Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all fine!
Chapter 84 is here and as always I hope you enjoy it!
Along with it, an announcement- I will only manage to upload one chapter during holiday season, since apparently I shall be working double shift.
In other words, chapter 85 will be normally uploaded on Wednesday 12/23/20, but chapter 86 will be uploaded on Wednesday 01/06/21 instead of its normal date.
That was all, thank you all for following/ reading/ favoring the story so far! See you all next week. Until then, have fun and be well!
Summer of 84, Vacuan Desert
Yang tugged her scarf a little heavier, as she continued patrol around her group's makeshift camp. Desert nights were not as cold as Atlas', but the extreme antithesis to midday heat was annoying as hell to her.
Local huntsmen had told her 'the desert is full of treasures' more than once, but the only treasure she had come upon so far was her hat and a mild stroke she had recovered from a few days ago. Not to mention-
"Are you going to ignore me for much longer? We are supposed to be professionals and you are not acting the part, Yang" the prideful, harsh and mostly annoying voice of Raven Branwen addressed her; again.
She exhaled deeply "I think I made it clear; dad and Ruby may trust you hold your part of our deal, but I don't. So, yes, I am going to ignore you unless we are under attack, Raven" she turned around to look at her.
Having let go of her usual bushi outfit, Raven now wore a long dark red dress-robe that billowed in the night wind, slightly revealing her light brown desert boots. Omen's sheath was strapped to a thick black belt filled with small pouches that was hugging her thin midriff.
A long, thin white poncho covered her forearms and neck, allowing only a small part of her necklace beads to be seen. Her hands were covered in light brown gloves to resist the chilling cold.
Her long black hair, now missing her tribal ornaments, was not covered by the hood she used during the day. Her expression was as haughty as ever, but her eyes looked tired, having large black circles around them.
"You are as hardheaded as ever, I see" she replied. "I am sure I took it from your part of the family." Raven smirked "I won't deny it as I won't deny being proud of seeing it. It's a good thing to not blindly trust one."
"This shouldn't apply to family, Raven" she crossed her arms and let her eyes narrow while clenching her fists. "I thought I didn't count as family anymore; or did losing my brother made you-"
Yang rushed forward and grabbed her mother from the robe's hem. "Of all the stupid things you could say, you chose the one I can't forgive you for bringing up; do you want to be pummeled?" she hissed.
"If you could truly pummel me" she stared at her daughter's eyes, the haughty and arrogant smirk never leaving her face "it would make me so happy; seeing you finally become stronger than me."
Yang shoved her away, letting go of her clothes. "You are not worth losing my temper for. You never were. I was such a fool to believe that you amounted to something just because you gave birth to me."
"Now you get it. Good. I have been watching you lately and I am glad to say you have grown strong. The mere fact you have ignored my taunts and accepted working with me for your cause is a major improvement."
The brawler rolled her eyes "again with the whole 'strong' part. What is with you and strength, Raven? Is this why you left dad and your team behind? Was it because they were not strong enough for your tastes?"
"If you use your head, you will understand-" "I know its bull; that's why I am asking!" she cut her off, making Raven raise an eyebrow. "The fact I didn't care that much back then to ask, doesn't mean I bought your lies. You didn't tell me anything, Raven. You just dodged the question!"
"Can I ask you something, Yang?" her smile faded. Lilac eyes blinked for a second before nodding. "Among your friends, how many would you say are strong?" A full eye roll was the first reaction the girl gave her.
"All of them" she replied. "That's wishful thinking and you know it" the woman countered "as far as I am concerned, I would only count Ruby, you, the Schnee girl and the Maiden as truly powerful. If I am a little lax, I may include Belladonna and the Valkyrie girl as well."
"You underestimate them way too much, Raven." "You overestimate them way too much, Yang. Let me ask you another question; if Salem's agents attack us, how many of your friends can stand their ground?"
All of them. That was the first reply that came to her mind, but she stopped. She thought of every member of the hastily made Desert Defense Force, especially the huntsmen they recruited in Dromad City.
Quite a few of them had joined Ruby's makeshift army and to be fair, power was not the requirement she demanded. They were skilled, yes, but if they had to face opponents like Cinder or Tyrian…
She didn't want to admit it but… "The number would be possibly 10 or maybe 15 if I want to be optimistic." Her mother blinked. Despite her thinking Yang was too lax on them she saw progress in her words.
"And what about the others?" Raven pointed at the ten people who were comfortably sleeping around the campfire. "If Cinder Fall attacks them right now, what would you do?"
"I would fight her" there was no hesitation. "Why?" Yang scoffed "In order to protect them of course." "Then why are they here if they all need your protection?" she finally had reached the point she wanted.
"I don't understand what your problem is all of a sudden" the blonde girl had started losing her patience. What did she want to tell her? "It is not wrong to help the ones I love, despite what you think, Raven."
"Heh" her mother stared at her eyes, but her gaze had lost any trace of haughtiness or the usual arrogance she displayed. Yang flinched for one second; she could see a small tinge of- sympathy?
"No it's not wrong of course. The strong ones want to help any person they care for. It's a sign of love, after all" she averted her gaze. "All are saved and everyone is happy and lives ever after."
The girl was silently happy for her mother looking away; she definitely had a stupid face on right now from what she had just heard. "And then it happens again… you help the ones you love… and then once more…"
Raven's eyes closed "after a while, helping them becomes your duty… and then duty becomes habit. And then, before you realize it, you have spent your entire life taking care of others, ignoring your own wishes."
If Yang had seen the woman grow a tail or spit out fire, she was sure she wouldn't have been more shocked. Her mother was talking, with an affectionate and sincere voice, filled in longing and guilt!
What was happening? What was the meaning of this? Was she trying to guilt-trip her? No, she was a very proud and stubborn person to do such a thing. Then why was-
"That's it" it finally dawned on her. "This is why you are telling me all this! You did the exact same thing and you are trying to make me avoid doing the exact same mistakes, aren't you?" she asked in wonder.
Raven didn't reply. She just kept staring at the horizon. "Am I right? I am right, aren't I? Is this why you left, Raven? Because you wanted to help those bandits you called your people?" The woman sighed.
"I owed my life to the tribe. But, by the time Qrow and I had graduated Beacon, the situation was dire. Most warriors had been killed in one way or another with our father, the man who took us in, among them."
Raven stared at her "the weak die, the strong live. This is how it should have been. I was strong, like you are. I had incredible teammates and was loved by them, like you do. I had a daughter and a place to return.
But, when my tribe needed me, I… I chose to be a good leader instead of a good mother. You may be the last one who wants to hear this, but I thought they needed me more than-"
"More than I did" Yang was trembling. She was sure her eyes were fiery red at this point. "What is all this bullcrap?" she took one step forward. "Why are you telling me all this NOW? Do you think I will forgive you?"
The honest smile faded and her haughty demeanor returned. "No. You have no reason to forgive me, especially now when I just told you I left to take care of others. And you would be an idiot to do so."
She turned around "what I am telling you is simple; be smarter than me and don't play the big sister like you always do. Not everyone is worth throwing your life away for, Yang. Trust me on that, if nothing else."
-ο—
"Why would you dream of your mother now, of all times?" Weiss said to Yang as the Lancer Queen flew inside the now thicker mist, just a few meters above the lake's surface, with RWBY on its back.
"Beats me; it could mean anything." "Or it could mean you are worried about, well, us. You always do" Ruby, accompanying Blake on lookout shift, tossed a slight jab at her sister who groaned quite audibly.
"Yeah right, Rubes. My dead mom's spirit returned from the land of the dead to remind me not to waste myself taking care of you" she scoffed.
"Would it be a bad thing? Or do you think we forgot you offered your life to Vivian in exchange for saving us?" Weiss counterattacked. "You were the ones who threw me out of the window, pot!" she shouted.
"You were the only one with nearly broken aura, kettle!" her fiancée shouted back. "Shut it. Or did you forget we are flying deep in enemy territory with non-existent visibility?"
Blake's voice was sharp, fierce and, in a scary way, as condescending as Glynda's. But it was effective; the couple stopped their banter, looking away in shame and murmuring a quick apology.
Ruby smiled and winked at her faunus friend who kept looking out. This fog was dense and annoying. "Can't we go higher, Weiss?" Blake asked.
"We could, but that would leave us exposed. We are using the fog as a makeshift cover and going straight ahead, until we see land below us. Or at least that is the plan Ruby and I came up with" the girl explained.
"I see…" she replied, her eyes not stopping to look around. And for a good reason; no more than three seconds had passed when she noticed a light- a small, red light shining far away through the fog.
"I see a red light far away, high up in the air" the faunus informed them at once. "It could be some watchtower or a searchlight" Yang replied.
"Should we follow it? It could safely lead us to a structure much faster" Weiss asked. "No, we are not following it" Ruby replied. "Why not?" Everyone, even Blake, turned their heads around at the girl's refusal.
The reaper had already picked up Crescent Rose and collapsed it in its rifle form, before she replied "because five such lights appeared behind us from nowhere exactly the moment you noticed the first one."
True to Ruby's words, the team could now see five dark red dots hover behind them, too far for them to discern any shape. "And they seem to be… moving?" Yang jumped up and readied her gauntlets.
"Weiss; stay down and focus on maneuvering the Queen. Be ready to respond to any sudden attacks. Blake, continue scouting ahead of us. Yang and I will deal with rear attacks, but not before we have a clear view of what those lights are."
The explanation was fast, precise and to the point. Weiss stood still and drew Crown in order to conjure any barriers if needed, while Envelop had already been in Blake's hands. Yang just walked next to her sister.
Between the buzzing wings of the giant wasp Grimm, the blonde saw the lights not fading, despite the high speed they were flying at. "They are moving after us, aren't they?" A quick nod was Ruby's answer.
"Let's see" carefully and steadily, the brunette rose her rifle. Skipping any unnecessary movements, she brought the long-range scope to her left eye- and saw a large, bulging red iris staring at her from too close.
"GAH!" her startled cry was mixed with her sister's, as all of a sudden something, appeared out of thin air just before Ruby's rifle, forcing the girl to jump back and the monochrome duo to turn around in worry.
Weapons raised, all girls stared at the sudden intruder. And then all fell silent, trying to form the words for what they were currently looking at.
This thing was nothing more than a floating orb, made of some sort of wet flesh, dark as a starless night. It hovered before them, as large as an oversized human head- and similarly shaped in a disgusting way.
A large bone mask concealed its face, which in its case was entire body, allowing a small opening for a wide, lipless mouth filled in jagged teeth. A humongous single circular red eye bulged through a central socket.
The most horrifying aspect of this Grimm, however, was a series of thin, flailing tentacle-like appendages that protruded from around the mask, like disgusting, animated hair.
A small, red eye could be seen at the end of each strand, making them think they were staring at some wicked abomination that had crawled its way out of the deepest pits of humanity's worst fantasies.
Without prior notice, before any of them could formulate a plan, four more similar monsters appeared behind it, mouths wide open in some twisted parody of a welcoming smile.
"Evasive maneuvers; now!" Before even Ruby finished her command, the Queen had already done a huge dive towards the lake's surface.
Yang shot a couple missiles towards the figures but they were easily dodged. She spread her legs to maintain balance as the giant wasp Grimm scraped the water's surface trying to gain momentum.
"They are more; coming from ahead!" Blake started shooting, but only managed to stall them as they were quite cunning and used the fog as a cover from most of her attacks. She changed clip at once, biting her lip.
"Hold tight!" Weiss' voice reached everyone's ears. They managed to just barely grab onto the summons's back, as the Lancer made a high-speed ascension, leaving the monsters far away.
Now that they were compromised, they had to find a solid foothold. Those hell spawns could attack their transport at any moment and the idea of fighting them mid-air, above the lake inside the fog was a truly not appealing one. "Full speed ahead, Weiss!" Ruby screamed.
The pale girl nodded. "Don't let go for any reason!" tightening their grasp, team RWBY latched even harder on the Queen's back, the large servant speeding away from the horrendous Grimm towards the shore.
-o—
The moment they saw land below them, all three girls save for Weiss jumped down, enjoying the safety of solid rock beneath their feet. The pale woman gently patted her Grimm's back, allowing it to dissipate.
Weapons still in hand, Blake moved a couple meters ahead to scout their position. "I only see dry land and bushes. I think I can make the outlines of a path here, however" she announced, turning back at-
Blake's yellow eyes opened wide. She was sure, she had been sure, that a few moments ago the area had been clear when she had checked it out. If that was the case, then why were her friends looking terrified?
"B-Blakey… look behind you" Yang, arms raised, told her as calmly as she could. The faunus turned around and raised her weapons. And saw dozens of red lights scattered through the mist, all over the shore.
How? How!? "Follow the path; quickly" she said, not breaking her eye contact with the mass of floating orbs she knew to be the abominable monstrosities from before. Do we have a chance against that many?
The four girls burst into action. More precisely, they started jogging. Fast yet cautious, they followed Blake's lead, running along the small, old-looking stone road that ran across the shore.
Fog engulfed their vision. The lights, as numerous and terrifying as the horror they concealed beneath the gleaming tinges, followed them, on occasion shining closer than they felt comfortable with.
Sweat ran down their foreheads. Adrenaline filled their bodies. The sheer feeling of dread and anticipation made their breaths ragged and their hearts beat like dogs'.
Blake, for her own part, was especially strained. The fact her own mind was trying its best to not play any weird tricks on her made the entire situation far more taxing on it than she wanted to.
"Please keep going" she said, mostly to herself than to any other. "The power plant is the only place a road could be leading to around here" she added, earning a curt nod of acknowledgement from her friends.
A few more seconds passed. Her eyes, always searching for a way out this wicked situation, saw an object ahead of her. It was a large metal door and the outlines of a wall- big enough to be spotted even while being far away.
"We are almost there! I can see a building! Let's keep up! Just-" her excitement left her as she saw a single red light in before it, running straight at her. She gripped her sword, ready to meet the Grimm.
All of a sudden, the light burst forward. It burst through the mist and attacked the faunus, whose blood froze as she saw it transform in a blonde-haired head, dripping blood from its open mouth.
Reacting in shock even while screaming, the black-haired huntress cut the attacker in half, the image being changed at the last moment back to the monstrous bulging Grimm from the lake.
Shivering in terror, the girl fell on her knees. "Blakey? Are you ok?" Yang knelt next to her "it was a Grimm; chill out girl" she cupped her best friend's cheeks, trying to calm her erratic and heavy breathing.
"I- it was… like Sun… it was… oh my dust…" Weiss and Ruby stopped and took guarding positions, their expressions hard as stone. "Take your time; just not too much" the team leader failed to joke.
'eeeee' a low, humming voice filled their ears. Ruby stared at Weiss and they both raised their eyes in confusion. 'heeeee' "What is this creepy sound?" Yang, tightly hugging Blake, asked.
"Dunno" Ruby replied. 'heeheheeee… heee' "It sounds like… laughter?" Weiss commented. "What the heck?" 'hehehee… HEEEEhehehehEEEEE'
At once, the entire region burst into a wicked, hideous laughter. It was so unearthly, so wicked, as if the fog itself was ridiculing the huntresses, sending goosebumps down everyone's back.
"Stop it…" Blake whispered.
'Heheheheheheheeeeee'
"I said Stop it!" she took a deep breath.
'Heheheeeeee'
"Stop laughing at me in Sun's voice, you bastards!" she hissed, her voice still a deep whisper, but Yang could feel her partner's tremble stop and her breathing return to normal.
That was good; angry and determined Blake was better than scared and stiff Blake. The laughter kept, but Blake broke the hug and stared Yang in determination "thanks; I feel better already. Let's go."
They started running again towards the large metal door, the wicked laughs fading away as soon as they started moving again. What a weird way for Grimm to act Ruby thought.
And then, another sound filled their ears. This one was louder and much more recognizable - the facility doors were opening. "Quick; hide behind the wall!" their leader pointed, rushing to the blind spot.
Weiss was the last one to hide, but this time the fog worked to their advantage. Their bodies were hidden from a large steel column and the team's scout could easily peek unnoticed from around the corner.
A small team came out, Fowler being the one leading them. They had a small truck with them and were loading it with a series of vials. The tall man was barking orders and the others mechanically executed them.
All of a sudden, her eyes opened wide. The men carried Cherry's body, dead or knocked out she couldn't tell, along with her weapon and put her inside the track, jumping in before they drove away.
After team RWBY saw the truck leave, the faunus turned at them and explained everything she had just seen. At the mention of the fox girl, Yang's lilac eyes opened wide.
"Well, now we know Azure's here. The tall guy at least was dressed like a scientist" Weiss said. "It's time to go then. We are almost there" Ruby added, but Yang took a deep breath before talking.
"Guys, please don't get mad at what I am gonna say" she gulped and continued "but it seems like they got Cherry for sparing me; I want to help her out in order to repay her for her help back there."
Blake rolled her eyes. Weiss glared daggers at the blonde. Ruby was the only one who didn't react at her older sister's request. "You do realize we are here for something else, right Yang?" she asked her.
"Yes I do." "And you do realize she has been taken away somewhere in a truck, so you will have to blindly follow the road, with these things in the mist floating around you, right Yang?" Blake asked her. "Yes I do."
"And you do realize you are asking us to separate now, just before we reach our target, in order to help an enemy, which is the opposite of what Aunt Raven told you not to back then, right?" Ruby asked again.
"I know; but I am not saving an enemy. I am saving someone who has saved both my life and yours. I understand we are huntresses, Rubes, Blake; but I can't just let her die for helping us like this! It's… wrong."
Ruby exhaled and decided to drop the tough act. "Yes I know; I just wanted to be sure" she smiled. "I am coming with you" Weiss stepped up "Ruby and Blake can definitely take on Azure and you'll need help."
"No, I am going" Blake moved to her. "This is a laboratory, Weiss. You are the one who definitely has to get inside there, even more than Ruby at this point. You are the one who will be able to get the most info out of this place."
The pale girl averted her gaze, pouting "I hate it when you are right, just so you know, Belladonna." Blake smiled at her and walked next to Yang "leave your fiancée to me; I will make sure nothing happens to her."
"That counts for both of you; if there is even the possibility of things getting tough, I demand you drop it and return to us, ok?" Ruby glared.
"I will tie her up and drag her if needed" the faunus reassured them and then the two huntresses ran away, slowly fading inside the fog. The remaining pair turned at the door and started investigating it.
"You were going to let her go from the beginning, weren't you?" Weiss asked her partner as they tried picking the lock with no success. "Is she didn't want to, I would have gone instead" the brunette replied.
The ex-heiress took out a small orange vial from her bag and opened it. It smelled really heavy. "But if she didn't want to, she wouldn't be the one I fell in love with" she emptied the vial on the lock.
"Is that compressed fire dust?" "Yes" the girl replied, as a thick, orange liquid corroded the lock at once. They stared at each other and then Ruby gently pushed the door "after you, Princess."
Weiss shook her head "idiots; the both of you" before they stepped in the laboratory, blissfully unaware of the kind of horrors they would soon encounter inside.