Ruby
The sun has set behind the horizon, the Fractured Moon floats above them in the sky, piece by piece, slowly falling apart over the years. Everyone is asleep in their rooms, Nora with Ren, her head nuzzled up to him. Kassius and Yang asleep together, his arm round her as she sleeps against his bare chest. Neptune has his arm round Weiss as she sleeps peacefully with him and Blake sleeps up against Sun. Ruby has her head rested beside Oscar in the bed that they share, her eye closed and he is asleep as well, her hand holding onto his indefinitely.
Her sleep is so peaceful...for a while.
For in her eyes, she sees something else entirely than the others. The darkness of her sleep lights up with a deep red sky that forms above her, the Fractured Moon has become completely shattered, just rocks orbiting the planet instead. She feels a cold chill against her body and she looks around, in her clothes as she stands up and observes the charred trees that rise up from the shadowy soil that surrounds her. She feels the soil beneath her boot and it is soft, like snow, but has no colour to it at all. She walks through the landscape as she hears the ghostly voices of those who have died in her mind. "Ruby..." Scarlet David whispers in the background and she gasps, turning around when she thought she heard or felt him behind her. She steps backwards, realising that her mind has been drawn to the mysterious Charred Forest once more...
Whatever this place really is...
She moves her fingers through her long delicate black and red hair that falls down her shoulders, not tied up like she normally has it as it goes down her left shoulder most of the time. She keeps on walking through the Domain, trying to find the trigger to end this nightmare, there always has been before, but that was always Pyrrha...now there is no Pyrrha or Penny in this dream. She keeps on looking around when the howl of the Nuckelavee still echoes throughout her mind and she jumps when she hears it and sees the monster in the distance as it kicks its powerful legs in the air. The red eyes glaring at her then it gallops away into the treeline, vanishing into thin air.
"Tear down your false idols!" The ghostly voice of Doctor Arthur Watts roars in the distance, hearing the bellow of a crowd and the crackles of flames. Trees in the distance are ablaze and she staggers when an explosion makes the ground tremor, almost like an earthquake. The effects of his words still affect the world to this day, the statements that he made; have truly shaken people's trust in the governments of the four kingdoms.
"You wanna be a hero? Then play the part and die like every other huntsman in history!" The voice of Torchwick yells faintly and she hears the screeches of Griffins in the distance, but there are none in the sky. There is nothing at all, just ghostly shadows that watch her ever movement, walking with her all the while as she moves. She looks away from the Shadow Men that follow her and she tries to block their voices out from her head, walking faster through the domain.
"Where do you think you're going, my little flower?" The mad voice of Tyrian whispers behind her and she screams with fear, spinning round and expecting to see him there...
...but nothing.
Nothing at all, even in death he still scares her to this day. Her hands tremble as she walks backwards, looking around at everything that surrounds her and she holds her arm still with her other one.
She then turns round and her heart nearly stops when three men stand in front of her with angered looks in their eyes. Watts on the left, Torchwick on the right, and Tyrian in the middle. All of their eyes glow the same colour – red – and they look fierce with rage. And they speak in unison as well when they glare at her. "The Canvas Will Be Wiped Clean." They all speak, with a voice that is unfamiliar to Ruby but familiar to others, one that passes through her like a bullet.
She screams with terror...
Jolting upright from her bed with a yelp, scaring the life out of her boyfriend. Oscar jumps from her scream that terrified him and he sits up beside her and looks at her. Ruby pants with fear, sweat dripping from her skin and hair, her eye wide with horror. Oscar holds her as he looks at her. "Whoa! What is it?" He asks with a panicked voice, reaching over to the lamp beside him and he pulls the chord and turns it on, lighting the room up. She breathes heavier and heavier and begins to hyperventilate aggressively, feeling as if her lungs are on fire and she holds her hands to her throat as she panics and struggles. Oscar sits upright and he holds Ruby by her shoulders and looks at her, right into her eye so then she can focus on his eyes. "Hey...hey...with me, okay?" He asks her calmly and he breathes in loudly and then breathes out loudly. "In..." He says as he breathes in. "Out..." He continues as he exhales to help her and she watches him as she continues to hyperventilate, then she breathes in with a shaky breath with him. She keeps on panting however, tears welling up in her eye as she experiences this terror that she just experienced.
She looks at him longingly and with complete trust and she holds onto his shoulders as well as she breathes with him. Her shaky breath starts to fade and she begins to regain control of her respiration, breathing in and out over and over extremely loudly, and then she starts to cry. Her tears and emotions cannot be held back and she sobs, and her beloved boyfriend holds her close. She wraps her arms around him as she cries into his shoulder and he lays back into the bed they share, caressing her soft hair as she cuddles up to him. "It's okay..." He whispers to her and she closes her eye, the tears stream down her cheek as she sniffles and she looks at him. He rises up and looks down at her as she lays there and he caresses her cheek gently and lovingly with his hand. "What did you see?" He asks her quietly and she stammers, he wipes the tears from her face with his thumb. She sniffles and she holds his hand as he has his arm round her body to comfort her. She rests her head into his arm and as she closes her eye and sighs, voice shaken and tears squeeze out from her eyelid.
"The Forest..." She stammers when she says the name of it, the same place that they have both seen. And others have seen the Charred Forest as well, but they do not know what the meaning of such a place is.
"Again?" He asks her, concern filling his voice for his dear girlfriend.
"Yeah..." She faintly says to him as she holds onto him tight. Oscar lies down onto the bed and he lets Ruby rest on his chest as he wraps his arm round her back and caresses her back, feeling some of the scars that Ruby gave her from the things he did to her. She rests her head upon his shoulder as she holds him, he has scars from Tyrian as well. It was not just Ruby he harmed when they were captured, but he hurt her a lot more than he hurt Oscar. He has a couple scars on his chest and she gently moves her hand across one of them on his chest. She closes her eye and she sniffles again. "I saw Tyrian again...Watts and Roman were there as well." She explains with a fearful voice and he looks at her and she sits up next to him, holding her bare arm. Another scar there as well from what Tyrian did. Oscar looks at her and he gently moves his finger across her back to comfort her.
"They can't hurt us anymore, sweetie." He says to her and she closes her eye and sighs, pressing her lips against her palm, her arm bent and elbow pressed against her knee. She turns and looks at him when he says that, and clearly that is not the case for her. Even in death they are still torturing her, Tyrian especially.
"I keep seeing him, Oscar...Roman I can handle...but..." She stammers as she looks at him tearfully, one tear drips from her eye. Oscar sits back up and he cradles her in his arms and she rests her head against his shoulder as he looks down at her. She looks at him and he caresses her cheek with his thumb.
"I know...I see him sometime as well, but he can't lay a finger on you anymore. He's dead, and he is not coming back." Oscar assures her and she sniffles. "But I also know that I can't imagine what you experience...because I had it much easier than you did. I hate myself for leaving you there...I thought you got out as well." He explains, for guilt is the thing that haunts him. Despite winning the love of the girl he developed a crush over, he still despises himself for feeling like it was his fault for her being captured again and being tortured more by Tyrian whilst he was hanging out with Blake and Sun after Yang and Kassius found him. But Ruby has never blamed him, because she always knew that he would have never known, they got split up by Death during their escape, their fates were in the balance. Oscar only got out because Hazel hid him from the Lord of the Wood when the Leshen came searching for him. Ruby looks at him and she smiles affectionately, cupping his cheek with her soft and warm hand and he looks at her.
"Please, don't ever blame yourself for how things happened back there. Neither of us had any idea of what was going to happen." Ruby explains.
"I shouldn't have left you there, it should have been the other way around." Oscar explains and she shakes her head.
"Oscar...sweetie..." She whispers as she pulls him closer and they gently touch their foreheads together and she closes her eye, her arm round his neck as she holds him there gently. "I could have never lived with myself if it were the other way around..." She says to him as she holds him there. They open their eyes as they look longingly into their lover's eyes. They then share a devoted kiss, Oscar gently moves his fingers through her soft hair and she holds onto him tight. They break their kiss, and her heart still pounds but more from love for him. Their tender moment really did heal the wound that she suffered from that nightmare and she smiles at him. "I don't know what I'd do without you." She whispers as she caresses his cheek.
Ruby sits up and she strokes her hair and looks back at him and smiles. "I'm gonna go wash up my face...I look like a mess. I'll come back to bed in a sec." She assures. She stands up from the bed and walks towards the bathroom, turning the light on as she walks inside. Oscar lies in the bed and he smiles as she walks in. He sighs and closes his eyes, sad for the condition that she is in, both mentally and physically after what Tyrian had put the poor thing through at Salem Sanctum.
"Her strength is inspiring." Ozpin says and Oscar jumps from hearing his voice again.
"Seriously? Watching us sleep?" Oscar questions with disgust.
"What? No, I sensed there was shock in you so I looked in to see what is happening." Ozpin explains and Oscar sighs, rolling his eyes as he sits in the bed and he scratches his leg and straightens his boxers that he wears in bed. Ruby closes the door behind her and she looks at her body in the mirror, looking at the scars that Tyrian gave her on her athletically built body. Ruby wears a red bra and pants when she goes to sleep, it has always helped her sleep easier especially when she is with Oscar. However the two have still not had sex, something that does surprise quite a few of their friends, considering that they and Jaune are pretty much the only ones left who are still virgins among them.
Ruby looks at the scars on her body, she has one across her belly and one that goes across her collar bone and slightly onto her breast. She also has a scar across her spine and another on her pelvis. She has a small scar on her left bicep. However the most prominent scars are the burns that she suffered from the explosion of their home, the ones on her cheek have faded extremely well, hardly even visible. However she has some scars on the right side of her neck and her right shoulder and forearm have some burns there as well. She has a scarred left leg from the flames and there are some burn scars on the side of her torso and in areas of her back. She has endured pain, too much for a seventeen year old at the time to experience. Her twenty one year old body now carries the aftermath of the horrors she experienced in that time.
Including the most apparent one, the eye patch that covers the wound she suffered when Death formed a Glass Bow and took out her eye with it. She looks at herself and she reaches behind her long black and red hair and she unclips the patch and takes it off her head and looks at the scar. She leans forward to the mirror as she looks at her reflection, seeing the scar tissue that formed there instead. The scars stretch past where her eye was, and the damage is horrific for her to look at. She quickly takes the eye patch and puts it back on, concealing the horror.
She shakes off the horrible image from her mind, thinking of something beautiful. She thinks and thinks, cookies do come to mind at times, along with a swarm of puppies that absorb her with their adorableness. But the one that really hooks onto her, is the ring on her finger. Whilst it is not that of marriage or engagement, it is still a beautiful gift from Oscar. He bought her this beautiful gift on Valentine's Day, a silver ring with a rose shaped crystal attached to the ring for her. Ruby cried when she got it, and still thanks him every day whenever she looks at it. He also has made it very clear that if she thinks that this is a beautiful ring, she will have to wait and see what her Engagement Ring will look like. The pair has been together for five years now, an engagement is not out of the question, no matter how young they are.
She sighs and then looks down at the sink and she gently turns the tap and water starts to pour out from the nozzle and into the sink for her. It is cold water, refreshing after her fear, she closes her eyes and scoops the water up and rubs it into her face. She washes the salty tears from her cheeks and sighs with relief, feeling the cool water trickle down her face.
She picks up the towel and wipes the water from her face and she looks at her reflection.
Tyrian stands there and he smirks at her as he stands there. "Hello my flower." Tyrian's haunting voice says, his hand suddenly bursts through the mirror and reaches out for her. Ruby lets out a shriek of pure terror, her legs give out and she collapses to the floor with fear. Oscar's eyes widen and he springs up from their bed and he runs to where she is. He opens the door and sees her sobbing hysterically on the floor. He crouches down and looks at the mirror.
The mirror is in perfect condition.
It was all in her head.
Oscar closes his eyes with grief for her sanity, and he gently picks her up, holding her in his arms as she cries and he carries her back to the bed. He sits down and gently caresses her long black and red hair. "Sshh..." He comforts quietly as he holds her and she continues to cry, but quieter.
"Why won't he leave me alone?" Ruby sniffles with torment and Oscar squeezes his eyes shut. He takes her and he lays her down in the bed beside him and he pulls the bed sheets over her and lets her hold onto him as they lay there in the safety of their bed.
"I'll never leave you." Oscar says.
"I promise." He promises as he holds her close.
"Oscar...she needs help." Ozpin says to him, and Oscar knows that Ozpin is right in this scenario. Her condition is getting worse and worse by the day. He then looks at the bedside table and sees his scroll on the table. He reaches out to the scroll and he opens it, it is three o'clock in the morning right now. But that is not what he is searching for.
He opens his contacts and he searches though them, and he stops on one.
Kragen Nox.
"I'm going to call him tomorrow, Ruby." Oscar says to her and she wipes a tear from her eye as she looks at his name. "I will not stop until you are happy, okay?" He says to her.
She sniffles and closes her eye, nodding her head as she snuggles up to him. He closes his scroll and holds her close and he keeps the lamp on. It will help her sleep when they are not in completely darkness after a moment like that.
At this current point in time?
Tyrian has won.
He is still torturing her even in death.
Penny
The morning comes and Penny is the first to get up, because she was never asleep in the first place. She walks out from her dorm, with a spring in her step and as happy as can be as she walks down the hallway. The door to Ruby and Oscar's room opens and they both walk out, wearing their outfits. Ruby still looks shaken from her night, with a tired eye and a sombre expression. She holds Oscar's hand and leans against him as they walk, and the Android stops as she manages to detect that something is on Ruby's mind. She turns round and looks at Ruby when she walks past her and she has a raised eyebrow. "Ruby? Are you okay?" Penny asks her as she walks over to her and Ruby turns around and looks at Penny.
"Huh? Oh, yeah...I'm okay." She says, but she has never been a good liar, and Penny is no fool either.
"Your body language tells me otherwise." Penny points out, her diagnostics analysing her body language to even to her temperature readings. Right now her temperature is warm around her heart and cold around the rest of her body, which means that she is suffering from extreme anxiety or perhaps even depression. Something that Penny has become very concerned about.
"I..." Ruby stammers, but Oscar tells Penny for her so then she does not have to worry about it.
"She didn't have the best sleep last night...bad nightmares." Oscar tells Penny and she looks very concerned for her with wide eyes.
"Oh no...I'm so sorry, Ruby. Is there anything I can do to help you?" Penny asks her.
"Not really, Penny...I just wanna...I don't know actually." Ruby says as she looks at the floor and kicks her foot back and forth emotionally. Penny stands there, then an idea springs to her mind, her memory is jumbled and forgetful, but she is still capable of remembering things that come to mind.
"Oh! I just remembered! Neptune told me that he is going to help me attach that memory drive that Grif gave us! Would the two of you like to join me and see if it works?" Penny asks them with an excited look in her eyes. Ruby looks at her and she smiles, a sense of normality is what Ruby really needs. And Oscar smiles as well when he agrees.
"Yeah, let's go." Ruby agrees as she follows Penny through the building. They turn and start to walk down the steps to the courtyard. Penny pushes the doors open and stretches out her arms as she stands there, looking around as she walks out there. She gazes up at the sunlight as she absorbs the solar energy through the faint solar panels built into her skin that keeps her body charged all year round.
"What a beautiful day!" She squeaks happily.
"It is." Ruby agrees as she follows her friend across the tennis court, nobody is playing there right now, but they can be certain that Sun will be playing someone in a game out here. He always does do that, every single time, then Glynda shouts at him for getting distracted for the twelfth time in two hours. Penny turns and looks at Ruby's new hairstyle, her long hair tied up into a tail that sits on her shoulder.
"I like your hair, Ruby. You look really pretty." Penny compliments with a smile, and Ruby touches her hair as a reaction. She blushes and smiles shyly at her Synthetic Friend who walks with her.
"Thank you, Penny." Ruby says with a smile, and Penny smiles back adorably. Oscar walks with them and he looks at Penny's hair, and a question forms in his mind.
"I've got a question, Penny." Oscar begins and she looks at him.
"Yes?" She politely responds.
"Your hair, is it made of real hair? Does it grow?" He asks her and she looks up at the sky as she ponders that thought.
"Not really, it is a collection a metal fibres so thin that it feels like hair. I can morph it into different shapes and extend it if I wish to, but I have always liked this style." Penny explains and Oscar looks impressed by that intricacy.
"Wow, that must have been difficult to make." Oscar chuckles when he imagined weaving extremely thin fibres of metal into a chassis like that.
"My maker did tell me that my hair was one of the hardest parts of making me, it can be a pain at times. When it is wet I can do nothing with it." Penny explains and Ruby giggles when she touches her hair.
"I know how that feels." Ruby agrees.
"Does your hair have any functions?" Oscar asks her.
"Does yours?" Penny asks him.
"Fair enough." Oscar replies, unable to counter her statement right there. They walk over to where Neptune is, he has his goggles on his head and the equipment that he needs to attach the memory drive to her head. He waves to them with a smile and they wave back as they approach. Oscar turns and he sees a Green Hummingbird looking at him from one of the colonnades, it tilts its head as it looks at him before flying away.
Oscar shakes the sighting of the Hummingbird off, but he does not realise that he has seen that Hummingbird before.
In Arkhonex thousands of years ago.
They approach Neptune and he walks over to them. "Hey guys, ready to get your memory back, Penny?" Neptune asks her as he gently pats her shoulder and she gleefully bounces on her toes.
"Of course!" She cheers as she sits down in the chair for him. He and the Silver Eyed Engineer that helps them repair the school here have done some miracles in repairing Penny. She looks like she was never hit by a lightning bolt in the first place, patched up the hole in her side perfectly. She looks so happy to remember everything without any trouble ever again.
"So Grif gave us this Memory Drive?" Oscar asks Neptune and he turns to him.
"Yep." Neptune answers as he holds it in his hand. A small piece of hardware but one that could be so useful to a pleasant little android like her. Memory is something she cares about the most, as long as they are happy memories that include her friends with her. He sets it down on the table and he picks up a screwdriver as he prepares the operation on her. He crouches down behind her and he pushes some of her orange hair out of the way. Ruby and Oscar look at each other with a concern on their minds.
"Grif?" Ruby asks.
"Yeah." Neptune responds.
"That Grif?" Ruby asks when she mimics him, extending her arms out to make her in good shape physique look overweight and she mimics his voice as well. Neptune chuckles and he looks at her impression.
"Yes, that Grif." Neptune says.
"You do remember when he gave Kassius that faulty Cybernetic Part, right?" She asks him, leaning over his worktable to look down at him and Neptune stands back up.
"I know, he hasn't been the most reliable of sources. But it is better than nothing." Neptune adds as he leans against it and looks at Ruby. She raises her brow when she looks at him, testing his belief in that very statement.
"Have you tested it? Checked if there's nothing on it?" Ruby asks him.
"Yes, I tested it. It did have some crap still on it but I wiped it. It is completely clear." He assures as he picks it up and shows it to her. She takes it and looks at it, checking if it is all ready to be used. Oscar smiles when he sees her not acting as upset as she was earlier after her nightmare, when she gets around her friends and family, she can completely block it all out. But when she is on her own or goes to sleep, that is where things can get complicated. She keeps on searching for rust but she can't actually find anything. "Cleaned it and everything, I promise you. It is as good as it's ever gonna get." Neptune explains and she gives it back to Neptune.
Neptune smiles and he pushes his yellow goggles down and over his eyes. He crouches back down behind the excited Penny Polendina and she sits there, ready to see her memories again. She has a big smile on her face and she is tapping her feet into the floor repeatedly as she sits there. Neptune begins to unscrew the panel that the drive must be plugged into, and he takes the screws out and puts them on the desk. He opens the piece of metal on the back of her head and he finds the slot where it needs to go. Still missing, he looks at the drive and then the slot. "Alright...here goes nothing." Neptune says as he pushes the drive into the slot and she sits there, ridged as her software programmes scan and test the item just added to her.
"Downloading files." Penny says aloud and Oscar raises his brow.
"I thought you said it was cleared?" Oscar asks him.
"I did." Neptune says, looking concerned now.
Her eyes then return to normal and she looks happy for a moment. "I have my memory back –" But then she pauses and her pupils and irises constrict with horror from whatever it is that she is seeing. They all look closer with concern.
"Penny?" Ruby asks her.
"Aaah!" Penny screams with terror, pressing her hands against her cheeks with fear and they all look extremely worried for her safety.
"Penny! What's wrong?" Ruby asks her friend with a great amount of concern in her voice. Penny shakes her head with fear and disgust with what she is seeing in her memory right now.
"What are those people doing? I know there are many enjoyable ways to procreate, but that is not one of them!" Penny screams with terror, covering her eyes but that does not seem to help her. Ruby and Oscar's eyes widen with horror and disgust when they realise what is on that Memory Drive and Neptune looks at them.
"Uh-Oh." Oscar realises with wide hazel coloured eyes.
"What?" Neptune questions.
"I think Grif just gave us his Porn Drive." Oscar says and Neptune's eyes widen with both horror and disgust as well, just like theirs.
"And you just put it in Penny's head..." Ruby realises as well as she slowly points at the panicking girl. She shakes her head and taps her feet on the floor with horror.
"Stop it! That does not go in there!" She yells and they all look at each other. "Get it out! Get it out!" Penny begs and Neptune swiftly runs over to her and he rips the Drive from her head and he looks at it with disbelief. He shakes his head with anger as well as he glares at the Drive, Penny walks away from the chair and she presses her hands to her eyes with revulsion.
"I swear to all the gods, I will kill that man if he comes back." Neptune promises as he holds that Memory Drive in his hand and he sighs with abhorrence. Ruby turns to Penny as she paces around.
"Why do I still remember it all?" Penny screams with horror.
"I guess our lessons were too good." Oscar chuckles. Ruby looks at Oscar and they both burst out laughing at that entire moment that just happened. Ruby holds her stomach as she laughs so much, Penny looks at them both laugh and she gasps, planting her hands on her hips.
"Hey, that was not funny!" She states as she looks at them, blushing as she says it. Seems her chassis is even capable of displaying emotions through blushing as well as tears.
"Yes it was! That has made my day!" Ruby giggles, and her saying that actually takes the embarrassment away from Penny.
She made Ruby's day.
She smiles and looks extremely happy herself.
She wipes a tear from her eye after laughing so hard and she recovers her control over her body after laughing. "Well, at least we'll never know what is on that thing." Ruby giggles and Neptune just looks at them and he shakes his head.
"Easy for you two to say. I have to find it and clear it." Neptune says with a straight expression as he holds the Memory Drive up for them to look at.
"Oh yeah, good luck with that Neptune!" Ruby laughs, walking away with Penny and Oscar.
"Yay, lucky me." Neptune sighs sarcastically.
Ruby
Ruby and Oscar return back to the old Team R.W.B.Y Dorm Room, which has nos become the hangout room for everyone to see each other inside of, the same goes for Team J.N.P.R's old Dorm Room. They walk over and they hear the sound of a television on inside and they look at each other with a concerned look. They walk in, seeing everyone inside and watching the screen intently. Ruby and Oscar read the headline on the news with disbelief, hearing what Lisa Lavender is speaking about.
Ruby gasps, covering her mouth with shock.
Shade Academy Headmaster Assassinated
"The murderer's identity has not yet been revealed, but whoever was responsible for the crime also murdered the Headmaster's Assistant as well. A gruesome crime scene, the Huntsmen and Huntresses of Vacuo are working their hardest to find out what has happened to their headmaster." Lisa reports, before Sun switches the television off and he sighs, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. They all look at each other, Jaune sits on one of the beds with Crocea Mors in his hand as he looks at him.
"This is terrible..." Blake says as she looks at Yang who is sat on the floor next to her. Kassius looks at them and then at Sun, he was from Vacuo. He knows the place better than any of them here know the place.
"So what do we do?" Weiss asks them, Ruby turns when Neptune catches up after getting a message from Sun about what has happened.
"I need to go there, I have friends back there that might have something on this." Sun explains.
"Could it be..." Yang begins but she stops before she continues, sighing when she even thinks of the possibility, closing her eyes when she thinks of it. Jaune can already guess what she is about to say and he looks at her.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune finishes for her and she looks up at him on the bed. "No, she wouldn't." Jaune says.
"How are you sure of that? She was trying to kill us, last I remember." Weiss states, remembering the Storm Generator that they fought Pyrrha on during the Siege of the Volcanic Chain Isles. A violent and tense fight at best as well.
"Because she is being hunted and last we saw, she was headed to Vale, not Vacuo." He explains and they look at each other.
"What about that Neo girl?" Kassius suggests, shrugging his shoulders, since he does not really know her. Ruby looks down and thinks of Neo and she walks in.
"It could be, she has never shied away from killing people, no matter how high up they are. She's an illusionist as well." Ruby explains when she walks inside and Oscar walks with her. Yang smiles when she sees her little sister behind her and Penny and Neptune enter the room as well.
"But why would she? We haven't heard or seen the Acolytes of Lien since the Volcanic Chain Isles." Ren asks and shrugs his shoulders.
"Vacuo is where they started, if they are to be anywhere, it's there." Sun states, remembering that the Acolytes of Lien did start out as a Splinter Group from the old Vacuo Military Force. "Mercenaries and thugs live all over the place in Vacuo."
"And Rogue Huntsmen." Blake adds.
"This is serious. A Headmaster being assassinated by somebody is pretty big, and I doubt that the Huntsmen who were trained at Vacuo know anything of tracking and analysing crime scenes." Sun explains, since he knows how the people there think. All the people there care about is crime and reward, that is it. Not many people get qualifications as Detectives at Vacuo.
"So what should we do? Get on a ship and go there?" Yang asks him. Jaune sighs and he pushes his hand through his hair.
"I can't go, not when we're so close to finding Pyrrha." Jaune explains as he reveals his side of the story.
"He's right, this is the best lead we've had in five years." Kassius states.
"I'll go, I know the place like the back of my hand." Sun explains, holding his hand up and Blake is the first to stand up.
"I'll go with you." Blake volunteers. "You came with me to where I came from, time I repaid the favour."
"It won't be as pretty." He warns.
"I knew that when I met you." Blake replies and he jolts from the burn she just gave him. Yang shrugs and she stands up as well.
"Why not?" Yang says when she stands there, her hand on her hip. She looks at Kassius and he nods to her, he and her have always been able to stay apart for a while. It makes it all the more romantic when they see each other again.
"I'm coming." Ruby assures, looking proud as she stands there. And she needs to be able to do something to block out the horrific nightmares that haunt her dreams.
"So am I." Oscar unconditionally says as he stands with his girlfriend. Ruby looks at him and smiles sweetly. Weiss sits there and she sighs, rolling her eyes and she stands up as well.
"Might as well make it all of Team R.W.B.Y she says as she stands up." Weiss sighs as she stands there.
"I'll come too." Neptune says as he walks forward. Nobody else volunteers to join them, but they might need Penny here more than they would need her out there. She is strong enough to help repair the damage done to the school.
"Alright, that settles it. Jaune and his team keep searching for Pyrrha in Vale, Penny stays here to fix up the school with everyone else. And the rest of us go to Vacuo." Sun sums up.
"This is gonna be like a School Trip!" Yang cheers.
Pyrrha
Pyrrha walks through a market street of Vale, on her own with her hoodie on. The hoodie is torn in places and she has a bandage around her left shoulder. She wears black gloves as she walks around and wears a black beanie hat over her long red hair. She holds some spare lien she has found in her hand and gives it to a young girl who is selling some apples. The girl gives her the apples in a bag and Pyrrha smiles kindly as she accepts the bag. "Thank you." She softly says to the girl, stepping away from the girl and looking around the area cautiously for any signs of the Acolytes or any other threats that could be out there in hiding.
She walks across the street and stops at the traffic lights as cars zoom by. Civilians converse and walk by her as she stands there with her bag of apples in her hand. Her green eyes widen with fear when she hears a dangerously familiar voice.
"Come! Come and buy some of the finest things that I have for sale! And who knows! I might even tell you a moment in your future for a lien extra!" The voice of Vir Nominis Umbra speaks, calling out to the people that walk by him and then he looks at her. It is definitely him, exactly the same in shape and attire. The Merchant's clothes, the bald head and the cunning look in his eyes.
She looks away as the light turns green and flees from him.
He holds an apple in his hand and takes a bite from it, swallowing the chunk he just chewed. He smirks as he watches her walking away from him.
Pyrrha keeps on walking and she notices something odd.
Lots and lots of military types poking around the area, watching her.
She pulls up her hood and she begins to conceal herself in the crowd, approaching the alleyway and hiding in there. She leans against the wall to hide from the men and two of them pursue her slowly, walking towards where she went. She crouches down behind a dumpster as the men walk into the alley. One of them holds a knife in his hand and he slowly approaches the dumpster where she hides. "Come out, Invincible Girl." The man challenges as he looks around.
She darts out and kicks the Knife Wielder in the chest to make him fall backwards into the garbage bags. The other swings his fist at her and she ducks down to avoid the punch from the Mercenary and she slams her fist into his gut to make him hunch forward. She strikes him up the chin and the Mercenary is thrown from his feet and onto the ground with a thud. She unknowingly has walked into their trap, there is a second man with a rope and he wraps it around her neck and tightens it as he pulls down. She strains, gasping for air as she grabs the rope with her hands. She grits her teeth with distress as the man pulls her back with force to try and suffocate her. The other man with the knife lunges forward to stab her with the steel blade.
She uses her Polarity against him and stops the blade before it can puncture her stomach, since it is coated with Purple Dust, the newly found weapon that can break through full aura with ease. She pushes him back with the knife and then throws it from his hand and into his leg. The man screams with agony and grabs his leg with pain. The second Mercenary goes to attack her, grabbing her leg but she slams both feet into his chest and she falls onto the third that chokes her. She manages to get free, coughing as she breathes again.
The Mercenary tries to pull his gun out but she pulls the firearm from his fingers with her Polarity and she slams the gun against the side of his head, making him stagger backwards. The Knife Wielder goes for her again and she stops the knife with Polarity, the black energy surrounds the steel blade that is inches from her face and she moves out of the way and kicks him in the back. She lifts her arm upwards and stops the punch from one of the Mercenaries, and she punches his head into the wall, knocking him unconscious. She jumps up and pushes her legs against the wall to lunge at the other. She kicks him across the side of his head and knocks him out as well.
The Gunman goes for the gun again but she punches him straight in the face, hard enough to knock him out. She pants from exhaustion after the fight she just had with all those soldiers. She looks at the attire.
Black, red and golden accents in their clothes.
They are Acolytes of Lien.
She looks at their unconscious bodies, and then she turns her head to see Vir Nominis Umbra stood behind her. "How long do you think you will last if you do not take lives?" He questions, but she just turns and keeps on running, but he appears beside her with his hands clasped together. "They will not stop hunting you."
"Leave me alone." She demands as she tries to flee.
"How is your beloved Jaune Arc ever going to find you if you do not stop?" Vir Nominis Umbra asks her when she turns a corner in the alleyway and he is perched atop a catwalk with his legs hanging down, kicking back and forth.
"I don't want him to get hurt." She says to him.
"People always get hurt, it is what makes you human." Vir Nominis Umbra states, and she turns and sees him stood inside of a dumpster. She stops and stares at him. "You should embrace this fact, relish in it even." Vir Nominis Umbra suggests.
She ignores him and keeps on walking.
"You can run as long as you want, Pyrrha Nikos. But you cannot hide from me." He states, and she looks around, finding a place to lay low.
From the Acolytes of Lien.
And hopefully...
Vir Nominis Umbra.