Arc 2 – Journey
Chapter 6 – A sting of insanity
Today would mark a week team JRRNNY spent in this vivid-green hellhole.
Ever since the Atlesian pilots ditched them at the western coast of the continent, Mistral's tropical forests were using every opportunity to let them know they weren't welcome. Blistering heat, freezing cold nights, unsteady weather that could easily go from unbearably hot to a clobbering cloudburst... and Grimm, hordes of Grimm. Of course, the monsters were a common occurrence in the vast uninhabited territory between the Kingdoms. Strangely though, it seemed the Grimm seemed to be the most numerous where they were going.
As exhausting and annoying as it was, having to fight a pack of beasts every hour or two, none of the young hunters-in-training ever attributed this curious phenomenon to any kind of nefarious powers. As Jaune himself put it, it was just plain old bad luck that seemed to plague them ever since the tragic turn of events in Vale City... it seemed like ages ago.
Qrow couldn't help it but chuckle as he remembered the blonde knight's words. The fool had no idea how right he was.
As the folk tales held, his namesakes, that is crows, were considered omens of ill luck. In a strange twist of irony, his own Semblance took aforementioned trait and made it reality. This was why Qrow Branwen was one of the deadliest Huntsman of the modern times; any foe who challenged him had been met with a mysterious and persistent stroke of misfortune that would later become their undoing. A very useful trait indeed, sadly it had one major flaw; unlike its bearer, this particular Semblance did not differentiate between a friend and a foe. Qrow was a threat to both his enemies and his friends and family which was why he usually went on missions alone.
It was why he hovered high above ground in his bird form, a courtesy of old Ozpin, while his niece Ruby and her friends made their way through the thick forest, assuming he went to 'scout ahead.' It was for a good reason, and not solely because of the benefits of having a literal bird's eye view. The more distance he put between himself and them, the less they'd be affected by his notorious Semblance.
That unfortunate side-effect had almost been the reason why he refused to accompany team JRRNNY on their mission to Mistral. He would've much preferred to take care of the mission himself, believing to have far better odds of succeeding. That was where Professor Goodwitch disagreed, though. For some reason, Glyn believed them kids to be capable enough to take the fight to the enemy, to beat them on their own ground. Even after the spectacular fuck-up that was the defense of Vale City which ended with thousands of dead and over half of the city lying in rubble.
All of them did whatever they could and more... yet it wasn't enough.
However, Qrow realized he didn't have it in him to say no; especially when Glyn openly admitted he had a point about real-life experience taking precedence over theoretical classes and regulated bouts in an arena. That woman sure knew how to appeal to his ego, damn her...
Even now as he flew high above the ground, with hot tropical sun above glaring relentlessly (and boy, did he feel it with all the black feathers soaking up the heat), he couldn't help it but wonder if he didn't make a mistake accompanying the kids to Mistral. Ever since leaving Beacon, this trip had been plagued with problems, mostly with this damn land placing as many Grimm between them and Mistral City as possible... the kids were handling this surprisingly well, though. He had to give them that much. True, there was much to improve and some of them were prone to foolish mistakes but the last fight against the trio of Beringel had him convinced they'd grow up into mighty warriors... with proper guidance, of course.
Oum knows they'll need it, in the days to come.
Hours of ceaseless march passed and the night was rapidly encroaching on the world. The sun hung low above the horizon, sending the last of its warm orange rays to illuminate the landscape before it would inevitably disappear.
Things were going extraordinarily well today, at least by the usual standards. Clashes with Grimm couldn't be avoided in this wild land yet today the monsters seemed to be few and far in between. Without Grimm getting in the way, the gang crossed much greater distance than usual... and less fighting also meant less of a fatigue. Overall, this was definitely a good day to all of them.
So why did Qrow feel so on edge, all of a sudden?
In his avian form, he checked every nook and cranny of the surrounding forest, even going as far as to fly up to two miles away from the students to check for a possible threat. There was just nothing; the woods were as empty as they could possibly be. So why the shivers down his back, as if he was about to get jumped...?
Pushing the unpleasant feeling far to the back of his mind, Qrow carried on with his scouting routine, approaching the ruins of a small town. He could feel the frown forming under the plumage on his head as he contemplated the abandoned place, slowly overgrowing with trees and shrubs. This could've been a nice, quaint little place to live... if the Grimm hadn't come and razed it to the ground. At least this place appeared completely deserted, no Grimm lingered nearby, at least none that he could see.
And a couple of those houses looked rather well preserved; well enough to stay the night and hidden from whimsical weather. And if something did try to sneak up on them in the night, well... there was nothing Qrow Branwen couldn't handle.
His mind made up, Qrow turned around and headed back to Ruby and her gang. Diving down through the treetops, he expertly maneuvered between the branches and slowly approached the ground... and then in a flash of bright light, he landed on a bed of soft moss in his human form.
Hearing the chatter coming from barely a hundred paces away, he realized he'd landed just near the 'kids'... and they didn't even notice him. His lips drew into an impish smirk; if he was doomed to slashing his way to Mistral city through this desolate jungle, why not have a bit of fun while at it?
Qrow hid behind a broad, hundreds of years old tree trunk and waited until the voices grew louder... and the footsteps became audible. Then, without making a single sound he stepped out of his cover, wincing in pain as his ears were hit with a startled ear-splitting shriek.
… Eh, it was worth it.
She couldn't believe he'd do this to her.
After the hellish week in the jungles of Mistral, all the fighting, walking, sweating... Ruby was just finally starting to really get the hang of this 'leading' thing. Not that she was inept at leading before, totally not that. It was just that a lot of things that she didn't quite understand before were now finally making sense. It showed the progress she made ever since coming to Beacon despite, well... everything. Instead of having to listen all the time, now she had important stuff to say on her own, to share it with her comrades. After having to fight through some of the worst things Remnant had to offer, Ruby felt like a true leader, one to genuinely earn the due respect... and it was awesome.
And then Drunkle Qrow had to come in and ruin everything!
It took a single moment when the old man somehow popped up right before her when she was busy exchanging super-important wisdom with Pyrrha. And when she turned and looked straight ahead...
Ruby had never screamed so damn loud in her entire life. She was pretty sure every Grimm in the forest would hear that.
Just like that, all her dignity was gone in an instant.
"Damn it Qrow! Why?!"
And the drunken old bastard had the gall to have a laugh over it... If she knew that Pyrrha had stood beside her with the very same mortified expression she might've felt a bit better about herself.
"Because you're just too damn easy!" Qrow cackled. "And to think I'd get such a cute scream from the Iron Maiden herself! Couldn't have imagined a better bonus!"
Huh? Only then Ruby realized why her scream was so loud... and why only her right ear was still ringing.
Pyrrha had turned red; no one could tell if from embarrassment or anger. "You are an ass, Branwen."
"Woah, tone down the flirting, Champ; your boyfriend's right there." Qrow fired back with the same cocky smirk he'd regard his foes with. Not even Jaune's dirty glare didn't faze him.
Pyrrha offered no reply beyond a glare and a huff.
"Is there actually something important you want to tell us or you're simply in a pranking mood?" Ren questioned, his face completely straight. A barely audible edge to his voice betrayed his annoyance at Qrow's antics.
"Oh nothing... except that we'll have a secure place to stay the night; you can thank yours truly, by the way!" Qrow replied with a mocking bow.
Jaune raised an eyebrow. "How secure?"
"As in 'there are no monsters around'." The veteran Huntsman intoned, as if talking to a child. "Come on, don' tell me you're getting the willies already. But if you're that afraid that a little Grimm might take you while you're sleeping, I'm gonna scout the place out and make sure it's squeaky-clean before you go in."
"You haven't even told us where we should go!" Pyrrha exclaimed.
"Oh, that's easy; just follow your noses, kids! Keep going until you see houses; then just find us a good spot. We'll be having the whole place for ourselves!"
Before anyone could say a word in reply, Qrow was off, seemingly disappearing among the trees.
Members of team JRRNNY exchanged a bemused glance as awkward silence hung among them. Then Pyrrha spoke up first. "Ruby, Yang... Don't take this the wrong way but your Uncle has some serious mental issues."
"Pff, what are you talking about? He's just playing, you know!" Ruby chirped, trying to play it off; her rebuttal didn't seem very convincing, though. "Things haven't been exactly great for us lately, and I guess that's his way of coping-"
"I dunno know, sis. I'm kinda inclined to agree with Pyr."
Even when facing Ruby and her expression of pure betrayal, Yang remained unfazed. To be fair, Ruby was always a dramatic one.
"Don't get me wrong. I love Qrow to death but... He's been getting rather erratic lately." The boxer continued. "The way he can go from being nasty and irritable to all jaunty, happy-go-lucky and shit, and then back to being sad again; it's just freaking me out, man. I mean, he had his bad days, but nowhere as bad as this... and it's began ever since Vale City got turned to dust."
None of them liked to be reminded of that day, and everything that followed after. Even Ruby had a hard time suppressing all sorts of negative emotions that surfaced at the mention of that fateful event; namely shock at the sheer ruthlessness and cruelty of the entire scheme, sadness at seeing so many people die and being unable to prevent it... and anger at the one person behind it all.
Cinder would get what was coming to her, no matter where she hid away.
"Guys, let's not dwell on it too much, okay?" Jaune butted in. "We don't want to attract monsters to us."
"You have a point, I suppose." Pyrrha heaved a sigh. "Let's go check out that place Branwen mentioned."
The rest of the group nodded affirmatively. Night was approaching quickly; it was time to look for a shelter.
Qrow made it sound like he'd made a discovery of the century when he was describing the supposedly safe place to stay the night. Ruby and co. were inclined to believe him, for whatever reason.
Alas, when they finally found the aforementioned place, it turned out their faith in Qrow was sorely misplaced.
They did find houses, like Qrow said before. The one thing the veteran Huntsman did not mention was that 'houses' was way too generous term in this case. It was more of a collection of rusting steel, crumbling concrete and rotting wood that vaguely resembled a building... and there was a whole bunch of them.
The hunters-in-training stared in bewilderment at the grim scene before them. Then finally Jaune broke the uncomfortable silence by saying the exact same thing that was on everyone's mind at the moment.
"Ruby... did your Uncle lead us into a freaking ghost town?"
Ruby found herself shrinking under gazes cast by her teammates from JNPR, scarlet with embarrassment. Her sister wasn't coping any better with the sudden unnerving attention.
"Well uh... It can't be all that bad, right?" She chuckled awkwardly. "I mean, the choice of locale could totally be better but- No monsters around, that's a plus... and I'm pretty sure we can find some house that survived... whatever happened here, right!"
Her attempt at reasurring the gang was met with a lukewarm reaction, though. The prospect of relative safety and a roof over their heads could hardly beat the fact they'd be staying overnight in what was essentially a town-sized graveyard.
The only other option was to keep moving and hope to find a better spot... or sleep under the skies with little cover whatsover, as usual, and they were growing tired of doing that.
"I suppose we'll have to make do with what we have at our disposal." Pyrrha said at last, appearing none too pleased. "Let's look around; there should be some house left relatively intact around here."
"I guess," Jaune shrugged. "Another jest like that and I'll be having a talk with dear Mr. Branwen."
Yang chuckled. "Your funeral, Vomit boy."
The whole group began walking deeper into the ruined town... except Ren who stared at the desolate place with a strangely distant look in his eyes.
The first to notice, perhaps unsurprisingly, was Nora. "Something wrong, Renny?" Ren was usually the calm and collected one and nothing seemed to faze him; it seemed surprising to see him like this.
"I know this place."
Ruby whirled towards him. "You do?"
Ren nodded. "The town is called Oniyuri... and it's basically the equivalent of Vale's Mountain Glenn."
Even hearing the name gave Ruby the chills. She and her team actually went on a mission to Mountain Glenn a few months ago, though it seemed like years now. Seeing the ruins of what could've been a thriving city, where people moved to start a new life only to meet their end... a sight like this just doesn't go away.
"Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the Kingdom was being run." Ren explained. "Frustrated with the council, they pooled their resources together to build their own city, with their own laws. They hoped that one day, it could maybe even become its own Kingdom. Many thought it would be the future." Pausing for a brief moment, he quietly added. "I know my parents did."
"What happened?" Ruby felt it might've been a stupid question... too late to take it back now, though.
"What always happens."
And everyone knew what Ren meant by that.
"That's strange," Pyrrha interjected. "A horde of Grimm would've caused much more damage than what we've seen so far. And if the rich elite built this place, they had the money and the means to build extensive fortifications or hire a number of armed personnel to make sure this place was safe from monsters. Nothing less than a full swarm could've gotten through this kind of defense."
"Maybe the monsters attacked before the town was completed." Jaune suggested. "I noticed there was still scaffolding at some of the houses around here. If the walls were incomplete as well, it would make sense that even a smaller horde of Grimm could overwhelm the crew guarding the place."
"There was no horde." Ren suddenly said, his voice hardened.
This remark earned him quizzical looks from his comrades. "What do you mean?" Ruby questioned.
"The carnage you see here is the work of one. Single. Grimm."
The deathly silence reigning over the ruins of Oniyuri suddenly became even more nightmarish. Ruby felt as if the air around her grew heavy, threatening to choke here. A single Grimm could wipe out a whole town? What kind of horror could that possibly be?
A memory of a wyvern-like monstrosity flashed before her eyes. She was lucky to even survive that fight, let alone kill the damn thing, even if she didn't really remember it herself. Could it be another Primordial Grimm that laid waste to this town?
"Suddenly, I don't really feel like staying here overnight." Pyrrha remarked, looking rather pale. "Maybe we should just keep going?"
"Come on, guys; do you really think that whatever wrecked this place is gonna come back, tonight of all times? Just because a couple of Hunters stumbled in here?" Yang tried her best to sound confident, though it was clear she wasn't completely sure herself. "Look, if it makes ya feel better, we can always take turns on guard duty; just if something does come 'round it won't catch us with our pants down."
"If you say so," Pyrrha intoned. "I still think we should tell Qrow, at the very least. It's something he definitely should know."
Jaune frowned. "Wouldn't he know that, already?"
"He might've avoided this place altogether if he did know."
"Good point, Pyr."
"So, let's check this place out, and we might look around for the Drunkle while we're at it." Nora suggested. "Sound good?"
"Not like there's anything else to do." Ruby shrugged. "Let's go, then."
In the meantime in the southern part of the Kingdom...
Albain had assumed it would take a week since landing on Anima's southern shore to reach some semblance of civilization. There were some more or less isolated settlements to be found in the vast expanses of rain forest between them and Mistral City but most of them would have little to no access to good roads or railways. As for means of transportation of any kind? Good luck finding someone possessing a truck... and willing to help out.
However, miracles do happen sometimes.
Shortly before noon, the combined band of former White Fang soldiers and students of Beacon Academy happened upon railroad tracks... and as the old saying goes, all roads lead to people.
This unexpected discovery filled them all with energy they didn't even know they had after hours of ceaseless marching. Albain gave the order to follow the tracks; these would lead them either to a nearest settlement or a train they could hop on, whichever came first.
An hour, two, then three... for nearly the entire afternoon they followed the train tracks without seeing even a tiniest sign of civilization. That was to be expected, though; this was the frontier of the kingdom, with villages and towns separated by leagues of green sea. The initial eagerness had started dying down and some started thinking that this was but another cold trail leading absolutely nowhere. Albain wouldn't give up so easily, though; he was absolutely certain that following the railroad would bring them to the civilization... and the possibility of rapid transport straight to Mistral City.
And as it turned out hours later, he was right.
By the time the sun started leaning towards the horizon, one of the lookouts saw plumes of smoke rising in the distance and faint outlines of roofs and towers. A town; a rather large one, actually. There was a good chance it was housing a train station.
Perfect...
In spite of the exhaustion, the group sped up, energized by the prospect of not a day more of marching from dawn 'till dusk. Some actually started joking among themselves and laughing, as the days of misery in the jungle were seemingly drawing to a close.
Unbeknownst to all but the most observant, Albain stopped smiling.
As they approached the town, he found himself reminded by the near-debacle in Altankhorin. The local leader was ready to sic the town's entire defense against them; one single misstep and there would've been a bloodbath. Luckily for them, the militant mayor had agreed to a deal that would allow them passage through the town. The burning question here was; would they be met here with the same kind of resistance?
He couldn't speak for the hunters-in-training but his people were tired; they couldn't afford a fight if things did go sour, after all... and a whole column of Faunus turning up in town, led by a known White Fang member, was bound to arouse some suspicion.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"And what is that, Nick?" Came a reply from a certain sharpshooter.
"That our whole gang can't just waltz into town without attracting all sorts of attention?" The fox Faunus argued. "Remember how things went back at the port? What could've happened?"
It seemed like someone had the exact same thoughts.
"And what are you suggesting? This place might be our only chance to catch a ride straight to Mistral City. You sure you want to pass that?"
"I implied nothing of the sorts." 'Nick' replied. "I'm just saying that if we take the whole company with us straight away we'll just give locals the wrong idea."
"Okay, what if we send someone out to talk things over with the local leader, first?" Griffon suggested.
"That makes sense, I suppose."
"But who's gonna go?" The sword-wielding giant questioned.
"Funny you should ask..." Albain chuckled. He wasn't the one to pass an opportunity when it so conveniently presented itself. He couldn't show his face around the town without a real chance of being accosted by local authorities. But the hunters in training... no one would ever suspect them of anything unlawful.
"Wait a moment..." Griffon intoned with an incredulous look in her eyes. "You don't suggest we-"
Well, Albain wasn't surprised that his idea wasn't met with immediate approval. He was ready for it, though. "That's exactly what I'm suggesting." He said. "Many Mistralians see the White Fang as criminal organization and I used to be some of its more well-known members. I could hardly expect a warm welcome; they'd toss me behind the bars long before I'd even get a chance to negotiate with authorities. You, on the other hand, are known to have fought the Fang back in Vale City before... before things escalated. The local leaders would be more inclined to hear you out, or lend some assistance."
"We ain't no diplomats!" Peregrine objected.
The former Fang emissary chuckled despite himself. "Well, you don't have to be. It certainly didn't get me anywhere."
Griffon pinched her forehead in apparent frustration. "What are we even supposed to say to get them on our side?"
"Well, truth usually works." Albain said sardonically. "In all seriousness, though; the state of society in Mistral had been uneasy in the last years, even more so after Red Talon rose to prominence. As much as people despise White Fang, they'll have to acknowledge its new, more extreme incarnation as a greater threat. You have common enemies; that alone should be enough to convince them."
"Alright, fine; we'll do it." The huntress-in-traning snapped after a few moments of silence. "Let's hope it won't blow up in our faces."
That makes two of us...
"Excellent; the rest of us will set up camp around here, near the train tracks. We'll wait here until we're cleared to enter the town." Albain didn't openly show it but he was relieved. "Just a couple words of advice before you go, though; always watch your back once you're in town. I'm sure Talon knows of the role you played in thwarting the Fang's actions in Vale and the campaign against Talon. They already see you as a threat to their plans and we cannot ignore the possibility they have spies planted in town."
"We're used to that, believe you me." Peregrine chuckled darkly.
"I'm sure you are. Still, I thought it prudent to warn you. And that's assuming Talon does not know you had a hand in their failure in Menagerie. If this information somehow reached them as well... You will be hunted the moment they lay their eyes on you."
"Let them come, then." Griffon exclaimed boldly. "I'll gladly show them how we beat them in Kuo Kuana. Come on guys, let's get this over with."
As the Beacon students departed in the town's direction, Albain couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling at the back of his skull that something was about to happen.
Even as the sunlight diminished rapidly, team JRRNNY continued exploring the long-abandoned remains of Oniyuri, having already marked a couple buildings that appeared in good enough condition to stay in overnight. Perhaps something useful to them might've been left behind when the town fell. At one point they considered splitting to cover more ground but Jaune decided against it. Better stay together in case something did come to attack them, after all; that, and this place gave him creeps for some reason.
And Branwen still hadn't returned from his scouting run.
"Where the hell is that guy?"
"He'll be back, Jaune." Ruby answered. "That's just him being super-sneaky; people just won't see him if he doesn't want them to."
"Right... so that's just his way of saying he's fed up with us?" Jaune chuckled when the fellow-team leader began sputtering, blushing in indignation.
"Hey- That's no- I didn't mean-"
"It's okay, sis; we get it." Yang snickered. "Nobody disses the coolest uncle under the sun, right?"
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "And that's taking his substance abuse into account?"
"I like him!" Nora chirped. "But to be fair, anyone that can kill monsters with style is okay in my books- Not that I'm saying that you guys can't do it! Of course you can! Otherwise we would've never made it to-"
Ren suddenly moved - lightning fast - and covered Nora's mouth to keep her from talking.
"What are you doing?" Ruby squeaked, surprised by his action.
"Quiet!" Ren barked in a low voice. "Listen..."
Nora took the hint, ceasing to struggle in his grip.
The group collectively fell silent, trying to catch whatever it was Ren warned them of. Alas, except rustling foliage and faint shrieking of wind, there was nothing to warrant suspicion.
"I don't hear anything!" Jaune whispered back.
"I do," Ren scowled. "Footsteps, quick and light... Someone's headed in our direction."
"Could it be Qrow?" Ruby piped up.
"I don't know... But he wouldn't like to see us with our guard down." His hand moved towards his weapon... and his friends mirrored his movement.
"Quickly, form a circle!" Jaune barked out.
The six of them now stood back to back, their eyes darting around the small open space among the ruins, trying to spot anything suspicious in the dimming light.
"Ren, tell me you can still sense whatever it is out there?"
"A single set of footsteps, a humanoid," Ren rattled off without a single glance at Pyrrha. There was a strangely vacant look in his eyes as if looking at something unseen. "Speeding up... it comes straight for us; be ready!"
"Oh yeah, I've been itching to smash someone's face in!" Yang snarled, her fists raised.
"You should take this more seriously, Yang!" Ruby hissed at her. "Remember what Qrow said: never go off half-co-"
She didn't get to finish as a shadow suddenly leapt over a nearby wall.
"Look out!" That was the only warning they got before the shape immediately went straight for them.
As the mysterious assailant approached, the gang could make out more of his features; male, tall, lean body, long hair with a braided ponytail, a gaunt face drawn into an unsettling, borderline psychotic grin.
The attacker was going straight for Ruby, unfurling his weapons, curved twin blades mounted to the vambraces on his forearms... or he would've done so if Ren didn't intercept him mid-air. StormFlower clashed with the atacker's claw blades in a shower of sparks. Ren attempted to both kick and shoot Tyrian, but he dodged. The two of them exchanged a quick series of blows and parries while the rest of the gang watched helplessly; they couldn't step in when there was a real chance of hitting Ren by accident...
Then the assailant found an opening in Ren's defense and kicked him away, immediately turning to go after Ruby.
"Not a chance, asshole!" Yang exclaimed and managed to score a solid hit on the attacker while he was distracted. Incredibly enough, he shrugged off the hit and blocked the next incoming strike with ease, laughing manically. Gritting her teeth, the boxer continued swinging away but couldn't even come close to landing another hit as her opponent parried or dodged every single one of them.
Then Ruby joined in, attacking from the other side... alas, with the same result. The attacker blocked her scythe and launched a counterattack which she only barely evaded.
By that point, the rest of team JRRNNY joined the fight; Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora who looked ecstatic at the prospect of hammering the soul out of their mysterious enemy.
Despite his confident, almost cocky demeanor, the assailant knew when he was outmatched, though.
Kicking Jaune away just as he attempted to land a blow, he leapt up on Pyrrha's shield and in a display of superhuman strength he jumped straight onto the roof of a nearby building. Holding himself up with his feet on wooden frames to either side of him, the man looked down at team JRRNNY.
The hunters-in-traning had their ranged weapons out, ready to blast away... but held back when Ren asked the intruder one simple question. "Who are you?"
To their surprise, the assailant cackled. "Who I am matters not to you," He pointed at Ren, "or you," And then at Nora. "Or-" He suddenly paused when his gaze landed on Pyrrha and Jaune. "Well... you two do interest me."
"Oh, really?" Pyrrha gritted out. "How so?"
"Oh let me think..." The mysterious foe exclaimed with a dramatic flair. "I know! Our mutual acquaintance happens to be very upset with the two of you; for crossing her plans and humiliating her. The latter got to her the most, though. Are you feeling accomplished?"
This man had all the marks of a deranged lunatic... and his laugh gave them all chills. Yet despite his mental instability he was a very capable opponent and didn't hesitate to show it, acting like he was having a cordial chat and not fighting six armed individuals to death.
"What mutual acquiantance?" In his mind, Jaune balked at the idea of having anything in common with this madman. Yet apparently, this madman loved to talk... and he figured he might get some additional info out of him.
"Oho, don't tell me you've forgotten already, fair knight! Were I in your place, I would've definitely remembered the face of the woman that nearly killed me!" The mysterious foe grinned savagely when he saw Jaune's eyes widen in recognition. "Ha! So you do remember our dear Cinder, after all! She's so angry with you and your little girlfriend that she ordered your death... Luckily for you, though, while normally I'd be happy to oblige, I have other tasks to fulfill." This time, his piercing yellow eyes found Ruby. "No, I only matter to you."
Ruby flinched at the threat in his voice. "M-me?"
The madman broke down in laughter. "You- you haven't the slightest clue, do you? Oh, how exciting this must be."
"What do you want?" Ruby had to put more force into her voice, just to mask how unnerved she was by the man's erratic behavior.
"Why, I'm here to whisk you away with me, my little flower!"
"Well, what if she don't wanna go with you?" Nora spat out.
The assailant pretended to think for a moment before replying "Then I'll take her!"
In an instant, all weapons were aimed at him.
"Good luck with that, buster," Yang snarled as she put herself between Ruby and her would-be kidnapper. "Cause you'll have to go through us, first."
The assailant narrowed his eyes and let out a low laugh filled with sadistic glee. "Good, I've been looking for a challenge."
Then his voice dropped to a low growl.
"Then let us play."
This was supposed to be a quick job; enter the city, make the arrangements with the town's leaders to allow a safe passage for Albain's crew and then hop onto the first train to Mistral City.
Easy as cake, right?
However, after team TNDR entered Yanagawa, as the town was called, it began to show that this task might be more problematic than they thought.
First of all, they didn't exactly receive a warm welcome from the locals. People were being suspicious of outsiders; the students experienced it themselves whenever trying to talk to one of them. Sideways glances, hesitant answers and keeping their distance; a telltale sign they didn't want to have anything to do with them if they could help it. Understandable, given to the happenings around the world. It had been over six months since the fall of Vale city, more than enough time for the news to come around despite the CCT network still not fully operational.
Now imagine what kind of uproar it would cause once Albain and his company turned up here... There was the hoping the locals would be more open-minded.
It wasn't just the apparent lukewarm attitude of the townsfolk, though. Tanya didn't want to tell her teammates; there was enough pressure on them already. But ever since entering Yanagawa, she was plagued by this strange but persistent feeling that left her rather uneasy. It made her skin crawl... A sense of foreboding, like a terrible threat looming over them. She didn't see herself as superstitious but this nagging feeling seemed to compell her to watch her back all the time... and she couldn't banish it out of her mind.
In the meantime, the four of them arrived to a local train station.
"Looks like we're in luck," Roland drawled. "Maybe we should check the schedule if there are trains bound for Mistral City, just to make sure we ain't wasting our time here."
"Sounds good," Emery shrugged. "Let's go."
The station's vestibule was largely vacant; perhaps unsurprisingly as not many people chose to travel in these times. Yet there was a slight but apparent change to people's behavior there. There were no suspicious glare cast their way and, with a couple exceptions, no one went out of their way to avoid them as they walked past. In all fairness, those people were travelers from other towns and didn't have much of a reason to view the Beacon students as intruders.
A brief inspection of the schedule showed that there was indeed a train line connecting Yanagawa with Mistral City. With this mission accomplished, only thing left to do was to secure a safe passage from the authorities. And so team TNDR set out to the local town hall.
Everything seemed to go smoothly but it did nothing to diminish Tanya's instincts that kept screaming something was amiss. She didn't understand why she felt that way... not until Nicolaus leaned towards her after a few minutes of walking from the train station.
"You notice that?"
"... Notice what, Nick?"
"Those two characters on the other side of the street; long coats and huge hats." Nicolaus whispered back.
Roland snorted. "Classic, not conspicuous at all." Tanya had to choke back a laugh at his sarcastic comment.
"They've been tailing us ever since we left the train station."
"What, a couple thieves looking for some easy pickings?"
"Do we look like easy pickings?" Emery pointed out. "With all our weapons at full display?"
"Point taken." Tanya shrugged. "Still, who do you think they are? Local gangsters gathering info about newcomers?"
They kept walking the entire time they talked... and the two strange characters followed some distance behind them.
"Or they could be Talon spies." Nicolaus frowned. "Notice how they're covered from head to toe; they wouldn't be able to operate with their Faunus features in full view. Local police would've accosted them before long."
"So how do you suggest we deal with them?" Roland asked.
"Might lure them in a trap. If we go to a more vacant part of the town it might encourage them to follow us more closely." Tanya suggested. "They're bound to get reckless that way... and then we'll strike. And we might get some answers while we're at it."
"Think they'll fall for it?" Nicolaus questioned. "They might flee once they realize we know about them."
"Nah, if they really are with Talon, we've crossed them way too many times for them to just ignore us." The fencer pointed out. "If they're trying to get us with our pants down, then we might as well challenge them at their own game, don't you think?"
"Hmm... makes sense." Roland mused. "So how do we play this?"
"Well, we're just gonna keep walking." Tanya whispered, doing her best not to look back at the two stalkers. "Once we find a suitable spot... we'll improvise."
As the four of them walked down the street, doing their best to ignore the pair of 'spies,' Tanya found herself thinking. If those guys really were with Talon... then how was it possible they learned of their presence so quickly. Did they also somehow get wind of their plans, as well? Or their current company camping out in the woods? How?
Certainly not from Cinder and whoever she was working with. Considering the events after the fall of Vale City, her alliance with Vale's White Fang, or Red Talon after its transformation, was done.
Or was it?
Nobody expected the Fang to cooperate with humans, especially for something that could be considered a human cause. Yet it happened anyway.
Well, if anything, she could always beat the truth out of those oh-so-sneaky guys that tailed her team.
From an outsider's perspective, it appeared as if the Beacon students wandered aimlessly around the two. And that much was true, to an extent. Yet the entire time, Tanya carefully observed the surroundings, looking for the most suitable place to spring the trap.
In the meantime, their pursuers seemed to genuinely get the impression they got lost and grew bolder as a result. The poor bastards never realized they were just playing right into their hand. Tanya stopped one of the passers-by to ask for directions to the nearest town house; a good bit of information to have but it would also lure the stalkers closer. No doubt they were listening in.
The game of cat and mouse brought team TNDR to the more run-down part of the town with numerous abandoned houses nobody bothered to maintain... and at the time, there was nobody around.
Perfect.
Without warning, Tanya used her Semblance to blast herself backwards... straight into the two spies who followed only several paces behind, bowling both of them over. To their credit, the two recovered very quickly from the initial surprise and attempted to flee the scene. Kind of a strange reaction, if they truly were Talon spies; wouldn't they try and fight even when clearly outmatched, simply acting on their hatred of humankind?
Tanya's attempt to stop them from running resulted in a brief scuffle in which she managed to incapacitate one of the stalkers while the other managed to get away. The caught stalker ended up on his stomach while Tanya sat atop him, twisting his arm behind his back. Her teammates surrounded them just in case the spy somehow managed to escape their leader's grip. Despite the apparent hopelessness of the situation, the stalker continued to struggle, which only earned him a punch in the gut.
"Stop squirming or this is gonna get even worse for you, pal!" Tanya hissed. "Why were you following us? Who do you work for? Is there more of you bastards coming after us?"
The spy fixed her with a defiant look, refusing to dignify her with a response.
Tanya gritted her teeth. "Buddy, I dunno who you want to impress with that attitude but if you don't stop wasting our time I'm gonna make the next couple minutes of your life very unpleasant if you don't start talking right now!"
"... Go to hell, human." The last word spat out like a curse; that was a Talon attitude, alright.
"Finally getting somewhere..." Tanya muttered to herself before applying more pressure on the goon's arm, eliciting a grunt of pain. "How did Talon learn we're here? And where's the rest of you bastards hiding at?
"Guys, we have company!" Emery cut in, his eyes fixed at a police van that suddenly turned up in the street.
"There's another one," Roland pointed at another vehicle approaching from the opposite side. "That's a lot of trouble just for this small fry..."
Tanya didn't say a word; that strange feeling of dread suddenly grew much worse. So many people to arrest a single Talon spy? If the bastard was that dangerous, how did he get caught so easily? And why no sirens?
Something about this seemed off... almost horribly so.
The vehicles stopped some distance away from them. A moment later, the side door flew open and men in full combat gear started spilling out... no less than fifteen men armed to the teeth, all forming a half-circle around team TNDR and the Talon spy.
"What the hell is going on..." Nicolaus muttered, looking genuinely worried.
Tanya tried to tell herself it was just an overreaction on the police's part; after all, this was an organization responsible for destruction of Vale City they were dealing with. Even when the entire unit aimed their guns at them.
Then the voice that came from the loudspeakers mounted on the police vans crushed all those hopes.
"You are under arrest for high treason, on the grounds of cooperation with a known major terrorist organization! Surrender peacefully or be subdued by force!"
"...The fuck?!"
Roland didn't know it but his reaction pretty much summed up what the entire team was thinking.
Tanya stood up, the spy squirming underneath her completely forgotten. Her mind was reeling from this accusation. Who the hell came up with such nonsense? It should hardly matter, though; this had nothing to do with justice and she wouldn't bend her knee because of some bullshit allegation, even when held at gunpoint.
"Guys, I don't know how you arrived to this conclusion but it's one hundred percent false!" She called out to police strike team. "Unless you can present us with the proof of our wrong-doing, then we're within our rights to resist arrest when it's based on a false accusation." The entire time she eyed the abandoned house behind them; a good cover in case her words fell on deaf ears.
And they definitely did; the only response from them was a repeat of the previous order. "Surrender peacefully or be subdued by force!"
There was no reasoning with them, Tanya realized, and fighting them would only hurt their own cause. She didn't know what this was about but, assuming they all got away from this predicament alive, she would find out.
Nobody stabs us in the back. Nobody.
"To the house! Quick, on my signal!" She hissed under her breath, getting affirmative nods in return.
The cops were getting impatient, fingering the triggers of their guns.
Unfortunately, her remark wasn't lost on the spy who began screaming "Shoot the bastards! NOW!"
Was he with them? What the hell?!
"Run!" Tanya barked out and sprinted to the nearest house with her friends following suit, even as bullets began raining all around them. No time to ponder on whether it was live ammo or not... yet by the time they made it to the front door, they all lost some portion of their Auras.
"Inside! Quickly!"
The entire police force attempted to pursue them inside but Tanya held them back with a massive shockwave that knocked them off their feet. Only then she retreated into the derelict house.
Emery barricaded the front door with a large wardrobe that remained inside the house.
"This won't hold them for long," Nicolaus exclaimed. "We need to find some way out of here!"
"Shit! The staircase's collapsed!" Roland called out.
Shit, indeed...
Tanya frantically looked around while doing her best to ignore the cops outside barking orders, searching for any way out of the ruined building. Much to her dismay, almost all windows on the ground level were boarded over, the only one left uncovered being situated at the side in clear view of the hostile police team. And going upstairs wasn't an option.
She felt a surge of horror as she realized they were trapped... but she refused to accept it.
"We gotta get to the back of the house! Those guys are bound to get inside sooner or later but if we hold them off long enough we can get rid of the-"
She didn't finish as a few small metal containers found their way inside... through the only window that wasn't covered.
At first, she thought those were grenades but was proven wrong quickly when the containers began releasing a thin white-ish smoke.
Nicolaus knew exactly what it was. "A sleeping gas..." He couldn't stop the terror creeping into his voice.
At that moment, Tanya knew this was it. Their only way out was already besieged by cops who just waited for them to get out that way to pick them off one-by-one. The other possible escape route was cut off by the fallen staircase; maybe it was possible to climb to the second floor... but they were already out of time. No way the entire team could make it out of there.
She felt the gas starting to affect her. The world before her eyes began spinning and she felt like if an invisible hand began squeezing her throat.
This was one thing Aura couldn't protect people from...
Tanya coughed, sucking more of the sleeping gas into her lungs. She had to think while her mind was still clear.
At least one of them had to make it out of here... to warn Albain's crew, at very least. No doubt they would be the next target.
If anyone had a chance at this...
Mustering all of her fast-fading strength, she grabbed Nicolaus by his shirt and began dragging him to the ruined stairs.
"What are you-"
"Save your breath, Nick!" The fencer gritted out. Despite her swimming vision, she could clearly see Emery and Roland on the ground, gasping for breath.
The sleeping gas spread too quickly.
"Nick, I need you to-" Tanya only barely suppressed a coughing fit. "Get to Albain and tell him what happened; somebody wants to take us all out of the picture... They need to know!"
"You can't be serious!" Nick protested. Stupid bastard, what could he possibly do to help when thrown in the brig with us... or rotting in a ditch... "I'm not gonna leave-"
She wouldn't let him finish.
"Yes... you will!" And she used her Semblance to launch the fox Faunus to the second floor, where the windows were left uncovered.
The feat drained last of her strength; her knees buckled and she hit the floor, hard.
Nicolaus stared at her from above, shocked by her actions. Tanya didn't care; she needed him to get off his ass and move.
"There... your way out... Go, already!"
Finally he gave a hesitant nod and darted out of sight.
The barricaded front door finally gave away and the strike team spilled inside the house.
She found herself dragged to her feet, her body not responding to her commands.
One of the cops screamed something at her, waving his gun in front of her face. She would've flipped him off if she had any strength left.
Her teammates struggled vainly against the captors; Emery was held down by half a dozen men and they still had trouble keeping him under control.
This was a complete disaster... but she wasn't mad.
We'll get through this... we always do.
That was the last thought before she drifted out of consciousness.
Author's note: Well, our friends from Beacon seem to have a shitty luck as of late. On one side, a homicidal maniac sent to abduct the Silver-eyed warrior... and on the other - crooked cops sent by an unknown party seeking to put team TNDR out of the picture. How is this gonna end?
Well, this ain't a final stop otherwise I'd have nothing left to write about ;-)
Anyway, ladies and gents, this is the last update of year 2019. I guess many of you are celebrating already (it's still afternoon where I'm sitting) so I wish you all a good fortune in year 2020 - maybe it be less shitty than the previous one!
As always, thanks for reading, review, favorite or follow; compliments and/or critique always welcome :-)