Mercury watched out of the corner of his eye as Yang walked further and further away. Her bright blond hair practically glowing in the moonlight. Soon enough, she disappeared into the trees. Mercury counted to twenty and then headed in her direction. Lucky for him she had so much hair. It served at a beacon guiding him as he followed her through the trees. It didn't take too long for her to get back to the main road. Mercury recognized the place from when he first ducked into the forest. He didn't expect a hungry group of Ursa to be lingering so close to town but it turned out to be a good thing. It lead his target right to him. Yang tripped as she wiggled past the tightly packed tree line and nearly fell on her face. She caught herself just before she got a mouth full of rocks. Mercury smirked; the girl swore like a sailor.
Yang headed back up the path to a fork in the road that he had passed earlier. Following it lead them to a little house. Actually it was more like a cabin. The comfortable looking place was made of dark wood and looked a decent enough size. Yang unlocked the door and headed inside. And now he had to wait. Being patient wasn't one of Mercury's strong suits. He would have much rather preferred being in the middle of the action. Using his hard fought skills in the heat of battle was one of the few things he actually enjoyed. But right now he needed information. Cinder needed information.
Ever since the tower fell, Cinder had become obsessed with finding Ruby Rose. Mercury had never seen her so angry or crazed before. With her added new power, she became ten times more terrifying then before. But Ruby did something, something big enough to even make Cinder nervous. No one knew what happened that day on top of the tower, but whatever that little girl did it threw his boss for one hell of a loop. His partner had tried to ask her about it but was met with silence. Unlike Emerald, he didn't try to pry the information out of Cinder. Emerald always made the mistake of treating Cinder like a friends instead of her boss. Mercury never made that mistake. He knew what he signed up for.
Right now his job was to find Ruby Rose and bring her to Cinder. The little brat had somehow become a threat to them. To everything they had so carefully planned. Her big sister said earlier that night that Ruby was out in the world, but he had to be absolutely sure Red wasn't here. If he didn't, if he missed something, well he didn't want to think about.
At the same time, when he and Emerald were sent to find her, they really didn't know where to start. Emerald called dib's on Atlas; knowing full well that one of her former teammates lived there with her family. The little princess was going to be difficult to get to, at least for a normal person. For Emerald it was going to take no time at all. However Mercury was left floundering for a while. Blake, the emo Faunus who used to be on team RWBY disappeared without a trace so it was no use trying to find her. It took a while, and a lot of bad acting to find out that Ruby had lived on an island before going to Beacon. One thing led to another, and Mercury found himself on the island of Patch where a Hunter named Taiyang Xiao Long lived with his two daughters. Only thing was that he ran into the wrong daughter.
Mercury pulled out his scroll and checked the time; covering the light as best he could with his hand. It had only been 45 minutes, but he decided to risk it. Waiting just wasn't his style. He stood and walked cautiously to the door Yang had disappeared into. It was locked. Being prepared, Mercury pulled out a set of lock picks that he had stolen from his dad years ago. It was the only thing he had from his time at that house. The two thin pieces of metal slid into lock with ease. He turned them slowly until there was the slightest click. He pocketed the lock picks and went inside.
It was pitch black inside, the only light coming from the hall and the door behind him. Mercury left the door open slightly to give him more visibility and stood for a moment to let his eyes adjust.. He scanned the room. It was kind of small, some might even call it cozy. There was a tiny living room with a well-worn couch and armchair. Bookshelves covered with picture and other items. On his right was the kitchen and something on the counter.
Mercury walked over silently and read the letter. Hmm, so she's alone. The letter was address to Yang and Yang alone. Already confirming what she had said earlier. Ruby probably wasn't here. He looked over everything else regardless before heading down the hall. There was one bedroom door open. The moonlight pouring out of it; lighting his way. He slowed down as he got closer and peaked around the corner. Just like he hoped, Yang was fast asleep. She was sprawled out on her bed, her hair taking up half of the mattress. Mercury stared at her.
It was a little weird seeing her look so calm. It was also a little weird being this close and not throwing kicks. Yang came off as the kind of person who loved to be the center of attention. That bright and bubbly person that usually got on his nerves. At least that's what she was like at Beacon. He wasn't sure what kind of girl she'd turned into during this year of solitude. He didn't feel like finding out. Mercury hurried past her room being more cautious than ever. If she woke up, he did not want to be on the receiving end of her fists. Well, fist.
There was one more door at the end of the hall. It was closed which could cause a problem if someone were in there. Mercury pressed his ear against the door but heard nothing. He turned the knob slowly. As soon as he could, Mercury peaked inside and was relieved to find out it was empty. There were two beds in here and not much else. Just more useless things to make it homey. There was nothing here to suggest that Ruby had been here recently.
On one of the bedside tables, there was another note. Mercury picked it up and opened it. It had been folded and refolded over and over again, causing it to tear in a few places. He read it.
Ruby wasn't here, and from the sound of things hadn't been for a while. The note was address to their dad, and it held no clues to where she could have gone. There was just some lame excuse for leaving and some weak attempt at reassurance. Mercury took a quick picture with his scroll and then put it back where he found it. After snooping a bit longer, he figured that there was nothing else useful to pick through. He exited the room and closed the door softly. As he passed Yang's open door, something different caught his eye. Mercury froze.
Yang had rolled over and was now lying on her stomach. Her missing arm was hanging over the edge of the bed. Where her limb should have been was a large bumpy scar that made him flinch. It took a while before he could look away. There was a soft rustling coming from the bed and Mercury reacted quickly. He plastered himself to the wall and began to shuffle as quietly as he could to the door. There was more little noises, followed by a soft little bark. Mercury looked down.
A tiny black and white dog was looking up at him, its tongue hanging out one side of its mouth. Mercury stared at the dog, utterly confused. He should have heard the little thing sneak up on him. The dog barked again and began to sniff his boots.
"Zwei…? Zwei if there's a ghost out there I don't want to know…" Yang's sleepy voice made Mercury jump. He threw caution to the side and hurried to the open door, not bothering to look back or lock it. Staying on the safe side, he ran as fast as he could away from the little house.
Mercury didn't have a destination in mind, he just ran. Most people run until their legs are tired but he didn't know what that felt like anymore. He passed the field where all the Ursa had finally disappeared and went into the forest on the other side. He was forced to stop when he reached a cliff. Mercury glanced around; this was good as any place to stop and get a plan together. But first...
Mercury plopped down on the ground and pulled out his scroll. It only rang once before someone answered.
"Did you find her?" Cinder's cool voice came from the other end.
"No. And but the look of things she hasn't been here for a while." He told her about the note.
"How aggravating."
"Tell me about it. On the plus side though her sister is out of the game."
"Dead?"
"No, just out of commission. Doesn't look like she's fighting anytime soon." Mercury laid back on the grass.
"What a shame. She was so easy to manipulate."
"Nothing easier to push than a hot headed girl trying to prove herself." Cinder chuckled. "I'm going to stay here a bit longer, see if I can pick up a trail or anything."
"Good. Report anything you find."
"Will do." And with that he hung up. There was no reason to tell her that he actually talked to Yang. That she save him from embarrassment and a good few bruises. Not being able to take down a few Ursa would give Emerald fuel to annoy him for months and that was the last thing he wanted. Cinder didn't need know that he gave Yang a contact for her arm. That she definitely didn't need to know.
Mercury stared up at the stars and wished his mind would stop roaming. His thought kept going back to what he saw. Back to Yang's missing arm. Back to the scar that looked so damn familiar. He had spent a good portion of his life without his real legs. Granted the metal ones he had now were infinitely better for fighting but there was a time when he was like that. When he was missing a part of himself and felt like he'd never be whole again. Yang had that same look in her eyes. The firecracker he'd fought back then was gone and it bugged him. It bugged him to know that he looked that weak once.
"What a pain." Mercury groaned. He hated the fact that he had this weakness. That's all his memories seemed to be. Nothing but a weakness. Mercury sat up and stretched, ready to find a place to crash. He glanced around and decided right away that this wasn't the place. It was too open and made him feel vulnerable. He stood up and decided to find someplace with better cover. Just before he left, something he noticed something. On a part of the cliff that stuck out the most there was a rock of some sort. As Mercury got closer, he realized it was grave. He knelt down and brushed off some leaves that had covered the stone. The name on it was Summer Rose.
Mercury made the assumption that this person was most likely related to Ruby. And therefore, Yang. He made a mental note to check out the name when he got back to the mainland. After all, you can learn a lot about a person by looking into their past.
"Zwei?" Yang rolled out of bed. she dragged her feet to the door and looked for the little dog. Zwei was sitting in front of the door occasionally pawing at it. Yang yawned. "What are you doing, Zwei? It's the middle of the night. C'mon lets got back to bed."
The dog turned to her and barked. He paced back and forth in front of the door before sitting down again. Yang groaned. "Fine, lets go outside. You know you have your own door out back- wait what?" Yang realized that the door wasn't locked. "Thats weird..." she opened the door and looked outside. The night was silent. Nothing out of the ordinary. Zwei ran outside and barked over and over again.
"Yeah i'm not going out there. C'mon Zwei." Yang waited for the little dog to run back inside. She closed the door and locked it, turning back and checking twice before she shuffled to her room. Yang fell on her bed and fell asleep quickly. She dreamed about fighting Ursa, a sliver streak rushing past her and taking out several at once. In her dream, she was whole.
