"And when you're done with it, just leave it at the garage in Vale City. My boys will know what to do."
"Thank you!" Ruby sang as she accepted the set of keys with a wide smile. "We'll take good care of it!"
The attendant tipped their sun-bleached cap with a grunt of affirmation and turned to walk back into the building at the far end of the lot.
"…and you're sure we're all gonna fit in this thing?" Sage asked with a hint of skepticism as he looked over the waiting pickup truck. The vehicle was slightly worn down and had a candy-red paint job interspersed with patches of rust. A length of greasy rope was coiled in the bed, and a pair of truck nuts hung valiantly beneath the license plate.
"We'll make it work. Additionally- shotgun," Ren called as he raised a finger.
"Ren!" Nora whined as she balled her fists and put them upon her hips. "How is that fair!?"
"Well… the three of us are the smallest out of the group," Oscar pointed out with a nod as he tried to tear his eyes from the distracting decoration at the rear of the vehicle. "It makes the most sense for the two of us and Ruby to occupy the back seat together."
"Yup!" Ruby chirped as she walked up to the truck and knocked the back of her fist against the door. "Besides- we won't be on the road for that long. And hey- we can whisper about the boys without them knowing!"
"…I'm one of the boys!" Oscar protested with a look of indignation.
"…get in the truck, Oscar," Sage said with a roll of his eyes as he opened the door and hopped up into the driver's seat.
Oscar let out a heavy sigh as he followed Ruby into the truck and scooted over to sit between her and Nora. The redheaded girl followed along and closed the door behind herself, before gently poking a finger into Ren's shoulder from behind.
"Yes, Nora?" he asked as he turned to look into the back seat.
"Nothing," Nora sang as she leaned back into her seat and folded her arms behind her head. "Just getting you ready for what's to come for the entire ride."
Ren slowly leaned back to sit properly in his seat as he drew in a long breath through his nose. He gave Sage a serious look as the larger boy began to reverse out of the lot and spoke in a low voice.
"…should I throw myself out of the vehicle at any point during our journey, do not bother to turn around."
Sage snorted in amusement as he pulled out onto the main road and began to drive.
"You got it."
"So!" Ruby said enthusiastically as she clapped her hands together. "How long are we thinkin'? A few days, a few hotel stops, and then we're home?"
Oscar lurched forward and held the sides of his head as his eyes flashed a sudden green.
"Yes. I would estimate it as a three or four day drive, should we stop at night to rest. Four is more realistic."
"That's not so bad, I guess," Nora replied with a shrug. "It'll allow us all to have some time to just kinda… chill out and think, you know?"
"Yeah," Ruby replied wistfully. "Still, though, that entire last day, I'll be checking my scroll for Dad's signal and driving myself crazy. If it doesn't show up…"
"Hey," Sage cut in as he caught Ruby's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Don't start talking like that. We handle it a day at a time and figure it out as we go. We'll make it happen."
"Yeah," Ruby agreed as she folded her hands in her lap. "Yeah, you're right."
"And it also gives us plenty of time to just talk, too. About what's going on, or anything on our minds as things come up," Nora offered as she reached across Oscar and laid her hand atop Ruby's.
Ruby gave Nora a soft smile, before Oscar's eyes widened and he suddenly began to squirm.
"U-um… Nora? Your arm is… kinda…"
"Oh. Back with us?" Nora teased as she returned her hand to the seat beside herself. "Relax, Oscar."
"Do I even want to know what's going on back there?" Ren asked as he rolled his eyes and folded his arms.
"Nope. Definitely not," Ruby replied while giving Nora a knowing look.
"Not at all," the other girl confirmed.
Weiss let out a groan of protest as she finished buttoning the top of her Atlas Academy uniform, her shoulder burning all the while. She hissed and pulled a face as she rolled her shoulder to try to chase away the pain, only for the sensation to intensify.
"…I seriously can't believe you've been going days without getting that checked out," Yang said flatly from her place upon the couch. The blonde was hunched over a bowl of cereal, and back into her usual outfit of black pants and a leather jacket.
"Adrenaline has been keeping me going up to this point," Weiss replied. "Honestly, outside of the initial impalement, I've barely felt it at all until I woke up. My mind has been too preoccupied with other things. Now, though… I really shouldn't delay any longer."
"And you're sure you don't want me to come with you to the infirmary?" her teammate asked again. "We've all gotta head down there soon anyway, according to Sun."
"No, I'll be fine. It honestly doesn't hurt that badly," Weiss insisted as she made her way to the door. "I've got other stops to make as well, and I don't want to bore you with them."
"…other stops after you get your shoulder checked out, right?" Yang asked with a hint of an edge in her voice.
"…perhaps," Weiss replied without meeting Yang's eyes.
"Hey, speaking of Sun and what he said," Ilia cut in as she returned from the kitchenette with a paper plate holding a bagel slathered with cream cheese, "you two aren't actually going to transfer all of your contacts and shit to the new scrolls, are you?"
Weiss raised a brow as she watched the faunus settle onto the L-shaped couch, placing herself perpendicular to Yang.
"Why wouldn't we?"
"…because there are obviously trackers put into those things," Ilia pointed out before taking a bite of her bagel and beginning to talk around the mass of food. "Use 'em, sure, but don't just throw away your old scrolls and rely on these new ones. If we have to ditch 'em eventually, we'll be totally screwed."
Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes.
"And why, pray tell, would we have to 'ditch' these new scrolls? I thought you were coming around on General Ironwood?"
"…ish," Ilia clarified with a middling hand motion. "I'm just sayin', though, it's probably not a great idea to put all of our eggs in one basket just yet. You're meeting up with that Robyn Hill chick, aren't you? We've already seen that she and the Aces don't play well together, and I get the feeling she and Ironwood probably aren't on the best terms. Given the fact that she's running against your dad for a council seat, I get the feeling that you'll be buying whatever she's selling. What are you going to do if it comes down to supporting her or following orders from Ironwood?"
Weiss immediately looked away from Ilia and occupied herself with rubbing her shoulder as she fell silent.
"…well, shit," Yang commented as she crossed her feet atop the coffee table. "I wasn't expecting you to be thinking ten steps ahead when it comes to political garbage, Ilia."
The smaller girl shrugged and licked a fluff of cream cheese off her finger.
"I was Fang. I pay attention to the way the winds are blowing, but I do definitely agree with Ironwood on one thing- we've gotta keep the lines of communication open throughout this whole shitshow, and let each other know what we're all thinking. Otherwise, this could get bad really fast. Keep your old scrolls, people."
"…will do," Weiss confirmed. "And… thank you, Ilia. I know you're just trying to look out for us."
"What can I say?" the faunus replied with a shrug. "You guys are the first group I've run with that treats me like an equal and actually cares. I'm just trying to return the favor, in my own bitchy little way."
"I think it's cute," Yang offered with a smirk. "Every team needs a bitch to keep the others on track, anyway."
"You think I'm cute, huh?" Ilia lilted while putting on an innocent face.
"Right, well, I'll see you both later," Weiss said airily before turning and stepping out into the hall. A moment later she breathed a long, annoyed sigh while shaking her head. "At the rate those two are going, I may need that third room to myself after all…"
The doors at the end of the wing whirred softly as they slid apart to let Weiss through into another seemingly impossibly long hallway around a corner. Again, the corridor was set up with bright fluorescent lights mounted into simple brackets along the walls, giving the entire space a clean and robotic look. It wasn't long before Weiss made her way through another set of sliding doors and turned into a third hallway, the only difference from the previous one being a set of dark purple lines painted high up near the ceiling and running the length of the corridor.
Weiss let out a small groan of frustration at the sight and began to walk once again, her heels clicking loudly against the tile floor as she went. The constant, echoing noise caused her head to begin to throb in time with her shoulder, and she hissed as she rolled her entire arm once again to try to alleviate some of the pain.
"…something wrong?"
Weiss squeaked in surprise at the sudden interruption of her thoughts and took several steps backward as a familiar and much taller figure stepped out into her path from a nearby doorway.
"Err… Elm, wasn't it?" Weiss tried as she instinctually folded her hands before herself and offered the other woman a slight tip of her head.
"So, you remembered me?" the older woman asked with a wide smile. "Good! That's good. Honestly, I'm a little surprised. Given how quickly everything was moving yesterday, I figured you and yours would have no idea which of us was which by this morning. Need some guidance?"
Weiss paused for a moment to look the woman over and commit her features to memory. Elm's skin was dark, though not as dark as Marrow's, and her milk chocolate hair was short and messy in a style not dissimilar to Ilia's new haircut. Though her entire frame was unusually large for a woman and quite imposing, Weiss' eyes were immediately drawn to the woman's bare arms.
In her casual outfit of baggy white pants and a black tank top, Elm's arms seemed to almost burst from the sides of her top like tree trunks that had been mistakenly attached to her body. The subtle outlines of veins ran down her biceps and served to give a clear and frightening idea of the woman's potential strength, and Weiss couldn't help but wonder if even Yang would stand a chance against her in an arm wrestling competition. Her gut feeling told her no.
"Oh, I… perhaps," Weiss stammered as she tore her eyes from Elm's impressive musculature and locked them instead upon the woman's own. "I'm on my way to the infirmary. I'm guessing it's on one of the lower floors?"
"The lowest floor," Elm clarified. "It's pretty far into the back of the building, and a pretty long walk from the elevator. The emergency entrance is clear on the other side of the Academy, so you're in more or less the most inconvenient spot possible right now if you're in pain."
"…great," Weiss grumbled as her shoulders slumped. "I'd hate to tear you away from anything important…"
"Oh, no worries!" the woman offered with a wide smile. "I've got nothing going on right now, actually. You headed there for your physical?"
Weiss cried out in pain as Elm clapped a heavy hand around her back and directly against the back of her shoulder. Sheer agony shot through her entire arm at the forceful contact, and she very nearly fell over as her vision danced with black dots.
"A-ah! My… m-my shoulder…" Weiss whined in a quivering voice. "I have a wound on my shoulder…"
"Oh!" Elm exclaimed before she immediately drew back her hand and scratched the back of her head. "My bad! But in that case, I have another idea. Come on, this will be much quicker than going all the way down to the infirmary."
"R-right," Weiss replied as she began to follow the other woman, tears stinging at the corners of her eyes as she held her shoulder and mentally cursed her companion. "And it's… it's fine. You didn't know."
"Still," Elm protested as she led the way out into the lobby in front of General Ironwood's office. "It seems like you've all been through a lot. You shouldn't let yourself suffer needlessly."
Weiss grumbled softly to herself as she watched Elm swipe her I.D. into a reader leading to the hall opposite of the ones that eventually led to her team's living quarters.
"I have my reasons…"
"I'm sure you do. Still, we're all on the same side," Elm reminded. "The Aces are allies on and off the field, and we take care of our own when it comes to things like this. We're headed to Marrow's suite."
"Oh?" Weiss asked while trying to put her finger on what about Elm's phrasing suddenly bothered her.
"He's our field medic, in addition to the other roles he plays. He can patch you up and at least make the pain manageable for a bit," Elm explained as the pair walked through yet another set of doors and around another corner. "Besides, he's the friendly sort, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to distract you by holding down a conversation while he does whatever he does."
"…are you not the friendly sort?" Weiss asked, feeling increasingly more awkward as time went on. "You seem nice enough to me."
"Ha!" Elm laughed as she came to a stop outside of a door on the side of the hall. "I'd like to think I'm a people person, but I also don't know you all that well, and I'm not sure where you stand just yet. Maybe once I see you on the field, or in the training room, we can get a little more amicable. For now, though, let's get you patched up."
Weiss furrowed her brows as she watched Elm jab a finger into a green button on a small black box positioned beside the door.
"Hey, Marrow!" Elm called into the device. "You busy?"
A few moments passed before the door slid open to reveal a sleepy-looking canine faunus clad only in long, dark blue pajama pants with cartoonish white bones scattered upon the fabric and a white drawstring hanging freely from their waist. The man's dark hair hung untied and almost down to his shoulders in messy curtains. His arms were quite muscular despite being around half the size of Elm's, and his stomach sported the faint outlines of a six pack in progress. He lazily raised a hand up to cover his mouth as he yawned, only to cut the motion short as he caught sight of Weiss. His eyes immediately widened and he gave the girl a sheepish, seemingly embarrassed smile as his tail thumped lightly against the doorframe.
"Oh! Hey there! Lemme get dressed real quick, and I'll be right with you!"
"Take your time," Weiss offered with a small smile of her own as she averted her eyes from the man's bare chest.
"Marrow, it's almost two in the afternoon!" Elm scolded as she folded her arms across her chest, smiling even wider than the faunus as the door slid shut. She immediately pressed the button upon the intercom once again and continued, her amusement clear in her tone. "You can't be answering the door half-naked when we have guests around, even if she does seem to enjoy it!"
Weiss' cheeks burned as she brought up a fist and coughed lightly into it.
"Elm, please don't be too harsh with him," she protested. "After all, we're intruding upon his home…"
"Eh, it's fine," the woman replied as she waved away the suggestion with a dismissive hand before clapping it upon Weiss' good shoulder. "He'll take good care of you, and I guarantee you he doesn't mind. See you soon, kiddo."
"You're not staying?" Weiss asked as she blinked in surprise.
"Huh? No, of course not," Elm said with a laugh as she slipped her hand off of Weiss and began to walk down the hall. "Like you said- it's his place, and I don't want to get in the way. We'll talk again soon. Hope you feel better."
Weiss shifted uncomfortably as she watched Elm swipe her I.D. into a reader next to a different door father down the hallway. She walked inside without another word, leaving Weiss very much alone in the hall. The former heiress had only a moment to look down at the floor in disappointment before Marrow's door slid open once again, and she locked eyes with the faunus as he stood before her. In contrast to his previous appearance, he was fully clad in his formal Ace Ops uniform of white pants and a formal jacket splashed with blue and red, as well as a crimson ascot wrapped firmly around his neck. His hair was tied back into a sort of short, reversed ponytail against the back of his head, and he smelled faintly of cologne. The man offered her a hand along with his usual winning smile, and she took it with a bemused smirk as he swept the other toward the inside of his flat.
"Sorry you had to see me like that, Miss Schnee," Marrow offered. "I tend to sleep late when I can get away with it."
"Please, don't apologize," Weiss replied as a soft banging noise started to resound throughout the hallway. She quirked a brow until she realized that the source of the racket was once again the man's tail hitting the doorframe, and the realization only made her faint blush intensify. "After all, I'm the one who came calling."
"Well, I'm glad that you did," Marrow reassured as he guided Weiss inside. "What can I do for you?"
Weiss opened her mouth to reply as she made it past the foyer, where a simple closet and several sets of shoes stood waiting. Upon catching sight of the main room of the penthouse, however, her mind seemed to shut down as she tried to process what she was seeing.
"Oh… oh my…"
Author's Note:
Add Marrow's pajama pants to the theoretical What You Stole merch store.
Ruby's crew will get much more attention once they arrive at Taiyang's Bachelor Pad of Disappointment. They're honestly not at all important until that point, but they'll continue to get a bonding scene here and there while on the road for funsies and character development. For now, though, expect some more focus on Weiss, Sun, Ilia, Blake, and one or two others for the next few chapters. Things are about to get even more complicated and tense in Atlas...
-RD