Hello, and happy Friday! This week's chapter is starring a surprise swim, and splitting the party.
68. By Land, By Sea, By Air
There wasn't much Ragnar could do to shock Oscar, by now. After all, he'd fallen out of the sky, eaten several hundred pounds of meat in one sitting, and stumbled across Glacier in the middle of the woods. So maybe he wasn't exactly shocked, when they swam the last leg of their journey... but he was a bit startled.
Whitley, who was sitting an ice dragon with cold sea water up to his shins, seemed a lot more than that. "Your guess is as good as mine," he grumbled, "as to which continent we'll be on when we land."
He turned out to be wrong—it wasn't a continent at all, but an island. Oscar squinted at the shoreline, which from this direction looked completely uninhabited. Nothing but dark, forbidding woods as far as the eye could see. "Um... Ragnar?"
Ragnar didn't reply—his head was underwater.
They hit the coast. Oscar was glad to unstrap himself from the saddle and stretch his legs, since they'd been in the water for several hours. He glanced into the trees. A week ago they might have scared him, but between Ragnar and Glacier he didn't think they had much to worry about.
He was very glad they hadn't run into any Grimm in the water.
"I don't suppose you'll tell us where we are?" Whitley asked Glacier, who as usual didn't answer.
"Atch," Ragnar said, which still didn't mean anything to Oscar. He shrugged at Whitley, mustering a little grin. Whitley rolled his eyes and marched into the forest, but Oscar thought he caught a hint of a smile on his face before he turned away.
They tramped through the forest. Oscar started to notice signs of other people around—a distant engine, a candy wrapper on the ground, and eventually a path that wound its way between the trees. Then, finally, Ragnar stopped.
"Rrow," he announced, flicking his tail towards a few nearby trees. Through a gap between them, Oscar could see a small cabin, dwarfed by a barn that squatted just behind it. As he watched, the back door of the cabin swung open. Out walked a girl that looked a little older than he was, a tiny wind hatchling perched on her shoulder.
Ragnar made an odd noise. Oscar frowned at him, concerned. He didn't get the chance to ask what was wrong—the hatchling lifted its head, sniffed the air, and peeped. Its rider looked up and saw them. She froze, her eyes flicking towards her hatchling, then the cabin, as if she was thinking about bolting inside.
"Lo," Ragnar said, poking his head out from between the trees. "Rrow?"
"Uh." The girl backed up a few paces. The door banged open again, and three more heads poked outside. "A row of what?"
A frustrated huff. Ragnar glanced at the other three teenagers, each with a dragonet clinging to them. Or, in the case of one girl, hanging by its teeth from her sleeve. "Com," he told them. "Ssafe."
Glacier let out a little hiss that Oscar took to mean Speak for yourself. His wings flared as they approached. They seemed to get the message, and steered clear of him and Whitley. The boy with the earth dragon peeled away from them towards the barn, casting nervous glances over his shoulder as he went.
All of a sudden, after weeks of being alone except for Ragnar, Whitley, and Glacier, Oscar found himself surrounded by curious faces. He edged a little closer to the ancient earth dragon.
The other boy, who had a water dragon sitting on his head, nudged the girl with the fire dragon and whispered, much too loudly, "Is that Ragnar?" Oscar didn't hear her reply, but her eyes flicked towards Glacier—probably noticing that Ragnar wasn't the only strange member of their litttle group.
"Rrow?" Ragnar asked again. And, when they all stared blankly back at him, "Tai?"
"Oh!" Comprehension dawned on the wind rider's face. "You mean Mister Qrow and Mister Tai?"
Ragnar made a sound like a suppressed snort, and nodded.
"They left," said the boy. "Um. If you're trying to... give them orders? From—" The fire rider smacked his arm, hard, and he winced.
Ragnar paused. Apparently absorbing this new information. Then he took a deep breath, huffed, and said, "Ffuck."
Oscar choked.
Even as the youngling burst into the barn to warn her, Tempest had already smelled him. Her ears perked up, her eyes going wide with a mix of relief and dread. "Rrak-narr..."
She trotted outside, the youngling following close behind her, York hot on his heels. Ragnar lifted his head and barked a greeting at them.
Tempest stopped in front of him, a friendly greeting dying in her throat. Instead she butted her forehead against his flank and said, "I'm sorry." She felt him shudder, and pulled away.
"I need to talk to Phoenix," Ragnar said, not meeting her eyes. "Do you know how to find her?"
Her ears drooped even further at the mention of her sister. "No. Why?" She noticed for the first time that Ragnar wasn't alone—there were two humans, even younger than her students, and a fully grown ice dragon that looked ready to bolt. "And how...?"
"This is Glacier," Ragnar explained. Badly.
"I know he's Glacier," Tempest said, her tail flicking in agitation. There weren't that many ice dragons. "Don't you live in Atlas?"
Glacier stared at her, and said nothing.
Tempest moved to sniff the white-haired boy. He flinched and backed away. The ice dragon's ears went back, and he let out a warning hiss, his teeth bared. She retreated—she could already tell that the boy smelled like Ruby's partner. Looked like her, too. So he was one of the humans that could have ice dragons, but why was he with this one? Where was Glacier's rider?
"It's a long story," said Ragnar. "Apparently. He hasn't told me much."
"Why is he with you?"
Ragnar glanced at Glacier, who flicked his tail and didn't answer.
Oh. Tempest's insides twisted into a sympathetic knot. "Why do you need Phoenix?" she asked, hoping to change the subject. Glacier obviously didn't want to talk about it.
"I'm looking for the students." Ragnar touched the top of the other boy's head with his nose. "Oscar helped me recover after the attack at Beacon. Now I need to find them so I can help."
"Right." Tempest glanced at Glacier. Was he looking for Weiss, then? "I don't know where Phoenix is, but Tai and Qrow went looking for Yang and Ruby. They sent a message saying they were in the woods north of Vacuo."
"That's perfect!"
Glacier's stare intensified. "Singing one?"
"Weiss?" Tempest guessed, and when he nodded she said, "Yes."
"Go." Glacier grabbed Whitley by the back of his shirt—ignoring his startled yelp—and started walking due north. "Go now."
Ragnar sighed. "Glacier. You're going the wrong way."
Glacier reluctantly put Whitley down. "Go," he said again.
"I don't think I can fly yet," Ragnar admitted.
Tempest's ears went back. "What?"
He extended a wing, showing her several long gashes in the membranes. They were mostly healed, and held together by neat stitches, but the stress of flight might tear them wide open again.
She considered this for a few moments. "Well," she said slowly. "Tai and Qrow said they were going to find the students. And they'll get there before we do."
York let out a confused warble at the 'we.'
"No!" Glacier insisted. "Find singing one. Find—"
Tempest huffed at him. He went quiet and let her continue. "The thing is, they'll have to go somewhere after that happens. And it can't really be here. Hiding four people is one thing, but they'd have to camp in the backyard if everyone showed up. Besides... the students want to fight."
Ragnar shuffled his wings uneasily. Glacier just cocked his head to one side.
"You want to go where they're going next and meet them there," Ragnar said.
"I think it's going to be Atlas."
He tensed. "Atlas? But—"
"James is helping." That seemed to make Ragnar uneasy. Tempest wasn't surprised—his rider had always been the cautious one, while James could be rash at times. "Atlas is the last academy left that the Council haven't taken over. If it was me, I'd go there."
Ragnar considered that for a few minutes. "Very good," he decided, dipping his head low. Tempest almost squeaked—if someone had told her as a hatchling that the Ragnar would make such a respectful gesture to her...
"Right," she said, flustered. "York? Can you look after these students?"
York stared at her. Then, slowly, glanced over at the humans. "Um..."
"Why are you looking at us like that?" one youngling asked nervously.
A brief argument followed. Tempest refused to stay behind—she'd done it when Tai and Qrow had promised her they had things in hand, but this was different. If the Council really did move on Atlas, and Yang and Ruby were there, that meant she would be there. Period. York wanted to go too, which made her balk until she remembered that one of the students' mothers was due back by later that night. They, and the broodies, would be okay.
"Can you wait until she gets here?" Tempest asked York. "And then... their families are riders that want things to change. I know there are other riders like that."
"I'll spread the word," York said, with a nod.
"Good." Tempest turned towards Ragnar and Glacier. "Then I'm coming with you."
Glacier's eyes narrowed a bit suspiciously, but he didn't argue. He just said, "Go now?"
"Yes," Ragnar agreed. "We should."
They explained things to the younglings as best they could. It took a long time, and she wasn't totally sure how much they'd understood. Tempest did at least manage to remind them to keep up with York's ointment—much to his dismay.
"Right," she said at last. "Lead the way."
Ragnar nudged Oscar with his nose, prompting him to clamber up onto his back. Glacier just grabbed Whitley by his shirt again and dropped him there. Tempest followed, alone.
"Well, kids!" Tai said cheerfully, his hands on his hips. "Looks like we're finally out of the woods!"
There was a brief pause. Then Yang burst out laughing and clapped her dad on the back, while Storm watched with her head tilted to one side.
Was that funny? asked Penny.
I don't really know...
She didn't really care, either. There, at the edge of the forest, they were finally all together again. Storm sat on her haunches with Ruby leaning into her side, and Fang and Pit and Specter surrounding her. Letting herself relax, just a little, before the next crisis struck.
Which was about fifteen seconds later, when Blake called for everyone's attention. "There's something I—we—need to say." She glanced sideways at Ilia, who winced.
"Well..." Ilia shot Blake a pleading look, and got an encouraging nod back.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "We know where a White Fang camp is," she said, cutting through the silent battle of wills. "At least, we know where one was a few days ago."
Winter's eyes narrowed. "And how exactly did you come by that information?"
"Um," said Blake, her ears folding back.
"Uh," Ilia said, and turned magenta.
Weiss reached out and squeezed Blake's hand. She took a deep breath and squeezed back. "We used to be in the White Fang."
There was a tense silence.
"I can't help but notice," Winter said, her voice very calm, "that I'm the only one surprised by this."
"The staff were aware," Professor Goodwitch confirmed.
Winter glared at Qrow.
"What?" Qrow asked. "It's news to me. Mostly. I kinda figured something was going on with that one." He jabbed a finger at Ilia, who turned slightly redder.
"I'm surprised," Tai offered helpfully.
Qrow thumped him on the back. "Of course you are."
"Hey!"
"And now you want us to trust you," Winter cut in.
Blake bristled. "It was good enough for Ozpin."
"Oh, of course. How could I—"
"Whitley got away!" Weiss blurted, stopping the argument cold before it could start.
Winter did a double take. "What?"
"He and Glacier got away." She glanced at Ilia. "I wouldn't know if she hadn't told me."
"If you were involved in—"
"Winter!" Weiss winced, apparently horrified that she'd just interrupted her sister—but Winter was shocked into silence. "You're not listening," she said, more quietly. "She didn't have to do that."
"That's hardly a reason to trust her."
"Well, that's not my only reason. Blake vouched for her."
Winter raised an eyebrow. "I see."
"I wouldn't want to risk going back in there," said Blake, "but this information won't stay good for long. And if we have a chance to shut down that lab..."
"Point taken," Winter said grudgingly. She turned a chilly stare on Ilia. "If this is a trap, I will leave you out here with the pit dragons."
"Well!" Tai clapped his hands together. "I guess that means we're splitting up again? Because I don't think walking there is a good idea."
Storm's head snapped up. They were going to be separated again?
It isn't your fault, Penny assured her, almost before she'd started to think it. Grounding one of you was their plan from the start. You just had the bad luck to be the closest dragon at the time.
It helped. A little.
"I'm staying with the main group," Yang said, stepping a little closer to Ruby.
Weiss glanced at Blake. "I'm going," she decided.
Blake nodded. "Me too. And we'll need Ilia to show us where it is." Storm couldn't help noticing that Ilia didn't look happy about that—and Justice, the second-angriest fire dragon she'd ever met, was literally smoking.
Eventually, they decided that Steele, Quake, and the JNPR dragons would also fly out to the White Fang lab. There was a little hiccup, then, until Tai offered to bring Pyrrha on Quake. They stopped long enough to eat and sleep and, when they woke up again the next morning, they started the long walk to Vacuo.
Flying in a V was a lot harder than Steele made it look. Specter struggled to stay just behind him, instead of falling away or accidentally passing him. He was so focused on that, it took several tries for the older dragon to get his attention.
"What?" he blurted. "Sorry!"
Steele chuffed. "I was only asking if you were alright—though I think I already have my answer."
Specter's ears flattened. "Oh. Right."
"You've done well out here," Steele told him. "I'm impressed."
Specter squeaked, and his wings missed a beat. When he'd stabilized the slight wobble, he found that he couldn't look directly at Steele. He couldn't for the life of him understand what he meant.
"I didn't," he said miserably.
Another amused chuff. "Take the compliment, youngling."
"What happened to Storm... it was my—" He stopped, remembering what she'd told him. "Well, no, but it was—I did it. Sort of. I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it."
Steele went very quiet. Then, "Those devices."
"It was a prototype. Weiss smashed it with a rock." Specter wasn't sure why he was telling Steele that. Maybe he just didn't want to hear him go silent again. He stared fixedly at the horizon, tensing for the blow.
"In that case," Steele said, "you did very well out here."
Specter almost fell out of the sky in his shock. "But—"
"You aren't to blame for those things." Steele spat the last word like it was the vilest insult he knew. "But even after going through all that, you protected your rider from the pit dragons. I couldn't have done better myself."
"R-really?"
"Well, I would have flown better," Steele teased, "but that's only a matter of experience. You've escaped dragons much older than you, these past few days. With practice, it'll be a rare dragon that can catch you in the air."
Specter spent the rest of the flight practically glowing from the inside. There was still a part of him that was unconvinced, and probably would be for a long time—but it meant a lot to know that Steele wasn't disappointed in him.
Eventually it got dark, and they were forced to stop. Ilia said that they were only a few more hours away by air, and should reach the camp the next morning. Specter curled up with what felt like a nest of live snakes in his stomach. He still remembered the last time they'd had an actual fight with the White Fang. So did Pit, judging by his stony silence.
Weiss and Blake sat squished between them. Specter was starting to like this position—he loved sleeping with his rider next to him, but sometimes he worried she would get cold at night. With Blake and Pit there too, he knew she wouldn't be.
He was just about to close his eyes when he heard a noise somewhere behind him. His ear flicked, and he turned his head to find Justice staring at them.
No... glaring. So intensely that Specter half-expected sparks to fly from his eyes.
Specter bared his teeth and hissed. Justice turned away, with smoke curling between his teeth.
The nervous churning in his stomach started up again. Ilia seemed mostly alright—at least, Blake trusted her and she had warned them about Cinder. And she'd told Weiss about Whitley, which had made her a lot happier. Her dragon, on the other hand...
Specter let out a little sigh and tucked his head into Pit's side. Within minutes, he was fast asleep—and didn't notice a pair of scarlet eyes glowing resentfully in the dark.