It felt like they had been walking for hours. In heels. Miltia's feet were killing her.
But it was not her feet which were causing her the most pain.
All around her were memories. Ones she could not even remember. That did little to dampen the pain, however. She had been in such high spirits earlier. Before the Beowolf attack. Before their pilot-turned-hostage had abandoned them. With no way out but to walk, they had to press forward. Their scrolls had no signal this far out from the kingdom. Calling Jaune or even Junior was not an option. They were on their own. No one was coming to save them.
Truth be told, Miltia was terrified. She did her best to suppress the feelings of fear, however. She did not want Melanie to feel it. More importantly, she did not want to attract any more Grimm. Those monsters were a part of everyday life, and even someone such as herself who had little to no exposure to them knew the basics. Grimm were attracted to negativity. Hate. Envy. Fear. Right now there was so much to be scared of, and not nearly enough reassurances that they would make it out of this alive. Fear wasn't the only thing gnawing away on Miltia's insides. Regret permeated her entire being.
It would have been different had the pilot still been here. He had been their lifeline. Their way out. Being stranded changed everything. Worst of all, it was not just Miltia who would suffer for her mistake. She had dragged Melanie along with her.
A part of her wondered if going to the tunnels was even a good idea at all. She had no idea how far it was back to Vale. Was it even walking distance? How long would it take? Could they sleep? They had no food or water. Maybe they should be scavenging the ruined homes to try to find something edible. Anything would do. Canned or bottled goods might still be in good shape ten years later. It was certainly a better alternative than starvation.
Miltia shook her head. No. She had to stay positive. She had to stop assuming the worst possible outcome. But at the same time, how could she? She wasn't stupid. She knew the utterly horrible situation they were in. How little a chance of survival there was. What could she do? What could she say?
Well, there was one thing she could say.
"Mel," she spoke softly.
The girl beside her turned her head. "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
Those two simple words had barely escaped her mouth before she choked on them. Miltia was on the verge of tears. Try as she might, she could not stop blaming herself for this. It had been her idea. She had brought Melanie with her. And now they were both going to die.
"It's okay," Melanie said, not quite sounding like she believed the words herself.
The denial only made Miltia even more upset. "It's not okay!" she insisted. "This was a mistake! It was my fault!" She shook her head as a pair of tears trailed down her cheeks. "I fucked up, Melanie. I'm sorry."
"Yeah? Well I came too." Her gaze lowered to the drab, grey cement as she walked. "You wouldn't have gone if I hadn't too. Maybe I thought this was a good idea too."
"I'm supposed to be the responsible one," Miltia said bitterly. The tears slowed as she said the words, her fists clenching in anger. Anger replaced her sadness in that moment. "I'm supposed to look out for you. I had one fucking job in my life and I blew it."
After Mountain Glenn, each of the girl's trauma had manifested differently. While Melanie sought to control those around her so she would never be hurt again, Miltia sought to protect those she loved. So she would never lose anyone again. Melanie was the one person in life she would do anything for. She would lie, steal, or even kill in order to protect her twin sister. It was ironic then that it was her own actions, and not those of another, which would lead to Melanie's death.
She was shaken from her thoughts from the touch of her sister, as Melanie placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay."
More denial. Miltia shook her head in frustration. "How? How can you even say that right now? Look around, Melanie. This is like, the end of the fucking world out here. We don't even have scroll reception."
"We're gonna get through this."
Frustration turned to disbelief. "How? What the fuck are we-"
"Because I said so!" Melanie shouted. "I don't fucking know how! I don't know what we're gonna do! All I know is that you and me are gonna survive this! Got it?"
Miltia was taken aback by the sudden outburst. She had no idea what was making Melanie so confident. She didn't know why the girl was suddenly so optimistic. However, at least she was being honest about it. Melanie didn't have a plan. She didn't have an explanation for her feelings. She merely had blind optimism, and she wanted Miltia to share in it.
"Why?" was all Miltia could think to ask.
Melanie looked down once more. It took a few seconds for her to respond this time. Her tone was softer when she did. "Because I want you to be able to rely on me for a change."
Once more her words were genuine. There was no arrogant front that the girl liked to put up. It was raw and real emotion. A feeling of hurt accompanied the words. Longing. Regret. Such sentiments were rare from the girl who liked to party and drink herself into unconsciousness.
"Melanie..."
"No!" the girl in white continued. "I'm serious! For once in our lives I wanna be the big sister I've never been. You've always been there for me, but when have I ever been there for you? You've always cleaned up my messes, and now it's time for me to clean up yours."
Miltia was once more shocked by the display of emotion. She had no idea Melanie felt this way. The undeniable truth of their sibling relationship was that Miltia was always there to bail out and protect Melanie from her problems. Problems usually as a result of drinking or picking fights with strangers. She always had her sister's back, and she knew that Melanie always had hers. But this was the first time she could remember Melanie actually flat out saying that she did. Normally Miltia did not do anything that required being rescued from.
What a time to pick for the first.
"This fucking sucks. I get it," Melanie continued. "But we're gonna get through it, okay? We've been through this before. We didn't have weapons or Hei's training back then. But we totally do now. We have each other. And there's nothing we can't do when we're together."
The speech would have been inspirational had it come from anyone else's mouth. Hearing the words from Melanie of all people made Miltia want to laugh. Not because they were bad, but because it was just so absurd to have them come through her lips.
Miltia laughed bitterly, unable to fully give into humor in a moment like this. "You're never gonna let me live down that you were born a few minutes earlier, are you?"
Her sister smiled, and it was contagious. "Nope. Now keep walking. Big sister's orders."
A part of Miltia wanted to stop right there and there just out of protest. Maybe had the situation been a less dire one, she would have. However, being so petty in this moment over something so stupid could be a death sentence. Who knew how many Grimm were still around?
Grimm. She could still hardly believe that she and her sister had taken on a Beowolf head to head. Harder still to believe that they had won. That monstrous creature had been utterly terrifying. Fur as black as the night's sky. Bone-white armor plates protruding from its body. Hateful glowing red eyes. It was the stuff of nightmares.
The stuff of her nightmares.
By the gods. She might have to sleep in this place tonight. There would be nothing or no one to keep the nightmares at bay.
This was what huntsmen had to go through every day. Fighting a Beowolf, or an entire pack of the creatures, was just a normal everyday occurrence for them. Something that was dealt with considerable ease. It showed just how weak they were in comparison. It showed how cowardly they were. The two of them had struggled to take on a single one of those monsters together.
It was merely further proof of the gap in skill between them and someone like Yang. Not that they needed any more proof of that after the nightclub incident, that was.
This was the kind of thing that Yang or Ruby did on a regular basis. They would have probably defeated the Beowolf with one shot. They probably wouldn't have even batted an eye. And yet she and Melanie had nearly been frozen in place with fear. Miltia had to admit that maybe huntsmen were a lot braver than she had originally given them credit for. If this was a job they chose to undertake willingly, then maybe they needed to reevaluate their thinking on those in the profession.
Maybe they weren't entirely to blame for the fate of Mountain Glenn. She wondered if Melanie felt the same way now.
"Hey, Mel?"
"What's up?"
"You know Ruby?"
The elder girl snorted softly. "Duh. What about her?"
Miltia looked off, slightly embarrassed by the phrasing of her question. Of course Melanie knew Ruby. "I dunno. You ever think about her? What she does?"
From her periphery she could see that Melanie had turned a questioning gaze on her. "Why would I think about her?"
A small smile formed on Miltia's face. "Well you did kiss her, but that's not what I meant. Like, huntresses and stuff."
"Tch. Huntresses." The displeasure which the elder twin spoke the word revealed that she must not have had the same reconsideration that Miltia did. Not that the girl could blame her either. It would take Melanie far more than one encounter with a creature of Grimm to overcome a lifetime of resentment and anger.
Miltia remained silent for a few seconds before continuing. "I used to think that too," she said softly. A form formed on her lips as she watched her tall red boots stride across the cement sidewalk. "But... the Beowolf..."
She went silent again, and a few more seconds passed before Melanie finally responded. "Yeah. The Beowolf."
"They do stuff like that all the time. Fight them and stuff. Like, now that we know, does it make you think about them any differently?"
It certainly made Miltia look at Ruby and her friends in a different light. Jaune as well. He had once aspired to become a huntsman as well. Willingly. They all had. If someone like Jaune wanted to do it, maybe it really was a noble aspiration after all.
"Maybe we were wrong," Miltia continued. There was a noticeable silence coming from her normally boisterous sister. Someone needed to fill the space. Miltia was the only option available. "Hei saved us, and he was a huntsman. Jaune was gonna be a huntsman when he came into the club the night Yang... did her thing. He helped us. And even Ruby isn't so bad, right? Maybe there are good huntsmen and bad huntsmen. You know?"
Miltia thought it was a pretty good argument. Just like any other people out in the world, there were good ones and bad ones. Even some of Junior's mooks had families and loved ones of their own. When they weren't on the clock, they were just every day, normal people. No super powers or crazy weapons. Just men.
"I dunno," Melanie finally said. "Maybe."
Maybe was better than no. That was a win in Miltia's book.
"Yeah," Miltia agreed. "Maybe."
She decided she wouldn't push any further. She had caused enough trouble today already.
Suddenly her head whipped around to the sound of gunshots. Green eyes widened, and her heart rate spiked in alarm.
Someone was here. In Mountain Glenn.
A look over to Melanie revealed that she had heard them too. Her reaction on the other hand was far more composed than her younger twin's. To her surprise, Melanie began walking toward the sound.
Miltia grabbed hold of her wrist, stopping the girl in her tracks. "Mel? What are you doing?"
"People," the girl explained.
"People with guns."
"Yeah. But still. People."
It took a moment, but Miltia caught on. Normally people did not run toward gunfire. However, Grimm did not use guns. In this case, being stranded here in Mountain Glenn, anything was better than Grimm. At least they knew how to deal with potentially hostile people.
Miltia nodded and let go of her sister's arm. "Yeah. Right."
Melanie motioned with her head for her to follow. "Come on. We sneak up on them. Worst case scenario they have a Bullhead we can take back to Vale."
"You can't fly a bullhead."
A sly, confident smirk formed on Melanie's lips. "We're about to find out."
Without waiting Melanie started walking. A moment later Miltia was by her side. The girl was right. Anything was better than their current situation. Even Melanie crash-landing a Bullhead somewhere back near human civilization.
He didn't want to push his luck, but he was thankful that his motion sickness wasn't acting up right now.
Maybe it was the seriousness of the situation. If that was the case, he thanked his body for recognizing what his mind and his heart did. The twins were missing. Miltia was missing. It hadn't taken long to find out where they had gone. Or why.
Sitting across from the man who he had called for aid, Jaune felt a different sort of nausea overtaking his body. One filled with worry. Alone in an abandoned Valean colony was his girlfriend and her sister. A place potentially teeming with Grimm. Or outlaws. Or who knows what else.
He only hoped he wasn't too late.
The girls had not been there when he had woken up. It was already the middle of the afternoon. That was far too many hours of them being away for his liking. Far too much time for something bad to have happened. He had to keep reassuring himself they would be alive. She would be alive. He had to keep running the scenarios through his head on what he would do when he did indeed find her safe and sound. He was torn between screaming at her and giving her the tightest hug he had ever given.
"Keep it together, kid." a gruff voice sounded, breaking the silence in the ship.
Jaune looked up to see Junior. A weapon resembling a massive metal bat rested in his lap.
"I am," Jaune insisted. "Don't worry."
Junior motioned forward with his head, his eyes looking down at Jaune's lap where his hands rested.
Or rather, where his clenched fists rested.
He hadn't even realized he had been doing it. Jaune relaxed his hands, flexing his fingers a few times before letting them fall back down to rest upon his lap.
Silence once again filled the ship. They were the only two passengers. He had no idea who was piloting the craft. Was it even a public ship? He couldn't say. Junior had shown up in it when Jaune had called and explained the situation to him. While it hadn't taken too long for the man to show up in the grand scene of things, it was still far too long for Jaune's liking. Every minute they delayed was another minute the girls could get killed. However, he knew that Junior had done his best. These were his girls. Jaune could never downplay their importance to the club owner.
"You brought your sword," the man said, once again provoking a conversation. It was unusual for Junior of all people to do that. He wasn't normally a man who liked idle chit-chat.
Jaune looked down to his left hip where Crocea Mors hung loosely from one of his belts. The boy shrugged as he replied. "Yeah. I had to. If Mi- if the girls got hurt... or worse, because I didn't go all out, I'd never forgive myself."
He hadn't swung his sword since the night of the docks. Since the night he had plunged its steel into the flesh of that terrorist. The events of that night still haunted him. The nightmares didn't come when he slept with Miltia, but in his waking hours he still felt the guilt which came with his deed. Terrorist or not, he had taken another man's life.
Yet on this day none of that mattered. Not when people he cared about were in danger. This was different from the docks. This wasn't him going out looking for trouble. This was him looking to prevent it. Looking to save a life. Two lives.
"That's good," Junior commented.
"Yeah," Jaune agreed.
"You really care about her."
"Of course I do."
The man shook his head. "No. I mean, you care about her. You love her."
Only then did it hit Jaune that Junior had said "her". Not "them". Her. And they both knew that it wasn't Melanie he was talking about.
Jaune looked at Junior's face with new perspective. With new ideas in his mind. With new fear. Here he was with what was essentially Miltia's father. A large, professionally trained huntsman with a weapon. Talking to the boy who his adopted daughter was sleeping with. Surely Junior couldn't know that little bit of information... right?
Jaune swallowed hard, nodding softly before looking off to the side. "Yeah," he confirmed. "I do."
One of Junior's usual grunts sounded in response. Jaune had spent enough time around the man to know it wasn't an angry one.
"How did you know?" the boy asked.
Another grunt. This time... amusement? "Because she loves you. And only a complete moron wouldn't reciprocate feelings for someone as kind and beautiful as Miltia." It felt as though those dark eyes of the man were studying him now, as if searching for any trace of deceit. "And you're not a moron, are you, Jaune?"
Was there some sort of double meaning behind the question? A threat? Like, giving the wrong answer would result in being thrown from the moving Bullhead to make a large, bloody splatter on the ground below?
It was best to just be honest. You could never go wrong with honesty. "No. I... I mean, Melanie told me something once when she was drunk, but I just wrote it off as Melanie being Melanie. I didn't believe someone as amazing as Miltia could actually have feelings for someone like me. It wasn't until she kis-"
Jaune cut himself off, but the damage was done. He couldn't have proven to Junior that he was a moron more than he just did right now. Sure, tell the father of the girl you're dating about how she kissed you and then made love for the first time. That was a brilliant move. Jaune felt as though he was about to take a one way trip down to the open wilderness of the Kingdom of Vale.
Taking a tentative peek back up at Junior, the man had made no move to assault him. There wasn't even a physical reaction on his face. Just that same impassive look that appeared to have been carved from stone. If the fact that Miltia had kissed the blonde boy bothered him, it did not show.
"Drunk," Junior merely echoed. "Figures." His expression finally changed, the slightest hint of a smirk forming on his face as he looked off into the distance. "Miltia drinks too sometimes. Even without Melanie. It's how I found out myself. That she cared about you that way. You wanna know what she said about you that night?"
Truth be told, Jaune was kind of curious. He didn't think it would be too big an invasion of Miltia's privacy if Junior was willing to tell him. The man had the best interests of his girls at heart. So surely this information would only help, right?
"Sure."
"She said you were normal."
That wasn't exactly what Jaune had been expecting nor hoping to hear. In fact, it didn't sound flattering in the slightest. "Is that supposed to be an insult?" he wondered.
Junior shook his head. "No. It isn't. Normal's good in this case. Not that normal's ever a bad thing. Normal is normal. But here, and for Miltia, normal is everything she's not. That her life's not. You're everything that isn't what this rough life is all about, Jaune."
When put like that, it made sense. He had to remind himself who Miltia was. She was a fighter. An enforcer. She and Melanie worked for a crime boss, and they did the acts that came with the territory. They extorted lien from local businesses. They fought against other local gangs for a plethora of different reasons. Even civilians like Tukson were fair game when the situation called for it. Not that Tukson had turned out to be an ordinary civilian, but Jaune had no doubt in his mind that the twins had roughed up their share of normal people.
And then he had walked into their lives. A boy with big dreams and aspirations, but nothing truly remarkable about him.
That was what Miltia liked about him, wasn't it? That he was just so... normal.
Jaune didn't know how to even respond to that. Maybe he didn't need to. Maybe the sudden feeling of warmth and happiness that filled his body did all the talking for him.
"You've seen both worlds now," Junior continued. "You've lived both. The hero and the villain. The huntsman and the criminal. Beacon and my club. Which do you want?"
If he had to choose between them, Jaune honestly did not know which one he would pick. Both had their upsides. Both had their downsides. In reality, he didn't want either of them. Like Junior had said, he had lived both. He had attended Beacon. He had attended classes and trained as an aspiring huntsman. He had also gone out with the girls performing all kinds of criminal activities. No, he didn't want either. Luckily there was a third option.
"Neither," Jaune answered. He looked up to see if it was the correct one, but once more Junior did not reveal his emotions.
"Neither?"
"Yeah. I just... I want a normal life, I guess."
An unexpected laugh burst from Junior's mouth. It died as quickly as it sounded, leaving Jaune to wonder if it had slipped out unintentionally. "Normal," he echoed. "You sure you're not just telling me what I want to hear, kid?"
Jaune shook his head. "No. I don't want either. I wanted to be a huntsman once. And I worked for you for a place to stay while I got my life figured out. But so much has happened since then. And like you said, I've seen both worlds. I've seen all the good and bad that comes with it. And... I guess I just want something normal. Something where the good is still good, and the bad doesn't mean people getting killed."
To Jaune such an explanation made sense. Normal people didn't realize how good they had it. The tales of huntsmen were romanticized to the point that it made young men like Jaune want to do that for a living. To be the hero. To live up to the lofty expectations he had set for himself. And sure, if he succeeded, he could have been a renowned hero. He could have gone off to live a life of adventure and excitement.
But if he failed, he would die. Those around him would die. The people he cared for would die.
Like Miltia nearly had.
Like she still could today.
"Good," Junior told him. There was no trace of sarcasm in his voice. Only a genuine feeling of happiness. "When all this is done, I want you to do something for me. Okay?"
"What's that?"
"I want you to go find a new job."
Jaune blinked a few times, feeling an unusual cold feeling in his stomach. "Wait, what? You're firing me?"
"You're damn right I am. I want you to get your ass out of my club and find another job. Something normal. I don't care what it is. Open up your own bakery for all I care. Anything. Somewhere my baby girl can be safe and happy."
Jaune's mouth opened once, but no words came out. On the second try he was able to formulate words. "What?"
"A normal life," Junior explained. "That's what you want. That's what she wants. So if you love her, I want you to get her out of this shithole she's been living in the past eight years and make her happy."
Was that... his blessing? His approval for the two of them dating? And more?
Jaune nodded. "Y-yeah. Of course. I mean, if she's willing."
"She will. I've seen the way she looks at you. I've heard how she talks about you. She'll choose you over the club. Trust me."
The boy didn't really know what to say. This was all so sudden. Sure, it wasn't as if Junior was trying to force him into marrying the girl, but he was being abundantly clear that he did in fact approve of the relationship. That Jaune was a good man in his eyes.
"Do you know what the biggest dream of any parent is, Jaune?"
The words snapped the boy from his thoughts. "Uh... no. I don't."
"To see their children be happy. I don't have any actual kids of my own, but you remember the story I told you about Mountain Glenn, right?" Jaune nodded, prompting the man to continue. "Melanie and Miltiades became my children that day, and I love them both dearly. I trained them so that they'd be able to take care of themselves. So that they'd be able to beat anything this cruel fucking world would be able to throw at them. I wanted them to both be survivors, because the world wasn't going to care about them or their happiness. You gotta look after yourself and your own. By any means necessary."
Junior had certainly done that. They were both capable fighters who were able to stand toe to toe with aspiring huntsmen students. Maybe not the prodigies like Yang or Ruby, but both were still more than capable of taking care of themselves.
"But I want more than that for them," he continued. "They're still young. Only eighteen. They have their whole lives ahead of them. And now that they're prepared for the worst, I want them to go out and find what makes them happy. Melanie isn't quite there yet, but Miltia is. She's found something that makes her happy." He pointed a finger over to Jaune. "So make her happy. Okay, kid?"
Talk about pressure. Jaune ran a hand through his hair. He never had any intention of anything less than making Miltia happy. Since the start of their relationship he had never felt anything less than complete and utter care for the girl. After all, she had been the one to wake his Semblance.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I will. I do."
"Good."
A sudden third voice from the Bullhead's intercom sounded. "Approaching the target zone," the pilot announced. "Estimated landing in five minutes."
They were here already? Time certainly flew by when having a deep and heavy conversation. Jaune looked down, double checking that he indeed did have all of his armor and equipment properly strapped in place.
Once he was satisfied he looked back up at Junior, who merely ran a hand across the barrel of his bat. The man spoke with a dark indifference which did not reflect the care he felt for his girls. "You ready, Jaune?"
The boy nodded once more. "Yeah."
Junior grunted. "This is what being a huntsman is all about," he said. "Looks like you'll get a chance to live your dream once after all before riding off to live that nice, normal sunset of yours."
For not the first time today, Junior was right.
It was a shame that he was finally living his dream under such dire circumstances.
"Ruby-fucking-Rose?"
"Miss Malachite?"
"Dr. Oobleck?"
"Miltia?"
The quartet of people stood facing each other, each pair as shocked as the other. Of all the people in Remnant to meet out here in Mountain Glenn, Ruby Rose was certainly the last one she had expected.
"What are you girls doing out here?" the teacher asked with unhidden shock and dismay. "Mountain Glenn is extremely dangerous! Why there are Grimm crawling everywhere!"
"We know," Melanie said dryly.
The comment caused Oobleck to do a double take, and Melanie could only imagine his eyes widening behind those strangely non-transparent glasses of his. "You know? Tell me, does that mean you've encountered the Grimm already? Are you injured?"
How thoughtful of him to care. No, they weren't injured. Not physically at least. Their struggles to fell a single Beowolf did wound the girl's pride, however. "Nah. We're good," she said coolly, masking the fear and doubt which had been plaguing her for hours now.
The man breathed a noticeable sigh of relief. "Wonderful. I truly am happy to know you're alright." His head lowered, causing his glasses to tilt forward as well, and his naked eyes peered over them to look menacingly at the girl. "Which brings me back to my original question. What are you two doing out here?"
Melanie shared a glance with her sister before looking back to the man and shrugging lightly. "Field trip?" she asked innocently.
His thin blue eyes narrowed, an unfamiliar look of menace now on the man's usually stoic face. "I see. You do realize that all Beacon class trips were for permanent students only, don't you?"
She glanced at Ruby at the mention of other students, who looked to be a little bit uncomfortable with the situation as a whole. The younger girl was busy studying the laces of her shoes rather than returning Melanie's look.
Whatever. Melanie blinked innocently as she turned back to Oobleck. "Oh. Really?" she asked innocently. "I guess, like, the rules weren't made clear or whatever."
Oobleck breathed a sigh of frustration. He obviously wasn't buying the innocent act. Not that it mattered. They were here now and there was nothing he could do about it. "Regardless, it would appear that you will be present on our mission for its duration," he said with audible resignation. "As both your teacher and a huntsman, I am charged with looking after your safety. You will return to camp with us, and you will stay with us until it is time to return to Beacon. Do I make myself clear?"
Melanie smiled. People like him were so easy. So concerned with doing the right thing that you could do anything you wanted and they'd let you walk all over them. He wasn't about to abandon two people, students or not, in the middle of Mountain Glenn. As far as Melanie was concerned this was the best possible outcome.
"Sure," she responded flippantly. Like she was going to go anywhere now that she had found her and Miltia a rescuer. "Where's the camp thingy anyway?"
"Back over that way," Oobleck said pointing over his shoulder. "Miss Rose and I were simply taking a tour and securing our perimeter. The rest of the team is setting up the camp as we speak."
Rest of the team. Melanie hadn't doubted that the rest of Ruby's team would be here, but hearing it from the man himself caused a spike of anger to flare inside of her. Weiss Schnee and Blake Whatsherface were here too. And of course, the source of her anger, Yang Xiao Long.
"Whatever. Lead the way," she said casually. She would never let him know that she wanted desperately to get back to the camp in order to find some semblance of safety and security.
The only sounds on the trip to Oobleck and Ruby's camp was the crunching of boots on shattered concrete. No one said a word. Not even the normally talkative teacher. Ruby herself was likely too uncomfortable in the presence of the twins. Miltia had reverted to her usual quieter self in the presence of others. It wasn't like she wanted to make an emotional show as she had done earlier in the day. Melanie understood why too. Those emotions were for the sisters alone.
Night was beginning to set on Mountain Glenn, and the glow of a fire up ahead betrayed the position of the camp. Melanie was thankful that they had been found before darkness fell on the place. Being back at Mountain Glenn was nerve-wracking enough. Being stranded with no way out was worse. But then adding the unknown of the darkness on top of it all? That might have been too much to bare.
Upon getting to Team RWBY's camp site, Melanie noted how quiet conversation between the other three girls ceased as soon as their eyes locked on to their returning comrade. And, of course, the two new and unexpected arrivals. Unsurprisingly Yang was the first to speak up.
"What are they doing here," she asked with open disdain. As expected, the girl had not accepted Melanie's hollow apology for what she had done to Ruby.
"The Malachite sisters have seen fit to... participate in official Beacon activities," Oobleck answered. His hesitation made it clear that he didn't buy their excuse. But right now it was the only information he had to go off of. "Until we can arrange for transport back to Beacon, they will be staying with us."
Yang glared at Melanie. "Great." The word dripped with sarcasm.
"Yes, yes, I'm all for wonderful reunions," Oobleck quickly said. Melanie wasn't quite sure if he was genuinely oblivious to the bad blood between the girls, or if he was running interference in order to prevent escalation. "However we have had a busy day, and will have an even busier one tomorrow. I think it's time that we all got some sleep. Do I have a volunteer for first watch?" Ruby meekly raised her hand, not saying a word. "Ah, wonderful, Miss Rose. The rest of you prepare your bags, preferably around the beautiful fire that you've created. Out here among the concrete it will get quite chilly at night."
Bags. Melanie looked around to note how everyone here had a sleeping bag rolled up and off to the side. She and Miltia had not been planning on staying here a night. They had no such equipment. "Uh, Professor Oobleck?"
"Doctor."
Melanie blinked. What an annoying little detail to get hung up over. "Uh, we don't have any bags," she continued, not bothering to correct herself.
Oobleck frowned slightly as he looked back and forth between the twins. His back heaved slightly with a soft sigh. "Of course. Very well. The two of you may share mine," he said, gesturing over to the wall where the other bags were resting. "It should be large enough that the two of you will fit inside together.
Melanie was no stranger to sharing a bed with her sister. Especially when they had been younger, it wasn't uncommon for siblings to sleep in the same bed when space was at a premium. However now at eighteen years of age, it did seem a little bit embarrassing. Especially in the presence of these other girls. Unfortunately it didn't seem like they had much of a choice. Neither one wanted to sleep on the cold and filthy ground.
"What about you?" Miltia asked, speaking for the first time since encountering the man. Typical Miltia. Concerned with the feelings of others.
"I assure you I will survive," Oobleck told her. "As a huntsman I've experienced far worse sleeping conditions than a concrete floor. Why, there was the time I was forced to climb a tree and use a large branch..."
As Oobleck began to recount the details of sleeping in a tree, Melanie recalled something that Miltia had said earlier. Maybe there are good huntsmen and bad huntsmen. The kinds of people Melanie normally hung out with wouldn't offer their sleeping bag to someone else out of the goodness of their heart. Sure, a man might have offered it to Melanie in order for her to... share it with him, in more ways than one. But never because he was doing a good deed for a girl in need. No, there was always a catch. Always some form of payment. But not here. Not with Oobleck.
Maybe we were wrong.
More of Miltia's words echoed in her mind. Doctor Oobleck seemed to be a decent enough man. A decent enough huntsman. Maybe he would have stood firm in Mountain Glenn's defense. Maybe he would have saved people like her and her sister like Junior had.
Maybe huntsmen weren't so bad after all.
Melanie looked over to the bag once more, it now sitting on its own after the other girls had gathered theirs up. Uncaring of the undoubtedly heroic and unusual story the man was sharing with the group, she went over and retrieved it. Melanie wasn't about to turn her back on the comforts being offered to her by her professor. She knew that Miltia wouldn't either.
She only hoped that tonight would be the first and last night they were forced to sleep here in Mountain Glenn.
She couldn't sleep. This sucked.
It wasn't that she was uncomfortable or that there was a lack of room. She and Miltia did indeed fit comfortably inside of Oobleck's sleeping bag. He was a tall man, so he needed an extra large bag which he could fit inside. It was fortunate that he was the teacher accompanying Team RWBY rather than someone like Port. Then again, the short and stocky man might have needed his own extra large bag, but for entirely different reasons.
Melanie looked over to her sister. Her eyes were closed. At least she was managing to get some sleep tonight. That was good. She only hoped that the girl wasn't having a nightmare. Being here in this place again might do that sort of thing. And Jaune wasn't here for her.
Jaune. She wondered what he was doing right now. What he was feeling about the disappearance of Miltia. At least they'd left him a note. He'd understand. If he didn't then he didn't deserve to be with someone as incredible as her sister.
Another memory of something Miltia had said crossed her mind. Miltia had said that she loved Jaune. He undoubtedly loved her back. It was a happy, but at the same time somber thought. Would Melanie herself ever find someone like that? Someone who loved her? Someone who could look past her career and her past the way Jaune did for Miltia?
Or did it even matter? Did she even care? Feelings and emotions and attachments just got in the way. They'd just lead to you getting hurt. People sucked. The world sucked. And both of them would betray you and hurt you. Keeping people at a distance and using them until you were tired of them was a tried and proven way of doing things.
She glanced over at Miltia again. At least things were working out for her. She was just built differently, Melanie surmised. Whatever. Good for her. It didn't matter how or why, but all Melanie wanted was for her sister to be happy. If that lovey-dovey crap did the trick, then she was all for it.
Melanie exhaled harshly. She was hot. Two people sharing body heat inside a sleeping bag made things incredibly warm. She needed some fresh air. Maybe a walk to clear her mind. Maybe that'd make her tired and able to fall asleep.
Slipping out of the bag, Melanie put her boots on and quietly strutted around the camp. The earlier talking from the other teens had been silenced long ago. She couldn't make out the exact words, but it sounded as though all three of Ruby's teammates were discussing some heavy shit. Not that she cared about their problems or hopes and dreams. She was just glad they finally shut up.
Her walk took her to a hollowed out building where she saw a familiar black and red form sitting there. The small and admittedly adorable dog that for some reason accompanied them was sitting next to her. Ruby was still diligently keeping watch, her large weapon in hand just in case a stray Grimm decided to walk over.
Maybe talking to the girl would help bore Melanie enough to put her to sleep. It was worth a shot.
The soft thudding of boots must have alerted Ruby to the girl's presence, but to her credit, and probable discomfort, she kept watch on the land outside of their camp. It looked as though Melanie would have to be the one to initiate the conversation. "What's up, little huntress?"
Ruby finally turned to acknowledge the girl. A small, and indeed uncomfortable smile formed on her lips. "Oh. Hey, Melanie. What are you doing here?" Yeah, she was definitely playing like she hadn't heard or seen the girl approach. How adorable.
"Bored. Couldn't sleep. So you can entertain me until I'm tired."
"Uh... sure. Always helps to have company on watch."
"How can you sit there doing nothing like this? Aren't you bored?"
Ruby shrugged. "Not really. Keeping watch is important when you're on a team. It's my job to make sure nothing can sneak up on us and hurt any of my teammates."
And yet you didn't hear me coming? Yeah, totally not buying it. "Ah. More huntsmany shit. Got it."
"It's not... that!" she countered, obviously not wanting to repeat the curse word Melanie had uttered so casually.
Melanie brought her hands up before her chest defensively. "Whoa, chill. I didn't mean like, literally. Huntsmany stuff. Better?"
The younger girl blinked a few times, her silver eyes going wide with recognition. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry."
"Whatever," Melanie said as she took a seat a few feet away from the other girl. Once she might have cared that her beautiful white dress would get filthy. But after that Beowolf fight that was already a foregone conclusion.
Seconds passed with neither saying a thing. A minute. Perhaps two. The silence was deafening, and Melanie knew that Ruby was uncomfortable in her presence. She knew why too. Still, Melanie was bored. And not at all tired. This was better than laying inside a hot sleeping bag waiting in vain for sleep to come.
Finally though, Ruby broke the silence. "So... why are you really here?" she wondered. "You and Miltia."
At least the girl knew that her reason for being out here had been a lie. Maybe she wasn't so naive after all. "Personal reasons," she answered vaguely.
"Oh. What kind of personal reasons?"
Melanie's head tilted, her emerald eyes glaring at the redhead. "Why do you care?"
Ruby's head whirled away, as if she had been caught red-handed doing something wrong. "I dunno. Just making conversation."
Well that was better than awkward silence, at least. "You really wanna know?"
The other girl nodded. "Sure. If... if you wanna tell, that is."
She had no real reason not to tell Ruby. It wasn't as if any of this could be used against her. And Ruby wasn't the type to utilize such information in a harmful way toward her.
So why not?
"Me and Miltia grew up here," she said gesturing around them with an arm. "Mountain Glenn."
Ruby blinked in surprise. "Oh. Really?"
"Mmhmm. Up until around ten years ago."
Surprise quickly turned to realization. Silver eyes widened. Her lips twitched a few times before she finally spoke. "Oh."
So Ruby knew about Mountain Glenn, then. That was the only logical explanation for such a reaction. Melanie wondered if that was something they taught in school, or if someone had told her about the place's history for the purposes of her mission here. Either way, it didn't matter. Ruby knew the implications of what it meant to grow up in Mountain Glenn. And why she had left ten years ago.
"I'm sorry," the girl told her. The words were soft and genuine. Like she actually cared about Melanie's plight. "Did you... lose anyone?"
An oddly personal and bold question. Something that someone with any amount of social tact would probably not have asked. It was obvious that Ruby was lacking in such etiquette. Not that Melanie was any different, of course. Only her attitude came from simply not caring about the feelings of others, rather than naivety.
Melanie couldn't stop the small surge of emotions inside of her as a result of the question. Her teeth sunk into her lower lip gently before she nodded. "Yeah. My parents." She glanced back over in the direction where Miltia was sleeping. "Our parents."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
The older girl looked back to Ruby, who was now sullenly looking down to the ground. Uncaring of other people or not, the last thing she had wanted right now was to actually make Ruby sad.
Melanie shrugged and waved off the concern. "Don't worry about it. It's in the past. We're over it," she lied.
The last line prompted Ruby's head to snap up. "No," she said a bit more forcefully than before. "It's not okay. Don't pretend it's okay. And don't pretend like you're over it either."
It was a surprising amount of emotion from the girl who had only moments before been soft-spoken and meek. "What?"
"My mom died too when I was young," Ruby explained. Her momentary defiance was gone, once more replaced with a soft and gentle voice. "She was a huntress. I was young. Really young. I barely even remember it happening. But... one day she went on a mission. And she never came home."
Melanie looked away from the girl's liquid silver eyes, lest her own begin to well up with tears. Yeah. This was hitting way too close to home. The last thing she had expected to happen in a conversation with Ruby was for stuff like this to come out in the open.
"And it still hurts to this day," she continued. "It'll never stop hurting. And you know what? That's okay. Because it should hurt when you lose someone you love. It means that it was real. The love was real. And there's no replacing someone like that in your life. So you shouldn't bottle it up. You shouldn't deny it. Because in a way... that means that you're denying the person that you love. Like you're trying to forget them so it won't hurt anymore."
"I said I'm fine," Melanie growled.
"I know. But it's also okay not to be. Hypothetically."
It was like that little brat was repeating everything that Miltia had said earlier in the day. It was why they had come back to Mountain Glenn in the first place. To confront their past. To talk to their long-deceased parents. To remember them. Melanie was indeed guilty of trying to force herself to forget her past. To forget her parents. Her drinking habit was proof enough of that.
"Fuck..." she breathed softly, continuing to look away from the other girl. She did not want to show weakness in front of Ruby. At least it wasn't Yang though. Melanie didn't know what she would do if she started crying in front of Yang.
She hadn't even realized that Ruby had stood up and walked a few feet to sit down next to her. Where had that shy and awkward girl gone? "So... yeah. I know what it's like to lose someone you love. Especially at an early age. It's the worst thing imaginable. So if you ever do wanna talk... I'd understand. And it'd just stay between the two of us. I know it's hard to talk about. But it's even harder because you don't want other people to worry about you. But with someone who gets it... it might be easier, right?"
And even Ruby isn't so bad, right?
Melanie shook her head. "Fucking Miltia."
"Huh?"
Wiping her eyes on her shoulder, Melanie looked back over to the girl next to her. "Nothing. Whatever. For what it's worth... thanks."
Ruby smiled genuinely at her. "Yeah. Anytime."
"And... I really am sorry," Melanie said. This time the words were as genuine as Ruby's own. "For what I did at the dance. You're pretty cool, you know that?"
The words forced Ruby to look away this time. In the dim light of the fire it was difficult to read her expression. "Oh. Yeah. It's okay."
It really wasn't. For the first time, Melanie felt bad about her strategy in order to get revenge against Yang. She hadn't seen it before, and maybe this was what Jaune had meant when he got angry with her. Ruby didn't deserve it. Ruby didn't deserve to be a victim caught in the crossfire. Ruby was innocent.
And as she had just said, Ruby was pretty cool. Huntress or not.
The sudden movement of the tiny dog with them prompted both of their attention to him. He trotted off nonchalantly, causing Ruby to stand up and go after him.
"Zwei!" she whispered harshly. "Zwei where are you going?"
Melanie was on her feet as well, following after Ruby. Animals were cool too, and the last thing Melanie wanted was for an adorable little dog to get lost or hurt out here in Mountain Glenn.
"Zwei come back!" Ruby again whispered as they made their way away from the encampment.
It took maybe half a minute of following to catch up with the dog, who had by now found a nice wall. He, now Melanie could see, had lifted his leg and began relieving himself against it.
The two girls caught up with the dog, and Ruby chastised the little thing warmly. "Zwei, this is a wasteland," she chided. "You literally could have done that anywhere."
The sight of the dog doing its thing made Melanie think of something. She really hoped that she wouldn't have to pee until she got back to Vale.
"Come on," Ruby told the critter. "Let's get back."
That worked for Melanie. The sooner they could get back to safety the better. She wouldn't admit it, but being out here away from the safety of their camp gave her the creeps.
Just as they were about to head back, a new voice sent chills down her spine. "What was that?"
A male voice. Not Oobleck's. In an instant Melanie pressed herself up against the wall.
"What was what?" a second voice said.
Her breathing had increased dramatically, but soon enough Melanie forced herself to think. They were people. People were better than Grimm. She could deal with people.
"I thought I heard a Beowolf or something."
A grunt. "Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base."
Seconds ticked away at a glacier's pace. All the while she saw Ruby peering around the corner. That stupid kid was going to get them both caught!
Finally though, Ruby turned back, urging her to follow. Melanie silently held her hands out in frustration, but to no avail. Ruby was on the move.
Melanie followed, unable or unwilling not to.
Her breath caught in her chest. Two White Fang terrorists were walking down the abandoned street, both brandishing rifles. This was bad. This was very bad. And Ruby was following them. Melanie was following her. Who was the bigger idiot, she wondered?
Darting from place to place, Ruby continued tracking them until they entered into a building, the door closing behind them. The redhead turned, grabbing her scroll from a pocket. "This is it!" she whispered excitedly. "The White Fang hideout in the south east!"
Melanie had no idea what she was talking about. Nor did she want to. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Ah, stupid scroll," Ruby growled. Much like Melanie and Miltia, Ruby must have had no signal this far outside of the kingdom. "Come on. We gotta go back and tell the others."
Going back was something Melanie could get on board with. Telling the others wouldn't hurt. But... that meant that they would probably be going after the supposed White Fang base that Ruby had just mentioned. And that... that was not good.
The two girls stepped out onto the street. With no need to hug the shadows anymore, getting back to the encampment would be a breeze.
Until the very ground underneath them began to crack. Melanie looked down, seeing a living nightmare below her. Mountain Glenn was falling apart, and she was about to fall with it.
She barely had time to scream before the ground opened up, swallowing both her and Ruby in it.
Author's Note: Well, time for some fun stuff to start happening.
As always, thank you to everyone for your continued support of this story. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.