Remember: as per canon, the "Cinder in Mistral" scenes take place chronologically later than Team RWBY's scenes.
SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW
PLEASE CAMPAIGN FOR THE TROPE PAGE'S DELETION
-CHAPTER START-
Realm R38Y
"Salm is literally immortal" Yang summed up. "You all saw and heard it, right?"
Team RWBY were all glaring at Ozpin, who was on his knees, head down and tears falling from his eyes.
"I-"
"There was so much you hadn't told us!" Yang snapped, only to then visibly struggle to push her anger down. "…How could you think that was okay?"
'…She's learned the wrong lesson from her loss to Adam Taurus' Ozpin – ever the teacher, despite his current mood – realized. 'Trying not to let herself express or even feel anger… If she keeps this up, one day it will explode free and consume her and everyone too close…'
"Professor… Ozma…" Ruby spoke up. "What is your plan to defeat Salem?"
"…The Keyblades, and the Cures" the old spirit admitted. "They bear ancient Light magic that is beyond anything this world has seen since the Brothers still dwelled upon it, maybe not even then. Surely, amongst the powers of the various Cures, or the Keyblades, the First Keyblade or the χ-Blade, or the literal deities the Dimensional Defense Force counts as allies… There is a force that can overcome the Brother Gods' curses and… put an end to the monster Salem has become."
"…It's been less than a year since the DDF even made contact with Remnant" Blake said. "What… was your plan before that?"
"I… didn't have one…"
Suddenly, Qrow grabbed Ozcar by the collar, snarling and lifting him up.
"No-one wanted me…" he growled. "I was cursed… I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world… I thought I was finally doing some good…"
"But, you are!" Ozpin implored. "You've helped buy so much time, saved so many lives! Helped raise two of the children who might finally be able to bring this tale to its end!"
"…No. No matter what kind of fancy powers the people in the DDF have… there's no way they can overcome the curses of a pair of Gods… My sister was right the first time. Salem can't be stopped. Meeting you was the worst luck of my life…"
Ozpin looked horribly hurt and broken. "Maybe you're right…"
Then, his eyes flashed, and Oscar regained control, dropping from Qrow's grip.
"He's gone…" Oscar said. "I can't see or hear or feel him anymore, and I think he can't see or hear anything I do anymore, either. He's locked himself deep in my head… Our head? Damn it! I hate this! I want it to stop!"
"He just left us?" Weiss said with disbelieving anger.
"What are we gonna do now?!" Blake was badly shaken. "Everything was for nothing?!"
"Enough!-!" Maria suddenly roared. "We need to get a move on. It'll be dark before we know it, and everyone one of you is spewing negativity! There's a trail over there; trails usually lead somewhere. I understand that you kids are upset. Honestly, I'm still coming to terms with the fact that this is humanity's second time around. But if we don't get moving, we'll die. And I'll be damned if I've lived this long just to die out here in the cold!"
"Look, I get da mood" Rattrap chimed in. "Everythin' looks like it's all slagged. But in case ya forgot, Branwen, we got gods on our side, too. The Kais, the Alicorns, dat Arceus guy… One of 'em's gotta be able to pull somethin' outta their skidplate that could fix this ugly mess. Yeah, Oz ain't got no idea what ta do, but he ain't the only one workin' on this issue no more! So try to pull yaself together, aight?"
"…Have gods fix what gods broke…" Qrow said. "I guess that's the best chance we've got now."
"As soon as we get back to a working DDF comm network connection," Link (back in his child form) said, "we'll contact the people who can let the DDF's allied deities know what's going on, and see if they can help us clean up this mess. For now, let's just focus on not freezing to death."
"They're right" Ruby said. "Come on, gang."
Yang helped Maria up onto her bike, walking it with her aboard. Link's Ponyta soon let herself out and scooped the little boy up onto her back, transporting him and keeping him warm; everyone else soon clustered around the fire-horse to similarly take advantage of the warmth she was giving off.
"I'm just going to be another of his lives…" Oscar lamented. "…I'd rather die, at someone's hand or my own, than become a part of him. …Mr. Branwen, when the time comes, will you…"
Qrow looked sadly down at the 'doomed' boy. "…Sure thing, kid."
"We don't have to go that far!" Ruby interjected. "Oscar, you're your own person!"
"Not for long…"
-Break-
An airship approached Evernight Castle, setting down on a dock hewn from stone. Hazel, Mercury, Emerald, Close, and Adam stepped out. Proceeding forward, they saw Tyrian leaning against the entrance at the bottom of the stairs, his scorpion tail now bearing a spiked metal tip on the end.
He laughed. "Welcome back, welcome back! I do hope you missed us as much as we missed you."
Emerald and Mercury glared at him.
"Let's go…" Hazel's huge hands gently urged the two teens forward.
"Speaking of which," Tyrian said, "where is our Fall Maiden?"
Emerald froze in her tracks, prompting a mad little giggle from Tyrian.
"Emerald, come on…" Mercury tried to pull her along.
"Don't tell me something happened to her?" Tyrian said mockingly.
Snarling, Emerald drew her weapons. "I will cut off more than just your tail."
Tyrian chuckled, slowly approaching her. "Careful, little girl. Cinder isn't here to protect you anymore."
He got up right in her face, deliberately brushing his cheek against the edge of one of her blades, drawing a shallow cut. As she leaned away with a disturbed expression, Hazel let out a warning growl, while Mercury and even Adam looked ready to step in.
"Back off, Tyrian…" Hazel rumbled.
"Oh, don't misunderstand! I am in mourning just as you all. Because if appears you've failed our Queen, and that is a tragedy…"
A moment later, Tyrian burst into his usual maniacal laughter, while everyone else hurried inside.
-Break-
In the meeting room, the returning team knelt before their leaders, who looked none too pleased.
"Could someone please explain to us…" Dyspear began "just how you failed so spectacularly?"
Hazel nodded. "The Faunus Militia split our forces-"
"Stop" Salem commanded. "Let me rephrase the question: Who is responsible for your defeat?"
Hazel stood, taking a deep breath. "I take full responsibility."
In a sudden burst of moment, Salem instantly and effortlessly flipped the several-hundred-pound table to the side, knocking Tyrian off his chair and nearly crushing Quickstrike. Pete and Watts hastily backed away.
"But that wouldn't be fair, now would it?" Salem snarled, stalking forward. "We all know who's truly to blame…"
"I don't-"
Hazel was cut off as Salem summoned multiple Grimm arms from a black glyph on the floor, reaching up to restrain and strangle him.
"Let's try again" Maleficent said. "Whose decision was it to deviate from the original, perfectly workable plan without our approval? …Emerald, dear, would you mind telling us who?"
Shaking with terror under the sorceresses' gazes, Emerald whimpered. "I-It was Cinder! S-She altered the plan!"
"That's right…" Salem placed a faux-comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "I want you to understand that failure. I want you to understand why Cinder must be left to toil in her isolation until she redeems herself."
"W-Wait" Pete spoke up, "She's still alive? How can you even tell? Or is it just a gut feelin'?"
"I can sense her through her Grimm prosthetic limb. She is weak, but recovering." Slowly, she walked back to the other side of the room. "It is important not to lose sight of what drives us: Love… Justice… Reverence… But, the moment you put your desires before my own…" She looked back at them, her eyes glowing. "They will be lost to you."
The Grimm arms were dispelled, allowing Hazel to catch his breath.
"And so, we must press on. Adam, you will undergo training with Close and Tyrian to improve your close-combat skills; Qrow will not have such an easy time dealing with you next time. And dear Maleficent has most graciously offered to teach me some new spells to expand my repertoire, in case I should take to the field in the future. Now, the Sword of Destruction under Shade Academy-"
"Ma'am" Hazel interrupted. "I have… more to report. Qrow and the children are taking the Lamp to Atlas."
Tyrian chuckled. "Not if I can help it."
"And they're being led… by Ozpin."
Everyone went silent, looking cautiously at Salem, even as the windows began to rattle.
"So soon?" Tyrian said, astonished.
Watts was grim. "He's the only man with a chance of getting through to Ironwood. If that happens…"
Suddenly, he stopped as the windows started to crack, black smoke emanating from an utterly still Salem.
"Leave…" she commanded with a low, bestial snarl.
"Your Grace, I can-"
Salem's deadly glare made Tyrian shut up instantly. Meanwhile, the others were all making distance.
"I believe it's time to leave, children" an unnerved Megatron guided Mercury and Adam toward the door, while Hazel pushed Emerald along.
As everyone hastily fled the room, the doors shutting behind them, Salem and her surroundings seemed to calm and go still. …And then, she let out a demonic screaming roar of fury, a wave of Darkness shattering every window as the entire castle trembled.
-Break-
The downtrodden group pushed on through the snow. The snow was starting to pick up, decreasing visibility, making the trail harder to follow.
"Fi…" Link called the Master Sword's spirit out. "How far can you travel from me? Far enough to scout ahead for any shelter we can use?"
The sword-spirit nodded. "I can try, master. One moment."
The blue woman zipped off ahead, and several seconds later she returned.
"There is a farm close ahead" she reported. "It appears intact. There are no signs of life."
Picking up the pace, the gang soon came upon the large farm, a front gate swinging in the wind with loud creaks. A large sign read 'BRUNSWICK FARMS'.
"Well, at least one good thing happened today" Blake remarked dryly.
"Mrrow" her Liepard looked up at her.
"…Two good things."
"It looks abandoned" Weiss said.
"Better than staying out here" Ruby replied.
"Come on" Qrow sighed. "I think we could all use some rest."
Everyone proceeded through the gates, closing the gate behind them as the snow picked up even more.
-Break-
Once again, Cinder met with Lil' Miss Malachite.
"Do you have my information?" she asked.
"Of course I do, darling" Malachite replied. "Lil' Miss always delivers. Although, I can't promise you'll be pleased. Word is they were seen boarding the Argus Limited a few weeks back. While that isn't exactly far from here, Argus is rarely a destination for folks. Chances are they'll be goin' straight to-"
"Atlas."
As Cinder turned and began to walk away, Malachite smiled.
"Y'know, you turned out to be quite the interesting customer… Cinder."
Cinder stopped cold, turning to face Malachite again.
"It's not often a single client brings me double the business…"
Hearing the creak of wood from the walkway above, Cinder looked up, seeing someone she thought was dead during Beacon's fall – a very petite young woman (or perhaps teen girl; it was hard to tell) wearing a white, pink, & brown outfit, with long hair that was pink on the right and brown on the left, and heterochromatic eyes to match, glaring down at the disbelieving Cinder.
"Neo…?"
Malachite turned to her henchman. "Maybe put away the good glasses…"
Neo leapt down, landing a strike that Cinder blocked, only for her form to shatter like glass, allowing the real Neo to knock Cinder back from another direction. Neo pressed her attack, with Cinder backpedaling as she dodged or blocked until she was pushed back against Malachite's table. Growling, she started fighting back, countering Neo's attacks and pushing the tiny terror onto the defensive for a moment. The fight moved all around the restaurant's main hall, neither of them gaining the upper hand for too long. Neo launched Cinder up to the ceiling, but Cinder then pushed off it and came down at Neo with a flaming fist that she barely dodged, the whole structure trembling as the blow shattered a table she'd just been standing on.
"That's enough, ladies!" Malachite called out, bringing the fight to a pause. "I love dinner and a show, but it's time to take it outside."
…
Cinder came crashing through a front window into the dark, foggy, empty street outside the diner. Neo leapt out after her, only to shatter upon landing.
"Hmph, nice trick…" Cinder stood, on guard as she looked & listened. "You've gotten stronger… So have I."
Conjuring a fireball, she launched it behind herself, and it crashed against Neo's Aura-laced umbrella-shield. Now, Neo's real appearance was revealed – rips & tears in her clothes, a morose look on her face, eyeshadow that wasn't 100% effective at hiding the bags under her eyes, and Roman Torchwick's hat atop her head. She glared at Cinder.
"I don't have time for your misplaced blame, girl" Cinder scoffed. "I didn't kill your boss. If you want revenge, take it up with 'Little Red'."
Neo charged forward, and Cinder conjured a pair of red-hot scimitars, using them to block and parry Neo's attacks.
"You're not the only one with a grudge against Ruby!" Cinder shouted as she fought back.
Then, one of Neo's blows hit Cinder in the face, and Cinder finally lost her temper. Her organic eye lit up with Maiden-fire as a torrent of wind erupted all around her, blowing Neo back. Her right hand glowed with fire as she floated off the ground in the center of the miniature whirlwind, and Neo backed away with an expression of naked fear on her face.
"Listen to me!" Cinder demanded. "We both want that girl dead. So quit wasting your time fighting me and let's discuss how we kill her together."
Neo stood down, giving a slightly shaky nod, and Cinder sighed as she floated back down.
"Okay, then… Let's talk."
With an annoyed glare, Neo silently pointed to her own throat.
"…Right."
-Break-
As the gang moved further into the farm, a snowstorm descended.
"I don't get it" Ruby sighed. "The empty towns I've passed through were all damaged or unfinished. But this place looks… fine."
"Maybe everyone left in a hurry" Weiss suggested. "Before things took a turn?"
Soon, they reached the front porch of a two-story house. Qrow tried to open the door, finding it locked; Rattrap was able to pick the lock quickly enough, however, and everybody filed inside, weapons drawn. Blake and Oscar shut the door and blocked it with a dresser, just to be safe.
"I saw a chimney from the outside" Blake said. "Maybe we could get a fire going?"
"Please" Weiss replied emphatically. "I'll look for some blankets."
"Yang, go with her" Qrow said.
As everyone looked around, Ruby lingered for a moment, feeling an ill omen for some reason.
"Looks like a study" Oscar announced as he opened a door. "Or a library, maybe?"
Ruby's attention was drawn to a group of family photos on the wall – the Brunswicks.
"What do you think?" Blake asked as she came over, too.
"Something feels wrong" Ruby replied.
"Let's look for some-"
Suddenly, Weiss' terrified scream echoed through the house from upstairs. Immediately everyone bolted up the stairs, finding her collapsed down on her knees in the doorway of a bedroom.
"…Aw, jeez…" Rattrap murmured, optics wide.
And in the bed, tucked all snug under the covers, was a pair of desiccated, decomposing corpses.
-Break-
Weiss huddled in front of fire, still trembling from shock after what she saw; her Glaceon stayed by her side as much as she could bear being so close to an open flame. The door opened & shut as Qrow returned, brushing snow off his cape.
"It's the same in every house" he reported. "Bodies. Men, women, old folks, kids… It's like the whole estate just… went to sleep and never woke up."
"Then we're not staying here, right?" Weiss asked.
He walked over to the fireplace, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Afraid we don't have a choice, snowflake. The storm outside's getting worse. We'd freeze to death before we made it anywhere."
"Welp," Maria walked over to a bookshelf, "might as well get comfortable."
"Fat chance of that…" Yang replied.
"Okay then," Ruby said, "let's do something. If this place wasn't abandoned, it might still have supplies we could use."
"Hey, yeah" Oscar replied. "Maybe even a car."
Rattrap nodded. "Qrow, Absol, & I will do another sweep of the grounds. Nobody goes anywhere alone while we're here, got it?"
"Yang and I can search the other buildings for vehicles" Blake offered.
"If it'll get me out of the creepy corpse house faster, then sure" Yang replied.
As the two groups left, Ruby turned to see Weiss looking downcast at the living room doorway.
"Food always makes me feel better" Ruby said. "Just saying…"
"Right…"
With that, Maria, Oscar, & Link were left in the study.
"I'll tell you boys what" the old woman said. "You keep that fire fed…" she pulled out a book with an 'I' on the cover. "And I'll find us a story to read before bed."
-Break-
Blake, Yang, and their Pokémon made their way through the snowstorm to a nearby shed; inside, they found rows of shelves full of supplies, along with a tractor.
"Something tells me that's not street-legal" Blake quipped.
"What do you think happened here?" Yang asked as they explored the shed.
"There's that well in the square. Maybe water contamination?"
"Yeah, maybe…" She stopped, a hand to her head.
Blake looked concerned. "You okay?"
"Yeah… I mean, no. But… I don't know. I'm just… tired."
"Yeah…"
Next to a window, Yang spotted a flatbed trailer; that could be useful. …And, outside, for a split-second, she saw Adam Taurus unsheathing his blade. Gasping, she stumbled back.
"What is it?" Blake went on guard.
"I…" she looked again; there was nobody. "I was just seeing things. I'm sorry. I still get flashes from that night. …Do you think Adam's still out there?"
"I don't know" Blake shook her head. "The 'Bloody Fang' has lost almost all of its members. Likely, he went with the others to wherever Salem is based. He'll probably get extra training to make him even more dangerous… But! We've gotten training, too. And we've got Pokémon helping us! Plus, wasn't Might Guy starting on teaching you how to unlock Inner Gates?"
"…Yeah" Yang admitted. "I can open two so far."
Blake nodded. "That should let you break even with him, at least. And with me, and Liepard, and Tyrogue, and Torchic all helping… Adam's good, but I don't think he can take all of us at once. We just have to keep up with our training, to keep pace with his. And the next time he picks a fight with us… we'll be ready. We'll watch out for each other."
Tyrogue and Torchic nodded in agreement, giving their Trainer an encouraging look. Soon, the ghost of a smile formed on Yang's face.
"…Right. We can hook the trailer up tomorrow; let's head back before the storm gets even worse."
-Break-
Exploring another room, Ruby used her scroll's flashlight to look around, finding bottles of alcohol on the shelves. Weiss conjured a few small flames, lighting the room's candles, revealing even more booze and a bar.
"…On second thought," Ruby said, "maybe we should keep this room closed."
"Huh?" Weiss looked puzzled.
"I'm just… not sure how well my uncle's taking all of this."
"Oh."
There was an awkward pause.
"Come on, we'll never get to Atlas on an empty stomach!"
She walked in, but Weiss lingered, her gaze downward. Ruby opened another door, hunting for food.
"Ruby? …Are we really still going to Atlas?"
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"I mean…you heard what Jinn said. If there's no way to kill Salem, then what's the point in all this?"
Ruby turned, looking concerned. "Weiss, you can't be series. At the very least, we've gotta keep her from getting the Relic, and Atlas' Vault is our best option for that."
Weiss shook her head. "Sorry, I-I don't know what I'm saying. I'm just really tired and I really, really hate this place. …Anything in there?"
Ruby used her light to look around, but…
"More alcohol…" she sighed. "At least we'll never have problems starting a fire."
"What's that?" Weiss pointed to a large, metal cellar door in the ground, the handles chained together. "A wine cellar? Just great…"
Looking around, Ruby let out a little gasp and rushed over to a shelf.
"What?" Weiss went on alert. "What is it?"
"Fooood!" Ruby held out a can of "Three Bros. Beans: Shrimp-Flavored, Extra Sodium".
"Canned food?" Weiss asked, incredulous.
"Oh trust me, you put enough salt on anything, and it will taste just fine."
"Well… I guess it's better than nothing." Weiss started helping Ruby grab more cans of food. "But I still seriously hate this place…"
The two girls left the room. Behind them, in the empty room, the cellar door opened slightly, then shut again with a soft bang…
-Break-
Night fell. Maria continued reading through the numbered books she'd found, though at the moment she'd paused to let Rattrap carefully work on her optics. Soon, the Maximal stepped back, and Maria blinked her artificial eyelids a few times.
"Dat oughtta hold for now" he told her. "Sorry I don't got the gear needed to give ya full-color vision, but dey at least won't be glitchin' out on ya now. And 'ey, once we're back in civilization, got a link to the DDF, maybe we can get ya an upgrade – maybe even synthetic eyes that'll actually fit in yer eye sockets."
Maria chuckled. "I'll look forward to it." She turned her focus back to the book in her lap, with a 'III' on the front cover.
"Storm's cleared up for now" Qrow announced, looking out the window. "We should be able to leave by morning."
"That's good" Ruby remarked.
"No… I don't have a good feeling about this place, especially with me around…"
She noticed the opened wine bottle at his feet. "Are you… okay?"
He scoffed. "Sure" He took a drink. "Tell everyone to get some sleep. I'll wake you guys up just before sunrise."
With a sigh, Ruby turned and walked away. Meanwhile, Maria had gotten back to the third book in the series.
"It's a diary?" Oscar asked.
Maria nodded. "The head of this household – Bartleby. Apparently, he and several other families founded this little settlement to try and live on their own. It sounds like it worked, at least for a spell."
"Grimm?" Link guessed.
"Just one of many hardships" she replied. "Slowed down their farming, made everything harder… It's a shame, really. He seemed like quite the ambitious fellow, always thinking of new schemes to overcome the odds."
"Hey, guys" Ruby came in. "Qrow said we should get some sleep. We're gonna head out early tomorrow."
"Thank goodness…" Blake sighed as she got up off the couch.
"Hmph" Maria hopped down. "The last thing you'll catch me doing is letting some kid tell me what to do." She sat on an armchair, turning the nearby lamp on, and resumed reading.
-Break-
The next morning, as sunlight leaked through a gap in the curtains, everyone was still asleep in the living room. Suddenly, the empty wine bottle in Qrow's hand slipped out, falling to the floor with a clatter, waking Ruby with a start. After a few seconds to get her bearings and get to her feet, she walked over to the window and opened the curtains, drawing an annoyed grumble from the still-sleeping Weiss. Walking to the entrance hall, she picked up the empty bottle her sleeping uncle had dropped, spotting a couple more on the floor nearby.
"Uncle Qrow. C'mon, get up. We overslept."
"Leave me alone…" Qrow groaned, groggy, and shoved her away. After a moment, Ruby started trembling with anger, and she threw the empty bottle at the wall as hard as she could. The resulting thump and crashing shatter woke everyone up, weapons being reached for. Startled, Qrow soon saw Ruby standing before him, glaring with hands on her hips.
"…Oh, right" he murmured. "Sunrise."
Ruby sighed, hugging him. "You know you can talk to me about stuff. Yang, too."
He hugged her back. "Let's just get outta here."
-Break-
A bit later in the morning, everyone was outside as Weiss used her weapon to weld a metal ball to a makeshift trailer hitch attached to Yang's bike. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Qrow, Oscar, and most of the Pokémon all looked tired and lethargic, their pupils dilated, expressions of morose exhaustion on their faces; Maria, Rattrap, Link, Ruby, and Ruby's Scyther were a bit tired and listless, but were more alert and put-together than the others; and Qrow's Absol & Blake's Liepard, oddly, seemed totally fine, albeit on edge due to their Trainers' odd behavior…
"There" Weiss finished, pulling back.
"Can we just go back to bed?" Oscar asked.
"If we're all so tired," Blake said, "maybe we should make breakfast?"
"You wanna make it?"
"Not really…"
Ruby and Qrow pushed the flatbed trailer they'd found behind Yang's bike.
"You guys got the bike ready?" she asked Yang.
Yang simply gestured to the bike, too tired to speak.
"Well," Qrow said, "it's done now. So let's hook this thing up and-"
He rested his foot on the trailer's side, and the tire on the opposite side suddenly went flat, drawing a frustrated groan.
"Well," Maria remarked, "little Link did explain to me about your Semblance…"
Frustrated, Qrow stalked over to a nearby fence post and let himself sink down to the ground, sitting back against it. Yang followed suit.
"I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us to reach Atlas" she said.
Ruby sighed. "It's just a flat tire, guys. I'm sure there's a spare."
"It's not just that, it's everything. Storms, crashes, monsters… I'm so tired…"
"Me, too" Blake said. "It feels like we're always having to fight to get by."
"Yeah," Ruby replied, "but that's what we signed up for."
"We signed up to try to save the world," Oscar said, "not just… delay the inevitable."
"Last night, I…" Weiss spoke up. "I couldn't stop thinking: why are we even going to Atlas?"
"Weiss…" Ruby noticed everyone's troubled looks. "We have to."
"Why?" Yang got to her feet. "Ozpin hid the Relics behind giant doors under enormous schools, but… how long would it take Salem to find a lamp in the middle of nowhere?"
"What? The Grimm might-"
"They'd find it eventually, sure, but bury it or just throw it down a well, it would take years. It might not even happen in our lifetime. But we could be done with it now."
Taking the Relic of Knowledge from her belt, Ruby held it out and stared at it. She looked at her teammates, who all had dazed, exhausted expressions.
"I am really… tired…" she murmured, her pupils dilating as her eyes lost their light.
She held the Relic over the deep, dark well, but hesitated for a moment. Qrow's Absol began to approach quietly but quickly, understanding what kind of mistake this would be, but slowed as she saw Ruby starting to regain control and pull the lamp back. …And then, Ruby saw a pair of glowing red eyes deep down in the well, startling her and snapping her out of the depressive fugue but making her drop the Relic into the well.
"No! Nonono! I didn't mean to!"
"Ruby, it's okay" Weiss said in a quiet, flat voice.
"No! No, there's something down there! I saw Grimm eyes, looking right at me!"
She looked back down, but saw nothing.
"Hey, it's okay" Yang placed a heavy hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You just said you're tired. It's probably nothing. Now let's go."
Ruby slapped Yang's hand away. "What the hell is wrong with you?! We can't just leave! We have to go down there! We have to get the Lamp back! Oh Seasons, what was I thinking?!"
"All we have to do is fix the trailer" Qrow said tiredly. "Hey farm boy, check the shed for a spare."
"I am not leaving without the Lamp!-!" Ruby screamed.
Everyone stared at her, still in a daze.
Blake sighed. "I'll go down with you…"
"We'll go down together" Weiss amended.
"I'll come, too" Link got up from his seat.
Qrow let out a disgusted sigh. "Fine! Get the stupid lamp. Oscar, fix the stupid tire." He headed back into the house.
"And where are you going?" Maria asked him.
"Where do you think?" he shook his flask as emphasis.
The old woman sighed, resuming the reading of Bartleby's journals, Rattrap still beside her while Qrow's Absol joined them as well.
Down in the well, the quintet and their Pokémon advanced, mostly in a semi-lethargic daze, although Ruby, Link, Scyther, & Liepard were more alert. Ruby and Yang shone their flashlights, but there was no sign of the blue & gold relic, just a long, dark path with more tunnel openings along it.
"Maybe the current carried it away" Yang suggested.
Back above ground, as Oscar worked on replacing the trailer's tire, Rattrap and Maria kept pouring through Bartleby's journal, finding an… ominous passage. The Maximal sighed.
"Man, the atmosphere of this whole place seems to be sappin' everybody's energy" he said. "Da kids've never acted like this before, far as I know…"
"Learning everything about Ozma and Salem must have done a real number on them" Maria remarked.
"Yeah. Even da Pokémon are down in the dumps…"
"…Actually," Maria realized something, "two of them – Blake's cat-mon and Qrow's… whatever Absol is –" she gestured to the white Pokémon seated on her other side "don't really seem affected. If anything, they almost seem… confused by how the humans are acting."
They were quiet for a few moments. Then, Rattrap's optics slowly widened.
"Wait a cycle…" he murmured. "Absol and Liepard… They're Dark-types. Dark-type Pokémon are immune to a lotta psychic phenomena. …What if dis lethargic tiredness hittin' everyone ain't natural? But then, what could cause it?"
Down in the tunnels below, Team RWBY and Link kept sloshing through the waterway.
"Oh come on, where is it?" Ruby grumbled.
"Turn off your lights and just look for the glow?" Blake suggested.
"Okay…"
Nervously, Ruby turned off her light, with Blake following suit. She advanced forward, summoning her Keyblade.
Maria kept reading, finding the passage "The huntsman pointed them out to me the other day". Reading over her shoulder, Absol let out a soft whimper.
"There" Blake pointed ahead at a blue glow coming from a tunnel along the path. Ruby ran on ahead.
Maria turned the page… and she & Rattrap startled at the suddenly revealed page-filling illustration.
"…Oh, slag" she whispered in horror (borrowing a bit of her new friend's vocabulary). "…We have to get off this farm. Absol, get Qrow; show him the book! Rattrap, with me! We have to get those kids out of the tunnels now!"
Underground, Ruby reached the tunnel and, with a triumphant little smile, retrieved the Relic.
"Guys, I-"
She happened to look up past the Relic, and her face shifted into an expression of stunned horror. Bunched together right in front of her was a sizable pack of a strange and terrifying new Grimm – humanoid, emaciated, considerably taller than humans (giants like Hazel excepted) and with disproportionately long arms. The huge pack of Grimm stirred, lifting their heads to fixate their droopy-looking red eyes on her, reaching their long, clawed hands out at her while letting out wheezing moans…
Ruby's scream of terror was like a lightning bolt, shocking her comrades out of their stupor. They all drew weapons and ran forward, Link assuming his Adult Mode, and they found Ruby sprinting back their way with a look of pure fear on her face. Then, they caught sight of the group of hideous zombie-like Grimm slowly pursuing in her wake. Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose, firing rounds at one, but the shots seemed to just bounce off, the monster barely reacting. Embers from Yang's Torchic and Ice Shards from Weiss' Glaceon did nothing, either. Then, one of the zombie-Grimm let out a horrific ear-piercing scream, and the five young heroes & their partners (other than Liepard) found themselves struggling to stand.
"What is this…?" Yang gritted out.
"My weapon… feels so heavy…" Blake groaned.
Suddenly, a loud crack rang out as a shot from an M92 Mantis struck one of the zombie-Grimm in the head, though it failed to penetrate the monster's bony mask. The kids & mons turned to see Maria and Rattrap.
"Run!" the old woman commanded. "Now!"
The kids turned and ran, catching up with her. Rattrap hung back for a moment, pulling out his 'The Answer' and opening fire; the sheer force of the explosive rounds shoved the zombie-Grimm back for a moment, but their approach was barely slowed, and they took no damage.
"What the Pit are these things made of?!" he shouted in dismay, turning and running to catch up with the others.
Soon, the gang could see the daylight of the well entrance up ahead, but then another group of the zombie-Grimm appeared in their path, blocking their escape. Another will-draining scream rang out, making everyone but Liepard stumble and stagger, with the cat-mon yowling and trying to press the others on. Everyone kept hurrying through the maze of passages, but everywhere they went, more of the abominations were close by.
Finally, they reached and underground room. However, there was an even larger group of the monsters at one end of the room. They made a run for the other way, only for another scream to bring them to their knees.
"I can't… do this…" Yang panted. "I can't…"
Her Torchic and Tyrogue tried to get her back on her feet, even as they were succumbing to the effect as well. Maria tried to prop herself up on her cane, only to collapse again… and feel stairs.
"An exit… An exit!"
Looking up, Ruby noticed the stairs leading to a hatch on the ceiling. She crawled over toward Weiss.
"Come on!"
Then, she heard a weapon clatter to the floor behind her, turning to see Blake collapse to the ground, the zombie-Grimm inching their way closer. Blake's Liepard snarled and lunged at the approaching Grimm with Slashes and Sucker Punches, but they practically ignored him, and one of the beasts swung its long arm with deceptive speed, slamming the cat-Pokémon away.
"Blake! Get… Get up!"
"It's fine…" Blake murmured, monotone, her pupils dilated and eyes lightless.
Even more of the zombie-Grimm emerged from the room entrance. Blake's Liepard kept trying futilely to fight. Ruby's Scyther and Link struggled to stay on their feet, blades ready but arms shaking. Rattrap lifted his arm and fired rounds from his pistol, to virtually nil effect. Desperate, Ruby tried to crawl for Blake, who lay there still and silent. One of the zombie-Grimm reached its huge, skinny, disgusting clawed hand down towards her…
"BLAAAAKE!-!-!"
Ruby's scream was accompanied by a flashing pulse of silver light from her eyes, making the approaching Grimm groan and recoil in pain, backing away for a moment. Blake was snapped out of the Grimm-triggered stupor, and Ruby helped her up as everyone else stood as well. Weiss ran up the stairs and tried to open the doors, but they wouldn't budge.
"They're locked!"
"Out of my way!" Yang ran up the stairs. However, before she could blow the locks, the zombie-Grimm recovered and let out another will-draining scream, making everyone collapse.
"No… No…!"
As the Grimm inched closer, Maria crawled toward the prone Ruby.
"Ruby… What color are your eyes?"
"They're… silver…"
Maria let out an excited gasp. "You have a family? Friends?"
"…What?"
She looked up, seeing the Grim drawing closer, but then Maria laid her head back down and covered her ears.
"Don't think about them" the old Huntress told her. "Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them, the way they make you feel. Focus!"
Ruby closed her eyes, concentrating on the thoughts Maria told her to.
"Life… is beautiful. It is precious. And it must. Be. Protected."
Sitting up, Ruby opened her eyes, and they shone. A wave of silver light filled the room, disintegrating all of the Grimm in the room and removing their effect on everyone.
Meanwhile, above, as a drunk and groggy Qrow tried to fight off his Absol's insistent pleas for attention, the sudden flash of silver light burned through the fog in his mind, replaced by stunned recognition. He'd know that light anywhere. Turning to the dark storage room with a chained-up cellar door, where the light had come from, he then caught sight of Absol holding an open book in her mouth… and paled as he immediately recognized the extremely dangerous Grimm species drawn on the open page.
Putting two and two together, he ran for the cellar door, hacking the chains off with his blade. A second later, a blast of Yang's shotgun-gauntlets blew the doors open from the other side, and everyone piled out in a hurry; they could hear tons more of the zombie-Grimm approaching from deeper in the tunnels.
"We're back in the house?" Blake said, stunned.
"No time to gawk!" Marie said. "There's plenty more coming! We need to leave!"
"Apathies…" Qrow muttered in shock. "A damned horde of Apathies, under our feet the whole time… And I was too… too busy wallowing in self-pity and drinking myself stupid to notice, to protect you kids…"
"Mope later! Run now!" Rattrap snapped.
"Let's set this place alight!" Weiss shouted. "Maybe it'll slow them down!"
She started tossing bottles of alcohol around, spreading the flammable substance everywhere; Link and Qrow quickly helped. Then, Weiss cast some fire bolts, Link shot a couple Fire Arrows, and his Ponyta tossed Embers. As the flames took hold and began to spread quickly, the moaning Apathies began to emerge from the open cellar door, trying to crawl through the flames. That was enough to spook them into turning tail and running out of the house as fast as they could.
Outside, Oscar had finished replacing and filling the flatbed trailer's tire. Everyone who could fit piled on as Yang mounted her bike, started her up, and floored it; Link (back in child form) rode on his Ponyta, while Absol and Liepard were fast enough to keep pace on foot with the horse-mon, and Rattrap switched to beast-vehicle mode and sped along beside them as well. In their wake, Brunswick Farms burned, a funeral pyre for the families who had succumbed to the soul-withering horde…
Once they were well enough away, Yang slowed down. Everyone was shaken to some degree. Qrow pulled out his hip flask, staring at it… and then, with all his might, hurled it as far away as he could.
"Not again" he swore. "I was getting drunk off my ass while you were all fighting for your lives. Never again. …I'll just have to face my survivor guilt, existential dread, and knowledge of humanity's imminent demise sober like everyone else."
Maria bopped him with her cane. "You stop that. In case you forgot what Rattrap said, we have other options for dealing with Same and her allies! …You're still trying to shake off the effects of those Grimm; keep it together, boy."
"Those things…" Weiss said. "I've never heard of Grimm like them."
Maria sighed. "Apathies… They're not strong, or fast, or ferocious. But they're ridiculously durable for their size. And what's more, they emit an energy field that drains your will to… do anything, really – fight, eat, move, live…" She patted the journal in her lap. "Bartleby's estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Hunter protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm… Always."
Oscar read from the book. "Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable, but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off everyone. …I'm… tired…"
"The next page proves that he did," Maria continued, "but not before the rest of the horde followed their missing pair all the way home. My guess is that overnight, they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked." She took the book back. "No-one was angry or sad or scared. No-one was anything. And then… no-one was left."
She took one last look at the final entry in the book: "I'm tired". Then, she closed the book and tossed it out into the snow.
"I'm…" Weiss fidgeted awkwardly "sorry for what I said… about giving up."
Yang brought the bike to a halt. "Me, too. We can't quit until the lamp is safe."
"It's not your fault" Blake said. "It was those… things."
"I should have known…" Maria shook her head. "The signs were all there, but I'd never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I supposed my mind just isn't what it used to be."
"Miss Calavera?" Ruby spoke up. "In the tunnels, you knew exactly what to say to make me… to make my eyes do that. How?"
The old woman chuckled. "Isn't it obvious, child? I had Silver Eyes."
-CHAPTER END-
Next Time: Arrival at Argus.
The Apathies' will-draining energy field is pseudo-psychic in nature, which is why Absol and Liepard were immune. Qrow would normally have the mental strength to partially resist the effect, but he was compromised by the massive emotional blow of Jinn's revelations (and getting drunk didn't exactly help). Link was partially protected by the Triforce of Courage, but as you saw, it could only do so much. Rattrap, Maria, and Ruby's Scyther have the mental strength that comes from age and experience and keeping the proper mentality.