Big Issues
AN: Thanks to all of you who read this far and aren't turned off by the first chapter at the mere mention of weigh gain. As you no doubt have noticed, while their gains do play a role in the story, it is far from the focus. Shout out to Franco Luche Simonacci for the fave and following of this series. I hope to continue to improve my writing to keep that kind of support.
Mountain Glenn Part 2
General James Ironwood stood on a landing platform for a Bullhead which was currently empty. He wasn't doing anything beyond staring out into the distance at the Kingdom of Vale from his perch on the Beacon cliffs. From here, he couldn't see the people of the city, nor could he hear them. But what he could see was a larger picture, the accomplishments of generations of individuals that had worked together to build and defend a kingdom that was considered by many to be among the best places to live in the world.
Reasonable climate, a sea that was too shallow for the most dangerous of oceanic Grimm to surprise them, steep and hazardous mountains to the north and east, fertile fields to the south to feed the residents, a Huntsman Academy and a small but well-trained army to defend the city and its surroundings… Even a few settlements along the coast that have remained standing longer than most any others in the world and the island of Patch not too far from the mainland that often served as a rally point or rear attack position when the kingdoms were at war. Now the island was fairly peaceful aside from the Grimm but the presence of Signal Combat School kept the creatures' population low enough that they weren't often a threat to the town.
All facts that the General knew from his years of being a military man who worked his way up the ranks. He may have had his accident that nearly killed him, but the fact that he pushed through to where he was now and could fight with many of the best Huntsmen and Huntresses in the world garnered him plenty of respect beyond that of his rank. He was devoted to saving the people of Remnant, there was no doubt about that. He had the fortune of being both the Head of the Military of Atlas and Headmaster of Atlas Huntsman Academy, both positions granting him a vote on the Atlas Council. He often used his influence to ensure that his army and students had the most up to date equipment, data, education standards, training facilities…
But it was Ozpin who opened his eyes to the bigger picture of the world, so much that he had felt small and closed minded in comparison to the real truth of Remnant. The secrets of the world, the same secrets that his predecessor had guarded in her time as Headmistress. The real reason that Atlas was kept afloat. The real powers that shaped the world.
It was humbling.
Yet it sparked a drive within him. He devoted many resources to helping with Ozpin's cause. He grew to know that each of the Headmasters of the Huntsmen Academies weren't mere guides to the next generation of defenders from the Grimm, but they were guardians of things that could have the potential to destroy the world if She got ahold of them.
It was a small measure of relief to know that they were well guarded with multiple layers of defenses. The most important of which being that so few people even knew that there were things being guarded in the first place, let alone what they are or what they could do. Then there were the seals that required special and unique keys to open. Seals that were impossible to break without that specific key, even if you knew where the seal was it wouldn't do you any good. But having those vaults hidden within places that would be constantly filled with some of the best warriors and their charges… that was absolute genius.
But it was the thought of the potential harm that could be done by Her just to get at them. It wasn't simply potential harm; she regularly tested the people of Remnant with her Grimm. Finding weak points that would be destroyed in brutal fashions that showed no remorse, no mercy, just a total lack of empathy. She'd find individuals to do her bidding to extend her reach in a more subtle way than her Grimm ever could and use them to undermine the attempts to unite the world and cause strife when there could be peace. Assassinations, manipulation, moles, nothing was off the table for Her and Her plans to destroy Remnant.
If only there was a way to know her weakness. Some way to defeat her, to stop her for good rather than repel her latest attempt. The current situation that the Academies were in reeked of her influence but it was a matter of finding out how She had managed to cause the Issue and how it could be fixed. He could see the brilliance of Her plan though; with everyone focused on their figures, guarding clean resources, and researching ways to combat the Issue, it left Her minions free to move easier in the world. That same Issue, also would slowly work to undermine their combat effectiveness as well as their moral- both were needed to stave off the Grimm.
While he could appreciate the level of planning and the execution of the plan so far, it kept him up often trying to figure out what they may have missed and what Her minions will be trying to do with his allies focus so divided. He had a good guess already at what part of their goal they would try to accomplish, or to be more accurate- finish. But that was being kept safe in the vault and hidden from prying eyes, only known about by a select few. He could list everyone he knew who knew about her on one hand and still have a digit left over.
The sound of heels on the tarmac brought him out of his thoughts. He knew them well enough to not be surprised. "Trouble sleeping?" Glynda Goodwitch asks him.
"Arm was acting up." He simply says, trying to dismiss the slight concern in the woman's tone. His right, gloved hand reached around the front of him to brush against his left bicep in full view of his friend.
His dismissal of her concern pulled a trigger in her mind. "Ah, of course. So, logically you got out of bed, dressed yourself completely, and decided to gaze menacingly out into the distance." The sarcasm was as heavy as she was as she closed the distance to stand next to him. But that was short lived as the reason she came out her was inflected in her tone. "What's wrong?"
"I've trusted him for years. We both have. I just… I can't help but feel… like he's keeping us in the dark." He admits.
"Don't be ridiculous." Was her immediate reply. "You know very well that we are not the ones in the dark."
"That makes it even worse." He couldn't stop the slight chuckle as he said that. It was… slightly self-depredating and the fact that Glynda had gone into her lecture tone. He shifted into parade rest. "I refuse to believe that a man I've trusted for so long would act so… passively."
Glynda reaches out a hand to touch his shoulder, feeling the slight padding under the cloth. "You're a good person, James. You've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest. It's admirable." She pauses and her gentle face and tone shift to more serious. "But it's high time you stop talking about trust and started showing it."
She faces the city in the distance and allows her hand to drop from his shoulder. "Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack." She states before glancing at him sideways. "And I think that's something worth remembering."
Her piece said, they stayed on the landing pad to watch over the city of Vale and the Atlesian warships flying overhead for some time into the night.
Itazura was on the shift to watch the wall at night, mostly due to being a Faunus and they naturally have night vision. She wasn't alone as most of the guards during the night shift were faunus normally. Of course, there were still more than a few humans, some being night owls themselves, others having drawn the short stick when choosing shifts for the week or month. The one thing that was consistent was the number of guards watching the walls and on patrol at all times. There were always the small outposts that were meant to watch for threats posed by the Grimm before they ever come close to the wall along with providing support to those who live outside of the walls. Farmers are a prime example as the Kingdom couldn't have the farmlands required to feed the nearly million people within the walls. So, they had to be surrounding the walls, close enough that the defending soldiers and Huntsmen could reach them quickly to take out the Grimm or bandits attacking them.
The rest of her team were relaxing in their bunks which left her free to check her scroll and seeing if her little watch program had found anything. So far, it hadn't found anything within the CCT's system, but there were traces of activity that raised some red flags for her and she ordered her program to trace them.
It was amusing to the girl that she had noticed more than a few pictures and videos from the various students who were finding some perks to the Issue. A thread that they thought was hidden behind a few passwords and a small maze of links but she found her way through it within two hours. "And they thought that you would need a map to get to this." She laughs as she leans back in her chair.
There were more than a few people who were asking about sex positions that would work with how fat they had gotten- given how drastic the difference was between gains by males and females, it was an almost sure bet that those asking were girls. Then there were the chats about toys, new clothes, a thread about compensating for their weight in combat… that one was nearly as active as the sex advise thread. Go figure, a bunch of teenagers in a combat school talking about sex and fighting.
"Pretty sure that for some of them, they can be one and the same." She laughs to herself.
A flashing of an indicator light on the console nearby caught her attention. Spinning and moving her chair closer to examine the screens that displayed the various readings of the sensors. This time, it appeared that it was a small pack of Grimm nearing a farm.
"Jenkins. Got a pack of Grimm moving north towards the Reed Farm. Your team is closest." The girl speaks into the secure comm channel.
"This is Jenkins. Copy that. We're on our way. ETA five minutes to Reed Farm. Out." The reply was immediate, as expected.
"Leroy is going in?" Her sole companion in the control room asks. The woman was relaxed at all times but that hid how serious she took her job. Her semblance was the reason for the relaxation, helped to keep anyone and anything around her from letting their emotions getting the better of them.
"Yeah, he should be able to handle things easily enough."
"Ha, you should have seen him back in the day, kid. Leroy used to rush right into a mess and throw any planning right out the window. Got a lot of his teammates hurt doing that, one of them died back in the academy… now he takes his time a bit before rushing in."
Itazura's head and ears cocked to the side. "So… he's a loose cannon?"
"He's better now than he used to be. But most teams will have a loose cannon with them or nearby. Leroy… he's ours." She glances at the screens to see that his team was close to the Grimm. "You'll enjoy this." She grins widely.
"LLLLEEEEEEEERRRRRRRROOOOOOOYYYYYYY JEEEEEEEENNNKIIIIIIINNSSS!" Came loud and clear through the comms just as the indicators showed the forces clashing.
Ruby was doing her best to keep herself occupied to stay awake for her shift at keeping watch. And so, she was keeping watch on random Grimm moving around the city through her scope. Occasionally, the Grimm would look right back at her before moving on. Once again, the young Huntress sighs as she lowers her weapon.
In the other room, three girls lay in their beds sleeping. More accurately, they were simply laying down with their eyes closed trying to sleep. The thoughts running through their heads from their teachers' questions combined with their current situation of being in a ruined city full of Grimm and possible terrorists made for a bad sleeping choice, even if they were tired from fighting and killing Grimm all day since they arrived.
"Hey Blake. Are you awake?" Yang asks as her lilac eyes opened though she didn't move.
The faunus didn't bother to open her eyes when answering. "Yeah."
"Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like… what was he trying to say?" Yang shifted on the small pillow that held her head, her left hand on her pillow-like belly.
"Maybe he was just curious." Blake responds quietly, barely above a whisper.
"Ya think?" Yang wasn't buying the girls' words and rolled over to look at her clearly, ignoring how her gut shifted to lay on the bedding now that she was on her side.
"No."
Blake's answer simple frustrated the blonde who flopped back down on her back, long used to the wobbling of her chest and middle from the action as she let out a huff. A moment later she turns her eyes to her other teammate. "Weiss? Are you awake?"
"Of course, I'm awake! You two are talking!" The blonde flinched at the harsh tone the heiress used against her. Weiss does open her eyes to look towards her friends. "And I think he… When I said I wanted to honor my families name, I meant it. But… it's not what you think." The edge had gone from her voice as she spoke, sounding more depressed, thoughtful.
"I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company." There was more than a touch of anger at mentioning her father and his actions. "Since he took control, our business has operated in a… moral grey area."
"That's putting it lightly." Blake comments, having not moved through the entire conversation.
Weiss sits up quickly, her pride and anger making her ignore how her combat skirt and sash bunched up under her small stomach… small compared to Yang's and still smaller than Ruby's. "Which is why I feel the need to make things right!" Weiss gives Blake a slight glare for the comment. "If I had taken a job at Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything." Her tone had become more depressed once again but as she continued, heat was added. "My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it." That said, she lay back down and idly made the adjustments to her clothes out of habit.
Weiss did not like to think about her childhood, how often her father would be angry if something didn't go exactly his way, her mother being driven to drinking to cope with her husband's tirades, how her brother was becoming a copy of their father, how her sister had all but abandoned the family for all of the freedom that the Atlas Military could offer. The decades that her father spent running the company and investing more resources into the Atlas military, shady business partners, driving out small family Dust businesses… the slight encouragement of the harsh treatment of his employees and the harsher conditions for the faunus who worked for him. The scar that she received trying to gain some measure of freedom from his control that nearly took her eye.
Blake still hadn't moved aside from opening her eyes, yet she refused to look at anyone. "All my life, I fought for what I thought was right." Now she rolls onto her back with her own hand on her stomach. "I had a partner… named Adam. More of a mentor, actually." She didn't want to think about how close she was to the bull faunus as that brought back uncomfortable memories. "He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But, of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be… not perfect for everyone." In the light of the fire and the small cracks and stains on the ceiling, she could imagine his Rose symbol there, haunting her.
"I joined the Academy because I knew Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good." Her tone began to creep towards self-loathing. "But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy… What will I-? How can I undo so many years of hate?"
Yang rolls over a bit to look at her teammate. "I'm sure you'll figure it out." She uses her best big sister tone. "You're not one to back down from a challenge Blake."
"But I am!" The cat girl insists, bringing both hands up to cover her heart. "I do it all the time." Now her hands were waving in front of her as she spoke with disdain of herself. "When you learned I was a faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran!" She hugs herself as she speaks. "When I realized that my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran!" Her hands cover her heart once more. "Even my… semblance. I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself. An empty copy to take the hit while I run away." She turns her head away from the other girls as she hugs herself again in an attempt to comfort herself.
There was only so much one person could do to change the world, yet Blake insisted on trying despite her habit of running from her problems when they became too much. She ran from her parents after an argument over their choices. She ran from Adam when she realized how extreme he had become in his actions and desires. She ran from her team when she revealed that she was a Faunus… What could one girl do with just her hopes and dreams but no plans, no real power to change the minds of others?
Silence reigned in the room aside from the slight crackling of the fire between them all.
"At least you two have something that drives you." Yang suddenly says before rolling over onto her stomach. "I've just kinda always went with the flow, you know?" There was no joy in her words, just emptiness with some amount of regret. "And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But how long could I really do that for? I wanna be a Huntress … not really because I want to be a hero. But because I want the adventure. I want a life where I don't know what tomorrow will bring. And that will be a good thing." The last part was said with some firm conviction. "Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that."
She ignores the small pang of guilt in her chest from not telling her friends her other reasons for becoming a Huntress. A secret that she's kept from all but four others in the world; Her father and Uncle, and her two best friends Denko and Itazura. Not even Ruby knew the truth, though Yang figured her sister would connect the dots soon enough or already had and simply didn't bring it up.
Yang rolls back over onto her side and props her head up with her right hand. "I'm not like Ruby. She's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said. Ever since she was a kid, she dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day and never asking for anything else in return." There was no small amount of pride she had for her sister and the woman she was becoming. "Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that was what she wanted to do. That's why she trains so hard to get where she is today."
Weiss sits up again. "Well, she's still just a kid."
Blake sits up now to look her white themed teammate in the eyes. "She's only two years younger." Ignoring that Blake was nearly three years older since she learned of their birthdays. "We're all kids."
"Well… not anymore." Yang comments before she starts to laugh a bit and waving her left hand around the room. "I mean, look where we are! In the middle of a war zone and armed to the teeth?"
"It's the life we chose." Blake says as she glances to Weiss.
The heiress raises a hand as if to placate the other girls. "It's a job. We all have this romanticized version of being a Huntress in our heads. But at the end of the day…" Weiss lowers her hand and looks the other two in the eyes. "It's a job to protect the people. And whatever we want will have to come second."
Yang couldn't help but think of why Denko said he wanted to be a Huntsman; to protect others and inspire them to protect more.
Blake's thoughts turned to her parents and how they fought in their own way for the safety and well-being of all faunus, never wanting to cause harm, even to those who wanted to harm them.
Weiss refused to be like her mother and turn to an escape from the world when she could make a difference with the resources at her disposal.
Up in his little hole in the wall, Doctor Oobleck smiled as the girls came to their conclusion. The answer that he was hoping they'd come to without further prompting on his part. Just another part of being a Huntsman and a teacher that he loved.
Ruby's shift had long ended and she was now asleep on her bed. Technically, she was on Yang's bed as it was her turn to keep watch for the team and Ruby wasn't about to complain about her big sister warming the bed for her. It certainly helped that Zwei curled up next to her to sleep as well. And her own natural padding.
The fire had dwindled down to embers at this point, Yang had been a little occupied watching some Beowolves stalking around their building for most of her shift to watch the fire and add more wood from the broken furniture they had found in the room. It's not like anyone was going to complain about the furniture being burnt for the warmth and light.
Zwei stirred and rose to his feet with a small whine, his deeds disturbing the girl from her own fitful sleep. "Ahh… oh. Huh?" The groggy girl needed some time to adjust as she woke up laying on her stomach. "Zwei, it's late. Go back to bed." She yawns and closes her eyes. Just as soon as she was about to drop her head back to the pillow, the dog ran off and that woke her up quickly. "Zwei!" She calls out with an outstretched hand as the corgi disappears around the doorframe.
Ruby got up from her bed but stayed crouched as she looked around the room. Weiss and Blake weren't disturbed at all by her or the dog, Oobleck was out of sight, and Yang was distracted at the lookout point. "Ugh!" The chubby girl groans as she rolls her eyes and grabs Crescent Rose from its place next to her bed before following after the canine.
A minute later, Ruby had made her way through the small maze of hallways and choke points to reach the ground floor where she stuck her head out cautiously. "Zwei? Zwei, where are you?" She refused to yell for her pet, mostly because doing so would attract any Grimm in the area. There was also the chance that Yang would hear her and give her a scolding that would likely end with a bear hug that would squeeze the stuffing out of her.
"Zwei?" She calls again as she looks around. Trying to find a mostly grey dog in the dark ruined city where grey concrete and dirt covered everything would have been better left to Blake, she could at least see in the dark. Fortunately, the shattered moon was 'full' tonight which meant that its mostly intact side was facing Remnant and thus provided more light than normal. Enough that a human like herself could find the pet with his head sticking out from behind a small pillar. Though the sound of streaming liquid also helped her to locate him.
"Zwei, this is a wasteland. You literally could have done that anywhere!" Ruby admonishes to dog as she walks up to him, meeting in the middle of the street where he greeted her with a yip.
"What was that?" A voice asks out of nowhere, causing Ruby to pick up Zwei and hide behind a corner where she hoped she wouldn't be seen.
"What was what?" A second voice asks the first.
Peeking around the corner, Ruby sees a pair of White Fang members in full garb and armed, talking to each other. "I thought I heard a Beowolf or… something." The first one answers, turning to face his partner. Neither Faunus had obvious traits that she could see.
"Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base." The second one says as they push past the other and walks away from Ruby and Zwei's hiding spot.
"This place gives me the creeps." The first comments as he follows his partner.
Ruby let's out a sigh of relief seeing that they were walking away. A quick check on their position and she decides to follow after them, she had gotten lucky tonight and probably wouldn't again. And so, Zwei was left to walk on his own as the hooded Huntress crept behind the pair as best as she could. Ducking behind piles of debris, inside alcoves of buildings still standing, the few bits of shrubbery that grew through the pavement. At one point, nearly dropping Crescent Rose when she found herself a bit too close to the White Fang patrol after they walked around a corner.
Ducking back but using Zwei as her eyes, she held the dog up to peek around the corner. "Did they go in yet? One bark means 'yes'." They waited a few seconds before the sound of a metal door clanged through the streets.
"Bark!"
"Oh, this is it! This is it!" Ruby cheered herself after letting Zwei down on the ground and she pumped her fists in excitement. She withdraws her scroll from her pocket and tries calling her whole team but the call failed with a beep as the screen displayed 'Low Signal' in red. "Oh man!" She grunts in frustration as she begins to look around and think of what to do now. This was their best lead yet on White Fang activity since Sun and Blake infiltrated the rally.
Ruby stands up, grabbing her weapon from the ground. "Come on, we gotta get the others!" Ruby tells Zwei as she starts to walk away to get back to base camp.
They didn't go far when the road beneath their feet cracked and sank a few inches. Ruby's eyes went wide as her foothold continued to crumble. "This must be karma for sneaking those cookies!"
The ground gave way completely underfoot and Ruby managed to catch a ledge with one hand as the other reached out to grab Zwei by the scruff, her scythe having been dropped on the road above her. Below her, all she could see was darkness and so she tossed the dog back to the surface where he bounced to stop by her weapon. Zwei looked back to his master to see her pulling herself over the ledge but the whole chunk of road gave way and she fell into the pit below with a scream of "GO!"
Zwei runs to the edge to try to find the cloaked girl but can only see shadow. So, he ran back to his other master as fast as his little legs could carry him.
Denko rolled over in his bunk, inadvertently hitting his head on the wall with a thud. That was more than enough to wake him up. Rubbing the sore spot, he activates his aura to accelerate the healing process while he checks his scroll for the time. He groaned as it was only a little after midnight now.
"What's up?" Itazura asks her brother as her drops into a chair near her.
"Had a rude awakening. Now I just feel that something isn't right." The blonde responds before sipping from a mug of hot tea.
She spins her chair around to look at the scans and monitoring equipment readouts. "Well… I don't see anything here to worry about. The best we had all night was a small pack near the Reed Farm. Leeroy's team took care of them pretty quick."
Another sip. "That's good." He looks at the panels himself. "How far to the scanners reach?"
"Almost all the way to Mountain Glenn, kid." The night commander chips in from her corner. "Used to reach a lot farther than that but when the city fell to the Grimm, we lost a lot of sight in that region. Part of the reason we have to be extra diligent here, the Grimm will gather there and make a charge every couple of months. Sometimes a really big stampede every few years."
"That doesn't make me feel better." Denko grumbles to himself as he turns back to the screens.
"You know how strong and Ruby are. Weiss and Blake aren't bad either. They'll be fine. Plus, they have a pro Huntsman with them. They should be able to handle things." Itazura waves her hand dismissively, though the way her tail bristled and shook betrayed her words.
"Hmm…" Denko grumbles as he makes himself comfortable as he stares out the windows.
"Oof!" Ruby grunts as she lands on something hard and flat. Groaning as she rolls over, she was glad to have plenty of extra padding right now along with having her aura active to take the damage. Looking around as she held her head, she sees the remains of another city in the large cavern that she fell into.
The sound of a heavy lock being undone and the door being slammed open behind her, made the girl jump to her feet and face whoever it may be. The light from beyond the door was nearly blinding in comparison to the gloom that she had become accustomed to but she could still see the pair of White Fang grunts charging through the door with their guns trained on her.
"Freeze!"
"Where did she come from?"
Trying to back away from them, Ruby found that she was at the edge of a roof of a building and the only door was behind the two faunus.
"You're a long way from home, little girl." The first one teases her.
Ruby reaches back to her holster to use Crescent Rose only to find nothing. Now she remembers tossing it forward when the ground collapsed under her and she had to catch herself and Zwei. She gasps in a panic but one of the guards took that as an opportunity to close the distance and grab her by the upper arm.
"Hey! Hands off!" She shouts as she breaks his grip on her soft arm. He took a step back and she growls through gritted teeth before punching the man in the stomach… barely hard enough to make him move from the impact. Her follow up punch to his head was easily caught by his other hand and he returned the favor with a right hook to her face, dropping her like a sack of potatoes.
A third man stood by the door watching everything. "The boss is gonna wanna see this one."
That was all Ruby heard and saw before the man who punched her kicked her in the head to knock her out.
Yang stood up from her perch and stretched her arms and back before walking back into the main room where everyone was. "Hey Weiss, it's your…" Yang trailed off as she noticed the empty bed. Neither her sister or dog were there. "Ruby?"
Hey, where's Ruby?" Yang asks, raising her voice so everyone could hear her.
Blake was quick to sit up at the question while Weiss slowly rolled over. Oobleck dashed to the corner and poked his head around. "What?" That was when Zwei came running around his feet and up to Yang, panting hard from his run through the city.
"Zwei!?" Yang crouches down to greet her dog.
"What's going on?" Blake was still a bit drowsy as she stood up.
"Grab your weapons." Oobleck orders. "Your leader may be in trouble." Next to him Weiss finally rose to her feet and was now awake thanks to his words.
Ruby began to stir, finding herself being dragged backwards and held by her arms across the floor. The noise was impossible to sleep through, as was her position. The clanging of metal shipping containers, the whirring of gears and motors, the shouts of orders and directions.
"Can you give me a hand? I can't reach this." She could hear someone say. Looking to her right, she saw an Atlesian Paladin reaching out to grab a shipping container with its hands. "Thank you, just put it over there!" The faunus shouts to the mech operator.
"Hey! Be careful!" Another shout, this one much more urgent caught her attention on her left where she saw a pair of grunts by a large hexagonal device with wires and a few tubes sticking out of it. "What are you trying to do, blow us to the moon?" The man yells at his partner.
"Sorry sir!" The man had an annoyingly squeaky voice from just those two words. Hopefully, it was only due to his nervousness. That didn't stop him from helping the other one pick up the device and move it further into the train car they were in.
Finally, the faunus dragging Ruby came to a stop. "Hey boss! Found something you might want to see!" The faunus shouts out. His biggest distinguishing trait being the glasses on the outside of his mask.
From inside another train car, the sound of a few light metal objects and glass could be heard rattling, along with a rather familiar voice. "Is it good or bad, Perry, because let me tell ya, I have had a day." The voice was being sarcastic, not enough to hide the annoyance of the owner.
"Uh… It's a little girl?" Perry answers after a brief glance at his partner.
"Are you sure she's 'little'?" The other man holding Ruby taunts as he sees her looking over her shoulder.
Roman Torchwick himself steps out the large door to see that the Faunus was telling the truth about something that would normally be considered ridiculous in this part of Remnant. He takes a puff of his cigar as he looks at the odd sight. "That would be bad."
On the surface, the team followed after Zwei as he led them to the hole through which Ruby fell. "Ruby's scythe!" Yang shouts as she'd recognize that piece of hardware anywhere as she ran forward to pick it up.
"Do you think she fell?" Weiss leans over the edge of the hole to peer down into the inky depths.
"Fell?" Oobleck looks around at the various buildings from which she could have been fighting in or on.
"Down there." Weiss' tone was joyless as she and the Huntsman look down.
"Oh my…" With such a hole in the middle of the road, he had overlooked the possibility of one of them falling down a big hole in the ground; it wasn't something that most Huntsmen or Huntresses did. He stands upright and looks around a bit, his hands balling into fists. "Of course… Of course, of course, of course!" He shouts, though most of it seemed to be directed at himself.
His change of demeaner was shocking to the girls. "What is it?" Blake asks only to watch the man pace around them with anger directed at himself.
"How could I be so stupid!?"
"Doctor Oobleck, what's wrong?" Yang asks, trying to get some answers. She needed to find her sister as fast as possible.
The Doctor rushed over and got up into her face. "Mountain Glenn! Yes!" He cups his chin with his right hand. "An expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm!" He moved to say the last part in front of Blake, taking her aback, before moving back to Yang. "Previously home to thousands of people! Working people, commuting to the city, the main city. Developed a subway system to the inner city."
He moved to stand in front of Weiss and using hand gestures to accent his words. "Grimm attacks increase! Population in danger, now desperately looking for shelter." He moves back to Blake. "City evacuates into Metro tunnels and what do they find?" He crouches down to speak to Zwei as if he were a student. "The South-East quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!"
"Doc! What are you saying?" She was getting a bit miffed at the impromptu history lesson. That just drew his attention to her and he got in her face again, complete with hands on her shoulders, making the girl uncomfortable with his closeness.
"My dear, we're not just looking for an underground crime network! We're looking for AN UNDERGROUND CRIME NETWORK!" He shouts into her face and making her eyes go wide for a multitude of reasons, notably his shouting.
"They've been working in caves?" Blake asks, she was the one with the most experience with the White Fang and it was rare for them to ever use caves except for in emergencies. Grimm tend to lay in wait there for tired travelers.
"No, no. Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main Kingdom. Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start." The girls gathered around the hole in the road as they listened.
"As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival. They took up shelter beneath the city, in the massive caves they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface."
"A-an underground village?" Yang was incredulous at the notion.
"In a manner of speaking, yes." Oobleck confirms her statement. "A… a safe haven. Until…" He pauses to look down again. "An explosion opened the mouth of another cavern… filled with subterranean Grimm. After that… the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb."
None of them were comfortable with what they heard. It was well known that villages and Kingdoms alike did many things that they wouldn't normally do for survival, but this… this was not what many would expect. Yang may have been a Vale Kingdom native, but she took no pride in that, only the shame that it was her Kingdom that doomed so many people to die horrible deaths. Perhaps, at that point it would have been preferable to let the Grimm kill them as it would be far quicker that starving or suffocating.
Blake was familiar with unpleasant decisions, having been there for the planning of more than a few and having helped to make them reality. What happened here years ago… was far worse than anything the White Fang had ever done.
Weiss had witnessed many hard stories brought to her by Klein so she knew what her father had been doing with the company and the workers. While Jacques cared little about the workers themselves, he knew that it cost more to train new employees and took time to build up experience that would lead to greater outcomes in the future. For him, the safety and well-being of those beneath him were nothing more than a game of numbers, one where he intended to win by the largest margin at all times. That also meant that he wouldn't just let his workers die, it would be a loss of production and bad publicity which would cut into his profits.
"If Ruby is down there…" Oobleck says, drawing the attention of the three girls from looking into the pit. He reached back and drew his thermos, a thermos that suddenly expanded to double its length before a handle just as long as itself telescoped out of it, revealing itself to be his weapon of choice: Antiquities Roast. "We must find her." There was nothing before the girls but a Huntsman determined to do his job to the best of his abilities and wasn't about to let anything or anyone get in his way.
AN: Things are heating up! Ruby has been captured by Torchwick and the White Fang, Oobleck and WBY are on their way to rescue her, Glynda and Ironwood got some of the spotlight... Not much in the way of action, just more playing with emotions... again. I swear that I write more emotion than I do action and everything else combined in this series.
But at least the next few chapters will be action packed! So stay tuned to Big Issues!
Reviews are welcome.