Willow watched as her friends made their way up to the incredibly tall steppe pyramid and disappeared through the entrance. Being alone with Team BASS did fill her with a sense of trepidation, and yet, she knew that staying behind was for the best.

She also knew that her real reasoning for doing so was a massive risk.

"So, Ghira," Willow began as she turned to face the much larger male. "Do you know of any quiet places we could go? Between the heat and the noise, I'm honestly beginning to get a headache already. I thought I could handle the desert life, but after so much walking…"

Velvet and Sage exchanged annoyed looks as Ghira raised a brow.

"Well… there are a few restaurants around. They have water and shade…"

"…I am hungry," Velvet admitted as she actively avoided looking at Willow. "I suppose now's as good of a time as any…"

"C'mon," Sage called with a wave of his arm as he began to walk into the crowd. "We'll head to Marine's. That way, you can rest."

"…sorry," Willow said sheepishly as she moved to follow Sage. "I'm just not built for Vacuo."

"…living out here isn't easy," Ghira said as he walked behind Willow, eyeing her up suspiciously. "Air conditioning is hard to come by in most homes, and resources are scarce. This isn't like Atlas or Sanus."

"So I've noticed," Willow replied. "All four of you have lived here all of your lives, I'm guessing?"

Fox bristled at the question and tightened his grip upon Velvet's hand as the faunus helped to guide him through the crowd. The change in body language didn't go unnoticed by Willow.

"…yeah. Vel and I are childhood friends."

"I grew up here, and met them both at Shade," Ghira answered.

"Same here," Sage agreed. "We were all made by the desert. It's a part of us… and we wouldn't change it for anything. The heat, the sand, the atmosphere, the tension in walking the footpaths of the city… it's our home."

"I wouldn't dare suggest anything of the sort," Willow tried as she gave Sage a nod of understanding. The man looked entirely unconvinced, his lip twitching slightly as he regarded Willow with something approaching disgust. "I know what it's like to love your home and embrace it in spite of its flaws…"

"We don't see those things as flaws," Velvet replied, her own expression one of offense. "Vacuo makes people strong. I'm grateful to have grown up here, instead of somewhere soft."

"I didn't…" Willow began, only to stop herself. "…I'm sorry…"

"…it's alright," Ghira reassured with a weary sigh. "I doubt you meant anything by it. Just understand that Vacuo means a lot to many people living here."

Willow nodded and remained silent for the rest of the journey through the market. She received a good amount of suspicious glances from the people meandering about the open area, as well as the occasional look from members of Team BASS. It was enough to make her feel very much unwelcome as she tried to keep her eyes forward and chin up. Eventually, a flash of neon caught her attention from off to the side, and Willow momentarily forgot about her feelings of unease.

A building made of some sort of bright orange bricks stood just across the path between the market and the residential district. The structure was one of very few with multiple floors, and lights glowed from within the blue-curtained windows even during the middle of the day. A bright cerulean sign reading Marine's in looping script flashed on and off three times before all of the letters darkened and then lit up one by one once again in a pattern. The place reminded Willow of the sort of restaurant one could find in Mantle, and it looked somewhat out of place among the other less flashy buildings that surrounded it.

"That… is quite a building," Willow remarked, feeling somewhat stupid immediately after she said it.

"You should see it at night," Ghira said with an air of pride in his voice. "Marine's has been around since I was a kid. It's a hunter's hangout, though it's a bit early to see many other teams. Top floor doesn't open until dusk, and then, the whole building more or less becomes a beacon visible from most places in Shade."

"That sounds delightful," Willow offered, trying to start up a conversation once again. "Perhaps we can all come back here sometime during the evening. I'd love to see it."

"That sounds like a decent enough idea," Sage said with a shrug. "For now, though, let's just get inside and figure things out from there."

Willow nodded and followed Sage up the short outdoor staircase and into the establishment. The inside stood in stark contrast to the modern and chic décor of the exterior. Where neon and height stood out as prominent features amongst the other buildings of the Vacuan residential and business ring, the interior was rather homely and comparatively ancient in feel. The walls were decorated with photos of academy students, each smiling and posing with their weapons. Each of the displays had a plaque with the team's name beneath it, and the pictures ranged from black and white to sepia to full color.

Several tables and a few booths lining the walls occupied the main floor, which was guarded by a young woman standing at a small podium. The hostess was wearing what appeared to be combat armor and had twin scabbards secured to her belt with swords sheathed within them. Her hair was a cherry red, and her cheeks were pocked with freckles. As Sage entered, she gave the man a knowing look and friendly nod.

"Little early for you lot. Special occasion?"

"You could say that," Fox replied as he gave the woman a smirk. "How's business?"

"Business is good," the hostess replied, tilting her head toward the tables behind her. Several were filled with groups of hunters in training, all of whom were speaking amongst themselves. "The usual table?"

"Actually," Willow interjected as she stepped forward, "I'd like to buy out the upstairs for an hour. It's currently closed, yes?"

The hostess looked Willow up and down, recognizing the girl immediately. Her expression turned less than friendly as Team BASS regarded Willow with mixtures of annoyance and embarrassment.

"…listen, I know you've got money, but that isn't the way things work out in Vacuo, Schnee. Upstairs is cl-"

Willow simply produced a handful of paper lien and fanned out the bills, showing off a ridiculous sum for such a request.

"…please. It isn't like that. I'd like to talk to BASS about something privately, and I'd like to support this establishment while doing so. If they truly are regulars, then I implore you to let it slide. I'm not asking for service. I'm asking for silence."

"…what the hell kind of stunt…" Sage began, only for Ghira to cut him off by raising a hand.

"Alright," the leader boomed before turning his attention to the hostess. "Please, go along with this. If it turns into something unsavory, we'll make sure she doesn't come back."

The redheaded woman took a deep breath and sighed before snatching the bills from Willow's hand.

"…fine. I trust you, Ghira. Upstairs is all yours, and I'll make sure you're not bothered."

"Thank you," Willow said with a small bow. "I promise you, nothing untoward is going on. I just… don't really know where else to go in Shade for something like this, so I asked them to take me somewhere more secluded than the market."

"…this way," Velvet said in an irritated tone as she walked toward the staircase up against the far wall.

Willow moved to follow and Team BASS brought up the rear. They were all well aware that everyone in the establishment had turned to watch them with suspicion. As the party reached the second floor, Ghira stood in the doorway leading back downstairs and spread his arms to occupy the frame.

"…alright, come clean," Ghira ordered in an authoritarian voice. "Was this about air conditioning, noise, and a headache, or were you really trying to get us alone?"

Willow brushed her hair back as she nervously looked around the room. The upstairs was decorated in a style that she was far more used to- round tables with plain white clothes atop them, fancy silverware tucked into folded napkins, and chandeliers. All of the walls were painted a deep red with black trim, and save for the occasional painting, they were totally bare of accents.

"I… lied to you, to get the four of you alone," Willow admitted as Sage threw his hands up and sank into a seat at the closest table. "I need to talk to you about something."

"And what would that be?" Velvet asked as she sat next to Sage and folded her arms, looking furious.

Willow bit her lip and turned her attention toward Ghira, who remained in the way of the path back downstairs.

"…Adam came to me this morning. He told me everything the two of you talked about last night."


"Would you look at this place?" Qrow asked as he walked forward, slowly turning in circles and keeping his gaze upward all the while. "The entire damned pyramid is hollow…"

True to his words, the inside of Shade Academy did indeed appear to be hollow- the main chamber was absolutely cavernous, with the ceiling reaching hundreds of feet into the air above them. What appeared to be nothing but empty space with lightning installed at strategic points in the ceiling was all there was to see above. Other than a few small shops, a modest dining area, a ticket booth, and arcade, there appeared to only be a help desk near to the elevators against the far wall.

"Fascinating…" Bartholomew said in an awestruck tone. "Quite the opposite of what it appears to be outside, though if near everything is indeed underground…"

"We have to get BASS to let us explore later," Summer said excitedly. "This is so unlike Beacon already. I want to see everything!"

"Calm yourself, please," Adam requested as the two teams approached the desk and the professionally dressed man standing behind it. "Let's not embarrass ourselves or Team BASS the second we arrive."

"Yeah," Roman agreed. "Save that for the second visit, when we get drunk in their dorm."

"I'm so in," Kali added as Raven rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me, Sir," Bartholomew said as he approached the desk and lifted the suitcase into view. "We're teams OKRA and STRQ, from Beacon Academy. Professor Ozpin asked us to deliver this parcel to your headmaster. I believe we're expected to drop it off here?"

The attendant held up a finger and began to tap away at the keyboard on the desk before him as he stared into a monitor.

"One moment, please."

Soon enough, he looked back up and raised a brow, his expression one of suspicion.

"…the headmaster would like to see you all personally. Take this- it will allow you to access the lowest floor, leading to his office. You'll know the way."

Bartholomew blinked in surprise as he was offered a small card. The bespectacled boy took the plastic with a raised brow and nodded.

"…alright. Thank you for your assistance…" Bartholomew said warily before beginning to walk toward the elevator.

"…so much for the headmaster being suspicious," Taiyang said with a shrug as he moved to follow along. "He's welcoming us in."

"No, this is exactly the sort of behavior I would expect of a suspicious man," Raven corrected. "He wants the package delivered personally, and his office is locked down. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the only room on the bottom floor…"

"We're about to find out," Qrow said ominously as he stepped into one of the elevators behind the rest of his friends. "Looks like there's a slot for something beneath the buttons. Try the card?"

Bartholomew did as he was told and slipped the card into the slot, only for the wall to absorb the object entirely.

"…well, great," Kali said as the elevator doors closed. "This will be a good first impression. 'Hey, we fucked up the elevator, and it ate your keyca-"

The faunus girl let out a yelp of surprise as the elevator lurched and began to move downward. She stumbled and clung on to Raven, who desperately tried to detach the girl as the carriage continued its descent.

"I don't like this," Adam said as he shifted uncomfortably and moved a hand to the hilt of his sword. "Summer, could y-"

"Oh, relax," Roman interrupted. "You don't think the headmaster of Vacuo is going to kill us, do you? Just listen to whatever he has to say, and don't say anything if you don't have to. That's my plan."

"It's a good one," Taiyang replied. "We're already out of our element and off our game. We'll just… play nice and hope everything's alright. You don't think he knows that we know what's in there, do you?"

"This is where we find Team BASS already down there somehow, and it turns out they're the headmaster's secret personal black ops hit squad, ordered to observe us and take us out to steal the relic," Summer said dramatically. "It's all leading up to our tragic downfall. We arrive at the bottom, only to meet…"

The elevator slowed to a stop and pinged happily as if on cue. As the doors slid open, someone was indeed waiting for them, and all eight of the teens found themselves unable to believe what they were seeing. Adam was the first to speak as he took a step forward, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

"…Professor Calavera…?"


Author's Note:

So much going on, and the Vacuo arc has only just begun. There's a good chance that "Volume 2" may become Vacuo, and Volume 3 will be the rest of STRQ's Year Two. We'll see.

-RD