After thirty minutes of observation Sienna could safely say they'd found the base. Then again she wasn't sure what she expected in all honesty; the thing looked more like a pile of junk than a proper base. It was a series of walls; no roof, no doors, just walls and openings. The wooden obstructions were high enough that it blocked the view between the 'rooms' at least, but that was about it. Sienna sent a small judgemental look to Ilia, as if to say 'really' to what her ex-soldiers called a base. The girl shrugged in a 'not my fault' sort of attitude, to which Sienna's accompanying nod replied 'fair'.
"Are those them?" Ilia whispered as she pointed from their position above at the cavern's edge. Her direction led the ex-leader's eyes to the miniscule group of flowers along one of the inner walls in a small bed of soil.
They took the entire garden. Granted it was small, but it still made her cringe on the inside. They could have easily removed the flowers and stuffed them in a bag, or better yet take the seeds and leave the plucked plants to die as to prevent her from gaining access to them. Clearly they weren't thinking that far ahead and Sienna began to wonder if they were getting worse.
"How are we doing this?" Ilia asked as Sienna looked about. Despite the size of the area there didn't seem to be many guards around - another strike against their level of organization. Still Sienna didn't like how empty it felt, it was as if they were taunting someone to make a move, and she was more than tempted to do so. Her better judgement won out however and she whispered to Ilia; not taking her gaze from the base for even a second.
"We take the quiet rout."
"Which is?"
"I go down there and grab the flowers." Sienna could feel the skepticism slather the girl's voice as she responded.
"You're joking right."
"Not even in the slightest."
"And we wonder where they get their poor planning from." Sienna broke her gaze long enough to send a quick glare before returning to her watch.
"Look at it. No matter what angle or approach we take if anyone is at all any distance away or above they'll see me coming. For dust's sake it's literally just a few boards shoved in the dirt, the fact that they even consider it a base is laughable. All we can do is rush in and out hoping nobody sees us." Sienna tapped at her pocket along the inside of her attire. "If you see anything weird headed my way send a message. I've got my scroll set to silent so all it'll do is rumble. If I feel a message I'll assume I've been compromised and make a run for it, taking the flowers along the way."
"This feels stupid." Ilia commented as Sienna dipped her legs over the edge.
"This whole scenario is stupid; didn't stop them."
With that Sienna let herself fall quietly into the sand below. The good news for her was that the cliff overlooking the beach provided enough jagged stone and shadow to keep her mostly covered from a direct sighting, along with the sand at her feet deafening the landing. The ex-leader crouched low as she moved, seemingly slithering across the sand as she made way towards her target.
The silence from her scroll told her that she hadn't been seen creeping up to the outside, a good - albeit tense - start. Not wasting time the woman stuck close to the wooden blockade, low to the ground as she crawled around to the nearest opening. Again she was greeted with silence, at least until she was right next to the entrance. Sienna paused and pressed against the wall, listening to the sounds of talking that moved from somewhere within. However it was too far away for her to make out, and so with a swift motion she quickly glanced inside.
The flowers sat against in the back across from her, peacefully ignorant in the small bed of soil lifted slightly above the sands in their wooden cot. A quick observation showed no signs of anybody inside, yet the voices sounded near. Taking the chance she moved carefully inside and over to the blossoms that stood brightly against their faded environment. Wasting no time she took a small handful and placed them in the pouch at her side.
Got you. She was about to take her leave when the voices caught her attention.
"Are you sure? This sounds a little too fantastical to be believable." Adam's voice - though crunchy - was just loud enough for Sienna to recognise.
"I can assure you we tried every other angle first, and yet all other ventures led to dead ends. It is simply an impossibility." Fennec's voice was all too slimy to be mistaken, and Sienna allowed herself to lean against the wall; ear pressed to better listen in on the conversation.
"And if the results are wrong?"
"We've done the tests several times over. The pouch is only around fifty years old, and yet the leather it's made from has been lost for centuries."
"The world is a big place, perhaps the species is not entirely extinct." Adam argued as Fennec sounded snarky in his response.
"If hand tailored the leather smith would have recognised it immediately. The kingdoms have been trying to recreate it's properties for years now, and failing each and every time. Not to mention the contents within. "The man's voice betrayed his excitement. "Gold coins long taken out of circulation in favor of lien over seven hundred years ago, and not to mention the sigil they sport. I'm not able to trace them back to any of the kingdoms or our recorded history. It's been well documented that the Schnees have had such an ability through the use of their glyphs, albeit to an incredibly limited degree, so surely it must be possible."
"I have a lot of respect for you and you brother Fennec, however that respect doesn't blind me from proper judgement. This theory of 'time travel' you pose is simply too far out there; you're grasping at strings here. I know you can find a better answer, but until you do so I need you to return to your work. Speaking of... I've specifically requested you to release the Schnee girl to be delivered to me, how long do you intend to keep me waiting." A hint of anger bit through his words, and Fennec's response sounded rigid.
"In time. We're arranging her transportation as we speak. You shall have her as per your request."
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me I have work to attend to." Adam's last words left a silence that lasted around ten seconds. Sienna was about to leave when an unknown voice broke the air.
"Are we really going to hand her over?"
"Of course not." Fennec told, drawing Sienna's curiosity. "We've finally gotten hold of a Schnee, and a daughter of Jacques no less. This is the perfect opportunity to bolster morale. Tell me: is the platform ready?"
"Yes sir."
"Good, we'll bring her there tomorrow night. Make sure everyone is present for the show."
"By your orders. But if I may... what of Adam?"
"Plenty of things can go wrong during travel, I'm sure he'll understand."
There were footsteps, and Sienna took that as her que to leave. Just as they entered the woman made her escape without so much as a whisper. Her claws found their way between the small cracks of the cliff and Sienna had no trouble making her way back to Ilia.
"That took a while." Ilia commented. "You stopped for a bit down there. What happened?"
"Adam." The girl froze as Sienna sighed. "He was talking with Fennec, something about a pouch." Ilia's small flicker of tension drew suspicion from Sienna. "Do you know anything about it?"
"It's Vermillion's." Sienna found her eyes widened as Ilia explained further. "I found it where he was first sighted, before Kali got to him. I didn't recognise anything in it so I gave it to the Albain brothers and they told me they'd have someone look into it. Why do you want to know?"
"They spoke about it; something about it's leather being impossible to get. Adam laughed at a supposed theory..." Sienna's eyes widened and narrowed as she swore through grit teeth. "Fuck. They're too close..."
"What is it?" Ilia asked as Sienna shook her head.
"Nothing." She made past the girl in a swift stride. "Come on, we need to get back to Kali.
"You've got the flowers?"
"Yes, and the sooner I can start the better."
.
.
"Dream-Spinner..." Ruby felt an odd sort of connection with the name, which was strange as she'd never heard of it before.
"Right now we're able to talk because it's power isn't strong enough for it to make overt moves, and in it's weakened state it cannot kill us."
"Kill us." Something didn't add up and Ruby pressed a question. "If it feeds on our memories as we dream then why would it kill us? Wouldn't that render us unable to dream?" The woman shook her head.
"The Grimm already has a grip on your soul, and as such will force it to dream forever as the memories within are fed upon. However a soul can never truly be destroyed, only changed. Once caught it never lets go unless something forces it to." The woman smirked. "And that is precisely how I believe you'll fell the creature." Ruby understood what she was getting at, as she could feel it herself as her senses dulled.
"It holds a direct connection to our souls, meaning that if I were to manipulate it I could harm the thing directly." Ruby said as the woman nodded.
"Yes, but not right yet. It needs to gain a certain amount of power first, otherwise it'll just let you go."
"On the contrary. I will face this destiny of mine with what you humans call 'dignity'."
The woman looked startled as the voice echoed around them, yet Ruby felt no fear. She didn't know why, but she oddly calm, and there were no flickers of malice in the voice.
"So you're the Dream-Spinner." Ruby called as she looked to the rapidly encroaching shadows around them. "Odd that you face us here and now. I thought you'd at least try to catch us unaware rather than face us directly."
"And why should I? Is it not your mission to achieve total and complete corruption?"
"How do you know that?" Ruby's eyes narrowed as she felt the creature seemingly laugh. An unnerving sense of calm filled her and in response she raised her guard as if to be struck from all sides, yet no such attack came.
"It's humorous in an essence. When we were first spawned over a millennium ago we could not fathom our true purpose. We knew only our rage, and our desire to destroy, and yet I am blessed. My sealing allowed me time to process the memories that I fed upon, and through them I was able to piece together part of you humans."
"Really?" Ruby spoke with a dull tone. "Piece us together... is that all you see? Are we just puzzles to you?"
"Life itself is a puzzle, and much like your kind there are many creatures which desire it's mysteries. However to bask in the full picture one must arrange all the pieces in order, and yet life itself is missing a piece. It was not lost like many would believe, no, all these years have afforded me the time to realize the missing piece never existed to begin with."
"An impossible puzzle." The blunt statement escaped Ruby and the creature let out a slight purr.
"Precisely. A picture with no definitive image, a game with no end, and yet the missing piece is large enough to leave an infinite number of possibilities. One can only imagine what would fill that empty space."
"And what does this have to do with you knowing me?" As much as Ruby wanted to dwell on the Grimm's words she still sought her answer, all the while her guard remained up at the ready for any sudden tricks.
"The answer lied within our very essence since the day we were created, yet our lack of understanding in human intellect barred us from deciphering the meaning. The day his power disappeared the meaning echoed from within myself. My then newfound understanding of humanity granted from my imprisonment allowed me to partially understand what was ordered of me. However it was through your memories now that I realize my true purpose. You being here has made all that was once an unknown shiningly clear, and as such I am ready. Yet I cannot guarantee the same of my brothers. Your removal of 'him' from this age triggered our path, and aware of it's end I shall greet my purpose with a learned human pride."
"Him..." Ruby felt herself tense. "Vermillion."
"So that is his name... Yes... it feels right to hear it within myself."
"Why? Why allow this? How do you know this is your supposed fate, and why would you follow such an end?" It laughed at her, yet the humor was not malicious. Oddly enough it felt a little childish to Ruby, and that scared her.
"As was your goal gifted to you, so was ours. We have the same end to reach; spawned from the same source. As such I await your move. Only you may truly destroy us; as it was meant to be; as is the purpose of our existence. Yet before you strike me down there is something you must know. The boy is within a crystal tower, and at the bottom lies the seal which locks me away. That seal holds an artifact which you need, one you'll find more familiarity with than the others."
Ruby clenched her fists, unnerved by the amount of knowledge the Dream-Spinner possessed, along with it's talk of 'purpose'. She wanted to question it all, and yet the shadows inched closer and closer to wrap around her. It read her memories, that much she understood, but just how many did it see?
"The seal... so it knows of the staff." Those words from the fading woman drew shock from Ruby.
"Staff?! What staff?!" And yet the only sight Ruby had was that of her fading form. A small smile graced the woman's lips as one last whisper flowed free.
"The infant hides it, my lost little one immortalized in peaceful rest."
The darkness swelled, and as it latched itself onto her Ruby felt it's essence coating her very soul. Ruby knew it was intentional as the creature sought it's demise at her hands. Normally she'd have no way to fight such a beast, yet she knew everything was a dream, and it was through that knowledge she was able to tap into the familiar burning power she'd so relied on during her youth.
She could not move her body, but she didn't need to, as with their connection so intertwined the fury of her light would cleanse the beast of it's existence entirely. Not even slumber could hold back the wrathful light of her soul, and that power usually locked behind their silver prisons burned in a furious wave drowning the darkness in a tide of light.
Without the silver to limit it the darkness was instantly eviscerated.
.
.
Pebble stepped back, shielding his vision with his small arms as Venus screamed in gut-wrenching agony. Every orifice of her body looked to burn with light as her spear fell to the floor. Not thinking he moved for it, and with all his might he forced the horrid bloody weapon through her exposed chest. It tore through her breast as it pierced through bone and muscle. With the spear standing violently out of her back he felt her body shiver and twitch as it tried to take in breath through a punctured lung.
"My... God... h-how..." Her words were accompanied by a flow of crimson which poured down her chin. Her hand reached for the wound, and yet she looked to have no remaining strength to dislodge the weapon.
Pebble felt her aura move for the wound, and yet the souls weaving around the spear ripped and pulled at it, keeping her own soul from aiding her dying body. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and soon enough she dropped to her knees as she went limp; held up only by the tip of the spear through her chest keeping her from falling back any further.
The boy could hold it no longer, feeling his gut empty itself as he fell to his knees. The flow of bile burned as it left, and yet a sense of fatigue and relief washed over him. He did his best to keep himself going, however he found the temptation too great to resist and he collapsed backwards. Staring at the ceiling his eyes began to blur as the lids fought to cover them.
He couldn't afford to sleep, and even as he struggled to remain awake the rest of his body fought against him. His arms were numb, and he couldn't even feel his legs really. His ears perked slightly as he was almost certain he heard noises, but the boy's vision was blurred and soon enough that too was stolen. His eyelids finally won out in their battle.
The last thing he felt was the arms of another, cradling him as he finally drifted off.
.
.
The smithy had them all in a slightly better mood.
The man himself had been able to fix up their equipment in spectacular time, and considering the high quality Pyrrha was honestly impressed. Most of the work was just touch-up, with Jaune looking impressed at just how pristine his blade could be when expertly sharpened. However it was Pyrrha herself who had been in for a surprize.
Pyrrha had brought along her shattered and ruined equipment when they had packed their things for the trip, and while she wasn't hopeful it would ever be fixed she still had a sentimental connection to it. The armor had been a gift from her mother after her first victory during a tournament, and had been refitted and added to with every victory afterwards. The boots, bracers, chest piece, and finally the last gift in the tiara had all come from her family; awarded by her mother and forged by her father. She still wore the tiara even as it clashed with her new appearance.
However that had changed.
The craftsman had been amazed by the quality of her ruined gear when she hopelessly asked if it could be repaired. He confirmed her suspicions that it was beyond saving, yet told her he could forge it into something new. It took him the better part of the day to do so and the results had been astounding. While she had no chest guard the ivory metal instead had been relocated to her arms in a series of plated gauntlets that reached past her elbow and just below her shoulders, held in place by a series of straps which allowed it to have pieces removed individually. The same treatment went to her boots as well which stretched up to the thighs in it's plating. Sure it meant more time removing it, but it also meant removing parts for individual and thorough cleaning.
As hunters they naturally possessed aura and had no use for heavy restrictive armor. Most of their equipment was for style and show as a way to entice the populace and inspire positive emotions to deter Grimm. While she wasn't sure it would inspire joy or anything she did know it put some sense of life back into her family gifts. Even the small tiara had a touch up and it's metal was stained white to match the rest.
Best of all he gave her a small plated skirt, conveniently covering the more exposed part of her legs when worn around the waist; something she was immensely grateful for.
"And that should do it. Here." The man handed Ren his weapons back, and the boy smiled at the sharpened blades. "It's nothing to ground breaking, but a dull blade ain't gonna haul in the Grimm."
"Thank you." The boy replied as Nora zipped to his side and stared in awe at the simple improvement. The smith then turned to Pyrrha with a slightly apologetic look.
"Sorry I couldn't save your stuff, but the fact that it still held itself together was a miracle itself. Usually dust infused metal deteriorates when too much is added. The use of dust and benefits included with it are heavily weighed against it's low probability of repair or improvement. However your equipment only had a tiny amount of gravity dust in it, and luckily it was low enough that I could save it."
"It's no issue." Pyrrha told as she looked to her arms. "We all know full well how impossibly difficult it is to repair, I'm just amazed you could do it so fast."
"Well I've been at it my whole life. I learned to forge with dust years ago near the ripe old age of thirty three." The man laughed for a moment and let out a calm sigh. "Of course getting old has given me plenty of time to hone my skills, even if I can't be hip with the kids anymore."
Pyrrha sent a polite nod as she cringed on the inside. Disregarding that she admired the work he did on her weapon; although all it had was a sharpening and a quick paint job.
I'm already Grimm looking, may as well go full edge. Teens and goth middle aged adults would rejoice at her near ridiculous lack of color, yet she was starting to get used to it. When they first entered town she'd drawn the stares of many, and even as she ignored it she couldn't help but feel embarrassed at her appearance. She was thankful to still be breathing, but couldn't understand the appeal of the style; even if Ruby had worn it somewhat back at Beacon. However Ruby had forgone any sort of make-up and had at least held bright red as her primary color, while Pyrrha herself had at best accented red; everything else was black or white.
"Still though, thank you." Pyrrha gave off a calm smile. "My equipment meant a lot to me, and I'm glad you were able to do something with it."
"No worries there. I was able to use most of it, and what I couldn't I used to improve your weapon." The man told with a smile of pride.
"You kid's ready?" Qrow poked in through the door from outside. "We've still got a few days ahead of us yet, so we have to make the most of our time."
Pyrrha gave an apologetic look to which the man waved it away, and with one last farewell the group followed after Qrow
"Not like back in the city huh?" Qrow let out to her as Pyrrha slightly nodded.
"He was certainly... friendly."
"Benefits of the country folk." Yang told as she lay her arms behind her head. "Everyone knows everyone, and they're not trying to scam you every chance they get." A yell about milk echoed in the distance. "Most of the time anyway."
"Enjoy it while it lasts." Qrow commented. "Not many more on the way. It's usually to dangerous for villages like this one to spring up. Luckily those that do tend to have plenty of hunters around."
"Along with supplies to keep them outfitted." Pyrrha shot as Qrow nodded her way.
"Exactly."
"So what your saying is we need to stock up while we can." Yang gave from behind as they passed along and stopped next to what looked like a shop.
"My point exactly." Qrow had a slightly irritated look on his face. "And as much as it pains me to say this: go on, get whatever you need."
Pyrrha didn't understand his apprehension, that was until she saw the smirk on Yang's face.
"Anything?"
"Just go you little leeches, before I change my mind."
Pyrrha watched as Nora and Yang zipped inside, followed along by a worried Ruby and a tired Ren. She looked to Qrow and found herself send a look of pity, to which he took out his flask and began to down it. With nothing else to do Pyrrha made her way inside, intent to at least keep her friends from bankrupting the man.
Author's note
...
Well, there it is. After all that - not much when you think about it - build up Pebble has the win stolen by Ruby... technically speaking anyway. Yeah it wasn't much of a fight, then again it was never meant to be one anyway; let's be real here Pebble wouldn't have stood a chance anyway.
At least Ruby got some interesting info, and she's closer to that so it's a victory nonetheless. She's not done though, and next time we may just see something weird... that's not disgusting anyway.
Sienna also got the drop here, although as you can tell she isn't in for an easy ride either. At least she made some progress.
I guess Pyrrha showed up, but not much happened with her now, at least in a grander sense.
That's all this time, see you soon.