Chapter 16: I couldn't come up with a clever-and-witty-enough name for this chapter
Cinder lay on the cold stone floor of a thousand-candle-lit chamber; unconscious and barely clothed. Salem had bid her be placed there, and now, an hour later, she entered carrying both a small bowl of red syrup-like fluid and a basin of a mysterious oil-like substance by its handle. She walked over and set the small bowl next to Cinder's head, then over to a raised brazier already burning with coals. She ladled the substance onto the blaze, and immediately a queer scent bloomed out of the dark fire; a sort of Grimm incense, one that gave a stimulating and amplifying aroma. She made her way back to Cinder –who was aligned with the fire to her side– chanting in a language that was strange and alien. She set the basin down at Cinder's feet, and dipped her finger into the crimson syrup. She drew a strange rune on Cinder's belly and another on her forehead. Then Salem ladled Grimm-fluid from the basin and coated Cinder's mutilated, deformed, and useless arm.
Then Salem waved her hand over Cinder, and by her power the substance started to bubble. Cinder stirred, and then moaned. The bubbling turned into a jet-black blaze, and Cinder's on unmutilated eye shot open, a scream stuck somewhere in her throat. Her arm changed, morphing into a taloned mutation of its former self. It became an entity unto itself; it became Grimm.
Then Salem rose, saying, "It is done."
It had happened so fast, Ruby was still in a daze. A moment ago, she'd found Yang and Nick in their old dorm –talking of all things– and told them that she and Weiss had set out to find her. She had looked at her bed and thought, oh no! My bed fell– then something crashed through the window and everything went black. When she came to, she found herself in her sister's arms, and she was running away from something monstrous. Ruby looked over and saw Nick keeping pace with Yang; and Weiss running interference with whatever it was behind them. Ruby moaned, her head throbbing. Yang stopped, looking down at her sister. "Ruby, are you alright!?" she said Nick stopped just ahead of them, looking back at Ruby. Suddenly his eyes darted up and beyond them, and he lunged for them saying, "Incoming!"
He tackled the both of them to the ground, and a chunk of rubble flew over them impacting only a few feet away. Yang realized that it would've hit her and Ruby if Nick hadn't saved her; and that made her angry. "Arrgh! That son of a –" she spouted, stopping herself for Ruby's sake. "What's going on?" Ruby asked. Nick was about to reply, but Weiss beat him to it, "Oh, Yang's about to go…ape." Yang growled in response, aggravated by Weiss' pun. Nick glanced at Weiss, then summed up, "Big ape chase us." A glyph appeared above them as a couple cinderblocks impacted with a crunch like chomped cereal.
Suddenly, Yang stormed off, running against the Grimm. Nick huffed and followed suit. "Ruby," Weiss said, helping her partner to her feet, "we've got a Berengel." Ruby deployed Crescent Rose, ready for action as her head cleared. "I'm ready."
The Beringel roared at the approach of the duo. Yang went high and Nick went low. Swinging his tomahawk into a blur, he hacked and slashed at its legs; Yang threw several shot-loaded southpaw jabs into its face and chest. It soon fell to its knees, roaring in rage. Nick and yang switched, and she threw gut punches. He was about to slash its face, when a high-caliber shot raced from behind with a shriek. Its eye exploded, and it fell with a whump. Nick looked back at Ruby, who lowered the smoking Crescent Rose.
"Okay Potshot," he said when she walked over, "let's roll; there'll be more where it came from." As if in reply, the Breingel grumbled. Ruby drew Crescent Rose and quickly silenced it, severing its head. Yang looked over at Weiss and saw her almost childlike smirk. "Well," Weiss said, looking between the two, "you two are quite the Fiery Duo." Nick glanced at her, and Yang rolled her eyes. Ruby shuddered where she stood, saying, "Eeww, Gross."
Nick heard them long before they turned the corner; a troop of Atlasian Knights, about six of them. Yang and Ruby changed into a tense ready stance; Weiss, on the other hand, was a little more relaxed. She knew what they did in the fall of Beacon, but she felt sure these were safe; she was also fully prepared to stop them with a glyph if necessary. Besides, the Atlasian engineers would've fixed them by now, right?
The troop stopped not five and a half meters from them. "Citizens!" one addressed, "Please evacuate immediately. There are Grimm Forces in the area." Weiss spoke up, "WE are students from this academy, we know how to handle Grimm." They looked them over, running facial recognition against their updated database; so far, miss Schnee's story checked out. One set it's optic sensors on Nick, and he set off a flag in it's system; special instructions followed the flag for this person. It updated it's findings to the others, and said, "Sir, would you please come with us."
Yang's temper flared, still steamed from fighting, "And why would he do that?!"
The Autonomous Intelligence in their system bade them answer, "Mistress Schnee has issued a mandate that this man is to be escorted to headquarters. If he resists, he will be taken into custody. If you interfere, you will be taken into custody." Yang's eyes turned scarlet; she was about to charge, but Nick grabbed her shoulder. She turned back at him, and then saw the look in his eyes. "It appears that I don't have much choice," he finally said to the knights, still holding Yang's gaze. He walked over to the troop, hands up.
"C'mon Ruby," Yang said, face downcast in frustration, "We're going." Ruby looked at her sister, then to Nick, and then to Weiss, trying to decide what to do. "No Yang." Yang looked back at her sister, eyes still crimson. "Ruby," she warned. "We should go with Nick," Ruby elaborated, ignoring her sister's warning, "he helped us Yang; we could at least back him up." Weiss stepped up, "Yeah, and I wanna know what my sister want's with him." Yang turned to Nick, and found that through the girls' argument the troop had escorted him away. She shut her eyes and grit her teeth, pulled in two inside. "Fine," she gruffly said, "go ahead and join him." She turned and stormed off. "Yang!" Ruby called, to no avail. Weiss, surprisingly, rushed off after her.
"Hey," she called after Yang. As she caught up to her she said, "He gave you that arm." Yang stopped dead in her tracks and Weiss continued, "You could at least show some gratitude; even if you hate him–" Yang whirled around, "I don't hate him!" she said a bit hastily. Weiss paused, catching Yang's fastball rebuttal, and a sly grin spread on her lips. "Oh, is that so?" she teased. Yang turned her head, gritting her teeth to stop another outburst. "It's not like that," Yang said with a huff. Weiss put her hands on her hips, leaning forward with a grin. "Oh, and what is it?" Yang sighed, "I honestly don't quite know." Weiss was silent for a moment. Yang's unusual tone –a soft and tender voice of affection…or admiration– had confirmed her suspicions. Yang, however, turned back and said, "But I do know he doesn't look at me that way."
Ruby was watching from a distance, not wanting to intrude. However, even from a distance she could see a change in Yang's behavior. Whatever Weiss's saying, she thought, It's hitting Yang hard. Finally she decided to walk over. "Yang, c'mon," she pleaded, "I think we should help Nick out." Yang sighed, "Yah, I think you're right."
The knights ushered Nick into a room within an office building that served as the battlefield headquarters. "Please remain here until mistress Schnee arrives," one of them said. He looked on as they closed the door. Ugh, he thought, that door isn't even red, and I want it painted black. He sat in a chair by the corner and put in his earbuds, starting his music.
It wasn't long before thoughts of Yang invaded his mind. He clenched his fist and tried to drown out these thoughts, but it only came back. That girl, he thought, that girl… you fiery girl; why did I open up to you Yang Xiao Long? He sighed, How come I see Zeph in you? The thought of his sister bade him touch his metal tooth with his tongue; a reminder of their last meeting.
Nick got up, taking out his earbuds, and opened up a window; the blast of cold air went unnoticed. He looked out onto the landscape, seeing the darkened buildings covered in snow highlighted by the worklights of crews and regiments. He drew a breath and listened; even now there was still noise, and part of the noise was getting closer. A moment later a large black bird flew past Nick into the room; Nick didn't even flinch. "Had I known you'd get yourself in trouble so soon, I'd have brought some handcuff and stuck you with Yang," a gravelly voice said behind him. Nick could hear the smirk on his face. "What says I'm in trouble?" he replied without turning around, "me being wanted by the Atlasian General, or being stalked by your sister?"
Qrow's smirk disappeared at that, and Nick turned around to face him. "I presume she has the same trick you have, the one you got from him." Qrow took out his flask and took a swig, "she'll say otherwise, but we both accepted Ozpin's gift. Now though, it won't make much difference: he's dead." Nick sighed, "He won't be for long. Ever since I've met Ozymandias, he's always come back." Qrow looked up in surprise. "You knew him before?" Nick closed his eyes, shifting his jaw side to side and thought, where do you think he got his 'Rule of Four' from? Qrow took another drink as Nick elaborated, "Actually, I got to know him right after the time he gave those girls powers."
"The Four Maidens."
Nick nodded.
The door violently opened, and in stormed Winter like a cold front. She was about to speak, but then saw Qrow in the room, and changed her mind. Nick casually turned to her, "well Ice Queen, are we for here or to go?" She turned an icy glare at him for the use of that nickname the Schnee girls seemed to attract; he paid no mind to it, however. "For your information," she said in an authoritative manner, "our airship will be arriving shortly to bear us to Atlas." Well, he thought, I hope that answered some questions. "And for your information Ice queen," Qrow stated, "I'll be coming along."
"Absolutely not!" she spat. Slowly, a smirk curled on Qrow's lip, a sneer spread on Winter's own lip as the duo faced off. Nick stepped in between them, "I hate to stop your lover's quarrel, but this is not the time or place; do I have to separate you two?" winter glared at Nick in a strange way, in his opinion, almost like she's covering up a look of horror.
A faint noise outside drew Nick's attention, and he calmly walked over to the window. It was a motorcycle, by the sound of it, getting closer to the building. Finally it pulled up to an intersection; and even by the beaming moonlight Nick recognized the golden blonde rider and her red-caped sister sitting behind her. An ever-so-slight smile curled on the edge of his lips; that was all he'd allow for the moment.
"What is it?" Winter asked. Nick turned, "you better prepare for two more passengers."
Two hours later…
Yang tried to get some sleep, but the events of the evening played on a loop in her head. She groaned and sat up, taking a look at the airship interior. This one, apparently, was a smaller, better-armed version of the cargo ship Ruby had ridden over with Nick. (There was more to that story, Yang could tell.) Right now Ruby was fast asleep, quietly sawing logs. She and Weiss had both collapsed on the seats, exhausted. Qrow and Winter, begrudgingly, sat across from each other near the cockpit. Nick calmly and quietly sat down in the rear, simply closing his eyes. It would be awhile before they landed.
Yang glanced back at him; he was calm, but not quite relaxed, his eyes still closed. He suddenly opened them, and gazed into hers. She quickly looked away; she started to feel herself blush, and she scolded herself for it. Get ahold of yourself! She thought, closing her eyes, you're acting like a cliché schoolgirl; if you don't stop you'll be at his feet, at his beck-and-call.
She looked back to him, and saw that he had moved for once. He was hunched over, eyes closed, and his head rested on clasped hands. His lips moved silently, speaking without sound. She marveled at this, he was doing the same thing at the table…praying. A thought came to mind, and she checked the time on her scroll; it was after midnight. Then she noticed a message that had been sent hours before.
It was from Blake.
Yang closed her eyes and sighed. She looked over at Nick, who looked like he was having a nervous breakdown, and then back to her scroll. Finally she made a fateful decision; her message can wait…Alistair looks like he could use some company. She closed her scroll and got up, made a not-so-subtle stretch, and walked back. Nick sighed deeply, practically feeling her approach.
"Hey," she said, sitting down a seat away from him. He slowly raised his head and looked at her, but didn't say a thing. She closed her eyes for a moment and paused. I gotta give it to him straight, she thought. "Listen, I'm only here because Ruby's here," she said, adding in her head, and because I'm in your debt. Instinctively, she reached for a pocket in her jacket, and pulled out the photo of her team. She unfolded it and gazed at it for a moment. "She wanted me to come," she said, "my little sister the leader of our team…"
Nick softly chuckled, and Yang looked back up to him. He was just glancing back up to her eyes, a slight smile on his mouth, "I've still got mine." Yang was dubious of that, but looked on in confusion as he reached down and took off his boot. "You keep a picture in your boot?" she prodded. He snickered and dug into his boot, finally bringing out what appeared to be a folded photograph. He dropped the boot and unfolded the picture, "You've got your team," he said as he showed her, "I've got mine." She looked at him quizzically, reaching out to take the picture. It looks old, she thought when she saw the sepia-tone, Even though the paper looks new. When she looked at it, the first thing she noticed were the team members, more than the four she was expecting…much more.
Fourteen people stood in two rows, the first row crouching, the last standing. One man, on the far left of the first row, first caught her eye. He was leaning out, flexing his well-built muscles; he wasn't wearing a shirt, and she could see a tattoo on his chest, it looked like a butterfly. However, it wasn't Nick, the eyes were all wrong, and the nose was…different. She looked over each face, from left to right, until she found him. Second from last, he stood there with bare crossed arms over sleeveless. A daunting look was in his younger face, as if he were staring down the camera…and was winning. His hair was a dark color… whether black or brown Yang couldn't tell; and he was posed so that his body was turned away to the left, and clear as day she could see a tattoo on his arm.
She looked up at Nick in surprise. "You have a tattoo?!" she burst in bewilderment. He shook his head, "I had it removed." For a moment, it could've been the lighting, but Yang saw for the first time the weathered look In Nick; the weary eyes and hollow cheeks from warfare and wilderness. He looked older, like he suddenly aged a decade or two.
He held out his hand for the picture; Yang hesitated for a moment, but then handed over. They touched, and Nick could feel a slight trembling in her hand. He didn't visibly react, but yang could feel a distance between them. It was greater than the one seat in between her and him. She hardened her heart as she remembered why he was with her. "Just so you know," she said, getting up, "I don't need your help, I can take care of myself." She walked back to her seat, but before she got far Nick quietly called out, "you better get some sleep, it's a few more hours to Atlas." She turned back to him with a withering glare, but he already closed his eyes and leaned back into his seat for sleep.
Yang got back in her own seat –sitting sideways to keep an eye on Nick. As seconds passed into minutes, her vision slowly faded into black. Suddenly, she was jostled awake, the sound of the airship had changed, and there was a soft light of pre-dawn outside.
"Good Morning!" Ruby's bright and Cheery voice called from her seat, "We're here already!" Yang looked out her window and for her first time, she caught a glimpse of early morning Atlas.
A/N: you could substitute The Trip, or To Atlas… or The Trip to Atlas, Up There, Secrets, Nostalgia, etc. But, I guess I couldn't find a name that suited this chapter to my liking.
Also, I found out that the "Gorilla Grimm" has a name that doesn't make immediate sense: "Berengel". My original name I used for it, "Silverback"… made more sense at least.
And now... you get the idea:
GamehunterMC: Well, here you go... they'll be seein' the General next chapter.
KnightSpark: Yeah, but not without a goodbye... of sorts.
Oh, I'm excited!
Yhug hhghhg
