The Bullhead jerked to the side, bouncing Emerald in her seat. She quickly adjusted, steadying the ship, and looking back to her partner. Mercury was, thankfully, still sleeping. She sighed in relief. She'd feel a bit bad if he didn't get at least some sleep.
She had only taken over piloting an hour ago, and she was still getting used to the controls. That was the second time she had to make a fast adjustment, and she had a bad feeling it wouldn't be the last. Thankfully, Mercury seemed to at least be able to sleep through it.
But back in Beacon, he'd wake up the moment my feet touched the floor, unless I used my semblance to hide it. Emerald frowned. For all the time they'd known each other, she still didn't really know much about him.
His father was some big shot assassin, who had trained Mercury all his life. A bit too well, apparently, seeing as how Mercury had killed him just as they arrived to recruit Marcus. Emerald had never asked for details, but she was fairly sure…well, she had a pretty good idea as to why Mercury had always been an asshole.
Mercury…was a mess of contradictions at the moment, and she couldn't puzzle it out. At first, he was the unwanted intruder. Just someone to get in between her and Cinder. She'd begged Cinder to get rid of him, they didn't need him. But Cinder had ordered her to play nice, and she wouldn't have dreamed of disobeying.
Even then, things were still simpler. They didn't like working with each other, but they could at least make it work. He would take any chance he could mock and taunt her, and she would do everything in her power to try to show Cinder they didn't need him.
By the time they reached Beacon, things had cooled a bit. They had gotten used to one another's company. The mocking and taunting had a lot less vitriol in them, her attempts to discredit him half-hearted at best. They had both realized they'd be in it for the long haul by then, and figured they may as well try to enjoy working with each other. And things were good, for a little while.
Then the time came for the Vytal Festival. For the fall. Everything had gone so well, until Cinder climbed the tower. Until Ruby Rose went after her. It all changed, then, when they found her. Scarred, crippled, burned. Emerald had been in tears when they found her. But she had seen a chance. To do for Cinder what she had once done for her. She got in contact with Watts, who arranged for a bullhead to bring them to Evernight. Probably the same one we're on now, come to think of it.
That had probably been her biggest mistake. It was all so different then. Salem, Tyrian, the Grimm, her head had spun for days just trying to wrap her mind around everything. She was terrified.
She held out hope, though, that things would be better when Cinder woke up. She'd come back, as confident and sure of herself as she always was, and make everything better. She'd have a plan, like she always did, and Emerald wouldn't have to worry anymore, because she trusted Cinder to handle it
But reality had always disappointed her, and this time wasn't any different. This time, she couldn't make the truth go away with one of her illusions. Cinder had woken up, furious with her. For letting her be seen by Watts, and Salem, as weak. And then, she had been a wreck. Bitter and miserable, there had been no plan for her to follow. Just…rage. She pushed herself more and more, and stopped thinking about the future altogether.
That was around when it stopped being her and Cinder. Mercury stopped being the annoying, but useful help. She wasn't exactly sure when it had changed, but it had become her and Mercury, against all the rest. Against Watts, Tyrian, Salem, and even…even Cinder. At least, for now. She'll understand eventually. Mercury had stepped up the taunting, but it had a purpose now. He was trying to get her to see how Cinder was, trying to show her that she was being blind.
And that was what made him such a puzzle to her, now. Mercury was an asshole, who hated pretty much everyone and everything by his own admission. But he still tried to convince her to leave, and offered to take her with him. He'd mock her, but with the same breath he'd tell her to start thinking for herself.
Emerald really didn't understand what changed with him. Why? And how long would it last? That was the crux of the issue. She was alone, now. All she had was Mercury, and she had no idea how long this would last. Would he leave? She honestly couldn't tell. I don't want to be alone again. I can't be alone again.
Wrapped in her thoughts, she paid no mind to the dwindling bar on the dashboard, as the dust levels powering the Bullhead steadily dropped.
You know, he was actually in the middle of a nice dream, for once. A really nice dream. The kind of dream where he had free reign to murder his father again and again in as many brutal ways as he wanted. Then his old man turned into Cinder, so he picked up right where he left off, and she screamed. But for some reason, the scream sounded strangely like an alarm.
Mercury woke to what had to be every alarm the Bullhead had going off at once. The interior of the ship was flashing red, and Emerald was at the helm, shrieking and trying desperately to get back on course. Failing too, it looked like.
He stumbled over to his partner, groaning and clutching his head. Just what he needed, a migraine on top of whatever mess they were in now. He nearly fell to the ground, but caught himself, managing to hold on to the seat.
"What the hell is going on!" He yelled over the blaring of the alarms.
"I don't know!" She hissed back. "One minute everything was working perfectly fine. The next minute, the Bullhead starts dipping low, so I try to right it, only it's much harder to control now, and we started jerking around, and then the alarms went off, and I don't know what I'm doing!"
Through sheer force of inhuman will, Mercury resisted throwing her off the ship for screaming into his ear. Instead, he tried looking for the problem. Which he found almost immediately. I'm going to kill her. If we survive this, I'm going to kill her.
"The dust, Em!" He groaned.
"What about it?" She asked "Why the hell are you talking about dust off all things right now? We have bigger problems, in case you haven't realized."
"No, we don't." He snapped. "The dust powering the bullhead, smartass. We've been flying this thing nonstop for what, two, three days straight? We're running on fumes, and we're about to crash."
"How was I supposed to know that?" She defended. "I've never flown a Bullhead before! You took five minutes to show me how to fly this thing, you never told me to check for dust levels!"
"I would have thought that would be obvious.." Mercury growled.
"Then why didn't you bother refueling before we changed shifts?" She shot back "Since, you know, we had just been flying for two days straight!"
Mercury blinked, almost stepping back. Huh. Good point. "Mistakes were made." He admitted. "On both sides. Just move over, and I'll try to make this as smooth as I can. There's no way we don't crash at this point, but if we're lucky, we might get out of this relatively painlessly."
Emerald didn't argue, making room for Mercury to get into the pilot's seat. It only took a few seconds for him to take stock of the situation, and quickly cursed himself for ever opening his stupid mouth and tempting fate.
They did not get lucky.
Things could be better. A lot better.
They could also be a lot worse, Emerald supposed, but that certainly didn't mean she was happy with how they were now.
The crash was fairly controlled, considering the circumstances. She had to give Mercury credit where credit was due, the two of them got out in one piece. The same could not be said for their supplies, however. Anything that wasn't in Mercury's bag was pretty much unsalvageable. Any medical equipment, or rations stored on the Bullhead was completely trashed. On the plus side, so was Watts' fancy lab crap, so at least some good came out of it.
She shivered, watching the cold escape her breath. I hate Anima, She decided. I hate Mistral. I hate the stupid snow, too. They had been trekking through the snow for what had felt like hours now, and everything still looked the same. She was getting real tired of it
"Why does it have to be so cold?" She complained.
Despite being in front of her, she could feel the eyeroll from her partner. "Gee, I really couldn't say, Emerald. Could it possibly have something to do with the way you dress? Or, you know, the way you don't?"
Emerald blushed, looking down at herself. She-she wasn't that bad. Asshole. She would admit, she was…underdressed, though, considering they were heading to Argus. "I didn't exactly think to grab a spare outfit while running for my life, Mercury. Besides, I have aura, shouldn't I be fine? You don't seem bothered."
Mercury shrugged. "I feel it, same as you. I'm just a bit more used to the cold, is all. Aura makes sure you don't freeze to death, but the cold still drains it, and both ours are probably a little low from the crash. We just don't wanna stay out here in the open longer than we can help it. Trust me, if you think this is bad, just wait till nightfall. Or don't, actually. On second thought, that's what we're trying to avoid."
She frowned in thought. Emerald knew the cold. Not as bad as this, sure, but she had slept on city rooftops as a child, and she remembered thinking she'd be so cold that she would melt when the sun came up. Mercury, though…
They had found him in the mountains, with his father. She didn't want to think about how Mercury knew how cold it could get.
She decided to focus on more immediate problems, instead. "None of that matters if we can't find somewhere to take shelter. Do we even know where we are?" It was a fair question, considering how late they decided their destination.
He nodded. "Not that far from Argus, believe it or not. Think I managed to snag a look at it as we were plummeting to our doom. Can't be more than a few hours away now, if it even takes that long."
Well that's good news, at least. At least they'd be out of the snow by nightfall. "What's our plan for getting in?" She asked.
That was the hard part. Taking part in the destruction of one kingdom, and the destabilization of the rest via shutting down the CCT probably put them pretty high up on any wanted list. Problem was, neither of them knew exactly how wanted they were. Vale was definitely a no-go, as pretty much everyone knew their faces by now. But what with the chaos of the CCT, Vale's collapse, and so many conflicting reports it was hard to say how far the news had spread. Especially with the CCT being down.
Her partner took a moment to respond, thinking. "We won't really know till we get there. Could be as easy as walking in the front gate. Or maybe we'll have to sneak in somehow. No telling, now. I've never been to Argus, and I doubt you have either."
Emerald shrugged, conceding the point. They walked in silence, until she finally voiced the question that had been ringing in her head since they settled on Argus. "Mercury…Once we get in…if we get in…What are we going to do? Seriously? What can we do? We've burnt every bridge we've ever had, and we might be able to take advantage of Argus sharing a dual jurisdiction, but if we get caught, you know we'll be sent to Atlas. And even if we aren't, what then? Are we gonna pick pockets to get by? I've been there, Mercury, and I won't go there again."
"What do you want me to do?" He snarled, coming to a stop and facing her. "Yeah, we're on our own here, but we knew that. Knew it as soon as we ditched Cinder." Emerald winced. It was just temporary, that's all. "If we have to pick pockets, we'll do that. If we have to kill some smartass who recognizes us, we'll do that. Or at least, I will. You do what you want, Em, but I'm staying here. I have nowhere else to go, and Argus is the best shot I got at any kind of life, even if it is miserable." For the first time since she's known him, his face seemed to soften. He looked almost mournful. "And if you ask me, it's the best place for you, too. Might not be perfect, but if you keep wallowing around like you have been, whining and moaning about Cinder, it'll never change. Do something with your life, for once, something that isn't just doing what Cinder tells you, or what I tell you. Otherwise, you'll get exactly what you expect: A miserable life, picking pockets to get by."
Mercury turned, and kept walking. "And I know you can do better than that. I've seen it." He muttered under his breath. It was low enough that she obviously hadn't been meant to hear him.
Was…was he right? Emerald followed in silence, and Mercury didn't bother opening the argument back up. She'd been a wreck since Evernight, she knew that. She wasn't blind. But what was she supposed to do? Cinder had snapped, she had burnt her, and she had fled the most powerful people on the planet almost on a whim, and they had been running ever since. How was anyone supposed to deal with that normally?
Her eyes widened, as she realized what she had just thought. Cinder…Cinder had snapped, after Beacon. All she ever focused on was revenge. She stopped caring about herself, about me. Or maybe she never had cared in the first place. Her head swam, and she fought back the urge to vomit.
Cinder isn't ever going to forgive me, is she? Emerald thought glumly. No, she wouldn't. Not after they had left her. There would be no going back, no forgiveness, Cinder would never see reason, and Emerald would never be her family.
She fought back tears as she walked, desperate not to let slip any sign of her thoughts slip in front of Mercury. Thankfully, if he heard her, he kept silent, marching forwards. At least I have a friend to suffer with.
Emerald laughed quietly to herself. Her friend. She was being dead serious, too. Her only friend in the whole wide world was Mercury Black, assassin. The same one who came between her and Cinder at the start, the same one who made it his life's mission to mock her and Cinder as often as he could get away with it.
And she was starting to think that wasn't such a bad thing. Really, as far as friends go, he was the best one she ever had.
Mercury was never really one to put much stock into how "special" firsts were. First day of school, first weapon you made yourself, first dust you ever used, that kind of crap. Superstitious nonsense, that was all he ever saw it as. Especially when the only firsts he ever remembered,was when he did something dumb enough to piss off his dad. His old man had made sure he remembered.
But as he and Emerald finally came to the top of the hill, even he had to admit that their first view of Argus was something special. He wasn't exactly positive why. Beacon had been more impressive, Evernight had been intimidating. But Argus was different, for some reason, and he couldn't put his finger on it.
Argus was ringed by a large wall, a massive gate laying open that served as the main entrance. Possibly the only entrance, at least by land. From their position on top of the hill, they could just barely glimpse over the wall, making out a city not unlike Vale, only, a little older architecture wise, and blanketed in snow. Beyond that, further out at sea, what had to be the Atlas military base stuck out like a sore thumb.
He frowned. Argus was certainly a large city, make no mistake, but it wasn't something he would call breathtaking. Vale was definitely more impressive in that regard. So why was Argus different? Well, you chose to come here, for one. Mercury hummed. There was that. The only place he had ever lived was in his dad's cabin up in the mountains. After that, he just kinda went wherever Cinder did, and didn't really bother caring about where that was. Argus, though, he and Emerald chose that.
Let's hope she still wants to come with. Emerald had been silent, ever since their argument in the woods. He had heard her, sniffling and stumbling afterwards, and he had tried not to let it show he noticed. He had said what needed to be said, and he didn't regret it. He just wished she would finally listen. For her sake, if nothing else.
"So?" Mercury almost jumped when Emerald finally spoke up. "We made it to Argus, time to figure out how we get in."
He had told her this was when they'd figure it out, hadn't he? Mercury looked over Argus once again, trying to focus on anything he may have missed. He took a deep breath. "We walk in the giant gate."
"Are you…are you serious?." Emerald asked, bewildered.
He shrugged. "Why not? Everyone else is. Besides, there really isn't any other way in, unless you either wanna swim past the Atlas military base, or climb the walls manned by Atlas security."
Emerald shook her head, taking in the situation. "Alright…fine. But my semblance only works on one person at a time, if that's what you're thinking of using."
Damn. Forgot that little tidbit. Well, nothing worth doing was ever easy. "We'll head in with the crowd." He said, nodding towards the throngs of people moving in and out of the city. "I doubt everyone there gets stopped, not with how things have been since Vale, but if we do, we can always just claim to be refugees."
Emerald nodded in agreement. "We've had worse plans. You do realize you'll have to follow my lead, right?"
Mercury snorted. "And why is that?"
She smirked. "Because otherwise, you're going to be the one talking with a bunch of refugees, trying to convince them you're just like them."
He paled, and quickly stepped to the side, holding an arm out towards Argus. "By all means, lead on."
Emerald laughed, and passed Mercury, heading down the hill and towards their destination. Now trailing after Emerald, he started to quietly grumble under his breath. Horror spread across his face as he came to a sudden realization. She's going to milk this for all it's worth.
"It's just been so hard to tell what happens, nowadays. Vale was scary, but it was familiar. But now we're all the way out here, and everything is just so different. We don't even know when we'll be able to go home! What if we never go home?" The squirrel faunus who had just decided that they were the best people to strike up a conversation with gasped, and Emerald resisted a smirk. She could feel Mercury holding back the urge to kill the woman. Serves him right for snapping at her earlier, the bastard.
She nodded in sympathy, laying an arm across the stranger's back. "We know exactly how you feel," Emerald reassured. "My friend and I were in Beacon during the Vytal festival when the attack occurred. It was horrifying! We didn't think we would make it out alive, but thankfully, we made it here safely."
Their new friend covered her mouth with both of her hands, eyes widening in shock. "Oh my goodness! I couldn't even imagine what the two of you have been through. Oh, you poor dears! You must be so relieved to have reached Argus safely, then."
"Oh we definitely are," She turned to her partner, who was clearly already exasperated with the woman, and decided to push just a little bit more. "Isn't that right.?"
"Definitely." Mercury growled through gritted teeth. "Say, didn't you mention a friend you were supposed to meet up with, before you entered the city?" She definitely had. Nearly a dozen times.
She gasped, and immediately began scanning the heads of everyone around them. "You're right! Oh my, I hope he hasn't been waiting too long. Shawn! Shawn, where are you?" The delightful woman took off, pushing her way through the crowd and screaming at the top of her lungs.
Leaving her alone with Mercury. "That's the third stranger that my ears have been forced to suffer through today." He complained. "What happened to not drawing attention to ourselves?"
Emerald shrugged. "We're not. Where just two more refugees, trying to learn anything we can about A new city that we're unfamiliar with." She held out her hand, gesturing around her. "Not like that's something unique, right about now."
They were surrounded in a crowd of hundreds of civilians, most of them probably refugees. From the top of the hill, it had seemed like people moved in and out of the city pretty frequently, but of course, as soon as they arrived, foot traffic congested way out of hand, and they had been stuck waiting around forever, inching closer to the gate at a snail's pace. Well, at least things were paying off. They were nearly there, now.
"NEXT!" A voice called out, and they shuffled forward. She saw a guard gesture over towards the two of them. This was something they had been wrong about. From what she could tell by speaking with some of the Argus natives, while security wasn't checking everyone individually, there was security present, monitoring them as they passed, occasionally singling out visitors. And because there were so many people, there was no chance of successfully using her semblance to sneak them by.
"Please don't get us caught before we even get in." Mercury whispered. "I wanted to die in a cooler way, at least."
Emerald ignored him, stepping forward. The guard who called them over held a scroll in his hand, clearly disinterested. "Reason for your visit?" He asked.
"We're refugees from Vale." She answered.
"Duration of stay?"
"For the foreseeable future."
"Wonderful," The guard said unenthusiastically. "Occupation?"
"Huntress." She answered. This was…going too well. She half expected an Atlas strike team to come bearing down on them any second.
"Good for you. Welcome to Argus." The guard stepped aside, holding an arm out towards the city.
Emerald's eyes widened in shock. "That's…it? You don't need our names, or anything?" She had a whole backstory planned out and everything. "Just three questions and we're in?"
The guard sighed, holding up the scroll. "You see this? This is a survey. All we have to do is keep track of how many people enter the city, why, and how long they'll be here. Look, you two probably don't want to stand around here any more than I do, so how about you move along into the city, so I can interview the next person and make everyone's day here go a lot quicker."
Emerald grabbed Mercury, dragging him with her and getting into the city as fast as she could. She wasn't going to question their luck. "Right, of course we'll be on our way."
They stumbled past the gate, finally entering the city. "Was that…Was that really just that easy?" Mercury asked. "All that trouble we had just getting here, and they didn't so much as ask for our names?"
"Maybe don't try to jinx us. I'm not gonna question our luck, not if it finally works in our favor for once."
Mercury held up his hands in defense. "Hey, I'm right there with you! Still, you'd think after a whole kingdom up and collapsed, they'd be more careful, not less, especially with Atlas looking after half the city."
"They're likely just too swamped with refugees to realistically keep track of everything." She reasoned. "Still, you're right."
Emerald took a moment to finally get a good look around. This is nothing like Vale, she thought. Similar, but not quite the same. Cobblestone roads, more tightly packed. The buildings weren't quite so tall, and, of course, there was the snow.
"So…what do we do now?" She asked. Even as she spoke, her thoughts drifted to her argument with Mercury earlier. Cinder wasn't going to forgive her. There was no going back. She hadn't forgotten the realization she had come to in the woods. Just…pushed it to the side. But now that they were here, in Argus, she didn't have any excuse anymore. She needed to find out what she wanted to do.
Mercury sighed. "Now, we get settled. First things first, we find somewhere to sleep. Then, we start feeling around for anywhere we might be able to use our talents. Personally, I'm banking on the less legal side of the city not being anywhere as organized as Vale. Hopefully that means we won't have any toes to step on." He slung his bag over his shoulder. "Right now though, dinner doesn't sound so bad. Sun's getting low, and I got enough lien to get us something to eat. You hungry?"
Where the hell did this come from? Why is he being so… Her eyes widened. This is him apologizing for earlier, she realized. Or at least, it's a peace offering.
She smiled, and felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders. He's not leaving, then. "Yeah, actually, I'm starving. Just don't get fast food." Thoughts of what she wanted, and of Cinder, could all wait until tomorrow.
Right now, she thought, following Mercury as they searched for a meal. I'm just glad I'm not by myself.
Emerald is going through it, huh? This has definitely been one of my favorite chapters to write so far, at least for Doing our own thing. Mercury, of course, is doing his best to give him and Emerald some sense of stability, one of them has to take charge after all, while Emerald is in her funk.
Also, they actually made it to Argus! WOO HOO! This was actually one of the first things I had in mind for this fic, along with some people our duo are going to meet not in the next chapter, but the one after that. Things are gonna be FUN.
Also, in the reviews I told several people that RWBY/JNR/Qrow + Oz wouldn't have a large part in this fic. While that's still true to an extent, as I've been writing they have been given a more substantial role than I initially planned.
Make no mistake, this is an M&EM fic first and foremost, only, now it'll be a lot more fleshed out than I was originally going to have it. Besides, this way you get to see a lot more of the ramifications of M&EM leaving, and there's a few interesting things still to come from the other side of the story.
As always, please leave a comment or a review, let me know what you think! What did you like? What do you think will happen next? Feel free to leave advice as well.
Remember, I crosspost on Ao3 if you prefer reading over there!
Next chapter: Tuesday, March 19th