We're almost coming up to christmas, hooray! Still a bit early but I like this time of year jsut becasue usally everyone else around me is excited. I'd like it better if it snowed though, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for that.
I thought it was funny how many people were amused by Cinder and Neo's little byplays and Ruby's reactions. A hormones, the bane of every teenager.
Anyway, on to the chapter.
...
People all over thought they knew what Atlas was like.
Many would never visit. The cold climate and constant tension between its people were enough of a deterrent for most, but the general consensus was that the continent was a frozen wasteland.
Mostly, this was false. Or, not false, but certainly it didn't account for what humanity had done to warp it to survive in such climates.
There were still plenty of places just like that however, wide, near-unending swaths of Iceland.
Most of the time, nothing lived in such places, not people nor Grimm, but sometimes, outposts were established along the white plains, or the frozen mountains as supply lines or lookouts, just in case the situation ever changed.
It was also the perfect place for a single lone tower to act as a prison. In the middle of what was essentially nowhere, even if someone was to escape, they likely would freeze to death before they made it to civilisation.
It was, excluding the security itself, what made Meridian tower so inescapable.
Right now, a blizzard had taken hold of the land, making the dark tower almost vanish in the snow.
A lone ship however, had caught sight of it, and landed not too far away in one of the rising mounts of ice surrounding it. Six figures stepped out of the ship, shrouded in cloaks that shielded their forms from the brunt of the snow.
One of the shorter figures stepped forward their gaze piercing through even the freezing storm, towards the tower.
"We're here," she said. "Let's get this done."
…
…
Weiss yawned.
She wasn't sure why. Maybe she was bored out of her mind? Yes, that was probably it.
It certainly wasn't because she was tired. In fact, sometimes she wished she could feel tired but, well, being stuck in a tower meant she really didn't get much… exercise. A huntress-in-training with so much pent-up energy forced to laze around didn't do much for her sleeping patterns.
Her slumbers were usually uncomfortable, restless even, but she never quite felt tired. Sluggish maybe, but never tired.
That wasn't the only thing that worried her. Weiss had… not been keeping active at all really. She hadn't lost her figure by any means, but she wasn't entirely sure she was as fit as she had been eight months ago. Or was it nine? She was beginning to lose count of them recently, the day's just sort of blurred together.
She yawned again. Ugh, what was a girl supposed to do with nothing but chess to entertain her?
Weiss wasn't particularly found of television, most of the time there was never anything of interest on it, even that would be better than this monotony!
She didn't even have that. Being so far out mean that the local CCT signal was directed more at communications that entertainment.
Still though, couldn't they try and install some sort of stimuli for their only prisoner?
She lamented the fact that no, they probably didn't care about whether or not she was bored or not when someone knocked her bedroom door.
Penny had come early today then. Joy.
Weiss sighed, making sure she was dressed presentably since once or twice she'd forgotten to get changed from her gown into a proper dress before calling out.
"Come in."
The door hissed open like it always did, and a figure stood at the other side like they always did.
"Hi!"
Their voice was most certainly not Penny's.
Weiss' head craned very, very slowly as she blinked.
Even. Slower.
Had… she finally gone off the deep end?
She must have, clearly.
It was the only explanation she could think of as to why she was staring at Ruby, who was smiling back at her like the situation was completely normal.
Weiss stared, completely rattled. How was she even supposed to comprehend this? There was no way, absolutely no way Ruby had travelled to Atlas, found out where she was and had been let into one of the most secure places in the world.
The apparition of Ruby blinked, looking confused by her lack of response. The mirage in her head stepped forward into the room, walking up to her and giving her a concerned look.
"Weiss? ...Are you okay?"
There was no way. Absolutely no way.
She... she could prove that couldn't she? She'd just wave away this haze like it was nothing.
So, she raised her hand shakily to Ruby's face.
The other girl looked confused for a moment, but when she saw Weiss' intention, she stilled, letting it happen.
And Weiss' fingers brushed against her cheek.
The damn broke.
The Heiress choked. "Oh my god."
"Hi." Ruby smiled again softly. "I'm here."
And Weiss crashed into her a second later.
The younger girl nearly stumbled, but managed to right herself as he snow-haired girl wrapped her arms around her and buried her face into her shoulder.
"You're here!" Weiss gasped, no, sobbed was more like it. She was crying. "You're real! You're really here!"
"You bet I am. Don't you remember what you said to me? You told me to come find you after I was finished with Ozpin, right?"
Ruby wasn't sure if the feeble laugh Weiss gave was a happy one or not, but all the same, it was all she needed to say for Ruby to pull her closer.
"Listen to me Weiss. I'm here now. It's going to be okay."
"I-" she didn't finish, gasping for breath between her tears. It was fine, Ruby knew she had time, so she let Weiss Cry in her arms it would hurt now, but she would feel better later. She held her as long as she could, but eventually, loathingly, Ruby couldn't ignore the way her arm flared in pain.
She tried to, she really did try to force herself past the feeling, but her hand was beginning to spasm and burn the longer she held Weiss.
"Weiss can you-"
It must have been something in her voice, because Weiss flinched back suddenly. Ruby grimaced, not just as her own discomfort, but how the heiress's eyes were rimmed red.
She really wished she'd fought past the pain and let her hold on just a little bit longer.
"D-did I do something wrong?" Weiss asked fearfully. "I- I so sorry."
"What? No, It's-" Ruby shook her head, lifting up her right arm. It was covered in its metal bracings, looking nearly like a prosthetic arm. "It's this."
Weiss gasped. She must have thought it was exactly that. "D-did you lose your arm?!"
"No, nothing like that," Ruby assured her. "I… well I'll explain it later. Right now we've got something else to focus on. Do you have anything to carry things? Can you pack some clothes quickly?"
"W-what?"
"Clothes. For the blizzard."
Weiss stared. "You're… not just here to visit me?"
"Visit?" Ruby echoed in confusion. "Weiss I'm busting you out of here."
The heiress gaped at her like she was insane. "You can't be serious."
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Ruby this-this is one of most impenetrable maximum security prison in the world. There's no way the two of us can just walk out of here!"
"I know," Ruby rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Don't worry though, I've got this all planned out."
No way. This was crazy. This whole idea was crazy. This whole situation was crazy! This must have been a dream. A nightmare. It had to be. There was no way Ruby could possibly think she could break her out.
Of course, that would have to be it. It made sense if she thought of it like that. Why on Remnant would Ruby wear a military outfit like that anyway? She had to be thinking up something ridiculous.
The way Ruby's good hand took her in her won begged to differ.
This was real.
"Weiss trust me. I can get you out of here as long as you trust me. You do right?"
"I-" she coughed. What kind of question was that? "Of course I do."
"Then trust me with this." Ruby pleaded. Weiss looked away. "You keep repeating the word trust." She mumbled. "I feel like you're guilt tripping me."
"Heh, sorry." The younger girl said. "I'd be better with this if we weren't on a timer. Look…; Weiss, I don't know why you're in here, but I can tell you're scared."
Weiss swallowed. "I-I-" she tried to deny it, but the words died on her lips. She was scared, the writhing in her chest, in her head, under her skin, was a constant reminder of that. She was dangerous. She was locked in here for a reason, because she was dangerous. Wanted out of here. Wanted to be free was selfish if she put others in danger.
She looked up into Ruby's eyes, taking in her face and ingraining it onto her mind. Ruby didn't look all too different. She was taller, a little more mature looking, but it was still Ruby.
Ruby wanted her to go with her.
Her leader wanted her to go with her.
It made her want to be selfish.
"Okay." She breathed at last. "Let's go."
"You don't want to take anything with you?"
"No," she shook her head. "There's nothing here for me."
"What about Myrtenaster?"
"It's not here. I… it was taken from me when I was put in here. It's… probably been melted down by now."
And didn't that hurt to say.
A long time ago, or what felt like it, Ruby had called their weapons extensions of themselves. She'd scoffed at that then, thinking it silly, childish even. She'd once thought that perhaps it was proof that while Ruby could act mature when she tried, she was still a child at heart.
She understood it now.
"Alright then." Ruby nodded. "Let's go."
Ruby led her out quickly, and if she had forgotten that she still held Weiss' hand in her own, the heiress didn't rush to remind her. Instead, Weiss focused her that grasp, taking comfort in how it made her feel… safe.
White walls and white halls, Ruby strode down them without pause, even as Weiss' eyes flickered back and forth nervously. They were still on 'Weiss' floor' so there was no one here to see them, but…
"Ruby," she whispered. "Slow down. The cameras will see us!"
"Don't worry about them." Ruby said. "I've got… someone dealing with them for now. They'll notice you're not in your room before they see us leaving, so we should cover as much ground as we can before they do."
"Someone? Are Blake and Yang here?"
"I- no. Listen there's a lot to explain, once we got out of here I'll give you the rundown okay?"
Weiss made to speak when Ruby's scroll vibrated suddenly. The girl didn't stop as her metallic hand twitched slightly before she used it to lift the scroll to her ear. Was it just Weiss or was it… stiff?
"Yeah?" Ruby paused, listening to the voice on the other side for a moment. "Alright, be ready just in case." The call ended right after.
Weiss was about to ask how Ruby had been talking to when they came to a flight of stairs.
Meridian tower was built in a way that was directly inefficient: the stairs only travelled down five levels, then stopped, and the stairs continued at the other side of the tower for another five. It was a back and forth, deliberately done so that anyone attempting to leave would be slowed down.
That was a small concern for Weiss however, she was more focused on the fact that the doors were actually opening for them. Whoever Ruby had been talking to had access to the doors.
It was an advantage thankfully that Ruby took full use of. They made it down five levels, and another five, and another five, as many as they could as fast as they could. Weiss was fairly sure they were still at least a sixty floors up when there was a sudden whine.
They froze as tan alarm cried out and the lights shone red.
"Whelp, that's our cue to get on with this." Ruby quipped, not looking even slightly worried about that fact that their escape had been found out. Why wasn't she panicking!? Weiss knew she was!
They quickened their pace, further down the now tinted-red hallways and Weiss nearly tripped as they sped up. She was out of practice when it came to running in heels now!
And then Ruby came to a complete stop so suddenly Weiss crashed into her back.
"Damn," Ruby said, more surprised than upset as half a dozen men aim their rifles at them. "That as faster than I thought they'd be."
"Stay where you are!" one of the soldiers ordered. "Get on the ground with your hands behind your head. If you do not comply we will use deadly force."
Weiss swallowed nervously. She believed them. They were a good ten meters away, just far enough that there was no way Ruby would reach them before they reacted and filled her full of bullet holes. They would too. They looked nervous, and were probably well aware of the danger she was. "Ruby…"
"Don't worry about it Weiss." Ruby smiled at her. "I'm a huntress remember? A few guards aren't enough to stop me. Besides, I said I had a plan didn't I?"
That didn't seem to impress the men in front of them. "This is your last warning. Get on the ground and put your hands where we can see them. We have authorisation to shoo- gah!"
The man yelled out in shock as something shimmered above him. Weiss flinched back in surprise as a girl suddenly appeared out of thin air and slammed three of the soldiers against the walls.
The remaining three cried out as they turned to fire at her but the stranger was far too fast. Her leg lashed out and caught one of them in the jaw, dislocating it and knocking him out so hard he fell like a put cut from its strings.
She was moving before the body hit the ground, snaking under the second one's arms and wrapping a hand around his throat. He managed to chock at a gasp and nothing else as he was thrown into the last one, hitting him hard and sending them both to the ground.
The last soldier groaned, trying to get up when the attacker smashed her heel into his temple, and he dropped.
There was a brief moment of silence as Weiss stared and the girl turned to them with a savage grin.
She… her face was familiar.
"Good job Neo." Ruby nodded. "A little brutal but as long as they get up in the morning we're good."
Neo. Neopolitan. The one who worked with Roman Torchwick.
"Ruby!" she hissed. "What is she doing here?!"
"Helping us out." she replied, as if it was the most obvious trying in the world. That stumped the heiress for a moment, and in that time Ruby turned back to the criminal as she strode up with that same smile on her face that made Weiss shiver. "How's it looking down there?"
The multi-coloured girl's face went through a series of expressions that left Weiss confused, and for a good ten seconds there was no talking before Ruby nodded again.
"Good, lead the way then."
"You can understand her?"
She shrugged. "Yeah, took a lot of time but it's one of those things you pick up."
Weiss really doubted it was, but it felt like the least insane thing that was currently happening so she let it drop.
The shorter girl turned, running down the halls and stepping over the unconscious men as they followed behind.
"W-where are we even going?"
"A few more floors down." Her leader explained. "There's uh, an alternate exit being set up right now."
"Why do I not like the sound of that?"
She got her answer a few moments later as they made their way down the halls. There were dozens of soldiers splayed out on the ground. This Neo girl had taken care of them before she'd met up with them. They turned a corner, and Weiss saw another person she recognised from Vale. Someone she knew was an enemy
Mercury Black had one leg extended upwards, holding a man by his throat. He saw them and waved. "Hey Red, you got her then?"
What?
"Obviously." Ruby hummed, eyes trailing to the man at Mercury's mercy. "What are you doing by the way?"
"Looking for some answers." He explained, shooting a mocking looking the solider way as he struggled to breathe. "This lovely guy was radioing for some help. Looks like they've got this place stocked with paladins as well as the army of robots soldiers."
"Good to know… you going to deal with him then?"
Weiss' eyes widened. Deal with him? Before her eyes Mercury dropped the man to the ground and raised his leg higher. Was he going to-
"Wait!
That was all she got out before Mercury slammed his foot down and the man crashed to the floor. Weiss' breath caught in her throat for a moment in shock as she stared at the body.
He… he was dea-
A groan escaped the man, weak, and pained, but a sign that he was alive.
Ruby had noticed her shock though.
"Weiss calm down. We're not going to kill any of them if we can help it okay? Just relax."
"I-I- right. Of- of course. What was I thinking?"
Ruby didn't look total convinced at her words, but forgoed pressing it in exchange of looking to Mercury.
"Is it ready?"
"Yep, we probably need to take a few steps back though."
"Right, Weiss come on."
"What are we doing now?"
"Skipping a few floors. Merc, where's the other the landing pad again?"
"About thirty floors down."
"Right, let's go then. Neo, you want to do the honours?"
The mute clapped her hands excitedly as the silver-haired teen tossed her a small cylindrical device with a red button on top.
Wait a minute.
Weiss' eyes flickered to the far wall they'd just moved away from.
Was that C4?!
Mercury grinned. "Fire in the hole!"
There was a crack in the air as the wall was literally torn out, blasted back in a shockwave of fire and shrapnel. It shook Weiss' bones even as far away as she stood and made her teeth click together. Ruby moved to shield her eyes, throwing up her cloak as the heat washed over them. It wasn't threatening them, but either way Weiss took comfort in Ruby's defence.
A moment later that heat was replaced by a biting cold as the blizzard swept through the hole left in the wall. They didn't waste any time. "Let's go!" Ruby orders, and the Schnee girl let out a yelp as Ruby's arms swept her off her feet and carried her bridal style down the hallway.
The younger girl winced painfully as her right arm twitched under the weight of Weiss' legs but there was a sudden glow of purple light a second later that lifted the heiress slightly higher.
"R-ruby what are you doing?"
"Don't worry about it, just hold on to me okay?"
Ruby may not have answered her, but there was no question as to what she had planned when the other two jumped out of the tower.
Oh please no.
"Rrrruby!" Weiss screamed as her leader leapt out into the freezing blizzard and plummeted to the ground. Her voice was stolen by the wind and Weiss latched her arms around Ruby's neck instinctually as she looked down.
They dropped farther and farther, faster and faster and still Weiss couldn't see; the snow was everywhere, a wall of white blocking out her view of below. She'd lost sight of the other two as well, and all she could hear was the wind as it screamed in her ears and her hair whipped up.
They kept falling, so fast tears were beginning to form in her eyes and suddenly she could see a shadow, below them. Growing and growing at incredible speed.
The landing pad!
They were going to hit it. It was coming far too fast. They were going to splatter like instincts against it!
And then suddenly there was a flurry of rose petals. Weiss felt her heart beat wildly as the world began to spin around her. Her stomach dropped suddenly as something shunted underneath her. Ruby's feet hit the ground and she kept running.
Ruby grinned at her. "What I tell you Weiss? Relax, I always have a landing strategy."
"No wasting time!" Mercury shouted ahead of them. "We need to get going before they figure out we landed here."
"Can't we bring in the ship here?"
"Cinder wasn't able to disable the guns. They're connected to something else."
Ruby swore. "Alright, we go with plan B then."
Weiss cried out as Ruby dashed to the side, still with her in her arms and out of the way of a hail of bullets.
A brigade of Atlesian Knights had found them.
"Merc, Neo, deal with these guys!"
"On it!"
Ruby sprinted forward, ducking under more bullet fire as the two criminals engaged the machines, cleaving through them as fighters on their level were capable of.
Weiss scrunched her eyes shut as Ruby ducked and weaved through the metal bodies. Ruby's hands were full with her, she couldn't use her weapon like this
One of the knights recognise their approach, and their hands shifted into wicked looking blades as it poised to slice at them.
Ruby didn't even slow down, spinning on her heel and smashing the back of her foot into its head and caving it in with a crunch.
Since when could Ruby do that?
She must Weis must have spoken aloud because Ruby laughed, ducking under another robot as she did. "Well you know, you get a lot of time to practice in eight months."
Once again there was a flurry of rose petals and Ruby gained a sudden burst of speed, clearing the last of the robotic guards for now and speeding into the tower again, down the halls. They rounded a corner at the same time as a pair of guards that cried out in shock at the sight of them.
Ruby was already moving, jumping upwards and kicking off the wall to sail above them. They turned to face them and aimed at their backs but because of that missed the two Neo and Mercury as they crashed into their backs.
"There are a lot of Knights behind us," the teen told them. "We should probably not stop."
"Don't need to tell me twice." Ruby shot back, already moving ahead. "How many floors have we got left?"
"Don't know, the blueprints we got say twenty or something. But we're gonna have a lot more people to deal with the further we go down."
"Joy."
He was proven right when they got down another five floors and saw two more guards in front of them. Weiss readied herself for bullets to fly at them again when she realised they weren't firing. The guards did nothing as they ran up to them and Weiss gasped suddenly when another person ran up in front of them, right in front of their faces and they did nothing to shield themselves as she brought the back of her blades up and slammed them into their faces.
It was like they didn't even see her!
"How is the girl with a speed semblance this slow?" Emerald scowled as she turned to them.
"I've kind of been busy dodging bullets Em." Ruby shouted back "Have you thinned them out?"
"This hall's clear, yeah." The green haired girl nodded as she fell into the same pace as them "I've dealt with as many as I could but there is some serious security here. They're starting to panic too."
"Then let's get out of here before they decide to bring down the building on us yeah?"
"Right." Emerald nodded, bringing a scroll up to her ear. "Cinder we're on our way. Right we'll- Cinder!"
Ruby's head snapped to her. "What is it?"
The dark skinned girl swore. "Cinder's a few floors down. The front entrance is in lockdown. She's in the vehicle bay but it sounds like she's busy dealing with them."
"She'll be fine, she can deal with a few grunts until we get there."
"You're… you're right."
Weiss' eyes flickered between them. Emerald was here too. These people were all criminals and Ruby was… why was Ruby with them? What was going on? More and more it felt like Weiss was just being dragged along for the ride with no clue where she would stop.
Another floor, and another, and with each Weiss was carried through the other's cleaved through knights and soldiers alike with brutal efficiency. Weiss knew there were hundreds of knights and men alike, but with the halls only allowing so many people to move freely at once they became the downfall of the much superior force. There should have been more though.
Weiss couldn't help the thought that niggled at the back of her mind. There should have been turrets all over the place to mow down anyone who tried to escape. Where were they? The question was replaced by the sound of a thunderous explosion below them that rocked the walls.
"Well," Ruby said. "Look's like Cinder's busy." They made it there a minute later and Weiss stared in shock.
The vehicle bay was something every good military outpost had, since Atlas' military superiority came from their technology. It was where they kept their tanks, their cars, their bikes, their Paladins.
The paladins, that were now nothing more than hunks of melted metals splayed out all across the bay.
A lone woman in a red dress stood in the centre of them as flames flittered around her.
Those… those Paladins were the top of the line, the armoured and upgraded version of what team RWBY had taken on last year. They were meant to rival huntsmen! And here this woman stood in a burning wreck of nearly thirty of them with nothing more than a slightly uneven breath.
Who was she?
Ruby answered her question. "Cinder!" she called out. "Good to see you're alright."
The woman turned to them and all at once Weiss felt inadequacy run down to her core.
This woman was… she was...
Captivating.
There was something thick and powerful practically radiating off her that made Weiss' sense spin.
And she was looking at Ruby in a way Weiss wasn't comfortable with.
"Of course I am. I came down as soon as I finished up in the surveillance room. I had to deal with the rabble while I was here." She glanced at one of the wrecks, the steel was nothing more than molten slag now "Don't worry, they were smart enough to only send remotely-controlled one's against me."
"Good. How are we on time?"
"Doing well. All we have to deal with now is the door." Cinder mused. "It might take some time though, it's heavily armoured."
"How long would it take you to melt through it?"
"Without melting all of you in the process? Five minutes."
Ruby grimaced. "This place will be swarming by then."
"Well she should get started anyway." Emerald voiced. "We can set up a defence if we have to."
Ruby didn't look happy with that, but with nothing else they could do she nodded and they hurried to the exit as fast as they could.
It was a massive, armoured door as advertises, looking more like it was supposed to defend against an onslaught of Grimm than to keep some military transport safe.
The fact that it was over twenty feet high added to the intimidation Weiss felt. How were they going to get through that?
"Cinder, you ready?"
"Of course." The woman in red nodded, raising a hand as her eye flashed with an actual flame.
"Stop."
Weiss stiffened at the voice, as Ruby turned around and her eyes widened.
"Penny?!"
Emerald blinked. "The Atlas girl from the festival?"
Indeed, right in front of them Penny stood alone, green eyes focusing on Ruby and Weiss in a way she didn't recognise.
"Step aside."
Penny ordered.
"Don't!" Weiss hissed, hand gripping at Ruby's caller fearfully. "It- Penny was a machine. This is a copy of her!"
"I know Weiss." Ruby answered softly. Her eyes were calm, gazing at the android with… comprehension.
She knew. She knew?!
No. No she thought she did but she didn't.
"She was programmed to keep me here." Weiss rushed out. "She was ordered to- to kill me if I acted out."
Ruby's eyes flickered to her, and then back to Penny.
Weiss gasped as the air turned fridged.
No. Not fridged. That was the wrong word for it. This felt more that that, more physical, like...
Like a thousand tiny blades running across her skin, not hard enough to cut or even hurt, but enough that she was aware of them. Weis looked up, and although the girl carrying her wasn't looking at her specifically, she could still see into those silver orbs.
That looked so sharp and dangerous Weiss thought they might draw blood.
Was this... Ruby?
"Is that true?"
"It is." Penny nodded remorsefully. "Or, it was."
What?
There was shouting further behind Penny, and the android peered back as where it was coming from. "It looks like there are more men coming. It would probably be best for everyone if you didn't encounter them."
"There's kind of a door in the way of that Penny." Ruby grunted, but despite her words, the reaper had relaxed her stance from ready-to-commit-acts-of-violence to willing-to-listen-but-still-cautious.
The metal girl perked up and saluted, with a familiar smile, something that a copy shouldn't have worn, something Weiss knew that this version of Penny hadn't expressed before. "Leave it to me."
Weiss flinched into Ruby as Penny marched past towards the door and the band of criminals watched her raise a hand to the construction. There was a high whine and a flash of green light for a moment, before in the door gave off a hiss of steam, shifted and let out the sound of an alarm as it groaned.
It was opening, and Weiss could see the frozen wasteland stretch out before them
The shouting was louder now, and panicked, Cinder moved and threw up a hand, summoning a wall of flames between them and the Atlas soldiers as they swarmed into the vehicle bay.
"I doubt running on foot will be an option." Cinder hummed as the men on the other side cried out in shock from the heat. "Does anyone have any other ideas?"
"Oh!" Penny beamed. "We could take on of the LTATV's."
Emerald blinked. "The what?"
"One of the light all-terrain vehicles." She clarified. "I have the access codes for all transport in the bay."
"Good idea." Ruby nodded, already moving as Penny made some sort of hand motion and a jeep drove itself over to them. At this point the men on the other side of the flame wall had decided to try and fire through it. It was only because of the intensity of the fire that the dust was burning up before it could pierce through.
"So who's driving?"
"I ca-" Penny made to offer, before the multi-coloured blur that was neo hopped into the driver's side and clasped the wheel.
Weiss stared. Could she even reach the pedals?
"Alright then, in we go!" Ruby declared. "In, in, in hurry up!"
Weiss suppressed a squeak as Ruby clambered into the car with the Schnee still in her arms before setting her down on one of the seats.
"Seatbelt." Ruby ordered.
"W-wha-" Weiss spluttered. "We're getting shot at and you tell me to put on a seatbelt?"
"Do you want to break your neck if we crash?" The younger girl asked in such a reasonable tone that it didn't even make sense to argue.
Weiss put on her seatbelt.
The rest of the clambered in; Cinder beside Ruby, Penny in the seat next to Neo, and Emerald and Mercury in the back.
"There was a crash behind them as Weiss peered out the back window.
"Is that a spider droid?" Cinder asked.
"Neo floor it!"
The mute gave a thumbs up and did just that, facing Weiss into the back of her seat as they took off, their wheels bouncing up and down on the snow.
Ruby leaned forward between the front seats and looked out of the windscreen up into the sky. "Where is he?"
"He had to find a landing spot." Cinder answered as they rocked up and down on the ice. "There was a danger they might just shoot him out of the sky otherwise."
Most likely," Penny agreed. "I was able to disable the internal turret defences when the alarms went off but I have no control over the anti-air cannon."
Weiss' eyes widened. "You're the one who turned them off?"
"Correct!" Penny smiled. No a robotic one, not that plastic, fake, manufactured smile she was used to. This one… it looked like a smile the old Penny would give but…
"Why?" Weiss whispered. "Why did you help? You…. You have orders to keep me in that tower."
"… Because you're my friend Weiss." The girl said, looking at her with eyes that didn't repulse her. They were eyes she recognised, somehow. "Because it wasn't right or fair for you to be kept here."
"Because I have a soul."
Weiss didn't understand. Not really. She didn't understand how Penny was suddenly… back. She didn't understand how Ruby was here, or why she was with these criminals. She didn't understand what was going on.
She didn't understand a lot of things really.
But if there was one thing she understood, it was that now, she'd been saved. She'd been rescued by her friends. They'd come for her and gotten her freedom back.
And for now, that was all that mattered.
They were still saying things to each other, but Weiss couldn't hear it anymore. Things were getting… fuzzy. She felt tired, drained even, and she felt comfortable, safe even, leaving her head against Ruby as she held her tight. Ahead she could just make out the silhouette of a bullhead far off in the distance against the snowy backdrop.
It was fine then, she could rest.
Weiss closed her eyes.
And let herself drift off to sleep.
…
…
"You want to what?" Yang parroted, blinking at Sienna in confusion as she took a bite out of her sandwich. It was a good sandwich too; tasty. She'd made it herself. She probably could have made something more for her breakfast but she didn't really want to add her own mouth to the hungry ones that they had to feed, so it would do.
What was she thinking of again?
Oh yeah.
"We want to build up a militia." Sienna repeated, "An official one." Yang glanced around the table. Sun, Ilia and Neptune were here, as was… Blake… but also Ghira and Kali, and surprisingly they looked to be in agreement with the most recent Ex-White Fang leader.
Okay, that was odd.
"Can I ask why?"
"We… have concern about what you told us is happening in Haven." Ghira spoke slowly. "More than that, we see what the White Fang is doing as dangerous not just as what they might do to threaten people, but the image they give o Faunus as a whole. We need to do something to change that."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "And your idea is to build an army?"
"To take back Haven, yes."
Oh.
"Oh." She repeated aloud. "That… okay, wow."
"What is it?" Kali asked. "Is… that the wrong thing to do?"
"You're asking me?"
"You, the three of you, know the most about what's going on outside of menagerie out of anyone at this table, and you seem to be competent at forming at least the basics of strategy. We thought it would be best to run it by you."
"O…kay then." Yang managed to get out. "That makes at least a semblance of sense I guess."
Ghira looked sombre. "You have issues, by the sounds of it."
"I don't know I just, what do you have planned anyway? After you 'build your militia' I mean."
"We don't have it all worked out." Kali admitted. "We understand that it might be difficult but there has to be something we can do."
Despite herself, Yang scoffed. "Might Be? That's an understatement."
"You think so?"
The blonde sighed. Of course these three wouldn't understand. They weren't fighters, not really. They were peace activists, or leaders at the very least, but not battle strategists. It would be easier if someone else could help her explain it to them… Damn it.
"Blake."
The Faunas jumped at the mention of her name, looking to Yang in surprise.
"Y-yes?"
"How skilled would you say most of the people here in menagerie are? At fighting I mean."
She thought for a moment. "Average." She said at last. "Mediocre at best if I'm honest even with what's been going on over the last few months."
"And how strong were the White fang we fought in say, Vale, when you were still with them?"
"I… better I suppose. They had basic training with both long-ranged and short-ranged weapons in most cases and the experience. They were never at our level as Huntresses-in-training but still better than regular people. Some were, Ilia, Trifa and Yuma are examples of that, but as a whole we were able to deal with them."
"We were." Yang agreed. "They were definitely stronger than what the people here would be."
"There's a lot fewer of them though." Blake argued. "It might be more now that the ones in Vale and Mistral have merged but there was a split because of the leadership."
"You have a point." Yang allowed. "But that doesn't really matter if they have better weapons and training, not to mention the terrain."
"Terrain?" Haven's where they're based right? The place can defend from more than just Grimm."
"Haven is a fortress, same as Beacon." Sun told them. "They have the height advantage and the trek up the mountain wouldn't be something a big army can handle without being out of breath and vulnerable to attack."
"Exactly." Yang nod to her fellow blond. "Honestly, none of that even matters if you can't even get to Mitral."
"What do you mean?"
"Sienna, how did you operate in Mistral?"
The tigress blinked. "Hit and Run tactics mostly."
"And why was that?"
"We didn't exactly have support on the continent. People were openly discriminate and confident about it, being a part of the White Fang made you a target to the common folk as well as the police."
"I thought as much." Yang hummed. "How do you even plan on getting your people to Haven? Because people aren't just going to sit back and let an armed militarised force march through their lands, even if they promise they're the good guys. If anything I'd think people would be even more openly violent against the Faunus because of the hold the White Fang has."
"We'd need another way in." Ghira summarised.
"I'd think going all the way west would be a start." Yang suggested. "Since the city is literally a mountain right on the edge of a cliff you'd be better sailing than walking. That would mean you'd have to build ships though. Also forget about attacking the school, there's no way that would work."
"It wouldn't?" Blake frowned. "But the White Fang did it."
"The White Fang walked in," The mercenary corrected. "Leonardo let them walk right up to the front door and occupy the place. The Huntsmen are still nowhere to be seen and by the time the city knew about it, it was too late. Some places just can't be attacked head on you know? Not unless you had an endless army to throw at them."
Sienna frowned as she looked down in thought. "If e can't attack their main stronghold then what can we do."
"I said that it couldn't be attacked head-on, not that it couldn't be attacked."
"And the difference is?"
"An actual siege." She explained. "If you can take over the city below, you can cut off their supply lines and starve them out. They'd have nowhere to fall back to, and nowhere to call for reinforcements."
"But that would take months!"
"I'm not saying you should do it." Yang shook her head. I'm just giving you the only option you have. Honestly, there's a reason why the cities are successful; because they have the greatest natural defences than anywhere on Remnant. Most other places are down to some kind of miracle, like Argus, and even then it had mountains on its left and right and the sea at its back. I mean, it took two kingdoms working together to defend one point of access."
"Alright, alright we get your point. "Sienna grumbled. "So realistically that's our only option?"
"it might change, but right now, yeah, so long as you can actually train your people up it's the only option with any chance of success."
Blake shook her head in disbelief. "How do you even know all this? You talk like you've been in a siege before."
"Of course not." Yang dismissed. "I just… read."
An expression crossed over Blake's face at that.
She understood what she was talking about then, but from the looks of it, she still didn't fully believe it.
Yeah well I don't need you to believe it, fucking traitor.
Yang blinked. Where the fuck had that come from?
"A-anyway," she coughed. "Those are just my thoughts, you can. Well I'll wish you luck on whatever you decide to do."
Ghira picked up on the cue. "You're leaving?"
Yang did her best to ignore how Blake's head snapped to her so fast she might have gotten whiplash in favour of nodding. "Tomorrow. It's about time we were on our way. I need to meet up with my sister to decided what we do next and since she's going to be somewhere likely near the city I want to get there was soon as I can."
"So…" Blake mumbled. "You're just going?"
Yang didn't like how hurt Blake sounded by that. What right did she have to be upset? At least Yang was letting her know instead of just running off without a word. She never got even that courtesy.
There were plenty of things she wanted to say, but to bring them up now would cause more harm than good. "Yeah," was what she said instead. "I guess that will be goodbye then… for what it's worth anyway."
Blake looked away for a moment, a complicated look on her face, and her parents let her have that silence, waiting for her to reply, maybe as some sort of proper closure. Yang could concede that she could at least give Blake that, for all she didn't deserve it.
So when Blake looked back at her with a determined glint, imagine her surprise.
"I'm coming with you."
… say what?
...
...
So that's the end of this chapter and it's time to start ramping things up again. Hopefully neither gangs will be dealing with more bloodshed to boot. We can only hope right?
Hey, at least Penny isn't some psychotic killer robot that Ruby has to kill right? i had a few messeges sent my way about that. Come on guys, have a little faith in me alright?
Not much else I want to say really, we'll be getting into the meat of this... arc, soon but I wanted to give a heads up that once we hit about... chapter 52 or so? I'll be releasing the first chapter of a new story that's up on my profile, House of Thorns.
I was thinking that I might wait until this story is over before doing that becasue it would probably by of similar length to what this is now but since I know this story isn't ending any time soon and I don't want to really wait that long, I'll be sendng out the first chapter. I'll be a little (Or a lot) different from what I usually do so I'll have a disclaimer up on the first chapter regarding a few things.
Hoepully you'll check it ouit when it's up.
Until then though, or until the next chapter of this at least, have a good week!