"What are your thoughts on that?" Winter asked, watching Kay lower his mug.
"I think that regardless of position," Kay said as he reached for more tea. "There is no one above the law. It is an authority's responsibility to enforce it, but it does not make them immune to the consequences when they break the law."
"May I propose a hypothetical scenario?" Winter asked, waiting for Kay to nod. "An Atlesian soldier is called to mediate a small Faunus protest in front of city hall. This group is protesting peacefully and is facing backlash from the humans around them. What should be the Atlesian soldier's priority?"
"I'm assuming Remnant's Councils made free speech and rights to protest a common right of the population?" Kay asked. Winter nodded. "Then it should be the soldier's priority to make sure the peaceful protest is protected."
"Of course," Winter smiled before dropping it as a sour memory brought a deep frown to her face. "There have been some unfortunate instances where that wasn't the case."
"Oh trust me," Kay rolled his eyes. "It's just as common here if not more. It's… almost annoyingly normalized."
"Why is that?" Winter asked, though her eyes seemed to reveal that she knew the answer.
"Unchecked individual biases and beliefs, stagnant training methods focusing more on combat than peaceful mediation," Kay listed off. "Oh, and corporations buying in to make sure their property is protected over other human lives."
"Our worlds are rather similar in that respect," Winter sighed. "As long as inherent human greed persists, there will be no peace."
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Kay agreed. He lifted his mug towards her. The Specialist reciprocated the action and clinked her own mug. The two shared a silent moment in the usually chaotic house. "What's going through your mind?"
"I'm wondering how they'll be able to bring us home," Winter answered.
"What did it take for you to get here?" Kay asked. "I'm assuming you used your glyphs. Weiss told me something similar had happened when they ended up here."
"Hmm," Winter nodded as she took another sip of tea. "I had to focus a Gravity glyph around a recreation of the bomb that launched the teams here."
"Is it hard to mechanically recreate a glyph?" Kay asked. "Has that ever been done?"
"Atlesian technology is definitely capable of replicating certain Semblances." Winter said. "I'm sure there is a way for them to recreate an intense gravitational focus."
"But that's what you did to get here," Kay retorted. "Would that work for getting you back?"
"My personal theory before I landed here was to make a gravitational focus that lasted long enough become a hallway rather than a one-way door." Winter answered.
"Would it be better to recreate the glyph with technology or have someone controlling it?" Kay asked.
"I'd like to believe a machine would be better at holding open a gateway," Winter shrugged. "If myself, Weiss, or even our mother attempted to keep it open, we might grow too tired and have the gateway collapse on whoever is travelling."
"And who knows what could happen in that case." Kay nodded.
"You should count yourself lucky," Winter muttered. "Your world isn't under constant threat from evil monsters than would destroy human lives without any hesitation or conscience."
"You say that like humans themselves aren't capable of great destruction," Kay sighed. "You've probably read enough reference books in my office to know that now."
"I suppose," Winter replied. "At least you can put faces and names to your monsters. What stops you from rising up?"
"The same thing that stops the Faunus," Kay asked. "When a protest happens, will we be protected? Attacked? Supported or hated? Will we even be heard? Will the responses be genuine or purely performative? It's a toss up that depends purely on how the enforcement reacts."
"And here?" Winter asked. "In Glen Plains?"
"We have a rather small police presence here," Kay answered. "It's already a rather quiet town, so there isn't much crime other than a few muggings and rowdy college kids."
The rest of the night continued as the two adults continued to cycle through different topics of casual debate. Cups of tea turned to glasses of wine and much more light-hearted topics. Kay felt the weight on his shoulders lighten more and more as the conversation went on. It was… nice.
Atlas Military Outpost in the Central Grimmlands…
"General Ironwood," James held in a sigh as his requested visitor entered his makeshift office. He looked up from his paperwork to see Willow Schnee enter. The normal haze of her usual vice was absent today, surprisingly. "I heard you had some sort of breakthrough regarding rescuing my daughters."
"Yes we have Willow," He rose to greet her properly, but the older woman simply waved him down.
"Please skip the formalities," Willow said. Her very tone revealed how tired she truly was. "You are no longer dealing with Jacques."
"That is exactly why I'm acting my utmost," James replied with a soft smile. "Your former husband would not have come down here if it didn't profit the SDC in some way."
"Indeed," Willow didn't laugh, but the snark directed at her ex-husband easily brought a small to her face. She had much more say in the way of her family now. "So, why exactly have you summoned me here physically instead of simply a Scroll call?"
"We need to closely research the Schnee glyphs," Ironwood began. "Both Weiss and Winter were able to transport themselves and the rest through the combined use of the Dust bomb and a Gravitational glyph. We won't ask you to hold the glyph open, so we would very much like to attempt an artificial glyph to maintain a stable tunnel between here and wherever Winter and the others may have gone."
"And what of this Dust bomb?" Willow asked. "Will you need the SDC to help supply the Dust for more replicas?"
"Perhaps not," James answered. "We still have plenty of what we needed in our own portable stores, though if we do happen to run out during the testing stages, could we expect to rely on your assistance?"
"Of course," Willow nodded. "If all of this is for the safe return of my family and their friends, I have no qualms in redirecting our reserves."
"Then let us begin."
About an hour later, Willow was wiping the sweat off her brow with her forearm. It had been quite a while since she had competently used the family's signature glyphs, at least thirty years. She looked down at the designated testing area: a large, white room with a single target marked at the middle of the floor in black tape. Hung precariously above the target was a lone metal box, swinging from the momentum of the last target spot below was painted with debris and tiny Dust particles that a few Atlesian guards were tasked with carefully cleaning so as not to disrupt the carefully crafted Dust bomb replicas with specific amouns of Burn, Spark, and some strange purple crystal she was not familiar with. There was also some weird energy pulsing from the middle of the target. Upon her noticing this, Ironwood told her there was another force being put into play that she wasn't authorized to know about.
"It will take some time to find the needed strength for us to replicate your Semblance," Ironwood said. "Please, take a rest and prepare for more testing tomorrow. We have a space prepared for your stay while you aid us."
"I appreciate the notion," Willow caught her breath and straightened herself up to return to her casting form. "But I have no qualms for stopping so early.. If I require rest, I will let you know."
As expected from the mother of Winter, Weiss, and Whitley, Ironwood mused. He recalled how the youngest Schnee child managed to turn a new leaf in recent years, dutifully walking beside Willow to make some proper reforms pushed by Weiss. He watched as another large, black circle with complex patterns and fractal arms appeared around the newly placed replica Dust bomb.
BOOM! The ground shook again but no recorded effect on the metal box above.
"Again." Willow Schnee ordered. The Atlesian researchers obliged. This time, the General noticed a slight difference in the patterns of the Gravity glyph that the eldest Schnee used. It was less geometric, and much more wavy. From what Winter had told him, it was very difficult to change the complicated strands of energy in their glyphs; the fact that Willow was able to do so after a single attempt after so many inactive years reminded James exactly why the Schnee family Semblance was so heralded. The wavy pattern spun rapidly as the power of the glyph was activated and applied immense power on the bomb.
Another explosion shook the room once more.
"General Ironwood, look!" Shouted one of the researchers, pointing at the space above the target.
The metal box was gone!
"Finally," Ironwood began to feel the first vestiges of true hope. "Progress."
Back on Earth…
"What is it?" Nora asked, slurping down another pancake. Ren refilled her plate and the girl once again lost in her love for doughy disks.
"I don't know," Kay answered, lightly tapping the metal box that was sat on the kitchen counter.
"And you said it was here when you woke up?" Weiss asked.
"You sure you didn't already have it?" Yang pressed, tilting her head.
"I had no metal box in this house before last night," Kay rolled his eyes at the blonde. "I woke up and found it on the floor next to me."
"That's weird," Jaune concluded. Oscar nodded. Blake was noticeable silent as she gazed between the box and the space where Kay had apparently found it.
"Does it do anything?" Ruby asked, tapping the box. Her touch elicited a soft dink sound that told them it was a solid block of metal.
"Allow me to look at it again," Winter said, picking up the box.
"Careful," Kay warned. Winter turned the box in her hands with ease.
It feels like a basic aluminum cube." Winter estimated. "It's built like armor, though."
"Like part of a wall," Weiss added.
"Right," Winter nodded. "Atlas would use this sort of material to temporarily support broken walls and levees during construction and frontier towns."
"Wait!" Blake's sudden outburst caused everyone in the kitchen to freeze in place. Even Ren stopped washing the dishes to hear her revelation. "Say that last part again, Winter."
"Atlas would use this sort of…"Winter's speech began to slow down as she began to realize the connection. "Kay."
"Yea?"
"You're absolutely sure you had never seen it before?"
"Never felt the need to buy a lone, solid box of aluminum plating, no."
"Then…" The realization began spread to the rest of the group. Oscar's eyes shone a vibrant green as the young boy flew off of his stool and to the living room.
"This is where we landed, correct?" Ozpin's voice boomed with exasperated excitement. "Correct?"
"Yea!" Ruby answered. "We landed right where Kay sleeps right now."
"We're all on the same page then?" Ozpin looked to his students.
"Someone from home is finally able to find us!" Yang concluded for everyone, causing the entire kitchen to erupt in cheers.
"We can go home!" Nora cheered, pulling along Ren's sleeve with enthusiasm.
"This is amazing!" Weiss exclaimed. "They must have found a way to imitate our family's glyphs!"
"Maybe General Ironwood got it touch with Mother," Winter suggested. Her younger sister nodded.
"That would make sense."
"Whaddya think, Kay?" Ruby asked, turning to their host.
"That's great news!" Kay said, smiling wide.
"Right?" Ruby didn't even hesitate to jump at the older man with a hug. "Oh, I'm so happy I could cry."
"I wouldn't get our hopes up just yet," Ozpin's much more serious tone cut through the hopeful and happy cheers from the group. "This little box just means they just managed to find a starting point to getting us home. We may still be here for quite some time, but we can all take this moment as an absolute win!"
"It's definitely a good sign of progress from General Ironwood." Winter added. She turned back to Kay with a smile. "I would hope you don't mind still hosting us for a little while longer."
"What?" The question left the man befuddled. "Of course!"
"An eternity of thanks as always, Kay," Ozpin bowed to the writer. "You've been nothing but generous and kind to us ever since we landed here. I could only hope we could reward you with something when this is all over."
"The greatest reward I could ever want," Kay began, looking over the young adults and to Winter with a wide, earnest grin. "Is to see you all happy and healthy on your way back to Remnant. That's all I ask for."
"You're much too humble, Grey." Ozpin chuckled.
Bruising! Briiiing! Kay's cell phone went off, and the writer excused himself and walked into his office. Blake followed, having had enough excitement for the moment and stood by the closed office door. However, that didn't stop her exceptional Faunus hearing from catching bits of the conversation that occurred inside.
"Hello, Grey here," Kay's voice answered the call with a sense of professionalism. "Yes, I did, thank you. Is there something I can help you with, sir?"
He might be talking to a superior. Blake thought. The only place where he goes by Grey is at the college. Maybe they're talking to him about the past semester.
"Yes, sir." Kay continued. "I understand. Thank you for the opportunity."
If there was any emotion coming from Kay's tone, Blake couldn't tell. It still held its professional edge, though there seemed to be a weird feeling in the air. She heard Kay take a deep sigh and sit down in his chair. A pregnant pause. Another deep sigh.
What happened?
"Fuck," Blake flinched lightly at the sound of Kay cursing, though she wasn't prepared for the next sentence from Kay. "This... was some shitty timing to be let go. But how the hell did the chairman find out about them? Who the fuck told the fucking chairman of my school?"
Another pause. Blake's heart beat as she listened intently.
"Roman!"
Dun dun dun... Blake finds herself hearing something she really should not have. Oh, also, plot progression from Remnant! Things are starting to get good! Probably.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a favorite, follow, or comment if you feel so inclined. See you next time!
PS: I started another story! It's called Nightmare on Remnant, and it's a RWBY x Pokemon Crossover! If that's the sort of thing you're into, check it out!