Chapter 11

The Festival

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Summer asked as Team SLVN walked through the streets of Vale. All around them, festive decorations depicting flowers, trees, animals, and the sun were hanging in several shop windows. The foot traffic was up as well from their usual excursions into the city proper and Summer was starting to feel mildly claustrophobic from the throng of humanity. Unconsciously, she clung to the stuffed pig in her arms a little tighter as her tail curled around her waist protectively.

"You wanted to experience local customs," Pyrrha said with a smile as she led the group through the mass of people surrounding them.

"And you were getting tired of the food in the cafeteria," Nora added in with her own grin as she took another bite of her caramel apple.

"Team RWBY is still on detention after last week," Ren said, adding in his own two cents to the discussion.

Summer groaned in frustration. Her team wasn't wrong by any account. She had been wanting to learn more about Remnant and the customs kept in this world. She couldn't help but feel that not knowing them would be detrimental to her in the long run. Sure, religious events like this one were not the massive all-encompassing commercial affairs they were in her original world, only celebrated en mass in smaller more tightly knit neighborhoods like the one they were in. Still, this hadn't been what she meant. A religious holiday celebrating The God of Light with feasting, parties, and general tomfoolery celebrating the previous year and the upcoming year didn't seem like something the Slayer needed to worry about.

Summer rolled her eyes as she looked around her then sighed and said, "I could be back at Beacon training, you know? I still have..."

"A long way to go to finish creating a whole new style of fighting," her entire team said in unison, cutting her off.

Pyrrha laughed and shook her head, "You are our leader and we will train as hard as you ask us to, Summer, but even you need to take a day off now and again. If you don't, you will burn out."

Summer shot a look sideways to Ren, hoping for some amount of support. He had been the most helpful in her current task. Despite never fighting with a sword or training with one, he had contributed a lot in developing the theories and applications that Summer hoped would one day be recognized as a formal style of fighting. When Ren completely ignored her pleading look, Summer muttered, "Etu Brutus?"

Summer's complaint caused Nora to laugh as she bounced around the group in a circle. "Come on, Summer. We have the day off. There is a festival going on where people are just giving out sweets for free. There are games to play and prizes to win. What more can you ask for?"

Summer sighed, her shoulders sagging as she closed her eyes then shrugged. "Okay, the sweets have been great. I'll give you that. But that game was rigged. There is no way those bottles stayed standing on their own," she said bitterly as she hugged the stuffed pig she was holding.

"You're just jealous that Pyrrha won the stuffed pig for you and you couldn't do it yourself," Nora said with a smirk. "Big bad Slayer beat out by a lowly Huntress-in-Training," she continued teasingly as her smirk grew larger.

Pyrrha couldn't help the blush that spread across her face as she quickly cut in, "It wasn't like that at all Nora. I simply put enough spin on the ball to make sure none of the bottles could stay standing even if the bottom ones were weighted. I am sure Summer would have done the same thing after her first attempt."

Summer couldn't help but chuckle as she squeezed the stuffed pig again, "It's okay Pyrrha, I'm not upset. And thank you for winning Mr. Gordo for me," she said with a soft smile.

After that, Team SLVN chatted amongst themselves as they wandered the street festival that was underway. Nora drug them along to several of the food booths that were both giving away anything sweet for free and charging for other more savory dishes they offered for those that were reaching critical sugar mass. They tried a few more games as well, Nora winning a stuffed Taijitu for Ren at a contest of strength.

The game proprietor tried to claim Nora had cheated when she used Magnhild until Pyrrha stepped in, pointing out that the rules he has posted said nothing about being required to use the mallet provided or even any instrument to strike the pressure plate that would launch the weight up to ring the bell. Summer wasn't altogether sure Nora wouldn't get in trouble for using her rocket locker to get her weapon just to win a carnival game but pushed the issue aside at the small smile Ren gave Nora when he held the stuffed Grimm.

Altogether it was an enjoyable day spent forgetting about their troubles.

It was growing late when Pyrrha pointed out a pavilion that had been set up in the neighborhood park. A line had formed and was quickly shrinking as people entered the pavilion. Above the entrance, a sign advertised free dinner and a show.

"Do you think we have time?" Pyrrha asked with a glance at Summer.

Summer pulled out her scroll and checked the time. They had just over two hours until they would need to hurry back to the airship docks to make it back before curfew. She glanced up and saw the times advertised were about three hours apart. "Probably," she said as she motioned at the sign. "Three hours between shows, so most likely it's about two hours long. We'll have to hurry to get back to the platforms and won't have time for anything else."

Pyrrha looked dejected, her shoulders sagging a little. "I'm sorry," she said in barely a whisper.

Nora grabbed Pyrrha around the shoulders with one arm and squeezed her tight enough for Pyrrha to let out an eep of surprise. "Sorry for what? Sounds like a plan to Ren and me," she said with her never vanishing grin. When both Pyrrha and Summer looked at Ren, he had a thoughtful look on his face then nodded in silent agreement.

"Okay, then our next team mission is dinner and a show Team Sylvan!" Summer said excitedly with a grin causing her team to groan around her.

Summer looked around confused until Pyrrha patted her on the back. "I think we are going to have to talk to Yang about what Ruby is teaching you, Summer."

Summer came awake with a start. Her eyes flickered open and took in the cave she was in. She was sat on the floor, arms chained above her head with iron manacles. A quick glance to either side showed that her teammates were similarly bound and still unconscious.

"How do I get into these situations," she quietly muttered to herself as she started to take a greater interest in the room she was in.

The walls were stone, obviously carved and not man-made, though done roughly. Three walls of stone and the bars of a cell instead of a fourth. She could see another cell across the hallway and in it were more people chained to the wall. Though in shadows, Summer thought she could count another four bodies in that cell.

"Either they drugged everyone during the show or just a few tables," she said to herself as she looked up at the chains holding her. "Nothing for it," she said with one last glance at her drugged teammates, "gonna have to get myself free before I can do anything else."

Summer yanked against the chains holding her. She had expected the links to bend open, the mounting in the stone to rip free, something. She had not expected to yelp in pain as the manacles bit into her skin. She sent a look of confusion up at the chains and tried to yank herself free again only to be met with the same pain as the manacles once more dug into her wrists as she lost grip on the chain.

Her eyes widened in real fear for the first time since arriving on Remnant.

"No, no, no nonononononono," she started to mutter, rapidly growing in volume and speed as she tried repeatedly to tear herself free from her bindings.

"Summer, it's too early to get up," she heard Nora complain next to her.

Summer's gaze shot to her teammate and in her panic, she started to kick her leg repeatedly. "Nora! Nora! I need you to wake up right now Nora, Ren is in danger!"

Nora's eyes shot open at the mention of Ren's name. Summer could see the same momentary confusion on Nora's face as she looked around. When her eyes found the chains holding her, Nora's face screwed up into a look that Summer might have found adorable if she weren't in the middle of having a panic attack herself. "Okay, whose idea was this? I'm not finding this fun at all."

"Nora, I need you to focus. I need you to break your chains and get the rest of us free," Summer said in a hurried whisper, trying to contain the edge of fear she knew she couldn't afford. "Can you do that Nora? Can you get us all free?"

Nora took a deep breath then looked over at Summer. For a brief moment, Summer let the fear she was feeling show on her face. It had the intended effect. Nora nodded, suddenly all business as she gripped her chains and yanked downward. There was a screech of metal as the bolt holding the chains to the wall sheered off. With her arms freed, Nora took each manacle in hand and started to pry them open until she was completely released from her bindings.

She made quick work on Summer's manacles, next. With her arms free, Summer quickly got to her knees and turned to Pyrrha, lightly shaking her. "Come on Pyrrha, wake up. I need you awake right now, damn it," she urged as loudly as she dared. She was hoping the racket Nora had made freeing herself went unnoticed and was trying to not tempt fate by being louder than she needed to be.

Pyrrha's eyes finally fluttered open, causing Summer to sag in relief. When Pyrrha started to look around confused, Summer quickly said, "We were drugged and captured. Get yourself free, we'll figure out the rest once we can get out of here."

Pyrrha looked up to the chains holding her then nodded to Summer. A moment later, her manacles simply fell apart under Pyrrha's semblance. Rubbing her wrists, Pyrrha's attention turned back to Summer, who had quickly retreated to the door to their cell. "Why didn't you undo my chains," Pyrrha asked. It seemed a reasonable question and she was certain that Summer had a reasonable answer. When Summer looked back at her, though, the Slayer couldn't keep the terror that had been growing inside her off her face.

"Whatever they used to drug us, it neutralized my powers," Summer said as a shiver ran down her spine. "I had to wait on Nora to bust herself out then get me free."

Summer was saved from whatever Pyrrha was going to say next by Ren and Nora joining them. Summer gave Nora a nod then turned to Ren, "You good to get to work?" The question was met with a silent nod and a hard look from Ren. That only made Summer smile.

"Good. We were captured by unknown parties after being drugged. We have at least one other cell, maybe more, of victims down here with us. The number of assailants is unknown. Capabilities are also unknown. Right now, our goal is to find our scrolls, contact Beacon for support, and call in our lockers. Once we have our gear we can reassess," Summer said as she looked over her team.

"Okay, Ren, your up. Bust us a lock, please."

Ren nodded and stepped up to the cell door. He focused for a moment then struck the lock with an open hand strike, shattering it into pieces. He pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway, Nora skipping after him with a feral smile on her lips. Pyrrha gave Summer an unreadable look as the team leader joined her teammates in the hall, followed by her partner.

The group began moving down the hallway, Ren leading them with Nora close behind for support. Apart from the one cell that had been across from theirs, they only found one other occupied and it held two more people. Deciding to leave them where they were for the moment had taken a moment of internal struggle for Summer. She wanted to free them but they had no idea how many bad guys were between them and the exit. In the end, she decided they were simply safer where they were for the time being.

After a turn in the hallway, they came to a short set of stairs leading to a normal-looking door. The four of them exchanged looks of curiosity having expected something a bit more grandiose. Still, they shrugged and Summer motioned for Ren to proceed.

As Ren pushed the door open, voices could be heard from beyond. As they listened, Summer felt her heart start to pound harder. A single word spoken amongst the chatter was all it took and her mind was filled with a mind-numbing terror that she didn't entirely understand. What she did understand was they had been captured by a group of cultists that wanted to summon their god to Remnant in physical form. That god's name caused Summer to throw out everything she had told her team earlier.

With the shocked expressions of her team following her into the room, Summer rushed forward to attack the two cultists before they knew she was there. Slayer Strength or not, Summer knew this had to be put down quickly. They couldn't take the risk. Not with her name being bandied about.

Not with this being a cult dedicated to Glorificus.

A/N: Name drop... Those of you who aren't familiar with Buffy might not understand. Those of you who are, will.

AurelLor: I'm glad the Cheeseman made sense to you. I've always said things make more sense with cheese.