There were no beds.
In fact, there was barely even a roof. The low stone structure clung to the ridge that it was built into. It had crumbling concrete walls with even corners (where they hadn't crumbled away) and level (but blocked up) windows. It was like the buildings in Vale, except ancient and half-destroyed. A quarter of the front wall was gone. The re-bar and iron beams that formed its skeleton shed huge flakes of rust when Ruby brushed her hand over them. Inside, the place was bare and dark. Cases that could have held bullets or food were scattered and broken. Some of the ammo was scattered across the icy floor. Ruby's flashlight beam found a series of stains much darker than the ones from the rust.
"Well..." she grimaced, looking around in case there were any other structures among the snow-dusted ridges.
"It's a death trap," Weiss pronounced at once. The fading light of twilight showed through a roof full of holes. "A concrete roof? We do not need that to fall on us in the middle of the night."
"There's something to be said for sleeping under the stars," Blake added, eyeing the decaying structure with distrust. "Maybe we could use those broken cases as fuel for a fire?" she tried to offer at least something positive.
"Someone say fire?" Yang rolled over from her position curled up in the back of the sled, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. "I'm on it, what do you need lit..."
Ruby sighed. She'd really been looking forward to beds, or at least a bat-proof roof, but those bloodstains really did make her skin crawl. "I guess we'd be leaving tomorrow anyway."
She and Weiss had setting up camp down to a science, and in fifteen minutes (with Yang's help) they had a cheery broken-crate board fire going on the sheltered side of the derelict building. The wind shushed through the scrub pines that clung down near the meager, frozen stream at the foot of the ridge.
Blake likewise had mastered the art of ice-fishing, but even she was surprised at the size of the one fish she managed to catch - the thing had to be at least the size of her arm. It took longer to cook as a result, giving the team a chance to rest around the fire as the fish hung suspended high over the flames, held in place by a simple contraption of sticks and string that Ruby had whipped up on request.
The night was quiet, save for the occasional crackle and pop whenever a bit of juice dripped from the fish into the licks of flame beneath it. It gave Blake space to think, whether she wanted to or not. She tried to distract herself, eyes wandering to each teammate sitting around the fire. Ruby and Yang sat across from her and Weiss. The heiress was just under an arm's length away with her back to the fire, resting her head and arms on knees tucked up to her chin.
Blake wondered if it was just her imagination, but it felt like Weiss had been sticking unusually close since their tenuous reconciliation - probably paranoid that Blake would run again, not that she could blame her. Yang on the other hand, had stuck to Ruby like glue the entire day - at least, whenever she was awake. Currently, the brawler had an arm around her little sister's shoulders, visibly dozing. Ruby was staring into the fire. Blake tried to catch her eyes, temporarily mesmerized by reflected reds and golds flickering against a backdrop of silver.
Finally, Blake gave in and asked the question that had been plaguing her for weeks. "So, what are we going to tell them?... When we get back to Beacon, I mean."
Ruby had been thinking out their move for the next day. She looked up from the fire, a little puzzled. "... about what happened?"
"She means are we going to cover for Yang," Weiss turned to face the fire again. She'd regained her appetite and her aura had recovered for the most part, but she still tired pretty easily, and the long days left her wiped out.
Blake bristled, eyes darting to Yang, who had fallen silent. "That's... that's not what I meant." It had been exactly what she meant, but she would never admit to anything with such an unseemly choice of wording.
"We'll talk to Professor Ozpin," Ruby snuggled closer to her sister, working an arm around her. "It'll..." be okay? Memories of that night, the ravaged houses, the thick sharp smell of blood and ash, clogged her throat. She tried again, "He'll know what to do. Nobody thought there'd be that many."
"We should still be careful what we say," Blake attempted to steer the subject elsewhere, ears flattening a bit. "We still don't know what the deal is with those rogue Atlas machines."
"That was strange," Weiss raised her chin from her knees, brow furrowed, "I mean, in terms of quality current Atlas technology obviously couldn't replace a huntress or huntsman, but I've never heard of an entire ship full of them breaking down like that."
"Guys, he wouldn't have sent broken robots to try and find us," Ruby's lopsided grin slipped a little as she realized... he wouldn't have sent robots at all. At least, she didn't think he would. Not unless there wasn't anyone else to send. "I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens when we get back."
Blake simply nodded, dropping the subject altogether. She chanced another glance at her partner, gritting her teeth at the solemn expression still clouding her features. She wished she could think of anything to say that might bring a smile back to Yang's face, but under duress of fatigue and hunger she found her words utterly lacking. That is - until she checked on the fish. "Looks like dinner's ready."
It was a long night.
The way-station turned out to be a hot-spot for the beowolves in the area- Ruby tried not to disturb the others while she was on watch, but every now and again, the Grimm would try to sneak up to the ruined building from its far side and she would have to clear them out.
Funny, actually, how they always approached from the far side. Ruby picked shell casings out of the snow, stacking them in a pyramid to pass the time. The path wasn't as steep on the sheltered side. But Grimm were Grimm- maybe they'd figured it was worth the steep climb if they could have the element of surprise. Not that they ever did have the element of surprise, but they kept trying. And fighting them in real life was way better than being stuck in a nightmare.
She needed rest, though. Her hand shook, knocking her pyramid over again. She watched Yang and Blake sleep for a bit, feeling warm and glad that they were back. Then, hesitating a little, she moved to get Weiss up for her turn at watch.
All but invisible in the pressing dark of night, a single Faunus ear twitched towards the exchange. Blake frowned into Yang's shoulder, realizing that they would both be skipped over for a chance at watch again. Pessimism told her there was obviously a lingering issue of trust, but a budding seed of optimism kept her from reading anything into it.
Burrowing into her partner's warmth to escape the cold, Blake allowed herself to fall back asleep, but not before promising herself she would offer to take a turn at watch tomorrow.
The pale sun touched the high ridges first, easing its way down the slopes to RWBY's camp at the way-station midway to the valley floor. The derelict building looked even more decrepit in the light, its concrete walls spiderwebbed with cracks. Still, there was a doorway inside, in the back corner, implying a lower level, which could possibly hold more in the way of supplies. The plan was to check it out after they broke camp.
"Ruby," Weiss finished securing the supplies in the back of the sled, her brow furrowed. She turned to her partner, whose footsteps crunched in the churned up and refrozen snow, "Did any of the Grimm you saw on watch... get into the sled?"
"Huh?" Ruby looked up from fidgeting with Crescent Rose. "Um... I don't think so. Why?"
"I could have sworn we had another two cans of..." Weiss's mouth set in a thin line as she dug through the debris in the bottom of the sled to look for loose supplies.
"Done over here," Blake called from beside a pile of dirt and snow that used to be their campfire.
Yang was already standing with Drei beside the crumbling building, brows disappearing into her hairline when a slight nudge from Drei's sniffing nose dislodged a chunk of wall. She looked to Ruby, eyes bright and ready for action after two full nights (and roughly a half day) of sleep. "So, are we all going in, or is one of us gonna stick around out here to dig out the others when this whole deal collapses?"
"Buddy system sound okay?" Ruby dusted snow off her gloves. Weiss was still busy fussing with the stuff in the sled, so Ruby leaned past Yang, "Blake?"
The Faunus came forward to stand beside her team leader, brushing a few final traces of dirt from her sleeves. "Superior low light vision, at your service."
Yang snickered, her hands coming to rest on a head of dark hair each. "You two be careful though, okay? Unlike this guy here," she nudged Drei with her foot, "I will be very very sad if there is any need for digging in my immediate future."
"We'll be fine," Ruby laughed, shoving Yang's hand away as she led the way through what remained of the crumbling doorframe, "Don't let Weiss unpack the whole sled again."
As she stepped into the dim interior, the hair on the back of her neck prickled up. The red on the walls was black and frozen, a lot of looked like it was on top of the snow. Some of the crates lacked the fine dusting that covered the sheltered stones outside. On some, the layer of powder had been disturbed.
Blake gave her partner a soft smile, patting her arm before following after Ruby. The Faunus cut straight to the chase, making a silent beeline for the door still standing in the back of the room. Dark molding wood, black lever style handle, hinges red with rust - she tested the handle - unlocked. Ever cautious, she closed her eyes and pressed her ears to the door, shifting all her focus into listening.
Silence.
"Do you hear anything?" Ruby whispered, her ear against the door as well.
In truth, Blake heard quite a few things - the low whistle of wind through the floorboards, the distant crunch of snow from Yang and Weiss's boots, even the soft easy breaths of her team leader right beside her - but from beyond the door? "Nothing," she stepped out of the way, gently easing the door open. It didn't creak.
Rickety would be too kind of a word to describe the stairs leading downwards, ending in a darkness deep enough that it gave even Blake's Faunus eyes a bit of trouble. Blake arched a brow at Ruby. "So... can you see the stairs all right?"
Ruby looked a little pale—something about going underground… but she shook it off and reached behind her back and popped the hacked night-vision scope off of Crescent Rose. She held it to her eye like a spyglass, saluting with her free hand, "Aye-aye-" she pulled it away again, "... er... well, actually I guess I'm the captain. But yeah. Here I'll get the door."
The metal grating the stairs were made of had almost rusted through. Ruby picked her way down, ready to grab the equally rusted railing if things got dicey. She swept the area with her scope from the bottom step.
The basement was as much a wreck as the uppers story. Crates lay everywhere, some open and discarded, some smashed entirely. There were counters and shelving units set into the concrete walls, some of which held boxes that looked undisturbed.
"At least it's kind of warmer down here," she murmured over her shoulder, watching for red eyes in the dark. Geothermal heat usually got a 5-star rating in her book of cool, but this time it meant the cold hadn't quite killed the smell of whatever had happened. Her heart dropped when she spotted a pile of rags in the corner that looked suspiciously person-shaped. "Blake..."
The Faunus in question halted right behind her leader, eyes and ears on full alert. She tracked Ruby's line of sight to the moderately well-hidden person lying on the floor. Their quick shallow breaths would have been all but inaudible to a human's ears at this distance.
Uncertain whether they'd found a survivor or the aggressor, Blake drew her sword, the action completely and utterly silent, a function she'd built in to Gambol Shroud that she'd always been proud of. Motioning to the lump of rags with her head, she nodded to Ruby and fell back into a defensive stance.
Ruby swallowed and edged towards the corner, The pale light from the stairwell wasn't enough to maneuver by, so she watched whatever it was on the floor as she picked her way between the wrecked boxes. Ruby cringed when her cloak caught the edge of a tin can and sent it clattering on the concrete floor.
The long bundle in the corner gave a small shudder. Something about it looked unnatural, like the proportions weren't quite right for it to actually be a human, but there was a shoulder, and definitely a leg, as if the person had just collapsed and not moved since. Ruby paused a few feet from it and hazarded, "Hey, are you okay?"
Now that she was close, she could hear a small whimpering. The misshapen figure remained very still.
The tiny sound triggered Ruby's need to act. She leaned down, reaching with her free hand to touch the figure's shoulder. "Can you talk to me?"
The figure didn't move an inch- its shoulder was stiff and cold. Suddenly, though, the whimpers turned to high-pitched, terrified growls, and something slammed into Ruby's stomach. Ruby yelped and dropped her scope, flailing her arms and crashing backwards into a pile of boxes in the dark as she tried to defend herself from a second attack... a second attack that never came.
Blake was between them in the blink of an eye, as if she'd always been crouched there, low, coiled, inches from attacking.
A curious scent stopped her cold, giving Blake the time to really look at their so-called aggressor. Slowly, with movements smooth as silk, she lowered her weapon, setting her sword on the ground.
"Ruby, this is..." Blake couldn't quite find the right words, so she just held out both of her hands to the small shaking figure, schooling her voice into a soft whisper. "It's okay. You're safe now."
It burrowed closer to the larger figure in the corner, its whimpers muffled.
Ruby struggled up from the pile of crushed cardboard and splintered crates, feeling for her lost scope, "What is it?"
"It's... it's a little girl," Blake kept her tone low and soothing, kneeling down in an effort to look less imposing, "I don't think her..." Mother? Father? A well-meaning stranger? Blake couldn't tell from this angle, not without pulling back the pile of rags. It had been so long since she'd seen a dead body she'd almost forgotten the unpleasant way it always made her stomach lurch. "Her guardian didn't make it."
Ruby's hand closed over her scope and she scurried to Blake's side to see that, yeah, there was a small, terrified kid huddled up to a larger person-shaped bundle. Mouth suddenly dry, she took another look around the dark space, eyes lighting on the tin can she'd knocked over earlier. It was misshapen and bent, with jagged edges at the top like it had been broken into by it being stabbed and pried with something. There was another on the floor that looked dented and mangled- she picked it up and took it to the light.
Baked beans.
Was this part of the supply here, or...?
"Hey, I'm going to go get the can opener- I'll be right back," Ruby took the stairs two at a time.
A/N: So in slightly sad news, my laptop died but then came back as some strange zombie-like shell of its former self. Still not sure what happened to the poor little guy, but well, it's basically a paperweight now, so writing is a tiny bit harder with the added constraint of sharing the main desktop...
No worries though! I always play games in hard mode! Hahha sob.
Anyway stay tuned, and it's been a while since I've said it so THANKS AGAIN for reading and y'all are the best!
Hugs,
D