Chapter 25
Day dawned on the people of Kiku, who woke to a whole host of issues. They would need a new mayor, a new captain and to talk long and hard about everything that occurred.
Jaune didn't want to be there for that though. It's why he gathered everyone together and they all headed out. It took them a few minutes, making sure they didn't leave anything behind. Jaune kept an eye on Ruby the whole time, aware that something was off.
Shouldn't she be more… mopey? She seemed almost… chipper wasn't the right word. She just seemed unphased. Instead, she acted more like she had in Beacon. Smiling and laughing and joking, though all of it felt a little stilted, forced. Maybe Jaune was thinking too much into it.
Even so, he'd keep an eye out. Ruby needed his support. If only he knew how to talk with her.
As the town was just starting to get up the team of friends made their way towards the northern gates. On the way however, a voice called out to them.
"Oi! You kids!" Jaune turned to face the mine's chief. He seemed tired, which wasn't unexpected really, and was carrying a large bag.
"Chief. What's going on?" Jaune spoke, stepping forward.
"Ye all helped us. Ye saved us. Ye deserve a reward." He threw the bag at their feet. Jaune knelt down and carefully opened it. His eyes went wide. It was full of Dust and metal. "We 'ad some Dust and metal we 'adn't sent out. Mayor wanted to keep the Dust 'ere. Prolly wanted his own Kingdom or somethin'. We're gonna continue the caravans though, so I thought to give you some of what we had built up. Ye can sell the metal in the next town over."
Jaune passed the bag over to Nora. "We actually were looking for some metal. Needed it for weapon upgrades and such. Thank you. Sorry we can't stay to help more."
The chief waved his hand dismissively. "You've done all the 'ard work for us. We'll sort ourselves out from 'ere." He gave them a big smile and waved as they left.
Nora distributed the Dust among them. It was mostly in crystal form, but a few were raw or powdered. As they left town Jaune pulled out the map.
"If we head straight north we'll reach a settlement that specialises in making Dust rounds and weapons. We can get upgrades there and some ammo." He looked to Ruby. "I think they had a pretty good tailor. Though that was years ago when my family and I went on trips here."
Ruby nodded. "Can I take this one?"
"Sure. If we head east after this town we should hit another one with a good blacksmith. I can use that one."
"Oh oh! Can I use this one too!" Nora asked, jumping up and down with her hand in the air.
"Uhhh. Sure?" Jaune responded as he put the map away.
"Awesome!" Nora giggled. Jaune gave Ren a confused look. He just shrugged. Ruby spoke up.
"We were talking about potential upgrades for her weapon this morning. We came up with a way for Magnihild to generate electricity to power her up. It won't take much."
"Alright then. Let's get a move on. I want to be as far away as we can get from that place."
Qrow sighed in relief as another Beowolf fell to his blade. Resting Harbinger on his shoulder he looked down at his niece and her friends.
He'd almost gotten involved back in that town. Especially once he realised Ruby was in danger. But they'd come out on top. Course he'd helped take out some of the Grimm for them but hey, they didn't need to know that.
They'd done well for themselves. Maybe they have a real chance of changing something. I hope so. But whether they would or wouldn't, he had a job to do.
His objective was simple, protect them from the Grimm as much as possible and keep Salem from locating Pyrrha. Qrow couldn't allow the full power of a Maiden to sit in Salem's hands.
Which of course meant he had to keep flying around them, fighting and fighting and fighting. Did he mention fighting? Because he'd be doing a lot of it!
Damn kids don't even realise how good they've got it.
"Yes yes, they came through a while ago. Slew some Grimm for us. Why do you need to know?" The village elder growled, growing increasingly annoyed.
Tai smiled. "Don't worry. I'm just after my daughter. I want to make sure she's safe."
"Fine fine. They were heading north. Mentioned they were heading to Kiku they're probably there by now." The elder shrugged.
Tai nodded. "Thank you. I'll be heading off then." He waved to the man and bid a quick goodbye.
I'm coming, Ruby. He thought as his boots hit the dirt on the road north. Zwei barked beside him.
They had a long way to go if they wanted to catch up. All thanks to a damned boat being late. When he was on his way back, he'd give those sailors a piece of his mind!
But for now, he had a daughter to find.
The keep was quiet. But Cinder was far from alone. Emerald and Mercury were nearby and Salem was about. Grimm filled the halls as well. It was hard to get anywhere here without bumping into at least one.
The others would be returning soon. Salem had called a meeting between them.
Cinder touched the porcelain mask covering her eye. It was cold and lifeless. It was a blemish that would never fade. All because of some damned child! It wasn't the only thing that horrid girl had done, after all she had given Cinder a great big scar from her nose up her forehead.
She'd also taken Cinder's arm. She looked down towards the implant. It was growing nicely, almost the same size as her original. But the black, smokey skin had Cinder looking away.
Why hadn't Salem warned her? She'd used a Grimm to steal the powers of the Maiden, so why hadn't she been warned about Silver Eyes? Now it would be worse. If that brat used her eyes again…
I'll just have to make sure she doesn't. I'll make her pay…
Cinder took a deep breath, put on her new attire and left her room. Once she was recovered she could train. And then Ruby Rose would die by her hand.
It was going to be a normal day.
That's what he had thought. Despite the strange dreams and weird echoes he kept hearing it was going to be a normal day! It had to be!
But for Oscar Pine, life would never be the same. It would never be 'normal'.
'Normal' changes all the time, Oscar.
The voice appeared again, echoing through his mind, surprising Oscar. He groaned as the bucket he carried dropped on his foot. "Ah! Bastard!…" He looked around but, as had been the case every time before, he could see nobody.
He was alone on the farm. Just like always. The only other people around was his aunt back at the house.
Right?
Fire flickered as the wind picked up for a moment before dying down again. Ruby didn't react at all. She was too busy drawing. She'd pulled out the book Yang had once used to design her weapon back at Signal. It was comforting to see the early schematics for Ember Celica. It reminded her that Yang had failed a lot, just like her.
Ruby could remember some of the early attempts. A memory of a time where
Yang put too much power in the gauntlets, sending her flying whenever she fired. It brought a soft smile to her face.
Ruby had drawn a couple additions. Primarily the final version of Ember Celica that Yang had been using as well as what she imagined the blueprints would be for Gambol Shroud and Myrtanaster. Plus the updated Crescent Rose.
It was like a repository for team RWBY now. It helped her to dissect each weapon, their advantages and disadvantages. Maybe she would find something else she could add to her own.
She did have some ideas already and soon she would see one of them materialized. Just another tool in her arsenal. Another thing to help her kill Cinder.
That day drew closer and closer.
Four days had passed since they had left Kiku. They had arrived in a small mountain bound town. From the looks of things, it was built around an iron mine. Jaune led the way, heading directly to the blacksmith's.
Ruby admired the building as they grew closer. It was pretty sizable, especially for such a small town. The outside was well kept and showed signs of plenty of foot traffic.
The inside was just as promising. The storefront within was clean and showed off plenty of goods. From Huntsmen grade tools and basic weapons to common utensils. All seemed of high quality. Behind the dark wood counter was a middle-aged man with tanned skin and burnt orange hair. His brown eyes sparkled as they entered.
"Well hello there! How can I help?" The shopkeep gave them a bright smile.
"We were wondering if we could use your forge? We're Huntsmen and we were looking to do some upgrading." Jaune said, putting on his own smile.
"Of course! We do charge for it though. How long do you need it for?"
Jaune looked to Ruby. She stepped forward. "About an hour for Nora there but I'm going to need the day. That would be with some assistance from your smith."
He nodded in response. "Alright alright. Let's call it… five hundred Lien?" He said with a smile.
Ruby drew out the money and put it on the counter. They'd had a good amount after the may-... after Kiku. The shopkeep counted it and smiled. "Perfect. A pleasure doing business miss?"
"Ruby. Ruby Rose."
"Just call me Mikan. Shall we get to work then?"
A/N: And so the Kiku arc is over with. Looking back there are a lot of things I would change. Giving them all names as an example. I won't go back and change it though. Better for it to stand as an example of what I've learned. Or something. I would also love to hear from you guys! Criticism is an important part of learning what works and what doesn't. Anyway, I wanted to break this up a bit, keep us from being with just RNNJR. This felt a good chance to check in with other characters. I really enjoyed Oscar's tiny part. Something about our poor farmboi having to deal with a sudden voice in his head that has yet to explain itself is entertaining. At this point, we are pretty close to the start of Volume 4. Probably a couple of chapters away at most. But the biggest question remaining: What does Ruby plan to do with her chance at crafting?
I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!