Everything felt... heavy.
Ruby wasn't quite sure what was happening, but she could barely bring herself to move. Okay, so that last thing with V and the woman who resembled her mom might have had more of an effect on her than she realized, but the girl never expected it to be so bad she couldn't function. She could feel everything, it was just all so sluggish.
With way too much effort on her part, she managed to rummage her arm a little, only to realize it was bound. A bad sign, yes, but it would take her all of ten seconds to realize it, and right as said realization slapped her across the back her eyes ripped open. Instinctually she activated her semblance.
Less than a second later and she was feeling the air of freedom.
Her body reformed, and the young woman found herself standing defensively in the dark room. It was simple and small, with four walls equally spread and a bed against the back; a small lamp beside it on a stand made the space complete. The room felt a little cold, drafty even, but she ignored than in slew of identifying her surroundings. The first thing she saw was a mangle of blankets sitting on the bed; the theories started rolling in. However, before she could do anything else a bright light flooded the room, and she had to squint to avoid the burning sensation within her eyes. Through lidded vision she saw a shadow, and almost immediately she could tell who it was. Ruby then attempted to speak.
"Jau-"
"I'M SORRY!" The light vanished as the door slammed, and once again Ruby was left confused and alone in the darkness, with nothing but the dull lamp beside the bed to illuminate the room. Ruby was lost on all fronts now.
First of all where was she? This certainly wasn't the snowy wilderness she remembered, and second of all, when did Jaune arrive? Rubbing her forehead, Ruby did her best to ease off the rapidly approaching headache. The scene with the older woman, and the boy who's perspective she took, it had all been a dream - a disturbing dream, but a dream nonetheless. She couldn't recall actively choosing to take a nap, but then again the last thing she did recall was holding her crying partner.
Had something happened?
Ruby figured she could ask about it later. She shifted her sights around again, catching the small glowing numbers of the digital clock positioned next to the lamp. Wandering over Ruby nearly did a double take. One in the morning; was it really that late? Assuming her vision was still a little hazy, she reached for and took the device. Yet even now with the clock in her hand, the thing still showed a time of one in the morning. This action also showed off the next change to catch her attention; a set of bandages covered her arm.
Ruby observed the limb, and how her entire hand looked to be wrapped up. It was again strange to see. The girl didn't recall getting all that hurt from Adam - he barely touched her - so why was her hand covered in bandages. Actually, as she observed her arm she noticed how the bandages seemed to end at her elbow, as if they were only for her hand alone. Ruby raised her other arm, and sure enough it was bare - not a wrapping in sight.
Lowering the limb she saw the bed again, and noticed something she hadn't seen before. There was a chair next to the bed, and on it looked to be some towels. Perplexed yet again - far too much in her opinion - Ruby made her way over. Getting closer helped to sharpen the image, as she then realized it was not a set of towels, but rather her cloak; neatly wrapped up and set atop something. She lifted it up, taking a look at what was underneath.
It was her clothes.
Huh? Ruby raised a brow as she tossed her cloak over on the bed, reaching down and picking up the equally folded and cleaned attire. Her blouse, wristbands, corset, skirt, stockings, and even her underwear were carefully stacked one after the other. It felt weird to see, as it meant someone else had washed her delicates, but hey, nothing was out of place, so she wasn't going to complain.
Wait a minute... Ruby paused for a moment. Jaune had just walked in, screamed sorry, and left super quick. Slowly her eyes began to widen, and with a heavy dose of apprehension she looked down.
Her perky nipples may as well have waved hello.
There's this special sensation of dread one gets when experiencing a particular type of nightmare. In these dreams the individual is usually in a state or scenario where they're forced to partake in a task of disturbing circumstance. As a child back in her first school years at Signal, Ruby had once experienced this dream. In it she was on stage for the end of year showcase, which the classes usually put on in celebration for graduation. It was a display of each student's combat prowess, and they were put on a stage with targets to destroy. They were meant to use all the skills and techniques they'd perfected over the year to do so.
In this dream Ruby's name was called, and as an excited little girl would she hopped up with the hopes of impressing all the other students. However once she took Crescent Rose in hand she noticed how heavy it had become. It was so bad she couldn't even lift it. Her beloved partner had fallen to the ground, all the while the crowd of teachers and parents groaned in disappointment. Ruby had begun to worry, and reached for the weapon, only to notice something wrong...
Her sleeves were missing.
She'd followed the sight down her arms, and across her little body. To her horror she'd seen her state of undress, sporting nothing but a set of teddybear undies. Terrified, she covered herself the best she could, all the while the laughs of everyone echoed throughout the school. Never before had she felt like crying so hard as then. However she'd awoken from that dream, and despite still wanting to cry, the little girl held it together. Ruby wasn't alone then, and Yang looked over from her own bed. Yang had been there back then to reaffirm how it was all a dream...
A grace she didn't have right now as her nightmares became reality.
Ruby Rose was not a little girl anymore though; she was a grown woman - still technically on the edge of her teens, but that was besides the point. She was adult enough to know how to deal with this type of situation. Yes, her friend Jaune had seen her, in all her exposed glory, but he didn't laugh like in the nightmares. Jaune - as a respectful friend should - blurted out his apology and slammed the door. He probably saw something, but he clearly didn't mean to, so she reasoned that it would only make things a little awkward at worst.
Don't misunderstand, Ruby would rather she didn't just make a show of her naked body towards her first friend, but he took it better than she thought he would. That wasn't to say she expected him to perv over her, but she never thought he'd be as quick on the draw to leave as he was - thankfully it appeared movies and fiction were wrong in that regard, at least for now. His speed of departure was something impressive really, and here Ruby thought she was the quick one.
With a sigh she scowled at the clothes held neatly in her arms, feeling just a little upset at their abandonment of her, and then took a glance back down at her body again, taking note of the small patch of fuzz between her legs; she'd need to take care of that eventually.
Wait... Internally she huffed, realizing she never even packed a razor. However the irritation fell off, and she decided she'd just buy a new one later when she got the chance. These thoughts were halted in their tracks as she toyed with the idea of just how much of her body Jaune saw. Before she could spiral down into the depths of her mind again a knocking came from the door.
"Hello?" She called out, reeling in her voice, only to immediately call back. "Don't come in yet!"
"You okay Rubes?" It was her sister, and she instantly felt relief.
"Yeah, I think. I just... need to get dressed."
"I know." Yang grumbled, and Ruby knew then what had happened. Yang continued however, confirming this knowledge, as well as a little more. "Jaune told us..." Her sister then sighed. "Can you hurry it up please? He's been apologising nonstop and won't shut up; it's starting to hurt my ears."
"U-um, yeah... tell him I said it's fine and not to worry about it." Ruby evened her voice, feeling a little less embarrassed knowing Jaune felt so guilty. "It wasn't his fault."
"Got it." Yang grumbled. "I won't beat his ass this time because it was an accident, so try not to worry about that, but I will next time, so be ready."
Ruby heard her sis start off, and she set her sights back towards the innocent fabric piled in her arms. She wasted no more time, and soon enough found herself walking down a set of stairs. The place looked neat and tidy now that she wasn't confined in a small room, and at the bottom Ruby noticed how Jaune was next to Pyrrha. He had his head hung lowly, sat atop his hands and obscuring his face, all the while the pale woman rubbed at his back in consolation.
She locked eyes with Pyrrha, and the woman smiled as she shook Jaune.
"You've woken up." Her smile was comforting, even if Jaune's face of terror contrasted humorously. "How do you feel?"
"Okay." Ruby replied, walking over to the couch and sitting with the pair. She'd taken her place right next to Jaune, who let out a minor 'eep' and stiffened. "How have things been?"
"Calm." Pyrrha answered smoothly, however the atmosphere twisted shortly after as her face bore a small amount of worry. "At least it was until Jaune came back with you all."
"Came back with us?" Ruby questioned, sending another look towards the boy who still held his strong his shameful face; eyes shut tight and looking away, as if to hide from her.
"Yes. He'd been trying to call you since we arrived. But every time he tried there was never an answer - none of us could get through." Her look fell even more. "Until earlier tonight when your scroll finally picked up. Yang was the one to answer, and we were given the rundown on what happened."
"About that..." Ruby interrupted. "What happened to me? One moment I'm holding Weiss, and the next I'm here."
"We were hoping you could answer that." Pyrrha said as the mood dropped again. "The first thing we were told was to go get you; they said you just passed out randomly."
"Randomly..." Ruby didn't like the sound of that, especially after the dream she just had. She looked down to her hand again, and then raised it. "Can you tell me about this then?"
"When they brought you back, it had a glowing mark; just like Weiss had along her neck. It..." Pyrrha stopped for a second to collect and formulate her words. "It wouldn't stop glowing. We were all worried, and started to speculate if it was due to something else with you. The girls and I took you upstairs to one of the spare bedrooms to have a look. It was only the mark; we stripped and checked every inch of you, but the glow seemed to be contained exclusively to your hand. We decided to just wrap it up and hope for the best."
"Huh..." Ruby looked at the wrappings. "I don't see any glow now."
"Yes, we've noticed." Pyrrha said. "Can you unwrap it and show us?"
"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Ruby tried as her eyes glanced around. "Where are they all anyway?"
"Jaune's sister and her wife have taken them out to some of the local pharmacies. They believe there might be something there to help, but I doubt they'll find anything."
"And Yang?"
"Right here." The woman called as she stepped in from behind. "Was just in the kitchen stirring up some soup." Her smile was warm, and Ruby felt like she was at home again. "How you feeling?"
"Alright." Ruby looked at her hand again, and with a little spice of hesitation removed the wraps coating it. She came face to face with her palm; clean and free of any injury. Strangely enough the cut from V was gone too; it was Weiss's neck all over again. "The glow is gone."
"Yeah... I guess it is." Yang walked around, taking a spot before them in an opposing chair. "You really had us spooked, but I guess it's fine for now. Do you have any idea about what might have happened?"
"I don't know." Ruby began, trying to reason out a solid response. "I just... I was holding Weiss, doing my best to be a good leader, and then... I woke up here."
Ruby wasn't quite feeling up to describing the dream, not yet anyway. She'd tell them all later, as right now she just wanted to relax.
"Right..." Yang leaned back. "Well, I guess I need to fill you in a little, now that you're awake anyways." Yang looked to get comfortable. "We've told everyone about the fight with Adam, and the house of Grimm."
"So they're all caught up?" Ruby half-assumed, only for Yang to shake her head.
"Not quite, we still haven't told them about what happened with the lamp." Yang looked to pause and squirm a little, facing her again after a second of thought. "We decided it was probably best to wait until you woke up. We... We're not quite sure what to do, so we wanted to ask what you thought."
"Me?" Ruby pointed to herself, and Yang nodded.
"Yeah. You're our leader, so it's only best to leave the ultimate decision up to you." The blond bombshell rested her tone, taking on a more reserved appearance. "The others and I decided we'd follow along with whatever you choose, because unlike us, you kept your cool." Yang chuckled a little. "When we were wrapping you up, Maria gave us a talking too. Nothing outright revealing what happened, but enough to show us how we may have lost control a little. If we're being honest here, I kind of feel stupid acting as dumb as I did. Way to go me I suppose."
Yang offered a half-hearted laugh, and Ruby looked over to Pyrrha.
"You... don't know?"
"We know what we've been told, and nothing more." Pyrrha sounded awfully at peace for somebody who knew they didn't have the full story.
"And... how do you feel?" Ruby tried, watching diligently as Pyrrha hummed.
"I feel fine. Whether you choose to tell us or not, I'll remain content. I don't know what happened, but it must have been pretty bad if it led to all this." She smirked. "I'll still be a little curious if you leave us in the dark, but I trust you enough to follow anyway even then. If we needed to know immediately, you'd tell us."
But did this count as 'need to know immediately' information. Ruby felt it was only right to tell Pyrrha and the others, but thinking back on how distraught she felt learning the truth, coupled with everyone's reactions and V leaving, she wasn't sure what to do. Should she tell them and risk everyone acting out, or should she keep it secret and let that horrible reveal come later? What was right, and what was wrong?
Her head was hurting again.
Come on! This should be easy! Yet try as she might the young woman couldn't let go of that initial dread that followed after the truth, nor the memory of V's hollow face burned into her retinas. Would telling them make things better, or worse? Would hiding it damage the trust between them all?
What should she do?
"We'll stick with you, no matter what." The reassurance came from Jaune of all people, and Ruby looked up to see his still shifty face. He'd regained the courage to speak, and she felt a genuine smile overtake her. That appreciation and comfort was displayed in her tone as well, as she offered a sincere show of gratitude.
"Thank you, Jaune."
"D-don't mention it." He paused again, still shaky as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "A-and sorry about walking in on you like that; I should have knocked."
"It's okay." She replied, letting some of her worries wash away. "It was just a little startling, and you were only worried about me; I'm not upset."
"T-thanks." He chuckled a little, still looking embarrassed. "I didn't see anything, promise, so try not to hold it against me."
"I said I wasn't mad." Ruby let out, quirking a brow. Pyrrha, having seen this, chose to elaborate.
"Don't take it personally; turns out Jaune here has a sense of honour in regards to respecting women. Don't you, Jaune?" The nearly albino woman pushed herself against the man, and he froze up again. Ruby was a little confounded, but Yang jumped in with the answers.
"Lover boy's been looking after his sisters his hole life up until Beacon..." Yang smirked devilishly. "And according to the one we're staying with, he was even worse than me when it came to beating bullies away."
"Really?" Ruby faced Jaune again, noting the red brushing his cheeks. When she first met the boy he'd been a bit socially awkward, just like her; it had been the reason she connected so easily with him. He wasn't the most skilled either, being well behind everybody else, but he was a dedicated worker who looked towards improvement and always gave it his all.
Was this bubbly innocent boy really a rogue once upon a time?
"I know, right?" Yang gave a short, yet powerful laugh. "Who knew he had it in him!"
A door opening cut off the conversation.
"We're back~" Came the hearty voice of Nora, who wandered in apparently carrying all the spunk, as everyone else looked drained. Instantly her already starry eyes brightened immensely. "Ruby!"
The young girl would have been wrapped in the jumpy gal's arms, had it not been for Ren, who's quick reflexes caught the woman by the hands. He offered a fatigued, yet relieved look her way. Ruby waved, and they approached. Weiss let a small breath escape as she walked over, giving the little red reaper a small hug, and then backed away to offer Ruby some breathing room. Her voice sounded just as tired as Weiss herself.
"Welcome back. How are you feeling."
"I feel alright, just a bit tired." Ruby told for the second time that night, but with everyone present it would hopefully be the last. "Pyrrha said you all went to look for medicine."
Weiss gave her a middling expression, waving her hand lowly in a fifty-fifty sort of motion.
"Somewhat, we actually went looking for an aura expert. With your hand glowing like my neck, we assumed it played a part in you passing out." Her relieved look twisted into a grumpy mask. "For some ungodly reason there aren't any experts here."
"What?"
Ruby may not have been the most knowledgeable of girls when it came to different cities and parts of the world. She had, however, been under the belief that a place as big as Argus would have some sort of aura physician. Sure, the smaller towns not having one made sense, but Argus was supposed to be a central hub between Vale and Atlas trading, so much so that the local culture had easily noticeable aspects from both of the kingdoms.
Weiss's cross look deepened as she gave the frankly baffled young leader the news.
"Apparently the embargo has kept anyone from leaving Atlas, which includes medical practitioners, tradesmen, carpenters, and so on."
"Hold on." Pyrrha cut in. "If they can't come back, what does the city do if something major happens?"
"I thought so too." Weiss shut her eyes, doing her best to restrain the anger prominently boiling under her skin. "They told us if anything serious happened, they'd call up Atlas and send a request for aid."
Yang just scoffed.
"As if it'd do any good. By the time somebody comes, it'll probably be over; not in a positive way either."
"Trust us, we know." Weiss reeled back in her emotions, slipping on a more reserved face. "There was one interesting tidbit we picked up though. Apparently there's a sort of underground transport set up behind the backs of the officials. And get this; it's run by a subsect of the soldiers who disagree with the embargo."
Before Yang could speak up again, Qrow intervened with his own opinions on the matter.
"When there's infighting, you know things are shit." He shook his head, and then Maria chipped in.
"Which is specifically why we shouldn't follow their example." She tapped her cane on the floor. "Most of you look like you've moved past the little shindig, but keep in mind that won't be the only time you'll question if what you're doing or fighting for is right, let alone possible."
"We get it already." Yang said as specks of discomfort swept across her expression. "We'll be more careful. You don't need to bring it up all the time."
"Maybe not, but I'll keep hammering the point home until you've proven to take the lesson to heart." Maria then turned to Ruby. "Speaking of, will we be telling the rest about what happened? The girls left it up to you, and your friends here seem to be fine with the idea."
All eyes were on Ruby, and after a second of pondering she spoke.
"Okay, we will." Some uncomfortable looks were shared between them all, but then Ruby continued. "But you guys need to promise me you'll stay calm. No screaming, yelling, or shouting... understood?"
The more 'out of the loop' among them shared some questioning looks, and nodded afterwards, with Jaune being the one to give the audible answer.
"Um... okay?"
"Promise me." Ruby kept her voice stern, and Jaune's wondering expression fell deeper.
"Uh, we said we would al-"
"Promise me." Her tone was rock solid, and before Jaune could speak Pyrrha elbowed him. He winced, but the monstrously skinned woman leaned into his ear and hushed something to him. His eyes lit up, and he seemed to finally understand what he needed to do.
"Okay." He gave off a small, confident smile. "We promise."
"Thank you." Ruby said, taking a deep breath. "Now... it all started with the name Jinn."
.
.
"Hmm." I watched as Robyn lowered the binoculars, her expression as strict and solid as ever. "It doesn't look too strange." A small chuckle fell from her lips. "Then again, these things never are." She turned back. "Alright this is the place, so what do you have in mind?"
"Really, me?" I said, mirroring her tone, but accentuating it as to showcase my mild surprise. "I thought you wanted to be the leader?"
She rolled her eyes, taking it as more of a play it appeared.
"Fooling around won't win you any favors. This was your idea, so naturally, you should be the one to execute it. Or, perhaps, are you saying you don't have any ideas or plans?"
"No." I clarified, seeing her vision focus fully on me again. "I just wanted to confirm who was in control for this operation. I do, in fact, have a plan, although it mainly relies on your knowledge of this mine."
"Guess you're in luck." Robyn allowed her stance to fall off a little, her arms lax as she spoke in a less hostile manner. "We've searched this place before. Turned up nothing from it, but the grunts on the inside knew before hand. We had a leak in the line."
"A snitch?" Now I was questioning the solidity of their little group. Robyn shrugged, like she wasn't at all bothered by it.
"Yes, however we dealt with them already."
"How so?" I wasn't exactly sure what they were implying, because from what I'd seen, I didn't believe she was the type to just do away with a rat permanently. Her actions were loud, sure, but she didn't look the type to merely kill and be done with it.
"That..." She emphasized. "Is none of your business. Let's stay on track, shall we?"
I nodded and turned my sights back to the place. Robyn wasn't as mindless as many others I'd come across; she sniffed my info syphoning attempts almost as fast as I threw them out. Granted these were blatantly obvious ones, but I couldn't afford to come off as an adversary any worse than I already was, at least not yet.
Playing along it is.
"Did you see a room matching this number before?" I asked while flashing the key card, only for Robyn to shake her head.
"It's been a year since then, and I only remember the smirking bastards watching us check each and every corner; we were legal back then." Her face soured, only to slip into a more devious grin. "Although, now we've got our second chance." Her eyes locked to mine again. "We're looking for that door specifically?''
"Yes." I told, lowering the card and putting it away again. "It leads to the slave pens, or so I'm lead to believe."
"Do or don't, they're hiding something inside." Robyn set her sights back to the mine in the distance. "Last time was proof enough. Although I doubt they're ready for us this time, they're probably not stupid either. Whatever they're hiding isn't exactly going to be an easy find, especially if it's a crime even Atlas can't ignore."
Atlas can't ignore? What types of crimes did they? Robyn implied things were intentionally being obscured, but my memories of the few interactions I had with the general made this all sound a little far fetched. However, according to Roman the man was very quickly tumbling towards the vortex of madness, so could this be an effect of such a state?
No, no that wouldn't make sense. If Ironwoood was indeed ignoring crimes due to insanity, then why would their severity matter? Unless there was a motive for allowing certain criminal acts to go, he'd just abandon his actions towards crime entirely. Again, this was Roman's words, meaning they were to be taken with a pinch of salt. Still, With Robin seemingly echoing the same sentiment, I wondered just what I was in for when we finally met.
Dare I hope to be wrong?
I shook my head, flinging those mental distractions away. I couldn't let my mind wander; there was a job to do. Taking Robyn's explanation and partial ranting into account, I pondered a thought verbally, aimed right at her.
"How much of the layout do you still recall?"
"None." She said with a smile. "But that won't be a problem." She whipped out her scroll, tapping away somewhat, and suddenly an ethereal map - a hologram as they were called, and something I hadn't seen in a while - appeared above the horizontally held device. "One of my girl's is already in the system now, charting out the main course within their records. If it was logged in the mine's internal computer systems, then we have full reign of it."
"Interesting..." Tinted a light blue like the scroll's conjoining spectral screen itself, I noted how the main building had only a single entrance and exit door. Many smaller rooms lined the sides of the center, which was a massive open area. Reason suggested it was where the brunt of the work took place, storing the mined minerals and goods for shipment and processing.
What caught my eye though was an odd contradiction. Looking back to the real building I noticed its shape didn't quite line up with the interior design. Near the back-eastern end from our view on the distant hill I could see how a small section jutted out, and yet the revealed floor plan didn't have any hallways or rooms dipping out that way. There was however a small hall that cornered in the general direction of what I saw.
Realistically it was probably just a small oversight in construction, or perhaps that was where some ventilation allowed the smoke and fumes to expel out into the world. However it would be a wise idea to check it out regardless, on the off chance it did hide something of value. The floor plans we saw were only square rooms and halls, so it wasn't a perfect descriptor of the interior, and each massive opening or side room was revealed with simple words. Main Floor was the large center room of the mining complex, with many of the small rooms labelled 'Washrooms', 'Break Room', 'Dressing', etc.
"We have a problem though." Robyn's snapped me awake once again. "We still haven't worked out how we'll approach. If we get caught we can kiss any secrets they're hiding goodbye, and we'll be most likely need to retreat; they take security seriously."
That did make things rather difficult, but nothing serious; more obnoxious than anything. I certainly wasn't a stranger to breaking and entering, but even so, not knowing the land made me a little more cautious than usual. I gazed back out to the place, watching as the smaller figures of workers and guards alike milled about on the sight. Suddenly walking up would lead to us being spotted pretty quickly, even in the dead of night.
And then I saw it.
A small vehicle drove up the path and pulled in. There was some chatting it looked like, and then it drove into the massive opening where carts and other heavy equipment had used to enter before. There was a single door in and out of the building, for people that was, but the machinery would use an entirely different entrance due to their size. I'd ruled out the idea of using it initially as it was the most visible point of entry, and ridiculously loud when said doors opened to boot.
Another small vehicle pulled out, same as the one that entered, and it was then I knew how we would get in.
"That right there." I watched as it drove along the path. "If we can board it unnoticed, we can hitch a ride straight inside."
Robyn looked out, and then spoke.
"Equipment drop-off. They usually bring extra supplies for the workers when things break. If they're on the move it means they're looking for something." A shifty grin graced her lips. "Not a bad idea. It'll take a bit to catch up with it, but I'm certain we can board it no problem."
"We?" I questioned, and she just looked to me.
"Yes, we. I'm not leaving you alone just yet. For all I know, you could just snitch to the guards and get a free ride to Atlas. I'm keeping my eye on you."
"Until I prove myself?" I tried, and she just scoffed.
"That's for you to find out, now come on." She waved for me as she started off back down the path we took to the hill. "We can catch them if we're quick. I'm sending word to the girls to keep an eye on the streets, so we'll have complete coverage of wherever this guy is headed."
I followed along without question, realizing I should have known I'd have an escort for this mission.
Author's note
...
Back again with a more reserved chapter.
Ruby's awake, and after her dream it's a wonder she kept her cool like she did - embarrassment aside that is. She's made the decision to tell the others about Jinn; can't wait to see how that turns out I bet.
V and the new crew are once again searching for trouble, and with the prospects of liberation on the line Robyn seems eager to help; while keeping V on his leash of course.
That's it for now, so feel free to tell me what you think.
I'll catch you later.