Welcome, Dragon-Slayers!
Team RWBY finds itself in a strange new world: Atlas.
[Author's Note: This story, the first episode of Volume 7, follows the Darkpenn fanfic series Volume 6 – Fighting Back, which in turn follows volume 5 of series actual. It also follows three 'transitional' stories: Team NAME, Lunch With Whitley, and To Atlas, To Atlas.]
"I don't think we're in Patch anymore, Yang," said Ruby, as the team walked out of the Atlas airship terminal.
"Not even close," said Yang.
The city was a landscape of tall, gleaming buildings and speeding vehicles. Airships flew this way and that.
"Have you been here before, Weiss?" said Blake.
"The Schnee estate, where I mostly lived, isn't in the city but I have been here a number of times," said Weiss. "I think it has grown even more since then."
"There they are!" shouted a voice.
They looked around to see if there was anyone standing behind them. But no, it was Team RWBY that was the target of a swarm of reporters and people with cameras. They began to thrust microphones at them, asking questions at such a rate that none of them could be understood.
One journalist turned to a camera.
"This is Muriel Magenta, at Atlas airport, where the famed group of Hunters known as Team RWBY has just arrived," she said. "Or perhaps they should now be known as the Dragon-Slayer Four, after their remarkable actions in Vale, where they saved the entire city. And the leader of the team is Atlas' very own Weiss Schnee, already famous as one of the key members of the Schnee family – "
"Hey!" shouted Weiss over the din. "I'm not the leader, Ruby is! She's right here! And I'm not in the Schnee family anymore!"
But if Muriel Magenta heard she paid no attention. She continued with her spiel.
Yang said to the others: "Should I shoot our way out?"
"Probably not appropriate, but a bit of pushing and shoving might be called for," said Ruby.
"Make it hard pushing and shoving," said Weiss.
"On it," said Yang. She began to shoulder her way through the scrum, pulling the others behind her. Eventually they got through, and Yang hailed a taxi. Hailed might not be the right term; she stood in the way and threatened to shoot the driver unless they stopped. In any case, the four of them piled in. Ruby gave the driver the address of the guest-house they had booked.
"That was ... odd," said Blake. "And not in a good way."
"Obviously, the media in Atlas is a bit more ... active ... than the media in Vale," said Ruby.
"Not the word I would use," said Weiss. "Someone must have recognised us on the airship and notified them."
"Why did they think Weiss was leader?" said Yang.
"Something you have to understand about Atlas people," said Weiss, "is that they think it is the best, most important place in Remnant. In fact, they hardly think about the rest of Remnant at all. So as far as they're concerned, the person from Atlas would have to be the one in charge."
"Say, would you like to be leader?" said Ruby.
"No way," said Weiss. "You're stuck with it."
"Darn," said Ruby.
"Good, because Team WBRY just sounds foolish," said Blake.
Weiss sighed. "I was hoping that this whole visit, and our meeting with General Ironwood, could be under the radar," she said. "I don't particularly want Whitley or Jacques to know we're here."
"Pretty sure they're going to find out, Weiss," said Ruby.
Yang was looking at her scroll. It showed footage of the media assault at the airport. "Hey, it's us!" she said. "Damn, I could use a haircut."
"Yes, you could," said Blake. "It keeps, you know, getting in the way."
"Well, at least this guest-house is an anonymous sort of place, so we should be able to avoid any further unwanted attention," said Weiss.
The taxi pulled up outside the guest-house. There was a large banner over the door: WELCOME DRAGON-SLAYERS.
"Or not," said Yang.
Neo, Adam, Mercury and Emerald were silent, considering the implications of Cinder's story.
"So Raven is the Spring Maiden," murmured Mercury. "And here is me thinking she was just a MILF."
"A what?" said Emerald.
"Er, nothing, nothing," said Adam. "Cinder, if the need arose, do you think you could defeat her?"
Cinder shook her head. "My powers have been considerably diminished," she said. "Maybe they'll come back, I don't know. I'm not even sure how strong they are now. And there's a lot of things I just don't remember. I still don't know how I lost my arm and my eye."
"Well, as far as I'm concerned it's just good to have you back," said Emerald. "And ... I'm sorry about the hug before, when you first appeared. Not a very villainous thing to do, I suppose."
"I'll let it pass," said Cinder. She looked at the others. She had tried to tell herself that she was not glad to see them, that they meant nothing at all to her, that they were more trouble than they were worth, but she knew that it wasn't true.
She wondered how much her mental state had to do with the diminution of her powers. She had always felt that her power had stemmed from her will, her determination to make others bow before her, to fear her. For most of her life, no-one had shown her any affection, and her response had been to see the world as it seemed to see her. But then Jaune had treated her with kindness and generosity when she had needed it, and these four people were sitting there smiling at her – smiling because they were pleased to see her, pleased she was alive, pleased she had survived, powers or no.
And now she simply did not feel as if she wanted to make the world afraid of her. She ... she ... she didn't know what she wanted.
They were sitting in the bar in the seedy district of Vale where, Emerald had said, they had encountered Neo. Neo smiled as she put a glass of wine in front of Cinder.
"At least we now know the identity of two of the Maidens," said Mercury.
"Actually, three," said Cinder. "The Winter Maiden, Ochre, is at Shade Academy in Vacuo. I went to see her some time ago, to ask if she would join Team SALEM. She just laughed. My impression is that even when I had all my powers she was stronger, although she doesn't look the part. So I didn't push the point. I think even Salem is wary of her. But Ochre is determined to stay at Shade, to protect the Academy and Vacuo. The Creation relic is not there, in any case. She told me it was in Atlas."
Neo was looking out the window. There was a construction site across the road. A massive truck started up.
It began to turn ... towards them.
She rapped on the table. They all looked at her. She pointed out the window.
The truck was picking up speed and heading straight for the bar, pushing everything in its path out of the way.
"Hey, is the driver crazy?" said Adam.
They got up from the table and looked at the approaching vehicle more closely. There was no driver.
"Move!" shouted Mercury.
But Cinder just stood there, transfixed by the spectacle.
And then Emerald slammed into her, knocking her out of the way.
The truck came smashing through the wall of the bar in a shower of bricks and plaster. Shards of glass filled the air. The truck came to a stop.
The five of them struggled to their feet.
"Whoa," said Adam.
The truck began to reverse out – and then it started to come forward again. It was aiming for them.
"Run!" shouted Emerald. "Out the back!"
They ran through the rear door of the bar. It took them into an alley. They kept running.
The truck came bursting through the wall of the bar, turning to get at them, tearing holes in the walls.
Neo, Adam, Mercury and Emerald ran into another alley – and then stopped dead. There was a high brick wall in front of them.
The truck came swinging around the corner, coming for them. It began to pick up speed.
"I would like to be able to say that it was nice knowing you," said Adam. "But it wasn't."
And then Cinder came down in front of them, radiating energy. A blast of fire burst out of her and smashed into the truck. The trucked slowed, slowed, and stopped. Cinder began to push it back.
The truck's engine revved. It began to inch forward.
Cinder clenched her teeth with the strain. "You ... will ... not," she whispered. The fire increased in intensity, and the engine of the truck began to smoke. Then the engine exploded, and the truck ground to a halt. Cinder slumped to her knees.
From the engine of the truck, a dark shape emerged. It hung in the air, as if staring at them.
There was a shot, and then another, and then another. Adam. The shape, three bullet holes in its Grimm face, evaporated into ashes.
They helped Cinder to her feet. She was shaking with exhaustion, near collapse. Blood trickled from her broken eye.
"So that was you at low power, was it?" said Adam, as he morphed his rifle back to its sword-sheath form. "What was that thing, anyway?"
"Geist," said Cinder. "A Grimm creature, capable of possessing objects. I've only ever heard of them possessing piles of rocks and turning them into monsters but it looks as if Salem has trained them to do the same with more complex things. She keeps a number of them as pets. And she can see through their eyes, as well."
"Yeah, I had a feeling she wasn't the type to look back and see the funny side of things," said Mercury.
"And now she knows that you are alive and helped us against her," said Emerald. "And where we are."
Cinder nodded. "And she won't stop," she said. "Unless ... we have something that we can use to make a deal with her."
"You mean, something ... like a relic?" said Adam.
"Yes," said Cinder, "that is exactly what I mean."
The room of the expensive hospital looked out over the impressive Atlas skyline. The elderly man pottered around the room, dusting the machines hooked to the woman in the bed and ensuring that the blankets covering her were straight and ordered.
He changed the flowers in the vase. "I brought your favourite today," he said. "Chrysanthemums."
He sat down beside the bed, took out a book, and began to read aloud.
As usual, the woman gave no response. Her shallow breathing continued, and the machines continued to show that her heart was beating, although slowly.
After an hour, he put the book aside and turned on the newscreen. There was an article about a team of Hunters landing in Atlas. A journalist was saying something to the camera. One of the Hunters shouted out something to her. The man looked at the young woman. In surprise, he ran his hand over his bald head.
"Well well," he said to the woman in the bed. "Look who is here."
Eventually, his work done, he left the room, promising to return tomorrow, as he always did. He carefully closed the door behind him.
The name-plate on the door said Weide Schnee.
END (to be continued)