Chapter 9: From Beacon to the Rescue
I don't own L5R or Rwby: they go to their rightful owners
The Sotora estate was in pure panic and trepidation. Everyone was concerned at where Ruby was, why she was gone, what could have put to do this? Yang had never felt this amount of fear in her life for her sisters safety. Azura however held his head low in a depressed mood. What he read on the letter still haunted him. About the reasons Ruby finally decided to leave.
"It's my fault." Azura said to himself under his breath, trying to make it so the others could not hear him
"What did you say Azura?" Azolum asked
"This has to be my fault. If what is on this letter is true, then I'm to blame for her to go." Azura said sadly as he shook his head
"It wasn't your…" Yang tried to interject, but Azura cut her off
"Even if it's not all my fault I still did this. We have to find her!" Azura said to her, distress written plainly on his face
"I agree with you son, but you must calm down." Azolum replied
"Calm down!?" Azura snapped, but his father rose
"Yes! Acting out like this isn't going to solve anything! We need to be calm and rational to solve this!" Azolum snapped back, shutting his son down
The atmosphere in the room was quickly turned into a chilly one. Azura was depressed, Yang was a nervous wreck, and Azolum was at wits end. Progress was ground to a halt very quickly and going nowhere anytime soon. Finally, Verdant returned home with the groceries and saw this scene. With a sigh she decided to enter the fray.
"Anyone care to tell me what's going on?" Verdant asked with a tone of frustration
"Ruby ran away and these two are going nuts." Azolum said with a sigh
"What? Why would she do that?" Verdant asked in surprise and confusion
"Read this." Azolum said as he handed her the letter
Verdant took the message and read it. It was shocking to read and left her positively speechless. However now she understood why Yang and Azura were not themselves. Ruby had just become an adult and to be out in this dangerous world would put her in a boat load of danger. Now however her concern could not show. She needed to get some sense into the young couple for them to coordinate an effective response.
"Alright you two listen up!" Verdant said loudly, shocking the young couple out of their funk
"Mother this is…" Azura tried to say, but Verdant cut him off
"We all know Ruby is in danger. This isn't the time to be moping and feeling pity. We need a response to how to get her back, or even figure out which way out of the city she went." Verdant said sternly to the two
"Your right mother. My behavior was deplorable and beneath my position." Azura said, bowing his head in respect
"Now we need to get thinking." Verdant would say, however before they can begin discussing, a messenger burst through the door
"My lords, the Daimyo has summoned you and your eldest son to a council!" the messenger said while panting to Azolum
"Understood. Where is he meeting?" Azolum asked
"Master Yuri's villa. All must arrive as soon as possible." The messenger said, and without another word Azolum and Azura were off
The two walked through the ruins of Beacon. Though the fires have long since gone out, the damage was still there for all to see. Peasants and samurai worked to clean up the mess, but everyone knew that it would take a long time to rebuild the damage. The two titans had gutted the central region of Beacon, its most populous and economically important part. They finally arrived at Master Yuri's villa, a modest accommodation by samurai standards, and dozens of samurai were gathered, with the daimyo on a raised dais.
"I require everyone to remain calm!" The Daimyo ordered loudly, but the crowd was angry, and demanded answers
"This dishonor cannot come to pass! We need to know who did this and bring them to justice!" One samurai roared in defiance
"I need everyone to remain calm! One of our magistrates has discovered the identity of the smugglers and I need you all to remain quiet!" The daimyo yelled as the crowd died down for the magistrate
"Thank you Daymio-sama. After my investigation has concluded I have deduced the culprits to be a organization called the Scales of the Carp. They are a secret ronin merchant group with connections to the Wei Yasuki family of the Crane Clan." The magistrate explained, but instead of calming them down, it caused the crowd to go ballistic
"The Wei have defiled our honor! We must go to the council and declare war! This cannot stand!" One samurai roared as the crowd agreed with him
"And what would waging war on the Wei solve!?" Azolum roared back, causing the crowd to look at him
"How dare you say such a thing Azolum! After all your family has been through…" The same samurai tried to say but Azolum cut him off
"Our clan has lost many in the War of the Slaughtered. Too many to the point of near extinction. Lord Byakko make the decision he did because he understood a very important thing. To die for one's clan is the greatest form of honor and sacrifice, you cannot allow the clan you die for to go extinct!" Azolum snapped at him, starting to get through to his colleagues
"If he wasn't a coward we would have won the war!" The same samurai shot at him, and some of the crowd agreed with him, but divisions in the crowds opinions began to form
"The Wei were in a position to grind away the army! If he continued the offensive like the seer said, we would not be here yelling our heads off at each other! To have a kind heart in a cruel world is courage, not weakness!" Azolum argued, and around a third of the crowd rallied around him
"That is enough from both of you!" The daimyo said, using his semblance to amplify his voice to an earthshaking degree
"But my lord…" The combative samurai tried to interject and plea, but the Daimyo wasn't having it
"Right now, the needs of my people are to rebuild our homes, our shops, everything that was destroyed! If war is to come, it is not today." The daimyo said, verbally putting his foot down and forcibly ending the matter
The crowd slowly dissipated and scattered, overall with mixed feelings about the news and what happened. Some agreed with the Daimyo, some wanted war, some simply just wanted to rebuild. Azolum and Azura were shaken a bit by the experience. Anymore war was not a profitable endeavor in any capacity. Their armies were impressive, but for its size its logistics couldn't keep it going for long enough. The sheer distance of travel also made war untenable. But if there was one thing the two knew about their clan, anything is possible with enough stubbornness.
"We can't march north. We would never make it before Winter." Azura said with a shake of his head, his voice trembling a bit
"Rest easy my son. If I live I will do everything in my power to ensure war does not come in our lifetime. I will not have our ancestor, the Lord Byakko's decision be made in vain." Azolum said to his son, and Azura's resolve hardened a bit as Verdant walked out to meet them
"We believe we might know where Ruby went." Verdant said
"What? Where, how?" Azura said in utter surprise
"I was talking with some of the magistrates and some information they found seems to shed some light on the situation. They found a log in the wreckage that suggests the last shipment that went out of Beacon before the fight was the one you saw last night Azura." Verdant said
"The Ronin? What does he have to do with it?" Azura asked confused
"Ruby wasn't seen going out of the city. The only way she could have gotten out of one of the two gates. The guards received no shipments in the south gate." Verdant continued
"Dear are you saying you think she went through the north gate on that shipment?" Azolum asked
"That's impossible. I searched that wagon thoroughly; there's no way Ruby could have been on it." Azura said defensively
"The logs the magistrates found suggests that wagon was used for smuggling Azura. Yang and I think she might have been smuggled out of Beacon." Verdant said
"No. No that's…" Azura said, and slumped to his knees in defeat
"Azura we now have a idea of where she might have gone." Verdant said, putting her hand on his shoulder
"It's all my fault. I could have stopped her. I could have…" Azura said, but his mother cut him off
"You can't change the past Azura, but you can atone for it. You and Yang can try and follow her trail north. She would have to go along the old highway to get anywhere quickly. Yang is already packing." Verdant explained
Slowly Azura rose to his feet without looking at anyone, really at anything. Ruby had always been like a little sister to him. He stood up for her, protected her, and cared about her. He knew for years of her plight and opinions on living in Beacon and he didn't do anything about it. Now he saw the results of it. Now only he could make this right and bring her back. As he stood Yang walked in with Zwei and carrying two traveling packs.
"Azura? What's wrong?" Yang asked with concern
"I could have stopped her Yang. If only I paid more attention…" Azura said with self-pity, but Yang cut him off
"Now is not the time for a pity party Azura. Now is the time for action and hunting down my sister." Yang said
"You can't come along…" Azura tried to say, but again the blonde cut him off
"I have you and Zwei to protect me. I'll be fine." Yang said with a smile, and Azura chuckled a bit
"Alright. Just don't do anything reckless." Azura replied
"Don't worry I wouldn't." Yang answered before kissing his cheek
The two finished packing and said their goodbyes. Azolum hugged them and wished them the best of luck. Verdant bear hugged them and gave them words of encouragement. Argent looked jealous that his brother was going out on a glorious journey but gave the couple words of encouragement none the less. With that the two walked down the path towards the north gate, about to leave civilization into the untamed wilds.
"Think we will be able to track her down?" Azura asked
"I know we will. Zwei has her scent already." Yang replied
"Let just hope we get to her before whatever's out there does." Azura said, look out to the run-down highway
"We will. Nothing in this world can stop us from saving family." Yang said, and for a moment Azura smiled in agreement, and the chase was on
Slightly shorter, but it sets up the other duo on their journey. Now the chase is on. Can Yang and Azura get to Ruby and Cao fast enough? Well that's an answer for another day. Next time we are back with our unusual couple on their northward travels and get to see some of the more common dangers of fantasy roads. Till next time, have a good day RWBY fans.