"What if they were right about Mantle, and someone tried to silence them?"
He stopped, letting his words sink into their heads. Weiss clasped her hands together to keep them from trembling.
"I-I know it sounds insane," Jaune added when neither Weiss nor Yang answered. "But the only reason I can see them leaving the way they did is if they wanted to investigate Mantle on their own. Maybe they found something, and someone tried to stop them–"
"Why do you think someone else is involved?" Yang asked.
"I can't see either of them ditching us without a word. I think they wanted to come back, but something or someone stopped them. From the way Adam reacted near the end of the call, it sounded like someone was catching on to where they were."
Dread coiled her throat. Jaune's theory sounded like a conspiracy, but what if he was right? This wouldn't be the first time she was so blatantly wrong about something.
Weiss didn't think anyone could overpower both Adam and Blake, but if they were fine, they wouldn't cut communication like this. Were they too hurt to make another call? What if they met a tragic fate?
No. She couldn't jump to rash conclusions so soon.
Weiss got up and paced around the dorm.
"It's not the first time Blake left us without saying a word…" Yang said dejectedly.
"It's different this time. She made an effort to reach out with that call, remember?" Jaune was quick to respond. "And she's stayed even after everything between you guys. She wouldn't abandon you out of the blue now."
"I-I don't know, Jaune. I don't know what to believe anymore."
Yang buried her hands into her face. Jaune looked like he wanted to say something to cheer her up, but he struggled to come up with a response.
"There's only one way we can find out the truth," Weiss chimed in. "I say we go down to Mantle and see for ourselves what's happening."
"Y-you believe me?" Jaune gasped.
"I think it's worth investigating for ourselves. I'm sick of taking people for their words."
Even if said people were family.
"I want to go too," Yang piped in, much to Weiss' surprise.
"Okay, then we should leave before it gets too late," Jaune said. "If I'm somehow right…we need to brace ourselves for a fight."
After agreeing to meet at the school gates in half an hour, Jaune left to make his preparations. Neither Weiss nor Yang exchanged any more words as they got their things ready. Weiss decided to bring her entire backpack. If they couldn't return to Atlas for whatever reason, they'd at least have medicine on hand.
"We should leave Ruby a message," Yang suggested. "I-in case something does happen."
"Yeah, that's a good idea."
"I can do it."
Yang sat on Blake's bed and began typing a lengthy message to her sister. Weiss, not having any other things to pack, sat on her bed as she waited for Yang to finish.
"You can go ahead," Yang insisted when she saw her waiting. "I want to make sure I don't worry Ruby with this message…she was looking forward to hanging out with Uncle Qrow today."
"It's okay, I can wait. Take all the time you need."
Seeing the extra effort she put into reaching out to Ruby made Weiss even more depressed about her broken relationship with Whitley. If she put in even a third of the effort Yang did with Ruby, would he still choose to stay with Father than leave with her?
"I almost want to convince her to join us, but I don't want to ruin her plans. She's already been under so much stress lately," Yang added tiredly, her thumb hovering over the send button.
"All the more reason to come back at the end of this," Weiss replied with a weak smile. "You're a good sister."
"That's debatable. What kind of big sister needs her baby sister to drag her to meals and convince her to get out of bed?"
"You've had a rough couple of weeks, don't be so hard on yourself…I'm sorry about contributing to that. There was probably a better way to tell you all about Adam."
The room went still.
Weiss wasn't sure how Yang would react to her bringing him up, but this was the most either of them had spoken with each other. It felt like the right time to apologise. The only thing she refused to apologise for was befriending him.
"I'm sorry if you thought I chose him over you. That was never the case." She stared at her lap. "You're both irreplaceable. He's helped me through a lot, and you're always there when I need you the most. Even after our big fight in Argus, you were still there to support me."
Tears blurred her vision. Weiss swallowed the guilt in her throat and wiped her eyes.
"You don't have to believe me, Yang. But I mean it when I say I could never choose between the two of you. You both mean so much to me. I just wish I tried harder to let you know…"
Between her revelation about Whitley and her prolonged animosity with Yang, Weiss felt like the worst sister and friend in all of Remnant. She was lucky Yang was willing to listen to her ramble despite it all.
"It's not like I made it easy for you to approach me." Yang shrugged. Weiss relaxed at her calm response. "Sorry about being such an ass lately. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."
"No hard feelings. I'd be pretty upset in your shoes too."
"Since when did you become so understanding?" Yang snorted, finally pressing down on the send button and pocketing her Scroll without another glance.
"I've had my fair share of life-changing epiphanies recently." She laughed humourlessly. "I don't blame you for being upset. It's a lot to take in."
"At least you didn't push Blake away." Yang buried her face in her hands. "Gods…i-if I'd known this would happen…"
If they'd both been more open and understanding, would Adam and Blake still be here?
"Blaming yourself isn't going to fix anything. We don't know what happened, so let's not jump to conclusions yet." Weiss wasn't sure who she was trying to convince anymore.
"...Do you really think so?"
"Blake wouldn't do something that'll hurt you again. She feels bad about everything, Yang. Trust me, leaving you behind is the last thing she'd want to do."
She managed to coax a weak smile from Yang.
"For what it's worth…I hope we find him too. I still don't like him, but I know he means a lot to you. For your sake, I hope he's safe."
Weiss and Yang arrived at the school gates first. Jaune showed up not too long after, apologising for the delay as he took some time to figure out how they could get to Mantle in the first place. They were about to head out when they ran into Dr Watts returning to campus with a fresh cup of coffee in hand.
"You all seem prepared to go on a long trip," Dr Watts said, looking over their weapons and Weiss' packed bag.
"We wanted to explore the city," Jaune lied smoothly.
"At this hour? Surely it would've been smarter to head out in the morning than late in the afternoon."
"We all had other plans in the morning," Yang added casually.
For whatever reason, Dr Watts' eyes twinkled amusedly at their answer. The hairs on the back of Weiss' neck stood up when he grinned at them.
"Be careful out there," he chimed. "Given how dangerous things have been, it's best to stay alert. It'd be a real tragedy if your team lost more members."
"We will. Thanks." Yang smiled politely.
Jaune led them to the nearest airship transport station. It was a public transit system that allowed easy travel between Atlas and Mantle. Weiss had never taken it before, but she didn't think it was normal for the station to be empty save for a single ticket handler. It didn't take them long to learn that the airships were closed to the general public.
"Only passengers with military-approved work permits can pass," the ticket handler explained lazily. "Boss says we'll be open to the public soon."
"How soon is soon?" Jaune asked.
"I dunno. He told me that a couple of months ago."
"Months?" Jaune slouched dejectedly. "Isn't there any way we can get on without a fancy permit? We have a bit of an emergency in Mantle–"
"No permit, no service."
"What if we told you we have official Huntsmen licenses?" Yang pulled out her Scroll to show them her credentials.
The ticket handler insisted they should get a ride from official Military airships instead and returned to playing on their Scroll. Weiss stepped in and threw down a generous roll of bills at the counter. Both her friends and the ticket handler eyeballed the cash in awe.
"Here are our credentials. Now will you take us to Mantle or not?" Weiss said impatiently. When they didn't respond right away, she pulled out another roll of cash.
They arrived at Mantle in a matter of minutes.
Weiss wasn't sure what she expected Mantle to be like, but what she saw was underwhelming.
The only striking difference between Atlas and Mantle is the antique brick buildings populating the heart of downtown. Civilians crowded the streets, instruments from street performers added an extra flare of life to the city, and cars dragged through the slow traffic. Digital billboards harmonised with the yellow lights pouring out of windows, painting the city with neons and gold. Everywhere they went, life blossomed in every nook and cranny.
They only caught a couple of guards patrolling the streets. Had Weiss not been so alert to her surroundings, she would've missed the robots' presence entirely. They blended so seamlessly with the crowd that it was like they were invisible.
Father's political posters dominated several store windows and billboards. Seeing his face blown up on posters and ads made her skin crawl. No matter where she went, his eyes followed her every move in the city skyline. Her unease grew when she passed several people wearing t-shirts in support of his campaign.
"This is…not what I was expecting to see," Jaune whispered. He sounded unsure whether it was a good thing or not.
"I thought we'd be seeing more Faunus here," Yang noted quietly.
Now that she pointed it out, Weiss also noticed the lack of any Faunus locals out in the streets. She thought they would see more Faunus now that they were outside Atlas, but there was no difference in the population.
"Maybe we aren't looking at the right place." Jaune speculated as they passed another one of Father's campaign posters. "We probably got dropped off in the nicer part of town."
"That makes sense. Altesians working in Mantle probably don't get dropped off in rough neighbourhoods," Weiss agreed.
Weiss didn't know Mantle very well as she'd only visited a few times with her family. Still, she knew what districts to avoid from hearing Father's business partners gossip about Mantle. After consulting a map on their Scrolls, they decided to head South, where she heard the most complaints about new Faunus residents. The taxi driver they flagged down wasn't thrilled about the destination they had in mind.
"Are you sure you want to go there?" he asked, eyeing Yang and Weiss down when he spoke. He didn't spare Jaune a glance. "It's a dangerous neighbourhood for a couple of young ladies."
"We'll be fine, thanks," Yang answered curtly. "Can you hurry up? We're in a bit of a rush."
"I'll take you halfway, but you'll need to walk the rest of the way there. I'm not risking my tires getting slashed by some lowlife animal."
Weiss held her tongue about his comment. They still needed a ride, and she figured this was a good sign their hunch was correct.
The further they ventured from the bustling heart of downtown, the quieter the roads grew. Weiss constantly glanced at the rear window, paranoid someone was tailing them. She never spotted anyone suspicious, but it didn't stop the feeling that they were being watched.
As promised, the driver dropped them off on a quiet street off the side of the road. Only a few Human locals were out, but none spared their group a glance.
"You girls stay safe out there," the driver said as they got out. "A violent Faunus gang called the Robins is active at night. If you don't want to get mugged, I suggest you go home early."
Weiss' heart skipped at the warning. She was certain he was referring to the Silver Robins. With all the conflicting information she had on them, it was unclear how reliable this intel was. She appreciated the warning nonetheless.
It was early evening when they arrived at their destination. Weiss found it hard to believe they were in the same city.
Robyn Hill's green campaign posters plastered the beaten streets like bandages. Buildings abused by the weather and years of neglect leaned warily against each other. A perpetual layer of grey dust suffocated the colour out of the neighbourhood. Open gashes and gaping potholes riddled the street, and a tangle of weeds bled out between some of the cracks. If they looked far enough, the wall protecting Mantel from the Grimm loomed on the horizon like an oversized curtain.
The most striking detail in the neighbourhood was the number of robots infiltrating the streets. Whereas the previous district saw the occasional pair of guards, the district they entered had more robots than civilians. It was like walking through an active warzone.
Weiss wasn't too surprised when most of the residents they passed by were Faunus. What did catch her eye was how tense everyone was. At first, she thought they were uneasy with three Humans walking into their community, but upon closer inspection, they were more focused on the robots than their group.
Despite the neighbourhood's decrepit state, bars and restaurants flooded with patrons watching the live election broadcasted on television screens. Although they were still counting the results, everyone was acting as if Robyn had already won.
"There's no way Jacques can win!" They overheard an enthusiastic man saying to their friend. "I have a buddy who worked at the polling stations, and he says this is the largest turnout he's ever seen."
"I can't wait to get rid of these fucking robots. I'm sick of walking on eggshells around here."
The most crowded part of the neighbourhood was around an old power plant. It was converted to an open kitchen, filling the air with the scent of tomato soup and roasted turkey. Someone was entertaining the guests by playing soft melodies on their guitar.
Weiss stopped in her tracks when she caught the small blackboard sign standing by one of the open doorways of the power plant.
Silver Robins' Community Centre!
Dinner starts every evening from 6 pm - 10 pm (All meals free of charge)
Children's meal services are available 24/7.
24/7 Medical assistance on the second floor (free of charge). Please contact one of our volunteers for a consultation!
This week's community activity: family baking lessons with Joanna! Please arrive 10 minutes early to get set up!
Food and clothing donations are accepted at the counter!
She read the sign over and over, but a part of her still couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. The Silver Robins' website had said they were a charity group, but Weiss never put much faith in that claim.
But now, staring into the crowded soup kitchen where dozens of volunteers greeted their patrons with warm smiles and a homecooked meal, she didn't know what to think anymore. Was this what the taxi driver warned them about? Was this the criminal group the news antagonised for causing public havoc?
"Weiss?" Yang called out to her up ahead.
"S-sorry, lost in thought." Weiss ducked her head and caught up with Yang and Jaune.
Her mind was numb. She followed Jaune and Yang's lead without knowing where they were going or what they were looking for. Nothing felt real anymore.
They wandered into a more desolate part of the neighbourhood. Stores and apartments stood abandoned. Chunks of concrete were uprooted and left scattered all over the street and roads.
Only a convenience store remained open at the far corner of the street. A foldable table stood by the store entrance. Two cardboard display boards were propped on top of the table with the words Job Requests written in big, bold letters at the top. Dozens of pastel-coloured sticky notes adhered to the surface of both boards. The only attendant was a Faunus man sitting behind the table with a smoke between his fingers.
"Seems like a sketchy place to get work," Jaune whispered as they got closer.
Weiss eyed the massive axe resting against the wall beside the man. A black suitcase and first aid kit lay next to the blade.
They stopped in front of one of the boards. The contents on the sticky notes were a simpler version of the job boards used by professional Huntsmen. The requests ranged from small jobs like buying groceries to more serious matters such as investigating Grimm sightings. The latter was the most common type of request.
An additional note was scribbled at the bottom of each board, stating the job board wasn't responsible for any arrests that could result in fighting Grimm or criminals out in public.
Weiss furrowed her brows in confusion. More than half of the jobs listed should've been listed on the job board at Atlas Academy. What were they doing on a couple of cardboard stands? Did the Military know about this?
"Oi! What do you want?"
The man rested his hand on the handle of his axe, eyeing them down as if they were thieves.
"What is this for?" Weiss asked. She regretted speaking up when the man glared at her.
"You're a Schnee."
"N-no."
"Don't treat me like I'm fucking stupid! I recognise a Schnee when I see one!"
"She just dyed her hair white!" Jaune jumped to her rescue. "White's always been her favourite colour."
The man scowled at him.
"Do you think some spoiled rich girl would come down to Mantle?" Yang quickly added.
That at least made the man falter. He quietly regarded Weiss again. "Change that awful hair colour when you have the chance, girl. Looking like a Schnee will get you into trouble around these parts."
Weiss nodded, ducking behind Yang.
"What the hell are you guys doing here anyway?"
"We're tourists," Jaune lied. "It's our first time in Mantle, and we wanted to explore a bit."
The man snorted and mumbled something about the border letting in armed Humans without blinking an eye.
"So, what exactly are these things for?" Yang asked again.
"You can read, can't you? They're job requests for folks down on their luck or feeling altruistic. I'm afraid I don't take Human clients. There's plenty of resources for you folks if you want a job."
"But aren't some of these requests too dangerous? Hunting the Grimm sounds a bit extreme."
That comment made the man laugh. "Wouldn't be an issue if we had someone coming in to deal with the Grimm for us."
Weiss exchanged concerned looks with her friends. This was the exact opposite of what they were told.
"Isn't that what these scary robots are for?" Jaune asked.
"Those tin cans take out the Grimm alright, but it'll depend on the day. They're more of a fucking hazard than the damned Grimm." He stopped talking when a large group of robot guards passed by.
Once they were gone, he added in a much softer voice," I reckon Humans don't need to worry about them, but I'd suggest keeping your heads down while you're here to be safe. Step one toe out of line, and they'll haul you down to the station."
Weiss wanted to ask him to elaborate, but the sombre expression on his face kept her from pushing the subject any further.
"Get out of here. Having you hovering around my table is bad for business."
"I'm sorry you guys have to deal with so many dangerous monsters alone," Weiss said, unable to keep her eyes off the dozens of requests asking to get rid of some Grimm.
"Ain't anything we aren't used to." He shrugged.
"Don't Huntsmen usually take care of that sort of thing for you?"
"We're lucky if those pompous asses even look at our job requests, let alone accept them. As they always say, if you want something done right, you need to do it yourself."
Thanks to CMDR Quillon, BrazeRancor, denewyosh, a Guest reader, Gleaming Onyx, BL4CK 4NG3L, LiteralWhiteTrash, and AlexusAP for the reviews!
A small glimpse into Mantle but there's still more to discover! I'll see you next week for part 2 :)