RWBY: Team CRML
Chapter 47
Team CRML
As they drove away from the farm, Nicci looked back at everyone. "What the hell were those things?"
"The Apathy." Marek said. "I've only seen them once before. I didn't know that could be the effect they had on people."
"They're not strong or ferocious." Maria added. "They drain your will to go on. Bartleby's estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Huntsman protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm... always."
Oscar began reading from what looked to be a diary. "Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable, but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off of everyone. I'm tired."
"The next page proves that he did, but not before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair all the way home." Maria said. "My guess is they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked." she took the book from Oscar. "No one was angry or sad or scared. No one was anything. And then... no one was left."
Maria took one more look at the final page of the diary, the last words written down being "I'm tired". She then closed the book and tossed it out into the snow.
"I'm... sorry for what I said... about giving up." Weiss told everyone.
Upon hearing this, Yang stopped driving. "Me too. We can't quit until the lamp is safe."
"It's not your fault. It was those... things." Blake said.
"I should have known. The signs were all there, but I'd never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I suppose my mind just isn't what it used to be." Maria said.
"Speaking of." Weiss looked at Marek. "When we all collapsed, you were the only one that wasn't affected. Why?"
Chrome, Nicci and Liam looked to their teammate as he took a deep breath. "Grimm don't affect their own." he replied.
"What are you saying?" Qrow asked.
Removing his bandanna and hood, he looked to each one of his friends, showing the black veins running up his neck and across his face as well as his pure white skin. "I'm part Grimm. Beowolf, to be exact."
"A Grimm?" Yang asked as she glanced back at him.
"Yeah..." he slowly nodded. "I wasn't always like this." he looked down at his hands, a small amount of blood still coating his right hand. "I was turned into this." he clenched his fists.
"By who?" Ruby asked.
"My mother... Salem."
"What?!" everyone stared at him except for his team, having already been told this.
"Let him finish." Liam told them.
"I always disagreed with what she was doing, hating that she was hurting people. My sister and brother were fine with it, though. Even going out to help destroy village after village." Marek took a breath. "Because of this, she forced this 'gift' upon me, having a scientist inject Beowolf DNA into my arm. But back at Kuroyuri, I came across a house."
"That house you went into?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah." he nodded. "As soon as I stepped foot inside, an image flashed in front of me of a woman with red hair sitting on the couch. But then it vanished just as quickly as it appeared. Exploring the building, I came across a bedroom with two twin beds. One with the name 'Mist Stark' and the other 'Marek Stark'."
Marek continued to tell the others the memories he had recovered. And once he did, Ruby was shocked. "Salem was behind Kuroyuri?"
"Yeah. She led that same Grimm we fought to the village, that horse-rider Grimm."
"Nuckelavee?" Maria asked.
"Yeah..." Marek nodded.
Ruby then turned to Maria. "Miss Calavera? How do you know so much about the Grimm? And in the tunnels, you knew exactly what to say to make me... to make my eyes do that. How?"
"Well, isn't it obvious, girl? I had silver eyes." Maria replied.
"You... Had silver eyes?" Ruby asked. "What happened?"
Maria proceeded to tell everyone about her past as famous huntress 'The Grimm Reaper'.
"I can't believe it. You... You're the Grimm Reaper, you were a legend! And then you disappeared..." Qrow said.
"How exactly does a legend just disappear?" Nicci asked.
"You never used your name, never showed your face." Qrow continued. "Lots of us thought you were just layin' low. Eventually, we just came to accept that you were probably dead. But the stories about you, I based my weapon off of yours. I wanted to be as good as the Grimm Reaper."
"Well, I'm nothing but a disappointment, so you're well on your way." Maria said.
"How can you say that?"
"Child, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end. But after I lost my eyes, I only ever looked after myself." Maria said. "Even after my surgery, I was too afraid to fight. Afraid someone would find me again, finish what the others started. You shouldn't aspire to be like me, especially when some of you are clearly stronger already. It's... comforting, seeing that your generation seems up to the task of inheriting this world. I'm just sorry I didn't do more to leave it in better shape."
"Well, maybe you can do something now. Teach me to use my powers the way you did." Ruby said.
"Teach us." Liam corrected.
Maria looked to Liam. "You have silver eyes, too?"
"Just one." he told her. "I have heterochromatic eyes. On silver, the other a dark red."
As Maria smiled, Ruby's scroll suddenly rang. Pulling it out of her pocket, she gasped. "It's Jaune!"
Yang stopped the bike, looking back in surprise. "How?" Yang asked.
Ruby answered her scroll. "Uh, hello?"
"Ruby! Oh, thank you! I've been checking my Scroll for your signal since we made it to the city!" Jaune said through the scroll.
"The city? Wait..."
Ruby looks to her Scroll, the signal symbol under Jaune's portrait get better as she pointed her Scroll toward the road ahead. The group saw a hill where the snow ends. Yang proceeded forward to drive them up the hill. At the top of the hill, the group sees a walled city in the distance along the ocean.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived in Argus."
At the entrance to the city of Argus, Yang inputs a code, "4-5-8", to lock her motorcycle and the trailer in a garage. Team RWBY, Qrow, Oscar, Maria and Team CRML take the time to admire their surroundings. "Cute! Boy! OZ!"
Oscar looks over in confusion, only to get tackle hugged by Nora. "Oh, come here!"
Jaune and Lie Ren also arrived.
"Are you all okay?" Ren asked as he hugged Yang.
"We were so worried!" Jaune hugged Blake.
"It's been kind of a crazy trip." Yang said as the two pulled away so Ren could hug Nicci.
"That's an understatement."
"Wait, who's the old lady?" Nora asked as she noticed Maria.
"I'm so glad you're all safe." Chrome said.
"Seriously..."
"Ah! You're gonna love this place!" Nora told them. As everyone else engaged in their own conversations, Ruby and Jaune walk up to each other and give each other a big hug. After parting from the hug, Jaune looked down and frowned.
'Hey. I promised, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did." Jaune said as he wiped his eyes. "It's good to see you guys."
Later on, the group was traveling through the city on a trolley. "It's a lot bigger than I thought it'd be." Liam said as he looked around.
"It's actually one of the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant." Ren informed them.
"No way! But wait, wouldn't it be harder to settle something this big away from the main Kingdom?" Nicci asked.
"Well, it was, until Mantle showed up. Early settlement attempts by Mistral didn't go well." Jaune replied. "But colonists from Mantle were able to help them brave the cold climate and return for goods that Solitas couldn't provide."
"The two nations worked together to create a hybrid city." Ren added. "While it falls under Mistral domain, Atlas keeps a military presence here to help keep the people safe and keep trade between the two nations steady."
"Well, until recently..."
The trolley stopped and everyone hopped off.
"We should probably start looking for a ship." Liam said.
"So, where have you guys been staying, exactly?" Marek asked.
"Uh..." Jaune chuckled nervously.
"There you are!" As the trolley left, a blonde woman, with a baby in her arm was standing on the other side of the street waving to Jaune.
"Is that...?"
"Hey, Saph." Jaune smiled and waved back.
Ruby looked from Jaune to the woman before gasping.
The group later reconvenes in a living room at a home.
"I can't believe I'm meeting your sister! I have so many questions." Ruby squealed.
"Oh, I can give you the rundown later!" Nora told her.
"Will you guys knock it off?" Jaune asked.
"What? I love telling stories about my baby brother." Saph squeezed Jaune's cheek.
Jaune groaned while flailing his arms at his elder sister. "I am not a baby!" he pointed at the baby who sat on the floor. "That is a baby."
Yang and Weiss get all wide-eyed as they fuss over him. The both of them making baby talk.
Seeing this, Liam crossed his arms as he smirked at Weiss. Seeing his stare, Weiss stood up. "What?"
"Nothin'." Liam shrugged. "I've just never seen you like that before."
"So Saphron, you're the only Arc living here?" Blake asked.
"Yep! Moved the second I could. Jaune and I are the only two living away from home." Saphron said before changing her tone to a teasing one. "I guess he just wanted to be like his big sis."
"I, uh..." Jaune groaned.
"Aw, you didn't deny it!"
The two siblings play fight with each other by pulling each other's cheeks. Suddenly, a door is heard opening as a dark-haired woman with glasses walked in with bags of groceries.
"Everyone, this is my wife, Terra Cotta." Saphron said.
"Hello!"
"Hey there!"
"Nice to meet you."
Everyone greeted her.
Terra chuckled. "Why, hello there! Wow, quite a party, you weren't kidding. Hun, can I get some help please?"
Saphron quickly ran over to help Terra in the kitchen.
After a while, Jaune, Ren and Nora helped prepare sandwiches for everyone.
"And you're sure it's alright if we stay with you?" Marek asked.
"Of course, we're happy to house Huntsmen and Huntresses." Saphron told them.
"You all risk so much to keep people like us safe." Terra added. "It's the least we can do." she then turned to Qrow. "Especially for such an elite Huntsman like yourself. Although, I will say I was surprised to learn you had students helping you. Is that even... legal?"
Qrow, not paying attention, gets his arm bumped by his niece.
"Uh, of course. Think of it as an extended training mission. Trust me, I was a professor. Even went to the same academy as them. Let me tell ya, these kids are way better than we were at their age." Qrow said. Jaune, Ren and Nora walked back into the room with plates full of sandwiches. Ruby gasped happily upon seeing them.
"Well, not better than me specifically, but a lot of students-"
"Shut up, there's food!" Ruby interrupted Qrow as she handing him a sandwich.
Everyone grabbed a sandwich except for Marek and Liam, the two nof being all that hungry. Suddenly, Terra got up. "Excuse me, I'll be right back." she said as she answered her scroll. "Hello?"
"Is everything okay?" Blake asked.
"Oh, yeah, it will be. Terra's a technician for the town's relay tower. Unfortunately, the military's radar system is also housed there." Saphron replied before making baby talk to her son. "Guess what's been on the fritz lately and who's getting falsely blamed."
Terra peeked back into the room. "Me."
"So, what's your plan for tomorrow?" Saphron asked.
"Well..." Ruby swallowed the food in her mouth. "We're trying to make our way to Atlas. We'll probably start with the military base."
"So, we kind of already tried that, and... it didn't go... super great." Jaune said.
"Come on, it couldn't be that bad..."
The next day, Teams RWBY and CRML walk up to the Atlesian Military base on the island off the coast of Argus, only for the gates to abruptly close on them before they could even enter.
End of chapter 47
