A/N: Hey guys, back with another chapter. Sorry it took so long again, it was a really busy point in life for me so I couldn't focus on writing as much as I wanted to. Patch 4.4 is a lot of fun, and honestly I can't wait for the next expansion news from the next fanfest. Been pretty busy so I haven't done a ton of the new tier, but I'm looking forward to progging 10-12 this time around. How'd you guys like the RWBY volume 6 premier? It was a strong opening, and I hope they can keep this quality up throughout.

To Ijustwannahelp: Thanks a bunch for the detailed review! To address your points piece by piece, about Yotsuyu, from my point of view it was allowing someone who had been trampled on the majority of their lives a chance of freedom. From both her past and the Garlean empire, who was only invested in her as a tool. Yotsuyu ended up wanting nothing more than a life of peace in the end, and has to come to terms with what she did as Yotsuyu, even if she cannot take it back, as well as continue living as Tsuyu. She is still Yotsuyu, but becoming Tsuyu is her second chance. But the main reason for me was to really just give Gosetsu a break. The man's family died before him, and then the one semblance of a family that he could piece together as his body begins to wear down was taken from him almost instantly. Watching him break down in 4.3 was heartbreaking to say the least, he was just an old man that saw his daughter die, pretty much. I did consider putting them on Remnant briefly, but it seemed a little farfetched at that moment. Guess I was a little concerned on how they would get by. Now as for Cinder, it's more about Elway than my personal decision as writer. As seen in side stories 7 and 8, he's got a huge savior complex. Partially due to his own nature combined with the Echo (granting him an abnormal and unhealthy amount of empathy), but also an ideal impressed onto him as he grew as a Warrior of Light. It's part of the reason why he's able to cope with all the blood on his hands. He can talk big about ending lives but he will typically hold himself back from killing unless he is emotionally affected greatly. Cinder is also pretty heavily implied to be alive from the volume 6 opening, so here's hoping my plans for the story can somewhat work with it. This arc will also hopefully show the unhealthier sides of Elway's nature, but I should let my writing do the talking. Again, thank you a lot! I really enjoy getting reviews like these.

Anyways, onto the chapter!

Chapter 25

Haven Academy – Elway

To see the past through someone else's eyes. That was one of the many powers afforded to wielders of the Echo. It had varying degrees of strength, a meager version of the Echo would often accompany visions with a pain that would threaten to render weaker beings unconscious. Elway's Echo was one of the strongest known.

It worked on a variety of beings, even those of the First Brood of Dragons. Yet this was the first time Elway had experienced multiple deaths through the Echo. No, not just multiple. The number of deaths he experienced was in the hundreds, and he could only guess that was but a portion of the myriad lives the boy who stood in front of him had lived.

"You're… Ozpin…"

Elway managed through grit teeth. General Ironwood had told him of the man who was their leader. But he hadn't told him just how far back Ozpin's past went. Elway had so many questions, about the nature of Remnant, the Grimm… and that woman he saw, skin pale as a spirit. Salem, they called her…

"Correct." The boy nodded, hands folded behind his back. "And you are?"

"…Elway." He carefully stood back. "What…what are you?"

An undying being. One who saw countless generations. Elway already had the answer to the question he had asked, but…

"A man cursed." Ozpin spoke solemnly. "Cursed by the gods. And you… I assume your situation is quite the opposite. A man blessed by the gods. Not only blessed, but with a certain power…"

"How did you?!" Elway drew back. "Do you know that I have the power of…"

"The Echo?" Ozpin smiled mysteriously. "Your episode just now confirmed it for me, but you give off the same aura as one who possessed it, long ago."

"You mean that Remnant has other wielders of the Echo? Where?!" Elway shouted fiercely. "Tell me, who else? Does this mean that this is one of the Worlds connected to the Source?!"

"There are others. But that is not for me to say. The children told me of you, that you are an adventurer. So is it not your role to seek out those answers?" Ozpin spoke coolly in response to Elway's heated questioning. "If you continue along this path, then you will find what you seek. Although I would suggest you do it soon."

Elway looked back, and noticed Yang beginning to stir, the first person to be incapacitated in their fight. Truthfully, he didn't want another confrontation. At all. It was taxing enough bearing arms against mere children just once.

Ozpin seemed to take Elway's silence as a response, and the boy's body grew limp for just a moment. His eyes glowed momentarily, and the boy looked around in a panic.

"Fine then, Ozpin…" Elway muttered. He turned to the still unconscious body of Cinder Fall, slinging her over his shoulder carefully, and walked past the small boy whose body hosted Ozpin. Before he left, he stopped by the door. "But allow me this, for when we next meet. How many more will die for your cause?"

Oscar turned around, and Elway was gone.

Haven Outskirts – Elway

Damn it all, damn it all…

"Gods DAMN it all!"

Elway slammed a nearby tree with his arm. The force of his frustrated blow uprooted the tree almost instantly, toppling it over and causing a light tremor to resound through the forest.

Why in the seven hells does this bother me so?

Because of his weakness? Because of his sins?

No, Elway knew the answer. It was because he knew that as much as he wanted to judge Ozpin for what he had seen, a myriad lifetimes of watching students and trainees perish, all for him, he could not judge the immortal.

Because Elway was the same. He watched his comrades give their lives for him, regardless of his say in the matter. His breathing quickened as his heart stung at the thought of Haurchefant, Ysayle, Moenbryda and Papalymo…

And it was likely that they wouldn't be the last. He was fated to be a warrior, one who strives to save, but a warrior with bloodied hands all the same.

And he could not judge Ozpin for sending children to fight, either. Only recently did he encourage Alphinaud to go into enemy territory, to negotiate in hopes of peace. Yet they had still heard nothing from him. He frequently reassured Alisaie of her strength, and her courage in combat. For all Elway could muster, he was doing the same as the immortal. Sending children to fight, the reaper's scythe hanging over their heads.

Ozpin would only be able to watch as his students fell to a vicious cycle of violence. That was all he could do.

Elway would fight, and fight for all he was worth. Yet when his recklessness and grit would not be enough, his comrades would give their lives for the cause, for HIS weakness.

So Elway was not furious at Ozpin, not as much as he was furious with himself. Every death that Elway could see through Ozpin's eyes in the brief yet eternity-long vision of the Echo, he felt Ozpin's powerlessness, and the student's hope that they passed to Ozpin. Over and over again. For every death, Elway could see the images of his comrades falling, passing their hopes to him. The Scions, the Grand Companies, his comrades in Soul Crystals. Yugiri, his beloved.

Each passing wounded Ozpin, and Elway knew that each one of his comrades was just as important to him as they were to Ozpin, and the immortal had experienced it thousands of times over. At the end, where they stood, Ozpin's seeming nonchalance towards the situation had been a controlled reaction. He was tired, of seeing comrades fall. So he would strive to make each generation stronger than the last, in hopes of one day ending the cycle. Regardless of how they felt about the secrets he kept.

Elway finally felt some semblance of his temper beginning to subside, and looked towards his still unconscious charge. Cinder Fall. His anger flared once more.

He saved one who was responsible for so many deaths. He vowed to save her without thinking, all because of his bloodthirsty hunt for the Ascian. But was that all?

No, he thought as we watched over Cinder. I couldn't allow those children to live with blood on their hands just yet. And Cinder… She was his closest lead to finding anything on the Ascians.

Poor justification that it was, Elway grit his teeth. He knew that his compulsion to help her was not born of just his quest to find the Ascian. It was because he could not ignore her suffering. The Echo made him painfully aware of the fact that her mental state was in disarray, her mind shaped by a darker power. The longer he stayed with her, the more about her the Echo revealed.

She craved power, dominion. She cared not for her companions, even Emerald, who asked that Elway seek her out and save her. In other words, the kind of person that Elway was destined to put an end to. Yet he couldn't help but wonder if all of her kind were doomed to a fate of no redemption. Was it truly his place to say, when Remnant was not even his world?

Disgust for himself grew.

A rustle in the forest, and a party of three made themselves known to Elway. It was time for their agreement.

Elway tried to calm himself to no real avail. Everything about this was too much for him, an outsider. He turned to face Hazel, Mercury and Emerald.

"You lot. As you can see," Elway gestured to Cinder without looking at her. "I've upheld my part of the bargain."

"Yeah. About that." Mercury spoke. Elway glanced at him, before quickly jumping back, hand already on the sheath of Kiku-Ichimonji. Emerald opened fire with her unorthodox weapon at his position, as he continued to dash around the area, using trees as cover. "This won't go like last time!"

"So, that's how it is." Elway muttered despite them not being able to hear him. Hazel and Mercury dashed towards him simultaneously, Mercury far surpassing his speed during their first encounter, and Hazel looking more invigorated than ever. It seems that they recovered well in the time that Elway had been gone.

Mercury struck first, landing a combination of kicks successively, twirling around using his hands to pivot himself on the ground. Elway blocked most of the strikes, but the heavy metal of his feet stunned him temporarily as Mercury tripped Elway with a low kick aimed at his knees.

Hazel followed up with a fierce punch downwards that Elway barely had time to bring his sheathed katana up to block, but left him pinned on the floor. Emerald came into view, her weapons now shifted into their bladed form, and rushed towards Elway as he headbutted Hazel, knocking the older man away a bit. Mercury joined her, leaping into the air and shooting projectiles at Elway who slashed them out of his way wordlessly.

Before Hazel could attack once more, Elway rushed him in a flash, Kiki-Ichimonji drawn. He parried the huge fist aimed at his head and stabbed forth into Hazel's stomach. The large man attempted to block the weapon with his other hand, but the force of Elway's attack pierced through and shattered his Aura seamlessly, as if it wasn't there. The weapon embedded itself into Hazel's stomach as he roared, still following through with his punch. Elway met his fist with his own, before punching the hilt of Kiku-Ichimonji deeper into the man, sending him flying back into the ground. Elway axe-kicked the sword down into the man, embedding it deeper. The katana pinned him to the floor as he struggled against it. With his Aura broken, Elway stomped on Hazel's ankles, twisting them so that the man couldn't rise until his Aura recovered. Surprisingly, Hazel only struggled harder to pull the weapon out of himself and the ground.

He doesn't feel pain. Interesting. Elway thought to himself, and spun around, ducking under Mercury's kick as the younger man approached from the sky. He grabbed Mercury's leg midair and swung him around, using him to club Emerald as she swung her weapons at Elway. She was knocked back a distance, but managed to reduce the damage by bringing her weapons up last second. Mercury struggled against Elway, trying in vain to kick at him, but Elway swung him into the ground, stunning him. He noted the feel of his legs, confirming his suspicions that it was a mechanical limb. The same went for the other. Mercury cursed at him, firing projectiles from his feet point blank at Elway, who only glared back at him as he was only barely harmed by the attack, using his free arm to cover himself.

Anger enveloped Elway as he violently brought his knee up into Mercury's replacement limbs in succession. Within the first few strikes with his knee, Mercury's Aura broke as he cried out. Elway's glare intensified, and he acted on his fury, slamming his knee into Mercury's prosthetic leg until it bent in a direction that he could no longer walk on. With his Aura exhausted, Elway slammed his head into the ground. He tossed him aside casually, looking at Emerald, the last person standing.

Her expression was a mix of horror, anger and sorrow. Elway walked towards her slowly, fists clenched.

"RUN EMERALD! NOW!" Hazel shouted at her. Elway ignored his shouts. He would deal with him later.

"Don't even attempt to use your Semblance." Elway spat out, his eyes glowing red. "I've already witnessed it once with your outburst when we last met."

Emerald could only stagger back as Elway approached carefully. She didn't say anything, either too scared or not well enough to do so.

"I'm assuming the reason you've all betrayed me is to keep me silent as you take Cinder. So I assume you won't give me the information I need."

"Hell no!" Mercury screamed from behind him as he struggled to rise. The prosthetic Elway almost destroyed could no longer function as a weapon, or even a leg, and the other leg was frayed from Elway's grip. "We're dead as soon as we let anything about her slip, so tough shit!"

"By her, you mean Salem?" Elway responded, looking back at a surprised Mercury with one eye. "Not the information I was seeking. But seeing as how you've already betrayed me, I'll get the information myself."

"You're still not getting anything out of us, damnit!" Mercury shouted, frustrated.

Emerald screamed with the same frustration, dashing towards Elway with desperation. She slashed at him furiously, though each strike was dodged or parried by his hands alone. Elway backed up, assessing her weapons. To his surprise, the weapons unfurled to revealed a chain mechanism as the bladed parts extended and chains wrapped around him. The chains wrapped around his waist, but he simply scoffed at the attempt and caught the blades midair, causing Emerald to gasp as he rusher her and kneed her in the stomach. Her grip on the weapons weakened but did not falter as she struggled to regain control, but he stomped on her foot, preventing her from moving and grit his teeth as he threw a fierce fist into her stomach, making her crumple to her knees. Her Aura was shattered, and she laid helpless.

Elway stepped above her as he unwrapped the chains from his person, glaring at her all the while, daring her to make any more moves. She seemed to give up, refusing to meet his eyes.

"I'll be taking Cinder then, if the deal is to be concluded like this." Elway spoke, his voice still underlined with anger.

"What?! No, no NO! PLEASE!" Emerald cried, finally meeting his eyes. Her own red eyes had begun to fill with tears once more, but Elway didn't react in the slightest.

"I've saved her. That should be enough for you. Consider this a penalty for the betrayal." Elway responded to her casually. "And you have my word... I will have my information, whether you speak or not."

The Echo activated, his vision blurred briefly, and he was taken into her memory.

? – Elway

Carrying a still unconscious Cinder on his back, Elway huffed as he traveled slowly. He covered her face and body with a robe and hood to be sure, yet the extra burden for the distance to be traveled was largely unwelcome. Especially since, from what he saw of her, he detested her.

As for her comrades, he threatened the other three that he wouldn't hesitate next time he saw them. Hopefully it would be enough to keep them away from him for the remainder of the journey.

The memories of Emerald and the other two offered him but one glance at the hooded figure he sought. While it was a questionable if the Ascian was still present at the location of their memories, it was his best chance.

A base in Mistral, for an organization known as the White Fang. The Ascian was only seen once, speaking to a man known as Adam.

Chapter 25 – Penalty for betrayal

A/N: And there it is. Sorry again it took so long, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. Some stuff here will definitely go off the rails from canon, like the existence of the Echo in Remnant and Team RWBY/_NJR knowing that Cinder is alive. Elway was a lot more aggressive than usual in this chapter because of his anger at Ozpin's situation as well as his own self-deprecation, and it'll definitely show itself more in this arc.

Anyways, please leave a review and I hope that I can bring you guys the next chapter sooner than this one did! Thanks for reading, and happy Halloween everyone!