The sun was descending into its resting place for the night far to the west. The skies were clear, bar a few blood red clouds that slowly trickled southwards. It would be winter soon, and the northern winds were already arriving, a herald of the coming winter storms.
Leaves rustled around him, amber, gold and orange like dusk. Food and wood had been stockpiled, as well as furs, water and ale. It was likely this year would be a harsh winter, or so the priests claimed.
He was not one to believe in the words said by priests. They were often proven wrong, and how could any mortal truly claim to understand the word of a divine being greater than them?
There were few things that were certain in life. But for Tyrian Callows, some things were. Like what would happen to a traitorous little kitty who left him for dead.
"Are you certain it was her?" Hazel asked, the giant had his scarred arms crossed across his chest and frown on his face, intimidating the boy trembling before them.
"Y-Yes m-milord." The boy stammered. "She was with two others, a lad and another lass. L-Looked like nobles what with their bearing n'stuff."
"He's not lying." Tyrian sing-songed, bored by the boy's trembling. It was so boring when they were scared. Tyrian preferred it when they were like kitty cat, who would force you to make them scared. "I caught her scent. She's staying at Tukson's place."
"Are you certain?" Watts questioned incredulously, finally stopping sulking in his little corner. The fool was so certain that it would be his little spies who would catch the stray kitty. It was almost enough to make Tyrian smile a truly joyful smile.
"As certain as the winter." Tyrian cackled, and Hazel hummed, turning back to stare at the still trembling boy.
"What of your spy?"
"He was useful I guess." Tyrian sighed melodramatically. "But he's served his purpose."
"W-What?!" The boy squealed, making Tyrian wince.
"Although I dread to actually agree with Tyrian the boy is a potential security breach." Watts said quietly, and Hazel nodded.
"May you find peace in death." The giant of muscle and bone murmured softly, grabbing the boy just as he turned to flee. Tyrian cackled, clapping his hands gleefully as the boy screamed with pain. His skin turned red from pressure, his eyes bulged and head squished as Hazel grunted and with a final huff, crushed the boy's head. Bone and brain splattered over Hazel's hands and his face was covered in a red mist.
"Find the girl Tyrian, and bring her to us alive. We need her information." Hazel ordered, wiping his hands on the dead boy's shirt. Tyrian knew this but pouted anyway. Oh well. At least he would be able to torture her slowly once they had what they needed.
"What of her accomplices?" Watts asked, stopping Tyrian from bounding away.
"You get the girl. She'll be the lesser threat. Leave the boy to me." Hazel replied, striding away confidently, throwing the bloodstained rag he'd made of the dead boy's shirt onto the alley floor.
Tyrian cackled and bounded away.
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"I'm telling you, you are definitely biased against non-magical heroes!"
"Well at least I'm not racist!"
"Uh hello!" Jaune yelled back, waving his arms around Blake, who looked like she was milliseconds away from hanging herself. "I have a Faunus best friend!"
Blake's eye twitched.
"Sure you do." Ruby scoffed. "Blake's my Faunus best friend!"
"Nu-uh!"
"Uh-uh!"
"Blake! Who's your best friend, me or Ruby?" Jaune asked, cheeks flushed from his impassioned argument with Ruby. How had they gone from planning, to what weapons they needed, to legends, to racism, to this?
"Blake?"
That was her name. Unfortunately.
"I hate both of you equally." She finally replied, sipping her tea and wishing desperately she had added something stronger inside it.
"Whaaa?!" Ruby gasped, hand raised to her lips and eye brow raised deep behind her hairline. Jaune did something similar. Blake was too done with this to care. "But how can you not love us?"
Blake just sighed, her eyes closing. Happy place. Happy place. Happy pla-
"Dragon!"
Her eyes snapped open. Instinct kicked in, and Gambol Shroud was in her hands within moments. The katana had been resting against the side of her bed, and using her spare hand she pushed Ruby and Jaune onto the floor and she stood protectively in front of them, as if a dragon would burst in through her window any moment now. Her chest felt tight, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She could feel the memories clawing through the back of her mind like fingers digging through sand. Now was not the time to think, it was the time to act.
"We need to move." She ordered, composing herself and facing her fri-party members. Ruby nodded, Jaune looked slightly dazed.
Then the bells began ringing, and the horror stories of their childhoods spurred them into action. Ruby grabbed her cloak, wrapping it around her neck and securing it with her Rose brooch before shoving her nearest belongings into her bag. Crescent Rose was a familiar and comfortable thing to her. It translated in the way she held the weapon and fell into a stance that oozed of practiced ease. Jaune had left the room, gone to get his belongings.
"Tell Tukson we're going after the dragon." Blake told Ruby, who nodded and hurried out of the room. Blake through on some warmer clothes and packed a few of her things before following, meeting Jaune in the hallway.
"I still have no armour or weapon or anything but apart from that I'm all set." He said and Blake nodded in reply, walking past him into the bar, where Tukson and Christine stood, herding in a crowd of nervous townsfolk. The Polite Crane was made of wood and filled with alcohol. It would not have b
een a safe place to be, if not for the cellar made of stone that rested beneath it. Most public venues had similar, specially built shelters where locals could hide whilst their militia and whoever else was on hand faced the dragon threat.
"Tukson!" Blake yelled, waving her hands to get the man's attention. He turned for a moment before shaking his head and pointing to the kitchens behind the bar. Then he turned away from them and focused on helping the townsfolk enter the bunker in an orderly fashion.
"That must be where Ruby is." Jaune shouted, and if it wasn't for the noise of so many terrified people, Blake would've admonished him for yelling so close to her ears. She supposed she could let it go this once.
"That still won't fix your weapon problem." Blake replied and Jaune shrugged.
"The town's militia will probably have something spared. In Ansel, my father always made sure to have extra weapons stockpiled in case people volunteered to fight when it was an emergency. I doubt Snowmire would be much different." Jaune said as they headed behind the bar and opened the door into the kitchen. Ruby yelped and dropped the cookie she had been munching on.
"Dwagon did itt!" Ruby exclaimed, mouth still full from the cookie.
"You're the one telling Tukson that." Blake replied, making Ruby balk. "Come on. We need to get a weapon and hopefully some spare armour for Jaune."
She led the way as they left The Polite Crane from the kitchen's back door, where Tukson or Christine would take the scraps and dump in the alleyway for the urchins and homeless to scavenge.
As they made their way onto the streets, they were faced by utter carnage as people screamed and pushed in terror and the militia pushed back, trying to reach their designated positions.
The three of them merely stood in the fetid alley, staring out at the chaos and beginning to realise just how unprepared for this they were.
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Vulcan was the heart of trade between Atlas and Mistral. Despite the tensions between the two kingdoms, Vulcan and it's distant sister-city of Argus had prospered. Goods flowed through it with ease, and the settlement was protected by nearby Fort Maxim, which had been built long ago to deter Mistrali pirates and privateers who had raided Atlas' southern coast. But those were distant days, and the fort had fallen into neglect in recent years as King Jaqcues focused the Kingdom's resources on his great projects like the Solitas Road. Regardless, there wasn't any need to defend the settlement. Despite the Great War, Atlas and Mistral were mostly at peace, and were both committed to ensuring the sea between them was free of piracy.
It was safe, rich and stable.
A perfect target for those with more nefarious intentions.
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The Red Queen stared into the horizon as the sun began to set, ready to rest after a long day of bringing light to Remnant. Pyhrra wished she could do the same, but she had a long march in front of her.
The rites had been made. The necessary chattel had been sacrificed, the blood of her previously vanquished foes would fill her with the strength she would need to vanquish her new ones.
Peace was never an option for Mistral. Atlesian expansion into Vale threatened the carefully built status quo between the four kingdoms, and it had been Mistral who had lost the most. They had lost Atlas, a valuable ally now drunk with newfound power, and Vale, a sometimes hostile but most times peaceful trading partner who left Mistral alone in return for the same treatment. But then Vale's King died heirless and the Atlesian's swooped in like vultures to seize the carcass that was Vale, poor splintered Vale.
Then they made demands. They had been drunk with power, but power was Mistral's tool, Mistral's might. The Great War showed that.
The peace had only ever meant to be temporary. Her ancestors had not had the strength to annex both Atlas and Vale after defeating both in battle. So they had devised the Vytal Treaty to divide the two. It was hoped the religious restrictions, economic sanctions on specific goods and purges of their magic users would have turned the two against one another as frigid, duty-bound Atlas upheld the Treaty and Vale chafed under it. If anything the roles were reversed, but that was neither here nor there. The plan failed. Atlas and Vale remained united, and quickly rebuilt their prior strength.
Mistral ,however, had weakened. The influx of loot and gold brought an influx of dragons. The dragons caused devastation, the devastation caused social upheaval, failed harvests and an ever stronger faction of nobles that became more and more rebellious as their rivals fell and her dependency on them increased.
It was ironic. The roles had been reversed. The weak were once again strong, whilst the strong had been made weak.
The peace was only ever meant to be temporary.
Why did she keep telling herself that?
"I'm sorry brother." Pyhrra murmured, hoping he could hear her from Atlas, over the sounds of clanking metal and booming drums as Mistral marched for war and plunder once more.
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The mountain was high and isolated. It was easy for him to access though. It was amazing what money could get you after all, and it was awfully easy for him to pay off an Atlesian shepherd to show him the path. In all fairness, the donkey was doing most of the work as it trotted steadily up the mountain path, neglected and rocky as it was.
Alexander Nikos had a very important meeting to attend to, and he did not intend to miss it.
He hummed a tune to himself, there being not much else to do whilst he swayed on the donkey's back. He'd told his reluctant spouse-to-be he was going scouting, and the Queen of Atlas had been all too eager to allow him to go running off in search of the dragon he'd put a bounty on, likely hoping he would find it and promptly die to it. It was a shame really. The Ice Queen had her looks, and even after all this crap he'd received from her he wouldn't be able to sample the goods before her untimely death. Then again she'd likely stab him when he tried consummating the wedding. Oh well. She'd be dead before then.
The donkey stopped suddenly, and Alexander smiled as he recognised it's fear. Deep down he felt it too, but what did he have to fear from a monster when said monster was under his control?
"Hello Cinder dear!" Alexander smiled joyfully, receiving a scowl from the woman, who was once more dressed in a simple red dress that was both seductive and way too thin for Atlas.
"Nikos." She snarled and he tutted simply.
"That's no way to address your king, is it now?" He taunted, and the woman snapped at him, gnashing her teeth like a dog. Deciding not to push his greatest asset too far, Nikos moved on.
"Why isn't Kingsberg in ashes? He asked, stepping further into her lair, hating the cold winds and weather of Atlas.
"The silver-eyed bitch burned me good." Cinder replied bitingly, crossing her arms angrily, "And it wasn't made easier when someone put a bounty on me."
"Don't tell me a few bounty hunters fifty times smaller than you scare you?" Nikos left and Cinder huffed.
"You humans don't scare me. Nothing does. I am merely concerned that any more drastic actions will earn me the ire of my fellow kind. Burning your home was gratifying and the news of it hasn't spread thanks to your sister. Burning the de facto capital of two Kingdoms? That is worrying behaviour but acceptable since I failed and should have learned my lesson. But if I attack again too soon then my kind will hunt me down out of fear I have gone mad. They do not want hordes of angry humans swarming their nests, they want peace. I would defeat anyone who come after me…but my nest…" Cinder stopped her rant, her eyes falling distant, as if she was a million miles away. He couldn't blame her. Only Atlesians wanted to be in Atlas.
"I will protect your home Cinder." Alexander reassured her, stepping forward. Her eyes snapped towards him, and distrust radiated from her every fibre. "Not out of care for you and yours. I need something to keep a grip on you after all."
"I will kill you the second that accursed necklace leaves your neck!" Cinder snarled, and although he felt fear Nikos merely laughed and wagged his finger mockingly at her.
"Ah, ah ah! That's not how you thank your King for protecting your family now is it?" He told her, lifting said necklace warningly. The ruby within pulsed angrily, darkening the already dark cave.
Cinder said nothing, staring at the ground with her hair over her eyes.
"Thank you." She muttered, and although Nikos wanted to push further he was still scared of going over some boundaries. For now.
"Would you like to see them?" He asked her, and she nodded her head so quickly he was distinctly reminded of a child being offered a sweet. "Very well."
Darkness oozed from the necklace, swirling upwards like a tornado before forming a flat glass-like square. An image danced within it, showing a dark haired man playing with a dark haired child. However the man had eyes as blue as the sky. The child had eyes a golden amber that to most would seem unnerving. To Nikos, who had spent so much time with Cinder, it looked faintly familiar.
The child and father was laughing as they played, but something was clearly missing. Something that showed. A wife. A mother.
Cinder reached out towards the image with a shaking hand, until Nikos decided enough was enough and it faded into dust.
"Complete the objectives I have given to you then maybe I will let you see them." Nikos said, turning to leave. "And remember Cinder, fail me again and I'll send parts of that sweet, precious husband of yours in a box."
Alexander hastened his way towards the trembling donkey as rage and fire followed him out of the cave. With a mighty bellow, a black dragon soared into the sky, roaring its grief into the sky as it headed eastwards towards the bustling, industrial heart of Atlas.
Alexander Nikos smiled. He loved it when a plan came together.