If you're the type to look into every little detail of a work, you might have noticed the titles for each of the chapters thus far, Dawn and Blood, are related to the color red, and recalling the importance RWBY puts on colors, concluded that there was some kind of connection. There is. The chapter titles are all supposed to be color-related words, not unlike how the arc titles in Worm are all/mostly bug-related words or how the arc titles in Pact are all/mostly words relating to demons and/or contracts. In addition, each arc has a specific color associated with it, with Welcome to Remnant being red. This is usually the creativity-enhancing kind of limitation, but in some chapters (where either nothing chapter-defining happens or where what happens can't be easily associated with a color word) it turns into the, you know, limiting kind of limitation.
This is one of those chapters. If anyone has a better title than Clay, I'd love to hear it.
Welcome to Remnant 0.3
Clay
Lily didn't know why Cauldron would bring her here. She offered to be Parian's lieutenant after the fight, which probably made her part of the Undersiders (technically), but if that's why, Cauldron would have needed to find out about it in only a few short hours. She had listened to Skitter some time ago, sympathized with her some, but from what she had heard, Lily would hardly be the only person who did so. Probably not the only hero, for that matter. If that was it, why her? For that matter, why not send those goons of Rachel's, Biter and Barker? Hell, why single out parahumans at all?
It doesn't really matter now. I'm here, in a forest, and that's that.
After defeating the boar monster and figuring out their plans, the Undersiders got moving as quickly as they could. Imp—Aisha—was leaning heavily on her single crutch, moving slowly and carefully to not fall. In case that wasn't enough, Grue—Brian, she had to remember—didn't have any crutch, so he had to be supported by Rachel and Taylor to not put weight on his injured leg. The two of them forced the group to stop every so often to make sure their legs weren't getting worse. Of course the monster hurt their legs. Ever since Lily came to Brockton Bay, it seemed like fate had decided it hated Lily. From what the other Wards said, it sounded like fate just hated Brockton Bay...but they weren't in Brockton Bay anymore, and their luck still sucked.
Lily had always been frightened of Hellhound's…creatures, but as they kept moving, she kept wishing that Cauldron had sent some of her dogs along with the Undersiders. Then, they could ride at good speed through the forest (or at least wouldn't be slowed by their injured members), they wouldn't need to worry so much about attacks from more monsters, and…well, Rachel seemed sad or angry or both due to their absence. At least she was quieter than Aisha and Alec.
They walked slowly, in discomfort and fear, but not always in silence. They talked first about their powers and plans for if they were attacked again. The gist was, Lily would be doing damage with thrown rocks or a long, thin branch she had found, while the others who weren't injured would take branches they had gathered to try and block the advance of the beast. Once tactical discussion ran out, things got more personal. First, they talked about their cape lives, a subject they all shared, one way or another. They shared stories of the horrors of the Slaughternouse Nine and the rest of the terrors which beset Brockton Bay of late.
"At least you managed to do something, ah, Taylor. My power doesn't really have a nonlethal mode, so I just wound up trying to hide."
"I dunno, I think it's more like Panacea used me to do something."
"Not just that—"
"Before that, it was more Glory Girl than me, I think."
Lily sighed. "Can't you just take a compliment?"
"Just another reason she's a dork." Alec said. "Ow!" He rubbed his head where Brian had hit him.
"And why do you keep doing that?"
"He's just complaining," Grue explained. "Haven't you ever had a teammate who bothered you enough to make you want to hit him?"
Alec nodded. "Side benefit of being a villain, you're allowed do that." To prove his point, he punched Brian in the side.
Lisa sighed. "What, no mercy for the wounded?"
Ignoring the others, Lily contemplated the question. "Bothered…Clockblocker came close. Shadow Stalker was a pain, but...in a different way."
Lily's power didn't give her the same insight that Lisa had, but she could still tell by Taylor's reaction that she shared Lily's sentiment. She knew Grue had bad blood with Shadow Stalker, but Skitter...not much. The Undersiders had come out well on top the first time Shadow Stalker fought Skitter.
"…Is there something I'm missing, here?"
"It's…a long story. Maybe later."
That killed the conversation for several minutes, after which it resumed, drifting towards their personal lives.
"I'm sorry about your father."
Taylor sighed. "Yeah…brought it on myself, really. Kinda sucks that the last time I get to spend with my dad, ever, might be the middle of a bomb threat."
"And that he might think you're…dead," added Sabah.
"I had a chance to talk with some of my dad's friends, right after. And Lisa talked with him a bit, and the hospital probably let him know I was fine."
"Wait a second…Lisa as in her?" Lily asked, pointing to the villain in question. "Your teammate?"
"Danny and I had met before, and yes, I was always out of costume. I'm not an idiot, believe it or not."
Alec smirked. "I dunno, bit of a hard sell there."
~0~
After some time, the Undersiders came across a stream, and briefly argued over if they should cross it or not. They came to the conclusion that following this arbitrary direction was less likely to bring them to civilization than following water, and that either way, access to fresh water would be vital.
As the sun got low, the decision was made to set up camp and look for food while there was still some light. Lisa went to find berries or mushrooms which probably weren't toxic, while Taylor gathered edible insects and Lily tried to hunt. She hadn't ever gone hunting before, but neither had anyone else, and she was probably the least unqualified. The others stayed in the clearing, trying to improvise a campsite.
Hunting gave Lily a chance to reflect on what she knew and had learned about the Undersiders. When she woke up, she still didn't quite trust most of them. Sabah, of course, and Taylor to an extent after their conversation, but other than that…two known murderers, not to mention Tattletale or the fact that they had, as a group, demonstrated a disturbing ruthlessness.
Armsmaster and Skitter, though she wasn't named that then, had supposedly set up a deal. Skitter would learn all she could about the Undersiders before joining the heroes and spilling the beans. Instead, she joined the Undersiders. Why, Lily wondered, would someone who wanted to be a hero join up with a bunch of villains? Lily knew why she had, but that had been in large part due to realizing that the Protectorate was corrupt, thanks to that evil Eidolon thing, and in another large part for Sabah. The former probably wasn't the case for Taylor; the latter wasn't impossible, but certainly seemed unlikely.
Now, though, Lily thought she had figured it out. Talking with them, it was easy to forget that they were liars and thieves, murderers and sociopaths. They weren't perfect, but they were people. Aisha and Brian might be two of the most notorious criminals in Brockton Bay, and apparently got on one another's nerves, but they cared for and supported each other, and clearly felt much the same about their teammates—and those feelings were reciprocated, no matter how much Aisha annoyed them. Rachel wasn't good with people, but Lily was pretty sure that she'd be a loyal friend once she got used to her idiosyncrasies. Lisa was still the same sarcastic, manipulative young woman, but she was kind and polite once you stopped being her enemy. Taylor had wanted to be a hero, and it showed. Alec…Alec probably grew on you, judging by how Brian hadn't killed him.
And they were what a team should be. They weren't just coworkers, they were friends. They didn't have to stand each other, but they did. Lily couldn't help but wonder how many other supervillain teams could have been much less dangerous if their members hadn't needed to turn to the underworld to find such teammates, and how many more heroes there would be if they provided the same kind of support. Lily's time in the Wards had been much the opposite. She had been forced to work with people that she had varying degrees of tolerance and respect for. Brockton Bay...Weld was a pleasure to work with and Kid Win was friendly, but Vista was cold and jaded, while Shadow Stalker…Lily sometimes wondered if she was better than some of the villains they fought.
The hunt wasn't a complete waste. Lily managed to hit a rabbit with a rock, carving a neat little hole into its skull. Given how dark it was getting, she decided to head back. When she arrived, there was a fire burning, with Taylor holding a twig with several fat grubs on it over the fire. She waved with her other hand.
Lisa smiled. "Glad to see you didn't get mauled by any boars. Gladder to see you got something! Who knows how to skin and cook a rabbit?"
Silence.
"…Well, it's the thought that counts. Berry?"
They divided the night into thirds. Aisha and Brian, being wounded, would sleep through all of it, if they could sleep on the cold, hard ground. Other than that, everyone would get to try and sleep for two-thirds of the night and be on watch for the third, two at a time. Lily asked to be on watch with Sabah, but Lisa shook her head. "I'm afraid that might...impair your alertness somewhat." Sabah had blushed at that. Instead, Lily got second watch with Lisa, while Sabah had third with Alec.
Lily tried to get some sleep, and after struggling to get comfortable, managed to succeed.
A few hours later, Taylor woke her.
"Is it my watch already?"
"Near as I can tell. I don't think any of us has a wristwatch, but the moon's about a third of the way across the sky."
Lily looked at the moon. "That's…"
"Yeah."
The moon looked like it was shattered into a number of pieces, hanging motionless in the night sky.
"…Night's clear."
"Yeah. Probably because there isn't any smog."
"Probably."
"My watch was pretty quiet. Here's hoping yours is, too."
And so it was. Lily and Lisa sat with their backs to a small fire, jumping a bit at each change in the shadows until Lisa identified it. Rabbit. Deer. Tree branches shifting. Whatever. They also talked some, quietly and sporadically.
"…So. The moon's weird."
"I'm trying not to think about it. I might get a headache."
"It's not that weird, Lisa."
"I mean a literal headache. I get those if I use my power too much."
"Can't you just not use it?"
"To an extent."
"Ah...What's bothering you?"
"If something broke the moon, it should have fallen back together somehow. My power sometimes tries to figure things out I don't need, whether it's how tough Leviathan is twelve percent into his extremities or how a moon might not collapse back onto itself."
"Maybe it was really recent?"
"Not impossible. Not likely. Probably not sufficient."
The time crawled by, as did the moon and stars, but eventually Lisa announced that their watch was over. Lily woke Sabah, Lisa woke Alec, and Lily tried to get a few more hours of sleep before they continued on their journey.
~0~
A few short hours later, Lily was awoken by a foul smell. She sat up, coughing a bit, and saw Alec and Sabah dousing the fire.
Alec smiled apologetically, the first time Lily could think of that he seemed sorry for something he had done. "I was trying to make a nice breakfast for everyone. I really hope the berries taste better cooked."
They didn't, but everyone was still hungry so no one cared. Much. After finishing what remained of last night's berries, they got on their way. The faster they could reach civilization, the better.
It was a slow day. More talking. A few demonic bird-creatures attacked, ravens with the same weird masks as the boar-monster. They were smaller, faster, and flew, so it was hard for Lily to get a good shot at them, but she managed to hit one with enough rocks to kill it and ground the rest before they did more than peck at their faces and the hands they covered their eyes with. Once on the ground, they were easy to kill. Like the boar, they quickly dissolved. After quickly treating their minor but numerous wounds, they continued onward.
A bit before noon, the first definitive sign of civilization presented itself. Some kind of aircraft buzzed overhead. Lily didn't catch a look at it, but apparently it resembled a dark gray airplane with backwards-pointing spikes instead of wings. Taylor confirmed that it left more of the weird electric pollution stuff in its wake. The appearance of the aircraft sparked a bit of an argument over if they should follow the craft one way or the other, or continue down the stream. They knew that it was probably going to and coming from some civilized place, but not how far away it would be. Nor did they know if there was going to be a town downstream at some point. The discussion got heated, but before it could be resolve, they were interrupted by the appearance of four people.
All four were adults, and dressed as strangely as the Undersiders were (though much cleaner). They all looked calm and confident, unlike the Undersiders. There was something about them that bothered Lily, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
The first, and apparent leader, looked a bit like an older Alec, with a white coat, red ruffled shirt, and white pants. His sleeves were unusual, in that the shirt's went partway down his upper arm, while the coat's started a bit above the elbow. On his back was a long sword with a white hilt, and on his shirt was a sort of spiral emblem.
The second was an older-looking man with long brown hair and beard, both long. He wore a bright blue coat over a dull gray shirt and brown pants, and a crumpled blue hat on his head. Perhaps the oddest bit about his outfit was his footwear, which amounted to big yellow rain boots, since the sky was clear and cloudless and the ground was dry and firm. In his hand was a simple, though thick, wooden staff.
The third was thin, with messy black hair and a large hooked nose. He wore a simple long-sleeved red shirt and red leggings under a long blue vest, nearly a sleeveless trench coat. The vest had two emblems, one a gear inside some kind of segmented ring with what looked like a spear on top, the other a stylized rapier in a circle. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his weapon of choice was a rapier, a dark, steely gray one with some odd mechanism in the hilt, vaguely reminiscent of a revolver.
The fourth and final man was bald or shaved, and wore a brown robe with sharply angled sleeves and a yellow emblem of a feather crossed with a lightning bolt on a shoulder. The other shoulder had a pauldron on it, and the way the robe bulged suggested some kind of armor underneath. He wore sandals, and carried a metal staff, clearly far more complicated than a walking stick had any right to be.
The first spoke up. "Excuse me, mind if I ask who you are?"
