Oliver paused, halting his story as the people around the campfire shifted in surprise.

"Man," said Ruby, "I knew you said you were a jerk before but..."

"Hearing it for the first time, you sounded awful to be around." said Victor, "No offense."

"No, It's true, I was awful to be around." said Oliver, "I didn't care about anybody but myself. I made that abundantly clear."

Weiss gave Oliver a worried look, "It must have been difficult, surviving on your own out there."

"It was at first, but after a few months I got the hang of it." said Oliver, "Oddly enough, I watched a lot of Crude Survivor in my free time and learned a thing or two. Combine that with the archery training I had and I would have been set to wait until rescue. But of course, it was just my luck I had to run into pirates...and Ilia."

Blake's eyes widened, "Y-You know Ilia?"

Oliver looked into the fire, "I mean...not really. She wasn't a very fun person to be around, mostly because she hated my guts. Did you know her?"

Blake tensed up, clearly uncomfortable, "She was my friend when I was in the White Fang. I haven't seen her since I left."

"How long ago was that?" asked Oliver.

Blake paused, "Around the time you got stranded."

"Yeah, sounds about right." said Oliver.

"Well, what happened next?" asked Yang, "You were on the island for a whole year, so where did everything go from there?"

Oliver looked back into the fire, "Well, the pirates were expecting a fight with one person, not two. So imagine their surprise when a whack their squad leader up the side of his head."

*CRACK!*

Oliver swung his bow at one of the thugs, knocking his head sideways and causing him to crash into a tree as Ilia kicked another thug in the face, breaking his nose and sending him reeling.

"Who are these guys?" said Oliver, jumping on a thug's back and wrapping the bow around his neck, "they all look like they bought the same outfit from rent-a-thug!"

Ilia grabbed one of the thugs by the head, slamming him into a nearby tree, "They're the underlings of China White, a ruthless drug cartel leader and faunus trafficker. Her operation stretched out from this island to places as close as Vale and as far as Menagerie."

Oliver let go of the thug he was strangling, letting him fall to the ground, unconscious as he drew another arrow, "Ok, so a drug lord is after you why?"

Ilia electrocuted a thug with her weapon, causing him to drop his gun and fall on his face, "This really isn't the best time to talk about this."

Oliver nocked his arrow, aiming it at the three remaining thugs, "Fair enough."

Letting the arrow loose, Oliver watched as it penetrated one of the thug's shoulders, causing him to yowl in pain as he stumbled back. Ilia pressed the attack, preparing to finish the thug off when another thug jumped her from behind, grabbing her.

"Get your hands off me!" shouted Ilia.

The other unwounded thug raised his weapon, prepared to shoot Ilia, "This is what you get for trying to escape!"

*WHAM!*

Oliver punched the thug aiming at Ilia in the face, only for him to swing back, clocking Oliver in the eye with his weapon, dazing him and leaving a nasty bruise. Using the distraction, Ilia elbowed the thug holding her in the face before electrocuting him. As the wounded Thug attempted to raise his weapon, Ilia's sword turned into a whip, allowing her to wrap her blade around the man's neck before slamming his head straight into the dirt.

"Don't move!"

The final thug planted the barrel of his rifle directly onto the back of Ilia's head, his finger on the trigger, "You faunus are all the same, pack animals that should've been kept in their cages."

Recovering from the strike, Oliver noticed that the thug's back was turned from him. Picking his bow back up, Oliver drew an arrow with a blunt head. Nocking it, Oliver prayed that this wouldn't kill the man.

"Really leaning into the racism there aren't you?" said Oliver, getting the man's attention.

"Huh?!" said the man, turning his head only for Oliver to fire the arrow, watching as it bounced off of the man's forehead with a satisfying POW! The man fell right onto his back, knocked out as Ilia glanced between the thug and Oliver.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were more comfortable with the bow." said Ilia, surprised.

"Yeah, I've had some practice." said Oliver, wincing as he touched his bruise, "What's with these guys? Why are they after you?"

Ilia looked around nervously, trying to make sure nobody else was around aside from all the unconscious thugs, "It's not safe to talk here, do you have a place where we can regroup?"

"Yeah," said Oliver, gesturing for her to follow, "Right this way."

Oliver led Ilia into his small base camp. It was a humble little place with a ramshackle tent built from palm fronds and a patch of dirt meant for assembling arrows. A small fire pit has been dug out in the center for purifying water and cooking food. As Oliver waltzed over to his patch of dirt to start assembling more arrows, Ilia took in the small abode.

"This is a surprisingly resourceful base." said Ilia.

"Aw, thanks." said Oliver in a mocking tone, "I built it myself."

Ilia flashed Oliver an odd look, "How long have you been out here, human?"

Oliver sat down next to his tent, "A few months, I got marooned here after an accident on the dust rig I was in charge of."

"A dust rig?" said Ilia, "Which company?"

"Queen industries." said Oliver, opting to leave out the fact that he was the CEO's son after what transpired earlier.

"Hmph, better than Schnee." said Ilia, "Hard to believe they put a kid in charge of something as important as a dust rig though."

"Hey, you're a kid too!" said Oliver.

Ilia gave Oliver the evil eye before noticing that his bruise wasn't healing, "Something's up with your aura."

"Aura?" said Oliver, wincing at his bruise, "I don't have an aura."

Ilia's eyes widened, "You don't have an aura?!"

"Hey! I'm not a huntsman! Why would I have an aura?!" said Oliver.

Ilia sighed, "If you're going to help me, assuming you don't stab me in the back, you're going to need your aura."

Walking up to Oliver, Ilia closed her eyes before reciting her chant, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul and by my shoulder protect thee."

As Ilia recited the words, Oliver felt a small feeling in his gut. It was subtle, almost missable, but he felt it. Ilia stepped back, rubbing her head as she sat down.

"I uh, don't feel too different." said Oliver.

"Check your face, human." said Ilia, pulling out her weapon and wiping the dirt off its blade. Oliver raised his hand and touched his face, noticing that it wasn't throbbing anymore, "Huh, would you look at that."

Oliver stretched his arms, grabbing any spare arrows he had and placing them in his quiver, "Alright, not that that's sorted, mind telling me why those guys were after you?"

Ilia finished cleaning her weapon, sliding it back into its sheath, "It's a long story, we'd be here all day and I'm pressed for time. If you're gonna help me, follow my lead and I'll tell you on the way."

Ilia began to walk away from the encampment, trudging into the jungle as Oliver raised his eyebrow, "Follow you? Where are we going?"

Ilia kept walking, not even turning around, "Up the mountain and into the volcano."

Little pebbles rolled off the side of the mountain as Oliver and Ilia climbed its steep side. Oliver groaned as he lifted himself up, barely keeping up with Ilia.

"What's wrong, human? Out of shape?" asked Ilia, pulling herself up with zero effort.

"Listen, I've been a fairly lazy guy who didn't do much of anything apart from party for most of my life. Don't shame me for only getting into shape in the last few months." said Oliver.

The two reached a spot on the side of the mountain that served as a ridge, the perfect place to rest. As the two pulled themselves onto the ridge, Oliver wiped the sweat off his forehead, checking to make sure all the arrows in his quiver were still there.

"Alright, now that we're near the top, can you explain what the hell is up with you and these thugs?" said Oliver.

Ilia cleared her throat, tired from all the climbing, "Alright, this is what happened. I was a member of the White Fang, participating in a raid on China White's island base under the command of Sienna Khan."

Oliver's eyes widened, "You're White Fang?"

"What? Got a problem with us? I'd assume so, Human!" said Ilia.

Oliver began to stammer, "A-At the moment, no! As long as you don't boot me off the mountain after your story I don't have a problem!"

Ilia sat down, "We were ready to liberate the island, take White down and free our people, but the intel we got was inaccurate. They had the numbers advantage on us and took us down, enslaved us. They forced us to work in their drug fields, picking numb lilies without any kind of food or rest."

Oliver nodded, "They're using you as slave labor?"

"Basically." replied Ilia, "Sienna made a distraction, gave me a window to escape so that we could go and contact backup in Vale, but she got caught as I was getting out."

Oliver frowned, "So you're out here all alone with no backup?"

"None expect you I suppose," said Ilia, "But I'd rather not work with a human."

"Alright, listen, I know you seem to have a grudge against humanity, probably for good reason, but can you please stop calling me Human." said Oliver, "I have a name."

Oliver's words gave Ilia pause. While she certainly held a degree of hatred for humans, she realized that she was being no better by simply labeling Oliver, "...What's your name?"

"Oliver," said Oliver, not wanting to disclose his full name, "just Oliver."

"Alright Oliver," said Ilia, "Here's the deal. Before we made out assault, Sienna hid a communicator on the island that we can use to signal backup, but only she knows where it is. We have to go in and get her out if we want to rescue my brothers and sisters and put China White out of business."

Oliver nodded, "If backup really comes, then does that mean I can get a ride off this island?"

"Probably," said Ilia, "If you help I'm sure they'll let you on the boat."

Oliver smiled, realizing that this was his ticket out of here, "Alright, I help you, you get me off this hellhole. Deal?"

Ilia sighed, "It's not my place to say, but I bet we could work something out."

"Great!" said Oliver, now enthusiastic, "Then let's get to it!"

Wrapping the bow around his shoulder, Oliver walked up to the side of the mountain and started climbing again, followed shortly by Ilia.

Oliver's hand reached over the edge, grabbing the ledge as he pulled himself up onto the top of the volcano crater. Ilia did the same, though much more gracefully as she flipped onto the ground.

"*Huff*, Showoff." said Oliver, standing up, "So, what now?"

"Follow me." said Ilia, gesturing for Oliver to follow her towards the inner crater of the Volcano. As they both peaked over the top, Oliver was met with an unpleasant sight.

The crater was home to a massive field of flowers, all being picked by faunus of various ages and ethnicities. Armed guards walked the perimeter, giving any faunus that seemed to be faltering a healthy smack to keep them working. A large building sat at the tail end of the crater, housing a woman with white hair in a white tracksuit who watched over the entire operation.

"There she is," said Ilia, "China White."

Oliver looked at the imprisoned faunus, watching as they were dragged about to do manual labor. While he had never hated the faunus, he had always considered their struggles unimportant to him. If it didn't affect him, why bother? But seeing these people suffer, it was enough to make him think.

"Sienna should be around here somewhere." said Ilia, scanning the area to search for her leader, "There!"

Ilia pointed at a group of guards dragging a tiger faunus through the fields and into the building, causing Ilia's breathing to freeze up, "Oh no, they're taking her to the rat pit!"

"The rat pit?" said Oliver.

"Anyone who disobeys China White, guard or slave, is thrown into the rat pit." said Ilia, "They set up a trial, but it always ends the same way. You cross her in even the smallest way, and she'll toss you into a ditch full of rats that'll eat away at your insides."

Oliver's skin crawled as he listened to those words, not wishing that kind of fate on anyone, "Then we've got to move fast."

Moving along the lip of the crater, Ilia and Oliver kept low as they made their way to the area at the back of the building, spotting a skylight leading inside. Sliding down the side of the volcano, Oliver and Ilia made their way to the skylight, looking in to find a large room with a rectangular pit in the middle as well as a collection of support pillars. Despite the fact that a grate was over the pit, Oliver could hear dozens of rats squeaking and scuttling about at the bottom.

"Eugh," said Oliver, "Not a fan of those noises."

The doors to the room burst open as the guards entered carrying Sienna, tossing her to the ground as they drew their weapons. Sienna sat up, struggling against her handcuffs.

"You can kill me if you want, but it won't stop the White Fang." said Sienne, her face bruised, "We will stop you eventually."

"Yeah, eventually." said one thug, "A shame you won't be alive to see that happen."

As the guards prepared to open the pit, Oliver and Ilia dropped down, landing on both of the thugs and knocking them out.

"Sienna!" said Ilia, drawing her sword and cutting Sienna's handcuffs, "We came to get you out of here!"

"Ilia! What are you doing here!" said Sienna, "I told you to wait them out!"

"The White Fang can't lose you as a leader!" said Ilia, pulling Sienna up to her feet, "Plus, now we can call for back-up. Adam will wipe these people off the face of the earth."

Sienna glanced at Oliver, who watched for other thugs, "Who is this?"

Ilia turned to look at Oliver, "He's a human, but he's helped me out so far in exchange for a way off this island!"

"A human?!" said Sienna, "Ilia, did you make him a promise for the White Fang?"

"No! Of course not!" said Ilia, "I wouldn't do that! I just said there was a possibility!"

"What?!" said Oliver, whirling around, "So there was a chance I'd help you and you'd just leave me here?!"

Sienna piped up, "You can never trust a human, they always turn their backs on you. I know we definitely can't trust you, Oliver Queen."

Oliver's eyes widened, she knew his name, "H-How did you-"

Sienna stepped forward, "Oh I would know that face anywhere Queen. Sure, you don't actively put us down, but for a person of your stature, all you do is ignore us and let us wallow while you engage in your lavish lifestyle."

Ilia turned to Oliver, a look of anger on her face, "You...You lied to me."

"I never lied!" said Oliver, "I just left some details out, they weren't important."

"Left details out?" said Ilia, "If I'd known you were such an irredeemable scumbag, then I would have left you for China White's men!"

"INTRUDERS!"

The argument is cut short when a duo of masked thugs arrive, one carrying a handgun while the other carried a rocket launcher. As the thug with the launcher took aim, Oliver's eyes darted to Ilia and Sienna. He had a choice to make now, split and let them take the brunt of the attack, or pull out a weapon as they got hit, giving him a chance to retaliate.

Surprisingly enough, he chose option three.

"LOOK OUT!" shouted Oliver, diving at Ilia and Sienna and pushing them out of the way as the rocket was launched at them. With the faunus out of harm's way, Oliver watched as the rocket hit a support beam in front of him, the blast annihilating his aura and collapsing the room.

"Ugh."

Oliver opened his eyes, realizing that he was pinned underneath a pile of debris. The air was completely fogged up by dust as he pushed at the wreckage, trying to free himself, but he was only able to shift a little bit of rubble. Looking behind him, he spotted his bow lying mere meters from his reach.

"Oliver!"

Ilia stumbled over to Oliver, grabbing some of the debris and attempting to shift it off him. Sienna joined her, attempting to lift some more of the debris off Oliver's body.

"We'll get you out of this soon!" said Ilia, trying her best to pull the wreckage off Oliver, "I won't let another person I know get buried!"

*KAFF* *KAFF* "Did I get them?" said one thug in the distance.

"I don't know, let's check!" said the second thug, whose voice Oliver found eerily familiar.

As a collection of footsteps drew near, Sienna stopped helping, grabbing Ilia and pulling her away from Oliver.

"What are you doing?!" said Ilia, "We can't leave him!"

"We can and we will!" said Sienna, "We have a job to do, and getting caught won't help. Besides, he's a human, you know exactly why he isn't worth it."

Oliver watched in panic as Ilia shot him one last look before mouthing the word "sorry" as she and Sienna fled the building, climbing up what was left of the damaged walls.

That was the second time Oliver had watched a person look him right in the eyes before leaving him for dead. The experience didn't exactly help Oliver mentally, in fact, it made him feel pretty worthless, but he resolved to escape before the thugs got to him. Having had enough of the wreckage pulled off for him to save himself, Oliver heaved what remained of the debris off his body as the thugs reached him.

"This one's still alive!" said the rocket launcher thug, pulling out a shotgun. Oliver dived onto his bow, grabbing it and nocking a blunt arrow on it before swinging his arms, quickly firing the arrow into the pistol thugs mask and shattering it. As the pistol thug stumbled back while covering his face, The shotgun thug aimed his weapon. As the thug fired, Oliver dived to the side to avoid the bullet while nocking a normal arrow, firing it into the thug's knee.

"AGH!"

As the thug knelt down in pain, Oliver used the unharmed knee as a step to catapult himself into a backflip, kicking the thug in the jaw as a result. As the pistol thug recovered and aimed his weapon, Oliver nocked another arrow and aimed it right at the thug.

Then he saw the thug's face.

The black hair, the chiseled jay, the blue eyes, there was no mistaking the face that Oliver had known for so many years.

"Tommy?" said Oliver.

*BANG!*

Oliver yelled out as Tommy shot Oliver in the leg, causing him to drop the bow and clutch his thigh in pain. Falling to one knee, Oliver's eyes widened as Tommy approached him while raising the gun above his head.

"Tommy, wait!" shouted Oliver, but it was no use.

Tommy cracked Oliver in the forehead with the barrel of the pistol, causing it to spurt blood as Oliver fell unconscious at Tommy's feet. Tommy took a deep breath before sighing, "Sorry Ollie, but it had to be this way."

I can't believe it. I didn't even check when I posted the last chapter but we've officially passed the 100 follower mark! I want to thank every single person who's helped me reach this landmark! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Anyway, this chapter was a real quick one I had to push out because I've got to write more Cyborg soon, but I'm happy with how this one turned out! Right now this story is slated to be about 5 chapters long, so we're almost halfway through. The next chapter and chapter 4 of this story will be the most emotional ones, though definitely not in the good way.

Reviews:

LogBook: Well Victor knows Penny!

Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

ShadowJoestar: Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

DCDGojira: I like the scene! Nora singing would be really funny!

Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Red: I actually had plans for our team to fight the RWBY opponents while the RWBY team fought DC characters! It's gonna be the bomb! (STATIC WILL BE AN OPPONENT!). I also have Suicide Squad plans, but those are super far off. Trust me, Salem's inner circle will be pretty full! In terms of the music it's very metal, I like it!

Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Next Chapter: An awful betrayal