Chapter 36 – The Argus Limited
Ruby
To say that the Stolen Black Gallows Wasp was… soaring… through the air was a lie.
It was not smooth, and it looked like it was caught in a storm, even though the winds were completely still in the air. Not a cloud in the sky, no strange activity either, and to make it even odder for the Farmer watching it fly overhead, it was not damaged at all either. Not in any way, so of course, he could not help but wonder…
… what was wrong with that Airship?
Inside the Wasp was the answer.
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU KNEW HOW TO FLY THIS THING!" Raven yelled with panic as Eryka failed miserably at controlling the vehicle.
"Oh gods, I'm gonna be sick." Oscar groaned, retching as he held his dinner in his stomach. Ruby gently patted Oscar's back as they bounced around the interior of the Airship.
"This thing controls weird!" Eryka yelled.
"YOU control it weird!" Raven argued, like a little kid.
"Don't worry! This is one hundred percent under control!" Eryka assured, even though the Black Gallows Wasp was starting to descend and decelerate, beginning to drop to the ground.
"Uh… you know we're dropping, right?" Yang asked, concern ever present in her voice.
"Definitely, don't worry. I'm an expert!" Eryka lied.
"I mean the computer is screaming at you, Eryka." Qrow commented, Eryka glanced at the controls and her eyes widened as she saw the warning that was flashing on the scream.
Pull Up. Pull Up. Pull Up. Pull Up.
Eryka switched the screen off, letting darkness claim it as she sat there, just staring ahead with a smile, winking at Raven. "What does that thing know? It's just Black Gallows tech." Eryka defended, her constant crap was starting to annoy Raven, but Nora was just having fun in the background, finding Eryka's constant responses utterly hilarious.
"Yeah… it's not like the Black Gallows are the MOST ADVANCED MILITARY ON REMNANT!" Ruby argued as she stumbled across the Wasp, bouncing off the wall like a squeaky toy.
"It's okay! I have it under control!" Eryka assured, but the Wasp was just getting closer and closer towards the ground. Raven looked at the controls, and they were slowing down… but there were no controls whatsoever.
"Uh… Eryka… how do we land this thing?" She asked her.
"Um… I landed it pretty easily last time… in the side of a Goliath, remember?" She pointed out, Raven's eye twitched with despair, burying her face in her hands.
"Please tell me we can at least slow it down enough before we hit the ground?" Raven begged, but Qrow was already strapping himself in, since they were getting closer and closer to the ground, and moving too fast for it to be a smooth landing.
"Oh it will slow right down – when we crash." Eryka assured – the first thing that came out of her mouth during that whole argument that wasn't total crap. The Wasp roared down towards the ground and slammed into the grassland, the many wings snapped off like they were made of glass, flames belched from the now damaged fuel cells, and it flipped and tumbled across the ground. The Airship smashed straight through the trees in their path and broke apart against the rocks, until only the compartment that they were all inside of was sliding across the grass.
Pressed up against the cockpit window was Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren and Oscar, their cheeks and faces smushed up against the pane, softly screaming with terror before the vessel slowed to a halt. Eryka closed her eyes with gritted teeth, whilst Raven's long hair had covered her face completely. Raven sighed as she pushed her hair off her face.
Eryka cheered, throwing her hands up in the air with a bright smile. "YES! I knew it would work! Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah." Eryka softly sung as she danced on the spot.
"I. Am. Never. Letting you fly ever again." Raven sighed, whilst Qrow chuckled, unbuckling himself and standing back up, picking his sword up. The five youngest members groaned as they fell from the window with a thud.
"Ow…" Ruby groaned as she laid there, and Yang landed on her baby sister, breaking her aura in the process.
"Sorry, Rubes." Yang said to her as they both stared at the ceiling.
"Y'know? If you told me, we were gonna be chased around by a crazy dude in charge of Remnant's Boogeymen? I never would have expected this bit." Ruby said as she laid there, Yang's long blonde hair completely smothering her little face.
"Come on, that went off without a hitch." Eryka said as she shrugged her shoulders, glancing at Dulcis who was sat on the floor, staring at her with an annoyed look. Even he did not appreciate her flying there, and he was an Eagle.
"I think I'm gonna barf." Oscar winced.
"Well if you gotta, go ahead." Eryka shrugged as she walked around the pile of young warriors, nearly stepping on Ruby. The Silver Eyed Girl glanced at Oscar and her eyes widened, realising that if he did vomit? It would be all over her face.
"Please don't… not like this." Ruby begged.
"Come on, kids. We need to get out of here." Qrow said, crouching down so that he could help them up. Yang staggered forward, rubbing her temples as she stood there, looking outside the cracked cockpit, not seeing the Shadow of Broken Promises in the sky.
"How long until Killian figures out we escaped?" Yang asked them.
"Not long, hell he may already know." Raven said as she helped Ren and Nora back up to their feet, and them Oscar. The Tribesman rolled his shoulder, picking his Chained Hammers back up and rolling the chains around his wrists. They were quite damaged from the crash, understandably so.
"Then we better get the hell out of dodge, last thing we need is Killian coming back here. He will most likely track the Wasp's last travels… your flying may be the worst I have ever seen, Eryka – but it might have just saved us." Qrow said as he kicked the side door open. He jumped out of the Airship and he looked back at the smoking floating Islands of Lake Matsu. He stared at them and exhaled through his nose, still quite shaken at how Jackdaw found them there. He even looked around, worried that he could still be following them, he escaped – that much was certain.
Ruby wandered out from the airship, sunken eyes as she stood next to her Uncle. They all turned and looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere, but Qrow did not seem overly worried by that. "Uncle Qrow? Are you okay?" She asked him, and he sighed.
"Yeah… just… I didn't expect Jackdaw to actually be there. Not bad kiddo, you and your sister held your own against him. Not many people can do that." Qrow admitted as he held his shaking wrist. He rolled his old aching shoulder, feeling it pop as he walked across the grass. Everyone quickly abandoned the Wasp, leaving it behind as they wandered through the wilds of Anima.
"This is bad, we need to get back to the Vasillias Cartel." Eryka said with a sigh, but Raven came out with something she did not expect."
"No." Raven replied, they all stopped and looked back at Raven.
"What? Why?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, the Tribe is back there." Eryka commented as she walked towards the Chieftess.
"I know… that is why I am worried." Raven said. "Someone knew that we were headed to Lake Matsu and ratted out on us to Killian. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Lavinia Vasillias herself, it wouldn't be the first time."
"No, she wouldn't have. My mother is cunning and not to be trusted, I know that. Trust me, I know that better than most." Eryka said as she looked at Raven.
"Killian could have paid your mother to tell us where we were, Eryka. Criminals can always be bought." Raven said.
"Said the Criminal." Ren commented, but Qrow sighed.
"Face it kids, we're all criminals now." Qrow said as he looked at Harbinger, blood stained on the blade. Yang stared at her hands as well, shaken by the fact she took lives. Ruby was the only one during that battle that did not spill one drop of blood of her enemies, her heart could not bring her to do it. Ren stared at his blades as well, still able to see the eyes of the soldier that he cut down.
None of them said a word, but their eyes said it all.
"Look, I don't understand why my mother would trick us like that. Refined Gravity Dust Crystals are very hard to get a hold of, due to their fragility. There's a reason why perfectly refined crystals sell for so much on the Black Market, and the amount that her people were aiming to get from Lake Matsu? That was not gonna be a mission she would be comfortable with failing." Eryka explained, and Ruby looked at Neptune' Sister as Dulcis landed on her shoulder, ruffling his feathers.
"Well if not her, then who? There were no soldiers in the room with you who could have known, right?" Nora asked Qrow and Raven.
"No, the only people in her office when we discussed the details of the mission were: myself, Qrow, Valravn and Lavinia. Nobody else." Raven explained as she gestured to her brother, and Ruby furrowed her brows.
"Valravn… do you think he would…"
"No, Valravn has always put his family first. It's why he is here." Raven said, and Yang scoffed.
"He's been staring daggers at Ruby for ages now. I don't trust him." Yang said as she cracked her knuckles.
"He doesn't trust the Silver Eyed Warriors, it's ancient history, bad blood between our families. Ones that both sides forgot, except for him of course." Raven explained as she crossed her arms.
"Still, who's to say he wasn't the one who sold us out? To get rid of me? He may not have intended for you two to get captured." Ruby asked, Raven looked at Qrow and he sighed.
"I dunno… he's never struck me as the type to do things that simply. Hell you've heard the way he speaks; he is one of the smartest and most cunning people I have ever known." Qrow said as he looked at the rings on his fingers, and Raven touched her many necklaces. All of them had a part of them, something that was unique to who they were, but all had similarities to their Bloodline.
"Not exactly a great recommendation." Ren scoffed.
"Maybe, but like I said – this isn't Valravn's style." Qrow said.
"Then who else could have done this?" Eryka asked.
"I mean… there's Cinder, but I dunno – she wouldn't risk contacting Killian, would she? She's got a bounty on her head." Ruby said. "Never thought I would ever say that the person who caused the attack on Beacon would be trustworthy."
"What about that douchebag? Shay?" Yang suggested, Raven shook her head.
"Shay? Doubt it, even if he did it wouldn't make sense for him to actually go there. He's an asshole but not an idiot." Raven said. "Although…"
"Although? Although what?" Ren asked.
"Did any of you see what happened to him? He just disappeared when the attack happened." Raven explained, but all of them drew a blank. The problem with Shay was that none of them gave a damn about what happened to him, he had been a trouble for them all the way there.
"I dunno… think he was killed?" Qrow asked Raven.
"No, Shay has this annoying knack for getting out of situations that should have killed him." Raven said, they all started to wonder who it could have been that betrayed them. None of them would expect he would go to Killian though, simply because of one question.
"Why would he? What does he get out of it?" Ruby questioned.
"Just what I was wondering." Eryka agreed. "I can't see what he could possibly get out of this. If this was his plan, then Killian would have simply taken away the very thing that held the tribe together. Give it time and it would all fall apart without you." Eryka said as she looked at Raven. "He's no leader, he may rag on you, but he knows how important you are to the survival of the Tribe. He would have nothing after that."
They all had no idea, all the people that they mentioned were possible subjects:
Lavinia Vasillias, Shay Desmond Mann, Cinder Fall, and finally Valravn Branwen.
And ironically… it was Cinder that was the least likely of all of them.
They all stood there, unsure of what to do next. They all knew that they needed to get to Argus, which in itself was a risk – but it was the best way to get to Atlas, or hopefully beat Jackdaw there. It had to still be his target; Malachite was many things but a liar about paid information? That was not one of them, and they did hold their end of the bargain. She just started to concoct a failed scheme against Lavinia to try and overthrow her.
One that ended with her charred corpse lynched out front of the Hearthstone Chateau.
But there was one thing that they knew… Jackdaw was out there, and closer than they were expecting. He was still ahead of them though. They had to follow his trail of breadcrumbs, breadcrumbs and blood. "So… what do we do now?" Ruby asked as she looked at them. "If we're not going back to the Tribe and the Vasillias Cartel, where do we go?"
"I know where we are, I've seen these very hills and lakes on the ride to Argus once." Ren said, remembering when he went with Nora and Pyrrha to meet Jaune's sister who lived there.
They looked at him. "The Argus Limited comes through here… if we time it right, we could jump onto it. What time is it?" Ren asked curiously, and Nora immediately checked her scroll.
"It's half twelve." She answered.
"It's not gonna be far from here, the Argus Limited runs like clockwork, it's roughly a six-hour journey for the Argus Limited to go through Anima." Ren explained to them.
"Jump… onto the Argus Limited?" Oscar gulped.
"What's wrong, Oscar? Never jumped on a moving train before?" Eryka asked with a scoff.
"No I have, just… not when I feel like I could collapse any second." Oscar explained, his head was still aching, and he felt very sick. He had a concussion from Eryka's landing, that much was certain. He was not fit for this kind of mission, not by a long shot.
"Crap… alright, I can open a portal that will take you back to the Tribe. But we need to be ready." Raven said as she looked at the team of them. "Oscar, when you get there, tell Cinder, Vernal and Valravn that the Tribe needs to set up camp nearby and wait until I return. It may be better for us to go it without them, we're too big of a target. Best for the rest of the tribe to lay low for now." Raven explained. She turned and slashed the air and opened a portal. Oscar stood there and he looked at them all, he turned, and he looked at Ruby with a smile.
"Good luck… and I'm sorry." He apologised.
"It's alright." Ruby assured with a sweet smile.
"Anyone else not fit to continue this? Because this is it, if you screw up jumping on this train, you're dead." Raven explained, and Eryka shrugged her shoulders.
"Screw it why not?" Eryka scoffed as she whistled to Dulcis. Oscar walked through the Portal and it closed behind him.
Ruby, Yang, Ren, Nora, Qrow, Raven and Eryka – that was their team, and their next mission may be just as crazy as escaping the Black Gallows Flagship undetected.
Cinder
She could not spend much more time with Amber, at the end of the day Lavinia still had to maintain her reputation as a woman to be feared. Cinder did not like it, but she understood, it meant a lot to her that Lavinia even allowed her to see the child in the first place. She sat outside with Vernal beside her, and Valravn stood still, whilst they spoke with Shay. He had cuts and bruises, but he was alive, and just told them all what happened at Lake Matsu and that the rest of them have been captured.
"This isn't good." Cinder said as she sat there, staring at her reflection, thinking about what Lavinia said to her, about leaving the life of being a Bandit behind, and living a normal and quiet life. To no longer do the dirty work for others.
"No, it's not." Vernal agreed, cleaning her dual weapons. Both of them stared at Shay as he sat with his men, talking about what happened and how the Black Gallows ambushed them so suddenly and killed their friends. The soldiers who followed the Vasillias Cartel kept their eyes on the Branwen Tribe, as they stood there, the red portal opened up and Oscar emerged from it. Immediately met by the barrels of the soldiers' rifles.
"WHOA! Hold the hell up, what the hell was that?" The soldier yelled with shock, Oscar held his hands above his head, until he vomited all over the soldier. The soldier's eyes widened, and he staggered back. "Oh… gods… what the hell, dude?" The soldier groaned.
"Sorry." Oscar softly winced, wiping the bile from his mouth with his sleeve. Cinder and Vernal stood up and immediately went over to Oscar, making sure he was alright as well.
"Oscar! What happened? I thought you were taken!" Cinder called out, Vernal checked the young man over for any injuries, but his bruises were not seriously bad at all.
"We were, Killian ambushed us…" Oscar paused when he saw Shay sat there. He stared at the young man and he narrowed his eyes.
"You managed to escape the Shadow of Broken Promises? What about the others?" Shay asked.
"They're… not coming back." Oscar began.
"What? Raven's abandoned us?" Flynt snarled with anger as he stood up.
"No, we're simply too big of a target, marching together after Jackdaw the way we are. This was a wakeup call for us, we can't risk the rest of the Tribe on this mission. We're to get Amber back and set up Camp, lay low for the time being until they finish this mission. End of the day, Jackdaw needs to be put down, otherwise he could come back for the Tribe as well." Oscar explained, he even added a few bits to convince them – a good thing too, since it worked. They understood Raven's reasonings pretty much easily, and most of the Non-Combatants were glad because they could finally take a rest, alongside the rest.
Valravn – as always – said nothing, he just stood back up and nodded to Oscar. They turned to see Lavinia… and to their surprise… Amber. Cinder's amber eye widened when she saw the little girl, walking with her hand in Lavinia's. She approached and looked at Oscar. "Well… I see Raven and the others managed to get away from Killian. Not bad, never heard of anyone escaping his ship before." Lavinia said.
Oscar did not say it, but they knew that the only reason they got out of that Black Cell was thanks to the mysterious Stockholm Trooper who was on their side inside of the Shadow of Broken Promises. "We managed." Oscar shrugged as he stood there, and Lavinia chuckled with a smile. She then looked at Amber and gestured to Cinder, the little girl smiled and ran to her. Cinder caught Amber in her arms and looked at Lavinia.
"What is this?" Vernal asked.
"You paid me the agreed amount for the girl, and you went on your way." Lavinia said, and Vernal raised a brow.
"Huh? But we-"
Cinder stopped her from speaking with her hand, and she looked at Lavinia, she had not forgotten what she said about Appearance. "I'm giving you a way out. If I were you, I would take it, I won't do it a second time though… call it a mother's promise." Lavinia said as she nodded at Cinder. The Fall Maiden stood tall, and she nodded her head.
"Thank you, Lavinia… I won't forget this." She said.
Lavinia smiled. "Us Maidens should stick together." Lavinia winked, turning and walking away from them, and Cinder looked down at the little girl who hugged her leg. She looked at the rest of the Cartel, and Valravn stood tall, watching Lavinia leave, and he turned to Cinder.
"Fallen leaves drop from the oldest of trees, but no matter the age, all trees die." He said, and once again his cryptic words made very little sense, or at the very least they did not make sense to Cinder.
She only cared for Amber, and she turned to Vernal and Oscar. The three people here that she cared for.
"Come on, let's find somewhere safe to set up camp. We'll have a party for having you back, how does that sound, Amber?" She asked her, and the little girl smiled brightly.
"Yay! A party!" She gleefully giggled, they all walked away from the Cartel, and followed Raven's command.
Leaving the Vasillias Cartel behind.
Ruby
The winds howled through the mountains of Anima, and Ruby looked around as she stood beside Yang, Ren and Nora. Raven, Qrow and Eryka stood nearby, all of them atop the cliffs that overlooked the tracks that the Argus Limited would come through. It was soon going to come roaring through, and it was their best chance to get aboard the Train. The tunnels howled as the wind came through, and Ruby shuddered.
Ren turned and looked at her. "What's wrong?" Ren asked her.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just reminds me of a bedtime story Dad once told me, you know the spooky kind?" Ruby asked, which made Yang chuckle.
"Oh yeah, I know the one you're talking about." Yang agreed.
"What was it?" Nora asked.
"He said that sometimes, if you listened carefully into the tunnels you could hear ghosts. Of course it wasn't true, but some people used to believe that the sound of wind travelling through a tunnel were the voices of people who died." Ruby explained as she looked down at the tunnels, hearing the howls of the wind. "It reminds me of Mountain Glenn… the sound those tunnels made… to think the Wyvern was living inside that Mountain when we were down there." She shuddered.
"I know, we were lucky we never woke that big bastard up." Yang chuckled, fiddling with her long blonde hair.
They continued to wait for the Argus Limited to arrive, and Nora looked at Ruby curiously. "Hey, Ruby?"
"Yeah?" Ruby replied.
"Who do you think that guy was? The Stockholm Trooper who freed us? He seemed like he knew us… well… we're assuming it's a dude, couldn't really tell with the armour and the Voice Disguiser." Nora explained as she stood there.
"I… I don't know. Whoever it was, they definitely seemed like they believed we were in the right. I can't imagine who, though." Ruby agreed.
"I have been wondering the same thing. When we were in there, we all saw what the Black Cells were like and what they did to people. The Stockholm Troopers are more machine than people now." Ren said. "That didn't make it any easier though…"
Ruby gently squeezed Ren's shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked him.
"I… I don't know. That was the first time I ever killed anyone… I can't believe how… easy it was." He said with a stammer in his voice. "Those soldiers… they weren't evil… they were corrupted by those cells, converted into soldiers for the Black Gallows. Most of them were monsters, but you heard Killian. He said that some of the people in those cells were simply people who dug too deep into secrets they shouldn't have touched. What if… what if they were once good people? Not maniacs?" Ren shook, but Nora gently held his hand.
It was surprising that Nora was taking this better than he was, but she was still reeling from it as well. She just wanted to make sure that the man that she loved with all her heart was okay. "I'm glad, Ruby… that you didn't have to." Yang said to Ruby, her little sister glanced at her human hand that shook, steadied by the Cybernetic one.
"I… I don't know what to do, guys. When I saw Jackdaw… I wanted to; I really think part of me did. But the moment I had my scythe around his neck… even though his aura was up… I didn't even want to try and do it. I couldn't bring myself to kill those soldiers… is this it? Is this what I need to be now? A murderer? I never became a Huntress to kill people… I wanted to protect people. And sometimes I wish I could just… change, y'know?" Ruby explained.
"No, Ruby… you are good. One of the most perfect and kind things in this world." Yang lovingly said to her sister, holding her hands.
"But I'm a burden, Yang… if I can't even bring myself to kill a man like Jackdaw… it could kill you…" Ruby softly said to her.
"You won't have to. Remember, you're not alone." Yang said to her, Ruby turned to Ren and Nora and both of them had smiles on their faces again.
As they stood there, they all felt the rumbling through the ground, they could see the snow fall from the edges of the tunnel entrance and exit, the rails shook as it approached. It was like a howling Beowulf as it got closer and closer. The Argus Limited was incoming, and they all got ready. "Okay, this is it everyone! Get ready to jump onto it!" Raven called out; they all ran across the cliff that overlooked the Argus Limited.
It shot out from the tunnels, moving at incredible speeds, and all of them jumped from the edge of the cliff, and they landed atop the tunnel. They rolled across the titanium roof and dropped down into the supply carriages in the back, just as the ceiling of the tunnel narrowly missed them. Ruby bounced off the ground with a grunt, and Yang tumbled across the floor, whilst Qrow stabbed Harbinger into the floor, slowing himself, and Raven did the same. Ren caught onto one of the crates whilst Nora drove Stormur Skeggox onto the ground, stopping herself. Eryka landed down as well, with Dulcis following the train from above.
They all waited for some sort of defence… but there was nothing, they were not detected. "Huh… that was… easier than I was expecting." Eryka chuckled.
Jaune
Around five hours later…
Jaune and his friends were still a few hours ahead of them, waiting on the Argus Limited, completely unaware that Killian was not only back on his feet but nearly killed the very people that they were looking for. Jaune sat with Pyrrha at the Station, Winter was still suffering and needed to be brought to the Hospital at Argus as soon as possible. The drugs that were given to her had slowed Tyrian's poison down quite a bit, but it would not stay that way for very long. Sienna paced back and forth whilst Ilia was leant against the wall. Blake and Weiss both looked out the window, watching as the snows flowed through the wind, but also keeping an eye out for the mysterious Abductor Grimm that was following them.
But they had not seen it since, or at the very least they could not remember if they did.
"Gods… how long until the Argus Limited gets here?" Jaune sighed as he wrung his fingers, cold from the snowy climate outside, one of the staff inside looked at him.
"It's inbound, there have been a few Grimm attacking the train recently, it has had to stop and refill ammunition in the turrets a couple times now." The Operator told the Huntsman as they waited. Jaune looked at Sienna as she looked around.
"You can relax, Sienna. I doubt the Feral Ones are here." Jaune assured.
"That's not what's eating me, it's the fact that we don't know where Adam and the rest of them are. They could be attacking the many prisons that Faunus are being held." Sienna explained.
"What kind of Faunus are we talking about?" Pyrrha inquired, her head leant on Jaune's shoulder.
"The Worst Kind. These Faunus are savage, I made sure they were locked away, I even had Adam and some others go on some missions to lock them away. I knew that we needed fear against the Humans to help them understand that we are to be respected – but there was a fine line between fear and full-blown madness. Some of those Faunus will follow Adam immediately when they know he means to either wipe out or enslave Humanity as a whole." Sienna explained. "Trust me, it's worth worrying about."
"Do you really think that is what Adam wants?" Blake asked with concern.
"I know it, I spoke with him quite a few times during the four years he was locked away in the cell at the Mistraalian White Fang Base. I had hoped that our talks would help him heal, become a better person, but I fear it just worsened his insanity, made him want the blood of humanity more and more. I don't think anything will convince him against it anymore, killing him is our only option." Sienna explained, Blake looked out at the wilds, and she sighed.
"To think that there was a time that we thought we could talk our way out of these things." She sighed.
"This peace was never gonna last. Something was gonna break, I just never expected it would be the Faunus-Side of things." Sienna said, scratching her feline ears.
"Nothing lasts forever." Ilia said, and Weiss groaned.
"Gods, must we always be so fatalistic? Things are gonna turn out fine for us, and Ruby's side… at least I hope so. We'll find them at Argus, and we will get them to understand the importance of staying together. Especially after finding out Adam is back with a new army… and that something is happening now, that Salem person." Weiss explained, shuddering at the thought of why in the world she was after Jaune.
"Maybe… I don't know though; they didn't seem to care much about what we thought on the matter back in Vacuo." Jaune sighed.
"That's because we were talking about Killian and the Vytal Consensus. I've had time to think about it, and we'll never convince them on that. And not on Jackdaw either, especially not Ruby or Yang. But… after what we've been through on the way to Argus? I dunno… maybe that will make them listen to us." Weiss suggested, and Ilia looked at the Schnee Heiress.
"Well… let's just hope they don't go to Atlas… I can't go with you there… not after everything that… no I'm sorry, Weiss." Ilia apologised.
"It's okay, I understand. My father… has done some terrible things for the Faunus." Weiss agreed as they waited for the trains, and it was something that Sienna understood very well. That scar over Adam's eye was no coincidence, it was definitely to do with Jacques Schnee.
They heard the bells that signalled the arrival of the Argus Limited, and they could feel the rumbling of the massive vehicle as it approached the Station. The Argus Limited decelerated as it approached, and Jaune pushed his hands against his knees, standing up. "Finally." He sighed with relief, picking up Crocea Mors, bringing it with him. The group all stood there as the Argus Limited locked into the Station. Jaune stood tall, and the doors opened up, so then they could enter.
Jaune looked back at the staff that helped them here, and also allowed them to spend the night here. "Thank you for letting us stay here." Jaune said to them with a smile, and the staff nodded their heads.
"Come on, let's go." Sienna said as she walked inside, and they wheeled Winter inside of the train. It smelt beautiful inside of the Argus Limited, constantly refreshed by the cleaners. It was clear you had to earn your wages to be able to travel on this specific Train. There were other trains that took people to and from Atlas, but this was by far the Highest Class. Which was even more surprising when considering that it had no armed guards.
But then again, it had no need for them, the turrets and automated defences that were implemented into the train made it more than safe against the Grimm that lived in the mountains. That and the train lines had defences in certain areas, turret towers, electrified barriers and firewalls to prevent Grimm from crossing the tracks. Of course that never stopped them from trying, there were Grimm attacks constantly, and the Argus Limited – as the Staff Member mentioned – would have to make regular stops at the nearest Station to reload on ammunition,
Weiss went with Winter, taking her to the Medical Wing of the Argus Limited, whilst Jaune and Pyrrha both walked past the many people sat down. "Do you think they have the meds needed to patch her up?" Pyrrha asked.
"If we're lucky, but I don't know. If anything they could give her some more time to get Tyrian's venom from her system." Jaune assured as they walked together. Sienna and Ilia both sat down by one of the windows, staring out at the view of the Anima Wilds. Even from here, the smoke pillar of the crater where Brunswick Farms used to stand. It still sent shivers down their bodies, remembering what they found there, the horror that was the Apathy and what they did to those poor people.
Yet another consequence of the power that Lavinia Vasillias had in her arsenal, and how paranoia can destroy more than just one life. Maybe ten, maybe twenty… maybe a hundred or even more.
One person's fear can destroy everything.
Jaune and Pyrrha kept walking whilst Blake waited with Weiss, to make sure that Winter was going to be okay. Jaune and Pyrrha walked towards the area where they were going to sit, but before they did, Jaune went to go to the bathroom.
Pyrrha went on ahead, and none of them even noticed that Ruby was in the opposite toilet that Jaune just went into and walked straight past them.
The Rogues AND the Hunters were both on the exact same Train.
And had no idea.
Ruby
Ruby walked away from the toilets where Jaune was currently relieving himself, so close to each other without even knowing it. Ruby looked up as she heard the sound of the P.A. "All passengers, we are leaving Station Five." And the Argus Limited did not waste any time, for it was immediately setting forth, roaring to life and shooting across the road, yet the Gravity Dust underneath the Train kept everyone from being thrown across the train. Ruby kept walking, moving past the Medical Bay where Weiss and Blake were with Winter, and past Sienna and Ilia, both of which were looking on the window and did not even notice her. Ruby did not see them either, for she was looking at Qrow in the other carriage.
Ruby walked into the next one, and she looked at the rest of their gang. Raven was with Yang, Ren and Nora with Eryka. But Ruby wanted to speak with her Uncle, and she sat down on the other side of the table. She looked at his flask sat there, reeking of alcohol. Qrow was staring out the window, almost distant as he gazed out… showing the thousand-yard stare that those who had seen a lot of terrible things had always seen. "Hey, Uncle Qrow." Ruby softly said, sitting down in her chair, looking at him.
"Hey, pipsqueak." Qrow said with a smirk and a wink, which made Ruby giggle. "Good to see all my time teaching you how to use that little scythe of yours paid off. You really showed Jackdaw what happens when you're pissed." Qrow chuckled, Ruby smiled but there was definitely something on her mind, and after everything? Qrow had a pretty good feeling of what it was that lingered in Ruby's thoughts.
"What's up, Ruby?" He asked her, looking out the window as the Argus Limited shot across Anima's Wildlands.
Ruby sighed as she looked at her Uncle. "Uncle Qrow… what are we doing?" She asked, her voice tender, like she was almost afraid to ask him that question. Qrow glanced at her and gave her a raised eyebrow.
"We're avenging your mother." He quickly replied.
"But… by killing other people?" Ruby stammered.
"They were in our way." Qrow quickly responded.
"But… the Malachites…" Ruby quickly added.
"That was the Tribe, not us. The Black Gallows were different." Qrow pointed out.
"But, Uncle Qrow – Huntsmen and Huntresses are supposed to protect people, not kill them." Ruby argued, but something in Qrow seemed to be cracked when Ruby said that. Qrow looked at her, and he gave her a very cold and hard truth.
"When you go rogue, Ruby, you have to take those gloves off and get blood on your hands. That's how it works, if you don't then your blood will be on someone else's." Qrow explained, and he said it quite hard and harshly, so much so that it made Ruby jump. Ruby sighed and she stared out at the world, until she asked another question, turning to her Uncle.
"Where do we draw the line in this, Uncle?" Ruby asked him.
Qrow stared out at the land… but it looked like he was staring at his own reflection, and not the land. Like he was asking himself the same question, but no matter what the same answer would come out. "You draw the line wherever you need it, Ruby." Qrow told her, and he sighed. "Funnily enough… this may be the one thing I agree with Killian on. Sometimes… you have to go dark to make the enemy scared of the dark. We get dirty, so then the innocents of the world can keep their hands clean and stay safe from the evils of the world, Human, Faunus or Grimm. It doesn't matter – evil is evil – and it must be destroyed, so that the good may survive. That's our duty." Qrow told her, it took a while for Ruby to swallow that very hard and large pill.
She wrung her fingers together as she sat there. "Now if you don't wanna keep doing this then we can do this on our own." Qrow assured, but Ruby stared at him.
"No. My mom deserves to have the justice she deserves." Ruby said, Qrow closed his eyes with grief, then he opened them again with a sigh, staring at himself once again.
Qrow exhaled as he sat there. "Do you remember, what Raven told you? About… what happened to Summer?" Qrow asked curiously, and Ruby looked at him again.
"Yeah… he snapped and killed her, and ever since he went insane." Ruby summed up, and Qrow nodded his head. He looked at his sister as she spoke with her daughter, and he sighed.
"The thing is… she wasn't fully telling the truth." Qrow revealed, and Ruby stared at Qrow first and then at Yang's Mother. That was not what she was expecting Qrow to reveal… and she could not help but remember something that Jackdaw said.
Trust can be just as fickle as the truth. Who do you truly think you can trust? How many words from the voices of Qrow, Raven and Valravn can you trust?
We were raised by bandits, by liars and thieves… we all know how to lie. But I was the one who believed in the truth more than anything.
Tell me, how much do you believe what the three of them say? Do you know what Valravn has done?
What dear old Uncle Qrow and Mommy Raven have done?
Ruby pushed the sound of Jackdaw's voice from her mind, remembering that he was simply trying to mess with her head… but… even then, she could not help but notice the similarities between the two. Ruby looked at Qrow and she listened. "Okay… then what really happened?" Ruby asked him, and Qrow looked at her.
"Raven was always closer to our brother than I ever was, before he cracked the two of us always butted heads. I guess maybe I was a brat when I was younger, but he was always the one that was more violent. But Raven always was kind to him, as kind as Raven Branwen could, of course." Qrow scoffed as he picked up his flask, looking at the Branwen Symbol engraved into the wood and the steel cap. He unscrewed it and took a swig, which made Ruby look away, seeing him drink so much always made her uncomfortable.
"I think she still cares about Jackdaw in some way, thinks she can cure his insanity, but I know he is too far gone. He always was – and just like always, she softened the story. Maybe for you or maybe for Jackdaw. But the truth? He knew exactly what he was doing when he killed Summer, she always said that he looked confused when he stood over her body. Covered in her blood – but I saw his face. He killed her because he blamed me for the death of his team, and finally used my love for Summer to try and tear me apart. I guess… in a way he did… I've been drinking ever since." Qrow said as he stared at that flask.
"You mean… he did it pre-meditatively? That he is pure evil?" Ruby questioned, and Qrow nodded his head.
"Sometimes people are just evil at heart Ruby, but my sister always hoped that there was still good in him. When the time comes, to finally put that son of a bitch in the ground? Remember what I told you… and you won't hesitate this time. People like him? They're worse than Grimm, they're true monsters." Qrow assured.
Ruby stared at him, but she jolted when she heard the P.A again, she never noticed how much time had passed.
"Approaching City of Argus. Welcome to the Sleeping Angel of Remnant."
Ruby looked out the window with Yang next to her, and Qrow slowly stood up, looking at the city approaching them in the distance.
Massive stone walls surrounded the Harbour City of Argus, and the ocean seemed to glow as the sun shined upon the apparent infinite pool of life. The rail connected to the city, where they could see Airships coming in and out, shipping people and supplies to and from Atlas, and to other locations. "Whoa…" Yang gasped as she gazed at its splendour.
The Argus Limited entered the city, bending around the city blocks, showing them the stunning architecture.
Until the glowing green beam of light suddenly carved clean through one of the supports, creating a massive explosion that made the Monorail System collapse, throwing the Argus Limited into the streets. Ruby screamed as the sudden impact threw her straight through the glass, and crashing down into the streets, damaging her aura in the process. Ruby groaned as she landed, Crescent Rose sliding across the ground.
Ruby coughed in pain, looking back at the others as they started to get back up, but the rest of the train crashed into the buildings, smoke and flames rose high in the air. But before Ruby could even try and help the innocents?
Jackdaw Branwen's boot stepped upon Crescent Rose, his hands behind his back like a Corvid Bird. He stared down at her, fierce red eyes glaring at her. "Well, well… long time no see… for both of you, am I right?" Jackdaw asked her as he tilted his top hat to her. Ruby winced in pain.
"For… both of us?" Ruby groaned, she turned, and her eyes widened when she heard her voice.
The one that caused the accident.
"R-Ruby?" The distorted and broken voice of Penny Polendina whimpered.
Author Note - THE TWISTS KEEP COMING!
Penny Polendina is... alive... but something is very. VERY. Wrong. I bet you weren't expecting such a calm chapter to end so shockingly with that crash and Jackdaw's return so soon after his last arrival. He went from being missing for thirty chapters to literally not being in one and back in the other XD
I like staying unpredictable as best I can XD
This was quite a fun chapter to write, quite peaceful for a while, and quite comical too. The whole start with Eryka's top notch landing strategy and Ruby and Jaune literally being right next to each other and not even knowing it XD. I love stuff like that, where they are so close and don't even know it.
Who do you think was the rat? The one who ratted out on them to Killian, because someone must have told Killian how to find them. The question is who? Is it Cinder, Lavinia, Shay or Valravn?
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt
