The tip of Sun's tail bounced rhythmically against the floor of the air taxi as he watched the buildings of Mantle rise up all around him through the windows. The dark brick structures stood in stark contrast to the bright, sterile, and futuristic aesthetic of the buildings all around the floating island of Atlas. Gaudy neon signs advertising all sorts of things were commonplace among the upper reaches of Mantle, and the flickering, unnatural lights leant odd colors to Weiss' snow-white hair as Sun watched them through the window behind her.
"Well… looks like we're here," the faunus said as he began to stretch in his seat. The subtle jerk of the aircraft hitting the ground caused him to momentarily lose his balance as he stood, and Weiss put a steadying hand upon his shoulder.
"Careful," the former heiress warned before rising herself. "I take it you don't travel by air, much?"
"Not until very recently," Sun confirmed. The sudden appearance of twin jets of narrow green flame caught his attention through the window, followed by a smattering of green LEDs that moved quickly past their aircraft. "Uh… we may be in trouble…"
"What?" Weiss asked, looking alarmed. "What do you mean?"
"I might be wrong, but I think we were followed," Sun warned as the hatch at the back of the taxi opened. He lowered his voice and leaned in to whisper in Weiss' ear as they walked toward the extending ramp. "Just play it cool and be careful what information we let slip. I've got a bad feeling about this."
Weiss nodded slowly and followed Sun out onto the pavement of the landing zone, only for her eyes to widen as she caught sight of a familiar figure.
"…Hope?"
"Sal-u-tations!" the android intoned as she offered the pair before her a crisp salute. The wide smile that Weiss had previously associated with the greeting was entirely absent, and something about the rigidity of the android's gestures sent a shiver down the girl's spine.
"…hey there," Sun offered with a small wave. "Can we help you?"
Hope tilted her head and blinked. Sun found himself wondering if the gesture was necessary at all, or just for show.
"Help me? No, though I thank you for the consideration! I spotted the pair of you while in mid-flight, and I came to offer you my assistance!" Hope explained. Her face widened into a jerky smile that caused Sun to take a step back, while Weiss took hold of his hand and gave him a tight squeeze. "I came to inquire as to whether or not you needed guidance while exploring Mantle, as well as to ascertain the reason for your visit. Are you conducting an outing to gather information about the area? If so, my presence could be incredibly valuable!"
An awkward pause occurred before Weiss took a step closer to Sun and looked up at the boy. Without warning, she rested her head into the faunus' arm and brought their linked hands up into Hope's line of sight while interlocking fingers with Sun.
"Actually… Sun and I are out on a date," Weiss said carefully. "We were hoping to get away from the academy and our overall mission here for a night to have a little time alone…"
Hope blinked again, and her eyes widened. She stooped into a clumsy bow and rose back to her unusually motionless stance immediately afterward.
"Oh! My sincerest apologies, Miss Schnee! I was unaware that you and Mr. Wukong were paired. I'll 'get out of your hair', as they say. Though… I do have access to all public reviews of nearby restaurants in Mantle, if you would like suggestions. I can also run a search for movies that have been voted to be above publicly decided thresholds of quality according to your chosen criteria. Will you be staying the night in Mantle? I can assist you with finding a hotel suited for romantic escapades. Some even have rotating beds!"
"Uh… no, no, that's alright," Sun reassured as he held his free hand up and gently looped his tail around Weiss' waist. "We've already got some places picked out for tonight. Thanks for the offer, though!"
"You are most welcome," Hope replied as she engaged the thrusters beneath her large metallic boots once again and began to float a few feet off the ground. "Enjoy your evening, and please, contact me if you require any assistance with your pursuits of romance, or otherwise! You have my contact information, after all!"
"Will do," Sun offered with a nod as he watched Hope ascend at high speed. The emerald jets beneath the android's feet flared as she began to rocket forward, soaring over the streets of Mantle to an unknown destination.
Weiss slowly unlinked her fingers from Sun's as the faunus let his tail slip from her waist. The pair exchanged a nervous glance, and Weiss folded her arms across her chest as she watched Hope make a sharp turn in midair and disappear from view.
"…we do have her contact information… and with our new scrolls, she has ours..."
"…I don't think she saw us in the air," Sun said slowly. "And I'm not convinced that her offer to be a third wheel had anything to do with helping us have a night on the town…"
"All the more reason to find Robyn quickly, and be cautious while we do it," Weiss replied as she began to walk with Sun in tow. "You know, Ilia suggested to Yang and I that we keep our old scrolls, and use the ones that Ironwood gifted to us for business calls only. I laughed off the suggestion at the time, but…"
"…yeah," Sun acknowledged as he kept pace with Weiss. "Yeah, she may be on to something. I don't think the general has it in for us or anything, but if stuff like that keeps happening… our leash might be tighter than we think."
"In Atlas? That's a given, Sun," Weiss said with a bitter sigh as they passed a massive billboard featuring her father's face and the slogan VOTE SCHNEE beneath it. She pulled a disgusted face and turned her eyes down to the sidewalk, where the stone was stained in odd patches and perpetually wet. "Everyone in a position of power here wants to protect it, and most want to extend their reach. We need to be careful, no matter what titles, praise, and privilege we're given."
"I've never really been good at playing politics," Sun admitted as the pair made their way down a well-lit street. "Can I… defer to you for that kind of thing? That all seems like something you'd be familiar with. No offense."
"None taken," Weiss reassured. "And of course you can. I'll do what I can to keep us protected on that front. Atlas is a den of snakes. I'm not entirely convinced that Mantle is any different, yet."
"Yeah… but hopefully, we're about to meet with a charmer. I'll be relying on you a lot tonight," Sun admitted as they rounded a corner, only to slow their pace.
A pair of faunus wearing winter gear stood warming their hands in front of a bright orange heating coil built into the side of a nearby storefront. As Weiss and Sun came into view, the two citizens looked over the former heiress before locking eyes with Sun and offering him a hateful glare.
"…something wrong?" Sun asked as he and Weiss moved to pass the couple on the sidewalk.
"Yeah. Lots of things are wrong in Mantle," the female deer-horned woman closest to Sun answered as she turned her attention to Weiss. "Keep walking."
"Don't engage them," Weiss whispered as she pressed closer to Sun's side. "Please."
Sun merely offered the couple a frown as he passed, only to turn it into a sigh.
"Race traitor," the male with patches of fur upon his forearms accused, causing Sun to suddenly stop and look over his shoulder. "If you weren't with that bitch, we could solve one of our problems right now."
"Sun," Weiss warned as she gripped the faunus' wrist. "Walk away. They aren't worth it, and we have places to be. Some things are more important than defending me from them."
"Not that you can defend that frigid cunt," the horned woman added before spitting a glob of phlegm at Weiss' feet. The projectile barely missed one of her shoes, and she quickly took a step away from the couple. "She blackmailing you to stay quiet? Or are you just so fucking stupid that you think she's an ally of the faunus?"
Sun inhaled sharply as his tail flicked back and forth along the cold stone of the sidewalk, while Weiss sucked in a breath and looked away, her face bright red and full of anguish. She tugged once again on Sun's arm, only for the male to stay still as he sucked in an angry breath.
"We can't cause a problem, Sun. Let it go…"
"What'd she offer you? A job licking her heels clean? Or maybe you're the guy who gets to hit the button to turn off the heat every few minutes to save a few lien while pretending there's a service outage," the woman's partner accused. "Not making enough money as it is, Schnee? Need another new dress? When word got out that you were missing, we were all hoping you'd gotten killed at Beacon. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you get killed here, if you keep walking our streets. Daddy isn't here to protect you."
"…come on. Let's go," Sun hissed through barred teeth as he tore his eyes off the couple.
Sun and Weiss continued walking the streets of Mantle without a word, the former fuming and the latter keeping her eyes on the sidewalk and trying to block out the barrage of voices and looming banners of her father's face that chased them the entire way to the restaurant.
"…next time, can we invite Robyn up to Atlas, instead of coming down here?" Sun spat as he and Weiss entered the lobby of the large Mistral-styled restaurant. The walls were painted black and featured gold leaf designs of dragon and lotus imagery, with traditional-looking painted scrolls of various Mistrali fauna interspersed between paper doors leading to private dining rooms.
"…yes. Please," Weiss replied in a small voice as she snapped her scroll shut, looking to be on the edge of tears. "And thank you for holding back, even when they started going after you, too. I'm not sure how much more I can take before I snap. I wasn't expecting a friendly reception, but…"
Sun cut Weiss off by scooping her into a tight hug, which the girl returned immediately. "Don't make excuses for them. They don't know you, and judging the two of us without having any idea what the hell they're talking about makes them awful people, not you. It should be over now, at least."
"I know," Weiss admitted as she broke free of the embrace. "But… still. We'll be working in Mantle, occasionally. It's not going to be easy breaking through to these people while trying to work for their benefit. This sort of treatment is going to be constant, and even more targeted at you…"
"Nothing about this will be easy," Sun reminded as he approached the attendant waiting behind the podium at the end of the lobby. "We're looking for Robyn Hill? She probably has us down under Weiss' name?"
The maître'd, a middle-aged faunus man with thick glasses and tabby cat ears, turned his nose up at Sun as Weiss hesitantly moved to stand at his side.
"…Robyn Hill is meeting with a Schnee and her pet, now? I'm sure th-"
"If you dare to finish that sentence," Weiss began as she balled a fist, "I will personally see to it that this place goes under. We've both had enough baseless venom for one night, and we're here to work against my father. Sun is my friend, and I'm not going to listen to more of this tonight. We've been harassed the entire way here, and I've had enough."
The older faunus merely pushed his glasses up his nose, thoroughly unimpressed by Weiss' outburst and Sun's refusal to look at him.
"Right. I'll check in with Miss Hill, bef-"
"No need," came a harsh feminine voice from the entranceway behind the podium. Robyn Hill made her way forward through the hall, glaring daggers at the attendant as he turned to face her. "I came to escort them back to our room, but now I'm here to tear you a new asshole. How dare you claim to be one of my supporters, when you act like this to my guests?"
The man bristled as Robyn began to bear down on him, and Sun stepped forward between the two.
"Robyn, it's… let's not make a scene. Please? It's already been a rough afternoon, and we're both exhausted."
Robyn eyed up the cat-eared faunus before turning her attention to Sun and letting out a sharp exhale through her nose.
"…fine," she offered before turning her attention back to the shaken attendant. "But this isn't over. I'll be speaking to management about this, and you'll be lucky if you see me and my crew back in here next week. This way," Robyn instructed to Sun and Weiss before turning and waving them along through the hall.
"…thank you for defending us," Weiss offered as the trio made their way deeper into the restaurant. "Had I texted you sooner, there likely wouldn't have been an issue."
"Not a problem," Robyn reassured as she looked back at Weiss. "Honestly, I should've anticipated this. I take it the streets weren't too friendly to you?"
"Not at all," Sun confirmed. "More so to Weiss, but they came after me, too, just for being with her. Is it always like that down here?"
"Among certain circles," Robyn grumbled. "The majority are actually pretty nice and outgoing, but… tensions are high right now with the upcoming election, and this district is both largely mine, and comprised of faunus. They're not going to stand for a Schnee on their turf… at least, not yet."
"…and if I make it publicly known that I'm on your side?" Weiss asked as Robyn slid back a paper door, revealing two other women sitting in black wooden chairs at a large, matching circular table.
"…then we'll start to see a change," Robyn replied with a smile as she gestured toward the table. "Just the two of you?"
"Our third couldn't make it," Sun lied as he approached one of the two women who rose to meet him. "Everyone's busy with physicals or paperwork right now, so we came alone."
A short, sheep-eared faunus with fluffy white hair took Sun's hand in both of her own and shook it.
"Fiona," the woman offered with a warm smile. "I remember you from the docks. You've got some moves."
Sun's chest ached as he offered the woman an awkward smile and scratched at the side of his neck. He fought back the sensation of intense longing as he tried unsuccessfully to shove off the weight of memory. All the same, he paused as he noticed a tea kettle in the center of the table, and he couldn't help but smile awkwardly to himself as he failed to notice the other hand outstretched toward him for several seconds.
"Uh, yeah, thanks! Um… and you are?" the faunus boy asked as he took the waiting hand of the serious-looking blue-haired woman with piercing yellow eyes that stood looking at him with a raised brow.
"May," the woman said simply as she shook Sun's hand.
Weiss finished her introduction to Fiona just as May pulled her hand back from Sun's, and then repeated her own greeting with the second woman.
"Well," Robyn began as she sank into her seat between Fiona and May, "we've got a lot to talk about, but I'm sure you both have a lot of questions about Mantle and the election, first. Let's hear 'em."
Sun pulled out a chair for Weiss before setting the spare one from their side of the table up against a nearby wall. Weiss sat lightly and offered Sun a thankful smile as she watched him sit down beside her, before turning her attention across the table to Robyn.
"Actually… before anything else… what can you tell us about Hope Polendina?"
Author's Note:
Hey look, the actual conversation got pushed back a chapter. Who could have possibly seen this coming? Next time will cover the meeting with Robyn proper, and then it's time for Ruby's crew to start in on actually being relevant. I also now have a roadmap of just about everything that's going to occur in Volume 7 of this story. We're looking at between Chapter 140 and 150 before the end…
…so basically this will probably stretch to Chapter 200, then Volume 8 will come out immediately, and I'll cry.
-RD