Chapter 37: The Sheriff of Mountain Glenn

Insert Wild Western cowpoke lawkeeper horsehide noises here.

"The end is near! Mark my words, doomsday is upon us. The Brother Gods shall descend from the heavens and reap their vengeance upon us for our impiety. Already do we witness the ill omens, children! The Grimm raze our towns; the White Fang plague our cities. Repent or henceforth foreknow your damnation, sinners!"

Ruby scooped Zwei up the floor and clutched him to her chest as the crazy old guy ranted and raved. He was surely harmless, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Don't worry, boy. The world's not ending."

Reaching into her backpack, she produced out a plastic container and took out a strip of barbecued chicken. Zwei yipped as she slid the morsel into his mouth, urgently scarfing it down. Ruby was glad Dad had sent him. There had been a note in the rocket locker, saying how Dad was being called away on a mission and the girls would need to take care of Zwei.

He couldn't have timed it better. After years dealing with a despondent Taiyang, Zwei had gotten pretty gosh darned good at raising people's spirits. Ruby needed that right now.

She closed her eyes, and the ground was zooming towards her.

N̵o̵ ̵h̵o̵p̵e̵,̵ ̵n̵o̵ ̵c̵h̵a̵n̵c̵e̵,̵ ̵c̵e̵r̵t̵a̵i̵n̵ ̵d̵e̵a̵t̵h̵.̵

Zwei yelped as Ruby squeezed him tighter.

"There's nothing to worry about, Zwei."

"Ruuu?"

"Nothing bad's going to happen. We're safe. Don't you worry, boy."

She and the gang were riding the early morning passenger train to Mountain Glenn, thought it felt more like the late late late super late night train. Ruby was exhausted from having to wake up so early to make it to the subway in time, and it was pitch black outside. They already emerged from Primary Pass, but it couldn't have been later than 4am, so there was no bright light at the end of the tunnel.

Weiss was busy puzzling and puzzling 'till her puzzler was sore. "I didn't see this part of Vale on the map. Just where is Mountain Glenn?"

Blake yawned. "S'not a part of Vale."

"So it's a frontier village? Shoot, I should've brought my makeup. These tiny towns never have convenience stores."

Ruby shook her head. "No, Weiss. How have you not heard all about Mountain Glenn? You're usually all 'Oh, look at me. I'm smart. I know words.'"

"Don't blame her, Ruby," said the cat Faunus. "Vale likes to hide its embarrassments from the other kingdoms. You only know about it because you're from around here."

Ruby stuck out her tongue. "Oh yeah? Then how do you know about it?"

"Yiiip!"

"You tell the kitty, Zwei!"

Blake ignored them and continued to explain to Weiss. "Mountain Glenn was an development funded by Vale to combat overpopulation and act as a proof of concept for expansion into the Grimmlands. Unlike farming villages that never grew larger than a few hundred people, this was to be a satellite city of its own, nearly one quarter the size of Vale. The original tract of land was a single narrow rectangular plot that acted as its own functioning city. It consisted of a residential block of houses closest to the mountains, a business district just past that, and farmlands that bordered the Grimm expanses. Thick walls were built along the edges of the settlement, and a hunter barrack was installed on the edge. The Primary Pass we're in right now used to be the only train route in or out of Mountain Glenn."

Blake sighed and frowned. "It was a beautiful dream, but the reality was a disaster."

"Grimm?" asked Weiss.

"Partly. Poor planning was really what ruined it."

Ruby shook her head sadly. She'd learned all about Mountain Glenn in school. It ate up nearly a full semester of history class in her second year at Signal. "Mountain Glenn was a money pit like no other. As soon as it was populated, there were issues. First, citizens who moved in saw Nevermores and Griffons flying about overhead like they were late to a very important date. They quickly wised up to the fact that no matter how tall you built walls, it only kept out ground-based Grimm. Thus, Vale built a roof completely covering the city. This mean that indoor lighting was needed, and the Mountain Glenn Dust mines were tapped twice as fast as expected. When they ran dry, a Secondary Pass had to be made for another train, this one exclusively used for ferrying in Dust."

Blake continued. "With the Grimm threat and Dust crisis solved, pioneers began to settle down in the new city and makes lives for themselves. Things were good for a while, and the population boomed. Unfortunately, Vale had promised a luxurious city lifestyle, not an oversized farming village. The Tertiary Pass was built to import textiles, plastic goods, and metal resources."

"And it all worked out?" asked Weiss, cautiously daring to smile.

"It could have, if they didn't get greedy," answered Ruby. "At this point, the Council of Vale had sunk hundreds of millions of lien into the city, and their 'proud colony' was depending on its mother city." Ruby snorted. "Some genius decided that it was better to invest a few more hundred million and make it self-sufficient. They decided to build an industrial expansion onto their existing expansion. The original strip of land was renamed Platinum Lane, and the new industrial district was designated Ore Lane. It had factories, refineries, warehouses, just about everything needed for a city. Then, the same geniuses realized that industry meant jobs meant people meant food meant farmland. A third lane, named Gravel Lane, was added. It was a mirror of Platinum Lane – more residencies, businesses, and farmland. The only thing missing was a second hunter barrack. Mountain Glenn was finally independent. Without the need to import as much, Tertiary Pass was converted to a tourist transport train."

"So, what…did they rebel or something?"

Zwei whimpered. Ruby rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. Blake scowled angrily, looking more upset than ever. "The industrial jobs were filled mostly by Faunus. Gravel Lane became a racially segregated slum. The denizens grew bitter, and with all that negativity in one Lane…"

Weiss covered her mouth with a hand. "Oh no."

"Gravel Lane was all but destroyed when its walls fell to the Grimm. All the farmland, all of the businesses, and half of the Faunus' homes were lost. Fifty thousand Faunus and three hundred humans died. A makeshift wall was erected to protect the survivors, but it's shoddy. Grimm still get in at times and terrorize the denizens. Gravel Lane was nicknamed Greengrocer Lane, because living there is like visiting the butcher. Platinum Lane wasn't so much as scratched. The hunters were more focused on preventing the Grimm from spreading to the human districts than they were on protecting the dirty Faunus." Blake spat onto the floor of the train.

Shock spread across the heiress' face at the revelation, then anger. "Fifty thou– how could they? So many lives…"

Ruby swallowed. This one was going to hurt. "The council decided that it was more important to 'safeguard the vital and historic heart of Mountain Glenn' than a Faunus slum. Gravel Lane was allowed to be decimated so Vale didn't lose face."

"Mountain Glenn fell to pieces after that," said Blake. "Tourism dried up, and Tertiary Pass became a food transport line to make up for the lost farmland. Ore Lane lacked the manpower to operate its factories, and the council cut industrial funding and stopped encouraging workers to immigrate to the failing city. Crooks and criminals, hoping to take advantage of the chaotic lawlessness, filled the city in droves. Ore Land became a red light district. It's unofficially called the Mistral Triangle."

"The Mistral–?"

"Mistral's mostly run by crime families, and Ore Lane is shaped like a triangle," added Ruby. "Mountain Glenn was once a failure. Then, it became a success. Now, it's just desperate people scrambling to survive while the council waits for it to fall so they don't have to keep looking at an embarrassing eyesore."

It broke Ruby's heart to know that so much suffering took place because of greed, pride, and carelessness. But it would be okay. Team Rainbow was going there, and they would help the city – that was their mission. Well, not technically, but maybe they could do it in their free time.

Speaking of Team Rainbow, they seemed to be down a member.

"Hey, you guys. Where's Yang?"

Weiss and Blake looked at one another, then at Ruby.

"You see–"

"Now, it's not–"

Both spoke at the same time, interrupting each other.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "You guys have been acting kind of weird. Is everything okay?"

"Peachy."

"Don't lie to me, Blake."

"It's a personal problem, Ruby."

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "Schnee. Belladonna."

Both girls stood at attention in surprise, clearly not expecting Ruby to have broken out her 'leader voice.'

"Now I know that I'm just fifteen and don't get whatever adult stuff you're dealing with, but I need both of you to assure me that it's not going to get in the way of our mission."

"Affirmative."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Ruff!"

"Good. Hey, speaking of the mission, everyone's saying it's going to be a breeze, so maybe we can try and clean up Mountain Glenn a bit when we're not working."

"Aruuu?"

"Oh, that's right! Zwei, you weren't present at the mission briefing. We're going to be shadowing the Sheriff of Mountain Glenn to hunt down some criminals."

Blake looked at Ruby with either pity or concern – it was always hard to tell with her. "Ruby, it's not going to be so simple. These criminals were able to kill a huntsman – a Beacon teacher. I don't think it's going to be whatever walk in the park they've painted it to be."

"Yeah, but that was months ago, before I even left Patch. There's no evidence, no leads, and no descriptions of our perps. Guys, I'm not stupid. The headmaster gave us an easy mission because of…all the stuff."

Don't think about it. Don't picture it. Focus on the mission.

Blake wasn't convinced. "I'm just saying – let's keep out wits about us."

The sound of metal grinding metal pierced Ruby's ears as the train's brakes were applied. Yang came out from wherever she'd been hiding herself to join the team. An automated message played over the train's audio systems to Team Rainbow, the psycho hobo, and the four other people onboard.

"Thank you for visiting scenic Mountain Glenn, the grand expansion of Vale. While you're here, be sure to enjoy in the beautiful townscape of Platinum Lane. Don't miss the bustling night life, culinary delights, and cultural wonders of Ore Lane. Know that your safety is our priority."

Blake glowered at the train's speakers as the recording finished. "They don't even mention Gravel Lane. They recommend visiting the damned red light district, but they can't be bothered to acknowledge their Faunus community."

"Maybe Ruby's right. We're huntresses; we could–"

"Weiss, it's not so easy. We can punch criminals and carve up Grimm, but social injustice isn't something a sword or scythe or gun can fix. Let's just focus on the mission. Isn't the Sheriff supposed to be meeting us at station?"

Team Rainbow stepped off the nearly empty train to enter the nearly empty train station. To their left was the entrance to the Secondary Pass train line, and to their right was Tertiary Pass. Dust and food were being offloaded from the other trains, respectively.

The girls looked around the train station for the hunter they were to shadow. With their first mission about to begin in earnest, Ruby could feel her heart beat just a little faster. She was finally going to meet a real hunter, not in a classroom but in their wild habitat, and one who was not a drunk or deadbeat – no offence, Uncle Qrow and Dad. Ruby was hoping the sheriff would be a Jaune Wayne lawman type, with a ten gallon hat and a silver star badge and a rustic cowhide vest and everything, but would also accept a modern Sheriff's Department guy with high tech crime fighting gadgets and CSI and forensics and all that. Either way, this was going to be sooooo cool!

And there he was! Holy flip flops, the Sheriff was a big guy. Standing at least 8 feet tall, he was nothing short of a behemoth. Even Cardin wearing heels had to be a full foot shorter. The Sheriff was broad shouldered and heavily muscular from head to toe. His neat hair was a rich cedar brown and extended all the way around his face in a tidily trimmed beard.

Ruby looked the man over and couldn't help but grin. Every stitch of clothing on his body was extremely dark and mysterious looking. He wore a jet black pair of huntsman boots that had to be size 30 or something. His overcoat was a mixture of pale and dark green, with two coattails hanging down to his knees on each leg. Ruby might have mistaken the man's belt for a tire. His undershirt, a plain black tee with a drawstring collar, was the only part of his attire that didn't look like it straight out of a military catalogue. A mega-tall military-style tough guy – so cool!

And this big man was getting even bigger! Wait, no, he was just walking towards them.

Oh no, he was walking towards them!

Ruby fumbled to stuff Zwei into her bag, drew Crescent Rose, and slammed the base down onto the ground. As the Sheriff approached, she did her best impression of a military salute.

"Sir! Team Rainbow, reporting! We've been assigned to shadow you in the investigation of the death of Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. Sir!"

"Team Rainbow? I know Ozpin trains children, but I didn't realize it was this bad," said the Sheriff in a deep, gravelly voice.

"Sir! Ruby Rose, fifteen! Sir! I'm the youngest student in Beacon history. And it was the Departure Helmswoman who invited me to Beacon, not Ozpin. Sir!"

"Departure Helms– Glynda? Glynda wanted an immature, childish ragamuffin like you to come to her school? Maybe hobo Dougie is right and the world is ending." The giant chuckled. "And cut it with the sir stuff. I'm not the Sheriff, just the deputy."

Ruby cocked her head. "Then where–"

"Hazel, you cocksucker! Where the fucking fuck did you hide it?"

"Hide what?"

"You know what, you pigeonfucker!"

"Tobacco causes cancer, Gretchen. I'm doing you a favor."

An irate woman tore past the train's departing passengers toward the deputy. The big man backpedaled past Ruby and her team, and the woman knocked the huntresses-in-training to the floor in her pursuit. When she caught up, a sucker punch to Hazel's stomach brought him down, and the woman grabbed him by his beard.

"Where?" she growled.

"Lung disease kills more Valeans than the Grimm–"

"I bet it's in your boots, you little shit! Here we…damn it, just Dust crystals."

Ruby wasn't sure how this woman who was probably about as tall as her was calling the human Goliath a little anything, but it felt like getting in between the two of them would be classified as suicide. The woman, Gretchen, was patting down Hazel in a frantic search for whatever he'd taken from her. When she reached into his back left pocket, she pulled own a small metal tin.

"Hah! To the victor go the spoils!" Gretchen ripped open the tin to reveal a hearty clump of chewing tobacco within.

Hazel reached into his other boot and grabbed out a scarlet crystal of fire Dust. Ruby watched in horror as he stabbed the shard into his palm. The human mammoth's veins began to glow red, and he pumped his arm forward. A small blast of fire shot towards the tin and bumped it out of Gretchen's hand. When it landed on the floor, Hazel pumped his arm again, and a larger fireball incinerated the tobacco.

"NOOOOOO!"

"Gretchen, please! The Beacon team is here, and we're busy fighting over a can of snuff. You're the Sheriff of Mountain Glenn. Please act like it."

Yang had known the city was indoors, but she hadn't really understood what that meant until now. The plain, boring, flat roof she'd been anticipating was replaced by a multitude of beams weaving upwards into the rafters that supported the enormous weight of the curved metal ceiling.

Outside of the train station was a large circular space with a park at the center. The entire place was enclosed, but thick reinforced windows let some natural light in. Dust lit street lamps were set to low right now, as the sun was finally beginning to peak its head above the skyline, but Yang expected they would turn on to 100% come nighttime. Going left would lead them to the industrial district, Ore Lane. Yang expected that they would be seeing a lot more of that area, since the teacher who they were supposed to be avenging had spent most of his investigation in there. To the right was a Gravel Lane, but the sign was so scratched out it was barely legible.

The Sheriff and her deputy had led the team into Mountain Glenn after apologizing for their squabble. The two seemed like the rough and rowdy kinda folks Yang would have loved to meet any other time. Right now, she was too depressed over Blake and Weiss to think about it. The six of them walked straight, heading towards the Sheriff's office in Platinum Lane.

Mountain Glenn was a nice looking place, she'd give 'em that. Platinum Lane's houses were neat and tidy, each taking up an equal plot of land and looking identical to the next. Every home had a red tile roof, a white fence lining the property, and a small square lawn with two different breeds of trees (one on each side of the path to the door). The streets were not cobblestone like Vale but instead consisted of paved asphalt that looked so fresh that Yang wondered if it had just been renovated.

Beyond the Sheriff's office were the larger multi-story structures of the business district, but Sheriff Rainart walked them into her building before Yang could get a good peek at them. Yang peek around, but there were no officers to be seen.

"Where is everyone?" she asked.

"This is everyone. Me, my brother Hazel, and now our newest recruits." Gretchen pinched Yang's cheeks and shook her head for a second before the blonde could break free of her grasp.

"But you're on the border of the Grimm infested wastelands! How can you keep order with just two people?"

"The hunters take care of the Grimm. They keep to themselves in the barracks. It's the Sheriff's honorable responsibility to keep the citizens in order. We've got a courthouse with one judge in the next room over, but he's not combat trained. Us Rainarts are the law around these parts, if there even is a law. I'll bet you kids already know about the state of the Mistral Triangle."

Yang nodded uneasily. I didn't realize it was this bad. Two people for a full city…

"Are you guys hunters?" asked Ruby. "Do you have your own weapons? Ooh ooh, can I see 'em?"

"Cool your jets, kid. Yeah, I'm armed, but I don't take out Peppermint unless it's a life threatening situation. The Sheriff brandishing a gun is gonna make the boys in the Triangle uneasy. Beacon's my alma mater – s'the only reason I agreed to take you kids. Favor owed to Oz and all that. Hazel's not formally trained at a fancy schmancy school, but he's got his aura unlocked and knows his way around a fight better'n most."

The giant grunted. "I bear no silly swirling sword nor absurd arrows. The flamboyant way of the huntsman is not for me. I prefer to use my bare fists and Dust."

Gretchen nodded. "And it's always gotten the job done. You kids might want to try some hand to hand combat training with him – you might pick up a thing or two." She slammed her first onto the top of a coffee maker, making the machine whir to life and pour its brew into her mug. "Let's make one thing clear, though. While you're in Mountain Glenn, you do what I say. When I'm not present, you do what Hazel says. We're gonna put badges on you, but the gangs and I have an uneasy peace. If you think you're gonna go around slappin' every crook you see peddling drugs or spraying graffiti in chains, you might just start a war. The kind of war we lose."

Yang and the team nodded.

"So, where do we start?" Ruby chirped.

"Get some rest. I'm not which Beacon asshole gets off on making you kids wake up so bright and early that the sun's still asleep. You'll sleep in the cells. Don't worry – we put beds in 'em. Sorry about the accommodations, but we're not used to hosting visitors. Hazel'll come and grab you when–"

"Ruff!"

Yang froze as Ruby's backpack borked.

"The fuck was that?" grunted Gretchen, slurping down more of her coffee.

"I coughed. It was my allergies," answered Blake. Such a poor excuse; Yang would have to school the kitten on how to make better ones after–

Oh. Oh yeah.

"Sure." The Sheriff finished her coffee and chucked the mug into a trash can. "Fuck it, why not. Scram, you kids. Go get settled in. Me and my brother gotta have a talk."

Team Rainbow shuffled out of the room towards their slightly odd sleeping arrangements, but curiosity held Yang back. She paused as soon as she was out of the Rainart's line of sight and pressed her ear to the door.

"…brought a fricking dog. Can you believe these kids? So crazy – reminds me of me."

"Sister. What were you thinking bringing children to Mountain Glenn?"

"Oz said that Hoodie recently went through an ordeal and needs an easy mission. Doctor Oobleck died months ago. We'll take 'em around, let 'em see the lanes, and call it quits when nothing turns up. Then you and me can train them. It'll be good for them to get a spot of practical in."

"Ozpin continues to send teenagers to fight his wars. First you, now a literal child–"

"Now that's not fair, Hazel. I chose to go to Beacon. I agreed to come here."

"And did you understand what you'd be getting yourself into as a huntress? Did you know the risks?"

"No, and if I could go back and do it all again, I would in a heartbeat."

"Gretchen, what if the hooded girl wouldn't? I don't know what Ozpin does with all of the hunters he inducts into his secret circles, but I do read their names in the obituaries. She's already had her life threatened. Just because you're willing to give your time to the fight doesn't mean all those who he snatches up will be."

"…"

"The Oobleck case is cold, but whoever killed him is still out there. Whatever the headmaster and his soldiers are involved to, it bigger than you, me, these kids, or Mountain Glenn. We both know that we're mid-level pawns of that chess master. He hasn't told us the full story."

"…"

"Gretchen!"

"I know! Fuck, Hazel, I know. But if we don't try and keep Mountain Glenn alive, no one will. It doesn't matter if I'm here because Oz asked me or ordered me or tricked me. Someone has to be in this shitty city, and it might as well be me. What are we supposed to do, leave these people to their fate to prove a point? It's not their fault Vale gave up."

"I came with you to this falling city because we promised to have each other's backs, but I have to draw the line somewhere. I'm going to travel with the kids to Beacon and demand an explanation. What the Doctor was looking for, what Oz is gathering strength for, what that Branwen of his does all the time. I want to know it all."

"…okay."

"And then we'll decide together what we're going to do. Together. Now, about the missing Dust shipments, I was thinking…"

Yang wandered away from the door as the conversation switched to more mundane topics. When she entered their prison-shaped bedroom, the other girls were already in their pajamas. Blake and Weiss excused themselves to the bathroom (a sink in the opposite cell) to brush their teeth.

"Hey, Rubes."

"Yeah?"

"How are you doing?"

"I dunno. Hazel seems nice, and Gretchen's not what I was expecting, but I think Team Rainbow's really gonna have–"

"No, I mean, how are you doing? I realized we never talked in private about how you're holding up after your fight."

"Uhhh, sure, we can talk. What brought this on?"

"Siblings should take care of one another. We're all we've got."

"We've also got…er, never mind."

Yang could tell that Ruby nearly said they had Weiss and Blake but caught herself. Innocent though she may be, Yang's partner was definitely perceptive.

"So, Ruby, have you been having any nightmares? I know that a lot of hunters get them after life threatening situations."

"No, not really. Well, sometimes I have flashbacks. But only when I'm really high up, or if I close my eyes and it's not so bad. I was fine after the attack, but when I think back on it now, I start to feel…"

The pair kept talking as Weiss and Blake came back into the room. Even though her goal had been to comfort Ruby, for a moment, Yang felt like things were going to be okay.

Omake

Yang: Can I try some chewing tobacco?

Gretchen: No.

Yang: Why not? You really need to learn to share-iff.

Gretchen: *shoots Yang at high noon*

Next Chapter: A Moment to Think – In which a Grimm walks into a bar (no, this isn't the punchline of a joke), Sky realizes he's a red shirt, and Russel humors some odd theories.

Author's Notes

Sigma Grindset validated. Next chapter Wednesday.

Hope you like Mountain Glenn. I personally have never read a fic where it's still standing, so I decided to try it out. As for Gretchen, we know that Hazel joined Salmon and the Grimm after Ozpin sent his sister to her death. Thousands of people died in Mountain Glenn, so why not her as well? Thus, if the city didn't fall, she's still there, trying her best to keep it standing.