Chapter 3: Welcome to Nowhere

"Ugh."

Zed awoke slowly, with an aching pain present in his lower abdomen. He wasn't quite sure where he was.

Am I dead? Another voice shook Zed from his thoughts.

"Oh my God. NO WAY. NO FREAKING WAY. WE DID IT! KARL WE SAVED HIM, HE'S AWAKE!"

I suppose not.

"Wait, actually? And we don't even know, like, anything!"

Zed looked downwards at his abdomen. His armor was still covered in dry blood, but his wound was hidden by entirely white bandages, tarnished only by a splotch of blood soaked into the fabric.

"Where have you brought me?"

"You, my ninja slash huntsman slash psycho friend, are currently aboard a Schnee Dust Company cargo transport train, bound for the wonderful city of Vale. And we just saved your ass, by the way. We had to stop the whole train to pick you up off of the tracks! Just what were you doing?"

Zed didn't exactly know where this "Vale" was, but he would play their game. For now, anyways.

"It is...a long story."

He would try to divulge as little as possible. If this world was unknown to him, it is quite likely that the people here were also unaware of his.

"Is it now? Well how about we get you situated and you can tell us all about it." The man sat down in a chair opposite Zed and began speaking again.

"If we're gonna talk, let's start from the start. I'm Harvey Bueller, and this Karl somethingorother. We're currently runnin' this train. What's your name, psycho?"

"Zed."

The two train conductors shared a confused look.

"Zed…?"

"Just Zed."

"Well then, since we're in just such a sharing mood today," Harvey sarcastically commented, "mind telling us why a huntsman such as yourself was out in the middle of the railway?"

"A 'huntsman?' I'm not familiar with the term."

"Oh c'mon, you know. A huntsman. The people who go out to fight the Grimm?"

"Grimm? Do you speak of the demon wolves? Yes, I was combating them earlier. They were dispatched rather easily."

"So you do know what I'm talking about. Never heard anyone call 'em 'demon wolves,' though. Everyone calls 'em the Grimm. You from one of those outskirt villages? Like Shion?"

"Yes," Zed lied. The man had provided him an easy scapegoat, hopefully he wouldn't ask too many more questions. Zed needed information, and prodding would only lead to additional suspicion of himself. "If I may be so bold, what exactly is this train transporting?" He continued. Zed spared a second to glance outside the window. This train was moving fast. Much faster than any machine he had seen before.

"Funny you mention it, I'm not entirely sure myself. I know we're transporting refined Dust crystals from the Schnee quarries in Atlas. This is the last leg before it's sold off to shops and the like. We got some of every type onboard, I know that for sure. Fire, ice, wind...you name it, this train's probably got it. I'm not sure of the exact value, but judging from the overall size of the cars, I'd say probably upwards of 15 million lien. Makes me a little nervous, all things considered."

Elemental crystals? Was that what I was tampering with in the temple? But then how did they end up in Runeterra in the first place?

"I agree. Carrying expensive cargo is always a dangerous task."

"Right on the money. The terrorist group known as the White Fang recently set up shop in the outskirts of this same forest, so you can imagine why I'm a bit on edge."

"The White Fang?" Zed questioned. Another mysterious faction on this planet. As much as he would like to push for further questions, some would be far outside the bounds of reason.

"What planet is this?" Isn't exactly something that comes up in common conversation.

"You never heard of the White Fang? Man, you must really have been living under a rock. The White Fang have been all over the news recently. They were initially a peaceful protest group, protesting the civil rights of the faunus. Now though, they've turned into a bit of a terrorist organization. Attacking and killing all people, shops, and even corporations that are even suspected of being the tiniest bit prejudiced. Throwin' some people into a bit of a tizzy, it is."

"The faunus?"

"You takin' a piss ninja-man? The faunus. You know, they're like people but they got extra animal parts here and there. Like same cat ears, or bird feathers."

"Ah, my apologies. We refer to them as the vastayans. An ancient name, one lost to time," Zed bullshitted.

"Shoulda figured. Bet you got weird names for other shit, too. Hell, what do you call the planet?"

"Runeterra."

"Well, the modern name is Remnant. I suppose it's because that's what we are, really. A remainder of something greater, a long, long time ago. Speakin' of which I bet somma those historians would have a field day in your village. Where did you say you were from again?"

"A small village, far beyond the walls of this city you call Vale. We named our village Ionia. A small settlement, full of powerful warriors."

"You know Zed, I think I just might remember that. Think of it as a favor for saving' your life: maybe you could show me some of the ancient scriptures and shit you got over there.

Zed almost laughed aloud. "Just maybe."

The train ride so far had been rather uneventful after that. Zed simply sat in the chair, staring out the window of the train car. He admired the moon; it was shattered. Some bits could still be seen floating close the remaining mass. Zed had asked how the breaking had occured. Harvey said no one knew; another one of those "Remnant things," he joked.

More importantly however, Zed was trying to plan out his next move. Said objective was turning out to be awfully difficult, considering his extreme lack of information and resources. For now though, he decided to stand up and test how badly he was injured. The two men may have been nothing but rather loudmouthed train conductors, but it appeared as though they wrapped and treated the wound appropriately. He would most likely need to see an official physician before trying anything especially taxing.

The stretch made him grunt in pain. He would have to find some other way to get around after he reached Vale. His current attire wasn't exactly inconspicuous. Purchasing a change of clothes was out of the question as well, since he didn't have any money.

Harvey believed he was a "huntsman" though. Perhaps others would think the same. Zed had a funny feeling Harvey didn't have any special knowledge unknown to the general populous.

"Agh, fukin' shit! We got alarms going off on the train's last car. Karl, you see anything on the cams?"

"I got nothing. All of the cars are empty...shit!"

"AW, HELL!" Harvey had since joined Karl at the wall of flickering paintings, and was apparently frustrated by what he saw. Zed made a few steps over to join them in looking at the images as well.

"What seems to be the issue?" Zed inquired. He would ask about the magical paintings at a later time.

"Y'know those terrorists I mentioned earlier? The White Fang? They got two of their best agents hijacking MY TRAIN! It's Adam Taurus and his hooker partener!"

Zed looked down to study the two people in the picture.

The first of the two appeared to be a tall, 20 something year old male standing at what Zed would guess to be 6'4". He had spiky brown hair, that was mostly died red. His most notable features were the white mask similar to that of a Grimm face, that covered his forehead down to his nose, and two small bull-horns that protruded from the sides of his head above the mask, identifying him as a vastayan, or faunus, as the people of Remnant would call them. Outside of that the he wore a black, half-buttoned suit jacket with a red flame logo on the left shoulder, and a red shirt underneath. His look was completed with a pair of long black pants and black, red-soled boots. He was wielding a traditional katana, with a crimson blade.

His accomplice was a girl of average height, who couldn't have been over 18. She had long black hair, with a ribbon tied in a black bow on the top of her head. She was wearing a black buttoned vest with short coattails and a single silver button on the front. Underneath this was a white, sleeveless, high necked, crop undershirt and white short shorts with a zipper on the front of each leg. Completing her look was a pair of black, low-heeled boots, and full stockings with a black-to-purple color graduation at the ankles. She was wielding a double-edged short sword that had a pistol grip(?) and wrapped with the ribbons around her forearm.

Zed decided to tune back in to the ongoing conversation when an important looking man in a lavish white suit entered the room. He quickly entered a series of numbers into the pad beside the door, it shut, and then was reinforced by a series of other doors after it. He was scared.

"Harvey! Hurry up and engage the security protocols!"

Harvey gave the executive a confused look. "We got security protocols on this bucket?" Harvey questioned, letting his eyes wander back over the control panel. "Where's the-"

"OUTTA THE WAY!" The man hurriedly shoved Harvey to the side as he swiped some sort of key card across the dashboard before entering in a series of complex codes and smashing on down a large red button labeled "EMERGENCY" in bolded white letters.

"Ah, so that's where it is. How did I miss that..?" Harvey rubbed his chin.

Zed turned his attention again to the security feed. Some black and red colored security robots were currently exiting one of the cars labeled "Security Clearance 3" en masse. The robot's arms began to mechanically morph into either gatling guns or shortswords. They were ready for combat. Looking back at the executive, he had a proud look on his face.

"Those are top of the line Schnee upgraded Atlas defense droids. We're completely safe now, they should dispose of the intruders in a matter of minutes. We can just sit back an-EEK!" The man practically toppled over and scrambled as far as possible away from the thing that had just entered his sight.

That thing was Zed.

Though he wouldn't admit it, Zed was pleased with the man's reaction. He had designed his armor to strike fear into the hearts of mortal men. That coupled with his gleaming red eyes and imposing (less so now, as he was currently slightly stooped due to his injuries) stature made him look like a force to be reckoned with.

"WHO IS THAT!?"

Harvey was the first to reply. "That, is a bonafide huntsman, that we saved." Harvey boasted, smug at both his accomplishments and the cowardice of the Schnee official.

Zed dipped his head in introduction. "Zed."

"Is THIS why you stopped the train earlier!? How ridiculous! If I ever hear of-"

"I don't mean to knock you off your high horse," Harvey interrupted, "But Adam and his buddy are kinda sorta mopping the floor with your robots."

"I-Impossible! There's no way they could be defeating so many! What about the WTX-6800 Dust-Cannon mounted Spider Mech?"

"That Taurus guy is gonna kill it riiight aboooooouut….now" Harvey's line was punctuated with a loud explosive noise coming from the security panel.

"And currently the two are making their way to this very car."

The Schnee overseer fainted at the news.

"Well, Zed. About that favor I was talkin' about? I know you're injured, but we've got nothing left. We're ALL totally screwed if you don't go out there and kick some serious ass."

Zed could very well just leave the train, but following the tracks again may not be the best solution. After all, he was still unsure how far away this "Vale" was, and at the speed this train is going, it may take him days to reach civilization on foot. These people were also is only contacts in this new realm. Saving them would certainly put him in their good graces. Besides, he did kind of owe Harvey for saving his life.

"I shall handle them. None escape the shadow."

CHAPTER END

AN: Tell me what you think!