The group walked as one covering each other. Summer walked beside Jaune, the boy that knew her daughter. "So, how do you know Ruby?" she asked "I met her Beacon. We were in the same year and both of us are team leaders. He glanced forlornly at his sword for a moment "Well, was, in my case."
"What's she doing in Beacon? She should be around 14 now." Summer demanded "15, actually." Jaune corrected. "I think Ozpin invited her early. I think it's because she stopped a robbery or something like that."
Summer scowled. That damn old man! Her grip tightened on her sword. He's got no business involving a child in his schemes! Especially my daughter! "Uhh…. You okay?" Jaune asked "What?!" She scowled at him "Nothing!" Jaune squeaked and looked away. What'd I say?
Jaune moved ahead and fell into step beside Coal. Coal glanced behind him "She looks pissed." He whispered "What'd you do?" "I don't know! She just got all angry all of a sudden!" Jaune responded. Coal peeked behind him again. "Well, I hope she cools off soon. Wouldn't want this whole alliance thing to fall apart." Jaune hummed in agreement.
Lieutenant Vance drew their attention "Mountain Glenn should be coming up in a few minutes. Remember to stay alert and stick together. Do not engage unless absolutely neccesary." "Sir yes sir!"
Soon, they arrived at a cliff overlooking the ruins of Mountain Glenn. The grey concrete of fallen buildings littered the fallen city. From a glance, there really was no sign of life left. "Well," Jade spoke up "Maybe there's nothing here after all." "Wait" said Indigo. "Are those…." "Get down!" The Lieutenant whispered. They obeyed, and moments later they saw the reason why.
Small black dots can be seen walking the streets. They seem to be carrying large crates, although Jaune couldn't tell for sure from where he was. They walked in and an organized fashion, with the occasional dots seemigly giving directions as the others passed. They stopped and the leader of the group opened up a hatch. They went down the hatch, presumably going underground.
"I knew it was too good to be true." moaned Indigo. "Miss Rose," Lieutenant Vance called out "Could you scout the area out for us? Your semblance should suit this situation well. We'll wait here while you get a general idea of the situation below." Lieutenant Vance talked to Summer. "Fine." The Huntress stood up and jumped off the cliff, white roses trailing behind her.
Summer slid down the cliff, using her semblance in short bursts to soften her fall. She landed with a grunt. Gripping her sword tight, she began moving through the ruins, checking each abandoned building one by one. Most of them didn't have anything or anyone in them. Summer exited another ruined building, Looks like they really did go underground, she thought.
She was about to rush off with her semblance when she heard it. Footsteps, fast approaching. She went into the building again and hid behind the walls of the entrance.
"Man this boring" She heard a masculine voice speak. "I hear ya. Patrollin's the worst." another one said. The footsteps started to fade, as did their voice. Summer peeked from her hiding spot and noticed that the men had already walked past her and caught a glimpse of their white grimm mask. White Fang, she thought. From her hiding spot, they were walking away from her. Making up her mind, she trailed behind them, hoping to gather more information.
She got close enough to start hearing them talk again "-and it's not like the Grimm's gonna attack us either. That woman did something to 'em remember?" Wait, what? Summer's mind was racing a mile a minute. The only person that could control the Grimm was… "SHE's Here?!"
Ozpin had told her of the figure behind the Grimm. Salem. The Grimm Queen. But to have a White Fang cell stationed here? What would she gain from Mountain Glenn?
"Yeah, glad she's gone though. No human should be messing around with OUR ops." Human? So it isn't Salem then. One of her followers?
"Anyway," the other one continued. "We shouldn't be here for much longer now. Boss said the plan's coming on in three days, right?" "Yeah. Then we'll finally be able to get out of this hellhole." Summer filed that tidbit of info.
The two men had come to an underground entrance now. Lifting the hatch, they went underground, closing it behind them.
Alright, she concluded. She looked up towards the sky, where the moon had risen. Guess it's time to head back.
"So, what's the situation down there?" Vance asked Summer. They had lit a campfire a safe distance away from the cliff to avoid being spotted. To be honest, Vance was hoping that his eyes were fooling him before. It'd be much harder if there were hostiles down there.
"White Fang" Summer answered. He could hear Indigo groan. " I think most of their operations run underground." Summer continued "Most of the buildings I checked didn't have anything in them." Vance nodded. He thought that was it, but was surprised with what Summer said next.
"They've also allied with the Grimm." "SAY WHAT?!" Indigo shouted. "What the hell! What do you mean 'allied with the Grimm?!'" Jade exclaimed. Summer answered "Exactly how it sounds. The Grimm won't attack them. I heard one of their troops say so themselves. They also said something about a plan. I didn't manage to get what this plan is, but they said it's starting in three days."
"Then the situation has become more dire." Lieutenant Vance remarked. "We need to contact General Ironwood immediately. There must be a way to contact him down there, like a radio or something. Did you catch anything of the sort?" Summer shook her head sadly. "Sorry, but no. As I said, I didn't follow them any further once they went underground."
"Damn." Vance whispered. "But there's still a chance. We need to take the risk." He spoke up. "Tomorrow, we'll head down and try to find a way to contact the General. We'll turn in for the day."
"Jade" the Lieutenant called "You take first watch."
Jade leaned against a tree, his weapon laying on his feet. He watched the others sleep, then turned his gaze to the forest around him. His mind drifted to how he got into this situation.
He spent his childhood in the slums of Atlas, homeless and hungry. Every day was a challenge. Days would go by before he could get his hands on any sort of food. Especially when winter came. He could remember the cold biting his skin, his clothes too thin to give him any sort of warmth. All Jade could do was sleep in a cardboard box in a dark alleyway.
Then, one day, a stranger came and gave him a jacket. Ever since then, he stopped by every day and gave him a warm meal and some money. It wasn't much, but for the first time, life was somewhat bearable for him.
Jade grew attached to him. One day, he asked the man his name, and he said it was White. Jade burned that name into his memory, the very first person that cared for him.
Then the day came when White stopped coming. Jade knew that White had to stop someday, but a part of him hoped that they could last forever. Then he found out why White stopped coming, and he was overcome with rage.
Killed by the White Fang. Terrorists. White was caught in the explosion of a bomb near a restaurant. All Jade could remember of the following days were crying and yelling from anger and sadness.
But Jade knew that he can't stay like that forever. So he picked himself up and searched for what to do in this life. He decided to enroll in the Atlesian military and vowed to put a stop to the White Fang, so no one else has to go through what he did.
That was about 5 years ago, Jade thought. In all those years, he never imagined that he'd be stranded like this, and the only way to return to society was to fight the White Fang. Besides, this is also a great opportunity to get some intel on what the White Fang are planning. So, despite everything, Jade wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
He glanced at the moon. Well, looks like its time to switch. Jade picked up his rifle and shook Indigo awake. As Indigo rose from his sleep, Jade laid down and set his rifle to his side, going to sleep not long after.
R and R please! Thank you!