neopoliitan

[neopoliitan]

Not sure how long it'll take for her to show up, but I've been sitting on RWBY Evermorrow's design for Winter for so long that I wanted to finally share it!

#rwby #rwby fan art #rwby art #rwby fanart #rwby evermorrow #rwby au #winter schnee

[neopoliitan]

TEAM RAIN: ARC 4 CH5 - INTO THE FRAY

A WRITE UP FOR THE REST OF TEAM RAIN: CHAPTER 5

At Zenith, we cut to Roderick Lincoln’s seemingly lifeless body on the floor of the cell - following his beatdown at the mechanical hands of Sterling Braith. Fellow Lincoln Clan prisoner, Primrose, takes his pulse while the young bear faunus Fennel, stands next to her. He asks if Roderick is dead, and Primrose looks down.

Oak Holm remarks that two Lord Lincolns are dead in a matter of months, that it’s hopeless. Loden Lincoln asks if they should call a Braith to deal with the body, which Crete berates him for - their hopes lie with Artemis now, if she pulls through.

Primrose quickly exclaims, and we cut back to Roderick. His body is now covered in ruddy red aura, which quickly turns to a bright light that fills the room as the Lincolns shield their eyes. Once the light fades, they look back at Roderick, who lies still for a second - then stirs and wakes up.

As Roderick looks at his hands in shock, Primrose tells him they thought he was dead. He replies “I think I was - looks like I got better.”

Fennel feels his cheek, where he was bruised by one of the Braiths at some point, and notes that Roderick didn’t just heal himself - he healed them all. Loden is incredulous; not only did Roderick heal himself from death, but everyone else in the room is healthy again too.

A voice calls to Roderick from offscreen, and we see Artemis sitting up - finally awake. She asks what she missed.

Note: This scene introduces Roderick’s semblance, following his aura being awakened in Arc 3 Chapter 5. His semblance is named “Revival” - his aura is only active at the exact moment of death and revives him in a burst of light, healing anyone caught in its area of effect at the time.

–

Team RAIN prepares to leave for Zenith with Raleigh Radcliff. There’s a fairly ceremonious farewell scene.

Akane and Nanako end a call from Makkuro Sekinetsu, the huntress who trained them. Makkuro ensures their siblings are safe at a lodge. 

Jin is leaving with RAIN - Isambard and Petra assure her they’ll be fine. Peach says her team will look after Jin’s, but is sad they’re parting ways when they just met after so many years. Jin affirms that she’ll be back.

Irving hugs his mother, and his father repeats that he’s proud of him - and if he dies in Zenith, he’ll sue the pants off the Braiths.

Robin tells Maylis that Marron’s family and Irving’s brother are going to look after her. Maylis asks if Robin is actually going to come back. Robin is unable to lie and confirm, knowing how dangerous the Braiths are, so instead she tells her she’ll do her best - and if she does, she’ll come back with the “best present ever” (This refers to Roderick, Maylis’ father).

Lilli asks Robin how she can help from Mistral, and Robin tells her that as the oldest Lincoln left, she needs to take charge as representative of the Clan. Lilli sarcastically retorts that they’ve been doing a great job so far, so Robin relents and tells her to ace her entry exam for Combat School. Lilli grins “Kick some ass? Now that’s something I can do.”

Akane and Nanako head to the ship, but Nanako lingers for a moment. Akane calls to her, and Nanako sighs - she’s not coming. She tells Akane that she wants to, but she looks at the people staying behind and knows that’s where she needs to be - not just because she’s the leader of Team NPIR, but because she can feel it in her heart. Something in her wants to prove she can protect her friends and family more than it wants to hunt down the Braiths.

Akane clutches her sister’s arm and tells her it’s fine - she’d be happier if Nanako stayed. She almost lost her once (Arc 3 Chapter 8-9), she’d prefer not to inflict the danger of Zenith on her again. Nanako removes her scarf and gives it to Akane, telling her to keep warm, then unties her hair and instructs her sister to give the hair-tie to Marina. Akane assures her they’ll only be gone a few days and she doesn’t need to give away her belongings, but Nanako tells her it’s a gesture so that Akane knows she’ll always have her back.

Nanako smiles, and tells Akane she’ll make her proud. Akane, never the hugging sort, embraces her sister and tells her she already has.

–

We see Raleigh’s ship flying through the air. Snow in the sky tells us that they’ve made it to Solitas. 

An establishing shot of a small, industrial settlement built around a giant electric dust crystal is underlined with the title “FARADAY.”

Raleigh looks over his shoulder from the cockpit and tells them they’ve arrived at the nearest settlement to Zenith (he got a rough location from Mason of the Crazy Bunch), but there are readings of Grimm activity all over the place. He tells them to hop out of the ship and make a start on the Grimm - he’ll catch up, but “parking is a nightmare.”

Team RAIN and the newly formed “Team PALM” (Jin-Shi Pan, Marron Armona, Wil Lincoln, Marina Lincoln), leap out of the ship and employ their landing strategies.

There would be a page or two of both teams showing off their skills by killing Grimm - Wil would swing wide, then pull his sword in close for Jin to vault over his back and kick a Grimm. Marina and Marron would fire back to back, then we’d run backwards through the members of RAIN, starting with Nyssa and ending on Robin, each doing something cool.

Irving finishes a Grimm off, then rounds a street corner - where he’s met with the sight of Tahlia Braith commanding drones to kill Grimm around her, barely moving from where she stands. The two lock eyes, then realisation sets in and Tahlia mumbles “oh sugar,” censoring her own swear.

–

We see Raleigh’s ship fly overhead, his emblem clearly emblazoned on its sides as a silhouetted figure watches on. We quickly learn this figure is Otso Umber, kitted out with two fresh prosthetic eyes. Enraged by the sight of his teammate-turned-mortal-enemy, he roars and begins to charge after it.

That is, until someone tackles him from the side and both sail through the front window of a butcher’s shop.

When Otso comes too after a few moments, he’s pinned to the ground face-down. Gardner Braith has a foot on his back and is restraining him. Gardner’s cleaver now has a cable hanging from the base which ends with a meat hook. He uses the cable to try to strangle Otso and commands him to give up, but Otso pushes the man off of him and flees in the direction of a meat locker, firing his shotgun to prevent Gardner giving chase.

Shrugging off the gunfire, Gardner stands up, heads for the meat locker and remarks that “they always have to take the difficult option.”

–

Otso stumbles through the meat locker as Gardner again appeals to him to give up and die quickly, lest he suffer more if he drags this out. Otso retorts he won’t make Gardner’s life easy.

Gardner tells him that if Otso resists, Kamala will likely go after his family - but Otso is unconvinced; Kamala will kill them anyway… Gardner best hope Otso doesn’t get to the Braiths first as he could “snap little Tahlia’s neck like a dry twig.”

Gardner charges, angered, but Otso dodges and finds his back up against the exit door. Charging it open, he turns and uses his newfound sight to inflict his semblance (the ability to cause pain through eye contact) on Gardner, causing the man to fall to one knee as he suffers.

When Gardner recovers, Otso is gone, leaving him in an empty street.

–

Raleigh, now having parked his ship, begins to cut through Grimm with his dual hatchets. Before he can take a breath, a shot hits his ship and startles him. His name is yelled from offscreen, and Otso makes himself known. 

Raleigh: “Well, look what the cat dragged in. About time you showed up. We’re well overdue for a few rounds in the ring, aren’t we? ”

The duo begin to pace around one another, slinging insults and incidents from their shared past at one another.

Raleigh: “You’re looking rough, old friend. Is it the eyes, or the fact you’ve been bulking on Grimm?”

Otso: “Don’t act like you’re any better than me. Walking out on your wife the second you laid eyes on a younger model. Maybe I’ll seek out young Cordovan when we’re done here. See how reacts once I’ve killed his father.”

Raleigh: “You leave my boy outta this.”

Otso: “That’s rich coming from the man who keeps tabs on my granddaughter. You roped family into this before I did.”

Raleigh prepares a charge.

Raleigh: “I think we’ve had enough chatter -- just follow my voice if your eyes aren’t up to it. Let’s get this over with.”

Otso prepares a charge.

Otso: “My goddamn pleasure.”

The duo leap at each other.

#rwby #rwby fan art #rwby art #rwby fanart #rwby oc #team rain #robin lincoln #irving hawthorne #nyssa noirette #akane amaranth

[neopoliitan]

Hey so I know you don't take requests but uhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I really really really REALLY like your Vacuo character designs, so I was wondering if you had more! The Asturias twins, Rumpole, Sunnybrook (I bet she's a Haven teacher), Umber, the three pigs thieves? I hope the Theodore reveal didn't dissuade you, and that this isn't an annoying ask!

So I have a few drawings where I've ended up drawing book characters

the volume 9 epilogue got me to draw the Asturias twins so they're mostly based on that, but I decided on their skin tone and stuff

And I designed some of the students (Elektra Fury, Olive Gashley, Rae Noire, Umber Gorgoneion) for RWBY Evermorrow

Finally I've drawn Bertilak Celadon, Carmine's partner in crime and local faunus hater >:(

The theodore reveal did dishearten me a little but only because I played myself by getting too attached to my design and now I have to find somewhere to put it lol (also I'm a bit scary of being called racist for not interpreting his skin tone right when it was never mentioned in the book, you know how fans are)

Not sure if I'll do more in future, but yeah here's these lol

[neopoliitan]

I caved and made a #Sonic OC

her name is Havoc, she's a nutjob hyena who is unpredictable and weird and would very much like to eat the chaos emeralds. Is that so wrong?

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fanart #sonic oc #sonic fan art #sonic art

[neopoliitan]

my girl. she rotate.

got bored, kitbashed a robin model together lol

#rwby #rwby fan art #rwby art #rwby fanart #rwby oc #art #robin lincoln #team rain

[neopoliitan]

TEAM RAIN: ARC 4 CH4 - BEST LAID PLANS

A WRITE UP FOR THE REST OF TEAM RAIN: CHAPTER 4

We open on a scene in Zenith. Viorel and Zelena Braith open Roderick Lincoln’s cell to reveal they have brought him the last remnants of the Lincoln Clan, now with an active aura like him. They present it as company, but note that  Gardner Braith will return to drain their aura to replenish his upon their return from hunting Otso Umber.

The clansmen are these;

Crete Reed, A warrior woman based on Britomartis.

Oak Holm, a man who was briefly seen in the back of some Arc 2 shots.

Loden Lincoln, a teenager and third or fourth cousin of Robin.

Primrose, a teenage girl with round glasses.

Fennel, the son of Kodiak Lincoln and around 7-9 years old.

Crete sees Artemis Garland lying on a cot, still comatose but out of the pod she was previously in implying she’s gotten a little stronger. Crete runs to her side.

Sterling Braith enters and tells her not to get attached, ordering the Talos robots to restrain the clansmen. Viorel cautions that there’s no time for his vendetta, to which Sterling responds he’s making time. He advances on Roderick, telling him “Your sister cut my arm off, so it’s lucky for me that you’re here.” Before Roderick can reply, Sterling socks him in the face with one of his new prosthetic arms.

“I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do to you, but if it doesn’t kill you… You’re damn well gonna wish it did.”

Zelena looks slightly shaken and follows Viorel out of the room. Viorel coldly comments that now “the terminal” is fixed, Roderick has outlived his use and this is the least he deserves. Zelena asks if “the terminal” is really going to change anything, to which Viorel grows frustrated and tells her not to have second thoughts - they’ve come this far already; she “isn’t there to think”, and that Kamala will show her no more mercy than “they” did if she backs out.

Lilli Lincoln wakes up in her bed, unable to sleep. She heads downstairs to the kitchen for some water and comes across Petra Redwood. Petra mentions the 7-day time limit Kamala Braith issued Team RAIN, which Lilli didn’t know about. Her expression unreadable, she heads upstairs.

She grabs her labrys.

We cut to Robin asleep in her room. Lilli kicks the door open and slings her buzzsaw-shield at Robin.

ROBIN: What are you doing?! What the hell is this about?!

LILLI: E V E R Y T H I N G ! I’m sick of you, and I’m sick of your stupid face! You always get what you want! Even after coming home and getting dad KILLED!

Lilli swings again.

LILLI: Pitch was the closest thing I had to a friend, and now he’s GONE! I was the LAST ONE to be told about Marina even though I'm FAMILY! You told everyone EXCEPT ME about Mom and Roderick being ALIVE! And I just found out that even though you only have seven days to save them, you go and SLEEP THROUGH ONE--!

Robin blocks one of Lilli’s attacks, and the two are held in stalemate.

ROBIN: LILLI-! What the hell is going on? Why are you always trying to fight me--!?

LILLI: BECAUSE IT’S THE ONLY TIME YOU EVER NOTICE I’M THERE!

They relax slightly at this moment of honesty. Lilli smiles weakly.

LILLI: You were always the favorite, even after you got sent away from home. Mom and Dad never shut up about you. “Why can’t you be more like your sister? Why can’t you be more like Robin?” They would’ve switched us without a second thought if it meant getting Robin back. 

Lilli relaxes, her arms hanging limp.

LILLI: It’s not like I wanna be mean. It’s just that people only notice me when they’re angry at me.  ...They’d just be happier if I was gone, huh?

We see flashbacks to:

Roderick scolding Lilli (pg297)

Artemis Scolding Lilli (pg828)

Marina [then Tobin] scolding Lilli (pg331)

Robin shoving Lilli (pg828)

ROBIN: I should’ve seen the signs. No one wishes you were gone.

LILLI: Don’t. Don’t lie to me like that.

ROBIN: I’m not.

We see a Flashback to Robin saying “there’s nothing I’d rather be than kind” in Arc 3 Ch9 (pg. 746)

ROBIN: We weren’t there for you after what happened back home, and I didn’t even think twice about it. ...But I wanna try to be there for you now, if you’ll let me. Lilli, I’m sorry.

Lilli begins to sob, and Robin reaches out to embrace her sister. Her sister. Who she treated like an enemy for years. She embraces her as Lilli apologizes too, and we see Lilli’s aura activate in a moment of emotional height.

–

Irving, Nyssa, Jin, the Hawthornes, Team ZNON, and Peach’s Team disembark from Raleigh Radcliff’s ship as it touches down in the Tsubaki District.

Farran Hawthorne commends Irving’s bravery in showing mercy to Team ZNON and defeating the rat king, telling him he’s proud. Irving turns around and says he’s not proud of his father for closing ZNON’s school and turning them against him, making them easy to manipulate. He tells his father to use his political power to set them up in a school in Mistral so that the world doesn’t have more Violas to deal with.

Robin and Akane reunite with Irving and Nyssa. Robin says she’s glad Irving’s family made it out safe unlike hers, but Irving cuts her off and tells her it wasn’t her fault - it was bad luck they chose the Lincolns.

Raleigh approaches Team RAIN and tells them they have some explaining to do.

–

We cut to Jin and Peach. Peach reveals she was adopted by a couple who she refers to as “her dad” (Bjorn Vermell) and her “science dad” (Konstantan Vermell). They wanted to get her out of the orphanage after seeing how malnourished she was, and her “science dad” later engineered her prosthetic legs.

Peach asks if the orphanage is still there. Jin tells her the Sisterhood marched in and made sure the kids were safe, while the adults “didn’t hurt anyone else.” She then asks if Peach held the final argument before they were separated against her, and Peach admits she doesn’t even really remember it. Once she knew her parents were good people, she asked Konstantan to put out feelers to find Jin, but by then it was too late. 

Jin looks at the old photo of them both, but Peach brushes it away. She tells her that she’s here now, and places Jin’s hand on her heart. The two rest their foreheads against each other.

–

40 years ago.

We see Raleigh Radcliff being congratulated on his victory in the 21st Biennial Vytal Festival.

Briefly we cut away to a young Otso Umber in a medical ward, his head bandaged - his grip tightens on the sheets of his hospital bed in envy as he sees Raleigh reaping the glory.

It’s revealed we’re watching Raleigh’s victory in the present day as a presentation on 58-year-old Raleigh’s scroll. Robin tells him they’re happy to have him along now they’ve seen his skills.

Raleigh reveals that Otso cut off his left leg from below the knee during one of their fights, and that he has a prosthetic - he has his own motives for fighting Otso. Irving questions what originally started their feud, and Raleigh tells him that he took Otso’s place in the tournament finale, after Otso couldn’t compete due to a head injury - and that Otso ‘didn’t deserve the win anyway’.

Raleigh asks what they know about the Braiths; they’re a family of good fighters, proficient with Aura and fusing Grimm and humans. When asked about their weaknesses, Akane recalls that she made Zelena falter when the latter stole her truth semblance.

Akane and Irving surmise that their tech suggests Atlas. Robin recalls Roderick telling her that the Braiths’ base was called Zenith, but Raleigh doesn’t know it and Akane can’t find any info on it on cached offline CCT information on her scroll.

Robin quickly recalls the Crazy Bunch who worked under Sterling and Zelena, and how they managed to apprehend one of them. Raleigh says interrogating him is worth a shot, and takes Akane with him to verify the man’s answers.

–

Nyssa visits home and shares closure over Pitch with her mother, Maera. Murasaki drops in, assuring them that the Sisterhood is in the capable care of Team BRUT. When questioned on how trustworthy BRUT are, Murasaki replies that she is trying to steer them right and give them a purpose, the same way the previous Sisterhood leader did for her.

Murasaki reveals that after she got her head together regarding Pitch, she contacted Maera and the two talked it over. Both of them shared relationships with Pitch, but she won’t go into detail just yet. She regrets not dealing with him the moment she laid eyes on him in the Sisterhood cave.

–

Robin and Lilli are attempting to bond. Robin called Lilli downstairs to ask her if she wants to attend Combat School in Mistral while she and her team venture to Atlas - unless Lilli wants to argue and come with them. Lilli proclaims she’s not an idiot, but seems unconvinced that Elysium Academy will take her. Robin reassures her by complimenting her fighting ability.

Marina interrupts by sticking her head through the wall behind them - revealing that her semblance does not only consist of invisibility, but intangibility. She notes that Robin and Lilli are getting along better, but the same can’t be said for Robin and Marron.

Robin argues that she’s not budging - she won’t get Marron mixed up in her mess again. Marron wants to go to Atlas, but Robin doesn’t - so do they just break up?

Lilli interjects by telling her to compromise, to find a solution that works for both of them. After being pestered by the other two siblings, Robin gets up and agrees to talk it over. When she leaves, Marina tries to banter with Lilli, but the youngest Lincoln sister halts her, unfolds a sheet of paper and reads:

"Please do not attempt to make light conversation or banter with me. You are still complicit in my neglect for your own reasons, and are, therefore, an absolute carbuncle. I forbid you from attempting to take a shortcut by hijacking the effort Robin has made."

Marina is stumped, then admits that’s a fair point.

–

Marron is sitting on the porch of the Tsubaki District house. Robin sits down next to her.

After a moment, Robin asks if Marron knows why she doesn’t want her to come to Zenith, which Marron confirms. Robin tells her that she doesn’t want her to get hurt, which Marron spins back on her - she isn’t going to wait around like a sailor’s wife hoping that Robin might come back, that she doesn’t need Robin’s protection.

Robin begins to observe that they’re at an impasse, but Marron interrupts.

“I need you to show me some trust -- some faith in my judgment. Some faith that I know what to do if things go to hell. I need you to accept that you're not the only one who knows what they're doing. And I need you to understand that my decisions aren’t yours to make.”

Robin takes this in.

She apologises for coddling Marron, and observes that Marron knew how to break Sterling and when to call for her help. She admits that between her father’s death and her treatment of Nyssa and Lilli, her own judgment hasn’t been the best.

She trusts Marron to know her limits and make the right calls.

The two hold hands and stay there on the porch for a while. Slowly, they begin to make small talk about what they’ll do once this is all over.

#rwby #rwby fan art #rwby art #rwby fanart #rwby oc #art #team rain #rain #team rain comic #robin lincoln #akane amaranth #irving hawthorne #nyssa noirette

[neopoliitan]

Theodore is in RWBY Beyond I repeat THEODORE IS RWBY BEYOND

haha

haha

yeah

[neopoliitan]

Now that @sustraiii has finished her ZRCN saga, what better time to post this art of Zelde and Cordovan?

Congrats dude!! Really enjoyed following along with the adventures of this part of the RAINverse trifecta (to say nothing of the fact that they’re the first to have their story officially brought to its conclusion).

Also thank you @huyandere for this artwork! …That I commissioned like two years ago and then never posted lol

bonus under the cut

casual outfits ft. the Ben Swollo pants (insert “that’s no moon” jokes here)

[neopoliitan]

So close now, we're like one chapter out from one of the RAINverse projects actually having an ending XD

TEAM ZRCN EPILOGUE (WISTERIA)

Turns out you can't keep this woman down.

Wisteria

The last thing Wisteria could clearly remember was falling.

She could remember charging Miho, forcing herself and the larger woman over the balcony in the Rossi's base, falling in one final grapple before the ground rushed up to meet them. Her memory grew hazy after that, spotty and weakened by the immense pain. Her vision was blurry, the world span, and her body felt as though it were on fire.

Wisteria had never thought much about death before that moment. However, as she lay there, it seemed like an inevitable fate for her. The allies she had came here with were unlikely to come and fuss over her and ensure she wasn’t dying, or if they even considered it, then it would surely be at the bottom of their list of priorities.

Her memories become patchier then, sight and sound distorting, the pain reaching a point where her body starts to feel numb to it. At some point she swears she feels her body being pulled, she swears she sees a hand gripping hers, a voice assuring her that they would get out of this. Wisteria thinks she tries to respond but her tongue is heavy in her mouth and the words don’t seem to form. Slowly but surely the world grows darker and darker until she is engulfed by darkness.

Wisteria does not expect to wake up again. And somehow she does.

When her eyes slowly blink awake, she is startled by the brightness of the room, and it takes a moment for her eyes to full adjust to the light again. When her vision becomes clearer, she looks around, taking note of the room and trying to determine where she was. She finds herself unable to look too far, the movement of her head partly constricted by the neck brace she is wearing, but as far as she can tell she is in a hospital room of sorts. 

It’s a very stark, austere room, coloured in mostly neutral tones save for the teal curtains and some sunflowers sitting at the bottom of her bed. 

Odd, she thinks, but her mind is too hazy to make much sense of it beyond that.

Hers is the only bed in the room, a medical bed with all the fixings but surprisingly comfy. She is not actually lying down but has been propped up in bed, an adjustor sits off to the side which would allow her to recline the bed if she so wished, but is unable to reach it due to the cumbersome sling on her left arm. 

The longer she is awake, unable to determine where she truly is, the more she starts to grow annoyed. Even the machines she’s hooked up to begin to annoy her, their beeps and whirs being of little comfort despite the fact they’ve likely been keeping her alive for goodness knows how long.

Wisteria is determined to get out of bed even though a small part of her begs her not to. Untucking the sheet, she finds one of her legs in a hefty cast but is not dissuaded from getting up. She decides she can just hobble around if needed until she finds the answers she is looking for.

The one thing that does give her pause is the growing aches and pains in her body. Now that she’s awake - or at least more alert - she is all the more aware of how much everything hurts.

She wishes she had something for the pain. Wishing that a doctor or nurse would walk through the doors, answer all her burning questions, and then give her medication for the pain. But nobody does, and she finds her annoyance growing at that. 

What sort of place is this that they don’t have somebody watching me constantly? I’m a criminal - shouldn’t I be cuffed to the bed in case I tried to run away as I am now?

Wisteria’s body seems to cry out in pain when she sits up properly, easing her legs to the edge of the bed. She squashes it down for now still determined to get up and get some answers. Her feet touch the floor first and she shivers at the cold sensation against her bare skin. Wisteria is surprised she’s able to stand upright with no trouble but takes it in stride. In hindsight, she should have grabbed something to support herself before she began to walk in earnest, but emboldened by her ability to stand up straight, she took a step forward only to find her legs bucking beneath her.

She hits the floor hard, unable to catch herself with only one free arm, and lies there splayed on her belly. Something has ripped out of her free hand, making it bleed and also making one of the machines wail in alarm.

“Too…loud,” Wisteria says groggily. She isn’t sure if the sudden grogginess is from the earlier aches and pains or if she had hit her head as she fell.

The door to her room opens and a man steps inside. Somebody else follows though she cannot discern if they are man or woman.

“...pulled out her IV line. I will have to reinsert it. Are you able to get her back onto the bed?”

“Am I…dead?” Wisteria asks, rolling on her side to try and look at the man who had entered. He looks familiar, but she cannot quite put her finger on it.

“I don’t think I can. The last time was a struggle back in -”

Wait. Wisteria blinked. She knew that voice. She moved her head, trying to look for the other figure in the room.

“...Sparrow? Did they…get you too?”

Sparrow looked down at her with an unreadable expression. The man moved past her and called out beyond the door, asking for assistance from another person within this place. Wisteria heard another pair of footsteps approach and turned to try and get in a comfortable position to look.

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw who was stood in the doorway.

“How?” She echoes quietly, looking up at the figure.

He doesn’t answer but she does hear the other man present speak, informing the others that he needed to temporarily sedate her. Wisteria felt a prick in her side and her vision and thoughts started to grow hazy again. The last thing she sees before she blacks out is the face of Ulysses Crest staring down at her sympathetically.

“You’re dead…” Wisteria whispers, before her eyes snap shut.

***

Wisteria wakes up a few hours later and when she does, the man from earlier is standing nearby monitoring one of the machines. She hadn't recognised him fully before but now that she's slightly more alert she can absorb the features of his face. He's a tall, dark-skinned man, with neat dark brown hair, and deep azure blue eyes. His hair and stubble was flecked with grey 

"Oh good, you're awake," He says, turning to look at her. "How are you feeling?

He's older than the last time she'd seen him but the name comes easily now - Giles Crest—the father of the three Crest siblings.

In truth, Wisteria only knew him sparingly, having resided at the O.R.C.A.S with his wife for a few overlapping months when Wisteria had first arrived with Nieve many years ago. Eventually, he and his wife left to return to Atlas, able to escape during a time when Alden was more lucid. Leaving when they did they were able to avoid a potential intervention from Belleza at least, who hated anyone trying to leave the family unless she gave permission which she never did. Wisteria recalled that Giles and his wife had tried to take their children with them, but Ulysses and his sisters had been so ingrained in the group that leaving was not such an easy option for them. Ulysses was close with Wisteria and Nieve, Theodora had taken up a role as the defacto nurse and carer in place of her father, and Euphemia stayed to keep an eye on her younger siblings.

"I've felt better," Wisteria finally responded. "I still feel sore but it's not as bad as before."

"Well, that is to be expected, I did give you some additional pain relief," Giles explained. "Your injuries were quite severe so you should expect the pain to linger for a while. Do you know where you are?”

Wisteria frowned, looking around the room. “A hospital in Atlas I assume?”

“Well, it's a clinic actually, but close enough,” Gile responded in good humour. “You're in my clinic in Argus. Sparrow brought you here.”

“They did?” Wisteria blinked in surprise. Despite her shock, it did line up with some of her hazy memories of an escape. “How?”

“Sparrow told me it had to do with their semblance. In all the commotion that was going on nobody noticed the two of you slipping away on an airship,” Giles answered.

Wisteria had to admit she was impressed and perhaps a little unsettled too. She had known Sparrow’s semblance deflected any attention away from themself, but she would never have suspected it to have been that powerful they eluded a whole base full of people. It made her curious just how long it had been that powerful and why Belleza had never kept Sparrow in her group of allies. But then again, subtlety was never really Belleza's style. 

She continued to mull over this new information before asking another question.

"What's the damage, doc?" Wisteria asked. When he stared at her blankly, not quite understanding her question, she knew she needed to clarify. "My injuries. What are they? I assume they must have been bad due to, you know, the multiple casts on my body."

"Very severe indeed," Giles confirmed with a nod. "The most severe was your leg. You shattered your tibia - hence the cast on your leg - and needed surgery to correct it. You also fractured four ribs and your orbital bone. Your collarbone is broken too, which is why you are wearing a sling. Now that you're more alert though I'll swap it for a figure-of-eight brace. What else…oh yes, you sprained your right wrist but that should be fine now. There were also extensive cuts from the glass you fell through, one was very close to catching an artery in your neck."

Wisteria couldn't help but wince slightly as he listed off all her injuries. “Bit of a miracle I survived then.”

“If not for a bit of remaining aura when you fell, you most likely would be dead right now,” Giles confirmed. 

Wisteria frowned. She knew the fact she had survived and escaped had been a marvel but hearing it out loud was slightly more jarring than she expected. Giles did seem to pick up on it, his features softening in sympathy.

“I understand it's a lot to take in right now,” Giles said. 

“That's an understatement,” Wisteria mumbled.

“When the time comes, Capella is happy to sit and talk things through with you.”

Capella Crest - mother of the Crest siblings, and a noted psychiatric doctor in her own right. Wisteria couldn't help but roll her eyes. “Therapy, really?”

“Yes,” Giles responded flatly, a faint hint of annoyance in his tone, following Wisteria's dismissal of his suggestion of therapy. “You will need physical therapy for your leg alone. But speaking with my wife would do you no harm either. She seems to believe your mental health would benefit from it greatly.”

“I’m sure she would,” Wisteria grumbled. “Maybe she can talk me through how to deal with false grief.”

“Pardon?”

“You know, grief for someone who, as it turns out, had never really died in the first place.”

Giles looked away briefly, realising she was referring to Ulysses with that comment. “Ulysses has been wanting to speak with you but I advised him against it,” Giles explained, meeting her gaze again. “I told him you were not ready to process it.”

“Wise choice,” Wisteria said. “I’d advise you to tell him to continue to stay away. I have no desire to speak with him.”

***

Despite her wishes to have nothing to do with Ulysses, Wisteria found herself forced into spending a considerable amount of time with him, much to her great displeasure. 

Confined to her bed due to her leg, Wisteria had nowhere to escape to when he came to keep her company. Ulysses tried to engage her in conversations but Wisteria held firm, refusing to budge on her wish to not speak with him. At most, they only made small talk, with Ulysses doing most of the talking, and Wisteria grunting or moving her head in response.

Even when not in her bed she finds she cannot escape him. As her physical therapy begins and the arduous task of learning to walk again also begins, Ulysses offers himself to walk with her on occasion. The first few times she outwardly refused, deciding she’d rather wait for her actual therapy session to try walking, rather than walk with him. However, she began to feel slightly stir-crazy either confined to her bed or the room she had her therapy in, so eventually swallowed her pride and allowed him to walk with her. At the very least, he was a sturdy presence, keeping her upright if she stumbled or lost her footing.

In the days she could not abide his company, she had Sparrow to also walk with. Wisteria finds it hard to talk with them initially. They had never been close but Wisteria had always respected and tolerated their presence within the Rossi's group, which was something few else seemed to do. As they took more walks together, they found more to talk about. Sparrow was actually quite talkative when they wanted to be and was happy to answer any and all questions Wisteria had about the daring escape from the Rossi base. It's quite a fascinating story and one which Wisteria listens to with interest.

Alas, the budding friendship between her and Sparrow is cut short, when Sparrow lets slip about their involvement in Nieve's death. It comes out rather unexpectedly, so when Sparrow revealed that they had been responsible for sharing where Nieve had been hiding out, Wisteria was unsure how to process the news at first. When it does sink in, she is greeted by anger. An argument breaks out in the corridor and Giles has to intervene and tell them to step away lest they disturb any more of his patients.

Wisteria refuses to speak with Sparrow for days after that, even actively seeking out Ulysses to walk with rather than speak with Sparrow. Eventually, she calms down slightly, if only to tell Sparrow she needs to think things over in regard to where their friendship stood.

She manages to accept Sparrow's sincere apologies at least. Recognising that Sparrow had never intended for such an outcome to happen, nor had been aware of such a possibility. It spoke of a certain degree of naivety on Sparrow's behalf, but Wisteria could acknowledge that Sparrow’s lack of personal involvement with Belleza played into her belief that Belleza would not have killed Nieve.

It is on one of the days following the argument that Wisteria is unintentionally drawn into conversation with Ulysses. She is resting in the living room of the Crest's house which sat next door to their clinic. It's the only room of the house she is happy to go in, providing a welcome change of scenery from the clinic but also ensuring she didn't overstep into the lives of the Crests.

“Still giving Sparrow the silent treatment?” Ulysses asked, startling her out of the book she was reading.

Wisteria gave him a tired expression before shrugging.

Ulysses hovered nearby and though she was not looking at him, Wisteria could tell he was building up to speak with her again.

“Can we talk?” He asked.

“You're talking now,” Wisteria pointed out, idly turning a page.

“I meant together,” Ulysses said, taking a seat on the adjoining sofa next to her. “We can't keep avoiding each other, Wisteria.”

“Well, that's a you problem. As for myself, I’m perfectly happy to keep ignoring you.”

Ulysses groaned out loud. From the corner of her eye, she could see him pinch the bridge of his nose quickly before releasing it. “Look, I’m not saying we have to be friends again, I just want to explain what happened on Shizukana and how I got here.”

Wisteria closed her book with a satisfying snap. "Quite frankly, Ulysses, I don't want to hear it. I cannot understate how little of a shit I give about how you faked your death all these months.”

“Please just-”

“No!” Wisteria cut him off with a glare. “We mourned for you!”

Ulysses looked down at his knees solemnly. “I know…”

“You don't know anything, Ulysses,” Wisteria sneered. “You've been hiding away like a little coward all this time. You have no idea what we went through.”

“Do you recall those messages from Theodora to Nieve?” He suddenly asked.

Wisteria's anger falters ever so slightly, thrown by the mention of the conversations Nieve had secretly been having. “I - what!?”

“It was never Theodora she was speaking to,” Ulysses explained. He lifted his head and looked her in the eye. “It was me.”

Wisteria sucked in a breath and shook her head. “N-No!” She snapped. “I saw those messages! It clearly said Theodora!”

Ulysses gave her a bitter smile. “Do you have any idea how easy it is to clone someone's scroll if you have the right technology?” As he continued to speak, Wisteria remained quiet, the realisation of what he was saying slowly starting to sink in. “I cloned Theodora’s scroll. She knew, of course, as did Euphemia. It was necessary given the sensitive subject matter we needed to discuss.”

“What like your death?” Wisteria said sarcastically.

“That and other things,” Ulysses responded. Slowly, he got to his feet. “Stay here. It will be easier to explain if I show you.” He leaves the room quickly, shutting the door behind him before heading upstairs, the creak of the floorboards above her alerting her to roughly where he was.

Wisteria does as he requests but the entire time she waits she is of half a mind to run out of the house. If not for her still recovering leg she thinks she might have been able to get pretty far. She can hear footsteps coming down the stairs again and realises he is coming back. When he enters the living room again, she sits straight up, eager to see what he would be bringing with him. 

No amount of preparation would have prepared for what happened next.

Ulysses sat back down where he had before and in his arms was a child. They weren't very old, maybe a year or just under if she had to make an educated guess. Wisteria almost asked whose child it was, but seeing how Ulysses fussed over them, she already knew he must have had a connection to them.

“I’d like you to meet River Crest,” He said, turning the baby so that she was facing Wisteria. “She is mine and Nieve’s daughter.”

Wisteria's eyes merely widen and she looks hard at the child. A small part of her wants to laugh at how ludicrous this all sounds, but the longer she looks, the easier it is to see parts of Nieve looking back at her. Although her hair was a darker grey and her skin a touch darker than Nieve's was, Wisteria could see most of Nieve's colouring in the child. River's eyes were more of a pale periwinkle colour, a mix between Nieve's and Ulysses's eye colours. More interestingly, River's fingertips were slightly grey, much like how Nieve's were indicating to Wisteria that the girl was a spider faunus like her mother.

“How? How is this possible?” Wisteria asked, gesturing to River. She knew there were at least five months where she wasn’t present in Nieve’s life due to working closely with the Rossi’s and wanting to protect Nieve who had fled at that point, but surely if Nieve had been pregnant during that time she would have known about it or seen some sort of sign.

“River was born two months after the events on Shizukana,” Ulysses explained.

“Two months after Shizukana!?” Wisteria echoed, unable to believe what she was hearing. If she were able to, she might have jumped to her feet and started pacing around the room. Unfortunately, such a task was not as easy with her leg still in a cast. “No, you can’t be serious. Nieve would have been showing by then, I would have known!”

Ulysses gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s not unheard of for some women to not know they are pregnant for some time. Nieve was one of those women.”

Wisteria still couldn’t believe any of what he was saying. Of course, some of it did make sense, but it still seemed unbelievable. 

“We would have told you.”

Wisteria looked up, narrowing her eyes. “Oh yes, I’m sure you would have eventually,” She said. “Tell me Ulysses when exactly when this was going to happen? When you came out of hiding? On the unlikely chance that I somehow managed to escape the Rossi’s on my own?”

“We were thinking of the baby too!” Ulysses protested. “Belleza could not know about her. We needed to keep her safe.”

“I could have helped!” Wisteria retorted, surprised to find just how upset she suddenly found herself. “I would have protected all three of you.”

“What, like you protected Nieve?” Ulysses fired back a little too quickly. He seemed to realise the error of his words quickly at least, blinking rapidly before shooting her an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Wisteria ignored him and went for her crutches, quickly pulling herself to her feet. She tucked the crutches under her arms to help support herself and began to hobble towards the door.

“Wisteria please don’t go,” Ulysses begged, turning in his seat to follow her as she walked.

“Shut up!” She snapped quickly, speaking with a soft voice so as not to disturb River too much. “I’m done talking, Ulysses. I don't want to talk to you again whilst I’m here. As soon as I've recovered, I’m leaving and you will never see me again.”

Wisteria manages to get outside of the house without any further intervention from Ulysses. As soon as she's outside, she manages a few steps forward before she stops. She tries to keep it together but she can't. Tears stream down her cheeks and she sniffs. She won't stop the tears but that does not mean she wants anyone to see her, so as she begins to walk again, Wisteria makes an effort to keep her face hidden, not wanting anyone to stop her and ask if anything was wrong.

**

It takes eight months for Wisteria to finally feel something like herself again. Eight months of grueling physical and mental therapy. 

In that time, River had her first birthday, which turned out to be a quiet and simple affair. And in that time Wisteria did actually start to talk with both Sparrow and Ulysses. It took a few weeks, but Wisteria had finally swallowed her pride, realising her recovery time would pass quicker if she did not alienate them entirely and actually try to understand what they had both been through. The conversations weren't exactly long - especially those with Ulysses - but it was something at least.

Once she had been given the all clear, Giles and Capella were content to let her go on her way. They were kinda enough to help her out with some supplies for when she eventually set out, but luckily Wisteria had plenty of lien saved up that she wouldn't be struggling for a while. The only thing she was less certain about was where to go. Wisteria had had enough of Atlas for a lifetime, but it had been many years since she had experienced Mistral proper, especially the settlements beyond the main city. Wisteria would love to see Mistral again as an adult. She did not remember much of her childhood, with many memories trapped under years of abuse, but she did recall that she had been raised outside of the city. When she had been sent to live with her caretakers she moved to the lower city and then after her escape had roamed the streets. She often wondered where she truly came from.

On her soon-to-be journey through Mistral, she was not going to be alone. Sparrow had offered themselves to accompany her - for a little while at least - once Wisteria was more amenable to the idea. It had taken some time, and plenty of lengthy conversations, for them to even be on decent terms again. Strangely, Wisteria had found Sparrow's apologies to be easier to accept as they weren't constantly trying to rationalise it.

On the day Wisteria planned to leave, she enjoyed an early breakfast with the Crests and Sparrow, before gathering together her supplies. It wasn't much, as she had only come to this place with her scroll more or less, and what items she did have to take with her had accumulated during her time here. One of the more precious items were two polaroids - one from over a year ago with herself, Nieve, and Ulysses in it, and another of baby River. Wisteria hadn't wanted to accept the latter gift at first, still wary of getting close to the child, but she had secretly kept it.

After gathering most of her things together, Wisteria left a small bag at the bottom of the stairs. Midway through her recovery she had taken one of the remaining spare bedrooms in the Crest's house to complete her recuperation.

She was about to head back upstairs and go in search of Sparrow when she heard a little cough behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Ulysses standing there.

“Today's the day, hmm?”

“Today's the day,” Wisteria repeated in confirmation.

Ulysses briefly looked at her bag and then back up at her. “Are you leaving now?”

“I need to see if Sparrow is ready, but yes, we will be leaving soon,” Wisteria responded.

“I see,” Ulysses nodded. “Well, if you can spare the time, there was something I wished to speak to you about before you left.”

Wisteria raised a brow, curious about what he meant before shrugging. “I think I could spare a moment or two once I’ve found Sparrow. Did you need me to meet you somewhere in the house?”

“Oh no, we don't need to meet anywhere specific,” Ulysses assured her. “Just here is fine. I’ll wait for you.”

Wisteria nodded and then made her way up the stairs. She peeked inside the room Sparrow had been staying in but couldn't see them. Feeling a little emboldened, Wisteria opened the doors of some of the other rooms, peeking inside but still finding no luck.

“Sparrow…?” Wisteria called, genuinely curious where they might have been.

“I’m out here, Wisteria.” A voice called from within Sparrow's room. Wisteria pushed inside again, recalling there was a small balcony in that room as well as one in River’s room. Whilst the balcony in River's room looked down onto a small park beyond the house, the one in Sparrow's room looked out upon the south of the city and the expansive Thalassa Bay. The sea view might have been genuinely pleasant if not for the Atlesian military outpost sticking out like a sore thumb. At least there were nicer beaches tucked away to the immediate west of the town, which were probably much more appealing to spend time at.

“Are you re-Woah!” Wisteria was about to ask if Sparrow was ready to go, but was caught by surprise when Sparrow straightened up from leaning over the balustrade and she saw their hair. As long as she had known Sparrow, she had always known them to wear their hair in a long, elaborate plait down their back. Now, they had gone for a much shorter look, having quite literally chopped off their plait in favour of going for a messy pixie cut. And it was a recent choice too, as Sparrow had worn their hair in a plait at breakfast.

“Did you, uh, do that yourself?” Wisteria asked, gesturing to their hair.

Sparrow chuckled, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. “Yeah. Do you think it suits me?”

Wisteria inclined her head to get a better look. Despite the messiness, it did suit them. It exposed the old burn scars that crept up their neck and accentuated the sharp features of their face. It also drew the eye to the new single earring they wore - a small clear gem, dangling on a gold chain.

“It actually does,” Wisteria told them.

“Maybe I can cut yours for you too?” Sparrow suggested jokingly.

Wisteria smirked. “Actually, Sparrow, I think I might grow mine out.” Wisteria had always kept her hair fairly short, but it had grown a little during her recovery. Whilst she would consider neatening it up at some point, she actually did not mind the length.

“There's one other thing I'd like to change,” Sparrow said.

“Hmm?”

“I think I’d like to go back to being Ximenia again.”

Wisteria turned to look at Sparrow and raised a brow. Ximenia?

“That’s my name,” Sparrow responded. “Or it was before, you know, everything happened.”

“‘Ximenia’, huh?” Wisteria considered the name for a moment. “I always just assumed Sparrow was your actual name.”

“Just a nickname,” Ximenia confirmed. “It was Marcel’s fault. He used to say I was small and flighty like a little sparrow. After a while it just stuck, I guess, and we never saw the point to correct Belleza when we ended up working for the Rossis.”

“Well, I like it,” Wisteria smiled, giving Ximenia a nudge. “It suits you. Like the hair.”

Ximenia smiled, appearing truly grateful for the comment. “I’ve got to meet Ulysses downstairs,” Wisteria explained. “If you’re ready just meet me down there and we’ll go once he’s finished talking.”

“Okay,” Ximenia nodded. “That’ll give me a minute to get my things together.”

Leaving Ximenia on their own, Wisteria headed downstairs where Ulysses was still waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. She tried to look at his body language and gauge how he was feeling to try and determine what he wanted to speak about but had no such luck.

“You wanted to talk?” Wisteria prompted him once she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Yes,” Ulysses said. Wisteria was waiting for him to continue talking when suddenly he handed her a manila folder he had been holding behind his back.

“Oh,” Wisteria said, taking the folder gingerly. “Thank you?”

“Do you remember one of our first missions together, Wisteria?” Ulysses suddenly asked.

Wisteria looked at the folder and then at him again. “The job in Essen?” Wisteria could definitely remember that. Especially the part about nearly freezing in one of the barns, and drinking a bottle of Six Swans vodka between herself, Nieve, and Ulysses.

“Do you remember what you said in the barn?”

Wisteria shook her head. “Not really,” She admitted. “We did get pretty drunk.”

“If I remember rightly, you got pretty drunk,” Ulysses said, the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips. He cleared his throat quickly before continuing. “Well, I remember what you said at least, because it has stuck with me over the years. You mentioned wanting to know where you really came from - your parents, your extended family, if you had any real home so to speak.”

“But I looked!” Wisteria said. “I looked for Bloomes. There were none in Mistral that had a daughter my age.”

“Bloome is a fairly common surname as it turned out, so I am not surprised you had difficulty in finding any matches. However, the reason you likely struggled, was because your birth certificate wasn’t registered under any Mistrali settlements. You might have been raised in Mistral but you were born in Vacuo, Wisteria,” Ulysses explained. “With that in mind, I was able to do some backtracking and trace your parents to gather some more information on them.”

Ulysses stepped forward and opened the folder, showing a small page with two short biographies of a man and a woman. There were two photographs attached too. Even though the photographs were of academy aged students, Wisteria could see that they had details that matched up with the written biographies. More importantly, she could see they had features that matched up with her. She had the same green eyes as the man, and the same purple hair as the woman. Honestly, she could have gotten lost studying those faces, and might easily have done so if not for Ulysses bringing her back to reality.

“Lincoln Bloome and Daphne Holt,” He said.

“What?”

“That’s their names. Your parents,” He said, pointing at their names on the page. Wisteria followed is finger and nodded. Ulysses proceeded to shift uncomfortably on the spot. “Unfortunately, neither of them are no longer with us. Your father went missing in action and was suspected to have died, and your mother died only a few weeks later looking for him.”

Although Wisteria had always suspected that was the case, she felt a pang in her heart to know it was the truth. That they had not abandoned her as her former caretakers had often said but rather had died doing their jobs as huntsmen.

“There isn’t much on their times at their respective academies, especially your mother. You can blame Shade records for being notoriously spotty. However, it seems they lived good, honourable lives as huntsmen. I managed to find a few articles of interest though that you can find in the folder,” Ulysses explained. Wisteria was about to move the pages around to see when Ulysses stopped her. “Oh, there’s actually one more thing I found. It turns out you do have surviving family.”

Wisteria blinked in surprise. “I do? Why did they never come looking for me?”

“Well, to answer the second question, it seems like there was some effort on her behalf, but your former guardians made it difficult to find any leads. They claimed that you ran away and that they already had an investigation open to find you,” Ulysses responded. By the face he pulled afterwards, Wisteria wondered if he was thinking of the stories she had told him about them and the abuse she had suffered at their hands. Wisteria knew all too well there likely had never been an investigation on their end.

“Who is she?” Wisteria asked, wanting to know more about this mysterious relative Ulysses has mentioned.

“Arden Bloome - Lincoln’s mother. Your grandmother.”

A grandmother. Wisteria had a grandmother. Well, of course, she had grandparents, but she had never expected any to still be alive. 

“How did you find all this?” She asked.

“I might have done a little bit of hacking,” Ulysses confessed, with a nervous chuckle. “I promised I wouldn't after River was born but it was for a good cause so I made an exception.”

Suddenly, Wisteria threw herself at Ulysses, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a tight embrace. “Thank you,” She said softly, burying her head into his shoulder slightly so as to stifle her tears.

Ulysses's arms were held out awkwardly by his side for a few moments, caught off guard by the sudden embrace. Wisteria recalled neither him nor her had been much for physical affection and they certainly hadn't shared a hug for a very long time. 

Slowly, his arms wrap around her waist and he squeezes her tight. “You’re very welcome, Wisteria,” He said, pulling away from her with a small smile. “I hope this helps you get to where you need to be.”

Wisteria smiled and held the folder close to her chest. Behind her she could hear Ximenia about to come down the stairs and quickly took a breath in an effort to hide her tears. “I think it will,” Wisteria responded, genuinely meaning what she said.

With Ximenia coming downstairs, their own supplies in tow, it was finally time for the two of them to depart. Giles and Capella had already left to return to their respective jobs, so it only left Ulysses and Ximenia to share a goodbye. There was no hug as there had been with him and Wisteria, but they at least enjoyed a friendly handshake before they departed.

As the two of them stepped out onto the streets of Argus, Wisteria took in a breath of fresh air and smiled to herself. Wisteria could not and would forget her criminal past entirely but she was taking this as the chance to have a fresh start. After all these years, she could finally live the life she wanted to lead. And Wisteria was very much looking forward to that.

[neopoliitan]

Redraw of one of the RWBY v9 Epilogue shots :)

#rwby #rwby fan art #rwby art #rwby fanart #art #rwby spoilers #mercury black #jax asturias #gillian asturias

[neopoliitan]

It's been like 2 years, so it's pretty clear I'm not going to pick RAIN back up again - for the sake of you guys' closure, I'm gonna slowly write up posts that describe the rest of the story.

[neopoliitan]

been playing through TWDG after like 10 years and I decided to draw a really self-serving idea of "what if every child throughout the series made it to Ericsons with Clem"

Duck is not a smart man but he's exceptionally loyal. His lack of wit is countered by his raw strength, despite losing a hand all the way back at the motor inn. At Ericson's he'd probably hang around with the likes of Mitch and Willy. Totally has his dad's hat somewhere.

Becca is the local pain in the ass. Constantly breaching the safe zone and acting primarily in her own interests, few people actually like her but can't deny her capability; she's good to have around in a fight. She's come to respect Clementine's resourcefulness but would never admit it.

Sarah stays firmly within the walls of the school, but that doesn't mean she doesn't pull her own weight. Following in her father's footsteps she's the closest the school has to a doctor now. She'll hang close to Clementine but also gets along with Ruby and Aasim.

Gabe Garcia is the local sadboy. He's not as moody as he was in Richmond, but he's still a little mopey and insists on stepping up. Despite her protests he's very protective of his sister, and still harbors a soft spot for Clementine - so naturally doesn't get along with Louis/Violet.

Mariana Garcia is young but capable, and weirdly well adjusted and mature for her age - she's younger than Gabe but feels like the older sister. After the New Frontier shot her eye out she hasn't been as active in a fight but she'll still insist on pulling her weight while knowing her limits. Gets on with everyone.

James Fairbanks is the oldest known surviving member of his family (unless Sam is still out there) and is brutally protective of his younger brother, Alex. Has a mutual respect with Clem and is very good at setting traps outside the school.

Alex Fairbanks would probably like to fight walkers more but James prefers he'd stick to supply runs and stay on watch. He feels stuck at the kids' table and wants to do more to help, but is at a loss on how to do so.

[neopoliitan]

Team CFVY designs for RWBY Evermorrow AU!

#rwby #rwby fan art #rwby art #rwby fanart #art #rwby evermorrow #rwby au #coco adel #fox alistair #velvet scarlatina #yatsuhashi daichi #team cfvy #cfvy #evermorrow

[neopoliitan]

Wowie zowie! It’s episode 6 of the RWBY Evermorrow AU!

Teams RWBY and CRDL face off against Roman and Neo!

#rwby #rwby fan art #rwby art #rwby fanart #rwby evermorrow #rwby oc #rwby au #art #Youtube

[neopoliitan]

EPISODE 6. TOMORROW.

This one took a little longer than we anticipated but it'll be worth it!

After that… a bit of a rest before we start Ep7 properly 😴

#rwby #rwby fan art #rwby art #rwby fanart #rwby evermorrow #rwby au

[neopoliitan]

TEAM ZRCN ARC 4 CHAPTER 16

Cherry, Neela, and Xanthos get more than they bargained for when encountering Maia Astrella.

Xanthos

Wisteria had fallen from a balcony, pulling Miho with her. In all likelihood, Wisteria was very much dead too. Xanthos didn't say it out loud of course - even he knew that was a bit tasteless - but it was something he believed. Even if by some miracle she had survived there was no way she was walking away injury free. If there were any justice in the world for his teammate, maybe she'd have damaged one of her legs.

Still, despite what issues Xanthos had with her - issues likely shared by his teammates - he would have felt bad if she had truly died. She had been an annoying presence when they first encountered each other, but it was hard to ignore how different she had been in recent weeks, as though her spirit had been dampened. In those final moments, she had not cared what had happened to her, she had just wanted Miho. And she had gotten what she wanted in the end. Even if it had potentially come at the cost of her own life.

"What are we going to do if Wisteria is actually dead?" Neela asked. Xanthos was quietly relieved she had asked the question that had been on his mind.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Cherry responded, sighing as she did. “Regardless of what her fate is, I just know there’s going to be a lot of backlash from the higher-ups in the military about it.” And then, in a softer tone, she added, “As if there wasn’t already enough to begin with.”

With everything that had happened with their arrival in Olympia and then reaching the O.R.C.A.S, Xanthos had almost forgotten that Cherry, Elio, and Morgan had all disobeyed orders in coming here. Not only would they be in big trouble with Wren but the General too. 

The three of them found a set of stairs and Cherry encouraged them to go down. They weren't sure how they had gotten three floors up with how backwards this place was, but they knew they needed to go down if they wanted to reach Wisteria and Miho. They had made it down two flights of stairs when the sound of a nearby voice gave them pause. Cherry held her hand up for them to stop and then raised a finger to her lips urging them to be silent.

It took a moment for Xanthos to pick up on what was being said, the speaker kept going from loud and clear to a lower mumble. 

"Why won't you answer me!?" The speaker suddenly yelled. Whoever the voice belonged to was clearly a woman, and by the tone, she seemed frustrated at something or other.

Xanthos could hear the sound of footsteps but they didn't draw too close. By the repetitive nature of her walking, Xanthos got the impression that she was pacing back and forth.

"Bloody Bianca…couldn't even maintain the connection properly…probably Lunick's fault…useless, useless, USELESS!"

At the woman's growing frustration, Xanthos and Neela shared a worried glance. Xanthos looked at Cherry, trying to see if she had anything to say on the matter, but she only had a furrowed brow and looked deep in thought herself.

The woman stopped pacing and began speaking quietly again. Xanthos had to really focus to hear what she had to say.

"Where are you, Uriah?"

By the mention of the name, Xanthos wondered if the woman they were listening to was his sister, Maia. They knew little about her but Wisteria had at least confirmed that she and Uriah were siblings. 

"Let's take her down," Cherry said, gesturing with a flick of her head. "Quietly."

Xanthos and Neela nodded slowly. Cherry led the way, putting her bhuj in its back holster before approaching. Xanthos and Neela followed suit, their own weapons holstered, cautiously looking ahead.

"Maia Astrella?" Cherry called out quietly, quickly drawing the other woman's attention. Maia was a young woman, in her early twenties from what Xanthos could remember, but with a youthful face that made her seem slightly younger. She had pale skin, wavy brown hair, and teal eyes. Although she seemed a bit startled at the call of her name, Xanthos noticed she seemed more curious than scared. One thin brow arched upwards as she studied the three of them. "It is advisable that you come quietly," Cherry continued, speaking with a calm and controlled voice. She took a step towards Maia but the woman took a step back. "This doesn't have to end in a fight."

The reaction from Maia was almost immediate. The curiosity disappeared in a flash, only to be replaced by red hot anger as she pulled out her weapon - a morningstar - and charged. Cherry hadn't pulled her weapon out yet, so narrowly dodged as Maia swung it at her head. Clearly Maia had put some force behind the swing, as whilst it missed Cherry, it got lodged in a nearby wall and she had to fight to try and pull it out.

"You don't have to do this," Cherry pressed. In response, Maia merely growled, putting both hands on the shaft of her weapon and finally tugging it free. 

"Piss. Off," Maia spat, stalking towards Cherry again. As she did, Xanthos noticed a pink sheen washing over Cherry, an indication that her semblance was kicking in. Xanthos recalled from a sudden training session that Cherry had hosted for him and Neela that her semblance granted her increased strength when people were emotional in her vicinity. He didn't know if it was intentional but Maia was obviously the perfect battery for that semblance.

Cherry and Maia exchanged a few blows, their weapons clanging off each other, but doing no major damage at the moment. As Xanthos watched, waiting for an opening to step in and help, he noted something odd. Whilst Maia was currently grappling with Cherry, her gaze kept drifting elsewhere…to Neela. And by the look on his friend's face, she had noticed it too.

A heavy blow from Maia against Cherry's bhuj, opened up a window for Maia to strike. For one so small, Xanthos was surprised at how vicious she became. Maia did not relent for a moment, kicking, shoving, punching, and swinging her weapon with dangerous intent. Cherry caught a swift blow to her right hand with Maia's weapon, pulling back with a grimace. Her aura flared dramatically which surprised Xanthos as the strike hadn't seemed that bad.

"How?" Cherry questioned, flexing her injured hand.

Maia grinned and dashed forward, about to swing at her with a downward strike, only to be parried by Cherry quickly raising her bhuj to counter. Maia seemed to falter slightly and desperately tried to pull back. However, she was too slow, as Cherry raised a foot and kicked her sharply in the stomach and sending her sprawling on her back.

Maia quickly righted herself, rising to her feet before Cherry or anyone else could get to her. With three people surrounding her, she seemed a bit unsure of what to do herself. Her gaze lingered on Cherry before shaking her head angrily and looking at Neela and Xanthos. Her eyes narrowed and with a small swish of her hand, she shifted her weapon to an alternate form. Xanthos watched as the spiked head dropped on a chain, turning it from a simple morningstar to a ball and chain weapon.

Her gaze followed Xanthos's downwards and when they met, she gave him a smirk before lunging forward again, this time going straight for her real target - Neela.

Neela lifted her weapon ready to intervene, shifting it from its spear form to a trident. Although she was ready, it was Xanthos who got to Maia first, whipping the ground in front of her to try and halt her movements. It did stop her momentarily but she was quick to continue moving, focused and determined to get to Neela.

Behind Maia they could see Cherry working her way up to her again, giving a gesture to Neela to create some sort of distraction. Neela pulled back her weapon suddenly, which Maia saw as an opportunity to move forward, only for Neela to slam the tip of her weapon into the floor, creating an icy formation where it had struck. Maia pulled back sharply to avoid getting skewered, the sleeve of her jacket tearing on the ice as she tried to shield herself.

“Bitch!” Maia hissed, glaring at Neela.

She was so focused on yelling that she didn’t notice Cherry sneak up and grab her from behind. 

Maia genuinely yelped as Cherry got her arm around her and pulled her back. She thrashed around in Cherry’s arms like some sort of wild animal, screaming, kicking, and generally making a lot of noise. Despite Cherry’s best efforts to restrain her, even she could not withstand the wild thrashing. Using her own momentum, Maia managed to plant both of her feet firmly on the ground, leaned forward and then slammed her back into Cherry’s chest. Cherry’s grip slackened as she gasped in surprise and Maia used the opportunity to break free out of her grasp.

Maia would take a few steps forward before turning on her heel and advancing on Cherry again. Although her weapon had fallen to the floor following Cherry’s surprise attack, it didn’t stop the young woman from throwing punch after punch at her. Alarmingly, with every hit Xanthos noted it seemed to be causing more damage, almost as if her attacks were growing in strength.

Cherry eventually got a window to retaliate, throwing up one arm to parry a punch, before using her other hand to land an uppercut against Maia. The other woman staggered back slightly and was then shoved further back by Cherry. Maia yelled something incomprehensible back at Cherry and then tried to punch her again. This time Xanthos noticed that Cherry appeared to almost shrug the hit off. And it seemed by the dawning look of realisation on her face, Cherry realised it too.

“Do not let her grab her weapon!” Cherry ordered, gesturing to Neela who was standing closer to the discarded weapon.

“Oh, you’re sharper than you look,” Maia said mockingly. “Figured it out did you?”

Cherry shrugged. Once again, the two women charged forward, Maia dashing her weapon and Cherry rushing to grab Maia. They got caught in a grapple, Maia fighting hard to break free, and Cherry fighting to keep hold of her. Xanthos could only watch as they grunted and tried to get in small hits against each other. 

Cherry eventually managed to get her arms lowered down on Cherry’s body, trying to twist her slightly and pull her to the ground. As she did so, her foot slipped slightly and Maia sensed this weakness and kicked it out with one of her feet causing Cherry to lose her balance. With Cherry’s balance thrown, it was Maia who managed to get her arms around Cherry’s waist, pulling her forward and then throwing her against the stairs she had come down with Xanthos and Neela.

As she landed against the stairs, Cherry landed awkwardly on her back crying out in pain as she did so. Her aura flared up and then promptly broke. Satisfied her work was done, Maia walked away, once again heading for her weapon. Cherry heaved herself off the stairs gingerly, resting on her knees in a defeated lump.

“You have to…” Cherry’s voice trailed off as she fought to regain her breath. “You have to break her aura!”

Xanthos nodded understanding what he needed to do. His golden eyes travelled over to Neela, who nodded back at him, her grip on her weapons tightening. With Cherry down for the count, it was down to the two of them to deal with Maia. Sure, she might have been able to hit hard, but it didn’t seem like she had much in the way of any sort of tactic. That and her aura was likely very low. One or two strong hits would be enough to break potentially.

Having retrieved her weapon, Maia was back up on the offence, but again she seemed primarily focused on Neela. Ironically, that worked out better in Xanthos and Neela’s favour though. Neela could engage her first and keep her distracted, whilst Xanthos could work around them and try and catch her by surprise. He knew they would need a strong hit to break Maia’s aura, and whilst Xanthos did not doubt Neela’s fighting ability, he knew that they would have better luck with his semblance.

A knowing gaze was aimed towards Neela and she nodded, seemingly understanding he was leaving things to her for a moment.

Neela carried herself well as she defended herself from Maia’s violent strikes. Even when not using her weapon in its trident or spear form, and merely using it to block, Neela moved it with expert precision. Maia did manage to get a few small blows on Neela but was parried more often than she managed to break free and land a hit. Clearly, this was frustrating her quite a bit as she started swinging and hitting out wildly, losing what little technique she had.

Finally, it was Xanthos’s time to strike. A quick strike with his whip, managed to stop Maia in her tracks as she tried to go in for another swing. As she turned, Xanthos rushed suddenly, already having used his semblance to alter his weight, meaning that when his punch caught her in the jaw, it hit hard.

So hard, in fact, that Maia ended up going flying backwards again, landing hard on her back. As hoped, as she attempted to sit back up, her teal aura flickered into life and promptly broke. 

“Stay down,” Xanthos said, uncharacteristically cold.

Turning away from her, he approached Neela and gave her a small smile, trying to gauge how she was feeling. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m alright,” Neela responded. “A bit sore but otherwise okay. We’re lucky Cherry tired her out.”

Xanthos nodded in agreement. She had a point, had Cherry not worn Maia down, he doubted they would have fared well against her had they tried to take her on individually. Speaking of Cherry, the woman was approaching them now, still walking a bit gingerly but looking a bit brighter than she had when instructing the two of them to break Maia’s aura.

“Nice punch, Ravi,” Cherry complimented. “Elio didn’t teach you that did he? I swear I’ve seen him throw a punch like that.”

“Nope all me,” Xanthos grinned.

Cherry chuckled a little but had to forcibly stop laughing as she was in some discomfort doing so. “I’m going to see if I can reach the others,” Cherry explained, gesturing to her earpiece with a finger. “Probably won’t get through but - oh hey, would you look at that it worked!”

Cherry promptly turned her head away, talking into her earpiece to what sounded like Morgan based on her words, explaining what had happened with Wisteria and Miho and that the three of them had then come across Maia. As she was speaking, Xanthos turned to look back at Maia having seen some movement out of the corner of his eye. The woman had managed to pull herself onto her knees and was now sitting there slightly hunched over mumbling away to herself. Xanthos tried to discern what she was saying, but it honestly just sounded like more of the incomprehensible muttering she had been doing earlier. With a small gesture, he made Neela aware of her talking, but like Xanthos she seemed unable to pick up on anything, merely giving him a shrug. Assuming she was just talking away to herself, Xanthos turned away again, instead focusing back on Cherry. Later he would curse himself for looking away.

“I will not lose another home to a fucking Oxford!”

It wasn’t so much the words that caught his attention, but rather the scraping of Maia’s weapon against the floor, as she recollected her weapon which had fallen when he knocked her down. He heard the sound of a weapon connecting with someone, the sound of pierced flesh, and then a startled gasp. Xanthos remembered Maia’s earlier determination to get to Neela and he turned fully expecting to see her with a morningstar lodged in her body.

To Xanthos’s relief, it was not Neela who was the injured party. It was Maia.

Maia was up on one knee, her weapon raised above her head, as though she were trying to stand up and hit Neela. Unfortunately for her, Neela had reacted quickly and had caught her before she could do any damage. The three prongs of Neela’s trident were wedged in her chest - one prong just below the clavicle, and two just below that. Xanthos tensed up as he took in the gory scene before him. Beside him, Cherry cursed, before hastily disconnecting from the call she had made.

Maia let out a horrible gurgling sound before she dropped her weapon and fell to the side, freeing herself from the trident as she did so.

Neela dropped her trident and quickly rushed to the woman’s side, her hands desperately trying to stem the flow of the heavy bleeding from Maia’s chest.

“No, no, no…” She mumbled as shaky hands tried to cover the wounds.

Xanthos’s heart ached to see her so distressed. He knew Neela would not have intended to kill Maia, though in the situation would have only had moments to react and defend herself.

"Neela," Cherry's voice called out softly. "I don't think-"

"NO!" Neela cried out. “I have to help her! I have to stop this! I didn’t mean - I don’t want her to die!”

Maia was continuing to make such horrible sounds. Not only was her blood steadily pooling around her but she was coughing it up too, leaving bloody spittle on her chin. Sudden gasping sounds could be heard coming from her and it didn’t take an expert to know that these were Maia’s final breaths.

As the light started to fade from her eyes, she had time to mutter one final thing to Neela. “Fucking…Oxfords.”

Her words were swiftly replaced by another gargle before her head lolled to the side and all was still.

“No…NO!” Neela yelled. Xanthos was quite taken aback when she suddenly began shaking the other woman quite violently, as though trying to will some life back into her.

Cherry moved to take a step forward but Xanthos held his hand out to stop her. When her pink eyes bore into him questioningly, he merely shook his head hoping that she would understand that he needed to be the one to comfort his friend.

Xanthos knelt beside his teammate, who looked at him wearily with tears in her eyes. “Nee-”

“Get away from me, Xanthos!”

“Neela, stop, look at me!” Xanthos said, forcefully gripping her shoulders so she would look at him. “She’s gone, Neela. You can’t bring her back.”

Neela shook her head a little. Xanthos wasn’t sure if it was denial or a slow acceptance of what she had done. “I didn’t mean to,” Neela choked out, bottom lip quivering.

His blue-haired teammate leaned forward a bit so her forehead was resting against his shoulder, mindful not to touch him with her bloodied hands. Xanthos carefully manoeuvered one arm around so that he could rest a hand on her back, patting comfortingly.

“I know you didn’t mean to,” Xanthos said. “Neela, it was self-defense. If you didn’t retaliate she could have hurt you or attacked me or Cherry.”

Neela sniffed. “I know, I know, I just wonder if it was the right decision?”

“You acted in the moment to defend yourself and the two of us,” Cherry said, quickly joining the conversation. “Maia’s death is unfortunate but do not fault yourself for defending yourself.”

Neela hiccuped awkwardly into Xanthos's shoulder and he felt her head shifting as if nodding again. There was little else said between the three of them after that. As much as Xanthos wished to continue comforting his teammate, he knew that in her present state, his words were likely to fall on deaf ears. No matter how much he and Cherry tried to assure her it was an accident, Xanthos knew the guilt would linger in his friend for a long time. He could only hope that in time she would forgive herself. For now though, he was content to support her and stand by her side. No matter where this went moving forward, he would be with her through all of it.

[neopoliitan]

RWBY Evermorrow has a wiki now! But I can't keep it updated alone, so it'd be appreciated if people want to help out!

Try to keep it only to info seen in the currently released episodes haha

#rwby #rwby evermorrow #rwby au