For the third day in a row, I have somehow managed to finish a chapter. If anyone's wondering what caused this radical shift in productivity, I'll tell you: I read a great fic the other day which had been written in about two months and had well over 100k words. I messaged the author, who told me he simply forced himself to write a chapter every day. I decided to give that a shot as well.
Since he helped me by saying that, I'll do a bit of promotion for him. I'm sure he won't mind some more readers. If you like snarky humor coupled with a good dose of sometimes heart-wrenching drama, check out the works of The Draigg. I assure you it's well worth it.
Now, with that done, please R&R, as usual, and most importantly: enjoy!
Chapter Five: Blue Eyes And Gray Skies
"Mistral Ops can proceed as planned. Don't delay.
A."
"Mistral, huh? I don't think I've ever been there," I said aloud.
It probably wasn't the most helpful remark to make, but I really didn't know what else I should say. It wasn't like the note contained much else of value.
"I'm more concerned about the author," Blake said through gritted teeth. Apparently there was more interesting information on the note.
"A? Who's A?" Yang asked. Her eyes widened. "Wait, your partner's name…"
Blake nodded grimly. "Yes. Even without that, though, I knew this note was his. I've seen his handwriting so often…"
I wasn't quite sure what to say to that, but before I could figure something out, Weiss was the next person to speak up.
"Blake…I'm sorry that he's still with them. For what it's worth…I know the feeling of seeing someone you love going down a dark path."
Blake seemed surprised that Weiss, of all people, would try to comfort her. Hearing her be compassionate, and recalling the compliment she gave me as we walked back to the hut made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Weiss had changed so much since we'd met it was almost scary. Scary in the best possible way, of course.
"Thanks, Weiss," Blake said softly. Weiss gave her a small smile.
"Is there something you can tell us about this person? Or why they would choose Mistral as a base of operations?" Dr. Oobleck asked.
I get the feeling he'd kept quiet just to give Blake a moment to clam herself down, but he still had to think about the mission. That was just one more thing I liked about Dr. Oobleck.
"I'm not entirely sure," Blake said. "I mean, I know that the White Fang is a global organization, but I've never operated from Mistral. I don't have any contacts there, so I don't know where their hideout, or hideouts, are."
Dr. Oobleck stroked his chin. "That is unfortunate, however at the very least we now know where to go next."
He stood up so quickly that it startled me, and judging by the reactions of my friends they hadn't expected it either.
"Dr. Oobleck?" I asked uncertainly.
"I shall prepare dinner. We can discuss our plan of action while we eat. We mustn't lose our strength, after all."
I saw Blake and Weiss paling at the thought of having to suffer through another round of Dr. Oobleck's cooking. I felt especially sorry for Weiss, who had just seemed to have gotten past her urge to puke. Fortunately for all of us, Yang decided to step up.
"Why don't you leave that up to me, Professor? You could use a moment of rest," she said, gently pushing Dr. Oobleck back into his seat.
"Dr. Oobleck, if you please. But it's very thoughtful of you. The stove is all yours," Dr. Oobleck replied.
"I wouldn't do it the honor of calling it a stove…" Yang muttered as she walked over to the tiny thing.
"I didn't know you could cook, Yang," Weiss said, sounding genuinely impressed.
Yang chuckled. "Well, I'm no five-star chef, but I've cooked plenty of times for Ruby and my dad, so I should be able to avoid burning our dinner."
I winced at the obvious insult to Dr. Oobleck, but he ignored it completely and looked at Yang's actions with an intrigued look.
"Haven't you ever cooked at home, Weiss?" I asked her.
Weiss shook her head. "I…I never had to. My father had people for everything, including the food, and at Beacon we don't really have to make our own food either, except lunches."
"So…how would you do that in the field?" I asked.
Like Yang, I had cooked plenty of times at home when my father was…not well…and not every attempt went as badly as the pancakes. Aside from that, I'd been out camping often enough that I knew how to make food on a campfire.
Weiss blinked a couple of times. "I…guess I never really thought about that," she admitted.
Aww, she was adorable looking all embarrassed like that.
"Dolt," I said, with a smile as innocent as I could manage.
Weiss opened her mouth to say something in reply, but then she sighed. "I guess…you're right in this case," she admitted.
I grinned at her. It was nice to finally call her a dolt for a change.
"Alright, boy and girls, dinner is served," Yang said, gently putting down a pan filled with thick soup.
"I'll get the bowls and spoons," I said, and in a flash I'd set the table. Rose petals fluttered through the air, one of which landed dead center in the pan.
"Ehehehe," I laughed nervously. "Uh, bon appetite?" I tried.
"It's 'bon appétit', you dolt," Weiss said.
She tried to sound stern, but I could hear the amusement in her voice, and I could see the gleam in her eyes even in the dim light of the old oil lamp. I guess karma really is a…unpleasant person. I don't like to swear, okay? Go to Yang if you want that kind of stuff. She knows so many unspeakable words I've seen people run in terror…although that might have more to do with her Semblance and love of fighting than her language.
I was still holding the serving spoon, so I filled it with a large scoop of soup, making sure to include the rose petal, and poured it in Weiss's bowl.
"Hey!" she said.
"No worries, rose petals are edible," I assured her. "I'm giving it to you because you were kind enough to correct me," I added sweetly.
Was I being childish? Of course. But you're not going to tell me you wouldn't have done the exact same thing. Vengeance is just too sweet. Rose petals are sweet too, by the way. I would know, I tried them. Before I could continue my inner monologue to an imaginary audience, Yang spoke up.
"Hey, sis? Could you please give the rest of us some soup as well? Or are you just going to stand there looking smug all night?"
I really needed to start working on breaking my habit of staring into the void when I'm talking to myself. I gave her a sheepish look, and then served her an extra-large scoop of soup as an apology. I quickly gave Blake and Dr. Oobleck a scoop as well, before finally filling up my own bowl.
As soon as I sat down, Weiss looked right at me and said, "Bon appétit, everyone."
"Smarty pants…" I grumbled, before replying with, "Let's eat!"
Despite Dr. Oobleck's suggestion of talking strategy during dinner, we ate mostly in silence. Tasting food with an actual appetizing texture and rich taste made me realize just how hungry I really was, and I guess everyone else felt the same way. Okay, it was a bit salty, but I've never been someone to complain about food unless it's absolutely terrible.
As soon as I had finished my bowl, I scooped up another. I wasn't the first one to do so, however. Weiss had a crazed look in her eyes and she was eating soup like her life depended on it.
"Um, Weiss?" Yang said hesitantly.
"No! It's mine!" she said greedily. I swear she wanted to hiss at Yang like an angry cat, much to the amusement of Blake.
"I know that, but…this soup is heavy. As in, once it settles, it basically becomes concrete. A single bowl will keep you up and fighting for six hours. Eating as much of it as you do…take it from me, you won't like it," Yang said.
Weiss swallowed the unbelievably large mouthful of soup and seemed to consider Yang's words. For the record, she was on her fifth bowl. Two is the maximum 'safe' amount, as I well knew. Now that she had stopped inhaling soup for a moment, Weiss apparently began to realize that Yang was right.
"I…I think I'm done eating," she said nervously.
I felt sorry for Weiss and wanted to cheer her up a bit, but before I could say anything Dr. Oobleck said, "Now that we have all eaten, we should discuss our plans."
That immediately got everyone's attention. "I have a contact in Mistral City. As luck would have it, he's an expert on Grimm, so we can visit him under the pretense of needing his input on something we found on our mission. He's also very knowledgeable about the city in general and its…more unsavory parts."
He looked at Yang, and then at me, before going on.
"He works with your Uncle Qrow regularly, whenever Qrow has business in Mistral. I shall contact him at once and then arrange for an airship to Mistral." He paused for a moment. "This time we'll be able to travel by airship. We'll likely even spend a day or two in Mistral City itself. But once that period is over, we'll be in unknown territory. We'll likely spend a good deal of time out in the swamps of Mistral. I know all of you have, by now, realized that being a Huntress is first and foremost your job, so remember that when we're out there. You have a job to all the people in Remnant to keep them safe." Once again, Dr. Oobleck stopped talking for a moment. "I say this now, because what we're doing will not be glamorous. I have seen promising students flunking out because the real life of a Huntsman was not what they had expected. But quitting is not a luxury we have. Our mission is one that is daunting even for the most experienced Huntsmen and Huntresses. Keep…"
"We know all of this, Dr. Oobleck," I said, cutting across him. I knew it was rude of me and I could see Weiss putting on a disapproving look, but I went on. "We know how important our mission is. We know how many lives depend on us now. Sure, it will be hard, but in the end we'll make it through, together." I looked at all of my friends. "You know why? Because we're Team RWBY, and we never give up!"
I finished my heroic speech by throwing my fist into the sky. Sadly, I was still holding my spoon, which still had some soup on it. The blob of soup flew through the air and hit the ceiling, where it stuck. I stared at it. Yang, Blake, and Dr. Oobleck stared at it. Weiss stared at me with a look that was equal parts exasperation and pain from eating too much. I sat down and pulled my hood over my head. So much for my heroic moment.
Later that night, I lay in my bed. Dr. Oobleck was on guard duty at the moment. Apparently there was a ladder that allowed someone to get up onto the roof. I had completely missed that because the hut was so dark. Yang and Blake were asleep, and Weiss was…well, she was writhing in pain. Yang's soup had solidified. Every now and then, I could hear her whimpering in the bed below me.
She'd probably think it was stupid…or well, the old her would think it was stupid, anyway, but I felt really bad for her. It was like all the food she'd eaten today had turned against her. I tried to remember the last time I'd binged on Yang's concrete soup. It truly felt as if my stomach had turned into an impossibly dense rock. Then, I suddenly recalled something that could lighten Weiss's pain. I leaned out of my bed to look at Weiss.
"Weiss?" I whispered.
She groaned a little louder than she had been doing up until that point, and I took it as a response.
"Drink lots of water. It makes the pain less," I told her.
Weiss looked at me for a moment to see if I was messing with her. "I'm serious. Weiss, I wouldn't lie to you when you're in pain," I said, a little hurt that she'd even consider that, but forgiving her immediately because she clearly wasn't feeling well.
Weiss grabbed her water bottle and held it up. "Is this enough?" she asked, and then winced when her stomach sent another shot of pain through her.
"That's fine. Just drink that, and then some more in half an hour or so. You'll feel better, I promise," I told her.
She looked into my eyes so intensely it made me blush. Then she gave me a small smile.
"Thank you, Ruby," she whispered.
I smiled back at her. "Anytime, Weiss."
I lay back on my bed. I could still see Weiss's eyes when I closed mine.
The next morning we left early to our pickup point, which was about forty-five minutes away from the outpost. There hadn't been any Grimm attacks all through the night, meaning they either hadn't followed us, or simply hadn't been able to get through the boulder out of the base.
I was walking next to Weiss, who was fortunately feeling much better than last night, although she had declined breakfast. "I'm sorry for not trusting you immediately last night," she said.
I shrugged. "It's okay. You were in pain."
Weiss shook her head. "It's not that simple," she said. She looked pained when she went on. "Ruby, you're my partner, my team leader, but above all you're my friend. And I still didn't trust you right away. That's…that's just wrong."
I was touched that she thought of me so highly, but I didn't want this to hurt her in any way.
"Weiss, I'm not blaming you for anything. I mean, I was teasing you during dinner, you had plenty of reason not to trust me. The way I see it, I'm just glad you did trust me in the end. Isn't that what counts?" I asked her.
She considered that. "I guess," she admitted. I smiled widely at her. "See? Everything's fine. Now stop worrying about it, okay?"
She smiled at me. I held up my hand before she could speak.
"And don't thank me. We're friends, Weiss, and this is what friends do," I told her in a tone I hoped was firm.
Weiss chuckled. "Okay, I got it," she said.
We reached the pickup point without any trouble, and soon we were high above the clouds on our way to Mistral City. It would be my first time in another kingdom, so I was passing the time by wondering what Mistral City would be like. Was it bigger than Vale City? I guess I should have known that from class, but I was probably designing a new feature for Crescent Rose that day and that's obviously more important than learning about other cities, right?
Just about all I knew was that Mistral City had a large bay, lined with docks. Their ports were an important part of the Mistral Trade Route and it made the city a quite powerful marine force. This, though, was information I only knew because I'd played Remnant: The Board Game so often.
"Ladies, if I may have your attention for a moment?" Dr. Oobleck said. "Once we have landed, we will make our way towards Henry DeZwart, my good friend and noted Grimm expert."
"Wasn't he the one who published that article on Ursai hierarchy last year?" Weiss asked.
I had no idea what she was talking about. Sure, I know the difference between a regular Ursa and an Ursa Major, but at the end of the day I'm making them equally dead.
Dr. Oobleck, however, nodded. "Indeed he was. He was also the person who discovered that Deathstalker venom, in small doses, has antibiotic properties. It was quite the discovery," he said.
Now he and Weiss began a longwinded conversation about the various discoveries this Henry person had made in his life. I looked at Yang and Blake, who seemed equally puzzled by the conversation.
"Um, Doc?" Yang said. Dr. Oobleck interrupted his story and looked at Yang. "What will we do once we have reached your friend?" she asked.
Dr. Oobleck straightened up and took a swig of coffee. "Henry knows quite a lot about Mistral City. He should be able to point us in the right direction, several if need be. From there, we will try to pick up the trail again and most likely leave the city to head into the swamps," he said.
Over the intercom, the voice of the pilot crackled to life. "We're beginning our descent. We expect to land in about twenty minutes."
I could barely suppress the grin on my face that news. I was about to see a new city for the first time!
Of course, it was raining. Not just raining, no, it was like the clouds were dead set on hiding Mistral beneath the sea. The inhabitants of the city were indifferent to the weather. Apparently this was normal here. I had my hood up as we walked through the streets that looked more like rivers than roads. It wasn't a friendly rain, either, like the summer showers we had in Vale. No, this rain was cold. I can handle cold just fine, but being cold and wet…well, that's not really one of my favorite things in life.
Soon, though, we'd reach the house of Dr. Oobleck's friend and we'd at least be dry. I tried to do a bit of sightseeing as we walked along a broad road, but we were apparently in a business district because most of the buildings were featureless glass towers that just reflected the gloomy sky. All in all, not the best first impression.
Still, we had only just arrived. I was sure Mistral City would show its better side yet. I looked at my teammates. Out of the three of them, Yang seemed the least concerned with the rain. I could see that the majority of the raindrops evaporated before even hitting her. Blake, on the other hand, looked miserable. Maybe it was the cat part of her that hated the rain. Her face rivaled the dark clouds above us for all the joy it gave off. Weiss had a face that was carefully neutral, but I knew her well enough to know that in her head, she was using some of Yang's favorite words. I'd never heard her say any of them, but I just knew that she often thought them. Anger is one emotion that you can almost touch when it's coming from Weiss, although fortunately she wasn't angry as often as she used to be anymore.
When we had left the business district, we walked into a street that seemed a bit friendlier. Bars and restaurants were everywhere, and the bright colors of the light stood out even more in the darkness of the bad weather.
We soon turned into a smaller street, and this time it looked like we were in a street where people actually lived. Dr. Oobleck stopped in front of a narrow door in a house that seemed a bit squashed between the two wider houses next to it. The wall had a slightly different color gray than the two houses beside it so that it was easier to tell the houses apart. He rang the doorbell.
"Hold up, this is the place such a famous scientist lives?" Yang asked incredulously.
Dr. Oobleck looked at her as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course! Living in downtown Mistral is expensive, you know. Why, the rent in some areas is up to five thousand lien a month."
My mouth fell open. For five thousand lien you could probably buy our entire house on Patch. I looked at the house again. Patch certainly seemed like the more attractive option. But hey, maybe it was one of those houses that were bigger on the inside.
The house was not bigger on the inside. I was getting a bit tired of having all my optimism blow up in my face like a mishandled Dust crystal. At the very least, we'd been able to hang up our cloaks on an overcrowded coat rack in the incredibly narrow hall. I hadn't, of course, but I was determined to mention at least something positive about this place.
I was sitting on a small couch that had probably been designed to seat two people at most, but I was on it with the rest of my teammates. We were crammed in between the armrests, and getting up would certainly be a problem when that time came.
Dr. Oobleck had been lucky enough to get one of the two actual chairs in the house. It was, however, a plain wooden chair without any pillow, so how much of an advantage the chair was, was up for debate. The other chair in the room was identical to the one Dr. Oobleck was sitting on, and it was currently empty.
Mr. DeZwart entered the room holding a tray full of steaming mugs filled with chocolate milk. A can of whipped cream stood on the tray as well. My eyes widened. Finally, something that was undeniably positive. You just couldn't go wrong with chocolate milk, especially in weather like this.
Once we all had a mug, Mr. DeZwart sat down as well. He turned to Dr. Oobleck first. "So, Bartholomew, what can I do for you? I gathered it's extremely important."
Mr. DeZwart had a voice like a raspy old man, although he looked young. His hair was black and quite long, and he had a small, pointed beard. His small glasses made him look smart, although that was canceled out a bit by the fact that his long hair didn't really looked well cared for. In fact, he looked a bit like he'd been electrocuted, with the way his hair stood out in all directions.
Dr. Oobleck nodded. "Indeed it is, Henry. We're here on a mission from Ozpin. We can't tell you exactly what we're after, but we need to find the White Fang."
Mr. DeZwart's eyes narrowed. "The White Fang?" There was so much loathing in his voice that I could feel Blake shiver two spots over on the couch. "I can probably help you with that," Mr. DeZwart said.
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least we hadn't come here for nothing. I took a sip of my chocolate milk and almost squealed with delight. It was nice and sweet, exactly the way I like it. Maybe I'd start to like Mistral City after all.
"Now, I can't promise you anything, of course," Mr. DeZwart said. "I myself have no contacts with the White Fang and I would like to keep it that way. I deal with shady people if I must, but I will not be associated with these terrorists in any way."
I glanced at Blake and saw that her eyes narrowed.
"We understand that, Mr. DeZwart," Weiss said, before he could say anything else that would make Blake angry. "But it's imperative that we learn where we can find them. We won't be able to stop them otherwise. I'm sure you understand that we have no more desire to see them than you do."
Mr. DeZwart looked at her over the edge of his glasses. I wondered what the purpose of the glasses even was if he was going to look over their edge.
"You're right, Miss Schnee. Forgive me, I did not mean to imply that you were in any way connected to them."
Weiss shifted uncomfortably on the couch, but she smiled anyway. Mr. DeZwart looked at Dr. Oobleck again. "There are three locations worth trying here in Mistral City. One is a bar in the downtown area, called the Broken Oar. I've seen White Fang recruiters there before, so it might help. The second location is a restaurant two streets away, called Blue Leaf. It's run by a Faunus known to sympathize with the White Fang's aims. Lastly, there is an office in the business district run by a local mobster who has done business with Roman Torchwick several times in the past. He's usually well informed."
Mr. DeZwart let his eyes go over all of us. "That is all the information I can currently offer you...but, as I understand it, your cover story is that you're researching the origin of the Grimm, is it not? I'd be very interested in providing more information in that regard."
"We'll most likely take you up on that offer before we depart Mistral City, Henry," Dr. Oobleck said. "But for now, we should go out and investigate the locations you gave us."
He turned to my friends and me. "Miss Belladonna, Miss Xiao Long, you'll visit the bar downtown. Miss Schnee, Miss Rose, you shall visit the Blue Leaf restaurant and speak to the owner. I shall visit the business district and speak to this mobster. Are we all clear on what needs to be done?" he asked.
I nodded. Time to go to work.
Originally, this chapter was going to include the search. However, I'm well over 4k words as it is and I didn't want to make it too long. I'm afraid dinner got a bit out of hand; I never intended that scene to be as long as it was. Still, I don't regret writing it. I feel it's what the characters would have done. Anyway, please leave a review to tell me what you think. Don't hesitate to be critical, as long as it's constructive. I want to improve, and I need you all to help me do it. See you next time!
Oh, before I forget, for any Dutch readers wondering why I render Henry's name as DeZwart instead of the more common 'de Zwart': I did that because I often see names that were once Dutch rendered this way in English-speaking settings. For the English-speaking people among us, 'zwart' is the Dutch word for black, meaning Henry complies with the rules.
