Disclaimer
I don't own anything. RWBY is not owned by me. It is owned by talented people. I'm a nobody. Please don't sue me.
Fifth Case:
The Other Side
Weiss had expected to need help from the SDC to make the trip to Faerie, and so she was quite surprised when Captain Goodwitch lead her and Ruby into the subbasement, past the secure storage rooms, until they reached a specialized ritual chamber. Unlike the general protection circle in the ritual chamber she had used to summon Dugh, this one covered the entire floor, and with a moment of study she could see that it was designed for opening portals.
She was also surprised to see Inspector Ozpin carefully pouring dust in various parts of the circle. An enormous amount had been used, and with a closer inspection of the circle Weiss realized that it was a bit less efficient than the recent Schnee portals, which were no doubt a closely held secret.
"We'll be able to send you there, and provide dust for a return trip," Goodwitch said. "I trust that you can get the two of you home?"
Weiss nodded, and Goodwitch went over to help Ozpin finish preparations. Ruby walked over and spoke softly. "Um… so what do I do?"
"The big rules are pretty similar to the Traveling Market," Weiss said. "Assume that everything you meet, even if it looks like a normal plant, or animal, or even rock is some kind of sentient, amoral being that wants to gain power over you. Don't say your name, don't agree to anything, don't accept any gifts… this is going to be extremely dangerous."
"I'll be careful," Ruby said.
Weiss sighed. "This is the first time you've left our plane of existence, and Faerie… Faerie is unusual. It would take longer than we have to fully explain how things work there to you. It'll be easier if you see for yourself. Just… do you trust me?"
"Yes," Ruby said, taking her hand.
"Okay," Weiss said. "I promise, I'll do everything I can to keep you safe."
"And you," Ruby said. "Keep you safe, too."
Weiss nodded, but before they could speak further Ozpin approached them. "I've prepared a package of dust for you, Ms. Schnee, and had cold iron daggers withdrawn from the armory for the both of you. Do you need anything else?"
Weiss thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "That should be enough. Will your portal take us to the Green Hill Mine?"
"Very close to it," Ozpin said. "You should be able to see it near where you will arrive."
"Then that should be all that we need," Weiss said. "Are you ready, Ruby?"
Ruby took the dagger that Ozpin had gotten for them, attaching it to her belt, while Weiss grabbed her knife and a pouch of dust before adjusting her sword, getting ready to draw it if they arrived in a dangerous situation. Once they were both ready Ozpin and Goodwitch took their places and began to focus, channeling their auras into the circle to activate it.
Power built quickly as the dust began to react, static filling the air, making hair stand on end and skin prickle. A low hum built just below the range of human hearing, and then rose quickly into a high, piercing whine before reaching a point where it simply pained the head rather than making an audible noise. Finally, with a great pop like a balloon bursting the air split open as a portal formed, revealing a view of a bright green forest clearing floating in midair.
Weiss lead the way, walking briskly so that they had time to make it through before the portal closed. She stepped through, reeling slightly from the disorientation of being on another plane. It took a moment for the wave of dizziness to wear off, and when it did she took a long look at where she had arrived.
She was in a small clearing in the middle of a vast forest. Trees towered around her, tall and proud, providing shade from the sun hanging overhead. The air was hot, the cool shade of the trees helping make it bearable, but even with them she could tell that area they were in was enjoying a hot summer day.
Weiss heard Ruby fall to the ground and immediately turned to face her. Her partner was gasping, hands around her throat as she desperately tried to breath, her lips already turning blue from lack of oxygen. "Ruby!"
Weiss crouched next to her dying partner, placing a hand on her shoulder, which she didn't react to at all. Gritting her teeth Weiss closed her eyes and reached out with her aura, pushing it into Ruby, feeling gratified as her partner accepted it easily despite her current condition. She then pushed her aura outwards into the world and spoke in a clear, firm voice, letting the meaning be carried by her aura into the plane itself.
"I claim Ruby Rose," Weiss said clearly, her heart fluttering for a moment before she focused again. "I claim her as a guest, and grant her the hospitality of House Schnee. I offer her succor and protection as if she were of my own house."
Ruby relaxed slightly as her desperate gasps suddenly bore fruit, her skin color slowly returning to normal. Once she was sure that Ruby was recovering Weiss carefully withdrew her aura back into herself, before squeezing her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"Now," Ruby gasped. "What- what was that? I couldn't… couldn't feel anything… and I couldn't get any air..."
"Welcome to Faerie," Weiss said. "I already said that things here work differently… that means everything. Do you think that's oxygen you're breathing?"
"What is this, the Matrix?"
"No, this is Faerie," Weiss said, her brow scrunched in slight confusion. "Natural laws as we understand them don't exist here. At all."
"What does that even mean?"
Weiss pursed her lips for a moment. "Nothing here just works because of any physical or chemical process. There are no natural processes in Faerie. The only thing that is relevant here are agreements. Breathing sustains you because the Air has agreed to do so. You can see because the Light agreed to illuminate the darkness for you. When you eat, the food will nourish you because of an agreement with it to sustain you. Nothing, nothing at all happens in Faerie without an agreement with the plane to make it happen."
"That's… that's crazy," Ruby said.
"Faerie is a plane of Contractual Reality," Weiss explained. "A plane where the very nature of reality is contractually determined and behaves by obligation. Why do you think so many Faerie creatures are famous for making deals?"
"So why are faunus safer here?" Ruby asked as she slowly climbed to her feet.
"Close your eyes and focus on your aura," Weiss ordered. Ruby did so, and after a few moments she continued. "Do you feel that drain?"
"Yeah," Ruby said. "It's weird though… it's not like when I use mana."
"That's because it's not mana being taken from you," Weiss said. "What's being consumed is your actual soul."
"WHAT?!"
"Don't worry, souls regenerate," Weiss said. "Surprisingly quickly, too."
"Why is it draining my soul in the first place!"
Weiss looked around. "Why don't we walk while we talk? We don't want to be here any longer than necessary."
"Okay," Ruby said, hesitating for a moment before reaching over and taking Weiss' hand. "I don't like this."
Weiss smiled. "There is a reason why people try to avoid going to Faerie."
The scenery was not that reason though, as Weiss found the area to be incredibly beautiful. After a moment's thought she walked to the far side of the clearing where a faint trail could be seen arching upwards. She wasn't completely sure that it was the correct direction, but they were looking for a hill, and if it wasn't correct at least higher ground might offer a better view of the area.
"Do you know what happens to our souls when we die?" Weiss finally asked.
"Um… we go to heaven or something?"
"There are a few 'heavenly realms' that psychopomps like Nora are able to transport freshly departed souls to," Weiss said. "But for the most part the dead instead pass beyond into something unknowable, usually moving on their own, although sometimes with the help of Death if they need the aid. What happens then is unknown, although some choose to interpret it as the eventual heavenly reward of their particular religion, or preparations for a cycle of reincarnation. A popular theory among mages posits that instead the souls become one with the universe itself, although to what end no one has advanced a convincing answer."
Ruby frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know if that's reassuring or disturbing."
Weiss shrugged. "It just is."
"Okay," Ruby said, looking down at their clasped hands and swinging them for a moment, smiling in thought before becoming serious again. "Okay… so what does that have to do with anything?"
"You asked about why our souls are being devoured," Weiss deadpanned.
"Oh… right."
"People in death have their soul pass beyond," Weiss lectured. "Faerie is a more… proactive plane. The only bargains we've ever been able to strike with the underlying reality of Faerie involve it getting to eat little pieces of our souls for every moment that it agrees to sustain us. Which is why only Faunus can stay here safely."
"Why?"
"Because they aren't outsiders as far as the plane is concerned," Weiss explained, before hesitating. "Do you know what the term 'changeling' refers to?"
"Um… I know it's a really bad thing to say about faunus."
"It is, but it has a literal origin," Weiss said. "Centuries ago people believed that creatures from Faerie would kidnap mortal children and replace them with Faerie creatures. Of course, that wasn't the truth; any children taken to Faerie is removed because of some deal or agreement, either with the child or someone with authority over the child. Which is beside the point anyway, as the children in question weren't swapped in the first place, but simply revealing their true nature. Many parents could not accept having preternatural children, blaming magical gifts or nonhuman genetics on the child being a fake.
"The myth of stolen and replaced children being changelings from Faerie became pervasive, and it did not help that faunus are actually descended partially from Faerie. A faunus child means that the family line interbred with a creature from Faerie, and the animal-like features are a direct result. Sometimes it actually took a few generations for the features to appear, but once they did they bred true resulting in a child from two ostensibly normal human parents having animal ears or horns or tails or what have you. It frightened people, and many parents thought that the children weren't there's."
"So… Faerie doesn't treat them as outsiders?" Ruby asked, brow furrowed in concentration.
Weiss squeezed her hand and smiled at her. "That's right. Because they are descended from Faerie, even if they've never set foot here the basic agreements with the plane don't consume their souls. Other prices must be paid, but they aren't ones that harm them, so faunus can remain here indefinitely. Of course, they need to make agreements that allow them to eat and breathe and see, such as our contracts or other deals they or a patron strike for them."
They walked in silence for a little bit until they reached the top of the rise that they had been climbing. While the cover of the trees on the hillside was quite thick, they discovered that the top was clear, and when they reached it they paused, overwhelmed by the breathtaking vista stretching out before them.
They were standing on a high crest above a vast field of green trees slowly swaying in the warm breeze. The bright summer sun hovered overhead, and everywhere danced enormous butterflies whose iridescent wings were every color of the rainbow, and many colors that did not exist on their own plane, something that they could provide no description for as it was a sight that could not normally be experienced with human vision.
Beyond the beautiful summer forest they could see a winding blue line cutting through the trees from a fast flowing river, and the far shore was an equally awe inspiring forest of trees with red leaves. "What's that?" Ruby asked.
"The Forever Fall Forest," Weiss explained. "It's beyond the River of Tears. Green Hill Mine is supposed to be close to it."
"I think that's it," Ruby said, pointing at a large hill perhaps two miles away with a simple walled structure built on top of it. Despite being the only manmade thing visible from where they were standing it blended in surprisingly well, as the harsh right angles and stone walls were obscured by a layer of moss and vines. The entirety of the hill was actually barren of trees, and instead covered in a carpet of green vines, lichen and moss.
"Come on," Weiss said, leading the way.
Unfortunately the trip wasn't quite as simple as it had looked from their high vantage point. The game trail they had been following ended at the top of the hill, and in order to head in the correct direction they had to cut straight through the trackless forest. The only good thing was that the thick tree canopy meant that the ground was relatively clear, as there was so little light filtering down, but it also meant that they couldn't see very far ahead, making it impossible to navigate.
Relatively clear and actually clear were different things, however, and after the fourth time Weiss almost tripped on a tree root she began to pick her steps very carefully, which also made it difficult to pay attention to where she was heading. The trees also did surprisingly little for the heat, and soon they had both taken off their coats and found themselves sweating heavily. It was a long, frustrating, broiling hike through the forest, making Weiss steadily more irritable as time passed.
Finally Ruby groaned and sat down on a fallen tree. "I think we're lost."
"We're not lost," Weiss insisted. "We… are going to the mine, which is… this way."
"Weiss..."
"No, wait, it's this way… I'm sure of it."
"Weiss, please… sit down for a second, okay?"
"What?!" Weiss snapped, glaring at her girlfriend. "We need to keep moving. Who knows how long it will take to find whoever is responsible for this. We can't afford to waste time."
"We're not," Ruby said. "Seriously, Weiss… sit down for a sec… please?"
Weiss huffed angrily, stormed across the clearing, and sat rigidly on the log near Ruby. She muttered angrily to herself for a few minutes, until slowly she started to relax. She took a deep breath and leaned back on her hands, staring up at the tree canopy above. A strange, warbling bird was singing, and sitting down it no longer seemed quite so miserably hot.
"Feeling better?" Ruby asked, placing a hand on top of her's.
Weiss jumped slightly at the contact, before relaxing again. "Yes… I'm… I apologize for yelling at you."
"It's fine," Ruby said. "So… we're kinda lost, huh."
"It was two miles," Weiss grumbled, blushing. "How could we get lost walking two miles?"
"Well, I mean… how often have you been in a forest?"
Weiss opened her mouth, then closed it with a harrumph.
"Yeah, my dad likes hiking, so I've been a couple of times, but never away from a trail," Ruby said. "And I think we'd need a compass here. I mean, these are some really big trees."
"Compasses don't work in Faerie," Weiss said.
"So how do people get around here?"
"Well… my family mostly relies on opening portals directly to where we're going," Weiss said. "When we need to find something we usually summon something to find it for us."
"Can we do that?"
"I… didn't remember to bring anything to use as payment," Weiss said, blushing. "I was in a hurry!"
Ruby giggled, squeezing her hand when Weiss grunted angrily. "We'll figure something out. I mean, maybe I can climb a tree or something."
Weiss eyed the tree in front of her speculatively. "Those branches start very high up."
Ruby shrugged, digging through her coat pockets until finally she grinned, pulling out a small bag of cookies. "Here… chocolate makes everything better."
Weiss took the cookie and stared at it for a moment, before looking Ruby, who was happily inhaling the rest of the bag. "Stop that, you dolt!"
"What?" Ruby asked, spitting crumbs.
"Don't waste the rest!" Weiss shouted, snatching the bag from her hand.
"My cookies…" Ruby whimpered, reaching out for the bag.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "You'll live. When we get home I'll buy you a pile of cookies, okay?"
"But you don't even like cookies that much… can't we do something besides ration the cookies?" Ruby pleaded. "Can't we try cannibalism first?"
Weiss stared at her, before shaking her head. "You know what's fond of cookies? Sprites. Sprites love cookies."
"So… oh!" Ruby said. "I guess… I guess I can give up a cookie."
Weiss just shook her head and pulled out her chalk, drawing a simple magic circle on the fallen tree. It wasn't the best surface to draw on, but it was actually a very simple bit of binding magic to do while on Faerie. Once it was finished she broke off a tiny piece of the chocolate chip cookie and placed it inside of the circle before hiding the rest of the bag.
It didn't take long for something to answer her call. The sprite was fairly typical for its kind, being a tiny figure the size of her thumb, with large, shimmering wings. It was quite beautiful, and actually reminded Weiss of Ruby the way that it immediately stuffed the piece of cookie she had left for it into its mouth before even noticing the two people looking at it.
"Eep!" it yelped, tensing to fly away again.
"Hello," Weiss said. "We don't mean you any harm."
"You don't?" it asked anxiously in a tiny, high pitched voice.
"It's adorable," Ruby said, staring down in awe at it.
The sprite narrowed its eyes, suddenly pulling a bow and arrow from nowhere. "What'd you say to me!?"
"She didn't mean anything by it," Weiss said, shooting Ruby a glare. "My partner hasn't been to Faerie before. Also, she's a dolt."
The sprite sniffed, putting away the bow. "I'll say. How do you put up with her?"
Weiss smiled slightly, ignoring Ruby's pout. "You get used to her."
The sprite looked her up and down for a moment, before examining the chalk circle. "Alright, so you got my attention. What do you need a mighty warrior like myself for, and why should I listen?"
"My partner and I managed to get a little lost," Weiss said. "Do you think you could show us how to get to the Green Hill Mine?"
"And why should I?"
"Well..." Weiss said slowly, pulling out the cookie she'd broken off the small piece of. "Perhaps you'd like the rest of your cookie?"
"You drive a hard bargain, mortal," the Sprite said, before diving on the cookie.
