Her vision began to stir, and with a mild throbbing in the back of her head Weiss felt her senses start to return. Though dazed she instantly felt that something was off, and immediately made to move.
"Hey hey hey easy easy!" The man's tone was hurried, and Weiss felt the panic flux tenfold as she struggled and shook. Arms held her own down and she mustered out the few words she could from her scratchy throat.
"Get... off of... me." It was intended to be a shout, and yet she found herself unable to raise her voice any higher than that of a whisper. "Let... go you... heathen."
"Chill Weiss, chill, it's me!" Weiss stilled for the barest instant, but it was just long enough to allow her vision to settle. Though blurry she managed to make out a shape she was all too familiar with.
"S...Sun?" Her eyes widened and she swore silently at the feint hint of fear which somehow managed to slip out in her tone.
"Yeah, now you got it. Ease up will you, we're safe." The fear wilted away smoothly as the blurriness began to subside, and with a small breath of relief she ceased her struggles, only to notice the soft sensation all around her.
"Where... where are we?" She tried as her eyes wandered around, taking immediate notice of the floral patterns along the blanket which covered her.
"Blake's place... well, her parents place anyway." Sun spoke with a relaxed look.
"Her parents?" Weiss felt a little confused, but then again that seemed to be the pattern for the past year or so. It was strange: Blake never talked much about her home life, and Weiss always assumed it was because of more unsavory reasons. Blake had been a part of the White Fang after all, and so Weiss had naturally assumed her life was one of struggle.
"Yeah..." Sun scratched at the side of his cheek, an almost comedic look of conflict across his face. "Turns out she's kind of a princess... in a way."
"What?" Weiss was blindsided again, and Sun looked like he was struggling to come up with an answer.
"It's complicated. Turns out her parents are the leaders of the island."
"Leaders of the... island." Her mind tried to wrap around it. "You mean... Menagerie... this whole island?"
"Yeah..."
"Not just a single village, but all of it?"
"Yep."
It took a second, but instantly the realization came flying like a rocket. Her eyes shot around as she took in the rather lavish, and yet peacefully simple layout of the room. Everything was so clean, so organized, and stylized with various warm floral patterns. Weiss, despite realizing the gravity of her current predicament, couldn't help but admire how welcoming the room felt; a stark contrast to the cold oppression of her own family home.
Weiss found her thoughts begin to race as she eased back onto the bed.
Menagerie had been trying for a while to get recognised as it's own independent kingdom, and yet had been denied several times, so much so that most in-depth info about the place was rumor and snippets at best. The rest of Remnant knew almost nothing aside from the face value rumors and word spoken from travelers, with the only solid bit of fact being that the White Fang had their base stationed there. Weiss had overheard the other upper-class at times debate whether the kingdoms should just attack the Fang directly, but tensions over the treaty from the great war had left everyone at a standstill.
Much to her dismay Weiss had just as much information on Menagerie as everyone else, and most Faunus when asked would avoid the topic altogether. While there was plenty of trade, the only other info they had surrounding the place was more on it's apparent cultural aspects, rather than the political side.
What scared Weiss however was the fact that she had no idea who Blake's parents were, or what they were even like. She had no idea of the customs and rules that she needed to follow, or what would be deemed as an insult or act of aggression to them.
The last thing she wanted to do was make tensions worse.
"You doing alright?" Sun's gentle voice eased her back to him, her eyes taking notice of how he sat next to her bed.
"I'm... I'm just a little tired." Her body felt numb. "It's all just a little much."
"I understand, trust me on that." For some reason she did, she believed him wholeheartedly. "Being in a strange place, getting to experience the worst of it right off the bat. Not exactly a great first impression."
"Yeah." Her eyes wandered over him, easing up his chest to settle on his eyes as she leaned over. "Hey Sun, why was it that you kept with me back in Vale."
"Back in Vale?"
"Yeah." She pulled her eyes away. "I'd been trying to push you away, seeing you as just another ruffian Faunus. You could have easily walked away or left me alone, and yet you didn't. Why?"
"Heh." His eyes turned away as she looked to him again. "That's a toughie. It's... kind of hard to explain. I... well... I just felt that you weren't all that bad. I've met plenty of rude people in my life, and many who looked down on the Faunus, but you seemed... how do I put this... 'more than that', if that makes any sense."
"What do you mean?" Her voice softened as she felt a pressure build within her chest.
"You were rude, and acted petty harsh towards me for being a Faunus, but it felt more out of fear than any real hate, like I told you before, but along with that I saw something different. The way you talked, and the way you pushed me away, it wasn't just that you disliked me out of mistrust, but it was like you didn't know how to connect with people at all. It felt like you were pushing me away more because you didn't know how to handle someone not running off when they saw your bad side, and if we're being honest..." His eyes locked with hers, and his look of raw determination pierced her.
"It made me want to get closer to you."
Everything began to blur as she felt the warmth slide down her cheeks. Weiss wanted to speak, but her throat felt tied as she curled in on herself; hugging her knees tightly as she felt arms wrap around her. It hurt, more than ever as the reality came crashing down all around her. The last time she felt the true warmth of an honest full embrace was back when she was a little girl, back when she still lived in the fantasy of childhood innocence; back when she believed her father loved them.
Weiss felt her mind torn back to memories of her mother, back before she lost herself to the bottle. Weiss remembered her mother for her understanding and soft kindness, rather than the intoxicated stumbling mess she had become when father let loose the truth. The pain multiplied substantially as her thoughts were invaded by the vile man; a man who only saw his family as a means to continue his putrid legacy.
That man had destroyed her childhood when he shouted out how little they mattered in an instance of rage; all on the one day she should have been happiest. Her parents had gotten into an argument on her birthday, and in the heat of it he yelled about how he never loved her mother, of how he married only to take control of the company.
He had shattered her mother, and with it her illusion of a loving family.
Weiss held herself closer as she was unable to fight back the sobs, and she felt Sun squeeze her tighter in his grip.
"Please... don't let go..." She needed something, anything, to hold onto. Everything just hurt so unbearably, and Weiss felt that if she didn't have anything to keep herself grounded then she would lose everything.
Sun's grip locked as she allowed herself to fall back in his embrace. She pressed herself as close as she could to him; wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could. Sun, for all his laxed attitude and optimistic outlooks on everything, felt so sturdy in the endless sea of conflicting emotions which tore at her in the vicious tides of pain and anger. Sun was the pillar that stood tall against the world, and Weiss felt something she'd never really felt before.
Safe.
This Faunus, this man had made her feel safe. Laying next to him she felt as though nothing could ever touch her, and with that safety came a swelling of relief. It was embarrassing, and her pride screamed for recompense, but Weiss shoved it aside. Sun made her feel warm, he made her feel cared for, he stuck by her side no matter how badly she broke, and that was something that had the pressure in her chest burn hotter than ever before.
RWBY had made her feel safe and respected, but Sun was on another level entirely. It felt like he understood her in ways nobody else could, and with that realization she held onto him firmer.
With him, Weiss felt in control.
.
.
"Not much farther now."
Ruby wished she could trust those words, but the mass amounts of shifty criminals giving her the eye had her thinking otherwise. Pulling Pebble closer Ruby picked up pace as she followed Prim along the beaten crusty streets.
Not long before they had passed into the more rundown section of Lokk, and as she suspected it was just as down and dirty as the rest of the city - which wasn't saying much when she thought about it.
Lokk itself passed more for a large settlement rather than a city, however the merchants would often stop to offload and sell goods due to it being the necessary in-between for both the capital and the borders. While there were plenty of other cities and towns deeper within Halvali - including the name sharing capital itself - there were next to none along the outer edges of the kingdom aside from Loc. As such many were forced to dock so they could resupply, which in turn made it an opportune spot to set up shop.
Ruby knew this, and yet she often still found it a mild annoyance regardless. Almost every border dock was the same, and yet she couldn't really get used to just how busy it was. It wasn't so much that Ruby was worried for her safety, but rather that she found it a hassle to deal with every wannabe thug who made their play against her.
"There we go." Prim waved over towards a small shack just off the main road, nestled tightly between a dirty bar and a trade house. "Good thing too, sandstorm's starting to pick up."
Ruby knew the tiny shack was more than it let on; at this point almost every place she'd been to had a secret compartment or base of some kind. They picked up the pace as the sands began to ravage any sense of distant visibility just beyond a couple blocks. Ruby was starting to get real sick of sand; this was the second time she had to deal with it, and it was no more fun now than it was back at the island.
Prim pulled open the door, and low and behold Ruby looked past to the sight of a ladder delving deep into the ground.
"Whelp, down we go." Prim was all too happy as she descended into the hole, and Ruby felt a massive headache as she stepped ahead.
"Carefully now." Ruby lead first, with her eyes on Pebble as he remained above her. She was wary and ready to catch him should he fall; and to give Prim a proper punishment should she catch her afterwards.
Pebble however had no issues throughout the climb, and a little while later they touched down.
"Took your time, eh?" Prim was standing there tauntingly, and Ruby bit back the several vile responses readied in her head. "See, all's well and good. Come along, I'll show you around.
Ruby pulled Pebble close just as she had before and they continued along their merry way, only for Ruby to take notice of a few oddities along said way. As they drew deeper into the tunnel the torches disappeared entirely, and glowing deposits of Dust lit the path. They eventually drew to a door, and Prim gave a few good knocks.
"Who goes?" A plain voice spoke as Prim responded in a gruff tone.
"Me cryin dagger."
A few locks clicked and the door shifted open. "Captain, took you a while." The young man's eyes shifted to Ruby as she held back any signs of emotion. "And who's the hag?"
"She's our ticket out of this mess." Prim said with a hint of satisfaction.
"Her?" The man appeared to be less than receptive to that.
"Yeah, got a problem?" Prim challenged as the young man raised a brow, fluffing his rather noble midnight overcoat.
"Several, but that's inconsequential for now." His eyes slipped along her, and Ruby had half a mind to 'collect' them from their sockets. "Please, explain to me how she is supposed to help us."
"You know exactly who this is." Prim stated with a much calmer tone, and the man mimicked it with a sigh.
"I do, however I fail to see how a brute can deal with our issue. This isn't exactly the same as just 'kill the target' or senseless collateral damage, otherwise we'd have been out of this predicament already."
"Yeah, but a silver-eyes might be able to see it through."
"And you truly believe that?" The man lay a hand on his hip as his voice shifted lower. "Rumors are often the downfall of any truth seeker."
"And yet every rumor has it's origin." Prim replied with certainty, her voice spiced with a dash of confidence and surety. "What's the harm in giving it a go? We're damned either way."
"There are plenty of problems... but yes, I do agree. We need to take every chance we get." The man looked to his fingers, and Ruby noticed how they twitched. "We're running out of time."
"Then let's put this into motion already. If I'm a dead woman walking then I at least want to go down swinging."
"Yeah." The man sounded solemn, much more than Ruby suspected based on his bland and at points taunting tone from just seconds ago.
Whatever was against them clearly had them on the edge, and Ruby began to realize just how... pale they all seemed. It was a strange sort of pale, not one of sickness, but rather that all color appeared to have dulled a tad; just enough to be noticeable, but not enough to prompt immediate medical attention. Ruby looked down to Pebble, having noticed his grip on her loosen, and saw him looking at them oddly.
"Fine, I suppose there isn't much else to be done either way." The man spoke as he took off, and Prim looked back with a smirk.
"Don't mind him, Gasket's always a little peeved at something." Prim told as Ruby raised a brow.
"Another nickname I take it."
"Aye. You'll quickly find that most of us have given up our old lives, and with it our names. Gasket's our maintenance guy, and keeps track of just about every nook and cranny of our base and ship."
"Let me guess: we're headed to that base now." Ruby tried as Prim nodded.
"Caught Dust-in-hand. Follow me, and try not to let your jaw hit the floor." Ruby was about to question that last part, only for the woman to take off.
Following along she noticed that the glow of Dust grew brighter, until they passed into a much larger cavern; Ruby allowed herself to take in the scene, and she heard Pebble let out a small gasp as they passed the threshold and stilled.
"Ah, home sweet home." Prim stated as she took in a breath, all the while both Ruby and Pebble were absorbed in the sight.
The cavern was fairly sizeable, and yet not overly huge. There were several small huts and buildings densely packed. What drew them in most of all however was the ceiling and walls, which were absolutely painted with brightly glowing Dust crystals; creating a sort of rainbow sky of light.
"Like the view, it's crazy right?"
"More like deadly." Ruby mumbled as Prim let out a laugh.
"Normally yeah, but these ones are completely aloof." Prim pulled out her gun, and before Ruby could register anything it fired smack dab at the center of the ceiling. Everything should have gone up, but all that happened was a chip of a crystal breaking off. "Turns out this ain't Dust, but rather a shiny lookalike. Glows all pretty and the like, but otherwise harmless."
Ruby recognised it now, especially with how it chipped from the shot. Ize: a rather dense crystal similar to Dust, however it had no volatile responses to trauma or aura like that of the real thing; in other words it was as Prim put it: a shiny lookalike. While Ize wasn't used like Dust, it did still have it's place. When powered with it's more useful counterpart it could be manipulated to radiate different colors depending on the dust. It was commonly once ground for use in old tech screens many years before holograph technology would replace it.
In the current period though it was still mostly an unknown, and Ruby had no use for it at the moment, other than maybe getting some to fashion a small makeshift lamp for late night reading.
"Alright, stop gawking and let's get a move on." Prim told as she started off.
Looking to her Ruby took Pebble's hand as they carried on.
.
.
Pebble clung to Ruby as if his life depended on it. Not because they were in danger, nor because of the unfamiliar place or people, but rather because of the people themselves. The boy's semblance had always been there for him, and it had never once caused him any issues. His ability to track aura and see it in ways nobody else could had proven his saving grace many times.
Yet something was amiss.
His eyes wandered over everyone as they went about their business. A few stopped and looked his way, but most eyes trailed to Ruby as the whispers crossed his ears. Some sounded suspicious, and others not so much, but one thing was for certain: they had little real faith in her to do whatever they needed done.
Aura was special, Pebble had known that before he could even speak; Something about the spiritual life energy just reached out to him. When he was first able to understand words his mother told him that she had awoken his aura on the day he was born; he had been born sickly and far too soon, and would have died if left alone, so she unlocked it in a last ditch effort to keep him alive. Apparently this was deadly as it could have been too much for his underdeveloped body, and yet she told of how his aura had been so low it had no visible effect, and instead the healing properties of it went to work on him.
Pebble continued his horrid life up until the day he escaped, with his mother telling him the truth about aura.
"Aura is the essence of our souls, and when we pass they flee our bodies to the lands beyond. I'll always be there to wait for you, but I pray to whatever gods are watching that I don't see you for a long time."
He'd run, and his semblance had allowed him to keep track of his pursuers to better avoid them. His escape was a combination of luck and skill, and his life as a thief began. Pebble over time learned that a person's aura would appear to dim as they grew closer to death, and had at points allowed him to tell if others were dead or merely faking it. When the aura was gone, it meant that person had died, and that scared him...
Because everyone here was auraless.
Author's note
...
Another one down, and another step into the wild. Once again we have a few solid moments, particularly with a few choice characters. I'll let you work out the details, but for now know that some things may pick up again... or not; gotta keep you on the edge, of both suspense and patience.
Anyway that's all this time, see you later.