[IV] Road Trip

While the sun may have yet to break the horizon, its light leaked into the sky, and chased away the remaining stars. A few feet away, an engine hummed to life. Thyst was leaning on a railing outside the front of the inn, watching the sunrise. They had spent two days at Miss Danu's inn, but they still had to make it back to Vale, and back to Beacon.

"Stick has the engine running and says he's ready to go. You have everything together?" Nickelas asked as he joined Thyst on the railing. Thyst nodded.

"The perks of travelling light." He said, as he stood up from the railing.

"Hey now, boys, leaving so soon?" came Miss Danu's voice from the doorway. She had snuck up behind them with surprising skill, and had put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Thank you for keeping us, miss, but we do have some pressing business back home." Thyst answered.

"You sure, friend? The signal might be mighty poor, but couldn't you at least stay to watch the Festival out here with us?"

Thyst felt a pang of guilt. At this point, the opening festivities of the Vytal festival would be underway shortly. If they could make good time on the trip back, then there was a chance Team TSNM could catch the final rounds. But he still felt bad, when he accepted this mission, he had expected to be back in time to register and compete, alongside his team, but, he hadn't accounted for this turn of events.

"Sorry miss, not at the moment. The headmaster is awaiting our return." Nickelas answered for Thyst.

"Oh, so you're still students? You do seem rather young now that you mention it…" she stopped herself, "So what does ol' Ozpin have you doing this far away from the city?"

Thyst and Nickelas looked at each other, unsure of who should answer, and there was an awkward moment of silence.

"Oh, what am I asking? I bet it's confidential, ain't it? Top secret and some such." Miss Danu said with a long laugh. "Nevermind me, boys- Oh, but stay here a moment. I have something for you." She jogged inside and could be heard faintly from outside, rummaging about. After a minute or so, she reemerged with a bundle of cloth in her arms.

"Here, take it. You're gonna need something to eat on the road, ain'tcha? Consider it a gift." she said as he handed it off to Nickelas, "And please, know y'all're always welcome in our little town of Faroff. You and your mechanic buddy, especially, Nickelas, you two have some fix-it attitude we could really benefit from 'round here."

"Thank you, miss." Nickelas said, bowing his head in gratitude, before carrying the package to the where Stick and Magnolia waited, leaving Thyst and Miss Danu alone. Thyst thanked her again for her hospitality, then turned to leave. Before he could walk away, Miss Danu reached out and took his shoulder.

"A real small question, son, before you go." She said, in a hushed voice. "That earring you got, I've seen it before, I swear. You wouldn't happen- if you don't mind me asking- wouldn't happen to be part of one of those deep Vacuo nomad clans, now would you?"

Thyst paused a moment, but was glad someone asked. People rarely inquired about his heritage.

"I am. From Salamander." he answered, turning back to face her.

"Ah, so I was right!" she said excitedly, as she had solved the murder mystery of the year. "Thyst of Salamander, huh?" she asked, Thyst nodded. " Well those members of your clan I've met have been some real agreeable folk." She grinned, "Left some real good tips, too."


The relentless sun was noticeably easier to handle from inside a car, where the artificial wind of driving stripped the heat from their bodies. Stick sat behind the wheel, and laid his foot down on the gas pedal, relishing the open expanse, without a single spot of traffic to worry about. Magnolia had gotten in long before Thyst and Nickelas, earlier that day, and had been able to claim the passenger seat without the arbitrary name calling of any type of firearm. Her hair flowed in the rushing air like a mass of snakes. Or at least she liked to imagine it did. Either way, it was inarguably made wild by the wind.

In the back seats, which sat the riders down, facing inwards at each other, Thyst watched the dry bushes and yellowed grass rush past. Across from him, Nickelas had opened the cloth package and pulled out a piece of the leathery bacon jerky Miss Danu had packed for them. It wasn't the most delicious food, but Nickelas couldn't care less when his stomach told him he was hungry.

They encountered the occasional Grimm while traveling in the open, but none of the Grimm could match the speed of the buggy, so the team paid little attention to them, other than a few potshots from a bored Thyst.

After just a little over two days, and one campsite, the desert grasslands became greener as the the buggy passed into the foothills of distant mountains, then greener still as it became forest on the third day. The town of Faroff grew ever truer to it's name.

The day before now, Nickelas had noticed his Scroll was getting service again, and after plugging it into both his visor, and the backup battery he carried at all times, he was ready to stream the preliminary matches of the Vytal festival. Team TSNM would have prefered to have been able to watch it live, but this was an acceptable alternative.

They had tuned in just in time to watch the back and forth 4v4 match between Team ABRN, and Beacon's own Team RWBY. Word around the academy was that team RWBY's leader, the aptly named Ruby, was some kind of 14 year old prodigy. Her performance only proved these claims right.


The match between BRNZ and JNPR was entertaining, to say the least. JNPR's slow start couldn't prepare them for Nora (the short and spunky one) delivering a quadruple elimination with a single swing of her electrified warhammer. Stick made a joke about how she and Thyst were basically the same person because of the electricity and all, and while Thyst could list multiple reason to argue why that was not true, instead he just smacked Stick lightly on the back of the head and said "no". Then laughed anyway.

Following the match between NDGO and SSSN, Thsyt pulled out his Scroll, and punched in a few numbers. The headmaster answered after two rings, and greeted the team he had dispatched days earlier in his usual pleasant voiced manner. Thyst got directly to business.

"Headmaster, I don't know what exactly it was that you sent us to get," he rolled the small metal chip over in his fingers as he spoke, and held it up to sky, "but we have it."

"Ah? Very good news indeed, Thyst. Thank you. I knew I could trust you, and your team."

"I would hope you could trust us, headmaster."

"Indeed, indeed, I do. I hope the recovery went without a hitch, even with the Grimm?"

"Yeah…" Thyst said before pausing a moment, "We took the target down, but... with all due respect, Headmaster, it seems you knew that the Grimm was there, and you didn't think to tell us? We nearly died."

"Would you believe me if I told you I forgot?" Ozpin asked. There was silence between them for a few seconds. "In any case, all things considered, I would say you've passed this test with more than just flying colors."

It was difficult to hear clearly over the rush of wind in the buggy, but Thyst thought he could hear the familiar voice of Glynda Goodwitch on the other end of the call. After a mumbled conversation between Ozpin and Glynda, the headmaster addressed Thyst again.

"You must excuse me, Thyst, Glynda tells me some of my associates have arrived and are making… quite a disturbance in my courtyard. I need to go down and greet them. If you can wait, I'll be sure to answer any questions you may have when you return. Your team has proven themselves ready, so answers is the least that I owe you." He paused, then his voice quickened, as Professor Goodwitch urged him to get in the elevator. "Ah, and one last thing, how many years has it been, Thyst? Three, I believe? You may call me Ozpin, you know I'm not one for all the formalities."

And with that, he ended the call.


They were close to Vale now, just barely a day outside of the city, in fact. They'd be back in time to watch the tail end of the Festival, which was better than not seeing it at all. Of course, by now batteries were wearing out, and the last thing they saw before Nickelas's Scroll died and went blank was the announcement for the match between Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black. While they were a bit disappointed they might miss the match, surely they couldn't miss anything that important.

Stick parked the buggy in a clearing in the forest, and they set up camp for the night. He walked around the back of the buggy and opened the tap on the water brum in the back. Water flowed out, and he let it fall directly into his mouth. Stopping the tap, he stood up and wiped his mouth of the renegade water droplets that had refused to get in his mouth. He let out a satisfied breath and turned to his team, who were finding comfortable places to sit.

"You know, once we get home, if I remove this water drum, we can replace it with a smaller one, maybe remove it completely? That'll open up a lot of space. We could fit, two maybe three more seats? I think that'd be neat." Stick rambled on, and his team members nodded quietly to appease his ramblings. They were all too ready for sleep.


Team TSNM set out before the sun rose the next day. If they didn't run into any obstacles, they could be back in their dorm by late afternoon, and that was an appealing thought. The hours passed quicker the closer they got to the city of Vale, and TSNM was more ready than ever to eat something other than bacon jerky. Not to mention, the next match was about to begin, and if Stick broke the speed limit, (which he was more than willing to do), then maybe they could watch this one live.

In the distance, the setting sun highlighted a fleet of Atlesian warships, little more than small dots against the sky. From the driver's seat, Stick noticed the familiar shapes of these dots, floating above the treeline. It wasn't long now until they were home. He slowed, but not quite enough to match the speed limit. The trees began to thin, and without the forest in front of them, the skyline of Vale rose rapidly from the ground.


The outskirts of the city were quiet, for the most part. Of course they were, nearly everyone had gone to Amity Coliseum, so it would be emptier than , however, couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Nickelas leaned forward and tapped Stick on the shoulder. He pointed down the road.

"Slow down, I'm seeing a couple people in the middle of the road, up ahead." he said, causing Stick to peer down the road, squinting.

"Those aren't people, Nick. Those are Knights. Probably just running security." Stick said.

"All the more reason to slow down, then." Nickelas responded. Stick realized he was still at least twenty miles per hour over the speed limit, and slowed to match it. The Knights turned, and shifted their focus as it drew closer.

"So do we need to show them any kind of identification? Are they programmed for that?" Magnolia asked.

"All we have to do is show that we aren't Grimm." Stick responded, keeping his eyes on the road, then he chuckled. "Just so long as they don't confused your hair for a Beowolf."

Magnolia pouted, but she wasn't all that worried. She may not trust the robots from Atlas, but she knew they weren't so ineffective that they'd mistake someone's hair for a Grimm… or would they?

Nickelas watched the featureless faces of the Atlesian Knights as they came closer, lifting their rifles. He assured himself it was just threat assessment, and didn't freak out.

Then the Knights opened fire.

"That's not threat assessment!" he yelled, then ducked behind the seat in front of him. "Get down!"

Magnolia and Thyst ducked behind the dashboard and driver's seat respectively, taking cover. Stick stayed upright, fearing that he might lose control of the vehicle, more than he feared getting shot. So he didn't budge as one of the projectiles struck him in the shoulder. While his Aura protected him for the most part, he still grunted in pain, before bracing himself against the seat and shifted gears.

"Hold on tight…" he yelled as he floored the gas pedal, taking the gunfire on headfirst. Projectiles ricocheted off the metal bars that made up the body of the buggy, as Stick shifted his grip on the steering wheel. He pressed down on the brakes, locking the back wheels, and swinging the entire buggy around, catching both Knights with the heavy back end of it. There was a crunch and a bump, as one of the Knights was caught under the sizable wheel, and was flattened. The second was knocked off it's feet and flung into the storefront of a nearby building. Stick put hand over hand on the wheel and realigned the buggy, accidently running the first Knight over a second time. He shifted into reverse, and the buggy didn't move at first, it's wheels spinning in place, smoking. Then it shot backwards and straight into the recovering Knight, slamming it once more into the building, and collapsing it's torso on impact. He shifted gears once more and put the buggy back on the road.

"So much for a secure perimeter." He sighed, then placed his arm on the passenger seat, and turned to face his team. "Now would someone kindly explain to me what the fuck just happened?"