Hello everyone! Due to me moving to a new house for summer work, next week is going to be a little hectic, so I am uploading a double chapter today, in case I don't manage to have one on next Thursday! Hope you enjoy it!
I feel obliged to once more thank everyone who has followed and favored the story so far- it means a lot to me.
"A missing person case?" Yang's voice broke the silence that had settled for a few seconds in the room "that's why you summoned us so urgently?" she added, visibly annoyed. "Do you think something like this is beneath you, Ms. Xiao Long?" Glynda's cold gaze fell upon the girl who opened her mouth to reply- "that's hardly the point here"
Yang was cut off by her sister. "It's not about beneath or not, Ms. Goodwitch. We are huntresses; we kill monsters for a living, not track down people." Weiss nodded "I agree with Ruby, Madam. This is a job for a sheriff or the police; we are hardly qualified for something like that."
"Just so that you know, I would normally agree with you." Blake raised an eyebrow to that statement. "However, this case is a little different than what you may be thinking" she pulled out a map "have you ever heard of Yugure village?"
All of them shook their heads, Blake only adding it sounded Mistralian. "That's correct, Miss Belladonna. Do you know of the White Altar?"
"I've heard of them" she replied. "At the final year of the War, after Salem's forces attacked the Mistralian coast, many refugees fled to Vale trying to escape the rampaging Grimm. As they found themselves on that side, however, they met even more monsters and got nearly annihilated. The survivors claimed they had scaled up a river and reached a place where Grimm didn't even dare come close to- an abandoned altar made of pure white marble."
"Excellent Ms. Belladonna; as expected of you." "All right, count me impressed, Blakey. How did you-" "I like reading my newspaper every day; I am more surprised Weiss was not aware of them." Weiss did not reply; instead she decided to look away to their commander, ignoring her girlfriend's whispers to the faunus' ears that made the yellow-eyed girl stifle a laugh, before Glynda cleared her throat.
"Personal preferences aside, the story is totally accurate. After that, the survivors established a village in the area surrounding the altar, turning it into a church and founding one of the few religions that spread through Remnant during the war's aftermath. The religion is called White Altar and the village was named Yugure."
"Is this where the request came from?" Ruby asked; a spark of interest visible in her eyes. "Exactly, Ms. Rose. A few months ago, a member of the Vale Council, Mr. Isaac Pale, and his wife Bonette joined the religion and started making very generous offers towards the construction of the village church." Weiss rolled her eyes in disappointment.
"The couple and their three children went to Yugure a few days ago to celebrate the village foundation's second anniversary, but yesterday his elder daughter- Melia- went missing while she was praying in the altar. I assume you can guess the rest; instead of waiting for the local police to deal with the issue, he immediately requested to send our best team to investigate."
Ruby nodded "and that's us." "You are spoiling us, Boss" Yang chuckled. "First of all, it's Professor or Ms. to you, Ms. Xiao Long. Second, despite the young of your age, you four are the best team Vale has. You are to take a bullhead to Mangrove and from there a four-hour carriage to Yugure. Time is of the essence here, so I expect you to leave at once."
Team RWBY exchanged stares, nodding to each other before their leader smiled at the huntress' commander "understood."
-o-
November 29th, 85
Weiss groaned for the umpteenth time as the carriage's wheels shook from running over another rock. The idyllic scenery with the towering, snow-covered trees and the gently running river, lit by the few strands of moonlight, would usually make the pale girl's heart skip a bit; it was the exact type of place she would love to have a stroll with Yang through, tenderly holding hands in the cold, smiling to each other…
Another shaking snapped her again out of her thoughts and she returned her gaze inside the vehicle, to meet Ruby's merry giggle. Blake was lost in another book of hers and Yang had been fast asleep for a while, her cowboy hat covering her face.
"What's so funny?" she asked. "With all these missions and stuff, I sometimes forget that you are not used to such things- your face right now is so funny!" she giggled once more, making Blake's lips momentarily curve upwards- something the faunus expertly hid by raising her book to face level.
"Oh come on, Ruby! Even Patch has stopped using horse-pulled cabs since quite some time ago! This is a torture to both my back- eek!" another violent shaking cut her off "and my nerves!"
"I didn't see you complaining when Ms. Goodwitch told us we would use it, Weiss…" "I thought it was a figure of speech! You know, like a metaphor!" Ruby rolled her eyes "I know what a figure of speech is, Weiss… I had been living with you for four years during the war."
"Well, what's done is done; we have less than half an hour remaining, so endure it. Besides, we have done worse than that already" Blake's voice added before the heiress could continue. "Oh, hush you!" she turned her eyes to the yellow-eyed girl and immediately narrowed them "are you laughing at me, Belladonna?" Ruby giggled again.
"I have no idea what you mean" she replied in a neutral manner. "Lower your book. Now." "But this is very interesting- more than you throwing a tantrum." "I am not throwing a tantrum!" At this point, Ruby's giggles had turned into a hearty laughter, filling the interior with the silver-eyed girl's happy sounds.
"Ah, the best sound in the world" Yang's voice cut off her sister's laughter, as she removed her hat and slowly sat up, planting a kiss on Weiss' cheek "no offence, baby, but this is one thing you can't surpass."
"Yet" Weiss kissed Yang back "slept well?" The blonde stretched her arms "like a log- but judging from Blake having barely started her book, not for so long."
The mentioned girl finally lowered her book, her stare perfectly neutral "ah, this is my second read, so I am going slower; don't use me as reference." "If you have read it before, shouldn't you go faster?" Ruby asked.
"It depends. When you read something for the first time, you are in a hurry to see the end; therefore, a slower repeat is necessary in order to enjoy how the story progresses and see parts you missed the first time."
"I see…" Ruby blinked a few times, before turning her gaze outside the window- and nearly slamming her head on the glass as the cab ran over another large stone. "All right, I am starting to see why Weiss feels so annoyed." "Better late than never" the ex-heiress smirked in satisfaction, earning a pair of smiles from their teammates.
"Are we not there yet?" Blake took a quick glance outside- and stopped, her gaze fixed on the image. At first glance, the forest was as expected- silent and asleep, under the thick blanket of winter. But her sensitive faunus' eyes saw it. Or, more accurately, saw them. Black figures, tall as a human, were staring at her behind the trees, slowly following the vehicle as it ran across the road.
"Stop the car!" She opened the window, screaming, the horses coming to a halt before the rest of her team managed to even protest. She turned at them "I saw something behind us! Figures in the trees, watching us!"
There was no need to say anything more; Ruby drew Crescent Rose and jumped out, the rest of her team behind her. "Weiss and Yang, stay here to guard the carriage; Blake, with me!"
As they rushed towards the tree line, the driver- an elderly man with grey hair and beard and heavy raincoat- shouted at them "what are you ladies doing?" "Its fine" Weiss interrupted him. "We saw something in the woods; they are going to check it out and come back." The man looked at her, in mild disapproval "these woods are bad, Miss. Not a good idea to go out there."
Weiss rolled her eyes "we are all trained huntresses; they can hold their own more than anyone." "The Grimm are not a threat here, Miss. They reach at most up to the woods close to the village. But the woods are bad" he said, making both girls raise an eyebrow "I don't like the way darkness falls in this place, and it's still early in the night."
Not having heard the driver's ominous words, Blake stormed towards the intended place, Ruby moving just as fast to let her lead them. They quickly arrived at the place, where the cat girl stopped, drew Envelop and took a good look at the place her eyes had spotted the images before. Nothing. She looked beyond the white-covered branches in case anything was hiding. Nothing.
"They…left. No one is here." Ruby let her silver orbs fall upon the carriage a few meters away, before pulling out of her backpack one of the latest additions to her huntress' equipment- a small, dust powered flashlight she quickly attached to Crescent Rose. "Let's see if there are any traces of them, then."
They both moved into the bushes, softly moving through the snow-covered terrain, as Ruby's torch lit the area. The small opening behind the trees was silent and pristine- no footprints, no broken branches or any marks on the white snow that anything had even passed from here. "Are you sure this was where you saw them, Blake?" her team leader asked, her usual chipper tone missing from her voice.
"Yes…" she replied; less certain than she wanted to. "Well, there is no one here. Human, animal or Grimm, this place is clear" Ruby announced, satisfied with the lack of danger. "I saw them" the red girl turned around, her eyes meeting up with Blake's, and widening as she saw the fear in them.
"I…" Blake's lips trembled. "I saw them, Ruby. I really did! Someone was here; I swear!" Are you sure? "Blake… I-" "You believe me, don't you?" Can you blame her if she doesn't? After all, you don't believe yourself, to begin with! "I am not seeing things!" she blurted out, louder than she wished to, before a gentle hand grabbed her shoulder.
She stopped, feeling her heart rate dropping as a warm smile filled her vision "Don't be stupid, Blake. Of course I believe you!" instantly feeling ashamed, the cat faunus lowered her head, her ears flattened on top of it.
"Sorry…and thanks." Ruby rolled her eyes in a very Weiss-like manner; well, a much more playful and innocent Weiss-like manner. "Stop thanking me; we are family, remember?" Blake smiled back at Ruby- "BLAKE! RUBY! ARE YOU GUYS OK?"
Yang's concerned voice boomed through the forest, making both of them turn around. "We are fine, Yang! Everything is clear!" the brunette said as they moved out of the opening, through the bushes and into the road once more.
"You took your time you two; also, was it just me or did I hear Blake shouting?" Ruby shut off her flashlight "there was nothing there; Blake just shouted out of anger for making us stop like that."
The faunus gave off an apologetic smile "sorry, everyone." "What are you talking about? Better safe than sorry, right?" Yang replied as they got into the carriage and started moving again towards the village.
As it turned out, they had truly been very close to their destination. No more than twenty minutes had passed when the driver's voice told them they had reached Yugure. All members of team RWBY looked outside, taking in the unnatural, antique-like appearance of the place.
Yugure was a rather small village, filled with narrow yet tall wooden houses in dark colors and triangle, snow-covered rooftops. The roads were stone-paved and slightly uphill, seeming to spread around a large, Gothic-styled church in the middle.
Dust-powered street lights were spread all around the narrow alleys, brightly illuminating the place. Two large mansions in the north part of the village and an extended house resembling an inn were the only other noteworthy buildings. No people seemed to be around and the house lights were all shut off.
"Well, that looks inviting" Yang exclaimed. "There is no wall, not even a barricade" her sister added. "If the church is truly a sacred place that turns Grimm away, there is no need for one" Weiss replied. "What about bandits?" "Even the White Fang in its prime had instructions to not bother with this area; I never knew why" Blake's voice added.
They passed by a few houses and stopped right in front of the inn's stable. "We are here ladies" the driver told them as they got off "I will tend to the horses and then come inside. Wish you a good night and good luck!" "Thanks a lot Mister! Get some rest too!"
They walked to the front entrance; the inn was larger than most houses, a small red light emanating through the windows. A well-polished sign hung in the entrance
"White Garden Inn"
"You know, that's weird" Weiss said as they stood next to the door. "Are you talking about the lack of proper reception?" a cool voice next to her asked. "Exactly; we are on an official mission for the council of Vale. I would expect at least the sheriff to be around and get us into the matter at hand."
Yang scratched her chin "you know Weissy, something is bothering me too. There was not even one person to help the driver with the horses and pulling the carriage around- I am no expert but there is no way a stable doesn't have a few stable boys or something." "Impressive" Weiss smirked, making Blake stifle a laugh, before they all turned to Ruby.
"Well" their leader shrugged her shoulders "this place looks better than most if we want to ask a few questions- like where is our client supposed to be. Let's go" she opened the door and team RWBY stepped into White Garden.
P.S. A special thanks to Mojo1586 for his advice on improving my writing structure. I am a big fan of his work, the team AMBR series, as I consider it one of the most interesting RWBY fanfics I have read so far.