her family.

For she spends time with Carnistir, too, of course, and is invited to dinners at his family's house as well as Makalaurë and Tinweriel's.

'It is very nice to have Carnistir and you both here', Tinweriel tells Tuilindien the first night that they dine there. 'Carnistir has been a very frequent dinner guest lately, but despite my best efforts in training him, he is still not much of a conversationalist. When I asked him to tell him about his summer on the plains with you, he spent the entire meal explaining winemaking methods to us.'

'He devoted himself to learning them', Tuilindien replies.

Tinweriel smiles at her over the rim of her wine glass. 'A loyal reply', she notes. 'But tell me, what did you two do for fun?'

Tuilindien does her best to answer that. On the whole, dinners with Makalaurë and Tinweriel go well. She is glad for it. Makalaurë and Carnistir are close, and Makalaurë's house is also physically much closer than Carnistir's parents' house. Fëanáro and Nerdanel's home is almost on the opposite side of the city from the property Carnistir bought. Tuilindien has not dared to ask whether that was a contributing factor to Carnistir's decision to buy it.

Besides dinners and entertainments, Tuilindien visits members of the scholarly community too, finding out what projects are going on and whether there is something she could contribute to.

In the end she decides on teaching, though. For there is a need for a teacher of language to the children of the court – the offspring of royal advisors, courtiers and ladies-in-waiting, court musicians and poets, seneschals and officials. Tuilindien will teach some of the more advanced students varieties of Quenya that they do not yet know, and the basics of Valarin, and the script of Rúmil.

Fëanáro raises his brows when she tells the family of her plans. 'If you believe that taking on the role of schoolmistress is a wise beginning to your life here –'

'I do', Tuilindien interrupts, for she is learning that it is best to assert herself with him.

'Then we wish you all the best in it, dear', Nerdanel completes her husband's sentence. 'May your students be more obedient and interested than our little terrors.' She smooths down Telvo's hair affectionately while he protests the description.

Three weeks pass fast. When they come to their end and Tuilindien prepares for farewells again, Tuilindien pleads with Carnistir once more to let her come see the house.

'No.' Carnistir dodges her kiss. 'You can kiss me as many times as you like, vanimelda – I shall like it very much if you do – but it will not make me show you the house yet. Not while it is half-built. It is coming along well but at the moment it looks hardly better than the old house at the time of our betrothal. I want your first impression of it to be good.' He grows serious. 'You do still trust me with the house, don't you? You've told me that you have faith in me making it a good home for us both.'

'Of course I still trust you. I am only curious, so very curious', Tuilindien admits sheepishly. 'Impatient, too. But I will bear it. Let us go through the plans I have drawn for the garden instead. What do you think of this layout?'

Carnistir bends down to look at her notes. They are inexpertly drawn but that does not seem to bother him, to her relief. He points out some things that would not work, and Tuilindien listens intently and makes corrections, and touches his knee every now and then.

Tuilindien is relieved when, upon returning home for the rest of the winter, she finds that while she still counts days and looks forward to her wedding, the impatience does not make her unable to enjoy the time she has left with her family and friends.

She spends much time with Cirincë, for her younger sister is sad. Tuilindien's temporary absence appears to have made her rapidly approaching more permanent departure much more real to Cirincë.

Tuilindien tries to console her with promises of visits, to little effect. In the end they just spend as much time together as possible.

Lirulinë spends more home in the family home than she has for years, too, though that might be because of the many eager arms that there are there to cuddle baby Aiwië. Little Cantiel, only a few years older than her niece, is fascinated with the baby too, and babbles to her for hours about everything and anything.

Cantiel receives her mother-name at midwinter, the whole family with aunts and uncles and grandparents gathered to hear it.

Sailiel gathers her youngest daughter close to her and raises her voice for the announcement.

'It is a little early, but she is not the baby of the family anymore', she begins. 'And now that she speaks and plays with language, I would like her to have a name with more personal meaning.' Tuilindien's mother glares at her husband who gave their fourth daughter a father-name meaning 'fourth daughter'.

'I knew I could trust you to gift her a better name', Ingolmo says innocently.

'Darling daughter.' Sailiel lifts Cantiel in her arms and brushes her hair tenderly out of her eyes so she can gaze at her. 'I wish to give you the name Wilwarindëa.'

Cantiel tilts her head. 'Like a butterfly.'

'Like a butterfly', her mother confirms. 'For you run around the house and garden, just for fun, from one family member to another like a butterfly flutters from flower to flower.'

Wilwarindëa grins and looks over her mother's shoulder to her sisters. 'I didn't get a bird name', she declares to them jubilantly. 'I got a butterfly name. The only butterfly name.'

'Congratulations, Wilwarindëa', Tuilindien tells her, suppressing her own grin.

Preparations for the wedding have gone well, especially when one takes into account that the bride has participated in them by letter for many weeks. Finwë and Nerdanel have borne principal responsibility in making the arrangements, with Carnistir relaying Tuilindien's latest wishes and vetoing some details on his own behalf.

'We will not have an entire orchestra playing at the wedding, Cáno. It is a celebration for family. If you keep suggesting it, I won't let you and Tinweriel play at all', Carnistir had to threaten during one meeting.

'It's an orchestra Tinwië and I belong to, so there's no reason it couldn't perform at a family celebration', Makalaurë argued. 'There was an orchestra at our wedding.'

'It was your wedding', Carnistir pointed out between clenched teeth. 'This is mine and Tuilë's. We're less…' he wants to say pompous or dramatic, but that would be too rude '… grandiose people.'

Finwë played peacemaker. 'People do have different tastes and desires, Makalaurë. I'm certain that Carnistir will be very grateful if you and Tinweriel hold an intimate performance at the wedding. You do not need an orchestra to make beautiful music. Is that not right, Carnistir?'

'That's right', Carnistir muttered, and with that the matter was finally settled two weeks before the wedding.

Arguing with Makalaurë had felt strange. Moving back to his childhood home for the last two weeks before the wedding feels stranger. He only does so because his mother and brothers beseeched him to.

He finds his room much like he had left it, only a little tidier. Carnistir runs his fingers over the books and papers and other things he'd left behind as unnecessary. After over three years away, it almost feels like they belong to another person.

It is no matter that the room he lived in since he was a child doesn't feel like his anymore. He has a new room elsewhere, one that is only missing the finishing touches now, and he didn't come to his family home to spend time in his room anyway. He came to spend time with his family.

And he does just that, as much as he can spare time from working to make sure the new house will be habitable if not finished by the time of the wedding.

He plays with his youngest brothers and takes them riding and listens while they tell him everything they've ever thought of – that is how it seems anyway.

He tells them that he won't see them any less when he has married Tuilindien. More, very possibly, since he won't be as busy with the house project anymore.

He feels certain, without asking Tuilindien, that his little brothers will be welcome in their house even if they visit often and leave a mess behind. It is rather wonderful, being certain of things like that.

'My new house is on the other side of the city but that is not a problem', Carnistir tells Ambarussar. 'You've become good riders in the last few years. You are not to just hop on your ponies and ride there, but if you ask mother or father for permission and for a groom to accompany you, it should be no problem for you to visit frequently.'

The twins beam at him and Pityo lets out a small cheer.

'You must always be courteous to Tuilindien and do as she asks', Carnistir hastens to add.

Both Ambarussar looks offended that Carnistir thinks that they might not be the most courteous children in all of Aman. 'Of course we will', they say in unison, which adds to rather than relieves Carnistir's fear that they definitely won't behave.

He ruffles their hair, anyway, and tells them to go beg the cook for something sweet they can all share.

A week before the wedding day, Tuilindien with her whole family arrives in Tirion.

Carnistir embraces Tuilindien tightly as soon as he sees her, and tells her, 'You are a day late.'

Tuilindien's eyes are bright with tears of joy. 'The roads were terrible', she says with a half laugh, half sob, trailing her hands through his hair. 'The mountain-paths especially were muddy with melted snow. It is not the best time of the year for travelling.'

'But it is an excellent time for a wedding, for I could not wait a day longer than the six we still have left.' Carnistir holds her close, nuzzling her neck. 'I have no words for how glad I am that you are here to stay this time.'

Tuilindien sighs. 'As am I, my love, to truly stay with you finally, with no goodbyes in sight.' She strokes a gentle hand down his back. 'Right now, though, we must join our families for dinner.'

'They can wait a moment.'

'They have already waited. Come now, Carnistir.'

At dinner and during the socialisation afterwards when his family member and relatives whisk Tuilindien away from him, he observes her, especially in relation to the few women already in his family. Tuilindien is shorter and more slender than his mother, and dressed in lighter colours, blending in more with the marble of the palace; she is more quiet and more still than Tinweriel with her witticisms and wide gestures.

Yet he knows where she is in the room at all times, no matter how many more colourful or louder people she is surrounded by. Even without looking he knows where she is at any moment, and feels better than ever for knowing that she is there, never far from him.

A/N: In the next chapter, the long-awaited wedding day with its night.

I can't believe there's only one chapter left! And then some sequel fics, if I manage to write them.

Also: total wordcount for this fic is now

!!!

#starting to feel seriously sad about this ending :|#what will I do with myself once it's all posted haha #tolkien fanfiction #silmarillion fanfiction #caranthir #caranthir's wife #tuilindien #your spirit calling out to mine #my fics #elesianne's fics

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becomestorm · 6 years ago

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ramble about ren’s lowered emotional intelligence when depleted of aura ( and unable to use their semblance to calm themselves. )

this has only happened a few times in the past, but if you have witnessed it ; the behavioural changes of ren when they run out of aura are slightly different than who they are while their aura is still running. i’ve said before that who ren would be if they didn’t have empathy as their semblance, would be a completely different person, and this is only one facet of why ren acts differently when their aura, and therefor their semblance, stops running.

chances are, if you’ve seen ren without their aura, you’ve caught them immediately after an emotional breakdown, which is the only point in which their semblance will trigger on its own without ren’s consent. eventually, when ren runs out of aura it leaves them in their most vulnerable state because they cannot rely on their semblance to act as their emotional barrier, and ren is already running high on whatever emotions triggered the breakdown in the first place.

ren is emotionally manipulative during this state in a similar way that a child is, because ren’s natural emotional intelligence is realistically still in that of their early teens ( think 13 to 15 years old ) because their semblance has been detrimental in allowing them to process trauma normally. this is because it triggers when ren is in states of high emotional stress, leaving them unable to express how they really feel and process the emotions like normal people. ren has always been aided by their semblance ( which even when not in use, is always running ) in order to appear more mature and wiser than they actually are, so when rid of that they tend to respond in ways more akin to a prepubescent. the rapidity in which their emotional intelligence grows increases the less ren relies on keeping themselves calm in states of high emotional stress.

once ren ran out of aura in a state of high stress during the nuckelavee fight, which is circumstantial because the nuckelavee is the origin of ren’s trauma. the impulsive fury and irrational thinking in that fight was unlike any emotional response ren had given before because they were ready to die seeking revenge, only regaining their sense of self back when nora scolded them.

the only other four times i’ve written ren running out of aura was:

once with jaune, right after the fight with cinder, where ren expresses how angry they are with jaune for throwing his life away and lies, saying “it’s fine” in a tone that makes it absolutely clear that it’s not fine. the point of this line was to instil guilt. purposefully manipulative, in order to get their point across. after that they cut him off and pretended to go to sleep. in similar states when jaune has put themselves in danger to protect ren, they are intentionally harsh and guilty trippy, which only gets worse after jaune almost dies trying to transfer all his aura to ren. a “ why don’t you love me enough to keep yourself alive ” kinda deal.

the second time was in a fight with nora, that escalated into her slapping ren again, because ren said something intentionally striking ; that she could not see the error of pyrrha’s actions in beacon because of nora’s infatuation with her. ren was being honest, but they said this in a way that hurt her the most on purpose because ren is not their usual compassionate self in this state, they lack their empathy because children and young teenagers tend to lack empathy when they’re throwing tantrums.

the third time was with weiss, and while this wasn’t directed at her, ren did immediately shut down and start ignoring outside stimulus as they went about their task. had she tried to gain their attention in any way, they would have ignored her. during this time, ren also dealt with the emotional instinct to hide which is also a childish response. they requested that weiss not look at them, and only calmed down when they were shrouded with her cloak.

the fourth time was with yang, when ren was accidentally, indirectly confessing. their aura was triggering, and this doesn’t exactly count because it wasn’t depleted, but ren responds to most ships similarly in that they have a phase of pushing people away because they’re afraid of getting too close. in this state ren will intentionally say mean and distancing things, as well as act emotionally cold to the object of their affection in order to hurt their feelings, and shut them out.

when ren is on the verge of a breakdown, they tend to try to hide ; they cover their face with their hands, they’ll try to run away, they’ll make excuses to leave. they keep repeating “it’s fine” / “it’s okay” over and over again. they don’t notice that they’re crying. ren will do anything in their power not to acknowledge that the problem is there. ren knows logically that talking about their emotions and not stifling the urge to cry instead of allowing them to bottle up into the most destructive molotov cocktail is the better way to go, but they haven’t yet developed the emotional intelligence to do that. they didn’t have parents ( parents which usually help to shape a child’s emotional intelligence ) they could go to, on top of a semblance which wouldn’t allow them to process feelings right, on top of being a naturally reclusive / anxious person. this is why their only emotional responses while having a mental breakdown is fight ( use scathing words and emotionally guilt whoever has made them feel this way ) or flight ( which is to make themselves scarce, or shut down emotionally. )

one of the reasons that ren seeks to use their semblance less and less on themselves is to make sure they can catch up to their peers when it comes to how they handle emotional stress without using a crutch.

ren believes themselves to be the ugliest in this state because without the use of an emotional barrier, they are just ren. no one else. they are brutally honest and will say everything that ren’s mild mannered and charming mask will not. most of these truths aren’t pretty. some of them are quite terrifying.

#hc.#wow i could probably condense this but i'm tired

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musictatertot · 6 years ago

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Walking a mile in their shoes (Yang)

A previous post about Ruby and her character development up until the episode "So That's How it is" has lead to this! Yang is absolutely fascinating!

Let me know if you guys noticed anything I missed or if you think I have misunderstood/misinterpreted something (highly likely).

Yang Xiao Long

Out of every character in the show right now, Yang worries me the most. Her character development has been spot on and completely realistic, but not particularly in a good way. At least, not for the situation she is in.

Yang has been through some shit. Not even just recently, but her whole life. The feeling of abandonment that has followed her her whole life has never really gone away. In fact, it's only grown stronger.

In the first three volumes Yang was bullheaded, stubborn, energetic, and a large positive influence on her team. She had always been Ruby's cheerleader, pushing her to be more confident in herself and go for the gold! She was the main support pillar of Blake, working closely as her partner to make her feel safe and listened to. Those first three volumes we didn't really see many interaction between her and Weiss, but just because you aren't actively working to help someone doesn't mean you are not helping at all. Weiss is from a very tense, closed door kind of home. Yang, for all intents and purposes, was the Sparta kick to all closed doors she had never known was possible. Watching someone with that kind of confidence can be extremely inspiring, and I believe that might have been a strong portion of the respect the two clearly had for each other throughout those first three volumes, as shown in the two vs. two battle in the tournament.

Then Beacon fell and everything went wrong. Cinder was right to have them take out Yang the way they did (those rat bastards. I still love them as character portrayals but damn them!). Yang was the unshakeable foundation. She held absolute belief in herself because she had worked her damned hardest to be able to feel that way. She made sure her team, her family, saw her as someone they could depend on. Someone who was strong enough, and good enough, to defeat anything in their way.

Mercury and Emerald took that from her. I know we all place pretty much all of the blame for Yang's emotional turmoil right now on Adam (and rightfully so that dick) but I don't think we should forget that directly before that she had already been shaken down to her core beliefs. For a moment there, her whole team had been against her. Not aggressively, no, but it was clear that they were horrified by her actions (false as they were but no one had known that yet).

Suddenly her role was gone. Ruby looked at her as though she were the one that needed supporting. Blake, for a heart wrenching moment, believed she could become a cruel person. And Weiss...

Weiss actually surprised me. For all of her troubles with Ruby and Blake before I had expected at least a small confrontational remark. Nothing major, she had clearly already grown and opened up some by that point, perhaps just asking her why she did it. Instead she was completely supportive of Yang, immediately believing that she had a reason for what she had done and that the reason was valid. I knew she had grown but at this moment I realized how much. Good job Weiss.

I think that was a strong starting point for the supportive relationship (romantic or platonic, I just love the interactions and really, really want to see more so you can choose for yourselves) that they begin to develop in the fifth volume.

Weiss withstanding, Yang was still at a loss. Then she hears about her mother from Qrow. I won't say it was a wrong call, I don't have enough experience with either of their emotional states to say if it would have been better to remain silent or not, but it is factually accurate to say that Yang was in a very emotionally vulnerable state when she got the news.

Mentally vulnerable, mentions of absent mother thus bringing a strong reminder of those heavy abandonment feelings, Beacon falling, loosing an arm (another huge part of who she is) and then Blake leaves.

If the tournament had gone well, or at least Yang had been left alone, I feel like Yang would have reacted a bit differently about Blake's disappearance. She still would have been upset, absolutely, but the strong stab of betrayal she had felt would have been lessened. At least, I believe so. Too much had happened, she couldn't think about why Blake had left. Only that she had.

Thoughts of abandonment had already been on her mind. The situation exacerbated that and tore what little mental defenses she had left down. Losing her arm was, no doubt, an extreme blow to her core. The mental manipulation just added twice the impact.

(I actually think she should be equally, or maybe even more so in some cases, vengeful towards Emerald and Mercury, but I can see how the actual physical trauma has overwritten what they did in her mind a fair bit)

As such, I was supremely impressed when she was able to pull herself up again, and in such short time too! I know it was months covered in the fourth volume, but things like that can take up to years to even to begin making strong progress in. She wasn't completely stable, of course not, something like that doesn't just go away (and CRWBY you are gosh darn amazing for keeping that in mind you loveable masterminds) as shown by her shaking hand in tense situations and outbursts of anger whenever she is questioned but she was taking strong steps forward. She was trying, and really, that's all I wanted for her.

Honestly, I think at this point she has genuinely moved on from the trauma of what Adam has done to her (not the feelings they inflicted, but the trauma of it), taking that pain to make herself stronger, but she is still struggling immensely with what Mercury and Emerald did to her. This is especially worse because I don't think she even realizes that there is a problem that needs to be addressed (Jinn, can we please have some more questions please? We need a therapy circle, stat).

There are a lot of different ways to process trauma. It all depends on the person and what works for them! For the trauma with Adam Yang has turned her pain and fear into vengeance and anger again. Awesome for her, she's moving forwards! Unfortunately, by not paying attention to the mental attacks she suffered she is using those same tactics against those without fully being aware. In volume five it was not quite as noticeable, a few moments here and there (shouting at Ruby and Weiss, losing her cool when asking about her mother being turned into a raven), but I especially noticed it in her character songs. Especially "Ignite".

Yang's songs have always been about self assuredness, fighting, and unwavering confidence. These were still there, and I loved it.

There was also a lot more... aggression. "I Burn" as well as "Armed and Ready" were about fighting and fighting back against an oppressive force. "Ignite" was a bit more brutal. Slowly but surely her actions are taking on more violent means. She has always been a fighter, so violence is par for the course, but the line in particular in "Ignite" that caught my attention was "Didn't mother warn you, now she's going to mourn you". Several other lines follow this thread and I can clearly see that her anger and bloodlust is on the rise.

Not necessarily a bad thing, when fighting enemies. Not a great thing when it is directed at the people closest to you as well.

I adore Yang, but I am growing increasingly worried about her more constant bouts of anger. They are valid reasons for anger, but she is losing the restraint she once had. My main case in point is when her, alongside Weiss and Blake, turned their weapons on Qrow.

Weiss and Blake I can understand. They don't know Qrow. All they know is that he is extremely loyal to Ozpin so of course they would be wary of him approaching Ruby when she stands against him.

Yang, however, knows better. She's known Qrow even longer than Ruby, and his actions were clearly pacifying. Standing between him and Ruby, sure. Letting him know you stand with her, even if he disagrees. Pointing her weapon at him, that's too much. That is a reaction without thought, which is becoming more common.

I also find Yang acting more and more like, well, a rebellious teenager. Teenagers go through a hormonal period where it is literally almost impossible to see things from a point of view different from their own, particularly when they are upset. Everyone has it at different times in their lives ranging from preteens to even their early twenties, but it is still a process of growth. It is very egocentric, very normal, and a very bad time for it.

Yang has no patience anymore. She is acting hypocritically more and more often. Being angry at Ozpin for hiding things is natural, and I expected it. But the amount of anger she held and self righteousness she showed was at odds with her own secrets regarding Raven. Protecting her mother is something I empathize with, but Raven is also a Maiden. If you're going to get mad at someone for hiding things about the fight you are in, you should be aware enough that you are doing the same. She is not; this the teenage egocentrism.

Even during Jinn's story about Ozpin's past, Yang's expressions were more often anger than anything else. And not really anger at anyone other that Ozpin. She can not break herself from her original thoughts that he can not be trusted, regardless of his reasons.

I am especially worried about her thoughts on her mother now. Because she did not trust a word her mother said, but as it turns out not everything she had said was a lie. This, almost scarily often, had the ever present thought of "what else was she right about". Now I am worried that her mind will make that emotional leap of distrusting Ozpin so much that she believed everything her mother said. She still is angry and hateful for the abondment but now there is a valid reason for it. Her mother abandoned her for a reason, and that reason is currently locked away inside a lost farmer boy.

Im hoping Weiss or Ruby is able to get through to her. I wish it could be Blake, but with the previous abandonment and Yang's feelings about it I don't think she will really be willing to listen to what Blake has to say while her emotions are still high. Ruby has a very special connection to her and has the best luck of making her step back, but I think Weiss has the best chance of making her reflect. Speaking from experience it is kind of hard to take when you get a younger sibling's criticism for you choices. It's both a matter of pride and a matter of you, being the oldest, are supposed to be taking care of them and showing them the best way. I hope it will be Ruby who makes her take a step back, Weiss who makes her reflect, and Blake who listens and supports thus bridging the gap between them and restoring that trusting relationship Yang desperately needs.

I love Yang. I hope she looks in and works to help herself soon, before she does something she will regret.

#rwby thoughts #rwby #salem rwby #rwby jinn #ozpin #qrow branwen #raven branwen #Weiss Schnee #ruby rose #blake bellodona #yang xiao long #oscar #rwby volume 6 #so that's how it is

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itsclydebitches · 6 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 The More the Merrier

This is a re-posting from October 9th, 2018 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

Hello, moon.

Will we ever learn what happened to you? Not in this episode! That ominous shot (countered with the oddly soothing sound of crickets) is just to situate us before we pan down, revealing the gang making their way to the meeting with Lionheart. And honestly? I kind of love everything about this composition. Let’s tick things off:

We have Jaune and Ren mirroring each other with determined expressions and clenched fists. They’re ready to kick ass if need be.

Same with Ruby and Nora except they look like they’re out for a casual moonlit stroll—with the added bonus that Nora is manically thrilled about this adventure.

Yang is pretty blasé. Been there. Done that. Survived worse.

Weiss? The embodiment of “Ugh I could be home right now instead of walking around in this heat this had better not mess up my hair.”

Oscar looks way out of his depth and is hanging back from the rest, as we’d expect given that he’s a farm boy joining a group of elite fighters that have had years to bond without him. It’s Awkward New Kid Syndrome with a side of extreme danger.

And then there’s Qrow. Out in front. Suspicious looks all around. Iconic hunched shoulders. Really wants to put his hands in his pockets but the animation isn’t quite there yet. Behold, everyone. Our leader.

For real though, jokes aside I honest to god love this opening. It’s quick and from a practical standpoint sets up only that they’re heading somewhere as a group, but if you take the time to actually look you’ll see each of their personalities shining through. We might bitch about RWBY’s faults, but there’s a whole lot of love poured into this series and more often than not you can see it in the details.

Ruby pauses then to take in Haven tower—always one to appreciate beauty even when things are bleak—and then hangs back until Oscar has caught up. It’s a wonderful little moment between them because there’s no dialogue and ultimately none is needed. He doesn’t stop for reassurance, but he could. Ruby gives him that option and waits until Oscar passes her before continuing herself. The whole scene is heavy and poignant. There’s nothing but music until they arrive inside and Lionheart breaks the peace with, “Why hello. There… seems to be more of you than last time.”

Yeah. You can hear the fear in his voice. As if the rest of this setup didn’t already scream “TRAP, TRAP, TRAP,” He’s gotta be super suspicious in his greeting too. Leading them out here in the dead of night. Lionheart up on the podium—both figuratively putting himself above them and literally keeping himself out of harm’s way. Then the first thing out of his mouth is a worried comment on their numbers? Suspicious, suspicious.

Qrow: “Oh you know what they say. The more the merrier.”

He did the title thing! Love that.

Except the delivery makes it clear that Qrow is also suspicious as hell. No one has drawn their weapon yet, but the fight has already started. Qrow and Ozpin know that this is no simple meeting. Now Lionheart knows that they know. A quick shot reveals both his fear and the fact that he came with a weapon of his own:

Qrow tries to continue the charade by asking what’s up with the council and Lionheart is so bad at acting casual it’s actually painful to watch. He wants to know why they all brought THEIR weapons while hiding his own behind his back. As if they in any way failed to miss him standing there with it in full view for the last thirty seconds.

I can’t with this guy. He's just so bad at being bad I almost feel sorry for him.

(Although, as we in the U.S. have certainly discovered the last two years, the incompetent ones are often the most dangerous…)

As said, the fight has already begun. While Qrow and Lionheart trade subtext Yang checks out their perimeter, immediately picking up on the raven that just happens to be chilling on the banister. A simple, whispered “Mom?” and Qrow has his weapon out and a shot off, barely missing Raven as she swoops down beside Lionheart.

Can we appreciate that reaction time for a second? I feel like between Ozpin’s Super Secret Magic and Qrow’s self-deprecating drinking the fandom tends to forget that he’s easily one of the most powerful fighters we’ve seen to date. He demonstrated that in his playful spar against Winter, keeping Tyrian on his toes while also ensuring that the kids were safe, and here as he responds blindingly fast to a one syllable word. A few seconds later Raven calls him out for missing or, just as likely, deliberately missing since he doesn't want to kill her—yet. Which makes it all the more impressive that he can aim and achieve the results he wants in such a short amount of time. You 100% do not want to fuck with Qrow.

A nice cut using Lionheart’s back and Raven becomes human once more. In the realm of ‘artists paying careful attention to how their background characters act,’ Oscar is uncomfortable but isn’t even looking at the threat—almost like he’s listening carefully to something the rest of them can’t hear—while Nora looks downright floored. “They really are magic,” she says to herself, solidifying with evidence what they'd been told a few episodes back.

Okay. Rant time. I still don’t buy these reactions. Really not great on the world building front here. I mean, we’ve had Pyrrha who controls magnetism, Ren who manipulates emotions, Yang has a Hulk mode that includes changing eye color, Blake can create clones of herself, Weiss is basically a necromancer, Ruby turns into rose petals, give him an episode and Jaune will straight up heal a girl, and Nora herself can store/release electricity. Why is turning into a bird so incredibly shocking? It would feel way more natural if they saw Raven and Qrow’s transformations and went, “Okay… so that’s their semblance?” and then Oz has to explain about the difference—being born with an ability vs. being granted it—which is cool and there’s surprise that that’s a Thing, but their reaction to the ability itself is still pretty meh. Because they’ve literally seen weirder.

We’re given no indication as to WHY a bird transformation instinctually reads as more impossible than transforming into rose petals, other than “one is magic and one is not because we say so.” There’s no justification behind the characters’ ability to recognize magic when they see it, especially given the incredibly wide range of abilities RWBY has shown us over the years. Either attach more overt rules to semblances (obvious boundaries where the viewer understands what is and is not possible) or make Ozpin’s magic look radically different. In this world summoning storms and turning into birds doesn't read as radically different. Hell, in many ways Dust, an incredibly common commodity, is more powerful than this supposedly gasp-worthy magic. Why be impressed with Raven summoning rain clouds when Weiss can create powerful winds in her fight against Flynt with just a bit of Daddy’s money?

But anyway. I digress.

The verbal sparring continues. Oscar still isn’t making eye contact. Raven spouts more of her excuses, Salem can’t possibly be stopped, we're all out for ourselves, blah blah blah. Ruby emphasizes that they’ve already done the impossible, but they only achieved that because they were working together. Separation and a pessimistic attitude is exactly what Salem wants. Ruby wants Raven to join them.

And take a gander at that contrast between sisters. As I’ve said before, Ruby is the classic full-of-heart protagonist who believes that almost everyone can be redeemed. As we’ll see in a second, the exemption to this appears to be Cinder. Her murder of Penny and Pyrrha highlights her irredeemability in a way that overshadows Raven’s—and even Salem’s—more nebulous crimes. The bigger your actions are the harder they are to conceptualize. The smaller and more personal they are the harder they are to forgive. Paradoxically, it’s easier for someone like Ruby (and the fandom…) to shrug off Raven’s actions because as of yet she hasn't felt their repercussions as intimately.

Yang though? She has. And in this moment she’s not ready to forgive.

Raven refuses of course and tells Ruby she sounds just like her mother. (Give us flashbacks of Summer!) She summons a portal where a fireball flies through, hitting Ruby square in the chest and allowing the whole evil gang to join the party. We get a closeup on Oscar as he and Oz recognize Hazel, locking them inside while the White Fang sets up their bombs.

Hazel: “No one’s getting in… and no one’s getting out.”

Because RWBY, for all its dark storylines, is still hella cheesy at times lol.

Weiss: “So this was all just a trap?”

Ren: “It appears so…”

Ah, naive little children. If only you were watching from our fourth wall perspective you would have realized it was a trap more than an episode ago! Too bad.

We learn that Lionheart was the one who secured Team Bad a place in the Vytal festival. Not only that, but he’s been passing information about huntsmen and huntress whereabouts to Salem. That’s how they were all murdered and Qrow’s realization of this—after spending all that time looking for them and hoping against hope—is definitely a kicker. “I couldn’t find any of them… because you let her kill them.”

Keep in mind, most of those people were Qrow’s friends.

Jaune, as we’d expect, is at his breaking point. Pyrrha’s murderer is standing right there and, as he says, rubbing their faces in how many people she’s killed—“All with that damn smile on your face!” We’ve had all of two instances of RWBY cursing and it’s definitely needed here. I appreciate that his tears and his anger are basically a call to arms. Most everyone draws their weapon as soon as he's finished speaking. Qrow’s still trying to keep the peace, but Jaune’s very existence is a walking testament to exactly how much these people deserve to be brought to justice.

He yells that he’s going to make Cinder pay for what she did and then comes the most brutal line in all of RWBY.

Cinder: “Who are you again?”

Damn. They’re never gonna top that.

Perfect characterization though. As the audience it’s easy to forget who knows who in a big ensemble cast and, more importantly, who cares about who. From Cinder’s perspective Jaune is a nobody she's barely met. Why would she remember him? If she’d instead made a taunt about his dead girlfriend most of us probably would have just shrugged off the plot-hole, but paying attention to details like this is not only, a) satisfying but b) wonderfully vicious. Way to twist the knife here.

Jaune attacks as we knew he would but Cinder easily blocks him. Ruby joins the fray only to be stopped by Emerald—“You’re not getting near her.” (Love the devotion.) Yang pairs off with Mercury to settle an old score. Raven orders Vernal to take out “the heiress” (rude, she has a name) and in another excellent nod to the switcheroo that tricked both the team and a large chunk of the fandom, she casually throws out that Vernal doesn’t need to use her power to kill a kid.

Good excuse too. Considering, you know, she doesn’t have any.

No more fake outs. Qrow attacks Raven head on with the announcement that they’re not family anymore. Harsh, but deserved. Raven’s “Were we ever?” smells more like denial. We also get a good look at their similar, but differently balanced color schemes.

As their fight takes them out of frame we stay with a rather terrified Weiss. To her credit though she holds her ground against Vernal, assuring her that she’s “more than a name.”

Finally, Ren and Nora—ever the perfect duo—are left to fend off Hazel. He’s one of those real asshole villains who has a “code” that they follow. He doesn’t want to fight two kids half his age and power level… but he has to. Just like he has to keep pursuing his misguided revenge against Ozpin. And he, like Raven, feels the need to announce to the world that this isn’t what he’d prefer. It’s just how things are! Totally out of his hands, I’m sorry to say.

We’re seeing a trend with the villains and their justifications, yeah?

With everyone paired off Ozpin-Oscar (I need a portmanteau for them…) sneaks over to confront Lionheart. Lionheart goes from telling this supposed stranger to get himself out of the fight while he can to attacking him with a rock-lava-energy blast thing in like five seconds flat. Of course, our two favorite BAMFs block it with ease and we get the RWBY equivalent of,

(x)

Holy shit this kid blocked my hit??

Beautiful.

The second the cane comes out though everything makes sense and we get another stellar line of “Not quite” when Lionheart identifies him as Ozpin. I really love that they let Oscar handle the first half of this battle. Yeah, it’s a little flimsy that he’s able to take on an adult after just a few weeks of training, but we also don’t know how much he and Oz are already sharing. Fighting might come naturally to him now in a muscle memory sort of way. Regardless, he kicks ass and I’m loving it.

“You found Qrow,” Lionheart says. “How?” implying that he might have been doing even more work than we saw to keep those two apart. A voiceover from Ozpin wonders what happened to his former ally. The fact that Lionheart knows all the details of Ozpin’s reincarnation tells us that yeah, they were really, really close.

That knowledge is dangerous too. Realizing that Ozpin “couldn’t have had that form for long” Lionheart gets over the debilitating shock of fighting, you know, Ozpin. We hear him rationalizing in the wonderfully creepy manner of the desperate that this is just a boy in front of him, a boy soon to be Ozpin, and if he delivers the kid to Salem he’ll “finally be free" of her. Sounds a lot like Raven thinking that the relic will protect her; a lot like a hurt Tyrian muttering that she’ll forgive him.

RWBY does a good job of reminding us in small ways how utterly terrifying Salem is...and what that fear drives people to do.

This would be the (supposedly) perfect moment for Ozpin to take over. Oh no! Lionheart is all serious now! Oscar is worried! But the only thing Ozpin does is tell him to “fight.” I’ve heard a lot of people in the fandom claim that Ozpin is a monster for his possession, culpable for something that’s outside of his control. But Ozpin has no desire to take over people’s lives like this and—unlike Hazel or Raven—it really is out of his hands, to say nothing of the fact that he does all he can to actually achieve what he thinks is right. He can’t keep himself from merging with Oscar, but he can give Oscar as much agency as humanly possible, including here. The only times we see Ozpin take that agency away is when it really is for the greater good (they can’t afford to hide on a farm forever) or when Oscar is well and truly in over his head, like after the fight with Hazel goes on too long. Taking over Oscar at that point is to save his life, akin to forcing someone out of the way of a blast.

But we’ll get to that.

We come back to the fight between Weiss and Vernal as Weiss tries to buy herself enough time to summon her knight. Vernal easily cuts through her summoning though… which is kind of a relief? In that RWBY (usually) knows when to limit new powers. If Weiss had no real limitations on her summoning—the time it takes, the energy it requires—we’d be wondering why she didn’t just summon a whole, super-powered army every time they were in a spot of trouble. Too many shows (Supernatural...) craft crazy powerful characters and then conveniently forget about that power when it would too easily solve a conflict.

Also, check out that smile from Vernal.

We segue to Cinder and Jaune. Kudos to Jaune for holding his own one-on-one! He really is Pyrrha’s student. Remember what other kid managed to hold her own against a freaking Maiden, at least for a time?

Emerald won’t let Ruby get anywhere near Cinder. She “owes her everything" after all. But she’s willing to indulge her (so to speak) and summons up a mirage of Cinder to fly at Ruby. That and the resulting attack startles her enough that she sets off Crescent Rose, the bullet narrowly missing Weiss.

…Portent of things to come.

Because we’re back on Weiss and it's becoming clear to the viewer why we’ve been focusing so much on her in this battle. A shock from Vernal’s weapon rips out a scream from her, draws Jaune’s attention, and Cinder cruelly asks if he’ll “let her die too.”

Gotta have the fake-out first though. Deciding to take him seriously, Cinder charges with intent to kill and the head-on strike triggers Ruby into remembering Pyrrha’s death. Her silver eyes instinctually go off, blinding everyone and halting the battle.

Emerald knocks her out fast but even those few seconds was enough to effect Cinder. Apparently once you’re struck by that kind of power your body remembers it. She’s down on her knees, clearly in pain, and Jaune takes the opportunity to get a strike in, managing to clip the half-mask she wears.

And yeah. Cinder’s pissed.

Partly from getting caught in one of Ruby’s blasts again. Partly because a “nobody” like Jaune managed to hit her. Awful when that power you sought isn’t as perfect as you were promised, huh? Jaune makes the mistake though of declaring that he’s not important, only his friends are… and Cinder knows exactly how to make one of the good guys suffer.

Why just kill him when you can instead kill the girl he was worried about moments before? Why grant him peace when you can vividly recreate the trauma of Pyrrha’s death instead?

We have just enough time left in the episode to see the team’s shocked faces, watch Cinder’s weapon disappear, and then we cut with Weiss in mid-fall.

It’s a brutal combo of content and editing. Thanks, Rooster Teeth! I hate it!

We all know how things turn out though… so that's some kind of comfort. Until next time!

Other Details of Note

When everyone enters Haven tower we see this statue… and honestly I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. Something something it’s a maiden guarding a Maiden relic. Something something broken chains and freedom. Something something Atlas-esque imagery of holding up a world…you get the idea. It’s symbolic.

Cinder calls Qrow “little bird” and Lionheart “lion.” Always something wonderfully creepy about villains with a penchant for nicknames.

When Jaune first charges Cinder we pull back behind the chain on the statue and see it sway from the force of his attack. It’s quick and subtle, but an excellent visual detail to show us how strong he’s gotten. Pre-Fall of Beacon Jaune never would have managed that kind of force.

For all its faults in places, I enjoy how much this fight makes use of space, especially when it comes to Weiss using her glyphs. It’s not perfect or as complex as what we might have had with Monty, but I think the team is improving in their choreography overall.

Yes, Jaune is well over his schoolboy crush on Weiss---something I'm pleased about---but it still hits hard to have her as the victim here. Out of every team member Cinder could have targeted she chooses the one other girl Jaune might have had legitimate, romantic feelings for. In an alternate timeline, so to speak.

So the whole “villain walks slowly towards the person they’re gonna kill and everyone who normally has superhuman reflexes doesn’t move an inch” trope is crazy annoying, right? Just putting that out there...

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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nezzfiction · 6 years ago

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ENMY Chapter 89 - Fourth Crusade (Part One)

Chapter Synopsis: The Kingdom of Vacuo is about to enter its most daunting challenge since its conception. Salem is launching the Fourth Crusade. A war to end some of Remnant’s greatest warriors, including Team ENMY. Assistance from Atlas is on its way, but will the Fleet arrive in time to make a difference?

Only one thing is certain. Whatever happens in Vacuo will echo the events to come for the rest of Remnant.

Series Synopsis: Team RWBY is disbanded, and Yang must find herself new allies. For her, that might very well be yesterday’s enemies. Joining up with the likes of Emerald, Mercury, and Neo, the four will comprise Team Enemy(ENMY).

Links to read the series: Ao3 or FF.net

Or hit the jump below

Fourth Crusade (Part One)

Well, I looked my demons in the eyes, laid bare my chest,

Said, “Do your best. Destroy me. You see, I’ve been to hell and back so many times, I must admit,

You kind of bore me.”

“Have you finished relaying the situation?” Temujin asked.

“Ran your people the basic play by play,” Emerald answered. “Cuckoos gone, some of their loved ones gone, hordes of Grimm, plus, a giant freakin’ butterfly making a beeline for us.”

“Moth.”

“What?”

“It’s a moth.”

“Right. Behemoth. I get it.”

“Have you modified their emotions?”

“Tweaked them just a touch. They were as angry as you wanted them to be and ready to war without it.”

“That will do. Wake them. And connect my thoughts to theirs.”

“From sweet dreams to full-blown nightmare. This is gonna be a scene.”

As the mental connection secured, Temujin stepped onto the balcony of the Hanging Gardens. She sat on her small stool, and took her familiar horse-fiddle in her hands. As she touched the bow to the strings, her throat opened and she drew strength from her diaphragm.

Another tragedy to carve in these old bones one last time.

One last burden.

One last sin.

Temujin bore her soul bare to the untethered sun and the desert’s hot air.

Answer me, one last time.

My Kingdom of Blades.

A low, soulful song reverberated into the skies above Vacuo. Its volume began low, but slowly and surely, its melody became a crescendo that shook the heavens. The citizens roused to its sound. The voice of their Great Khan, the voice of their Kingdom. It called them to arms.

I failed you.

I deceived you.

I betrayed the Code I set for you all.

But will you answer me once more?

If this is our end, will we stand together?

How will we march into the darkness?

With fear?

Or will it be with Wrath in our hearts?

A single command coursed through the minds of her people. A pure emotion of most unmitigated rage. A sweltering draught that drowned away their sorrows.

All across the city, the citizens of Vacuo stirred. They stood tall with their chests out. Their weapons drawn and raised high.

“An Eye for an Eye.”

X X X X X

Despite the conference room in Atlas HQ being something the size of a small theater, all its occupants were struck silent. None could watch the floating projection, and not be horrified by what was displayed.

Finally, a lone, timid voice spoke what they were all thinking.

“They’re doomed.”

The digital map zoomed out to show the Vacuo capital and its surrounding lands. Rounding to hit the city from the North and South were hosts of Grimm almost twice the city’s size A flood of red markers filled the edges of the map, but the more imminent threat was displayed by the monstrous Behemoth flying directly from the West.

Murmurs began flooding the room. Mutterings of disbelief and fear rose with a rising tide.

“How can that many Grimm be controlled?”

“If something like that attacked us, would the Aegis and Javelin System be enough?”

“We should order our Fleet back. Strengthen our defenses here.”

“It’s all over for them.”

A hand slammed loudly onto the table. Cinder’s furious gaze silenced the room and brought order to the staff.

“How far is the reinforcement Fleet?” she asked.

None made a move.

“How far are they?!”

They all jumped, and one officer rapidly tapped her tablet.

“Still a day’s flight, ma’am! Twenty hours estimated!”

“Is there any way to shorten the travel time for the remaining distance?”

“They could possibly cut down a few hours by traveling at maximum thrust. However, that would only be possible for a small portion of the Fleet.”

“…”

“It would be advised not to separate—”

“I know that!” Cinder shouted in exasperation.

“……Ma’am, I think we should consider withdrawing the reinforcements.”

The Black Queen offered no response to the suggestion. She remained quiet, studying the scales and balances in her head. There was a tough call to make in this. The future of Atlas, and more importantly Remnant’s, would hinge on the actions she took now.

We didn’t expect Salem’s resources to be so extensive.

Can Vacuo hold until the Fleet arrives?

Even with the little aces up our sleeves, the chances of victory are too low to entertain.

Initiating the fight with Salem backfired.

No, it would have been worse to wait. At least, the Cuckoos have been removed from the board.

Is the situation still salvageable?

…

The smart move would be to recall our forces.

By the time they arrive, Vacuo will likely be overrun to a point they cannot recover.

…

Team ENMY must be evacuated.

Cinder looked up to the officer-in-waiting.

“Sortie the light-traveling transport marked Swordfish ahead to retrieve—”

“Belay that order.”

Cinder turned in surprise to Weiss’ sudden interruption. Her surprise quickly transitioned to smoldering fury.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“We aren’t sure Vacuo is lost yet,” Weiss answered.

“With all due respect, my fellow Queen, Vacuo can’t possibly hold out against that,” Cinder motioned to the projection. “Not until reinforcements arrive, and even then, the chances of victory are too small to consider.”

“We need to contact Team ENMY.”

“We will give them the order to evacuate—and they will follow it.”

“Cinder…”

“…What?”

The Black Queen squinted, as the White leaned closer to speak loud enough so only they could hear.

“You know, better than I, the things Team ENMY is capable of.”

“I do,” Cinder nodded. “They can perform the impossible given the right circumstances. With adequate preparation and strong mental grit, they can and will perform outside expectation. But what Salem has brought to the board is completely out of their depth.”

“I want to hear what they have to report first.”

“And we shall, but do not hold out hope.”

“At this point, hope might be all we have.”

Cinder went quiet for a moment.

“I detest the idea of abandoning our allies more than you would believe, and this miscalculation frustrates me to no end—but we cannot afford to be stubborn at this juncture. I thought you were smarter than this.”

“I doubt we can outsmart the Witch, if that’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

“…”

“She’s had decades to prepare and plan and manipulate the variables, Cinder. We can’t win that way.”

Weiss’ words rung deep with the Black Queen. It was a thought she fought hard to abate, but seeing the might Salem brought live on the projection, Cinder could only face the truth. If this was a chess game, it wasn’t fair to begin with. The Witch had too many pieces from the start and moved several times before her first turn came.

It was enough to dishearten anyone.

But that was not what Cinder saw when she met her coregent’s eyes.

“…What are you thinking?” she couldn’t help but utter, almost disbelievingly.

“I’m not sure myself,” Weiss shook her head. “I think we have a choice, Cinder. It’s the choice you and I have been dreading without really knowing what it was.”

“…”

“I can feel it. We have to make a stand here. We have to.”

“…Is that your head speaking, or your heart, I wonder?”

“Both.”

“Very well, Weiss. We will delay ordering the retreat.”

Weiss blinked in surprise.

“Really?”

“As I said before, your counsels are always welcome. No matter how naïve or ludicrous they may be.”

“Hmph!”

Seeing her fellow Queen pout brought a slight smile, as well as lighten Cinder’s mood. She turned to the adjutant and gave the following order,

“Mobilize all the light transports. Few reinforcements sooner are better than none too late. Have the rest of the Fleet maintain course. Inform Trafalgar and Ironwood of the situation and our decision.”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am,” the officer saluted, and tapped at her tablet.

“And open a direct channel with Team ENMY in real time. Priority one.”

“Ma’am, it will take some time to construct a secure line.”

“It doesn’t need to be encrypted. I don’t care if Temujin eavesdrops on our conversation.”

“Yes, ma’am. Right away.”

Cinder breathed a quiet sigh and glanced at Weiss beside her.

“This is quite the gambit, my Queen.”

“You could have overruled me easily. You are, as you’re so fond of reminding me, director of all affairs military.”

“Indeed. But if I had to say…”

“I also think, a stand must be made.”

X X X X X

The throne room of the Hanging Gardens was instantly converted into a war room. Various communication equipment had been rigged around the chamber to coordinate their armies.

Ilia was busy giving sortie orders to the city wall’s hangars and garages to mobilize airships and other modes of transport. Nai had left earlier to join the battalion heading North. Minerva was dividing her students between those transported to the safety bunkers and those who would join the battle in the South.

Meanwhile, Temujin, the Rakis siblings, and Team ENMY had their attentions concentrated on the bigger picture.

“You’re sending an awful lot of your people to cover the armies at the flanks,” Emerald commented.

“Yes,” Temujin answered simply.

“But Behemoth was going to hit the city first. You want to take the fight to the other fronts, outside the walls.”

“Yes.”

“We were supposed to be locking down siege defense after we got rid of the Cuckoos.”

“We were.”

A tense silence filled the atmosphere.

“……You’re abandoning the city?” she whispered low.

Temujin didn’t give Emerald an answer. She rechecked how Vacuo’s military was being divvied up. It appeared none of the staff officers noticed how none of their forces were being devoted to Behemoth. The only way that was possible was if…

Emerald felt the stares of the Rakis siblings on her. Mouse and Knives were the most senior commanders just below Temujin. Minerva and Nai weren’t around, hands full with their own tasks.

“You knew you would have to abandon the city?” Emerald asked, remembering the Precognition Semblance the siblings had. “This was a future you guys saw?”

Mouse and Knives nodded slightly.

“So, what?! We went through with Operation Gun Dog for nothing?”

“It served its purpose. We also believed it might cause a deviation in the future they saw,” Temujin explained. “But it seems our gamble did not pay off on that venture.”

“Great! Thanks for clueing us in this late in the game. We knew Salem’s army wasn’t fucking around, but the wonder siblings didn’t see that big ass, Mothra-fucker coming?”

“The Witch did well to hide it. If you studied the material on our Grimm, you know Behemoth was outside expectation.”

“Yeah, it’s only in its adult form seven days out of the whole year. It also works on a strict timeclock, so you spawn-kill it as soon as it hatches out of its cocoon, far away from the any settlement.”

“There were measures to exterminate it months from now. In the worst case, we would have waited until it exhausted its lifespan.”

“Looks like there’s a new worst case now.”

“It is near impossible to defeat in fair, open ground. If the brunt of our forces were used to counter it, there would be nothing left when Salem’s main army arrived.”

“FUCK!”

Emerald continued to trade glares from Temujin to the large moth taking up the monitors. Poisonous powders spread beneath the Grimm’s shadow. Its toxins carried into the gusts of its wings. Once in a while, a few scales would drop from its body, unrolling into giant, armored caterpillars.

In addition to its other absurd traits, the Grimm possessed one other ability.

“You guys see any new visions of the future?” Emerald asked.

“…Yes,” Mouse squeaked out an answer.

“Let me guess. If you kept all your people behind the walls, and concentrated your attacks on Behemoth, it would’ve suicide bombed the city.”

Upon the Grimm’s death, it shed all of its scales, which caused an unfathomable amount of carnage in the surrounding environment. It was another reason the Vacuo military tried to lessen the damage by disposing it elsewhere.

“Salem won’t waste time. She’ll have it belly flop the city anyway,” Emerald bit her thumbnail. “That’s what I’d do. It’s too slow to wipe a good percent of a moving army, but it can level a lot of your standing fortifications. Salem’s trying to weaken the siege defense for the later game.”

“We have come to similar conclusions.”

“Any chance we can bring it down before it gets inside the walls?” Emerald continued to press.

“My sister and I foresaw something else, which our scouts have since then confirm.”

Mouse touched a nearby monitor and enhanced the image on the screen. Zoomed onto the back of Behemoth was a small army of Grimm. The groups seemed to be crowding something at their center like a shield wall. When the image was further enhanced, Team ENMY saw what was there.

A few of the Grimm Clan Leaders were identified. Camlann, Azkaban, and Combine were commanding their brethren from afar, while riding Behemoth’s back. The combination of area effects between Azkaban and Combine alone were enough to deter any real resistance. Their abilities were much more potent than the average Cuckoo or Daemontor, and their effect radiuses even wider so.

“…Crap. Then, what’s the plan?” Yang spoke up. “You guys do have a plan, right?”

Temujin looked to her goddaughter strangely, and sighed.

“A course of action is in place. Behemoth will be allowed to detonate within the city. After its death, our armies will retreat back behind whatever is left of the fortifications and initiate siege defense as planned.”

Yang threw Temujin an accusatory look.

“But the other citizens…!”

“Some will survive.”

“More will die!!!”

“Our warriors will fight all the harder.”

“You can’t be serious!”

Just then, Yang felt the oxygen empty from her lungs. She coughed violently from Temujin’s sudden activation of her territorial Semblance.

“I am deadly serious, my foolish goddaughter. It is the only way my people will survive.”

“By offering some of them on a silver platter…!” Yang forced her voice through. “I didn’t know you had such an ego…! I didn’t know you were so cold…!”

“You have no idea.”

“You’d sacrifice anything to win! What makes you so different from Salem?!”

“…Not much I suppose.”

“Bullshit!!!” Yang turned, and stormed from the throne room. Her team followed after.

Once ENMY was gone, Temujin bade a forlorn gaze to Knives and Mouse. Both were positively fuming and biting the edges of their lips to keep silent.

Good job holding back, you two.

We can’t have them staying behind, if they knew the truth.

Yang is right, though.

I would sacrifice anything to win…

Even myself.

X X X X X

As Yang stomped angrily out into the hall, her team caught up to her—right as she punched a hole through the nearby wall.

“Yang,” Emerald said with a hint of disappointment.

“I know what you’re going to say, Em.”

“Yeah, well. I’m going to say it anyway. Temujin’s making the right call.”

“I don’t know about ‘right’.”

“Either some die, or they all die together. Minus one is better than minus a hundred. The math isn’t hard to figure.”

“Or, we can make it’s minus zero.”

Yang stared at Emerald meaningfully, while the team leader narrowed her brow in return.

“Yang…”

“We can bring down Behemoth, Em.”

“Not after the gas we just spent on Operation Gun Dog. Not in time, anyway.”

“We can do it.”

Emerald held her head like she was massaging a migraine.

“Do I have to remind you how this is supposed to work? We frontload our hand on Operation Gun Dog. THEN, we rest a tic to recover what we spent. And only after, do we actually get in on the real fight with Salem’s army.”

“Except there’s no time to rest, because Behemoth is going to cannonball the city! We’re the only ones with enough firepower and mobility to stop it!”

“Alright. So tell me, what happens when we burn ourselves down to the felt taking down Behemoth—which is a little more than an impossible ask, by the way? You think Salem’s gonna pass up the chance to ghost us while we’re catching breaths in-between suicide missions? We know a certain somebody won’t.”

“We have to, Em! Innocent people will die!”

“You and I both know the safety bunkers might hold up,” Emerald crossed her arms with a suspecting stare.

“We don’t know that,” Yang argued back.

“Some of them will.”

“A lot of them won’t!”

“Yang.”

“What?!”

“I should be asking you that.” Emerald stepped close to Yang’s face. “What’s with you? Since when were you so touchy about people dying?”

“Since always!”

“No, not when we had to fight on Dracul. Not when we were making enemies in Vale. And definitely, not when we were taking over Atlas. I mean, you did, but not like this. So, what gives?”

Yang gave Emerald a long, pleading look, before answering.

“…Because this was our chance to do some good.”

“…”

“Hehe…! Stupid me, right?” she chuckled sadly. “After all the shady things we’ve done, I just wanted to do some good—some actual, honest good. Save lives instead of being the reason people lost them. Guess I should’ve known better.”

“Yang.”

“I know, Em.”

“It’s not how our team does things.”

“Yeah. We’re the enemy. We attack. Protecting and saving people isn’t our rep.”

“I’m…sorry.”

“No. Nothing to be sorry about.” Yang gave a vague shake of her head. “I’ll get my game straight in a second. Just let me know when we’re moving out of the city. Till then, I’ll take a rest. Gotta refill the reserves, right?”

As the girl dragged her feet off with drooping shoulders, Neo braced her waist with a comforting hand. Together, they went to look for a private room. Emerald and Mercury were left alone in the hallway.

“…Don’t say anything,” Emerald said, after a time.

“What?” Mercury put his hands up innocently. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Stop. You go weak whenever Yang pulls that ‘puppy dog that just got kicked’ look.”

“More like, ‘you just kicked that puppy dog’s dreams’ look, but same difference.”

“UGH!”

“What are we gonna do?”

“What do you mean?! I just said what we were going to do!”

“Yeah…but what are we really going to do?”

Emerald glared fiercely at Mercury’s passively waiting demeanor. The staring contest lasted for a couple of unblinking seconds.

“AAARRRGGHHH!!! DAMMIT! FUCK!!!” the team leader vented her curses.

“You’re getting softer, boss.”

“And who’s fault is that?! Stupid, moral, nobility craphat. Annoying, blonde, bullshit, punchy…”

As Emerald continued to mutter endless profanities under her breath, her scroll gave a soft ring.

“Welp, saw this coming.” She coughed to clear her throat, before answering. As soon as the line went live, Emerald tried to make her tone as professional as possible. “Let me guess, we’re being ordered to ditch Vacuo?”

“…The matter isn’t finalized,” Cinder’s voice came from the other end. “There is no shame for you and your team to retreat.”

“Yeah, I’ll say. Shit’s not about to just hit the fan here, it’s going to—am I on speaker?”

“Yes.”

“Whole room?”

“Fortunately, only Weiss and myself.”

“Great.”

“Your report.”

“It’s bad, Cinder. Real bad. I know you probably have an idea, but it’s nowhere close to what we’re seeing here.”

“So, Vacuo is lost?”

Emerald thought for a moment.

“……These people are strong,” she gave an uneasy laugh. “I saw Salem’s army with my own eyes—it’s like signs of the freakin’ apocalypse! But these people, they want to fight. They will die fighting.”

“You cannot let their behavior influence your own.”

“I know, I’m trying to say something different. Cinder, Vacuo is worth saving. We shouldn’t abandon them. We need them on our side.”

“They are that valuable an asset?”

“They are. This alliance is the most important investment Atlas needs to make.”

“Sounds like a sales pitch. Tell me what truly whispers in your heart.”

“…” Emerald braced a hand to her chest. “Team ENMY is going to take down Behemoth.”

“So soon after your previous mission?”

“I know we were supposed to take a power nap before the next big fight, but you see that thing.”

“You intend to accomplish this by yourselves?”

“Temujin’s diverting all her forces to the North and South.”

“She plans to forfeit the city. A calculated choice.”

“We’ll manage.”

“This is reckless,” Cinder ended with a short pause. “What would you do if I ordered you from doing so?”

“……I’ll always listen to you, Cinder. If you tell me to take my team, and get the hell out of Vacuo, I’ll do it. I’ll drag Yang back, even if she hates me. You say the word, I’ll listen. Always.”

“…”

“But I’m asking you to trust me. Let me make this call. My team can swing this.”

For a moment, Emerald swore she heard Cinder’s breath stifle with emotion. A second later, the other spoke again.

“You are ordered to return to me,” the Black Queen commanded almost angrily. “Alive and in one piece—but at a time of your choosing.”

“I promise!” Emerald answered quickly. “I promise I’ll come back!”

“Hmph. You are aware any infidelity towards your Queen’s orders incurs the highest of penalties.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“So, how do you plan to perish the creature?”

“…”

“Emerald?”

“I have an idea.”

“So, speak it.”

“You guys might not like it.”

“……Speak it.”

Emerald took a searing deep breath between her teeth.

“We might have to use a couple of the aces we’ve been banking.”

X X X X X

A few miles south of the capital, Vacuo’s military made first contact with the Grimm army. The battalion was tasked with eliminating the enemy’s first wave and slowing their advance towards the city. A part of them knew it would be no easy task.

But they did not know how difficult it would be until they saw the head of the horde.

“My, aren’t these some familiar faces?” the cold voice lingered.

While countless Grimm smashed into the lines of Vacuo’s warriors, a smaller battle was waged in the midst of chaos.

“Tai!” Glynda called.

“I know!”

The head of a Grimm King Taijitu struck at Glynda and Minerva, trying to snap the pair of sorcerers in its jaws. But Taiyang was able to position himself in time. His hands gripped each fang firmly, and slid his feet to a stop. Tattoos covered every inch of his arm, signaling the activation of his Semblance.

While their vanguard held down the threat, Glynda and Minerva aimed a set of spells at the source. A storm of raining ice and flames fell before them. Their target, pelted with blizzardous hellfire.

“Hm. That was much less than I expected,” the chilling voice came again.

Undaunted by the Magic spells, an enormous tortoise shell remained when the sand clouds dissipated. It was white, bony, and jagged. And as the Grimm barrier cracked open, it revealed a dark silhouette underneath. Their arm still connected to the King Taijitu head grappling with Taiyang.

“It seems my Crusade will be easier than I anticipated,” Salem taunted. “I knew you would be lost without Ozpin—but I didn’t quite know how lost.”

She gave her arm a tug, and from atop the Taijitu’s skull, a scorpion’s tail sprouted. The stinger snapped towards Taiyang’s head, but the man was able to dodge the blow at the last second. The tip caught his collar, but even then, it only left a small mark on his reinforced skin.

“That all you got?!” Taiyang shouted.

“Typical,” Salem scoffed.

The Witch materialized a long, ornamental hairpin from her robes. Its end was decorated with an elegantly jewel-crafted butterfly. Then, without any hesitation, stabbed the point of the needle into her collar bone, matching the placement with the scratch inflicted on Taiyang.

At the same time, blood spewed both their bodies. The man let out a scream of panicked anguish before steeling himself enough to leap back to safety. His hand clutched the base of his neck, where blood dribbled between his fingers.

The Witch on the other hand, showed only indifference to the curse-inflicted wound. She continued to observe her three opponents without paying mind to the black liquid spraying out. Only after a few seconds passed, did Salem spin a web from her fingertip to bandage the gash.

Taiyang badgered himself for his carelessness and forced his wound close with his Semblance. Though it stopped the bleeding, the fix was only skin deep. Regardless, he took a fighting stance, showing he was ready to go, but a gentle hand rested his shoulder.

“Assist the others, Tai,” Glynda spoke with consolation in her voice. “Leave this to me and Minerva.”

“This battle will no longer take place within the confines of this realm,” the Headmaster of Shade added.

Taiyang wanted to argue back, but prior experience held his tongue.

“Yes, run along now, little lionheart,” Salem condescended with a brushing gesture.

“Only certain performers are allowed to share this stage.”

X X X X X

“This is the best we could do, huh?” Yang asked.

“Yep. Everything’s zeroed on this spot,” Emerald replied.

“Couldn’t make it any farther out?”

“Considering all the last-minute strings we had to pull to make this puppet show dance, I’m surprised we made this much space at all. Let’s just be happy and take what we can get, shall we?”

On the farthest edge of Vacuo’s western wall, Yang and Emerald plopped down to take a seat. Their feet dangled off the side. Neo and Mercury joined them shortly. The four stared passively at Behemoth encroaching their position. They could see armies warring at the corner of their peripheries to the left and right.

Although they were aware of the violent events transpiring, and those to come, the team basked in the oddly-serendipitous moment of peace. For them, nothing would happen for the next few minutes. All manner of dangers were far or on their way. All they could do was wait. And likely, due to repeated instances of high intensity, even a few minutes of waiting was enough to bring a calmness to their nerves.

Neo pulled out an apple, and sliced off a few pieces with her sword. One by one, she passed the slips of fruit to her teammates. And the four munched on the small snack, while watching Behemoth beat its wings towards them. Nothing left, but to bide their time until the omen of destruction’s arrival.

“So, everyone around’s been cleared out?” Yang started.

“Yup. Zero possible casualties, except for maybe us. Just the way you like it,” Emerald replied.

“See? Doesn’t it feel nice to do the right thing?”

“Fuck the right thing. That’s not why I did this.”

“Oh? Then, why did you do it? I thought your self-proclaimed moral compass was broken.”

Emerald glared at her silently.

It is broken.

I mostly did this cause of you…

“Still, thanks for doing it.” Yang beamed with a warm smile. “I mean it, Em.”

Yang was about to pop another apple slice in her mouth, when Emerald snatched it midair. Taking it as some abstract price exacted, the girl didn’t make a fuss. Only taking replacement from Neo, who was performing her own magic trick of producing endless fruit out of thin air.

“Hey, Em?”

“Yeah, Yang?”

“Did Temujin seem…weird to you? You know, back there?”

“Temujin’s always weird.”

“Yeah, but… evasive.”

“Temujin’s always evasive.”

“You know what I mean,” Yang groaned. “Back when she told us she was abandoning the city, and even when we told her our plan, she just okayed it like it was nothing.”

“You prefer she argue with us? We practically handed her a ‘we’ll save your city for free’ card. Maybe, she just didn’t want to look a gift horse in the anus.”

“Uh, it’s teeth.”

“What is?”

“The saying. It’s ‘gift horse in the teeth’.”

“Oh. Mercury lied to me.”

“No, it’s definitely anus,” Mercury mumbled, stuffing more apples into his mouth. “That’s how you tell the horse’s age.”

“Okay! But you know what I’m saying,” Yang brought the topic back. “What futures did Mouse and Knives see? And what else aren’t they telling us? Temujin doesn’t seem the type, but she looks kind of like she’s given up. What else are they hiding?”

“Who knows,” Emerald shrugged.

“I know you’ve thought about it.”

“I got a few ideas, but nothing concrete.”

“This isn’t the time for our sides to keep secrets.” Yang let out an exasperated groan before popping another slice into her mouth. “Cinder and Weiss are ready to pull us out. Temujin has to know that. She needs to be open with us.”

“It’s not like we tipped all of our hand to her either. Still gotta play a few things close to the chest. Distrust goes both ways.”

“I thought we were in an alliance.”

“I think this is about as much two Kingdoms can trust each other without actually merging. And that’s without all the bad blood between Vacuo and Atlas.”

“We need to be on the same page, Em. Salem found a crack in our team, and pried it apart. What do you think she’ll do to two Kingdoms?”

Emerald paused, and then bit into the next crunchy morsel Neo handed her.

“True. If Vacuo somehow gets out of this intact, I wouldn’t put it past Salem to turn one of the Kingdoms against the other. You have an idea bouncing around that noggin? Or do you just like adding new problems to my ‘shit I gotta figure out’ list?”

“We need to have a sit down with Temujin. At the least, we need to hear everything the siblings predicted so far.”

“Yeah, she’s kept us in the deep dark about their visions. Not just us, but her own people, too.”

“And if we’re learning anything, whatever Temujin hides is worth finding out.”

“Emerald,” a voice came over the Enchantress’ mental link. “Are we ready to begin?”

“Yeah. Just about,” she responded, and got up.

At that moment, a number of transmissions reached Team ENMY’s communications.

“Alrighty. Time to set the world record for taking down a bunch of Nightmare Class Grimm in a row, maybe!” Emerald announced.

“All boss speedrun!” Mercury fake cheered.

Yang turned to Neo with a loving stare.

“Got my back?” she winked.

Neo smiled widely.

Yup.

X X X X X

(An hour ago)

“Are we sure this is wise?” General Ironwood couldn’t help voicing his doubts. “We were supposed to wait until we were closer to attempt this.”

“Drastic measures, General,” Trafalgar answered, next to him on the bridge. “Sometimes, all we can do is take a leap of faith.”

“There are countless variables which can skew the accuracy.”

“That’s why it’s called a leap and not a step, or a modest crawl.”

Ironwood breathed a sigh, before speaking into the console.

“Alright, Penny. Permission to arm.”

“Armed and READY, Mr. Ironwood!” the girl answered with a chipper.

“Execute.”

X X X X X

“……. What the hell are you kids thinking?” Qrow muttered his disbelief.

“I’m thinking we need your help to bring down Behemoth. Is the wax building up in your ears, grandpa?” Emerald replied.

“Don’t call me grandpa!”

“The other guy is definitely a grandpa. As a matter of fact, he’s the grandest of grandpas. So, you gonna help us or not?”

“I thought the plan was to surprise Salem with an ambush.”

“Plans change. Roll with it.”

Qrow breathed one of the most soul-draining sighs in his life, before centering himself to continue.

“Okay. So, let me make sure I got this right. You need me to use Titan’s power to help you kill Behemoth.”

“Yup!”

“But before that, you need me to stick my neck out.”

“You got it.”

“I immediately don’t like this…”

X X X X X

“I think I’m going to like this,” Raven gave a soft chuckle.

“I thought you would,” Emerald shared in the mental laugh. “Shouldn’t be a violation against whatever your contract is with Salem, right?”

“Only you brats could come up with something this sloppy and effective.”

“Compliment received.”

X X X X X

Out in the ocean separating Atlas from Vacuo, the acting reinforcements of the Atlesian Fleet came to a full stop. While the airships hovered as still as possible, their artillery battery raised to a high angle. Tapped into each vessel’s control system and calculating a complex aiming algorithm was a certain android.

“Coordinates fixed. Real-time calculations complete. Trajectory courses confirmed!” Penny cheered.

“FIRNG ALL ORDNANCE!”

X X X X X

(Back to the Present)

Team ENMY turned their gazes eastward, where a flock of glistening projectiles soared towards their position.

“Whoa, that’s gonna be close,” Yang commented.

“Yeah, well. It’s supposed to be,” Emerald sneered, as she elbowed Mercury’s side. “You’re up, top gun. Make sure it’s not us that gets our ass fricasseed.”

“On it, boss.”

Mercury activated his Semblance and felt the surrounding atmosphere come under his control. His senses extended to the oncoming shells. Their trajectories mapped out in his mind’s eye.

Damn. Not a bad shot from fifteen-thousand plus kilometers away.

Just need to sharp it just a little…

Mercury adjusted the turbulence and atmospheric pressure to suit his needs. He played out the simulation in his head, and matched it to the present. Their “back-up” fire would land exactly where they wanted it to on the dime.

“Merc,” Emerald elbowed him a few more times. “Hate to interrupt your beautiful mind moment, but the big bad bug is coming up faster. Maybe, short the fuse on lighting this candle?”

“Sure, just gotta speed up the momentum on more than a thousand combustible Dust shells. No big deal.” The sarcasm exaggerated in his voice.

“I had to hallucinate a whole Kingdom. Don’t get cute with me about making the big plays.”

The crying flock of whistling missiles screamed across the sky ever closer. At the same time, the great shadows and winds kicked up by Behemoth brushed the team’s backs.

Despite being caught between an arsenal of hellfire and the largest Grimm ever recorded, ENMY showed no signs of panic. Once Mercury finished his modifications, he expelled a small sigh of relief.

“Nice,” Emerald smirked, while putting on the sunglasses she took from Coco so long ago. Yang, Neo, and Mercury were producing their own pairs, when she also took out her scroll. She then, held it out and struck a smug pose.

“Are you actually taking a selfie right now?” Yang asked in slack-jawed awe.

“I wanna send a picture to Cinder. It’ll also make a good memory.”

Without wait or permission, the rest of the team crammed into the camera shot. They made random faces, while throwing up a series of hand gestures and middle fingers.

Meanwhile, high-pitch whistling from the Fleet’s artillery was at the peak of its cries when they were suddenly muffled. Bellowing explosions cut the sound off with its own. Raining hellfire engulfed Behemoth’s back in clouds of inferno. It was a carpet bombing of a creature that could have been a small island onto itself.

“Sweet fireworks,” Yang grinned. “Did you get the shot?”

“Got it!” Emerald confirmed.

“I always wanted to help destroy something beautiful,” Mercury shed a single tear.

Neo threw her hands up, cheering with mute excitement.

Fire! Fire! Burn!

“Okay, okay,” Emerald called their attention. “I know that just made the inner pyros inside us cream, but we still got work to do.” She tapped her in-ear communicator. “You there, OG?”

“I’m here.”

Flying above the incinerating back of Behemoth, a black bird swooped down. Its feathers shed upon its descent, giving way to a human form. He aimed the landing of his dive before the intact form of Combine, Chief of the Cuckoo Grimm.

The parasitic bird gave a gross chirp, as it recognized its bodyguards were burned away by Penny’s fire bombing.

“This… really sucks!” Qrow complained.

Sweat dripped down his face. He could feel the life being siphoned from him, leaving his skin cold. If he didn’t possess the Old One’s longevity, he might have died instantly in Combine’s presence.

Azkaban was somewhere near, so Qrow couldn’t activate his Semblance to save himself. But if things went according to plan, he wouldn’t remain vulnerable for long.

…

“How much could I pay you not to save my brother?” Raven posed to Emerald via their telepathic link.

“Discount low five figures,” the quick answer came.

“That was a joke.”

“Was it, though~?”

From her cliffside in the Black Oasis, Raven gripped the hilt of her katana and went into a low iaido stance. Her senses attuned to the combination of Emerald and Neo’s information. There, she saw her brother’s back turned towards her.

“Now, don’t flinch, little brother.”

…

“Neo?” Emerald prompted.

The petite girl poised her estoc in a thrusting motion above her shoulder. A silver light gleamed in her irises. She made out the positions of three key figures: Combine, Qrow, and Azkaban, before sealing the sight into her blade.

Neo took a long-drawn breath, and then emptied her lungs of all its air. She concentrated a majority of her Aura into the ultimate technique she created herself, leaving just a little in reserve. It was the most powerful move in her arsenal, and she would only be able to perform it once for a long while.

The small swordswoman felt traces of Yang’s influence swell in her soul. A bright fire of her beloved’s sun licked heat on her fingertips.

Neo’s hand moved quicker than the naked eye could catch. The sounds of shattering glass only followed after the fact.

In the same moment, Raven freed her blade from its sheath. Her bloody double-slash was going to cut a blazing X across the sky and Qrow’s back. But at the very last second, the move collided with Neo’s.

It was a clash of ultimate sword techniques that resounded across the entire continent. A piercing blade of blinding, silver glass and a cross drawn by a sinisterly, crimson paintbrush cut the sky into pieces. The world itself seemed to tear briefly, like it was made of paper.

Raven’s attack was barely deflected enough from her brother’s back, and guided in the direction of Combine instead. Likewise, Neo’s thrust was diverted towards Azkaban. Both their blades struck their marks down, slaying the Nightmare Grimm with their god-like skill.

Hmph, Raven scoffed with an impressed thought.

Out of the four brats, she might be the one who grew the most in all this…

“Not that I’d tell her that.”

…

“Uncle Qrow!” Yang shouted.

“On it, kid!”

With Combine and Azkaban down, Qrow felt the burden on him lifted. He tapped into Titan’s ability, while harnessing his own Semblance. A pair of great scythes unfolded in each of his hands. A familiar green glow permeated from his body to envelope the burning Behemoth.

The Grimm’s flying motion slowed to a crawl. Time slurred in the space it occupied until the creature stopped just above the wall and Team ENMY. Wind, fire, poison, and intermingled with it, falling caterpillar Grimm froze midair.

Yang and Mercury stared up, before bumping their fists.

The Spring Maiden felt adrenaline rush her veins. A crystallized crown formed its halo around her head. Her eyes blazed with the fire of her Semblance. She watched lightning crack across her vision, outlining Behemoth’s multiple weaknesses caused by redundancies in its anatomy.

“Wouldn’t be easy if we could just strike one spot. We’re gonna have to hit them all.”

The pair rocketed into the sky.

Mercury and Qrow went to work first. The young man summoned a storm to carry him across the Grimm’s expansive mass. Every kick he delivered made the floating island shudder. Likewise, the veteran Huntsman used his Reaper’s Semblance to sow death from atop. Together, they layered a cacophony of craters and trenches into Behemoth’s exoskeleton.

And then, Yang rose to join them.

“Many search the meaning of the shape given to their soul,” she heard Nai’s words echo the depths of her mind.

“I am Poison.

I am a Weapon.

I have lived and learned to become the agent that destroys my enemies’ bodies.

What does your life embody?

What meaning does its shape give?”

Yang jumped from falling debris to falling debris, making her way to the belly of the beast.

For my friends, I’ll be their warmth.

When they are lost, I’ll be their light.

And for anyone who tries to hurt them,

I’ll be the banisher of their darkness.

Yang’s Ember Celica shifted its form. Pistons fired across her entire arm. It rumbled with all the power and force of a jet engine.

I am the Fight that Life brings.

I am Fire.

And I Burn.

The exact moment, the noon sun reached its highest crest, the Spring Maiden’s punch let loose a flame likened to the birth of a new star. A supernova erupted in the center of Behemoth’s stomach, scorching constellations across the vulnerabilities of its body.

The halting of time was no small feat, and Titan’s ability only lasted a breath before reality resumed. But it was enough for Behemoth’s annihilation to be realized.

“Alright! It’s gonna pop!” Emerald shouted. “Clear the area!”

Yang, Mercury, and Qrow escaped the burning wreckage’s vicinity, as the Grimm plummeted down. Its body decomposed into countless scales, which combusted on any contact. The repeated detonations and weight of its carcass drove a crag into the wall and a small part of the city.

…

Yang let herself freefall. Burning cartilage still flew around her. Much of her energy was spent, but not all of it, per Emerald’s orders. But there was no denying the weariness setting into her nerves.

“Well, that was a thing.”

She looked to the side, and saw Mercury speed down to Emerald. Their leader stood on what remained of the wall. Her Uncle was nowhere in sight.

*Sigh* “I really want this day to be over…”

Just then, among the falling scraps, Yang spotted an oddity. It was a little singed, but it stood out from everything else with its white-colored design and the way it spun sharply through the air.

Yang squinted her eyes, and saw it was a playing card.

The Ace of Spades.

X X X X X

“Is this truly all the strength you can muster?”

Salem gave a wave of her hand, and the bright projectiles Glynda and Minerva cast her way dissolved into squirming maggots. As they writhed uselessly on the ground, the Witch made a claw with her hand. Her long nails thrusted in the direction of her opponents.

Suddenly, the sand beneath the sorcerers’ feet coiled like tentacles, pulling them into its embrace. Salem’s hand squeezed, and the prison of silt closed tighter.

“You’re spellcasting is rather rudimentary compared to what I’ve seen over the ages. But I suppose that is the folly of mortals. Not enough age to hone that wisdom, no matter the potential exhibited.”

“Then, perhaps another challenger is in order? One you can’t bully with your tricks.”

A crow flew down, before expanding its form into a man. He snapped his fingers once, and the “living sand” about to suffocate the sorcerers was dispelled.

Glynda blinked, not believing her eyes. The image of the man before her seemed to phase in and out of existence, as if their identity wasn’t solidified.

“Ozpin?”

“Apologies for the tardiness, Glynda,” the white-haired man with small glasses said. “There was an issue that required our assistance.”

“But, how…? What about Qrow?”

“Also, here,” the figure of Ozpin replied with a voice that was not his. “This body sharing thing is more complicated than it looks.”

The immortal’s body flickered between Ozpin’s visage and Qrow’s, and then another Glynda recognized as Beacon’s past Headmaster Myrddin’s. Reality bent, and several iterations blinked in quick succession. Some figures she remembered from historical texts, more of them she did not. The spinning of the forms continued until the image settled onto a small, hunched-back old man. He had the look of a retired farmer and had to use a cane to support him like a third leg.

“Titan…!” Salem snarled with rising furor.

“…Wicked,” the Old One spoke in a grounded tone. His voice was crass, but it dissipated into the surroundings like an earthquake. “Must we continue this vicious cycle?”

“Oh, it will not continue. Not for you.”

“So, it was inevitable. You and I must battle once more.”

“Immortal versus immortal,” the Witch gestured to herself, then Titan. A bloodthirsty Magic coursed her veins, making them pulse black across her pale skin.

“There can only be one.”

X X X X X

Yang was in no position to react. The playing card spinning outside her reach was practically a calling card for her death. All she could do was leave her fate to another’s hands.

…

Fortunately, those hands were the ones she trusted the most with her life.

The sound of shattering glass scattered pieces of Neo’s mirror portal into the falling sky. Her sword was held, outstretched. Its point pierced through the card as a bullet punched a hole through the same middle.

It should have been a perfect killshot. Yang and Neo read the trajectory, and it would’ve drilled right through Yang’s forehead, but Neo’s interference skewed its course.

“Shit!”

Yang whipped her neck as fast as she could, just in time for the bullet to tear a chunk of her hair off along with part of her right ear. Blood stained her cheek and a sharp ringing noise penetrated her eardrum.

“Hey, you. Can you hear me?” Emerald’s voice came from her comms, as Yang could see her leader smirking in the distance. She flipped her the middle finger.

“Told you she’d try.”

“Really, Em?! Now?!”

“Hey, you were the one who wanted to do this, despite my fair and wise warnings.”

“Can we save the ‘I told you so’s for later?”

“Say hi to her for me,” Emerald waved.

“WILL FREAKIN’ DO!!!”

Yang flashed an angry glare to Neo, who gave her a quick nod.

A second later, and her partner conjured a mirror for her to drop into. The portal pushed her into another, and then another, and so on. Each segment accelerated her into the distance.

Yang didn’t aim her fist. She knew Neo would do that for her. All she had to do was swing when the time came.

And at the last shuttle interval, she threw her fist.

Yang’s landing struck the terrain like a miniature meteorite. The target and source of her bullet wound was knocked off her feet, and onto her back. The shooter could have put up resistance, but the looming Spring Maiden erased any thought of that.

Instead, Inna Kao simply smiled.

“Hey, Yang.” She tipped her hat, still on the ground.

“Hey, Inna. Long time no see,” Yang replied unenthusiastically. “Em says, hi.”

“Oh? Tell her I said hi back.”

Yang did a quick sweep of her surroundings.

“No Bean?”

“Nah. I wanted to take my shot away from him just in case. Guess I made the right call on that.”

“Too bad. I wanted to see him.”

Inna stared at Yang for a while, before tilting her hat down.

“Heh… Well, you got me good. Don’t tell me ya’ll fixed that trap for lil ‘ol me?”

“It was Emerald’s idea. We’ve been ready ever since we heard you and Bean were around. We know we can’t underestimate you.”

“Shucks, Yang. Now, yer just makin’ me blush.”

Yang stared long and hard at the cowgirl.

“……I heard about your team. Sorry.”

“Yeah, well. I’ll be joinin’ them soon.”

“Funny thought that.”

Yang grabbed Inna’s rifle laying on the ground, and snapped it in half across her knee. It pained her a little to destroy someone’s personal weapon, but the bad feeling disappeared when she remembered she was missing part of her ear because of Inna. The gun would be repaired eventually. As far as she was concerned, they were even.

“Nothing to worry about if you don’t have your rifle,” Yang tossed the remains at Inna’s feet. “I’m done killing people, especially people I like.”

“…I can’t stop coming for you, Yang.”

“Yeah, you can. All you have to do is stop,” Yang shrugged. “But if you really want to keep trying, go ahead. I’ll be ready.”

“Hm hm! Told you, you’d be sorry, Inna,” Raven chuckled, as she stepped through her portal.

“Mom. Why am I not surprised you’re here?”

“Your little girlfriend actually matched my favorite move.”

“She’s a keeper.”

“I guess.”

“I’m totally telling her you approve.”

“I don’t. And another thing—”

Just then, Raven and Yang’s heads were flooded with an amalgam of information. Rather information, they were a bit like actual memories, but of events that had yet to occur. It was disorienting to say the least, but one thing was clear.

“Hey! Did you get that?!” Raven asked Yang.

“Yeah. What the hell was that, Em?”

“It’s the visions the Rakis siblings have been seeing. Don’t know why, but Knives was suddenly in a sharing mood. But after seeing what was in them, I think we can make a guess!”

“That vision…Temujin…!”

“That’s why you and Raven should get your asses back here on the double!”

“Mom!” Yang turned to Raven, and saw fear there like she never had before.

“Let’s go.”

X X X X X

“Hm. They brought down Behemoth,” Temujin rubbed her chin with an even composure.

The throne room, which was once a bustling war room, was now vacant. The lone ruler of Vacuo sat on her chair with only the Rakis siblings for company.

“Any deviations?”

“With almost all our fortifications intact, more of Vacuo’s citizens will survive by the end,” Mouse answered.

“Haha… They are truly something. Troublemakers. The perfect enemy against Salem and fate.”

The old woman smiled ear to ear, before breathing a contented sigh.

“Everything else is proceeding according to script?”

“……Yes.”

A nearby monitor showed an endless replay of Team ENMY’s assault on Behemoth. Right before the artillery from the Atlesian Fleet struck, a wisp of dark mist engulfed Camlann, and seemingly warped it out of the area.

On a security monitor, three figures made their way through the Hanging Gardens. The colossal armor of Camlann was recognized. Beside the Grimm were Adam and Blake. It wouldn’t be long until they reached the chamber.

“You two should go,” Temujin said to the siblings.

“No,” Mouse refused shakily. “We won’t leave you.”

“You have to guide our people.”

“We won’t leave you!”

The boy now had tears streaming his eyes. He wanted with everything to overturn the future he and his sister saw. A future where the Grimm overran their land. A future where their closest friends died…

…A future where Temujin offered her life to further incite the rage of her people.

“Oh,” the old Faunus put a hand on Mouse’s head. “You know, I faced a lot of criticism for adding that Eye for an Eye thing at the end of the Code. Mostly from Minerva, but whatever.” she smirked. “Who knew it would be the strength our people needed in their weakest hour? Surely, not me.”

Gentle sobs continued to escape Mouse, as Temujin continued.

“No, definitely not me… But if the death of one old woman past her prime can be the rally cry of our Kingdom, I will answer my duty with a full heart.”

“…”

“Go. My time is over.” Temujin announced proudly. “This is goodbye.”

“We won’t leave you!!!” Mouse cried back.

Temujin scratched her ear in frustration, before turning to her other side.

“Knives. I entrust you with your brother. You know what must be done. The both of you must regroup with Nai and Minerva. Notify them of my death. The first waves of the Grimm should be dealt with by then. Fall back here with Team ENMY, and eliminate Camlann. Hold the siege until Atlas’ Fleet arrives.”

The younger Rakis made no move to respond.

“Knives? Did you hear me?! Knives!”

Temujin shook her shoulder, and saw the girl’s expression turn with surprise.

“Oh, right!” Knives answered with wide eyes. Her tone was different from her usual. “Actually, I agree with Mouse there. You really shouldn’t be so quick to sacrifice yourself.”

The elder Faunus was struck speechless.

“There’s a lot of people who would mourn your death, Temujin. They’d be heartbroken,” the girl continued. “I know one person especially!”

“Who…?” the old Faunus could only mutter. “Who are you?”

The girl with the appearance of Knives could only smile brightly.

“There’s always a way to change fate, as well as those who are willing to fight it. You said it yourself.”

“…”

“But they can’t help you if you don’t believe in it too,” Knives held Temujin’s hand in both of hers. “This girl loves you so much. She begged for a way to save you, even in her dreams. That’s how deep her resolve is.”

Temujin continued to stare blankly at the girl. Knives met her gaze, unabashed. The young girl’s eyes seemed to glint with a brighter silver than usual.

Then, Temujin remembered where she heard this speech mannerism before, as well as this unflinching determination.

“Summer Rose?”

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #yang xiao long #neopolitan #emerald sustrai #mercury black #raven branwen #qrow branwen #rwby au #ENMY

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ko-fanatic · 6 years ago

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Life is a Cabaret: Welcome to Berlin (Part one)

Rating: Mature (for series as a whole)

Fandom: Ouran High School Host Club

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of smoking

Summary: "There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies, and there was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany… and it was the end of the world. I was dancing with Kyoya Ootori, and we were both fast asleep…" - Kaoru Kelly-Hitachiin, 1931

A warning for those who aren't familiar with Cabaret: While this all starts out light-hearted, it involves some serious and disturbing topics later on. Warnings for: Nazism, racism, homophobia, antisemitism, violence, sexual harassment and other such issues.

Kaoru crossed his legs at the ankle, changing his position for what had to be the fourth time in just as many minutes, his backside numb and pins and needles licking at his feet. The train from Paris to Berlin wasn’t the longest journey he’d been on, by far, but he couldn’t say he was a great traveller.

He should have purchased a novel other than the one currently residing in his suitcase which, despite it being by his feet and not put away above his head, he couldn’t be bothered to retrieve. Some political tripe that he thought he should familiarise himself with. Instead, he simply watched the grey smoke roll passed the window, listening to the sound of the train’s motion, and decided that it was – all things considered – a nice way to travel.

He wouldn’t make an afternoon of it, however; his derriere wouldn’t forgive him. He was just content to sit in his little compartment, partaking in some rather nice peace and quiet, gazing out of the window as green landscapes rolled by. Berlin might just give him the inspiration he’s been searching for; the city laying before him, ready to be made his muse. One successful (sort of) novel under his belt, and he should publish another before the promise the publishers talked of burned out. Not so much a supernova as a glowing cinder from the fireplace extinguishing itself on the stone hearth.

Still, Berlin was not only home to art, culture, history and excitement, but his dear twin brother. Hikaru had, of course, been rather insistent – it was like he never left, really. Seeing his brother’s excitedly scrawled handwriting proclaim the Berlin was a must, and that he’d certainly be able to take off the proverbial corset and relax for a while in one of the many famous cabaret clubs. Handsome men and beautiful girls wearing skimpy, lacy outfits and dancing provocatively. He was about as interested as any man would be; which was to say, very. It’d certainly be an interesting backdrop for the new novel, anyhow.

His introspection was interrupted by a knock on the sliding door to his compartment, a man with a somewhat unfortunate face standing there, a suitcase in each hand. His long, straight nose was slightly hooked, and he could only picture the villain of a talkie he’d seen back when he was in Ireland. It was a tad unfair, of course; especially because he hadn’t even given the man a chance to say anything.

“Belegt? Occupied?” The man asked, gesturing about the small compartment, and Kaoru shook his head in reply, only for the man to ask again, in English, “Is it permitted?”

“Yes, yes, by all means,” Kaoru confirmed, the man stepping in and sitting in the seat opposite, giving him a small smile that only served to make his expression more pinched. He set his two suitcases on the floor also, sighing heavily as he reclined against the backrest.

“Japanese?” The other man inquired, far more politely than some.

“I might as well wear a sign,” Kaoru chuckled, running a hand through his hair, “One part Jap and the other Gaelic. All I have to show for the other half is red hair and burning to a crisp in sunlight though, I don’t even hold my liquor well.”

The nameless man laughed, slightly too high and a little too sudden, but it broke the tension all the same. After all, having a sour face was not necessarily an implication of a sour personality. “German and Japanese, not that I have ever been outside of Europe. I take up residence in Berlin,” He introduced, holding out his hand for Kaoru to shake, “Takashi Ludwig Kuze.”

“Kaoru Kelly-Hitachiin, no permanent residence,” He responded in kind, firmly grasping Herr Kuze’s hand. Just as he did so, however, he heard the tell-tale release of stream, the train’s wheels grating on the tracks as the brakes were applied, the engine slowing to an eventual crawl. Just to make sure, he decided to inquire to his new, probably more informed companion, “Are we slowing down for the German border?”

Herr Kuze hummed, turning to look out of the window. He was apparently familiar with the scenery, as he soon confirmed the assumption.

“So, I assume you’ve made this trip before, then?” Kaoru supplied, trying to keep up the small talk before the conversation died and the compartment filled with stagnant awkwardness. Having not even fully entered Germany yet, it would be a nightmare to ride in cloying silence for the rest of the trip.

“Many times,” Herr Kuze nodded, reclining back in the seat once more, settling down as they awaited the conductor and the accompanying checks. Honestly, that was another thing Kaoru disliked about travelling, having to dig out his passport before he crossed any border; it always seemed to fall right to the bottom of his satchel. However, the man opposite cut through his mental rant before it gathered an unhealthy amount of steam, “You are a tourist?”

“Uh… Not quite. Well, that’s not the full picture,” He dithered, unsure if this counted as oversharing with a stranger, “I’m a writer, and I give Japanese lessons. I just needed a little more inspiration for my next novel… Something I’m rather lacking, apparently. Care for a cigarette?”

Herr Kuze didn’t seem all that interested, most of his focus directed at the view out of the window. It was rather beautiful, Kaoru had to admit, but green fields had also been a staple scenery in Ireland, it wasn’t all that dissimilar. Not to mention that the other man had made the trip many times, so surely the intensity at which he was taking in the view was a tad unwarranted? Still, he could’ve taken the trip that many times because he was fond of it, he supposed, and so he spoke up once more.

“Herr Kuze?” He was at least acknowledged this time, snapping the other man out of the thoughts he’d obviously been invested in, Herr Kuze turning to face him again. A hum, and Kaoru continued, holding the case up to him, “Would you like a cigarette?”

“Oh, no thank you,” Herr Kuze waved away. Kaoru just nodded, returning the cigarillo box to his breast pocket, the compartment falling silent once more. It was that odd space that felt vacant of words, unsure of what to say to a stranger; a touch of anxiety and awkwardness. God knew that people didn’t like to be bothered while on the train, or so he’d learned during his time in London. Just keep your head down and carry on.

He didn’t have to endure the silence much longer, however, control officer making his rounds and performing his tasks. He could hear the strong, harsh syllables of German a little further down the carriage, and he once more attempted to dig out his damn passport. At least Herr Kuze was prepared, it seemed, already having it in-hand. Perhaps it was one of the skills that came with constant travel; being able to locate your paperwork easily.

“Deutsche Grenzkontrolle,” Came a voice from the doorway, the control officer standing by the door to the compartment. Luckily, his passport finally came to hand, and he passed it to the officer. The booklet was flicked through quickly, the basics of his information scan-read, and he was handed it back with no fuss, “Welcome to Germany, Herr Kelly.”

He bit back the urge to correct the man as the customs mark was put on his bags without even opening and inspecting them. He knew the second half of his name stumped some people, and the man’s pleasantries were sincere. There was no point being anal about it.

Despite how lax his own checks had been, it seemed as though Herr Kuze didn’t have that luxury. While his German wasn’t terrible, the phrases spoken between his new acquaintance and the officer were too quick for him to truly understand. Lots of questions, a bag being searched, but he noticed that another bag had suspiciously joined his own. As the officer didn’t see it, they were both left alone once more in the compartment when the officer believed his work was done.

“I wish you’ll enjoy your stay in Germany,” The officer bid Kaoru with a curt nod, “And a most happy new year.”

The door to the compartment was closed, Herr Kuze retrieving his undeclared bag once more, and Kaoru’s curiosity was piqued. After all, Herr Kuze gave off an air of one with a straight-laced, law-abiding attitude – not to mention that, despite the unfortunate face and touch of social awkwardness, he seemed like a nice gentleman.

It didn’t help that the Hitachiin sense of curiosity and general nosiness was rather hard to ignore. While he was the most well-behaved between Hikaru and their mother, it was still a defining trait that tended to cloud his judgement and make him feel somewhat entitled to know what wasn’t his business.

“What’s in the bag?” He inquired, Herr Kuze looking a little unsure at that, almost nervous.

“Oh, err, just some trinkets from Paris, really,” He answered, “Perfume, silk stockings. Gifts for friends, but more than what is really permitted. You understand?”

He did. He’d also brought some things for Hikaru, although his budget didn’t really allow for anything too fancy. Some shortbread from Scotland, some sketches of the landscapes he’d seen, nothing costly. He’d be more than happy to see his brother again, anyway; even if he was the one with more expensive taste. It’d been a fairly long time, after all…

“Well, I guess I’ve done some smuggling myself, then,” He chuckled, happy to see that Herr Kuze had perked up at that.

“You are most understanding, thank you very much,” He enthused, a teeth-bearing smile on his lips that really didn’t help the sinister, rat-like look he had, even if the thought was impolite and unfair, “I would like to make sure that your stay is an enjoyable one, that Berlin will be a home-from-home. We’ll even start tonight; a friend of mine works in one of the hottest clubs in Berlin. Japanese theme, phones on tables, girls call you, boys call you and – instant connection. The best dancers, too; my friend was even famous in England for a while –”

“That’s very kind of you,” He interrupted. It seemed once Herr Kuze began to speak, he had an issue stopping. One thing did catch his attention, however; boys call you. He had no issue with homosexuality, obviously, but it sounded far too… open. Especially for what he was used to. But maybe Berlin was different? “I don’t have fixed accommodation yet. I’m hoping to share with my brother, but I’m not sure if he has the space necessary…”

“Well, you see, I can remedy that also. Herr Morinozuka has the finest residence in Berlin, and inexpensive also. Just tell him I sent you, and he’ll be most amenable,” Kuze insisted, scrawling a name and address on the back of a business card before handing it to him. Takashi Morinozuka, huh? “After all, people can be oddly picky over residents. I’m sure you understand my meaning…”

He did. His Japanese heritage would probably be the most hindrance, but the Irish in him wasn’t particularly helpful, either. Hunting for a room would have to take these into account, and if Morinozuka’s rooms were in his budget, then it would be easier.

“Thank you very much, Herr Kuze,” He smiled, holding out his hand for the other to shake, “I’ll certainly have to visit the club you mentioned, also.”

“No need to thank me. New country, and you already have a fine place to live, your first friend, and perhaps even your first Japanese student,” Kuze enthused, shaking his hand, “Welcome to Berlin, my friend.”

Yes. Welcome to Berlin, indeed.

#ouran high school host club #kaoru hitachiin #takeshi kuze #ohshc #life is a cabaret series #my fanfiction

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texanredrose · 7 years ago

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Omega’s Strength (Pt 5)

As I mentioned at the beginning, I don’t wanna play the guessing game with canon, so here’s where I hash out what liberties I’ve taken to make this non-canon compliant as well as what the plan is going forward.

The official mess was a big, spacious room down the hall on the second deck, with long tables and fixed seats. It never sat well with the majority of their ragtag group, feeling too sterile for comfort and too reminiscent of Beacon for ease, so they instead took their meals in the kitchen area, where the food actually got cooked by whoever pulled the short straw for the day. Most of their rations were the bulk, ready-to-heat style typical for Atlesian military vessels, like the spaghetti and meatballs currently being pushed around her plate by her fork. Ruby had already gone over some things to work on as teams and individuals, with all but the leader of Team SNOW taking well to the criticism. Stryker at least played the role of an interested party, though her gaze seemed to convey a level of concerted disinterest not too dissimilar from Weiss when the Beta was announced as their team leader.

Well, they had experience working with stubborn Alphas. A few good knocks and she'd figure out that the time for fun and games ended a while ago.

"Oh! And, we were able to make contact with Team SSSN!" Ruby announced with a smile that became faked the longer she spoke. "They'll be meeting up with us as soon as possible. Might not be able to reach us before we try infiltrating the base but soon after that! They're, uh, looking forward to seeing us again."

Weiss and Blake exchanged a look, the Alpha's slight frown met with an equally unimpressed raise of her mate's brow. Ultimately, she put her hands up. "We... certainly could use the assistance."

"And they're reliable friends we can trust," the Omega said, pointedly shifting in her seat and likely doing something hidden by the island they were gathered around to set the other woman at ease. "I'm sure a brief word early on is all they'll need to focus on the mission."

"We can certainly hope." Weiss didn't seem convinced and, frankly, Yang didn't blame her; Sun and Neptune hadn't been subtle with their advances and Blake's extended period traveling with the monkey Faunus likely meant the newly bonded mates would have to talk about that at some point in the near future, if they hadn't already. However, as far as Alphas went, Sun landed on the more laid back end of the spectrum, and Neptune could be an admittedly aggressive Beta but proved rather easy to discourage, seeing as he'd never really pursued any of his shameless attempts at flirting. "Do we have any other allies?"

"We're still trying to contact Team CFVY." Her sister frowned. "Professor Goodwitch mentioned that a lot of students stayed back to secure the evacuation for Vale, but communication across the sea is still pretty spotty at best."

Then, Stryker decided to chime in with her first genuine comment since they'd regrouped. "You still call her Professor? This isn't exactly a classroom, you know."

"Showing proper respect to a more experienced Huntress trumps technicalities." Weiss shot back, narrowing her eyes slightly. "We would show you the same courtesy... if it applied."

A flicker of annoyance passed over the woman's face. "Oh, great. You two have the whole 'apple and tree' thing going on."

"And your entire team has the whole 'getting destroyed by people two years your junior' thing going on. It's a very charming theme."

"Weiss," Blake said, her voice neutral. It could be a warning, a reprimand, or an agreement and the majority of them would be none the wiser; only Yang could really get a read enough on the Faunus to tell the single word held more of the former and latter than the middle.

"Look, I get that we're all getting used to each other still, but there's way bigger things going on right now than personal differences," Ruby said, effectively bringing the conversation back on topic. "Normally, I'd be all for duking it out until we can agree to disagree, but we really don't have that option." Her expression hardened, the corners of her lips pulling into a slight frown. "We need to work together, starting now. Any objections?" When Team SNOW shifted, a subtle inhalation proceeding a verbal response, silver eyes shot to the four, irises glistening just a little with untold power. She still hadn’t mastered the enigmatic abilities but they seemed to respond when she thought about certain things, so she could at least try to use them, and it had the desired effect as all movement ceased. "Let me make this really clear. We can use all the help we can get but anyone not willing to put differences aside is just going to get someone else killed in the long run." She leaned back from the kitchen island, crossing her arms over her chest. "This... it's all or nothing. No in between. We've already lost too many friends; I'm not losing any more because of dumb, petty squabbles."

With a small sigh, Stryker nodded, making eye contact with Weiss as she spoke. "Fine. We'll play nice."

Almost immediately, the Alpha opened her mouth to snipe something back but a hand at her elbow stopped her, Blake's fingers soothing the annoyance from her brow easily. Yang watched silently, abandoning any hope of finishing her spaghetti in favor of taking a few steps back and leaning against one of the refrigerators. She couldn't imagine how soothing that must feel, having a mate's touch to calm the storm of one’s anger; getting Weiss to drop a subject once she'd gotten started remained one of the hardest things for her teammates to accomplish, though it seemed now only the sisters were left behind in that department. She'd have to remember that the next time an argument started up about how should be doing the dishes or something.

"What was Sun and them even doing, anyway?" The Omega figured changing the subject now that everyone had agreed to cooperate would be best. Plus, she honestly didn't know; while she was avoiding Blake and trying to figure out what she wanted to say to her partner, the monkey Faunus left on his own mission. "Visiting family?"

"Oh! Right. We should probably go over that." Ruby turned, grabbing something from a bag she'd brought with her and unfolding it. A map of Remnant was laid down on the island after the plates were quickly cleared away. "So, according the the myths and legends that... I guess are actually true, there's four Maidens and four Relics in Remnant, and each can harness the power of either the Light Brother or the Dark Brother." She pointed towards Vale. "We know that Cinder stole the Fall Maiden powers in Vale and that Ozpin has one of the relics hidden somewhere on Beacon grounds. It's why we're trying to make contact with Team CFVY; they can retrieve it for us, since he’d removed it from the vault before Beacon fell." Her finger trailed along the paper to Mistral. "Sun, meanwhile, took his team to try retrieving the relic from Vacuo. If we can collect all four, we can combine them and harness the Light Brother's power to banish Grimm."

"Wait, I thought we were fighting some sort of secret society thing?" Oswald's expression screwed up as he looked at the map. "Why do we need to worry about the Grimm?"

Blake answered him, her expression smooth despite the hint of fear in her eyes. "We are and most of our primary enemies are flesh and blood people. Their leader, however, is some sort of combination- possibly a symbiotic Grimm that combined with a Human to create the creature we are trying to defeat. Salem doesn't appear to have a particular power to command the Grimm, but she can summon them and her base of operations is in the center of a Grimm breeding ground." Absently, her hand reached out, briefly touching the handle of Blush and Wilt attached to her back. Yang couldn't help but wince, remembering all too vividly the trials they went through to gain that bit of intel. Even if she'd yet to actually draw the blade in combat, she carried it more often than not as a reminder and it never failed to pull a concerned twitch from Weiss' brows. "If we can destroy Salem and weaken the Grimm, her pawns will fold soon after."

"But what about these Maidens?" Nigel nodded towards Ruby. "We should try recruiting them to our side, eh? Maybe get one or two out of the remaining three to join us?"

Yang had to physically bite her tongue to keep from speaking her mind on that front.

"Finding them is the hard part," Weiss said. "Aside from the fact they're moving targets, the Maidens' powers are limited to mortal fallibility the same as our semblances. Add to that we're fairly confident that Salem is the Winter Maiden and we've got one person out of millions to find, and only the hope that she'll be a Huntresses. The way the powers transfer, she could just as easily be a teenager rather than an adult warrior."

Everyone unfamiliar with the Maidens' story cringed at that while Yang looked away.

Wisteria tugged on Oswald’s sleeve and he nodded slowly. “That’s only accounting for three out of four- Winter, Fall, and one other. What about the fourth?”

“The Spring Maiden won’t help us.” On top of everything else, she didn't need to think of her mother as well, a harsh edge to her voice as she glared at him. “She doesn’t trust Ozpin and that matters more than anything else, even our lives.”

Thankfully, Ruby decided to press on quickly, a small smile directed at Oswald.

"Basically, it's a gamble we really can't take... and we also have to be prepared if the Maidens try to stop us." The Beta sighed, brushing a hand through her red tipped hair. "After the debacle in Mistral, we're probably going to be labelled threats soon; Salem has agents in every kingdom hierarchy, and they're working against us. Revealing ourselves to people and hoping they'll listen- it's just going to be a bigger and bigger risk the further we pursue it. Which is why we're going to try to find Salem's Atlesian agent; if we're lucky, we can draw attention towards a direct method of engagement while others find the relics. Once we have all four, we can hit Salem hard and end this, once and for all."

Everyone nodded as a sort of firm determination settled over them, with Jaune being the one to move the proceedings along. "So, what are we going to do here in northern Atlas?"

Ruby breathed in deeply, letting out in a long sigh. "Well. That's the fun part."

She bent over the map again, pointing to a spot near the most northern part of inhabited territory in all of Mantle, drawing everyone's attention to it while she explained the plan.

Yang laid on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She'd thought about the whole mission plan from start to finish a dozen times already, hammering her part in the whole thing home. Using the spare uniforms and equipment left aboard the ship, they would infiltrate the Atlesian base and try to find Salem's agent. Winter and Weiss would remain back with the ship, the former Professors plus Qrow on the edge to create diversions if things got too hot, and Team SNOW would be there to walk them into the perimeter; it would be on Teams RBY and ORNJ to find the rat. They didn't have much to go on except that this gear in the machine seemed to about as important as Cinder- an elevated pawn, but a pawn nonetheless. Winter had already given them her thoughts on who it could be and tips for what things they should seek out, but they were essentially flying blind.

The Omega didn't like it. Too much sneaking around, too much subterfuge- she didn't believe for a second she could fool anyone into believing she was a member of the Atlesian military and banking on a charming smile seemed like dooming them to failure. Team SNOW had agreed to help teach them basics- greetings and simple acronyms- but it seemed like they were leaving too much up to chance.

However, an open fight against a fully staffed outpost didn't bode well, either. Qrow had managed to secure them enough dust rounds to be a good stockpile for when they launched the last stage of Ruby's plan against Salem's headquarters, but they didn't have the resources to go into a full blown firefight every other day.

Something would go wrong. She could tell already; Ruby's plans usually worked out pretty well, but her best ones were always formulated in the middle of the problem, the heat of battle, when seconds meant life or death. The rush helped her think and, while this probably constituted the best plan they'd be able to manage given the situation, it wouldn't be until something went terribly wrong that the real plan came out.

She just had to make sure everyone made it that far.

Loud banging on her door jolted her into awareness, glaring at the entrance to her quarters and sighing. Aside from the dull drone of the engines as they pushed further north, everything had fallen silent on the ship and most everyone should be asleep, preparing for the busy day tomorrow. They had about thirty six hours to become believable soldiers; it didn't leave much room for slacking.

With a muttered curse, she got up and went to the door, opening it and finding a scowl coming to her features.

"Hey," Stryker said, one arm against the wall as she nonchalantly stood in front of the blonde. "Still awake, I see."

"Very observant." She crossed her arms over her chest, already guessing how things were about to go. "Wanna get it off your chest now or are you going to waste time trying to woo me?"

"You're really taking the fun out of this, Blondie." The Alpha sighed, running a hand through her hair and missing the twitch of Yang's eye. "Look, I just figure we could help each other out here. Blow off some steam." The blonde growled, showing her teeth a little. Not the least bit intimidated by her display, Stryker chuckled. "Oh come on! Is a little bit of mutual enjoyment too much to ask?"

"Use your hand," Yang replied. "I'm not interested."

"You can't lie for shit, you know that? You're definitely interested in a little action." Pushing off the wall, the other woman took one step closer, nearly invading the Omega's space. "Just... from a different Alpha." Anger flashed across Yang's expression quicker than she could think to stop it, her right hand shooting forward to grab Stryker's lapel and bring her close, left hand drawing back for a punch aimed in the middle of that smug smile. She stopped before putting her fist forward, though, a twitch in her brow speaking to the effort of not immediately following through with the blow. "Touched a nerve, did I? Or is this your version of foreplay?"

"You're really asking for a beating, you know that?" Putting the Alpha through a wall, while cathartic, most likely wouldn't help her in the slightest. Besides that, a question burned on the tip of her tongue and she was using the majority of her energy to keep it locked behind her teeth. In the end, she couldn't, her eyes darting away as her shoulders dropped slightly. "Am I really that obvious?"

"Not really." Stryker shrugged, not bothering to remove the fist still holding her jacket while ticking off her fingers with every bit of 'evidence' she'd gathered during her brief time aboard the ship. "You're not bonded, you just came off heat from what I can tell, there's only one Alpha you get super tense around, she seems to be avoiding you like a pack of Ursa, your entire team seems super worried about you, and you really don't like me arguing with her." Her eyes darted down to the prosthetic before coming back to meet lilac, raising a brow in the process. "I took a stab in the dark that you're hung up on the Specialist and can't get her attention. Her loss, really; Omega like you needs a more attentive Alpha. Plus, she seems like a hardass-"

"There's nothing wrong with Winter." With a shove, she released the woman, scowling at her with her eyes flashing red. "What's going on between us isn't any of your business, and I'm not interested in you."

Catching her balance, Stryker smoothed out her jacket and cracked a smile. "Alright. But if that itch gets too bad, just come find me. I'll scratch it for you, no strings attached."

Not bothering to dignify that with a response, Yang hit the button to close her door and another to engage the lock, stalking back to her bed while quietly fuming. By the time she reached it, though, she had to sit on the edge, head in her hands as she sighed. Obviously, her efforts to appear unaffected hadn't worked, and if she couldn't fool a perfect stranger than the rest of her team had to know as well. They were likely just giving her time and space, remaining supportive without pushing her too far. She could appreciate that but she'd wished someone had told her how pathetic she was acting.

Winter didn't want her. Pining for the woman... there were better uses of her energy.

She leaned back to flop on her bed, staring unseeing at the ceiling once more. Anger spiked and mellowed in waves over different parts of the brief interaction- the slights against Winter, the teasing that she'd normally allow from friends but not strangers, but what stuck out most was her own foolish choice of words. Like an idiot, she'd gone with 'what's going on between us', an entire fabrication if ever there was one and wishful thinking getting the better of her. The Omega's propensity to go all in had created something within her mind, a give-and-take that never actually existed, and she kept buying into it just so she wouldn't feel alone. She felt so pathetic being this broken up over the whole ordeal still. What, would she just keep wallowing in self-imposed misery until her next heat, when she'd hopefully latch onto some other shallow attraction to a comrade? How long until she started baring her throat to that- that cocky brat?

"I gotta get over her," she said to the air, a frown tugging at her lips as she decided to turn in for the night. Yang didn't have much confidence in the words; two weeks later and she felt pain in her chest even glancing at the woman or catching her faint scent while walking through the hallway, especially now that the familiar scent had changed.

She'd noticed it after dinner, that strange addition that said the same thing but smelled different for everyone- the clear indication that the person in question wasn't available. For someone with a mating mark, it would be supplemented with the scent of their mate, a clear warning to any who might get too close without good reason that they wouldn't be welcomed. However, sometimes people just... developed the marker without a scent to accompany it, either through choice or by losing the bond that accompanied their mating mark. The Omega had expected it shortly after her heat ended; her unrequited mark probably upset Winter's body chemistry and, until it healed, the warning to others that she'd been marked would remain. Now that it had presumably disappeared, though, the fact the marker lingered worried Yang.

Just how badly had her recklessness hurt the Alpha? Or was this just the natural progression of the woman ensuring it wouldn't happen again, consciously swearing off even the chance to appear as a mate so they wouldn't run into another issue in the future? Considering their ragtag group consisted of mostly Omegas, Betas, and mated or otherwise unavailable Alphas, it would greatly reduce their chances of triggering another heat. It would be the pragmatic decision... which was probably why Winter made it.

Yang went through her nightly routine by rote, hardly noticing the flash of sensation as she detached her arm and set it on the dresser next to her bunk before settling down for the night. Faintly, it annoyed her that Stryker didn't seem like the sort to remove herself from the equation for the good of the group, but she pushed the thoughts from her mind. If she focused hard enough- if she truly began to believe her own words- then her scent would change, too.

Maybe then, she could move on and leave those shattered hopes behind.

They stood in the cargo bay, wearing the uniforms fished out from the bowels of the ship while Team SNOW demonstrated simple gestures- saluting, marching, standing. It all seemed ridiculous to Yang but she paid attention as best she could, occasionally glancing towards Weiss. The Alpha had accompanied her team but the anxiety showed plainly in her features; she did not like this plan, both because it separated her from her mate and forced her to stay as far away from the action as possible. She might have a comparably weaker constitution than the rest of her teammates, but Weiss would be just as eager to throw herself into harms way to protect them.

For her part, Blake seemed nervous as well. Part of it came from having her ears exposed- not entirely abnormal for Atlesian military forces but not... exactly optimal, either- and a larger part came from sensing her mate's emotions, her attention split between going to comfort the woman and paying attention to the demonstrations. Ruby, at least, seemed entirely invested, though the uniform made her look her age for once. That might prove a problem, though, considering the average age for new military personnel, but Stryker assured them it would be overlooked if they called her ‘baby face’ enough times.

Again, Yang couldn't help but feel like they were leaving far too much up to chance and hoping for the best. It chaffed at her, her nose scrunching up in distaste as the Atlesians demonstrated an about face for the umpteenth time.

"Right, then, now it's your turn." Nigel stepped away from the others, nodding towards their students. "Let's see what you've got."

One by one, they demonstrated the facing movement, until it was the Omega's turn. She did her best but the rigidity of the motion didn't sit well with her, and shifting her weight to one foot while turning around felt awkward with her right side being heavier.

"Try again, Yang." Stryker called out, a crooked smile on her lips. "Unless you want another demonstration?"

"Pass." She grumbled, trying a second time and proving no more successful for it. "Damnit."

"You're trying too hard," the Alpha said, starting to walk towards her. "Do it again. But, slower."

Blake and Ruby exchanged a look while Weiss pushed off from her spot observing, the rest of her team silently debating on whether or not to intervene. She hadn't divulged any information about their late night conversation the night before but they could sense the tension that radiated from the blonde growing the closer Stryker came. A snarl tugged at her lips, brows furrowing as she quite nearly started chewing the woman out, but a crisp order halted her in her tracks.

"Stop." Everyone turned to see Winter striding into the room, a duffel bag under one arm and a severe look on her features. "You're not going to get anywhere if everyone acts like new recruits."

Stryker opened her mouth to respond but obviously thought better of it, crossing her arms over her chest and ceasing her advance. Instead, Oswald piped up, motioning towards the bag. "So, what's the new plan, Specialist?"

"Give some of you a bit of clout." She dropped the bag on the ground and motioned for Blake and Ren to come closer. "Your cover story is that you're being assigned to the base but your transport came under fire, correct? No one's going to believe that a handful of fresh recruits managed to survive this far north on limited supplies without a superior aiding them." Kneeling down, she pulled out coats of a slightly different style, handing them off to the two she'd called over. "These will make both of you look like Sergeants. You're young but capable. Remember that you're elevated above the others; act like it, and no one will question you. If anyone asks how you survived, go with your gut, seeing as both of you have experience traversing Grimm infested wilds."

"That... does seem more feasible." Oswald admitted quietly, looking away when Stryker glared at him. "What? Walking in with two superiors is going to bail us out a little."

"You'll have a better cover than that." Winter looked over at Ruby and Jaune, grabbing something else from the bag. "You two, here: they're Engineer tabs. Put them on your shoulders. You'll be separated from the rest but most will assume you're a bit eccentric and leave you well enough alone. Just steer clear of anyone else wearing tabs like these and no one else will know the difference."

As the two started affixing the tabs to their shoulders, the Alpha pulled one last coat from the bag that looked much closer to her own. She started at it for a moment before standing. "Yang, this is for you."

"What am I going to be?" The blonde walked over, accepting the jacket and giving it a once over. It looked like it would be a bit tight around her shoulders but, hopefully, she wouldn't be doing much fighting in it.

"A Specialist." The woman clasped her hands behind her back. "Specialists exist outside the normal hierarchy and we're given a wide berth because of that. Between you, Blake, and Ren, no one will think twice about the group surviving and making it to the outpost. Your new cover story is that you're on a mission to drop off recruits and pursue Mantle purists in the area. All questions will most likely be directed at you, since you'll be the ranking member of the group."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Stryker rolled her eyes. "Put the Valen civilian in charge of actual Atlesian soldiers. Nothing can go wrong."

The Omega bit her lip. As much as she wanted to glare at the woman... she did have a valid point.

"Plenty can go wrong," Winter said, taking the criticism in stride. "And when it does, you'll have two Sergeants who don't care about their future careers and a Specialist who can benchpress a two ton truck." She turned her head, favoring her fellow soldiers with a sharp look. "I realize you four have yet to spend a day in the real military, but those aspects alone can get you out of a surprising amount of situations. A few more alterations and you'll have people jumping out of your way." She turned her attention to Oscar, who looked decidedly less mature than the rest of them, especially in the uniform. "I trust you've got your own plan."

"Uh, yeah..." He looked slightly concerned, one hand going to the collapsed cane at his hip. "It sounds risky but... if you can get us in, we'll manage. I'll manage. Whatever."

The young man didn't seem entirely convinced of that but the woman nodded regardless, looking to Nora next. "You'll be the communications officer. It's a fairly simple change; just tuck your lapels in and don't stop talking once someone asks you a question."

"Oh, I can do that!" The redhead smiled, though she tilted her head to the side. "But I can get kinda... carried away, until Ren stops me."

"That's precisely what I'm hoping for." The Alpha nodded. "It will help establish Ren as your superior and I'm sure your imagination can conjure up a suitably dire situation that you lot narrowly escaped. Just make sure that no one corrects her; everything she says will be taken as truth as long as no one objects."

"You really think they're going to buy this?" Yang couldn't help but ask, still holding the Specialist jacket in her hands. Especially given the confusion during Team SNOW's introductions, she didn't think an Omega could pass for a ranking officer in the Atlesian military.

"That comes down to you, really, and I'm confident you can pull it off." Winter favored her with a small smile. "I'll teach you what you need to do. In two hours, you'll be able to fool the majority of the Atlesian military into thinking you are exactly who you say you are."

The blonde struggled with a verbal response, at once wanting to agree, to bank on the Alpha's confidence in her, while also wanting to vehemently disagree, not looking forward to two hours spent with the woman. It would be torture but, at the end of the day, they needed to do this, and she needed every advantage she could get. With a stilted nod, she grunted out something vaguely affirmative and followed Winter out of the cargo bay.

Once they were out in the hallway, she found her voice, though it wasn't nearly her strongest. "We couldn't do this back there with the others?"

"They need to be surprised by your behavior. A Specialist being attached to the transport last minute makes far more sense than one travelling with the group for a long period of time," the woman said, leading them into one of the combat simulators. "If they appear unused to your demeanor, it will help sell the ruse."

"Fine." She sighed, rolling her neck. "So, where do we start?"

"The jacket, put it on." Winter turned around to face her, adopting a rigid posture with her feet shoulder width apart, hands clasped behind her back, and chin tilted up. "You need to associate this uniform with absolute power. We exist outside the chain of command and the moments we're subject to it are few and far between. Your mission supersedes that of others and the Atlesian military at large, no matter what it is. But you must carry yourself as if you're constantly aware of this. You're focused on your mission, you're mindful of your importance, and no one save for General Ironwood himself can dissuade your from your chosen path."

"I thought Specialists were just Hunters that decided to join the military." The fabric felt just as heavy as the other jacket but seemed to move a little better for some reason, but it still fit her tight across the shoulders. Styled more like Winter's, the first button sat below her diaphragm, effectively framing her chest much like her old jacket did, so she at least had that little bit of familiarity going for her. The long sleeves were a bit annoying though, and she could feel the cuffs pulling tight over Ember Celica. If she had to activate her weapons for any reason, the jacket would be a near total loss, especially her right arm. Once it sat on her shoulders well enough, she straightened up and cleared her throat. "How's it look?"

"Rather well. It won't draw anyone's attention as not being made for you, at any rate." The woman looked somewhat uncomfortable for a moment before her expression smoothed out. "And... that's not true, about Specialists. It's more accurate to say every soldier is trained to be a Hunter and given the option to fight only Grimm than the other way around, but we're... highly encouraged to stay within the military system."

Yang frowned, her brows drawing together. "That... doesn't sound very ethical. I thought Hunters were supposed to be neutral forces, belonging to no kingdom and standing strong for Humans and Faunus alike?"

"Admittedly, it's not. Ethical, I mean." The Alpha sighed, shaking her head. "I realize it may sound strange, but Atlas has always been concerned with consolidating its strength as much as possible. The Academy is geared to appear like any other to the casual observer but it... decidedly favors the military, and the majority of our tactics training comes from military doctrine. The Atlesian military is the most flexible fighting force in all of Remnant, precisely because we're training to combat both Grimm and... human adversaries."

"And no one knows?" As much as it struck her as strange she had to admit that it made more sense; how Ironwood could spare so many ships and soldiers for the Vytal Festival without raising a ruckus back in Atlas. It probably only constituted a drop in the bucket as far as the Atlesian military was concerned and most didn't even notice the absence. "That Atlas essentially is raising an army under the guise of protecting Remnant."

"I suspect others do know; they just can't prove it definitively." She held Yang's gaze for a long moment. "The first thing we're taught is loyalty. It's framed as loyalty to our team and the conditions under which we learn it are... harsh, but no more unorthodox than catapulting fresh students into a Grimm infested forest with only their weapons and wits to aid them. The lesson is burned deep and, after that, all it takes is one or two to express an interest in remaining within the military or offered placement in the Specialist program before the others follow suit. Our Hunters are usually those who couldn't make it as Specialists but don't work well with others either; they graduate thinking they've made the decision to pursue their own paths, never realizing that they only had the one open to them anyway." Winter pressed her lips into a thin line. "Those of us who can recognize the signs of subtle manipulation remain silent out of loyalty to the system or because we truly believe it does the most good. Sometimes, it's our only path to freedom, even if it is trading one set of chains for another."

Suddenly, it clicked. "That's why Weiss went to Beacon."

"Yes," she replied with a single nod. "She would never have reached her full potential at Atlas Academy. I embraced the system because it provided me with an escape but I never wanted my sister to follow me there." For a moment, genuine affection shone brightly in her eyes as her lips curled into a small smile. "She's so much stronger than I was at her age. A strong will, a strong heart..." Her expression slid back into that cold mask from before. "She would've seen through the guise and washed out, given subpar training and ultimately denied her dream. Or, she would've killed herself slowly by keeping silent and burdened with yet another set of standards she had no desire to meet."

Yang rolled the information around in her head before she spoke. "That's what you mean by Specialists being a big deal. They're the best of the best, good enough for three other people to follow them into the military, so everyone's going to see in me the reason they're out here to begin with, an ideal they're entirely committed to without question?"

"Precisely."

"Alright. I guess I can get that." She shifted slightly. "I don't agree with it, though." Smoothing out the jacket and trying not to wince at how weird having a sleeve around her left wrist but not her right felt, she continued. "So, should I stand like you?"

"No. Stand like you." The Alpha moved, striding around her while speaking. "Specialists are highly trained and individualistic to a fault. We wouldn't fit into the mold of a regular soldier but we're strong enough to survive on our own. If you buy into the lines, rather than wasting our potential, we're utilized in this capacity; given free reign to adhere to what regulations we choose and disregard those that don't appeal to us. It's an enormous responsibility tempered only by our devotion to our mission." Yang remained acutely aware of the woman's motions as she circled the Omega, following her as best she could from the corner of her eyes. "You're extremely driven, dedicated to your ideals, and stubborn; by all rights, you could've become a Specialist yourself had you grown up in Atlas."

"Comforting," she said, rolling her shoulders and settling for crossing her arms over her chest, shifting her weight to her left foot. If needed, she could quickly react, but she felt more relaxed now than standing flatfooted with her arms at her sides. "Basically, act like myself and if anyone looks at me funny, don't care."

"That's one way of putting it." Winter walked in front of her again. "We'll also need to pull your hair up into a bun."

Yang frowned. "Is that absolutely necessary?"

"Unfortunately, yes." The Alpha looked her over. "You still look like Yang Xiao Long, the woman who broke a man's leg on a Remnant wide broadcast. If we don't do something to change your appearance, you'll be recognized just as easily as Weiss or myself."

She immediately broke eye contact, looking down at the space between him. "He attacked first."

"I believe you." Slowly, she looked up, finding no hint of deception in the woman's expression. "It's clear the events surrounding the Vytal Festival were manipulated by Salem. That's in the past and we can't change it; neither can we expect everyone to accept your version of the events immediately. Avoiding someone recognizing you is the best option and, trust me, once you're sufficiently in the Specialist mindset, no one will even think to imagine what you'd look like out of uniform." Her lips quirked up into a slightly smug grin. "The majority of Atlesian forces are rather scared of us Specialists. Once you capitalize on that, you'll be fine."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "So, basically, walk around like I'm the biggest badass in the room, glare at anyone who tries to stop me, and answer every question with 'classified', and I'll be good, right?"

"It's a little more nuanced than that," the woman replied dryly.

"Oh, right. I suppose I should mention my mission once or twice, too, so that almost every answer is 'classified'."

Winter looked at her for a moment. "Wait, are you teasing me?"

The Omega cracked a small smile and shrugged. "Classified."

For a moment, she just blinked, and then a chuckle escaped her lips that made Yang's smile widen just a little. It felt good to see the woman in higher spirits, more relaxed and smiling. It felt like a small lifetime since she'd seen Winter smile and, despite the pain in her chest knowing this would be as close as they ever could be, it still felt good to be the cause of it.

"Well, if you're done making light of the situation, I'm afraid we've gotten to the part where things are a bit more... complicated." What little amusement had crept into her expression vanished by degrees until she had that serious look in her eyes, lips drawing into a small frown. "Specialists are generally alone for long periods of time and don't have the same bond that other military personnel experience in units. For Alphas, this isn't troublesome; we're inclined to acting on our own in defense of those we hold dear. Betas are decently suited to the task as well." She paused, as if searching for the correct phrasing. "As an Omega, this lifestyle would grate on your nerves. You wouldn't have the team structure you're used to, but you would still be protecting people. Omega Specialists are..." Winter sighed, reaching up to pass a hand over her face while sighing. "They can be some of the most terrifying people you'll ever meet. I've met two and if I never cross their paths again, I'll be all too grateful for it."

Yang's brows furrowed as she tried to search her memory. The list of people who intimidated her actually ran pretty short and, excluding Blake's former partner- the spectre of whom still lurked in the back of her mind- very few actually scared her. She certainly couldn't remember an Omega who'd done such; aggressive Alphas and Betas, sure, the ones who came on too strong sending an immediate spike of warning running down her spine, but she always dealt with them swiftly. In those moments, she could see where the people on the receiving end of her rage might be a bit intimidated, seeing as that was kinda the point, but imagining the circumstances that would lead her to feeling like that all the time or push her to a higher level in the first place...

And then it struck her. Those Omegas likely had to spend the majority of their service on suppressants but that wouldn't negate the innate need for companionship. Even Blake, quiet and reserved as she was, wouldn't be able to remain entirely solitary for long. They might enjoy their company different ways- the blonde preferred the loud and boisterous kind while her partner opted for quiet contemplation- but they both needed to be around others. Bereft of anyone, however, would be awful, and the only time she'd consciously avoided others entirely directly resulted from her disastrous heat.

They couldn't fit into the soldier mold because they either couldn't or wouldn't trust others around them, so they retreated from the world. They'd be angry, resentful, caustic to any who dared interact with them.

"I'll need to be mad the whole time," she said, looking up to see the twinge of regret in the woman's face. "No one wants to deal with a ticked off Omega, right?"

Maybe it counted as a low blow because she couldn't keep the accusation out of her tone. Even if it was for the best and what she wanted... the only reason she felt a little bit of resentment towards Winter for not returning to check on her and sending Weiss in her stead came from a misbegotten idea that the Alpha should've seen the thing through. A ridiculous notion, really, but having to hunt her down after the turmoil passed... it hurt knowing that she wasn't worth dealing with that fallout, even if all it would likely amount to would likely be summed up entirely by the words 'bad idea'. It just came back around to the fact that they weren't mates, weren't anything, and it would've been easier on both of them if Yang had just suffered in solitude. Then there wouldn't be this awkward barrier between them caused by the events of those few days.

"Yang." Blue eyes searched hers for a moment and she caved almost immediately, preempting the apology she could sense coming.

"I shouldn't have said it like that. I'm sorry." The Omega waved a hand before running it through her hair. "It's like you said- it's in the past. We both... I made a mistake and you were doing your best. No going back to change it." A shrug. "The best we can do now is move forward. Right?"

A voice that sounded suspiciously like Blake chided her, saying that this didn't constitute 'talking it out' but she ignored it.

Winter watched her, something flashing across her expression- some sort of regret, that much she could tell- before she nodded. "You're right. Mistakes happen; it's best to forget." Her posture straitened, her voice taking on a crisp edge once more. "But if you happen to be holding onto any anger, I'd suggest keeping it a little longer. It'll help you infiltrate the base." The Alpha hesitated, apparently debating something before she spoke. "It will behoove you to practice in full uniform a bit. That includes your hair." She cleared her throat, coughing into one hand. "May I?"

She hesitated. No one had touched her hair aside from her in years. Not even Ruby- her sister understood that she didn't like it, so she never asked. The only exception happened to be their father, and only because Yang didn’t have her other arm. However, the stakes were a bit too high to balk over being a little uncomfortable. "Yeah. Alright."

"Excellent. Go ahead and sit down."

Considering the lack of chairs in the simulator, Yang had no choice but to lower herself to the floor, crossing her legs as best she could in the tight uniform pants. "How do you stand wearing these?"

"It comes with practice," the woman replied, coming up behind her and kneeling down. "I'll do my best to be gentle. Feel free to correct me if I'm not."

The Omega offered a grunt in response, trying to hide how she'd resorted to breathing through her mouth. Honestly, she couldn't tell whether it was a better or worse alternative, reminded for a moment how the woman tasted when she'd marked her. An itch to bite down tickled at the back of her mind, but she'd just be gnashing her teeth, so instead she focused on the long, lithe fingers carefully combing their way through her locks.

She realized her mistake too late, her eyes almost falling closed. True to her word, Winter carefully tamed the blonde's wild mane with nothing but her fingers, muttering something about using a comb to make it more presentable next time. Every time she winced at the tiniest tug, the woman had already stopped and smoothed the affected area out, offering a quiet apology. Yang didn't really get the whole 'mutual grooming' thing, allowing her mate or even a close friend to mess with her hair just seemed like a recipe for disaster.

But this was... nice.

"Your hair is beautiful. How long have you been growing it out?" Winter kept her voice soft, as if doing her absolute best to preserve the tentative peace between them. They hadn't been this close since their spar and not since their coupling before that; perhaps the woman felt as if walking on eggshells around each other was the only option left to them.

Maybe, while en route to their next battlefield, they could work out something different. For now, it seemed like the best option, so she replied in kind. "Since I was a kid. I get it trimmed up every few months or so, usually, but it's been a while, and Ruby's not the best barber."

"You've let her cut your hair before?"

"Once. When we were really young." Her lips curled into a smile. "As a matter of fact, that was right around the time I realized I don't like other people touching my hair."

"Weiss mentioned you're rather particular about it. I thought it odd but now... entirely understandable." The snap of elastic procured from somewhere preceded tension at the back of her head, and she winced at the reminder of those few months when she couldn't put her own hair into a ponytail and had to ask her dad for help. He never complained and said it was 'good father, daughter bonding' but all she could focus on was the sense of helplessness. By the time the strands were being wound up into a bun, the melancholy had passed. "It doesn't get in your way while fighting?"

"Sometimes, but once my semblance kicks in, it just... behaves, I guess." She shifted slightly, contemplating if she should dare continuing the conversation before taking the plunge. They'd have to start acting like normal people around each other eventually; as long as she kept herself firmly reminded of the strictly platonic nature of their interactions, she should be fine. "What about you? Does it... feel weird having your hair down now?"

"Weird is a good word for it. I've worn my hair up for so long, having it any other way felt very strange at first," the Alpha replied, a slight wistfulness in her tone. "But I suppose a prisoner might feel the same with their shackles removed. Having it down... I feel freer, less restricted."

"Well, I think your hair is beautiful, too, up or down," she said, and immediately wanted to slap a hand to her face.

Good job. Exactly the sort of flirting you should be doing around the Alpha who rejected you. Way to not come across as pathetic.

Predictably, the woman took her compliment in stride. "Thank you."

Yang felt a slight tug, wincing and using it as a cover to let out a sigh as relief suffused her being. Somehow, that had slid past without further comment and she felt grateful, because trying to explain herself would've been a nightmare and a half.

The snap of more elastic followed by a small hum brought her out of her head. "I think that's the best I can do without a brush. Tomorrow, I will ensure it's perfect." Winter stood up and walked around to in front of her, straightening out her jacket. "Now, stand up, and when you do, do it as a Specialist. I have absolute faith in you."

That makes one of us.

The blonde took a deep breath, trying to bring out her anger consciously. Pushing it down, that came easily, but turning it on... not so much. She usually reacted to something, but the times before when she'd gotten angry didn't seem strong enough to last- the bar, the tournament, those were too brief, and the idea of Blake being in danger brought back memories of Adam, which sparked anger and fear in equal measure.

Instead, she thought back to a few weeks prior, the self loathing rolling through her in waves. She remembered the moment when she fully prepared to lash out at Winter- the woman who'd supported her as best she could in the circumstances and didn't seem to hold her foolishness against her- and every damn mistake since. As she got to her feet, she remembered Stryker's attitude the night before, her insults against the other Alpha, and how much it hurt that she felt compelled to defend someone she'd insulted herself, turning against her when she'd only offered to help.

When she opened her eyes, they were blazing red and fell on Winter with all the weight of a fully loaded airship. Her right arm snapped into a salute as she spoke. "Specialist Betrugs, delivering new recruits." She paused, lowering her hand and furrowing her brows slightly, enough to convey annoyance. "How's that? Do I look the part?"

The Alpha appeared entirely caught off guard, posture straightening the moment Yang's eyes were on her and chin tilting up a fraction. Something flashed in her eyes, darkening them for a brief moment, before it seemed to be chased away. Finally, she seemed to register the questions directed at her.

"Perfect." Winter blinked, shaking her head slightly and clearing her throat. "You- yes, you look the part. Do that tomorrow and no one will think twice about your story. That was an excellent example."

Releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, the Omega rolled her neck and allowed her anger to dissipate. "I'm not sure if I can keep that up for hours on end."

"You really only need to bring it out in full force when others are around," she said, coughing into her hand and smoothing out her jacket once more. "I'm confident you'll be able to manage. Once you're within the perimeter, most will steer clear of you anyway."

"You have a lot of faith in me," she said, rubbing along the back of her neck. Having nothing but the cool air hitting it felt so strange and it would likely get worse once she was out in the elements tomorrow.

"I do," Winter replied, a small smile on her lips when the Omega looked up. "Xiao could I not?"

Yang blinked. "Did you just make a pun?"

"Well, turnabout is fair play, is it not?" The Alpha's smile widened as the blonde shook her head.

"For the record, you Schnees are really bad at them." She couldn't help the little chuckle that accompanied the words. "So, what's next?"

As the impromptu lesson on Specialist etiquette continued, Winter's smile didn't fade, and she found herself wondering if perhaps getting back to normal between them wasn't as out of reach as she'd previously thought. Besides, if she couldn't have the woman as a mate, she at least had her confidence as a comrade-in-arms and that could be just as good. Not what she wanted, but something all the same.

When the lesson ended and they exited the training room, Yang tried to walk away without saying anything more, but her gut betrayed her, twisting into knots until she spoke. "Hey, Winter?"

"Yes?"

She turned to look at the woman, glad that the tightness at the back of her head had disappeared the moment she'd taken the bun down. Even though she could feel nothing but relief on a physical level, it still made her a little sad to have already lost any sign of the woman's work wrangling her unruly hair into something neat and orderly. "Thanks." The Alpha raised a brow. "All that talk about loyalty... abandoning your post to join us must've been a harder decision for you than we initially thought. I'm just..." She offered a small shrug. "Glad you came with us."

Winter paused for a moment before smiling, her shoulders dropping slightly from their severe line. She'd fallen back into a few old habits during their little session but they seemed to slide away as that twinkle in her eyes from before came back. "Surprisingly, it was the easiest decision I've ever made. As much as I'd come to believe in the Atlesian military, I believe in other people more." She turned, heading towards the cockpit. "No matter what, it's a decision I won't regret."

Yang watched her go with a pang in her heart. One day, the woman would make the ideal mate.

Just... not hers.

#TRR writes #Elderburn #Omega's Strength #Elderburn Omegaverse AU

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