The chapter title does not mean what you think it means, I'm sorry.
Location: Ivorysteppe, Mistral
April 3rd
[Rescue]
Sandcaster is destroyed…
There's nothing left of the little town, and with the majority of the forest swept away by the flood, Weiss is forced to leave everything behind, again.
She'd grown familiar with Sandcaster, almost coming to see it as 'home', believing she'd found a generally safe place to raise her daughter. It was one of the nicest towns they'd come across within the last five years.
Now, she's back at square one. Except, this time she doesn't have people searching for her as it was called off almost five years ago. To her surprise, her previous location in Vacuo didn't end up all over the Remnant news to reveal she was still alive. Perhaps her father now believes she perished when Southspear's underground metro station was attacked, just as she'd predicted…
It seems like everywhere they went, disaster followed closely behind; the Tribe in Vacuo pretty much banished her, Southspear was attacked and most of the population likely perished; some of them having reluctantly migrated to Vale to escape the recuperate. Now, Sandcaster is gone.
As all of their food was destroyed with the flood, she's left with absolutely nothing to eat and she's running low on lien again, her next encounter with Winter wasn't for a few months, if she remembers correctly. Most of her lien had gone towards food within the past few weeks, more and more money gone as the prices became higher. Sure, she made money from her brief huntress missions, but had very little to live off of.
She couldn't afford to purchase a train ticket to Mistral for herself and her daughter now, she needs to save it in case of emergencies and get to the nearest town as soon as possible.
Managing to locate a cargo train station, she learns that one of them would be taking the route to the heart of Anima early in the morning. Its last stop would be in Argus to reload. Luckily, the very first stop is where she'll be getting off.
Not wanting to miss the train, Weiss camped out in the field a few feet away from the station. She'd catch one of the train carts as it departed, just before the engine started picking up speed.
Sometimes during the night, her daughter broke out into a nasty coughing fit and when Weiss checked her temperature with the back of her hand, she was warm to the touch. Iris had cuddled herself against her mother in an attempt to seek comfort from the obvious discomfort she was feeling; neither one of them got much sleep.
By the time dawn comes, Weiss was awoken by the sound of the train horn blaring. It'd taken a great deal of effort to get the complaining, crying five-year old to get up. Thankfully, within a few minutes, she was successful.
Now, they're waiting a little ways away from the train tracks, Weiss intently listening for the sound of the train approaching with her bag hanging loosely over her shoulder and Iris tiredly pressing herself into her side, sniffling and coughing. Her throat is hoarse and the child is absolutely drained, which only increases Weiss' worries for her health.
They need to get to Ivory Steppe before Iris gets any sicker, her immune system is already weak and being attacked by whatever virus she's contracted. What if it's deadly…?
Weiss lifts her head upon hearing the train horn blaring again and she lets out a shaky sigh. That was the third horn. One horn would mean about to take off, two horns mean ready to go, and the third one means leaving the station. "Come on, Iris" Weiss murmurs, rising to her feet to head towards the tracks, "the train is leaving."
"Noooo!" Iris' voice reaches a high-pitched scream, cutting off abruptly, she's clinging to the woman's leg so that she wouldn't walk off, her voice cracks as tears form in her eyes. "Don't wanna go!"
The woman sighs, glancing between Iris and the departing train in the distance. "Iris, we don't have time for this!" She scolds as she pulls her leg away from the child, guilt twisting in her chest when Iris screamed in protest and then fell silent. She was pouting now, little, quiet sobs wracking her small frame. 'Oh, come on.'
"Iris," she murmurs as she kneels down to look at her, "honey, you have to come with me… We can't just sit here." Iris pouts and avoids eye contact with her, choked whimpers is Weiss' only response. "I know you don't feel good, that's why we have to catch the train. Just, please, work with me, okay?"
The attempts to persuade Iris to come with her are futile and unsuccessful.
Giving up, Weiss kneels down and takes the child into her arms, ignoring the frustrated scream when she was disturbed and pulled from her sulking. It was out hot right now, so it wasn't helping with Iris' obvious fever, which explains her easily irritated mood.
With Iris in her arms, she can't climb onto the side of a train cart. She would have to use her semblance. The front of the train passes by quickly, she's watching the train carts for a rideable wagon. Most of them towards the front. were covered or full of bricks or coal. Spotting what looks to be a mostly empty wagon, probably transporting light materials, a glyph takes structure beneath her feet as she prepares to launch herself towards the wagon.
As it comes closer, she notices an unusual cart with thick metal bars surrounding the surface. Bold numbers are spray-painted on the side of it with the Atlas logo just above; it looks like a train cart for transporting large animals. Hopefully, it's empty…
"Hang on, Iris." Weiss mutters to her disgruntled daughter as she moves her to her back, holding her wrists with one hand as the child wraps her arms around her neck piggy-back style. Activating her semblance and summoning a trail of matching glyphs to form a path ahead of her, she pushes off one glyph with a burst of acceleration until she is matching the train's speed.
She withdraws her sword and clicks the barrel towards ice dust, elegantly twisting it upwards to create an ice ramp that her glyphs follow. "Mama!" Iris screams, breaking her already hoarse voice. Weiss' feet hit the ice and she turns her body, Iris tightening her grip as the ramp of ice collapses and Weiss launches herself into the air.
The soles of her shoes collide with the metal of a train car and she kneels down, allowing Iris to slip off her back and press her trembling self into Weiss' side. Any moment longer and the child wouldn't have had any remaining strength to hang on… Now she has to get her inside a train car. "You're okay, Iris… Come on." Weiss murmurs, spotting a vent just ahead.
Iris doesn't move.
She nudges her daughter forward and the little girl groans in protest, "Go!" Weiss snaps and the child crawls forward, her mother shielding the five-year old from the harsh wind to the best of her ability as Iris creeps towards the vent. Weiss uses the tip of Myrtenaster to remove the bolts and she tossed the vent cover back with one hand, using her spare arm to keep Iris close to her.
'I am never doing this again. Next time, land in an open train cart.'
"Mama?" Iris murmurs to her hoarsely, "Who they?" Looking down inside the car, she sees scared eyes staring back up at her, scrawny children hugging close to their equally skinny family.
Each one is filthy and covered in soot and dried blood.
Of course… Faunus are being transported to Atlas.
Gods, she was hoping this cart was empty...
They were lined up by the walls of the crate one by one, bound by their wrists and leaving a clear opening between them and the doors of the crate. It should be safe to drop down inside… Iris will be mostly out of the weather, and Weiss can rescue the faunus as well.
She slides her bag off of her shoulder and carelessly tosses it inside the train cart. Gently grasping Iris' arm to assist her into the cart, Weiss notices curious and offended eyes watching them. A surge of indescribable rage flashes through her body; her expression hardens into a menacing scowl, a warning, and they immediately look away.
Iris drops down into the crate with a loud thump.
"If any of you want to make it out of here alive, you'll stay away from her." Weiss warns the faunus before moving away from the vent. It probably wasn't a good idea to leave her ill daughter with likely already sick faunus, but there isn't much of a choice.
Weiss removes her blade from her side, slamming the tip of it down into the metal surface next to her, concentrating her energy on summoning a glyph in the train cart below.
A cold wisp hits her and she opens her eyes, grateful to see the icy blue form of a Beowulf protectively next to her daughter, its eyes watching the faunus warningly. Iris only looks up at the wolf in acknowledgement, before glancing back towards her mother.
"Mama!" Iris calls to her as the woman disappears from her sight.
Weiss stands to her feet and balances herself, calculating the distance between herself and the other covered wagon. Wind cracks at her skin and threatens to throw her off balance. Unintimidated, she takes a few steps back and draws in a deep breath.
"There should be a medical wagon somewhere up there…" She murmurs to herself. She kicks off her heel and breaks into a quick run, pushing off from the edge with abundance and effortlessly making the jump. A bit of pride swells in her chest, "Nailed it."
Weiss makes quick strides across the room of the wagon and leaps onto the other, landing one foot and kicking off with her other. Crossing three more wagons, she locates the medical supplies, identified by a red cross, she drops down onto the platform below.
The train tracks are whooshing below her at rapid speed, the carts rattling and clicking as the wheels rush across old rails. Her eyes wander to the coupler and she's conflicted; she could easily detach the cars right now, take what she needed and leave the rest of the equipment for the faunus…
But, other people required these items as well. She'll only take what is necessary.
Weiss turns to the wagon and she removes Myrtenaster from her side, checking the ice dust inside and sighing in defeat. Great, now she's running low on dust… Hoping it doesn't damage her blade, she picks the lock with the tip of her weapon and the lock snaps unlocked, dangling by a mere chain.
She creaks the heavy metal door open and steps inside, grateful for the light that the open door provides. The place reeks of the usual unpleasant smell that an infirmary would host; the iodoform disinfectant is almost overwhelming burning at her nose. "Gods!" She yelps, "This was a terrible idea! They do not do a good job of packaging some things."
Taking a moment to adjust to the stench, she moves forward and begins her search. She needs to find flu medication and bring back some bandages for the faunus.
Finding a box full of medication, Weiss kneels down to read the description and her brain nearly short-circuits when she sees the long and complicated name on the box. Tearing her eyes away, she runs her finger over the small text beneath and she lets out a sigh. Children's medicine for kids eight and under. "Perfect…"
Weiss pulls her weapon from her side and pokes the blade into the side of the crate, giving the handle of her sword a jerk and forcing the lid open. "Foolish of them to not secure these things…"
Weiss grabs the first bottle of golden liquid she sees and turns it, "For headaches and nausea…" She says out loud. She hesitates for a moment before setting it aside, figuring she'll possibly need it later. She checks a few more bottles to find that they are mostly the same thing. "Damn it!" She groans, shutting the box and moving it to access the one beneath.
She tears it open the same way and much to her relief, it appears to be flu medication. "Yes!" Setting it aside with the nausea bottle, Weiss moves away to locate some ointments and bandages. She only hopes she's getting the right thing… A doctor's office may want to do more than simply help Iris considering she's not in Remnant's medical system.
What if they run a DNA test on her and discover her heritage…?
Weiss shakes her head and grabs a pack of bandages from the crate she'd just opened, she glances around the crates again and walks slowly to search for antibiotics creams. She pauses when she notices a plastic crate in the corner, neatly stacked with blue and white boxes. Recognizing them immediately, she grabs a single box.
She seats herself down for a moment, opening the bag of bandages and slipping the bottles of medication inside. Weiss rips open the ointment box and removes the tubes of cream, stuffing them inside with the packages and bottles.
"That'll do." She mutters, pushing the empty box aside and standing up. She quickly exits the train cart and closes the heavily metal door, holding the bag between her teeth as she climbs back up to the top, grateful for the ladder attached to the side.
Removing the bag from her mouth and gripping it tightly with one hand, Weiss quickly returns to the faunus and her daughter. She lands on the wagon and strolls over to the open vent, brushing her fading violet hair out of her eyes before descending inside.
"Mama!" Iris' coughing voice greets as soon as Weiss' feet hit the metal ground. The little girl is huddled in the far corner, her nails digging into her skin- it looks like she's already drawn blood. When their eyes meet, Iris scrambles from her place in the corner and bolts towards her mother, embracing her tightly.
"I'm here, baby." Weiss rubs her daughter's back momentarily before standing up, Iris staying glued to her side as she approaches the faunus. She takes Myrtenaster from her hip again she sees them flinch, she holds up the bag of medical supplies.
"It's okay, I'm helping you…" She murmurs, "I just have to remove you from these chains, and I'll decouple this wagon from the rest of the train."
"Are you trying to kill us?!" A young man with a rhino's horn shouts at her, lunging in her direction and being restrained by the rope bound around his wrists.
"I'll allow you to figure that out yourself." Weiss answers bluntly as she hooks Myrtenaster between the rope of the raccoon woman in front of her and the blade cuts through the thread, snapping the knot free and releasing the woman. "Don't make me regret my decision…" She mutters as she cuts through another rope, freeing the woman's teenage son.
He immediately returns to his mother's side, his head held high and his tail twitching nervously. Once all of the people were free, Weiss removes Iris' medication and hands the bag to the first woman she released. "Hold onto this," she says, her arm descending to pull her daughter close to her, "we'll get started on patching you all up once we get off this train."
She detaches Myrtenaster from her side, a faint blue glow erupts from the outside of the fast-moving wagon. Her knight is waiting for a command.
"Who even are you?" One of them demands, sending a flash of irritation up Weiss' spine. "How do we know you're not rescuing us just to force us to work for you?!" These people had clearly been hurt… The children weren't even speaking, the light in their eyes had been crushed.
Weiss glares back at them, frustration swelling in her chest. "Hang on." She says nonchalantly. All eyes turn towards the bars of the freight and some jerk back to press themselves against the wall upon seeing the Arma Gigas rushing by them effortlessly with his sword in hand. Weiss kneels down and wraps her arms around Iris, securing her in her hold and preparing for the inevitable.
A loud, metallic crash and metal clinking echoes towards the front of the train cart, signaling the forced separation. Now, she has to slow the freight down before they crash, running at maximum speed. She doesn't have enough dust to encase them all in ice without somebody ending up injured, and with Iris clinging to her side she can't forcibly derail them…
"What the hell are you doing?!" A faunus yells at her, "This bitch is trying to kill us!"
She only has one logical, safe choice, and she prays to the Gods it'll work before they reach unstable terrain.
"You really think I'd risk my daughter's safety to kill some unappreciative people?!" Weiss yells back at the person, Iris flinching at the volume of her voice.
The landscape outside is practically a desert stretching into mountains, and they were rapidly approaching said rocky grounds. "I don't know how long we have until we reach uneven land… So unless you have a death wish, shut up and hang on!"
One hand descends to the floor of the car and she summons a black glyph, the front end of the freight violently jerks back and their speed decreases dramatically; a series of black glyphs are placed evenly ahead of them, the crate gradually slowing down as they pass over each glyph.
Finally, the crate slows down and inches to a stop, the last two crates behind them lightly bumping into the barred freight and rattling them momentarily. "Oh, thank the Gods…" Weiss murmurs under her breath, releasing Iris and leaning back against the cold wall behind her. "I didn't actually think that would work."
"Mama?" Iris' voice grabs her attention and she leans back up, withdrawing the medication from her pocket and turning it over. She hears the sound of the door creaking open as the faunus hop out of the freight, helping each other remove the remains of the rope around their wrists. "Who're they?" Iris asks tentatively, "Why can't they move their arms?"
"They are people, just like Faline and Ena." Weiss answers her daughter quietly, reading the instructions and removing the cap, "they needed help, they were being taken somewhere and sold against their will."
Outside, the woman is handing out bandages and ointments. It should last them and prevent infection until they reach civilization.
Weiss lifts the cup of golden liquid up to her daughter, "Now, take this."
Iris' nose scrunches up in disgust and she wiggles away from her mother, scrambling out of her arms and screaming when Weiss manages to catch her by the wrist. The scream tears at her throat and causes the child to erupt into a fit of nasty coughs that wrack her tiny body violently.
"Iris, Flower," Weiss murmurs, keeping her hold on Iris' wrist as the persistent child begins to attempt to pull away again, "you need to take this."
"No!" She yells again, shrieking as loud as her hoarse throat will allow her too as Weiss effortlessly pulls her back. Weiss sets the cup down so that it's not spilled.
"Iris-"
"No!" Iris screams, kicking and thrashing as an attempt to break away from her. Gods, she was acting like Weiss was trying to kill her!
"Iris! Listen to me!" Weiss barks in frustration, stubborn silver eyes glare back at her in retaliation. Acknowledging the rage bubbling in her chest, she breathes in a relaxing sigh and loosens her grip on her daughter's arm, but not loose enough for her to run off. She wasn't going to yell…
But, she hates seeing her daughter like this; sick, hurting and in pain.
She doesn't even like the look in her eyes right now, but then again the medicine will probably taste as horrid as it smells… She can't blame her. "If you take this, it'll make your throat feel better," she explains lightly, "we're heading to Mistral and there will be a lot of kids there for you to play with. But you can't play with them if you're sick."
"I don't care!" Iris shouts back at her, voice cracking, and attempting to pull away again.
"Look at me, Iris." Weiss orders softly and the child looks back at her suspiciously. "You're very sick, you can't even speak all that well without coughing…" The little girl sneers at her and it's momentarily like looking into a mirror. "You know I love you, right?"
Her daughter sticks her tongue out at her and Weiss chuckles in amusement. "Well, I do." She releases Iris' arm, "I love you very much, and I don't want anything happening to you…" Iris doesn't budge. "You being sick hurts my heart, Iris. I want to help you, but I can't if you won't let me."
Iris huffs with her arms crossed. "It smells bad."
Weiss laughs a little bit, "Trust me, I know. Your mother could kill a pack of beowulves with her eyes closed," this manages to grab Iris' attention, she was always curious when Weiss mentioned Ruby, "but when it came to medication…"
The child leans forward a little bit, silver eyes sparkling with curiosity. "How did you get Mom to take it?"
The woman's body becomes rigid as humiliation swells in her chest, rising to her cheeks. Weiss shakes her head, "Well," she answers in an unintentional high-pitched voice, "I promised her a reward when she was feeling better."
Iris tilts her head, "Like what?"
Weiss blinks, taken aback. "Um… Nothing. That's for me to know, and for you to never find out. Take your medicine."
Iris pouts for a moment, "Can I have a sucker?"
"You know that's bad for your teeth." Weiss sighs in defeat, "Fine, if you take your medicine," she hands the cup to her five-year-old for emphasis, "you can have two when we get to town."
Well, at least it persuaded her to take the medicine…
She needs to get to the next village soon, before her negativity begins drawing Grimm towards them.
"Come on," Weiss says as she stands to her feet, "let's check on everyone." She stops when she sees the faunus running in the opposite direction, discarding the tubes of ointment and leaving bloodied bandages behind.
How ungrateful.
"What?" She murmurs under her breath, stepping down onto the ground. Hearing a light whirring sound above her, she looks up to see a familiar airship descending.
Winter.
The airship meets the ground and the gravity dust is shut off, the doors slide open to reveal Winter stepping around the corner with her hands behind her back. Her gaze is cold.
"Aunty!" Iris grins as she bolts over to her happily, her voice is scratchy, but excited. She hopes up into the airship effortlessly and hugs her aunt's leg, smiling when Winter affectionately greets her and pats her back.
"Weiss." She says without emotion, narrowing her brows. Weiss matches her scowl and Winter raises a brow, gesturing behind her. "Get. Inside. We need to talk."
"You're right," Weiss says back with an equal amount of venom, "we absolutely do."
"An entire shipment of faunus... Gone!"
His blood is boiling, his jaw firm and his fists clenched as he paces around the room. "They said it looked like the freight was forcibly decoupled." His brows twitch in irritation and he stops at his desk, slamming one fist down on the polished surface with a loud thud. "They're claiming those filthy faunus freed themselves!"
"They can be quite clever." Willow murmurs from her rocking chair, paying little to no mind to her irate husband. She was only half listening to his rant.
"The faunus did not do this!" Jacques snaps in frustration as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. The volume of his voice increases; "They do not have the intelligence to do so! They're animals!" He finishes with a shout, he groans in aggravation and rubs his chin in thought.
"You know… The conductor did notice a white, glowing knight. Not to mention, Weiss' body was never located in the wreckage of Southspear."
Willow's hand clutches the arm of her chair and she grits her teeth, breathing in a sharp breath and letting out a relaxed sigh. "She's dead, Jacques." Cold blue eyes turn to glare at the woman, but she doesn't bother to meet his stare. "There have not been any sightings of her for years. She's gone."
"That is exactly what she wants us to think," Jacques scoffs, "she is somewhere out there with that bastard of hers, thinking she's won, and I am going to find her."
Oooh. Tension between the sisters. What could go wrong?
And the bastard Jacques, who is slowly losing his mind.
"Why was Weiss mean to those faunus?!"
She is stressed, and she hasn't slept well, her baby is sick, and she didn't know if they were friendly or violent. This is why she summoned the Beowulf for intimidation. She would've done the same thing, had it been humans.
"Where's Ruby?"
Good question! We'll see where she is next chapter! (hint: wedding)
"When will they be reunited?! This is getting old."
Soon! The story doesn't end with them reuniting, I promise. That would be a shitty ending for this fic. Keep an eye out for a chapter titled "Silver Mirrors"!