Weiss paused at the bottom of the staircase that led to the bowels of the boat and drew in several calming breaths as she kept her eyes closed. She tightened her grip around Myrtenaster as she steeled herself for the confrontation to come and opened her eyes once again as she began walking with a purposeful gait. After several tense seconds, she emerged into the shared bedroom that had become Corsac's holding cell.
Yang and Jaune were standing on either side of the room, their weapons at the ready, while Maria was sat upon one of the beds on the far wall, reading from some sort of journal. Corsac himself was sat upon the bed beside Maria's, and clad in a borrowed pair of black pants, a white sweater, and a towel that hung around his shoulders. The man was staring intently at the floor and didn't acknowledge Weiss' presence.
"…I'm here to relieve both of you," Weiss offered as she fixed Corsac with a neutral expression.
"Where's Ilia? Isn't she supposed to take this shift with you?" Yang asked as she pushed off the wall while keeping her arms folded.
"She's… busy," Weiss offered as she gave her friend a frustrated look. "I think it's best if she's left alone, for the moment."
"Then I'll stay," Jaune offered as he moved to sit upon one of the beds attached to a side wall. "Too many people on deck wouldn't be helpful, anyway."
Weiss shook her head and sighed, before turning her attention to Jaune.
"As much as the offer is appreciated… I'd like to talk to Corsac alone. If you'd like to remain by the door just in case, I won't stop you," Weiss offered.
"Just don't rough him up too much," Yang warned with a shrug as she made her way out into the hall. "If he's got any fresh wounds, the cops will think we've been torturing him."
"Weiss is smart," Jaune protested as he grabbed the bag protecting the relic from the bed and rose to stand. "I'll be just outside. Uh… Mrs. Calavera?"
Maria looked up from her book and the slatted coverings of her goggles narrowed in annoyance.
"Yes, yes, I heard. That being said, Schnee, I want to talk to you about something before we make landfall. You have a decision to make," the older woman insisted as she hoisted a black duffel bag up and over her shoulder and began to make her way out into the hall behind Jaune.
"A decision…?" Weiss inquired as she tilted her head, watching Maria walk all the while.
"You've got no excuse for bad hearing at your age, young lady. What are you, 14? 16?" Maria jabbed without bothering to look back.
"I am 18, thank you very much," Weiss replied with a sneer before closing the door to the room behind her antagonist. "Honestly."
The cabin fell silent as Weiss slowly turned to regard her captive. Corsac Albain sat silently, his eyes on the carpeted floor and devoid of any sort of emotion. Weiss merely frowned and kept her eyes on the man's forehead as she waited. After nearly a full minute, he began to speak in a voice far steadier than it had been upon being pulled out of the water.
"…I will answer anything you ask of me, Miss Schnee, but first, I would like to say that I can see now that you and Sun are easily the lesser of two evils, compared to the Fang. You have both shown mercy where my former employers would not, and I am grateful, if undeserving," Corsac admitted as he finally dared to look up at Weiss. He found her eyes narrowed and full of a piercing, frigid judgment befitting of their color.
"…you were complicit in my attempted murder, were you not?" Weiss asked icily. "You were in that helicopter and aware of what Adam Taurus was about to try to do, weren't you?"
Corsac held Weiss' gaze, much to her surprise, and didn't hesitate in his answer.
"…I was, yes. I cannot and will not deny it."
"All I want to know is why," Weiss replied. "Explain to me how you rationalized that I, a woman you had never met in person, needed to be killed. I need to understand your thought process, for reasons I'm unwilling to discuss."
"I do not know if you'll be able to understand, but I'll comply with your request to the best of my ability," Corsac began as he interlaced his fingers between his knees and looked back down to the carpet. "The faunus people are… tired, more than anything else. Systematic oppression has worn many of us down into mere husks of people, and for some of us, all of our energy goes into simply finding the will to continue getting out of bed in the morning. When oppression and judgment permeate every facet of life, compassion, empathy, and even the ability to see those responsible as people diminishes over time. The only emotion that some of us have room for anymore is anger, and that anger lashes out at whatever targets are readily available. The White Fang is an effort to render our chains white-hot with fury and sling them back at those who put them around us in the first place."
"So it didn't matter in the least that I have a life of my own, beyond my family name," Weiss said softly as she, too, cast her eyes down to the floor. "You were blinded to anything beyond what you thought was righteous anger."
"It mattered as much as my life matters to your family, beyond my tail," Corsac replied. "You were simply an idea- a symbol, until I had the opportunity to speak to you face to face. Adam had a way with words that was capable of convincing people to do things that they otherwise would not. He knew just which aspects of emotion within people to prey upon in order to get what he wanted. If you ask me… I can see a bit of those same qualities in Sun."
Weiss had to make a conscious effort to jerk her hand back to a neutral position as she found Myrtenaster beginning to rise for Corsac's throat automatically. She instead focused her anger on clenching her teeth, and then channeled her frustration into a tone so harsh that it surprised her.
"I never want to hear you say such a thing about Sun in my presence. If you do it again, then I'll allow Ilia to vent her frustrations on you," Weiss warned.
Corsac simply shook his head and sighed sadly. "I had a feeling you might react in such a way. I meant only to say that I see the capacity for strong leadership in that boy, and a charisma that could rally even the most hopeless hearts behind it. The comparison ends there- where Adam dragged others down to stew in hatred with him, it seems Sun has a gift for boosting others to heights that they would be otherwise incapable of reaching."
Weiss' upper lip twitched in annoyance as she stared once again at the top of Corsac's head.
"There were other ways to make that point, and you know it."
"My apologies. I didn't mean to rile y-"
"Weiss!"
The heiress barely had time to step out of the way of the cabin door as it swung inward to reveal a panicked Jaune. The boy's face was ghost white, and his shoulders were tense as he held the bag in one hand and his sword in the other.
"Jaune? What's going on?" Weiss questioned as she immediately raised her weapon into a more combative stance.
"It's… it's grimm! A huge grimm, tailing us! C'mon, we've gotta get to the upper deck and figure out a pl-"
Jaune became unbalanced and fell forward into the room as the boat lurched forward, picking up speed. Weiss took several steps backward as she tried to balance in her wedges, only to feel a pair of strong, calloused hands upon her waist keeping her upright. They released her immediately afterward, and she looked over her shoulder to see Corsac rising from his place upon the bed.
"My apologies, Miss Schnee. Go- I'll remain here, so as not to distract your friends or cause any worry," Corsac offered.
"You… no! You're coming with us!" Weiss insisted as she ran over to help Jaune up. The boy took her hand and got to his feet, before hurriedly dusting himself off.
"You are sure…?" Corsac inquired, looking uneasy.
"Just listen to her and get moving!" Jaune insisted as he turned and ran out into the hall. Weiss and Corsac fell in line, and the trio made their way up to the deck in short order. Yang, Ilia, and Sun all stood armed and waiting as they stared toward the back of the boat, each looking horrified. Weiss backpedaled as she turned around, only to nearly drop Myrtenaster as she raised her free hand up to cover her mouth.
"By the gods…"
A grimm leviathan, larger than any other beast the heiress had ever seen, had risen out of the water only a few hundred feet behind the speeding boat. The beast towered over the surface of the ocean shallows, to the point where its knees were clearly visible out of the water. What appeared to be flecks of ash on the glowing orange horizon began to cloud around the creature from all sides, until the silhouettes of beating wings made the figures known as other, smaller grimm.
"Shit!" Sun swore before looking over his shoulder at the captain's cabin. "Maria, you're gonna need to speed it up!"
"I'm working on it, young man! Hold on to your tail!" Maria called as the front of the boat began to rise and dip as it cut through the water.
"What the hell do we do!?" Ilia cried as she looked up at Sun. "We can't fight that thing!"
"They can!" Yang yelled as she turned, pointing up at the blockade of airships around Atlas. The shadow of the floating city engulfed the speeding vessel as the city of Mantle's port finally came into view. People were running back and forth upon the docks as sirens began to ring out through the cool morning air, and Weiss shook her head as she ran into the enclosure beside Maria.
"Slow down! You're going to crash us right into the docks!" the heiress cried.
"That's the idea!" Maria countered with a wide grin. "Up and over, in about two minutes! They weren't about to just let us in without questions while you're on board, after all!"
"I have a disguise!" Weiss yelled incredulously.
"No time!" Maria admonished. "Leave the landing to me and keep a hand on a rail!"
Weiss opened her mouth to retort, only for Sun to beat her to the punch.
"Maria, pull up to a dock and let us get out safely! Don't do anything insane! We'll take care of that part. Yang, to the back with me! We've gotta shoot down as many fliers as we can!"
"You got it!" Yang affirmed as she broke into a sprint.
"Weiss- call your sister, and make sure Atlas knows what's going on!" Sun ordered, before pointing to the sides of the ship. "Jaune! Cover the left rail, and make sure nothing lands on board while we're trying to land!"
"On it!" Jaune called as he dropped his bag and ran for the left side. Ilia pulled a face and shook her head as Sun gave her a sympathetic look.
"…Ilia…"
"I know!" the girl yelled. "Broken arm, you want me safe, whatever! The other side needs protection, a-"
"I'll go," Corsac offered as he held out his hand. "I know your weapon. Please- let this be the start of repaying my debt."
Ilia growled in frustration before she handed her weapon to Corsac and retreated into the captain's enclosure. Sun sighed in relief and ran off to help Yang with firing projectiles, while Corsac sprinted for the side of the boat opposite Jaune.
"Winter!" Weiss called as she held her scroll to the side of her face while keeping her eyes on the grimm leviathan. A sphinx careened toward the rear of the ship only to be riddled with bullets, and Weiss raised the volume of her voice over the gunfire. "Winter, can you hear me!?"
"Weiss?" came the voice over the line. "Weiss, what's going on? Why and how are you here? Wh-"
"There's no time!" Weiss insisted. "There's a massive grimm approaching Mantle! A leviathan class, and it's not alone! We need air support!"
Weiss stumbled to the side as a rolling chair impacted her, and Maria fell off the furniture and into her side. The heiress instinctively grabbed the woman and held her to her side as she tried to keep her own balance.
"What are you doing!?" Maria called. "I would have been fine!"
"Shut up!" Ilia called as she took the controls of the ship with her good hand. "I'm docking us!"
"Weiss!? Who are you talking to? Where a-"
"By the port, facing Argus!" Weiss yelled as she tried to keep her balance while holding on to Maria's chair. "Send everything you can!"
The heiress disconnected the call as the boat started to slow, just as a deafening hail of bullets began to fly from the dockside. Weiss and Ilia both instinctively ducked as the shrieks of grimm tore through the yellowing sky alongside the whizzing of hot lead and the sound of several pairs of heavy footfalls.
"Everybody off!" Sun yelled as he made a beckoning motion. The boy ran up to a side rail just by the captain's enclosure as the boat gently impacted the brick wall just beyond the docks. "C'mon, get moving!"
Weiss gripped Maria's chair and pushed her toward the waiting faunus, who was busy helping Ilia over the railing and onto the waiting wooden pier.
"Get on stable ground as fast as you can and keep the people safe!" Sun ordered as Ilia and Yang made it over the railing and onto the docks. He nodded approval as he watched Jaune scoop up the bag with the relic and leap over the railing. "And you keep that thing safe, too!"
Maria hoisted her duffel bag once again as she slipped beneath the railing and leapt down onto the docks with Corsac in tow. Weiss followed and barely kept her balance as she hit the wood, and then Sun brought up the rear, whirling and firing off a shot into the air as he landed upon the dock.
"Sun! What's the plan!?" Weiss called as the group began to run down the wooden pier and toward the city of Mantle.
"The plan?" Sun asked as he fired another shot, clipping the wing of a nearby sphinx and sending it barreling down into the nearby brick wall. "We get up onto the ground, and we fight!"
Author's Note:
Next update will be early next week, most likely.
-RD