Ruby!
The Huntress moaned in her sleep as the familiar voice tugged at her consciousness. She turned to her side, hoping the motion alone would be enough to ward off the voice.
Ruby, you've got to wake up…
"Just five more minutes…" The words left her in a slur, her dreams beckoning her deeper into the darkness of sleep.
Ruby ! The voice said again, more insistent this time and accompanied by a sharp pain.
"Hey!" Ruby yelled, sitting upright and rubbing at where her assailant had pinched her so hard the sting could still be felt.
"Phew." Sighed Yang, shaking her head in relief. "I was worried you wouldn't wake up."
Ruby opened her mouth to protest why in the world her sister would be worried of such a thing but, as the drunken haze that had clouded her mind slowly began to fade, it felt as if a thick blanket was slowly being slid over her mind. Finally, her thoughts began to take cohesive form. The first thing she noticed was the empty sleeve that hung feebly at her sister's side where, usually, her prosthetic arm would be. Around her neck, a strange black collar had been hung, a glowing red light in its centre, like some cursed gem, looked back at her.
It was then that the memories began to flood her mind. She remembered the old innkeeper giving them tea. She remembered drinking it and feeling woozy a few moments later. She'd stumbled towards the beds but had fallen to her knees before she'd ever reached them. After that, darkness had engulfed her mind, dragging her, forcefully, into the world of sleep. Ruby could remember nothing after that.
"Yang, what's going on?" Ruby asked her sister frantically, trying to stand but couldn't as she was painfully pulled back. Wide eyed, Ruby looked down to her wrists to see thick metal shackles around them, tying her to the ground.
"I think we were drugged." Yang explained as she watched her sister struggle against her restraints, going through the motions as she had when she'd first woken up.
"Where are we?" The Huntress continued to ask, looking around herself but unable to recognise the dark metallic room they were in. As she moved her head she felt cold metal pressed against her neck, she must have been wearing a similar collar as Yang. "What's going on?"
"I think we've been kidnapped." Answered a voice to Ruby's side. "Most likely to be sold as slaves."
"Nora?!" Ruby gasped, struggling to make out the other Huntress who was sitting in the shadows. Like herself, Nora had been chained to the ground, a thick collar wrapped around her slender neck.
"How do you know?" Yang quietly asked, purposely keeping her voice low so as to avoid any unwanted listeners.
"The collars." Nora explained, gesturing as best she could with her tied hands to the glowing light. "They stop us from using our Semblances. Although it's illegal to own slaves in Mistral now, I remember them having to wear these things before."
"That's insane!" Hissed Ruby, looking between Nora and Yang as if such a notion were impossible to fathom. Those were things taught in history class, not something to be dealt with today! "There are rules against slavery all over Remnant."
"Qrow did say Vacuo was the underbelly of Remnant." Yang reminded her sister. "I don't think such laws apply here."
"And the others?" Ruby quickly looked around the room again. Just as easily as she had missed Nora in the shadows, she may have passed over any other captives present, the effect of the drug on her mind still muffled her thoughts.
"I haven't seen anyone else." Admitted Yang, which was a little comfort, unless they were being held captive elsewhere.
"We've got to get out of here." Hastily declared Ruby, taking a deep breath and activating her Semblance.
"Ruby, no!" Yelled Nora, but her warning reached her too late. Sensing the activation of Ruby's Semblance, the collar's light began to flicker, the metal heating up as it sent jolts of electricity throughout her body.
Ruby screamed at the unexpected pain, falling forwards, her body spasming as the collar continued its attack.
"Ruby!" Yang yelled, kneeling before her sister as Ruby tried to regain her breath, the pain finally receding and, with it, what remained of the drug's effect. Ruby heard the rustling of chains beside her as Nora struggled to come to her aide.
Ruby took several deep breaths, her eyes tearing up from the pain.
"I'm okay." She panted, looking at Yang as she pushed herself up using her elbows. Ruby tried to sit up once again but tensed as she heard shuffling and voices from the outside. What Ruby had previously thought to be a wall, was actually a smooth metal door. It swung open, bright light streamed into the room and caused its occupants to look away from the blinding glare, as well as away from the two new arrivals.
"Good, you're all awake." Ruby blinked multiple times, trying to look up at the woman who had just spoken. She recognised her! It was the woman from the tavern, the one who had invited them to play darts, Leah.
"You!" Hissed Yang, trying to stand but was pulled down by the chain that held her one arm. She narrowed her eyes as she recognised Luke to be the man standing beside Leah.
"Good to see you're doing well." Luke chided, smiling wickedly at the chained girls.
"Come closer and I'll show you how well we are doing!" Nora growled, her words causing the man's smile to become even crueler.
"Oh I'm going to really enjoy selling you.'' Luke admitted, absentmindedly rubbing the wrist Nora had injured back in the tavern.
"Oh once I get my hands on you you'd wish you'd only leave with a broken wrist!" Nora retorted hotly, glaring up at the man.
"If you're done." Leah interrupted, rolling her eyes at her brother. "You're certain these three were the most valuable?"
"Based on the Auction's request this month, yes." Luke nodded his head, looking at each of the Huntresses as if they were interesting wines whose value had to be discussed. "Knightwell confirmed the blond and black head are from Vale. The youngster was the most obvious choice. Silver eyes have always been in high demand, rare and beautiful and powerful. With the publicity the Huntress of Doileir has been wrecking up, we'll fetch a very pretty price for them."
"If you even think of laying a finger on Ruby…" Yang growled, attempting to stand as her eyes shifted to red.
"Uh-uh." Said Leah, waving a finger in the air and pointing to her neck. "I'd be careful. You might think you could absorb the damage of the collar and break free but, knowing the strength of your Semblance, we took the precaution of setting it on instant stun. It senses the slightest spike in Aura and they'll give you a shock strong enough to knock out a horse."
Reluctantly, Yang sat back down, an angry hissing sound leaving her lips as she looked up at the deceitful pair. She remembered that that was exactly what had happened to her when she had first woken up and tried to break her chains.
"And that counts for you as well." Luke smugly added, looking at Nora. " We thought you'd be a troublesome one, being from Vacuo we assumed you'd handle pain well enough."
"So instead, if you even try to purposely activate your collar to boost your Semblance, we'll electrocute your friends instead." Leah added, satisfied with their overall catch. The other members of this lot's crew had been rather interesting as well, but travelling with large bounties had its risks, and their market value may increase in the future. But, at the moment, silver eyes and strong female fighters were in demand.
"Wait? I'm from Vacuo?" Nora asked, surprised, looking at Yang and Ruby for confirmation.
"How are we supposed to know?" Harshly retorted Yang, this was not the time for any of Nora's jokes.
"How could you possibly know that?" Nora then turned to Leah and Luke. " I didn't even know that! How could you possibly know something I didn't even know? Or how our Semblances work?"
Luke gave Nora a smug smile, pleased to be the one with all the answers. He shrugged at the woman nonchalantly, wondering if he could make her beg a little more, even though knowing wouldn't make a bit of difference to their situation other than make things more fun for him.
"My Semblance allows me to instantly understand another person's Semblance." Luke proudly gloated. "The strengths and weaknesses."
"Knowing where you're from is just a bonus from one of our men." Added his sister casually. "Helps us advertise our wares better, some of our buyers have quite the particular tastes."
"I'm not sure how they will react to the prosthetic though, I didn't know about that." Luke turned to his sister as he said this, as if debating the unexpected mileage of a used car.
"Seems to be Atlesian high tech stuff, so it's a bonus." Leah mused. "The fighting rings would probably love to pit their fighters against her robotic strength, or we can sell it to a weapons dealer. "
Luke nodded his head, seeing the profit in his sister's words.
"You two are disgusting!" Yelled Yang, struggling to keep her anger back. "We aren't cows to be traded for Lien, we are human beings."
"Welcome to Vacuo, honey." Leah laughed. "If you aren't smart or strong enough to survive, you may as well be."
"We better get moving if we want to make it to the Knowhere in time for the auction." Luke informed his sister, the pair turning to leave out the door they had entered.
"Wait!" Ruby suddenly yelled, causing both Yang and Nora to jump.
"Pleading or crying won't do you any good." Leah warned her. "And don't even try any toilet break tricks either."
"You mentioned a Huntress of Doileir when you were talking about my eyes…" Ruby carefully asked, her voice low. Her mind had been racing in every direction and yet her thoughts had continued to fall on that seemingly irrelevant piece of information. "What did you mean?"
"Not sure how knowing will help you in any way." Commented Leah. "But rumours of a silver eyed Huntress at Doileir have been spreading all across Vacuo. You have her to thank for the price on your head being such a beauty."
With those final words, the siblings walked out the door, slamming it shut behind them. The rattling of keys was followed by an echoing click indicating they had locked it. There was the sound of shouting outside, clearly it wasn't just Luke and Leah who were involved in this plot. Soon, the shouting died down only to be replaced by the growl of an engines. Suddenly, the captives jerked backwards as they felt the room in which they were being held begin to move. They were in a truck! The implications of this realisation did not bode well for the Huntresses. The chances of them still being in Port Skoleinos were painfully slim and only the heavens above knew how long they had been asleep thanks to that drug. It was with this numbing realisation that they knew that their friends were, most likely, nowhere close to finding them.
"Well our trip to Vacuo seems to be going as smoothly as our visits to the other kingdoms." Sighed Yang, adjusting herself as best she could with one hand.
"Keeps our lives interesting." Nora tried to joke, moving as close to the sisters as her chains would allow.
"Because our lives are the definition of dull." Yang rolled her eyes at her own comment but paused when she noticed that her sister had fallen silent, her eyes focused on her cuffed hands, deep in thought.
"Hey." Yang gently prodded, nudging her sister to try to get her attention. "We've been in tighter spots then this, we'll find a way out like we always do."
"That's not it." Ruby admitted, although at the moment she couldn't think of a way out of their chains. "What they said, about there being another silver eyed Huntress…"
"Yeah? I'm not sure what that had to do with anything…" Yang cautiously began to say.
"Back at Atlas, Salem had said something about Mum..." Ruby slowly began to explain, recalling the conversation she'd had with the witch back in Schnee Manor. At the time she had believed it simply to be one of Salem's tricks, to either distract her or capture here. However, ever since then, the thought had occasionally reformed, nagging at her until it was all she could think of… What if… "Is it possible that mum is still alive?"
Yang blinked at her younger sister, not having expected such a notion to even cross her mind after so many years.
"Ruby," Yang said her name softly, reaching out to her with her hand.
"I know, it makes no sense and I shouldn't believe Salem, but Yang..." Ruby looked at her sister, a pleading, desperate look in her wide silver eyes. "We had a funeral, and mum has a grave but we never had a body to bury…" Ruby took a deep breath, trying to calm her voice which had begun to rise. "What if mum's still alive?"
"And what? You think she's been hiding here in Vacuo?" Yang gently countered. She did not wish to hurt her sister, the death of Summer Rose had left scars on all of them, but none as deep as on Ruby, but she had to see reason.
"It's not the craziest thing we've heard." Ruby weakly admitted, trying for a shrug.
Yang looked at her sister as Ruby returned her attention back to her hands, awkwardly cleaning at her nails and obviously avoiding her gaze.
"I don't remember much from the funeral." Yang quietly admitted, causing Ruby to look up at her. "I remember Dad telling us Mum died on a mission. We were in the kitchen... his eyes were already red… I think that was the first time I ever saw Qrow drink...you kept asking me when Mum would be back… I had no answer."
Yang shook her head at the memory, the two of them had been so young… too young to lose the only mother they had ever known. "My last memories of Mum however, are from a day or so before she left. It was the middle of the night. I think I had to go to the bathroom, when I heard crying from the living room... it was Mum." Yang's voice was soft, barely a whisper, but Ruby was looking at her, soaking up every word her sister had to say.
"I'd never seen her cry before… Mum was kind but strong and brave. She was a hero that protected people from Grimm. I didn't even think she could cry, so I had asked her why she was. It was because of her previous mission. She said she was meant to bring an old friend to stay with us for a while, I think she said she was in some kind of trouble? I don't remember the details, but she had a daughter our own age…"
"I-I don't remember us ever getting any friends of Mum's as visitors." Admitted Ruby, other than uncle Qrow, visitors had been sparse and far apart, even more so those with children their own age at the time.
"That's because they never made it." Solemnly continued Yang. "Their airship had been attacked by Grimm and they lost the kid."
"Yang, why are you telling me this now?" Ruby could barely speak, her throat had constricted as she held back the tears that threatened to spill.
"Because she had held me close when she said this." Yang answered, looking at her sister's gleaming eyes. "She was crying and she said the worst thing in this world would be to live in it without either one of us. That's why she'd make sure that could never happen to anyone ever again."
Yang let out a pained breath. Back then she hadn't understood what her mother had meant but now she knew. On that final mission she had gone to face Salem, to make sure no one lost someone they cared for to her Grimm ever again.
"What I'm trying to say." Finished Yang. "Is that if mum were alive, she wouldn't have spent over a decade hiding out in Vacuo. Without a doubt, she would have returned home to us. She would have done anything to come home"
Ruby let out a shaky breath.
"You're right." She finally told her sister, pushing the thought away. Salem must have been lying, trying to bait and lure her with falsities she knew could never be true.
"You're mum sounds like she was really great." Quietly added Nora, she had not wanted to interrupt the tender moment between the sisters.
"She was." Ruby answered, smiling at her friend as she discreetly wiped a tear from her eye.
"Did you really not know you were from Vacuo?" Yang asked, feeling guilty for having snapped at the Huntress previously. She hadn't been right of her to assume Nora had just been saying a joke.
Nora shrugged sheepishly. "I barely have any memories from before I met Ren."
"So you have no memories whatsoever of your family?" Ruby enquired. Being kidnapped and transported to be sold at an auction may not have been the ideal time to get to know Nora better but, at that moment, tied and collared, she couldn't figure out how to escape just yet.
"I sometimes get dreams of a woman leaving me behind surrounded by Grimm." She answered. "But I've no idea if it's an actual memory or just a dream."
"Well I see no reason for them to have lied about you being from Vacuo." Piped in Ruby. "They were right about the two of us. Maybe you've got family around here?"
Nora shrugged nonchalantly but gave Ruby a soft smile as she did so. "I've got all the family I'd ever need already."
Both Ruby and Yang smiled at the Huntress's words.
"Then let's find a way out of here." Ruby finally responded, looking between her fellow captives. "The others must be worried sick by now!"
The Vytal Festival was the most anticipated event of the year and, with Vacuo hosting, headmaster Eli had been profoundly busy with the preparations. A s had the other staff members of Shade Academy, that had mercilessly trained their students in preparation for the tournament. Valerian herself could not fathom the fuss for it seemed simply to be a glorified sparring competition, only with more food and larger audiences. That was, however, until she set eyes on the Amity Colosseum. It was a magnificent structure floating in the sky, a technological wonder she would never have dreamed possible. The fights themselves had also not disappointed her and she had been not so silently been anticipating her own fight against Team STRQ, a team from Beacon Academy whose reputation had reached far across the kingdoms.
However, even from where Amelia sat, beside her father and the other Academy headmasters, the battle between the two teams did not seem to be going in Valerian's favour. Bellamy had been the first to be knocked out, his Aura, which was already quite abysmal, had fallen below the limit following a series of relentless slashes from team STRQ's Raven Branwen. She had been merciless against the man, as were the rest of her teammates who had efficiently separated Team BTKV to better pick them off. However, team STRQ, at almost the same time, had also lost their first member. Tyrian was still looking over the edge, watching as his opponent, Tai Xiao Long, resurfaced in the water below, punching its surface in frustration.
Tyrian's pincer swished idly, oblivious that a second opponent was already attempting to attack. However, Kali intercepted him, her blade colliding with Qrow Branwen's with an echoing clang across the arena. Tyrian slid from under his teammate's shadow and attempted to stab at the opponent with the curved blades that were attached to his bracers. Qrow dodged suddenly, causing Kali to stagger forward and Tyrian swivelled out of her way, narrowly avoiding impaling his own teammate. Qrow spun on his heel, slicing the air with his scythe. Kali, in response, pulled at her blade, shifting it into its bow form and sent flying a series of arrows. Each crimson tipped projectile exploded on coming in contact with Qrow's blade, engulfing the small group in smoke.
Amelia strained her eyes to make out their forms but, although she was certain the fight had continued, they were obscured from her view. The young girl's attention then fell to Valerian, who, alone, was facing off the remaining members of team STRQ- Raven, who had knocked out Bellamy, and their team leader, Summer Rose.
"Go help Qrow." Raven ordered Summer, watching as Valerian slowly paced around them, her billhook raised over her shoulder. The woman's teammate had been easy enough to knock out however Raven could sense a more interesting fight awaited her with this one.
Summer nodded her head in understanding, it would be pointless for the two of them to fight a single opponent when Qrow faced two. Summer made to run towards her teammate but halted as a series of bright blue orbs of fires blocked her path. She back stepped swiftly, narrowly singing the edge of her ivory cape as she did so.
"Oh no you don't." Valerian yelled, sparing Bellamy a concerned look as he struggled to get back on his feet and drag himself to the knock-out area. The fight was already over for him.
"You've got a real pretty Semblance!" Summer called to Valerian, seemingly unphased by the orbs.
"Don't compliment her!" Growled Raven, rolling her eyes at Summer.
"You two aren't going anywhere." Valerian informed them, conjuring several more orbs until an almost impenetrable wall of blue fire encircled them.
"Go help you brother." Summer calmly ordered, unsheathing her sword and pointing it at Valerian.
"Fine." Raven grudgingly agreed. She'd have liked to be the one to fight the girl but not at the cost of losing.
"You're surrounded by fire." Valerian pointed out. "How are you …" But her voice trailed off as a swirling portal of red and black appeared beside Raven while, instantaneously, a similar structure appeared across the fire near her brother.
"Don't lose.'' Raven commanded, before stepping through the portal and instantly appearing beside Qrow, intercepting an attack from Tyrian, who recoiled at her sudden appearance.
"Wicked!" Valerian admitted, her eyes wide as the portal vanished. But her excitement quickly faded as she saw Tyrian's stinger sliced against Raven's cheek. She cursed under her breath, they had warned him not to use his poison during the games but, obviously, Tyrian had chosen not to listen to them- as usual.
"I'm sorry but we'll have to end this quickly or your teammate could die." Valerian warned.
"Raven can handle herself." Summer informed her, misunderstanding the woman.
"No, she could actually die." Valerian insisted. "Tyrian's stinger is poisoned."
She nodded her head to the screen where their Aura levels were being displayed. Summer tentatively looked up, suspecting a trap from the girl. But, Valerian had spoken the truth. Raven's Aura's levels were already decreasing and at a much faster rate than they should have been.
"Thanks for the head up." Summer thanked, mentally calculating how long it would take for Raven's Aura to fall below the critical level. "We'll have to make this quick.'
"Agreed." Valerian answered, charging at Summer, her billhook held over her head. Summer erupted into a flurry of petals causing Valerian to spin round, her own weapon narrowly blocking Summer's sword as she reappeared behind her. The sound of metal hitting metal was barely audible over the commenter's, Theodor Dell's , voice as he informed the audience that Tyrian had just been swung over the edge, by the tail, by Raven.
The woman staggered on her feet as the poison continued to spread. Kali, aimed an arrow at Raven but, as she released it, Qrow ran into its path, protecting his sister from the explosion but, at the cost of his own Aura falling below 15%. Kali blinked against the smoke her own weapon had created, and released a surprised 'yelp' as Raven, barely able to walk, charged at her. She slashed with her sword, pushing the Faunus over the edge and into the water below. Raven fell to her knees, her Aura inexplicably drained by Tyrian's poison.
Summer looked back at her teammate in concern, only narrowly blocking Valerian's attack.
"This needs to end so she can go to the medic!" Summer shook her head, Raven would be stubborn enough to stay till the end of the fight. It also appeared that she and this woman were evenly matched, this could go on for quite some time, and Raven clearly didn't have that long.
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to end this." Summer gave Valerian an apologetic smile.
From her words, Valerian had expected that she had some big final move that would instantly end their fight. But, instead, she ran away from her and towards the arena's edge.
"No you don't!" Valerian yelled, charging after her, anticipating the woman's plan. Rather than stop her however, Valerian tackled Summer, resulting with both women stumbling over the arena edge and into the water below.
It was with suppressed laughter at Valerian antics, that Theodore declared that the battle had ended in a draw.
"Why'd you do that!?" Coughed Summer as she watched Valerian's head finally broke the surface, spitting out water and shaking her hair as she did so.
"Winning like that is no fun." Valerian answered, matter of factly.
Summer momentarily blinked at the woman before erupting into laughter.
"You're a strange one, Valerian Carrie." Mused Summer, swimming to the water's edge and pulling herself out.
"You're not a boring one yourself, Summer Rose." Laughed Valerian, accepting the hand the other woman had extended to help her out of the water.
And that's another chapter posted! Thank you so much for reading and I really hope you enjoyed it 😁 Feel free to drop a comment, I really do love hearing from your guys and even how I could potentially improve the story a bit (been suffering a little from writer's block but its for a piece 5 chapters ahead so it should fine 😅) and advice/suggestions are also welcome.
ALSO! the final episode for Vol 8 will be made available for everyone this weekend- exciting If you still need to watch it no spoilers from me but, if you have seen it I still can't describe it...
Any way, thanks again for reading the update and see you all next week!