As the group approached the Schnee beach house, it became immediately apparent just why it seemed to sparkle like a giant flare in the midday sun. Almost the entirety of the first floor was surrounded by windows, with only small patches of tan wall between scattered panels. The house sat proudly upon a concrete foundation built into a ridge overlooking the beach itself. A spacious wooden deck large enough to host a small party was suspended over the sands below, held aloft by a network of thick wooden poles. High tide just barely lapped at the closest row of columns, putting the condo quite literally on the beach itself. A guard tower stood tall just beyond the small parking lot at the front of the building, though it was unclear as to whether or not the structure was occupied.
"That tower…" Raven began as she led the way toward the wooden staircase attached to the deck far above. "Are we being watched while we're here?"
"Oh, no," Willow reassured. "My father's men will clear out once we're settled in. They already know we're coming. It's just to deter thieves and such in the off season."
"Thieves," Adam echoed as he made his way onto the staircase. "Are they really that big of a problem in Vacuo? I thought it was just more racist garbage."
"Oh, it's absolutely true, and has nothing to do with faunus," Qrow answered. "Vacuan society… well, most of it isn't society. Roaming traders, nomad settlements, packs of bandits and raiders… outside of the city of Shade, not much is nailed down, and people are incredibly willing to take whatever they can get for survival or profit. I've heard a lot of stories from clan elders who have been out in the desert."
"Even in Shade, pickpockets and scammers abound," Willow warned. "Life in Vacuo is a perpetual contest, and there are no rules. The prize is survival."
"Sounds like my kind of place," Roman boasted with a grin as he ascended to the surface of the deck. "And this looks like my kind of place. Holy shit, Willow. I've seen beach houses, but this is already a cut above."
As the group of friends arrived on the deck, each of them spread out slightly to take in the sights. While the ocean view was spectacular, so too was the sight of the deck itself. A tropically themed minibar stall was shuttered and locked at the end opposite the staircase, and tiki torches were placed strategically along the wooden railing on all sides. Also along the railing was a large grill, its metallic cover shimmering brightly in the sun. An outdoor jacuzzi took up one of the corners up against the railing, and the majority of the deck itself was occupied by scattered beach chairs. Next to the closed minibar and in the corner opposite the jacuzzi was a circular table of metal and glass with an umbrella speared through the middle. Four matching chairs of dark green metal with colorful, vinyl cushions on their seats and backs surrounded the table.
"Do we seriously have our own private in-house bar?" Qrow asked incredulously.
"Yeah, but it's closed," Summer sulked. "Please tell me you have the key, Wil."
"I… don't," Willow admitted with a mournful sigh. "It's locked to keep me out of it. I was always too young when my family visited prior, and technically, I still am. All of us are. We're all too innocent to be drinking out here, right?"
"Oh, please," Raven said with a roll of her eyes. "As if I can't pick it. Find me a bobby pin and I'll have us taken care of in no time."
"And if that fails, I'll blow it open and we can pretend we got robbed," Kali suggested, only to earn a glare from Willow. "What?"
"We'll get it open one way or another," Taiyang reassured. "Care to show us the inside?"
"Of course," Willow said happily as she produced a key and walked toward the sliding glass door to the kitchen. "Though, really, it's best if you simply explore the bottom floor at your leisure. The layout is… rather open, and extremely simple despite its size."
Willow unlocked the door and stepped aside, gesturing to her friends to enter the downstairs floor. Adam was the first to step inside, and he was quick to move deeper into the house to get a better view as he turned in place.
"This is… I'm not even sure what to call this…"
The layout of the bottom floor was less a series of rooms, and more a single unified chamber with occasional small walls and panels obscuring the view and gently guiding a path through the area. Save for the bathroom on one side and the closet on the other, not a single door was in sight. Nearly every exterior wall was a window, affording a view of the surrounding dunes, sparse vegetation, and beach far below.
Closest to the glass sliding doors was an open, spacious kitchen with an almost entirely chrome theme. Several state-of-the-art appliances were lined neatly upon the countertop, and the refrigerator looked big enough that any of the teens could likely fit inside of it, had they wanted to. Two sinks were on either side of the counter, and a spice rack holding every flavoring imaginable occupied the space between. A mobile kitchen island on wheels stood in the center of the area matching the countertop with its marble pattern, and the far end of the space was occupied by an open breakfast bar with stools set before it. To top off the area, a small television was mounted upon the wall near the doors to the deck.
Next to the kitchen on the other side of a singular dividing wall was a gym, taking up one of the corners of the house. Several exercise machines were arranged around the edges of the room, each facing the windows where possible. The stations were separated by targeted muscle group, and a large punching bag was suspended near a set of free weights at the end of the arrangement. Foam tiling covered every inch of the floor, and an expensive-looking stereo system was set up opposite the free weights and against the common wall of the kitchen.
In the corner opposite the training room and on the other side of the sliding doors to the deck was a large dining hall, partially obscured from the rest of the main floor by an L-shaped wall. An ornate chandelier hung over a long table clearly meant for an entire family to gather around. The chairs were made of some sort of dark, expensive wood, and a locked wine cabinet took up the entire back wall. Incredibly lavish artwork was hung on the wall space available, with the most prominent piece being a painting of the city of Atlas floating high above the frozen tundra of Solitas.
Almost the entire remainder of the downstairs was occupied by an open living room, roughly double the size of the other three "rooms" combined. Expensive couches and a coffee table were set up before a television tall enough to span from floor to ceiling and roughly twenty feet across. The gigantic walk-in closet was nearby to the massive device in a corner, with the bathroom door up against the parallel wall. A staircase to the upper floor was the final notable feature of the main floor, though the steps themselves were obscured by a white wall hiding their path upward from the rest of the house.
"You know, I've never really liked being indoors all that much," Kali began as she walked through the space, touching just about every decoration and piece of furniture in her path. "But… this is just so… open. So free. So many little walls and things to hide behind before popping out to scare Barty to try to make him piss himself."
"Yes, I noticed the sheer number of hiding spots for you immediately," Bartholomew agreed with a smirk as he adjusted his glasses. "And you shall never succeed in that endeavor. My bladder is made of steel."
"It really is pretty amazing already," Taiyang agreed. "Thanks for inviting us out here, Wil."
"My pleasure," the heiress answered with a practiced curtsey. "This is really only the beginning. Upstairs, there is a study, the four bedrooms, and a bathroom and balcony for each. Adam, are you certain you wish to sleep down here…?"
"Absolutely," Adam replied without hesitation. "Especially seeing the sheer amount of glass all around us. I'd rather be able to keep watch when I can't sleep."
Qrow watched as the faunus moved to lean against the side of the staircase wall. Adam kept his eye toward the front door and the windows surrounding it, which looked out over a small concrete parking area and a short road beyond it.
"Hey, maybe we could trade off, every now and again?" Qrow suggested. "Almost like taking turns keeping watch, but trading sleeping upstairs and down here? I don't mind taking couch duty every so often."
"Maybe…" Adam considered, still looking away from his friends.
"There are also large bean bags in the closet, if that's preferable," Willow offered.
"Yes, but are the bean bags stain-proof?"
Willow slowly turned to face Roman, her finger up to her lip as she considered the question.
"…I'm actually not sure, but because you're the one asking, I'm going to say that the answer is a hard no, simply to incite you and Kali to be more careful as you abuse my bean bags."
"I'll totally abuse your bean bags," Kali volunteered with a grin.
"…I'm going to go and get the minibar open immediately so I can try to forget I know her," Raven commented as she made her way back toward the deck. "I have a few pins in my luggage, and it looks like your attendants are bringing it up the steps now."
"Thank you," Summer praised. "Those two scare me."
Willow simply rolled her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose before heading for the interior staircase.
"Come on. I'll show the rest of you the upstairs."
The bunny-eared faunus pulled up her goggles onto her forehead as she leaned around her teammate while keeping a tight grasp around his waist. She could just barely make out the features of his face as he turned back to look at her, and his expression was rather dour.
"Well? Any insight?" the man asked in a gruff voice.
"I think…" the faunus began in an airy voice, squinting as she tried to look farther out into the desert. "…I see it! Sage, look!"
The muscular, dark-skinned boy named Sage turned his head back around to peer to where his companion was pointing. Though he was following her finger exactly, he could only make out vague blobs among the desert sands. For the briefest moment, he thought he saw the moonlight reflect off the shell of their target a good quarter mile ahead, and he revved the throttle of the bike in anticipation as he tightened his own pair of goggles with his free hand.
"Vel, you know I can't see shit out here, especially through lenses," Sage grumbled.
Another dunecrawler bike slowed to a stop and parked beside the first, carrying two men of wildly differing appearances.
"Now that you mention it, I can't see shit out here, either."
The faunus cast her eyes up to the moon, looking rather annoyed.
"Fox, that joke is so played out…"
"And yet, I can see you smiling," Fox replied with a grin.
He, too, was a teenager of dark skin, though his hair was a rusty red color in contrast to Sage's dark green. His eyes were an unusual, milky white and completely sightless. Two red blades were secured to metal wristlets and curved backward along the length of his arms, the exposed flesh of which were covered in crisscrossing scars. Fox rubbed at his chin, grinning at his own joke in the direction of the other bike.
"Now, you're smiling even more, Velvet."
"Oh, shut up," the faunus girl griped, though she knew her expression was betraying her amusement more and more by the second.
"All of you shut up," Sage ordered as he drew his massive two-handed sword from the sheath upon his back.
"Hey, now," the final member of the team of Vacuan hunters rumbled in a deep, though oddly calm voice. "Only I get to make those orders. I see it over the dunes, heading toward that Schnee eyesore on the beach."
"Oh, well in that case, we can let it wreck that," Fox said cheerfully. "Let's turn around and get a campfire going on the nearest plateau."
"Fox," the team leader chided in a voice reminiscent of a disappointed father's. "As much as I'd like to… we have contract. We're getting this done."
"Then let's not waste any more time," Sage insisted as he revved the throttle of his bike once more.
"Right you are," the other man agreed. "Alright, Team BASS. Let's move out!"
Author's Note:
This has been a very, very long time coming. I think a good number of you will figure out just who that leader is before the next chapter hits in two weeks. But if you don't… it's gonna be a fun reveal.
-RD
