A dim and unappealing sun lorded over a rather dreary morning, its bored glow illuminating the soft and damp ground that wrapped around Beacon like a wet towel. The guards shivered at the chill wind that passed through what remained of their armour and through to their spines, even after all these years all were rather ready to duck inside and tunnel under the earth for warmth in the unkind weather, though the one thought that helped them through the cold by an inch was ''At least it wasn't winter''.
Winter was like a shining nightmare for the remainders of civilisation no matter what part of the globe you resolved to hide in, at first Winter seems like the best of times with the creatures that they have to come to label as Grimm would find themselves shying away to the darkness, leaving the survivors in peace for once in a lifetime. But then many more problems seem to rise from under the foundation of ice, the crushing cold becoming a deadly foe to all that walk, making any search for food and water a suicide run. Most would later find the frozen corpses of their fellow survivors, their life slowly melting away with the rising of the sun.
The familiar marching of the usual morning prowler sounded throughout the outpost, the woman's combat boots tearing through the mud that began to spread around the ground like a disease, her helmet off to reveal the short locks of crimson hair that littered her mostly bald head. Her emerald harsh eyes narrowed down on the wavering cloth roof of 'Sleeping Zone C' where her new prey lied in deep slumber, her approach signalling what would be a rather rude awakening for the slumbering children.
Stonewall made her way up the stone path without a care for how much noise she made in the process, some small percentages of stone getting themselves pulled up to the soles of her boot along with the mud that clung to her. Within moments the tall armoured woman stood in front of the poor materials and people that made up the sleeping zone, most were still deep in sleep with their heads stuck firmly in the middle of what they would call their pillows. Others were either already awake or standing or were still in the middle of rubbing the sleep out of their eyes as they prepared for the day ahead.
There were the few that were only now entering the zone as they discarded gloves and hats as they crashed into their mats, only just returning from a round of chores deep into the night, the rising sun their signal to shut off. Stonewalls gaze didn't linger on these ones as their day of work is done and they were enjoying their well-deserved rest, her gaze however rested on the ones still sleeping soundly, most likely dreaming about joyful and unique d- ''Alright, Lackies. Walk away from Dream Land, get your thumb out of your mouth and get your mind into gear. We have walls to repair, crops to tend to and Grim blood to spill!"
The reaction was an instant whirl of movement, every sleeping child was on their feet in an instance with their arms straight and their eyes already started to nod off. Her voice was firm and high in volume with a hint of annoyance littering her tone as she talked. "Right, for most of us this a day as usual. Watchers to their posts, though wrap up warm it's a chilly day. Seedlings, good news for you we have a new patch to plant in. Clankers, we have plenty of bare walls in need of some metal. Though I do have to warn you that one of our few toilets have broken down for the third time this week, Nikos and Bunny Ears. Thanks for volunteering-No, I don't care if you didn't raise your hands. Now go"
There were a few sighs of relief, a few groans of frustration and desperate annoyance at their prospects, before all the workers began to move towards the outskirts of their zone to tend to their jobs for today. "And New Blooded Scavengers, come with me. I'll be showing you the ropes. Let's hope this day decides it not to be a noose"
As few from the crowd begun their trek towards the crimson haired woman, Ruby stood still for the moment with a nervous expression on her face, taking a second to practise breathing exercises that Ren had taught her over the months. Ruby Rose, now a fifteen year old girl just peeking into the start of adulthood. Eight years since this whole hell dragged her into this nightmare and now she finally stood in firing range, about to enter in fate's pondering grip for the first time since before she was allowed behind the walls that had been her sanctuary for these years.
She felt and arm hook around her waist to pull the small girl into a hug, a small tilt of her head proved that her blonde sister now held a tight grip on the still short young woman. Ruby's older sister had a sad smile etching on her lips, the natural worry and protectiveness that her sister supplied was clearly shown in the girl's eyes.
"Okay, what are the rules of survival?" Her question was quirk, her gaze still firm as her hold on the girl.
Ruby merely rolled her eyes and squirmed in his sister's arms "Yaaaaang, we already went over this last night!" The response was a stern gaze that made the small girl swear that Yang's eyes would pop out of their sockets.
"Rules. Now." Her scathing gaze continued as Ruby allowed her eyes to roll.
"Don't waste supplies, shoot as a last resort, stay with the group and never approach a stranger without a weapon" Ruby managed to list out in one breath under Yang's gaze, though the blond seemed to not be satisfied with the answer. "And the only good Grim is a dead Grim"
"Good girl, now be careful out there!" With that Yang let go of her younger sister and made her way past the girl, her eyes still nervous and constantly darting back for brief glimpses of Ruby.
It wasn't long after the encounter that Ruby felt Jaune's hand grasp her shoulder (After deciding against hugging her like Yang) firmly, the tall boy gazing down at her with a simple grin. "Yang worries too much, you'll be fine!" His golden locks had grown out a bit to drape over his ears and irritate his eyes, though there were obvious points where his hair was roughly cut by his own hand in an inexperienced manner, though he still managed to keep his goofy grin after all these years.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Everyone's acting like I'll turn back up as pale, dark and pointy" Ruby sighed as she ran a hand through her raven hair, her silver eyes looking up at her best friend with a tired look. "I mean, I know they have good reason to. But I'm fithteen now, I've spent years learning all this stuff just like they have!"
"Fithteen? Could of fooled me, Shortie" With that, Jaune ruffled the girls hair with a small chuckle that was followed by her own groans of protest as she slapped his hand.
"I'm not short! Just…vertically challenged…" Her arms came up to cross with her gaze more stern with a hint of childish moping.
The boy gave out a small smiled as he continued to gaze at her, his hands retreating from their ruffling's at the slaps, before he began to lament to her "Even so, I wish I was going with you"
"You wish you were out there with Grim scratching at your heels and Stonewall kicking you across the city?" The small girl raised her eyebrow inquisitively.
"Well…No, but you know what I mean. I'd prefer to be out there to watch your back!"
"I'm sure that my back will be fine, I don't think it needs to be fed or anything…" Ruby directed her arm to bend by her sides and poke her back. "I don't think you need to watch it…"
"That wasn't what I meant and you know it!" Jaune exclaimed, curious to if the small girl actually did think her back was a sentient being.
Ruby let out a small giggle at the boy's rather confused face, returning her arms to their originally crossed position. "I was joking, jeez"
"Just…Make sure to save the jokes for when you get back, I don't want a grim to impale you mid-sentence" Jaune's face held a serious air about it, keeping his gaze on Ruby until she finally nodded back at him in confirmation.
"No problem. Besides, I'll have Weiss watching my back" Ruby exclaimed with a calm pat on Jaune's shoulder, before turning around and moving to make sure that she had all the equipment Stonewall had asked for.
Jaune detailed to Ruby after a short snort at the notion "Yeah, she'll watch your back. Far away, behind the safety of a wall with a camera in hand" Prompting Ruby to frown at the boy with her hand raised in a sort of scolding gesture.
"Jaune. Don't talk about her like that, she's a friend…hopefully. I know she wouldn't do that!" The girl shot a scolding gaze towards Jaune, causing the boy to bite his lip slightly and find a sudden interest in the ground.
"It's just-… Sorry, Ruby. But just because Weiss and you are friends, doesn't mean we trust her. You know how it is" Jaune explained to justify his (And others of the group's) aggression towards the snow haired Schnee that had never got on well with the group, their first meeting never was the best of introductions.
"That's why you need to talk to her, she's not that bad. Yeah, she may yell and belittle… a lot…But she's a good person" The small girl barked towards the boy with her arms hanging by her sides, Jaune only caring to give a raised eyebrow. "She looked at clouds with me!''
"Rose! Get your pale ass over here before we decide to leave you behind!" Stonewall's voice seemed to slam into their ears like a slow needle handled by the untrained, making Ruby frown further.
"You worry about Weiss leaving me for dead when the number one candidate is taking the lead…"
"We'll finish this discussion later then" Jaune chuckled at the discomforted expression on Ruby's face, kneeling down to pull her into a hug. "If worse comes to worse, I think Stonewall makes a good shield"
"Rose!"
Ruby grinned sheepishly before hopping away from the embrace, shortly turning around and taking off towards her screaming 'Guardian'. Stonewall keeping up a menacing glare as the small girl made her way over to the woman, the sheepish grin still plastered between her lips as she attempted to apologise for her timing, to which Stonewall just ignored and turned away. "Good to know you finally decided to show up. NOW MOVE IT!"
Others fell into some sort of defensive wall of bodies behind Stonewall, pulling Ruby at the very back where she could barely see over anyone's shoulder and mostly blind to where they were going. Though fortunately for her she could only just see a swirl of white ex-pampered hair that seemed to stick out above the dark mixes of black and brown.
"Hey, Weiss!" Ruby called to the snow haired girl with her hands cupping the bottom of her mouth, her raised voice seemingly annoying the bodies in front of her (At least judging by the groans as they parted). Weiss's response was seemingly non-existent as the girl didn't even twitch at Ruby's call, only continuing in her effort to find the space in front of her interesting. Did she even hear me!? This prompted Ruby to push on forward through the slightly parted wall to fully jab her finger into the other girl's side, this time the reaction becoming instant as Weiss let out a small scream of pain, her hand instantly reaching down to cover her side as she turned her eyes to glare down at Ruby.
"What in Ohm's name was that for!?" Weiss practically screamed at the girl while clasping her 'wounded' side. "That hurt! A lot!"
"Well I had to get your attention somehow" Ruby gave a shrug as Weiss started to move her hand in a calm circle around the poked area.
The white haired girl gave a disappointed frown along with a glare as she spoke "But did you have to do it THAT HARD!?" The question went unanswered as Ruby took to giggling nervously with her hand behind her back, now walking side-by-side with Weiss.
"The day's freezing, I wouldn't be surprised if we turn into icicles before we get to...uh…Where ever we're going" Ruby found herself rubbing her hands together in an attempt to keep the remaining warmth she had and protect it against the morning air, though looking to her partner for the moment she noticed that Weiss didn't seem that bothered by it. "Though I've been saying that for a week, Yang always tells me that I should feel lucky for not going out during the winter"
"Winter is the most dangerous time of the year, the Grim become harder to see, making surviving an encounter only up to luck. Though if that doesn't get you killed the search for a good shelter will" Weiss had her finger up and wiggling from side to side slightly in front of her serious expression. "Trust me, Yang's not kidding that you should feel lucky"
"I know she wasn't kidding, she put on her serious face and everything!" Ruby exclaimed to Weiss, the volume of her voice drawing in a few annoyed glances from the others walking with them. "She had her knee's bent, her nose scrunched up and her eyes were so scary!"
"Ruby, quiet down! You're hurting ears…"
"Bu-"
"Rose, shut your trap before I sow it shut!" Stonewall's commanding tone was not as loud, but still seemed to pack as much anger behind it "I don't want a pack of Grim to come upon us because they were attracted to your yelling"
"Sorry, Miss…" The group continued to walk in silence after that with Ruby keeping her hands clamped on her mouth, aiming to avoid possibly angering the leading woman no matter how much she wanted to speak; though after the silence continued for twenty minutes the small girl figured out that she could just attempt to speak quietly. "Hey, Weiss?"
"What is it now, Ruby?"
Ruby rushed a small bit as she realized that Weiss and the rest of the group were walking much faster than her, causing a small growing pain to start in her legs that annoyed her to no end. This walking's gonna kill me, I hope we stop soon. She finally caught up with Weiss while groaning slightly, looking up at the white haired girl with a small smile. "So, any word from your dad yet?"
Weiss's expression changed to a mix between clear depression and slight anger (Most likely at Ruby for bringing the subject up). "No, Ruby. I haven't heard from him, just like last year and the year before that"
"Too bad, I'm sure he'll find you one day!" Ruby gave Weiss an encouraging smile as the older girl only sighed.
"Ruby, he's not coming…"
"Of course he is! One of these days!"
"It's been years, Ruby"
"So? The worlds a big place, I bet he's still charging through Grimm looking for you!" Ruby gave Weiss a thumbs up and another smile as she continued to exclaim (In a quieter voice this time) "He's probably just looking in another country, one of these days he'll be knocking at Beacon's door with your picture in hand"
Weiss sighed again, seeing that small girl wouldn't see the reasonable outlook on the situation, though only just muttering under her breath. "Yeah… One of these days"
The sun was still wiping the dreariness from its gaze when the small group arrived at the city ruins, Stonewall stopping them by the road that led into the assortment of towering rubble and signaling them to crouch. "Right, we're going to split up into three mini-groups now. If anyone is unclear on what they're doing, ask now. Because you'll have no time for questions when you go in"
No one spoke up at this point, they'd all had this conversation a million times before this day. Led by one of the three adults, each group would scavenge around specific locations of the city for exactly one hour. When the hour was up tall the groups would return to the meeting point outside the city, no matter what they were doing as the groups that return could not afford to wait or go looking for the late comers.
"Good" Stonewall nodded to the other two adults and started to spread out, the red head motioning to Ruby and Weiss to come with her. "And remember, avoid confrontation with everything unknown and anything human at all cost"
The two girls quickly followed behind Stonewall with both holding equally uneasy expressions, which Stonewall seemed to not care to take notice of as she bounded forward with her eyes constantly surveying the area.
Stonewall wasted no time in pushing herself and the two girls to quickly enter the city, it was understandable as they only had an hour to do what they came here to do and that included how much they wished to dawdle around the outside. Ruby already felt her feet hurting again in her attempts to keep up with the quick and nimble woman in front of her, looking to Weiss she could see that her friend was having a less torturous level of discomfort from the speed. It's because she has longer legs, isn't it? Ruby mentally pouted as Weiss began to catch up to Stonewall, having no problem with making small hops over obstacles of stone, wood and metal.
They soon arrived (To Ruby's relief) at the first building that Stonewall saw fit to be looted, it was a small building that was mostly out of the way of the empty street, protective metal coverings placed where the windows should have been with a small nameplate hanging from the top of the door frame.
"Dust till Dawn?" Stonewall read out loud as she tore her gaze away from the nameplate, her gaze now shifting to the metal with a slightly impressed whistle, her hand pushing against the would-be windows. "Someone was hiding out here, the metal to protect from intruders" Her hand reached out to caress the door knob, testing it out, the knob being almost rigid and unmovable. "Locked…"
"Maybe we ca-" Weiss would of finished her sentence if she wasn't completely interrupted as off in the distance, loud and clear for all three, a gunshot sounded. Before Ruby or Weiss could react an arm wrapped around their waists and yanked them backwards, a low, but audible growl following them from nearby.
Technically I have the next chapter ready for upload, but I looked back on it and thought to add an extra part to make sure a plot point was mentioned. So...Expect the next chapter soonish.