Team RWBY had just begun settling on the classroom they had chosen as a dormitory. Ruby had too much to process. Hidden kingdoms, decade-old grudges, dead civilians, Pietro's death. She was hyperventilating. Yang was trying to counsel her from afar but to no avail. Weiss and Blake were out trying to find Oscar and team JNR. Another spark of light came out from the window Ruby was looking out of. She was losing control over her Silver Eyes again. Her headache was slowly growing in intensity. More and more thoughts came in. What about Uncle Qrow, or Maria? Were they okay? Where's Oscar? What happened with Salem? What about the Lamp? Did they still have it?
"Ruby, listen to me. I know its too much, but please...calm down" said Yang. If anyone got any closer, Ruby's Silver Eyes could pretty much pulverize them if they went off again
"Don't tell me to calm down, Yang. You heard professor Theodore" she said from the window, still not turning around
"Yes. I heard him. We all heard him. But that wasn't our fault, nor was it anybody's fault" said Yang, slowly approaching Ruby
Ruby didn't reply. She just listened. It wasn't her fault...but how could she say that for sure? The people of Atlas she was supposed to protect were harmed because of her actions. Then, Yang hugged her
"What happened back on the dunes wasn't your fault. Yeah, the plan backfired. But we still got most of those people here, where they are safe"
Ruby finally lets out a sigh. She's beginning to calm down again
"We can not let our doubts and worries take control over us. Especially not now. If we do, who knows what those caped crazies will do to them"
Ruby clenches her fist with regained confidence
"You're right. We still haven't reached the end. We can still protect them" says Ruby in response
Yang lets go of Ruby, as Weiss and Blake arrive
"Well, thankfully someone calmed down" said Weiss, stepping aside to let Nora in, then Jaune, then Ren, then Oscar
Considering there was nothing in the classroom, not even the class chairs or tables, they all sat on the floor in a circle
"So. What did Theodore tell you guys?" asked Jaune, placing his weapons aside, next to a wall
"Nothing good. Apparently what we saw back in the desert isn't from today, but from yesterday. Ever since, the CCT towers have been shut down from Atlas. They can't recover them" said Ruby in response
"What about the Academy? What about the Relic?" asked Ren
"Stolen. Apparently it was those caped weirdos too. Thankfully, our message had Vacuo prepared but even then...the battle was fierce, since Theodore also has injuries" said Ruby, to respond to Ren
"How? Aren't they supposed to have the Maiden or her powers for that?" asked Jaune, but then he got suddenly interrupted by knocks on the door. Weiss went to open it
"And they got them…" said Velvet, coming in as Weiss opened the door
"Oh. So who was the Summer maiden?" asked Yang
Nebula comes in after Velvet
"It was...Octavia, from my old team, NDGO. One of our friends in NOVA. She got kidnapped by them then killed. Sadly, other people died trying to rescue her" she said
"Oh…Who was that?" said Jaune
"Nolan. You might remember him from team BRNZ back in the Vytal Festival. At least he is in a better place" said Velvet in response
Jaune didn't respond, but just placed his hand over his mouth
"Well. For now. We need to focus. Velvet, we saw a locked off classroom on our way here, what is in there?" said Ruby, trying not to fall back to her nerves like before
"Octavia's corpse. And one of those caped weirdos' bodies too" said Nebula
"Wait. What? You managed to kill one?" said Weiss, who had been staying at the door
"Not one. 3. This is the only body we recovered….That wasn't a complete pile of ashes"
Ruby got up
"I'm asking headmaster Theodore if we can look at it. Maybe we can learn from them if we study this one"
Nebula got up to stop her
"Not so fast...They didn't have documents or anything. But they did have a strange...fluid in them" said Nebula
"What do you mean by a strange fluid?" asked Ruby
"I don't know. The headmaster is keeping it close to his chest" said Nebula in response
"Well. That might give a clue to who we are fighting"
Ruby stood up, intending to speak to Theodore, but Nebula stopped her
"Hey. Not yet. You literally got here today after spending days in the dunes. You have to rest"
"We don't need rest, Nebula. We need answers" said Ruby
"Look. Rest today. I can get Pers to fix you something so you can properly set up here, but just rest...Alright?" said Nebula, struggling to keep Ruby away from the door
"Who?" asked Ruby, a bit confused. She didn't know anyone at Beacon with that name
"Pers Azoulay. She was in her first year here at Shade but proved to be a valuable... "fixer" after the attack. She can get you almost anything" replied Nebula
Ruby lets out a sigh of exhaustion
"Alright...We will go with her. Then we are going with Theodore tomorrow" said Ruby, standing back a bit. Nebula moves to the side
"Where can we find this Pers girl?" asked Blake
"She lives just outside the academy. Go out through the East doors then go down a block. You will find her shop there" said Velvet, looking further down the hallway, where that locked room was
Nebula and Velvet then leave, while Ruby rests next to the door. Even with the outcome, the strain from almost losing control over her silver eyes was a little too intense
"So. What's the plan, sis?" said Yang, asking Ruby
"For now, we go with Pers and set up here. Rest for the day and tomorrow we go with Theodore" said Ruby in response
"What about us?" asked Nora
"You guys...Should stay here. Look around and learn what you can. We will be able to recover faster that way" said Ruby, responding again. She slowly got back up
"Meet up back here at night. Which classroom number is this one, Weiss?" asked Yang
Weiss walked up to the door and looked around, trying to find a number plate
"Classroom...350" replied Weiss
"So. Classroom 350 at night" said Ruby, heading out
"You're going on your own now?" said Yang
"Umm…" Ruby tried responding, but Yang quickly joined her
"Come on, Blake" said Yang, calling out for Blake to join them
Blake stayed back
"Actually...I have something to do first. I will join you guys at the store"
Yang hesitated a little
"Are you sure?" she asked again
"Yes. I'm sure. I just have to check on someone" Blake replied
"Fine...Just come back here before night, Alright?" said Yang, leaving with Ruby
Blake then headed out on her own. Weiss stayed with team JNR and Oscar, not knowing very well where to head first. She began searching for the medical bay, going around the hallways, contemplating the damage done on the way. Most classrooms were empty. Chairs and tables had been destroyed or piled up against the walls as barricades. If not empty, the doors were sealed. But moaning and crying could be heard inside some rooms, while inside of others, only the weakened breath of injured people would come out
Blake headed downstairs then went outside. She found a tombstone for someone named Nolan Porfirio, but it wasn't the only one. Many other graves were sprawled across the courtyard. Every grave had at least one flower in it, but only a few had a weapon with them. They were all freshly dug. Some were even opened, waiting for the dirt to be put back in place
After all that, a tent. Blake lined up at a queue. One by one, each person in the queue was inspected by Huntresses guarding the entrance
"Name and reason to visit?" said the Huntress inspecting Blake
"Blake Belladona. I'm here to see Sun Wukong" she replied
The huntress left. Blake was allowed inside
She had to search for Sun everywhere around the tent
"B-blake?" asked a familiar voice. It was Neptune
Blake turned to see Neptune
"Neptune! Good thing you're here. Where….how is Sun?" she asked
Neptune pointed at a separate section, probably meant for surgeries and emergency procedures
"Undergoing surgery. He took one for the team...faced off against one of them directly"
Blake walks up to where Neptune was pointing
"What happened to him?" asked Blake, turning to look back at Neptune after checking on Sun
"The … person he faced off against stabbed him in the liver before I could take a shot on them. He has been in a critical condition for days. It's impressive that he is still alive" said Neptune, looking at Sun
The surgeons were looking incredibly tense. They were under equipped to handle such a situation properly but were still managing everything pretty well. But this wasn't something one could notice at plain sight unless one had the knowledge themselves
"How long has he been in there? asked Blake
"He entered 8 hours ago….So far, I don't really know what to tell you" said Neptune
"Well. You mentioned that it was one of those people that assaulted the city who caused this. What happened back then?" asked Blake
"We faced off against one of them. We thought he was alone but….after everything ensued we learned he was just a distraction" said Neptune
"Wait. Then why did you say person before if it was a man?" asked Blake again
"I don't think you can call someone man or woman if they literally do what they did. The assailant, after stabbing Sun, literally turned their entire torso towards me and caught my bullet just before my shot hit them. They moved strangely. They could contort their body in ways I have never seen any person or Semblance do before"
"When you put it like that…"
"The worst part was finding they weren't alone. It was a group of five from what Nebula told us once we regained consciousness here. They managed to kill 3 of them. But we could only manage to get 1 of them intact"
"Yeah. Nebula told me that" said Blake, turning to look at Neptune
"They immolated themselves before team NOVA could catch them. Not even Theodore was a match. That sling he carries...it was the same...person that our team faced" said Neptune
Neptune looked back at Sun with regret
"He is in there because of me…" says Neptune
Before Blake could say anything one of the surgeons comes out. She wipes some sweat of her forehead
"He's...stable…" said the surgeon
Blake and Neptune tried going in but the surgeon stopped them
"I said stable...not awake. He may not be waking up any time soon. He won't be in risk after this but he may not be able to fight for some time. Also, nothing with too much fats...I am not stitching him again" she replied. The surgeon clearly was tired from it.
"If you excuse me...I need lots of things right now" she said before leaving
Blake and Neptune headed out of the tent, a bit disappointed
"Well...How did everything go after you left for Argus?" asked Neptune
"Not great not terrible...We took a good beating at Atlas then we ended up here" replied Blake
"How did you get from Atlas to this place so quickly? A giant speed shuttle or what?" asked Neptune again. Blake didn't respond. She wasn't sure whether she could tell Neptune about the relics and everything else Ruby's message either left out or was unable to transmit
"It's a very complicated story...We can clue you in tonight. We set up shop at Classroom 350" she said in response
"Oh. Alright. Also...heard about your...other friend. That redhead girl with that weird staff on her back. She wasn't doing very well
"How is she right now? Did you hear anything about that?" asked Blake, hoping to get the news to Ruby
"Nope. Just heard that" Neptune replied
Blake and Sun kept walking around Shade, clearly without plans for anything. Meanwhile, inside of the city, Ruby and Yang found what looked to be the right place. They had found a shop with all sorts of items sprawled all over the entrance. Linens of all kinds, furniture of all sorts...even some rare weapons. Ruby and Yang waited outside, hearing as the girl was dealing with another customer. Ruby was looking around, taking her time to look at the city and its buildings. Yang, on the other hand, was looking more at the people. They looked similar to how she was. Carefree, and also slightly rebellious. The aesthetic of the place seemed fitting for her
"Next!" said the girl from inside the tent, as said customer walked out of the tent