"Just this way!" Little squeaked loudly into his ear. It was getting irritating having this mouse speak directly and loudly into his head.
"And this is your…. family home?" General Ironwood asked, somewhat curious about the family dynamics of mice in this realm. He lifted a tree branch up and walked through the foliage. They were traveling closer to the beach, though he was unsure if it was the same one he'd awoken to.
"Yea!" Little said proudly. "My mama, papa, brothers and sisters all live there."
So there were more mice, all who could speak and all who hopefully knew more about this island. "Does your family know a lot about this place?"
"Well they've lived here since…." Little trailed off. Ironwood raised a brow expectantly, his blue eyes hovering on the mouse. Little pondered deeply, hands on their chin and thinking.
"Well I don't know," they admitted. "Maybe pa will know. He's old. Like you." Ironwood couldn't help but chuckle. The mouse had a charm, he could give them that.
The landscape had begun to shift from a mixture of palm trees and glowing vines toward sandy dunes and the sound of waves. "Is your home on the beach?" Ironwood questioned, voice straining. He was loath to be going in circles.
Little shook their head. "No, we just have to cross here. There's a large mountain that doesn't let us just cut through. So we go around" explained the mouse in detail. It was an acceptable answer for the time being.
"And what about the tree?"
"We don't go there" Little said in a hushed, if not fearful, tone. The creature scurried to hide inside Ironwood's beard, a place that brought warmth, comfort and protection.
That confirmed his suspicions. If he wanted answers then he'd have to explore that strange tree. Given the reaction of Little, that meant he had to find his cannon. It didn't help that traitors and enemies had fallen down with him.
Belladonna. Schnee. Xiao-Long. Neopolitan. All enemies that must be destroyed he thought with hatred coursing through his mind. He flexed his hands open and closed. Little noticed this and scurried down from Ironwood's shoulder and onto his black hand. The mouse was about to say something then pointed toward the beach.
"Look. There's something there! Is this what you're looking for?"
Ironwood snapped his head to the beach and ran without answering Little. The mouse held onto Ironwood's wiring while the man ran. To his great disappointment it was not his cannon.
The corpse of Penny Polendina was lying on the shore. He narrowed his eyes and scanned the surrounding area. If Penny was here then the traitors would be too.
When the coast was clear he approached the body. It was, to his surprise, not a machine but flesh. Somehow she'd become a real human being before death.
Ironwood looked down at her body without feeling. All he saw was a traitor, one he'd have killed eventually anyways. If only you just obeyed me. This wouldn't have happened. Atlas wouldn't have fallen, you would still live! He exhaled angrily.
"Well?..." Little asked. Ironwood had completely forgotten about his companion. Shaking his head, James explained. "This was one of the bad people I was talking about. She betrayed me and led to the destruction of my home."
Little looked aghast. "Your home? But why?" The mouse could scarcely fathom life without a home.
"She and her friends thought they knew better. They didn't. Now the entire world; My world, may be lost."
Little looked crestfallen but offered their own words of comfort. "Well, you could always live at my home, but you're a little too big."
Ironwood chuckled. Even now, Little worked their magic on him. "Maybe. Let's go." James didn't look back at Penny before reentering the forest.
"Just a bit further," Little said, sitting on Ironwood's left shoulder. "Why don't you tell me about your home?"
Ironwood figured it couldn't hurt to pass the time. "Alright. I was the leader of a great kingdom. It was cold, freezing, but had wonderful people. We were forward thinkers, always looking to advance the human condition. We were so powerful, more powerful than any other land, but we used our power for good. We had problems, any place does but…" he trailed off, becoming overwhelmed with sadness and memories.
His home was gone. It would never return. His people were scattered or dead. And they were responsible.
"Was it the Cheshire cats?" Little mewled. James glanced to his left. There was the sound of cracking twigs. There would be no time to question the mouse.
"Hide in my beard or my jacket" he murmured to Little. Standing completely still, James waited. Another cracking twig. Sloppy.
He spun around and caught Neopolitan's parasol in both hands. Its pointed end nearly touched his face. With a grunt the general forced Neo back. Ironwood raised both fists only to feel the pressure of bullets peppering his aura from behind.
Blake.
Coming from the left he heard glyphs.
He was surrounded. Neo rushed in with her weapon. Ironwood took the initiative to deny them the field. He charged Neo, taking her by surprise and knocking her to the ground with a shoulder. He spun on his heel and faced Weiss and Blake. Blake swung her sword and he blocked it, Weiss used this chance to launch ice crystals. Wisely, she opted out of melee range. The ice hit his aura with a thud.
James kicked Blake in the stomach and forced her away. Neo was up again, but instead of attacking Ironwood the woman was on the back foot from Xiao-Long.
I can't win against all four without my weapon. He was loath to waste ammo now. Sliding Due Process out, James spun it around to use as a club. He rushed Blake and Weiss. He swung Due Process and caught Weiss in the face, glancing at Blake who lunged with a strike. Ironwood stepped back and caught it with his hand. Instead of kicking as before, he let go and used Blake's own forward momentum against her.
She fell forward and James cracked the butt of Due Process against her skull. Blake's aura flickered. He put his combat boot on the back of the faunus and kicked hard repeatedly. Weiss didn't let this stand and caught a strike against his back.
Growling Ironwood turned around to face the Schnee.
Does this family do nothing but vex me? He wondered for a moment. On the back foot he dodged thrusts from Myrtenaster, one well aimed strike catching him in the shoulder.
She overstepped and gave Ironwood the opportunity to grab Weiss's arm and spin Due Process around to unload a bullet into her chest. Her aura took the brunt of it but aura could be shattered.
Ironwood knew that that anything
could be broken with enough time and force. Humans, faunus, mountains, kingdoms. All that mattered was the amount of force and for how long.
Lifting Weiss up he threw her toward Yang and Neo. All three fell to the ground.
Eventually they all got up to face him, their largest threat. "Little! Which way is your home!" he shouted. The scared mouse popped out of Ironwood's beard.
"That way!"
James wasted no time in running that direction. The girls gave chase. Bullets flew after him and he was caught by Yang. Her hair blazed and her eyes burned with red fury.
He was put on the back pedal, trying to block the onslaught of punches. James deflected a right punch and stuck his own fist straight out to slam Yang in the face. Her momentum was damaged. James took the chance to drive a sharp knee into her and kick off.
Turning around he kept running. "No, not this way! Not this way!" Little shouted but Ironwood paid the mouse no mind. He had to escape.
The general reached a ravine. There was no way he could escape on the other side, even if he could make the jump. The girls would just follow. So he made up his mind and jumped.
"AHHHH!" Little screamed as they hit the flowing river. Bursting out of the rushing water, Ironwood made sure Little had his beard to hold onto. The two of them went downstream until finally there was a riverbank to swim to.
Panting, the pair lay down for a long moment to catch their breath. When all was said and done, a shivering Little crawled into Ironwood's jacket. Sitting up, Ironwood took his surroundings in.
The riverbank gave way to what could only be described as a wonderland. There were large cherries, candy canes and chocolate waterfalls. The dream of any child.
"How much closer to your family?"
Little was wiping water off their fur when the question came. "Uhh… we should be able to move through here, but we'd have to go through the mountain." Little pointed toward the dreaded mountain that separated them from Littles' family.
"Alright. Then let's go."
James began walking toward the mountain in the middle of the candy wonderland.
A/N: Rooster Teeth should pay their employees.