A Living Myth RWBY X Child!Dragon Faunus! Male! Reader

Chapter 35: With Friends Like These and The Enemy of Trust

Sorry it's been so long guys. Things have just been happening that I've had to deal with, also I might be stalling out a bit for Volume 9 just so I could better map out things for this story.
I own nothing
Chapter 35: Fear

The two groups stared intensely at each other, daring the other to make the first move.
"Please, think about what you're doing." Weiss urged.
Harriet scoffed. "You heard the General, until this is sorted out, you're all under arrest."
She activated her Scroll, causing a red hue to envelop the room and a siren to ring. The windows were suddenly shut as Team RWBY and (Y/N)'s escape route was blocked off. There was only one way left to go: through the Ace Ops.
"Really?" Yang asked accusingly.
"Please, don't make this difficult." Vine tried to reason with them.
"Don't make us have to get out of here by force." Blake threatened as everyone drew their weapons, save Marrow who held up his hands.
"Woah, woah, woah. We're not actually going to slug this out, are we?"
"We're not doing anything." Harriet answered. "They decide what happens next."
Ruby stepped into the center of the line, twirling Crescent Rose. Harriet glared at her.
"You think you're going to stop us? We're the best huntsmen in Atlas."
"You were." Ruby said before smirking. "Then you trained us."
Before anyone could react, Ruby was out the door in a blur of rose petals. Harriet growled, chasing after her. After that, all hell broke loose as the teams charged. Yang blocked a swing from Elm's hammer, giving her brother ample opportunity to punch the tall woman, sending her skidding across the room. Blake and Weiss held off Marrow and Vine respectively as Yang and (Y/N) kept pushing Elm towards the hall. Once there was ample room for (Y/N) to spread his wings, he took off, flying around and pelt Elm with fireballs. Yang kept up with a barrage of punches and furious war cries before socking her in the face. Elm tumbled back before rooting herself with her Semblance and head butting Yang in the face and knocking her away with her hammer as Blake and Vine swung in. Elm attempted to swat the cat Faunus out of the air, but was tail whipped by (Y/N). He tried to follow with an axe kick, only for Elm to catch his leg and send him flying. An awkward thrust of his wings saved him from smacking his back into the wall as Yang and Blake drew attention away from him with their nimble movements and some charges. Elm was fixated on the older kids, chasing after them with a fierce growl. Vine, however, seemed to get aim at their weak spot and began chasing after (Y/N) with his Aura extension Semblance. The two began an aerial chase as Vine attempted to snatch the dragon out of the air. Though he may have been the more experienced Huntsman, in the air, (Y/N) was nearly untouchable, and Blake weaving in and out to strike at Vine while his back was turned did not help. Eventually, he changed tactics, grabbing Blake out of the air and tossing her to Elm, who held her down.
"Blake!" (Y/N) yelled as he landed and Yang stood beside him.
"If you come peacefully, we won't hurt you." Vine promised.
"Speak for yourself!" Elm spat. "They betrayed us!"
"You're the only traitors I see!" The boy yelled back.
"You're betraying the people you've sworn to protect!" Blake added.
Yang held out her arm in front of her brother. "It's not worth it, you two. They're just following orders now."
That royally pissed off Elm, who threw Blake into a wall and charged the two. (Y/N) smirked at the predictable nature of attack, sliding right under strike and leaving a fire charge behind him. It exploded, knocking Elm off balance for Yang to wail on her. Vine sighed before using his Semblance to perch above them. (Y/N) took the air, trying to keep the older male's focus so Yang and Blake could tag team Elm. Vine tried to swat the boy out of the air, but he was too nimble, especially now that he had Ruby's charm activated.
"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be, (Y/N)!"
"You're the only ones making this difficult!" He hissed back, rolling away from the extending Aura. "I've already left people behind to die once, I'm never doing it again!"
Blake vaulted Yang at Elm on the ground, getting a good knock to her head, but then getting swatted away by the counter swing from the hammer. Blake threw Gambol Shroud at her, but she caught, pulling her in and sending her flying upward. Vine grabbed the Faunus and slammed her against the wall again. That left him open as (Y/N) dove at him. Vine blocked with his free arm, but (Y/N) sucker punched him, causing him to flinch and drop Blake. With his arm free again, Vine tried yet again to snatch (Y/N), but the Faunus boy was already long out of reach.
"Time to wrap this up, Vine!" Elm yelled as Yang tossed Gambol Shroud back to Blake. "They've had their chance. Don't be soft."
Vine huffed, staring down (Y/N) who perched on the other side of the room as his Aura grabbed  a crumbling section of the wall.
"Are you telling me or yourself?"
Yang, Blake, and (Y/N) all smirked as they charged in. Elm swung at them, but the girls dodged, Yang sliding under as Blake grabbed hold of the hammer and leapt over her. (Y/N) meanwhile was dodging debris being flung by Vine. He punched one of the boulders downward to Yang, who covered it in charges. She then tossed it up as Blake swung in to kick it at Vine. The Huntsman swatted it away and grabbed Blake, pulling her in. Only, it was a shadow clone, riddled with the charges. Vine only had a split second to realize his mistake as (Y/N) blasted the charges with his fire breathing, the resulting explosion sent Vine skyward. (Y/N) and Yang bolted at him, (Y/N) stealing the gravity bolas and tying up Vine as Yang grabbed his leg and slammed him to the ground, cracking it and breaking his Aura. Elm stared at the two in disbelief as they landed. There was a change in the air as everyone stopped their battles for a moment. It seemed that only now did the Ace Ops realize they weren't fighting just kids.
These were trained Huntsmen (and (Y/N), but that doesn't sound as dramatic).
And just like that, it seemed the dominos all began to fall at once. (Y/N) heard Marrow grunt as the Arma Gigas summon knocked him out and caused his gravity bola to roll to the boy's feet. He immediately kicked it up and tail whipped it to Weiss, who caught it and tied up the dog Faunus. Satisfied, he dove back into the fight with Elm, who was becoming increasingly aggressive. Yang again launched Blake at the old Huntress, and with (Y/N) there to push her back, she was basically swarming Elm like a wasp. Yang also didn't hold back, pelting her with charges.
(Y/N) noticed Elm backing away from the cracked area Vine's impact had left. Realizing the loose shards basically rendered Elm's Semblance useless, the boy flew behind her and slammed his fist to the ground, aided by Yang's charm. Elm snarled at him, swinging her hammer down at him. (Y/N) easily rolled away, smirking as Elm's hammer only made the cracking worse.
"Having trouble rooting yourself, Elm?"
She glared, still switching to her rocket launcher mode. Unfortunately for her, Yang decided enough was enough. As (Y/N) and Blake bounced off the walls to get above them, Yang rushed in, activated her Semblance, and sent Elm flying. Elm was then struck from three different directions at the same time, shattering her Aura. The three landed, completely satisfied with their victory. However, down the hall, (Y/N) could hear Ruby struggling with Harriet. As Blake and Yang tied up Elm, he flew off to help her.
Harriet, despite her arms being tied up and her teammates being knocked out, refused to give up, and was trying to come at Ruby in all directions. Ruby's own Semblance seemed enough to keep her on par, but she was struggling to land solid hits without being struck. The boy was about to jump in as Harriet charged with a furious roar, only for a wall of ice to jut out of the floor as Harriet slammed head first into it. (Y/N) winced as he heard the impact, actually feeling a little sorry for the Huntress as her eyes rolled and she collapsed. He turned to see Weiss standing behind him.
"That was a bit brutal, Weiss." He half joked.
She shrugged, sheathing her weapon. "And that's why you don't charge head first with reckless abandon."
(Y/N) dragged Harriet back to the central room as others gathered up the remaining Ace Ops in the same spot.
"We have to stop Ironwood." Ruby said. "If he can't access the Relic, he can't move Atlas."
"We just have to get to the Winter Maiden." Weiss replied as she was dragging Marrow by the leg as Yang and Blake carried Elm.
"Blake, (Y/N), and I can look for the others."
"But our Scrolls don't-," Ruby was cut off as Pietro, Maria, and Ciel all came running in.
Everyone froze for a moment to assess the situation, and Weiss unceremoniously dropped Marrow.
Maria was not amused. "This is the part where they ask us to help."
(Y/N) nodded bashfully. "Yeah...Ciel, Pietro, can you get our Scrolls working?"
"We'll do our best." The scientist said as the team passed their Scrolls to tech savvy portion of the group.
It took some time, and a hell of an awkward atmosphere, but eventually the job was done.
"There, that should do it." Pietro declared as he handed the devices back to the girls.
Ciel handed (Y/N) his. "We also took the liberty of making sure you couldn't be tracked through them."
"Thinking two steps ahead." Ruby joked.
"Someone has to."
She nodded before going into leader mode. "We need to get to the others."
"We also need to stop Ironwood from getting the Winter Maiden." Weiss affirmed. "I know where to go at least."
"But Weiss, Winter will be there too." (Y/N) pointed out, concerned.
She nodded hesitantly. "I know, and I'm prepared if all else fails."
The others didn't exactly like the thought of Weiss having to face her sister whom she admired so much. It didn't seem fair, but the Schnee was determined and (Y/N) could tell she wasn't going to take no for the sake of her well being.
"If you're sure." He finally said. "We'll go help everyone else."
They nodded. However, just as they were about to split up, (Y/N) felt an agonizing burning in his chest. He screeched as he doubled over in pain, alarming the adults.
"(Y/N)!" Ruby yelled as she, Weiss, and Ciel raced to his side.
"What's wrong?" Ciel asked, immediately trying to assess if he had been injured in the fight. "Where's the pain?"
(Y/N) clutched at his chest as he struggled to breathe. The pain was indescribable. It didn't feel like a normal wound, just a heavy pain in his heart, no in his soul. Something in him was reaching out as tears began to flow down his cheeks. Eventually, his mind focused enough to barely comprehend what was going on.
"Q-Qrow." He struggled to say as he sensed it. "Qrow and Clover...I-I don't know, but I think...I think something really bad just happened to them."
He couldn't explain it, but it was the first thing that came to mind. He wasn't exactly sure what was wrong, but the sinking dread he felt made him all too scared to figure out what had happened.
The girls looked at each other fearfully, Yang and Ruby especially. This was a first for (Y/N), but given how perceptive he was of others' emotion, they didn't disbelieve his claim that something horrible had just happened. Ruby felt uncertainty swirl in her stomach. She wanted so desperately to go find her uncle, hoping beyond all hope that (Y/N) was wrong, that Qrow was fine. However, Ruby knew they couldn't risk Ironwood succeeding in his. It hurt her beyond all words, but she had to believe that whatever had happened, Qrow would be able to handle it. He was her mentor after all. However, someone else seemed to step up to the plate to help.
"I'll find him." Ciel volunteered, to the surprise of everyone. "I should be able to track him through his Scroll."
"Thank you." Ruby said gratefully.
She nodded and began to take off.
"Ciel!" (Y/N) called out, causing her to turn. "Please, be careful."
She smiled and nodded. "I'm a bit more discreet than you lot. I'll be fine."
She then disappeared as everyone else turned to each other.
"There's a Manta up on the roof." Maria said. "We can use it to get out of here. Let's move."
Weiss and Ruby gave their goodbye hugs, Weiss lingering with (Y/N).
"Please, take care of yourselves."
"We will." He assured. "I promise."
With that, they split to fulfill their individual missions. As the Manta team headed towards the roof, they encountered a group of soldiers.
"Freeze!" One ordered, only to be immediately blasted by (Y/N).
"Let's clear a path!" Yang ordered as she, Blake, and her brother dove in.
Compared to the Ace Ops, this was a cake walk, and eventually they managed to fight their way outside towards the Manta.
"Pietro! Connect us to the others!" (Y/N) yelled as the two elderly folks loaded in.
It didn't take long for the scientist to get the call through.
"Hello? Anybody there?" Pietro asked. "Can you hear me?"
"Our Scrolls!" (Y/N) heard Jaune's voice on the other line. "Doctor!"
"Ha ha!" Maria laughed. "Finest mind in Atlas!"
"Maria, what are you doing?" Nora asked.
"Getting us all out of here." (Y/N) answered. "Send us your location and we'll get you out."
"We're in the academy training room. We slipped away from some soldiers, but it won't be long before they-," Nora was cut off by gunfire.
"We're on our way!" Yang assured as they heard the fighting on the other end. "Just stick together."
"Oscar?" Jaune asked. "Oscar!?"
"Sorry." The farm boy said. "But you all need to go on without me."
"What are you talking about?"
"There's something I have to do alone."
Oscar went silent as Blake's eyes widened. "He's going after Ironwood!"
"That's suicide!" Maria exclaimed. "He won't stand a chance by himself."
"He won't be." (Y/N) said. "I'll cut him off."
"(Y/N), no." Yang said firmly.
"I know where the Vault is and I'm the only one who could beat Oscar there!"
"You can't." Ren argued. "It's too dangerous."
"We don't have a choice! Oscar doesn't realize how far gone Ironwood is. I do. I have to try to stop him."
"No, (Y/N), you can't." Blake said firmly. "There's no way we're letting you do that!"
"Sorry then, but I'm not asking for permission."
He ran to the end of the building, taking off in the direction of the Vault. He could hear everyone calling for to come back, but he knew that he had to try and stop Ironwood before Oscar got there.  The journey was painfully short, much shorter than (Y/N) was hoping. He didn't want to fight Ironwood, but he wasn't deluded enough to think he could reason with a man about to abandon all of humanity. Still, he was willing to try. He stepped on to the elevator and only then realized how tired he was. The sun must have been rising by now. They had been going at all night. He could feel his body ache from all the fighting and the flying. But, even exhausted, there was one more thing to do. He arrived in the Vault. Ironwood was facing the doors, unaware of who was meeting him as the elevator stopped.
"Winter, thank you." He said. "I know that must have been difficult. I-I'm so sorry."
"No, you're not." (Y/N) said firmly.
The General stiffened, turning to see the boy staring at him sharply. Ironwood watched suspiciously as the boy walked across the platform.
"Did you come here to fight?"
"That depends on you." (Y/N) answered. "It's been a long night, and I think the two of us would prefer to settle this with words. Besides, we're just playing into Salem's hands, just like before."
The General scoffed. "I'd hardly call this the same. Salem is at our doorsteps because of the lies you told."
"She would have come here, regardless of what we said." (Y/N) corrected. "The only difference is you haven't run away yet."
"Run away? You still think I'm afraid, don't you."
"You are afraid." The boy stated firmly as the two began circling each other. "You can lie to everyone around you, General, even yourself, but you can't lie to me. This whole plan is the result of a man who is terrified."
"You can spew judgement all you want!" Ironwood finally snapped. "But the fact remains, I was right! The minute I softened, let my guard down, that's when Salem had her opening. I am done letting others' inability to see the big picture get in the way of doing what's right!"
(Y/N) almost laughed as both of their stances became much more aggressive. "You think Salem got in because you weren't strict enough? I see your delusions made you forget Watts and Tyrian were here long before we were! You practically gift wrapped Mantle to them! If you had taken a second to even bother to care about the people down there, maybe it wouldn't have been so easy for Watts to infiltrate the system. You're not seeing the big picture, Ironwood, you're letting fear blind you to all the problems around you!"
"I'm not afraid!"
"Yes you are! The fact you think you can just run away and never have to face Salem when she has all the time in the world to find a way to drag you back down proves it. You're scared to face her, Ironwood. That is the truth. Salem has one weakness, and it's humanity standing together against her. That's all she can do, divide us!"
Ironwood snarled. "You go on about how we need to stand together, when you kept the truth from me. If trust is so important, why didn't you trust me with that information initially?"
"We wanted to trust you." (Y/N) insisted. "But what we saw didn't give us much hope that you would handle the truth well. Maybe that was a mistake, but we've been betrayed in the past and we made the best call we could."
"And that mistake has cost you." Ironwood drew his gun, pointing it at the boy. "I can't afford to have disloyalty in my ranks."
"You know, for all your talk about disloyalty, you still haven't bothered to answer my question: how long have you known about me and Project Achilles?"
Ironwood's stance failed him for a brief moment before he stiffened again. "...since the beginning."
(Y/N) drew his blade. "Why didn't you tell Ozpin?"
"Because no one needed to know."
"Just like needed to know about the project initially, before it was leaked to the public. Would you have gone through with it if it hadn't been leak."
"...For the sake of Atlas and protecting the world from Salem, without hesitation."
Rage flared in (Y/N). "So that's it then. It doesn't matter how many bodies pile up around you, so long as you get what you want, it's worth it."
"It's naive of you to think you can save everyone."
"And it's selfish of you to abandon everyone else to die so you can run away."
"I think we're done talking."
"Yeah, seems so."
(Y/N) dodged the first shot of the gun, charging at Ironwood. The General blocked the tail strike, only to be punched across the face. Retaliating, he slammed his pistol into (Y/N) temple, causing the boy to roll across the floor until he stopped himself with his claws. The dragon growled as Ironwood roared, jumping at him. The boy rolled away as the impact left a crater. Ironwood rounded, firing two bullets that (Y/N) jumped away from. They charged each other again, Ironwood firing another shot as (Y/N) launched a fire Dust infused shot. The resulting explosion sent the two flying in opposite directions. On any other day, the two would've easily gotten back up and continued, but all the fighting was taking a toll on them and what remained of their Aura. They knew the next strike would decide it.
And in a cruel twist of fate, it was only then that Oscar arrived.
Hearing the elevator, the two saw the farm boy, badly injured and struggling to remain standing, descend. Oscar's eyes widened as he saw the scene laid before him. In a moment, Ironwood pointed the gun at Oscar.
"NO!"
With the last of his energy, (Y/N) activated Ruby charm. In the nick of time, he jumped in the path of the bullet and held up his arms to block. The knock back sent (Y/N) flying into the wall, finally shattering his Aura as his head slammed against the metal. Dazed, he fell as the world began going black. He heard Oscar distantly call out his name, but it was so fuzzy. He felt the air swirl around him as he plummeted. In his fading consciousnesses, he weakly pushed himself towards the wall, trying to find something to latch on to. Finally, in a stroke of luck, his hand grabbed a pipe which lined against the wall and he heaved himself on to it. The pipe moaned under his weight, but it was just sturdy enough to hold him and had just enough of a gap between it and the wall for him curl up on.
"Sorry guys..." He thought as his mind finally faded to black.

Next time, Volume 8.