Argus.
Argus is a port city in the northern region of the Kingdom of Mistral, and acts as the major trading center between the continents of Anima and Solitas. It is among the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant.
The southern edge of Argus is bordered by a stone wall several stories tall with a single large gate allowing for road access. The city has cobblestone streets and has a transit system with streetcar-like hovering vehicles following a groove in the roadway. Most of the buildings are brick, only a few stories in height and bear resemblance to the real-world Victorian style of houses.
The city is built over hilly terrain, with a large natural harbor. Argus is connected to the city of Mistral by the Argus Limited.
The Kingdom of Atlas has their largest foreign military base on an island just off the coast of Argus, on the other end of a large suspension bridge. Having Hard-Light Dust barriers that activate via towers that emerge from underwater should large Grimm surface and attack the city. The towers create two rings of hard light. The towers, however, are vulnerable to direct attacks and can cause a section of the wall to stop working.
The city is the location of Sanctum Academy one of Mistral's primary Huntsman Academies.
"Alright then. Um, what do you think Ren?" Jaune asked his good buddy Ren as the boys of Team JN_R did their own shopping. Deciding to let the girls do their own considering the girls were, well, girls when it came to fashion and outfits. In the meantime, Jaune held a short-sleeve shirt. "This should help cool us down."
"Maybe." Ren said before shaking his head. "But it's recommended that people wear long-sleeves. You could get sunburn." Which is not pretty. Ren once recalled staying out in the sun before back when he was a kid with no aura, and it hurt by the end of the day.
"Yeah, but we have an aura." Jaune then pointed out. "Helps with the temperature."
"True." Oscar agreed while searching for his own outfit. "Aura does help stop sunburn like it does the cold. Very useful." Heck, one of the many benefits of aura. "I mean, look at Sun."
"Yeah." Jaune realized. "He has no actual shirt, and he doesn't have sunburn."
"True." Ren then conceded. Realizing that so long as one had aura, then certain things like sunburn wasn't much of a worry. "But I still think long-sleeves may be for the best."
"Then go for it." Oscar shrugged. "I think I'll do that too, if only for different reasons."
"Fashion reasons." Jaune teased. Oscar just chuckled as he then went to another side with Ren doing the same. Leaving Jaune to wonder what to pick for his new outfit. I mean, this is another kingdom they're going to. Meaning this is a chance to weak something new for the debut. Rolling his eyes, Jaune then realized he was sounding like some of his sisters.
Maybe he should get Saphron to help out. 'Nah.' Jaune then thought. 'I'm a grown man. Best to choose something right for me.' That, and if he had his sister help she'd never let him live it down. In any case, it is better to just get something that matches the kingdom's environment.
Meanwhile, as the three boys did their thing, the last dude of the group was elsewhere as he took a fine sip from the wine section in Argus's bar. "Yeah man. Keep it going." The bartender looked at Qrow and then at the empty drink. "What?" Qrow asked.
"Do you have anybody to pick you up?" the bartender asked.
"Uhh…yeah?" Qrow said a rather empty truth. "I got some of my nieces who'll more than come later when I'm drunk."
The bartender shakes his head. "Sir, I think I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Last thing anybody needed was a drunk where he'd be taking up space for hours until someone came and picked him up. "This is a respectable place to relax in. Not drown yourself."
"Hey!" Qrow then tried to stand up only to fumble and land back on his chair. "I-I'm respectable!"
The bartender looked at his bouncers.
Seconds later Qrow was thrown out like so with the old veteran muttering as he then wobbly stood up and walked away. That place was lame anyway. As Qrow went to see if maybe he could busy himself, he then saw a store where it sold women's fashions. "So that's where they went."
Inside happened to be his nieces and all their friends. Each of them looked around the isles, racks, and shelves for what would be needed for their next big trip. Thank goodness they had killed some Grimm along the way and thus getting the money they needed to pay for the stuff they wanted. The girls checked around to see what would fit them best.
"Maybe something that shows off the muscles a little. Hmm." Yang, Ruby, Blake, Weiss, and Nora were all in another store. Each of them does their own shopping to decide what to take to Vacuo. With those like Yang pondering what would be good for the desert. For some like Yang, this was okay.
"Um. Maybe this. No. This?" For others like Ruby, less so.
"I say ditch the cape." Doesn't help when an old lady bugs a person either. "Capes can get hot over there."
"This cape is fine!" Ruby told the old lady as kindly as possible while also puffing her cheeks. "A-And anyway, why are you following us?"
"Yeah." Weiss, who's in another section, called out while trying to find an outfit that matched her current one. "I mean, we don't know you and you don't know us."
"I'm here cause I'm bored." The elderly then said without shame. "Hehehe. Got a problem with that?" Weiss had to hold in an urge to scream. "In any case, I got time to kill and I figured following you entertaining folks seemed better than staying at the hotel I'm at."
"And also to get kicks if we screw up." Blake added with the old woman not even hiding her laugh which confirmed it.
"I like her." Nora laughed as well.
"So long as she doesn't bug us too much, then let her stay." Yang said while now trying to choose either a skirt or some pants. Maybe some hot shorts instead, though uncertain as she wasn't an expert on Vacuo women's fashion. "Besides, it's kinda nice to have some extra company."
"And I see you've been using extra conditioning for that wild hair of yours." The old woman then chuckled with the other girls soon joining in.
Yang then smiled. "Alright. Time to take her home."
"Yeah right." Robotic eyes then rolled themselves over. "Like I'm going to listen to some kid. Hehe. I already ignore law enforcement."
"So we're harboring a fugitive. Great." Weiss then wondered if she should get some conditioning for her hair and skin. Who knew how the sands would affect her body. Better to be safe and sound. She then grabbed some perfume as well. "Anyway, I have to admit, this'll be needed maybe. Who knows what we'll find in the desert."
"You're telling me." Blake nodded as she also grabbed her hair. "Vacuo is a whole new environment. There's no telling just what it'll have out there that can mess with our bodies." That, and Blake had a feeling sand in the hair is a common thing in a place with sandstorms.
"Well, regardless I'm just interested in what the school will have." Ruby said excitingly. "I mean, who knows what we'll see over there."
"New Grimm for starters." Weiss said, commenting how Vacuo had their own Grimm variants in the great dunes.
"Maybe techniques for keeping the hair nice and less sandy." Yang wanted to know how girls in Vacuo kept their hair safe.
"New books." Blake then thought of certain reading materials that could only be found in a new kingdom.
"And a kingdom with very lax laws like Mistral." The old woman laughed.
"Riiight." Weiss looked a bit uncomfortable now. Mainly because she knew that Vacuo's laws were rather lax in certain areas. She then tried to look on a brighter side and found one, saying, "Um. But hey. I heard equality there is good." Blake nodded, seeing as Vacuo was a place that respected anybody. Human or faunus, so long as they could survive.
"I just hope that once we're done with putting the-" Nora then paused when she remembered an old lady they didn't know was with them. Then resumed saying, "-stuff we have to the Headmaster there, we can then resume our lives doing other stuff."
"Yeah. Other stuff." Weiss somberly said as her mind went to Atlas where her sister was. Wondering if she was alright and safe, and not dead like she thinks at times. Pondering if after the Relic is put in Vacuo's vault safely, maybe she could…go to Atlas herself to see what was occurring there.
"For me, maybe Ren and I can have…fun over in the windy dunes." Nora giggled as she pondered what it'd be like for her and Ren to be in another kingdom. Slightly blushing at the thought of him wearing an outfit like Sun's in the great deserts.
"So long as my cape isn't full of sand bits, then I'm all in for this trip." Ruby smirked as she then decided to go to another section later for cream for mosquito bites. "Either way, this should be fun once we finish our job there."
"And what is your job exactly?" The old woman asked. "Other than what I'm assuming is killing Grimm."
"Oh. Um..You know…" Ruby then tried to find an excuse when Nora jumped in.
"Going to cool places on a world tour!" Nora shouted out while making a somewhat believable truth. I mean Vale, Mistral, and now Vacuo. They may as well be on a world tour by this point. Traveling across the four kingdoms for a great purpose to save the world from an evil witch bitch. Benefits including, seeing new places and people baby!
"Sounds nice." The old woman sighed in nostalgia. "I also remember when I traveled. Back before I became the old woman you see now. Oh those were the days." Definitely worth remembering, those wonderful days of hers.
"Yeah. I guess." Yang was now starting to feel weirded out that this old woman was just casually joining in. Not that it was a horrible thing or anything, it just felt strange. "Anyway, after this guess we just need to figure out how to get there. I mean, I doubt Argus has any trains headed there."
"Or by flight." Blake added in. "Vacuo isn't as tightly locked as Atlas, but it's not exactly opening itself in fully either. Plus, I hear their culture is…different." Which isn't a bad thing of course. Just that it might be different from what they may expect.
"Then I guess we should prepare for what's to come." Ruby answered as she wondered what the kingdom would be like. "All in all, it'll be nice to see some old friends too."
"Oh yeah." Yang said excitedly. "I mean, Sun's there if I recall. And a few others back in Beacon have gone there as well." In other words, they'll meet up with old friends which is a blast.
All in all, the girls were having a pretty decent time.
"Ah. Another peaceful day in Agus. All thanks to the might of Atlas once again." Inside the military base stationed here in Argus, one Caroline Cordovin relaxed herself on her station, though still kept an eye out for any troublesome activity.
"Yes ma'am. It seems things are fine here." Which likely wouldn't be any trouble seeing as there wasn't even crime occurring in the city. No doubt thanks to the peace the Atlas soldiers stationed here enforced. Why, even Grimm activity was low meaning no harm would befall the city and it's citizens.
Still, that didn't mean the soldiers here would slack off and still did their job as expected until the end of their shifts. Even if everything is peaceful, that just means keeping a better eye to ensure peace is still there. Exactly as Cordovin intends as she sits back and waits to hear of any troublesome news. All while doing paperwork while she's waiting of course.
"Hm." One person looked at a camera that overlooked the sea. While not usually a problem since the Grimm normally stayed back, the personnel noticed more movement but oddly, the movement wasn't heading toward the city. Instead, it seemed to be heading towards the forests and mountains. Maybe some people were camping over there.
The personnel then made a report for some troops to check it out just in case, but otherwise didn't think too much of it be much of a big deal anyway.
The Grimm could feel it.
Hate. Greed. Anger. Bloodlust. A constant negative emotion that caused the Grimm to be attracted to it, like moths to a flame. From the land, the sky, and now the sea. All types of Grimm felt this constant cycle of negativity with those closest already chasing after it. In the very deep of the seas, one certain Grimm felt it to but decided to wait for now, until more clarity of these negative emotions came up.
Not that the source of it all knew about this or any other Grimm. Just that he was getting closer and closer to the city. A wicked grin on his face as he heard the Grimm roaring and chasing after him while he took another path that wasn't observable.
'Almost there.' Ganesh grinned. Just another day and the back-up he has will be more than enough while he faces these so-called heroes. The fun was about to start very soon.
Next chapter, the fight begins as the Grimm situation gets worse in Argus.