For a slum tavern with tight corridors and limited housing, most of the rooms provided the basest pragmatic comforts. In the absence of beds were a couple mattresses laid on the floor, a chair pressed up to a table in the corner, and a closet. That was it. At least the mattresses were not infested with bed bugs and the blankets were clean and washed. One of the pillows was a little stiff but that was because there was a dagger stuffed in the goose down. It came every room, apparently.

Ruby Rose, Empress of Sanus, lay on the bed after sweeping the floor. She stared out the window which offered an unhindered view of Mistral's red light district, bathed in the bright glimmer of the sun behind the central mountain where the wealthier districts were established. Any member of high court nobility sitting in one of the many estates chiseled onto the mountainside would have crinkled their nose in disgust at such a hideous stain on this metropolis. But Ruby could see the beauty in disorder, the logic borne from hardship, the creativity of survivors in the architecture, and surprisingly the hospitality from those who were considered the scum of society.

Little Miss Malachite and her Spiders may fit the profile of such people but what they lacked in obeisance to the law, they made up for in principle. Mistral was their home, for better or worse. The Spiders may be the bane of the Mistralian authorities but they were not wicked by heart. Rather, they were survivalists who chose the more pragmatic route to get by. And Ruby, despite herself, could respect that to an extent.

The door knob twisted and Pyrrha strode in, legs arching wide over their beddings. She sat down next to her on the mattresses, staring out the window.

"Hey, Pyrrha. How's everyone doing?"

"Jaune and Ren are downstairs, mostly keeping Nora from causing any damage. The Spiders have taken to her quite well, though. I feared the worst but she somehow resonated with them...in the bombastic sense."

Ruby snickered. "I guess that explains the noise coming from downstairs, huh."

"It was that loud?" Miss Nikos shook her head. "Sorry about that. We tried to keep it down."

"And Team CRDL?"

"They've gone gone into the city proper. Here's hoping their disguises work and they might clear up the air with Headmaster Lionheart."

"Your headmaster," stammered the Empress. "I'm concerned about his...intentions. The way he barged in here, demanding for me, expressing a sort of dominion over Miss Malachite..."

Pyrrha sighed. "There are many rumors. Headmaster Lionheart has done many great things in his younger years but during his tenure as the head of our chapter, there have been a lot of...scandals."

As she thought. Qrow had once or twice mentioned a certain 'Leonardo' during one of his drunken tirades. Something about a Huntsman who folded to his own fears. It was easy now to assume who he was referring to. "I see."

"You're not surprised?"

Ruby snorted. "How could I be? I'm a sovereign. I grew up in a world of politics. I'm not naive. It's just...I haven't seen much of the nastier bits, I guess. Or maybe that's because Ozma and Salem were trying to keep me away from it all. Right now, I'm not very convinced of your headmaster's...benevolence."

"I see... I, um, deeply apologize for his behavior."

"Pyrrha, you don't have to do that."

"I'm sorry, I—"

The Empress nudged her. "Please. You're too kind."

Miss Nikos was unable to meet her in gaze. "... Is that a flaw?"

"It's an endearing trait." At least, that was what Ozma or Salem would say. Ruby would agree though. Pyrrha was too kind yet, when pushed, was capable of deeds too gruesome. "Not really a bad thing. And it's nice to have some warmth despite, you know...our circumstances."

"Oh. Thank you, Ruby," Pyrrha beamed. "By the way, Madame Malachite says the political climate in the city proper is so volatile that even the Mistralian royal family have shut themselves in."

"It's unsafe for me. For any of us. Even if we manage to sway the Royal Army or get Headmaster Lionheart to reconsider your case or maybe even wind up in the Mistralian Royal Court, there is still the public. And then that rogue frumentarius who might...who might try and..."

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

"Ruby?"

Ruby sighed. "Sorry. I'm tired. It's been a long day and I think I need a nap."

"I'll wake you for dinner then?"

"That would be nice." She eased against the mattress, fluffing the pillow with the dagger in it. "Thank you."

Voices. Screaming. Crying.

Running. Pitter, patter, pitter, patter. The light fades and the moonless evening sky seeps into the corridor. Ruby tries to keep up yet she loses her grip on Yang's arm and quickly finds herself alone in the unlit hallways. She calls out her sister's name only to hear her own voice echo back.

Then a raspy hiss that freezes her in place. "I see you, little flower."

"No!" she cries, covering her ears.

Laughter. "Oh, how sweet and innocent you are, little flower."

"Go away!"

Purple eyes beam back from the abyss. Ruby stumbles back and reaches for something. Something metallic, heavy, sharp. She clumsily swings it around much to the amusement of the shadow tormenting her.

"My, my, what sloppy swordsmanship!"

Ruby screams as an appendage—a stinger—bursts forth from the darkness. She shuts her eyes and, with both hands on the grip of the old sword, swings wildly.

A pained cry resonates off the walls, a mad shriek that sends shivers down her spine.

The shadow emerges and it hisses at her with its severed tail. "You...little bitch!"

Something writhes on the floor. It twitches and spills...something.

"Ruby!"

Ruby backs against the wall as a sharper, heavier blade slams between them. Her hands shake but she holds onto the sword as it drips with the blood of her assailant.

"Ruby!" Qrow yells. "Get behind me!"

She shuts her eyes as she does. And all she hears are voices. Throat-rending screaming. And her own crying.

"Ruby."

Ruby stirred.

"Ruby, wake up."

She groaned and sat up on the mattress. The curtains had been pulled tight to conceal the night life beaming up from the streets below.

"Ruby, we have to go," Pyrrha insisted.

The Empress sighed. Not the first time she heard that and with this group, that meant getting to her feet for some rapid moving. At least she had little to carry.

"Malachite says you can keep the dagger," Nora tooted from the doorway.

Ruby reached under the pillow and pulled out the small blade. Sharp, light, and sitting in a clean sheath which she slipped between the belt under her cloak. Other than her sleeping bag and the knapsack that was to hold what little belongings she had on her, she followed Pyrrha and Nora downstairs where Jaune and Ren stood anxiously by the bar with Malachite and her lackeys.

The former stood up immediately. "Good! Let's get out of here."

"Where to?" Ruby demanded. "What happened now?"

"Team CRDL got back to us," Ren reported. "The Maréchausée are on their way."

"You have about ten minutes before they show up in force," Malachite said.

"You told them?" the Empress hissed.

"No, Your Imperial Majesty," growled the older woman. "It was your Huntsmen friends who screwed up."

"CRDL? What did they do?"

"They used the CCT public domain to contact us," Nora parroted. "Either they'd have to be pretty stupid to do that or something spooked them to be that desperate."

"I'd go with the latter," Ren intoned.

"What did they find?" Ruby asked.

"They caught Headmaster Lionheart—" Pyrrha stopped herself. She glanced to her teammates for confirmation. They nodded back. "They caught Headmaster Lionheart talking to Raven Branwen...in his office. She was fully armed with her mask on his desk. I don't know how—"

"She found a way to get in our academy," Jaune grumbled. "Past all the Huntsmen, all the security, to speak freely with our headmaster. Either Raven's that good or..."

She was associated with Lionheart in some way, it went unsaid.

"The Maréchausée are going to be everywhere," Ren intoned. "Probably bolstered by Huntsmen or the Armée Royale."

"That would amount to the biggest raid on the quartier des maisons since the Second Intervention. My Spiders wouldn't be able to run interference for long," Malachite worded. "You'll have to forgo the streets."

Nora groaned. "This is going to suck."

Ruby tugged on Jaune's arm. "What's the plan?"

"We're getting out of here," he answered, pacing away from the door to the back of the bar. "We're getting out of this city. We're going to take the train to Argus. It's to the far north and far enough away from the people trying to stop you."

"Argus?"

"A former Atlesian colony, now an autonomous district within the Kingdom. There's an Atlesian garrison stationed there all year round and if you ask me, I'd rather trust the Atlesians than our own security forces right now."

"If you plan to go public to stop this war from happening, Argus would be the safest place to do so," noted Malachite. "Good luck with the train. We can only do so much."

"Ruby," Pyrrha worded carefully. "You're going to have to get used to this."

The Empress nodded. "I'm already used to traveling on the fly."

Miss Valkyrie huffed. "Yeah? Well, we'll be traveling with flies. A lot of them. Maggots and worms, too. And a lot of shi—"

"We're heading through the sewers," Mister Arc declared, pushing through the door to the kitchen. "Ruby, I'm sorry but for everyone's safety, we have to go through there."

"It's fine," Ruby answered dully. "It's fine."

"I'm really sorry, Ruby."

She bumped him on the shoulder. "Jaune, I've been held captive by Raven Branwen in horrid conditions. If I can handle that, I can handle some dirty sewers."

The Empress could handle dirty sewers. Though she doubted she could stomach any more of Mistral's overused, underfunded, poorly lit, poorly maintained, and intensely putrid sewers.

Nevertheless, she sucked it up, sucked her face in, and trudged through the knee-deep wastage while holding onto the flaps of Jaune's backpack to avoid getting lost. Likewise, Nora held onto her knapsack slung over her shoulder with Pyrrha doing the same and Ren closing up the rear. It was an uncomfortable train that they had to maintain in order to avoid being swamped by the infectious sludge flooding these tunnels.

"Ugh, I don't know about you but the smell might give us away before we get on that train," groused Nora.

"I'm sure there is a lavatory we can use to clean up before we board," Pyrrha assuaged.

"Five foul-smelling people with uncanny resemblances to wanted fugitives washing themselves in a public lavatory is not inconspicuous," Ren remarked.

"We'll clean up when we'll clean up," Jaune reiterated.

"What about your friends?" Ruby asked. "Do you think team CRDL compromised themselves?"

"We can't know for sure."

"What of—"

"CFVY and ABRN had been taken in by the Royal Knights," echoed Miss Nikos. "Thankfully, because of some conflict between the Knights and Headmaster Lionheart, they were not severely punished."

"Lucky them," blurted Miss Valkyrie.

"Lucky us," breathed Mister Arc, finally coming upon a metal ladder lit by a faint bulb. "This has got to be it. I'm going up first."

"Be careful," chorused the Empress and the champion.

Jaune paused, raised his brow at them, and hauled himself up the rungs until the scraping of a manhole echoed back down. His silhouette was ringed with bright light for a moment before he vanished onto the surface. Seconds later, he reappeared with an O-K.

Ruby was next. She emerged into an enclosed yard behind a maintenance station with Jaune standing vigilant. Beyond the chain-linked fence surrounding the yard were forestry and it appeared no one was on duty in this part of the train station. Soon, the rest of their crew emerged from the underground, reeking and partially drenched. Mister Arc then led them to the back door of the station where they slowly filed in.

They froze.

Amid the crowds of travelers and the long queues snaking around the terminal floors were uniformed soldiers. Who knew who among them were Huntsmen, keeping an eagle eye out?

Ruby shook her head. Focus, girl! Given how large this place was and the amount of people, even the most skilled security forces would be hard pressed to pick out someone suspicious. Even someone somewhat disguised. At least, she hoped it was so.

She glanced around until her eyes landed on someone catching her gawking from across the terminal. Her blood froze and for a second, she thought she had jeopardized them all.

That was until the man nodded at her and proceeded to trip a passing traveler, causing his baggage to spill open across the floor. This of course caused a ruckus that unexpectedly evolved into an argument that drew in much of the security teams prowling about.

"Time to move," Ruby whispered. She mentally thanked the man, most likely one of Malachite's goons.

Team JNPR snapped out of their funk and hugged the walls until they came upon the public lavatory. Both had been the marked with maintenance tags. Pyrrha pressed her hand against the door. To her surprise, it gave way and they all filed in. For something that was 'under maintenance,' the toilets were not clogged and the pipes were all running just fine.

Another thing to thank Miss Malachite for.

"Alright, everyone. Wash up, clean up, be fast," Jaune ordered, joining Ren in pressing themselves against the door in case anyone ignored the tag and tried to get in.

It was a male lavatory but the cubicles were sufficient for the girls to clean themselves. Or at least wring their clothes of the drainage water. Then there were the quick splashes on the sink, some spillage, and though the stench remained, it was diminished. The boys swapped with them as Pyrrha held the door handle.

"Do we have the tickets?" Nora inquired.

"Madame Malachite should have arranged for reservations, right?" Pyrrha said.

"Neither," Ren blurted.

The girls gawked at them.

Jaune grunted. "We're going on as chance passengers."

"You're kidding, right?" huffed Miss Valkyrie.

"Chance passengers?" parroted Miss Nikos.

Mister Arc nodded. "It's our best shot. Our only shot, actually."

Nora threw her arms up. "Assuming the next train to Argus isn't fully booked!"

"We have to risk it," assured the blond. "Guys, we're running out of options here. We can't wait things out in Mistral. Maréchausée and Armée Royale everywhere, Huntsman redeployed to crowd control, our friends being detained for bullshit reasons."

Ruby glanced around. The rest of team JNPR was not taking this well. Despite their indignation, they all agreed. Reluctantly.

As to what exactly a 'chance passenger' was, Ruby hardly knew. Whenever she traveled, she always had an entourage that ensured the finest seat on whatever she was riding on. When it came to trains, up to three railcars would often be reserved to accommodate her staff and her Guardsmen.

In this case, the Empress ended up learning something new about travel. And that sneaking onto a train without tickets or reservations was no ordinary feat.

Somehow, they managed to make it work.

For one, the conductors on the train that was departing for Argus were gathered together outside one of the railcars chatting away. A bit of eavesdropping revealed contempt for the current political situation in Mistral and while Nora rolled her eyes at that topic of conversation, she did pick up something about the Argus Limited taking in lesser passengers than usual despite the number of people booking to leave the city.

Interesting footnote but Ruby shelved that when one of the conductors leaned against the waste bin too much and spilled a half-day's worth of garbage over the station floor. Another interesting footnote was Pyrrha's hand sticking out with an open palm and a small smirk gracing her features. The Empress would have to ask her about that. Semblance, perhaps?

Regardless, they hastily boarded the vacant railcar and filtered into the nearest open cubicle.

"Whew," Nora breathed. "Finally made it."

"Didn't think it'd be that easy," Jaune remarked.

"I'd say we timed that right and have been very fortunate thus far," Pyrrha noted.

Ren hummed. "Perhaps. It seems no one has noticed us."

"You'd think that, wouldn't you," someone else retorted.

Ruby and the team JNPR stiffened in the cushioned seats of the cubicle they hijacked. In the doorway stood two imposing figures. Huntsmen. Armed and displeased.

"Alright, you," one of them began. "We know freeloaders when we see 'em."

A pause. They began sniffing the air. And recoiled when they realized it was them.

"Ugh! Okay, you all. Off. Now."

"Maybe we could negotiate here—"

The other cut Jaune off with a wrinkle in his nose. "Unless you've got tickets or reservations, you're getting off this train. Oh gods, have you even taken a bath?"

"We've got money!" barked Nora.

The rest of them stilled. An open bribe? Crap. If these Huntsmen were involved with Mistral's Marshalcy, there was a greater chance of this going sideways fast. Ruby wrapped her hood tighter around herself, unsure if showing her face would help their situation. Her free hand slipped under her cloak to wind tight on the pommel of her concealed dagger.

Surprisingly, the Huntsmen themselves were silent. Pondering. Scratching the stubbles on their chins while they regarded every one of them with...greed.

"Things are going to shit, eh, Dudley?" remarked one to his partner.

"Well, Dee, it's about time we get some incentives for this job," Dudley answered with a grin.

Pyrrha sourly dug into her purse and handed Jaune a wad of lien cards which he piled on with more from his own wallet. Ruby caught the numbers and was bug-eyed at how much they were willing to shell out for this.

"Our offer," bartered the blond.

Dee and Dudley eyed the cash and whistled. The former snatched up the cards while the latter continued whistling down the corridor 'unaware' of the Argus Limited's new stowaways. Perhaps eight hundred lien was too much?

"Keep your mouths shut and don't show yourselves unless you have to," Dee instructed. "Otherwise, we really have to kick you out."

"Noted," Ren said.

"If any of the conductors come knocking, tell 'em Dee and Dudley got you covered, alright?"

Nora gave a begrudging thumbs up.

Dee then swiftly pocketed the lien with a grimace upon hearing Dudley barking from the far end of the railcar. Followed by someone—surely a legitimate passenger—arguing with him.

"Ah, shit, it's the crazy cashew lady again," grunted the Huntsman before sliding the door to their cubicle shut.

ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: December 20, 2019

LAST EDITED: December 29, 2019

INITIALLY UPLOADED: December 29, 2019