Blake Belladonna (RWBY)/Synopsis

==Childhood==
Blake Belladonna was born as the only child and of Ghira Belladonna and his wife Kali, in the Faunus-run continent of Menagerie. Blake and her family were Faunus, and Blake specifically was a cat Faunus with an additional pair of cat-like ears on her head. Her father Ghira was the leader of the Faunus rights origination known as the White Fang. From an early age, she was raised with a distrust of humans and was often a part of Faunus rights protests.
==The White Fang==
When she was a teenager, Ghira stepped down as leader of the White Fang to become chieftain of Menagerie. He left the White Fang to his old ally Sienna Khan, who had more extreme views of Faunus rights, supporting a more militaristic, supremacist White Fang that eventually became an anti-human terrorist organization bent on ruling through fear. Blake, despite having reservations about the group's violent turn, remained with the organization and even pursued a romance with Adam Taurus, a high-ranking member under Khan. As a member, she trained as a fighter and honed her combat and stealth abilities. She also discovered her Semblance, Shadow, which allows her to create a frail clone that can distract or take hits for her. Despite this, Adam was not known to treat her well, and his attitude and the White Fang's radical nature made Blake doubt her role.
During an attack on a train owned by the Schnee Dust Company, which employed Faunus slave labor, Blake and Adam fought off the robotic security and plan to set charges to destroy the train. However, Blake is horrified when Adam reveals that he plans to kill the human crew as well. As Adam is distracted fighting a Spider Droid, Blake decides to abandon him and the White Fang, severing their connection and the train car.
Electing to not put her skills towards radical terrorism and unethical violence any longer, Blake decides to travel to Beacon Academy in Vale to become a Huntress. She dons a large black bow on her head to hide her cat-like ears.
==First Semester at Beacon==
Blake enters the school grounds reading a book, and happens upon a confrontation between Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Blake calmly calls out the Schnee Dust Company's shady reputation, then leaves.
That night, Ruby and her sister, Yang Xiao Long, see Blake reading and attempt to befriend her. Despite her hesitance, Blake begins a conversation with Ruby about books and stories before going to bed.
The new students prepare for initiation, which will involve them being sent into the Emerald Forest to retrieve artifacts at a hidden temple. They are also informed that the first individual they make eye contact with will become their teammate for the rest of their time at the Academy. After landing, Blake comes across Yang Xiao Long fighting some Ura Grimm and helps her defeat one, with the two of them becoming partners. They make their way to a hidden temple and find chess piece relics, electing to obtain a White Knight. As Blake and Yang watch, the other students, including Ruby, Weiss, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren arrive in various strange ways, most chased by giant Grimm. They all flee after obtaining their relics.
The students flee from the incoming Grimm, but are forced to fight them off. Blake aids in fighting a Nevermore Grimm, and uses her weapon's ribbon to launch Ruby at the monster to defeat it.
Following the initiation, Professor Ozpin sorts the students into teams based on the relic they chose. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are formed into Team RWBY, with Ruby named the leader.
Not long after, Team RWBY witnesses a fight in the school's cafeteria between Jaune and a bully named Cardin Winchester. When Ruby steps in to help, Cardin antagonizes her. Professor Goodwitch steps in and suggests resolving the matter with a sparring match. After some support from her teammates, Ruby is able to easily overpower Cardin.
Blake settles in to her new role as a student, helping decorate the team's dormitory room and attending classes. When Weiss, who is angry that Ruby was named leader, tries to show off by fighting a Baorbatusk Grimm, Blake offers her advice in defeating it. Blake excels in history classes, knowing details about the Faunus Rights Revolution and imparting her knowledge about Faunus' excellent night vision on her peers. She later attends a field trip to the Forever Fall forest to collect red sap, where she witnesses Jaune fight off an Ursa Grimm with a bit of help from Pyrrha.
To prepare for the upcoming Vytal Festival and Tournament that will take place in Vale,Team RWBY goes to the city's docks to survey the incoming students. There they meet a charming stowaway, a monkey Faunus named Sun Wukong, who Blake instantly is taken with. Weiss dislikes him because he is a Faunus. As Ruby and her team go through Vale, Ruby meets Penny Polendina, who instantly befriends her.
That night, Weiss continues to bad-mouth Sun and Faunus, making Blake increasingly angry. She yells at Weiss, accidentally revealing herself as a Faunus. She runs away in embarrassment, and comes across Sun. The two spend time together, with Blake explaining her history with the White Fang to Sun, and the two electing to see if they are behind a series of robberies in the area. They track the criminals down to a harbor, revealing the White Fang have allied with the criminal Roman Torchwick and are in fact behind the robberies. Blake and Sun fight them off, and the rest of Blake's team arrive. Weiss apologizes and reconsiles with Blake, promising to be better.
==Second Semester at Beacon==
At the start of the second semester, Weiss and Team RWBY get involved in a food fight against Team JNPR, and during the struggle are introduced to Sun's friend Neptune Vasilias. Despite the food fight and playing games with her team, Blake is continuously stressed by the knowledge that the White Fang are operating in Vale, getting little food or rest. Weiss confronts her on this, and she and her team elect to look into the criminal activity outside of school hours, unaware that the ringleaders of the operation, Cinder Fall, Mercury Black, and Emerald Sustrai have infiltrated the school disguised as students.
During their investigations, Blake teams up with Sun to infiltrate a White Fang Faction meeting led by Roman Torchwick, showing off stolen Atlesian technology and discussing their operations. However, they are recognized and forced to flee as Roman gives chase in a mech suit. Blake sends out a distress call, and her teammates arrive. Together, they battle the mech, which is destroyed by Yang, but Torchwick escapes with help from his sidekick Neopolitan.
Despite the investigations, Blake is left even more stressed by Torchwick getting away and the mounting threat of the White Fang. When Sun asks her to the Beacon dance, she harshly rejects him, opting to do more reseach into the criminal activity. She begins to let her obsession control her life as her health and grades slip. Yang confronts Blake, sharing her past and encouraging Blake to slow down and rest for her own good. Though she is reluctant, Yang convinces her to relax and enjoy herself. Blake attends the Beacon dance, dancing with both Sun and Yang.
Later, Ruby receives a package from her father, containingher dog Zwei. As a cat Faunus, Blake instantly takes a dislike to the animal, demanding it be kept away from her and her things, and moving quickly to avoid contact with it.
The teams are then given Search and Destroy missions where they will be shadowed by a Huntsman or Huntress. Ozpin grants Team RWBY a higher-level mission, where they are shadowed by Bartholomew Oobleck to the abandoned settlement of Mountain Glenn to exterminate Grimm. When they arrive, it is revealed that Ruby smuggled Zwei along, though Oobleck is excited that a dog is joining them.
Throughout the day, Oobleck guides the girls in battling the Grimm infesting the city, and interviews each one. When he asks Blake why she decided to become a Huntress, she claims it is to stop corruption and inequality, though is unable to answer when OObleck asks her how she intends to do it.
That night, she, Weiss, and Yang talk about hteir motivations to become Huntresses, and Blake speaks about her past with Adam, and how she thought his ideals were just. When she realized the truth, she felt she had an obligation to undo the years of hate that she and the White Fang had orchestrated. She laments that her first instinct when confronted by a problem is to flee, even remarking how her Semblance involves leaving behind a decoy so she can avoid confrontation.
That night, Ruby is captured by the White Fang, who are operating below the city. Zwei leads Blake and the others to her location, and they rescue her. They chase the criminals to a train and board it. They discover bombs on the train and deduce that the White Fang are going to breach Vale's perimeter and allow Grimm into the city. On the train, Blake battles Roman Torchwick, and defeats him. She rescues Weiss from being killed by the White Fang Lieutenant, then makes her way to the top of the train. The group fails to stop the train, and Weiss encases them all in ice before they crash.
Blake recovers, and immediately begins fighting the Grimm spilling into Vale. With help from allies, the breach is secured. Blake and her team return to Beacon, but resolve to continue investigating the criminals.
==RWBY: Grimm Eclipse==
Following their mission to Mountain Glenn, Oobleck leads the team on several more missions, where they discover the cause of Mountian Glenn's fall, attributed to a company called Merlot Industries, where their leader, Doctor Merlot, was performing experiments of Grimm. The team returns to Mountain Glenn, only to find it booby-trapped by Merlot.
The team goes to the Forever Fall forest to continue investigating Merlot, whre they find and infiltrate a ship , but get trapped and transported to Merlot's private island. Merlot sics androids and mutated Grimm on them, but are able to make their way to the laboratory. After fighting and defeating a mutant Death Stalker, Merlot detonates the lab and escapes. Team RWBy escapes, and are brought back to Vale by Ozpin
==Vytal Festival Tournament==
The Vytal Festival Tournament goes underway at Amity Coliseum, where the various academies compete in combat matches. Team RWBY fights Team ABRN from Haven Academy and win, going out to eat afterwards to celebrate. They elect Weiss and Yang to represent the team in the upcoming doubles match.
Blake continues to participate in the Festival, watching matches with her allies in Team JNPR and Team SSSN. She watches the doubles match where Weiss and Yang are pitted against Flynt Coal and Neon Katt from Team FNKI. Though Weiss is injured, she and Yang manage to win, and Yang is elected to fight in the singles match.
Yang is pitted against Mercury Black, unaware he is one of the criminals opressing Vale. She wins their brawl, but due to a hallucination caused by Emerald Sustrai's Semblance, mistakenly believes Mercury attacks her. She punches in self-defense, appearing to the audience to attack her downed opponent without provocation. Yang is arrested but later let go, though Team RWBY is disqualified from the tournament. When Yang explains what happened, Blake is hesitant to believe her, recalling Adam's fall to darkness, but is quickly convinced to her friend's side.
Blake and Weiss go to the fairgrounds to get drinks together, but the city is attacked by Cinder Fall and the White Fang, who begin unleashing Grimm into the city, hacking communications to declare war on the Kingdom.
==The Battle of Beacon==
Blake and Weiss head back to Beacon to defend it, fighting off hacked Atlas robots, White Fang, and Grimm. As Blake chases down a Beowolf Grimm, she comes across Adam killing an Atlas soldier. Adam sees her and condemns her for betraying the White Fang. Adam and Blake fight, but Adam overpowers her and knocks her to the floor, where he mocks her by stating his intentions to not only continue his revolution, but get revenge on Blake by destroying everything she loves. Adam stabs Blake in her lower torso to make her cry out and get Yang's attention. When Yang rushes to save Blake, Adam severs her arm. Blake distracts him with a shadow clone, which he decapitates thinking it is her, as Blake carries Yang to safety.
Despite getting to safety, Blake is distraught that her friend was injured trying to save her. After Blake is bandaged, she flees, running away back to her home in Menagerie. Beacon falls, Pyrrha is killed, and students are displaced.
==Returning to Menagerie==
Blake travels through various piers and boats back home. While on a boat making its way to Menagerie, she abandons her bow. During the trip, she confronts a hooded figure following her, revealing it to be a concerned Sun. Together they fight off a Sea Fielong Grimm, and Blake reluctantly accepts Sun's company returning home.
Blake returns to her home and meets back with her parents, who are elated to find her safe. Blake explains everything to her parents, including the White Fang's involvement with the Fall of Beacon. Ghira reveals that Adam has been trying to take over the White Fang, and has garnered a lot of support from its members. Blake takes the time to reconcile with her parents, but is interrupted when she finds out that her old ally from the White Fang, Ilia Amitola, has been spying on her. Blake and Sun chase her, but Sun is injured and she escapes.
As Sun recovers from his injury, Blake speaks to him about how she left her team behind so they would be safe. Sun explains that her abandonment hurts more than any injury, inspiring her not to run. Blake's parents inform her that the White Fang next plans to attack Haven Academy in Mistral, and Blake decides to take action against them.
Blake attempts to rally the Faunus of Menagerie to help defend Haven, but they are opposed by Ilia and her associate, as well as the Albain brothers. Additionally, the Faunus do not seem interested in helping humans, much to Blake's dismay. She speaks with Sun about how dangerous Adam has become. One night, Blake receives a note from Ilia requesting a private meeting. Blake hesitantly agrees, only to be ambushed by members of the White Fang, who intend to assassinate her parents and ship her to Adam. Sun rescues her, and together they go and foil the assassination attempt on her parents. Blake fights Ilia at her burning home, and convinces her that Adam's ideologies are wrong and that he is the true enemy. Ghira saves Ilia from the fire, convincing her to turn against Adam and join Blake.
Following the altercation, Blake speaks about how Faunus are just as capable of hate as humans, and that the White Fang will tarnish Faunus reputations forever if they do not save Haven. Ilia volunteers to join her, leading to an army of Faunus volunteering to save Haven. They travel via boat, and eventually reach Haven on the night of the attack.
==The Battle of Haven==
Blake and her new Faunus allaince arrive in Haven, where Adam and the White Fang have set up explosives. Blake fights Adam during the battle, and he tries to detonate the explosives and kill everyone, including his own subordinates. When this fails, Blake notes how no one is supporting him now. Adam runs, and Blake allows him to flee. Blake and her new brotherhood triumph, and the battle ends. Blake goes inside to find Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Jaune, Nora, and Ren. Blake is reunited with her team, who all forgive her.
==Journey to Atlas==
Following the battle, Blake is informed by her allies all they have learned: the history of Remnant, and how two gods created the world. They left behind artifacts of power, and an ancient evil named Salem, who was behind Cinder and the fall of Beacon, is seeking them out. He also explains the existence of four Maidens with powers of nature, whose power is passed down to women in every generation, who are the ones able to open the vaults that contain the artifacts. One of these artifacts, the Relic of Knowledge, was obatined by the Spring Maiden and Yang's mother Raven Branwen, who left it with them. She also learns that Ozpin, who was killed during the Battle of Beacon, is still around, as his soul is now housed by a young boy named Oscar Pine. Joined by Ruby and Yang's uncle, the Huntsman Qrow Branwen, the heroes decide to set out for the Kingdom of Atlas to secure its relic.
Two weeks after the Battle of Haven, Blake and her allies board the Argus Limited train to Atlas. She says her goodbyes to Ilia and Sun, who stay behind to help Haven. During the train ride, Blake attempts to further reconcile with her allies until it is attacked by Grimm drawn to the Relic. Team RWBY fight back the Grimm, but the train derails and they are separated from Jaune, Ren, and Nora. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Qrow, Oscar/Ozpin, and an old woman named Maria Calavera are lost in the wilderness.
Having lost trust in Ozpin for witholding the secrets of the Relic, Ruby uses the Relic to summon the entity Jinn, who offers answers to questions. Ruby inquires what Ozpin is hiding, and Jinn reveals that Ozpin, formerly Ozma, was Salem's lover in a time long past. He eventually died, but Salem challenged the gods for his return and was punished with a curse of immortality. Salem turned evil and the gods resurrected Ozma to defeat her, but he instead married her and had a family, until he realized the extent of her evil. In their battle, he and their four daughters were killed, with Ozma forced to live on forever through other bodies until his work was complete. However, he has yet to find a way to destroy Salem, and instead dedicated himself to protecting the Relics she sought to use to end the world. With everyone turned against him, Ozpin retreats into Oscar's mind, and the group sets off to walk to civilization.
Along the way, they come across the abandoned Brunswick Farms, where they find corpses. Unbeknownst to them, the underground is plagued by Grimm called Apathy, which cause those around them to lose the will to go on or even sleep or eat. Under the effects, Blake loses her will to go on, wanting to abandon the Relic when Ruby accidentally drops it down a well. When she and her allies go to retrieve it, they find the Apathy. Blake is heavily affected by their power, and lies still awaiting to be killed. Ruby manages to drive back the Grimm with her Silver Eyes, giving Blake the resolve to escape with her friends.
The group makes their way to Argus, an Atlas settlement outside of the Kingdom. They reunite with Jaune, Nora, and Ren, and stay with Jaune's local sister and her wife and son. The group attempt to get into Atlas, but are stopped by Special Operative Caroline Cordovin because Ironwood has shut down the borders. Ruby informs Jaune, Nora, and Ren of the situation with Ozpin, and later speaks with Maria about Silver Eyes. Jaune formulates a plan to steal an airship, and they enact the plan. Blake goes to deactivate a radar tower with Yang's help.
However, during the mission, Blake is attacked by an enraged Adam, who fights her into the forest. He is about to kill her when Yang rushes to her aid, and the two battle Adam together. Blake's weapon is broken, but she and Yang are able to use the shards to stab Adam to death. He falls off of a waterfall, and Blake, finally freed from her abusive past lover, breaks down into tears.
Blake and Yang reunite with their allies. Though the plan did not go as expected, Ruby was able to use her Silver Eye powers to hold off a massive Leviathan Grimm, earning the respect of Cordovin, who allows them to take the airship into Atlas. They fly to the city, only to be cornered by the Atlas military.
==Arrival in Atlas==
Blake and her group abandon the ship and enter Atlas' sister city of Mantle, where they meet Penny Polendina, rebuilt by her creator Pietro Polendina. The group reunites and battles Grimm, but are arrested by Ace Operatives and taken to Ironwood.
Upon being brought to Ironwood, he recognizes the group and frees them, thanking them for their service. Ironwood reveals that his is intending to repurpose Amity Colosseum into a communications tower, but is being hindered by the actions of the vigilantes Robyn Hill and the Happy Huntresses. While in Atlas, Blake has her weapon repaired.
Later, Blake and her group are given a mission to secure the launch site for the new communications tower, fighting off Grimm to do so. As thanks for their hard work and dedication, Ironwood awards Blake and her peers with licenses, making them professional Huntsmen and Huntresses. Blake and her group team up with the Ace Operatives to take care of jobs throughout Atlas and Mantle. When she has a night off, Blake goes out to a club with Yang and Team FNKI.
==RWBY: Arrowfell==
Blake and her team are sent to investigate Grimm activity on the top of a mountain, and come across a mysterious orb that sems o attract Grimm. Upon destroying it, they take it back to Pietro to repair and study. While they wait, they go to the nearby Essen Town to help its local Huntsman, Russet Ka, deal with a Grimm infestation. The team clears Essen Cave out from Grimm, while helping Russet and the locals out with various things such as retrieving left behind valuables, providing tools, or forging new armor. While at the remains of a town called Crossed, the team happen upon Penny, who is investigating a series of magnetic gates she has found around the area. When they return to Pietro, he has repaired the orb and reveals it to be a sort of container. Russet then directs Team RWBY to Essen Outpost to deal with the Grimm there. Team RWBY fights off a Megoliath, but the killing blow is dealt by a mysterious group of mercenaries called Team BRIR. The group them meet Bram Thornmane, who shoos away Team BRIR. He explains that he once trained to be an Ace Operative under Ironwood, but now guarded Essen's territories. He inquires about the orb, and takes it from the team to dispose of it.
Team RWBY report to the Lieutenant Olive Harper, a friend and partner of Bram. Clover Ebi tasks Team RWBY with helping the Ace Operatives in their missions for the day, including retrieving lost and rare items. While in Atlas, they begin being attacked by thugs and mercenaries in the streets wielding military technology, who the Ace-Ops believe are working for the criminal underground. Tasked by Harriet Bree with investigating an old Dust mine, the team find weapon tech that suggests that the criminals have been developing and distributing weapons from the location. After succeeding in aiding all of the Ace-Ops, Lieutenant Harper discusses the influx of military technology in the hands of criminals, and traces their distribution to a crime lord named Amoncio Glass. Team RWBY track down Glass in downtown Atlas and try to interrogate him, but he attacks with a mech suit. Upon defeating him, Glass reveals that the orb that Team RWBY found is a container that attracts Grimm, and that he is just a distributor that knows very little about the technology he is brokering.
Team RWBY reports to General Ironwood, along with Harper and Thornmane, who determine that the way the orbs attract Grimm must be the work of Hanlon Fifestone, a Union Leader for Mantle. His Semblance allows him to extract raw emotion from victims, and Ironwood figures that he has been putting the emotion into orbs as to lure Grimm to Amity Tower. The Team make their way to Mantle to look for him, fighting off Grimm and mercenaries on their way. They eventually happen upon Qrow, who set up surveillance drones to find Fifestone. Team RWBY goes to the caverns around Mantle to retrieve them, all while helping get items for the locals and returning Winter's sword to her, which Qrow stole as a joke. After retrieving the drones, they examine the footage and find that Fifestone is hiding out in a warehouse in Mantle's industrial district. They go to find him extracting the raw fear from a Faunus worker and putting it into an orb. They battle and defeat Fifestone, who reveals that he is using the machinery to attract Grimm and strike against Atlas. As he is arrested, he activates all the orbs he set up across Atlas and Mantle territories.
As Grimm begin to swarm the cities, Team RWBY go out to destroy the orbs, finding them in Dormir Village and across Atlas and Mantle. After destroying them, the Grimm vacate. Harper reveals that they have tracked the true mastermind behind the operation to a base in the east, and she sends them on a train to the wilderness. However, once on the train, Team RWBY is attacked by Atlas soldiers. As they fight their way through, they realize that Harper sent them out into the middle of nowhere to be ambushed and have the train derail. After realizing they were set up, the team survive the train's derailment and begin making their way back to Atlas on foot. On their way, they come across Team BRIR, who accuse them of stealing technology from the abandoned Atlesian military base Fort Arrowfell, who they are the guardians of. They reveal that Thornmane and Harper told them of Team RWBY's theft and deception, informing Team RWBY that Branmane and Harper are the ones behind the stolen technology and Grimm attacks, as well as them being in a romantic relationship. Team RWBY fight off Team BRIR, forcing the latter to retreat.
The team makes it back to Atlas, where they and Ironwood figure out that Thornmane and Harper stole technology from Fort Arrowfell to strike at Atlas. Aided by Glass and Fifestone, they distributed the weaponry and technology for their own personal gain. Team RWBY make their way to Fort Arrowfell, but find it sealed. Only Team BRIR have the necessary access cards. Penny also arrives, revealing that the magnetic gateways she was investigating were for secret paths for Team BRIR to travel unseen. Team RWBY go across Atlas and Mantle with Penny's help to open the gates and find each member of Team BRIR, who realize they were tricked by Thornmane and willingly give over their keycards. After making peace with Team BRIR and acquiring all keycards, Team RWBY make their way back to Arrowfell and enter, fighting off Arrowfell drones, corrupt Atlas soldiers, and mercenaries as they make their way deeper into the fort to stop Harper and Thornmane from unleashing Arrowfell's weaponry and the Grimm-attracting orbs on Atlas and Mantle.
Halfway through the fort, they come across a heartbroken Harper, who tells them that she was betrayed. She laments the fact that she gave up everything regarding her career and morals because she believed Thornmane loved her and that they were taking down the corrupt Ironwood from the inside, only for him to toss her away once she had outlived her usefulness. In her remorse, Harper directs them deeper into Arrowfell. The team fight through more enemies before making it to Thornmane. He reveals that his attack is not to destroy Amity Tower as suspected, but rather to spread chaos and have Ironwood take the blame. He reveals that he trained as an Ace Operative, only to be rejected from the team and position due to his character and unhelpful Semblance. He swore revenge, and this attack on Mantle and Atlas would allow him to get revenge on Ironwood, with the general taking the blame and Thornmane's status being able to be reinstated. Team RWBY fight Bram, and he attempts to unleash orbs to attract Grimm and kill them. They destroy the orbs, and after a lengthy fight, defeat Thornmane and have him arrested.
Thornmane is brought before Ironwood, who he chastises for being a monster before being taken away. Ironwood thanks Team RWBY for their work, and the team celebrates their victory.
==Tension in Atlas==
For one of their missions, Blake and Yang are tasked with arresting Hill for stealing government supplies, delaying the launch of the tower. Blake and Yang, knowing that Hill is fighting for what she believes is right and would be a great ally, opt instead to tell her the truth about what Ironwood plans on building. Despite this, Hill refuses to end her vigilantism.
Ironwood brings Ruby and her allies with him to Schnee Manor, where he meets with Weiss' father, Jacques Schnee, to discuss his recent election victory. Weiss investigates and discovers her father was involved in rigging the election, but finds out that one of Salem's servants, Arthur Watts, has used Jacques' credentials to hack into Mantle's heating grind and shut it off, leaving the populace to freeze as a Grimm invasion moves in. Blake heads to Mantle to fight back the Grimm.
Ironwood and Hill make a temporary alliance to reveal Salem's existence to the world and bring the people together under a common enemy. However, Ironwood finds out that Cinder has infiltrated his office and recalls Ruby and her group to him. He is angered that they kept secrets from him, but is interrupted by a Seer Grimm projecting Salem's image. Salem reveals she and an army of Grimm are personally coming to attack Atlas, and when Ruby defies her, Salem reveals that she knew Ruby's mother Summer, and proved her claims of hopes false, resulting in Ruby breaking down in tears.
Ironwood reveals that he intends to use the Relic of Creation, housed in the academy, to raise Atlas high enough so it will be safe from attack, and leave Mantle to deal with the fallout, hoping to sacrifice the city so the whole world may continue on. Ruby and her group refuse the plan, and are declared enemies by Ironwood. The Ace Operatives attempt to arrest them, but they defeat them and escape.
Blake gathers their allies, and retrieves Ruby, Weiss, and Penny, who has been granted to powers of the Winter Maiden. The group escapes in an airship as Salem arrives.
==The Battle of Atlas==
After regrouping, the heroes split up to defend Mantle and try and launch the communications tower. Blake joins Nora, Ruby, Weiss, Penny, and May Marigold as they sneak into the Atlas Command Center and begin launching the communications tower. Penny tries to stay behind and finish the launch, but they are attacked by the Ace Operatives. Weiss and her group struggle, but eventually force the Ace Operatives to retreat.
With Nora injured, Weiss takes her team and May to the Schnee Manor to hide and rest. There, Ruby's message to the world about Salem, the Relics, and the Maidens is broadcast to the world. Blake and her group rest in Schnee Manor until the power goes out. Ruby and Blake make their way to a generator, where Blake reveals that she admires Ruby. However, they are attacked by the Hound, a giant intelligent Grimm in service to Salem. The Hound attempts to apprehend Penny, and Ruby fights it off with her Silver Eyes, revealing a Silver-Eyed man within the beast. The Hound is killed by Willow and Whitley Schnee, though Ruby is distraught at what she witnessed.
The battle between Atlas soldiers and Grimm wages on, with Yang's team having helped with evacuations until they were forced to rescue Oscar from Salem's clutches. Teaming up with the recently reformed Hazel Rainart and Emerald Sustari, Yang's group fights back Salem, and Hazel gives his life to allow them to escape with Oscar and Emerald. Yang's group meets back up with Ruby's at Schnee Manor, and while Blake is at first hesitant to trust Emerald, Oscar vouches for her. Blake reunites with Yang.
However, Ironwood gives Penny an ultimatum: come open the vault so that Atlas can be saved, or he will personally destroy Mantle. Penny has been hacked by Watts to comply, but Blake and her friends restrain her. After denying Penny's request to kill her and transfer the powers of the Winter Maiden to Ruby, the group decides to secure the Relic of Creation to create a way for Atlas and Mantle to evacuate and Penny to be saved.
With their allies distracting Ironwood and the Ace Operatives, Blake, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Penny sneak to the vault. Ruby obtains the Relic and summons the spirit Ambrosius, who she requests make Penny human. He complies and makes a new, human body for Penny as her old robotic, hacked body is left to die. They then request him to create a pocket dimension that the citizens of Atlas and Mantle can travel through to safety to the Kingdom of Vacuo. He complies, but warns them not to fall off the pathways and into the void below.
As the citizens evacuate through portals, Ruby and her group are attacked by Cinder and a vengeful Neopolitan. Neo attacks Yang and knocks her into the void. Blake attempts to reach her, but fails and Yang falls into the void, seemingly to her death. Blake, infuriated and upset, teams up with Ruby to fight Neo as Penny fights Cinder, and when Penny loses, she has Jaune kill her so her power can transfer to Winter in Vacuo. Cinder creates an explosion, knocking Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, and Neo off the pathway. Blake swings down on her weapon's ribbon and catches Ruby and Neo, but Cinder cuts the ribbon and they all fall into the void. Cinder steals the two Relics and returns them to Salem. Although all the citizens make it Vacuo, Atlas falls and both it and Mantle are destroyed, with Ironwood and Watts killed in the process.
==Ever After==
Blake wakes up in an unknown location full of strange flora and fauna, alongside Weiss. The two travel looking for the others and Blake's weapon, finding the latter on a mass of barbed vines. Upon grabbing it, the vines entangle Weiss and Blake, and a tribe of talking mice take them prisoner, mistaking them for predators. Before they can be sacrificed, Ruby arrives, having befriended one of the mice whom she calls "Little". Little explains everything to the tribe, who let them go.
As she, Weiss, and Ruby travel, they find Yang, her mechanical arm having been stolen by a raccoon creature and being menaced by a strange creature. The team fight off the creature, but Weiss reveals to Ruby that Penny sacrificed herself, making Ruby pass out from grief. When she wakes, the team comes to realize the world they are in bears a near identical resemblance to one they read about as children. They conclude that they are in the Ever After, a mystical location told about in the fairy tale The Girl Who Fell Through the World, and decide to follow to steps the story's protagonist, Alyx, made.
Little guides them to a town, where the raccoon, the Jinxy Peddler, is trying to sell off various items, one being Yang's stolen arm disguised as something else. Ruby is drawn to a green doll, and when the spell disguising the items is broken, she realizes it is one of Penny's swords. Yang steals her arm back, resulting in them being chased by soldiers. Ruby offers the sword to their Prince in exchange for his good graces, and the soldiers accept and bring the team to the Red Prince, a spoiled, arrogant monarch and son of the late Red King from the story. Team RWBY requests his help, and when he refuses, Ruby offers to play a game with him. If she wins, he will help them. The Red Prince agrees, setting Ruby up with a chess-like combat game with living pieces. When Ruby points out she is three pieces short, the Prince shrinks Weiss, Blake, and Yang to serve as pieces. The game begins unfairly, but Ruby manages to instruct her team to battle, with Blake helping fight the Red Prince's pieces. The Prince, upset, questions why they want to reach the tree. Ruby explains who they are and that they are trying to get home, but when she reveals that she, Weiss, and Yang are human, the Red Prince becomes enraged, and all the soldiers and pieces, including her own, turn on her and her team. Blake fights them back, using her acrobatics to take them down. They manage to defeat the pieces, but the Prince refuses to let them go until a mystical cat called the Curious Cat intervenes, talking the Prince down just long enough to lead Ruby, now carrying Little and her shrunken teammates, through the castle labyrinth and away from guards to the exit. Wanting to follow the story again, Weiss and the others decide they must follow the Cat to get to the tree.
Ruby, carrying Little and her teammates, follows the Curious Cat, bartering with it that she will answer its questions if it leads them to the tree. The Curious Cat agrees, and bombards Team RWBY with questions about Remnant before leading them to a forest-like area called the Garden. When the Cat brings up how Salem sounds unstoppable, Ruby feels overwhelmed and freezes in place, which causes her to lose track of the elusive Cat. They then come across the Herbalist, a giant bug-like creature who offers to help them, specifically to help Weiss, Blake, and Yang grow back to normal size. Ruby reluctantly enters his home, where he questions them. However, he grows frustrated when they cannot define the roles they play, and uses smoke from a magic hookah pipe to make them all hallucinate visions of their past selves who encourage them to change or give up. Blake is told by her hallucination that she has no obligation to bring peace to Humans and Faunus, and that she should choose a side and live with it forever. Blake defies this, claiming that her culture and people make up who she is, and that she sees the good of both peoples. The Curious Cat returns and blows away the smoke, convincing the Herbalist to leave them be. The Herbalist is sucked into a hole in the ground, vanishing.
As the Cat leads Team RWBY along, he explains that, in the Ever After, its inhabitants do not die, but rather ascend and are born anew to become the person they wanted to be, or to fit the role they are destined to be. He explains that this happened with the Red King, who was broken after losing his games to Alyx, and was reborn as the Red Prince, who was crueler but better fit the role of someone who plays games to win.
The group arrives to a market, where the Cat tells them they must obtain ingredients for a potion that will grow Yang, Weiss, and Blake to normal size. Yang, Weiss, and Blake go with the Cat as Ruby and Little venture for the final ingredient. When they return they find Ruby seemingly talking to no one, unaware she had just encountered a mysterious blacksmith. They find the last ingredient, but the market is attacked by the Jabberwalker, which the Cat explains will end the process of ascending of whoever it eats. Weiss, Blake, and Yang eat the potion to grow to normal size, then help fight the Jabberwalker with the aid of the mysterious Rusted Knight. They defeat it, only to find it was an illusion created by Neopolitan, and more Jabberwalkers arrive. Team RWBY flee with the Rusted Knight as the Curious Cat and other Ever After inhabitants fend off the Jabberwalkers. The Rusted Knight leads them to safety, only to reveal himself to be Jaune, though much older.
As Jaune takes the group to his village, he reveals that he fell into the Ever After, but found a magic clock that sent him back in time by a great many years. He waited for Team RWBY to arrive, only for Alyx and her brother Lewis to arrive first. He also tells them that Salem got the two relics. The Curious Cat returns, angering Jaune as a "punderstorm" brews, which creates a physical manifestation of phrases and mental states. Blake finds herself on a collapsing bridge with Yang on the other side. When they start saying kind things to each other, they see steps form. They soon realize that steps form when they say things they have had on their mind to one another, and eventually, Blake and Yang both confess their love for one another. They are reunited and share a kiss as the storm dissipates. Jaune leads them to his village, where he presumably tells them the rest of his story: Realizing he was the Rusted Knight of the story, Jaune tried to follow it by teaming up with the Curious Cat to lead Alyx and Lewis to the tree. However, Alyx was far crueler than the story indicated, and after meeting the Herbalist, she turned against Jaune, poisoning him and letting the Curious Cat lead her and her brother to the tree. There, where Ever Afterians go to "ascend", Alyx returned to Remnant by sacrificing her brother to the tree. As night falls, Yang and Blake sit together by the fire.
The following morning, Jaune introduces and explains the village he resides in: the village is made of paper, full of individuals made of paper called "Paper Pleasers". He explains that they are kind and hospitable, though careless, resulting in him having to save them every single day. Jaune tries to plan with Team RWBY, requesting that they stay and protect the Paper Pleasers while he charts more of the Ever After and tries to find a safe exit. Team RWBY are concerned Jaune has lost some of his sanity in isolation. A Paper Pleaser overhears their conversation and explains to them that the tree is not dangerous, but a place Ever Afterians want to go after they have fulfilled their purpose, ready to be born anew. However, Jaune is convinced the tree is dangerous after what happened with Alyx and Lewis, and refuses to let the Paper Pleasers ascend like they want to. Jaune and Team RWBY argue about what is best until Neo and her Jabberwalkers attack. Blake teams up with Yang to fight back the Jabberwalkers. When she sees Ruby barely fighting back and pinned down by a Jabberwalker, she rushes to her aid and saves her. Neo and the Jabberwalkers disappear, but in the time they were fighting, the Paper Pleasers manage to topple a dam and flood the town, allowing all of them to ascend, mortifying Jaune. Weiss, Blake, and Yang attempt to comfort him and want Ruby to do the same, but Ruby finally has had enough. She gets angry at her friends for never thinking about her needs, and how they are so preoccupied with their goals or each other that they never consider how she is feeling. Blake is saddened and taken aback by Ruby's sudden hostility, especially with her criticizing the timing of her and Yang's new relationship. Jaune argues with Ruby, blaming her for Neo's attack and them falling into Ever After. He apologizes, still distraught over the ways he has failed. Blake attempts to cheer everyone up, but Ruby tells her off, to the shock of everyone. She grabs Crescent Rose and runs away, with Little still with her.
Weiss, Blake, Yang and Jaune search for Ruby, realizing that they were not attentive enough to her needs. They finally find her trapped and tortured in one of Neopolitan's illusions. Neo holds them off as Ruby, having witnessed Little killed by Neo and the Curious Cat revealed to be a traitor, is broken in spirit and drinks a tea made of the Tree's leaves, ending her existence and taking her to the Tree to Ascend. Blake watches with horror as Ruby is swallowed up by the ground and the Cat possesses Neo. The Cat makes for the Tree, and Blake and her allies follow. They try to get to the Tree, but the flooded village blocks their path. They are greeted by Genial Gems, who are the Paper Pleasers Ascended into new forms. Jaune feels bad that he prevented the Paper Pleasers from moving on out of his desire to save people, and Blake comforts and hugs him. They are suddenly all teleported to the Tree, realizing that acceptance was the path to reach it. They come across Ruby as a wooden statue on the tree, and realize that her fate lies in her own decisions. Yang is distraught at the thought that when Ruby returns she will not be Ruby anymore, and Blake comforts her.
However, they come across a magical door back to Remnant, and the Cat, still possessing Neo, trying and failing to get through. He finds he cannot, since Neo has no attachments in Remnant anymore. He reveals that he attempted the same with Alyx, allowing Lewis to go back while he tried to possess her, but she did not comply and the at murdered her instead. He sees Ruby and decides to make her his vessel again, but Weiss and her allies step in his path and defend her. In the battle, Weiss conjures a wall of flame, but Cat/Neo doges and the fire hits Jaune, throwing him off the tree. Jaune recovers, and realizes that they can use the burning leaves of the Tree like the Herbalist used to create smoke. Neopolitan inhales the smoke, and her visions and feelings are so strong they drive the Cat out. Ruby, meanwhile, chooses to remain herself and emerges, joining her team to defeat the Cat, with Neo striking a killing blow with her Jabberwalkers. Weiss reunites with Ruby, Neo opts to stay behind and Ascend, and Blake joins her allies as they travel through the door.
There they meet the Blacksmith, the one responsible for Ascension. The Blacksmith explains that the Gods of Light and Darkness were born in the Ever After, made to fulfill the roles of creation and destruction. Over time, they began to create their own creatures, including the Cat to fill the role of helping others Ascend, and the Jabberwalker for destroying what was deemed necessary to destroy. When they were ready, they traveled beyond the Ever After and created Remnant. Whenever their creations came to the Ever After, they had a profound effect, such as with Alyx and Lewis and now with Team RWBY and Jaune. The Blacksmith goes on to say that while some were hurt and driven to evil like the Cat, others were shown kindness and made better like Little/Somewhat. She says that Alyx desired to right the wrongs of her past, and using magic, restores Jaune to his younger age. She then opens the door back to Remnant, and Blake and her allies walk through into Vacuo.
Category:Synopsis