A Prince and a Red Reaper

Qrow: So when do you think would be the best time to meet up?

Nyx: Any time after my shift is done. I would still lay low though.

Qrow: I take it she's still mad?

Nyx: You should already know the answer to that Qrow.

Qrow: How was I to know that I would be like my sister and run from my feelings?!

Nyx: You don't have to explain to me. But I would prepare yourself for when you meet her again. After all she does still care about you. In a freeze your balls off and beat you with them sort of way.

Qrow:…..Dude.

Nyx: look I know it, Tai knows it and I'm pretty sure Summer does as well. You messed up big time. Plus the fact that she has a line directly to Ozpin…

Qrow: Wait what?!

Nyx: apparently King Regis and Ozpin have been trying to set up some cross classes for Beacon. Crowe was among the first volunteers for the new classes.

Nyx: I assume the reason you haven't replied is because your banging your head on the nearest hard surface.

Qrow: you are such a bastard.

Nyx: Glad someone recognizes my genius!

Nyx: Oh crap I got to g-

Qrow: uh, you there buddy?

New user has signed into message board. User Crowe verified.

Crowe: hello Qrow.

Qrow: ah hello dear.

Crowe:….

Qrow: Okay maybe that wasn't the best thing to start off with in this conversation.

Crowe: Oh really? You mean somewhere in that rather thick, bastard skull of yours is a part dedicated to social norms and etiquette?

Qrow: Wait Crowe-

Crowe: Don't you DARE interrupt me right now. Your life, and manhood, depend on it. Are we clear?

Qrow: Crystal.

Crowe: Now where to start. How about when you decided to up and leave during our romantic weekend together. Yes I think that's a good starting point. Yes I know you have your missions for Ozpin. But I can't help but feel you asked to be sent on that mission. And before you make ANY rebuttal of any kind know that I spoke with both Ozpin and Nyx, who had the situation handled as far as I could tell. So what do you have to say for yourself for this issue?

Qrow:I'm sorry.

Crowe: Good now continuing on.

New message board created. Users Tai and Nyx verified.

Tai: You wouldn't happen to know why the color of Qrow's face looks like my wife's cloak would you?

Nyx: Crowe.

Tai: Ah I see. I told him that would come to bite him back in the ass.

New user entered message board. User Summer verified.

Summer: Tai, Language!

Tai: Sorry honey.

Nyx: is that the sound of a whip I hear?

Summer: Hmph! Shows you, I don't even own a whip!

Tai: that's not what he means honey.

Summer: What do you mean? It's not like I would whip you on purpose.

Nyx: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Oh oh stop please I can only laugh so much!

Tai: Just you wait Nyx Ulric! You'll be in the same position that me and Qrow are in right now. Then we'll see how funny it is!

Summer: Tai what are you both talking about!?

Chapter 8: Falling Waters

For the past couple of weeks it felt as if, to at least Jaune, that he was being put through a meat grinder on a daily basis. Not only was Gladio a taskmaster, but it didn't help when his teammates got involved in the training either. Through it all though even Jaune could tell that he was gaining some skills, though still far from the rest of the three first year teams. Jaune was brought back from his memories of the past two weeks when Nora's rather excited chatter was heard from across the bullhead.

"Oh my Gosh Ren look at all the pretty colors!"

"Yes Nora there are."

"There is a reason it is called Forever Fall Forest." Pyrrha chimed in after securing her weapons. Though this was a simple field trip/ retrieval mission Grimm were still a possibility. Jaune decided to take the lead of his partner, equipping his own weapons as well. Idly he noticed that the only ones that didn't have to retrieve their weapons were the four Lucians, which Ruby pointed out again for the thousandth time.

"I am so jealous that you can just summon your weapons." Muttered the red-hooded girl while she inspected her own weapon.

"C'mon Ruby-" Yang started before she was cut off by her sister.

"No Yang! Just think of all the possibilities for-"

"Mayhem?" chimed in Weiss.

"Destruction?" Blake followed.

Ruby merely pouted as her teammates teased her about her obvious lust for weapons and destruction. After another couple of minutes Miss Goodwitch caught everyone's attention while a map of the region popped up behind her.

"As you all know this field trip is mainly to get the students out for a while to explore the surrounding landscape of Vale. While you are here your objective is to collect sap from the trees, which produce an abundance of it. As always stay safe as there are Grimm reported in the area. Oh and one more thing." Her eyes drifted over to Ruby and Nora in particular. "Please don't eat the sap you have collected. The chefs make some rather tasty sweets that some of the staff have been rather craving for."

With that the doors to the bullhead opened up to let the assembled students out. What greeted the first years was a picturesque sight of leaves the color of crimson falling from the trees.

"Hey Prompto?" called Yang while the teams were gathering Jars for the sap.

"Yeah?" replied the fox faunus while he was mesmerized by the scenery.

"You better get some damn good photos from this place."

Prompto adopted a chastised look and fell to lean on Noctis's shoulder "Oh how she wounds me Noct. That being said…." He lifted the camera and proceeded to take a selfie with his best friend. Noctis merely smirked as he passed out a couple of jars to his teammates. It didn't take them long to find a couple of unoccupied tree to start drawing the sap from. The four members of team NIPG quickly realized that the initial task was boring, so Gladio decided an impromptu session of training was in order. Soon the sound of clashing metal could be heard coming from their direction, which brought them to the attention of RWBY. Making their way over they saw Noctis locked into a light sparing session with Gladio, who was using his shield to deadly efficiency. It seemed that Ignis was in charge of sap collection, as the I of team NIPG was seen with several filled jars of the stuff already filled. Prompto was mysteriously absent, though the rest of his team didn't seem to be3 too worried about it.

"So I see you guys thought this was boring too huh?" spoke yang as she made to sit down next to one of the trees as she watched the two members of NIPG fight. Ignis turned his head to team RWBY before returning to the sap dripping in the jar.

"You would assume correctly." Responded Ignis with a hint of dullness.

"Still" Ruby commented as she sat down next to her sister. "You have to admit that this place is beautiful. The leaves especially."

Weiss had decided to start gathering sap in the tree next to team NIPG's for more easy access for conversation. "True. There's not many sights like this in Atlas."

"Well when you stare at white all day I guess any color is a good change." Prompto spoke while walking up to the assembled group. "Though the contrast between fall red and white does bring the person out more."

Weiss merely rolled her eyes at the Fox faunus. Though they had started off on rocky grounds the Heiress couldn't help but start to become comfortable in the presence of the photographer. Even if he sometimes got the worst sides of her in pictures. Though they did make for some good laughs when he caught everyone else in them.

"So how long have they been at it Iggy?" at the question Ignis merely looked at the watch he had before responding.

"About five minutes." At the response both of the combatants stopped and looked over to the rest of NIPG and RWBY.

"Huh. Time sure flies when you have fun." Noctis commented as he lowered his weapon. Gladio dismissed his shield before eyeing the gathered group. As his eyes settled on Blake he adopted a rather wicked smirk before speaking up.

"Well no need to stop the training. How about it Blake?" Everyone's attention turned to the hidden cat faunus as she came out of the daze of watching Gladio train. 'Curse him and his penchant for wearing fitness clothes.' Blake thought as she walked towards Gladio who had a knowing smirk on his face. "In the last few weeks the two had started to rekindle their friendship, though it was swiftly becoming something more to the two. It didn't help that Blake found the tank of NIPG rather good-looking, to the point where she would fantasize about him while reading her risqué selection of literature.

"Light spar, five minutes? We are still in a Grimm area after all."

"Fine with me." Blake replied as she got into her stance. A moment of silence signaled the start of the spar. It quickly became apparent that the two were opposites when it came to fighting. For Gladio his immense strength and resilience hampered Blake's lighter attacks. Though she was able to get in more attacks the stalwart defense that Gladio put up negated all but the heavier of attacks form the cat faunus. Combined with the reflexes he continually displayed and Blake was having a hard time breaking thorough the ucian's defense. Though she herself was giving the Crownsguard a run for his money.

For every few hits that Blake managed to land on him Gladio would try to get in a hit or two of his own. But with the speed of the cat faunus, and his choice of weaponry, the attacks became telling more than he was comfortable with. Endeavoring to rectify that once they got back to beacon he pushed the cat faunus away with a shield bash. As they were reading for another exchange they could hear a yells from the across the forest.

Turning their attention away from each other they were met with the running bodies of Cardin and his team. Before they could make it past them both Blake and Gladio tripped yup the running huntsmen in training. At the panicked looks from all four of the boys the group stood around them, with no pleasant look in sight.

"So what were you four shouting about?"

"Ursa! A lot of Ursa, even a major!" Cardin shouted as his eyes were wildly looking for a way out of this mess. He didn't need to get the ire of Gladio again, he was still scared of the massive Lucian. The next second sounds of fighting reached the ears of everyone at the clearing. Writing the Cardin's team off both RWBY and NIPG raced to the sound. When they arrived, weapons in hand, Ignis instantly took stock of the situation.

"It seems as though a herd of Ursa decided to make their way through the forest today." He commented as he started to throw some marked Knives towards the herd of Ursa. Team JNPR was already embroiled in combat though they seemed to be fine for the moment. Without hesitation Ruby, Noctis started to warp and use their semblance to make hit and run attacks on the outer edges of the Grimm. While it took more power to overcome the defenses of the Ursa they soon found their rhythm, which was followed by the quickly disintegrating corpses of Grimm. While they were using run and hit tactics Gladio and Yang had once again taken to the front, using their impressive strength and defenses to make the Grimm focus on them. This gave the remainder of teams RWBY and NIPG ample opportunity to support their fellow teammates.

With her proficiency in ice dust Weiss was able to effectively halt the advancing Grimm, even killing a few in the process. Blake had taken to shadowing Ignis as the two lighter fighters mopped up the damaged ones that Gladio and Yang had wounded. In the very back was prompt with his guns, laying down fire and break shots with impressive speed.

"Duck!" Gladio called out. As Yang moved he leaped forward with his great sword, cleaving the surrounding grim as he spun. With a great heave he threw several of the ursa back, only to be killed by either Prompto's marksmanship or Noctis and Ruby's blades. The herd was thinning considerably by now, which prompted the appearance of the Ursa Major. The Bear-like Griimm was massive, dwarfing its counterparts by a considerable degree.

"If we take down the Major the rest should be easy to mop up!" Shouted Noctis over the din of fighting. Everyone knew what needed to be done. The Problem was how they were going to get to the Major through the entire herd without exhausting themselves. A dangerous glint seemed to appear in Noctis's eyes, though Ruby was the only one to see it with the speed of their fighting.

"Iggy!" The mentioned Crownsguard turned his attention to the crown prince after slitting the throat of another Ursa. "You got a magic bomb we can use?!"

"Wait what?" Weiss commented while sending a swath of fire at an encroaching Ursa. Without responding Ignis reached into his coat and withdrew a sphere the size of a small apple. It was covered in frost yet the Crownsguard did not seem uncomfortable holding it. With a practiced gaze Ignis scanned the battlefield for the best point for the Blizzard Bomb. Seeing his opportunity he shouted out as he threw it.

"Hit the Deck!"

Instantly Gladio and Yang dropped to the ground as a rush of freezing air battered them form the Ursa herd in front of them. When they looked up they noticed that not only had the Blizzard spell froze a good portion of the Ursa its affects were spreading throughout the nearby Grimm, not freezing but slowing them down. The three teams renewed their assault on the crippled Grimm and after merely two minutes had surrounded the Ursa major. Not wasting any time Gladio jumped into the air again, but spun vertically. A great crack was sounded as the Ursa Major's bone armor was cracked from the force of the hit. Not a second after the hit Gladio had inflicted was Noctis, his own Great sword in hand.

The already cracked armor shattered upon coming into contact with the prince's strike. Without the Armor the blade continued through until it hit dirt. The Ursa Major collapsed as its head dissolved, while the body started to follow albeit slowly. The Great sword in his hand disappeared with flash of blue as Noctis collapsed to his knees. The state of exhaustion was shared by everyone to varying degrees. He felt more than saw Ruby collapse next to him, panting at the intense fight they had not moments ago.

"So who ready for the next field trip?" Prompto asked as he walked towards them, the least exhausted of everyone.

"If it's gonna be this Yanging fun then anytime." The response from Yang was met with many groans and a 'Dammit Yang' from her sister.

Unbeknownst to the gathered teams a man was watching form behind one of the many trees of Forever Fall. With an oily smile he merely chuckled before a gate of swirling darkness appeared before him. Stepping through the man muttered to no one in particular "Silver eyes and magic. How exciting."

Ship heading to Vale

Surely his luck wasn't this bad, was it? Ducking behind another stack of crates Nyx readied himself to ambush his pursuers again. The game of cat and mouse had been going on for the past two days, but the white fang operatives seemed to just keep crawling out of the woodworks. These weren't your average white Fang grunts either.

From the get go Nyx saw the experience that each of these operatives held. They were cautious, and knew how to corner their enemy into a lopsided fight. Despite the injuries he had managed to land on several of them they just retreated before he was able to land a killing blow, much to his continual frustration. Hearing the door to the cargo deck open he could hear the almost silent footsteps of the white Fang operatives as well as the tell-tale sound of sniffing. Peeking from his cover Nyx saw three of Faunus, two wolf and one bear, making their way towards him while one final faunus, this time an avian variety, stand next to the door as a guard/lookout.

'Damn.' Nyx thought 'Seems I gained the attention of a hunter squad. Looks like it'll be a fight down here then.' Shifting one of his daggers into a throwing stance he decided to hit the heaviest hitter of the three searching for him first. Without hesitation the Glaive threw the dagger where it lodged just in front of the bear faunus. Grabbing onto the familiar tug of magic the next moment his foot met with the face of the bear faunus. Flipping back as a few dust rounds passed by him he dived as the avian faunus started to fire on his position. Sending out a bolt of electricity in the general direction of the gunfire he was met with the two wolf faunus's swinging blades at him. Catching the two blades with the guards of his daggers the Glaive threw them back before ducking under the bear Faunus's axe. Landing a sucker punch to the face once again Nyx threw one of his daggers at the avian faunus, who had to sidestep before he was impaled with it. Unfortunately for Nyx the avian fired a few rounds where the Glaive appeared after another warp, getting hit with what felt like ice dust in his arm and shoulder. Despite the icy burn of the ice dust he still managed to knock the gun away from doing more damage before he slit the white fang's throat.

Not even waiting for the other three to respond he turned and let loose an impressive burst of electricity at the three recovering faunus before they were thrown into the numerous crates. Satisfied that they were of no more trouble at the moment the Glaive shit the cargo door and welded it shut with a little application of fire magic. Letting the magic die down Nyx hissed as the ice dust was slowly melting away from his aura doing whatever it could. The last two days had limited the amount of aura he could recover without putting him at risk for more than an hour at a time. Taking one of the few potions he had left he shattered it before making his way to a new hiding spot.

Sliding down to rest against the wall Nyx figured his luck was abysmal if the events of the last day and a half were any indication. While his aura and the potion went to work on healing the frost burns that had gotten past him he took stock of his supplies. Two potions, one ether, and his weapons were about the only noteworthy items currently in his possession. A twinge on the back of his hand let him know that the barrier he had quickly erected over the cargo bay door had been shattered, with its occupants no doubt angered at the death of one of their own.

Rolling the shoulder that had been burning not a few minutes ago Nyx knew that he had to finish this fight, as exhaustion was easily catching up with him. Standing from his position he turned his gaze to the hallway connecting to the Cargo door. Using some magic Nyx enhanced his hearing to discover that they were splitting up to find him. 'Perfect' he thought as the magic receded. Sliding to the corner of the hallway he had rested in he waited until the telltale steps of boots, followed by sniffing of all things, could be heard coming towards him.

'Defiantly professionals.' The Glaive thought 'wouldn't be surprised if these were former hunters they had sent after me. Question is who sent them?"

Disregarding those thoughts Nyx whipped one of the daggers he held out, piercing the startled faunus with how fast it had appeared. Not waiting for the man to alert his comrades Nyx warped to the dagger while slashing the man's throat as he was getting ready to scream. The sound of a body hitting the floor was the last thing that Nyx saw before he disappeared into the maze of hallways that made the inside of the ship.

Thirty minutes later

His pursuers must have found their companion if the hostage situation was anything to go by. He could only shake his head at the audacity of these White Fang operatives. Did they not realize that there were fellow faunus among those they had taken hostage? Apparently not if the bruises and black eyes on some of the faunus hostages were any indication.

"Alright Glaive you have thirty minutes before we start killing hostages! I expect you to not waste our time." Shouted the bear faunus. As if to emphasize his point he grabbed one of the crew and brought his weapon under her chin. Nyx narrowed his eyes as he regarded the situation. Being in the Glaives as long as he had the man had become familiar with death. It did not mean he was not bothered by it. Before he could prepare a warp he saw a crow land on the railing of the deck. It seemed to look right at him before nodding to the wolf faunus. Nyx could only grin as he shifted his aim to the wolf faunus. Strengthening his arm with both magic and aura he threw it, with a familiar whistle the dagger imbedded itself in the deck next to the wolf faunus. While the kingsglaive was materializing for the finisher the crow had transformed into a man with a white shirt, a red cloak and black slacks. The grin that adorned his face was one of confidence, before it shifted into the rare seriousness that only a few people had come to see it. Before either faunus could attempt to attack Nyx had stabbed the wolf in the heart as the raven haired man knocked the bear faunus out with the side of his blade. Both men raised themselves form their combat stances as they looked to each other, both men adopting matching grins.

"Nyx."

"Qrow."

Hey everyone! sorry its been a long time since i posted but ive been in a slump. Ok ive been cathing up on my gaming but still i should have posted this a while ago. REad and review please

Walk in hte light

Sandewrpally