It had been a week since the makeshift group of Huntsman and Huntresses had intercepted Ace's auction. Making use of the truck they had previously commandeered, they had delivered the neatly wrapped criminals at a town Sun swore was legit, unlike Knowhere had proven to be. The culprits would be put into the system and, after a few days in the local confinement center, they would be escorted to Shade City for a real trial.
However, the local authorities had not invited the foreigners to stay and, in all honesty, after their experience with Port Skoleinos none of the members of team RWBY or ORNJ were particularly eager to loiter in any of the small towns. They would only truly rest when they arrived at Shade City and could confirm that both the Maiden and Relic were safe. Mercury and Tyrian, according to Emerald's information, had left for Vacuo months ago, that had been plenty of time for either one to wreak havoc. However they took it as a good sign that no one in team SNVP knew what they were talking about.
However, where the local authorities had frowned at Ruby and her friends, team SNVP had eagerly turned down the locals' offering of transporting them to Shade when they came to pick up the criminals, opting to escort their friends to the continent's capital themselves. The authorities hadn't even bat an eye when they politely requested they continue to 'borrow' Luke's truck for the time being.
So, fully provisioned and, with Yang, Ruby and Nora gleefully reunited with the possessions they had abandoned back at the port town, they continued on their journey. Knowhere having been enough of a detour.
It had been a tight squeeze in the truck, most definitely not their most comfortable means of transport. The roads of Vacuo were ragged and uneven, the heat was stifling, and more so in the back of the truck before Yang and Nora had punched a number of holes in the vehicle's side, providing a fresher circulation of air, as well as a little of a view. However, if the heat was any indication, they were thankful for not having to walk across the arid land.
On most days, Neptune and Jaune would sit at the front of the truck, using their precious map not to deviate away from the official route to Shade. Alongside the truck, keeping pace with ease on Bumblebee, would be Yang. Her beautiful golden hair flying freely behind her as she drove through the open road, something that Ruby and Blake, who acted as occasional passengers for her, were not particularly thrilled about.
Not wishing to spend hours on end with his nieces' rambunctious friends in an enclosed space, Qrow would opt to fly overhead, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything that may have wished them trouble. Although they had not had the best welcome from the locals, the Grimm of Vacuo were notoriously large if he recalled correctly. Pluto too would take to the skies, even though, for a winged Faunus, his manoeuvrability and stamina in the air were nothing compared to Qrow's. Many times during their journey, he would be forced to land on the truck's roof to catch his breath. Also, unlike Qrow, he had not chosen to fly to better study their surroundings. Pluto had made it very obvious that he wished to spend as little time with Ruby and the other as was physically possible.
The rest of their small group would spend the day in the back of the truck. The journey was much more pleasurable, albeit more cramped, than when Ruby and the others had first woken up within it. Both sides had recounted their exploits since leaving Beacon. Ruby and the rest were the perfect audience, gasping and retaining their silence at the appropriate moments. The only ones not particularly involved in the storytelling were Ren and Nora, each one huddled in a corner of the truck as far as was physically possible in the enclosed space from the other. Neither had spoken to the other since Nora's outburst and, although their friends had tried to be there for them in any way possible, none knew how to comfort either. So they opted to allow them to dwell on their thoughts for the time being.
"So wait, you're Headmaster Ozpin?" Velvet carefully enquired, her ears twitching slightly as she looked at Oscar with renewed interest.
"You've got the same cane." Admitted Sun, " Though I remember you having white hair, where did you get it done?"
"Sometimes." Oscar replied. Even after all these years it still wasn't the easiest thing to explain. The circumstances of how he had become Ozpin's new host were still quite a mystery to him as well.
"Right…" Sun continued. " And this Salem witch is your ex-wife?"
"Technically Ozma's." Oscar corrected, blushing slightly at the idea.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Velvet quoted, nodding her head as if that explained things.
"Or one hellbent on destroying the world." Weiss added.
"And that's why she's after these Relics and Maidens?" Velvet carefully enquired. "She needs all of them to call the ancient gods to pass judgement on Remnant?"
"And bring with them an untimely end for us all." Sun concluded, his tail twitching slightly behind him. "Even for you guys this is pretty wild."
"But it's the truth." Oscar insisted
"Seems simple enough." Sighed Sun, leaning back slightly to look out one of the makeshift windows, watching as Blake clutched toYang's waist and the pair zoomed on a Bumblebee outside.
Although he knew there was nothing simple about the situation his friends were in, it did explain Nora's unusual affinity for all things chilly all of a sudden. While Velvet and Sun had been out here in Vacuo trying to graduate, these guys had been trying to save the world, and had lost friends in the process. It somewhat put things in perspective.
Nights on the road weren't any less interesting. The small group would camp out under the stars. Vacuo was a naturally warm continent but although the days were bathed in near unbearable heat, the nights would bring with them a welcome coolness that had nothing to do with the Winter Maiden.
As the name implied, the Wastelands were an area devoid of any life, with bare, rocky terrain being visible as far as the eyes could see. Its number one benefit was that it meant no Grimm or outlaws could sneak up on them, but it also meant that, until they reached the next town, their provisions were only those they could carry.
After spending most of the day cooped up within the truck it often felt, to Qrow, like a horde of preschoolers had just been released. The group would use up the twilight hours preparing dinner over fire Dust crystal, or sparring to get their stiff joints moving. Although it may not have been the most difficult task, cooking a meal for so many people without being able to make a proper fire was by far the most challenging culinary feat Ren had had to overcome. However, he did it without complaint for it kept his mind busy where, otherwise, it would wander over past memories he wished he could rewrite and play out differently.
To Nora, the moment of her outburst was continuously replaying through her head. Her own actions mortified her present self. What Ren had done hurt her, her anger may have been valid but to a certain extent. When she'd calmed down, guilt had rooted itself in her heart. She wished she could take back what she'd said, just as she wished he'd had told about his Semblance. They could have figured it out together. They, like they used to, as Ren and Nora. But, unfortunately the past can't be rewritten.
"You chose quite the spot to mope." A cynical voice observed, causing Nora to sigh and pull her knees closer to her chest.
"Was this your spot?" She asked, peering slightly sideways to see Qrow standing beside her. Nora had chosen to spend that evening sitting on the truck's roof, like she had done every night since this journey had begun. She'd learnt that, if she stayed out of sight, her friends wouldn't try to constantly reassure her things would get better or ask if she were okay. For the time being 'okay' was still a long way away.
From up on the truck she could watch her friends idle away the time before sleep would claim them, without having to interact with them herself. From her vantage point she could just make out the top of Ren's head, his magenta streak obvious even in the darkness. He seemed to be politely listening to something Jaune was excitedly explaining.
"To mope?" Qrow asked.
"I always imagined you to be more the brooding type." Nora admitted. Qrow gave a low chuckle and even Nora couldn't hold back her smile. Taking that as a good sign, he sat down beside her. His eyes momentarily rested on his nieces who seemed to be having a heated discussion, pointing at the map in Ruby's hands.
"Did I ever mention that you somewhat remind me of an old friend of mine?"
What? You have friends? But Nora held back her words, the serious look that crossed Qrow's once handsome face told her this was not the time for jokes. Instead, she let him continue.
"She was a literal wild child. A very scary woman to anger, even more so if you hurt her friends." Qrow recalled the woman from his youth. She had been more Summer's friend then his but she'd always treated him as if they were. When had been the last time he'd visited her and her family? Almost two decades ago he mused but, given the reason they had come to Vacuo, he was certain their paths would cross soon enough again.
"Is this the start of some impromptu prep talk?" Nora asked, she was in no particular mood for one.
"Call it advice from a wise old man." Qrow scoffed at his own words, since when had he started considering himself old? "You're angry and that's understandable but try to talk to him. The brooding life? Trust me, it suits more a guy like me then a gall like you."
"He's kept this secret from me for months! Why should I be the one to talk to him?" She hotly countered.
"If my memory serves, he did try to talk to you but someone conjured a wall of ice to stop him." Qrow calmly responded.
Nora let out a tired sigh. He was right there.
"How could I ever talk to him after what I said?" After the incident, when her mind had finally somewhat calmed, the words she'd told Ren during her fit of anger had continued to replay themselves in her mind and her guilt had continued to grow. She'd wanted to talk to him again, with a calmer head and actually hear him out. And countless times she had tried to but, for each step forward towards him, she'd take three steps away, her anger at his betrayal of her trust stopping her each time. Anger and guilt were a crippling combination she was not accustomed to.
"It may sting now, but it will be water under the bridge soon enough." Qrow shrugged off her concern. "It's the words you never get to say that will continue to haunt you."
"Speaking from experience?" Nora gently asked as she saw him tentatively grasp something hidden in the folds of his cape. He may have never shown it to them, but they all knew that that was where Ebi Clover's pin was, hidden, nestled amongst the material.
"In our line of work, it comes with the territory, more so with a Semblance like mine. The list of people I've lost… I hope none of you ever have to deal with a portion of that… but there are a few in particular that left this world before I could tell them what I wanted them to hear."
Now Nora's curiosity had really been piqued. A few people in particular? She could somewhat guess that one was referring to Clover but, who could the others have been that had left him this raw and heartbroken?
"What I'm saying is." Qrow cleared his throat, he had not intended to reveal so much about himself in this little talk. "If you have something to say to someone, say it now, because you have no guarantee how much time you'll get with them."
"That's actually some very sound advice." Nora smiled at Qrow. "But what did I expect from the wise old man in the group?"
"Haha." Qrow mocked, rolling his eyes at the Huntress's words. "You just used up it's one use."
"You should give out titbits of wisdom more often." Laughed Nora, her chest feeling somewhat lighter for the time being.
"Oh, I do." Qrow answered in a tone so serious that Nora faltered if he were joking or not. "You try looking after your nieces and their unruly friends. I've got a roster and today was your turn."
"We aren't unruly .'' Nora couldn't help laugh, still unsure if he were joking about the rest. "We're… f ree spirited ."
"Free spirited with a tendency of getting into trouble." Qrow corrected, his solemn words causing her to burst into laughter so loud it caused Ren to look up at the truck. For the time being, her plague of thoughts left her momentarily.
"What does she see in him?" Yang muttered, more to herself than to anyone in particular. She was sitting on the ground beside her sister, the small crystals of Fire Dust warming her face. Her violet eyes were on a small group of their friends that were talking rather loudly. She watched in silence as Blake tried to hold back her laughter while Sun raised his hands for affect. Neptune brought his palm to his face in embarrassment at whatever story Sun was recounting at his expense.
"Whom in who?" Ruby asked grumpily, still looking at the map she had borrowed, her eyes never leaving from one of the markers.
"Blake in Sun." Yang pointed out as if it were obvious.
"Well Sun's a nice guy…" Ruby distractedly answered.
"But they're so different… Blake's so mature…" Yang continued, still unable to look away from the talking trio.
"He seemed pretty mature at Ace's." Ruby countered, still not sure where her older sister was going with this, it certainly had nothing to do with their current, unfinished conversation.
"Ruby!" Yang suddenly hissed, causing the younger Huntress to jump and almost drop her map on the crystals. "Do you think he likes Blake?"
"Wha- of course he likes Blake!" Ruby incredibly answered, not really listening to her, or noticing the way Yang's face fell at her words. "Everyone likes Blake! She is practically a ninja, she has cute cat ears…"
"Not like that!" Yang hissed again, interrupting Ruby. "I mean like like.."
Ruby momentarily blinked at her sister. "Like Like?"
"Yeah, like like…"
"How should I know?!" Exclaimed Ruby so loudly she caused Jaune to jump and almost spill his dinner over himself. "And how does that affect you, Yang?"
"Oh one of these days I hope you fall for someone, little sis, and I can be all ' How should I know? ' " Yang retorted.
"My one true love is Crescent Rose." Ruby answered, dreamily.
"Uh huh, sure it is." Yang answered, crossing her arms and not particularly believing what her sister was saying.
"Anyway!" Ruby declared, clearing her throat and shaking out the map in her hands. "Back on subject, Yang."
"What else is there to say?" Yang sighed, looking down at the map that had gotten her sister so excited. "Mum is not at Doilier and it's not even on our way. It will just be a waste of time for us to go."
"But it's just an hour away!" Ruby tried to argue. "It would be only a small detour, and I know she's not mum, but someone else with silver eyes? Maybe she'd have a few more pointers on how I can use mine!"
Yang looked at her sister in disbelief. She'd grown up with the girl, Ruby was a genuinely bad liar with a tendency of wearing her heart on her sleeve. Yang knew that, deep down, she was still grasping at straws that maybe this woman was Summer Rose. Yang wished that that witch, Salem, had never planted such lies in Ruby's head, that she had allowed Summer's name to continue to rest in peace on Patch and not caused Ruby to wonder 'what if'.
"It would just be a waste of time." Sighed Yang, shaking her head tiredly.
"But it could not be!" She countered.
"Ruby…" Yang's voice raised slightly but she forced herself to calm down when she saw the look Ruby was giving her. She truly was grasping at straws… "Why don't we discuss it with the others in the morning?" She finally, calmly, tried to reason with her sister. "Right now we are all exhausted from all the traveling, so we aren't thinking straight…"
"But Yang..." Ruby began but the hard look Yang gave her as she stood up quickly silenced her.
"We'll discuss this, as a team, in the morning." And, with the discussion closed, Yang walked towards where Blake was sitting between Sun and Neptune and interjected herself into their conversation.
Disappointed with the turn their discussion had taken, Ruby's eyes longingly fell back to the map. Her eyes rested on the little black marker, the word 'Doilier' written in cursive below it. She was just so close.
As twilight continued to wane into night, and the first stars began to fill the dark sky of Remnant, the small group began to settle for the evening. The Faunus had offered to take it in shifts to keep watch over their small camp for their eyesight was far more superior in the dim light then those of the humans and, between the four Faunus, the shifts would not be particularly long. Thankful for their friends, the rest had nestled into sleeping bags and allowed the soft sound of crickets and hunting birds of night to lull them to sleep. It was with surprising ease that the small group was wafted away to the land of dreams, exhausted from the cumulative hours traveling. That is, all except Ruby.
Her own nerves had warded away any inkling of sleep, her anxious body tossing from side to side. It was only when the snores and gentle breathing of her teammates signalled that all were sound asleep did Ruby, very carefully, sit up in her sleeping bag. She carefully scanned her surroundings, lowering her goggles to better see past the camp but, there was no sign of Pluto, who had taken the first shift. Taking that as a sign that he may have simply wandered onto the other side of the truck, Ruby quickly extracted herself from her sleeping bag and, with silent hands, she stuffed her backpack in her place. She surveyed her work sheepishly, the lump the bag created was too small to be a her but she hoped that, if they were simply scanning over her sleeping bag, that it would be enough.
By her calculations, she should be back before sunrise however she did not want to worry her friends with her sudden disappearance in the middle of the night. She strapped her scythe to her back and, from her pocket, she carefully unfolded the map she had yet to return to Jaune. She glanced at it before looking up at the moon, using it to guide her in the general direction she had to go.
She tiptoed past her sleeping companions, guiltily walking past Yang as she nestled her face in the crook of her arm. She had no guarantee that the rest would have agreed with her plan and, Yang was right, such a detour would simply be a waste of their time. However, if she went alone it would simply be a waste of her time.
Ruby only relaxed when she'd made it out of the light of the Dust crystals, allowing her goggles to adjust to the darkness. Although her surroundings took on a slightly more green tint, she could see the terrain almost as perfectly as if it were daylight.
That was most likely why there was no room for doubt that someone had actually intercepted her.
"Ruby?" Oscar whispered, his brow furrowed in confusion at colliding with the girl.
"Oscar?" Ruby hissed, cursing under her breath. She had hoped that everyone had been asleep. "What are you doing awake?"
"Bathroom- wait!" Oscar exclaimed, narrowing his eyes as he noticed the piece of paper in her hand and the weapon on her back. "Where are you going?"
"Keep it down!" Ruby begged, waving her hands and desperately looking back over her shoulder at her sleeping friends. She held her breath as Neptune rolled inside his sleeping bag but none made any sign of waking.
"Ruby." Oscar repeated, lowering his voice to match hers. "Where are you going?"
"Would you believe me if I said bathroom?" The look Oscar gave answered her question. "I'm going to Doilier."
"Doilier?" Oscar questioned, never having heard that name before.
"It's a town near here." Ruby hastily explained. She was wasting time explaining like this, she had to get back by dawn. "There should be a silver eyed Huntress there."
"And is there a reason why you are sneaking off in the middle of the night?" Oscar tentatively asked, that usually wasn't a good sign.
"Yang doesn't want me to go." Ruby answered but Oscar raised an eyebrow, asking her to elaborate why. "She thinks I'm going there to see if his Huntress is my mum."
"You're mum?" Oscar echoed, so surprised he forgot to keep his voice down.
"Hush!" Ruby begged.
"But wasn't she…?" Oscar gingerly began.
"Yes, she died fighting Salem." Ruby quickly piped in. "But something Salem said back in Atlas may suggest otherwise."
"So you think this Huntress at Doilier may be her." Oscar concluded, putting the pieces together.
"And before you try to talk me out of it." Ruby hastily explained. "I already know that the chances of this being my mum are near impossible and I shouldn't believe Salem's words but we've heard of crazier things…"
Oscar sighed, shaking his head at the Huntress. "You'd go even if I tried to stop you or wake the others."
"I can be very fast when I need to be." Ruby sheepishly answered, shrugging as Oscar let out a tired breath.
"Then I'm coming with you." He declared, taking Ruby aback.
"But it's most likely just a wild goose chase…" Ruby tried to explain, shaken at Oscar's suggestion of him joining her, though not disliking the idea.
"And I know you can handle yourself." He agreed. "But given the luck we've had in Vacuo so far, I wouldn't be able to sleep easy knowing you are wandering the Wastelands alone."
Ruby gave the youth a grateful smile and, maybe due to the setting of her goggles it almost looked like he'd blushed.
"Thank you." She added before looking down at her map. "Doilier should be around that direction."
"Then lead the way." Oscar sighed, allowing the Huntress to step past him and the two, keeping pace, began to walk in the indicated direction.
From the skies, a silent sentinel had been watching, overhearing the conversation between the pair with interest. Pluto folded his arms as his wings beat against his back, keeping him high enough not to be seen but still within earshot of the two.
This may be something worth reporting in.
Valerian let out a shaky breath as she watched Bellamy, very carefully, extract the catheter from her arm. For a moment, the tiniest drop of blood, frighteningly bright against her almost translucent skin, escaped along with the needle. However, unphased, Bellamy quickly wiped it away with an alcohol soaked swab of cotton. She flinched at his motions but he didn't react as he meticulously covered the small wound with a bandage.
"We will be increasing the dosage again next week." He finally said, barely able to look at her as he read through a notepad which seemed, each time it appeared, to get thicker and thicker.
"Again?" Valerian sighed, it had been a year since she had been diagnosed with Scourge and, since then, it had been test after test, drug after drug. Bellamy had been trying every procedure, known and unknown, to try to heal her. In his own way, this was him showing concern. He had meticulously researched this sickness as a child but, he had been unable to put any of his research findings to use with Amelia since he had been simply a child. But now, Bellamy was an expert in the medical field that none could compare with, not even the famous Pietro Polendina in Atlas. Each new test and medication he tried was founded on years of study. However, becoming as focused in his research as he had, Bellamy had become oblivious to the side effects his treatments were having on her. He may have managed to fight off the symptoms of the Scourge, to an extent, but they often left Valerian feeling lethargic or as if acid was slowly being poured into her veins.
"The chemotherapy seems to have had the most significant results so far." He explained.
"Bellamy…" Valerian tried to say however, immersed in his thoughts, the man continued to drone on.
"Your white blood count is low, as I anticipated, but the viral bodies seem to be becoming deformed. Possibly, a higher dose may destroy them."
"Bellamy…" Valerian tried again, reaching out her once strong hands to grasp his. The man's voice faltered as looked back at her with broken brown eyes. "Why don't we just give it a break for the time being?" She carefully suggested, as if she were trying to convince a child to go to the dentist. "The three of us have been cooped up here for too long. Eleanora is literally climbing the walls at this point. You need a break and I think fresh air would do me a world of good."
Bellamy looked doubtfully between Valerian and his notepad. He may not be sick himself, but exhaustion and stress had aged him prematurely, causing lines to deepen around his features and white streaks to appear in his dark hair.
"Maybe Aneglus Village?" Valerian tentatively added. "Eleanora has never been and it would be nice for her to finally see where her mum came from."
Bellamy opened his mouth and, for the briefest moment, hope swelled within her, that maybe he'd listen to her. But, just as quickly as the feeling had appeared, it vanished as the dark cloud fell over him once again.
"It's too risky." He concluded, gently shrugging off her hand. "With your immune system compromised as it is, even the simplest disease may prove fatal and we don't know how the Scourge may mutate if it comes in contact with something foreign."
He shook his head, closing the clipboard with a small snap. "For now, here is the safest place for you." His expression then softened again, though he didn't try for a smile, Valerian doubted she'd ever seen him smile over the last year. "We'll plan the trip when you are better, agreed?"
"Yeah…" She answered sadly while she watched him turn and leave the room within which she was staying, closing the door behind him.
"Mamma?" The small voice did not surprise Valerian as, from behind the chest of drawers, Eleanora appeared. The two bedrooms were neighbours and, using the Summer Maiden's powers, melting a small enough hole in the stone walls through which the child could freely move had proven a simple enough task in her state.
Eleanora looked at Valerian with wide eyes, her hair had been recently cut short, and bounced over her shoulders as she moved.
"Hush, Elanora." Valerian whispered, looking at the door in concern but, if Bellamy had heard anything, he didn't return to investigate.
"Will we be going on our trip tonight?" Eleanora said in an aggregated whisper, crawling up to her mother and sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Yes." Valerian answered. "Have you packed your things as I told you?"
Eleanora nodded her head, beaming proudly. "I packed plenty of snacks for us to share as well."
Valerian gave her daughter a weak smile as she ruffled her soft hair. "That's great! Snacks are always needed for a road trip."
But then, Eleanora's face frowned. "Will Papa be coming with us?"
"Not this time." Valerian admitted, it pained her that she was going to force Eleanora to go through this but being locked in here wasn't good for either of them. "It's a secret girl's trip, just the two of us." And, in an attempt to comfort the child, she pulled her towards her, allowing her to lean against her chest as they had done so long ago when they had looked at the stars. Valerian involuntary winced as pain soared up her arm, the small wound of the catheter still fresh.
"Is Papa a bad man?" Elenora suddenly asked, her eyes looking at the fresh bandage that had been stuck to her mother's arm. This was not the first time she had seen such things and her mum always seemed so much sadder after her dad gave her her medicine.
"No." Valerian answered without hesitation, resting her head on the top of her daughter's head, smelling the scent of her flowery shampoo. "He's just scared and, when people are scared, especially for the people they care about, they make a few mistakes."
Valerian heard the words she told the child and wondered, was that what she was doing? Was she herself making a mistake?
Thanks so much for reading and I really hope you enjoyed the update 😁 I'm sorry this turned out to be a little bit of filler but I think they deserved a small break after what they all went through. Thank you once again for reading and feel free to drop a comment. See you all next week 😁