The Red Desert is a territory in the Kingdom of Vacuo bordered by the mountain range called Hunger Mountains, which boast the highest and most dangerous peaks in the kingdom. The desert is cut in half by the rails of a railway that passes under a tunnel dug into the rock and that stops at the gates of one of the five largest mines in Vacuo: the Tremaine Mines. The Red Valley is home to these mines. It's an area beyond the Hunger Mountains, relatively safe from the threats of the Red Desert.
The vast landscape of sand is dominated by four powerful bands of marauders: the Wild Fangs, lovers of explosives and big machines; the Vultures, thieves of precious gems and excellent climbers; the Sand Wolves, excellent warriors and also excellent explorers; finally there are the Shadow Heralds, a new group with revolutionary ideologies that has strong ambitions. These raiders are fighting each other for absolute control of the Red Desert.
Only the foolish and fearless wish to live in this golden hell, for everyone else one thing must be clear: this is no place for heroes; because in the Red Desert … there are no heroes.
One month after the Battle of Atlas ...
A lonely train ran through the irons of the desert. The uninhabited wagons were making continuous metallic noises and Ruby, who was trying to sleep, was getting nervous. She left the sleeping car, where both Yang and Blake were sleeping peacefully, and she headed for the dining car.
Sitting at a table, tasting a yogurt cake, there was Weiss who looked carefree out the window. Ruby walked over and asked politely:
"Can I sit with you?"
Weiss nodded.
Once the girl was seated, she rested her head on her arms which were to be the pillow.
"Can't sleep?" Weiss asked.
"It's too noisy. I don't know how those two do to snooze with this constant clamor."
"They're probably used to it," Weiss commented, putting some cake in her mouth.
"And you?"
"I'm used to more refined trains. This is practically a walking shack."
"Yet they said it was Vacuo's best train."
"Atlas trains are better. The restaurant on this train is bad and the beds are uncomfortable. It's a three-star service, if you want to be nice."
"What a nuisance ..." Ruby muttered.
"You're right. If Vacuo had not closed the borders by now we would've already arrived." She paused. "But it's true that we've had quite a few problems with the Grimm."
"And the villages we had to help ..." Ruby added.
"And those. But at least it was worth it, right? We did our duty and we- " she sighed "who are we kidding? We are doing so little and in the meantime Salem has two relics."
"I know. I feel that way too."
"Do you feel useless too?"
"After Atlas I've the constant worry of being irrelevant ... powerless ..."
"It's not like that,"said Oscar who had just entered the wagon. "None of you are useless or irrelevant. We're all doing our best to win the war against Salem. We cannot give up."
Ruby raised her head and when Oscar saw the rose-shaped blindfold covering her left eye, he asked:
"How's it going with the eye?"
"I'm still half blind," she said wryly.
"Does it hurt?"
"Sometimes it pinches a little, but it's nothing serious."
"Do you want the ointment?" the boy asked, showing the bag he was carrying on his back.
"Don't worry," she said smiling.
"Why do you carry your backpack on your shoulder constantly?" Weiss asked curiously.
"Because I don't want it to be stolen."
"But there's no one on this train."
"I know."
"Then?"
"It's not who's on the train I'm worried about, but who might be waiting for us outside the train." He clarified: "We're in a war zone. In these parts there are no laws of any kind and only the strongest survive."
"You talk about it as if we are completely isolated from the world," Weiss said with a raised eyebrow.
Oscar went to the window and explained:
"Ozpin told me everything I need to know about this place. Right now we're in the Red Desert, the most inhospitable place in all of Vacuo. In this place there's a war between different bandits that has been going on for years and not even the capital of Vacuo, with its soldiers, has ever been able to put an end to these conflicts. So, in short: yes, we're completely isolated from the world. The Red Desert is a world apart. It doesn't respect any morals and doesn't follow any rules."
"In other words, we have to be careful," Ruby concluded as she stood up.
"Exactly."
At that moment Yang and Blake entered the wagon.
"Good morning" said the first, stretching.
"But how did you sleep with this noise?" Ruby asked.
"It takes more than a few clangs to bother me."
"What about you, Blake? What superpower do you have?"
"Habit. In the White Fang I used to travel in worse and much noisier vehicles."
"You're two monsters," Weiss commented.
"Sure, sure" Yang took the girl's cake "and since you've been bad I'm going to eat your cake."
As Yang brought the cake close to her mouth, a bullet hit it, causing it to burst. The girls turned and saw an armored car outside the window. On the roof of the vehicle there was a guy with a welding mask and a tattooed body; he screamed like crazy:
"Welcome to the Red Desert, fuckers!"
The guy fired his gun twice more and the girls took cover.
"That asshole just ruined my breakfast!" Yang exclaimed angrily.
"It was my breakfast!" Weiss replied indignantly.
"Doesn't matter right now!"
Yang got up and, loading her gloves, opened the door of the train and threw herself on the car. Blake jumped onto the roof of the train to shoot the vehicle's wheels while Yang punched the gunman.
"This is for my breakfast!" Yang knocked the raider out of action and jumped over to Blake.
The car, with its flat wheels, stopped and the girls could breathe a sigh of relief. However, the moment of joy was consumed in an instant. The figure of a wolf with golden fur appeared on the horizon. This beast was bigger than the train. The animal wore sharp armor and was saddled; on the saddle was a female figure with long silver hair and jade eyes. The woman took out a rifle to which a bayonet was attached and, on the back of the wolf, she attacked the wagons.
Ruby reached Yang and Blake and asked her sister:
"What the hell is that?!"
"It's definitely not an apartment dog," Yang replied.
"That's my nightmare ..." Blake said, lowering her ears.
"Do you think it's time to be a cat?!" Weiss exclaimed, summoning the knight to attack the wolf.
The warrior's sword was destroyed by the fangs of the beast. In an instant, Weiss's evocation was shattered. Shortly thereafter, three more cars, similar to the one before, arrived. Blake asked worriedly:
"Do you think those are friends of the dog?"
"I doubt," Ruby said, preparing to shoot the woman riding the beast.
The wolf bit the steel of a vehicle and split it in two with frightening ferocity. The woman shot the raiders who were attacking her, she killed seven without any difficulty. Within minutes, the woman broke free from the encirclement and resumed chasing the train.
Ruby, with the sniper rifle, aimed the paws of the wolf and exclaimed, turning to Weiss:
"Ice Flower!"
Bullets of ice blocked the legs of the huge beast and threw the woman onto the hot sand.
"Hit and sunk," Ruby said proudly.
"Wait a minute ..." Blake caught the attention of the rest of the team "there's something wrong."
The wolf's fur took on a granular shape. In the blink of an eye, the animal obtained the same appearance as the sand and, after emitting a frightening howl, made a giant leap towards the train, leaving behind a trail of sand.
The girls, shocked, immediately understood that it would be useless to stop it, so they took Oscar and abandoned the train.
The train, as expected, was destroyed by the beast.
The wolf returned to its original appearance and joined its mistress, who returned to the saddle.
"That's no good. I guess we'll have to fight," Yang said preparing for the worst.
"Oscar, do you know what animal is that?" Ruby asked.
"I, um…" Ozpin surfaced. "It's a yellow wolf. It's a rather common animal in Vacuo. It is said to be one of the most dangerous animals in Remnant."
"Do you know how to kill it?" Weiss asked.
"Mm ... more or less."
"So that's a 'no'?"
"That's right, that's a 'no'."
"We're screwed," Yang commented.
Suddenly another vehicle made its appearance. Unlike the others, this one had a banner on the roof; on the black fabric there was the emblem of a fist clutching a moon. The armored vehicle moved in front of the girls.
"And who the hell are these guys?" Yang asked nervously.
A stocky man with black hair and dark blue eyes stepped out of the vehicle. His lower jaw was robotic. Two twin girls came out with him, pale as snow; both were short and fairly thin; their hair and eyes were scarlet.
The huge wolf suddenly stopped and the woman in the saddle exclaimed:
"Disappear! This is the hunting ground of the Sand Wolves!"
"It doesn't seem to me, miss" the man replied kindly. "In fact this territory belongs to the Shadow Heralds. You see?" He pointed to a mountain formation behind him. "That is the Eclipse Gorge. You're exactly five miles from my city. So, yes ... you're in our territory, crumb."
"What did you call me?!" She fired a shot that missed the man's head.
He had not moved and remained calm. One of the twins, the one with bobbed hair, was ready to attack but the man soothed her:
"It's not worth it, Vici."
"But we can't let that bitch behave as she pleases in our territory!"
"I know, but killing her won't solve anything." He turned to the woman. "Listen to me, crumb-"
"My name is Shanna, presumptuous Beggar King!"
"You better respect him!" Vici exclaimed angrily. "Otherwise you'll regret it, you filthy whore!"
"Juno will know about this insult," Shanna exclaimed. "And then Shadeshift will fall into the hands of the Sand Wolves!"
"Don't make promises you can't keep," the man said with a wink.
Shanna, after spitting in the man's direction, withdrew.
Oscar, then, took advantage of the situation of relative calm to get closer to the man.
"Are you sure of what you're doing?" Ruby asked.
"Quite."
The girls then followed Oscar. As the five approached the Shadow Heralds vehicle, Vici immediately unsheathed two revolvers and exclaimed:
"Stop there, you! Who are you? Which group do you belong to?"
"I'm Oscar Pine. With me are Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee."
"Weiss ... Schnee ...?"
The man with the steel jaw turned, arching his eyebrows.
"A Schnee in Vacuo? A Schnee without bodyguards?"
"I'm not that kind of Schnee" Weiss said crossly.
"And what kind of Schnee are you, miss?" the man asked.
"A good one."
He laughed, "Did you hear this brat? Young people today are putting on airs, huh?"
"Hey, moderate the tones!" Yang exclaimed furiously.
"Shut up, busty blonde!" Vici replied.
"Please," Oscar said in a reconciling tone "we don't want to fight. We're here because we want to reach the capital."
"Were you on that train?" the man asked.
"Yes, we were."
"And why on earth would you want to go to the City of Vacuo? Are you a collector of grains of sand or do you simply like the smell of poverty?"
"The girls with me are Huntresses, they have a license."
"Really?" he said incredulously. "Let me see."
Oscar motioned for Ruby to show her credentials. When the man read the document he widened his eyes. He raised his head and, turning to the girls, asked:
"It says here that James Ironwood activated the license for you. Do you know him?"
The girls exchanged worried looks. None of them knew how to answer that question. There was a tension that Oscar broke by replying directly:
"Yes. He's … er … our friend."
The man sighed. He returned the license to the girl and said:
"Maybe we can really trust you, we'll see." He paused briefly. "Since you've been kind enough to reveal your identities to me, it seems fair to me to do the same. They are the two deputy chiefs of the Shadow Heralds." He walked over to the girl who had just sheathed the revolvers. "Her name is Vici Longriver." Then he placed a hand on the shoulder of the other girl who had long, straight hair. "While she's Vidi Longriver."
"And you are …?" Ruby asked.
"I am the chief of the Shadow Heralds: Victor Ironwood."