When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.
~Jean-Paul Sartre
Chapter 18-
The next morning when Mizu woke up she found Ruby still asleep in her arms, however she had curled up against Mizu in her sleep.
Mizu allowed her to simply sleep she became lost in thought once more until her stomach decided to make itself known to both women.
Mizu looked down to Ruby to see silver eyes staring back at her causing her to jump in surprise, "Sorry." Ruby said.
"Its fine, I just thought you were asleep." Mizu replied.
"You're hungry." Ruby stated, not asking at all.
"I am, and I think you are as well. You didn't eat last night." Mizu stated already knowing the woman hadn't eaten.
Ruby didn't answer as she climbed out of the bed to get dressed whereas Mizu had fallen asleep in her clothes. Attaching her large array of weapons onto her body alongside the clothes that hid them as they prepared to leave Ruby said, "Thank you." To the other woman.
Mizu didn't answer as she already knew what Ruby meant by her thanks and it was clear Ruby wasn't going to speak any more on that topic.
They went to the cafeteria to get something to eat, and upon sitting down to eat their full breakfast Mizu asked, "There is the mission for students coming up, isn't there?" She asked as she took a bite of her food.
"There is, a teacher is supposed to be present to provide support and to teach them, however because I am a teacher I will be taking my team to Mount Glenn." Ruby informed her.
"I see, so normally there would be a four man team alongside a teacher would go onto a Hunter mission, correct? But why are you going to Mount Glenn?" Mizu asked.
"Because that's where Neo is." Ruby said plainly.
"I see, so you're going after Neo." Mizu stated.
"She's with Roman, so where she is that's where Roman is." Ruby replied, finishing her small breakfast while Mizu was still eating.
"I see. So normally it is a four person team, right?" Mizu asked once more.
"Correct however our team was made into a five person team because of Neo and I." Ruby informed her.
"I see, but with you as the teacher and Neo not here it means the team has only three members." Mizu said and seeing Ruby nod in response made her decide to ask, "What if you took Winter with you? She could act as the fourth person and also get some valuable experience." Mizu suggested.
"If she wishes to, I don't see why not. She attends all my lessons and takes part so it's only fair." Ruby informed her.
"What's this about me?" Winter asked, sitting down next to Ruby with her own breakfast alongside handing over some more food to Ruby who tried to stop her but failed.
"You need to eat more food, so eat up." Winter stated as she asked her questioned again.
"Would you like to go with Ruby and her team on their mission to Mount Glenn?" Mizu asked her daughter.
"Of course I do. Am I able to?" Winter asked excitedly.
"I can clear it with Ozpin in a little bit, we leave tomorrow at zero six hundred." Ruby stated, eating the extra toast that Winter had given her.
"Is there anything I need to bring?" Winter asked unsure what she would need.
"Your weapon, I've got food sorted out alongside water so you don't need to worry about that." Ruby said, quickly finishing her food as she got up, "I need to speak to Ozpin about something. I'll see you later." Ruby saidJust as Ruby left the rest of her team arrived at the table noticing that Ruby looked more rested and seemed a little calmer than the day before.
As the three women sat down with their breakfast there was a quick shared look between Winter and her mother as Winter looked towards Weiss and then to her mother silently asking if they should tell her, which Mizu only shook her head in response.
"So you got Ruby to rest I see." Weiss said as she sat down. "Is she angry at us?" She asked as well.
"I did, and she's not angry she just wants to push you to be better. I don't know why but it's what she said." Mizu informed her other daughter and her friends.
"How did you get her to sleep? We couldn't even get her to take a break." Yang said.
"I forced her to. She wasn't going to hurt me and I just pulled her into bed and held her, she quickly fell asleep once she stopped doing something." Mizu said easily, not affected by the looks she was getting.
"You slept with her?" Yang asked stunned, prompting Weiss to hit her arm at the comment.
"We shared a bed and she was curled in my arms like her mother used to do." Mizu said, not realising what she had said until after she had already spoken.
"You knew her mother?" Blake asked, shocked at the news.
"Yes, I was on a team with her, Raven and Qrow." Mizu said, hoping to avoid the other questions and it seemed her eldest daughter came to her rescue.
"I'm going to be joining you when you go to Mount Glenn with Ruby tomorrow." Winter said excitedly.
"Really? Why's that?" Yang asked, easily following the change in topics while Blake and Weiss seemed a little suspicious at the abrupt change.
"Well it's so I can get some real world experience, Ruby's going to clear it with Ozpin but I'll be joining you." Winter said happily.
The rest of the conversation fell onto the topic of the mission itself and what they knew about the area but they all drew up blanks, and while Mizu knew the mountain area itself she didn't know where they would be going so decided it was best to allow Ruby to explain it.
The next morning at six in the morning on the dot the four women went to the docks and spotted Naomi and Ruby, dressed in her Reaper gear standing by Naomi's special Bullhead.
"Hello ladies, got everything?" Naomi asked as they approached.
Seeing nods all round Naomi said, "Alright then, everyone get in it's about an hour to Mount Glenn." Naomi stated, getting into the cockpit beside Ruby.
The four women all climbed inside and waited as they took off and headed towards the mountains, about over half way into the journey Ruby had come into the cargo area and sat down in the middle, getting them all close so she could talk.
"I'm sorry for pushing you so much, I'm just trying to help you improve. I wasn't punishing you for what you did, it's why I asked Ozpin for you to join me. Originally you were going with Professor Oobleck to Mistral on a routine patrol but I got it changed so you went with me here." Ruby told them.
"Where's here exactly? We know its Mount Glenn but not much else." Weiss asked.
"We're going to a small area in Mount Glenn where Vale had tried but failed to expand its boarders. This failed when they realised that the Grimm were much more persistent then they thought which led to the project being abandoned. Currently Roman is in this area doing something, I was planning to go by myself." Ruby started to explain.
"I changed my mind when I realised that you would only keep looking into Roman behind my back, so the best way to make sure you're all safe is if I let you help me. Which is where we are now, Roman is here somewhere but we need to clear out the Grimm first before anything else so we have a safe area to work in." Ruby informed them all, making them know of the plan.
"So just kill all the Grimm we see?" Yang asked.
"A little more refined but yes." Ruby said.
"Five minutes out, want to start getting ready ladies." Naomi shouted out to them.
"There are bags stored above you. Grab one each, that's your supplies for the next few days." Ruby informed them all as they reached up to grab a small duffle bag each.
The five minutes went by quickly making them almost think it wasn't actually that long but they quickly landed in a small clearing in the ruined city.
"You have my number if something comes up otherwise I'll see you in three days, happy hunting." Naomi called to them as they all climbed out.
"I can't believe there's all this destruction, and this is just from the Grimm?" Weiss said, looking around the ruined city.
"A lot of the buildings were only half built when the Grimm attacked, the plan was for this city and the main city to be connected by an underground train network but it failed horribly." Ruby said calmly while walking down on of the streets.
"Off you go then. Grimm to kill and all." Ruby said pointing towards a pack of Beowolves slowly walking towards them.
"Aren't you going to fight?" Blake asked.
"Nope. I'm observing to see what you've learnt." Ruby stated, the smile evident in her town but the mask made it impossible to tell.
The four women instead of questioning Ruby just decided to get on with it, and the fact that the Beowolves had now noticed them.
While the four girls fought against the Beowolves and other Grimm that tried to attack them Ruby just looked around the ruined city, trying to look for something.
Eventually the day started to slowly turn into night when they spotted a walking group of walking Grimm Goliath however as the girls were getting ready to attack the roaming creatures just on the outskirts of the city Ruby stopped them.
"Leave them be. They are no threat at the moment, nor will they be." Ruby said.
"But they're Grimm." Yang said.
"They are, but are they attacking us? Instead they are moving away somewhere else, now why is that? And why is there such a high Grimm activity in this area, so think. Why would that be?" Ruby asked to the group.
"They are attracted to negativity, things like sadness, envy, loneliness and hatred. Meaning that it's possible the White Fang or another group harbouring ill intent is around." Weiss answered for them all.
"Correct, however the White Fang are here somewhere. So why are they out there just on the outskirts of the city and not within it themselves?" Ruby asked to them all.
"Maybe they're not in the city itself?" Yang suggested.
"Oh no they are, but think. What else could be around? This expansion was supposed to link up to the city itself and extend its borders before it failed and was fence off. But we're about an hour from the main city." Ruby asked the group, making them think harder.
"A train line." Blake stated, making the three other women all turn and look at Blake, "This area was going to be linked through a train line underground, maybe that's where the line goes along in that direction." Blake suggested, remembering what Ruby had told them.
"Meaning the White Fang could be using the train station as their hidden base, safe from the Grimm and out of sight of anyone who may come looking around." Winter said.
"Very good. Now let's carry on clearing the area of Grimm so we have a safe spot to rest for the night." Ruby said, turning back from the edge.
"But what about the White Fang? We're here for them." Yang asked.
"We are, but you've been fighting most of the day so you need to rest." Ruby stated, leading the women back into the city and attacking the Grimm.
As the women carried on fighting Ruby was able to isolate each one of them in turn, starting with Yang so she could talk with them.
"Why do you want to be a Huntress?" Ruby asked to Yang.
"Huh? To fight monsters and save…" Yang started to say before Ruby cut in.
"That's what you do. I mean why you want to do it." Ruby asked again.
"Um, well I guess I'm just a thrill seeker, I want to travel the world and get caught in crazy adventures and if I can help people along the way then its even better isn't it? Win-win." Yang said, unsure of her answer.
"I see." Ruby said, walking off to another area and where another one of the students was fighting.
Coming up to the sisters Ruby made a subtle motion for Winter to move somewhere else while she spoke to Weiss, "Weiss. Why do you want to become a Huntress? Surely you don't need to do this and instead take a job in Atlas or any number of places in your fathers business." Ruby asked.
"I'm a Schnee, I have a legacy of honour to uphold and when I realised I was capable of fighting there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty." Weiss answered as she impaled another Beowolf.
"I see. So it's your duty." Ruby said before moving somewhere else to talk to someone else.
Lastly it was Blake, she already knew Winter's motives for doing what she is alongside Blake's motives but that wasn't what she wanted to question.
"Why do you want to be a Huntress Blake?" Ruby asked.
"You know why Ruby, there's so much wrong in the world including the White Fang, there's also inequality, corruption and I don't want to stand by and do nothing with so much wrong in this world. Someone has to stop it." Blake answered.
"Ok, but how?" Ruby asked.
"Helping you. You're fighting for the same reasons, if I help you then I'm helping right the wrong in the world." Blake answered easily.
"But what if something happened to me? What would you do then? Do you have a plan?" Ruby asked but this question itself seemed to stump Blake as she couldn't answer.
"Ok." Ruby said, leaving the three women to keep clearing the ruined city while she went to the edge where Winter was watching the Goliath moving again.
"Shouldn't we attack them before they attack us?" Winter asked as Ruby stood next to her.
"They aren't concerned with us, not every Grimm is mindless or rather not every Grimm is still mindless. Those Goliaths are very powerful, so superior to the Grimm you've been fighting that they've easily lived hundreds of years and throughout that time between killing humans and attacking our borders they've done something very important." Ruby started to explain before taking a pause.
"What's that?" Winter asked.
"They've learnt, they've learnt that when they attack our borders they're likely to die, and what we lack in strength we make up for in will and killing even a single human will only bring more." Ruby said as the Goliath turned to look at them, its eyes glowing the same fiery red as any other Grimm.
"What are they doing so close to the city then?" Winter asked.
"Waiting." Ruby said, looking at them once more before turning away.
"Wait. You asked everyone else but me. But you know why I'm doing this, but why are you? Why are you a Huntress Ruby?" Winter asked, stopping Ruby from walking away.
"What do you see if you look around? Tell me." Ruby asked.
"I see lots of empty buildings and streets, a failure in humanities chance to expand and push the Grimm back." Winter asked.
"I see lives could have been saved, wasted lives thrown away in an attempt to expand further past its borders without proper scouting. Did you know that Hunters had advised against this project? Because they needed more time to clear the Grimm out completely but they went ahead anyway. Do you know why?" Ruby asked.
Winter just shook her head in response, having no idea why.
"Money. A lot of rich people had money in this investment and for every day that building wasn't taking place they were losing it, so against the judgement of the Hunters they started building. Three hundred out of four hundred and fifty workers all died. This was the first thing I ever did with my mother. There was only five Hunters that actually stayed to protect the workers." Ruby replied.
"What? Why was there so little?" Winter asked in surprise.
"The minds behind this project believed there was very little need for protection, and that most Hunters spoke out rather loudly in protest at the project. Those five Hunters, me at six years old and my mother. We held back the Grimm for twelve hours as we got the workers out of here, six fully trained Hunters and a six year old with more capability fighting then most soldiers in the world." Ruby said.
"Why isn't this common knowledge? Everyone should know this side. It's the first I'm hearing of it." Winter said.
"Because those rich people didn't want people to know, they paid off the workers and their families. The Hunters had no choice or they would have lost everything to the rich people ready to ruin their reputation making it impossible for them to carry on. My mother and I, we enjoyed a quiet life and we wanted to just let the world turn without us." Ruby said her tone mournful.
"I wanted to be Huntress because I wanted to stop this waste of life. There is much inequality in the world but if there isn't anyone alive in the world to achieve it, well it would be a pointless waste of time. The White Fang want the Faunus to be dominant, Cinder and her group want to become the ruling players in the world through any means, meaning more waste of life. Oh there is much more, your father is an example of waste of life with treating Faunus as slaves. It's rather sad." Ruby said once more.
"I will do it through using my weapons, Doctor Oobleck is the other side of things, and he uses knowledge to teach new students about this tragedy and other important parts of history so they become stronger and change the world through that way. However sometimes knowledge just isn't enough and rather traditional weaponry is needed to change the world, but hopefully the next generation of students can learn from the mistakes made by people currently. But first there needs to be somewhere those students can live and learn without these threats beating at their doors." Ruby said, not looking at Winter but knowing she was listening with rapt attention.
"Though I still want to pass on my teachings, my mother taught me how to fight and I want to pass that on to as many Hunters and Huntresses as possible who can themselves pass it on, a lasting legacy before I pass on. But remember the world is not simply black and white, there is greyer then it may first appear." Ruby stated.
"I am a Huntress, because there is nothing else I would rather be." Ruby said, walking off as she called out. "Let's set up camp."
A/N
Another long chapter, getting to the peak of the first act soon as well. Sorry in advance ;)
Not too much to say except Fallout 4 is fucking amazing, and I mean truly fucking amazing, I've only played an hour, if that and I'm loving it. Easily game of the year.
I'm working on another story, about three or four chapters depending but it's more adult themed base and will be called 'The Club' so keep an eye out for that within the next week or so possibly.
Also maybe a short Fallout one-shot called 'What about us?' But that's seeming more unlikely at the moment.
Also one of my favourite episodes looking back on it has to be 'Search & Destroy' because of the conversations held between the teacher and the students, you'll notice that a large amount of the conversations are from that episode, but it really gives an insight to everyone and their motives. I sort of replaced Ruby with Winter because they had spoken earlier about it all.
So that's pretty much it now, so thanks for reading and please review. Until next time ^_^