RWBY: Dark/Thunderstruck

Nora Valkyrie skipped over to the duty board, her heavy boots clicking on the cold tile as she trotted over. Each click echoed through the fortress, causing a few of the other Huntsmen and Huntresses to shoot glances in her direction.

Nora felt their judgmental glares, but payed them no heed. What was so wrong about having a chipper attitude, or a sense of pride and joy in one's work? Granted, Signal Academy had done its absolute best to beat all joy out of her, but it had taught her that there was no better feeling than defeating an opponent, and now her whole job centered around killing and maiming people in Lord Ozpin's service. Nora figured that if everyone else wanted to be serious as sin, she'd let them, but she would make the best of her life. And make the best of it she did.

Stopping mere inches from the giant screen, Nora scanned the list of duties. There were the typical tasks: Grimm clearing, guard duty, tax collecting, child collecting (Nora actively disliked that one), etcetera. But Nora wanted a challenge this time. She scrolled down to where the hits and assassinations were usually listed and began perusing the targets. There was some dark-haired young woman, some pretty blonde, a wrinkled old man... but none of them looked especially interesting. She saw the name and mugshot of Lisa Lavender, the news anchor who had spoken out against Lord Ozpin, and thought about going after her, but then saw a more intriguing name below.

"Arthur Watts," she read aloud. Wasn't that one of the communications technicians that used to work in Beacon Laboratory? She tapped the picture of the mustached gentleman and pulled up the mission information. She smirked a bit when she saw that the mission was labeled as a Level 3 difficulty.

"Arthur Watts," she read out loud. "Wanted dead or alive: Former Chief of Communication Operations of Beacon Laboratory. Wanted for: Treason. Arthur Watts has been found guilty of conspiring with the Resistance and escaping Beacon custody. Best known location is in southwest Vale. Subject to be considered armed and extremely dangerous."

"Shh!" one of the other Huntsmen hissed across the room.

Nora made a face at him. "Get f*cked, Coal!" she shouted at him. She shook her head sourly and looked back at the duty board.

Armed and extremely dangerous, huh? Sounded fun. It was always nice to introduce traitors to her hammer. She scanned the rest of the mission information.

"Level 3 mission. Requirements: minimum two Huntsmen/Huntresses required. Slots filled: 1/2."

Nora raised an eyebrow. So this mission required her to partner up with someone, and someone had already filled one of the slots. She shrugged. Oh well. Maybe she'd meet someone nice for a change.

Nora reached down her skirt, fumbled around briefly, and then pulled her Scroll out of her undergarments. That was the price of wearing a skirt: no pockets. She opened up the device, which defaulted to her Huntress license. She quickly scanned the Scroll to the duty board. The screens processed the action for a few seconds, then confirmed that she had registered for the duty. As Nora returned the Scroll, she saw the duty board name her partner.

"Lie Ren," she read. Then she shrugged. "Never heard of him." She turned on her heel and skipped merrily away.

Nora skipped her way to the Bullhead, ready to board. The pilot would take them as far as the ruins of Mountain Glenn, then the rest was up to them. Nora held her beloved hammer behind her neck, gripping it in her fists to keep it steady. The pilot, a tall man in a military uniform and a white helmet with a black visor covering his eyes, saw her and waved her over.

"Mornin', Miss Valkyrie," he said in a chipper tone, which was unusual for someone working under Lord Ozpin's service. "You here for the Watts mission?"

"Yep!" Nora said. Finally, someone who had a smile on his face. "Is my partner here yet?"

The pilot nodded. "He showed up about an hour ago. He's sittin' in the ship, ready to go whenever you are."

Nora raised an eyebrow. He showed up an hour early? And he just sat there? Who was this Lie Ren?

"Well, I'm here, so I'm ready!" Nora said, giving the pilot a thumbs-up. The pilot returned the gesture and hurried over to the cockpit.

Nora walked quickly into the Bullhead. It was a little dark inside, forcing her to squint to see. Then she saw him.

Sitting in the corner of the hold, sitting cross-legged and shrouded in shadows, was a man. He was very tall and toned, with long, flowing black hair, fair skin, and cloaked in robes of black and forest green. He wore black, fingerless gloves and black sandals, as well as a green cloth covering his face from his nose to his chin. His eyes were closed and his back was straight, his gloved hands resting on his knees, as if he was meditating.

Nora's jaw fell open as she sharply inhaled. She felt her knees tremble slightly and her Scroll shift. He was the most handsome beast Nora had ever laid eyes on.

Nora hopped over and practically jumped to sit next to him, landing with an audible thudding that was amplified by the head of her hammer striking the metal ground. The Bullhead began to rumble, and Nora felt it begin to raise from the ground.

"Well hey there," Nora said loudly. "How you doin'?"

The man slowly opened his eyes. They were deep magenta, and they might as well have been the sexiest eyes Nora had ever seen. They slowly shifted over to look at her.

"Nora Valkyrie, I presume?" he said in a deep, gruff voice.

Nora did not know if she was shaking from excitement, or if it was just the ship taking off. She grinned and pointed to herself. "That's me!" she said enthusiastically. "And you must be Lie Ren!"

The man huffed in what seemed like annoyance, but Nora did not notice it. He looked away from her and nodded ever so slightly.

Nora scooted closer. "So..." she said in her best sultry voice, "we gonna kill that prick Watts or what?"

Ren grumbled slightly, but responded. "If we can bring him back alive, he may continue to be of use to Lord Ozpin," he said slowly. "But, if needed, we will eliminate him."

"Ooh! We'll break his legs!" Nora suggested. When Ren did not seem to respond, she decided to shift the subject. "Have you seen my hammer?" She began speaking quickly. "I love my hammer. My hammer is so good. I can crush almost any bone in someone's body with it. It's so fun. Why, just last week I knocked some Grimm so f*cking senseless that they had to limp away and go die. Like, they actually left the battle to lay down and die they were in so much pain. Can you believe that? It was like, Ursai, dozens of them! And I don't like to brag, but-"

As Nora continued to ramble, she did not know the rage that was building in her teammate. He did his best to regulate his breathing. He served Lord Ozpin, and nothing mattered other than serving his Lord. If this is what he would have to deal with, at least for now, he'd tolerate it. Still, he was thinking of all the... accidents... that could happen on a mission like this.

Mountain Glenn was intended to be an expansion of Vale, and was almost completely finished when Lord Ozpin came into power. However, because it was primarily a haven for families, it was the first city that Lord Ozpin began having children taken from in order to build his special forces. The amount of children taken had been so great that the amount of grief and trauma from the families was staggering, attracting Grimm from miles around. When the invasion began, Lord Ozpin allowed the city to fall, seeing it as no more than a necessary sacrifice. Those that managed to escape made it to Vale, where a year later, Lord Ozpin displayed his might in the great bombing.

The Bullhead settled down on one of the ruined streets, where it allowed its passengers to exit.

"Just contact me with your Scroll when you're ready for pickup," the pilot called to Nora and Ren. "Unless you say otherwise, I'll be coming back to this point." He gave another thumbs-up that Nora mirrored back, then he took off and flew away through the grey skies.

Nora cradled her hammer as Ren pulled a pistol with an attached blade out from a holster. His sharp eyes began scanning the environment.

"So where do you wanna look, partner?" Nora said giddily.

Ren rolled his eyes and listened. It was silent, aside from the wind. Occasionally, the cold breeze would create a whistling through one of the cracked windows or hollow doorframes. He began to walk, and was annoyed that Nora followed so close that she was practically breathing down his neck.

Nora was thrilled. She was on a super exciting mission with the sexiest guy she'd even met. He was so mysterious and stoic, traits that made Nora wet with arousal. She may have come on a little strong, but once he saw her f*ck the Watts guy up, he'd see just how strong and sexy she was. It was then Nora realized that finding Watts had become her secondary objective, as making Ren fall for her was now the main priority that buzzed in her mind.

Ren stopped when he heard a new noise, almost making Nora crash into him. The two looked up to see a pair of black Beowolves, snarling and huffing, emerge from between two of the decrepit buildings. They walked out a few feet before one of them stopped and turned its canine head towards them, glaring at them with glowing red eyes. It growled louder, and the other Grimm turned to look as well. The second one immediately roared and charged, with the other one following close behind.

Ren pulled out a second bladed gun as the Beowolf leapt into the air, spreading its limbs wide and angling its claws towards him. Ren began firing into the beast's exposed underside, causing the Grimm to yelp in pain as it crashed towards him. Ren acrobatically rolled out of the way, allowing the Beowolf to clumsily land on the asphalt, still swiping at him.

Nora whirled backwards to dodge the other Beowolf's swiping claws. She retaliated with her hammer, hitting its ashen paws away from her and landing a satisfying blow to its head. The Beowolf snapped its jaws at her, but Nora held out her hammer, allowing it to bite down on the handle instead of her head. However, when she tried to free the hammer from the Grimm's jaws, it held on and began trying to wrestle the weapon from her grim. Nora held on for dear life as the Beowolf flailed about.

Ren's Beowolf swiped again, but Ren dodged the swipe and leapt over to the monster's side. With a swift motion, he stabbed the blade of one of his weapons into the Grimm's eye. The Beowolf howled and reared up, and Ren used the momentum to propel himself onto the creature's back. He dug one of his weapons into the Beowolf's neck to anchor himself, then aimed down with the other weapon and began firing at the Beowolf's head. The Grimm flailed and reached at him, but Ren kicked its claws away. The Beowolf then looked up and roared, and Ren took the opportunity to aim down the Grimm's gaping maw and fire several well-timed shots down inside of it. The Beowolf choked and screeched, recoiling from the shots, then made a final choking sound before collapsing dead onto the ground. Ren rolled off the Grimm and reloaded his guns.

The other Grimm finally released Nora's hammer, sending her flying into the side of a small building. She felt the impact on her back and gritted her teeth in pain for a moment before dropping to her feet. The Beowolf charged, snarling, and Nora lifted her hammer and readied it. As soon as the monster was in range, she swung from the side, pummeling the Grimm directly on its lower jaw. There was a loud crack as the jaw dislodged and the plating splintered, and the Beowolf slid dead to the ground, sending bits of stone and dirt flying as it skidded against the decrepit road.

Nora panted and stretched her sore arm, but then stood straight and grinned wildly at Ren. He looked at her briefly before turning away.

"Oh yeah," Nora whispered to herself. "He's impressed."

Ren, meanwhile, had already dismissed the Grimm attack and was scanning for any sign he could of human activity. Usually, his tracking skills were so acute that he could tell where a person had walked just by the way the rubble was arranged, but the cracked road and dusty buildings looked exactly as they should: abandoned. Ren thought for a moment, then got an idea.

"Valkyrie," he said in his deep voice. Upon hearing her crush mutter her name, Nora bolted like lightning to his side, almost running into him.

"Yes, Senpai?" she said in her cutest possible voice.

Ren groaned. What the f*ck had she just called him? Ren seriously considered slitting her throat right then and there, but would probably have to answer to Lord Ozpin for killing a licensed Huntress on a mission. He was angry, but he was not stupid; besides, he needed her for now.

"Do you have your Scroll?" he growled.

Nora beamed and reached into her undergarments, pulling out the (slightly damp) Scroll. "Yep!" he exclaimed.

"Give it here," Ren ordered.

Nora obeyed, and Ren took it quickly. He pulled his own Scroll out of a fold in his robe and switched them both on, then clicked them together.

"He's connecting our Scrolls!" Nora thought. However, she decided to ask the meaning behind the action.

"What'cha doin?" she asked, leaning over Ren's shoulder.

Ren decided that, just this once, he would indulge her. "Watts was the Chief of Communication Operations, and was conspiring with the Resistance by sending them illegal transmissions. If his purpose was to send messages to the Resistance, there's little chance that he's stopped. So if we do a scan of any electrical or Dust energy outputs in the area, we might be able to pick up a potential location. However, one Scroll is not enough for a full scan, so I am using both to give a wider search."

Nora swooned slightly. "So you're clever too, huh? Hold my hammer, I think I'm gonna faint."

Ren grumbled as the two screens showed a radar-like display. A pale white line spun around in a circle, scanning the area. Nora was squirming with excitement as Ren stared at the screens. Then a sharp ping rang from Nora's scroll, startling her. A small, red dot appeared on the radar.

"Dust energy output," Ren said. "And it's not from our weapons. It's about five blocks down." Ren disconnected the two Scrolls and tossed Nora's back to her, which she caught clumsily. Ren pulled his weapons back out and began running towards the location. Nora pressed her Scroll against her face, thrilled that Ren had touched it, then shoved it back down her skirt before picking up her hammer and skipping after him.

The run was a short one for the fit Huntsman and Huntress, and the only adversity they faced was a single Ravager that came screeching out of a hollow building. Nora smashed it to a pulp with her hammer in a single swing, and did not even have to stop running. Nora watched Ren's every step lustfully, then skidded to a halt when she saw him slow to a stop.

They were now deeper into the city, at an intersection of road. A half-built building loomed over them, each of its many floors vacant.

"Here?" Nora questioned.

Ren's eyes scanned the area. This is where the Scrolls had led them, but it looked the same as everywhere else. Quiet, dirty, abandoned, empty. There was not as much as a sign of Grimm anywhere. It was clear Watts was not hiding in any of the buildings.

Nora shrugged. "Maybe we need to scan agin," she suggested. She took a step towards Ren, reaching for his Scroll, when suddenly she felt her weight shift and heard a loud cracking sound. Nora yelped as the ground beneath her gave way, sending her plummeting down.

Ren turned around out of pure shock, and watched as Nora tumbled down a massive hole in the street. Her hammer flew up into the air, then came plummeting down after her.

Nora fell roughly fifteen feet straight down. She landed on her rear, grunting loudly from the stinging impact. Just as she was about to reach down and rub her injured behind, she remembered her hammer and quickly rolled out of the way just before the giant weapon landed. Nora breathed a sigh of relief that she was not crushed, then slowly stood up, grabbing her hammer's handle in one hand, and rubbing her posterior with the other.

Ren waited, and was disappointed when he heard her moving around down in the hole. He leaned over and peered down.

"Valkyrie?" he called.

"I'm fine!" Nora replied, hissing slightly from the stinging. She glanced up. "Ren? You might want to see this," she called.

Ren raised an eyebrow, but carefully jumped down into the hole. He rolled as he landed in order to not injure himself. As he stood up, he saw Nora holding up her Scroll. The light from the device illuminated a claustrophobic concrete tunnel ahead of and behind them.

"I thought these tunnels were sealed off when Grimm invaded," Nora said.

"They were," Ren replied. "But not filled in. If Watts found a hole down here like you did, there's a good chance he's down here." He raised his guns. "Keep your Scroll on for light, and stick close."

Nora squeed in excitement. It took restraint for her to not hug him then, but she instead hurried to his side, less than an inch away. As Ren began walking with his guns forward, Nora stuck by his side, holding the Scroll for light.

As they walked, Nora fantasized. She imagined herself in regal robes, living in an extravagant palace. Queen of the castle. She imagined Ren, her knight in shining armor, sharing her reign with her.

"Look, Ren..." Nora said. "I know I have a tendency to babble, but I do think that we can crush our enemies, bring them to their knees. What would you think about a permanent partnership? We'd work well together. Well, not, like, 'together-together', but..."

Ren had just about enough. He began to raise his weapon to slit Nora's throat when he heard a sound. Nora stopped yammering as they both stopped and looked ahead.

There was a fork in the tunnel in front of them, branching off into two separate tunnels. A metallic clang echoed through them, though it was impossible to determine which one the sound came from.

"More Grimm?" Nora asked.

"No," Ren said, subtly lowering his weapon (which Nora did not even notice). "It was metallic. Someone else is down here."

Ren glanced between the two branching tunnels, waiting for the sound to come again, but the darkness was silent aside from Nora's breathing.

"We'll have to split up," Ren said. "Cover both tunnels."

Nora put on her best pouty face. "You're gonna leave me?"

Ren pulled out his Scroll and turned it on, giving himself his own light source. "I'll take the left. You take the right," he said, completely ignoring Nora's question.

Nora tried to keep the connection. "I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal! A secret signal so we can find each other! Can you imitate a sloth?"

Ren grumbled and shot a glare at her.

"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise," he snapped before turning away and jogging down the left tunnel. Nora was a bit upset that Ren had separated from her, but his hostility was completely lost on her. She just shrugged and hurried down the right tunnel.

Ren was glad for the quiet for a while.

Nora skipped down the dark, dirty tunnel, humming to herself and imagining how happy she would be when she and Ren were reunited. She had to remind herself that she had just met the guy earlier that day, and that she should slow down and try to show some restraint. Despite her occasional logic, she could not help herself. Every time she thought about him, she could not help her heart from racing, her mind going fast and her knees start shaking. Her stomach did flips. Throughout all of it, she never questioned if he felt the same. She just assumed he did. He had to. She had impressed him, had she not? She was a strong girl. Who else could he possibly fall for? That Nikos bitch? Nora would hammer her head in if she tried to steal her man. That's what Ren was. Hers. All hers.

A faint shuffling then caught her attention. She skidded to a stop, thinking that Ren was behind her, but as soon as she turned, she saw no one. The shuffling happened again, and she knew it was not her. She readied her weapon and slowly walked forward, expecting a Creep or Centinal to burst out of the wall. She shifted her light to look at the ceiling, and that's when she noticed the faintest glimmer of light from a few feet to her left, on the ground.

Ren kept running, minding his footfalls so they would not make much noise. He felt like screaming. Putting up with that ditzy moron was infuriating. He had to admit she could hold her own in a fight, but her clingy nature and clear infatuation with him wanted to make him feed her to Grimm. Did she not know that romance was forbidden? She would be lucky if Lord Ozpin had the restraint to not have her beheaded. While Ren was not one for imagining things (imagination was pointless, and anything not directly supporting Lord Ozpin he considered a waste of time), but he did take a moment to imagine Nora Valkyrie's head being removed by Qrow Branwen's sword, then thrown to Beowolves. It was a comforting thought.

Suddenly, Ren noticed a light up ahead. He slowed to a tiptoe and noticed the light coming from a large, jagged hole in the side of the tunnel. He snuck over to the hole and cautiously peered into it.

About ten feet below him, in a hollowed-out cave, was a Dust-powered flood lamp. It illuminated the cave, revealing a surprisingly large terminal of computers and screens on a long black desk. All of it was wired to a Dust generator. In front of the terminal, typing on one of the keyboards, was a man. He was very tall with grey hair and an impressive mustache, wearing a grey overcoat and pants, dress shoes, and cordovan fingerless gloves. With one hand he was typing, with the other he was talking on a Scroll.

"Yes, Carmine, I guarantee this call is secure," he was saying in a posh tone. "I was Chief of Communication. I know how to hide a call."

There was no doubt. This was Arthur Watts.

"Listen to me now and listen to me closely," Watts was saying to the person on the other end. "It's only a matter of time before I have Huntsmen and Huntresses on my tail. I may not survive. You and Bertilak have to get that code to him so he can share it with the Resistance. It may take a while, but the Resistance has to have it."

Ren was not going to risk any more time, even if Watts was divulging information. He jumped down and landed on the floor of the cave, pointing his guns at Watts.

Watts stopped typing. Without even looking at Ren, he muttered into the Scroll.

"They're here," he said. Then he hung up. He turned his head and looked at Ren with a hardened gaze.

"Don't move," Ren demanded. "Arthur Watts, you are under arrest for high treason."

"Treason?" Watts asked. "Is it treason to want justice? Freedom? Life?"

"Your life, as with all lives, are property of Lord Ozpin," Ren said harshly.

Watts sighed. "They really do a number on you in those academies, don't they?" Then he dropped his Scroll to the ground and promptly stepped on it, crushing it under his shoe and grinding it onto the stone. All of the computer screens flashed white before going black.

"Everything here, everything you could have used against the Resistance, was tied to that Scroll. Now you have none of it," Watts said, turning the rest of his body to face Ren.

"Inconsequential," Ren assured. "No matter what you've given them, it will not be enough to stop our god."

Watts raised an eyebrow as his mustache twitched. "A god? You think Lord Ozpin is a god? Let me tell you something, boy. Your god... is false."

Ren opened fire. Watts dove out of the way, allowing the ammunition to be wasted on the rock wall behind him. From a fold in his overcoat, he pulled out a revolver and fired at Ren, who managed to jump behind a rock just before Watts fired. Watts hurried over to the generator and took cover behind it.

"At the risk of sound cliché, boy... I won't be going down without a fight," Watts said.

Then both men heard a cracking sound. Watts looked above him to see the stone ceiling cracking and chipping. He jumped to his feet and sprinted out of the way before the ceiling collapsed, dropping a massive pile of rubble and rock onto the generator, crushing it. Nora rode the rock all the way down, her hammer pointed downwards.

Nora smirked when she saw Ren peek out. She rolled her tongue and attempted to make some kind of animal call.

"That's still not what a sloth sounds like!" Ren shouted angrily.

Nora just smiled. "I saw light and heard noise, so I broke my way through!" she beamed. She looked up and saw Watts. "Hey, it's you!" she said.

Just then, the ruined generator sparked and spat before dying, and the flood light went out. Now in darkness, Ren heard Watt's footsteps as he tried to run.

Ren reached into his robe and pulled out a vial of Fire Dust. He saved it as backup ammunition, but now threw it towards the direction he had come from. The vial shattered and a fire roared to life right in front of Watts, who was forced to stop. The flames illuminated the cave, allowing the fighters to see each other.

Ren raised his gun, but Watts fired first. Ren dropped to the ground, allowing the bullet to pass over him. Watts began to sprint back in the direction he came from, but Nora hopped off of the pile of rubble and swung at him. Watts barely dodged the swing, then pointed his gun at Nora. Nora quickly raised her hammer in front of her just in time for the fired bullet to ricochet off the head of the weapon and into the wall.

Ren got back on his feet and stepped up on top of the rock he was hiding behind. Watts fired a shot, but missed. He shoved Nora into the cave wall and began to climb the rubble, attempting to get up into the hole Nora made. Ren fired at him, and one of the shots clipped his overcoat. Watts dropped and rolled over back towards the desk, picking up a vial of Gravity Dust off of it. He threw it at Ren and hit him in the face, causing the Huntsman to wince. Ren looked back at Watts, then felt his legs leaving the ground as he began to float upwards. He tried aiming at him, but the momentum from lifting his arm spun him so he was facing upwards.

Watts grinned slightly, but dropped it when he saw Nora charging with her hammer. He dove out of the way as Nora brought her weapon down on the computers, smashing them to pieces. She quickly adjusted her position and swung again, but Watts managed to dodge. He fired at Nora, who jerked her head back to avoid the shot. She then took a step forward and swung her hammer up from below, striking Watts in the gut. He grunted loudly as he was sent flying into Ren, bringing them both down to the ground.

Watts threw Ren off of him and aimed back at Nora, but Ren grabbed his wrist and forced it up, causing him to fire at the ceiling. With a sharp twist, Ren snapped Watts' wrist, causing him to yell in pain and drop his revolver. Ren jumped to his feet and slammed his foot down on Watts' chest, pointing his guns down at him.

Nora stood there, amazed. "Did... did you just save me?" Nora asked, her cheeks turning red.

"Absolutely not," Ren said. "I just disarmed the target."

Despite asking the question, Nora did not even listen for an answer. She trembled slightly as she walked over, her heart fluttering. "He saved my life," she whispered to herself.

Ren held his fingers on the triggers of his weapons as Nora positioned her hammer over Watts. Watts, grimacing in pain, looked up at them.

"Fight all you want," he muttered. "In the end, no god will save you."

Ren wanted to pull the trigger then and there, but he thought about what Watts had been saying on the Scroll. He may still have valuable information. Even so, Ren wanted to kill him. So he decided to not leave the decision up to him.

"Valkyrie," he said slowly.

Nora almost jumped with excitement. "Yes, Ren?" she said longingly.

"Lord Ozpin said dead or alive. Which one should it be?"

Nora beamed. She had the feeling that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. She gently released one of her hands from around her hammer, carefully reached over, and tapped her pointer finger on the tip of Ren's masked nose.

"Boop," she mused, before slamming her hammer down.

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