RWBY

Origins Of LUNR

Chapter 49: Dead End

Team RWBY, Team LUNR, Dyna, Estelle, Jarvin, Qrow, Oscar Pine, and Maria Calavera are seen standing outside of the gates to the Atlesian Military base on the island off the coast of Argus. Yang puts her hands on the bars of the gate to speak to the guards.

"Come on! You didn't even hear us out!" She exclaimed in frustration.

"Our orders are clear: The Mistral-Atlas border is closed!" The first guard replied.

"Please!" The second guard added.

"Have a good day!" They finished in unison.

Yang gritted her teeth in anger as she was getting frustrated."But-"

"A good day!" They said in unison again.

Qrow sighed as he took a step forward. "Hey, if you don't wanna believe that I'm friends with Ironwood-"

"General Ironwood!" They said in unison once again.

Qrow nodded "Yeah, General Ironwood, then fine. But look, we have Weiss Schnee with us and we're trying to get her home safely".

Weiss looks down with reluctance upon hearing Qrow say that. The two guards look at each other before turning their attention back to the group.

"Approach!" They said.

Weiss shares a look with Blake, who just shrugs. Weiss then walks up to the gate and the two guards step up and bend down to inspect her. After a moment, both guards stand straight back up.

"Very well!" They said in unison

Guard Nubuck 2 nodded as the other did as well. "You may speak with our commanding officer!"

"We will fetch her at once!" Guard Nubuck 1 added.

The two guards turn around in sync and chant "Hup hup hup" and "Atlas Atlas Atlas" as they run to get their superior.

Blake looked at the two with an awkward expression on her face. "They were... kind of-"

"Super weird? Uh, yeah." Ruby cut in. Dyna chuckled at the sight while Estelle sighed as she saw this as one big pain.

Maria looked to be deep in thought and showed it as she rubbed her chin "Hmm…"

"What's wrong?" Oscar asked as he took notice of this.

"Well, I... may know this commanding officer…" Maria responded. Ruby looked at Lance who shrugged his shoulders, before looking back at Maria with a confused look on her face. "That's good, isn't it? If she's your friend, then maybe she'd be more willing to help us." Ruby said.

"I wouldn't exactly call us... "friends". She replied, emphasizing the friend's part. Uzziel and Weiss raised an eyebrow as they looked at one another.

"Acquaintances?" Weiss asked.

Maria shook her head at Weiss's question "Not quite." She replied.

"Colleagues?" Blake chimed in.

Maria smiled at her question as she noticed that Blake had gone lower "Warmer." She responded.

"Enemies?" Regulus asked.

"That's the one!" Maria exclaimed.

Oscar looked shocked by this answer and looked at her "Wait, what?" He asked.

Maria nodded at him and smiled "Oh, yes. I come through here about once every ten years to get my eyes checked up in Atlas. You bring outside cashews on one flight, and suddenly you're placed on the additional screening list for life!"

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Qrow said as he shook his head.

Maria chuckled and waved her hand at Qrow "Now, now, let's not give up hope yet. Maybe she's dead!" She said bluntly. Everyone gave her a concerned look as they couldn't believe she would joke like that.

Suddenly, the gates open up quickly, and the two guards return. "Introducing! Special operative! Caroline Cordovin!" They said in unison.

Footsteps can be heard approaching before everyone looked down to reveal a short-statured elderly woman around Maria's age wearing the standard Atlesian officer uniform. Cordovin steps forward and glares at Maria.

"Witch." She said.

"She-devil." Maria retorted.

Cordovin snarled at her as she showed her displeasure. "Hm. I've seen you've chosen larger contraband to smuggle this time."

Maria rolled her eyes at the jab. "Oh, Cordo. You know they say time changes people, but I see you've still got that stick right up your—"

"H-hello! Miss, uh, Cordovin. My name is Ruby Rose, and I was wondering if you would hear us out about—" Ruby said, cutting in.

Cordovin looked at Ruby and shook her head. "I've already heard what your other little friends had to say, Miss Rose," she said as she looked behind Ruby, noticing Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren standing a little ways away behind the group.

"What are you doing back here?! I thought I told you to leave!" She added.

Nora gritted her teeth as she attempted to charge forward, only to be held back by Ren and Jaune. "And I told you we wouldn't rest until you let us through!"

Ren looked at Cordovin nervously, smiling and waving "Nice to see you again as well!"

Cordovin stood up straight with her arms behind her back. "You civilians are clearly incapable of comprehending the importance of our mission here in Argus. So allow me to say this slowly, with smaller words: This base, that relay tower, and the very safety of Argus are all gifts from the glorious Kingdom of Atlas! And it is my duty to uphold them, as only I have the wit and tenacity for such a task."

"Such wit!" Guard 1 said as he saluted.

"Such tenacity!" Guard 2 added.

"Or maybe Atlas just wanted to get you as far from the kingdom as possible," Maria stated bluntly, which made Nolo cry out in laughter.

Cordovin growled and pointed her finger at Maria. "You're just like the rest of these Argus ingrates! This city wouldn't even be here if it weren't for our Atlesian ancestors, and what do we get in return? The entire world is ready to put a knife to our throats!"

"Gee...I wonder why." Uzziel said in a low tone. Weiss heard his remark and elbowed him in the gut gently to get him to stop.

"Please, we know your kingdom had nothing to do with the Fall of Beacon. We were there." Ruby said, trying to reason with her.

Weiss nodded in agreement with Ruby and looked at Cordovin "No one's happy about the Atlas borders or embargo, but I know General Ironwood is just worried. It's why we need to talk to—"

"The General is no coward! Atlas is strong. If all the kingdoms plan to make us their enemy, then so be it! Atlas will prevail!" Cordovin exclaimed, cutting Weiss off.

"Atlas will prevail!" The guards said in unison.

"Do you guys seriously have to do that?" Lance said as he looked pretty annoyed with the guards.

Cordovin sighed and looked at Weiss once more "If Miss Schnee has truly come to her senses and wishes to return to her family, then, of course, the Atlas military will escort her home. But the kingdom will not be responsible for her 'friends' of... questionable character." She said as she glanced at Blake specifically upon saying her last statement.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked in a hostile tone.

"You're going too far now." Dyna intervened, clearly frustrated with Cordovin.

"It means we're done here," Cordovin said. The gates to the base were closing quickly, leaving the group outside once again. Cordovin and her guards left without saying another word which left everyone speechless not knowing what to do next.

"Oh yeah? Well, your face looks... like a big dumb boot!" Nora said, clearly failing at her insult.

"Way to show her, Nora…" Jaune said as he looked at his friend.

"Yeah, you sure showed her," Nolo added.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang looked to Weiss who looked saddened by the situation "I don't…" She started to say until Ruby put a hand on her shoulder.

"Weiss. I told you we wouldn't leave your side for a second. We'll find a way to Atlas. Together." Weiss smiles and nods back at her friend. Qrow, who was pissed off, starts to walk away.

"So... where are we going now?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, what's the plan?" Lance asked.

Qrow looked back at Lance with a bitter look on his face. "The plan? The plan just got shut in our faces three times over. I'm going for a drink."

Ruby started running over to her uncle and then stood in front of him hoping he would stop. "Uncle Qrow, I really think we should try and come up with something…" She paused as Qrow walked past her before she could finish "...together." She finished.

"What's his problem? It's not your fault we can't go on." Regulus asked.

Estelle looked at Jarvin who looked annoyed as he was looking in the direction that Qrow had gone. He started to walk in the same direction which caught everyone's attention.

"Leave him to me. I'll deal with him." He said before following Qrow.

"If he's gonna be a jerk then we'll just come up with something without him. I mean, we've got Ozpin with us! He usually knows what to do." Nolo said.

Upon hearing this, Oscar looks down sadly, and Weiss, Blake, and Yang exchange troubled looks.

"What is it?" Ren asked, noticing the looks on their faces.

Back at Saphron's home, Jaune punches the wall, leaving a very large crack in it.

"Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Everything we did was for nothing!" Jaune yelled out in anger.

"That's not true," Blake replied.

"Really? Cuz it sure does sound like it." Lance responded to her statement. Everything seemed pointless to both Team LUNR and Team JNPR.

"I, um…" Blake was trying to get the words out but she couldn't figure out what to say, knowing they had a right to be upset.

"If Salem can't be killed, then how are we supposed to win this?" Regulus asked as he was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

Everyone remained silent.

"Wow... Great plan everyone!" Jaune added.

"Look, none of this is great, we know. But we're not the bad guys here." Oscar said, trying to reason with Jaune.

"Are we sure about that?" Jaune asked in a hostile tone.

Oscar raised an eyebrow as he was confused by the question "What?"

"He's in your head, isn't he? Did you already know about this?" Jaune asked as he angrily walks over to Oscar.

"He didn't know any of it!" Weiss said, trying to defend him.

Uzziel raised an eyebrow at her and turned his head to look at her "And just how would you know that? You have absolutely no idea what's going on in his head."

Weiss looked shocked by this statement but it didn't seem to sit well with her as she turned to look at Uzziel with a not-so-pleasant look on her face.

"He told me himself. What am I supposed to just look at him as a liar when he had nothing to do with this?" She asked in an aggravated tone.

"You can't trust him when he's having private conversations with a liar. You're smart enough to know that." Uzziel retorted.

Weiss took a step closer to Uzziel until they were face to face "I don't like that tone you're giving me." The two were having a stare that didn't look good in Estelle's eyes. She was about to walk over to them when Jaune spoke again.

Jaune grabs Oscar and shoves him against the wall, glaring at him " How much longer can we even trust him?!"

"Jaune!" Yang exclaimed.

"You can't get mad at him when he's right." Nolo chimed in, which earned him a glare from Yang.

"How do we even know it's him?! What if we have been talking to that liar this whole time?!" Jaune asked in a fit of rage.

"Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed.

Ruby angrily glares at Jaune, who glares back at her. He looks back over to Oscar, who is cowering in fear. Jaune, realizing what he has done, lets go of Oscar with an apologetic look on his face. Jaune then goes upstairs. A door can be heard opening and slamming shut.

"Is he... gonna be okay?" Yang asked.

"I don't know!" Nora replied as she got up and left.

Ren stood up and looked at Regulus who gave him a serious look in response. "I think it would be best if we had some time to ourselves." Regulus nodded at Ren who leaves and heads upstairs as well.

Team RWBY Team LUNR and Oscar remain in the living room.

"Maybe we could all use some space," Estelle said as she turned her attention to Weiss and Uzziel who were still glaring at one another.

Everyone stays silent. Oscar looked down sadly as Estelle stood up from her seat. She had seen enough and she wasn't going to let this go any further. "Alright, that's enough you two." She said as she walked over to them.

"It's not me Estelle it's your brother. He's the one with the attitude." Weiss stated.

"Finding out that we're fighting a battle we never had a chance of winning this late in the game will piss anyone off!" Uzziel exclaimed.

Ruby looked at him with a worried look on her face. "We can't just give up. There has to be a way we just haven't figured that out yet." She said.

"Salem can't die. Terror is unkillable. Yeah, having hope is out the window with this one." He replied.

"Why is killing always the option with you?" Estelle asked.

Uzziel turned his head to look at his sister, shooting her the same glare he gave to Weiss. "The people we've been facing, do you think they're not out to kill us!? Our parents were murdered by them. Pyrrha was murdered by them. Ozpin himself was killed by them. But all you guys want to do is figure out ways to 'stop' them."

Uzziel paused as he looked at Weiss for a moment who was still glaring at him. "You're not thinking about the outcome and what we actually have to do to 'stop' them. They aren't going to come quietly and they're not going to stop just by being arrested. They have to die, that's the only way this ends. It's kill or be killed and I choose to live."

His attention then turned back to his sister as his glare got more tense. "You followed him, Mom and Dad followed him, Uncle Jarvin followed him, but you didn't bother to get more information on how you could get things done."

Estelle glared at him as she gritted her teeth in anger. Uzziel was about to say something disrespectful and she could see it coming a mile away. "Mom and Dad died for nothing, following his orders blindly and…"

Estelle was about to make a move but a loud slap could be heard in the room. Everyone looked at Weiss who had delivered a stinging slap to Uzziel's left cheek. Looking to the side in shock he would turn his head slowly with an angry expression on his face.

"Don't you dare talk that way about your parents! They did what they needed to do to make sure you and your sister would be protected in this world. Don't look down on them." Weiss scolded him.

Uzziel gritted his teeth as he was about to say something but knew he shouldn't. The two stared at one another for a moment before Uzziel turned around and began to walk away. "Where are you going?" Estelle asked.

Uzziel didn't say a word, instead, he opened the front door and walked out. Hearing the door close Weiss looked to the side with a sad look on her face as she was hurt by the situation. She never wanted to hit him like that but she didn't know how to stop him. Estelle walked over to her and brought Weiss into her arms. The moment was tense, emotionally chilling for all of them, especially someone as mature and experienced as her. Weiss joined her in the embrace to calm herself.

"He needs a woman like you in his life. You're his better half, so don't let this get you down. He was wrong and he knows he was, that's why he left." She said.

"Maybe Ren is right," Regulus said as he got off the wall he was leaning on.

"We should take some time to ourselves and think this through. We can all come back once we're ready and figure this out." He said as he was making his way towards the door.

As everyone nodded in agreement they would all go their separate ways with Regulus, Nolo, Blake, Yang, Lance, and Dyna went their separate ways while Ruby stayed with Maria, and Weiss and Estelle went outside together.

Later that day….

Regulus found himself standing in front of a Cafe. He was talking on his scroll as he was making his way towards the entrance. The cafe's interior was one of the better ones. It's rare to see a well-fashioned yet casual cafe that didn't have too high price tags on its menus. The comfortable environment that combined aspects of daily life and green culture wasn't as often. Tables were lined in two rows, shaped in either a circle or a square, with the bar being in the middle, attached to the kitchen. The bar desk itself had three sides that were available for the customers — and one of them was the woman that team LUNR had met on arrival. This was the same woman that turned Lance's hair blonde with ease.

There was no one sitting next to her, and the only company she had was a single cup of tea. The mixed scent of mint and lemons could be felt not far away from her, assorted with white musk. Her attention seemed to be on the mug, while in reality, she was trying to grasp the realization of these…immensely tall chairs, enough to even make her own feet dangling. And for someone who was considered tall by the standards of this region, that was surprising.

"It's not that common to wear hats indoors, you know."

A sudden voice brought her attention, making her tilt her head up, finding the bartender cleaning glasses while passing her a remark. Her hat almost fell down, though she was fast on catching the rim of it before it would drop down. Wearing hats indoors…? The realization quickly caught up to her. With a glance around her, she could see that no one was wearing any headdress. Right. But where to go with her hat? Her fingers carefully held onto the rim, before taking it off and placing it on the bar desk next to her mug. It was her favorite piece of her fashion — sharp hats were simply the best.

Fingers carefully passed through the silver strands, trying to adjust her hair and not make it seem messy. There was hardly anything that felt better than a breeze tangling your hair up, but that didn't make up for looking untended in the public space. She shifted in her seat, straightening her back and crossing her ankles, trying to get seated comfortably in her spot.

"Look, Nolo, I understand I'm sorry I just needed some time to myself. I needed to step away for a moment. I hope you'll understand. Forgive me."

A deep, gruff yet determined voice entered the cafe talking very apologetically into a scroll. Not quite a local so no one greeted the male, but it was eye-catching to see a Faunus so verbal and frantic in the open. It caught so many narrow eyes that it was forced to be restored to the natural setting.

Regulus slowly closed the door behind him, his wooden sandal clicking against the linoleum floors as he approached the bar desk and sat in the only open available seat next to the woman. Surprisingly enough, not many could meet the man's size, but this one did.

"One vanilla and cinnamon latte, please. No cream if able."

It was almost like the man was being spat in the face, the way the man saw a Faunus walk so casually up to the desk and make an order. As to not cause a scene, they accepted the order. To which Regulus let out an exasperated sigh.

"It never ends."

The sound of steps brought the attention of the woman. Though she said nothing until she spotted the seat next to her getting occupied by someone. While it was nothing new to have a seat next to a stranger, she never understood how people aren't bothered by it. But instead of discomfort, she felt curiosity crawl up her spine. Eyeing him from the corner of her eye, she recognized the man. It was the same person whom she had seen before! In the group of others, nonetheless. But it appears he was on his own this time. Her gaze averted back to the tea, as she would bring her fingers to the mug.

The glare was sent on the man, but even she could feel it. Piercing and full of hate. She would rest her elbow on the table, placing her chin on top of her hand. For a moment, she remained silent, her mind pondering over the scene. The woman observed the process of the latte being made, her finger tapping against her cheek, only to spot the bartender handing down the latte rather aggressively as if it was about to get spilled. Her eyes narrowed; and despite the latte seemingly reaching the edge of the cup, it did not spill. That brought an idea.

"Hey you, wanna see a magic trick?"

Her voice was soft and whispering, enough for the man to hear. But her words were laced with a tease, almost as if she was expecting to be agreed with. And without an answer, the moment the bartender turned away to leave, there was seemingly a slip in his motion, resorting to the fall of the man to the floor. A sly smirk showed on the woman's lips before she took a sip.

Easing out of the small cage in his mind that he'd have to place up whenever facing such oppression, Regulus' attention was narrowed to the woman beside him when she spoke to him. He immediately recognized this woman as well! Before he could comment on it, she asked him a question.

The large man didn't get the chance to respond to her at all before disaster struck! The man over the counter while handling Regulus' drink seemed to slip and fall, making an utter mess of himself. It was far from easy to conceal the laughter. It was something he needed to say the least before he was met with another aggressive notion from the recovering worker.

'Is this funny to you!? Maybe we should charge you for the show since it's so funny.'

Regulus immediately scoffed with a grin, just by the context, this woman next to him might have done it, but he grinned and held his hands up;

"If the price to pay for segregation were you making a fool of yourself. I'll pay for five more. Right now, I'm still waiting for my drink. Fine show though."

His attention then shifted to the woman beside him as the workers seemed to gather around to whisper disgusting comments and assist the other worker, there seemed to be a much larger amount of them that weren't fond of the situation whatsoever.

"Full of surprises, aren't you madam?"

Ah, how dramatic the man was! To think that he would bark back to the faunus as if he was responsible for this little… slip-up. She said nothing about it, and instead, enjoyed the little chaos. If anything, the faunus' laugh had proven as a sign that the little prank was worth it. She placed the mug back on the bar desk.

"Just a little bit."

A coy grin was showing on her lips. It didn't hurt.

"Are you sure it's just a little bit?"

Immediately after his comment came a smirk, he was intent on being as friendly as he could. Trusting was hard nowadays and someone willing to openly be kind to him? It was like a breath of fresh air.

She offered her free hand to him, asking for a handshake. Her elongated sleeve had sunk to the elbow, showing her bare hand; her wrist was decorated with two bracelets, and her nails were painted in dark green and gray, each nail having half of the color. Her bright green eyes were met with his; the friendly aura evident in her. Now when she had met the man by accident twice, might as well get to know who this person was.

"My name is Yisroel."

Seeing her hand extended out to him, Regulus put it forward and hesitated for a moment. She could see the hesitation wasn't disgust but discouragement in his face. Then, quickly pushed the thought out to take the chance and took the woman's hand to shake it.

"Regulus. Nice to meet you, Yisroel. Those bracelets. They're lovely. The colors work well together." He said as the two would smile at one another. As Regulus was having a conversation with Yisroel. The others would not be having such a good time as Uzziel could be seen standing in a park near a rail looking out at the ocean in front of him. His hair blew gently with the wind and he had an angry but slightly saddened look on his face as his mind was filled with thoughts on the current situation.