RWBY (Volume 6) Chapter 8: Thoughts of Power / A Team's Promise

You've gone to clear your head in the vast city of Argus, you feel like you've walked around the same several various buildings and monuments multiple times at this point, are you walking in circles? It doesn't really matter where you go, so long as you get some time to just be by yourself. You feel your face being harshly brushed with the coldness that surrounds this area, you hope that when you get to Atlas it isn't nearly this cold. Your tired eyes glance up at people just endlessly walking past you, smiles on their faces and laughing as you can't help but think back to what Jaune yelled at you. You wanted to yell back at him, but what would that prove? He was absolutely right, there's a fuse lit within you that could potentially be catastrophic for everyone around you. Part of you simply wants to disappear and hope that your team will be better off without the lingering fear over their heads.

You haven't returned back to Saphron's house in several hours, you feel your Scroll buzz in your pocket, yet again. You grab it once again and look at it. For the past hour or so you've gotten nonstop calls from every member of team RWBY. And now, yet again Ruby is calling you, you stare longingly at her profile picture, it's an old one of both of you back in Vale, it's a picture of you and her laughing onthe night you took her to the dance at Beacon. You so desperately miss those days where everything seemed so much simpler. Now just looking at that picture, you can't help but feel guilty to be putting everyone through this, especially her. Your thumb hovers over the accept call button for a few moments but you close your eyes and press the decline button before sighing and shutting off your scroll.

Solar(Subconscious): "Poor baby...is someone upset?" You hear her venomous voice whisper within your ears as you reel your head back in annoyance and groan.

You(Sub): "Don't you literally have ANYTHING better to do?" Her soft, twisted laughter echoes within your Soul as you feel your head throb violently, your eye feeling like it's about to burst out of its socket for a few moments as you grip your eye, nearly stumbling down to your knees.

Solar(Sub): "I'm afraid not, my dear. Why struggle? You must know by now it's futile...how long will it be till they fear you the same way they fear the Grimm, or Salem."

You(Sub): "Piss. Off." You say harshly leaning against a nearby rail, your eyes closed as her words seem to have a special way of just pissing you off. You regain your balance for a moment before rather abruptly lowering yourself and sitting on some stairsteps that lead up upwards to another part of the city. 

Solar(Sub): "Come now, is that any way to treat an invited guest?" Okay no, now THAT pissed you off, you focus your mind as you enter the depths of your Soul. Now you're standing at the barrier that Cole made as you see Solar standing there just beyond the barrier in that imperfect version of Yang she created. You take a glance to realize that Cole is nowhere to be found, her golden eyes now staring at you with a sly grin.

You: "You INVADED my Soul, hurt MY friends, nearly had my own brother kill me. How could you EVER possibly think that you'd be welcomed here."

Solar: "Those were simply a means to an end, Chronicle. Crude means for the original factor of how my sister so jealously guarded you. But now that she's indisposed...Could you imagine the utter strength we could wield together?" You scoff and roll your eyes walking right up to the barrier, you can feel the hairs on your arms and body lifting up slightly due to the static charge from being so close to the barrier.

You: "Do me a favor and keep your little power-hungry fantasies to yourself. I'm not interested." Solar laughs, her laugh is getting REALLY damn annoying as you scratch the back of your neck to the point where your skin is getting extremely irritated.

Solar: "You know I don't think that's quite true...with my sister's passing, you were noticeably far weaker than before. But it only took you a few weeks to start subconsciously calling out for anything to give you strength...I was more than happy to oblige."

You: "Sure as hell wasn't on purpose, keep your strength, I've lived all of my life without it. Won't be starting now."

Solar: "My dear, I don't believe you're in any position to be denying what I can offer. You seek to destroy an enemy that can not be killed, you face off against armies, Grimm, and frighteningly powerful men and women with the power to topple kingdoms by themselves. All of that while you're all by your lonesome."

You: "I'm not by myself on this. And did it somehow slip your mind that you're literally SIDED with the same people actively out to try to kill me or I'm sorry, am I talking to the wrong Serpent who I've been told from the moment I became the Chronicle to stay away from!?" You yell as your rage causes your Soul to glitch a violent amethyst color, Solar laughs, covering her face with her hand.

Solar: "Once again, a means to an end, my dear. I didn't think it was possible before but now, I simply seek your cooperation. This is a possibility that could not have been considered before with Luna intertwined with your Soul. I can promise you that even just a taste of my power can give you the strength needed to keep your friends safe...especially that girl in the red hood you seem to care so much about." You slam your fist into the barrier, just inches away from Solar's face. The pain is a volatile one. You feel the pulses of throbbing electricity go through each nerve as your face contorts in fury.

You: "You are stepping on some MIGHTY thin ice right now."

Solar: "Why, my dear, I am simply offering you my hand. In fact, I'll even allow you to use my power freely for a time. I won't pry any further into your Soul unless you allow me to, call upon my power as you see fit. You'll soon come to find that I'm your best chance to keep you and your friends safe."

You: "...Like I'll ever take that offer." You say as your eyes continue to lock with hers as she looks at you with a sultry smile and calm eyes.

Solar: "Oh my dear...once you've tasted and seen what I can offer you. Y̢ou͝ ̀wo̸n̛'t ̡ev͏e̕r͜ b͏e͠ ͝a̛ble͡ to̢ res͜i͝st." She raises her hand as her arm passes straight through the barrier, her face visibly recoiling in pain for a moment as, her arm now covered within her black scales reaches towards you. You flinch as she places her hand against your cheek. It's a cold yet...comforting feeling? No, no, this is wrong. Your eyes widen, as those damn golden eyes of hers continue to look at you "I'll be in touch...my dear." You shake your head before smacking away her hand before exiting your Soul suddenly as you gasp for air. You touch your cheek, for a few fleeting moments it almost felt like her hand was still pressed against your face as the feeling slowly fades away.

You: "Damn it, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!!!!!! " You yell at the top of your lungs before gripping your hair in utter frustration, your head lowered as your mind continuously spirals within itself as you hear nearly silent footsteps approaching you.

Blake: "Am I...interrupting?" Your eyes shoot open as you look up in surprise to see Blake standing over you.

You: "B-Blake!?" You recoil in surprise as you glance around checking if the other members of the team were there but it's just her for now as her cat ears twitch for a moment

Blake: "Is this step taken?" She says gesturing to the open spot next to you, you're still quite in shock from what Solar spoke to you about so you just kind of look at her in almost dazed trance, you glance down for a moment before gesturing with your head for her to sit down "Thank you."

You both sit there for a few moments, your distressed face is clear for her to see as you have your head held in your hands, leaned over slightly. Your leg endlessly bounces off of the ground in an ever rising pace. You feel that sense of your head going numb with that awful ear-deafening ringing in your ears. Blake looks at you with a profound sense of worry and curiosity on her face, giving you the time to properly respond to her, not wanting to rush you. You snap out of your spiraling trance as you glance at her.

You: "I'm uh...guessing that I've made the rest of the team pretty worried huh?" Blake tilts her head forward with a slight nod.

Blake: "Worry might be a bit of an understatement at this point (F)...We've been searching all over for you. Ruby's on the verge of pulling her hair out at this point." Your hand covers your eyes as you lean forwards slightly as a heavy sigh escapes from your mouth.

You: "I'm sorry for making you all worried. I just...needed some time to be-"

Blake: "Be alone?" Your head lifts from your hand as you glance up at her "I think more than anyone else in our team, I understand that feeling." She gives a sincere look, it's comforting. You glance downwards at the lightly falling snow that melts in contact with the pavement.

You: "It's just unfair what I'm putting you all through."

Blake: "(F), while I know it's certainly not exactly the same as what you're going through. Do you remember the time I ran away back in Vale?" Those times seemed so long ago but that was certainly a strong memory. 

You: "Yeah...I remember that." You say glancing up at her, confused for a moment as to what point she's trying to make.

Blake: "And do you remember the time I had slapped you on instinct when I was running on fumes while searching for Torchwick?" You rub your cheek as you softly shudder in remembrance of that moment.

You: "Yeah, well my cheek certainly never forgot about THAT." You say as you both share a soft laugh as you smile for a few seconds before it fades, looking into her amber eyes curiously "Why bring those times up?"

Blake: "While we may not talk to each other as much, nor are we as close as the rest of our teammates, I still remember when you went out of your way to make sure I was alright. You backed me up when Weiss and I argued that whole day even bringing up some good points I didn't consider. When I had hurt you, even though it was by accident, you never held it against me. And most recently when I ran back to Menagerie before eventually meeting you all back in Haven, you welcomed me with open arms. So now is the time to let us prove to you that we will do the same for you, alright?"

You: "I really want to, Blake...I'm just terrified." You say this as she nods before the cat-eared Faunus scoots closer to you, you both are bumping shoulders now as she looks down at the pavement as well.

Blake: "Let me tell you from experience, it is terrifying to allow yourself to trust someone especially when you feel like you're nothing but a detriment to them. But I'm here to tell you now that you're not, (F)." You both share a glance as you softly smirk, she does the same. Soon after you hear the familiar clacking of abnormally tall high heels quickly coming your way.

Weiss: "Oh there you are!" She takes a deep breath of relief before looking at you with a very signature Schnee sneer. "Do you know how long we've been looking for you!?" She gets up in your face for a few seconds, glaring intensely at you as you're honestly slightly flinching in preparation to be slapped as Blake looks on.

You: "I know Weiss, I'm sor-" You are suddenly cut off as her eyes well up with tears for just a moment before suddenly wrapping her arms around you. Okay not going to lie, you weren't expecting that. You ironically froze up a bit upon getting the extremely rare nice version of Weiss. But just feeling the warmth of her arms around you is nearly enough to make your eyes well up for a moment as you clear your throat to stifle it down.

Weiss: "There was never a chance that we'd ever let anything happen to you, idiot." Your body begins to relax a bit as your arms slowly wrap around her back. "I don't care what's happening in that stupid head of yours, you'd better not ever think to yourself that you don't belong right here with us." She doesn't seem to let go as you notice that Ruby, Yang and Raiden all begin to walk up behind her. Maria's here too, watching from afar, but you note that Sophie seems to not be with them.

Yang: "Yeah, there was no chance that you could ever get rid of us THAT easily." Yang states before walking up to you and ruffling your hair.

Ruby: "You should know by now that Team RWBY has got to be the most stubborn team that Beacon has ever produced. " You look into Ruby's dazzling eyes as she looks at you with a hopeful smile, glancing back to see that Raiden nods at you with a smirk. "While we don't know how long we have,  we'll be giving it our all to find a way to keep you safe." Ruby exclaims while staring into your eyes. What once was confusion and fear before has shifted to strong determination. "Now then, let me in on here!" She exclaims before quickly speeding into your arms as well, nuzzling her head into your shoulder. You're holding both Weiss and Ruby in your arms as eventually you feel more arms wrap around you, the overwhelming warmth causes you to completely relax. You look upwards, seeing that now Yang and Blake has joined in on the group hug.

Raiden: "No matter what happens, no matter what it takes. We promise that we'll always find a way to bring you back to us." He proclaims before finally being the last to join in the hug...to hell with Solar, this is all you need right here. You take a deep breath and smile, knowing that despite everything you've gone through, you've always got your team...no... your family to be by your side.

(Later)

After a much needed pep talk from the crew, you were told about how Qrow's been completely unresponsive and more importantly that Oscar was missing as well, they were attempting to find him at the same time as finding you. Unfortunate timing to go off thinking then, you feel bad for diverting their attention away from the poor kid who didn't want to be involved with any of this in the first place. In a way, he reminds you much of yourself. At least how you used to be, a hopeful and naïve boy that had an enormous responsibility thrusted onto him. Even the aspect of now sharing your thoughts with some otherworldly being is a unique perspective you and him share. 

Perhaps if you can find him, you could bring up your own experience on matters like this to try to help with how he's feeling. Your mind has slightly trailed off as you don't even notice your surroundings as Ruby stops right in front of you. You force yourself to stop to prevent from bumping into her. You tilt your head in confusion, wondering why she stopped as she's looking down with a look of annoyance and disapproval on her face. She lets out a slow, heavy sigh while closing her eyes as you look down to where she's staring at, now understanding why she had that look on her face.

Yang: "I've never seen him this bad." You all are now looking down to see that Qrow is passed out, belligerently drunk on the set of stairs leading up to Saphron's house. The scent of heavy liquor is very clear around him. Jeez, just how much has he had in these past few days

Ruby: "Come on, let's get him up." She grumbles as both her and Yang grab their uncle's arms before sitting him up. He groans and rubs his eyes.

Qrow: "Why am I on the stairs?" He grumbles as he leans his arms against his legs.

Ruby: "Probably because no one's home, Uncle Qrow." She says while slightly leaning forwards disapprovingly, placing her hands at her hips. Yang seems just as upset as her fists are clenched. "We've been out looking for (F) and Oscar."

Qrow: "(F) and Oscar?" He looks behind Ruby to narrow his eyes at you. "But he's right there behind you guys." He drunkly manages to say in a slurred voice. Well you suppose he isn't necessarily wrong as Ruby raises her hand to her face and pinches the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

Ruby: "That's because we JUST found him." 

Qrow: "Then what were you all worried about then?" He grumbles, holding his head while trying to recover from his hangover as Ruby seems like she's just about ready to snap at him. You instinctually walk up closer behind Ruby before placing your hand on her shoulder. She glances back at you, taking a deep breath as she calms herself just for a moment. 

You suppose he wasn't there when you told everyone what happened. Hearing footsteps, you all glance over down the sidewalk to see that Jaune, Ren, and Nora are walking towards you. Crap you don't know what you're gonna say to them. Slightly in front of them is Saphron and Terra, who's holding Adrian in her arms. Terra's eyes widen in shock upon getting closer, probably from seeing the drunk old man practically about to pass out on her front doorstep again. The two mothers look at Qrow.

Terra(Sarcastic): "I'm sure this looks great to the neighbors." Saphron lightly elbows her wife while Jaune and the others walk up to you all. You see that they're all specifically making their way to you.

You: "Guys I know you're upset but-" Without even given the chance to really explain yourself Nora runs over to you, practically tackling you while hugging you tightly to the point where it feels crushing.

Nora: "Shuddup! None of that apology stuff! We're not letting you go, ever!" You feel your face losing color as she continues to try to squeeze out the life out of your lungs.

Ren: "What she means to say is that regardless of what happens we've got your back." She lets go of you as you take a moment to gasp and catch your breath as Ren places his hand on your shoulder with a smirk. They both slightly move out of the way as you see Jaune approaching you. His eyes seem to be avoiding making contact with yours but he takes a breath to begin speaking to you

Jaune: "(F), I'm so sorry about how I reacted. I was just scared with everything that was told today but I was being so unfair to you and-" 

You: "You're alright, Jaune. I completely understand where you were coming from...and to be honest, in a way you were right." You manage to mumble out, your eyes trailing down before Jaune places a hand on your shoulder as you look back up at him.

Jaune: "None of that matters anymore, regardless of what happens, you can rely on us to help however we can. We cool?" He says raising his arm, offering a fist bump.

You: "We're cool." You say with a small nod, returning his fist bump. He lets go of your shoulder as he glances behind you at the rest of Team RWBY. It seems they've noticed that you guys haven't found Oscar yet, walking past you now.

Ren: "No luck?"

Blake: "No, you?" Blake replied, her arms crossed. Ren only lets out a soft grunt, definitely a no, knowing Ren.

Jaune: "Don't worry, we aren't going to Atlas without him."  Jaune insisted, looking over to Ruby as you watch her help Qrow up to his feet, his arm now resting against his niece, leaning against her as a crutch.

Ruby: "We?" Her concerned eyes for her uncle glance away from him to look over to Jaune and the others. All three of them exchange glances with one another while sharing a smile. Jaune turns slightly to look back at his sister.

Jaune: "Sorry we won't be staying." 

Saphron: "No you're not." She replies with a sassy tone, her hand being placed on her hip. Jaune and Saphron share a look of sincerity with one another. 

Terra: "How about we get out of the cold?"

You: "Yes please, my fingers are about to freeze off-" You are interrupted with the sound of the door to the house opening, you hear everyone gasp.

Oscar: "Oh, I was wondering when you'd get back." Your eyes widen in surprise as you hear his voice. You look to the door as you watch Oscar standing at the doorway, now wearing a surprisingly fancy green coat. Alongside him is the little Oreo herself, Sophie.

Everyone: "OSCAR!!" You all shout. Nora screams in joy, Oscar looks at the group with a confused look on his face, looking over to Sophie as they both share a shrug. But then that look quickly becomes one of ABSOLUTE FEAR as everyone including yourself leaps forward far more than you all physically are capable of doing in blinding speed and tackle hug him into the house. Poor Sophie was too close to the crossfire and was also tackled to the ground as well. Now inside the house, Ruby helps Oscar up while you pick Sophie off of the ground as she seems dazed from being tackled by people much taller and bigger than her as everyone shares a laugh.

Weiss: "You had us worried sick!" Weiss exclaims with her hands clasped together with a concerned expression, getting up close to Oscar's confused face.

Ruby: "Are you okay?" Ruby says with both of her hands on the sides of her face, also popping up right up to his face.

Nora: "What are you wearing?" Nora asks while sliding next to Ruby, her finger and thumb on her chin with a wide smirk on her face. You push Nora to the side ALSO getting in Oscar's face.

You: "Yeah did you leave the house just to find a tailor? Is that a custom made fit too? How'd they make something like that for you so quickly? How much did that even co-" You feel something bonking you on the head, being thrown onto your knees as Raiden hit you on the head to stop your onslaught of questions. You swear it's a miracle you don't have some form of brain damage with how many times you've been smacked on the head.

Oscar: "Uh..." He stammers, only really smiling awkwardly and scratching the back of his head as you get back up off of your knees.

Terra: "Is something cooking?" Now that she pointed it out, something does smell delicious...maybe this time you'll ACTUALLY eat something now that you've gotten quite a few of those worries out of the way.

Oscar: "Oh, uh, yeah. Sophie and I thought you guys would appreciate a hot meal after...spending all day looking for me, apparently." You glance over at Sophie as she jumps over to hug you, your arms wrap around her, scratching one of her bunny ears.

You(whispering): "I'm sorry if I freaked you out by leaving for so long, Oreo." She simply looks up at you with those adorable big eyes of hers.

Sophie: "I knew you'd come back sooner or later. Maybe next time remember you literally saved me and just about changed every person's lives here in some way. Of course we're gonna be affected if you run off like that." You smirk and nod as what Oscar said brings up a few questions

You: "Wait, how long have you been with Oscar?"

Sophie: "Bout a few hours now, why do you ask?"

You: "But like...why didn't you tell anyone he went back to the house?" Sophie looks at you confused.

Sophie: "Well I didn't want to risk him getting spooked off again and also uh don't have a Scroll, couldn't exactly rush outside screaming around for you guys."

You: "Aaahhh that makes sense, I suppose. Did you guys talk about anything in particular?" Sophie stays silent for a moment.

Sophie:" U-uh, we just talked." She stutters as you narrow your eyes confused

You: "About...what?" She goes silent again, avoiding eye contact as her cheeks flushing with hints of red as your older brother senses are tingling now. You look at Oscar...then back to Sophie, then back to Oscar, then back to Sophie, then BACK to Oscar as the thoughts connect in your head you gasp dramatically "I SHIP I-" You shout out as Sophie quickly covers your mouth as her face is beat red as she looks at you in adorable fury. You turn your attention back to Oscar himself talking with Jaune now.

Jaune: "It's my fault we were all out there in the first place. Oscar, I am so sorry for earlier. I was way, way out of line, and what I said--" He stammers

Oscar: "No, it's okay. These past few days, I've been scared of the same things you were. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be... me. But I did some thinking, and I do know that I want to do everything I can to help with whatever time I have left." Jaune smiles sincerely looking at Oscar.

Jaune: "Good. This team isn't the same without you, Oscar." Seems like everything worked out okay for the most part. You'll find a way to deal with Solar but for now, Everyone shares a smile with one another. Before you see Sophie's ears twitch as she flinches, the house's smoke alarm going off as Sophie's eyes widen.

Oscar: "The casserole!" He gasps while placing his hands on his head in dismay. You hear Saphron giggle

Saphron: "We're on it, chef." Saphron and Terra step into the kitchen to take care of Oscar's cooking. Sophie quickly hopping away to help as well.

Ruby: "Uh, combat gear looks good." They share a smile as you walk up next to Ruby looking over his gear, a big step up from the simple farmhand clothes he had before. It somewhat seems familiar to something Ozpin would wear.

You: "For real, you gotta let us know where you got that from, or wait did you make it yourse-" You stop as you notice in the corner of your eye that Qrow is simply walking past everyone, heading up the stairs while ignoring everyone. Okay the cool factor of him constantly being drunk and upset has officialy worn off as you look at him rather annoyed. Ruby walks forwards with an stern look on her face.

Ruby: "Where are you going now?" She exclaims with a quite angered voice.

Qrow: "I don't want to get in the way of your celebration." He grumbles while stopping on the stairs, still not looking at her.

Ruby: "You've been gone all day! Just sit with us." She exclaims, she seems rightfully pissed off and concerned about him. Qrow groans.

Qrow: "Look, Ruby, I'm glad you kids worked out, uh, whatever all that was. But the fact is, we're not a single step closer to Atlas."

You: "Even if that's true that's no excuse to go off and get blackout drunk somewhere." Qrow rolls his eyes looking like he's about to speak again before Jaune slightly steps forward.

Jaune: "Actually, I think I have an idea. But... it's sort of a 'no-going-back' kind of idea." His eyes reak of nervousness, you don't know if you should be nervous yourself or excited to hear this plan of his.

Ruby: "Well, let's hear it."

Jaune: "With Cordo on watch, only Atlas airships have the clearance to leave for Solitas . Sooo... we... steal an Atlas airship." He nervously shrugs at his last statement as you all look at him as if he's insane, well except for Adrian who simply giggles.

Weiss: "That's not just breaking the law. That's... that's definitely worse." You shrug while putting your hands in your jacket's pockets.

You: "Oh please, not like none of us have ever done anything illegal at this point, right? What's another crime to add to the record."

Blake: "Even so, this is going to an Atlas military base and stealing one of their airships we're talking about."  

Sophie: "I've stolen worse." Everyone just slowly looks over at the seemingly innocent looking small girl with genuine concern...just what was she like before meeting you guys?

Yang: "How would we even get onto the airfield?" Yang asks while bringing up her hands in confusion.

Jaune: "That... part I haven't quite figured out yet. But I--"

Qrow: "Okay, stop. Just... stop!" He yells bringing up his hand with a stern look on his face. "Look, if this thing goes south, it's not something we can just fight our way out of. This is the Atlas Military we're talking about." He sighs. "For your sake, just drop this."

You put your hands into your jacket's pockets while glancing down at the ground. There's really no other plan to be had, sometimes a desperate situation calls for a desperate plan. You look back up to see Ruby is checking everyone's reactions to what Qrow said as they all seem discouraged, her eyes lock with yours as you give a subtle nod as she does one in return. She now looks back at her uncle with an intense stare.

Ruby: "I want to hear him out."

Qrow: "Ruby..."

Ruby: "I want to hear him out! " Daaammnnn, your eyes look over at your girl with a mix of surprise and approval. "I know you're trying to protect us, that you're afraid we can't do it, but right now, I don't really care what you think!" You smirk hearing Ruby's determined voice, that's the girl you're seeking to marry right there. Qrow looks at her quite the shocked expression.

Ruby: "Just because you don't have an idea, doesn't mean we're out of options! Ozpin hasn't been here to tell us what to do, but we still managed to get this far anyway. We've been in bad situations before, and we don't need an adult to come save us or tell us what to do. We just did it our way! And I say we do it our way." You glance around to see that everyone is agreeing with her with proud smiles on their faces. "And if you think you can keep up with us 'kids'... we'd be happy to have you."  Qrow looks down sadly as you hear Maria laugh.

Maria: "Looks like you didn't give her enough credit either." Qrow doesn't say anything, he looks back to Ruby while she looks back at him determined. Seems like you'll have to start planning for the heist of your lives.

(I'll admit this is definitely a bit shorter/less interesting Chapter in terms of what happens. Though hey you got some character development and sweet moments between you and the rest of the team along with a enticing offer from Solar. This episode was mainly just character development and lore for Emerald, Mercury and Jaune. It should, however, pick up by the next one. Hope y'all enjoyed nonetheless.)