"I'm not so sure this is a good idea." Pyrrha voiced her concerns, but even so she couldn't hide the apathy in her tone.
"Relax, it's just a quick bit of fun on the town. What's the harm in taking a short look around; to familiarize ourselves of course." Yang did not make any attempts to hide here excitement, and honestly Pyrrha didn't really care as she was excited too.
They'd been stuck in the room since they'd arrived, and with Qrow gone it only made sense that if they were to explore a bit then this was the opportune time to do so. Pyrrha understood why the man was cautious, but keeping six people cramped in a room while he was off playing hooky didn't sound fair. It was most likely stupid, but when Yang had suggested they take a look around Mistral - again for observation purposes - Pyrrha couldn't help but silently agree. She voiced some form of disapproval, but she was certain everyone knew there was no real intent behind it.
The logical more mature side of Pyrrha said they should listen to Qrow, but the more spiteful and excitable side said 'fuck it, why not'. She was a powerful young woman, and she had taken on more than her fair share of responsibilities. If Qrow was allowed to mess around for 'information gathering' then why couldn't she?
"Think they got take-out?" Nora's words instantly reminded Pyrrha that their attention span could use some work.
"It's an entire kingdom, so probably yeah." Yang sounded cheerful, and Pyrrha decided to merely roll with it. "Bet we can find a few good ones."
"But what if it's something weird, like granola?" Nora's oddly specific question raised a few brows, and not all of them belonged to their group. The girl looked oblivious to the weird looks they now received, but aside from Ruby who curled in a little the rest of them couldn't be bothered to care; Pyrrha herself once again included.
"Don't be picky Nora." Ren said almost robotically, as if it were a common statement he was used to giving.
"But it's bland." The ginger girl whined. Ren didn't even look back to the droopy eyes she sent his way, and Pyrrha fought back the smirk encroaching towards her lips as Ren quipped back plainly.
"No buts."
Nora went full pouty as her arms crossed and she mumbled something about birdseed; Pyrrha wasn't sure she'd ever understand her companions thinking. In a way though the silly change of pace was something the ex-champion adored, and as she looked around Pyrrha couldn't supress the smile which planted itself firmly over her face.
Mistral - despite it's high criminal activity - was a sort of natural beauty. Being high up in the mountains leant itself well to the rugged kingdom, and the multitude of valleys and cervices was something Pyrrha never really got to see too often. Sure she'd been in the kingdom before, but that was for one of the many tournaments she took part in; she never got to simply take in the sights before.
Yet while the location was superb, the invincible-girl couldn't help but feel a constant state of tension in the air, and that tension was deadly sharp.
Her eyes shifted, and she found herself evaluating almost each and every single person they crossed. They looked frightful, and a few even appeared downright depressed; while Yang and the others may have been able to take their focus off everything for the time being, Pyrrha herself could not. She certainly never blamed her friends for trying to relax, but with the knowledge that some sort of gang was running loose she didn't know if it was worth the risk.
She shook her head, scolding herself as she realized that going out was supposed to relax them, not make the tension worse. Casting a quick look over the others the tainted girl couldn't help but envy how carefree they all appeared, all aside from Ruby. It was strange though, and Pyrrha found herself focusing deeply on the younger girl.
Pyrrha never noticed it before, and maybe that was due to all the excitement over the trip, but taking a closer look she realized that as she caught glances at her cloaked friend's eyes a small tingle would burn at the back of her own. It was tiny, absolutely miniscule really, and yet it was there. She had first noticed the feeling back when Qrow told them about Salem, but Pyrrha knew she never got that feeling from Ruby back at Beacon.
Her eyes wandered over her skin, and she once again began to question her own body. Blake had once stated that looking into V's eyes gave off a sort of indistinguishable sense of fear, and yet Pyrrha wondered if her new physical state had that same effect. If it did, then she wondered if it was messing with her in more ways than one. Looking into the eyes of her other friends never gave any real response, but looking at Ruby did, and as dull as the feeling was it was still there.
What makes her different?
Pyrrha began to wonder if V had felt the same thing, and yet the thought only muddied her mind with more questions. Ultimately she pushed it all away, and instead focused on keeping up with her friends; they were determined to have fun, and Pyrrha was damn sure she'd be along for the ride.
"How's this place look?" Yang asked as they stopped before what looked like a small café. The windows were decorated elegantly, and a rim of flowers was both painted and placed along the sill. The name of it was prominently displayed across the center of the window.
"Widow's Dew?" Ren spoke, as if questioning who came up with the -quite strangely - out of place name.
"Who's Widow?" Nora piped as she stepped closer to observe the interior through the window.
"I don't think it's referring to the owner." Ruby spoke as she stepped forward, pointing to the small spider design craftily hidden along the one of the painted leaves along the sill.
"Spiders? Ew." Nora's look of excitement instantly dropped and she turned away. "Alright, this one's a flop."
Ren caught her by the collar. "We should at least give it a chance. For all we know it might be the only café for the next few blocks."
"But spiders."
"No buts."
And so they ended up seated inside with a rather riled Nora holding back th urge to stand and leave.
"Not very many spiders..." Jaune commented lowly as he looked around. Pyrrha felt the urge to sigh, but held it in. For the most part the café looked mildly shuffled, with some not so pleasant folk scattered around; several of which were giving them odd looks.
An awkward silence surrounded them, and after a few minutes Nora was the first to crack as she almost whispered; shakily holding in a shout.
"So we going to wait here all day or what?" Her tone was low, but her shifty eyes showed just how irritated she was. Pyrrha couldn't really think of anything to say.
For a café they don't seem to hold themselves very well. It was probably rude to think that way after only being seated for a few minutes, but with the tension from before and the silence - as well as the shifty eyes questionably glued to them - Pyrrha wasn't in any better of a mood from before.
"Well well, never thought to see you again so soon." The voice had drawn the focus from practically everyone in the café, and Pyrrha understood almost instantly why things had been so quiet.
"You again?" Yang blurted out as the woman only leveled a smirk her way. Lil'Miss lay her hand on the table, her eyes wandering over all of them as she spoke.
"I suppose it would be courteous to welcome you to my establishment, but I'm guessing this isn't what you quite expected now is it?"
"Well... um... not really, no." Ruby admitted, and the woman let out a quick snort.
"Yes, the place has seen better days, but with our little guests out mucking about it's quite difficult to keep everything in order and up to standards. They have a habit of causing chaos at seemingly random moments." Lil'Miss told, only to ease up as a myriad of shouts and general commotion permeated through the door and windows from the entrance. "Such as right now for instance."
Without so much as a word the group rose and burst out the front, intent on seeing what all the trouble was about, and Pyrrha in particular felt a swell of nausea and disbelief flow through her at the sight of it.
"What are those things!?" Yang let out as the scene unfolded before them. Pyrrha only had one word for her.
"Grimm."
.
.
"Through here." Prim told as she pushed through yet another unmarked door.
For the past several minutes since they'd entered the much larger building Ruby noticed how maze-like the place was. Rooms and halls, all similar looking, went every which way, and scarcely anything was there to act as a marking other than a few signs scribbled on some of the doors. 'Hall 1', 'Storage 3', Ruby knew the purposes of the signs, but she didn't like how the numbering was seemingly random. She assumed it was a measure to keep intruders from being able to easily get around, as those at the base would have grown used to it already. Ruby had to admit, it was working, and she was just barely able to keep her sense of direction; more from experience than anything else.
They stepped through, and Ruby had half been expecting another hallway, but surprisingly enough the room they walked into could only be described as gargantuan. It looked like a sort of theater, and as they stepped forward Ruby was able to peer down past the balcony. What must have been a good hundred people were cramped down below, all of them appeared to be talking amongst themselves with a few pushing through the crowds.
"Alright, eyes up here!" Prim shouted, her voice echoing off the walls as every single pirate down below raised their eyes up at them.
Pebble pressed closer to her, and Ruby in turn wrapped an arm around him in an attempt to comfort the boy. Ruby noticed how most of them were looking to her, rather than Prim, but she paid no mind as most would focus on her anyway; new faces tended to have that effect.
"Good, now we can begin." Prim lay her hands on her hips, taking on a sassy appearance as she spoke. "Now as we know things have been, for a lack of a better word, total shit around here. Not that surprising really with our lives on the clock, but still. I've called you all here because we may have a chance to change all of that, and trust me when I say this: we can finally turn things around."
"You said that before, and look at us now." The voice belonged to a portly man, weathered and rugged with greying hairs dotted along his chin. "I don't mean to disrespect you captain, but at the moment our luck has run dry. I may not be a betting man, but I know a stale deal when I see one."
"I understand that Duster." Prim's gaze wandered over several others. "And I know a good many of you feel the same, but we have something we didn't before." She waved over to Ruby. "A silver eyes."
"Are you sure you're not putting too much faith in those old tales." The man returned, and Prim gripped tightly at the railing as she stood strait.
"Maybe, but the stories of old spoke greatly of their dominion over souls. There's nobody else better suited to the task than them."
Ruby heard the shuffling below, and she herself fought back a tired laugh. Dominion over souls, it sounded absolutely absurd, well... it would have if she didn't know any better. Ruby was sure Prim had the wrong idea, but she wasn't completely off
Silver eyes did indeed have some control over the soul, but not in the way most would think. Ruby fought back a tired smile, and instead tried to remain indifferent as she thought back on her inherited power.
The 'Gaze of Silver' as she had come to calling it was the massive light flash she used to deal with waves of Grimm during times of crisis, and while it was effective as such it was also taxing on the user. Ruby recalled plenty of times when she was younger where she took it for granted and tried to use it consecutively, only for it to fizzle out when she needed it most. She cringed at just how long it took her to learn how to mediate it, but she let those memories lie dormant as she recalled just what the power itself was. The power was deathly effective on Grimm, but not because it was merely light, but for another reason altogether.
It was a purifier.
The wave of light itself would essentially wipe away all unwanted corruption in it's path, which was why it had been so effective against the Grimm. Corruption however was a variable, and it's meaning depended solely on circumstance and the user's own personal perspective. Everyone had a different definition of corruption and what it entailed, and as such the Gaze of Silver would change to match that of it's wielder.
For her she saw the wild Grimm as absolute corruption, and so the eyes would stop them in their tracks. However she never saw herself as a wholly vile corruption, only a necessary one, and so despite her blatant and self-acknowledged impurity she herself would remain unscathed. Ruby recalled tales of the silver-eyed warriors who could supposedly slay hundreds of bandits in a single gaze; if that hadn't proven to her just how mailable the power was then she wasn't sure anything would. She never fully believed those tales, as Humans and Faunus were attuned to both light and dark, but it did do well to demonstrate the power as she had come to understand, and she herself knew she could do some serious damage to those who stood against her.
Even souls could not stand against it's judgement.
However those stories would be lost to the echoes of history, and only the feint storybook tales of unstoppable Grimm slayers would remain. Yet while history muffles it's tales with time those long forgotten stories always seemed to find a way to the surface when the need called for it.
"Are you certain we can trust in this woman; that we should lay our lives in her hands?"
"What choice do we have." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and Prim's emotionless tone cut out entirely as she stared down the masses. It was cruel, calculated, and most certainly heartless, but she made it clear this was not a debate.
It was an order.
"By your word." Duster looked to ease somewhat, and Ruby noticed how his face softened slightly. She didn't know what he was thinking, but his appearance made it clear he would not fight Prim on her decision. For better or worse the path was set.
Ruby could only hope it was a relatively kind one.
Author's note
...
This is a very short chapter I know, but I'm going through some mild drama right now so I have to cut this here.
See you next time.