[A/N] *Rubs hands together evilly* And here's where things get... ah complicated.
When the seagoing cargo ship berthed at the Mantle Docks, there was a public taxi waiting for them there that swept them away to a hotel nearby. They had timed arrival to be in the evening, but the sight of Atlas hovering overhead had still left Selene shaken.
They had allowed for that. BA's contact was to have a ride ready for them to a municipal bullhead dock the next evening, to allow her time to recover. And there a bullhead and pilot would be waiting to take them to Atlas proper, followed by another rental car.
The Mantle hotel was decent, chosen for proximity to the docks rather than for being faunus-friendly or upscale. He only received minimal sneers for being a faunus, likely tempered by being with Selene and further by being recognizable as a Huntsman.
Atlas Kingdom doing Atlas things, Garek sighed internally.
The next evening, they checked out and rode to the bullhead field. Various aircraft dotted the pads, from what looked like small private aircraft to a few noncombat military shuttles. BA had said there would be a pilot waiting by one of those for them. They could see a human, dressed similarly to how BA had tended to do, standing next to one of the smaller ones. He was older, around BA's age, but clearly fit.
Garek came forward first. "Evening sir. You expecting two passengers?"
The man looked them over, flicked around the field. "That's me. Call me Charlie," he didn't ask their names, and they didn't volunteer. He did look at their luggage. "Travelling light, Huntsman." That much was obvious.
"Yeah. I've got a few business meetings in Atlas."
Charlie's eyes flicked to Garek's ears and visible neck spots. "Good luck with that." He waved them to the side hatch. "Hop in and buckle up. It'll be a short ride."
It was indeed short. And a lot less nerve racking than Blackfeather, who was still safely tucked away in the forests outside Springhill in Mistral.
A rental car was waiting for them at a similar private airfield in Atlas proper. BA had taken care of a lot of details, leaving them to focus on the work. The car even had tinted windows, which Selene appreciated. The ride to the Atlas hotel from there was short. The hotel wasn't extravagant, but it was better than the one they had retained in Argus, if smaller. The room was a single space plus bathroom and two beds. Space in Atlas was at a premium and expensive. It also clearly was faunus-tolerant, if not outright welcoming, which was rarer in Atlas. They parked the car in the hotel's garage, checked in, and collapsed on one of the beds.
They gave Selene another two days to come to terms with Atlas, ordering room service and taking short walks in the evening when things were quieter, while Garek and the Lone Huntsmen worked to finalize a meeting with Polendina. They'd managed to contact his assistant, who apparently doubled as his scheduler, and she had penciled Garek in, but the date and time had slipped twice already, so he expected it to shuffle further. Polendina was apparently a busy man.
The second day, Garek and Selene gained a… reputation among the hotel staff. It had started out with a bout of teasing at the small dining area of their room, after having lunch, and had ended up with him seated in the chair, her facing and straddling him, and clothing half hanging off as they engaged in some rather passionate kissing and made all sorts of appreciative noises in the process.
They were so engrossed, in fact, that they did not hear the quiet tap on the door, the muffled "housekeeping" nor the click of the door being opened.
They had neglected to engage the interior lock.
Their first inkling that something might be amiss was the sounds of two young women gasping apologies at the sight of Selene's bare back, and Garek's hands firmly on her butt. "Oh! Oh! We're very sorry!" They exclaimed as they quickly backed out and slammed the door shut.
Garek's wide golden eyes met scarlet irises, and they both gazed back toward the door. Apparently, all the staff had seen was pale white skin, and the near miss was less terrifying than it was awkward.
And then hilarious as one of the ladies spoke through the door. "Our apologies, sir and ma'am. We've tagged your door as Do Not Disturb. Please notify us if you need any... other service." They heard the other girl giggle, and then the sounds of a cart being pushed away.
Garek and Selene looked at each other, shook their heads, and decided to continue their adventures on one of the two beds.
That evening, Garek asked Selene if she'd like to taste a sample of Atlas night life.
"What do you intend?"
"Well, there's a bar not far from here. Walking distance really. I used to hang out there with a buddy of mine the few times I was in Atlas. Be a chance to show you another place I used to go from time to time."
"A bar. Will it not be crowded?"
"The Broken Grimm? Nah. First of all, it welcomes faunus, so there are a lot of humans here who will avoid it on principle. Second, it turned into a sort of Huntsmen hangout. We stick to our own places, and there aren't a ton of us. Owner is retired Huntsman, and what he loses in clients, he makes up for in prices," He laughed. "So it's pretty small and quiet, just like you and I like it. There's even a few nearby restaurants that will deliver to it, so we can eat there too."
Inside, she found the idea of so many Huntsmen intimidating in itself. And she wasn't sure she approved of the name of the establishment either. It seemed that Garek was, in his full acceptance of her, forgetting what she represented. But she trusted him. "Very well. I will trust your judgment."
The Broken Grimm was indeed only a few blocks away, and actually faced a narrow alley between two secondary streets. The sign was a glowing blue outline of a Beowulf on crutches, which amused her rather than filling her with as much dread as the name had originally.
They entered, and found a cozy room with a bar along the left wall, a dozen tables before them, and a couple of pool tables in the back. There were less than a dozen patrons total, plus the bartender. They were clearly Huntsmen, from the flamboyant dress, to the rack by the door to store larger weapons. Over half were in two groups of four, with the rest seated at the bar or singly at tables.
Garek's eyes scanned the room and then locked onto a single man presenting his profile at one of the tables. "Holy shit Selene," he hissed and pointed, "there's Iron Man!"
"Iron-?" but Garek was already off, and she was forced to follow or be left at the door. She sighed. From what she saw of him, the man in question did not appear to be interested in company. To her eyes, he looked very unhappy and was staring at his drink.
That changed when her fiancé, halfway to the table, yelled out. "IRON MAN!"
The man looked up in shock, and his face lit up. "CLAUDE!" He rose, knocking over the chair and almost ruining another man's pool shot behind him and earning a curse for it.
"Fucking idiot!" Garek growled with a grin as he stomped forward.
"Useless house cat!" His apparent friend replied, and they slammed into each other with much back slapping and laughter as Selene approached.
"Gods, it's good to see you, man. It's been what, two years?"
"More like three. But who is this?" The man's brown eyes skimmed over Selene appraisingly. "This has got to be a relative. There is no way you've snagged a woman this attractive." She felt herself blushing slightly at the praise, and considered him in turn. The man wore dark, muted colors. Mostly grays and blacks, and had a faint scar across one cheek. He wore his black and grey hair long, and looked to have lived a somewhat rough life, but he was not unattractive.
"Goddamit, brother, I am trying to impress my…" he smirked "fiancé here, and you are completely ruining it. Selene, this is Iron Man. Irons, this is Selene, my wife-to-be if she doesn't dump me for you now that she sees what a real man is like."
The other man smiled and shook his head, holding out his hand. "It's great to meet you Selene, Claude is awesome, don't listen take our trash talk seriously. And Iron Man isn't my real name, its-"
"Bullshit, hon, don't let him tell you otherwise. He's Iron Man." He dug an elbow into his friend's side. "At least that's what the ladies kept telling me when they dumped me for him."
Irons mock scowled. "Garek, you are just as much of an asshole as ever." They both laughed as Selene observed them both with narrowed eyes.
"I have not seen this side of my fiancé before. It is fortunate my first meeting was not in this manner, or I might have felt the need to adopt and discipline him, rather than marry him." That left both of the men gaping, until she smirked.
"Damn, you really did pick a winner." Irons returned the elbow with a grin. "She has you read like a book. But you're right, Selene. Huntsmen are notorious for never really growing up." He laughed.
They grabbed a table and chatted for a few more minutes about various things. Food was ordered and delivered, and they consumed it while Garek and his friend reminisced about old acquaintances and old jobs. Selene ate quietly and enjoyed listening to them and watching their easy exchanges.
"So, what were you doing drinking alone, Irons?" Garek asked. "Usually, there'd be some girl that had been attracted to your magnetic personality," Garek smirked, and his friend gave Selene a look that screamed bullshit, "hanging on your arm and every word."
His friend frowned, but it was Selene that spoke up. "Garek, when we arrived, he seemed unhappy." She faced the man. "I feared we were interrupting you."
He shook his head. "Not your fault, and frankly I appreciate the interruption. I've just had something weighing on me."
Garek whacked his arm. "Anything we can do to help? Selene here is the best listener I've ever met." Garek flashed her a smile, and she decided to forgive him a little for the prior immaturity.
His friend sighed. "Fine. Maybe it'll help." He waved his beer. "See, there's this girl." Garek gave Selene a knowing leer as if to say see! "Not what you're thinking, jackass. She's just a kid, works as live-in help at this business. Real quiet kid, right?" He took a pull of his beer. "Met her a couple years back. I got to talking to her. She's clearly not happy there, but she doesn't have anywhere to go. I got curious and she started talking to me about not having any options. She asked about being a Huntsman, and next thing I know I'm talking to her about how it means freedom to travel and not having to sit stuck in one place." He peered at Garek. "You know, the bullshit sunshine and roses side of being a Huntsman. Really strikes a nerve with her, and she begs me to train her."
Garek was quieter now, but nodded. Irons took a long drink. Garek broke the silence. "And so you did…"
"And so I have been. Whenever I'm in the city. She works at place I'm staying. There's a storage area in the half basement that's far enough away from the guest areas that no one notices after hours. She's coming along from a skills standpoint, but she's… I don't think she's doing well in other ways. Its five more years before she hits her majority, and the owner there, I think they're riding her pretty hard."
Selene spoke up, cutting to the chase. "Do you fear abuse?"
He glanced up, then back down at his beer and grimaced. "I don't know. I… dammit I'm afraid to even go there. Because if they are… this is Atlas. It's a wealthy family. I can't afford to alienate people who-"
"-have influence that could get you run out of the Kingdom," Garek finished, frowning.
The man looked miserable, drained his beer, and reached for another one.
"Is there a way we can assist?" Selene asked.
He frowned. "I'd appreciate a second opinion… someone that isn't too spineless to ask the right questions." Garek knew his friend was self-criticizing with that remark.
Garek's face softened. "Gods man, you're really torn up over this." He glanced at Selene. "We'll at least do that for you. Want us to swing by?"
"I can let you guys in after hours. You can't come in the front." He gave Garek a long look. "It's not your kind of place."
"No faunus, huh… not surprising."
Selene's head pivoted. "Excuse me?"
"Not my kind of place, Selene. That's code hereabouts for run by bigots. No offense, Irons."
"None taken. Great service, shitty people. Like I said, I can slip you in. She showed me how to get from the storage basement to the kitchen exit after hours. No cameras." He waved his hands. "I'm not asking you to do anything. I just want… I just want to know if I'm making things worse."
"How about tomorrow night. Give you time to sleep this off, and us some time to prepare."
"It's a deal, Claude."
"Fuck you, Iron Man."
Returning to their hotel, they learned that they apparently had gained a reputation. Several of the staff smiled broadly at them, and the Do Not Disturb sign remained hung on the door to their room.
They opted to take full advantage of that.
Afterward, Selene had thoughts as they lay spooned in their bed.
"Garek, your friend…" she began hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"He is your friend, clearly, and yet he accepts people with such views. He gives them his business. It does not seem right."
Garek grunted. "It isn't. But that's how the world works. Everyone has their own flaws and trauma." He gave her arm a squeeze.
"Oh. Oh… yes I am hardly one to talk…"
He was silent for a while. "No… no you actually have the right to talk. You're one of the few people I know who isn't prejudiced against anything."
"Possibly due to ignorance and lack of opportunity, Garek."
"Fair. But you're still right. Irons and I go way back. Two solo Huntsmen with more bravery and trauma than intelligence. We did a handful of missions in northern Mistral together right after my team broke up, and a half dozen around Mantle. I know he's a good guy." He sighed. "But you're right, he shouldn't be giving people like that his money. I'll ask him about it, when we get a minute."
"Good. And I have an additional request."
"Hmm?"
"If you do go out for a 'night out' with him in the future…"
"Don't invite you?"
"Please no. I am unsure whether I can handle that amount of regressed testosterone and alcohol."
He laughed. "Well then. I've been told."
With some instruction from Garek's friend, late the next evening they parked their rented car several blocks away, and strolled carelessly down the sidewalks of Atlas. They were cloaked against the cold, which helped conceal his faunus nature and both of their appearances, and based on earlier experiences, saved him more than one abusive comment. She noticed a few other faunus who were not as lucky during the walk, and Garek's frowns.
Thankfully for Selene, the crowds were thin at the late hour, though she was quickly coming to terms at least with the physical size of cities. And thankfully for their purposes, the pedestrians were not so thin that they looked out of place. They slipped down a side alley between the hotel and a nearby store, and Garek tapped quietly on the service door.
After a moment, it opened quietly to reveal a beckoning hand, and they stealthily followed him around a corner, downstairs, through a hall, and to a closed door.
The man tapped three times on the door, which was answered by two. He nodded and opened it.
A young girl was there, quickly stepping back from the door to put space between them. She was small and overly thin, Selene noted, with short black hair in two narrow buns sticking up at angles. She was wearing what appeared to her to be a servant's uniform of grey slacks with a double-tied white smock. A silver choker with a golden pendant looked out of place against the more plain clothing and threadbare surroundings.
What struck Selene the most was the flat look of the girl's golden-yellow eyes. She was clearly wary of the two strangers present, because she was moving away from them to keep distance. But her eyes and face betrayed no emotion.
Garek's friend motioned to the others to wait a moment, and stepped forward, kneeling down in front of the girl, who had stopped retreating at his approach.
"Mr. Rhodes, are we tr-" She broke off, glancing at the strangers.
Mr. Rhodes is it? It's nice to finally know his real name, Selene thought, giving Garek an accusing look.
"Not at first, Cinder. I wanted to introduce you to two friends of mine. "That is Huntsman Garek." Selene saw the girls' eyes widen fractionally, and she mouthed the word Huntsman. "And that is his partner, Selene."
Selene nodded "Hello Cinder, it is good to meet you."
Cinder's eyes didn't quite know where to look. There were… suddenly a lot of people in her private space. Every other time in the past two years, it had only been Rhodes here with her. She decided the floor was a safe target for her attention.
"Thank you, ma'am."
Garek spoke first, smiling. "My friend Iron M-" The man gave him a look. "Sorry, my friend Rhodes tells me that you live and work here at the hotel, and that he has been training you. Are you enjoying training with him?"
Her eyes locked on to his, then to Rhodes, looking for confirmation that it was okay to answer. Rhodes nodded. "Yes sir," she answered quietly.
"He also tells me that you want to join a Huntsman Academy when you turn seventeen."
That got a reaction. Her body language relaxed at first, "Yes sir. I… I've been training. Mr. Rhodes let me keep..." She glanced at a spot behind some crates nearby, and gasped at what she had been about to reveal. "Please don't tell Madame," she whispered.
Selene answered. "Cinder, we have no interest in telling anyone, anything about you." She considered her approach. She knew what had worked with Garek, and again with her mother. She motioned to Rhodes and Garek, and sat down cross legged on the floor several feet away from Cinder. "I find that listening is often more fruitful. So, I am here to listen, not to tell." Rhodes and Garek took the hint to retreat toward the far corner of the room, and began a quiet discussion, listening with half an ear.
"Listen, ma'am?" Cinder was confused. She was usually the one expected to listen, not the other way around. That someone wanted to hear her talk was…alien.
"Yes. Tell me, what exactly would happen if your… Madame were to find the items you've been practicing with?" Selene's eyes flicked to where Cinder's had earlier.
The girl held herself very still. Her face showing nothing. But Selene could see a slight tremor in her fingers before she carefully clasped them together. "I can't say."
"Ah, but you can tell me, Mr. Rhodes said so. I am a listener, I have proven it twice and am very good at it." If she could defuse nearly being skewered by Garek, and her mother's wrath, surely she could handle a tweenaged human. No? "I am not even from Atlas. Who would I tell?"
Spun gold eyes searched. "You… won't tell?"
"I will not." Selene said.
Rhodes spoke up from the corner in affirmation. "Cinder, I trust Garek, and Garek trusts Selene." He smiled, "Huntsman's honor."
Cinder's eyes widened at that, then looked back at Selene. She slowly sat down on the floor as well, unconsciously matching Selene's posture, before answering. "She would… she would take it away. And..." the girl's hands were literally shaking, and her fingers ran up to her throat. "And she would punish me," she finished in a whisper.
Selene's eyes narrowed. "My mother sometimes punished me for misbehaving, but there is punishment and then there is punishment. Some is just. Some is unjust." Her eyes flicked over Cinder's unblemished skin. "She does not beat you, I presume?"
"No," she whispered, fingering the necklace nervously.
Selene eyed it. She had not been mistaken. The jewelry was… extremely out of place, compared to the plain uniform the girl wore. "That necklace…" She saw the girl shudder at the word. She leaned forward. "May I see it-
"No!" The girl cried scrambling backward, then covered her mouth. All three adults flinched at the sound.
Rhodes spoke. "Cinder, it's okay, she's trying to help."
The girl shook her head rapidly, back and forth. "I'll be punished. I'll be punished."
"How will she punish you?"
The girl's fingers had wrapped around the necklace, knuckles white. "Pain. It hurts. It hurts." She looked at Selene with wide eyes. "But I am nothing without it." Selene gave a low hiss, and Rhodes cursed behind her. "I… I can take it. I am strong enough to take it. I will train and become a Huntsman, and then I will be something."
"I see." Selene said. "I am sorry I upset you, Cinder. Be at ease. I wish to speak with Rhodes." She quietly moved backward, stood, and rejoined the other two, her back to the girl.
When she reached them, she dug her fingers into Rhodes' arm. For one moment, Garek feared she was going to strike his friend. "How long has she been here?" she hissed.
Rhodes looked miserable. "Two years. I didn't know… I knew she was being treated harshly, but this? I didn't know."
Selene glared at him. You didn't ask, she thought, because you wouldn't know what to do if you received the answer you suspected.
"And you tell me it is five years until her majority?" She glanced back at the girl, watching Cinder's fingers trembling at her throat in some memory. "I do not believe she will survive another five years."
"I've been training her-"
"And how does this training help her in the interim? To defend herself? Against that around her throat? Or against the one who holds the leash? An animal in pain will lash out, Mr. Rhodes. Do you not have eyes? Five years more of this?"
A quiet voice sounded from behind her, pleading. "Ma'am, please don't be angry with Mr. Rhodes. He's been good to me." Cinder had moved forward, concerned by Selene's reactions.
"He could have been better," Selene said softly, glancing back.
There was a tiny hint of rebellion in those young eyes, quickly suppressed, but it was Rhodes who answered. "It's okay, Cinder. She's not wrong." He sighed. "What can we do?"
Selene looked between them. "I believe that Cinder expected further training this evening. Let us leave Mr. Rhodes to complete this, and discuss further tomorrow morning."
"Ok," Rhodes said. "I'll let you out and come back."
They both nodded goodbyes to the young girl, and made their way back to their own hotel.
Selene was silent on the way back until they reached their own hotel room. But he could feel anger radiating off her. She barely waited for the door to close fully before she reverted to her natural form. Her scarlet eyes practically glowed, to the point he leaned back against the door. "You're angry."
"I am livid. You have an idiot for a friend!" She hissed through bared teeth.
He felt the need to at least slightly defend Rhodes, "He's an accomplished Huntsman. I didn't say he was the smartest cracker in the barrel."
He was shocked when Selene grasped him by the lapels of his coat. "That Cinder. She must be removed from that place."
Garek looked miserable. "How are we supposed to-"
"They are torturing her, Garek. That… necklace. I am sure that it causes pain when she is seen to misbehave."
"I was afraid that's what I was hearing. She wouldn't say it outright."
"No, and I believe that Madame's definition of 'misbehaving' is rather liberal. This girl has suffered for two years, and your Rhodes never probed to understand its extent. He trained her to eventually leave in five years hence. He never saw fit to intervene in her treatment."
Garek was quiet "Atlas." He muttered.
"What do you say?"
"It's Atlas!" He spat. "Atlas is… rigid. Militaristic. Almost caste-based. Rhodes said she was an orphan, and she's been adopted by a wealthy family." Garek shook his head. "Her word against her guardians. Like Rhodes said before, I doubt he could do anything."
"Without consequence, you mean…" she spat.
"Without consequences." He conceded. "He's anchored to Atlas for his livelihood."
"And we are not…"
He sighed. "Point taken. When did you become the voice of strength?"
"When I threw myself into the sea to reach you. Perhaps I was reborn."
Garek gave a low laugh, and drew her close. Selene softened against him, exhausted. "Fine. We'll find a way to take her with us. At least out of Atlas. Agreed?"
"Acceptable."
[A/N] Enter Cinder!
And if the previous ages of the Arc children didn't give it away, this should make it clear that we are about ten years before RWBY Volume 1. I spent a lot of time reviewing Midnight and thinking about how Cinder would act and behave after about two years of being abused by "Madame" and shown kindness by Rhodes. I hope you found it believable.
And please do leave a review if you are enjoying this or feel it needs a tweak.