Apologies for the late upload, I was in the shower.


Recording #251

September, 22981 AEA

"The energy released when probing the Veil's molecular structure is… interesting, to say the least. Just yesterday I discovered that it reacts rather favorably to Adamantine, causing the alloy to both change its physical structure and color. I admit it does look rather pretty in this new form. Perhaps I could fashion some sort of Adamantine battery, to temporarily store the energy of the Veil while we explore what lies behind it?"


Western Anima Wilderness

March, 80 AGW

Western Mistral was shaping up to be very similar to Vale, when it came to exploration. Especially when Ruby compared their terrain and diversity of Grimm, they were functionally identical, which made navigation a breeze. Barring one notable exception in the form of Lake Matsu, the lands were flat, or curved inwards or outwards, but never up, down, around, or through the air. The forests and swamps were just as uniform, and the less said about the climate the better.

The only major point of difference between the two lands was the abundance of small settlements and villages scattered throughout Anima, and their distance from the Kingdom. Whereas Vale held a few minor colonies along the coast of Sanus, Mistral was home to a plethora of villages scattered throughout the entire continent, the locations of which Ruby could only assume were decided by throwing darts at a map while blindfolded.

And of course, as expected, there wasn't a single trace of Eternal civilization to be found anywhere in Anima. Even with surveillance drones helping her—thrown together with spare parts she'd scavenged before departing Vale and built on the foundation of the original prototype she'd sent out so many months ago—the facts never changed.

Thankfully she had another pressing issue to distract her from the deep, existential crisis her findings presented. Now the question was, how many settlements would she run into on her way to Argus?

The answer, as it turned out, was many. So many in fact, that she soon lost count, as the villages and encampments she passed by quickly blurred together into a mind-numbingly banal collage of shoddy barricades, brusque locals and forgettable architecture. It seemed, at least to her, that Mistral culture was every bit as unimpressive as Vale's. She'd assumed this to be the case based on the research she'd done back at Beacon, but it was another thing entirely to see it in person.

An elder Beringel leapt at her from a brush near the road, but she cut it down and continued on without a second glance. Obviously it was impossible to ensure that her journey across the continent remained entirely Grimm-free, but she would have expected the local Hunters to have kept the main roads clear, especially at this time…of…day…

Her Scroll was out in a flash, map already opened and centered over western Anima. If her sources were correct, there should be a sizable village just ahead—though a clear view was masked by the forest surrounding her—and by that logic there should be at least one Hunter patrolling the roads nearby. A sizable threat like a Beringel showing up here did not bode well for this Shion place, from what she could tell. A low howl and a distant rumbling behind her told her all she needed to know; a swarm of Grimm was coming, and Shion's Hunters were nowhere in sight.

The problem became obvious as she neared the village. The walls of the village were utterly demolished, guard posts devoid of any signs of life. Thick black smoke rose from the remains of the wooden fencing, obscuring her vision of the village interior. She didn't need to see inside to guess what was happening though; the sounds of screaming, gunshots and clanging of steel were more than enough. Shion was under attack, and not from the Grimm, by the sound of it.

After only putting out the fires directly in front of her, she ran straight into the chaos surrounding the village square. A single Huntsman stood in front of a group of unarmed villagers, having just cut down two roughly dressed men wearing Grimm masks. As she approached, she noticed the Huntsman was bleeding heavily from his hands, and the small party he was protecting wasn't fairing much better. One of them noticed her approach and let out a small shriek, alerting the Hunter.

"Another one!" He shouted, readying his weapons.

"I'm not with them!" She quickly responded, holding up her empty, cloth-wrapped hands. Why was everyone so quick to assume?

A rhetorical question, of course. Ruby knew it had to do with her general appearance. Even though she'd replaced her 'scavenged' White Fang mask for a patternless helmet, she was still undeniably trying to hide herself, which was met with reasonable suspicion. She'd even taken further measures to downplay her general image, swapping out her now meaningless Beacon uniform for a predominantly black blouse and skirt with red accents.

The Huntsman dropped his aggression when he realized her intentions. A brief scan of the area told him they were safe, for now, so he quickly approached her. "You've picked a bad time to visit Shion, traveler."

"Yeah, well, it's going to get even worse if we don't do something about it immediately." She informed him. "I came in from the west gate. The Grimm are bound to show up from there any minute now."

He narrowed his eyes and cursed under his breath. "So we're screwed either way. Great."

"What do you mean? There's still time to evacuate, or find a rallying point to defend from!"

"Not while these bandits are still around." He replied. "If it were just a few of them, we'd be fine, but they brought their whole tribe. Leader and all. Most of them have our only other exit locked down tight, and they aren't leaving 'til they sacked and pillaged every last building in Shion."

Ruby let out a frustrated growl. "Then gather everyone up in one place. I'll handle the bandits and the Grimm. You just make sure no one else dies in the meantime."

The Huntsman balked at her suggestion. "Are you out of your mind? You won't stand a chance against an army of Grimm, let alone an entire bandit tribe! Their leader alone could probably burn this whole town to the ground if they wanted to!"

That caught her attention. "What do you mean by that?"

He hesitated, as if doubting his own words. "I don't know how she did it, maybe it was her Semblance or whatever; she'd just run up to a house and set it on fire like," He struggled to snap his bloodied fingers together. "Like that."

Was it Cinder?

"What did she look like?"

He scowled. "Dark hair—like you. Red clothes—like you. Big mask—also like you. Are you two related or something?"

Ruby had heard enough. "No. You said they took over the other gate?"

"Yeah, the east ga—wait, where are you going?"

The man reached out to stop her, but she was already far beyond his reach, ducking and diving through the destroyed remains of a few homes as she raced to the east end of the village.

She really should have finished Cinder off for what she did to Beacon. For what she almost did to Pyrrha. Though, in her defense, she had no real frame of reference for what was or wasn't lethal force for the average mortal. Setting Cinder on fire a whole bunch should have worked in theory, but in practice it was an entirely different story. And it ended up costing her…

She pushed down the bitter memories of that night as she approached the outermost wall of the village. True to the Huntsman's words, a small group of bandits were loading supplies onto a few trucks, engines active and ready to roll with all of their stolen goods. Not that she'd let them.

Fortunately for Ruby, their leader was easy enough to spot among the crowd. Unfortunately for Ruby, the woman who turned to face her was most assuredly not Cinder Fall.

She could definitely see what the other Huntsman was going for in comparing them, though. The bandit leader's outfit consisted entirely of reds and blacks, and the Grimm mask she was wearing covered the entirety of her head, exposing only a trail of long, jet-black hair.

For a moment the battlefield stilled, the rest of the bandits taking notice of the lone Eternal standing before them.

"…Is there any chance we could talk this out like civilized people?"

Their leader said nothing, but the rest of the bandits let out a battle cry and charged forward.

"Didn't think so." She grumbled.

She counted about nine or ten of them in total, not that it mattered. Time was of the essence; she had maybe five, ten minutes before the Grimm would surround the village, and the residents of Shion were in no position to defend themselves. She could only hope that the other Huntsman would pull through and get the rest of the village to safety. Relative safety, that is.

With her energy sword active, she dove into the fray, quickly breaking the line the bandits formed with an extended swing from her blade. Ducking and pivoting around the bandits' crude weaponry, she lashed out with swift blows and cuts to their Aura, never lingering in a single place for too long. Her enemies never managed to land a solid hit on her, their swings only ever struck the ground or passed harmlessly through the air, and every shot fired from a weapon sailed harmlessly past her, never to be seen again.

Ruby kicked off the last bandit's back, separating herself from the now thoroughly winded and Aura-less group. She was about to finish them all off when she caught a blur of movement from out of the corner of her eye socket. Her sword came up just in time to block a slash from a blood-red blade, and she found herself staring down the Grimm mask of the leader.

She stood her ground as they locked swords once again, and to her displeasure she spotted the nearly defeated bandits moving their stolen payload out through the village gates. As she moved to stop them, she found that their leader was just strong and just fast enough to prevent her from doing so.

Ugh. So much for not drawing attention to herself.

A single drop of magic fell from her palm and into the ground, and suddenly the bandits found their only means of escape cut off by a rapidly growing wall of vines that had erupted out of the earth in front of them. Their leader jerked her head to the side in surprise, taking in the sight of her magic before breaking off her assault. In an instant the masked woman was in front of the wall, and had already slashed at it multiple times before Ruby could catch up. No matter. She had studied Remnant's technology well, and there was no way any mortal weapon could cut through—wait, what the hell was that?

A row of swirling red portals opened up before the wall, which the bandits jumped through immediately and without hesitation, upon which each individual portal closed instantly. Their leader gave Ruby a silent glance before stepping through the last portal, leaving her alone with everything they had stolen.

She sighed as she dispelled the growth of vines blocking the gate. "Why are Semblances so unpredictable?" It wasn't like teleportation was a particularly unique concept, but how was she supposed to know that the conditions for activation required sword swings?

At least everything they stole was wrapped up nice and tidy in one place. Now all that was left to do was contend with the Grimm…


Hero. She quite liked the title that the residents of Shion had given her after saving their village. It was certainly better than being called a Maiden, chased down by power-hungry individuals like Cinder, or being called a monster by anyone who happened to see her unmasked, and chased away before she could properly explain herself. Atlas, and by extension a new, lab-tested fleshy body, could not come quickly enough.

After saving Shion, her journey continued a few dozen kilometers eastward until Ruby found herself before a most peculiar sight. It was a set of train tracks, running perpendicular to her designated path. A bit odd, given there was no indication of this landmark on both the map the locals had given her, and the one she had downloaded from when Beacon still stood. Perhaps they were both out of date?

She knelt down next to the track for closer examination, keeping a careful eye out for any passing trains. Wooden ties supported two sets of steel rails, and at a glance both materials were Dust-infused, albeit cheaply so. It made sense, given the sheer length of the track, which stretched out into the horizon to the south. To the north, however, Ruby could spot a small station positioned at the foot of a mountain, no more than thirty minutes away by foot, dimly lit by a few lamps as the clouds rolled in and darkened the sky.

A single droplet of water struck the metal rail with a clang. Then another. And another. Ruby made the mistake of looking up at the storm clouds, and a few drops of rain slid through the slits in her mask and into her skull. She averted her gaze as the drizzle quickly turned into a violent downpour.

Thunder crackled loudly in the distance as she hurried towards shelter. Her cloak was hydrophobic, sure, but she wanted to update her hard-light map with all the information she'd obtained so far on her travels, including this new rail line. Cartography in the pouring rain wasn't exactly… ideal. Plus it would be poor form not to pay the place a visit.

The station consisted of two small buildings on either side of the railroad, traditional Mistralan lamps swaying violently in the wind. The buildings seemed closed, upon further inspection, judging by the darkened windows and firmly shut doors. She supposed establishments this far out in the wilderness wouldn't be open all day, and especially not this early in the morning. Thankfully, both buildings extended their roofing over the public platform, providing enough space for a small crowd of people.

When Ruby finally arrived, she spotted a small figure sitting to the right of the door on her side of the station. A young boy, at first glance, sporting a very dirty white shirt and stained gray pants, held up by orange suspenders. He had dark, scruffy hair which was soaked through thanks to the storm, and his backpack, propped up carefully against a ticket kiosk next to him, was likewise drenched. He seemed to be distracted by something, staring so intently at the other side of the railroad that he didn't notice her even as she climbed up to the platform.

"Hello!" She greeted cheerfully, sitting down on a spot on the left and leaving ample space between them.

The boy almost leapt to his feet upon being taken by surprise, crashing into and pressing up against the kiosk in fear. "Gah—! What the…you!?"

"Apologies for the mask." She said before he could question her attire. "I've a rather unpleasant skin condition I would rather not show off in public."

"Oh! Um, that's fine…" With the initial shock wearing off, the boy relaxed back into his seat, though he was still eyeing her with an inscrutable expression on his face. "I'm Oscar, by the way. Oscar Pine."

"Ruby." She gave a curt nod, before bringing up her mapping tools and getting to work. Introductions were out of the way, so there was no reason for the two of them—strangers, at best—to interact while they waited out the storm. From what she understood of his outfit, she supposed he was either homeless or a runaway, though given that he seemed to be waiting for a train to arrive, it seemed he didn't need any help reaching… wherever he needed to be. In other words, it wasn't her business to pry in the first place.

Oscar apparently didn't get the memo, though, as not five minutes deep into her cross referencing session, he broke the silence to ask her a question.

"So, uh, Ruby… I feel like I've seen you somewhere before…" He began.

"If I could raise my eyebrows at you, I would." She replied, not bothering to look up from her holo-map. "What are you actually trying to say?"

"Well, er, you were a Beacon student, right?" A pause, and a quick cough. "Oh! Um, the only reason I know this is because I saw your team compete in the Vytal Festival this year. Yeah…"

She looked up to see him wincing like he suddenly had a bad headache. What a strange kid. She paid him no mind; this map wasn't going to fill out itself.

"I was a student at Beacon for a while." Emphasis on 'was'. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason, hah…haha…"

She gave him a flat stare. "Really?"

He swallowed nervously, eyes darting around everywhere in an attempt not to make eye-to-socket contact. "Do you… do you know Professor Ozpin?" He smacked his head immediately after. "What am I saying, of course you do! He w—I mean, he's your headmaster, right?"

Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Are you feeling alright, Oscar?" Even with what little attention she was paying him, she could tell the young mortal was behaving oddly. What sort of secret was he hiding?

"F-fine!" He stammered, tugging at the bandages wrapped around his neck. "I'm fine! Just a bit, uh, you know…"

"Do I?" Her map was nearly updated. All that was left was to reroute the railway and she'd be good to go. Thank goodness for that, she was getting tired of this poor excuse for a conversation. "Well, if you say so. And yes, Ozpin and I were… acquainted."

"Okay cool, that's cool. Y'see, I'm his…" He cringed a little before continuing. "I'm his nephew."

"Really?" That was interesting. Very interesting.

She closed out of her finished map, attention now fully set on Oscar. "He never mentioned you."

"Yeah he—Uncle Ozpin didn't exactly keep close contact with the rest of us after he became a Huntsman." He laughed nervously. "But then we saw what happened during the Vytal Festival, at the end of the tournament. Do you know if he… if he…"

Suffice to say that Ruby did not expect this when she first spotted the train station. What an unfortunate coincidence…

She mulled over it for a moment. He and his family deserved to know, since Vale couldn't exactly communicate with the rest of the world at the time. So unfortunately, it fell to her to tell him the truth.

"I'm sorry, Oscar."

His face fell and Ruby looked away awkwardly. Dealing with the death of a loved one wasn't exactly something she was familiar with, and surely he wouldn't want to hear empty platitudes from some stranger he had met mere minutes ago.

"By the time I was three, he was already a Huntsman." He sniffled. "I never really knew him, but at the same time, I looked up to him, y'know?"

Ruby nodded lamely, at a loss for words.

"I mean, one of the greatest Huntsmen known to Vale, and Beacon's youngest Headmaster, to boot? I-I just really wanted to apply to Beacon—when I was old enough, of course—and follow in his footsteps. And then…"

And then the attack happened. Something which she could have, should have outright prevented. Beacon was supposed to be her base of operations, but she never even bothered to try and bolster its defenses beforehand. She had spent too much time focused on herself, and the various conspiracies surrounding her, letting the world of Remnant and its peculiarities drag her attention away from what really mattered.

Ruby forced herself to calm down, unclenching a fist she didn't even remember closing in the first place. "What are you going to do now?"

"…Probably head to Haven. That's Mistral's premiere Huntsman Academy, if you didn't know—"

She allowed herself to giggle slightly at his conversational antics. "I know where Haven is, Oscar."

His cheeks went red as he scratched the back of his head. "R-Right. Sorry."

Well, that was that, she supposed. She never expected to meet Ozpin's nephew out in the middle of nowhere, but at least this conversation went much more smoothly than any with his uncle. Credit to him, and undoubtedly a win in her book.

Making sure her gear was secure, she stood up. "Good luck with Haven, Oscar."

"W-Wait!"

Oscar at least had the common sense to look apologetic as he asked her another question. "What was he like?"

"…You're gonna have to be more specific than that. Are you asking for my opinion of him? Or how he acted as Headmaster during my time at Beacon?"

"Your… opinion, I guess?"

And there it was. Although, was it really okay for her to explain all of this to a child? To vent to someone she'd just met a few minutes ago?

"We… didn't exactly part on the best of terms." She began, ignoring the way Oscar recoiled at her words. "He was arrogant. Lied and presumed too much, and caused a lot of misunderstandings between the two of us. Though, I suppose I could say the same about myself."

She chuckled wistfully. "Whatever reason he had to keep all of those secrets to himself, I'll never know. But it would be hypocritical of me to call out his actions now."

"What… what do you mean?"

"Whenever something came up, we'd both dance around the issue in our own ways. Even during the one time I opted for a direct confrontation, it ended with vague half-answers and promises to be fulfilled in the near future. In the end, I guess we were too alike."

"…How so?"

"I think we both thought we'd have all the time in the world to sort things out exactly the way we'd have liked it. An eternity to make it perfect." She let out a frustrated scoff. "Old habits die hard, I guess. And everyone tuning in saw how well that worked out."

Thunder crackled loudly in the distance as she continued. "I should have been more aggressive. More forceful. Maybe then he wouldn't have ended up…"

Ruby didn't say anything else. She knew it probably wasn't what Oscar wanted to hear, but she had to get it out there. Out of her mind, so she could fully focus on her goal. Not that she enjoyed dumping her month-old thoughts onto Ozpin's closest living relative, but there was no way it wouldn't have been brought up even if she'd answered his question in bad faith. Or at least, that's what she told herself.

"Do you hate him? For lying to you? For letting Beacon get attacked?" Oscar asked quietly.

Ruby thought back to when they first met, and how he carefully negotiated her enrollment in his school. And she remembered the initial days after the attack on Beacon, when 'Headmaster Ozpin' joined the list of missing persons, much to the shock and dismay of everyone on hand. It was back then that she had come up with an answer to Oscar's question, and it hasn't changed since.

"No."

The rattling and rumbling of tracks caught her attention, and she turned to see a solitary train rolling into the station.

"That's mine, I think." Oscar said, picking up his bag. Walking towards the train, he hesitated for a moment, before turning to Ruby and bowing deeply. "Thanks. F-For telling me everything. I think I know what I need to do now."

She nodded in response. "Until later then, Oscar."

And with that, the train departed leaving Ruby alone at the station. Though, it was time for her to get moving, too. There was still a lot of ground to cover between the station and Argus, if her calculations were correct.

Though, something about that boy struck Ruby as a bit odd, now that she thought about it, but she couldn't quite place her finger on what exactly it was. What was it? Was it his clothing? Or maybe his name? His age? His manners? His apparent relation to Ozpin?

Wait. Of course! How could she have been so blind?

"It was the freckles!" She announced, bringing her fist down into her palm. "They look a bit different on a living, breathing human. Now that I think of it, maybe I should pay Penny a visit when I get to Atlas?"


? ? ?

January, 80 AGW

It was intricately designed, he could give them that. Durable, and fuel efficient, too.

No matter. He could crack through Atlesian code and reverse engineer their latest technology within weeks, and this invention would prove no different. Even if it was wildly different from any he had ever seen.

He had to admit whoever made this was quite skilled. Not quite as brilliant or ingenious as he, of course, but there was a sort of artistry to the design of the drone that impressed him. A breath of fresh air from the formulaic Atlesian designs he was used to seeing. Now, if he could only figure how to dismantle the engine without—

"Dr. Watts."

Quickly setting down the drone on his workstation, he turned and bowed in reverence."Yes, ma'am?"

"I thought I ordered you to meet with our informant in Mistral. Why are you still here?"

"Ah, well," he stiffened a little under pressure from the Grimm Queen. "I was about to depart when one of your Grimm brought in something… interesting."

"And what exactly is so interesting that it could distract from your mission? Please, enlighten me."

"Of course!" Arthur quickly stepped aside to show her the partially rebuilt drone resting on his table. "It's a drone, but not like any old drone from Atlas or the like."

She beckoned him to continue.

"Ahem. Right. First of all, it's remarkably durable. The Nevermore that plucked it out of the sky barely managed to put a scratch in it." He said, motioning to the outer plating. "Second, it was built to send and receive wireless signals, much like a Scroll—but not to any CCT tower in existence, including the one we destroyed. My hypothesis is that someone built this device for exclusively personal use."

"Interesting. Someone working outside the law, perhaps? Go on."

"Third and finally, whoever made this has a far greater grasp on Dust propulsion than any of those idiots in Atlas. I'd say it even rivals my own in terms of efficiency." Arthur said begrudgingly.

"And yet, we've seen nothing to indicate that Atlesian tech has made the same advancements." Salem reasoned. "Very interesting indeed… Can you trace the signal back to its source?"

"I already have." He stated proudly. "It's in the western part of Mistral, and moving very slowly. The inventor is likely traveling on foot."

Salem nodded. "Good. In addition to meeting with Lionhart, I'd like you to find this person, and bring them to me. Use Tyrian if you need to. That shouldn't be a problem, I hope?"

He faltered. "Ah, my Queen? What could we possibly gain from recruiting them? Surely I would be able to do anything they can—"

"Are you questioning my judgment, Dr. Watts?"

He froze under her piercing stare. "N-not at all, ma'am. I just—"

"Then bring them to me. Alive. Make use of Tyrian's services if you must." Salem glided silently out of his room, leaving him to his thoughts.

Well, no matter. Even if this mysterious person ended up joining their group, it would only serve to elevate Arthur's position once he inevitably proved himself to be the superior engineer. As if anyone could compete with his genius.

To Mistral, then. At least the extra task would serve to distract him from the pain of having to work with that uppity brat of a Maiden and that miserable coward of a Headmaster…


A/N: Hibernation's over! Please excuse my prolonged absence. I took some time off to really work through how I handle myself and my anxiety online, but I think I've sat on my hands for long enough. I won't fault you if you've lost interest in this fic in the meantime, though. That's entirely on me.

My writing ability will have undoubtedly been affected by this hiatus, though whether that's a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. Nothing to do but forge onward.

Not much to say for this chapter outside of Oscar's A+ acting. I wanted to redeem Ozpin a little after my... less than elegant handling of him during the Beacon days. Hopefully his interview and Ruby's response didn't come across as too hamfisted, but if it does, let me know what I could have done better.

Thanks for reading. Let me know if you find any errors. I promise the next chapter won't take nearly as long to release.