Always be with You (RWBY fanfic)

Chapter 9

"Everything is going according to plan," Salem announced, her red eyes surveying the room. Her group of villains consisted of the insane Tyrian, a disabled Cinder, a wise Hazel, and the arrogant Arthur. Mercury and Emerald were there, mostly to be Cinder's translators. "Students have arrived at Haven academy."

Cinder watched Salem in anxiety, her eyes burning the question she wanted to ask so badly, but couldn't. A few pathetic noises escaped her, bringing Tyrian to laugh.

"She can't even say anything!" Tyrian cackled. "How stupid."

"And I bet if you were there, you would've died from those silver eyes," Arthur sneered down at the Faunus. "Calm down. Cinder survived an attack from those silver eyes."

"For all we know, that girl has probably learned to harness her gift," Salem continued, her eyes narrowing at their conflict. "Hazel and Arthur will head to Haven Academy along with the White Fang tonight. Cinder, and I will remain here-"

"What about me-"

"Tyrian, you will do me a great favor and meet up with Adam Taurus before tonight's events. Help him release the Grimm."

"Understood."

"Cinder, you will protect your gift," Salem told the fuming woman. "You are still weakened. And you will help me unleash the experiment. It's finished."

<><><>

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad we're resting!"

Nora was practically jumping off the walls with excitement, running around the RWNBY hotel room. Meanwhile, Blake had her nose buried in a book while Yang studied her arm. Weiss was busy putting her hair up, and then back down again, while Ruby was cleaning Crescent Rose. Jaune and Ren had the room next door.

"I'm resting, I don't know what you're doing," Blake commented, her Faunus ears finally free of the bow due to the freedom of not being around schoolmates. "But practically the opposite of resting is what it looks like."

"This is resting!" Nora climbed onto Blake and Yang's bed, and began jumping on it, causing Blake to drop her book and sigh. "You guys are just boring!"

"Nora," Weiss shook her head, her uptight nature still showing. "We just got to a place to rest up after a long walk here. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. I could use a long nap."

"Nap?" Nora repeated, as if the word was foreign to her. "But... no nap! Come on, I bet there's probably a pool!"

There was a knock on the door, and Nora skipped over to go open it, revealing Jaune and Ren.

"Sorry to ruin the fun," Ren remarked. "But we are being summoned to Haven Academy."

"...then what are we waiting for?" Nora asked, and looked at the rest of team RWBY. Weiss was looking at the hotel room dejectedly, Blake looked at her hands, imagining them stained with blood, Yang watched as her arm trembled before her very eyes, and Ruby herself couldn't bring herself to look at them. "Guys?"

"What...what if someone else gets hurt?" Ruby whispered, clutching onto her beloved Crescent Rose. The silver eyed girl was always so excited, but she'd obviously been scarred from the past. No one else could tell, but ever since the fall of Beacon, she'd been putting up the facade of being okay.

When in reality, she'd cried every day, over Penny, Pyrrha, and Beacon's destruction.

"Maybe we shouldn't go," Ruby continued. "Maybe it's not a good idea... what if one of us gets hurt?"

"What if I can't protect myself or anyone else with this arm..." Yang stared at the yellow painted arm. "What if it gives out...what if I'm not useful with this?"

"...I think we need to stop worrying about 'what if'," Weiss spoke, surprising everyone. "Bad things can happen... but we can't be selfish. We're huntresses. If we don't do anything, people are going to get hurt."

"Is it bad of me to want to be selfish?" Ruby sighed, her silver eyes wide. "Why can't we just...stay here, so we don't have to lose anyone else."

"...the people are counting on us, to protect them, not to run," Blake told them. Normally it was Weiss and Blake who were the more skeptical of plans, so for them to speak up like this, awed the other two. "We need to help them."

"But if we can't protect them anyway, we'd be throwing our lives away just for the people to die anyway," Yang pointed out. "Isn't...isn't it better to live?"

"Maybe," Weiss shrugged. "But... I came here to do a job. I'd rather die trying to save others than run away."

The sisters looked at each other, and sighed heavily.

"...okay..." Ruby gave in, still very reluctant. "But... please, everyone, stay safe."

<><><>

As they approached Haven Academy, Jaune wondered if there was a huntress, a champion like Pyrrha, who would sacrifice themselves like she had. Jaune hoped not.

Once they entered, their eyes widened as they saw the group of villains before them- a large man, and another with a mustache. They were practically waiting for the students.

"Welcome. I know not your names, nor do I care," The man with the mustache sneered. "But my name is Arthur. If you wish to surrender now, we'll spare your lives-"

"Save it," Ren glared at the man. "It's pointless."

"I don't condone hurting children," The other man sighed. "But I will do as I must. I am Hazel, and if you wish to leave, no one will blame you."

Hazel was surprised as a large scythe swung at him, which he dodged. Ruby had taken the first step in attacking, obviously not wanting to hear any more of it. The rest of her team joined her, with Weiss' semblances supporting the team and providing them with speed. However, Hazel was no amateur when it came to fighting, and was able to withhold the attacks, grabbing Yang's human arm and launching her across the room. She hit the wall hard, wincing and standing up. Team JNR began taking down Arthur, Nora's brute force cutting through Arthur until she was hit, grunting in annoyance.

"You cannot hope to beat us," Arthur tried to regain control of the situation, but had to dodge Jaune's attack and stop Rein's weapon. "It's impossible to struggle-"

Nora's hammer smashed down on Arthur's head, severely angering the man. As he recovered from his injury, Nora, Ren, and Jaune rushed at him.

Blake's shadow clones of ice and fire confused Hazel and giving him more obstacles to look at. With an angered Yang coming after him, a speedy Ruby, and Weiss' attacks of dust, Hazel had to deal through a lot, but he was barely phased.

The fights continued, and the only breaking point was when Ruby and Jaune were both knocked back. Immediately, a Grimm pounced at them, heading towards Ruby and she went to kill it when she gasped. It ignored her, running at Jaune and pulling out a familiar orange spear and a golden shield.

"Pyrrha?"

Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed. I drew Grimm Pyrrha.... I had a better one but my app deleted it. Oh well, I still like this.

This book is almost done :)

Thanks for reading!