Sorry for the long pause. What should I tell you other than cancer sucks? Anyways, canonical events were pointed out to me after the fact about certain characters appearing in this chapter. Oh well, it's too late in the game and I am not rewriting… again… so alternative universe magic wand and the people I need for the story are exactly where I need them now.
Also the short featuring Adam, I'm going to seriously, completely, and utterly ignore that too.
Now on with the show.
Weiss breathed deep. This was wrong. She honestly felt shame as she both surveyed and finally accepted what it was she was about to do, but for some reason she just couldn't stop herself.
So she hit the trigger.
/\
"They've found us again." Fox was 'staring' at the wall of the shaft as he focused his semblance.
"You shore?" Coco still kind of loved how Velvet's accent would turn the word 'sure' into 'shore,' even if Velvet's soft Southern Vacuan lilt clashed uncomfortably with their current reality.
Fox nodded. Velvet only had one word to say to that.
"Shit."
Coco snorted. Despite the situation, Honey-Bunn swearing was always adorable. Or maybe it was the delirium causing her to be so easily amused? Coco guessed it could be the delirium. Who knew at this point? Certainly not her. She was, after all, delirious.
She snorted again.
"Velvet, we're in serious trouble here." For all kinds of obvious reasons, Fox didn't bother looking at them as he concentrated on the walls with his semblance. "We got maybe fifteen minutes before they reach the main intersecting tunnel." Fox turned to Velvet, "Vel, if we stay here any longer, we'll be trapped with nowhere to go." Fox's voice cracked with both thirst and emotion as he laid it out there for all to see. He put his cards on the table, "We have to force a breakout, right now, otherwise they'll continue to force us deeper. Sooner or later, we'll get completely hemmed in with nowhere left to go."
Velvet looked to Coco. What she thought of Coco's odds was written all over Honey-Bunn's face. She looked at Fox, "You're right, we can't go deeper, but Coco isn't going to make it past that swarm. Professor Gayle said she had called in help. This place is defensible. I say we hold out here."
Coco looked at the slimy sandstone walls. Brother the air was hot and humid down here. How much water did they have anyways? Coco's flask was sure as hell empty.
Fox didn't really need to do things like 'look' at someone for acknowledgement, but he tended to do so out of politeness. Right now he was 'looking' at his girlfriend very hard, like his blind eyes were drinking in Vel's muddy and sweat-stained essence one more time. Then he got on the headset and relayed, "We're being surrounded, but the toxin is really taking hold on both Brawn and Coco. Making them move is just going to speed up the Boggart venom. We'll dig in here and hope Professor Gayle's help arrives in time."
There was a low-squawk then burst of feedback and static that made the three members of Team CFVY wince and glance down the still silent tunnel. Vacuan gear always left something to be desired.
Finally, after a delay, May responded. "Copy that, I'm moving down the main shaft with Yaz. If… when backup arrives, we'll already have a forward operating position. The shaft is straight enough that I may even be able to pick off a few of the stragglers."
"Thanks May, but don't risk getting cut off from the surface unless there's a reason." Velvet's voice was terse as she leaned over Fox's shoulder to speak on comms. "There's lots of loose soil in this place. Plenty of hiding spots for their nests, and Fox is stuck way down here with us."
May paused like she did want to ask, but still had to. "How's Brawn?"
Velvet's face looked like she just swallowed a fistful of mud, which may have happened given how coated in grime she was, but her voice still lightened somewhat as she lied. "He's still with us, just a bit out of it. Him needing to conserve aura is one of the biggest reasons we're digging in."
Coco sighed. May Zedong, was the second most adorable sniper Coco had ever met, and wasn't someone who deserved to be lied to, but what else could Honey-Bunn do under the circumstances? These circumstances sucked after all. No doubt about it. Atypical Grimm behavior was one of the biggest dangers to Hunter Teams, and Boggarts not acting like Boggarts had led Team CFVY and Team BRNZ into an ambush.
If not for Fox sensing something…
Coco slowly blinked as her mind went gray and foggy for a moment. To compensate, she dropped into an old routine, grabbing hold of her beloved weapon and giving it a once over. Even though she was fairly sure she had done so only a few minutes prior.
Being stuck in a dark humid hole with no water whilst on the edge of delirium made one prone to repeating one's actions.
Coco opened Gianduja's ammo carousel. This promptly confirmed the not great results that had been rattling around in her fever racked brain. Enough ammo for a three-second burst. No more. That would take down two or so of the Boggarts. Maybe one more if they would oblige her enough to line up side-by-side. But that's all. After that, her beloved weapon would be little more than a club. She looked at her swelling right hand arm and didn't really like her odds-on clubbing to death the hundred or so that had to be remaining.
Her fevered and fogged mind wandered back to how they got here.
Team BRNZ and Team CFVY knew they had collectively drawn the proverbial short-straw for their senior practical assessment. Brawn had been pissed, and Coco was horrified at the damage that would occur to her new leather hiking boots, but the draw was the draw. Headmaster Gayle was, above all, fair.
Thus the two teams had to verify, and if verified, then eliminate a suspected Grimm presence in a small network of exploratory shafts operated by Kellingley Independence. Kelli-I was the largest Dust mining firm in Vacuo which wasn't owned in part or in whole by foreign concerns. Aka, the SDC. In fact, they were the SDC's main, and nearly exclusive rival, for one of the most lucrative forms of Dust on Remnant. Combustion.
Since Kelli-I was a faunus owned company, paid a decent enough wage, and had a damned respectable safety record, Headmaster Gayle would often extend them these kinds of courtesies. Oh, and they wouldn't sell to Atlas. Probably not selling to Atlas was a big part of it given the dart board in Headmaster Gayle's office. Coco was still kind of curious what that Ironwood guy did given the bullseye wasn't his face but literally his throat…
Where was she? Ah yes Kelli-I
Kelli-I was still an utterly sucky place to have your practical. Their main mining facilities were at the southern edge of the Oasis, in a place known as the 'Riasc.' Now to call the Riasc a fetid sink hole would probably be a disservice to the term, well, as a whole.
Coco smiled. Xiao Long would have laughed. Coco giggled as she briefly thought of a blonde freshman from a bygone era. Damn was she hot. Fun too! Even if her tastes in fashion were overly wild. Still… if Beacon hadn't blown up, what might have been?
Oh well, regrets and all that shit.
Anyways, the Riasc was just as hot as anywhere else in the Vacuan Desert, and nearly as hot as that bygone blonde with the amethyst eyes. The problem was, added to that insane level of heat, was the insane humidity created by the Water Crystals under the Great Oasis. To complete the misery, the area was far removed from any currents, so the water here never flowed. That meant there were more than enough stinging insects, fouled vegetation, brackish water, and truly unpleasant Grimm in this place to put it well on the wrong side of habitable. Well until two prospectors discovered the largest shelf of combustion dust in Remnant's history.
Combustion dust was most commonly refined into energy propellant, but even in its unrefined state, could still be used to power most basic ground transportation. Well, providing one could get the moisture out of it…
Coco's eyes started watering.
Wait? Where was she again? Ah yes. Her new boots were absolutely ruined! Not to mention she was dying in some fetid sinkhole…
Oh… that's right. She was also taking Velvet with her.
The tears spilled out to roll down Coco's face. Her dying was fine, but why did Honey-Bunn have to go down with her? Sure, Fox was stuck here with them, Yaz wasn't somewhere much better, and two members of Team BRNZ had been overrun and were undoubtedly already dead, but Velvet… well Velvet was Velvet. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right! Velvet had been Coco's first adult crush and her fastest friend for nearly four years. She might not have been Coco's partner, Yaz had gotten lucky there. She wasn't Coco's significant other, Fox had gotten even luckier there, but Velvet was still Coco's rock. The one person Coco couldn't bullshit. The person Coco knew best and who knew her best…
Coco rapidly wiped away the tears on her sleeve, which promptly got mud in her eye, which her fever racked brain was thankful for as it would at least make for a plausible excuse should Velvet notice.
It was only then that Coco looked at Brawn.
His violet eyes were open and glassy. He was gone. No one had even noticed him die. This was the last place he ever saw, and in the end, he may as well have been alone. Coco just stared. Feeling, for perhaps the first time in her life, true shame. Not shame for having let something so monumental occur unnoticed, but shame for her selfish wish that she had remained ignorant.
Her throat, dry and hot, still managed to swallow once, because there might be one silver lining. Adel guessed she had roughly thirty more minutes before her aura hit zero and all of this ceased being her problem.
Coco ended up being wrong though. Her aura reserves may have been higher than Brawn's, the Boggart may not have stung her as well, but Two hours later, Coco was still clinging to Planet Remnant. Of course the delirium was worse, but Coco was fairly sure that beat the alternatives.
Velvet and Fox had turned the shafts entrance into a killing floor. Coco was impressed. Of course Velvet was never one short on long range options, but she was still being selective about deploying her camera. Instead she had a long handled mining pick in one hand and one of Brawnz's claws on her wrist. It didn't fit quite right of course, but she was making it work.
The system was simple. Velvet was using herself as bait to entice small groups of Grimm. Fox would warn her when there was movement, and Velvet would then retreat behind a narrow corner. Whenever a Boggart sent its spiny tail at her, she'd bat it wide with the broad head of the pickaxe and then use the claw to sever the thing before the Grimm could retract it. With its most dangerous weapon now eliminated, Fox would then dart in before it could recover and tear it apart with his arm blades. After all, even though Boggarts were tall, but weren't all that massive. Coco probably weighed more (though she would never admit this fact out loud). In the confines of the mine, their length was almost a hinderance, and their lack of strength made them easy prey for Fox. Yeah, they still had the foul teeth, claws, (seriously why did these Grimm like to chew on animal poop?) but without their venous tails, Boggarts were more gross than dangerous. This let Coco's crew make short work of them so long as Fox and Vel continued to hold the choke point and enticed the creatures to come at them in ones and twos.
However, everyone here knew that Grimm didn't really possess any true sense of self-preservation. Sooner or later, Coco and her team understood the monsters would come in force, with packed out rows behind them, and when the Grimm did, they would eventually force their way into their position. And that would be all. Which was why, despite the danger, Vel would now and then poke around the edge and fire off something big. Trying to keep larger groups from forming up.
It was working, but it was working only as long as Vel's camera kept working. After that…
The ring encircling them was too deep to leave now. Fox didn't sugar coat anything when he used his Semblance to search for them. He also said he could sense they were both above and below. The one's above were probably already digging.
Honey-Bunn really should have run while she had the chance.
Voice tight with pain, and with a sad smile at her best friend, Coco decided to speak for the first time in hours. Unfortunately, in addition to her voice being little more than a croak, what she said was profoundly uncool.
"I don't suppose anyone's heard from the cavalry that Headmaster Gayle said was on its way?" A dry, hoarse laugh, "After all, it won't be long before I can't even function as bait."
Honey-Bunn was breathing hard, the attacks were getting more frequent even if, just for this moment, there was a small respite. Coco shook her head. Velvet was absolutely wrung out. Heat, humidity, exertion, and some plain old lack of water weren't factors designed to be kind. Probably the only reason Velvet wasn't a ball of cramping muscles was her aura. Honey-Bunn's face though was set, and she looked at Coco with one hell of a frown.
Velvet deliberately ignored Coco's uncool question. Most people didn't believe it, but Velvet could be bitchy like that sometimes. Especially when Velvet thought Coco was being uncool. Which, let's face it, only happened on the 32nd of Never.
Coco's fevered mind chuckled as it idly wondered if she should have checked the date before accepting this assignment.
Vel continued staring at Coco. Her mud streaked face remained hard and disapproving. Adel couldn't help but silently laugh at her. Coco would always consider herself blessed that she was one of the few people Velvet would openly be a bitch to. However she was surprised when Honey-Bunn started heading her way.
Velvet knelt by Coco. She pulled a flask, Coco smirked and shook her head in negation. "Don't waste it. You need it more than I do. You at least have a chance of getting your ass out of here."
Velvet rolled her eyes and grabbed a surprised Coco by the nose. Hard. This made Coco gasp, and Velvet promptly poured a hefty swallow into Coco's gaping mouth. She then took a much smaller sip before capping the lid and putting her flask back on her belt. Velvet then turned back to Fox, quietly planning how they were going to deal with some big group that seemed to be milling about just outside of visual.
Coco blinked slowly. She couldn't help but savor the water, even if Coco wished Velvet had saved it for herself. Adel then glanced at her scroll. Aura: 3%. She'd put up a fight, but time was just about up. She glanced at Brawn and smiled. Looked like he was about to have some compan–
Fox had his hand, pouring out his semblance in another sweep. Evidently their plan to deal with the big group was going to require damned good timing, but his blind eyes suddenly went wide.
"New movement!"
Velvet, "Alright, I got that bartender's rocket launcher ready–" Ah yes, freshman year in Vale. That was totally Coco's bad.
"They're not coming, in fact they're breaking up! They're moving closer to the surface!" Fox's eyes were wide, something that was somewhat ironic given… well given the obvious.
A new rapid-fire voice broke in over their antiquated coms. "That-would-be-us. Or-Professor-Port-to-be-more-accurate. Ahem. Greetings-my-former-students. Help-is-here. Expect-relief-to-reach-your-position-in-T-minus-nineteen-minutes. Mark…. Now."
Coco blinked slowly? Was that Ooblek? She looked at her bleeding hand, to where the Boggart had stung her, then back at her Aura reader that had just ticked to two. Now that she felt some delusional form of hope, the burning in her arm became an inferno. For the first time in ages, Adel thought of the old, profoundly uncool, red clown suit wearing fashion disaster that had to be the worst Grimm studies professor in the history of ever.
She sighed. Even if this wasn't all in her mind, even if that old windbag was just leading a sweep, and even if he wasn't slowing them down, it would take a Hunter Team hours to get here, not minutes. But you never know unless you ask, right?
"Don't suppose you could cut that time frame down any?"
Velvet looked at her and took her own snap reading of Coco's aura. "Shit, shit! Coco's aura is just about zeroed."
There wasn't even a hesitation in her brain's possible hallucination of Ooblek. "Confirmed. Air-drop-insertion-needed-for-immediate-extraction. Relief-team-clear-the-drop-zone. Sixty-two-seconds. T-minus-now." There was a very, very brief pause, then the hallucination continued, "Professor-Xiao-Long-is-in-the-air! I-repeat! The-Dragon-is-in-the-air! Pilots-climb-to-angels-fifteen-hundred-and-brace-for-shockwave. That-is-altitude-one-five-zero-zero. All-ground-personnel-unable-to-disengage-get-low-and-get-tight! In-case-it-isn't-obvious-those-orders-are-directed-at-you-Peter!"
Coco just blinked slowly for 61 more seconds. The aura reader hit one. Coco's veins were lit on fire.
But the flash from the tunnel burned hotter still, of that Coco had no doubt.
/\
Yang yawned, Jaune's angry shouting dragging her out of her beauty sleep just as assuredly as her father used to when she was a student in Signal and was about to miss the bus.
Which sucked. Because every other teacher had a car and commuted, but no, just because his semblance allowed him to—
"What the hell am I supposed to wear?!"
"You can end your torment at any time, Arc."
Yang scratched the stubbly armpit under her amputated arm, and yawned. Past time to get razors. Yang then glanced over at Ruby. Ruby, never a morning person, decided to handle the situation with considerable maturity. She promptly wrapped her head up in pillows and then rolled until her back directly, and deliberately, faced the door.
Wise of her.
Yang yawned again, and irritably, snatched her arm from its place leaning against the wardrobe. She then stumped, heh… I'm awesome, her way towards the commotion. When she slid the panel aside, Jaune and Weiss were faced off against each other in their room. The source of their conflict was immediately obvious. Jaune's wardrobe was encased in a not insignificant amount of ice.
Well that was all kinds of uncalled for.
Yang sighed. People thought she had a crap sense of humor, and admittedly Yang usually told jokes so that she'd get a laugh, not so she could share one. She honestly enjoyed the groans, Brothers help her, but she did. Still, there were levels one needed to understand when being obnoxious. If the person you were poking honestly got angry or upset, then it wasn't funny anymore. Period. That was the end of it. So, when that happened, Yang would always apologize.
Now maybe, just maybe, Yang could see how this kind of prank might be funny. Like under the perfect circumstances, but this wasn't perfect circumstances. Everyone knew Jaune had an important appointment this afternoon with a certain someone's sister. Everyone knew it meant a lot to the guy. Which meant this prank wasn't really a prank.
This, Yang again glanced at the huge chunk of ice, was Weiss being petty, if not out and out spiteful.
Yang had guesses as to Weiss's reasons for acting this far out of character, but none of that was a valid excuse. Not if Weiss was really Jaune's friend.
Snarling, Jaune stormed past Yang, heading downstairs and shouting at the top of his lungs, "Nora! I need to borrow Magnhild!"
As soon as he was out of earshot, Yang looked Weiss in the face, "That," she waved at the frozen bureau, "Is a bitch move."
Weiss, "This doesn't concer—"
Yang interrupted her because she noticed something important. "I take it back. You opened the drawers before you sprayed it, didn't you?" Weiss couldn't quite stop her wince. Opening the drawers meant the clothes themselves were also frozen solid, instead of just the bureau itself. Yang's face wasn't amused. "That's a C-word's move."
Weiss tried to make a show of harumphing and digging in, but Yang saw the brief flash in her eyes. It was the flash of someone who knew they had taken something too far. Not 'may have,' but someone who completely understood they had crossed the line. Even if they weren't yet willing to admit it.
Yang broke eye contact to glance over the railing downstairs to see if Jaune was on his way back with Nora's hammer. She was just in time to see Jaune hurriedly backing away from Nora and Ren's room. A very red-faced and shirtless Ren, probably pants-less too given his expression and the amount of sweat on his face (Go Nora!) had his head poked out from behind the panel. Nora's locker fob, you could tell because it was spray painted bright pink, was tossed in Jaune's direction from the dark confines of Team Sloth's room. He caught it, said something that was probably an apology. Yang briefly wondered if Jaune either knew or cared that he was still wearing his onesie when Vomit Boy stormed out of the house. The man was on a mission.
Yang guessed it would take him fifteen minutes to get to the gymnasium and back if he walked, six or so if he ran. Given the expression on his face, Yang guessed she had six minutes. Tops.
Best get to it then.
"Think he's not good enough or something?" Yang knew it wasn't anything of the sort, but might as well have Weiss admit that at the get-go.
Weiss tried for a smirk, it was complete weak sauce, but she tried, "Please. Like you wouldn't do something similar if someone started sniffing around Ruby."
Yang leaned against the wall and stared at Weiss briefly, she smiled. So that was her angle, huh? Fine, Yang would play.
"Depends. If it was some dog of a person, someone not worth her time, I could see it getting ugly, sure. Even if she really liked them." Yang shrugged, "Maybe that isn't fair to Rubes, she's seventeen now after all, but I know myself well enough to understand that I could, and would, justify her being pissed at me. Especially if the alternative was allowing someone worthless to manipulate her." Yang shrugged again. "Older siblings are like that, especially big sisters." Yang, though, put the final nail in the coffin of this false equivalency by adding, "But if Jaune and Rubes had a thing? I'd be okay with that."
Weiss was ready to rally though, "Please, I remember how you would follow those two around, back when you were half-convinced he was going to use Ruby to get to me."
Yang yawned, unimpressed since this argument wasn't much better. "That was years ago and lasted what? A week? Two? Yeah, I made sure he was actually her friend. Yeah, that was probably assuming the worst about him. Yeah, that wasn't remotely fair." Yang leveled her gaze on her smaller teammate. "I'll even admit, all cards on the table, if, back then, I happened to see Jaune make a move on Rubes, I would have stepped in. Hard. But that was back when I didn't know any better."
A somewhat hesitant voice from behind Yang chimed in, "I seem to remember him being pretty relentless back at Beacon. You may not have been enough." Yang looked over her shoulder, and offered Blake a small smile so she understood she had a place in the conversation.
Yang shrugged, not quite sure how that would have gone herself given Vomit Boy's stubborn nature. Still she couldn't help a small smile, "Maybe, but that part doesn't matter. What matters is now. Now I know he's a good person. I know he would treat Ruby well," Yang zeroed in on Weiss's gaze. "And so do you."
Something ugly passed through Weiss's face, "And if he would have pursued her even after she said 'no?'"
Yang folded her arms and raised her eyebrows, "Still relying on the sins of the past?" Weiss's face remained childishly stubborn. For a brief moment, Yang considered bringing up that Jaune had literally saved Weiss's life, but decided against it. There were better arguments.
Yang yawned a bit, half because this was Weiss doing everything to avoid the actual issue and half because it was still damned early in the morning. "Fine, I'll play your game. So I'm going to assume you mean if he treated Ruby exactly how he treated you?" Yang shrugged again, then continued, "Full disclosure, I wouldn't be happy. Still, so long as he was just being a doofus, again like he treated you, I'd largely let Ruby handle it."
Yang paused, then snorted, "In fact I'd probably tease her mercilessly once he showed up at the door to sing that silly song and ask her to the dance." Yang then sobered, half shrugged and also conceded, "Yeah, ok, I admit he'd get clowned on by me as well, maybe something worse if I honestly thought he was upsetting Rubes." Yang folded her arms. "Thing is, Weiss, Ruby was fifteen. She's also painfully awkward and incredibly shy. Even now I'm not sure how well she'd handle someone thinking about her that way. And, like I mentioned earlier, the big sister part of me will always be overprotective of her."
Yang then stared hard at Weiss. "So what? How is any of what we just discussed even relevant? Because Rubes is my sister? Because Winter's yours? That's some pretty thin logic there, Weiss. Let's face it, even if I concede on every point, even if you honestly thought Jaune was acting like his worst past self, which I know you don't, no matter how you slice it, one very important thing isn't gonna change… Winter ain't Ruby."
Blake was now standing in Jaune and Weiss's room. She was inspecting Jaune's bureau. "This will take all day to thaw out."
Yang looked hard at Weiss, "Yeah it will. Looks like he might miss out on spending time with a certain Specialist this afternoon."
That was when the front door to the house flew open, almost as if Jaune had kicked it, or at least collided with it at a decent sprint. Vomit Boy had Magnhild grasped in one hand and turned to take the stairs, four at a time, as he headed more or less Yang's way, more than ready to pulverize some innocent furniture.
Yang sighed. She sympathized, she did, but Yang still felt the need to step in and block his path. He looked at Yang with anger and she could see how his temper was currently short circuiting his brain. Something she related to all too much. That aside, part of her couldn't help but note this was now the second time Jaune lost his control of self when it came to Weiss's sister, but she held that back.
Instead Yang told him, "You smash that ice, it won't help anything. You'll just have some very broken furniture."
Now Yang wasn't really trying to restrain him. She was simply trying to delay the guy long enough for his brain to catch up with the decisions his body and heart were already making. Because let's face it, swinging a Hunter's weapon around in a fit of blind rage didn't have the best odds of causing something productive to happen.
Jaune, "At least the pieces will be smaller! Maybe I can then stick them in the oven or something!"
Wow. He really was all in on a bad plan. Thankfully though, Yang had the perfect question to force him to start considering his actions.
"Is Magnhild loaded?"
Jaune, who had been unslinging the hammer to better feel its balance, now paused. Even in his anger, what Nora had loaded Magnhild up with was something they all needed to consider. Everyone knew just how dangerous some of Nora's canisters could be. The flaming tornado she joyfully unleashed in Peach's dust sciences lab had been pretty damned legendary and not at all for the faint of heart. And she had not stopped experimenting since then.
Jaune looked at Magnhild very carefully. Through the vents, one could definitely see the carousel wasn't empty. "How can I tell what's in them?"
Yang probably could have made some guesses, but instead opted for, "You could go down and ask, Nora. She seems pretty busy, but I think I'm at least sure she's awake." Jaune glared at Yang, his humor meter set to absolute zero. Yang was about to apologize for her weak joke, especially since none of this was his fault, when the circumstances rapidly escalated.
Jaune looked at the hammer, something in his face set.
Much to Yang's horror, she realized that Jaune had decided to risk it.
And not the risk of interrupting Nora while having some Ren time.
No, Jaune was opting for whatever was in the carousel.
He was going to play Menagerie roulette…
With a grenade launcher.
With Nora's grenade launcher!
Yang, out of position, started to move with urgency to prevent the house from exploding.
That was when Blake saved the day, or at the very least, the house.
With a small, calm sigh, Blake said, "I was trying to think of an excuse to talk to Sun." Jaune and Yang looked at Blake. Yang was pretty sure he was only now noticing her presence.
Flatfooted, Jaune had to ask, "What?"
Blake offhandedly continued, "So, if you needed to borrow some clothes? That really would make for a decent enough reason for me to contact him. You look like you're about Sage's size."
Jaune was hesitant, but, thank the Brothers, he did lower the hammer. At least a touch. It was all Yang could do not to risk snatching the thing just in case Vomit Boy made the wrong choice here.
Yang needn't have worried. While he obviously didn't like what he was considering, he was finally calming down. "I don't know. They already helped me out once that way—"
Yang forced the issue by stating the obvious, "Beats the risk of blowing up half the house just to get to the charred and powdered remains of your clothing." Blake looked at Yang from over Jaune's shoulder and offered a small smile. Yang returned it and even mouthed 'thank you.'
Blake looked at Jaune, her stance took on more assurance. "I'm not lying. I… I really should talk to Sun. You asking for a favor would honestly help make starting that conversation a bit less awkward for me."
Jaune lowered the hammer fully. He took a good ten seconds or so before answering, but everyone already knew what he was about to decide. "Okay. I kind of hate this, but I can't think of anything better to do." He sighed, "Could you call right now?"
Blake smiled at Jaune, "Yeah I can," she nodded again to Yang, "Just so long as you hand Magnhild over to Yang for safe keeping."
Jaune looked at the hammer. He didn't exactly give it over to Yang, instead opting to lean it carefully against the wall, but the crisis was past. He also, as if only just remembering, handed over Nora's fob, "I'm going to be running across campus—"
Yang took it and smiled, "Don't worry, Vomit Boy. Got it handled. Go get ready."
He nodded. Blake was already talking on her scroll as she walked downstairs, and Jaune was quick to follow.
Weiss now started to move away, but Yang dropped her metal hand on Weiss's shoulder before she could take a single step. Yang then forcefully spun her smaller teammate around so she could really glare down at her. Weiss's face was shocked, but Yang's only response was to lean in and inform the former heiress in no uncertain terms that:
"We're not done."
/\
"We're missing something." Winter frowned over the paperwork spread across her station. "Sir, how old is the report?"
Ironwood frowned and checked a separate monitor. "Roughly seven hours."
Winter pinched the bridge of her nose. "How many casualties were confirmed?"
"Four. One from Team CFVY, three from Team BRNZ. The three from team BRNZ were all fatalities. One Coco Adel is in critical condition, but Xiao Long probably reached her in time"
Winter didn't even try to hide her frustration. "Two hunter teams, even at this relatively low level of experience, would normally have been more than enough to clear away simple Boggarts." She frowned, grasping for some kind of clue concerning this disaster, "Was there perhaps some kind of Alpha involved? Could that even explain their strange behavior?"
Ironwood shook his head. "It would be highly unlikely, especially given that we have no confirmed reports of Boggarts hunting en masse until this very incident. However, I fully trust the source involved. Peter Port led the final sweep himself after the holdouts were reached."
Winter nodded as that did indeed elevate the information's veracity. Also, Port clearing the tunnels made a great deal of sense given both Professor Xiao Long and Doctor Ooblek were poor choices in such tight confines. Especially given the type of dust mined in the Riasc. Even if the excessive humidity helped keep it stable. Winter was somewhat surprised they even risked using Xiao Long under these circumstances.
Winter returned her gaze to her printouts. The specialist could see maybe, just maybe, a single Team being surprised and overwhelmed by stumbling across an unusually large group of this kind of Grimm. Say if there was an open sluice pit or the like for them to hide in, especially since young Hunters were prone to forgetting that Grimm didn't need to do things like breathe, but these circumstances were very, very odd.
Winter took a deep breath. "I concede the source as highly reputable; I've just never heard of Boggarts nesting in this fashion. Burrows in the ground are, of course, very common from this type of creature. With how the soil is in the area, I could concede such burrows being well concealed. Walls might also be plausible, given ideal circumstances inside the mine." Winter raised an eyebrow, "But such a common and low-level Grimm having the wherewithal to build platforms so they could drop in from ceilings? And to do so in such numbers? All the while waiting until the Teams were fully surrounded before attacking? Something strange is happening."
Ironwood nodded and returned to the monitor, rereading the report for any details that he might have glossed over. This left Winter to silently muse to herself whilst she looked at an image of the Grimm-type in question.
Winter frowned. Boggarts were ugly things to be sure. Thin limbed, smooth skinned, and hairless, they had little defense save with their crocodilian teeth, long clawed fingers, and strange prehensile tails. However, these were not overly dangerous creatures by Grimm standards. Despite being between seven and eight feet tall, Boggarts remained creatures that bordered on being emaciated. This meant the creatures, even the ones that had sprouted a fourth arm, though the three armed variety remained the most common, weren't much more massive than the average person. Most aspirants at Charter could best even the largest of them.
Okay, granted, Boggarts were probably smarter than your average Beowulf. That being said, Boggarts still weren't known for unusual levels of intelligence. Their most creative strategy was to purposefully foul their teeth, claws, and venomous tails with animal excrement. Otherwise, they were simple ambush hunters with well-defined tactics that were quite simple to counter by the prepared.
A Boggart typically lay in a shallow den, in either sand or deep muck, then hit a target with the foul barb they held in their tails, most often in the lower extremities. Barring that, they tried to use their gangly reach to wound with either teeth or claws. In either case, once a wound was inflicted, a Boggart would withdraw until either their venom or sepsis made their target vulnerable. Granted this made them highly dangerous creatures to civilians. Even the lone Hunter had been picked off here and there, likely due to being inattentive and thus hit before they could manifest their Aura.
But two quality student teams? Especially ones which were already warned to scan the ground specifically for Boggart dens? This should not have happened. Two such teams should have been more than a match for every lurking Boggart in that part of the Riasc.
"The White Fang seemed to have found a way to weaponize Grimm." Ironwood mused out loud as he frowned at the report.
Winter fought to refocus her attention on the General. Having been somewhat lost in her own thoughts, she started off by misunderstanding the comment. "You think the White Fang were somehow involved with this? Why? Kelly-I is faunus owned and operated."
Ironwood shook his head, but his eyes remained far away. "Not what I meant. I seriously doubt the White Fang are operating in the area. And if so, it would only be incidentally. Even a fool like Taurus would have to know that an open attack on Kell-I would do nothing but doom the little political sway they maintain."
Winter paled as a few things that should have already occurred to her started to dawn, "But you think this was a setup? If not for actual Hunter Teams, then perhaps for the miners themselves."
The report estimated there had been hundreds of Grimm infesting this shaft. That the Boggarts on the edges had even let the Hunter's pass before they started dropping in on them. This caused all eight Hunters to start off completely surrounded. It was the most disturbing aspect of the report.
"You think someone has worked out a way to train Grimm?"
Ironwood shook his head. "Not as such. Train would be a poor choice of words. I think I have come around to Dr. Poledina's earlier theory. That someone has discovered the means to more or less aim them. Perhaps even render them docile and then set some form of trigger to make the creatures revert to form."
Winter blinked. It was still a far-fetched idea. However, there were two examples that had occurred relatively recently where Grimm were featured prominently. Examples that couldn't be ignored. Winter had to ask, "Is there something I should know, sir?
General Ironwood's eyes were far away. "Weaponizing the Grimm is a very old idea. Mistral's catastrophic defense against Vale's first invasion being the go to example as to why this old idea isn't a very good idea." Winter nodded, and thought briefly of the story of General Alabastus Arc, but Ironwood continued. "Still the idea of using Grimm for more limited actions, such as setting traps, or causing distractions, continues to persist in military circles. Our government's own Project Avalon being one such shameful example."
Winter thoughts now drifted to the infamous Dr. Myrddin. Interestingly enough, on her belt, she currently had a piece of mechashift stamped by that lunatic.
Winter refocused her attention on the General. "You think both the Mountain Glenn Breach and the Fall of Beacon are more similar than previous reports suggested. Perhaps what happened in Mountain Glenn was experimental, given how crude the Breach truly was, but given how well the White Fang maintained control at Beacon–"
"Exactly." Ironwood interrupted, "Refinement. The collars the Grimm were shackled with were a direct improvement over their earlier methodology. So long as those collars remained attached, the Grimm seemed disinclined to react, but once they disconnected, they reverted to form."
Winter nodded, this had been speculated on prior to her losing her security clearance. Ironwood continued, "The electronics in the collars burned away when they detached, so we admittedly remain unsure as to how they functioned, although I seem to remember Dr. Poledina being adamant that they somehow obfuscated a Grimm's aura sensory input, keeping the creature docile."
Winter returned to scanning the report. Port was almost overly thorough in his accounting. She was quick to find the glaring weakness in Ironwood's current theory. "The creatures in the Riasc had no such devices. Suppositions aside, we may not truly know how the collars at Beacon functioned, but we do know they existed. Peter Port would also know they existed, and nowhere in this incident does he mention finding them in Vacuo. There were well over two hundred Grimm in this encounter, no way anyone wouldn't notice the ground being littered with fried electronic devices."
Ironwood still insisted, "More refinement? New methodology perhaps? You see, Specialist, what is truly concerning, something I hadn't even considered until this report seemed to crystalize the idea in my mind, is the sheer number of incidents now featuring atypical Grimm behavior."
Winter nodded as pieces fully clicked into place and she could now easily see where the General's thoughts were heading. "You're thinking that the White Fang deciding to deploy Grimm was merely a factor of correlation, not actual causation. That the use of Grimm at Beacon and the Breach were a means offered to their leaders, not some method they developed of their own volition." Winter mentally nodded to herself as the hypothesis fully coalesced in her mind. "You believe the White Fang was simply a client of someone else who has developed these means."
The general nodded, so Winter let the other shoe drop, "You think we have another madman, someone like Merlot, on our hands. But this person is more practical and prefers a lower profile."
Ironwood rubbed his chin with his human hand but decided to backpedal a touch. "Admittedly almost pure conjecture on my part. Let me be honest, at this point we have so few facts that it's very simple for me to twist them into almost any theory and make it at least sound plausible."
Winter wasn't stupid. The General had only hedged to prevent her from pointing that out directly. In other words, Ironwood clearly thought he was on to something.
"Nevertheless, you want this theory followed up on." She winced. "If such a broker exists, finding another plausible client would then be paramount." Now she sighed, "I will make some discreet inquiries with what is the most obvious candidate to employ such tactics against a Kellingley International mining concern."
Ironwood hesitated a moment, probably out of simple politeness, before nodding, "Taking steps to eliminate the possibility of corporate sabotage would indeed be useful at this juncture."
The Specialist looked at the standard issue time piece on her wrist. It only confirmed the fact it was already too late to make those inquiries.
By now Mother would be well into her second bottle of wine…
"If you'll permit me the use of a priority messaging channel, I will leave word with Klein that I need to speak with Mother on an urgent matter. Is that acceptable?"
Ironwood checked his own watch and sighed. There was the tinge of regret in the frustration of his expression. "Granted, but I don't really like the intel on this incident. Not at all. I'm going to redeploy the fleet and set up a relay. this will at least let me call an emergency Council meeting. Also, I am intending to issue standing orders that any report featuring atypical Grimm behavior is flagged directly to my office." Ironwood frowned as he continued, "We will also need a healthy sampling of all recent reports just in case our people in the field have missed something critical."
Winter was now gaping as she realized just how wide the relay would need to be to pull in this amount of information quickly. Just how many ships would need to be redeployed. Ironwood smiled at Winter's shocked expression. In an attempt to deflect, he said, "It may be overkill, but I'm willing to spend the time and the dust units to insure Atlas security." He smiled, "At least the sudden communications with home will boost morale."
Winter breathed in deep, and had to mentally remind herself to tighten her now all too slack jaw. But she rallied. She always did. "It will also create enough of a glut to hide discreet transmissions, wouldn't it, sir?"
Ironwood looked hard at Winter. "Your father would normally never employ such a risky tactic, even against a hated rival, but the embargo created a huge opening for Kellingley International to gain market share in Vale. If he decided to do something this utterly reckless, he will be taking every conceivable precaution to cover his tracks."
Winter paused. That last caveat showed not only how seriously General Ironwood was taking this, but how far he had already thought it through. "You're that convinced of this theory?"
Ironwood didn't hedge, "Yes Winter. There are things I can no longer tell you. If not for your direct ties with the SDC, I would have kept you in the dark here as well. I am sorry."
That stung, but Winter had no one else to blame. Still, she would serve, so added her own twist, "Sir, as unpleasant as the recommendation I am about to make may sound, if you allowed the upcoming maneuvers to leak to the crew a few hours early, say right before off duty personnel took their next shore leave…"
Ironwood sighed, but he also nodded, "Every Atlas fiscal concern in Mistral will try to get up to date market information back home." He smiled, "I look forward to being bombarded by requests from the local dust speculators who inexplicably and congruently experience some form of urgent family crisis." He rubbed his temples, Winter hoped it was for show, but it probably wasn't.
At last he finished by stating. "I can think of one broker in particular who seems to have a family member coming out of surgery on a nearly bi-weekly basis."
Winter smirked, "Marsalek?"
The General rolled his eyes and nodded, but in the end he couldn't help but acquiesce, "That much encoded information flowing in and out of Jacques office will definitely make being discreet relatively simple."
Winter was in complete agreement. "I'll make informing Klein of tomorrow's window a priority." Ironwood raised an eyebrow, but Winter assured. "Don't worry, the man can be trusted." She looked at her plethora of other pending tasks. All of which needed to be fully cleared away given she was about to experience a veritable flood of incoming Grimm reports. Her previous plans were obviously out the window at this juncture. "I'll have it ready by this afternoon."
Ironwood checked his watch, frowned, and somewhat surprised Winter. "Since I need to head to the bridge so I can order the new deployments, I'd prefer you write the message now so I can forward it myself."
Winter couldn't help but cock her head at the comment. Granted, with Weiss now gone from Atlas, few were the reasons for her to contact the Schnee Manor these days. Her doing so suddenly, and at this particular juncture, might even be seen as noteworthy by Jacques if he had any real reason to be paranoid. But Winter was under no illusions. A message delivered directly from General Ironwood's office… even if under her personal authorization… well it was still a message delivered directly from General Ironwood's office. Given the strain between Winter's mother and the General, Jacques couldn't help but note something unusual about this communication under even completely benign circumstances.
She thought about the General's ties to Mother. She looked him in the eyes. "I wasn't aware you wished to reestablish contact."
Ironwood's expression didn't exactly become hostile, but he briefly had the look of a suspect on the wrong side of things. "I am merely offering you a courtesy."
Winter wasn't convinced. Not wholly. Winter openly looked at her friend and mentor. She had never pried. It wasn't her place.
At last, she mentally shrugged. Technically, she wasn't really sold on the General's theory. All her suggestions in support were just part of her performing her duty as the General's adjutant. If the General used some long shot fishing expedition to open a dialogue with his old partner from the Academy, who was she to argue? Maybe a little healing might even happen between the two of them.
"I'll have a properly worded message, one Klein will immediately understand the subtext of, ready within the hour." A brief hesitation, "I will sign at the end of the page, just in case there is anything personal you would like to add."
The General blinked but that was all, and he was very quick to move past her remark. "I think your conversation with Willow would be better conducted at the tower."
Winter nodded, her tone becoming professional. "Agreed. I was already planning to head there for another matter, but that particular errand will doubtlessly need to be postponed."
Ironwood smiled, and then, because he was doubtlessly eager to move the conversation fully past the topic of Winter's mother, said, "May I ask?"
Winter's innate stubbornness caused her to briefly hesitate, but the Specialist rapidly decided she did indeed need to inform Ironwood of the basics. "It's moot now, since I don't think my duties will allow me to meet up with him before the gala, but I was planning to send a personal message for a friend."
Ironwood's expression again changed, now becoming considering. "Is this friend the young man who has your weapon?"
Winter nodded. "The friend is indeed Jaune Arc." A pause, "The contents within were private, but the reason I volunteered was simply so Jaune could establish contact with his parents and let them know that he is okay."
Ironwood now hesitated himself. "Have you fully considered Erik Arc's willingness to receive Atlas military correspondence?"
Winter held up a hand to stop him from going further. She had gone over the ramifications at least a dozen times in her own mind at this point.
"I understand Atlas's official stance on Erik Arc is complicated. Especially given the power wielded by certain families affected by the fallout." Winter looked General Ironwood in the eye, "All I ask is that you, sir, remember that whatever may have passed, whomever was at fault, was over 25 years ago. It's long over. It's long done with. Jaune may be Erik Arc's son, but he was born almost a decade after the fact."
The General blinked, "I wasn't accusing him of anything. Fey Morgause is no friend of mine."
Winter closed her eyes, nodding as she reset herself. Admittedly, she was somewhat surprised with how prickly her reaction was. Still, again, that stubborn part of her wouldn't let it die until she fully made her point. "I know, sir. But I also know that given the political reality, you can't be seen as an ally of Jaune Arc's either." She looked the General in the eye, "Let me just say this, to lay all the cards on the table, Jaune isn't political. I know the optics of the defense of Haven make him look otherwise, but he's not. He's simply a son trying to make contact with his family."
Ironwood straightened, not in anger, but in acknowledgement. He clasped his hands behind his back, coming to a stance known as 'parade rest.' Ironwood nodded his head. "I apologize. Given his merit concerning the defense of Haven, especially in regards to saving the life of a valued Atlas citizen, I see no issue in extending him this courtesy so long as the message is transmitted using the standard non-urgent protocols."
Winter nodded, pleased, and perhaps a bit relieved. Her smile was, perhaps, a little too warm to be purely professional. "Thank you, sir. Unfortunately, like I mentioned previously, the matter is currently moot. Given my current duties, not to mention the deluge of reports I will soon be inundated with, I won't be able to meet up with Jaune until the gala itself."
Winter paused as Ironwood's expression changed yet again, "So this was the reason you requested leave this afternoon?"
Winter nodded and looked at her stack of reports, reports she was far from willing to entrust to her replacement, and sighed. "I'm sure he'll understand, I'll make arrangements with Weiss to get him over to Grayson's for a fitting—"
"Denied."
Winter blinked. Confused, she asked, "Sir?"
Ironwood smiled a bit too broadly, "Specialist, I have just considered your proposal to withdraw your leave request and have deemed such an action as unbecoming of my adjutant."
Winter couldn't help but smile at the absurdity. "Sir, that seems too unique a denial." She appreciated the gesture, but she was a realist. Still, she laughed just a bit as she informed him, "As a matter of protocol, I think I'm well within my rights to withdraw a simple leave request."
Ironwood smiled, but it wasn't in jest. If anything, it was a touch sad. He deliberately made eye contact with her. "Winter, for all the purpose and pride the military grants a soldier, never forget it will never cease to make demands upon that soldier. Ever. This unfortunate tradeoff will stress every relationship in that soldier's life. Forever will these demands seek to take priority over friends, family, and sometimes over happiness itself."
Winter wasn't prepared for the General's shift in tone. Subconsciously, her stance straightened until she also took on a stance of parade rest. For a moment, it felt like they were back at the Academy, when he first took formal interest in her career.
The General looked away briefly, but, before he spoke, he was again looking her in the eye. "Even if a soldier decides they can leave that duty behind, to deliberately choose personal happiness, far too many soldiers, our best soldiers, the ones who perhaps truly deserve their happiness, will succumb to the burden of duty."
Winter was mute, which was when the General broke all tension with a laugh, causing her to rock a bit on her feet. He then had the unmitigated gall to wink at her, "Because of that fact, on occasions such as this, I take it as a matter of both personal pride and personal principle to allow what bits of happiness I can for those who have served so ably."
Winter would never forgive herself for how badly she had failed this man. That he continued to regard her so highly was the highest possible compliment, one of which she honestly felt unworthy. It made her truly wish to dig in her heels and argue with the General. To do her duty. All of which undoubtedly showed on her face.
This was undoubtedly why the General finished by being very… blunt.
"If it helps, think of your outing as a fully sanctioned military action, including whatever… liaison… such a military action may lead to."
Winter blinked. Something innate within her perhaps, just perhaps, became a bit more uneasy in its long slumber. Slowly Winter smiled. The expression felt a touch ruthless, even to her, but from Ironwood's corresponding expression, Winter guessed her smile was fully condoned by the nation of Atlas. With only a lengthy pause to write the promised missive to Klein, Winter fully shifted her priorities for the remainder of the day.
Winter decided that Remnant at large could wait.
/\
At least for one afternoon.
Blake found Sun behind the dormitory. He was in a tree hanging upside down, by his tail, from a fairly high tree branch. All the while eating a banana. Now the overwhelming majority of faunas tried, willfully, to refrain from anything that might equate their behavior to being that of mere animals, but Blake had lost this argument with Sun a long time ago.
Being fair, how do you come back once the person you were debating crossed his arms, looked confused, all the while upside down, and simply said:
"But I like bananas."
The fact Blake had soon openly embraced eating fish is only one of a dozen ways he had made her life just that small bit better.
Sun noticed her coming. He smiled warmly and waved, but didn't climb down. He was doing his Sun thing. Giving her space. Sun always let her set the boundaries, and she hadn't been particularly kind during their last interaction. Blake hadn't meant to be mean when Sun touched a nerve and brought up Yang…
Blake paused. Closed her eyes.
Yes. Yes she had meant to be mean.
Because Sun, albeit very carefully and very kindly, had called her out.
So Blake had decided to punish him.
Blake breathed deep. She steadied herself. She had a lot of making up to do with a lot of people, and this was one of the best people with which to start.
She smiled up at him, "Hey Sun, mind if we talk?"
Sun smiled down at her from his tree, "Sure, just give me a sec–"
Blake leaped, deployed Gambol Shroud, and swung high into the tree. Almost instantly, she was sitting on the very tree branch he was hanging beneath. He was so surprised he blinked up at her several times. So surprised that whatever Wukong magic he typically used to keep his shirt in place face completely failed. Blake giggled as his shirt fell into his face.
Sun was just kind of like that.
He was also quick to rally, because Sun was just kind of like that too.
Albeit a bit sheepishly he clawed his way up until they were sitting side by side. "So what are we going to talk about?"
Blake had thought this part out. She had all kinds of carefully laid plans on how to approach this. She'd already gone through them a dozen times this morning alone… but all of that went out the window. She deliberately tossed it all aside.
This was Sun. If anyone deserved better, it was him.
She smiled as she asked him, "Would you like to go to a party for my dad?"
Sun shrugged, frowning as he got his shirt back into place. "Maybe? When is it?"
Blake, "Ten days from now."
"Wait." He looked at her closely, "Are you talking about that big faunus-like-political-like-summit-like-thingie? That, you know, the thingie the news keeps talking about?"
Blake nodded and chuckled softly. "Yeah. That thingie."
Sun's face frowned, then he sighed. "You would totally need me to wear a suit and tie, wouldn't you?"
Blake thought back to the dance, "And a proper shirt." She looked down at the sandals he would even wear in the snow. "And proper shoes."
Sun scratched the back of his head furiously, like just the simple thought of these items were making him itchy. Blake thought they might actually be doing so. He was quiet for a time.
Blake half-smiled, this was answer enough, wasn't it?
"Sun."
"Yeah?"
"You don't have to go."
Another long series of moments passed. At last he spoke, "Okay. Then I think I'll pass. It doesn't really sound like my kind of thing."
Blake nodded. She had hoped differently, selfishly perhaps, but this really was the answer she had been expecting all along. She sighed a bit mentally. After the silence grew a bit awkward, she told him, "I really need you to say something."
Sun, for perhaps the first time since she knew him, was kind of blunt. "So it doesn't sound like you're trying to bully me?"
Blake snorted, honestly both ashamed and amused. "Ouch."
Sun looked at her, really looked at her. Finally he said what he had wanted to say for a very long time. "I like you Blake. Like romantically. And I always have."
Blake nodded, and looked him in the eye. "I know. I've always known. I'm sorry that I used that against you."
Sun closed his eyes and smiled sadly, "I honestly didn't think you telling me that would still hurt at this point, but it does." Perhaps there was some small amount of bitterness in his tone as he asked, "Were you that afraid I'd leave you high and dry?"
Blake didn't even need to think about it. "No, Sun. Not even once."
Sun blinked, and Blake realized he was honestly surprised by her response. "Then why? For so long? Why?"
Blake was honest, and it hurt, "Because I wanted to fall in love with you."
There was a near endless moment. Perhaps it lasted only a few dozen seconds in the present, but it stretched back a long, long time. Years. Well before Blake had ever met Sun Wukong.
At last she was prepared to tell him something she had long kept hidden from him. Kept hidden for far too long.
"I've never told you about Adam."
Sun sat for a long time. It was up to him whether or not the conversation would continue. At last, he shifted nearer to her, he dropped a hand beside her knee and told her. "Alright, I'm listening."
Blake nodded once. "I've known Adam for almost half my life. He was introduced to my father because his story was tragic." Her smile was bitter, "And you know me, I seem to be drawn to tragedy."
Blake took a long moment to marshal her thoughts one final time. "By now, Adam's story has gotten lost in what came after, but I still think it's a story that deserves to be told. I will alway believe that because…" Blake breathed deep, then looked Sun in the eye, not yet ready to admit the worst.
Not yet.
"Well because I guess that's how I feel about it."
Blake looked at Sun, hoping he would look at her with accusation, harshness, but Sun wasn't built that way. Sun, being Sun, smiled in his Sun-like way. Full of kindness and patience. Brothers how she wished she loved Sun the way he loved her. Out of pure selfishness, Blake wished she loved him like that. It would make her life so much easier.
Perhaps that selfishness is why she never actually fell.
Before the silence got awkward, Sun told her, "I'm ready to hear about him, so long as you're ready to tell it."
Blake wanted to cry when Sun said that, but she didn't. It would have felt manipulative. Instead she smiled and nodded as she braced herself for the rough tale ahead.
"The important part of Adam's story started after the Faunus Revolution was over. During a time when many faunus, the ones that could, were pulling up stakes and leaving for Menagerie. It was an exciting time, you see? A government, even one as fledgeling as Menagerie, where no rules would ever be passed to limit faunus opportunity? Who wouldn't want to be part of that? Almost every faunus with means, including most of the small business owners, moved. Eager to help build up their newly constituted country. But the poorest? The ones without options? The ones like Adam's family? Well those were left behind. Trapped in lands and living under governments who had just fought and lost a war to keep them in their place."
Blake looked back, even though most of this had happened within her lifetime, it was still somehow foreign. No not foreign. Maybe ancient? Or perhaps timeless was the best term. It was then, for maybe the first time in her life, she stared objectively at the struggles of her people. A struggle that dwarfed her into insignificance. A struggle that somehow began at the very beginning and might well continue until the very end.
Blake shivered, trying to shake off the feeling. After a moment she continued. "Sure there were, and still are, charities to help families come to the island, but…" Blake breathed deep, "But they're not enough. Not for everyone. Not even close."
Blake trailed off and brushed a tear from an eye. She found it oddly comforting to openly cry for Adam Taurus. "Adam was born in the worst of these nations, Mistral. However I feel about Atlas, at least there are still guaranteed legal protections for all their citizens up there. Enforcement might be selective, but the rules themselves exist. Mistral was never so kind. Especially after the Great War and the Vacuan Faunus Brigades. The Faunus Sedition Act was, of course, the worst. It was meant to be since it was admittedly designed to force the faunus to leave the country." Blake smiled and wished, like many faunus of her generation, that she had met Renee Dyer. "However it obviously failed and instead kicked off the Revolution."
She didn't go into the Revolution itself, Sun might not be big into faunus culture, but he was still a faunus and she didn't really need to explain. Instead Blake jumped to the part that was most relevant to Adam.
"The Sedition act may have ended the moment the Castle Treaty was signed, but the damage was already done. After over eighteen months of not being allowed to own property, after most faunus were legally forced to sell at prices that were far from kind, well far too many had far too little. In just a year and a half, the faunus housing projects had tripled in size around the capital. The projects are shrinking now, but they still remain. And of these projects Anieros was, and remains, the worst."
Blake wasn't one to wax poetically, but again Adam's story somehow felt surreal and timeless, even to her. Blake stared at her friend's face, "I know you grew up poor, Sun. I know you grew up where Grimm attacks were common and help was always a few minutes too far away. But be thankful you didn't grow up where Adam did. Near the SDC refining plants. Where the air is foul. Where the opportunities are worse. Where people look at victims of either Grimm, crime, or just violence in general and are simply grateful it wasn't them this time."
Sun sat in silence, and Blake breathed deep again. "Adam lost his father in the Revolution itself. He lost his mother to infused dust addiction when he was ten… His older sister, well she resorted to more base means to keep him and his youngest sister fed and housed."
Blake swallowed, "It is in this unkind time and in this terrible place, where the eleven-year-old Adam Taurus, well he discovers something interesting. A nonfunctional camera at the local SDC refining plant. All the other Cameras move to track the fence line, but this one just… didn't. He once told me he stared at it for an entire day because he just couldn't quite believe it." Blake gazed at Sun, "You see, Sun, if an SDC camera doesn't see you, then it wouldn't call the Sentinels."
Blake's breathing was now steady again, "The dangerous thing about automated security is how complacent it can make your guards. Adam knew this instinctively. He's always been clever that way. Adam was also very careful. He'd stand and beg at the fence for lien chips or food, and he's admitted that more than one guard even showed some kindness, but what he was really doing was learning and timing their routes. He was also digging small holes along the fence line, and softly kicking soft dirt into them with his feet. He was making sure the only thing between him and a near endless amount of refined dust was one, single, unattended door. A locked door, sure, but Adam would cross that boundary when he got there. After all, one single package of energy propellant would buy a week's worth of groceries, right? I mean so long as he could sell it."
Blake sighed, "Eventually, Adam took his chance. Dragging a cinder block to break the handle off the door, take what he could, and run." Blake smiled, "He wasn't even ashamed when he told me that he started crying once he understood the guards had grown so complacent they no longer bothered to lock the door."
"Then how did he get caught?" Sun asked. He knew of Adam's branding after all. She had told him that much.
Blake shook her head, "He didn't. He got away with it. For weeks. You see, he didn't take too much. First, just enough to get some groceries. Then a bit more to get his big sister a birthday cake. Then enough to get caught up on rent. Always in small amounts. And for whatever reason, for well over a month, the camera didn't start moving, and the door remained unlocked. No one noticed." Blake paused, "Not yet."
Sun sighed, "But other faunus started to." Something within his own memories was alight in his eyes. "Someone older probably stood on–"
Blake shook her head. "No. Maybe that would have been better if that's what happened." She smiled. "But what really happened is that Adam grew proud. The longer it went on, the bigger his ambitions got." Blake shuddered, "Eventually he told his sisters he had a way to get them all the way to Menagerie."
Blake breathed in, "That was when he and two friends, well they went in… and took everything they could carry." She sighed, "Including several large crystals.
Sun slowly nodded, "I know how fences work. A kid comes in every few days with dust. You don't really ask questions, after all it isn't a whole lot and it's easy to move. Kid and his friends suddenly come in with armloads of dust, with crystals too?" Sun sighed, "Let me guess, Adam got shorted. Enough to make him go back one more time. And the fence told him, exactly, what he needed to get."
"Yes."
Sun's eyes were now looking back into the past of someone he had never really met and honestly hated, but at this moment there was nothing but sympathy in his face as he told Blake what happened next. "He went alone. Both because he knew it was a bad idea and because this time he had to be sure he got enough. First thing he did was check the camera, but the camera still didn't move. He dared to hope. He checked the fence, but none of his holes were filled in yet. He got excited. When the door was still unlocked, he grew overconfident. So he wasn't careful. He wasn't ready. Which is why he was caught. Because now someone knew."
Blake nodded, "Adam was very unlucky. The guard that apprehended him lost both a brother and an eye in the Faunus Rights Revolution. He beat Adam mercilessly, probably half hoping he could get Adam to tell him where the dust was, or at least where it went, but mostly because beating Adam made him feel better about losing the war. And then, when Adam wouldn't turn over on his friends, the guard became dead set on making an example."
Sun was pale. "Monstrous."
Blake nodded. "It was. He was fired of course, although with the SDC, the thefts were probably already enough for him to lose his job. However, when Adam's maimed face hit the press, well that was the kind of thing even Schnee solicitors weren't willing to stand in front of a magistrate and try to defend. The settlement the SDC gave Adam got his whole family to Menagerie, but by then, it was too late. Adam had truly started to hate."
Blake sighed, "He never blamed his friends. He never even blamed the fence that made him go back–"
Sun, "But he blamed the humans. He blamed all the humans."
Blake breathed deep and slow, but didn't deny it. "I used to believe he didn't, at least not at first, but I know now that was only ever wishful thinking on my part."
There was a long pause. Eventually, Sun asked her the next important question. "So, when did you meet him?"
"Shortly after he arrived in Menagerie. My father was still the leader of the White Fang, but he was also already a councilman there. He understood the island didn't have the money to bring all their people home, and even if it did, only the coastal areas were truly safe to inhabit. Bringing so many poor and placing them on so little land would only crush Menagerie's fledgling economy. So dad understood what truly needed to happen was for the other kingdoms to rethink their views concerning their own faunus citizens."
Again, events well within her lifetime, but somehow timeless. Blake shuddered as she continued, "Vacuo was easiest. There was still a lot of guilt felt there after they decided to remain neutral. Even after the Dyer Enfield Massacre. Vale and Atlas remained more difficult, but at least the laws themselves existed in those two kingdoms. Menagerie is, recent progress aside, still the worst. Here, where even now, Faunus still technically have less legal rights than humans. It's where dad decided the greatest change needed to happen."
Blake closed her eyes to reorganize her thoughts about what came next. "It may have been selfish, but my father brought Adam in and made him part of his entourage specifically because of what happened to him. It's awful in its own way, but dad undoubtedly used Adam. Dad needed Adam's maimed face to be an unvarnished reminder of human cruelty. Since the guard never faced any legal penalty beyond a very brief stint in jail, some half-hearted probation, and a fine, the hypocrisy of Mistral's laws were completely laid bare."
Blake stared at nothing in particular, "Shameful as the politics were, dad's gambit with Adam really worked. It really helped dad gain the momentum he needed to spearhead the Faunus Equal Rights Act. The campaign was so strong, the first attempt was only defeated by two votes in the Mistrali Senate, and then only after the SDC funneled nearly a quarter billion lien into its defeat."
Blake continued to look far away, "Dad was so hopeful. So ready to try again. But the very week the second campaign started, a certain former SDC guard washed up on the Animus shore. Broken. Beaten. With a very specific brand over his remaining eye."
Sun just shook his head, "... dude."
Blake breathed in, finally ready to get through the darkest part of the tale. Her part of the tale.
"And that wasn't the worst… the worst was what was now going on between Adam and I."
Something slowly dawned on Sun's face. "Wait, I remember something about that now. Adam's that guy? That was years ago! How old were–"
Blake just said it. "Adam is almost seven years older than I am."
Sun blinked at her. Blake didn't blame him at all when he asked the next most obvious question, "When did you two–"
"When I was thirteen."
Sun stood in shock. Unable to speak, he could only stand there and blink. Blake honestly wondered if Sun had ever experienced proper rage before. If that was true, he was definitely having difficulty with the new experience. At last, with a voice clipped and short he said what Blake already knew he was thinking.
"Dude, sad story or not, scary powerful psychopath or not, I kinda want to go find him and just hurt him until I start feeling better."
Blake looked at Sun sadly, took his hand, and guided her friend back to a sitting position. After a moment she said, "My dad's reaction was much the same. My dad finding out about us was undoubtedly why the campaign surrounding the Faunus Equal Rights Act utterly fell apart."
Blake's eyes were again staring far away, but now they were locked on something. On a moment long ago but still held close. "Adam didn't even fight back when my father started hitting him. He probably would've died if Sienna wasn't there and managed to barely pull dad off." Blake went quiet for a long moment, "The whole time my father was beating him, Adam never defended himself. He just looked at me, and kept saying over and over again that he loved me."
Sun's face was set and profoundly unmoved. "Manipulative. You were a child."
Blake smiled sadly. "It was. And I was. Manipulative or not, it worked. From that moment on, I… I truly loved Adam." Blake breathed deep again.
"I loved him enough to lie for Sienna and disgrace my father."
"I loved him enough to lie to the authorities when certain bad people, like an SDC board member, disappeared."
Blake felt the welling tears spill. "I loved him long after I knew he was wrong. I loved him long after I knew he was a monster. Long after I ran out of excuses. Long after I left him. Long after I accepted that he needed to be stopped…" She breathed deep, "Long after he hurt my partner… I loved him."
The shame was all consuming as she finally admitted confessed her most terrible secret. When she finally told Sun what she had never been able to admit to any other.
"I love him still."
Blake breathed in a ragged breath, and looked at her dearest friend whose form had long gone blurry and indistinct from her own tears of self-loathing.
"My biggest fear is that I will never stop loving him."
\/
Jaune was running late. He was frustrated and angry. Which he objectively knew was a bad combo when one was about to meet with someone awesome who had directly expressed interest. However, he couldn't help it.
Weiss was just awful this morning.
Granted, Jaune had long gotten used to his morning wake up call from all varieties of nasty creatures she could summon. But her deciding to escalate things by a factor of ten this morning was just too much.
Why was she being so damned being petty at this point?
Even Yang had given Weiss some hard stares. Which was surprising since, for whatever reason, Yang barely said boo to Weiss these days.
Thank the Brothers for Sun and his Team. Seriously, those guys were awesome! Sun loaned him a decent button up, light gray in color. Sage had some faded black denim pants that were loose enough and fit. A simple belt made them workable. Neptune thought he looked like he was trying without really trying, whatever the hell that meant, but the other three members agreed he looked fine. Jaune's own hiking boots, which survived the morning disaster, weren't quite the right color, but what could he do? Beggars couldn't be choosers, and let's face it, Jaune was a two time beggar at this point.
He also seriously owed Blake a thank you too for helping get the ball rolling this morning.
So he looked decent enough, especially with Winter's Sabre on his hip, but Weiss's morning prank was only where Jaune's foul mood started, not where it ended.
Jaune was keenly aware he currently had twenty lien to his name. The only way he could afford a meal for two, even at Hamburger Kingdom, was if he ordered off the kid's menu. Maybe it was old-fashioned, and maybe it was unimportant unimportant, but Jaune being unable to offer anything meaningfully material to a new relationship felt humiliating. Not that Jaune thought Winter was materialistic, nor did he want to be lavish, but there had been something galling about stopping to check the prices at a little flower stand and then walking away empty handed.
So yeah, not his best morning. Not his best mind set. The one thing that had worked somewhat in his favor had been Winter sending him that message that work had kept her long. So she was now running twenty minutes late. This at least gave Jaune time to duck into a restroom and wipe his face, check himself in the mirror, and freshen up a touch. As he was about to walk out of the little convenience store, a clerk coughed meaningfully.
Jaune sighed, then returned and grabbed two water bottles from a cooler in the back.
Soon, Jaune had fifteen lien to his name.
Which was doing nothing for his mood.
He felt a sudden tap on his shoulder.
What? Jaune had bought the damn water for daring to spend ninety seconds mopping his brow.
What more did the guy want?
Irritable, he turned to glare straight into the face of Winter Schnee. She was standing there, in her uniform (even if it was the more casual one) and Jaune's head had been so far up his own heinie he must have walked past without even seeing her.
She took one look at his surprised face, and smirked. "Bad morning?"
Jaune really wished he could start off just one interaction with a Schnee where he didn't instantly dig himself into a Goliath sized hole. He tried for some levity, and promptly failed. "Sorry. Lot on my mind."
Winter's eyes almost twinkled. She definitely knew something Jaune did not.
With a smile she said, "Something like a poorly timed prank involving several units of ice dust?" Jaune blinked, and Winter's smile only grew wider. "It may interest you to know I got a scroll call from Weiss just a few minutes ago. And an apology that was only somewhat aimed in my direction. Did you block her, per chance?"
Jaune glanced at his scroll. It was older and dragging it across Animus hadn't done it any favors. Looks like one of the buttons had started sticking, again, hopefully Nora or Ruby could fix it.
"Something like that."
Winter's smile waivered ever so slightly. "Would you like to just exchange weapons and do this some other day?"
Jaune stopped, and instantly knew something very important. If he didn't let it go right now and get back on track, he was going to cripple his best opportunity to spend time with someone amazing. He stopped and looked Winter directly in the face. He cocked a half-smile, the one Yang herself had told him was actually pretty charming. The expression felt mechanical, because he did it deliberately, but he meant it honestly all the same.
"I see my reputation with women has gotten out of hand if you think, even for a moment, I'm that stupid." It was a weak joke. Jaune knew it. But he had to start somewhere.
Winter eyed him a bit but played along. "I won't lie. That reputation is far from sterling."
Jaune's smile started to feel more natural, "I wish I had references to refute the rumors."
Winter's stance relaxed further and mused aloud, "I do know an Atlas Specialist with her own impeccable reputation who may be willing to vouch for you. Just so long as you hand her one of those water bottles."
Jaune handed it over, feeling a big chunk of the awkward tension in his stance drain away. "I'm sorry. As silly as it was, it really put me off this morning."
Winter smirked, and not standing on ceremony, took a hefty swig. "If it makes you feel better, Weiss looked like she was under a great deal of duress when she called me. I'm guessing Nora was making her presence felt."
Jaune shrugged, but had a different suspect in mind, at least this time. He still didn't say anything. "It pays to have powerful friends looking out for me."
Winter looked at him as something obviously occurred to her. She then cocked her own half-smile. "Believe it or not, I know the feeling."
Winter then pulled Crocea Mors from her belt, promptly handing it over. Jaune was quick to reciprocate. Trying not to appear overly eager to get his weapon back, he still couldn't help but sigh when he clasped it back to its rightful place. He also handed over a note for his parents, it was short and direct, mostly just letting them know he was on his way to Saffron's.
Winter put the note away and smiled yet again at him, "Shall we be on our way?"
Jaune and Winter fell in, shoulder to shoulder, with Jaune not quite having the courage to link arms. He quietly hoped she'd make the gesture and set the boundaries for the outing, but those hopes weren't to be fulfilled so easily. Given what he both knew and suspected about the Schnee sisters, this was probably done on purpose.
At least the conversation started flowing well. Jaune told her the story of how he got the Sabre back. Winter smiled and nodded in all the right places. The one bit of strangeness being her reaction concerning the detail of the Echidna coating the grip of her sword in Bukavac slime.
"I've never heard of that." Winter was frowning. "Ever."
Jaune misunderstood, "I'm telling you half my arm went numb. I was relieved when I found the stiletto—"
Winter waved him off, "Not what I met Jaune." Her expression was distant, "It's just there's been a lot of unusual Grimm behavior over the last two years, and this is yet again something new." She looked at him, "Echindna's aren't stupid, but they aren't brilliant either. This kind of tactic is exceptionally odd for a creature not known for exceptionalism."
Jaune kind of wished he hadn't mentioned it, but him getting in his own way wasn't new—
Wait a moment. Jaune suddenly remembered a promise he made about Nora and old stuff. He'd given her his word. Jaune started keeping that promise right then and there.
He fully engaged in the conversation. He smiled at Winter, "Maybe it was the exception to that lack of exceptionalism." Winter rolled her eyes, but smiled a bit herself, but Jaune kept her attention on him, showing that he was taking her comment seriously. Because now he was.
Jaune continued, "Some Grimm are smarter than others, right? I'm not an expert, but could a truly intelligent Grimm maybe be a bit better at learning? Sad as it is, there are a lot of Huntsmen working in Mistral now that probably shouldn't be. I even ran into two of them recently. If similarly inexperienced Hunters had the misfortune to stumble into this particular monster?" He shivered, and not for effect. He remembered the feel of those coils distinctly.
Winter nodded. "I see your contention." Winter thought of something, but was obviously far from convinced. "It is possible, as yes, Mistral's Hunter situation is very unfortunate." She looked at him, "I still need to note it. This may be part of a larger and rather disturbing pattern."
Jaune shrugged. He thought of the Salem monster they had all witnessed in Haven, and his own disquiet grew exponentially. "I admit I may be arguing mostly because I don't like the implications."
Winter sighed. "Neither do I. I wish you had convinced me." She then smiled at him, "Sorry if I ruined your story but unfortunately me being a soldier is just part of me being me."
Jaune had a thought occur, and thus paused. He looked at her, even making his inspection something of a dramatic showing. As if he was considering something very important.
Winter looked at him, utterly at a loss.
Slowly, as if Jaune had come to some sort of monumental decision, he slowly offered Winter his arm.
Winter's expression was somewhere between mildly amused to fairly irritated. "I'm honestly considering stabbing you right at this moment."
Jaune looked her dead in the eyes, "You should know, me being awkward is just part of me being me."
Winter couldn't quite hold the same solemn expression as she made her own show of looking him over. After a moment, she nodded once, then linked her arm with his.
Jaune took this as a win.
The afternoon didn't start off great, Winter wasn't under any delusion, but after a bumpy start, Jaune brought up his game. As soon as she linked arms with the man, most of his pretenses fell away. No more irritable demeanor. No more braggy story. No more need to be right. Jaune seemed to realize he just needed to be Jaune. And that worked much better for Winter.
Also, the fascinating concoction on Grimm gore removal was a relevant factoid she stored away for later. Numerous were the times she had been forced to cut her hair.
There were still problems, Jaune was obviously dealing with something internal about the outing, and they weren't quite clicking. But it was better nonetheless.
The mentioning of Mistral's current deficit in experienced Hunters did happen to lead Jaune into another story. Evidently, he had a run in with two subpar Huntsman on his way to his security screening. However, unlike his telling of the saber story, there was a lot of disquiet and even regret in this retelling. Jaune obviously felt concerned that such inadequate prospects had received their licenses. Something that tinged that disquiet, something that went unsaid, was Jaune's obvious sense of shame over the encounter. Jaune tried to laugh it off, but it rang hollow to Winter's ears. How Jaune felt about letting two fools goad him was written all over his face.
Granted, there is a distinct form of emptiness in defeating the unworthy, but that wasn't what had Jaune ashamed. It was the loss of control, and the possible consequences that thankfully never were, but could have been.
As someone who struggled with her anger, Winter honestly admired his resolve to learn from this. It was here and now that Winter recognized something about Jaune. Something the man wouldn't, in all likelihood, ever fully understand about himself. Once Jaune Arc truly understood he had made a mistake, he took immediate steps to not repeat those mistakes. It would one day make him very formidable.
Thinking about their duel, she wondered what may transpire a year or so from now. A time when she would no longer be underestimating him, but he would understand so much more about her.
She smiled because such contests might prove interesting.
Jaune noted her expression, and promptly misunderstood, providing further evidence that they remained slightly out of sync. "Sorry, I guess it's kind of funny I fooled him, but that officer wasn't kidding about dragging me in front of a review board."
Winter's smile broadened, "Not what I was smiling about." She leaned against him just the slightest bit, taking pleasure in his physical reaction, "I'm just enjoying a beautiful afternoon."
Winter knew Jaune was too inexperienced to take the opening she was giving him, but that was fine. It might make for a wonderful game this afternoon. A game she wouldn't mind losing should he surprise her yet again and finally get on the same page as her.
It took a few moments for Jaune's brain to reset, but eventually he started again. This part of the conversation remained light, and more than once, a bit flirty, but the words themselves were ultimately inconsequential.
Eventually, they reached the tailor with whom Winter had made an appointment. The shop was of fair renown and operated simply under the name of its sole proprietor. Grayson Anderson Sheppard Esquire. No merchandise showed in the windows. Not even the word tailor was printed on the marquis. You knew what this place was, or you bypassed it altogether. Of course, anyone who was involved with high end male attire knew this place by simple reputation alone. Jacques himself would travel here personally to purchase his suits back when Winter was a child. Back before the faunus Equal Rights bill had fallen through in Mistral… and subsequently, the SDC's meddling was uncovered in the bill's defeat.
Winter smiled widely as she walked inside. This place, as much as anywhere, was a reminder that she was not Jacques Schnee. After all, Grayson would punch Jacques square in the face, again, if he ever showed up here.
"Winter!" An inappropriately boisterous voice thundered through a very, very posh shop. The man was as immaculately dressed as he was huge. And Grayson was at least a head and half taller than Jaune, and broader in the chest besides. When one added his outlandish propensity for waving his arms in huge theatrical gestures, the giant man seemed larger still.
Winter smiled openly. That was Grayson. Bigger than life. Just like his hugely bushy, but somehow meticulously maintained, beard.
Winter smiled at one of the least forgettable personalities on the face of Remnant. "Grayson. Thank you so much for seeing us on such short notice."
The huge man grabbed at his heart. "Really Winter? Really? After all these years?"
Winter's smile widened, "Uncle Gray." She noted Jaune gape at the title, and couldn't help but smirk a bit.
The man paused, calmed ever so slightly and sighed in ecstasy. "Ahhh. Been so long since I heard you say those words. Not that I blame you of course, your father—"
"Is thankfully elsewhere." Winter interrupted. Unable to stop herself from checking the other clientele to see how they reacted.
The huge man looked around, just now noticing how the entire shop had come to a total standstill and was staring at the two of them. He coughed, with the good manners to be mildly embarrassed. Unfortunately, it was an embarrassment that Winter doubted would last even sixty seconds.
Grayson didn't make it five. He thundered, "Ah you must be the young man who caught Winter's eye!" Jaune blinked, and his smile wasn't wholly at ease. Grayson didn't notice of course. "Come here my boy! Let's get the size of you while we make you presentable to the most eligible bachelorette in all of Atlas!"
Winter just smirked and shook her head in amused exasperation. She again scanned the room, just to be sure, but she needn't have been worried. Sad as it may be, and even though Grayson was renowned for open fiscal support of many faunus projects, there just weren't a lot of faunus that could afford a place like Grayson's.
Indeed, the only faunus in the room was old Thomas, a goat faunus with a kind expression and unsettling eyes. Winter kind of loved him, even more so than she loved Grayson himself. After all, it was this man who used to amuse a preteen Winter with his ukulele by singing happy songs with childishly inappropriate lyrics. Winter couldn't help but subconsciously hum, "Your Dog will not do That in my Yard," upon sighting the man.
Winter walked over to Thomas, "I see your son hasn't changed a bit."
Thomas smiled at her, "Did you expect otherwise?"
Winter shook her head. Tom and his wife Bennie had adopted Grayson a decade or so prior to the Faunas Revolts—er revolution. Times had been very hard in Mistral back then. Tom's old business was firebombed once the Revolution started in full, but Tom and his family stuck it out. Eventually, Grayson, who always had a keen eye for trends and was a natural virtuoso with a sewing machine, would take over. Within two years, Grayson would change a fine old shop that mended and refitted upscale clothing, and even did decent trade in secondhand apparel, into one of the premier destinations for men's apparel on the face of Remnant.
Winter couldn't help but glance at the small, but centrally focused, memorial to Gray's mother. A place where the bricks remained scorched from twenty five plus years ago. She then couldn't help but idly wonder how her father had escaped from Grayson that day. Well, with only the broken nose and dislocated jaw.
Winter glanced back at Jaune who was looking eight shades of red, all on the far side of uncomfortable, as the jolly giant manhandled him for the measurements, all the while asking questions equally on the wrong side of obtrusive.
Winter smirked, but decided to simplify things before Grayson really got going and went completely overboard. "The jacket doesn't need to be exact. Remember we are only renting it for the Gala."
Grayson, even with three pins in his mouth, still had the ability to speak with absolute clarity, "Nonsense. I don't rent."
Winter paused, then deliberately looked at the large wall of fitted black tie apparel on the wall. All of it for hire. She then looked back to 'Uncle Gray' with raised eyebrows.
Grayson looked at her, now with five pins in his mouth. "You find anything with my label on that wall, tell me. I'll have someone out on their ear in one minute flat."
Jaune looked at Winter, "This is starting to sound really expensive."
Grayson, now with at least seven pins in his mouth, (Seriously he wasn't even fitting anything yet!), casually bellowed, "Don't worry my boy. For my dear Winter I am more than willing to extend a friends and family discount!" The giant man then stood just long enough to smack Jaune hard once on the back. Jaune staggered at least three paces forward under the blow, and Winter knew from experience Jaune was far from easy to move.
However Winter viewed Grayson's casual feat of un-auraed strength, Jaune wasn't wrong. She wondered what the retail price was for a tuxedo tailored under Grayson's personal label? Five thousand? Six? If one were personally tailored by the man himself… well Winter honestly paled at the thought. And given her complexion, that was saying something.
She shook it off and looked sternly at Grayson, "You do realize I operate on a soldier's salary, right? That I cut all ties—"
Grayson, for the first time, had something of a hard look about his face. Winter realized, friends or not, she had zero right to cross certain lines. Thankfully though, the hardness around Uncle Gray's face lasted no longer than his earlier embarrassment. With a laugh he instead just so happened to mention:
"I recently came across a most unforgivable mistake. Due to a catastrophic error in bookkeeping, we never refunded a rather significant retainer that your father placed as a guarantee on future orders. Since we are old friends, I hope you would brush this embarrassing matter aside and simply apply those existing funds to this current project."
Winter's eyebrows rose. Now she had only a vague idea on what Jacque's clothing budget was, and whatever funds was only a holdover from nearly ten years ago, but this did expand the available options tremendously. Winter smiled. Long before she became a soldier, she had been brought up in the cutthroat dust commodities market. Winter instantly regained her composure and casually mentioned, "Depends on which materials you have on hand to select from as well as your shirt selection, of course."
Grayson instantly puffed up. So honestly affronted, several of the many, many pins in his mouth actually fell to the floor. Still his voice was clear. Wounded, but clear. "My dearest Winter! No selection in Mistral can rival what I have on offer!"
Winter's eyes grew very hard, and her smile grew very sharp.
"We shall see."
\/
Raven sighed with frustration.
Why was she even here?
And Raven didn't mean Vacuo.
Then she looked down again, and hated herself.
Because there was her answer.
Her answer lay directly in the murderous heat of the Vacuan sun, a contented smile on his face as he dozed. He looked so satisfied. Even though he was so pallid he looked like a ghost, his hair faded to near white, Tai still managed to look just so gods-damned smug.
How long would it take him to recover the energy he wasted? A month? More? And that was if he delayed his return to Patch and stayed here in Vacuo, which she knew he wouldn't do. Yet there he slept like he hadn't nearly killed himself for some destined cripple he hadn't even met.
Simply because The Bitch had asked him to.
Raven wondered, not for the first time and not for the last, how the two of them had ever ended up together. Ozpin had a hand in it. That couldn't be denied. Ozpin liked his games, especially during his initiations, and he had doubtlessly made damned sure both her and Qrow were answerable to others. Saddling Summer with her sad sack of a brother had always made a great deal of sense, but how had he known she'd be drawn to Tai?
Raven grunted. No matter how Ozpin knew, undoubtedly his bait had kept her around far longer than it should have. For twenty plus years, that itch in the back of her mind would go off and she'd need to see him. Far from the tribe. Far from her life. She'd come looking for him. Not for Qrow. Not for Summer. She was only ever looking for Tai.
Even though the warmth in his eyes would die the moment he saw her. She would still feel that urge.
Her needing an excuse to see him was undoubtedly why Raven had left her daughter with Tai in the first place. Instead of raising her in the tribe. Where Yang would have grown strong instead of–
"Ah there you are my boy! Been looking for you for quite a while now!"
Raven's hand dropped to her sword, but she still took a step back. Peter Port walked past her, yet again, without even a glance in her direction. Raven, for the hundredth time, bristled at what didn't even count as a dismissal, but remained a complete lack of acknowledgement, but she didn't draw her blade. She never drew her blade. Even when one had a maiden's power, there were some conflicts best avoided.
Tai yawned as he slowly sat up. Still groggy, it took him a good ten seconds of blinking owlishly at Port before he mustered the wherewithal to speak.
Half asleep, he absently scratched under one armpit. "Sorry Pete. I guess I'm not as young as I used to be."
Port laughed. "I know the feeling well!" He sighed happily, "You did good work, even if it wasn't particularly sporting, to reach Miss Adel in time. Not even I could have cut through the Grimm so quickly," He winked, which was odd looking since he so seldom seemed to fully open his eyes, "Well at least now that I'm past my prime." He smiled in that absurd far away way of his, "Did I tell you about the time I got this fool notion in my head to–"
Tai chuckled softly as he climbed slowly, and more than a bit gingerly, to his feet. "Goliath in the circus? Yeah Pete, I'm pretty sure you've mentioned it a time or two."
Port sighed with a smile, "That's the trouble with being friends for so long, even I start running out of stories."
Raven muttered, "If only."
Port's smile didn't actually waiver, but he did turn ever so slightly. It was the closest to acknowledgement he had given Raven since she'd arrived on Patch. She even saw a bare glimmer of steel in his merciless gray eyes. Her hand, already resting on the blade, tightened. Port then turned again to Tai, again fully offering his unguarded back to Raven.
Port then asked him, "Sorry Tai, but did you hear some piss-ant too cowardly to speak clearly? No? Maybe it's just me."
Raven's hand steadied. Her eyes narrowed and she almost hissed. But she still didn't draw. Too many variables. Port might seem like he was little more than hot air and bravado. An old man living on minor glories long exaggerated, but Raven had since learned the truth. There were reasons he was utterly self-assured.
Tai looked at her, not to check on her feelings since such concerns would never again be a part of their relationship, but to make sure she did nothing reckless. As soon as he saw she wouldn't be drawing on Port, he yawned and dismissed her from his considerations.
Instead he made a scan of the horizon, "Where's Dorothy?"
Port slapped Tai hard enough to make even him wince, and laughed. Raven grimaced. When Port laughed, he'd actually say the word's 'Ho-Ho!' Just like that with capital letters and its own verbal exclamation point. Raven seethed in fury at the dangerous absurdity that was Peter Port.
Port smiled wide, "Ah, yes. Fear not, our fair Headmistress is indeed in the area, although right now she is preoccupied with other matters. Best get your shirt back on quickly my boy, we all know how she has wandering eyes for eligible bachelors. I warn you again, best not feed that particular lion my friend."
Now Tai rolled his eyes. Shrugging on an old stained shirt as he smiled sheepishly… but just a bit too happily. Raven hated that she still felt the twinge of possessiveness for this man that hated her. There had been two before Tai, there had been many after. None of which would cause any such emotion. Why this man? Was she to be forever drawn to his potential? Even though it was contained in such a weak vessel?
Port prattled on. Tai grunted in mostly the correct places. Raven continued to keenly feel the lack of a connection that would get her home.
And that was when The Bitch finally showed herself.
"There you two are." The soft, and in Raven's opinion, slightly too pleased voice of a very specific canine faunus intruded into Raven's thoughts. Dorothy Gayle was short, stocky, and possessed mud brown hair that could only be described as shaggy. Gayle had been cursed with both nose and teeth that were too animalistic to ever be called attractive. But for some reason, even though she was oh so dangerous, people loved her just the same.
She had a list of conquests–
"Toto! We were just talking about you!"
Gayle rolled her eyes, and smiled indulgently enough. However The Bitch felt about Ozpin, Gayle had always been prone to giving his underlings a pass. Still, Gayle didn't let Port distract her for long as she zeroed in on Tai like a starving hound. Of course Tai didn't see it that way. His only reaction was to turn his sheepish smile into a full blown chuckle as Gayle stepped into him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
Gayle's muffled voice reverberated from Tai's chest. "Thank you. Thank you for saving my students."
Tai gently dropped his hands on her shoulders. "You're welcome Dorothy. I only wish we got here sooner."
For a moment, The Bitch pressed her forehead into Tai's chest, probably sniffing him or something, then she stepped away and turned to Port. "I know you filed a report, but just… just so I don't have to read it…"
Port's voice was heavy when he told her, "We have most of their effects, but the Grimm were not kind. We will need a medical examiner to legally identify both Mr. Porfirio and Mr. Stallion, I am so sorry Dorothy."
The Bitch looked at Port. "Thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you all for doing what you could."
Raven had had enough at this point. This was just too much absurdity. "If you will excuse me."
Raven turned to leave when an unyielding hand arrested her wrist. Raven froze. How Gayle moved so fast and so silent had to be Semblance based, but Raven had never uncovered the details. Of course, none of that was important right now. All that was important to Raven was the fact that the Butcher of Fort Castle now had her by the weapon hand.
The Bitch looked at her. Her voice, so falsely friendly before, was now low and dangerous. Her real voice. Undoubtedly the last voice General Lagune ever had the temerity to scoff at.
"Today, you were instrumental in saving the lives of three of my students. You may have even saved Coco Adel's arm by getting her to medical treatment so quickly. I love them enough to now thank you for that." Her eyes were so very sharp under her shaggy hair, as she bared teeth that were far from human typical. "But that does not mean I have forgotten, even for a moment, what you are. What you always were."
Raven swallowed, her voice soft with anger to mask her very real concern. "Release me."
The Bitch's grip did not loosen. The two women looked at each other. Raven began to call upon the power within her. There was the slightest flash of silver from Gayle's weapon.
There was a long moment where two very violent people with very violent pasts took the full measure of the other. All the while the long and ugly history between them was openly expressed in their mutual hatred. That was when Peter Port, of all people, stepped in.
"You may as well let her go, Toto. She isn't really going anywhere."
Gayle slowly nodded, and oh so slowly she relaxed her grip. The silver glow or The Bitch's weapon fading back to red. Raven would have cut her down there, but Port was no fool and had already moved to cover Gayle as she stepped back.
And there was also Tai stepping to flank her. His intent written all over his face…
The Bitch then smirked at Raven, "You're right, Peter." She snorted, "It's obvious she's run out of places to run." The smirk peeled back until it became a feral smile.
"And sooner or later Glynda is going to discover where she's hiding."
\/
Jaune shivered. Then he sighed.
Pride was not his friend today. After ordering, he was down to two lien.
Period.
And his pride was now far from happy.
Frustrated, he moved to sit down and eat his children's meal.
Winter obviously noticed his expression. Which is why she set her burger down. She then looked him full in the eyes. "How long is this going to be a thing?"
Jaune wasn't stupid enough to play dumb, but he tried for some levity. He smiled awkwardly at his kid's meal, "Until I grow up?"
Winter wasn't amused. "Is this because of Grayson's?"
Jaune took a moment to gather his thoughts. He had been fitted into some fantastic white woolen jacket that was so soft and breathable it could have been silk. The thing wasn't even technically done, yet it fitted him better than any garment he had ever owned. The black pants were similarly perfect. And the shirts! Jaune could have been told they were made straight up out of angel hair and wouldn't have doubted. And he'd been gifted three of them!
Grayson's didn't have anything as crass as price tags, but Jaune kind of guessed what he had been wearing was worth more than his mother's car. Back when she bought it new! It was all a bit much, but it still wasn't the real problem. The real problem was something more fundamental.
So he came clean.
Jaune shook his head. "Kinda? I can't help but feel like something of a charity case." Winter leaned back. Her face showed she was listening, if not overly sympathetic. Jaune marshaled his now gathered thoughts to just get it all off his chest.
"Don't get me wrong, I know you didn't pay for anything today. Not really." Jaune looked at her, "But you were going to. Rental or not, that place wasn't remotely what I had in mind."
Winter's face didn't harden, but her expression wasn't exactly moved. "Jaune, this isn't a dance at an academy. This event will feature nearly every leader on the face of Remnant. Renting some wedding tux from the local mall was never an option."
Jaune tried not to wince. He hadn't fully considered, but he definitely had to concede on that point.
"I guess I didn't think that part out." He breathed deep, and kind of avoided eye contact by staring at nothing in particular. "It's just hard, you know? All this generosity after you already gave us money towards getting cold weather gear for Solitas. And now, after all you've done, while we're here alone during a beautiful evening, I can't even offer simple thanks by buying you a half-decent meal."
Jaune had a small smile as he returned his gaze to hers, "It may be stupid, and it's definitely my problem, but it's just humiliating to be on a date and have to order off the value menu at Hamburger Kingdom." He then made a show of looking at the clothing he was also borrowing, "It seems I can't even come and see you without bumming something decent to wear."
Winter's posture relaxed a bit. Finally, she shook her head. She didn't smile, and her expression wasn't exactly one of forgiveness, but it was a face of full comprehension. "You've been wanting to say that all afternoon, haven't you? That's been the problem this entire time, hasn't it?"
Jaune smiled a little, "Yeah. Sorry if it caused me to kind of suck today."
Winter picked up her burger, but before she bit into it she flat out told him, "You aren't forgiven. Conversations about money and social posturing remain some of my least favorite aspects from my life before the military."
Jaune adjusted his position in his chair, and made another attempt, "Do I get any points for not being from Atlas?"
Winter finished her bite, swallowed, then looked Jaune in the eye. She was very blunt. "No."
Jaune took a moment and tried yet again. "I best get a job when I get back from Solitas then."
Winter shrugged and with that shrug, Jaune finally recognized just how far he had swam out. Swam out in deep and treacherous waters. It was only then that it clicked as to why Winter and he had been that tiny bit out of sync all afternoon. It may have been a money thing for him, but for her? In its own way, this date was a mirror to their first. Only in this one, Winter had planned everything, put out true effort, and the whole afternoon he'd been polite, but only going through the motions. So stuck on his lack of funds, on his own inadequacy, he was acting like spending time with her was some form of obligation.
Would he ever learn? Jaune then made a promise to himself this was the last gods-damned time.
He looked Winter in the eye, "You know it would be a lot easier for me if you just told me that I'm behaving like an ass?"
Winter paused, she looked at him. A slight smile only somewhat softened her words, because what she told him was the bald truth. "I shouldn't have to."
Jaune half-smiled, "I think I'll just correct the behavior instead of apologizing yet again." Winter, back to chewing, tilted the lid of her soft drink at him in full endorsement. The gesture let him know he was at least starting to swim in the right direction.
Jaune thought back. During their first date, Winter had hinted that she wanted to go dancing, and back then he had kind of brushed it off.
Another face palming moment… nope, nope, nope.
Remember the Nora promise. No more beating himself up over old stuff.
And An Arc never goes back on his word!
Jaune locked eyes on target, put out maximum effort, and went for broke. "I can't wait to see the dress."
Winter who had been sipping on her sugary concoction of caffeine and type two diabetes blinked in surprise. Her smile, for the first time all afternoon, became a bit coy. "Oh really? What makes you think I'm not going in uniform?"
Jaune smiled. "My pants would have had more blue in them. The shirts you can argue, sure, especially since there are three options, but not the pants."
Winter now smiled in open challenge, "I see your sisters taught you well."
Jaune leaned in a bit. "So a deep navy? Am I right? That would allow me to go full black with the pants. It would also pair with all three shirts you picked out. And given the jacket is white, you perhaps some form of silver accessory or bag."
Winter laughed, "Very good. You've almost talked me back into wearing it."
Jaune could now touch bottom but continued to make for shore for all his worth. "We didn't really have a chance to dance together at the festival, did we?"
Winter's eyes glinted. "Only now realizing that? Oh well, I guess I'll wear that dress some other time after all. Too bad."
Jaune knew he wasn't smooth, so compromised by being honest. "So this is what it actually means when they say the truth hurts."
Winter cocked her head as she spoke. "Probably." She was now smiling. And it was tinged with none of the force of effort like it had been for most of the afternoon. Gods she was beautiful when she smiled this way.
Jaune knew what needed to be done. He threw all his money down on the table. Both lien chips glinted in brassy light.
Winter's eyes remained smiling, but her mouth frowned softly in confusion, "What's this?"
"Everything I have. From here on, I'm all in."
Winter picked up the two chips. Without bothering to inspect them, she slid them into one of the many pockets of her uniform. Her smile was one of pure satisfaction.
"It's about time, Mr. Arc."
\/
Eyes the shade of hardened steel tracked the Beowulf even as it futilely tried to circle behind him.
A heavy beard of graying red and gold quirked ever so slightly, although whether the mouth beneath was frowning or smiling was a mystery. Even those steel gray eyes gave nothing away but dark intent.
The Huntsman nodded to himself. He had found it. The Alpha.
This Beowulf was too big and too wary to be anything but the monster that had maimed his youngest student. The one that nearly took the life of a thirteen-year-old child too caught up in a dream of heroics and glory to not fully grasp the difference between an Alpha and its simpler kin.
I'm. So. Damned. Stupid.
The Huntsman had long known, with utter certainty, that complacency was the insidious danger that came with experience. Just as trust was the insidious danger that came with innocence. Erik Arc's complacency combined with Citrina Pemphredo's trusting innocence meant…
Dear Brothers. Her face.
Erik pushed a screaming child's maimed visage from his mind. Now was not the time. Now was the time to kill a monster. Next, he would track it back to where it came from. Then he'd kill everything there as well. Only after that could he do the adult thing, the unselfish thing, and begin dealing with the consequences that actually mattered.
With this course of action long determined, Erik continued to turn so he could fully face his foe. He deliberately made no effort to hide the fact that he was fully aware that the Beowulf was there. The Alpha, older, stronger, and so much more cunning than its lesser kin, was quick to pick up on Erik's challenge. The monster even stopped its circling. Doubtless, in its own primitive way, it understood that Erik Arc would never let it flank him. It would not run though. Both the monster and its hunter instinctively knew the hunger within the Grimm was far too drawn to the seething tower of dark emotions facing off against it.
The beast rose to its full height, casting an impossibly long shadow in the late afternoon. The Grimm howled its rage, loneliness, and loss. Red eyes full of hate and want locked onto steely blue eyes that reflected nothing kinder. The sun continued to sink lower, making the lines less distinct between humanity and monster.
Finally, the baying of an approaching pack echoed off the nearby hills. The Alpha's ears twitched in anticipation.
Erik didn't bother unholstering his sidearm. Gray-blue eyes blazing, Erik instead reached over his shoulder and drew the heavy blade of Arondight. Six and a half feet of oily dust infused steel slid free of its black scabbard. Grim, gray, and full of purpose, the long bladed sword was as unyielding, sharp, and direct as its owner's gaze. It even quivered with the exact same rage.
The beast was in no hurry either. It wouldn't make the error of stepping into a clearing where Erik Arc's sword would halve it in one swing. Not that Erik was worried. Even if the situation was growing in danger. Complacency may be an enemy to all huntsman, but Erik had seven daughters. What had happened this day was now personal. So, he waited, making no move even as the first of the Alpha's pack arrived.
All the Alpha's brethren got was a dark smile from Erik Arc. A smile that made the Alpha gnash and drool.
After all, dark emotions are what drew Grim the most, and this huntsman had hated so very much for so very long.
I don't know if you all think it's a good thing, but I'm back.
For the record, cancer isn't a life experience I would recommend. Even if the radiation treatment did make my butt bald for a while, there has to be better waxing methods, just saying.
And yes, I can make ableist jokes about cancer. Actually so can you. If you read my story this far, I give you full license to make fun of my cancer however much you wish. I could honestly use the perspective because I am tired of people feeling sorry for me. I love them, don't get me wrong, but please just clown on me. Ask Wolfe, I totally deserve it.
Okay, sad-sack BS now behind us. Let's move on to what matters!
My mediocre writing!
So a long chapter, at least by my standards, and I feel it wound up mechanical in nature. I really wanted to cover a lot. I know I was hinting hard before my hiatus, but it's time to introduce a few pieces, like headmaster Dorothy Gayle and Erik Arc. Scary people.
I also wanted to put to bed Blake and Sun, and I felt that I needed to do it now. I know it was mostly my issue, but I honestly felt that if I didn't address it before the gala, when Sun didn't show up, it would feel like Blake was being selfish again. Also, Sun is awesome to write into a scene. Seriously, he is just a blast.
What? Am I not mentioning something? Can't imagine what that would be?
Lastly, I guess this might not have been the romantic date many were hoping for. Wolfe and I kind of agreed though on a few things that make this relationship challenging. This is the first. There is simply a fundamental difference between these two and their current station in life. One is a person who is 26, has a career, and a clear path to follow. One is 19, facing world changing events, and isn't even sure what his final goal truly is.
Finances aren't everything in a relationship, not remotely, but refusing to acknowledge them feels disingenuous. And this is the easiest problem between them to resolve.
Let's just say there are going to be some teething issues in what is, let's be honest, a crack romance.
Also, yes. I will eventually expand upon Ironwood's past. And Qrow's. And Willow's. And Raven's. And Tai's. But let's face it, this chapter was long enough as it was.
Special thanks to GodIHateSigningUP whose giant wall of text I did indeed read three long years ago and which honestly helped me iron out lot details that were only half formed at the time. Hopefully this gave you some context of where I was trying to, but trust me, you helped me realize a lot in that review.
Next, all hail Paulternative. He couldn't do the fully Beta thing this time, but he read this damned thing like three times and told me where I was an idiot. Wolfe only read it twice! The slacker.
Lastly, I am ready to get to the gala. I am. Wolfe picked out the dress out himself! Two plus years ago!
Thank you all.