Ruby and Oscar looked around at the row of nearly a dozen Sandrails lined up on either side of them. Ruby shouldn't have been surprised that there would be so many Huntsmen taking on this mission—it was an almost guaranteed payday for anyone who applied—but it still managed to take her aback. To their right, Yang and Blake were sitting in their own Sandrail as the crews topped it off with fuel. Blake looked nervous, and even Yang seemed to be having doubts—again, something that shouldn't be surprising after what Oobleck told them about the Sandstorm.
Looking in front of her, Ruby saw the Wasting Winds over the Red Dunes, but she couldn't see the Dunes at all. It was like a giant, rust-colored wall or a massive red tornado— all she could see was the sand that was whipped up by the wind, moving disturbingly fast. Even from her position, she could tell that Oobleck wasn't exaggerating—sand particles moving that fast would be like standing in front of an industrial grade sandblaster, and would absolutely skin them alive.
Still, she was ready for the challenge. She had her knowledge of weapons, her Semblance, and the fastest-learning driver she could ask for. As far as Ruby was concerned, even if they couldn't find Blutstrom's pepperbox, the two of them would still come back with the best haul of weapons and armor.
While they were waiting, Ruby told the other two about her hopes of finding Nox. Blake wasn't happy with the way Ruby spoke about the pepperbox with such enthusiasm.
"Ruby," she said firmly, "Vlad Blutstrom was a monster. He murdered thousands of people by himself—and not just soldiers and warriors, but civilians. Even women and children weren't safe from having their skulls crushed by that mace head."
"I know that, Blake!" Ruby replied indignantly. "I'm not saying anything good about him! But that pepperbox is a piece of priceless technological innovation!"
"It's a relic of evil and human cruelty," Blake argued. "I'll be searching for it too, but only so I can destroy it."
"Ms. Belladonna! Shame on you!" Oobleck chastised her. "Historical objects should never be destroyed! Should Blutstrom be reviled and vilified? Absolutely! But the memories of people are sadly quite short, so any reminder of such atrocities must be preserved! Destroying that pepperbox would likely do more harm than good!"
Blake scowled. "That thing doesn't need to exist for people to remember that monster," Blake insisted. "Important as history is, Blutstrom and his weapons have become the symbols of hate groups and death cult's worldwide. One less symbol for them to worship is always a good thing."
"Not always, Ms. Belladonna," Oobleck replied. "I understand your strong feelings towards the subject, but I advise you to think carefully about how you approach it, because you might not know who you will hurt in the process." He looked over at Ruby, who was trying to hide her offended feelings. But Blake noticed, and her face softened.
"I'm sorry, Ruby," she said honestly. "It's a bit of a charged subject for me."
"I understand," Ruby replied, smiling. "But don't worry, if I get a hold of it, I'll make sure it goes to the Museum of Infamy that Dr. Oobleck told me about. I promise."
Blake nodded in appreciation, then turned back and smiled at Yang, who let out a sigh of relief.
A horn sounded off, drawing their attention to an older, portly man in desert archeologist gear—the one who sponsored this mission.
"Right, listen up!" The man said loudly, over the sounds of the idling engines. "For those who don't know, let me explain how this is gonna work! As soon as the lull in the storm starts, you will have ten minutes to find and grab as many items of value as possible! Weapons, armor and certain emblems are the priority! Your payment is entirely dependent on what you bring in and how much it's worth! To that end, each of you will be paid forty percent of what you are able to recover, after it has been sold! That means you may not get much money at all, and you won't be paid immediately! What's more, do not spend any more than ten minutes inside the storm—once it picks back up, it will rip your Auras to shreds in seconds, and then it will go to work on your skin! Understand?"
Everyone there nodded, and he nodded back.
"Alright then. Drivers! Sync up your timers on my mark!"
Alongside the other drivers, Oscar activated his Scroll and prepared to synchronize his timer with the man's.
"Three, two, one, mark!"
Oscar pressed on the touchscreen, linking his Scroll up. A timer of ten minutes appeared, and he placed the device in a holder on the dashboard.
"Good!" The man said. "Now, get ready to floor it into the storm! Ten minutes may seem like a bit of time, but it's really not much!"
As Oscar and Yang prepared, so too did Ruby and Blake. Ruby got out of her seat and grabbed onto the roll cage—the position she found the fastest for getting in and out of the buggy. Blake, on the other hand, just shifted her legs slightly out of her buggy to be able to hop out more easily.
"Ready... GO!"
The drivers all put the pedal to the metal and sped straight towards the ominous red storm. At first, Oscar wondered if it had even died down yet, especially since the timer hadn't started counting down. But right before they reached the edge of the storm, the clock started its countdown—right on time.
As soon as Ruby and Oscar plunged into the storm, they understood why they had to wait for the lull. The wind was howling in their ears, and the sand hitting their bodies felt like tiny bullets. The visibility was so bad, they were practically lost as soon as they entered.
"Focus on the compass, Oscar!" Ruby shouted over the wind. "We want to head northeast! That's where most of the best weapons should be!"
"Got it!" Oscar replied, steering the buggy to the left. As they sped over the dunes, the wind died down further, and Ruby was able to see dozens of weapons and armor sets around them. Keeping an eye out, she picked out the ones she knew from the encyclopedias, rushed over to them with her Semblance, grabbed them and put them in the back bed of the buggy, and returned to her place on the roll cage all without Oscar having to stop or slow down. By the time they reached where the best loot was, the back was already a quarter of the way full.
Upon reaching the area they wanted to be, Ruby kicked in a higher gear and began moving even faster, grabbing dozens of weapons and armor pieces, from simple but ornate, to complex folding weapons that looked equal to modern designs. The back of the buggy was filling up rapidly, and they still had time to spare.
After a couple more minutes, Oscar signaled to Ruby that it was time to head back. Seeing that, Ruby zoomed back to the Sandrail, locked down their haul, and sat down in the passenger seat.
"How do you think we did?" Oscar asked.
"I think we're good," she replied. "But I really wanted to get that pepperbox!"
"We only have three minutes left," Oscar told her. "We've got to head back before the storm picks back up!"
"Okay," Ruby nodded, but he could tell she was disappointed even behind her face covering and goggles. Turning around, he headed southwest toward where they entered the storm.
On the way back, Oscar turned to look at Ruby, only to find she wasn't there. Stopping the Sandrail, he looked around to find her to his left, squatting over something. Driving over, he hopped out and ran up to her.
"Ruby, what are you doing?" He asked frantically. "We're running out of time!"
"Then help me dig!" She shouted. "I found it! I found Blutstrom's pepperbox!"
Oscar looked down at Ruby's hands and saw her grabbing onto a mace head. Looking more closely, he saw eleven holes in the head, with one much bigger than the rest.
"Is that really..."
It is, Ozpin answered. I would recognize that mace head anywhere. That's Nox, the primary weapon of Vlad Blutstrom.
"Come on, Oscar!" Ruby shouted. "It's stuck! I need your help!"
Thinking quickly, Oscar ran back to the Sandrail and pulled out a collapsible shovel, unfolded it, and began digging the pepperbox out of the sand.
Meanwhile...
Blake and Yang were already heading out of the storm with a measly load of weapons and armor. The two realized very quickly they weren't exactly versed enough in weapons history to collect a decent hoard, so by the time came for them to turn around, they had barely managed to collect more than a dozen weapons, and most of them didn't look particularly important.
Once they made it out of the storm, the two brought the Sandrail to a halt, coughing and spluttering from the sand. Even with their faces covered, the sand managed to get into their mouths and lungs. Blake's jacket and Yang's hair had both turned red from the dust covering them.
"Dammit!" Yang coughed, spitting out rust-colored sand. "It's gonna take forever to get this out of my hair!" She shook her head back and forth, sending up clouds of red sand from her once golden locks. "You were right—this was a stupid idea!"
"Well, look on the bright side," Blake replied, tilting her head to knock the dust out of her cat ears. "We made it out before the storm picked up, and now we know what to expect from the Wasting Winds in Vacuo."
"I guess so," Yang grumbled, before looking at their measly haul. "We're probably not gonna get much else out of this, though."
"Yeah," Blake sighed. "I don't know what I was thinking when I said I was going to find that pepperbox before Ruby."
"About that," Yang said, looking at her lover. "What the hell was that back there?"
"Huh?"
"You know Ruby. You know damn well that she's a weapons geek, and not some closet genocide supporter. So why did you act like that?"
"I..." Blake looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude, I just get... passionate about these things. Blutstrom slaughtered countless Faunus throughout his life, and the Great War only made him worse. So, it's a very charged subject for me." She then took a deep breath and looked Yang in the eye. "But you're right. I went too far. I'll make it up to her when I get the chance."
Yang smiled and hugged her, then looked around. "Speaking of which, where is she? Those two are cutting it a little close, aren't they?"
"Very close," Blake agreed, looking at the timer on her Scroll. "They need to hurry up and get back, or the storm's going to pick up again."
Ruby and Oscar were still trying to pry the enormous pepperbox rifle from the sand. The weapon was buried deep, and stubbornly resisted any attempts by Ruby to pull it loose. And the hole seemed to fill back up almost as quickly as Oscar dug. But the two persisted, spurred on by the promises of incredible wealth and the opportunity to hold one of the most elegant weapons in existence.
The more Oscar dug, the more he saw of the pepperbox. Each jet black barrel was accented with beautiful gold patterns, untouched by the decades of neglect in the harsh desert environment. It was as if something had shielded it from the sand.
Oscar, Ozpin said urgently.
"Not now," Oscar snapped, "we almost have it!"
No, you do not! Look down at what is holding it in place!
"What?" Oscar paused and looked down at the barrel of the large rifle. He had managed to clear away most of the sand, and what he saw made him blanch.
Holding the pepperbox in place, wrapping around it in a death grip, were at least half a dozen hands, all mummified from the dry desert. Oscar cried out in shock and fell back, confused and panicked.
We have to get out of the storm, now! Ozpin told him, and when the boy looked around, he realized that the wind had begun to pick up. His eyes widened as he looked at his Scroll to see the worst news possible: the timer had run out!
"Ruby!" Oscar shouted. "We gotta get out of here!"
"No!" Ruby shouted back. "Not yet! It's coming loose! I just need more time!"
"We're out of time!" Oscar yelled, grabbing her by the hood of her cloak. "We've got to go!"
At that moment, something clicked in Ruby's head, and she remembered the last thing Little said to her when they were still Little. Acting entirely on instinct, she let go of Nox, grabbed Oscar, and zipped back to the Sandrail with her Semblance. The two landed inside the buggy, and Oscar quickly hopped into the driver's seat and slammed on the gas pedal. The Sandrail roared to life and sped off into the storm.
It was now as if the two were being hit by automatic gunfire—every grain of sand pelted their skin like a bullet. Ruby's Aura began flickering as it tried desperately to protect her from damage, but it was quickly being eaten away by the tiny particles.
"We're not gonna make it!" Oscar shouted, panicking.
Use the booster, Oscar!
"You sure?"
Yes! Just do it!
Oscar shook his head, steeled himself, and pushed the button on the steering wheel. The buggy immediately accelerated to an even greater speed, popping a wheelie as it sped towards the edge of the storm. However, Ruby's Aura then broke, and she started groaning in pain as the storm started wearing down on her exposed skin.
"Hang on, Ruby!" Oscar shouted desperately. "We're almost there!"
"Let me go! I gotta go in after her!"
Yang was struggling against both Blake and Oobleck as she tried to get back into her Sandrail.
"Yang!" Blake pleaded. "We won't even know where to look for them! We're just going to get lost in there!"
"She's right, Yang!" Oobleck said quickly. "We just need to trust those two to make it out! I'm certain they will, we just need to hope they are still in one piece when they do!"
"But she-"
VRRRRROOOOOOMMMMM!!!
The roar of an engine caused the three of them to look over at the edge of the storm, and they saw a red and black Sandrail flying out of the red cloud of dust and landing on its wheels, before it skidded to a halt several yards away from them. The trio blinked, then ran over to the buggy as its driver and passenger clambered out, coughing and spluttering.
Oscar looked decidedly unscathed, aside from being covered in red sand from head to toe. However, the same couldn't be said for Ruby. The young Huntress's arms and legs were covered in nasty abrasions, as if the storm had eaten away at her skin. Blood was flowing slowly from the wounds, but not enough to be dangerous.
"Oh, man," Ruby coughed, looking down at her arms. "Oww..."
"Ruby!" Yang shouted, running up to her sister. "What the... what happened to you!? You look like you have the worst case of road rash ever!"
"Young lady!" Oobleck scolded Ruby. "Did I not tell you that the storm would skin you alive?"
"I wasn't... paying attention to-" Ruby started coughing again, and reached for her canteen to wet her throat.
"We found Blutstrom's pepperbox," Oscar explained between coughs. "But it was stuck. We couldn't pull it out, and by the time we realized what was happening..."
"Well then," the man who sponsored the mission said, walking up to the group. "You're lucky you only got a little scuffed up."
"Right," Ruby said, turning back to look at the Dunes. "When's the next lull? I've got to get that pepperbox!"
SMACK!!
"GAH! AAAAHAHAAAHOOOWWWW!" Ruby screamed as Yang slapped her raw shoulder hard. "What's that for!?"
"Are you even listening to yourself, Ruby!?" Yang shouted angrily. "Look at you! You look like you fell on a belt sander! There's no way you're going back in there!"
"I agree," the sponsor said, walking up and uncovering the back of the Sandrail. "That weapon is cursed—almost every Huntsman who's ever tried never made it back alive. Besides, you don't have much reason to—this is the best haul I've seen in over a decade!"
"Oohh!" Oobleck exclaimed, looking at the dozens of weapons and armor pieces that filled the back of the buggy. "This is indeed exemplary work, Ms. Rose and Mr. Pine! This haul will fetch a fortune! I will need time to properly appraise your finds, but I daresay your love for weapons came in handy!"
Ruby laughed. She knew from her own knowledge that her haul was decent enough to gain a decent pay, but she didn't want to overestimate her own skill.
"Now," Oobleck told the others. "You should get Ruby back to the city and have her wounds treated! I will stay here and begin the appraisals!"
"Oh, come on!" Ruby whined. "It's not that bad! I'll be fine! Besides, Dad would kill me if... ow, okay now it's starting to hurt. He's right, let's go."
"Oooowwwww..."
"Yikes!" Nora winced. "Did she fall off the buggy?"
"Nope," Yang replied. "That was all the sandstorm."
"Dr. Oobleck did warn us," Blake admitted. "But it's not as bad as it looks."
"That's comforting," Ren said, concerned. "Because it looks terrible.
"Oooowwwwww..."
The four had made it back to Shade and were now resting for a while so that Ruby could heal her wounds before tracking down Qrow. On the way there, Ruby's adrenaline rush wore off and the pain from her injuries began to set in. She was now lying on her bed, bandaged up by Klein, and moaning in mild agony. She decided against pain medication in order to be ready to find her uncle as soon as she was healed, but she was already regretting it.
"Is it too late to ask for those pills?" She asked, her voice strained.
"Sorry, Rubes," Yang replied, "Klein already left, and I don't want to call him all the way back here, especially if he's in his grumpy mood."
"How about you take it as a lesson?" Blake interjected. "Maybe now you'll respect just how dangerous the desert can be."
"Hey! It's not her fault!" Nora said, putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "It's like the locals said, that pepperbox is cursed! You can't really blame her for falling for something she's always been interested in!"
"Uhh, Nora?" Yang said, pointing at Ruby. "Can you let her go, please?"
"Huh?" Nora looked at Ruby, who was wincing in pain from Nora's hand on her very raw shoulder. "Oops! Sorry!" Nora took her hand off, and Ruby laid back down.
"Oooooowwwwwww..." she wheezed.
"Anyway," Yang continued, "I know Ruby was a bit more obsessed with that thing than normal, but I have a hard time believing it was cursed."
"Well," Oscar interjected, "It's not exactly a curse. More like an enchantment."
All eyes turned to look at the boy, surprised.
"Ozpin wasn't sure until I touched it, but he said Nox has something called an empowerment charm—a rare enchantment that bolsters the traits of the wielder. Depending on the strength of the enchantment, the user could become anywhere from twice to ten times more powerful than usual. But it also amplifies emotions and other traits."
"Example?" Yang asked.
"Okay, uhh... well, Ruby's love of weapons was amplified to the point of being an obsession as soon as she touched the pepperbox, but if she had gotten it out, it would have taken her desires to do good and made them even stronger. Vlad Blutstrom, meanwhile, was corrupted by the nature of the enchantment, turning him into the genocidal monster we know him as today."
"Wait a minute," Blake interrupted, "Are you seriously telling me that the most evil tyrant in history was made that way by a magic weapon? That he wasn't actually as much of a monster as he seemed?"
"No," Oscar replied, "Vlad Blutstrom was always a monster. The enchantment only made him an unstoppable one."
"So, how did he get that thing enchanted in the first place?" Yang asked.
"Salem," Ruby guessed. "There's no way... she wouldn't try to make the Great War last... as long as possible."
"That was Ozpin's guess, too," Oscar agreed. "Nox was an heirloom weapon, but it wasn't until after Blutstrom inherited it that it gained that enchantment. He must have sought Salem out for more power, and in exchange, he would do whatever it took to please her. That likely included prolonging the war by committing as many atrocities as possible. I wonder what would have happened if the King of Vale hadn't impaled him on his sword."
"It makes sense," Ren admitted. "But that opens the door to other questions. Did she have someone manipulating things in Mistral? Were there agents in the other kingdoms? How many other events did she stick her fingers into?"
"There's no way of knowing for sure," Blake said, ears twitching. "But we should focus on how we can combat her."
"Yeah," Yang agreed. "As well as making sure we're all ship shape. Speaking of which, where's Jaune? Shouldn't he be here by now?"
"He's still on his own mission with Weiss," Ren explained. "They're probably still on patrol."
All of a sudden, a voice came on the intercom.
Would Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long please report to the headmaster's office. Repeat, Blake and Yang to Theodore's office.
"That was Rumpole," Blake said, concerned. "Did we do something wrong?"
"Ehh," Yang shrugged, "She probably just found out we didn't go along with Theodore's plan. C'mon, let's go." She looked back at Ruby. "Give me a call when you're healed up, Rubes, then we can go find Uncle Qrow."
As Blake and Yang exited, Oscar approached Ruby's bedside. He felt guilty that he didn't figure things out sooner.
Ren noticed, thanks to his evolved Semblance. But he also noticed something else between them... something shared.
"Nora," he said, "we should get going as well. See if there's anything we can do for the people in the city."
"Huh?" Nora looked at Ren strangely, then picked up on things. "Sure thing, Ren! Let's go!"
So, the couple left the room, leaving Ruby and Oscar alone. The two simply stayed still and silent, awkwardly, for several minutes. Eventually though, Ruby broke the silence.
"So... what would really happen if I actually got that pepperbox? Would it have made me stronger?"
"If you held it for long enough, yeah," Oscar said. "But you would need a few hours to attune to it. The enchantment was fairly weak compared to some other weapons with similar charms. Anyway, you should just forget about it for now. We're probably not going to get another chance any time soon."
"Right," Ruby said, resting her head on the pillow and trying to ignore the burning pain in her arms and legs. "And what about the Relic of Destruction and the Summer Maiden?"
"Both are still safe," Oscar replied. "The Vault is being guarded constantly, in cases Cinder gets ahold of the Summer Maiden's powers. As for the Maiden, we figured it would be best to keep her at arm's length. Her identity is only known to a select few, and we all keep our distance to prevent suspicion."
"Okay, but who is she? I can't keep away from her if I don't know that."
"What kind of logic is that?" Oscar asked. "But she is sort of connected to a friend of yours, so I guess I should tell you. Her name is Starr Sanzang, and she's Sun Wukong's older cousin."
"His cousin?" Ruby looked at him with wide eyes. If Sun was also involved, then she definitely wanted to keep Starr as safe as possible—she didn't want to put the family of a friend in danger. "Okay, I'll keep my distance. But what about the Relic? It's a sword, right? What does it do, exactly? How does it work?"
"Well, it can only really do one thing," Oscar explained. "Once you commune with the spirit inside, every swing of the Sword unleashes a wave of pure destructive force. That wave obliterates anything and everything in its path, with no discrimination or choice between targets. In exchange, the user must give up a year of their life for every swing, because causing destruction on such a scale also destroys a part of yourself."
"Wow," Ruby breathed. "So if Salem gets ahold of it, then we've lost. She'd be able to use it as much as she wants."
Oscar nodded grimly. "Which is why we can't let the Vault be opened, no matter what."
Silence fell again, and this time it was Oscar who broke it.
"I really am glad you came back, Ruby. I sort of hit a hard spot when we thought you died. I started training harder and harder, hoping that I would get the chance to fight Cinder before I merged, because I still wanted to be me when I got revenge."
"Oscar," Ruby interrupted, lifting her head back up. "Who says you can't still be yourself when you and Oz merge?"
"What?" Oscar looked confused. "B-because that's how it always happens. Once the merge is completed, Ozma is who's still around. Sure, there might be some of me left, but-"
"Oscar, stop." She looked him dead in the eyes. "I just went through something that was supposed to change me forever, leaving me with no memory of what I was. Instead, I stayed me. And the Tree is what created the Brothers, so it's a lot more powerful. If I can stay me, then you can stay you. You just have to try as hard as you can, okay?" She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, wincing as fresh pain shot up her arm. "Please, Oscar. The group won't be the same without you."
Oscar blinked, eyes wide, then smiled. "Alright. I'll try.