"It feels like it has been quite some time since our last meeting, doesn't it?" Dorian pointed out as they made their way through the security checkpoints and metal detectors that led to the conference room where they would meet the other leaders. "Not that I'm complaining, because believe me, I'm not. The less that we meet, the less the other kingdoms can bother us about our ongoing issues, you know. Like, 'Where's Strakh?' 'Why aren't you doing your jobs?', and all that. I mean, you think they'd be willing to help if they don't have their own major issues going on, but it seems like they all just want to point a finger at you and say, 'Do better.' Maybe they all do have problems going on in their kingdoms but aren't saying anything. Doesn't that kind of go against the rules of the new council? I mean, that's how Oz got us into the first mess."
He paused to glance over at Olesia who was staring straight ahead before she glanced at him with a smile.
"Feel better?" She asked. Dorian chuckled.
"A little," he replied as they entered the room. Dorian made a direct line for his chair as Olesia headed to Stratford, giving him a kiss as they exchanged a few words, Siobhan staring daggers at the two of them the entire time before the head of Vacuo turned to leave for her seat. Siobhan expressed her discontent to Stratford quietly and he laughed egregiously before sitting down and locking eyes with Olesia again. "Things must be going really well between the two of you."
"Yeah," Olesia agreed. Dorian took a deep breath and nodded.
"Good," he told her. "I'm glad."
"Alright everybody," Ruby declared as she entered the room. "We have a decent amount to get through in today's meeting and I realize that we don't have much time, or some of us don't anyway, so we should probably get right to it."
"Where are Winter and Kitsune?" Siobhan pried.
"They are running a little late, but I'm sure that, seeing as how Qrow is Winter's husband, that he can vote in her stead," Ruby noted. Dorian stood.
"With all due respect ma'am, one of the two of them should only be allowed to cast votes for their kingdom," Dorian pointed out. "Those are the rules that were decided upon, and if we break them once, what's not to say we'll break them again?"
"I'm inclined to agree with him," Stratford added. Ruby looked at Qrow who shrugged and she sighed.
"Alright, we'll invoke the emergency vote clause then," Ruby groaned.
"Vote without them?" Stratford questioned.
"Winter wasn't sure how late she would be and we can't wait all day. Ruby is very busy," Qrow defended.
"That's perfectly fine," Stratford replied. "I just wanted to clarify the decision that was being made."
"Alright," Ruby said, sitting down. "Should we begin then?"
"Ruby!" Shouted Winter as she entered the large room, her voice thundering through the space. It wasn't merely to announce her arrival. There was panic in her voice. The expression on Kitsune's face wasn't comforting.
"What's going on?" Ruby questioned.
"There's something I need to discuss with you quickly," Winter blurted out as she reached the younger woman and whispered something in her ear. Ruby's eyes widened as she looked at Winter who nodded.
"I need to go," Ruby told them all as she stood and marched quickly for the door.
"The vote can't wait any longer." Olesia reminded her. "The expo is next week!"
"Qrow can vote in my place!" Ruby announced, calling back to them. Qrow looked at Winter with a puzzled expression before she explained what was going on in a whisper. Qrow looked at her for a long moment before shaking his head slowly.
"Doesn't exactly sit right first thing in the morning," Qrow noted.
"Shall we skip straight to voting?" Siobhan questioned. "Our kingdom personally has nothing to report, and I'm guessing Atlas and Vacuo are no closer to finding the missing Atlesian Officer."
"We'll have him soon!" Kitsune barked. Siobhan smirked as she sat back.
"So some of the Atlas military does talk," Siobhan prodded. Winter looked back towards Mistral's seats.
"We'd like to keep progress under wraps for now," Winter added.
"Turning into Ironwood?" Dorian questioned. Winter bit her tongue and took a deep breath.
"We have our reasons," Winter defended.
"Let's not fight, shall we?" Stratford tried to appease everyone. "I motion we skip to the vote." They all looked at him and those not yet seated took their places as they agreed with their silence.
"Sure, why not?" Qrow agreed verbally. Olesia took the floor first, displaying an updated model of one of the Vacuo military's mechs.
"We would like to show off and have a member of our military display the new additions that we've made to our piloted armors. We've added fingerprint scanners with Atlas's help, as well as heftier firepower, with the help of Mistral. This should cut down on Strakh's people stealing them, and we'd like to show Vale and the other kingdoms what's to come for Vacuo," Olesia explained. Dorian nodded and clapped to himself quietly as he looked around the room, locking eyes with Siobhan who smirked at him.
"I have no qualms," Siobhan added. They all nodded in agreement with her.
"If no one has any issues with this we'll continue on," Qrow instructed. Olesia waited for a moment before taking her seat once more and Winter took her spot on the floor.
"Let me guess, hard light advancements?" Sterling inquired. Siobhan and Olesia both laughed under their breaths and Kitsune glanced away.
"Yes, but why is that funny?!" Winter demanded. Qrow chuckled and shook his head.
"Been the same song and dance for a while, hun," Qrow reminded her.
"We can do things with hard light Dust that other kingdoms could never hope to achieve," Winter noted.
"Only because Atlas has more money to pour into research and development than our kingdoms have for our huntsmen academies," Dorian pointed out. Winter's face turned red as she looked at Kitsune for help.
"Anyone opposed?" Kitsune asked sheepishly. Winter glared around the room before rolling her eyes and retaking her seat. Qrow stood beside her, opting to stay behind his table.
"I'm sure that Ruby has a lot prepared to be shown off at the expo, but nothing as far as the council needs to approve that I'm aware of," Qrow explained, sitting again. Sterling stood and cleared his throat.
"I know that we've already discussed this previously, but I would like to show off the prototype for the aura piercing bullet at the expo," Sterling presented. Winter and Qrow both shifted uncomfortably.
"I thought we had an agreement," Qrow noted.
"We haven't produced anymore," Siobhan defended.
"Just the one prototype. That's all I'm asking. I will personally see to it that it makes it to the expo safely and leaves in the same manner," Sterling insisted.
"I'm with Sterling," Olesia added.
"Of course you are," Kitsune sighed.
"Why are you so desperate for the public to see this?" Winter inquired.
"Pride, probably," Dorian offered offhand.
"We can't keep losing to Abigor and the Children of Salem," Sterling informed them. "We can't seem to get ahead. This is the edge that we need. If they know that something like this is out there, that it exists… it might be enough to make them think twice from now on." Sterling ran his fingers through his hair. "And making them think twice even once might be enough for us to get ahead. I know we all like to play the part of holier than thou and hard ass, but we have to admit that our agents, our militaries, and Coco are doing everything that they can to try and slow down Salem's resurgence."
"There has to be a better way to keep them at bay for the time being," Winter insisted. Qrow sighed.
"You'll personally see to it that it remains untouched?" Qrow questioned. Winter shot him a look.
"Qrow," she murmured.
"He's got a point," Qrow debated. "This could be the break we need." He stood slowly, cracking his back. "Opposed?" They all looked at him and glanced at each other. After a few seconds of silence, Qrow nodded slowly, staring hard at Sterling. "Don't mess this up."
"I'll have the Vale police department, Emerald, and Siobhan with me," Sterling noted as everyone else in the room joined them in standing. "They'd have to blind us to steal it from under our noses." Qrow nodded slowly.
"We should head to the hospital," Winter told him quietly.
"Right," Qrow agreed.
"Winter," Kitsune pressed, waiting for the room to empty.
"Yes?" Winter asked.
"Are we planning on telling the council about the stone?" Kitsune asked. Qrow glanced at Winter before looking at Kitsune.
"You know?" Qrow questioned.
"I know that Vale lost the Death stone after the fight at Beacon and that we have the Life stone in a secure location," Kitsune informed him. "That's the extent of my knowledge."
"Who all knows?" Qrow asked.
"The Ace-Ops and everyone in Ironwood's 'Inner Circle'," Kitsune explained.
"Winter…" Qrow grumbled.
"You know how James is," Winter reminded him.
"When you all were complaining about Oz keeping secrets…" Qrow exhaled.
"And you weren't supposed to tell me about the stones per Ruby, so I guess that makes us even," Winter retorted.
"And you thought telling Jimmy was a good idea?" Qrow stammered.
"He'll keep it safe," Kitsune assured him.
"I sure hope so, kid," Qrow said as he left with Winter. "I hope so."
Ruby restrained herself to keep from completely destroying the front doors of the hospital as she screamed towards the medical facility using her semblance, reforming at the last second before brushing herself off and taking a deep breath, pushing forward despite the fear of what she might find. The receptionist looked as professional as ever and Ruby approached the woman, her eyes widening slightly as she realized who was walking towards her.
"Ruby Rose?!" She blurted out. A few other people in the lobby and a nurse turned in awe at her.
"I'm looking for Neela Xiao Long," Ruby informed her and the receptionist nodded her head.
"Who isn't?" She asked as she pointed Ruby in the direction of the ICU. "You'll… you'll figure it out."
"Thanks," Ruby told her. She headed deeper in, opening two large wooden doors leading into a long and sweeping hallway, most of the rooms were open, on occasion one would be closed, but Ruby couldn't hear any of the conversations happening on the other side. That's when she spotted a few students who threw a double-take at her, whispering to each other as she brushed by and entered another waiting room, and immediately Ruby knew where she was heading. The second waiting room was considerably larger than the first, and a horde of students from Beacon was packed into one of the seating areas, none of them acknowledging her fully, acting as teens would, a soft split between them of ones that were generally concerned, and ones that didn't fully understand the weight of the situation and were horsing around.
"Ruby," Cobalt called for her. He made his way to her through the mass, the rest of his team in tow. "Sheesh. The whole school might be here."
"Seems that way," Ruby agreed.
"I'd take you to her room, but she's already maxed out on visitors in there, with family and the rest of her team. Oh, and Coco too," Cobalt informed her.
"I'll get there eventually," Ruby offered with a weak smile. Neela was unresponsive. According to Winter, Jaune and Ren were unsure they could wake her up… ever. Her Aura wouldn't reactivate which was uncommon for someone her age with as much fight as she had. How hard had that thing rocked her? Or… was there something else going on?
"Ruby!" Another voice called, Blake quickly rushed out of the crowded hallway with Shadow in her arms to embrace her sister-in-law. "I thought you had a council meeting this morning."
"Family is always more important," Ruby informed her. "Do we know anything else yet?"
"No," Blake sighed.
"Aunt Ruby, Sissy won't wake up!" Shadow cried out sounding panicked.
"I'm sure she'll pull through," Ruby assured her. "She's the best after all, right?"
"Right," Shadow agreed quietly. Ruby met eyes with Blake again.
"We will find that thing. And Blood," Ruby promised. "Even if I have to hunt it down personally."
"You might have to fight Yang for the honors," Blake noted as Yang nearly leveled several people on her way back to the front of the building.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted at her. Yang glared at her, fire burning in her eyes and hair.
"Don't try and stop me," Yang demanded. All of the students and staff turned to look at her.
"We'll find it and take it out, but we need to put a team together and do some more research!" Ruby informed her. "Coco, May, and Harriet couldn't stop that thing!"
"So you don't think I can?!" Yang bellowed. "I have more at stake!"
"You know Coco cares about Neela just as much!" Ruby finally shouted back. She closed the gap between them and grabbed her sister's hands. "Shadow, Blake, and Neela need you here. Not out there looking for that monster. I'll handle it. You know you can trust me." Yang nodded, holding back tears.
"I… I'm just so scared…" Yang admitted before the embers died. She looked at her hands. "This is nothing like the last time we brought her here. I can't help her this time."
"Yes you can," Ruby said looking into her eyes.
"That's not what I mean," Yang added. "I want to hold her and tell her it'll be okay and know that it'll comfort her. When… when we brought her here to get checked out after we found her in the woods she was terrified. And she wouldn't let me leave her side."
"I know," Ruby interrupted, but Yang continued.
"She'd look up at me and ask 'Is the doctor going to hurt me?' And I asked 'Why would you think that?' 'That's what Adam said human doctors do.' I told her that I wouldn't let them hurt her and if she was scared she could squeeze my hand. She said it was less scary with me there, even though I was a human."
"Yang…"
"I can't lose her," Yang ended. Ruby pulled her in for a hug as Shadow watched the two of them.
"She'll be okay, Mommy," Shadow insisted. "Sissy is the best."
"I know she is," Yang managed through her sobs. "I know."
"You want to see her?" Blake questioned. Ruby nodded.
"You're holding up surprisingly well," Ruby noted as Blake turned away and took a deep breath.
"Follow me then," Blake managed, they left Yang in the lobby with Nora and Pyrrha who had just shown up, embracing their friend. Ruby made her way through an ocean of students and teachers, or friends of the family rather, until they reached the room where Coco was pacing at the foot of the bed and Titus sat in one of the chairs, parts of him bandaged up. Ilia held Neela's hand as she crouched beside the bed, and Eren sat beside Titus, simply staring at the floor.
"I'm sorry," Eren must have repeated because Titus groaned and looked at him irritatedly.
"For the last time, your plan was the best one we had," Titus asserted. "This isn't your fault. Neela knew what she was doing. She knew you needed saving and there wasn't a thing that she would have done differently."
"I know, I just…" Eren began whining again.
"He's right," Ruby interrupted. "A huntsman and huntress always know the risk, and are willing to lay down their life for anyone." Eren looked up at her and sighed, nodding.
"She'll be fine, right?" Ilia asked. Ruby wanted to say yes to put them at ease, but she didn't know. She wished she did.
"You all know Mrs. Ren, right?" Ruby inquired. They nodded. "We had a scare like this with her once. But she pulled through, so I don't see why Neela can't."
"Right," Ilia sighed. Ilia couldn't lose her. She had lost her mother and father, and it didn't look like Eliana was coming back, which left her only with Titus. Not to say she didn't care about Titus as much as the rest of them, it was just to say that she cared about all of her teammates equally.
"You don't think Glynda will try and reassign a teammate straight away, do you?" Titus questioned.
"Unacceptable," Coco muttered. "No chance I'm letting that happen."
"What do you propose as an alternative," Ruby asked.
"For her to wait!" Coco shouted. "Between what these kids just went through, and the fact that I need time to recollect myself and assure public safety, she could give us a few days, hell, weeks even."
"They won't have the luxury of waiting in the future," Ruby noted.
"You're starting to sound like Glynda," Coco grumbled.
"I'm trying to be a realist," Ruby informed her. "You remember our fight with Salem as much as I do."
"All too well," Coco noted.
"Then you know that sometimes these things can't wait," Ruby reminded her. Coco sighed.
"I'm aware of that, but when we can give them a break, shouldn't we?" Coco questioned.
"Of course," Ruby noted with a smile that put Coco at ease. She moved to Neela and brushed her hand through the girl's beads. Come on, Neela. You can do this.
How long will Neela be out? Will she wake back up? Next week, Chapter 37: Reunited!
A big thank you to AG_Nonsuch, Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. The artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!