CHAPTER 2 - Small Steps
April 20th, 786 E.A
Vale Industrial District, Kingdom of Vale Territory
The falling rain did not bother Qrow much, but lies did.
Steps echoed through the night as he approached the docks. Clambering along the way, a bit disoriented, as if wandering through a nightmare, he floundered forward, his head still reeling from the confrontation.
He had a meeting to attend. And he was already way beyond late.
The familiar spot at the docks greeted him.
Right at the edge of town, ahead of a defunct warehouse. For many years, Qrow would gaze at the sea here when he wanted to run away from everything and himself. When the world was about to crush him, he would sneak out, along the river shore, to here. Those trips got more frequent once he started drinking.
The waves greeted him like a mother's lullaby, the breeze gentle and soothing, even as the storm raged on.
All his life, he drifted like waves crashing against the unfamiliar shores.
Qrow squinted. The raindrops, like needles, fell on his face. His pulsating, swollen left cheek screamed at him to get back to the present.
The other man waited up ahead.
His friend, Professor Ozpin often gazed at the seas from a higher vantage point, up top in his tower. When Ozpin wasn't in his office, Qrow would see him haunt the Academy halls, like some unsettling phantasm, an uncanny replica, a wax statue in an old photo consumed by the white wear and tear called time.
The flask in his pocket nagged at him to take a sip, but a serious conversation loomed ahead. No substance known to man could help him escape.
The old headmaster stood there, holding an umbrella and a cane, out of place with the storm around him.
Qrow dragged his feet, measuring each step, delaying the inevitable.
"How did Taiyang take the news?" - the figure turned his head slightly towards Qrow.
Qrow rarely could understand what was going through his friend's mind.
"Just how do you think it could go, Oz?" - Qrow exhaled, drowning in the rain. - "Remember the time I almost convinced Tai that Raven was dead as a joke, and he almost took my head off?"
Whether to speak or to shout - his breath refused to follow his will. He attempted to hide the severity of the matter beyond the veil of his usual flippancy, but his voice betrayed him.
He stared at his friend, waiting for an answer, a reaction, anything. Some proof he wasn't talking to the rain.
Meetings like this were more common here than the arrival of actual ships.
Air travel stole the thunder from the ocean. The Nameless Sea did the rest. Some ships would still transport goods from and to the Kingdom Of Vacuo, but business wasn't booming. The old docks now found a new purpose - a gathering spot for folks not lucky enough to be born rich. A run-down stone pier welcomed everyone and gave them the view of the sea that the rich folks in the Upper District hoarded to themselves. On clear nights with no fog, the lights from Patch Village would pierce the horizon.
No such night this time. Thick fog shrouded the city as the sky drowned all in unending rain.
For how many years has their friendship endured? Only one thing united them - a clear-headed understanding of death itself - the feeling of an ending creeping up without any warning, taking away people, never to return. They couldn't be more different from each other, but they were friends.
Silence met his antics, and so he continued. Qrow pointed at his face, demanding attention.
"Well, this was about the same, except this time he did manage to land one...straight in the face. Surprisingly calm. Thought he'd take my head clean off with how he stared at me. But I guess he wasn't in the mood after the news. The pitiful idiot decked me and, I guess, gave up? Is this what burning bridges feels like, old friend?"
His friend visibly furrowed his brow at Qrow's theatrics.
The sea around them, not a light in sight, raged, bottomless and empty. Whichever living being would dare to crawl out of the safety and warmth of their homes would soon be drenched in the discordant cacophony, any sounds they make turned meaningless by the waves.
"So? Do you hate me, Qrow?" - After a few awkward minutes, the weary headmaster turned his whole body to face the drunkard.
Again - a pause. Ozpin read Qrow like an open book, as always. His words left Qrow dumbfounded.
"Not the best time to ask me that...Ask me in a week, okay? Maybe a month... Or how about a year? A year is better. But preferably? Ask this never."
"Do you blame me then? You have every right to loathe me for Miss Summer's fate... and for everything else."
"You know what? I do. I do blame you for not coming clean when you had the chance. I blame you for setting us all on this dark path while you withheld so much. I blame her for being herself. I blame Tai for being kind to a fault. I blame myself for not doing something before it was too late. A lot of blame to go around, Oz." - He took a sip from his flask. Being sober before didn't mean he had to stay that way. - "I could throw a fit at fate, destiny, or gods too. I could shift the guilt from my friends to all the coincidences that led us here. I could blame thousands of different things. It. Would. Not. Change. A. Thing."
The figure with the umbrella grew tense, as his eyes darted around, as if expecting someone else.
"I've been here long enough, Qrow. I hold no faith in, as you say, fate, destiny, or gods. Or coincidences, for that matter. Those are words humanity ascribes to their predictability."
"For once, I want to believe it's not all pointless, Oz. Predictable I can take."
His friend's stare pierced right through Qrow.
"Did you know this sea once had a name, Qrow? They'd call it the Leananlough. That name used to be as familiar to the people as breathing. Yet now there's not a soul remembering it. Do you know how long has it been since I even said it out-loud?"
Oh, the old tales again.
"No things are constant in this land. There's an endless void above us. There's firm and finite land below our feet. And in between? Death, waiting for us all. All the excuses are there for us to cling to - to use them as we rationalize our regrets. Because if there was no higher being preordaining all tragedies and setting us on our paths, then it's just us. Whether we do our best or our worst, it's all there is. The consequences are ours to suffer. And now, with the choices we made...this is where it got us..."
Qrow's head pulsated from both the rain and the swelling as he clenched his teeth.
"Our choices, really? Despite all her missteps, she still made the one choice YOU wanted her to make. And yet you aren't any closer to your damn stupid goal!"
"Do you think suffering gives me pleasure? You know better. I am not some god from your dark myths, nor a mischievous wizard."
"Well you aren't human either."
Both men fell silent once again.
The topic of trust came and went like the waves, again and again. A familiar dance. Anything they could say next could end their lifelong friendship, but neither was ready to take the final step.
Qrow took a step back. He did not want to blow up at his friend this way. Shouting wasn't going to help anybody right now.
He wished he could go back - to the day Ozpin gathered them all, burdening them with knowledge of the things behind the scenes.
Qrow would give anything to refuse - to make a different choice - to wash his hands from everything and convince others to do the same. Everyone would have been happier this way.
But there was nothing he could do now.
"You…We weren't ready for this. All of us had only finished basic training back then - four people from different walks of life. We were almost ready to be huntsmen, but we weren't ready for this. All this? This couldn't be further from huntsmen and heroes if it tried to. I know this will sound a bit hypocritical given my rant now, but… We were a bunch of foolish kids. And you dumped all this on us. How did you think this would go?!"
"I am not omniscient, Qrow. All I can do is share some of what I do know when the situation calls for it. And sharing what I know means sharing that weight."
Qrow took a deep breath. The rain managed to ruin his jacket. He tried to force the wet fabric back into shape.
"I don't hate you, Oz...I don't like you either, but… I think I do pity you. I don't think you have any alternatives to the path you are treading...I wish I knew nothing, but here we are…"
"What will you do, then?"
"As always. Move forward and do what I can." – Qrow stretched out his arms upwards, yawning, drenched in the rain. - "Make it all mean something, in the end."
"I am glad to hear you say it, old friend." - A brief smile flashed on the face of the weary scholar. – "The last thing we need in these trying times is more division... I hope Raven sees it that way too, eventually. Isn't she with you?"
"Yeah, I don't know about that. I hate to break the news, Oz, but she left already."
Qrow could see Ozpin's hand tighten around his cane Both of them knew they would never have been able to convince Raven. She wasn't someone who could be so easily swayed.
"I guess she drew her own conclusions then..."
"What can I say - when it rains, it pours." - Qrow shrugged. - "Look. Raven's not a bad person. You have seen both of us at our worst. Everything that happened after and everything you...well, she always had her own opinions. I forced myself to look at the bright side of our little deal, but she couldn't see you the same way anymore..."
He turned his head to the shades of emerald lighting up the sky - a beacon - visible even through all this rain. His wounds ached from the screaming sky.
"But, even if she might hate you, she understands. She's impulsive but she won't do anything stupid. She's just done following you now, Oz. I can't blame her...If anything, I am too weak and afraid of uncertainty to do what she did."
"No, she won't do anything stupid. I guess we can only hope for the best so when she finds her path it won't end up derailing ours..."
Qrow was sure - his sister trod a tightrope between her freedom and a violent storm.
Rain falling, the two men parted ways without even a goodbye.
This was the first time Qrow had chosen to keep a secret from his friend. And it wouldn't be the last.
For the first time in forever, isolation and fear engulfed him.
January 8th, 797 E.A
Patch Island, Kingdom of Vale Territory
Yang's head was still spinning as all color drained from her surroundings. The shadows danced, mocking her.
This has got to be a dream...or a nightmare.
Her mother had appeared out of nowhere after she spent years trying to find a single clue about her - a practical joke, that's what it was.
Her mind screamed at her to shout, to make her feelings known. She always had issues keeping her voice under control, but everything she experienced made it even worse. Her blood boiled -each second of silence burning her.
"You are freaking unbelievable."
Yang clenched her fist as hard as she could till it hurt. The pain, as if jolting her awake, helped her reorganize her thoughts.
In all the years that she knew who her mother was, Raven made herself known twice.
Each meeting was short and each meeting happened when the world around her was at it's darkest.
The first time was on an underground train. Back then, Yang was out for most of it, but she was pretty sure Raven saved her from certain death. She did not even comprehend who the woman who disappeared right in front of her was till a bit later. Damn photo confirmed all her fears, tore through her walls, and reopened wounds.
Her heart ached. A memory of a tense standoff was a welcome escape now. Team RWBY faced danger together before the world crushed them.
Punch a badguy, save your friends, throw a pun or two. Why can't life be simple for you?
Why was her mother there, back then? Why did she appear in the middle of what could only be called an act of terror?
What stung her the most was that she couldn't even remember her mother's face. She chased her for years with nothing but a worn down picture and she likely couldn't even recognize her in the crowd till then.
Raven's second appearance struck her amid chaos during the hell at Beacon. Her mother offered to talk and to explain things.
Another surreal confrontation as her mother, amid the burning academy, wanted to have a chat.
Of course Yang refused.
She did not need her.
She did not have time for her.
There were dozens of people more important than her mother there.
Did she believe that, or did she want to hurt her mother emotionally after everything she put them through?
She did not know which it was. She ran away.
Regret painted over that decision as life disarmed Yang, both physically and metaphorically.
See? An arm pun. You are fine. Everything fine. Laugh everyone with this useless idiot. Laugh it off.
The memories of her mother, clear as day, loomed as an ill omen among destruction.
And now she was here like nothing happened. Waiting.
"Do you think…"- Yang's words got stuck in her throat. - "Do you think you can come in here, acting like you own this place?!"
"Yes I can. I built this house."
Yang stomped her foot. She wanted to shout, she wanted to punch something, break something. Yet she couldn't do anything at all.
"Please, the last thing I need right now is your sentimental woes." - Raven said, staring at her. - "I'm not here to chit-chat."
"You left. All these years ago, you left! As we spent years trying to make something out of the rubble of our family, you never showed, not even once."
"I had my reasons. Nobody said life would be easy…"
"Gee, I wonder why my life hasn't been that easy…" - Yang rolled her eyes. - "Can't possibly be because of my mother, you piece of shit?"
Raven sat down, taking a deep breath
"I don't have time for temper tantrums, Yang." - Raven gestured, pointing around the room. - "This? All this? You had the luxury of living an ignorant life. Simple life, simple problems, simple issues. You don't know how good you got it, getting to live in a blissful fantasy as long as you did."
Yang did not let her eyes off her. The sense of familiarity Raven held herself with made her want to scream as loud as she can.
How did this despicable asshole think this would go? "Oh Yang, sorry I am going to buy some milk. See you in YEARS"?!
Adrenaline coursed through her. A violent sense of vertigo. She was falling, as if the ground swallowed her whole. Falling through an endless void, wind rushing past her. What could she do or say in this situation?
"So what, Mom, I should thank you for this? Because that's not going to happen. I earned every single bit of good in my life, no thanks to you."
"Yes. You were strong enough to survive - to stand on your own - to rely on nobody but yourself. I could tell you I was wrong and how sorry I am if you wanted me to make you feel better about yourself, but I am not here to ask for forgiveness or anything."
Raven's eyes wandered around the room.
"Surviving isn't enough! And what would you know about relying on others?" - Yang wanted to run, run as far away from here as she could - "And yeah you made yourself clear to Uncle Qrow. About not saving me next time? You know? A few days until you came to me yet again during hell at Beacon as if nothing happened. Makes this all the funnier, don't you think? Miss, I-wont-save-you-next-time?"
"Things change." - Raven sounded a bit softer, which only made Yang grit her teeth even more. - "I don't have time for more regrets. Whether they are mine or yours."
Raven stood up, facing Yang face to face.
"You've been blissfully asleep for years. Do you think life is just a fairytale? You tried living in one, and you paid the price. Likewise, the things I had to do and the decisions I made - none of them are possible while being tied down to the past. I did what I had to do. And I bore the consequences. I am here now to show you the truth."
Her mother stretched out her hand towards her.
Who does she think she is?
Memories swirled around Yang, threatening to drown her. Her blood boiled, and she struggled to breathe.
The day her mother up and left. The day her mother saved her and left again. The day Weiss was taken away. The day Ruby left on her stupid journey. The day Blake betrayed her trust and abandoned them all. The day everything was taken from her once again.
Is people leaving you the theme of your life or what?
Surely it won't hurt to at least know her intentions? You made plenty of worse decisions, Yang.
"Enough games." - Yang said, calmer but still shaking. - "If you continue with cryptic nonsense, I'll throw you out of here myself."
Raven…smiled? The thought unsettled Yang more than anything in the world could.
"Good. You shouldn't settle for breadcrumbs. You should strive for more than being a pawn" - Raven said, turning around - "I'll accept it as a trade then if it soothes your pride. You won't need to feel indebted to me nor expect me to hold your hand."
"You truly are a hypocrite."
"No, you little brat. I am stating the truth. You are built stronger than to have others make decisions for you, Yang. Whether it's your sister or your father or that mockery of human form high up in his tower. Unlike them, I will answer your questions. Makes all the easier to tell what I want anyway."
Raven took steps toward the window. Even if Yang couldn't see her face anymore, she was eerily sure her mother was still smiling, happy with herself.
What did you get yourself into, Yang?
"I am not here to toy with you, Yang." - Raven continued. - "If it takes clearing up a few things you want to know, so be it. You will thank me in the end."
"And you know, I really doubt that… But okay. OKAY. Give me one day to clear my mind, because right now I don't know what to even think."
Yang took a deep breath. She turned her back to her mother. She stared at her bed. At the books. Anything but her mother.
"Tomorrow evening, I will come to the forest cabin, north of Patch village." - Yang continued, her voice shaking. - "You should know where that is if you haven't forgotten. Once I am here, if you are serious about this, you will tell me what I want to know. Once you answer, if you answer, I'll listen to what you want. Listen being the keyword here"
"Since this is a trade..." - Raven said. - "You only get three questions, but I will answer them completely, with no cryptic nonsense as you said. Choose your questions wisely."
The window creaked open behind Yang. The wind screamed at her.
Yang turned around, a retort stuck in her throat, as the cold filled the room once again.
Her head spun. Yang gasped for air.
Her mother, once again, was nowhere to be found. The same ending to the every encounter.
A sense of repetition.
She paced back and forth,
This piece of shit is not worth your time or tears so why are you even entertaining playing along, you idiot? Are you that desperate?
Yang realized her hand was bleeding, her fist clenched, and her fingernails digging into her flesh.
Another gust of wind as the still open window reminded of itself.
Yang rushed to the window and closed it.
Or, she tried to.
She still had to mentally remind herself to use her left arm as her brain would jump to moving her dominant arm instead.
Yang closed the window. For real this time.
Once again Yang sat down on the bed. She picked up the book, as if not knowing what to do with it.
She used to zip around the house effortlessly since she was little. Doing dishes, washing clothes, cleaning - coping mechanisms seared into her brain. Yet now it took her multiple failures before she could even reasonably move faster without stumbling, let alone run.
Difficulties would await when dressing up in the morning. She adapted, of course. She'd avoid more intricate pieces of clothing, focusing on convenience.
She used to always have a comeback ready, but now, facing her mother, her words held no power over her.
She used to fight monsters too.
Is this what your life will be now, Yang?
Like a chill, another unwelcome thought crept up upon her mind.
Ruby was out there, chasing whatever absurd ideas drove her now.
Meanwhile, Yang was stuck. What did her sister have that she didn't?
Her life burned away, leaving her with nothing but a pile of smoldering ash. At least the hero in this book got to see the world before it crashed down around him.
With all her might, she flung the book across the room.
She was greeted with a blunt sound as it hit the wall the wall.
That was all she could do right now. Temper tantrums, as her mother disdainfully put it.
Wind howled outside, pressing against the window, the glass creaking from the unseen weight. The room she grew up in - now a prison she couldn't escape.
January 8th, 797 E.A
Wilderness near the coast of Anima, Kingdom of Mistral Territory
No matter how much Nora struggled, she couldn't break the wall ahead.
"So, do you want to talk about it?"
"Nope."
Attempts to do what Nora did best were met with silence once again.
Something was wrong. Could anything be done to fix this?
Her first impression of Ruby involved fighting two giant monsters in one of the most chaotic and exciting moments at Beacon that she could remember. The day she discovered canned beef came close, though.
She never bothered to learn about her life or anything like that. Past rarely ever matters. People are who they are. Now - at this moment. Only losers wallow in what was.
Ruby always was this force of nature waiting for the right moment. Not anything like Nora, who could out of the blue strike up a conversation about something completely random. But when it counted? Ruby would always be the light in the dark.
After Beacon, silence and despair replaced that light. A slight smile would still cross Ruby's face sometimes - a burst of laughter, here and there, but more often than not, she would stay silent, lost in thought. Ruby would still talk when spoken to, at least entertaining Nora's whims, but a constant doubt crept upon her about how genuine it was. Sadly, this side of Ruby was something Nora could relate to. It made her heart ache. She wasn't that different all those years ago, wandering the forest, crying her eyes out. The feeling of inner turmoil of not knowing how to put terror into words still lingered on the edge of her mind.
She could barely make the rising sun breaking through the branches.
The forest, like a cage, intertwined around them.
The swaying of the trees irritated her.
There was no path, no road, no trail to follow. Nobody in the last century was dumb enough to wade through the swamps and forests surrounding the Great Lake in the north.
Stay on the trail, stay out of the north - stay alive.
The Great Lake was bad news.
Thinking about it made her stomach churn.
The impression of being lost was still seared into her mind as she once again slogged through these woods with nothing but trees and deafening silence as her companion.
The silence wasn't going to stop Nora, though. She would handle it the only way she knew how.
She hopped through the roots closer to her friend.
"I mean, what was that about, Ruby? Are we going to brush past everything that just happened?"
"Nora, please stop." - Ren closed the distance as he stumbled over the vines on the ground.
Nora appreciated Ren's tendency to rein in her hijinks. Her personality would sometimes scare people. She wasn't good at this whole "tact" thing, and they wouldn't shut up about that.
"But do you think she's okay?" - Nora whispered. - "I mean, she can be awkward at times but she's been like a powder keg these last few weeks - it's not like her."
"Tragedy changes people."
"But would she be so…"
Nora stopped mid-sentence.
As much as she appreciated Ren's ability to counter-balance her when she went too far, she wasn't in the mood for being calm.
The last time her friend spent her days silent and in thought, emotions boiling inside, she ended up with an arrow through her heart after facing that fashion victim.
Nora's fickle. Who the hell cares? Whoever does can try complaining to her face.
She jumped right back to Ruby.
Nora drew in as much air as she could. She only knew one method to break the ice, and Nora wouldn't let anyone stop her until she exhausted all her options.
"Ruby! R-U-B-Y! My dear friend! My heart aches that you are so unwilling to talk about your worries with your very, very, very best friends here! Tell me, what's going on in that head of yours so I can help. I'm known for solving friends' problems, aren't I, Ren?"
"I don't think that one time you threw a dining table at Cardin counts as…"
"Shut up, Ren"
"But you asked me…" - Ren sighed. - "Never mind."
"So, yeah, Ruby, please share what ails you to your friends. It will make you feel better. Maybe we can help."
Ruby stopped dead in her tracks.
Nora swerved to the side as she struggled to avoid crashing into her.
She hopped on one leg as she attempted to regain balance.
Ruby was staring straight at her.
"You know what can't help me right now, Nora? You, of all people, trying to play therapist, that's what."
"I did not mean…"
"I am sure you didn't. You never do. But sitting down and sharing our feelings while a couple of dozen Serpentines bite our heads off is not my idea of fun. Sorry that I don't treat every single moment of my life like a game, Nora."
Ruby quickened her pace once again, walking past her.
Nora tried to regain her balance.
A damp sensation of earth and wood - her hand had bumped into a half-rotten tree trunk.
This forest was the worst.
"Leave her alone. Please." - Nora heard Ren speak behind her.
Her steps grew slower to match his.
This "feelings and subtlety" stuff was all nonsense, that's what.
She still wanted to do something - the journey to Mistral was dreary enough as is, reminding her of all the wrong things.
Ruby was wrong. She didn't treat everything like a game.
Nora wanted one of her few remaining friends to smile again.
Beacon in flames, her friend's terrible fate. The memories from years ago when she still called Mistral her home.
The danger is only scary if it's serious. Nora grew up with this truth. She could only live when she had accepted it.
Since leaving the port, they've fought off Grimm three times now. Sure, it was cathartic as hell as she finally got to smash things, but things were getting pretty repetitive. The only times Ruby ever would open her mouth would be when she would scream during the fighting or get ticked off at something. And then silence would follow till the sounds of something moving through the grass would return.
Why were they even here? To do something for her friend, for Pyrrha - to honor her memory. But this was going nowhere. Was Ruby even walking the same path? Did any of them share the same goal as her?
Nora winked at Ren.
"Hey now, I got her to say whole five sentences! Wait… I think it was five? Oh no, I forgot to count. Either way, small steps. I'll crack her open like a can of beef. Well, not like a can - that would be gruesome. Wait, what was I saying?"
"Nora..."
"I want to help."
"I know. But pushing Ruby will get you nowhere. Out of four of us, Ruby was the worst choice to stumble upon a Wraith. Those things, I don't think they even teach how to fight them anymore. Cognitohazardous Lifeform Grimm haven't appeared in Remnant for years. You don't leave unscathed, facing something like that unprepared. We should give her space to deal with whatever is bothering her."
"Yeah, well..." - Nora's bravado evaporated. - "She wouldn't have been facing an unknown enemy alone had she not rushed ahead, silly..."
Ren did not answer.
Nora has been his friend long enough to know why. Even his stoic mask would slip sometimes.
It's been almost a day since they left.
Jaune went ahead first like an idiot, but nobody complained. Traveling light to scout the road ahead, that led to the railway line between Argus and Nemea was a good idea. Well, Ren said it was. Nora had her doubts. Now, there was no station here beyond a relay tower, but if they were lucky, they might…" board" a passing train and save a week of traveling.
Still, avoiding traveling through this place on foot was one thing Nora hoped for more than anything.
The forests of this Kingdom are rarely empty.
They couldn't contact Jaune because the scrolls kept buzzing nonsense. Maybe Relay Station was busted or something. He was probably fine. Probably. In the last message, he left them a set of coordinates to a nearby clearing where they were supposed to meet up again.
Or maybe monsters were eating his face, devouring the meat off his bones, waiting for their next course, and walking right into the trap.
Nora breathed in and out. The tension wouldn't go away. The last thing she wanted was to spiral again.
It was troubling that a village this close to Nemea had to fend for itself. The situation in Mistral was likely worse than when she and Ren left this hopeless place.
Back in the day, when she and Ren lived here, huntsmen settling in a local town to protect it wasn't uncommon. Some villagers would also get pretty good at defending themselves. A Huntsman or a farmer, punching things hard always works.
At least until they would face something they couldn't possibly defeat, something that defied death…
Now, everyone in that village recoiled in terror upon seeing Huntsmen. Were they dumb? Huntsmen are cool. Why would anyone be terrified of cool?
"She has a lot on her mind." - Ren said, breaking Nora out of her whirlpool of thoughts.
"Do you think, maybe…" - Nora whispered trying to find the right words. - "The Wraith thingy did something bad to her brain?"
"It's not because of the Wraith... The effect stops immediately after the Wraith perishes. The villagers calmed down and even expressed regret when we got there. Sure, they were still distrustful and afraid, but nothing like what she experienced. And it has been hours now. Likewise, a Wraith only affects those who heard its cry, and Ruby rushed ahead of us and acted rashly even before..."
"I never knew she had so much anger in her..."
"It's the same as on the Island...I don't think she has processed anything that happened to us all during the Festival, And she was right in the middle of it all…"
"You know, our home got destroyed twice now and, each time, I couldn't do anything."
"I know. But until she's ready to take that step to open up and talk to us, all we can do is be there for her"
"Even if she'll get herself killed?"
"It won't come to that. While we can't help Ruby fight the monsters inside, we are still a team. I am more than certain we can handle it. It's not like this land is unfamiliar to us two, right?"
Nora kept walking alongside Ren, observing a tinge of red in front of them. Every muscle in her body froze with cold.
"Do you think…that thing is still out there?"
"It's been years, Nora. And Grimm don't work that way."
"Last time I checked, there weren't any giant dragons cooked up inside mountains for decades that, when woken up, would vomit Grimm all over the place either, yet here we are, so what do you know!"
"It's going to be all right. Remember what you said to me back then? Don't let fear control you."
Nora took in the night air. What would she do without these little talks?
Ren picked up the pace.
Even as the sun slowly rose through the sky, Nora was unsure if things would get brighter. The forest did it's best to hide the light.
The truths she could not bring herself to tell Ren weighed heavily on her soul.
Nora listened, intently, to her surroundings.
Against her better judgment, she hoped to walk into a fight to take her mind off all the complicated things once again.
The sound of something slithering through the grass answered the call.
January 8th, 797 E.A
Patch Island, Kingdom of Vale Territory
Yang hasn't closed her eyes even for a second since Raven left. She paced back and forth in her room, doing her best to ignore the noise outside.
A pile of books that wasn't hers.
Training weights she hasn't touched in a while. They came in handy now. The doctors told her she had to exercise regularly as part of rehab.
A bunch of unopened cardboard boxes lay in hiding under a table. Yang did not know what she even put in those.
Some random doll.
She has spent the entire night counting all the things in her room over and over again. She tortured herself by trying to remember specific moments tied to everything around her.
When did her interest in motorbikes start? How old was she when she first bought training equipment? What exactly was the story behind that ugly doll?
She thought she knew who she was. She built up this image in her head through the years. And yet, the things in her room felt so inconsequential and foreign.
Her sister always had a singular conviction driving her, for better or for worse. Something to fight for, something to believe in. A belief so strong that Ruby threw her and her father away without a second thought to follow it.
Yang wanted to have something like that in her.
A fire inside that would fuel her, for once. A spark. Why didn't she have that?
Are you destined to burn out so the others find their way, Yang? Is that all you are worth?
Yang forced the wardrobe open with a creak. She hasn't gone through the rest of her clothes in weeks. Variations of white shirts and jeans were her only companions.
She had way too many jackets and way too many belts. Who even would need so many belts?
Voices seeped in from the outside. Her dad arguing with someone.
She scoured the room for a distraction.
Do you even have clothing that's not flashy? How desperate were you to compensate for being hollow inside?
A few months back, she would have said her style is a badge of honor, helping her to uphold her reputation.
Most of the bullies from her younger days and most of the criminals in Vale would likely give the exact same description of her - short-tempered, dangerous, and destructive.
It worked as an intimidation tactic, it would help when she needed to get information out of people and it would help avoid unwanted attention.
Yang slammed the wardrobe shut.
None of the outfits there felt like her anymore. She caught herself contemplating why she even owned some of them.
The voices outside grew louder.
She stared at the floor.
The first thing Dad did, after Yang was allowed to leave her bed, was place non-slip rubber mats all over the house.
Walking around felt different as her body tried to rely on something that wasn't there anymore. She learned the hard way how easy it was to stumble or fall over for her. She spent the last few weeks re-learning how to do things without losing her sense of balance.
She still couldn't shake the feeling that she was somehow standing or walking wrong. As a fighter, she had a good sense of where her weight center was. Yet every muscle in her body screamed at her that everything was off and she had to fix her posture.
Quickly leaning to the sides was still a no-go.
But Yang wasn't going to let herself get defeated by her own house.
Every single failure and every look others would give her were her enemies. Something she could fight and overcome.
And then she'll laugh in their faces for having written her off.
She wasn't the kind of person to lay down and take the beating. She had an issue to overcome, but that did not make her less of a person. Everyone had their struggles.
But what kind of a person are you, really?
The voices outside fell silent.
The front door slammed shut, the sound reverberating through the walls.
After a few moments, a blond man peaked his head into her room in an exaggerated fashion, a wide smile on his face.
"Hey there, Yang, you okay?"
"What was it this time, Dad?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it."
A lie.
She knew why.
No matter how much she attempted to delude herself that her home stayed the same, untouched by the calamity, the unchanging surface of Patch Village hid a different story beneath it.
None of the villagers would openly say it if asked, but Beacon's Fall and what happened in Vale lingered in the air.
Uncertainty and fear seeped into the ground, taking root.
Vale's docks were a lifeline. Had the Grimm advanced a little bit further and caused more damage, everyone at Patch would have found themselves half a continent away from the closest port.
Resources, medicine, food, materials, weapons - a village this small depended on the Kingdom's capital city for survival.
And now Vale had crumbled into ruins. Is it surprising that people at Patch would let the ramblings of politicians and the wealthy get to them? Is it surprising they wanted an easy answer to their problems, an easy target to blame?
Her heart sank because she knew who people on the mainland would blame.
People here found a far easier target, though.
The troublesome, fiery vagrant with a penchant for getting into fights. The girl who already earned many nicknames because of her confrontative nature before she even decided to become a Huntress.
Bad reputation worked like a charm when the audience of millions witnessed this girl mercilessly break some boy's legs on live TV.
She hasn't done it, of course. It was all an illusion, a trick. A dirty scheme to ruin her life for no discernible reason.
But that did not matter.
She could go to the village every day, talk with people, mingle. Act like nothing has happened. Wouldn't change a thing.
People believe what they want to believe.
Yang sank onto her bed.
"Don't ever play poker, Dad. Who was it this time?"
"Some kids broke into old man Orson's house again. Remember Brun Orson? The grumpy guy who owns the docks? Yelled all day, convinced it's you. After he couldn't get the police involved, concerned citizens were all he could bring here."
"He just can't let go can he."
"You did threaten to throw his grandson down the well, you know"
"It was years ago, I was ten, he was a bully and he started it."
"And you trashed the club his son-in-law owns."
"I trashed many clubs and bars, dad."
"Fair point. Whatever his grievances, they don't negate the fact that you didn't have anything to do with the break-in. You didn't, right? "
"Dad."
"Just making sure. How you holding up?"
"How do you think? Like a prisoner on a death row."
"Bad mood again, huh? Yeah, yeah, but things are looking up. With any luck, I can get you on a not-so-legal trip to the Kingdom of Atlas where-"
Yang sighed, tuning out the rest of the explanation. Her dad has spent the last few weeks going back and forth to Vale, going through his list of contacts, calling in every favor to get her a prosthetic.
It wasn't as easy as it sounded. They couldn't waltz into a shop or something and buy one. Prosthetics weren't a glove or a pair of shoes. Each prosthetic had to be tailor-made for a specific person, built from the ground up, accounting for the person's height, arm length, and many other things.
The issue with being a huntsman was that one's strengths might as well become their weaknesses. Having a semblance made an insurmountable difference on the battlefield, but it didn't come without downsides.
One of the said downsides was how the nature of Semblance interacted with life-threatening injuries. The more powerful a semblance is, the more potent a person's aura is, the harder it is for them to heal.
Yang had discovered there were entire study fields in medicine dealing specifically with aura and semblance.
Don't feel weird, Yang. Sure, you're a nobody with no friends and way too much free time, but anybody in your place would have enough morbid curiosity to at least read a damn book about what has been happening to them.
Some semblances would trigger as anesthesia set in, and some would activate subconsciously during surgery. Surgeons, Doctors, Nurses - all the people saving lives had to know how to act and to react to patients like that. Especially with how frequent huntsman injuries were during the Great War.
From what Uncle Qrow told her, her aura kept her alive, holding the wound closed, and they managed to get her to medical help before it ran out. But, her semblance would still randomly activate every few minutes as her aura would regenerate enough for it to trigger. It made sense - she had an open wound, a severed arm - torn apart nerves, cut off bone, intense pain. Her semblance reacted to damage ticking in with every second, converting it into power. Supposedly, while she was unconscious, a doctor and a nurse trying to save her life got severe burns from working on closing the wound.
Even weeks later, her semblance would randomly flare up in the middle of the night forcing her to wake up. And then the pain would start.
It had been over a month since the hell at Beacon, but her body was still fiercely fighting for her survival…
The nature of her wound was the problem, or so she told herself. Whatever weapon tore into her did not shatter her Aura but instead cut clean straight through it. As far as her body was concerned, there merely was something in between two parts of her, intruding. Maybe, deep inside, she refused to believe what happened.
As her doctor said, there was a chance her semblance would interpret prosthetics the same way, rejecting or retaliating against what it would perceive as an intrusion. The choice of what to do was hers. Plenty of huntsmen lived without one, just like the ones chose to use one.
If she were to, certain rules applied to her, as someone having awakened her semblance. Any of the older model prosthetics circuits would likely fry the moment the semblance triggered because they weren't designed with semblances in mind.
In the world with airships and androids, the technology that could help someone like her felt unfinished and flawed.
And getting what she needed was a problem.
Vale used to make a few models, but with the Industrial District in complete ruins, that wasn't going to happen. The Kingdom's manufacturing industry had completely stalled.
Kingdom of Atlas had cybernetic prosthetics. They were designed for Huntsmen after severe trauma. While they couldn't yet be used to generate a proper aura, they were made sturdier to handle rejection and possible combat uses.
Atlas invested heavily in medical fields after the Great War. It was part of their effort to change their image after leaving Mantle behind.
Yang didn't know how much of the effort was genuine and how much - politics.
Either way, it worked, huh? They built an entire robot army and nobody batted an eye until they started tearing a city apart. What would it take to make people stop yapping about what you did or did not do at that tournament, Yang? Or does this trick only work for smaller issues like Kingdoms involved in world wars?
Now, with the Blockade in effect, there was no way to get one made, let alone getting it delivered.
Did not stop her Dad from trying, though, bless his heart.
As her thoughts raced through her mind, she took a good look at his face.
Bags under his eyes, disheveled. Her dad was running on fumes, and it was all her fault.
He slumped into a chair in front of her, next to her bed.
Yang's heart skipped a beat. She did not want to think about how much her dad likely would pay for even a chance to sneak into a heavily militarized Kingdom.
"Don't you get tired of wasting our money?"
"If it helps you go back to normal - nope. I don't want you to miss an opportunity."
That word again.
"Sure, Dad, I'll be sure to thank the asshole who cut my arm off for giving me such exciting opportunities."
"Yang."
"Sorry..."
Yang brushed her hand through the bedside table.
"I know its hard but we got to move forward, even if by a little." - Taiyang smiled. - "If I can find anyone willing to break few rules for me, we'll get you to Atlas in no time. If we are going to find Ruby, we-"
Oh, gee, Yang, did you expect this to be about you? Of course its about Ruby.
"It's not like we don't know where she went, Dad." - Yang said. -"She chose this."
"Whatever ideas Qrow put in her head, I am not letting him rope her into his nonsense, who knows where. The world is too dangerous right now."
"Yes, because it's so safe here at Patch, less than a day away from that thing at Beacon. And Uncle Qrow meant well."
Her dad jolted up form the chair, as if struck by lightning.
"So that bastard claims each time. And then things fall apart. It's all the more reason to not have you moping in your room all day."
"Moping? Real rich coming from you, Dad. I guess you'd be an expert at that sort of thing."
Yang's heart ached the moment she said those words.
"It's okay. I know you need time for everything to go back to normal. Once we get you all fixed up and drag Ruby back here, we'll figure something out"
Yang tensed up.
"Normal, again? You keep using that word."
"Please, can we not?"
Her head boiling, she darted up from the bed, holding onto the bedside table, struggling to stand on even ground with her father.
"What is normal? Will my arm somehow grow back? Will the dead come back to life? Will people stop talking about the damn arena incident?."
"Yang..." "Don't you think its bit hypocritical to push me like this?"
"Look, your dad's not perfect, okay? I did not handle it well back then, and I regret putting you two through all that. Everything just… came crashing at me all at once, and I did not know how to handle any of the things that happened to me. I am sorry you had to bear the burden. Abandoning you both back then is one of my biggest regrets."
"It was hard for all of us. I never blamed you, dad, but…" - Yang instinctively pointed at him with her right elbow. - "There's no normal."
"Look, I did not mean it that way, I am sorry."
He stretched out his hand, patting her head.
"Wounds don't always heal, kid, and they don't heal fast. But it doesn't mean you have to do it alone. I'll be there to support you, whatever you decide to do."
He stood up, slouching towards the door.
"You do know I love you, right? You and Ruby both. You're all I have left."
Yang wanted to say something.
She wanted to yell at him about the visit last night. The words refused to come out, stuck in her throat.
Her dad shut the door behind him.
Silence shrouded the empty room once again.
Normal. What does that mean to you now, Yang? You would give anything to undo what happened that day, so what right do you have to lash out at your dad for wanting the same?
The emptiness hummed in response.
"Normal" did not fit. Likely never did. She never had it and she never needed it so why was she afraid?
Her dad meant well. He was an awkward and good-natured person. He didn't always manage to show his emotions right, but he meant well even if his words, unwittingly mirroring the remarks from the villagers, hurt her.
He tried as hard as he could to make things better, like she did all those years ago.
Why aren't you feeling better, Yang? Why do you keep hurting people who care about you? Why are you angry at your little sister, you idiot?
Could she really getbetter quickly? Was her dad right in wanting her to push through the pain? Part of her hoped it was that simple.
A month ago she could barely move through her room without losing balance.
She got this far. The problem was always what came after.
What did she want to do?
She gazed through the window. The villagers have already left.
Yang turned her gaze toward the emptiness in her room.
She used to dream of seeing the world.
Her world grew so much smaller in these last few weeks.
The world to Beacon. Beacon to a village. Village to a house on an island. A house to a single room.
A single room to a collection of trinkets inside turning more and more inconsequential and pointless with every passing second.
Missed opportunities, lost chances, abandoned hopes, thrown away dreams.
The photo of STRQ all together that Qrow gave her. An inseparable team falling apart for reasons unknown to her.
The single photo of RWBY together. An inseparable team falling apart for reasons known all too well to her.
A faded photo of Raven she'd carry around everywhere during the moments she'd search for her.
Snippets of time, moments from her past, frozen, stuck.
Snippets that only made her stomach churn.
She had a meeting to get ready for. Questions to ask.
She couldn't control anything in her life, but she won't let Raven leave without some answers, even if she had to beat them out of her.
January 8th, 797 E.A
Wilderness near the coast of Anima, Kingdom of Mistral Territory
Ruby Rose hasn't said a single word since her conversation with Nora. What could she say? Should she apologize?
She did not want to. She wasn't in the wrong. She couldn't have been.
Nora was the reckless one here.
Wet fog clung to the surface, white patches of frost and snow covering the field. The forest clearing was surrounded by Anima trees, long since having shed their leaves for the winter, standing morbidly still, branches stretching out as if reaching to devour the sun.
Ruby expected snow, but according to Ren, the continent of Anima, excluding its northernmost region, hasn't seen snow in decades.
Instead of snow, the forest clearing was crawling with Serpentines.
She faced them hours ago in the village and even traveling to this clearing, they have been in five fights within a single day, dealing with those things.
The recollection of what happened in the village still surged through her mind.
Every step she took upon this continent made her feel like it was crawling with the Grimm.
Beowulves were nothing new to her. Even the more unique varieties of Grimm she encountered last year were part of her job. But something about Serpentines made her skin crawl.
A hideous aberration, part human and part snake. A dark shadow, elongated and warped, clinging to the ground. A sinister presence hidden behind a bony white mask, its three eyes embedded in it, like glass beads hidden within the absence of light, fangs protruding around the empty black void where a mouth should be - the snake head adorned with a crown of white scales.
A bloated splash of ink slithered through Remnant's coasts.
Every type of Grimm had its behavior patterns. Serpentines were no different.
Usually, those things would bury themselves in the ground, digging out underground tunnels with their claws. They'd lay in wait for unsuspecting travelers they could drag deep below the earth. Deep below, dozens of them would swarm their terrified victim.
Some lay waiting inside abandoned wells, dragging thirsty strangers to their deaths. Others would slither into the towns via sewers, bursting into houses of unsuspecting people from below the floor at night, slaughtering everyone in sight. Serpentines were one of the reasons cities like Vale would have routine sewer system sweeps.
No wonder these things were so popular for books and movies - everyone loved the stories where you can't see the villain until it's too late, as it picks the cast off, one by one before the heroes would overcome it. Even children back at Patch would scare each other with tales of Serpentines lurking in the forests.
Them slithering all over the place like this was most unusual, though. Were they drawn to some tragedy? Maybe some sort of psychic tidal wave generated by the despair the Wraith caused for days in that village? Or was it something worse, disturbing their usual routine, forcing them to move?
The fast-weaving patterns of their movement made them hard to aim at. The creatures slithered to the sides, effortlessly changing the movement direction, appearing and disappearing in the tall grass, vanishing behind the bushes and the trees.
And then they would sometimes dive underground, burrowing out of sight.
As fast as they were on the surface, deep below the ground, these things flowed like a river, violent tendrils spreading through the land.
For a huntsman facing even a few of them at once any step taken could be fatal. Losing sight of a serpentine, being unable to keep count of how many there are, or even staying in one place would lead to swift and fatal death.
Clearing out an infestation of Serpentines would always be done in teams. They were one member short right now, so Serpentines here being in a frenzy, most rushing at them in straight lines, were a blessing in disguise.
Ruby's senses enveloped her surroundings.
The trees cracked all around her, singing the song of the frost.
The wind caressed the land.
There, right below her feet.
Ground shuffled to sides and tore open revealing a grotesque face.
Human-like arms, black void obscuring form. Bending, twisting at unnatural angles as it emerged, its claws stretched out upwards at its prey.
Not a growl, but a low, silent hiss followed its emergence.
Crashing into the endless waves of the Grimm drained her empty. But even so, she braced her scythe against the enemy.
Two serpentines dove underground behind her three minutes ago, parting the earth, like a curtain. They likely spent time circling, writhing deep underneath, waiting for a moment when Ruby's steps would stop. For that one moment, when she stood still.
The first one. Young and impatient. Big mistake.
As the thing reared its head out from the ground, it found itself staring straight into the barrel of Crimson Rose. A shot roared through the cold, splitting its head in half. The creature stumbled to the side, melting like spilled ink.
Three steps to the left, another was trudging through the ground. It would have lunged at her any second now.
"Would have" is the keyword. The thing had no chance to do anything as a sickle-like blade descended upon it, splitting its carcass in half before more than its upper half could even leave the ground.
A familiar face stood in front of her. Ruby clenched her teeth.
"I was handling it just fine, Ren." - She reloaded her gun.
"We are meant to work together, Ruby, This is not a competition"
"Doesn't mean I can't enjoy my work."
"I am not sure that's something that should be enjoyed. It's merely our duty."
Ruby ignored the rest. Ren could be such an absolute mood killer.
She turned to the side, towards the noise of the thunder striking the earth.
"Not a competition, huh? How about you tell that to her, then."
Up ahead to the left of them, Nora spun wildly, like a force of nature, pulverizing everything in her path in a mad frenzy, energy crackling in the air.
A wide smile adorned her face. Enjoying the moment, Nora did not bother to bait the monsters - the moment the Serpentines went underground, Nora would smash the ground apart with her weapon, with all her might, leaving nothing but a crater.
Was she humming?
Well, if there was a definitive Nora moment of today, I guess this would be it.
The nightmarish visages around them gave way to the rays of sun piercing through the cold.
Ruby could relate to being able to fight your fears. Facing something she could fight, not having to talk about her issues, struggling to find the right words. For years, Ruby felt more comfortable surrounded by monsters than people.
The Creatures of Grimm felt like the crystallization of everything unfair in the world. The trials from the pages of her childhood fairytales come to life.
Now, being able to crash through a field of monsters brought her all the way back to that day when Team RWBY and Team JNPR worked together for the first time. Before all the responsibilities and tragedies devoured them all.
"Now this was fun." - Nora giggled like an idiot, leaning against a tree trunk. - "Oh, don't tell me this wasn't fun, you guys."
Ruby glared at the duo. Ren lectured Nora, who was still laughing, about recklessness or something.
A familiar scene of camaraderie from the days before everything fell apart.
Realization cut through Ruby Rose. She felt nothing in this moment.
A hole where a heart should be. Emptiness where feelings should reside.
She pushed herself after her mom died.
She pushed herself during the Fall.
She pushed herself now…
A loop. That's what it was. She was stuck in a loop. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, she would end up exactly where she started.
Staring at a freshly dug grave covering everything red.
Leaving Patch, going on a journey felt like an escape. Like a chance to do something. She could make a difference and change things. She couldn't stay still and do nothing. Not after everything that happened.
And yet, for weeks, the inherent pointlessness of every single action she ever took gnawed at her.
In this moment of nostalgia, an a sea of epiphany washed over Ruby Rose.
Something was missing. A spark.
Being a huntress, banter with friends, dreams, and hopes - all these things - empty. Ever since the night the tower fell.
Were her hopes and dreams merely an illusion shattered by the nightmare around her? There was no release, no satisfaction in going through the motions.
The world around her was much darker than she wanted to believe. Clean solutions, idealistic paths - they weren't always there among the fog. Even their journey so far required compromise.
Since when did she stop enjoying being a huntress? Since when did she start treating everything around her as if it were nothing but a pointless nightmarish struggle of life and death?
She couldn't stop.
Even when lost, she should move forward.
If she stopped, if she gave up and went back to Vale - it would all be over.
The old captain said she needed a goal - something to anchor her.
She wanted closure. Bringing Pyrrha home was one of the steps she needed to take to achieve that. One of the steps among the many, that is.
Nora, Ren and Jaune putting up with her was a miracle.
Ruby Rose lost many things, including a firm direction to walk towards, but she hasn't lost herself for now. She had to try. Nothing could end and nothing could begin before that. And maybe somewhere along the way she will rediscover what she wanted.
That wasn't the only reason for her journey, though. Uncle Qrow let it slip that in Nemea she could find an answer about her eyes.
So for now, a pointless journey fit a pointless hero.
"Did I miss all the fun?" She turned towards the sound echoing with the wind.
A familiar face shouted from beyond the tree line.
"Oh, hey, guys. I see you guys ran into trouble already." - The figure waved.
"That's what happens when certain someone texts you a location and then forgets to show." - Ren shouted back.
Ruby picked up the pace to greet her friend as Nora and Ren followed right behind her.
A blond boy wearing an urban black hoodie as if he's about to go to the mall. That is until one sees his face and the tired look in his eyes. Carrying a sword and shield. He stumbled through the forest in the middle of nowhere, determined to fight his way through whatever lay ahead or die trying.
All these parts put together painted a vividly out-of-place image that summed up one Jaune Arc.
"Got lost in the forest. All the trees look the same." - Jaune said. - "Saw you fighting snakes, huh?"
"Yeah, been dealing with these guys for hours now." - Ruby said, peering into the grass, as if expecting more of them to pop up. - "The place's crawling with them."
"Really? Weird. Haven't encountered a single Grimm on my way here."
The fact that her friend's journey was so different confounded Ruby.
The wind shouted, shaking the trees.
If she hadn't just been in a fight, even Ruby would not have been able to tell the surroundings were crawling with monsters right out of a fairytale.
The behavior of Grimm here was erratic and impossible to predict. She couldn't shake the thought that something terrible has happened.
"Well, bad news for you then - your luck won't last" - Ren put away his weapon and stepped closer. - "How are things on your end?"
"Oh boy, where to begin." - Jaune tried to catch his breath. - "More bad news"
"Gee, what a surprise." - Ruby rolled her eyes.
"What's with her?"
"She's been like this all day, don't mind her" - Nora hopped closer and tapped Jaune's shoulder. - "Continue."
"Like I was saying, bad news. The whole railroad's, well, torn apart into pieces, would be the best word, I guess. Sabotage or monsters, I don't know. There's not a soul in sight in the area, the maintenance tower got wrecked, and it's a miracle the relay dish still functions. Something bad happened here. Which means no train ride for us."
The sound of something moving between the trees returned. Deeper into the forest, where it was impossible to tell the night from the day.
Ruby shivered. The forest tried to envelop them all once again.
"What do we do then?" - She asked.
"I've been looking through the map, and our best bet is the older logistics routes between Argus and Nemea. If the railroad's down, transport would be coursing through them once in a while. It would be slower than a train ride but still better than slogging through a forest. There are two villages marked on the logistics route. A bit to the north from here, closer to the Great Lake - Kulhara in the northeast and Arcadia even deeper north."
"Arcadia's on the map, but it's a no-go. The village has been gone for years now. Kulhara, last time I checked, should still be standing." - Ren scratched his forehead as he stared up at the tree tops. - "Given my information is a bit outdated, but it's a major logistics point between Argus, Haven, Nemea, and the Eternal City, there's no way they'd let it go under just like that."
"Um, can we maybe not?" - Nora's voice shook. - "I am sure there are other alternatives than to go north."
The shift in her behavior left Ruby flabbergasted.
"I am sorry, Nora." - Ren put his hand on her shoulder. - "The only other alternative is a weeks-long trail through dense forest and swamps while, possibly, fighting off these things non-stop."
Ruby couldn't help but ponder what kind of lives Ren and Nora led until Beacon. But she couldn't ask them.
Seconds ticked away, never to return, bringing them closer to another confrontation.
They couldn't stand there forever.
They had to move.
Ruby took a step forward.
"Off we go, guys. The sun will set in a few more hours, so we better haul ourselves as far as we can, in the meantime."
Ruby mused which would give out first - the terrors stalking these forests or the stamina of four teenagers roaming through them…
January 8th, 797 E.A
Patch Island, Kingdom of Vale Territory
Yang wandered, lost inside the forest of her thoughts.
The sea entrapping the island drowned the setting sun. The absence of light slowly transformed the carcass of an abandoned cottage into a scene out of one of many horror stories Yang has consumed recently.
All horror tales ever published would end on a hopeful note, reminding the people of Remnant that the Sun will rise even after the darkest terrors of the night.
Unlike fiction, Yang did not know if her path had a ray of light at the end of it all.
No matter the path she took, she always ended up at the beginning.
She stood on her own after a tragedy, protecting Ruby and playing the role of the big caring sister, and in the end, she faced another tragedy.
She thoughtlessly took her little sister to the cabin in the woods, chasing after her mother and now she is back here again, chasing after her mother.
Her sister never doubted herself. Her sister never walked in circles - she always thoughtlessly rushed ahead.
No matter how much she tried, Yang could never do that.
The thought ate away at her - this was a mistake.
The cabin loomed, frozen by the ice as the screams of the winter wind tore into it. The snow crackled beneath Yang's feet, The place did not match her memories. Time had devoured parts of it year by year.
Yang clenched her fists. She took a deep breath.
"Raven. Show yourself!"
Nothing.
The trees, naked and devoid of life, dancing to the wind.
Yang took out her scroll. The time was right, yet her mother was a no show.
She stormed forward, her eyes darting around. Was this a practical joke? Did her piece of shit mother trick her?
"I know you are here! You said you won't play games with me! Were you serious or did you just come to mock me after all?"
A sudden sensation of danger pierced her chest as her legs grew numb.
A head of Nevermore emerged from the shadows of fallen apart cabin. Yang's blood ran cold. When she took Ruby here all those years ago, she walked right into a pack of Grimm. Did history repeat once again?
Her head spun, as the silhouette of a woman emerged behind it.
A familiar figure in red stepped out, taking off her ugly mask.
"You know, some say shouting frantically in the middle of the forest at night is the best way to get mauled by the Grimm."
"Thought you wouldn't show." - Yang did her best to avoid her mother's gaze.
Raven attached her weird mask to her waist.
"Got held up. And my means of transportation also has its own rules." - she flicked her hair away from her face. - "Speak."
"Three questions, right? Here goes." - Yang gasped for breath, struggling to get all the words out. - "Why are you here now, why not before?"
"I don't have an answer that would satisfy you. And it would take way too long to explain in detail. Some of it, I am not comfortable saying even here because in this Land, even the night shadows might have ears."
"You said no games. So, try me."
Raven audibly sighed. She traced her hand through the falling apart cabin wall as she stepped forward.
"I couldn't. I had to play by specific rules to survive. A fury of the great and powerful was upon me, preventing me from being there. I had few windows of opportunity to act if I wanted to preserve everything I was working on. And contacting you meant having this conversation and I wasn't sure if you were ready. If you were strong enough to face the true world around you. I am here now because The Fall proved me right and allowed me to be here. It also showed me that we are running out of time. I have a specific goal I want to achieve and I can't wait around while you play in your little sandbox any longer. You satisfied?"
"Why were you there during the Breach? Why were you there during the hell at Beacon?"
Raven smirked.
"That's two questions, dear, but okay, I'll indulge you as if it was one. I was on that train because there likely was an item of interest there for me. My sources ended up wrong, though as the weakling criminal turned out to be a small fish in a big pond instead, and the one who had it never showed. As for the Fall, I was there for Pyrrha Nikos. I can't tell you why, exactly, but she is important, important enough to not let anybody get in my way. I merely used both cases as a chance to judge your progress."
She did her best to parse what Raven had told her.
Yang told her mother not to be cryptic and not to play games, but Raven's words were still so deliberately constructed to only tell the bare minimum.
The forest whispered around her.
Her mother's face, smiling, unsettled her.
This was a mistake. Something bad was going to happen.
Her mind raced as her heart beat faster and faster. This was still more than she knew before. There was one question left. She had to nail it. Thankfully, the last question gnawed at her for years.
It was the reason she sought out her mother in the first place. At least she thought so.
Yang tensed up, holding her breath. There was no right moment for this.
"Why did you leave after Summer died?"
Raven strode closer towards her.
"I am sure Qrow told you we disagree on a lot of things. The root of our disagreement is also the root of evil that took away your other mother. A trickster specializing in delusions and lies."
Raven frowned.
Unease locked up every muscle in Yang's body, the dark skies closing in as if to crush her to dust. Seconds became hours as her mind screamed at her - this was a mistake.
Something bad was coming.
She shouldn't listen to this.
She did not understand why the thought hit her as every muscle in her body trembled.
"There's only one person responsible for Summer's fate." - Her mother's eyes bore deep into her soul. - "The one you know as Ozpin. Summer's sacrifice was an unintended consequence of his plans, but he did not care. Qrow forgave him. I did not. I chose to walk a different path or, rather, I chose to build it."
Thoughts tortured Yang. Memories of her Dad and Qrow arguing. Were they talking about this? What else is she kept in the dark about?
Her legs gave out.
The world spun around her.
Someone caught her, shoving her back on her feet.
The forest hummed. A screech of an owl lunged at her from the dark.
Yang gasped.
"Don't pass out on me. I am not finished." - Her mother's voice commanded. - "The man in the tower hasn't changed through these years. He is still dancing the same futile dance, while moving his pawns, singing sweet lies to lure people into deals of no return. And this time its you and your sister who'd pay the price."
Yang's heart skipped a beat.
"What do you mean?"
"If you do nothing, your sister will suffer fate worse than death. But what can you truly do? You are weak."
Raven stepped away from her. She strode closer to the cabin's rotting walls.
"Did you know this place was Summer's, Yang? That despicable woman always loved contingencies and plans. Even more so after paranoia enveloped her. Lots of good it did."
Raven knelt down, her hands brushing against the snow.
"Ozpin's sins are catching up to him faster than he realizes. Our goals, yours and mine, aren't dissimilar. If you help me, I can help you. I am not here to sell ideals, just solutions, Yang."
Raven unsheathed her sword.
"The arrogant fool thinks himself a puppet master, herding the sheep towards his blind and naive illusion of safety. But there's no happily ever after in his story. Just more stagnation and decay. The last thing this world needs is bending to the will of ancient ghosts. The Land is tainted enough by their sins already. "
She stabbed the sword downward, piercing the snow.
A splash of ink devoured the ground, spreading, like a muffled scream of a drowning man.
Electricity crackled in the air.
To Yang, the sound somehow conveyed an image of a light bulb about to go out.
A dark void within the dark void within the dark void, looping to infinity.
The eye opened it's maw.
"What is this?" - Yang stammered. She rubbed her eyes. She couldn't measure distance between her and the swirling void of dark and red, as if it was something in her eye rather than in front of her.
"A shortcut. You've seen me use it before, and it's important I show it to you. It's a piece of a puzzle that will make more sense once we talk more." - Raven bolted back up. - "This one will stay open for exactly 10 minutes. After that, I am leaving through it, and I am never coming back. It's up to you to decide before I leave on whether I am leaving alone or with you."
She spiraled around to face Yang.
A third time.
A third time, Yang's mother stood in front of her, surrounded by chaos and nightmares, about to leave.
"Do you want to stay ignorant, or do you want to find your fire again and save your sister in the process? To write your own story where your choices are more than mere sacrifices in a game?"
"What do you mean, exactly, by Ozpin being at fault for Summer's death? What does Ruby have to do with it? What is going on?"
Yang's head spun. Too much information. What did she get herself into? Did she even want to know?
Every single answer Raven gave her, no matter how vague, only led to more questions.
Uncle Qrow's interest in Ruby, Dad's sour mood whenever he visited them, both of them unwilling to talk about what happened to Ruby at that tower. Yang's memories now painted a landscape as alien and as unsettling as the void in front of her.
"You used up your questions already."- Raven raised her hand, three fingers. - "But, okay. Since you already made up your mind…"
She hopped through the snow back towards Yang.
Graceful like death itself.
A comical, surreal scene.
Raven's posture had changed completely. Did she let her guard down now? Her mother grew into an even bigger enigma.
The cabin ruins trembled from the swirling red void behind her.
Thus spoke the Raven.
"What do you know about The Monomyth?"