A/N: Okay, so I'm back with another chapter of RWBY: Twilight Abyss and let me just say I don't know why I'm not getting these chapters totally completed this time around; it's probably because my friends want me to play video games with them but I digress. So also going up today on my profile is a percentage of delay that will show how far along I am with the next chapter. I got the idea from Organ of Flames' profile and let me just say it is the most helpful thing ever. Now I won't update it every hour or something crazy like that, but I will try to update it at least everyday. I'm also trying to figure out a way to work Death March into the story schedual when that comes out, but I'll talk more about that later. Anyway please don't forget to review, follow and favorite. I'll see you all later, peace.
The drive back to the Sequoia Tree's base was a quiet one, as Saffeara drove them back. They had left Kanji and Alex there to wait for the local police to arrive, and to take pictures to relay to Liz, who would then report it to the Internal Affairs department. However, that would come in due time, now the terrible realization that they wouldn't ever see Elise or Oppenheimer again. Saffeara would occasionally look over to Ruby as she drove, her red eyes saturated with worry. She wanted to say something, yes, she wanted to try and comfort Ruby; but she knew from experience that Ruby would open up in due time.
"You can drive right, Sam?" Ruby asked, finally breaking the silence.
Samantha's green eyes widened for a moment, her brain trying to formulate a response to a question she was not prepared for.
"Y-Yes, ma'am." she responded.
"Good, because when we get back I want you to take the truck to the motor pool, and get ammo for the fifty and make sure we're good on fuel." Ruby ordered, pulling her helmet off and dropping it to the floor.
Her brown and light brown hair was incredibly wet as the rain and sweat made her bangs stick to her forehead. She ran her hands through her hair and grabbed a water bottle from the glove compartment. She drank almost half of it in one go, before screwing the lid back on and returning it to its place.
Saffeara rounded the corner and soon the high walls of the Sequoia Tree HQ came into view with people coming and going out of its only gate. Saffeara turned towards the gate and put her security clearance up to the driver side window and drove through with no protest. She pulled around to the front of the building Liz's office was located in and put it park with determination.
"It's all yours kid." Saffeara said, getting out.
Ruby got out as well, and Samantha climbed over the console and now sat in the driver's seat.
She rolled the window down, "What do I do if I get finished?"
"We should be done by then, but if you get done faster than us just hang out or hit the firing range over there and practice." Ruby replied, walking towards the door.
Samantha nodded to no one in particular and drove off, leaving Saffeara and Ruby to go report their findings to Liz.
They opened the door and were greeted by a receptionist with salmon colored hair. She smiled at them and nodded when they showed their security cards. Ruby and Saffeara went through a door to the left of the receptionist and were greeted by the same hallway they had traveled through earlier in the day. The two women arrived at Liz's door and knocked on the door.
"Do you think she'll be changing again?" Saffeara snickered.
Ruby just smirked and rolled her eyes as they heard Liz call for them to come in. They opened the door and found that Liz was fully clothed this time, and was even typing something up on her computer.
"Mission accomplished, Liz." Saffeara announced.
"And we don't have good news." Ruby added; her right hand forming a fist.
Liz looked up from her computer and up at Ruby, "She's not with us anymore is she?"
"She's in a better place, Liz. I'll have a full detailed report on your desk within the hour." Ruby replied.
She was about to say something, but Liz raised her hand stopping her. The gold wedding and engagement rings on her finger glowing in the sunlight streaming through her window.
"Get it to me whenever you can. Now while you were out another situation developed." Liz turned her computer towards them. "This is a map of a remote village to the north of Harmony; which has been known to have frequent Grimm attacks. It's too remote for us to establish a good foothold in order to defend it." Liz reclined back in her seat. "Long story short we lost contact with them a few hours ago and we immediately dispatched a team of huntsmen. An hour ago we lost contact with them and have since been unable to establish any sort of contact with them."
"Did you try smoke signals, Liz?" Saffeara joked, earning her a smack to the side from Ruby.
Liz squinted her eyes at Saffeara and gave her a look that Ruby knew was a bad sign.
"You know what I did consider it. In fact I even considered hooking up a car battery to your Faunus ears, but then again they seemed to be invisible for some reason." Liz said, her eyes as hard as the Topaz they looked like.
Saffeara's lips parted a bit as her face fell, her eyes lost all glint as she backed away from Liz. She looked like she was about to cry. Ruby gave Liz a dirty look as she went over to Saffeara and tried to calm her down. Liz covered her face with her hands and exhaled.
"Girls look at me." Liz ordered, reclining back.
Both of them looked at Liz, Saffeara sniffling a bit.
"I'm sorry about what I said. I just shouldn't have said it. However, I have been up since 1 A.M. and have had to do my job while trying to keep a three year old from finding out that her daddy killed a crazed Dr. Oppenheimer in a field 50 yards from our house. So let's just say I've had a pretty shitty day and am still in a pretty shitty mood so I need you to do two things for me. One get through this day without killing each other, and two please don't forget that I am human and am currently running on empty." Liz explained.
Ruby looked at Saffeara and nodded. Saffeara let go of Ruby's hands and walked over to Liz.
"I-I'm sorry as well. I just wanted to make you happy for once today." Saffeara said.
Liz motioned for Saffeara to come over to her.
Saffeara did and Liz stood up and hugged the shorter woman. Saffeara couldn't exactly tell what it was, but for some reason she felt if some invisible force had also wrapped itself around her; the wounds beginning to heal.
"Thank you for trying, but now's not the time okay?" Liz asked, holding her a little tighter.
Saffeara nodded in her grip and slowly pushed away. She smiled softly at the taller woman and soon found herself standing next to Ruby, her usual chipperness slowly coming back.
Liz cleared her throat, "Anyway this is your next mission. I need you to go and find this missing team, and bring them back… if there is anything left."
"Yes, ma'am." Saffeara and Ruby said almost in sync.
With that they turned towards the door and left Liz standing in front of the window, the setting sunlight illuminating her face. She turned back towards desk and focused on a picture that was the second most recent one(the first being one of Jozy, Fuschia, and she). Liz picked it up and smirked when she saw Saffeara in her bridesmaid dress poking Ruby in the side, while Weiss held her from behind; her head buried in Ruby's shoulder. Ruby was blushing so bad that it may have just outshined her wedding dress, but lucky for her Weiss' just added to hers. Finally Liz stood on the side opposite Saffeara and had her arm around Ruby and Weiss. She smiled to herself as she put the picture frame back on her desk and returned to looking out the window.
Ruby and Saffeara now walked back down the hallway and soon found themselves back in the locker room where they began changing back into their normal attire. Saffeara was tense the whole time, waiting for Ruby to say something, Her heart pounded in her ears as she pulled her panties up, but Ruby still showed no sign of saying anything.
"You're not going to say anything?" Saffeara asked, holding her arms in front of her chest.
Ruby pulled her own panties up and turned towards Saffeara, her black vest already covering her upper torso.
"There's nothing to say. Liz hit the point home pretty well and I'm just going to leave it at that. However, what I'm going to do is buy you and I a beer because we've all had a shit day and I think we deserve some time to regroup." Ruby replied, pulling her pants up.
Saffeara breathed a sigh of relief, and grabbed her bra from the locker and put it on. After that the rest of her dress was pretty easy to put on and soon Ruby and she were walking out of the building. They exited the building and found Samantha sitting on the hood of the truck with some chopsticks and a bowl of noodles in her hands. Saffeara and Ruby smirked as they walked up to her.
"Do you like the noodles? I personally think they're a little dry." Saffeara asked, putting her hand on her hip.
Samantha slurped a few more noodles into her mouth before speaking, "These are the best things I've ever had! When I lived with my parents we were out in the boonies so we always ate whatever my father had killed that day; I'd only heard about noodles when the occasional visitor came by."
"Well, lucky for you, Saffeara, here kind of a connoisseur when it comes to food and since she's from Mistral that includes noodles." Ruby said, putting her hand on Saffeara's shoulder.
Saffeara blushed a bit, "Well I wouldn't say that, but I just like to eat; and as you can see I'm not fat."
"Did your blue haired bombshell ask you that when you put the moves on her?" Ruby asked, snickering.
"N-No." Saffeara replied, knowing that that was the exact reason she said the last part.
Samantha jumped down from the hood, and walked over to Saffeara and Ruby. Her green eyes alight.
"Wow, I bet you can cook amongst the best of them." she said, taking Saffeara's hands in hers.
She gasped when accidentally pushed on the top of Saffeara's hands and her fingernails grew into claws. Saffeara's lips grew into a smile.
"Careful they're razor sharp, and I'd feel bad if you cut yourself." Saffeara said, as the eighteen year old played with her hands.
"Don't worry I'll be careful. I didn't know you were a Faunus, Saffeara. You don't have any of the noticeable characteristics, you know?" Samantha asked, letting her hands go.
Saffeara nodded, "I used to have ears on top of my head as well, but that's a story for another time."
Samantha smiled at her before Ruby, cut between them. Her silver eyes slightly happier as the wind blew her hair a bit.
"While this is heart warming we do have another mission to get to so we should probably go get Kanji and Alex." Ruby said, pointing to the truck.
"Ahh, it feels so good to actually be dressed more like myself." Saffeara said, stretching.
"Actually ma'am, Kanji and Alex have already returned and currently changing." Samantha spoke up.
Ruby smiled, "That's perfect. Now all we have to do is-"
She was cut off by the two aforementioned people walking out of the building; Alex slicking his wet hair back as he had taken a shower before hand. Samantha started shuffling her feet as a light blush dusted her cheeks; Saffeara noticed this but shrugged it off. Kanji and Alex walked over to Ruby.
"How'd the meeting go?" Kanji asked.
"It went well, and we also got assigned another mission while we were there." Ruby said, choosing to leave out some personal details. "I'll tell you the details on the way there."
With that Ruby, went to the driver side passenger seat and opened the door. The rest of them assumed the same position as before, however, this time Saffeara was driving. Samantha's breath hitched as she felt Alex's knee hit hers, another blush covering her cheeks rapidly as she looked away. Alex didn't even notice and kept his purple eyes fixated on the people out the window. Ruby looked in the rear view mirror and saw Samantha's reaction and smirked; but she pretended not to notice.
"Samantha you're on the gun if this gets hairy. To everyone else I've sent the mission detail to your scrolls and Kanji, I got a braille print off for you." Ruby explained, handing a piece of paper back to Samantha, who handed it to Kanji.
Alex read through the mission detail and soon looked up at Ruby, "Missing hunters. That's a new one, and an equally dangerous one even for us."
"All the more reason to proceed with extreme caution, Alex. Ruby are you sure we shouldn't go in with rifles? We could be a lot more cautious with those instead of our normal weapons." Kanji suggested, making use of the skills Ruby taught her.
Ruby pointed her finger in the air, "Thank you for say so Kanji, but the most likely target is Grimm; and our weapons are leagues better than rifles versus Grimm. However, the other possibility is that the village has started a rebellion, which will be a crap chute for us."
"We should scout the village out before we proceed. I've been to the region before and it's very mountainous, and its foothills are covered in a dense rainforest. Using the terrain to our advantage we could scout the entire town with very little chance of being spotted." Alex suggested next.
Saffeara nodded and tapped on the steering wheel, "I like that idea. After you guys are done, Ruby and I can formulate a plan based on your findings."
Ruby smiled at Saffeara, "I like the idea as well. So Alex you'll be in charge of the recon team with Samantha and while you're gone we'll see if we can't make contact with the missing team."
"Thanks, Ruby." Alex said, opening his scroll to start the necessary preparations.
Silence came over them until Saffeara drove onto the overpass that ran through the center of Harmony; giving them a spectacular view of the setting sun going down over the ocean. The light sparkling off the waves like a slow strobe light.
"Wow, now that's a view." Saffeara remarked; as Ruby and she put their visors down.
"Yeah…" Ruby acknowledged, trailing off.
"What is it?" Saffeara asked.
"Oh, it's nothing. I was just wishing that Weiss was here." Ruby admitted, leaning her head on the window.
"Heh, I thought so. Don't worry Ruby you'll see her again soon; and after that you'll see her with a slightly smaller you as well." Saffeara said, with sincerity.
Ruby smiled at her before turning back to looking at the sunset. Samantha on the other hand was confused and moved her head closer to Kanji.
"Who's Weiss?" she whispered.
Kanji looked at the younger woman as much as she could, "She's Ruby's wife, who is also one month pregnant."
Samantha was surprised by this and looked at Ruby, before noticing the white wedding band on her left hand. She had never noticed it before thanks to the fact that Ruby had been wearing her gloves a majority of the time. Samantha made up her mind to ask her about it later.
They continued to drive down the road, and slowly yet steadily the evening turned into the night and the scenery turned into thick, upon thick jungle. Saffeara had turned the dome light on for the rest of them, while Ruby looked at the map on her scroll.
"We're halfway there. Should I start looking for a place to turn off for the night?" Saffeara asked; slowing up a bit.
Ruby nodded, "Yes, but it doesn't look like we'll be finding any rest stops soon. So I guess we're roughing it."
"Oh man, the one mission I thought I would have a soft bed to look forward to." Kanji said, putting the back of her right hand on her forehead.
"You owe me five bucks." Alex said, smirking at Kanji.
"What why?" she then asked.
Alex chuckled, "Because, the last mission we were on I bet you that you couldn't make the next one with without complaining about something at least once."
Kanji's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered what he was talking about, "Crap, I don't like you."
She reached into her back pocket and grabbed her wallet and quickly found five lien. Kanji handed it to Alex, who counted it before putting it in his pocket.
Ruby had been listening to the exchange and rolled her eyes before looking back down at the map. Saffeara pulled onto an exit ramp and they soon found themselves on a mountain road, that Alex recognized.
"Careful Saffeara, this area is prone to rockslides." He warned, looking at the cliffs above them as best he could.
Saffeara nodded and started looking for a place to pull over for the night. She soon noticed a small clearing in the trees a ways off and pulled over.
"There's a clearing a few yards off. It looks in habitable." Saffeara said, putting it in park.
Ruby nodded, "Go nice and slow then."
Saffeara nodded and pulled of the road. She skillfully threaded the needle around a few trees before coming to a stop underneath right beside the clearing. Saffeara sighed as she put the vehicle in park one final time, and then smiled at everybody.
"Okay, people get out of the car and start setting up camp. We'll take guard duty in pairs; remember to get a good night sleep." Ruby commanded.