Arrival in the world is really a departure and that, which we call departure, is only a return-Dejon Stojanovic
As Ruby watched over the sparsely wooded area she was driving through, the cold night sky being only somewhat pierced by the APC's single searchlight. Glancing at her phone she noted that her shift was over. She went up to one of the other Overseers and poked him gesturing him to take watch. He groaned and stood up to take her place and she sat down on his still-warm fake leather seat.
She looked up at the only feature not blocked by the APC's metal embrace, the black sky was littered with tiny twinkles and a single white moon; its shards seeming to melt into the sky the more you looked. They had been traveling for a while now, for at least four hours at this point, she knew from what Overseer Blair told her Murmansk was no further than four hours travel. She wanted to see this new city herself, it's bright spires probably reaching into the night sky, exotic buildings decorating the ever lit streets. She stood up and stood beside the Overseer whose rest she had disturbed just minutes before.
"You can sit down if you like" said she, gesturing to his former seat
"Why'd you get me up then?" asked the masked Overseer in his rather coarse voice "I was trying to sleep when you woke me up, I'll have you know"
"It was your shift, now I'm simply offering to take over for you" noted she, staring distantly towards the front of their ride, wanting to see this new city come over the horizon like what happened when she first set her eyes on beacon…
"Want to see the city? Be my guest then" said the Overseer shuffling down to take his former seat "But you know I'm not too happy about being woken up" he said pointing at her "And I sure ain't gona get back to my previous position. So how about you entertain me?"
Ruby was somewhat confused as to what he implied by that but asked anyway "what do you mean by that"
"There is nothing more interesting than a good story and you seem to have a tale to tell. Pretty much no initiate is ever sent out on actual missions until their second year, its mostly combat training before doing one or to easy hunts… and yet here you are, coming with us to 'take care' of the White Fang "
"I joined under special circumstances and the High Overseer himself is aware of the situation" said Ruby, hoping to end the conversation before it started
"Come on" groaned the Overseer rather comically "I'm bored as hell and you're my only source of entertainment" he sighed and stood up beside her "Tell you what, I'll start. My name is Avgust Andreev and I've been an Overseer for nearly six years. And you?" he gazed at her expectedly
"Fine… the name is Ruby Rose and I've been an Overseer for like… less than a week" answered Ruby; she (Although despite not wanting to admit it) was quite bored, and the 4 hour ride had left her phone somewhat drained. So she thought 'why not'
"Oh? I thought you would have at least had some prior training, how old are you by the way?"
"16 and you? You seem to have a rather rough voice for someone so young"
"Oh that, well let's just say I had a little accident in my childhood that involved me swallowing dust as a baby" He looked back, reminiscing back to those times before adding "I was lucky the crystal was only ice dust… I dare not think if it was a fire crystal"
"Could I see under your mask" asked Ruby, genuinely curious as to what such a wound would look like
"Not so fast Ruby, you're asking a lot but answering little. How about you tell me how you managed to skip all training and land yourself a mission less than a week in?"
Ruby was unsure what to do. On one hand she was not comfortable sharing her circumstances with a stranger, but on the other hand this Avgust shared what must have been rather traumatic with her; it was only fair to return the favor… "I used to be a student at Beacon" she admitted "But I was forced out due to concerns over my safety (Technically she wasn't lying), one of the other Overseers –Phill I believe- saved me and brought me back… I had nowhere to go so I enlisted, that is the gist of it"
Overseer Andreev thought for a moment before finally making up his mind and replying "Wow, you went to Beacon? I thought you had to be eighteen to join"
"They made an exception for me, I'm not sure why… all I did was defeat some criminal"
"At 16 that is still a decent accomplishment, I doubt they would have allowed you in had you not had some talent. But now I honor my side of the deal" said he as he took off his mask and hood.
His face looked normal enough, but looking down from his small mustache one could see an oddly shaded patch of skin; just above his Adam's apple that was mostly concealed by this coat. The overseer put a finger between his collar and windpipe and pulled back, the color spread all around his neck until (She assumed) it met behind his back. He pulled up his collar again and said "The doctors pretty much had to rebuild my windpipe, esophagus and neck from scratch. I was quite fortunate to be near a hospital at the time…"
"Wow, you described it as nothing major but seeing it with my own eyes… that must have been awfull" said Ruby, unable to draw away from his neck
"Yes… it was excruciating" he said before looking off to the left "And hey, we finished up just in time to see the city…"
And there it was, not an amazing wonderland but the buildings looked similar to Vale's aside from most of the windows being barred and the whole place looking like a fort. "And to think that this place used to be on its last legs against the Grimm" noted Avgust "But if we humans are good at one thing it's rebuilding…."
The APC stopped at a checkpoint's gate, after having their ID cards scanned (Somehow Ruby remembered hers) they drove into the city. It was not as bustling as Vale but one could see plenty of people strolling around, sitting at cafes and reading newspapers on the many benches the city possessed.
"Their APC finally stopped before a large Building with a large sign proudly proclaiming 'Murmansk Police Force' above the door. After taking their stuff Ruby, Blair, Avgust and the others entered. They were taken through the station and into a briefing room. A Policeman walked in and gestured for them to sit "Welcome To MPF station 2, I will be the one briefing you on this fine morning. The reason I requested a team is because the terrorist organization known as the White Fang are trying to expand into Mycelle's borders. You are to assist me and the police force in bringing this meeting down. Any questions?" he asked, hearing none he continued "Our sources suggest that it will be held in a local warehouse in the industrial district, it will start around midnight, a day from now. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir" said the Overseers in chorus
"You will each be assigned temporary quarters here, you may do whatever until then. Whatever you do, don't tip off the WF. They may have ears anywhere. Meet here tomorrow for your full briefing, that is all, dismissed" said he while handing out keys
Having left their rucksacks and rifles at the Station (But keeping everything else) they set out into the town. The rest of their group split off to do god knows what, while Ruby stuck around with Overseer Blair, He was just telling her of the history of this settlement when he accidentally walked into a lamppost; they were able to escape with their dignity intact but it was still quite entertaining to Ruby. They ended up in a café; with Blair reading something on his Phone while drinking coffee while Ruby ate an ice-cream and gazed out of the window.
From what Blair told her the city was formerly a mining town which slowly became the last bastion of humanity as the other settlements burned beneath the beast's claw. That was why the place was built (Architecturally) like a fortress, and even though Grimm attacks were very rare the local authorities still encouraged all to keep arms on them wherever possible.
Ruby took this opportunity to visit the local shopping centre and purchase a set of alternate clothes in addition to a few minor things like a set of cutlery and plates.
They returned only after (Upon Ruby's insistence) seeing a large portion of the city and spending a while gazing at the local weapon shop. It was now the evening and time for them to retire to bed. She opened her door to find a room that looked like a cell; but without a lock. 'Perhaps that was its former function?' thought her as she dumped her stuff on the side and hung up her uniform on a coat hanger beside her bed.
She sat on her bed and looked out through the barred window at the rather dark and cold street outside. She had almost forgotten that Mycelle was located in the north and that temperatures here were usually quite low, even in the summer; often failing to reach even 20 degrees on the best of days. But she was safe behind the clear glass window. She drifted off to sleep wondering about home and what it truly meant.
Neapolitan was not pleased. The mute was ordered by Cinder to ensure that everything went smoothly with the White Fang's expansion north despite her insistence that all that was up here was a few small cities with a tiny population. But once again she was surprised as the whole area was thriving and there were few Grimm to be concerned with… Perfect for their scheme
But there lay just one issue. That Faunus living here were quite happy with their conditions and thus had no need to rebel. Tomorrow was their first recruitment meeting; about a dozen at best would attend which, while good for this continent was nothing compared to the rallies they held in the mainland. But she cared not for them. She had only agreed because Cinder asked her personally, and no one refused Cinder when she demanded personally…
She lay on her bed; a mattress she had found within the warehouse and looked through the skylight above. The stars twinkled along with her calm breaths.
Tomorrow, she would begin.
