I'm really sorry this fell by the wayside of things. I have started and stopped so many times in trying to write this chapter for a load of reasons: writer's block, shit hitting the fan in my personal and professional life, and trying to deal with the fallout of the aforementioned shit.
All in all, I am having emotional blockage issues I am trying to work through (including have multiple mental and emotional breakdowns that it hurts). Leaving me tired and fighting to write. Anyway here is my attempt at an update.
New Divide
You are lost.
Hope is gone. But you must go on.
And do the next right thing
-Princess Anna 'Frozen 2'
Sun sits on the porch overlooking the view. He hears the laughter coming from within the living room curtsy of Mrs. Belladonna. He wishes he could enjoy the view better, share in his teammates' laughter, but the weeks he had spent in Menagerie were now catching up with him. The stress, the heartache, the feeling of slight hopelessness. It's all starting to be too much to handle. He runs both hands through his hair in frustration.
It was contradictory to his personality. He prided himself of being fun-loving and mischievous. Sure he had a couple of run ins with the law; notably in Vale: stowing away on a ship, thanking the crew for the ride during his escape, throwing a banana peel in a detective's face, and stealing a few apples. Gods it seemed like a lifetime ago, he reminisces relooking at the view, longing for those simpler days.
All this madness. He had no business of being here. His team had no business being here, hell if it wasn't for him, they wouldn't be here to begin with, "Stupid White Fang. Stupid Ruby." He mutters. Not that he wasn't thankful. He really was, and yet if it wasn't for being a faunus and falsely accused of being part of the 'holier than thou' terrorist group, he and his team wouldn't be in this predicament.
After the discovery of Sienna Khan's death, the faction of the White Fang in Menagerie had chosen to follow Adam Taurus. Along with that, Fennec and Corsac had been excelling at finding new recruits to join in the brainwashing cult as well. Going so far as to drown Ghira Belladonna's call for peace and unity with a protest that ended in near violence with the each side claiming their differences: one to take out the humans and the other for wanting to denounce and end the Fang.
He wondered what the purpose was for Ruby sending them here or why him in general? He knew she had to go to her team, being the good team leader she was. What could she possibly had seen in him that would make him even remotely qualified to talk to these people or to help gather an army? In fact he was so lost in his thoughts, he nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." The deep voice of Ghira said pulling his hand back, warily watching the young man.
"Who me? I don't startle easily…if at all." Sun says with a hesitant laugh. He then frowns as the elder faunus stares sternly at him in a challenging manner, "Ok fine you startled me."
"I don't like you." Ghira said bluntly as he joins the young man at the railing overlooking his kingdom, "However it is…refreshing…to see you young men try so hard in what is a more than volatile social and political uprising."
Sun looks at the chieftain and then back out into the view of the island, "They are good guys. They do not see human or faunus. All they see is someone's humanity and judge those based on merit, not race." Then in a softer tone he adds, "For that I am thankful."
Ghira nods, "So what are you doing out here?"
"Oddly enough, I am not in a very social mood."
"I see." There was a moment of silence that passed between them, "You know this is not going to happen overnight right?"
Sun sighs, "We've been here for weeks."
"And you had hoped that we would have made progress in a culture that had resentment built up over generations?"
Looking abashed he rubbed the back of his head, "Something like that. I mean based on the video of Beacon alone, you would think they wouldn't want any part of the White Fang."
"And the part of you and your team's unlawful arrest didn't make things any easier for them as well." Ghira pointed out delicately.
Sun groaned and rested his head on his hands, "Don't remind me. That is what got us here in the first place."
Ghira looked at him with some pity, before putting on a more serious expression, "True and that is what matters. You are trying to stop a repeat of history, are you not?"
The monkey faunus straightened and turned around, choosing to lean against the banister with his arms crossed, "Trying and failing fantastically. If you don't mind me asking, why are you not inside?"
There was another round of laughter which makes Ghira groan and rub his forehead before he took to leaning on the banister, "That is why. I am trying to concentrate, but that wrack-it is making it rather difficult." He turns around now and looks to where Sun is facing, the bright lights of his mansion bathing it in warmth and welcoming, just like it used to when his daughter was still home with them, "I do enjoy seeing Kali entraining again, but-"
"You were trying to write a new speech?" Sun asks pointing to the rolled sheet of paper in the older faunus's pocket of his vest.
"Yes, I was." He pulls it out and Sun watches as he frowns darkly as his eyes fly over the words before the paper is crushed into a ball with annoyance.
Sun shakes his head, "Looks like I am not the only one with troubling thoughts tonight."
"Shut up."
"What? It's the truth, it seems. I mean I am fighting a multi-generational culture that festered resentment, and you are equally trying to find the words to express the reason why we need to go back to the original foundations on why you created this radical group in the first place."
Suddenly Sun found himself pushed against the banister and his heart leap into his throat as he felt himself teetering backwards, "Now see here, the group was based on protesting peacefully. I never intended for it to become the radicalized monstrosity it became. That was all on Sienna Khan."
"Ok. Ok easy. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that comment to come out the way it did." Piercing yellow eyes stared darkly at him, and slowly Sun felt himself being pulled away from the edge as the chieftain let go of him.
"No, I'm sorry. I suppose I am partially to blame. Once I accepted the role of chieftain, I was forced to stepdown as the leader of the White Fang. Perhaps if I stayed-"
"Then this could be a hell of a lot worse. Imagine someone like Sienna as chief of this place?"
Ghira snorted and shook his head, "Dear gods that would be terrible." They both shared a dark chuckle at the thought.
"Well isn't this nice. You two are bonding." The two men were startled as the backdoor was open and Kali was smiling warmly at them, just as Ghira was about to protest her words, she looks at Sun, "Your team is looking for you. They have a few ideas they wanted to share with you."
"Thanks Mrs. B." He says smiling and starts making his way towards the door, before looking back at Ghira. Even though their talk was short and nothing was really resolved on the problem at hand, he did feel a bit better, because after all, things could be worse, "Thanks Mr. B."
He watches the monkey faunus go inside, his expression less than amused, "I don't like him."
"Oh dear, you don't mean that." Kali says lightly, joining her husband's side, "You don't want to admit he is growing on you."
"He is not." Ghira huffs, looking back out towards the view of his kingdom; but then reluctantly he says, "I do…appreciate…the situation he is in and the effort he is putting in to make this right."
She sighs, "It'll take time, but we will get there. After all we do have a lot to lose if this fails."
Thoughts of their daughter crosses their minds, "I hope she is ok." Ghira says, "All we have is the word from the kid and this Ruby Rose."
"All we have is hope." Kali answers softly with a whimsical look in her eye. Together the pair went back inside, completely unaware of the silhouette against the shattered moon with seemingly glowing grey eyes.
-Snoopykid-
The silence had been unnerving to say the least. Ruby gave them a very detailed report on everything from her timeline that occurred during the first battle of Haven; and while the mini feeling of relief that they had all be reunited and back together pooled in their core, the heavier feeling was foreboding.
Once Ruby had been done with her side of things, Qrow interjected and told them his. He mentioned his missions and his run in with the receptionist in Lionheart's office, and of course the allies he had failed to obtain for the mission. After all this was taken into account, it was decided that nothing more was going to be planned for the night; that it was best to start fresh in the morning.
JNPR, Oscar, and Qrow all said good night, and it was only RWBY that remained in the room to finish the clean-up from the dinner and light snack. Ruby was silent through most of the cleaning, with her team watching her closely. It was clear as any that the news of the failed allies did not come as a surprise, almost like she had been expecting this; however the thing with the receptionist bothered her greatly, "What's with the face?" Yang eventually asks after exchanging looks with Blake and Weiss when Ruby's face darkened considerably.
"This thing with the receptionist that Qrow mentioned." Ruby said darkly as she finished washing the last dish and handing it to Weiss to dry. Ruby drained out the sink, and as the water was going down the drain, she turns with her arms crossed and continued to glare at the floor, "I do not like the implications she presents."
"Could it be you're being too paranoid?" Blake asked skeptically. Seeing Ruby snap her death glare right at her, she tried to hold her ground, the only thing betraying her unease were her ears as they folded down. Choosing her next words carefully, she said, "You have been trying hard to reconcile your past…our present. Perhaps this was something you overlooked or really isn't as big as a deal as you thought?"
Ruby eyed her a few more moments, before relenting. Pushing herself away from sink, she sighs, "It's not something I overlooked. I already explained this; once Jaune, Ren, Nora, and I caught up with Qrow, we went right to the headmaster's office and he was there. The school was vacant. It was that simple." She paced around the kitchen for a minute, pondering her next sentence, "And you are correct, this could be no big deal…however my gut is telling me that something is wrong."
"So what are you going to do?" Weiss asked slowly as she watched her leader.
Ruby paced some more and said, "I'm going to go gather intel." She quickly, yet silently went to their shared room with her team on her heels.
They watched as she dug through her bag and pulled out a black cloak, two small guns and two daggers, and a change of clothes with a makeup bag, "Wait sis." Yang said stopping Ruby from going into the bathroom, "How are you going to do that?"
"Easy. If you want to see the dirt, you look down right?" They nod slowly not really knowing where Ruby was going with this, "Well if you are looking for specific intelligence, you have to go to the right people. The City of Mistral has the keys to the knowledge we seek…if you know where to look." She moves passed Yang to get to the bathroom.
"And where are you looking exactly?" Blake asks not liking the implication.
Ruby gives them a once over. She internally debated on her two choices, but it was pointless, "Well get changed into something that doesn't stand out and I'll take you guys. Something that doesn't scream 'look at me, I'm a huntsman!' Especially you Weiss." Ruby states flippantly.
Weiss's eyes widen as she looks at herself, wondering what the hell Ruby was talking about, "Me?!"
"Yes you. Your attire screams the Schnee name and quite frankly I do not feel like getting into a ransom battle with people if they should want to hold you hostage."
"And why would they want to do that? Where are we going?" Yang asks as Ruby has entered the bathroom, just before the door closes.
"The underworld of Mistral." Ruby responds and finally she closes the door to get changed.
The other girls share looks with one another, unable to process what Ruby just said, "The underworld of Mistral?" Weiss questioned aloud, "Shouldn't we tell the others what is happening?"
"No!" Ruby called out, "Discretion is of great importance. Besides just the four of us is going to present suspicion enough."
The girls looked to one another and shrugged, opting to get their change on clothes ready when Ruby re-opened the door. They all gaped at her as she wore tight black pants that hugged her curves in the right areas, a black vest with a red blouse underneath; and most surprisingly, "Are those contacts?" Blake asked surprised, noticing the change of eye color.
"You wearing make up?!" Yang blurted out at the same time.
Even Weiss was surprised as her team leader strode passed her to place her other clothes in her bag, "You are donning on a black cloak…"
"Oh by the brothers I think we entered a parallel universe." Ruby joined in, her voice heavily laced in sarcasm as she stuffed her two small guns in hidden pockets of her black cloak, and the two daggers (one in a holder on her left hip and the other in her left boot). Then just to push it further, she looks at them, "Hey maybe if we click our heels together three times, we can go home. How's that sound?"
When no one responded, Ruby shook her head, "Ok enough with the gawking. The contacts are to hide my eye color, the make-up is to make me appear older since hello? Sixteen year old body. Black for being discreet, and obviously a part of that is not carrying around Crescent Rose."
"Never thought I'd see the day you are able to part with your 'Sweet Heart'." Yang comments.
"Who says I am parting with her?" Ruby asks offended, "I am merely giving her the night off."
"Oh of course Crescent Rose gets a day off. Why wouldn't she, since she works so hard." Weiss snarks back.
With a glare, Ruby states, "Ok fine. Stay here. I was going to go by myself anyway. Less to worry about and things to go wrong." She starts to head for the door, "I'll give you all five minutes. If you aren't down there, I am going to take it that you opted to stay in. No worries." The door closes leaving the girls standing in the middle of the room.
"Did we go too far?" Blake asks as she slowly gets a change of outfit together.
"Nah. I mean that was a little fun, besides she isn't going to leave us." Yang says as she too gathers her things, "She knows we are coming."
Weiss shakes her head as she tries to find something that doesn't scream 'Schnee', but turns up empty, "Can't believe I am asking this, but do you two have something I could maybe fit into?" Both Yang and Blake share a smile and look at the former heiress, who now is feeling regret in her life choices.